Moka pot

Magnus Carlsen – Anish Giri
9th Bilbao Masters Final; Bilbao, July 22, 2016
Queen’s Pawn Game D02

1. d4 d5 2. Bf4. Oh, a shocking surprise! 2. ... Bf5 3. e3 e6 4. Bd3 Bxd3 5. Qxd3 c6 6. Nd2 Nf6 7. Ngf3 Be7 8. 0-0 0-0 9. h3 Nbd7. 9. ... Qb6 may transpose into 10. c4 c5 11. dxc5 Qxc5 12. Rfc1 Nc6 13. a3 a6 14. cxd5 Qxd5 15. Qxd5 Nxd5 ½ : ½ Smyslov – Bacrot, Cannes 1996. 10. a4!? It seems a very interesting idea! White will manage to exert pressure on both wings, that’s the dream everyone has, especially when life is hard. 10. ... c5. Who knows, maybe 10. ... a5 is not so childish as it looks. 11. a5 c4 12. Qe2 b5 13. axb6 axb6 14. Ne5 Nxe5 15. dxe5 Nd7 16. Qg4 Re8 17. h4! f5 18. Qh3 Rxa1 19. Rxa1 c3. Giri is not the guy who would willingly open the h-file! 20. bxc3 Qc7 21. c4 Nxe5 22. Qg3 Bd6. Clearly not 22. ... Bf6?? on account of 23. Kh1! followed by Nd2-f3 winning Black’s Knight. 23. cxd5. “Komodo 10 suggests 23. c5!? bxc5 24. Ra6 with the idea of taking on d6 with the Rook”, says Grandmaster Bachar Kouatly in his commentary for Europe Échecs. Carlsen prefers a more natural modus operandi, which incidentally is also much embarrassing for Black. 23. ... exd5 24. Nb3 Qxc2 25. Nd4 Qc8 26. h5. White has an obvious compensation for the Pawn, but as usual it won’t be easy to pierce and crack the walls of Giri’s vocational fortressing. 26. ... Qd7 27. Rb1 Bc7 28. f3 Qf7 29. Ra1 Bd6 30. Ra6 Qxh5 31. Rxb6 Nc4 32. Rxd6 Nxd6 33. Bxd6 Rxe3 34. Be5 Qg6 35. Qf4 Re1+ 36. Kf2 Ra1 37. Qd2

37. ... Ra8? A melodramatic blind spot by Giri, who totally misses White’s next move. Both 37. ... Qa6 and 37. ... f4! 38. Bxf4 (or 38. Qxf4 Qb1) 38. ... Qa6 seem to offer Black prospects for a tough, robust defence. 38. Nxf5! Qe6 39. Qg5 g6 40. Nh6+ Kf8 41. Ng4. Ain’t no use in any material estimate as White is carrying out a devastating attack on the dark squares. 41. ... Ke8 42. Nf6+ Kf7 43. Nxh7 Ra4 44. Qd8. Threatening both Qd8-f8 mate and Nh7-g5 mate. 44. ... Ra2+. Or 44. ... Qxe5 45. Qf8+ Ke6 46. Qe8+ Kd6 47. Qb8+ Ke6 48. Nf8+ Kf6 49. Nd7+ and the White Knight trivially forks both the Black’s King and Queen. 45. Kg1 1 : 0.

Magnus Carlsen (R.) vs. Anish Giri (L.)
Photo: Juan Carlos Fernández (@FdezJcfdez)