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Главная страница Справка Коды ЭШД B00 - B99 B11

Коды ЭШД

B08 B09 B10

B11

B12 B13 B14

B11

Код энциклопедии шахматных дебютов (ЭШД)

Описание

RU: Защита Каро-Канн (вариант двух коней)
EN: Caro-Kann: Two Knights Variation

Ходы

1. e4 c6 2. Кc3 d5 3. Кf3 Сg4

Дебюты

Защита Каро-Канн

[Event "EU-Cup 29th"]
[Site "Rhodes"]
[Date "2013.10.23"]
[Round "4.6"]
[White "Bartel, Mateusz"]
[Black "Riazantsev, Alexander"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B11"]
[WhiteElo "2638"]
[BlackElo "2697"]
[Annotator "Bartel,M"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "2013.10.20"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "GRE"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 157"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2013.11.12"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2013.11.12"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Novy Bor"]
[BlackTeam "Malachite Sverdlovsk Region"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "CZE"]
[BlackTeamCountry "RUS"]

{This game was played in the important match between my club Novi Bor, which
eventually won the whole European Cup and Malakhite (with Grischuk, Karjakin,
Morozevich, Shirov and so on), whic was seeded 2nd and finally took 2nd place.
The match was absolutely crazy, with a lot of fight in it!} 1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5
3. Nf3 Nf6 {A good option for Black, if he wants to have a slightly more
interesting game.} ({The main move is, of course,} 3... Bg4 4. h3 Bxf3 5. Qxf3
{, but Black is usually a bit passive.}) 4. e5 Ne4 {The point - tactical
nuances make this brave move possible.} 5. Ne2 Qb6 6. d4 e6 7. Nfg1 $5 {
In order to trap the knight. This move is not new and the first GM who used it
was Ivan Saric and later also Leinier Dominguez used it.} f6 8. f3 Ng5 9. exf6
gxf6 10. f4 Nf7 {This is protecting the king from checks from h5.} ({It seems
that because of possible checks} 10... Ne4 {is slightly worse:} 11. Ng3 $14)
11. Nf3 Be7 $146 {Up to this moment both Riazantsev and I had played qucikly.
However, the move made by my opponent was new to me. It seems to me, that this
is not a great move - the bishop on e7 is not doing as much as on g7, but on
the other had it shouldn't be bad either.} ({The logical} 11... Bg7 {has been
played in the past and the plan of 0-0 combined with e6-e5 seems to be enough
for equalisation.}) 12. c4 $5 {Being surprised by my opponent's choice, I
decided to play something, which he probably wasn't prepared for. At the same
time, I did not want to make not the most stupid move. After some minutes, I
decided that 12.c4 was the perfect choice. Firstly, it's very unlikely to be
the computer choice, as it seems quite suspicious, and on the other hand, it
makes some sense - if the pawn remains on c4, Black hardly can play c6-c5
which (apart from e6-e5) should be one of the main possibilities and if Black
collects the pawn on c4, then White should have at least a decent initiative.}
({I didn't like the natural} 12. Ng3 {, because of} c5 {and it's hard to say
how White should proceed, while Black has a clear plan - Nc6, Bd7 and 0-0-0.})
12... dxc4 {The most natural.} ({I think that White is better after} 12... O-O
13. Nc3 {, but it was interesting to play}) (12... e5 $5 {with a crazy position
}) 13. Nc3 Nd6 14. Nh4 $2 {A big mistake. White should have realised that the
key factor in this position is the c4-pawn and exchange it.} ({After} 14. b3 $1
cxb3 15. axb3 {White's prospects are good - he will play Bd3 and 0-0, while
Black has a serious problem with his king. Unfortunately, I missed the whole
b2-b3 idea.}) 14... Na6 {This move isn't bad, but there was absolutely nothing
wrong with} (14... O-O $1 {as after} 15. Qg4+ $2 (15. f5 $5 {, blocking f6-f5,
is offering some initiative after} exf5 16. Be2 Na6 17. O-O {, but I am not
sure if it's enough for 2 pawns}) 15... Kh8 16. Qh5 {Black can play simply} Rg8
$1 $17) 15. Qh5+ (15. Be2 {is suggested by engines, but it was not why I
played Nh4 for...}) 15... Nf7 $2 {That move surprised me, as I considered it
to be far too passive.} ({The best was} 15... Kd8 $1 {after which I didn't see
anything better than} 16. Bd2 (16. Ng6 Re8 17. Nxe7 Rxe7 18. Bd2 Qxb2 19. Rb1
Qa3 $17) (16. Be2 {is probably best practical chance, as after} Qxd4 17. Bd2 {
with 0-0-0 next White will have chances to complicate matters. But, 2 pawns
are 2 pawns...}) 16... Qxb2 17. Rb1 Qa3 18. Ng6 Re8 19. Qxh7 {, but it seems
that Black is almost winning after} b5 {.}) 16. Bxc4 {Now White is not only
back in the game, but also - in my opinion - has the upper hand.} Nb4 (16...
Qxd4 {was an alternative, but I believe that after} 17. Bxa6 bxa6 18. Qe2 {
White is better, as Black's pawn's structure is really damaged. However, maybe
the pair of bishops and the active position of the queen would allow Black to
keep up the pressure on the white pieces.}) 17. Nf5 $1 {A very good resource
which was, most likely, missed by my opponent. I wasn't sure if it was correct,
but at the same time - there was nothing better, so why not create some chaos?!
} ({After} 17. Qe2 Qxd4 (17... Nd6 $5) 18. Nf3 Qc5 19. Ne4 Qh5 {I prefer Black.
}) 17... Nc2+ 18. Kd1 Nxd4 {The most practical decision.} ({After} 18... Nxa1
19. Re1 $1 {Black is under serious pressure. Engines indicate a forced draw,
but it's not so obvious:} Qb4 (19... Bd7 20. Rxe6 $5 (20. Bxe6 Bxe6 21. Rxe6
O-O-O 22. Rxe7 Nd6 23. Nxd6+ Rxd6) 20... Bxe6 21. Bxe6 Rf8 22. Qxh7 {and with
rook and exchange up Black is... really paralysed. It seems to me, that White
has nothing to worry about, e.g.:} Qa6 23. Ke1 Nc2+ 24. Kf2 Nxd4 25. Nxd4 Rd8
26. Nf5 {and it's not clear what Black can do now - probably perpetual by
Qb6-a6 is best.}) 20. Ng7+ Kf8 (20... Kd8 21. Bxe6 Qxd4+ 22. Bd2 Nd6 23. Bxc8
Kxc8 24. Rxe7 $13) 21. Nxe6+ Bxe6 22. Bxe6 Qxd4+ 23. Bd2 Nd8 24. Qh6+ Ke8 25.
Qh5+ {with perpetual check.}) 19. Nxe7 Kxe7 20. b3 Nb5 $2 {A mistake which
allows White to take the initiative.} ({I was expecting} 20... Nd6 {after
which I wanted to play} 21. Bd3 {and I thought that the initiative I was
getting for just one pawn was a big one. For example} (21. Ba3 N4f5 {seemed
dangerous to me, but maybe after} 22. Kc2 Ne3+ 23. Kd3 $1 Nd5 24. Kc2 Ne3+ {
it's simply perpetual - but it's engine stuff...}) 21... Bd7 $1 22. Ba3 Be8 23.
Qh6 c5 24. Rc1 {with an unclear game in which I strongly prefer White, because
of the black-squared bishop.}) 21. Nxb5 cxb5 22. Qxb5 Qd4+ $2 {Being short of
time, Alexander seriously blunders.} ({It was much better to play} 22... Nd6
23. Ba3 Bd7 24. Qxb6 (24. Qb4 Qxb4 25. Bxb4 a5 26. Bxd6+ Kxd6 $11) 24... axb6
25. Bb4 b5 26. Bd3 $14 {where White is better, but there is no guarantee that
there is enough to win.}) 23. Kc2 Nd6 24. Ba3 Qe4+ 25. Kb2 Qd4+ 26. Kc2 Qe4+ {
At this moment of the game the situation in the match was unclear, so I
thought a bit about repetition. Later on I came to the conclusion, that I must
be better, because I am much better developed, so I started to look for other
options.} 27. Bd3 $1 {The winning move - the point is that the pin on the
a3-f8 diagonal is a deadly one, so it's enough to stop the opponent's checks!}
Qxf4 $2 {That's another blunder, after which White's task is very easy.
However, it's also understandable, that being low on time Alexander didn't
want to open the g-file for my rooks.} ({After} 27... Qxg2+ {I wanted to play}
28. Be2 $1 (28. Kc3 {is probably not winning} Bd7 29. Bxd6+ Kxd6 30. Qb4+ Kc7
31. Be4 $1 {(actually I totally missed this move)} Qf2 32. Qxb7+ Kd8 33. Qxa8+
Ke7 34. Qxh8 Qc5+ {with a perpetual}) 28... Qe4+ 29. Qd3 $1 Qxd3+ 30. Bxd3 {
and Black is hopeless, because he can't protect both the knight on d6 and the
g-file.}) 28. Rhf1 Qxh2 29. Rad1 {Now all my pieces are in play, so the rest
is just a question of time} Bd7 30. Qxb7 Rac8+ 31. Bc4 {Now it's over - White
wins material.} Rc6 32. Rxd6 Rxd6 33. Rd1 1-0

[Event "Candidates Tournament"]
[Site "Bled/Zagreb/Belgrade"]
[Date "1959.09.08"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Fischer, Robert James"]
[Black "Petrosian, Tigran V"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B11"]
[Annotator "Bulletin"]
[PlyCount "136"]
[EventDate "1959.09.07"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "28"]
[EventCountry "CRO"]
[SourceTitle "Candidates"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1999.07.01"]
[SourceVersion "2"]
[SourceVersionDate "1999.07.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 Bg4 4. h3 Bxf3 5. Qxf3 Nf6 (5... e6 6. d4 dxe4 7.
Qxe4 $36) 6. d3 e6 7. g3 Bb4 8. Bd2 d4 (8... Qb6 {(/\ 9...d4)} 9. O-O-O d4 10.
Ne2 Bxd2+ 11. Rxd2 Nbd7 $10) 9. Nb1 Bxd2+ 10. Nxd2 e5 11. Bg2 c5 12. O-O Nc6
13. Qe2 g5 $6 (13... O-O 14. f4 exf4 15. gxf4 Re8 $10) 14. Nf3 $6 (14. f4 $1
gxf4 15. gxf4 Qe7 16. Nc4 Nd7 17. Qg4 $40) 14... h6 15. h4 $1 Rg8 (15... g4 16.
Nh2 h5 17. f3 $14) 16. a3 Qe7 17. hxg5 hxg5 18. Qd2 Nd7 19. c3 O-O-O 20. cxd4
exd4 $1 (20... cxd4 21. b4 Qf6 22. Rfc1 Kb8 $10) 21. b4 Kb8 22. Rfc1 Nce5 (
22... cxb4 $2 23. axb4 Qxb4 24. Qa2 $16) 23. Nxe5 Qxe5 24. Rc4 Rc8 25. Rac1 (
25. Rb1 Rc7 $1 $10 (25... g4 $6 26. bxc5 Nxc5 27. Qb4 $16)) 25... g4 26. Qb2
Rgd8 27. a4 $2 (27. Bf1 {/\ 28.Be2}) 27... Qe7 $1 $40 28. Rb1 (28. bxc5 $2 Ne5
$1 29. Rxd4 Nxd3 $19) (28. Rd1 Ne5 29. Rxc5 Rxc5 30. bxc5 Qxc5 $17) 28... Ne5
29. Rxc5 Rxc5 30. bxc5 Nxd3 31. Qd2 Nxc5 32. Qf4+ Qc7 33. Qxg4 Nxa4 34. e5 Nc5
35. Qf3 d3 $1 $19 36. Qe3 d2 37. Bf3 Na4 38. Qe4 Nc5 39. Qe2 a6 40. Kg2 Ka7 41.
Qe3 Rd3 42. Qf4 Qd7 43. Qc4 b6 44. Rd1 a5 45. Qf4 Rd4 46. Qh6 b5 47. Qe3 (47.
Qf8 Qc7 48. Qa8+ Kb6) 47... Kb6 48. Qh6+ Ne6 49. Qe3 Ka6 50. Be2 a4 51. Qc3 Kb6
52. Qe3 Nc5 53. Bf3 b4 54. Qh6+ Ne6 55. Qh8 Qd8 56. Qh7 Qd7 57. Qh8 b3 $1 58.
Qb8+ Ka5 59. Qa8+ Kb5 (59... Kb4 $2 60. Bc6) 60. Qb8+ Kc4 $1 61. Qg8 Kc3 62.
Bh5 Nd8 (62... a3 63. Bxf7 Qd5+ 64. Kg1 Qf3 $19) 63. Bf3 a3 64. Qf8 Kb2 65. Qh8
Ne6 66. Qa8 a2 67. Qa5 Qa4 68. Rxd2+ Ka3 0-1

[Event "Candidates Tournament"]
[Site "Bled/Zagreb/Belgrade"]
[Date "1959.10.04"]
[Round "16"]
[White "Fischer, Robert James"]
[Black "Petrosian, Tigran V"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B11"]
[Annotator "Bulletin"]
[PlyCount "96"]
[EventDate "1959.09.07"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "28"]
[EventCountry "CRO"]
[SourceTitle "Candidates"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1999.07.01"]
[SourceVersion "2"]
[SourceVersionDate "1999.07.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 {Fischer, Ragozin} c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 Bg4 (3... dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 $2 5.
Ng3 Bg6 (5... Bg4 6. h3) 6. h4 h6 7. Ne5 Bh7 8. Qh5 g6 9. Bc4 $1 e6 10. Qe2 $16
) (3... Nf6 4. e5 Ne4 5. Ne2 $1 Qb6 6. d4 c5 7. dxc5 Qxc5 8. Ned4 Nc6 9. Bb5 a6
10. Bxc6+ bxc6 11. O-O Qb6 12. e6 $1 fxe6 13. Bf4 $16 {Fischer,R-Olafsson,F/
Belgrade ct/1959/1-0/}) 4. h3 Bxf3 (4... Bh5 5. exd5 cxd5 6. Bb5+ Nc6 7. g4 Bg6
8. Ne5 Rc8 9. d4 e6 10. h4 (10. Qe2 $142 $1) 10... f6 11. Nxg6 hxg6 12. Qd3 Kf7
13. h5 gxh5 14. gxh5 Nge7 $10 {Fischer,R-Smyslov,V/Bled ct/1959/}) 5. Qxf3 Nf6
(5... e6 6. d4 dxe4 7. Nxe4 Qxd4 8. Bd3 $146) (5... dxe4 6. Nxe4 Nd7 7. Ng5 $5
(7. d4 $142) 7... Ngf6 8. Qb3 e6 9. Qxb7 Nd5 $1 $17 {Fischer,R-Cardoso,R
Portoroz izt 1958}) 6. d3 (6. d4 dxe4 7. Nxe4 $5 (7. Qe3 Nbd7 8. Nxe4 Nxe4 9.
Qxe4 Nf6 10. Qd3 Qd5 $1 $10 {Fischer,R-Keres,P Bled 1961}) 7... Qxd4 8. Bd3
Nbd7 $17) (6. e5 Nfd7 7. e6 $2 (7. Qg3 e6 8. Be2 {Spassky,B-Reshko/Leningrad/
1961/}) 7... fxe6 8. d4 e5 $1 $17) (6. g3 dxe4 7. Nxe4 Nxe4 8. Qxe4 Qd5 $1 9.
Qxd5 cxd5 10. Bg2 e6 $10 {Suetin,A} 11. c4 Nc6 12. cxd5 Nb4 $1) 6... e6 7. g3 (
7. Bd2) (7. a3 Bc5 8. Be2 O-O 9. O-O Nbd7 $10 {Fischer,R-Larsen,B/Zuerich/1959/
}) 7... Bb4 8. Bd2 (8. Bg2 $2 d4 9. a3 Qa5 $19) 8... d4 (8... Qb6 9. O-O-O d4
10. Ne2 $16) 9. Nb1 Bxd2+ (9... Qb6 10. b3 Nbd7 11. Bg2 a5 12. a3 Bxd2+ (12...
Be7 $6 {Fischer,R-Keres,P Bled ct 1959 0-1}) 13. Nxd2 Qc5 14. Qd1 h5 15. h4 $1
$16 {Fischer,R-Benko,P/Belgrade ct/1959/1-0}) 10. Nxd2 e5 11. Bg2 c5 12. O-O
Nc6 13. Qe2 Qe7 (13... g5 14. Nf3 $2 (14. f4 gxf4 15. gxf4 Qe7 16. Nc4 Nd7 17.
Qg4 {+/-; Smagin,V} O-O-O 18. fxe5 Kb8 $15 {>< e5}) (14. c3 $1 Qe7 15. Nf3 h6
16. cxd4 $1 exd4 (16... Nxd4 17. Nxd4 cxd4 18. Rac1) (16... cxd4 17. h4 Rg8 18.
hxg5 hxg5 19. Rfc1 O-O-O 20. b4 $1 Kb8 21. b5 Na5 22. Qd2 $16) 17. e5 $1 O-O-O
18. Rfe1 $14) 14... h6 15. h4 Rg8 16. a3 Qe7 17. hxg5 hxg5 18. Qd2 Nd7 19. c3
O-O-O 20. cxd4 exd4 $17 {Fischer,R-Petrosian,T Bled ct 1959 0-1}) (13... O-O
14. f4 Kh8 15. f5 Ng8 16. g4 $36 f6) 14. f4 O-O-O 15. a3 Ne8 (15... Nd7 16. b4
f6 17. Nc4 b5) 16. b4 cxb4 (16... f6 17. b5 (17. bxc5 Qxc5 18. fxe5 Nxe5) 17...
Na5 18. Nb3 Nxb3 19. cxb3 Kb8 20. a4 $10) 17. Nc4 $2 (17. fxe5 $1 Qxe5 (17...
bxa3 18. Nc4 Rf8 19. Rxa3 $16 b5 20. Qg4+ $1) (17... Nxe5 18. axb4 Kb8 19. Nf3
f6 20. Qf2 $1 Nxf3+ (20... Qxb4 21. Nxe5 fxe5 22. Qf7) 21. Qxf3 Nd6 (21... Qxb4
22. e5 $1) 22. Ra5 a6 23. Qf4 Rhe8 24. Rd5 $16) (17... Kb8 18. axb4 Nxb4 (18...
Nxe5 19. Nf3) 19. Nc4 Nc6 (19... Nc7 20. Nd6 $1 Rhf8 21. Rfb1 Nca6 22. Qd2 Qxe5
23. Nxb7 $1 Kxb7 24. Rxa6 $1 $18) 20. Qf3 Rf8 21. e6 $1 Qxe6 22. e5 $1 $18 {
/\ Rfb1 ->}) 18. Rxf7 Qxg3 19. e5 $1 Qe3+ 20. Qxe3 dxe3 21. Nc4 $16) 17... f6
$1 (17... bxa3 18. fxe5) 18. fxe5 fxe5 19. axb4 Nc7 (19... Qxb4 $5 {Ragozin})
20. Na5 Nb5 $1 $17 (20... Nxb4 {Ragozin} 21. Rfb1 Nca6 22. Qd2 b6 23. Nc4 $40)
21. Nxc6 bxc6 22. Rf2 g6 (22... Qxb4 23. Qg4+ Rd7 24. Rf7 Rhd8 25. Qxg7) (22...
Rhf8 $142 {Ragozin}) 23. h4 Kb7 (23... Rhf8 $1) 24. h5 Qxb4 (24... Rhf8 $1) (
24... gxh5 25. Qxh5 Rhf8 26. Rf5 $1) 25. Rf7+ Kb6 (25... Kb8 26. Qf2 Rhf8 27.
c4 $1 Nc7 (27... dxc3 $2 28. Raxa7 Rxf7 29. Qb6+ $18) 28. Qf6 $16) 26. Qf2 $1
a5 (26... Rhf8 27. c4 $1 Nc3 28. Raxa7 $18) (26... Qc5 {Ragozin} 27. c4 dxc3 $2
28. Ra6+ $1) (26... Qc3 {Ragozin} 27. Ra4) 27. c4 Nc3 (27... Nd6 $142) 28. Rf1
$2 (28. Qf6 $1 Rdf8 (28... Rhf8 29. Rf1 $1 Rxf7 30. Qxd8+ $1 Rc7 31. Rf7 $18) (
28... Qc5 29. Qg7 $1 Ka6 (29... a4 30. Ra7 $1) (29... Ra8 30. Rb7+ Ka6 31. Qc7
Rhc8 32. Rb5 $1 $18) (29... Rdg8 30. Rb7+ Ka6 31. Qc7 Rc8 32. Rxa5+ $1 $18) 30.
Ra7+ $1 Qxa7 31. Rxa5+ Kxa5 32. Qxa7+ Kb4 33. Qb6+ Ka3 34. c5 $36) (28... Qd6 {
Ragozin} 29. Qg7 Rdg8 $2 30. Rb7+ Kc5 31. Rxa5+ $18) 29. Qxe5 Rxf7 30. Qxh8 Qc5
31. e5 $16) 28... a4 (28... Qd6 $142) 29. Qf6 Qc5 (29... Qd6 $142 $1 {Ragozin}
30. Qg7 Rdg8 $1 31. Rb7+ Kc5 32. Qf7 Rf8 33. Qg7 Rhg8 34. Qxh7 Rh8 35. Qxg6
Qxg6 36. hxg6 Ne2#) 30. Rxh7 $1 (30. Qg7 Rdg8 $1 31. Rb7+ Ka6 32. Qc7 Rc8 33.
Qg7 Rcg8 $10) 30... Rdf8 $1 31. Qxg6 Rxf1+ (31... Rxh7 $1 {Ragozin} 32. Qxh7 a3
$1 (32... Rxf1+ {game}) 33. Qg7 Ne2+ 34. Kh2 Rxf1 35. Bxf1 a2 36. Qg8 a1=Q 37.
Qb8+ $10) 32. Bxf1 Rxh7 33. Qxh7 a3 34. h6 a2 35. Qg8 a1=Q 36. h7 Qd6 $2 (36...
Ne2+ $142 $1 37. Kf2 Nxg3 $1 38. Qb8+ $10) 37. h8=Q Qa7 38. g4 Kc5 $1 39. Qf8
$2 (39. Qh2 $142 $1 Qf6 (39... Qa1 40. Qg7) (39... Qa2 $2 40. Qxa2 Nxa2 41. Qa8
$1 $18) (39... Qae7 40. Qa8 $40) 40. g5) 39... Qae7 $1 (39... Qxf8 40. Qxf8+
Kb6 41. Qb4+ Ka6 (41... Kc7 42. Qe7+) 42. Qa3+ Kb7 43. Qxa7+ Kxa7 44. g5 $18)
40. Qa8 Kb4 $1 41. Qh2 Kb3 $1 42. Qa1 (42. c5 Qxc5 (42... Qg6 43. Be2 $1 Qgg5
44. Bd1+ $1) 43. Qg8+ Ka3 44. Qc2 Qb4 45. Qa8+ Qa4 (45... Na4 $2 46. Qc1+ Ka2
47. Qg8+ Qb3 48. Qc2+ $1 $19) 46. Qcxa4+ Nxa4 47. Qxc6 $16 {Ragozin} Nc3 $1 $10
{Fischer}) 42... Qa3 43. Qxa3+ Kxa3 44. Qh6 {/\g4-g5-g6-g7-g8Q} Qf7 $1 45. Kg2
(45. Qxc6 Nd1 $1) 45... Kb3 {/\Nd1} (45... Nd1 46. Qc1+ Nb2 $18) 46. Qd2 Qh7 $1
47. Kg3 {"An gross oversight, but probably best anyway." Fischer} (47. g5 Qh4
$44) 47... Qxe4 $1 48. Qf2 $2 (48. dxe4 $2 Nxe4+ 49. Kh4 Nxd2 50. g5 Nxf1 51.
g6 d3 $19) (48. Qd1+ $2 Nxd1 49. dxe4 Ne3 50. Be2 Nxc4 51. g5 Nd6 52. g6 Ne8
$19) (48. Qxc3+ $2 dxc3 49. dxe4 c2 $19) (48. g5 $142 $1 $13) 48... Qh1 $1 $17
{Petrosian accepted the offered draw. "After having fought so hard for the
draw, however, Petrosian was obviously unprepared to readjust his frame of
mind and start playsing for a win." Fischer} (48... Qh1 $1 49. g5 (49. Bg2 Qh6
$17) 49... e4 $1 $17) 1/2-1/2

[Event "RUS-ch 67th"]
[Site "Kazan"]
[Date "2014.12.05"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Morozevich, Alexander"]
[Black "Vitiugov, Nikita"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B11"]
[WhiteElo "2724"]
[BlackElo "2738"]
[Annotator "CB"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "2014.11.28"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[EventCategory "19"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 164"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2015.01.15"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2015.01.15"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 Bg4 4. h3 Bxf3 5. Qxf3 e6 6. d3 Nd7 7. Bd2 Ngf6 8. g4
h6 9. Qg3 d4 10. Ne2 Qb6 11. Rb1 g5 12. Bg2 Be7 13. O-O h5 14. e5 Nd5 15. c4 (
15. gxh5 $1 O-O-O 16. c4 $1 $13) 15... h4 $1 16. Qf3 Nb4 $1 17. a3 $1 {A well
calculated sequence! White sacrifices two pawns but he will get them back.}
Nxe5 18. Qe4 Nbxd3 19. b4 $2 (19. Nc1 {right away was considerably stronger.}
Nxc1 20. Qxe5 f6 21. Qxe6 Nd3 22. Rbe1 $1 Nxe1 23. Rxe1 Qc7 24. Bb4 c5 25. Ba5
Qd7 26. Qxf6 {and White crashes through.}) 19... O-O 20. Nc1 Nxc1 21. Qxe5 Nd3
22. Qe4 Nf4 23. Bxf4 gxf4 24. Qxf4 {White now regains his material but nothing
more.} Qd8 $1 25. b5 Rc8 26. Rfd1 Bg5 27. Qe4 Qf6 28. bxc6 bxc6 29. Rxd4 Rfd8
30. Rbd1 Rxd4 31. Qxd4 Qxd4 32. Rxd4 Be7 33. Rd7 Bxa3 34. Rxa7 Bb2 {Now the
endgame is obviously drawn.} 35. c5 Bd4 36. Ra4 Bxc5 37. Rc4 Be7 38. Rxc6 Rxc6
39. Bxc6 e5 40. Kg2 Bg5 41. Kf3 e4+ 42. Kxe4 1/2-1/2

