(5558) Eljanov,Pavel (2753) - Rapport,Richard (2693) [D02]

20th European Teams Reykjavik ISL (5.2), 17.11.2015

[Sagar Shah]

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Bg4 3.Ne5 Bf5 4.c4 f6 5.Nf3 e6 6.Nc3 c6 7.g3 Bb4 8.Qb3 a5 9.a3
Bxc3+ 10.bxc3 Ne7 11.Bg2 Nd7 12.00 a4 13.Qa2 Bg6 14.cxd5 exd5 15.c4 00
16.cxd5 Nxd5 17.Nd2 Bf7 18.Qc2 Nc7 19.Bb2 Nb5 20.e4 Re8 21.Rfe1 Nb6 22.Qc5
Nd7 23.Qc2 Nb6 24.Qc5 Nd7 25.Qb4 Nb8 26.d5 Qe7 27.Qxe7 Rxe7 28.Nc4 Nd7
29.Rac1 cxd5 30.exd5 Rxe1+ 31.Rxe1 Kf8 32.Ne3 Rc8 33.Bh3 Rc7 34.Rb1 Nd6
35.Bd4 Bg6 36.Rb4 Nc5 37.Bf1 Nd3 38.Rxa4 [[#] White is a pawn up but Black has
activity to compensate for it. With his next move Black starts to create concrete threats.]
38...Rc1 39.Kg2 [This is a move which requires a good amount of accurate calculation.]
39...Be4+ 40.f3 Ne1+ 41.Kf2 Bxf3?! [Why did Richard not take the pawn with the
knight? There is absolutely no good way to take advantage with regards to the placement of
the black pieces. 41...Nxf3! 42.Bb2 Rb1 43.Bc3= (43.Rxe4? Nxe4+ 44.Kxf3 Nd2++) ]
42.Bb2! Rb1 43.Bc3! [The knight on e1 cannot move because the bishop on f3 is hanging.
Black has to give up two pieces for a rook.]
43...Ne4+ 44.Rxe4 Bxe4 45.Bxe1 [This is not so difficult to convert because the bishop
has a fixed square on b4 and the d-pawn is quite strong.]
45...Rb2+ 46.Kg1 [46.Be2? Bd3+]
46...Rb1 47.Bb4+ Kf7 48.Kf2 Rb2+ 49.Ke1 Rb1+ [49...Rxh2 50.Bb5+ and the d-pawn
is ready to roll.]
50.Kd2 Bxd5 51.Bd3! [51.Nxd5? Rxf1 would be equal.]
51...Rb2+ 52.Bc2 [The sad news for Black is that the rook on b2 is trapped.]
[Another way to win was 52.Kc1 Rb3 53.Kc2 Be6 54.Nc4 and the rook is trapped on b3.]
52...Be6 53.Nd1 Ra2 54.Nc3 Ra1 55.Bb1 [The cage is getting smaller and smaller.]
55...f5 56.Kc1 Kg6 57.Kb2 Rxb1+ 58.Kxb1+ [This is a pretty easy one for a player of
Eljanov's class.]

58...Kh5 59.Ne2 g5 [59...Kg4 60.h3+!+]

60.Kc1 Kg4 61.Kd2 Kh3 62.Be7 h6 63.Bf8 Kxh2 [63...h5 64.Be7 g4? 65.Nf4++]

64.Bxh6 Bc4 65.Bxg5 Bxe2 66.Kxe2 Kxg3 [The a-pawn is a wrong coloured pawn, but
the black king is just too far off.]

67.Ke3 Kg4 68.Bf4 b5 69.Be5 f4+ 70.Bxf4 Kf5 71.Kd4 Kxf4 [71...Ke6 72.Kc5 Kd7
73.Kxb5 Kc8 74.Kb6+]

72.Kc5 Ke5 73.Kxb5 Kd6 74.Kb6 [A nice technical win for Eljanov ensuring 2.51.5
victory for Ukraine.]

