London Chess Classic R 2

London is very friendly towards the chess fans around the globe. Yesterday we saw another excellent round. Once again three games proved decisive, but after a long and interesting fight.
Wesley So outsmarted Michael Adams to grab the tournament win, and Fabiano Caruana won a nice game as Black to Veselin Topalov.
Former world champion Vishy Anand was victorious in his game against French's best Maxime Vachier Lagrave:

Belgium Chocolate

This sweet game was played in Belgium on Sunday. White sacrificed a pawn in the opening for better development and open files/diagonals and after one single inaccuracy from his opponent managed to convert the initiative into decisive material advantage.
Enjoy the chocolate!

The Perfect Must-Win Game

In a short match of two games it is quite easy to get your back to the wall. This is exactly what happened to Michael Adams after losing his first game to Victor Laznicka at the second round of the World Cup. He, however managed to coma back in the classical part of the match:

[Event "FIDE World Chess Cup"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.09.15"]
[Round "11.15"]
[White "Adams, Michael"]
[Black "Laznicka, Viktor"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2742"]
[BlackElo "2676"]
[Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"]
[PlyCount "57"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:15:53"]
[BlackClock "0:06:11"]

{A must win situation for Adams.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5.
Nc3 a6 {And a mini-surprise by Laznicka. Even though this is one of his pet
lines, he had not played it since 2013.} 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bd3 d5 8. O-O Nf6 9.
Qf3 Be7 10. Qg3 O-O 11. Bh6 Ne8 12. Bf4 Bh4 13. Qf3 Be7 ({The trade of one of
the attacking white pieces makes sense} 13... Bg5 $5 14. e5 Bxf4 15. Qxf4 c5 {
as in Nepomniachtchi,I (2705)-Andreikin,D (2720) Moscow 2015}) 14. Na4 $1 $146
{[%cal Gc2c4,Gb2b3] Diagram [#] A strong, fundamental novelty. Adams intends
to stop the opponent's play in the center and on the queenside and start
kingside attack.} ({Previously only the obvious} 14. Rad1 {has been seen. After
} Nf6 15. h3 Nd7 16. Qg3 Bh4 17. Qh2 Ra7 18. Na4 Re8 {Black managed to hold in
Nepomniachtchi,I (2714)-Grachev,B (2669) Kazan 2014}) 14... Nf6 15. b3 Qa5 ({
Black cannot win the bishop pair as after} 15... dxe4 16. Bxe4 Nxe4 17. Qxe4
Bb7 18. Rad1 {Diagram [#] his queen lacks good squares} Qc8 (18... Qa5 19. Rd7)
19. Nb6 $18) ({Perhaps} 15... Bb7 {was better} 16. e5 Nd7 17. c4 $14 {At least
Black stops the kingside advance for the time being. Next he can try to
fianchettoe the dark-squared bishop.}) 16. e5 $1 {The attack can be successful
only with the center closed.} Nd7 17. Qg3 {With the threat Bf4-h6.} Re8 18. h4
c5 19. c4 $1 {[%csl Yc5,Yd5,Rg8][%cal Gh4h5,Gh5h6] Diagram [#] Once that the
center is blocked White can concentrate his efforts on the kingside.} d4 20. h5
Qc7 21. Rae1 {[%csl Ge5,Yg8][%cal Ge1e5,Rh1h8,Rb1h7,Rg3g8] Overprotects the
key e5 square. In case of a need, White can also lift this rook along the
fourth rank. It is curious to find out that the computer considers this
position equal. For the human eye it is very obvious that White has all the
play, it is quite one-sided. He can prepare the attack in many ways- along the
fourth rank, along the h file, battery on the b1-h7 diagonal. And if these
resources are not enough, he can redeploy the knight from a4 to d3-f4 and h5.
At the same time Black does not even have room to maneuver on the kingside.}
Bf8 ({The same computer suggests now as best the defense} 21... Kh8 22. h6 Rg8
{which only shows how bad Black's position is.}) 22. Bg5 g6 {This makes things
easier for White as he now has a clear target. However, standing should not
help neither, for example} (22... Bb7 23. f4 Qc6 24. Re2 a5 {and now say
battery with} 25. Bc2 {[%csl Rh7][%cal Rg3d3,Rc2h7] Diagram [#] and Qg3-d3.
Sooner or later Black will have to weaken his kingside.}) 23. f4 Bg7 24. Qh4 {
Adams simply doubles his pieces on the h file.} Bb7 25. Kf2 $1 {Diagram [#]}
Rf8 ({Nothing changes} 25... Qc6 26. Be4 Qc7 27. Bxb7 Qxb7 28. Rh1 $18) ({If}
25... Nf8 26. Bf6 Bxf6 27. exf6 {and White will find a way to reach the black
king via the dark squares or the h file.}) 26. Rh1 f5 {Desperation.} 27. hxg6
hxg6 28. Qh7+ Kf7 29. Rh6 {Diagram [#] A very convincing win for the English
top GM.} 1-0

