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Magnus Carlsen and David Navara have played only two games thus far, one ended in a draw, while Navara won with black at the last year Corus. Unfortunately, young Czech is currently on the last place in Baku with only 2.5 points. Hopefully, his form will improve to rejoin the 2700+ club. Read also how Navara describes himself. Live commentary starts at 12:00 CET/6:00 EST, see you there!
1.e4 Last time they played Gruenfeld Indian defence and Navara won.
1... e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 O-O 8.c3! And I was just about to "complain" over another Anti-Marshall! Carlsen is very flexible in his preparation and he easily adopts new openings. Navara on the other hand is insisting on this setup with black pieces.
8... d6! We're witnessing a small psychological war here :) Black was ready to play Anti-Marshall, but not the main Marshall Attack! Or perhaps Navara didn't expect 8. c3 and wanted to avoid opponents preparation.
9.h3 Bb7 A very popular Zaitsev variation, invented by Karpov's trainer. It is actually an improved Smyslov variation, which was starting with 9....h6 10. d4 Re8 etc. The main difference is that white can't play normal 12. Nf1, black is quickly organizing pressure against e4 pawn.
10.d4 Re8 11.Nbd2 Bf8 Now white has several ways to complete the development. Most played is 12. a4 with Bc2 next. Equally good is 12. d5 with some sort of Zaitsev-Breyer hybrid. Finally, the "tame" but tricky 12. a3 shouldn't be forgotten.
12.d5 Nb8 ( Devoted advocates of this variation, like GMs Nikolic and Beliavsky, who invented huge part of the theory in Zaitsev, like to use 12... Ne7 13.Nf1 Ng6)
13.Nf1 Nbd7 By the way , few months ago I asked Nikolic how can he come up with so many different ideas in this variation and he said: "Well, those kids seem to know everything today. I'm just trying to confuse them by deviating from their preparation!"
14.N3h2 (14.Ng3 when white is not going for the knight exchange 14... Nc5 15.Bc2 c6 16.b4 Ncd7 17.dxc6 Bxc6 18.Bb3 h6 19.Nh2 is in some regard similar to the game continuation, but now black can play Nb6. That is why white are trying to play Ng4 and trade the Nf6.)
14... Nc5 15.Bc2 c6 16.b4 Ncd7 17.dxc6 Bxc6 18.Bg5 Believe it or not, Bg5 is almost exclusively played in all games. Kasparov tried 18. Ng4 against Ivanchuk once, the game ended in a draw. Almost all top grandmasters have played Zaitsev, with white or black, and of course many of us mortals have picked up the trend. There are several books on the variation, I could recommend those by Johnsen/Johannessen and by GM Mihail Marin.
18... Qc7 19.Bxf6 Nxf6 20.Ng4 Nxg4 (20... Be7 21.Nxf6+ Bxf6 Navara found himself twice in this position within the last few months. He beat Ivanov with white but lost badly with black to Zoltan Almasi in Reggio Emilia.)
21.hxg4 Bb7 This is a novelty, black have tried Qb7 and Bd7 before. I believe Navara wants to continue with Rad8 and d5, getting rid of the backward pawn.
22.Re3 Be7 Idea is to take the weakened dark-squares under control. This Bishop could end up on f4. (22... Rad8 23.Bb3 d5!? 24.exd5 a5! was very interesting.)
23.Bb3 Bg5 24.Rf3 Rf8!? Rather than Re7. Curious decision :) 25. Bd5 g6 and perhaps a5 later.
25.Qe2 Maybe it's time for a6-a5, to prevent white's own a2-a4. Rf8 is tied for f7 defence and then the threat of axb5 could be annoying.
25... Bc8!? Bishop goes to e6 to annihilate the pressure on the diagonal. probably safer option then pushing a5.
26.Rd1!? Be6 ( There is no time to grab the g4 pawn 26... Bxg4!? 27.Rxf7! Rxf7 28.Qxg4 with some advantage to white.)
27.Ne3!? Carlsen is offering c3 pawn, but he will get a strong initiative in return, for example 27...Qxc3 28. Nd5 Qc6 29. Rc3 and Rc7. Of course, Navara can simply ignore it with Rd8...
27... Bxe3 It looks like Navara didn't even bother to consider taking on c3. (27... Bxb3 28.axb3 Qxc3 29.Nd5 Qc6 30.Rc3 Qb7 31.Rc7 Qb8 where white has normal compensation for the pawn, but it is not so pleasant for black, and that is why Navara didn't go for this adventure.)
28.Rxe3 a5!? Navara is not consent to remain strictly defensive, finally some of the white's weaknesses might come up to the surface. Straightforward 29. Qxb5 Bxg4 30. Rc1 axb4 might even hand the initiative to black.
29.Bxe6 fxe6 30.a3 axb4 31.cxb4 Qd7 Useful fact for black is that his Rook on a6 would protect d6 and attack a3 at the same time.
32.g5!? (32.Rc3 with idea Rcd1 is interesting.)
32... Rac8 33.Red3 Rc6 34.R3d2 Ra6!? after some circling around, the Rook finally found its nest on a6. Well, it might be a bit late now, because 35. a4!? could work in white's favor. 34...Rb8 was perfectly safe.
35.a4! Of course, Carlsen immediately grabbing the opportunity! bxa4 is not possible because Ra6 would be hanging and after Rxa4 white can take on d6.
35... Rxa4 36.Rxd6 Qf7 This prevents Qxb5, so white should play Rb1 first and consolidate before threatening to take on b5. 37. Rd7 gives nothing after strong reply Qf4!
37.Rd8 Rxb4 38.R1d7 Qf4 The best move, black is threatening Rb1+ and Rxe4. Carlsen probably has to trade one pair of Rooks on f8 and avoid trouble with f2 in some lines.
39.Qa2!? Practically forcing black to go after the perpetual check. Anything else beside Rb1+ is bad.
39... Rb1+ 40.Qxb1 Qxf2+ 41.Kh2 Qh4+ 42.Kg1 Qf2+ 43.Kh2 Qh4+ 44.Kg1 Qf2+ 45.Kh2 Qh4+ and game is drawn. Navara will be happy to have improved the variation in which he was defeated few months ago. Carlsen, on the other hand, revealed that he is also prepared for the main lines of Marshall Attack. Perhaps we get to see some action there in the remaining rounds. Thank you everyone for following Chessdom live coverage, see you again tomorrow at 12 CET / 6 EST. Have a nice day all.
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