[Event "London Classic 9th"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2017.12.01"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D27"]
[WhiteElo "2874"]
[BlackElo "2780"]
[Annotator "Saunders, John"]
[PlyCount "108"]
[EventDate "2017.12.01"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[EventCategory "22"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e3 Nf6 4. Bxc4 e6 5. Nf3 c5 6. O-O a6 7. Be2 {It seems
a bit strange to play a second move with this bishop without being forced to
do so, and it has not found general favour in this line. Aronian also played
it, at the last Sinquefield Cup in August, but he went on to lose to Caruana.
Curiously, Garry Kasparov also played it once, but only in a simul.} Nbd7 8.
Nc3 b6 (8... b5 {has featured a quite a number of games between top-level
players but this takes the game out of theory.}) 9. e4 cxd4 10. Nxd4 Bb7 11.
Be3 Bc5 ({Snatching the pawn with} 11... Nxe4 {doesn't lead to instant
refutation but nevertheless Black would be seriously behind in development
after} 12. Nxe4 Bxe4 13. Bf3 Bxf3 14. Qxf3 Bc5 15. Rad1 O-O 16. b4 $1 {, etc.})
12. f3 O-O 13. Qe1 Rc8 14. Qf2 b5 15. Rac1 Qe7 16. a4 bxa4 17. Nxa4 Bd6 18. Nb3
{One of those positions where you sense that White is starting to get a grip
without being able to pinpoint where Black could be said to have gone wrong.
That said, Black is still a long way from being at a serious disadvantage.} Bc6
19. Nc3 Rb8 20. Na5 Ba8 21. Nc4 ({After} 21. Bxa6 {Black has a small tactice
to regain the pawn:} Bxh2+ 22. Kxh2 Qd6+ 23. Kg1 Qxa6 {, etc.}) 21... Bc5 22.
Rfd1 Rfc8 23. Na4 Bxe3 24. Qxe3 Qb4 25. Qa3 h6 ({After} 25... Qxa3 26. Nxa3 {
Caruana would have to reckon with the long-term effects of Carlsenic poisoning
of his position. With the world champion, you are never very far away from
being on the wrong side of one of his speciality grids in which he seems able
to conjure something out of not very much.}) 26. Kf1 ({The computer is
superficially attracted to} 26. Ncb6 Qxa3 27. Rxc8+ Rxc8 28. bxa3 Nxb6 29. Nxb6
Rb8 30. Nxa8 Rxa8 31. Rc1 {but that doesn't look particularly 'grindworthy'
from a Carlsen perspective. He would need more material to work with.}) 26...
g5 27. Rc3 a5 28. Qxb4 (28. Qa1 $5 {was a suggestion of Kasparov's in the
commentary room. It sounded as though he didn't fully embrace it as a move but
it was more an attempt to understand what Carlsen's idea might be. The actual
move played came as a surprise.}) 28... axb4 (28... Rxb4 29. Ra1 {puts
pressure on the a5-pawn.}) 29. Rcc1 Kf8 30. Na5 Ke7 31. Kf2 Rxc1 32. Rxc1 {
[#]Around here in the commentary room, Malcolm Pein punted 32...Ne8. "No, no,"
countered Kasparov, typically looking to go forward and dismissing a move that
committed a third knight to the edge of the board. Commentators King and Trent
chimed in with the former world champion's opinion. At this point the
tournament director, being a busy man, had to leave on other business and it
was a minute or so after he departed that Caruana played...} Ne8 {... to a
chorus of rueful laughter from the three commentators. "Just as well Malcolm
wasn't here - how he would have gloated!" exclaimed one of them (identity
concealed to ensure his ongoing employment status). Actually, I then popped
out of the room to see if I could locate Malcolm and bring him back for a
well-merited gloat but sadly he was nowhere to be found.} 33. Ke3 Nd6 {White
has a nominal edge but the Pein plan seems to work well enough.} 34. Nc5 Rc8
35. Nab3 f5 36. Nxd7 Rxc1 37. Nxc1 Kxd7 38. Nd3 fxe4 39. fxe4 Ke7 40. e5 Nf5+
41. Kf2 Nd4 42. Bd1 b3 43. Nb4 ({Black's b-pawn looks vulnerable but he can
counter any threats against it by menacing the e5-pawn, e.g.} 43. g3 Bd5 44.
Ke3 Nc6 45. Kd2 Bc4 {, etc.}) 43... Bd5 44. g3 Bc4 45. Ke3 Nf5+ 46. Ke4 Kd7 47.
g4 Ne7 48. Kd4 Bf1 49. Bxb3 Be2 50. h3 Bf1 51. Nd3 Nc6+ 52. Kc5 $5 {Rather a
witty way to conclude the game. At first sight the world champion seems to
have left a piece en prise but he has it all worked out.} Bxd3 53. Ba4 Be4 54.
Kb6 Bd5 {Though White cannot regain his piece by force, Black can never
relieve the siege on the c6-knight and is left with no way of making progress.}
1/2-1/2

[Event "London Classic 9th"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2017.12.01"]
[Round "1.4"]
[White "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A05"]
[WhiteElo "2806"]
[BlackElo "2770"]
[Annotator "Saunders, John"]
[PlyCount "87"]
[EventDate "2017.12.01"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[EventCategory "22"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 c5 4. O-O g6 5. d4 cxd4 6. Nxd4 Bg7 7. Nb3 Nc6 8.
Nc3 e6 9. e4 d4 (9... Nxe4 10. Nxe4 dxe4 11. Qxd8+ Kxd8 12. Bxe4 {was played
in Oparin-Esserman in Gibraltar in February, and ended in a draw.}) 10. Na4 O-O
11. c3 dxc3 12. Nxc3 e5 {Symmetrical but for the fact that White's kingside
knight has made a couple more moves than its Black counterpart, though without
necessarily being able to claim that it is better located.} 13. Be3 Bg4 14. f3
Be6 15. Nc5 Qe7 16. Nxe6 Qxe6 17. Qd2 Rfd8 18. Qf2 Bf8 19. h3 {At first sight
this doesn't look to be doing the light-squared bishop any favours but White
has an ambitious plan for the kingside which is not immediately obvious to
ordinary mortals.} Bb4 20. Rac1 Rd3 21. Rfd1 Rad8 22. Rxd3 Rxd3 23. Bf1 Rd8 24.
a3 Be7 25. g4 Kg7 26. Kh2 h6 27. h4 Nd4 28. g5 {Quite a risky plan as Black
can regroup to attack the residual pawn on g5. But White is looking for
counterplay in the shape of a direct attack on the black king.} hxg5 29. hxg5
Nh7 30. Bh3 {One upside of the bold White plan is that the light-squared
bishop can find activity again.} Qb3 31. f4 Nc6 {Black must retreat in order
to exchange on f4 and make the g5-pawn vulnerable to attack.} 32. Nd5 (32. Rg1
{may be safer but Black still can try} exf4 33. Bxf4 Bxa3 {when it looks like
he can get away with the pawn capture.}) 32... exf4 33. Bxf4 Bxg5 ({After} 
33... Nxg5 34. Rc3 Qd1 $5 {, the tactics get a bit tricky:} 35. Nxe7 Nxe4 36.
Qg2 {, etc, is just one possibility that would require analysis.}) 34. Bxg5
Nxg5 35. Qf6+ Kh6 {[#]The situation looks a trifle precarious for the black
king but there seems to be no way to exploit its predicament.} 36. Bg2 ({
The computer finds a neat line which would probably be beyond the analytical
powers of a human:} 36. Rc3 $1 Qxb2+ 37. Bg2 Ne5 $1 38. Rh3+ $1 (38. Qxd8 $2
Ng4+ {leads to mate}) (38. Qxe5 $2 Nf3+ {is a delicious fork/pin winning the
queen}) 38... Nxh3 39. Qh4+ Kg7 40. Qf6+ {with a beautifully geometric
perpetual check pattern.}) 36... Nh7 $1 {Otherwise the white rook comes to h1
and delivers mate or huge material loss down the h-file.} 37. Qxf7 Rf8 38. Qc7
Qxb2 39. Rh1 Qf2 {Another only move: Black must stop the white king
discovering a check along the h-file.} 40. Kh3 ({Renewing the threat but it
may not be best. Instead} 40. Rf1 Qh4+ 41. Kg1 Rxf1+ 42. Kxf1 {should lead to
a draw.}) 40... Rf7 {Giving the king a safe square on g7, attacking the queen
and protecting the b7-pawn. White also has to worry about the threat of Ng5+
when his own king is suddenly in danger of being mated.} 41. Qg3 Qb2 ({Given
the vulnerability of both kings, computers start conjuring weird tactics out
of the air. One such is} 41... Ng5+ 42. Kg4+ Kg7 43. Qh2 {and now} Nh3 $1 44.
Kxh3 (44. Qxh3 $4 Ne5+ 45. Kg5 Qd2+ 46. Kh4 Rf4+ $1 {leads to mate}) 44... Kg8
$1 {teeing up ...Rh7+, when White has to play} 45. Qg3 $1 Rh7+ 46. Kg4 Ne5+ 47.
Qxe5 Qxg2+ {and a draw ensues.}) 42. Ne3 Nf6 43. Bf3 Kh7 44. Nf5 $5 (44. Nf5 {
If Black takes the bait with} gxf5 $2 45. Rh2 $1 {, the queen has to be given
up for the rook since he can't allow Kg2 with mate. However, after} Qxh2+ 46.
Kxh2 fxe4 {Black should still survive.}) 1/2-1/2

