It Pours

Unfortunately for Georg Meier the game that he played against Fabiano Caruana in Dortmund was not the only one that he got into time trouble.

[Event "Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.07.01"]
[Round "4.2"]
[White "Meier, Georg"]
[Black "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2654"]
[BlackElo "2783"]
[Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"]
[PlyCount "108"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:01:52"]
[BlackClock "0:09:37"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 {Kramnik chooses a different approach in the
battle for the full point. He does not want to burn bridges like Caruana did
yesterday but remains true to his positional style.} 4. O-O Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6.
Nxe5 {Diagram [#] Meier's favorite line, which he last played in 2012. He also
likes to play for a win without much risk.} Be7 ({Most of Meier's game
featured the move} 6... Nxe5 {Here are couple of them} 7. Rxe5+ Be7 8. Bf1 O-O
9. Nc3 (9. d4 Bf6 10. Re1 Re8 11. c3 Rxe1 12. Qxe1 Nf5 13. Nd2 d5 14. Nf3 Nh4
15. Nxh4 {1/2-1/2 (15) Meier,G (2637)-Naiditsch,A (2698) Belfort 2012}) 9... c6
10. d4 Ne8 11. d5 $1 {Meier,G (2659)-Onischuk,A (2688) Lubbock 2010}) 7. Bf1
Nf5 8. Nf3 {White prefers to keep more pieces on the board. In case of} (8. c3
Nxe5 9. Rxe5 d6 10. Re1 O-O 11. d4 d5 12. Nd2 c6 {Black's defensive task is
easier, Inarkiev,E (2706)-Aronian,L (2770) Sochi 2015}) 8... d5 9. d4 O-O 10.
c3 Bd6 11. Bd3 Nce7 12. Nbd2 c6 13. Nf1 {A completely symmetrical position
arose which is a clear sign of equllibrum. If the players like then can bring
their heavy pieces along the "e" file and then outside the board, shake hands
and go watch Wimbledon.} g6 14. h3 $5 $146 {[%csl Yf5][%cal Gg2g4] Diagram [#]
A novelty. White wants to highlight the fact that the black knights and
light-squared bishop compete for the same good square on f5.} ({The only
predecessor saw:} 14. Ne3 Nxe3 15. Bxe3 Bf5 16. Bh6 Re8 17. Bg5 Bxd3 18. Qxd3
Qd7 19. Bf6 Qf5 20. Qxf5 Nxf5 21. Rxe8+ Rxe8 22. Re1 Rxe1+ 23. Nxe1 {with dead
equality in Kanmazalp,O (2416)-Petkov,V (2566) Cappelle la Grande 2014}) 14...
Kh8 {Prepares future regroupment of the black pieces. Kramnik is prominent
master of strategy in deep prophylactical maneuvers are quite characteristic
for his style.} 15. Bd2 f6 16. Qc2 Bd7 17. b3 Rc8 {Both sides finished
development. The last move is also prophylaxis against the possible c3-c4
advance (White would be very happy to grab space with c3-c4-c5 on the
queenside.) Black also prepares the c6-c5 advance himself.} 18. Re2 ({After}
18. c4 c5 $1 {is strong when the queen feels uncomfortable.}) 18... b6 19. g4 {
Diagram [#] This was the point behind the move h2-h3 but Black has enough
space to maneuver. It is double-edged decision as it opens the long diagonal.}
Ng7 20. Rae1 c5 21. dxc5 bxc5 22. Qc1 {In order to make use of the open "e"
file Meier needs entry squares. Thus, the swap of the dark-squared bishop is
his priority. For the time being White does not want to modify the pawn
structure as} (22. c4 d4 {looks good for the second player only.}) 22... Bc6
23. Bf4 Ng8 24. Bg3 {It is good to trade the bishops but without concessions.}
(24. Bxd6 Qxd6 {allows the black queen too much activity.}) 24... d4 {[%cal
Rc6h1] Diagram [#] Kramnik opens the game.} 25. N1h2 Bxg3 26. fxg3 g5 {With
the idea Qd8-d6 as} (26... Qd6 27. Qf4 {is OK for White.}) 27. Be4 Bxe4 28.
Rxe4 Qd6 29. Kg2 {The time trouble approaches and just like yesterday Kramnik
feels that Meier hesitates and opens the game.} f5 30. Re5 $1 {[%csl Ge5]
