[Event "Moscow Tal Memorial 7th"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "2012.06.17"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C45"]
[WhiteElo "2770"]
[BlackElo "2801"]
[Annotator "Caruana,F"]
[PlyCount "79"]
[EventDate "2012.06.08"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[EventCategory "22"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 149"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2012.07.17"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2012.07.17"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{This game was played in the penultimate round. In the previous game, I had
miraculously survived a dead lost position against Radjabov, and as a result I
was in tied first place with +1. Diese Begegnung wurde in der vorletzten Runde
gespielt. In der Partie zuvor hatte ich auf wundersame Weise eine totale
Verluststellung gegen Radjabov überlebt, und als Resultat lag ich mit +1 auf
dem geteilten ersten Platz.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 {The decision to play
the Scotch for the first time in my life, in such an important game, and
especially against a player like Kramnik, wasn't such an easy one. However, I
felt like getting a new, interesting position from the opening, rather than
bashing my head against the Berlin Wall yet again. In hindsight, this decision
was a perfect one. Die Entscheidung, Schottisch zu spielen, zum ersten Mal in
meinem Leben, in so einer wichtigen Partie, und vor allem gegen einen Spieler
wie Kramnik, war keine sonderlich leichte. Doch mir war danach, aus der
Öffnung eine neue, interessante Stellung zu erhalten und mir nicht wieder den
Kopf gegen die Berliner Mauer einzurennen. Im Nachhinein erwies sich diese
Entscheidung als perfekt.} exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nxc6 bxc6 6. e5 Qe7 7. Qe2 Nd5
8. c4 Ba6 9. Nd2 g6 10. Nf3 Bg7 ({Before the game I had also checked Vor der
Partie hatte ich auch} 10... Qb4+ 11. Kd1 Rb8 12. Qc2 Ne7 {, with very complex
play, which perfectly suited my mood. gecheckt, mit sehr komplexem Spiel, was
perfekt zu meiner Stimmung passte.}) 11. Bg5 f6 {This move took me by surprise,
although I must admit it's a very logical one. Dieser Zug überraschte mich,
obwohl ich zugeben muss, dass er sehr logisch ist.} ({I had looked at the
following forced variation: Ich hatte die folgende forcierte Variante
betrachtet:} 11... Qb4+ 12. Qd2 Qxd2+ 13. Bxd2 Nb6 14. b3 d6 15. O-O-O dxe5 16.
Nxe5 Bxe5 17. Re1 Nd7 18. f4 f6 19. fxe5 Nxe5 20. Bc3 O-O 21. Be2 Rfe8 22. Bxe5
fxe5 23. Bf3 {, with a pleasant advantage, despite the pawn deficit. , mit
angenehmen Vorteil trotz des Bauerndefizits.}) 12. exf6 Qxe2+ 13. Bxe2 Nxf6 14.
O-O-O O-O-O 15. Be3 Rde8 16. Bd3 d6 ({After Nach} 16... Ng4 $2 {White can grab
the pawn safely: kann Weiß ruhig den Bauern schnappen:} 17. Bxa7 Kb7 18. h3 {
, with a clear advantage. , mit klarem Vorteil.}) 17. c5 {The only logical way
to proceed, as otherwise Black would play ...c5 himself, with a comfortable
position. Die einzig logische Fortsetzung, denn sonst würde Schwarz selbst ...
c5 spielen, mit bequemer Stellung.} Bxd3 18. Rxd3 Nd5 {The most natural move,
but perhaps not the best. Der natürlichste Zug, aber vielleicht nicht der
beste.} ({Nach} 18... d5 19. Bd4 {leaves Black's position a bit awkward. ist
die schwarze Stellung ein wenig unbehaglich.}) ({However, the accurate Doch
das genaue} 18... Ne4 $1 19. cxd6 cxd6 {would have resulted in dead equality,
since White can't capture on a7 any more due to ...c5. hätte zu totem
Ausgleich geführt, denn Weiß kann nicht mehr auf a7 nehmen wegen ...c5.}) 19.
cxd6 cxd6 20. Bxa7 {Black should have enough compensation here, but over the
board it isn't so simple to prove it. Every one of Kramnik's next moves is
quite natural and hard to criticize, but each move slightly deteriorates
Black's position, until he no longer has any compensation for the pawn.
Schwarz sollte hier genug Kompensation haben, aber am Brett ist dies nicht so
leicht nachzuweisen. Jeder einzelne von Kramniks nächsten Zügen ist völlig
natürlich und kaum zu krisieren, doch jeder Zug verschlechtert die schwarze
Stellung , bis er gar keine Kompensation für den Bauern mehr hat.} Kc7 ({
Perhaps stronger was Stärker war vielleicht} 20... Kd7 $5 {, which has the
advantage of avoiding Ne6 check in some variations. This seems sufficient for
rough equality. , was den Vorteil hat, in manchen Varianten das Schach Ne6 zu
vermeiden. Dies scheint zum ungefähren Ausgleich zu genügen.} 21. Rb3 Kc7 22.
Be3 Rb8 23. Rxb8 Rxb8 24. Bd4 Bxd4 25. Nxd4 Nf4 {, and Black regains the pawn
with a fine position. und Schwarz gewinnt den Bauern mit guter Stellung zurück.
}) 21. Be3 Ra8 {Another small step in the wrong direction. Wieder ein kleiner
Schritt in die falsche Richtung.} (21... Rb8 22. Rd2 Rhe8 23. Re1 Nxe3 $1 {
It seems difficult to part with such a beautiful knight, but as is well known,
the pieces that remain on the board are more important than the pieces that
are traded off. This exchange ensures a bright future for Black's bishop,
which is much more versatile than White's knight. After Es scheint schwer,
sich von einem so schönen Springer zu trennen, aber bekanntlich sind die
Figuren, die auf dem Brett verbleiben, wichtiger als diejenigen, die getauscht
werden. Dieser Abtausch sichert eine glänzende Zukunft für den schwarzen
Läufer, der weitaus vielseitiger ist als der weiße Springer. Nach} 24. fxe3 Rb4
{, Black has adequate compensation for the pawn. hat Schwarz ausreichende
Kompensation für den Bauern.}) 22. a3 Ra4 ({Another possible continuation was
Eine andere mögliche Fortsetzung war} 22... Rhb8 23. Bd4 Nf4 24. Re3 Bxd4 25.
Nxd4 Nxg2 26. Re7+ Kb6 27. Rxh7 Nf4 {, and Black should be able to make a draw
due to White's broken pawn structure. , und aufgrund der zersplitterten weißen
Bauernstruktur sollte Schwarz remisieren können.}) 23. Re1 Rf8 $2 {After this
strategic mistake Black will be struggling for the rest of the game. It was
his last chance to trade off White's bishop. Nach diesem strategischen Fehler
wird Schwarz den Rest über der Partie zu kämpfen haben. Es war seine letzte
Chance, den weißen Läufer abzutauschen.} (23... Nxe3 {is simply mandatory now.
ist jetzt einfach Pflicht.} 24. fxe3 Re8 {, and Black will have to suffer a
bit, but he should be able to hold the position. und Schwarz wird ein bisschen
leiden müssen, sollte aber in der Lage sein, die Stellung zu halten.}) 24. Ng5
{Now Black is even facing tactical problems. Nun sieht sich Schwarz sogar
taktischen Problemen gegenüber.} Re8 (24... Kd7 25. Rb3 {threatens Rb7, which
is surprisingly difficult to counter. droht Rb7, was überraschend schwer zu
kontern ist.}) 25. Bb6+ {I was happy to trade off some material, since it
became clear that my king would never be in any danger. Ich war froh, etwas
Material abzutauschen, weil damit klar wurde, dass mein König nie in Gefahr
schweben würde.} Kd7 26. Rxe8 Kxe8 27. Be3 Kd7 ({Maybe Black should still try
Vielleicht sollte Schwarz noch immer} 27... Nxe3 28. Rxe3+ Kd7 {, although
this version of the exchange is clearly unfavorable for him. versuchen, obwohl
diese Version des Abtauschs eindeutig ungünstig für ihn ist.}) 28. Rb3 Kc8 29.
Bd2 h5 (29... h6 30. Nf7 {wins another pawn. gewinnt einen weiteren Bauern.})
30. Nf7 {I continue to pursue my advantage in the most concrete way, but
perhaps it was more practical (especially due to my time shortage at this
stage) to simply consolidate my position and begin advancing on the queenside.
Ich gehe meinem Vorteil weiter auf die konkreteste Weise nach, aber vielleicht
war es praktischer (vor allem angesichts meiner Zeitknappheit in dieser Phase),
einfach meine Stellung zu konsolidieren und zu beginnen, am Damenflügel
vorzurücken.} Kc7 31. Rg3 Ne7 32. b4 Kd7 33. Rd3 d5 34. Kc2 Nf5 35. Bc3 {
A very important move, as otherwise Black gets sufficient counterplay with ...
Nd4. Ein ganz wichtiger Zug, denn sonst erhält Schwarz ausreichendes
Gegenspiel mit ...Nd4.} d4 (35... Rxa3 36. Bxg7 Rxd3 37. Kxd3 Nxg7 38. Ne5+ Kd6
39. Nxg6 {is most likely winning for White. ist höchstwahrscheinlich gewonnen
für Weiß.}) 36. Kb3 Ra8 37. Ng5 Kd6 {For the last couple of moves Kramnik has
defended accurately, and it seems like he is beginning to get counterplay with
...Kd5, supporting his advanced d-pawn. Über die letzten paar Züge hinweg hat
Kramnik akkurat verteidigt, und es scheint, als würde er langsam Gegenspiel
bekommen mit ...Kd5, was seinen vorgerückten d-Bauern stützt.} 38. f3 $6 {
An inaccuracy which.....wins the game immediately! Surprisingly, this move,
which was made with only seconds on the clock, almost spoils all the hard work
I had done. Eine Ungenauigkeit, welche... die Partie sofort gewinnt!
Überraschenderweise macht dieser Zug, der mit nur Sekunden auf der Uhr
gespielt wurde, die gesamte harte Arbeit, die ich zuvor geleistet hatte, fast
zunichte.} ({The precise Das präzise} 38. Kc4 $1 Rxa3 39. Bxd4 Rxd3 40. Bc5+
Ke5 41. Kxd3 {gives White good chances to score the full point, although there
is still plenty of work to be done. gibt Weiß gute Chancen, den vollen Punkt
einzufahren, obwohl noch eine Menge Arbeit zu tun ist.}) 38... Kd5 39. Ne4 Ne3
$4 {A bizarre blunder, ending the game immediately. Instead, Black had a
miraculous chance to turn the game around. Ein bizarrer Bock, der die Partie
sofort beendet. Stattdessen hatte Schwarz eine wundersame Chance, die Partie
zu drehen.} (39... Rxa3+ $3 {is a move I hadn't even noticed during the game.
ist ein Zug, den ich während der Partie nicht einmal bemerkt hatte.} 40. Kxa3
Kc4 41. Rd1 (41. Bxd4 Kxd3 42. Bxg7 Nxg7 {is close to a draw due to Black's
active king. ist nahe am Remis aufgrund des aktiven schwarzen Königs.}) 41...
dxc3 {, and it seems like Black's advanced c-pawn will secure a draw. und es
scheint, als wird der vorgerückte c-Bauer von Schwarz ein Remis sichern.}) 40.
Rxe3 {And now it's all over. An unfortunately abrupt finish to an interesting
game. To my great shock (and probably to many others' as well) I found myself
in clear first place going into the final round. However, I wasn't quite up to
the challenge and lost without a fight against Levon Aronian, ending up in
shared second place. Und jetzt ist alles vorbei. Ein leider abruptes Ende
einer interessanten Partie. Zu meinem großen Schreck (und womöglich auch dem
vieler anderer) fand ich mich, als es in die letzte Runde ging, auf dem
unangefochtenen ersten Platz wieder. Allerdings war ich der Herausforderung
nicht ganz gewachsen und verlor ohne Kampf gegen Levon Aronian, wonach ich auf
dem geteilten letzten Platz landete.} 1-0

[Event "Dortmund SuperGM 40th"]
[Site "Dortmund"]
[Date "2012.07.21"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C65"]
[WhiteElo "2775"]
[BlackElo "2799"]
[Annotator "Caruana,F"]
[PlyCount "105"]
[EventDate "2012.07.13"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[EventCategory "19"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 150"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2012.09.14"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2012.09.14"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{It was clear to me from the beginning that this would be a fighting game.
Vladimir had just played a very long (nearly 8 hours!) and certainly
disappointing game against Leko the previous round, so I felt it was a good
time to strike.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. O-O d6 6. c3 O-O
7. Nbd2 Ne7 8. d4 {This is of course the only testing move. After others Black
will play ...Ng6, ...c6 and ...Bb6, with a comfortable position.} exd4 9. cxd4
Bb6 10. b3 {I was told this move looks unusual, but I just wanted to develop
my bishop. Other possibilities are 10.h3, 10.Re1 or 10.Bd3, which all lead to
unclear positions.} d5 {In general this is the principled and correct course
of action. The play now becomes very forcing, as Black tries to undermine
White's center.} 11. e5 Ne4 12. Bd3 Bf5 13. Qe2 Nc6 14. Bb2 Nxd2 15. Qxd2 Be4 {
A crucial move. If Black allows the exchange of bishops on White's terms then
he will face a worse position without active prospects.} 16. Be2 $5 {It was
difficult to take this decision. The alternative would result in a sterile
position, while this leads to double-edged play.} (16. Qe3 {is the safe option.
} Bxf3 17. Qxf3 Bxd4 18. Bxd4 Nxd4 19. Bxh7+ Kxh7 20. Qd3+ Kg8 21. Qxd4 {
, with a roughly equal positon.}) 16... f6 {The computer suggests other
options for Black, but I don't see any reason to avoid this move, which is the
most natural and principled.} 17. b4 $1 {This was my idea when I played 16.Be2.
Now Black will be forced to reckon with the possibility of b5 on each move.
Additionally, I prevent ...Ba5.} fxe5 18. dxe5 {Now Vladimir sank into a long
thought. At first I was very worried I had overlooked something and Black
would have a strong attack, but after his indecisiveness I became more at ease.
} Kh8 $6 {This move doesn't meet the demands of the position. Black had two
viable options, one aggressive and one prophylactic.} ({I was expecting} 18...
h6 {, which prevents Ng5, and I wasn't sure what the evaluation of the
position is after} 19. b5 Na5 20. Rae1 {Here, the computer points out a strong
idea:} c6 {, undermining the b5-pawn with a satisfactory position.}) ({The
other possibility, which I hadn't taken seriously during the game, is} 18... d4
$5 {, immediately starting aggresive counterplay. The positions after this
move are incredibly complex, with variations branching out at after every move.
A possible continuation out of many is} 19. Rae1 Bd5 20. b5 Ba5 21. Qd1 Bxe1
22. Rxe1 {and the machine estimates this as roughly equal, although it's not
clear to me exactly what's going on at first sight!}) 19. b5 Ne7 ({The problem
for Black, compared to 18...h6, is that after} 19... Na5 {, White has the
strong} 20. Ng5) 20. Ng5 {This move isn't bad, but 20.Nd4 was cleaner.} ({
Stronger, and less complicated, was} 20. Nd4 Nf5 21. f3 Nxd4 22. Bxd4 Bg6 23.
Rac1 {, with a stable positional advantage.}) 20... Ng6 {A very natural move.
It seems like Black is getting a strong initiative, but after my next move it
becomes clear White has everything under control.} ({Perhaps better chances
were offered by} 20... Nf5 21. e6 (21. Ne6 $2 Qh4 22. Nxf8 Rxf8 {gives Black a
strong attack.}) 21... Qe7 {, but after the accurate} 22. a4 $1 {Black is
still clearly worse.}) 21. g3 $1 {Simply preventing ...Nf4. Next White can
consider ideas like e6, h4-h5 or just taking the bishop on e4 at the right
moment.} Qe7 (21... Ba5 {is met by the calm} 22. Qc1) 22. e6 Rf5 23. Nxe4 {
A good time to trade, since I'm ready to invade on d7 and head to an endgame.}
dxe4 24. Qd7 Raf8 25. Qxe7 {Again simplest is strongest!} ({In the event of} 
25. Kh1 {, Black can consider a move like} Bc5 {, and when the bishop comes to
d6 it won't be easy to break through Black's defence.}) 25... Nxe7 26. Ba3 Re8
{A good move I had underestimated.} ({I was expecting} 26... Bc5 27. Bxc5 Rxc5
28. Rac1 Rxc1 29. Rxc1 c6 30. Rd1 {, with a decisive advantage for White.}) 27.
Rad1 h5 $2 {The idea behind this move is to prevent g4, but it's too slow.} ({
Black had to go for the exchange sacrifice with} 27... Nd5 28. g4 Re5 29. Bb2
R8xe6 30. Bc4 c6 31. bxc6 bxc6 32. Bxe5 Rxe5 {, with good drawing chances.})
28. Rd7 {Now it's hard to find any salvation for Black.} Nd5 29. Rf7 Nf6 30.
Bc4 {Now White has complete control, and with the rook on f7 Black can hardly
move.} Bc5 31. Bb2 Re7 32. Bd4 Bd6 33. Re1 {A reasonable move, but maybe not
the most accurate.} ({After the strong} 33. f3 $1 {, Black is unable to
recapture on f3, so next fxe4 will open the position with decisive effect.})
33... b6 ({Black should have avoided Rxe4 with} 33... Kh7 {Here White can try}
34. f4 $5 {, and since Black can hardly move White has unlimited time to
improve his position.}) 34. Rf8+ Kh7 35. Rxe4 {Winning a pawn. Kramnik trys a
last desperate shot .... which nearly works!} Rxf2 $5 (35... Nxe4 36. Rxf5 Kg6
37. Rf3 {is clearly hopeless for Black.}) 36. Kxf2 $2 {A huge mistake made in
time trouble, which greatly endangers the win.} ({After the cool} 36. Re1 $1 {
, Black would have faced a hopeless situation.} Rd2 37. Be3 Bc5 38. Bxc5 bxc5
39. Rf7 {, and it's all over.}) 36... Nxe4+ 37. Kg2 Nc5 {Now I realized, to my
great disappointment, that the b3-square is controlled by Black's knight, so
there's no way to switch to the b1-h7 diagonal.} 38. Ra8 Nxe6 $4 {A very
surprising blunder. Black was close to the draw, but after this greedy capture
I can weave a deadly net around his king.} (38... Kg6 {forces the trade of
White's bishop:} 39. Bxc5 Bxc5 40. Rxa7 Kf6 41. Ra8 g6 {, and Black will make
a draw.}) 39. Bd3+ Kh6 40. h4 (40. Be3+ g5 41. Rg8 {is even faster.}) 40... g6
41. Rh8+ Rh7 42. Rg8 {Now everything becomes clear. Black must sacrifice the
exchange.} Rg7 43. Bxg7+ Kh7 44. Re8 Nxg7 45. Re3 {More accurate than taking
the a7-pawn. Black is nearly unable to move his pieces, and soon he will be
forced into zugzwang.} Kh6 46. a4 {Slow and steady.} Kh7 47. Kh3 Kh6 48. Bc2
Kh7 49. g4 hxg4+ 50. Kxg4 Kh6 51. Re2 Bb4 52. Re5 {The lethal switch to g5.}
Nh5 53. Re6 {I really enjoyed this game with its creative, unusual play that
resulted from the opening. After this win I climbed into shared first place,
and with some luck in the final round I managed to clinch first place on
tiebreaks.} 1-0