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(5560) Gata Kamsky (2673) - Alexey Goganov (2575) [D00]
Aeroflot Open Moscow RUS (8.7), 08.03.2016

1.d4 d5 2.Bf4 Nf6 3.e3 c5 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Nbd2 e6 6.c3 Bd6 7.Bg3 00 8.Bd3 b6 9.Qe2 Bb7
10.Rd1 Re8 11.e4 Be7 12.e5 Nh5 13.a3 c4 14.Bb1 g6 15.Nf1 b5 16.Ne3 a5 17.Ng4 b4
18.Qe3 bxc3 19.bxc3 Rb8 20.Bf4 Bc8 21.Bg5 Rb3 22.h4 Qb6 23.Bc2 Rxa3 24.Bxe7 Nxe7
25.Qh6 Nf5 26.Bxf5 exf5 27.Ng5 Nf6 28.Ne3 f4 29.Nxd5 Qd8 30.00

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(5559) Kramnik,Vladimir (2796) - Sjugirov,Sanan (2646) [D02]

Qatar Masters Open 2015 Doha QAT (8.2), 28.12.2015
[Sagar Shah]

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.Bf4 c5 4.e3 Nc6 5.Nbd2 cxd4 6.exd4 Bf5 7.c3 e6 8.Qb3 Qc8
9.Nh4! [At the first possible opportunity Kramnik goes ahead to create an imbalance. Once
he achieves that he will have much easier task in outplaying his opponent.]
9...Bg6 [9...Be4!? 10.f3 Bg6 11.Nxg6 hxg6 should have been considered. The move f3
doesn't do anything constructive to White's position.]
10.Nxg6 hxg6 11.Bd3 Nh5 12.Be3 Bd6 13.000 a6 14.Kb1 b5 15.Qc2 Na5 [15...Nf4
16.Bf1]
16.Nf3 Nc4 17.Bc1! [First this bishop retreats to its initial square and after a few moves
the other one also retreats!]
17...Qc7 18.Ng5 Nf4 19.Bf1! [Quite a picturesque position. Both bishops on their initial
squares.]
19...000?! [A bad decision by Sanan whose king is not at all safe on the queenside.
Kramnik must have been glad to see the sight of 000.]

20.a4 Qb7 21.axb5 axb5 22.b3 Na5 [22...Na3+ 23.Bxa3 Bxa3 24.g3 Nh5 25.b4 And the
bishop on a3 has come too far from home.]

23.Qa2 Nc6 24.g3 Nh5 25.Bd3 Kb8 26.Qe2 Na7 27.Bd2 Rc8 28.Kb2 Rc6 29.Ra1 Rf8
30.Ra2 Ra6 31.Rxa6 Qxa6 32.Ra1 [By methodical play Kramnik has got everything in his
favour. The bishops are wonderful defenders and at the same time attacking the black
queenside and the rook has controlled the open a-file.]

32...Qb7 33.b4 Nf6 34.Ra5 Bc7 35.Bf4 Bxf4 36.gxf4 Qc7 37.Bxb5 Qxf4 38.Nf3 Ne4
39.Ne5 [The knight, bishop, rook, and queen will launch a deadly attack against the black
king.]

39...Rh8 40.Nc6+ Nxc6 41.Bxc6 Nxc3!? [A desperate attempt to complicate the position.
But Kramnik is alert and upto the mark.]

42.Kxc3 Rh3+ 43.Kc2 Qxd4 44.Qb5+ Kc7 45.Qb7+ Kd6 46.Qb8+ [46.Rxd5+! exd5
47.Qd7+ Ke5 48.Qxh3+ was another way to win.]

46...Ke7 47.Qa7+ Qxa7 48.Rxa7+ Kd6 49.Ba4 Rh4 [49...Rxh2 50.Rd7+ Ke5 51.Rxf7+]
50.Kb3 Rh3+ 51.Kb2 Rh4 [51...e5 52.Rxf7 Rxh2 53.Kc3 Ke6 54.Rxg7 Rxf2 55.Rxg6+ Kf5
56.Rd6+]

52.Rd7+ Ke5 53.Ka3 Kd4 54.Rxf7 Rxh2 55.b5 Kc5 56.Rc7+ [A great game by Vladimir
but it must be said that Sanan made his task considerably easier when he castled long.]

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(5561) Carlsen,Magnus (2844) - Tomashevsky,Evgeny (2728) [A46]

78th Tata Steel GpA Wijk aan Zee NED (6.1), 22.01.2016
[Sagar Shah]