Adams then managed to win the rapid-blitz game(s) at the end of a long and exhausting match.
Report.

How Good Was the Preparation?

Round two of the World Cup continued with many interesting games. The rating favorite did well in most of the games, but there were a couple of exceptions. Sergey Karjakin lost to Alexander Onischuk with the black pieces, and the other surprise was pleasant for the hosts:

[Event "FIDE World Chess Cup"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.09.14"]
[Round "10.25"]
[White "Guseinov, Gadir"]
[Black "Navara, David"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2634"]
[BlackElo "2728"]
[Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"]
[PlyCount "101"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:13:58"]
[BlackClock "0:44:32"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 {Diagram [#] Navara's great memory
gives him the advantage of diversity in the opening.} 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7.
Nf3 Nd7 8. h5 Bh7 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 e6 11. Bd2 Ngf6 12. O-O-O Be7 13. Ne4 {
This knight is quite a problematic piece in the Caro- Kann for White and
Guseinov hurries to bring in back in the center.} Nxe4 {On the other hand
Black is happy to trade some pieces.} 14. Qxe4 Nf6 15. Qd3 {Diagram [#] A
fighting move.} ({The main line is considered harmless for Black} 15. Qe2 {due
to the maneuver} Qd5 16. c4 Qe4 17. Qxe4 Nxe4 18. Be3 f5 19. Nd2 Nf6 20. Nf3
Bd6 {1/2-1/2 (20) Harikrishna,P (2740)-Berkes,F (2659) Kocaeli 2015}) 15... c5
{A relatively rare move. The main continuations are} (15... O-O) ({and} 15...
Qd5) 16. Kb1 cxd4 17. Nxd4 O-O $6 {What can be more natural than that?!
Instead, both} (17... Rc8) ({and} 17... Qd5 {would be playable.}) 18. Bxh6 $5 {
[%csl Yd8][%cal Rd1d8,Rd3g3] Diagram [#] Kaboom! Something went wrong with
Navara's preparation as this move is not even a novelty! Or maybe he just
considered the complications favourable for him? Judging by the speed with
which he was banging the moves, it should have been the latter.} gxh6 19. Qg3+
Kh8 20. Nxe6 fxe6 21. Rxd8 Raxd8 22. Qe3 Ng8 23. Qxa7 $146 {Diagram [#] Both
players are blitzing, Guseinov comes up with a novelty. The stem game saw} (23.
f4 Rf5 24. g4 Rfd5 25. a3 e5 26. fxe5 {with advantage for White Kokarev,D
(2628)-Gavrilov,A (2456) Moscow 2014}) 23... Bf6 24. f3 {Finally, both players
start thinking. The material balance is weird. A queen and three pawns are
fighting a rook, bishop and knight. Techically speaking we have 9+3=5+3+3.
White should be up a pawn. Concretely speaking, White should be better thanks
to his safe king. However, if Black managed to co-ordinate his pieces, the
evaluation will change as the pieces can easily outnumber the queen in the
