[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.13"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2834"]
[BlackElo "2811"]
[ECO "C42"]
[Opening "Petrov"]
[Variation "Cozio (Lasker) attack"]
[WhiteFideId "1503014"]
[BlackFideId "2020009"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Qe2 Qe7 6. d3 Nf6 7. Nc3 Qxe2+ 8.
Bxe2 g6 9. Nd4 a6 10. Bf4 Bg7 11. h3 Bd7 12. Bf3 Nc6 13. Nxc6 Bxc6 14. Bxc6+
bxc6 15. O-O-O Kd7 16. Rhe1 Rhe8 17. Ne4 Nd5 18. Bd2 f5 19. Ng5 h6 20. Nf3 g5
21. c3 c5 22. Kc2 Bf6 23. Rxe8 Rxe8 24. Re1 Rf8 25. Rh1 Re8 26. g3 g4 27. Ng1
Bg5 28. Kd1 a5 29. Ne2 a4 30. Bxg5 hxg5 31. hxg4 fxg4 32. Rh5 Re5 33. Rh7+ Ke6
34. a3 Rf5 35. c4 Nf6 36. Rh2 Rf3 37. Kc2 Nd7 38. d4 Nb6 39. dxc5 dxc5 40. Nc3
Ke5 41. Nd1 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.13"]
[Round "1.2"]
[White "Giri, Anish"]
[Black "Hou, Yifan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2752"]
[BlackElo "2680"]
[ECO "C42"]
[Opening "Petrov"]
[Variation "Nimzovich attack"]
[WhiteFideId "24116068"]
[BlackFideId "8602980"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Be3 Nc6 8.
Bd3 Be6 9. Qe2 Bf6 10. O-O-O Qe7 11. Kb1 a6 12. Rhe1 O-O-O 13. h3 Rhe8 14. g4 h6
15. Nd2 Bg5 16. f4 Bh4 17. Bf2 Bxf2 18. Qxf2 Qf8 19. f5 Bd7 20. f6 g6 21. Be4
Kb8 22. Nc4 Re6 23. Bxc6 Rxe1 24. Rxe1 Bxc6 25. Na5 Re8 26. Nxc6+ bxc6 27. Qg3
Qh8 28. Re7 Rxe7 29. fxe7 Qe8 30. Qe3 Kc8 31. h4 Kd7 32. Qxh6 Qxe7 33. b3 Qe4
34. g5 Qe5 35. Qf8 Qd5 36. Kb2 c5 37. Qg8 Qf3 38. Qf8 Qd5 39. Qg7 Qf5 40. Qg8
Qf3 41. a4 Qf1 42. Qf8 Qf5 43. Qa8 Qf1 44. Qe4 Kd8 45. Qg4 d5 46. a5 Qe1 47. h5
gxh5 48. Qxh5 Qe6 49. Qh8+ Ke7 50. b4 cxb4 51. cxb4 Kd7 52. Qd4 Kc8 53. Qf6
Qxf6+ 54. gxf6 Kd7 55. Kb3 Kc6 56. c4 d4 57. Kc2 Kd6 58. Kd2 c6 59. Ke2 Kd7 60.
Kd3 Kc7 61. Kxd4 Kd6 62. Kd3 Kc7 63. Ke4 Kd6 64. Kd4 1-0

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.13"]
[Round "1.3"]
[White "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Black "Wei, Yi"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2787"]
[BlackElo "2743"]
[ECO "D77"]
[Opening "Neo-Gruenfeld, 6.O-O"]
[WhiteFideId "4101588"]
[BlackFideId "8603405"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. d4 Nf6 5. O-O O-O 6. c4 dxc4 7. Na3 c5 8. dxc5
c3 9. Nb5 Na6 10. Nxc3 Nxc5 11. Be3 Nfe4 12. Nxe4 Nxe4 13. Bd4 Bxd4 14. Qxd4
Qxd4 15. Nxd4 Nd6 16. Rac1 Rd8 17. f4 Kf8 18. Kf2 Bg4 19. h3 Bd7 20. e4 Rac8 21.
Rxc8 Rxc8 22. Rd1 Ke8 23. e5 Nf5 24. Nb3 Bc6 25. Rc1 Kd7 26. Nc5+ Ke8 27. Nd3
Kd7 28. g4 Nd4 29. Rc4 Ne6 30. f5 gxf5 31. gxf5 Ng7 32. Bxc6+ bxc6 33. Nc5+ Kc7
34. Rh4 h5 35. f6 exf6 36. exf6 Ne8 37. Rxh5 Nxf6 38. Rf5 Nd5 39. Rxf7+ Kd6 40.
Ne4+ Ke5 41. Nd2 a5 42. Nc4+ Ke6 43. Rh7 Rb8 44. Ke2 Kf5 45. Rh6 Nf6 46. h4 a4
47. Kd3 c5 48. Ne3+ Ke5 49. h5 Rd8+ 50. Kc4 Ne4 51. Kb5 Kd4 52. Nc4 a3 53. Nxa3
Nd6+ 54. Kc6 Nf7 55. Nb5+ 1-0

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.13"]
[Round "1.4"]
[White "Svidler, Peter"]
[Black "Adhiban, Baskaran"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2768"]
[BlackElo "2655"]
[ECO "B12"]
[Opening "Caro-Kann"]
[Variation "advance variation"]
[WhiteFideId "4102142"]
[BlackFideId "5018471"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 Ne7 6. O-O h6 7. Nbd2 Bh7 8. Nb3
Nd7 9. a4 g5 10. a5 a6 11. c3 Nf5 12. Bd3 g4 13. Ne1 h5 14. Nc2 c5 15. Nxc5 Nxc5
16. dxc5 Bxc5 17. Nd4 Bxd4 18. cxd4 Rc8 19. Ra3 Rc7 20. Bf4 Nh4 21. Qd2 Bxd3 22.
Bg5 Qc8 23. Rxd3 Nf5 24. Qb4 Kd7 25. Qa4+ Rc6 26. Rc1 Rg8 27. Bf6 Qc7 28. g3 Rc8
29. Rc5 Ke8 30. b4 Qd7 31. Qd1 Rxc5 32. bxc5 Qb5 33. h3 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.13"]
[Round "1.5"]
[White "Jones, Gawain C B"]
[Black "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2640"]
[BlackElo "2753"]
[ECO "C54"]
[Opening "Giuoco Piano"]
[WhiteFideId "409561"]
[BlackFideId "14109603"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Bd2 Bxd2+ 8.
Nbxd2 d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Qb3 Na5 11. Qa4+ Nc6 12. Qb3 Nce7 13. O-O O-O 14. Rfe1
c6 15. Ne4 Nb6 16. Bd3 Ned5 17. Nc5 Nf6 18. Rac1 Rb8 19. Qa3 a6 20. Qb3 Qc7 21.
Ne4 Nfd5 22. Nc3 Qd6 23. Be4 Bg4 24. Nxd5 cxd5 25. Bb1 Bxf3 26. Qxf3 Rfe8 27.
Qc3 g6 28. Bd3 Kg7 29. g3 Rbc8 30. Rxe8 Rxe8 31. Qb3 Re7 32. Bf1 Qf6 33. Qb4 Re4
34. Rd1 Re7 35. Rc1 Re4 36. Rd1 Re7 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.13"]
[Round "1.6"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Matlakov, Maxim"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2767"]
[BlackElo "2718"]
[ECO "C77"]
[Opening "Ruy Lopez"]
[Variation "Anderssen variation"]
[WhiteFideId "5000017"]
[BlackFideId "4168003"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d3 b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 7. c3 d6 8. Bg5 h6
9. Bh4 g5 10. Bg3 Ba7 11. Nbd2 Na5 12. Bc2 Nh5 13. a4 b4 14. cxb4 Nc6 15. b5 Nb4
16. Nc4 Nxg3 17. hxg3 g4 18. Nh4 axb5 19. axb5 Bxf2+ 20. Kxf2 Rxa1 21. Qxa1 Nxc2
22. Qa4 Qf6+ 23. Kg1 Nd4 24. b6+ Bd7 25. Qd1 cxb6 26. Kh2 O-O 27. Rf1 Qg5 28.
Nxd6 Be6 29. Nhf5 Nxf5 30. exf5 Bd5 31. Qe2 Qf6 32. Qxg4+ Kh7 33. Ne4 Bxe4 34.
dxe4 Rd8 35. Rc1 Rd4 36. Rc7 Rb4 37. Qe2 Kg7 38. Rc8 Qg5 39. Rc6 Rb3 40. Rc3 Rb4
41. b3 Rd4 42. Rc6 Rb4 43. Qf3 Kh7 44. Rd6 Kg7 45. Rd5 Qf6 46. Kg1 Kh7 47. Qd3
Kg7 48. Kf2 Rd4 49. Rxd4 exd4 50. Qb5 Qd8 51. Qd5 Qf6 52. g4 Kg8 53. Kf3 1-0

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.13"]
[Round "1.7"]
[White "So, Wesley"]
[Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2792"]
[BlackElo "2804"]
[ECO "B29"]
[Opening "Sicilian"]
[Variation "Nimzovich-Rubinstein; Rubinstein counter-gambit"]
[WhiteFideId "5202213"]
[BlackFideId "13401319"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e5 Nd5 4. Nc3 e6 5. Nxd5 exd5 6. d4 Nc6 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8.
Bd3 d6 9. exd6 Qxd6 10. O-O O-O 11. Re1 h6 12. h3 Bd7 13. Be3 d4 14. Bd2 Rfe8
15. a3 Qd5 16. b4 Bd6 17. c4 dxc3 18. Rxe8+ Rxe8 19. Bxc3 Be6 20. Be4 Qxe4 21.
Qxd6 Qc2 22. Qd2 Qxd2 23. Nxd2 Rd8 24. Re1 Nd4 25. a4 Nc2 26. Rc1 Nd4 27. Re1
Nc2 28. Rc1 Nd4 29. Re1 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.14"]
[Round "2.1"]
[White "Adhiban, Baskaran"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C47"]
[WhiteElo "2655"]
[BlackElo "2834"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Bb4 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bd3 d5 8.
exd5 O-O 9. O-O cxd5 10. Bg5 c6 11. Qf3 Bd6 12. Rae1 Rb8 13. b3 (13. Nd1 h6 14.
Bxf6 Qxf6 15. Qxf6 gxf6 {½-½ Efimenko,Z (2689)-Nikolic,P (2638) Valjevo 2012}
) 13... a5 $146 (13... h6 14. Bxf6 Qxf6 15. Qxf6 gxf6 16. Ne2 c5 17. Ng3 {
½-½ Mohr,G (2495)-Leventic,I (2448) Bol 2013}) 14. h3 h6 15. Bxf6 Qxf6 16.
Qxf6 gxf6 17. Ne2 c5 18. Ng3 Rd8 19. Nf5 Bf8 20. Ne7+ Bxe7 21. Rxe7 Be6 22. Rd1
c4 23. Be2 a4 24. bxa4 Bf5 25. Bf3 $2 ({After} 25. c3 {it's White who is
slightly better.}) 25... d4 26. a5 $2 {Just two mistakes and White is lost.} ({
A long computer variation goes} 26. Re2 Rb2 27. Red2 d3 28. cxd3 c3 29. Rxb2
cxb2 30. Rb1 Rb8 31. Be4 Be6 32. a5 Bxa2 33. Rxb2 Rxb2 34. a6 Rb1+ 35. Kh2 Ra1
36. a7 Bd5 37. Bxd5 Rxa7 38. g4 {which is probably a draw.}) 26... Bxc2 27. Rc1
Rb1 $1 28. Rxb1 Bxb1 29. Rc7 c3 30. Bd1 Ra8 31. Rc5 Bxa2 32. Bc2 Be6 33. Kf1
Rc8 34. Rxc8+ Bxc8 35. Ke2 Ba6+ 36. Kf3 d3 0-1

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.14"]
[Round "2.2"]
[White "Giri, Anish"]
[Black "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A13"]
[WhiteElo "2752"]
[BlackElo "2787"]
[Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 Bb4 {A pet line of the Lithuanian GM Rozentalis. Giri was
happy that Kramnik deviated from his superb opening preparation, but not for
long...} 3. Qb3 Ba5 ({Also possible is} 3... a5 4. a3 Bxc3 5. Qxc3 Nf6 6. b3
O-O 7. Bb2 d6 8. e3 e5 {building a wall on the dark squares as in Aronian,L 
(2785) -Riazantsev,A (2671) Sharjah 2017}) 4. Nf3 c5 5. d4 $146 {Move number
five and already a novelty.} ({The position is fresh though; the only other
test so far saw} 5. g3 Nf6 6. Bg2 Nc6 7. O-O O-O 8. d3 d6 9. e4 h6 10. h3 e5 {
with complex game, Bezman,V (2395)-Jascenko,O (2180) St Petersburg 1994}) 5...
Nf6 6. dxc5 Na6 7. Be3 Ne4 {Now the game finally enters Nimzo-Indian waters.}
8. g3 Naxc5 9. Qc2 {But it's Nimzo-Indian that's favorable for Black, as "he
somehow tricked me in the opening to move the queen twice Qd1-b3-c2." (Giri)}
Bxc3+ {Sooner or later Black will play this, but he could have also started
with either} (9... d6) ({or} 9... b6) 10. bxc3 b6 11. Bg2 Bb7 12. O-O O-O 13.
Rfd1 {The opening was a big success for the 14th world champion. All his light
pieces are excellent, while the white pawns on the queenside are obvious
targets.} Qe7 ({Giri was seriously afraid of} 13... Qc7 $1 {which would have
prevented his plan. "I was hoping for a draw here."}) 14. a4 $1 {Now the Dutch
GM not only removes one of his weaknesses but he creates a weakness on
Kramnik's camp too.} d6 15. a5 f5 {Inaccurate.} ({Correct was to drop the
knight at once in order to oppose the light-squared bishop with} 15... Nf6 $1 {
An additional bonus is that White cannot attack the b-pawn easily either:} 16.
Rdb1 $2 ({If White plays in a similar way as in the game} 16. Nd4 {then} Bxg2
17. Kxg2 Ng4 {followed by Ng4-e5 allows Black a chance to attack the weakness
on c4 at once.}) 16... Be4 {since the e4 square is effectively used by the
bishop too.}) 16. axb6 axb6 17. Nd4 Nf6 18. Bxb7 Nxb7 {Forced.} (18... Qxb7 19.
Rxa8 Rxa8 20. Nb5 {drops the pawn on d6.}) 19. Rxa8 Rxa8 20. Nb5 {The white
pawns are still horrible but he got plenty of activity to compensate for it.} (
20. Qb3 {was less convincing after} Ng4 21. Bc1 ({The pawn is not worth the
crippled strcuture after} 21. Qxb6 Nxe3 22. fxe3) 21... Ne5) 20... Rc8 ({
Instead} 20... Nd7 $1 {would not save the pawn due to the small trick} 21. Nxd6
({Therefore} 21. Bf4 $5 {might be more interesting in order to develop the
initiative.}) (21. Qd2 Ne5 22. Nxd6 Nxd6 23. Qxd6 Qxd6 24. Rxd6 Nxc4 25. Rxe6
Rc8 {transposes.}) 21... Nxd6 22. Qd3 {True, if we continue the line a bit} Ne5
23. Qxd6 Qxd6 24. Rxd6 Nxc4 25. Rxe6 Rc8 {transposes.} 26. Re7 (26. Bd4 $2 {
self-traps the rook} Kf7) 26... Kf8 27. Rb7 Nxe3 28. fxe3 Rxc3 {we see that it
should all end peacefully.}) 21. Qa2 ({Also promising for White looks} 21. Bxb6
Rxc4 22. Ra1 Rc8 23. Ra7) 21... d5 {Not the move that Kramnik wanted to make,
but there is nothing else.} ({Not} 21... Rc6 $2 22. Qa8+ Kf7 23. Ra1 {and
White wins.}) 22. Bg5 {Mounts pressure against the pawns.} ({Both} 22. Qa7) ({
Or} 22. Bxb6 {were promising as well.}) 22... Rxc4 ({White is clearly better
after} 22... dxc4 23. Qa7) 23. Qa8+ (23. Bxf6 gxf6 24. Qa6 Qd7 {hsould be
holdable for Black.}) 23... Kf7 $3 {"Brilliant!" (Giri)} ({The Dutch GM was
hoping for} 23... Nd8 24. Bxf6 Qxf6 25. Rxd5 $1 exd5 26. Qxd5+ {which will
help him regain the material with interest. Now} Qf7 {is definitely not great
due to} 27. Qxd8+ Qf8 28. Qd5+ Qf7 29. Qxf7+ Kxf7 30. Nd6+ {Hm , weren't we
playing chess, rather then checkers?}) 24. Ra1 {Good that White has strong
pressure along the a-file no matter what.} ({Obviously Giri saw from afar the
trick} 24. Qxb7 Qxb7 25. Nd6+ {but here he finished the line} Ke7 26. Nxb7 Rc7
{and the conclusions did not thrill him...}) 24... Na5 25. Qb8 Rc6 {Both
players were down to five minutes on their clocks and as we know it, it is way
easier to attack than to defend when low on time.} ({Stronger was} 25... Nc6
26. Qxb6 Kg6 27. Bxf6 Kxf6 28. Ra8 {with good chances to hold.}) 26. Nd4 Rxc3 {
Brave, daring, or reckless?} ({More resilient was} 26... Rd6 27. Nf3 Qd8 ({
But not} 27... Kg6 28. Ne5+ $1 Kxg5 29. Qxd6 Qxd6 30. Nf7+ Kg6 31. Nxd6) 28.
Ne5+ Kf8 29. Qa7 Qe7 {and I do not see anything decisive for White.}) 27. Qxb6
Nc4 28. Qb8 Nd7 $2 {A blunder, which loses on the spot.} ({The only chance was:
} 28... Ra3 $1 {although then White still has huge attack with} 29. Rb1 Qe8 30.
Rb7+ Kg6 {with a choice between promisng endgame with} 31. Qxe8+ ({Or attack
after} 31. Qc7 $5) 31... Nxe8 32. Nxe6) 29. Bxe7 Nxb8 30. Bb4 $1 {All of a
sudden, the rook is trapped.} e5 31. Ra7+ Kg8 (31... Kf6 32. Bxc3 exd4 33.
Bxd4+) 32. Bxc3 exd4 33. Bxd4 Nc6 34. Rxg7+ Kf8 35. Bf6 1-0

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.14"]
[Round "2.3"]
[White "Matlakov, Maxim"]
[Black "So, Wesley"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2718"]
[BlackElo "2792"]
[ECO "E04"]
[Opening "Catalan"]
[Variation "open, 5.Nf3"]
[WhiteFideId "4168003"]
[BlackFideId "5202213"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. Qa4 Bb4+ 7. Bd2 Nd5 8.
Bxb4 Nxb4 9. Nc3 Bd7 10. O-O a5 11. Qd1 O-O 12. e3 a4 13. Nxa4 Nxd4 14. Qxd4
Bxa4 15. Qxc4 Qe7 16. a3 Nd5 17. Rfc1 Rfc8 18. b3 Bc6 19. Nd4 Rxa3 20. Nxc6 bxc6
21. Qxc6 Rxa1 22. Rxa1 Nf6 23. Rc1 h5 24. Bf3 Rb8 25. Qxc7 Qxc7 26. Rxc7 Rxb3
27. Rc8+ Kh7 28. Rc7 Kg8 29. Rc8+ Kh7 30. Rc7 Kg8 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.14"]
[Round "2.4"]
[White "Hou, Yifan"]
[Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C15"]
[WhiteElo "2680"]
[BlackElo "2804"]
[PlyCount "96"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. exd5 exd5 5. Bd3 Nc6 6. a3 Ba5 7. Nge2 Nge7 8.
O-O O-O 9. Bg5 (9. Ng3 Nxd4 10. Bxh7+ Kxh7 11. Qxd4 c6 12. Re1 Nf5 13. Qd3 Qf6
{Alekseev,E (2616)-Akobian,V (2647) Riadh 2017}) 9... f6 10. Be3 Bf5 11. Nf4
$146 (11. Ng3 Bxd3 12. Qxd3 Qd7 13. Nce2 Nd8 14. b4 Bb6 15. a4 c6 16. a5 Bc7
17. Bf4 Nf7 {Gengler,P (2195)-Laurent,B (2359) Heraklio 2007}) 11... Bxc3 12.
bxc3 Qd7 13. c4 Bxd3 14. Qxd3 Rad8 15. Rab1 b6 16. Rb5 dxc4 17. Qxc4+ Rf7 18.
Rd1 Na5 19. Qd3 c6 20. Rbb1 Qf5 21. a4 g5 22. Nh5 Qxd3 23. Rxd3 Nd5 24. Bd2 Nc4
25. Re1 h6 26. h4 Kh7 27. g4 gxh4 28. Re6 Rd6 29. Rxd6 Nxd6 30. f3 f5 31. Be1
a5 32. Bxh4 b5 33. Ra3 Nc4 34. Ra1 fxg4 35. fxg4 Nde3 36. Nf6+ Kg6 37. d5 cxd5
38. axb5 Rxf6 39. Bxf6 Kxf6 40. c3 Ke6 41. b6 Kd7 42. Rb1 Kc8 43. b7+ Kb8 44.
Kf2 a4 45. Ke2 a3 46. Kd3 Nxg4 47. Kd4 Nd2 48. Rb4 a2 0-1

