Arkadij Naiditsch Csaba Balogh
Most interesting draws of 2012–2015
Chess Evolution Cover designer Piotr Pielach
Typesetting Piotr Pielach ‹www.i-press.pl›
First edition 2016 by Chess Evolution
Most interesting draws of 2012–2015 Copyright © 2016 Chess Evolution
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, photo- copying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the publisher.
ISBN 978-83-944290-0-3
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Printed in Poland TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents 3 Key to symbols 5 Introduction 7 Editorial preface 9
GAME 1 ▷ A. Naumann (2546) ▶ R. Rapport (2547) 11 GAME 2 ▷ A. Volokitin (2695) ▶ B. Jobava (2704) 14 GAME 3 ▷ Yifan Hou (2639) ▶ F. Caruana (2767) 18 GAME 4 ▷ V. Anand (2817) ▶ P. Eljanov (2683) 22 GAME 5 ▷ P. Svidler (2744) ▶ A. Morozevich (2765) 27 GAME 6 ▷ L. Aronian ▶ V. Kramnik 32 GAME 7 ▷ L. Aronian (2825) ▶ A. Grischuk (2761) 38 GAME 8 ▷ A. Naiditsch (2700) ▶ P. Leko (2730) 44 GAME 9 ▷ P. Svidler (2749) ▶ N. Vitiugov (2705) 48 GAME 10 ▷ A. Shirov (2718) ▶ R. Appel (2525) 54 GAME 11 ▷ L.J. McShane (2713) ▶ A. Volokitin (2724) 58 GAME 12 ▷ B. Gelfand (2740) ▶ V. Kramnik (2810) 63 GAME 13 ▷ P. Svidler (2747) ▶ A. Grischuk (2764) 66 GAME 14 ▷ A. Morozevich (2760) ▶ Hi Nakamura (2775) 71 GAME 15 ▷ A. Grischuk (2779) ▶ L. Dominguez Perez (2723) 76 GAME 16 ▷ F. Caruana (2774) ▶ V. Kramnik (2803) 80 GAME 17 ▷ S. Mamedyarov (2753) ▶ M. Carlsen (2864) 83 GAME 18 ▷ S. Karjakin (2782) ▶ V. Anand (2786) 87 GAME 19 ▷ S. Karjakin (2776) ▶A. Grischuk (2780) 91 GAME 20 ▷ P. Leko (2737) ▶ G. Kamsky (2763) 96 GAME 21 ▷ D. Andreikin (2716) ▶ V. Kramnik (2784) 100 GAME 22 ▷ G. Kamsky (2741) ▶ H. Nakamura (2772) 103 GAME 23 ▷ H. Nakamura (2772) ▶ E. Tomashevsky (2703) 109 GAME 24 ▷ V. Kramnik (2793) ▶ L. Aronian (2801) 115 GAME 25 ▷ B. Amin (2652) ▶ N. Vitiugov (2741) 119 GAME 26 ▷ H. Nakamura (2789) ▶ S. Karjakin (2759) 122 GAME 27 ▷ V. Ivanchuk (2739) ▶ M. Vachier-Lagrave (2745) 125 GAME 28 ▷ V. Anand (2770) ▶ D. Andreikin (2709) 130 GAME 29 ▷ D. Wagner (2481) ▶ A. Shirov (2685) 136 GAME 30 ▷ J. Nepomniachtchi (2732) ▶P. Svidler (2756) 140 GAME 31 ▷ I. Sokolov (2650) ▶ D. Navara (2708) 144 GAME 32 ▷ M. Carlsen (2881) ▶ A. Giri (2752) 151 GAME 33 ▷ P. Svidler (2753) ▶ M. Carlsen (2881) 155 GAME 34 ▷ B. Savchenko (2596) ▶R . Rapport (2704) 160 GAME 35 ▷ M. Vachier-Lagrave (2768) ▶ M. Carlsen (2877) 165 GAME 36 ▷ D. Svetushkin (2580) ▶ Y. Kryvoruchko (2708) 169 GAME 37 ▷ F. Caruana (2844) ▶ B. Gelfand (2748) 175 GAME 38 ▷ T. Radjabov (2726) ▶ L. Dominguez Perez (2751) 181 GAME 39 ▷ S. Mamedyarov (2764) ▶ H. Nakamura (2764) 185 GAME 40 ▷ B. Gelfand (2748) ▶ M. Vachier-Lagrave (2757) 190 GAME 41 ▷ S. Mamedyarov (2764) ▶ S. Karjakin (2767) 196 GAME 42 ▷ B. Jobava (2717) ▶ S> Mamedyarov (2764) 201 GAME 43 ▷ A. Korobov (2680) ▶ V. Ivanchuk (2726) 206 GAME 44 ▷ G. Kasparov (2812) ▶ N. Short (2664) 212 GAME 45 ▷ M. Vachier-Lagrave (2754) ▶ B. Gelfand (2744) 217 GAME 46 ▷ S. Karjakin (2753) ▶ B. Jobava (2699) 223 GAME 47 ▷ R. Rapport (2671) ▶ M. Adams (2740) 227 GAME 48 ▷ I. Bukavshin (2655) ▶ I. Lysyj (2673) 232 GAME 49 ▷ N. Vitiugov (2719) ▶ D. Dubov (2654) 237 GAME 50 ▷ F. Caruana (2808) ▶ W. So (2779) 242 KEY TO SYMBOLS
= Equality or equal chances White has a slight advantage Black has a slight advantage White is better Black is better +- White has a decisive advantage -+ Black has a decisive advantage unclear with compensation with counterplay with initiative with an attack with the idea only move
Nnovelty ! a good move !! an excellent move ?a weak move ?? a blunder !? an interesing move ?! a dubious move +check #mate
INTRODUCTION
Useful information for our valued readers.
››› Th e book contains the 50 most interesting draws from 2012 to 2015.
››› Th e games were selected and analyzed by the authors GM Arkadij Naid- itsch and GM Csaba Balogh.
