[Event "Poikovsky Karpov 06th"]
[Site "Poikovsky"]
[Date "2005.02.26"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Bacrot, Etienne"]
[Black "Grischuk, Alexander"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E20"]
[WhiteElo "2715"]
[BlackElo "2710"]
[Annotator "Gavrikov,V"]
[PlyCount "121"]
[EventDate "2005.02.26"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[EventCategory "18"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 106"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2005.06.06"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2005.06.06"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 {Ftacnik} Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 c5 5. g3 O-O 6. Bg2 cxd4 7. Nxd4
d5 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Qb3 ({Formerly} 9. Bd2 {was played more often, but White
can hardly count on a plus after} Bxc3 ({Practice has also seen} 9... Nxc3 10.
bxc3 Be7 11. Rb1 {/\ Rxb7} (11. O-O e5 12. Nc2 Nc6 13. Ne3 Be6 14. c4 Rc8 15.
Nd5 Bc5) 11... a6 12. O-O e5 13. Nc2 Nc6 14. Ne3 Bc5 15. Qc2 f5 {0-1 Diesen,
M-Gligoric,S/Lone Pine 1979/MCL (60)}) 10. bxc3 e5 {, for example:} 11. Nb5 (
11. Nb3 Nc6 12. O-O Nb6 ({or} 12... Nde7 13. c4 Qc7) 13. Be3 Qc7 {gives Black
sufficient counterplay, too.}) 11... Nc6 12. O-O Be6 13. Bc1 a6 14. c4 Nb6 (
14... Nde7 15. Nd6 b6 16. Ba3 Ra7 {/\ Rd7 0-1 Campos Moreno,J-David,A/Moscow
1994/CBM 044 ext (65)}) 15. Nd6 Nxc4 16. Nxb7 Qb6 (16... Qxd1 17. Rxd1 Nd4 18.
Nc5 Rad8 {1/2-1/2 Ksieski,Z-Szymczak,Z/Polanica Zdroj 1983/MCD (25)} 19. Kf1
$13) 17. Qb3 Qd4 18. Ba3 Nxa3 (18... Nd2 19. Qd1 Nxf1 20. Bxf8 Rxf8 21. Kxf1
Rc8) 19. Qxa3 Qb4 20. Qxb4 Nxb4 $11 {1/2-1/2 Piket,J-Kortschnoj,V/Nijmegen
1993/CBM 036 (27)}) 9... Qa5 ({Sometimes Black chooses another move order} 9...
Nc6 10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. O-O Qa5 {when White usually transposes to the text by}
12. Bd2) ({Not so good is the alternative} 9... Qb6 {because of} 10. Bxd5 exd5
11. Be3 Qa5 12. Rc1 Nc6 13. O-O Bh3 14. Rfd1 Rfd8 {1/2-1/2 Gonzalez Velez,
F-Ayas Fernandez,A/Barbera 1997/EXT 99 (47)} 15. a3 Bxc3 16. Qxc3 {and Black´s
position is devoid of active play.}) 10. Bd2 Nc6 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. O-O Bxc3 13.
bxc3 ({The continuation} 13. Bxc3 Nxc3 14. bxc3 Ba6 15. Qb4 Qxb4 (15... Qe5 16.
Rfe1 Rab8 17. Qa3 Rb6 18. Rad1 h6 {1/2-1/2 Miladinovic,I-Schmaltz,R/Fuerth
2002/CBM 091 (24)} 19. Rd7 $5) 16. cxb4 Rab8 17. a3 Bxe2 18. Rfc1 Rfc8 19. Bxc6
Kf8 20. f4 Ke7 21. Kf2 Ba6 {1/2-1/2 Moiseenko,A-Zugic,I/Toronto 2003/CBM 095
ext (38) does not promise White any advantage.}) 13... Ba6 14. Rfd1 Qc5 ({
It is necessary to remove the queen from the opposition with the white bishop
because after} 14... Rab8 15. c4 $1 Qc5 16. cxd5 Rxb3 17. axb3 Bxe2 18. Re1
cxd5 (18... Bb5 19. dxc6 Rc8 (19... Bxc6 $2 20. Rac1) 20. Rac1 Qb6 21. Be3 Qa5
22. Red1 $14 h6 23. Rd7 Rc7 $4 24. b4 {1-0 Nilssen,J-Carstensen,J/Holbaek 2001/
EXT 2002 (24)}) 19. Rxe2 Qb5 20. Ree1 Qxb3 21. Rxa7 {1-0 Fish,G-Fedorchuk,S/
Alushta 2000/EXT 2001 (51) White´s prospects are preferable.}) 15. e4 Bc4 16.
Qa4 Nb6 17. Qb4 Qh5 ({Worse is} 17... Qxb4 18. cxb4 Rfd8 19. Be3 Bb5 {1/2-1/2
Fish,G-Shipov,S/Yalta 1996/EXT 98 (31)} 20. f4 $14) 18. Bf4 $5 {A new try.} ({
Earlier between the same players occurred} 18. Be3 Be2 19. Re1 (19. Rd2 Rab8
20. Bxb6 axb6 21. Qd6 Rfc8 22. Rb1 h6 23. e5 Bf3 $11 {1/2-1/2 Bacrot,E-Leko,P/
Moscow 2004/CBM 102 (27)}) 19... Nc4 20. Qc5 Rfd8 21. e5 $6 Nb2 $1 22. Qxc6 Nd3
23. Qxa8 Rxa8 24. Bxa8 Nxe1 25. Rxe1 a5 26. Rb1 h6 27. Rb8+ Kh7 28. Be4+ g6 $15
{1/2-1/2 Bacrot,E-Grischuk,A/Cap d'Agde 2003/CBM 098 (68)}) 18... c5 19. Qb2 e5
{'?' Ftacnik. Ftacnik: 'A serious strategical error, vene though the pawn on
e5 should have replaced the missing dark squared bishop.'} (19... Be2 20. Re1
Bf3 21. Qb5 Bxg2 22. Kxg2 Rac8 23. a4 {looks slightly unpleasant for Black.}) (
19... Rfd8 $1 {Ftacnik} 20. f3 Bd3 21. Bc7 Rd7 22. Bxb6 axb6 23. Qxb6 Qe5 24.
Rdc1 Rb8 25. f4 Rxb6 26. fxe5 c4 $11) 20. Be3 Rfc8 (20... Be2 {Ftacnik} 21. Re1
Bd3 22. Bxc5 Na4 23. Qa3 Nxc5 24. Qxc5 Rfc8 25. Qa5 $14) 21. f3 Qg6 (21... Rab8
{Ftacnik} 22. Qf2 Be6 23. Rab1 Nc4 24. Bxc5 $14) 22. a4 {'!?' Ftacnik.} a5 ({
Probably less justified is} 22... Rab8 23. Rab1 Qc6 (23... Nd7 {Ftacnik} 24.
Qd2 Rxb1 25. Rxb1 $14) 24. a5 Nd7 25. Qc2 Be6) 23. Bh3 Be6 $2 {A strange
decision because it is evident that the ending is difficult for Black. Ftacnik:
'The transfer to the endgame with opposite coloured bishops is an attempt to
lessen white's pressure. Bacrot was right in his assesment, that his chances
for succes will be excellent.'} ({After the correct} 23... Rcb8 24. Qa3 (24.
Qf2 Bb3) 24... Be2 $1 {it would appear that a draw is the limit of White´s
dreams,e.g.} 25. Rdb1 (25. Bf5 Qc6 26. Re1 (26. Rdb1 Nc4 27. Rxb8+ Rxb8 28.
Qxc5 Qxc5 29. Bxc5 g6 30. Bd7 Bxf3 31. Bb5 Rc8) 26... Bxf3 27. Qxc5 Qxc5 (27...
Bxe4 28. Bxe4 Qxe4 29. Bd4 Qg6 30. Qxe5) 28. Bxc5 Nc4 29. Kf2 Bh5 30. g4 Bg6
$132) 25... Bxf3 (25... Bd3 {Ftacnik} 26. Qxc5 $1 Bxb1 27. Rxb1 Nxa4 28. Rxb8+
Rxb8 29. Qxe5 $16) 26. Qxc5 Qh5 27. Bf5 (27. Bf1 $2 {is bad in view of} Nd7 28.
Rxb8+ (28. Qd5 Nf6) 28... Rxb8 29. Qc7 Bxe4 $1 30. Qxd7 Qf3 31. Bd2 Qh1+ 32.
Kf2 Qxh2+ 33. Ke1 Qxg3+ 34. Kd1 Bf3+ 35. Kc2 Qg6+ 36. Kc1 Qg1 37. Qd3 (37. Qh3
$2 Be2 38. Kc2 Qg6+ 39. Kc1 Qb6 $1) 37... Qh1 $1 38. Qc4 Bg2 39. Kc2 Be4+ 40.
Kc1 Rd8 $1 41. Be1 Qh6+ 42. Kb2 Rb8+ 43. Ka2 Qh2+ 44. Qe2 (44. Be2 Bf5 $1 {
/\ Be6}) 44... Bd5+ 45. Ka3 Rb3+ 46. Ka2 Rxc3+ 47. Kb2 Rb3+ 48. Kc2 Qf4 {
with decisive threats}) 27... g6 28. Rxb6 ({or} 28. Qxe5 Nd7 29. Qc7 Rxb1+ 30.
Rxb1 gxf5 31. Qxd7 Bxe4 32. Rf1 Qe2 33. Qd2 Qxd2 34. Bxd2 Rc8 $11 {/\ Rc4})
28... Rxb6 29. Qxb6 gxf5 30. exf5 Qxf5 (30... Be4 31. Qf6 Qf3 32. Qg5+ Kh8 33.
Qf6+ $11) 31. Rf1 Qe4 32. Qh6 f6 {and} 33. Bg5 $1 Bh1 (33... Qe2 34. Rf2 Qe1+
35. Rf1 Qe2 $11) 34. Qh3 $1 fxg5 35. Qe6+ Kh8 36. Qf6+ {leads to a perpetual
check.}) (23... Rc6 {Ftacnik} 24. Qd2 Re8 25. Rab1 h6 26. Qd8 Rxd8 27. Rxd8+
Kh7 28. Bf5 $16) 24. Qxb6 Bxh3 25. Qxg6 fxg6 (25... hxg6 {Ftacnik} 26. g4 f5
27. Rd5 fxg4 28. fxg4 Bxg4 29. Bxc5 $16) 26. Kf2 Be6 27. Rab1 Rab8 (27... Rc7 {
intending to meet} 28. Rb5 {with} Bd7 {deserves attention.}) 28. Rxb8 Rxb8 29.
Bxc5 Kf7 $6 (29... Rc8 30. Bb6 Rxc3 31. Bxa5 Rc2+ 32. Rd2 Rc4 33. Ra2 Bd7 {
is more tenacious.}) 30. Bd6 Rb2+ 31. Ke3 Kf6 32. Bc7 Bc4 $2 ({The only way to
create counterplay was} 32... Rxh2 $1 33. Bxa5 Ra2 (33... Bb3 $6 34. Rd6+ Kf7
35. Bc7 Bxa4 36. Rd5) 34. Bd8+ Kf7 35. Bc7 (35. a5 Bc4 36. Rd2 Ra3 37. Rc2 g5)
35... Kf6 36. a5 Bc4 {and in the position which arises after} 37. Rd6+ (37. f4
exf4+ 38. gxf4 Ke7) 37... Ke7 38. Rd2 Rxd2 39. Kxd2 Ke6 40. f4 exf4 41. Bxf4 (
41. gxf4 h5) 41... h6 42. Ke3 g5 43. Bc7 Ba6 44. Kd4 h5 45. Bd8 g4 46. c4 Bb7 {
the win is problematic for White.}) 33. Rd6+ $1 Ke7 34. Rd2 {Forcing the
exchange of rooks because Black is unable to save the game.} Rxd2 35. Kxd2 Ke6
36. f4 {'!' Ftacnik.} exf4 37. gxf4 Bb3 38. Bxa5 Bxa4 39. Ke3 Bb5 40. Bb6 Ba6
41. Bd4 Kf7 42. Be5 Bb7 43. Kd4 h6 (43... Bc6 44. c4 Bb7 45. Bd6 Ke6 46. e5 Kf5
47. Kc5 Ba6 48. Kb4 Bc8 49. Kb5 Kxf4 50. e6+ Kf5 51. e7 Bd7+ 52. Kb6 Ke6 53. c5
g5 54. Kc7 Be8 55. Kd8 Kf7 56. Be5 g6 57. Bf6 h6 58. Bg7 h5 59. Bh6 g4 60. Bg5
Bb5 61. Kc7 $18 {followed by c6.}) 44. c4 g5 45. fxg5 hxg5 46. Bd6 Ke6 47. e5
Kd7 48. Kc5 Ba6 49. Bf8 g6 50. Kb4 Kc6 (50... Ke6 51. Bd6 g4 52. Bb8 Kd7 53. c5
Bd3 54. Bd6 Be2 (54... Be4 55. Kb5 Bd5 56. Kb6 Be4 57. Bf8 Bd5 58. c6+ $1 Bxc6
59. e6+ $18) 55. Ka5 Kc6 56. e6 Bc4 57. e7 Bf7 58. Ka6 Be8 59. Ka7 g5 60. Kb8
Bd7 61. Bg3 $22 $18) 51. e6 Bc8 52. e7 Kd7 (52... Bd7 53. Kc3 g4 54. Kd4 Be8
55. Ke5 Kc5 56. Bh6 Kxc4 57. Kd6 Kd4 58. Kc7 Ke4 59. Kd8 Bc6 60. Bg5 Kf3 61.
Bh4 $18) 53. Kc5 Ba6 54. Kd5 g4 55. c5 Bb7+ 56. Ke5 g5 57. Kf5 Bf3 58. Kxg5 Ke8
59. Kf4 Be2 60. Ke5 Kd7 61. c6+ (61. c6+ Ke8 62. Kd6 Bf3 63. c7 Bb7 64. Kc5 Bc8
65. Kb6 Kd7 66. Ka7 $18) 1-0

[Event "Dortmund SuperGM 33rd"]
[Site "Dortmund"]
[Date "2005.07.11"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Sutovsky, Emil"]
[Black "Bacrot, Etienne"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C93"]
[WhiteElo "2674"]
[BlackElo "2729"]
[Annotator "Erenburg,S"]
[PlyCount "62"]
[EventDate "2005.07.07"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[EventCategory "19"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 108"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2005.09.26"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2005.09.26"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3
O-O 9. h3 Bb7 10. d4 Re8 11. Ng5 Rf8 12. Nf3 Re8 13. Nbd2 Bf8 14. a3 {White is
covering the b4 square, thus, preparing to transfer the light-squared bishop
either to c2 or to a2.} (14. a4 {is a main line.}) 14... h6 {transforming to
the Breyer variation.} (14... Nb8 15. Bc2 Nbd7 16. b3 c5 17. Bb2 g6 18. dxe5
dxe5 19. c4 Nh5 20. cxb5 axb5 21. a4 bxa4 22. Nc4 axb3 23. Bxb3 Rxa1 24. Qxa1
$44 {1-0 Firman,N-Obodchuk,A/Moscow 2002/CBM 088/[Hecht] (73)}) (14... g6 15.
Ba2 Bg7 16. b4 a5 17. d5 Ne7 18. Bb2 Nh5 19. Nb3 axb4 20. axb4 Bc8 21. Na5 Nf4
22. c4 g5 23. cxb5 g4 24. Nh2 gxh3 25. g3 Neg6 (25... Ng2 $142 26. Re2 f5 27.
Nc6 Qd7 28. Bc4 Rxa1 29. Qxa1 fxe4 30. Qa7 e3 31. fxe3 Ng6 $13) 26. Bb1 Qg5 27.
Bc1 Bd7 $2 (27... Nf8 28. Kh1 Qg6 $16) 28. Kh1 f5 29. Rg1 Qf6 30. exf5 Bxf5 31.
Bxf5 Qxf5 32. gxf4 $18 {1-0 Adams,M-Grischuk,A/Wijk aan Zee 2002/CBM 087/
[Wedberg] (43)}) (14... Qd7 15. Bc2 Rad8 16. d5 Ne7 17. b3 Ng6 18. Nf1 c6 19.
c4 Nh5 20. Ng3 Nxg3 21. fxg3 Rc8 22. Be3 Be7 23. Qd2 Nf8 24. Rec1 Qd8 25. a4
bxc4 26. bxc4 Nd7 27. a5 Ba8 28. Rab1 Rb8 29. Ba4 Qc7 30. g4 {1/2-1/2 Grischuk,
A-Bacrot,E/Cap d'Agde 2003/CBM 098 (30)}) 15. Ba2 (15. Bc2 {leads to
theoretical position in Breyer variation with extra tempo h7-h6 for black.})
15... Nb8 {transfering the queenside knight to d7.} (15... d5 16. exd5 Nxd5 17.
Nf1 Qd6 18. dxe5 Nxe5 19. Nxe5 Rxe5 20. Rxe5 Qxe5 21. Qf3 Rb8 22. Bd2 Nf6 23.
Bf4 Qe8 24. Qd3 Rd8 25. Qc2 Bc5 26. Be3 Qe4 27. Qxe4 Nxe4 28. f3 Bxe3+ 29. Nxe3
Nf6 30. Rd1 {1/2-1/2 Kveinys,A-Sulskis,S/ch-LTU, Vilnius LTU 2004}) 16. d5 {
White closes the centre, thus, getting a space advantage. Another attempt to
fight for an advantage is} (16. Qb3 Qd7 17. d5 c6 18. c4 Rc8 19. a4 cxd5 20.
cxd5 Qe8 21. Qe3 Nbd7 22. a5 Nh5 23. Nf1 Rc7 24. Qa3 Nc5 25. Bd2 {1/2-1/2
Shabalov,A-Stein,A/Minneapolis USA 2005/The Week in Chess 550 (48)}) 16... c6
17. c4 ({Interesting alternative is} 17. dxc6 Bxc6 18. Nh2 Nbd7 19. Qf3 Qe7 20.
Ndf1 Nc5 21. Ng3 Qb7 22. Ng4 Ncxe4 23. Nxe4 Nxe4 24. Bxh6 gxh6 25. Rxe4 Bxe4
26. Nf6+ Kh8 27. Nxe4 $44 {1-0 Bologan,V-Suhl,D/Berlin 1995/CBM 047 ext (46)})
17... Nbd7 18. b4 {covering the c5 square.} Nb6 $146 {According to my database,
this position appeared for the first time. In the previous games Black tried:}
(18... bxc4 19. dxc6 Bxc6 20. Bxc4 Nb6 21. Bd3 d5 22. Bb2 d4 23. Rc1 Bb5 24.
Qe2 Qd7 $11 {1/2-1/2 Ciuksyte,D-Jenni,F/Christmas Open, Zurich SUI 2003 (73)})
(18... Rc8 19. Bb2 bxc4 20. dxc6 Bxc6 21. Bxc4 Bb5 22. Bb3 Qb6 23. a4 Bc6 24.
Nc4 Qb8 {0-1 Shabalov,A-Stefansson,H/Liepaya 2004/CBM 103 (34)}) (18... Rb8 19.
dxc6 Bxc6 20. Qb3 Re7 21. Nh4 Nb6 22. Nf5 Rc7 23. Qg3 Kh7 24. Nxd6 Qxd6 25. c5
Qe7 26. cxb6 Rxb6 27. Bb2 {1-0 Kveinys,A-Jakubowski,J/Polanica Zdroj 1991/EXT
97 (34)}) 19. dxc6 Bxc6 20. Qb3 {Creating threats along the a2-g8 diagonal.}
Ra7 $1 {Black not only protects the f7 pawn, but also liberates the a8 square
for the queen.} 21. Bb2 $6 $146 {This move leads to an exchange sacrifice...
But, probably, White doesn't have sufficient compensation. In the preceeding
game White prefered} (21. cxb5 axb5 22. Bb2 Qa8 23. Qd3 Na4 24. Bc1 g6 {
1/2-1/2 Qin Kanying-Jackson,S/Novi Sad 1990/EXT 97 (94)}) (21. Qd3 Qa8 $11) (
21. Qe3 Qb8 $11) 21... Nxc4 $1 22. Nxc4 bxc4 23. Qxc4 {[%tqu "En","Please find
the best move for black.","","","c6e4","",10]} Bxe4 $1 24. Rxe4 {Otherwise,
Black is a pawn up.} d5 25. Qb3 Nxe4 ({Worse is} 25... dxe4 $2 26. Nxe5 $44)
26. Nxe5 $2 {Another unsuccessful decision.} ({Better was to eliminate Black's
central pawns:} 26. Qxd5 Qxd5 27. Bxd5 Nf6 28. Bc6 Re6 29. Nxe5 Rae7 30. f4 g5
$1 31. Bf3 gxf4 32. Nd3 $15) 26... Qb6 $1 $17 {Black is an exchange up, while
white doesn't succeed to create any threats...} 27. Ng4 (27. Rf1 Rd8 $17 (27...
Nd2 28. Qxd5 Nxf1 29. Nxf7 $40) (27... Nf6 $17)) (27. Qxd5 {is refuted by}
Qxf2+ 28. Kh2 Qxb2 29. Nxf7 Nc3 30. Nxh6+ Kh7 $19) 27... Rae7 {[%cal Ge4f2]
threatening with the capture on f2 with following 28...Re2 29.Rf1 Rxf2 30.Rxf2
Re1 -+} 28. Rf1 $2 {loses immediately. Anyway, White's position was already
lost:} (28. Qf3 Nxf2 (28... a5 29. Bxd5 axb4 30. axb4 Ng5 $17) 29. Nxf2 Re1+
30. Rxe1 Rxe1+ 31. Kh2 Rf1 $19) (28. Qd1 Nxf2 29. Nxf2 Re2 30. Qd4 Re1+ 31.
Rxe1 Rxe1+ 32. Kh2 Qc7+ 33. g3 Qc2 34. Bxd5 Re2 35. Bxf7+ Kxf7 36. Qf4+ Kg8 $19
) 28... Nd2 $19 {winning further material.} 29. Qxd5 (29. Qg3 Nxf1 30. Nf6+
Qxf6 $19) 29... Nxf1 30. Ne5 Qf6 $1 31. Nd3 (31. Nxf7 {loses as well:} Qxf7 32.
Qxf7+ Rxf7 $19) 31... Re1 (31... Re1 32. Bxf6 Ne3+ 33. Nxe1 Nxd5 $19) 0-1

[Event "Dortmund SuperGM 33rd"]
[Site "Dortmund"]
[Date "2005.07.15"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Bacrot, Etienne"]
[Black "Adams, Michael"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E15"]
[WhiteElo "2729"]
[BlackElo "2719"]
[Annotator "Gershon,A"]
[PlyCount "105"]
[EventDate "2005.07.07"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[EventCategory "19"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 108"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2005.09.26"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2005.09.26"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. b3 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Be7 7. Bg2 c6 8. Bc3
d5 9. Ne5 Nfd7 10. Nxd7 Nxd7 11. Nd2 O-O 12. O-O Rc8 13. e4 b5 14. Re1 dxe4 15.
Bxe4 bxc4 16. bxc4 (16. Nxc4 {was tried here by Anand, being admitted as a
mistake after the game:} Nb6 17. Nxb6 axb6 18. Qc2 h6 19. a4 Qc7 20. Red1 Rfd8
21. Rac1 Qa7 22. Bb2 b5 23. Ra1 bxa4 24. bxa4 Bf6 25. Qd2 c5 $17 {0-1 Anand,
V-Adams,M/Linares ESP 2005/The Week in Chess 540 (52)}) 16... c5 17. d5 exd5
18. Bxd5 Nb6 19. Ba5 Bf6 {White is marginally better here, due to slightly
more pieces, which, however, should be easily neutralized by a player in
Mickey's calliber.} ({after} 19... Rb8 20. Qf3 Qd6 {a draw was agreed in Wells,
P-Lautier,J/Austria 1999/EXT 2000}) 20. Rb1 Rb8 21. Qf3 Qd7 22. Bxb6 axb6 23.
Ne4 Bd4 24. Qf4 h6 (24... b5 {would allow white to build up an unpleasant
pressure over black king's position after} 25. Ng5 b4 26. Qe4 g6 27. Qh4 h5 28.
Re6 $1 Bxf2+ $1 {(it's fritz's line, I admit)} 29. Kg2 fxe6 30. Bxe6+ Qxe6 31.
Nxe6 Bb7+ 32. Kh3 Bc8 (32... Rf7 {loses on the spot to} 33. Rd1 Bd4 34. Qg5 Be4
35. Nxd4 cxd4 36. Rxd4 $18) 33. Qe7 Bxe6+ 34. Qxe6+ Kg7 35. Rf1 {and white
will probably win this.}) 25. a4 Rbe8 ({the line} 25... Qxa4 $5 26. Nd6 Qc2 27.
Rbc1 Qb2 28. Nxf7 {is a bit scary for a human to play, but the machine defends
easily with} Bb7 29. Nxh6+ Kh7 30. Nf7 (30. Qe4+ Kh8 31. Ng4 (31. Bxb7 Rxf2 $19
) 31... Bxf2+ 32. Nxf2 Qxf2+ 33. Kh1 Bxd5 34. Qxd5 Rf5 {with an equality})
30... Bxd5 31. cxd5 Bxf2+ 32. Qxf2 Qxf2+ 33. Kxf2 Rxf7+ {and black is even
better}) 26. Rxb6 Qxa4 $1 27. Reb1 (27. Bc6 Qa5 {[%cal Ga5e1,Ga5b6]} 28. Reb1
Re5 {is dead equal}) 27... Bxc4 28. Bc6 Qa5 29. Bxe8 Rxe8 {The bishop pair,
along with a dangerous 'c' passer are sufficient compensation for the exchange
here.} 30. h4 Be5 $4 {But this is a bad blunder, showing that Adams was way
off his best shape in this game.} ({After a solid} 30... Be6 {black has little
to worry about}) 31. Nf6+ $1 {Without the light squared bishop black loses a
very big part of his solidity.} Bxf6 32. Qxc4 {[%csl Rf7]} (32. Rb8 $1 {
was even stronger, forcing another favourable exchange for white, and forcing
black remaining pieces to very awkward positions.} Rf8 33. Rxf8+ Kxf8 34. Rb8+
Bd8 35. Qxc4) 32... Qc3 33. Qxc3 Bxc3 34. Rb8 Kf8 35. h5 $1 {An important
finesse, blocking black's K side paws from moving.} Rxb8 36. Rxb8+ Ke7 37. Kf1
Kf6 38. Rb7 {"Where do you think you're going?". The remaining phase of the
game was conducted by Etienne with great precision.} Bd4 (38... Kg5 39. Rxf7
Kxh5 40. Rf5+ $18) 39. Ke2 Kg5 40. Rxf7 Kxh5 41. Kf3 Kg6 42. Rf8 Kg5 43. g4 Bf6
44. Kg3 {Black's 'c' pawn plays no role in this position, whereas the rook is
much better that the bishop, as surprising as it may sound.} Kg6 45. f4 h5 (
45... c4 46. Rc8 c3 47. Rc7 $1 Kh7 48. Kf3 Kg6 49. Ke4 {and black is in
zugzwang:} Kh7 50. Kf5 $18 {etc}) 46. g5 Be7 47. Re8 Kf7 48. Rc8 Ke6 49. Kf3
Bd6 50. Ke4 {black has two passers, but it's white's "f" one that will decide
the game.} g6 51. Rh8 Be7 52. Rh6 Kf7 53. Rh7+ {After 53...Kf8 white wins
easily with 54.Ke5-e6.} 1-0