attack against the white pawns for instance.} Ne7 (24... Rf7 $5 {looks more
solid.}) 25. Qe3 {Diagram [#] White wins pawn number four but the black rooks
occupy the open files.} Bg7 26. Qxe6 Nd5 27. c3 Rfe8 28. Qf5 {Compy criticizes
this move and suggests instead} (28. Qg6 {presumably to defend the g2 pawn
with the queen. However then Black has} Re2 {and if} 29. Rc1 Nf4 $1 {is
unpleasant for White to say at least.}) 28... Re2 {Creates concrete threats.}
29. Rc1 {Or else Black can sacrifice on c3} (29. g4 Bxc3 {Diagram [#]} (29...
b5) (29... Ne3 {are not bad neither.}) 30. bxc3 Nxc3+ 31. Kc1 Nxa2+ {with
guaranteed draw.}) 29... Rxg2 {Now Navara rejects the draw, possible after} (
29... Ne3 30. Qb5 Rdd2 {[%csl Re8,Yh8][%cal Re8g6,Rg6e8,Rb5e8] Diagram [#]} 31.
Qe8+ Kh7 32. Qg6+ $11) 30. a3 b5 31. Qf7 Nf6 {The position is very complicated.
Navara had other interesting options:} (31... b4 $5 {might lead to a forced
draw (!) after} 32. axb4 Nxb4 33. Qc7 Bf6 34. Re1 Rgd2 35. cxb4 Rxb2+ 36. Kc1
Ra8 37. Re5 $1 {Diagram [#]} Rg2 38. Kb1 Rd8 39. Re1 Ra8 (39... Rb2+ 40. Kc1
Ra8) 40. Re5 Rd8 $11) ({While} 31... Ne3 32. Re1 Nc4 33. Re8+ Rxe8 34. Qxe8+
Kh7 35. Qxb5 {is not that great as the endgame after} Rxb2+ 36. Qxb2 Nxb2 37.
Kxb2 $18 {Diagram [#] is lost for Black. The pawns easily outnumber the bishop.
}) 32. Qb7 Rd5 ({White is better after} 32... Rdd2 33. Qxb5 Nxh5 34. Re1) 33.
f4 $1 {[%csl Gf4] Diagram [#] Surprisingly, Black has problems with the moves
after this. The queen is taking care of everything.} Kh7 34. Re1 {The rook got
active and Black decided to give the b5 pawn but to activate the pieces.} Rdd2
35. Qxb5 Nd5 36. Ka1 $1 {Nice prophylaxis as if White carelessly advances the
pawn} (36. a4 $2 {[%csl Ye1] Diagram [#] there is} Rxb2+ 37. Qxb2 Rxb2+ 38.
Kxb2 Bxc3+ {and Black wins.}) 36... Rgf2 ({Here} 36... Rxb2 $2 {is bad due the
counter-attack} 37. Qd3+ Kh8 38. Re8+ Bf8 39. Qxd5 $18) 37. Qe8 {Diagram [#]
Threatens mate in two.} Nxf4 38. Qe4+ Kh8 39. Qa8+ Kh7 40. Qe4+ Kh8 {Guseinov
made the control moves just in time to get the needed time to find the right
continuation.} 41. Qf5 $1 Rd8 {[%csl Yd8] Diagram [#] Once that the active
black pieces go back, White gets the time he needs to push his queenside pawns.
} 42. Qb5 (42. Qf7 $5 {was not bad neither.}) 42... Rd5 {This makes things
easier for White.} (42... Kh7 {was more stubborn but White is much better
anyway.}) 43. Re8+ Kh7 44. Qc4 {[%csl Rh7][%cal Rc4e4] Diagram [#] The threat
Qc4-e4+ forces the black king out.} Rxh5 45. Qg8+ Kg6 46. Re7 Rh1+ 47. Ka2 Nh5
48. Qe6+ {And the powerful white pieces finished the job.} Nf6 ({Or} 48... Kh7
49. Qe4+) ({Hopeless is} 48... Bf6 49. Qg4+ Bg5 50. Qe4+ Kf6 (50... Rf5 51.
Re6+) 51. Qe6# {Diagram [#]}) 49. Qf7+ Kf5 50. Qxg7 Rhh2 51. Rb7 {Diagram [#]
An epic, irrational battle.} 1-0

Report.

