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Good day everyone, welcome to the Chessdom live coverage of the World Cup. Magnus Carlsen didn't achieve much with white pieces yesterday, but he can play equally sharp with any color. Is Gata Kamsky going to dive into Ruy Lopez, or London system is more probable. We're about to find out... Enjoy!
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 Now this is a surprise! Chigorin-Marshall hybrid that Magnus used in earlier rounds was expected. Is Magnus using Petroff to score quick draw and move into the rapid tiebreaks?
3.d4 (3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 was more common in the recent years.)
3... Nxe4 4.Bd3 d5 (4... Nc6 5.Bxe4 d5 was interesting experiment by Jan Timman, but it didn't last long.)
5.dxe5 (5.Nxe5 Nd7 6.Nxd7 Bxd7 7.O-O is the main line after 3. d4. Kamsky's line is not very ambitious, but perhaps he wants to take Magnus to unexplored field. )
5... Be7 6.O-O Bg4 7.h3 (7.c4 was also tested)
7... Bh5 8.Re1 Both 8...Nc5 and 8...Nc6 looking good. 8...Nc6 9. Bxe4? dxe4 10. Qxd8+ Rxd8 11. Rxe4 Rd1+ 12. Re1Bxf3!
8... Nc6! 9.Nc3 9...Nxe5? is losing because of 10. Bxe4! dxe4 11. Qxd8+ and Nxe5, but 9...Nxc3 10. bxc3 Qd7 is completely equal.
9... Bg6 This allows 10. Nxe4 dxe4 11. Bex4 Qxd1 12. Bxc6+ bxc6 13. Rxd1 Bxc2 and black is left with doubled pawns. But if 10. Nxd5 Qxd5 11. c4!? is working, Magnus might be in trouble. ( Interesting line was 9... Bb4!? 10.Bxe4 dxe4 11.Qxd8+ Rxd8 12.Rxe4 Bxc3 13.bxc3 Rd1+ 14.Kh2 Bxf3 15.gxf3 Kd7) (9... Nxc3 10.bxc3 Qd7 is equal)
10.Bd2 Tame move, allowing Carlsen to regain equality with 10...Nxd2 (10.Nxd5!? Qxd5 11.c4 Qd8 12.Bxe4 Bxe4 13.Qxd8+ Rxd8 14.Rxe4 Rd1+ 15.Kh2 and b3-Bb2 (15.Re1 Rxe1+ 16.Nxe1 Nxe5)) (10.Nxe4 dxe4 11.Bxe4 Qxd1 12.Bxc6+ bxc6 13.Rxd1 Bxc2 14.Re1 Rd8 15.Be3 white has advantage.)
10... Nxd2 11.Qxd2 d4! The only move, but strong enough.
12.Ne4 (12.Bxg6 dxc3! 13.Qxd8+ Rxd8 14.Be4 cxb2)
12... O-O (12... Bb4?! 13.c3 Ba5 (13... dxc3 14.bxc3 Be7 15.Rab1) 14.Rad1)
13.a3 13... Qd7 or 13...Bh5 in the spirit of Open Ruy Lopez
13... Qd5 14.Qf4 (14.Ng3!? Rad8 15.Nf5)
14... Rfe8 15.Re2 Bf8 16.Ng3 Bxd3 17.cxd3 Re6 18.Nh5 Keeping eye on the kingside and having Nf4 in prospect. ( Also interesting was 18.Rae1 with idea Nf5)
18... Rae8 19.Rae1 a5? Magnus is making mistake in severe time trouble. It was necessary to move the Queen away from possible Nf4. Now Qg3 or Qg4 and Black can't defend from both threats - Nf6+ and Nf4.
20.Qg4! Rg6 Otherwise, Black is losing the exchange after Nf4.
21.Nf4 Rxg4 22.Nxd5 Rg6 After 23. Nxc7 white has decisive advantage...
23.g4 Magnus is in time trouble and Kamsky is intentionally playing tricky moves. With g4 he wants to trap Black Rook. (23.Nxc7 was straight winning. 23... Rc8 (23... Rd8 24.e6) 24.Nb5)
24.Nf4 Rh6 25.g5 Re6 26.Nxe6 fxe6 27.Rc1 Rd5 28.Rc4 Bc5 29.h4 Bb6 Good plan would be to advance the King to e4 or f4.
30.Kg2 Ne7 31.h5 Rd8 32.Re4 Good move, holding black pieces tied for d4. Now 32...c5 breaks on 33. b4!
32... Nf5 33. Kh3!? and 34. Nh4
33.Nh4 Kamsky is opting for immediate Nh4. After the trade, Rook will be able to come back on time and cover all the pawns, should Magnus go for Rd5-b5-b3.
33... Ne7 34.Kg3 (34.g6!? to stop Black's g6 and save f4-f5 as option.)
34... g6! Black is still lost, but g6 will provide stronger resistance. Now White doesn't have f4-f5.
35.Kg4 Rd5 36.hxg6 hxg6 Now h-file is open, and there is possibility of crushing attack if Kamsky manages to bring Knight to f6.
37.a4 First preventing counterplay with Rb5. However, now Black can play c5 (no more b4) and Bc7, Nc6 with pressure on e5.
37... Kf7 38.Rc1 Rd8 (38... c5 39.Rh1 Nc6 40.Nf3 Kg7 looked troublesome for White to break)
39.Rh1 Kg7 40.Ng2 Nf5 41.Nf4 Re8 Time control has passed and Kamsky increased his advantage. Plan is simple Re4-e1 and doubling Rooks over the h-file.
42.Ree1 c5 43.Rh3 And Magnus lsen resigned because there is no way to stop penetration over h-file. Congratulations to Gata Kamsky for qualifying to the World Cup final! His opponent will be decided after tomorrow's tiebreak in Karjakin-Shirov. Pity for Magnus who had wonderful tournament, but somebody has to drop out in knockout competitions. Thank you everyone for following Chessdom live coverage, see you again for the final match!
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