[Event "Dortmund SuperGM 33rd"]
[Site "Dortmund"]
[Date "2005.07.17"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Bacrot, Etienne"]
[Black "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E20"]
[WhiteElo "2729"]
[BlackElo "2744"]
[Annotator "Gavrikov,V"]
[PlyCount "111"]
[EventDate "2005.07.07"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[EventCategory "19"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 108"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2005.09.26"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2005.09.26"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 c5 5. g3 {A usual weapon of Bacrot
against the Nimzo-Indian Defence.} cxd4 6. Nxd4 Ne4 7. Qd3 Bxc3+ ({In my
opinion this continuation is much stronger than the mostly played} 7... Qa5 {
because it always allows Black to obtain at least an adequate counterplay
thanks to the weaknesses in White's pawn structure.}) 8. bxc3 Nc5 9. Qf3 ({
Otherwise Black solves all problems by b6 and Bb7. For example:} 9. Qd2 b6 10.
Nb5 O-O 11. Nd6 Bb7 12. Nxb7 Nxb7 13. Ba3 Re8 14. Rd1 {Rogozenko-Gavrikov,
Internet rapid,2004,} (14. Bg2 Nc6 15. O-O Qc7 16. Rfd1 Rad8 17. Bd6 Qc8 18.
Rab1 Nca5 19. Bxb7 Nxb7 20. Qf4 Qc6 $15 {1/2-1/2 Bang,A-Horvath,S/Copenhagen
1986/EXT 97 (42)}) {and now correct was} 14... Nc6 $1 15. Qxd7 $140 $2 Qf6 16.
Qd3 (16. Rc1 Nba5) 16... Rad8 17. Qf3 Rxd1+ 18. Kxd1 Rd8+ 19. Kc2 (19. Kc1 $2
Qg5+ 20. Qf4 Qa5 21. Kb2 Nc5 22. Bxc5 bxc5 $19) 19... Qg6+ 20. e4 Qg5 {with
dangerous attack.}) 9... d6 10. Bg2 Bd7 $146 {Black is planning Bc6 but the
drawback of this innovation is the loss of time.} ({Perhaps Kramnik had no
confidence in the theoretical line} 10... Nbd7 11. O-O Ne5 12. Qf4 Bd7) ({
but I can suggest another, even easier way to equality:} 10... e5 $5 $146 11.
Nb3 (11. Nf5 Bxf5 12. Qxf5 Nbd7 $132) 11... Nba6 (11... Nbd7 12. O-O Qc7 13.
Rd1 Nb6 14. Nxc5 dxc5 $13) 12. Be3 Qc7 13. Nxc5 (13. Rd1 Na4) 13... Nxc5 14.
Rd1 Be6 $1 15. Bxc5 dxc5 16. Qxb7 Qxb7 17. Bxb7 Rb8 18. Bd5 (18. Bc6+ Ke7 19.
Bb5 a6 20. Bxa6 Ra8 21. Bb5 Rxa2 $44) 18... Rb2 19. Bxe6 fxe6 20. Rd2 Rb1+ 21.
Rd1 Rb2 {with repetition of moves.}) 11. O-O Bc6 12. Qg4 O-O 13. Bh6 $1 {
Forcing the black queen to leave the unprotected the d6-pawn.} Qf6 14. Bg5 Qg6
15. Nxc6 Nxc6 16. Qh4 f6 ({Black has to reckon with Bxc6 and Be7,e.g.} 16...
Qc2 17. Bxc6 bxc6 18. Be7 Rfe8 19. Bxd6 Nb7 20. c5 Qxe2 21. Rfe1 (21. Rab1 Nxd6
22. cxd6 Rad8 23. Rb7 Qd3 $1 (23... Rxd6 $4 24. Qe7 $1) 24. Qf4 Rf8 $11) 21...
Qd3 22. Qb4 Nxd6 23. cxd6 Red8 24. Rad1 Qf3 25. c4 Rab8 26. Qa5 Rd7 27. Qc7 $1
Rbd8 28. Rb1 $1 h5 29. Rb8 Rxb8 30. Qxb8+ (30. Qxd7 Qc3 31. Rf1 Qxc4 32. Qc7 (
32. Qxa7 Rf8) 32... Rf8 33. d7 Qd3 34. h4 e5 $132) 30... Kh7 31. c5 Qc3 32.
Qb1+ g6 33. Qc1 {with better prospects for White}) ({another possibility was} 
16... Rac8 17. Rfd1 f6 {when} 18. Be3 (18. Bf4 $143 Ne5 19. Be3 Rfd8 20. Bxc5
Rxc5 21. Be4 Qh6 22. Qxh6 gxh6 23. Bxb7 Nxc4) 18... Rfd8 19. Bxc5 dxc5 20. Be4
(20. Bxc6 bxc6 21. Qf4 e5 22. Qe3 Qc2 23. Rxd8+ (23. Rdc1 Qd2) 23... Rxd8 24.
Qxc5 Qxe2 25. Qe7 Qd2 26. Qe6+ Kh8 27. Qxc6 Qb2 28. Rf1 Qxa2 29. Qc7 Qd2 (29...
Rg8 30. c5) 30. Ra1 h6 $1 (30... e4 $143 31. Qe7) 31. c5 Rd7 32. Qb8+ Rd8 33.
Qxa7 Qxc3 34. Rb1 Rc8 35. Rb8 Qe1+ 36. Kg2 Qe4+ $11) 20... Qh6 21. Qxh6 gxh6
22. Rxd8+ (22. Bxc6 $143 Rxd1+ 23. Rxd1 Rxc6 $1 24. Rd8+ Kf7 25. Rd7+ Kg6 26.
Rxb7 Ra6 27. Rb2 Ra4 $11) 22... Rxd8 (22... Nxd8 $2 23. Rd1) 23. Bxc6 ({
it seems that Black is able to maintain the balance after} 23. Rb1 Na5 24. Bxb7
Rb8 25. Be4 Rxb1+ 26. Bxb1 Nxc4) 23... bxc6 24. Rb1 Rd2 25. Rb8+ Kf7 26. Rb7+
Kg6 27. Rxa7 Rxe2 28. Ra5 e5 (28... Kf7) 29. Kf1 Rc2 30. a4 Rxc3 31. Rxc5 Ra3
32. a5 Ra2 {leads to the endgame with slight edge for White, but the most
probable result is draw.}) 17. Be3 Rfd8 ({Deserved attention} 17... Na5 {
(/\ Rac8,b6)} 18. Rfd1 Rfd8 {intending to meet} 19. Rd2 (19. Rab1 Rac8) (19.
Bxc5 dxc5 20. Be4 Qh6 21. Qxh6 gxh6 22. Rab1 f5 23. Rxd8+ Rxd8 24. Bxb7 Rb8 25.
Be4 Rxb1+ 26. Bxb1 Nxc4 $13) {with} 19... Qf7 20. Rad1 g5 (20... Qe7 21. Qf4)
21. Qd4 Rac8 22. f4 (22. h4 Nd7 $5 $13) 22... Nc6 23. Bxc6 bxc6 24. fxg5 f5 25.
Rb2 e5 26. Qd2 (26. Qh4 Ne4 $44) 26... Ne4 27. Qd3 d5 28. cxd5 cxd5 29. Rb3 Rd7
$132) 18. Rab1 $1 Qf7 $2 {After this mistake Black´s position becomes very
difficult.} ({It was necessary to parry the threat of Bxc5 by} 18... Rab8 19.
Rb5 (19. Bxc5 dxc5 20. Be4 Qh6 (20... f5 $2 21. Bxc6 bxc6 22. Qe7) 21. Qxh6
gxh6 22. Rb5 (22. Bxc6 bxc6 $11) 22... Ne5 23. Rxc5 Rd7 24. f4 b6 25. Rb5 Nxc4
26. f5 Nd2 27. fxe6 Rd6 28. Rf4 Nxe4 29. Rxe4 Re8 $11) 19... Qe8 $1 (19... a6
$143 20. Rb6 Na4 $140 $6 21. Rxb7 $1) 20. Bxc5 dxc5 21. Rxc5 Rd2 {with equal
play.}) 19. Bxc6 bxc6 20. Bxc5 dxc5 21. Qe4 e5 22. Rb2 $1 {Now White seizes
the b-file which is much more important than d-file because can be used for
invasion in Black´s camp.} Rab8 23. Rfb1 Rxb2 24. Rxb2 Qd7 25. Kg2 Re8 26. Qe3
Qe7 27. a4 $1 {[%cal Ga4a6,Gb2b7]} g6 $2 {Black is doomed to passivity and
cannot prevent the threatening penetration of white rook. However the text
makes White´s task easier.} ({Black should have tried} 27... e4 28. a5 Qe5 29.
Rb7 Re7 30. a6 (30. Rxe7 Qxe7 31. Qf4 Qe5 32. Qxe5 fxe5 $11) 30... Kf7) 28. a5
Rd8 $2 (28... Rc8 $142 29. a6 Rc7) 29. a6 Rd7 30. Rb8+ Kg7 31. Rc8 Qd6 32. Qe4
f5 (32... Rc7 33. Rxc7+ Qxc7 {allows} 34. Qb1 $1 Qf7 35. Qb7) 33. Qxc6 Qxc6+
34. Rxc6 Kf7 35. f4 $1 {White needs to activate his king.} exf4 36. gxf4 Re7
37. Kf3 Ke8 38. Rxc5 Kd7 39. Re5 Rxe5 ({In the event of} 39... Rf7 40. Rb5 Kc6
{White wins by} 41. e4 fxe4+ 42. Kxe4 Re7+ 43. Kf3 Rd7 44. h4 $1 Rd3+ 45. Kg4
h5+ (45... Rxc3 46. Rb7) 46. Kg5 Rg3+ 47. Kh6 Rg4 48. Rg5 Rxh4 49. Rxg6+ Kc5
50. f5) 40. fxe5 g5 41. c5 h6 42. c4 h5 (42... Kd8 43. c6 Kc7 44. c5 Kxc6 45.
e6 Kc7 46. Ke3 h5 47. Kd4 $18) 43. h4 $1 g4+ 44. Kf4 Ke6 45. c6 Ke7 46. c5 Ke6
47. c7 Kd7 48. e6+ Kxc7 49. e3 Kc6 50. Ke5 $1 g3 51. e7 Kd7 52. Kf6 g2 53. c6+
Kc7 54. e8=Q g1=Q 55. Qd7+ Kb6 56. c7 1-0

[Event "FIDE World Cup"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk"]
[Date "2005.12.08"]
[Round "4.3"]
[White "Bacrot, Etienne"]
[Black "Lautier, Joel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B85"]
[WhiteElo "2725"]
[BlackElo "2680"]
[Annotator "Ftacnik,L"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[EventDate "2005.11.27"]
[EventType "k.o."]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 111"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2006.04.04"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2006.04.04"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be2 a6 7. O-O Nf6 8.
Be3 Be7 9. f4 d6 10. Kh1 O-O 11. Qe1 Nxd4 12. Bxd4 b5 13. a3 Bb7 14. Qg3 Bc6
15. Rae1 Qb7 16. Bd3 b4 17. Nd1 bxa3 18. bxa3 g6 19. Nf2 Nh5 20. Qe3 f6 21. Bc4
Ng7 22. Rb1 Qc8 23. Bb3 {It is no secret, that two best players in France are
long lasting rivals. The duel in World Cup had a special flavour for them.} (
23. Ba2 Kh8 24. Nd3 (24. Ng4 e5 25. fxe5 dxe5 26. Nxe5 fxe5 27. Bxe5 Bb5 28.
Qd4 Rg8 29. Rf7 Bf8 30. c4 {1-0 Areshchenko,A-Bellaiche,A/Cappelle la Grande
2003/ (39)}) 24... a5 25. c4 e5 26. Ba1 Qg4 27. c5 dxc5 28. fxe5 Bxe4 29. Rf2
Nf5 30. exf6 Bxf6 {0-1 Sareen,V-Sasikiran,K/Calcutta 1999/ (34)}) (23. Qe2 Kh8
24. Rb3 e5 25. Be3 Ne6 26. fxe5 fxe5 27. Rb6 Bb5 28. Bxb5 axb5 29. Qxb5 Rxa3 {
1/2-1/2 Rojas,L-Leitao,R/Santiago 2005/ (86)}) 23... Kh8 24. Nd3 a5 (24... Rb8
25. Rf3 d5 26. f5 g5 (26... dxe4 27. fxg6 Kg8 28. Qh6 hxg6 29. Rh3 exd3 30.
Qxg6 $40) 27. exd5 Bxd5 28. Rff1 Qc6 29. Qe2 Bxb3 30. cxb3 Qd5 31. Bc3 Nxf5 {
0-1 Kengis,E-Lazarev,V/Bad Zwesten 1997/ (52)}) 25. Rf3 Rb8 (25... d5 26. e5
Qc7 (26... Nf5 27. exf6 Nxe3 28. f7+ $18) 27. exf6 Bxf6 28. Bxf6 Rxf6 29. Qd4
$16) 26. Re1 Qd7 $2 {Lautier was trying to get counterplay for the white's
initiative and so far he have done a lot for the success of his plan.
Unfortunatelly this false move will enable Bacrot to feed his initiative with
a full strength.} (26... a4 $1 27. Ba2 f5 28. Nf2 (28. Rh3 Bxe4 29. Nf2 Qxc2 (
29... d5 30. c4 $14) 30. Nxe4 Qxa2 31. Bxg7+ Kxg7 32. Qa7 Rf7 33. Qxb8 fxe4 $15
) 28... Bf6 29. Bxf6 (29. Rh3 fxe4 30. Nxe4 Bxd4 31. Qxd4 e5 32. fxe5 dxe5 33.
Qd3 Qb7 $17) 29... Rxf6 30. Qd4 fxe4 31. Nxe4 Bxe4 32. Qxe4 Rb2 33. Bc4 Rf8 $13
) 27. Rh3 $1 d5 (27... Qb7 28. a4 Rbe8 29. Re2 $16) 28. f5 $1 {[%mdl 128] The
key move of the whole attacking set up, white pieces are suddenly very
dangerous.} exf5 (28... g5 29. exd5 Bxd5 (29... Nxf5 30. dxc6 Qxd4 31. Qxe6 $18
) 30. fxe6 Qc6 31. Bxd5 Qxd5 32. c4 Qxc4 33. Qe4 h5 34. Ne5 fxe5 35. Rxh5+ Nxh5
36. Bxe5+ Bf6 37. Bxf6+ Rxf6 38. Qxc4 $18) (28... dxe4 29. Qh6 Nh5 30. fxg6 Bd6
31. Bxe6 $18) 29. Qh6 Nh5 30. exf5 Kg8 (30... Qxf5 31. Rxe7 Qf1+ 32. Bg1 $18)
31. fxg6 hxg6 (31... Bxa3 32. Qxh5 $18) 32. Qxg6+ Ng7 33. Qh7+ Kf7 34. Rg3 Rg8
{Even at a first glance it becomes obvious, who won the middle game battle.
White has decided to take mercy on his defeated opponent and played the finish
with maximum effect.} (34... Ke8 35. Rxg7 Rb7 36. Nc5 $18) 35. Ne5+ $1 fxe5 36.
Qg6+ Kf8 37. Rf1+ 1-0

[Event "FIDE World Cup 3-4"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk"]
[Date "2005.12.17"]
[Round "7.3"]
[White "Bacrot, Etienne"]
[Black "Grischuk, Alexander"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E15"]
[WhiteElo "2725"]
[BlackElo "2720"]
[Annotator "Gofshtein,L"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2005.11.27"]
[EventType "k.o."]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 111"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2006.04.04"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2006.04.04"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. b3 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Be7 7. Bg2 c6 8. Bc3
d5 9. Ne5 O-O 10. Nd2 Bb7 {This line is less investigated than 10...Nfd7, Leko
played it against Topalov in San Luis and easily achieved equality} (10... Nfd7
{is another possible move, with plenty of theory}) 11. O-O Na6 {The idea of
this move is to wait for an exchange in the centre, and after c4xd5 e6xd5 the
knight goes to e6 where it's placed very well, the other possibility is 11...
Nbd7} (11... Nbd7 12. e4 a5 13. Re1 Nxe5 14. dxe5 Nxe4 15. Nxe4 dxe4 16. Bxe4
Qxd1 17. Rexd1 Rfd8 18. Kf1 Rxd1+ 19. Rxd1 Rd8 20. Rxd8+ Bxd8 $11 {with an
equal position, though White's play in this game could possibly be improved, 1/
2-1/2 Iljushin,A-Epishin,V/Maikop 1998/CBM 066/[Avrukh,B] (34)}) 12. e4 Rc8 {
[%cal Gc8c7,Gd8a8] Black is very solid in the centre.} (12... c5 {is another
possible move, it seems that Black can reach equality, here are some games by
Karpov with Black.} 13. exd5 exd5 14. Re1 (14. Ng4 Qd7 15. Ne5 Qc8 16. Re1 dxc4
17. Ndxc4 Bxg2 18. Kxg2 cxd4 19. Bxd4 Rd8 {and Black seizes the initiative
Torre,E-Karpov,An/Tilburg/1982/0-1 (57)}) 14... cxd4 15. Bxd4 Nc5 16. Ng4 dxc4
17. Nxc4 Bxg2 18. Kxg2 Nxg4 19. Qxg4 Bf6 20. Rad1 h5 (20... Bxd4 {is worse, as
after} 21. Rxd4 Qc7 22. Nd6 Ne6 $2 23. Rxe6 h5 24. Qe4 fxe6 25. Qxe6+ {White
got a very strong attack 1/2-1/2 Kasparov,G-Karpov,A/Moscow 1984/MainBase (35)}
) 21. Bxf6 hxg4 22. Bxd8 Raxd8 {with an equal endgame 1/2-1/2 Kamsky,G-Karpov,
A/Elista 1996/CBM 054/[Ftacnik] (80)}) 13. Re1 Rc7 14. Nd3 (14. a3 c5 15. dxc5
Nxc5 16. exd5 exd5 17. b4 Ne6 18. Bb2 dxc4 19. Bxb7 c3 20. Bxc3 Rxc3 {and
Black is fine 1/2-1/2 Chernin,A-Georgiev,K/Villarrobledo 1997/EXT 99 (58)})
14... dxe4 15. Nxe4 c5 16. d5 $5 $146 {An interesting novelty, in San Luis,
Topalov couldn't reach an advantage after 16.Nxf6 against Leko, and the game
quickly ended in a draw.} (16. Nxf6+ Bxf6 17. Bxb7 Rxb7 18. Ne5 Bxe5 19. dxe5
Rd7 20. Qe2 Qc7 21. Rad1 Rfd8 22. Rxd7 Qxd7 23. Qe4 Nb8 24. Kg2 {1/2-1/2
Topalov,V-Leko,P/San Luis ARG 2005/The Week in Chess 570 (24)}) 16... exd5 17.
Nxf6+ Bxf6 18. Bxf6 Qxf6 19. cxd5 {Now Black should play very precisely.} g6 {
Black opens way for the king, other moves were probably not as good.} (19...
Rd7 $6 20. Qg4 Rdd8 ({of course not} 20... Rfd8 $4 21. Qxd7 $18) 21. Ne5 Rfe8
22. Nc6 Bxc6 23. dxc6 {and with the strong pawn on c6 which is supported by
the bishop, White is clearly better.}) ({After the natural} 19... Rd8 $2 {
White has a surprising tactical resource.} 20. d6 $1 {with the idea after} Qxd6
$2 (20... Rcd7 21. Qe2 {[%cal Ge2e8,Ge2a6]} Qxd6 22. Ne5 Re7 23. Rad1 Qc7 24.
Rxd8+ Qxd8 25. Bxb7 Rxb7 26. Qxa6 {and White is winning.}) 21. Bxb7 Rxb7 {
to play} 22. Nxc5 $1 {and Black loses} Qc7 23. Qxd8+ Qxd8 24. Nxb7 Qb8 25. Rad1
$18) (19... Nb4 20. Nxb4 cxb4 {[%cal Gf6d6] White gets an advantage with an
active} 21. d6 $1 Rd7 22. Bxb7 Rxb7 23. Qd5 Rd7 24. Rad1 Rfd8 25. Re7 $1 {
with a clear edge for White.}) (19... Qd6 20. Ne5 {[%cal Ge5c4]} Re7 21. Nc4
Rxe1+ 22. Qxe1 Qd7 23. Rd1 {with a small edge for White.}) 20. Qg4 Rd8 21. Rad1
h5 $2 {A big mistake, which allows White to get a great advantage.} (21... Re7
{It seems important not to let White play Ne5, white is only slightly better
here, and Black can hope to equalise the game soon.} 22. Rxe7 Qxe7 23. Nf4 Qd6
{followed by Nc7 or Nb4}) 22. Qa4 $1 {now White has a strong pressure on the
queenside, first of all, he threatens d5-d6.} Rd6 $6 {doesn't help to stop the
pawn} (22... Re7 {is not better} 23. d6 $1 {a strong move, White harasses the
knight on a6.} Rxe1+ (23... Qxd6 24. Bxb7 Rxe1+ 25. Rxe1 {winning}) 24. Nxe1
Bxg2 25. Nxg2 Nb8 26. Qxa7 Nc6 27. Qxb6 Rxd6 28. Ne3 Rxd1+ 29. Nxd1 {with a
healthy extra pawn for White.}) (22... Rcd7 {perhaps this was Black's last
chance.} 23. Ne5 Re7 24. Nc4 Rxe1+ 25. Rxe1 Nb4 26. Re8+ Rxe8 (26... Kg7 27.
Rxd8 Qxd8 28. Qxa7 Bxd5 29. Qxb6 Qxb6 30. Nxb6 Be6 31. a3 Nc2 32. a4 Bxb3 33.
a5 Nb4 34. Bb7 {and White should win in the endgame.}) 27. Qxe8+ Kg7 28. d6 Nd3
29. Qe3 Bxg2 30. Kxg2 Qf5 {White is clearly better, but Black is in the game
yet.}) 23. Ne5 {[%cal Ge5c4] The knight is transfered to c4, and d5-d6 follows,
White's edge is almost decisive already.} Rc8 $6 (23... Nb4 {was probably more
stubborn} 24. Nc4 Rxd5 25. Bxd5 Bxd5 {[%cal Gf6f3]} 26. Qe8+ Kg7 27. f4 {
and White has the material advantage, although some accurate work is still
required.}) (23... Re7 24. Nc4 Rxe1+ 25. Rxe1 Rd8 26. d6 Bxg2 27. Kxg2 Nb4 28.
Re8+ Rxe8 29. Qxe8+ Kg7 30. d7 {with a decisive advantage.}) 24. Nc4 Rdd8 25.
d6 $1 {now the black queenside collapses.} Bxg2 26. Kxg2 Nb4 27. Qxa7 Nc2 {
Black wishes to establish the knight on d4.} (27... b5 28. Qe7 Kg7 29. d7 Ra8 (
29... Qxe7 30. Rxe7 Rc7 31. Ne5 $18 {[%cal Ge7f7]}) 30. Nd6 {[%cal Gd6e8]} Qxe7
31. Rxe7 {winning}) 28. Re4 Nd4 29. Rd3 {covering the square f3} (29. Rf4 {
was stronger} Qe6 30. Qxb6 Qd5+ 31. f3 {with two pawns up}) 29... Qf5 30. Qe7 {
(??) An unbelievable mistake! White blunders a whole rook, and Black doesn't
take advantage of it. There is also a possibility that the scoresheet is wrong,
since it's hard to believe that two such strong players as Grischuk and Bacrot,
missed this idea} Kh7 {(??)} (30... Nc6 31. Qh4 g5 $19 {winning the rook on e4,
clinched it for black}) 31. Rf4 Qd5+ 32. f3 {now it is over} Re8 (32... Kg7 33.
Nxb6 $18) 33. Rxf7+ Kg8 34. Rg7+ {A very strong game by White.} 1-0

[Event "Corus"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee"]
[Date "2006.01.25"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Bacrot, Etienne"]
[Black "Kamsky, Gata"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B42"]
[WhiteElo "2717"]
[BlackElo "2686"]
[Annotator "Kritz,L"]
[PlyCount "91"]
[EventDate "2006.01.14"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "NED"]
[EventCategory "19"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 111"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2006.04.04"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2006.04.04"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Bd3 d5 $6 {Diese Variante ist
einfach schlecht spielbar und führt zu einer sehr schweren Stellung.
Stattdessen werden die folgenden Fortsetzungen öfters gespielt:} (5... Bc5 6.
Nb3 Be7 (6... Ba7)) (5... Nc6 6. Nxc6 dxc6 7. O-O) (5... Nf6 6. O-O Qc7 7. Qe2
d6) 6. exd5 Qxd5 (6... exd5 $2 {ist kein Mal gespielt worden und das auch
zurecht} 7. O-O Nf6 8. Re1+ (8. Bg5 $5 Be7 9. Nc3 O-O 10. Re1 $16) 8... Be7 9.
Qe2 Nc6 10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. Nd2 Be6 (11... Ra7 12. Nb3 O-O 13. Be3 Ra8 14. Bd4
$16) (11... Bg4 12. Nf3 Bxf3 13. Qxf3 O-O 14. Bg5 $16) 12. Nf3 O-O 13. Nd4 $16
{Weiß hat in allen Varianten einen sehr großen Entwicklungsvorteil und starke
Initiative. Dabei hat Schwarz gar kein Spiel.}) 7. Nc3 (7. O-O {wird öfters
gespielt, um das Nehmen auf g2 zu verhindern} Nf6 8. Nc3 Qd6 (8... Qd8 9. Bf4
Be7 10. Be2 Bd7 11. Bf3 $16) (8... Qxd4 $4 9. Bb5+ $18) 9. Be3 Be7 10. Qf3 O-O
11. Rad1 $16) 7... Qe5+ $2 {Das ist wohl das schlechteste Feld für die Dame.
Wie man später sehen wird, ist sie hier den taktischen Überfällen ausgeliefert.
} (7... Qxg2 {ist die einzige Möglichkeit, das Spiel zu verschärfen, ansonsten
steht Schwarz im besten Fall "nur" schlecht} 8. Be4 Qh3 9. Qe2 (9. Bg5 Nd7 10.
Qd2 h6 11. Be3 Ngf6 $13) (9. Bf4 Ba3 $3 10. Na4 Bxb2 11. Nxb2 Qc3+ 12. Qd2 Qxb2
13. O-O Nf6 $13) 9... Nf6 10. Bf3 Bc5 11. Be3 O-O (11... e5 12. Ndb5 axb5 (
12... Bxe3 13. Nc7+ Kd8 14. Nxa8 Ba7 15. O-O-O+ Nbd7 16. Qxe5 Qxf3 17. Qc7+ Ke7
18. Rhe1+ $18) 13. Bxc5 Nbd7 14. Bb4 $16) 12. O-O-O $44 {Natürlich hat Weiß
starke Initiative, aber das hat er überall nach 5....d5.}) (7... Qd6 8. O-O Nf6
{->7.0-0}) (7... Qd8 8. O-O Nf6 {->7.0-0}) (7... Qxd4 $4 8. Bb5+ $18) 8. Be3
Nf6 9. O-O Bc5 $6 (9... Be7 {Wäre vorsichtiger gewesen.} 10. Re1 Qc7 11. Qf3
O-O 12. Rad1 $16) 10. Re1 O-O 11. Na4 $1 {Gewinnt forciert Material.} Ba7 (
11... Be7 12. Nf3 Qc7 13. Nb6 $18) (11... Bxd4 12. Bxd4 Qc7 (12... Qxd4 13.
Bxh7+ Nxh7 14. Qxd4 $18) 13. Nb6 $18) (11... Nbd7 12. Nxe6 $1 Qxe6 13. Bxc5 $18
) 12. Nxe6 $1 fxe6 (12... Bxe6 13. Bxa7 Qf4 14. Bd4 Ng4 15. g3 Qh6 16. h4 Nc6
17. Bc3 $18) (12... Bxe3 13. Rxe3 $18) 13. Bxa7 $16 {Weiß hat einen Mehrbauer
und das Läuferpaar.} Qf4 14. Bd4 Nc6 15. Bxf6 Rxf6 16. Be4 Qxf2+ 17. Kh1 Ne5
18. Qd8+ Rf8 19. Qg5 Bd7 20. Qxe5 Bxa4 21. Bxb7 Rab8 22. Bxa6 Kh8 23. b3 Bc6
24. Qg3 Qa7 25. Bd3 Rf2 26. Rg1 Rbf8 27. Raf1 Kg8 28. Rxf2 Rxf2 29. Qh3 Kf7 30.
Bc4 Qe7 31. Qe3 Rxc2 32. Rf1+ Ke8 33. Rf2 Rxf2 34. Qxf2 e5 35. h3 Qg5 36. Kh2
e4 37. Qg3 Qh6 38. Qe5+ Kd7 39. Bd5 e3 40. Bxc6+ Kxc6 41. Kg3 Qg6+ 42. Kf3 Qc2
43. Qe6+ Kb7 44. Qd7+ Kb8 45. Qb5+ Ka7 46. Qe2 1-0

