[Event "URS-ch46 First League"]
[Site "Ashkhabad"]
[Date "1978.??.??"]
[Round "16"]
[White "Beliavsky, Alexander G"]
[Black "Timoscenko, Gennadij A"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D83"]
[WhiteElo "2545"]
[BlackElo "2530"]
[Annotator "Bulletin"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "1978.10.??"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "17"]
[EventCountry "URS"]
[EventCategory "10"]
[SourceTitle "MCL"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1999.07.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "1999.07.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bf4 Bg7 5. e3 O-O 6. Qb3 dxc4 (6... a5 $5) 7.
Bxc4 c5 8. dxc5 Qa5 9. Nf3 $6 (9. Qb5 $5) 9... Ne4 $1 10. O-O Nxc5 11. Qc2 Nc6
12. Rac1 Bf5 13. Qe2 Rad8 $15 14. e4 Bg4 15. Nd5 Ne6 16. Bd2 Bxf3 17. Qe3 Qc5
18. gxf3 Bxb2 $6 (18... Bd4 19. Qh6 Qd6) 19. Qxc5 Nxc5 20. Rb1 Bd4 21. Bh6 Bg7
22. Be3 b6 23. Bb5 Nd4 24. Bxd4 Bxd4 25. Nxe7+ Kg7 26. Nc6 Rd7 27. Rfd1 Bf6 28.
Rxd7 Nxd7 29. Nxa7 $10 Ra8 30. Bxd7 Rxa7 31. Bc6 Rxa2 32. Bd5 Rb2 33. Rxb2 Bxb2
34. f4 Bc1 35. f5 Kf6 36. fxg6 fxg6 37. Bc6 Ke5 38. Kf1 Kd6 39. Be8 Kc5 40. Ke2
b5 41. Kd3 b4 42. Bf7 Kd6 43. Bg8 h6 44. Bf7 g5 45. f3 1/2-1/2

[Event "POL-ch 68th"]
[Site "Warsaw"]
[Date "2011.02.15"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Socko, Bartosz"]
[Black "Piorun, Kacper"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D83"]
[WhiteElo "2660"]
[BlackElo "2513"]
[Annotator "CB"]
[PlyCount "107"]
[EventDate "2011.02.12"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "POL"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 140 Extra"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2011.03.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2011.03.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bf4 Bg7 5. e3 O-O 6. Rc1 Be6 7. c5 c6 8. Be2
Nbd7 9. h3 Ne4 10. Nf3 Nxc3 11. Rxc3 f6 12. O-O Bf7 13. b4 a6 14. Bg3 e5 15.
Qd2 Re8 16. a4 f5 17. Nxe5 Nxe5 18. Bxe5 Bxe5 19. dxe5 Rxe5 20. Bf3 Qf6 21. Qd4
Kg7 22. Ra1 Re7 23. Kf1 f4 24. Rd1 fxe3 25. fxe3 Rae8 26. Kf2 Re5 27. b5 axb5
28. axb5 Be6 29. bxc6 bxc6 30. Rb3 Bf5 31. Rb7+ R8e7 32. Rxe7+ Rxe7 33. Ra1 Be4
34. Ra6 Qxd4 35. exd4 Bxf3 36. gxf3 {# The rook ending with material so much
reduced and weaknesses on both sides should be drawish. But there is a huge
difference between achieving a drawish position and scoring a draw when the
game is finished.} Re6 $6 ({Better was} 36... Rc7 {when Black should draw
easily. Afterwards, he can aim at the set-up including his pawns on h5 and g5
and the king on g6, f6 or f5. That kind of play should balance the activity of
both kings and reduce Black's liabilities to the weakness on c6. However, the
white pawn on d4 is also a potential weakness and, in many lines, Black can
built his counter play upon it.}) 37. Ra7+ $1 {An unpleasant check. Black is
now obliged to decide upon his king's position.} Kh6 $6 ({Black felt uneasy
about placing his king at the 8th rank, but it seems that after} 37... Kg8 $5 {
he could draw in a more comfortable way than after the text. Indeed, Black
should be careful about potential activity of the white king. If he is allowed
to enter into g5 or e5, Black is in a serious trouble. However, is not Black
able to exclude the danger? He could take into account the following
suggestion: to place the rook on f6 and move the g pawn to g5. That should
secure sufficient Rf6-Rf4-d4 remedy against any advances of the white king. If
White prevents g6-g5 with h3-h4 (excluding the Kg3-Kh4-g5 penetration), Black
can respond with h7-h5 and send his king to d8. Anyway, your humble reporter
cannot see, how to win with White, if these ideas are followed. Let's look at
some exemplary lines:} 38. Kg3 Rf6 39. Rc7 (39. Kg4 h6 40. h4 Rf7 $1 41. Ra8+
Kg7 42. Rc8 h5+ 43. Kg3 Rf6 44. Rc7+ Kf8 {and Kf8-e8-d8}) 39... g5 40. Kg4 h6
41. Kh5 Kf8 42. Rd7 Ke8 43. Rb7 Kd8 44. Ra7 Rxf3 45. Kxh6 Rxh3+ 46. Kxg5 Rd3
$11 {. It seems that Black is OK regardless of what his opponent might come up
with.}) 38. h4 $1 {Remarkable idea that won the game. Bartosz Socko wants to
imprison his opponent's king. Had he failed to make the text move, Black would
have played 38...g5 and Kh6-g6 with an easy draw.} Rf6 $6 ({Much better was} 
38... g5 $1 39. hxg5+ Kxg5 40. Rxh7 {and despite being a pawn down Black
should be able to hold. A similar rook ending, with the same pawn structure,
was drawn in the 20th game of the Tal-Botvinnik rematch 1961. It seems that
some differences between the two positions do not change the assessment.}) 39.
Kg3 Rf5 $2 ({Black misses the last moment to play} 39... g5 $1 {leading to the
kind of position that was mentioned in the previous comment. After the text he
will play without a king, which must be hopeless.}) 40. Rc7 Rf6 {#} 41. Kg4 {
Zugzwang. Black is obliged to let the white king through.} Re6 42. Kf4 Rf6+ 43.
Ke5 Rf5+ (43... Rxf3 {could not save the game as well, e.g.} 44. Rxc6 Kh5 45.
Rb6 Kxh4 46. c6 Rf8 47. c7 Rc8 48. Kd6 {and White is much faster in queening
his pawns. The text move is aimed at capturing the d4 pawn.}) 44. Kd6 Rf4 45.
Rxc6 Rxd4 46. Rb6 Rc4 ({If} 46... Rxh4 {White could go on with} 47. c6 Rc4 48.
c7 Rxc7 {(the threat was 49.Rc6)} 49. Kxc7 Kg5 50. Kd6 Kf4 51. Kxd5 Kxf3 52.
Ke5 h5 53. Rf6+ $1 Kg3 54. Rxg6+ {winning. By the way, the above line shows
how easy it is to spoil that kind of endgame. If White played 53.Wxg6? 
(instead of 53.Wf6+!), Black could draw after 53...h4!}) 47. Kxd5 ({The
alternative was} 47. c6 Kh5 48. c7 Rxc7 49. Kxc7 Kxh4 {and White can follow
the winning method shown in the previous comment:} 50. Kd6 Kg3 51. Kxd5 Kxf3
52. Ke5 h5 53. Rf6+ $1 Kg3 54. Rxg6+) 47... Rc3 48. c6 Rd3+ ({If} 48... Kh5 {
the most practical solution is} 49. Rb4 {, denying Black any counter play, e.g.
} Rd3+ 50. Ke6 Rxf3 51. c7 Rc3 52. Kd6 Rxc7 53. Kxc7 g5 54. hxg5 Kxg5 55. Kd6
h5 56. Ke5 h4 57. Ke4 Kg4 58. Ke3+ Kg3 59. Rb8 h3 60. Rg8+ Kh2 61. Kf2 Kh1 62.
Rb8 Kh2 63. Rh8 Kh1 64. Rxh3#) 49. Kc4 Rxf3 50. c7 Rf4+ 51. Kd5 Rf5+ 52. Kc6
Rf6+ 53. Kb7 Rf7 54. Rb5 $1 (54. Kb8 {should also win, but still it leaves
some room to go astray and draw. The text move cuts the black king along the
5th rank, killing any counter play. Therefore, Black resigned.}) 1-0

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP"]
[Site "Tashkent"]
[Date "2014.10.27"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Gelfand, Boris"]
[Black "Vachier Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D83"]
[WhiteElo "2748"]
[BlackElo "2757"]
[Annotator "CB"]
[PlyCount "74"]
[EventDate "2014.10.21"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "UZB"]
[EventCategory "21"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 163"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2014.11.11"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2014.11.11"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bf4 Bg7 5. e3 O-O 6. Rc1 c5 7. dxc5 Qa5 8. cxd5
Rd8 9. Bc4 e6 {A new idea by Vachier-Lagrave. Black puts pressure on the d5
pawn with the e-pawn rather than the bishop.} (9... Be6 {has been playaed
before, but without any particular success.}) 10. Nge2 Nxd5 11. Bd6 Nxc3 12.
Nxc3 {White is still retaining his extra pawn, but his position is clearly
quite loose. MVL has a few moves to try to create counterplay.} b5 13. Bd3 (13.
Qf3 Bd7 $1 14. Bb3 $8 Bc6 15. Qf4 Rxd6 $5 16. cxd6 Bxg2 {is very murky. White
emerges up the exchange but his position is not very good, d6 being more of a
weakness than an asset.}) 13... b4 14. Ne4 (14. Nb5 {is the computer's
suggestion, but it is very unclear and more practical tests (and deep
preparation) will be neded to reveal who is better in this position.}) 14...
b3+ 15. Qd2 Qxd2+ 16. Kxd2 bxa2 {The threat of Bxb2 is looming, so White
doesn't have the time to play it slow; he must take a2 immediately.} 17. Ra1
Bb7 18. Rxa2 Bd5 19. Ra4 Nc6 $6 (19... a5 $1 {It was important to not allow
the b-pawn to b4, as it would reinforce the structure too much.}) 20. b4 Ne5
21. b5 (21. Bxe5 Bxe5 22. Ke2 $16) 21... f5 22. Nc3 (22. Ng5 $1 {This precise
computer-like strike was necessary to keep the advantage.} h6 (22... Bxg2 23.
Rb1 Nxd3 24. Kxd3 {here Black doesn't have time to play Rac8.}) 23. Bxe5 Bxe5
24. Nf3 $16 Bxf3 25. gxf3 Rd5 26. Ke2 Rxc5 27. Ra6) 22... Bxg2 23. Rha1 Nxd3
24. Kxd3 Rac8 {White's position is close to collapsing; luckily for him it
hold, even if its barely.} 25. Rc4 Be4+ 26. Ke2 Rxd6 27. cxd6 Rxc4 28. Nxe4
fxe4 $2 (28... Rc2+ $1 29. Kf1 Rc8 $1 {White loses a piece anyways because of
the double attack on e4 and a1.} 30. Nc3 $1 Bxc3 31. Rc1 Kf7 32. d7 $17 {
Black will take d7 for his troubles and emerge up a pawn, though still a lot
of work away from a win.}) 29. d7 Bf6 30. Rxa7 Rc2+ 31. Kf1 {Now both of
White's passed pawns means that MVL has to return the piece, the resulting
endgame gives him no c h ances to win.} Rd2 32. b6 Kf8 33. Ra8+ Ke7 34. b7 Be5
35. b8=Q Bxb8 36. Rxb8 Rxd7 37. Rb4 Kf6 1/2-1/2

[Event "URS-ch11 Final"]
[Site "Leningrad"]
[Date "1939.04.17"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Tolush, Alexander V"]
[Black "Botvinnik, Mikhail"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D83"]
[Annotator "Chekhov,V"]
[PlyCount "74"]
[EventDate "1939.04.16"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "17"]
[EventCountry "URS"]
[SourceTitle "URS-ch"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1999.07.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "1999.07.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bf4 Bg7 5. e3 O-O 6. Rc1 c5 $5 (6... dxc4 7.
Bxc4 Nbd7 8. Nf3 Nb6 9. Bb3 c6 10. O-O $14) (6... c6 $5) 7. dxc5 (7. cxd5 $2
cxd4 8. Qxd4 Nxd5 9. Qxd5 Bxc3+) 7... Qa5 (7... dxc4 $6 8. Qxd8 Rxd8 9. Bxc4
$16) (7... Be6 $1 8. Nf3 Nc6 9. Be2 Ne4 $1 $13) 8. cxd5 Rd8 (8... Ne4 9. Nge2
$1) 9. Qd2 $6 (9. Bc4 $1 Be6 10. b4 Qxb4 11. Qb3 Qxb3 12. Bxb3 Nxd5 13. Nxd5
Rxd5 (13... Bxd5 14. Rd1 e6 15. e4) 14. Bxb8 $1 Rxb8 15. Bxd5 Bxd5 16. Nf3 Bxa2
17. Ke2 $16 {Milic,B-Shaitar,J/YUG/1947/}) 9... Nxd5 10. Bc7 (10. Nxd5 Qxd2+
11. Kxd2 Rxd5+ $17) 10... Qxc7 11. Nxd5 Rxd5 $1 (11... Qd7 12. Rd1 Nc6 (12...
e6 $2 13. Nc7 $1) 13. Qc2 $36) 12. Qxd5 Be6 (12... Bxb2 13. Rc2 Be6 14. Qd2) (
12... Nc6 $5) 13. Qd2 Nc6 14. Rd1 (14. Bc4 Rd8 15. Qc2 Qa5+ 16. Kf1 Rd2) (14.
Rc3 $5 Nb4 (14... Rd8 15. Rd3) 15. Nf3 Rd8 16. Nd4 Bxa2) 14... Rd8 15. Qc1 Qa5+
16. Rd2 Rd5 $1 {[#]} 17. Ne2 (17. Nf3 Rxc5 18. Qb1 Bxa2 19. Qa1 Rc2 20. Bd3
Rxb2 $19) 17... Rxc5 18. Nc3 Bxc3 (18... Rxc3 19. bxc3 Bxc3 20. Bd3 Bxa2 21.
Ke2) 19. bxc3 Rxc3 20. Qb2 Ra3 21. Qb5 Qc3 22. Qb2 Qc5 23. Qb1 (23. Qxb7 Qc1+
24. Ke2 Bc4+ 25. Kf3 Qxd2 26. Bxc4 Ne5+ 27. Kg3 Rxe3+ $1 $19) 23... Bxa2 24.
Rxa2 Qa5+ 25. Rd2 Ra1 26. Bd3 Rxb1+ 27. Bxb1 Ne5 $19 28. Ke2 Qb5+ 29. Bd3 Nxd3
30. Rxd3 a5 31. Rhd1 Qc4 32. Kf3 b5 33. Rd7 b4 34. Ra7 (34. Rxe7 b3 $19 {
/\ a4-a3/}) 34... a4 35. Rd8+ (35. Rxa4 Qc6+) 35... Kg7 36. Rda8 a3 37. g3 Qb5
(37... Qb5 38. Ra5 Qb7+ 39. Ke2 b3 $19) 0-1

[Event "Match Flohr-Euwe +1-0=1"]
[Site "Semmering"]
[Date "1937.09.06"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Euwe, Max"]
[Black "Flohr, Salo"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D83"]
[Annotator "ChessBase"]
[PlyCount "38"]
[EventDate "1937.09.05"]
[EventType "match"]
[EventRounds "2"]
[EventCountry "AUT"]
[SourceTitle "EXT 2017"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2016.10.25"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2016.10.25"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 {1)Bataviaasch Nieuwsblad, 25.9.1937.} Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bf4 Bg7
5. e3 O-O 6. Qb3 dxc4 7. Qxc4 c6 8. Nf3 Be6 9. Qd3 Nd5 10. Be5 Bxe5 11. Nxe5
Nd7 12. Nxd7 Qxd7 13. Be2 Rfd8 14. O-O Qc7 15. Rac1 Qa5 16. a3 Nb6 17. Nb1 Qf5
18. Nd2 Qxd3 19. Bxd3 Bd5 1/2-1/2

[Event "URS-ch28 Final & Zonal"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "1961.01.17"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Petrosian, Tigran V"]
[Black "Kortschnoj, Viktor Lvovich"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D83"]
[Annotator "ChessBase"]
[PlyCount "79"]
[EventDate "1961.01.10"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "19"]
[EventCountry "URS"]
[SourceTitle "URS-ch"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1999.07.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "1999.07.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bf4 Bg7 5. e3 O-O 6. Qb3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 Nbd7 8.
Nf3 Nb6 9. O-O (9. Be2) 9... Nxc4 10. Qxc4 c6 11. Be5 Bh6 $1 12. Rfd1 (12. Bxf6
exf6 13. e4 f5 $1) 12... Be6 13. Qb4 b6 14. Qa4 Qe8 15. Rac1 Nd5 16. Nd2 Qd7
17. Qa3 Rac8 (17... Rfc8) 18. Ne2 a5 $6 (18... Bg4 19. Re1 c5 20. dxc5 $2 Nxe3
$1) (18... Bg4 19. Nf3 Rfd8) 19. Nc4 Qa7 20. b3 Rfd8 (20... c5 $6 21. dxc5 Rxc5
22. Bd4 Rc7 23. e4 Bxc1 24. Rxc1 Rxc4 25. Rxc4 Nf6 26. Rc6 $16) 21. h3 Qa6 22.
Qb2 f6 23. Bg3 Bf7 24. Kh2 Rd7 (24... c5 25. dxc5 Rxc5 26. e4 Bxc1 27. Nxc1 b5
28. Na3 Rxc1 29. Rxc1 Nb4 30. Rc7) (24... Bf8 $5) 25. Nc3 Nxc3 26. Qxc3 Rcd8
27. Rc2 e5 $2 28. Rcd2 e4 (28... exd4 29. Rxd4 Rxd4 30. Rxd4 Rxd4 31. Qxd4 Bxc4
32. bxc4 $16) 29. d5 $1 Bxd5 $138 30. Qxf6 Bg7 31. Qg5 Rf8 (31... a4) (31...
Qa7) 32. Qg4 Rdf7 33. Nd6 Re7 34. Rxd5 $1 cxd5 35. Qg5 Bf6 36. Qxd5+ Kh8 37.
Nxe4 Bg7 38. Nd6 Qa8 39. Qb5 Qa7 40. Nc4 {(time) [Kholmov]} 1-0

[Event "Paris FIDE GP"]
[Site "Elancourt"]
[Date "2013.09.27"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Ivanchuk, Vassily"]
[Black "Grischuk, Alexander"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D83"]
[WhiteElo "2731"]
[BlackElo "2785"]
[Annotator "ChessBase Website"]
[PlyCount "62"]
[EventDate "2013.09.22"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "FRA"]
[EventCategory "20"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 157"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2013.11.12"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2013.11.12"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[TimeControl "40/7200:20/3600:900+30"]
[WhiteClock "2:00:00"]
[BlackClock "2:00:00"]

1. d4 {[%emt 0:00:03]} Nf6 {[%emt 0:00:09]} 2. c4 {[%emt 0:00:04]} g6 {[%emt 0:
00:23]} 3. Nc3 {[%emt 0:00:04]} d5 {[%emt 0:00:14]} 4. Bf4 {[%emt 0:00:04]} Bg7
{[%emt 0:00:20]} 5. e3 {[%emt 0:00:04]} O-O {[%emt 0:03:13]} 6. Rc1 {[%emt 0:
02:50] A topical line in the Gruenfeld. The old response...} Be6 {[%emt 0:08:
41]} (6... c5 {has come out of fashion because of} 7. dxc5 Qa5 8. cxd5 Ne4 9.
Nge2 {and White's had amazing results in this variation.}) 7. c5 $5 {[%emt 0:
02:15] 'A move that has already been tried a few times. The idea is to quickly
expand on the queenside while destroying Black's possibility of counterplay on
the center. As a bonus, the move ...Be6 now looks silly. On the other hand
White has to be worried about a quick e5 break.'} c6 {[%emt 0:04:53]} 8. b4 {
[%emt 0:04:11] 'This however is unheard of. White usually develops his pieces
first.'} (8. h3 b6 9. b4 Ne4 10. Bd3 a5 11. Na4 Nd7 12. f3 b5 $1 $13 {
Jumabayev - So, 2012}) 8... Nbd7 {[%emt 0:08:58]} (8... Nh5 {immediately
pursuing the bishop, is also an interesting idea.}) 9. Bd3 {[%emt 0:13:43]} Nh5
{[%emt 0:10:19]} 10. Nge2 {[%emt 0:06:45]} f6 {[%emt 0:14:11] 'Black is trying
to play Bf7 and e5, there is no rush in exchanging on f4 as that bishop is not
going anywhere. The game highly resembles and a6 Slav, except that Black has
not committed to that weakness yet.'} 11. h4 {[%emt 0:13:33]} (11. h3 Nxf4 (
11... f5 12. Bh2 Bf7 13. f4 $13) 12. exf4 Bf7 13. f5 e5 $1 {And Black has
nothing to complain about.}) 11... Bf7 $5 {[%emt 0:06:54] Allowing the bishop
to live, but Grischuk has a specific idea in mind.'} 12. Bh2 {[%emt 0:01:48]}
f5 $1 {[%emt 0:00:11] 'This is the point. Black is going to force e5 in the
next move and obtain more than adequate counterplay. As a possible idea Black
can consider locking the center with e5-e4 and then pushing f4 with proper
preparation, alternatively he can take on d4 and hope to presure down the
diagonal and/or obtain e5 for his pieces.'} 13. f4 $2 {[%emt 0:00:03][%csl Rg4,
Rh2] This move is too anti-positional; the idea of course is to prevent e5,
but White is giving up too many factors to do this.'} Nhf6 {[%emt 0:13:13]
'White's light squares are too weak. If White's pawn was on h3 maybe this
would be acceptable, but Black is clearly better as it is in this situation.'}
14. Bg3 {[%emt 0:07:24]} Ng4 {[%emt 0:01:21]} 15. Qd2 {[%emt 0:02:53]} Ndf6 {
[%emt 0:08:08]} 16. Nd1 {[%emt 0:00:12]} Ne4 {[%emt 0:02:05]} 17. Bxe4 {
[%emt 0:00:06]} dxe4 {[%emt 0:00:16] 'One powerful knight has been destroyed,
but suddenly that bishop on f7 has gained life.'} 18. a4 {[%emt 0:01:16]} b6 {
[%emt 0:15:16] 'Breaking the position open is very natural: White's bishop on
g3 won't play a roll any time soon and the pair of bishops need scope.'} 19. h5
{[%emt 0:00:45]} gxh5 {[%emt 0:05:27]} 20. Bh4 {[%emt 0:01:05]} Bf6 {[%emt 0:
00:10] 'Trading off h4 wasn't necessary, but it's not bad either. White had to
sacrifice a pawn for this and more importantly the g-file is now open for
Black's rooks.'} 21. Bxf6 {[%emt 0:04:06]} Nxf6 {[%emt 0:00:02]} 22. Nf2 {
[%emt 0:00:16]} Kh8 {[%emt 0:01:13]} 23. O-O {[%emt 0:01:01]} Rg8 {[%emt 0:00:
40]} 24. b5 {[%emt 0:00:05]} Rc8 {[%emt 0:04:00]} 25. cxb6 {[%emt 0:08:46]}
Qxb6 {[%emt 0:00:02]} 26. a5 {[%emt 0:00:08]} Qb7 {[%emt 0:01:00]} 27. bxc6 {
[%emt 0:00:10]} Rxc6 {[%emt 0:00:02]} 28. Rxc6 {[%emt 0:00:05]} Qxc6 {[%emt 0:
00:02]} 29. Rc1 {[%emt 0:00:01]} Qa6 {[%emt 0:00:56] 'Black is better in every
sense: He has an extra pawn, better minor pieces, more activity and a safer
king. White's position doesn't need to collapse immediately but it is very
hard to play this.'} 30. Rc5 $2 {[%emt 0:00:36]} Bc4 $1 {[%emt 0:00:47] A
beautiful maneuver that finishes the game.'} 31. Nc3 {[%emt 0:04:57]} Bf1 {
[%emt 0:00:04] 'And suddenly White's g-pawn is defenseless! Of course after
that White's position will collapse and he has no counterplay whatsoever.'} 0-1

