[Event "Dresden ol (Men) 38th"]
[Site "Dresden"]
[Date "2008.11.20"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Sargissian, Gabriel"]
[Black "Grischuk, Alexander"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E15"]
[WhiteElo "2642"]
[BlackElo "2719"]
[Annotator "Stohl,I"]
[PlyCount "127"]
[EventDate "2008.11.13"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2009.01.28"]
[WhiteTeam "Armenia"]
[BlackTeam "Russia"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "ARM"]
[BlackTeamCountry "RUS"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. Qc2 $5 c5 {White's 5-th move is an
introduction to a quickly developing line (The article in CBM 116 is by now
practically outdated!) with a positional P-sacrifice, which is very popular
amongst the world elite.} ({However, not everyone is willing to enter the
complications with Black, so they look for ways out. The most usual one is} 
5... Bb4+ {More harmonious and more popular is} 6. Bd2 (6. Nbd2 O-O 7. Bg2 d5
8. O-O c5 $5 9. dxc5 Bxc5 10. cxd5 (10. Ne5 Nbd7 11. Qa4 Bb7 12. Nxd7 Nxd7 13.
Nb3 Qc7 14. cxd5 Bxd5 15. Bf4 Qb7 16. Bxd5 exd5 17. Rfd1 Rfe8 18. Qb5 a6 19.
Qd3 Nf6 20. Rac1 Rac8 21. Rc2 h6 $11 {L'Ami,E (2598)-Adams,M (2724)/London/
2007/}) 10... Nxd5 11. Nb3 Nd7 12. Ng5 g6 13. Ne4 Be7 14. Nd4 Qc8 15. Nc6 Bc5
16. b4 Qxc6 17. bxc5 bxc5 $5 $11 {/~~} (17... f5 18. Ng5 h6 19. Nf3 Qxc5 20.
Qa4 Bb5 21. Qh4 Bxe2 22. Qxh6 $36 {Pantsulaia,L (2580)-Petrik,T (2487)/Dresden
olm/2008/})) 6... Be7 {White can also play the natural developing move} (6...
Qe7 7. Bg2 (7. a3 $142 $5) (7. e4 $14) 7... c6 8. O-O O-O 9. Bf4 d5 10. cxd5
cxd5 11. a3 Rc8 12. Qa4 Bd6 13. Bxd6 Qxd6 14. Re1 Qc6 $11 {/=/+,Vavrak,P (2466)
-Petrik,T (2485)/SVK-ch Zvolen/2008/}) 7. Bg2 (7. e4 d5 8. cxd5 Bxf1 9. Kxf1
exd5 10. e5 Ne4 11. Nc3 Nxc3 ({Taking the B with} 11... Nxd2+ {doesn't seem
too logical, but even here after} 12. Qxd2 (12. Nxd2 $5 {/\f4,Nf3+/=}) 12...
Qd7 13. Kg2 Nc6 14. Qc2 O-O 15. Qa4 Rfd8 16. Rac1 Na5 17. Qxd7 Rxd7 18. Rhd1 c6
19. Ne1 Rad8 20. Na4 f6 21. Nd3 fxe5 22. Nxe5 Rc7 23. b3 Bd6 24. f4 g6 25. Nb2
Rdc8 26. Nbd3 c5 $132 {/+/=, Sargissian,G (2673)-Alekseev,E (2716)/EU-chT
Heraklio/2007/ Black was only slightly worse.}) 12. bxc3 (12. Bxc3 Qd7 13. h4
Nc6 14. Kg2 Nd8 15. Ng5 Bxg5 16. hxg5 g6 17. Bd2 Ne6 18. Be3 c5 19. Qd2 Rc8 20.
Rh4 Qd8 21. Rd1 cxd4 22. Bxd4 Qxg5 23. Qxg5 Nxg5 24. Be3 Ne6 25. Rxd5 Ke7 $11 {
Ni Hua (2710)-Zhigalko,S (2592)/Dresden olm/2008/ The _|_ is about equal and
Black lost only due to later mistakes.}) 12... Qd7 13. Kg2 (13. h4 Nc6 $142 (
13... h6 14. e6 $1 Qxe6 15. Re1 Qd6 16. Bf4 Qd8 17. Ne5 $5 (17. Kg2 Nc6 18. Qa4
Qd7 19. Re2 Rd8 20. c4 O-O 21. cxd5 Nb4 22. Qxd7 Rxd7 23. Ne5 Rxd5 24. a3 Na6
25. Ng6 fxg6 26. Rxe7 Rf7 27. Re8+ Rf8 28. Re7 Rf7 29. Re8+ Rf8 {1/2, Tkachiev,
V (2657)-Pelletier,Y (2607)/Evry/2008/}) 17... O-O 18. Qf5 Bd6 19. Ng4 $1 Bxf4
20. gxf4 Nc6 21. Rg1 Kh8 22. Qh5 Qd6 23. f5 Rae8 24. Rxe8 Rxe8 25. f6 Qe6 26.
fxg7+ Kxg7 27. Nxh6+ Kf8 28. Nf5 Qe1+ 29. Kg2 Qe4+ 30. f3 {1-0, Safin,S (2510)
-Carlsson,P (2515)/Dresden olm/2008/ A powerful attacking performance by White!
}) 14. h5 (14. Ng5 $5 {Pelletier is more consistent}) 14... O-O 15. Re1 Rae8
16. Kg2 Nd8 17. Bg5 Ne6 18. Bxe7 Qxe7 19. Nh4 Qg5 20. Nf5 f6 $1 $132 {Sakaev,K
(2634)-Tomashevsky,E (2646)/Serpukhov/2007/}) 13... Nc6 14. c4 Nd8 $1 15. Qb3 (
{Less effective is now} 15. e6 $6 fxe6 16. Ne5 Qd6 $1 17. Qa4+ c6 18. c5 bxc5
19. Bf4 O-O $1 20. dxc5 Qxc5 21. Nd7 Rxf4 22. Qxf4 Qd6 23. Qxd6 Bxd6 24. Rhc1
Kf7 $36 {[%csl Gc6,Gd5,Ge6] [+],Kourousis,E (2191)-Tomashevsky,E (2658)/EU-ch
Plovdiv/2008/}) ({Ani po} 15. cxd5 Qxd5 16. Qa4+ c6 17. Rhc1 Kd7 $5 18. Bb4 b5
19. Qa3 Bxb4 20. Qxb4 a5 $13 {Huzman,A (2590)-Carlsen,M (2786)/ECC Kallithea/
2008/}) 15... c6 16. Rhc1 Ne6 17. Rab1 O-O 18. cxd5 Qxd5 19. Qxd5 cxd5 20. Rb5
Rfd8 21. a4 Rd7 22. Kf1 f6 23. Be3 Kf7 $11 {/+/=, Sakaev,K (2634)-Tomashevsky,
E (2646)/Serpukhov/2007/}) 7... O-O $142 $1 {limits White's options:} (7... c6
{can be met by the original and promising} 8. c5 $5 O-O (8... d5 9. cxd6 Bxd6
10. Nc3 $14) 9. Na3 Bb7 (9... Nd5 $5) 10. b4 a5 $2 11. Nc4 Nd5 12. Rb1 $1 axb4
13. Nxb6 Nxb6 14. Rxb4 Ra6 15. Qb3 d5 16. Rxb6 Rxb6 17. cxb6 c5 18. O-O c4 19.
Qb2 Nc6 20. a4 Qd7 21. a5 $18 {Topalov,V (2791)-Zhigalko,S (2592)/Dresden olm/
2008/}) 8. O-O c6 9. Bf4 (9. Rd1 d5 10. b3 Nbd7 {leads to the Queen's Indian/
Catalan line, which was the topic of M.Marin's surveys in CBM 121 and 122.})
9... d5 10. Nbd2 Nbd7 11. Rfc1 c5 12. Qa4 Bb7 13. Ne5 cxd4 14. cxd5 Nxe5 15.
Bxe5 Bxd5 16. Qxd4 Bc5 17. Bxf6 Bxd4 18. Bxd8 Rfxd8 19. Bxd5 Rxd5 20. Rc2 Rad8
$11 {Nakamura,H (2704)-Ivanchuk,V (2786)/Cap d'Agde rpd/2008/}) ({However,
even the more exotic} 5... Nc6 $5 {hasn't been refuted:} 6. Nbd2 d5 7. Qa4 (7.
cxd5 Qxd5 8. e4 Nb4 9. Qa4+ Qd7 10. Qxd7+ Nxd7 11. Bxa6 Nxa6 12. O-O Nf6 13. a3
c5 14. Re1 Be7 15. Ne5 Rc8 16. b4 cxd4 17. Ndf3 Nb8 18. Nxd4 Nfd7 19. Nef3 O-O
20. Bf4 Nc6 21. Rac1 Nxd4 22. Nxd4 g5 $132 {Aronian,L (2741)-Carlsen,M (2698)/
Moscow/2006/}) 7... Bb7 8. Bg2 Qd7 9. cxd5 exd5 10. O-O Bd6 11. Nb1 Ne4 12.