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.14"]
[Round "2.5"]
[White "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2753"]
[BlackElo "2767"]
[ECO "A07"]
[Opening "Reti"]
[Variation "King's Indian attack (Barcza system)"]
[WhiteFideId "14109603"]
[BlackFideId "5000017"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 c5 4. O-O Nc6 5. d4 e6 6. c4 dxc4 7. dxc5 Qxd1 8.
Rxd1 Bxc5 9. Nfd2 Na5 10. Na3 Bxa3 11. bxa3 O-O 12. Ne4 Nxe4 13. Bxe4 e5 14. Bb2
Re8 15. Bc3 Nc6 16. Rab1 h6 17. f3 Re7 18. Kf2 f6 19. Bd5+ Kh7 20. Be4+ Kg8 21.
Bb4 Rc7 22. Bd6 Rd7 23. Bd5+ Kh8 24. Bxc4 Nd4 25. Bc5 Rc7 26. Bxd4 Rxc4 27. Be3
b6 28. Rd8+ Kh7 29. Rc1 Rxc1 30. Bxc1 Bb7 31. Rxa8 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.14"]
[Round "2.6"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Jones, Gawain C B"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2811"]
[BlackElo "2640"]
[ECO "E71"]
[Opening "King's Indian"]
[Variation "Makagonov system (5.h3)"]
[WhiteFideId "2020009"]
[BlackFideId "409561"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. h3 O-O 6. Be3 e5 7. d5 Na6 8. g4 Nc5
9. f3 h5 10. Qd2 Nh7 11. O-O-O h4 12. Bd3 Nxd3+ 13. Qxd3 f5 14. Rh2 Kh8 15. Rg2
Bd7 16. exf5 gxf5 17. g5 f4 18. Bf2 Qe8 19. Ne4 Bf5 20. Bxh4 Qh5 21. Bf2 Bxe4
22. fxe4 Nxg5 23. Rg4 Nh7 24. Nf3 Bf6 25. c5 Rg8 26. Rdg1 Qh6 27. Qf1 Be7 28.
Kc2 Nf6 29. Ng5 Raf8 30. Ne6 Qh7 31. Rh4 Nh5 32. Nxf8 Rxf8 33. Rhg4 Qxe4+ 34.
Qd3 Qxd3+ 35. Kxd3 e4+ 36. Kc4 dxc5 37. Bxc5 Bxc5 38. Kxc5 Ng3 39. Rh4+ Kg7 40.
Kd4 Rf5 41. Rxf4 Rxf4 42. Rxg3+ Kf6 43. Rb3 c6 44. Rxb7 cxd5 45. Kxd5 e3 46. Rb3
Rf2 47. Rxe3 Rxb2 48. a4 Rb7 49. h4 Rd7+ 50. Kc5 Rh7 51. Re4 Rh5+ 52. Kd6 Kf7
53. Re7+ Kg8 54. Re4 Kf7 55. Rf4+ Ke8 56. Kc7 Ke7 57. Re4+ Kf6 58. Kb7 Rh7+ 59.
Ka6 Kf5 60. Rb4 Ke6 61. a5 Kd6 62. Rf4 Rh5 63. Rg4 Kc6 64. Rb4 Rh7 65. Rc4+ Kd6
66. Rc1 Rxh4 67. Kxa7 Ra4 68. a6 Rb4 69. Ka8 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.14"]
[Round "2.7"]
[White "Wei, Yi"]
[Black "Svidler, Peter"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2743"]
[BlackElo "2768"]
[ECO "D80"]
[Opening "Gruenfeld"]
[Variation "Stockholm variation"]
[WhiteFideId "8603405"]
[BlackFideId "4102142"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bg5 Ne4 5. Bh4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 dxc4 7. e3 Be6 8.
Nf3 Bg7 9. Qb1 Qd5 10. Be2 Bf5 11. Qb4 c5 12. Qb5+ Bd7 13. Qxc4 Bc6 14. Qb3 e6
15. c4 Qd7 16. Ne5 Qc7 17. O-O O-O 18. Bg3 Qb6 19. Rfd1 Qa6 20. a4 Nd7 21. Nxc6
bxc6 22. Rab1 cxd4 23. exd4 Nb6 24. Ra1 Rfd8 25. a5 Nc8 26. Ra2 Ne7 27. d5 exd5
28. cxd5 Qc8 29. Bh4 Qc7 30. Bxe7 Qxe7 31. dxc6 Rxd1+ 32. Qxd1 Rd8 33. Qc2 Be5
34. g3 Rb8 35. Kg2 Kg7 36. Qc1 Rb3 37. Bf3 Bc7 38. Qc4 Ra3 39. Qd4+ Be5 40. Re2
Rxa5 41. Qd7 Kf8 42. Qc8+ Qe8 43. Qb7 Rc5 44. Qxa7 Qe7 45. Qa3 h5 46. Rd2 Bd6
47. Qd3 Be5 48. Qa3 Bd6 49. Qd3 Be5 50. Qb3 Rc3 51. Qd1 h4 52. Rd7 Qg5 53. Qd5
Qf5 54. Bg4 Qf6 55. f4 Bxf4 56. gxf4 Rc2+ 57. Kh3 Rc3+ 58. Kg2 Rc2+ 59. Kg1 Rc1+
60. Bd1 Qxf4 61. Qd4 Qxd4+ 62. Rxd4 Rxc6 63. Rxh4 Kg7 64. Rd4 Rf6 65. Kg2 Kh6
66. Bf3 Kg7 67. Kg3 Kh6 68. Kf2 Kg7 69. Rd7 Kg8 70. Ke3 Kg7 71. Bd5 Kg8 72. Bc4
Kg7 73. Rc7 Rf5 74. Ra7 Rf6 75. Rb7 Rf5 76. Ba2 Rf6 77. Bb3 Rf5 78. Rd7 Rf6 79.
Bc4 Rf5 80. Bd5 Rf6 81. Rb7 Rf5 82. Ke4 Kg8 83. Ra7 Kg7 84. Kd4 Rf2 85. h3 Rf1
86. Kc5 Rf6 87. Rb7 Kg8 88. Kd4 Rf5 89. Kc4 Kg7 90. Kc5 Rf6 91. Rc7 Kf8 92. Be4
Kg7 93. Kd5 Re6 94. Kd4 Rf6 95. Ra7 Kf8 96. Ra3 Kg7 97. Kd5 Re6 98. Rc3 Rf6 99.
Bc2 Kf8 100. Bb3 Kg7 101. Ke5 Rf5+ 102. Kd6 Rf4 103. Bd5 Rf5 104. Rc7 Kf8 105.
Ra7 Rf6+ 106. Kd7 Rf5 107. Ra8+ Kg7 108. Kd6 Rf6+ 109. Ke7 Rf5 110. Rd8 Re5+
111. Kd6 Rf5 112. Be4 Rf6+ 113. Ke5 Re6+ 114. Kf4 Rf6+ 115. Kg5 Re6 116. Rd4 Rf6
117. h4 Re6 118. Bf3 Rf6 119. Bg4 Rf1 120. Rd7 Rf2 121. h5 gxh5 122. Bxh5 Rf1
123. Bxf7 Rxf7 124. Rxf7+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.15"]
[Round "3.1"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Wei, Yi"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2834"]
[BlackElo "2743"]
[ECO "E06"]
[Opening "Catalan"]
[Variation "closed, 5.Nf3"]
[WhiteFideId "1503014"]
[BlackFideId "8603405"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Qc2 c5 7. O-O cxd4 8. Nxd4
Na6 9. cxd5 Nb4 10. Qb3 e5 11. Nb5 Nbxd5 12. N1c3 Be6 13. Nxd5 Bxd5 14. Bxd5
Qxd5 15. Bg5 Qxb3 16. axb3 a6 17. Nc3 h6 18. Bxf6 Bxf6 19. Nd5 Rac8 20. Rac1 e4
21. Rc4 Rxc4 22. bxc4 Bxb2 23. Rb1 Ba3 24. Rxb7 Rc8 25. Ra7 Rxc4 26. Rxa6 Bf8
27. Ra8 g6 28. e3 Kg7 29. Kg2 h5 30. h3 Bd6 31. Rd8 Be5 32. Re8 Bd6 33. Rd8 Be5
34. g4 hxg4 35. hxg4 Rc5 36. g5 Rb5 37. Kh3 Rc5 38. Ne7 Rc2 39. Kg2 Rc7 40. Rg8+
Kh7 41. Re8 Rc5 42. Rc8 Rb5 43. Rf8 Kg7 44. Rg8+ Kh7 45. Rf8 Kg7 46. Rg8+ Kh7 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.15"]
[Round "3.2"]
[White "Svidler, Peter"]
[Black "Giri, Anish"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2768"]
[BlackElo "2752"]
[ECO "C48"]
[Opening "Four knights"]
[Variation "Rubinstein counter-gambit"]
[WhiteFideId "4102142"]
[BlackFideId "24116068"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. Nc3 Nd4 5. Bc4 Bc5 6. d3 d6 7. Na4 b5 8. Nxd4
bxc4 9. Ne2 cxd3 10. Qxd3 Bb4+ 11. c3 Qd7 12. b3 Ba5 13. O-O Bb7 14. f3 Bc6 15.
Qa6 Bb6+ 16. Nxb6 axb6 17. Qd3 d5 18. exd5 Qxd5 19. Rd1 Qxd3 20. Rxd3 O-O 21. c4
Rfe8 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.15"]
[Round "3.3"]
[White "Jones, Gawain C B"]
[Black "Adhiban, Baskaran"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C07"]
[WhiteElo "2640"]
[BlackElo "2655"]
[PlyCount "109"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. exd5 Qxd5 5. dxc5 Qxc5 (5... Bxc5 6. Ngf3 Nf6 7.
Bc4 Qc6 8. Qe2 O-O 9. Nb3 Nbd7 10. Bf4 Bd6 11. Nbd4 Qb6 {Naiditsch,A (2705)-Le,
Q (2737) Riadh 2017}) 6. Ngf3 Nf6 7. Bd3 Nbd7 8. Qe2 Qc7 9. c3 Be7 10. O-O b6
11. Ne4 O-O 12. Bg5 Bb7 13. Bh4 Qf4 14. Bg5 Qc7 15. Rad1 Rfd8 $146 (15... Rfe8
16. Nxf6+ Bxf6 17. Bb5 Red8 18. Rxd7 Rxd7 19. Bxf6 gxf6 20. Bxd7 Qxd7 21. Rd1
Qc7 {Ducarmon,Q (2488)-Peralta,F (2582) Sitges 2014}) 16. Rfe1 Rac8 17. Bh4 Qf4
18. Bg3 Qg4 19. Nxf6+ Bxf6 20. Ba6 Bxa6 21. Qxa6 Nc5 22. Rxd8+ Rxd8 23. Qxa7
Nd3 24. h3 Qc4 25. Rd1 h5 26. Qxb6 Qxa2 27. Ne5 Qxb2 28. Qc7 Rf8 29. Nd7 Qe2
30. Ra1 Qb2 31. Ra7 Bd8 32. Qd6 Qb1+ 33. Kh2 Re8 34. Qc6 h4 35. Nf6+ Bxf6 36.
Qxe8+ Kh7 37. Qxf7 hxg3+ 38. fxg3 Qb8 39. Qxf6 Qxa7 40. Qh4+ Kg8 41. Qd8+ Kf7
42. Qxd3 Qc5 43. h4 e5 44. g4 g6 45. Qf3+ Kg7 46. g5 Qc4 47. Qb7+ Kg8 48. Qb4
Qd5 49. Qb8+ Kf7 50. Qa7+ Ke6 51. Qa6+ Kf5 52. Kg3 Qd1 53. Qf6+ Ke4 54. Qf3+
Qxf3+ 55. gxf3+ 1-0

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.15"]
[Round "3.4"]
[White "So, Wesley"]
[Black "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2792"]
[BlackElo "2753"]
[ECO "D38"]
[Opening "QGD"]
[Variation "Ragozin variation"]
[WhiteFideId "5202213"]
[BlackFideId "14109603"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 O-O 7. e3 h6 8. Bh4
Bf5 9. Qb3 Bxc3+ 10. bxc3 Nbd7 11. Be2 c5 12. dxc5 g5 13. Nd4 Bg6 14. c6 bxc6
15. Nxc6 Qe8 16. Bg3 Nc5 17. Qb5 Nfe4 18. O-O Rc8 19. Nd4 Nxc3 20. Qa5 Nxe2+ 21.
Nxe2 Qa4 22. Qxa4 Nxa4 23. Rfd1 Rfd8 24. Be5 Re8 25. Bd4 Rc2 26. Kf1 a6 27. h4
gxh4 28. Nf4 Nb2 29. Rdc1 Rxc1+ 30. Rxc1 Nd3 31. Nxd3 Bxd3+ 32. Kg1 Bc4 33. a3
Rb8 34. Kh2 Rb3 35. Ra1 Rd3 36. Kh3 Rd2 37. f3 Bd3 38. Rg1 Bc2 39. Kxh4 Rd1 40.
Rxd1 Bxd1 41. Kg4 Be2 42. Kf5 h5 43. Kg5 Bf1 44. g3 Be2 45. e4 Bxf3 46. exd5
Bxd5 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.15"]
[Round "3.5"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C42"]
[WhiteElo "2767"]
[BlackElo "2811"]
[Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Bd6 7. O-O O-O 8. c4
c6 9. Qc2 {"Funnily enough this is the first time someone plays this against
him." (Anand)} ({Indeed, Caruana's latest game from London saw:} 9. Re1 Bf5 10.
Qb3 Qd7 11. Nc3 Nxc3 12. Bxf5 Qxf5 13. Qxb7 Qd7 14. Qxd7 Nxd7 15. c5 Bxh2+ 16.
Nxh2 Ne4 {Vachier Lagrave,M (2789)-Caruana,F (2799) London 2017}) 9... Na6 10.
a3 Bg4 11. Ne5 Bf5 12. b4 ({Avoiding the rather uninspiring:} 12. Nc3 Bxe5 13.
dxe5 Nac5 14. cxd5 cxd5 {1/2-1/2 (14) Piorun,K (2631)-Wei,Y (2728)
Khanty-Mansiysk 2017}) 12... Nc7 $146 {As usual Caruana is very well prepared
in the opening. He comes up with an interesting novelty.} ({In the predecessor
White did not achieve much after} 12... f6 13. Nf3 Bg6 14. Nc3 Nxc3 15. Bxg6
hxg6 16. Qxc3 dxc4 17. Qxc4+ Rf7 {Leko,P (2740) -Ivanchuk,V (2729) Monte Carlo
2006}) 13. f3 (13. cxd5 {allows an additional resource for Black:} cxd5 14. f3
Rc8 $1 {with the main point being} 15. fxe4 dxe4 16. Rxf5 Ne6 17. Qd1 Nxd4 18.
Bxe4 $2 Rxc1 $1) 13... Bg6 $1 {"He came up with this idea which I idea missed
or did not prepare." (Anand)} ({Apprently, the former world champion spent
most of his preparation on the line} 13... Bxe5 14. dxe5 Bg6 {where he cannot
win the knight with} 15. fxe4 $2 ({But instead White has a couple of promising
options:} 15. Rd1 $5) ({or} 15. Be3 $5) 15... dxe4 16. Be2 Qd4+) 14. c5 {
After long thought White rejects the offer.} ({In the line:} 14. Nxg6 fxg6 $1
15. fxe4 ({Even worse is} 15. c5 Bxh2+ 16. Kxh2 Qh4+ 17. Kg1 Ng3 18. Bb2 {
when Black has a guaranteed draw with} Qh1+ ({Or may chose the even stronger} 
18... Ne6 $1 {followed by Ne6-f4. (Anand)}) 19. Kf2 Qh4) 15... Qh4 {(Anand)} ({
Objectively} 15... dxe4 $1 {is stronger with the key idea} 16. Bxe4 ({Better is
} 16. Rxf8+ Bxf8 17. Bxe4 Qxd4+ {with perpetual.} 18. Kf1 Qf6+ ({But Black may
also chose to play on with} 18... Qxa1 19. Bb2 Qa2 20. Bd3 Bxb4 21. axb4 Rd8)
19. Kg1 Qd4+ {with perpetual.}) 16... Bxh2+ 17. Kxh2 Rxf1 {and Black wins.})
16. g3 Bxg3 17. hxg3 (17. Qg2 $1 {might have been missed by Anand.}) 17...
Qxg3+ 18. Kh1 {The Indian GM explained that here Black will always find
perpetual, but one wrong move for White, or rather one missed move might lead
to a loss for him. Indeed, Black seems to have decisive attack after} Qh3+ 19.
Kg1 Ne6 $1) 14... Bxe5 15. dxe5 Ng5 16. Bb2 $1 {An important move. There is a
problem with the knight on g5 and White wants to capitalize on it. Now the
advance of the f-pawn is on the agenda. Caruana needs to react fast.} ({After} 
16. Nd2 Bxd3 17. Qxd3 f5 $1 {Black manages to seal the kingside and arrange an
excellent oupost for his knight on e6.}) 16... d4 $5 {This is how to solve the
problem- no knight, no problem as some will say...} ({Here} 16... Bxd3 17. Qxd3
f5 {would be met with the simple} ({Anand expected instead} 17... b6 18. cxb6
axb6 19. Nd2 Nge6 20. f4 {and now} g6 21. f5 gxf5 22. Rxf5 Qh4 {although this
definitely looks very risky for Black.} (22... Kg7)) 18. exf6 {spoiling
Black's pawn structure.}) 17. f4 Nd5 18. fxg5 Ne3 19. Qd2 Bxd3 20. Qxd3 ({
White also checked the consequeces of the sharp} 20. Rf4 Bxb1 ({But later came
to the conclusion he did well not to enter them because of} 20... Qxg5 $1 21.
Rxd4 Rad8 22. Rd6 Be4 (22... Qf5 $1 {is even stronger with advantage for Black.
})) 21. Rxd4 Nd5 22. Rxb1 {"It's not much of a pawn, but it is a pawn" (Anand)}
) 20... Nxf1 21. Kxf1 Qxg5 22. Nd2 Qxe5 {The forced play is over. Caruana will
have a rook and a pawn versus two light pieces which is favorable for White in
this particular position.} 23. Nf3 ({Later on Anand regretted that he did not
go for the line that he originally intended:} 23. Nc4 $1 Qxh2 24. Qxd4 f6 ({Or
} 24... Qh6 25. Nd6) 25. Nd6 {The knight on d6 is a monster which paralizes
both the black rooks.}) 23... Qh5 24. Qxd4 f6 25. Qc4+ Kh8 $1 ({White was
hoping for} 25... Qf7 26. Qxf7+ Rxf7 27. Nd2 {followed by Nd2-c4-d6 (Anand)})
26. Bc1 $1 {The bishop was blunted on the long diagonal. Now it gets back in
business. The d6 square is tempting for either of the white light pieces.} Rfe8
27. Bf4 a5 {Somewhere around here Caruana lost the path.} ({Correct and
obvious was:} 27... Qf5 28. Bd6 Re3 {to double the rooks on the open file.
After} 29. Kg1 Rae8 30. Rf1 Qg6 {Black should be OK.(Anand)}) 28. Bd6 ({
White considered} 28. bxa5 {as well, which seems less promising after} Rxa5 29.
Bd6 Rb5) 28... axb4 $2 {"This is just astonishing! Now I am getting big
advantage." (Anand)} (28... Qg6 $5) 29. Qxb4 Qd5 30. Qxb7 h6 ({Anand
speculated that his opponent might have missed that in the forcing line} 30...
Rxa3 31. Rxa3 Qd1+ 32. Kf2 Qc2+ 33. Kg3 Qg6+ {There is no perpetual because of}
34. Kh3 Qh5+ 35. Nh4 g5 36. Qb4 {and White wins.}) 31. Kg1 Ra4 32. h3 {Getting
air for the king. One important observation by the former world champion was
that with the bishop on d6 he is not even afraid of the sacrifices on f3 as
there will be no perpetual thanks to that piece.} Rc4 (32... Re2 {does not
work due to} 33. Bf8 $1) 33. Qb2 Qd3 34. Ra2 $1 {"I realized that the second
rank is more dangerous than the first one." (Anand)} ({Although he also saw a
win after} 34. Qd2 Qxd2 35. Nxd2 Rc2 36. Nf3 Ree2 37. Ne1 Ra2 38. Rxa2 Rxa2 39.
Nd3 {followed by Nd3-b4xc6.}) 34... Qd1+ 35. Kh2 Rc1 36. a4 f5 37. Qb7 {
Caruana's time trouble did not help neither, but his position is lost anyway.}
f4 38. Bxf4 Rxc5 39. Rd2 (39. Qf7 Rg8 40. Qg6 {would have won as well.}) 39...
Qxa4 40. Qf7 Rg8 41. Be5 Qc4 {Missed by Anand who was awaiting resignation.
Now he had to work a bit to find the cute finish.} {Caruana did not wish to
see the mate on the board.} 42. Rd6 $1 (42. Rd6 Qxf7 43. Rxh6#) (42. Bxg7+ $2 {
does not work due to} Rxg7 43. Rd8+ Kh7 44. Ng5+ $4 (44. Qe8 Rg8 {is a draw.})
44... Rcxg5 45. Qxc4 Rxg2+ 46. Kh1 Rg1+ 47. Kh2 R7g2#) (42. Qe7 {also
complicates matters after} Rd5) 1-0

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.15"]
[Round "3.6"]
[White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"]
[Black "Matlakov, Maxim"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2804"]
[BlackElo "2718"]
[ECO "D45"]
[Opening "QGD semi-Slav"]
[Variation "5...Nd7"]
[WhiteFideId "13401319"]
[BlackFideId "4168003"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Be2 Bd6 7. Qc2 O-O 8. O-O
dxc4 9. a4 e5 10. Bxc4 exd4 11. exd4 Nb6 12. Bb3 Nbd5 13. Bg5 Be6 14. Nxd5 cxd5
15. Qd3 Be7 16. Ne5 Ne4 17. Bxe7 Qxe7 18. f3 Nd6 19. Rfe1 Rac8 20. a5 Qg5 21.
Rad1 Rfd8 22. g3 Nc4 23. Bc2 g6 24. Nxc4 Rxc4 25. Bb3 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.15"]
[Round "3.7"]
[White "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Black "Hou, Yifan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2787"]
[BlackElo "2680"]
[ECO "A18"]
[Opening "English"]
[Variation "Mikenas-Carls variation"]
[WhiteFideId "4101588"]
[BlackFideId "8602980"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. e4 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. e5 Ne4 6. Nf3 Bf5 7. d3 Nxc3 8.
bxc3 Be7 9. d4 O-O 10. Bd3 Qd7 11. O-O Nc6 12. Re1 b6 13. Bb5 Qe6 14. Ng5 Bxg5
15. Bxg5 Qg6 16. h4 a6 17. Be2 h6 18. Bf4 Qe6 19. h5 Be4 20. Bg4 Bf5 21. Bf3
Rad8 22. Qe2 Na5 23. g4 Be4 24. Bxe4 dxe4 25. Bg3 c5 26. dxc5 Nc4 27. Qxe4 Nd2
28. Qf4 bxc5 29. Re3 Nc4 30. Re4 Nd2 31. Re3 Nc4 32. Re4 Nd2 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.16"]
[Round "4.1"]
[White "Giri, Anish"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C19"]
[WhiteElo "2752"]
[BlackElo "2834"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 Ne7 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 c5 7. Qg4 cxd4 8.
Qxg7 Rg8 9. Qxh7 Qc7 10. Ne2 Nbc6 11. f4 dxc3 12. Nxc3 (12. h4 Bd7 13. h5 O-O-O
14. Qd3 d4 15. h6 Be8 16. Rb1 Nd5 17. Nxd4 Nxf4 18. Bxf4 Rxd4 19. Qe3 f5 20.
Bd3 Ra4 21. Rh3 {and White won a nice game in Sutovsky,E (2628)-Kovalenko,I 
(2684) Gibraltar 2017}) 12... Nd4 13. Bb2 Bd7 14. O-O-O Qb6 15. Qd3 Ndf5 16.
Rd2 $146 (16. Nb5 Rc8 17. g3 a6 18. Nd4 Ba4 19. Rd2 Rc4 20. Bg2 Nxd4 21. Bxd4
Qb5 22. Bf1 Qc6 {Svidler,P (2747)-Vitiugov,N (2712) Paris/St Petersburg 2013})
16... Rc8 17. g3 Ne3 18. Ne4 $1 Rxc2+ $1 19. Rxc2 dxe4 20. Qxe4 Nxc2 21. Qxc2
Bc6 22. Bg2 Bxg2 23. Qxg2 Nd5 24. Kb1 Nc3+ 25. Ka1 Qb3 26. Bxc3 Qxa3+ 27. Kb1
Qxc3 28. Rc1 Qb4+ 29. Qb2 Qe4+ 30. Qc2 Qb4+ 31. Qb2 (31. Ka2 Kf8 32. Qc5+ Qxc5
33. Rxc5 Kg7 34. Rc7 Rb8) 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.16"]
[Round "4.2"]
[White "Hou, Yifan"]
[Black "Matlakov, Maxim"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2680"]
[BlackElo "2718"]
[ECO "C89"]
[Opening "Ruy Lopez"]
[Variation "Marshall counter-attack"]
[WhiteFideId "8602980"]
[BlackFideId "4168003"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. c3
d5 9. d4 exd4 10. e5 Ne4 11. cxd4 Bf5 12. Nc3 Nxc3 13. bxc3 Na5 14. Bc2 Bxc2 15.
Qxc2 Nc4 16. a4 Qd7 17. Bg5 bxa4 18. Rxa4 a5 19. Rea1 Rfb8 20. R4a2 Bxg5 21.
Nxg5 g6 22. h3 Rb6 23. Nf3 Rab8 24. Qc1 Kg7 25. Kh2 Qf5 26. Nd2 Nb2 27. Nf3 a4
28. Rxa4 Nxa4 29. Rxa4 Rb2 30. Qe3 Qe4 31. Qxe4 dxe4 32. Ng5 Rxf2 33. Nxe4 Re2
34. Nf6 Rbb2 35. Kg3 Re3+ 36. Kf4 Rxc3 37. Ra8 Rxg2 38. Rg8+ Kh6 39. Rh8 Rf2+
40. Ke4 Rxf6 41. exf6 Kg5 42. Rxh7 Kxf6 43. Rh8 Kg5 44. h4+ Kg4 45. d5 Rc4+ 46.
Ke5 f5 47. h5 Re4+ 48. Kf6 gxh5 49. Rc8 f4 50. Rxc7 f3 51. Rg7+ Kf4 52. Rh7 f2
53. Rxh5 Kg3 54. Rg5+ Rg4 0-1

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.16"]
[Round "4.3"]
[White "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Black "Svidler, Peter"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D78"]
[WhiteElo "2787"]
[BlackElo "2768"]
[Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"]
[PlyCount "47"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 g6 4. O-O Bg7 5. d4 O-O 6. c4 c6 7. Ne5 Be6 8. cxd5
Bxd5 9. Nc3 {"Kind of new and I got a certain advantage." (Kramnik)} Bxg2 10.
Kxg2 Nbd7 ({The other way to play it is} 10... Na6 11. Nf3 c5 12. d5 b5 13. e4
b4 14. Ne2 c4 (14... Nxe4 $2 15. Qd3) 15. Qd4 Qb6 16. Qxc4 Rfc8 {with some
compensation for the pawn in Wen,Y (2611)-Xu,M (2305) Wuxi 2016}) 11. Qb3 Qb6
12. Rd1 $146 {A logical novelty. In these positions both sides prefer that the
opponent trades the queen himself.} ({Weaker was} 12. Qxb6 Nxb6 (12... axb6 $1)
13. Bg5 h6 14. Bxf6 Bxf6 15. Nf3 Rfd8 16. e3 {½-½ Denes,J (1912)-Znuderl,M
Durham 2007}) 12... Qxb3 13. axb3 {"The endgame is unpleasant for Black." 
(Kramnik) These slight endgame advantages are Kramnik's bread and butter. Add
to this the fact that lately Svidler hasn't been the patient defender that he
was in the past, and you can call the opening a huge success for the 14th
world champion.} Rfc8 ({It is not easy to liberate Black's position. For
example:} 13... c5 14. Nxd7 Nxd7 15. dxc5 Nxc5 16. Be3 Rfc8 17. b4 Ne6 18. Rd7
{leads to large advantage for White.}) 14. f4 c5 {Svidler decided to "free
himself tactically." (Kramnik)} ({More patient ways were also there, for
example} 14... Nb8 {to bring the knight to b4, but White stays better after}
15. e4 Na6 16. Ra4) ({Or} 14... Nb6 15. e4 {with advantage for White as well.})
15. Be3 cxd4 16. Rxd4 ({Significantly better than} 16. Bxd4 Nxe5 17. Bxe5 Ng4
$1) 16... Nxe5 17. fxe5 {White's pawn structure has been shattered, but piece
activity is a priority in this endgame.} Ne8 18. Rd7 {The critical moment of
the game.} Rc7 $2 {Svidler blunders.} ({Correct was} 18... Bxe5 $1 19. Rxe7
Bxc3 20. bxc3 Rxc3 21. Rxa7 {when the nice tactics} Rxe3 $1 22. Rxe3 Rxa7 23.
Rxe8+ Kg7 24. Re7 {leads to an endgame which albeit unpleasant should be
holdable for Black, even if he loses the b-pawn.}) ({Less convincing is} 18...
Kf8 19. Rxb7 Bxe5 20. Raxa7 Rxa7 21. Bxa7 Bxc3 22. bxc3 Rxc3 23. b4 {when
White preserves serious winning chances.}) 19. Rxa7 $1 {Svidler actually saw
this, but missed an important detail in his preliminary calculations.} Rb8 ({
Svidler thought that he was save after} 19... Rxa7 20. Rd8 Kf8 ({But not} 20...
Ra6 21. Rxe8+ Bf8 22. Bh6 {with inevitable mate.}) 21. Bxa7 Bxe5 {when
suddenly the truth dawned on him:} 22. Bb8 $1 Rc5 23. b4 $1 {and White wins
material, e.g.} Bc7 24. Rc8 Rc4 25. b5 $1 ({Less convincing is} 25. Nd5 Bxg3
26. Rxc4 Bxb8) 25... b6 ({Here} 25... Bxg3 26. Rxc4 Bxb8 27. Rc8 {leaves Black
no chances.}) 26. Nd5 {and the bishop will be lost on the pin.}) 20. Rd5 {
Kramnik not only won a pawn, but kept all his pieces dominating. More material
gains will follow inevitably.} b6 ({The last chance was the endgame after} 
20... e6 21. Rb5 b6 22. Rxb6 Rxb6 23. Rxc7 Nxc7 24. Bxb6 Bxe5) 21. Nb5 Rxa7 ({
The active} 21... Rc2 {will be strongly met with} 22. Nd4 Rxb2 23. Nc6 {
suddenly trapping the rook!}) 22. Nxa7 Kf8 ({Or} 22... e6 23. Rd7) 23. Rd7 Ra8
(23... Bxe5 $2 24. Nc6) 24. Bd4 {Nothing can be done, White will gradually
improve everything that he has before capturing the b6 pawn.} 1-0

