Ivanchuk, 42, could score only half a point against the 20-year-old Norwegian and was gonged twice by his fellow Ukrainian, who is 21 years old and is now playing for Russia.
Recently in Malmo, Sweden, another veteran from the Soviet school, Alexei Shirov, who now plays for Spain and will turn 39 on Monday, was left in the dust by two teenagers, the Netherlands’ Giri and the Philippines’ So, both 17.
Next year’s world title match between Gelfand, 43, and world champ Anand, 41, may very well be the swan song of their generation.
Games of the week. Romanian GM Dorian Rogozenco annotates.
White: V. Ivanchuk
Black: S. Karjakin
Giuco Piano
Medias 2011
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 Ivanchuk’s quiet approach in the opening remembers a bit of his second round game versus Carlsen. 0-0 6.0-0 d6 7.h3 Ne7 8.Re1 Ng6 9.Nbd2 c6 10.Nf1 d5 11.exd5 Nxd5 12.Ng3 12.Nxe5 is not good due to 13.Rxe5 Bxf2+! and the bishop cannot be taken due to the check on f6. 12…h6 13.Bb3 Here Grandmaster Viorel Iordachescu pointed out that White has a tricky move 13.Nh5!? covering square f6, which means that now the pawn on e5 is under attack. White’s tactical justification is that the natural answer Re8 suddenly brings Black into trouble: 14.d4! exd4 15.Rxe8+ Qxe8 16.Bxd5 cxd5 17.Bxh6! with large advantage for White. 13…Re8 14.Bd2 Bb6 15.Qc2 Be6 16.Rad1 16.Nxe5 is not possible for the same reason as before: Nxe5 17.Rxe5 Bxf2+ 18.Kxf2 fQf6+ and White loses. 16…Bxh3!! A bolt out of the blue. Karjakin admitted that he didn’t see it at once and was going to play 16…Nf6 first. The reason he didn’t do it quickly was that he wasn’t very happy about “another boring draw.” Indeed, sometimes avoiding even a hypothetical draw can really help! After 16…Bxh3 White is in deep trouble. 17.c4 The point is that 17.gxh3 loses to Qf6 Then 18.Kg2 Nh4+! 19.Nxh4 Qxf2+ 20.Kh1 Qxg3 21.Re2 Qxh4 is of course completely hopeless. 17.d4 Bg4 18.Qe4 (or 18.c4 Bxf3 19.gxf3 Ndf4) 18…Qd7 19.dxe5 Bc7 is also bad for White. 17…Ndf4 18.c5 Nxg2! 18…Bxg2 19.Nxe5 is less precise. 19.cxb6 Qf6! Again Karjakin finds the best move order. Taking on e1 first makes White’s defense easier: 19…Nxe1 20.Rxe1 Qf6 21.Re3 axb6 22.Ne4 Qe7 23.Nxe5! attacking the bishop on h3. 20.Nh2 Nxe1 21.Rxe1 axb6 With a rook and three pawns for two minor pieces Black is close to winning. White’s second problem is the vulnerability of his king. 22.Bc3 Be6 23.Re3 Nf4 24.Rf3 Qh4 25.Bd2 Bg4 26.Qc4 Be6! 26…Bxf3 27.Qxf7+ Kh8 28.Nxf3 Qg4 also should win, but Karjakin’s decision is much easier. 27.Qc2 Bxb3 28.Qxb3 Re6 29.a3 Black mates after 29.Qxb6 Rxa2 30.Qxb7 Ra1+ 31.Nhf1 Qh3 32.Bxf4 exf4 33.Rxf4 Rg6 34.Qxf7+ Kh7 29…Rae8 30.Qb4 Again 30.Qxb6 is losing on the spot: Qh3 31.Bxf4 exf4 32.Rxf4 Re1+ 33.Nhf1 Rxf1+ 34.Nxf1 Re1 30…Rf6 31.Qe4 Ree6 White is completely lost. Apart from being material down his king is under decisive attack. 32.Ne2 Nxe2+ 33.Qxe2 Rxf3 34.Qxf3 Rg6+ 35.Kh1 Rf6 36.Qg3 Rxg3 37.fxg3 Rd6 and 0–1.