Diagram [#] Centralization is almost never wrong.} ({In comparison} 30. gxf5
Nxf5 31. Nf1 h6 {followed by Rc8-c7-f7 looks awkward for White.}) 30... h6 31.
Qd2 Rcd8 32. Qd3 ({Also good is} 32. cxd4 cxd4 33. Qd3 f4 34. Nf1) 32... f4 33.
Nf1 Qc6 34. cxd4 cxd4 {White repelled the aggressive black pieces and now
looks better. However, time-trouble comes to haunt Georg Meier again.} ({The
flashy} 34... Rxd4 {is refuted by the non-less flashy} 35. Rxc5 $1) 35. R1e4 {
Instead White could have gained the advantage with} (35. R5e4 $1 {Diagram [#]
with the point that} fxg3 $6 {can be answered} 36. Ne5 $1 Qb6 37. Nxg3 {with
clear edge for White thanks to the weak black king and pawn on d4.}) 35... fxg3
36. Nxg3 Nf6 37. Rxd4 Ne6 {A risky decision.} ({Instead, Kramnik could continue
} 37... Rxd4 38. Qxd4 Ne6 39. Qe3 Nd5 {with full compensation for a pawn. Say}
40. Qe4 Ndf4+ 41. Kh2 Qc1 {when sooner or later of of the sides will deliver
perpetual check.}) 38. Rxe6 {Meier misses golden chance. In the line} (38. Rxd8
$1 Nf4+ (38... Rxd8 $2 39. Rxe6 $1 {loses at once.}) 39. Kh2 Nxd3 40. Rxf8+ Kg7
{One can easily stop his calculation as both rooks are hanging (especially
with seconds on his clock). However here White had the nice move} 41. Nd4 $1 {
Diagram [#] That cements everything. After} Qa6 (41... Qd7 42. Ne6+) 42. Ne6+
Kg6 43. Re2 {Black has to prove equality.} ({Or} 43. Rf5)) 38... Rxd4 39. Qxd4
{An endgame would be easier} (39. Rxc6 Rxd3 40. Nf5 $11 {as} Kh7 {to defend
the pawn fails to} 41. Ne5 $1 Rd2+ 42. Kf3 {with the nasty threat Rc6-c7+!})
39... Qxe6 40. Qxa7 Rc8 {The time scramble is over and Black had won the
exchange. Still, it seems as White is very, very solid.} 41. Nf5 Qe2+ 42. Qf2
Qd3 $1 {[%csl Gc8,Gd3,Yg2] Diagram [#] Deep understanding of the position.
White's main problem is the king's safety. If the queens disappear, like the
computer suggests} (42... Qxf2+ 43. Kxf2 Rc2+ 44. Ke1 {Better than} (44. Ke3 $6
Kh7 45. a4 Rc3+) 44... Kh7 45. a4 Ne4 46. N5d4 {White's defensive task will
become easier. All he needs to do is to swap his 4 pawns for the remaining two
black ones.}) 43. Qd4 $1 {White insists.} Rc2+ 44. Kg1 Rc1+ {Of course not} (
44... Qxd4+ $6 45. N3xd4 Rxa2 46. Nxh6 Kh7 47. Nhf5 {with h3-h4 coming soon
and a draw.}) 45. Kg2 Qc2+ 46. Kg3 ({Not} 46. Qf2 $2 Ne4 $1) ({Maybe} 46. Nd2 {
is playable for a computer but you would hardly see a human being self-pinning.
}) 46... Qc7+ 47. Kg2 Rc2+ 48. Kg1 Rc6 {Diagram [#] The position that Kramnik
was heading to. Next he wants to move away the king from the pin and look for
a good moment to attack with everything that he has. White's position is more
than unpleasant and it is extremely funny to me to see the computer evaluation
0.00. To find a clear-cut draw is impossible. White does not have active
moves and is not sure where to hide king. On the top of that a second time
trouble started.} 49. Kf2 $6 {A step in the wrong direction.} ({The computer
suggests instead} 49. a4 Kh7 50. Kf1 {with the idea to meet} Rc1+ {with} 51.
Ke2 Qc2+ 52. Nd2 {Naturally, Black has other ways to play for the win.}) 49...
Kh7 50. Ke2 $2 {[%csl Re2] Diagram [#] And this is a serious mistake. The king
is not safe here!} Rc2+ 51. Ke3 {A desperate move.} ({Since} 51. Nd2 Qh2+ 52.
Kd1 Rxa2 {covers all the checks.}) 51... Rxa2 52. Qc4 Qb7 $1 53. Qe6 {The last
mistake, although I suspect that Black's position should be won anyway.} Nd5+
54. Kd4 Qb4+ {And since White loses the queen, he resigned.} (54... Qb4+ 55.
Kxd5 Qxb3+ 56. Ke5 (56. Kd6 Ra6+) 56... Re2+ {Diagram [#]}) 0-1

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When it Rains...

