Candidatos R5: cuatro tablas

[Event "Candidates 2016"] [Site "?"] [Date "2016.03.16"] [Round "5"] [White "Topalov, Veselin"] [Black "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E15"] [WhiteElo "2780"] [BlackElo "2760"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "81"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. b3 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Be7 7. Nc3 d5 8. cxd5 exd5 9. Bg2 O-O 10. O-O Re8 {Sergey plays te same opeing that he did against Anish Giri in round three. Topalov came to the board with a new idea which he now showcases.} 11. Rb1 $5 $146 {[%cal Ga1b1] [#] As Topalov explained after the game, this move is connected with the idea of getting in b4 to stop c5. White always wants to make this move in the opening in this line but is never able to. This is a very brute way to force it.} c5 {Topalov condemned this move after the game, but in a way it looks perfectly natural because it nips the b4 idea in the bud.} (11... Nbd7 {is another option as after} 12. b4 Bb7 ( 12... Bc4 $6 13. Bf4 {[%cal Gf3d2]}) 13. b5 a6 14. a4 axb5 15. axb5 Ne4 { looks like a playable position for Black.}) 12. dxc5 bxc5 13. Ne5 Bb7 14. Bf4 Bf8 {[%cal Ge7f8]} (14... Bd6 {doesn't work because of} 15. Nxd5 Nxd5 16. Bxd5 Bxd5 17. Qxd5 $18) 15. Rb2 {Trying to transfer the rook to d2. But this small detail of rook on b2 instead of b1 makes such a huge difference. And Karjakin was extremely alert.} Bd6 $5 {[%cal Ge7f8,Ge7d6] [#]} 16. Nd3 (16. Nxd5 { was still possible but after} Bxd5 $1 (16... Bxe5 17. Nxf6+ Bxf6 18. Qxd8 Rxd8 19. Bxb7 Bxb2 20. Bxa8 $18) 17. Bxd5 (17. Nxf7 $5 Bxf7 18. Bxa8 Nbd7 19. Qxd6 Qxa8 20. f3 $14) 17... Bxe5 {White has to find this important resource with} 18. Rd2 $1 (18. Bxe5 Qxd5 $17) 18... Nbd7 19. Bxe5 Nxe5 (19... Rxe5 $6 20. Bxa8 Qxa8 21. Rxd7 $16) 20. Bxf7+ Nxf7 21. Rxd8 Raxd8 22. Qc2 $14) 16... Na6 17. Bxd6 Qxd6 18. Nf4 Qe5 $1 {One can say that the danger has passed for Black and he has equalised out of the opening.} 19. Rc2 Rad8 20. Na4 c4 21. Qd2 g5 22. Nh3 h6 23. f4 gxf4 24. Qxf4 cxb3 25. axb3 Kg7 26. Qxe5 Rxe5 27. Nf4 {White still has a small edge in the position, but thanks to the reduced number of pawns the game soon ends in a draw.} Re7 28. Nd3 Ng4 29. Rf4 Ne3 30. Rd2 d4 31. Bh3 Be4 32. Nac5 Nxc5 33. Nxc5 f5 34. g4 fxg4 35. Bxg4 Nxg4 36. Rxg4+ Bg6 37. Kf2 (37. Rgxd4 Rxd4 38. Rxd4 Rxe2 39. Rd7+ Bf7 40. Rxa7 Rb2 $11) 37... Re5 38. Nd3 Rf5+ 39. Ke1 h5 40. Rg1 a5 41. Rc2 {An interesting game especially the opening play where Topalov unleased a novelty.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "Candidates 2016"] [Site "?"] [Date "2016.03.16"] [Round "5"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Svidler, Peter"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D78"] [WhiteElo "2793"] [BlackElo "2757"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "60"] 1. Nf3 $5 {Anish wants to stay away from Svidler's excellent home preparation and just have a normal game of chess.} d5 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. d4 Nf6 5. c4 c6 {By a transposition we have reached the popular solid variation of the Fianchetto Grunfeld. As Peter said in the press conference: "It is funny that people are trying to find weird move orders to force me into playing the Grunfeld, which is clearly my strongest opening!"