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.16"]
[Round "4.4"]
[White "Adhiban, Baskaran"]
[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2655"]
[BlackElo "2767"]
[ECO "A09"]
[Opening "Reti"]
[Variation "advance variation"]
[WhiteFideId "5018471"]
[BlackFideId "5000017"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 d4 3. b4 c5 4. g3 cxb4 5. a3 b3 6. d3 Nc6 7. Nbd2 e5 8. Bg2 Nf6
9. Nxb3 Be7 10. O-O O-O 11. Bg5 Rb8 12. Ne1 Bd7 13. Nc2 b5 14. Nd2 a6 15. Nb4
Nxb4 16. axb4 bxc4 17. Nxc4 Bb5 18. Nxe5 Bxb4 19. Rb1 a5 20. Ng4 Rb6 21. Qc1 Qc8
22. Ne5 Qe6 23. Nf3 Qxe2 24. Nxd4 Qxd3 25. Rd1 Qg6 26. Bxf6 Qxf6 27. Nxb5 Rxb5
28. Qc6 Qf5 29. Be4 Qe5 30. Rd7 Rc5 31. Qb7 g6 32. Bd5 Qf6 33. Rb3 Rc3 34. Rxc3
Bxc3 35. Rxf7 Rxf7 36. Bxf7+ Qxf7 37. Qc8+ Qf8 38. Qc4+ Qf7 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.16"]
[Round "4.5"]
[White "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2753"]
[BlackElo "2804"]
[ECO "C42"]
[Opening "Petrov"]
[Variation "classical attack"]
[WhiteFideId "14109603"]
[BlackFideId "13401319"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. O-O Be7 8.
Nbd2 Bf5 9. Re1 Nxd2 10. Qxd2 Bxd3 11. Qxd3 O-O 12. c3 h6 13. Bf4 Bd6 14. Bg3
Qd7 15. Re3 Rfe8 16. Rae1 Rxe3 17. Rxe3 a6 18. Bxd6 Qxd6 19. Nh4 Qd7 20. Qf5 Rd8
21. Qxd7 Rxd7 22. Re8+ Kh7 23. Rc8 Ne7 24. Rb8 c5 25. Nf3 Nc6 26. Rc8 cxd4 27.
Nxd4 Nxd4 28. cxd4 Re7 29. Kf1 Re4 30. Rc7 b5 31. Rxf7 Rxd4 32. Ke2 Ra4 33. a3
Rc4 34. Kd3 b4 35. axb4 Rxb4 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.16"]
[Round "4.6"]
[White "Wei, Yi"]
[Black "Jones, Gawain C B"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E71"]
[WhiteElo "2743"]
[BlackElo "2640"]
[PlyCount "95"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. h3 O-O 6. Nf3 e5 7. d5 a5 8. Bg5 Na6
9. Be2 Qe8 10. g4 Kh8 11. Nd2 Ng8 12. h4 f5 13. gxf5 gxf5 14. Bh5 Qd7 15. Qe2
$146 (15. exf5 Qxf5 16. Nde4 Nc5 17. Qe2 Nxe4 18. Nxe4 Nf6 19. Ng3 Qd7 20. Rg1
c6 {Solomon,K (2350)-Popovic,D (2553) Cappelle-la-Grande 2014}) 15... Nf6 16.
Bf3 fxe4 17. Ndxe4 Nxe4 18. Nxe4 Nb4 19. Bg2 Qa4 20. Nc3 Qc2 21. Be4 Qxe2+ 22.
Kxe2 Bg4+ 23. f3 Bh5 24. Rag1 Rf7 25. Be3 Bf6 $2 ({After} 25... Raf8 26. Rh3 {
White enjoys a pleasant advantage but the text move loses material.}) 26. Rg5
$1 Bg6 (26... Bxg5 27. hxg5 Bg6 28. Bxg6 {is a full piece.}) 27. Bxg6 hxg6 28.
Rxg6 {Now it is White who has an extra pawn plus the compensation!} Nc2 29. Ne4
Be7 30. Ng5 Rf6 31. Rxf6 Bxf6 32. Ne6 Nxe3 33. Kxe3 Rg8 34. Ke4 c6 35. Kf5 Be7
36. Ng5 Re8 37. Ne4 Kg7 38. Ke6 Bf8+ 39. Kd7 Re7+ 40. Kxd6 Kf7 41. Rg1 cxd5 42.
cxd5 Ke8 43. Nf6+ Kd8 44. Rg8 Re8+ 45. Rxf8 Rxf8 46. Ke6 Rh8 47. h5 b5 48. d6
1-0

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.16"]
[Round "4.7"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "So, Wesley"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2811"]
[BlackElo "2792"]
[ECO "E46"]
[Opening "Nimzo-Indian"]
[Variation "Reshevsky variation"]
[WhiteFideId "2020009"]
[BlackFideId "5202213"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Ne2 d5 6. a3 Be7 7. cxd5 exd5 8. Nf4
Re8 9. Bd3 Bd6 10. O-O Bxf4 11. exf4 Nc6 12. Be3 Ne7 13. Qc2 g6 14. f3 Bf5 15.
g4 Bxd3 16. Qxd3 Kg7 17. Rae1 Qd7 18. Bf2 h5 19. h3 c6 20. Ne2 hxg4 21. hxg4
Nfg8 22. Bh4 f5 23. Ng3 Rf8 24. Re5 Rf7 25. Qe2 Kf8 26. Re6 Rc8 27. b4 b6 28.
Re1 c5 29. bxc5 bxc5 30. dxc5 Qc7 31. Kg2 Qxc5 32. Qe5 fxg4 33. fxg4 d4 34. Qxc5
Rxc5 35. Ne4 Rc2+ 36. Kf3 Nd5 37. Bg5 Rh7 38. Nd6 d3 39. f5 Rh3+ 40. Ke4 d2 41.
Rf1 d1=Q 42. Rxd1 Nc3+ 43. Kd4 Nxd1 44. f6 Nxf6 45. Bxf6 Rd2+ 46. Kc5 Rc2+ 47.
Kd4 Rd2+ 48. Kc5 Rc2+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.17"]
[Round "5.1"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2834"]
[BlackElo "2787"]
[PlyCount "126"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3 a6 7. a4 O-O 8. h3 h6
9. Re1 Re8 10. Nbd2 (10. b4 Ba7 11. Nbd2 Qe7 12. Nf1 Be6 13. Be3 Bxc4 14. dxc4
Qe6 15. Bxa7 Nxa7 16. Ne3 c6 17. Qd3 Rad8 {Karjakin,S (2760)-Mamedyarov,S 
(2799) Riadh 2017}) 10... Be6 11. Bxe6 Rxe6 12. b4 Ba7 13. Qc2 Qd7 14. Nf1 d5
15. Ng3 Rd8 16. exd5 $146 (16. Qb3 Ne7 17. c4 dxc4 18. dxc4 Nc6 19. Bb2 Qd3 20.
Qc3 a5 21. bxa5 Bc5 22. Rab1 Bb4 {Sethuraman,S (2623)-Inarkiev,E (2723) Moscow
2017}) 16... Qxd5 17. Be3 Qxd3 18. Qxd3 Rxd3 19. Bxa7 (19. b5 {forces} Rxe3 20.
fxe3 Na5 {but Carlsen didn't like it very much.}) 19... Nxa7 20. Nxe5 Rd5 21.
Ng4 Nxg4 22. Rxe6 fxe6 23. hxg4 a5 24. f3 Nc6 25. Rb1 b6 26. Ne4 axb4 27. cxb4
Rd4 28. b5 $6 {"Impulsive." (Carlsen)} (28. Rc1) 28... Ne5 29. Rc1 Nxg4 30.
fxg4 Rxe4 31. Rxc7 Rxa4 32. Rc6 Kf7 33. g5 hxg5 34. Rxb6 Rb4 35. Rb8 Kf6 36. b6
Ke5 37. Kh2 Rb3 38. g4 Kf4 39. b7 Kxg4 40. Re8 Rxb7 41. Rxe6 Rb2+ 42. Kg1 Kf3
43. Ra6 Rg2+ 44. Kh1 Re2 45. Kg1 g4 46. Ra1 Re8 47. Rb1 g3 48. Rb3+ Re3 49. Rb1
Re8 50. Rb3+ Kg4 51. Rb5 Re1+ 52. Kg2 Re2+ 53. Kg1 g5 54. Rb8 Re1+ 55. Kg2 Re2+
56. Kg1 Ra2 57. Rc8 Ra1+ 58. Kg2 Ra2+ 59. Kg1 g2 60. Rc4+ Kh3 61. Rc3+ Kh4 62.
Rc4+ g4 63. Rc3 Kh5 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.17"]
[Round "5.2"]
[White "Jones, Gawain C B"]
[Black "Giri, Anish"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2640"]
[BlackElo "2752"]
[ECO "B14"]
[Opening "Caro-Kann"]
[Variation "Panov-Botvinnik attack, 5...e6"]
[WhiteFideId "409561"]
[BlackFideId "24116068"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. c4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. Nf3 Bb4 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8.
Bd2 O-O 9. Bd3 Nc6 10. O-O Be7 11. Nxd5 exd5 12. h3 Bf6 13. Bc3 Be6 14. Re1 g6
15. Qd2 Rc8 16. Rac1 a6 17. Qf4 Bg7 18. b3 Qf6 19. Qxf6 Bxf6 20. Ne5 Be7 21.
Nxc6 Rxc6 22. Bd2 Rfc8 23. Rxc6 Rxc6 24. Rc1 Rxc1+ 25. Bxc1 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.17"]
[Round "5.3"]
[White "So, Wesley"]
[Black "Adhiban, Baskaran"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2792"]
[BlackElo "2655"]
[ECO "A10"]
[Opening "English opening"]
[WhiteFideId "5202213"]
[BlackFideId "5018471"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. c4 d6 2. Nc3 e5 3. g3 Be7 4. Bg2 f5 5. d4 Nf6 6. dxe5 dxe5 7. Qxd8+ Bxd8 8.
b3 O-O 9. Bb2 c6 10. Nf3 Bc7 11. O-O Na6 12. Rfd1 Re8 13. Rac1 e4 14. Nd4 f4 15.
Ndb5 fxg3 16. hxg3 e3 17. f4 Bg4 18. Nxc7 Nxc7 19. Ba3 Ne6 20. Bd6 g5 21. fxg5
Nxg5 22. Rd4 Ne6 23. Rd3 Ng7 24. Rf1 Nf5 25. Bf3 Bh3 26. Bg2 Bg4 27. Rf4 Re6 28.
Bc7 h5 29. Bf3 Ng7 30. Bd8 Nge8 31. Kg2 Bxf3+ 32. Rxf3 Ng4 33. Rf5 Ng7 34. Rf4
Rg6 35. Bh4 Ne6 36. Rf5 Re8 37. Ne4 Ng7 38. Nf6+ Nxf6 39. Rxf6 Rxf6 40. Bxf6 Nf5
41. Kf3 Kf7 42. Bg5 Rg8 43. Bf4 Ke6 44. Rd1 b5 45. cxb5 cxb5 46. Rh1 Rh8 47.
Bxe3 Nxe3 48. Kxe3 Kf5 49. Rh4 Re8+ 50. Kf3 Kg5 51. Rd4 Rf8+ 52. Rf4 Rc8 53. Re4
Rc3+ 54. e3 Rc5 55. b4 Rf5+ 56. Rf4 Rd5 57. Rf7 a6 58. Rg7+ Kh6 59. Rc7 Rd6 60.
Rc5 Rf6+ 61. Ke4 Rg6 62. Kf3 Rf6+ 63. Kg2 Rd6 64. Kh3 Re6 65. Rc3 Kg5 66. a3 Kg6
67. g4 hxg4+ 68. Kxg4 Kf6 69. Kf4 Ke7 70. e4 Rh6 71. Rc7+ Kd8 72. Ra7 Kc8 73. e5
Kb8 74. Rd7 a5 75. bxa5 Ra6 76. Rd5 Rxa5 77. e6 Kc7 78. e7 Ra8 79. Kf5 Kc6 80.
Rd8 1-0

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.17"]
[Round "5.4"]
[White "Matlakov, Maxim"]
[Black "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2718"]
[BlackElo "2753"]
[ECO "A07"]
[Opening "Reti"]
[Variation "King's Indian attack, Yugoslav variation"]
[WhiteFideId "4168003"]
[BlackFideId "14109603"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 c6 3. Bg2 Nf6 4. O-O Bg4 5. h3 Bh5 6. d4 e6 7. c4 Be7 8. Nc3 O-O
9. Ne5 Nbd7 10. g4 Bg6 11. Nxg6 hxg6 12. Qd3 Ne8 13. cxd5 exd5 14. Rb1 a5 15. a3
Nd6 16. b4 axb4 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.17"]
[Round "5.5"]
[White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D30"]
[WhiteElo "2804"]
[BlackElo "2811"]
[Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Bg5 Bb4+ 5. Nbd2 {"I played risky and
sacrificed a pawn on move five!" (Mamedyarov). This is not the first time that
the Azeri GM choses a gambit in the QGD. In fact this line is one of his
specialties.} dxc4 6. e3 b5 7. Be2 ({Last year, at one of the Grand Prix
tournaments Mamedyarov won the following short game:} 7. a4 c6 8. Be2 Nbd7 9.
O-O Qb6 10. Qc2 Bb7 11. b3 c3 12. Nb1 c5 13. Nxc3 cxd4 14. Nxb5 Rc8 15. Qb2 a6
16. a5 Qc5 17. exd4 Qf5 18. Bd2 Be7 19. Nc3 O-O 20. Nh4 {1-0 (20) Mamedyarov,S
(2800)-Inarkiev,E (2707) Geneve 2017}) 7... Bb7 8. O-O O-O 9. b3 c3 10. a3 $146
{A natural move. White regains the pawn.} ({The only predecessor was a
correspondense game which saw} 10. Nb1 h6 11. Bh4 g5 12. Bg3 Qd5 13. Qc2 Ne4 {
with very a complex game in Aker,C-Wall,W corr 1983}) 10... Be7 11. Nb1 c5 {
However Caruana can be also happy with his position as he can trade the strong
central pawn of his opponent.} 12. Nxc3 a6 13. dxc5 Bxc5 14. Qc2 Nbd7 15. Rfd1
Rc8 {Black is OK with the doubled pawns.} ({There was nothing wrong with} 15...
Qb6 16. b4 {as long as Black avoids} Be7 $2 ({But the preliminary} 16... Bd6
17. Qd2 Be7 {is equal.}) 17. Rxd7 $1) 16. Bxf6 gxf6 17. b4 Be7 18. Rac1 Qe8 ({
It made sense to go for} 18... f5 {at once. Apparently Caruana did not like
the pin after} 19. Ne5 {but there was nothing to be afraid after} Rc7 {In fact
White has to be careful as} 20. Bf3 $2 {allows the strong sacrifice} ({Instead
} 20. Qb3 Bf6 {is equal}) 20... Nxe5 $1 21. Rxd8 Nxf3+ 22. gxf3 Rxd8 {Thanks
to the pin along the c-file and the weaknesses on the white kingside it is
Black who has the advantage. Say:} 23. Qe2 (23. Kg2 Bf6) 23... Rdc8 24. Qe1 Bf6
25. Ne2 Rxc1 26. Nxc1 Bxf3 {and Black is close to winning.}) 19. Qb1 Nb6 ({
Once again} 19... f5 {was the move to be made, and once again there were
tactical issues due to} 20. Nxb5 {with the main idea} (20. Nd4 Bf6 {is equal
instead.} ({Or} 20... Nb6)) 20... axb5 ({However, the sacrifice can be refuted
with the intermezzo:} 20... Be4 $1 21. Qb2 ({Or} 21. Qa2 axb5 22. Bxb5 Rxc1 23.
Rxc1 Bd5 $1 {with a tempo.}) 21... axb5 22. Bxb5 Bd5 23. Ne5 Bf6 {
counter-pinning and winning.}) 21. Bxb5 Rxc1 22. Qxc1 Bd5 23. Ne5 {Even this
looks good for Black after} Qb8 24. Nxd7 Qxb5 25. Nxf8 Bxf8) 20. Nd4 {White is
ready to swap off the opponent's bishop pair.} Kh8 ({The third and the last
time when Caruana could have comfortably developed the dark-squared bishop with
} 20... f5) 21. Bf3 Bxf3 22. Nxf3 Nc4 23. Ne4 {Once again Mamedyarov
sacrifices a pawn.} Qc6 ({Caruana correctly rejects the offer} 23... Nxa3 $2
24. Qa1 {would win for White-} Nc2 ({Or} 24... Nc4 25. Nxf6 Bxf6 26. Qxf6+ Kg8
27. Rd4) 25. Rxc2 Rxc2 26. Nxf6 Bxf6 27. Qxf6+ Kg8 28. Ne5 {with the decisive
threat Ne5-g4-h6 mate.}) 24. Nfd2 Qb7 {A mistake. Now Black has to be very
careful to maintain the balance.} ({The easiest was} 24... Rfd8 25. Nxc4 Rxd1+
26. Rxd1 Qxc4 {allowing no weak pawns.} (26... bxc4 {is also possible though
as this is a better version to the game continuation.})) ({Another equality is
achieved with} 24... Nxd2 25. Nxd2 Qb7 26. Ne4 Rxc1 27. Rxc1 Rc8) 25. Nxc4 Rxc4
{Another inaccuracy.} ({Black also has many weaknesses after} 25... bxc4 26.
Nd6 Bxd6 27. Rxd6 {but perhaps it is easier to defend without the light pieces
on the board.}) 26. Rxc4 bxc4 27. Qc2 {The c4-pawn is more a liability than an
asset. Combining threats on both sides of the board Mamedyarov skillfully
increases pressure.} Rc8 28. h3 Qc6 ({If} 28... f5 29. Qc3+ ({Less promising is
} 29. Nd6 Bxd6 30. Rxd6 c3 {when the passer becomes strong.}) 29... Kg8 30. Ng3
{looks strong for White, followed by Ng3-h5.}) 29. Rd4 {With the dual threat
of 30.Ne4-d2 followed by Rd4-c4 and 30.Ne4-c5 followed by the same Rd4-c4 
(this time with capture.)} a5 ({If} 29... f5 {White can choose either way of
going for the pawn} 30. Nd2 ({Or} 30. Nc5 Bxc5 (30... Rg8 31. g3) 31. Rxc4)
30... c3 31. Rc4 Qxc4 32. Nxc4 Rxc4 33. Qd3 Rc7 34. Qd4+ Kg8 35. Qb6 Rd7 36.
Qc6 {and White wins.}) 30. Nd2 Rg8 ({The other choice was the endgame with
light pieces after} 30... Qb5 31. Rxc4 Rxc4 32. Qxc4 Qxc4 33. Nxc4 axb4 {
However, it seems as Black is busted here as well-} 34. a4 Kg7 ({Or} 34... f5
35. a5 Bc5 36. Kf1 Kg7 37. Ke2 Kf6 38. Kd3 Ke7 39. a6 h5 (39... Kd7 40. Ne5+)
40. Ne5 {followed by Kd3-c4.}) 35. Kf1 Kf8 36. Ke2 Ke8 37. Kd3 Kd7 38. Kc2 Kc6
39. Kb3 Kb7 {Now after some preparation White breaks through with} 40. g4 Kc6
41. Nb2 Kb6 42. Nd3 Ka5 43. e4 Bf8 44. e5 $1) 31. g3 axb4 32. Rxc4 {White won
a pawn and the game.} b3 ({Nothing is principally changed after} 32... Qd5 33.
axb4 Rb8 34. Ne4 Kg7 35. Nc5) 33. Nxb3 Qf3 34. a4 Bd6 ({No perpetual after} 
34... Rxg3+ 35. fxg3 Qxg3+ 36. Kf1) 35. Rc8 $1 ({Here White has to be careful
as} 35. a5 {screams for the sacrifice} Bxg3 $1 36. fxg3 $2 ({Luckily for White
he can survive after} 36. Rg4 $1 Rxg4 37. hxg4 Bd6 {but a draw is also half a
point lost from the position he had before.}) 36... Rxg3+ 37. Kh2 Rxh3+ 38. Kg1
Rh1#) 35... Rxc8 36. Qxc8+ Kg7 37. Qc2 {The last prophylactical move.The rest
is easy.} (37. a5 $4 Qd1+) 37... Bb4 38. Qc4 Qb7 39. a5 Bd6 40. a6 Qb6 41. Nd4
Qa5 42. Kg2 Qa3 43. Qc6 {Mamedyarov was certainly happy with a win against one
of his rivals at the fortcoming Candidates' Tournament.} 1-0

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.17"]
[Round "5.6"]
[White "Svidler, Peter"]
[Black "Hou, Yifan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D38"]
[WhiteElo "2768"]
[BlackElo "2680"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 Bb4 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bf4 (6. Bg5 O-O 7. e3
Bf5 8. Qb3 Bxc3+ 9. Qxc3 h6 10. Bh4 g5 11. Bg3 Ne4 12. Qxc7 Nc6 13. Qxd8 Rfxd8
14. Be2 Rac8 15. O-O h5 16. h4 g4 17. Ne5 Nb4 18. Bf4 f6 19. Nd3 Nc3 20. bxc3 {
½-½ Ding,L (2774)-Aronian,L (2801) Palma de Mallorca 2017}) 6... O-O 7. Rc1
c6 8. e3 Bd6 $146 (8... Bf5 9. Be2 Bd6 10. Bxd6 Qxd6 11. O-O Nbd7 12. a3 Ne4
13. Na4 Qe7 14. Qb3 Nd6 15. Nd2 Bg6 {Melkumyan,H (2622)-Bluebaum,M (2588)
Berlin 2015}) 9. Bxd6 Qxd6 10. Qc2 Re8 11. Bd3 Nbd7 12. O-O Nf8 13. h3 g6 14.
Ne5 Nh5 15. Rfe1 Re7 16. Qa4 Nd7 17. Nf3 Ndf6 18. b4 a6 19. b5 cxb5 20. Nxb5
Bd7 $2 (20... Qd8 {was necessary but after} 21. Nc3 Ng7 22. Qb3 Rb8 23. Ne5 {
White is still better.}) 21. Nxd6 Bxa4 22. Rb1 $6 ({Of course} 22. Nc8 {
(which also threatens 23.Nb6) was Svidler's first instinct but somehow he
failed to see that after} Re6 {that rook can be attacked with} 23. Ng5 Rc6 24.
Ne7+) ({In fact White can also do the same after the intermediate move} 22. g4)
22... b5 23. Ne5 (23. Rec1) 23... Nd7 24. Rec1 Nxe5 25. dxe5 Rxe5 26. Rc7 Rf8
27. Rc6 Ra8 28. Rc7 Rf8 29. Rc6 Ra8 30. Rbc1 d4 $6 {After getting fully back
into the game, Hou slips again.} (30... Re6 {is about equal.}) 31. g4 Nf6 32.
e4 ({Both players missed} 32. exd4 $1 Rd5 33. Rc8+ Rxc8 34. Rxc8+ Kg7 35. Rd8
$1 {and White keeps the pawn.}) 32... Re6 ({Here} 32... Ne8 $1 {might hold.})
33. f4 b4 (33... Ne8 $1) 34. Rc8+ Rxc8 35. Rxc8+ Kg7 36. e5 Nd5 ({For the
third time} 36... Ne8 {was good for almost equality.}) 37. Bc4 Nxf4 38. Rc7 d3
$2 ({Even here Black was still OK thanks to} 38... Nxh3+ 39. Kh2 Rxe5 40. Kxh3
d3) 39. Rxf7+ Kh6 40. Rxf4 d2 41. Rd4 1-0

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.17"]
[Round "5.7"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Wei, Yi"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2767"]
[BlackElo "2743"]
[ECO "C42"]
[Opening "Petrov"]
[Variation "classical attack"]
[WhiteFideId "5000017"]
[BlackFideId "8603405"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Bf5 7. O-O Be7 8. Re1
O-O 9. c4 Nc6 10. cxd5 Qxd5 11. Nc3 Nxc3 12. bxc3 Rae8 13. Bf4 Bxd3 14. Qxd3 Bd6
15. c4 Qh5 16. Bxd6 cxd6 17. Qa3 Qa5 18. Qxd6 Rxe1+ 19. Rxe1 Rd8 20. Re3 h6 21.
Qf4 Qxa2 22. d5 Na5 23. Qc7 Qb1+ 24. Re1 Qb6 25. Re7 Qxc7 26. Rxc7 b5 27. cxb5
Rxd5 28. h3 Rxb5 29. Rxa7 Nc6 1/2-1/2


[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.19"]
[Round "6.1"]
[White "Svidler, Peter"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A13"]
[WhiteElo "2768"]
[BlackElo "2834"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 Bb4 3. Qb3 c5 {Already in rare, although not undiscovered
territory. 3...Nc6 is more common.} 4. Nb5 {White has a very good score with
this move in limited practice, although the practitioners for Black haven't
been weakies, and Carlsen certainly didn't change that.} Nc6 5. Nd6+ Kf8 6. Nf3
Qe7 7. Nxc8 (7. Qd3 {was Landa-Lisek Germany 2003. White later won with a
Benko Gambit style sacrificial maneuver a3 and b4.}) 7... Rxc8 8. e3 e5 9. Qc2
e4 10. Ng1 {What's worth more? Black's lead in development and obvious hole on
d3 or White's ability to castle and possible use the d5 outpost?} Nf6 11. Ne2
Ba5 {Clearing out the b4 square for the knight, which White can't allow.} 12.
a3 h5 {Somewhere along here commentators really wanted Carlsen to burn his
book on chess fundamentals and play ...g5.} 13. b3 Rd8 14. Bb2 d5 15. cxd5 Rxd5
(15... Nxd5 {[Thinking about 16...Ndb4!]} 16. Nc3 Nxc3 17. Bxc3 Bxc3 18. dxc3
Rh6 19. Be2 Rhd6 {was another way for Black, who is for choice. The control of
the d-file and coming knight penetration to e5 makes him better. h5 is not
really hanging since ...Rd2 is good. Black's hole on d3 and White's passive
rooks means the queen trumps the two rooks.}) 16. O-O-O Ng4 17. Ng3 Nxf2 {
And for the rest of the thrilling finish, check out the analysis of the
players below!} 18. Bc4 Nxd1 19. Rxd1 Rg5 20. Rf1 Nd8 21. Nf5 Qd7 22. Qxe4 Rg4
23. Bxg7+ Rxg7 24. Nxg7 Qxd2+ 25. Kb1 Bc3 26. Rxf7+ Nxf7 27. Qe8+ Kxg7 28.
Qxf7+ Kh6 29. Qf4+ Kg6 30. Qf7+ Kh6 31. Qf4+ 1/2-1/2


