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Good day everyone, welcome to the Chessdom live coverage of the Baku Grand Prix. Magnus Carlsen and Gata Kamsky are old friends from the World Cups, American Grandmaster being more successful on both occasions. Carlsen is currently on his peak rating, having tied first place in the last two Grand Slam tournaments. Kamsky is World Cup winner and semifinalist in the World Championship cycle. Everything is set for a great game, enjoy!
1.e4 c6!? Kamsky played 1...e5 in their World Cup match, and Carlsen continued with the Scotch opening. Also here in Baku, Kamsky already allowed Ruy Lopez to Inarkiev and won the game with a wonderful counterattack. Please note that Serbian Chess Federation is in process of collecting funds for GM Dusan Popovic's operation. Alexei Shirov supported the action.
2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 It shouldn't come as surprise that Kamsky is playing Caro-Kann. He already used it extensively on 1989/90 and also later on a couple of occasions. But back then he played the same line as Anatoly Karpov - 4...Nd7. Kasparov beat him once though. This opening perfectly suits Gata's style, he will defend slightly weaker position and wait for a counterattack opportunity or simply to outplay his enemy in the endgame.
5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 Radjabov tried to surprise Anand with 6. Nh3 in 2008 Morelia Linares, but the World Champion equalised without problems. Sometimes this lines is being played without pushing h-pawn at all - 6. Nf3 and 7. Bd3.
6... h6 7.Nf3 Nd7 8.h5 Usually we advance h-pawn when going for an enemy king's throat, but here it is a positional feature. After provoking h6, white wants to block pawn mass on the kingside, preparing to exploit the pluses in distant endgame. White will also want to put his Knight on e5. This strategy was introduced by the great Russian GM Efim Geller. We rarely see direct attack on the King because black usually wait for white to castle and then goes on the same side.
8... Bh7 9.Bd3 Why chasing black bishop all the way to h7, only to allow exchange now? White is planning to castle long and use e4 square to transfer his Knight and Queen, sometimes even a Rook, and since Bh7 is an obvious obstacle, it should be traded.
9... Bxd3 10.Qxd3 e6 10....Nfg6 was more common in the past, but nowadays black have switched to e6 in order to clear the way for check on b4.
11.Bf4 (11.Bd2 This could lead to a desired position for white if black plays Qc7 (see next few comments), however he is not obliged to do so and instead can develop more quickly with 11... Ngf6 12.O-O-O Be7 as GM Bareev played many times.)
11... Qa5+ A good way to disturb white's development and castling plans. White has to retreat the Bishop because in case of 12. c3, black Queen remains on a5 and long castle is not possible (a2 hanging).
12.Bd2 Bb4!? A modern way of forcing c-pawn to move ahead of schedule. ( White would love 12... Qc7 13.O-O-O Ngf6 14.Ne4 with good development, safer King and more options for the c-pawn. Of course, the position is perfectly playable for black, too.)
13.c3 Be7 14.c4 White has to fight for his right to castle long and that is why Qa5 has to be pushed back.
14... Qc7 All this hassle just to provoke white pawn to c4. But now white will be more vulnerable to pawn breaks like c6-c5 or even b7-b5. ( Insisting on 14... Bb4 might turn bad because of weakness on d6 15.Ne4!) (14... Qa6!? still prev ents 0-0-0, but Queen is misplaced on a6 and white can simply switch to 15.O-O! Ngf6 16.Rfe1 black King will be in danger no matter which side it choses for castling.)
15.O-O-O Ngf6 16.Kb1 O-O!? I said earlier that black usually waits to "match" white castle, but this time he is not obliged to do so. Early advance of white's c-pawn is giving some wonderful option to black. Most notable is b5 when black is overtaking d5 square to transfer pieces towards white king, or even a5-a4 as Ivanchuk played against Leko in Morelia Linares and won.
17.Ne4 (17.Rhe1!? is annoying because c5 is met with d4-d5 and on b5 white has Nf5. Black should play simple 17... Rfe8 18.Ne5 b5!?)
17... Rad8 This was played almost exclusively, but young English IM Jovanka Houska, who wrote an excellent Caro-Kann manual for Everyman Books, went for a bold 17...b5.
18.Nxf6+ Nxf6 Somewhat reducing white's attacking potential, but there is a nice outpost for Knight on e5 now.
19.g4!? Somehow we wouldn't expect anything less from Carlsen! This is a common motif of pawn sacrifice in Caro-Kann, but actually a novelty in this particular position. Black is probably forced to take and allow opening of g-file, but the defending resources are good enough to put up a fight.
19... Nxg4 Kamsky is excellent defender and he has faith in black position. Someone soft-hearted might try 19...c5!?
