[Event "London Classic 2nd"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2010.12.08"]
[Round "1"]
[White "McShane, Luke J"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A37"]
[WhiteElo "2645"]
[BlackElo "2802"]
[Annotator "McShane,L"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[EventDate "2010.12.06"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[EventCategory "19"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 140"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2011.01.18"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2011.01.18"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
{[%evp 0,77,19,-12,11,2,18,16,9,4,4,15,4,5,44,30,18,18,23,24,45,32,45,0,36,41,
37,-25,15,22,30,39,26,-3,22,33,28,67,9,33,35,11,71,73,65,65,80,77,65,65,94,100,
84,76,90,90,90,96,98,98,98,116,118,81,117,187,198,219,222,222,184,195,197,191,
198,218,228,228,231,236]} 1. c4 c5 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. Nc3 Nc6 5. Nf3 d6 6.
O-O Nh6 7. d4 $5 {With this interesting idea, White voluntarily gives up the
bishop pair in order to increase his lead in development.} (7. b3 {was played
in Flores-Carlsen at the Khanty Mansiysk-Olympiad in 2010}) 7... cxd4 8. Bxh6
Bxh6 9. Nxd4 Ne5 {[%csl Gc8,Gg2,Gh6][%cal Yg2a8] An ambitious decision,
refusing to simplify the position.} 10. Qb3 O-O 11. Rfd1 {[%csl Rd8,Rh6][%cal
Yc4c5,Yd4f5,Yd1d8] The position is calm on the surface, but the situation is
tense. Black’s queenside is under pressure, but if Black can catch up in
development then his pair of bishops will give him an advantage, so it’s
important for White to keep up the momentum and create threats. This move
creates the idea of c4-c5, and if d6xc5 then Nd4-f5 with a discovered attack.}
Nd7 12. Qa3 a5 13. b4 $5 {[%csl Ga3][%cal Ya3a8,Yc4c5] A brave decision which
took some time. I wanted to seize the initiative before my opponent had a
chance to unravel his queenside. The immediate threat is to advance c4-c5
which would break through the queenside defences.} Ra6 {[%csl Ga6][%cal Ya5b4,
Yb7a6]} (13... Nb6 {was the critical response, hitting c4 and protecting the
rook on a8 so that axb4 becomes possible. Now after} 14. c5 Nc4 15. Qb3 Nd2 $5
{is a surprising shot. During the game I thought White had good chances in the
tactical melee which arises after 16.Qd5!?, but perhaps} 16. Qa4 {is the
correct follow up after all.}) 14. b5 Ra8 {It’s not obvious who has gained
from the pawn’s advance to b5. If White can break through, the advanced pawn
will be an asset, but if Black can get a grip on c5 then the c4-pawn will be a
long term weakness.} 15. e3 a4 16. Rab1 Bg7 17. Ne4 {[%cal Yc4c5] White is
threatening c4-c5 again, which would open the floodgates for the rest of my
pieces. It’s correct to prevent that, but I had foreseen the nice maneouvre
with the other knight.} Qb6 18. Nc6 $1 {[%csl Gc6,Gd5,Re7][%cal Yc6e7,Yc6b4,
Yb4d5]} Re8 ({Capturing the knight wasn’t a great option:} 18... bxc6 19. bxc6
Qc7 (19... Qxc6 20. Nf6+ {wins the queen.}) 20. cxd7 Bxd7 21. c5 {and White
will probably pick up a pawn.}) 19. Nb4 {[%csl Rb6,Gd5,Ge4][%cal Yb4d5,Yc4c5]
Heading for a nice square on d5.} f5 {Certainly ugly, but both of us thought
this was a necessary evil. Perhaps though, moving the queen away was the best
bet.} 20. Nc3 $6 (20. Nd5 $1 Qd8 21. Ng5 $1 {was the strongest continuation,
threatening to hop into the hole on e6. After} Nc5 22. b6 {threatens a fork on
c7. If both the rooks flee then} Rf8 23. Nc7 Rb8 24. Rb5 $1 {is incisive, and
Black has no good answer to Rxc5.}) 20... Qc5 $2 (20... e6 $1 {was the best
defence. I was looking at some ideas with} 21. Na6 $5 {but the position
remains messy. Retreating the knight to d3 should preserve an edge though.})
21. Nxa4 Qa7 22. Na6 $3 {[%csl Ga6,Ra7,Gg2][%cal Yg2a8,Yb5b6,Ya6c7] Certainly
Magnus missed the force of this knight sacrifice. The threat is Na6-c7 and
taking the knight comes with its own problems.} bxa6 (22... Rf8 23. c5 $1 Nxc5
24. N4xc5 dxc5 25. Qxc5 {and the knight still can’t be taken:} bxa6 26. b6 Qb8
27. Qd5+ $18) 23. b6 Nxb6 24. Rxb6 $1 (24. Nxb6 Rb8 {is less convincing.})
24... Rb8 25. c5 $1 Be6 {Black faced an unappealing choice.} ({The alternative
was} 25... dxc5 26. Qxc5 Rxb6 27. Nxb6 Be6 28. Qc6 Bf7 29. Bd5 {and Black is
in huge trouble.} e6 $2 {allows a pretty finish:} 30. Nc8 Qb8 31. Bxe6 $1 Rxe6
32. Rd8+ Bf8 33. Ne7+ $1 Kg7 34. Rxb8 Rxc6 35. Nxc6 {with an easy win.}) 26.
Rdb1 dxc5 27. Rb7 Rxb7 28. Rxb7 Qa8 29. Nxc5 Qc8 (29... Bf7 30. Rxe7 $1 {
is winning comfortably, as a6 will also drop off after the exchange of rooks.}
Qb8 31. Rxe8+ Qxe8 32. Qxa6 {etc.}) 30. Qxa6 Bf7 (30... Qxc5 31. Qxe6+ Kh8 32.
Bc6 {[%csl Re7] wins the e7-pawn as well.}) 31. Bc6 Rd8 32. Nd7 $1 {[%csl Gd7]
[%cal Yb7c7,Ya6b6,Yb7b8] The neatest way to finish. The threat is simply to
play Qb6 followed by Rc7 or Rb8 to trap the queen, and there is no good
response.} Rxd7 (32... Be6 33. Qb6 Rxd7 34. Rb8 $1 {wins with a pin.}) 33. Bxd7
Qc1+ 34. Qf1 Qxf1+ 35. Kxf1 Bc4+ 36. Kg1 Bxa2 37. Ba4 $1 {[%cal Ya4b3] Forcing
off a pair of bishops makes the technical task much simpler.} e5 38. f3 $1 {
A final accurate move. After exchanging bishops, White will play e3-e4 to fix
a weakness on e5 before advancing the king.} Bh6 39. Bb3+ 1-0
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