[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.19"]
[Round "6.2"]
[White "Giri, Anish"]
[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2752"]
[BlackElo "2767"]
[ECO "E03"]
[Opening "Catalan"]
[Variation "open, Alekhine variation"]
[WhiteFideId "24116068"]
[BlackFideId "5000017"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. Qa4+ Nbd7 6. Qxc4 a6 7. Qc2 c5 8. Nf3
b5 9. Ne5 Nd5 10. Nxd7 Bxd7 11. Bxd5 exd5 12. dxc5 Bc6 13. O-O d4 14. Bf4 Qd5
15. f3 d3 16. exd3 Qxc5+ 17. Qxc5 Bxc5+ 18. Kg2 Bd4 19. Nc3 Kd7 20. Rae1 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.19"]
[Round "6.3"]
[White "Hou, Yifan"]
[Black "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2680"]
[BlackElo "2753"]
[ECO "B18"]
[Opening "Caro-Kann"]
[Variation "classical, 6.h4"]
[WhiteFideId "8602980"]
[BlackFideId "14109603"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7. Nf3 e6 8. Ne5
Bh7 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 Nd7 11. f4 Be7 12. Bd2 Nxe5 13. fxe5 Bxh4 14. O-O-O
Bxg3 15. Qxg3 Ne7 16. Qxg7 Rg8 17. Qf6 Nf5 18. Bxh6 Qxf6 19. exf6 Rd8 20. Bf4
Nxd4 21. Rd2 c5 22. c3 Nc6 23. Bd6 b6 24. b4 cxb4 25. cxb4 a5 26. b5 Na7 27. a4
Nc8 28. Rhd1 Rg4 29. Bb8 Rxd2 30. Rxd2 Rxa4 31. Rc2 Kd8 32. Rd2+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "Tata Steel Masters"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.01.19"]
[Round "6.4"]
[White "Wei, Yi"]
[Black "So, Wesley"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A17"]
[WhiteElo "2743"]
[BlackElo "2792"]
[Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"]
[PlyCount "82"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. e3 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 dxc4 ({A recent game which might have
inspired Wei saw:} 4... a6 5. b3 Bd6 6. Bb2 O-O 7. g4 {Nepomniachtchi,I (2729)
-Anand,V (2782) London 2017}) 5. Bxc4 a6 6. b3 c5 7. Bb2 Nc6 8. Qc2 $146 {
Wei's plan does not include castling.} ({A novelty in comparison to the
toothless:} 8. O-O Be7 9. d4 cxd4 10. Nxd4 Nxd4 11. exd4 b5 12. Bd3 Bb7 {
when Black was somewhat better already, Scherer,F (2155)-Wiley,T (2292)
Neustadt an der Weinstrasse 2012}) 8... Be7 (8... b5 $5 9. Be2 Bb7 {looks more
active.}) 9. a3 b6 10. g4 $1 {"I forgot about this stuff. I thought that it is
not dangerous since I did not castle. Actually, it it surprisingly strong as
he gets a bind after g4-g5 followed by Nc3-e4." (So)} h6 (10... Nxg4 $2 {
drops a knight after} 11. Qe4) ({Castling into it is definitely not a good
idea-} 10... O-O 11. g5 Nd5 12. Ne4 {folllowed by Rh1-g1 and slamming a knight
on f6 after no matter what Black does.}) 11. Rg1 b5 ({It made sense to keep
the bishop on c4 for future tempo-gainers:} 11... Bb7 12. g5 hxg5 13. Nxg5 Ne5
$5) 12. Be2 Bb7 13. g5 hxg5 14. Nxg5 Rh6 {So clears the long diagonal and
overprotects the f6 square.} ({As already mentioned earlier, castling is
suicidal-} 14... O-O 15. Nce4 Nxe4 16. Nxe6 $1) 15. Nce4 {Rubinstein's pattern.
He used to open the road for his bishops with similar knight move.} Nxe4 {
Inaccurate.} ({Black could have held the position with tactics.} 15... Na5 $3 {
was keeping the pawn on c5 alive and the open diagonal for the light-sqaured
bishop is definitely good for him. The brilliant tactical point behind the
idea is revealed after:} 16. Nxc5 (16. Nxf6+ {fails to convince after} Bxf6 17.
Bxf6 Qxf6 {and Black is doing great.}) ({Probably best is} 16. a4 b4 17. d3 {
with approximate equality.}) 16... Bxc5 17. Qxc5 Qxd2+ $1 ({Rather than} 17...
Nxb3 18. Bxb5+ $1 axb5 ({Or} 18... Nd7 19. Qc3 Nxa1 20. Nxf7 $1 {with decisive
attack.}) 19. Qxb5+ Nd7 20. Qxb3 {and White wins.}) 18. Kxd2 Nxb3+ {and Black
has the advantage.}) (15... Rc8 $5) 16. Nxe4 g6 17. Nxc5 Bxc5 18. Qxc5 Rxh2 19.
a4 $1 {The bishop pair and the weak dark squares determine Wei's big advantage.
With the game move he wnats to further open the lines and diagonals for his
pieces.} Qh4 ({Black is deprived of any counterplay in case of} 19... bxa4 20.
Rxa4) 20. Rf1 Rc8 {So starts shaking the boat.} ({Apparently So understood
that the calm} 20... bxa4 21. Rxa4 Qe7 ({Not} 21... Qd8 $2 22. Bxa6) 22. Qc3 {
will leave Black nothing- neither position, nor tactical chances.}) 21. Qb6 (
21. axb5 $2 Nb4) 21... Nd8 22. axb5 Bg2 {The point behind Black's
counterattack. The white king is not perfectly save in the middle.} 23. Ra4 $1
{The queen should be removed from the f2 square.} ({The kingside rook cannot
move:} 23. Rg1 $2 Rh1 {wins for Black.}) (23. bxa6 $2 Bxf1) (23. Qd4 {is less
accurate because of} Qxd4 24. Bxd4 Bxf1 25. Bxf1 axb5 {although White is still
somewhat better after} 26. Bxb5+) 23... Qh3 24. Ba3 {In the after-game
analyzes both players came to the conclusion that this move was a mistake. It
indeed allows some extra possibilities to Black.} ({The neatest solution was:} 
24. bxa6 $1 Bxf1 25. Bxf1 Rh1 26. Qb5+ Nc6 27. a7 {the kingside initiative is
over and the aftermath is very sad for Black.}) ({It seems clever to chase the
queen away with} 24. Bg4 {but this runs into} Bxf1 $3 25. Bxh3 Bd3 26. f4 Rc2 {
when it is unclear!}) 24... Rh1 25. bxa6 Qh8 $1 {This is the additional chance
that So got from the move 24.Bb2-a3.} (25... Bxf1 26. Qb5+ Nc6 27. Bxf1 {
as long as there is no mate the white passers should decide the game.}) 26. Rd4
$2 {Short on time, Wei goes astray.} ({Both} 26. Qd4 $1 {with the idea to meet}
Qh3 {with} ({Better is} 26... Qxd4 27. exd4 Bxf1 28. Bxf1 {although White
should win here as well.}) 27. Bb5+ Nc6 28. Qd6 $1 Rxf1+ 29. Bxf1 Bxf1 30. Qf8+
Kd7 31. Qxf7+ Kd8 32. Rd4+ Nxd4 33. Qe7#) ({And} 26. d4 $1 Bxf1 27. Qb5+ {
hsould have stopped the counter-attack and led to White's win.}) 26... Bxf1 27.
Qb5+ $2 {Now White even loses.} ({Correct was} 27. Bxf1 Nc6 28. a7 ({Or} 28.
Qc5 Rxf1+ 29. Kxf1 Qh1+ 30. Ke2 Qh5+ $1 31. f3 $1 {This is the difference in
comparison to the game. After} ({Weaker is:} 31. Qxh5 $2 Nxd4+ 32. exd4 gxh5
33. b4 Kd7 (33... Rb8) 34. b5 Rb8) 31... Nxd4+ 32. Qxd4 Qb5+ 33. Kf2 Qxa6 34.
Qb4 {the weak black king deprives him of winning chances.}) 28... Nxd4 29. exd4
{when Black has a forced draw with} Rxf1+ 30. Kxf1 Qh1+ 31. Ke2 Qe4+ {but
nothing more.}) 27... Nc6 28. Bxf1 Rxf1+ $1 29. Kxf1 ({Maybe White should have
tried:} 29. Qxf1 Nxd4 30. exd4 Qxd4 31. Qb5+ {with the queens on the board,
there are practical chances.}) 29... Qh1+ 30. Ke2 Qh5+ {Black trades every
single heavy piece and wins the endgame.} 31. Qxh5 Nxd4+ 32. exd4 gxh5 33. b4
Rb8 34. Kf3 Kd7 35. Kg3 Kc6 36. b5+ ({Or} 36. a7 Rg8+ $1 (36... Ra8 37. b5+
Kxb5 38. Bc5) 37. Kh4 Kb5 {and Black should win.}) 36... Rxb5 37. Bc5 Rb2 38.
a7 Kb7 39. d5 exd5 40. Be3 Rb4 41. d4 Rb1 0-1

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.19"]
[Round "6.5"]
[White "Adhiban, Baskaran"]
[Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2655"]
[BlackElo "2804"]
[ECO "A33"]
[Opening "English"]
[Variation "symmetrical variation"]
[WhiteFideId "5018471"]
[BlackFideId "13401319"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. a3 Bc5 7. Be3 Nxd4 8.
Bxd4 b6 9. e4 Bb7 10. b4 Be7 11. Bd3 d6 12. O-O O-O 13. Qe2 Nd7 14. Rfd1 Rc8 15.
Rac1 Qc7 16. Nb5 Qb8 17. Qg4 Nf6 18. Qe2 Nd7 19. Qg4 Ne5 20. Qg3 Ng6 21. f3 Rfd8
22. Bf1 Bh4 23. Qg4 h6 24. Be3 Bf6 25. Nd4 Re8 26. Nb5 Rcd8 27. a4 Bc6 28. Qg3
Bh4 29. Qg4 Re7 30. Bd3 Bf6 31. f4 Qa8 32. Re1 Rdd7 33. Bf2 a5 34. Bxb6 axb4 35.
a5 b3 36. Kh1 e5 37. f5 Nf4 38. Bb1 d5 39. exd5 Bxb5 40. cxb5 Qxd5 41. Be4 Qd2
42. a6 b2 43. Rb1 Qb4 44. Bc6 Rd3 45. Be3 Ra3 46. a7 Rexa7 47. Bxa7 Rxa7 48. Qd1
Ra3 49. Be4 Qxb5 50. Qd2 Rb3 51. g3 Nh3 52. Bg2 Ng5 53. h4 Nf3 54. Bxf3 Rxf3 55.
Rxb2 Qa4 56. Re3 e4 57. Rb8+ Kh7 58. Kg2 Qc6 59. Rxf3 exf3+ 60. Kf2 Be7 61. Qd3
Bc5+ 62. Kf1 Ba7 63. Rb1 Qc5 64. Ke1 Qf2+ 65. Kd1 f6 66. Rb3 Qg1+ 67. Kc2 Qg2+
68. Kc3 Qxg3 69. h5 Qe5+ 70. Kb4 Qf4+ 71. Kb5 f2 72. Rb1 Qg4 73. Ra1 Bd4 74. Rf1
Qg2 75. Kc4 Bb6 76. Kb5 Be3 77. Ka4 Bd2 78. Kb5 Be1 79. Kc5 Qg4 80. Kd6 Qxh5 81.
Ke7 Qh2 82. Qd8 Qh3 83. Qc8 Bb4+ 84. Ke8 Qh5+ 85. Kd8 Qe2 86. Qc1 Be1 0-1

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.19"]
[Round "6.6"]
[White "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Black "Jones, Gawain C B"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2787"]
[BlackElo "2640"]
[ECO "A49"]
[Opening "King's Indian"]
[Variation "fianchetto without c4"]
[WhiteFideId "4101588"]
[BlackFideId "409561"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. O-O d6 6. Re1 c6 7. e4 Qc7 8. e5
dxe5 9. dxe5 Nd5 10. Qe2 b5 11. Nbd2 a5 12. c4 Nb4 13. Nd4 Rd8 14. a3 Rxd4 15.
axb4 bxc4 16. Nxc4 Bg4 17. Qf1 Bf5 18. Be3 Bd3 19. Bxd4 Bxf1 20. Bxf1 c5 21.
Bxc5 Nd7 22. Bd4 a4 23. b5 Rb8 24. Rec1 h5 25. b6 Qc6 26. Na5 Qe6 27. Bc4 Qg4
28. Nc6 Rxb6 29. Bxb6 Nxb6 30. Nxe7+ Kf8 31. Nd5 Bxe5 32. Nxb6 Bxb2 33. h3 Qxh3
34. Bf1 Qe6 35. Nxa4 Bxa1 36. Rxa1 h4 37. Nc5 Qd5 38. Rc1 hxg3 39. Nd3 gxf2+ 40.
Kxf2 Qd4+ 41. Ke2 Qg4+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.19"]
[Round "6.7"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Matlakov, Maxim"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2811"]
[BlackElo "2718"]
[ECO "C88"]
[Opening "Ruy Lopez"]
[Variation "closed, anti-Marshall 8.a4"]
[WhiteFideId "2020009"]
[BlackFideId "4168003"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. a4
b4 9. d4 d6 10. dxe5 Nxe5 11. Nxe5 dxe5 12. Qe2 Bc5 13. Be3 Bd4 14. Bxd4 Qxd4
15. Rd1 Bg4 16. Rxd4 Bxe2 17. Rd2 Rfd8 18. f3 Rxd2 19. Nxd2 Rd8 20. Nc4 Bxc4 21.
Bxc4 a5 22. Rc1 Kf8 23. c3 b3 24. Rb1 Rb8 25. Ra1 Rd8 26. Ra3 Rd1+ 27. Bf1 Nd7
28. Rxb3 Nb6 29. Kf2 Nxa4 30. Rb8+ Ke7 31. Rb5 Kd6 32. Be2 Rd2 33. Rxa5 Nxb2 34.
Ke3 Rc2 35. Rd5+ Ke6 36. Rc5 Kd6 37. Rd5+ Ke6 38. Rc5 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.20"]
[Round "7.1"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Hou, Yifan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D35"]
[WhiteElo "2834"]
[BlackElo "2680"]
[PlyCount "109"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 Nf6 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e3 c5 6. Bd3 cxd4 7. exd4 Nxc3 8.
bxc3 Qc7 9. Bd2 Nd7 10. Qg4 Nf6 11. Qg3 $5 {The endgame is favorable, but
Carlsen's winning margin will be small.} (11. Qh3 $5 {Commentating GM Van
Kampen humorously observed that Carlsen may be adept at squeezing water from a
stone, but he doesn't need to make stones of lively positions. The middlegame
position also seems promising with larger margins for error by both players.})
11... Qxg3 12. hxg3 Bd6 13. Nf3 b6 14. a4 Bb7 15. a5 Ke7 16. Ke2 Ne4 17. Be1 {
Carlsen is going to great lengths to keep play in the position and avoid
exchanges.} h6 18. c4 Nf6 (18... f5 {Securing e4 is the engine's preference
when the position is lively with chances for both players.}) 19. Bc3 Be4 20.
Rhb1 Bxd3+ 21. Kxd3 Nd7 22. Nd2 Rhd8 23. Ne4 Bc7 24. Bb4+ Ke8 25. f4 Rac8 26.
axb6 axb6 27. Ra7 Nb8 28. Rxc7 $1 {This exchange sacrifice is the only
favorable option for Carlsen.} Rxc7 29. Nd6+ Kd7 (29... Kf8 $2 30. Nb5+ {
The discovered check attacks c7.}) 30. Nxf7 Rdc8 31. Ne5+ Ke8 32. Bd6 Rb7 33.
c5 Nc6 34. Rxb6 Rxb6 35. cxb6 {Carlsen now has two pawns for the exchange and
strong minor pieces.} Nd8 36. Bc7 Ra8 37. Kc4 Nb7 38. Kb5 Ra2 39. g4 Ke7 40. g3
Nd6+ 41. Bxd6+ Kxd6 42. Nc4+ Kd7 43. Kc5 Rc2 44. f5 exf5 45. gxf5 Rf2 46. Nd6
Rg2 (46... Rc2+) 47. Ne4 $1 {Carlsen begins the first of many good knight
maneuvers. The difficult question is can the knight support the progress of
the c- and d-pawns in light of the rook's harassment. The answer seems to be...
not against the very best defense, but the margins are razor thin.} Rb2 48. g4
Rb1 49. Nd2 $1 {The knight can provide shelter to the king and aid the pawns
from c4.} Rh1 50. d5 h5 $2 {The losing move.} (50... Rc1+ $1 {The engine
points out that Black hold by simply restraining White with the rook. The
lines are long and difficult and may be possibly have improvements, but here
is one long and seemingly important engine line.} 51. Nc4 Rb1 52. d6 Rb3 53.
Ne5+ Kd8 54. Nc6+ Kd7 55. Nb8+ {Otherwise how do you progress?} Kd8 56. d7 {
Now the knight is tied to the defense of d7 so White needs to advance the
pawns with only the king's support. It's not possible.} Ke7 57. Kc6 Rc3+ 58.
Kb7 Rc1 59. Ka7 Ra1+ 60. Na6 Kxd7 61. b7 Rb1 62. b8=Q Rxb8 63. Nxb8+ Ke7 {
White did queen, but the kingside pawns will be traded and White's knight
matters not at all.}) 51. d6 Kc8 52. gxh5 Rxh5 53. Kc6 Kb8 54. Ne4 Rxf5 55. Nc5
1-0

[Event "Tata Steel Masters"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.01.20"]
[Round "7.6"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2767"]
[BlackElo "2787"]
[Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. a4 ({Against Ding Liren, Anand
chose:} 5. O-O O-O 6. c3 d6 7. a4 a5 8. Na3 Be6 9. Bxe6 fxe6 10. Nc2 Qe8 11.
Be3 Bxe3 12. Nxe3 Rd8 {but did not get much of anything, Anand,V (2782)-Ding,L
(2777) Riadh 2017}) 5... d6 6. c3 a6 7. Bg5 {"A very sharp line." (Kramnik)} ({
In Zurich, the two discussed the line after} 7. O-O h6 8. Na3 O-O 9. Nc2 Re8
10. Re1 Ba7 11. Be3 Bb8 $5 12. Qd2 Ng4 13. b4 Ne7 14. d4 Ng6 15. dxe5 Nxe3 16.
Nxe3 Nxe5 17. Nxe5 Rxe5 18. Qa2 Be6 19. Bxe6 Rxe6 20. Nf5 Ba7 21. Nd4 Re5 22.
Nf3 Re6 23. Nd4 {1/2-1/2 (23) Anand,V (2786)-Kramnik,V (2811) Zuerich 2017})
7... h6 8. Bh4 Ba7 9. Nbd2 Qe7 {"A tricky move" (Kramnik). Black does not want
to castle.} ({The queen defends the f7-pawn, vulnerable after:} 9... g5 10. Bg3
Nh5 11. Nxe5) 10. h3 {"Not a good move" (Kramnik). But it is not obvious what
to do next. The bishop on h4 is under a constant danger of being excluded from
the game.} ({True,} 10. Bxf6 Qxf6 {would not make White happy either.}) 10...
g5 11. Bg3 Nh5 12. Qe2 $146 {Apparently both players were unaware that this
move is a novelty.} ({A predecessor saw:} 12. Bh2 Nf4 13. Bxf4 gxf4 14. b4 Rg8
{with a similar position as in the game, Voigt,R (2381)-Karpatchev,A (2461)
Leipzig 2004}) ({This time the trick:} 12. Nxe5 $2 {does not work due to} Nxg3
13. Nxc6 Bxf2+ $1 14. Kxf2 Nxh1+ {(Kramnik)}) ({On} 12. Nh2 {the Russian GM
intended} Ng7 $5 {keeping the dark-squared bishop out of the game.}) 12... Qf6
{"I thought Black is already better here" (Kramnik).} 13. Bh2 Nf4 14. Bxf4 gxf4
{The two bishops (especially the a7 one) look impressive, and Black has easy
play along the g-file.} 15. g4 {Trying to block the positon as much as
possible.} ({"Let's not talk about this:"} 15. O-O {"I know I am old fashioned,
but Bc8-d7, 0-0-0 and mate on the g-file should follow."(Kramnik)}) 15... Ne7 {
Bringing the knight on the kingside.} ({Black also considered} 15... fxg3 16.
fxg3 Rg8 17. g4 Ne7 18. Rf1 Ng6 19. O-O-O Nf4 20. Qh2 {which should be better
for him as well.}) ({An example of prophylactical thinking that Kramnik has is
the line} 15... Bd7 16. Bd5 Rb8 17. Bxc6 {"Knights are not bad at all at this
position" (Kramnik).}) 16. b4 {"Vishy did not realize that my king will stay
in the middle." (Kramnik).} ({Instead he suggested} 16. d4 Ng6 17. Bb3 {
when Black is also better, but not as much as in the game.}) 16... Ng6 17. Kd1
{The king does not have safe shelter anywhere.} ({Or} 17. b5 Kf8 {followed by
Kg8-g7 with similar consequences.}) 17... h5 $1 {An important moment. Black
shuts the kingside, and thus secures his king. On the other wing, the play
will be quite one-sided. Further, the h3-pawn demands constant attention thus
the white rooks cannot fully participate in the queenside battle. If the pawn
goes up (h3-h4), then the g4-square will become available for the black bishop,
and new problems will occur with the h4 pawn.} 18. g5 Qe7 19. b5 Kf8 $1 20.
bxa6 {This makes things easier for the second player.} ({Sounder was to keep
the position as blocked as possible, or to try and seize better positions on
the queenside with} 20. Bd5 Rb8 21. Nc4 Bd7 22. Qb2 {Next the king will come
to e2 and the kingside rook to b1. If} c6 $2 23. b6) 20... bxa6 21. d4 {
Anand does not want to stand still.} Kg7 22. d5 (22. Bxa6 $2 Bxd4 $1) 22... Bd7
23. Kc2 Rhb8 {Not only is the h3-pawn is vulnerable, but the one on a4 is weak
too.} (23... c6 {was also very good for Black.}) 24. Bxa6 Bxf2 25. Bb5 ({Or} 
25. Qxf2 Rxa6 26. a5 c6 {breaking open the position.}) 25... Be3 26. h4 Ra5 (
26... Qe8 $5 {(Kramnik)}) 27. c4 ({In case of} 27. Nc4 Raxb5 $1 {is strong
when White is helpless after} 28. axb5 Bxb5) 27... Rba8 28. Kb3 ({After} 28.
Nb3 {Black intended} Rxa4 29. Rxa4 Rxa4 30. Bxa4 Bxa4 31. Ra1 {and now either}
Qd7 ({Or} 31... Bxb3+ 32. Kxb3 Qd7 {with a winning attack in both cases.}))
28... Nf8 $1 {Bringing the last piece into the attack.} 29. Rhc1 Bg4 30. Kc2
Bxd2 31. Kxd2 Nd7 32. Ra3 ({Or} 32. Bxd7 Qxd7 {and the a4-pawn will suffer for
starters.}) 32... Nc5 33. Bc6 Rb8 34. Ke1 Qd8 35. Qc2 Bxf3 36. Rxf3 Qc8 {
Anand resigned as there is no way to defend all the weaknesses.} 0-1

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.20"]
[Round "7.4"]
[White "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D37"]
[WhiteElo "2753"]
[BlackElo "2811"]
[PlyCount "91"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 a6 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 Be6 7. e3 Nbd7 8.
Bd3 h6 9. Bh4 g5 10. Bg3 Nh5 11. Be5 Nhf6 12. Bg3 Nh5 13. Nd2 Nxg3 14. hxg3 Nb6
15. Qc2 Bd6 16. e4 dxe4 17. Bxe4 Qe7 $4 {Caruana presumably relied on this
very relatable blunder. If he has to defend b7, he is worse although there is
a long game ahead.} 18. Bxb7 $1 {It turns out that Karjakin CAN allow Black's
many discovered checks. All may be refuted.} Rb8 (18... Bd5+ 19. Kf1 Bxb7 20.
Re1 $1 {wins the queen!}) (18... Bb3+ 19. Qe4) (18... Bf5+ 19. Nde4) 19. Bc6+
Kf8 20. O-O $1 {Karjakin has the extra pawn and a positional advantage. It is
not resignable for Caruana yet, but he is lost, and Karjakin does not give him
any chances.} Qf6 21. Nf3 Kg7 22. Rfe1 Rhd8 23. Ne4 Qg6 24. d5 Nxd5 25. Bxd5
Bxd5 26. Qc3+ f6 27. Nxd6 cxd6 28. Nd4 Rd7 29. Qa5 Bf7 30. b3 Ra8 31. Rac1 d5
32. Rc7 Rxc7 33. Qxc7 Qd3 34. Ne6+ Kg6 35. Nd8 Rxd8 36. Qxd8 Qd2 37. Qe7 Qxa2
38. Re3 Qb1+ 39. Kh2 Qf5 40. Qc7 d4 41. Re7 Qd5 42. b4 Be6 43. Qb6 Bf7 44. Qxa6
d3 45. Re3 Qc4 46. Qa3 1-0


[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.20"]
[Round "7.2"]
[White "So, Wesley"]
[Black "Giri, Anish"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2792"]
[BlackElo "2752"]
[ECO "D55"]
[Opening "QGD"]
[Variation "Neo-orthodox variation, 7.Bh4"]
[WhiteFideId "5202213"]
[BlackFideId "24116068"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e3 h6 6. Bh4 O-O 7. Nf3 Nbd7 8. Be2
c5 9. O-O dxc4 10. Bxc4 cxd4 11. Nxd4 Ne5 12. Be2 Bd7 13. Qb3 Qb6 14. Qxb6 axb6
15. Bg3 Nc6 16. Ndb5 Na7 17. Nxa7 Rxa7 18. Rfd1 Rc8 19. Bd6 Kf8 20. Bxe7+ Kxe7
21. Rd4 Bc6 22. Rb4 Nd7 23. Rd1 Ra5 24. f3 Rc5 25. Kf2 Ra8 26. h4 g5 27. Rc1
Rca5 28. e4 Rg8 29. hxg5 hxg5 30. Rd4 Ne5 31. Rh1 Raa8 32. Rh5 Nd7 33. Ke3 Nf6
34. Rh1 Rgc8 35. g3 Rg8 36. a3 Rgc8 37. Rb4 Nd7 38. Rd4 Nf6 39. Rb4 Nd7 40. Rd4 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.20"]
[Round "7.3"]
[White "Matlakov, Maxim"]
[Black "Adhiban, Baskaran"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2718"]
[BlackElo "2655"]
[ECO "E68"]
[Opening "King's Indian"]
[Variation "fianchetto, classical variation, 8.e4"]
[WhiteFideId "4168003"]
[BlackFideId "5018471"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. d4 g6 2. c4 Bg7 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d6 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Nc3 e5 8. e4
Re8 9. h3 exd4 10. Nxd4 a6 11. Be3 Rb8 12. b3 Nc5 13. Qc2 Bd7 14. b4 Ne6 15. Nb3
Qc8 16. Kh2 b5 17. c5 Nd8 18. Rad1 Nc6 19. a3 Ne5 20. Na5 h5 21. Nd5 Nxd5 22.
exd5 h4 23. Bg5 dxc5 24. Qxc5 Bf5 25. Bxh4 Nd3 26. Qa7 Ra8 27. Qb7 Qxb7 28. Nxb7
Nb2 29. d6 Nxd1 30. Rxd1 cxd6 31. Nxd6 Rad8 32. Rd5 Be6 33. Nxe8 Rxd5 34. Bxd5
Bxd5 35. Bf6 Bf8 36. f4 Bc6 37. Nc7 a5 38. Na6 axb4 39. axb4 Bb7 40. Nc5 Bd5 41.
g4 Bd6 42. Kg3 Kh7 43. h4 Kh6 44. Be5 Bxc5 45. bxc5 f5 46. g5+ Kh7 47. Bc3 Bc6
48. Kf2 Kg8 49. Ke3 Kf7 50. Kd4 Ke6 51. Be1 Bf3 52. Kc3 Kd5 53. Kb4 Kc6 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.20"]
[Round "7.5"]
[White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"]
[Black "Wei, Yi"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E05"]
[WhiteElo "2804"]
[BlackElo "2743"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 e6 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. a4
Bd7 9. Qxc4 Bc6 10. Bg5 h6 11. Bxf6 Bxf6 12. Nc3 Bxf3 13. Bxf3 Qxd4 14. Qxc7 {
Presumably Wei had thoroughly prepared this pawn sacrifice. Mamedyarov took
some time, but found a tightrope that he could walk and keep play alive. Many
drawn endgames loom.} Nc6 15. Qxb7 Na5 16. Qc7 (16. Qxa8 Rxa8 17. Bxa8 Qb4 18.
Rab1 Nc4 {Black's pieces are extremely active. Wei Yi should not be worse.})
16... Qd8 17. Qf4 Rb8 18. Rfd1 Qe7 (18... Qc8 $1 {Pressuring c3 and supporting
Nc4 seems close to equal according to the engine.}) 19. Rab1 Rfc8 $2 20. Ne4 $1
{Now White is just a pawn up.} Bg5 (20... Bxb2 21. Nd6 Rd8 22. Nxf7 $1 {
Black is either loose on b2 or b8 so White keeps material and has the better
structure.}) 21. Qd6 Qxd6 22. Rxd6 Be7 23. Rxa6 Nc4 24. Rc1 $2 (24. b3 $1 {
simple.}) 24... Nxb2 $2 (24... Rxb2 $1 {Black is far from lost here. It's hard
to progress the a-pawn for White. It's hard to say why Wei Yi rejected this
line in favor of ...Nxb2 or why Mamedyarov allowed it.}) 25. Rxc8+ Rxc8 26. a5
Nc4 27. Ra7 Bb4 28. a6 f5 29. Rb7 $1 {A nice finish.} fxe4 30. Bg4 {With b4
and a fork of g8-c8-c4 imminent, literally every piece hangs for Black.} 1-0

