Van Wely - Giri

[Event "Tata Steel-A 74th"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee"] [Date "2012.01.21"] [Round "7"] [White "Van Wely, Loek"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A45"] [WhiteElo "2692"] [BlackElo "2714"] [Annotator "Van Wely, NL"] [PlyCount "132"] [EventDate "2012.01.14"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "13"] [EventCountry "NED"] [EventCategory "21"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2012.03.16"] {I especially annotated this game for my friend Levon Aronian, accidentally (but not really) also the winner of this year's edition of Wijk aan Zee. Since he had been looking forward so much to see this derby, I wanted to grant him a peek into the kitchen of the mind of those great derby warriors :)} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 $5 {For Wijk aan Zee I had a special advisor who was advising me which opening to play. Somehow it reminded me of back in the days when I was the second of Kamsky in his 1996 match vs Karpov, when his dad told us which opening Gata was going to play (and needless to say, this was the opening we had to prepare, sometimes starting from scratch). Anyway I knew my advisor had his reasons for his choice of opening and for once I decided not to be stubborn and tried to be unpredictable. So the Trompovsky was one of his suggestions. Unfortunately the surprise factor wasn't that big. Prior to the European team championships, we had a training session with the national team and in some blitz match with both Anish and his coach Vladimir Chuchelov, I had used this weapon quite a few times already...} c5 (2... Ne4 3. Bh4 (3. Bf4 {This is a move I faced myself recently in the 3rd division of the Dutch League against Johnny Fluit} c5 4. f3 Qa5+ 5. c3 Nf6 6. Nd2 cxd4 7. Nb3 Qb6 ( 7... Qf5 {is riskier but a dream compared to the boring position I got} 8. Bxb8 Rxb8 9. Qxd4 b6 10. e4 Qf4 11. Nh3 Qc7 12. e5) 8. Qxd4 Nc6 9. Qxb6 axb6 10. Nd4 e5 11. Nxc6 exf4 12. Nd4 d5 13. e3 fxe3 14. Ke2 {and that day Johnny was very solid!}) 3... c5 (3... d5 4. f3 Nd6 5. Nc3 Nf5 6. Bf2 c5 7. dxc5 d4 8. e4 { This is how normally my games with Vladimir were going. He still doesn't realise that Black is worse here, so I will keep on repeating it :)}) 4. f3 g5 5. fxe4 gxh4 {Another try of Vladimir, in fact I believe this line to be good for Black, I had myself some experience here as Black against Mamedyarov. But of course, things are tricky, especially when you are not prepared for this kind of coffee house position.}) (2... e6 3. e4 h6 4. Bxf6 Qxf6 {was how my blitz games with Anish went.}) 3. Bxf6 gxf6 4. d5 Qb6 5. Qc1 f5 6. g3 ({ With hindsight I believe} 6. c4 {is better:} Bh6 $2 7. e3 f4 $2 8. exf4 Bxf4 9. Qxf4 Qxb2 10. Ne2 Qxa1 11. Nec3 Qb2 12. d6 {and Black is in serious trouble already} Qc2 (12... Rg8 13. Bd3 e6 14. Bxh7 Rg7 15. h4 Nc6 16. Qh6 Rxg2 17. Rf1 $18) 13. Qe3 Nc6 14. Bd3 Qb2 {Wells-Shirov 1-0}) 6... Bg7 7. c3 Qf6 8. e3 Na6 { I am not sure the knight is so great on c7, I think I would have preferred to put it on e5.} 9. Ne2 Nc7 ({For a while I was considering} 9... h5 10. h4 e5 { of course it has its positional drawbacks, but at least it would have prevented White from getting his ideal setup, like in the game}) ({Or immediately} 9... b5 {and at least Black is also going to have some fun!}) 10. Nf4 Bh6 {Lässt c4 zu oder will es provozieren?} 11. c4 d6 12. Nc3 Bd7 13. Be2 $1 {[%csl Yc4][%cal Ye2c4,Ye2h5] Diagramm [#] Nur weil g3 steht, muss man nicht Lg2 spielen! Der Läufer wirkt auf e2 besser platziert.} a6 14. a4 b6 15. Nh5 $1 {[%csl Ge2,Re3,Rf2,Rg3,Rh2,Gh5,Rh6] Diagramm [#]} Qg6 16. Bf3 Rb8 17. Ne2 {I think by now Anish must have realised something had gone wrong.} Rf8 18. Qd2 {Threatening eventually to open up the queenside with b4.} a5 {So this is a sad neccessity.