[Event "British KO Ch"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2017.12.01"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Short, Nigel"]
[Black "Merry, Alan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A48"]
[WhiteElo "2687"]
[BlackElo "2422"]
[Annotator "Saunders, John"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "2017.12.01"]
[EventType "k.o."]
[EventCountry "ENG"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bg5 Bg7 4. Nbd2 d5 5. e3 O-O 6. c3 b6 7. Bd3 c5 8. b4
Nbd7 9. O-O Bb7 10. Qb1 c4 11. Bc2 b5 12. a4 a6 13. Re1 Re8 14. e4 dxe4 15.
Nxe4 Nb6 16. Bxf6 exf6 17. a5 Nd5 18. Nc5 Bc6 19. Be4 {[#]} Rxe4 $5 {An
enterprising exchange for pawn sacrifice.} 20. Qxe4 Nxb4 21. Qb1 Nd5 22. Qc1 h5
23. Kh1 Kh7 24. Ng1 {It is difficult to see how White is supposed to unravel
his pieces.} Bh6 25. Qc2 Nf4 26. f3 Ra7 27. Qf2 Nd5 28. Ra3 {This rook has
rather a demeaning role as custodian of the a5 and c3 pawns.} f5 29. h4 Re7 30.
Re2 Bc1 $1 {Loosening the white pawn structure with what should have been
deadly effect.} 31. Ra1 Be3 32. Qe1 {[#]} Bf4 $4 ({Now was the time to strike
with} 32... b4 $1 {when} 33. cxb4 c3 34. Nh3 Bb5 {and Black is having all the
fun.}) 33. Rxe7 Nxe7 34. Nh3 Bh6 35. Nxa6 {Black's advantage has withered on
the vine and now White is in command.} f4 36. Nb4 Ba8 37. a6 Nf5 38. a7 Nxh4
39. Qe5 Nxf3 $5 {A good cheapo try but White doesn't have to capture.} 40. Qb8
$1 (40. gxf3 $4 Qh4 $1 {would turn the tables.}) 40... Qh4 41. Qxa8 Ng5 42. Qc8
f3 43. a8=Q 1-0

[Event "London Classic 9th"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2017.12.03"]
[Round "2.2"]
[White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B78"]
[WhiteElo "2804"]
[BlackElo "2806"]
[PlyCount "93"]
[EventDate "2017.12.01"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[EventCategory "22"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 O-O 8. Qd2
Nc6 9. Bc4 Bd7 10. h4 h5 11. Bb3 Rc8 12. O-O-O Ne5 13. Bg5 Rc5 14. Kb1 Re8 ({
Most of us are familiar with the theory until about here, if only from playing
through many published games which feature it. Games featuring the Dragon are
the last refuge of a chess writer desperate for interesting material. Here
Black usually plays 14...b5, having prepared for it by playing 13...Rc5 but it
is not obligatory.} 14... b5) 15. g4 {White must prise the kingside open if
his attack is to get started.} hxg4 16. f4 Nc4 17. Qd3 {[#]Here Black
instantly... did nothing. He carried on doing nothing for 53 minutes. Such
long grandmasterly thinks often intrigue us amateurs, and this one also
puzzled the watching GMs, such as Julian Hodgson and Jon Speelman. One could
speculate why but I don't suppose we could find an answer. And asking the
player after the game would be likely to receive an evasive answer since we
are still in the book and he might not want to reveal too much.} Na5 (17... Qc8
{has been played more often, with Black scoring remarkably well after} 18. Bxf6
Bxf6 19. h5 g5 20. fxg5 Bxg5 {, etc, when White's h5-pawn is more a hindrance
than a help to him in pursuing his attacking plans along the file which it
blocks. But perhaps Nakamura felt he was being drawn into a trap and was
looking deeply into the position to find an improvement for White which his
opponent might have worked on in his laboratory. Answers on a postcard.
Personally, my gut feeling is that White might have been planning something
like 18.h5 rather than surrendering the g5-bishop in order to get in h4-h5,
which doesn't open up the h-file anyway.}) 18. Bxf6 {Now we are into the
unknown. White plays the same move that has hitherto been deployed against 17..
.Qc8.} exf6 ({After} 18... Bxf6 19. e5 $5 {starts to look menacing.}) 19. Bd5 {
With the pawns now doubled on the f-file, White now senses it is a good moment
to preserve his light-squared bishop, which eyes f7 and doesn't have to worry
about an e7-e6 rebuff any more.} Nc6 ({Engines favour the tricky move} 19... f5
$5 20. exf5 Bc6 21. Bxc6 Nxc6 22. Nxc6 bxc6 23. fxg6 {when engines aren't
concerned about Black's slightly fragile-looking kingside.}) 20. Nxc6 bxc6 21.
Bxf7+ $5 ({The game gets tactical. If} 21. Bb3 Qe7 22. Qxd6 Qxd6 23. Rxd6 Be6 {
Black has no particular worries.}) 21... Kxf7 22. Qxd6 {The queen forks rook
and bishop so White must at least regain his piece.} Rxc3 $5 {Black retaliates
with his own tactic.} 23. Qxd7+ Qxd7 24. Rxd7+ Ke6 25. Rxg7 Rf3 26. Rxg6 Rxf4
27. Rg1 Rxe4 28. R6xg4 Rxg4 29. Rxg4 {White has won a pawn but it transpires
that it is not enough to win. Black had to be aware of that some eight or nine
moves previously.} f5 30. Ra4 Rg8 31. b3 Rg4 {Another mini-tactic, exploiting
the fact that a rook exchange is impossible as the resultant g-pawn would
queen.} 32. Rxa7 f4 {Setting a little trick which wouldn't snare many GMs but
might unseat a less exalted player.} 33. Kc1 (33. Rh7 $4 {would defend the
h-pawn but lose the game since, after} f3 {, White would once again be unable
to prevent the pawn queening.}) 33... f3 34. Kd2 ({Black's last move was
another mini-cheapo:} 34. Kd1 $4 Rg1+ 35. Kd2 f2 {and the f-pawn goes through.}
) 34... Rxh4 35. Ra8 Rh2+ 36. Kd3 Kf5 37. a4 Kg4 38. a5 Rh1 39. Rg8+ Kf4 40.
Rf8+ Kg3 41. Rg8+ Kf4 42. Rf8+ Kg3 43. b4 f2 44. Kd4 (44. Ke2 Re1+ {also draws.
}) 44... f1=Q 45. Rxf1 Rxf1 46. Kc5 Rc1 {[#]} 47. Kxc6 (47. c4 Kf3 48. a6 Ke4
49. a7 Ra1 50. Kb6 Kd4 {also holds for Black.}) ({After} 47. Kxc6 Rxc2+ 48. Kb7
Kf4 49. b5 {looks a bit scary for Black but he can hold:} Ra2 50. a6 Ke5 51. a7
Kd5 52. b6 Kc5 53. Kc7 Ra1 {when it starts dawning on us that White cannot
make progress.}) 1/2-1/2

[Event "British KO Ch"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2017.12.03"]
[Round "2.4"]
[White "McShane, Luke"]
[Black "Short, Nigel"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C85"]
[WhiteElo "2649"]
[BlackElo "2687"]
[PlyCount "175"]
[EventDate "2017.12.01"]
[EventType "k.o."]
[EventCountry "ENG"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. d3 Nd7 8.
Nc3 O-O 9. Kh1 Re8 10. Ng1 Nf8 11. Nge2 Ng6 12. f4 exf4 13. Nxf4 Bd6 14. Nxg6
hxg6 15. Qf3 Be6 16. Bf4 g5 17. Bg3 Bxg3 18. Qxg3 Qe7 19. e5 Rad8 20. Ne4 g4
21. Rae1 c5 22. Qf4 Rd4 23. c3 Rxd3 24. Nf6+ Kf8 25. Nh7+ Kg8 26. Nf6+ Kf8 27.
Qe4 Qd8 28. Qh7 Rd2 29. Qh8+ Ke7 30. Qxg7 Rh8 31. Ne4 Rd5 32. Ng5 Qg8 33. Nxe6
Kxe6 34. Qf6+ Kd7 35. Qf5+ Ke7 36. Rd1 c6 37. Qf6+ Ke8 38. Rxd5 cxd5 39. Qd6
Qh7 40. Qb8+ Ke7 41. Qxb7+ Ke6 {[#]Here, with nanoseconds left on his clock,
Luke McShane played} 42. Qc6+ ({missing} 42. Rf6+ Kxe5 43. Qe7#) 42... Kxe5 43.
Re1+ ({This time he missed} 43. Qf6+ Ke4 44. Qf4+ Kd3 45. Rd1+ Ke2 46. Qd2#)
43... Kf5 44. Qxd5+ Kg6 {and the game ended in a draw after 88 moves.} 45. Qe4+
f5 46. Qf4 Qd7 47. Qg3 Re8 48. Rf1 Re2 49. h3 Rxb2 50. hxg4 fxg4 51. Qe5 Rb6
52. Qxc5 Rc6 53. Qe5 Qe6 54. Qxe6+ Rxe6 55. Kh2 Re2 56. Rf4 Rxa2 57. Rxg4+ Kf5
58. Rc4 a5 59. Kh3 a4 60. g4+ Kg6 61. Rc6+ Kg7 62. Kh4 a3 63. Rc7+ Kg6 64. Rc6+
Kg7 65. Kg5 Rc2 66. Rc7+ Kf8 67. Kf6 Rf2+ 68. Kg6 a2 69. Ra7 Rc2 70. g5 Rg2 71.
c4 Ke8 72. Kf6 Rf2+ 73. Kg6 Rg2 74. c5 Kd8 75. Kf6 Kc8 76. g6 Kb8 77. Ra5 Kb7
78. g7 Rf2+ 79. Kg6 Rg2+ 80. Kf7 Rf2+ 81. Kg8 Rg2 82. Kf7 Rf2+ 83. Ke6 Rg2 84.
Rxa2 Rxg7 85. Kd5 Rd7+ 86. Kc4 Rd1 87. Rh2 Rc1+ 88. Kb5 1/2-1/2

