Candidates Tournament 2013 / Rnd 1

[Event "FIDE Candidates 2013"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2013.03.15"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Aronian, Levon"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E11"]
[WhiteElo "2809"]
[BlackElo "2872"]
[Annotator "Loal Davis"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[EventDate "2013.??.??"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Bxd2+ 5. Qxd2 d5 ({A Bogo-Indian
(Bogojulbov) entails} 5… b6 {a-la Nimzo-Indian and control, but not
necessarily occupation of the central light squares.}) 6. Nc3 O-O 7. e3 Qe7 {
Black has released his semi-cramp (Queen and dark squared Bishop toe-stepping/duplicating their efforts) by his third move which initiated an exchange. The possible down side is that Black has parted with the ‘better’ of his two Bishops – so he needs to come up with a plan for the liberation of his light squared Bishop; that generally means a muscling through an e5 break or a fianchetto.} 8. Rc1 Rd8 9. Qc2 a6 10. a3 Nbd7 11. Be2 dxc4 12. Bxc4 c5 13. Be2 b5 {A fianchetto it is.} 14. dxc5 Qxc5 15. b4 Qe7 16. O-O Bb7 17. a4 {Now almost everything comes off.} Qxb4 18. axb5 axb5 19. Qb1 Qxb1 20. Rxb1 Bxf3 21. Bxf3 Rab8 22. Nxb5 Ne5 23. Nd4 Nxf3+ 24. Nxf3 Rxb1 25. Rxb1 h6 26. h3 g5 27. g4 Kg7 28. Kg2 Rd7 29. Rb2 Rc7 30. Nd4 Nd5 31. Rc2 {Despite the result, a fairly well played game. I believe Carlsen stated before the tournament that he considered Aronian his toughest competition here.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "FIDE Candidates 2013"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2013.03.15"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Svidler, Peter"]
[Black "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D35"]
[WhiteElo "2747"]
[BlackElo "2810"]
[Annotator "Loal Davis"]
[PlyCount "45"]
[EventDate "2013.??.??"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 c5 7. a3 {Not
very ambitious.} (7. Nf3 {appears to top the list of moves striving for an
advantage.}) 7… cxd4 8. cxd4 e5 9. Nf3 exd4 10. Qxd4 Qxd4 11. Nxd4 Be7 {
About the most that can be said for Black’s opening selections is that he has a Queenside Pawn majority.} 12. Be3 O-O 13. Bc4 Nd7 14. Ke2 Nb6 15. Bb3 Bd7 16. Nf5 Bf6 17. Rab1 Rfd8 18. Rhc1 Bb5+ 19. Kf3 Bd3 20. Bc2 Ba6 21. Bb3 Bd3 22. Bc2 Ba6 23. Bb3 {Obviously neither side wants to throw any more imbalance into the position.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "FIDE Candidates 2013"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2013.03.15"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Gelfand, Boris"]
[Black "Radjabov, Teimour"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E11"]
[WhiteElo "2740"]
[BlackElo "2793"]
[Annotator "Loal Davis"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[EventDate "2013.??.??"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]

1. d4 e6 2. c4 Bb4+ 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. Ngf3 O-O 5. a3 Be7 6. e4 d6 7. Be2 Nbd7 8. b4 e5 9. Bb2 a5 10. O-O {Winning the Pawn on e5 wil open up Black’s dark squared Bishop to win the Pawn on b4.} exd4 11. Nxd4 Re8 12. Qc2 Bf8 13. N4b3 axb4 14. axb4 Rxa1 15. Rxa1 c6 16. Bf1 d5 {Radjabov appears to have less fear than many in backing up with pieces and in the initiation of counter-attacks. This may work well for him in subsequent rounds.} 17. exd5 Bxb4 18. dxc6 bxc6 19. Nd4 Qc7 20. N2f3 Bf8 21. g3 Bb7 22. Bg2 Qb6 23. Re1 Rxe1+ 24. Nxe1 c5 25. Nb5 Bc6 26. Qe2 Qb7 27. Bxf6 Nxf6 28. Bxc6 Qxc6 29. Ng2 g6 30. Nc3 h5 31. Nf4 Qe8 32. Kf1 Qxe2+ 33. Kxe2 Nd7 34. Nd3 Nb6 35. Ne4 Nxc4 36. Nexc5 1/2-1/2

[Event "FIDE Candidates 2013"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2013.03.15"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Ivanchuk, Vassily"]
[Black "Grischuk, Alexander"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E05"]
[WhiteElo "2757"]
[BlackElo "2764"]
[Annotator "Loal Davis"]
[PlyCount "88"]
[EventDate "2013.??.??"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 {An Open Catalan – which resembles a Queen’s Gambit Accepted.} 7. Qc2 a6 8. Qxc4 b5 9. Qc2 Bb7 { Two nice diagonals for the Bishop, but Black should get in c5 at some point so he is not hampered by a backward Pawn on a semi-open file.} 10. Bg5 Nbd7 11. Bxf6 Nxf6 12. Nbd2 Rc8 13. Nb3 Be4 14. Qc3 Nd5 15. Qd2 c5 {Done – with good play this should be equal.} 16. Nxc5 Bxc5 17. dxc5 Rxc5 18. Rfc1 Rxc1+ 19. Rxc1 Qa8 20. Bf1 Bxf3 21. exf3 Rc8 22. h4 h5 23. Bd3 Rxc1+ 24. Qxc1 Qd8 25. a3 g6 26. Be4 Qf6 27. Qd2 Kg7 28. f4 Nb6 29. b3 Nd5 30. Kg2 Qa1 31. Bxd5 exd5 32. Qxd5 Qxa3 33. Qe5+ Kg8 34. Qe8+ Qf8 35. Qc6 Qb4 36. f5 {Good – White does not want to allow three Pawns holding back a crippled set of four; this would give Black a potential passed Pawn on the Queenside and good winning chances.} Qxb3 37. fxg6 Qe6 {A nice try, but White’s Kingside Pawns are now expressing themselves; a counterbalance to Black’s Queenside Pawns.} 38. gxf7+ Kxf7 39. Qb7+ Kg6 40. Kf3 Qf7+ 41. Qxf7+ Kxf7 42. Ke4 a5 43. f3 a4 44. Kd3 a3 1/2-1/2