Sinquefield 05: Topalov loses, Carlsen resurges

[Event "3rd Sinquefield Cup 2015"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2015.08.27"] [Round "5"] [White "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B92"] [WhiteElo "2816"] [BlackElo "2731"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "84"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [EventCountry "USA"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. Be3 Be6 9. Qd3 {The idea of putting the queen on d3 to support a knight on d5 is common, it hasn't been seen in top level chess in this particular position.} Nc6 10. a3 {preventing Nb4 ideas and preparing Nd5.} d5 $5 {Black breaks through before White can establish his bind. However this doesn't fully equalize just yet.} 11. exd5 Nxd5 12. Nxd5 Qxd5 (12... Bxd5 13. O-O-O {seems dangerous for Black. But perhaps after} (13. O-O $1 $14) 13... Bxg2 $5 {he can get away with capturing the pawn.}) 13. O-O-O Qxd3 (13... Qxg2 {just looks suicidal, even if the computers can navigate the complications.}) 14. Bxd3 O-O-O (14... Bxb3 $6 15. cxb3 O-O {doubles the pawns, but the bishop on the lightsquares is too strong to control.}) 15. Nc5 Bd5 16. c4 {Black doesn't want to give up the pair of bishops, but that means that this bishop must take quite a tour.} Bxg2 17. Rhg1 e4 $1 {An important move.} 18. Be2 (18. Rxg2 exd3 19. Rxg7 Ne5 $11 {is not entirely clear.}) 18... Bf3 19. Bxf3 exf3 20. Rxg7 Rxd1+ 21. Kxd1 Rd8+ 22. Kc1 Ne5 {Black's structure isn't the best, and h7 is hanging, but he has good compensation. His pieces are active and Black's pawn on f3 is annoying.} 23. Ne4 $1 Kd7 (23... Nxc4 24. Rxf7 Re8 $14) 24. Rxh7 Ke6 25. Nd2 Rc8 26. Kc2 (26. Rh6+ $1) 26... Nxc4 27. Nxc4 Rxc4+ 28. Kd3 Rg4 29. h3 Ra4 30. Rh6+ f6 31. Rh7 Ra5 32. Ke4 Rb5 33. Bd4 Bd6 34. Rh6 Be5 35. Bxe5 Rxe5+ 36. Kxf3 Rf5+ {White is up a pawn, but converting it is very difficult black is too active and it is hard to make progress with a weak h-pawn.} 37. Ke2 Re5+ 38. Kf1 Rb5 39. b4 Rd5 40. Rg6 a5 41. bxa5 Rxa5 42. Rg3 Ra4 1/2-1/2

[Event "3rd Sinquefield Cup 2015"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2015.08.27"] [Round "5"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B48"] [WhiteElo "2814"] [BlackElo "2793"] [Annotator "Ramirez alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [EventCountry "USA"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be3 a6 7. Qd2 Nf6 8. O-O-O Be7 9. f4 b5 10. e5 b4 11. Ncb5 axb5 12. Nxb5 Qb8 13. exf6 gxf6 14. Kb1 d5 15. Qf2 {A novelty according to my database, but apparently both players knew this move well.} Ba6 16. Bb6 Bxb5 17. Bxb5 Qb7 18. Rhe1 Rb8 19. Bxc6+ Qxc6 20. Bd4 Ra8 21. b3 Kd7 22. a4 $1 {Giri missed this move in his preparation, a move which seems to be quite strong.} bxa3 23. Rd3 $2 {The players were very critical of this move. Apparently up this point it had all been Nakamura's preparation, but he confused which rook to move!} (23. Re2 $1 Rhc8 {a bizarre thing about this position as that Stockfish gives a comfortable advantage to White... but Komodo thinks Black is better. Just analyzing the position I would say White has the better chances, planning to put his king on a2 and preparing c4. On the other hand, Aronian told me he has a feeling Black is better, so it's pretty confusing.