Anand and the Exchange Sacrifice

In Stavanger there are no boring games. Even the draws are agreed after complete and thorough battle:

[Event "Norway Chess"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.06.17"]
[Round "2.2"]
[White "Giri, Anish"]
[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2773"]
[BlackElo "2804"]
[Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"]
[PlyCount "105"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:46:51"]
[BlackClock "0:53:05"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. b3 {Diagram [#] Despite
his convincing blitz win in the Italian game, Giri decided to choose the quiet
Reti.} c5 7. Bb2 Nc6 8. e3 b6 9. Nc3 Ba6 {The second main move in the position
but one that scores better than its "bigger brother". Black usually chooses} (
9... Bb7 10. cxd5 Nxd5 (10... exd5 {is also possible}) 11. Nxd5 Qxd5 12. d4)
10. Qe2 {This is also the second main line. White usually chooses} (10. d3 Rc8
11. Qe2 {For example} Qc7 12. Ne1 (12. Rac1 {Paunovic,D (2506)-Sanchez Juncal,
B (2206) Mondariz 2006}) 12... Qd7 13. Nc2 Nb4 14. e4 {with complex play,
Eljanov,P (2702)-Roiz,M (2617) Legnica 2013}) 10... Qd7 {Diagram [#] Anand
proceeds easily with his development and connects the rooks. We can see the
point behind the Ba6 move- White cannot trade on d5 easily and modify the pawn
structure in his favor by creating hanging pawns in the black camp later.} 11.
Rfd1 Rac8 12. Nb5 {Prepares the d2-d4 advance.} Rfd8 13. Rac1 {But here the
Dutch GM prolonged the preparation one move too many. In case of} (13. d4 {
Anand planned} cxd4 14. exd4 Qe8 {This was a better try for White's advantage
though, say after} 15. Ne5) 13... dxc4 {Anand seizes his chance to occupy the
outpost on d3.} 14. bxc4 Qd3 15. Qxd3 $146 {Diagram [#] The novelty.} ({The
only predecessor saw:} 15. Bf1 {which should hardly yield White any advantage-}
Qxe2 16. Bxe2 Ne8 (16... Bb7 $5 $11) 17. Ne5 Nxe5 18. Bxe5 Rd7 (18... Bb7 $5)
19. a4 Rcd8 20. d3 {McNab,C (2420)-Thomson,C (2260) Edinburgh 1985}) 15... Rxd3
16. Bf1 ({At first Giri intended} 16. Ne5 {but then he realized that there is
not enough time to kick the rook back from it's active position} Nxe5 17. Bxe5
Rcd8 18. Rc2 Bxb5 19. cxb5 Nd5 20. Bf1 Ra3 {and "this is not very good" (Giri).
}) ({Perhaps White can fight for an advantage with} 16. a4 {as now} Rcd8 $2 {
loses material to} ({Also bad is} 16... Nb4 $6 17. Ne5 $16) 17. Ne1 Rxd2 18.
Rxd2 Rxd2 19. Bc3 $18) 16... Rd7 17. d4 Rcd8 $11 {[%csl Yd4] Diagram [#] Black
comfortably levelled the chances.} 18. a4 Bb7 $5 {An interesting approach by
the Indian GM. Instead of waiting passively he sacrifices the exchange for a
pawn and queenside passers.} ({Both} 18... Ne4 19. d5 Bf6 20. Bxf6 gxf6 $1 21.
Nd2 Nxd2 22. Rxd2 Ne5 $11) ({And even simpler} 18... cxd4 19. exd4 Ne4 {with