Nfd2 {Rather artificial manoeuvres} Ne7 $5 13. Qb3 Ng5 14. Nc3 Ne6 15. Nf3 c5
16. Rd1 Rc8 17. Bh3 f5 18. Nb5 c4 19. Nxd6+ Qxd6 20. Qa4+ Bc6 21. Qc2 O-O 22.
Bd2 Bd7 23. Bc3 f4 $15 {Nielsen,P (2662)-Izoria,Z (2610)/Dresden olm/2008/}) 6.
d5 exd5 7. cxd5 Bb7 8. Bg2 Nxd5 9. O-O Be7 {All these moves are made almost
automatically nowadays.} ({The experiments with} 9... Nc7 {are now rare - it's
enough to realize that in our game Grischuk later plays this move when White
has already invested a tempo into 11.a3 and still gets compensation.}) (9...
Nc6 10. Rd1 Be7 {only transposes into the 10...Nc6 line from the following
note.}) (9... Qc8 10. a3 Be7 11. e4 Nc7 12. Nc3 O-O 13. Be3 d6 14. Rad1 Nba6
15. h4 h6 16. Rfe1 Rd8 17. Kh2 Bf8 18. h5 Qg4 19. Nh4 Qxh5 20. f4 g5 21. Bf3 g4
22. Bg2 f5 23. Qb3+ Qf7 24. Qxf7+ Kxf7 25. Nxf5 $44 {|^, Prakash,G (2397)
-Laxman,R (2478)/New Delhi op/2009/}) 10. Rd1 {Apart from this solid move
White experimented with 2 tactical tries:} (10. Qe4 Na6 $5 ({This is more
ambitious than} 10... Bc6 11. Ne5 Nf6 12. Nxc6 Nxc6 13. Qa4 O-O 14. Rd1 Nd4 15.
Nc3 b5 16. Qa6 b4 17. Nd5 Nxd5 18. Bxd5 Rb8 19. Bf4 Qb6 20. Qc4 d6 21. e3 Nb5
22. g4 Nc7 23. Be4 g6 24. Rd2 Rbd8 25. Qe2 d5 26. Bxc7 $11 {1/2, Aronian,L 
(2739)-Anand,V (2799)/Morelia/Linares/2008/}) 11. Nh4 g6 12. Qe5 f6 13. Qe4 Qc8
14. Rd1 Nac7 15. Nxg6 hxg6 16. Qxg6+ Kd8 17. a3 b5 18. e4 Nb6 19. Nc3 Ne6 $1
$13 {leads to a complex position, in which White must still prove his
compensation:} (19... d6 $6 20. Bf4 Qe6 21. Bxd6 $1 Bxd6 22. Qg7 Re8 23. e5
Qxe5 24. Bxb7 $36 {Radjabov,T (2735)-Leko,P (2753)/Morelia/Linares/2008/}) 20.
b4 $6 (20. Nxb5 $142 $5) 20... cxb4 21. Nd5 Nf8 22. Qg7 Rh7 23. Qg8 Nxd5 24.
exd5 d6 25. axb4 Qf5 26. Be3 a6 27. Rac1 Rc8 28. Bb6+ Ke8 29. h4 Qg6 $17 {
Svidler,P (2738)-Karjakin,S (2727)/Sochi/2008/}) ({After} 10. Ne5 Qc7 (10...
Bc6 $2 11. Nxf7 Kxf7 12. Bxd5+ Bxd5 13. Qf5+ $16) 11. Qe4 {the safest choice is
} Nc6 $1 12. Qxd5 Nd8 13. Qxd7+ Qxd7 14. Nxd7 Bxg2 15. Kxg2 Kxd7 16. Rd1+ Kc6
17. Nc3 Re8 $11 {Nakamura,H (2704)-Baklan,V (2625)/AUT-chT/2008/}) 10... Qc8 ({
After the abovementioned} 10... Nc6 {White has 2 main reactions:} 11. Qa4 (11.
Qf5 Nf6 12. e4 g6 ({If Black wants to play it safe, he can immediately return
the P with} 12... d6 $5 13. e5 Qd7 14. Qxd7+ Nxd7 15. exd6 Bf6 16. Re1+ Kf8 17.
Nc3 Nb4 18. Bg5 Nc2 19. Re7 Bxf3 20. Bxf3 Bxg5 21. Rxd7 Rd8 22. Rxd8+ Bxd8 23.
Rd1 Nd4 24. Bg2 h5 25. a4 a6 26. Bb7 Rh6 27. d7 Rd6 $11 {Carlsen,M (2775)
-Pelletier,Y (2569)/Biel/2008/}) 13. Qf4 O-O 14. e5 Nh5 15. Qg4 $5 (15. Qc4 d5
16. exd6 Bxd6 17. Bh6 Re8 18. Nc3 Na5 19. Qg4 Bc6 20. Ng5 Nf6 21. Qh4 Bxg2 22.
Kxg2 Qc7 23. Rd3 Qc6+ 24. Rf3 Be5 25. Rd1 b5 26. Nxf7 Kxf7 27. Ne4 {Rodshtein,
M (2609)-Volke,K (2454)/ECC Kallithea/2008/} Re6 $1 $15) 15... d5 16. exd6 Bxd6
17. Nc3 Qb8 18. Bh6 Re8 19. Qa4 $44 a6 $6 (19... Ne5 $5 $13) 20. Nd5 b5 21. Qh4
Ne7 22. Ne3 $1 Ra7 23. Rd2 Nc6 24. Nf5 $1 Nd4 25. N3xd4 cxd4 26. Nxd6 Qxd6 27.
Rxd4 $36 {Wang Yue (2696)-Rowson,J (2599)/Liverpool/2007/}) 11... Nf6 12. e4 $1
(12. Nc3 O-O 13. g4 Nb4 14. a3 Nbd5 15. Nxd5 Bxd5 16. g5 Bc6 17. Qh4 Ne8 18.
Ne5 Bxg2 19. Rxd7 Bb7 20. Rxd8 Rxd8 21. Be3 Rd5 $44 {Shirov,A (2699)-Aronian,L
(2759)/Elista m/2007/}) 12... O-O (12... Nb4 $5 13. e5 Ne4 14. a3 a5 15. e6 O-O
16. Ne5 d6 17. Nc3 Nxc3 18. bxc3 Bxg2 19. Kxg2 Qc8 20. exf7+ Kh8 21. Nf3 Rxf7
22. cxb4 axb4 $44 {Gundavaa,B (2458)-So,W (2610)/Al Ain/2008/}) 13. e5 Ne8 14.
Nc3 Nc7 15. Be3 Qe8 16. Rd2 Rd8 17. Rad1 $44 ({There was no Queens's (neither
King's, nor Nimzo!) Indian in Nanjing, but a new game was played in this line
in Elista:} 17. Re1 Ba8 18. Ne4 Ne6 19. a3 Kh8 20. Qc2 h6 21. g4 Ncd4 22. Nxd4
cxd4 23. Bxd4 Nxd4 24. Rxd4 d6 $1 $11 25. Nxd6 Bxd6 26. Bxa8 Bxe5 27. Rxd8 Qxd8
28. Rxe5 Qxa8 29. Qe4 {1/2, Wang Yue (2736)-Leko,P (2747)/Elista/2008/}) 17...
f5 $6 18. exf6 Bxf6 19. Bxc5 (19. Ne4 d5 20. Nxf6+ gxf6 21. Bf4 Na5 $13) 19...
bxc5 20. Qb3+ Ne6 $2 (20... d5 $142 $1 21. Qxb7 Rf7 22. Qb3 $11 {/+/=}) 21.
Qxb7 $36 {Akopian,V (2679)-Palac,M (2583)/ECC Kallithea/2008/}) ({Grischuk is
certainly not willing to repeat} 10... Nc7 11. Nc3 Ne6 12. Ne5 Bxg2 13. Kxg2 a6
14. Nd5 O-O 15. Nc4 Nc6 16. Ndxb6 Ncd4 17. Qe4 Rb8 18. Nd5 f5 19. Qd3 Nc7 20.
Ncb6 Kh8 {Sargissian,G (2642)-Grischuk,A (2719)/ECC Kallithea/2008/} 21. e3 $16
{Krasenkow}) 11. a3 {This is the latest fashion after Topalov's crushing win
against Anand in Bilbao 2008. However, White has tried quite a few other moves:
} (11. Nh4 Bxh4 12. Rxd5 Be7 13. Nc3 Nc6 14. Qe4 ({Too soft is} 14. Qf5 $6 d6
15. Qh5 O-O 16. Be3 Nb4 17. Rd2 Bxg2 18. Kxg2 Qc6+ 19. Qf3 Qxf3+ 20. Kxf3 f5
21. Bf4 Nc6 22. Rad1 Rfd8 23. Kg2 Rd7 24. Bxd6 Bf6 $15 {Fressinet,L (2676)
-Sargissian,G (2642)/Dresden olm/2008/ This game was played immediately on the
next day!}) 14... Nb4 $5 (14... O-O 15. Rh5 g6 16. Rh3 d6 $5 17. Nd5 Re8 18. b4
Qd7 19. Bb2 Nd4 20. Bxd4 cxd4 21. Nxe7+ Rxe7 22. Qxb7 Qxb7 23. Bxb7 Rxb7 24.
