[Event "ACCENTUS Biel GMT"] [Site "Biel SUI"] [Date "2018.08.01"] [Round "10"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Georgiadis, Nico"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B20"] [WhiteElo "2842"] [BlackElo "2526"] [Annotator "Golubev"] [PlyCount "93"] [EventDate "2018.07.22"] 1. e4 c5 2. Na3 $5 {This move remained to be virtually unknown until Zvjaginsev used it three times in the Russian Superfinal 2005. Still, there were almost no followers among the strong GMs afterwards. By using such an offbeat move, the world champion probably expressed his disappointment with the loss in the previous round - and also avoided the main theory, indeed.} g6 ({Quite a decent recipe is} 2... d6 3. c3 Nf6 4. g3 Nc6 5. Bg2 e5 $1 $11 { Welling-Swinkels, Hilversum 2008.}) 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. c3 $1 d5 ({An alternative is } 4... Nc6 $5 5. d4 cxd4 6. cxd4 Nf6 $1 7. d5 Nb4 8. Bd3 ({or} 8. Qa4 a5) 8... O-O {, Zvjaginsev-Bocharov, Tomsk 2006.}) 5. exd5 Qxd5 {Now it transposed to a sideline of the Alapin system, where Na3 is a useful/typical move.} 6. Bc4 ({ After the rare} 6. Qb3 {Black can play} Nf6 $5 ({but not} 6... Be6 $2 7. Bc4 $1 Qe4+ 8. Kd1 $1 {and if} Bxc4 9. Nxc4 Qd5 10. Nb6 $3 $18 {Smyslov-Zhu Chen, Amsterdam 2001})) ({A sensitive alternative is} 6. d4 cxd4 7. Bc4 ({or} 7. Nb5 Na6 8. Nbxd4 Nf6 9. Bb5+ Bd7 {where GM Karpatchev advocated} 10. Bxa6 $5 bxa6 11. O-O O-O 12. Re1 {and if} Rfe8 13. Ne5) 7... Qe4+ 8. Be3 {and now} Nh6 $1 ({ avoiding the trap} 8... dxe3 $4 9. Bxf7+)) 6... Qe4+ 7. Kf1 $5 ({In a number of games the "Alapin" expert GM Sveshnikov preferred} 7. Be2 Nf6 8. O-O { , which is a more common choice generally. Now it makes sense to play} Nc6 $1 { first} ({avoiding the line} 8... O-O 9. d4 cxd4 10. Nxd4 $1 {, Sveshnikov-Miezis, ch-LAT Riga 2005})) 7... Be6 $1 {Clearly the best way to parry the Bxf7+ threat.} ({Instead,} 7... e6 $4 8. d3 Qf5 9. Nb5 $18 {was already lost for Black in Cherniaev-Vasquez Schroder, Wch blitz Khanty-Mansiysk 2013.}) 8. Qa4+ $6 $146 ({After} 8. Bb5+ Bd7 9. d3 (9. Bc4 Be6 $11 {repeats}) 9... Bxb5 10. Nxb5 Qc6 $8 11. Qa4 {(Peptan-Uta, ROM-ch wom Amara 2007)} Nd7 12. Bf4 Kf8 $1 {Black is fine.}) (8. Qe2 $5 $11 {can be not overly attractive.}) ({But White can also try} 8. Be2 $5 {where Black, likely, has to allow Ng5 by} Nf6 ({or} 8... Nc6)) 8... Nd7 ({There was nothing wrong with} 8... Nc6 $5 {as well.}) 9. d4 $6 {Another overly optimistic move.} Ngf6 10. Bg5 Bxc4+ 11. Qxc4 Qd5 $6 ({More promising was} 11... Qf5 $1 {and Black is somewhat better.}) 12. Re1 e6 13. Bxf6 $5 Nxf6 $1 14. Qb5+ $6 ({After} 14. Qxc5 Qxc5 15. dxc5 {Black is fine, but at least White can hope to be no worse.