Clásico de Londres: paz a toda costa

[Event "9th London Chess Classic 2017"] [Site "London"] [Date "2017.12.04"] [Round "3"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E04"] [WhiteElo "2874"] [BlackElo "2770"] [Annotator "AlexYermo"] [PlyCount "62"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. Nf3 c5 {Anand likes straighforward lines in his preparation to play with the black pieces.} 6. O-O Nc6 7. Na3 $5 ( {A similar version of the same idea is} 7. Ne5 Bd7 8. Na3 cxd4 9. Naxc4 Bc5) ({ while, of course,} 7. Qa4 {remains White's top choice.}) 7... cxd4 8. Nxc4 Bc5 9. b3 $5 (9. a3 a5 10. Bd2 O-O 11. Rc1 a4 12. Nce5 {Artemiev-Zvjaginsev, 2015}) (9. Qc2 O-O 10. Nce5 {Nakamura-Kaidanov, 2012}) 9... Qe7 {[#]} 10. Nfe5 { It seems Carlsen wasn't sure about his preparation.} ({A logical follow-up has to be} 10. Bb2 e5 11. b4 $1 {where Black's best may be} Nxb4 (11... Bxb4 12. Nfxe5 Nxe5 13. Nxe5 Bc3 14. Bxc3 dxc3 15. Qa4+ Nd7 16. Nc4 {quickly rounding up the c3-pawn and keeping some edge due to the vastly superior bishop.}) 12. Nfxe5 O-O 13. a3 Na6 {White then gets his pawn back and plays on.} 14. Bxd4 Bxd4 15. Qxd4 Rd8 16. Qf4 {etc.}) 10... Nxe5 11. Nxe5 {In such positions the key issue is to prevent Black from connecting his pawns.} Nd7 $1 {Vishy cuts throught the chase. The issue of a strong white knight has to be addressed immediately.} (11... O-O 12. Bb2 Rd8 13. Rc1 Rb8 14. Qc2 Bb6 15. Rfd1 Nd7 16. Nc4 $1 {turned out to be better for White in Melkumian-Grachev, World Cup 2017. }) 12. Bf4 O-O (12... g5 $2 13. Nxd7 Bxd7 14. Bxb7 $16) 13. Rc1 Rd8 {[#]} ({ More direct was} 13... f6 14. Nxd7 Bxd7 15. Bxb7 Rae8 16. Qd3 Kh8) 14. Nd3 $6 { Magnus takes it a bit too far.} ({Perhaps he was not entirely satisfied with White's chances after} 14. Nxd7 Rxd7 (14... Bxd7 15. Bxb7 e5 {is enterprising.} ) 15. Rc4 e5 16. Qc2 exf4 17. Rxc5 Rd8 {Nevertheless, it was the way to go.}) 14... Bb6 15. Bc7 Re8 16. Qc2 e5 {Black has accomplished his goal, and now it's up to White not to get worse.} 17. Rfd1 Nf8 18. a4 Bg4 19. Bxb6 axb6 20. h3 Rac8 21. Qd2 {[#] Here we have it: Black is a clean pawn up.} Be6 $2 { One can only feel disappointment seeing the Former World Champ settling for a draw.} (21... Bh5 22. Rc4 f6 23. Rdc1 Rxc4 24. bxc4 Bf7 $15) 22. Nxe5 Rxc1 23. Rxc1 Bxb3 24. Nf3 Bxa4 25. Nxd4 Ne6 26. Nf5 Qf6 27. Ne3 Qd4 28. Qa2 Nc5 29. Rc4 Bb3 30. Rxd4 Bxa2 31. Rb4 Re6 1/2-1/2

[Event "9th London Chess Classic 2017"] [Site "London"] [Date "2017.12.04"] [Round "3"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E11"] [WhiteElo "2805"] [BlackElo "2782"] [Annotator "AlexYermo"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Be7 5. Bg2 d5 6. Nf3 O-O 7. O-O Nbd7 { Black has been solid in this line, which resembles the Closed Catalan, only with the white bishop misplaced on d2.} 8. Na3 $5 {Aronian always seeks a new path. The development of the knight to the edge of the board takes care of the c4-pawn and allows White to get his major pieces out.} c6 9. Rc1 Ne4 10. Be3 f5 {Sergey took a bit of time here. Normally he's not a big fan of the Stonewall formation.} ({Levon already had an occasion to showcase his positional skills in this line:} 10... Bxa3 11. bxa3 Nd6 12. c5 Nc4 13. Rxc4 $1 dxc4 14. Qc2 { Aronian-Giri, Tata Steel 2017.}) (10... b6 {is supposed to be met with} 11. cxd5 cxd5 {but White didn't get so much out the c-file in Gozzoli-Meier, 2017:} 12. Bf4 Ba6 13. Bc7 Qe8 14. Ne1 Bxa3 15. bxa3 Qe7) 11. Rc2 a5 {Sergey wanted to stop White's expansion on the Q-side.