}) (23. c4) (23. Ka2 Rhc8 24. Re2 Bc5) 23... Rhc8 24. Re2 Qb5 $1 {Around this time Nakamura noticed something was wrong: c4 is impossible since the rook is always under attack. As he put it "I don't know what I was doing".} 25. Qf3 Ra6 (25... Rc6 $1 {Was more precise, now f5 fails to} 26. f5 e5 $1 27. Bxe5 a2+ 28. Ka1 fxe5 29. Rxd5+ Rd6 {is the important point. Here the queen is untouchable since a2 is still defended and Rd1 is mate.}) 26. f5 $1 Rac6 (26... e5 27. Bxe5 $18) 27. fxe6+ fxe6 28. Rdd2 a2+ 29. Ka1 (29. Kxa2 {is playable, but strange.}) 29... f5 30. Qe3 (30. g4 $5 fxg4 31. Qxg4 Qxb3 {is a funny draw.} 32. cxb3 Rc1+ 33. Kxa2 Ra8+ 34. Kb2 Ba3+ 35. Ka2 $11) 30... Rg8 31. c4 {Finally with the break through.} dxc4 32. Bc5+ Ke8 33. Bxe7 Kxe7 34. Qh6 Qb6 $1 {Very resourceful from Giri, now this was the only move to draw.} 35. Qxh7+ Kf8 36. Qh4 Ke8 37. Qh5+ {White has nothing better than a perpetual as Black has real threats now.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "3rd Sinquefield Cup 2015"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2015.08.27"] [Round "5"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Grischuk, Alexander"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B13"] [WhiteElo "2765"] [BlackElo "2771"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "60"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [EventCountry "USA"] 1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. e3 $5 {Clever. Aronian comes into the game with a very clear opening preparation. A few players have tried 1.Nf3 c5 2.e4 against Grischuk to trick him into a Sicilian, but Aronian has other thoughts in mind.} Nf6 4. d4 cxd4 5. exd4 d5 6. Nc3 {Suddenly, we are in a Panov Caro-Kann. The positions's are usually very unbalanced.} Bg4 {main line.} (6... e6 {is possible.}) 7. Bg5 $5 {In a position that has been reached thousands of times, Aronian chooses a move that has only been played 19 times in the database. Grischuk sank into deep thought after this.} e6 (7... Ne4 {seems possible, but after} 8. Be3 {it's unclear if the knight is well placed on e4.}) 8. cxd5 exd5 9. Qe2+ {Played very quickly.} Be6 {very natural, but Aronian started thinking after this move. Perhaps he didn't expect it or his preparation was simply not that deep.} 10. Bxf6 gxf6 {Black's pawn structure is shattered, but he has the pair of bishops and White hasn't finished developing yet.} 11. Qc2 Qb6 12. a3 { It almost feels like Aronian's last two moves were too slow.} O-O-O {The king is as safe on the queenside as it will be anywhere else.} 13. Na4 Qc7 14. Bb5 Rg8 {Surprisingly, it is not trivial for White to defend the g2 pawn.} 15. O-O (15. g3 Bh3 {is some trouble, as Bg2 is a difficult threat to parry.}) 15... Bh3 16. Nh4 (16. g3 {was a very interesting idea, sacrificing the exchange} Bxf1 17. Bxf1 {gives White the structural advantage and slightly safer king. However when one plays a game it is clear that an exchange is an exchange, so this cannot be done lightly.}) 16... Rg4 17. Bxc6 bxc6 (17... Rxh4 $5 {leads to other kinds of craziness.} 18. Rac1 bxc6) 18. Qd3 Rxh4 19. gxh3 Qf4 { Getting low on time, Grischuk's hand hovered over his queen for a while before making this move.