Trouble in the Najdorf

The traditional tournament in Dortmund gathered together some of the leading world players and the best German players. In the second round two of the rating favorites had an interesting clash.

[Event "Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.06.28"]
[Round "2.3"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "So, Wesley"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2805"]
[BlackElo "2778"]
[Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"]
[PlyCount "138"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:01:43"]
[BlackClock "0:30:15"]

1. Nf3 c5 2. e4 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 {This line has
similarities with the Fianchettoe line, but White wants to be trickier than
there and win a tempo by advancing his pawn directly to g4.} e5 7. Nde2 b5 8.
g4 {Diagram [#] This is the what the line is all about. Another idea is} (8.
Ng3 Bb7 9. Bg5 Nbd7 10. a4 b4 11. Nd5 Bxd5 12. exd5 Be7 13. a5 {as in
Harikrishna,P (2729)-Shankland,S (2661) Tsaghkadzor. Normally, if the d5
square is occupied by a white pawn Black feels OK. In this particular position
though White can play for the advantage as the b4 pawn got separated from the
remaining pawns.}) 8... b4 9. Nd5 Nxd5 10. exd5 h5 $5 $146 {[%csl Rh1][%cal
Gh5g4] Diagram [#] Good preparation for So. Although this move is a novelty it
should not have come as surprise for Caruana. The h7-h5 advance is a very
common theme in the Najdorf. Check the recent match Short-Kasparov where the
former world champion used it successfully.} ({Two other games saw} 10... Be7 {
for example} 11. Bg2 (11. Ng3 {might be more subtle.}) 11... O-O 12. Ng3 a5 13.
O-O Na6 14. f4 {with double edged play, Yankelevich,L (2340)-Kvetny,M (2295)
Magdeburg 2014}) 11. gxh5 {Practically forced as} (11. Ng3 $2 hxg4 12. hxg4
Rxh1 13. Nxh1 Qh4 {looks grim for White.}) ({And} 11. g5 Be7 12. h4 Bg4 {is
anything but inspiring for the first player.}) 11... Rxh5 12. a3 {Diagram [#]
Caruana destroys the queenside in return and sharpens further the game.} bxa3
13. Rxa3 Nd7 14. Bg2 Nf6 15. O-O {Probably White should have delayed the
castling for one more move to see what is his opponent doing first. After all}
(15. f4 {is a mandatory move for him. Then in case of} Rb8 {like in the game,
he can chose} ({And} 15... Be7 $2 {will be simply wrong due to} 16. Ng3 Rh8 17.
fxe5 dxe5 18. d6 $1 {with material gain.}) 16. Ng3 Rh7 17. Qe2 {and castle
later.}) 15... Rb8 {Moves away the rook from the long diagonal.} 16. f4 Be7 17.
c4 Qb6+ {Black underlines the fact that the white king is not particularly
safe.} 18. Rf2 {[%cal Gf2a2,Rb6g1] Diagram [#] White not only covers the king
but prepares the future regroupment Ne2-g3, Bc1-e3 and possibly c4-c5. In this
line the rook defends the b2 pawn.} ({Or else White has to reckon with the
possible Nf6-g4 jump.} 18. Kh1 Ng4 $5 (18... Kf8 {to castle by hand makes
perfect sense too.})) 18... Rh4 {Moves the rook away from the tempo and
pressurizes on f4 and c4.} (18... Kf8 {was possible as well though} 19. Ng3 Rh4
20. Be3 Qb4 {with unclear play.}) 19. Rc3 {Caruana wants to support his c4
pawn, but the rook is vulnerable here.} (19. Qc2 {was a safer option.}) 19...
Bd7 $2 {Misses a tactical blow.} (19... Bxh3 $5 {was already possible and good
as in the lines} 20. Bxh3 (20. Rxh3 Ng4 21. Qf1 (21. Rhf3 e4) 21... Rxh3 22.
