Khanty Rd9: Clearer and Clearer

[Event "KM FIDE GP 2015"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2015.05.24"] [Round "9"] [White "Jakovenko, D."] [Black "Gelfand, B."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2738"] [BlackElo "2744"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "3q2kr/3n2p1/8/3PnQ1p/2R5/6PP/PP3PB1/6K1 w - - 0 36"] [PlyCount "35"] [EventDate "2015.05.13"] [SourceDate "2015.02.07"] 36. d6 Rh6 37. Re4 (37. Bd5+ Kh8 38. Ra4 $1 {Threatening Ra8 winning the queen. } Nb6 $8 (38... Rf6 39. Qxh5+ Rh6 40. Qf5 {and now Rf6 is not available due to Rh4.}) 39. Re4 $1 Nxd5 (39... Nbd7 40. Rxe5 Nxe5 41. Qxe5 {with a dominating position, and extra material to boot.}) 40. Rxe5 Nf6 {is too many pawns, and Black's position is bad.} 41. Qd3 $1 $18) 37... h4 38. Rxh4 Rxh4 39. gxh4 Qxh4 40. Bd5+ Kh8 41. Kh1 Qh6 42. f4 g6 43. Qe6 Qf8 $1 {an important resource, for now not losing immediately.} 44. Bb3 $2 (44. fxe5 Qf1+ 45. Kh2 Qf2+ 46. Bg2 Qf4+ $11) (44. h4 $1 {preventing Black's next move.}) 44... g5 $1 45. f5 Nd3 $4 {a miscalculation.} (45... Kg7 $14) 46. Qxd7 Qa8+ 47. Kg1 Nf4 48. Kf2 {there is no perpetual here.} g4 49. hxg4 $4 (49. Kg3 $1 gxh3 50. Qe7 $1 {and Black soon runs out of checks.}) 49... Qg2+ 50. Ke3 Nd5+ $1 {now it is a perpetual.} 51. Kd4 (51. Bxd5 Qd2+ {with a stalemate trick.}) 51... Qf2+ {The knight cannot be taken because of stalemate tricks, but Black isn't giving him a choice.} 52. Kxd5 Qd4+ 53. Kxd4 1/2-1/2

[Event "KM FIDE GP 2015"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2015.05.24"] [Round "9"] [White "Giri, A."] [Black "Jobava, Ba"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C10"] [WhiteElo "2776"] [BlackElo "2699"] [PlyCount "49"] [EventDate "2015.05.13"] [SourceDate "2015.02.07"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. e5 {Jobava had already used this Nc6 line previously in the tournament, though it is definitely not main stream theory.} Bd7 5. Nf3 a6 6. a3 {somehow it feels that the insertion of both prophylactic moves, a3 and a6, favors White.} f6 7. Bd3 fxe5 8. dxe5 Bc5 9. O-O Nge7 10. Ne2 O-O 11. Nf4 {This is all very standard: the White knight goes to f4 where it pressures e6 and prevents exchange sacrifices on f3.} h6 $6 {Weakening the light squares around the king seems very counterintuitive. Jobava might have been worried about potential sacrifices on h7.} (11... Nf5 $1 $13 12. g4 $2 { Doesn't work since the knight does not have to return to e7.} Nh4 $17) 12. c4 { A normal break: here Black never has the option of taking on c4, since it would expose the e6 pawn too much.} Nd4 $1 {An important resource. This eliminates some key pieces for White and activates the bishop.} 13. Nxd4 Bxd4 14. cxd5 Nxd5 15. Nxd5 exd5 16. Bc2 {White's position is slightly preferable: the weaknesses on the light squares will soon start to be felt.} c5 17. Be3 Qb6 $1 (17... Bxe3 18. Qxd5+ Kh8 19. fxe3 {is unplayable for Black.}) 18. Bxd4 cxd4 19. Qd3 Rf5 $2 {This move, however, is just bizarre. Why not use the bishop?} ( 19... Bf5 20. Qb3 Qxb3 21. Bxb3 Rad8 {and White has an edge, but it's hard to convert. Black's pawn that is coming to d3 is annoying and ties up White's pieces. Black has very good hopes of drawing.}) 20. f4 {Now Jobava's pieces just look awkward.} Bb5 21. Qxf5 d3+ {Trickery, but it is insufficient.} 22. Rf2 Rf8 23. Bxd3 $1 (23. Qh3 $2 dxc2 {is not nearly as clear. Black has some threats in this position as compensation for his missing exchange.}) 23... Rxf5 24. Bxf5 Qe3 $2 {Blundering a pawn in a difficult situation.} 25. Be6+ {Now the material difference is too much when Giri grabs on d5. He will eventually managed to consolidate his rooks and make progress. Still, perhaps it's a bit early to resign.} 1-0