Magnus Carlsen Maintains Top Position

Magnus Carlsen Maintains Top Position

Carlsen has 2.5/3 points after today's fighting draw the ever-dangerous Alexander Morozevich. Carlsen attempted to play a Grunfeld, however had to switch gears after Moro's 4. Bg5. Carlsen emerged from the opening with a space advantage and pawn storming attack against white's king. While Morozevich is reknown for his attacking prowess, he is also an experienced and cool-headed defender. He reduced black's pressure by sacrificing a pawn with 33. d6!? and exchanged pieces while winning back the pawn on c4 (39. Rxc4). It seemed that a draw was likely as the players reached the time control at move 40, however Morozevich attempted to push forward due to his good knight vs Carlsen's bad dark-squared bishop. Carlsen defended accurately and Morozevich forced a perpetual check, ending the game in 52 moves.

Carlsen Regroups to Attack - Position after 22. ...Bf8

[Event "44th Biel Tornament 2011"]

[Site "Biel, Switzerland"]

[Date "2011.07.20"]

[Round "3"]

[White "GM Morozevich"]

[Black "GM Carlsen"]

[Result "1/2-1/2"]

[WhiteElo "2694"]

[BlackElo "2821"]

[Opening "Grunfeld: Stockholm variation"]

[ECO "D80"]

[NIC "GI.03"]

[Time "07:40:38"]

[TimeControl "7200+0"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bg5 Ne4 5. Nxe4 dxe4 6. Qd2 Bg7 7. e3 c5 8.

d5 Nd7 9. Ne2 Ne5 10. Nc3 f5 11. Be2 Nf7 12. Bh4 O-O 13. f3 exf3 14. gxf3

Qd6 15. Bg3 e5 16. O-O-O Bd7 17. Kb1 a6 18. e4 f4 19. Bf2 Rab8 20. h4 b5 21.

Rc1 Rfc8 22. Ka1 Bf8 23. Nd1 a5 24. cxb5 Bxb5 25. Bxb5 Rxb5 26. Nc3 Rb4 27.

Rc2 c4 28. Rhc1 a4 29. a3 Rb3 30. Qe2 Qa6 31. Nb1 Nd6 32. Nd2 Nb5 33. d6

Nxd6 34. Qf1 Rb7 35. Qh3 Re8 36. h5 g5 37. Bc5 Rc7 38. Bxd6 Qxd6 39. Rxc4

Rxc4 40. Nxc4 Qe6 41. Qg2 Be7 42. Nd2 Kg7 43. Nb1 Kh6 44. Rc7 Rc8 45. Rxc8

Qxc8 46. Qg4 Qc4 47. Qf5 Bc5 48. Qxe5 Bd4 49. Qd6+ Kxh5 50. Qd7 Kg6 51. Qf5+

Kh6 52. Qh3+ Kg7 {Game drawn} 1/2-1/2

Shirov Explodes Caruana from Bishop’s Opening

Alexei Shirov is one of my all-time favorite players, continuing Mikhail Tal's tradition of playing creative, exciting, and above all - attacking chess. His "take no prisoners" style has backfired lately, as he has been in a slump with poor results. During this game, I was amused by Hikaru Nakamura's online commentary about Morozevich and Shirov:

"Moro is brilliant and knows how to set a fire on the board without pouring endless gasoline on his own position. Shirov on the other hand... He pours endless gasoline and eventually it all explodes". - Nakamura

Shirov, as white, opened calmly with the Bishop's Opening against Caruana - aiming for a positional middlegame instead of a sharp opening struggle. Caruana aimed to attack with 11. ...Ng5 12. ...Bg4 and 13. ...Qc8 - and Shirov welcomed the complications 16. d5 and 17. f4!? Many pieces were exchanged and the resulting position was roughly equal until Caruana jettisoned his protected past d-pawn with 31. ...d3?! Shirov quickly surrounded and won the pawn - resulting in a Q+B Vs Q+N endgame where white had an extra pawn but a scattered pawn structure. It seemed that Caruana could hold the position, however he played inaccurately and inattentively - allowing Shirov to first consolidate his position and relocate his king to the healthy queenside, then launch a decisive attack against black's kingside. Shirov finished the game with a simple tactical shot on move 63 to dispatch the young Caruana.

Shirov Vs Carlsen - Final Position After 63. Bg6+

Photos and Game PGNS are available at the Official Site