[Event "Grand Slam Final 5th"]
[Site "Sao Paulo/Bilbao"]
[Date "2012.10.12"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Aronian, Levon"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C88"]
[WhiteElo "2773"]
[BlackElo "2816"]
[Annotator "Caruana,F"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[EventDate "2012.09.24"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "BRA"]
[EventCategory "22"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 151"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2012.11.13"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2012.11.13"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{A critical game. I felt I would have to win to keep chances for first place,
while for Levon it was the last chance to catch the leaders.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3
Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. d3 {I decided to
avoid the dense theory of the Marshall with this forgotten move, which despite
its harmless appearance can be surprisingly venomous.} d6 9. a4 Bd7 10. c3 Na5
11. Bc2 c5 12. Nbd2 Re8 {So far we've both been making logical schematic moves,
but here I felt it was time to create some play in the center. Objectively I
should have continued quietly with 13.Nf1.} 13. d4 exd4 $5 {Levon showed that
he was ready for a sharp fight with this move.} ({During the game I tried to
evaluate the position after} 13... Bf8 14. d5 c4 15. b4 cxb3 16. Nxb3 Nc4 17.
Nbd2 ({Perhaps White can try} 17. Nfd2 Nb6 18. a5 Na4 19. c4 {, with a messy
position.}) 17... Nb6 18. a5 Na4 19. Bxa4 Qxa5 20. Ba3 bxa4 21. c4 Qc7 22. Rc1
{, which I was optimistic about, but the computer disagrees, offering the
strong idea to play ...Rb8, ...a5 and ...Rb4.}) (13... Qc7 $1 {was just a
clean way to equalize without any problems, indicating that 13.d4 was
premature.}) 14. cxd4 Bg4 {Black's play is very ambitious but also very risky.
His bishop is liable to get locked out of the game on g6, so he will have to
rely on tactics to keep White from consolidating.} 15. h3 Bh5 16. d5 ({I
didn't like} 16. g4 Bg6 17. d5 Bf8 {, because I couldn't see how to remove my
knight from d2.}) 16... Qc8 {A creative idea to solve Black's problems. Levon
wanted to prevent g4 by arranging a piece sacrifice. Black also plans the
manouver Bd8-b6.} ({Black could have considered} 16... Nd7 17. g4 Bg6 18. Nf1
h6 19. Ng3 Bf6 {, with plans to attack on the queenside with ...b4 and ...c4.
White on the other hand will continue with Kg2, h4 and g5. The play is very
double-edged but my feeling during the game was that White would be faster.})
17. Nf1 (17. g4 $6 Nxg4 18. hxg4 Qxg4+ 19. Kf1 {looks far too risky for White.
Black can continue slowly with} Bf6 $5 {, and it's not clear how to free
White's pieces.}) 17... Bd8 18. g4 {I thought I was being clever with this
move, but in this case simpler was better.} ({I should have played} 18. Ng3
Bxf3 (18... Bg6 19. Bf4 {, with Nh4-f5 coming next, doesn't look too pleasant
for Black.}) 19. Qxf3 g6 (19... Nxd5 {and now even stronger than 20.Nf5 is} 20.
e5 $1 Nb4 21. e6 $1 Rxe6 22. Rxe6 fxe6 23. Qh5 {, with a nasty attack.}) 20.
Bh6 {This is the move I underestimated, but it's the most natural so I don't
understand why. Nf5 next will give White a strong initiative.}) 18... Bg6 ({
Of course now} 18... Nxg4 $2 19. hxg4 Qxg4+ 20. Ng3 {is losing for Black.}) 19.
Ng3 b4 {Black is advancing very quickly on the queenside, and it could soon
get very dangerous for White if the pawns get to b3 and c3. However, White's
superiority on the kingside and in the center will secure an edge.} 20. Nh4 {
Not a bad move, but it allows too much of a mess.} ({As usual the most natural
is best:} 20. Bf4 $1 b3 (20... Qd7 {is met by the strong} 21. b3 $1 c4 22. bxc4
Nxc4 23. a5 $1) 21. Bb1 Qd7 22. Bd2 {, and Bc3 next gives White a pleasant
advantage.}) 20... b3 {This move prepares the following piece sacrifice. Black
had other options as well.} ({I spent a lot of time calculating} 20... c4 21.
Nhf5 (21. Bd2 c3 22. bxc3 bxc3 23. Bf4 Nc4 {should be fine for Black.}) 21...
b3 22. Bb1 Bb6 (22... c3 23. Nxd6 c2 {was also a concern during the game, but
White seems to come out on top after} 24. Bxc2 bxc2 25. Qd3) 23. Qf3 Qc5 {
and here there are many possibilities. One wild continuation is} 24. Bf4 c3 25.
Bxd6 cxb2 26. Bxc5 bxa1=Q 27. Bxb6 Qxa4 28. Bd4 {, and despite the material
deficit White has a powerful attack.}) 21. Bb1 Nxg4 $5 {A very enterprising
piece sacrifice, which is perhaps not fully correct, but leads to unstable and
violent positions.} 22. Nxg6 Nxf2 23. Ne7+ $1 {A very important move, without
which White would face an unpleasant situation. White has to avoid the
structure with pawns on g6 and g7, which cover all the important squares.} (23.
Kxf2 $2 fxg6 $1 24. Kg2 Bf6 {doesn't look like a great deal of fun to me. In
fact, I can't see how to free White's pieces at all.}) 23... Rxe7 $2 {This
awkward move is the decisive mistake.} (23... Bxe7 {is a lot harder to crack.}
24. Kxf2 Bf6 25. Nf5 c4 {Black has to play this as quickly as possible, before
White can extricate the bishop with Bd3.} 26. Rg1 ({After} 26. Kg2 Be5 {
, I don't see a clear continuation for White.}) 26... Kh8 27. Be3 $5 {If White
wants to stop Black from consolidating, this double-edged move is the way.}
Bxb2 28. Nxd6 ({After} 28. Rxg7 Bxg7 29. Nxg7 Qxh3 $1 {it all ends
surprisingly with perpetual.}) ({The position after} 28. Bd4 Bxd4+ 29. Qxd4 Qc5
30. Qxc5 dxc5 31. Rxg7 {is evaluated as good for White by the computer, but I
doubt I'd have the guts to go for it.}) 28... Qc7 29. Nxe8 (29. Bd4 Bxa1 30.
Bxa1 c3 31. Qd4 f6 32. Bxc3 Qxd6 33. Bxa5 {might be better for White, but it's
more likely Black will find a perpetual.}) 29... Rxe8 30. d6 Qb8 $1 31. e5 $1 (
31. Bd4 Bxa1 32. Rxg7 (32. Bxa1 b2 {is the point behind 30...Qb8!}) 32... Bxd4+
33. Qxd4 Nc6 34. Qf6 Qa7+ 35. Kf1 Re6 {and Black hangs on by a thread.}) 31...
Rxe5 (31... Bxa1 $2 32. Rxg7 Kxg7 33. Qg4+ Kh8 34. Qf5 {mates}) 32. Qf3 $3 {
An astonishing idea, which wins the game for White. The point is} Bxa1 33. Rxg7
$1 Kxg7 34. Bh6+ Kxh6 35. Qf6+ Kh5 36. Qxf7+ Kg5 37. Qg7+ Kh5 38. Qxh7+ Kg5 39.
Qg6+ Kf4 40. Qg3# {Of course this fantastic play is impossible to discover
over the board, with limited time on the clock. In a practical game any result
is possible.}) 24. Kxf2 Re5 {I understood Levon wanted to sacrifice the rook
with Bf4 Bf6, and achieve a dark square blockade, but White isn't obligated to
capture the rook at all.} 25. Kg2 (25. Bd3 {is also very strong.}) 25... c4 26.
Nf5 {Now the attack starts.} Bf6 ({Levon mentioned} 26... Rxf5 27. exf5 Bf6 {
as a possibility, but after the simple} 28. Re2 {Black has insufficient
compensation for the rook.}) 27. Qf3 c3 ({After} 27... Rxf5 28. Qxf5 Qxf5 29.
exf5 c3 {White wins without much difficulty:} 30. Re2 c2 31. Bxc2 bxc2 32. Ra3
Nc4 33. Rb3 Rc8 34. Kh1 Ne5 35. Rxc2 {, and it's all over.}) 28. Nh6+ Kh8 (
28... Kf8 29. Bd3 {is similar to the game.}) 29. Bd3 {Maybe even more accurate
than taking the pawn on f7.} Re7 30. e5 {Of course I was happy to open lines
to Black's king.} Bxe5 31. Qe4 {There's many other ways to win as well.} g6 32.
Qh4 f6 33. Rxe5 dxe5 34. Qxf6+ Rg7 35. Qxe5 Qe8 36. Qxc3 Rc8 37. Qxa5 Re7 38.
Bg5 Re2+ 39. Kg1 {A very important victory, which allowed me to stay in the
race for first place.} 1-0

[Event "Zug FIDE GP"]
[Site "Zug"]
[Date "2013.04.28"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Kamsky, Gata"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C84"]
[WhiteElo "2741"]
[BlackElo "2772"]
[Annotator "Caruana,F"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "2013.04.18"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "SUI"]
[EventCategory "21"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 154"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2013.05.15"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2013.05.15"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a4
Bd7 9. Be3 {This is not such a common move, but it has been played before by
strong players.} O-O 10. axb5 axb5 11. Nc3 Nb4 $5 {An unusual square for this
knight in the Ruy, but here I think the move makes a lot of sense. I'm just
trying to maintain control over d5.} (11... Na5 {is of course also playable:}
12. Ba2 (12. Nd5 Nxd5 13. Bxd5 c6 14. Ba2 c5 {seems okay for black.}) 12... c5
13. h3 {transposes to the game Sutovsky-Adams, and here instead of 13...b4,
I'm wondering what the problem with} h6 {is.}) 12. Qe2 {It's not easy to find
a move for White.} ({For example, if} 12. d4 $6 Rxa1 13. Qxa1 c5 14. dxc5 dxc5
{the threat of ...c4 is very uncomfortable.}) 12... c6 $5 {A little bit
optimistic and not really necessary.} ({The automatic move is} 12... c5 {
, which leads to approximate equality after} 13. Bg5 Qb6 14. Bxf6 Bxf6 15. Nd5
Nxd5 16. Bxd5 Bc6 17. Bxc6 Qxc6) ({I wanted to prepare ...c5 by first
preventing Bg5, but after} 12... h6 13. d4 {I thought my position would be
slightly worse.}) 13. h3 ({In the event of} 13. d4 Rxa1 14. Rxa1 Qb8 {Black's
position is reasonable.}) 13... Rxa1 ({My first intention was} 13... h6 {
, but I got worried about} 14. Rxa8 $1 Qxa8 15. Nh4 d5 (15... Kh7 16. f4 exf4
17. Bxf4 {is dangerous for Black.}) 16. Bd2 Re8 17. Qf3 {, although the
computer shows some moves like ...Qc8 and ...c5 here, I couldn't calculate it
during the game.}) 14. Rxa1 h6 15. Qd2 ({Now I thought my position would be
good after} 15. Nh4 Kh7) ({I mainly considered} 15. d4 Qb8 16. Qd2 c5 17. dxe5
dxe5 18. Nd5 {, when Black has to be accurate:} Nfxd5 ({My intention was} 18...
Nbxd5 19. Bxd5 Qc7 {, but this allows a great resource:} 20. Ra6 $1 {, with
the threat of Bxh6}) 19. Bxd5 Qc7 $1 20. c3 Nxd5 21. Qxd5 Bc6 22. Qxe5 Qxe5 23.
Nxe5 Bxe4 {should end in a draw.}) 15... c5 {I was very happy to get this move
in.} 16. Qe2 $6 {With this move White just gives up 2 tempi. He had to go for
the sacrifice.} (16. Bxh6 $5 {is really the only way to justify 15.Qd2.} gxh6
17. Qxh6 Nh7 18. Qg6+ Kh8 19. Bxf7 Be8 20. Bxe8 Qxe8 21. Qxe8 Rxe8 {I thought
Black would be better here, but after} 22. Ne1 {the ending is just unclear.})
16... Qb6 17. Nh2 Be6 18. Ng4 $6 {This wrecks White's pawns.} (18. Bxe6 fxe6
19. Ng4 {would be more reasonable. White isn't any better but shouldn't be
worse either.}) 18... Nxg4 19. hxg4 Bxb3 20. cxb3 Qb7 21. g3 {Despite White's
mangled pawns, the position is pretty close to equal.} Qd7 ({Gata pointed out
the following variation after the game:} 21... d5 22. exd5 Nxd5 23. Qf3 Rd8 24.
b4 $1) 22. Qf3 Bg5 {I wasn't very happy to make this move, but I didn't see an
alternative.} (22... Rd8 23. Nd5 Nxd5 24. exd5 {looks totally equal to me.})
23. Bxg5 hxg5 ({I also thought about the intermediate} 23... Nc2 $5 {, but I
decided it wouldn't change much.}) 24. Qf5 Qe7 ({The endgame offers nothing:} 
24... Qxf5 25. gxf5 Rb8 26. Ra5 {, with an inevitable draw.}) 25. Kg2 $2 {
This move surprised me, because I didn't see anything wrong with taking the
pawn.} (25. Nxb5 Nc6 (25... Nc2 $2 26. Ra7) 26. Qf3 Rb8 {and here I only
considered 27.Nc3, but the accurate} 27. Ra6 $1 {forces a draw.} (27. Nc3 Nd4
28. Qd1 {should also be fine for white.}) 27... Qd7 28. Qf5 $1 Qb7 29. Nxd6
Qxa6 30. Qxf7+ {, with perpetual.}) 25... g6 26. Qf3 Rb8 {Now White will be
worse for a long time.} 27. Ra5 Kg7 28. Rxb5 ({White could have considered} 28.
Nxb5 Nc6 29. Ra6 Qd7 30. Nc3 Nd4 31. Qd1 {, with good chances to defend.})
28... Ra8 29. Nd5 (29. d4 {is met by} Nc2 $1) (29. Rxb4 cxb4 30. Nd5 Qd8 {
might be a draw in the long run, but white will have to suffer for it.}) 29...
Nxd5 30. exd5 Qa7 31. b4 cxb4 32. Rxb4 Rh8 33. Qe3 $4 {The decisive mistake.} (
33. Qd1 Qc5 34. Rc4 Qxd5+ 35. f3 {is of course much worse for White, but he
has good chances to defend.}) 33... Qa1 34. Kf3 Qd1+ 35. Qe2 Qh1+ 36. Ke3 Qxd5
{There were even more accurate ways to finish the game, but this is enough.
White's king will never find safety.} 37. Qc2 Rh1 38. Qb3 Qg2 39. Qc3 Rf1 40.
Qd2 d5 0-1

