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In the last encounter between these two players, only few weeks ago at Corus, Vassily Ivanchuk quickly swapped all pieces after achieving no advantage in the Exchange Ruy Lopez, and the game was drawn in 20 moves. This time, however, situation is different as Magnus Carlsen will be dictating tempo with white pieces. Both of them are playing a wide range of openings, it will be interesting to see who is going to be surprised first. Please note that there might be short delay before the first round start, as always happens in Mexico.
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 So Naidorf Sicilian after all...
6.Be3 The most popular variation over the last few years. Apparently, all top players are "scared" to play wild complications after 6. Bg5 because computer preparation might refute the entire lines and bring painful zero in the crosstable. Update: Obviously, Shirov is not afraid to test opponent's engines, as he just played Bg5 against Anand.
6... e5 (6... e6 Equally go od alternative is e6. The game could transpose to Sheveningen Sicilian or continue over the course of sharp English attack in Naidorf.)
7.Nf3 ( Most popular is 7.Nb3 as played by Leko, Svidler, Anand, Ponomariov and other top players. Magnus, however, likes Nf3 and he played this move before. Instead of storming pawns on the kingside, main idea behind 7. Nf3 is to quickly develop pieces and establish control over the d5 square.)
7... Be7 8.Bc4 O-O 9.O-O Be6 10.Bb3 Of course, better than Bxe6 fxe6, which would help black to cover sensible squares d5 and f5.
10... Nc6 This is important crossroad, as white can choose between Bg5 and Qe2. 11. Bg5 would underline the difference between Naidorf and Classical Sicilian because black didn't play "obligatory" h6. On the other hand, this bishop already moves once, to e3, and this would be a tempo loss. 11. Qe2 would clean the file for Rd1.
11.Qe2 Na5 b5, Rc8 and Qc7 were all possible instead of Na5, but those are slower lines and white manages to capture control over d5. Instead of swapping light-squared bishops, black wants to keep his Be6 in order to have an eye on d5, and trades unemployed knight instead.
12.Rfd1 White is never planning to push f2-f4, therefore Rooks will concentrate on the d-file.
12... Nxb3 13.cxb3!? ( Ivanchuk himself preferred more popular 13.axb3 Carlsen already played cxb3 against Sergey Karjakin in one rapid game, and eventually lost. He certainly has some improvement on his mind. A bit earlier, he beat GM John Nunn from this position.)
13... Nd7 Ana Pavlidis played Nd7 is the recent junior event. John Nunn and Karjakin played 13...Qe8 against Carlsen.
14.Nd2 The knight is heading to c4. Ivanchuk is burning some minutes on his clock...He is probably contemplating over b7-b5, a straightforward way to prevent white's Nc4 and Nd5. 14...b5 might be met with 15. a4!?, which for sure was tested in Carlsen's kitchen, or with more quiet 15. Nf1 that slowly aims at d5/f5.
14... Qc7 It looks like a brave decision to put the queen on the line with white rook, but black will quickly move it back as Rf8 reaches c8.
15.Rac1 Rfc8 16.Nd5! Magnus will gladly exchange Be7, important defender of the d6 pawn. Pressure on d5 is reduced in this process, but white will maintain small, permanent advantage thanks to the weak d6 pawn.
16... Qd8 17.Rxc8 Rxc8 18.Nxe7+ Qxe7 19.Nc4! Clearly, Ivanchuk has to choose between Rc6 and Bxc4. He is down to 30 minutes on the clock...
19... Bxc4 (19... Rc6 20.Qd3! Bxc4 21.bxc4 Nc5 22.Bxc5! dxc5 23.Qd8+ Qf8 24.Qd5 with superior endgame for Carlsen.)
20.bxc4 Nc5 White should be able to combine the pressure on d6 and threat to trade of some pieces at the convenient moment. Pawn advance on queenside is also in agenda...
21.b3 Rc6 ( Don't be too greedy, 21... Nxe4? 22.Qg4 is double attack...)
22.Qc2 Rather than pushing f2-f3. Magnus is trying to keep his pawn structure flexible as much as possible.
22... h6 23.g3 Having in mind f2-f4 at some point
23... Qc7 24.Kg2 Carlsen is not in a hurry. He is slowly improving pieces before deciding on where to break against black position. ( Someone like Karpov might play 24.Bxc5 Rxc5 25.Qd3 Rc6 26.Qd5 with next f4.)
24... Nd7 (24... b5!? 25.cxb5 axb5 26.Rc1)
25.Qd3 Ivanchuk is down to 17 minutes for the remaining 15 moves...He is reserved and waits for Carlsen's reaction.
25... Nf6 26.a4!? No need to play f2-f3 as Ng4 is shot in the air. a4 is useful not only to prevent black's counterplay with b7-b5, but also to gain space on the queenside after some a5 in the later stage.
26... Nd7 Maybe time for 27. f4!?
27.h3 Kf8 28.Bc1 It is unclear to us what is the idea behind Bc1. Bishop from a3 will be safely blocked with Nc5. Black king is close enough not to be worried about the exchange on c5.
28... Nc5 29.Qf3 Qb6!? 30.Ba3!? Here is some action when Ivanchuk has 7 minutes only. 30... Qxb3!? 31. Qxb3 Nxb3 32. Rxd6 Ke8 33. Rd5
30... Qxb3 31.Qxb3 Nxb3 32.Bxd6+!? Kg8 33.Bxe5 Rxc4 Position looks completely equal now...
34.Rd8+ Kh7 35. Rd7 might still impose some problems to Ivanchuk
35.Rd7 Rxe4 36. f4 simply 36...Kg8 or 38...Kg6, then 39. Rxb7 Nc5 (Nd2)
36.f4 Kg8 37.Rd8+ Kh7 38.Rd7 Kg8 39.Rd8+ Kh7 Magnus is putting his last effort into finding some play... 40. Rd7 would be three times repetition...Update: It appears that there is delay on the official website as other games are stuck as well. We hope to have the moves soon. soon. Our sources from Morelia have informed that game has been drawn. We are not sure as of yet what was the last move. Thank you everyone for following the Chessdom live coverage of Morelia/ Linares, join us again tomorrow at 16:30 EST/22:30 CET for the live commentary on Shirov-Carlsen!
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