Bludgeoning and Bromancing - Giri on the go!

by Satanick Mukhuty
3/15/2021 – Anish Giri has been in tremendous form at the Magnus Carlsen Invitational event. In the first 10 rounds, he has scored 6 wins and 4 draws. It was not just about the fact that he won his games, he did so by showing very interesting chess. Although he has beaten strong players like Aronian, Wesley So and others, Anish's win against Magnus Carlsen stands out. After beating the World Champion, the Dutch no.1 joined the ChessBase India livestream commentary and broke down the game for us.| Photo: Lennart Ootes

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"I am not going to desert Magnus so easily!" — that is exactly how the conversation with the Dutch no. 1 began. It took part immediately after Anish had scored back-to-back victories against three top players, among whom one was the World Champion himself. How did Anish manage to stun the mighty Magnus, and along with him both Wesley So and Alan Pichot? Here's his answer:

Magnus Carlsen Invitational Day 1 | Live commentary Sagar and Amruta

 
Giri-Carlsen, MC Invitational 2021

Anish had the white pieces against Magnus in the fourth round of day one of the event. He chose the Maroczy set-up of the Sicilian and went for an early exchange of his light-squared bishop. In the position above 14.Bxg7 Kxg7 was played, and although this leaves White with a bad bishop, it is his space advantage here that plays a more concrete role — this, according to Anish, is one of the modern ways of playing this line.

 

The critical moment arrived on move 29 when White played 29.Rh4. Black's best chance here would have been to go 29...Ng6 followed by something like 30.Bc6 Nxh4 31.Bxe8 Nf3+ 32.Kf2 Rf5 etc, but both players felt this was better for White, because in such asymmetric endings a bishop generally proves to be the better piece. In order to avoid this Magnus gave up a pawn with 29...Rb4 — this, however, was an inaccuracy.

You can replay the annotated game here. Click the fan icon below the board to start an engine. With it you can further analyse the moves. 

 
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.c4 Nf6 6.Nc3 d6 7.Be2 Nxd4 8.Qxd4 Bg7 9.0-0 0-0 10.Qd3 B36: Sicilian: Maroczy Bind: Gurgenidze System. a5 11.Be3 Bd7 12.Bd4!? White is slightly better. An interesting side line. Bc6 13.b3!? Leaves trodden paths. Nd7 14.Bxg7 Kxg7 15.Qd4+
15...Kg8N Predecessor: 15...f6 16.Nd5 e5 17.Qe3 Bxd5 18.cxd5 1/2-1/2 (18) Gorbunov,E (2065)-Waerstad,L (2146) ICCF email 2018 16.Rfd1 Qb6 17.Qxb6 Nxb6 18.f4 f5 19.exf5 Rxf5 20.g3 g5 21.Bd3 21.Bg4 Rc5 22.Be6+ Kg7 23.fxg5 Rxg5 24.Nd5 Black is fine. 21...Rc5 22.Re1 Re8 23.Ne4 Bxe4 24.Rxe4 gxf4 25.Rxf4 Hoping for Rg4+. Nd7! 26.Re1 Ne5 27.Be4 b5 28.cxb5 Rxb5 29.Rh4 Rb4 29...Ng6!= 30.Bc6 Nxh4 31.Bxe8 Nf3+ 32.Kf2 this is practically better! 30.Bxh7+± Kg7 31.Be4 White is really pushing. a4 32.bxa4 Rxa4 33.Re2 Rh8 34.Rxh8 Kxh8 Endgame KRB-KRN 35.Bd5 Ra5 36.Bb3 Nc6 37.Rd2 Kg7 38.Kg2 Ne5 39.h3 Nd7 40.Re2 Kf8 40...Ne5± 41.a4 Ra7 41.Rf2++- Nf6 42.g4 Kg7 43.Rf4 d5 44.g5 44.h4+- 44...Ne4±
45.Bxd5! Nxg5 46.Bb3 e5? 46...Re5± 47.Ra4 Rc5 47...Rb5 48.h4 Nh7 49.Ra7+ Kh8 50.Ra8+ Kg7 51.Ra7+ Kh8 48.Rc4 48.h4+- 48...Ra5 48...Rb5± 49.h4 Ne6 50.Ra4 Nf4+ 51.Kf3 Rc5 52.Rc4 Ra5 53.Rc7+ Kh6
53...Kg6± was called for. 54.a4 Nd5 54.Bc2!+- Ra3+ 55.Kg4 Nd3 56.Kf5 Nb4 56...Nf4 is a better defense. 57.Bb3 57.Kxe5 Ng6+ 58.Bxg6 Kxg6± 57...Ng2 57.Be4 Threatening mate with Kg4. Don't do 57.Kxe5?! Nxc2 58.Rxc2 Kh5± 57...Rxa2?
57...Nd3+- 58.Rc8 Nb4 58.Kg4! Weighted Error Value: White=0.18/Black=0.35
1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Giri,A2731Carlsen,M28811–02021B36Magnus Carlsen Invitational 20214.1

Wins with black pieces against Wesley So and Alan Pichot

These games were also very instructive. The latter especially was a sublime masterclass in the Najdorf. Here, for instance, is an important moment from the encounter.