} 20. Rac1 (20. Qa6+ $1 Kd7 21. Rfe1 $132) 20... Kd7 $1 {A very nice move, preemptively removing the king from the dangerous c-file.} ( 20... Bd6 21. Rxc6+ Kd7 22. Rxd6+ {gives White more than enough compensation for the exchange.}) 21. Rfe1 Bd6 22. Kf1 Qxd4 {Already in severe time pressure, Grischuk manages to win a pawn. However it is very messy and difficult to play precisely here.} 23. Qf5+ Kc7 24. Nc3 Kb7 (24... Qc4+ 25. Ne2 Qb5 $1 {looks too complicated to be played by a human with minutes left and 15 moves to go.}) 25. Ne2 Qe5 (25... Qe4 $1) 26. Qc2 Rc4 27. Qb3+ {Regaining the pawn, Aronian equalizes.} Kc7 28. Rxc4 dxc4 29. Qxc4 Qd5 30. Qxd5 cxd5 1/2-1/2

[Event "3rd Sinquefield Cup 2015"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2015.08.27"] [Round "5"] [White "Topalov, Veselin"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2816"] [BlackElo "2808"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "106"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [EventCountry "USA"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. O-O d6 7. Nbd2 Ne7 8. d4 exd4 9. cxd4 Bb6 10. Re1 Bg4 {a deviation from the Topalov-Nakamura game of round two. Black immediately pressures the center and develops his bishop, instead of improving his knight first.} 11. h3 Bh5 12. Qb3 {White gets out of the pin so that he can improve his knight. Before this happens, Caruana strikes the center.} d5 13. e5 Nd7 {Black would love to install a knight on e6 and start blockading, but he is a bit far away from doing so. On the other hand White hasn't even fully developed yet, so any break on e6 lacks strength.} 14. a4 a5 15. Qd1 {since c5 was weakened by d5, the knight wants to go to b3 instead of the queen.} Nb8 $5 {Interesting remaneuvering, and notice that this knight started on g8! It is now headed to b4.} 16. Nb3 Nbc6 17. Bg5 h6 18. Bh4 Qc8 (18... Bxf3 19. Qxf3 Nxd4 20. Nxd4 Bxd4 21. Qg4 {looks extremely unpleasant. The attack on the kingside isn't easy to parry.}) 19. g4 $1 { Gaining space, kicking out the bishop. White of course has to be worried of weakening the kingside, but Caruana has to prove it.} Bg6 20. Rc1 Bh7 21. Bg3 ( 21. Nc5 {seemed more consistent.}) 21... Nb4 22. Re3 Na2 23. Ra1 Nb4 24. Ne1 { of course, Topalov doesn't want to draw right away.} Nec6 25. Qd2 Qe6 26. Bxc6 $6 {I don't understand this move. White's bishop wasn't the most valuable, but Black's knights were superfluous and White in the future might want to have his bishop to rip apart the blockade on the light squares.} Qxc6 27. Rc3 Qe6 28. Ng2 f6 $5 {Making things sharp. Black starts opening lines for his bishops and pieces.} 29. Nf4 Qd7 30. e6 {"I thought this was a disastrous move" - Fabiano Caruana.} (30. Nh5 $5 f5 31. e6 (31. Bf4 $5) 31... Qxe6 32. Be5 $19) 30... Qe7 31. Re1 f5 $1 {Going for the complications, despite being down on time. Caruana keeps trying to rip apart the kingside.} 32. Nc5 Bxc5 33. Rxc5 c6 {White finds himself without coordination. The threat of g5 is seriously looming.} 34. Rc3 g5 35. Ng2 (35. Nh5 f4 36. Bh2 {looks ugly, but at least doesn't lose material yet.}) 35... f4 36. Nxf4 gxf4 37. Bxf4 Nd3 $1 {Going for the greedy option!