››› Most of the games are taken from the highest-level tournaments, such as Wijk aan Zee, FIDE Grand Prix series, Olympiads etc.
››› Most of the games are played by top Grandmasters: Carlsen, Anand, Kramnik, Aronian, Caruana and many, many more of the world’s best chess-players.
››› Th e games are sorted in chronological order, from 2012 through to 2015.
EDITORIAL PREFACE
We are proud to present our second book in a series of 5 — “Most interesting draws of 2012–2015”.
It was very interesting work trying to select and analyse the 50 most interest- ing draws from the past 4 years: the choice was so wide! We were aiming to fi nd the most exciting, spectacular and, of course, useful attacking ideas which might also occur in our own practical games.
Th e main idea behind this book stands out clearly: We try to reduce the im- portance of opening theory, and rather get inside the workings of the best chess-playing brains on the planet in an attempt to explain the most complex attacking ideas in a simple and understandable way to any chess lover.
Another very important point of the book which we are proud of is, we have not used much ’engine’ assistance during our commentary on the games. We try to see the game the way we would do in a practical game, which makes the commentaries very special — which in practice puts the reader fully in the shoes of the world-class players; this is exactly the best way to improve our own chess level.
Sadly, nowadays, we have more-and-more computer analyses and we can hear chess amateurs judging the play even of Carlsen. Yes, you can fi nd tactical mistakes with an engine at home — but the question is, can you do the same during your practical game over the board ?! Chess is a game where everyone is making mistakes — and this is what it is all about in the current book!
We would advise all our readers to take out a real chessboard and enjoy these beautiful masterpieces. Th is is how we learned to play chess and this is why we still enjoy every wonderful game, even aft er almost 20 years of being pro- fessional chess players!
Yours,
Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh
GAME 1 11
GAME 1 stop e4. Th e main move is 8...a6 9.e4 b5 with very long theoretical lines, ▷ A. Naumann (2546) and hundreds of games. ▶ R. Rapport (2547) Schachbundesliga 2011/2012 (11) 9.d5 a5 10.d2 26.02.2012, [E62] A logical reaction by White. He Annotated by Csaba Balogh sends the knight to the edge of the board, where in general it is poorly Aft er checking through numerous placed, and at the same time he wants games, Arkadij and I agreed without to push e4 with tempo. any doubts that the following game was the best of the week. Th e White 10...c5! player, Alexander Naumann, is a sol- Black prepares for a counterattack id GM from Germany while Black is on the queenside with a6 and b5 and the 2nd youngest grandmaster in the tries to fi nd a role for his knight on a5. world, Richard Rapport! At the time he was Hungary’s top prodigy, and 11.e4 d7 12.c2 a6 13.b3! only 16 years old. In a very compli- For White it is necessary to hold the cated and diffi cult middlegame, both c4 pawn. If Black could force him to players found the strongest moves take on b5, then he would achieve and the game fi nished with a spectac- a big advantage. However, if White ular perpetual check. Let's get it on! manages to keep his structure intact, then the a5 knight will be out of the 1.d4 f6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 g7 4.g3 game forever. 0–0 5.g2 d6 6.0–0 c6 7.c3 Th e starting position of the King's 13...b5 14.b1 h5 15.b2 e5! Indian Defence, 4.g3 system. Black Aft er White successfully stabilizes has many diff erent setups, of which the queenside pawn structure, Black the main move is 7...a6, with the same is forced to fi nd another plan. Rap- idea as the text move- preparing for port fi nds an excellent way to do this, queenside action with b5. he organizes play on the kingside.