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.20"]
[Round "7.7"]
[White "Jones, Gawain C B"]
[Black "Svidler, Peter"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2640"]
[BlackElo "2768"]
[ECO "B22"]
[Opening "Sicilian"]
[Variation "Alapin's variation (2.c3)"]
[WhiteFideId "409561"]
[BlackFideId "4102142"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. e4 c5 2. c3 Nf6 3. e5 Nd5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Bc4 d6 6. d4 cxd4 7. cxd4 Nc6 8. O-O
Be7 9. exd6 Qxd6 10. Nc3 O-O 11. Re1 Rd8 12. a3 a6 13. Be3 Nxe3 14. fxe3 b6 15.
Rc1 Bb7 16. Ba2 Rac8 17. Ne4 Qd7 18. Nfg5 Bxg5 19. Nxg5 h6 20. Nf3 Qd6 21. Rf1
Rc7 22. Qe2 Rdc8 23. Rcd1 Na5 24. Bb1 Nc4 25. Bd3 b5 26. Rf2 f5 27. e4 fxe4 28.
Bxe4 Bxe4 29. Qxe4 Qd5 30. Re1 Qxe4 31. Rxe4 Rc6 32. Rfe2 a5 33. Ne5 Rd6 34.
Nxc4 1/2-1/2


[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.21"]
[Round "8.1"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Jones, Gawain C B"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B76"]
[WhiteElo "2834"]
[BlackElo "2640"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 Nc6 8. Qd2
O-O 9. O-O-O d5 10. Qe1 e5 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. exd5 Nxd5 13. Bc4 Be6 14. Kb1 Re8
15. Ne4 (15. h4 Qc7 16. Nxd5 cxd5 17. Bxd5 Bxd5 18. Rxd5 e4 19. fxe4 Rxe4 20.
Qd2 Bxb2 21. Kxb2 Qb7+ 22. Ka1 Rxe3 {Navara,D (2735)-Edouard,R (2641) Drancy
2016}) 15... f5 $146 (15... Qc7 16. Bc5 h6 17. g4 Nf4 18. Bd6 Qb6 19. Bxe6 Rxe6
20. Bc5 Qb5 21. b3 Ree8 {Leko,P (2709)-Trent,L (2463) Douglas 2016}) 16. Ng5
Bc8 17. g4 $4 {One of the worst blunders by Carlsen ever.} ({The normal move
is obviously} 17. h4 {when} a5 {looks quite playable for Black.}) 17... f4 {
As simple as that.} 18. h4 fxe3 19. Qxe3 h6 20. Qc5 Bb7 21. Ne4 Re6 22. h5 Qb6
$2 {Rather impractical.} ({As pointed out by Giri (and Aronian to this
reporter at the dinner table in Gibraltar)} 22... g5 {is the obvious reply,
when White has nothing.}) 23. g5 $1 {White grabs the one chance to complicate
things.} hxg5 $6 (23... Bf8) {After another mistake White takes over with...}
24. Qa3 $1 {Under the current circumstances White suddenly has attacking
chances again.} Rb8 25. b3 Qd8 $6 {Jones is collapsing.} (25... Qc7) 26. Qxa7
gxh5 27. Rxh5 Rg6 28. Rxg5 Rxg5 29. Nxg5 Qc8 30. Rg1 Ra8 31. Qb6 Ra6 32. Qc5
Qd7 33. Ne4 Kh8 34. Qf2 Qe7 35. Bxa6 Bxa6 36. Qh2+ Kg8 37. Qh6 Qa7 38. Qe6+ Kf8
39. Rg5 Ne3 40. Qd6+ Kf7 41. Nc5 Bc8 42. Rxg7+ 1-0

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.21"]
[Round "8.2"]
[White "Giri, Anish"]
[Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A30"]
[WhiteElo "2752"]
[BlackElo "2804"]
[Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"]
[PlyCount "63"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. c4 c5 ({In order to understand the arising position later the reader is
advised to follow the classical game Karpov-Dreev:} 1... c6 2. e4 d5 3. cxd5
cxd5 4. exd5 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nxd5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Bb5 e6 8. O-O Be7 9. d4 O-O 10. Re1
a6 11. Bxc6 bxc6 12. Ne5 Bb7 13. Na4 Rc8 14. Nd3 $1 a5 15. Nac5 Qc7 16. Bd2 Ra8
17. Rc1 Rfd8 18. Ne5 Bxc5 19. Rxc5 $1 {and White won in Karpov,A (2699)-Dreev,
A (2676) Cap d'Agde 2000}) 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 g6 4. e3 Nf6 5. d4 cxd4 6. exd4 d5
7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. Qb3 e6 ({So chose a different plan this summer:} 8... Nxc3 9.
Bc4 Nd5 10. Bxd5 e6 11. Bxc6+ bxc6 12. O-O Qd5 {and eventually drew, Giri,A 
(2771)-So,W (2812) Leuven 2017}) 9. Bb5 Bg7 10. O-O O-O 11. Bxc6 {It looks
illogical to trade the good bishop for the knight but as Karpov showed in the
aforementioned game White is building his play against the weak light-squared
bishop on c8.} bxc6 12. Re1 ({Or:} 12. Na4 Qd6 13. Re1 Rb8 14. Qc2 c5 $1 {
This is how people solve the problem of the light-squared bishop.} 15. Nxc5 Nb4
16. Qc3 Bb7 {with compensation for the pawn in Cheparinov,I (2710)-Wei,Y (2727)
China 2017}) 12... Qd6 $146 {A novelty, but it seems that Mamedyarov had
messed up something, somewhere. The queen is not placed well on d6 which is
proven immediately.} ({It would be interesting to see what Giri had prepared
against} 12... Qb6 {So far only one game was played in the line and it ended
after} 13. Qc2 {1/2-1/2 Tomashevsky,E (2710)-Alekseev,E (2622) Sochi 2017}) 13.
Ne4 Qb4 14. Qc2 ({Naturally White is not interested in the queen's swap after} 
14. Qxb4 Nxb4 15. Rd1 Ba6 {when Black is doing perfectly fine.}) 14... a5 15.
a3 ({The careful reader has already seen that the c6-pawn is not interesting
after all (or at all).} 15. Qxc6 Bb7 16. Qc2 Rfc8 17. Qd1 Ne7 {would bring all
the black pieces out and he would enjoy more than sufficient compensation
after Ne7-f5.}) 15... Qb6 16. Nc5 {This is what it the line is all about. The
knight on c5 dominates the light-squared bishop and soon after his brother
will hop on e5 making fun of the other bishop.} Re8 ({Since} 16... Rd8 {
allows the tempo} 17. Bg5 Re8 18. Ne5 f6 19. Nc4 {with a large advantage for
White.}) 17. Ne5 f6 {Mamedyarov cannot stand the knight, but he now weakens
the kingside and blocks the bishop. Still, this is the only way to get some
counter-play.} ({After} 17... Ba6 {White can build kingside attack with a move
like} 18. h4 $5) 18. Nc4 Qc7 19. Bd2 e5 {The point behind f7-f6. However, now
the pawn on e5 becomes weak too.} ({How annoying the knights are is revelealed
by the following short lines:} 19... Bb7 20. Nxb7 Qxb7 21. Nd6) ({Or} 19... Bd7
20. Bxa5) 20. dxe5 fxe5 (20... Bf5 {simply pushes the queen to a better square:
} 21. Qa4 fxe5 22. Bxa5) 21. Qa4 {Mamedyarov opened the road for the
light-squared bishop but at a very high price. In the process he created an
additional weakness on e5 besides the existing ones on a5 and c6 and blocked
the other bishop. From a strategical point of view his position is hopeless.}
Nb6 22. Nxb6 Qxb6 23. Qc4+ Kh8 24. Bc3 Bf5 {Probably missing White's next move.
In difficult positions it is easy to err.} ({The best chance was the immediate:
} 24... Qb5 {when White has a pleasant choice between the immediate pawn
capture with} 25. Qxb5 ({Or even better, the slow positional grinding after} 
25. Qf7 Bf5 26. Ne4) 25... cxb5 26. f4) 25. g4 $1 {Played without prejudices!
Giri correctly assessed that his opponent will never make use of the
hypothetical weakening on the kingside as far as his pieces remain blocked in
his camp.} Bc8 ({The bishop is trapped after} 25... Bc2 26. Rac1) 26. Re4 {
With the obvious intention to gang up the e5 pawn and clear the kingside
afterwards.} Qb5 27. Rae1 Qxc4 28. Rxc4 Rb8 ({Or} 28... Be6 29. Nxe6 Rxe6 30.
f4 ({Or} 30. Rce4 {winning a pawn for starters in either case.})) 29. h3 $1 {
No need to hurry.} h5 30. gxh5 gxh5 31. Rh4 Kh7 32. Ne4 $1 ({Even better than} 
32. Rxh5+ Kg6 33. Rh4) ({Mamedyarov resigned, disgusted by his position. White
will win more than a pawn in the possible line after} 32. Ne4 Kg6 33. Re3 Bf5
34. Rg3+ Kf7 35. Nd6+) 1-0

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.21"]
[Round "8.3"]
[White "Hou, Yifan"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C96"]
[WhiteElo "2680"]
[BlackElo "2811"]
[PlyCount "116"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3
O-O 9. h3 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. d4 Nd7 12. d5 Nb6 13. Nbd2 Bd7 14. Nf1 Nb7 15. b3
(15. N3h2 c4 16. f4 exf4 17. Bxf4 Bg5 18. Bxg5 Qxg5 19. Nf3 Qe7 20. e5 dxe5 21.
Nxe5 Qc5+ 22. Kh1 Rad8 {Motylev,A (2675)-Howell,D (2676) London 2017}) 15... a5
$146 (15... c4 16. b4 a5 17. g4 axb4 18. cxb4 Na4 19. a3 g6 20. Ng3 f6 21. Nh2
Qc8 22. f4 exf4 23. Bxf4 Nd8 {Kryvoruchko,Y (2676)-Polgar,J (2709) Achaea 2012}
) 16. Rb1 c4 17. bxc4 Nxc4 18. a4 Qc7 19. axb5 Nb6 20. Be3 Rfc8 21. Bd3 Nc5 22.
Re2 a4 23. Ra2 Bd8 24. Bc2 Nc4 25. N3d2 Nxe3 26. Nxe3 Rcb8 27. c4 Qc8 28. Ra3 (
28. Bxa4 {was fine here.}) 28... Ba5 29. Ndf1 Bb6 30. Ng3 Qd8 31. Nef5 (31.
Rba1) 31... g6 32. Nh6+ Kg7 33. Qd2 (33. Rf3 $5) 33... Qh4 34. Ng4 Bxg4 35.
hxg4 Qxg4 36. Kf1 Qh4 37. Ke2 h5 38. Kf1 Rh8 39. Rba1 Qf6 40. Rf3 Qe7 41. Ne2
Nb3 42. Bxb3 axb3 43. Ra6 Rxa6 44. bxa6 Ra8 45. Rxb3 Rxa6 46. g3 h4 47. gxh4
Qxh4 48. Ng3 Bxf2 49. Qxf2 Qh3+ 50. Ke2 Ra2+ 51. Ke1 Rxf2 52. Nf5+ Qxf5 53.
exf5 Rxf5 54. Rb6 Rf4 55. Rc6 g5 56. Ke2 Rd4 57. Kf3 f6 58. Rxd6 Rxc4 0-1

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.21"]
[Round "8.4"]
[White "Svidler, Peter"]
[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2768"]
[BlackElo "2767"]
[ECO "A35"]
[Opening "English"]
[Variation "symmetrical, four knights system"]
[WhiteFideId "4102142"]
[BlackFideId "5000017"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. d4 d5 6. a3 a6 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. b4 Bd6
9. Bb2 O-O 10. cxd5 exd5 11. Be2 Be6 12. O-O Qe7 13. Rc1 a5 14. Nb5 Bb8 15. bxa5
Nxa5 16. Bxf6 Qxf6 17. Nc7 Bxc7 18. Rxc7 Rac8 19. Rxc8 Rxc8 20. Nd4 Nc4 21. Nxe6
fxe6 22. e4 d4 23. Bxc4 Rxc4 24. Qb3 Rc7 25. f4 h6 26. f5 Re7 27. fxe6 Qxe6 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.21"]
[Round "8.5"]
[White "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Black "So, Wesley"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2787"]
[BlackElo "2792"]
[ECO "A14"]
[Opening "English"]
[Variation "Neo-Catalan declined"]
[WhiteFideId "4101588"]
[BlackFideId "5202213"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 e6 4. O-O Be7 5. c4 O-O 6. d4 dxc4 7. Qa4 a6 8. Qxc4
b5 9. Qc2 Bb7 10. Bd2 Be4 11. Qc1 c6 12. Rd1 Nbd7 13. Nc3 Bg6 14. Bg5 Rc8 15. a3
a5 16. h4 h6 17. Bxf6 Bxf6 18. Qe3 Qb6 19. Ne4 Be7 20. Rac1 Rfd8 21. Nc5 Nxc5
22. Ne5 Nd7 23. Nxg6 Bf6 24. g4 c5 25. dxc5 Rxc5 26. Rxc5 Qxc5 27. Rxd7 Qxe3 28.
Rxd8+ Bxd8 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.21"]
[Round "8.6"]
[White "Adhiban, Baskaran"]
[Black "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2655"]
[BlackElo "2753"]
[ECO "A05"]
[Opening "Reti opening"]
[WhiteFideId "5018471"]
[BlackFideId "14109603"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 c5 3. Bg2 Nc6 4. c4 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Nc3 Nc7 7. a3 g6 8. d3
Bg7 9. Be3 Ne6 10. h4 h6 11. Rc1 Bd7 12. O-O Rc8 13. Na2 O-O 14. b4 cxb4 15.
Nxb4 Qa5 16. Qd2 Qxa3 17. Nxc6 Bxc6 18. Bxh6 Bxf3 19. Bxg7 Kxg7 20. Ra1 Qc3 21.
Qxc3+ Rxc3 22. Bxf3 Nd4 23. Rxa7 Nxf3+ 24. exf3 Rxd3 25. Rxb7 Rxf3 26. Rxe7 Ra8
27. Kg2 Rfa3 28. Rb1 R8a7 29. Rxa7 Rxa7 30. g4 Ra4 31. Kg3 Ra3+ 32. f3 Ra5 33.
Rb4 Rc5 34. Kf4 Ra5 35. Re4 f5 36. gxf5 Rxf5+ 37. Kg4 Ra5 38. Rb4 Ra1 39. Rb7+
Kh6 40. Rb8 Kg7 41. Kf4 Ra4+ 42. Kg5 Ra5+ 43. Kf4 Ra4+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.21"]
[Round "8.7"]
[White "Wei, Yi"]
[Black "Matlakov, Maxim"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2743"]
[BlackElo "2718"]
[ECO "C47"]
[Opening "Four knights"]
[Variation "Scotch, 4...exd4"]
[WhiteFideId "8603405"]
[BlackFideId "4168003"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Bb4 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bd3 d5 8.
exd5 O-O 9. O-O cxd5 10. Bg5 c6 11. Qf3 Bd6 12. Rae1 Rb8 13. Nd1 h6 14. Bxf6
Qxf6 15. Qxf6 gxf6 16. b3 a5 17. Ne3 Bb4 18. Re2 a4 19. Nf5 Bxf5 20. Bxf5 Rfd8
21. Re3 axb3 22. axb3 c5 23. Rg3+ Kf8 24. Rh3 Kg7 25. Rg3+ Kf8 26. Rh3 1/2-1/2


[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.23"]
[Round "9.1"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C95"]
[WhiteElo "2767"]
[BlackElo "2834"]
[PlyCount "63"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3
O-O 9. h3 Nb8 10. d4 Nbd7 11. Nbd2 Bb7 12. Bc2 Re8 13. Nf1 Bf8 14. Ng3 g6 15.
a4 Nb6 16. axb5 (16. a5 Nbd7 17. b3 exd4 18. cxd4 c5 19. d5 Rc8 20. Bf4 Ne5 21.
Nxe5 dxe5 22. Bg5 h6 23. Be3 c4 24. bxc4 Rxc4 25. Bd3 Rc8 {Saric,I (2662)
-Cheparinov,I (2695) Mali Losinj 2017}) 16... axb5 17. Bg5 Bg7 18. Bd3 Rxa1 19.
Qxa1 c6 20. Be3 $146 (20. Rd1 Qe7 21. dxe5 dxe5 22. Be2 Na4 23. Be3 Ra8 24. Qc1
Nc5 25. Qc2 Ne8 26. c4 b4 27. Qd2 Nb3 28. Qd3 Nc5 {Legrand,M (2171)-Brock,W 
(2111) corr. 2016}) 20... Qc7 21. dxe5 dxe5 22. Qc1 Bc8 23. Qc2 Nfd7 24. c4
Nxc4 25. Bxc4 bxc4 26. Qxc4 Nf8 27. Rc1 Bb7 28. Nf1 Ne6 29. N1d2 Qa5 30. Ng5
Nxg5 31. Bxg5 Bf8 32. Be3 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.23"]
[Round "9.2"]
[White "Matlakov, Maxim"]
[Black "Giri, Anish"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A07"]
[WhiteElo "2718"]
[BlackElo "2752"]
[Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"]
[PlyCount "78"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Bg4 3. Bg2 c6 4. O-O Nd7 5. h3 ({Grischuk played way too
optimistically even for a blitz game:} 5. d3 e6 6. e4 Bd6 7. h3 Bh5 8. exd5
exd5 9. Qe1+ Ne7 10. Nh4 {Grischuk,A (2750)-Carlsen,M (2832) chess.com INT 2017
}) 5... Bh5 6. d4 {It is worth mentioning that Giri has more experience in
this line as...White.} e6 7. c4 Be7 8. Nc3 ({White was better in another blitz
game on the chess.com server after} 8. Qb3 Qb6 9. Nc3 Ngf6 10. Re1 O-O 11. Bf4
Rfd8 12. g4 Bg6 13. c5 Qxb3 14. axb3 Rdc8 15. b4 a6 16. Nd2 Bd8 17. Nb3 {
Giri,A (2785)-So,W (2815) chess.com INT 2017}) 8... dxc4 9. b3 {"A very
unpleasant surprise." (Giri) The Dutch GM admitted that he knew this move, but
for some "funny" reason did not prepare for it. It remained a secret for the
time being.} cxb3 10. Qxb3 Qb6 $146 {The most obvious defense is a novelty.
The queen will not say there for long though.} ({In a predecessor Wesley So
solved the problem of the b7 pawn easily-} 10... Ngf6 11. Qxb7 {and then
solved in identical way the problem with the c6 pawn-} O-O 12. Bf4 Qa5 13. g4
Bg6 14. g5 Nh5 15. Bd2 Rfd8 16. Qxc6 Rac8 17. Qb5 Qxb5 18. Nxb5 a6 {good for
Wesley, he did not have too many problems to solve on the queenside and he
eventually drew the game, Eljanov,P (2751)-So,W (2822) Shamkir 2017}) 11. Qa4
Ngf6 12. Rb1 Qc7 13. Bf4 {Everything comes with tempo.} Qc8 14. Rfc1 {"This is
not even useful." (Giri) The Dutch GM considered the move to be "very bad" and
somewhere around here he probably stopped thinking about a save way to draw
but started looking for more.} ({Black admitted that he was calculating
lenghty lines "a la So" from above where he sacrifices a pawn or two to
nivilate White's pressure. One line I can imagine runs:} 14. Qb3 Bg6 (14... b5
15. Rfc1 $1) 15. Rb2 Nb6 16. a4 Ne4 17. Nxe4 Bxe4 18. a5 Nd5 19. Qxb7 Qxb7 20.
Rxb7 Nxf4 21. gxf4 c5 {although White should be better here.}) 14... O-O 15.
Qb3 {White's compensation is determined by his more active pieces, strong
center and Benko-like pressure along the b and the c-files.} Bg6 16. Rb2 Rd8
17. a4 ({One of the reason why Giri criticized the Rf1-c1 maneuver is the fact
that White does not threaten to capture on b7 anymore:} 17. Qxb7 $2 Ba3) 17...
a5 {Giri expected} 18. Nd2 $1 {with repetition. Missed by Black. "He gets
compensation after all." (Giri)} ({Also interesting seems} 18. Nb5 Ne8 19. Na3
$5 {to transfer the other knight to c4 and keep the one of f3 attend the e5
square meeting.}) 18... Nh5 19. Be3 Nhf6 20. Nc4 $1 {The European champion
demonstrates fighting spirit. Indeed, he does not risk that much with all
those active pieces. Now that the knight has covered the a3 square the threat
against the b7 pawn becomes real.} Nd5 (20... Ra7 $2 21. d5) 21. Qxb7 Bb4 {
A subtle decision. The bishop blocks the b-file for the time being.} (21...
Nxe3 {is less precise due to} 22. fxe3 (22. Nxe3 $2 Ba3) 22... Bb4 23. Qxc8
Rdxc8 24. Na2 Bf8 25. Rb7 {with White's advantage.}) 22. Qxc8 Raxc8 23. Na2
Nxe3 24. fxe3 c5 {All of this was more or less forced but now Matlakov goes
astray.} 25. Nd6 ({The Russian GM should have moved his rook away from the
possible pins and skewers with:} 25. Rd1 $1 {with the key idea} cxd4 ({Worse is
} 25... Nf6 26. Nxb4 axb4 27. Nb6 Rb8 28. a5 {when the a-pawn will cost Black
at least the exchange.}) 26. Nxb4 axb4 ({Or} 26... Rxc4 27. Nc6 Re8 28. Rxd4
Rc1+ 29. Kf2 Nc5 30. Nxa5) 27. Rxb4 {with clear advantage for White.}) ({
White should definitely avoid the pin after} 25. Nxb4 $2 cxb4) 25... Ba3 {
Now another forcing string of moves is triggered.} 26. Nxc8 Bxb2 ({Not as good
is} 26... Rxc8 27. Rb7 Bxc1 28. Nxc1 cxd4 29. Nb3 Bc2 30. Nxa5 Nc5 31. Rb4 d3)
27. Ne7+ Kf8 28. Nxg6+ hxg6 {The tables have turned; it is White to has to
prove the equality now.} 29. Rc2 ({In case of} 29. Rb1 {there is a strong
ambush coming:} Rb8 $1 {Quite strangely it is the white rook that feel
uncomfortable on the b-file rather than its counterpart. For example} 30. Bc6 (
30. Kf1 $2 c4 $1) 30... Bxd4 31. Rxb8+ Nxb8 32. exd4 Nxc6 33. dxc5 Ke7 {
with advantage in the knight endgame for Black.}) 29... Ba3 30. Bc6 ({It looks
logical to bring the knight back into business with} 30. Nc3 cxd4 31. Nb5 Bb4
32. exd4 {but this will lead to problems with the a4 pawn after} Nb6) 30...
cxd4 31. exd4 Rc8 {The pin is not as innocuous as it seems.} 32. e3 Ke7 33. Kf1
({Or} 33. Be4 Rxc2 34. Bxc2 Bb2 $1 {when e6-e5 will follow next. "followed by
e6-e5, but it is very unpleasant for him" (Giri)} ({Not the immediate} 34... e5
35. Nc3 $1)) 33... Bd6 $1 {Giri was very proud of this idea, changing the
angle of the attack. In many lines the black rook moves away with a tempo
attacking on h3.} (33... e5 {was not bad neither.}) 34. g4 ({Safer seems the
defense with} 34. Kf2 Nb6 35. h4 (35. Be4 Rh8 $1) 35... f5 36. Nc1) 34... Nb6
35. Rc1 $2 {The decisive mistake. Now the rook will not escape from the pin
without material losses.} ({Matlakov needed to sacrifice a pawn with} 35. Be4
Rh8 36. Rc6 Nxa4 37. Ra6 {The active pieces give him good saving chances, for
example} Rxh3 38. Bc6 Nb2 ({However, Black can avoid this with} 38... f5 $1 {
preserving winning hopes.}) 39. Ra7+ Kf6 40. Nc3 Rxe3 41. Ne4+ Rxe4 42. Bxe4 {
and this should be a draw.}) 35... Ba3 36. Rc3 ({If} 36. Rc2 Nd5 $1 {cuts the
communication between the white bishop and rook:} 37. Ke2 Kd6) 36... Bb4 37.
Nxb4 ({Again} 37. Rc2 {fails to} Nd5 38. Ke2 Kd6) 37... axb4 38. Rc5 (38. Rc2
Nd5 $1) 38... b3 ({Also winning was} 38... Nd7 39. Bxd7 Rxc5 40. dxc5 Kxd7 {
as White cannot defend his pawns-} 41. Ke2 Kc6) 39. a5 Nd7 {Matlakov resigned
as he loses a whole bishop.} (39... Nd7 40. Rc1 b2) 0-1

