Surface bargaining

Magnus Carlsen – Anish Giri
3rd Norway Chess; Stavanger, June 18, 2015
Sicilian Defence B51

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 4. c3 Nf6 5. Qe2 a6 6. Ba4 b5 7. Bc2 e6 8. d4 Bb7 9. 0-0 Be7 10. Re1 0-0 11. Nbd2 cxd4 12. cxd4 Rc8. For 12. ... Qc7 13. Nf1 Rfc8 14. Bd3 see Rasik – Laznicka, Czech Team Chess Championship, Prague 2015. 13. Nf1 Re8 14. Ng3 Bf8 15. Be3 Rc7 16. Bd3 e5 17. d5. “Giri now has what looks like a bad Ruy Lopez vs. Magnus Carlsen. Black has a long defensive task ahead of him”, Grandmaster Einar Johan Gausel said.

17. ... Nc5 18. Bc2 b4 19. a3 b3. Giri decides to sacrifice a Pawn in the hope of loosening White’s grip. 20. Bxc5 Rxc5 21. Bxb3 Qb6 22. Bc4 Rec8 23. Bd3 g6 24. Nf1 Bh6 25. Ne3 a5 26. b4! “Carlsen’s position looks good, even if there’s still a lot of work to do”, Grandmaster Jan Gustafsson said. 26. ... axb4 27. axb4 R5c7 28. b5 Qc5 29. h3 Nh5 30. Qb2 Qb6 31. Qb4. Intending Ne3-c4. 31. ... Bxe3 32. Rxe3 Rc3 33. Rae1 f5 34. exf5 Nf4 35. Be4 R3c5 36. fxg6 hxg6 37. Bxg6! Rxb5. 37. ... Nxg6? loses to 38. Qg4! with the threat of Nf3-h4. 38. Qe4? All chess engines recommend the amazing 38. Bf7+!! Kxf7 39. Qe4 which results in a win for White in all variations: 39. ... Rg8 (both 39. ... Bxd5 40. Qf5+ and 39. ... Kg7 40. Ng5 Bxd5 41. Qf5 lose as well) 40. Qh7+ Kf8 41. Qf5+ Ke8 42. Qxf4 and wins. 38. ... Rf8! 39. Nxe5!? A sharp move but probably not best. 39. Nh4! Bxd5 40. Qa4 leaves White a Pawn ahead with some winning chances. 39. ... dxe5 40. Rg3 Rxd5! A cool defence! 41. Qb1 Qxb1 42. Bxb1+ Kh8 43. Be4 Rd7 44. Bxb7 Rxb7 45. Rxe5 Rh7 46. Re4 Rhf7 47. Kh2 Kh7 48. Rf3 Kg6 49. h4 Nh5 50. Rxf7 Rxf7 51. Re2 Nf4 52. Rd2 Nh5 53. g3 Nf6 54. Kg2 Rd7 55. Ra2 Rd5 56. Ra4 Re5 57. g4 Re4 58. Rxe4 Nxe4 59. Kf3 Nd6 60. Kf4 Nf7 61. Ke4 Kf6 62. f4 Nd6+ 63. Kd5 Nb5 64. h5 Nc3+ 65. Kd4 Nb5+ 66. Kc4 Nd6+ 67. Kc5 Ke6 68. Kc6 Nf7 69. Kc7 Nh6 70. g5 Nf7 71. g6 Nh6 72. Kd8 Kf5 73. Ke7 Kxf4 74. Kf8 Kg5 75. g7 Kxh5 76. g8=Q Nxg8 ½ : ½. “Magnus played really badly today”, then Giri said.

Magnus Carlsen vs. Anish Giri
Photo: sjakkbloggen.no