Rh4 Re8 25. Rxd4 Rxe2 26. Rxd6 $11 {Beliavsky,A (2641)-Timman,J (2565)/Bazna/
2008/}) 15. Bg5 f6 16. Bf4 Qc6 17. Rad1 g5 18. Bc1 Qe6 19. Qxe6 dxe6 20. Rd7
Bxg2 21. Kxg2 Kf7 $15) (11. Bg5 f6 $5 $146 (11... h6 12. Bxe7 Nxe7 13. e4 O-O
$11 {still has a good reputation}) 12. Bd2 (12. Bc1 $5 $44) 12... Nc6 13. Qa4
Nc7 14. Nc3 O-O 15. Bf4 Ne6 16. Bd6 Re8 17. Bxe7 Nxe7 18. Qxd7 Qxd7 19. Rxd7
Bc6 20. Rd6 Nd8 21. Nh4 Bxg2 22. Kxg2 Nf7 $11 {Aronian,L (2739)-Leko,P (2753)/
Wijk aan Zee/2008/}) (11. Qf5 Nf6 12. Nc3 Nc6 (12... O-O 13. Bg5 d6 $11 (13...
h6 $5)) 13. Bg5 d5 14. Qf4 (14. Nh4 Nd4 15. Qd3 $5 O-O 16. e3 $44) 14... d4 15.
Bxf6 Bxf6 16. Nd5 Bd8 17. e3 O-O 18. exd4 Ne7 19. Nxe7+ Bxe7 20. dxc5 bxc5 21.
Rac1 a5 ({Even after} 21... Rb8 22. b3 Bxf3 23. Bxf3 Rb6 24. Rd5 g6 25. Kg2 Rd8
26. Rxd8+ Qxd8 27. Qa4 Qc7 28. Bd5 Kg7 $14 {/=, Sargissian,G (2676)-Hou,Y 
(2527)/Merida/2008/ White's edge was more or less symbolic.}) 22. b3 Ra6 23.
Re1 Bf6 24. Ne5 Bxg2 25. Kxg2 a4 26. bxa4 Qa8+ $11 {Cheparinov,I (2696)-Kamsky,
G (2726)/Baku/2008/}) (11. e4 Nb4 $1 (11... Nc7 12. Nc3 O-O 13. e5 Ne6 (13...
Nc6 $5) 14. Nd5 Bxd5 15. Rxd5 Nc6 16. Qe4 Qb7 17. a3 Na5 18. Nh4 Nb3 $6 (18...
g6 $5) 19. Nf5 $1 Rae8 20. Qa4 Nxa1 21. Rxd7 Qb8 22. Nxe7+ Rxe7 23. Rxe7 Qxe5
24. Bf1 $14 {[%csl Gc1,Gf1] ^^, Carlsen,M (2775)-Anand,V (2798)/Mainz rpd/2008/
}) 12. Qc3 O-O 13. a3 N4c6 14. Bf4 d6 15. Bxd6 Bxd6 16. Rxd6 Qc7 17. Rd1 Nd7
18. Nbd2 {Beliavsky,A (2648)-Khalifman,A (2624)/Bazna/2007/} Rad8 $11) 11...
Nc7 $5 $146 {A plausible novelty, Grischuk is not attracted by} (11... Nf6 12.
Bg5 d5 13. Bxf6 Bxf6 14. Nc3 Bxc3 (14... d4 15. Nb5 Qd7 16. Nfxd4 Bxg2 17. Nf5
$1 (17. Ne6 Qc6 18. Nd6+ Ke7 19. Nf4 Rd8 20. Nf5+ Kf8 21. Rxd8+ Bxd8 22. Nxg2
$14 {Slugin,S (2425)-Grekh,A (2362)/Lipetsk/2008/}) 17... Qc6 18. Nbd6+ Kf8 19.
Qc4 $16 {->}) 15. bxc3 Qc7 (15... Na6 16. Nh4 g6 17. Bxd5 Bxd5 18. Rxd5 O-O 19.
Rad1 Nc7 20. Rd7 Ne6 21. Qe4 Qe8 22. Nf3 c4 23. Qh4 Nc5 24. Re7 Rd8 25. Rf1 {
1-0, Topalov,V (2777)-Anand,V (2798)/Bilbao/2008/}) 16. Nh4 O-O 17. Nf5 Rd8 18.
Ne3 $1 $14 {|^/\} (18. e4 g6 19. Nh6+ Kg7 20. Qd2 d4 21. cxd4 Rxd4 22. Qg5 Nc6
$5 (22... f6 23. Nf5+ Kg8 24. Nh6+ Kg7 $11) 23. Nf5+ Kg8 24. Nxd4 Nxd4 25. Ra2
Re8 $44 {Zhou Weiqi (2556)-Paragua,M (2523)/Manila/2008/}) 18... Qe5 19. Nxd5
$1 Bxd5 $2 20. Rxd5 Rxd5 21. Bxd5 Qxd5 22. Rd1 Qg5 23. Qf5 $1 h6 24. Qc8+ Kh7
25. Qb7 $18) 12. Nc3 Nc6 {Black has other moves, aiming to neutralize White's
initiative by returning the extra P:} (12... d5 13. Bf4 d4 (13... Nba6 14. Qa4+
Kf8 15. e3 Qe8 16. Qc2 Rd8 17. Rd2 Ne6 18. Rad1 Nac7 19. Bxc7 Nxc7 20. Ne1 Bf6
21. Nxd5 Nxd5 22. Bxd5 Rxd5 23. Rxd5 Bxd5 24. Rxd5 g6 25. b3 Kg7 $11 {Arun
Prasad,S (2530)-Melkumyan,H (2541)/New Delhi/2008/}) 14. Ne4 $1 (14. Bxc7 dxc3
(14... Qxc7 15. Nb5 Qc6 16. Ne1 Qc8 17. Nxd4 $36) 15. Bxb8 (15. Bd6 Bxd6 16.
Rxd6 cxb2 17. Rad1 Nc6 $13) 15... Rxb8 16. bxc3 O-O $11) 14... Ne6 (14... Nd5
15. Nxd4 $1 {/\} Nxf4 $2 16. Nf5 $1 $18) 15. Nd6+ Bxd6 16. Bxd6 $44) (12... O-O
13. Bf4 Ne6 $13) 13. Bf4 (13. e4 {doesn't make too much sense here, compared
with Carlsen-Anand above White has lost a tempo for a3.}) 13... O-O $6 {Now
White will have full compensation for his minimal investment.} ({This was the
last chance to play} 13... Ne6 $5 $13) 14. Bxc7 Qxc7 15. Nb5 $1 ({More
concrete, than} 15. Nd5 Qd8 $13) 15... Qd8 (15... Qc8 16. Nd6 Bxd6 17. Rxd6 $36
{[%cal Ya1d1,Yg2h3,Rf3g5] /\Ng5,Rad1,Bh3}) 16. Ne5 (16. Nd6 Ba6 $5 $132 {is
unconvincing}) 16... Nxe5 17. Bxb7 Rb8 18. Be4 {[%cal Rb5a7,Re4h7] A
double-attack.} a6 $5 (18... g6 19. Nxa7 b5 20. Nc6 Nxc6 21. Bxc6 $14 {[%csl
Gc6,Re7] |^^- Black wants to avoid the positional squeeze and goes for
complications.}) 19. Bxh7+ $1 {This is in fact an enterprising piece-sacrifice,
as the B won't leave h7 alive.} (19. Nc3 g6 $11) 19... Kh8 20. Qf5 $1 {[]} (20.
