[Event "Candidates Tournament 2020: Round 5 Gam"] [Site "https://lichess.org/study/1sG"] [Date "2020.03.22"] [Result "*"] [Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/BlueRepublik"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "D12"] [Opening "Slav Defense: Quiet Variation, Schallopp Defense"] [StudyName "2020-21 Candidates Tournament Analysis - by GM Marian Petrov"] [ChapterName "Giri Anish-Caruana Fabiano 1/2"] [ChapterURL "https://lichess.org/study/ldhgOlvJ/VBgeh2H1"] [Orientation "white"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 Bf5 5. Nc3 e6 6. Nh4 { immediately targeting the Bishop } 6... Be4 7. f3 { ...declined } 7... Bg6 { and now tblack is happy to trade the bishop after provokng f3 } 8. Bd2 Be7 9. Nxg6 hxg6 { now it's very likely White wants to go to the queenside } 10. Qc2 Nbd7 11. O-O-O { now, Black also has the option of Qc7, and staying flexible with castling rights. Instead, Fabi opts to stay in the center longer } 11... Nb6 12. c5 Nbd7 { this is still known theory: Black now has clear targets, pushing e5 or b6 at some point } 13. Kb1 Qb8 14. h4 g5 { applying pressure to the pinned piece... but opening up lines won't necessarily favor Black } 15. Be1 g4 16. e4 gxf3 17. gxf3 b6 { now b6 is a little late } 18. exd5 exd5 19. cxb6 axb6 20. Ne2 Qa7 21. b3 Nh5 22. Ng3 g6 23. Nxh5 Rxh5 24. f4 { Giri has played very accurately up to this point, and Fabiano can sense that he's in some trouble here. } 24... Kf8 25. Be2 Rh8 { now, there was a lot of excitement to see if Giri would go for the immediate f5! } 26. Bd3 c5 27. Bc3 { white has very promising position with strong bishops and the black king is not so safe } 27... cxd4 (27... c4 28. bxc4 Nf6 $44) 28. Bxd4 Bf6 29. Bxf6 Nxf6 30. f5 gxf5 31. Bxf5 { and this position is very common in many of these lines. Black is in serious trouble } 31... b5? { now, the computer recommends the very subtle Qh2, threatening the Knight. Giri preps these ideas though } 32. Rh2 { now the a pawn is protected by the rook as well, but once again Fabi has a chance to get pieces around his King, but instead opts for a rook lift himself: } 32... Rh5 { and now, the last objective chance in the game for an advantage, Giri misses the sharp line after Rf2: } 33. Re2 { This move took Giri 7 minutes - he had half an hour while Fabi was down to 13 minutes, so he had more time to calculate, but he saw this as a better try. } (33. Rf2 { the pawn looks free, so if taken: } 33... Rxh4 34. Rdf1 $16) 33... d4 34. Re5 Ng4 { black wants to trade some pieces } 35. Rc5 Ne3 36. Rc8+ Rxc8 37. Qxc8+ { not losing material, but there's not solid breakthrough } 37... Ke7 38. Rc1 Nd5 39. Re1+ Ne3 40. Rc1 Nd5 41. Re1+ Ne3 42. Rc1 { draw } *