Tbilisi Rd4: Tomashevsky extends lead

[Event "Tbilisi FIDE Grand Prix"] [Site "Tbilisi GEO"] [Date "2015.02.18"] [Round "4"] [White "Grischuk, A."] [Black "Jobava, Ba"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B12"] [WhiteElo "2810"] [BlackElo "2696"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2015.02.14"] [SourceDate "2015.02.07"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 Nd7 6. O-O Bg6 7. Nbd2 Nh6 8. Nb3 Nf5 9. a4 Rc8 10. a5 {A new move, though it is unclear if it is one that will be repeated often.} Bh5 (10... h5 {was played in Caruana-Tomashevsky from the 2013 Grand Prix in Paris. The Italian won a fantastic game there.}) 11. h3 Bxf3 12. Bxf3 g6 13. Re1 h5 14. Qd3 Bh6 15. Bxh6 Rxh6 {Black's awkward rook placement on h6 means that he will have to spend time to castle artificially. Grischuk will try to use this time to create threats on the queenside/center.} 16. c4 dxc4 (16... Kf8 17. cxd5 cxd5 18. Rac1 {was not to Jobava's liking; it does seem that giving up the c-file and allowing Qb5 is dangerous.}) 17. Qxc4 Kf8 18. Rac1 Ne7 (18... Kg7 {allows a nice breakthrough.} 19. d5 exd5 20. Bxd5 $1 {The bishop is taboo because of the pin down the c-file. White has the big threats of Bxf7 and e6, and Black simply does not have an answer.}) 19. Qc3 Kg7 20. Nd2 $1 {Now that Jobava has no pawn on d5, Grischuk can try to exploit this by transfering his knight from the mediocre position on b3 to the powerful d6 square. Black must be careful of this, but already his defenses are running thin. His rook on h6 is still not helping out, and even if it was his position would be uncomfortable.} Rh8 21. Nc4 Rb8 (21... Nf5 22. Be4 {is not much of an improvement. Once White takes on f5 Black doesn't want to recapture with the g-pawn, because it opens up his king, nor with the e-pawn, because it allows e6 and d5 breaks.}) 22. Be4 a6 23. Red1 Nc8 24. d5 $1 {The right time. If this works, it is clear that Black's position cannot be held together.} cxd5 25. Bxd5 b5 (25... exd5 26. Rxd5 {Black is helpless. The threat is the immediate Rxd7, as a recapture will be met with e6+ and a discovery down the c3-g7 diagonal as well as attacking the queen. If the king retreats White simply has to double rooks on the d-file to regain his knight.}) 26. Bc6 bxc4 27. Rxd7 Qg5 28. Bb7 Ne7 29. Qe3 {The position domination is such that it extends into the endgame. The weakness on the a6 square makes Black's position hopeless, though this is not the only winning continuation.} Qxe3 30. fxe3 Nf5 31. Rxc4 Nxe3 32. Rc6 (32. Rcc7 $1) 32... Rhd8 33. Rxd8 Rxd8 34. Rxa6 Rd1+ 35. Kf2 Nc4 36. b3 $1 Nxe5 37. Rb6 Ra1 38. a6 Kf6 39. Rb5 Ra3 40. Ke2 h4 { With time control reached it is rather obvious that Whtie is winning. He has a bunch of ideas to choose from, including bringing the king to the queenside to kick out the rook from the a-file or simply playing 41.Rb4.} 1-0

[Event "Tbilisi FIDE Grand Prix"] [Site "Tbilisi GEO"] [Date "2015.02.18"] [Round "4"] [White "Mamedyarov, S."] [Black "Tomashevsky, E."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D15"] [WhiteElo "2759"] [BlackElo "2716"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2015.02.14"] [SourceDate "2015.02.07"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 a6 {Tomashevsky's systems with Black are very solid; the Stonewall is one of his favorite openings, but he is also known for his ...a6 Slav (also known as the Chebanenko Slav).} 5. e3 Bf5 {One of the many replies that are possible. Bg4, b5 and e6 have all also been seen.} 6. Be2 h6 7. Bd3 {This very strange move order has, somewhat surprisingly, happened at a high level game already. Carlsen beat Nakamura with this move order before, but it still makes me wonder if "provoking" h6 is beneficial for White.} Bxd3 8. Qxd3 e6 9. O-O Bb4 10. Bd2 O-O 11. b3 (11. Rfd1 { Carlsen-Nakamura, Shamkir 2014.}) (11. Nxd5 Nxd5 12. cxd5 Bxd2 13. Nxd2 cxd5 $11) 11... a5 12. a3 Bxc3 13. Bxc3 Ne4 14. Bb2 Re8 15. Ne5 Nd7 16. Nxd7 Qxd7 { A familiar situation. Black's knight on e4 is not stable because White will always have the f3 push, but even when this happens it is not clear what White's overarching plan is. He does enjoy a little bit of space and in certain cases the bishop on b2 can become active in different diagonals. White's edge is small but rather permanent.} 17. f3 Ng5 18. a4 f6 19. Bc3 Nf7 20. Rad1 b5 $5 {An interesting way of changing the character of the game. Black is threatening to play dxc4 bxc4 b4, so White has to react.} 21. axb5 cxb5 22. c5 {White creates his own passed pawn, but it gives Black a beautiful blockading square for his knight.} b4 23. Be1 Nd8 24. Bg3 Nc6 25. Bd6 (25. Ra1 $1 {was better, preventing the counterplay seen in the game.}) 25... a4 26. bxa4 Rxa4 27. e4 Ra3 28. Qb5 Rea8 29. Rfe1 R8a7 30. f4 f5 $1 {An excellent idea. Even though this gives up the e5 square, it is not relevant as the powerful bishop on e5 will not be able to coordinate with the other White pieces. It is more important to keep the position closed.} 31. exf5 exf5 32. h3 Kh7 33. Kh2 Rb7 34. Qe2 Qf7 35. Rd3 Qg6 36. Red1 Rba7 37. Be5 Na5 {Jumping to c4 always comes with some risk as the c-pawn might become a problem, but for now the queen is keeping an eye on it.} 38. Qe1 $6 (38. Qf3 Nc4 39. Rb1 $11) 38... Qa6 39. Rxa3 bxa3 40. Bd6 Qc8 41. Rb1 $4 {simply put, a blunder. cMamedyarvo overestimates the damage this rook can cause on the eight rank.} a2 42. Rb8 Qd7 {Now the pawn is rolling and there is nothing to stop it.} (42... Qxb8 43. Bxb8 {doesn't quite work.} Ra6 44. Be5 Nb3 45. Qg3 $1 $14 Rg6 46. Qxb3 a1=Q 47. Qxd5) 43. Qa1 {White resigned before Black could execute Qa4 or Nc4, both completely winning.} 0-1