10 Games from 2014

[Event "Carlsen-Anand World Championship"][Site "Sochi RUS"][Date "2014.11.09"]  [EventDate "2014.11.07"][Round "2"][Result "1-0"][White "Magnus Carlsen"][Black "Viswanathan Anand"][ECO "C65"][WhiteElo "?"][BlackElo "?"][PlyCount "69"]1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 [{ The Berlin! Betting money that it would be seen this match would have had sure dividends; pretty much everyone expected this opening to be seen at some point in the match. Carlsen chooses not to go into the Berlin endgame and instead chooses one of the "quieter" d3 systems. }] Bc5 { This is the "point" of Black's play. Usually he has to commit to playing the bishop to e7 and only then does White go d3, a variation that is becoming increasingly popular in the Spanish. In this particular move order, the bishop has no reason to fear going to c5. } 5.O-O d6 6.Re1 { White has tried basically everything under the sun, but this peculiar move-order has yet to be employed. Normally they start with the move c3 or Nbd2. } O-O 7.Bxc6 bxc6 { White cannot claim a real advantage. His pawn structure superiority is compensated by Black's solid position and pair of bishops. However it is a completely playable position; if anything Carlsen is making sure that the game is simply "playable" for both sides without trying to milk an advantage from the opening. } 8.h3 Re8 9.Nbd2 Nd7 10.Nc4 Bb6 11.a4 a5 12.Nxb6 cxb6 13.d4 Qc7 { In many cases the presence of opposite colored bishops means that any endgame will be drawn. This is still the case here, but White has a few resources to put some pressure. He does hold more space at the moment. } 14.Ra3!? [{ A creative rook lift. The queenside rook is trying to make its way to the kingside or even the center to put some quick pressure on that flank. }(14. Nh4){ was a serious suggestion, but after   N f8   Black seems to be too solid. }] Nf8 (14. ... exd4 15. Nxd4 Nc5 Bf4) 15.dxe5 dxe5 16.Nh4 Rd8 [{ Had Anand seen what happened to him in the game, he might have refused to play this move altogether. There is no reason to force White's queen to the attack as the d-file holds no value. }(16. ... f6{ setting up defenses as quickly as possible. }] 17.Rg3 Ne6 18. Nf5 g6 19. Qh5 Ng7!{ Exchanging the powerful knight. White's attack is not nearly as strong without it } 20. Nxg7 [(20. Nh6+ Kh8 21.Qd1 Ba6!){Just leaves the knight stranded on h6.}20. ... Qxg7 21.Qh4 Ba6)] 17.Qh5 f6 18.Nf5 Be6? [{ I believe this relatively careless move is the beginning of Black's problems. Vishy underestimates how quickly he has to repeal White's pieces. }(18. ... Qf7 { also looked like a possible way of repealing some of White's threats. } 19. Qg4 Bxf5 20.exf5 Rd4 21.Qf3 Qd5)] 19.Rg3 Ng6 [(19. ... Rd7! {Was still more resilient.} 20.Bh6 g6 21. Qh4 Qd8!){This is still slightly unpleasant, but I don't see any immediate threats for White.}] 20.h4 [{ Lots of pressure is piling up on the kingside! It is not obvious anymore how Black can repeal White's attack. }(20. Bh6!? { This interesting move leads to a long, forced variation. } Rd7 (20. ... gxh6 21.Rxg6+ hxg6 22. Qxg6+ Kf8 23. Qxf6+ Qf7 (23. ... Bf7 24. f4!{And Whites attack will crash through.