[Event "Russian Superfinal 2013"] [Site "Novgorod, Russia"] [Date "2013.10.11"] [Round "6"] [White "Nepomniachti, I."] [Black "Vitiugov, N."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B47"] [WhiteElo "2702"] [BlackElo "2729"] [Annotator "Friedel,Joshua"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [TimeControl "5400+30"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. f4 {An early f4 has been a growing trend against the Paulsen. The move is rather committal, but the idea is quite simple, which is to prepare e5 in response to Nf6.} a6 7. Nxc6 Qxc6 8. Bd3 b5 9. Qe2 Bb7 10. Bd2 Bc5 11. O-O-O Ne7 {All of these logical developing moves have been played many times.} 12. a3 {This move is the latest development. The idea is rather simple, which is to discourage b4.} (12. Qh5 g6 13. Qg5 {is another possible continuation, but not everyone wants to go on a quest with their queen so early.}) 12... O-O (12... O-O-O {has also been tried, though it isn't for the faint of heart.}) 13. Qh5 {A novelty, and a logical one. White wants to provoke pawn weaknesses on the kingside.} f6 {Black wants to respond to e5 with f5 without allowing en passant, but this gives allows White another plan of attack.} 14. g4 {The queen on h5 is no prize now, but there is also no good way to take advantage of it.} Rac8 15. Rhe1 {I'm not sure the rook does anything special here, but he simply wants to move it off of the long diagonal.} Qb6 16. Kb1 Bd4 {Both sides have been slowly improving, and with Bd4 Black hints at an exchange sac on c3.} 17. Ne2 Bf2 {I'm not sure the rook stands worse on f1 than on e1.} (17... Bc5 {might have been my preference, planning to play b4.}) 18. Rf1 Rf7 19. Qh3 {White finally decides to extricate his queen.} Ng6 20. Bc1 {This move strikes me as quite passive.} ( 20. Bc3 {threatening e5 looks better to me, and if Black plays d6 then he's weakened the light squares, in particular e6.}) 20... Bc5 $2 {This is a logical improving move, but it allows White to play e5.} (20... a5 {Preparing b4 with this move looks better, as now after} 21. e5 $2 (21. b3 {is likely best, preparing to answer b4 with a4, with an unclear game.}) 21... fxe5 22. f5 (22. fxe5 {gives White no threats, so black can simply push on with} b4 {and the threat of b3 is actually quite strong.}) 22... exf5 23. gxf5 Nf8 {and I don't think White has very much compensation. The bishop on f2 is actually quite annoying!}) 21. e5 $1 {Now White has taken over the initiative.} b4 $6 { This move doesn't deal with White's main threat.} (21... fxe5 22. fxe5 {is quite different now, as without the bishop blocking the f-file White actually has some ideas, the main one being Nf4.}) (21... Qc6 {looks better, giving Black the defensive resource of Qg2. However, after} 22. exf6 Rxf6 23. Ng3 $1 { White has a strong attack.}) 22. axb4 Bxb4 (22... Qxb4 {is the better defense, but after} 23. f5 exf5 24. Rxf5 Be4 {(Black's idea)} 25. Bxe4 Qxe4 26. Nc3 Qc6 27. exf6 {and Black's position is in shambles due to his pawn weaknesses and king.}) 23. f5 exf5 24. Bxf5 (24. Rxf5 {Might have been even stronger, preparing to double rooks and/or play Rh5.}) 24... Nf8 25. exf6 g6 {Black's only try.} 26. Bd3 Rxf6 27. b3 $1 {White brings his worst piece, the dark-squared bishop, to the long diagonal where it will be deadly.} Rxf1 28. Rxf1 Ne6 29. Bb2 Rf8 {Now there are several major errors, I'm guessing due to time pressure.} 30. Rd1 $2 {Giving up the f-file was completely unnecessary.} ( 30. Bf6 {was clearly best, keeping Black passive and preparing g5 next move to cement the bishop. Keep in mind that Bxg6 is always in the air.}) 30... Rf3 $1 31. Qh4 $2 (31. Ng3 {maintains some advantage, but White's pieces are pretty awkward now.}) 31... Bc6 $4 (31... Qf2 $1 {and Black is right back in the game. The idea is that after} 32. Ng3 Rxd3 $1 33. cxd3 (33. Rxd3 Be4 $1 {and Black may even take over. The bishop is immune to capture due to the stupid queen hanging on h4.}) 33... Qf3 34. Kc2 Qf2+ 35. Kb1 Qf3 {with a draw.