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.23"]
[Round "9.3"]
[White "Jones, Gawain C B"]
[Black "Hou, Yifan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2640"]
[BlackElo "2680"]
[ECO "A14"]
[Opening "English"]
[Variation "Neo-Catalan declined"]
[WhiteFideId "409561"]
[BlackFideId "8602980"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. c4 e6 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 d5 4. Nf3 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. d4 dxc4 7. Ne5 Nc6 8. Nxc6
bxc6 9. Na3 Bxa3 10. bxa3 Ba6 11. a4 Qc8 12. Ba3 Rd8 13. Be7 Rd5 14. Bxf6 gxf6
15. Bxd5 cxd5 16. e4 dxe4 17. Qg4+ Kf8 18. Qxe4 Bb7 19. Qxh7 Qd7 20. Qh6+ Ke7
21. Qe3 Qxa4 22. Rab1 Bd5 23. Rb2 Rh8 24. Qc3 a5 25. f3 Kd7 26. Rc1 Ra8 27. Qe3
Rg8 28. Kg2 f5 29. Kf2 Rh8 30. Ke1 Qc6 31. Rc3 Qa8 32. Qe2 Qa7 33. Qd1 e5 34.
Qa4+ Kc8 35. Rxc4 Bxc4 36. Qxc4 Rd8 37. Kf1 Qxd4 38. Qa6+ Kd7 39. Qb5+ Ke7 40.
Kg2 Rd5 41. Qe2 Kf6 42. Rc2 Qb4 43. Qe3 c5 44. Qh6+ Ke7 45. Re2 Qb5 46. Rf2 Qb8
47. Qg5+ Ke6 48. g4 f4 49. Qf5+ Ke7 50. Re2 Kf8 51. Qf6 Qd6 52. Qxd6+ Rxd6 53.
Rxe5 Rd2+ 54. Kh3 Rxa2 55. Rxc5 Ra3 56. Kh4 Rxf3 57. Rxa5 Rf2 58. h3 Rf3 59. Rh5
Ra3 60. Rf5 Rf3 61. Rf6 Kg7 62. g5 Kg8 63. Ra6 Kg7 64. Rf6 Kg8 65. Rh6 Rg3 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.23"]
[Round "9.4"]
[White "So, Wesley"]
[Black "Svidler, Peter"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2792"]
[BlackElo "2768"]
[ECO "A48"]
[Opening "King's Indian"]
[Variation "East Indian defence"]
[WhiteFideId "5202213"]
[BlackFideId "4102142"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Nbd2 d5 4. e3 Nc6 5. b3 Bg7 6. Bb2 O-O 7. Be2 a5 8. a3 b6
9. O-O e6 10. c4 Ne7 11. cxd5 exd5 12. b4 c6 13. Rc1 axb4 14. axb4 b5 15. Nb3
Ra2 16. Bc3 Ne4 17. Be1 Ra6 18. Nc5 Rb6 19. Ra1 Bg4 20. h3 Bxf3 21. Bxf3 Nxc5
22. bxc5 Rb8 23. Ra7 Ra8 24. Qa1 Qb8 25. Rxa8 Qxa8 26. Bb4 Qb7 27. Qc3 Ra8 28.
Ra1 h5 29. g4 hxg4 30. hxg4 f5 31. Rxa8+ Qxa8 32. Qa3 Qc8 33. gxf5 Qxf5 34. Kg2
g5 35. Be2 Qe4+ 36. Bf3 Qf5 37. Be2 Qe4+ 38. Bf3 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.23"]
[Round "9.5"]
[White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"]
[Black "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2804"]
[BlackElo "2787"]
[ECO "C53"]
[Opening "Giuoco Piano"]
[WhiteFideId "13401319"]
[BlackFideId "4101588"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 O-O 6. O-O d5 7. exd5 Nxd5 8. a4
Bf5 9. Re1 Nb6 10. Bb5 Ne7 11. a5 c6 12. axb6 cxb5 13. Be3 axb6 14. Rxa8 Qxa8
15. Bxc5 bxc5 16. Rxe5 Qd8 17. d4 cxd4 18. Nxd4 Bxb1 19. Qxb1 b4 20. Rb5 bxc3
21. bxc3 Nd5 22. Qd3 Nf4 23. Qf3 Ne6 24. Rxb7 Nxd4 25. cxd4 Qxd4 26. g3 g6 27.
h4 h5 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.23"]
[Round "9.6"]
[White "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Black "Wei, Yi"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2753"]
[BlackElo "2743"]
[ECO "D30"]
[Opening "Queen's gambit declined"]
[WhiteFideId "14109603"]
[BlackFideId "8603405"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Be7 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O Nbd7 8. Qc2
c6 9. Rc1 b6 10. cxd5 cxd5 11. Bf4 Bb7 12. Qb3 Rc8 13. Rxc8 Qxc8 14. Nc3 Nh5 15.
Bg5 Bxg5 16. Nxg5 Qb8 17. e3 Nhf6 18. Bf1 h6 19. Nf3 Ne4 20. a4 Rc8 21. a5 bxa5
22. Rxa5 Bc6 23. Qa3 Rc7 24. Nxe4 dxe4 25. Nd2 Bd5 26. b3 Rb7 27. Ba6 Rc7 28.
Bc4 Nf6 29. Qd6 Ne8 30. Qa3 Nf6 31. Kg2 Rb7 32. h3 Kh7 33. Ba6 Rb4 34. Bc4 Rb7
35. Ra6 Nd7 36. Ra5 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.23"]
[Round "9.7"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Adhiban, Baskaran"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E71"]
[WhiteElo "2811"]
[BlackElo "2655"]
[PlyCount "120"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 g6 3. e4 d6 4. d4 Bg7 5. h3 Na6 6. Be3 O-O 7. g4 (7. Bd3 c6 8.
Nf3 e5 9. d5 Nh5 10. g3 cxd5 11. cxd5 Nc5 12. Be2 f5 13. exf5 gxf5 14. Ng5 Nf6
{Salem,A (2656)-Banikas,H (2568) Doha 2016}) 7... c5 8. Nge2 b6 9. e5 $146 (9.
Bg2 cxd4 10. Nxd4 Bb7 11. O-O Nc5 12. Qc2 e5 13. Nde2 h5 14. f3 Ne6 15. Rad1
Qe7 {Lupulescu,C (2620)-Nevednichy,V (2547) Calimanesti Caciulata 2017}) 9...
Ne8 10. Bg2 Rb8 11. O-O Bb7 12. Bxb7 Rxb7 13. Qa4 Nec7 14. exd6 exd6 15. Rad1
Qh4 16. Kg2 f5 17. f3 Qe7 18. Bf2 Qe8 19. Qxe8 Nxe8 20. g5 Nec7 21. Bg3 Ne6 22.
d5 Nxg5 23. Bxd6 Rd8 24. Bg3 Nf7 25. Nf4 Bxc3 26. bxc3 Nd6 27. Ne6 Rdd7 28.
Bxd6 Rxd6 29. Rfe1 Nc7 30. Nf4 Kf8 31. a4 a6 32. Nd3 Rb8 33. Re5 b5 34. Nxc5
bxc4 35. Rd4 Kf7 36. Kg3 Rb1 37. Rxc4 Rxd5 38. Rxd5 Nxd5 39. Nxa6 Rc1 40. a5
Nxc3 41. Kh4 h6 42. Nc5 g5+ 43. Kh5 Rh1 44. Kxh6 Rxh3+ 45. Kxg5 Rxf3 46. a6
Ne4+ 47. Nxe4 fxe4 48. Ra4 Rg3+ 49. Kf5 Rg8 50. Rxe4 Rh8 51. Re6 Rh5+ 52. Kg4
Ra5 53. Rh6 Kg7 54. Rb6 Kf7 55. Kf4 Ke7 56. Rh6 Kd7 57. a7 Kc7 58. Rh8 Rxa7 59.
Rh7+ Kb6 60. Rxa7 Kxa7 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.24"]
[Round "10.1"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "So, Wesley"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D02"]
[WhiteElo "2834"]
[BlackElo "2792"]
[Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"]
[PlyCount "149"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. Bf4 Bf5 4. e3 e6 5. c4 Bxb1 {A lot of authors award
this move with an exclamation mark and state that the resulting positions are
equal. What will follow next did not come as a shocking surprise for either of
the players.} 6. Qxb1 ({The other main options are:} 6. Rxb1 Bb4+ 7. Ke2 ({
In my Megabase there are even 11 games featuring:} 7. Nd2 $4 Ne4)) ({And} 6.
Qa4+ {which worked spectacularly well for Kamsky after} b5 $2 7. cxb5 Be4 8.
b6+ Nbd7 9. bxc7 Qe7 10. a3 {and White was already winning, Kamsky,G (2702)
-Bortnyk,O (2348) ICC INT 2010}) 6... Bb4+ 7. Kd1 Bd6 {Another exclamation
mark according to the French GM Prie.} 8. Bg5 h6 9. Bxf6 {Carlsen deviates of
an earlier game of these two.} ({Some of our readers have probably followed
this game live on the chess.com server:} 9. Bh4 g5 10. Bg3 Ne4 11. Qc2 g4 {
with a fightful draw later, Carlsen,M (2832)-So,W (2815) chess.com INT 2017.
Most likely both players analyzes extensively the arising positions.}) 9...
Qxf6 10. cxd5 $146 {Carlsen improves on a game played by...So!} ({Obviously,
the world champion did not quite like the position arising after:} 10. c5 Bf8
11. Qc2 c6 12. b4 a6 13. Bd3 Nd7 14. Ke2 g5 15. h3 Bg7 16. a4 Qe7 17. Rad1 O-O
18. g4 e5 {So,W (2822)-Wojtaszek,R (2745) Shamkir 2017}) 10... exd5 11. e4 {
The point behind White's play. In the Carlsbad pawn structure White does not
even have a hint of an advantage.} Be7 ({Finally, a positive aspect behind the
king's position on d1. In the line} 11... dxe4 $2 12. Qxe4+ {The move} Qe7 {
does not pin a white king on e1 and White can grab the pawn} 13. Qxb7) 12. Bb5+
{An important intermediate move.} ({The immediate} 12. e5 {allos the queen to
get on a better position with} Qb6) 12... c6 13. e5 Qf4 (13... Qe6 {deserves
attention as well with the same idea} 14. Bd3 c5) 14. Bd3 {Intending Kd1-e2
followed by g2-g3. Black cannot allow this.} c5 $1 15. dxc5 ({On} 15. Ke2 Nc6
$1 {is strong.}) 15... Nc6 {It seems as Black easily hold the equality, and
might even think of something more.} 16. Qc1 Qb4 ({On} 16... Qg4 {White was
likely planning} 17. h3 Qxg2 $2 18. Ke2) 17. a3 Qxc5 18. Ke2 {Carlsen still
wants to get squeeze something out of the position.} (18. Qxc5 Bxc5 19. Ke2 Bb6
{is equal instead.}) 18... Nd4+ ({Perhaps better was} 18... Qb6 $5 {keeping
the knights on the board.}) 19. Nxd4 Qxd4 20. f4 O-O ({After the obvious} 20...
Bc5 {So probably disliked the fact the the white king gets too slippery:} 21.
Qd2 (21. Rf1 O-O {is good for Black.}) 21... O-O ({Or} 21... Qf2+ 22. Kd1 Qd4
23. Kc2 Rc8 24. Kb3) 22. Kf3 f6 23. e6 {which leads to a better version of the
game for White.}) 21. Qd2 Qb6 22. Rhe1 (22. Kf3 $5 f6 23. e6 {might transpose})
22... f6 $1 {Once again Black wants to open the game and get access to the
white king.} 23. e6 $1 {And once more Carlsen rejects the offer.} ({After} 23.
exf6 Bxf6 24. Rab1 {Black would seize the initiative with} g5 ({Or the
preliminary} 24... Rae8+ 25. Kf1 g5)) 23... Qxe6+ 24. Kf3 {For the pawn
Carlsen got open files and diagonals for his pieces. He does not risk much
with the opposite-colored bishops on the board. In fact So needs to be careful
about White's initiative.} Qd7 {Now White's initiative becomes frightening.} ({
Safer was:} 24... Qf7 25. Qe3 ({Or} 25. Bf5 Kh8) 25... Bd6) 25. Rad1 Rad8 26.
Qe3 Bd6 27. Bg6 f5 {If 24...Qd7 looked inaccurate, this seems wrong. Black
practically loses a pawn.} ({The endgame after} 27... Qc6 28. Qe6+ Kh8 29. Qxd5
Qxd5+ ({However} 29... Qc7 $1 {would have kept the game even as both kings
remain exposed.}) 30. Rxd5 {is difficult for Black. He plays without a king.})
28. Qe6+ Qxe6 29. Rxe6 Bc5 ({The lesser evil in comparison to} 29... Bc7 30. h4
{followed by h4-h5 when Black is paralyzed.} (30. Re7 $5)) 30. Re5 Rf6 31. Bxf5
Bd6 ({Maybe a better chance was} 31... Kf7 $5 32. Rexd5 Rxd5 33. Rxd5 Be7 {
intending Rf6-d6.}) 32. Rdxd5 ({Not} 32. Rexd5 g6) 32... Kf7 ({So correctly
avoids the rook endgame after} 32... Bxe5 33. Rxd8+ Kf7 34. Rd7+ Ke8 35. fxe5 (
{Worse is} 35. g4 Bxb2 36. Rxb7 Rb6 $1) 35... Rxf5+ 36. Ke4 Rg5 37. Rxb7 Rxg2
38. b4 {when White should be winning.}) 33. Re4 g6 34. Bg4 $1 {One of those
little moves that make the big difference. Carlsen lures the pawn to h5 to
stop the g6-g5 threat.} h5 35. Bh3 Re8 36. Red4 {The world champion wants to
keep both the rooks on board. But I wonder of he just did not miss Black's
next.} (36. Rxe8 Kxe8 37. g3 {gives Black serious hopes to draw.}) 36... Be5 $1
{A strong defensive resource. So makes it to the g6-g5 push.} 37. Rb4 ({Or} 37.
Rc4 g5) 37... g5 38. g3 b6 $1 ({Weaker was} 38... g4+ 39. Bxg4 hxg4+ 40. Kxg4
Rg6+ 41. Kf3 Bd6 42. Rxb7+ Re7 {with four pawns for the piece White should be
winning.}) 39. Rd7+ (39. Bd7 Re7 40. Bb5 Bd6) 39... Kf8 40. Rh7 $1 {The only
chance to play for a win. One way to fight the drawing tendences in the
opposite-colored bishop endgame is to sacrifice the bishop!} ({Black should
hold after} 40. Rxa7 Bd6 41. Rc4 b5 42. Rc2 (42. Rd4 $2 Bc5) 42... gxf4) 40...
g4+ 41. Bxg4 hxg4+ 42. Kxg4 Bd6 43. Rc4 a5 {One wrong move and So's fantastic
defense fails.} ({Strong was} 43... Rg6+ $1 {with the idea} 44. Kf3 ({Or} 44.
Kf5 Rg7 45. Rh8+ Kf7 46. Rxe8 Kxe8) 44... Bc5 $1 45. Rxa7 Re3+ 46. Kg2 Re2+ {
when Black should have enough counter-play.}) 44. Rc6 {Now Carlsen wins fourth
pawn for the piece.} Kg8 45. Rb7 Be5 46. Rcxb6 Rxb6 47. Rxb6 Bd4 48. Rb5 {
It is funny that the computers evaluate the position as approximately equal.
The human understands though that any of the pawns can become a queen and that
they cannot be stopped from moving.} Re2 49. b3 ({Stronger than} 49. h4 Rxb2
50. Rxa5 Rb3 51. Kh5 {when} Rf3 $1 {complicates matters.} ({Rather than} 51...
Rxg3 52. Rg5+ Rxg5+ 53. hxg5 {which wins for White.})) 49... Rxh2 ({More
resilient is} 49... a4 50. Rb4 Bg1 51. Rxa4 Bxh2) 50. Rxa5 Re2 51. Rd5 Bb2 52.
a4 {The pawns got into motion.} Bc3 53. Kf5 Re8 54. g4 Rf8+ 55. Ke4 Rb8 56. Rb5
{Any time the rooks are traded it is game over.} Re8+ (56... Rxb5 $2 57. axb5)
57. Kd3 Be1 58. a5 {The rest is fine technical work by the world champion.} Bf2
59. b4 Re3+ 60. Kc4 Re4+ 61. Kb3 Kf7 (61... Rxf4 62. Rf5 $1) 62. Re5 Rd4 63. b5
Rd3+ 64. Kc2 Rg3 65. g5 Bd4 66. Rd5 Be3 67. Rd3 Rg2+ 68. Kb3 Bc1 ({Or} 68...
Bxf4 69. Rf3 Rg4 70. a6 Kg6 71. Rxf4 Rxf4 72. a7) 69. b6 Ke6 70. Rd4 Rb2+ 71.
Ka4 Kf5 72. Rb4 Ra2+ 73. Kb5 Bxf4 {Now it all ends with a small a la
Capablanca combination.} 74. Rxf4+ $1 Kxf4 75. b7 1-0

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.24"]
[Round "10.2"]
[White "Giri, Anish"]
[Black "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2752"]
[BlackElo "2753"]
[ECO "E00"]
[Opening "Catalan opening"]
[WhiteFideId "24116068"]
[BlackFideId "14109603"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 Bb4+ 4. Nd2 c5 5. a3 Bxd2+ 6. Qxd2 cxd4 7. Nf3 d5 8.
Bg2 dxc4 9. Qxd4 Qxd4 10. Nxd4 O-O 11. Be3 Nd5 12. Rc1 c3 13. b3 Nxe3 14. fxe3
Nd7 15. Rxc3 Rd8 16. O-O Nf6 17. Rc7 Rb8 18. Nb5 a5 19. Na7 Bd7 20. Rd1 b6 21.
Bc6 Bxc6 22. Rxd8+ Rxd8 23. Nxc6 Rd1+ 24. Kg2 h5 25. Ne5 Ng4 26. Nxg4 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.24"]
[Round "10.3"]
[White "Svidler, Peter"]
[Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D38"]
[WhiteElo "2768"]
[BlackElo "2804"]
[PlyCount "42"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

{[Annotations by FM Mike Klein]} 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. d4 Bb4 5.
cxd5 exd5 6. Bf4 {By far not the most common place for the bishop.} (6. Bg5 {
prevents the game maneuver completely.}) (6. Bg5 O-O 7. e3 Bf5 8. Qb3 Bxc3+ 9.
Qxc3 h6 10. Bh4 g5 11. Bg3 Ne4 12. Qxc7 Nc6 13. Qxd8 Rfxd8 14. Be2 Rac8 15. O-O
h5 16. h4 g4 17. Ne5 Nb4 18. Bf4 f6 19. Nd3 Nc3 20. bxc3 {½-½ Ding,L (2774)
-Aronian,L (2801) Palma de Mallorca 2017}) 6... Ne4 {White has a suspicious
reputation in this line, and usually chooses 7. Rc1.} 7. Qa4+ {We are nearly
in uncharted waters already.} Nc6 8. Rc1 {Since White's rook commits to this
square anyway, essentially White has committed his queen to a somewhat
offsides squares to also commit Black's knight to c6 (instead of perhaps
Nd7-Ndf6. Who is to gain by these additions? Well, seemingly Black, based on
what unfolds.} O-O 9. g3 $146 {Black's next move is so strong, that only in
hindsight does the suggestion of 9. h4!? make some sense.} (9. e3 g5 10. Bg3 h5
11. h4 g4 12. Ne5 Bxc3+ 13. Rxc3 Nxc3 14. bxc3 Nxe5 15. Bxe5 Bf5 16. Be2 Qd7 {
Ermenkov,E (2433)-Shyam,S (2496) Albena 2015}) 9... g5 $1 10. Be3 f5 $1 11. Bg2
f4 12. gxf4 Bxc3+ 13. bxc3 gxf4 14. Bd2 Kh8 $1 {And now Black envisages very
happy pieces after some combination of ...Rg8, .. .Bg4, and some pieces on the
e-file, amongst other interesting setups.} 15. Qb3 $2 {Uh-oh. Now this even
releases the one Black piece that was left out of the last comment!} Na5 16.
Qc2 Nc4 17. Rd1 Rg8 (17... Bf5 {is even stronger and could have been thrown in,
but...}) (17... Nexd2 {would have been even sweeter:} 18. Nxd2 Ne3 $1 19. fxe3
Qh4+ 20. Kf1 fxe3+ 21. Nf3 Qf2#) 18. Ne5 {Svidler is resorting to desperation
in a position where all of Black's pieces are better than his. More meek
defense wasn't better:} (18. Rg1 Bh3 $1 19. Bxh3 Rxg1+ 20. Nxg1 Qh4) 18... Nxe5
19. Bxe4 (19. dxe5 Rxg2) 19... Qg5 20. Bxf4 Qxf4 21. Bxd5 Bf5 {Wow. Mamedyarov
is officially a larger blip on everyone's radar come Berlin.} 0-1

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.24"]
[Round "10.4"]
[White "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Black "Matlakov, Maxim"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C54"]
[WhiteElo "2787"]
[BlackElo "2718"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

{[Annotations by FM Mike Klein]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3
O-O 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bh4 Be7 8. Nbd2 d6 9. Bb3 (9. a4 Nh5 10. g3 Nf6 11. Bxf6 Bxf6
12. h4 h5 13. Nh2 g6 14. g4 hxg4 15. Nxg4 Bxh4 16. Qf3 Kg7 {Sethuraman,S (2646)
-Inarkiev,E (2689) Riadh 2017}) 9... Nh5 10. Bxe7 Qxe7 11. Nc4 Qf6 {Anatoly
Karpov won with this move in recent years over IM Sophie Milliet of France on
her home soil (Cap D'Agde 2012).} 12. Ne3 Nf4 13. Bc2 (13. O-O {was the
Frenchwoman's choice, but in order to fend off the kingside attack she made
some pawn concessions and lost in the ending. It seems a little dangerous to
castle directly into the looming knight on f4, so Kramnik goes the other way
with his king.}) 13... Ne7 14. g3 Nh3 15. Qe2 {Now the knight is just kind of
sitting there with no target.} c5 $146 {Now that it is clear that White's king
will end up on the queenside, the top three suggestions by the machine are: ...
b5, ...c5, and ...a5!} (15... Be6 16. d4 Ng5 17. Nxg5 hxg5 18. O-O-O Ng6 19. h4
gxh4 20. Qh5 Rfe8 21. Nf5 Kf8 22. f4 exf4 23. e5 dxe5 24. dxe5 Qxe5 25. Rde1
Qf6 {Rizouk,A (2511)-Vocaturo,D (2574) Barcelona 2016}) 16. O-O-O Be6 17. d4
cxd4 (17... Bxa2 18. dxe5 dxe5 19. Rd7 {and Black's attack is not really
progressing as White controls the open file and the Nh3 is still stranded.})
18. cxd4 Rac8 19. Kb1 Rc7 (19... Rxc2 $1 {is the diabolical suggestion of the
machine.} 20. Kxc2 (20. Nxc2 {and now play switches to the kingside!} Bg4 21.
Rd3 Nc6 {and both Black knights will pile up on f3!}) (20. Qxc2 Qxf3) 20... Qg6
$3 (20... Bxa2 21. b3 d5 $1 {may also be playable but needs a few hours to
work out!}) 21. Ng2 (21. Nd2 exd4) 21... Bxa2 22. b3 f5) 20. Rd2 Rfc8 (20...
Rxc2 {Even with the complete loss of tempo, it is still playable, although
with slightly less venom. Play would be somewhat similar to the previous note.}
) 21. dxe5 dxe5 22. Rhd1 g6 23. Rd6 Rc6 24. Bb3 Rf8 $2 (24... Rxd6) 25. R1d3 $2
(25. Bxe6 Rxd6 (25... fxe6 26. Rd8 {and White is better}) 26. Bxh3 {gives
White a winning advantage.}) 25... Rfc8 26. Rd1 Rf8 {Second chance!} 27. a3 {
Nope!} h5 28. Bxe6 {Finally! Although there is no white knight hopping to g4
now.} fxe6 29. Rd7 Nc8 30. Nc4 Nxf2 31. Ncxe5 $1 {Now Black is in a bad
positional bind.} Nxd1 32. Qxd1 Rc5 33. Qd4 Nb6 34. Rxb7 Rb5 35. Rxa7 Rd8 36.
Qc3 Rc8 37. Rc7 Rd8 38. Qc6 Rb3 39. Rf7 {Black resigned since 39...Qh8 40.
Qxe6 is horrid. Such a complicated struggle that could comprise its own DVD!}
1-0

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.24"]
[Round "10.5"]
[White "Jones, Gawain C B"]
[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B22"]
[WhiteElo "2640"]
[BlackElo "2767"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. e4 c5 2. c3 Nf6 3. e5 Nd5 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Bc4 Nb6 6. Bb3 c4 7. Bc2 d6 8. exd6
Qxd6 9. O-O Bg4 10. h3 Bh5 11. Re1 O-O-O (11... e6 12. b3 Be7 13. Qe2 cxb3 14.
axb3 O-O 15. d4 Rfd8 {Nakamura,H (2787)-Vachier-Lagrave,M (2785) Gibraltar 2016
}) 12. Be4 e6 13. b3 f5 14. Bc2 g6 15. bxc4 e5 16. d4 $146 (16. d3 e4 17. dxe4
Qc7 18. Qe2 Ne5 19. Nbd2 Bc5 20. Kh1 Rxd2 21. Bxd2 Nxf3 22. gxf3 Nxc4 {Ivanov,
B (2401)-Cremasco,G (2499) corr. 2014}) 16... exd4 17. Bg5 Bg7 18. Bxd8 Rxd8
19. Qd3 Qf4 20. Qd2 Qxd2 21. Nbxd2 dxc3 22. Nb3 Bxf3 23. gxf3 Nb4 24. Re2 Nxc4
25. Rc1 b5 26. Na1 Bh6 27. Rb1 a5 28. Kg2 Nd2 29. Rbe1 Bf4 30. Re7 Rd7 31. Re8+
Kc7 32. Ra8 a4 33. Re6 Kb7 34. Rae8 Bd6 35. Bd1 Nd5 36. Re1 Nf4+ 37. Kh1 Bc5
38. Be2 Nxe2 39. R1xe2 b4 40. R2e5 Rc7 0-1