White: M. Carlsen
Black: V. Ivanchuk
Queen’s Gambit Declined
Medias 2011
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bg5 Nbd7 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Qc2 The point of this move is that White keeps the possibility of returning the bishop to d2, if needed. Such idea was successfully popularized by Kramnik back in 1993, when Magnus was just three years old… c5 8.dxc5 White is ready to play against an isolated pawn on d5. It must be said that the modern theory considers that Black doesn’t have particular problems in this variation. h6 8…Qa5 is also answered by 9.Bd2. 9.Bd2 0-0 10.e3 It is interesting that Ivanchuk himself played this line with the white pieces. Bxc5 10…Re8 11.Be2 Bxc5 12.0-0 a6 13.Qb3 Qb6 14.Nfd1 Be6 15.Be1 Qe7 16.Nd4 Rac8 17.Rac1 Ivanchuk,V (2700)-Lautier,J (2655)/Monte Carlo 1995 10…Qe7 11.Be2 Bxc5 12.0-0 a6 13.Qb3 Nb6 14.Rac1 Be6 15.Nd4 Rac8 16.Rfd1 Ivanchuk,V (2739)-Mamedyarov,S (2719)/Moscow 2009 (blitz game). 11.Rc1 The usual move is 11.Bd3 followed by 12.0-0. 11…Qe7 12.Be2 Now 12.Bd3 is answered with d4 completely equalizing right away. 12…a6 13.Qd3!? A tricky move. Before castling White attacks the pawn d5, forcing Black to misplace one of his pieces. Nb6 14.0-0 Bg4 15.Nd4 Bd7 Typically for the side having the isolated queen pawn Ivanchuk tries to keep as many pieces as possible. After the exchange on e2 Black would have also weakened square f5. 16.Bf3 Rfe8 17.b3 Limiting the activity of the knight b6. Ba3 18.Rc2 Rac8 There was another option: 18…Ne4 19.Bc1 Bd6 and here at least White doesn’t exchange so many pieces as in the game. 19.Nce2! Rxc2 20.Qxc2 Be6 21.Bc1! Rc8 22.Bxa3 Qxa3 23.Qd2 White has achieved a slight plus, because Black couldn’t take any advantage of his IQP. Notice that the knight on b6 is still misplaced. Bg4 This allows White to use the light squares in order to create some pressure on the kingside. 24.Bxg4 Nxg4 25.Nf5 Nf6 26.h3 26.Qd4 Nbd7 27.Nf4 was tempting, but Carlsen didn’t find anything convincing after Qc5 since winning a pawn with 28.Nxd5 Qxd4 29.Nfe7+ Kf8 30.exd4 allows Black to get counterplay after Rc2 26…Kh7 27.Qd4 Here White has the same problem as at the previous move: the queen looks very well centralized on d4, but there is nothing concrete and it forces Black to improve the position of the knight from b6. 27.f3!? 27…Nbd7 28.Qf4 Nf8 28…Qxa2 29.Ned4 looks scary for Black with his queen left far away from the king. However, after Qa3 White still must prove that his compensation is worth more than a pawn. 29.Neg3 29.Nxh6 doesn’t work because of Ne6 29…Ng6 30.Qd4 Qc5 31.f3 Qxd4 32.Nxd4 Ne5 33.Rd1 White is only slightly better, but he can play for long, since there is no clear way for Black to simplify the position. g6 34.Kf2 Kg7 35.Nge2 Kf8 36.g4! Nc6 37.Rc1 Ke7 Perhaps Ivanchuk had to offer the exchange of rooks with 37…Ne7 38.h4! Kd6 39.h5 Ne7 After 39…gxh5 40.Nf5+! (40.gxh5 Nxh5 41.Rh1 Ng7 42.Rxh6+ Ne6 Black holds the balance.) 40…Ke5 41.Ned4! the black king is suddenly very exposed in the center. For instance hxg4 leads to a mate after 42.f4+ Ke4 43.Rd1 with inevitable mate with the knight either on d6 or g3. 40.Rh1! gxh5 41.gxh5 Rg8 42.Ng3 Rg5 43.b4! Kd7 44.Rh4 Ne8 45.Rf4 Nd6 46.a4 46.Rg4!? f6 47.Rf4 Ng8 48.a4 46…b6 46…Kc7 47.Rg4! 47.a5!? After 47.Rf6 Ng8 the rook must return to f4. 47…bxa5 48.bxa5 f5 Preferable was 48…Kc7 49.Rg4 Rg8 49.Rh4 Nc4?! 49…Rg8 50.Rh1 Rb8 was called for 50.f4 Rg4 51.Rh3 51.Rh1 Nxe3 52.Kf3 Rg8 53.Rb1 Nc4 54.Rb7+ Kd6 55.Ndxf5+ Nxf5 56.Nxf5+ Kc5 57.Rc7+ Kb5 58.Rh7 also looks strong 51…Nd6 52.Rh1! Rg8 53.Rb1 Ra8 54.Kf3 The difference between white and black pieces became obvious. Black’s position is already difficult to save. For some reasons Ivanchuk kept on playing very quickly here, although he’s got plenty of time. Kc7 55.Ne6+ Kc8 Better was 55…Kd7 56.Nc5+ Kc6 57.Nd3 Kc4 56.Nc5 Rb8 This move that leads to a lost knight endgame also took Ivanchuk less than a minute. On the other hand the position should be lost anyway. 57.Rxb8+ Kxb8 58.Nxa6+ Kb7 59.Nb4 Nc4 60.a6+ Kb6 61.Ke2 Nd6 62.Kd3 Nb5 63.Ne2 Ka5 64.Nc3! Nc7 64…Kxb4 65.Nxb5 Kxb5 66.a7 queens. 65.Nbxd5! Very nice. White’s passed pawns decide the game. Nexd5 66.Kxd5 Nxd5 67.a7 Nc7 68.Kd4 Kb6 69.Ke5 Kxa7 70.Kxf5 Nd5 71.Kg6 Nxe3 72.Kxh6 and 1–0.
Puzzler.
White: Ka5, Nb5, Qc1, Bd3, pawn on d4
Black: Kd5, Ne5, pawns on a6 and f3
White to play and mate in three moves.
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