Nc3 g6 21. Rd5 Bf6 22. f4 Ng4 $5 (22... Kxh7 $11) 23. Bxg6 Bd4+ $1 24. Kh1 fxg6
25. Qxg6 Nf6 $15) 20... g6 (20... axb5 21. Qh5 Ng4 $5 (21... g6 22. Bxg6+ Kg7
23. Qh7+ Kf6 24. Be4 d6 25. f4 (25. g4 Rh8) 25... Ng6 26. Rd5 $16 {->}) 22.
Qxg4 g6 23. Qh3 (23. Bxg6 fxg6 24. Qxg6 Rf6 25. Qh5+ Kg7 26. e4 $44 (26. Rd5 $5
) (26. Qg4+ Rg6 27. Qxd7 Qxd7 28. Rxd7 Re6 $13 {/=/+})) 23... Kg7 24. Bxg6 fxg6
25. Rxd7 Qe8 26. Qe6 Rf7 27. Rad1 $36 {White doesn't risk much here, he has 2P
for the pieces and Black's pieces are tied down.}) 21. Qxe5+ Bf6 22. Qf4 axb5
23. Qh6 Bg5 24. Qh3 Kg7 25. Bxg6 $1 (25. Rxd7 $6 Qf6 $15 {only helps Black to
activate his forces, while the Bh7 still remains trapped.}) 25... Kxg6 26. Rd6+
Kg7 27. Rad1 Rg8 $2 (27... Rh8 $142 $5 28. Qg4 Kf8 29. Rxd7 Qf6 30. R1d6 $44 {
|^ Although White has strong pressure, thre is still no direct win.}) 28. f4
Bf6 29. e4 $1 Rh8 (29... Bd4+ $4 30. R1xd4 {/\} cxd4 31. Qh6# {, so Black has
to admit he has lost tempo and go with his R to h8 anyway.}) 30. Qg4+ Kf8 31.
e5 Be7 32. Rxd7 Qe8 33. f5 (33. e6 $1 $40 Rh6 (33... f6 $2 34. Rxe7 $1 Qxe7 35.
Rd7 $18) (33... Rh7 34. Rxe7 Qxe7 35. Rd7 Qf6 36. e7+ Ke8 37. Qd1 $1 $18) 34.
f5 Rd8 35. Rxd8 Bxd8 36. Rd7 $16) 33... f6 34. Qf4 c4 $6 (34... Rd8 $142 $1 35.
e6 $36) 35. e6 $2 {Closing the position enhances Black's defensive chances,
now Grischuk puts up a blockade and can plod on.} (35. exf6 $142 Bxf6 36. Qd6+
Kg8 37. Qd5+ (37. Qxf6 $2 Qe3+ $11) 37... Kf8 38. h4 $1 {White frees the
h3-square for his K and Black is practically defenceless:} Rc8 (38... Qe3+ 39.
Kg2 Qe2+ 40. Kh3 Rxh4+ 41. gxh4 Qe3+ 42. Kg2 Qe2+ 43. Kh1 $18) 39. Kg2 $1 Rh6 (
39... Rb8) 40. Re1 Qh5 41. Re4 {[%cal Rg3g4] /\g4+-}) 35... Rc8 36. R1d4 Rh7 ({
The liberating attempt} 36... c3 37. bxc3 Rxc3 38. Rb7 $40 {is not too
effective, as} Bc5 $2 {fails to} 39. Rb8 Bxd4+ 40. Qxd4 $1 $18) 37. h4 Kg8 {
Although Black doesn't have active counterplay, it's still not easy for White
to advance his P and break down the >> defences. Initially Grischuk holds on
well.} 38. Kh2 Rg7 39. Qf3 Kh8 40. Ra7 Qf8 41. Rdd7 Re8 42. Rab7 Rb8 43. Ra7
Re8 44. Kh3 Qg8 45. Ra6 Qh7 46. Ra8 Rxa8 47. Qxa8+ Rg8 48. Qf3 Rg7 49. Qf4 Qh5
50. g4 Qe8 51. Rb7 Kh7 52. Qe4 Bc5 (52... b4 $5 53. axb4 Qa4 54. Qf3 Bd8 55. g5
Rxb7 56. Qxb7+ Kh8 $14 {/~~ Both K are exposed and Black has counterplay.}) 53.
g5 Rxb7 $6 (53... Qd8 $142 $1 {was more resilient.}) 54. Qxb7+ Qe7 55. g6+ $2 (
{White returns the favour by renewing the blockade. After} 55. Qd7 Kg7 (55...
Kh8 56. g6 $1) (55... Qxd7 56. exd7 Be7) 56. Kg4 $16 {/+- he should gradually
win.} Qxd7 $2 57. exd7 Be7 58. g6 {[%cal Rg4f3,Rf3c6] /\Kf3-e4-d5-c6}) 55...
Kg7 $2 {The defence is difficult and Black falters.} (55... Kh6 $1 56. Qd7 b4
57. axb4 Bxb4 58. Kg4 b5 $1 $132 {/\} 59. Qxb5 Qa7 $1 60. Qxb4 Qd4+ 61. Kf3
Qd3+ $11) 56. Qd7 b4 57. axb4 Bxb4 58. Kg4 Kh6 {Now it should have been too
late, but there are more mistakes to come.} 59. Kf3 (59. Qc8 $1 Kg7 60. h5 Bd2
61. Qd7 Bb4 62. Qc6 $18 {[%cal Rh5h6,Rc6b6,Rc6c4] /\Qc4,Qb6,h6}) 59... b5 (
59... Qg7 60. h5 Qf8 $1 (60... Be7 $2 61. Qd2+ Kxh5 62. Qh2+ Kg5 63. Qf4+ Kh5
64. Qg4+ Kh6 65. Qh4#) 61. Kg4 Be7 62. Qd2+ Kg7 63. h6+ Kg8 $14) 60. Ke4 $2 (
60. Qxb5 Qd6 61. Qd7 $18) 60... Bc5 $2 ({The last one to err after a tough
defence is Black. The engines quickly point out} 60... Qg7 $1 61. Qxb5 (61. Kd5
Bf8 {and White has no obvious inroads.}) 61... Qc7 $11 {freeing the Q and
saving the game.}) 61. Kd5 $18 Bb4 (61... Kg7 62. h5 (62. Qc6 $5) 62... Kh6 63.
Kc6 b4 64. Qd2+ Kxh5 (64... Kg7 65. h6+ Kg8 66. Kb5 $18) 65. g7 $1 Qxg7 66.
Qh2+ Kg5 67. Qg3+ $18) 62. Kc6 {White's K advances further and decides the
issue.} Qc5+ 63. Kb7 Qe7 64. Ka6 (64. Ka6 Kg7 65. Qxe7+ Bxe7 66. Kxb5 $18) 1-0

[Event "ESP-chT final"]
[Site "Motril"]
[Date "2008.11.02"]
[Round "2.5"]
[White "Sargissian, Gabriel"]
[Black "Illescas Cordoba, Miguel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D37"]
[WhiteElo "2642"]
[BlackElo "2604"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "2008.11.02"]
[EventType "team"]
[EventRounds "3"]
[EventCountry "ESP"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2008.11.13"]
[WhiteTeam "Linex Magic"]
[BlackTeam "Cajacanaries"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "ESP"]
[BlackTeamCountry "ESP"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. a3 c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. e3
Nc6 9. Qc2 Qa5 10. O-O-O Be7 11. h4 e5 12. Bg5 dxc4 13. Bxc4 Be6 14. Bxe6 fxe6
15. Bxf6 gxf6 16. Qb3 Kh8 17. Rd7 Rfd8 18. Rhd1 Rxd7 19. Rxd7 Qa6 20. Qxb7 Qxb7
21. Rxb7 Rc8 22. Kb1 a6 23. Na4 a5 24. Nd2 Kg7 25. Nc4 Kg6 26. Nab6 Re8 27. Rc7
Nb8 28. Nxa5 Kh5 29. b4 Na6 30. Ra7 Nxb4 31. axb4 Bxb4 32. Nc6 Be1 33. Nd7 1-0

[Event "Dresden ol (Men) 38th"]
[Site "Dresden"]
[Date "2008.11.13"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Aronian, Levon"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D43"]
[WhiteElo "2757"]
[BlackElo "2640"]
[PlyCount "63"]
[EventDate "2008.11.13"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2009.01.28"]
[WhiteTeam "Armenia"]
[BlackTeam "Italy"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "ARM"]
[BlackTeamCountry "ITA"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 dxc4 7. e4 g5 8. Bg3 b5
9. Ne5 Bb7 10. h4 g4 11. Nxg4 Nxg4 12. Qxg4 Qxd4 13. Rd1 Qg7 14. Qf4 Na6 15.
Be2 Be7 16. O-O Nc5 17. e5 Qg6 18. Rd4 Rd8 19. Rfd1 Rd5 20. Qe3 h5 21. Bf3 a6
22. b4 cxb3 23. axb3 a5 24. Ne4 Nxe4 25. Bxe4 Qh6 26. Bf4 Qg7 27. Bxd5 exd5 28.