[Event "British KO Ch"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2017.12.03"]
[Round "2.5"]
[White "McShane, Luke"]
[Black "Short, Nigel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C02"]
[WhiteElo "2649"]
[BlackElo "2687"]
[PlyCount "75"]
[EventDate "2017.12.01"]
[EventType "k.o."]
[EventCountry "ENG"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 b6 4. Nf3 Ne7 5. c3 Qd7 6. Bd3 Ba6 7. O-O c5 8. Re1
Nec6 9. Bc2 h6 10. a3 g5 11. h3 Be7 12. Nbd2 cxd4 13. cxd4 h5 14. Nf1 Rg8 15.
Ng3 g4 16. hxg4 h4 17. Nh5 Rxg4 18. Be3 Qb7 {[#]Here Black had flung his
kingside pawns forwards but now his rook is going to find itself in big
trouble:} 19. Bh7 $1 {Suddenly the g4-rook finds itself without a safe square
now that g8 has been covered by the bishop. Nigel Short tried} Nd7 20. Nh2 Rg6
21. Bxg6 fxg6 22. Nf4 {but his position was a ruin and he never recovered.} Nf8
23. Qg4 O-O-O 24. Nxe6 Nxe6 25. Qxe6+ Kb8 26. Rac1 Na5 27. Qxg6 Nc4 28. Bg5
Nxb2 29. Rc3 Nc4 30. Rf3 Bxg5 31. Qxg5 Rc8 32. e6 Nd6 33. e7 Bb5 34. Rf8 Be8
35. Qxh4 Ne4 36. Ng4 Ka8 37. Nf6 Qxe7 38. Qh8 1-0

[Event "London Classic 9th"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2017.12.04"]
[Round "3.3"]
[White "Aronian, Levon"]
[Black "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A40"]
[WhiteElo "2805"]
[BlackElo "2782"]
[Annotator "Saunders, John"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "2017.12.01"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[EventCategory "22"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 {A Bogo-Indian - in my view the most
infelicitous of all the names of chess openings, but that is no criticism of
its soundness. Or is it a Catalan?} Be7 5. Bg2 d5 6. Nf3 O-O 7. O-O Nbd7 8. Na3
{This lurch to the edge of the board would, I'm feel sure, bring down the
condemnation of all right-thinking players were it played by anyone other than
Aronian, or perhaps Carlsen. But when Levon (I'm tempted to dub him 'the wily
Armenian' but that cliche belongs in perpetuity to Tigran Petrosian) plays it,
we have to take it seriously. Maybe not too seriously, as Aronian was in
puckish mood when talking to Maurice Ashley after the game, hinting that he
was chancing his arm or being generally provocative.} c6 9. Rc1 Ne4 10. Be3 f5
({Actually, I was being a little puckish myself in the previous note since
Aronian had played all this before in a notable win against Anish Giri at Wijk
aan Zee earlier this year. That game had continued} 10... Bxa3 11. bxa3 Nd6 12.
c5 Nc4 13. Rxc4 dxc4 14. Qc2 h6 {and White soon gave up the exchange for some
attacking play which was good enough to sink the peace-loving Dutchman.
Incidentally, this reminds me that Anish Giri was moved to make a laconic
comment about this tournament on Twitter today. It read "LOL @london_chess". I
imagine he is happy because he is witnessing tangible progress towards his
goal of eliminating the decisive result from competition chess.}) 11. Rc2 a5 {
[#]It is fair to say that the grandmaster VIPs in the VIP Room were
dumbfounded by Aronian's strategy in this game. More than that, they were
scathing. Commentator Julian Hodgson's voice goes falsetto when he is
unconvinced by someone's play and I think he was close to hitting top C when
disparaging White's ramshackle arrangement on the queenside. One lone voice in
the auditorium, arbiter (but, I hope he will forgive me for emphasising this,
not a grandmaster) David Sedgwick thought Aronian might be preparing to deploy
the queen along the first rank, plumping for c1. "c1?" said an incredulous
Julian Hodgson to the assembled audience in the room, and the debate continued.
.. time passes...} 12. Qc1 {At this point I bore witness to one of the most
remarkable things I have ever seen at a chess congress - the sight of the
sedate, gentlemanly, almost Churchillian, figure of David Sedgwick punching
the air in triumph several times like a gladiator and displaying more physical
vigour packed into a few seconds than I have seen from him in total over the
course of the 45 years that I have known him. Can the fact that David recently
became chess champion of the Gambia have changed his personality?} Bf6 13. Rd1
g5 {At this point we should break off and acknowledge that both players were
genuinely going for it in this game and must be exonerated of the blanket
criticism that tends to be levelled at players involved in tournament that
feature rather too many draws. This is a genuine struggle.} 14. Nb1 Rf7 15. Nc3
{I'm quite sure that if I'd played this Na3-b1-c3 stuff during my team chess
career, I would have been mercilessly ragged by my team-mates for years
afterwards. But I suppose the argument is that the position is closed,
therefore this kind of Fabian strategy is feasible. But don't try it at home,
children.} Rg7 16. Ne1 Nd6 17. b3 dxc4 18. Na4 $5 {Here we go again - a
super-GM casts away a pawn for no reason that is immediately apparent to
anyone rated below 2700. It was actually quite a remarkable round for pawn
sacrifices, and just a bit unfortunate that none of them was good enough to
net a full point.} cxb3 19. axb3 {Straining one's grey matter more than is
comfortable, the idea seems to be that the pressure along the c-file and the
h1-a8 diagonal is such that Black is unlikely to be able to advance his b-pawn.
The whole queenside is thus stymied so White has considerable positional
pressure for the pawn.} Nb5 20. Nd3 $5 {Aronian offers a second pawn to an
opponent who is renowned for his defensive abilities.} Qe8 ({If Black is
tempted to take on d4, he has to reckon on considerable pressure down the
d-file and associated tactical tricks after, say,} 20... Bxd4 21. Ndc5 {
, etc. It's all a bit nebulous but Aronian thrives on this sort of messiness.})
21. Ne5 f4 $1 {Black wants to open the g-file to secure counterplay.} (21...
Nxe5 22. dxe5 Bxe5 23. Bxg5 {gives White too much play, while}) (21... Bxe5 22.
dxe5 Nxe5 23. Rcd2 $5 {could be even worse.}) 22. gxf4 gxf4 23. Bxf4 Nxd4 $1
24. Rxd4 Nxe5 {Black threatens 25...Nf3+ winning the exchange so White must
lose a tempo with the d4-rook.} 25. Rd1 Qg6 26. Bg3 h5 27. Nb6 Rb8 28. Rcd2 Nf7
$1 ({The b8-rook is safe from capture as Black has the threat of ...Qxg2 mate.
} 28... h4 29. Rd8+ Bxd8 30. Rxd8+ Kh7 31. Nxc8 {is a brief flurry of
excitement but which boils down to equality.}) 29. Qc5 ({This is incredibly
risky. Better to play} 29. Qb1 {or 29.Qc2 to get the queens off and relieve
the pressure along the g-file.}) 29... e5 ({After} 29... h4 {it looks as
though White is obliged to play} 30. Qxa5 hxg3 31. hxg3 {and rely on rounding
up the stranded b8-rook. Or else simply keep the rook and bishop tied up in
perpetuity.}) 30. Qc4 Kh8 (30... h4 $2 31. Rd8+ Bxd8 ({if} 31... Kh7 32. Rxc8
Rxc8 {and now} 33. Be4 $1 {is the very sharp point}) 32. Rxd8+ Kh7 33. Qxh4+ {
extinguishing Black's kingside play and getting ready to snaffle the c8-bishop.
}) 31. h4 Bf5 32. Nd7 Rbg8 33. Kh1 $4 {[#]} (33. Kh1 {The watching world
suddenly became excited when their computers suddenly registered a big blunder
by White, with} Be7 $1 {being the computer's killer move. That said, it is not
at all obvious to humans, and neither player saw it over the board. What the
watching audience didn't know immediately was that the king move was
accompanied by a draw offer, which Karjakin, in time trouble, accepted.}) ({
White had to try} 33. Nxf6 Qxf6 34. Qc5 {though he's still under some pressure.
}) 1/2-1/2
[Event "London Classic 9th"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2017.12.05"]
[Round "4.3"]
[White "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B48"]
[WhiteElo "2782"]
[BlackElo "2780"]
[PlyCount "84"]
[EventDate "2017.12.01"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[EventCategory "22"]