Bxh3 Nxf2 23. Qxf2 Qxf2+ 24. Kxf2 exf4) 20... Ne4 21. Qf1 Nxf2 22. Qxf2 Qxf2+
23. Kxf2 exf4 24. Nxf4 Bf6 25. Re3+ Kd8 {Black wins a second pawn in addition
to the RP he already has for the two light pieces.}) 20. b3 $2 {Caruana
returns the favour.} (20. c5 $1 {[%cal Rd5d6] Diagram [#] was very strong
instead} dxc5 {Or else the pawn will advance further to c6.} 21. fxe5 {The
white central duo is huge. For example} Ne4 22. Bxe4 Rxe4 23. d6 Bh4 24. Ng3
Rb4 (24... Rd4 25. Qh5) 25. Qh5 Be6 26. Rd3 {with serious threats against the
black king.}) 20... Bxh3 $1 {Now this is even stronger than in a move ago as
the b3 pawn drops at once.} 21. Bxh3 {The only move.} (21. Rxh3 Rxh3 22. Bxh3
Ne4 23. Qf1 Bh4 {loses material.}) 21... Ne4 22. Qe1 (22. Rcf3 Nxf2 23. Rxf2
Rxh3) 22... Nxc3 23. Qxc3 Qxb3 24. Qxb3 Rxb3 $17 {Diagram [#] As a result of
the small combination So won material. Rook and two pawns are usually much
better than two light pieces in the endgame. The reasons- more room for the
rooks to operate and the higher value of the pawns.} 25. Bc8 e4 ({White was
hoping for the same pawn duo after} 25... a5 26. c5 $1 dxc5 27. fxe5) ({
Another reasonable way to play it was} 25... exf4 $5 26. Bxf4 Ra3 {with
advantage for Black.} (26... a5 27. Nd4 $1)) 26. Bxa6 ({White could have gone
for the more dangerous pawn on e4, but the position after} 26. Bf5 Bd8 (26...
e3 27. Rf3) 27. Kg2 Bb6 28. Rf1 g6 29. Bxe4 Rbh3 {looked too dangerous for him.
Perhaps he can survive it after} 30. f5 Rh2+ 31. Kf3 Rxe2 32. Kxe2 Rxe4+ 33.
Kd3 {Perhaps no.}) 26... Bd8 $1 {The last black piece gets activated to the
maximum.} 27. c5 $1 {The best defense. White cannot allow the black bishop an
access to the a7-g1 diagonal.} ({For example} 27. Kg2 Bb6 28. Rf1 Rg4+ 29. Kh2
f5 {with decisive attack along the "h" and "g" files.}) 27... dxc5 28. Rg2 g6 (
{If} 28... c4 {to open the diagonal again then} 29. Rg3 $1 {is strong.}) 29.
Rg3 {Diagram [#] As a rule, the trades favour the side with the rook, but
White needed to saveguard his king.} Rxg3+ 30. Nxg3 Rg4 31. Kh2 f5 32. Ne2 (32.
Bb5+ $5 {deserved attention, to advance the pawn a bit further} Kf7 (32... Ke7
33. Kh3 {intends to trap the rook with Bb5-e2.}) 33. d6 {with good chances for
survival.}) 32... Rh4+ 33. Kg2 Bc7 34. Bc8 $6 {Time-trouble inaccuracy. White
had to activate the other bishop instead} (34. Bb2 $1 {[%cal Gb2e5,Gd5d6]
Diagram [#] and then put it on e5 after} Ke7 35. Be5 Bd6 {when Black options
are more limitted in comparison to the game. In particular, the black rook
lacks the h8 square and cannot easily swing to the queenside.}) 34... Kd8 35.
Be6 Ke7 36. Be3 (36. Bb2 Bxf4) 36... Bd6 {Now Black has more freedom in
comparison to the position with white bishop on e5.} 37. Bf2 Rh8 38. Be1 c4 39.