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bf4 [The London System at a Super tournament against the Russian
Champion! Now that is some confidence!]
3...b6 4.e3 Bb7 5.h3 Be7 6.Bd3 00 7.00 c5 8.c3 Nc6 9.Nbd2 d5 10.Qe2 Bd6
11.Rfe1 Ne7 12.Rad1 Ng6 [We have a normal position out of the opening but now Magnus
ups the Ante.]
13.Bxg6!? hxg6 14.Bxd6 Qxd6 15.Ne5! [This exchange on g6 and d6 led to something
important - good knight vs bad bishop scenario. The bishop on b7 just stands hemmed in by
its own pawn on d5 while White will now harbour ambitions of launching a kingside attack.
Good players always leave their opponents with the inferior minor piece. It is surprising how
easily Carlsen was able to do that to a sound player like Tomashevsky.]
15...g5 16.f4!? [16.Ndf3 Ne4=]
16...gxf4 17.Rf1! [Now you need nerves of steel in order to navigate the complications
that arise after taking the pawn on e3.]
[17.exf4 cxd4 18.cxd4 Rac8 Leaves Black with the open c-file and an excellent position.]
17...Nd7 [17...fxe3 18.Rxf6 Of course this sacrifice is natural. Many times you put your rook
on the empty f6 square just to prevent the f-pawn from moving ahead. Here it is even
better! 18...exd2 This is the critical position of the game. (18...gxf6? ends in total disaster
after 19.Qg4+ Kh7 20.Rf1! (20.Qh4+?! Kg7 21.Ng4 Qf4+) 20...exd2 21.Rf4+ And the mate
on the kingside is inevitable.) 19.Rxd2! Part of the reason why this move is good is because I
wouldn't like to move the rook from f6. (19.Rdf1! looks scary for sure but bad bishop on b7
comes to rescue. 19...Ba6! 20.Qh5 (20.Qxa6 d1Q! 21.Rxd1 gxf6+) 20...Bxf1 21.Nxf7! Rxf7
22.Qxf7+ Kh8 And here White can take a draw but can also continue with 23.Rxf1 cxd4
24.cxd4 (24.Qh5+= should be the safer way to end the game.) 24...e5 It is becoming scary
for White now.) 19...Qe7 (19...gxf6? 20.Qg4+ Kh7 21.Rf2!+) 20.Rf4]

18.Qh5 Nf6 [18...Nxe5 19.dxe5 Qc7 (19...Qe7 20.Rxf4+) 20.Rxf4]

19.Qh4 Qd8 [19...fxe3?! 20.Rxf6! gxf6 (20...exd2 21.Rxd2! The variations are similar to the
previous ones but just that the Q is much better placed on h4 than it was on e2. ) 21.Qg4+
(21.Ng4! is also good.) 21...Kh7 22.Rf1 exd2 23.Rf4 Rh8 24.Qh5+ Kg7 25.Qxf7++]

20.Rxf4 Ne4?! [Tomashevsky panics but the pressure was on him for quite some moves
now.]

[20...cxd4 21.exd4 Ne4 was a better way to continue.]

21.Nxe4! Qxh4 22.Rxh4 dxe4 23.dxc5 [The rook is ready to jump to d7 and we could say
that the rest is matter of technique for a player of Carlsen's calibre. But let's looks at how he
gets the job done.]
23...bxc5 24.Rd7 Rab8 25.b3! [A very calm move not giving any counterplay.]

25...a5 26.Rc7 a4 27.bxa4! [This a5 pawn will turn out to be a huge strength.]

27...Ba8 28.a5 Rb7 [28...Rb1+ 29.Kh2 Rb2 30.a6 Rxa2 31.a7 Followed by Rf4 will end the
game.]

29.Rxc5 Ra7 30.Nc4 [This might be a premature resignation but against Magnus this might
well be a hopeless cause. What is particularly inspiring is that Carlsen played a non main
stream opening and got such a promising position. Usually the trend is set by the World
Champion. Will we see more London Systems tried by strong players?!]

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(5562) Nisipeanu,Liviu-Dieter - Banusz,Tamas [D02]

Austrian Bundesliga, 25.02.2016

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bf4 c5 4.e3 Nc6 5.Nbd2 cxd4 6.exd4 Bf5 7.c3 e6 8.Qb3 Qc8 9.Nh4 Bg4
10.Bd3 Be7 11.h3 Bh5 12.00 Nd7 13.Nhf3 00 14.Rae1 Bg6 15.Bxg6 hxg6 16.h4 Nf6 17.g3
a6 18.Kg2 b5 19.Rh1 Qb7 20.Qc2 Rfe8 21.g4 Nxg4 22.h5 g5 23.Bxg5 Nh6 24.Bxh6 gxh6
25.Rxe6 fxe6 26.Qg6+ Kh8 27.Qxh6+ Kg8 28.Qg6+ Kh8 29.Qh6+ Kg8 30.Qxe6+ Kh8
31.Qh6+ Kg8 32.Qg6+ Kh8 33.Qh6+ Kg8 34.Rh3 Bf8 35.Rg3+ Bg7 36.Qg6 Qf7 37.Qxc6 Qe6
38.Qb7 Qf7 39.Qc6 Qe6 40.Qxe6+ Rxe6 41.Nf1 Kh8 42.Ne3 Bh6 43.Nxd5 Rd8 44.Nb4 Re2
45.Nd3 Rg8 46.Rxg8+ Kxg8 47.Kf1 Re4 48.Nc5 Rf4 49.Ne5 a5 50.Ng6 Rf3 51.Kg2 Rf6 52.Ne4
Rb6 53.d5 Bg7 54.f4 b4 55.d6 bxc3 56.bxc3 Kf7 57.Ne5+ Ke6 58.d7 Ke7 59.Nc5 Rb2+
60.Kf3 Bf6 61.a4 Bxe5 62.fxe5 Rc2 63.Ke4 Rxc3 64.Kd5 Rh3 65.Kc6