}(24.Qh8+ Bg8 25.Re3)) {is also good enough.} 24. Qxh6+ Ke8 25. Qh8+ Kd7 26. Rd1+ Kc7 27.Qxe5+ Kb7 28. Nd6+ Rxd6 29.Rxd6{And white comes out with a material advantage, though black should be able to hold by creating his own threats.} Re8!)21. h4)] Bxf5 [(20. ... Rd7 21. Bh6! Bxf5 (21. ... gxh6{allows white to recuperate the piece with devastating consequences} 22. Qxh6 Qd8 23.h5){And the advantage is clearly in white's court}22.exf5 Nf8 23.Re4!?){ And White's pressure is nothing to scoff at. It is quickly mounting and hard to repeal.   }] 21.exf5 Nf4 22.Bxf4 exf4 23.Rc3 c5 24.Re6! { It is clear that White has tremendous pressure. The control over the e-file, the pressure on b6, the anchored rook on e6, and also importantly the complete lack of counterplay. Black is not lost yet but it is very unpleasant. } Rab8 25.Rc4 Qd7 26.Kh2 { Of course White has no interest in allowing Qd1+ with a queen trade. } Rf8 [{ Passive, but what else to do? There is a lack of a clear plan for Black. }(26. ... Qd1? 27.Re8)] 27.Rce4 Rb7 28.Qe2 b5!? { A nice opportunity to get rid of the pawn on b6 and open the b-file, but Black's c and a pawns now become targets. } 29.b3 [(29. Re7! Qd6 (29. ... Qc6 30. Rxb7 Qxb7 31.axb5){is hopeless}30. f3 Rxe7 31. Rxe7 bxa4 32.Qe4 {Qb7 is a big threat} Qb8 33.Qxa4) { it is hard to believe Black can survive with absolutely no activity. }] bxa4 30.bxa4 Rb4 31.Re7 Qd6 32.Qf3! { The queen wants to start looking for ways of getting into the seventh rank. } Rxe4 33.Qxe4 f3+ 34.g3 h5?? [{ A horrible blunder in a very difficult position. }(34. ... Qd2 { The only good way of preventing the queen from coming to b7 is by attacking f2, but this gives up the f3 pawn. }35. Qxf3 Qxc2 36. Kg2){ and Black's is close to lost, but not there yet. }] 35.Qb7 { As once World Championship contender Nigel Short pointed out on twitter: "Blunders don't happen in a vacuum. 34...h5?? came after enormous sustained pressure.". Carlsen created something out of seemingly nothing and earned a great victory. }{1-0}1-0

[Event "FIDE Candidates Tournament 2014"][Site "?"][Date "2014.03.19"][Round "6"]  [White "Topalov, Veselin"][Black "Kramnik, Vladimir"][Result "1-0"][ECO "D37"][WhiteElo "2785"][BlackElo "2787"][Annotator "Chirila Cristian"][PlyCount "81"][EventDate "2014.??.??"]  [SourceDate "2014.01.04"]{As I predicted yesterday after Topalov's loss against Svidler, he came back to work with a completely different mindset. The cards were out on the table and his hand wasn't looking very good, he knew that and decided to bluff a little bit today. And who better to bluff than probably his biggest rival in the chess world? We all know the "deep" history these guys have (the infamous Toiletgate comes to mind).} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 { Queens Gambit Declined on the board, one of the most solid openings against d4. I am myself extremely frustrated everytime I try to find an advantage for white in this opening.