Bg5 Rg8 29. f4 Qg6 30. R4d2 c5 31. Bxe7 d4 32. Bg5 1-0

[Event "Dresden ol (Men) 38th"]
[Site "Dresden"]
[Date "2008.11.21"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Kamsky, Gata"]
[Black "Svidler, Peter"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B40"]
[WhiteElo "2729"]
[BlackElo "2727"]
[PlyCount "135"]
[EventDate "2008.11.13"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2009.01.28"]
[WhiteTeam "US of America"]
[BlackTeam "Russia"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "USA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "RUS"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. c3 d5 4. e5 d4 5. Bd3 Bd7 6. Qe2 Bc6 7. Be4 Bxe4 8. Qxe4
Nc6 9. O-O Nge7 10. c4 h6 11. d3 g5 12. h4 Bg7 13. h5 Nc8 14. b4 Nxb4 15. Ba3
Qc7 16. Bxb4 cxb4 17. a3 Ne7 18. axb4 Nc6 19. Na3 O-O 20. Nb5 Qe7 21. Nbxd4
Nxb4 22. Nb5 Nc6 23. Rab1 a6 24. Nbd4 Nb4 25. Rb3 Rad8 26. Ra1 Qc5 27. Rab1 a5
28. Nb5 f5 29. exf6 Rxf6 30. Nbd4 Rf4 31. Nxe6 Rxe4 32. Nxc5 Re7 33. Re1 Rxe1+
34. Nxe1 Bf8 35. Na4 g4 36. Kf1 Kf7 37. g3 Bg7 38. Nc5 b6 39. Ne4 Bf8 40. Ke2
Re8 41. Kd2 Re5 42. Nc2 Rxh5 43. d4 b5 44. c5 Rd5 45. Nxb4 Rxd4+ 46. Nd3 Rxe4
47. Rxb5 a4 48. Rb8 h5 49. Ra8 Bh6+ 50. Kd1 Bg7 51. Ra7+ Kg6 52. c6 Rc4 53.
Nf4+ Kh6 54. Ra5 Bd4 55. c7 Rxc7 56. Rxh5+ Kg7 57. Ne6+ Kg6 58. Rd5 a3 59. Rxd4
Ra7 60. Rxg4+ Kf5 61. Rg7 Ra4 62. Nc5 a2 63. Nb3 Rb4 64. Ra7 Rxb3 65. Rxa2 Kg4
66. Ra4+ Kf3 67. Rf4+ Kg2 68. Ke2 1-0

[Event "Dresden ol (Men) 38th"]
[Site "Dresden"]
[Date "2008.11.25"]
[Round "11"]
[White "Kamsky, Gata"]
[Black "Ivanchuk, Vassily"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C18"]
[WhiteElo "2729"]
[BlackElo "2786"]
[PlyCount "79"]
[EventDate "2008.11.13"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2009.01.28"]
[WhiteTeam "US of America"]
[BlackTeam "Ukraine"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "USA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "UKR"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Qg4 Kf8 8. Bd2
Qc7 9. Bd3 b6 10. Nf3 Ba6 11. dxc5 Qxc5 12. O-O Bxd3 13. cxd3 Nbc6 14. a4 h5
15. Qg5 Nf5 16. Rfb1 Kg8 17. Rb5 Qe7 18. Qf4 Qd7 19. Rab1 Rc8 20. h3 Rh6 21. a5
bxa5 22. Qa4 Rg6 23. Rxa5 Rc7 24. Rab5 Qc8 25. Bf4 Kh8 26. Kh2 Kg8 27. Kh1 Kh8
28. Rc5 Kg8 29. d4 Qd7 30. Qb5 Qc8 31. Ra1 Kh7 32. Ra6 Nce7 33. Ng5+ Rxg5 34.
Bxg5 Rxc5 35. dxc5 Ng6 36. c6 Nxe5 37. Qb7 Nd6 38. Qxc8 Nxc8 39. Be3 Kg6 40. c7
1-0

[Event "Dresden ol (Men) 38th"]
[Site "Dresden"]
[Date "2008.11.22"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Aronian, Levon"]
[Black "Gelfand, Boris"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A29"]
[WhiteElo "2757"]
[BlackElo "2719"]
[Annotator "Gelfand,B"]
[PlyCount "98"]
[EventDate "2008.11.13"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2009.01.28"]
[WhiteTeam "Armenia"]
[BlackTeam "Israel"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "ARM"]
[BlackTeamCountry "ISR"]

{After the 8th round our team got to second place and had to face the leaders
- Armenia. This team is our bete noir - if my memory serves me well, we had
never beaten them and draws also were not very often. But our young team
managed to forget the past and played a great match.} 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3.
Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 Bb4 5. Bg2 ({An alternative system is} 5. Nd5) 5... O-O 6. O-O {
Previously I had played 6...e4,but this time I decided in favour of a more
solid setup} Bxc3 7. bxc3 Re8 8. d3 e4 9. Nd4 exd3 10. exd3 Nxd4 11. cxd4 d5
12. Rb1 ({if} 12. Bg5 {then the simplest is} h6 13. Bxf6 Qxf6 14. cxd5 Qxd4 15.
Qc2 Qe5 16. Rab1 Rb8 17. Rfc1 Re7 18. Qc3 Qd6 19. Qd4 b6 20. Rc6 Qd8 21. d6
cxd6 22. Rxd6 Rd7 {Kallio,H-Fressinet,L/Plovdiv 2003/}) ({The following game
shows well Black's ideas in this type of position.} 12. Be3 Be6 13. Rc1 h6 14.
h3 c6 15. Qd2 Qd7 16. Kh2 Kh7 17. Rfe1 Ng8 18. g4 Ne7 19. Bf4 Rad8 20. c5 g5
21. Be5 f5 22. gxf5 Bxf5 23. Re3 Ng6 24. Rce1 Re6 25. Bg3 Rde8 26. Bf1 Qg7 {
and Black got the upper hand, Botvinnik,M-Basman,M/Hastings 1966}) 12... h6 13.
Bf4 {The B is going to e5, which is the strongest plan in my opinion.} b6 ({
Here is an another example of Black's success in this line} 13... c6 14. Qd2 b6
15. a4 Bf5 16. c5 Nd7 17. Rfc1 Qf6 18. Rb4 Re6 19. Bf1 Rae8 20. Bc7 bxc5 21.
dxc5 Nxc5 $1 22. Bf4 Qe7 {Karpov,A-Anand,V/Frankfurt 1997}) 14. Be5 c6 ({Black
got into trouble after} 14... Bb7 $6 15. Qf3 Nh7 16. h4 Qe7 17. Qg4 $1 Nf6 18.
Qf4 Nh5 19. Qf3 $16 {Hodgson,Ju-Salov,Amsterdam,1996}) 15. h3 ({Harmless is} 
15. Bxf6 Qxf6 16. cxd5 cxd5 17. Bxd5 Bh3 $132) ({Or} 15. Qa4 Bf5 16. Rbd1 Qd7
17. Bxf6 gxf6 18. cxd5 cxd5 19. Qxd7 Bxd7 20. Bxd5 Rad8 {1/2-1/2 Norri,J-Tella,
J/Finland 1996/EXT 98 (25)}) 15... Be6 16. Rc1 ({I intended to meet} 16. f4 {by
} dxc4 17. Bxc6 Bxh3 18. Re1 Rxe5 19. dxe5 Qd4+ 20. Kh1 Ng4 21. Qf3 Rd8 {with
full compensation for an exchange}) 16... Rc8 {During the game I thought that
this was an inaccurate move, which allows f2-f4. However, my thoughts were too
pessimistic} ({A reasonable alternative was} 16... Qd7 17. g4 (17. Bxf6 gxf6 {
is not dangerous}) 17... Nh7) 17. f4 {White takes the opportunity and goes
forward. Surprisingly, it doesn't bring him an advantage and moreover he has
to be careful.} ({Calmer and better was} 17. Re1 {with an unclear game after}
Nh7 18. g4 Qd7 {It is not easy to assess this position. Both sides have strong
points - White has 2 Bs and some space advantage, while Black has no
weaknesses. I feel that White's chances are slightly better.}) 17... dxc4 {I
saw no alternative and forced matters.} ({Probably} 17... Qd7 {was also
possible, as} 18. g4 {allows} (18. Kh2 Nh7) 18... dxc4 19. dxc4 Nxg4 $1 20.
hxg4 Bxg4 {with a complicated game.}) 18. dxc4 (18. f5 $6 {is dubious:} Bd5 19.
dxc4 Bxg2 20. Kxg2 c5) 18... b5 $1 {Fighting for the d5 outpost.} 19. d5 $5 (
19. cxb5 cxb5 20. Qd2 {allows among other options a stylish exchange sacrifice}
(20. Rxc8 Qxc8) 20... Bc4 21. Bb7 Nd5 22. Rfe1 Qd7 23. Bxc8 Rxc8 $44) 19...
