Autoplay:
Autoplay:
Good day everyone, welcome to the Chessdom live coverage of the 4th round of FIDE Grand Prix. Mamedyarov and Carlsen are "old friends", they started playing against each other back at the 2005 Corus. So far all games in the classical time control ended in draws, with the exception of the last one at 2008 Corus when Carlsen won in beautiful fashion. Following the 2nd round defeat to Inarkiev, Mamedyarov said that he will be more careful but still sharp in the play. Azeri betting houses have preference for white pieces and Mamedyarov is listed as favorite. We are curious to see if he will open with 1.d4 and what is his preparation against Nimzo Indian or Volga Gambit. IM David Kanovsky is also commenting Adams-Navara. Enjoy the games!
1.d4!? Last time Mamedyarov started with 1. e4
1... Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 He's not willing to enter the Nimzo-Indian defence, and many options are still in the air. For example, after 3...d5 4. Nc3 we have Ragozin defence which Carlsen already used with great success, or 3...d5 4. g3 entering the Catalan opening.
3... b6 In case of 4. Nc3 Bb4, the game could still transpose to the Nimzo-Indian.
4.g3 Bb7 More popular on the top level is 4...Ba6, but those lines have been deeply analysed and games rarely finish with decisive outcome.
5.Bg2 Be7 6.O-O O-O 7.Re1 The idea is to play something useful in the fight for the central control, but without allowing knight's exchange which eases black position. White is staying flexible to continue with d4-d5 typical sacrifice where Re1 will be in the right place to support later e2-e4, or even immediate e4 in some lines thanks to the pin on the Bb7. No wonder that Alekhine was first to use 7. Re1 :) and Kramnik also liked to play it. Vast majority of the games saw 7. Nc3 in this position, but black is doing fine after 7...Ne4 and massive exchanges. Mamedyarov earlier played 7. d5!? exd5 8. Nh4!? with interesting pawn sacrifice.
7... Na6 (7... d5 8.cxd5 exd5 9.Nc3 is exactly what white wants. Kramnik was extremely successful with this line in his early career. White continues Bf4, Rc1, Ne5, and after black's c5, it is possible to reach the hanging pawns or IQP structure. Having bishop on b7 is weakening f5 square, and in one game Kramnik even played Ne5 and g3-g4!)
8.Ne5 ( Equally common alternative is 8.Nc3 where we reach structure similar to the game continuation, only with another pair of Knights exchanged. 8... Ne4 9.Nxe4 Bxe4 10.Ne5 Bxg2 11.Kxg2 c6 It is hard to tell which line is better for black or white, probably nuances are in question, but I believe both Mamedyarov and Carlsen will be happy to play with more pieces on the board.)
8... Bxg2 9.Kxg2 c6 ( More popular is 9... Qb8 when black wants to play c7-c5 with Queen taking on Ne5. After some "forced" moves 10.e4 c5 11.Bf4 Bd6 12.Nc3 cxd4 13.Qxd4 Bc5 14.Qd1 Qb7 15.Bg5 Be7 we have roughly equal position.)
10.e4 Qc7 11.Nc3 Qb7 this is natural square for the Queen now that white Bg2 is gone. It will exert pressure on the long diagonal and black certainly wants to push d5 soon.
12.Nd3!? Idea is too meet d5 with cxd5 and e5 where space advantage would provide nice attacking prospects on the kingside. Perhaps Carlsen could play 12...Nb4!? with idea 13. e5 Nxd3 and now threat of Nxe1 with check is forcing white to recapture 14. Qxd3.
12... d5 (12... Nb4!? 13.e5 (13.Nxb4 Bxb4 14.Bg5 Ne8 15.Qb3!?) 13... Nxd3 14.Qxd3 Ne8 15.Bf4 b5!? doesn't seem to be troubling black.)
13.e5 Most likely 13...Nd7 14. cxd5 cxd5 15. Nf4 (or Qg4)
13... Nd7 14.cxd5 cxd5 15.h4!? Idea is to allow white pieces to use g5 as transit point or to create a weakness after h5-h6. Still, 15. Qg4 and Bh6 (or Nf6) might have been faster.
15... Nb4!? Alternative was 15...Rfc8 with idea to clean the f8 square for Bishop. Probably Carlsen wants to keep the Rook on f8 for the time of being, in order to hope for some f6 in the future, providing that e6 pawn will be protected. Now 16. Bg5 could be tricky when black cannot afford to take on g5 and allow h-file opening and it's not clear what to do with Be7.
16.Bg5! He's going for it! It would be great for Mamedyarov if he could avoid the Knights exchange, because his piece would stand grand on h5, but playing 16. Nf4 locks the Bc1 and allows black to regroup in defence.
