Dortmund Rd. 4: Kramnik und Caruana gewinnen

[Event "43rd GM 2015"] [Site "Dortmund GER"] [Date "2015.07.01"] [Round "4"] [White "Caruana, F."] [Black "Naiditsch, A."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E04"] [WhiteElo "2805"] [BlackElo "2722"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "2015.06.26"] [SourceDate "2015.02.07"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. Nf3 c5 6. O-O Nc6 7. Qa4 Bd7 8. Qxc4 b5 9. Qc3 cxd4 10. Nxd4 Nxd4 11. Qxd4 Rc8 12. Bf4 Bc5 13. Qd3 Qb6 14. Nd2 O-O 15. Ne4 Nd5 (15... Nxe4 16. Bxe4 {double attacks h7 and d7.}) 16. Ng5 $5 (16. Nxc5 Qxc5 17. Be5 {seemed more natural, simply obtaining the pair of bishops. Caruana is more ambitious.}) 16... g6 17. Be5 $5 Be7 (17... f6 18. Bxd5 fxg5 $1 (18... exd5 19. Qxd5+ Kh8 20. Qxd7 $18) 19. Bf3 {looks visually ugly for Black, but he does get the open f-file and some pressure on f2. Perhaps this was Naiditsch's best move.}) 18. Nf3 Bc6 19. Qd2 {White retains some pressure thanks to the darksquare weaknesses on the kingside. If f6 is played, the kingside is weakened in the longterm.} f6 20. Bd4 Qb7 21. Rac1 Rfd8 22. Bh3 Bd7 23. Rxc8 Bxc8 24. Rc1 Bd7 25. Bc5 $1 {Nice timing for this. White retains most of his attacking material while getting rid of the important e7 defender.} Bxc5 26. Rxc5 Rc8 27. b4 $1 Rxc5 28. bxc5 Qc7 29. e4 Ne7 30. Qd4 {Superb. White's domination came almost out of nowhere. The passed pawn is now strong, while the pressure on f6 is annoying. White's pieces are placed in great positions.} Kg7 31. e5 $1 f5 32. Bg2 h6 33. Qd6 $16 {The two passed pawns are too strong now, and Black has no choice but give them to Caruana.} Qxd6 34. exd6 Nc6 35. Ne1 (35. Nd2 {was also good.}) 35... a5 $6 (35... Kf6 {resists longer, but still looks too strong for White.}) 36. Nd3 b4 37. h4 Nd4 38. Kh2 Bb5 39. Ne5 Kf6 40. c6 {Finally the killing blow.} Bxc6 41. Nxc6 1-0

[Event "43rd GM 2015"] [Site "Dortmund GER"] [Date "2015.07.01"] [Round "4"] [White "Hou Yifan"] [Black "So, W."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B19"] [WhiteElo "2676"] [BlackElo "2778"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2015.06.26"] [SourceDate "2015.02.07"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7. Nf3 Nd7 8. h5 Bh7 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 e6 11. Bd2 Ngf6 12. O-O-O Be7 13. Kb1 Qb6 14. Ne4 Rd8 15. c4 O-O 16. Qe2 c5 17. Bc3 cxd4 18. Bxd4 Qc6 19. Nxf6+ Bxf6 20. g4 Bxd4 21. Nxd4 Qc5 22. Nf3 Nf6 23. Ne5 Rd4 24. Rxd4 Qxd4 25. Rd1 Qf4 26. Re1 Qd4 27. Rd1 Qf4 28. f3 {White has a bit of pressure in the position. She has a powerful knight on e5 and control over the d-file, for this reason she declines the draw. It is not so fun to make moves for Black, despite the well placed queen on f4.} a6 29. a3 Ra8 {A mysterious rook move like no other, but I suppose it is Wesley's way to pass} 30. Rd6 Re8 31. Ka2 $6 {It is fair to say that finding a way to continue was already something that was not easy, but this gives So a surprising resource to push back all of White's control.} (31. Rb6 $14 {White is a bit better, but breaking through is another matter entirely.}) 31... Nxg4 $1 {Nicely calculated. So gets rid of the pressure completely.} 32. fxg4 f6 {the pin on the f4-d6 diagonal means that White must give her material back.} 33. Rd7 fxe5 34. Rxb7 {It seems that White is better, but in fact Black's activity is just enough.} Qd4 $6 {A slip that went unpunished.} (34... Rc8 $1 {immediately was much better, avoiding the following complications.}) 35. g5 $6 (35. Qc2 $1 Qxg4 (35... Rc8 36. g5 hxg5 37. h6 Qxc4+ 38. Qxc4 Rxc4 39. Rxg7+ Kh8 40. Rxg5 {looks like a difficult endgame for Black.}) (35... e4 $1 {Is best, but not easy to find.} 36. Qa4 $1 Rc8 37. Qxa6 Qxc4+ 38. Qxc4 Rxc4 39. Re7 Rc6 {the endgame is unclear to me, but White is the one pressing for a win.}) 36. Qa4 $14) 35... hxg5 $1 {This is forced, and safe.} 36. h6 gxh6 37. Qh5 (37. Qc2 e4 {is insufficient.}) 37... Qxc4+ {Now the game finishes in a draw. Black is getting mated, but he has a perpetual.} 38. Ka1 (38. Kb1 $4 Qe4+ 39. Ka2 Rf8 {allows Black to cover everything.} (39... Qxb7 $1 $19 {is also good.})) 38... Qc1+ 39. Ka2 Qc4+ 40. Ka1 Qc1+ 1/2-1/2