[Event "Montreal International"]
[Site "Montreal"]
[Date "1979.04.29"]
[Round "14"]
[White "Karpov, Anatoly"]
[Black "Portisch, Lajos"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B11"]
[WhiteElo "2705"]
[BlackElo "2640"]
[Annotator "ChessBase"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "1979.04.11"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "18"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
[EventCategory "15"]
[SourceTitle "MCL"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1999.07.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "1999.07.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 Bg4 4. h3 Bxf3 (4... Bh5 $5 5. exd5 cxd5 6. g4 Bg6 7.
Bb5+ Nc6 8. Ne5 $13) 5. Qxf3 Nf6 6. d3 e6 7. Be2 (7. g3 {Fischer 1959}) (7. Bd2
Nbd7 8. g4 $13) (7. a3 Nbd7 8. g4) 7... Nbd7 (7... Bb4 8. Bd2 d4 9. Nb1 Bxd2+ (
9... Qb6 10. O-O Bxd2 11. Nxd2 Qc7 12. c3 dxc3 13. bxc3 c5 14. d4 {
Mestel-Tikkainen/Tjenste/1975/}) 10. Nxd2 Qa5 $13) 8. Qg3 g6 9. O-O Bg7 10. Bf4
(10. Kh1 {/\f4}) 10... Qb6 (10... O-O $2 11. Bd6 Re8 12. e5 $16) 11. Rab1 O-O
12. Bf3 (12. Bc7 Qd4 13. Bf3 e5 14. Bd6 Rfe8 15. Ba3 dxe4 $10 {Smyslov,
V-Botvinnik,M (01)/Wch Moscow/1958/}) (12. e5 Ne8 13. Rfe1 {/\h4 Gligoric})
12... e5 $1 13. Bd2 (13. Bxe5 Nh5 $1 $19) 13... dxe4 14. dxe4 a5 $10 15. Rfd1
a4 16. Qh4 Qc5 17. Be3 Qe7 18. a3 Rfd8 19. Be2 Nc5 20. Bf1 Ne6 21. f3 b5 (21...
Nd4) 22. Na2 Qb7 23. Nb4 c5 24. Nd3 Qc7 25. c3 $2 c4 26. Nb4 Bf8 27. Qf2 (27.
Qxf6 $2 Be7 28. Nd5 Rxd5) 27... Bc5 28. Bxc5 Nxc5 29. Be2 Kg7 30. g3 h6 31. h4
h5 32. Qe3 Rac8 33. Kf1 Ra8 34. Ke1 Rac8 35. Bf1 Ra8 36. Bh3 $1 Nb3 37. Ke2
Rxd1 38. Rxd1 Rd8 39. Na6 Qa5 40. Nb4 Rxd1 41. Kxd1 Qd8+ 42. Ke2 1/2-1/2

[Event "BL2-West 9596"]
[Site "Germany"]
[Date "1996.??.??"]
[Round "?.1"]
[White "Romanishin, Oleg M"]
[Black "Dautov, Rustem"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B11"]
[WhiteElo "2590"]
[BlackElo "2615"]
[Annotator "Dautov,R"]
[PlyCount "78"]
[EventDate "1995.10.??"]
[EventType "team-tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 051"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1996.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "1996.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Hofheim"]
[BlackTeam "St Ingbert"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "GER"]
[BlackTeamCountry "GER"]

1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 Bg4 4. Be2 e6 (4... dxe4 5. Nxe4 Nd7 6. Nfg5 Bxe2 7.
Qxe2 Ndf6 8. O-O h6 9. Nf3 Nxe4 10. Qxe4 Nf6 11. Qe2 e6 12. d4 Bd6 13. c4 O-O
14. Bd2 Qe7 15. Rad1 Rfd8 16. Rfe1 {1/2-1/2 Zaitsev,I-Kharitonov,A/Moscow1 ;
EXP 46 1995}) 5. d4 Nf6 6. e5 (6. h3 Bh5 7. exd5 Bxf3 8. Bxf3 cxd5 9. O-O Nc6
10. Re1 Be7 11. Ne2 O-O 12. Nf4 b5 {Westerinen,H-Meduna,E/Moskva 1982}) 6...
Nfd7 7. Ng5 Bxe2 8. Nxe2 (8. Qxe2 Bb4 $10) 8... h6 $5 {N} (8... Be7 9. f4 c5
10. c3 cxd4 11. cxd4 Qa5+ $1 12. Bd2 Qb6 13. Bc3 Nc6 14. Qd3 (14. Nf3 f6 $132)
14... Rc8 15. Rd1 Nb4 16. Qb1 g6 17. O-O Qa6 18. Nc1 Nb6 $10 {Zaitsev,I-Guliev,
S/Moscow1 ;EXP 46 1995}) 9. Nf3 (9. Nxe6 $2 fxe6 10. Nf4 Qg5 $1 11. g4 $1 Nxe5
$1 (11... Na6 $2 12. h4 Qd8 13. Qd3 Nc7 14. Qg6+ Ke7 15. Qh5 Rh7 16. Ng6+ Kf7
17. Bg5 hxg5 (17... Qe8 $4 18. Ne7+ g6 19. Qxg6#) 18. Qxh7 $16) 12. Qe2 Qxg4
13. Qxe5 Kd7 $17) 9... c5 10. c3 Nc6 11. O-O Be7 12. Nf4 (12. Be3 cxd4 13. cxd4
Qb6 14. Qd2 O-O-O $10 (14... O-O $10)) 12... cxd4 13. cxd4 Qb6 14. Be3 $2 (14.
Re1 $2 g5 15. Ne2 g4 $17) (14. b3 O-O (14... g5 $6 15. Ne2 g4 16. Ne1 O-O-O 17.
Be3 h5 18. Nd3 $14) 15. Be3 Rfc8 $10) 14... Qxb2 15. Ne1 (15. Rb1 Qxa2 16. Rxb7
(16. Nh5 $2 g6 17. Ng7+ Kf8 18. Rxb7 Ndb8 $19) 16... Qa6 17. Qb1 Na5 18. Rc7
Qb6 $17) (15. Nd2 $1 O-O-O (15... Nxd4 16. Rb1 Qc3 17. Rc1 Qb4 18. Rb1 $10) 16.
Nb3 Qa3 17. Qg4 (17. Qf3 $5) 17... g6 18. Qf3 Kb8 19. Nd3 Rdf8 20. Rfc1 $15 {/\
} Nb6 21. Nbc5) 15... O-O-O 16. Ned3 Qa3 $17 17. Qe2 (17. Qg4 $2 g5 $19) 17...
Kb8 18. Rab1 Rc8 19. Rb3 $6 Qa4 20. Rfb1 Na5 21. Rb5 a6 22. R5b2 Ba3 23. Rd2
Nc4 $19 24. Rdd1 Rc7 (24... Nxe3 25. fxe3 (25. Qxe3 Rc2) 25... Rc2 26. Rd2 Rhc8
$19) 25. Qf3 Rhc8 26. Ne2 (26. Nh5 Bf8 27. Qxf7 $2 Ndxe5 28. Qxe6 Nxe3 29. fxe3
Nxd3 30. Rxd3 Rc1+ 31. Rxc1 Rxc1+ 32. Kf2 Qc2+ $19) 26... Qc2 (26... Ndb6 $19)
27. Ne1 Qe4 28. Qxe4 dxe4 29. Rb3 $138 a5 30. Ng3 a4 31. Rbb1 Nxe3 32. fxe3 Rc3
$2 $138 (32... f5 $19) 33. Kf2 f5 34. Ne2 R3c4 35. Nf4 Nf8 36. d5 exd5 37. Rxd5
(37. Nxd5 Rd8 $19) 37... g5 38. Nh5 Ne6 39. Nf6 Rb4 $138 0-1

[Event "EU-ch 13th"]
[Site "Plovdiv"]
[Date "2012.03.30"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Vallejo Pons, Francisco"]
[Black "Nisipeanu, Liviu Dieter"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B11"]
[WhiteElo "2693"]
[BlackElo "2643"]
[Annotator "Ftacnik,L"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2012.03.20"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "BUL"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 148"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2012.05.16"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2012.05.16"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Nc3 Bg4 4. h3 Bxf3 5. Qxf3 e6 6. d4 dxe4 7. Qxe4 {
There are two ways to see this opening positions. Black has lost his bishop
pair early, but he has also managed to solve the problem of the c8-bishop and
he sports no weaknesses.} Nf6 8. Qd3 Nbd7 9. g3 Be7 {There are surprisingly
few examples of the opening fight in this line apart from the slightly exotic
fight after 10...Nd5.} (9... Nd5 10. Bg2 Nxc3 11. bxc3 Qa5 12. O-O Nb6 13. Bd2
Qa4 14. Rab1 Be7 15. f4 O-O 16. Be4 f5 17. Bf3 Qxa2 18. Rfe1 Rfe8 19. Rb3 Bf8
20. c4 Rad8 21. Bc3 Qa6 22. Be2 $14 {0-1 (36) Matjushin,G (2302)-Burmakin,V 
(2538)/St Petersburg 2000/ (36)}) 10. Bg2 O-O 11. O-O Qc7 12. b3 {White is
slightly better, Black has nothing to fear - apart from the opening wide of
the position for the white bishops.} (12. Re1 Rfe8 13. a3 Rad8 14. Be3 Nd5 $11)
12... Rad8 13. Bb2 Rfe8 14. Rad1 Bf8 {Quite a different approach is tied tothe
advance of the h-pawn, hoping to disturb the ideal fianchetto position in
front of the white king.} (14... h5 15. Qf3 h4 16. gxh4 e5 17. dxe5 Nxe5 18.
Qg3 Nh5 19. Nb5 Nxg3 20. Nxc7 Nxf1 21. Rxf1 Rf8 22. Bxe5 Bd6 $11) 15. Qe2 g6 (
15... e5 16. d5 e4 17. dxc6 Qxc6 18. Rd4 $14) 16. Nb1 (16. Rfe1 Bg7 17. a3 $14)
16... Bg7 17. c4 $6 {The retreat of the knight to b1 is controversial enough,
but the failure to control the e5-square is a serious omission.} (17. Rfe1 $14)
17... e5 $1 18. d5 {The advance of the d-pawn in the centre may not promise
any advantage, but it at least manages to keep the tension in the position.} (
18. dxe5 Nh5 19. Qe3 Bxe5 20. Bxe5 Nxe5 21. Rxd8 Rxd8 22. Qxa7 Rd3 $11) 18...
e4 (18... cxd5 19. cxd5 e4 20. d6 Qb6 21. Na3 Re6 $11) 19. d6 Qb8 {There is
still a lot of room for equality, so Black could also have put the queen on
the b6-square.} (19... Qb6 20. Bd4 c5 21. Be3 Ne5 22. Nc3 Qc6 23. Bf4 Nf3+ 24.
Bxf3 exf3 25. Qd3 h6 $11) 20. b4 b6 (20... a5 21. a3 Re6 22. c5 b6 23. Rc1 Rde8
$11) 21. Nc3 Re6 22. Bc1 Rde8 {The logical line with a slightly ugly bishop
retreat 22...Bf8!? had the advantage of eliminating the dangerous d6-pawn in
no time.} (22... Bf8 $5 23. Bf4 Bxd6 24. Rxd6 Rxd6 25. Rb1 g5 26. Bxd6 Qxd6 27.
Nxe4 Nxe4 28. Qxe4 Ne5 $11) 23. c5 (23. b5 $5 c5 24. Qc2 $14) 23... bxc5 24.
bxc5 Qb4 25. Qc2 (25. Qe3 Nxc5 26. Rd4 Qa5 27. Rc4 Nb7 28. Ra4 Nd5 29. d7 Rd8
30. Qxa7 Qxa7 31. Rxa7 Nxc3 32. Rxb7 Rd6 $15) 25... e3 $6 {Nisipeanu could not
have been really unhappy about his chances in this position. Both queen moves
to the c-file were good with full equality without much stress. Black's
decision to seek complications with the e-pawn advance might have originated
in a false evaluation of the ensuing lines.} (25... Qc4 26. Qb3 Qxb3 27. axb3
Nxc5 28. b4 Nd3 29. Nxe4 Nxc1 30. Nxf6+ Rxf6 31. Rxc1 Rxd6 32. Bxc6 $11) (25...
Qxc5 26. Be3 Qa5 27. Rfe1 Bf8 28. Bd2 Qc5 29. Be3 $11) 26. Bxe3 Rxe3 27. fxe3
Qxc5 28. Rd3 $6 (28. Kh1 Rxe3 29. Rd3 Re6 30. Qd2 $14) 28... Rxe3 $2 {Both
players are suffering from delusions, but Black's folly is more important due
to the lack of some material.} (28... Ne5 29. Rd4 Bh6 $1 30. Kh1 Bxe3 $11) 29.
Rxe3 Qxe3+ 30. Kh2 h5 (30... Qc5 31. Qd2 h5 32. Ne4 $16) 31. Ne4 h4 32. Qf2 {
White must have been very satisfied with the recent developments. His
complacency has prevented him from finding the strongest solution with the
king retreat 32.Kh1!} (32. Kh1 $1 hxg3 (32... c5 33. gxh4 $16) 33. Qxc6 Kh7 34.
Nxf6+ Nxf6 35. Qf3 $16) 32... hxg3+ 33. Qxg3 Qd4 34. Nxf6+ Bxf6 (34... Nxf6 35.
Qf4 Qxf4+ 36. Rxf4 Nd7 37. Ra4 $18) 35. Kh1 Kg7 $6 {A mediocre general move
with huge consequences. White is able to exchange the queens and dominate the
endgame with his extra exchange.} (35... c5 36. Qf4 Qd3 37. h4 Kg7 38. h5 $16)
36. Qg4 $1 Qxg4 37. hxg4 c5 38. Bd5 Ne5 39. Rc1 Nd3 {The knight moves can not
alter the general verdict of hopeless position for the defender.} (39... Nxg4
40. Rxc5 $18) 40. Rb1 Nf2+ 41. Kg1 Nxg4 42. Rb7 Ne5 43. Rxa7 c4 44. Rc7 Bd8 (
44... Bg5 45. a4 Bd2 46. d7 Bg5 47. a5 $18) 45. a4 1-0

[Event "Candidates sf"]
[Site "Elista"]
[Date "2007.06.01"]
[Round "1.5"]
[White "Polgar, Judit"]
[Black "Bareev, Evgeny"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B11"]
[WhiteElo "2727"]
[BlackElo "2643"]
[Annotator "Ftacnik,L"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "2007.05.27"]
[EventType "k.o."]
[EventRounds "12"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 119"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2007.08.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2007.08.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 Bg4 4. h3 Bxf3 5. Qxf3 e6 6. Be2 Nd7 7. d3 g6 8. O-O
Bg7 9. Bf4 Qb6 {Bareev was in the lead by two points and his choice of opening
is laudable. Polgar will be struggling to create active play for her pieces.}
10. Nd1 Ngf6 11. a4 a5 12. g4 {A rather courageous decision dictated by the
situation in the match.} e5 (12... O-O 13. Bd6 Rfd8 14. Qg3 Ne8 15. Be7 Rdc8
$11) 13. Bd2 Nc5 14. g5 (14. exd5 Nxd5 $1 (14... cxd5 15. Qg2 e4 16. d4 Ne6 17.
Bb5+ Kf8 18. c3 $14) 15. Ne3 Nf4 16. Nc4 Qc7 17. Rfe1 O-O $11) 14... dxe4 15.
dxe4 Nfd7 $2 {Bareev is playing unduly modestly and gives his opponent the
chance to generate an attack.} (15... Nfxe4 16. Be3 Nd6 (16... Qc7 17. Qg2 Qd6
18. Bf3 f5 19. gxf6 Nxf6 20. Nc3 Ne6 $15) 17. Ra3 (17. Nc3 O-O 18. Ra3 Nf5 19.
Rb3 Qa7 $17) 17... Nf5 18. Rb3 Qa7 19. Bxc5 Qxc5 20. Rxb7 Nd6 21. Rc7 e4 22.
Qe3 Bd4 23. Qd2 O-O $15) 16. Bc4 (16. Ne3 O-O (16... Qxb2 17. Nc4 Qxc2 18. Rfc1
Qb3 19. Rc3 Qb4 20. Re3 $18) 17. Nc4 Qc7 $11) 16... O-O (16... Rf8 17. Qg4
O-O-O 18. Ne3 $14) 17. h4 $1 {The advance of the h-pawn openly announces
White's aggressive ambitions.} Ne6 (17... Rae8 18. h5 gxh5 19. Ra3 $1 $16) 18.
Bxe6 fxe6 19. Qh3 Qd4 $1 (19... Rae8 20. h5 Rf7 $13) 20. Nc3 Qxd2 21. Rad1 Qxc2
22. Rxd7 {Black's position is still fine, but due to the activity of the white
pieces extreme caution is called for.} (22. Qxe6+ Kh8 23. Rxd7 Qxb2 $13) 22...
Qxb2 $2 (22... Rae8 23. h5 Rf7 (23... gxh5 24. Rxb7 $11) 24. Rxf7 Kxf7 25. h6
Bf8 $13) (22... Qb3 $1 23. h5 Rad8 24. hxg6 hxg6 $15) 23. h5 $1 gxh5 $4 {
[%mdl 128] With this nervous move Black has managed to prove, that he is not
sensing the danger clearly enough. Judit now wins with a forcing manoeuvre.} (
23... Rf7 24. Qxe6 (24. Rxf7 Kxf7 25. Rb1 Qd2 26. Rxb7+ Kf8 $1 27. Qf3+ (27.
Qxe6 Qxg5+) 27... Qf4 28. Qxf4+ exf4 29. Ne2 Be5 30. Kg2 gxh5 31. Rxh7 Rb8 32.
Rxh5 Rb3 $132) 24... Raf8 25. hxg6 hxg6 26. Rd3 Qc2 27. Rh3 Rd8 28. Qxg6 Rd3
$11) 24. Qxe6+ Kh8 25. Rxg7 $1 Kxg7 26. Qh6+ Kg8 (26... Kf7 27. Rb1 Qxc3 28.
Rxb7+ Ke8 29. Qe6+ $18) 27. g6 hxg6 28. Qxg6+ Kh8 29. Kh1 $1 {It is possible,
that the defender has overlooked the motif of activizing the rook via the
g1-square.} Rf4 (29... Qb3 30. Qxh5+ Kg7 31. Rg1+ Kf6 32. Nd5+ cxd5 33. Rg6+
Ke7 34. Qxe5+ $18) 30. Qxh5+ Kg8 31. Rg1+ Kf8 32. Qh8+ Kf7 33. Qg7+ (33. Qg7+
Ke8 (33... Ke6 34. Rg6+ Rf6 35. Rxf6#) 34. Qxe5+ Kd8 35. Rg8+ Kd7 36. Rg7+ $18)
1-0

[Event "EU-chT (Men) 20th"]
[Site "Reykjavik"]
[Date "2015.11.19"]
[Round "6.4"]
[White "Jakovenko, Dmitrij"]
[Black "Paichadze, Luka"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B11"]
[WhiteElo "2735"]
[BlackElo "2573"]
[Annotator "Gormally,D"]
[PlyCount "103"]
[EventDate "2015.11.13"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "ISL"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 170"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2016.01.15"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2016.01.15"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Russia"]
[BlackTeam "Georgia"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "RUS"]
[BlackTeamCountry "GEO"]

1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 Bg4 4. h3 Bxf3 5. Qxf3 e6 (5... Nf6 {is the other
main choice. For example} 6. e5 Nfd7 7. Qg3 e6 8. Be2 c5 9. O-O Nc6 10. f4 Nd4
11. Bd1 Nf5 12. Qf3 c4 13. b3 Rc8 14. bxc4 Rxc4 {Dubov,D (2614)-Ding,L (2742)
Kocaeli 2014, and Black was more than fine.}) 6. Qg3 Nd7 {Black has several
ways to approach this position. Paichadze's choice seems the most flexible, as
Black retains the option of how to develop his kingside.} (6... Nf6 7. d3 b5 $5
8. a3 ({Black's idea is that} 8. exd5 {can be met by} cxd5 $1 9. Nxb5 $2 Qa5+
10. Nc3 d4) 8... g6 9. Be2 Bg7 10. O-O O-O 11. f4 Nbd7 12. Bf3 a5 13. Kh1 b4
14. Nd1 bxa3 15. Rxa3 Ne8 {McShane,L (2687)-Fernandez,D (2476) London 2015,
with a murky position.}) ({In these lines famous Caro-Kann expert Anatoly
Karpov likes to fianchetto his bishop. And who should doubt him?} 6... g6 7.
exd5 ({perhaps} 7. d4 {with the idea of} dxe4 8. Nxe4 Qxd4 9. Bd3 {with some
play for White} Nf6 $2 10. Nxf6+ Qxf6 11. Qc7 $1) 7... exd5 8. Be2 Bg7 9. O-O
Ne7 10. d3 Nf5 11. Qh2 O-O 12. Bf4 Nd4 13. Bd1 Re8 {Tkachiev,V (2575)-Karpov,A
(2765) Alma-Ata 1995, and Black was more than fine.}) 7. d4 $5 ({Jakovenko's
choice is slightly more active than} 7. d3 Ngf6 8. Be2 g6 9. h4 h5 10. Bg5 Qb6
11. O-O-O Bg7 12. e5 Ng8 13. d4 Nh6 {Tkachiev,V (2575)-Karpov,A (2765)
Alma-Ata 1995, where Black's position looked tough to crack.}) 7... dxe4 ({
This position is almost completely unexplored although there was one game
where Black played} 7... Ne7 {Perhaps the best way for White now is} 8. Qd3
dxe4 9. Nxe4 {with a slight advantage.}) (7... g6 8. exd5 $1 exd5 (8... cxd5 9.
Nb5 $1 Rc8 10. c3 {is annoying for Black. For example} Qb6 11. a4 $16) 9. Bd3
Bg7 10. Ne2 {should give a lasting edge for White. One of the advantages of
playing d4 is that White can play the bishop to a more active square on d3,
discouraging the manoeuvre ...Ne7-f5, which is an annoying one for White.}) 8.
Nxe4 Ndf6 9. Nxf6+ gxf6 $6 {An interesting experiment by Black, but in this
case unnecessary. By typically precise and excellent technical play in the
endgame phase Jakovenko was able to prove that Black's kingside is indeed a
weakness.} ({There was nothing wrong with the normal} 9... Nxf6 $1 10. c3 g6 (
10... Qd5 $5 11. Bd3 O-O-O $1 {is an interesting way for Black to play,
although this might not appeal to all Caro-Kann players who like to have their
king safely tucked away on the kingside.} 12. O-O Bd6 {with the point that} 13.
Qxg7 $2 Rhg8 {just wins for Black} 14. c4 Qxd4 $19) 11. Bd3 Bg7 (11... Bd6 12.
Qf3 O-O 13. O-O {is also possible, although there are some weaknesses around
the kingside now so it is better to put the bishop on g7}) 12. O-O O-O {
and although White has some slight advantage due to the two bishops Black
should really be fine. This kind of position resembles the Fort Knox variation
of the French, as the name suggests a particularly difficult nut to crack. And
here Black has managed to exchange both set of white knights, making a
kingside assault by White improbable, so a long strategic battle is in store.})
10. c3 Ne7 11. Qf3 {White wants to prevent ...Qd5.} (11. Bd3 Qd5 $1 {is
Black's idea, when} 12. O-O $2 Rg8 13. Qh2 {just looks plain ugly for White.})
11... f5 ({Perhaps Black could have played} 11... Qd5 $5 {anyway, even if the
engine is almost certain not to like this.} 12. Qxf6 Rg8 {this is not
completely sound, but over the board I would struggle to think of a way to
refute Black's play.} 13. Qe5 $5 Qxe5+ 14. dxe5 Ng6 15. f4 Bc5 16. Bd2 Nh4 {
gives Black some play.}) 12. Bc4 Ng6 13. g3 Qc7 14. Be3 O-O-O 15. O-O-O Bd6 16.
Kb1 Rdg8 ({Black cannot solve all his problems with the direct} 16... f4 {
either, because} 17. gxf4 Bxf4 18. h4 $1 {creates a "little" disturbance in
Black's position} Bxe3 19. fxe3 h5 20. Rdg1 Qe7 21. Qf2 {with an edge for
White, as the knight on g6 is hardly stable and will eventually be harrased by
Bd3.} ({even the direct} 21. Bd3 Nxh4 22. Qf4 Nf5 23. Bxf5 exf5 24. Qxf5+ Kb8
25. e4 {is possible, with an edge for White due to his better pawn structure.})
) 17. Bg5 Be7 18. Bh6 Bf8 19. Bc1 h5 20. Bb3 h4 $6 {This seems to help White,
as it just creates fresh targets for the bishop on b3.} ({Still, it is
probable by this point Black had no way of equalising. He should probably
maintain the status quo with} 20... Bh6 21. Bxh6 Rxh6 {although even here
White has a clear plan of attack on the queenside with} 22. c4 $1 Rd8 23. d5
Rhh8 24. dxe6 fxe6 25. Qe3 {winning a pawn}) 21. g4 $1 fxg4 22. hxg4 Bd6 (22...
Bh6 23. g5 $1) 23. Bc2 Kb8 (23... Nf4 {just runs into trouble,} 24. c4 $1 c5 $2
25. dxc5 Be5 26. Rhe1) 24. g5 {White is already much better. He has the two
bishops, and the black h-pawn, far from being threatening, is just constantly
weak and vulnerable to capture.} Rg7 25. Qf6 (25. Bxg6 Rxg6 26. Qe4 {however
would be premature, as after} h3 27. f4 Rg7 {Black is in time to defend the
pawn.}) 25... Rhg8 26. Rdg1 Bf4 27. Be3 $1 {Cleverly improving his pawn
structure.} Bxe3 ({Black could decline the exchange with} 27... Bd6 {but then
he would have no plan. Human players don't really like to play like this, they
like to feel they are making progress in a game, even if it's the "wrong"
progress.} 28. Bxg6 Rxg6 29. Qf3 {in any case seems to leave Black unable to
defend his weak h-pawn.} Rh8 30. Rg4 $16) 28. fxe3 Qe7 $4 29. Rh3 $4 {Mutual
blindness!} (29. Rxh4 $1 {was just a clear pawn.} Qxf6 $2 30. gxf6 $18) 29...
Qxf6 30. gxf6 Rh7 31. Rg5 Rh6 32. e4 Rgh8 ({Better chances of resistance were
offered by the seemingly passive} 32... Rf8 {although in truth this doesn't
change much. White has the much better pawn structure and a commanding
position.} 33. e5 (33. Rg4 $6 e5 $1) 33... Nf4 34. Rh2 h3 35. Kc1 $1 {when his
majesty will stride to e3, forcing the knight from f4, when the capture of the
weakling on h3 should be a trivial matter.} (35. Rg4 Ng2 36. Bd3 {is also
better for White})) 33. e5 Kc7 (33... Nf4 34. Rh2 h3 35. Rg7) 34. Rg4 Kd7 35.
Kc1 Ke8 36. Kd2 Nf8 37. b4 Nd7 38. c4 Rh5 39. Be4 Kf8 {Black is reduced to
complete passivity, shuffling around on the back ranks and waiting for White
to finish him off. His rooks are tied down to the h-pawn, the White bishop is
clearly superior to the knight, and White has a clear plan of advancing his
pawns on the queenside and breaking through over there.  To add to his
problems, the black king is caught in a potential mating net. Not surprisingly,
White has an immediate win here.} (39... Nb6 40. Kc3 a6 41. Kb3 {hardly alters
the situation - White will simply break through with a4, b5 etc.}) 40. Kc3 (40.
Ra3 $1 a6 41. b5 $1 {was winning on the spot.}) 40... Nb6 41. Kb3 Rg8 42. Rxg8+
Kxg8 43. a4 Nd7 44. a5 a6 45. b5 $1 cxb5 46. cxb5 Nxe5 47. dxe5 Rxe5 48. Bd3
Rd5 49. Bc4 Rf5 50. bxa6 bxa6 51. Kb4 Rf4 52. Kc5 1-0