[Event "EU-Cup 15th final"]
[Site "Bugojno"]
[Date "1999.10.30"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Sokolov, Ivan"]
[Black "Avrukh, Boris"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D83"]
[WhiteElo "2656"]
[BlackElo "2588"]
[Annotator "Ftacnik,L"]
[PlyCount "62"]
[EventDate "1999.10.29"]
[EventType "team-k.o."]
[EventRounds "3"]
[EventCountry "BIH"]
[SourceTitle "EXT 2020"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2019.10.17"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2019.10.17"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Sarajevo Bosna"]
[BlackTeam "Beer-Sheva Chess Club"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "BIH"]
[BlackTeamCountry "ISR"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bf4 Bg7 5. e3 O-O 6. Rc1 c5 7. dxc5 Be6 8. Nf3
Nc6 9. Ng5 Bg4 10. f3 e5 11. Bg3 (11. cxd5 exf4 12. dxc6 Qe7 (12... Bc8 13.
Qxd8 Rxd8 14. Bc4 Rf8 15. cxb7 Bxb7 16. e4 Nd7 17. b4 {1-0 Kubikova,H-Pavlicek,
P/Prague/1995/ (64)}) 13. e4 Rad8 14. Bd3 bxc6 15. fxg4 Nd7 16. Nxf7 Qxf7 17.
Qb3 Qxb3 18. axb3 Nxc5 19. Bc4+ Kh8 20. O-O Bd4+ 21. Kh1 Rb8 {1/2-1/2 Dorfman,
J-Tukmakov,V/Frunze/1981/ (41)}) 11... d4 12. fxg4 dxc3 13. Qxd8 Rfxd8 14. Rxc3
h6 15. Nh3 {At this moment white posseses two pawn for the disturbed structure
and uncoordinated and underdeveloped pieces. Black's chances are promising.} (
15. Nf3 Ne4 16. Rc1 Nxc5 17. Be2 e4 18. Nd4 Nxd4 19. exd4 Bxd4 20. b3 Be3 {
0-1 Botvinnik,M-Gligoric,S/Tel Aviv/1964/ (78)}) 15... Ne4 16. Rb3 Nxc5 17. Rb5
Bf8 18. Be2 (18. g5 a6 19. Rb6 Na4 {-/+}) 18... a6 19. Rb6 Na4 $1 {
Surprisingly enough white rook is trapped on the queenside.} 20. Rb3 (20. Rxb7
Na5 $1 21. Bd1 (21. Rc7 Bd6 {-+}) (21. Rb3 Nxb3 22. axb3 Nxb2 {-/+}) 21... Nxb7
(21... Rxd1+ 22. Kxd1 Nxb7 {-/+}) 22. Bxa4 Bb4+ 23. Kf1 Rac8 24. Bb3 Na5 {-/+})
20... Bb4+ 21. Kf1 (21. Rxb4 Nxb4 22. Bxe5 f6 $1 23. Bc7 Rd7 24. Ba5 Nc6 {-/+})
21... Nc5 22. Rxb4 Nxb4 23. Bxe5 Ne4 24. Bf3 (24. Bd4 Rac8 $1 25. a4 Nd2+ 26.
Kf2 Nxc4 {-/+}) (24. Nf2 Nd2+ 25. Kg1 Nxa2 {-+}) 24... Nd2+ 25. Ke2 Nxc4 {
Black's task becomes technical realisation of a huge advantage.} 26. Bd4 (26.
Bc3 Nxa2 27. Bd4 Rd7 {-+}) 26... Nc2 27. Bc3 (27. Bxb7 Nxd4+ 28. exd4 Ra7 29.
b3 Rxb7 30. bxc4 Rxd4 {-+}) 27... Rd7 28. Nf2 $2 (28. Rc1 N4xe3 (28... N2xe3
29. b3 Re8 30. bxc4 Nxg4+ 31. Kf1 Nxh2+ 32. Kf2 Nxf3 33. gxf3 Rc8 {-/+}) 29.
Be4 Re8 30. Kf3 Nd4+ 31. Kxe3 f5 32. gxf5 gxf5 33. Nf2 Nb5 {-/+}) 28... N2xe3
29. b3 Re8 30. Ne4 (30. bxc4 Nd1+ $1 {-+}) 30... Nd5 31. Rc1 (31. bxc4 Nxc3+ {
-+}) 31... Nd6 (31... Nd6 32. Kd3 Nxe4 33. Bxe4 Nxc3+ {-+}) 0-1

[Event "Sinquefield Cup 7th"]
[Site "Saint Louis"]
[Date "2019.08.28"]
[Round "11"]
[White "Giri, Anish"]
[Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D83"]
[WhiteElo "2779"]
[BlackElo "2774"]
[Annotator "Giri,A"]
[PlyCount "153"]
[EventDate "2019.08.17"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[EventCategory "22"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 192"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2019.10.31"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2019.10.31"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bf4 Bg7 5. e3 O-O 6. Rc1 Be6 {At some point
this has become trendy and it has quickly established itself as the main line
against White's Bf4/Rc1 setups.} 7. c5 {The most principled. The pawn push is
justified by the fact that Black has misplaced his c8 bishop for this
structure. On e6 it disturbs the thematic e7-e5 advance.} (7. Qb3 c5 8. Qxb7 {
Here Black gets excellent play with} Qb6 $1 {but it's important to not include
cxd4 exd4 as my opponent once did against Aronian in Wijk aan Zee, as the c1
rook is going to be protected there.} (8... cxd4 9. exd4 {[%cal Gf4c1]} Qb6 10.
Qxa8 $1)) 7... c6 8. Bd3 b6 9. Na4 {This is a new move, previously White has
only tried the more natural way to reinforce the far advanced c5 pawn with
b2-b4.} Nfd7 {Black has too many alternatives to even mention.} 10. h3 {
I had various options here, but finally settled on this move. I had also
considered queen moves Qd2/Qc2 when I wasn't sure how to evaluate the sequence
10...Bg4!? 11.h3 e5! 12.dxe5 Be6. The moves with the g1 knight would also run
into ...Bg4!? and so I was mainly hesitating between h3 and a3, when after
both Black would probably capture on c5 and then try to develop his b8 knight
and push c5.} bxc5 11. Nxc5 Nxc5 12. Rxc5 Qb6 13. Qc2 Rc8 14. Nf3 Nd7 {I must
confess I underestimated the whole 17...Nc5!? idea and was anticipating mainly
14...Na6.} (14... Na6 15. Bxa6 Qxa6 16. b4 ({or the simple} 16. a3 $5 Bf5 17.
Qc3) 16... Bf5 17. Qc3 {the dark square dominance looks good and Be4xf3 I was
not so much worried about, as eventually my king will sit tight on g2.}) 15.
Rc3 c5 16. O-O (16. b3 {deserved attention, but I still wasn't sure if 17...
Nc5, which my opponent later played, was so great for him.} Nf6 17. O-O cxd4
18. Nxd4 Ne4 {also leads to complications where Black should eventually be
fine.}) 16... c4 17. b3 Nc5 $1 {I sort of saw this move from some point
onwards, but I thought one of the many options I have would give me a pleasant
position. Upon a closer look, I dismissed all of them and had come to the
realization that Black is just fine.} ({Before I noticed the move in the game
I was mainly anticipating} 17... cxd3 18. Rxc8+ Nf8 19. Rxf8+ Bxf8 20. Qxd3 Rc8
{with some compensation for the pawn, but obviously such a scenario didn't
worry me much. It is a pawn after all.}) 18. bxc4 (18. dxc5 cxd3 19. cxb6 dxc2
{works just fine for Black.}) 18... Nxd3 19. c5 {I wasn't too optimistic here,
but White should not be worse and at least I would have some trumps in the
arising position.} ({Originally I thought the simple} 19. Qxd3 {with idea 19...
dxc4 20.Qc2 would give me a pleasant position, which is likely the case, but
then I realized that trading a pair of rooks will change the situation
dramatically -} Rxc4 $1 {and here allowing a passed c-pawn is no longer a good
idea and so the position is just equal.}) 19... Nxc5 20. dxc5 Qa5 {I was
mostly expecting 20...Qb4 and turns out 20...Qd8!? was a serious move too.} (
20... Qb4 21. Nd4 Bxd4 22. exd4 Qxd4 23. Be3 Qe4 24. Qd2 {was my plan when I
thought White has fine compensation for the pawn. The passer combined with
some weak dark squares around black king seemed like a good reason for a
reserved optimism.}) (20... Qd8 $5 21. Nd4 Bxh3 $1 22. gxh3 e5 23. Bxe5 Bxe5 {
and likely some Qg5-Qh5 perp is incoming.}) 21. Nd4 Bd7 $1 {cool move,
originally I thought my opponent would play the hasty Bf5.} (21... Bf5 22. Nxf5
gxf5 23. Rb3 Rxc5 24. Qxf5 Qxa2 25. Rb7 {Here I thought I have excellent
compensation for the pawn, but to be frank I didn't realize how good it was,
as the engine gives a +/- here.} Qc2 26. Qd7 $1) 22. c6 Be8 23. Rc5 {Pretty
much a bailout. I knew my opponent had to win in order to win the tournament,
so I had little doubts this was the right thing to do.} ({I could have played
more ambitiously with} 23. Bg3 e5 24. Nb3 {but I felt with both the knight on
b3 and the bishop on g3 being somewhat passive, I am risking to have my c7
pawn surrounded. It is, however, rea-aa-lly far advanced, so who knows.
According to the engine, the position would still be more or less balanced,
but regardless, it's a total mess.}) 23... Qa6 24. Rxd5 Bxc6 25. Nxc6 Rxc6 26.
Qd2 {The position is pretty equal, but as we still have to make some moves,
mine are slightly easier to make.} Bc3 $6 {A blunder, but fortunately for
Black, the material is so limited, he is still much within the drawing margin.}
(26... h5 $1 {would be easier, with a complete equality.}) 27. Rd8+ $1 Rxd8 (
27... Kg7 28. Be5+ $1 {is the key cheapo that Black must have missed.}) 28.
Qxd8+ Kg7 29. Qxe7 Bf6 $5 {A cool way to defend. The 4 vs 3 endgame on one
wing is a well known draw.} (29... Qxa2 30. Be5+ Bxe5 31. Qxe5+ f6 {is
slightly icky for Black. What Ian does in the game is a classy solution.}) 30.
Be5 Qxa2 31. Ra1 Qe6 32. Bxf6+ Qxf6 33. Qxa7 Rc2 34. Rf1 h5 35. Qb7 Rb2 36. Qd5
Re2 {There is no real way for white to make progress without trading queens,
so I decided while doing it, to at least offer the non-standard 4 vs 3, when
perhaps it is slightly less obvious for Black how to defend. However, as I
realized later, it wasn't a particularly challenging version of a 4 vs 3
either.} 37. Qf3 $5 Qxf3 38. gxf3 Ra2 39. Rd1 Ra5 40. Kg2 Rg5+ 41. Kh2 Rf5 42.
f4 Ra5 43. Kg3 Ra2 44. Rd5 f5 {I should have probably not allowed this and
started with e4 earlier somewhere. Anyway, the margin for a draw in this
endgame is enormous.} 45. Kf3 Kf6 46. Rd6+ Kg7 47. Rd1 Kf6 48. Re1 Rb2 49. Re2
Rb1 50. Kg3 Rg1+ 51. Kh2 Ra1 52. Rb2 Rc1 53. Ra2 Rb1 54. Kg2 Re1 55. Rb2 Kg7
56. Kf3 Kf6 57. Re2 Rg1 58. Rd2 {I got in a clumsy situation once Black stops
me from even pushing f3-e4. Here Black can just wait endlessly with rook on g1
and only after Ke2 go Rh1. However, allowing f3 is obviously also fine.} Re1
59. Kg2 Kg7 60. Ra2 Kf6 61. Ra3 Kf7 62. f3 Re2+ (62... h4 {is much easier. No
way White can ever do anything here. In fact Black could safely push h4 even
earlier, because even if I pick it up with my rook, the rook will be stuck on
h4 after Kg7.}) 63. Kg3 Kf6 64. Kh4 Re1 (64... Rf2 {was the easiest:} 65. Ra6+
Kg7 66. Kg3 Re2 67. Re6 Kf7 68. Re5 Kf6 {and it's an easy draw.}) 65. Ra6+ Kf7
(65... Kg7 {is much easier too.} 66. e4 fxe4 67. fxe4 {Here Black can try to
be subtle or just go} Rxe4 $5 68. Kg5 Kh7 $1 ({or} 68... Re3 $5 69. Rxg6+ Kf7
70. Rf6+ Ke7) 69. Ra7+ Kg8 {when White can't make any progress:} 70. Kxg6 Rxf4
71. Ra8+ Rf8) 66. Kg5 {Actually, while I realized full well that this should
still be a draw, I was absolutely shocked to get this far. Now the king comes
in and Black needs to calculate a little bit.} Rg1+ 67. Kh6 Rg3 68. Ra7+ Kf6
69. e4 Rxf3 (69... fxe4 70. fxe4 Rxh3 {This is a draw, but not too obvious -}
71. e5+ $1 (71. Ra6+ Kf7 72. Rxg6 Rh4) 71... Kf5 $1 72. Rf7+ Kg4 $1 73. Kxg6
Re3 $1) 70. e5+ Ke6 71. Ra6+ Ke7 72. Ra4 {This is actually a great attempt,
because White's only chance is to keep both his f4 and e5 pawns alive. Black
has to now calm down and start thinking clearly, because the situation is
becoming critical.} Rg3 $4 {The black rook had to keep an eye on the f4 pawn,
and defending g6 had to be done by the king.} 73. Ra7+ Ke6 74. Ra6+ Kf7 75.
Rf6+ Ke7 76. Rxg6 Rxh3 (76... h4 {was a better defense, but actually it is
totally lost too, for example} 77. Ra6 Rxh3 78. Kg5 {and the two passers will
decide, as the h-pawn will be controlled by White's rook from behind.}) 77. Kg5
{A confusing end!} 1-0

[Event "Olympiad-32"]
[Site "Yerevan"]
[Date "1996.09.23"]
[Round "7.1"]
[White "Lalic, Bogdan"]
[Black "Polgar, Judit"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D83"]
[WhiteElo "2565"]
[BlackElo "2665"]
[Annotator "Glatman,V"]
[PlyCount "105"]
[EventDate "1996.09.15"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "14"]
[EventCountry "ARM"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 055"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1996.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "1996.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Croatia"]
[BlackTeam "Hungary"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "CRO"]
[BlackTeamCountry "HUN"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bf4 Bg7 5. Rc1 O-O 6. e3 c5 7. dxc5 Qa5 8. cxd5
Rd8 9. Bc4 Qxc5 (9... Be6 10. e4 Nxe4 11. Nge2 Nxf2 $5 (11... Nxc5 12. O-O Bd7
13. Bg5 $14) 12. Qa4 $1 Qxa4 13. Nxa4 Nxh1 14. dxe6 fxe6 $6 (14... Nc6 $142)
15. Kf1 $1 Rf8 16. Kg1 Nf2 17. Be3 $18) 10. Bb3 (10. Qb3 $5 {Pinter/} a6 11. a4
Nbd7 12. e4 Qa5 13. Bd2 Nc5 14. Qc2 $1 $16) 10... Nc6 11. Nf3 Na5 12. O-O Bg4
13. e4 Qb4 14. Bc7 $1 Bxf3 (14... Nxb3 15. Qxb3 Qxb3 16. axb3 Rd7 17. Bg3 Bxf3
18. gxf3 $16) 15. Bxa5 (15. Qxf3 Nxb3 16. axb3 Rd7 17. Bg3 Qxb3 $10) 15... Qxa5
16. Qxf3 $14 Nd7 17. Qe3 Rac8 (17... Nc5 18. Bc4 (18. e5 Nxb3 19. axb3 Qb4 $132
) 18... Qa3) 18. f4 Qc5 19. Qxc5 Nxc5 20. e5 (20. Bc2 Bxc3 21. bxc3 b6 $16)
20... Nxb3 21. axb3 f6 22. Rce1 (22. e6 f5 23. Rfd1 Rc5 $132) 22... Rc5 23. g3
fxe5 24. fxe5 e6 25. b4 $1 $16 Rc4 26. dxe6 Re8 (26... Rxb4 27. e7 Re8 28. Nd5
Rxb2 29. Nf6+ Bxf6 30. exf6 Kf7 31. Rd1 Rc2 32. Rd8 Rc8 33. Rfd1 $18) 27. Rf7
Rc6 (27... Rxb4 28. Nd5 Rxb2 29. Nf6+ Bxf6 30. exf6 Rb6 31. Rg7+ Kh8 32. f7 Rc8
33. Rg8+ Rxg8 34. fxg8=Q+ Kxg8 35. e7 $18) (27... Rxe6 28. Rxb7 Bxe5 (28...
Rxe5 29. Rxg7+ $18) 29. Kg2 a6 30. b5 a5 31. Ra7 $18) 28. Rxb7 Rcxe6 29. Rxa7
Rxe5 30. Rxe5 Bxe5 31. Kg2 Rb8 32. b5 Bxc3 33. bxc3 Rxb5 34. Kf3 Rc5 (34... Rb3
35. Rc7 Rb2 36. h4 Rd2 37. Ke4 Rg2 38. Kf4 Re2 39. Kg5 Rf2 40. g4 $18) 35. Ra3
Rc4 36. Ke3 h5 37. Kd3 Rg4 38. Rb3 Kf7 (38... h4 39. Rb4 $18) 39. Rb4 Rg5 40.
Re4 $18 Rd5+ 41. Kc2 g5 42. c4 Ra5 43. Kb3 Kf6 44. Re2 h4 (44... Ra8 45. c5 $18
) 45. Kb4 Ra1 46. gxh4 Rb1+ 47. Ka5 Ra1+ 48. Kb6 Rb1+ 49. Kc6 gxh4 50. c5 Kg5
51. Rc2 h3 52. Kd5 Kf6 53. Rc3 1-0