Bc3 Ra8 40. Be5 {We know the saying: "better late then never". But stragely
enough, this is not optimal here. White should have opted for passive defense
with} (40. Kf2 Ra3 (40... Ra2 41. Ke1) 41. Ke1 {and Ke1-d2.}) 40... Ra2 41. Kf1
(41. Kf2 {loses to} Bxe5 42. fxe5 c3 43. Ke3 Rd2 {followed by Rd2-d1 and
c3-c2-c1.}) 41... Rd2 $1 {[%cal Gd2d3,Re4e3,Rc4c3] Diagram [#] The rook
manages to get to the optimal d3 square.} 42. Bc3 ({The white king cannot
approach} 42. Ke1 Bb4 $1) ({Black's idea is revealed in the line} 42. Bg8 Rd3
$1 43. Be6 Bxe5 44. fxe5 c3 {and pawns are unstoppable.}) 42... Rd3 43. Ba5 (
43. Be5 Bxe5 44. fxe5 c3 {transposes to the line above.}) 43... Ba3 (43... Ra3
$5 {with the idea} 44. Bc3 Rb3 {and Bd6-b4 to break the blockade made sense.})
44. Bg8 Bd6 45. Be6 Bc5 46. Ke1 {Finally, the white king made it to the center
but at a very high price.} Rb3 47. Kd2 Rb2+ 48. Kd1 Bb4 $1 {Diagram [#]} 49.
Bxb4+ Rxb4 {The trade of the bishop made White's defense much harder. Now the
white K+N have to stope the black R and pawns. Should be mission impossible.}
50. Kc2 Rb3 51. Nc3 e3 52. Bg8 Rb6 53. Ne2 Ra6 54. d6+ (54. Nc3 g5 {would be
similar to the game.} ({But Black has an additional choice} 54... Kd6 $5))
54... Rxd6 55. Bxc4 Kf6 {[%cal Gg6g5] Diagram [#] Next g6-g5 is coming.} 56.
Bd3 {Now the game is essentially over.} (56. Nc3 $1 {was White's last chance
to get the king in the defense as fast as possible} Rd2+ (56... g5 57. Nd5+ Kg7
58. Nxe3 $11) 57. Kc1 Rd4 58. Nd5+ Kg7 59. Nxe3 Rxf4 60. Kd2 {is this position
defendable is another story.}) 56... g5 57. fxg5+ Kxg5 58. Ng3 Rc6+ 59. Kd1 f4
60. Nf1 Rb6 61. Nh2 (61. Ke2 Rb2+ 62. Ke1 Kg4 {leads to a position similar to
the game.}) 61... Kh4 62. Ke1 Kg3 63. Nf1+ Kf3 64. Nh2+ Kg2 65. Nf1 Re6 {With
the threat f4-f3.} 66. Bc4 Re5 67. Ba6 Ra5 68. Bb7+ Kg1 69. Nxe3 Re5 {Diagram
[#] Fabiano Caruana still experience great difficulties against the Najdorf.}
0-1

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Carlsen Takes Early Lean in Baden-Baden

The world champion Magnus Carlsen took an early lead at the Grenke Super tournament after defeating Michael Adams in a typical, positional style. Mickey was Magnus'second at the recent WC match in Sochi, which did not prevent the Norwegian from surprising him in the opening. The novelty promised Carlsen slight, but durable positional advantage:

[Event "GRENKE Chess Classic 2015"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.02.03"]
[Round "2.2"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Adams, Michael"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2865"]
[BlackElo "2738"]
[Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"]
[PlyCount "127"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:37:54"]
[BlackClock "0:28:40"]

1. c4 e5 {The reversed Sicilian that is.} 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 Bb4 {The
reversed Rossolimo line.} 5. Nd5 (5. Bg2 {is considered the main line but the
move in the game scoes better for White, at least by percentage.}) 5... Bc5 6.