} 6. Qb3 O-O 7. O-O a5 $5 { Svidler's main move is 7...Qb6 but he had played this once before against Pavel Tregubov in 2004.} 8. cxd5 a4 9. Qd1 cxd5 10. Nc3 {The players could have reached the same position with the pawn on a7 as well. What does having the pawn on a4 mean? In some cases it can be a weakness, but it is also a strength that confers a lot of space to Black on the queenside.} Ne4 11. Nd2 $146 (11. Nxa4 {doesn't really make sense as after} Qa5 12. Nc3 (12. b3 b5 13. Nb2 Nc6 $44 {followed by Bf5 is a free flowing position for Black.}) 12... Nxc3 13. bxc3 Qxc3 14. Bd2 Qc4 $11) 11... Nxc3 12. bxc3 Qa5 13. Qc2 Bf5 $6 {"I just blanked out!" Svidler was quite critical about this move and rightly so. He could have kept better control on the position by playing his bishop to e6 instead of f5.} (13... Be6 {with Rc8 coming up next. The opening has gone really well for Black.}) 14. e4 dxe4 15. Nxe4 Nd7 16. Rb1 Qc7 17. Qe2 {White definitely has a small edge now, mainly because his pieces are much better co-ordinated. The rook on b1, the bishop on g2 and the dark squared bishop coming to f4, it all looks pretty good for Anish.} Rfe8 18. Be3 (18. Bf4 e5 { is fine for Black.}) 18... Rab8 19. Rb4 $1 {Giri wanted to stop Black from playing e5 at all costs but was not able to do so. But this rook lift is excellent. It puts pressure on the a4 pawn and also prepares doubling on the b-file.} e5 20. Rc4 (20. d5 {was definitely an option} Bxe4 21. Rxe4 $5 { so that Bf8 doesn't come with a tempo.} (21. Bxe4 Bf8 22. Rxa4 Nc5 {Anish didn't ike the solid control that Black had on the dark squares.} 23. Rb4 Nxe4 24. Rxe4 b5 $44 {Black is a pawn down but has excellent compensation.}) 21... Nc5 (21... f5 22. Rxa4 $16) 22. Rb4 $16 {[%cal Gf1b1]}) (20. Rxa4 Bxe4 21. Bxe4 b5 22. Rb4 exd4 23. Bxd4 Bxd4 24. cxd4 Nf6 25. f3 Qc3 $44) 20... Qb6 21. Rb4 Qc7 22. dxe5 Nxe5 23. Bf4 Bd7 $1 {[#] A strong regrouping of pieces by Svidler. The bishop will be well placed on c6.} 24. Rd1 Bc6 $11 {Black has absolutely no problems now.} 25. Rbd4 Re6 26. Ng5 Ree8 27. Ne4 Re6 28. Ng5 Ree8 29. Ne4 Re6 30. Ng5 Ree8 1/2-1/2

[Event "Candidates 2016"] [Site "?"] [Date "2016.03.16"] [Round "5"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A77"] [WhiteElo "2786"] [BlackElo "2794"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "59"] {This was by far the most interesting game of round five. Caruana really showed what a braveheart he was by employing the Benoni. Although Aronian was just too optimistic about his position, it surely looked dangerous for Black. The game ended in a draw, but there was a lot of excitement.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 $5 {As the commentator Miroshnichenko said, "Not the Berlin but the Benoni!" Same two letters at the start but completely different games!} 4. d5 d6 5. Nc3 exd5 6. cxd5 g6 7. e4 Bg7 8. Be2 {Aronian chooses the classical setup of the good olden days with Be2, Nd2, Qc2 etc. Much more modern and aggressive is Bd3 followed by h3. But once you play something modern, it becomes theoretical, while with Be2 there quite some scope for creativity.