S. Mamedjarov - A. Grischuk
Baku 2008, Round 10

Hello, dear ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the 10th Round of FIDE Grand Prix Baku, together with me, GM Sergey Shipov. I will be your guide in the labyrinths of chess variations. The tournament is close to its final, no more free days. The leader of the tournament, Alexander Grischuk is close to his goal, but I am pretty sure that other rivals will not leave him alone and will keep on fighting till the end. There are no losers in the chess world... The weather in Baku has changed, it is raining cats and dogs. Keeping in mind that walking in rain is very healthy, I decided to take "a promenade". My mind is fresh, and I feel relieved! Now, I will definetely be able to count several challenging variations... Let's check! 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 Slav defense. 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 An artful order of moves that excludes the variants of a quick takeover of c4 pawn and the variant of escape of the bishop to f5. 4...a6 A transition into the Chebanenko variant.
	[On 4...Bf5 not pleasant 5.Qb3!]
5.Qc2 This lane is very familiar to us! The black bishop is not allowed to advance onto f5. 5...e6 No need! Black is satisfied with White spending time on queen movement instead of devoting the same amount of time to full valued developed move. a7-a6 will soon be needed... 6.Nf3 c5 A popular continuation. Black, even with loss of tempo, delivers the pawn to c5, opens up the centre, and most importantly brings the queen's knight onto c6, which is an ideal spot. 7.cxd5 exd5 Always possive c8 bishop cannot complain about anything. All the routes are open for him. Black is ready to play the game with an isolated d5 pawn. Grischuk has a great experience in playing such kind of positions, since all his youth he used to play Tarrasch defense with Black. 8.Be2 It is not worth exchanging c5 pawns for White provided they having the bishop on f8. If Black wastes tempo on placing bishop on either e7 or d6... 8...Nc6 9.O-O Right now, Black has to make a choice - to support the tension in the centre or remove it? 9...Be6 Sasha is playing in the most principal way by keeping the bishop on f8 till the end and making all possibly useful moves. A classical struggle for tempo! 10.Rd1 White has a better option of useful moves. After all, it has already driven out the king from the centre and is ready for further complications... 10...Nb4 This is a pioneer move, (what if the rival misses the queen!), but it is a beginning of the theory of a deep calculated combination of Black.
	[It is not enough for balance 10...cxd4 11.Nxd4 Nxd4 12.exd4 Be7 13.Qb3 b5 14.Bg5 Qd6 15.Bf3 Rd8 16.a4 b4 17.Ne2 O-O 18.Bf4 Qb6 19.Be5 Qa5 20.Nf4 and White gained initiative in the Fridman - David game, Tourin, 2006.]
11.Qb1 Here comes the first surprise!
	[The most basic here was 11.Qd2 However, the last experience of Shakriyar in this direction turned out to be unsuccessful: 11...Ne4 12.Nxe4 dxe4 13.Ne5 cxd4 14.exd4 Bd6 15.a3 Nd5 16.Qc2 f5 17.f3 Bxe5 18.dxe5 Qb6+ 19.Kh1 Rc8 20.Qa4+ Qc6 21.Qd4 Qc2 22.fxe4 fxe4 23.Bd2 O-O 24.Rac1 Qb3 25.Rxc8 Rxc8 26.Qxe4 Qxb2 27.Bc4 Nf4! and Black, finally, won, Mamedjarov - Navara, Meinz, 2007.]
11...Qc8 The queen is preparing the capture of other queen. Be6-f5 is menacing! 12.e4 Central explosion!
	[Extremely passive 12.Bd2 Bf5 13.Qc1 c4! and Black is going to receive a magnificent game.]
12...dxe4 A novelty!
	[In Dreev - Jakovenko, Moscow, 2005, White did not receive an advantage after 12...Nxe4 13.Re1 Be7 14.Nxe4 dxe4 15.Qxe4 O-O 16.a3 Qc6! 17.Qb1 Nd5 18.Bd3 h6 19.Ne5 Qc8 etc. Perhaps, today's rivals know how to intensify the game of White...]
13.Nxe4 Bravely going into pin!
	[Pawn sacrifice seemed tempting 13.Ng5 Bf5 14.Be3 and thanks to a better development, White is getting an specific compensation.]
13...Bf5 14.Nfg5 A cunning dance with knights is needed in order not to be left without a piece. I am sure that at the moment, the chess players are doing nothing, but analysis of home preparation... Grischuk is in deep thoughts! 14...Nxe4 Hesitations did not last long.
	[After 14...cxd4 it led to a balance 15.Rxd4 Qc2 16.Bf3
		(16.Bf4 Qxb1+ 17.Rxb1 Nc6! 18.Ra4 Nd5!)
	16...Bc5! 17.Rd2 Qxb1 18.Rxb1 Be7 But what led to the White advantage? The answer is not evident. You should better ask Shakriyar...]
15.Nxe4 The knight-shiftman also turned out to be pinned. However, he has a sufficient number of defenders - now the bishop may stand on f3. For instance, in response to 15...Qe6. The Black has only one, but crucial problem - the king is open to be attacked. Two tempos, as minimum, are required for salvation. This is too much... It is much simplier to escape with the king onto the queenside. But, is it a safe place for him? White , with move Bc1-f4 can attack him. In a nutshell, it is important to think over it. 15...cxd4
	[I will translate the words into the chess language: continuation 15...Qe6 left some questions about the salvation of the black king. 16.Bf3 O-O-O 17.Bf4!]