[Event "Moscow Tal Memorial 8th"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "2013.06.13"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C88"]
[WhiteElo "2786"]
[BlackElo "2774"]
[Annotator "Caruana,F"]
[PlyCount "94"]
[EventDate "2013.06.13"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[EventCategory "22"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 155"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2013.07.16"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2013.07.16"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. h3
Bb7 9. d3 d5 10. exd5 Nxd5 11. Nbd2 f6 12. c3 {Not exactly a new move, but not
one which I had spent much time analysing. The main focus of attention in this
position has been 12.c4.} Kh8 {I spent a long time deciding between this move
and the principled 12...Na5. As usual, I probably maid the wrong choice.} 13.
Bc2 {This move may look passive, but it has a purpose: White is planning Nb3
and d4, when he can recapture on d4 with a piece.} ({During the game I was
most worried about} 13. d4 exd4 14. cxd4) 13... Qd7 ({I spent some time trying
to make} 13... f5 {work, but I couldn't find sufficient compensation after} 14.
Nxe5 Nxe5 15. Rxe5 Bd6 16. Re1 {, and next Nf3 covers everything.}) ({I was
also considering} 13... b4 14. c4 Nf4 15. Nb3 Ne6 16. d4 Ncxd4 17. Nfxd4 Nxd4
18. Nxd4 exd4 {, and felt it was very dangerous for Black, but in fact it
isn't easy for White to prove any advantage.}) 14. Nb3 a5 {Taking measures
against d4.} 15. a4 ({After} 15. d4 a4 16. Nc5 Bxc5 17. dxc5 Rfd8 18. Qd3 g6 {
, Black has total control over the white squares.}) 15... bxa4 16. Rxa4 Ncb4 {
At this point I'm already committed to a pawn sacrifice. For the pawn I
eliminate White's bishop, and I was happy my king would finally feel secure.} (
{I can't afford to allow White's rook to h4:} 16... Nb6 17. Rh4 $1 f5 {, and
here I stopped calculating when I saw Ng5 with what seemed to be a tremendous
attack. Instead, the machine suggests} 18. d4 $5 {a move which, to put it
mildly, I find shocking. Since I don't understand much in this position, I'll
trust Houdini and say White has an advantage.}) 17. Rxa5 Nxc2 18. Qxc2 Nb6 {
Too hesitant.} ({I should have played the energetic} 18... g5 {, when the
position is completely unclear and Black has full compensation for the pawn.})
19. Rxa8 Rxa8 20. Nbd2 g5 {A little bit late, but it's still okay.} (20... c5
21. Ne4 Nd5 {was also a perfectly viable option. Black keeps reasonable
compensation.}) 21. Nh2 {In hindsight this looks like a mistake, but during
the game it was the move I expected.} (21. d4 g4 22. hxg4 Qxg4 {It seems risky
for White to allow this, and I felt like I would have a strong attack here,
but White has more than sufficient defensive resources. A possible variation is
} 23. Ne4 Rg8 24. Ng3 h5 25. Nxe5 fxe5 26. Rxe5 Bg5 27. Bxg5 Rxg5 {, and White
has a perpetual with} 28. Re8+ Rg8 29. Re5 {, but nothing more.}) 21... Rd8 22.
d4 exd4 ({I spent a lot of time on} 22... Qc6 {, but wasn't satisfied with} 23.
Qe4 (23. Ndf3 Rxd4 $1 {exploiting 2 pins, is the point behind Qc6.}) 23... Qxe4
24. Nxe4 exd4 25. Ng4 {, when I even felt I would be worse, which is of course
not the case, but Black also won't be better.}) 23. cxd4 Bb4 24. Re2 ({I was
mostly concerned about} 24. Ng4 {, when I planned the simple} Nd5 {The machine
is very optimistic for Black, but during the game I had no ambitions beyond
equality.}) 24... Qxd4 25. Ndf1 $2 {This is the first very serious mistake
Vishy made, and after it he is on the verge of losing.} ({Although it looks
risky, White should bite the bullet with} 25. Qxc7 {, when he will probably
survive. For example,} Qd5 26. Nhf3 Na8 27. Qc2 Rc8 28. Qd1 {is a variation I
gave in the press conference after the game, and White has gotten over the
worst of it.}) 25... Qc5 26. Qxc5 Bxc5 {This endgame is extremely unpleasant
for White. Black's advantage is enduring and there is no way for the defender
to release the tension.} 27. Rc2 Bd6 28. Ng4 Kg7 29. Bd2 Kg6 {I can calmly
start advancing on the kingside.} 30. Nge3 f5 31. Nc4 {Trades don't ease
White's defensive task. The bishop pair is a tremendous force even in
simplified positions.} Nxc4 32. Rxc4 Ra8 33. Rc1 f4 34. Bc3 h5 35. Nd2 Bd5 36.
f3 $2 {After this I encroach even more on White's territory.} Bc5+ 37. Kf1 Be3
{Now the situation has become really critical for White. Only with extremely
accurate play can he attempt to hold the balance. His next move, however, was
a blunder which loses immediately.} 38. Ke2 $2 Bc4+ {Now it's all over.} 39.
Ke1 (39. Kd1 Bf1 {picks up all White's kingside pawns. The tactical point is}
40. Nxf1 Bxc1 41. Kxc1 Ra1+) 39... Re8 40. Kd1 ({During the game I started to
get worried by the clever} 40. Be5 $5 {, which would have been a great last
chance. After} Bb5 41. Bxc7 {, I would have to find the study-like} Re7 $3 {
, and the bishop on c7 is trapped!} ({Instead, something like} 41... Bb6+ $2
42. Ne4 {gives Black nothing}) 42. Bd8 (42. Kd1 Ba4+ 43. b3 Bxb3+ 44. Nxb3 Bxc1
{wins.}) 42... Rd7 43. Ba5 Bxd2+ 44. Bxd2 Re7+ {and White is completely
dominated.}) 40... Bxd2 41. Kxd2 Re2+ {Mopping up White's kingside.} 42. Kd1
Rxg2 43. Bd4 Be2+ 44. Ke1 Bxf3 45. Rxc7 Re2+ 46. Kf1 Rh2 47. Rg7+ Kf5 0-1

[Event "Moscow Tal Memorial 8th"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "2013.06.15"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A11"]
[WhiteElo "2864"]
[BlackElo "2774"]
[Annotator "CB"]
[PlyCount "124"]
[EventDate "2013.06.13"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[EventCategory "22"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 155"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2013.07.16"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2013.07.16"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 c6 4. O-O Bg4 5. c4 e6 6. cxd5 Bxf3 7. Bxf3 cxd5 8.
Nc3 Nc6 9. d4 Be7 10. e3 O-O 11. b3 Qa5 12. Bb2 Ba3 13. Qc1 Bxb2 14. Qxb2 Rfc8
15. Rac1 Ne7 16. Na4 Nd7 17. Nc5 Nxc5 18. dxc5 Rxc5 19. b4 Rb5 20. a3 Qd8 21.
e4 a5 22. exd5 Nxd5 23. Rc5 Qb6 24. Rxb5 Qxb5 25. Bxd5 exd5 26. Rc1 Re8 27. Qd4
axb4 28. axb4 h6 29. Kg2 b6 30. Rd1 Re4 31. Qxd5 Qxd5 32. Rxd5 Rxb4 33. h4 Kf8
34. Rd7 Re4 35. Rb7 Re6 36. g4 g5 37. f4 gxf4 38. Kf3 Rf6 39. g5 Rc6 40. Kxf4
h5 41. Kf5 Kg7 42. Rb8 Rc5+ 43. Kf4 Rb5 44. Ke4 Rb1 45. Kf5 Rb2 46. Kf4 Rb4+
47. Ke5 Kg6 48. Rg8+ Kh7 49. Rf8 Rxh4 {Caruana's cut off This is an important
technique in rook endings:} 50. Rxf7+ $2 {This capture is too greedy.} (50. Rb8
$1 {saves the day, e.g.} b5 (50... Rb4 51. Kf6 $1 {(Golubev)} h4 52. Rb7 Rf4+
53. Ke5 Rf1 54. Rxb6 $11) 51. Rxb5 Kg6 52. Rb8 Kxg5 53. Rg8+ $1 {(Golubev in
Chess Today 4603)} Kh6 54. Kf5 Ra4 55. Rh8+ Kg7 56. Rb8 h4 57. Rb3 Kh6 58. Rb6+
Kh5 59. Rb8 Ra5+ 60. Kf4 Ra6 61. Rb5+ Kg6 62. Kg4 Ra4+ 63. Kh3 $11) 50... Kg6
51. Rf6+ (51. Rf8 {is also insufficient, e.g.} Kxg5 52. Rg8+ Kh6 53. Rb8 Rc4
54. Kf6 Rc6+ 55. Kf5 Rd6 56. Ke5 (56. Rh8+ Kg7 57. Rxh5 $6 Rd5+ 58. Kg4 Rxh5
59. Kxh5 b5 $19) 56... Rg6 57. Kf5 Rc6 58. Rg8 Rd6 59. Rb8 Kg7 60. Rb7+ Kf8 61.
Kg5 Ke8 62. Kxh5 Kd8 63. Kg5 Kc8 64. Rh7 Rd7 $19) 51... Kxg5 52. Rxb6 (52. Rf5+
{is met by} Kg4 53. Ke4 Rh3 54. Rb5 Rh1 $1 {(Heimers)} 55. Rxb6 Re1+ 56. Kd3 h4
57. Kd2 Re5 58. Rg6+ Kh5 59. Rg8 h3 60. Rh8+ Kg4 61. Rg8+ Rg5 $19) 52... Ra4 {
The cut off decides.} 53. Rb8 Kg4 54. Rg8+ Kf3 55. Rf8+ Kg3 56. Rg8+ Kh2 57.
Kf5 h4 58. Rb8 ({Just waiting with} 58. Rg7 {is broken by} h3 59. Rg8 Kh1 60.
Rg7 h2 61. Rg8 Ra1 62. Kf4 Rg1 63. Ra8 Kg2 64. Ra2+ Kh3 65. Ra3+ Kh4 66. Ra8
Rf1+ $19) 58... h3 59. Kg5 ({After} 59. Rb2+ {Caruana's king hides on h4:} Kg3
60. Rb3+ Kh4 $19) 59... Re4 60. Kf5 Re2 61. Rg8 (61. Kf4 Kg2 62. Rg8+ Kf1 63.
Kf3 h2 64. Rh8 Rf2+ 65. Ke3 Kg1 66. Rh7 Rg2 $19) 61... Rg2 62. Rd8 Rf2+ (62...
Rf2+ 63. Ke4 Kg1 64. Ke3 h2 65. Rh8 Rg2 66. Ra8 h1=Q $19) 0-1

[Event "Bucharest Kings 7th"]
[Site "Bucharest"]
[Date "2013.10.14"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Ponomariov, Ruslan"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B40"]
[WhiteElo "2751"]
[BlackElo "2779"]
[Annotator "Caruana,F"]
[PlyCount "92"]
[EventDate "2013.10.07"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "ROU"]
[EventCategory "20"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 157"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2013.11.12"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2013.11.12"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. g3 Nc6 4. Bg2 Nf6 5. Qe2 e5 $5 {An interesting new
concept. Usually 5...d6 or 5...d5 is played.} 6. O-O Be7 7. c3 (7. d3 O-O {
, and Black will prepare ...d5 while it's not clear what White is doing.}) 7...
O-O 8. d4 {Ruslan instinctively went for the most critical line.} (8. Rd1 d5 9.
exd5 Qxd5 {is very fine for Black.}) 8... cxd4 9. cxd4 d5 $5 {Enterprising,
but not required.} (9... exd4 10. e5 Ne8 {seems fine for Black, but it seemed
a bit awkward to me.}) 10. exd5 (10. dxe5 dxe4 11. exf6 exf3 {liquidates
everything with complete equality.}) 10... Nxd4 11. Nxd4 exd4 12. Qe5 d3 {
This pawn looks like it's ready to fall off the board, but it's surprisingly
difficult to get rid of!} 13. Nc3 ({During the game I was more concerned by} 
13. Bf4 Re8 14. Qd4 Bf5 15. d6 {, but as I mentioned during the press
conference, Black is doing well after} Qd7 {, and next ...Rad8.}) 13... Re8 14.
Bf4 $2 {A terrible blunder.} ({After} 14. Qd4 Bf5 15. Bf4 Qd7 {the position is
balanced.}) 14... Ba3 {I imagine Ruslan completely overlooked this move.
Suddenly White is on the verge of losing.} 15. Qd4 Bxb2 16. Qxd3 {Correctly
sacrificing the exchange, and keeping some practical chances to hold on.} (16.
Rab1 Bxc3 17. Qxc3 Nxd5 {is simply hopeless for White, two pawns down.}) 16...
Bxa1 17. Rxa1 Bd7 18. h3 Rc8 19. Be3 Bf5 {A difficult decision. I chose well,
but there were other attractive options.} 20. Qxf5 Rxc3 21. Bd4 Rc4 $6 {
A ridiculous move. Now White gets an extra tempo to play Bf1.} (21... Rc7 $1
22. Rd1 (22. Bxa7 Rd7 {wins the d-pawn because} 23. Rd1 $2 b6 {traps the bishop
}) 22... b6 {, and Black has an advantage which I feel will be sufficient to
win.}) 22. Rd1 Qd6 $2 {Another strange mistake. I had begun to drift and
almost lost all my advantage.} ({Prophylaxis was required:} 22... a6 $1 23. Bf1
Rc7 {, and now White doesn't have Bb5.} 24. Bb6 {is met by} Qd7) 23. Bf1 Rb4 (
23... Rcc8 24. Bd3 {is starting to look very unclear.}) (23... Rc7 24. Bb5 $1 {
is what I had missed, although Black still keeps a significant advantage after}
Nd7) 24. Bc3 ({I was most concerned by} 24. Qc2 $5 {, which nearly traps my
rook! I can fight on with} Qd7 {, but White has very good chances to defend by
now.}) 24... Rbe4 $1 {This took a fair amount of calculation. I saw I could
more or less take a draw with 24...Rb6, or play this risky but principled move.
In the end I realized it would be such a shame to spoil an advantage like I
had from the opening, so I pulled myself together and finally calculated a
line or two.} (24... Rb6 25. Bd4 {just repeats.} Qxd5 26. Qxd5 Nxd5 27. Bxb6
Nxb6 28. Bg2 {is absolutely equal.}) 25. Bb5 (25. Bd3 $2 Qxd5 26. Qxd5 Nxd5 27.
Bxe4 Nxc3 {wins.}) 25... Qc5 {Forced or I'm worse.} 26. Bxf6 $2 {This loses.
The alternative wasn't great but White would have chances to survive.} (26.
Bxe8 Qxc3 27. Bb5 g6 28. Qg5 Re1+ 29. Rxe1 Qxe1+ 30. Kg2 (30. Bf1 Ne4 31. Qe3
Qxe3 32. fxe3 Nxg3 {seems winning.}) 30... Qe4+ 31. Kg1 Nxd5 {, with an extra
pawn and chances to win, but the outcome is far from certain.}) 26... Re1+ (
26... Qxb5 $4 27. Qg5 Re1+ 28. Kh2 g6 29. Qh6 {mates.}) 27. Kh2 (27. Kg2 Qxb5 {
, and now after Qg5 I have a crucial check on f1.}) (27. Rxe1 Rxe1+ 28. Kh2
gxf6 {is also winning.}) 27... Rxd1 28. Bxe8 Rxd5 $1 {I imagine Ruslan missed
this move when he took on f6.} 29. Be5 (29. Bxf7+ Kxf7 30. Be5+ Ke7 31. Qg5+
Ke6 $19) 29... Rxe5 (29... f6 $1 {is even more clinical, but this was too much
to ask from me.}) 30. Qxf7+ Kh8 {White is simply an exchange down with no
compensation. I could have been more accurate finishing the game, but it was
enough.} 31. Bd7 Qe7 32. Qf4 Qf6 33. Qd2 b5 34. Bg4 h5 35. Bd1 h4 36. Bg4 Re8
37. gxh4 Qxh4 38. Kg2 Qe7 39. Bf3 Rd8 40. Qf4 Qf6 41. Qg4 g6 42. Qe4 Qg5+ 43.
Kf1 a5 44. h4 Qf5 45. Qc6 Rf8 46. Qc3+ Kh7 0-1