cxd5 20. cxb5 (20. c5 Ne4 21. f5 f6 (21... Bd7 22. Qxd5 Bc6 $11) 22. fxe6 fxe5
23. Bxe4 dxe4 $11) 20... Rxc1 21. Qxc1 {Optically this position seems better
for White, but Black has enough resources.} Qb6+ {After some calculation I
decided to go for the forced line.} ({Black also has solid position after} 
21... Ne4 22. Kh2 Qa5 23. Qb2 f6 24. Bd4 Bd7 {when a draw is the likely
outcome.}) 22. Kh2 Qxb5 23. Bxf6 ({After} 23. Qa1 {White is on the safe side,
but Black can equalize by} Bf5 ({or simply} 23... d4) 24. Bxf6 gxf6 25. Qxf6
Be4 26. Qxh6 Qb2 27. Rg1 Rc8) 23... gxf6 24. f5 Bd7 25. Qxh6 ({The computer
suggests including a2-a4} 25. a4 Qb6 26. Qxh6 Qb2 27. Rf4 Re4 28. Rg4+ Rxg4 29.
hxg4 {with a draw.}) 25... Qb2 $1 {The key defensive move. The Q protects the
f6-pawn and starts to attack on the 2nd rank.} 26. Kh1 {White still has the
illusion that he has an advantage. It was time to look for equality. The path
is not easy to find, but it exists.} (26. Rf4 Re4 27. Rg4+ (27. a3 Rxf4 (27...
Bc6 28. Rxe4 dxe4 29. Qe3 Qe5 30. Kg1 $11 {Lysyj}) 28. Qxf4 Qxa3 29. Qd4 Qd6
30. Bxd5 Kf8 $15) (27. Rxe4 dxe4 28. Qe3 Bxf5 29. Qxa7 Kg7 $1 $15 (29... Qd2
30. Qb8+ Kg7 31. Qf4 e3 32. Qxf5 e2 $11)) 27... Rxg4 28. hxg4 Bb5 29. Qf4 Bc4
30. g5 Qe5 31. a3 Qxf4 32. gxf4 d4 33. Bf3 {and it seems that Black has no
winning chances.}) 26... Re2 27. Bxd5 $4 {Levon's permanenent desire to win
backfires here.} ({White was still in time to transpose to the previous
annotation} 27. Rf4 Re1+ (27... Bxf5 28. Rxf5 Rxg2 29. Rg5+ $11) 28. Kh2 (28.
Bf1) 28... Re4) 27... Bxf5 {The only, but sufficient move. Now Levon sunk
deeply into thought, but failed to find a way to save the game.} 28. Qf4 (28.
Qc1 {is bad:} Qe5) ({as is} 28. g4 Qe5) 28... Be6 29. Bf3 {The most stubborn
defence.} ({Black's task is easier after} 29. Be4 Bxh3 30. Qh6 Rxe4 31. Qxh3
Qxa2 {with 2 extra pawns.}) 29... Rh2+ (29... Rf2 $2 30. Rxf2 Qxf2 31. h4 {
allows White to escape.}) 30. Kg1 Rxh3 $1 {I think that this is the clearest
solution.} ({Not so clear is the tempting} 30... Bxh3 31. Qh4 $1 (31. Be4 Rg2+
32. Kh1 Re2) 31... Kg7 {and now according to my engines, the best move is} 32.
Ba8 $1 (32. a3 Qd2) 32... a6 33. a3 {with drawing chances but I cannot explain
why.}) 31. Bg2 (31. Rf2 Qb1+ 32. Rf1 Qg6 {loses another pawn.}) 31... Rh5 $1 (
31... Qb6+ 32. Rf2 Rh5 33. Qxf6 Rf5 34. Qb2 $15) 32. Qxf6 Qxf6 33. Rxf6 Ra5 {
The key idea - White cannot defend his a-pawn and block the opponent's one.
Despite the very limited material, Black is going to win.} 34. Rf4 (34. Rf2
Rxa2 35. Rxa2 Bxa2 {and White is defenceless.}) 34... Rxa2 35. Rd4 a5 36. Bd5 (
36. Bc6 Bb3 37. Kf1 a4 38. Rb4 Kg7 {and K goes to c5.}) 36... Ra1+ 37. Kf2 a4
38. Rd2 a3 $1 {Creating another passed pawn.} (38... Bxd5 $2 39. Rxd5 a3 40.
Ra5 {is drawish.}) 39. Bxe6 fxe6 40. Ke3 Kf7 41. g4 Rb1 ({Simpler was} 41... a2
42. Re2 Kg6 43. Ke4 Kf6 44. Ke3 (44. g5+ Kxg5 45. Ke5 Kh4 46. Ke4 Kg4 47. Rg2+
Kh5 48. Re2 Kg6 49. Ke5 Kf7) 44... Kg5 45. Ke4 Kxg4 46. Rg2+ Kh5 47. Re2 Kg6)
42. Rf2+ Ke7 43. Ra2 Rb3+ 44. Kf4 (44. Kd4 Rb4+ 45. Kc5 Ra4 46. Kb5 Ra8 47. Kb4
Kf6) 44... Rb4+ 45. Kg5 Ra4 {Transferring the R to the best position, behind
the pawn.} 46. Kh6 e5 47. g5 Kf7 48. g6+ Kg8 49. Kg5 (49. Rc2) 49... e4 {This
time we managed to beat the Olympic champions and to overtake them in the
first position for 1 day. Even though, we didn't manage to stay there, 2nd
place is a big success for the Israeli team. It is the first time our country
had won an Olympic medal in chess.} 0-1

[Event "Dresden ol (Men) 38th"]
[Site "Dresden"]
[Date "2008.11.20"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Sargissian, Gabriel"]
[Black "Grischuk, Alexander"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E15"]
[WhiteElo "2642"]
[BlackElo "2719"]
[Annotator "Stohl,I"]
[PlyCount "127"]
[EventDate "2008.11.13"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2009.01.28"]
[WhiteTeam "Armenia"]
[BlackTeam "Russia"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "ARM"]
[BlackTeamCountry "RUS"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. Qc2 $5 c5 {White's 5-th move is an
introduction to a quickly developing line (The article in CBM 116 is by now
practically outdated!) with a positional P-sacrifice, which is very popular
amongst the world elite.} ({However, not everyone is willing to enter the
complications with Black, so they look for ways out. The most usual one is} 
5... Bb4+ {More harmonious and more popular is} 6. Bd2 (6. Nbd2 O-O 7. Bg2 d5
8. O-O c5 $5 9. dxc5 Bxc5 10. cxd5 (10. Ne5 Nbd7 11. Qa4 Bb7 12. Nxd7 Nxd7 13.
Nb3 Qc7 14. cxd5 Bxd5 15. Bf4 Qb7 16. Bxd5 exd5 17. Rfd1 Rfe8 18. Qb5 a6 19.
Qd3 Nf6 20. Rac1 Rac8 21. Rc2 h6 $11 {L'Ami,E (2598)-Adams,M (2724)/London/
2007/}) 10... Nxd5 11. Nb3 Nd7 12. Ng5 g6 13. Ne4 Be7 14. Nd4 Qc8 15. Nc6 Bc5
16. b4 Qxc6 17. bxc5 bxc5 $5 $11 {/~~} (17... f5 18. Ng5 h6 19. Nf3 Qxc5 20.
Qa4 Bb5 21. Qh4 Bxe2 22. Qxh6 $36 {Pantsulaia,L (2580)-Petrik,T (2487)/Dresden
olm/2008/})) 6... Be7 (6... Qe7 7. Bg2 (7. a3 $142 $5) (7. e4 $14) 7... c6 8.
O-O O-O 9. Bf4 d5 10. cxd5 cxd5 11. a3 Rc8 12. Qa4 Bd6 13. Bxd6 Qxd6 14. Re1
Qc6 $11 {/=/+,Vavrak,P (2466)-Petrik,T (2485)/SVK-ch Zvolen/2008/}) {White can
also play the natural developing move} 7. Bg2 (7. e4 d5 8. cxd5 Bxf1 9. Kxf1
exd5 10. e5 Ne4 11. Nc3 Nxc3 ({Taking the B with} 11... Nxd2+ {doesn't seem
too logical, but even here after} 12. Qxd2 (12. Nxd2 $5 {/\f4,Nf3+/=}) 12...