1. e4 c5 {The Sicilian is a good way to show his disdain for Giri's mocking
advice to 'stay solid'.} 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be3 a6
7. Qf3 {This became trendy about four years ago as super-GMs sought ways to
avoid the main highways of theory. Karjakin has played it before and so has
Caruana.} Ne5 8. Qg3 b5 (8... h5 {immediately, to harass the queen or support
a knight on g4, is more popular, when} 9. f3 b5 10. O-O-O d6 11. f4 Ng4 12. e5
dxe5 13. fxe5 Nxe3 14. Qxe3 Bd7 {was Karjakin-Giri, Tashkent FIDE Grand Prix
2014, which White won.}) 9. O-O-O Nf6 10. f4 Neg4 11. Bg1 h5 12. e5 b4 {
Black is obliged to counter with this as otherwise his knight would need to
retreat to g8.} 13. Na4 Nd5 (13... Qa5 $6 {might look tempting but then} 14.
exf6 Qxa4 15. fxg7 Bxg7 16. h3 Qxa2 17. hxg4 Qa1+ 18. Kd2 Qxb2 19. Ke2 {
and Black is unlikely to get enough compensation for the sacrificed piece.})
14. Nb3 {"This doesn't really work out for White," said a well-prepared
Caruana after the game.} Bb7 15. Nac5 {[#]} Bc6 $5 ({Leaving the known
universe and posing White a few questions. Not insoluble ones but it
contributed to running Karjakin's clock down, while Caruana had been playing
very quickly to here.} 15... Rc8 16. Bd3 a5 17. Kb1 Bc6 18. Na6 Qd8 19. Nd4 a4
{was played in a blitz game between Nepomniachtchi and Wang Yue in Beijing in
2014 and ended in a draw.}) 16. Ne4 ({White has a lot of options. If} 16. Nxa6
Qc8 17. Nac5 Rxa2 {and it is probably a bit better for Black.}) (16. Bxa6 $2 d6
$1 17. exd6 Bxd6 {and Black is close to winning with the threats to take on f4
and powerfully-placed bishops.}) (16. h3 Nh6 {and the knight comes to f5}) (16.
Bd3 {allows Black to make progress on the queenside with} a5) 16... f5 17. h3
$2 ({From here things started to get problematic for White. In fact, he loses
a pawn by force. Karjakin admitted he didn't know what to do here, but} 17.
exf6 gxf6 18. h3 Qxf4+ 19. Qxf4 Nxf4 {looks reasonably OK for White and at
least is better than the move played.}) 17... h4 18. Qe1 ({Not} 18. Qf3 Nde3 $1
{when ...Nxd1 and ...Bxe4 are the twin threats.}) 18... fxe4 19. hxg4 Nxf4 {
The e5-pawn goes too.} 20. Rxh4 (20. Bd4 Be7 {holds the h-pawn and gets ready
for Bg5.}) 20... Rxh4 21. Qxh4 Qxe5 22. Bd4 Ng6 $1 23. Qh3 (23. Bxe5 Nxh4 {
leaves Black with a healthy extra pawn.}) 23... Qg5+ 24. Kb1 Bd5 25. Bg1 {
"A terrible move but already I didn't think I could have compensation." 
(Karjakin)} Be7 26. g3 $2 {Weakening the f3 square, which Black is quick to
exploit. Karjakin failed to live up to his 'Minister of Defence' nickname,
earned against Carlsen, in this game.} Ne5 27. Be2 Nf3 28. Bxf3 ({Giving up
bishop for knight and straightening out Black's doubled pawns doesn't look
promising. Maybe parking the bishop away from the knight's influence with} 28.
Bb6 {was better, though Black can continue with} a5 {since White can hardly
take on a5.}) 28... exf3 29. Bd4 Kf7 30. Nc1 d6 {It is just a matter of
shuffling his central pawns forward to support the f3-pawn for Black. White
has little by way of an active plan.} 31. Nd3 e5 32. Bf2 Be6 33. Nxb4 e4 34.
Qh1 Rc8 35. Nxa6 {[#]Curiously, White goes a pawn ahead after this but a more
important factor in the position is the dominance of Black's central pawns,
not to mention the strong position of his other pieces.} Qa5 {Though White now
has a mini-combination to save the greedy knight, it involves exchanging
queens, thus facilitating Black's task.} 36. Qh5+ Qxh5 37. gxh5 Bg5 38. Re1 ({
After} 38. Rxd6 {White would be two pawns up but then} e3 {and Black's two
connected passed pawns each two squares from queening, plus an immediate
threat to a piece, adds up to about a queen's worth of value.}) 38... Bc4 39.
Nb4 Re8 40. Re3 {A forlorn attempt to blockade the pawns. White was probably
just focused on making the time control.} Bxe3 41. Bxe3 Re5 42. g4 Rg5 {
Seeing as Black is simply barrelling his way through White's defences,
ignoring White's empty threats, it is a good moment to resign.} 0-1

[Event "London Classic 9th"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2017.12.06"]
[Round "5.1"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C65"]
[WhiteElo "2780"]
[BlackElo "2770"]
[Annotator "Saunders, John"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[EventDate "2017.12.01"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[EventCategory "22"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 {The Berlin Wall goes up. Which reminds me, in
March 2018 eight candidates will assemble in Berlin to decide the challenger
to Magnus Carlsen's world title, but Vishy Anand will not be one of them. Four
of the Candidates - Karjakin, Aronian, Caruana and So - are in the current
London line-up.} 4. d3 {This way of avoiding the Berlin endgame is starting to
become the more fashionable treatment against the Berlin though 4.0-0 still
heavily outnumbers it on the database.} Bc5 5. Nc3 ({At an adjacent board} 5.
Bg5 {was being played by Carlsen against Wesley So.}) 5... O-O 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7.
h3 Nd7 8. Be3 Bd6 9. Ne2 (9. Qd2 c5 10. O-O Nb8 11. Nh2 Nc6 {was the
continuation in Adams-Caruana at the Gashimov Memorial tournament in Shamkir
in 2015 and ended in a fairly uneventful draw.}) 9... Re8 (9... c5 10. Ng3 {
has been played for White by So and Karjakin.}) 10. g4 $5 {Aggressive intent
from Caruana, though it could be said to weaken kingside squares and make it
impossible to castle on that side. No matter: White intends to castle on the
other side.} Nc5 11. Ng3 Ne6 12. Nf5 {Engines tend to favour Black but this
may be because they value bishops above knights rather more than is strictly
logical.} c5 13. h4 {[#]GM Simon Williams is not on commentary duty at the
Classic, busy playing his own chess in the open tournament, but I can easily
imagine him getting animated at the sight of this h-pawn being launched down
the board. And rightly so - it's good, brave chess from Caruana.} a5 14. h5 {
There goes 'Harry' - I'm starting to channel my own internal GingerGM. It
feels good.} Ra6 {The rook keeps a wary eye on what's happening on the other
side of the board.} 15. Qd2 Nd4 16. Rh3 Bf8 17. O-O-O Be6 18. Kb1 f6 ({I've a
feeling that most amateurs, including me, would be thinking "he's attacking me
on the kingside so I ought to be countering on the queenside and play} 18... b5
{or perhaps 18...a4. Anand prefers to make a precautionary move on the
kingside, though it might also be viewed as a target for White's pawn front to
chip at. These are all difficult positional decisions which engines can't
necessarily help you with. But perhaps the scary new AI chess engine AlphaZero
could, given the odd ten minutes or so to think about it.}) 19. c3 Nxf3 20.
Rxf3 c4 21. Qc2 ({Watching this in real time, with benefit of silicon, I
favoured} 21. d4 {but after} exd4 22. Bxd4 c5 23. Be3 Qxd2 24. Rxd2 a4 {
and White has nothing special. The e4-pawn looks a bit vulnerable.}) 21... cxd3
22. Rxd3 Qc8 23. g5 {White forces open the g-file, which proves to be highly
advantageous later, though it perhaps shouldn't have been had Black played
better.} fxg5 24. Bxg5 Bf7 25. h6 {White is determined to open up the g-file
for future operations. He's playing with great self-confidence, perhaps buoyed
up by his win of the previous day.} gxh6 26. Bc1 {The equation is simply:
White has given up a pawn but it is only doubled and on the edge of the board.
His king is reasonably safe but his opponent's potentially vulnerable, though
not at this exact moment in time. It looks like a good value sac but will need
accurate following up.} Qe6 {Black has counterplay and here he forces a
weakening of White's queenside pawn structure.} 27. b3 a4 28. c4 axb3 29. axb3
{Now Black has engineered a dangerous open file for his rooks for himself, so
the position is delicately balanced, with all three results still possible.}
Qc6 30. Rg3+ Kh8 31. Rd1 b5 {[#]} 32. c5 ({Instead} 32. Bb2 {is the engine's
favourite and, after} bxc4 {, the surprising} 33. Rd8 $5 {when I'll leave the
reader to work out the various tactics available should Black be unwise enough
to capture anything. But Black can continue blithely with} Ra5 {when the
computer register +0.00 and equality.}) 32... b4 $6 ({Anand thought for six of
his remaining 24 minutes on this but both players thought it was the start of
the slide for Black.} 32... Qxc5 33. Qxc5 Bxc5 34. Rd7 Bg6 35. Bxh6 Bf8 {
is nothing special for White. "After 32...b4 all my moves were blunders," said
a despondent Vishy.}) 33. Bb2 Bg6 $2 (33... Ra5 {is the only way to go, though
White again has the scary} 34. Rd8 $1 {when Black must play} Qxc5 35. Rxe8
Qxc2+ 36. Kxc2 Bxe8 37. f4 Bg6 38. fxe5 {which is maybe not as bad as it looks.
}) 34. Rd5 {After this, Black is probably just lost because the threats to e5.}
Qb5 ({If} 34... Bxf5 $2 35. Rxe5 $1 {is devastating.}) 35. Rg1 c6 (35... Bg7
36. Nxg7 Kxg7 37. f4 $1 {is a winner.}) 36. Rxe5 Rxe5 37. Bxe5+ Kg8 38. Bd4 (
38. Bb2 {, preparing to get the queen to d8 via d2, is more conclusive.}) 38...
Kf7 39. Nh4 {[#]Caruana was surprised by Anand's resignation at this point but
it is clear that White should win fairly quickly as Black can't really prevent
inroads into his kingside in a move or two.} 1-0