[Event "Tata Steel-A 76th"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee"]
[Date "2014.01.11"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Gelfand, Boris"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B90"]
[WhiteElo "2782"]
[BlackElo "2777"]
[Annotator "Caruana,F"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "2014.01.11"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "NED"]
[EventCategory "20"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 159"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2014.03.17"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2014.03.17"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 {Boris has been playing
the Sveshnikov a lot recently, but for this game he returned to his old love,
the Najdorf; no doubt inspired by my recent games.} 6. f3 e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8. Be3
h5 9. Nd5 Bxd5 10. exd5 Nbd7 11. Qd2 g6 12. Be2 Bg7 ({The following game,
played a couple of days after mine, followed a similar route:} 12... Qc7 13.
Rc1 Bg7 14. c4 b6 15. O-O O-O 16. h3 $5 {Déjà vu!} Nh7 17. Bd3 a5 18. Na1 Nc5
19. Nc2 f5 20. Na3 g5 21. Nb5 Qd7 22. Bc2 f4 23. Bxc5 bxc5 24. Qd3 {, and
White had a tremendous advantage in Saric-Duda, Wijk 2014.}) 13. O-O O-O 14.
Rac1 {This had been played before by correspondence players. I didn't fully
understand the move, but I figured I should listen to them!} (14. c4 e4 15. f4
Ng4 16. Bxg4 hxg4 17. f5 Ne5 {shows the downside of c4.}) (14. Na5 Rb8 15. c4
e4 16. f4 Ng4 17. Bxg4 hxg4 18. f5 {, and here Wojtaszek showed an impressive
manoeuvre:} Qh4 $1 19. Bg5 Qh8 $1 20. Rab1 Be5 {with unclear play in
Leko-Wojtaszek, Istanbul 2012}) 14... b6 $5 {After long thought Boris found an
interesting move, preventing Na5 and c4-c5.} ({The straightforward} 14... e4
15. f4 Ng4 16. Bxg4 hxg4 17. f5 {will probably end badly for Black.}) 15. h3 $5
{This prepares g4 in some cases.} Re8 {I don't get this. The rook serves no
purpose on e8.} (15... Nh7 $1 {, like in the Saric game, makes more sense.} 16.
c4 (16. g4 hxg4 17. hxg4 f5) 16... f5 17. Bd3 {, and here Black can take
advantage of the queen on d8 by preparing a trade of bishops:} Bf6 $1 {, with
a decent position.}) 16. g4 $6 {I felt that Re8 was a mistake and wanted to
punish it, but perhaps I got too excited.} ({There is nothing wrong with} 16.
c4 {, and next comes the typical manouver Na1-c2-b4 (or Na3-b5 if Black plays .
..a5).}) 16... hxg4 17. hxg4 Nh7 $2 ({A couple of people asked me what I
intended after} 17... Nc5 18. Nxc5 bxc5 {Well, I have no shame!} 19. Kg2 $1 Qd7
20. Kg3 $1 {, which stops ...e4 once and for all. Although the computer
insists I'm worse here, I'd be more worried for Black. Isn't he nearly getting
mated after Rh1 and Bh6?}) (17... b5 $1 {, on the other hand, would have been
strong. The d5-pawn turns out to be very weak, and Black is at least no worse.}
) 18. g5 $1 {Black's kingside pawns are fixed and suddenly he's under real
pressure.} f5 {This opens up Black's king, but there was no other way to
relieve the bind.} ({Black can win material, but it will hardly ease his
suffering:} 18... e4 19. f4 Bxb2 20. Rb1 Bg7 21. Nd4 {, with strong
compensation.}) 19. gxf6 Bxf6 (19... Ndxf6 20. Rf2 $1 {, and next Rg2, with
pressure against g6.}) 20. Rf2 Bg5 21. Rg2 Bxe3+ 22. Qxe3 {The trade of
bishops won't stall the attack.} Ndf8 23. Bd3 Ra7 24. Rf1 $6 {This move
impressed Yasser Seirawan, although he admitted it's probably not too good! Of
course, I had stronger options at my disposal.} (24. Na5 {tempted me, but I
realized that the knight doesn't do much on c6:} Rg7 25. Nc6 Qh4 {, and this
isn't so clear.}) (24. Qh6 $1 Rg7 25. Nd2 $1 {was very simple and very strong.
All my pieces get into the attack.}) 24... Rf7 $2 (24... Nf6 {was the best
chance, although after} 25. f4 $1 {, Black is still in trouble.}) 25. Qh6 Kh8
26. Nd2 {All the moves come so naturally. The knight is heading for e4 and g5.}
Rf4 27. Rg4 (27. Bxg6 $4 Rf6 $1 {was a nasty little trap.}) 27... b5 ({The
endgame after} 27... Rxg4+ 28. fxg4 Qg5 29. Qxg5 Nxg5 30. Nc4 {is probably
lost for Black, but knights are tricky pieces and you never really know.}) (
27... Qd7 {should be met, rather than the greedy Rxf4, by the far more
convincing} 28. Ne4 $1 Rxg4+ 29. fxg4 Qxg4+ 30. Kh2 {, and Black's position
crumbles.}) 28. Ne4 Nd7 $2 {Desperation in time trouble, but there was no way
to save the position.} 29. Rxg6 Rg8 30. Ng5 (30. Ng5 Qxg5+ 31. Rxg5 Rxg5+ 32.
Kf2 Ndf6 33. Rg1 {is the end.}) 1-0

[Event "Zuerich Chess Challenge"]
[Site "Zuerich"]
[Date "2014.02.03"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Aronian, Levon"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C89"]
[WhiteElo "2782"]
[BlackElo "2812"]
[Annotator "Caruana,F"]
[PlyCount "131"]
[EventDate "2014.01.30"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "SUI"]
[EventCategory "22"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 159"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2014.03.17"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2014.03.17"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{Before this game, the tournament hadn't been going well for me. I had missed
a lot of chances and the previous day I had lost a terrible game to Carlsen.
But unless you're stranded in the Indian Ocean, all is not lost!} 1. e4 e5 2.
Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O {The Marshall has
been one of the toughest nuts to crack in modern chess. Players (myself
included) have tried nearly every move here, but for this game I decided to
play the most principled.} 8. c3 d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Nxe5 Nxe5 11. Rxe5 c6 12.
d3 Bd6 13. Re1 Bf5 14. Qf3 Qh4 ({Last year Kasimdzhanov played} 14... Qf6 {
against me, but I also got a slight advantage there.}) 15. g3 Qh3 16. Be3 {
Not a new move, but a rare one. Levon had faced this before, and easily held a
draw, but I felt that Black would still have some problems to solve.} (16. Bxd5
cxd5 17. Qxd5 {is the main line, with an enormous body of theory.}) 16... Bxd3
17. Nd2 Qf5 18. Bd4 {Ivanchuk opted for the queen trade right away, which
makes less sense to me.} Rfe8 19. a4 h6 {A slightly mysterious move, which
Levon played very quickly. I wasn't surprised, because it's the first line of
Houdini and one of the moves I had checked} ({Neither side wants to release
the tension by trading queens. For example,} 19... Qxf3 $6 20. Nxf3 {would
give White an advantage because a knight or bishop can land on e5.}) 20. Kg2 {
Just a useful waiting move.} Kf8 {This came as a surprise to me.} ({If Black
tries to force matters, for instance with} 20... b4 {, he might become worse:}
21. c4 c5 22. Qxd5 Qxd5+ 23. cxd5 cxd4 24. Nc4 Bxc4 25. Bxc4 {, and rather
instructively, this ending is extremely unpleasant for Black, mainly because
his pawn is on b4, which leaves the bishop on d6 obstructed and vulnerable to
Rc6.}) 21. Rxe8+ Rxe8 22. axb5 axb5 23. Qxf5 {Too compliant. I spent a lot of
time on these moves, because I felt it was the critical moment, but I couldn't
find a clear path to an advantage.} (23. Ra6 $1 {, my first intention, was the
right way:} Ne7 24. Bd1 $1 {A very important move, which I saw, but rejected
based on} Qg6 {, overlooking that I can continue chasing the queen:} 25. Qg4 $1
{, and White's advantage becomes obvious.}) 23... Bxf5 24. Bxd5 cxd5 25. Ra6 {
White's advantage looks minuscule, but I remember analysing similar positions
and concluding that there are some dangers for Black.} Be7 $6 {This doesn't
look entirely accurate.} (25... Re2 $1 {was the best move and the one I
expected during the game.} 26. Rxd6 (26. Be3 Ke7 27. Ra1 {traps the rook, but
it can never be won because ...Bd3 defends everything.}) ({I don't recommend
the shameless pawn grab with} 26. Nf3 Ke7 27. Bxg7 Be4) 26... Rxd2 27. b4 {
I thought White would have an advantage here, but it turns out Black gets
counterplay against my king.} Be4+ 28. Kh3 f5 $3 {An incredibly strong move,
courtesy of Houdini.} 29. Rg6 (29. Rb6 g5 30. Rxh6 Bd3 31. Kg2 Be4+ {is a draw}
) (29. Rd8+ Ke7 30. Rh8 Kf7 31. Rh7 Rxd4 32. cxd4 Kg8 {is a funny line. If you
didn't know the previous moves it would be hard to figure out how the rook got
to h7!}) 29... Rd1 $1 {Getting the rook out of the attack from Bxh6. Now White
can't capture on g7 and} (29... f4 30. Rb6) 30. Rb6 g5 {again leads to a draw.}
) 26. Nf1 ({The machine shows its weakness here, preferring} 26. Rb6 Bg5 27.
Nf3 Be4 28. Rxb5 {, which wins a pawn but allows an eternal pin on the knight.
I was worried I might get worse here.}) 26... b4 {Naturally Black takes his
chance to trade off his weak b-pawn. Nevertheless, White keeps some advantage.}
27. Ne3 Bd3 (27... Be6 28. f4 {, and White can start to expand on the kingside.
Black has no counterplay.}) 28. Ra5 bxc3 29. bxc3 Bd8 {Levon was very upset
about this move after the game. Although it's not very accurate, I don't think
it was the main cause for Black's defeat.} 30. Ra8 f6 31. f3 Be7 32. Ra7 Bd6
33. Rd7 Ba3 34. Rxd5 Kg8 35. h4 Bc1 36. Ng4 ({I felt my chances to win
wouldn't be so high if I allowed the trade.} 36. Kf2 Bxe3+ 37. Bxe3 Bc4 38. Rc5
Be6 {looks very drawish.}) 36... Bc4 37. Rc5 Be6 ({It made more sense to get
the rook to the 2nd immediately:} 37... Re2+ 38. Nf2 (38. Kf1 Ba6) 38... Be6)
38. Nf2 Ra8 39. g4 Ra2 $2 {This move, made extremely quickly, shocked me.
Levon started to play poorly over the next few moves, despite the fact that
his position is perfectly fine.} (39... Bf4 $1 {, preventing Kg3, was
necessary.} 40. Nd3 Ra2+ 41. Bf2 Be3 42. Rc6 (42. Rc7 Rd2) 42... Bd7 43. Rc7
Rd2 44. Rxd7 Bxf2 45. Kh3 Be3 {, and Black gets enough counterplay to make a
draw.}) 40. Kg3 {Suddenly, my king is free and Black is in serious trouble.
The bishop on c1 is especially poorly placed.} Ra6 41. Rc7 {A strong move,
which prepares Bc5 in case of ...Ba3.} Bd2 (41... Ba3 42. Bc5 Bb2 43. Bb4 $1 {
, and again it's hard for Black to get his bishop out.}) 42. Ne4 Be1+ 43. Bf2 {
I was very happy to get rid of Black's bishop pair.} Bxf2+ 44. Kxf2 Ra2+ $6 {
For better or worse, Black had to take his chances with 44...f5, because in
the game he goes down without a fight.} (44... f5 45. Nc5 Rd6 46. Nxe6 (46. g5
hxg5 47. hxg5 f4 {is not what I want.}) 46... Rxe6 47. gxf5 Re5 {, and here
White has to decide whether or not to take a move to damage Black's pawns with
48.f6 or start pushing with 48.c4. Both ways offer good winning chances but I
couldn't find a clear-cut path to victory.}) 45. Kg3 Rc2 ({Now} 45... f5 46.
Nc5 {just wins.}) 46. Kf4 Ra2 47. h5 {I've achieved a bind and stopped ...f5.
Now all that remains is to push the c-pawn.} Ra5 {At first, I wasn't entirely
sure how to proceed here, but then I saw a very attractive idea and got
excited.} 48. Nc5 Bd5 49. Rc8+ Kf7 {Perhaps Levon thought I just wanted to
repeat the position, because he seemed surprised by my next move.} (49... Kh7 {
has the benefit of not losing on the spot, but that's where the good news ends.
} 50. Nd7 g5+ 51. Ke3 (51. hxg6+ Kxg6 52. Rc7 {threatens Nf8# and is also very
strong.}) 51... Kg7 52. Rc7 {, and Black won't survive for long.}) 50. c4 {
The point. Now it's very easy, although I manged to prolong the game a bit
more than was necessary.} Ba8 (50... Bxc4 51. Nb7 {wins a piece.}) 51. Rc7+ Kg8
52. Ne6 Ra3 53. Rxg7+ Kh8 54. Kf5 Bxf3 55. Rg6 Be2 56. Rxh6+ Kg8 57. Rg6+ Kh8
58. Rxf6 Rf3+ 59. Nf4 Bxc4 60. Kg5 Kg8 61. Kh6 Ra3 62. g5 Ra7 63. g6 Rc7 64.
Nh3 Rc8 65. Ng5 Rd8 66. Nh7 1-0