[Event "Morelia/Linares 23rd"]
[Site "Morelia/Linares"]
[Date "2006.03.03"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Ivanchuk, Vassily"]
[Black "Bacrot, Etienne"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D43"]
[WhiteElo "2729"]
[BlackElo "2717"]
[Annotator "CB"]
[PlyCount "78"]
[EventDate "2006.02.18"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "14"]
[EventCountry "ESP"]
[EventCategory "20"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 112"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2006.06.07"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2006.06.07"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 Qxf6 7. g3 $5 ({
The popularity of the Moscow variation has decreased over the past years as a
result of the fact that Black has found reliable ways to reach a solid
position with possibilities of counterplay in the main variation startingwith} 
7. e3 Nd7 8. Rc1 g6 {With his last move, Ivanchuk intends to give the position
the character of a Catalan, which can lead to very interesting play,
especially in the case Black opens the long diagonal by capturing on c4.}) 7...
Nd7 8. Bg2 dxc4 9. O-O Be7 10. Qc2 $5 ({This seems to be a new move and it
certainly brings up a new approach. Usually, White tries to win back the
sacrificed pawn as soon as possible, but this generally allows Black to obtain
sufficient counterplay. One relatively recent game played at top level went} 
10. e3 O-O 11. Qe2 e5 12. Qxc4 Nb6 13. Qb3 Be6 14. dxe5 Qxf3 15. Bxf3 Bxb3 16.
axb3 Nd7 {with approximate equality, Kramnik-Vallejo, Linares 2003.}) 10... O-O
11. Rfd1 {#White's idea starts to cristalise. He develops in a natural way,
relying on the fact that Black's useful neutral moves have more or less come
to an end. With the queen isolated from the queen side, Black can hardly
consider playing b5, which can be strongly answered by a4 or even Nh4!?} e5 {
This central break is probably the only way to justify Black's slightly
unnatural way of development. However, WHite is perfectly prepared for it,
which speaks about Ivanchuk's power of anticipation.} 12. d5 $1 Nc5 13. Nd2 Bf5
14. Qc1 Rad8 15. dxc6 bxc6 16. Nxc4 Qe6 17. Ne3 Bg6 18. b4 Na6 19. Rxd8 Rxd8
20. a3 {White has obtained a more pleasant position, because of his better
pawn structure. Ivanchuk's accurate manoeuvring in the next phase of the game
will allow him to gradually amplify his minimal advantage.} Nc7 21. Na4 e4 22.
Nc5 Qe5 23. Nb7 Rd7 24. Na5 Bf6 25. Bh3 Ne6 26. Ra2 Rc7 27. Bxe6 Qxe6 28. Rc2
Bh5 29. Ng2 Bg5 30. Nf4 Qd6 31. Kg2 Qd7 32. h4 Bxf4 33. Qxf4 Rc8 34. Rd2 Qe6
35. Nb7 Re8 36. Nc5 Qc4 37. g4 Bg6 38. h5 Bh7 39. e3 a5 {#Just when having
obtained a dream position, Ivanchuk unexpectedely overstepped the time limit,
which suddenly deprived him of any chances to win (to quote Eduard Gufeld).
After 40.Qc7 (threatening Rd8 with mate) 40...Kh8 41.Qxa5 he would have won an
esential pawn, maintaining the positional superiority.} 0-1

[Event "EU-chT (Men) 16th"]
[Site "Heraklion"]
[Date "2007.11.01"]
[Round "5.2"]
[White "Ivanchuk, Vassily"]
[Black "Bacrot, Etienne"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D15"]
[WhiteElo "2787"]
[BlackElo "2695"]
[Annotator "Rogozenco,D"]
[PlyCount "54"]
[EventDate "2007.10.28"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "GRE"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 121"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2007.11.14"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2007.11.14"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Ukraine"]
[BlackTeam "France"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "UKR"]
[BlackTeamCountry "FRA"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 a6 5. c5 Nbd7 6. Bf4 Nh5 7. Bd2 Nhf6 8. Qc2
g6 9. g3 e5 10. dxe5 Ng4 11. e6 (11. Na4 Ngxe5 12. Bc3 (12. Nxe5 Nxe5 13. Bc3
Qe7 14. O-O-O Bh6+ $36 {[%cal Gc8f5]}) 12... Bg7 (12... Nxf3+ $5 13. exf3 f6
$13) 13. O-O-O O-O 14. Nxe5 Nxe5 15. e4 $36 {1/2-1/2 Miton,K (2653)-Bacrot,E 
(2709)/Torrelavega 2007 (23)}) (11. Bg2 Ngxe5 12. Nxe5 Nxe5 13. O-O Bg7 14.
Rad1 O-O 15. Be3 Bf5 16. Qc1 Re8 17. Bd4 Qc7 18. e4 dxe4 19. Nxe4 Bxe4 20. Bxe4
Rad8 $14 {/=, 1/2-1/2 Pashikian,A (2534)-Laznicka,V (2610)/Yerevan 2007 (58)})
11... Nxc5 12. exf7+ Kxf7 13. e4 Bg7 14. Bg2 (14. h3 Nf6 15. Ng5+ Kg8 16. Be3
Qa5 $1 (16... Ncxe4 $2 {1-0 Aronian,L (2750)-Bacrot,E (2695)/Mainz (rapid)
2007 (22)}) 17. Bd2 (17. O-O-O $6 h6) 17... Qb6 18. Be3 (18. exd5 $2 Bf5 $19)
18... Qa5 $11) 14... Bxc3 $1 $146 {A strong novelty, prepared by Etienne for
his Candidates Match versus Kamsky (Elista 2007). It didn't work out then, but
the present game confirms that good opening preparation sooner or later pays
off.} (14... Re8 15. O-O Kg8 16. Bg5 Qa5 17. exd5 Bf5 18. Qd2 $14 {1/2-1/2
Sargissian,G (2658)-Laznicka,V (2593)/Moscow 2007 (44)}) 15. Bxc3 dxe4 16. Bxh8
{The correct move, which leads to a draw. This means that the entire variation
starting with 11.e6 brings White no advantage.} (16. Nd2 $6 Nd3+ (16... Qd3 17.
Qxd3 Nxd3+ 18. Ke2 Re8 $36) 17. Kf1 Ndxf2 $36 {[%cal Gg4e3]}) 16... Nd3+ 17.
Kf1 (17. Ke2 exf3+ 18. Bxf3 Qxh8 19. Qb3+ Kf8 20. Kxd3 (20. Qa3+ c5 $17) 20...
Bf5+ 21. Ke2 Qd4 $17) 17... exf3 18. Bxf3 Ngxf2 19. Qb3+ Ke7 (19... Kf8 20. Qc3
$5 Bh3+ 21. Kg1 (21. Bg2 $2 Bxg2+ 22. Kxg2 Qd5+ $19) 21... Qe7 22. Bd4 Qf7 23.
Bxf2 Qxf3 24. Qh8+ Kf7 25. Qxh7+ Kf8 $11) 20. Bg7 ({As pointed out by Bacrot
White can make a draw with} 20. Qa3+ c5 (20... Kf7 21. Qb3+ $11) 21. Re1+ Nxe1
22. Qxc5+ Qd6 23. Bf6+ Ke6 24. Qxd6+ Kxd6 25. Kxf2 Nxf3 26. Kxf3 $11 {However,
in the game White still could have escaped.}) (20. Qc3 $2 Bh3+ $19 {[%cal
Gd8h8]}) 20... Bh3+ 21. Bg2 ({Another draw is} 21. Kg1 Qd7 22. Bh6 (22. Re1+ $2
Nxe1 23. Kxf2 Nxf3 $17) 22... Re8 23. Bg5+ Kf8 24. Bh6+ $11) 21... Qd7 22. Bxh3
(22. Bh6 Nxh1 (22... Re8 23. Bg5+ Kd6 (23... Kf8 24. Bh6+ Ke7 25. Bg5+) 24.
Bf4+ Kc5 (24... Nxf4 $2 25. Qb4+ $18) 25. Rc1+ $1 Nxc1 26. Be3+ Rxe3 27. Qxe3+
Kb5 28. Kxf2 Nd3+ 29. Kg1 $13) 23. Bg5+ Kf8 24. Bh6+ Ke7 $11 (24... Ke8 25.
Qg8+)) 22... Qxh3+ 23. Kg1 Qf5 24. Qxb7+ $2 {Missing the last chance to escape.
} ({White had to deflect the knight from controlling the b4-square first:} 24.
Re1+ $1 Nxe1 25. Qxb7+ Kd6 (25... Qd7 26. Qxd7+ Kxd7 27. Kxf2 Nd3+ 28. Ke3 $14)
26. Qb4+ Kc7 (26... c5 27. Qb6+ Ke7 28. Qb7+ Ke6 29. Qb3+ Qd5 30. Qxd5+ Kxd5
31. Kxf2 Nd3+ 32. Ke3 $11) 27. Qe7+ Kb6 28. Qb4+ Qb5 29. Qd4+ c5 30. Qd6+ Qc6
31. Qxc6+ Kxc6 32. Kxf2 Nd3+ 33. Ke3 $11) 24... Kd6 {Now Black's attack is
decisive.} 25. Qb6 (25. h3 Qf3 26. Rh2 Qxg3+ 27. Rg2 Nxh3+ $19) (25. Qxa8 Nh3+
26. Kg2 Qe4+ 27. Kxh3 Nf2#) 25... Qf3 26. Qd4+ Kc7 27. Be5+ Kc8 0-1

[Event "Baku FIDE GP"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2008.04.23"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Cheparinov, Ivan"]
[Black "Bacrot, Etienne"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E20"]
[WhiteElo "2696"]
[BlackElo "2705"]
[Annotator "Krasenkow,M"]
[PlyCount "134"]
[EventDate "2008.04.21"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[EventCategory "19"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 124"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2008.05.28"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2008.05.28"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 c5 5. g3 cxd4 6. Nxd4 Ne4 7. Qd3 Qa5 8.
Nb3 Nxc3 9. Bd2 Ne4 10. Qxe4 Bxd2+ 11. Nxd2 O-O 12. Bg2 Nc6 13. Qe3 d5 14. O-O
d4 15. Qd3 Rd8 {[%cal Yc6e5,Yc6b4]} (15... e5 {is another plan.}) 16. a3 Ne5
17. b4 $5 {An interesting idea. Apparently, White destroys his own pawn
structure but the open b-file guarantees him good counterplay. However, it is
hardly enough for an advantage.} (17. Qc2 {is played more frequently:} Qc7 18.
Qe4 (18. Rac1 Bd7 19. Nf3 Nxf3+ 20. Bxf3 Bc6 21. Qd3 a5 22. b3 e5 23. Bxc6 Qxc6
24. e4 Qc5 25. a4 Ra6 $15 {1/2-1/2 Orr,M-Johansen,D/London 1985/EXT 2007 (77)})
18... a5 (18... Rb8 19. Qf4 b6 20. Rfd1 (20. Rac1 Bb7 21. Ne4 Rbc8 22. c5 Bxe4
23. cxb6 Qxb6 24. Bxe4 Nd7 25. b4 Nf6 26. Bf3 Rc3 27. Rxc3 dxc3 28. Qc4 Qd4 29.
Qxd4 Rxd4 30. Rc1 Rc4 31. Kf1 Kf8 $11 {1/2-1/2 Kopylov,M-Berelovich,A/Donetsk
1998/CBM 068 (55)}) 20... Bb7 21. Bxb7 Rxb7 22. Nb3 Qxc4 23. Qxe5 Qxb3 24. Rxd4
Rxd4 25. Qxd4 Qd5 26. Rc1 f6 27. Qxd5 exd5 28. Rc6 Kf8 29. Kg2 $14 {1-0
Plaskett,J-Elyoseph,H/Groningen 1979/EXT 2001 (53)}) 19. Rac1 (19. b3 Ra7 20.
e3 dxe3 21. Qxe3 b6 22. Rfe1 Nd3 23. Red1 Qc5 24. Qxc5 Nxc5 25. Bc6 Kf8 26. Ne4
Rxd1+ 27. Rxd1 Ke7 28. Nxc5 bxc5 29. f4 {1/2-1/2 Giorgadze,T-Ostermeyer,P/
Hannover 1983/MCL}) 19... a4 (19... d3 $5) 20. c5 Ra5 21. b4 axb3 22. Nxb3 Ra4
23. Qf4 h6 24. h4 $14 {1-0 Polugaevsky,L-Ftacnik,L/Moskva 1985/Inf 39 (60)})
17... Nxd3 $146 (17... Qc7 18. Qe4 $1 $14 (18. Qb3 $143 Bd7 $11 19. f4 $6 Ng6
$6 ({Why not} 19... Ng4 {[%csl Re3] ?}) 20. Nf3 Bc6 21. Rfd1 $6 (21. Rad1 $142
e5 $140 22. fxe5 Nxe5 23. Nxe5 Qxe5 24. c5) 21... e5 22. f5 Ne7 23. Qc2 f6 24.
Rac1 Rac8 25. g4 Bd5 $17 {1-0 Gaprindashvili,N-Mokry,K/Polanica Zdroj 1986/EXT
1997 (39)})) 18. bxa5 Nc5 19. Rab1 Rb8 20. Ne4 Na4 $1 21. Rb4 Bd7 22. Rfb1 Bc6
23. Nc5 Nxc5 (23... Nc3 24. R1b2 Bxg2 25. Kxg2 b6 26. axb6 axb6 27. Rxb6 Rxb6
28. Rxb6 Nxe2 29. Nd3 $14) 24. Bxc6 Rdc8 25. Bxb7 Rxb7 26. Rxb7 Nxb7 27. Rxb7 {
[%mdl 4096] This endgame has arisen practically by force. Of course, it is
drawish, despite White's eventual outside passed pawn.} g5 28. Rb4 $6 {White
is looking for trouble.} (28. Rxa7 $142 Rxc4 29. Kg2 Ra4 (29... g4 $143 30. a6
Ra4 31. Rd7 Rxa6 32. Rxd4 Rxa3 33. Rxg4+ $14) 30. Kf3 f5 {White can't win but
losing is even less probable.}) 28... a6 29. Kf1 Rc5 30. Ke1 Rxa5 31. a4 Kg7
32. Kd2 Kf6 33. Kd3 Ke5 34. f4+ gxf4 35. gxf4+ Kxf4 36. Kxd4 e5+ 37. Kd3 Kf5
38. Kc3 Ke4 39. Kb3 Ke3 40. Rb7 e4 41. Rxf7 $6 {Here and on the next move
White should advance his c-pawn as quickly as possible:} (41. Kb4 Rf5 (41...
Rh5 42. c5 Rxh2 43. c6 Rxe2 44. Kb3 Re1 45. Kb2 Re2+ $11) (41... Re5 $6 42. c5
Kxe2 43. c6) 42. c5 Kxe2 43. c6 Rf1 44. Re7 $5 f5 45. Re5 $11) 41... Re5 42.
Rxh7 $2 {This unnecessary capture wastes a crucial tempo.} (42. Rc7 $1 Kxe2 43.
c5 {was probably the only way. Here is a possible line:} e3 44. c6 Re6 $1 (
44... Rc5 45. Kb4 Rc1 46. Ka5 $132) 45. Rc8 $1 Re7 $1 (45... Ke1 46. c7 Re7 47.
Kb4 e2 48. Kc5 Rf7 $2 49. Kc6 {[%cal Rc8e8]}) 46. Rd8 Kf2 (46... Rc7 47. Rd6
Ke1 48. Kc2 e2 49. Re6 Rf7 50. Kd3 $11) 47. Rd7 Re8 (47... Re4 48. c7 e2 49.
c8=Q e1=Q $11) 48. Rf7+ Kg2 (48... Ke1 $6 49. c7 e2 50. Kc2) 49. Rg7+ Kh1 $1
50. c7 e2 51. c8=Q Rxc8 52. Re7 Kxh2 53. Rxe2+ Kg3 54. Re6 $1 $11) ({but not} 
42. Kb4 a5+ $1 43. Kc3 Kxe2 44. Kd4 Re8 45. c5 e3 {[%cal Re2d2]} 46. Kc3 Re6 $1
{[%cal Ye2e1,Ye3e2]} 47. Kc2 Re5 48. Rc7 Ke1 49. c6 e2 $19) 42... Kxe2 43. Kc3
(43. Rc7 e3 44. c5 Kf2 {or}) (43. Kb4 e3 44. c5 Kf2 {is now too late.}) 43...
e3 44. Rf7 Ke1 45. Rf4 e2 46. Kc2 Ra5 (46... Rg5 $5 {[%cal Yg5g2,Yg2f2]}) 47.
h4 Rxa4 48. h5 Ra2+ $1 49. Kc1 Ra3 50. h6 Rc3+ $1 51. Kb2 Rh3 52. Rf6 Kd2 53.
Rd6+ Ke3 54. Re6+ Kd3 {[%cal Rh3h6]} 55. Rd6+ Kxc4 56. Re6 Kd3 57. Rd6+ Ke3 58.
Re6+ Kd3 59. Rd6+ Kc4 60. Re6 Rh2 $1 61. Kc1 Kd3 62. Rd6+ Ke3 63. Re6+ Kf2 64.
Rf6+ Ke1 65. Kc2 a5 {This pawn destroys White's defensive arrangement.} 66. Kb3
Rh4 67. Ka3 Rh1 (67... Rh1 68. Kb2 Kd2 $19) 0-1

[Event "EU-Cup 24th"]
[Site "Kallithea"]
[Date "2008.10.22"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Bacrot, Etienne"]
[Black "Jakovenko, Dmitrij"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C89"]
[WhiteElo "2705"]
[BlackElo "2737"]
[PlyCount "91"]
[EventDate "2008.10.17"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "GRE"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 127"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2008.11.13"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2008.11.13"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Baden-Baden"]
[BlackTeam "Kiev Kievchess"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "GER"]
[BlackTeamCountry "UKR"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. c3
d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Nxe5 Nxe5 11. Rxe5 c6 12. d4 Bd6 13. Re1 Qh4 14. g3 Qh3 15.
Be3 Bg4 16. Qd3 Rae8 17. Nd2 Re6 18. Qf1 Qh5 19. f3 Bf5 20. Ne4 Bxe4 21. fxe4
Rxe4 22. Bd1 Qg6 23. Bc2 f5 24. Bd2 Rg4 25. Re2 Rf6 26. Rae1 Qf7 27. Re8+ Bf8
28. Rd8 Re4 29. Bxe4 fxe4 30. Qg2 e3 31. Bxe3 Qe7 32. Rxd5 cxd5 33. Qxd5+ Rf7
34. Bd2 Qf6 35. Bf4 Qg6 36. Re8 Kh8 37. Qe4 Qg4 38. Kg2 Rf6 39. d5 h5 40. Qe2
Qg6 41. Re6 Rxe6 42. dxe6 Be7 43. h4 Bxh4 44. e7 Bxe7 45. Qxe7 Qc2+ 46. Kf3 1-0

[Event "Elista FIDE GP"]
[Site "Elista"]
[Date "2008.12.17"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Bacrot, Etienne"]
[Black "Leko, Peter"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B19"]
[WhiteElo "2705"]
[BlackElo "2747"]
[Annotator "Ftacnik,L"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[EventDate "2008.12.14"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[EventCategory "19"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 128"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2009.01.28"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2009.01.28"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7. Nf3 Nd7 8. h5
Bh7 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 e6 11. Bf4 Qa5+ 12. Bd2 Bb4 13. c3 Be7 14. c4 Qc7 15.
O-O-O Ngf6 16. Ne4 O-O 17. g4 $5 {Black has played the move h7-h6, so the
attack with the help of g2-g4-g5 for White is very tempting. Bacrot is
introducing a daring pawn sacrifice, but he deserves credit more for his
courage than for the objective merit of the experiment.} Nxg4 (17... Nxe4 18.
Qxe4 Nf6 19. Qe2 Nh7 20. Ne5 Bf6 21. Bf4 Qe7 22. Kb1 Rfd8 23. c5 a5 24. Rh3
Bxe5 25. Bxe5 f6 26. Bd6 Rxd6 27. cxd6 Qxd6 28. Re3 {1-0 Pesoa,M-Romero,J/
Villa Ballester 2002 (40)}) 18. Qe2 f5 19. Rdg1 (19. Nh4 Bxh4 20. Rxh4 Qd8 21.
Rhh1 Nb6 22. Nc3 Qxd4 23. f3 Nf6 24. Qxe6+ Rf7 $15) 19... Rae8 {Leko is among
the very cautious players and he knows all about what he can expect from the
grandmasters of the broader top class. Black should be better even after his
brave acceptance of the sacrifice.} (19... fxe4 $5 20. Qxe4 (20. Rxg4 Rxf3 21.
Bxh6 Rf7 22. Rhg1 Bf6 23. Bxg7 Bxg7 (23... Rxg7 24. Rxg7+ Bxg7 25. h6 Qf4+ 26.
Qd2 Qxd2+ 27. Kxd2 Nf6 28. Rxg7+ Kh8 29. Rxb7 Ng4 $15) 24. h6 Qh2 $1 (24... Nf6
25. Rxg7+ Kh8 26. Qe3 $13) 25. Rxg7+ Kh8 26. Rxf7 Qxg1+ 27. Qd1 Qxd1+ 28. Kxd1
Rd8 $15) 20... Ndf6 (20... Ngf6 21. Qxe6+ Rf7 22. Nh4 $14) 21. Qxe6+ Rf7 22.
Rxg4 Nxg4 23. Qxg4 Bd6 24. Re1 Qc8 $17) 20. Ne1 (20. Ng3 Bf6 21. Kb1 c5 22. Bc3
cxd4 23. Nxd4 Qf4 $17) 20... e5 (20... c5 $5 21. Nxc5 (21. dxc5 Nxc5 22. Nc3
Qe5 $17) 21... Nxc5 22. f3 Nf2 23. Qxf2 Nd3+ 24. Nxd3 Qxc4+ 25. Bc3 Qxd3 $17)
21. Ng3 exd4 $6 {It is very nice, that people still play chess, since even the
best once are fallible. Peter has done a lot for the success of his defence,
but he is not yet calculating like a computer. The silicon friend is able to
find 21...Bg5!? with a counter attack and better endgames.} (21... Bg5 $5 22.
Nxf5 (22. Bxg5 exd4 23. Be7 Nb8 24. Qe6+ Rf7 25. Nxf5 Qf4+ 26. Kb1 Qxf5+ 27.
Qxf5 Rxf5 28. Rxg4 Rxe7 29. Rxd4 Rd7 $17) 22... Bxd2+ (22... Rxf5 23. Bxg5 Ndf6
24. Bxf6 Nxf6 $17) 23. Qxd2 Rxf5 24. Rxg4 Nf6 25. Rg6 exd4 $17) 22. Nxf5 Rxf5
23. Qxg4 Rf7 $6 {Objectively speaking, this careful move is of second rate
quality; Black had to find the courage to play 23...Rg5!? with a huge
advantage.} (23... Rg5 $5 24. Bxg5 Bxg5+ 25. Kb1 Ne5 26. Qe2 (26. Qxd4 $2 Rd8
27. Qxa7 Rd1+ 28. Kc2 Rc1+ 29. Kb3 Qd8 $19) 26... Qf7 $17) 24. Bxh6 Bf6 (24...
Ne5 25. Qe4 Bf6 26. Bf4 Nd3+ 27. Nxd3 Rxe4 28. Bxc7 Rxc7 29. h6 $11) 25. Bd2
Ne5 26. Qe2 d3 $2 {Black is spoiling what he can and his chances are gradually
diminishing. Much better was the immediate activation of the queen.} (26... Qb6
27. h6 (27. b3 Rfe7 $1 (27... Qd8 28. h6) 28. h6 d3 29. Qe3 (29. Qe4 $2 Nf3 30.
Qxf3 Qd4 $19) 29... Nxc4 $13) 27... Qa6 28. hxg7 Bxg7 29. b3 Qxa2 30. Rxg7+
Rxg7 31. Rh8+ Kxh8 32. Qh5+ Kg8 33. Qxe8+ Kh7 $11) 27. Qe4 $1 (27. Nxd3 Nxd3+
28. Qxd3 Rd7 29. Qg6 Bxb2+ 30. Kb1 Ree7 31. Be3 $13) 27... Qb6 $6 (27... Rfe7
$1 28. Qf4 Qd6 29. h6 Rd7 30. hxg7 Bxg7 $13) 28. b3 Qc5 (28... Qxf2 $5 29. Rg2
$1 (29. h6 c5 $1 $13) 29... Qc5 30. h6 Qe7 $1 31. hxg7 Rxg7 32. Qh7+ Kf7 33.
Rxg7+ Bxg7 34. Rf1+ Ke6 35. Nxd3 Kd7 36. Re1 Kd8 37. Kc2 $16) (28... Rfe7 29.
Qf4 $1) 29. h6 Qa3+ 30. Kd1 $1 {Bacrot has a diabolic plan and thus he lures
his opponent into the logical completion of the counterplay by grabbing the
a2-pawn.} (30. Kb1 Rfe7 (30... Qb2+ 31. Kxb2 Nxc4+ 32. Kc1 Rxe4 33. bxc4 Rxc4+
34. Kb1 $18) 31. Rxg7+ Rxg7 32. hxg7 Qb2+ 33. Kxb2 Nd7+ 34. Kc1 Rxe4 35. Nxd3
$16) 30... Qxa2 (30... g6 31. Rxg6+ Nxg6 32. Qxg6+ Kf8 33. h7 Ke7 34. Nxd3 Qxa2
35. Nc1 $18) 31. Qh7+ $1 {[%mdl 64] The charming finale in the style of
romantic chess from 19th century. One step before the abyss White forces mate
with the help of a queen sacrifice.} (31. Qh7+ $1 Kxh7 (31... Kf8 32. Bb4+ Rfe7
33. hxg7+ $18) 32. hxg7+ Kg8 33. Rh8#) 1-0