[Event "London Classic 9th"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2017.12.08"]
[Round "6.3"]
[White "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C45"]
[WhiteElo "2806"]
[BlackElo "2874"]
[Annotator "Saunders, John"]
[PlyCount "145"]
[EventDate "2017.12.01"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[EventCategory "22"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nxc6 bxc6 6. e5 Qe7 7. Qe2 Nd5 8.
h4 ({Nepomniachtchi and Morozevic are devotees of this kingside thrust.} 8. c4
Ba6 9. b3 g6 {happened in Svidler-Carlsen, Sinquefield Cup, last August and
was drawn.}) 8... Bb7 ({8...d6 or 8...f6 are more usual here. Kramnik tried} 
8... Qe6 {against Nepomniachtchi in a blitz game in July but lost.}) 9. c4 Nb6
10. Rh3 {This is new ground.} Qe6 11. f4 O-O-O 12. a4 {White threatens 13.a5,
forcing the knight back to a8, and then 14.a6, trapping the bishop. Black
finds a tricky reply.} d5 $5 13. a5 Nxc4 14. b3 {White has now trapped the
knight but his development is shaky and his dark squares vulnerable.} Bb4+ 15.
Kf2 {[#]} Nxa5 $5 ({Previous to this appearing on the board, there had been a
multitude of groans as spectators assumed that Black would take a draw with} 
15... Bc5+ 16. Ke1 ({The GMs in the VIP Room also looked at} 16. Kg3 {which
also leads to a draw, except in a more unusual way:} Bg1 $5 17. bxc4 h5 18. Rh1
Qg6+ 19. Kh3 Qf5+ 20. Kg3 Qg6+ {draw}) 16... Bb4+ {repeats the position. But
Carlsen, despite suffering from a cold, decided to be bold and play for a win.
Rashly, as it turned out, but a great boon to the watching spectators who were
able to witness a classic battle between two deadly and resourceful rivals.})
16. Bd2 c5 ({Another way to give up some material would have been} 16... Bc5+
17. Ke1 Nxb3 $5 18. Rxb3 Bb6 {which gives three pawns for a piece.}) 17. Rxa5 (
{Not} 17. Bxb4 $2 cxb4 18. Rxa5 $4 Qb6+ {winning for Black.}) 17... Bxa5 18.
Bxa5 Qf5 19. Nc3 Qxf4+ 20. Kg1 Rhe8 21. Nb5 $1 {Nakamura plays the middlegame
very forcefully.} a6 22. Rf3 Qxe5 {Allowing the queens to come off doesn't
help Black.} 23. Qxe5 Rxe5 24. Bxc7 Ree8 25. Bxd8 Rxd8 26. Na3 Rd7 {[#]} 27.
Bd3 $1 {"From afar I missed his move 27.Bd3," admitted Magnus Carlsen. "Then
it was awful, of course."} Kd8 ({After} 27... g6 28. Rf6 {and the threat to
the a6-pawn is troublesome.}) 28. Bxh7 {Not so much to win a pawn but break up
the kingside.} g6 29. h5 gxh5 30. Rf6 {Black has three pawns for the knight
but he has no real prospect of forcing a pawn through to promotion as they can
so easily be blockaded by White's minor pieces.} Ke7 31. Rb6 Rc7 32. Nc2 a5 33.
Ne3 c4 34. Bc2 Bc6 35. bxc4 dxc4 36. Ra6 (36. Nxc4 $2 Bxg2 {eliminates White's
last pawn and makes the win problematic.}) 36... a4 37. Bxa4 ({At his
interview with Maurice Ashley, Hikaru Nakamura criticised this move,
suggesting that he should have played} 37. Nf5+ {and then 38.Nd4 with what he
thought was an easier way to win. After the text, though there was still a
technical win, he felt it was harder. "I started seeing ghosts."}) 37... Be4
38. Ra5 Ke6 39. Rxh5 c3 40. Bb3+ Kd6 41. Bc2 Bxc2 42. Nxc2 Ke6 43. Kf2 f5 44.
Rh3 {With his compensation whittled down to just one pawn for the knight, I'm
not sure anyone gave much for Carlsen's chances of saving the game.} Ke5 45.
Rd3 Kf4 46. Rd4+ Kg5 47. Kf3 Rc8 48. Ra4 Rc7 49. Ra8 Kf6 50. Ra6+ Kg5 51. Nd4
Rc4 52. Ne6+ Kf6 53. Nf4+ Ke5 54. Nd3+ Kd5 55. Ra2 Kd4 56. Nc1 c2 57. Ra5 Rc3+
58. Kf4 Rc8 {[#]} 59. Rxf5 $2 ({The only winning move for White here is} 59.
Ra3 {but it might not be too hard to find, even for lesser mortals, given its
logic in keeping the black king cut off from the defence.}) 59... Re8 $1 {
Carlsen realised when he had this position on the board that he was moving
towards the draw. His assessment was backed up by the online Norwegian
super-computer that provides analysis of his games in real-time (http://
analysis.sesse.net/).} 60. Rf7 Re1 61. Rd7+ Kc3 62. Rc7+ Kd2 63. Nb3+ Kd3 64.
Nc5+ Kd4 65. Nb3+ Kd3 66. Nc5+ Kd4 67. Nb3+ Kd3 {Around here Carlsen had the
first check of his scoresheet to see if it might have been a threefold
repetition, or perhaps more likely how close the repetition was. Nakamura
nodded his head up and down like the toy dog in the back of a car window,
acknowledging his miss of the win.} 68. g4 Rf1+ 69. Kg5 Rb1 70. Nc5+ Ke3 71.
Nb3 Kd3 ({Obviously not} 71... Rxb3 $4 72. Rxc2 {with a won endgame for White.}
) 72. Nc5+ Ke3 73. Nb3 {Here Carlsen called over the arbiter to say that he
intended to play 73...Kd3, bringing about a threefold repetition (see
position's after Black's 69th and 71st moves). White did not demur but agreed
the draw.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "London Classic 9th"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2017.12.08"]
[Round "6.4"]
[White "Adams, Michael"]
[Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B90"]
[WhiteElo "2727"]
[BlackElo "2764"]
[Annotator "Saunders, John"]
[PlyCount "170"]
[EventDate "2017.12.01"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[EventCategory "22"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. a4 g6 7. Be2 Bg7 8. O-O
O-O 9. Be3 Nc6 10. Qd2 Nxd4 11. Bxd4 Be6 12. a5 Rc8 13. Rfd1 Qc7 14. h3 Rfe8
15. Ra3 Nd7 16. Bxg7 Kxg7 17. Qd4+ Kg8 18. Rd2 Qc5 19. Qxc5 Rxc5 20. Nd5 Bxd5
21. exd5 b5 22. axb6 Nxb6 23. Rxa6 Nxd5 24. c3 Nc7 25. Rb6 d5 26. Rb7 e6 27.
Rd3 Na8 28. Rd4 Rc7 29. Rdb4 Kg7 30. f4 Ree7 31. Rxc7 Rxc7 32. Rb8 Ra7 33. b4
Nc7 34. b5 Ra8 35. Rb7 Ne8 36. c4 Nd6 37. Rc7 dxc4 38. Bxc4 Ra1+ 39. Kf2 Rc1
40. b6 Nxc4 41. b7 Rb1 42. Rxc4 Rxb7 43. Ra4 h6 44. Ra5 Rb2+ 45. Kf3 Rb3+ 46.
Kf2 Rd3 47. h4 Rd5 48. Ra7 g5 49. hxg5 hxg5 50. fxg5 (50. g3) 50... Rxg5 51. g3
Kg6 52. Kf3 Rf5+ 53. Kg2 Rb5 54. Re7 e5 55. Kf2 f6 56. Re8 Kf5 57. Rf8 Rb3 58.
Kg2 Rb2+ 59. Kf3 Rb3+ 60. Kg2 Ke6 61. Kf2 Ra3 62. Re8+ Kf5 63. Rf8 Ra7 64. Kf3
Rg7 65. Re8 Kg5 66. Re6 Rg8 67. Re7 Kf5 68. Rh7 Ra8 69. Rh5+ Kg6 {[#]} 70. Rh4
$2 ({Instead} 70. g4 {keeps the black king at bay rather better.}) 70... f5 71.
Rb4 Kg5 {I don't have access to a seven-man Lomonosov tablebase but I suspect
White may be gone whatever he does here. But it requires good technique from
Black.} 72. Rb7 e4+ 73. Ke3 Ra3+ $1 74. Kf2 Ra2+ 75. Ke3 Kg4 $1 76. Rg7+ Kh3
77. Rg5 (77. g4 Ra3+ $1 78. Kf4 Rf3+ 79. Ke5 e3 {wins.}) 77... Ra3+ 78. Kf2
Rf3+ $1 79. Ke1 Kg2 80. Ke2 Rf2+ 81. Ke3 Kf1 82. g4 Rf3+ 83. Kd4 e3 {It's all
rather easy now.} 84. Rxf5 Rxf5 85. Kxe3 Rf8 0-1

