Candidates R4 – Carlsen joins Aronian in the lead

[Event "FIDE Candidates 2013"] [Site "London"] [Date "2013.03.19"] [Round "4"] [White "Gelfand, Boris"] [Black "Ivanchuk, Vassily"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D07"] [WhiteElo "2740"] [BlackElo "2757"] [Annotator "Ramirez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "70"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "ENG"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 {The Chigorin, an unusual guest in high level chess!} Nc6 3. Nf3 Bg4 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bf4 Bxf3 6. gxf3 Bb4 7. e3 Nge7 8. Qc2 dxc4 9. Bxc4 Nd5 10. Bg3 h5 11. h3 Qd7 {White emerged with the pair of bishops, a good central structure and good prospects out of the opening. His next move however is a little questionable, as it does not put enough pressure on Black.} 12. O-O-O ( 12. a3 $1 Bd6 $2 13. Bxd6 Qxd6 14. Ne4 Qe7 15. Rg1 $16) 12... O-O-O 13. Ne4 Kb8 14. Kb1 (14. Bb5 {and crippling the c-pawns seemed like a more logical idea to me.}) 14... h4 15. Bh2 Bd6 16. f4 f5 17. Ng5 Na5 18. Be2 Rc8 19. Qd2 Bb4 20. Qd3 c5 $1 {A bold move, that was almsot forced. Without this rupture Black's postion would've been confined to passivity.} 21. dxc5 Rxc5 22. e4 Rhc8 {The point, of course; taking on e4 was impossible.} (22... fxe4 $2 23. Qxe4 {and every Black piece is hanging.}) 23. Rc1 (23. exd5 {was critical, without accepting the 'gift' White will find himself in some problems.} Rxd5 24. Qf3 Rxd1+ 25. Rxd1 Qxd1+ $1 26. Bxd1 Nc4 27. Kc2 Nd2+ 28. Qc3 Bxc3 29. bxc3 Nc4 { leads to a very strange endgame. Black has less material but White has lots of issues with coordination and his pawn structure is terrible.}) 23... Nc4 24. Rxc4 Rxc4 25. exd5 exd5 $2 {Allowing White back into the game.} (25... Rc2 $1 { The computer says this wins, but why it does is beyond me. Feel free to explore the variations with your engine, or wait for the entire explanation in the next ChessBase Magazine!} 26. a3 Bxa3 $1 27. bxa3 Qa4 $1 28. Bd1 Rc1+ 29. Ka2 Qa5 30. dxe6 Qb6 $19 {is just a sample variation.}) 26. Qb3 Qc6 27. Bxc4 dxc4 28. Qf3 Qb5 29. Qe2 Re8 30. Qc2 c3 31. bxc3 Bxc3+ 32. Qb3 {Black's initative compensated for the knight, but now it is coming to an end and forcing the draw is mandatory. A very strange and entertaining game.} Qd3+ 33. Qc2 Qb5+ 34. Qb3 Qd3+ 35. Qc2 Qb5+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "FIDE Candidates 2013"] [Site "London"] [Date "2013.03.19"] [Round "4"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Grischuk, Alexander"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2872"] [BlackElo "2764"] [Annotator "Ramirez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "ENG"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 {Carlsen avoids the Berlin with this move. The setups with an early d3 are becoming more and more popular.} Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. O-O d6 7. h3 a6 8. Bxc6 (8. Ba4 b5 9. Bb3 {transposes to a line that is supposed to be ok for Black. Carlsen instead tries to punish the late a6 move by changing the pawn structure.}) 8... bxc6 9. Re1 Re8 10. Nbd2 d5 $5 11. exd5 Qxd5 {What's more valuable here? Black has a strong pair of bishops and activity, but his structure is ruined... people sometimes call this a 'dynamic balance'.} 12. Nb3 Bf8 13. c4 Qd6 14. Be3 Nd7 15. d4 e4 16. Nfd2 a5 17. a4 f5 18. c5 Qg6 (18... Qe6 {would have delayed the knight jumping to c4 for an extra move that Black could have used in his own attack.}) 19. Nc4 Nf6 20. Bf4 (20. Ne5 $2 Rxe5 $1 {A strong exchange sacrifice that was no doubt Black's idea.} (20... Qh5 $2 21. Qxh5 Nxh5 22. Nxc6 {and there is no compensation.}) 21. dxe5 Nd5 {And Black is following up with f4 and a huge intiative. Not exactly what Carlsen was bargaining for!}) 20... Nd5 21. Qd2 Be6 22. Nbxa5 { White's coordination is not the best now, but the blockade on the dark squares allows him to snatch this pawn without retaliation.} Reb8 $6 (22... Nxf4 23. Qxf4 Qf6 $1 {Gave more chances. Now Black is preparing g5 at an opportune time and is targeting d4.}) 23. Ne5 Qf6 24. Bh2 {The compensation is dwindling, and Black becomes desperate.} Rxa5 25. Qxa5 Rxb2 26. Rab1 Ra2 27. Qa6 e3 28. fxe3 Qg5 29. Re2 $1 {The point of White's 27th move.} Nxe3 30. Nf3 Qg6 31. Rxa2 Bxa2 32. Rb2 {White has, as they say, the material and the compensation.} Bc4 33. Qa5 Bd5 34. Qe1 f4 35. Bxf4 Nc2 36. Qf2 Bxf3 37. Rxc2 {Carlsen yet again makes a very complex position look easy.} 1-0