16.Rxd4 Without the knights on f6 and g5, the situation for White is much better. The advance of the black queen to c2 does not give an exact balance. Looking at the watch, we can easily define who has prepared better in the opening stage: 1.42 - 0.47! Grischuk has thought almost one hour more. And his position is alarming... Studying the game and making deep analysis, I cannot find any improvements for Black. The gap in time is getting wider: 1.42 - 0.35. It is time to make quick decisions. I guess, this 16...Nc6 is more preferable. 16...Be7 This move also has a logical explanation. g8 route is open for the king. However, it is not clear how Sasha is going to react to a strong attack 17.Bg5!
	[To 16...Qc2 is unpleasant 17.Bf4! with an idea 17...Qxe2 18.Nf6+! gxf6 19.Qxf5 an inevitable destruction is awaiting Black.]
	[In case of 16...Qc2 17.Bf4 Qxb1+ 18.Rxb1 Nc6 19.Ra4! White receive an advantage, by moving b1 rook (to c1) and penetrating the knight to c5 or d6.]
	[In case of 16...Qe6 White responded 17.Bg5 so that, after 17...Be7 18.Bxe7 Qxe7 19.Nd6+ Qxd6 20.Rxd6 Bxb1 21.Rxb1 Nc6
		(21...O-O 22.Rb6! to get a stable advantage in the ending.)
	22.Rbd1]
	[I guess that the following left greater chances for a beneficial ending. 16...Nc6 17.Rd5 Bg6!]
17.Bg5 Exactly like that. The White knight wants to pose check to d6. Shakriyar is not hurrying... The move is quite evident- it is important to move the bishop to f4. However, the time left is so much that one wants to use it: 1.20 - 0.28. 17...f6 A forced weakening. Black is gaining tempo for a long awaited salvation of the king.
	[It is bad 17...Bxg5?! 18.Nd6+ Kf8 19.Nxf5!]
18.Bd2 An unexpected move. White is hurring b4 knight to go away, but the last didn't want to stay on that square!
	[I was invastigating the line 18.Bf4 Nc6 19.Rd2 O-O 20.Qc1! and came to conclusion that White's line is much better]
18...Nc6 19.Rd5 The seizure on f5 is threatening followed by a jump of the knight to d6. White has to hurry up - to use the small weakness of Black formation is possible just by exact actions. A tinest inaccuracy, and the advatage will disappear like morning mist. The Black pawn structure is quite boring, there is no factual weaknesses.... I have some suspisions that Mamedyarov made that smallest inaccuracy by making 18.Bd2 move. However, there is no assurance yet. Perhaps, Shakhriyar has thought of something really cunning... 19...Bg6 Indeed, it would be advantageous to keep the pin on h7-b1 diagonal. Regardless my efforts, I could find any dangerous continuation for Black. Lenthily thinking of Azerbaijani GM means that he also cannot... He couldn't fulfill his plans. Something is wrong! From the side, it's hardly possible to guess what the player has missed A chess player might see something unusual that others cannot. He may discover some delicate lines by missing the easiest response at the first move. Everything is possible, especially when a player is exhausted.
	[The following move seems to be favorable and beneficial 19...Ne5 that frees the c6 square for the queen.]
	[Without directly denying the move 19...O-O it is unpleasant to leave bishop under the fire on f5. Obviously, the best way not to miscount is to place the pieces firmly by repeatedly defending them.]
20.Bd3 This is the most rational decision. The bishop is compensating the bishop's pressure. 20...O-O Ooooh! Now Grishuk's fans can relax. The worst is over for their favourite. Anyways, much more work is ahead of him. Mamedjarov seems to be bored. The guy is definetely upset! He has made a good home preparations, thus forcing the rival to solve these challenging problems, gained a positional advantage and one hour of extra time. However, all his privileges are about to fade away. It's a pitty! 21.Nc5 this leads to the simplification and equality. But I can offer anything better.... 21...Bxc5 22.Rxc5 Bxd3 23.Qxd3 The Black knight is not worse than White bishop. It placed firmly on c6 - one can hardly knock him down. 23...Qe8 It's a good move
	[Evidently, Sasha thought that after 23...Qe6 24.Qc4 this ending was fraught with problems for Black.... I don't think so!]
24.Rd5 White pieces are located actively, but whom they are attaking? Emtiness... 24...Qf7 The queen is protecting the weak squares. Now, there is rooks turn. 25.Bc3 The bishop is leaning to f6 pawn, as a huge bulldozer to the stone wall. It can hardly force through. 25...Rad8 My enthusiasm concerning "the long struggle" is fading away..... 26.Rxd8 Rxd8 27.Qe3 Rd7 Strong and stronger! 28.h3 h6 No time trouble can prevent Grishuk to play in such simple and safe position. 29.a3 Kh7 The eachange of firm moves is countinuing. The GMs would agree for the draw in another championship. But not here! They should think over something... 30.Re1 One can't see a credible repeatition of moves. 30...Re7 31.Qd3+ Qg6 The further excanges are inevitable. 32.Rd1 Qxd3 33.Rxd3 Kg6 34.g4 h5 When you play with a knight against bishop, it's useful to narrow the square of struggle. 35.Kg2 hxg4 36.hxg4 Ne5 Spillage and simplification is continueing. 37.Bxe5 Rxe5 The remarks are unuseful. 38.Rd7 Rb5 39.b4 a5 40.bxa5 Rxa5 41.Rxb7 Rxa3 42.Rc7 A draw! The most interesting was the openning stage that started from 12 till 18 th move. More likely, White lost the advantage, and the game became boring and equal. Grishuk has defended his leading position. The manifesting ending is coming soon. GM Sergey Shipov was working for you at the commentator's desk. Thank you for attention. Till tomorrow! 1/2-1/2