the idea Be7-f6 seemed perfectly comfortable for Black.}) 19. d5 exd5 ({Of
course not} 19... Nb4 $2 20. Ne5) 20. Bh3 dxc4 21. Bxd7 Nxd7 22. Nd6 Ba6 23.
Nxc4 f6 $1 {[%csl Yb2,Rf6,Rg7] Diagram [#] The point behind Anand's sacrifice.
He kills the bishop on b2 and intends to slowly advance on the queenside.} 24.
Rd2 {Giri self-criticized himself upon that move and suggested instead} (24. e4
$5 Bxc4 25. Rxc4 a6 26. Rc2 b5 27. axb5 axb5 {when in comparison to the game
he has an extra move e3-e4 and possibility to maneuver with his knight via the
d2 square. Indeed, here} 28. Nh4 {looks good for White with the idea} g6 29.
Rcd2 Nb6 30. Rxd8+ Nxd8 31. Bxf6 $1 Bxf6 32. Rd6 $16) 24... Bxc4 25. Rxc4 a6
26. Rc1 b5 27. axb5 axb5 28. Ba3 {Giri did not like the look of} (28. Rcd1 Nb6
29. Rxd8+ Nxd8 30. Nd2 Nc6 {"I am jealous at Black's position," although White
can always trade a light piece for the black queenside pawns and force a draw.}
) (28. Ra1 $5) 28... Kf7 29. Rxd7 $6 {Diagram [#] White decided to force a
draw but confused the move order.} ({"The easiest was"} 29. Bxc5 Nxc5 30. Rxd8
Nxd8 31. Rb1 $11 {(Anand)}) 29... Rxd7 30. Bxc5 Ne5 $1 {Missed by Giri "now I
have to suffer".} 31. Nxe5+ fxe5 32. Bxe7 Kxe7 {The outside passer provides
Black serious winning chances. White's problem is that he can never trade the
rooks as the resulting endgames are lost for him.} 33. Kf1 Kd6 34. Ke2 e4 35.
Rc8 $1 {[%csl Gc8][%cal Gc8b8,Gc8e8,Ge8e4] Diagram [#] Active rook is the
mantra of the rook endgames.} ({After} 35. f3 exf3+ 36. Kxf3 b4 37. Ke4 Rb7 38.
Kd4 b3 {White should fall into zugzwang soon.}) 35... Ra7 {A more serious
chance would have been} (35... Rc7 $5 {Both players analyzed the position in
the press conference and came to the conclusion that it should have ended in a
draw, but in far more difficult way than in the game:} 36. Rd8+ ({Or} 36. Rb8
Kc5 37. Kd2 Kb4) 36... Kc5 37. Rd4 b4 38. Rxe4 Rd7 ({Anand saw the nice line}
38... b3 39. Kd3 b2 40. Rc4+ Kb5 41. Rxc7 b1=Q+ 42. Ke2 {followed by h2-h4 and
rook transfer to d4 which will be a fortress.}) 39. Re8 b3 40. Rb8 Kc4 41. e4
Kc3 42. Rc8+ $1 {To force the king in front of the pawn and win some tempos}
Kb2 43. e5 Kb1 {when Black can win the rook, but White will have sufficient
counterplay after say} 44. Rb8 b2 45. Ke3 Ra7 46. Ke4 Ka2 47. Kd5 b1=Q 48. Rxb1
Kxb1 49. e6 Kc2 50. Kd6 $11) 36. Kd2 Ra2+ 37. Kc3 Rxf2 38. Rb8 Rxh2 ({The pawn
cannot be saved} 38... Kc6 39. Rc8+ Kb6 40. Rb8+) 39. Rxb5 Ke6 40. Kd4 Rg2 41.
Kxe4 Rxg3 42. Kf4 {Diagram [#] The White pieces are maximally activated. He
needs to trade any of the black pawns to achieve theoretically draw position.}
Rg1 43. Rb6+ Kf7 44. e4 h5 45. Rb7+ Ke6 46. Rb6+ Kd7 47. Kf5 Kc7 48. Rb2 Kd7
49. e5 Rf1+ 50. Kg5 Ke6 51. Kxh5 Kxe5 52. Kg4 g5 53. Kxg5 1/2-1/2

Report.