7...b8 8.h3 16.e2 f5! 17.f4! Aft er preventing g4, White wants Th e tension has grown to the maxi- to occupy the center with e4. 8.e4 mum! All the pawns and pieces are g4 prepared for battle, so it is time for immediate action! 8...f5 A very rare move! According to my database, it has been tried only 9 times before. Th e idea is simply to 12 MOST INTERESTING DRAWS OF 2012–2015
8 tr wq trk+ lead to more or less balanced posi- 7 + +l+ vlp tion in both lines 22...e7 (22...xc4 23.c3 b6 24.xd6) 23.c3 — but 6 p+ zp +p+ he prefers to save his bishop for the 5 snpzpPzpp+n attack! 4 +P+PzP + 22.bb1 3 +P+ + zPP Naumann tries to save his exchange 2 PvLQsNN+L+ advantage for the future, but in doing so he hands an important tempo to 1 +R+ +RmK his opponent. abcdefgh 22...xh3 23.xh3 xh3 17...bxc4 18.bxc4 Only the a5 knight seems to be out of the game but it has a very important 8 tr wq trk+ role to play, preventing White from 7 + +l+ vlp playing b3 bringing an important defender towards his king. 6 p+ zp +p+ 5 sn zpPzpp+n 24.f2! 4 +P+PzP + Th e only move! White tries to pro- tect the king. 3 + + + zPP 2 PvLQsNN+L+ 24...e3!? 1 A very talented and resourceful +R+ +RmK idea. He had to foresee his 26th move, abcdefgh and also the consequences of it.
18...xb2!! 25.g2 A fantastic, intuitive exchange sac- White threatens to trap the queen rifi ce by Rapport! He wants to clar- with f3, however Rapport had this ify the situation and opens up the idea in mind. center for his bishops, in order to lunch a mating attack. Th e value of 25...d4! the King's Indian bishop on g7 will 25...xf4+? 26.xf4 xf4 27.b8+ be much higher than the rook on b2. suddenly Black’s king would be in danger 19. xb2 exf4 20.gxf4 fxe4 21.xe4 h4!? 26.f3 Black could have restored material It seems as though Black could re- equality- 21...xb2 22.xb2 would sign here, but... GAME 1 13
8 + + trk+ 27. xe3?? xe3+–+ 7 + + + +p 27...xf4!! 6 p+ zp +p+ Amazing! Another sacrifi ce!! Let's 5 sn zpP+ +n count: from White's point of view, his 4 rook and knight are hanging, while +PvlNzP + on the other side queen, rook, and 3 + + wqR+ knight are in the air. 2 P+Q+N+K+ 28.xf4! 1 +R+ + + White chooses to take the correct abcdefgh piece!