[Event "Candidates qf4"]
[Site "Brussels"]
[Date "1991.??.??"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Karpov, Anatoly"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B11"]
[WhiteElo "2650"]
[BlackElo "2730"]
[Annotator "Hansen,Cu"]
[PlyCount "94"]
[EventDate "1991.08.??"]
[EventType "match"]
[EventRounds "8"]
[EventCountry "BEL"]
[SourceTitle "Candidates"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1999.07.01"]
[SourceVersion "2"]
[SourceVersionDate "1999.07.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 {Blatny,P} c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 Bg4 4. h3 Bxf3 5. Qxf3 e6 6. d3 Nd7 (6...
Nf6 7. a3 Bc5 8. e5 Nfd7 9. Qg3 Bd4 10. f4 O-O 11. Ne2 Bb6 12. Be3 Bxe3 13.
Qxe3 Qb6 14. Qxb6 axb6 $10 {Hickl,J-Schlosser,P Altensteig 1990}) 7. Be2 {N} (
7. Bd2 Bd6 8. d4 a6 9. O-O-O b5 10. Bd3 Ne7 $13 {Planinc,A-Petrosjan,T 1972})
7... g6 8. O-O Bg7 9. Qg3 {/\f2-f4} Qb6 10. Kh1 Ne7 11. f4 f5 (11... O-O $2 {
Blatny,P} 12. f5 exf5 13. exf5 Nxf5 14. Rxf5 gxf5 15. Bh6 $18) 12. e5 $10 d4 $6
{><c4,/^h1-a8} 13. Nb1 Nd5 14. Na3 Bf8 (14... Qc7 {Blatny,P} 15. Qf2 {><d4})
15. Nc4 Qc7 16. a4 N7b6 17. Qf2 Nxc4 18. dxc4 Nb4 19. Bf3 Bc5 20. Rd1 {/\c3}
Qe7 21. Qe2 a5 (21... O-O $142 $10 {Blatny,P}) 22. c3 $1 dxc3 23. bxc3 Na6 24.
Be3 $1 {><d6} Bxe3 25. Qxe3 Qc5 26. Qd4 Kf7 $8 (26... O-O 27. Qd7 {><b7,e6}) (
26... Qe7 {Blatny,P} 27. Qb6) (26... Qxd4 {Blatny,P} 27. cxd4 {/\d4-d5 |^}) 27.
Rab1 Rab8 28. Rb6 Qe7 $6 (28... Qxd4 29. cxd4 Nb4 $16 (29... Nb4 {Blatny,P} 30.
d5 $36)) (28... Rhd8 {Blatny,P} 29. Rxb7+ $18) (28... Rhc8 {Blatny,P} 29. Qd7+
Qe7 30. Rxb7 $1 $18) 29. Bxc6 bxc6 (29... Rhd8 {Blatny,P} 30. Bd7 $1 Nc5 31.
Rd6 $18) 30. Rxa6 $18 {><c6,a5, עf7} Rhd8 31. Qg1 (31. Ra7 {Blatny,P} Rxd4 32.
Rxe7+ Kxe7 33. cxd4 Rb4 $132) 31... Rxd1 32. Qxd1 Rd8 33. Qf3 Qa3 34. Kh2 (34.
Ra7+ {Blatny,P} Kg8 35. Qxc6 Qc1+ $10) 34... Rd7 35. Qxc6 Re7 36. Ra8 {/\Dc8}
Qc1 (36... Qxc3 {Blatny,P} 37. Qc8 $18) 37. Qf3 Kg7 38. Rd8 (38. c5 $1 Rd7 (
38... Qa3 39. Rxa5) 39. c6 Rd1 40. Ra7+ (40. c7 $1 {Blatny,P} Rh1+ 41. Kg3 Qe1+
(41... g5 42. Rg8+ $18) (41... h5 42. Rg8+ Kf7 43. Kh4) 42. Qf2 Qxc3+ 43. Kh4
g5+ 44. Kxg5 Rxh3 45. gxh3 Qxh3 46. Rg8+ Kf7 47. Qh4 Qg2+ 48. Kh6 $18) 40...
Kh6 (40... Kf8 41. Qxd1 Qxd1 42. c7 $18) 41. c7 Rh1+ 42. Kg3 Qe1+ (42... g5 $1
43. c8=Q Qe1+ 44. Qf2 gxf4+ 45. Kf3 Qe4#) 43. Qf2 Qxc3+ 44. Kh4 Rc1 (44... g5+
45. fxg5+ Kg6 46. c8=Q $1 Qxc8 47. Qe2 $18 {/\Dh5#}) 45. c8=Q Qxc8 46. Qg3 Rc7
(46... Qd8+ 47. Qg5+ Qxg5+ 48. fxg5#) 47. Qg5+ Kg7 48. Qf6+ Kg8 (48... Kh6 49.
g4) 49. Rxc7 Qxc7 50. Qxe6+ Kg7 51. Qf6+ Kg8 52. Kg5 $18) (38. Rb8 {Blatny,P}
Qa3 (38... Kh6 39. Qg3) 39. Rb7 Rxb7 40. Qxb7+ Kh6 41. Qf7 Qxc3 42. Qf8+ Kh5
43. Qg7 {/\#}) 38... Rc7 39. c5 Qa3 (39... Rxc5 {Blatny,P} 40. Rd7+ Kh6 41. Qg3
) 40. Qa8 (40. Rc8 {Blatny,P} Rxc8 (40... Qxc5 41. Qb7 Rxb7 42. Rxc5 $18) 41.
Qb7+ Kh6 42. Qxc8 Qxa4 43. Qf8+ Kh5 44. g4+ fxg4 45. Kg3 Qd1 (45... gxh3 46.
Qg7 h6 47. Qf6 $18)) 40... Qxc5 41. Rg8+ Kh6 42. Qd8 Qe7 (42... Re7 {Blatny,P}
43. Qf8+ Kh5 44. Rxg6 $1 {/\#}) 43. Qd2 (43. Qxe7 {Blatny,P} Rxe7 44. g4 Rc7 (
44... fxg4 $2 45. hxg4 Rc7 46. Kh3 $1 Rc4 47. Kg3 Rxa4 (47... Rxc3+ 48. Kh4 {
/\#}) (47... Re4 48. Re8 Rxa4 49. Re7 $18) 48. g5+ Kh5 49. Rh8 $18) 45. g5+ (
45. Kg3 Rc4 $1 46. g5+ (46. Re8 Rxc3+ 47. Kh4 Rf3) 46... Kh5 47. Rg7 Rxc3+ 48.
Kg2 (48. Kf2 Rxh3) 48... h6 $1 49. Rh7 Rg3+ $3 50. Kf2 Rxh3) 45... Kh5 46. Rh8
Kh4 47. c4 h5 48. gxh6 Rxc4 49. h7 Rc2+ 50. Kg1 Kg3 $1 51. Kf1 Rc7 $10) 43...
Rc4 (43... Qf7 $5 {Blatny,P}) (43... Rd7 {Blatny,P /\Rd8}) 44. Qd6 Qf7 (44...
Rc7 45. c4 (45. c4 {Blatny,P} Rd7 46. Qb6 Qf7 47. Rd8 Rc7 48. c5 $18)) (44...
Qb7 {Blatny,P} 45. Qf8+ Kh5 46. Rxg6 $1) 45. Rf8 $2 (45. Qd8 {/\Qh4#} Rxf4 46.
g4 $1 $18 {/\Qh4#}) 45... Qb7 $132 46. Qd8 (46. Rg8 $5 {Blatny,P} Qe4 (46...
Qf7 47. Qd8 $18) 47. Qf8+ Kh5 48. Rxg6 $1 Qxf4+ (48... Kxg6 49. Qf6+ Kh5 50.
Qg5#) 49. Rg3 h6 $3 (49... Rc7 50. Qe8+ Kh6 51. Qxe6+ Kh5 52. Qd5 $1 {/\Qf3+;
Qd1+} Re7 53. Qd1+ Kh4 54. Qd4 $1 $18) 50. Qe8+ Kh4 51. Qe7+ (51. Qd8+ Kh5 52.
Qd1+ Kh4 53. Qd8+ $10) 51... Kh5 52. Qxe6 Rxc3 53. Qg6+ Kh4 54. Qf6+ $10) 46...
Qe4 (46... Rxf4 $2 {Blatny,P} 47. Qd2) 47. Qh4+ Kg7 1/2-1/2

[Event "Qatar Masters op"]
[Site "Doha"]
[Date "2014.12.03"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Vachier Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Black "Shankland, Samuel L"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B11"]
[WhiteElo "2751"]
[BlackElo "2642"]
[Annotator "Havasi,G"]
[PlyCount "90"]
[EventDate "2014.11.26"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "QAT"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 164"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2015.01.15"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2015.01.15"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Nc3 Bg4 4. h3 Bxf3 5. Qxf3 e6 6. d4 {I wrote an article
about this line in CBM 161. White wants to play positionally, trying to get
some advantage in a quiet position.} dxe4 7. Qxe4 Nf6 8. Qh4 ({I recommended} 
8. Qd3 {in my article, as the Q is less vulnerable on d3, than on h4.}) 8...
Nbd7 (8... Be7 {is also possible} 9. Bd3 Nbd7 10. O-O O-O 11. Bg5 (11. Qg3 {
is more solid}) 11... g6 12. Bh6 Re8 13. Ne2 e5 $1 $132 {1-0 (53) Carlsen,M 
(2837)-Ivanchuk,V (2769) Astana 2012. This is what I meant, if the Q is on d3,
the B is on e2 and the N is f3, this break isn't so effective.}) 9. Bd2 g6 $146
{This is the novelty. Black develops the bishop to g7, which may look a
"stupid" place for the bishop, but Black's idea is to develop the bishop to a
square which will allow him the possibility of playing ...Nd5 exchanging the
queens.} (9... Bb4 {was played before} 10. a3 Be7 11. Bd3 e5 12. O-O-O exd4 13.
Qxd4 $14 {1-0 (48) Muzychuk,A (2582)-Gunina,V (2490) Caleta 2013}) (9... Nd5 {
is also good. If you know, that the exchange of the queens almost always
favours Black in the Caro-Kann, this move is logical.} 10. Qxd8+ Rxd8 11. Nxd5
cxd5 $13) 10. Bd3 Bg7 11. O-O Nd5 {Black exchanges the queens.} (11... O-O {
is also good, Nd5 will be possible after this move, too.}) 12. Qxd8+ Rxd8 13.
Nxd5 cxd5 14. c3 {This is a typical structure, the computer likes White's
position, but Black will start a minority attack on the queenside.} O-O (14...
Nb6 {is also good to go to c4 with the knight.}) 15. a4 {White is acting
against Black's b5-b4 plan.} a6 (15... Nb6 $1 {seems a precise manoeuvre} 16.
b3 Nc8 $1 {followed by Nd6, the knight on d3 (d6) is very good in this kind of
structure.}) 16. a5 $1 {We can be sure, that there won't be any minority
attack.} e5 {Black tries to play actively in the centre and creates a weak
pawn on d4.} ({If Black tries to get his knight to d6, White has good
resources:} 16... Nf6 $6 17. Ra4 $1 Ne8 18. Rb4 $36) (16... Nb8 {is a quieter
move, Black has nothing to worry about.}) 17. Ra4 $1 exd4 18. cxd4 Nb8 $1 {
A very good move, the knight is going to c6.} 19. Rc1 $1 {A very good tricky
move, white prevents Nc6.} Rc8 {Black wants to play Nc6.} (19... Nc6 20. Bxa6
$16) (19... f5 {was also a very good possibility, Black prepares the
possibility of Rf7.}) 20. Rb4 $1 {White needs to play this move, otherwise Nc6
will be played.} Rxc1+ 21. Bxc1 Nc6 22. Rxb7 Nxa5 $1 23. Rb4 (23. Rd7 Nc6 $1 {
works} 24. Be3 a5 25. Rd6 Nxd4 26. Rxd5 Nc6 $11) 23... Nc6 24. Rb6 Rc8 {
This move leads to an endgame, but in the resulting position, the B pair can
be dangerous. However, if Black plays accurately, it's also nothing special.} (
24... Nxd4 {is a simpler move} 25. Bxa6 Re8 $11 {White has the B pair, but in
this position, this isn't of great importance.}) 25. Bxa6 Bxd4 26. Bxc8 Bxb6
27. Bd7 (27. Bb7 Nb4 $1 {is the key defensive move} 28. Bd2 Bc5 $11 {, when
White can only make progress by playing Bxb4, but it's a draw.}) 27... Nb4 28.
Bb5 f5 29. Bd2 Bc5 $11 30. g4 (30. Kf1 Kf7 $11) 30... fxg4 31. hxg4 Kf7 32. Kg2
Ke6 33. f4 Nc2 34. g5 Bb4 35. Bxb4 Nxb4 36. Kf3 Kd6 37. Ke3 Nc2+ 38. Kd2 Nd4
39. Bd3 Ne6 40. Ke3 Kc5 41. Be2 Nd8 42. b4+ Kxb4 43. Kd4 Nc6+ 44. Kxd5 Kc3 45.
Kxc6 {Draw agreed:} Kd4 $11 1/2-1/2

[Event "USA-ch"]
[Site "Saint Louis"]
[Date "2016.04.18"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Black "Shankland, Samuel L"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B11"]
[WhiteElo "2787"]
[BlackElo "2656"]
[Annotator "Iotov,V"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[EventDate "2016.04.14"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[EventCategory "17"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 172"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2016.05.12"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2016.05.12"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 Bg4 4. h3 Bxf3 5. Qxf3 e6 (5... Nf6 $5 6. Be2 e6 7.
O-O d4 8. Nb1 Nbd7 9. d3 Bd6 10. Bd1 Qc7 11. Qe2 Bh2+ 12. Kh1 Bf4 13. Nd2 e5
14. c3 dxc3 15. bxc3 O-O {0-1 Zhang Zhong (2633)-Wang Hao (2717)/Ho Chi Minh
City VIE 2016}) 6. g3 g6 7. d4 Bg7 8. Be3 Nf6 9. Bg2 O-O 10. O-O Na6 $6 {
Shankland completely ignores Nakamura's game plan with e4-e5 and pays the
ultimate price. The pawn structure which appears after 10...Na6 leaves the
knight on a less than desirable place which will force Shankland to waste two
more moves: Nb4-Nc6 to redirect his knight to its rightful place.} (10... dxe4
$1 11. Nxe4 Nbd7 12. Nxf6+ Nxf6 13. c4 Qa5 14. Rfd1 Rad8 $14 {with a solid
position for Black. This is a typical position which Black seeks to achieve
from a variety of openings. Often in chess Black doesn't have the luxury of
avoiding slightly worse positions just because the player is not comfortable
with staying in one place.}) (10... Qb6 11. e5 $1 (11. Rab1 dxe4 12. Nxe4 Nd5
13. Bg5 h6 14. Bf6 Nxf6 15. Nxf6+ Kh8 $1 16. Rfd1 Qc7 17. h4 h5 18. b4 Nd7 19.
Nxd7 Qxd7 20. a4 Kg8 $11) 11... Nfd7 12. Rab1 {[%cal Gb2b4]} Qa6 (12... c5 13.
Nxd5 exd5 14. Qxd5 a5 15. c3 $1 Qc6 16. Qb3 a4 17. Qxb7 Qxb7 18. Bxb7 Ra7 19.
Bg2 $16) (12... a5 $6 13. Qd1 $16) 13. Rfd1 c5 (13... b5 $5) (13... f6 14. Qg4
Re8 15. f4 f5 16. Qg5 $1 $16) 14. Nxd5 exd5 15. Qxd5 cxd4 16. Bxd4 Nc6 17. Qxd7
Rad8 18. Qg4 Nxd4 19. Rxd4 Bxe5 20. Ra4 Qf6 21. c3 $16) 11. e5 $1 Nd7 12. Qd1
$1 {Sometimes the most active option is to go back to square one! By not
developing the queen on e2 White reserves this square for the future "Ne2-Nd4"
maneuver.} c5 13. f4 cxd4 14. Bxd4 Nb4 15. Ne2 Qc7 (15... Rc8 $5 {An
interesting move to no real avail.} 16. c3 Nc6 17. Be3 (17. Bf2 $5) 17... Qa5
$1 18. Kh1 (18. Nd4 $6 Nxd4 19. Bxd4 Nb8 20. Kh1 Nc6 21. Bg1 Rfd8 $132) (18. b4
$6 Qc7 19. Kh1 Nb6 $15) 18... Rfd8 19. Bg1 b5 20. b4 (20. a3 Qa4 $1 $132) 20...
Qa4 $1 (20... Qa3 21. Qb3 Qxb3 22. axb3 f6 23. Nd4 $1 (23. exf6 Nxf6 24. Rfd1
Ne4 25. Bxe4 dxe4 26. Rxd8+ Rxd8 27. Ra6 Ne7 $1 28. Rxe6 Rd2 29. Rxe7 Rxe2 30.
c4 Bf8 31. Rxa7 bxc4 32. bxc4 Bxb4 33. c5 Rc2 34. Ra4 Bxc5 35. Bxc5 Rxc5 36.
Rxe4 g5 $11) 23... Nxd4 24. cxd4 Rc7 25. Ra6 Nf8 26. Rfa1 $16) 21. Qxa4 bxa4
22. Rfc1 Nb6 23. Nd4 Nc4 24. Nxc6 Rxc6 25. Bxa7 f6 26. exf6 Bxf6 27. b5 Rc7 28.
Bg1 (28. Bd4 Kf7 29. Rab1 Bxd4 30. cxd4 Rdc8 31. Bf1 Nb6 $11) 28... Rb8 29.
Rab1 Rcb7 30. b6 Bd8 31. Re1 Kf7 32. g4 Bxb6 33. f5 Bxg1 34. Rxb7+ Rxb7 35.
Kxg1 $1 $14) 16. c3 Nc6 17. Be3 Rfc8 (17... f6 18. exf6 Nxf6 19. Qc2 $16) (
17... Nb6 18. b3 $16 {[%csl Rb6]}) 18. Kh1 b5 19. Rc1 Bf8 $2 {A logical move
can indeed be a decisive mistake! By playing 19...Bf8, Shankland leaves his
king too exposed to the future f5-blow!} (19... Qa5 $1 {Possibly the last
chance for any reasonable counterplay!} 20. b3 $1 (20. a3 Nb6 21. Bg1 Nc4 22.
Rc2 Qd8 $1 23. Nd4 a5 24. Nxb5 a4 25. Nd4 Rab8 26. Qe2 Nxd4 27. Bxd4 Rb3 28.
Ra1 Rcb8 29. Ra2 Qc7 $11) 20... Qxa2 $1 (20... Rab8 21. Qd2 Rc7 22. g4 Rbc8 23.
h4 Qa6 24. h5 Bf8 25. f5 Ncxe5 26. Nf4 $40) 21. c4 bxc4 22. bxc4 Ne7 23. Nc3
Qa3 24. Bf2 (24. cxd5 Rxc3 25. Rxc3 Qxc3 26. dxe6 Rd8 27. exf7+ Kxf7 $1 28. Bg1
Qb4 $1 $132) 24... Nb6 25. Nb5 Qb4 26. Nd6 Rxc4 27. Rb1 Qc3 28. Nxc4 Nxc4 $44)
20. g4 Bc5 {I don't consider this move to be a mistake, yet I do not see any
decent counterplay after it. Conclusion: Black's position is flawed by default.
} (20... Nc5 21. Nd4 Qb7 22. Qe2 (22. f5 $6 Nxe5 23. fxe6 Nxe6 24. Nxe6 fxe6
25. Bd4 Nf7 $11) 22... Ne4 $5 (22... Nxd4 23. Bxd4 Rc7 24. f5 Rac8 25. Qe3 $16)
23. Bxe4 (23. Kh2 $5) 23... dxe4 24. Nb3 b4 25. c4 Rd8 26. Qg2 Qa6 (26... Rd3
27. Rce1 Rad8 28. Qxe4 a5 29. f5 a4 30. Nc1 R3d7 31. fxe6 fxe6 32. b3 $16) 27.
Nd2 Qxa2 (27... Rd3 28. Qxe4 Rad8 29. Nf3 Qxa2 30. f5 exf5 31. gxf5 Qb3 32.
Rce1 Ne7 33. e6 f6 34. Ne5 $1 fxe5 35. f6 Qxb2 36. Qb7 Rd2 $1 37. Bxd2 Rxd2 38.
fxe7 Bxe7 39. Qb8+ Rd8 40. Qxe5 Qb3 41. Rf7 Qxh3+ 42. Qh2 Qxh2+ 43. Kxh2 Re8
44. Kg2 $1 a5 45. Ra1 Bf8 46. Rxa5 Rxe6 47. Rc7 $18) 28. Nxe4 Rac8 29. f5 $40)
({A logical alternative which changes practically nothing:} 20... Nb6 21. Bg1
$40) 21. Nd4 Qb6 22. Bg1 b4 $6 {Not the best move, but not so bad as to change
the dynamics of the positon. There is simply no escape from White's attack.} (
22... Re8 23. b4 $1 Bxd4 24. cxd4 $16 {Without the dark-squared bishop - the
guardian protector of the black king - there seems to be no hope!}) (22... Nxd4
23. cxd4 Be7 24. f5 $40) (22... Ne7 23. f5 $40) 23. f5 $1 $18 bxc3 (23... Ncxe5
24. fxe6 fxe6 25. Nxe6 Bxg1 26. Rxg1 bxc3 27. bxc3 $18) (23... Nxd4 24. cxd4
Be7 25. Rxc8+ Rxc8 26. Qf3 Rf8 27. Be3 $18) 24. bxc3 Ncxe5 (24... Nxd4 25. cxd4
Be7 26. Rxc8+ Rxc8 27. Qf3 Rf8 28. Be3 g5 29. h4 $1 gxh4 30. f6 Bb4 31. Qf2 $18
) 25. fxe6 fxe6 26. Nxe6 Bxg1 27. Rxg1 Kh8 28. Qxd5 Rab8 29. Rge1 {The rest is
a matter of technique.} Qb2 30. c4 Rb6 31. c5 Rbc6 32. Rcd1 h6 33. Nf4 Rf6 34.
Nd3 Nxd3 35. Qxd7 Nf2+ 36. Kg1 Rcf8 37. Qd2 {A perfect game! There is no
evidence to suggest that Nakamura made even a slight mistake in this game!
Shankland played logical moves for most of the game, but what ultimately cost
him the game was the pawn structure he went for. His biggest mistake - 10...
Na6 - forced him into a long term worse position with less than enough
practical counterplay.} 1-0