} O-O 9. O-O Re8 10. Nd2 Nbd7 11. Qc2 (11. a4 {was how one of the greatest defensive player in the world, Tigran Petrosian, liked to play. The move itself is a high class prophylactic move. It stops ideas of b5 and at the same time prepares a highly sophisticated manoeuvre with Ra3 so that the rook can help in the kingside defense!}) 11... Ne5 12. b3 $5 {Caruana said in the interview after the game that he had looked at this move and it seemed dangerous to say the least.} Bg4 13. Bxg4 (13. f3 {was possible but Aronian saw absolutely no need for this.}) 13... Nfxg4 14. Bb2 a6 15. h3 Nf6 16. f4 {Optically it seems that White is simply cruising. He has developed all of his pieces and has a nice central pawn majority, Nc4 is coming, so is Rae1 and e5 is well and truly on cards.} Ned7 17. Nc4 (17. a4 {Trying to play it slow was also an option.}) 17... Nb6 18. Rae1 (18. Nxb6 Qxb6 19. e5 {looks scary but can be met with} c4+ $1 20. Kh2 (20. Kh1 cxb3 21. axb3 Nh5 $1 $17) 20... cxb3 21. axb3 dxe5 22. fxe5 Rxe5 $1 23. Na4 Qd6 24. Bxe5 Qxe5+ $17) 18... Nxc4 19. bxc4 Nd7 $6 (19... Nh5 $5 {was Fabiano's intention, but he didn't go with it.} 20. g4 (20. e5 dxe5 21. f5 Ng3 $15) 20... Bd4+ 21. Kg2 Nf6 22. Nd1 {The computer thinks that this position is equal because Black can strike out with} b5 $1 $132) 20. e5 $1 { [#] A textbook positional idea which I explained in quite some detail in my DVD "Learn from the Classics". The point is very nice: if White played direct f5 then the e5 square would be a huge hole. However, by playing e5 dxe5 and then f5, the e5 square is covered by a pawn, the bishop on g7 is passive, all in all it is an excellent positional pawn sacrifice. It has been played in many classical games, one of them being Botvinnik-Pomar.} dxe5 21. f5 $1 b5 $1 {Caruana realises that he needs to be active. Just sitting and doing nothing would lead to a mate pretty soon.} (21... e4 22. Nxe4 $16) 22. Ne4 Nb6 23. Bc1 (23. f6 {was Aronian's intuition. He wanted to launch a very strong attack on the Black king. Look at his idea.} Bf8 24. h4 $3 {[#] I wonder how such ideas even come to these top players. In this position he wants to play h5 then take on g6 and after hxg6 by Black transfer his queen to h4 followed by Ng5 and deliver mate. Of course this takes a lot of time but it is interesting nonetheless.} Nxc4 25. h5 Qxd5 {This looks like the most critical way as Black has won two pawns.} (25... Nxb2 26. hxg6 hxg6 27. Qb3 $1 {[%cal Gb3h3]} Qd7 28. Qg3 Nd3 29. Qxd3 $16) (25... Ra7 {was a tricky try by Fabiano to avert mate. He want to capture back on g6 with the f-pawn. The engines immediately show how White can gain a decisive advantage.} 26. Qf2 $1 Qxd5 27. hxg6 fxg6 28. Rd1 Qf7 (28... Qxe4 29. f7+ $18) 29. Ng5 $18) 26. hxg6 hxg6 27. Qb3 {Threatening to go to h3 follwed by Ng5.} (27. Qf2 $5) 27... Qd7 {and now comes the Aronian special.} 28. Qg3 $1 Nxb2 29. Qh2 $3 {Threatening Ng5.