[Event "Gashimov Memorial-A 1st"]
[Site "Shamkir"]
[Date "2014.04.23"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C67"]
[WhiteElo "2783"]
[BlackElo "2881"]
[Annotator "Caruana,F"]
[PlyCount "105"]
[EventDate "2014.04.20"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[EventCategory "22"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 160"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2014.05.15"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2014.05.15"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5
8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. h3 h6 {In the match, Magnus played 9...Bd7. Perhaps he feared
preparation and was hoping to surprise me, but he made an unfortunate choice,
going for a line I knew well, as I had faced it last year against Ponomariov.}
(9... Bd7 10. Rd1 Be7 11. Nc3 {It's interesting that exactly 1 day before
Anand and Carlsen's game, Grischuk played the same variation against me during
the European Team Championship. I played 11.g4 and the game was eventually
drawn.} Kc8 12. Bg5 h6 13. Bxe7 Nxe7 14. Rd2 c5 15. Rad1 Be6 16. Ne1 Ng6 17.
Nd3 b6 18. Ne2 {, and now Magnus grabbed a pawn with} Bxa2 $1 {Anand-Carlsen,
Chennai 2013; , held onto it and nearly won the game.}) 10. Rd1+ {Now Black's
king is forced to e8, which generally speaking is an awkward square.} Ke8 11.
Nc3 Bd7 12. Bf4 Rd8 13. Ne4 {This is the new move. In the aforementioned game
against Ponomariov, I played 13.e6 and didn't pose serious problems to my
opponent.} (13. e6 Bxe6 14. Bxc7 Rxd1+ 15. Rxd1 Be7 16. g4 Nh4 17. Nd4 Bd7 18.
Re1 Kf8 19. Bg3 g5 20. Bxh4 gxh4 21. Ne4 Kg7 {, although perhaps if I had
played more accurately here I could have counted on a minuscule advantage.})
13... Be7 {I was happy to see this move. After the trade of knights White's
position is very comfortable.} (13... c5 $5 {seems like the most critical move.
I was planning} 14. e6 Bxe6 15. Bxc7 Rc8 16. Bh2 {, with a small advantage,
but Black should be able to defend with accuracy.}) 14. g4 Nh4 15. Nxh4 Bxh4
16. Kg2 Be6 17. f3 b6 18. b3 c5 $6 {A strategic mistake. After the game,
Magnus said he wanted to use the d4-square but underestimated the importance
of the d5-square.} ({I was expecting} 18... Rd7 19. c4 Kd8 {If Black is given
time to play ...Kc8 and ...Rd8 he will have a fine position. White has to act
fast:} 20. Bg3 Be7 21. f4 g6 22. Rf1 $1 {, and the threat of f5 is very
unpleasant.}) 19. c4 ({Perhaps} 19. Bg3 Be7 20. c4 {was more accurate.}) 19...
Rd7 (19... Rd4 20. Be3 Rxd1 21. Rxd1 {doesn't solve Black's problems.}) 20. Bg3
Be7 21. Rxd7 Bxd7 {Understandably, Magnus wanted his bishop out of the way of
f4-f5.} ({However,} 21... Kxd7 {was a stronger alternative.} 22. f4 g6 23. Rf1
Kc8 24. f5 gxf5 25. gxf5 Bd7 {and it isn't easy to prove a clear advantage for
White.}) 22. Nc3 Kd8 $6 ({It made sense to set up a passive but solid
defensive formation.} 22... Bd8 23. Nd5 Bc8 {, and just sit and wait,
unpleasant though it may be.}) 23. Nd5 Re8 {Magnus played this and the next
move surprisingly quickly. He was probably already disgusted with his position.
} ({After} 23... c6 {, White should simplify into an opposite colored bishop
ending:} 24. Nxe7 Kxe7 25. f4 {, with good winning chances.}) 24. Rd1 Kc8 $4 {
Just losing a pawn for nothing. It's hard to say what Magnus overlooked.} (
24... c6 25. Nxe7 (25. Nc7 Rg8 26. e6 fxe6 27. Nxe6+ Kc8) 25... Rxe7 26. Bh4 g5
27. Bg3 {is awful for Black, but there was already no choice.}) 25. Nxc7 Rd8
26. Nd5 {Besides being up a pawn, White also has a commanding position.} Re8
27. Be1 Bd8 28. Bc3 g6 29. Kg3 ({I would prefer} 29. a4 $1 {, snuffing out any
hopes of counterplay.}) 29... b5 30. cxb5 Bxb5 31. Ne3 Re6 32. f4 Ra6 {Black
is trying to create counterplay any way he can, but White is too solid.} 33.
Rd2 h5 34. gxh5 gxh5 35. Nf5 Rg6+ 36. Kh2 Bc6 37. Nd6+ Kb8 38. f5 Rg8 39. f6 $1
{An important move, blocking the bishop's access to h4.} Bb6 40. Nc4 $2 {
With 2 minutes on my clock for the last move, I got spooked by Black's
counterplay with ...c4 and committed a serious inaccuracy.} (40. Nxf7 $1 c4 41.
h4 $1 {is the game.}) 40... Re8 $2 {Giving me a second chance! I calculated a
bit and decided to take the pawn.} (40... Bc7 41. Ba5 {is probably winning for
White, but he could have put up serious resistance.}) 41. Nd6 Rg8 42. Nxf7 $1 {
A pawn is a pawn, after all.} c4 43. h4 Rg4 44. e6 {This is what I hadn't seen
before the time control. The bishop will protect everything from e5.} Be3 45.
Be5+ Ka8 46. Rd8+ Kb7 47. Bg3 c3 48. Rb8+ Ka6 49. Rc8 Bd5 ({During the game I
spent some time figuring out what happens after} 49... Rc4 50. bxc4 c2 51.
Rxc6+ Ka5 52. Bc7+ Ka4 53. Ra6+ Kb4 54. Bd6+ Kc3 55. Ba3 {Good calculation,
but unfortunately I missed a mate in two with 52.Be1!}) 50. Rxc3 Bd4 51. Rd3
Re4 52. Rd2 Rxe6 53. Ng5 1-0

[Event "Dortmund SuperGM 42nd"]
[Site "Dortmund"]
[Date "2014.07.13"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Ponomariov, Ruslan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C42"]
[WhiteElo "2789"]
[BlackElo "2723"]
[Annotator "Caruana,F"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2014.07.12"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[EventCategory "19"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 162"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2014.09.17"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2014.09.17"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{The previous day I had won a long and exhausting game against David Baramidze,
which might explain my rather sedate choice of opening in this game.} 1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 {The modern treatment of the Petroff.
It might seem a bit innocuous to the uninitiated, but this quiet line carries
with it a surprising amount of positional venom.} Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Be3 Nc6
8. Qd2 {In our previous game in this variation, Ruslan castled kingside. This
time he goes for the safer queenside castle, where he is unlikely to meet a
crude attack.} Be6 9. O-O-O Qd7 10. Kb1 Bf6 11. h3 $5 {For this game I decided
to try an uncommon plan with g4 and Bg2. Years ago, I preferred the more
straightforward 11.h4 and won a nice game against Landa, but since then
remedies have been found for Black.} h6 12. b3 a6 13. g4 O-O-O 14. Bg2 g5 $2 {
This move surprised me. I was expecting the natural 14...Kb8.} (14... Kb8 {
My intention was} 15. Ng1 $5 {, with the idea of playing Ne2-f4 or f4-f5,
depending on Black's response. Although White's play is slow, Black remains
under some pressure. In any case, this was better for him than the game.}) 15.
Nd4 Nxd4 16. cxd4 d5 17. f4 {Now Black's kingside is weakened.} gxf4 18. Bxf4
h5 19. g5 Bg7 20. Rde1 {I wasn't very comfortable allowing ...h4, but I felt
it was necessary to act fast to prevent ...f6.} ({I saw no clear-cut way to
continue after} 20. h4 f6) 20... h4 21. Be5 {Now it seems I have a grip over
the dark squares, but due to the weakness of g5 and h3, it's difficult to make
any inroads into Black's position.} Rdg8 22. Qf4 Qd8 23. Bf1 Kb8 24. Bd3 {
Creating the threat of g6. I felt this was a clever maneuver, but Ruslan
quickly responded with an even more clever defense:} Bc8 $1 {I overlooked this.
} 25. Kb2 ({I was initially attracted to} 25. Qxf7 Bxe5 26. dxe5 Rf8 27. e6 $5
{, which seemed highly promising if Black accepts the queen sacrifice. Then I
noticed} Qxg5 $1 28. Qg6 Qe7 $1 {, and the e-pawn is safely blockaded.}) 25...
Bxe5 26. Rxe5 Rg7 {At this point I realized that I have no constructive ideas
to improve my position. On the other hand, Black also doesn't want to spoil
his ideal setup, so I decided to give him a move.} 27. a4 a5 {Not entirely
ideal, as this weakens the b5-square. I could see Pono was hesitant to play
this, but it's difficult to find another move.} 28. Ka2 {Keeping on waiting...}
Ka7 (28... Rhg8 29. Qxh4 Rxg5 30. Rxg5 Qxg5 31. Qxg5 Rxg5 32. h4 Rh5 33. Be2
Rh6 34. h5 {seems dangerous for Black, but because White's king is so far from
the action, Black shouldn't have many problems defending.}) 29. Qd2 Kb8 30. Qf4
Ka7 31. Rhe1 {Finally doing something, now that the king is misplaced on a7.}
Bxh3 32. Rh1 {This was the point of my last move. The only chance at progress
is to eliminate the h-pawns.} (32. Re7 Qd6 {poses Black no problems.}) 32...
Bc8 (32... Qd7 $2 33. Qf6 Rhg8 34. Re7 Qc8 35. g6 $1 {is immediately decisive.}
) 33. Rxh4 Rxh4 34. Qxh4 {Considering how quickly the game ends from here,
it's possible to assume that Black doesn't have significant improvements. In
fact, the position is far from lost for Black, although it is rather
unpleasant to defend.} b6 $2 {The first and perhaps already the decisive
mistake.} ({After} 34... c6 {, d5 is securely defended and White will have a
hard time breaking down Black's defense.}) 35. Qh6 Rg8 36. Qc6 $1 {A very
powerful move, luring Black's bishop to b7.} Be6 (36... Rxg5 37. Rxg5 Qxg5 38.
Qxc7+ Bb7 39. Qxf7 {might be defensible, but I'd rather not endure such a
torture.}) (36... Bb7 37. Qf6 Qxf6 38. gxf6 Kb8 39. Re7 Rf8 40. Bb5 $1 {
is where I finished my calculations during the game. Black is completely
passive and likely to be positionally squashed.}) 37. g6 Rg7 $2 {When he
played this move, I became very excited. I had already seen the winning
combination while he was thinking about his 36th move, but could hardly
believe my good fortune when he fell into it - so I spent my remaining time in
double and triple checking.} (37... Rf8 38. g7 Rg8 39. Rg5 $3 {is another
beautiful end to the game. Black is unable to take the rook, and has to sit
and wait for Rg1 and Bh7.}) (37... Bd7 {was the only chance to survive, but
it's also pretty close to hopeless:} 38. Qxd5 fxg6 39. Be4 Qc8 40. Re7 Rd8 41.
Qf7 Kb8 42. Qxg6 {, and besides being down a pawn, Black is also horribly
passive with a weak king.}) 38. gxf7 Bxf7 39. Re7 $1 {Now comes a double
deflection.} Qxe7 40. Ba6 $1 {There is no way for Black to stop mate.} Kxa6 41.
Qa8# {One of the most satisfying combinations I have ever played! The rest of
the tournament went just as smoothly, and I finished on a solid 5.5/7, without
any losses.} 1-0

[Event "Sinquefield Cup 2nd"]
[Site "Saint Louis"]
[Date "2014.08.29"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C24"]
[WhiteElo "2877"]
[BlackElo "2801"]
[Annotator "Postny,E"]
[PlyCount "68"]
[EventDate "2014.08.27"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[EventCategory "23"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 162"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2014.09.17"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2014.09.17"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d3 {As usual, Magnus is not going for the theoretical
lines, trying to minimise the value of any opening preparation.} c6 4. Nf3 d5
5. Bb3 Bb4+ {Provoking the move that now follows, so that White won't be able
to develop his knight to c3 anymore.} (5... Bd6 {used to be the main move.}) 6.
c3 Bd6 7. Bg5 dxe4 (7... Be6 8. d4 dxe4 9. Nfd2 exd4 10. Nxe4 Be7 11. Bxf6 Bxf6
12. Bxe6 fxe6 13. Qb3 Qe7 14. Nxf6+ gxf6 15. cxd4 Na6 16. Nc3 O-O-O $11 {
1/2-1/2 (34) Shirov,A (2713)-Roiz,M (2668) Saratov 2011}) 8. dxe4 h6 (8... O-O
9. O-O Qe7 $6 (9... h6 10. Bh4 Qe7 $11) 10. Nh4 $1 Na6 11. Nd2 Nc5 12. Qf3 Nxb3
13. axb3 $14 {1-0 (29) Karjakin,S (2772)-Efimenko,Z (2703) Poikovsky 2011}) 9.
Bh4 Qe7 {Fabiano is playing it flexibly, not castling immediately, but
developing the queenside pieces instead. The position is, of course, equal.}
10. Nbd2 Nbd7 11. Bg3 $6 $146 {This move looks strange to me - moving the
bishop away without even provoking g7-g5.} (11. Qe2 Bc7 12. O-O Nf8 13. Bg3 Ng6
14. Nh4 Nf4 15. Bxf4 exf4 16. Rfe1 Bg4 17. f3 Be6 18. Bxe6 Qxe6 19. Nf5 O-O $11
{1-0 (73) Pridorozhni,A (2491)-Aleshin,O (2423) Moscow 2005}) (11. O-O {
would also be normal.}) 11... Bc7 12. O-O Nh5 13. h3 $6 {Carlsen continues the
odd strategy. Anything else that makes sense would be preferable.} Nxg3 14.
fxg3 Nc5 (14... Nf6 {would avoid the complications that followed in the game.
Black is slightly better.}) 15. Bxf7+ $5 {Obviously, Carlsen wasn't happy with
the course of the game. This intuitive sacrifice is an interesting practical
chance as it leads to a murky position where both sides have to calculate a
lot.} Kxf7 (15... Qxf7 $4 16. Nxe5 {and Black has to part with his queen to
avoid the deadly check on h5.}) 16. Nxe5+ (16. Nh4+ $5 {was an interesting
alternative which could lead to a position where White wins the queen for
several pieces.} Kg8 17. Ng6 Qe8 18. Rf8+ Qxf8 19. Nxf8 Kxf8 20. Qh5 Be6 21.
Nf3 Nd7 22. Rf1 (22. Nh4 Nf6 23. Rf1 Rg8 $17) 22... Kg8 23. Nh4 Rh7 $1 24. Qg6
Bxa2 25. Nf5 Kh8 26. Ne7 Bb6+ 27. Kh2 Bc5 28. Qf5 g5 $1 29. Rd1 $1 Rf7 30. Qxd7
Rxe7 31. Qf5 Kg7 32. Rd7 Bf7 33. Rxe7 Bxe7 34. Qd7 Re8 35. Qxb7 {Black is
better, but to win this position would be quite a difficult task.}) 16... Kg8
17. Ng6 Qg5 18. Rf8+ Kh7 19. Nxh8 (19. Rxh8+ Kxg6 20. Nf3 (20. b4 Qxg3 $1 21.
bxc5 Bxh3 22. Qf3 Rxh8 23. Qxg3+ Bxg3 24. gxh3 Be5 $17) 20... Qxg3 (20... Qe3+
$6 21. Kh1 Nxe4 22. Nh4+ Kg5 23. Nf3+ Kf6 24. Qd4+ Qxd4 25. Nxd4 Nxg3+ 26. Kg1
{Here the matters are not entirely clear as long as Black's queenside is
undeveloped.}) 21. Qc2 Bg4 $1 22. hxg4 Rxh8 23. e5+ Kf7 24. Qf5+ Ke7 $19) 19...
Bg4 (19... Qe3+ $1 {was even stronger, but required precise calculation.} 20.
Kh1 Bg4 21. Qf1 $2 (21. Qxg4 Rxf8 22. Ng6 Rf7 $17) 21... Qxg3 22. e5 {[%cal
Gf1b1,Gb1h7]} Rxf8 23. Qxf8 Qxe5 (23... Bxe5 $4 24. Nf1 $18) 24. Nf1 Bxh3 $1 {
This must have been seen in advance!} 25. gxh3 Qe4+ 26. Kg1 Ne6 $19 {[%csl Rg1]
[%cal Gc7b6]}) 20. Qf1 Nd3 $1 {[%cal Gg5e3,Ge3g3] Great resource, adding the
knight to the counterattack.} 21. Qxd3 (21. Ng6 {was an interesting chance,
but insufficient.} Qe3+ (21... Kxg6 $2 22. Qf7+ Kh7 23. Qg8+ $11) 22. Kh1 Qxg3
23. e5 Rxf8 24. Nxf8+ Kg8 25. Ng6 Nf2+ 26. Kg1 Nxh3+ 27. Kh1 Nf2+ 28. Kg1 Be6
$1 29. Ne7+ (29. Qxf2 $2 Bb6 $19) 29... Kh8 30. Ng6+ Qxg6 31. Kxf2 Qc2 $17)
21... Rxf8 22. hxg4 Qxg4 23. Nf3 Qxg3 (23... Kxh8 {would have been slightly
more precise.}) 24. e5+ (24. Nf7 $1 Rxf7 25. e5+ g6 (25... Kh8 $6 26. e6 {
is the point of White's idea, the black rook gets kicked away by the pawn.})
26. Rf1 {White is worse as in the game, but here Black's seventh rank is
slightly weakened, which might give White some additional practical chances.})
24... Kxh8 25. e6 {Carlsen is rushing forward with his passed pawn, but
unfortunately for him his king is too vulnerable.} (25. Rf1 Bb6+ (25... Bxe5
26. Nxe5 Rxf1+ 27. Qxf1 Qxe5 28. Qf7 {White has decent chances to hold this
endgame.}) 26. Kh1 Qg4 (26... Rf4 27. Qd7 $8 {still surviving.}) 27. Nh2 Rxf1+
28. Qxf1 Qh5 29. Qf8+ Kh7 30. Qd6 Qg6 31. Nf3 Qxd6 32. exd6 Kg6 33. Kh2 Kf6 34.
Kg3 Ke6 35. Kg4 Kxd6 36. Kf5 Kd5 {This endgame should be won for Black. If the
white king goes to g6, its counterpart will penetrate to the queenside via e4.}
) 25... Bb6+ 26. Kh1 Qg4 (26... Rf4 $4 {No, it's not mate.} 27. e7 Rh4+ 28.
Nxh4 Qxh4+ 29. Qh3 $16) 27. Qd6 (27. e7 Re8 28. Re1 Qh5+ 29. Nh2 Bc7 30. g3 Qf7
{The pawn is going down and White's prospects are very grim.}) 27... Rd8 28.
Qe5 Rd5 29. Qb8+ Kh7 30. e7 Qh5+ (30... Rh5+ $4 31. Nh2 {[%csl Ge7][%cal Ge7e8]
would turn the tables.}) 31. Nh2 $2 {A blunder in a bad position.} (31. Qh2 {
was the only way to prolong the fight.} {Still, after} Qe8 {White loses the
passed pawn. The bishop is also superior to the knight.} 32. Re1 $2 {fails to}
Bf2 33. Rf1 Rh5 $19) 31... Rd1+ 32. Rxd1 Qxd1+ 33. Nf1 Qxf1+ 34. Kh2 Qg1+ (
34... Qg1+ 35. Kh3 Qe3+ {capturing the Pe7.}) 0-1