26...xc4!! 28...xf4+ 29.xf4 xf4 30.xc4 Lightning from a clear sky! White g4+! cannot accept any of the hanging And aft er plenty of only moves by pieces because he would lose more both sides, White ends up with an ex- material. However, he also comes up tra rook, but Black can give perpetual with a brilliant counter-idea! check with the co-operation of his re- maining pieces. 27.xd6!! Naumann tries to lure the knight 31.h2 away, aft er which the queen could 31.f1 White cannot escape this way be taken. Meanwhile, he threatens 31...g1+ 32.e2 f2+ 33.d1 f1+ to take on c4 with both pieces, since 34.d2 f2+ 35.c1 (35.d3 f5) e4 is not hanging anymore. So, Black 35...e1+ 36.d1 c3+ 37.c2= needs to act urgently! 31...h4+ 32.g2 g4+ 33.h2 8 + + trk+ h4+ 34.g2 g4+ 7 + + + +p Draw! A very exciting game, where 6 both players deserved to get the full p+ sN +p+ point: unfortunately impossible 5 + zpP+ +n so they had to share it. My experi- 4 +nvl zP + ence shows that in games likes this, strangely, when all the pieces are 3 + + wqR+ hanging there is a very high percent- 2 P+Q+N+K+ age for draws. But in any case a fan- 1 tastic game, truly deserving to win +R+ + + the title game of the month! abcdefgh 27.xc4? xe4–+; 1/2 14 MOST INTERESTING DRAWS OF 2012–2015
GAME 2 complications favour him. Th erefore, Black's plan is to prepare for the fi ght ▷ A. Volokitin (2695) in the center and bring his rook to d8, ▶ B. Jobava (2704) which could be very useful. 1. Bundesliga 2011/2012 (4) 01.03.2012, [B12] 11.c4 Annotated by Csaba Balogh Volokitin plays in his style, and en- ters the complications. It would also Th is game was played between two be interesting to see Jobava's im- great fighters, the Ukrainian GM provement on a previous game, where Andrei Volokitin, and the Georgian Bologan played in positional fashion GM Baadur Jobava. Both players like and easily outplayed his opponent. tactical struggles, so we could expect 11.c1 d8 12.c3 xf3 (12...g6 a very sharp duel. Straight out of the could hardly be Jobava's idea, since opening the game entered into unre- aft er 13.g5 gxe5 14.f4 g6 15.xe4 al complications, where both players dxe4 16.f5 exf5 17.xf5 White gets could use their abilities! Aft er a very very strong compensation for the sac- impressive battle, the position was rifi ced pawn.) 13.xf3 g6 14.b3 simplified to a drawish endgame. gxe5 15.xe5 xe5 16.xa7 and Let's see the details from this excit- White was slightly better, thanks to ing encounter. the pair of bishops in Bologan-Krush, Gibraltar 2012. 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 f5 4.f3 e6 5.e2 11...d8 12.b5! Lately the most popular setup White fi nds the most challenging against the Caro-Kann Defence, both move! He has to act urgently, before players are considered to be big ex- Black fi nishes development, so cre- perts in this variation. ates the double threat of d6 and xa7. 5...c5 6.e3 cxd4 7.xd4 e7 8.d2 bc6 9.2f3 e4 10.0–0 12...f5 Up to this point there are plenty of Jobava gives up a pawn for activ- games in the database, but here Black ity! Passive defence with 12...c8 tries a really fresh idea, which has would lead to a nice advantage for been played only once before. White aft er 13.g5! a6 14.xe4 dxe4 (14...axb5 15.cxd5 xd5 16.c2 xe5 10...d7!? 17.ad1 and c5 is coming the next Black's problem is his king, which move, when Black will be punished is stuck in the center. White wants to for being undeveloped.) 15.c3 xe5 play c4 now, or in the near future, to 16.xe4. open up the position. In general, the GAME 2 15