[Event "Nalchik FIDE GP"]
[Site "Nalchik"]
[Date "2009.04.24"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Bacrot, Etienne"]
[Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B46"]
[WhiteElo "2728"]
[BlackElo "2725"]
[Annotator "Ftacnik,L"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[EventDate "2009.04.15"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[EventCategory "19"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 130"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2009.05.20"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2009.05.20"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bd3 d5 8.
O-O Nf6 9. Re1 Be7 10. e5 Nd7 11. Qg4 g6 12. Na4 {The last few years have seen
the birth of a vibrant theoretical discussion in this line. Black has to brace
himself for the fight against the active white pieces, but for the moment his
position is as solid as a rock.} c5 13. c4 (13. b3 c4 14. Bf1 cxb3 15. axb3 O-O
16. Bh6 Re8 17. Bd3 Qc7 18. Qg3 a5 19. h4 Ba6 20. c4 dxc4 21. bxc4 $11 {
0-1 Forsberg,V (2210)-Glimbrant,T (2254)/Stockholm 2008 (38)}) 13... Qa5 {
In current praxis White has not been especially successful in the attempts to
disturb the integrity of the black ranks. In most of the games Black was
helped by the timely advance ...d5-d4.} (13... O-O 14. Bh6 Re8 15. Rad1 Rb8 16.
b3 d4 17. f4 Qc7 18. h4 f5 19. Qh3 Bf8 20. Bxf8 Nxf8 21. g4 Bd7 22. Nb2 Re7 23.
Kh2 Rg7 $15 {1-0 Sax,G (2550)-Franzoni,G/Thessaloniki 1984 (57)}) (13... h5 14.
Qe2 dxc4 15. Bxc4 Nb6 16. Rd1 Qc7 17. Nxb6 Qxb6 18. h4 Rb8 19. Bg5 Bxg5 20.
hxg5 O-O 21. Rd2 $14 {1/2-1/2 Zhao,Z (2452)-Berend,F (2368)/Turin 2006 (33)}) (
13... d4 14. b3 Bb7 15. Bf4 a5 16. Be4 Bxe4 17. Rxe4 Nb6 18. Nb2 a4 19. Ree1
Qc7 20. Nd3 O-O $15 {1/2-1/2 Mkrtchian,L (2402)-Vasilevich,I (2383)/Vladimir
2007 (28)}) 14. Qd1 dxc4 $2 {Mamedyarov chooses a strategically very risky
line.} (14... d4 15. Be4 Rb8 16. Bh6 Bf8 $11) 15. Be4 (15. Bxc4 O-O 16. Bd2 Qc7
17. Bc3 $14) 15... Rb8 (15... Ra7 16. Bd2 Qb5 17. Bh6 $16) 16. Bh6 Rb4 $6 {
Yet another step in the direction of the elegant demise. The defence could
still come to its senses and start opposing the very dangerous bishop on e4.} (
16... Nxe5 $2 17. Bg7 Bd7 18. Bxe5 Bxa4 19. b3 Rd8 20. Qc2 $18) (16... Bb7 $1
17. Bxb7 Rxb7 18. Re2 Bf8 19. Bg5 h6 20. Bd2 Qb5 21. Qc2 $14) 17. Nc3 (17. Bc2
$5 Qc7 (17... c3 18. Nxc3 Rxb2 19. Ne4 Rxa2 20. Rxa2 Qxa2 21. Re2 Qd5 22. Rd2
Qxe5 23. Ba4 Qc7 24. Qa1 Rg8 25. Nf6+ Bxf6 26. Qxf6 $16) 18. a3 Rb5 19. Qe2 $16
) 17... Rxb2 (17... Bb7 18. Qd2 $16) 18. Qc1 Rb8 (18... Rb6 19. Bd2 $1 Rb4 20.
a3 Rb3 21. Nd5 c3 22. Nxc3 $16) 19. Bc6 {[%mdl 32] The concept of the first
player deserves recognition and praise. Bacrot has understood that the most
important in the given position is the tragic location of the black king. The
defence will have a very hard time resisting the mobilisation of White's
reserves for the attack.} Bb7 (19... Rb6 20. Ba4 Rb4 (20... f5 21. exf6 Bxf6
22. Bxd7+ Bxd7 23. Nd5 Bxa1 24. Qxa1 Rb2 (24... c3 25. Bg7 Rg8 26. Bxc3 $18)
25. Nf6+ Ke7 26. Nxd7 $16) 21. Qc2 Bf8 22. Bd2 $16) 20. Ba4 $1 Kd8 {The king
retreat to d8-square in this position full of pieces gives impression of a cry
full of despair. The attacker will have little problems to prove that the
opponent has not managed to meet the defensive tasks.} (20... Qc7 21. Bg7 Rg8
22. Qh6 Bf8 23. Bxf8 Rxf8 24. Rad1 Bc6 25. Bxc6 Qxc6 26. Qxh7 $16) 21. Rd1 Bd5
(21... Bc8 22. Qd2 Rb7 23. Rac1 $18) 22. Qc2 Rb4 (22... Rb7 23. Nxd5 exd5 24.
Rxd5 $18) 23. Bd2 $1 {The fine move has a lot to do with a fact, that the
bishop has fullfilled his mission on the square h6 and prevented the king from
castling.} (23. Bxd7 Kxd7 24. Qe4 Rd8 25. Nxd5 exd5 26. Qxd5+ Kc8 27. Qxf7 $18)
23... Ba8 (23... Bb7 24. Bxd7 Kxd7 25. a3 Rb3 26. Nd5 c3 27. Bxc3 Bxd5 28. Qxb3
c4 29. Qxc4 $18) 24. Be1 Rxa4 25. Nxa4 Qb5 {Mamedyarov has no desire to
retreat with a queen all the way home, but the transfer via b-file will only
speed up the invitable defeat.} (25... Qc7 26. Nb2 Bd5 27. Nxc4 Ke8 28. Ne3 Bc6
29. Bc3 $16) 26. Rab1 Qc6 27. f3 Ke8 28. Rxd7 $1 {The final combination is
very impressive. White has managed to have all his join in the hunt for the
black king.} Kxd7 (28... Qxd7 29. Rb8+ Bd8 30. Rxa8 Qd4+ 31. Kf1 $18) 29. Qd1+
$1 Kc8 30. Nb6+ Kb7 31. Nd5+ {Black resigned, as resistance is simply
impossible.} 1-0

[Event "Nalchik FIDE GP"]
[Site "Nalchik"]
[Date "2009.04.27"]
[Round "11"]
[White "Bacrot, Etienne"]
[Black "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B90"]
[WhiteElo "2728"]
[BlackElo "2721"]
[Annotator "Ftacnik,L"]
[PlyCount "75"]
[EventDate "2009.04.15"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[EventCategory "19"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 130"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2009.05.20"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2009.05.20"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 Ng4 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bh4
g5 9. Bg3 Bg7 10. h3 Nf6 11. Qe2 Nc6 12. Nxc6 bxc6 13. e5 {At first glance it
seems, that White is in an aggressive frame of mind. Below the surface it
becomes clear that he is fighting for the better pawn structure.} dxe5 (13...
Nd5 14. Qc4 (14. Nxd5 cxd5 15. O-O-O O-O 16. exd6 exd6 17. Rxd5 $16) 14... O-O
15. Qxc6 Nxc3 16. Qxc3 Bf5 17. Bd3 Rc8 18. Qa3 Bxd3 19. cxd3 dxe5 20. Qxa6 Rc2
21. O-O Rxb2 {1/2-1/2 Sedlak,N (2519)-Ruck,R (2556)/Topola 2004/ (36)}) 14.
Bxe5 O-O 15. h4 (15. g3 Be6 16. Bg2 Qb6 17. O-O-O Rad8 18. f4 $14) 15... g4 {
Black's kingside is exposed enough, it makes sense to keep the access to the
king as closed as possible.} 16. g3 Bf5 $6 {Karjakin will suffer a great deal
in this position and the main reason lies in a misjudgement of the problems.
Black will agonize in a difficult endgame with hardly any counterplay. The
best defence against such a fate seems to be the idea of developing the bishop
to a6 and preventing short castling.} (16... Qb6 17. O-O-O Be6 18. Bg2 Rfd8 19.
Rhe1 (19. f3 Qa5 20. Rxd8+ Rxd8 21. fxg4 Bxg4 22. Qe3 Be6 $15) 19... h5 20. b3
(20. f3 $1 Qa5 21. Rxd8+ Rxd8 22. fxg4 Bxg4 23. Qe3 $14) 20... Rac8 21. Na4
Rxd1+ 22. Rxd1 Qb5 23. Bf1 $2 (23. Qxb5 cxb5 24. Bb7 Rf8 25. Nc5 Bc8 26. Bxa6
$16) 23... Bc4 $1 24. Qxc4 Qxe5 25. c3 Qf5 $11 {0-1 Ponomariov,R (2743)-Polgar,
J (2685)/Benidorm 2002/ (38)}) (16... a5 $5 17. Bg2 Ba6 18. Qe3 Qd7 (18... Rc8
$2 19. Rd1 Nd5 20. Nxd5 cxd5 21. Rxd5 Bxe5 22. Qxh6 $1 Rxc2 (22... Qc7 23. Qxa6
Qxc2 24. O-O Qxb2 25. Qxa5 Bg7 26. Rd2 Qf6 27. Qh5 $16) 23. Rxe5 $1 {1-0
Rowson,J (2541)-De Firmian,N (2553)/Selfoss 2003/}) 19. Qd4 Qxd4 20. Bxd4 Bb7 (
20... e5 21. Be3 Rfd8 22. Rd1 Rxd1+ 23. Kxd1 Nd5 24. Bd2 Bc4 {1/2-1/2 Hoffmann,
M (2455)-Kulaots,K (2593)/Budapest 2004/ (28)}) 21. O-O-O a4 22. Rhe1 e6 23.
Ne4 Nxe4 24. Rxe4 c5 25. Bxg7 Bxe4 26. Bxf8 Bxg2 27. Bxh6 Bd5 28. b3 axb3 29.
axb3 c4 {0-1 Van Beers,E (2431)-Van den Doel,E (2615)/Tilburg 2003/ (50)}) 17.
Bg2 (17. Rd1 $6 Qb6 18. Bg2 (18. b3 Qa5 19. Bg2 Bxc2 20. Rc1 Bd3 21. Qxd3 Qxe5+
$11) 18... Qxb2 19. O-O Qb6 $11) 17... Qd7 (17... Rc8 18. O-O Qb6 19. Rad1 Rfd8
20. b3 $14) (17... Qb6 18. b3 $14) 18. O-O {The critical position arises right
after the end of the opening. Black has many weak pawns (a6, c6, g4) and no
prospect of getting counterplay.} Rfd8 19. Rfe1 (19. Rad1 Qe6 (19... Qb7 20. b3
e6 21. Na4 Nd7 22. Bxg7 Kxg7 23. Rd6 $16) 20. Rfe1 Rxd1 21. Qxd1 Re8 22. Qd2
$16) 19... e6 (19... Qe6 20. Rad1) 20. Na4 (20. Rad1 Qb7 (20... Nd5 21. Bxg7
Kxg7 22. b3 Qc7 23. Nxd5 exd5 24. c4 d4 25. Qe5+ Qxe5 26. Rxe5 Kf6 27. Ra5 $16)
21. b3 Rac8 $14) 20... Qb7 21. c4 (21. b3 Nd7 22. Bxg7 Kxg7 23. Qe3 f6 24. Qc3
Ne5 $14) 21... Nd7 22. Bxg7 Kxg7 23. Rad1 {In few moves the situation has
become quite critical. Bacrot can hope to succeed on both flanks as Black's
kingside structure remains exposed.} Rab8 (23... f6 24. Rxd7+ $1 Qxd7 (24...
Rxd7 25. Nc5 Qc8 26. Nxd7 Qxd7 27. Rd1 Qc7 28. c5 $16) 25. Nb6 Qc7 26. Nxa8
Rxa8 27. Be4 $1 $16) 24. Qe3 (24. Rd6 $5 Qb4 25. Red1 Qxa4 26. Rxd7 Rxd7 27.
Qe5+ Kg6 28. Rxd7 Rf8 29. Be4 $16) 24... Qc7 25. b3 (25. b4 a5 26. Qc3+ f6 27.
bxa5 Ra8 28. Qb4 c5 29. Rxd7+ Rxd7 30. Nxc5 Rb8 31. Qa3 $14) 25... a5 {The
defender did not want to expose his pawn structure even more with a move of
the f-pawn, but it would at least remove some pawns from the light squares.} (
25... f6 $5 26. Nc5 Nxc5 27. Qxc5 e5 28. Qxc6 Qxc6 29. Bxc6 Kf7 30. f3 gxf3 31.
Kf2 $16) (25... c5 26. Rd2 Nf6 27. Rxd8 Rxd8 28. Nxc5 $16) 26. Nc5 $1 Nxc5 27.
Qxc5 Rxd1 {Karjakin has realized, that his opponent wanted to eliminate the
last defender of the kingside. His hope is to generate counterplay in a queen
and bishop endgame.} (27... h5 28. Qxc6 Qxc6 29. Bxc6 Kf6 30. f4 gxf3 31. Bxf3
a4 $16) (27... Rbc8 28. Be4 $1 Rxd1 29. Rxd1 Bxe4 30. Qd4+ Kg8 31. Qxe4 h5 32.
c5 $16) 28. Rxd1 Rd8 29. Rxd8 (29. Rd4 Rxd4 30. Qxd4+ Kh7 31. Qc5 Qd8 32. Qxc6
Qd1+ 33. Kh2 Qd2 34. Qc7 Kg6 35. h5+ Kf6 36. Qa7 $16) 29... Qxd8 30. Bxc6 (30.
Qxc6 Qd4 31. Qb5 Qa1+ 32. Kh2 Qxa2 33. Qe5+ Kg6 34. Qe3 a4 35. bxa4 Qxa4 36. c5
$16) 30... Qd2 31. Qe5+ Kg8 (31... f6 32. Qc7+ Kf8 33. Qc8+ Kg7 34. Qb7+ Kf8
35. h5 $16) 32. c5 Qxa2 33. Bg2 $6 {[%mdl 4096] Bacrot is setting his hopes on
the potential of the passed c-pawn. The better move 33.Qe3 postponed the
demise of the b3-pawn and attacked the h6-pawn.} (33. Qe3 $1 Bc2 34. Qxh6 Qa1+
(34... Qxb3 35. Qg5+ Kf8 36. Qd8+ Kg7 37. Qxa5 $18) 35. Kh2 Qe5 (35... Bxb3 36.
Qg5+ Kf8 37. Bg2 $18) 36. Qe3 Qxe3 37. fxe3 Bxb3 38. Bb5 Kf8 39. c6 Bd5 40. Kg1
Ke7 41. c7 Bb7 42. Bc6 Ba6 43. Kf2 Kd6 44. e4 $18) 33... Qb1+ (33... Qxb3 34.
c6 Qd1+ 35. Kh2 Qc2 36. Qxa5 Qxf2 37. c7 e5 38. Qa8+ Kg7 39. c8=Q Bxc8 40. Qxc8
Qd4 $16) 34. Kh2 Qxb3 35. c6 a4 36. Qc5 a3 $2 {Sergey did not have his best
day suffering all the way to the end. Much tougher resistance would be offered
by the move controlling the promotion square, c8.} (36... e5 $1 37. c7 (37.
Qxe5 $2 Be6 $11) (37. Bd5 Qd3 38. c7 Qd4 $11) 37... Bc8 38. Qxe5 Qe6 39. Qc5
Qd7 40. Qb6 a3 41. Bb7 Qe6 42. Qa7 Kh7 43. Qa8 Bxb7 44. Qxb7 a2 45. c8=Q Qxc8
46. Qxc8 a1=Q 47. Qf5+ Kh8 48. Qxg4 $16) 37. c7 e5 38. Bd5 $1 {The real
problem will arise with the defence of the vulnerable black king.} (38. Bd5 $1
Qa4 (38... Qb2 39. c8=Q+ Bxc8 40. Qxc8+ Kg7 41. Qf5 $18) 39. Qe7 Qd7 40. c8=Q+
Qxc8 41. Bxf7+ Kh8 42. h5 $18) 1-0

[Event "Nalchik FIDE GP"]
[Site "Nalchik"]
[Date "2009.04.29"]
[Round "13"]
[White "Bacrot, Etienne"]
[Black "Alekseev, Evgeny V"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C43"]
[WhiteElo "2728"]
[BlackElo "2716"]
[PlyCount "125"]
[EventDate "2009.04.15"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[EventCategory "19"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 130"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2009.05.20"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2009.05.20"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. d4 Nxe4 4. dxe5 d5 5. Nbd2 Nxd2 6. Qxd2 c5 7. c4 Be6 8.
Ng5 Nc6 9. Nxe6 fxe6 10. cxd5 Qxd5 11. Qxd5 exd5 12. Bb5 Kf7 13. f4 Nd4 14. Ba4
b5 15. Bd1 c4 16. Be3 Bc5 17. Bxd4 Bxd4 18. Bf3 Rad8 19. Rd1 Bxb2 20. Bxd5+ Ke7
21. Ke2 Rc8 22. Be4 c3 23. Bc2 Rc4 24. f5 Rb8 25. Rd5 a5 26. Rhd1 Rb7 27. Rd8
Ba3 28. Rh8 Rc5 29. f6+ Ke6 30. Re8+ Kf7 31. Rdd8 Rc4 32. Rh8 Rh4 33. fxg7 Kxg7
34. Rdg8+ Kh6 35. Rg6+ Kh5 36. Rg3 Kh6 37. Rg6+ Kh5 38. Rg3 Kh6 39. Rxc3 Bb4
40. Rc6+ Kg7 41. Rcc8 a4 42. Rcg8+ Kh6 43. Rg6+ Kh5 44. Rg3 Kh6 45. Rg6+ Kh5
46. Bf5 Rc4 47. Rg3 Kh6 48. Rg6+ Kh5 49. Rgg8 Rcc7 50. Bg6+ Kh6 51. Be4 Rb6 52.
g4 Bc3 53. g5+ Kh5 54. g6 Bxe5 55. Rxh7+ Rxh7 56. gxh7 Rh6 57. Kf3 b4 58. Kg2
Kh4 59. Bf3 Bc3 60. Rg4+ Kh5 61. Kh3 Rxh7 62. Rh4+ Kg6 63. Be4+ 1-0

[Event "Jermuk FIDE GP"]
[Site "Jermuk"]
[Date "2009.08.16"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Bacrot, Etienne"]
[Black "Jakovenko, Dmitrij"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D38"]
[WhiteElo "2721"]
[BlackElo "2760"]
[Annotator "Krasenkow,M"]
[PlyCount "115"]
[EventDate "2009.08.09"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "ARM"]
[EventCategory "19"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 132"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2009.09.16"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2009.09.16"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Qa4+ Nc6 7. Bg5 h6 8.
Bxf6 Qxf6 9. e3 O-O 10. Be2 Rd8 (10... Be6 {is more popular in this quiet line
- see e.g. CBM 111, annotation to Rustemov - Vallejo by GM Z.Ribli.}) 11. O-O
Bf8 {Or else:} (11... Be6 12. Rfc1 a6 13. Qc2 $5 Bd6 14. Na4 Bf5 15. Qc3 Ne7
16. Nc5 Rab8 17. Bd3 c6 18. b4 Bxd3 19. Qxd3 Nf5 20. a4 Nh4 21. Nxh4 Qxh4 22.
g3 Qf6 23. b5 $14 {1-0 Vorobiov,E (2598)-Janssen,R (2527)/Kavala GRE 2009/The
Week in Chess 770 (37)}) (11... a6 12. Rac1 (12. Ne5 $6 Nxe5 13. Qxb4 Ng6 14.
Qc5 c6 15. b4 Nh4 $40 {0-1 Legky,N (2461)-Bacrot,E (2705)/France 2007/CBM 116
ext (35)}) (12. Rfc1 Rb8 13. a3 Bf8 14. b4 Ne7 15. Qb3 Be6 16. a4 Nf5 17. b5
axb5 18. axb5 c5 19. bxc6 bxc6 20. Qa4 c5 21. dxc5 Bxc5 22. Nb5 Bb6 {1/2
Mamedyarov,S (2757)-Carlsen,M (2693)/Dortmund 2007/CBM 119 (26)}) (12. a3 $5
Bf8 13. Qb3 Bg4 $2 (13... Rb8 14. Nxd5 $140 $2 Qe6) 14. h3 Be6 15. Qxb7 $16 {
1-0 Chatalbashev,B (2548)-Willemze,T (2419)/Kallithea GRE 2009/The Week in
Chess 766 (29)}) 12... Be6 $2 (12... Bf8 {[%cal Yc6e7,Yc7c6]}) 13. Ne5 Bxc3 14.
Nxc6 Bd7 15. Rxc3 Bxc6 16. Qa5 Qd6 17. Rfc1 $14 {1/2 Polugaevsky,L (2640)
-Ivkov,B (2535)/Petropolis 1973/IZT/[ChessBase] (65)}) (11... Bxc3 $5 12. bxc3
Bg4 (12... Bf5 $5) 13. Rfc1 Ne7 14. Rab1 Bc8 15. c4 c6 16. Nd2 Qd6 17. Bf3 $16
{1-0 Popov,L (2430)-Estrin,Y (2430)/Kecskemet 1979/EXT 1999 (36)}) (11... Bf5
$5 12. Rfc1 Qe6 13. Ne1 a6 14. Bf3 {1-0 Peek,M (2365)-Fritze,B (2240)/
Groningen 1990/CBM 022 (26)} Be7 $5) (11... Bg4 $2 12. Ne5 Bxe2 $8 13. Nxe2
Nxe5 14. Qxb4 $16) 12. a3 (12. Rac1 $5 a6 (12... Ne7 13. Ne5 Qb6 14. Bh5 g6 15.
Bf3 c6 16. Qc2 Nf5 17. a3 a5 18. g3 Bg7 {1-0 Rajkovic,D (2511)-Brkljaca,A 
(2353)/Belgrade 2007/CBM 116 ext (41)} 19. Na4 Qc7 20. Nd3 $14) 13. Qd1 {
[%cal Yc3a4,Ya4c5]} (13. Qb3 Qd6 14. Na4 Ne7 (14... b6 $142 15. Rc3 Bd7) 15.
Ne5 b6 16. Rfd1 Be6 17. a3 Rdb8 18. Qc3 Rc8 19. Nd3 Bd7 20. Qb3 $14 {1-0
Mihaljcisin,M (2280)-Petkov,V (2480)/Sibenik 2006/CBM 114 ext (39)}) 13... Ne7
(13... Qd6 14. Ne1 Ne7 15. Nd3 b6 16. b4 Bd7 17. Qb3 Bb5 18. Nb2 (18. Ne5 $142)
18... Bxe2 19. Nxe2 $14 {1-0 Malaniuk,V (2600)-Mochalov,E (2445)/Katowice 1993/
EXT 1998 (39)}) (13... Na7 14. Ne5 c6 15. Na4 Nb5 16. Nb6 Ra7 17. a4 Nc7 18.
Nxc8 Rxc8 19. Qb3 Ne8 20. e4 $1 $16 {1/2 Muse,M (2485)-Kovacevic,V (2475)/
Vinkovci 1993/CBM 038 ext (61)}) 14. Na4 c6 15. Nb6 Rb8 16. Nxc8 Nxc8 17. Ne5
Bd6 18. f4 Qe7 19. Bd3 Nb6 20. Qh5 Nd7 21. Rf3 Nf6 22. Qh3 c5 23. Rg3 $36 {
1/2 Flohr,S-Estrin,Y/Moscow 1953/EXT 1999 (33)}) (12. Rfc1 a6 (12... Ne7 13. b4
(13. Nb5 $6 c6 {/\} 14. Nc7 $2 Rb8 15. Qxa7 Bg4 $17 {פc7}) 13... Be6 (13...
Ng6 14. Qb3 c6 15. b5 $14 {1/2 Brunsteins,D (2407)-Kolus,W (2089)/LSS 2007/
Telechess CBM 131 (42)}) 14. Qb3 a6 $6 (14... Nf5 $1 $13) 15. Na4 Rdc8 (15...
c6 16. Nc5 Bc8 17. a4 Nf5 18. Rab1 Bd6 19. b5 axb5 20. axb5 Nh4 21. Nxh4 Qxh4
22. g3 $14 {1/2 Pogorelov,R (2441)-Cvetkovic,S (2378)/Obrenovac 2008/CBM 127
Extra (28)}) 16. Nc5 Ra7 17. Qa4 Nf5 18. Nd7 Qe7 19. Nxf8 Kxf8 20. Ne5 Nd6 21.
b5 Qe8 22. Qa3 Qe7 23. bxa6 $16 {1-0 Malaniuk,V (2600)-Maksimovic,B (2325)/
Becici 1993/EXT 2000 (50)}) 13. Qd1 (13. Qb3 $5 Qd6 14. Na4 b6 15. Qd1 g6 16.
a3 Bg7 17. b4 Nb8 (17... Bd7 $142 18. Nc3 Ne7) 18. Nc3 c6 19. Qb3 Be6 20. a4
Nd7 21. a5 $14 {1-0 Petrosian,T-Averbakh,Y/Moscow 1966/EXT 1999 (39)}) (13. a3
Ne7 (13... Be6 14. Qd1 g5 15. Nd2 Ne7 16. Na4 c6 17. Nc5 Bc8 18. Bg4 Rb8 19.
Nf1 Bxg4 20. Qxg4 Qf5 21. h3 Qxg4 22. hxg4 f5 23. Nh2 $14 {1/2 Fernandes,A 
(2465)-Campora,D (2503)/Santo Antonio 2001/CBM 084 (67)}) 14. b4 Bg4 15. Qb3 c6
16. a4 Nf5 17. b5 Bxf3 (17... axb5 $142 18. axb5 Rxa1 19. Rxa1 c5 $5 $132 {
B.Lalic}) 18. Bxf3 a5 19. Qd1 g6 20. Rab1 $14 {1-0 Lalic,B (2590)-Dizdar,G 
(2535)/Makarska Tucepi 1995/EXT 1997 (38)}) 13... Ne7 (13... Be6 14. Na4 Bd6
15. Nc5 Bc8 16. Rc3 Ne7 17. Rac1 b6 18. Nd3 Ng6 19. a3 a5 20. Nde1 Bd7 21. Nd2
Re8 22. Bg4 Be6 23. Bxe6 fxe6 {1/2 Szilagyi,G-Pogats,J/Budapest 1958/EXT 2006})
14. Na4 c6 15. Nb6 (15. Nc5 Nf5 16. b4 h5 17. a4 g6 18. Rab1 Bd6 19. b5 axb5
20. axb5 Nh4 21. bxc6 bxc6 {1/2 Alvarez Ibarra,R (2420)-Bertona,F (2370)/
Montcada 1997/EXT 1999}) 15... Rb8 16. Nxc8 Nxc8 17. Ne1 $1 Bd6 18. Nd3 Bc7 19.
b4 Nd6 20. a4 $36 {1/2 Lalic,B (2550)-Sherwin,J (2358)/Coulsden 76/388 1999/
Inf 76/[Lalic,B] (59)}) 12... Ne7 13. b4 (13. Rfe1 c6 14. Qb3 Ng6 15. Bd3 Re8
16. e4 Nf4 17. e5 Qe6 18. Bf1 Qg4 19. Nd1 c5 20. Ne3 Nh3+ 21. Kh1 Nxf2+ 22. Kg1
$11 {1/2 Pileckis,E (2472)-Aronian,L (2757)/Kallithea 2008/CBM 127 (28)}) 13...
a6 {[%mdl 32]} (13... c6 {was possible, with a normal Karlsbad structure, e.g.}
14. Qb3 Be6 15. Rfc1 Ng6 16. Na4 Bg4 17. Ra2 Bd6 18. Ne1 Bxe2 19. Rxe2 Qh4 20.
g3 Qg4 21. Ra2 Rac8 22. Nc5 Rc7 23. a4 h5 $132 {0-1 Polatel,L (2009)-Ibarra
Chami,L (2416)/Kemeri 2007/CBM 121 Extra (54)}) {The text move (without ...
c7-c6) leads to a different strategic setup.} 14. b5 (14. Qb3 $5 Be6 15. Na4
Nf5 16. Nc5) 14... Bg4 (14... c5 $5 {deserved serious attention:} 15. bxa6 (15.
bxc6 Nxc6 16. Rfb1 Ra7 {[%cal Yb7b5]} 17. Rb6 Bc5 $1) 15... c4 16. e4 $5 Rxa6
17. Qc2 Bg4 $13) 15. bxa6 Bxf3 16. Bxf3 Rxa6 17. Qb3 Qd6 18. Rfc1 c6 $6 {
After this move White obtains a typical favourable structure. Black could have
avoided that by playing} (18... Raa8 {although after} 19. a4 (19. Nb5 Qb6 20.
Rxc7 $2 Ra5 21. Rc5 Nf5) 19... c6 20. a5 {[%csl Rb7] White will try to trade
the a5- and b7-pawns anyway.}) 19. Qxb7 Rxa3 20. Rxa3 Qxa3 {[%csl Rc6]} 21. Ne2
g6 22. g3 h5 23. h4 Qd6 24. Nf4 Bh6 25. Ne2 {White doesn't hurry as Black has
no counterplay or possibility to strengthen his defence.} Bg7 26. Rb1 Bf6 27.
Nf4 Kg7 28. Qa7 Rd7 29. Qa6 Rd8 30. Kg2 Rd7 31. Bd1 Rc7 32. Rb8 Kh7 33. Bc2 Kg7
34. Bd1 Kh7 35. Ra8 Qd7 36. Qd3 Kh6 37. Qa3 Rc8 38. Ra7 Rc7 39. Ra8 Rc8 40. Ra6
Rc7 41. Qc5 Qc8 42. Qd6 Kg7 43. Qa3 Qf5 44. Qd3 Qd7 $4 {[%mdl 8192] As usually
happens, Black, tired of difficult defence, commits a blunder. However,} (44...
Qxd3 45. Nxd3 {offers him few chances to survive.}) 45. Bxh5 {The rest is
clear, especially as the black king is now compromised, too.} Nf5 46. Bd1 Rb7
47. Qc2 Ne7 48. Nd3 Qc7 49. h5 Ra7 50. Rxa7 Qxa7 51. hxg6 fxg6 52. Nf4 Qd7 53.
Be2 Qd6 54. Bg4 Kf7 55. Ne6 Ng8 56. Nc5 Ne7 57. Qb1 Qd8 58. Qb7 1-0