[Event "London Classic 9th"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2017.12.08"]
[Round "6.2"]
[White "So, Wesley"]
[Black "Aronian, Levon"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C88"]
[WhiteElo "2784"]
[BlackElo "2805"]
[Annotator "Saunders, John"]
[PlyCount "75"]
[EventDate "2017.12.01"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[EventCategory "22"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. a4
{The standard Anti-Marshall, though some Black players find a way to play ...
d7-d5 anyway.} b4 9. d4 d6 10. dxe5 dxe5 11. Nbd2 Bc5 12. a5 Be6 13. Bxe6 (13.
Qe2 Qe7 14. Bc4 Nd4 15. Nxd4 Bxd4 16. Nb3 Rfd8 {was Dominguez-Aronian, from a
Saint Louis blitz game last August, which Black won. The text is a new move.})
13... fxe6 14. Qe2 Ng4 15. Rf1 {[#]} Bxf2+ $5 {So admitted he was by this and
underestimated it. Aronian concocted the idea over the board.} 16. Rxf2 Nd4 17.
Qc4 $6 ({So said that the text move was made on gut instinct but that he
should have preferred} 17. Qd3 {here. Then} Nxf2 18. Kxf2 {and Aronian was
thinking about} b3 $5) 17... Nxf2 18. Kxf2 Qh4+ 19. Kg1 Qg4 {Around here So
started to realise that the position was not so easy to untangle.} 20. h3 Qg3
21. Qd3 {The only move. White's defences are quite stretched.} Rxf3 $5 22. Nxf3
Rf8 23. Nxd4 Qe1+ 24. Kh2 Rf1 25. Qxf1 {Another forced move.} Qxf1 26. Nf3 {
Black has a queen and pawn for rook, bishop and knight, but the evaluation is
far from clear.} ({Wesley later wondered whether} 26. Nb3 {might have been a
better bet, but didn't sound sure. The VIP GMs also agonised over this
difficult choice.}) 26... c5 27. b3 $6 Qd1 $1 {Black wins the c-pawn. Things
are becoming problematic for White.} 28. Bb2 Qxc2 29. Bxe5 Qxb3 30. Rf1 {[#]}
h6 $2 (30... Qc2 $1 {is more to the point, targeting the e4-pawn and also
getting ready to trundle the b-pawn towards the queening square. Perhaps more
importantly it prevents White's plan of playing Rf2 and Rd2, as happened in
the game. Aronian admitted he didn't see 30...Qc2 but at the interview with
Maurice Ashley came up with a line for his opponent, thus:} 31. Kg3 c4 32. Rf2
Qxe4 33. Rd2 Qg6+ 34. Kh2 Qe8 35. Rd4 {which he thought "should be a draw,
somehow. White is too active".}) 31. Rf2 $1 {An important move to co-ordinate
the defences and stop Qc2 happening.} c4 32. Rd2 {Another reason for 31.Rf2
was to relocate the rook safely to the d-file, from where it can counterattack
against the enemy king.} c3 33. Rd8+ Kf7 34. Rc8 Qb1 35. Rc7+ Ke8 36. Rc8+ Kf7
37. Rc7+ Ke8 38. Rc8+ {The position was still very unclear. Discretion was the
better part of value.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "London Classic 9th"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2017.12.09"]
[Round "7.3"]
[White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A17"]
[WhiteElo "2764"]
[BlackElo "2770"]
[Annotator "Saunders, John"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[EventDate "2017.12.01"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[EventCategory "22"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. e3 a6 5. b3 Bd6 6. Bb2 O-O 7. g4 $5 {A new
move, according to databases. But one of my colleagues in the press room
laughed at this as he thinks it features in the repertoire of the Dutch IM and
openings iconoclast Manuel Bosboom. The idea is familiar from the Anti-Slav
where White also gambits a g-pawn to open a file against the castled kingside
and maybe gain a tempo or two.} Nxg4 8. Rg1 f5 9. cxd5 e5 10. h3 Nf6 11. Ng5
Qe7 12. Qf3 Kh8 13. Ne6 {"After Kh8, I just blundered like a complete moron
and went Ne6" (Nepomniachtchi). But engines recommend the same move.} Bxe6 14.
dxe6 Qxe6 15. Qxb7 ({After} 15. Bc4 {Nepo originally thought Black had to play
15...Qc8 when 16.Qg2 was his intention, but in fact Black would play} Qd7 {
when Black is fine and if} 16. Qxb7 $2 Nc6 $1 {wins for Black.}) 15... Nbd7 16.
Bc4 ({Nepo regretted the text - "basically this loses a tempo" and thought he
should have played} 16. Qg2) 16... Qe7 17. Qg2 Nb6 18. Be2 a5 19. Bb5 ({
Here Nepo wanted to play} 19. Qg5 {but Black simply reply} a4 {without
worrying about the f5-pawn since} 20. Qxf5 a3 21. Bc1 e4 {forces White back on
the defensive.}) 19... Rad8 ({"With hindsight this move turns out not to be
too great. I think I should have played} 19... e4 {and 20...Be5" (Anand)}) 20.
Qg5 g6 21. Qh6 Ng8 22. Qg5 Nf6 ({Vishy wondered later whether he should have
played} 22... Qxg5 23. Rxg5 {and then simply} Nf6 {rather than overfinessing.
However, Nepo demurred and thought going into an endgame was "so much worse
for Black."}) 23. Rd1 ({Nepo could have gone for a repetition but was
conscious of having made too many draws already.} 23. Qh6) 23... e4 {Now Black
is vulnerable along the long diagonal and to tactics based on it.} 24. Qh6 Rg8
({If} 24... Be5 {Nepo pointed out that White can play} 25. Rxg6 {since} Ng8 $2
{runs into} 26. Re6 $1 {which wins quite attractively:} Qf7 27. Qxf8 $1 Rxf8
28. Rxe5 {when White's powerful pressure along the long diagonal is decisive.})
25. Ne2 Be5 26. Bxe5 Qxe5 {[#]} 27. Nf4 $1 g5 ({Vishy didn't fancy taking the
bait with} 27... Qxb5 28. Nxg6+ Rxg6 29. Rxg6 Rg8 30. Rxg8+ Nxg8 {and now he
thought} 31. Qe6 {would be unpleasant for him. So now he will be a pawn down.})
28. Rxg5 Rxg5 29. Qxg5 Rg8 30. Qh6 Rg7 $6 ({"30...Rg7 is a bit sad but I
realised that I don't have a move here." (Vishy). After} 30... Nbd5 {White has}
31. Bc4 {wins.}) ({After} 30... Nfd5 {Vishy thought} 31. Rc1 {was good but
also 31.Qe6 (which engines prefer).}) ({But Nepo thought Vishy should have
played} 30... Rg1+ {to make the white bishop passive after} 31. Bf1 Nbd7 {
"and I believe it should be equal." (Nepo)}) 31. Bc4 Nxc4 32. bxc4 Qb2 33. Ke2
a4 34. Ne6 Rf7 35. Nf4 Rg7 36. a3 Ne8 $2 ({The game is still not over after} 
36... Qb6 {, though White has forceful tries such as} 37. Rb1 $5 Qxb1 38. Qxf6
h6 39. Qxh6+ Kg8 40. Qe6+ Rf7 41. Qe8+ Rf8 42. Qg6+ Kh8 {and there is still
work to do.}) 37. Qc6 (37. Qc6 {Simply winning a second pawn after} Nd6 38.
Qxa4 {and Black has no viable counterplay.}) 1-0

[Event "London Classic 9th"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2017.12.09"]
[Round "7.2"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Adams, Michael"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A03"]
[WhiteElo "2874"]
[BlackElo "2727"]
[Annotator "Saunders, John"]
[PlyCount "115"]
[EventDate "2017.12.01"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[EventCategory "22"]