} 5. Bf4 (5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3 h6 7. Bh4 Ne4 (7... b6 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Bxe7 Qxe7 {the opening phase is still not done but white is usually struggling to find an advantage}) 8. Bxe7 Qxe7 9. Rc1 c6 10. h4 {This is the biggest attempt for an advantage in recent years. The move was played by Aronian (who else?) 3 years ago against Harikrishna and has since been analyzed extensively. I myself tried it twice before going to 5.Bf4 to look for something.} (10. g4 $5) 10... Nd7 11. g4 Nxc3 12. Rxc3 g6 13. g5 h5 $13) 5... O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. c5 (7. a3 $5 c5 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Nxd5 exd5 10. dxc5 Nxc5 11. Be5 Bf6 (11... Qb6 $5) 12. Bxf6 (12. Be2 Bxe5 13. Nxe5 Qd6 $13) 12... Qxf6 13. Qd4 $14 {/=}) 7... Nh5 8. Be5 $5 {This is the mindset I was talking about. Topalov himself claimed this move is a dubious try, but over the board it can prove too "deep" for the opponent (Topalov's press conference was quite acid)} c6 (8... f6 9. Bg3 c6 (9... Nxg3 10. hxg3 f5 11. Bd3 g6 12. b4 $14 {I prefer white's position, his space advantage on the queenside can prove suffocating for his opponent}) 10. Bd3 f5 11. Ng5 Ndf6 12. Be5 $14 {Steinitz,W-Chigorin,M 1-0 This game was played over 100 years ago!}) 9. Bd3 g6 (9... f5 10. h4 {was probably what white had in mind, once again Topalov's preparation is impressive } Nxe5 11. Nxe5 Nf6 12. h5 $13) 10. h4 $14 (10. O-O {was too peaceful for Topalov}) 10... f5 (10... b6 $5 11. b4 a5 12. a3 Ba6 {This is the standard sequence of moves, black wants to get rid of his "bad" white square bishop and organize an offense on the "a" file after doubling with Qa8} 13. g4 Bxd3 14. Qxd3 axb4 15. gxh5 $13 {I can only assume that Topalov had some similar lines in his preparation, only him and his seconds know the exact details though.}) 11. Bh2 b6 (11... Bxh4 {taking the pawn is a brave decision when you are facing such a well prepared opponent. I don't blame Kramnik for not accepting the trojan horse} 12. b4 Be7 13. b5 $44) 12. b4 f4 $2 13. O-O (13. Bxf4 $5 Nxf4 14. exf4 bxc5 (14... Rxf4 15. h5 bxc5 16. hxg6 hxg6 17. bxc5 $16) 15. bxc5 Rxf4 16. h5 g5 $13) 13... a5 (13... fxe3 14. fxe3 Bxh4 15. b5 Bg3 16. bxc6 Nb8 17. Qa4 $36) 14. b5 {At the press conference Topalov already claimed to be winning here} bxc5 15. bxc6 Nb8 16. Bb5 Ba6 (16... cxd4 17. Qxd4 Bf6 18. c7 Qxc7 19. Nxd5 $16) 17. a4 Qc8 (17... Nxc6 18. Bxc6 Bxf1 19. Bxa8 Bxg2 20. Kxg2 Qxa8 { could have been an interesting try for counterplay}) 18. dxc5 Nxc6 19. Nxd5 exd5 20. Qxd5+ Kh8 21. Qxc6 Qxc6 22. Bxc6 Rac8 (22... Bxf1 23. Bxa8 Bxg2 24. Kxg2 Rxa8 25. c6 $18) 23. Bb5 Bxb5 24. axb5 Bxc5 25. Rxa5 {White is winning, good technique will do the job} fxe3 26. fxe3 Bxe3+ 27. Kh1 Rc2 (27... Nf6 { regrouping his pieces would have been a more resilient defense} 28. Rb1 Nd5) 28. Rb1 Rfc8 29. Raa1 Bb6 30. Be5+ Kg8 31. Ra6 Be3 32. b6 Rc1+ 33. Rxc1 Rxc1+ 34. Kh2 Rb1 35. g4 Bf4+ (35... Nf4 36. b7 Rxb7 37. Ng5 Ra7 (37... Kf8 38. Rf6+ Kg8 39. Bxf4 $18) 38. Rxa7 Bxa7 39. Bxf4 $18) 36. Kg2 Bxe5 37. Nxe5 Nf4+ 38. Kf3 Ne6 39. b7 Rb3+ 40. Kf2 Rb2+ 41. Ke3 {A great comeback for Topalov after yesterday loss. And an extreme boost to his confidence and and his ego, beating your biggest rival after such a dominating game can give you wings, I wouldn't be surprised to see a highly confident Topalov in the next games.}{1-0}