13.cxd5! 8 + trk+ tr Th e immediate 13.xa7 would lead 7 zpp+q+pzpp to very strong compensation for 6 +n+p+ + Black aft er 13...xa7 14.xa7 c5 5 +NvllzP sN 15.b5 0–0. 4 + + + + 3 13...xe3 + + zP + 2 PzP +L+PzP 8 + trkvl tr 1 tR +Q+RmK 7 zpp+q+pzpp abcdefgh 6 +n+p+ + 16.c1! defends and attacks in the 5 +N+PzP + same time! 4 + +l+ + (on 16.xf7 Black has a nice re- 3 + + snN+ sponse with 16...xe3+ 17.h1 2 PzP +LzPPzP xf7! 18.xf7 xg2+ 19.xg2 1 xd1 20. xd1 xf7 21.d7+ tR +Q+RmK g6=) abcdefgh 16...e7 17.xf7 0–0 18.xd8 xd8 However, on 13...xd5 White can al- 19.c3) ready take the pawn with 14.xa7 since aft er 14...xa7 15.xa7 he has 16.d4! Black's position is falling the highly unpleasant threat of b5! apart and the main line is beautiful! 16...d6 14.dxc6!? Aft er long calculation, Volokition 8 + trk+ tr chooses the most concrete approach. 7 zpp+q+pzpp However, I think it was better to 6 + vlp+ + playthe simple 14.fxe3! to open the 5 +N+lsn sN f-fi le for the rook, and launch an at- 4 + wQ + + tack against the f7 square 14...xd5 3 + + zP + 15.g5! xe5 2 PzP +L+PzP (15...c5 1 tR + +RmK abcdefgh
(16...c6 17.c3; 16...f6 17.h5+! g6 18.xf6!+-) 16 MOST INTERESTING DRAWS OF 2012–2015
17. ad1! a very diffi cult move to fi nd, 14...xc6 would be a mistake be- but the idea is simple; White wants cause of 15.a4! xf1 16.c7+! e7 to push e4 and win a piece. 17...b8 8 + tr vl tr (17...0–0 18.xd6 xd6 19.e4) 7 zppsN mkpzpp 6 +q+p+ + 18.xf7!! xf7 19.xg7 e5 5 + + zP + 4 8 + trk+ tr Q+ +l+ + 3 7 zpp+q+nwQp + + +N+ 2 6 + +p+ + PzP +LzPPzP 1 5 +N+lvl + tR + +nmK 4 + + + + abcdefgh 3 + + zP + (16...d7 17.b5+-) 2 PzP +L+PzP 1 + +R+RmK 17. b5! c5 abcdefgh (17...xc7 18.b4++-) (19...f8 20.h5+-) 18.c1! xc1 19.b4++- 20.d6+!! A fantastic sacrifice! Th e kamikadze knight! 20...xd6 15. fxd1 xd1 16.c7! 21.b5!! c6 22.xc6 bxc6 Th is was the point of the 14th move!
8 + trk+ tr 16...xb2!? 7 zp +q+nwQp Jobava prefers to give up the rook 6 +pvlp+ + and save his knight, in order to get rid 5 + + + + of the dangerous c7 pawn. 16...c8 4 + + + + 17. xd1 d5 18.d6+ xd6 19.exd6 3 + + zP + d7 20.e5+ xd6 21.xf7+ xc7 2 22.xh8 xh8= would lead to equal- PzP + +PzP ity. 1 + +R+RmK abcdefgh 17.g5!? over the next few moves, White sim- 23. xd6!! as in ‘giveaway chess’. :) ply ignores the rook. 17.xa7 xf3 23...xd6 24.xh8+ e7 25.f6+ 18.xf3 c5 19.cxd8+ xd8= e8 26.f8# 17...g6 18.xa7!? 14...xd1! GAME 2 17
Volokitin sets an amazing trap, but fall for it and fi nds the best defence Black fi nds the only moves to survive! yet again!
18...c5! 22...h6! 22...h5 23.d1! b2 24.c2! this 8 + trk+ tr is the idea of his 22nd move. 24...e7 7 sNpzP +pzpp 25.xg6 and Black cannot take back 6 with the h-pawn. 25...fxg6 26.c3 + +p+l+ White could still hope for some ini- 5 + vl zP sN tiative. 4 + + + + 23.h5! xh5 24. xe6+ fxe6 3 + + + + 25.xh5 e7 26.c4 b2 27.f4 2 Psn +LzPPzP f8 28.xf8 xf8 1 and aft er plenty of precise moves tR + + mK by both sides, the position became abcdefgh a dead draw. Th e fi ght continued, but the rest is not interesting because of 19. c1! the opposite-colored bishops. Th is is the point, and seems like White is winning, but Jobava fi nds 29.e2 e7 30.g3 g5 31.g2 h5 a very nice way to survive. 32.c3 h4 33.e4 hxg3 34.fxg3 d4 35.xg5 xe5 36.g4 a4 37.xe6 19...a4! f6 38.b3 xg5 39.xa4 d4 Th e only move! 19...xa7 20.c8! Draw agreed! A very interesting instead of taking the rook, he pro- game, full of beautiful ideas! Both motes to a queen, and so h8 is also players deserve congratulations! falling. 1/2 20.cxd8+ Finally, he took it! 20.b5+ e7 21.cxd8+ xd8 22.xa4 xa7
20...xd8 21.b5 b6 Th e position has simplifi ed and re- sulted in an even situation.
22.h4 Volokitin doesn’t give up the fi ght for the advantage and fi nds a very nice trick. However, Jobava does not www.chess-evolution.com www.chess-evolution.com www.chess-evolution.com www.chess-evolution.com