1. f4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. O-O O-O 6. d3 c5 7. c3 Nc6 8. Na3
Re8 9. Nh4 b6 10. e4 dxe4 11. Qa4 ({There is a game on the database which
continues} 11. dxe4 Qxd1 12. Rxd1 e5 13. Nb5 Bg4 14. Rd6 {but it can't have
been part of Carlsen's game plan to allow a queen exchange so early in
proceedings.}) 11... Qxd3 $1 {Adams felt he had no option other than to be
bold here.} 12. Qxc6 Bd7 13. Qc7 {[#]} Ng4 ({Quite good but here computers
advocate} 13... Rec8 14. Qe5 {and now the quiet move} Bc6 $1 {when White's
queen is going to be trapped in the middle of the board. If} 15. Re1 (15. Qxe7
Re8 16. Qc7 Rac8 17. Qxa7 Nd5 $1 {rounds up the queen}) 15... Qd7 {and engines
feel obliged to save the queen by throwing in} 16. Nxg6 hxg6 {, giving the
piece back, and then} 17. Qg5 {but the queen is still locked out of the game
and Black close to winning.}) 14. Re1 Bd4+ (14... Rac8 15. Qxa7 {and now} Bd4+
16. cxd4 Qxd4+ 17. Be3 Nxe3 18. Kh1 Ng4 19. h3 Nf2+ 20. Kh2 e5 {could be good
for Black.}) 15. cxd4 Qxd4+ 16. Be3 Nxe3 17. Qe5 f5 $2 18. Bh3 $2 ({Adams
missed it on his previous move but then noticed} 18. Nf3 $1 exf3 19. Bxf3 Qxe5
20. fxe5 {and White has a material advantage: a piece for two pawns.}) 18...
Nc2+ 19. Qxd4 Nxd4 20. Rxe4 {A bold, almost desperate, stroke from Carlsen but
it doesn't change the assessment of the position unduly. Black is a shade
better.} fxe4 21. Bxd7 Red8 22. Ba4 e5 23. Re1 exf4 24. gxf4 a6 25. Bd1 (25.
Rxe4 b5 26. Bd1 Re8 {favours Black.}) 25... b5 26. Nb1 Nf5 $6 ({Black's play
becomes too static after fixing his pawn structure and White gradually gets on
top. Instead} 26... e3 $5 {maintains active play. If} 27. Rxe3 $4 Nf5 $1 {
and White can't handle all the threats.}) 27. Nxf5 gxf5 28. Kf2 Kf7 29. Be2 Rd6
30. h4 c4 31. a4 Rc8 32. axb5 axb5 33. Na3 Rd5 34. Rc1 Rdc5 35. Nc2 Ra8 36. Ne3
Rac8 37. h5 Ke6 38. h6 Kf6 39. Ra1 b4 40. Ra6+ Ke7 41. Ra7+ Kf6 42. Ke1 b3 (
42... c3 {may be better. The position is probably about equal here.}) 43. Rb7
Ke6 44. Rb6+ Ke7 45. Rb4 R8c6 46. Bxc4 Rxh6 47. Rxb3 Kd8 48. Rb8+ Kc7 49. Rf8
Rh3 50. Nd5+ Kb7 51. Rf7+ {[#]} Kb8 $2 ({After} 51... Kc6 {Black should
probably survive but the long attritional process finally got to the English
GM.}) 52. b3 Rh2 (52... Rh5 53. Nb4 $1 {much as in the game.}) 53. Nb4 $1 Kc8 (
{Rooks move lose to a knight fork, while} 53... Rc8 {is even worse after} 54.
Na6+ Ka8 55. Bd5+ {and mate next move.}) 54. Na6 $1 Rc6 ({If} 54... Ra5 {
the black king is whisked along the back rank conveyor belt to his doom:} 55.
Be6+ Kd8 56. Rd7+ Ke8 57. Nc7+ Kf8 58. Rf7+ Kg8 59. Rxf5+ {winning a rook.})
55. Rf8+ Kb7 (55... Kd7 56. Nb8+ {wins} ({but not} 56. Bb5 $2 Ke7 $1 $11)) 56.
Bd5 Kxa6 57. Bxc6 Kb6 58. Bd7 1-0

[Event "London Classic 9th"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2017.12.10"]
[Round "8.1"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D13"]
[WhiteElo "2874"]
[BlackElo "2764"]
[Annotator "Saunders, John"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "2017.12.01"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[EventCategory "22"]

{The world champion wasn't present in the room as the tournament director made
his introductions to the stage and only arrived as the arbiter was about to
start play.} 1. Nf3 c5 2. c3 {"Magnus Carlsen is likely [to be] the first
world champion to play 1.Nf3 c5 2.c3 with White." (GM Mikhail Golubev's
comment on Carlsen's insipid opening choice)} d5 3. d4 cxd4 4. cxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3
Nf6 6. Bf4 Nh5 7. Bd2 Nf6 8. e3 e6 9. Bd3 Bd6 10. e4 dxe4 11. Nxe4 Be7 12. O-O
O-O {Unsurprisingly the game has transposed into a line of the Exchange Slav
which has been played before..} 13. Qc2 h6 14. Rad1 Bd7 15. a3 Rc8 16. Nc3 (16.
Qb1 {was played in a game in 2012 and ended in a draw.}) 16... a6 17. Qc1 Re8
18. Rfe1 Bf8 19. Bf4 b5 20. Qd2 b4 21. axb4 Nxb4 22. Ne5 Nxd3 23. Qxd3 {[#]} a5
$2 ({"Of course, this was a mistake. It just gives away a tempo." 
(Nepomniachtchi)} 23... Bc6 $5 {is an interesting alternative: if} 24. Qxa6 Ba8
{and Black has some positional compensation for the pawn.}) 24. Qf3 {"Of
course, I saw Qf3 but I couldn't have expected it to be so devastating." 
(Nepomniachtchi)} Bb4 25. Re3 ({Nepomniachtchi thought} 25. Bg3 {would be
"very unpleasant for me... and here I might be ready to play} g5 {at some
point," though not immediately as} 26. Ne4 $3 {would win instantly.}) 25...
Bxc3 26. bxc3 Ba4 27. Ra1 (27. Rc1 {, to stop Black redeploying his
light-squared bishop on the b1-h7 diagonal, would have been better.}) 27... Bc2
28. h3 Bf5 29. g4 {Nepomniachtchi acknowledged in his interview that he "got
into trouble" around here.} Bh7 30. c4 (30. g5 $1 {would have given Black
something to think about. If} Nd5 $6 31. Nxf7 $1 {is hard to meet.}) 30... Nd7
({Black decides not to risk} 30... Qxd4 31. Rd1 Qb2 32. Bxh6 $5 {, which
probably favours White.}) 31. Nc6 $6 ({As Nepomniachtchi came to realise,} 31.
c5 $1 {might be good now as} Nxe5 ({instead Black intended} 31... Nf6 {with
the idea of Nd5, but admitted it might be "double-edged"}) 32. Bxe5 {leaves
Black under pressure.}) 31... Qf6 32. Nxa5 Nb6 {[#]Now the calamity starts to
unfold, like a car crash in slow motion. It may be that Carlsen had not come
to terms with the fact that there is nothing in the position for him and that
it is simply level.} 33. c5 $2 Rxc5 34. dxc5 $2 ({Nepomniachtchi didn't think
of 33.c5 as an outright blunder during the game, when he was more focused on
survival, thinking that White could play} 34. Qb7 Rc2 35. Bg3 {but, even as he
looked at it on Maurice Ashley's demo screen, seemed to come round to the view
that it was actually tricky for White. But recapturing on c5 surely makes it
worse.}) 34... Qxa1+ 35. Kh2 Qxa5 36. Qc6 $4 ({Of course White has to
recapture with} 36. cxb6 Qxb6 {when White is a pawn down, but with reasonable
chances of holding, given that the pawns are all on the one side and the
bishops of opposite colour. Just as previously Carlsen has not come to terms
with the decline in his position, leading to this ghastly blunder.}) {
Nepomniachtchi said he did not see the refutation of Qc6 immediately, but when
it occurred to him, "I was not disappointed."} 36... Qa4 $1 {The looseness of
White's bishop on f4 is Black's trump card here, with the result that White
has no time to complete the recapture of the knight.} 37. Qxa4 Nxa4 38. c6 Nb6
39. c7 f6 40. Rb3 Nc8 0-1

[Event "London Classic 9th"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2017.12.11"]
[Round "9.2"]
[White "Aronian, Levon"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A40"]
[WhiteElo "2805"]
[BlackElo "2874"]
[Annotator "Saunders, John"]
[PlyCount "106"]
[EventDate "2017.12.01"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[EventCategory "22"]