[Event "USA-ch"]
[Site "Saint Louis"]
[Date "2015.04.05"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Holt, Conrad"]
[Black "Troff, Kayden W"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D83"]
[WhiteElo "2530"]
[BlackElo "2532"]
[Annotator "Gormally,D"]
[PlyCount "96"]
[EventDate "2015.04.01"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[EventCategory "16"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 166"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2015.05.11"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2015.05.11"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bf4 Bg7 5. e3 O-O 6. Rc1 c5 7. dxc5 Qa5 ({
Researching this opening with my rather limited knowledge of the Grünfeld 
(despite it being one of my mainstay openings for years, a testament to my
laziness) my investigations lead me to the conclusion that} 7... Be6 $1 {
was perhaps the cleanest equaliser, even if it lacks the "funkiness" of 7...
Qa5.} 8. Nf3 Nc6 9. Be2 Ne4 10. O-O Bxc3 $1 11. bxc3 dxc4 12. Nd4 Qd7 13. Nxe6
Qxe6 {Miralles,G (2472)-Dominguez Perez,L (2753) Rhodes 2013 And Black was
already better due to his superior pawn structure and the fact that the
bishops don't have much to bite on. 7...Be6 seems to do well for Black
according to top level theory, but 7...Qa5 less so.}) 8. cxd5 $1 (8. Nf3 {
is far more common, but according to the stats the move played in the game is
actually the most effective try for White. In fact it scores very well and as
far as I could see Black has yet to find a completely effective antidote to
this approach.  Holt is already establishing a reputation as a keen
theoretician despite his chess career being in its infancy and I'm sure that
he'd have been aware of all this.}) 8... Rd8 (8... Ne4 {doesn't seem to
completely solve Black's problems either. Much to my surprise I even found a
game of my own where I had been steamrollered in this opening taking the Black
side, from the Dos Hermanas Icc Qualifers. Quite how these irrelevant blitz
games find their way into the database is beyond me.} 9. Nge2 Na6 10. Qa4 $1
Qxa4 11. Nxa4 Bd7 12. c6 bxc6 13. dxc6 Nb4 14. Nd4 {Nikolic,P (2633)-Lautier,J
(2596) Monte Carlo 1999, and White was better.}) 9. Bc4 Be6 (9... Qxc5 10. Bb3
Nc6 11. Nf3 Na5 12. O-O Bg4 13. e4 {Lalic,B (2565)-Polgar,J (2665) Yerevan
1996, also gave an edge for White.}) 10. e4 Nxe4 11. Nge2 Nxf2 {Something of a
desperado sacrifice.} (11... Nxc3 12. Nxc3 Bf5 13. O-O Qxc5 14. Qe2 Nd7 15. Nb5
$1 Nb6 16. Nc7 {Timoscenko,G (2530)-Kropik,M (2116) Oberwart 2003, and yet
again Black faced early problems that he was unable to solve.}) 12. Qa4 $1 (12.
Kxf2 $2 Qxc5+) 12... Qxc5 (12... Qxa4 13. Nxa4 Nxh1 14. dxe6 {is clearly
terrible for Black - the knight on h1 will eventually be rounded up and in
such a position the minor pieces are much more effective than the rooks in any
case.}) 13. dxe6 (13. Rf1 {is possible but hardly necessary. Black can invoke
typical Grünfeld tactical complications with} Bd7 $1 14. Qb3 Ng4 15. Qxb7 $2
Qxc4 16. Qxa8 Nc6 $1 17. Qb7 Nb4 {when White's game is already on the verge of
ruin.}) 13... Nxh1 14. exf7+ Kf8 15. Ne4 $1 {Not only preventing mate, but
also bringing a useful attacking unit closer to the black king.} Qb6 16. Bc7 $2
{Getting too fancy. There was no need for this; White should be winning by
simple means.} (16. Qb3 $1 {is fairly effective; getting ready to exchange
queens and then target the black king.}) (16. Qa3 $1 {however is a real killer.
} Nc6 (16... Bxb2 $2 17. Bh6+ Bg7 18. Qc3 {with a terrible attack.} ({the
prosiac} 18. Bxg7+ Kxg7 19. Qxe7 {is also not bad}) 18... e5 19. Qa3+ $18) 17.
Qh3 $1 (17. Be3 $2 {doesn't seem so effective because of the sharp rejoinder}
Bxb2 $1) 17... h5 {what else?} {the dominating} 18. Qe6 $1 {however should get
it done. White is threatening to run rampage on the kingside with Qxg6, and
the only way Black can prevent this is to exchange queens, when he is just
left with a bad position.} (18. Be3 Qb4+ 19. Kf1 Ne5 {seems not so convincing,
especially as} 20. Qe6 {can now be met by} Nxc4 21. Qxc4 Qxc4 22. Rxc4 Rd1#) ({
the bloodthirsty} 18. g4 {looks quite fun but is hardly necessary!} Nd4 (18...
Ne5 $1) 19. gxh5 (19. Ng5 $4 Nc2+ $1) 19... Nxe2 {with a complete mess.}) 18...
Nd4 19. Qxb6 axb6 20. Ng5 $1 {and Black will incur serious material losses.})
16... Qe3 $1 {Now Black gets some serious counterplay of his own.} 17. Bxd8 Nc6
18. Bxe7+ Nxe7 19. Be6 b5 20. Qc2 Nf2 21. Nc5 Rd8 ({Black already had
available the more forcing} 21... Bd4 $1 {which would have forced White to
find the only move} 22. Kf1 $1 Bxc5 (22... Ng4 {is very tempting but perhaps
not as devastating as it looks at first sight.} 23. Ne4 Nxh2+ 24. Ke1 {when a
strong follow up is somewhat lacking while White retains dangerous threats of
his own.} Bb6 25. Qd2 $1 {and White will slowly unravel}) 23. Qxc5 Qxe6 24.
Kxf2 Qxa2 $1 {with dynamic equality} (24... Qxf7+ $6 25. Kg1 {when the black
pieces are awkward.})) 22. Qb3 Nd3+ 23. Nxd3 Rxd3 24. Qxb5 Qd2+ 25. Kf1 Rd8 26.
Bb3 Qxb2 27. Qa5 Qf6+ 28. Ke1 $6 {Rather a strange practical choice. Why keep
the king in the centre where you have to calculate all these crazy variations?}
({Especially as the simple} 28. Kg1 {would have given White a large advantage
with zero risk;} Qb6+ (28... Nf5 $2 29. Nf4 $1 Qd4+ 30. Kh1 {and the knight is
immune due to d8 also hanging}) 29. Qxb6 axb6 30. Nf4 $16) 28... Rb8 29. Qxa7
Qd6 30. g3 Be5 31. Qc5 Qf6 32. Rd1 Rc8 33. Qb4 Kg7 34. Rd7 Kf8 35. Qd2 Nf5 36.
Nf4 Bxf4 37. Qxf4 Qb6 {If White can consolidate his advantage then he will
surely be winning with such a pawn on f7 but with an airy king this is not an
easy task. For the time being though Holt is up to the challenge.} 38. Qf2 $1
Qa5+ (38... Rc1+ 39. Ke2 $1 (39. Rd1 Rxd1+ $1 (39... Qb4+ 40. Qd2 Qe4+ 41. Kf2
$18) 40. Bxd1 Qb4+ 41. Kf1 Qc4+ 42. Kg2 Qc3 {and it's close to a draw as the
knight is so active}) 39... Qb5+ 40. Kd2 {is a neat little sidestep where
White retains his advantage, although all these variations look quite scary
over the board.}) (38... Qb4+ {is also tricky, but as long as White doesn't do
anything stupid then he's completely winning.} 39. Qd2 Rc1+ 40. Kf2 Qc5+ 41.
Kg2 Ne3+ (41... Qg1+ 42. Kh3 Qf1+ 43. Qg2 $18 (43. Kg4 $4 {however is too bold:
} Ne3+ $1)) 42. Qxe3 $1) 39. Qd2 Qb6 40. Kf1 Qb5+ 41. Kg1 Qb6+ 42. Kg2 Ne3+ 43.
Kh3 $4 {A tragedy for Holt.} ({Especially as his hard work would have been
rewarded if he had found} 43. Kf3 $1 Nf5 44. g4 Nh4+ (44... Qc6+ 45. Kf4) 45.
Kg3 g5 46. Qd6+ {with a prosaic win in the ending.} ({but not} 46. Qxg5 $2 Rc3+
47. Kxh4 Qf2+)) 43... g5 $1 {The awful reality must have dawned on Holt at
this point that a game he had been winning for so long had turned around
completely.} 44. Rd6 g4+ 45. Kh4 Nf5+ 46. Kg5 Qxd6 47. Qb2 Nd4 48. Kxg4 Rc5 0-1

[Event "RUS-ch 56th"]
[Site "Krasnoyarsk"]
[Date "2003.09.11"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Khalifman, Alexander"]
[Black "Shipov, Sergei"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D83"]
[WhiteElo "2678"]
[BlackElo "2589"]
[Annotator "Krasenkow,M"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2003.09.03"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 098"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2004.02.03"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2004.02.03"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 {Ftacnik} Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bf4 Bg7 5. e3 O-O 6. Rc1 c5 7. dxc5
Be6 8. Nf3 Nc6 {Quite a rare line nowadays.} 9. Ng5 {The other options are
absolutely harmless for Black:} (9. Qb3 Ne4 10. Be2 (10. Qxb7 Rc8 11. cxd5
Bxc3+ 12. bxc3 Qxd5 13. Qb2 Rfd8 14. Nd4 g5 15. Bg3 Nxc5 16. Nxe6 Qxe6 17. Be2
Ne5 18. Bxe5 Qxe5 19. h4 Qe4 20. O-O Qxh4 $15 {1/2-1/2 Rabrenovic,V-Brezovar,M/
ICCF Email 2000/ICCF tele 9/2002 (54)}) 10... Nxc3 11. bxc3 dxc4 12. Qxb7 Bd5
13. Qa6 Qa5 14. Bxc4 Bxc3+ 15. Ke2 e5 16. e4 Bxe4 17. Qxa5 Bxa5 {1/2-1/2
Borges Mateos,J-Herrera,I/Matanzas 1997/CBM 57 ext (17)}) (9. Nd4 $6 {is quite
poor:} Nxd4 10. exd4 dxc4 11. Be2 (11. Qd2 Rc8 12. Be5 b5 $1 13. cxb6 (13. Nxb5
Ne4) (13. Bxf6 Bxf6 14. Nxb5 Rb8) 13... Qxb6 14. Be2 Rfd8 15. O-O Ne4 $17 {
0-1 Garcia Palermo,C-Sokolov,I/Oakham 1988/TD (27)}) (11. Be5 Bh6 12. Ra1 Ng4
13. Bg3 Bg7 14. d5 Bxc3+ 15. bxc3 Qxd5 16. Be2 Nf6 17. Bf3 Qxc5 18. Bxb7 Rad8
$17 {0-1 Zilber,I-Suetin,A/Minsk 1964/EXT 2003 (33)}) 11... Qd7 (11... Nd5 12.
Nxd5 Bxd5 (12... Qxd5 13. Bf3 Qf5 14. Be3 Bd5 15. Qc2 Bxf3 16. Qxf5 gxf5 17.
gxf3 f4 18. Bxf4 Bxd4 19. Rxc4 Bxb2 20. Ke2 $14 {1-0 Zak,U-Vadasz,L/Bucharest
1993/EXT 97 (33)}) 13. O-O b5 14. cxb6 Qxb6 15. Bxc4 Bxc4 16. Rxc4 Qxb2 17. Qd2
Qxd2 18. Bxd2 Rfd8 $11 {1/2-1/2 Mc Alpine,K-Williams,A/Glasgow 1973/EXT 99 (46)
}) 12. O-O Rad8 13. Be3 Ng4 14. Bf3 Bf5 15. Qa4 Nxe3 16. Qxd7 Rxd7 17. fxe3 Bd3
18. Rfd1 e5 19. d5 f5 20. c6 Rdf7 21. b3 e4 $17 {0-1 Spassov,L-Gufeld,E/
Camaguey 1974/EXT 2000 (56)}) (9. Qa4 $6 Ne4 10. Be2 (10. Nxe4 dxe4 11. Nd2
Bxb2 12. Rc2 Bg7 13. Be2 f5 14. h3 a5 (14... Bd7 $17 {[%cal Ye7e5]}) 15. a3 Ne5
16. Bxe5 Bxe5 17. Qb5 Qc7 18. O-O Ra6 19. Rb1 Rb8 20. c6 Rxc6 21. c5 {1/2-1/2
Visier Segovia,F-Adorjan,A/Las Palmas 1977/EXT 98 (21)}) (10. cxd5 Nxc3 11.
bxc3 Qxd5 12. Be2 Qxc5 $17 {0-1 Sarwinski,M-Jasnikowski,Z/Naleczow 1987/EXT
2001 (80)}) 10... Bxc3+ (10... Nxc5 11. Qb5 Ne4 12. O-O Nxc3 13. bxc3 dxc4 14.
Ng5 Bd7 15. Qxb7 Na5 16. Qc7 e5 $15 {1/2-1/2 Gereben,E-Ribli,Z/Wijk aan Zee
1972/MCD (80)}) (10... Rc8 $143 11. O-O Nxc3 12. bxc3 dxc4 13. Bxc4 Bd7 14.
Rfd1 $36 {1-0 Savon,V-Ujtumen,T/Krakow 1964/EXT 2000 (42)}) 11. bxc3 dxc4 12.
Nd4 (12. O-O Nxc5 13. Qb5 Qa5 14. Bxc4 Qxb5 15. Bxb5 Bxa2 $17 {1/2-1/2 Igney,
V-Riha,A/Seefeld 1998/EXT 2000 (15)}) 12... Bd5 13. Bh6 Re8 14. O-O e5 15. Nf3
Nxc5 16. Qb5 b6 $17 {0-1 Ragozin,V-Botvinnik,M/Leningrad 1940/HCL (40)}) (9. a3
Ne4 10. Nd4 Nxd4 11. exd4 Nxc3 12. bxc3 dxc4 13. Be2 Bd5 14. O-O Qd7 15. Rb1 b6
16. cxb6 axb6 17. Rxb6 Rxa3 18. Qd2 Rb3 19. Rb1 Rc8 20. Bd1 Rxb1 21. Rxb1 Qc6 {
1/2-1/2 Akobian,V-Yermolinsky,A/San Francisco 2002/CBM 92 no vc (21)}) (9. Ne5
Qa5 (9... Nxe5 $5 10. Bxe5 dxc4) 10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. Qa4 Qd8 $6 (11... Qxc5 $11)
12. Be2 dxc4 13. O-O Nd5 14. Rfd1 Qc8 15. Bxc4 Nxc3 16. bxc3 Bxc4 17. Qxc4 $14
{0-1 Andersen,B-Jakobsen,O/Aarhus 1966/MCD (39)}) 9... Bg4 {The main line.} (
9... Qa5 {is also possible:} 10. Be2 {The most accurate move order.} (10. Qa4
Qxa4 11. Nxa4 Bf5 12. Nf3 Rfd8 $44 {1-0 Hvenekilde,J-Moe,M/Vejle 1967/MCL (58)}
) (10. Nxe6 fxe6 11. Be2 (11. Qa4 Qxc5 12. Be2 e5 13. cxd5 exf4 14. dxc6 fxe3
15. Qc4+ Qxc4 16. Bxc4+ Kh8 17. fxe3 bxc6 18. Ke2 Rad8 19. Rcd1 Nd5 20. Nxd5 {
1/2-1/2 Ilivitzki,G-Milev,Z/Sofia 1957/EXT 99 (20)}) (11. Qb3 Qxc5 12. Qb5 Qxb5
13. cxb5 (13. Nxb5 Rac8 14. Be2 a6 15. Nd4 (15. Nc3 $11) 15... Nxd4 16. exd4
dxc4 17. Bxc4 Nd5 $15 {0-1 Farkas,T-Vadasz,L/Bucharest 1993/EXT 97 (34)}) 13...
Nd8 14. Be2 Nf7 15. O-O Rfc8 16. Na4 b6 17. h4 Nd6 18. Rc6 Nfe8 19. Rfc1 Kf7
20. h5 Rxc6 21. hxg6+ hxg6 22. Rxc6 e5 $132 {1/2-1/2 Glyanets,A-Titlianov,Y/
Pavlodar 1991/EXT 97 (39)}) 11... Ne4 12. O-O Nxc3 13. bxc3 Qxc5 14. Qb3 b6 15.
Qb5 Rad8 16. Qxc5 bxc5 17. cxd5 exd5 18. Rfd1 e6 $11 {1-0 Vaitonis,P-Honfi,K/
Munich 1958/MCD (33)}) 10... Rad8 11. Nxe6 fxe6 12. Qa4 (12. O-O $6 d4 13. Nb5
e5 $17 {1-0 Phillips,J-Kuettner,U/The Hague 1961/EXT 2000 (39)}) 12... Qxc5 13.
Qb5 (13. O-O d4 (13... e5 14. cxd5 exf4 15. dxc6 fxe3 16. cxb7 (16. Qc4+ $14)
16... exf2+ 17. Kh1 Qe3 18. Bf3 e5 19. Qc4+ Kh8 20. Nd1 Rxd1 21. Rfxd1 e4 22.
Be2 Nh5 23. b4 Ng3+ {0-1 Dzevlan,M-Eksmyr,J/Sweden 1999/EXT 2000 (23)}) 14.
exd4 Nxd4 15. Rfe1 (15. Be3 a6 $5 $11) 15... Ng4 (15... Nd5 $1 $15) 16. Bg3
Nxf2 17. Bxf2 Rxf2 18. Ne4 Rf1+ $6 19. Kxf1 Rf8+ 20. Bf3 Qh5 21. Rcd1 Be5 22.
Rxd4 Bxd4 23. Nf6+ {1-0 Lopez Martinez,J-Blees,A/Varadero 2000/CBM 76 ext (23)}
) 13... Qxb5 14. cxb5 Nb8 15. O-O Rc8 16. g4 Nfd7 17. Rfd1 Ne5 18. Kg2 Nc4 19.
Bxb8 Nxb2 20. Rd2 Rxc3 21. Rxc3 Bxc3 22. Rc2 Rxb8 23. Rxc3 Nc4 24. Bxc4 Rc8 $11
{1/2-1/2 Markeluk,S-Darcyl,T/Buenos Aires 1990/EXT 97 (31)}) 10. f3 e5 $1 {
The complications started with this move are considered promising for Black.}
11. cxd5 (11. Bg3 $6 {is poor due to} d4 $1 12. fxg4 dxc3 13. Qxd8 Rfxd8 ({or} 
13... Raxd8 14. Rxc3 h6 15. Nf3 Ne4 16. Rb3 Nxc5 17. Rb5 b6 $44 {0-1 Pavlov,
A-Tseitlin,M/St Petersburg 2000/EXT 2001 (59)}) 14. Rxc3 h6 15. Nf3 (15. Nh3
Ne4 16. Rb3 Nxc5 17. Rb5 Bf8 $1 18. Be2 a6 19. Rb6 Na4 $1 20. Rb3 Bb4+ 21. Kf1
Nc5 $19 {0-1 Sokolov,I-Avrukh,B/Bugojno 1999/Inf 77/[Avrukh,B] (31)}) 15... Ne4
16. Rc1 (16. Rb3 $142) 16... Nxc5 (16... Nxg3 17. hxg3 e4 $5) 17. Be2 e4 18.
Nd4 Nxd4 19. exd4 Bxd4 $17 {0-1 Botvinnik,M-Gligoric,S/Tel Aviv 1964/EXT 99 
(78)}) 11... exf4 12. dxc6 Qe7 $1 13. fxg4 (13. e4 Rad8 14. Bd3 bxc6 15. fxg4
Nd7 16. Nxf7 (16. Nh3 Nxc5 17. Nxf4 Be5 18. Nce2 Bxf4 19. Nxf4 Nxd3+ 20. Nxd3
Qxe4+ 21. Qe2 Qd4 $1 $40) 16... Qxf7 17. Qb3 Qxb3 18. axb3 Nxc5 19. Bc4+ Kh8
20. O-O Bd4+ 21. Kh1 Rb8 $15 {1/2-1/2 Dorfman,J-Tukmakov,V/Frunze 1981/URS-ch 
(41)}) (13. Be2 $5 Rad8 14. Qc2 Qxc5 (14... Bc8 $5) 15. Nce4 Qxc2 16. Rxc2 Bf5
17. cxb7 Nd5 18. exf4 Ne3 19. Rc7 Nxg2+ 20. Kf2 Nxf4 21. Rd1 $14 {1-0 Sauberli,
G-Belov,D/IECC 2001/Telechess CBM 87 (41)}) 13... Qxe3+ 14. Be2 (14. Ne2 Rad8
15. Qb3 $4 Qd2+ 16. Kf2 {0-1 Fernandez,J-Schmidt,W/Camaguey 1974/EXT 2000 (16)}
Nxg4+ $19) 14... Nxg4 15. Nh3 $1 $146 {[%mdl 8] This novelty gives White
better chances to successfully parry Black's attack.  Ftacnik: 'Khalifman has
prepared the novelty in a somewhat exotic line of Gruenfeld indian defence.
Black is very active, but he has to find compensation for the whole piece. '} (
15. Rf1 Nxh2 (15... Rad8 $5 16. Qc2 Nxh2) 16. Qd2 Qxd2+ 17. Kxd2 Nxf1+ 18. Rxf1
bxc6 19. Bc4 $13 {_|_1/2-1/2 Sygulski,B-Tomaszewski,R/Gdynia 1985/EXT 2001 (55)
}) 15... Rad8 16. Qc2 Ne5 {Now White step by step parries Black's threats,
keeping an extra piece.} ({The unobvious} 16... Qe7 $1 {[%cal Rg4e3] was
probably better. After} 17. O-O Qxc5+ 18. Kh1 Ne3 {the position remains
unclear.}) (16... f3 {Ftacnik} 17. gxf3 Ne5 18. Kf1 Nxf3 (18... bxc6 19. Nd1
Qh6 20. Nhf2 $18) (18... Rd2 19. Qe4 $18) 19. Bxf3 Qxf3+ 20. Nf2 Qxc6 21. b4
$16) 17. Kf1 {'?' Ftacnik.} (17. c7 $142 {Ftacnik} Nd3+ 18. Kf1 Nxc1 19. cxd8=Q
Rxd8 20. Nd1 Qd2 21. Qxd2 Rxd2 22. Bf3 Nd3 23. Nhf2 $16) 17... Nxc6 {'?'
Ftacnik. Ftacnik: 'Probably a comedy of errors, since in complicated
variations both players have lost their track.'} (17... Rd2 {'!' Ftacnik.} 18.
Qe4 (18. Qb1 $2 {Ftacnik} f3 19. gxf3 Rxe2 20. Nxe2 Qxf3+ 21. Kg1 (21. Nf2 Ng4
$19) 21... Qxe2 $19) 18... Rxe2 {Ftacnik} 19. Qxe3 (19. Qxf4 $2 Nd3 20. Qxe3
Rxe3 21. Rb1 Rfe8 $19) 19... Rxe3 20. cxb7 Nd3 (20... Nc6 21. Nb5 Bxb2 22. Rb1
Be5 23. Nd6 $14) 21. c6 (21. Rd1 Nxb2 22. Rc1 Rxc3 23. Rxc3 Bxc3 24. c6 Be5 25.
Ke2 Bc7 $17) 21... Rfe8 22. Ne2 Rxe2 23. b8=Q Nxc1 24. Qd6 Re1+ 25. Kf2 Rxh1
26. c7 Rhe1 27. Nxf4 $13) 18. Rd1 Nd4 19. Qe4 Nf5 {'?!' Ftacnik.} (19... Ne6 $5
{Ftacnik} 20. Qf3 (20. Qxb7 Bxc3 21. bxc3 Rxd1+ 22. Bxd1 Qxc3 23. g3 fxg3 24.
hxg3 Qxg3 25. Nf2 $14) 20... Bxc3 21. bxc3 Rxd1+ 22. Bxd1 Qd2 $16) 20. Rxd8
Rxd8 21. Qxe3 fxe3 22. g4 Nd4 23. Kg2 {Ftacnik: 'White has managed to
consolidate his forces and his chances in the endgame are very promising.'}
Nxe2 24. Nxe2 Rd2 25. Kf3 Rxb2 26. Ng5 Rxa2 27. Rb1 Rc2 (27... Rb2 {was the
last chance but the endgame should be winning for White anyway.}) 28. Rxb7 Be5
29. h3 (29. Nxf7 Bxh2 30. Nh6+ Kh8 31. Nd4 Rxc5 32. Ne6 Rc8 33. Rg7 $1 {
[%cal Rh6f7] was a nicer way to end the game.}) 29... h5 30. Nxf7 hxg4+ 31.
hxg4 Bg7 32. Ng5 Be5 33. Rxa7 Rxc5 34. Ra8+ 1-0