Qd7 13. Kg2 Nc6 14. Qc2 O-O 15. Qa4 Rfd8 16. Rac1 Na5 17. Qxd7 Rxd7 18. Rhd1 c6
19. Ne1 Rad8 20. Na4 f6 21. Nd3 fxe5 22. Nxe5 Rc7 23. b3 Bd6 24. f4 g6 25. Nb2
Rdc8 26. Nbd3 c5 $132 {/+/=, Sargissian,G (2673)-Alekseev,E (2716)/EU-chT
Heraklio/2007/ Black was only slightly worse.}) 12. bxc3 (12. Bxc3 Qd7 13. h4
Nc6 14. Kg2 Nd8 15. Ng5 Bxg5 16. hxg5 g6 17. Bd2 Ne6 18. Be3 c5 19. Qd2 Rc8 20.
Rh4 Qd8 21. Rd1 cxd4 22. Bxd4 Qxg5 23. Qxg5 Nxg5 24. Be3 Ne6 25. Rxd5 Ke7 $11 {
Ni Hua (2710)-Zhigalko,S (2592)/Dresden olm/2008/ The _|_ is about equal and
Black lost only due to later mistakes.}) 12... Qd7 13. Kg2 (13. h4 Nc6 $142 (
13... h6 14. e6 $1 Qxe6 15. Re1 Qd6 16. Bf4 Qd8 17. Ne5 $5 (17. Kg2 Nc6 18. Qa4
Qd7 19. Re2 Rd8 20. c4 O-O 21. cxd5 Nb4 22. Qxd7 Rxd7 23. Ne5 Rxd5 24. a3 Na6
25. Ng6 fxg6 26. Rxe7 Rf7 27. Re8+ Rf8 28. Re7 Rf7 29. Re8+ Rf8 {1/2, Tkachiev,
V (2657)-Pelletier,Y (2607)/Evry/2008/}) 17... O-O 18. Qf5 Bd6 19. Ng4 $1 Bxf4
20. gxf4 Nc6 21. Rg1 Kh8 22. Qh5 Qd6 23. f5 Rae8 24. Rxe8 Rxe8 25. f6 Qe6 26.
fxg7+ Kxg7 27. Nxh6+ Kf8 28. Nf5 Qe1+ 29. Kg2 Qe4+ 30. f3 {1-0, Safin,S (2510)
-Carlsson,P (2515)/Dresden olm/2008/ A powerful attacking performance by White!
}) 14. h5 (14. Ng5 $5 {Pelletier is more consistent}) 14... O-O 15. Re1 Rae8
16. Kg2 Nd8 17. Bg5 Ne6 18. Bxe7 Qxe7 19. Nh4 Qg5 20. Nf5 f6 $1 $132 {Sakaev,K
(2634)-Tomashevsky,E (2646)/Serpukhov/2007/}) 13... Nc6 14. c4 Nd8 $1 15. Qb3 (
{Less effective is now} 15. e6 $6 fxe6 16. Ne5 Qd6 $1 17. Qa4+ c6 18. c5 bxc5
19. Bf4 O-O $1 20. dxc5 Qxc5 21. Nd7 Rxf4 22. Qxf4 Qd6 23. Qxd6 Bxd6 24. Rhc1
Kf7 $36 {[%csl Gc6,Gd5,Ge6] [+],Kourousis,E (2191)-Tomashevsky,E (2658)/EU-ch
Plovdiv/2008/}) ({Ani po} 15. cxd5 Qxd5 16. Qa4+ c6 17. Rhc1 Kd7 $5 18. Bb4 b5
19. Qa3 Bxb4 20. Qxb4 a5 $13 {Huzman,A (2590)-Carlsen,M (2786)/ECC Kallithea/
2008/}) 15... c6 16. Rhc1 Ne6 17. Rab1 O-O 18. cxd5 Qxd5 19. Qxd5 cxd5 20. Rb5
Rfd8 21. a4 Rd7 22. Kf1 f6 23. Be3 Kf7 $11 {/+/=, Sakaev,K (2634)-Tomashevsky,
E (2646)/Serpukhov/2007/}) 7... O-O $142 $1 {limits White's options:} (7... c6
{can be met by the original and promising} 8. c5 $5 O-O (8... d5 9. cxd6 Bxd6
10. Nc3 $14) 9. Na3 Bb7 (9... Nd5 $5) 10. b4 a5 $2 11. Nc4 Nd5 12. Rb1 $1 axb4
13. Nxb6 Nxb6 14. Rxb4 Ra6 15. Qb3 d5 16. Rxb6 Rxb6 17. cxb6 c5 18. O-O c4 19.
Qb2 Nc6 20. a4 Qd7 21. a5 $18 {Topalov,V (2791)-Zhigalko,S (2592)/Dresden olm/
2008/}) 8. O-O c6 9. Bf4 (9. Rd1 d5 10. b3 Nbd7 {leads to the Queen's Indian/
Catalan line, which was the topic of M.Marin's surveys in CBM 121 and 122.})
9... d5 10. Nbd2 Nbd7 11. Rfc1 c5 12. Qa4 Bb7 13. Ne5 cxd4 14. cxd5 Nxe5 15.
Bxe5 Bxd5 16. Qxd4 Bc5 17. Bxf6 Bxd4 18. Bxd8 Rfxd8 19. Bxd5 Rxd5 20. Rc2 Rad8
$11 {Nakamura,H (2704)-Ivanchuk,V (2786)/Cap d'Agde rpd/2008/}) ({However,
even the more exotic} 5... Nc6 $5 {hasn't been refuted:} 6. Nbd2 d5 7. Qa4 (7.
cxd5 Qxd5 8. e4 Nb4 9. Qa4+ Qd7 10. Qxd7+ Nxd7 11. Bxa6 Nxa6 12. O-O Nf6 13. a3
c5 14. Re1 Be7 15. Ne5 Rc8 16. b4 cxd4 17. Ndf3 Nb8 18. Nxd4 Nfd7 19. Nef3 O-O
20. Bf4 Nc6 21. Rac1 Nxd4 22. Nxd4 g5 $132 {Aronian,L (2741)-Carlsen,M (2698)/
Moscow/2006/}) 7... Bb7 8. Bg2 Qd7 9. cxd5 exd5 10. O-O Bd6 11. Nb1 Ne4 12.
Nfd2 {Rather artificial manoeuvres} Ne7 $5 13. Qb3 Ng5 14. Nc3 Ne6 15. Nf3 c5
16. Rd1 Rc8 17. Bh3 f5 18. Nb5 c4 19. Nxd6+ Qxd6 20. Qa4+ Bc6 21. Qc2 O-O 22.
Bd2 Bd7 23. Bc3 f4 $15 {Nielsen,P (2662)-Izoria,Z (2610)/Dresden olm/2008/}) 6.
d5 exd5 7. cxd5 Bb7 8. Bg2 Nxd5 9. O-O Be7 {All these moves are made almost
automatically nowadays.} ({The experiments with} 9... Nc7 {are now rare - it's
enough to realize that in our game Grischuk later plays this move when White
has already invested a tempo into 11.a3 and still gets compensation.}) (9...
Nc6 10. Rd1 Be7 {only transposes into the 10...Nc6 line from the following
note.}) (9... Qc8 10. a3 Be7 11. e4 Nc7 12. Nc3 O-O 13. Be3 d6 14. Rad1 Nba6
15. h4 h6 16. Rfe1 Rd8 17. Kh2 Bf8 18. h5 Qg4 19. Nh4 Qxh5 20. f4 g5 21. Bf3 g4
22. Bg2 f5 23. Qb3+ Qf7 24. Qxf7+ Kxf7 25. Nxf5 $44 {|^, Prakash,G (2397)
-Laxman,R (2478)/New Delhi op/2009/}) 10. Rd1 {Apart from this solid move
White experimented with 2 tactical tries:} (10. Qe4 Na6 $5 ({This is more
ambitious than} 10... Bc6 11. Ne5 Nf6 12. Nxc6 Nxc6 13. Qa4 O-O 14. Rd1 Nd4 15.
Nc3 b5 16. Qa6 b4 17. Nd5 Nxd5 18. Bxd5 Rb8 19. Bf4 Qb6 20. Qc4 d6 21. e3 Nb5
22. g4 Nc7 23. Be4 g6 24. Rd2 Rbd8 25. Qe2 d5 26. Bxc7 $11 {1/2, Aronian,L 
(2739)-Anand,V (2799)/Morelia/Linares/2008/}) 11. Nh4 g6 12. Qe5 f6 13. Qe4 Qc8
14. Rd1 Nac7 15. Nxg6 hxg6 16. Qxg6+ Kd8 17. a3 b5 18. e4 Nb6 19. Nc3 Ne6 $1
$13 (19... d6 $6 20. Bf4 Qe6 21. Bxd6 $1 Bxd6 22. Qg7 Re8 23. e5 Qxe5 24. Bxb7
$36 {Radjabov,T (2735)-Leko,P (2753)/Morelia/Linares/2008/}) {leads to a
complex position, in which White must still prove his compensation:} 20. b4 $6
(20. Nxb5 $142 $5) 20... cxb4 21. Nd5 Nf8 22. Qg7 Rh7 23. Qg8 Nxd5 24. exd5 d6
25. axb4 Qf5 26. Be3 a6 27. Rac1 Rc8 28. Bb6+ Ke8 29. h4 Qg6 $17 {Svidler,P 
(2738)-Karjakin,S (2727)/Sochi/2008/}) ({After} 10. Ne5 Qc7 (10... Bc6 $2 11.