Bg2 d6 7. O-O O-O 8. d3 ({Adams has experience in this line. A couple years
ago he drew comfortably against the current number three in the world after} 8.
e3 a6 9. d3 Ba7 10. Nxf6+ Qxf6 11. Bd2 Qg6 {Grischuk,A (2785)-Adams,M (2752)
Warsaw 2013}) 8... Nxd5 9. cxd5 Nd4 {Mickey trades the second knight, thus
freeing his position a bit.} (9... Ne7 {is the other option.}) 10. Nxd4 exd4 {
The idea is to create counter play against the backward pawn on e2.} ({The
other capture is also possible} 10... Bxd4 11. e3 Bb6 {Next both the sides are
trying to grab space on the kingside with f2-f4-f5 for White and f7-f5-f4 for
Black!} 12. Kh1 Bd7 13. Bd2 Qe8 14. a4 a5 15. f4 f5 16. Re1 Qf7 {and
approximate equality in Grachev,B (2705)-Mchedlishvili,M (2626) Tashkent 2012})
11. Bd2 {Magnus wants to expand on the queenside, but Black is alert.} a5 12.
e4 {Naturally, the World Champion does not want to wait and see the black
heavy pieces piled towards his pawn.} dxe3 13. fxe3 Qg5 14. Rf4 $146 {A
novelty, technically speaking. All of this has been seen previously with White
continuing} (14. d4 {first and only after} Bb6 15. Rf4 {After} Bd7 16. Qc2 a4
17. Raf1 Qe7 {Black seemed very stable in Kiselev,V (2505)-Garakov,M (2412)
Lugansk 2007}) 14... Bd7 ({Perhaps it made sense for Black to avoid the game
continuation with} 14... a4 $5 15. Qc2 Bd7 {which would most likely transpose
into the previously played game after} 16. d4 Bb6) 15. a4 $1 {Diagram [#] In
fact this is the actual novelty in comparison to the game Kiselev-Garakov from
above. Magnus' idea is to fix the pawn on a5 and attack the queenside later
with b2-b4.} Rae8 ({Looking into the future it made sense for Adams to keep
the queenside rook where it was to anticipate White's play there} 15... Rfe8 $5
) 16. d4 Bb6 17. Qb3 $1 ({The immediate} 17. b4 {does not give much after} Ra8
(17... axb4 18. a5) 18. Qb3 Qe7 19. bxa5 (19. Qc4 $2 axb4 20. Qxb4 Ba5 $15)
19... Bxa5 20. Bxa5 Rxa5 {as White does not have time to win the pawn} 21. Qxb7
Qxe3+) 17... Qd8 18. Qc4 {[%cal Gd1b3,Gb3c4,Rb2b4] The point behind Carlsen's
maneuver. The queen is optimally placed and actively supports the queenside
attack.} Re7 ({The queen is not as good a defender as the rook} 18... Qa8 19.
b4 axb4 20. a5 Bxa5 21. Bxb4 b6 22. Qxc7 {is advantageous for White.}) 19. b4
axb4 ({White also has a pull after} 19... Qa8 20. Qc3 axb4 21. Qxb4 $14) 20. a5
Ba7 21. Qxb4 $14 {[%csl Ga5,Gd5][%cal Ga5b6,Gd5c6] The opening strategy of the
World Champion succeeded. The advanced pawns on a5 and d5 squeeze the black
forces and White has annoying pressure on the queenside. Mickey tries to free
himself at once.} c5 $1 (21... Bc8 22. Rc1 {looks grim for Black.}) 22. dxc6
Bxc6 23. Qb3 Bxg2 24. Kxg2 Qd7 {[%csl Ya5,Yb7,Yd6,Ye3,Gf1,Gf4][%cal Gd2a5,
Gd2e3,Ga1f1,Gf1f7,Gb1b7] The situation had changed. The doubled d pawn is gone
and the black b and d pawns were separated, thus they became clear targets. On
the other hand, the white bishop is seemingly not the greatest piece ever, but
so is his counterpart. White keeps pressure thanks to the fact that his
heavy pieces are more active and exert pressure. They are actively assisted by
the "poor" bishop that effectively shuts both the a and e semi-open files for
Black.} (24... d5 $4 {is positionally sound but tactically wrong} 25. Bb4) 25.