[Event "Miskolc"]
[Site "Miskolc"]
[Date "2004.03.11"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Portisch, Lajos"]
[Black "Nevednichy, Vladislav"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D83"]
[WhiteElo "2573"]
[BlackElo "2548"]
[Annotator "Krasenkow,M"]
[PlyCount "45"]
[EventDate "2004.03.10"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "HUN"]
[EventCategory "12"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 100"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2004.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2004.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bf4 Bg7 5. e3 O-O 6. Rc1 c5 7. dxc5 Be6 8. Nge2
{A rare move.} (8. Nf3 {is the main line.}) 8... Nc6 (8... Qa5 {is also
possible, leading to a theoretical position after} 9. Nd4) 9. cxd5 {Once again
evading the mian line, which arises after} (9. Nd4) 9... Nxd5 (9... Bxd5 10.
Bg5 (10. Qa4 $5) 10... Bc4 11. Qxd8 Rfxd8 {1/2-1/2 Soppe,G-Bronstein,L/San
Luis 1990/EXT 97 (11)}) 10. Nxd5 Qxd5 (10... Bxd5 11. Nc3 Be6 (11... Bxc3+ 12.
Rxc3 Bxa2 13. Qa4 Be6 14. Bd3 Bd5 15. O-O e5 16. Bg3 (16. Bh6 Re8 17. Rd1 $14)
16... Qe7 17. e4 {1/2-1/2 Nickoloff,B-Gravel,S/Toronto 1996/EXT 98 (17)}) 12.
Be2 (12. Qa4 $5) 12... Qa5 13. O-O Rfd8 $11 {1/2-1/2 Heinig,W-Seger,R/Germany
1994/GER-chT (29)}) 11. Qxd5 Bxd5 12. Nc3 Bxc3+ 13. Rxc3 Bxa2 {In the endgame,
despite White's bishop pair, Black easily holds on, due to his strong c6
knight and the better development.} 14. Bb5 (14. b3 Bb1 15. Bc4 {1/2-1/2
Nickoloff,B-Saleh,M/Toronto 1997/EXT 2001 (15)}) 14... Rfd8 15. Ke2 Be6 (15...
Bd5 16. f3 Rd7 17. Rd1 Rad8 18. Ke1 a6 19. Ba4 Be6 20. Rxd7 Rxd7 21. Ke2 f6 22.
Rd3 Kg7 23. Kd2 Rxd3+ 24. Kxd3 h5 25. h4 Bd5 26. e4 Bf7 27. Bc7 Be6 28. Ke3 Bc4
$11 {1/2-1/2 Stempin,P-Schmidt,W/Poznan 1986/EXT 97 (45)}) 16. Rd1 Rxd1 17.
Kxd1 f6 18. f3 g5 19. Bg3 h5 20. h4 g4 21. Ke1 gxf3 22. gxf3 Kf7 23. Bxc6 {
White can't invent anything better but this leads to a dead draw.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "Moscow Petrosian Memorial"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "2014.11.05"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Gelfand, Boris"]
[Black "Grischuk, Alexander"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D83"]
[WhiteElo "2759"]
[BlackElo "2795"]
[Annotator "Krasenkow,M"]
[PlyCount "132"]
[EventDate "2014.11.04"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[EventCategory "20"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 164"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2015.01.15"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2015.01.15"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bf4 Bg7 5. e3 O-O 6. Rc1 Be6 7. c5 {The whole
6...Be6!? line and particularly this continuation (probably too risky for
White as he will hardly be able to hold his outposts in the centre) was
examined in annotations to the stem game Wang Yue - Carlsen (see CBM 133).
White's later attempts to create problems for his rival have been equally
unsuccessful.} c6 8. Bd3 (8. h3 b6 9. b4 Ne4 10. Nf3 (10. Bd3 a5 11. Na4 {
0-1 (63) Jumabayev,R (2525)-So,W (2652) Istanbul 2012} b5 12. Nb6 Ra7 $13)
10... a5 11. Na4 {1-0 (17) Timoscenko,G (2494)-Michalik,P (2330)/Banska
Stiavnica 2006/CBM 113 ext} b5 12. Nb6 Ra7 $13) (8. Nf3 Bg4 9. Qb3 (9. Be2 Nbd7
10. h3 Bxf3 11. Bxf3 Re8 12. O-O e5 13. Bh2 exd4 14. exd4 {0-1 (60) Ghaem
Maghami,E (2582)-Volokitin,A (2638) Dubai 2014} Nf8 $132) 9... b6 10. cxb6 axb6
11. Ne5 Be6 12. Be2 Nfd7 13. Nf3 {1-0 (47) Mastrovasilis,A (2547)-Erdogdu,M 
(2423) Aix-les-Bains 2011} Bg4 $11) 8... Bc8 {A fresh idea. Black's bishop
simply frees the way for his e-pawn without trying to gain anything else. Now,
compared to the positions common for the Chebanenko Defence (1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.
Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 a6 5.c5), he has lost a tempo but his pawn is still on a7, which
enables him to push ...b7-b6, and in the event of c5xb6 - a7xb6. Practice has
seen the following alternatives:} (8... Bg4 9. f3 (9. Qc2 Nfd7 $5 10. Bxb8 $6 (
10. h3 e5 11. Bxe5 Nxe5 12. hxg4 Nxg4 $11) 10... Nxb8 $1 11. h3 Bc8 12. f4 b6
13. Na4 e5 $1 14. dxe5 f6 15. exf6 Qxf6 $40 {1/2 (58) Wang,Y (2736)-Carlsen,M 
(2772) Nanjing 2009 CBM 133 [Krasenkow,M]}) (9. Nge2 $5) 9... Bc8 10. Nge2 Nbd7
11. O-O e5 12. Bg5 Qc7 (12... exd4 $5 13. exd4 Re8 $11 {[%cal Yd7f8,Yf8e6]})
13. b4 Re8 14. Qd2 Nf8 15. Bh4 Nh5 16. g4 Nf6 17. Bg3 N8d7 18. Kg2 Qd8 19. h3
h5 $132 {1-0 (36) Kovalenko,I (2637)-Kulaots,K (2568) Vilnius LTU 2014}) (8...
b6 9. b4 a5 10. Na4 $5 (10. a3 axb4 11. axb4 Na6 12. Bxa6 Rxa6 13. Nf3 bxc5 14.
bxc5 Bg4 15. Qd3 Qa8 16. Ne5 Bf5 17. Qd2 Nh5 $15 {1-0 (44) Zhao,X (2567)-Bok,B
(2560) Wijk aan Zee 2014}) 10... b5 11. Nb6 Ra7 $13) (8... Nbd7 $5 9. h3 (9.
Nge2 Nh5 10. b4 f5 11. Bg3 {1-0 (42) David,A (2588)-Bezemer,A (2351) Belgium
2011} Nxg3 12. hxg3 Bf7 {[%cal Ye7e5]} 13. f4 Nf6 $132) 9... Ne4 (9... Bf5 10.
Bxf5 gxf5 11. g4 $36 {1/2 (40) Krush,I (2455)-Nebolsina,V (2310) Moscow 2010})
10. Nge2 f5 11. O-O Bf7 12. Na4 e5 13. dxe5 Nxe5 14. f3 Nxd3 15. Qxd3 Nf6 $11 {
1-0 (42) Almeida Quintana,O (2576)-Asis Gargatagli,H (2420) Barcelona 2011}) 9.
h3 (9. Nf3 Bg4 {is good for Black despite the loss of time;}) (9. b4 b6 10.
Nge2 Nfd7 11. O-O e5 12. Bg3 a5 13. b5 bxc5 14. bxc6 Nxc6 15. Nxd5 {1/2 (30)
Karner,C (2339)-Kreisl,R (2408) Steyregg AUT 2014} exd4 16. exd4 Nxd4 $13) 9...
Nfd7 $1 {[%mdl 32] The key move of Black's plan.} 10. Nf3 ({To} 10. Bg5 {
(preventing ...e7-e5)} b6 $1 {looks quite timely:} 11. cxb6 (11. b4 a5 12. b5
bxc5 13. bxc6 Nxc6 14. Nxd5 Bb7 $132) 11... axb6 12. Nf3 Ba6 $11) 10... e5 $1 {
This break solves Black's problems.} 11. dxe5 Nxc5 12. Bb1 Nbd7 13. b4 $6 (13.
O-O $142) 13... Ne6 14. O-O (14. Bh2 Ng5 $1 15. Nxg5 Qxg5 16. O-O Qe7 {[%cal
Re7b4,Rd7e5]}) 14... Nxf4 15. exf4 Nb6 $15 {^^} 16. Qd4 (16. Re1 $142) 16... f6
$1 17. b5 Nc4 (17... fxe5 $142 18. Nxe5 (18. fxe5 $4 Rxf3 19. gxf3 Qg5+ 20. Kh1
Bxh3 21. Rg1 Qh5) 18... Nc4 19. bxc6 bxc6 20. Bd3 {- game}) 18. bxc6 bxc6 19.
Bd3 fxe5 20. Nxe5 $6 (20. fxe5 $1 Rxf3 21. Bxc4 $13) 20... Bxe5 $1 {[%mdl 64]}
({A tactical solution, which is better than} 20... Nxe5 21. fxe5 Qb6 22. Ne2
Bd7 $15) 21. fxe5 Nd2 22. Rfd1 (22. Rfe1 Qg5 23. Kh1 (23. Qe3 Nf3+ 24. Kh1 Qh4
25. gxf3 Bxh3 $19 {[%cal Rd5d4] ->}) 23... Nf3 $1 24. gxf3 Bxh3 25. Rg1 (25.
Bf1 Bxf1 26. Rxf1 Rf4) 25... Qh6 $19) 22... Qg5 23. Qe3 $1 (23. Kh1 Nf3 $1 24.
gxf3 Bxh3 $19) (23. Kh2 Bxh3 $1 24. Kxh3 Nf3 $1 ({even better than} 24... Rf4)
25. gxf3 Rxf3+ 26. Kh2 Raf8 $19 {[%cal Rf8f4,Rf3f2]}) 23... Nf3+ 24. Kh1 Qxe3
25. fxe3 Nxe5 {Black has won a pawn...} 26. e4 d4 27. Na4 Rb8 $1 {... and
gladly gives it back!} 28. Bc4+ Kg7 29. Rxd4 $2 {It was better to decline the
offer:} (29. Nc5 Rf2 $140 30. Be6 $1 {- White may survive here.}) 29... Rb4 30.
Nc5 Rf2 31. a3 Rbb2 {[%cal Gb2f2,Gf2g2]} 32. Na4 $1 (32. Bf1 $2 Bxh3) 32...
Bxh3 $1 33. Nxb2 Bxg2+ 34. Kh2 Rxb2 35. Kg3 g5 $17 {Black has two connected
passed pawns and a strong centralised knight for the exchange. It is
practically impossible for White to organise a successful defence.} 36. Rcd1 (
36. Bf1 Bxf1 37. Rxf1 h5 38. Rf5 $140 $6 h4+ 39. Kh3 Rb3+ 40. Kg2 h3+ 41. Kh1
Nf3) 36... h5 37. R4d2 Rxd2 38. Rxd2 Bxe4 $19 39. Re2 h4+ 40. Kf2 Ng4+ 41. Kg1
Nf6 42. Be6 Kg6 43. Re1 Bf3 44. Re5 g4 45. Bf5+ Kh6 46. Bd3 Bd5 47. Bf1 g3 48.
Bh3 Ne4 49. Be6 Nf2 50. Bxd5 cxd5 51. Kg2 d4 52. Rd5 d3 53. a4 a5 54. Kf3 Kg6
55. Rd8 Kf7 56. Rd4 Kf8 57. Rd5 Ke8 58. Rd4 Ke7 59. Rd5 Kf6 60. Rd6+ Kf5 61.
Rd4 Ke6 62. Rd8 Ke5 63. Rd7 h3 $1 64. Kxg3 Ne4+ 65. Kf3 h2 66. Kg2 d2 {[%cal
Re4d6]} (66... d2 67. Rd3 h1=Q+ 68. Kxh1 Nf2+) 0-1

[Event "VISA Nordic GP Final"]
[Site "Gentofte"]
[Date "1999.08.07"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Gretarsson, Helgi Ass"]
[Black "Borge, Nikolaj"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D83"]
[WhiteElo "2521"]
[BlackElo "2426"]
[Annotator "Krasenkow,M"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "1999.08.05"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "DEN"]
[EventCategory "9"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 073"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1999.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "1999.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bf4 Bg7 5. e3 O-O 6. Rc1 dxc4 {This line is
less popular than 6...c5 but quite satisfactory. Of course, Black should play
accurately to equalize.} 7. Bxc4 c5 8. d5 (8. dxc5 Qa5 9. Nf3 {- D 93}) 8... a6
{Black now tries to prepare ...b7-b5.} (8... Qa5 9. Nge2 Nbd7 10. O-O Nb6 $6 {
is not a good plan as after} 11. b3 $1 {[%csl Gc4,Gd5] White strongly controls
the centre (c4 and d5 square) and stays better, e.g.} Rd8 12. e4 e6 13. Bc7 Rd7
14. d6 Ne8 15. Bb5 Nxc7 16. Bxd7 Nxd7 17. dxc7 Qxc7 18. Nb5 Qc6 19. Nd6 $16 {
1-0 Vera,R-Doncevic,D/Roma op 1990 (39)}) 9. a4 Qa5 10. Qb3 {Preventing the
development of the black c8 bishop.} (10. Nge2 {is too passive:} Bd7 $1 {
/\11...b5} (10... Nbd7 {is less convincing:} 11. O-O Ng4 12. e4 Nge5 13. b3 $1
{the same idea that in the previous line} Kh8 14. Bd2 Qd8 15. f4 Nxc4 16. bxc4
e6 17. Rb1 b6 18. e5 Bb7 19. Ng3 Rb8 20. Nge4 $16 {Hoeksema,E-De Greef,H/
Dieren op 1988/1-0 (42)}) 11. d6 (11. Qb3 b5 12. axb5 axb5 13. Bxb5 Bxb5 14.
Qxb5 Qxb5 15. Nxb5 Nxd5) 11... e6 12. Qb3 {preventing ...b7-b5 but only
temporarily} Bc6 13. O-O Nbd7 14. e4 b5 $1 15. axb5 axb5 16. Nxb5 Rfb8 17. Nec3
Nh5 18. Bd2 Bxb5 19. Nxb5 (19. Bxb5 Bxc3) 19... Qxd2 20. Bxe6 Ne5 21. Rxc5 fxe6
22. Qxe6+ (22. Rxe5 Nf4) 22... Nf7 $19 {0-1 Asgeirsson,H-Jensson,E/2nd G
Arason, Hafnarfjordur ICE 1996 (26)}) 10... Nbd7 (10... Ne4 $5 11. Nge2 $6 (11.
Nf3 $1 {is stronger, like in the game}) 11... Nd7 12. Bd3 Nd6 13. O-O Rb8 14.
Rfd1 Ne5 15. Bc2 b5 16. axb5 axb5 17. Ra1 Qb6 18. Ne4 Bg4 $1 19. f3 Bd7 {
0-1 Michenka,J-Fogarasi,T/Ostrava 1993 (31) with an excellent play for Black.})
11. Nf3 $1 {Here the knight is more active than on e2. It controls the e5
square and in future can be transfered via d2 to c4.} Ne4 12. O-O Nd6 13. Be2
Qb4 {The black queen will be very vulnerable here but Black is preparing a
piece sacrifice to gain some fresh air.} (13... Nb6 $5 14. Nd2 Bd7 15. Ra1 Rac8
{[%cal Yc5c4]}) 14. Qc2 Nb6 {This knight has no better square.} 15. Nd2 Bd7 (
15... Bxc3 16. bxc3 Qxa4 17. e4 $36 {yields White a tremendous compensation
for the pawn but Black had some chances to survive.}) 16. Ra1 {[%cal Ya4a5]}
Bf5 17. e4 Nxe4 18. Ncxe4 (18. Ndxe4 Bxc3 19. Qxc3 Bxe4) 18... Nxd5 {As a
consequence of the piece sacrifice, Black has got rid of the white pawn centre.
His bishops are very strong and the white pieces are tied up. But... a piece
is a piece!} 19. Bg5 Rfd8 20. Bf3 f6 $4 {A terrible move closing down the g7
bishop.} ({After} 20... h6 {Black is OK, e.g.} 21. Bh4 (21. Be3 Nxe3 22. fxe3
Rac8 $44) 21... g5 22. Bg3 g4 (22... Rac8 $5) 23. Bd1 (23. Be2 Bxb2 24. Rab1
Nc3 25. Rxb2 Nxe2+ 26. Kh1 Nxg3+ 27. fxg3 Rxd2 28. Qxd2 Qxe4) 23... Rac8 $44)
21. Be3 Nxe3 22. fxe3 Bh6 {This position of the bishop is certainly less
active than g7 (before 20...f6?) - this is the main reason why Black now has
no compensation for the piece and White easily realizes his avantage.} 23. Ra3
$1 Rac8 24. Qc4+ Kg7 25. Rb3 b5 {despair} (25... Qxc4 26. Nxc4 $18) 26. axb5
axb5 27. Qxb4 cxb4 28. Re1 Rc2 29. Nf1 Rc4 30. Ned2 Rc2 31. Rxb4 Bd3 (31...
Rdxd2 32. Nxd2 Rxd2 33. Rxb5 $18) 32. Be4 Rc5 33. Bxd3 (33. Rd4 $18) 33... Rxd3
34. Ne4 Rc4 35. Rxc4 bxc4 36. Kf2 Rb3 37. Re2 Kf7 38. Rc2 Ke6 39. Ned2 Rb4 40.
Nxc4 Kd5 41. Ncd2 1-0

[Event "Nanjing Pearl Spring 2nd"]
[Site "Nanjing"]
[Date "2009.09.30"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Wang, Yue"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D83"]
[WhiteElo "2736"]
[BlackElo "2772"]
[Annotator "Krasenkow,M"]
[PlyCount "115"]
[EventDate "2009.09.28"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "CHN"]
[EventCategory "21"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 133"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2009.11.19"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2009.11.19"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bf4 Bg7 5. e3 O-O 6. Rc1 Be6 $5 {A rare but
playable move, instead of the normal continuations} (6... c5) (6... c6) (6...
dxc4) 7. c5 $6 {This is probably too ambitious. White will hardly be able to
hold this structure.} (7. Nf3 dxc4 {leads to a popular D92 line}) (7. Qb3 {
is the main alternative to the text move:} b6 8. Nf3 c5 $5 (8... c6 $143 9. Ng5
dxc4 10. Bxc4 Bxc4 11. Qxc4 Nd5 12. Nxd5 cxd5 13. Qb3 e6 14. O-O Nd7 15. Nf3
Nf6 16. Qa4 $14 {1-0 Farago,I (2510)-Groszpeter,A (2375)/Budapest 1979/MCD (58)
}) (8... Nc6 $6 9. Qa4 $1 (9. cxd5 $143 Nxd5 10. Nxd5 Bxd5 11. Qa4 e5 $1 12.
Bg5 f6 $13 {0-1 Soln,P (2280)-Jelen,I (2400)/Vrhnika 1995/EXT 1998 (33)}) 9...
Na5 10. cxd5 Nxd5 11. Nxd5 Qxd5 12. b4 Bd7 13. Qa3 Nc6 14. Bc4 $16) 9. dxc5 (9.
Rd1 dxc4 10. Bxc4 Bxc4 11. Qxc4 cxd4 12. Nxd4 Qc8 13. Qe2 Nc6 $11 {1/2 Bhat,V 
(2481)-Kudrin,S (2566)/Tulsa 2008/CBM 123 Extra (19)}) (9. cxd5 Nxd5 10. Nxd5
Bxd5 11. Bc4 Bxf3 $1 12. gxf3 Nc6 $132) 9... Nbd7 $5 10. c6 (10. cxb6 Nc5 11.
Qb4 axb6 $44) 10... Nc5 11. Qd1 (11. c7 Qc8 12. Qb4 dxc4 13. Bxc4 Nh5 $132) (
11. Qb4 Rc8 $132) 11... dxc4 12. Qxd8 Rfxd8 13. Nd4 Nd5 14. Nxe6 Nxe6 15. Nxd5
Rxd5 16. Rxc4 Bxb2 $10 {Vainerman,I (2385)-Serebro,A/USSR 1987/Inf 45}) 7... c6
(7... Nh5 $5 8. Bg5 b6 9. b4 a5 10. a3 axb4 11. axb4 bxc5 12. bxc5 h6 13. Bh4
f5 14. Bd3 Nf6 15. Bxf6 Bxf6 16. f4 c6 17. Nf3 Nd7 $13 {1/2 Van der Werf,M 
(2389)-Negi,P (2526)/Wijk aan Zee 2008/CBM 122 (56)}) 8. Bd3 (8. h3 b6 9. b4
Ne4 10. Nf3 a5 11. Na4 Nd7 $2 (11... b5 $142 12. Nb6 Ra7 $13) 12. b5 $1 bxc5 $2
(12... cxb5 13. Bxb5 bxc5 14. dxc5 $16) 13. bxc6 g5 14. Nxg5 Nxg5 15. Bxg5 Nf6
16. Nxc5 Qd6 17. Bb5 {1-0 Timoscenko,G (2494)-Michalik,P (2330)/Banska
Stiavnica 2006/CBM 113 ext}) 8... Bg4 $5 {Black starts preparing ...e7-e5.} (
8... b6 9. b4 a5 {is another plan.}) 9. Qc2 (9. Nge2 {looks more logical.})
9... Nfd7 $5 10. Bxb8 $6 (10. h3 e5 $1 11. Bxe5 (11. dxe5 Be6 12. Nf3 Nxc5 $11)
11... Nxe5 12. hxg4 (12. dxe5 Be6 13. f4 Nd7 14. Nce2 f6 15. f5 $1 gxf5 16. Nd4
Re8 $44) 12... Nxg4 13. Be2 $11 {S.Zagrebelny}) 10... Nxb8 $1 (10... Rxb8 11.
h3 Be6 $11) 11. h3 Bc8 12. f4 (12. Nf3 Nd7 {[%cal Ye7e5]}) 12... b6 13. Na4 (
13. b4 a5 14. a3 axb4 15. axb4 Na6 $1 16. Bxa6 (16. Rb1 bxc5 17. bxc5 Qa5 $17 {
[%cal Ra6c5,Ra6b4]}) (16. Qb2 bxc5 17. bxc5 Qa5 18. Ra1 Nxc5 $1 19. Rxa5 Nxd3+
20. Kd2 Nxb2 21. Rxa8 Nc4+ $17) 16... Bxa6 17. Nf3 bxc5 18. bxc5 f6 $15 {
[%cal Ye7e5]}) 13... e5 $1 {[%mdl 512] In Kasparov's style! Black opens up the
position against the opponent's uncastled king.} 14. dxe5 (14. fxe5 f6 15. e6
Re8 $15 {[%csl Re3]}) 14... f6 15. exf6 Qxf6 16. Nf3 (16. cxb6 $5 axb6 17. a3 (
17. Nxb6 Rxa2) (17. Nf3 b5 18. Nc3 Qe7 19. Kf2 Na6 $36) 17... b5 18. Nb6 Ra7
19. Nxc8 Rxc8 $36 {[%cal Ya7e7,Yc8e8]}) 16... Qe7 17. Kf2 b5 18. Nc3 Na6 19.
Qd2 (19. Nd1 Nb4 20. Qd2 Nxd3+ 21. Qxd3 Bf5 22. Qd2 Be4 {[%cal Rg6g5]} 23. h4
Rae8 $17) (19. Bxb5 Bf5 $1 $17) 19... Nxc5 $17 {Black has recaptured the pawn
and has a lot of advantages: a bishop pair, weakness of the white king and the
e3-pawn.} 20. Bb1 Kh8 (20... Bb7 {[%cal Ya8e8]}) (20... Bd7) 21. b4 $6 {
[%csl Rc4] Additionally weakening the c4-square.} (21. Ne2 $5 {[%cal Ye2d4]})
21... Nb7 22. Ne2 Nd6 $1 23. Ned4 (23. Rxc6 Nc4 24. Qd3 a5 $1 $17 {[%csl Rc6]})
23... Nc4 24. Qd3 Bd7 25. h4 {This counterattack is White's only chance.} Rae8
26. Rce1 (26. h5 Nxe3 27. hxg6 Rxf4 28. Rxh7+ Kg8 $17 {S.Zagrebelny}) 26...
Qxb4 27. h5 Nd6 (27... Bf5 $5 28. Qb3 Qd6 $17) 28. hxg6 Ne4+ 29. Kg1 h6 30. Rc1
Qb2 31. Qc2 Qa3 ({Simpler is} 31... Qxc2 32. Bxc2 Ng3 33. Rh4 c5 {with an
overwhelming position.}) 32. Nb3 c5 33. Re1 Bf5 34. Nh4 c4 35. Nxf5 Rxf5 36.
Nd2 Rxf4 $1 37. Qd1 $1 (37. exf4 $4 Bd4+ $19) 37... Rf6 (37... Rff8 $5 {
was probably a bit more accurate:} 38. Nxe4 dxe4 39. Qd7 (39. Rh5 a6) 39... Re7
40. Qxb5 Qc3 41. Re2 Qf6 $19) 38. Nxe4 dxe4 39. Qd7 {The white queen (not
exchanged by Black on move 31) becomes extremely active.} Qe7 $6 (39... Re7 $1
40. Qxb5 Qc3 41. Qb8+ Rf8 42. Qg3 Qd2 {S.Zagrebelny} 43. Rf1 Rxf1+ 44. Kxf1 Re8
{[%cal Rd2d1]} 45. Kg1 Be5 $1 $19) 40. Qxb5 Qe6 $2 {The 40th move!} (40... Rxg6
{was still winning a pawn and eventually the game as} 41. Qxc4 $2 {led to a
mating attack for Black:} Rxg2+ 42. Kxg2 Qg5+ 43. Kf2 (43. Kh3 Be5 44. Rhg1
Qh5+ 45. Kg2 Qf3#) 43... Rf8+ 44. Ke2 Qg2+ 45. Kd1 Rd8+ $19 {S.Zagrebelny}) 41.
Rh4 {White now keeps the material balance and equalizes.} Rf5 42. Qa4 {[%cal
Rh4e4,Ra4a7]} Ref8 43. Rxe4 Qxg6 44. Re8 Rxe8 45. Bxf5 Qf7 46. Qd7 Qxd7 47.
Bxd7 Rd8 48. Rd1 c3 49. Ba4 Rxd1+ 50. Bxd1 Be5 51. Kf1 Kg7 52. Ke2 h5 53. Kd3
h4 54. Bf3 Kf6 55. Kc2 Ke6 56. Kd3 Kf6 57. Kc2 Ke6 58. Kd3 1/2-1/2