}) 32. Bc4 ( 32. Nd4 {was immediately crushing, with the idea that after} Nxd4 33. Bxd4 Qa5 (33... Qxd4 34. Bc4+ $18) 34. Re1 $3 {and White's threats of Re8 and Re5 are deadly. For example, if} Bf8 (34... Bxe1 {is impossible on account of} 35. Qe7 $1 Rf7 36. Qe8+ Rf8 37. Bc4+ d5 38. Qe5 Kf7 39. Qf6+ Ke8 40. Qxc6+ {and Black will lose everything with check.}) 35. Re5 Qd2 36. Bc4+ d5 37. Rxd5 Rf1+ 38. Bxf1 Bxd5 39. Qf6 $18) 32... Bb5 (32... d5 {was best, but after} 33. Rxd5 $1 Bxd5 34. Bxd5 Rf1+ 35. Nc1 {and White's monstrous bishops matter far more than Black's exchange.}) 33. Nd4 {Now it is over.} Rf7 34. Nxe6 Bxc4 35. Ng5 Re7 36. Qh3 $1 {The final touch. White threatens Qf3 as well as the simple bxc4 since the 3rd rank is covered.} (36. bxc4 Bc3 {would not be advised.}) 36... Be2 37. Qg2 $1 {White threatens a deadly back rank check on a8 in addition to the one played in the game.} Re8 38. Qd5+ {and Black resigned, seeing that Re6 would be met with Qxd7 with checkmate soon to follow. Despite the inaccuracies late in the game, the attack was nicely conducted by Nepomniatchi and it enabled him to hop over Vitiugov in the standings.} 1-0

[Event "66th ch-RUS 2013"] [Site "Nizhny Novgorod RUS"] [Date "2013.10.11"] [Round "6.2"] [White "Kramnik, Vladimir"] [Black "Inarkiev, Ernesto"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B20"] [WhiteElo "2796"] [BlackElo "2695"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "103"] [EventDate "2013.10.05"] 1. e4 c5 2. b3 Nc6 3. Bb2 {Hardly a popular way of playing, but it has been seen at the top level from time to time. Kramnik himself used it against Kobalia just two months ago in the World Cup!} d5 {Relatively unheard of, pretty much any other logical move is more common.} 4. exd5 Qxd5 5. Nc3 Qe5+ 6. Qe2 Qxe2+ 7. Ngxe2 Bf5 8. O-O-O O-O-O 9. g3 e5 10. f4 {White enjoys a certain developent lead. After all he has more pieces out, so it is natural to try to open up the position. Black can't really afford to weaken his pawn by putting it on e4, so he trades it off.} exf4 11. Nxf4 Nf6 12. Bc4 {Black's weakness on f7 is exposed, but besides this his position will remain solid, so Inarkiev just has to watch out for f7 for the time being.} Nd4 $1 13. d3 (13. Bxf7 Bxc2 {is in no way a favorable trade for White.}) 13... Bd6 $1 {Inarkiev plays accurately to keep the balance.} 14. Rdf1 (14. Bxf7 Bxf4+ 15. gxf4 b5 $1 {And surprisingly White's bishop on f7 starts to have some serious issues as it has no retreat squares.}) 14... Bd7 15. Nce2 Bxf4+ 16. Nxf4 Bc6 17. Rhg1 Rd7 18. Bxd4 $1 {A brilliant strategical decision, taking advantage of the fact that the rook on d7 cannot recapture on d4 as it is stuck defending f7.} cxd4 { White's structure is superior, which allows him to put pressure on his opponent's pawns slowly.} 19. b4 b5 20. Bb3 Ng4 21. Nh5 Nxh2 $2 {Too optimistic.} (21... Ne3 22. Rxf7 Rxf7 23. Bxf7 Rf8 24. Be6+ Kc7 {Was still very unclear, despite the fact that White is temporarily up two pawns.} 25. Nxg7 Rf2 26. Bb3 Kd6 $1 27. h4 Ke5 $1 {And although it is only White that can win this endgame, it is unclear how exactly he will do this: Black's pieces are completely dominating their counterparts and for the time being it is impossible to advance the pawns safely. White's knight on g7 is clearly stuck out of play and the rook on g1 is not much better.}) 22. Rf2 $1 {Inarkiev must have missed this powerful maneuver.} Ng4 23. Rf4 $1 f5 {Desperation, really. Black has no hope of surviving being down an exchange.} (23... Ne5 24. Nxg7 $16 {Winning g7 is much more important than winning f7 as now the knight will return to f5 and pressure d4, not to mention that f7 remains a weakness.}) 24. Be6 g6 25. Ng7 {It seems as if White's knight on g7 will be stranded and possibly even captured in the near future, but Kramnik is not bothered with such trivialities as 'it seems' or 'it might be'. He has calculated that the knight makes it back safely without issues.} Ne5 (25... Kc7 26. Bxd7 Bxd7 27. Re1 {And the knight on g7 has kept the important job of keeping the enemy rook out of the e-file, which allows White this Re1 move followed by Ne6, saving the knight.