[Event "Sarajevo Bosnia 29th"]
[Site "Sarajevo"]
[Date "1999.05.24"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Short, Nigel D"]
[Black "Leko, Peter"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B11"]
[WhiteElo "2695"]
[BlackElo "2690"]
[Annotator "Lukacs,P"]
[PlyCount "88"]
[EventDate "1999.05.17"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "BIH"]
[EventCategory "19"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 071"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1999.08.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "1999.08.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d3 {This is not a very pretensious plan, White wants to
play a closed middlegame position.} (3. Nf3 Bg4) 3... g6 4. g3 (4. Qe2 Bg7 5.
g3 dxe4 6. dxe4 e5 {In this type of position the N on c3 is a bit unfortunate.}
7. Be3 Nf6 8. Rd1 Qa5 9. f3 Nbd7 10. Qf2 O-O 11. Nge2 Re8 $11 {Suttles-T.
Petrosian, Siegen olm 1970}) 4... Bg7 5. Bg2 Nf6 $2 {This careless developing
move allows White to grab the |^ in the [+].} (5... dxe4 6. dxe4 Qxd1+ 7. Nxd1
e5 $11 {was the simple continuation with equality.}) 6. e5 $1 {Suddenly White
changes the course of the game!} (6. Nge2 {is too quiet, for example:} O-O 7.
O-O e5 {Now Black has a strong central P formation.} 8. Bg5 {White wants to
put pressure on >< d5, but Black can easily defend it.} Be6 9. Qd2 dxe4 10.
Nxe4 Nxe4 $1 11. Bxe4 Qb6 12. Be3 Qc7 13. f4 f5 14. Bg2 Nd7 $15 {
Novkovic-Kranz, AUT-chT Vorarlberg 1997}) 6... Ng4 (6... Nfd7 {is also met by}
7. f4) 7. f4 f6 {Black has to blow up White's [+] without losing time.} 8. Nf3
$1 {White holds his forepost on e5, which reduces the sphere of the B.} fxe5 9.
h3 Nh6 (9... e4 $2 10. dxe4 dxe4 11. Qxd8+ Kxd8 12. Ng5 Nh6 13. g4 $16) 10.
fxe5 Nf7 11. Qe2 e6 (11... Be6 $6 12. Nd4 Qd7 13. Nxe6 Qxe6 14. d4 Na6 15. h4
$18 {/\ Bh3}) 12. h4 $1 {White wants to secure the place of his B on f4
overprotecting the key square e5.} h6 $1 (12... Nd7 13. Bf4 $1 (13. d4 {allows}
c5 $5 14. Nxd5 cxd4 $1 (14... exd5 15. e6 $18)) 13... h6 14. O-O-O {and the P
on e5 paralizes the Black pieces.}) 13. d4 $16 Rg8 {Leko defends himself very
well!} (13... Nd7 $6 14. Qd3 {>< g6} Nf8 15. Ne2 $16) 14. Be3 $2 {White wants
to castle <<, but his K would be in safety on the >>!} (14. Qd3 {is parried by}
Bf8) (14. h5 $1 {was the energetic continuation.} g5 {Black has to keep the
position closed.} (14... gxh5 15. Nh4 $18) 15. O-O $1 {Now the K is safe on
the >>, and White can continue his -> without giving any counterchances.} b6 $1
(15... Nd7 16. Be3 Qe7 17. Nh2 {/\ Ng4} (17. Qd3 $5 {/\ Qh7}) 17... b6 (17...
c5 18. Ng4) 18. Ng4 Bb7 19. Rf2 O-O-O 20. Raf1 Rdf8 21. Nf6 $18) 16. Qd3 $1 Ba6
17. Qh7 {This is an annoying penetration!} Kf8 18. Rf2 $16) 14... b6 $1 {
The B has to be activated on the /^ f1-a6.} (14... Nd7 $6 15. h5 $1 g5 16. O-O
$16) 15. O-O-O {Now castling kingside was already impossible.} Ba6 16. Qd2 Qe7
(16... Nd7 17. Ne2) 17. Ne2 Nd7 18. Nf4 Nf8 $13 19. Qc3 (19. Bh3 O-O-O) 19...
Kd7 {If the [+] is closed, the K is usually safe there.} 20. Bh3 Rc8 21. Rd2
Rc7 22. Rf2 Kc8 23. a3 Kb8 {Black has brought his K into complete safety now.}
24. Qb4 Qe8 {Black has to avoid the exchange of queens.} (24... Qxb4 $2 25.
axb4 {is a favourable _|_ for White.} Re7 26. Nh2 {/\ Ne6} Bc8 27. Ng4 $16) 25.
Nd2 Nd8 26. Bf1 (26. Bg4 Nb7 {/\ c5}) (26. c4 $5) 26... Bxf1 27. Rhxf1 Nb7 28.
Nd3 Nd7 29. Kb1 Rf8 30. c4 Rxf2 31. Rxf2 {[#]} g5 $1 {Suddenly Black comes out
of passivity and his Q becomes very dangerous.} 32. hxg5 Qg6 33. Qb3 (33. Qc3
c5 $5) (33. Ka2 $5 {was a radical solution to solve the problem of the pin.}
hxg5 (33... Qxd3 $6 34. gxh6 Bxh6 (34... Qxe3 35. hxg7 Qg5 (35... Rc8 36. Rf8
$1) 36. Rf8+ $1) 35. Bxh6 Qxg3 (35... Qxd4 36. Rf7) 36. Rf7 Qg6 37. Qe7 $1) 34.
Qb3) 33... c5 $1 {suddenly again Black grabs the |^ and his pieces look like
the ghost from the bottle.} (33... hxg5 34. Ka2) 34. gxh6 Bxh6 35. Bxh6 cxd4 $1
{[#] This is a witty Zwischenzug again!} (35... Qxh6 $2 36. cxd5) 36. Rf8+ $1 {
White has to play accurately.} (36. Ka2 {is met by} Na5 $1 (36... Qxh6 37. cxd5
) (36... dxc4 37. Nxc4 Qxh6) 37. Qc2 Qxh6 ({but certainly not} 37... dxc4 $4
38. Nb4 $1 Qxh6 (38... Qxc2 39. Nxc2 Nxe5 40. Bf4 Nac6 41. Nxd4 $18) 39. Na6+
Kb7 40. Nxc7 Kxc7 41. Nxc4 $18)) 36... Nxf8 37. Bxf8 Na5 $1 38. Qc2 Nxc4 (38...
dxc4 39. Nb4) 39. Nxc4 Rxc4 (39... dxc4 40. Nb4 d3 41. Qd2 $16) 40. Bd6+ Ka8
41. Qb3 Qxg3 42. Ka2 Qe3 43. a4 Qd2 {[#]} 44. Nb4 $4 {[%mdl 8192] This is a
painful blunder.} (44. Qb5 $1 {was still good for a draw by perpetual.} Qxd3
45. Qe8+ Kb7 46. Qd7+ Ka6 47. Qb5+ $11) 44... Rc3 $1 {catching the Q!} 0-1

[Event "Merida 2nd"]
[Site "Merida"]
[Date "2001.05.17"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Short, Nigel D"]
[Black "Khalifman, Alexander"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B11"]
[WhiteElo "2676"]
[BlackElo "2690"]
[Annotator "Lukacs,P"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2001.05.13"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "MEX"]
[EventCategory "18"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 084"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2001.09.13"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2001.09.13"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Nc3 Bg4 4. h3 Bh5 5. d4 $5 {This is a rare continuation
and not without reason.} e6 (5... dxe4 6. Nxe4 Bxf3 $5 (6... e6 7. Be2 (7. Bd3
Nd7 8. O-O Ngf6 9. c3 {looks also logical}) 7... Bg6 8. Nc3 {The N is not
well-placed here.} Nd7 9. Bf4 Ngf6 10. O-O Bb4 $5 $11 (10... Be7 11. Re1 O-O
12. Nh4 Nd5 13. Nxg6 hxg6 14. Nxd5 cxd5 15. c3 {/\ Bd3, Qg4 with some chances
for a >> ->.} Nb6 16. Bd3 Bd6 17. Bxd6 Qxd6 18. Qg4 $14 {Kujpers-Simagin,
Alekhine mem 1963})) 7. Qxf3 Qxd4 {Black takes up the gauntlet, in semi-opened
openings the P sacrifice for development is less dangerous than in the open
ones.} 8. Be3 $142 (8. Bd3 Nd7 9. O-O Ngf6 10. c3 Qb6 11. Be3 Qc7 12. Nxf6+
gxf6 13. Qe2 e6 $15 {Leroy-Vasquez, 1990}) 8... Qxb2 9. Bc4 Qb4+ (9... Nf6 10.
O-O Nbd7 11. Rab1 $44) 10. Nd2 e6 (10... Nf6 11. Rb1 Qd6 12. Rxb7 Nbd7 13. O-O
Ne5 14. Qe2 e6 {(Short-Adianto, Internet blitz 2000)} 15. Bf4 $1 Nfd7 16. Rxd7
$18) 11. Rb1 Qe7 12. Ne4 $44 {with a big lead of development for the pawns.})
6. Bd3 (6. g4 Bg6 7. Ne5 Nd7 8. Nxg6 hxg6 {Black is usually not sad, if his
light-squared B will leave the board.} 9. Bg2 dxe4 10. O-O Qc7 11. Nxe4 Ngf6
12. Ng3 Nb6 13. b3 O-O-O 14. c4 Bc5 15. Be3 Bxd4 16. Bxd4 c5 17. Ne2 cxd4 18.
c5 Nbd5 19. Qxd4 g5 $13 {Planinec-J.Nikolac, Zagreb 1975}) (6. Be3 Nf6 7. exd5
cxd5 {Now White's pieces are not working harmoniously together.} 8. a3 Nc6 9.
Be2 Be7 10. O-O Bxf3 11. Bxf3 O-O 12. Be2 Rc8 13. Qd3 Ne8 14. Rae1 Nd6 $15 {
Rivas Pastor-Magem Badals, Pamplona 1994}) (6. exd5 cxd5 7. g4 {is the most
aggressive try, but Black has rich defensive resources.} Bg6 8. Ne5 (8. h4 Nc6
9. h5 Be4 10. Rh3 Bxf3 11. Rxf3 Nf6 12. Rh3 Bb4 $13 {S.Djuric-Nanneli,
Montecatini Terme 1994}) 8... Nc6 9. h4 Nxe5 10. dxe5 Bb4 11. h5 Be4 12. Rh3 d4
13. a3 Ba5 14. b4 dxc3 15. bxa5 Qxa5 16. Qd4 Bc6 17. Qxc3 Qxc3+ 18. Rxc3 Ne7
$11 {Ghinda-Lobron, Luzern 1982}) 6... Nf6 7. e5 (7. O-O Be7 (7... Bb4 8. e5
Nfd7 {with a comfortable French type of position, where the B is on h5 instead
of c8.} 9. g4 Bg6 10. Ng5 {/\ f4} Be7 11. f4 c5 12. Nf3 {(Chernyshov-Von
Herman, Berlin 1995)} Bxd3 13. Qxd3 Nc6) 8. Be3 (8. e5 Nfd7) 8... dxe4 9. Nxe4
Nxe4 10. Bxe4 Nd7 11. c3 Nf6 12. Bd3 O-O 13. Be2 {This type of position cannot
yield any advantage for White.} Qc7 14. Ne5 Bxe2 15. Qxe2 Nd7 $11 {
Markowski-Mitura, Wisla 1992}) 7... Nfd7 8. g4 ({On} 8. O-O c5 {/\ Nc6 is the
typical "French" blow.}) 8... Bg6 9. Bxg6 hxg6 {Black has exchanged his bad B,
and has a good "French".} 10. Ne2 {/\ c3 in order to defend >< d4.} c5 11. c3
Nc6 12. Kf1 {/\ Kg2} Be7 (12... cxd4 {looks also promising, for example:} 13.
cxd4 Rc8 14. Kg2 Be7 15. Be3 Nb6 16. b3 Ba3 $15) 13. Kg2 Qb6 ({or simply} 13...
Rc8) 14. Rb1 a5 15. Be3 a4 {Black wants to insert pressure on the weakened
light squares.} 16. Nf4 Qa6 17. h4 a3 {Black will soon regret this move,
although there is no problem yet in his position.} (17... Rc8 {was useful
again.}) 18. b3 {It is hard to believe here, that the P on a3 will become a
vulnerable target!} cxd4 19. cxd4 Nb4 20. Qd2 O-O-O $2 {This runs into a
tactical skirmish.} (20... Rc8 {was the safest option again.} 21. Rbc1 Rc6 $15)
21. Ng5 $1 Bxg5 (21... Rhf8 22. Rbc1+ Kb8 23. Ngxe6 $1 fxe6 24. Nxg6 $16 {
and the b4 N is hanging.}) 22. hxg5 Rxh1 $2 {giving up the h <-> deliberately
is erroneous.} (22... Nc6 {was still playable.} 23. Rxh8 (23. Rhc1 Kb8 24. b4
Qb5 {blockading the << just in time.} 25. Qc3 Rh4 26. Kg3 Rdh8 27. Qxa3 f6 $1
$132 {and suddenly Black has a counterattack on the >>.}) 23... Rxh8 24. b4 Na7
25. Qc3+ Kb8 26. b5 Qa4 (26... Nxb5 $2 27. Qb4 Nc7 28. Qe7 $16 {with
penetration.}) 27. b6 (27. Rb3 Nb6 {>< c4} 28. Nd3 Rc8 29. Nc5 Qc4) 27... Nc6
28. Rb3 Rc8 (28... Qc4 $5 29. Rxa3 Qxc3 30. Rxc3 Nxb6) 29. Rxa3 Qd1 30. f3 (30.
Ra8+ Kxa8 31. Qa3+ Kb8 32. Qd6+ $11) 30... Rh8 31. Bg1 Nxb6 $13 {and the N on
c4 will be a superpower.}) 23. Rxh1 Nc6 24. Nd3 Kb8 25. Rh3 ({missing the
forced} 25. Rh7 $1 Rg8 26. Nb4 $1 Qb5 27. Nxc6+ bxc6 28. Qc3 Kc7 29. b4 $1 Qa4
30. b5 $1 $18 {and the penetration of the white Q is inevitable.}) 25... Qb5
26. Rf3 $1 (26. Rh7 {can be parried now by} Rg8 27. Qc3 (27. Nf4 Nf8 28. Rh1
Nd7) 27... Rc8 $1 $11) 26... Rf8 27. Qd1 Qa6 28. Ne1 $1 {/\ Nc2 >< a3} f6 (
28... Nb4 29. Bc1 $5 ({or simply} 29. Bd2 Nc6 30. Nc2 $16) 29... Nxa2 (29... f6
30. exf6 gxf6 31. gxf6 Rxf6 (31... Nxa2 32. Bf4+ Ka8 33. Qd2 $18 {and the
greedy N is trapped.}) 32. Rxf6 Nxf6 33. Qd2 $18 {with doble ->.}) 30. Bd2 $1
Qb5 31. b4 $1 $18) (28... Ka8 {leaves the h2-b8 /^ in case of a later f7-f6.}
29. Bc1 $16 {>< a3}) 29. gxf6 gxf6 30. exf6 Rxf6 31. Nc2 (31. Rxf6 Nxf6 32. Qf3
Ne4 33. Qf8+ Ka7 34. Nf3 $16 {>< g6}) 31... Ka8 (31... e5 {founders on the pin
after} 32. Rxf6 Nxf6 33. dxe5 Nxe5 34. Bf4 $18) 32. Rh3 Rf8 33. Bh6 $1 {
and the R has to decide where to go.} (33. Bc1 Rc8 34. Bxa3 e5 35. dxe5 Ncxe5
$14) 33... Rf7 (33... Rh8 34. b4 $1 {and finally >< a3 falls.} Na7 (34... Qc4
35. Rxa3+ Kb8 36. Bf4+ e5 37. Bg3 $18) 35. Rxa3 $1 (35. Nxa3 Rxh6 36. Rxh6 Qxa3
37. Qe2 Nc6 38. Qxe6 Nb6) 35... Qd6 36. Qd2 Nb6 37. Rh3 Nc4 38. Qg5 $18) 34.
Re3 {Black has too many weaknesses (>< a3, e6, g6) and a passive position. The
position is probably lost already.} e5 (34... Rh7 35. Bf4 Na7 (35... Rf7 36. b4
$18) 36. b4 Nb5 (36... Nf6 37. Nxa3 $18) 37. Qd3 $18) 35. dxe5 Ndxe5 36. Qxd5
$18 Rd7 37. Qe4 Rd1 38. Re1 Rd8 39. Bg5 Rf8 40. Re3 Qb5 41. Nxa3 1-0

[Event "Moscow FIDE GP"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "2017.05.16"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Vachier Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Black "Salem, AR Saleh"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B11"]
[WhiteElo "2795"]
[BlackElo "2633"]
[Annotator "Mekhitarian,K"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[EventDate "2017.05.12"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 179"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2017.07.12"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2017.07.12"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Qe2 $5 (5. Nxf6+ {is the normal
move, but MVL didn't want to allow free development for Black, as normally
happens after 5...exf6} exf6 {White achieves a better endgame structure 
(because of the potential to create a passed pawn on the kingside, opposed to
the impossibility of the same for Black, because of the doubled pawns). But
Black has been doing fine here, since there are still many pieces. For example:
} 6. d4 Bd6 7. Bd3 O-O 8. O-O Re8 9. Nh4 g6 10. Bh6 c5 11. dxc5 Bxc5 12. Re1
Be6 13. Be3 Bxe3 14. Rxe3 Nc6 $15 {½-½ (59) Antipov,M (2580)-Yu,Y (2738)
Caleta 2017, and Black even achieved a small initiative already, because of
some careless play by White.}) 5... Nxe4 (5... Bf5 $5 {was played by Anand
recently in the Leuven Grand Chess Tour (blitz portion) against MVL} 6. Nxf6+ (
6. d3 $5) 6... gxf6 {now Black is forced to take with the g-pawn} 7. d3 Nd7 8.
g3 Ne5 9. Nxe5 Qa5+ 10. Bd2 Qxe5 11. Qxe5 fxe5 12. Bg2 f6 13. O-O Bg6 14. Rae1
$14 {0-1 (50) Vachier-Lagrave,M (2783)-Anand,V (2775) Leuven 2017}) 6. Qxe4 Qd5
7. Qh4 {has been the 'fashion' in this position recently.} Qe6+ {Forcing the
queen exchange, but staying behind in development anyway.} (7... Bf5 {was
played against the very creative Chinese GM Lu Shanglei} 8. Bc4 Qd6 9. d3 e6
10. Bf4 $1 Qb4+ 11. Bd2 Qxb2 12. O-O b5 13. Rab1 Qa3 14. Nd4 $5 Be7 15. Qg3 O-O
16. Nxf5 exf5 17. Bb3 Qd6 18. Qf3 Qf6 19. a4 $36 {1-0 (40) Lu,S (2620)-Fang,Y 
(2447) Xinghua 2017, with decent compensation for the material.}) 8. Be2 Qg4 9.
Qg3 Qxg3 10. hxg3 Bf5 $6 (10... c5 11. d4 $1 {opening up the position as much
as possible} e6 12. Be3 Nd7 13. O-O-O a6 14. d5 exd5 15. Rxd5 Nf6 16. Re5+ Be6
17. Bxc5 (17. Ng5 $5) 17... Ng4 18. Bxf8 Kxf8 19. Reh5 Nxf2 20. Rxh7 Rxh7 21.
Rxh7 $16 {1-0 (38) Bacrot,E (2691)-Kreisl,R (2448) Novi Sad 2016, White went
on to win, a safe pawn up.}) (10... g6 $1 {stopping b3, could have been a good
suggestion for Black} 11. d4 (11. Ng5 {trying to provoke f6, doesn't seem to
work} Bg7 $1 12. Rxh7 $2 (12. Bc4 e6 {Black must have a reasonable postion
here, with ...h6}) 12... Rxh7 13. Nxh7 f6 $17 {has to be bad for White}) 11...
Bg7 12. Bh6 $14 {with a small advantage for White.}) 11. b3 $1 a5 $2 {Too slow
and not really helping where the main battle will take place - in the centre
and on the kingside.} (11... Bxc2 $2 12. d3 $18 {and the bishop is trapped}) (
11... Nd7 {was seen in a game between two Indian players, 13 days after this
encounter. That shows some hard work!} 12. Bb2 e6 $5 {was a playable idea} (
12... Nf6 13. O-O-O g6 14. Ng5 b5 15. Bf3 Rc8 16. Rde1 Bg7 17. Nxh7 $1 Rxh7 18.
Rxh7 Nxh7 19. Bxg7 f6 20. g4 Bd7 21. Bh6 g5 22. Be4 Kf7 23. Bxh7 Rh8 24. Bxg5
Rxh7 25. Be3 Bxg4 26. Bxa7 $18 {1-0 (35) Nitin,S (2426)-Ravi,T (2369)
Bhubaneswar 2017, with a won endgame.}) 13. O-O-O (13. Nh4 $6 Bxc2 $1 14. d3
Nc5 15. Kd2 $2 Bxd3 16. Bxd3 O-O-O $19) 13... h6 {preparing ...Rg8 and 0-0-0 
(otherwise Nh4 would be strong). I still believe White's initiative is strong,
but for now Black is holding} 14. Rde1 Rg8 15. Nd4 Bg6 (15... Bh7 $2 16. Bh5 $1
$16) 16. f4 O-O-O 17. g4 $14 {with better prospects for White.}) 12. Bb2 h6 13.
O-O-O a4 14. Nd4 $1 Bc8 (14... Bg6 15. f4 $1 e6 16. g4 $16 {is just horrible
for Black.}) 15. Rde1 $1 axb3 16. axb3 {Black lost two tempi in order to play
a5-a4, and meanwhile White was able to mobilise all his forces in the centre.}
Nd7 17. Nf5 Nf6 18. g4 Be6 (18... Bxf5 19. gxf5 $16 {looks very depressing for
Black, with the bishop on f8.}) 19. f4 Rg8 {Something clearly went wrong for
Black, White has all the trumps in the position.} 20. Ne3 g6 (20... Nd5 21. f5
$1 Bd7 22. Nxd5 cxd5 23. Bf3 Bc6 24. Re2 $16 {and Black has problems
developing.}) 21. f5 gxf5 22. gxf5 Bd7 23. Bf3 Kd8 24. Bd4 Bg7 25. Kb2 Ne8 (
25... Nh7 $5 26. Bxg7 Rxg7 27. Rxh6 Kc7 $16 {trying to defend a pawn down,
with a weakness on f5, and the knight possibly coming to either f6 or g5.}) 26.
Bxg7 Nxg7 27. f6 $5 (27. g4 $5 {was also attractive} h5 28. gxh5 Nxf5 29. h6
Nxe3 30. h7 $1 Rh8 31. dxe3 Bf5 32. Reg1 Bg6 33. Be2 $1 {to remove the
blockade from g6} e6 (33... Kd7 34. Bd3 Bxd3 35. cxd3 $16 {looks very good for
White}) 34. Bd3 Bxd3 35. Rg8+ Ke7 36. Rxa8 Rxa8 37. h8=Q Rxh8 38. Rxh8 $16 {
should be very difficult for Black.}) 27... exf6 28. Rxh6 $16 Ne8 29. d4 Kc7
30. d5 {White still wants to open more lines. Salem had to be careful now.} Rg5
(30... Nd6 $5 31. Rxf6 Rae8 {trying to activate somehow.}) 31. Rd1 Ra6 32. b4
Nd6 (32... b5 $1 {with the idea to play ...Re5 and Nd6-Nc4+ at some point.} 33.
Rd3 {anticipating ...Re5} Re5 34. c4 bxc4 35. Nxc4 Rg5 {every pawn exchange
favours Black here} 36. d6+ $5 (36. dxc6 Bxc6 $16 {should give Black very good
drawing chances}) 36... Kd8 37. Ra3 Rxa3 38. Kxa3 Rg8 $16 {threatening ...Be6,
and once again Black has chances.}) 33. Rxf6 cxd5 34. Rxd5 Rxd5 $6 (34... Rg8 {
would be a painful and endless suffering, but it was possible to have hope,
with the reduced number of pawns} 35. Rf4 {preparing c4} Re8 $16 {and Black is
still playing.}) (34... Nc4+ {right away also doesn't work} 35. Nxc4 Rxf6 (
35... Rxd5 36. Rxa6 bxa6 (36... Rd4 37. Kc3 {is the simplest} Rxc4+ 38. Kxc4
bxa6 39. Kc5 $18 {with an easy win}) 37. Bxd5 $18) 36. Rxg5 $18) 35. Bxd5 {
[%csl Rf7]} Nc4+ $4 {Maybe Black was very short on time, which is realistic,
because we are approaching move 40. If White doesn't have 36.Bxc4 winning,
then he is simply lost! In such cases, if you have time and find a winning
shot, it's advisable to check it more than once, because your opponent may
have set a trap!} (35... Kd8 {was needed, but it's a difficult position after
Rf4, followed by c4.} 36. Rf4 Be6 37. c4 $16) 36. Bxc4 $1 {And the fork on d5
decides the game.} 1-0

[Event "EU-ch 15th"]
[Site "Yerevan"]
[Date "2014.03.08"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Motylev, Alexander"]
[Black "Riazantsev, Alexander"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B11"]
[WhiteElo "2656"]
[BlackElo "2689"]
[Annotator "Motylev,A"]
[PlyCount "51"]
[EventDate "2014.03.03"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "ARM"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 160"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2014.05.15"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2014.05.15"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c6 {This is a signatue opening of Alexander Riazantsev. This time I
wanted to avoid a deep theoretical battle and tried to surprise my opponent.}
2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 {This is, of course, a very well known system, but many
people consider it as quite harmless and do not study it thoroughly. I have
played this line a few times for the black side and realised that playing the
resulting positions "over the board" is not an easy thing at all.} Bg4 {
The most solid continuation.} 4. h3 Bxf3 5. Qxf3 e6 6. d3 Nf6 7. Bd2 Bd6 {
These moves already took about 20 minutes of Black's time. So I became
convinced about the correctness of my opening choice.} 8. g4 $5 (8. O-O-O {
was also possible, but I wanted to start operations on the kingside
immediately.}) 8... Bb4 $5 {It looks that Black just lost a tempo, but it's
not so easy because now the usual white reaction (e4-e5) doesn't make any
sense.} 9. a3 Ba5 10. g5 Nfd7 11. d4 $1 {I think this strong move provides a
slight advantage to White. Otherwise Black would have exchanged the
dark-coloured bishops by playing 11...d4.} O-O 12. O-O-O e5 $2 {Black chose
the wrong way to destroy White's pawn centre.} ({While Alexander had fallen
into deep thought, I was thinking how to react to} 12... c5 $1 {.} 13. exd5 {
looks more or less forced} cxd4 {And here White has a wide choice -} {The most
natural and strongest is} 14. Ne4 {but White has to foresee the 15.Nf6+!
resource after 14...exd5} (14. dxe6 dxc3 {looks bad}) (14. Ne2 Bxd2+ 15. Rxd2
e5 16. h4 Nb6 {is unclear}) ({Houdini suggests the cold-blooded} 14. Nb1 {
and after} Bxd2+ 15. Nxd2 {it transposes to the Ne4 line}) 14... Bxd2+ (14...
exd5 15. Nf6+ $1 gxf6 16. Bxa5 Qxa5 17. Bd3 Re8 18. Qh5 $36 ({or} 18. gxf6))
15. Nxd2 exd5 16. Qxd5 Nc6 17. Nb3 Nde5 18. Qxd8 Raxd8 {and White has a slight
plus in the endgame.}) 13. dxe5 $1 d4 14. Ne2 Bxd2+ 15. Rxd2 Qxg5 {This is all
more or less forced.} ({Black could have tried} 15... c5 $5 {but it is
unlikely that any human could leave White such strong pawns.} {White is better
after both} 16. Qb3 ({and} 16. Qg3 Nc6 17. f4) 16... Qxg5 17. f4) 16. Nxd4 $1 {
I was quite happy here to have such a pleasant position and 50 minutes up on
my opponent. All the previous moves were quite natural for White so I could
really play them automatically.} (16. Rg1 {would be a mistake in view of} Nxe5
$1) 16... Qxe5 {A difficult decision.} ({Black's main problem is that after} 
16... Nxe5 {White has the very strong} 17. Qf5 $1 Qe7 ({the endgame after} 
17... Qxf5 18. Nxf5 {is just terrible for Black mainly because of the knight
on b8} g6 19. Nd6) 18. f4 $16) 17. Nf5 Nf6 {My Houdini 4 considers this
position just winning for White with almost any move - Bc4, Qe3, Rg1. I don't
have any reason not to trust him here, but sometimes his evaluations look a
bit over optimistic.} 18. Qg2 $2 {I found an idea with the transfer of the
queen to g5 and followed it.} g6 19. Qg5 Re8 $2 {This is very tempting, of
course, to clear the space near the black king and put pressure on the e4-pawn.
} ({But it was much more important to get the knight on b8 into the game:} 
19... Nbd7 $1 {and after} 20. Bg2 {White is better but it is still game on} (
20. Qh6 $4 {just loses after} Nxe4 $1)) 20. f3 $1 {I spent 40 minutes here to
find this very strong and probably just winning move. Other tempting
continuations don't give anything to White.} (20. Rd8 $6 Nbd7) (20. Qh6 $4 Nxe4
) (20. f4 $2 Nxe4) (20. Bc4 $2 Nxe4) 20... Kh8 21. Rg1 Ng8 ({Also totally
hopeless was} 21... Nbd7 22. Bc4 Rf8 23. Ba2 $18) 22. Nd6 $5 Qxg5 23. Rxg5 Re7
{Here many ways lead to the win but White finishes nicely.} 24. Re5 $1 Rc7 (
24... Rxe5 {doesn't change anything:} 25. Nxf7+ Kg7 26. Nxe5 Kf6 27. Rd8 $18)
25. Re8 $1 b5 (25... Kg7 26. Nf5+ $1 $18) 26. Nf5 $1 1-0