} 19. O-O Kd8 20. Rfe1 Ne8 21. Nef4 Qg8 22. e4 Qh8 23. Qe2 ( 23. Qc2 Ng7) 23... Rb7 24. e5 {Maybe it was better to leave the queens on, however the resulting structure looked too good to be true: Black simply can't move.} Qxe5 25. Qxe5 dxe5 26. Rxe5 Nd6 {Anish didn't see any more winning possibilities for himself here and offered a draw. But unfortunately for him I didn't see any losing possibilities for myself, so I refused :)} 27. b3 Rg8 28. Rae1 Bf8 29. R5e3 Rb8 30. h4 Kc7 31. Bd1 Re8 32. Bc2 Kd8 33. R3e2 Rg4 34. Kh2 Rg8 35. f3 Kc7 36. Nd3 Rg6 {Black is forced to put his rook on h6 now. If not then with the knight on e5 at some point White will push g4.} 37. Ne5 Rh6 38. Nxd7 Kxd7 39. g4 e6 {Black is somehow trying to keep his position together, but it's clear he is on the verge of a positional collapse.} 40. Re5 $6 { In time trouble it is not such a smart idea to put your rook on the h2-b8 diagonal while your opponent is holding the dark-squared bishop!} ({Apart from that} 40. Nf4 $1 {would have been very good, but who would take such a decision on move 40 with little time left? Shirov? Topalov? I decided (only this time) not to be brave (but trying to be smart!)} fxg4 41. fxg4 Be7 (41... Rxh4+ 42. Kg3 Rh6 (42... Be7 43. dxe6+ fxe6 44. Rxe6) 43. g5) 42. dxe6+ (42. h5 ) 42... fxe6 43. Rxe6 Rxe6 44. Rxe6 Rf8 45. Kg3 Bxh4+ 46. Kxh4 Rxf4 47. Rh6 Rf2 48. Rxh7+ Ke6 49. Bg6 Kf6 (49... Rb2 50. Kg5 Rxb3 51. Bf5+) 50. g5+) 40... Be7 41. Kh3 Bd8 42. R1e2 {Playing a waiting game, pretending to be very subtle, trying to make your opponent think that he is in zugzwang or something like that and hoping he will panic and implode.} (42. Rd1 $5 Kc7 43. dxe6 Rhxe6 44. Rxe6 Rxe6 45. Nf4 fxg4+ 46. Kxg4 Re8 47. Rd5 {looks unpleasant for Black.}) 42... Rf8 $6 {But here Black misses his only chance to break free:} (42... fxg4+ $5 43. fxg4 f5 44. dxe6+ (44. Kg2 Rg8 (44... fxg4 45. Ng7) (44... Bxh4 45. Ng7 Rg8 46. dxe6+ Ke7 47. Nxf5+ Nxf5 48. Bxf5) 45. dxe6+ Ke8 46. Kf3 fxg4+ 47. Kg3 Nc8) 44... Rhxe6 45. Rxe6 Rxe6 46. Rxe6 Kxe6 47. g5 {and compared to the game (although Black has to defend himself) this is already a much better version} (47. Ng7+ Kf6 48. Nxf5 Nxf5 49. Bxf5 h6 {is just a draw})) 43. Bd3 ( 43. Rd2) 43... fxg4+ $2 {Based on a miscalculation.} 44. fxg4 exd5 45. Rxd5 Kc7 (45... f5 {was Anish's intention but then he realised in time that} 46. Bxf5+ Rxf5 47. gxf5 Rxh5 48. Re6 Be7 {loses due to} 49. Rxe7+ ({or} 49. Rdxd6+ Bxd6 50. Kg4) 49... Kxe7 50. f6+) 46. Bf5 Rg8 47. Re3 Rf8 48. Ree5 Rg8 49. Bc2 Rf8 50. Bd1 {After some manoeuvring White is finally showing his cards: g5 is next. Now Black is forced to act.} Re8 51. Rxe8 Nxe8 52. g5 Rd6 53. Rxd6 {A logical decision although} (53. Bc2 {may have been better but it was very hard to evaluate Black's counterplay after} Rxd5 54. cxd5 b5 55. axb5 Kb6 56. Bxh7 Kxb5 57. Kg4 c4 58. bxc4+ Kxc4 59. Nf4 a4) 53... Kxd6 54. Bc2 f6 55. g6 ({Of course, my original intention had been} 55. Kg4 fxg5 56. hxg5 {but then I got very worried about} Ke5 $1 (56... h6 $4 {loses on the spot} 57. Bg6 $1 (57. gxh6 $4 {draws on the spot} Nf6+ 58. Nxf6 Bxf6)) 57. Bxh7 Kd4 58. Bf5 Bxg5 $1 {the right moment to sacrifice the bishop for the dangerous g-pawn} (58... Kc3 $2 59. Bd7 {and it would be too late for that}) 59. Kxg5 Kc3 60. Nf4 Kxb3 61. Nd5 Kxc4 62. Nxb6+ Kd4 {and with little time on the clock I wasn't able to judge this position well, it might be a win but it's going to be very very hard to get there.}) 55... hxg6 56. Bxg6 Nc7 57. Bf5 Ne6 58. Bxe6 (58. Kg4 Nd4 59. Nf4 Ke7 60. h5 Kf7 61. h6 Kg8) 58... Kxe6 59. Ng7+ ({After} 59. Nf4+ {Black would become very active with} Ke5 60. Nd5 f5 61. h5 Bg5 62. Nxb6 Ke4 {and I don't think White has any realistic winning chances here.}) 59... Ke5 60. Kg4 f5+ $1 61. Nxf5 Bxh4 $1 {Lucky Anish still has this trick!} 62. Nxh4 Kd4 63. Kf3 Kc3 64. Ke3 Kxb3 65. Kd3 Kxa4 66. Kc3 b5 1/2-1/2