20.Rhg1 f5 (20... Nxf2? 21.Qe3! wins the piece thanks to the Qxh6 threat.)
21.Qe2 Bf6 (21... Qd7 Guarding the backward pawn allows white to pile up with 22.Bf4 and Ne5)
22.Qxe6+ Kh8 (22... Qf7 23.Qxf5 (23.Qxf7+ Rxf7 clearly favors black) 23... Nxf2 24.Rdf1 Bxd4!? with wild complications.)
23.Bb4 Consistently trying to disturb black's coordination. Moving the Bishop also allows Rd1 to protect key pawn on d4. In many lines Bxd4 would be relieving for black. Now two main possibilities for Kamsky are: Rf7 and after white loses tempo to protect f2, black does Qd7... or brave Nxf2 24. Rdf1 Rfe8 with Ne4 next. (23.Qxf5 Nxf2 24.Bf4 (24.Rdf1? Bxd4) 24... Qd7! forcing the Queens exchange after which black has a better endgame.)
23... Rf7 Idea is to play Qd7 and then see what next. 24. Qxf5 is too dangerous because then 24...Nxf2! comes in full power, so probably 24. Rd2 or Rg2.
24.Rd2 Qd7!? Very good, Kamsky is offering Queens exchange because endgame should be good for black. I believe GM Dreev had great success with black in similar structures. The position is simply calling for white's aggression but Magnus is strong enough not to run into the abyss. On 25. d5 black can play Re8, but 25. Qe2 leaves more options. ( Interesting was 24... Nh2!? 25.Ne5 Bxe5 26.dxe5 Rxd2 27.Qe8+ Kh7 28.e6!? Re7 29.Qxe7 Qxe7 30.Bxe7 Rxf2 31.Rg6 with idea Bf8.)
25.Re1!? Qxe6 26.Rxe6 Rfd7 27.Ba5!? Forcing black to release d-file pressure or create a weakness after 27...b6.
27... b6!? 28.Bc3 Okay, Kamsky is not giving a break to d4 pawn, but now he has to take care of his own weakness on c6. 28...c5 29. d5 is risky as it gives white a passed pawn, perhaps 28...Rd6 is the solution. 28....Rc7 is too passive...
28... Rd6 After the Rooks trade, white has queenside pawn majority and prospect of creating a passed pawn, but on the other hand his kingside pawns, particularly h5, could become targets.
29.Rxd6 Rxd6 30.Re2 White is control ling e-file, but this is not of significant importance because Ng4 is holding the Rook tied for f2 pawn. Now both players will move their Kings closer to the center.
30... Kg8 31.Kc2 Perhaps Kamsky will now search for a way to attack h5 pawn, but he also has to count with the looming Ne5+
31... Kf7 32.Ne5+ Nxe5 33.dxe5 Re6 All this was played pretty fast, Kamsky is very confident in similar "simple" positions. He somehow feels which piece should go to which square. After 34. f4 Be7, white has a passer but it's blocked and black will prepare g7-g5.
34.f4 Be7 35.Rh2!? Already anticipating black's g5. 35...g5 36. hxg6+ Rxg6 37. Rh5!? Ke6 with idea Bf8 and Rg4
35... g6 36.hxg6+ Rxg6 37.Kd2!? Bf8 38.Bd4 Rg4 The position is balanced now that each player has a passed pawn.
39.Be3 Kg6 Kamsky wants to play h5-Bh6-h4. Meanwhile, Carlsen will put his King on f3 and perhaps play Rg2!? e5-e6 might be very dangerous for black if he gets too carried away on the h-file.
40.Ke2 h5 41.Kf3 Be7!? More cautious than Bh6, now Bishop stands on the way of white's e-pawn. On the other hand, there is not much pressure on f4 and white Bishop will be free to roam.
42.Bf2 h4 43.Rh1 Kf7 44.Rg1!? 44...h3 45. Rh1! Bh4 46. Bxh4 Rxh4 47. Kg3 Rg4+ is a road to draw.
44... h3 45.Rh1 Bh4 46.Bxh4 Rxh4 47.Kg3 Rg4+ 48.Kf3 Rh4 49.Kg3 Rg4+ 50.Kf3 Rh4 51.Kg3 (Sorry about the delay, there was power outrage) Finally a draw was signed after the threefold repetition. A good fight from both players, Carlsen tried to complicate matters with temporary pawn sacrifice, but Kamsky was up to task and defended well. Thank you everyone for following Chessdom live commentary, round 5 report will be posted around 21 CET. Please note that tomorrow is rest day, join us again on Sunday for the live coverage of the 6th round. Have a nice day!
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