1. d4 e6 2. Nf3 c5 3. g3 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Qb6 {Both players are complicit in
avoiding mainstream theory here and it would be hard to put a name to this
unsystematic system. Let's call it the 'Opening with No Name'. That said,
quite a few other theory-dodgers have been this way before.} 5. Bg2 Bc5 6. e3 {
I notice that English IM Richard Bates has three games on the white side in
this position on the database, while GM Nigel Short has three times had the
black side, including one against each other. How about the Bates-Short
opening?} d5 7. Qg4 Bf8 8. O-O Nf6 9. Qe2 e5 ({New territory.} 9... Bd7 {
was played in a game in 2013.}) 10. Qb5+ Bd7 {Black is relatively happy to
have doubled pawns on the b-file than tolerate a white knight causing trouble
on b5 after a queen exchange.} 11. Qxb6 axb6 12. Nb3 Nc6 13. Bd2 Bd6 14. Nc3
Ne7 15. a4 O-O 16. Nb5 Bxb5 17. axb5 {[#]Quite a few engines started to prefer
White hereabouts but perhaps that was because they usually prefer bishops to
knights.} Rac8 18. Bc3 h5 19. Rfd1 {Perhaps the engines were right up to a
point, since White has some pressure against the black centre, and scope to
invade via a7. But it doesn't look like enough to worry Carlsen on a good day.}
Rfd8 20. Nd2 h4 21. Nf3 (21. gxh4 {would give White an inconsequential extra
pawn on the side of the board, and also invite the possibility of} d4 $5 22.
exd4 exd4 23. Bxd4 Bxh2+ 24. Kxh2 Rxd4 {which looks unclear.}) 21... hxg3 22.
hxg3 e4 23. Ng5 (23. Nd4 {looks a more patient option, though it is still hard
to see how White could seek to exploit his slight positional edge.}) 23... Ng6
24. Ra7 Rb8 25. Bd4 Bc5 26. Bxc5 (26. c4 {immediately looks like a useful
option, when Black can try to stay active with} Bxd4 27. Rxd4 Rdc8 $5 {allowing
} 28. cxd5 Rc1+ 29. Bf1 Ne5 {which looks quite tricky. It would be hard to
predict how two such inventive players would handle such a line.}) 26... bxc5
27. c4 Ne7 {[#]It's clear that Black's big pawn centre is being undermined by
the c-pawn and subsequent attacks on the e4-pawn should the d5-pawn move or
disappear. Lesser Black players would be in danger of crumbling but Carlsen
comes up with an active plan and doesn't become too worried about maintaining
a material balance.} 28. cxd5 Nc8 29. Ra4 Nb6 30. Ra3 Nc4 31. Rc3 Nd6 {Setting
up a classic Nimzowitschian blockade but it is only a temporary solution and
needs to be followed up with great accuracy.} 32. Rxc5 {I suspect most players
foreseeing this position a few moves before would have concluded that they
would be two pawns down with only sketchy counterplay on the horizon, but
Carlsen calculates that it is a bit better than that.} Ra8 33. Bh3 {Chatting
in the VIP room, Jon Speelman quickly identified the slight flaw in this plan
as exemplified by Carlsen's accurate reply.} Re8 {This threatens Re5 and the
knight on g5 has had its retreat square on h3 taken away by the bishop.} 34.
Rc7 ({White continues with the aggression.} 34. Bf1 {is also logical, though
it involves moving the same piece twice in succession in different directions.}
) 34... Kf8 {[#]} 35. b6 $2 ({Perhaps} 35. Bf1 {was obligatory now, since
White's coming sacrificial attack proves too speculative and meets with some
vintage Carlsen defence.}) 35... Re5 {Now White has to sacrifice his knight
one way or another since it cannot be defended.} 36. Ne6+ (36. f4 $2 {avoids
losing the knight but after} exf3 37. Nxf3 Rxe3 {leaves White's position
severely weakened.}) (36. Nxf7 Nxf7 37. Rxb7 Nd8 38. Rc7 Rxd5 39. Rxd5 Nxd5 40.
Rc4 Nxb6 41. Rxe4 {and Black has a piece for three pawns, and probably the
better chances of winning.}) 36... fxe6 37. dxe6 Nfe8 {Black's position is
precarious but it hangs together. As is often the problem with sacrificing
material, you have to hit hard and early to exploit a sacrifice and now
White's plan keeps running into snags. Consequently Black gradually takes the
upper hand.} 38. Rd7 Raa5 39. b4 $6 ({A waste of tempo in an increasingly
problematic position.} 39. R1xd6 Nxd6 40. Rxd6 Rad5 {exchanges off White's
remaining rook and probably favours Black in the endgame.}) 39... Rad5 40. Ra1
Rb5 $1 {A simple move to mop up the weak white pawns. White can't generate
enough counterplay to counter this plan and his position starts crumbling.} 41.
Ra8 Rxb6 42. Bg4 Rd5 {An accurate move, preparing the ground for Rxb4 and then
a possible double rook assault on the white king.} 43. Kg2 ({White could
defend the b4-pawn with} 43. Ra4 {but then} Rc6 {and Black proceeds with his
counterattack against the king, having first lured the white rook to a passive
post.}) 43... Rxb4 44. Ra1 Rbb5 (44... Rb2 {seems to work well but the text is
an equally good counter to White swinging his a1 rook over to the kingside.
After 44...Rb2} 45. Rh1 Kg8 46. Bh5 Rf5 $1 {wins as it defends an invasion on
f7 as well as setting up an unstoppable attack on the f2-pawn.}) 45. Be2 (45.
Rh1 {would force} Kg8 {but the king move would stop White's plans in their
tracks as 44...Rbb5 had prevented the possibility of bringing the bishop into
the attack via h5.}) 45... Rb2 46. Bg4 (46. Rh1 Kg8 47. Bh5 Rf5 {wins for
Black as in the note after Black's 44th move.}) 46... Rdd2 47. Kh3 ({If White
goes passive with} 47. Rf1 {the win becomes quite simple with} Nf6 {, etc.})
47... Rxf2 48. Kh4 Rh2+ 49. Bh3 g5+ 50. Kh5 (50. Kg4 Nf6+ 51. Kxg5 Nxd7 {
and the rook is perfectly edible since} 52. exd7 Nf7+ {and the d7-pawn is not
dangerous.}) 50... Rxh3+ 51. Kg6 Rf2 {This involves giving back some material
but Black already has a sufficiency to win.} 52. e7+ Kg8 53. Rxd6 Rh7 ({
The previous day had seen a glut of Carlsen blunders but it would have had to
be a very bad day indeed for him to fall for} 53... Nxd6 $4 54. Ra8+ {with
mate to follow in two moves. After seeing Carlsen's accurate reply, Aronian
could find no further cheapo chances and resigned.}) 0-1

[Event "London Classic 9th"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2017.12.11"]
[Round "9.4"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "So, Wesley"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2770"]
[BlackElo "2784"]
[Annotator "Saunders, John"]
[PlyCount "66"]
[EventDate "2017.12.01"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[EventCategory "22"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 O-O 6. a4 h6 7. c3 a5 8. Nbd2
d6 9. h3 Be6 10. Re1 Bxc4 11. Nxc4 Re8 12. Be3 Bxe3 13. Nxe3 Qd7 14. Qb3 Ne7 {
Black has equalised with some ease. The b7-pawn is taboo and Black intends to
gain space with d5.} 15. Nc4 Ng6 16. Rad1 b6 17. Qc2 {Getting ready to advance
d4 but Black gets in first.} d5 $1 18. exd5 ({Maybe} 18. d4 $5 {anyway, as}
dxc4 19. dxe5 Qe6 20. exf6 Qxf6 {should be equal.}) 18... Qxd5 {Now White has
to deal with the weakness of his d3-pawn.} 19. b3 Rad8 20. d4 {This looks OK
at first sight but White is slightly on the defensive after the exchanges.}
exd4 21. Rxd4 Rxe1+ 22. Nxe1 Qa8 23. Rxd8+ Qxd8 24. Qd3 Qe7 25. Nc2 Nf4 {
Black has a clear initiative and White must reply carefully.} 26. Qd2 N6d5 {[#]
} 27. Kf1 $2 ({There is a tactical response to this move.} 27. Kh2 Qg5 28. g3
Ne6 29. N2e3 Nxe3 30. Nxe3 Qf6 {is still a bit tricky for White but he should
hold with best play.}) 27... Nxc3 $1 28. N4e3 $2 ({A second successive blunder.
} 28. Qxc3 Qe2+ 29. Kg1 Qd1+ 30. Kh2 (30. Qe1 Qxc2 {gives Black a solid
advantage}) 30... Ne2 31. Qe1 Qxc2 {is a bit depressing for White.}) ({However,
} 28. Nxb6 $5 cxb6 29. Qxc3 Qe2+ 30. Kg1 {may be better, one of the
differences being that now White has the possibility in some lines of Qc8+ and
Qf5+ with perpetual check. But Wesley had alternatives to 28...cxb6 in mind as
well, so it could have got quite complicated.}) 28... Ne4 $1 29. Qd4 c5 $1 30.
Qd1 (30. Nf5 $2 {loses to} Ng3+ $1 31. fxg3 Qe2+ {and mates}) (30. Nd5 {
and again} Ng3+ $1 {is lethal}) 30... Qf6 (30... Qh4 {is still stronger:} 31.
g3 Qxh3+ 32. Kg1 Nc3 $1 {is the end. But the text is also very strong and
demands accuracy from White.}) 31. Ng4 (31. Qd7 {, threatening Qe8+ and Qxe4,
keeps up a fighting defence but the text quickly succumbs.}) 31... Qc3 32. Nce3
h5 33. Nh2 Qb2 {To prevent mate, White must lose at least a second pawn.} 0-1

[Event "London Chess Classic play-off"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2017.12.11"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A05"]
[WhiteElo "2764"]
[BlackElo "2780"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/8/4kp2/2n5/5PPK/8/8/8 b - - 0 64"]
[PlyCount "7"]
[EventDate "2017.12.11"]
[EventType "match (blitz)"]
[EventRounds "4"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]

{[#]} 64... Nd3 $2 (64... Kd5 {would win here.}) 65. f5+ $1 Ke5 66. g5 fxg5+
67. Kxg5 Nf4 1/2-1/2

[Event "London Chess Classic play-off"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2017.12.11"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B52"]
[WhiteElo "2780"]
[BlackElo "2764"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "3Q4/8/2r5/2kp4/4p2P/1q6/3R1PP1/6K1 b - - 0 60"]
[PlyCount "12"]
[EventDate "2017.12.11"]
[EventType "match (blitz)"]
[EventRounds "4"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]

{[#]Both players were close to playing on the three-second increment now so it
was very tense.} 60... e3 $5 {A good try for complications.} 61. Qe7+ Kb5 62.
Qb7+ Rb6 63. Rxd5+ (63. Qxd5+ $4 {would have been a costly error after} Qxd5
64. Rxd5+ Kc4 $1 {when} 65. Rd1 e2 66. Re1 Kd3 {would have drawn, and maybe
not even that in some lines.}) 63... Kc4 {This position also looks
hair-raising but Caruana found the only winning move in the position...} 64.
Qf7 $3 exf2+ (64... e2 65. Rd6+ Kc3 66. Qf3+ {wins.}) 65. Kxf2 Qb2+ 66. Rd2+ {
Answering check with check - and winning a very big cheque.} 1-0