}) 14... Nd7 $1 15. Ne5 $6 a6 $2 ({A sharp, principled continuation was} 15... Bxe5 16. dxe5 Qxa2 $1 {which looks very risky, but Black is doing well here.} 17. Rd1 ({or} 17. Nc4 O-O $1 $17 {and then, for example,} 18. b3 Rfd8 19. h4 Rab8 {with the idea of 20...a6}) 17... O-O-O $1 ({rather than} 17... O-O 18. Qxd7 Rad8 19. Qxd8 Rxd8 20. Rxd8+ Kg7 21. Nc2 $1 {, etc. where White probably holds}) 18. Nc4 {(otherwise 18...a6)} Nxe5 $1 19. Qxc5+ Nc6 $17) 16. Qc4 $6 ({ Normally, White had to play} 16. Qxd7+ Qxd7 17. Nxd7 Kxd7 18. Nc4 $11 {. While after Carlsen's move Black is better.}) 16... Nxe5 17. dxe5 Rd8 18. Qxd5 Rxd5 19. f4 g5 $6 ({Two stronger moves were} 19... Bh6 $5 20. g3 g5) ({and} 19... O-O $5 {preparing ...f6}) 20. fxg5 $8 Ke7 21. h4 $1 Rxe5 ({If} 21... Rhd8 $5 22. Rh3 $1 ({rather than} 22. Nc4 b5 23. Na5 Rc8 $1)) 22. Rxe5 Bxe5 {The ending is equal, more or less.} 23. Ke2 b5 24. Nc2 Rd8 25. Ne1 c4 26. Nf3 Bg7 27. Nd2 $6 h6 28. Ne4 hxg5 29. hxg5 Rd5 30. a3 a5 31. Re1 Be5 32. g3 $6 Kf8 $1 33. Kf3 $6 Kg7 {After several inaccurate moves, the world champion's position became unpleasant.} 34. Kg4 Kg6 35. Rf1 Rd3 ({The Swiss grandmaster could have tried} 35... Bg7 $5 {. The following illustrative lines show some ideas:} 36. Rf2 Re5 37. Kf4 Rf5+ 38. Kg4 Rxf2 39. Nxf2 a4 (39... Bf8 $5 40. Nh3 Bd6 41. Nf4+ Bxf4 42. gxf4 a4 43. Kg3 Kf5 44. Kf3 e5 45. fxe5 Kxe5 46. Kg4 Ke4 47. Kh5 Kd3 48. Kh6 Kc2 49. Kg7 Kxb2 50. Kxf7 b4) 40. Ne4 (40. Nh3 b4 $1) 40... Bf8 $1 41. Kf4 Be7 42. Kg4 $2 (42. Ke5 $1) 42... e5 $1 {(Zugzwang)} 43. Kf3 Bxg5 44. Nd6 Bc1 45. Ke4 Bxb2 46. Nxb5 f6 $1 47. Kd5 Kg5 48. Kxc4 Kg4 49. Kd3 Kxg3 50. Kc2 Ba1 $1 51. Kb1 f5 $1 52. Kxa1 f4 53. c4 f3 54. Nc3 Kf4 $1 55. Nd1 e4 { and wins.}) 36. Rf3 Rd1 37. Rf2 Rd5 $2 {Georgiadis allows White to regroup.} 38. Nd2 $5 (38. Nf6 $1 Bxf6 {(otherwise White can play 39.Nh5)} 39. Rxf6+ Kg7 40. Rf2 {is drawish.}) 38... Bc7 39. Nf3 Bd8 40. Nh4+ Kg7 41. Nf3 Bb6 ({ Avoiding the repetition,} 41... Kg6 {. But White is already OK.}) 42. Re2 Bc7 43. Re4 $1 Bd6 44. Rd4 $1 Rxd4+ 45. Nxd4 b4 46. a4 {The position is a draw, after many of Black's moves. But he blunders terribly.} b3 $4 ({Quite normal would have been, for example,} 46... Be5 47. Nc2 $1 (47. Nb5 $2 Kg6 $1 48. cxb4 axb4 49. a5 Bxb2 50. a6 c3 51. Nd4 c2 52. Nxc2 b3) 47... bxc3 48. bxc3 Bxc3 49. Ne3 $11) 47. Nf3 $1 $18 {Threatening with 48.Nd2.} ({Instead of giving up (after quite a long think) after} 47. Nf3 {Black could have tried} Ba3 48. bxa3 b2 49. Nd2 {and now} Kg6 {but there are not many practical chances for him. For example,} 50. Kf4 Kh5 51. Ke3 Kxg5 52. Kd4 (52. Ke2 Kg4 53. Kd1 $1 Kxg3 54. Kc2 {win as well}) 52... Kg4 53. Kxc4 e5 54. Kb3 ({after} 54. Kd5 $4 Kxg3 55. Kxe5 Kf2 {Black saves the game}) 54... e4 55. Kxb2 e3 56. Nc4 e2 57. Ne3+ Kxg3 58. Nc2 f5 59. c4 f4 60. Kc3 f3 61. Kd2 $18 {. I suspect that this Carlsen's win will never be included in his best games collections. He played quite poorly and was just very lucky in the end.}) 1-0