[Event "EU-Cup 32nd"]
[Site "Novi Sad"]
[Date "2016.11.07"]
[Round "2.1"]
[White "Mamedov, Rauf"]
[Black "Postny, Evgeny"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B11"]
[WhiteElo "2684"]
[BlackElo "2616"]
[Annotator "Postny,E"]
[PlyCount "103"]
[EventDate "2016.11.06"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "SRB"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 176"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2017.01.17"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2017.01.17"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Odlar Yurdu"]
[BlackTeam "Beer Sheva"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "AZE"]
[BlackTeamCountry "ISR"]

1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 {Deviating from the main paths of the Caro-Kann.} Bg4
(3... Nf6 4. e5 Ne4 {This can lead to a sharp battle. Here is one recent
"heavyweight" example:} 5. Ne2 Qb6 6. d4 e6 7. Nfg1 f6 8. f3 Ng5 9. exf6 gxf6
10. f4 Ne4 11. Ng3 Bd7 12. Nxe4 dxe4 13. c3 Na6 14. Qh5+ Kd8 $13 {0-1 (46)
Vachier Lagrave,M (2819)-Anand,V (2770) Saint Louis 2016}) 4. h3 Bxf3 5. Qxf3
Nf6 6. d3 e6 7. Qg3 {White has a lot of options here. Just to name a few: 7.
Bd2, 7.g3, 7.a3, 7.Be2. The move in the game is directed to prevent Blacks'
smooth development. On the other hand the queen on g3 is not necessarily well
placed.} g6 (7... Nh5 8. Qh2 {is a funny move, which eventually brought a
victory to Arkady Naiditsch.} ({After} 8. Qf3 {Black can repeat:} Nf6) 8... Bb4
9. Be2 Nf6 10. O-O O-O 11. e5 Nfd7 $13 {1-0 (45) Naiditsch,A (2667)-Yuffa,D 
(2502) Jerusalem 2016}) (7... Nbd7) ({and} 7... Qb6 {are the other
possibilities.}) 8. Be2 Bg7 9. Bf4 $146 (9. O-O O-O 10. Re1 Qa5 11. Bf4 $6 (11.
Bd2 $11) 11... d4 12. e5 dxc3 13. exf6 Bxf6 14. b3 Nd7 $15 {1/2-1/2 (54) Anton
Guijarro,D (2634)-Navara,D (2734) Berlin 2015}) 9... O-O 10. Bd6 {The bishop
sneaks into Black's camp, but it's not so frightening.} Re8 11. e5 Nfd7 12. d4
(12. h4 c5 13. h5 Nc6 14. hxg6 fxg6 15. Qh3 Ndxe5 16. Bxc5 (16. Qxh7+ $2 Kf7
$17 {[%cal Ge8h8]}) 16... Nd7 {Black can actually ignore the threat to the
h7-pawn.}) 12... c5 {This move had to be played as soon as possible. Black's
position is good from the strategic point of view, but as long as he is
cramped, he can't be happy.} 13. dxc5 Nc6 14. O-O (14. f4 Qa5 15. O-O-O (15.
O-O Nxc5 16. Qf2 Bf8 17. Bxf8 Rxf8 $11) 15... Nxc5 16. h4 h5 $13) 14... Bxe5 (
14... Ndxe5 {seems to be more precise. I wanted to get rid of that annoying
bishop on d6, but eventually a knight replaced it.} 15. Rad1 Rc8 {followed by
16...Qa5 or 16...Qf6 only Black is the one that can be better here.}) 15. Bxe5
Ndxe5 16. b4 Qf6 17. Nb5 Red8 ({It's not so good to sacrifice an exchange:} 
17... Nxb4 $6 18. Nc7 Nxc2 19. Rab1 Nd4 20. Rfe1 {[%csl Rb7] White's rooks
will have enough open files and the b7-pawn would be captured.}) 18. c3 a6 $6 {
After a long period of thought I didn't make the best decision.} (18... a5 19.
a3 {only improves White's position.}) (18... b6 {makes some sense, but it's a
pity to allow White to get rid of his doubled pawns, even though the c5-pawn
is quite strong and supports the d6-outpost for White's knight. The game could
continue} 19. cxb6 axb6 20. a4 {and the a-pawn may become a strong passer in
the future.}) (18... Ne7 $1 {was the best move. I didn't see a good reason to
move my knight from c6, but in fact it's good to bring it to f5, where it will
harass the queen and keep the d6-square under control. The other knight could
go to c6, if necessary. For instance} 19. Nd6 (19. Nd4 N5c6 20. Rfd1 a5 $11)
19... Nf5 ({It also makes sense to undermine White's knight by} 19... b6 20.
Rfe1 bxc5 21. Nb7 Nf5 22. Qf4 Rdc8 23. Nxc5 g5 24. Qd2 {with chances for both
sides.}) 20. Nxf5 Qxf5 ({After} 20... exf5 21. Qe3 d4 22. cxd4 Rxd4 {Black has
sufficient dynamic resources, which compensate for the structure.}) 21. Rfe1
Qf6 $13) 19. Nd6 b6 20. f4 ({In the event of} 20. Rfe1 Ne7 {bringing the
knight to f5, when necessary.} (20... bxc5 $6 21. Nb7 Rdc8 22. Nxc5 $14) 21.
Bxa6 Rxa6 22. Rxe5 bxc5 23. Nb7 Rc8 24. Nxc5 Ra3 {with sufficient play for the
pawn.}) 20... Nd7 21. f5 Qe5 22. Qxe5 Ndxe5 $2 {Wrong recapture! It was
important to keep the knight on d7 to attack the pawn on c5 - the supporter of
White's knight on d6.} (22... Ncxe5 23. fxe6 fxe6 24. cxb6 Rab8 $1 {I missed
this move in my preliminary calculations, that's why I rejected 22...Ncxe5.} (
24... Nxb6 $2 25. Nb7 Rdc8 26. Nc5 $16) 25. b7 Nb6 26. b5 $5 (26. Nc8 Nxc8 27.
bxc8=Q Rdxc8 28. Bxa6 Rxc3 $11) 26... a5 $1 27. Nc8 Nxc8 28. bxc8=Q Rdxc8 $11)
23. fxe6 fxe6 24. Rae1 {The pawn on e6 is now vulnerable, while I can't get
rid of the annoying knight on d6.} (24. Rf6 bxc5 25. Nb7 $1 Re8 26. Nxc5 {
is also better for White, though after} a5 {Black is still in the game.}) 24...
Rd7 25. Bg4 Nxg4 26. hxg4 e5 27. Rf6 bxc5 28. bxc5 Rc7 29. g5 $1 {Fixing the
flank and securing the rook on f6. In some lines Black's king might even find
itself in a mating net.} e4 (29... Rf8 30. Re6 $16) 30. c4 $6 {A tempting move
to ruin Black's pawn chain, but it was far more accurate to start with 30.Re6.}
(30. Re6 $1 $16 {Now, besides c3-c4, White also has the unpleasant idea Nd6-e8.
}) 30... Nb4 $6 {Wrong route for the knight.} (30... Ne5 $1 {was my chance to
escape.} 31. cxd5 Rxc5 32. Nxe4 Rxd5 33. Rxg6+ (33. Rc1 Rdd8 $1 34. Re6 Ng4 {
and Black is out of danger}) 33... Nxg6 34. Nf6+ Kg7 35. Nxd5 Rd8 {and Black
will hold it easily. White's extra pawn is of a very little significance, very
little material is left on the board.}) 31. cxd5 Nxd5 32. Re6 Nc3 $2 {This is
already the decisive mistake.} (32... Rxc5 $2 33. Nxe4 ({White doesn't win a
piece after} 33. Re5 $2 e3 34. Ne4 Rc4 $1 $11) 33... Rc4 34. Re5 Kh8 $1 35. Nd6
$1 (35. Rxd5 $2 Re8 {winning back the piece}) 35... Rd4 36. Nf7+ Kg7 37. Nh6 {
[%cal Ge5e6,Ge6d6] and Black's king is in trouble. Eventually one or both of
White's rooks will get to the seventh rank.}) ({It was necessary to push the
pawn forward:} 32... e3 $1 33. Rc1 Rd8 {and Black holds according to an engine,
though for a human player it's not easy here.}) 33. Re5 $18 {Now I can't
attack the pawn on c5, while my pawn on e4 is going to be lost very soon.} Rd8
(33... Nxa2 34. Ne8 Rf7 35. Nf6+ Kg7 36. R5xe4 a5 37. c6 a4 38. Re8 $18) 34. a3
h6 {Time trouble desperation, but the alternatives are not better.} ({After} 
34... Rdd7 {the most practical for White would be to get his king into play}
35. Kf2) 35. gxh6 Kh7 36. Re3 Nb5 37. Nxe4 {Now it's completely lost for Black.
} Kxh6 38. Ng5 Rd1+ 39. Kh2 Rc6 (39... Nd4 40. Rh3+ Kg7 41. Rd5 Nf3+ 42. Rxf3
Rxd5 43. Ne6+ $18) 40. Ne6 (40. Rh3+ Kg7 41. Rh7+ Kf6 42. Rhe7 $1 {[%cal Gg5h7]
was a forced mate.}) 40... Kh7 41. Rf3 Nd4 42. Rf7+ Kh6 43. Nf8 Nf5 44. g4 Rd2+
45. Kg1 Ng7 (45... Rc8 46. gxf5 Rb8 47. Re1 Rbb2 48. fxg6 Rg2+ 49. Kf1 $18) 46.
g5+ Kh5 47. Rxg7 Rc8 48. Nd7 Kg4 49. Rf7 Rd1+ 50. Kf2 Rh8 51. Re4+ Kxg5 52. Ne5
1-0

[Event "Kolkata op 4th"]
[Site "Kolkata"]
[Date "2009.09.05"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Short, Nigel D"]
[Black "Postny, Evgeny"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B11"]
[WhiteElo "2706"]
[BlackElo "2651"]
[Annotator "Postny,E"]
[PlyCount "111"]
[EventDate "2009.09.01"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 132"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2009.09.16"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2009.09.16"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{So far I already played with numerous players from the 2700+ "top club".
However, this was my first encounter versus a former challenger for the world
championship title.} 1. e4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Nc3 {It was not difficult to
predict Nigel's choice against the Caro Kann. In round three he outplayed
Merab Gagunashvili in this line.} Bg4 4. h3 Bh5 5. d4 {Avoiding the main lines.
} ({The principled line that Black has to be prepared for is:} 5. exd5 cxd5 6.
Bb5+ Nc6 7. g4 Bg6 8. Ne5 Rc8 9. d4) 5... e6 ({It is extremely dangerous to
grab the central pawn:} 5... dxe4 $6 6. Nxe4 Bxf3 7. Qxf3 Qxd4 8. Be3 Qxb2 9.
Bc4 Qb4+ (9... Nf6 10. O-O $36 {[%cal Ga1b1]}) 10. Nd2 Nf6 11. Rb1 Qd6 12. Rxb7
$16 {1-0 Short,N (2683)-Adianto,U (2584)/Internet 2000/CBM 076 (49)}) 6. Bd3
Nf6 (6... dxe4 7. Nxe4 Nd7 {followed by 8...Ngf6 is a solid option. Black's
position is slightly worse, but free of weaknesses.}) 7. e5 $1 {White should
go for this. Otherwise, Black will easily equalise by exchanging on e4,
followed by transferring the queenside knight to f6.} Nfd7 8. g4 Bg6 9. Bxg6
hxg6 10. Ne2 c5 11. c3 {The game has transposed to a French type of position.
The absence of light-squared bishops favours Black, but the doubled pawns on
the kingside might be a source of worry for him in the long run.} Nc6 12. Kf1
Qb6 {Later on it's not easy to point out an improvement for Black, so maybe
this move is not the best. The queen actually has nothing to do on b6.} (12...
Nb6 13. Kg2 Be7 {followed by 14...Qd7 and 15...0-0-0 is perhaps a better way
to develop.}) 13. Kg2 Be7 14. Rb1 {During the game I considered this position
as quite playable for Black. However, the doubled pawns on the kingside are a
permanent drawback, meanwhile, it's not easy for Black to get active
counterplay. Short already beat Khalifman in this position some years ago.}
O-O-O $146 (14... a5 15. Be3 a4 16. Nf4 Qa6 17. h4 a3 18. b3 cxd4 19. cxd4 Nb4
20. Qd2 O-O-O 21. Ng5 Bxg5 22. hxg5 Rxh1 23. Rxh1 Nc6 24. Nd3 Kb8 25. Rh3 Qb5
26. Rf3 Rf8 27. Qd1 Qa6 28. Ne1 $16 {1-0 Short,N (2676)-Khalifman,A (2690)/
Merida 2001/CBM 084 (41)}) (14... cxd4 15. cxd4 Rc8 {is a possible alternative.
But then where is the black king going to castle?}) 15. b4 $1 cxd4 (15... c4 $2
{is a strategical mistake as it just gives White a free hand on the kingside.})
16. cxd4 Kb8 17. Bd2 (17. Qa4 $2 {would be met by} Qa6 $1 18. Qxa6 bxa6 {
[%cal Gd7b6,Gb6c4] and Black is fine in the endgame as he can develop his play
on the queenside.}) 17... Rc8 (17... f6 $2 18. exf6 gxf6 19. Nf4 $16) 18. Re1
a6 19. Qb3 {Black's main problem in this position is a lack of space. I don't
have good squares for my knights.} Na7 (19... f6 $2 {is bad again in view of}
20. exf6 gxf6 21. b5 $1 Qxb5 (21... axb5 22. Nf4 $18) 22. Qe3 $18 {[%csl Re6]})
20. a4 Rc4 21. b5 Rhc8 22. Nf4 Ka8 23. Nd3 a5 {I didn't want to play this, but
I simply ran out of useful moves...} 24. Nb2 Rc2 25. Rec1 Rxc1 {I can't keep
control over the c-file, but some exchanges would make my defensive task
somewhat easier.} 26. Bxc1 Qc7 27. Bd2 b6 {The position is closed, so it's
time for some manouevres when both sides are trying to improve their piece
locations. Basically, Black can only wait and see what White will come up with
on the kingside. However, it's still very difficult to break through.} 28. Rc1
Qd8 29. Rc2 Kb8 30. Nd3 g5 {I thought that without this expansion, sooner or
later, the plan with f4-f5 would be difficult to resist.} 31. Qb1 f6 {Now, at
least, I get some space.} 32. Qc1 Nf8 33. Nfe1 Kb7 34. f4 gxf4 35. Bxf4 Rxc2+
36. Qxc2 Qc8 (36... f5 $5 {was an interesting option to go for active
counterplay, but couldn't really solve the problem. For instance:} 37. gxf5
exf5 38. Bc1 g5 (38... Ne6 39. Qf2 g6 40. Nf4 Nxf4+ 41. Bxf4 g5 42. Bc1 Qd7 43.
Qf3 $16 {[%csl Ya7]}) 39. Nf2 Qd7 40. Nf3 Ne6 41. Kg3 f4+ 42. Kg2 $16) 37.
Qxc8+ Kxc8 38. Nf3 Kd7 39. h4 Nc8 40. h5 $6 (40. exf6 $1 gxf6 41. g5 {This was
the plan that concerned me during the game.} fxg5 (41... Ng6 42. Kh3 Nxf4+ 43.
Nxf4 fxg5 44. hxg5 Bf8 45. Ne5+ Kd6 46. Nc6 $18 {[%cal Gh3g4,Gg4h5]}) 42. hxg5
Nd6 43. Nde5+ Ke8 44. g6 Nf5 45. Kh3 Bf6 46. Kg4 {I really doubt that Black
can hold this position.}) 40... Nh7 {Now it's difficult for White to carry out
the g4-g5 advance.} 41. Be3 Bd8 42. Kh3 Ke8 43. Nf4 Kf7 44. Ng6 $2 {The knight
goes astray.} (44. Kg3 Be7 45. Nh3 {followed by g4-g5 was the right plan.})
44... Ng5+ $1 45. Nxg5+ $6 {Nigel was definitely disappointed by his last move,
but it was still possible to play for a win.} (45. Kg2 Ne4 {The knight got to
e4, a huge improvement for Black.} 46. Nf4 Nc3 (46... Bc7 $1 {is correct and
Black should hold.}) 47. exf6 Bxf6 (47... gxf6 48. h6 $16) 48. g5 Be7 49. Ne5+
Kg8 50. Nxe6 Nxa4 51. g6 $16) 45... fxg5 {Now it is a fortress. The white
knight can't come out and there is no way to make progress.} 46. Kg2 Kg8 47.
Kf3 Kf7 48. Ke2 Kg8 49. Kd3 Kf7 50. Bc1 Ke8 51. Ba3 Ne7 52. Bd6 Nxg6 53. hxg6
Be7 54. Bc7 Bd8 55. Bxd8 Kxd8 56. Ke2 1/2-1/2

[Event "EU-ch 13th"]
[Site "Plovdiv"]
[Date "2012.03.28"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Vallejo Pons, Francisco"]
[Black "Khairullin, Ildar"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B11"]
[WhiteElo "2693"]
[BlackElo "2626"]
[Annotator "Postny,E"]
[PlyCount "167"]
[EventDate "2012.03.20"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "BUL"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 148"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2012.05.16"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2012.05.16"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 {Avoiding the main Caro-Kann.} d5 3. Nf3 Nf6 (3... Bg4 {
is the main continuation.}) 4. e5 Ne4 5. d4 (5. Ne2 Qb6 6. d4 c5 $6 ({A safer
option is} 6... e6 7. Nfg1 $5 f6 8. f3 Ng5 $13) 7. dxc5 Qxc5 8. Ned4 Nc6 9. Bb5
Bd7 10. O-O e6 11. Be3 Qb4 12. c4 Qxb2 13. cxd5 Nc3 14. dxe6 $3 Nxd1 15. exd7+
Kd8 16. Raxd1 Nxd4 17. Nxd4 Bc5 18. Bc4 Bxd4 19. Bxd4 Qc2 20. Bxf7 $18 {
1-0 Svetushkin,D (2554)-Landa,K (2635)/Rijeka 2010/CBM 136 (32)}) 5... Nxc3 6.
bxc3 Bg4 {Before playing e7-e6 it's logical to get rid of this bishop.} ({
In case of} 6... Bf5 $6 7. Nh4 {is unpleasant.}) 7. h3 Bxf3 8. Qxf3 {The
players have got out of the main theoretical lines, the position is quite
"fresh".} e6 9. h4 (9. Bd3 $6 Qa5 10. Bd2 Qa4 $1 $132 {A typical manoeuvre for
this "French" structure.}) 9... h5 (9... Qa5 10. a4 $1 $14) 10. a4 {Vallejo is
playing on both flanks, trying to seize as much space as possible.} Be7 $6 {
This is too slow. The advance c6-c5 is Black's only active plan and he
shouldn't delay it.} (10... c5 11. Rb1 Qc7 12. Bb5+ (12. c4 Nc6 $1 13. cxd5
Nxd4 $132) 12... Nc6 13. O-O Be7 ({In the event of} 13... a6 $6 14. Bxc6+ Qxc6
15. Bg5 {Black has difficulties completing his development.}) 14. Qg3 g6 $11)
11. Rb1 Qc7 12. c4 $1 Nd7 (12... Qa5+ $2 13. Bd2 Qxa4 14. Qc3 $1 {[%csl Ra4]
[%cal Gb1a1]} dxc4 15. Rxb7 Qa6 16. Rb1 $16 {[%cal Gf1c4]}) 13. Rh3 $6 (13. Bd2
{is more natural and stronger.} Nb6 (13... Rb8 14. cxd5 cxd5 15. Bd3 g6 16. Rh3
Nb6 17. Ba5 $16) 14. c5 Nd7 15. c4 dxc4 16. Bxc4 b6 17. cxb6 axb6 18. O-O Rxa4
19. Rfc1 $16) 13... Rb8 $1 14. c3 (14. Bd2 dxc4 $1 15. Bxc4 c5 16. d5 Nxe5 17.
Qg3 O-O 18. dxe6 fxe6 19. Bxe6+ Kh8 20. Bc3 Bf6 21. Kf1 Rbe8 22. Bxe5 Qxe5 23.
Qxe5 Bxe5 $11) 14... g6 15. Bd2 Nb6 16. c5 Nxa4 $5 {Principled, but risky.
Khairullin had to be aware that after this move the knight is a goner.} (16...
Nc4 17. Bxc4 dxc4 18. Bg5 (18. Qe2 b6 $1 19. Qxc4 bxc5 20. Rxb8+ Qxb8 $132) (
18. Kf1 Qd8 19. Qe2 Bxh4 20. Qxc4 Be7 {Black's position is somewhat squeezed,
but at some point the b7-b6 push will give him counterplay.}) 18... Bxg5 19.
hxg5 Qd8 (19... b5 $2 20. Qf6 Rf8 21. axb5 Rxb5 22. Rxb5 cxb5 23. d5 $1 exd5
24. c6 Qd8 25. Qd6 $18) 20. Qf6 Qxf6 21. gxf6 b6 $11) 17. c4 Nxc5 $2 {It's
true that the knight will never come back into the game, but there was no
reason to get rid of it so early. Instead, Black could put a certain pressure
along the d-file and wait for a more suitable moment to sacrifice the knight.}
(17... dxc4 18. Bxc4 Rd8 (18... b5 $2 19. Bb3 Rd8 20. Qe4 Qd7 21. Ba5 Qxd4 22.
Qxc6+ Kf8 23. Bxd8 $18) 19. Qb3 (19. Qe4 $2 Qd7 20. Rd3 b5 {and White has to
free the knight in view of the threat ...Nxc5.}) (19. Qf4 Qd7 20. Rf3 O-O 21.
Bb3 b5 22. Ba5 Qxd4 23. Bxd8 Qxd8 24. Bxa4 bxa4 25. Qxa4 Bxc5 $14) 19... Rxd4
20. Qxa4 Qxe5+ 21. Be3 Qe4 22. Rc1 Bxc5 {The position is too messy to give it
an exact estimation.}) 18. dxc5 Qxe5+ 19. Be2 $18 {[%cal Gd2f4] In such an
open position the bishop is clearly better than three pawns.} Qc7 20. Qc3 $6 (
20. Bc3 O-O 21. Qe3 Rbd8 22. Be5 Qa5+ 23. Kf1 {[%cal Ge3h6]} Kh7 24. Rxb7 $18)
20... e5 21. Qa5 $6 {Not the best version of swapping queens.} (21. cxd5 cxd5
22. c6 Bd6 23. cxb7 Rxb7 24. Rxb7 Qxb7 25. Qb3 Qxb3 26. Rxb3 $18) 21... b6 22.
Rhb3 $1 O-O {Of course, the queen capture would lead to a disaster for Black.}
23. cxb6 axb6 24. Rxb6 Ra8 25. Ra6 Qxa5 26. Rxa5 Bxh4 {Actually this is an
important pawn. Black has chances to hold.} 27. cxd5 Rxa5 28. Bxa5 cxd5 29. Rb5
e4 {[%cal Ge4e3]} 30. g3 Bf6 31. Rxd5 Rc8 32. Kf1 Kg7 33. Bd2 {I would put the
rook on seventh rank and then see what happens.} Rd8 34. Bc4 Rc8 35. Bb3 Rb8
36. Bc2 Re8 37. Bf4 Re7 38. Rc5 Bb2 39. Rb5 Ba1 40. Ra5 Bc3 41. Ra3 Bb2 42. Rb3
Ba1 43. Bd6 $6 (43. Rb6 f5 44. Bg5 {preventing the idea ...Bf6 followed by h4
- this occurred in the game later on.}) 43... Rd7 44. Rb6 Bd4 45. Rc6 f5 46.
Ba4 Ra7 47. Rc4 Bf6 48. Be8 h4 49. g4 $2 {This allows Black to exchange all
White's remaining pawns.} (49. gxh4 Bxh4 50. Bc5 {and it's going to be a long
torture. For White it's important to keep even one pawn for improving his
winning chances.}) 49... fxg4 50. Rxe4 g3 $1 51. fxg3 hxg3 {Black has achieved
his goal of eliminating all his opponent's pawns, but his defensive task is
still difficult.} 52. Kg2 Ra5 53. Bxg3 Rg5 54. Ba4 Ra5 55. Rc4 Be5 56. Bf2 Bd6
57. Bd4+ Be5 58. Be3 Rd5 59. Bc2 Rd6 60. Kf3 Re6 61. Re4 Re7 62. Ra4 Bf6 $2 ({
It's necessary for Black to defend the Pg6 by the rook across the sixth rank:} 
62... Rc7 63. Bd3 Rd7 64. Ke2 Rf7 65. Rg4 Rf6) 63. Rg4 {Now Black is forced to
make a serious concession and weaken the light squares.} g5 64. Rg2 Re8 65. Bd3
Rf8 66. Kg4 {This position seems to be winning, sooner or later White's pieces
will surround Black's king.} Re8 67. Rg3 Rd8 68. Bf5 Ra8 69. Rg2 Ra4+ 70. Kf3
Ra3 71. Rg4 Ra5 72. Bc2 Re5 73. Rc4 Re7 74. Be4 Rf7 75. Kg4 Re7 76. Ra4 Re8 77.
Bc5 Re5 78. Ba3 Re8 79. Ra7+ Kh8 80. Bf5 Rd8 81. Kh5 {Finally the king
penetrates and it's a mating attack.} Bd4 82. Rh7+ Kg8 83. Kg6 Re8 84. Be7 1-0