It pours, some people say. This is exactly what happened in the game between Georg Meier and Fabiano Caruana from round three of the super-tournament in Dortmund.

[Event "43rd GM 2015"]
[Site "Dortmund GER"]
[Date "2015.06.30"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Meier, Geo"]
[Black "Caruana, F."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A04"]
[WhiteElo "2654"]
[BlackElo "2805"]
[Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"]
[PlyCount "102"]
[EventDate "2015.06.26"]

1. Nf3 d6 2. d4 g6 3. e4 Bg7 {The Modern Defense is becoming more and more
fashionable way to fight for the win with the black pieces when a higher-rated
player wants to avoid the beaten tracks and risk against a lower-rated one.
The results though are somewhat questionable.} 4. Be2 Nd7 5. c4 {Meier prefers
to steer the game into the KID.} e5 6. Nc3 Ne7 7. h4 h6 8. g4 {[%csl Yf5][%cal
Gh4h5,Gg4g5,Rf7f5,Re4f5,Rg4f5] Diagram [#] An idea by J. Piket, or more if we
have to be more exact to Y. Averbakh. This move can be called an aggressive
prophylaxis. It cardinally prevents the typical kingside play} ({possible after
} 8. Be3 f5 9. dxe5 dxe5 10. g3 fxe4 11. Nxe4 Nf5 {as in Akobian,V (2626)
-Mamedov,R (2645) Lubbock 2009}) 8... Nb6 {A new more for an over-the-board
game. Caruana forces his opponent to make a decision.} 9. g5 {Which is not bad
for White at all. In fact he is very happy to close the kingside and to
concentrate on the other wing where he is better by default.} hxg5 $146 {
Diagram [#] This is the actual novelty.} ({An email game saw} 9... Bg4 10. dxe5
(10. d5 {is in the spirit of the line.}) 10... Bxf3 11. Bxf3 Bxe5 12. Qd3 h5
13. Be3 Qd7 14. O-O-O Nc6 $14 {Ruggeri Laderchi,G-Goodman,C SEMI email 2000})
10. Bxg5 Bg4 {Black does not want to allow the closure of the center, but the
continuation} (10... exd4 11. Nxd4 {leaves him no reasonable moves.}) 11. d5 f6
{In case that Black tries to castle long with} (11... Qd7 $6 {he would lose a
pawn} 12. Nxe5 $1 Bxe2 13. Nxd7 Bxd1 14. Nxb6 axb6 15. Kxd1 $16) ({The pawn on
c4 is untouchable as well} 11... Bxf3 12. Bxf3 Nxc4 $2 13. Qa4+) 12. Be3 Bh6 {
Naturally, this bishop is weaker than the one on e3 and should be traded.} 13.
Qd3 Bh5 {Black can also castle long} (13... Bxf3 14. Bxf3 Bxe3 15. fxe3 Qd7 {
although White will keep pleasant edge thanks to the pressure on the half-open
"f" and "g" files.}) 14. O-O-O Kf7 15. Rdg1 Qd7 16. Bxh6 Rxh6 {Diagram [#] It
seems as Caruana did everything right, exchanged the bad bishop, put the
bishop on the nice h5 stand, connected the rooks and yet, his position is
quite unpleasant. Black lacks any realistic counterplay and the knight on b6
is very poor.} 17. Bf1 $1 {Transfers the bishop to an excellent position.} Rah8
$6 {A serious inaccuracy.} ({The computer recommends the brave} 17... Bxf3 18.
Qxf3 (18. Bh3 f5 {transposes}) 18... Rah8 19. Bh3 (19. Qg3 $5) 19... f5 {but a
human would be terrified to open his king that easily. Still, this was Black's
best chance.}) 18. Bh3 Qd8 19. Ne1 {[%csl Yd1,Ye2,Yf3,Yg4][%cal Yh5d1] Diagram
[#] Now the black bishop remains empty and because of it the rooks suffer. Add
to that the knight on b6 and you will understand how Caruana felt at this
moment of the game.} (19. Nd2 $5) 19... c6 20. b3 {Meier is not in a hurry and
slowly prepares the queenside assault.} (20. Kb1 $5) 20... Nd7 21. Qe3 cxd5 22.
cxd5 ({There is absolutely no need to allow any counterplay} 22. exd5 f5 23.
