London Rd3: Mamyedyarov beats Giri in spectacular miniature

[Event "FIDE Grand Prix - London 2012"] [Site "London"] [Date "2012.09.23"] [Round "3"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D11"] [WhiteElo "2729"] [BlackElo "2730"] [Annotator "Ramirez, Alejandro"] [PlyCount "41"] [EventDate "2012.??.??"] [EventCountry "ENG"] {Some annotators feel that a game of the day shouldn't be a one sided affair, where a simple mistake in the opening leads to disaster. I am not one of those annotators.} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Qb3 {Not the most topical treatment of the Slav defense, but this move has given Black headaches in the past. Recently, Giri himself tried it against Aronian, but was swiftly crushed. } e6 (4... dxc4 5. Qxc4 Bg4 {is considered to be ok for Black, last time I checked.}) 5. Bg5 (5. g3 {was Giri-Aronian from the Olympiad, a game worth checking out.}) 5... h6 6. Bh4 dxc4 7. Qxc4 b5 8. Qc2 Bb7 9. Nbd2 Nbd7 10. e4 { Not the most common plan, as White usually plays more solidly with e3. Black has tried Qb6 on a few occasions in this position.} Rc8 $2 {If losing a tempo in the opening is a no-no. Losing a tempo in the opening against Mamedyarov is a *big* no no. It's not easy at first to understand why this is a tempo loss, but the fact is that making c5 stronger does nothing if White sacrifices a pawn on d5 anyway. What I'm saying basically is that a6 had to be played immediately, and then c5.} (10... a6 11. Be2 c5 12. d5 (12. dxc5 Bxc5 13. O-O Rc8 $15) 12... Bd6 {and clearly Bd6 is more useful than Rc8.}) (10... Qb6 $5) 11. Be2 a6 12. O-O c5 13. d5 exd5 $2 {Way too happy. Black is busted after this.} (13... Qb6 14. dxe6 Qxe6 {is no one's dream, but Black is holding on in an uncomfortable position. He might have to shed a pawn to finish development.} (14... fxe6 15. e5 $18 {with a decisive threat with Qg6 checkmate if the knight moves!})) 14. e5 g5 15. Bg3 Ne4 16. Nxe4 dxe4 17. Nd2 {Notice how useless Black's Rc8 move was. If White regains the pawn on e4 without any resistance, he will be much better positionally. He has all the targets, a strong e6 break potentially, better development and a solid pawn structure. Black would be nothing but weaknesses and discoordinated pieces. Giri tries to muddle the waters and it blows up in his face really quickly.} h5 18. Nxe4 Rh6 {Covering the e6 square.} (18... h4 {loses to any move a grandmaster would consider.} 19. e6 $1 $18 (19. Rad1 $18) (19. Bg4 $18)) 19. Rad1 Be7 {Any move wins here, but Mamedyarov is exact.} 20. Bxh5 $1 Rxh5 21. e6 $1 {And it's all over. Once Black loses his knight he will be totally lost and with even material. Giri decided he didn't want more agony.} (21. e6 fxe6 (21... Bc6 22. exd7+ Bxd7 23. Rd5 {with the deadly threat of Rad1, which is unstoppable.}) 22. Nd6+ Kf8 23. Qg6 {with no real way of defending f7.}) 1-0