16... Nxd3 17.Qxd3 Bb4 (17... Bxg5 18.hxg5 is extremely risky because white can pile up on the h-file and also play Nb5-d6.) (17... Rfe8 18.Bxe7 Rxe7 19.Nb5! Qa6 20.a4! with firm advantage for white.)
18.Rec1 Now that Rook has moved out of the pin, Carlsen could be forced to trade on c3, because allowing Nb5 looks dangerous. If Mamedyarov can provoke dark-square weaknesses on the kingisde, Carlsen will be faced with problems.
18... a6 Carlsen is delaying the exchange and prevents Nb5-d6. Maybe white could try with 19. Ne2 now? Still Nf4 won't be possible until Bg5 retreats to e3. (18... Bxc3 19.Rxc3 Rac8 20.Rac1 h6!? black will have to play h6 sooner or later, otherwise allowing white to push h5-h6 would be disastrous weakening 21.Bd2 Nb8 with idea Nc6)
19.Ne2! Probably the best practical chance because now black bishop is somewhat hanging in the air. Carlsen will probably clean f8 for the retreat.Objectively, 19. a3 might have been better, but Mamedyarov wants to have more options at hand.
19... Rfc8 20.h5 h6 The only move, allowing white to push h6 would be equal to suicide.
21.a3!? Interesting, but of course black doesn't have to take on g5. Actually, Carlsen probably wanted to move this bishop back because staying on b4 has lost its purpose after white played Ne2. With this in mind, perhaps immediate 21. Be3 was better.
21... Bf8 22.Bd2 Rxc1! The best way to reach the equality after next b5-Nb6.
23.Rxc1 Rc8 24.Rf1!? Dreaming about f4-f5, but I think black has sufficient counterplay and white won't be having time to attack.
24... b5 25.f4 Qc6 Inviting Rc1, but Rooks exchange is good for black because it will reduce the pressure over f-file. (25... f5?! 26.g4! (26.exf6 Nxf6 27.f5 Qd7 is harmless)) (25... Nb6 26.f5 exf5!? ( or 26... Qd7 27.f6 Nc4) 27.Qxf5 Nc4 28.Bc1 Re8 29.Nf4 Qc6 30.Nd3!?)
26.Rc1 Qb7 27.Rf1 (27.f5 Rxc1 28.Bxc1 exf5 29.Qxf5 Qc6 is equal.)
27... Qc6 28.Qf3!? Qb6 (28... Nb6! with idea 29.f5 exf5 30.Qxf5 Qe6 31.Qf3 Qd7)
29.f5!? exf5 30. Qxd5 is met by Qc6! and then 31. Qxc6 Rxc6 32. Rxf5 Rc2
30.Bc3 Now Qxd5 is already a threat, probably Qc6 is the only move. It remains unclear why Carlsen played 27...Qb6 in the first place.
30... a5?! Intending b4? It is too slow anyway, White can take on d5 and Nd7 is hanging.
31.Bxa5! Mamedyarov is alert to use the tactical motif of deflection! This is even stronger than 31. Qxd5, because black pieces are poorly coordinated and Qa5 is far from the main course of events.
31... Qxa5 32.Qxf5 32...Qd2 is not threatening much, simply 34. Rf2
32... Qd2 But is completely in accordance with Carlsen's fighting attitude. Not once he came back from lost position by constantly imposing new problems to his opponents, until they crack under the pressure.
33.Qxf7+ Kh8 34.Rf2 ( Of course not 34.Qxd7? Qxe2+ 35.Rf2 Qe4+ 36.Kh3 only move, 36. Kg1 runs into checkmate 36... Qxd4! and now black is much better...)
34... Rd8 Now 35. Qxd5 and e5-e6 finishes the game. ( Interesting was 34... Nxe5!? hoping for a mistake 35.dxe5? Bc5! but white has simple 35. Qe6 or some other neutral move...)
35.Qxd5 Qa5 36.Nf4! Clumsy position of Bf8 and Nd7 allows Mamedyarov to regain the piece and move into endgame with three extra pawns.
36... Qa8 37.Ng6+ And here Carlsen resigned because 37...Kh7 38. Qxa8 Rxa8 39. Rf7! with idea Rxd7 and Nxf8+ fork leaves him with no hope. Fantastic attacking effort by Mamedyarov. Carlsen enjoyed solid position until he made a mistake with 30...a5 and after that there was no way to save the game. This result leaves both of them with 50% score. Thank you everyone for following Chessdom live commentary. The most interesting games are yet to come, stay tuned!
1-0