Sochi G4: Level game ends in Draw

[Event "World Chess Championship 2014"] [Site "Sochi"] [Date "2014.11.12"] [Round "4"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "*"] [ECO "B40"] [WhiteElo "2863"] [BlackElo "2785"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez, Alejandro"] [PlyCount "94"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] [EventCountry "RUS"] 1. e4 c5 $5 {Already a sharper approach to the game. Carlsen showed excellent understanding in the positional and quiet waters of the Spanish in game two. Anand hits back in his second black game with the Sicilian.} 2. Nf3 e6 {This move indicates that Black will play one of the following, in case of White going 3.d4 (the open Sicilian): 3...cxd4 4.Nxd4 and then: 4...Nc6 which is the Paulsen, 4...a6 with the Kan or 4...Nf6 followed by 5...d6 which is the Scheveningen. Unfortunately we will not know which one Anand had planned until, maybe, the next game Carlsen has white!} 3. g3 {This way of avoiding the theoretical battle has been very popular in the last few years. I go into an in-depth discussion of this variation in my recently released DVD on the Paulsen Sicilian that you can find at the ChessBase Shop.} Nc6 4. Bg2 d5 5. exd5 exd5 6. O-O Nf6 7. d4 Be7 {There are many ways that Black can develop once he plays d5. Some of the more popular ones are as Anand played, but without Nc6, or playing Bd6 and Nge7. This specific variation is a little more rare, but the character of the position should not change.} 8. Be3 (8. Nc3 O-O 9. dxc5 Bxc5 10. a3 $5 {was played in Zvjaginsev-Rublevsky this year. Zvjaginsev is one of the experts on the white side of this variation.}) 8... cxd4 {The first move for which Anand took a small think. It was more or less forced, but he is trying to evaluate how to continue from here. Probably Anand expected 8.Nc3.} 9. Nxd4 Bg4 {Black develops with tempo as it is not trivial to defend the queen. The queen does not want to move, but hardly has a choice.} (9... O-O 10. Nc3 Bg4 11. Qd3 {was Jones-Caruana from the Reykjavik Open from 2012. The move-order difference allows Carlsen to put his knight on d2 rather than on c3, but it does not seem to make a big difference.}) 10. Qd3 (10. f3 {is too ugly to be played, as it locks in the bishop on g2 and weakens the bishop on e3.}) 10... Qd7 11. Nd2 O-O 12. N2f3 Rfe8 13. Rfe1 Bd6 { White has play against the isolated pawn, but in return all of Black's pieces are well placed. He will soon bring his rook to c8 finishing his development comfortably and he has relatively little to worry about in the short-run. He has to keep up some kind of pressure so White doesn't simplify into an endgame where the pawn might be weak.} 14. c3 h6 15. Qf1 $5 {The queen did not feel comfortable on d3 as it was vulnerable to certain knight jumps. He also prepares Bh3 - just in case.} Bh5 16. h3 Bg6 17. Rad1 Rad8 18. Nxc6 bxc6 {With the structure changing to hanging pawns d5 is not nearly as weak, and since the c-file is not open c6 is not a big target. White has to exert pressure on the center quickly or he risks being worse.} 19. c4 Be4 20. Bd4 {A strangely annoying move for Black, and a move that allows White to keep equality.} Nh7 {The knight is ready to jump to g5!} 21. cxd5 Bxd5 (21... cxd5 { looks more natural to me than what Anand played, but there is nothing wrong with Bxd5 either.}) 22. Rxe8+ Rxe8 23. Qd3 Nf8 {Black re-routes the knight. With Anand's passive play the pawn structure will give White an edge, but it is difficult to do much with it. That being said, if anyone can form an initiative out of nothing, it is Carlsen!} 24. Nh4 Be5 25. Bxd5 Qxd5 26. Bxe5 Qxe5 27. b3 {Every trade makes the Black pawn structure more vulnerable.} Ne6 28. Nf3 Qf6 29. Kg2 Rd8 30. Qe2 Rd5 $5 {A little sharp. With the passed pawn on d5 Black will be able to create some counterplay, but a lot of endgames are lost for him because of White's queenside majority which allows him to create an outside passed pawn. A simple pawn endgame, for example, would be lost for Black.} 31. Rxd5 cxd5 32. Ne5 (32. Qe5 $5 {It made a lot of sense to try to trade queens. It is not trivial to calculate the knight endgame, but it doesn't look pleasant.} Qd8 $5 {Might be both more sedate and more reasonable. White retains a very slight edge, but maybe not enough to claim an advantage.} 33. Nd4 $14) 32... Qf5 33. Nd3 Nd4 34. g4 $5 {A great practical decision! Black has three major options, and with the clock ticking this is not always easy. Black can trade queens on e4, trade queens immediately, or retreat.} Qd7 (34... Nxe2 35. gxf5 Nc3 $5 { Because of White's structure Black is probably fine in this position. However, it is still dangerous as White's pawns on the kingside look threatening.} (35... Kf8 $5)) (34... Qe4+ $2 35. Qxe4 dxe4 36. Nc5 $16 {is just bad.}) 35. Qe5 {White gains some space, but Black's pieces are well placed and White's king is now a bit vulnerable, allowing counterplay.} Ne6 {A nice position for the knight. If White ever goes f4-f5 he will be faced with a defenseless king, while if the knight is allowed to stay on e6 it controls many, many key squares.} 36. Kg3 Qb5 37. Nf4 Nxf4 {Not a bad time to trade knights. With White's exposed king the queen endgame will almost inevitably be drawn.} 38. Kxf4 Qb4+ 39. Kf3 d4 $5 {Black sacrifices a pawn, but he hopes the activity of the queen and the passed pawn will give him enough to draw.} 40. Qe8+ Kh7 {With time control reached, Carlsen took a breather to look at his alternatives.} 41. Qxf7 Qd2 $1 {This move is actually forced. Grandmaster Rustam Kasimdzhanov, who is doing live commentary for the www.playchess.com website, mentioned that Anand would find this by process of elimination if nothing else. Rustam has a good feel for Anand's thought process: he was the Indian's second for a long time!} (41... Qc3+ 42. Ke4 d3 43. Qf3 $1 {and White loses his pawn on d3. All he can do is trade it for the one on a2, but he would be simply down one soldier.} Qe1+ 44. Kxd3 Qb1+ 45. Ke3 $16) (41... Qe1 42. Qf5+ Kh8 43. Qd3 {allows an ugly blockade.}) 42. Qf5+ Kh8 (42... Kg8 $2 {is a clear mistake because it allows White's queen to go to e2.} 43. Qd5+ Kh7 44. Qe4+ Kg8 45. Qe2 $1 {And Black has no good way of making progress with the d-pawn, will probably lose it and with it the game.}) 43. h4 {From a practical point of view, Anand is not worried at all that White will win a long endgame, he will be worried however that he gets mated! Carlsen wants to play g5 and g6 which puts real pressure on the stranded king on h8.} Qxa2 44. Qe6 $5 {Carlsen always likes to keep tension in the position. In this case the queen controls many squares, and White is still threatening g5 and g6.} Qd2 {The queen swings to the defense. It is important to note that g5 is covered.} (44... a5 $2 45. g5 a4 (45... hxg5 46. hxg5 a4 47. Qe8+ Kh7 48. bxa4 $18) 46. Qe8+ { is one of the ways that Black gets mated.}) 45. Qe8+ Kh7 46. Qe4+ Kh8 47. Qe8+ Kh7 {A well earned draw from both sides!} *