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Alexei Shirov started with a loss in the first round, but this won't shake him and he will attack again, burning all bridges behind. Magnus Carlsen is still searching for a win against Shirov in classical games, after he beat him in Smartfish tournament in Drammen, Norway. He might play Sveshnikov Sicilian or try to improve on the Open Ruy Lopez that suffered during the Tal Memorial. See also the exclusive interview with Magnus Carlsen.
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6! Small surprise! Carlsen usually likes to play Sveshnikov Sicilian with 2...Nc6.
3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 This is called Kan variation.
5.Bd3 Ne7!? Another rarity! Nf6, Bc5, Qc7, even g6 are all more common as 5th move. Idea behind Ne7 is to continue with Nc6 and recapture with the knight, should white exchange it. The drawback is that with the absence of Nf6, black is significantly reducing pressure on the e4 pawn and presence on the kingside in general.
6.O-O This is the main line, also possible were 6. Nc3 or 6. c4. By castling, Shirov is keeping all these options at hand.
6... Nbc6 7.Nxc6 (7.Nb3 allows 7...d5, but in general 7...g6 is much more popular.)
7... Nxc6 8.Be3 Grandmasters Akopian and l'Ami liked to play aggressive 8. Qg4, while Hikaru Nakamura preferred 8. f4.
9... d5!? This appears to be a novelty. Vladimir Kramnik played 9...0-0 against the dangerous Hungarian Zoltan Almasi.
10.exd5 exd5 Carlsen decided to play with an isolated pawn. The space will allow him to increase the scope of the pieces, but on the other hand, isolated pawn might be a weakness in the endgame. Shirov will probably continue with 11. Nb3 (11. Nf3 Bg4!?), taking important square d4 under control. The pawn structure recalls with Tarasch variant in French defence.
11.Nb3 O-O Shirov already spent 50 minutes, while Carlsen is playing fast, obviously still within his home preparation.
12.Re1 Re8 The game is taking a slower pace now. Someone might think that Shirov is not fancying this as he is reckless attacker, but don't be tricked, he is incredibly strong in endgames, thus in strategical play as well...
13.c3 Before the start of Morelia leg, Magnus Carlsen answered some 30 questions posted from readers of the portal Nettavisen.no. When being asked to estimate his chances in Morelia/Linares, he said: "I don't hope for much. My opponents are very strong. But if I could do the same at last year I would be pleased.", and "My ambitions has not risen as much as the press'. Every plus result in such a tournament is a achievement for me" he added (translation Ole Valaker). He was also asked couple of less formal questions, such is: "Are you autistic?", to which Magnus replied "Yes, isn't that obvious?". Norwegian speakers can read more on Nettavisen.
13... Bd6 The usual setup in similar positions. Isolated pawn is giving some space advantage by definition, also white knight is currently away from the kingside and Carlsen is using this opportunity to aim his pieces towards white king.
14.Qc2 (14.Qh5!? g6 15.Qh6 (15.Qxd5?? Bxh2+) 15... Re5!? with idea Rh5...)
14... g6 (14... Qh4!? 15.Bf4!? exploiting open e-file and weak 8th rank 15... Be7 16.Bg3 with small but firm advantage for white, who can double rooks in next two moves )
15.Bc5! Correct decision to offer dark-squared bishops exchange as this is probably black's best piece. Magnus can say polite 'no' with Be5!? (15.Rad1 Qh4 16.h3 Be6 and black is looking fine.)
15... Bc7 Now Shirov can swap a pair of rooks and continue with Qd2, Ra1-e1...
16.Rxe8+ Qxe8 17.Qd2 Carlsen can go for light-squared bishops trade with 17...Qe5 18. g3 Bf5 19. Re1 Qf6
17... Qe5 18.Qh6!? (18.g3 Bf5 ( maybe even better to keep the light bishop, once white has weakened some squares around the king 18... Bg4!? 19.Re1 Qf6!?) 19.Re1 Qf6 20.Bxf5 Qxf5 21.Nd4 Qh5)
18... Bf5 Carlsen doesn't have a second in Morelia and it is still unclear if he will invite someone to help in Linares.
19.Bxf5 Qxf5 20.Nd4 We can say that black managed to equalize. 20...Nxd4 21. Bxd4 Be5, or 20...Qf4, or 20...Qf6 are all good.
20... Qe4!? Probably the most fighting solution. It prevents Re1 and prepares Ne5...
21.f3 Qe8! Excellent! Magnus sees no ghosts! Most of us wouldn't even think about retreating queen to e8, because this is 'natural square' for rook from a8. But control over the e-file is of great importance and if there is no other way to maintain it, Magnus will play Qe8 a-tempo. The alternative was 21. ...Qf4, but he already avoided queens trade once.
22.Nxc6 bxc6 Shirov could be content with a draw, 23. Bd4 forces trade of queens or bishops...
23.Bd4 Be5 24.Qd2 Qb8!? Now both are playing pretty fast as nothing much is happening in this position. 25. Bxe5 Qxe5 26. Re1 Qf6 is still plain equal.
25.g3 Qd6 26.Re1 Bxd4+ (26... Re8 also good enough...)
27.cxd4 (27.Qxd4 c5 28.Qd2 Rd8 black might start thinking about pawn push)
27... c5! The most effective way to kill all the tension. Black is getting rid of the backward pawn and has no problems left.
28.Kg2 c4 29.h4 After c5-c4, pawn b2 is marked as a target on the b-file and black will have sufficient counterplay. h4 might be looking as attacking attempt, but it is completely harmless at this moment.
29... h5 29...Rb8 was also okay.
30.g4?! Now this is over-ambitious! 30...hxg4 31. hxg4 and white king might find himself in trouble sooner than black...30. Re5 looked safer.
30... hxg4 31.fxg4 Probably 31...Qd7!?
31... Qd7 32.Kg3 Re8 33.Rxe8+ Qxe8 34. h5 Qe7!?
34.h5 Qe4 35.hxg6 Alexei Shirov is in time trouble, but there is no danger left after the rook exchange.
35... fxg6 36.Qf4 Qe1+ 37.Kh3 Qh1+ 38.Kg3 Qe1+ 39.Kh3 And the players have agreed to a draw. Good fighting effort where both of them avoided exchanges as long as possible, but the fine balance was kept through the game. Thank you for following Chessdom live commentary, join us again tomorrow at 16:30 EST / 22:30 CET for the live coverage of Carlsen-Anand. See you there!
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