[Event "Dortmund 44th"]
[Site "Dortmund"]
[Date "2016.07.17"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"]
[Black "Vachier Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D83"]
[WhiteElo "2713"]
[BlackElo "2798"]
[Annotator "Mekhitarian,K"]
[PlyCount "90"]
[EventDate "2016.07.09"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[EventCategory "20"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 174"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2016.09.13"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2016.09.13"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bf4 Bg7 5. e3 O-O 6. Rc1 {Black has many
interesting alternatives here, like 6...c5, 6...dxc4 or 6...Be6.} Be6 {A solid
approach, Black provokes White to play c5 and close the center for now.} (6...
c5 $5 7. dxc5 Be6 {is the main idea here.} (7... Qa5 {A rare move.} 8. cxd5 Rd8
9. Bc4 e6 $146 {tried by Maxime against Gelfand in 2014. It was probably a
one-game idea, because he ended up in a worse position, and definitely wasn't
willing to repeat it.} 10. Nge2 Nxd5 11. Bd6 Nxc3 12. Nxc3 b5 13. Bd3 b4 14.
Ne4 (14. Nb5 $5 {was critical, with a complicated position.}) 14... b3+ 15. Qd2
Qxd2+ 16. Kxd2 bxa2 17. Ra1 Bb7 $6 18. Rxa2 Bd5 19. Ra4 Nc6 20. b4 $16 {
1/2-1/2 (37) Gelfand,B (2748)-Vachier Lagrave,M (2757) Tashkent 2014; with a
better endgame for White.}) 8. Nf3 Nc6 9. Be2 {I played a game recently in
this line:} (9. Ng5 $5 {is extremely sharp and has been tried a number of
times:} Bg4 10. f3 e5 11. cxd5 exf4 12. dxc6 Qe7 $44 {1/2-1/2 (65) Dziuba,M 
(2564)-Krasenkow,M (2610) Poland 2015}) 9... Ne4 10. Nd4 Nxd4 11. exd4 Nxc3 12.
bxc3 dxc4 13. Qa4 $6 (13. Bf3 {was better:} Bd5 14. O-O Qd7 15. Re1 {and it
should be about equal after a move like ...b6, breaking White's structure, or .
..e6, consolidating the center.} Rfe8 (15... b6 $5 $11) (15... e6 $5 $11) 16.
Rb1 Rad8 $6 17. Bxd5 Qxd5 18. Qf3 $1 $16 {1-0 (50) Erdos,V (2577)-Ben Artzi,I 
(2399) Zalakaros 2016}) 13... Bd5 14. O-O Qe8 $1 15. Qxe8 Rfxe8 16. Bf3 Bxf3
17. gxf3 e5 $146 18. dxe5 $6 (18. Be3 $1 $13) 18... Bxe5 19. Bxe5 $6 Rxe5 20.
Rb1 Rg5+ $1 21. Kh1 Rb8 22. c6 b6 $17 {0-1 (38) Araujo,J (2156)-Mekhitarian,K 
(2555) Florianopolis 2016; and Black has an excellent endgame.}) (6... dxc4 7.
Bxc4 Nbd7 8. Nf3 Nh5 $5 9. Bg5 h6 10. Bh4 g5 11. Bg3 Nxg3 12. hxg3 c5 13. dxc5
Nxc5 14. Qc2 e6 15. Nh2 b5 $1 16. Bxb5 Rb8 $36 {1/2-1/2 (64) Matsenko,S (2534)
-Ipatov,A (2657) Izmir 2016, and Black has a very active play.}) 7. c5 c6 8. h3
(8. Bd3 {has been played twice against the Frenchman:} Bc8 (8... Bg4 9. Nge2
Re8 10. f3 Bc8 11. O-O Nbd7 12. Bg5 e5 13. b4 {1-0 (46) Wojtaszek,R (2733)
-Vachier Lagrave,M (2731) Biel 2015, and White achieved a comfortable position.
}) 9. Bg5 h6 10. Bh4 b6 11. b4 a5 $1 12. a3 axb4 13. axb4 bxc5 14. bxc5 Na6 (
14... Ra3 $5 $36) 15. Ra1 Bg4 (15... Bb7 $1 {threatening ...Nxc5 and the
possibility to follow up with ...Nc7 to exchange the light-squared bishops (on
a6) and later ...e5, creating pressure on d4.}) 16. Be2 Nb4 $13 {0-1 (52) So,W
(2770)-Vachier Lagrave,M (2789) Paris 2016}) 8... b6 9. b4 a5 {Starting real
counterplay on the queenside.} 10. Na4 $146 {A typical reaction which, however,
was never tried in this position before.} (10. cxb6 Qxb6 11. b5 a4 $1 {
Stopping Na4 and also preventing White from stabilizing the b5-square with a4;
soon also ...Qa5 will be an idea to create problems against the white king.}
12. Bd3 cxb5 13. Nxb5 Na6 $1 {Defending against Nc7 and also preparing ...Nb4.}
(13... Bf5 $6 14. Ne2 Qa5+ 15. Nec3 Bxd3 16. Qxd3 Rc8 17. O-O $14 {1-0 (48)
Ortiz Suarez,I (2579)-Krysa,L (2381) Mar del Plata 2012, and White was able to
maintain a small edge}) 14. Ne2 (14. a3 Ne4 $1 15. Ne2 Qa5+ 16. Kf1 Bd7 $1 $15
{is already very good for Black.}) 14... Qa5+ $36 {followed by ...Nb4.}) (10.
a3 axb4 11. axb4 bxc5 12. bxc5 Ra3 $1 {followed by ...Qa5 is extremely
annoying, White already has problems to consolidate the queenside and develop
at the same time.} (12... Ne4 $6 13. Bd3 Bf5 14. Nge2 Nd7 15. O-O e5 16. Bh2
Nxc3 17. Rxc3 exd4 18. Nxd4 Bxd3 19. Qxd3 Bxd4 20. Qxd4 $11 {1/2-1/2 (27) Wohl,
A (2384)-Deepan Chakkravarthy,J (2464) Nagpur 2008}) 13. Bd3 Qa5 14. Nge2 Na6
15. Bxa6 (15. O-O Nb4 16. Bb1 Bc8 $1 $15 {with an excellent initiative on the
queenside after ...Ba6.}) 15... Qxa6 16. O-O Ra8 $15) 10... b5 (10... bxc5 $2
11. bxc5 $16 {Now, without the a-file, Black has only weaknesses on the
queenside (mainly b6), and White achieves a great advantage after simple
developing moves like Bd3 and Nf3.}) 11. Nb6 Ra7 12. a4 $1 {This has to be
played.} (12. a3 axb4 13. axb4 Nbd7 14. Nxd7 Qxd7 $15 {with good play on the
a-file.}) 12... Nfd7 (12... axb4 13. axb5 Ne4 {seems to give White a
comfortable position after Bd3, maintaining his strong structure on the
queenside and completing his development with Ne2 next.} 14. Bd3 cxb5 15. Ne2
$14) 13. bxa5 Rxa5 14. Qd2 Nxb6 $5 (14... Ra7 {would maintain the material
balance and a solid position for Black:} 15. Nxd7 Bxd7 16. axb5 cxb5 {followed
by ...Nc6 (after Bd3, for example, since Black has ...Nxd4 after Bxb5). Black
has good perspectives to play on the queenside with the a-file and can
eventually prepare ...e5 at some point:} 17. Bd3 (17. Nf3 Qa5 (17... Nc6 18.
Bxb5 Na5 (18... Nxd4 $2 {Now it doesn't work.} 19. Nxd4 e5 20. Bxd7 Qxd7 21. c6
$18) 19. Qd3 $1 $16 (19. Bxd7 $2 Nb3 20. Qc3 Nxc1 21. c6 Nd3+ $1 $17)) 18. Qxa5
Rxa5 19. Bd3 Nc6 20. O-O b4 $11 {followed by Rfa8 and ...f6 (with ...e5 ideas)
looks good for Black - it is not easy to attack the apparantly weak b-pawn
which is rather becoming a strength.}) 17... Nc6 18. Bxb5 $2 Nxd4 $1 19. Bxd7
$2 Nb3 $19) 15. Qxa5 Nxa4 16. Qxd8 {White also had the option to maintain
queens with 16.Bc7:} (16. Bc7 Qc8 17. Nf3 Nb2 18. Be2 Na6 19. Bg3 Nc4 20. Qa2 {
would keep the position way more tense. Black definitely has compensation, but
it is hard to say if it is enough since there are no real threats and White
has time to try to consolidate his position.} Qb7 21. O-O Ra8 22. Ra1 $14)
16... Rxd8 17. Nf3 Na6 18. Be2 (18. Ne5 Bxe5 19. Bxe5 f6 {and after moves like
...Nb4/....Ra8, Black has potential to create play on the queenside, while at
the same time White's dark-squared bishop could be out of play for some time.
Still, it is a position that contains risks for Black:} 20. Bg3 $1 {Preparing
f3-Bf2 or Be1 at some point, bringen the bishop back into play as soon as
possible.} Nb4 21. f3 Bf5 {Threatening ...Nb2.} 22. Kd2 Ra8 $132 {Preparing
something like ...Na2 followed by N2c3 or ...Nb2-Nc4.}) 18... Nb4 19. Kd2 Na2
20. Rc2 Nb4 21. Rcc1 Na2 22. Ra1 {Dominguez is an exchange up and has every
reason to keep on playing.} N2c3 {Getting either the bishop pair, or the
e4-square.} 23. Rhc1 $6 (23. Bd3 $1 Ne4+ 24. Ke2 Nec3+ (24... Bf5 $5) 25. Kf1 {
This awkward-looking move was possible. White could prepare a slow regrouping
with g4-Kg2. This way, he is able to maintain the bishop pair and guard his
king in a safer square. Another idea is to make one of Black's knights feel
awkward (if Black plays ...b4 to guard his c3-knight, then the a4-knight
becomes vulnerable).} b4 {is visually scary, but White can deal with it:} 26.
g4 $1 b3 27. Ra3 (27. Kg2 $6 Nb2 $1 $36) 27... b2 28. Kg2 $16) 23... Nxe2 24.
Kxe2 f6 $1 {It's hard for White to find play now, since both his minor pieces
are limited, and he has to be watching ...e5 all the time.} 25. Kd2 Bf5 26. Ra2
Be4 27. Rca1 e5 28. Bg3 (28. dxe5 $6 Bxf3 29. gxf3 fxe5 $15 {and White will be
forced to sacrifice on a4 soon. In any case, Black already is slightly better
because of his superior structure.}) 28... Ra8 29. Ra3 Kf7 30. Ne1 exd4 $1 31.
exd4 Bh6+ 32. Ke2 Re8 33. Kf1 Bd2 34. Nd3 {Forcing a series of exchanges.} (34.
f3 Bf5 {...Bc3 is threatened.} 35. Rb3 {Planning Rxa4 against ...Bc3.} Re3 $1
$132 {and after the exchange of the rooks, the b-pawn could be a headache for
White.}) 34... Bxd3+ 35. Rxd3 Bc3 36. Rc1 b4 37. f3 {White wants to play Be1,
so there is not much Black can do rather than gain the exchange and hope for a
tiny advantage which, however, won't be enough to win.} Nb2 38. Rdxc3 bxc3 39.
Rxc3 Nc4 40. Kg1 Re2 41. Rb3 Ne3 42. Bf2 Nd1 43. Bg3 Ne3 44. Bf2 Nd1 45. Bg3
Ne3 {A hard-fought draw!} 1/2-1/2

[Event "Metz op 30th"]
[Site "Metz"]
[Date "2012.04.18"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Koziak, Vitali"]
[Black "Lalic, Bogdan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D83"]
[WhiteElo "2511"]
[BlackElo "2469"]
[Annotator "Metz Alekhine/Primel,D"]
[PlyCount "45"]
[EventDate "2012.04.14"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "FRA"]
[SourceTitle "EXT 2013"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2012.11.22"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2012.11.22"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 {01H30} Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 {Le croate avait publié une monographie
sur cette défense, il y a une quinzaine d'année} 4. Bf4 Bg7 5. e3 O-O 6. Rc1
Be6 (6... c6) (6... dxc4 7. Bxc4 Nbd7 8. Nb5 c6 9. Bc7 Qe8 10. Nc3 e5 11. dxe5
Nxe5 12. Be2 Bf5 13. Nf3 Nxf3+ 14. Bxf3 Rc8 15. Bg3 Ne4 16. Bxe4 Bxe4 17. O-O
Rd8 18. Qa4 Bd3 19. Rfd1 b5 20. Qa5 Rd7 21. Rd2 Qe7 22. Rcd1 Rfd8 23. a3 h5 24.
h3 h4 25. Bh2 Kh7 26. Bc7 Rxc7 27. Rxd3 Rxd3 28. Rxd3 Bf6 29. Rd2 Rd7 30. Rc2
Qe6 31. Qb4 a5 32. Qf4 Kg7 33. Rc1 a4 34. Qb4 Rd3 35. Rc2 Qb3 36. Qxb3 {
Nakamura,H (2758)-Ivanchuk,V (2775) Moscow 2011 0-1}) 7. c5 $6 {This is
probably too ambitious. White will hardly be able to hold this structure. 
(Krasenkow)} (7. Qb3 {La grande ligne}) 7... Nh5 $5 (7... c6 {Plus courant}) 8.
Bg5 b6 9. b4 h6 $146 (9... a5 10. a3 axb4 11. axb4 bxc5 12. bxc5 h6 13. Bh4 f5
14. Bd3 Nf6 15. Bxf6 Bxf6 16. f4 c6 17. Nf3 Nd7 18. O-O Ra3 19. Nb1 Ra2 20. Rf2
Rxf2 21. Kxf2 Qa5 22. Qd2 Qa7 23. Qc3 Bf7 24. Nbd2 Rb8 25. Ne5 Nxe5 26. dxe5
Bg7 27. Ra1 Qd7 28. Nf3 e6 29. Nd4 Bf8 30. Ra6 Rc8 31. g3 Qe7 32. Ra5 Be8 33.
Qb4 Qd7 34. Qb6 Be7 35. Ra7 Bd8 36. Qa6 Rc7 37. Ra8 Kf7 38. Bc2 Be7 39. Qa3 {
Van der Werf,M (2389)-Negi,P (2526) Wijk aan Zee 2008 1/2-1/2}) 10. Bh4 a5 11.
a3 axb4 12. axb4 Nc6 13. b5 Na5 14. c6 Qd6 15. Bd3 Nc4 $11 16. Bxc4 (16. Nge2)
16... dxc4 17. Nge2 f5 $11 18. Bg3 Nxg3 19. hxg3 Bf7 20. f4 Ra3 21. Ra1 Rfa8
22. Rxa3 Rxa3 23. O-O 1/2-1/2