} ({Alternatively he could have invited it:} 11... Bf6 12. b4 Qe7 13. c5 {counting on the counterplay with} b6 $1) 12. Qc1 Bf6 13. Rd1 g5 {[#]} 14. Nb1 (14. Ne5 $5 {is what White always wants to do in the Stonewall. It's not really a pawn sacrifice here, as} Nxe5 ( 14... Qe7 $5) 15. dxe5 Bxe5 16. f3 {gets it back. The position after} Nd6 ( 16... f4 {is very risky:} 17. fxe4 fxe3 18. cxd5) 17. Bxg5 Bf6 18. Bxf6 Qxf6 19. e3 {is slightly better for White, who will try to get a hold of the dark squares, such as in} Bd7 20. c5 Nf7 21. f4 e5 22. Nc4) 14... Rf7 15. Nc3 Rg7 16. Ne1 {Aronian continues to maneuver.} ({A standard method in such positions is} 16. Nxe4 fxe4 17. Nd2 {to prepare f2-f3.} ({or} 17. Ne1 {with the same idea, although in that case Black can try the surprising} b5 $5 18. cxb5 cxb5 19. f3 Bb7) {I think Levon was concerned with the future of his knight after} 17... Rf7 (17... a4 $5) 18. f3 exf3 19. exf3 a4 {but then White can try the direct} 20. f4 $5 gxf4 21. gxf4) 16... Nd6 17. b3 ({Another surprising line that didn't see the light of day was} 17. c5 $5 Nc4 (17... Nf7 $11 {may have been the reason Aronian didn't want to close the position.}) 18. Bxg5 Bxg5 19. f4 Be7 20. b3 b5 21. bxc4 bxc4 $13) 17... dxc4 18. Na4 ({After} 18. bxc4 Nxc4 19. Ne4 Nxe3 20. Nxf6+ Qxf6 21. Qxe3 {White has enough compensation, but Black counters with} e5 {before White can clamp down on that square.}) 18... cxb3 19. axb3 Nb5 20. Nd3 $5 {One cannot accuse Levon Aronian of not trying. The second pawn is offered.} Qe8 {Sergey thought better of that.} ({Both} 20... Nxd4 21. Bxd4 Bxd4 22. Rcd2 Qe7) ({and to the lesser extent} 20... Bxd4 21. Bxd4 Nxd4 22. Rb2 Qe7 23. e3 Nb5 24. Rbd2 {were playable.}) 21. Ne5 f4 22. gxf4 gxf4 23. Bxf4 Nxd4 24. Rxd4 Nxe5 25. Rd1 Qg6 26. Bg3 h5 {[#] At first glance, White's situation looks critical. However, both players realized that the threat of h5-h4 was only good to win a piece, not to checkmate the white king.} 27. Nb6 Rb8 28. Rcd2 Nf7 ({Here is a line to illustrate the point.} 28... h4 29. Rd8+ Bxd8 30. Rxd8+ Kh7 31. Nxc8 hxg3 32. hxg3 Qf6 33. Be4+ Ng6 34. Qd2 {White is only down the exchange with a solidly protected king, which cannot be said about his black counterpart.}) 29. Qc5 $5 {Aronian insists on "losing" a piece. } ({He could have played} 29. Qc2 {to take care of the problem on the g-file.} Qxc2 30. Rxc2 e5 31. Nxc8 Rxc8 32. h4 {White has compensation, but hardly more. }) 29... e5 {Again, Karjakin says thanks, but no thanks.} (29... h4 30. Nc4 hxg3 31. hxg3 b6 {otherwise it's hard to save Rb8 from the attack by the white queen.} 32. Qxc6 Ba6 33. Qxe6 Kh8 34. Rd7 Bxc4 35. Qxc4 {is objecively about equal, but it's harder to play for Black, particularly when low on time.}) 30. Qc4 Kh8 31. h4 $6 {After the game Levon expressed his regret for letting the formerly 'bad' bishop on c8 live.} ({Indeed,} 31. Nxc8 Rxc8 32. h4 {was a better choice.}) 31... Bf5 32. Nd7 Rbg8 33. Kh1 $2 {[#] with this move Aronian offered a draw. By his own admission, Levon "cheated" a bit, as no such offers should remain part of chess competition.} (33. Nxf6 Qxf6 34. Qc3 Rg4 {already slightly favors Black, who aims to have a go at the white king, e.g} 35. Qxa5 $2 Rxh4 $1 36. Bxh4 Qxh4 $19) ({In the game continuation} 33. Kh1 $2 {Black had a large, if not outright decisive advantage. Karjakin said he didn't see} Be7 $1 {saving the bishop and preparing the shot on h4.} 34. e3 (34. e4 Bxd7 35. Rxd7 Bxh4 {as the 4th rank is now blocked.}) 34... e4 $1 35. Rg1 Bd6 $19) 1/2-1/2