[Event "EU-chT (Men) 17th"]
[Site "Novi Sad"]
[Date "2009.10.26"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Bacrot, Etienne"]
[Black "Aronian, Levon"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D43"]
[WhiteElo "2709"]
[BlackElo "2773"]
[Annotator "Stohl,I"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[EventDate "2009.10.22"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "YUG"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 133"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2009.11.19"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2009.11.19"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "France"]
[BlackTeam "Armenia"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "FRA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "ARM"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 dxc4 7. e4 g5 8. Bg3 b5
9. Be2 ({In this year's heavy-weight AntiMoscow duel between Grischuk and
Aronian Black was finally successful in the most recent encounter:} 9. Ne5 Bb7
(9... h5 10. h4 g4 11. Be2 Bb7 12. O-O Nbd7 13. Qc2 Nxe5 14. Bxe5 Bg7 15. b3
O-O $5 (15... cxb3 16. axb3 O-O 17. Bg3 $1 c5 18. e5 Nd5 19. Nxb5 cxd4 20. Nd6
Rb8 21. Qd2 Nc3 22. Bd3 a5 23. Ra3 $44 {|^, Grischuk,A (2728)-Karjakin,S (2727)
/Sochi/2008/ For more details see the notes to this game in CBM 126.}) 16. bxc4
Nh7 17. Bxg7 Kxg7 18. Rad1 Qxh4 19. cxb5 cxb5 20. Nxb5 Rac8 21. Qd3 Rfd8 $6 (
21... g3 $1 $11) 22. d5 $1 exd5 23. Qd4+ Kg8 24. Qxa7 Qe7 25. e5 Qxe5 $2 (25...
Ra8 $142 26. Qe3 Rxa2 27. Bd3 $36) 26. Qxb7 Rb8 27. Qc7 Qxe2 28. Nd4 $40 {
Grischuk,A (2733)-Aronian,L (2750)/Linares/2009/ For more details see the
notes to this game in CBM 129.}) 10. h4 g4 11. Be2 (11. Nxg4 Nxg4 12. Qxg4 Qxd4
13. Rd1 Qf6 14. a4 h5 15. Qg5 $5 $146 Qxg5 16. hxg5 a6 17. Be5 Rg8 (17... Rh7
18. Bf6 $5 Nd7 19. e5 $44 {[%csl Rh7] צh7}) 18. Rxh5 Nd7 19. Bf4 b4 (19... Nc5
$13) (19... Be7 $5) 20. Nb1 c5 (20... Nc5 21. Bxc4 Nxa4 22. Be5 $14 {/~~}) 21.
f3 Bg7 (21... Bc6 $132) 22. Rh7 Bd4 (22... Bxb2 23. Rxd7 $1 $36) (22... Bc6 $5)
23. Bxc4 Nf8 (23... Bxb2 $2 24. Bxe6 $18) 24. Rh5 Ng6 $2 ({Aronian considered
this a serious mistake, recommending} 24... Bxb2 $13) 25. Bc1 O-O-O (25... Ke7
{/\Rad8 is somewhat better, as Pf7 remains protected. However, after} 26. b3
$14 {White remains on top.}) 26. b3 Ne5 27. Be2 Rd7 28. Rd2 $1 Rgd8 (28... c4
29. bxc4 a5 30. Bb2 $16) 29. Rc2 Ng6 30. Kf1 Kb8 31. g3 $16 {/+-,Aronian,L 
(2786)-Leko,P (2752)/Moscow Tal mem/2009/ White prepares Nd2 by stopping Nf4.
He has a distinct, possibly already decisive advantage, as Black's activity
will gradually evaporate.}) 11... Nbd7 12. Nxd7 ({Less common is} 12. Bxg4 {
, after} Rg8 13. Nxd7 Qxd7 14. Bf3 O-O-O 15. Qd2 $5 Rxg3 16. fxg3 e5 17. O-O-O
Qxd4 ({Black should have possibly gone for the _|_} 17... exd4 $5 18. Qf4 Qe6
19. e5 dxc3 20. Rxd8+ Kxd8 21. Qxf6+ Qxf6 22. exf6 cxb2+ 23. Kxb2 Bd6 24. Re1
Bxg3 25. Re7 Bc8 26. Bxc6 (26. Rxa7 Bf5 $44) 26... b4 $132) 18. g4 $1 Nd7 19.
Qxd4 exd4 20. Rxd4 Bg7 21. Rdd1 Rg8 22. g5 Ne5 23. gxh6 Bxh6+ 24. Kb1 b4 25.
Ne2 c5 26. Rd6 Bg7 27. Rhd1 Kc7 28. Nf4 Rh8 29. h5 Bc6 30. R6d2 $16 {Grischuk,
A (2733)-Aronian,L (2773)/Bilbao/2009/ For more details see the notes to this
game in CBM 132.}) 12... Qxd7 13. Be5 Qe7 {Po} 14. O-O Rg8 15. b3 Nd7 16. Bg3
b4 17. Na4 c3 18. Qd3 h5 $5 $146 (18... e5 19. Rad1 Bg7 20. d5 Qd6 21. Bxg4
cxd5 22. exd5 O-O-O 23. a3 Ba6 24. Qe3 h5 25. Bf5 Kb8 26. Rfe1 $13 {/|^,
Grischuk,A (2717)-Gelfand,B (2733)/Odessa rpd/2007/ White finally won this
game after some hair-raising complications.}) 19. a3 a5 20. axb4 axb4 21. Nc5
$5 (21. Qc4 Ra5 $15) (21. Qe3 Rg6 $36) 21... Rxa1 22. Nxb7 $1 Ne5 $1 23. Rxa1
Nxd3 24. Ra8+ Kd7 25. Bxd3 Qf6 26. Be5 $2 (26. e5 $1 Qh6 27. Ra7 Kc8 28. Na5
$11 {and Black's K can't escape the threatening perpetual.}) 26... Bd6 $1 $19 {
[%csl Gc3] o^c3} 27. Bxf6 Rxa8 28. Kf1 Ra1+ 29. Ke2 Ra2+ {0-1,Grischuk,A (2733)
-Aronian,L (2773)/ECC Ohrid/2009/}) 9... Bb7 10. O-O {This move and the lines
connected with it were recently somewhat unfairly neglected.} ({More attention
concentrated on} 10. h4 g4 11. Ne5 {, transposing into the lines from the
previous note.}) 10... Nbd7 11. Ne5 Bg7 ({Due to the recent developments in
this branch Black should perhaps pay more attention to the less usual, but
playable alternative} 11... h5 12. Nxd7 Qxd7 {, which doesn't lead to such
forcing play as the text-move:} 13. Be5 (13. Qc1 Rg8 14. Rd1 Bb4 15. Qe3 Qe7 (
15... Ng4 16. Bxg4 hxg4 17. a4 Kf8 18. axb5 cxb5 19. d5 a6 20. Qb6 Rg6 21. Bc7
Rc8 22. Qxb7 {Goganov,A (2462)-Yevseev,D (2529)/St Petersburg/2009/} Rxc7 23.
Qxa6 exd5 $132) 16. h3 (16. e5 $5 $14) (16. a4 $5) 16... h4 17. Bh2 Bxc3 18.
bxc3 g4 19. Kh1 c5 20. hxg4 cxd4 21. Rxd4 e5 22. Rdd1 Nxg4 23. Bxg4 Rxg4 24. f3
Rg6 25. a4 a5 26. axb5 a4 27. Qe2 Qc5 28. Rab1 Rd6 29. Rxd6 Qxd6 30. Qxc4 a3
31. Ra1 h3 32. Qe2 hxg2+ 33. Qxg2 O-O-O $1 $44 {Kramnik,V (2769)-Gelfand,B 
(2733)/WCh Mexico City/2007/}) 13... Rh6 14. Qc1 Rg6 15. Rd1 Ng4 16. Bxg4 hxg4
17. b3 cxb3 18. axb3 f6 19. Bg3 Kf7 20. Qe3 a6 21. Rd3 Kg8 22. Rad1 Qf7 23. Qe2
{1/2,Wang Hao (2696)-Predojevic,B (2652)/Sarajevo/2009/} a5 $5 $13 {/=/+}) 12.
Nxd7 ({Topalov's blow} 12. Nxf7 {has almost disappeared from the scene:} Kxf7
13. e5 Nd5 14. Ne4 Qb6 15. Nd6+ Ke7 16. Bg4 Raf8 17. Qc2 Rhg8 18. Rad1 c5 19.
Qg6 Nc7 20. Nxb7 cxd4 21. Qe4 d3 (21... Nd5 $5 22. Nd6 d3 $15) 22. Rxd3 cxd3
23. Qb4+ Nc5 24. Nxc5 a5 25. Qa3 Rd8 $1 26. Nb3+ $2 (26. Nxd3+ b4 27. Qb3 Rc8
$15 {/~~}) 26... b4 27. Qxa5 Qxa5 28. Nxa5 Rd5 {0-1,Bromberger,S (2510)
-Sandipan,C (2585)/Zuerich/2009/}) 12... Nxd7 13. Bd6 a6 14. a4 {This is the
main and most ambitious move.} (14. Re1 Bf8 $1 15. Bxf8 Kxf8 16. b3 cxb3 17.
Qxb3 Kg7 18. a4 Qe7 19. d5 b4 20. dxe6 fxe6 21. Qb2 Kh7 22. e5 Rhf8 (22... c5
$5 $15) 23. Qc2+ Kh8 24. Ne4 c5 25. Nd6 Bd5 26. Bc4 Bxc4 27. Nxc4 Rf4 28. Rad1
Kg7 29. g3 Rd4 30. Rxd4 cxd4 31. Qe4 Rf8 32. Qxd4 Qc5 $15 {Lorenzo de la Riva,
L (2331)-Alsina Leal,D (2529)/Barcelona/2009/}) (14. Bh5 Bf8 15. Bxf8 Rxf8 16.
e5 Qe7 $5 $146 (16... Qb6 17. b3 O-O-O $13 {Kramnik,V (2769)-Anand,V (2792)/
WCh Mexico City/2007/ See the notes in CBM 120.}) 17. Ne4 O-O-O 18. Nd6+ Kb8
19. a4 Nb6 20. axb5 cxb5 21. Bf3 Rxd6 22. exd6 Qxd6 23. Bxb7 Kxb7 24. Qf3+ Nd5
25. Ra5 Qe7 26. Rfa1 Ra8 $15 {Pavlidis,A (2270)-Kotanjian,T (2578)/Kavala/2008/
}) (14. d5 cxd5 15. exd5 Nf8 $15) 14... e5 15. Bg4 (15. d5 c5 16. b4 Qb6 $1 {
is still considered reliable for Black:} (16... cxb4 17. Bxb4 a5 18. Bd6 b4 19.
Nb5 Rc8 20. Bxc4 $1 Rxc4 21. Qb3 $40 Qc8 22. Bc7 Qxc7 23. Nxc7+ Rxc7 24. Rac1
Nc5 25. Qh3 Bc8 26. Qf3 g4 27. Qe3 Bf8 28. f4 gxf3 29. Qxf3 f5 30. Qg3 {
1-0,Gustafsson,J (2606)-Rodshtein,M (2615)/Khanty Mansiysk/2007/}) 17. bxc5
Nxc5 18. Bxc5 Qxc5 19. axb5 axb5 20. Rxa8+ Bxa8 21. Qa1 O-O 22. Qa5 Rb8 23. Rb1
Bf8 24. Nxb5 f5 25. Qa6 Kh8 26. Nc3 Rxb1+ 27. Nxb1 Qb4 28. Qxa8 Qxb1+ 29. Bf1
Qb4 30. exf5 c3 31. Qc8 (31. Qc6 e4 32. h4 g4 33. g3 Qc5 34. Qf6+ Bg7 35. Qd8+
Bf8 36. Qf6+ Bg7 37. Qd8+ Qf8 38. Qc7 Qxf5 39. d6 Bd4 40. Qd8+ Kg7 {1/2,
Alekseev,E (2716)-Bareev,E (2653)/Khanty Mansiysk/2007/}) 31... e4 32. d6 Qxd6
33. Qxc3+ Bg7 34. Qc8+ Kh7 35. g3 Qd4 36. Qe8 Qe5 37. Qg6+ Kh8 38. Kg2 Qe7 39.
Kh3 e3 40. fxe3 Qxe3 $11 {[%csl Rf1,Gg7] Kramnik,V (2799)-Karjakin,S (2732)/
Nice blindfold rpd/2008/ The ^- are a sufficiently strong drawing factor to
hold this _|_ for Black.}) ({Interesting, but hardly conclusive is Kramnik's
alternative idea} 15. Re1 $5 Qf6 $5 (15... exd4 $6 16. e5 $1 {/\} dxc3 17. Bh5
Nf8 18. Qf3 Qd7 19. e6 Nxe6 20. Rxe6+ $1 Qxe6 21. Bxf7+ $1 Qxf7 22. Re1+ $18) (
15... Qb6 16. Bg4 $1 {/\} Qxd4 17. Bxd7+ Kxd7 18. Qh5 $1 Kxd6 19. Qxf7 $40) 16.
Ba3 Bf8 17. Bg4 Rd8 18. axb5 axb5 (18... cxb5 19. Nd5 $16) 19. Bxf8 Kxf8 20.
Bxd7 (20. Ra7 exd4 $5 (20... Nc5 $2 21. dxc5 Rxd1 22. Rxd1 $18) (20... h5 $13)
21. Rxb7 Ne5 $44) 20... Rxd7 $1 (20... exd4 21. e5 Qe7 22. e6 dxc3 23. Qd4 $16)
21. dxe5 Qe6 22. Qh5 Qxe5 23. f4 $5 Qxf4 (23... Qe7 $13) (23... Qc5+ 24. Kh1
Qf2 $13 {Kramnik}) 24. Rf1 Qe5 25. Rf5 Qe6 26. Raf1 Kg7 $2 (26... Rh7 27. e5
$44) 27. Ne2 $1 Rf8 28. Ng3 c5 $2 (28... Qg6 $142 $8 29. Qg4 Rd6 30. Nh5+ Kg8
31. Rf6 Rxf6 32. Rxf6 Qh7 33. Rd6 $1 $40) 29. Rf6 Qxf6 30. Rxf6 Kxf6 31. Qxh6+
Ke7 32. Nf5+ Ke8 33. Nd6+ Ke7 34. e5 Rg8 35. Qf6+ Kf8 36. e6 {1-0,Kramnik,V 
(2759)-Leko,P (2751)/Nice rpd blindfold/2009/}) 15... exd4 16. e5 c5 17. f4 $5
$146 {[%cal Gf1f8,Ge1e8][%mdl 8] A new idea, White would like to open both the
<->e and f against Black's K. Bacrot prepared this novelty already against
Carlsen in Dortmund 2009, but had to face a Botvinnik (5...dxc4) instead. Now
Aronian became the victim, Bacrot in a subsequent interview mentioned a look
of surprise in his opponent's face after the text-move. Other continuations
lack the shock value, but even here White subsequently came up with a
dangerous new idea:} (17. Bf3 Nxe5 $1 (17... Ra7 $2 18. Bxb7 Rxb7 19. Ne4 Nxe5
20. axb5 axb5 21. f4 gxf4 22. Qh5 Rb6 23. Bxe5 Qd5 24. Rxf4 Rg6 25. Nd6+ Rxd6
26. Rxf7 Bxe5 27. Rb7+ Kf8 28. Ra8+ {1-0,Iljin,A (2538)-Nepomniachtchi,I (2602)
/EU-ch Dresden/2007/ For more details see the notes to this game in CBM 118.})
(17... Bxf3 $2 18. Qxf3 Nxe5 19. Qd5 dxc3 20. Rfe1 cxb2 21. Rad1 b1=Q 22. Rxb1
Rc8 23. axb5 axb5 24. Rbd1 Qd7 25. Rxe5+ $18 {Kuljasevic,D (2464)-Zhao Jun 
(2552)/Richardson/2007/}) 18. Bxb7 Qxd6 19. Bxa8 O-O 20. Ne4 (20. Bf3 Qe7 (
20... Nxf3+ $142 21. gxf3 b4 22. Ne4 Qd5 $36) 21. Nd5 Qd7 22. axb5 axb5 23. Ra6
f5 24. h3 (24. Nb6 $5) 24... d3 25. Re1 Re8 26. Nb6 $2 (26. Kf1 $1 $14) 26...
Nxf3+ 27. gxf3 Rxe1+ 28. Qxe1 d2 $17 {Pantsulaia,L (2607)-Babuiian,L (2415)/
Istanbul/2008/}) 20... Qc7 21. axb5 Rxa8 22. f4 gxf4 23. Qh5 Ra7 (23... Qb6 $5
$15) 24. Rxa6 Rxa6 25. bxa6 Qc6 26. Qf5 Qxa6 27. Rxf4 Qg6 28. Nxc5 d3 29. Ne4
Qxf5 30. Rxf5 Ng4 31. Rb5 $11 {Deep Junior-Deep Fritz/Elista comp m/2007/}) ({
More promising seems to be} 17. Re1 Nxe5 18. Bxe5 O-O 19. Bxg7 Kxg7 20. Ne2 f5
21. Bh5 f4 {But White can deviate earlier with} 22. Nxd4 $1 $146 (22. b4 {
However, stronger is the yet untested} d3 $1 (22... cxb3 23. Qxb3 Qd5 24. Qh3
Bc8 25. Nc3 dxc3 26. Qxc3+ Qd4 27. Qf3 Ra7 (27... Rb8 28. Qc6 Bf5 (28... Kg8
29. Rad1 Qg7 30. Re8 Rxe8 31. Qxe8+ Qf8 32. Bf7+ Kg7 33. Qe5+ Kxf7 34. Qxb8 $16
{Kramnik}) 29. Rad1 Qc3 30. h3 $40) 28. axb5 Qf6 (28... Bb7 29. Qe2 Bd5 30.
Rad1 f3 31. Rxd4 fxe2 32. Rxd5 $18 {Munkhchuluun,T (2042)-Lhamsuren,U (2038)/
MGL-ch Ulaanbaatar/2009/}) (28... Rf6 29. Rad1 Qc4 30. Rd8 $40 {Kramnik}) 29.
Qa3 Qb6 30. Qc3+ Kg8 31. Re5 Qf6 32. Qxc5 Rd7 33. h4 gxh4 {Kramnik,V (2799)
-Aronian,L (2739)/Wijk aan Zee/2008/} 34. bxa6 $1 Bxa6 35. Bg4 Rd6 36. Rae1 $18
{Kramnik}) 23. bxc5 b4 $13 {Anand} (23... d2 $5 24. Rf1 f3 25. gxf3 Qd3 $44))
22... cxd4 (22... Qxd4 $2 23. Re7+ $18) 23. Re6 Bc8 (23... Rf6 24. Qe1 {
guarantees White at least a draw and he can fight for more.}) 24. Rg6+ Kh7 25.
axb5 Rf6 26. Rxf6 (26. Qe2 $5) 26... Qxf6 27. Qc2+ Bf5 28. Qxc4 Rc8 29. Qd5
axb5 30. h3 Kh8 (30... Rc7 $5 31. Ra8 Be6 32. Qxb5 Bc4 33. Qa5 $14) 31. Qxb5
Rf8 32. Ra6 Qg7 33. Rd6 d3 34. Qb6 Qe5 (34... Kh7 35. Bg4 $36) 35. Bg6 d2 36.
Bxf5 Qxf5 37. Qd4+ Kh7 38. Qxd2 $16 {/+-,Anand,V-Leko,P/Moscow Tal mem/2009/})
17... dxc3 {White's last move prevented Nxe5, thus enhancing the potential
effect of the ideas/threats, indicated in the above note (axb5, e6, Re1, Bf3
etc.). Although it's a piece sacrifice (Black has time to take the offered N),
the question is of he can't afford to play even} (17... gxf4 $5 {/\ with the
analoguous idea} 18. Bf3 (18. Rxf4 Nxe5 $17) (18. Re1 Nxe5 19. Bxe5 O-O $17 {/\
} 20. Bxg7 Kxg7 21. Ne2 d3 $1 $19 {and the N can't go to g3.}) (18. e6 Nf6 $19)
18... Nxe5 19. Bxb7 Qxd6 20. Bxa8 O-O 21. Ne4 (21. Be4 b4 $36) 21... Qb6 22.
Bd5 Rd8 $15) 18. bxc3 Bf8 {A natural reaction, Black forst of all challenges
the monster Bd6.} (18... gxf4 $6 {already runs into} 19. e6 Nf6 20. Bh5 Nxh5
21. Qxh5 Qxd6 22. Qxf7+ Kd8 23. Qxg7 Re8 24. Qxb7 $36) (18... Nf8 19. f5 $44)
19. Qe2 {White calmly continues his development, as more direct continuations
are inadequate:} (19. e6 Nf6 20. Be5 Qxd1 21. Bxd1 Rg8 22. Bxf6 gxf4 $17) (19.
fxg5 Bxd6 20. exd6 (20. Qxd6 Nb6 21. Qxc5 Qd5 22. Qf2 Qxg2+ $5 23. Qxg2 Bxg2
24. Kxg2 Nxa4 $17) 20... O-O $1 21. gxh6 Ne5 22. Rf5 f6 $15) 19... Bxd6 {
Another logical and human moves, which is consistent with 18...Bf8. Although
now White's initiatiative gives him at least a draw, other tries, initially
favoured by the computer, are connected with serious practical risk,
especially for the defence.} (19... h5 20. Bxh5 Rh7 21. Rad1 Bxd6 22. Rxd6 $5 (
22. exd6+ Kf8 23. Bg4 Kg8 $15) 22... Rxh5 (22... Qe7 23. Rfd1 $16) (22... Qc7
23. Re6+ $5 Kf8 (23... Kd8 24. Rd6 $40) 24. fxg5 $40) 23. Qxh5 Qe7 24. Qxg5
Qxg5 25. fxg5 b4 (25... Nf8 26. Rb6) 26. e6 $14) (19... Nb6 20. fxg5 (20. Rad1
$5 Be7 {/\0-0~~}) 20... Qxg5 21. Rf5 Qg7 (21... Qh4 22. g3 Qd8 23. Bh5 $40) 22.
Bf3 (22. Raf1 Bd5 23. Rxf7 $5 Bxf7 24. Rxf7 Qxf7 25. Bh5 $44) 22... Qh7 (22...
Nd5 23. Qd2 Bxd6 24. Bxd5 $44) 23. Bxb7 (23. Rxf7 Kxf7 24. Bxb7 Qd3 25. Qf2+
Kg8 26. Bxa8 Bxd6 27. Rf1 Rh7 28. exd6 Qxd6 $11) 23... Qxf5 24. Bxa8 Nxa8 25.
axb5 $44 {|^}) 20. exd6+ Kf8 21. fxg5 hxg5 (21... Rh7 22. g6 $5 (22. Be6 Qxg5 (
22... hxg5 $5 23. Qc2 {-21...hg5}) 23. Rf5 (23. Bxd7 Rg7 24. Rf2 Rd8 $15) 23...
Qd8 24. Raf1 f6 25. Qh5 $44) 22... Rg7 23. gxf7 Nf6 (23... Bxg2 24. Kxg2 h5 25.
Qe6 Rxg4+ 26. Kh1 $18) 24. Bf3 Bxf3 25. Qxf3 Rxf7 26. axb5 $44) 22. Be6 Rh7 (
22... Nf6 $143 $6 23. Rxf6 Qxf6 24. Rf1 Qg6 (24... Rh6 25. Rxf6 Rxf6 26. Qh5
$18) 25. Rxf7+ Qxf7 26. Bxf7 Kxf7 27. Qe7+ Kg6 28. Qxb7 $16 {With his exposed
K and weak P Black is fighting for his life in the resulting _|_.}) 23. Qc2 Kg8
$2 {[%mdl 8192] This fails tactically, allowing Bacrot to demonstrate a forced
win.} (23... Nf6 $2 24. Rxf6 Qxf6 25. Qxh7 $40 {/+-}) ({The only correct
defence was} 23... Rg7 $142 $1 24. Qf5 $142 (24. Bxf7 Rxf7 25. Qh7 Rf4 $1 (
25... Nf6 26. Qh8+ Ng8 27. Rxf7+ Kxf7 28. Qh7+ Ke6 29. Qxb7 $44) (25... Rf6 26.
Rae1 (26. Rfe1 Rxd6 27. Qh8+ Kf7 28. Qh7+ $11) 26... Be4 27. Qxe4 Kg7 28. Rf5
$5 Rxd6 29. Rf7+ Kxf7 30. Qh7+ Kf8 31. Qh8+ $11) 26. h4 $5 (26. g3 Qf6 $1 27.
gxf4 gxf4 28. Rf2 Re8 $1 29. Qxd7 Qg5+ 30. Kf1 Be4 $19) 26... Nf6 27. Qxb7 Rb8
$15) 24... Nf6 (24... f6 $2 25. Qh3 $18) 25. Qxf6 Qxf6 26. Rxf6 Rd8 (26... Ke8
$6 27. Bf5 $14 {|^}) 27. Raf1 (27. Bf5 b4 $11 {now already gives Black
sufficient <=>.}) 27... Rxd6 28. Rxf7+ Rxf7 29. Rxf7+ Ke8 30. Rxb7 Rxe6 31.
axb5 axb5 32. Rxb5 Re5 33. Kf2 $11 {/+/= White has a slightly better R _|_,
but the most probable result is a draw. I can only speculate if Aronian wanted
to avoid this endgame, or what he overlooked in the final pahse of the game...}
) 24. Rxf7 $1 Rxf7 25. Rf1 $1 {[%mdl 64] The combination requires accuracy.} (
25. Qg6+ $2 Kh8 26. Qxf7 Qf6 $1 {/\} 27. Qxd7 Rf8 $19) 25... Nf8 (25... Ne5 26.
Rxf7 Nxf7 27. Qg6+ Kh8 28. Qh5+ $1 Kg7 29. Qxf7+ Kh8 (29... Kh6 30. Bf5 Qg8 31.
Qf6+ Kh5 32. g4+ Kh4 33. Qh6#) 30. Bf5 Qg8 31. Qh5+ Kg7 32. Qxg5+ Kh8 (32...
Kf7 33. Qe7#) 33. Qh6+ $18) (25... Nf6 26. Qg6+ Kh8 27. Qxf7 Qf8 28. Qxb7 Rd8
29. Qe7 $1 $18 {wins at least a piece.}) 26. Qf5 $1 {The decisive blow.} (26.
Rxf7 $2 Qxd6 $19) (26. Bxf7+ $6 Kh8 27. Qd1 Kg7 $13) 26... Nxe6 (26... Qd7 27.
Bxf7+ Kh8 28. Qxg5 $18) (26... Kh8 27. Qxf7 Nh7 (27... Nxe6 28. Rf6 {-26...Ne6}
) 28. Qxb7 $18) 27. Qxf7+ Kh8 28. Rf6 Qxf6 (28... Qf8 29. Qxe6 $18) 29. Qxf6+
Ng7 30. d7 $18 {This P will cost Black a whole R, the rest is just agony.} b4
31. cxb4 cxb4 32. d8=Q+ Rxd8 33. Qxd8+ Kh7 34. Qb6 Be4 35. Qxb4 Bd3 36. Qa5 1-0