[Event "Gashimov Memorial 2nd"]
[Site "Shamkir"]
[Date "2015.04.23"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D03"]
[WhiteElo "2783"]
[BlackElo "2802"]
[Annotator "Caruana,F"]
[PlyCount "108"]
[EventDate "2015.04.17"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[EventCategory "21"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 166"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2015.05.11"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2015.05.11"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bg5 {Already a surprise.} Bg7 4. c3 O-O 5. Nbd2 d5 6. e3
Nbd7 7. Be2 c5 {More common is the plan with ...Re8 and ...e5, which also
leads to highly complicated play.} 8. O-O b6 9. a4 a6 10. b4 Bb7 $6 {Too slow.}
(10... c4 $1 {was the correct move, and what I initially wanted to play. My
worry was that after} 11. b5 $5 (11. Ne5 Bb7 12. f4 {can be met by} Ne8 $1 {
, and in the case of} 13. e4 Ndf6 $1 14. exd5 Nxd5 {is strong}) 11... Bb7 12.
Qc2 {I might not get sufficient counterplay and c4 would turn out to be weak
in the long run. Black gets a reasonable position, however, by pursuing
White's bishop:} h6 13. Bh4 (13. Bf4 Nh5 14. Be5 Nhf6 15. Bg3 Nh5) 13... Nh5 {
with the idea ...g5, and knowing Kramnik, he might try something like} 14. g4
$5 Nhf6 15. h3 h5 {, with a messy position.}) 11. a5 cxb4 12. cxb4 b5 {I
thought that I'd be able to reach c4 with my knight and achieve equality. The
first part is true, but the position is still far from equal.} 13. Rc1 Ne8 14.
Nb3 Nd6 15. Ne1 $1 {That's the point. White has no reason to rush to occupy c5;
instead, he will keep the tension, leaving me tied up, and I will have to
reckon with Nc5 at every moment.} (15. Nc5 $6 Nxc5 16. dxc5 Nc4 {is a very
fine position for Black.}) 15... Nc4 16. Nd3 Ra7 {Black can do nothing but
wait passively, so my goal was to arrange my pieces in the most harmonious way.
It is up to White to show a plan. Now a lengthy manuevering phase begins.} 17.
Bh4 (17. Nbc5 Nxc5 18. Nxc5 {would be the choice of most players, but it would
considerably ease my play. Kramnik rightfully keeps more pieces on the board.})
17... Ba8 18. Bf3 Nf6 19. Qe2 Ne8 20. g4 $5 {This feels good. The bishops will
find comfortable posts on g2 and g3 and White can continue to gain space on
the kingside.} Ned6 21. Bg2 Qc8 22. Nbc5 Re8 23. Bg3 Qd8 24. Rcd1 e6 25. f3 {
Kramnik prepares e4, but his play might have been a bit too direct.} (25. h4 $5
{was worthy of consideration.}) 25... Qe7 26. Kh1 Bh6 27. Nf4 $6 {This looks
so awkward. It's really weird that Kramnik, with his fantastic positional
feeling, would misplace his pieces in such a way.} ({The natural} 27. Bf2 {
was the move I expected, and I planned} f5 {, which is necessary to prevent e4.
Black's position is very hard to break but remains under some pressure.}) 27...
Nb7 28. Ncd3 Nd8 $1 {Perhaps he overlooked this. White has lost all
coordination and b4 is starting to look tender.} 29. e4 $4 {After this White's
position is nearly lost. It's astonishing how quickly a position can turn
around.} ({After} 29. Nc5 {I planned to repeat:} Nb7 $11) (29. Qe1 $5 {is an
attempt to keep the game going, but Black is no longer any worse after} Nc6 30.
Nc5 Rd8 {, and ...e5 is coming.}) 29... Nc6 30. exd5 Nxb4 31. dxe6 (31. d6 $5 {
was the toughest defense.} {I was planning the inaccurate} Qf6 $6 ({After the
game, Kramnik suggested the enterprising} 31... Nxd3 $5 32. dxe7 Nxf4 33. Qf2 (
33. Bxf4 Bxf4 {gives Black a terrific grip. White is very nearly dominated and
it would be a tall order to defend his position.}) 33... Nxg2 34. Kxg2 Ne3+ 35.
Kg1 Raxe7 {with a clear positional advantage.}) (31... Qxd6 {is the machine's
cool defense.} 32. Nxg6 Qd8 $1 {, and the g6-pawn turns out to be of little
importance. White is much worse.}) 32. Nh5 gxh5 33. Nxb4 Bf4 {, when Black is
better but the position is highly unclear.}) 31... Nxd3 32. Rxd3 fxe6 $6 ({
We both overlooked} 32... Qf6 $1 {, and I think White's position is just lost.}
33. Nh3 Rxe6 {looks like the end.}) 33. Qe1 Qd8 34. h4 Rf7 ({I was loathe to
part with my bishop, but objectively} 34... Bxf4 35. Bxf4 Qxa5 {was most
technical.} 36. Qg3 {seemed like some sort of compensation, but White's attack
is illusory.} b4 {, and it's winning.}) 35. g5 Bg7 ({To calculate} 35... Bf8 $1
{correctly was asking a bit too much, especially in time trouble:} 36. Bh3 Bd6
$1 37. Nxe6 (37. Bxe6 Kg7 38. d5 Rxf4 $1 39. Bxf4 Bxf4) 37... Qb8 $1 38. Bxd6
Qxd6 {, and the pin is decisive.}) 36. Bh3 Rxf4 $1 {I was very happy to have
seen this in advance, but it's not as decisive as it looks.} 37. Bxf4 e5 38.
Bg3 e4 39. Rd1 Bd5 (39... exf3 $4 40. Be6+ Kh8 41. d5 {would turn the game
around.}) 40. Be5 exf3 41. Qf2 (41. Kg1 $1 {was the best defensive chance,
when I planned} Nxa5 {and with 2 pawns and a monster on f3 for the exchange,
Black has serious winning chances, but the open position of both kings makes
the position highly double-edged.}) 41... Qxa5 $1 {Greedy...and equally strong!
} 42. Bg4 (42. Rfe1 $2 {runs into the fantastic} Nb2 $1 43. Rd2 Nd3 $1 44. Rxd3
Qxe1+ 45. Qxe1 f2+ {, and White's queen is replaced with one of Black's.})
42... Rf8 {I have to keep my most important asset - the f3-pawn - at all costs.
} 43. Rd3 (43. Rfe1 $2 {again loses to} Nb2 $1 44. Rd2 Nd3 45. Be6+ Kh8 $1 46.
Bxg7+ Kxg7 47. Rxd3 Qxe1+ 48. Qxe1 f2+ $19) 43... Qb4 $1 {A very important
move, and what Kramnik overlooked. Now White's position is beyond saving.} 44.
Bg3 (44. Bxf3 Rxf3 45. Rxf3 Nd2 46. Qe1 Bxe5 {wins material.}) (44. Bxg7 Kxg7
45. Bxf3 Be4 $1 {was the main point behind 43...Qb4, and took a fair bit of
time to see in advance.} 46. Bxe4 Rxf2 47. Rxf2 Qe1+ $19) 44... h5 $1 {Other
moves also win, but this is most accurate.} 45. gxh6 (45. Bxf3 Rxf3 46. Rxf3
Nd2 $19) 45... Bxh6 {Now ...Nd2 is a huge threat.} 46. Kh2 Nd2 47. Ra1 Ne4 {
White's position falls apart. The rest is agony.} 48. Qc2 Nxg3 49. Rxa6 Be4 50.
Bxf3 Qe1 51. Qb3+ Kh8 52. Bxe4 Rf2+ 53. Kh3 Qf1+ 54. Kg4 Rf4+ {This win put my
tournament back on track and permitted me to finish on a plus score.} 0-1

[Event "Norway Chess 3rd"]
[Site "Stavanger"]
[Date "2015.06.17"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C67"]
[WhiteElo "2805"]
[BlackElo "2876"]
[Annotator "Wagner,D"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2015.06.16"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "NOR"]
[EventCategory "22"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 167"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2015.07.13"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2015.07.13"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{This game was played in the 2nd round of the Norway Chess tournament in
Stavanger. It has to be mentioned that Carlsen entered this game with a
certain psychological handicap, as he had lost his game in round one against
Veselin Topalov on time in a winning position, because he didn't know the time
control.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 {Definitely not for the first time
the two experts have chosen the Berlin as their battleground.} 4. O-O Nxe4 5.
d4 {Caruana is principled enough to enter the ending.} Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5
Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. h3 h6 $5 {That's the third time Carlsen has chosen this
setup against Caruana. The move h6 controls the important g5-square, but has
the drawback that White can seize space with g4 at the appropriate moment.} (
9... Ke8 10. Nc3 h5 {is the mainline.}) 10. Rd1+ Ke8 11. Nc3 Ne7 (11... Bd7 {
led to another disaster for Carlsen against the same opponent.} 12. Bf4 Rd8 13.
Ne4 Be7 14. g4 Nh4 15. Nxh4 Bxh4 16. Kg2 Be6 17. f3 b6 18. b3 c5 19. c4 Rd7 20.
Bg3 Be7 21. Rxd7 Bxd7 22. Nc3 Kd8 23. Nd5 Re8 24. Rd1 Kc8 25. Nxc7 $16 {
1-0 (53) Caruana,F (2783)-Carlsen,M (2881) Shamkir 2014}) 12. b3 $1 {I think
that the b3-setup is the most promising against the line with h6 and Ne7.} (12.
Bf4 {Apparently Caruana wasn't content with the result of their last game in
this line.} Ng6 13. Bh2 Bb4 14. Ne2 Be7 15. Nfd4 Nf8 16. g4 h5 17. Nf5 Ne6 18.
Kg2 b6 19. f3 c5 20. Bg3 Bg5 21. h4 hxg4 22. hxg5 gxf3+ 23. Kxf3 Nxg5+ 24. Kf4
Nh3+ 25. Ke4 Ng5+ 26. Kf4 Nh3+ {1/2-1/2 (26) Caruana,F (2811) -Carlsen,M (2865)
Baden-Baden 2015}) 12... Bf5 {Carlsen immediately activates his light-squared
bishop.} (12... Ng6 $5 {is an alternative.} 13. Bb2 Be7 14. Ne2 (14. Ne4 Nf4
15. Nd4 Bd7 16. Ng3 c5 17. Nde2 Nxe2+ 18. Nxe2 Rd8 $11 {1/2-1/2 (37)
Svetushkin,D (2597)-Kryvoruchko,Y (2676) Achaea 2012}) 14... h5 15. a4 a5 16.
c4 $14 {1-0 (83) Kamsky,G (2705)-Bruzon Batista,L (2679) Khanty-Mansiysk 2010})
13. Nd4 Bh7 14. Bb2 Rd8 15. Nce2 $1 (15. e6 {is rather harmless, if Black
reacts precisely.} Nd5 $1 $11 (15... Nc8 16. Nce2 Bd6 17. c4 Ne7 (17... f6 18.
g4 h5 $11) 18. Rac1 b6 19. g4 f6 20. f4 {1/2 (65)-1/2 (65) Polgar, J (2689)
-Howell,D (2644) Warsaw 2013; with a complicated position, where White has the
initiative.}) 16. Nxd5 (16. Nce2 Bd6 17. c4 Nb4 18. Bc3 Rg8 $132) 16... cxd5
17. exf7+ Kxf7 18. Nf3 Bd6 19. Ne5+ Bxe5 20. Bxe5 c6 $11) 15... Nd5 (15... g5 {
is another idea, but creates some further weaknesses.} 16. c4 (16. e6 Rg8 $1
$11) 16... Bg7 17. Ng3 Bg6 18. Re1 a6 (18... Kd7 19. e6+ fxe6 20. Rad1 Kc8 21.
Nxc6 Nxc6 22. Rxd8+ Kxd8 23. Bxg7 Rh7 24. Bc3 $14) 19. Nf3 Rg8 20. Ne4 Bxe4 21.
Rxe4 c5 22. h4 $1 gxh4 23. Rxh4 Ng6 24. Re4 $14 {White is slightly better,
because of his mobile kingside majority, but Black can hope to compensate for
this with his control of the d-file.}) 16. c4 Nb4 17. Nf4 Rg8 18. g4 {I
already like White's position. The knight on b4 is out of the game, while
Black is still far away from active counterplay. Anyway, Black should still be
ok here.} Na6 $2 {But that´s the start of major problems.} (18... g5 $6 19. Nh5
Be7 20. Nf5 $14) (18... Nc2 $1 {Black can hope to survive by exchanging his
bad knight.} 19. Nxc2 Rxd1+ 20. Rxd1 Bxc2 21. Rd2 Bb1 22. Bc3 Be7 23. Ne2 {
might be the best try, since Black can't attack ths knight on this square.} (
23. Kg2 Bg5 $1 {with a good exchange for Black} 24. Kg3 Bxf4+ 25. Kxf4 Ke7 $11)
(23. Nh5 Bg6 24. Kg2 Bxh5 25. gxh5 Bg5 26. Rd4 c5 27. Rd5 g6 28. Rxc5 gxh5 29.
Kf3 c6 $11) 23... Ba3 24. Kg2 Ke7 25. Nd4 Rd8 26. Nf5+ Bxf5 27. gxf5 Rxd2 28.
Bxd2 $14) (18... Be7 $5 {is also possible.} 19. Nf5 (19. Bc3 Nc2 20. Nxc2 Rxd1+
21. Rxd1 Bxc2 22. Rd2 Bg5 $11) 19... Bg5 20. Ne2 c5 21. Rxd8+ (21. f4 Bxf5 22.
gxf5 Bh4 23. Rxd8+ Kxd8 24. Rd1+ Kc8 $11) 21... Kxd8 22. Rd1+ Kc8 23. a3 Nc6
24. Kg2 {with a double-edged position where Black should be able to defend
successfully.}) 19. Nf5 Nc5 20. Rxd8+ (20. Kg2 $5 {is also good, e.g.} Ne6 21.
Nxe6 fxe6 22. Rxd8+ Kxd8 23. Rd1+ Kc8 24. Nd4 Kd7 25. Ne2+ Ke7 26. Kf3 $14)
20... Kxd8 21. Rd1+ Kc8 22. Ba3 $5 {Setting a cunning trap...} Ne6 $2 {...
which Carlsen runs into!} (22... Bxf5 $6 23. gxf5 g6 24. fxg6 (24. f6 g5 (24...
Ne6 25. Nxe6 Bxa3 26. Ng7 Bb2 27. f4 g5) 25. Nh5 Ne6 26. Bxf8 Rxf8 27. Kg2 Re8
28. Kg3 $14) 24... Ne6 25. Bxf8 Nxf4 (25... Nxf8 26. Kg2 Nxg6 27. Nxg6 Rxg6+
28. Kf3 $14) 26. g7 Ne6 27. Kh2 Nxf8 28. gxf8=Q+ Rxf8 29. Kg3 $14 {with a
dangerous edge in the rook ending.}) (22... b6 $5 {is more pleasant for White,
but nothing decisive of course.}) 23. Nxe6 Bxa3 {A sad necessity.} ({Probably
Carlsen had planned} 23... fxe6 {but overlooked the strong reply} 24. Be7 $3
$18) 24. Nexg7 Bf8 25. e6 $1 Bxf5 26. Nxf5 fxe6 27. Ng3 $16 {This is a
nightmare for every Berlin-player. The black structure has even worsened and
White can exploit the kingside majority without the slightest risk.} Be7 28.
Kg2 Rf8 29. Rd3 $1 {[%cal Gd3f3] A great square for the rook.} Rf7 30. Nh5 Bd6
31. Rf3 Rh7 (31... Rxf3 32. Kxf3 Kd7 33. Ke4 {is also just bad.}) 32. Re3 Re7
33. f4 {The rest is a matter of technique.} Ba3 34. Kf3 Bb2 35. Re2 Bc3 36. g5
Kd7 37. Kg4 Re8 38. Ng3 Rh8 39. h4 b6 40. h5 c5 41. g6 Re8 42. f5 exf5+ 43. Kf4
Rh8 44. Nxf5 Bf6 45. Rg2 {A convincing technical game by Caruana and a tough
start for the World Champion.} 1-0