} (29. Qh4 $2 Nd3 30. Ng5 Qd4+ $19) 29... Qg4 30. Re3 $1 $18 {and the mate on the h-file cannot be averted. Wasn't this a simply amazing bit of analysis by Aronian? Creativity, calculation, intuition, art and beauty all rolled into one. Only thing lacking during the game for Aronian was trust - the trust on his intuition!}) 23... Nxc4 24. d6 gxf5 (24... Nxd6 25. Rd1 $16) 25. Rxf5 Nxd6 26. Bg5 {This looks really scary for White, but Black has it under control with} Qa5 $1 {attacking the e1 rook.} (26... Qd7 27. Nf6+ Bxf6 28. Rxf6 Re6 {Looks like a defensive try but it seems highly risky as after} 29. Qf2 $1 $40 {it seems like White should have a strong attack.}) 27. Bd2 Qd8 28. Bg5 Qa5 29. Bd2 Qd8 30. Bg5 { An extremely exciting game of chess. And all thanks to Caruana who had the bravery to play the Benoni!} 1/2-1/2

[Event "Candidates 2016"] [Site "?"] [Date "2016.03.16"] [Round "5"] [White "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2762"] [BlackElo "2790"] [Annotator "Amruta Mokal/ Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "55"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. O-O Nd4 6. Nxd4 Bxd4 7. Nd2 ({ Anand had played the main move just a month ago, but did not get much from the opening and the game ended in a draw (against Vladimir Kramnik in Zurich Chess Challenge, Switzerland, Feb 2016)} 7. c3 Bb6 8. Na3 O-O 9. Bg5 d5 10. exd5 Qxd5 11. Bxf6 gxf6 12. Bc4 Qd7 13. Nc2 Qg4 14. d4 Qxd1 15. Raxd1 Bg4 16. Rd2 $11 { 1/2-1/2 (32) Anand,V (2784)-Kramnik,V (2801) Zuerich 2016}) 7... a6 8. Ba4 b5 9. Bb3 d6 10. a4 $146 {[#] A novelty but not an earth-shattering one. a4 looks like a very normal move that one would play in such positions.} ({The main game in this line between Tomashevsky-Ponomariov continued with} 10. Nf3) 10... Bb6 11. axb5 Bg4 12. Nf3 axb5 13. Rxa8 Qxa8 {Black doesn't seem to be having too many problems out of the opening.} 14. h3 Be6 {Nakamura decides to play safe and solid.} (14... Bh5 {will give some attacking chances to White.} 15. g4 Bg6 16. Nh4 O-O 17. Kg2 $40) 15. Bxe6 fxe6 {Such double pawns are quite often good to have as they control the critical central squares and also gives Black the open f-file.} 16. Nh2 O-O 17. Ng4 Qe8 18. Be3 Bxe3 (18... Nxg4 19. Bxb6 cxb6 20. Qxg4 $14 {looks at least a small edge for White.}) 19. Nxe3 {After the game Anand said that he was happy when he got the knight to e3.} Qc6 20. Qd2 d5 21. f3 ({White could try to open the position to get f5 square and create some imbalances, but with less space and blacks strong central pawns it would not be practically very easy to play.} 21. exd5 exd5 (21... Nxd5 22. Re1 $14 {[%csl Re5,Re6]}) 22. Ra1 d4 23. Ng4 Nxg4 24. hxg4 e4 25. dxe4 Qxe4 $11) 21... d4 22. Ng4 Nxg4 23. hxg4 h6 (23... Ra8 24. Qg5 Qxc2 25. Qxe5 Qxb2 26. Qxe6+ Kh8 27. Qc6 $14) 24. g5 (24. Ra1 Kh7 (24... Ra8 25. Rxa8+ Qxa8 26. g5 $36 ) 25. Qb4 Ra8 26. Rxa8 Qxa8 27. Qxb5 Qa1+ 28. Kf2 Qc1 $11) (24. Rc1 $5 { [%cal Gc2c3] with the idea of c3 was an interesting move and would have given White a small edge in this case. It's not that White would like to play c3, but he keeps it in reserve and asks Black what he is doing.} Ra8 25. g5 $1 $14) 24... hxg5 25. Qxg5 Qxc2 26. Qxe5 Qxd3 27. Qxe6+ Kh7 28. Qh3+ {One could say nothing much happened in the game and it was a pretty straight-forward draw.} 1/2-1/2