[Event "FIDE World Cup"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk"]
[Date "2009.11.29"]
[Round "3.5"]
[White "Bacrot, Etienne"]
[Black "Wang, Yue"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C42"]
[WhiteElo "2700"]
[BlackElo "2734"]
[PlyCount "135"]
[EventDate "2009.11.21"]
[EventType "k.o."]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 134"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2010.01.18"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2010.01.18"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Qe2 Qe7 6. d3 Nf6 7. Bg5 Qxe2+ 8.
Bxe2 Be7 9. Nc3 h6 10. Bf4 Nc6 11. O-O-O Be6 12. d4 Nb4 13. a3 Nbd5 14. Nxd5
Nxd5 15. Bd2 Bf6 16. Rhe1 O-O-O 17. h3 Rde8 18. Bd3 Ne7 19. c3 Bd5 20. Be4 b5
21. Bxd5 Nxd5 22. Rxe8+ Rxe8 23. Re1 Rh8 24. Kc2 Kd7 25. b3 Rb8 26. Ra1 c5 27.
dxc5 dxc5 28. a4 c4 29. axb5 cxb3+ 30. Kxb3 Rxb5+ 31. Kc4 Kc6 32. Rxa7 Rc5+ 33.
Kd3 Nxc3 34. Ra6+ Kd7 35. Rxf6 gxf6 36. Bxc3 Ke6 37. Nd4+ Kd7 38. Ne2 f5 39.
Nf4 Rc6 40. Bg7 Ke8 41. Kd4 Ra6 42. Ke5 Ra5+ 43. Kf6 Ra2 44. f3 h5 45. Kg5 Ke7
46. Bf6+ Kf8 47. Kxh5 Kg8 48. Kg5 Ra5 49. h4 Kh7 50. h5 Rb5 51. h6 Ra5 52. Bg7
Rb5 53. Kf6 Kg8 54. Nh3 f4 55. Nxf4 Kh7 56. Nh3 Rb6+ 57. Kf5 Rb5+ 58. Kf4 Kg6
59. Kg3 f6 60. Nf4+ Kf7 61. Kh4 Rb4 62. g3 Ra4 63. Kh3 Ra1 64. Nd5 Ra3 65. f4
f5 66. Ne7 Ra5 67. Be5 Ra6 68. Nxf5 1-0

[Event "ESP-chT CECLUB Honor"]
[Site "Sestao"]
[Date "2010.08.23"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Gashimov, Vugar"]
[Black "Bacrot, Etienne"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C67"]
[WhiteElo "2719"]
[BlackElo "2720"]
[PlyCount "158"]
[EventDate "2010.08.23"]
[EventType "team-tourn"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "ESP"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 138"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2010.09.17"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2010.09.17"]
[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. Nc3 h6 10. b3 Be6 11. Bb2 c5 12. Rad1+ Kc8 13. Nd5 g5 14. c4
b6 15. h3 Kb7 16. Rd2 Ne7 17. Rfd1 Ng6 18. Nf6 Bg7 19. Nh5 Rhg8 20. g4 Bh8 21.
Kh2 a5 22. a4 b5 23. cxb5 Bxb3 24. Rc1 Rgd8 25. Rxc5 Bxa4 26. Bc3 Bd1 27. Nd4
Bxe5+ 28. f4 Bxd4 29. Bxd4 Bb3 30. fxg5 hxg5 31. b6 c6 32. Rxg5 Rd6 33. Bc3
Rxd2+ 34. Bxd2 Kxb6 35. Be3+ Kb7 36. Rc5 a4 37. Rc3 Bd5 38. Bc1 Ne5 39. Nf6 Nc4
40. h4 a3 41. Rb3+ Kc8 42. Rb1 a2 43. Ra1 Be6 44. h5 Ne5 45. Bb2 Nxg4+ 46. Nxg4
Bxg4 47. h6 Bf5 48. Rf1 Ra5 49. Kg3 Rb5 50. Rxf5 Rb3+ 51. Rf3 Rxb2 52. h7 Rh2
53. Kxh2 a1=Q 54. Rxf7 Qh8 55. Kg3 c5 56. Kf4 c4 57. Ke4 Kb8 58. Ke3 Qd8 59.
Ke4 c3 60. Rg7 Qh4+ 61. Kd3 c2 62. Rg8+ Kc7 63. h8=Q Qxh8 64. Rxh8 c1=Q 65. Rh2
Kd6 66. Rc2 Qb1 67. Kc3 Kd5 68. Rd2+ Kc5 69. Rb2 Qe1+ 70. Kb3 Kd4 71. Ka2 Kc3
72. Rb3+ Kc4 73. Rb2 Qd1 74. Rb8 Qc2+ 75. Rb2 Qa4+ 76. Kb1 Kc3 77. Rb6 Qd1+ 78.
Ka2 Qd5+ 79. Kb1 Qf5+ 0-1

[Event "Nanjing Pearl Spring 3rd"]
[Site "Nanjing"]
[Date "2010.10.22"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Gashimov, Vugar"]
[Black "Bacrot, Etienne"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A29"]
[WhiteElo "2719"]
[BlackElo "2716"]
[Annotator "Giri,A"]
[PlyCount "90"]
[EventDate "2010.10.20"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "CHN"]
[EventCategory "21"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 139"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2010.11.18"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2010.11.18"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. c4 {Gashimov decided to avoid the Berlin Wall, but as we will see later, he
didn't manage that entirely...} Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 g6 $5 {The line
that was often employed by Bacrot. Nowadays more popular are d5 and Nd4. The
bishop moves Bb4 and Bc5 are quite popular as well.} 5. d4 {Immediately
blowing up the centre.} (5. Bg2 {is obviously another main try.}) 5... exd4 6.
Nxd4 Bg7 7. Nxc6 dxc6 $5 {It's quite funny, that even though Gashimov tried to
avoid the Berlin, he now gets an endgame with similar pawn structure. But
obviously there are a lot of differences, starting mainly with the fact that
White also has two bishops now, but this time Black is much better in
development.} (7... bxc6 {is obvioulsy an alternative. It's played much more
often.}) 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. Bd2 $5 {A rare old move that was played in 1974 and
1990. The position is too complicated to easily say which move is better and
why.} Be6 10. Rd1 Kc8 11. b3 a5 12. Bg2 (12. Na4 Ne4 $1) 12... a4 $1 {
Interesting pawn exchange. Otherwise White would go Na4, and it seems that he
would enjoy some advantage.} 13. Nxa4 Bxc4 14. Nb6+ $6 {The move looks
interesting and ambitious, but probably objectively it's a mistake.} ({
Something quiet like} 14. Bc3 {would have been safer and stronger, since} Bb5 {
can always be answered by} 15. Nc5 {and thanks to some tricks (Bh3+ and Bxf6,
Nd7) White is not losing the pawn.}) 14... cxb6 15. bxc4 Rxa2 (15... Ng4 $5 {
is probably more precise, but it's of course tempting to take the pawn,
because you never know...}) 16. O-O $6 (16. Bh3+ $1 {would be more clever,
using the little disadvantage of Black's last move. Now after} Kb8 17. O-O Re8
18. Be3 {White has some compensation, though Black still has the pawn.}) 16...
Ng4 $1 17. Bh3 f5 {Now Black has the pawn and the harmony, and that's more
than what White can handle, considering the fine technique of Etienne.} 18. e4
Bd4 $1 19. exf5 gxf5 20. Bxg4 fxg4 21. Bf4 Bc5 22. Ra1 {Trying to get his rook
active, but Bacrot will not let it slip.} Bxf2+ $1 23. Kg2 Rxa1 24. Rxa1 Bd4
25. Ra8+ Kd7 26. Ra7 {That was the idea of White, but now Black gets a very
active king and his pieces are simply too good.} Ke6 27. Rxb7 Kf5 28. h3 h5 29.
hxg4+ hxg4 30. Rc7 c5 31. Rb7 Ra8 32. Rxb6 Ra4 33. Rb8 Ra2+ 34. Kf1 Ke4 35. Bd6
Kd3 36. Rf8 Ra6 37. Be7 Re6 38. Bh4 Kxc4 39. Rf4 Kd3 40. Rxg4 {The g-pawn is
clearly of no importance anymore.} c4 41. Rg8 c3 42. Bg5 c2 43. Rc8 Be3 44.
Bxe3 Rxe3 45. Kf2 Re4 0-1

[Event "Nanjing Pearl Spring 3rd"]
[Site "Nanjing"]
[Date "2010.10.23"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Bacrot, Etienne"]
[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D17"]
[WhiteElo "2716"]
[BlackElo "2800"]
[Annotator "Mueller,Karsten"]
[PlyCount "91"]
[EventDate "2010.10.20"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "CHN"]
[EventCategory "21"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 139"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2010.11.18"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2010.11.18"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. Ne5 e6 7. f3 Bb4 8. e4
Bxe4 9. fxe4 Nxe4 10. Bd2 Qxd4 11. Nxe4 Qxe4+ 12. Qe2 Bxd2+ 13. Kxd2 Qd5+ 14.
Kc3 O-O 15. Qe3 b5 16. Be2 Nd7 17. Nxd7 Qxd7 18. Rhd1 Qe7 19. Kc2 a5 20. Bf3
Rac8 21. Qe5 g6 22. axb5 cxb5 23. Qxb5 Rc5 24. Qd7 Qg5 25. Qd4 Rfc8 26. Ra3 Rb5
27. Rd2 Rb4 28. Kd1 Rcb8 29. Ke2 Qb5 30. Ke1 Rxb2 31. Rxb2 Qxb2 32. Qxb2 Rxb2
33. Rxa5 c3 34. Rc5 Rb1+ 35. Ke2 Rc1 36. Kd3 Kg7 37. Rxc3 Rxc3+ 38. Kxc3 f5 39.
Kd4 Kf6 40. Bd1 h5 41. Bf3 h4 42. Be2 {The wrong outside pawn. Normally an
extra piece will win fairly easily in an endgame, but that may not be the case
if the attacker has very few pawns. If one of them is, in addition, a "wrong
colored outside pawn" then it can easily become impossible:} g5 $2 {After this
the path of the black king to the kingside is blocked and the extra pawn can
repeatedly use the sharp endgame weapon of zugzwang to win the day.} (42... e5+
{on the other hand keeps all options open and draws:} 43. Kd5 (43. Ke3 g5 44.
Ba6 (44. h3 e4 45. Kd4 g4 46. hxg4 fxg4 47. Bxg4 Kg5 48. Bh3 Kf4 $11 {and the
black counterplay is sufficient to draw.}) 44... f4+ 45. Kf3 e4+ 46. Kxe4 h3
47. gxh3 Kg7 $11) 43... e4 (43... h3 $2 {would be premature:} 44. g3 f4 45. g4
(45. Ke4 Kg5 46. Bf3 $18 {wins prosaically}) 45... Kg5 46. Kxe5 Kh4 $5 {
Black sets a clever little stalemate trap, which can, however, be circumvented.
} 47. Bf3 (47. Kxf4 $2 g5+ 48. Kf5 {patt}) 47... g5 48. Bd1 f3 49. Ke4 f2 (
49... Kxg4 50. Bxf3+ Kh4 51. Be2 g4 52. Kf4 Kh5 53. Bb5 $18) 50. Be2 f1=Q 51.
Bxf1 Kxg4 52. Bb5 Kh5 53. Be8+ Kh6 54. Kf5 {and in this constellation White
can win in spite of the wrong colored bishop:} Kh7 55. Kf6 Kh8 56. Bg6 Kg8 57.
Bd3 Kh8 58. Kf7 g4 59. Be4 g3 60. hxg3 $18) 44. Bd1 Kg5 $1 {The king uses this
route to either convert the white g-pawn into a wrong-colored h-pawn, or to
eliminate it altogether:} 45. Ke5 f4 46. Kxe4 ({Even after} 46. h3 f3 47. gxf3
exf3 48. Bxf3 Kh6 {White cannot gain anything from his outside pawn, e.g.} 49.
Kf6 Kh7 50. Bd5 Kh8 $11) 46... h3 47. g3 (47. gxh3 Kh4 48. Bg4 f3 49. Kxf3 g5
50. Bf5 Kh5 $11) 47... fxg3 48. hxg3 h2 49. Bf3 h1=Q 50. Bxh1 Kg4 $11) 43. Ba6
$1 g4 ({Now the white king can cut off Black's path after} 43... e5+ 44. Kd5 e4
45. Bf1 g4 46. Kd4 Kg5 47. Ke3 h3 48. g3 f4+ 49. gxf4+ Kf5 50. Ba6 g3 51. Bc8+
Kf6 52. Bxh3 gxh2 53. Bg2 $18) 44. Bb7 $1 e5+ (44... f4 45. Ke4 f3 46. g3 $18)
45. Kd5 $1 f4 (45... e4 46. Kd4 h3 47. g3 f4 48. Kxe4 $18) 46. Ke4 {and Anand
resigned because in the end all of his pawns will fall, e.g.} (46. Ke4 h3 47.
g3 fxg3 (47... f3 48. Bc8 f2 49. Ba6 Ke6 50. Ke3 $18) 48. hxg3 h2 49. Ke3 $18)
1-0

[Event "Nanjing Pearl Spring 3rd"]
[Site "Nanjing"]
[Date "2010.10.24"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Wang, Yue"]
[Black "Bacrot, Etienne"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E15"]
[WhiteElo "2732"]
[BlackElo "2716"]
[Annotator "Moradiabadi,E"]
[PlyCount "86"]
[EventDate "2010.10.20"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "CHN"]
[EventCategory "21"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 139"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2010.11.18"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2010.11.18"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{Contrary to the previous game, this one *is* a theoretical battle which will
significantly advance the line's theory. The French champion managed to keep
his cool and racked up his third consecutive win.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6
4. g3 Ba6 5. Qa4 {Due to Kramnik's stylish victory this line has been becoming
more and more popular.} Bb7 6. Bg2 c5 7. dxc5 bxc5 8. O-O Be7 9. Nc3 O-O 10.
Rd1 Qb6 11. Bf4 Rd8 12. Rd2 d6 13. Rad1 h6 14. Qb5 (14. Qb3 {is used to be the
main line in this position but recent results among top players have been
"sterile" for such rich ground.}) 14... Ne8 15. e4 g5 16. Be3 Nd7 17. h4 g4 18.
Ne1 Kg7 $146 {A very normal move.} (18... Qxb5 19. cxb5 Bf8 20. Nc2 Ne5 21. Na3
Rdc8 22. Bf4 Bg7 23. Bxe5 Bxe5 24. Nc4 Bd4 25. Ne2 e5 26. a4 Kf8 27. Rc2 Rc7
28. Na5 {1-0 Navara,D (2722)-Leko,P (2724)/ Khanty-Mansiysk RUS 2010 (53)}) 19.
Bf4 $6 ({A complicated position would have arisen after} 19. Qa4 Bc6 20. Qc2 {
where the caveats of ...Kg7 become apparent. White could keep the queens on
the board and black's king shelter would be attacked with even heavier
artillery!}) 19... Bc6 20. Qxb6 axb6 21. Nc2 Ne5 22. Ne3 Nf3+ $1 {One might
consider this move as natural but I personally cannot avoid praising it. The
knight on e5 looks great and one might not find it necessary to trade it for
the "blind" bishop on g2, however, the bishop on c6 will then have no one to
challenge it.} 23. Bxf3 gxf3 24. h5 Bf6 25. Ng4 Bxc3 26. bxc3 Bxe4 27. Bxh6+
Kh7 28. Bg5 Rd7 29. Bf4 f6 30. Kh2 $4 {A terrible mistake! White loses a piece!
} (30. Bxd6 Rad8 31. Bf4 Rxd2 32. Rxd2 Rxd2 33. Bxd2 Bd3 34. a3 Bxc4 35. Kh2 e5
36. Kh3 Be6 37. Kh4 {In spite of practical difficulties the position is about
even.}) 30... e5 31. Nxe5 {A disastrous try. White is hopeless and Bacrot has
not difficulty converting his advantage.} fxe5 32. Bxe5 Bf5 33. Bxd6 Rad8 34.
Bf4 Rxd2 35. Rxd2 Rxd2 36. Bxd2 Nd6 37. Bf4 Nxc4 38. g4 Bxg4 39. h6 Be6 40. Kg3
Bd5 41. Kg4 Nb2 42. a3 Nd1 43. c4 Nxf2+ {A fine victory for the French warrior
and a very bad day for the Chinese GM.} 0-1

[Event "EU-Cup 27th"]
[Site "Rogaska Slatina"]
[Date "2011.10.01"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Bacrot, Etienne"]
[Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D87"]
[WhiteElo "2705"]
[BlackElo "2746"]
[Annotator "Mikhalchishin,A"]
[PlyCount "62"]
[EventDate "2011.09.25"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "SLO"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 145"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2011.11.11"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2011.11.11"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Baden-Baden"]
[BlackTeam "SOCAR"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "GER"]
[BlackTeamCountry "AZE"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 c5 8.
Ne2 Nc6 9. Be3 O-O 10. O-O Qc7 11. Rc1 b6 12. Qd2 Rd8 ({The classical
treatment of this structure was tried in another game:} 12... Bb7 13. Bh6 Rad8
14. Bxg7 Kxg7 15. Qe3 e5 16. Bd5 Na5 17. Bxb7 Qxb7 18. f4 exd4 19. cxd4 Rfe8
20. e5 cxd4 21. Nxd4 Qd5 22. Nf3 Nc4 23. Qf2 h6 24. Rfe1 Rd7 25. h4 b5 26. h5
Qe6 {0-1 Korobov,A (2671)-Nepomniachtchi,I (2718)/Rogaska Slatina 2011. White
kept some advantage in a sharp position.}) 13. Bh6 {A modern and direct
approach, in former times White played completely differently:} (13. Bf4 $5 Qd7
(13... Qb7 14. Bh6 $1 $40) 14. d5 (14. Bb5 a6 15. Bxc6 Qxc6 16. d5 Qd7 17. c4
e6 $13) 14... Na5 (14... Ne5 $5) 15. Bd3 c4 16. Bc2 e6 (16... e5 $5 17. Bh6 f6
18. Bxg7 Kxg7 19. f4 Qe7 $11) 17. Rcd1 exd5 18. exd5 (18. Qxd5 Qxd5 19. Rxd5
Be6 $11) 18... Nb7 $5 (18... Bb7 19. Be4 Re8 20. Bf3 Rad8 21. Bg5 $14) 19. Bh6
Bh8 (19... Nd6 20. Bxg7 Kxg7 21. Qd4+ Kg8 22. Rfe1 $14) 20. f4 (20. Nd4 $5 Nd6
$1 $13 (20... Nc5 21. Nf5 $1 $40) (20... Qxd5 21. Nc6 $3 $18)) 20... f5 $8 21.
g4 (21. Bg5 Re8 22. d6 Re6 $1 $15) 21... Nd6 22. Ng3 Qf7 (22... Nf7 23. Bg5 (
23. gxf5 $5 Nxh6 24. fxg6 $40) 23... Nxg5 24. fxg5 $14) 23. gxf5 (23. Rde1 $5)
23... Bxf5 $1 (23... gxf5 24. Kf2 $1 $14) 24. Nxf5 Nxf5 25. Bxf5 (25. Bg5 Rd6
$1) 25... Qxf5 {1/2 Lukacs,P-Mikhalchishin,A/Lviv,ECC 1984. With very good
play for Black.}) (13. Qb2 {appears very unenergetic:} Na5 14. Bd3 Bb7 15. Rfd1
Rac8 16. f3 e6 17. Bg5 Rd7 18. h4 $2 {Now this is too aggressive.} ({The
correct mve was} 18. Bb5) 18... h6 19. Be3 Qd8 20. h5 g5 21. Qb1 $2 (21. Bb5)
21... cxd4 22. cxd4 Rxc1 23. Qxc1 Nc6 24. Bb5 Bxd4 {0-1 Rodshtein,M (2366)
-Howell,D (2332)/Kirishi 2004. Black started to win material.}) 13... Qd6 $6 {
A new approach, but a rather strange one - classical Grünfeld players would
not even consider it!} ({Here a few different moves seem to be logical:} 13...
Rb8 14. Bxg7 Kxg7 15. Qe3 e5 16. Qg3 cxd4 17. cxd4 Qd6 18. d5 Na5 19. Bd3 Rb7
20. f4 exf4 21. Nxf4 Kg8 22. Qg5 {1/2 Ponomariov,R (2739)-Aronian,L (2786)/
Moscow RUS 2009. White created serious threats.}) (13... Bb7 14. Bxg7 Kxg7 15.
Qe3 {Here other options are very, very serious} (15. f4 cxd4 16. cxd4 Qd6 17.
e5 Qb4 18. Qe3 Na5 19. Bd3 Rac8 20. f5 $1 $16 Rxc1 21. Qxc1 Nc6 22. a3 {
1-0 Zaitsev,I-Plachetka,J/Dubna 1979. With better play for White.}) (15. h4
Rac8 16. Qe3 Qd7 17. Qf4 e5 18. dxe5 Qe7 19. Bd5 Nxe5 20. Bxb7 Nd3 21. Qe3 Qxb7
22. Rcd1 Nb2 23. Rxd8 Rxd8 24. Nf4 Nc4 $2 (24... Re8 $11) 25. Nh5+ $1 Kg8 (
25... gxh5 26. Qg5+) 26. Qh6 {1-0 Goormachtigh,J (2282)-Coenen,M (2325)/Ghent
2011. With a winning attack.}) 15... Rac8 16. f4 cxd4 17. cxd4 Qd6 18. e5 Qb4
19. a3 $1 Qa4 20. f5 $1 Nxd4 21. Nxd4 Rxc4 22. Ne6+ $1 {1/2 Vaganian,R-Gutman,
L/Kaliningrad 1972. With an attack.}) ({It looks logical to start a classical
setup:} 13... e6 14. Bxg7 (14. Bg5 Re8 15. Bf4 Qd7 $1 16. dxc5 Qxd2 17. Bxd2
Ne5 $1 18. Bb5 Bd7 19. Bxd7 Nxd7 20. cxb6 axb6 21. Rc2 Ra4 $1 $44 {Farago,
I-Lechtynsky,J/Polanica Zdroj 1983}) 14... Kxg7 15. f4 f5 16. Qe3 Na5 17. Bd3
c4 18. Bb1 Qf7 19. g4 Re8 20. Qh3 Nc6 {1-0 Belozerov,A (2541)-Nepomniachtchi,I
(2306)/Tomsk RUS 2002. Funny - a big disaster for young Ian!}) (13... Ne5 $6 {
is too tricky:} 14. Bd5 Rxd5 15. exd5 Nc4 16. Qf4) ({The bishop retreat} 13...
Bh8 {is completely wrong:} 14. f4 Na5 15. Bd3 Bg4 16. d5 c4 17. Bb1 e5 18. Ng3
exf4 19. Bxf4 {1-0 Svetushkin,D (2593)-Van Eijk,S (2355)/Budva 2009 '1-0
Svetushkin,D (2593)-Van Eijk,S (2355)/Budva 2009}) 14. Bxg7 Kxg7 15. Qe3 Na5 (
15... cxd4 {was wrong:} 16. cxd4 Nxd4 17. Nxd4 Qxd4 18. Bd5 Qxe3 19. fxe3 {
with an unpleasant double attack.}) 16. Bd3 cxd4 17. cxd4 e5 $2 ({The standard
} 17... Bb7 {was much more logical.}) 18. f4 $1 {Direct attack - who cares
about pawns? White obtains a long standing initiative.} exd4 19. Qg3 Kh8 20.
Qh4 Rg8 ({After the natural} 20... Bb7 {White would try to open the f-file:}
21. f5) 21. e5 Qd8 ({After another retreat} 21... Qd5 22. Rc7 Bb7 23. Qf6+ Rg7
24. Rf2 Qd8 25. Rxf7 Qxf6 26. Rxf6 Rd8 27. Ng3 {White would obtain a clearly
better endgame.}) 22. Qf2 $1 {Now White gets back the central pawn, and his
powerful centre will prevent the black pieces from accessing the central
squares.} Qe7 23. Nxd4 Rd8 24. Be4 Rb8 ({Or} 24... Ba6 25. Bxa8 Bxf1 26. Kxf1
Rxa8 27. Nb5 {and the knight comes to d6.}) 25. Rfe1 Bb7 26. Bxb7 Rxb7 27. f5
$1 ({The logical control of the d6-square} 27. Nb5 {was very good, but White
wants to attack directly. And the knight comes decisevely to d6 from the other
side.}) 27... gxf5 28. Nxf5 Qe6 29. Nd6 Rbd7 30. Rf1 Rf8 31. Qb2 Re7 1-0