 
R3: Pichot-Giri

20...Rb4 was a mysteriously beautiful move that Anish played in this position. "You realize that it's a relatively slow position," he said, "in the sense that White doesn't have any real threats on the kingside, nor can Black do much on the kingside." A move like 20...Rf8 completely turns the tables after 21.Qh5+ followed by Qxh7 etc, and similarly 20...Kd8 too falls victim to 21.e5. Thus, Anish realized Rb4 was the only way to at least create some threats by keeping the provisions of tactics like ...Rxd4 ...Nb3 ...Qa5 etc open.

 
R5: So-Giri

The So - Giri, on the other hand, was heading towards an uneventful draw. White only had to play 28.Rbd4 above to force a complete equality, but the American-Filipino grandmaster hastily pushed 28.c3-c4 here, allowing Anish to deliver the quick 28...d5 29.Rxd5 Rxe3 blow! Replay both fully annotated games with computer analysis below. 

 
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Nbd7 8.Qe2 Qc7 9.0-0-0 b5 10.a3 B96: Sicilian Najdorf: 6 Bg5 e6 7 f4, lines other than 7...Qb6 and 7...Be7. Be7! is now more promising than 10...Bb7. 11.Bxf6 Nxf6 12.g4 The position is equal. Nd7 13.g5 Rb8
14.h4N Predecessor: 14.Qd2 Nc5 15.h4 0-0 16.f5 b4 17.axb4 Rxb4 18.f6 Bd8 19.fxg7 Kxg7 20.Rh3 1-0 (37) Vesely,P (2581)-Trembecki,L (2544) ICCF email 2016 14...b4 15.axb4 Rxb4 16.f5 Nc5 17.Bh3 Qb6 18.fxe6 fxe6 19.Rhf1 Rxb2 Strongly threatening ...e5. 20.Qf3! e5 is the strong threat. Rb4! 21.Qf7+ 21.e5!= Rxd4 22.Rxd4 Nb3+ Discovered Attack 23.cxb3 Qxd4 24.exd6 Bxd6 25.Kb1 21...Kd8 And now ...Rxd4! would win. 22.Qxg7 Re8 23.Rf7
23.Rf3 keeps fighting. 23...Bd7!-+ 24.Rxe7 But not 24.Qxh7? Qa5 24.Bg2 24...Rxe7 25.Qf6
25...Qa5! 26.Qf8+? 26.Bg2 26...Kc7 Black is clearly winning. 27.Qxe7 27.Nde2 Nxe4 28.Nxe4 Rxe4 29.Qf2 27...Qa3+ 28.Kd2 Rxd4+ Double Attack 29.Ke2 Qxc3 30.Rxd4 Qxd4 31.Qxh7 Nxe4 Weighted Error Value: White=0.93/Black=0.02
0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Pichot,A2548Giri,A27310–12021B96Magnus Carlsen Invitational 20213.1
 
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.0-0 0-0 7.Re1 a6 C54: Giuoco Piano: 4 c3 Nf6, main lines with 5 d4 and 5 d3. 8.h3 Ba7 9.a4 h6 The position is equal. 10.Nbd2 Re8 11.Qc2 Be6 12.Bxe6 Rxe6 13.b4 Qd7 14.Rb1 Rd8 15.b5 Ne7 16.d4 bxa6 is the strong threat. Ng6
17.Nf1N Predecessor: 17.d5 Ree8 18.c4 Rf8 19.Nf1 Bc5 20.Be3 Bxe3 21.Nxe3 b6 22.a5 axb5 23.Rxb5 bxa5 24.Rxa5 1/2-1/2 (88) Svidler,P (2723) -Radjabov,T (2765) chess24.com INT 2020 17...axb5 18.Rxb5 c6 19.Rb3 d5 20.exd5 cxd5 21.dxe5 Ne4 22.Be3 Qxa4 23.Qb2
Strongly threatening Ra1. 23...Bxe3 24.Nxe3 Nc5 25.Rb4 Qe8 White must now prevent ...Nd3. 26.Rd1 Nxe5 27.Nxe5 Rxe5 28.c4?
28.Rbd4= and White is okay. 28...d4!-+ 29.Rxd4 29.Nf1 Na4 30.Qd2 29...Rxe3 Weighted Error Value: White=0.49/Black=0.04
0–1
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
So,W2741Giri,A27310–12021C54Magnus Carlsen Invitational 20215.1

Standings after the second day of the Magnus Carlsen Invitational 2021

Rk.NameRtg.Nt.Pts.n
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
TBPerf.
1
2731
8.0
10
4.00
2965
2
2881
7.5
10
2.50
2908
3
2741
6.5
10
4.00
2840
4
2829
6.5
10
2.50
2825
5
2703
6.0
10
1.50
2805
6
2860
6.0
10
1.50
2791
7
2709
5.0
10
2.50
2733
8
2770
5.0
10
2.00
2727
9
2778
5.0
10
1.50
2717
10
2758
4.5
10
3.50
2702
11
2778
4.5
10
3.00
2705
12
2761
4.0
10
2.00
2668
13
2632
4.0
10
1.50
2681
14
2543
3.0
10
0.00
2577
15
2674
2.5
10
1.50
2550
16
2548
2.0
10
1.00
2502
TBs: Koya, Wins with black, Wins

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Satanick Mukhuty has a background in Mathematics. He is an avid enthusiast of composition chess and is sincerely committed to promoting it around the world. He works for ChessBase India.

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