Gashimov R4: Out-Carlsened

[Event "Vugar Gashimov Memorial 2014"] [Site "Shamkir"] [Date "2014.04.23"] [Round "4"] [White "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B12"] [WhiteElo "2772"] [BlackElo "2760"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "52"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] [EventCountry "AZE"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 c5 6. c3 {Different than Nakamura's approach earlier in the tournament, which was the more traditional 6.Be3} Nc6 7. O-O cxd4 8. Nxd4 {Forcing the pair of Knight's off the board allows White easier play on the kingside, but it removes pieces for Black which is good for him as he lacks space.} Nxd4 (8... Nge7 {has also been tried, though White scores well with the pair of bishops after taking on f5.}) 9. cxd4 Ne7 10. Nc3 Nc6 (10... h6 11. Bb5+ Nc6 12. Bxc6+ bxc6 13. Be3 Be7 {was more than fine for Black in Carlsen-Anand, 2009 (rapid)}) 11. g4 Bg6 12. f4 f5 13. exf6 Qxf6 14. f5 exf5 15. Be3 {A novelty!} (15. Nxd5 Qxd4+ 16. Be3 (16. Qxd4 Nxd4 17. Nc7+ Kd7 18. Nxa8 Nxe2+ 19. Kg2 Nxc1 $19) 16... Qxd1 17. Raxd1 O-O-O $11 {was no advantage for White in Zhigalko, S - Gagunashvili, May 2013}) 15... Bd6 16. Nxd5 Qh4 17. Bf4 Rd8 $1 (17... Bxf4 18. Nxf4 O-O $8 19. Ne6 Rf6 20. Qe1 $1 $14 {Might be a little more pleasant for White.}) 18. Bxd6 Rxd6 19. Nc7+ Kd8 20. Nb5 fxg4 $1 {forcing the draw} (20... Rd7 {was also good} 21. d5 Ne5 $1 22. gxf5 Bf7 23. Nc3 $13 {Is very, very hard to evaluate.}) 21. Nxd6 g3 {White has only one decent way of preventing checkmate. He could take on b7 first, but it doesn't change anything.} 22. hxg3 Qxg3+ 23. Kh1 Qh3+ 24. Kg1 Qg3+ 25. Kh1 Qh3+ 26. Kg1 Qg3+ {Captivating!} 1/2-1/2

[Event "Vugar Gashimov Memorial 2014"] [Site "Shamkir"] [Date "2014.04.23"] [Round "4"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C67"] [WhiteElo "2783"] [BlackElo "2881"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "105"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] [EventCountry "AZE"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 {The Berlin, quite expected.} 9. h3 h6 10. Rd1+ Ke8 11. Nc3 Bd7 12. Bf4 Rd8 13. Ne4 (13. e6 Bxe6 14. Bxc7 Rxd1+ 15. Rxd1 Be7 16. g4 Nh4 $11 { Caruana-Ponomariov, 2013. Clearly Caruana had seen this position before and he comes up with an improvement.}) 13... Be7 14. g4 Nh4 15. Nxh4 Bxh4 16. Kg2 {A very typical Berlin endgame has been reached. White will try to restrain Black's Bishops while advancing his kingside majority, while Black will try to free himself, creat counter-chances and make sure the king-side pawans don't go too far.} Be6 17. f3 b6 18. b3 c5 19. c4 Rd7 20. Bg3 $1 {Forces the bishop back as Black cannot afford to lose his pair of bishops.} Be7 21. Rxd7 Bxd7 22. Nc3 {A normal re-routing now that d5 is weak. However even a knight on d5 is not the end of the World for Black.} Kd8 {This move looks a little strange to me, but then again most moves seem quite strange to me in the Berlin. Putting the king on an open file, protecting the weak c7 pawn with just the king... it seems as if Carlsen underestimated White's tactical possibilities.} (22... c6 23. Ne4 h5 24. Rd1 Be6 25. Bf4 $1 $14 {with the idea of Bg5, and White's a little better.}) (22... h5 23. Nd5 Bd8 24. Rd1 hxg4 25. hxg4 Rh6 {This looked better to me, as Black's position is holding, although it is unclear what his next few moves will be.}) 23. Nd5 Re8 $2 {This is just bad. Now White's tactics are as obvious as they are strong.} 24. Rd1 Kc8 $2 {Carlsen must have, surprisingly, missed White's next move.} (24... c6 25. Nxe7 Rxe7 26. f4 Ke8 27. Bh4 g5 28. fxg5 hxg5 29. Bxg5 Rxe5 30. Bd2 $1 {is clearly better for White, but it offers some hope.}) 25. Nxc7 Rd8 (25... Kxc7 26. e6+ Kc6 27. Rxd7 $18 { is of course winning for White.}) 26. Nd5 Re8 {White's up a pawn, and now Caruana has to show good technique to bring in the full point.} 27. Be1 Bd8 28. Bc3 g6 29. Kg3 b5 30. cxb5 Bxb5 {With this Black's bishops gain scope, but the pawn on c5 is a weakness and White's knight gains the c4 square.} 31. Ne3 Re6 32. f4 {The pawns are rolling, there's very little to stop them.} Ra6 33. Rd2 h5 34. gxh5 gxh5 35. Nf5 Rg6+ 36. Kh2 Bc6 {Carlsen plays for tricks, hoping that his opponent will not be able to cope with the pair of bishops against the exposed King.} 37. Nd6+ Kb8 38. f5 Rg8 39. f6 $1 (39. Nxf7 $6 Bh4 {is a clear example of how things quickly could go wrong, though here White still has the amazing resource} 40. Nh6 Rg5 41. Rd8+ Kc7 42. Rg8 $18) 39... Bb6 40. Nc4 $6 Re8 $6 (40... Bc7 41. Ba5 Bxa5 42. Nxa5 Kc7 43. Nc4 $16) 41. Nd6 Rg8 ( 41... Rf8 {the f7 pawn could not be given away, but this move doesnt actually defend it.} 42. Nxf7 $1 Rxf7 43. e6 Bc7+ 44. Kg1 Rf8 45. f7 Be8 46. Rf2 $1 $18) 42. Nxf7 c4 $1 {Carlsen is playing for his last tricks. Currently the threat is Bg1, checkmate!} 43. h4 (43. Bd4 $4 c3 $19) 43... Rg4 {Black doesn't have a real threat, and Caruana uses this moment to advance his pawns.} 44. e6 Be3 45. Be5+ $1 {Covering the important diagonal with check.} Ka8 (45... Kb7 46. Nd8+ Kb6 47. Nxc6 $18 {and clearly the pawns will not be stopped.}) 46. Rd8+ Kb7 47. Bg3 {A little bit of extra care.} (47. e7 $4 Bg1+ 48. Kh3 Bg2#) 47... c3 48. Rb8+ {not the most precise but this is good enough.} Ka6 49. Rc8 Bd5 50. Rxc3 Bd4 51. Rd3 {An important detail! Capturing either one of the pawns costs Black a piece.} Re4 (51... Bxe6 52. Ng5 Bxf6 53. Rd6+ $1 $18) 52. Rd2 $1 (52. Rxd4 Rxd4 53. Ng5 {also worked.}) (52. Ng5 $2 {messes up the game though.} Re2+ 53. Bf2 Rxf2+ 54. Kg3 Rg2+ 55. Kf4 Rf2+ 56. Nf3 Rxf3+ 57. Rxf3 Bxf6 {and black should lose but it is not trivial again.}) 52... Rxe6 53. Ng5 {Now Black loses decisive material.} 1-0