[Event "Poikovsky Karpov 12th"]
[Site "Poikovsky"]
[Date "2011.10.08"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Bacrot, Etienne"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D87"]
[WhiteElo "2705"]
[BlackElo "2712"]
[PlyCount "155"]
[EventDate "2011.10.04"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[EventCategory "19"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 145"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2011.11.11"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2011.11.11"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 c5 8.
Ne2 Nc6 9. Be3 O-O 10. O-O Na5 11. Bd3 b6 12. Qd2 e5 13. Bh6 exd4 14. Bxg7 Kxg7
15. cxd4 cxd4 16. Rac1 Nb7 17. Bc4 Nc5 18. Bd5 Rb8 19. Qxd4+ Qf6 20. Qe3 Be6
21. Nc3 Rbd8 22. Rfd1 Rfe8 23. Rd4 Qe5 24. f4 Qf6 25. Rcd1 Bxd5 26. e5 Qf5 27.
Nxd5 Ne6 28. R4d2 h5 29. Nc7 Nxc7 30. Rxd8 Rxd8 31. Rxd8 Qb1+ 32. Kf2 Ne6 33.
Rd2 h4 34. h3 Qf5 35. g4 hxg3+ 36. Kxg3 b5 37. Re2 a5 38. Qe4 Qh5 39. Rf2 Nc5
40. Qd5 Ne6 41. Qe4 Nc5 42. Qc2 Ne6 43. f5 Nd4 44. f6+ Kg8 45. Qe4 Ne6 46. Rc2
Qg5+ 47. Kh2 b4 48. Rc8+ Kh7 49. Rc4 Kg8 50. Qa8+ Kh7 51. Qd5 Kg8 52. Rg4 Qh6
53. Qa8+ Kh7 54. Qe4 Qd2+ 55. Qg2 Qh6 56. Qc2 Qh5 57. Qe4 Ng5 58. Qe3 Ne6 59.
Kg3 Kg8 60. Kg2 Kh7 61. Qe4 Kg8 62. Qe3 Qf5 63. Qe4 Qh5 64. Qa8+ Kh7 65. Qa7
Kg8 66. Qxa5 Ng5 67. Qd8+ Kh7 68. Qd3 Ne6 69. Qe3 Kg8 70. Rxb4 Qd1 71. Rb2 Qd5+
72. Kh2 g5 73. Rg2 Kh7 74. Rd2 Qa5 75. Qe4+ Kh6 76. Rc2 Qa3 77. h4 Kh5 78. Rg2
1-0

[Event "Poikovsky Karpov 12th"]
[Site "Poikovsky"]
[Date "2011.10.13"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Efimenko, Zahar"]
[Black "Bacrot, Etienne"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C67"]
[WhiteElo "2703"]
[BlackElo "2705"]
[PlyCount "114"]
[EventDate "2011.10.04"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[EventCategory "19"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 145"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2011.11.11"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2011.11.11"]
[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. Nc3 Ke8 10. h3 h5 11. Bf4 Be7 12. Rad1 Be6 13. Ng5 Rh6 14. g3
Bxg5 15. Bxg5 Rg6 16. h4 f6 17. exf6 gxf6 18. Bf4 Nxh4 19. f3 Rg7 20. Ne4 Kf7
21. Kf2 Nxf3 22. Kxf3 Bg4+ 23. Kf2 Bxd1 24. Rxd1 Kg6 25. Nc5 Re7 26. Kf3 Rae8
27. Bd2 Kf7 28. Nd3 b6 29. Re1 Rxe1 30. Bxe1 c5 31. Bc3 Rh8 32. Be1 Re8 33. b3
c6 34. Bf2 Rd8 35. Be3 Rh8 36. Bf2 Rd8 37. a4 Rd7 38. Be3 Rd8 39. Nf4 Rd1 40.
Nxh5 c4 41. bxc4 Ra1 42. Ke4 Rxa4 43. Kd3 Ra3+ 44. c3 Ra2 45. Nf4 a5 46. Bxb6
a4 47. Bc5 a3 48. Bb4 Rd2+ 49. Kxd2 a2 50. Bd6 a1=Q 51. c5 Qf1 52. Ne2 Ke6 53.
c4 Kf5 54. Ke3 Kg4 55. Bf4 Qf3+ 56. Kd2 Qf2 57. Be3 Qg2 0-1

[Event "FRA-chT Top 12"]
[Site "Belfort"]
[Date "2012.06.07"]
[Round "8.2"]
[White "Navara, David"]
[Black "Bacrot, Etienne"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D72"]
[WhiteElo "2706"]
[BlackElo "2695"]
[PlyCount "98"]
[EventDate "2012.05.31"]
[EventType "team-tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "FRA"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 148 Extra"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2012.06.22"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2012.06.22"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Mulhouse Philidor"]
[BlackTeam "Marseille Echecs"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "FRA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "FRA"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4 Nb6 7. Ne2 c5 8. d5
e6 9. O-O O-O 10. Nec3 Na6 11. a4 exd5 12. exd5 Nc4 13. Nd2 Ne5 14. Nde4 Bg4
15. f3 Bd7 16. Bg5 f6 17. Bf4 f5 18. Nd6 Nb4 19. Bxe5 Bxe5 20. Nc4 Bd4+ 21. Kh1
f4 22. Ne2 fxg3 23. hxg3 Qg5 24. Nxd4 Qxg3 25. Qe1 Qxe1 26. Rfxe1 cxd4 27. Re7
Rad8 28. Ne5 Bc8 29. Bf1 Rfe8 30. d6 Rxe7 31. dxe7 Re8 32. Rc1 Kg7 33. Bb5 Rxe7
34. Rxc8 Rxe5 35. Rc7+ Kf6 36. Rxb7 Re7 37. Rb8 d3 38. Rd8 Re1+ 39. Kg2 Re2+
40. Kg3 Rxb2 41. Kf4 a6 42. Bc4 Ke7 43. Rh8 d2 44. Rxh7+ Kd6 45. Rh1 Kc5 46.
Be2 Nd5+ 47. Ke4 Nc3+ 48. Kd3 Nxe2 49. Kxe2 d1=Q+ 0-1

[Event "Biel GM 45th"]
[Site "Biel"]
[Date "2012.07.24"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Bacrot, Etienne"]
[Black "Morozevich, Alexander"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D31"]
[WhiteElo "2713"]
[BlackElo "2770"]
[Annotator "Krasenkow,M"]
[PlyCount "49"]
[EventDate "2012.07.23"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "SUI"]
[EventCategory "21"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 150"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2012.09.14"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2012.09.14"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c6 4. e4 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Qxd4 7. Bxb4 Qxe4+
8. Be2 Na6 9. Bd6 Qxg2 10. Qd2 e5 (10... Qxh1 $2 11. O-O-O {[%cal Rd6g3,Re2f3]}
) (10... Nf6 {is the main theoretical continuation - see e.g.
Moiseenko-Pavasovic in CBM 118 with annotations by GM I.Stohl.}) 11. Bxe5 (11.
Bf3 Qg6 12. Bxe5 Be6 13. O-O-O Nf6 14. Ne2 Qf5 $1 15. Qc3 Nb4 $1 16. Qxb4 Qxe5
17. Rhe1 Qc7 {[%cal Yc7e7]} 18. Nd4 O-O-O $17 {0-1 Castilla Leon Salas,C (2126)
-Sengupta,D (2562)/Seville ESP 2012/The Week in Chess 896 (27)}) (11. O-O-O $5
Bf5 (11... Qe4 $1 12. Bxe5 Bf5) 12. Bxe5 (12. Nf3 $1) 12... Ne7 (12... Qe4 $1
13. Bd3 Qxd3 14. Qxd3 Bxd3 15. Bxg7 Nb4 $132) 13. Nf3 f6 14. Rhg1 Qh3 15. Rxg7
fxe5 16. Rxe7+ Kxe7 17. Qd6+ {1-0 Steneskog,P-Eriksson,M (2225)/Linkoping 1996/
EXT 2000}) 11... Bf5 (11... Be6 $143 12. O-O-O) (11... Qxh1 $2 12. O-O-O {
[%cal Rd2d8,Re2f3]}) 12. Bf3 $1 (12. O-O-O Qe4 {- see above.}) 12... Qg6 13.
O-O-O Nc5 14. Qe3 $44 {[%csl Re8] It is very difficult to defend such
positions (though they are theoretically satisfactory) since a minor mistake
can lead to a disaster, which the present game shows. White's margin of error
is much wider here.} Bb1 $1 (14... Ne6 15. Ne2 $40) 15. Rd2 (15. Bd6+ Ne6 16.
Qb3 O-O-O $1 17. Bxc6 Nc5 $1 18. Bxc5 Rxd1+ 19. Qxd1 Qxc6 20. Qg4+ Kb8 $1 21.
Qg3+ Kc8 22. Kxb1 Qxh1 23. Qxg7 Qe4+ 24. Kc1 Qxc4+ 25. Kd1 Qxc5 26. Qxh8 $11)
15... Bxa2 16. Bd6+ (16. Rd6 Nb3+ 17. Kd1 Qb1+ 18. Ke2 Qc2+ 19. Ke1 Ne7 20.
Bxg7 $13) 16... Ne6 17. Be4 Qh6 18. f4 Nf6 19. Nf3 Bxc4 (19... Nxe4 20. Qxe4
O-O-O 21. Ne5 {looks dangerous for Black although, according to the analysis,
he survives after} Rhe8 $1 ({or even} 21... Qf6 22. Nxc6 Rxd6 23. Rxd6 bxc6 24.
Qxc6+ Kb8 25. Qb5+ Ka8) 22. Nxf7 (22. Nxc6 Rxd6 $1 23. Rxd6 Qxf4+ 24. Qxf4 Nxf4
) 22... Nd4 $1 23. Qxd4 Qg6 24. f5 $1 Qxf7 $1 25. Qxa7 Rxd6 26. Qa8+ Kc7 27.
Qa5+ Kb8 28. Rxd6 Qxc4+ 29. Qc3 $11) 20. Re1 O-O-O {Of course, it is not easy
to find a defence like} (20... Nd5 $1 21. Qf2 $1 Rd8 $13) ({or} 20... Bd5 21.
Bf5 Qh5 $1 22. Ng5 O-O-O $1 23. Nxe6 fxe6 24. Bxe6+ Bxe6 25. Qxa7 Rxd6 $1 26.
Rxd6 Bd7 27. Qa8+ Kc7 28. Rxd7+ Nxd7 29. Qxh8 $11) 21. Bxc6 $1 Ba6 $2 {The
first and decisive mistake.} (21... bxc6 {was quite possible. After} 22. Qxa7
Rxd6 $1 {White has nothing better than a perpetual:} 23. Qa8+ Kc7 24. Qa7+) 22.
Ng5 $1 $18 {[%mdl 64]} Nxg5 $2 {This leads to a forced mate but} (22... Rxd6 {
is not enough anymore:} 23. Rxd6 bxc6 24. Nxf7 Qxf4 25. Rxc6+ (25. Qxf4 $143
Nxf4 26. Nxh8 Kc7 27. Nf7 Nd3+ 28. Rxd3 Bxd3) 25... Kb7 26. Rxe6 Rc8+ 27. Kb1
Qf5+ 28. Ka1 Qa5+ 29. Qa3 $18) 23. Bd7+ $1 Kxd7 (23... Rxd7 24. Qc5+ Kd8 25.
Be7+ Ke8 26. Qc8+) (23... Nxd7 24. Qc3+) 24. Qe7+ Kc6 25. Qc7+ {, and mate in
two.} 1-0

[Event "Thessaloniki FIDE GP"]
[Site "Thessaloniki"]
[Date "2013.05.30"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Topalov, Veselin"]
[Black "Bacrot, Etienne"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C65"]
[WhiteElo "2793"]
[BlackElo "2725"]
[PlyCount "92"]
[EventDate "2013.05.22"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "GRE"]
[EventCategory "21"]
[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 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. Qe2 Bd6 7. Nc3 c5 8.
g3 Nd7 9. Nd5 Nb8 10. c3 Nc6 11. Bd2 Be7 12. b4 cxb4 13. cxb4 Bg4 14. Bc3 Bxb4
15. Bxb4 Nxb4 16. Nxb4 Qf6 17. Qb2 Qxf3 18. Qxe5+ Be6 19. O-O O-O 20. Nd5 Bh3
21. Nf4 Bxf1 22. Rxf1 c6 23. h3 Rfe8 24. Qc5 h6 25. Qc2 g5 26. Ng2 Rad8 27. Ne3
Qf6 28. Kg2 Qd4 29. Rd1 Re5 30. Qe2 Ra5 31. h4 gxh4 32. Qg4+ Qg7 33. Qxh4 Qg5
34. Qh3 Rxa2 35. Nf5 h5 36. d4 Kf8 37. Rh1 Qd2 38. Rf1 Qg5 39. Rh1 Ke8 40. Qxh5
Qxh5 41. Rxh5 a5 42. Rh8+ Kd7 43. Rh7 Rf8 44. g4 Re2 45. Kf3 Re1 46. g5 Rg1 0-1

[Event "Biel Breisacher Memorial"]
[Site "Biel"]
[Date "2013.07.23"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Bacrot, Etienne"]
[Black "Ding, Liren"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E92"]
[WhiteElo "2714"]
[BlackElo "2714"]
[PlyCount "99"]
[EventDate "2013.07.22"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "SUI"]
[EventCategory "19"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 156"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2013.09.17"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2013.09.17"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. h3 O-O 6. Be3 e5 7. d5 a5 8. Nf3 Na6
9. g4 Nc5 10. Nd2 c6 11. Be2 Bd7 12. g5 Ne8 13. Nb3 Nxb3 14. Qxb3 a4 15. Qc2 f5
16. h4 f4 17. Bd2 Nc7 18. f3 cxd5 19. cxd5 Qb8 20. b4 Rc8 21. Qd3 Bf8 22. Rb1
Be7 23. b5 Bd8 24. Rb4 Ne8 25. b6 Rc5 26. Qb1 h6 27. gxh6 Kh7 28. Nb5 Kxh6 29.
a3 Kh5 30. Kd1 Bxh4 31. Be1 g5 32. Bf2 Kg6 33. Bxc5 dxc5 34. Rb2 Qd8 35. Nc7
Rc8 36. Bb5 Nd6 37. Bxd7 Qxd7 38. Qc2 c4 39. Rb4 Rh8 40. Ne6 Kf6 41. Qg2 Nf7
42. Qh3 Ke7 43. Qf5 Rc8 44. Ng7 c3 45. Kc2 Rc5 46. Qxd7+ Kxd7 47. Nf5 Nd6 48.
Nxd6 Kxd6 49. Rxa4 Rb5 50. Rb4 1-0

[Event "Biel Breisacher Memorial"]
[Site "Biel"]
[Date "2013.07.26"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Bacrot, Etienne"]
[Black "Rapport, Richard"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D44"]
[WhiteElo "2714"]
[BlackElo "2693"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "2013.07.22"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "SUI"]
[EventCategory "19"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 156"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2013.09.17"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2013.09.17"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 dxc4 6. e4 b5 7. e5 h6 8. Bh4 g5
9. Nxg5 hxg5 10. Bxg5 Nbd7 11. g3 Rg8 12. h4 Rxg5 13. hxg5 Nd5 14. g6 fxg6 15.
Qg4 Qe7 16. Bg2 Kd8 17. Qxg6 Rb8 18. Bxd5 exd5 19. f4 Bg7 20. Qxc6 Rb6 21. Qxd5
Bb7 22. Qg8+ Nf8 23. Nd5 Qd7 24. Nxb6 axb6 25. d5 Qg4 26. Kf2 Qg6 27. Rae1 Bc8
28. Rh4 Bf5 29. Re3 Kc7 30. e6 Bb1 31. f5 Qf6 32. e7 Qxb2+ 33. Kf3 Qc1 34. d6+
Kb7 35. Qd5+ 1-0

[Event "ESP-chT CECLUB Honor"]
[Site "Linares"]
[Date "2013.09.14"]
[Round "7.2"]
[White "Bacrot, Etienne"]
[Black "Bruzon Batista, Lazaro"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D58"]
[WhiteElo "2723"]
[BlackElo "2699"]
[PlyCount "133"]
[EventDate "2013.09.08"]
[EventType "team-tourn"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "ESP"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 156 Extra"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2013.10.22"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2013.10.22"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Taldea Gros Xake"]
[BlackTeam "Equigoma"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "ESP"]
[BlackTeamCountry "ESP"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3 h6 7. Bh4 b6 8. Be2
Bb7 9. Bxf6 Bxf6 10. cxd5 exd5 11. b4 c6 12. O-O Re8 13. Rc1 Nd7 14. Qb3 b5 15.
a4 a6 16. a5 Nf8 17. Nd1 Rc8 18. Nb2 Be7 19. Nd3 Rc7 20. Rc3 Bd6 21. Rfc1 Nd7
22. g3 Qf6 23. Nd2 Qe7 24. Bg4 Nf6 25. Bh3 Bc8 26. Bg2 Bd7 27. Nc5 Bc8 28. Re1
Qd8 29. Qb2 h5 30. h4 Ng4 31. Nf3 g6 32. Rcc1 Rce7 33. Nd3 Bd7 34. Nc5 Bc8 35.
Nd3 Bd7 36. Rc3 Qb8 37. Rec1 Bf5 38. Nf4 Bd7 39. Nd3 Bf5 40. Nf4 Bd7 41. Qb3
Qa8 42. Nd3 Qb8 43. Nf4 Qa8 44. Bh3 Bxf4 45. gxf4 f6 46. Bf1 Kg7 47. Bd3 Qb8
48. Bb1 Kh6 49. Rxc6 Bxc6 50. Qc2 Rg8 51. Qxc6 Rgg7 52. Qxd5 Qe8 53. e4 Rc7 54.
Rc5 Rcd7 55. Qb3 Rgf7 56. Qd3 Rf8 57. d5 Rd6 58. Kg2 Rf7 59. Qc2 Qd7 60. Nd4 f5
61. e5 Rxd5 62. e6 Qb7 63. exf7 Rxd4+ 64. Rc6 Kg7 65. Qc5 Kxf7 66. Ba2+ Ke8 67.
Bd5 1-0

[Event "Paris FIDE GP"]
[Site "Elancourt"]
[Date "2013.09.27"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Giri, Anish"]
[Black "Bacrot, Etienne"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A49"]
[WhiteElo "2737"]
[BlackElo "2723"]
[Annotator "Marin,M"]
[PlyCount "88"]
[EventDate "2013.09.22"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "FRA"]
[EventCategory "20"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 157"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2013.11.12"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2013.11.12"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. Nf3 ({The first time I saw the original queen manoeuvre from this game was
on my first participation in an Interzonal, a quarter of a century ago:} 1. c4
c5 2. g3 g6 3. d4 $5 cxd4 4. Qxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Bg7 6. Bg2 Nc6 7. Qd2 O-O 8. Nh3
$6 Na5 $1 9. Qf4 $5 d6 $15 {Ljubojevic,L (2625)-Adorjan,A (2540) Szirak 1987
CBM 003 [Ftacnik,L] (1/2, 49). I remember that until the end of the tournament
Adorjan was trying to convince Ljubojevic that Black had had an advantage...})
1... Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 c5 5. Nc3 O-O 6. d4 cxd4 7. Qxd4 $5 {
This way of capturing on d4 is typical for the 2...d6 Sicilians. In that case,
...Nb8-c6 can be met with Bb5, gaining time for the development. Here, White
does not have this resource, but the idea looks playable anyway.} (7. Nxd4 {
is played almost automatically.}) 7... Nc6 8. Qh4 Qa5 (8... d6 9. O-O Bg4 10.
Bh6 Bxf3 11. exf3 {is somewhat too simplistic to equalise completely.} Qb6 12.
b3 Qd4 13. Qxd4 Nxd4 14. Bxg7 Kxg7 15. f4 Rab8 16. Rad1 Nc6 17. Rfe1 $14 {
Shengelia,D (2547)-Miroshnichenko,E (2667) Austria 2008 (1/2, 20)}) 9. O-O Qh5
(9... Ne5 10. Nd5 Nxd5 11. cxd5 Nxf3+ 12. Bxf3 Re8 13. d6 exd6 14. Rd1 $14 {
Van Wely,L (2585)-Giardelli,S (2445) Buenos Aires 1995 CBM 049 [Ribli] (1-0,
24)}) 10. Qxh5 Nxh5 $14 {This is a typical English Maroczy position, with the
important detail that the queens are missing. Logically, this allows both
sides to advance the kingside pawns somewhat more freely than with the queens
on the board. However, the essence of the position is the same: White has a
space advantage and the better chances! Black needs some effort to build up
his counterplay, but at the same time his position is quite solid and hard to
break.} 11. Bd2 $146 (11. Nd5 {Tobisch,J-Matthews,S Kingston 1997 (0-1, 50)})
11... d6 12. Rac1 Be6 13. b3 Nf6 14. Rfd1 Rfc8 15. Ne1 $1 {The start of an
effective regrouping. From d3, the knight will control several important
squares.} Bd7 16. Nd3 b6 17. h3 {The start of a gradual gaining of space.} Rab8
18. f4 Be8 19. e3 a6 ({Giri criticised this move and suggested} 19... Nd7 {
However, after} 20. b4 {it is not obvious how Black should continue.}) 20. g4
h6 ({Giri's point was that with the pawn on a6} 20... Nd7 $2 {runs into} 21.
Bxc6 Rxc6 22. Nb4 $16 {winning a pawn.}) 21. Rc2 {Preparing to double rooks on
the c-file, in anticipation of the thematic break ...b6-b5.} g5 $5 {An
interesting approach. There is not much to be done in the centre yet, so
Bacrot decides to undermine the white domination with the help of his knight
pawns. Between them, he must have considered the advance of the g-pawn as less
committal. This plan will gradually reduce White's advantage and would even
offer him the chance to go wrong...} (21... b5 {would offer White a clear plan
of reacting:} 22. cxb5 axb5 23. Rdc1 e6 24. Ne2 Ne7 (24... d5 25. f5 $5 $36)
25. Nb4 (25. Bb4 Rxc2 26. Rxc2 Ned5 27. Bxd6 Nxe3) 25... d5 26. Bc3 $14 {
Black has not improved his position too much. White is well regrouped and
controls all the important squares. In the long run, Black has to reckon with
a dangerous white passed a-pawn.}) 22. Ne2 {Another nice regrouping move.} e6 {
Creating the additional potential threat ...d6-d5.} 23. Bc3 b5 {The tension
has reached its highest point and White has to take a decision.} 24. Nb2 ({
Both players agreed that} 24. c5 {would have been best. Giri feared that it
would be too little. Indeed, Black gets some counterplay after} d5 25. b4 a5
26. a3 {it would be not easy to break Black's fortress.} gxf4 27. exf4 Ra8 {
but this would have been the way to play.}) 24... d5 $1 {Another black pawn
reaches the fifth rank. After four minutes of thinking, Giri thought that he
had found a tactical flaw in Black's play.} 25. fxg5 (25. cxd5 $2 {runs into}
Nxd5 ({Even better than} 25... Nb4 {as analysed during the press conference.})
26. Bxd5 (26. Bxg7 Nxe3 $1 $17) 26... Nb4 $1 27. Rcd2 Bxc3 28. Nxc3 Rxc3 $17) (
25. Bxf6 Bxf6 26. cxd5 Nb4 27. Rxc8 Rxc8 $132) (25. c5 $1 {would still have
been best, but White's position would be less stable than in the similar line
above after} b4 26. Be1) 25... hxg5 26. Rf1 $2 (26. c5 $11 {would still be OK.}
) 26... bxc4 $1 {White is allowed to win a piece, but this would cause him to
lose coordination completely. At the same time, all Black's pieces are very
active and in full harmony with each other.} 27. Bxf6 ({Or if} 27. bxc4 Nb4 $1
28. Rd2 dxc4 29. Bxf6 (29. Rxf6 Nxa2) 29... Bxf6 30. Rxf6 c3 31. Nxc3 Rxc3 32.
Nd1 Ra3 33. Rff2 {as analysed during the press conferecnce,} Rc8 $17 {looks
the clearest way to paralyse White.}) 27... Bxf6 28. Rxf6 Nb4 29. Rd2 ({Or if} 
29. Rc1 Nxa2 30. Ra1 cxb3 {and the black pawns are unstoppable.}) 29... c3 30.
Nxc3 Rxc3 31. Nd1 Rc1 $17 {/-+ The material is equal, but Black has the better
structure and higher activity. Both white minor pieces are very passive.
Ironically, the knights that had made some very elegant moves in the first
phase of the queenless middlegame became sort of a major problem once the
position got opened!} 32. Kh2 (32. Rf1 Bb5 33. Re1 Nc2 $19) 32... Nxa2 33. Nf2
Nc3 {The rest is not too difficult.} 34. h4 gxh4 35. g5 Rxb3 36. g6 Kg7 37.
gxf7 Bxf7 38. Rf4 Bg6 39. e4 h3 40. Nxh3 Nxe4 41. Ra2 Bf5 42. Ng1 Rb8 43. Rh4
Ng5 44. Ra3 Rc4 0-1