[Event "World Women-ch k.o."]
[Site "Teheran"]
[Date "2017.02.15"]
[Round "2.2"]
[White "Kashlinskaya, Alina"]
[Black "Muzychuk, Anna"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D83"]
[WhiteElo "2418"]
[BlackElo "2558"]
[Annotator "Moradiabadi,E"]
[PlyCount "82"]
[EventDate "2017.02.11"]
[EventType "k.o."]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "IRI"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 177"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2017.03.16"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2017.03.16"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bf4 Bg7 5. e3 O-O 6. Rc1 Be6 7. c5 Nh5 8. Bg5
b6 9. b4 a5 10. b5 bxc5 11. dxc5 h6 12. Bh4 d4 13. exd4 Qxd4 14. Qxd4 Bxd4 15.
c6 Bxc3+ 16. Rxc3 Bxa2 17. Bc4 Bxc4 18. Rxc4 g5 19. Bg3 Nxg3 20. hxg3 a4 21.
Ne2 a3 22. Kd2 Rd8+ 23. Kc2 Rd6 24. Ra1 Kg7 25. Nd4 (25. Kb3 Rd2 26. Ra2 {
looks like a decisive advantage for White since the knight on b8 has been
doomed ever since the game started.}) 25... Rf6 (25... Rd5 $1 26. b6 cxb6 27.
c7 Na6 28. c8=Q Rxc8 29. Rxc8 Rxd4 30. Rxa3 Nb4+ 31. Kc3 e5 {should be
holdable.}) 26. f4 (26. f3 {seems safer to me because b6 is a threat now.})
26... gxf4 27. gxf4 Rg6 28. g3 Kh7 29. Rc3 Rd6 30. Kd3 a2 31. Ke3 Ra4 32. Nc2
e5 33. Ra3 exf4+ 34. gxf4 Rc4 35. R1xa2 Re6+ 36. Kf3 Rf6 37. Ra8 Rcxf4+ 38. Ke3
Rf3+ 39. Ke2 Rf2+ {It is funny that Muzychuk did not touch her knight on b8
for the entire game!} 40. Ke3 R2f3+ 41. Ke2 Rf2+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "Moscow Tal Memorial 6th"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "2011.11.23"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Black "Ivanchuk, Vassily"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D83"]
[WhiteElo "2758"]
[BlackElo "2775"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,A"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "2011.11.16"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[EventCategory "22"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 146"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2012.01.18"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2012.01.18"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[TimeControl "6000+30"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 {The Grünfeld seemed to have had a resurgence in
the Tal Memorial. Maybe it's the new fashion, again.} 4. Bf4 {Nakamura decides
to switch variations after not getting much more than a very complex position
against Svidler with 4. cxd5.} Bg7 5. e3 O-O 6. Rc1 dxc4 (6... c5) (6... c6 {
are more common moves.}) 7. Bxc4 Nbd7 (7... c5 8. dxc5 Qa5 {transposes back to
a very topical line of the Grünfeld, which has been the subject of much debate
since the 80s.}) 8. Nb5 $6 {It's hard to criticise a 2750's 8th move, but I
have a hard time understanding this move. The queen's knight in the Grünfeld
sometimes has some interesting stories. It is not unusual for the N to go to
b5, then to c7, boldly take the rook on a8 while Black opens up the centre and
counterattacks against the king to compensate for the material deficit.
However this is just not one of those cases: the N clearly can't go to c7
after 8... c6. Hikaru's idea lies elsewhere, but it seems dubious.} (8. Nf3 Nh5
9. Bg5 h6 10. Bh4 g5 11. Bg3 Nxg3 12. hxg3 {might not have been to Hikaru's
liking.}) (8. h3 c5 $11 {is too slow.}) 8... c6 9. Bc7 Qe8 10. Nc3 {Hikaru
might have reached this position in his mind and thought that Black would have
a hard time developing. If, for example, he decideds to play 10...Nb6, he
would lose control over both c5 and e5 making his breaks that much harder to
achieve. He may have thought that 10...e5 lost to 11.Bd6, but Vassily
disagreed.} e5 $1 11. dxe5 (11. Bd6 exd4 12. Bxf8 (12. Qxd4 $2 Ne4 $1 $17 {
and the N is taboo.}) 12... Qxf8 (12... dxc3 13. Bxg7 cxb2 14. Rc2 Kxg7 15.
Rxb2 Qe4 16. Bf1 {also provides obvious compensation.}) 13. exd4 Nb6 14. Bb3
Bg4 $44) 11... Nxe5 12. Be2 Bf5 13. Nf3 Nxf3+ 14. Bxf3 Rc8 {Black has got a
dream position out of the opening. His pieces are active and he is slightly
better developed. Hikaru is only slightly worse, but having this situation
after only 14 moves with White is very unpleasant.} 15. Bg3 Ne4 16. Bxe4 (16.
Nxe4 $6 Bxe4 {leaves too many diagonals open against the queenside.}) 16...
Bxe4 17. O-O Rd8 18. Qa4 Bd3 19. Rfd1 b5 20. Qa5 (20. Qxa7 b4 21. Na4 Bc2 22.
Rxd8 Qxd8 $17 {is majorly unpleasant.}) 20... Rd7 21. Rd2 Qe7 22. Rcd1 Rfd8 {
Pair of bishops, queenside majority, queenside pressure. Black is still only
slightly better but there is no doubt that the pull is quite lasting.} 23. a3
h5 24. h3 h4 25. Bh2 Kh7 $6 (25... Bf6 26. Bc7 Rxc7 27. Rxd3 Rxd3 28. Rxd3 Rd7
29. Rxd7 Qxd7 $17) 26. Bc7 $1 {A nice stroke, forcing the exchange of a pair
of bishops. This gives White some breathing space. And eliminates the pair of
bishops. Not sufficient to equalise, but White is improving his game little by
little.} Rxc7 27. Rxd3 Rxd3 28. Rxd3 Bf6 (28... Rd7 29. Rxd7 Qxd7 30. Qb4 $11 {
and White's just in time to defend everything because h4 is hanging.}) 29. Rd2
$6 (29. Qb4 Qxb4 30. axb4 {gave White great drawing chances thanks to his
dominating rook.}) 29... Rd7 30. Rc2 (30. Rxd7 Qxd7 {[%csl Rb2,Rf2,Rh2][%cal
Rf6b2,Rf6e5,Re5h2,Gd7d2,Gd2e1] was possible but the white Q is so out of play
that Black's advantage is considerable. White will have problems defending f2
and b2.}) 30... Qe6 31. Qb4 a5 32. Qf4 (32. Qxa5 $2 Qb3 $17) 32... Kg7 33. Rc1
{Another strange move in a series of strange decisions. This allows the black
rook access to the 2nd rank.} a4 (33... Rd2 34. Ne4 Bxb2 {was completely
winning. Time pressure is the only explanation.}) 34. Qb4 Rd3 35. Rc2 $2 {
The last bad move seals the deal. Ivanchuk doesn't let this opportunity escape.
} (35. Kf1 {was necessary to start trying to patch up some of the weaknesses.
However it is difficult to play this move, as it seems the K is simply getting
weaker.} Be7 $17) 35... Qb3 36. Qxb3 axb3 37. Rc1 Bxc3 38. bxc3 c5 39. Kf1 c4
40. Ke2 Rxc3 {Not Hikaru's brightest game. Really marked by mistakes and Black
never had a worry in the world.} 0-1

[Event "Monte Carlo FIDE GP (Women)"]
[Site "Monte Carlo"]
[Date "2015.10.04"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Dzagnidze, Nana"]
[Black "Muzychuk, Mariya"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D83"]
[WhiteElo "2573"]
[BlackElo "2528"]
[Annotator "Schulz,Andre"]
[PlyCount "40"]
[EventDate "2015.10.03"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "MNC"]
[EventCategory "11"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 169"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2015.11.10"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2015.11.10"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bf4 Bg7 5. e3 O-O 6. Rc1 c5 7. dxc5 Be6 (7...
Qa5 {wir ebenfalls gespielt, mit dem bekannten Klassiker:} 8. cxd5 Rd8 9. Qa4
Qxa4 10. Nxa4 Nxd5 11. Bb5 Nxf4 12. exf4 Be6 13. b3 Bd5 14. Nf3 Bxf3 15. gxf3
Nc6 16. Bxc6 bxc6 17. Ke2 Bh6 18. Rc4 e5 19. fxe5 Rd2+ 20. Kf1 Rxa2 21. Kg2 Be3
22. Rf1 Rb8 23. Kg3 Bd2 24. Nc3 Bxc3 25. Rxc3 Rb2 26. Rd1 R2xb3 27. Rxb3 Rxb3
28. Rd6 Rc3 29. Rxc6 a5 30. Kf4 Kf8 31. Rc7 a4 32. c6 a3 33. Kg3 a2 34. Ra7
Rxc6 35. Rxa2 Kg7 36. Ra7 Re6 37. f4 Rb6 38. h3 Rc6 39. f5 gxf5 40. Kf4 Kg6 41.
Rd7 Rc4+ 42. Kg3 h5 {1/2-1/2 (42) Capablanca,J-Reshevsky,S Holland 1938}) 8.
Nf3 Nc6 9. Ng5 Bg4 10. f3 e5 11. Bg3 ({Der Hauptzug ist} 11. cxd5 {z.B.:} exf4
12. dxc6 Qe7 13. fxg4 Qxe3+ 14. Be2 Nxg4 15. Nh3 Rad8 16. Qc2 Ne5 17. Kf1 Nxc6
18. Rd1 Nd4 19. Qe4 Nf5 20. Rxd8 Rxd8 21. Qxe3 fxe3 22. g4 Nd4 23. Kg2 Nxe2 24.
Nxe2 Rd2 25. Kf3 Rxb2 26. Ng5 Rxa2 27. Rb1 Rc2 28. Rxb7 Be5 29. h3 h5 30. Nxf7
hxg4+ 31. hxg4 Bg7 32. Ng5 Be5 33. Rxa7 Rxc5 34. Ra8+ {1-0 (34) Khalifman,A 
(2678)-Shipov,S (2589) Krasnoyarsk 2003}) 11... d4 {[#]} 12. Nb5 $2 {Ein neuer
Zug, aber keine Verbesserung.} (12. fxg4 dxc3 13. Qxd8 Rfxd8 14. Rxc3 h6 15.
Nh3 Ne4 {ist etwas besser für Schwarz.} 16. Rb3 Nxc5 17. Rb5 Bf8 18. Be2 a6
19. Rb6 Na4 20. Rb3 Bb4+ 21. Kf1 Nc5 22. Rxb4 Nxb4 23. Bxe5 Ne4 24. Bf3 Nd2+
25. Ke2 Nxc4 26. Bd4 Nc2 27. Bc3 Rd7 28. Nf2 N2xe3 29. b3 Re8 30. Ne4 Nd5 31.
Rc1 Nd6 {0-1 (31) Sokolov,I (2656)-Avrukh,B (2588) Bugojno 1999}) 12... h6 ({
Stark war auch} 12... Bh6 $1 13. Bh4 Nd7 $19) 13. exd4 exd4 14. fxg4 hxg5 15.
Bd3 Re8+ {[#] Die weiße Stellung ist völlig zertrümmert.} 16. Kf2 Nb4 17.
Bb1 d3 18. Rf1 Ne4+ 19. Kg1 Nxg3 20. hxg3 Bd4+ (20... Bd4+ 21. Kh2 Kg7 {[#]})
0-1

