Shamkir R5: A day of beauty

[Event "Vugar Gashimov Mem 2015"] [Site "Shamkir AZE"] [Date "2015.04.21"] [Round "5.2"] [White "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C84"] [WhiteElo "2791"] [BlackElo "2788"] [PlyCount "89"] [EventDate "2015.04.17"] [SourceDate "2015.02.07"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. Nc3 d6 9. a3 Nb8 {This Breyer idea is common in most Spanish positions. Even though the knight here is not going to defend e5, it will be very useful on c5. } 10. Ng5 $5 {Putting pressure on f7 even seems silly. White might be trying to provoke h6 weakening g6. So was in no mood to oblige, but one does wonder how that could be a bad move.} (10. a4 {was Caruana-So from Wijk Aan Zee this year.} b4 11. Nd5 Nxd5 12. Bxd5 c6 $11) 10... Nc6 {The knight strangely goes back to c6 - the idea is that now Nd4 is possible since the knight went to g5.} (10... h6 11. Nf3 (11. f4 $5 {is another matter entirely, and probably Anand's idea.}) 11... Nbd7 $11) 11. Ba2 Nd4 12. Ne2 {Exchanging the intruder.} Nxe2+ 13. Qxe2 h6 {Initiating the fight! This move is very commital, even though it doesn't appear to be so. White cannot retreat and hope for any kind of advantage, so Anand goes all in.} 14. f4 $5 hxg5 (14... exf4 {is very interesting. I wonder what it is that Anand was planning on doing here... The players did not mention it during the press conference.} 15. Nxf7 (15. Bxf4 hxg5 16. Bxg5 $19) (15. Nh3 $13) 15... Rxf7 16. Bxf7+ Kxf7 17. Bxf4 {doesn't seem sufficient.}) 15. fxg5 Ng4 (15... c6 16. gxf6 Bxf6 17. Be3 {is very pleasant for White.}) 16. g6 {White must have enough for the piece, but there are very important details.} Bg5 $5 (16... d5 $5 17. Bxd5 $1 Bc5+ 18. Kh1 Qh4 19. g3 Qh3 20. gxf7+ $1 {This move is incredibly important.} Kh8 21. Bxa8 {and White wins, as the move Nxh2 is not possible: Qxh2 and the queen is pinned!}) ( 16... Nh6 $5) 17. h3 $1 {Very precise.} (17. Bxf7+ Rxf7 18. gxf7+ Kf8 {is very, very unclear.}) 17... Bxc1 18. Raxc1 Nh6 19. Qh5 $1 {Putting up even more pressure. Black is up a piece but cannot defend comfortably.} Be6 (19... Kh8 20. Rxf7 Rxf7 21. gxf7 {is losing as Rf1 next is unstoppable, followed by simply g4-g5.}) 20. Bxe6 fxe6 21. g4 c6 $6 {Anand thought this was a mistake during the press conference.} (21... Rf4 $1 22. g5 Qf8 {is not as clear as the game continuation.}) (21... Qe7 22. g5 Rxf1+ 23. Rxf1 Rf8 24. gxh6 Rxf1+ 25. Kxf1 Qf8+ 26. Ke2 gxh6 27. Qg4 {is similar to the game.}) 22. Rxf8+ Qxf8 23. Rf1 Qe7 24. g5 Rf8 25. gxh6 Rxf1+ 26. Kxf1 Qf8+ 27. Ke2 $1 {Very important. The king is safest in this position as Black cannot organize his checks properly.} gxh6 {White is obviously better in this position. Black cannot avoid Qg4, h4-h5, creating a protected passed pawn on g6. The only issue is how is White going to break through after that.} 28. Qg4 Qf6 29. h4 d5 {It's hard to suggest a way to hold the position together, and it would take quite a bit of analysis to determine if Black can somehow hold.} 30. h5 d4 31. b4 $1 { This position, however, is quite clear. White will penetrate on the queenside slowly. The pawn structure is such that there are no perpetuals, queen trades are impossible. Anand wraps up with great technique.} Kg7 32. Qf3 Qe7 33. Kd1 Kg8 34. Qf2 Kg7 35. c3 dxc3 36. Kc2 Qc7 37. Qc5 Kg8 38. Qe3 a5 39. Qh3 axb4 40. Qxe6+ Kf8 41. axb4 Qa7 42. Kxc3 Qa3+ 43. Kc2 Qa4+ 44. Qb3 Qa7 45. d4 1-0

