Foros Aerosvit 2008
Round 1
Foros
In the very first round two of the favorites are paired - Ivanchuk and Carlsen. The Ukrainian is last year's champion at Foros and is having a great season - +41 rating points. Carlsen showed great progress and went all the distance from a talented teenager to a elite chess player with seeming ease. Both have ample opening repertoires so even the first move is hard to predict, but for sure one can tell that an spectacular fight is likely to be witnessed in this duel.
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 King's Indian Defense is quite rarely seen in Ivanchuk's games as Black. I guess his opening choice is influenced by psychology as Carlsen avoids playing against King's Indian.
4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 O-O 6.Be2 e5 7.O-O Nc6 Going for the sharpest lines. (7... Nbd7) (7... Na6) (7... exd4) among other moves as well enjoy some popularity.
8.d5 Ne7 9.b4 The most fashionable line. 9.Ne1 or 9.Nd2 were very popular during the years.
9... Nh5 (9... a5 to undermine White pawn structure on the queen-side is an alternative.)
10.Re1 f5 11.Ng5 Nf6 12.f3 Kh8 Radjabov is one of the principle advocates of this line with many innovative ideas.
13.b5 (13.Be3) was the main line while Kramnik played this variation a decade ago. Nowadays (13.Ne6) is very topical lately. The game continuation is almost never played.The idea behind it is to keep a long-term grip on the queen-side instead of directly attacking the 'd6' pawn with Ne6 and c5. (13.b5 Nh5 intending Nh5-f4 or 14.g3 f4 seems appropriate reaction for Black.)
13... Ne8 After thinking for half an hour, Ivanchuk goes for a plan involving capture on 'e6' - after forcing Ng5-e6 - then c7-c6 to cover the 'd5' square and then Qc8 or Nc7 attacking the white pawn at 'e6'. Such an ambitious plan of course has its risks. Clock readings 1.20 0.56
14.Be3 Bf6 ( In case of 14... f4 15.Bf2 Nxd5 16.Nxd5 Qxg5 17.c5 White has good positional compensation for the sacrificed pawn.)
15.Ne6 Bxe6 16.dxe6 Ng7 Instead of playing f5-f4, the Ukrainian prefers to keep his pawn on 'f5' pressing Carlsen's center.
17.Bh6 Forced move that allows Black an interesting exchange sacrifice after (17.Bh6 Nxe6)
17... Nxe6 18.Bxf8 Qxf8 Exactly the idea I've mentioned. As the Be2 is restricted by White pawns and the dark squares are vulnerable, Magnus has to find a way to activate his pieces or may soon get in an inferior position.
19.c5 Carlsen doesn't like to defend passively but now Ivanchuk will have two pawns for the exchange and the dark squares remain chronically weak.
19... Nxc5 20.Bc4 Bg5 If this Bishop gets to 'd4' or 'c5' that would mean game over so Black goes on with a corresponding plan.
21.Qe2 Qh6 22.Rad1 Rf8 23.a4 Was this move really necessary? This pawn is vulnerable on 'a4' and the 'b3' square may be weak at some moment. 23.g3 is preferable.
23... b6 24.g3 Qh3 25.Qg2 Qh6 26.Qe2 Qh3 27.Kh1 I guess that Ivanchuk repeated the moves in order to get closer to the time control and (27.Qg2 would be answered by 27... Qh5) but Magnus is definitely in a fighting mood and even being a bit worse insists on continuing the battle.
27... Nd7 Time: 0.41 0.36
28.Ra1 Qh6 Prepares Nd7-f6-h5 but that Knight had already a secured outpost on 'c5'.
29.Ra2 Nf6 Both players crave for the win and are not afraid of taking risks.
30.Kg2 Nh5 The idea behind this move is Bg5-h4 but looks a bit artificial.
31.Nd5 Little by little Carlsen managed to coordinate his pieces and cover the dark squares. It's time for the Ukrainian to be careful.
31... Nxd5 32.Bxd5 Bf4 Pressing on 'g3' may let at some moment Black to exchange 'f5' for 'e4' unblocking the 'd' pawn.
33.Qf2 fxe4 (33... Qg5 was possible as well as 34.exf5 is met by 34... Bxg3 35.hxg3 Nf4+)
34.Bxe4 Qg5 35.Rc2 d5 (35... Rd8 36.Bb7 Rd7 37.Bc8 and White comes to an advantage.)
36.Bxd5 Bxg3 37.hxg3 Nf4+ 38.Kf1 Nxd5 39.Rce2 The position changed drastically. With accurate moves Magnus refuted the attacking attempts of the Ukrainian and now has clear edge.
39... Qf6 Now Ivanchuk's position is going to collapse.
40.Rxe5 Qxf3 41.Qxf3 Rxf3+ 42.Ke2 Rf5 43.Rxf5 gxf5 Winning such endgame would be easy even with much worse technique than Magnus's - whose play in some endgames is close to perfect.
44.Kd3 c5 45.Re5 Nb4+ 46.Kd2 Black resigned. Good game by Carlsen, who can't be content with the outcome of the opening after an inspired exchange sacrifice by Ivanchuk, but afterwards played very industriously and manged to outplay his formidable opponent. Vassily overestimated his chances and couldn't switch to defensive play. After the nice looking setup with Bf4 and Nh5 it proved that the Norwegian managed to set his pieces harmoniously and the attacking attempts were refuted, which lead to Magnus's first win.
1-0
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