Alexei Shirov - Teimour Radjabov
Morelia Linares 2008
Round 7
Morelia
23.02.2008
Shirov and Radjabov have played plenty of exciting games over the last couple of years. Radjabov won the last two, but Shirov is in much better form nowadays than on January 2007. Probably 1. e4 and Sicilian defence, unless Radjabov again wants to try Jaenish Gambit in Ruy Lopez. Enjoy the game.
1.d4!? So our prediction was wrong :) Shirov also started with 1.d4 at the last year Corus, but Radjabov won with King's Indian defence.
1... Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 Radjabov wants to play his favorite KID, but what has Shirov prepared?
5.Be2 O-O 6.Nf3 e5 7.O-O Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.Ne1 Few weeks earlier, Kramnik used 9. Nd2 against Radjabov, but couldn't achieve more than a draw. 9. Ne1 is considered to be a main line, but bayonet attack with 9. b4 is the most popular over last couple of years.
9... Nd7 ( Judit Polgar liked to play 9... Ne8)
10.Be3 (10.Nd3 f5 11.f3 f4 12.Bd2 is an older approach.)
10... f5 11.f3 f4 12.Bf2 There is some difference in placing dark-squared bishop on d2 or f2. Bishop from f2 is adding power to white's projected advance on the queenside by eying pawn a7 and supporting c4-c5. But also, black's g4-g3 might come with tempo...
12... g5 13.Nd3 Radjabov is, of course, perfectly familiar with this position, but he likes to spend some time in the opening, to calm the spirits and perhaps even find a way to improvise (like yesterday against Carlsen). Main move here is 13... Nf6, but Radjabov also tried 13...Rf6!? once.
13... h5!? (13... Nf6 14.c5 Ng6 is the main move order.)
14.c5 Nf6 This isn't necessary a different line, because black usually executes same moves in his kingside expansion - Ng6, Rf7, Bf8 (to support d6 and 7th rank), Rg7, g4 etc...
15.Rc1 g4!? Now, this is independent line. Black is neglecting queenside safety and goes for immediate attack. But if he falters, pressure on c7 and d6 might be very dangerous. This variation hasn't been tested in more that two grandmaster games.
16.Nb5!? GM Neverov played this move on one occasion, while most of the amateurs opted for 16. cxd6
16... Ne8 It is unclear what is Radjabov up to? Without Rf7 and Ng6 (and with inpatient h5-g4), he has problem on how to hold g4 and prevent incursion on c7. Shirov can simply take this pawn on g4. (16... g3 17.hxg3 fxg3 18.Bxg3 Bh6 19.Rc3 doesn't give anything to black.)
17.fxg4 a6!? this attempt to enclose intermediate move can be met with 18. cxd6 cxd6 19. Nc3 or 19. Nc7!? Nxc7 20. Bb6
18.Nc3 ( Also sufficient was 18.cxd6 cxd6 19.Nc7 Nxc7 20.Bb6 hxg4 21.Rxc7 but Shirov probably didn't want to worry about consequences of black's f3 or g3.)
18... hxg4 19.Bxg4 Nf6 20.Bxc8 Rxc8 Exchanging light-squared bishops is one of white's main goals in many lines of king's indian defence. This white piece is limited by its own pawn mass, while black counterpart can support attack on h3 pawn in some lines. Black is pawn down and with absolutely no counterplay as there are too few pieces on the board, and in addition, black is poorly coordinated.
21.g3!? Interesting idea to challenge black pawn chain and remove potential weakness on the g-file (g2 pawn). 21. Bh4!? with idea to trade another black active piece was good alternative.
21... Qe8 Of course, Radjabov will try to at least keep some tension. (21... fxg3 22.Bxg3 Ng6)
22.Kh1 This might be a waste of precious tempo. (22.gxf4! would efficiently clean the mess in the center 22... Qg6+ 23.Bg3 Nxe4 24.Nxe4 Qxe4 25.cxd6 cxd6 26.Rxc8 Rxc8 27.fxe5 dxe5 28.d6)
22... Qg6 23.Qe2 23...f3!? with idea 24. Qxf3 Nfxd5
23... f3 24.Qxf3 Nfxd5 A dash of counterplay for Radjabov. One careless move (Kh1) and black is back from a completely hopeless position! 25. Nxd5 Nxd5 or 25. Qe2 Nf6...
25.Nxd5 Nxd5 26.Qe2 Nf6 27.Rce1 Suddenly, position is roughly equal with chances for both players. This comeback might depress Shirov and give some wind in the back for Radjabov. Doubling rooks on the f-file looks like a good plan.
27... Qf7 28.g4! Shirov immediately grabs opportunity presented by black's last move. 28...Qxa2 29. g5 Nh7 30. Qg4! is simply better for white, maybe best to move the queen back to g6.
28... Qg6 Radjabov lost two moves for nothing and now Shirov can continue with 29. Rg1 insisting on g5...
29.h3 Rf7 29. h3 was tame and Radjabov catches up with the better plan, doubling rooks...
32.b3?! (32.Rxf7 Qxf7 33.g5! with quick h4-h5)
32... Rxf1 33.Rxf1 d5?! White can play g5 or Rf5. All these inaccuracies are consequence of the time trouble.
34.g5! Finally! :)
34... a5 35.h4 Qc6 36.Re1! Rf8 37.exd5 Qxd5+ 38.Qe4 c6 39.Bh2! Qe6 40.Bg3 Rf5 Time control has passed and Radjabov is once again clearly worse. Rook exchange with 41. Rf1 or just 41. Nf4 should be sufficient.
41.a3!? Rf7 42.b4 This might give some squares to black queen (a2, b3), but Shirov wants to fortify c5 pawn before doing anything else.
42... Qa2+ 43.Re2 Qxa3? Ouch, queen might end captured! 44. g6 Rf8 45. Qc4+ and Ra2
44.g6 Indeed, Radjabov realised what is happening and resigned because queen is trapped on a3. Neverthless, even before this blunder he stood worse. Main question is whether he mixed lines from his opening preparation before dropping g4 pawn? He was plain lost at one moment, before Shirov allowed him to come back into the game. Shirov and Topalov have finished Morelia leg with +1 score. Thank you everyone for following Chessdom live commentary, we continue our coverage on Thursday 28th at 9:30 EST / 15:30 CET. See you there!
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