[Event "EU-ch 18th"]
[Site "Minsk"]
[Date "2017.06.09"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Bacrot, Etienne"]
[Black "Prohaszka, Peter"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B11"]
[WhiteElo "2696"]
[BlackElo "2596"]
[Annotator "Prasanna,V"]
[PlyCount "125"]
[EventDate "2017.05.30"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "BLR"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 179"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2017.07.12"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2017.07.12"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Nc3 {The line has recently enjoyed a lot of popularity.
White hopes for a small and stable edge.} Bg4 (3... Nf6 {is more popular
nowadays and has also been recommended by Indian GM Vidit Gujarati in his
ChessBase DVD.}) 4. h3 Bxf3 5. Qxf3 e6 6. Be2 Nd7 7. d4 dxe4 8. Nxe4 Ngf6 9.
Nxf6+ Nxf6 10. c3 Bd6 {A very typical position for the Caro-Kann and this
variation specifically. White enjoys the 2 bishops and a slight space
advantage but Black enjoys solidity because of the lack of weaknesses in the
position.} (10... Qd5) 11. h4 $1 {A very useful move in the structure creating
a post for the bishop on c1.} Qa5 12. Bg5 Qd5 13. O-O h6 $5 {This move does
not seem so bad at the moment but it causes some trouble for Black in the game.
} 14. Be3 O-O 15. Rfd1 Rad8 16. g3 $5 Rd7 17. c4 {White has played very
natural moves and it's hard to criticise Black's moves so far. White though
enjoys a small edge now.} Qxf3 18. Bxf3 Rfd8 19. g4 Bc7 $2 {The start of
Black's troubles. Although it's hard to say if he could achieve full equality
in any case.} (19... Be7 $1 20. Rac1 Nh7 21. d5 exd5 22. cxd5 cxd5 23. Bxa7 $14
) 20. Rab1 $5 {Bacrot seems to have seen far into the position; he plays a
deep move announcing his plan in advance.} Bb6 (20... Ne8 $14 {was necessary.})
21. g5 hxg5 22. hxg5 Nh7 23. c5 Bc7 24. b4 a6 25. a4 Rc8 26. Bg2 Nf8 27. b5 {
The rook has served its purpose well in this position.} axb5 28. axb5 {White
is much better.} Ng6 29. bxc6 bxc6 30. Bxc6 Bh2+ 31. Kxh2 Rxc6 32. Rb8+ Kh7 33.
Rdb1 Ne7 34. Kg2 Kg6 35. Kf3 Kf5 36. Rh1 (36. R1b5) 36... Ng6 37. Rh7 e5 38. d5
Rxd5 39. Rxg7 Rd7 40. Rb6 e4+ 41. Kg3 Rxb6 42. cxb6 {There were probably some
minor improvements for White along the way but he definitely still keeps his
advantage.} Ne5 43. Rg8 Rd1 44. Rc8 Rg1+ 45. Kh3 Rh1+ 46. Kg2 Rb1 47. Rc1 Rb4
48. Rc7 Ke6 49. Kg3 (49. b7 $18) 49... Nc4 50. Rc6+ Kd5 51. Rf6 Nd6 52. Kg4 Rb1
53. Bf4 Nc4 54. Rxf7 Rxb6 55. Kf5 Rb2 56. Rd7+ Kc6 57. Rc7+ Kd5 58. g6 Nd6+ 59.
Kg5 Rxf2 60. Rd7 Ke6 61. Rxd6+ Ke7 62. Rd4 Kf8 63. Rxe4 {A model game for the
opening.} 1-0

[Event "POL-chT 66th"]
[Site "Katowice"]
[Date "2010.09.04"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Kryvoruchko, Yuriy"]
[Black "Hera, Imre Jr"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B11"]
[WhiteElo "2635"]
[BlackElo "2586"]
[Annotator "RR"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[EventDate "2010.09.04"]
[EventType "team-tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "POL"]
[SourceTitle "EXT 2016"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2015.10.08"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2015.10.08"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Gorzow Wielkopolski"]
[BlackTeam "Szkola Grudziadz"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "POL"]
[BlackTeamCountry "POL"]

1. e4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Nc3 Bg4 4. d4 e6 5. Bd3 Nf6 6. O-O Be7 7. h3 Bh5 8. e5 (
8. Re1 Bxf3 9. Qxf3 dxe4 10. Nxe4 Qxd4 11. Be3 Qd5 12. Rad1 Nbd7 13. c4 Qa5 14.
Bd2 Qc7 15. Bf4 e5 16. Nxf6+ gxf6 17. Bf5 Nb6 18. Bh6 Nxc4 19. Qg4 Nd6 20. Qg7
Rf8 21. Bg4 Rd8 22. Qxh7 Nc4 23. Rxd8+ Qxd8 24. Rd1 Nd6 25. Bxf8 Bxf8 26. Bh5
Qc7 27. Qg8 a5 28. h4 a4 29. Be2 Ke7 30. h5 Bh6 31. Qh7 Bg5 32. Qd3 e4 33. Qh3
Bh6 34. Qg3 b5 35. Qg8 Ne8 36. Qh7 Qf4 37. g3 Qg5 {Bartel,M (2659)-Kovalenko,I
(2611) Poznan 2014 1-0}) 8... Nfd7 9. g4 (9. Ne2 {[%cal Ge2f4]} Bxf3 10. gxf3
c5 11. c3 $11 {Senador,E (2329)-Rakhmanov,A (2612) Manila PSC Cup 2013 (4) 0-1}
) 9... Bg6 10. Ne2 c5 11. c4 Be4 $1 12. Nf4 (12. Ng3 Bxf3 13. Qxf3 cxd4 14.
cxd5) 12... Bxd3 13. Qxd3 dxc4 14. Qe4 cxd4 15. Qxb7 Nb6 16. Rd1 d3 $132 {
[%csl Gd3]} 17. b3 Qd7 18. Qe4 Qc6 19. Qxc6+ Nxc6 20. bxc4 Nxc4 21. Nxd3 Rd8
22. Bf4 Ba3 23. Rab1 O-O $11 24. Rb3 Nd4 25. Nxd4 Rxd4 26. Kf1 Rfd8 27. Ke2
Re4+ 28. Kf3 Red4 29. Ke2 Re4+ 30. Kf3 Red4 31. Ke2 1/2-1/2

[Event "EU-chT (Men) 18th"]
[Site "Porto Carras"]
[Date "2011.11.04"]
[Round "2.2"]
[White "Mastrovasilis, Dimitrios"]
[Black "Short, Nigel D"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B11"]
[WhiteElo "2621"]
[BlackElo "2698"]
[Annotator "RR"]
[PlyCount "51"]
[EventDate "2011.11.03"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "GRE"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 146"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2012.01.18"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2012.01.18"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Greece"]
[BlackTeam "England"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "GRE"]
[BlackTeamCountry "ENG"]

1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 Bg4 4. h3 Bxf3 5. Qxf3 e6 6. d3 Nd7 7. Bd2 Bc5 8.
O-O-O Ne7 9. h4 b5 10. h5 b4 11. Ne2 O-O $6 (11... Qb6 12. d4 dxe4 $14) 12. Qg3
$18 dxe4 $2 (12... Nf6 13. Bh6 Ne8 $16) 13. dxe4 $18 Kh8 14. h6 g6 15. Bf4 $2 (
15. Bg5 f6 16. Nf4 $18) 15... Qe8 16. Bd6 f6 17. Nd4 Qf7 18. Bc4 Bxd4 19. Rxd4
c5 20. Rd2 Nb6 21. Qb3 Nxc4 22. Qxc4 Rfc8 23. Bxc5 Ng8 24. Rhd1 Qc7 {[%tqu
"En","","","","c5f8","",10]} 25. Bf8 $1 Qxc4 $2 (25... Nxh6 26. Qxc7 Rxc7) 26.
Bg7# 1-0

[Event "Saratov Governor's Cup"]
[Site "Saratov"]
[Date "2011.10.11"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Andreikin, Dmitry"]
[Black "Roiz, Michael"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B11"]
[WhiteElo "2705"]
[BlackElo "2668"]
[Annotator "Roiz,M"]
[PlyCount "231"]
[EventDate "2011.10.08"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[EventCategory "19"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 145"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2011.11.11"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2011.11.11"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 Bg4 4. h3 Bxf3 5. Qxf3 e6 6. Be2 $5 {Dmitry chooses
a quiet line,where Black's chances of seizing the initiative are minimal.} Nd7
({In the following game Dmitry himself failed to solve all his problems and
lost:} 6... g6 7. d4 Bg7 8. Be3 Nf6 9. O-O O-O 10. a4 Nbd7 11. Rfd1 Qa5 12. Bf1
Kh8 13. Bc1 e5 14. dxe5 Nxe5 15. Qe2 dxe4 16. Nxe4 Nxe4 17. Qxe4 $14 {1-0
Azarov,S (2648)-Andreikin,D (2705)/Rogaska Slatina SLO 2011 (72)}) 7. d4 dxe4
8. Nxe4 Ngf6 9. O-O Nxe4 10. Qxe4 Nf6 11. Qd3 {The evaluation of this line is
clear: White has a very small advantage due to the pair of bishops, but Black
should easily hold it by direct play.} Bd6 {I like this spot for my bishop, as
sometimes Black may push ...e6-e5.} (11... Be7 12. Bf3 O-O 13. Rd1 Qc7 14. c4
Rfd8 15. Qe2 Rd7 16. Be3 Rad8 17. a3 a5 18. Rac1 $14 {1/2 Azarov,S (2648)
-Yevseev,D (2529)/St Petersburg RUS 2011 (43)}) 12. Bf3 O-O 13. Qb3 $146 (13.
b3 Qe7 14. a3 Rad8 15. Bb2 Bc7 16. Rad1 Rd7 17. Qe2 Rfd8 18. g3 Bb6 19. c3 a6
20. Kg2 h6 21. Rfe1 Qf8 22. b4 Qe7 23. Bc1 Nd5 24. Qc2 Ba7 25. Bd2 {1/2
Klovans,J (2500)-Janjgava,L (2500)/Geneve 1995/CBM 046 ext}) 13... Qb6 {
Accepting the challenge.} (13... Qc7 14. c4 Rad8 15. Rd1 $14) 14. Rd1 Qxb3 {
I decided to swap the queens immediately, as in some cases Black has to deal
with the capture on b6.} (14... Rfd8 15. g3 Rd7 16. Kg2 Rad8 17. Qxb6 axb6 18.
a4 $14) 15. axb3 a6 16. c3 Rad8 17. Kf1 Rd7 ({I could push} 17... e5 $5 18. Bg5
Rfe8 19. b4 $14) 18. g3 Rfd8 19. b4 h6 (19... e5 20. dxe5 Bxe5 21. Rxd7 Nxd7
22. Be3 $14) 20. Re1 $1 {The rook has nothing to do on d1 anymore. To be
honest, I had understimated my opponent's plan.} Bb8 $6 {A pointless move.} ({
Much more logical would be:} 20... Nd5 21. Be2 Be7 22. Bc4 Bf6 23. Kg2 h5 24.
Re2 g6 25. Bb3 Kg7 $14) 21. Be2 Nd5 22. Bc4 $1 Kf8 23. Bb3 {It was only here
that I realised that White has a clear plan of advancing his k-side pawns.} Ne7
({Now I would prefer} 23... Re8 24. Re2 e5 25. dxe5 Rxe5 26. Bd2 $14) 24. Kg2
Bc7 25. Re2 Nd5 26. Bd2 h5 $6 {Unnecessarily weakening the important g5-square.
} (26... e5 27. dxe5 Nxb4 28. Be3 Nd3 29. f4 $16) (26... Ne7 $142 27. f4 g6 28.
Kf3 Kg7 29. g4 Rh8 $14) 27. Kf3 $1 {[%cal Gg3g4]} Ke7 (27... g6 28. g4 hxg4+
29. hxg4 Kg7 30. Rh1 Rh8 31. Rxh8 Kxh8 32. c4 Ne7 33. Bc3 Kg8 34. Re1 $36) 28.
Bg5+ Nf6 {This move looks ugly, as Black is pinning himself.} ({I didn't like} 
28... f6 29. Bd2 Kf7 30. Rae1 Re7 $14) 29. Kg2 (29. Re5 Rh8 30. Kg2 Kf8 31. Re2
Nd5 $14) 29... Rh8 $2 {After this strange looking move Black is in real
trouble.} ({After} 29... Kf8 30. g4 Re8 31. Kf3 $14 {white's advantage is not
that big.}) 30. f4 $1 Kf8 31. Rae1 $1 {Excellent play. Now Black is
practically paralysed.} (31. Rf1 Nh7 32. h4 Bd8 33. Bxd8 Rxd8 34. f5 exf5 35.
Rxf5 Nf6 36. Rfe5 Rh6 37. Re7 Rd7 $14) 31... Bd8 {It looks like Black is one
step from equalising by ...g7-g6, but...} ({I was counting on:} 31... Nh7 {
but after} 32. Bxe6 $1 (32. Bh4 g6 33. Bxe6 fxe6 34. Rxe6 Rf7 35. Rxg6 $16)
32... fxe6 33. Rxe6 Kg8 $8 34. Re7 Rxe7 35. Rxe7 Nxg5 36. fxg5 Bd6 37. Rxb7 Kh7
38. Rb6 $16 {White should win.}) 32. f5 $1 exf5 33. Bxf6 gxf6 {That ending
looks terrible for Black, as all his pawns are vulnerable. However,there are
bishops of a different colours on the board, so I wasn't so pessimistic.} 34.
Re8+ (34. Bc2 Rd5 35. h4 f4 36. gxf4 f5 $16) 34... Kg7 35. Rxh8 Kxh8 {White
has a large choice of possibilities here.} 36. Bc2 ({I don't like} 36. Bxf7
Rxf7 37. Re8+ Kg7 38. Rxd8 Re7 39. Kf3 Kg6 {as Black's rook could always
disturb White along the e- file.}) ({But} 36. Re8+ $5 {was also good enough:}
Kg7 37. Bd1 Kg6 38. Kf3 $16) 36... Rd5 37. Bb3 (37. Rf1 Kg7 38. Bxf5 Bc7 39.
Bc8 Rg5 40. Rf3 Rb5 $16) 37... Rd7 38. Bc2 (38. Bxf7 Rxf7 39. Re8+ Kg7 40. Rxd8
Re7 41. Kf3 Kg6 $16) 38... Rd5 39. Re8+ Kg7 40. h4 $6 {A serious inaccuracy.
The Ph4 is going to be weak!} ({After} 40. Kf3 $1 $16 {Dmitry could pose black
many more problems. For instance,} b6 41. Ba4 b5 42. Bc2 a5 43. bxa5 Bxa5 44.
Rc8 b4 45. Rxc6 bxc3 46. bxc3 $18) 40... a5 $1 {Till this moment my play was
passive and bad, but suddenly I managed to find an excellent defensive
resources.} 41. bxa5 c5 $1 {Again, White had to choose between several
tempting continuations.} (41... Bxa5 $2 {looks more natural, but it allows
White to trap the rook:} 42. Re7 Rb5 43. b4 Kf8 44. Re1 Bc7 45. Bb3 {[%csl Rb5]
[%cal Gb3c4]} f4 46. Rf1 $1 Kg7 (46... Rf5 47. c4 $18 {[%csl Rf5][%cal Gb3c2]})
47. gxf4 Rf5 48. Kg3 $18) 42. Bb3 ({Another interesting idea was:} 42. b4 cxb4
43. cxb4 {after which Black had to find} Kg6 $1 (43... f4 $2 44. Be4 Rxd4 45.
Bxb7 Rxb4 46. Rxd8 Rxb7 47. Rd2 $1 $16 (47. gxf4 Rb5 $11)) 44. Bd1 (44. Rg8+
Kh7 45. Bb3 Rxd4 46. Bxf7 Bc7 47. Rc8 Be5 $11) 44... Rxd4 45. Bf3 Bc7 46. Re7
Bd6 47. Rxb7 Rxb4 $11) 42... Rd6 43. dxc5 Rd2+ 44. Kf3 (44. Kf1 Bxa5 45. Re7
Rxb2 46. Rxf7+ (46. Rxb7 Bxc3 47. Rxf7+ Kh6 48. Be6 Kg6 49. Rf8 Be5 50. c6 Rb1+
51. Ke2 Rc1 $11) 46... Kh8 47. Rxb7 Bxc3 48. c6 Be5 $11) 44... Bxa5 $1 (44...
Rxb2 $2 {was hopeless:} 45. Rxd8 Rxb3 46. Ke3 Rxc3+ 47. Kd4 Rc1 (47... Rxg3 48.
a6 $18) 48. Rb8 Rd1+ 49. Ke3 Rd7 50. c6 bxc6 51. a6 c5 52. Rb1 Ra7 53. Ra1 Kf8
54. Kd3 Ke7 55. Kc4 Kd6 56. Kb5 Kc7 57. Kxc5 $18) 45. Re7 (45. Re2 Rd3+ 46. Kg2
(46. Re3 Rd2) 46... Bc7 $11) 45... Rxb2 46. Rxf7+ Kg6 {The strongest.} (46...
Kh6 $2 {was bad in view of:} 47. Rxf6+ Kg7 48. Rf7+ Kh6 49. Be6 Kg6 50. Rxf5
Bxc3 51. Rg5+ Kf6 52. Bd5 Bd4 53. Rxh5 Bxc5 54. Bxb7 $18) ({was possible too,
but I didn't want to play with such a king after} 46... Kh8 47. Rxb7 Bxc3 48.
Kf4 Rf2+ 49. Ke3 Rb2 50. c6 Be5 {At the same time,maybe White is unable to
make any progress here eitherl.}) 47. Rxb7 Bxc3 48. c6 Kh6 $1 {That is the
point. White has no time for advancing his pawn.} 49. Kf4 {The only chance is
activating the king.} ({There is a dead draw after} 49. Be6 Rxb7 50. cxb7 Be5
51. Bxf5 Bd6 $11 {[%csl Rg3,Rh8] despite the engine's valuation!}) (49. c7 $4
Bd4 50. g4 hxg4+ 51. Kf4 Rf2+ 52. Kg3 Rf3+ 53. Kg2 Rc3 $19) 49... Be5+ 50. Kxf5
Bxg3 {Although the position is objectively drawn now, Black has to be careful.}
51. Ke6 Rb1 52. Kf7 Be5 {I had just few minutes left on my clock,so I tried to
make the safest moves.} (52... Rc1 53. Bd5 Bxh4 54. Rb5 Kg5 55. Be6+ Kh6 56.
Bd7 Bg3 57. Kxf6 h4 $11) 53. Rb5 Bg3 {Black must be ready to give up his
bishop for a pawn. White cannot create any threats of mate, so I was quite
relaxed.} 54. Rb4 Be5 55. Rb7 Rb2 56. Ke7 Rb1 57. Rb5 Bg3 58. Kd7 Rb2 59. c7
Rd2+ 60. Bd5 Bxc7 61. Kxc7 Rd4 $11 {Collecting the last pawn. To be honest, I
don't know if I could have avoided the loss of my pawns, but I didn't try to
do so!} 62. Kd6 Rxh4 63. Ke7 Kg5 64. Be6+ Kf4 65. Kxf6 Rh2 66. Rb4+ Ke3 67. Kg5
Kd3 68. Bh3 Rh1 69. Rh4 Rg1+ 70. Kf4 Kd4 71. Kf3+ Ke5 72. Bg2 Re1 73. Rxh5+ {
Finally taking the pawn.} Kd4 74. Kf4 Re2 75. Bf3 Rf2 76. Rd5+ Kc4 77. Rd1 Rh2
78. Ke5 Rh8 79. Rc1+ Kd3 80. Be4+ Kd2 81. Rc2+ Ke3 82. Rc3+ Kd2 83. Rg3 Rd8 84.
Bd5 Re8+ 85. Kd4 Rd8 {The best. Black is just waiting for a bishop move.} 86.
Rg2+ Kd1 87. Ke4 Rd7 ({or} 87... Kc1 $11) 88. Bc4 Rd2 $1 {An important move.}
89. Rg6 Rd8 90. Ke3 Kc2 91. Rc6 Kb2 92. Rc5 Rd1 93. Bd3 Rh1 94. Kd4 Rh4+ 95.
Be4 Kb3 $1 96. Rb5+ Ka4 {The same picture from another viewpoint!} 97. Rb8 Rg4
98. Kd5 Ka3 99. Bd3 Rb4 100. Bb5 Kb3 101. Kc5 Rh4 102. Bc4+ Kc3 103. Bd5 Kd3
104. Re8 Rg4 105. Rf8 Rh4 106. Rf3+ Ke2 107. Ra3 Kd2 108. Bf3 Rf4 109. Kd5 Rh4
110. Be4 Rh8 111. Kd4 Rd8+ 112. Bd5 Rd7 {And again!} 113. Ra8 Kd1 114. Ra2 Rd8
115. Ke4 Kc1 116. Kd3 1/2-1/2