[Event "Tata Steel-A 78th"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee"]
[Date "2016.01.21"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Van Wely, Loek"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D83"]
[WhiteElo "2640"]
[BlackElo "2844"]
[Annotator "Stohl,I"]
[PlyCount "78"]
[EventDate "2016.01.16"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "NED"]
[EventCategory "20"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 171"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2016.03.14"]
[SourceVersion "2"]
[SourceVersionDate "2016.03.14"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 {At the moment our game was played, Carlsen
hasn't yet scored a full point. Going for the complex Grünfeld indicates his
ambitions.} 4. Bf4 {On the other hand, van Wely responds with a solid system
to minimise the risk.} ({After the analogous} 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bg5 ({For} 5. Qb3
dxc4 6. Qxc4 O-O 7. e4 a6 8. Be2 {see Navara's notes to Navara-Giri, Wijk 2016.
}) 5... Ne4 6. Bf4 {Black recently came up with a novel sacrificial idea} O-O
$5 ({The standard continuation is} 6... Nxc3 7. bxc3 dxc4 $11 ({or} 7... c5
$132)) 7. Nxd5 (7. e3 c5 8. cxd5 Bf5 $5 $146 (8... Nxc3 {- 6...Nxc3} 9. bxc3
Qxd5 {leads back to the main line.}) 9. Bc4 (9. Qb3 $142 $5 cxd4 10. Nxd4 Nxc3
11. bxc3 Be4 12. Bc4 $13 {/+/=}) 9... cxd4 10. exd4 Nxc3 11. bxc3 Be4 12. O-O
Bxd5 13. Bxd5 Qxd5 14. Qb3 Qd7 15. Rab1 b6 16. Ne5 Bxe5 17. Bxe5 Nc6 18. Bf4
Na5 19. Qd1 Rac8 20. Qf3 Qc6 $15 {Gelfand,B (2743)-Grischuk,A (2810) Beijing
blitz 2014}) (7. cxd5 Nxc3 8. bxc3 Qxd5 9. e3 Qa5 10. Qd2 Nd7 11. Bd3 e5 12.
Bg3 Re8 13. e4 b6 14. Rd1 Ba6 15. O-O exd4 16. cxd4 Qxd2 17. Rxd2 Bxd3 18. Rxd3
Rxe4 19. Bxc7 Rc8 20. Bg3 Re2 21. a3 Bf8 22. d5 Bc5 $15 {Wang,Y (2720)
-Grischuk,A (2810) Beijing blitz 2014}) 7... c5 8. Bc7 $5 (8. Nc3 $6 Qa5 9. e3
Nc6 10. Rc1 g5 $1 (10... Rd8 11. d5 Nxc3 12. bxc3 Bxc3+ 13. Nd2 e6 14. e4 Nd4
15. Bd3 Bb2 16. Rb1 Qxa2 17. O-O a5 {Gelfand,B (2759)-Grischuk,A (2795) Sochi
blitz 2014} 18. Bg5 Re8 19. e5 $1 $36) (10... cxd4 $5 11. exd4 Rd8 $36 {
[%csl Rd4]}) 11. Be5 (11. Nxg5 Nxg5 12. d5 Ne4 $40) 11... Nxe5 12. dxe5 Nxc3
13. Rxc3 g4 $17) 8... Qd7 9. Be5 (9. Ne5 Qe8 10. Qc2 e6 11. Qxe4 exd5 $36 {/\}
12. Qxd5 Na6 {[%cal Ra6c7,Ra6b4]}) 9... f6 10. Bf4 e6 $5 (10... cxd4 11. Qxd4
f5 $44) 11. Nc3 (11. Nc7 g5 $15) 11... f5 $32) 4... Bg7 5. e3 (5. Nf3 O-O 6.
Rc1 {Black can play} Be6 $5 {here as well, trying to limit his opponent's
options.} ({After the (once) main move} 6... dxc4 {Black must reckon with both}
7. e3 ({and} 7. e4)) {The sortie} 7. Ng5 $6 ({We will deal with the more
circumspect} 7. e3 {below.}) {is risky due to White's lag in development:} 7...
c5 $1 8. dxc5 (8. Nxe6 fxe6 9. e3 (9. dxc5 d4 10. Na4 Ne4 11. e3 Qa5+ 12. Ke2
Nc6 13. f3 d3+ 14. Qxd3 Rad8 15. b4 Qxb4 {0-1, Lomakin,V (2148)-Kovalev,D 
(2484) Mukachevo 2012}) 9... Nh5 $5 (9... Qa5 10. Be2 Ne4 11. O-O cxd4 12. Nxe4
dxe4 13. Bg4 $1 $13 (13. Bxb8 $2 Raxb8 14. exd4 Qxa2 15. Qc2 Bxd4 16. Qxe4 Qxb2
17. Rb1 Qc3 18. Qxe6+ Kh8 19. Bf3 Rxf3 20. gxf3 Qxf3 $40 {Stocek,J (2569)
-Howell,D (2635) Istanbul olm 2012})) 10. Bxb8 Rxb8 11. Be2 cxd4 12. exd4 dxc4
(12... Nf4 $5) 13. Bxc4 Bxd4 14. O-O {Faghirnavaz,A (2284)-Darini,P (2540)
Tabriz 2013} Qb6 $15) 8... d4 9. Nb5 Nc6 10. Nc7 Bf5 $1 11. Nxa8 e5 12. Bd2 e4
13. e3 (13. Qb3 Qe7 14. e3 d3 15. Nh3 Rxa8 16. Nf4 Rd8 17. h3 Ne5 18. Nd5 Qd7
19. Qb5 Nxd5 20. Qxd7 Rxd7 21. cxd5 Rxd5 $44 {|^, Socko,B (2629)-Negi,P (2661)
Leiden 2012}) (13. b4 Qe7 14. Bf4 Rxa8 15. Bd6 Qd8 16. b5 e3 17. fxe3 dxe3 18.
Qa4 Nd4 19. g3 Ne4 20. Nf3 Nxc5 $1 $19 {Perez Garcia,A (2273)-Csonka,B (2415)
Gibraltar 2016}) 13... h6 (13... d3 $5) 14. Nh3 $6 (14. exd4 $5 hxg5 15. d5 $15
{/~~}) 14... Bxh3 15. gxh3 Ne5 $1 16. Bg2 Nd3+ 17. Kf1 Nxc1 18. Qxc1 d3 19. Bc3
Qe7 $2 (19... Re8 $1 $17 {[%csl Gd3,Ge4]}) 20. Nc7 $1 Qxc7 21. Bxf6 Bxf6 22.
Bxe4 Rd8 23. Bd5 Qxc5 24. Qd1 $11 {Grischuk,A (2761)-Caruana,F (2770) Moscow
2012 For more details see the notes to this game in CBM 149 by Krasenkow.})
5... O-O ({A solid alternative is} 5... c5 6. dxc5 Qa5 7. Rc1 dxc4 8. Bxc4 O-O
9. Nge2 ({The more usual} 9. Nf3 Qxc5 10. Bb3 Nc6 11. O-O Qa5 12. h3 Bf5 13.
Qe2 Ne4 $11 {doesn't promise White an advantage, most of the lines here are
analysed much deeper to almost forced draws. For more details see the notes to
Aronian,L (2802)-Svidler,P (2755) Moscow 2011 in CBM 146.}) {Black can avoid
the murky sacrificial line with} 9... Nc6 $5 (9... Qxc5 10. Qb3 Nc6 11. Nb5 Qh5
12. Ng3 Qh4 13. Nc7 e5 $13 (13... g5 $5)) 10. O-O (10. Qb3 Nd7 $11 (10... Ne4
$5)) 10... Qxc5 11. Nb5 Be6 12. Bd3 (12. Nc7 $2 Bxc4 13. Nxa8 Bxe2 14. Qxe2 Qa5
15. Nc7 e5 $17) 12... Qb4 13. Nc7 (13. a3 Qb3 14. Ned4 Nxd4 15. Nxd4 Qxd1 16.
Rfxd1 Nd5 17. Nxe6 fxe6 18. Rc2 Rac8 19. Rxc8 Rxc8 20. Rb1 Nxf4 21. exf4 Rd8
22. Bc4 Kf7 23. b3 Rd2 24. Re1 Bd4 $11 {Lysyj,I (2686)-Svidler,P (2743) Kazan
2014}) 13... Bxa2 14. Nxa8 Rxa8 15. Ra1 Be6 16. Qa4 Nd5 17. Bb5 Nxf4 18. Nxf4
Bb3 19. Qxb4 Nxb4 20. Rac1 a5 21. Rc7 a4 22. Rxb7 Bxb2 23. Be2 Na2 24. Bf3 Rd8
25. Nd5 e6 26. Rb1 a3 27. Rxb3 exd5 28. R3xb2 axb2 29. Rxb2 Nc3 $11 {
Tomashevsky,E (2747)-Svidler,P (2739) Chita 2015/ However, we have already
indicated Carlsen was not interested in symmetry and equality...}) 6. Rc1 (6.
cxd5 Nxd5 7. Nxd5 Qxd5 8. Bxc7 Na6 $1 9. Bxa6 Qxg2 10. Qf3 Qxf3 11. Nxf3 bxa6 {
is considered innocuous:} 12. Rc1 f6 13. Rg1 Rf7 (13... Bb7 14. Ke2 Rf7 15.
Rgd1 e6 16. Ne1 Rc8 17. Bg3 Rxc1 18. Rxc1 e5 19. dxe5 fxe5 20. Nd3 e4 21. Ne5
Bxe5 22. Bxe5 $14 {/=, Lysyj,I (2691)-Rodshtein,M (2654) Sochi 2015}) 14. Ke2
Bd7 15. Nd2 e5 16. d5 Bb5+ 17. Kf3 f5 18. b3 e4+ 19. Kg2 Bb2 20. Rc2 Bd3 21.
Rc6 Bb5 22. Rc2 Bd3 23. Rc6 {1/2, Radjabov,T (2700)-Ivanchuk,V (2729) Morelia/
Linares 2006. See the notes to this game in CBM 112 by Krasenkow.}) ({The
natural developing move is} 6. Nf3 {and now:} {After the common} c5 ({Even
here Black can consider} 6... Be6 $5 {, but the knight move is more useful
than Rc1 and he must reckon with} 7. Ng5 (7. Qb3 c5 8. Qxb7 Qb6 9. Qxb6 axb6
10. dxc5 bxc5 11. Ng5 Nc6 12. Nxe6 fxe6 13. Be2 d4 14. Nb5 e5 15. Bg3 e4 16.
Nc7 Rab8 17. Nb5 Rb7 18. O-O d3 19. Bd1 Nh5 20. Bxh5 gxh5 $44 {Sakaev,K (2594)
-Gelfand,B (2747) Jurmala 2015}) 7... Bf5 8. Qb3 c5 9. cxd5 (9. Qxb7 Nbd7 10.
Be2 cxd4 11. exd4 dxc4 12. O-O Qb6 13. Qxb6 Nxb6 14. Be5 Rac8 15. Nb5 Bd7 16.
a4 a6 17. Nc3 {Sanikidze,T (2549)-Vachier Lagrave,M (2682) Nancy rpd 2012} Nfd5
$11) 9... cxd4 10. exd4 Nbd7 11. Qxb7 Nb6 12. Bc7 Qc8 13. Qxc8 Raxc8 14. Bxb6
axb6 15. Ba6 Rcd8 16. Bc4 Bc8 17. Nf3 Bb7 18. Ke2 Nxd5 19. Nxd5 Bxd5 20. Bxd5
Rxd5 21. Rhd1 Rfd8 22. Rac1 g5 23. h3 h5 $44 {Simantsev,M (2454)-Rausis,I 
(2532) Teplice 2013}) 7. dxc5 {Black has a choice:} Ne4 $142 (7... Qa5 8. Rc1
Rd8 9. Qa4 Qxc5 10. b4 Qc6 11. Qa3 $5 dxc4 12. b5 Qb6 13. Bxc4 Be6 14. Bxe6
Qxe6 15. O-O $14 {Ivanchuk,V (2757)-Carlsen,M (2872) London ct 2013. See the
notes to this game in CBM 154.}) (7... dxc4 8. Qxd8 $1 (8. Bxc4 Qa5 $11 {
- 5...c5}) 8... Rxd8 9. Bxc4 $14) 8. Rc1 Nd7 $5 9. cxd5 Qa5 10. Nd4 (10. Qc2
Nxc3 11. bxc3 Nxc5 12. e4 Bd7 13. Bd2 Qa4 (13... Rac8 $5 {is the main choice
in email games, Black scores well here:} 14. c4 Qb6 15. Be3 Ba4 16. Qxa4 Nxa4
17. Bxb6 axb6 18. Rc2 b5 19. Nd2 bxc4 20. Bxc4 b5 21. Bb3 Rxc2 22. Bxc2 Nc3 23.
Bb3 Ra8 24. g3 Nxa2 $11 {Sciarretta,R (2141)-Rodriguez,K (2341) email 2013})
14. Qxa4 Bxa4 15. e5 Bd7 16. Bf4 Bg4 17. Nd4 Rad8 18. f3 Bc8 19. d6 exd6 20.
exd6 Rfe8+ 21. Kf2 Be5 22. Bxe5 Rxe5 23. Bc4 Rxd6 $11 {Prohaszka,P (2554)-Bok,
B (2532) Stroebeck 2013}) 10... Nxc3 11. bxc3 Qxa2 12. c6 (12. Qb3 Qxb3 13.
Nxb3 a5 14. c6 Nb6 $32 {=/+}) 12... Nc5 13. Be2 (13. c4 e5 $1 $40 {[%csl Re1]})
13... Qxd5 14. Bf3 Qc4 15. Be2 Qd5 (15... Qa2 $5) 16. Bf3 Qc4 17. Be2 Qd5 {
½, Ivanchuk,V (2757)-Gelfand,B (2740) London ct 2013}) 6... Be6 7. cxd5 {
Van Wely chooses the simplest continuation.} ({An ambitious alternative is} 7.
c5 {and now:} {Possibly the best is the strategic retreat} Bc8 $5 (7... c6 8.
Bd3 (8. b4 Nbd7 9. Bd3 Nh5 10. Nge2 (10. Bg5 $142 $5) 10... f6 $1 11. h4 Bf7
12. Bh2 {[%cal Rg2g4]} f5 $1 {[%cal Ye7e5]} 13. f4 $6 Nhf6 14. Bg3 Ng4 15. Qd2
Ndf6 16. Nd1 Ne4 17. Bxe4 dxe4 18. a4 b6 19. h5 gxh5 20. Bh4 Bf6 21. Bxf6 Nxf6
22. Nf2 Kh8 23. O-O Rg8 $40 {Ivanchuk,V (2731)-Grischuk,A (2785) Elancourt 2013
}) (8. h3 {[%cal Yg1f3] frees a square for the Bf4 and prepares Nf3 without
allowing Bg4:} {Black seems fine after} Ne4 (8... b6 9. b4 Ne4 10. Bd3 a5 11.
Na4 (11. b5 $142 $5 Nxc3 12. Rxc3 bxc5 13. Rxc5 $11 {/+/=}) 11... Nd7 12. f3 b5
$5 13. fxe4 bxa4 14. b5 dxe4 15. Bxe4 cxb5 16. Nf3 Bxa2 17. Qe2 Bc4 18. Rxc4
bxc4 19. Qxc4 Ra7 20. O-O e5 21. Bg5 Bf6 {Jumabayev,R (2525)-So,W (2652)
Istanbul olm 2012} 22. Bh6 Bg7 23. Bg5 Bf6 $11) 9. Bd3 Bf5 $5 $13) 8... Bg4 9.
Nge2 (9. f3 Bc8 10. Nge2 Nbd7 11. O-O e5 12. Bg5 Qc7 13. b4 Re8 14. Qd2 Nf8 15.
Bh4 Nh5 16. g4 Nf6 17. Bg3 N8d7 18. Kg2 Qd8 19. h3 h5 $13 {Kovalenko,I (2637)
-Kulaots,K (2568) Vilnius 2014}) (9. Qc2 Nfd7 10. Bxb8 $6 Nxb8 $1 11. h3 Bc8
12. f4 b6 13. Na4 e5 $1 14. dxe5 f6 15. exf6 Qxf6 16. Nf3 Qe7 17. Kf2 b5 18.
Nc3 Na6 19. Qd2 Nxc5 20. Bb1 Kh8 21. b4 Nb7 22. Ne2 Nd6 $17 {Wang,Y (2736)
-Carlsen,M (2772) Nanjing 2009}) 9... Re8 (9... Bxe2 10. Bxe2 Nbd7 {Spalir,J 
(2325)-Rogulj,B (2402) Hum na Sutli 2015} 11. Bg3 Re8 12. f4 $1 {() Wojtaszek})
10. f3 Bc8 11. O-O Nbd7 12. Bg5 e5 13. b4 Nf8 14. Bh4 Bh6 $2 (14... exd4 15.
exd4 Bd7 16. b5 Qa5 $132 {Wojtaszek}) 15. f4 e4 16. Bc2 Bg7 17. b5 Bd7 18. Ba4
Qc8 19. h3 Nh5 20. Rb1 f5 21. Qb3 Bf6 22. Bxf6 Nxf6 23. bxc6 bxc6 24. Qb7 $16 {
Wojtaszek,R (2733)-Vachier Lagrave,M (2731) Biel 2015. See the notes to this
game by Wojtaszek in CBM 168.}) (7... Nh5 8. Bg5 b6 9. b4 a5 10. b5 bxc5 11.
dxc5 h6 12. Bh4 c6 13. Nf3 a4 14. Nd4 Bd7 15. Be2 g5 16. Bxh5 gxh4 17. Bf3 e6
18. O-O cxb5 19. Ncxb5 Ra5 20. Be2 Bxb5 21. Nxb5 Nc6 $13 {Buhmann,R (2613)
-Rambaldi,F (2517) Vienna 2015}) 8. Bd3 c6 9. Bg5 (9. h3 Nfd7 $1 10. Nf3 e5 11.
dxe5 ({White still wants to fight for an edge, but a more circumspect try was} 
11. Nxe5 Nxe5 12. Bxe5 Bxe5 13. dxe5 Nd7 14. O-O Nxe5 $11) 11... Nxc5 12. Bb1 (
12. O-O Nxd3 (12... Nbd7 $5) 13. Qxd3 Bf5 14. Qe2 Nd7 $11) (12. Be2 $5) 12...
Nbd7 13. b4 (13. O-O Qb6 14. Qc2 Re8 15. Rfd1 a5 $5 {[%csl Re5]}) 13... Ne6 14.
O-O (14. Bg3 Ng5 $15) 14... Nxf4 15. exf4 Nb6 16. Qd4 (16. Re1 a5 $5 $13 {/=/+}
) 16... f6 17. b5 Nc4 (17... fxe5 $142 $1 18. Nxe5 (18. fxe5 $2 Rxf3 19. gxf3
Qg5+) 18... Nc4 $36) 18. bxc6 bxc6 19. Bd3 fxe5 20. Nxe5 $6 (20. fxe5 Rxf3 21.
Bxc4 $13 {/\} Bxh3 22. Nxd5 Qg5 23. Nf4+ $11) 20... Bxe5 $1 21. fxe5 Nd2 22.
Rfd1 Qg5 23. Qe3 $1 (23. Kh2 $2 Bxh3 $1 24. Kxh3 Nf3 $1 25. gxf3 Rxf3+ 26. Kh2
Raf8 $19) 23... Nf3+ 24. Kh1 Qxe3 25. fxe3 Nxe5 $15 {Gelfand,B (2759)-Grischuk,
A (2795) Moscow 2014/ See the notes to this important game in CBM 164 by
Krasenkow.}) (9. Nf3 Bg4 $11) (9. b4 $5 b6 (9... Nfd7 10. Nf3 e5 $5 11. dxe5
Re8 $11) 10. Nge2 Nfd7 11. O-O e5 12. Bg3 a5 13. b5 bxc5 14. bxc6 Nxc6 15. Nxd5
Nb4 16. Be4 $36 {Karner,C (2339)-Kreisl,R (2408) Austria 2014}) 9... Re8 (9...
Nfd7 10. f4 {Kovalenko,I (2653)-Grigoriants,S (2570) Wroclaw blitz 2014} (10.
Nge2 $142 {Wojtaszek}) 10... f6 11. Bh4 e5 $1 12. fxe5 Qe8 $36) (9... b6 10. b4
a5 11. b5 bxc5 12. dxc5 Nbd7 13. bxc6 Nxc5 14. Bxf6 Bxf6 15. Be2 Bxc3+ 16. Rxc3
Ne4 17. Rc2 a4 18. f3 Qa5+ 19. Kf1 Nf6 20. g4 Ba6 21. Kf2 Rfc8 22. Qd4 Rab8 23.
Qa7 Rb6 24. g5 Ne8 25. Nh3 Rc7 26. Qa8 Rc8 {½, Duda,J (2663)-Bok,B (2594)
Doha 2015}) 10. f4 Bf5 11. Bxf5 gxf5 12. Bxf6 Bxf6 13. Qh5 e6 14. Nf3 Nd7 15.
g4 fxg4 16. Rg1 Kh8 17. Rxg4 Rg8 18. Rg3 Qe7 19. Ke2 $6 (19. e4 $5) 19... Rg6
20. Rxg6 fxg6 21. Qg4 b6 22. b4 a5 $132 {Wojtaszek,R (2734)-Vovk,Y (2617)
Berlin blitz 2015}) (7. Nf3 c5 ({Another good way is} 7... dxc4 8. Ng5 Bd5 9.
e4 h6 10. exd5 hxg5 11. Bxg5 Nxd5 12. Bxc4 Nb6 13. Bb3 Nc6 14. Ne2 a5 $1 $11 {
, this line has already been known for about 15 years.}) 8. dxc5 (8. cxd5 $5 {
is rare, but the engines seem to like it:} Nxd5 9. Nxd5 Qxd5 10. Bc4 Qd7 11.
Bxe6 Qxe6 12. Rxc5 Qxa2 13. Bxb8 (13. O-O $142 $5 Qxb2 14. Qd3 $36) 13... Rfxb8
14. Qc2 b6 15. Rc4 b5 16. Rc7 a5 17. O-O a4 18. Ne5 Bxe5 19. dxe5 b4 20. Rxe7
Re8 $44 {Lefebvre,H (2286)-Wirig,A (2490) Cappelle-la-Grande 2013}) 8... Nc6 9.
Be2 (9. Ng5 Bg4 10. f3 e5 $5 11. cxd5 exf4 12. dxc6 Qe7 {and Black holds his
own in the complications:} 13. fxg4 Qxe3+ 14. Be2 Nxg4 15. Nh3 Rad8 16. Qc2 Qe7
$1 17. O-O Qxc5+ 18. Kh1 Ne3 $132) 9... Ne4 10. Nd4 (10. O-O Bxc3 $1 (10...
Nxc3 11. bxc3 dxc4 12. Ng5 $14) 11. bxc3 dxc4 12. Nd4 Qd7 $1 (12... Nxc5 $143
13. Bh6 Re8 14. Nxe6 Nxe6 15. Bxc4 Qxd1 16. Rfxd1 $14 {Keres,P-Kavalek,L
Marianske Lazne 1965}) 13. Nxe6 Qxe6 14. Qa4 Ne5 15. Qb5 (15. c6 $5 $11) 15...
Nd3 $1 ({This is more concrete than} 15... a6 $5) 16. Bxd3 cxd3 17. Qxd3 $6 (
17. f3 d2 18. Rc2 Rad8 19. Rd1 g5 $1 $15) 17... Nxc5 18. Qd4 Rfc8 19. c4 f6 20.
Rfd1 Rc6 21. h3 Rac8 22. Qd5 Kf7 $15 {[%csl Rc4] /-/+, Miralles,G (2472)
-Dominguez Perez,L (2753) Rhodes 2013}) 10... Nxd4 11. exd4 Nxc3 12. bxc3 dxc4
13. O-O Bd5 14. Bf3 Qd7 15. Re1 Rfe8 16. Rb1 b6 17. cxb6 axb6 18. Rxb6 Rxa2 19.
Bxd5 Qxd5 20. Qf3 Qa5 $5 21. Rbb1 Bf6 22. Qc6 Qa4 23. Qxa4 Rxa4 24. g4 Ra5 25.
Rb7 Rc8 26. Kg2 h5 27. h3 Kg7 28. Re3 Rc6 29. Bg3 hxg4 30. hxg4 g5 $11 {
L'Ami,E (2606)-Mamedyarov,S (2721) Novi Sad 2009}) (7. Qb3 c5 $1 8. Qxb7 Qb6 9.
Qxb6 axb6 $32 {It's practically impossible to finish development and retain
the extra material:} 10. Nf3 Nc6 (10... dxc4 11. dxc5 bxc5 12. Ng5 Bd5 13. Nxd5
Nxd5 14. Bxc4 Nxf4 15. exf4 Bxb2 16. Rc2 Bf6 17. O-O Nc6 18. Bd5 Nb4 19. Rxc5
Nxd5 20. Rxd5 Rxa2 {Ding,L (2574)-Le,Q (2681) Manila 2010}) 11. dxc5 bxc5 12.
cxd5 Nxd5 13. Nxd5 Bxd5 14. Rxc5 e6 15. Bc4 Bxc4 16. Rxc4 Rxa2 17. O-O Na5 18.
Rc5 Nb7 19. Rc7 Rxb2 20. g4 Rb5 21. Kg2 h6 $11 {Malakhov,V (2714)-Svidler,P 
(2730) Olginka 2011 White's more active pieces give him only a symbolic edge,
a draw was agreed shortly.}) 7... Nxd5 8. Nxd5 Bxd5 (8... Qxd5 {is played more
often, but leads to a rather boring position Magnus definitely wanted to avoid:
} 9. b3 (9. a3 Qa5+ 10. Qd2 Qxd2+ 11. Kxd2 c6 12. Bc4 Bxc4 13. Rxc4 Nd7 14. Nf3
Rfd8 15. Ke2 Nb6 16. Rc2 Rd5 17. g4 Rb5 18. Be5 Nd7 19. Bxg7 Kxg7 20. h3 Re8 {
1/2, Pelletier,Y (2577)-Vachier Lagrave,M (2758) Saint-Quentin 2014}) 9... Qa5+
(9... c6 10. Nf3 Nd7 11. Qd2 Nb6 12. Be2 Rfc8 13. Ng5 Rd8 14. O-O Bf5 15. Bc7
Rf8 16. Bg3 Rfd8 17. Bc7 Rf8 18. Rfd1 Qd7 19. Bg3 Rfd8 20. Qa5 Bg4 21. Nf3 Qe8
22. h3 Be6 {Dominguez Perez,L (2746)-Nepomniachtchi,I (2720) Havana 2015} 23.
e4 $36) (9... Nd7 $5 {[%cal Yc7c5]} 10. Bxc7 Rac8 11. Ne2 Rxc7 12. Rxc7 Qa5+
13. Rc3 Nf6 14. b4 Qxb4 15. Qc1 Bxa2 16. Qa3 Nd5 17. Qxb4 Nxb4 18. Kd2 Bd5 19.
f4 Rd8 20. Rg1 e6 21. g4 a5 $13 {Basso,P (2428)-Boruchovsky,A (2536) Douglas
2015}) 10. Qd2 Qxd2+ 11. Kxd2 c6 12. Nf3 Nd7 (12... Bd5 $5 13. Bd3 (13. Bc4
Bxf3 14. gxf3 e6 15. Ke2 Nd7 16. Bd6 Rfe8 17. f4 Bf8 18. Bxf8 Kxf8 19. Bd3 Ke7
20. Rc2 Nb6 21. a3 Red8 $11 {Basso,P (2438)-Li,D (2389) Doha 2015}) 13... Bxf3
14. gxf3 Nd7 15. Bg5 Rfe8 16. Ke2 Nb6 17. f4 e6 18. Rhd1 a5 19. a4 Nd5 20. f3
Bf8 21. Bh4 Bb4 22. Be1 Bxe1 23. Rxe1 Red8 $11 {Ju,W (2547)-Ding,Y (2435)
Taizhou 2015}) 13. Bd3 Nf6 14. Be5 Bd5 15. Ke2 Rfd8 16. Rhd1 a5 17. Bc4 $11 {
/+/=} a4 18. b4 Ne4 19. Bxg7 Kxg7 20. Ne5 e6 21. Bd3 Nd6 22. Bb1 Bxg2 23. f3
Bh3 24. Rg1 f6 25. Nd3 e5 26. dxe5 fxe5 27. Nxe5 Be6 28. h4 Kf6 29. Nd3 Nc4 30.
Rc3 {Dreev,A (2644)-Bok,B (2607) Wijk aan Zee-B 2016} a3 $5 $132) 9. Bxc7 {
Consistent.} (9. Nf3 $143 c6 10. a3 Bxf3 $5 11. gxf3 Nd7 12. Bc4 c5 $1 13. dxc5
Bxb2 14. Rc2 Be5 15. Bxe5 Nxe5 16. Qxd8 Rfxd8 17. Ke2 Rac8 18. Rhc1 Rc7 19. f4
Nc6 20. h4 e6 21. h5 Na5 22. hxg6 hxg6 $15 {Mahmud,S (2315)-Li,C (2710)
Jakarta 2011/ While objectively this endgame is probably tenable for White,
his inferior pawn structure forces him to tread with care.}) 9... Qd7 10. Bg3
Bxa2 $146 {[%mdl 8] A novelty. While the text move seems to give White a
slight pull (in the middlegame a central pawn is worth more, than the Pa2) ,
it leads to a double-edged fight, which is exactly what Black was trying to
achieve.} ({Carlsen immediately regains the sacrificed pawn rather than seek
compensation after} 10... Nc6 11. Ne2 e5 (11... Rac8 12. Nc3 Rfd8 13. a3 Qe6
14. Nxd5 Qxd5 15. Be2 Qxg2 16. Bf3 Qh3 17. Bg4 Qg2 18. Bf3 Qh3 {½, Aupi Royo,
J (2378)-Mercadal Benejam,J (2359) email 2013}) 12. dxe5 Nxe5 13. Nc3 Rac8 14.
e4 Be6 15. Qxd7 Nxd7 16. Be2 Nc5 17. O-O Bxc3 18. Rxc3 Nxe4 19. Rxc8 Rxc8 20.
Bf4 Bxa2 21. Ra1 Bc4 22. Bxc4 Rxc4 23. Rxa7 Nc5 24. Be3 Kg7 25. h3 h5 26. Ra5
Ne6 27. Rb5 Rc7 $11 {Sjugirov,S (2678)-Navara,D (2735) Jerusalem 2015}) 11. Ne2
{The best, White simply continues his development.} ({The offside Ba2 can't be
trapped:} 11. b3 Qd5 {[%csl Rb3]} 12. Bc4 Qxg2 13. Qf3 Qxf3 14. Nxf3 Nc6 $15 {
/\} 15. Ra1 Nb4) 11... Bd5 {Black retains the bishop, but loses time.} ({
An interesting try was} 11... Nc6 12. Nc3 Qe6 $5 (12... Be6 13. Bd3 Rac8 14.
O-O $14) 13. Be2 (13. Nxa2 Qxa2 $132) 13... Bb3 14. Qd3 Rfd8 15. O-O a6 $132 {
/+/=}) 12. Nc3 Bc6 13. h4 $5 {Van Wely got ambitious, but he started spending
a lot a time, which backfires later on. Carlsen was suprised by White's choice,
although the text move is fine, a more modest alternative is} (13. f3 a5 14.
Bc4 b5 15. Be2 $13 {/+/=}) 13... Rd8 ({Komodo prefers} 13... a5 $5 14. h5 Na6
$13) 14. Qb3 Qf5 ({After} 14... Na6 {[%cal Ye7e5] White could change his mind
with} 15. Bc4 e6 16. O-O $14) 15. h5 e6 ({After} 15... Na6 {the N has nowhere
to go, but the engine prefers}) (15... a5 $142 $5 {[%cal Yb8a6,Ya6b4]}) 16.
hxg6 hxg6 17. Qd1 {Rather slow.} ({A more energetic way was} 17. Nb5 $5 Na6 (
17... Nd7 18. Bd3 $5 (18. Bc7 Rf8 19. Nd6 Qg5 20. Nxb7 Bxg2 21. Rg1 Qd5 (21...
Bd5 22. Rxg5 Bxb3 23. Ra5 $16) 22. Qxd5 Bxd5 23. Nd6 $14 {[%csl Gc7,Gd6]})
18... Qg5 19. Nc7 Bxg2 (19... Rac8 20. Nxe6 Qa5+ 21. Ke2 Bd5 22. Nxd8 Rxc1 23.
Nxb7 Bxb3 24. Nxa5 Rxh1 25. Nxb3 $36) 20. Rh2 Bd5 21. Nxd5 Qxd5 22. Qxd5 exd5
23. Rc7 $36) (17... Bd5 18. Qa3 Nc6 19. Nd6 Qg4 20. Nxb7 Nxd4 21. Nxd8 Bxg2 22.
exd4 Bxh1 23. Qe7 $16) 18. Nd6 Qa5+ 19. Qc3 Nb4 20. Nc4 $14) 17... Nd7 $6 {
This natural reaction could have led to problems.} (17... Qa5 $142 {White can
proceed with his kingside play and this results in some very complex computer
lines:} 18. Qg4 Nd7 19. Qh4 (19. Qh3 e5 $5 $13) 19... e5 $5 (19... Nf6 20. Be5
Nh5 21. f4 Qb4 22. Rc2 f6 23. Bd3 Be8 24. Qg4 fxe5 25. fxe5 Rd5 26. Be4 (26.
Bxg6 Rxe5 27. O-O Ng3 $132) 26... Rxd4 27. exd4 Qxd4 28. Ne2 Qxe5 29. Bxg6 Nf6
30. Qf4 $14) 20. dxe5 Qb6 $5 (20... Nxe5 21. Bf4 $1 Nd3+ 22. Bxd3 Rxd3 23. Qh7+
Kf8 24. Bh6 Bxh6 25. Qxh6+ Ke7 $14 {/~~}) 21. e6 (21. Qh7+ Kf8 22. Bf4 Qxb2 23.
e4 Bxe5 24. Rh3 {[%cal Rf1c4]} b5 25. Qh6+ Ke7 26. Qg5+ Bf6 27. Nd5+ Bxd5 28.
Qxd5 Rac8 $132) 21... fxe6 22. b4 (22. Bc4 Bxg2 23. Qh7+ Kf8 24. Qxg6 {[%cal
Rc4e6]} Nf6 $1 25. b4 Bxh1 26. Be5 Rd7 27. Bxf6 Bf3 28. Bxg7+ Rxg7 29. Qf6+ Rf7
30. Qh8+ Ke7 31. Qh4+ (31. Qxa8 $2 Rf8) 31... Rf6 32. Qh7+ $11) 22... Rac8 23.
Qh7+ Kf8 (23... Kf7 $2 24. Rh4 $1) 24. Bd6+ Kf7 25. Bd3 Nf8 $13) 18. Bd3 $6 (
18. b4 $1 {[%csl Ra5][%cal Yb4b5] takes away a5 from the queen and also
threatens b5:} a6 19. Bd3 Qg5 20. Ne4 Qd5 21. f3 Qa2 22. O-O $36 {/\} e5 23.
Bc4 Qa3 24. Nd6) 18... Qa5 19. Kf1 Nf6 (19... e5 20. d5 $1 Nc5 $8 (20... Bxd5
$2 21. b4 $18) 21. Be2 $14) 20. Be5 Rac8 ({Carlsen avoids the trap - the
natural} 20... Nd5 $2 {runs into} 21. Bxg6 $1 fxg6 22. Qg4 Rd7 (22... Nxc3 23.
Qxe6+ Kf8 24. Bxg7+ Kxg7 25. Qe7+ Kg8 26. bxc3 $18) (22... Be8 23. Bxg7 Kxg7
24. Qg5 $18) 23. Qxg6 Nxc3 24. bxc3 $16 {White risks nothing here and has a
strong attack.}) 21. Qd2 {Now Black fully consolidates his setup.} ({A more
useful move was} 21. Kg1 $142 Qb4 $5 (21... Nd5 $2 {still fails to} 22. Bxg6 (
22. Ne4 Bxe5 23. dxe5 Nxe3 $1 24. fxe3 Qxe5 $44) 22... fxg6 23. Qg4 Be8 24. Qh4
$1 (24. Bxg7 Nxc3 25. Rh8+ (25. Be5 $2 Ne2+) 25... Kxg7 26. Qh4 Ne2+ 27. Kh2
Bc6 28. Rh7+ Kg8 29. Rh8+ $11) 24... Rd7 25. Rh3 $18) 22. Rc2 Qe7 $13) 21...
Ng4 (21... Ne4 22. Bxe4 (22. Nxe4 Qxd2 23. Nxd2 Bxe5 $11) 22... Bxe5 23. Bxc6
bxc6 $5 $11) (21... Nh5 $5 22. Bxg7 Kxg7 $11 {[%cal Yd8h8,Ya5g5] /=/+ was even
more accurate.}) 22. Bxg7 Kxg7 23. f3 Qg5 $6 {[%mdl 512] Carlsen fully
realised that this sacrifice is not quite correct, but it's difficult to
handle with time running out.} (23... Nf6 24. e4 (24. Kf2 Rh8 25. Ra1 Qg5 $1)
24... Rh8 (24... Nh5 25. d5 Ng3+ (25... exd5 $2 26. Rxh5 gxh5 27. Qg5+ Kf8 28.
exd5 Bxd5 29. Re1 $1 $18) 26. Kf2 Nxh1+ 27. Rxh1 Qc5+ 28. Kg3 Qd6+ 29. Kf2 exd5
30. Qh6+ Kf6 31. Qh4+ Kg7 $11) 25. Kf2 Qb4 26. Be2 Rcd8 $11 {leads to a
roughly equal position, in which Black's chances to trick his opponent are
minimal.}) 24. fxg4 $8 (24. Ke2 Nf6 25. Rcg1 e5 $36) 24... Rxd4 25. Ke1 ({
Also after} 25. Rc2 $5 Rxg4 26. e4 Qf6+ (26... Qxd2 27. Rxd2 Rd8 28. Ke1 Rg3
29. Rh3) 27. Ke1 $16 {Black doesn't have full compensation.}) 25... Qe5 {
An attempt to keep more tension.} (25... Rxg4 $5 26. Ne4 Qe7 27. Rc4 Rd8 28.
Qc3+ e5 29. Rh2 $14 {/+/-}) 26. Ne2 (26. Kd1 $5 Rxg4 27. e4 $16 {[%cal Yd1c2,
Yc2b1,Rd2h6]}) 26... Rxg4 27. e4 $1 Rxg2 $2 (27... g5 28. Qb4 Rxg2 29. Rc5 Qf6
30. Rf1 Qh6 31. Qd4+ (31. Rxc6 bxc6 32. Rxf7+ Kxf7 33. Qb7+ Kf6 34. Qxc8 Qh4+
35. Kd1 Qf2 $14) 31... Kg8 32. Qe3 $36) (27... Rg5 $5 $14) 28. Qh6+ Kf6 29. Rc3
$2 $138 {[%mdl 8192] He misses an outright win. Unfortunately for Loek, this
won't be his last blunder...} (29. Qh4+ g5 (29... Qg5 30. e5+ Kg7 (30... Kxe5
31. Qd4#) 31. Qh7+ Kf8 32. Qh8+ Ke7 33. Qxc8 $18) (29... Rg5 30. Rg1 $18 {
[%cal Rg1g5,Re4e5]}) 30. Qh3 {[%csl Rg2]} Rxe2+ (30... Rd8 31. Qxg2 Rxd3 32.
Qf2+ Kg7 33. Rc5 $18) 31. Bxe2 $18 {and White should gradually convert his
extra rook.}) 29... Rd8 30. Qh3 {The moment and the advantage are gone and
White has to fight on in a very unclear position with almost no time left.} (
30. Qh7 Ke7 $13) (30. Qh4+ Qg5 $5 (30... g5 31. Qh3 Bxe4 32. Bxe4 Rxe2+ (32...
Qxe4 $2 33. Rf3+ $18) 33. Kxe2 Qxe4+ 34. Re3 Qc4+ 35. Ke1 Qc1+ 36. Kf2 Rd2+ 37.
Re2 Rxe2+ 38. Kxe2 Qxb2+ 39. Kf3 Ke7 $14 {/=}) 31. e5+ (31. Qxg5+ Kxg5 $13)
31... Kxe5 (31... Ke7 $4 32. Qb4+ $18) 32. Rc5+ Bd5 33. Qd4+ Kd6 34. Rh7 b6 35.
Rc2 e5 $13) 30... Qg5 $13 (30... Rg5 $6 31. Qh4) 31. Rf1+ Kg7 32. Qf3 Rd7 33.
Rf2 Rg4 (33... Rxf2 34. Qxf2 Qa5 $11 {is playable, but Black naturally wants
to keep pieces on the board.}) 34. Nf4 $6 {White had better moves:} (34. Nd4 {
/\} e5 (34... Qh4 35. Nxc6 bxc6 36. e5 $132) 35. Ne6+ fxe6 36. Qf8+ Kh7 37.
Rf7+ Rxf7 38. Qxf7+ Kh6 39. Qf8+ Kh7 (39... Kh5 $4 40. Be2 $18) 40. Qf7+ $11) (
34. Rh2 Rh4 35. Rxh4 Qxh4+ 36. Qg3 $11) 34... Qh4 $36 {[%csl Re4][%cal Ye6e5]}
35. Be2 $2 (35. Ng2 Qh1+ 36. Ke2 Rxe4+ $1 (36... f5 37. Ne3 Qxf3+ 38. Rxf3 Rh4
39. Ng2 Rh2 40. Rf2 $132) 37. Bxe4 Qd1+ 38. Ke3 Qd4+ 39. Kf4 Bxe4 40. Qe3 Bxg2+
41. Qxd4+ Rxd4+ 42. Ke3 Re4+ 43. Kd2 Rg4 44. Rc7 Bd5 45. Rfxf7+ Kh6 $15 {/-/+})
35... Rg1+ 36. Bf1 Kg8 $6 (36... e5 $142 37. Nd5 (37. Nh3 Rg4 $19 {[%csl Re4]})
37... f5 $1 $19) 37. Ne2 $2 ({The final error; he had to play} 37. Ng2 Qxe4+
38. Qxe4 Bxe4 39. Ne3 $17 {Although Black has excellent winning chances, he
must still work for the full point.}) 37... Rxf1+ $1 38. Kxf1 Rd1+ 39. Kg2 Bxe4
$19 {[%csl Rf3]} 0-1