[Event "Paris FIDE GP"]
[Site "Elancourt"]
[Date "2013.09.30"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Ponomariov, Ruslan"]
[Black "Bacrot, Etienne"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A64"]
[WhiteElo "2756"]
[BlackElo "2723"]
[Annotator "Marin,M"]
[PlyCount "116"]
[EventDate "2013.09.22"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "FRA"]
[EventCategory "20"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 157"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2013.11.12"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2013.11.12"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 c5 5. d5 O-O 6. Nc3 e6 7. Nf3 exd5 8. cxd5
d6 9. O-O Re8 10. Nd2 a6 11. a4 Nbd7 12. h3 Rb8 13. Nc4 Ne5 14. Na3 Nh5 15. e4
Bd7 16. a5 b5 $5 {The latest fashion, and quite an explosive one.} 17. axb6 Bb5
{Some time ago, a dear friend who does not really play the Benoni suggested to
me this (unplayed then) idea. A couple of years later, I showed it to my pupil
Daniele Vocaturo, who used it to get an excellent position against Grischuk,
although, to tell the truth, by that time there had been one game with it
already! Grischuk seemed to have liked the idea, since he took it up for a
rapid game against Aronian. When preparing to annotate the present game I was
surprised to find out that a few dozen games had been played in the meanwhile.
My non-Benoni friend's idea seems to have become one of the main lines...
During the press conference, both players confessed that neither of them
expected this line to be played. However, Bacrot had done his homework on
another occasion, while Ponomariov was kind of on his own. True, he remembered
something he had not liked as Black when trying to include this line into his
repertoire, but could not remember exactly what. Yet, Ponomariov jokingly
admitted that he was glad to play this kind of position. He was sure of one
thing: his series of draws would finally come to an end. He was proved right,
but not the way he might have hoped for...} 18. Naxb5 {Played after 25 minutes.
} (18. g4 $5 {is an interesting exchange sacrifice.} Bxf1 19. Qxf1 {This
leaves the king exposed on g1.} ({The paradoxical} 19. Kxf1 $5 {deserves
attention.} Nf6 20. f4 Ned7 21. Nc4 Nxb6 22. Na5 Qc7 23. Nc6 Ra8 24. e5 Nfd7 {
and now that White has made some progress in the centre, he could think of
returning with the king, in order to create the threat e5-e6 followed by f4-f5.
} 25. Kg1 $5) 19... Nf6 20. f4 Nexg4 (20... Ned7 21. Nc4 Nxb6 22. Na5 Nxg4 $36
23. hxg4 $2 Bd4+ 24. Kh2 Qh4+ 25. Bh3 Bxc3 26. bxc3 Rxe4 $19) 21. Bf3 (21. hxg4
Nxg4) 21... Nxe4 22. Nxe4 Bd4+ 23. Kg2 Ne3+ 24. Bxe3 Bxe3 25. Re1 Bxf4 $13 {
Baryshpolets,A (2477)-Yilmaz,M (2515)/Kharkov 2011/CBM 145 Extra (1-0, 75)})
18... axb5 19. Nxb5 Qxb6 20. Na3 {Aimed at controlling the c4-square, but in
the long run White might have problems with this knight.} (20. Nc3 c4 21. g4 (
21. Na4 Qb3 22. Bd2 Nd3 23. Bc3 Bxc3 24. bxc3 Nf6 $15 {Michiels,B (2501)
-Nielsen,P (2687)/Germany 2011/CBM 146 (1/2, 39)}) 21... Nf6 22. Be3 (22. Ra2
Nd3 23. Qe2 Nd7 $36 {Skrbin,K (2264)-Saric,A (2489)/Pula 2011/CBM 143 Extra 
(0-1, 58)}) 22... Qxb2 23. Bd4 Nfd7 24. Rb1 Qa3 25. Nb5 Qa5 26. Bc3 Qb6 27. Bd4
Qa5 28. Bc3 Qb6 29. Bd4 Qa5 {1/2 Le Quang,L (2717)-Sjugirov,S (2657)/Loo 2013/
CBM 154}) 20... Qb3 {The start of as typical queenside invasion.} (20... c4 $6
{is premature with the knight on a3.} 21. Kh2 Qc5 22. Be3 Qb4 23. Nc2 Qxb2 24.
Ra6 Red8 25. Nd4 c3 26. Nc6 c2 27. Qc1 Nxc6 28. Rxc6 $16 {Anastasian,A (2555)
-Gopal,G (2480)/Abu Dhabi 2007/CBM 119 ext (46) 1-0}) 21. g4 (21. Kh2 Qxd1 22.
Rxd1 Rb3 23. Be3 Rxb2 24. Rdb1 Reb8 25. Rxb2 Rxb2 26. Rb1 Rxb1 {1/2 Smeets,J 
(2660)-Anisimov,P (2532)/Aix-les-Bains 2011/CBM 142}) (21. Qxb3 Rxb3 22. Rd1
Reb8 $44 {Sasikiran,K (2689)-Arnold,M (2505)/Bastia 2011/EXT 2012 (1-0, 36)}) (
21. Rb1 Qxd1 22. Rxd1 Rb3 23. Bd2 Ra8 24. g4 Nf6 25. Bc3 $5 Rxc3 26. bxc3 Rxa3
27. f4 Nc4 28. e5 dxe5 29. d6 $13 {Le Quang,L (2714)-Giri,A (2714)/Beijing
2011/CBM 145 Extra (1/2, 82)}) 21... Nf6 22. Qxb3 (22. Rb1 Qxd1 23. Rxd1 Rb3
24. Bd2 (24. Kf1 {Sasikiran,K (2689)-Battaglini,G (2452)/Bastia 2011/EXT 2012 
(1-0, 39)} Nd3 $5) 24... Nfd7 25. Bc3 g5 26. Kh1 Ra8 27. Bf1 (27. Ra1 Nxg4 28.
hxg4 Bxc3 29. Nc4 Rxa1 30. Rxa1 Be5 31. Ra7 Nf6 32. Nxe5 dxe5 33. f3 Rxb2 34.
Bf1 $44) 27... Rxc3 28. bxc3 Rxa3 $19 {Aronian,L (2808)-Grischuk,A (2747)/
Monte Carlo 2011/CBM 142 (0-1, 43)}) (22. f4 Nd3 23. Qxb3 Rxb3 24. Nc4 Nxe4 25.
Bxe4 Nxc1 26. Rfxc1 (26. Re1 $5 $13) (26. Nxd6 $13) 26... Bd4+ 27. Kg2 Rxe4 $36
{Golichenko,I (2408)-Grinev,V (2404)/Kiev 2012/CBM 148 Extra (1-0, 66)}) 22...
Rxb3 23. Rd1 (23. Kh1 h6 (23... Ra8 $5) 24. f4 Nd3 25. Nc4 Nxc1 26. Nxd6 Rd8
27. Rfxc1 Rxd6 28. e5 Rd8 29. exf6 Bxf6 30. Rxc5 Rxb2 $44 {Yuffa,D (2373)
-Shariyazdanov,A (2584)/Izhevsk 2013/CBM 155 Extra (1/2, 43)}) 23... h6 $146 {
A half-waiting and useful move, probably planning ...g6-g5. This way, Black
could later play ...Nfd7, without fearing f2-f4 anymore. Besides, in some
lines when his rooks would leave the back rank undefended on being sent on
active missions, the h7-square might come in handy to the king.} ({The
straightforward} 23... Nfd7 {was very much OK in Grischuk,A (2760)-Vocaturo,D 
(2581)/Khanty-Mansiysk 2010/CBM 139/[Marin,M] (1-0, 44). The final result is
not necessarily connected with the opening, since Black rejected a draw at
some point.}) 24. Nc2 $2 {Both players agreed that this immediately put White
into an unpleasant position. According to Ponomariov, this mistake was
provoked by miscalculation. His obvious idea was inhibiting ...g6-g5 in view
of Ne3-f5. True, it is not easy to suggest an useful move for White, that is
the main problem.} (24. Kf1 {may be useful in some cases, by defending e2, but
in the following logical sequence the king will be placed badly:} g5 (24... Nd3
25. Nc4) 25. Nc2 Nd3 26. Ra4 Nd7 27. Ne3 Nxc1 28. Rxc1 Rxb2 29. Nf5 Bd4 {
Suddenly, the king is in some trouble.} 30. Nxd4 cxd4 31. Rxd4 Ra8 {with
fantastic compensation for the pawn.}) 24... Nd3 ({Ponomariov had considered
also} 24... Nc4 25. Ra2 Nxe4 26. Ra4 $13 Bxb2 $2 27. Re1 $16) 25. Ra4 ({
Ponomariov's first intention was} 25. Ra3 {but he overlooked} Nxc1 $1 ({
He had relied on} 25... Nxb2 26. Rxb3 Nxd1 27. Rd3 $18 {trapping the knight.})
26. Rxc1 Rxb2 {White does not seem to get enough play with} 27. Ne3 Nxe4 28.
Bxe4 Rxe4 29. Nc4 Rbe2 30. Nxd6 Rf4 {and the king is in a dangerous situation.}
) 25... Nd7 26. Ra6 Nxc1 27. Rxc1 Bxb2 28. Rd1 Be5 29. Na3 Nb6 $17 {Black has
got everything he could dream of in the Benoni. Opposite-coloured bishops,
active pieces, the passed c-pawn...} 30. Bf1 Rb8 31. Kg2 Rb4 32. Bd3 c4 33. Be2
({Quite possibly, the last chance for survival was} 33. Rxb6 R8xb6 34. Nxc4 Rb8
{when White's fortress might not have been that easy to break.}) 33... c3 34.
Kf3 Rb3 35. Bd3 Nd7 36. Nc2 Nc5 37. Raa1 Rb2 38. Ke3 g5 $1 $19 {Finally this
thematic move, enabling ...Bf4+ and depriving White of the defence based on
Rc1.} 39. Ra3 Rxc2 40. Bxc2 Rb2 41. Bb1 c2 42. Bxc2 Rxc2 {The rest is not too
difficult.} 43. Kf3 Rb2 44. Re3 Bf4 45. Ra3 Kg7 46. h4 Nd7 47. hxg5 hxg5 48.
Rda1 Ne5+ 49. Kg2 Nxg4 50. R1a2 Rxa2 51. Rxa2 f5 52. f3 Nf6 53. Ra4 Kg6 54. Kf2
fxe4 55. fxe4 g4 56. Rc4 Kg5 57. Ra4 Kh4 58. Kg2 Be5 0-1

[Event "Paris FIDE GP"]
[Site "Elancourt"]
[Date "2013.10.03"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Fressinet, Laurent"]
[Black "Bacrot, Etienne"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E97"]
[WhiteElo "2708"]
[BlackElo "2723"]
[Annotator "ChessBase Website"]
[PlyCount "48"]
[EventDate "2013.09.22"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "FRA"]
[EventCategory "20"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 157"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2013.11.12"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2013.11.12"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[TimeControl "40/7200:20/3600:900+30"]
[WhiteClock "2:00:00"]
[BlackClock "2:00:00"]

1. d4 {[%emt 0:00:03]} Nf6 {[%emt 0:00:06]} 2. c4 {[%emt 0:00:07]} g6 {[%emt 0:
00:05]} 3. Nc3 {[%emt 0:00:49]} Bg7 {[%emt 0:00:03]} 4. e4 {[%emt 0:00:05]} d6
{[%emt 0:00:07]} 5. Be2 {[%emt 0:00:08]} O-O {[%emt 0:00:12]} 6. Nf3 {[%emt 0:
00:04]} e5 {[%emt 0:00:12]} 7. O-O {[%emt 0:00:05]} Nc6 {[%emt 0:00:09]} 8. d5
{[%emt 0:00:04]} Ne7 {[%emt 0:00:06]} 9. b4 {[%emt 0:00:05]} Nh5 {[%emt 0:00:
49]} 10. Re1 {[%emt 0:00:13]} f5 {[%emt 0:00:47]} 11. Ng5 {[%emt 0:00:09]} Nf6
{[%emt 0:00:39]} 12. Bf3 {[%emt 0:00:43]} h6 {[%emt 0:03:19]} 13. Ne6 {[%emt 0:
00:25]} Bxe6 {[%emt 0:00:02]} 14. dxe6 {[%emt 0:00:07]} c6 {[%emt 0:00:10]} 15.
exf5 $6 {[%emt 0:42:40]} (15. Be3) (15. b5 $142 {[%csl Rd6][%cal Gc1a3]} fxe4
16. Nxe4 Nxe4 17. Bxe4 d5 18. cxd5 cxd5 19. Ba3 {[%csl Re7]} dxe4 20. Qxd8
Rfxd8 21. Bxe7 Re8 22. Bc5 $14 {[%csl Rg7]}) 15... gxf5 {[%emt 0:16:53]} 16.
Bb2 $6 {[%emt 0:04:21]} (16. b5 $142 e4 17. Be2 Ne8 18. Bb2 Nc7 {Fressinet})
16... e4 {[%emt 0:18:29]} 17. Be2 {[%emt 0:03:24]} (17. Bh5 $142 $5 {Bacrot}
Nxh5 18. Qxh5 Qe8) 17... Ng6 {[%emt 0:02:31]} 18. b5 {[%emt 0:07:13]} Qe7 {
[%emt 0:03:48]} 19. bxc6 {[%emt 0:07:31]} bxc6 {[%emt 0:00:03]} 20. Rb1 {
[%emt 0:03:15][%csl Rb1,Rb2]} Qxe6 $17 {[%emt 0:03:31]} 21. Bf1 {[%emt 0:06:10]
} Rab8 {[%emt 0:04:39]} 22. c5 $2 {[%emt 0:09:00] The French duel resulted in
a strangely one-sided game as Fressinet basically collapsed out of the opening.
He made a couple of strange decisions, but the truly bad ones started with 22.
c5? after which some simple moves left White down two pawns and in the
receiving end of a deadly attack.} Ng4 {[%emt 0:17:40]} 23. Qc2 {[%emt 0:07:14]
} Qe5 {[%emt 0:05:22]} 24. g3 {[%emt 0:00:04]} Qxc5 {[%emt 0:01:18]} 0-1

[Event "Bundesliga 1314"]
[Site "Germany"]
[Date "2013.10.12"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Bacrot, Etienne"]
[Black "Giri, Anish"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B52"]
[WhiteElo "2730"]
[BlackElo "2749"]
[PlyCount "51"]
[EventDate "2013.10.12"]
[EventType "team-tourn"]
[EventRounds "15"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 157"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2013.11.12"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2013.11.12"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Baden-Baden"]
[BlackTeam "Emsdetten"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "GER"]
[BlackTeamCountry "GER"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. c4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. O-O Bg7 7. d4 cxd4 8.
Nxd4 O-O 9. Bxd7 Qxd7 10. b3 Nc6 11. Bb2 a6 12. Nxc6 Qxc6 13. Nd5 Nxd5 14. exd5
Qc5 15. Bxg7 Kxg7 16. Re1 Rfe8 17. Qd2 b5 18. Rac1 Qa7 19. b4 bxc4 20. Rxc4 h5
21. Qc3+ Kg8 22. Rc7 Qb6 23. a4 Rab8 24. Re4 f6 25. g4 Rb7 26. Qxf6 1-0

[Event "Bundesliga 1314"]
[Site "Germany"]
[Date "2013.12.15"]
[Round "6.1"]
[White "Bacrot, Etienne"]
[Black "Navara, David"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E15"]
[WhiteElo "2730"]
[BlackElo "2703"]
[PlyCount "41"]
[EventDate "2013.10.12"]
[EventType "team-tourn"]
[EventRounds "15"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 158"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2014.01.16"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2014.01.16"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Baden-Baden"]
[BlackTeam "Muelheim"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "GER"]
[BlackTeamCountry "GER"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Bxd2+ 6. Qxd2 Ba6 7. b3 d5 8.
cxd5 Ne4 9. Qe3 exd5 10. Nc3 Bb7 11. Bg2 O-O 12. Nxe4 dxe4 13. Ne5 Nc6 14. Bxe4
Nxd4 15. O-O-O Bxe4 16. Qxe4 c5 17. e3 Ne2+ 18. Kb2 Qe7 19. f4 Qe6 20. Qd3 f6
21. Nf3 1-0

[Event "FRA-ch 89th"]
[Site "Nimes"]
[Date "2014.08.21"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Edouard, Romain"]
[Black "Bacrot, Etienne"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D37"]
[WhiteElo "2680"]
[BlackElo "2720"]
[PlyCount "70"]
[EventDate "2014.08.17"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "FRA"]
[EventCategory "14"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 162"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2014.09.17"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2014.09.17"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 Nbd7 5. g3 dxc4 6. Bg2 Bb4 7. a3 Bxc3+ 8.
bxc3 O-O 9. O-O Rb8 10. a4 b6 11. Nd2 Ba6 12. Bc6 e5 13. Ba3 exd4 14. Bxf8 Nxf8
15. cxd4 Qxd4 16. Rc1 Qc5 17. Bg2 Ne6 18. Re1 c6 19. e3 b5 20. Qf3 b4 21. Qxc6
c3 22. Nb3 Qxc6 23. Bxc6 Rc8 24. Bg2 Kf8 25. Red1 Be2 26. Re1 Bc4 27. Na5 Rc5
28. Nb7 Rc7 29. Nd6 Bd3 30. Bf1 Bxf1 31. Kxf1 a6 32. Ke2 c2 33. e4 Rc3 34. Nf5
Nxe4 35. f3 N4c5 0-1

[Event "Beijing Sportaccord Basque"]
[Site "Beijing"]
[Date "2014.12.17"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Ivanchuk, Vassily"]
[Black "Bacrot, Etienne"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C33"]
[WhiteElo "2704"]
[BlackElo "2718"]
[PlyCount "121"]
[EventDate "2014.12.16"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "CHN"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 164"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2015.01.15"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2015.01.15"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Bc4 d5 4. exd5 Qh4+ 5. Kf1 Bd6 6. Nc3 Ne7 7. d4 O-O 8.
Nf3 Qh6 9. Ne4 Bg4 10. Nf2 Bc8 11. Bb3 b5 12. a4 b4 13. c4 bxc3 14. bxc3 Nf5
15. Bc2 Ne3+ 16. Bxe3 fxe3 17. Ne4 Nd7 18. Qd3 f5 19. Neg5 Nf6 20. Ne6 Bxe6 21.
dxe6 Nh5 22. Re1 Ng3+ 23. Kg1 Nxh1 24. Rxe3 Rae8 25. Kxh1 Re7 26. Kg1 g5 27.
Bb3 f4 28. Re2 g4 29. Ne5 f3 30. gxf3 Bxe5 31. Rxe5 gxf3 32. Qe3 Rf4 33. Qf2
Rg4+ 34. Kf1 Qc1+ 35. Re1 Qxc3 36. Re3 Qc1+ 37. Re1 Qh6 38. Re3 Qh3+ 39. Ke1
Rf4 40. Qg3+ Qxg3+ 41. hxg3 Rxd4 42. Rxf3 Kg7 43. Rc3 Rb4 44. Kd2 Kf6 45. Kc2
Kg5 46. Rf3 Kg4 47. Rf7 Rxf7 48. exf7 Rb8 49. Kc3 Kxg3 50. Kd4 Kf4 51. Kd5 Kf5
52. Kc6 h5 53. Kxc7 Rf8 54. Kb7 a5 55. Kb6 h4 56. Kxa5 Ke5 57. Kb6 h3 58. Kc6
h2 59. Bd5 Rxf7 60. a5 Ra7 61. Kb5 0-1

[Event "FRA-chT Top 12"]
[Site "Montpellier"]
[Date "2015.06.05"]
[Round "6.4"]
[White "Jakovenko, Dmitrij"]
[Black "Bacrot, Etienne"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D55"]
[WhiteElo "2738"]
[BlackElo "2704"]
[Annotator "ChessBase II"]
[PlyCount "116"]
[EventDate "2015.05.30"]
[EventType "team-tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "FRA"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 166 Extra"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2015.06.18"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2015.06.18"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Clichy-Echecs 92"]
[BlackTeam "Bischwiller"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "FRA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "FRA"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. Qc2 h6 6. Bxf6 Bxf6 7. e3 O-O 8. h4
{Une nouveauté dans cet ordre de coups} g6 9. Nc3 c6 10. O-O-O Nd7 11. Kb1
$146 (11. e4 Bg7 12. h5 g5 13. Kb1 g4 14. Nh2 c5 15. dxc5 d4 16. Nb5 Nxc5 17.
e5 Bxe5 18. Nxg4 Bg7 19. f4 e5 20. Nxe5 Qf6 21. Nd3 Bf5 22. g4 Be4 23. Rg1 a6
24. Na3 b5 25. g5 hxg5 26. Rxg5 Rfc8 27. Qh2 Kf8 28. Ka1 Ne6 29. Re5 Bh7 30. h6
Bh8 31. Bg2 bxc4 32. Bxa8 cxd3 33. Bb7 Rc2 34. Qg1 Nxf4 35. Ree1 Qb6 36. Nc4
Rxc4 37. Qg5 Qc7 38. Bxa6 Rc5 39. Qg1 Bg6 40. a3 Bf6 {Kanep,M (2531)-Akobian,V
(2618) Caleta 2011 0-1}) 11... Bg7 12. Bd3 a6 13. cxd5 (13. e4 dxc4 $1 14. Bxc4
b5 {[%cal Gc6c5] Bacrot EE}) 13... cxd5 14. e4 dxe4 15. Bxe4 Qb6 16. g4 Rd8 17.
Na4 Qa5 18. g5 h5 19. Nc5 Rb8 20. Ne5 (20. Nb3 Qb4 21. Ne5 $11 {[%csl Rf7,Rg6]
[%cal Ge5g6,Ge4g6]}) 20... Nxc5 21. Nc4 Qb4 22. dxc5 Bd7 23. Nd6 Ba4 24. b3 b6
25. Qc4 bxc5 26. Qxb4 Rxb4 27. f3 Bd4 28. Nb7 Rc8 29. Kc2 Bd7 30. Na5 Rb5 31.
Nc4 Rcb8 32. Rd3 Kf8 33. Nd6 R5b6 34. Nc4 Rb5 35. Nd6 Rb4 36. a3 R4b6 37. Nc4
Rb5 38. Nd6 R5b6 $17 39. Nc4 Bb5 $1 40. Nxb6 Bxd3+ 41. Kxd3 Rxb6 42. Kc4 Be3
43. Rh2 Ke7 44. Re2 Bc1 45. Ra2 Bf4 46. Rg2 Rb8 47. Bc2 Bc1 $1 48. a4 Ba3 49.
Be4 Rd8 50. Kc3 Bb4+ 51. Kc2 Rd4 52. Re2 a5 53. Kc1 Kd7 54. Kc2 Kd6 55. Kc1 c4
56. bxc4 Rxc4+ 57. Kd1 Rd4+ 58. Kc2 Ke7 $1 {[%csl Ra4,Rh4][%cal Gb4d6,Gd4a4,
Gd4h4,Gd6g3] Gagne un P} 0-1

[Event "Biel GM 50th"]
[Site "Biel"]
[Date "2017.08.02"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Harikrishna, Pentala"]
[Black "Bacrot, Etienne"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C54"]
[WhiteElo "2737"]
[BlackElo "2715"]
[Annotator "Szabo,Kr"]
[PlyCount "58"]
[EventDate "2017.07.24"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "SUI"]
[EventCategory "16"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 180"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2017.09.13"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2017.09.13"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 a6 6. O-O d6 7. a4 Ba7 8. Re1
O-O 9. h3 Ne7 10. Nbd2 Ng6 11. Nf1 ({Two months ago Anand played} 11. Bb3 {,}
Be6 12. d4 Bxb3 13. Qxb3 Qd7 14. Nf1 exd4 15. cxd4 d5 16. e5 Ne4 17. N1d2 c5
18. Nxe4 dxe4 19. Rxe4 cxd4 20. e6 fxe6 21. Rxe6 Kh8 $132 {Anand-Nakamura,
Stavanger 2017, with a complicated position.}) 11... c6 12. Bb3 d5 13. Ng3 Be6
14. exd5 Nxd5 $146 {A logical novelty by Bacrot.} (14... Bxd5 15. Be3 (15. Bxd5
Qxd5 16. Be3 Bxe3 17. Rxe3 Rad8 $11 {is also heading for an equal position.})
15... Bxe3 16. Rxe3 Qb6 17. Ra3 Qc7 $11 {Howell-Svidler, Hockenheim 2016, with
a balanced position.}) 15. d4 {White immediately opens the centre and he is
hoping that his knight will be strong on d4.} (15. a5 $5 {was also an
interesting option.}) 15... exd4 16. Nxd4 Qc7 $1 {A very nice tactical
solution for the protection of the e6-bishop.} 17. Bxd5 ({Now} 17. Nxe6 $2 {
could have been met by} Bxf2+ $1 {This intermediate check is the point!} 18.
Kxf2 fxe6+ 19. Kg1 Qxg3 $17 {and suddenly Black is much better.}) (17. Ngf5 $5
{was an alternative choice,} Rae8 18. Bg5 Ndf4 {and Black looks nicely placed.}
) 17... Bxd5 18. Ndf5 {White activates his knight and prepares for
neutralising the a7-bishop with Be3.} Rad8 19. Qg4 Be6 20. Be3 ({The tempting} 
20. Nh5 $2 {could have been met by} Bxf5 21. Qxf5 Rd5 $1 22. Qf3 Bb8 23. g3 (
23. Ng3 Ne5 $1 $17) 23... Qd7 $17 {and suddenly Black becomes very active.})
20... Bb8 $1 {An ambitious move! Black keeps his bishop pair and he hopes the
queen and bishop battery can be dangerous on the b8-h2 diagonal.} 21. Bc5 $4 {
A decisive mistake, which loses immediately. White blunders, missing Black's
reply!} (21. Rad1 {was the natural move,} Rfe8 22. Bc5 $13 {and Black has the
bishop pair, but White's pieces are active, so this is still a double-edged
fight.}) 21... Bxf5 $1 $19 {Black immediately finds the tactical motif.} 22.
Nxf5 ({The point is that,} 22. Qxf5 {could have been met by} Rd5 $19 {and
White loses his bishop.}) 22... Qh2+ 23. Kf1 Rd2 {White can't avoid the mating
attack.} 24. f4 h5 25. Qf3 Qh1+ 26. Bg1 Ba7 27. Re3 Bxe3 28. Nxe3 Re8 29. Nc4
Rc2 0-1

[Event "ESP-chT CECLUB Honor"]
[Site "Linares"]
[Date "2017.08.14"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Bacrot, Etienne"]
[Black "Wojtaszek, Radoslaw"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C77"]
[WhiteElo "2715"]
[BlackElo "2745"]
[PlyCount "109"]
[EventDate "2017.08.14"]
[EventType "team-tourn"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "ESP"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 180 Extra"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2017.10.06"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2017.10.06"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Taldea Gros Xake"]
[BlackTeam "Sestao Bizkaialde"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "ESP"]
[BlackTeamCountry "ESP"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. Nc3
d6 9. a3 Nb8 10. Bd2 Nbd7 11. a4 Rb8 12. axb5 axb5 13. Ba2 c6 14. Ne2 d5 15.
Ng3 Bc5 16. exd5 cxd5 17. d4 exd4 18. b4 Bd6 19. Nf5 Bc7 20. N5xd4 Rb6 21. Re1
Bb7 22. Bg5 Re8 23. Bb3 Ne5 24. Bf4 Nc4 25. Rxe8+ Nxe8 26. Bxc7 Qxc7 27. Nf5 g6
28. Ng3 Ng7 29. Nd4 Ne6 30. Nge2 Qe5 31. Qd3 Nxd4 32. Qxd4 Qxd4 33. Nxd4 Kg7
34. f3 Kf6 35. Kf2 h5 36. Bxc4 dxc4 37. Ra5 Ba6 38. h4 Ke5 39. Ke3 Kd5 40. Ne2
Re6+ 41. Kd2 Rd6 42. Ke3 Re6+ 43. Kf2 Rb6 44. Nc3+ Kd4 45. Ne2+ Kd5 46. c3 Bc8
47. Nd4 Bd7 48. Ra7 Kd6 49. Ke3 f6 50. Ne2 Bf5 51. Kd4 g5 52. Ng3 Bd3 53. Nxh5
gxh4 54. Nf4 Bf1 55. Rf7 1-0

[Event "GER CupT prel"]
[Site "Germany"]
[Date "2018.03.04"]
[Round "2.1"]
[White "Kuzubov, Yuriy"]
[Black "Bacrot, Etienne"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D31"]
[WhiteElo "2689"]
[BlackElo "2718"]
[PlyCount "98"]
[EventDate "2018.03.03"]
[EventType "team-k.o."]
[EventRounds "2"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 183 Extra"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2018.04.19"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2018.04.19"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Bad Emstal/Wolfhagen"]
[BlackTeam "Baden-Baden"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "GER"]
[BlackTeamCountry "GER"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Be7 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bf4 c6 6. e3 Bf5 7. Nge2 Nd7 8.
Ng3 Bg6 9. Rc1 Ngf6 10. h4 h5 11. Bg5 Bd6 12. Nge2 Qb6 13. Qd2 O-O 14. Bf4 Be7
15. Ng3 Rfe8 16. Be2 Rac8 17. a3 a6 18. Bf3 Nf8 19. Na4 Qd8 20. Nc5 b6 21. Nd3
Ne4 22. Bxe4 dxe4 23. Ne5 c5 24. dxc5 Bxc5 25. Qxd8 Rcxd8 26. Ke2 Rd5 27. b4
Be7 28. Rc6 Bf6 29. Nxg6 Nxg6 30. Bc7 b5 31. Rc5 Rxc5 32. bxc5 Bb2 33. Bd6 Ne5
34. Nf5 Nc6 35. Rb1 Bxa3 36. Nd4 Rc8 37. Ra1 b4 38. Nc2 Bb2 39. Rxa6 b3 40. Na3
Nb4 41. Ra7 Nd3 42. Nc4 Bc3 43. f3 Nxc5 44. Rc7 Rxc7 45. Bxc7 b2 46. Na3 Na4
47. Bd6 Bf6 48. fxe4 Nc3+ 49. Kd3 Nb5 0-1