[Event "Tashkent FIDE GP"]
[Site "Tashkent"]
[Date "2014.10.26"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Black "Jobava, Baadur"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B11"]
[WhiteElo "2767"]
[BlackElo "2717"]
[Annotator "Roiz,M"]
[PlyCount "62"]
[EventDate "2014.10.21"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "UZB"]
[EventCategory "21"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 163"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2014.11.11"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2014.11.11"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Nxf6+ exf6 6. Bc4 Qe7+ $5 {
An interesting way to handle this fashionable opening line. Baadur's setup
works well in this particular game!} (6... Be7 {looks too passive:} 7. h3 O-O
8. O-O Bd6 9. Re1 Bf5 10. Nh4 Bg6 11. d4 Nd7 12. Nxg6 hxg6 13. Qg4 $14 {
1/2-1/2 Salgado Lopez,I (2622)-Eljanov,P (2723)/Dubai UAE 2014 (47)}) ({
A common position arises after} 6... Bd6 7. Qe2+ Qe7 8. Qxe7+ Kxe7 9. O-O Be6
10. Re1 Kd7 11. Be2 {and here Black has to choose between several ways of
development:} Kc7 (11... Bf5 12. Nd4 Bg6 13. Bg4+ Kc7 14. d3 Na6 15. Bd2 Rad8
16. Nf5 Bxf5 17. Bxf5 Nb4 18. d4 g6 19. a3 Nd5 20. Bd3 Bf4 $11 {1-0 Korneev,O 
(2637)-Khenkin,I (2612)/Warsaw POL 2013 (41)}) (11... Re8 12. b3 Kc7 13. Bb2
Nd7 14. a3 Bf5 15. d3 a5 $11 {1/2-1/2 Filippov,A (2617)-Roiz,M (2618)/Sibenik
CRO 2012 (35)}) 12. d4 Na6 13. Bxa6 bxa6 14. Bd2 Rhe8 15. Ba5+ Kd7 16. Nd2 Rab8
17. b3 Bf5 $11 {1/2-1/2 Karjakin,S (2772)-Eljanov,P (2702)/Tromso NOR 2013 (20)
}) 7. Be2 {Karjakin chooses the most ambitious continuation, keeping the
queens on the board.} ({Obviously, after} 7. Qe2 Qxe2+ 8. Bxe2 Bd6 9. O-O O-O
$11 {Black's task should be easier than in the above-mentioned games, since
the king is not vulnerable here.}) 7... Qc7 8. d4 Bd6 9. O-O O-O 10. h3 {
A double-edged move. White avoids an unpleasant pin on the Nf3, but now there
is a target for Black's pieces.} (10. c4 $5 {is worth considering:} Re8 (10...
Bg4 11. h3 Bh5 12. c5 Bf4 13. Bxf4 Qxf4 14. Qb3 $14) 11. Re1 (11. h3 Nd7 12.
Bd3 Nf8 13. Qc2 Be6 (13... Qa5 14. c5 Bb8 15. Bd2 $14 {1/2-1/2 Rozentalis,E 
(2631)-Tukhaev,A (2518)/Kavala 2010/CBM 137 Extra (23)}) 14. Re1 Qd7 {is also
quite comfortable for Black.}) (11. Be3 Bg4 12. h3 Bh5 13. Nh4 Bxe2 14. Qxe2 g6
$11) 11... Bf5 12. c5 Bf8 13. Bd2 {with some space advantage.}) 10... Rd8 11.
Be3 Nd7 {The knight is heading to g6, trying to put some pressure on White's
king.} (11... Bf5 12. Bd3 Bxd3 13. Qxd3 Nd7 14. Rfe1 Nf8 15. c4 Ne6 16. Rad1
$14) 12. c4 $146 {White can hardly fight for an advantage by deviating from
this advance.} (12. Qc1 Nf8 13. c4 Ng6 14. c5 Bf4 $11 {0-1 Efremova,D (2027)
-Malofeev,A (2277)/St Petersburg 2007/CBM 117 ext (63)}) 12... Nf8 13. Bd3 (13.
Qc2 Ng6 14. Rfe1 Be6 15. Bf1 Re8 16. Rad1 Rad8 $11) 13... Ng6 (13... Be6 $5 14.
Re1 Qd7 {looks good too.}) 14. Qc2 {White has completed an optimal deployment
of the pieces, but Black is OK anyway.} (14. c5 Bf8 (14... Bf4 15. Qd2 Bxe3 16.
fxe3 Be6 17. b3 Re8 18. Qf2 Bd5 19. Nd2 Rad8 20. b4 $14) 15. Qc2 Be6 16. b4 Bd5
17. Nd2 h5 18. Bxg6 {otherwise 18...Nf4 is coming.} fxg6 19. Qxg6 Qf7 $11 {
offers Black suffucient compensation for a pawn.}) 14... Be6 15. Rfe1 Qd7 16.
Bd2 $6 {Honestly speaking, this move is not so bad, but it allows Jobava to
seize the initiative by means of a standard piece sacrifice.} ({The following
alternatives were safer:} 16. Bf1 Bf5 17. Qb3 a5 $11) (16. Nd2 Bxh3 $5 (16...
f5 17. Nf3 h6 $11) 17. gxh3 (17. Bxg6 hxg6 18. gxh3 Qxh3 19. Nf1 f5 20. f4 g5
21. Qg2 Qxg2+ 22. Kxg2 gxf4 23. Bd2 g5 $132) 17... Qxh3 18. Bf5 Qh2+ 19. Kf1
Qh1+ 20. Ke2 Qh5+ 21. Nf3 Nh4 22. Bxh7+ Kf8 23. Be4 f5 24. Rh1 fxe4 25. Qxe4
Qxf3+ 26. Qxf3 Nxf3 27. Kxf3 Kg8 $11) 16... Bxh3 $1 {Baadur is an ambitious
dynamic player, so this move was quite predictable!} (16... Re8 17. Re3 h6 18.
Rae1 Nf4 $11) 17. gxh3 Qxh3 18. Bxg6 {Correctly liquadating the dangerous
knight and unlocking the 3rd rank.} hxg6 19. Re3 (19. Qe4 $5 {was a more
active approach:} g5 20. Re3 f5 (20... c5 21. Ne5 Qc8 22. Kg2 Bxe5 (22... fxe5
$2 23. Rh1 $40) 23. dxe5 Rd4 24. Qc2 Qg4+ 25. Rg3 Qe2 26. Rh1 g6 {and here} 27.
Bxg5 $1 Qxc2 28. Bxf6 {forces a perpetual:} Qe4+ 29. Rf3 Qg4+ 30. Rg3 Qe4+) (
20... Bf4 21. Rb3 Re8 22. Qd3 Qg4+ 23. Kf1 $11) 21. Qc2 Bf4 22. Rb3 Qg4+ 23.
Kf1 Qh3+ $11) 19... g5 {Baadur is fighting for a win! The position remains
about equal, but it's much simpler to play with Black here.} ({There were
several ways to secure a draw:} 19... Re8 20. Rae1 Qg4+ 21. Kf1 Qh3+ 22. Ke2
Bf4 23. Re4 f5 24. Rxe8+ Rxe8+ 25. Ne5 Bxe5 26. dxe5 Qg4+ 27. Kf1 Qh3+ $11) (
19... Bf4 20. Rd3 Qg4+ 21. Kf1 Qh3+ 22. Kg1 $11) 20. c5 $2 {As a result,
Karjakin commits a serious mistake.} ({Equality was attainable:} 20. Ne5 $1 Qc8
(20... Qh5 $2 21. Kg2 $1 fxe5 $140 22. Rh1 Qg6 23. Reh3 Kf8 24. Rh8+ Ke7 25.
Qxg6 fxg6 26. Bxg5+ $18) 21. c5 Bc7 22. Nc4 Qg4+ 23. Kf1 f5 (23... Rxd4 24. Nd6
Bxd6 25. cxd6 Rxd6 26. Rae1) 24. Rae1 f4 25. Ne5 $1 Qh5 26. Rd3 Bxe5 (26... Re8
27. Kg2 Bxe5 28. Rxe5 Qg4+ 29. Kf1 Qh5 30. Kg2 $11) 27. Rxe5 Re8 28. Kg2 Qg4+
29. Kf1 Qh5 30. Kg2 $11) 20... Bf4 {Now Black wins an important tempo for
extending the initiative.} 21. Rb3 Bc7 $1 22. Qc4 (22. Be1 Qg4+ 23. Kf1 Rd5 $1
24. Ng1 Bh2 25. Nh3 Re8 $40) (22. Ne5 Qe6 23. Nf3 Qg4+ 24. Kf1 Qh3+ 25. Ke2
Re8+ 26. Be3 g4 27. Nd2 g3 $40) 22... Qh5 $2 {The only inaccuracy of Jobava in
this game.} (22... Qg4+ 23. Kf1 {wouldn't give White any extra options.}) 23.
Kg2 $2 ({Unfortunately for Sergey, he misses a golden opportunity to change
the character of play and solve all the problems!} 23. Rxb7 $1 Rd7 24. Rxc7
Qg4+ 25. Kf1 Qh3+ (25... Rxc7 26. Nh2 Qh3+ 27. Kg1 Re8 28. Qb3 $14) 26. Kg1
Qg4+ $11) 23... Qg4+ 24. Kf1 Re8 $1 $40 {Now White is in trouble.} 25. Re1 ({
Hardly better was} 25. Qd3 Rad8 26. Re1 Qh3+ 27. Kg1 Rxe1+ 28. Bxe1 g4 29. Qf5
g6 30. Qxf6 gxf3 31. Rxf3 Bh2+ 32. Kh1 Be5+ 33. Rxh3 Bxf6 $17) 25... Qh3+ 26.
Kg1 Rxe1+ 27. Bxe1 (27. Nxe1 $2 Bh2+ 28. Kh1 Bg3+ 29. Kg1 Qh2+ 30. Kf1 Qxf2#)
27... Qg4+ 28. Kf1 Re8 {Black's killing threat now is 29...Rxe1+, followed by
Bh2+ with a mate.} 29. Ng1 Bh2 30. Ne2 $2 {Having been under strong pressure
for a long time, Sergey makes a decisive mistake.} (30. Nh3 {would allow White
to provide some resistance:} Qe4 31. Re3 Qh1+ 32. Ke2 Rxe3+ 33. fxe3 g4 34. Nf4
Qf3+ 35. Kd2 Bxf4 36. exf4 Qxf4+ 37. Kc2 Qe4+ 38. Kd2 f5 $17 {Obviously,
Black's 3 pawns are much stronger than a piece, but there is no forced win yet.
}) 30... Rxe2 {Now the game is over.} 31. Rxb7 (31. Qxe2 Qg1#) 31... Re6 0-1

[Event "Gashimov Memorial 3rd"]
[Site "Shamkir"]
[Date "2016.06.03"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Mamedov, Rauf"]
[Black "Eljanov, Pavel"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B11"]
[WhiteElo "2655"]
[BlackElo "2765"]
[Annotator "Roiz,M"]
[PlyCount "87"]
[EventDate "2016.05.26"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[EventCategory "20"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 173"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2016.07.12"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2016.07.12"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 Bg4 4. h3 Bxf3 5. Qxf3 e6 6. d4 Nf6 7. Bd3 dxe4 8.
Nxe4 Qxd4 {The players are following their previous encounter, where Pavel was
lucky to save half a point. White has a wide choice of tempting possibilities,
but none of them promised White more than sufficient compensation for a pawn.}
9. c3 {A slight surprise.} ({The above-mentioned game between the same players
saw} 9. Be3 Qd8 10. O-O-O Nbd7 11. Bc4 Nxe4 $6 ({The correct move was:} 11...
Qa5 $1 {with an acceptable game.}) 12. Qxe4 Be7 13. Rhe1 O-O 14. Bxe6 $16 {
Mamedov,R - Eljanov,P / Berlin GER 2015}) (9. O-O {was also tried by Rauf
before, but without success:} Nbd7 10. Rd1 Be7 11. Be3 Qb4 12. c3 Qa5 13. b4
Qc7 14. Bf4 e5 15. Bg5 $6 (15. Nxf6+ Bxf6 16. Bg3 $44) 15... Nxe4 16. Bxe7 Kxe7
17. Qxe4 Nf6 $15 {Mamedov,R - Navara,D / Huai'an CHN 2016, and Black was
better.}) 9... Qd8 10. O-O Nxe4 {The exchanges definitely suit Black is such
positions.} ({The following game illustrates the potential danger of lack of
development:} 10... Nbd7 11. Rd1 Ne5 12. Qg3 Nxe4 13. Qxe5 Nf6 14. Bf4 Nd5 15.
Bc4 $36 {Nepomniachtchi - Lintchevski,D / Moscow 2012}) 11. Bxe4 Bd6 $1 $146 {
GM Pavel Eljanov comes up with a natural novelty. Black is ready to give up
the pawn in order to complete development as soon as possible.} (11... Qf6 $6
12. Qg3 e5 13. Qg4 $36 {Kochurov,D - Bachin,V / Samara 2004}) 12. Rd1 Qc7 13.
Qd3 {The queen is misplaced there, but Rauf is happy with grabbing the pawn.} (
13. Bg5 Nd7 14. Rd2 Be5 15. Rad1 Nf6 16. Bc2 h6 17. Bh4 $11) 13... Be5 14. Bxh7
Nd7 15. Be4 ({Most probably,} 15. Bg5 Bf6 16. Bf4 {would force a draw by
repeating the moves:} Be5 (16... Qxf4 17. Qxd7+ Kf8 18. Bc2 {is also close to
equality, but Black still should connect the rooks somehow.}) 17. Bg5 $11)
15... O-O-O {Black's better development fully compensates for White's bishop
pair, so the position is equal.} 16. Qf3 (16. Bg5 Bf6 17. Be3 Nc5 18. Qc4 Nxe4
19. Qxe4 $11) 16... Nf6 17. Bg5 Qa5 18. Bxf6 {This move yields Black a slight
superiority due to a better bishop, but White's position remains very safe.} ({
Still, a more precise move would be:} 18. Rxd8+ Rxd8 19. h4 Rd7 20. Bc2 $11)
18... gxf6 {An ambitious choice - this recapture is connected with some
attacking hopes. Alas, the limited material balance doesn't allow Black to
make any progress.} (18... Bxf6 {would lead to prosaic simplifications:} 19.
Bd3 Rd6 20. Bc4 Rhd8 21. Rxd6 Rxd6 22. Rd1 $11) 19. Rxd8+ Rxd8 20. Qe2 {
Rauf wants to swap one more pair of rooks, but he has to protect the Pa2 first.
} Bc7 21. Bf3 f5 {Pavel is trying to put his opponent under some pressure, but
this optimistic decision could be connected with a pawn sacrifice.} 22. a4 ({
After} 22. Bh5 $5 {Black would have to play precisely:} Qd5 (22... Rd7 $2 23.
Bxf7 Rxf7 24. Qxe6+ Rd7 25. Rd1 $18) 23. Bxf7 Kb8 24. Re1 ({The greedy} 24.
Bxe6 $6 Qd6 25. g3 f4 {is too risky for a human player.}) (24. Qxe6 Qd1+ 25.
Qe1 Qd6 26. Kf1 Bb6 $44 {also yields Black sufficient counterplay.}) 24... Qd6
25. g3 e5 $44) 22... Bb8 23. Kf1 a6 24. Qe3 Bc7 25. Qe2 {A quiet draw offer.}
Kb8 26. Bh5 {Finally White attacks the Pf7, but now it's less effective.} Qc5
27. Rd1 ({Reasonably rejecting} 27. Bxf7 Qd6 28. Qxe6 Qh2 29. Ke2 Qxg2 30. Qxf5
Rf8 {, and White's position looks somewhat shaky.}) 27... Rxd1+ 28. Qxd1 {
The exchange of rooks leaves no winning chances at all.} Qc4+ 29. Be2 Qh4 30.
Qd4 Qxd4 31. cxd4 {The remaining few moves are not of much value.} Bb6 32. Bh5
Kc7 33. Bxf7 Kd6 34. Ke2 Bxd4 35. b3 b5 36. axb5 cxb5 37. g4 Ke7 38. Bg8 fxg4
39. hxg4 a5 40. f4 a4 41. bxa4 bxa4 42. Bh7 a3 43. Bb1 e5 44. fxe5 1/2-1/2

[Event "Gibraltar Masters 15th"]
[Site "Caleta"]
[Date "2017.01.29"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Short, Nigel D"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B11"]
[WhiteElo "2675"]
[BlackElo "2827"]
[Annotator "Sumets,A"]
[PlyCount "141"]
[EventDate "2017.01.24"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "GGB"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 177"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2017.03.16"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2017.03.16"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e5 Ne4 5. Ne2 Qb6 6. d4 e6 7. Ng3 c5 8. Bd3
Nc6 $6 $146 {A strange novelty, which should be evaluated as '?' or at least
as "?!'. I think that Fabiano just confused something.} ({Up to the moment
Black is OK after} 8... Nxg3 9. hxg3 cxd4 (9... Nc6 10. c3 cxd4 11. cxd4 Bd7
12. Bb1 Be7 13. O-O Rc8 14. Re1 O-O 15. Bg5 Qxb2 16. Bxe7 Nxe7 17. Bd3 Qa3 18.
Re3 $44 Rc3 $4 19. Qb1 $4 (19. Bxh7+ $1 Kxh7 20. Ng5+ Kg6 (20... Kg8 21. Qh5
Re8 22. Qxf7+ Kh8 23. Qh5+ Kg8 24. Rae1 $18) 21. Qg4 Rxe3 22. Nxe6+ Kh6 23.
Qg5+ Kh7 24. Qxg7#) 19... h6 $15 {Grischuk,A (2785) -Riazantsev,A (2700)
Moscow ch Blitz 2013 0-1 (52)}) 10. g4 (10. a3 $6 Nc6 11. b4 Bd7 12. Bf4 h6 13.
g4 O-O-O 14. O-O (14. g5 $2 hxg5 15. Rxh8 Bxb4+ 16. axb4 Rxh8 17. Bxg5 Rh1+ 18.
Bf1 Nxb4 19. Qd2 (19. Nxd4 Qxd4 $19) 19... Qb5 $19) 14... g5 15. Bg3 Be7 16.
Qd2 Rdg8 17. Be2 h5 $17 {Solak,D (2632)-Eljanov,P (2723) Kocaeli 2014 1/2 (57)}
) 10... Nc6 11. a3 Bd7 12. Kf1 f6 13. Qe2 O-O-O 14. b4 Nxe5 15. Nxe5 fxe5 16.
Qxe5 Bd6 17. Qxg7 Rhg8 18. Qxh7 Rxg4 19. Bd2 e5 $15 {Carlsen,M (2855)-Grischuk,
A (2747) ICC INT 2016 1-0 (43)}) (8... cxd4 {Another line is not reliable for
Black} 9. Nxe4 dxe4 10. Bxe4 Bb4+ 11. Kf1 $6 {White could have continued to
develop his pieces after 11 Bd2!} (11. Bd2 $1 Bxd2+ 12. Qxd2 Qxb2 13. O-O {
White has excellent compensation for a pawn} Nc6 (13... Qc3 14. Qg5 O-O 15. Qh4
h6 $8 16. g4 Qc5 17. g5 Qe7 18. Qg3 $16) 14. Rab1 Qc3 15. Qxc3 dxc3 16. Rfd1
Ke7 17. Bxc6 bxc6 18. Nd4 $16) 11... Nd7 12. Kg1 f6 13. exf6 Nxf6 14. Bd3 O-O
15. Qe2 Bd6 16. Ng5 e5 17. Bc4+ Kh8 18. Nf7+ Rxf7 19. Bxf7 Bg4 $44 {Maximov,D 
(2492)-Goh,W (2451) Budapest 2011 1-0 (31)}) 9. Nxe4 dxe4 10. Bxe4 cxd4 {
This is a typical bad position, which Black can get when playing the French
Defence.} ({Black could have tried to trade the knights:} 10... Nxd4 $5 11. c3
$1 (11. O-O Bd7 $1 (11... Nxf3+ 12. Qxf3 Be7 13. Qg3 $16) 12. c3 Bc6 13. Ng5
Bxe4 14. Nxe4 Nc6 15. Bf4 Rd8 16. Qe2 $14) 11... Nc6 (11... Nxf3+ 12. Qxf3 Be7
13. Qg3 g6 14. Bh6 $16) 12. O-O Bd7 13. Qe2 Be7 14. Rd1 h6 15. Bf4 O-O-O 16. b4
cxb4 17. Be3 Qa5 18. cxb4 $16 {with a very strong attack.}) 11. O-O Bd7 12. a3
{Black's problem is that he has no plan. He can't castle because he will be
mated; he can't try to trade light-squared bishops because he will lose the
d4-pawn.} h6 13. Re1 Rd8 14. h3 {Nigel doesn't need to hurry. In any case,
Black can only wait.} g6 15. b4 Bg7 16. Bf4 ({Nigel could have played} 16. Rb1
{because the consequences of ...Nxe5 are favourable for White:} Nxe5 17. Nxe5
Bxe5 18. Bxg6 Qc7 19. Be4 $16) 16... Ne7 $1 {In order to avoid huge problems,
Fabiano decided to sacrifice a pawn.} ({The consequences of lines such as} 
16... O-O 17. Qd2 g5 18. Bg3 Qc7 19. Bd3 Ne7 20. h4 $1 $18) ({or} 16... g5 17.
Bg3 Bc8 18. Qd3 a6 19. Rad1 $16 {aren't cheerful for Black.}) 17. Qxd4 Qxd4 18.
Nxd4 $16 Ba4 19. Nf3 Nd5 (19... g5 $5 {Black could get some counterplay by
attacking the e5-pawn. After 19.... g5} 20. Bc1 b6 21. c4 O-O 22. Bb2 $16) 20.
Bd2 Bb5 21. Bxd5 $1 {A very strong move. Black can play 21...exd5 or 21....
Rxd5. In both cases his position is lost.} Rxd5 (21... exd5 22. Be3 a6 (22...
b6 23. a4 Bc4 24. a5 bxa5 25. Rxa5 a6 26. Bc5 $18) 23. Bc5 Rc8 24. Nd4 Bd7 25.
Re3 $16) 22. a4 Bd7 $8 (22... Ba6 $4 23. b5 $18) (22... Bc4 $4 23. Re4 $18) 23.
c4 Rd3 24. b5 O-O 25. Re3 $6 (25. Red1 $1 {White wants to get control over the
d-file or to take the second pawn on a7.} Rc8 (25... Rd8 26. Be3 Be8 27. Rxd3
Rxd3 28. Bxa7 $18) 26. Be3 Rxd1+ 27. Rxd1 Be8 28. Bxa7 Rxc4 29. Rd8 Kf8 30. Rb8
$18) 25... Rxe3 26. Bxe3 $16 {White is still much better but Nigel missed a
good possibility to win the game.} Ra8 27. Rd1 Be8 28. Bc5 f5 $5 {It's not
easy to recommend anything to Black.} (28... Rc8 29. Bxa7 Rxc4 30. Rd8 Kf8 31.
Rb8 $18) 29. exf6 Bxf6 30. Bd4 Be7 (30... Kf7 31. Bxf6 Kxf6 32. Kf1 $16 {
White has an extra pawn and a better pawn structure. He should win the endgame.
}) 31. Re1 Bf7 32. Ne5 a6 33. c5 $1 axb5 34. axb5 ({Nigel could have won
immediately after} 34. c6 $1 bxc6 (34... bxa4 35. cxb7 Rb8 36. Rb1 a3 37. Nd7
a2 38. Rb6 $18) 35. Nxc6 Bd6 36. axb5 Ra3 37. Rd1 Bf8 38. Be3 Rb3 39. Rd8 $18)
34... Be8 35. b6 Rd8 36. c6 $5 ({The computer indicates the following line} 36.
Be3 $5 Rd5 (36... g5 37. c6 bxc6 38. b7 Rb8 39. Rb1 c5 40. f3 Bf6 41. Nc4 Bg6
42. Rb3 Bc2 43. Rb6 $18) 37. c6 Rxe5 38. cxb7 Bd6 39. Rc1 $18) 36... bxc6 37.
b7 {Short transforms his advantage into a winning endgame with an extra
exchange. It wasn't easy to understand that Black has no moves after} (37. Bc3
$1 {a very easy move for a computer.} Bf6 38. b7 Rb8 39. Rb1 c5 40. Rb6 $18)
37... Rb8 ({Or} 37... c5 38. Rb1 Rb8 {- game}) 38. Rb1 c5 39. Nd7 (39. Bc3 $1 {
Once again Bc3 leads to an easy victory.} Bd6 40. Nd3 c4 41. Nc5 Bxc5 42. Be5
Ba7 43. Bxb8 Bxb8 44. Rb4 $18) 39... Bxd7 40. Be5 Re8 41. b8=Q Rxb8 42. Rxb8+
Kf7 43. Rh8 {According to the computer, Black has chances to draw.} h5 44. Rh7+
Kf8 $2 ({The last chance was} 44... Ke8 45. Rg7 g5 46. f3 $16 {I think that
White should win the endgame.}) 45. Bd6 $1 Bxd6 46. Rxd7 Be5 47. g3 c4 48. Kf1
{White's king is heading to d3, then Black will have to choose between losing
the c-pawn or g-pawn. In any case his position is lost.} c3 49. Ke2 Ke8 50. Rd1
Ke7 51. Kd3 Bf6 52. Ra1 Kf7 53. Ra7+ Ke8 54. Ke4 $18 Kd8 55. Ra4 Ke7 56. Rc4
Kd7 57. Kd3 Ke7 58. Rc7+ Ke8 59. g4 $1 hxg4 60. hxg4 {If White pushes g5 then
he can even sacrifice an exchange on g7.} Be5 61. Rc5 Bf6 62. g5 $1 Bg7 (62...
Be7 63. Re5 Kd7 64. Kxc3 Kd6 65. Kd4 $18) 63. Rc8+ Kd7 (63... Kf7 64. Rc7+ Kg8
65. Rxg7+ Kxg7 66. Kxc3 Kf8 (66... e5 67. Kc4 Kf7 68. Kd5 e4 69. Kxe4 Ke6 70.
f4 Kd6 71. f5 $18) 67. Kd4 Kf7 68. Ke5 Ke7 69. f4 $18) 64. Rg8 Bd4 65. f3 Be5
66. Rxg6 Kd6 67. Rg8 Ke7 68. Rc8 Bf4 69. Rc5 Bd2 70. Rc7+ Kd6 71. g6 1-0