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.24"]
[Round "10.6"]
[White "Wei, Yi"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2743"]
[BlackElo "2811"]
[ECO "C48"]
[Opening "Four knights"]
[Variation "Rubinstein counter-gambit"]
[WhiteFideId "8603405"]
[BlackFideId "2020009"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Nd4 5. Bc4 Bc5 6. d3 d6 7. Na4 b5 8. Nxd4
bxc4 9. Nf5 Bxf5 10. exf5 cxd3 11. Nxc5 dxc5 12. cxd3 Qd7 13. Qf3 O-O 14. O-O
Rfd8 15. Be3 Qxd3 16. Rac1 c4 17. h3 h6 18. Rc3 Qe4 19. Qxe4 Nxe4 20. Rxc4 Nd2
21. Bxd2 Rxd2 22. Rb1 Rad8 23. Rxc7 Re2 24. Rxa7 Rdd2 25. Rf1 Rxb2 26. g4 Rxa2
27. Rxa2 Rxa2 28. Re1 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.24"]
[Round "10.7"]
[White "Hou, Yifan"]
[Black "Adhiban, Baskaran"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2680"]
[BlackElo "2655"]
[ECO "A46"]
[Opening "Queen's pawn game"]
[WhiteFideId "8602980"]
[BlackFideId "5018471"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. O-O O-O 6. Re1 Nbd7 7. e4 e5 8. Nc3
c6 9. a4 Re8 10. h3 Qc7 11. Be3 b6 12. Qd2 Bb7 13. Rad1 Rad8 14. Bg5 a6 15. h4
b5 16. axb5 axb5 17. b3 Qb8 18. dxe5 dxe5 19. Bh3 Nf8 20. Qe3 Rxd1 21. Rxd1 Bc8
22. Bxc8 Rxc8 23. Bxf6 Bxf6 24. Na2 Ne6 25. Nb4 Be7 26. Nd3 f6 27. h5 g5 28. b4
Rd8 29. Ra1 Rd7 30. Nh2 Nd4 31. Ra2 Ra7 32. Rb2 Ra3 33. Qd2 Qa8 34. c3 Ne6 35.
Ne1 Ra1 36. Kf1 c5 37. f3 cxb4 38. cxb4 Nd4 39. Kg2 Qa3 40. Nd3 Qa4 41. Nc1 Qa3
42. Ne2 Bxb4 43. Qxb4 Qxb4 44. Rxb4 Ra2 45. Ng4 Kg7 46. Kf1 Nxe2 47. Rxb5 Nxg3+
48. Kg1 Ne2+ 49. Kf1 Ng3+ 50. Kg1 Nxh5 51. Rb7+ Kg6 52. Rb6 Kg7 53. Rb7+ Kg6 54.
Rb6 Ra5 55. Kf2 Kg7 56. Rb7+ Kg6 57. Rb6 Rc5 58. Ra6 Kg7 59. Ra7+ Kg6 60. Ra6
Rc2+ 61. Kg1 Kg7 62. Ra7+ Kg6 63. Ra6 Rc7 64. Nxe5+ Kg7 65. Ng4 Rf7 66. Ne3 Nf4
67. Nf5+ Kg6 68. Ra8 h5 69. Rg8+ Kh7 70. Rd8 h4 71. Rd6 Kg6 72. Ne3 Re7 73. Kf2
Nh3+ 74. Kf1 Nf4 75. Kf2 Re6 76. Rd7 Ra6 77. Nf5 Ra2+ 78. Kg1 Ne2+ 79. Kh1 Ng3+
80. Nxg3 hxg3 81. Rd6 Kf7 82. Rd5 Re2 83. Kg1 Kg7 84. Rf5 Kg6 85. Kf1 Ra2 86.
Kg1 Rf2 87. Kh1 Re2 88. Kg1 Kf7 89. f4 gxf4 90. Rxf4 Ke6 91. Rg4 Re3 92. Rf4 Ke5
93. Rf5+ Ke6 94. Rf4 Re2 95. Rg4 Ke5 96. Rxg3 Kxe4 97. Ra3 f5 98. Kf1 Re3 99.
Ra5 Rb3 100. Kf2 Rb2+ 101. Kf1 f4 102. Ra3 Rc2 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.26"]
[Round "11.1"]
[White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E34"]
[WhiteElo "2804"]
[BlackElo "2834"]
[PlyCount "75"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. cxd5 Qxd5 6. e3 c5 7. Bd2 Bxc3 8.
Bxc3 cxd4 9. Bxd4 Nc6 10. Bc3 O-O 11. Nf3 Rd8 12. Be2 Qe4 13. Rc1 Qxc2 14. Rxc2
Nd5 15. Ne5 Bd7 $146 (15... Nxe5 16. Bxe5 b6 17. a3 f6 18. Bg3 Bb7 19. O-O Rac8
20. Rfc1 e5 {Grachev,B (2645)-Karjakin,S (2765) Antalya 2017}) 16. Nxc6 Bxc6
17. Bd2 Ne7 18. f3 Rac8 19. e4 f6 20. Be3 a6 21. Kf2 Bb5 22. Rhc1 Rxc2 23. Rxc2
Bxe2 24. Kxe2 Nc6 25. b4 Rc8 26. Rc5 b5 27. f4 Kf7 28. a3 Ne7 29. Rxc8 Nxc8 30.
Bc5 Ne7 31. Bxe7 Kxe7 32. Kf3 Kd6 33. Ke3 e5 34. f5 Ke7 35. g4 Kf7 36. h4 Kg8
37. Kf3 h6 38. h5 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.26"]
[Round "11.2"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Giri, Anish"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2811"]
[BlackElo "2752"]
[ECO "D02"]
[Opening "Queen's bishop game"]
[WhiteFideId "2020009"]
[BlackFideId "24116068"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 Bf5 4. e3 e6 5. Nbd2 Bd6 6. Ne5 h6 7. g4 Bh7 8. h4
Ne4 9. Nxe4 Bxe4 10. f3 Bh7 11. Bd3 Bxd3 12. Qxd3 Nd7 13. O-O-O Bxe5 14. dxe5
Qe7 15. e4 dxe4 16. Qxe4 O-O-O 17. g5 hxg5 18. Bxg5 f6 19. exf6 Nxf6 20. Qe5 Qf7
21. Rhe1 Rxd1+ 22. Rxd1 b6 23. b3 Kb8 24. Kb2 Nh7 25. Bf4 Nf6 26. Bg5 Nh7 27.
Bf4 Nf6 28. Qd4 Kb7 29. Be5 Rh5 30. Rg1 Rf5 31. f4 g6 32. Rd1 Qe7 33. Qc3 Nd5
34. Qf3 Kb8 35. Qe4 Qxh4 36. Rd2 Qe7 37. Rh2 Rf8 38. Rh6 Rg8 39. Rxg6 Rxg6 40.
Qxg6 Qd7 41. Qd3 Kc8 42. a4 Nb4 43. Qe4 Nc6 44. Bc3 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.26"]
[Round "11.3"]
[White "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Black "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A14"]
[WhiteElo "2753"]
[BlackElo "2787"]
[PlyCount "117"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. c4 e6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 Nf6 4. Nf3 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. b3 c5 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. Nc3
Nc6 9. Bb2 Nxc3 (9... Bf6 10. Qc2 b6 11. Nxd5 exd5 12. d4 Ba6 13. dxc5 bxc5 14.
Rfe1 Rc8 15. Bxf6 Qxf6 16. Rac1 c4 {Kramnik,V (2812)-Nakamura,H (2787) Leuven
2016}) 10. dxc3 Qc7 11. Qc2 b6 12. Bc1 $146 (12. Rad1 Bb7 13. Rd2 Rfd8 14. Rfd1
Rxd2 15. Rxd2 Bf6 16. c4 Bxb2 17. Qxb2 {½-½ Ohse,A (2152)-Israel,J (2192)
Germany 2013}) 12... Bb7 13. Bf4 Qc8 (13... Bd6) 14. Rad1 Rd8 15. h4 h6 16.
Rxd8+ Nxd8 17. Rd1 f5 18. Qd2 Nf7 19. Qd7 Bf6 20. Ne5 Nxe5 21. Bxe5 Bxe5 22.
Bxb7 Qxd7 23. Rxd7 Re8 24. Bc6 a5 25. Bb5 Kf8 26. f4 Bf6 27. Rd6 Re7 28. h5
Bxc3 29. Rxb6 c4 30. Rb8+ Kf7 31. Bxc4 Rd7 32. Kg2 Ke7 33. Kf3 Rd1 34. Rb7+ Rd7
35. Rb5 Rd1 36. a3 Rf1+ 37. Kg2 Rd1 38. e3 Rd6 39. Kf3 Rc6 40. g4 fxg4+ 41.
Kxg4 a4 42. Rb7+ Kd8 43. e4 Bb2 44. Bb5 Rc7 45. Rxc7 Kxc7 46. bxa4 Bc3 47. e5
Kd8 48. Kf3 Bd2 49. Ke4 Ke7 50. f5 exf5+ 51. Kxf5 Bc1 52. a5 Bxa3 53. a6 Bc5
54. Ke4 Ke6 55. Bc4+ Kd7 56. Kd5 Bf2 57. e6+ Kc7 58. Bb5 Bh4 59. a7 1-0

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.26"]
[Round "11.4"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Hou, Yifan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D35"]
[WhiteElo "2767"]
[BlackElo "2680"]
[Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 Nf6 4. cxd5 Nxd5 {The improved Tarrasch was not
really a surprise for the five-time world champion.} 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 c5 7.
Rb1 {A fashionable choice. It stops the standard trade of the dark-squared
bishops via the b4 square. "I would not say that it can revitalize the line,
but at least it is playable." (Anand)} Be7 8. Nf3 O-O 9. Bc4 Nc6 ({Another
plan is} 9... Qc7 10. Qe2 a6 11. O-O b5 12. Bd3 Bb7 13. a4 bxa4 14. Bf4 {
and White was already much better in Carlsen,M (2832) -So,W (2815) chess.com
INT 2017}) 10. O-O b6 11. Be3 Bb7 12. Qe2 cxd4 13. cxd4 Rc8 14. Rfd1 Qc7 15. d5
{"Still prep. We thought this is pleasant for White."(Anand) The central break
is probably Black's main problem in this whole opening.} ({Part of the prep
was the line arising after} 15. Rbc1 Qb8 16. d5 exd5 17. Bxd5 Nb4) 15... Ne5 {
"I somehow could not remember what to do after this." (Anand)} 16. Bb5 ({
"The problem with} 16. Nxe5 Qxe5 17. dxe6 {is} Qxe4 18. exf7+ Kh8 19. f3 Qxc4
20. Qxc4 Rxc4 21. Rd7 Bc5 22. Bxc5 Rxc5 23. Rxb7 {is} Ra5 24. Rb2 ({White can
also try to double on the seventh rank with} 24. Re1 g6 25. Ree7 {but this
should also lead to a draw after} Rxa2 26. Rxa7 Rxa7 27. Rxa7 Kg7 28. Rb7 Rxf7
29. Rxb6) 24... g6 {"followed by Kh8-g7xf7 with equality" (Anand)}) 16... exd5
({Perhaps better was not to hurry with the trade and go} 16... Nxf3+ $5 17.
Qxf3 Bd6 {at once.}) 17. exd5 Nxf3+ 18. Qxf3 Bc5 $146 {Up to here all of this
was seen in a correspondence game.} (18... Qd6 19. Bf4 Qg6 20. Bd3 f5 21. Qg3
Qxg3 22. hxg3 Bxd5 23. Ba6 Bxa2 24. Bxc8 Rxc8 25. Ra1 {and White eventually
won, Grego, L (2217)-Andersen,J (2258) corr. 2011}) ({On} 18... Bd6 {Anand was
planning} 19. h4 {followed by h4-h5. The idea is to force h7-h7 "which is a
concession" and then "harass" the black king with a battery along the b1-h7
diagonal.}) ({White is better also after} 18... a6 19. Rbc1 ({The preliminary} 
19. Bf4 Bd6 20. Rbc1 Qb8 21. Bxd6 Qxd6 22. Bc6 {might be even stronger.}) 19...
Bc5 20. Bxc5 bxc5 21. Bc4 {(Anand)}) 19. Rbc1 Qe7 {"A clever idea!" (Anand)} ({
Hou avoids} 19... Rfd8 20. Bg5 {(Anand)}) 20. Bf4 ({"It is a pity that} 20.
Bxc5 Rxc5 21. d6 {does not work, due to} Bxf3 ({Not} 21... Qg5 22. Rxc5 Bxf3
23. Rxg5 Bxd1 24. Re5 {followed by d6-d7 and Re5-e8 and wins.}) 22. dxe7 Bxd1
23. Rxd1 Rxb5 24. f4 $1 f6 25. Rd8 Re8 $1 26. Rxe8+ Kf7 27. Rg8 Kxe7 28. Rxg7+
Ke6 29. Rxa7 Kf5 {and White has no winning chances." (Anand)} ({Or} 29... h5))
20... Bd6 21. Bc6 {The Indian GM was not sure that he had exactly this
position in the prep, but he remembered that the d-pawn was somehow landing on
c6. Thus he was confident.} Bxf4 ({The other defensive set up is} 21... Rc7 22.
Qg3 Bxf4 23. Qxf4 Qd8 24. Bxb7 Rxb7 25. d6 {although White is clearly better
here.}) ({And letting the pawn come to c7 with a bishop protecting does not
seem like a great idea either:} 21... Bxc6 22. dxc6 Bc5 23. c7) 22. Qxf4 Bxc6
23. dxc6 Qc7 ({The former world champion also mentioned the other defensive
set-up:} 23... Rfd8 24. Rxd8+ Qxd8 25. c7 Qd7 26. h4 {when Black can sit and
wait, or go for the active queenside pawn-push with} h6 27. g3 b5 28. Rc5 a5
29. Kh2 Kh7 30. h5 {Anand was not sure of Black can survive this at all, but
he was sure that even if this is possible none will ever repeat this again...
On a hindsight, this was Hou's best chance.}) 24. Rd6 $1 {Saving an active
rook on the d-file is essential for White's winning strategy.} Rcd8 25. Rcd1 h6
({Or} 25... Rxd6 26. Rxd6 Rd8 27. Rxd8+ Qxd8 28. h4) 26. g3 {To defend the
queen and open air for the king.} (26. h4 $5) 26... Rxd6 27. Rxd6 Rc8 ({
Similar would be} 27... Re8 28. Qd4) 28. Qe5 {Now White uses the method of the
two weaknesses to secure the win. Weakness number one for the opponent is the
strong passer that he has on c6. It keeps the black pieces busy and allows
White a chance to use weakness number two: the black king.} (28. Qf5 {"was
winning as well" (Anand)}) 28... b5 {Loses by force, but it is impossible to
offer good advise to Black.} ({There is no escape in the rook endgame after} 
28... Kf8 29. Qd5 Qe7 30. Rd7 Qe6 31. Qxe6 fxe6 32. c7 {(Anand)}) ({nor in the
queen edngame after} 28... Rd8 29. Rxd8+ Qxd8 30. c7 Qd1+ 31. Kg2 Qd7 32. Qc3
Qc8 33. Qc6) 29. Qd5 Kh7 30. Qe4+ Kg8 ({Or mating attack after} 30... g6 31.
Rd7 Qxc6 32. Rxf7+ Kg8 33. Qe7) 31. Rd7 Qa5 (31... Qxc6 32. Rd8+ $1) 32. c7 Rf8
33. Qe7 1-0

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.26"]
[Round "11.5"]
[White "Adhiban, Baskaran"]
[Black "Wei, Yi"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2655"]
[BlackElo "2743"]
[ECO "A37"]
[Opening "English"]
[Variation "symmetrical, Botvinnik system reversed"]
[WhiteFideId "5018471"]
[BlackFideId "8603405"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 Nc6 5. Bg2 e5 6. d3 Nge7 7. Nd2 d6 8. Nf1 a6
9. Bg5 Rb8 10. a4 Be6 11. Bxe7 Nxe7 12. Ne3 h5 13. h4 O-O 14. Ned5 Nc6 15. e3 a5
16. O-O Nb4 17. Qd2 Qd7 18. Nxb4 cxb4 19. Ne4 Kh8 20. Ng5 Rbe8 21. Nxe6 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.26"]
[Round "11.6"]
[White "Matlakov, Maxim"]
[Black "Svidler, Peter"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2718"]
[BlackElo "2768"]
[ECO "A33"]
[Opening "English"]
[Variation "symmetrical variation"]
[WhiteFideId "4168003"]
[BlackFideId "4102142"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. a3 Bc5 7. Nb3 Bb6 8. c5
Bc7 9. g3 O-O 10. Bg2 b6 11. O-O Be5 12. a4 bxc5 13. Nxc5 d5 14. e4 Rb8 15. exd5
Nxd5 16. Nxd5 exd5 17. Qxd5 Qxd5 18. Bxd5 Nd4 19. Be3 Bh3 20. Bg2 Bxg2 21. Kxg2
Nc2 22. Nd7 Nxe3+ 23. fxe3 Rxb2+ 24. Kf3 Re8 25. Nxe5 Rxe5 26. Rab1 Rxb1 27.
Rxb1 f6 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.26"]
[Round "11.7"]
[White "So, Wesley"]
[Black "Jones, Gawain C B"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E60"]
[WhiteElo "2792"]
[BlackElo "2640"]
[PlyCount "123"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. Nc3 c5 (5... d6 6. Nf3 c6 7. O-O Bf5
8. Ne1 Be6 9. d5 cxd5 10. cxd5 Bd7 11. Be3 a5 12. Bd4 Na6 {Ding,L (2774)
-Carlsen,M (2837) Saint Louis 2017}) 6. dxc5 Qa5 7. Qa4 Qxc5 8. Be3 Qc7 9. c5
$146 (9. Nf3 d6 10. Rc1 Bd7 11. Qb3 Rc8 12. Ng5 Nc6 13. c5 Be8 14. O-O Na5 15.
Qb4 dxc5 16. Qh4 Bc6 {Cheparinov,I (2684)-Gabuzyan,H (2565) Doha 2014}) 9...
Nc6 (9... Na6 $1) 10. Rd1 b6 (10... Rb8) 11. cxb6 Qb8 12. bxa7 Qxb2 13. Nb5 Bb7
14. Qb3 Qxb3 15. axb3 Nxa7 16. Bxb7 Rab8 17. Nxa7 Rxb7 18. f3 Rxb3 19. Bf2 Ra8
20. Nh3 Rb7 21. O-O Rbxa7 22. Bxa7 Rxa7 23. Ra1 Rxa1 24. Rxa1 d5 25. Ra7 Bf8
26. Kg2 Ne8 27. Ra8 Nd6 28. Ng5 h6 29. Nh7 Kxh7 30. Rxf8 Kg7 31. Rd8 Nc4 32. g4
e6 33. h4 Kf6 34. Rh8 Kg7 35. Rc8 Nd6 36. Rc6 Nb5 37. e3 g5 38. h5 Na3 39. Kg3
Nc4 $2 (39... Nb5) 40. e4 $1 Ne5 41. exd5 exd5 (41... Nxc6 42. dxc6 {and the
pawn is too far away.}) 42. Rd6 Nd3 43. Rxd5 Nf4 44. Rf5 Ne6 45. Kf2 Nd4 46.
Rd5 Ne6 47. Ke3 Nf4 48. Ra5 Ng2+ 49. Ke4 Kf6 50. Rb5 Kg7 51. Ke5 Ne1 52. Rb3
Ng2 53. Kd6 Nf4 54. Rb5 Kf8 55. Rf5 Ng2 56. Kd7 Ne3 57. Rc5 f5 58. Ke6 fxg4 59.
Kf6 Kg8 60. Kg6 Kf8 61. Re5 Nc4 62. Rf5+ 1-0

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.27"]
[Round "12.1"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Matlakov, Maxim"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B48"]
[WhiteElo "2834"]
[BlackElo "2718"]
[PlyCount "113"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be3 a6 7. Qd2 Nf6 8. f4
(8. O-O-O Be7 9. f3 h5 10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. Bf4 e5 12. Bg5 a5 13. Bc4 a4 14. a3 d6
15. f4 O-O 16. Rhf1 Bg4 {Grischuk,A (2783)-Cori Tello,J (2641) Tbilisi 2017})
8... Bb4 9. Bd3 Na5 10. a3 Bxc3 11. Qxc3 Qxc3+ 12. bxc3 d5 13. exd5 exd5 14.
Nb3 Nc4 15. Bd4 Ne4 16. Nc5 Nxc5 17. Bxc5 Bd7 $146 (17... b6 18. Bxc4 dxc4 19.
Bxb6 Rb8 20. Bc7 Rb7 21. Bd6 f6 22. O-O-O Rd7 23. Rhe1+ Kf7 {Cvak,R (2317)
-Hamilton,D (2016) corr. 2015}) 18. O-O-O O-O-O 19. Bxc4 dxc4 20. Bb6 Rde8 21.
Rd4 Re6 22. Rxc4+ Rc6 23. Rxc6+ Bxc6 24. Rd1 Bxg2 25. Rg1 Be4 26. Rxg7 Bg6 27.
a4 Rf8 28. Kb2 Kd7 29. f5 Bxf5 30. Bc5 Rc8 31. Rxf7+ Ke6 32. Re7+ Kf6 33. Bb4
a5 34. Ba3 Rc4 35. Rxb7 Rxa4 36. Ra7 Re4 37. Rxa5 Re2 38. Bd6 Bxc2 39. c4 Ke6
40. Ra6 Bf5+ 41. Kc3 Be4 42. Kd4 Kf5 43. Ra5+ Kg4 ({A step in the wrong
direction,} 43... Ke6 {makes more sense, to defend against the c-pawn with the
king.}) 44. c5 Bf3 45. Ra7 h6 46. Rh7 Re4+ 47. Kd3 Re6 48. Kc4 Bc6 49. Rc7 Bh1
50. Kb5 h5 51. Rg7+ Kh4 $2 {Definitely losing.} (51... Kf5 {might still hold.})
52. Rg1 ({Not bad but Carlsen misses a nice and quick win with} 52. Be7+ $1 Kh3
53. Rg3+ Kxh2 54. Bd6 {and Black can resign. Well, as it turned out Carlsen
had looked at this. On Facebook he messaged the following lines he saw during
the game:} Re4 $5 55. c6 Rd4 56. c7 (56. Rd3+ Rxd6 57. Rxd6 Bxc6+ $1 {is a draw
}) 56... Rxd6 57. Rh3+ $1 (57. c8=Q Rd5+ $1) 57... Kxh3 58. c8=Q+ {"but I
could not find a way to pick up the rook by force, only the bishop, which
leaves a lot of technical difficulties." - Carlsen}) (52. Be7+ {After} Kh3 53.
Rg3+ Kxh2 54. Bd6 Re4 {I also considered the correct move} 55. Ra3+ {(c3 or b3
also work) followed by c6. I suspected it might win (as it does) but it is not
very intuitive, and I did not want to risk miscalculating as I thought I had
an easy win in the game." - Carlsen.}) 52... Ba8 53. Kb6 Re2 54. Kc7 Bd5 55.
Rg3 Bh1 56. Rc3 Kg4 57. c6 1-0

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.27"]
[Round "12.2"]
[White "Giri, Anish"]
[Black "Adhiban, Baskaran"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A10"]
[WhiteElo "2752"]
[BlackElo "2655"]
[Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. c4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nf3 c5 4. d5 d6 5. e4 e6 6. Bd3 (6. Nc3 exd5 7. cxd5 a6
8. h3 b5 9. Bd3 Nd7 10. O-O Ngf6 11. a3 O-O 12. Bf4 Qb6 13. Qd2 Re8 {Matlakov,
M (2714)-Zvjaginsev,V (2661) Sochi 2017}) 6... exd5 7. cxd5 {Giri managed to
confuse yours truly with the statement that his opponent played very badly in
the beginning, and some moves later stating that he was afraid he did not get
any advantage from the opening.} Bg4 8. Nbd2 (8. Qa4+ {is the other way to
play it. It worked spectacularly well in the following game} Nd7 9. Nfd2 a6 10.
h3 b5 11. Qc2 c4 12. Bf1 Bh5 13. g4 {and White won a piece in the blitz game
Zhao,X (2565)-Danielian,E (2476) Beijing 2012}) 8... Nf6 9. O-O O-O 10. h3 Bxf3
11. Nxf3 c4 {"I realized I am suddenly not better. I was afraid I will not
pose him any problems." (Giri)} 12. Bxc4 Nxe4 13. Re1 Re8 14. Qc2 {Albeit
symmetrical, the position is far from equal. Abhiban did not develop his
queenside yet and White enjoys more space.} Nf6 15. Rxe8+ Nxe8 16. Bg5 $146 ({
White was also a bit better in the predecessor after} 16. Qb3 Qc7 17. Be3 Nd7
18. Rc1 Nc5 19. Qa3 Qd8 20. b4 {Khismatullin,D (2601) -Andreikin,D (2625)
Voronezh 2009}) 16... Nf6 ({Giri believed it was stronger to play} 16... Bf6 {
when he intended} 17. h4 Nd7 ({However, he was afraid of the simple move} 17...
a6 {which stops the Bc4-b5 idea. "My [light-squared] bishop is not very good;
I need to trade it." (Giri)}) 18. Bb5 {trading a bunch of pieces but keeping a
strong pawn on g5.}) 17. Nd4 {Now there are problems for Black, as he cannot
develop normally.} Qb6 (17... Nbd7 {is well met with} 18. Ne6 $1 {(Giri).
Although there is a little spoiler after} fxe6 19. dxe6 d5 $1 {Still, White
keeps pressure after the forcing} 20. Bxd5 Nf8 21. Bxb7 Rb8 {with three pawns
for the piece and strong bishop pair.}) 18. Be3 {Creating concrete threats and
forcing matters. The white army is better prepared for the tactical skirmish.}
Ng4 (18... Nbd7 19. Ne6 {is not playable for Black.}) 19. Qe4 $1 {Powerful
centralization. Suddenly, the black king is in danger.} ({Instead} 19. hxg4
Bxd4 20. Bxd4 Qxd4 {trades too many of the good white pieces and should be
equal.}) 19... Nf6 ({On} 19... Nxe3 {White planned} 20. Qe8+ Bf8 21. fxe3 Qc7
22. Ne6 $1 fxe6 23. dxe6 Qe7 24. Qc8 {"when Black is completely paralyzed and
helpless." (Giri)}) 20. Qe7 Nbd7 {Adhiban finished the development, but at the
expense of a pawn.} 21. Nb5 Bf8 22. Bxb6 Bxe7 23. Bxa7 Ne5 ({White was more
worried about} 23... b6 {eventually excluding the bishop from the game. In
that case the most convincing seems to be} 24. Rc1 (24. b3 Bd8) (24. b4 Bd8 25.
Bb3) 24... Bd8 25. Be2 {followed by Rc1-c6.}) 24. b3 (24. Bb3 {was not bad
neither.}) 24... Nxc4 25. bxc4 {"I think I am winning." (Giri) He said it and
proved it. First consolidation.} Rc8 26. Re1 Bf8 27. Bd4 Nd7 28. Rc1 Ra8 29.
Rc2 Ra6 {Now it made sense to bring the king to b4 for example and push the
white pawn to a4, but White found another idea.} 30. Re2 Ra4 31. Re8 $1 {
Returns the pawn for a moment, but paralyzes the black pieces. This idea is
similar to the one that Giri had on move 19.} Rxc4 32. Rd8 Ne5 (32... Rb4 33.
a4 $1) 33. f4 Nd3 ({Nothing is changed after} 33... Rc1+ 34. Kh2 Nc4 35. Rc8)
34. Bf6 Re4 35. Nxd6 Re1+ 36. Kh2 {Now White has both the extra pawn and the
more active pieces.} Nf2 37. Bg5 h5 ({Or} 37... Kg7 38. Ne8+ Kg8 39. Nf6+ Kg7
40. d6 h6 41. Bh4 {winning.}) 38. Bh6 h4 {That is serious...} 39. g4 Kh7 40.
Rxf8 Nd3 41. Rxf7+ Kh8 42. Rf8+ 1-0