} 38. Rxd3 Bxd3 39. Bxh6 Rf3 $1 {Black is up a rook, but White does have three passed pawns and Black's king is exposed} 40. Re3 Rxe3 41. Qxe3 Qh7 $1 {Very precise} (41... Be4 42. f3 Bxf3 43. Qxf3 Qxe6 {Was also a good option as now both kings are under fire.}) 42. f3 Re8 43. h4 Qg6 44. e7 Qd6 {Threatening the pawn on e7 and check on g3. White, of course, cannot afford to trade bishops.} 45. Bf4 Qxe7 $1 {Excellent understanding.} (45... Rxe7 46. Be5 {is more material, but also more complicated.}) 46. Qxd3 Qe1+ 47. Qf1 {forced} Qxf1+ 48. Kxf1 Rf8 49. Be5 Rxf3+ 50. Kg2 Rb3 51. h5 Rxb2+ 52. Kg3 b5 53. axb5 Rxb5 0-1

[Event "3rd Sinquefield Cup 2015"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2015.08.27"] [Round "5"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2853"] [BlackElo "2779"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "111"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [EventCountry "USA"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8. f3 Nbd7 9. Qd2 b5 10. O-O-O Be7 11. g4 b4 12. Nd5 Bxd5 13. exd5 Nb6 14. Na5 Nbxd5 15. Nc4 {Rare but possible. Dominguez used it many years ago to win a game against Predojevic. The idea is that White will seek compensation for his pawn by using the opposite colored bishops to restrain the d-pawn and create an initiative on the light squares.} Nxe3 16. Nxe3 O-O 17. Bc4 Nd7 $1 {After a long thing, this makes sense. The idea is that the knight will remaneuver to a more useful spot, like b6, and make the bishop on c4 uncomfortable.} 18. h4 a5 (18... Nb6 {made more sense, but perhaps So didn't want to allow Qxb4} 19. Qxb4 d5 20. Qa5 $13) 19. g5 Rc8 20. Bd5 Nb6 21. Kb1 Qc7 22. Rhf1 Nxd5 23. Nxd5 Qb7 24. f4 f5 {White retains compensation for the pawn. His strong knight on d5 is untouchable, but a pawn is a pawn.} 25. Qe3 e4 26. h5 $1 {White's advance of this pawn is key. He will make Black's position very uncomfortable as So cannot afford to open up the kingside.} Rc5 27. h6 g6 28. Qb3 {So is in trouble, despite what the engines say. It is unpleasant to find moves and the king is always suffering.} Rf7 29. a4 $1 Bd8 30. Rd4 {putting on the squeeze.} Kf8 31. Rfd1 Rc6 32. Ne3 Bb6 {what else?} 33. Nc4 (33. Rxd6 $1 {was a big move, even if White retains the advantage in the game continuation.} Rxd6 34. Rxd6 Bc7 35. Re6 $1 {The point is as follows:} Bxf4 36. Nd5 Bxg5 37. Qc4 $1 {and the attack becomes too strong.}) 33... Bxd4 (33... Rxc4 34. Qxc4 Qc7 {is no fun for So.}) 34. Nxa5 Qb6 35. Nxc6 Bc5 (35... Qxc6 36. Rxd4 {and all of Black's pawns are falling and the king feels unsafe.}) 36. Qd5 e3 37. a5 $1 Qb5 (37... Qc7 {was better resistance}) 38. Nd8 $1 Ra7 39. Ne6+ Ke8 40. Nd4 $2 (40. Nxc5 $1 {was much stronger} Qxc5 41. Qg8+ Kd7 42. Qxh7+ Kc6 43. Qxg6 {and since e2 is not possible due to Qe8+ and Qxa5 isnt possible due to Qxd5+, Black is just lost.}) 40... Qxa5 41. Qg8+ Kd7 42. Qxh7+ Kc8 43. Qg8+ Kb7 44. c3 bxc3 45. Qb3+ $1 Qb6 46. Qxb6+ (46. Qxc3 $1 {was very strong, though the move in the game should be better for white, Qxc3 seems winning. Black has too many problems to solve and his king is very weak.}) 46... Kxb6 47. bxc3 Bxd4 48. Rxd4 Kc6 49. Kc2 Ra2+ 50. Kd1 Rf2 51. Ke1 {The pawn on h6 is just too strong. Black has no hope to hold.} Kd7 52. Ra4 Ke6 53. Ra8 Rh2 54. c4 Kf7 55. Rb8 Ke6 56. Rg8 1-0