World Championship 01: First fight, first draw

[Event "WCh 2014"] [Site "Sochi RUS"] [Date "2014.11.08"] [Round "1"] [White "Anand, V."] [Black "Carlsen, M."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D85"] [WhiteElo "2792"] [BlackElo "2863"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "95"] [EventDate "2014.11.08"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 $5 {The Grunfeld must be one of the most popular ways of meeting 1.d4 at the top level of chess; however it is not part of the World Champion's common repertoire. It is clear that Carlsen is bringing new things to the table and Anand's team will have to adapt quickly.} 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Bd2 {In the face of an opening that he did not expect, Anand decides to play a variation that is relatively quiet and is far from being a theoretical duel.} Bg7 6. e4 Nxc3 7. Bxc3 O-O 8. Qd2 {This type of Grunfeld focuses on holding the central tension without committing White's pawn to c3, which leaves it vulnerable to the pressure from the g7 bishop. In this case White will rely on his pieces to support his d4 and e4 pawns.} Nc6 {Carlsen played this relatively quickly, but it is a rare line.} (8... c5 {has been seen in many grandmaster games.} 9. d5 e6 10. Bc4 {was the very recent Tomashevsky-Kasimdzhanov from the Grand Prix last month.}) 9. Nf3 {After this move Carlsen went on a 15 minute think. Interestingly, Carlsen this time around has already revealed that his seconds are "the Dane and the Hammer" referring to Nielsen and Hammer. However, many speculated that maybe Nepomniachtchi would help Carlsen, and this line has been played by the Russian player recently.} (9. Ne2 {is also possible but it blocks the development of the f1-bishop.}) 9... Bg4 10. d5 Bxf3 11. Bxg7 {This is a novelty already.} (11. gxf3 Ne5 12. Be2 c6 {Moiseenko-Nepomniachtchi, 0-1 August 2014.}) 11... Kxg7 12. gxf3 Ne5 13. O-O-O c6 (13... Nxf3 $2 {Drops a kn ight.} 14. Qc3+) 14. Qc3 f6 15. Bh3 cxd5 16. exd5 $1 {Anand ruins his structure! To compensate this he now has a strong hold over e6 and will be able to kick out Black's knight from e5. For Black, he will be able to reroute this knight somewhere else that is useful and his structure remains very solid. } (16. Rxd5 Qb6 $17 {starts looking bad for White. His control of the d-file is worthless as long as the knight is stable on e5, since it guards d7. Kicking out t he knight is not an option.} 17. f4 $2 e6 $1 {And the strong threat is Rac8. Black would already be winning.}) 16... Nf7 17. f4 Qd6 { Black's blockade on the dark-squres is keeping his position together. There is no easy way to penetrate and Black will create counterplay if left alone. The idea of pushing the a-pawn down the ranks comes to mind.} 18. Qd4 {A fascinating strategical game. White has a clear clamp on the position, but on the long-term he is worse because of his ruined pawn structure. Practically speaking it seems as if White has the easier time finding moves, but by no means do I think Black is objectively worse. Carlsen whos great resilience in finding passive but solid moves.} Rad8 19. Be6 Qb6 $1 {I like this plan. Anand can now go into an endgame, but that seems counter-intuitive.} 20. Qd2 $6 { This might be turning point. The concession seems natural; give up the good position of the queen on d4 to avoid the queen trade. However It seems that after this White has no good way of continuing.} (20. Qxb6 axb6 21. Kb1 {Even though this might still be far from an advantage, the possibility of quickly going to c7 with the rook and the passive position of the black rooks allow White to have some chances to create problems.} Nd6 22. Rc1 f5 $1 23. Rc7 Kf6 24. Bd7 $1 Ne4 25. Rxb7 {is only slightly unpleasant for Black.