Raf1 Rc8 26. Rf5 {This prevents d6-d5 and prepares rook transfer along the
fifth rank.} h6 {Adams did not feel the danger. Correct was} (26... g6 27. Rb5
(27. Rf6 d5) 27... h5 {which would have stopped White's activity on the
kingside. The pawn weaknesses on b7 and d6 are very close to each other and
can be defended relatively easily.}) 27. R1f2 Bb8 28. Bb4 Qc6+ 29. R2f3 {The
queen swap will lead to a draw after} (29. Qd5 Qxd5+ 30. Rxd5 Rxe3 31. Bxd6 Rd8
32. Bf4 Rxd5 33. Bxe3 Rxa5 34. Rb2 b5 35. Kf3 $11) 29... Rcc7 30. Be1 Qe8 {It
was not too late to go for} (30... g6 $1 31. Rd5 h5 $11) 31. g4 $1 {Diagram [#]
Now the bishop can be actively used on the h4-d8 diagonal. Magnus also intends
to further advance the pawns on the kingside and open the game there. Thus, he
will create one more weakness- the black king and thanks to the extra space he
can be much more effective in maneuvering on both sides of the board.} Re4 32.
h3 Rce7 33. Bf2 R4e6 $2 {A blunder. However, White was making progress after
both} (33... Rc7 34. Rb5 Ree7 35. Rb6 Red7 36. Qd5 $16) ({Perhaps,} 33... Ba7 {
was the lesser evil} 34. Rb5 Qc8 35. Qd5 $14 {Although White is better here as
well.}) 34. Rb5 Bc7 {The pawn cannot be saved} (34... Qc8 35. a6) (34... Qc6 $4
35. d5) 35. Rxb7 Qa8 {Adams decided that this is the lesser evil in comparison
to the absolute pin after} (35... Bxa5 36. Rb8 Bd8 37. Bh4 Rd7 38. Qb5 {[%csl
Rd7][%cal Rb5d7]} f6 39. Qd5) 36. Rb5 $16 {Diagram [#] The long grinding was
effective as usual with Magnus. He won a pawn and now starts converting it.}
Re8 37. Qd5 Qxd5 38. Rxd5 Rb8 39. Bg3 g6 40. h4 Ra8 41. Be1 Re4 42. g5 h5 {A
strange decision. The defender should trade pawns as a rule} (42... hxg5 43.
hxg5) 43. Rb5 Ra7 44. Kf1 Re8 45. Ke2 Rea8 46. Rf6 Ra6 (46... Bxa5 47. Rxa5
Rxa5 48. Bxa5 Rxa5 49. Rxd6 {leads to the same.}) 47. Bb4 {Magnus correctly
evaluated the rook endgame as won.} Bxa5 48. Rxa5 Rxa5 49. Bxa5 Rxa5 50. Rxd6
Kf8 51. Rf6 Ra3 52. Kf3 Ke7 53. Ke4 Ra5 ({Or} 53... Ke8 54. Rf4 ({Worse is} 54.
d5 Ra4+ 55. Ke5 Rxh4) 54... Ke7 55. d5 Kd6 56. Rf6+ $1 Ke7 57. Rb6 Ra4+ 58. Ke5
Rxh4 59. d6+ Kd7 60. Rb7+ Ke8 61. Re7+ Kf8 62. Kf6 $18) 54. Rf4 $1 {[%cal
Gd4d5,Ge4e5] Diagram [#] The rook defends the fourth rank and enables the
further reinforcement of the position with d4-d5 and Ke4-e5. The game is
decided.} Rb5 55. d5 Rb3 56. Kd4 Ra3 57. e4 Rb3 58. Ke5 Rd3 59. Rf1 $1 Rh3 60.
Ra1 Rxh4 61. d6+ Kd7 62. Ra7+ Ke8 63. Ra8+ Kd7 64. Rf8 {A nice positional win
for the World Champion who takes the sole lead.} 1-0

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