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[Event "Tradewise 2016 Masters"]
[Site "Gibraltar"]
[Date "2016.02.02"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Pentala Harikrishna"]
[Black "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A48"]
[WhiteElo "2755"]
[BlackElo "2642"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[EventCountry "GGB"]
[TimeControl "6600+10"]

1. d4 {556} Nf6 {620} 2. Nf3 {0} g6 {18} 3. Bf4 {0} d6 {0} 4. c3 {0} Nh5 {30}5.
Bg5 {0} h6 {0} 6. Bh4 {0} g5 {96} 7. Bg3 {0} Bg7 {40} 8. e4 {77} O-O {852}9.
Bd3 {473} e6 {161} 10. Ng1 $5 {108 Losing a tempo but forcing Black toexchange
on g3, which opens the h-file and allows White to start an attack afew moves later.}
Nxg3 {293} 11. hxg3 {0} c5 {93} 12. dxc5 {68} dxc5 {0} 13.Qe2 {150} Qc7
{375} 14. Nh3 {24 The knight continues its heroic journey.} Rd8 {810} 15. f4
{170} Qd6 {92} 16. Bc4 {133} Qe7 {764} 17. Nf2 {53} Nc6 {56Diagram [#]} 18.
Nd2 $1 {103 A quiet and impressive move - White does notattack immediately with
Ng4 but realizes that Black cannot really repair hiskingside and prevents any
possible counterplay by bringing his lastundeveloped piece into the game.} Na5
{19} 19. Bd3 {302} c4 {103} 20. Bc2 {96}
gxf4 {265} 21. gxf4 {2} e5 {0} 22. f5 {29} b5 {0} 23. Nf3 {191 White's attackis
easy to play while Black has no serious counterplay.} b4 {672} 24. Ng4 {118}bxc3
{0} 25. bxc3 {0} Rd6 {468} 26. Qe3 {156} Rb8 {0 27. Nxh6+ {264} Kf8 {0} 28.
Ng4 {153} Kg8 {109} 29. Rb1 $1 {565 Harikrishna continues in
style, does not rush things but instead exchanges Black's only active piece.}
Rxb1+ {0} 30. Bxb1 {0} Qb7 {54} 31. Kf2 {42} Rb6 {64} 32. Bc2 {344} Rb2 {2}
33.Qg5 {119} 1-0

(5564) Carlsen,Magnus (2834) - Yu,Yangyi (2736) [A45]

Qatar Masters TB 2015 Doha QAT (1), 29.12.2015

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 d5 3.e3 e6 4.Nf3 a6 5.Bd3 c5 6.c3 Bd6 7.Bg3 Nc6 8.Nbd2 00 9.Ne5 Ne7
10.00 b6 11.Bh4 Nf5 12.Bg5 h6 13.Bf4 Bb7 14.h3 Be7 15.a4 Nd6 16.f3 Nd7 17.Qe2 Nf6
18.Bh2 Qc8 19.Rac1 a5 20.g4 Qd8 21.Qg2 Nd7 22.f4 Rc8 23.Rce1 cxd4 24.exd4 Ba8 25.g5
hxg5 26.fxg5 Nxe5 27.Bxe5 Nc4 28.Nf3 Nxe5 29.Rxe5 Bd6 30.Re2 g6 31.Qg4 Kg7 32.h4 Rh8
33.Rxe6 fxe6 34.Qxe6 Qe8 35.Qxd6 Rc6 36.Qe5+ Qxe5 37.Nxe5 Rxh4 38.Rf7+ Kg8 39.Ra7
Rc8 40.Bxg6 Bc6 41.Bf7+ Kf8 42.Ng6+