Qxa7 Qc7) 22... Nc5 23. b4 {Meier went for the pawn.} ({White's position is so
good that he has a choice on which side to attack} 23. f4 $5 {for example} Qb6
{(with the threat Nxb3+)} 24. Rg3 Kg7 25. Rf1 {and after some prep- capture on
e5.}) 23... Nd7 24. Qxa7 Qc7 25. Qe3 {Diagram [#]} (25. Be6+ $5 {looked great
as well} Kg7 26. Rg3 Rc8 27. Nc2 $16) 25... Nb6 26. Kb1 Kg7 {Around this point
both players were very short of time.} ({Caruana avoided the possible endgame
after} 26... Nc4 27. Be6+ Kg7 28. Nb5 Nxe3 {presumably because in the line} (
28... Qd8 29. Qd3) 29. Nxc7 Nd1 30. Rg2 Nc3+ 31. Kb2 {Black cannot win the pawn
} Nxe4 $2 32. f3 {since the knight will be trapped.}) 27. Nb5 Qd8 28. f3 Rf8
29. Rg2 f5 $1 {[%cal Rf8f1] Diagram [#] A wise, practical decision. It is time
to go fishing while it is possible, or else Meier will make it to the time
control and will slowly finish the game.} 30. Rc2 {The deadly threat is
Nbb5-c7, but Rc2-c7 is painful enough.} Na8 31. Qa7 {White wins another pawn.
The end is getting close...} fxe4 32. fxe4 Rf4 33. Bg2 ({If White had some
extra minutes left he would have wrapped up the game with the stylish} 33. Qxb7
Rxe4 34. Nd3 Re3 35. Rc8 $1 {Diagram [#]}) 33... Bd1 34. Rd2 Bg4 35. Qxb7 Rf7
36. Qa6 {Only few seconds are left on the clock and White avoids any
discovered attack. After the cool} (36. Nd3 {game would be soon over as} Nf5
37. Qc6 {leads Black nowhere.}) 36... Nb6 37. Nd3 Nc4 38. Rc2 {It is hard to
put a question mark on this move but it misses a long move backwards. This is
happening quite often with experienced players (inexperienced too!)The reason-
the brain is looking forward when attacking rather than backward.} (38. Rf2 $1
{to trade the active rook was mandatory.}) 38... Bc8 $1 {All of a sudden, the
black pieces co-operate well. The black queen gets into the game along the
black squares and nothing is clear anymore.} 39. Qa8 $2 {Diagram [#] When it
rains, it pours. A very unfortunate square for the queen.} (39. Qa4 Ne3 40. Re2
Nxg2 41. Rxg2 Qb6 {is very unclear but way better than in the games the queen
will defend the b5 knight.}) 39... Ne3 40. Re2 Nxg2 41. Rxg2 Qb6 {The time
trouble is over and the devastated Georg Meier cannot adjust to the new
situation.} 42. a4 (42. Nc3 Ba6 {with the threat Rh6-h8 almost traps the
white queen.}) ({I can only speculate but it seems as White rejected the line}
42. Qa5 Qe3 43. Rd1 {because of the trick} Rf1 $5 (43... Qxe4 {might in fact
be better with a possible line} 44. Rgg1 Nf5 {when Black regains both pawns
and is more active, but there is still a lot of play.}) 44. Rxf1 Qxd3+ 45. Kb2
Qxf1 46. Rc2 {but this position is not clear at all.}) 42... Qe3 $1 {[%csl Yb1,
Yd3] Diagram [#] All of a sudden, White loses the knight!} 43. Rd1 (43. Kc2 {
does not help neither} Qxe4 44. Rhg1 Bf5 45. Rg3 Qc4+ 46. Kd2 Bxd3 47. Rxd3
Rxh4) 43... Rf1 ({The computer advocates instead} 43... Qxe4 44. Rc2 Qf3 45.
Rdd2 e4 46. Ne1 Qg3 {Diagram [#] and claims that Black is much better.}) 44.
Rxf1 Qxd3+ 45. Rc2 Qxf1+ 46. Kb2 Qe1 {The culmination of the game.} 47. Qa7 $2
{White blunders for the last time.} ({After} 47. Nc3 $1 {nothing would be
clear at all.}) 47... Qxb4+ 48. Ka2 Kf6 49. Rf2+ Nf5 50. exf5 Bxf5 51. Qa8 Rxh4
{Diagram [#] I suspect that Meier missed from far away that the balck king
escapes the checks after} (51... Rxh4 52. Qd8+ Kg7 53. Qe7+ Kh6 54. Qf8+ Kg5
55. Qe7+ Kg4 56. Rg2+ Kh3) 0-1

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