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.27"]
[Round "12.3"]
[White "Jones, Gawain C B"]
[Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2640"]
[BlackElo "2804"]
[ECO "C42"]
[Opening "Petrov"]
[Variation "Kaufmann attack"]
[WhiteFideId "409561"]
[BlackFideId "13401319"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. c4 Nc6 6. Nc3 Nxc3 7. dxc3 g6 8.
Bg5 Be7 9. Bh6 Bf8 10. Bg5 Be7 11. Bh6 Bf8 12. Bg5 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.27"]
[Round "12.4"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "So, Wesley"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2767"]
[BlackElo "2792"]
[ECO "C80"]
[Opening "Ruy Lopez"]
[Variation "open, Bernstein variation"]
[WhiteFideId "5000017"]
[BlackFideId "5202213"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5
Be6 9. Nbd2 Be7 10. c3 O-O 11. Bc2 f5 12. Nb3 Qd7 13. Nfd4 Nxd4 14. Nxd4 c5 15.
Nxe6 Qxe6 16. f3 Ng5 17. a4 Rad8 18. axb5 axb5 19. Bxg5 Bxg5 20. f4 Be7 21. Kh1
d4 22. cxd4 c4 23. b3 Bc5 24. bxc4 Rxd4 25. Qf3 bxc4 26. Rfd1 g6 27. Rxd4 Bxd4
28. Rd1 Rd8 29. Qb7 Bb6 30. Rxd8+ Bxd8 31. Ba4 Qb6 32. Qxb6 Bxb6 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.27"]
[Round "12.5"]
[White "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B13"]
[WhiteElo "2787"]
[BlackElo "2811"]
[PlyCount "103"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Ne5 Nc6 6. Bb5 Bd7 7. Nxd7 Qxd7 8.
c3 e6 9. O-O (9. Nd2 Bd6 10. Nf3 O-O 11. O-O Qc7 12. Re1 a6 13. Bd3 Bf4 14.
Bxf4 Qxf4 15. a4 g6 16. g3 Qc7 17. Kg2 Kg7 {Rapport,R (2707)-Salgado Lopez,I 
(2644) Riadh 2017}) 9... Bd6 10. Nd2 O-O 11. Re1 a6 12. Bd3 e5 13. dxe5 Nxe5
14. Nf3 Nfg4 $146 (14... Rfe8 15. Bg5 Qg4 16. Nxe5 Qxg5 17. Nf3 Rxe1+ 18. Qxe1
Qf4 19. Qd2 Qxd2 20. Nxd2 Re8 {Massironi,M (2193)-Rorato,G (2039) Venice 2006})
15. Nxe5 Nxe5 16. Bc2 Rfe8 17. Bf4 Bc7 18. g3 Rad8 19. Bxh7+ Kxh7 20. Bxe5 Bxe5
21. Qh5+ Kg8 22. Rxe5 Rxe5 23. Qxe5 Re8 24. Qd4 Qb5 25. b3 Re2 26. h4 b6 27.
Rd1 Rxa2 28. Re1 Qc6 29. Re5 Qf6 30. Qe3 Ra1+ 31. Kg2 Ra5 32. h5 d4 33. cxd4
Rxe5 34. Qxe5 Qd8 35. d5 a5 36. d6 Qd7 37. Qe7 Qc6+ 38. Kg1 Qc1+ 39. Kh2 Qc5
40. Qe8+ Kh7 41. Qe4+ g6 42. hxg6+ Kg7 43. Qd3 Qxf2+ 44. Kh1 Qf6 45. d7 Qd8 46.
Qc3+ Kxg6 47. Qc6+ Kh5 48. Qf3+ Kh6 49. Qxf7 Qh8 50. Kg2 Qa8+ 51. Kh2 Qh8 52.
Qe8 1-0

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.27"]
[Round "12.6"]
[White "Svidler, Peter"]
[Black "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2768"]
[BlackElo "2753"]
[ECO "A07"]
[Opening "Reti"]
[Variation "King's Indian attack, Yugoslav variation"]
[WhiteFideId "4102142"]
[BlackFideId "14109603"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 c6 3. Bg2 Nf6 4. O-O Bg4 5. h3 Bh5 6. d4 e6 7. c4 Nbd7 8. cxd5
exd5 9. Ne5 Ne4 10. Nd2 Nxd2 11. Bxd2 Nxe5 12. dxe5 Bc5 13. Kh2 O-O 14. Rc1 Qe7
15. g4 Bg6 16. f4 f5 17. Qb3 Rad8 18. gxf5 Bxf5 19. Rxc5 Qxc5 20. e4 Bg6 21. Bb4
Qc4 22. f5 Bh5 23. Bxf8 Qxb3 24. axb3 Kxf8 25. exd5 cxd5 26. Kg3 d4 27. Bf3 Bxf3
28. Kxf3 d3 29. Rd1 d2 30. Ke3 Rd5 31. Ke4 Rd8 32. Ke3 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.27"]
[Round "12.7"]
[White "Hou, Yifan"]
[Black "Wei, Yi"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2680"]
[BlackElo "2743"]
[ECO "C42"]
[Opening "Petrov"]
[Variation "Nimzovich attack"]
[WhiteFideId "8602980"]
[BlackFideId "8603405"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Be3 Nc6 8.
Qd2 Be6 9. O-O-O Bf6 10. Kb1 Qd7 11. Bg5 Bxg5 12. Nxg5 O-O-O 13. Nxe6 Qxe6 14.
Bb5 Qf5 15. Bxc6 bxc6 16. Rhe1 Rhe8 17. f3 c5 18. b3 Kb7 19. Re2 Re6 20. Rxe6
fxe6 21. Re1 e5 22. Qd5+ c6 23. Qd2 Kc7 24. Re4 Qd7 25. f4 exf4 26. Qe2 Qf5 27.
Ra4 Kb8 28. Qa6 Qd7 29. Rxf4 Re8 30. Kb2 h6 31. Qd3 Kb7 32. h4 Re6 33. Rf8 Re7
34. g4 d5 35. g5 hxg5 36. hxg5 Rf7 37. Rg8 Re7 38. Rf8 Rf7 39. Rh8 Qd6 40. Qh3
d4 41. Re8 Rf2 42. Qd3 Rg2 43. cxd4 Qxd4+ 44. Qxd4 cxd4 45. Re7+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.28"]
[Round "13.1"]
[White "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2753"]
[BlackElo "2834"]
[ECO "C88"]
[Opening "Ruy Lopez"]
[Variation "closed, anti-Marshall 8.a4"]
[WhiteFideId "14109603"]
[BlackFideId "1503014"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. a4
b4 9. d4 d6 10. dxe5 Nxe5 11. Nxe5 dxe5 12. Qe2 a5 13. Nd2 Bc5 14. Nf3 Qe7 15.
Be3 Ba6 16. Bxc5 Qxc5 17. Qe3 Qxe3 18. Rxe3 Rfe8 19. c3 Ng4 20. Ng5 Nxe3 21.
Bxf7+ Kf8 22. Bxe8 Rxe8 23. fxe3 bxc3 24. bxc3 h6 25. Nf3 Bd3 26. Rd1 Bxe4 27.
Rd7 Re7 28. Rd8+ Kf7 29. Nd2 Bc6 30. Nc4 Ke6 31. Nxa5 Bxa4 32. Nb7 Re8 33. Nc5+
Kf6 34. Rxe8 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.28"]
[Round "13.2"]
[White "Wei, Yi"]
[Black "Giri, Anish"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2743"]
[BlackElo "2752"]
[ECO "A06"]
[Opening "Reti opening"]
[WhiteFideId "8603405"]
[BlackFideId "24116068"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. e3 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 b6 5. b3 Bb7 6. Bb2 Nbd7 7. g3 Bd6 8. Bg2
O-O 9. O-O Re8 10. Rc1 a6 11. Qe2 dxc4 12. bxc4 b5 13. cxb5 axb5 14. Nxb5 Rxa2
15. d4 Qb8 16. Ra1 Rxa1 17. Rxa1 Bf8 18. Nc3 c5 19. Rb1 cxd4 20. Nxd4 Bxg2 21.
Kxg2 Qa8+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.28"]
[Round "13.3"]
[White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"]
[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2804"]
[BlackElo "2767"]
[ECO "D37"]
[Opening "QGD"]
[Variation "classical variation (5.Bf4)"]
[WhiteFideId "13401319"]
[BlackFideId "5000017"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. Qc2
Nc6 9. Rd1 Qa5 10. a3 Re8 11. Nd2 e5 12. Bg5 Nd4 13. Qb1 Bf5 14. Bd3 Bxd3 15.
Qxd3 Ne4 16. Ndxe4 dxe4 17. Qd2 Ne6 18. Bh4 Qa6 19. Qe2 Rac8 20. O-O Bf8 21. Qg4
Qxc4 22. Nxe4 Kh8 23. h3 Nc5 24. Nxc5 Qxg4 25. hxg4 Rxc5 26. Rd7 Rb5 27. b4 f6
28. g5 fxg5 29. Bxg5 a5 30. Rfd1 Kg8 31. Bd8 axb4 32. a4 Rc5 33. Rxb7 Rc8 34.
Ba5 Rc4 35. Rd5 b3 36. Rxb3 Rxa4 37. Bc3 e4 38. Rb7 Ra6 39. Rdd7 Rg6 40. g3 Rc8
41. Bd4 Re8 42. Kg2 Rc8 43. Kh3 Re8 44. Rf7 Rc8 45. Rf4 Re8 46. Bc3 Rge6 47.
Rff7 Rg6 48. Rfc7 Rd8 49. Kg2 Re8 50. Kf1 Rd8 51. Ke2 Re8 52. Kd1 Rg5 53. Kc2
Rf5 54. Bxg7 Bd6 55. Rd7 Rxf2+ 56. Kb3 Bxg3 57. Bd4 Be5 58. Bxe5 Rxe5 59. Rg7+
Kf8 60. Rxh7 Kg8 61. Kc4 Rg2 62. Rhe7 Rxe7 63. Rxe7 Kf8 64. Rxe4 Rg5 65. Kd4 Kf7
66. Re5 Rg1 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.28"]
[Round "13.4"]
[White "Adhiban, Baskaran"]
[Black "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C26"]
[WhiteElo "2655"]
[BlackElo "2787"]
[PlyCount "110"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. g3 Bc5 4. Bg2 c6 5. Nge2 d5 6. exd5 cxd5 7. d4 exd4 8.
Nxd4 O-O 9. O-O Bg4 10. Nde2 (10. Qd3 Bxd4 11. Qxd4 Nc6 12. Qc5 d4 13. h3 Bxh3
14. Bxh3 dxc3 15. bxc3 Re8 16. Qb5 Qa5 17. a4 Qxc3 18. Bb2 Qxc2 19. Rac1 Qe2 {
Li,C (2755)-Kramnik,V (2801) Stavanger 2016}) 10... Qc8 $146 (10... Nc6 11. h3
Bf5 12. Bg5 h6 13. Bxf6 Qxf6 14. Qxd5 Bb6 15. Ne4 Bxe4 16. Bxe4 Rfe8 17. Nc3
Re5 {Morrison,C-Carleton,J (2280) Ayr (Scotland) 1978}) 11. Bg5 d4 12. Na4 Be7
13. Qd3 h6 14. Bxf6 Bxf6 15. Nf4 Nc6 16. Nd5 Be5 17. Qb5 Bd6 18. Nc5 Bxc5 19.
Qxc5 Re8 20. b4 Kh8 21. Rfe1 Qf5 22. Nc7 Rxe1+ 23. Rxe1 Rd8 $6 (23... Rc8 {
Kramnik}) 24. Ne8 Qxc5 25. bxc5 Be6 26. Nd6 {Earlier, Kramnik had missed that
this threatens 27.Rxe6.} Rd7 27. a3 Rc7 28. Nb5 Rc8 29. Nd6 Rc7 30. f4 g6 31.
Nb5 Rd7 32. Nd6 Na5 33. Rb1 Rc7 34. Rb5 b6 35. Rxa5 $2 {"I just didn't get it.
" (Kramnik)} (35. cxb6 axb6 36. Rb2 {is still a tiny bit better for White.})
35... bxa5 36. c6 a6 37. Kf2 Re7 38. a4 Kg8 39. Ne4 Kf8 40. Nd6 Bg4 41. Be4 h5
42. h4 f6 43. Bxg6 Re2+ 44. Kf1 Re6 45. Nb7 Rxc6 46. Nxa5 Rc3 47. Nb3 Rc4 48.
Bd3 Rxa4 49. Kf2 a5 50. Ke1 Be6 51. Nc5 Ra1+ 52. Kf2 Bf7 53. Kf3 a4 54. Ke4 a3
55. Kxd4 Rd1 0-1

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.28"]
[Round "13.5"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Svidler, Peter"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2811"]
[BlackElo "2768"]
[ECO "C89"]
[Opening "Ruy Lopez"]
[Variation "Marshall counter-attack, 11...c6"]
[WhiteFideId "2020009"]
[BlackFideId "4102142"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. c3
d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Nxe5 Nxe5 11. Rxe5 c6 12. d3 Bd6 13. Re1 Bf5 14. Qf3 Qh4 15.
g3 Qh3 16. Be3 Bxd3 17. Nd2 Qf5 18. Bd4 Rfe8 19. a4 h6 20. Qxf5 Bxf5 21. Nf3 Be6
22. Be5 Bc5 23. Nd4 Bxd4 24. Bxd4 Nf4 25. Bxe6 Nxe6 26. Be3 Nc7 27. Kg2 Nd5 28.
Kf3 Nxe3 29. Rxe3 Kf8 30. h4 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.28"]
[Round "13.6"]
[White "Matlakov, Maxim"]
[Black "Jones, Gawain C B"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2718"]
[BlackElo "2640"]
[ECO "E65"]
[Opening "King's Indian"]
[Variation "fianchetto, Yugoslav, 7.O-O"]
[WhiteFideId "4168003"]
[BlackFideId "409561"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. O-O d6 6. c4 c5 7. Nc3 Nc6 8. dxc5
dxc5 9. Bf4 Nd4 10. Re1 Re8 11. Rc1 Ng4 12. h3 e5 13. Bg5 Nxf3+ 14. exf3 Qxg5
15. fxg4 Qe7 16. Qa4 Bd7 17. Qa3 Bc6 18. Nd5 Bxd5 19. cxd5 Bf8 20. d6 Qxd6 21.
Bxb7 Rab8 22. Be4 Red8 23. Rc2 Rb4 24. Qf3 Rd4 25. Kg2 a5 26. h4 a4 27. Re3 Qa6
28. g5 Rd1 29. Rce2 Qc4 30. b3 Qc1 31. Kh2 axb3 32. Rxb3 c4 33. Rb7 R1d7 34.
Reb2 Qd1 35. Rxd7 Rxd7 36. Qf6 Qe1 37. Qf3 c3 38. Re2 Qd1 39. Bc2 Qd4 40. Bb3
Rc7 41. Kg2 Qd7 42. Bc2 Rc5 43. Re3 Qc7 44. Qe4 Qa7 45. Bb3 Rc7 46. h5 Qd4 47.
Qc2 Kg7 48. Qe2 Qc5 49. Bc2 Qd5+ 50. Kh2 e4 51. Qg4 Rc5 52. h6+ Kg8 53. Rxe4
Qxg5 54. Qxg5 Rxg5 55. Re8 Rh5+ 56. Kg2 Rxh6 57. Rc8 Rh5 58. Rxc3 1/2-1/2

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.28"]
[Round "13.7"]
[White "So, Wesley"]
[Black "Hou, Yifan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2792"]
[BlackElo "2680"]
[ECO "E01"]
[Opening "Catalan"]
[Variation "closed"]
[WhiteFideId "5202213"]
[BlackFideId "8602980"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]

1. c4 e6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 Nf6 4. d4 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Bd6 6. Nc3 O-O 7. cxd5 exd5 8.
Nxd5 Nxd5 9. Bxd5 Bxg3 10. Qb3 Bd6 11. Nf3 c6 12. Bc4 Bf5 13. Ng5 Qe7 14. Qf3
Bg6 15. h4 Bb4 16. O-O-O Bxd2+ 17. Rxd2 h5 18. Rg1 Nd7 19. Qg3 Nb6 20. Bb3 Qf6
21. e4 Rae8 22. e5 Qf5 23. Bc2 Qg4 24. Bxg6 Qxg3 25. Bh7+ Kh8 26. Rxg3 f6 27.
Bg6 fxg5 28. Bxe8 gxh4 29. Rg5 Rxe8 30. Rxh5+ 1-0

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA TB"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.28"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Giri, Anish"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A15"]
[WhiteElo "2834"]
[BlackElo "2752"[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA TB"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.28"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Giri, Anish"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A15"]
[WhiteElo "2834"]
[BlackElo "2752"]
[Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"]
[PlyCount "109"]
[EventDate "2018.01.28"]

{[Annotations by Dejan Bojkov]} 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. b3 d5 4. Bb2 Be7 5. e3
O-O 6. Nc3 c5 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. Nxd5 ({Carlsen deviates from an earlier game of
his:} 8. Qc2 Nc6 9. h4 h6 10. g4 Nxc3 11. dxc3 e5 12. g5 h5 13. Bc4 Be6 14.
Bxe6 fxe6 15. Nd2 {Carlsen, M (2840)-Ganguly,S (2668) Doha 2016}) 8... exd5 9.
d4 Qa5+ $146 (9... Nc6 10. dxc5 Bxc5 11. a3 Bg4 12. Be2 {Votava,J (2522)
-Froewis,G (2463) Austria 2016}) 10. Qd2 Qxd2+ 11. Kxd2 Nc6 12. dxc5 Bxc5 {
Carlsen got "his" type of position. An IQP in an endgame always means a slight,
long-term advantage without any counterplay for the opponent.} 13. Bb5 Bb4+ 14.
Ke2 Be6 15. Rac1 Rac8 (15... Rfc8 {is more precise with the idea to meet} 16.
Bxc6 bxc6 17. Ne5 c5 18. Nd3 a5 19. a3 {with} c4 {and the rook on a8 will get
into the game soon. For example} 20. bxc4 dxc4 21. Nxb4 axb4 22. axb4 Ra2 $1)
16. Rhd1 {Carlsen is sticking to his plan of mounting pressure against the
isolani.} ({Here} 16. Bxc6 bxc6 17. Ne5 c5 18. Nd3 a5 19. a3 c4 20. bxc4 dxc4
21. Nxb4 axb4 22. axb4 {would have been good for White. It is not certain
though that he could win.}) 16... Be7 17. h3 a6 18. Bd3 Nb4 19. Bb1 Rxc1 20.
Rxc1 Rc8 21. Rd1 $1 {An instructive move. This rook will always be better than
its counterpart.} (21. Rxc8+ Bxc8 {would have made Black's defense easier.})
21... Nc6 22. g4 {Very classical play. One idea is to push the kingside pawns
thus removing the black bishop on e6 from its optimal position. Another is to
open the road for his own bishops later.} h6 23. Nd4 Nxd4+ 24. Bxd4 Ba3 25. f4
f6 ({Giri could have taken the chance to swap the rooks off with} 25... Rc1 $5
26. Rxc1 Bxc1 {and his defense seems a bit easier then.}) 26. Bg6 Kf8 27. Kf3
Ke7 28. h4 Bb4 29. Bd3 Bd7 30. e4 {A sudden change of the rhythm. Instead of a
weak black pawn, a strong white bishop.} Bc3 ({Safer was:} 30... dxe4+ 31. Bxe4
Bc6 32. Be3 {and now say} Ba3 $5 {in comparison to the game this would have
allowed the nasty pin along the c-file.}) 31. Bf2 Bc6 32. exd5 Bxd5+ 33. Be4
Bxe4+ 34. Kxe4 {With the obvious intention to get on the g6 square with his
king.} Ke6 $1 {Blocking the white's king way in.} 35. f5+ Ke7 36. Rc1 Rc6 {
Breaks the pin but at the expense of other weaknesses.} ({Giri should have
tried to hold the position with} 36... Rc7 37. Bd4 Ba5 38. Rxc7+ Bxc7 39. Kd5
Bg3 {although I am not sure he can survive here either. The white pieces are
too active and the weakness on g7 ties the black king to its defense.}) ({
Instead} 36... b5 37. Bd4 b4 38. h5 $5 {followed by a capture on c3 and Ke4-d3
would have lost a pawn for Black.}) 37. Kd3 Bb4 38. Rxc6 bxc6 39. Kc4 {Now
there are too many targets into the black camp: a6, c6 and g7 and Carlsen
easily finds a way in.} Bd6 40. Bc5 Kd7 41. h5 $1 {Fixing the target.} Bf4 42.
Bf8 Ke8 43. Bc5 (43. Bxg7 Kf7 44. Bxh6 ({Weaker is} 44. Bh8 Bd6 45. b4 Be7 46.
a4 Bf8 {Just waiting.} ({But not} 46... Kg8 47. Bxf6 Bxf6 48. Kc5 Be7+ 49. Kb6
$1 {and White wins.})) 44... Bxh6 45. Kc5 a5 46. Kxc6 Bd2 {and the computer
claims it is a draw.}) 43... Kd7 44. Kb4 {The king will get in through the a5
square.} Bd2+ 45. Ka4 Kc7 46. b4 Bf4 47. Bf8 Kb6 48. Bxg7 Bg5 49. Bf8 Bf4 50.
Be7 Bg5 51. Kb3 {The world champion saw a clear way to break the fortress.} (
51. Bc5+ Kc7 52. Bd4 {followed by Ka4-a5 would do the job as well.}) 51... Kc7
52. Kc4 Kd7 53. Bc5 Kc7 54. Kd3 Kd7 55. Be3 1-0

[Event "80th Tata Steel GpA TB"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2018.01.28"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Giri, Anish"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C53"]
[WhiteElo "2752"]
[BlackElo "2834"]
[Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"]
[PlyCount "75"]
[EventDate "2018.01.28"]

{[Annotations by Dejan Bojkov]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3
d6 6. O-O a6 7. Re1 Ba7 8. Bb3 O-O 9. h3 h6 10. Nbd2 Re8 11. Nf1 Be6 12. Bc2 d5
13. Qe2 ({White did not get much after} 13. exd5 Bxd5 14. Ng3 Qd7 15. Ne4 Nxe4
16. dxe4 Be6 17. Qxd7 Bxd7 18. a4 f6 {Onischuk,V (2637)-Anand, V (2782) Riadh
2017}) 13... dxe4 14. dxe4 Qe7 15. Ng3 Rad8 16. Nh4 Qf8 17. Nhf5 $146 {A
novelty.} (17. Qf3 Nh7 (17... Kh7 $5) 18. Nhf5 Bxf5 19. Nxf5 ({White would be
better after} 19. exf5 $1) 19... Ne7 20. Ba4 {with some advantage for White in
Tobyas,M (2290)-Krupkova,P (2285) Czechia 1997}) 17... Ne7 $1 18. Ne3 Ng6 {
With this regroupment Carlsen solved all his problems on the kingside.} 19.
Ngf5 Nf4 20. Qf3 c6 (20... g6 $5) 21. Ng4 Nxg4 22. hxg4 (22. Qxg4 g6) 22... g6
23. Bxf4 $1 {A sign of courage. Giri needs to win no matter what.} ({The
knight cannot leave:} 23. Ng3 Qe7 {followed by Qe7-g5 is awkward for White.})
23... exf4 24. Qxf4 {The point behind the previous move.} gxf5 25. gxf5 Qg7 $1
{A very practical choice. Carlsen returns the piece but stops the attack.
Despite the pawn deficit he should not be much worse due to the
opposite-colored bishops.} (25... Bc8 26. f6 {followed by e4-e5 and attack on
the b1-h7 diagonal and the g-file would be extremely difficult to hold (if
possible).}) 26. fxe6 Rxe6 ({Objectively better was to open the f-file at once
with} 26... fxe6 $5 27. Bb3 Qg5 28. Qxg5+ ({If} 28. Qf3 Kg7 {followed by
Re8-f8.}) 28... hxg5) 27. Rad1 Rde8 ({Black's task is more difficult after} 
27... Rxd1 28. Rxd1 Qg5 29. g3) 28. Re2 Qg5 29. Qf3 {Instinctively, Giri tries
to keep the queens on the board, but this is not best here.} ({White would
have kept winning chances with} 29. g3 $1 {For example} Qxf4 30. gxf4 Rf6 31.
Rd7 Rxf4 32. Rxb7 Bb8 33. Kf1) 29... Rf6 30. Qh3 Qf4 31. Rf1 Re5 {It is Black
who takes over the initiative and this is all that matters in the
opposite-colored bishop middlegames.} 32. Qh2 Qg5 33. g3 {Now White stands on
the edge of the abyss.} ({Better was} 33. Rd1 Rf4 34. g3) 33... Qg4 34. Rd2 Rg5
{All of a sudden g3 cannot be held.} 35. e5 ({In a blitz game (and not only)
one can get easily checkmated after} 35. Kg2 $2 Qf3+ 36. Kg1 Rxg3+) ({Also bad
is} 35. Kh1 $2 Rh5) ({Objectively best was} 35. Bd1 {when Black can keep on
playing for a win with} Qf4 $1 ({Or rather force a draw with} 35... Qxg3+ 36.
Qxg3 Rxg3+ 37. Kh2 Rg5)) 35... Rxe5 {Solid. The world champion is leaving his
opponent no match chances.} ({In fact} 35... Rf3 $1 36. Kg2 Rh5 37. Qg1 Rf4 $1
{would have won for Black.}) 36. Bd1 Qg5 37. Rd3 Ref5 38. Qh4 {In the final
position it is Black who is playing for a win.} 1/2-1/2