[Event "Vugar Gashimov Mem 2015"] [Site "Shamkir AZE"] [Date "2015.04.21"] [Round "5.4"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Kramnik, Vladimir"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D41"] [WhiteElo "2756"] [BlackElo "2783"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "5k2/p2q2p1/1pnP1p1p/2r1p2P/2N1P1b1/P7/BQ3PP1/4R1K1 w - - 0 31"] [PlyCount "10"] [EventDate "2015.04.17"] [SourceDate "2015.02.07"] 31. Nxb6 $1 {A nice move, though it shouldn't give White any advantage, it is the only move to retain equal chances.} axb6 $2 {It's not clear to me what Kramnik missed. He gets into the same variation as Qxd6, but he simply is down a pawn compared to it.} (31... Qxd6 $1 32. Qb3 Be6 33. Qxe6 Qxe6 34. Bxe6 axb6 $11) 32. Qb3 Be6 33. Qxe6 Qxe6 34. Bxe6 Nd4 35. Bg4 {White has a big advantage and went on to win.} Rc6 1-0

[Event "Vugar Gashimov Mem 2015"] [Site "Shamkir AZE"] [Date "2015.04.21"] [Round "5.3"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A05"] [WhiteElo "2863"] [BlackElo "2765"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "107"] [EventDate "2015.04.17"] [SourceDate "2015.02.07"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 b5 3. Bg2 Bb7 4. Na3 a6 5. c4 b4 6. Nc2 e6 7. d4 {This position has, surprisingly, been seen a few times. For example 7...c5 was Lenderman-Abudmalik from last year.} a5 8. O-O Be7 9. d5 Na6 10. Nfd4 Nc5 11. Re1 O-O 12. e4 {It's hard to understand what Black really wanted from this opening. White now has a strong center, more space and no real weaknesses. The strong knight on c5 does not compensate fully for the b7 bishop.} e5 13. Nf5 d6 14. Bg5 {White's pressure on the kingside is very obvious. Black is simply trying to be solid.} Nxd5 $6 {But well, there goes that idea, bring on the fireworks!} (14... Bc8 15. Nxe7+ Qxe7 16. f3 {is unpleasant, but nothing more than that.}) 15. Bh6 $1 gxh6 16. Qg4+ Bg5 17. cxd5 {Black "won" a pawn, but it is double and weak and there is the threat of h4. He must give it back immediately.} Kh8 (17... h5 18. Qxh5 Bc8 $16) 18. h4 Bf6 19. Nce3 (19. Nxh6 { was also strong.}) 19... Bc8 20. Qf3 Bg7 21. Bh3 Rg8 22. Bg4 $1 {I like this maneuver very much. The bishop inches closer to a useful square. The "strong" knight on c5 is not part of the defense! It doesn't have the choice of going back either as it must keep the c-file closed.} Qf6 23. Bh5 Bxf5 24. Nxf5 c6 { counterplay, but not really. Black's pieces on the kingside are a mess.} 25. dxc6 Rac8 26. Qd1 Rxc6 27. Qd5 {It is typical that the side with a space advantage can easily swing his pieces from one side of the board to another without a hitch. The side with the space disadvantage is just stuck.} Rgc8 28. Rad1 Bf8 29. Qxf7 Qxf7 30. Bxf7 {White isn't up material, but his pieces are much better and heh as pressure everywhere on the board.} Na4 31. Re2 Rc1 32. Rxc1 Rxc1+ 33. Kg2 Nc5 34. b3 Rc3 35. Kh3 Nd7 36. Be6 Nc5 37. Bd5 Nd7 38. Ne3 Nf6 39. Be6 Rc5 40. Nc4 Kg7 41. f3 Ne8 42. Rd2 Nc7 43. Bg4 a4 (43... d5 44. Nb6 $1 d4 45. Nd7 Rc3 (45... Rb5 46. f4 $18) 46. Nxe5 {is horrible, so MVL tries desperate measures.}) 44. Nxd6 Bxd6 45. Rxd6 a3 {counterplay against the a2 pawn, maybe?} 46. Bd7 $1 {Extremely precise!} Rc2 47. Bc6 $1 Rxa2 (47... Na6 48. Bd5 Nc5 (48... Nc7 49. Bc4 $18 {Look at the domination over that knight. For example:} Ne8 50. Rd7+ Kf8 51. Rf7+ Kg8 52. Rb7+ Kf8 53. Rxb4 Rxa2 54. Kg4 $18) 49. Rc6 {does not help Black at all.}) 48. Rd7+ Kf6 49. Rxc7 Rc2 50. Rxh7 {The bishop is still tactically defended. Black could win it for a pawn, but it's not a pawn he wants to lose.} Kg6 (50... Rxc6 51. Rxh6+ Kg7 52. Rxc6) ( 50... a2 51. Ra7 Rxc6 52. Rxa2 {and White is just up two pawns.} Rc3 53. Kg4 Rxb3 54. Ra6+ Kg7 55. Rb6 {with an elementary win for a 2800.}) 51. Rc7 Kf6 52. h5 Rc1 53. Rh7 a2 54. Bd5 {now MVL doesn't even get the bishop. What a game!} ( 54. Bd5 a1=Q 55. Rf7+ Kg5 56. Rf5#) 1-0