}) 20... Rd6 21. Rhe1 (21. Kb1 Nd8 22. Bg4 Nc6 $5 (22... e6 23. Bf3 exd5 24. h4 $5 {This kind of computer idea is hard to play over the board. It is, at least immediately, not c lear to me why White has enough compensation for the pawn. There is some initiative on the queenside but Black's position does look solid.}) 23. h4 Nb4 24. Bf3 Rc8 $132) 21... Nd8 22. f5 Nxe6 23. Rxe6 {Despite White's bind on the e6 square, it is Black that is now better. As soon as he solidifies his e7 pawn he can start working on grinding down White's structure.} Qc7+ (23... Rxe6 24. fxe6 Rc8+ 25. Kb1 Qd6 {is also rather appealing, but it does seem that Black might run out of ideas if the blockade must be preserved.}) 24. Kb1 Rc8 $6 {perhaps letting White establish a rook on e6 is not a good way to push for any advantage.} 25. Rde1 Rxe6 26. Rxe6 Rd8 27. Qe3 Rd7 28. d6 $1 {A tactical way of getting rid of his weakness. Anand is v ery close to equalizing.} exd6 29. Qd4 Rf7 30. fxg6 hxg6 31. Rxd6 {White's structure on f2 and h2 is still somewhat weak, but with his piece activity it does seem as if he should hold comfortably.} a6 32. a3 Qa5 33. f4 {Despite the computer's approval of this move, it is somewhat strange. Why push the f-pawn instead of the h-pawn?} (33. h4 Qf5+ 34. Ka2 Qe5 {perhaps Anand didn't want to deal with another rook endgame, considering how haunted by them he was last year...} 35. Qxe5 fxe5 36. Re6 $11) 33... Qh5 34. Qd2 Qc5 35. Rd5 Qc4 36. Rd7 Qc6 (36... Rxd7 37. Qxd7+ Qf7 {would force the queen to permanently defend the second rank, leaving it as a simple draw.}) 37. Rd6 (37. Rxf7+ Kxf7 38. Qe3 a5 $1 {This would be what we have been calling a "Carlsen position". With the weak structure on the kingside Black has some chances of making progress by bringing in the king, as long as there is no perpetual, but of course with perfect play it should be drawn.}) 37... Qe4+ 38. Ka2 Re7 39. Qc1 a5 {White has no way to improve so Black tightens the noose around White's king ever so slightly. This doesn't have a particular threat in mind, it is simply improving Black's chances.} 40. Qf1 a4 {With time control reached it is clear that the position is nothing but unpleasant for White. He is now passive, has to defend f4, and his king doesn't feel very comfortable.} 41. Rd1 Qc2 42. Rd4 {Black has to set-up some kind of lethal threat to make progress. The main thing is that if he can create real problems to the White king, White might run out of resources to defend both the king and the pawns on the kingside.} Re2 $6 (42... Re3 {The commentary team was very worried about this move appearing on the board. 43... Rxa3+! is a lethal threat.} 43. Qd1 (43. Rd7+ Kf8 44. Rxb7 Rb3 45. Rxb3 axb3+ 46. Ka1 Qxh2 {White's badly placed king and the need to keep the queen on the first rank (or at lest protect the checkmate threats on the first rank) make this an incredibly unpleasant endgame that might just be lost.} 47. Qd1 $1 { immediately threateining perpetuals.} (47. Qd3 Qh1+ 48. Qb1 Qf3 49. Qxg6 Qxf4) 47... Qh3 $1 {A hard move to find, especially from far away.} (47... Qxf4 48. Qd8+ Kg7 49. Qd7+ Kh6 50. Qh3+ Kg5 51. Qxb3 $11) 48. a4 Kg7 49. a5 Qe6 $1 50. Kb1 $1 Qe4+ 51. Kc1 Qxf4+ 52. Qd2 Qf1+ 53. Qd1 Qc4+ 54. Kd2 Qd4+ 55. Ke1 Qe5+ 56. Kf1 Qxb2 57. Qd7+ Kh6 58. Qh3+ Kg5 59. Qe3+ Kf5 60. Qf3+ Ke6 61. Qg4+ Kd6 62. Qf4+ Kd7 63. Qg4+ f5 64. Qa4+ Ke6 65. Qc6+ Ke5 66. Qc7+ Ke4 67. Qc6+ Kd3 68. Qb5+ Kc2 69. Qe2+ Kb1 {And Black has finally run away from the checks.}) 43... Qxd1 44. Rxd1 Rb3 {is very unpleasant as Black's king will march in and once b5 is played the queenside is locked down.}) 43. Rb4 {Now White's defensive set-up also includes pressure against the b7 pawn. Black cannot be careless with his own king.} b5 {Paralyzing White's position, but Anand still has an important resource.} 44. Qh1 $1 {Incredibly important! Now Black's king is under threats of a perpetual.} Re7 45. Qd5 Re1 46. Qd7+ Kh6 47. Qh3+ Kg7 48. Qd7+ 1/2-1/2