[Event "Candidates Tournament"]
[Site "Berlin"]
[Date "2018.03.27"]
[Round "14"]
[White "Grischuk, Alexander"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C43"]
[WhiteElo "2767"]
[BlackElo "2784"]
[Annotator "Caruana,F"]
[PlyCount "138"]
[EventDate "2018.03.10"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "14"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[EventCategory "22"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 184"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2018.05.16"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2018.05.16"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{This was the climax of three weeks of chess, months of preparation and
thirteen hard fought previous games. My tournament had its ups and downs, but
thanks to a fortunate win the previous day, I entered the final round half a
point ahead of my closest rivals, Mamedyarov and Karjakin. My tiebreaks were
worse than both of theirs, so I wasn't sure a draw would be enough to win the
event, but at the same time I didn't want to burn my bridges playing for a win.
I also felt that Alexander would be eager for a fight.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3.
d4 {Although this move isn't a usual part of Grischuk's opening repertoire, I
wasn't entirely surprised. I realized that this variation, which leads to an
unclear, playable and fluid game, might suit his style, so I was at least
mentally prepared for this possibility.} Nxe4 4. dxe5 d5 5. Nbd2 Nxd2 ({
Interestingly, I was faced with this variation just two weeks later against
Vitiugov. In that game I chose to play a new move:} 5... Qd7 $5 {, and in the
end I won that game.}) 6. Bxd2 Be7 7. Bd3 {I was already not so familiar with
this position, but my moves seemed easy to play, so I continued to play
naturally.} ({All I could recall was seeing a game by Nepomniatchti recently,
where he played a slightly more passive continuation:} 7. Be2) 7... c5 8. c3
Nc6 9. O-O Bg4 {This was already a big choice. It is very attractive to pin
the knight, but I had to make sure I wouldn't run into a powerful e6 after my
bishop retreats to h5.} (9... Be6 {was perhaps more circumspect, although then
White can consider mixing it up with} 10. b4 $5) 10. Re1 Qd7 (10... O-O {
would be less accurate. For example, White could consider posting a bishop on
f5, which would be very annoying:} 11. h3 Bh5 12. Bf5 $5) 11. h3 Bh5 12. Bf4 {
This came as a surprise, but it's probably an excellent move.} ({Now I'm well
prepared for} 12. e6 $2 fxe6) (12. Qc2 Bxf3 13. Bf5 Qc7 14. gxf3 Nxe5 {also
doesn't work out well for White.}) (12. b4 $5 {was the move I was mainly
concerned with. The variations become very complex, but I felt that my
position would be okay after} cxb4 13. cxb4 O-O 14. Qb1 (14. Qc2 $2 Bxf3 15.
Bxh7+ Kh8 16. Bf5 Nd4 $1 {is a nice trick.}) (14. g4 Bg6 15. e6 $5 fxe6 16.
Bxg6 hxg6 17. b5 Nd8 18. Ne5 Qe8 19. Qc2 {is an unusual and slightly
concerning pawn sacrifice. Here I was mainly looking at moves like 19...Bh4,
but strongest is} Bd6 $1 20. Nxg6 Rf6 {with an excellent position}) 14... Bxf3
15. Bxh7+ Kh8 16. Bf5 Qc7 17. gxf3 g6 $1 {A very important move.} (17... Nxe5
$2 18. Qd1 $1 {is surprisingly already busted for Black}) 18. Bc2 Nxe5 {
, and the position is unclear, but no worse for Black.}) 12... Qe6 $1 {This
move looks strange, but I came to it by the process of elimination. I need to
prevent e6 once and for all, and although the queen is not a good blockader,
there was no alternative.} ({My first instinct was to play} 12... Nd8 $2 {
, but then I noticed a strong response:} 13. g4 Bg6 (13... Ne6 14. gxh5 Nxf4
15. e6 $1 Nxe6 16. Ne5 {is likewise very strong}) 14. e6 $1 Nxe6 15. Ne5 {
, with a huge attack.}) (12... O-O 13. Qc2 Bg6 (13... Bxf3 14. Bxh7+ Kh8 15.
Bf5 $1 Be4 16. Qxe4 {also doesn't work out for Black.}) 14. Bxg6 hxg6 15. Rad1
{felt like strong pressure for White, because d5 is a weakness and the
possibility of e6 is always in the air.}) 13. a3 $6 {Far too slow. It was here
that Grischuk started to drift with his play.} (13. Qc2 $2 Bxf3 14. Bf5 $2 Be4
{is an important trick, winning a piece.}) (13. Be2 {was the most challenging
move. Here I saw two options:} O-O $5 {offers an exchange sacrifice, but White
is not obligated to accept it.} (13... Bg6 {is playable, but White can perhaps
hope for a slight edge after} 14. Bg3 O-O 15. Nh4 {getting the advantage of
the bishop pair.}) 14. Nd4 (14. Qd2 {prepares Nd4, and would lead to a very
messy situation after} Rfe8 15. Nd4 cxd4 16. Bxh5 dxc3 17. bxc3 d4) 14... Bxe2
15. Nxe6 Bxd1 16. Nxf8 Ba4 (16... Bc2 17. Nd7 Nd8 18. e6 Nxe6 19. Bd2 Rd8 {
also offers decent compensation.}) 17. b3 (17. Nd7 $2 Nd8 {traps the knight})
17... Bb5 18. a4 Bd3 19. Nd7 Rd8 20. e6 fxe6 21. Ne5 Nxe5 22. Bxe5 Bc2 {
This position is likely to end in a draw.}) 13... O-O 14. b4 h6 {Covering g5,
which will be useful in many lines in the future. Also making sure h7 no
longer ever hangs.} ({I couldn't decide on whether to play h6 or} 14... b6 {
, and probably both are fully playable.}) 15. Bg3 {White has many options, but
in every case Black is comfortable.} (15. bxc5 Bxc5 16. Be2 Rad8 17. Nd4 Bxd4
18. cxd4 Bxe2 19. Rxe2 Rc8 {is at least equal, but I would even prefer Black's
position slightly.}) 15... b6 16. Nd4 $6 {I felt during the game that this was
a positional mistake, leading to a comfortable situation for Black.} ({A
better move was} 16. Be2 Bg6 17. Nh4 Bxh4 18. Bxh4 d4 {, with a complex and
roughly balanced position.}) 16... Bxd1 17. Nxe6 fxe6 18. Raxd1 c4 {It's
important to play this before White goes for c4 himself. Now the pawn
structure is very favorable for me: all of White's queenside pawns on the dark
squares are vulnerable, and his bishop on g3 is extremely passive. The only
plus for him is that whenever I open up the position, his light-squared bishop
will become powerful.} 19. Bc2 (19. Bg6 b5 20. f4 Bd8 $1 {and next ...Ne7
kicks the bishop from g6.}) (19. Be2 a5 {is likewise unpleasant for White, and}
20. Bg4 Nd8 {is only temporarily inconvenient. Soon I'll play ...g6 and ...h5.}
) 19... b5 {Preparing ...a5 without allowing b5.} 20. a4 (20. f4 $6 a5 {
would soon become critical for White, because ...axb4 and ...d4 would
completely undermine his queenside.}) 20... a6 21. f3 $1 {A strong and
necessary defense.} (21. f4 {, preparing f5, is most natural, but after} Rac8
$1 {Black prepares ...d4 and White will fall apart. For example} (21... d4 $2
22. Be4 {is clearly wrong.}) 22. axb5 axb5 23. f5 d4 $1 24. cxd4 Nxb4 {, with
a winning position.}) 21... Bg5 $6 {Too academic. I needed to be more daring
to keep the advantage.} ({Now} 21... Rac8 22. Bf2 {leads nowhere.}) (21... Nxb4
$1 {was the most testing move:} 22. cxb4 Bxb4 23. Re2 Be7 24. axb5 axb5 25. Rb1
b4 {, and White will have to defend accurately against the three passed pawns.
I didn't really consider sacrificing, however, because the game continuation
looked so attractive.}) 22. Bf2 $2 {This mistake is very serious, and seems to
be the difference between a draw and a loss.} (22. h4 $1 Bf4 23. Bxf4 Rxf4 {
I understand why Grischuk didn't want to give away his bishop pair, but White
is already close to equal after} 24. Bg6 {For example,} Rc8 (24... Ne7 25. h5)
25. Kf2 d4 26. axb5 axb5 27. cxd4 Nxb4 28. Rb1 Nd5 29. Rxb5 Rxd4 30. Reb1 {
, with a likely draw.}) 22... Bf4 23. Bc5 Rfd8 24. Bd6 Bg3 25. Re2 g5 {When I
played 21...Bg5 I saw this position, and I was very happy to get it. White is
almost completely paralyzed, due to the dominant bishop on g3. However, it is
still difficult to make progress.} 26. Kf1 Kf7 27. Bc7 Re8 28. Bd6 Rac8 {
A strange move. We were both low on time, so I was a bit unsure of what to do,
but placing a rook on c8 is certainly not the way.} ({I should have started by
placing my pawn on h4, which is useful in many variations down the road. Most
concretely, often White will play Rxd5 and e6, and with the pawn on h4 the
bishop will be defended.} 28... h5 $1 29. Ra1 h4 30. Bb1 Red8 {, and sooner or
later White will slowly die.}) 29. Ra1 Red8 30. Bb1 {As usual, when time gets
low, Grischuk continues to play very well.} Rd7 ({I could still place my pawn
on h4 before deciding what to do next:} 30... h5 31. axb5 axb5 32. Ra6 h4 {
and here} 33. Rb6 Rd7 34. Rxb5 Ra8 {is not something I should worry about.})
31. Ra3 (31. axb5 axb5 32. Ra6 {was a better defense. I was planning} Ra7 {
, but after} ({Perhaps} 32... h5 $5 {is again the best move.}) 33. Rxa7+ Nxa7
34. Ra2 Nc6 35. Ra6 {White's position becomes a bit easier to hold.}) 31... d4
{I was extremely happy to get this move in at an opportune moment. We were
both short on time, but now the play becomes forced:} 32. axb5 axb5 33. cxd4
Nxd4 34. Rea2 Nc6 35. Be4 Bxe5 36. Bxc6 (36. Bc5 Kf6 {is also very bad for
White.}) 36... Rxd6 37. Bxb5 {Black has a serious advantage, due to the
strength of the passed c-pawn and the weakness of White's king. The weakened
dark squares around White's kingside make a direct attack very likely in the
future. The next few moves were played in heavy time trouble, which led to
some poor decisions.} Rd1+ (37... c3 $1 {was strongest:} 38. Ba4 (38. Rc2 Rb8
39. Ra5 Kf6 {leaves White tied up, and likely to lose the b-pawn.}) 38... Rcd8
39. b5 Rd3 {and White is paralyzed and facing ideas of ...Bd6.}) 38. Ke2 Rg1
39. Ke3 Rb1 $2 ({Direct play was again best:} 39... c3 $1 40. Rc2 Rd8 {with a
decisive edge. For example} 41. Ra7+ Kf6 42. Rd7 Rb8 43. Bd3 Rxb4 {with a
position similar to the game.}) 40. Ra7+ $2 {The last move of the time control,
and it is both an extremely natural and a poor one.} (40. Ra8 $1 Rxa8 41. Rxa8
Rxb4 42. Ba4 {This is difficult to decide on, since White condemns himself to
a pawn down position where he will suffer for a very long time. However,
trading rooks is absolutely necessary to keep any drawing chances alive.})
40... Kf6 {And now I could finally get up from the table and check the other
games. I was pleased to see Karjakin had already drawn, and Kramnik and
Mamedyarov were playing a drawn ending. I felt very safe that a draw would be
enough for tournament victory, but of course with a much better position, I
continued to play.} 41. Bd7 Bf4+ 42. Ke2 (42. Kf2 Rd8 {is essentially the same
as the game.} (42... c3 $2 {looks very beautiful, but misses the win after} 43.
Re2 $1 (43. Bxc8 $2 Rb2+ {on the other hand, leads to a pawn promotion.})))
42... Rd8 43. Rc2 ({At this moment, I think Alexander realized that} 43. R2a6 {
runs into an exchange sac:} Rb2+ 44. Kf1 Rxd7 $1 45. Rxd7 c3 46. Rc6 c2 {
and the pawn is unstoppable. Black will be a piece ahead.}) 43... Rxb4 (43...
Rg1 $1 44. Kf2 Rd1 {is even stronger, and would be immediately winning, but I
saw no reason to just take the pawn and win slowly.}) 44. Bc6 c3 {A pawn up,
and still with a positional advantage. I knew I was completely winning, and
around this point I saw Kramnik and Mamedyarov agree to a draw. A draw would
have been enough for me, but I couldn't bring myself to offer it in such an
overwhelming position.} 45. Rd7 Rc8 {Of course, no trade of rooks.} 46. Be4 h5
{I might as well place the pawn on h4 before deciding on what to do next.
White has no ideas, so it was only a question of time until I broke through.}
47. Kd3 Rb2 48. Ke2 h4 49. Rd1 Ke5 50. Ra1 Rd8 51. Rd1 Rdb8 52. Ra1 Bd2 53. Ra6
Rd8 54. Rc6 Rb1 55. Kf2 Ra1 56. Rc4 Rd4 57. Rc8 Rb4 58. Ke2 Kf4 59. Kf2 Rbb1
60. Rf8+ Ke5 61. Bd3 Rb2 62. Ke2 Re1+ 63. Kf2 Rc1 64. Rxb2 cxb2 65. Rb8 Bc3 66.
Be4 Bd4+ 67. Ke2 Kf4 68. Rb4 e5 69. Rb7 Kg3 {And after this, Grischuk resigned
and I secured qualification to the 2018 World Championship match!} 0-1