}) 26. Re1 Nf3 27. Re2 Rhd8 28. Bxd7+ Rxd7 29. Ne6 Rd6 30. Nf8 $1 { No reason for this guy to retreat, there is work still to be done!} h5 31. Re6 Rxe6 32. Nxe6 Bd7 33. Nf8 Ng1 34. Kd1 Be8 35. Rxd4 Nf3 36. Rd6 g5 37. Ne6 Bd7 38. Nc5 Be8 39. Re6 Kd8 40. Nb7+ Kd7 41. Re3 {Black is just down too much material.} g4 42. Nc5+ Kd8 43. Ne6+ Kd7 44. Nf4 Bf7 45. d4 h4 46. Rxf3 $1 { Kramnik chooses the easiest way to win. With two passed pawns supported by the powerful knight on f4 the game is easily won.} gxf3 47. gxh4 Bxa2 48. Ke1 Ke7 49. d5 Kd6 50. h5 Ke5 51. h6 $1 Kxf4 52. Kf2 {A pretty position. The bishop is powerless against the advance of the pawns. A clean victory by Kramnik who continues his chase and is half a point behind Svidler.} 1-0

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2013.10.11"] [Round "?"] [White "Kashlinskaya"] [Black "Kosteniuk"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D35"] [Annotator "Abrahamyan, Tatev"] [PlyCount "78"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. cxd5 {transposing into exchange QGD positions. 5. Bg5 and 5. Bf4 are both more common, but lead into different kind of positions} exd5 6. Bg5 c6 7. e3 Bf5 8. Nd2 $5 {an idea tried by Granda Zuniga at the recent World Cup. It appears that he has tried a lot of different ideas in this position and likes to experiment. Unfortunately, this one didn't prove to be very sound} Nbd7 (8... O-O 9. Be2 Nbd7 10. g4 Be6 11. Bf4 c5 12. O-O cxd4 13. exd4 Qb6 14. Nb3 a5 {Granda Zuniga,J (2664)-Giri,A (2737)/FIDE World Cup 2013 2013 (3.1)/0-1}) 9. Be2 Nf8 {this move gives Black more flexibility than 0-0.} 10. g4 Bd7 11. Bf4 Ne6 {the knight is more powerful here then on d7 in the Granda Zuniga - Giri game and will put more pressure in the center} 12. Be5 c5 13. dxc5 Bc6 14. Bf3 (14. O-O {the main problem in the game for White was the king in the center.} Bxc5 15. Nb3 Bd6 16. Bxd6 Qxd6 {now I'm not sure why White's pawn is on g4, but at least the king isn't in the center anymore}) 14... Nd7 15. Bd6 {somehow this move seems loose. Exchanging this pair of bishops makes White king side more vulnerable} (15. Bg3 Ndxc5 16. O-O O-O {I'd still prefer Black's position, but at least White's king is safer}) 15... Bxd6 (15... Ndxc5 {looks simpler. Any kind of exchange of White's dark square bishop should favor Black} 16. Bxe7 Qxe7 17. Nxd5 Bxd5 18. Bxd5 Nf4 19. Bc4 Nfd3+ 20. Bxd3 Nxd3+ 21. Kf1 Rd8 {and that's not a very happy king}) 16. cxd6 Nb6 17. a4 a5 (17... Qxd6 18. a5 Nc8 19. O-O O-O $13) 18. Qb3 $6 (18. O-O {I think White's play in the game was a little careless. Maybe she felt that after g4 castling isn't very safe, but with the king in the center Black gets all kinds of ideas} Qxd6 19. Qb3 {with the idea of Rfd1 and Nf1}) 18... Nc5 19. d7+ $2 {this move only helps Black. White's king is still in the center and there is a big hole on d3. At the same time, Black's knight on b6 is a little misplaced, so now she gets an extra tempo to tranport the knight to a better square} (19. Qc2 Qxd6 20. O-O O-O $15) 19... Nbxd7 20. Qa3 $2 {White doesn't have too many pleasant options but I'd prefer having the queen closer to the King} (20. Qc2 Ne5 {is no picnic either. And now 0-0 is impossible due to h5} 21. Rg1 {weird computer idea but Black position looks winning} O-O 22. Rg3 d4 {exploiting White's poor king}) 20... Nd3+ 21. Ke2 Nb4 (21... N7e5 $1 {more accurate. It's hard to suggest a move for White}) 22. Rhc1 (22. Na2 {exchanging pieces would really help White's position} Qe7 23. Nxb4 axb4 24. Qb3 {but even here Black has all the advantage}) 22... Ne5 23. Na2 Qb6 24. Qc3 (24. Kf1 {otherwise the Qa6 check is deadly} h5 {still looks crushing}) 24... Qa6+ {the former World Champion plays flawlessly from here on} 25. Kd1 Nxf3 26. Nxf3 Qf1+ 27. Ne1 d4 28. exd4 O-O {the beauty of this position is that White doesn't have any moves. A simple move like castling goes a long way} 29. Nxb4 axb4 30. Qxb4 Rfe8 31. Kc2 Qxf2+ 32. Kb1 Rac8 33. Nd3 Be4 34. Ra3 Rxc1+ 35. Kxc1 Qf1+ 36. Kc2 Rc8+ 37. Kd2 Bxd3 38. Rxd3 Qf2+ 39. Kd1 Qc2+ {a really nice attack by Black punishing White's sloppy play in the middle game} 0-1