[Event "Sinquefield Cup 4th"]
[Site "Saint Louis"]
[Date "2016.08.06"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Vachier Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B11"]
[WhiteElo "2819"]
[BlackElo "2770"]
[Annotator "Sumets,A"]
[PlyCount "92"]
[EventDate "2016.08.05"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[EventCategory "22"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 174"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2016.09.13"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2016.09.13"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 $5 ({The line} 3... Bg4 4. h3 Bxf3 {is more
reliable but much more passive.}) 4. e5 Ne4 5. Ne2 Qb6 6. d4 e6 ({Another
continuation} 6... c5 {is not popular nowadays} 7. dxc5 Qxc5 8. Ned4 Nc6 9. Bb5
Bd7 10. O-O e6 (10... Nxe5 11. Nxe5 Bxb5 {Nezhmetdinov, R - Kamyshov,M 1950}
12. b4 $5 Qxb4 13. Ba3 Qxa3 (13... Qa4 14. Nxb5 Qxb5 15. Rb1 Qa5 16. Rxb7 $18)
14. Nxb5 Qc5 15. c4 e6 16. Qa4 Ke7 17. cxd5 Qxd5 18. Nf3 $16) 11. Be3 Qb4 12.
c4 Qxb2 13. cxd5 Nc3 14. dxe6 $1 Nxd1 15. exd7+ Kd8 16. Raxd1 Nxd4 17. Nxd4 Bc5
18. Bc4 Bxd4 19. Bxd4 Qc2 20. Bxf7 $18 {Svetushkin,D (2554)-Landa,K (2635)
Rijeka 2010 1-0 (32)}) 7. Nfg1 f6 8. f3 Ng5 9. exf6 gxf6 10. f4 Ne4 ({Maxime
has preferred 10...Nf7 when he played this line with Black:} 10... Nf7 11. Nf3
Be7 (11... c5 12. f5 Nc6 13. c3 Bd6 14. dxc5 Bxc5 15. Nf4 Bf2+ 16. Ke2 O-O 17.
fxe6 Bxe6 18. Nxe6 Rfe8 19. Qxd5 Nb4 $2 {is a very optimistic decision} (19...
Rad8 20. Qe4 Rd7 21. Qg4+ Ng5 $8 22. Nfxg5 fxg5 23. Qxg5+ Kh8 24. Qf6+ Kg8 25.
Qg5+ $11 (25. g3 Nd8 26. Qg5+ Kh8 27. Qf6+ Kg8 $11)) 20. cxb4 Rad8 21. Qf5
Rxe6+ 22. Qxe6 Qxe6+ 23. Kxf2 Ne5 $2 (23... Re8 24. Bd3 Qb6+ 25. Kf1 Qxb4 26.
Bd2 Qxb2 27. Rd1 $16) 24. Nxe5 Qxe5 25. Be2 Qf5+ 26. Bf3 Qc2+ 27. Be2 $2 (27.
Kg3 $1 Kh8 28. Be3 Rg8+ 29. Kh4 $18 {White's bishops control all the board.})
27... Qf5+ 28. Bf3 Qc2+ 29. Be2 {1/2 (29) Poetsch,H (2498)-Khenkin,I (2596)
Wiesbaden 2015}) (11... Bg7 12. Ng3 O-O 13. Nh5 e5 14. Nxg7 Kxg7 15. fxe5 fxe5
16. Be2 exd4 ({Black can't solve all his problems by means of} 16... e4 $5 17.
Nh4 Qd8 18. g3 Be6 19. Bf4 Nd7 20. Qd2 $14) 17. Qxd4+ Qxd4 18. Nxd4 c5 19. Nb5
Na6 20. O-O $16 {Dominguez Perez,L (2757)-Vachier Lagrave,M (2719) Tromsoe
2013 1/2 (54)}) 12. c4 dxc4 13. Nc3 Nd6 14. b3 cxb3 15. axb3 O-O 16. Bd3 Rf7
17. O-O Nb5 (17... Na6 $5 18. Na4 Qd8 19. Bxa6 bxa6 20. Ba3 $44) 18. Ne2 c5 19.
f5 $1 e5 20. Bxb5 $6 (20. Bc4 $1 cxd4 21. Ng3 Nd6 22. Bxf7+ Nxf7 23. Nd2 {
with a very strong attack}) 20... Qxb5 21. dxe5 Bxf5 22. Bb2 Nc6 23. exf6 Bxf6
24. Bxf6 Rxf6 25. Nh4 Rd8 26. Qe1 Rdf8 27. Nxf5 Rxf5 28. Qg3+ Kh8 29. Qc3+ Kg8
30. Qg3+ Kh8 31. Qc3+ Kg8 {1/2 (31) Grischuk,A (2747)-Ding Liren (2778)
Wenzhou CHN 2016}) 11. Ng3 Bd7 $146 {A novelty and quite a logical development.
Black's knight will be developed after ...Na6 and after Qh5+ Black's king can
hide ...Kd8, ...Kc7. Let's have a look at other continuations:} (11... Kd8 12.
c3 Nd6 $6 (12... Rg8 13. Qc2 f5 14. Nf3 Bd7 $13) 13. Nf3 Nd7 14. Be2 (14. Bd3
$5 h5 15. Nh4 $16) 14... Rg8 15. O-O c5 $2 16. Kh1 Rxg3 17. hxg3 Ne4 18. Kh2 f5
19. Ne5 Ndf6 20. g4 Bd7 21. g5 $18 {Salgado Lopez,I (2651)-Petrov,M (2439)
Izmir TUR 2016 1-0 (28)}) (11... c5 $6 {Black pieces aren't well-developed and
his king is in the centre so 11...c5 can't be recommended.} 12. Bd3 (12. Nxe4
$5 {It is seems to me that this continuation should be stronger than Bd3:} dxe4
13. d5 $1 Bg7 $6 (13... f5 14. Qh5+ (14. Nh3 exd5 15. Qxd5) 14... Kd8 15. Bc4
Be7 (15... exd5 16. Bxd5 Bd7 17. Be3 Qxb2 18. Qd1 Nc6 19. Rb1 Qc3+ 20. Bd2 Qf6
21. Ne2 $40) 16. Bd2 exd5 17. Bxd5 Nd7 18. Qh3 Rf8 19. O-O-O Kc7 20. Ne2 $16)
14. Qh5+ Kf8 15. Be3 f5 16. Rd1 Na6 17. Bxa6 bxa6 18. Ne2 Bd7 19. c3 $16 {
Dann,M (2477)-Zubarev,A (2548) Boeblingen GER 2015 1/2 (60)}) 12... f5 13. Qh5+
Kd8 14. Nf3 Nd7 (14... cxd4 $5 15. O-O (15. Ne5 $6 Qb4+ 16. Kf1 Kc7 17. Ng6 Nf6
18. Qh4 Rg8 $17) 15... Bd7 16. a4 Nc6 17. a5 Nxa5 18. Ne5 Be8 19. Qh4+ Be7 20.
Qh6 Bf8 $11) 15. Bxe4 dxe4 16. Ng5 Kc7 17. Be3 Kb8 18. O-O-O Nf6 $2 (18... c4
19. Qf7 c3 20. b3 (20. bxc3 Ba3+ 21. Kd2 Rf8 22. Qxe6 Qc7 23. Qb3 Nb6 24. Ke2
Nc4 $44)) 19. Qf7 Nd5 20. dxc5 Bxc5 21. Bxc5 Qxc5 22. Nxe6 Qe3+ $2 (22... Bxe6
23. Qxe6 $16) 23. Rd2 $18 {Bacrot,E (2697)-Tari,A (2556) Caleta ENG 2016 1-0 
(30)}) (11... Nd7 $5 {Unfortunately, at this moment, it has been played only
in one game.} 12. Nxe4 dxe4 13. c3 $6 (13. Qh5+ Ke7 14. Nh3 $5 Qxd4 15. c3 Qd5
16. Qh4 Nc5 17. Nf2 b6 (17... Nd3+ 18. Bxd3 exd3 19. Be3 c5 20. O-O-O c4 21.
Bd4 Bg7 22. Ng4 Qf5 23. Rhe1 $1 (23. Ne3 Qb5 24. Ng4 $11) 23... Kf7 24. Bxf6
Bxf6 25. Nh6+ Kg6 26. Nxf5 Bxh4 27. Nxh4+ Kf6 28. Re5 $16) 18. Be3 Nd3+ 19.
Nxd3 exd3 20. O-O-O Ba6 21. Bd4 Bg7 22. Bxd3 Bxd3 23. Rxd3 Qf5 24. Rhd1 Rad8
$11) 13... f5 $1 14. Qh5+ Ke7 15. Nh3 Nf6 16. Qh4 Rg8 17. Ng5 Rg6 18. a4 Bg7
19. a5 Qb3 20. Qf2 h6 21. Nh3 Ng4 $15 {Saric,I (2622)-Mchedlishvili,M (2639)
Fujairah 2012 1/2 (33)}) 12. Nxe4 dxe4 13. c3 Na6 {Vishy doesn't care that
after Qh5+ his king should go to c7 on foot.} ({Black could have tried} 13...
h5 $5 14. Qc2 f5 15. Be3 Na6 16. a4 Qd8 17. Bxa6 {otherwise Black's knight can
get to d5} (17. Nh3 Nc7 18. Ng5 Nd5 19. Qf2 Bd6 $15) 17... bxa6 18. Nh3 Qh4+
19. Bf2 Qg4 20. Be3 Qh4+ $11) ({Or even} 13... c5 {with the following lines:}
14. Qh5+ (14. d5 exd5 15. Qxd5 Nc6 16. Qxe4+ Ne7 17. Nf3 O-O-O 18. Be2 Nf5 19.
O-O Re8 20. Qc2 c4+ 21. Kh1 Qe6 22. Bd1 Bc6 $44) 14... Kd8 15. Qh4 Be7 16. dxc5
Qxc5 17. Qg3 Kc7 18. Be3 Qh5 19. Qf2 (19. Be2 Qg6 20. Qf2 Nc6 21. O-O-O Rad8
22. Nh3 $13) 19... Nc6 20. Bc4 Rad8 21. Ne2 ({Of course White can't take on a7:
} 21. Bxa7 $4 Nxa7 22. Qxa7 Bc5 $1 23. Qa5+ Kb8 24. b4 b6 $1 25. Qa6 Be3 $19)
21... Kb8 22. O-O-O Bc8 23. Ng3 Qg6 24. Bb5 $14) 14. Qh5+ Kd8 15. Bc4 Kc7 $6 {
After this move Black's position is very dangerous.} ({I believe that Vishy
should have preferred} 15... f5 $1 16. Qf7 Be7 17. a4 (17. Bxe6 $4 Rf8 $19)
17... Re8 $5 {Black needs to protect his bishop and then he can play ...Kc8.
The h7-pawn is not important.} (17... Rf8 $6 18. Qxh7 c5 19. Ne2 Nb4 $5 20. a5
Qd6 (20... Qc7 21. cxb4 cxd4 22. b3 d3 23. Be3 $1 Bxb4+ 24. Kf2 dxe2 25. Kxe2
$16) 21. cxb4 cxd4 22. b3 d3 23. Be3 Qxb4+ 24. Kf2 Rc8 25. Rac1 dxe2 26. Bxe2
Rc3 27. Rxc3 Qxc3 28. Rd1 $14) 18. Qxh7 Kc8 19. Nh3 c5 20. dxc5 Nxc5 21. a5 Qd6
22. Nf2 Kc7 23. Be3 Rh8 24. Qg7 Rhg8 25. Qd4 (25. Qh7 Rh8 $11) 25... Rxg2 26.
h4 Bc6 $11) 16. a4 (16. f5 $1 {was much stronger. For example:} e5 (16... exf5
17. a4 Qa5 (17... c5 $6 18. a5 Qc6 19. Bf4+ Bd6 20. d5 Be8 21. dxc6 Bxh5 22.
Bxd6+ Kxd6 23. cxb7 $18) (17... Re8 $4 18. a5 $18) 18. Ne2 Bd6 19. O-O Rae8 20.
b4 Nxb4 21. cxb4 Qxb4 22. Bf7 $16 {It's obvious that in this position the
knight is stronger than 3 pawns.}) 17. Qh4 Bd6 18. Ne2 exd4 (18... Nb4 $5 19.
Qxe4 Nd5 20. O-O $1 Rae8 21. Qh4 {Black has not enough compensation for the
sacrificed pawn}) 19. Nxd4 Rae8 20. O-O Nb4 21. Be3 c5 22. Ne6+ Bxe6 23. fxe6
$16) 16... c5 $8 17. Ne2 Rd8 18. Be3 f5 ({Black can't solve his problems by
means of} 18... Bd6 19. O-O Kb8 20. Rfd1 Rhg8 (20... Qc7 21. Bxa6 cxd4 22. Bxd4
e5 23. fxe5 fxe5 24. Bf2 bxa6 25. Ng3 $16) 21. d5 exd5 22. Qxd5 Bg4 23. Rd2 Rg7
24. a5 Qc7 25. Bxa6 bxa6 26. Ng3 $16) 19. O-O Kb8 20. Qf7 $6 ({I believe that
Maxime could have got an advantage after} 20. Rfd1 $1 Bc8 21. Qf7 Nc7 22. a5
Qc6 23. dxc5 Bxc5 (23... Rxd1+ 24. Rxd1 Bxc5 25. Nd4 Qd6 26. b4 Qe7 27. Qh5 Bd6
28. a6 $16) 24. Nd4 Bxd4 25. Rxd4 $8 $16) 20... Nc7 (20... Bd6 $5 21. a5 Qc7
22. Bxa6 Rhf8 $1 {and White should go for the move repetition after Qxh7} (
22... bxa6 23. dxc5 Bxc5 24. Bxc5 Qxc5+ 25. Nd4 $14) 23. Qxh7 Rh8 24. Qf7 Rdf8
25. Qg7 Rfg8 $11) 21. a5 Qc6 22. Qf6 Bd6 23. dxc5 Bxc5 24. Nd4 $14 {Black's
pieces are misplaced, so White's position is still better. White can combine
an attack on the queenside with pressure on the e6-pawn.} Qd6 $8 25. b4 (25.
Rfd1 $1 Qe7 26. Qxe7 Bxe7 27. Rd2 $14) 25... Qe7 ({Probably} 25... Qf8 {
was a more reliable continuation:} 26. Qxf8 (26. Qh4 $5 Be7 27. Qf2 a6 28. Rab1
Qe8 29. Be2 Rg8 $132) 26... Bxf8 27. Rfd1 Bg7 28. Rac1 Ba4 29. Rd2 Rhe8 $11)
26. Qh6 Bd6 27. Rad1 Rhf8 28. Bf2 Rf6 29. Qh4 Nd5 $6 ({As an alternative I can
propose} 29... Rg8 $5 30. Nxf5 exf5 31. Bxg8 e3 32. Bxe3 Qxe3+ 33. Kh1 Qe7 34.
Qxh7 Bc6 35. Qxe7 Bxe7 $13 {Despite White's material advantage, Black's
chances are not worse.}) 30. Nxe6 $4 {A terrible blunder. Now White's position
is lost.} ({White should have played} 30. Bxd5 exd5 31. Qh3 Qg7 (31... Bxf4 $6
32. Bh4 Be5 33. Nxf5 Qe6 34. Bxf6 Bxf6 35. c4 $1 dxc4 36. Qh6 $16) 32. Qe3 {
This position seems to be dangerous for Black.} Rg6 (32... Bc7 33. Nb3 b6) 33.
g3 a6 34. Nc2 $1 (34. Nxf5 Bxf5 35. Rxd5 Be6 36. Qa7+ Kc8 37. Rc5+ Kd7 (37...
Bxc5 38. Qxc5+ Kd7 39. f5 Rf6 40. fxe6+ Kxe6 41. Re1 $16) 38. Qxb7+ Ke8 39.
Qxe4 Bxc5 40. Bxc5 Qxc3 $1 41. f5 Rxg3+ 42. hxg3 Qxg3+ 43. Qg2 Qxg2+ 44. Kxg2
Bc8 {with good chances to make a draw.}) 34... Ba4 $1 (34... Bc6 35. c4 dxc4
36. Qa7+ Kc8 37. Ne3 Qf7 38. Rd4 c3 39. Nc4 Qf6 40. b5 $1 axb5 41. Nb6+ Kc7 42.
Nd5+ Bxd5 43. Rxd5 $18) 35. Qa7+ Kc8 36. Qa8+ Bb8 37. Ne3 Bxd1 38. Rxd1 Qf7 39.
c4 d4 40. Nd5 {White has enough compensation to make a draw.} Rxd5 41. cxd5 Qc7
$1 (41... e3 42. Rc1+ $18) (41... Qxd5 42. Bxd4 Rc6 43. Qxb8+ Kxb8 44. Ba7+
Kxa7 45. Rxd5 $16 {The rook ending is probably lost due to the miserable
position of Black's king.} e3 46. Kg2 Rc2+ 47. Kf3 Rxh2 48. Rxf5 e2 49. Re5)
42. Bxd4 Qc2 43. Rf1 Rh6 44. Rf2 (44. Bf2 $4 e3 $19) 44... Qb1+ 45. Kg2 (45.
Rf1 Qc2 $11) 45... e3 46. Bxe3 Qe4+ 47. Rf3 Rxh2+ 48. Kxh2 Qxf3 49. Ba7 Qe2+
$11) 30... Bxe6 31. Bxd5 e3 $1 32. Bxe3 {Other continuations are not better.} (
32. Rfe1 Bxd5 33. Bxe3 Be4 $19) (32. Bg3 e2 $19) 32... Bxd5 $19 33. Bxa7+ Kxa7
34. Qf2+ Bc5 $1 (34... Ka8 $6 35. Rxd5 Bb8 36. Rxd8 Qxd8 37. Qc2 $17) 35. Qxc5+
Qxc5+ 36. bxc5 Rd7 37. Rfe1 h6 38. Kf2 Kb8 39. c4 Bc6 40. Rxd7 Bxd7 41. Rb1 Ra6
42. Rb6 Rxa5 43. Rxh6 Rxc5 44. h4 Rxc4 45. g3 Kc7 46. h5 b5 0-1

[Event "EU-ch 18th"]
[Site "Minsk"]
[Date "2017.06.02"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Sutovsky, Emil"]
[Black "Paichadze, Luka"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B11"]
[WhiteElo "2646"]
[BlackElo "2568"]
[Annotator "Sumets,A"]
[PlyCount "78"]
[EventDate "2017.05.30"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "BLR"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 179"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2017.07.12"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2017.07.12"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Qe2 (5. Nxf6+ {The main line is}
exf6 6. Bc4 {Karjakin,S-Jobava,B Tashkent FIDE GP 2014, annotated by M.Roiz is
a game you can enjoy.}) 5... Bg4 (5... Nxe4 6. Qxe4 Qd5 {It is not the only
move but the most reliable one.} (6... Nd7 7. Bc4 Nf6 8. Ne5 e6 9. Qe2 Be7 10.
c3 {White wants to get a good version of French Defence Rubinstein variation.}
c5 {now White can get the bishop pair.} 11. Bb5+ Bd7 12. Nxd7 Nxd7 13. Qe4 Qc8
14. d4 O-O (14... a6 15. Be2 Nf6 16. Qh4 cxd4 17. Qxd4 O-O 18. O-O Rd8 {
Black is OK}) 15. dxc5 Nxc5 16. Qc2 Qc7 17. O-O a6 18. Be2 $14 {Rambaldi, F 
(2559)-Krush,I (2444) Saint Louis USA 2017 1/2 (44)}) 7. Qf4 (7. Qh4 Qe6+ (7...
Bf5 8. Bc4 Qd6 9. d3 e6 10. Bf4 Qb4+ 11. Bd2 Qxb2 12. O-O b5 (12... Qa3 13. Qg3
Nd7 14. Qc7 Rb8 15. Bf4 $16) 13. Rab1 Qa3 14. Nd4 Be7 15. Qg3 O-O 16. Nxf5 exf5
17. Bb3 Qd6 18. Qf3 Qf6 19. a4 $44 {Lu Shanglei (2620)-Fang,Y (2447) Xinghua
CHN 2017 1-0 (40). White's chances are much better.}) 8. Be2 Qg4 9. Qg3 Qxg3
10. hxg3 Bf5 (10... Nd7 11. g4 Nb6 $6 (11... e5 12. d3 Bd6 13. g5 O-O 14. Be3
Nb6 $13) 12. Ne5 g6 13. b3 Bg7 14. Bb2 Nd5 15. O-O-O g5 16. g3 f6 17. Nd3 $16 {
Areshchenko,A (2710)-Lenderman,A (2614) St Petersburg 2012 1-0 (102)}) 11. b3
a5 {I'm not sure if Black can improve his position after a5-a4} (11... Nd7 12.
Bb2 e6 13. O-O-O h6 14. Nh4 Bh7 15. g4 Rg8 16. Nf3 (16. f4 $5 g5 17. fxg5 Rxg5
18. Rdf1 Bg7 19. Rf4 {White has better chances.}) 16... Bg6 17. Nh4 Bh7 18.
Rde1 O-O-O $11 {Howell,D (2657)-Svane,R (2560) chess.com INT 2017 1-0 (65)})
12. Bb2 h6 13. O-O-O a4 14. Nd4 Bc8 {Black wants to play ...Nd7} (14... Bd7 15.
f4 Na6 16. Rde1 Nc5) 15. Rde1 axb3 16. axb3 Nd7 (16... Rg8 17. g4 g6 18. f4 Bg7
19. Bf3 {and if} Ra2 {then} 20. Bc3 {Black's pieces aren't well placed. He is
in trouble.}) 17. Nf5 Nf6 18. g4 $14 {Vachier Lagrave,M (2795)-Salem,A (2633)
Moscow RUS 2017 1-0 (36)}) 7... Qf5 8. Qe3 Qe6 9. Be2 Qxe3 10. fxe3 g6 {
A good idea. Black can't prevent e4 and d4, so he wants to exert pressure on
the centre like in the Grünfeld Defence.} 11. e4 c5 12. c3 ({White has
nothing after} 12. d4 cxd4 13. Nxd4 a6) 12... Bg7 13. d4 cxd4 14. cxd4 O-O 15.
Bg5 e6 16. O-O b6 $6 {An ambitious but risky continuation.} (16... Nc6 17. Rfd1
Bd7 18. Rac1 Rac8 $11) 17. Rac1 Bb7 18. Rc7 (18. Ne5 $1 {the strongest move.}
Na6 (18... Bxe5 19. dxe5 Ba6 20. Bxa6 Nxa6 21. Be7 Rfe8 22. Bd6 Rac8 23. b4 $16
) 19. Bf6 Bxf6 20. Rxf6 Rac8 21. Rxc8 Bxc8 22. Rf3 Nb8 23. Ra3 f6 24. Nf3 Rf7
25. Kf2 $14) 18... Bxe4 19. Be7 Re8 20. Ne5 Nc6 21. Bf6 Bxf6 22. Rxf6 Nxe5 23.
dxe5 Rf8 $17 {Mamedov,R (2647)-Khenkin,I (2612) Antalya 2013 1/2 (39)}) 6. h3
Bxf3 $6 {I don't like to criticise my colleague's opening choice, but I don't
understand why Luka opted for this line. Now White has got the bishop pair and
a much better position.} ({I would recommend} 6... Bh5 $5 {as a more reliable
continuation} 7. Ng3 (7. Nxf6+ gxf6 8. Qe3 Nd7 9. d4 Nb6 10. Nh4 e6 11. c3 Nd5
12. Qd3 Qc7 13. g3 O-O-O $132 {Dvoirys,S (2590)-Sandhu,M (2248) Oberwart 1999
1-0 (33)}) 7... Bg6 8. Ne5 Nbd7 9. Nxg6 hxg6 10. d4 e6 11. c3 Qa5 12. Qf3 O-O-O
13. Bc4 Nb6 14. Be2 Bd6 15. Ne4 Nxe4 16. Qxe4 Nd5 $11 {1/2 (33) Prusikin,M 
(2528)-Bauer,C (2644) Switzerland 2016}) 7. Nxf6+ gxf6 8. Qxf3 e6 9. b3 $146 {
An interesting novelty. Emil wants to put his bishop on b2 and if Black plays .
..Bd6-e5, as Luka did in the game, then White gains some time to develop his
pieces by means of c3, d4.} ({There is nothing wrong with} 9. c3 Qd5 $6 (9...
Nd7 10. d4 h5 11. Be2 f5 12. O-O Bd6 13. b4 $14) 10. Qxf6 Qe4+ 11. Kd1 Rg8 12.
d3 Qd5 13. Qh4 Nd7 14. Kc2 Be7 15. Qe4 Qxe4 16. dxe4 $16 {Nepomniachtchi,I 
(2707)-Andreikin,D (2723) Moscow 2012 1-0 (47)}) 9... Bd6 (9... Bh6 {My
engine's recommendation. I don't think that Black's bishop is well-placed on
h6.} 10. Qc3 Nd7 11. Bb2 Rg8 12. g3 Qc7 13. Bg2 O-O-O 14. O-O-O $14) 10. Bb2
Be5 (10... Nd7 11. O-O-O Qe7 {Black's position is solid but joyless.} (11...
Be5 $6 {is useless due to} 12. d4) 12. Kb1 O-O-O ({Perhaps Black could have
preferred} 12... h5 $5 13. g3 O-O-O 14. Bg2 Kb8 15. Rhe1 $14) 13. g4 {White
has an advantage due to the bishop pair and a better pawn structure.}) 11. c3
$1 {White should keep bishops on the board.} Nd7 12. d4 Bd6 13. Bd3 Qe7 14. a4
O-O-O 15. b4 f5 16. O-O $16 {[%emt 0:00:16] It's obvious that White should be
fine in the double-edged position which has arisen. Emil could have played b5}
(16. b5 $5 c5 17. a5 cxd4 18. cxd4 Bb4+ 19. Ke2 $16 {Black is in trouble.})
16... Rhg8 17. Rfe1 {This is not necessary. Black has a bad position and it is
difficult to recommend him anything after} (17. b5 $1 c5 18. a5 Kb8 19. a6 {
I think that White should win the game.}) 17... Rg6 18. b5 (18. Bxf5 $2 {
Of course White couldn't take on f5.} Rf6 $17) 18... c5 19. a5 Rdg8 20. Bf1 Bb8
(20... Nf6 21. a6 Ne4) 21. Kh1 Nf6 22. a6 Ne4 {Unexpectedly White faces
serious problems. Black threatens ...Qc7 or ...Qd6. Emil found the way to
repel both of them but it won't help him.} 23. axb7+ $2 {Actually this natural
move leads to a lost position.} (23. Rxe4 $8 fxe4 24. Qxe4 {The dangerous
knight is eliminated and Black has no threats anymore. White could slowly
improve his position. For example} bxa6 (24... f5 25. axb7+ Qxb7 26. Qxb7+ Kxb7
27. dxc5 Be5 (27... Rd8 28. c6+ Kb6 (28... Kc8 29. Ba3 e5 30. Bc5 Rg7 31. b6
$18) 29. c4 $18) 28. Be2 Kb8 29. Bf3 R6g7 30. b6 Rd8 31. Re1 $18) (24... cxd4
25. Ra4 $1 f5 26. Qf3 $1 $18 {White could have got a winning position after
Rc4+ and Rxd4 but 26.Qf3 is stronger.} (26. Rc4+) 26... e5 27. Rc4+ Kd8 28.
axb7 Bc7 29. b8=Q+ Bxb8 30. Qa8 Rb6 31. Qd5+ $18) 25. Rxa6 Qb7 26. Rc6+ Kd8 27.
dxc5 Qd7 28. Qd4 $16 {Black needs good advice. Of course 28...Qxd4 is not a
move.} e5 (28... Qxd4 29. cxd4 Rg5 30. Ra6 $18) 29. Qh4+ Ke8 30. Rxg6 hxg6 31.
c6 Qd1 32. Kg1 {White threatens Ba3 and if ...Bd6 then c7 Kd7 Qc4 with a
winning position.} Qb3 33. Bc1 Bd6 34. Be3 $18) 23... Qxb7 24. Ra6 {It seems
that White's position is completely winning but the situation on the board has
changed.} Ng3+ $3 {It is not difficult to overlook it. All through the game
White has had a big advantage but now Black wins.} 25. Qxg3 $8 {The last chance
} (25. fxg3 {White should resign after} Qxf3 26. gxf3 Rxg3 27. Re5 Rg1+ 28. Kh2
Rxf1 $19) 25... Bxg3 26. fxg3 {Black must still play precisely.} e5 {Now White
still has some chances.} ({Luca could win immediately after} 26... c4 $1 27.
Rea1 Qe4 $1 (27... Rxg3 $2 28. Rxa7 Rxh3+ 29. Kg1 Qe4 30. Ra8+ Kb7 31. R1a7+
Kb6 32. Ra6+ Kxb5 33. Ra5+ $11 {perpetual check.}) 28. Rxa7 Kb8 $1 $19 {
Black is one tempo ahead.}) 27. Ba3 {It is very tempting to find a good square
for the bishop, but White should have tried to build a fortress:} (27. Rxg6
Rxg6 (27... hxg6 $5 28. Rxe5 cxd4 29. cxd4 Qd7 30. Kh2 {and Black still has
some technical problems.}) 28. Rxe5 cxd4 29. c4 Re6 30. Bxd4 Rxe5 31. Bxe5 Qb6
32. Kh2 Qf2 33. Bd3 Kb7 34. Bf4 Qd4 35. Be2 Kb6 36. Bf3 Qxc4 37. Be3+ Kxb5 38.
Bxa7 {and I don't see how Black can win the game.}) 27... cxd4 28. cxd4 Rxa6
29. bxa6 Qb3 $19 30. Bd6 $5 {In the event of ...e4 the g3-pawn will be
protected.} (30. Bc5 $144 e4 31. Bxa7 Qxg3 32. Rb1 e3 $19) 30... exd4 31. Re7
d3 32. Rxa7 Qb1 33. Rc7+ ({White could have tried} 33. Ra8+ $5 Kd7 34. Rxg8
Qxf1+ 35. Kh2 d2 36. a7 d1=Q 37. Rd8+ Kxd8 $1 (37... Ke6 $4 38. Re8+ Kxd6 39.
Rd8+ Ke6 40. Rxd1 Qa6 41. Rf1 Qxa7 42. Rf4 {I don't see how Black can win}) 38.
a8=Q+ Kd7 39. Qb7+ Kxd6 40. Qb6+ Ke5 41. Qe3+ Kd5 $19) 33... Kd8 34. a7 Qxf1+
35. Kh2 Qa1 36. Be5 Qa6 37. Rxf7 d2 38. Bd4 d1=Q 39. Bb6+ Ke8 0-1