[Event "ACCENTUS Biel GMT"] [Site "Biel SUI"] [Date "2018.08.01"] [Round "10"] [White "Svidler, Peter"] [Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A18"] [WhiteElo "2753"] [BlackElo "2801"] [Annotator "Golubev"] [PlyCount "76"] [EventDate "2018.07.22"] 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e6 3. e4 d5 4. e5 d4 5. exf6 dxc3 6. bxc3 Qxf6 7. Nf3 ({ In this important theoretical variation Svidler previously twice went for} 7. d4 b6 8. Be2 Bb7 9. Bf3 Bxf3 10. Nxf3 Bd6 11. Qa4+ c6 12. O-O O-O 13. Rb1) 7... b6 ({A Round 5 game Vachier-Lagrave - Georgiadis saw} 7... Nc6 8. d4 e5 { and now} 9. Be2 exd4 10. Bg5 Qg6 11. O-O {- an idea, which attracted attention after the game Dubov-Nakamura, Moscow Tal mem rapid 2018.}) 8. Bd3 $5 ({ A usual continuation is} 8. d4 Bb7 {. At the press-conference Svidler mentioned the idea} 9. Bd3 Bxf3 10. Qxf3 Qxf3 11. gxf3 Nc6 $5) 8... Bb7 9. Bc2 $146 {Not a particularly impressive novelty.} Bxf3 10. Qxf3 Qxf3 11. gxf3 Nd7 $11 12. d4 c5 13. O-O {Perhaps, White also could have placed his king on e2 and the bishop on e3.} cxd4 14. cxd4 Rc8 15. Bd3 Bd6 ({A curious idea is} 15... Bb4 $5 {and if} 16. Bb2 (16. Rb1 Bc3 17. Be3 e5 $1) 16... O-O {: the bishop is somewhat misplaced on b2, because White normally wants to control the f4 square.}) 16. Rb1 $5 O-O ({The Russian grandmaster anticipated} 16... e5 $5 { which probably was a good, equalizing move.} 17. Re1 (17. Rb5 exd4 18. Rd5 Rc6 $5 {Svidler}) ({after} 17. c5 $5 bxc5 {, Svidler,} 18. dxe5 Nxe5 $8 19. Ba6 $11 {White probably has enough for a pawn}) 17... Kd8 $5 {Svidler} (17... O-O 18. Bf5 {also tends to be equal}) 18. c5 bxc5 19. dxe5 Nxe5 20. Be4 $11 {Mamedyarov }) 17. f4 $1 Rfd8 18. Be3 g6 ({An alternative was} 18... Nf8 $5 19. Rfd1 Ng6) 19. Rfd1 Be7 20. a4 {Eventually, White has obtained a slightly better position. But Mamedyarov played precisely in the remaining part of the game and confidently achieved a draw.} Nb8 $1 21. Be2 Rc7 22. c5 {Perhaps, it wasn't necessary to rush.} bxc5 23. dxc5 Rxd1+ 24. Bxd1 ({Or} 24. Rxd1 Nd7 25. c6 Nb6 $1 $11) 24... Na6 $1 25. c6 Rxc6 26. Bxa7 Bc5 27. Bxc5 Rxc5 28. Be2 Ra5 29. Bxa6 Rxa6 30. Rb4 $11 ({After} 30. Ra1 $6 Ra5 $1 {it is rather White who can have some problems.}) 30... Rc6 31. Kg2 Rc3 32. a5 Ra3 33. Rb5 Kg7 34. Rc5 Kg8 35. Rc8+ Kg7 36. Rc5 Kg8 37. Rc8+ Kg7 38. Rc5 Kg8 1/2-1/2