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(7677) Hacche,D (2040) - Brown,An (2271) [A48]

ch-AUS 2016 Melbourne AUS (3.15), 03.01.2016

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bf4 Bg7 4.e3 c5 5.c3 d5 6.Be2 Nc6 7.h3 00 8.00 b6 9.Nbd2 Bb7
10.Qb1 Nd7 11.Rd1 Qc8 12.Bg3 Ba6 13.Bxa6 Qxa6 14.b4 cxb4 15.cxb4 Qa3 16.b5 Na5
17.Qc1 Qa4 18.Qb2 Rfc8 19.Rac1 Rc5 20.Qb1 Rxb5 21.Qc2 Rb4 22.a3 Qxc2 23.Rxc2 Ra4
24.Rc7 Nf6 25.Rdc1 Rxa3 26.Rxe7 Bf8 27.Rec7 Ra2 28.Be5 Ne8 29.Rd7 f6 30.Bg3 Ba3
31.Rd1 Nc4 32.Rxd5 Ncd6 33.e4 Rc8 34.e5 Nf5 35.Bf4 Bb4 36.g4 Ne7 37.Rd7 a5 38.Ne4
fxe5 39.dxe5 Rc4 40.R1d4 Rxd4 41.Nxd4 Ra1+ 42.Kg2 Rd1 43.e6 Rxd4 44.Rxd4 Nc6 45.Rc4
Nd8 46.Be3 Nxe6 47.Bxb6 Nf4+ 48.Kh2 Kf7 49.Ng5+ Ke7 50.Bc5+ Bxc5 51.Rxc5 h6 52.Ne4
Nd6 53.Nxd6 Kxd6 54.Rxa5 Ke7 55.Ra4 Nd5 56.f4 Kf7 57.Kg3 Kf6 58.Kf3 Kf7 59.Ra5 Nf6
60.Ra6 Ne8 61.Ke4 Nf6+ 62.Kd4 Ne8 63.Ke5

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(5566) Kamsky,Gata - Castellanos Rodriguez,Renier [A45]

Cappelle la Grande, 15.02.2016
 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 e6 3.e3 b6 4.Nf3 Bb7 5.Nbd2 Be7 6.h3 c5 7.c3 Nc6 8.Bd3 00 9.00 d5
10.Qe2 h6 11.Rad1 Bd6 12.Bxd6 Qxd6 13.e4 Qc7 14.e5 Nd7 15.Qe3 a5 16.Bb1 Ba6 17.Rfe1
Rfc8 18.a3 Ne7 19.Nh2 Qd8 20.g4 Ra7 21.f4 Rac7 22.Ndf3 cxd4 23.cxd4 Bb5 24.Qf2 Ba4
25.Rd2 Rc1 26.Kg2 Qc7 27.Bd3 Rxe1 28.Nxe1 Qc1 29.Nhf3 Bd1 30.f5 Nc6 31.Kg3 Nd8 32.g5
Bxf3 33.Nxf3 hxg5 34.Nxg5 Nf8 35.f6 g6 36.Nf3 a4 37.Qe3

10

(7653) Bacrot,E (2692) - Gelfand,B (2731) [A48]

ACP Masters KO 2015 Ashdod ISR (1.5), 09.12.2015

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bf4 Bg7 4.e3 00 5.Nbd2 d6 6.Bc4 c5 7.00 cxd4 8.exd4 d5 9.Bd3 Bg4
10.c3 Nc6 11.h3 Bxf3 12.Nxf3 e6 13.Qe2 Re8 14.Rfe1 a6 15.a4 Nd7 16.Bg5 Bf6 17.Bh6 Bg7
18.Qd2 Bxh6 19.Qxh6 Qf6 20.Re3 e5 21.dxe5 Ndxe5 22.Nxe5 Rxe5 23.Rxe5 Qxe5 24.Qd2
Re8 25.a5 d4 26.c4 Qc5 27.Bf1 Qb4 28.Qxb4 Nxb4 29.Ra4 d3 30.Ra1 d2 31.Rd1 Rd8 32.f3
Nc6 33.Kf2 Nxa5 34.b4 Nc6 35.b5 Na5 36.Ke3 Nb3 37.Be2 a5 38.Rb1 Re8+ 39.Kf2 a4 40.Rb2
Ra8 41.Bd1 a3 42.Ra2 Nc1 43.Ra1 Nd3+ 44.Ke3 Nb2 45.Kxd2 Rd8+ 46.Kc2 Nxd1 47.Rxa3
Nf2 48.c5 Rd5 49.Rc3 Nd3 50.c6 bxc6 51.b6 Rb5 52.Rb3 Nb4+ 53.Kc3 Nd5+ 54.Kd4 Nxb6
55.Ke3 Rxb3+ 56.Ke4

10