[Event "Biel GM 48th"]
[Site "Biel"]
[Date "2015.07.27"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Wojtaszek, Radoslaw"]
[Black "Vachier Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D83"]
[WhiteElo "2733"]
[BlackElo "2731"]
[Annotator "Wojtaszek,R"]
[PlyCount "91"]
[EventDate "2015.07.20"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "SUI"]
[EventCategory "19"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 168"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2015.09.14"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2015.09.14"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{Last year I had to face Maxime with White the day after I'd lost almost a
7-hour game against Anish Giri. Having no idea what to do against the Grünfeld
I played quite a harmless line and our game finished with a draw quite quickly.
This year I was lucky to have a freeday before the game, so I was determined
to prepare something more serious.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bf4 {
Not the most topical line at the moment but GM Gajewski, who was helping me
during the tournament, convinced me that it was worth a try.} Bg7 5. e3 O-O 6.
Rc1 Be6 {That's what everyone is doing nowadays. I must admit I was not really
playing for an advantage out of the opening. My main hope was rather that the
structure we got might not suit Maxime - instead of playing his usual sharp
Grünfeld stuff this one is more similar to some positional a6-Slav lines.} 7.
c5 ({It's well known that White has nothing after} 7. Qb3 {because of} c5 $1 8.
Qxb7 Qb6 9. Qxb6 axb6 {and practice shows that Black has at least enough
compensation}) 7... c6 8. Bd3 Bg4 {Of couse this move is not a mistake but
Grischuk's choice against Gelfand looks much more convincing.} (8... Bc8 $1 {
I must admit that in my preparation I was not really able to find any reaction
which would make me happy. Black has a simple plan to play ...Nfd7 and ...e5.}
{After all I would probably play a strange-looking move which was already seen
in the game Kovalenko-Grigoriants} 9. Bg5 $5 {and after} (9. Nf3 Bg4 $1 {
and Black will exchange the only bad piece he has.}) ({Gelfand played normal
looking moves} 9. h3 Nfd7 $1 10. Nf3 e5 11. dxe5 Nxc5 12. Bb1 Nbd7 {but it
quickly became clear that is White who has to be careful not to end up being
worse}) 9... Nfd7 {which happened in the game I would improve with} 10. Nge2 $5
) 9. Nge2 (9. f3 {It was possible to start also like this but since I was not
afraid of tthe capture on e2 I'd decided to give Maxime an extra option} Bc8
10. Nge2 Nbd7 (10... Nfd7 11. Bg5 $1 {again this is a useful resource to stop
e5 for a while}) 11. O-O e5 12. Bg5 Re8 {would tranpose to our game with no
real alternatives along the way}) (9. Qc2 $6 {was played in the game Wang
Yue-Carlsen but Black was more than fine after the simple} Nfd7 {with the
usual idea to play ...e5.}) 9... Re8 (9... Bxe2 $5 {was also possible but I
liked the character of the position and still thought that White could be a
bit better} 10. Bxe2 Nfd7 {This position I saw briefly in my preparation and
since I've spotted that White has two promising options, I decided to choose
during the game which one I should play.} (10... Nbd7 11. Bg3 $1 Re8 12. f4 $1
{and finally I would stop ...e5 for good!}) 11. Bg5 $1 {would be much stronger}
(11. e4 {was my early favourite but in fact it doesn't offer anything special.}
dxe4 12. Nxe4 Nf6 $1 (12... Na6 13. O-O Nc7 14. Bc4 {and here I think White is
a bit better thanks to the space advantage}) 13. Nc3 Nd5 14. Bg3 Nc7 $1 {
the key move which solves Black's problems} 15. Qb3 (15. O-O Ne6 16. d5 cxd5
17. Qxd5 Nc6 {and Black has nothing to complain about}) 15... b6 $1 {leads to
a forced draw after} 16. cxb6 axb6 17. Qxb6 Ne6 18. Qb7 Qa5 19. Qxe7 Ra7 20.
Qh4 Nxd4 21. O-O Nxe2+ 22. Nxe2 Qxa2) 11... Bf6 12. Bh6 Bg7 (12... Re8 13. Qb3
$1 {much stronger than immediate} (13. f4 $2 {which runs into} e5 $1 14. fxe5
Bxe5) 13... Qc7 14. f4 {and we already know that this structure is good for
White}) 13. Bxg7 Kxg7 14. h4 $5 {and at least I could pretend that I have
chances to create some play on the kingside.}) 10. f3 Bc8 11. O-O ({Before the
game I also considered playing more sharply but then decided that against such
a tactically gifted player as Maxime it wouldn't make much sense, especially
since I was happy with the alternative which happened in the game} 11. e4 $5
dxe4 12. fxe4 e5 $1 (12... Nh5 13. Be3 e5 14. d5 Qh4+ 15. Bf2 Qg5 16. O-O {
looks much better for White}) 13. Bxe5 Rxe5 14. dxe5 Ng4 15. Bc4 Qf8 $1 {
and I wasn't sure if objectively White can play for an advantage here and I
definitely didn't like it from the practical point of view as my king is weak
and my pawns are falling.} 16. e6 $1 {would lead to a really crazy position}
fxe6 (16... Bxe6 $6 17. Bxe6 fxe6 18. Qd6 $1 Qf2+ 19. Kd2 Bh6+ 20. Kc2 {
and White is clearly better}) 17. Qd6 Qf2+ 18. Kd2 Bh6+ 19. Kc2 Ne3+ 20. Kd3
Nxc4 21. Kxc4 {Normally I would write that the white king's position is
impressive but it's not even close to what David did against me!} Bxc1 22. Nxc1
Nd7 23. Qxe6+ Kg7 24. Qe7+ Kh6 {and most likely it would end up with a draw
after} 25. Nd3 Qxg2 26. Qh4+ Kg7 27. Qe7+ $11) 11... Nbd7 12. Bg5 e5 13. b4 Nf8
14. Bh4 {After f3 this position is more or less forced, also it was my main
position in the preparation.} Bh6 $2 {It looks tempting but in fact it's a
mistake after which Black will never recover in this game} ({It was neccessary
to play} 14... exd4 $1 15. exd4 {and here it is a choice between} Bd7 $5 {
which would be safer and also good enough. White has more space but the
weakness on d4 might hurt in the long run} (15... b5 {is more dynamic but
Black would have to watch out for} 16. a4 a6 17. axb5 axb5 18. Nxb5 cxb5 19.
Bxb5 {and I have to say that even with engines running I couldn't properly
analyse this position}) ({I should point out that immediate} 15... Ne6 {
would run into} 16. f4 $1 {and it turns out that White is better on both flanks
}) 16. b5 Qa5) 15. f4 $1 e4 $6 {This gives me really easy play on the
queenside without any real compensation but it was already difficult to find
any alternative.} ({Funnily, when I was preparing for the game that was the
last line I'd checked and it really confused me as it was like 1.30 PM (rounds
started at 2). Computers at first were very excited as Black but after some
time they realised it doesn't work} 15... g5 $6 16. fxe5 $1 (16. fxg5 Ng4 {
would lead to some crazy position after} 17. Rf6 $1 (17. Qd2 Bxg5 18. Bxg5 Qxg5
{is at least slightly better for Black}) 17... Bg7 (17... Nxf6 $2 {doesn't
work in view of} 18. gxh6 $1) 18. Rxf7 {and here the best for Black according
to engines is} a5 {... when I saw it I thought it's enough and I will better
stop since it's impossible for that to happen. After the game I was just
curious why such a ridiculous move should be played and it turned out that the
point is clear in the line} 19. b5 e4 20. Nxe4 $6 Nxe3 21. Qb3 a4 $1 {and
without a4 Black would be hopeless while now it's White who is in big trouble})
16... gxh4 17. Rxf6 Bxe3+ 18. Kh1 {It turns out that White's compensation for
the exchange is more than sufficent} Bg4 {Black can even win a tempo but this
doesn't really help.} (18... Bg5 19. Rd6) (18... Be6 19. Rb1) (18... Bxc1 19.
Qxc1) 19. Qe1 (19. Rb1 $2 {would be a mistake} Bxd4 20. Bxh7+ Nxh7 21. Qxd4
Nxf6 22. exf6 Bxe2 23. Qf4 Bd3 24. Qh6 Qxf6 $1 {I thought it's a nice trick to
show. Also it's the only defence.} 25. Qxf6 Bxb1 {with advantage for Black})
19... Bxc1 20. Qxc1 Bh5 21. Nf4 Bg6 22. Bf5 $1 {is the key point because after}
Nd7 23. Bxd7 Qxd7 24. h3 $1 {Black just has no hope and the h4-pawn will fall.}
) (15... exd4 16. exd4 {it's not the same as before because the knight on f6
is pinned} Bg7 17. f5 {and again, White is better on both flanks.}) 16. Bc2 Bg7
({I'm pretty sure that Maxime's first intention was to play} 16... g5 $5 {
but it doesn't work} 17. Bxg5 Bxg5 18. fxg5 Ng4 19. Qd2 Qxg5 20. Nf4 {Black is
just not in time to organise any counterplay around white's king. The sample
line was in fact one which I briefly considered during the game} Ng6 (20... Ne6
21. b5 Bd7 22. Ba4 Nxf4 23. Rxf4 Re6 24. bxc6 bxc6 25. Nxd5 $1 Rg6 26. Rxg4
Bxg4 27. Nf4 {with great compensation}) 21. b5 Bd7 22. Ba4 Re7 23. bxc6 bxc6
24. Rb1 {and here I stopped thinking that I should have something, and indeed,
this time actually I was right} Nxf4 25. Rxf4 Kh8 26. Rb7 Rg8 27. Bxc6 $1 {
is the nice trick} Nxe3 (27... Bxc6 28. Rxg4 $1) 28. Rf2 $1 Bxc6 29. Rxe7 Qxe7
30. Qxe3 Rg6 31. Ne2 $1 {with a clear advantage.}) 17. b5 Bd7 18. Ba4 Qc8 ({
During the game I considered all kinds of active tries for Black like} 18... h6
19. Rb1 N8h7 {and here the engine shows a really beautiful idea to stop
Black's counterplay} (19... g5 20. fxg5 Ng4 21. Qd2 hxg5 22. Bg3 {and Black
achieved nothing and White is ready to start an operation on the queenside})
20. f5 $1 ({I only considered} 20. h3 g5 21. fxg5 hxg5 22. Bg3 g4 23. h4 Nh5
24. Qe1 {which also gives White a nice advantage}) 20... gxf5 21. Ng3 Qc8 22.
bxc6 bxc6 23. h3 $1 {and Black is completely paralysed because after} Nf8 24.
Bxf6 $1 Bxf6 25. Nxd5 $1 cxd5 26. Bxd7 Qxd7 27. Nxf5 {White's attack is just
too strong to handle.}) 19. h3 $1 {During the game I was very proud to make
this move. I had to stop ...Ng4 but it was psychologically not easy to play h3
just after Maxime played ...Qc8 threating all kind of sacrifices on h3. To be
truth, after the game I've realised that the lines are not difficult to
calculate after all.} (19. Bxf6 $2 Bxf6 20. Rb1 Bd8 {and White has no
advantage at all.}) 19... Nh5 (19... Bxh3 $2 20. gxh3 Qxh3 21. Bxf6 Bxf6 22.
bxc6 Qxe3+ 23. Kg2 {is just an easy win.}) 20. Rb1 f5 {Now It's clear that my
advantage is huge with no counterplay.} (20... Bxh3 21. bxc6 bxc6 (21... Qg4
22. Ng3 (22. Rf2 {is also good}) 22... Qxh4 23. Nxh5 Bg4 24. Qe1 Qxh5 25. cxb7
{is winning}) 22. gxh3 Qxh3 23. Bxc6 Qxh4 24. Qe1 Qg4+ 25. Kh2 {and Black's
attack is over}) 21. Qb3 Bf6 22. Bxf6 Nxf6 23. bxc6 bxc6 (23... Bxc6 24. Qc2 {
and doubling rooks on the b-file would also guarantee a serious advantage.})
24. Qb7 Ne6 25. Nc1 $1 {An important manoeuvre - White goes to a5 and now it's
clear that with so many pieces around the c6-pawn it will be very difficult to
defend.} Rb8 $5 {An interesting try to find some counterplay, even if
objectively it is not correct.} (25... Nd8 {passive defence probably also
wouldn't be enough} 26. Qxc8 Bxc8 27. Nb3 {and here in fact I missed} Ba6 $5 ({
I only saw} 27... a5 28. Rb2 Ra7 29. Rfb1 {and eventually I will move my
bishop from a4 and bring the knight to b6. Practically speaking I considered
this position as being close to winning for me.}) 28. Rfe1 Bd3 29. Rb2 a5 {
but fortunately for me I would have} 30. g4 $1 {and usual stuff in the endgame
- trying to find the second weakness to win the game.}) 26. Qxc8 {I thought it
was very pragmatic just to exchange queens and keep a big advantage but on the
other hand after taking the pawn Black wouldn't have counterplay either.} (26.
Qxa7 $5 Rxb1 27. Nxb1 g5 28. fxg5 Nxg5 29. Ne2 Kh8 30. Nf4 Rg8 31. Nc3 {
and I don't see how Black can create any active play.}) 26... Rexc8 27. Nb3 Nc7
$6 {Again searching for counterplay. Probably not the best idea but it's hard
to criticise as passive defence also looks very sad.} (27... Kf7 28. Na5 Nd8
29. a3 Rxb1 30. Rxb1 h6 (30... Ke8 31. Na2 Ng8 32. Nb4 Ne7 33. Na6) 31. Na2 g5
32. g3 g4 33. hxg4 $1 (33. h4 Ke7 34. Nb4 Ne8 35. Na6 Nc7) 33... Nxg4 34. Rb3)
28. Na5 Nb5 29. Ne2 $6 {During the game I thought it was very clever but in
fact simple taking on b5 was much easier.} (29. Bxb5 cxb5 30. Rb3 $1 {and
thanks to the fact that Ra3 is not possible compared to the Rb2 line - White
is much better} (30. a3 $5 Kf8 31. Na2 a6 32. Nb4 {would be also very tough
for Black}) (30. Rb2 {For some reason I only considered this.} a6 31. Rfb1 Kf8
32. a4 Ra8 33. axb5 axb5 34. Nb7 Ra3 $1 {and this counterplay was very annoying
}) 30... a6 31. Rfb1 Ra8 32. a4 Kf8 33. axb5 axb5 34. Nb7 Rcb8 35. Nd6 Ke7 36.
Ndxb5 {with a healthy extra pawn.}) 29... Na3 {This I underestimated during
the game. I thought that there is no real compensation for the pawn.} (29...
Kf7 30. Rb3 $1 Ke7 31. Rfb1 a6 32. Rb4 {followed by Bd1-a4 was the idea behind
Ne2.}) 30. Rxb8 Rxb8 31. Bxc6 Bxc6 32. Nxc6 Rb2 33. Nc3 Rc2 34. Ne7+ Kf7 35.
Ncxd5 {To be honest I didn't expect here any problems and it went rather
smoothly during the game but it turned out that there is quite some poison
here.} Nc4 $6 (35... Nxd5 $5 36. Nxd5 Rc4 (36... Ke6 37. Nb4 $1 {the only way}
(37. Nc7+ $6 Kd7 38. Na6 Nc4) 37... Rb2 38. d5+ $1 Kf6 39. d6 Rxb4 40. c6 Nb5
41. Rd1 Nxd6 42. Rxd6+ {wins}) 37. Nc7 $1 Ke7 38. Na6 $1 Ra4 (38... Kd7 39. d5
$1) 39. Nb8 $1 {all this would be required to score the whole point.}) 36. Rb1
$1 Nh5 37. Nc6 Nd2 38. Ncb4 {Good enough to win but I could finish the game
immediately after} (38. Ne5+ Kg7 39. Rb7+ Kh6 40. g4 $1) 38... Nxb1 39. Nxc2
Ke6 40. Nc7+ Kd7 41. Nd5 Ke6 42. Ndb4 Nf6 43. d5+ $1 Kd7 44. d6 Nc3 45. Nd4
Nfd5 46. Na6 {It was a nice win for me, especially since it was the first time
I had won against Maxime in classical game. Also it gave me high hopes of
winning the tournament but we all know that stopping Maxime from winning the
tournament in Biel seems just impossible!} 1-0