[Event "Croatia GCT"]
[Site "Zagreb"]
[Date "2019.07.01"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Vachier Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C78"]
[WhiteElo "2779"]
[BlackElo "2819"]
[Annotator "Caruana,F"]
[PlyCount "74"]
[EventDate "2019.06.26"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "CRO"]
[EventCategory "22"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 191"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2019.08.31"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2019.08.31"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{I had a strong feeling before this game that we were in for a big fight. I
didn't feel like checking Maxime's prep in the Petroff or Sveshnikov (which he
had recently faced against Magnus), so I went for something offbeat.} 1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Bc5 {This accelerated Arkhangelsk isn't
entirely unusual, but it has fallen out of fashion the last few years. However,
Maxime had faced it recently against Vishy, so I was sure he wouldn't be
unprepared. The point of this move order is both to avoid Nxe5 variations and,
in case of the game, to give Black extra options with ...Bb7 or ...Bg4.} 6. c3
b5 7. Bb3 (7. Bc2 d5 {is another main line, with a huge body of theory.}) 7...
d6 8. a4 Bb7 9. d3 ({In my opinion,} 9. d4 Bb6 {is a more dangerous system for
Black. The move Maxime played is more positional and less theoretical.}) 9...
h6 {Not a move I want to play, but necessary to avoid Bg5.} ({It's important
to avoid} 9... O-O 10. Bg5 $1 h6 11. Bh4 {because the pin is extremely
difficult to break.} g5 12. Nxg5 $1 hxg5 13. Bxg5 {is already close to winning
for White.}) 10. axb5 ({When Maxime faced the same variation against Anand a
few weeks prior, he chose to play} 10. Re1 O-O 11. axb5 axb5 12. Rxa8 {and here
} Qxa8 {would've been completely fine for Black.}) (10. Nh4 {is a very
dangerous option. The threat of Nf5 can't be ignored, but luckily Black has a
way to defend using tactics:} Bc8 $1 {and} 11. axb5 {can be met by} Bg4 $1 12.
Qe1 axb5) 10... axb5 11. Rxa8 {Here I was already on my own, and the choice
between capturing with queen or bishop was very difficult.} Qxa8 (11... Bxa8 {
is probably also playable.} 12. Nh4 $5 {worried me, but it seems that after}
Nxe4 {Black survives by a miracle:} 13. Qh5 (13. Nf5 Nxf2 {is a huge mess.})
13... Ng5 $1 14. Bxg5 (14. d4 exd4 15. cxd4 Nxd4 16. Bxf7+ Kd7 $1) 14... Qxg5
15. Qxf7+ Kd8 {, and the king runs.}) 12. Nh4 {This is the move I had expected,
but if Maxime wanted to go for Na3 ideas, perhaps it was best to play it
immediately.} (12. Na3 b4 13. Nc4 bxc3 14. bxc3 O-O {is close to equal anyway.}
) 12... Bc8 $1 {Necessary, to prevent Nf5.} (12... Ne7 {is more natural, and
was my first instinct, but after} 13. Kh1 $1 {I saw no comfortable way to deal
with f4.} d5 {only makes} 14. f4 $1 {even stronger.}) 13. Na3 $6 {This is
inconsistent. It's rarely a good idea to start a plan on one side of the board
and then an entirely different plan on the other side.} (13. Kh1 {was what I
had expected. Now} Qa1 $1 ({I had instead intended} 13... g5 $5 14. Qf3 Ke7 15.
Nf5+ Bxf5 16. Qxf5 Qc8 $1 17. Qf3 Qg4 {with an equal ending. White has the two
bishops but Black has a space advantage as compensation.}) 14. Nd2 O-O {
is very strong, because the knight on d2 blocked off White from playing f4 and
capturing with the bishop. This wasn't clear to me over the board though.}) (
13. Qf3 Ne7 {again prevents Nf5, when White's next move is unclear.}) 13... Bg4
{This is useful to misplace White's queen. It might look visually better
placed on c2, but it really belongs on d1 so it can swing to f3 at the right
moment.} 14. Qc2 Qb8 (14... Qb7 $5 {was maybe a better choice. I wanted to
keep the option of ...Qd8 to protect my kingside, but in most variations that
doesn't seem necessary.}) 15. Kh1 {Now White threatens f4, which would be
positionally advantageous for him, so I felt compelled to prevent it.} g5 {
Of course this is a weakening of my position, but the transition that follows
also wrecks White's pawns, and leads to a very double edged position.} 16. Nf5
(16. h3 Bd7 17. Nf3 {is the machine's choice, but I barely considered it. It
seemed to me that} g4 18. hxg4 Nxg4 {would give Black a serious initiative.})
16... Bxf5 17. exf5 O-O {I was happy with this move, but perhaps it wasn't
best.} (17... Kf8 $5 {will put the king on the same square, but the rook might
end up being better placed on h8 than f8. This is just a minor detail though.})
18. Qd1 {Now it becomes clear that the queen was misplaced on c2. Now White is
preparing Nc2, to get the misplaced knight back in the game.} (18. h4 {looks
like it starts an attack, but after} Kg7 $1 {, the rook will come to h8 and if
the h-file opens, the hunter will become the hunted.}) 18... Na5 $5 {This was
another tough decision, because I had to try to evaluate the unbalanced
position which arose in the game.} ({The lazy part of me wanted to just play
the useful} 18... Kg7 {, but I didn't want to allow the knight to get back in
the game with} 19. Nc2 {As it turns out, Black is much better after} b4 $1 20.
Ne3 bxc3 21. bxc3 Bxe3 $1 22. Bxe3 Ne7 {, but this wasn't as clear to me as it
should have been. I guess I should trust lazy me more often!}) 19. Bxf7+ {
The natural choice, but objectively it isn't clear whether this or Ba2 was
better.} ({My idea was} 19. Ba2 b4 $1 20. Nc4 (20. cxb4 Qxb4 {The ruining of
White's structure would've made me very happy.}) 20... b3 21. Bb1 Nxc4 22. dxc4
e4 23. f4 g4 {but surprisingly after} (23... exf3 24. Qxf3 Qd8 {, with a solid
positional advantage, is best.}) 24. Bd2 {White gets Be1-h4 in time and might
hold equality.}) 19... Rxf7 20. b4 Bxb4 21. cxb4 Nc6 22. Nc2 {The dust has
settled. On the one hand, Black's kingside structure has been somewhat damaged;
on the other hand, Black has a positional advantage on the queenside and
center. For the moment, f5 is a bit vulnerable, so I went about exploiting
that.} Qc8 $1 23. g4 {White is forced to weaken his king's position as well.} (
23. Qf3 Ne7 {is extremely awkward for White to deal with.}) 23... Qa8 {And now
I take control over the long diagonal.} 24. f3 (24. Qf3 $2 {allows} Nxg4 $1 25.
Qxg4 Nxb4+ 26. f3 Nxc2 {with a two pawn advantage.}) 24... Qa2 {This invasion
was the point of the entire maneuver. The queen on a2 is extremely annoying
for White to deal with. It also often aids in a direct attack, if and when the
h-file opens.} 25. d4 $6 {This is a mistake, but also an understandable move.
Maxime wanted to get the d3 square to liberate his queen a bit.} (25. h4 Nd5 {
looked very promising to me during the game, but after the prophylactic} 26.
Kg1 $1 {getting out of the way of checks when the h-file opens, the position
is just unclear. For example,} Nf4 27. Bxf4 exf4 28. Qd2) 25... Re7 $6 {
And I responded with a mistake in return. This move felt right, but after I
played it I started regretting the move.} (25... e4 26. f4 {looked like a mess
to me, but after the accurate} Rg7 $1 {holding the g5 stronghold, Black has an
advantage. White's king is weaker than Black's.}) 26. dxe5 dxe5 {This wasn't
the plan.} (26... Rxe5 {was my first intention. It seemed like I would quickly
create strong threats with ...Nd5 or ...Rd5, but then it dawned on me that
after} 27. h4 $1 {, my threats are entirely illusory and White is creating
quick counterplay on the kingside.}) (26... Nxe5 27. Nd4 {, with the knight
invading on e6, didn't appeal to me at all.}) 27. Qd3 $2 {A really bad move
for more than one reason, but surprisingly it wasn't immediately clear to me
how bad it was.} (27. h4 $1 {worried me, because I didn't see clear play for
me while White is breaking down my kingisde structure. The game would be
finely balanced after say} Rd7 28. Qe2 Nd5 29. hxg5 Ndxb4 30. gxh6 Qxc2 31. Qe3
{, and the game will likely end in a perpetual.}) 27... e4 {A fine move, but
there was another good option as well.} ({Very strong was the cool} 27... Rd7
28. Qc3 Rd6 $1 {I don't think either of us understood how poorly placed the
queen is on c3. White is in serious trouble.}) 28. Qc3 (28. fxe4 $2 Ne5 {
picks up g4 and then e4, with a decisive advantage.}) 28... Ne5 {This is the
point. White's structure is collapsing, so Maxime needed create some chaos.}
29. f4 (29. fxe4 $2 Nexg4 {is just resigns.}) 29... Nd5 30. Qh3 $2 {This move
surprised me, but again it provoked a serious mistake in return.} (30. Qc5 {
was what I expected.} gxf4 31. f6 $1 {seemed very tricky to me, but after} (31.
Bxf4 $2 Nd3 {wins a piece.}) 31... Rf7 32. Qxb5 {, Black has a decisive
advantage with} Nd7 $1) (30. Qd4 $1 {was the best chance. The point is} Nf3 31.
Qc5 $1 {, and now Black doesn't have the ...Nd3 option after gxf4 Bxf4.
Provoking the knight to f3 is a very unusual idea and neither of us considered
it. However, Black is still borderline winning after} Qc4 $1 32. Qxc4 bxc4 33.
fxg5 hxg5) 30... Nf3 $2 {When I saw this move, it felt like it was crying out
to be played. My intuition let me down. The next few moves are all mistakes,
which is either a sign that the position is far too complex or that we were
not playing our best that day.} (30... e3 $1 {is winning, but it requires
accurate calculation:} 31. fxe5 (31. Nxe3 Nxf4 32. Qxh6 Qa8+ $1 {is a cute
geometric pattern:} 33. Kg1 Ne2+ 34. Kf2 Nxc1 35. Qxg5+ Rg7 {, and the checks 
(and the game) are over.}) 31... e2 32. Re1 Qxc2 {, and if e5 falls the
e2-pawn will be a decisive factor, so White is forced into} 33. e6 {, but after
} Qd1 34. Qg3 Nxb4 35. Qg1 Nd3 $1 36. Rxd1 exd1=Q 37. Qxd1 Nf2+ 38. Kg2 Nxd1 {
, Black ends up a rook ahead.}) 31. Ne1 (31. fxg5 Qxc2 32. gxh6 {is something
I barely considered, because it seemed like White had no checks or serious
counterplay. But the game is surprisingly complex anyway, because of White's
powerful pawns.} Ne5 $1 {is necessary, to prepare ...e3 and ...Qe4. Now a long
forced sequence begins:} 33. f6 Rf7 34. g5 e3 35. Qc8+ Kh7 36. Qf5+ Qxf5 37.
Rxf5 Nc4 38. Rxd5 e2 39. Bd2 c6 40. Rd3 Nxd2 41. Re3 Nf3 42. Rxe2 Kg6 $1 {
, and in this bizarre ending White will have to work hard for a draw, but he
is likely to make it with correct play.} (42... Nxg5 43. h4 {traps the knight!}
)) 31... Nxe1 $2 (31... Qe2 $1 {was winning. The point is} 32. f6 Nxf6 33. fxg5
Nxg4 $1 {, and White is unlikely to survive.}) 32. Rxe1 $2 {The final mistake.}
(32. f6 $3 {was a surprising shot we both missed. I didn't even consider the
move.} Nxf6 33. fxg5 $1 {is the tactical justification.} hxg5 34. Rxe1 e3 35.
Bxe3 Qd5+ 36. Qg2 {is still marginally better for Black, but White's drawing
chances are very high.}) 32... e3 $1 {This is the winning move. I believe that
what Maxime missed was that Qxh6 won't lead to perpetual check, so he's left
without counterplay and with a dead lost position.} 33. fxg5 (33. Qxh6 Qf2 $1 {
, and surprisingly the checks will soon end:} 34. Qg6+ (34. Qxg5+ Rg7 35. Qd8+
Kh7 $19) 34... Kf8 35. Qh6+ Rg7 36. Qh8+ Kf7 37. Qh5+ Ke7 38. f6+ Kd6 $1 $19)
33... hxg5 34. Qg2 (34. Bxe3 Rxe3 35. Rxe3 Qb1+ 36. Kg2 Nf4+ {picks up the
queen.}) 34... Qc4 {Black has complete control. There's no more hope for White.
} 35. Qf3 Re4 36. h3 Rf4 37. Qg3 Rf1+ {By the amount of mistakes, not a great
game by any means, but nevertheless a very interesting one both in the
strategic content and the tactical mess at the end.} 0-1

[Event "Tata Steel-A 82nd"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee"]
[Date "2020.01.13"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Yu, Yangyi"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C43"]
[WhiteElo "2822"]
[BlackElo "2726"]
[Annotator "Giri,A"]
[PlyCount "96"]
[EventDate "2020.01.11"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "NED"]
[EventCategory "20"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 194"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2020.01.27"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2020.01.27"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 {Yu Yangyi likes his Petroff, but Fabiano too, is a well
known expert in this opening, so it was to be expected that he would bring
something to the table here.} 3. d4 Nxe4 4. Bd3 d5 5. Nxe5 Nd7 6. O-O Nxe5 7.
dxe5 Nc5 8. Be3 c6 {Yu Yangyi was likely prepared, because postponing the move
Be7 seems to make sense.} 9. f4 Nxd3 10. Qxd3 g6 11. Nc3 b6 $5 {idea of Ju
Wenjun, and again, I don't know if it was preparation of improvisation, but
developing the bishop to g7 makes a lot of sense here.} (11... Be7 {is a major
tabia that White wanted to get in this game and Yu Yangyi avoided.} 12. Ne2 {
is the main-line if we call a main-line the most played continuation.}) 12.
Rad1 {Fabi improves on the game between the Woman World Champion and her
challenger.} (12. Ne2 Bg7 13. Ng3 O-O 14. c3 c5 15. Rad1 Bb7 {and White was
just getting outplayed here. 0-1 (54) Goryachkina,A (2518)-Ju,W (2575) St
Petersburg 2018.}) 12... Bg7 (12... Bf5 {is an alternative.}) 13. b4 {Using
the fact that the bishop has left the diagonal. But Yu Yangyi responds very
well.} Bf5 14. Qe2 Qc8 15. h3 O-O {b5 can be met with f6, with lots of
simplifications incoming. Black is about to survive the opening test.} 16. g4 {
16.b5 first could also be met with f6.} Be6 17. b5 f5 $1 {Same as f6.} 18. exf6
Bxf6 19. Bd4 Bxd4+ 20. Rxd4 cxb5 21. Nxb5 {Black has an ugly bishop, but
White's knight hasn't yet reached the d4 square. Yu Yangyi uses the
opportunity to further simplify} Bd7 $5 {A very human way to try to solve
things. Black gives up a pawn, but has obvious counterplay against both the
queenside weaknesses and the f4 pawn. In fact, all he now needs is to trade
queens and then any rook endgame would be too drawish not to hold.} 22. Rxd5
Bxb5 23. Rxb5 (23. Qxb5 Qxc2 24. Rd7 Qc5+ {is going to peter, clearly.}) 23...
Qc3 24. Rb3 Qc5+ $2 {This is the main mistake in the game. In fact I walked
right past the board and from the whole demeanor of Fabiano I saw that he
doesn't believe in his position here and rightly so, as the endgame would be
totally holdable for Black.} (24... Qd4+ $1 25. Qe3 (25. Kg2 {just} Rxf4) 25...
Qxe3+ 26. Rxe3 Rac8 27. c3 Rc4 {it's more or less a forced draw, besides just
being drawish in general. Very strange that a defender of Yu's caliber didn't
go for this!}) 25. Kg2 {In fact it is not so easy for Black, as with queens on,
it turns out that Black's king can be a target too, after a well timed f5 push.
} (25. Kh2 $5 {was also interesting, giving the queen space on g2.}) 25... Rae8
$2 (25... Rfe8 $1 {was better.} 26. Qd2 Rad8 {and Black bothers White more
than in the game.}) 26. Qd2 Re4 27. Rf2 Qc6 $2 (27... Rc4 {was better, as
White may want to go Kg3 anyway.}) 28. Kg3 Rc4 29. Rd3 {Now White has sort of
consolidated and it gets very unpleasant for Black.} Rf7 30. Rd6 Qc5 31. f5 (
31. Rd8+ Kg7 32. f5 {was possible too.}) 31... Qe5+ $2 (31... Rf8 $1 {would
keep things together, but for that one needs to calculate very clearly and for
that, a lot of time is needed and preferably no pressure.}) 32. Kg2 Rc3 {
This all doesn't work out as gxf5 is never possible.} 33. Rf3 $1 Rxf3 34. Kxf3
Re7 35. Rd5 $2 {This allows Black to get back onto the defensive track, but in
time trouble Yu Yangyi doesn't manage.} (35. Qd3 {or 35.f6 were cleaner
apparently.}) 35... Qe4+ 36. Kg3 Kg7 $2 (36... gxf5 $1 {A rook or queen
endgame would be a blessing for Black at this point.} 37. Rxf5 (37. Qg5+ Kh8
38. Qf6+ Kg8 39. Rd8+ Re8) 37... Qe1+) 37. Rd6 $2 {A gross miscalculation.} (
37. Kh4 $1 {is an elegant prophylactic, when Black, unable to trade queens in
a favourable version, is losing.} Rf7 38. Qc3+ Kh6 39. fxg6 Qxd5 40. gxf7 Qxf7)
(37. c4 $1 {anticipating the rook endgame is another brilliant idea of the
engine.} Qe3+ 38. Qxe3 Rxe3+ 39. Kf4 Rxh3 40. Rd7+ Kf8 41. fxg6 h6 42. Rxa7)
37... Qe5+ $2 {This is losing by force. There were two ways to try and hold
the game.} (37... gxf5 $1 38. Qg5+ Kh8 39. Rd8+ Re8 40. Rxe8+ Qxe8 41. Qxf5
Qe1+ 42. Kf4 Qc1+ 43. Ke5 Qa1+ 44. Kd6 Qxa2 $1 {is a draw as queen is just in
time to come back to g8 after picking up a vital pawn.}) (37... Qe3+ 38. Qxe3
Rxe3+ {The rook endgame would also hold, likely} 39. Kf4 Rxh3 40. Rd7+ Kf8 $1 {
and the battle continues.}) 38. Kh4 $1 gxf5 (38... Kf7 $1 {would prolong the
game, but it is already very lost at this point.}) 39. Qh6+ Kg8 40. Rd8+ Re8
41. Rd7 $1 {and it is not hard to see now that White gets a won pawn endgame
by force.} Re7 42. Qg5+ Kf7 43. Rxe7+ Qxe7 44. Qxe7+ Kxe7 45. gxf5 Kf6 46. Kg4
Ke5 47. Kg5 b5 48. c3 Kd5 1-0

