Gashimov R3: Nakamura Retaliates

[Event "Vugar Gashimov Memorial 2014"] [Site "Shamkir"] [Date "2014.04.22"] [Round "3"] [White "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E20"] [WhiteElo "2772"] [BlackElo "2881"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "1B6/1p1k2N1/p2p1n2/2pPp3/2P1P1b1/P1PB4/3K2n1/8 b - - 0 43"] [PlyCount "40"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] [EventCountry "AZE"] {Black's knights are well placed, especially the one on f6 hitting the e4 pawn. White's bishop seems out of play in b8 but it holds back the king as it will attack d6 permanently and it is not trivial to trap this bishop as it seems relatively untouchable on b8. Black has an interesting choice here: try to trap White's pieces or push for the attack on the pawns.} 43... Ke7 {Magnus goes for the knight on g7, which is doomed.} (43... b5 $5 {The computer suggestion, and maybe a much better way of continuing. A very surprising move for sure and one that I personally would not even consider during the game.} 44. cxb5 axb5 45. Nf5 (45. Bxb5+ {leaves e4 undefended, so the point is revealed:} Kc8 {traps the bishop.} 46. Bxd6 (46. Ba7 Kb7 $19) 46... Nxe4+ $19) (45. Ne6 c4 46. Bc2 Bxe6 47. dxe6+ Kxe6 48. Ba7 Nf4 {Black's a pawn up, but conversion is certainly not trivial, if possible at all.}) 45... Bxf5 46. exf5 Nf4 $1 {still leaves the bishop on a7 stranded.}) 44. a4 $1 Kf7 45. Bxd6 Kxg7 46. Bxe5 {Black's up a piece, but the passed pawns, the pair of bishops and now the stranded knight on g2 give White little to worry about.} Nh4 $2 {This allows Karjakin a clean escape to a draw.} (46... Bf3 47. Bd6 Nxe4+ 48. Bxe4 Bxe4 49. Bxc5 {all these endgames are close to a draw, although Black can obviously push.}) 47. Bg3 Ng6 48. e5 Nd7 49. e6 Nde5 50. Bxg6 Nxg6 51. Bd6 { Now White cannot lose, and Black must hurry up and sacrifice his material back to force the draw.} Kf6 52. Bxc5 Ke5 53. Ke3 Bd1 54. Bb6 Bxa4 55. Bc7+ Kf6 56. Kd4 Ke7 57. c5 Nh4 58. c4 Nf3+ 59. Kc3 Ng5 60. Kb4 Bd1 61. Bg3 Nxe6 62. dxe6 Bf3 63. Bh4+ {A great struggle from both sides.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "Vugar Gashimov Memorial 2014"] [Site "Shamkir"] [Date "2014.04.22"] [Round "3"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B12"] [WhiteElo "2772"] [BlackElo "2760"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] [EventCountry "AZE"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 {The Advanced Variation of the Caro-Kann has gained so much popularity lately, even thought the main variation is also played quite often. Actually it seems like the Panov-Botvinnik attack (3.exd5 and 4.c4) is the only one that is out of fashion.} Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 c5 (5... Nd7 {is more common}) (5... Ne7 {is quickly gaining ground, delaying the c5 advance for a while.}) 6. Be3 Qb6 7. Nc3 {a known pawn sacrifice, Black rarely takes on b2 nowadays.} Nc6 (7... Qxb2 8. Qb1 $1 Qxb1+ (8... Qxc3+ $2 9. Bd2 {and Black is already lost.}) 9. Rxb1 c4 10. Rxb7 {was better for White in Karjakin-Eljanov, 2010 and several other games; most of those were won by White.}) 8. dxc5 {This is not so common, but definitely interesting.} (8. O-O { is the main line.}) 8... Bxc5 9. Bxc5 Qxc5 10. Nb5 Kf8 11. Nbd4 Nge7 12. O-O Be4 13. Re1 Qb4 {The first new move of the game, actually. White has stopped his opponent from castling but Black is in a solid position. His king will find refuge eventually and all his pieces will then be active. On the other hand White has a space advantage in the center and he can focus his attention to any side of the board he wishes.} (13... h6 14. c3 Qb6 15. b3 {Has been played twice by S. Zhigalko, once against Berkes and once against Turov; both games ended in draws.}) 14. a3 Qxb2 {This was not completely necessary.} (14... Qb6 15. Qd2 h6 $13) 15. Rb1 Qxa3 16. Rxb7 {Black gained a pawn and hopes to survive the incoming onslaught. White has obtained open files for his pieces, especially his now powerful rook on b7, and will try to exploit the fact that Black is uncastled.} Bxf3 17. Nxf3 h6 (17... Rb8 {Eliminating the powerful rook on b7 made sense.} 18. Rxb8+ (18. Rc7 Qa5 19. Rd7 Qc3 $1 {Blocking the c-pawn. Now White's position is not so easy to untangle and he has to justify his pawn sacrifice.}) 18... Nxb8 19. c4 g6 20. cxd5 Nxd5 21. Bc4 Qc5 22. Bxd5 Qxd5 {and it seems that Black survives without problems, but he won't be able to hold on to his a-pawn, so the game would probably end in a draw.}) 18. Qd2 g5 $2 {This seems to be a practical mistake. White's attack is clearly going through the kingside; why weaken the position so much?} (18... Rb8 {it was not too late for this move.}) 19. h4 g4 20. Nd4 Qa5 21. c3 Nxd4 22. Qxd4 Nf5 23. Qd2 d4 {Black's position is obvioulsy very loose, and Nakamura thrives in exploiting such situations.} 24. Bxg4 Qxc3 25. Qe2 $1 {Of course keeping the queens is necessary. It is not important how many pawns Black wins if he is going to get checkmated.} Nxh4 (25... Ne7 {is the only move no to lose on the spot, but Black's position is clearly awful.} 26. Bh5 $1 $16) 26. Bh5 Rh7 27. Qe4 Rc8 (27... Rg7 28. Rxf7+ Rxf7 29. Qxa8+ Kg7 30. Re4 $18 {is one of the possible ways of winning.}) 28. Qxh7 Qxe1+ 29. Kh2 Qxe5+ 30. g3 {This puts an end to the checks and White's mating threats cannot be protoected against.} Rc7 (30... Nf3+ 31. Bxf3 $18 (31. Kg2 $1 {is even more accurate, according to the machines.})) 31. Rb8+ Ke7 32. Qxf7+ Kd6 33. Qf8+ (33. Qf8+ Kd5 34. Rb5+ { finishes Black off.}) 1-0