Nxf7 Kxf7 12. Bxd5+ Bxd5 13. Qf5+ $16) 11. Qe4 {the safest choice is} Nc6 $1
12. Qxd5 Nd8 13. Qxd7+ Qxd7 14. Nxd7 Bxg2 15. Kxg2 Kxd7 16. Rd1+ Kc6 17. Nc3
Re8 $11 {Nakamura,H (2704)-Baklan,V (2625)/AUT-chT/2008/}) 10... Qc8 ({After
the abovementioned} 10... Nc6 {White has 2 main reactions:} 11. Qa4 (11. Qf5
Nf6 12. e4 g6 ({If Black wants to play it safe, he can immediately return the
P with} 12... d6 $5 13. e5 Qd7 14. Qxd7+ Nxd7 15. exd6 Bf6 16. Re1+ Kf8 17. Nc3
Nb4 18. Bg5 Nc2 19. Re7 Bxf3 20. Bxf3 Bxg5 21. Rxd7 Rd8 22. Rxd8+ Bxd8 23. Rd1
Nd4 24. Bg2 h5 25. a4 a6 26. Bb7 Rh6 27. d7 Rd6 $11 {Carlsen,M (2775)
-Pelletier,Y (2569)/Biel/2008/}) 13. Qf4 O-O 14. e5 Nh5 15. Qg4 $5 (15. Qc4 d5
16. exd6 Bxd6 17. Bh6 Re8 18. Nc3 Na5 19. Qg4 Bc6 20. Ng5 Nf6 21. Qh4 Bxg2 22.
Kxg2 Qc7 23. Rd3 Qc6+ 24. Rf3 Be5 25. Rd1 b5 26. Nxf7 Kxf7 27. Ne4 {Rodshtein,
M (2609)-Volke,K (2454)/ECC Kallithea/2008/} Re6 $1 $15) 15... d5 16. exd6 Bxd6
17. Nc3 Qb8 18. Bh6 Re8 19. Qa4 $44 a6 $6 (19... Ne5 $5 $13) 20. Nd5 b5 21. Qh4
Ne7 22. Ne3 $1 Ra7 23. Rd2 Nc6 24. Nf5 $1 Nd4 25. N3xd4 cxd4 26. Nxd6 Qxd6 27.
Rxd4 $36 {Wang Yue (2696)-Rowson,J (2599)/Liverpool/2007/}) 11... Nf6 12. e4 $1
(12. Nc3 O-O 13. g4 Nb4 14. a3 Nbd5 15. Nxd5 Bxd5 16. g5 Bc6 17. Qh4 Ne8 18.
Ne5 Bxg2 19. Rxd7 Bb7 20. Rxd8 Rxd8 21. Be3 Rd5 $44 {Shirov,A (2699)-Aronian,L
(2759)/Elista m/2007/}) 12... O-O (12... Nb4 $5 13. e5 Ne4 14. a3 a5 15. e6 O-O
16. Ne5 d6 17. Nc3 Nxc3 18. bxc3 Bxg2 19. Kxg2 Qc8 20. exf7+ Kh8 21. Nf3 Rxf7
22. cxb4 axb4 $44 {Gundavaa,B (2458)-So,W (2610)/Al Ain/2008/}) 13. e5 Ne8 14.
Nc3 Nc7 15. Be3 Qe8 16. Rd2 Rd8 17. Rad1 $44 ({There was no Queens's (neither
King's, nor Nimzo!) Indian in Nanjing, but a new game was played in this line
in Elista:} 17. Re1 Ba8 18. Ne4 Ne6 19. a3 Kh8 20. Qc2 h6 21. g4 Ncd4 22. Nxd4
cxd4 23. Bxd4 Nxd4 24. Rxd4 d6 $1 $11 25. Nxd6 Bxd6 26. Bxa8 Bxe5 27. Rxd8 Qxd8
28. Rxe5 Qxa8 29. Qe4 {1/2, Wang Yue (2736)-Leko,P (2747)/Elista/2008/}) 17...
f5 $6 18. exf6 Bxf6 19. Bxc5 (19. Ne4 d5 20. Nxf6+ gxf6 21. Bf4 Na5 $13) 19...
bxc5 20. Qb3+ Ne6 $2 (20... d5 $142 $1 21. Qxb7 Rf7 22. Qb3 $11 {/+/=}) 21.
Qxb7 $36 {Akopian,V (2679)-Palac,M (2583)/ECC Kallithea/2008/}) ({Grischuk is
certainly not willing to repeat} 10... Nc7 11. Nc3 Ne6 12. Ne5 Bxg2 13. Kxg2 a6
14. Nd5 O-O 15. Nc4 Nc6 16. Ndxb6 Ncd4 17. Qe4 Rb8 18. Nd5 f5 19. Qd3 Nc7 20.
Ncb6 Kh8 {Sargissian,G (2642)-Grischuk,A (2719)/ECC Kallithea/2008/} 21. e3 $16
{Krasenkow}) 11. a3 {This is the latest fashion after Topalov's crushing win
against Anand in Bilbao 2008. However, White has tried quite a few other moves:
} (11. Nh4 Bxh4 12. Rxd5 Be7 13. Nc3 Nc6 14. Qe4 ({Too soft is} 14. Qf5 $6 d6
15. Qh5 O-O 16. Be3 Nb4 17. Rd2 Bxg2 18. Kxg2 Qc6+ 19. Qf3 Qxf3+ 20. Kxf3 f5
21. Bf4 Nc6 22. Rad1 Rfd8 23. Kg2 Rd7 24. Bxd6 Bf6 $15 {Fressinet,L (2676)
-Sargissian,G (2642)/Dresden olm/2008/ This game was played immediately on the
next day!}) 14... Nb4 $5 (14... O-O 15. Rh5 g6 16. Rh3 d6 $5 17. Nd5 Re8 18. b4
Qd7 19. Bb2 Nd4 20. Bxd4 cxd4 21. Nxe7+ Rxe7 22. Qxb7 Qxb7 23. Bxb7 Rxb7 24.
Rh4 Re8 25. Rxd4 Rxe2 26. Rxd6 $11 {Beliavsky,A (2641)-Timman,J (2565)/Bazna/
2008/}) 15. Bg5 f6 16. Bf4 Qc6 17. Rad1 g5 18. Bc1 Qe6 19. Qxe6 dxe6 20. Rd7
Bxg2 21. Kxg2 Kf7 $15) (11. Bg5 f6 $5 $146 (11... h6 12. Bxe7 Nxe7 13. e4 O-O
$11 {still has a good reputation}) 12. Bd2 (12. Bc1 $5 $44) 12... Nc6 13. Qa4
Nc7 14. Nc3 O-O 15. Bf4 Ne6 16. Bd6 Re8 17. Bxe7 Nxe7 18. Qxd7 Qxd7 19. Rxd7
Bc6 20. Rd6 Nd8 21. Nh4 Bxg2 22. Kxg2 Nf7 $11 {Aronian,L (2739)-Leko,P (2753)/
Wijk aan Zee/2008/}) (11. Qf5 Nf6 12. Nc3 Nc6 (12... O-O 13. Bg5 d6 $11 (13...
h6 $5)) 13. Bg5 d5 14. Qf4 (14. Nh4 Nd4 15. Qd3 $5 O-O 16. e3 $44) 14... d4 15.
Bxf6 Bxf6 16. Nd5 Bd8 17. e3 O-O 18. exd4 Ne7 19. Nxe7+ Bxe7 20. dxc5 bxc5 21.
Rac1 a5 ({Even after} 21... Rb8 22. b3 Bxf3 23. Bxf3 Rb6 24. Rd5 g6 25. Kg2 Rd8
26. Rxd8+ Qxd8 27. Qa4 Qc7 28. Bd5 Kg7 $14 {/=, Sargissian,G (2676)-Hou,Y 
(2527)/Merida/2008/ White's edge was more or less symbolic.}) 22. b3 Ra6 23.
Re1 Bf6 24. Ne5 Bxg2 25. Kxg2 a4 26. bxa4 Qa8+ $11 {Cheparinov,I (2696)-Kamsky,
G (2726)/Baku/2008/}) (11. e4 Nb4 $1 (11... Nc7 12. Nc3 O-O 13. e5 Ne6 (13...
Nc6 $5) 14. Nd5 Bxd5 15. Rxd5 Nc6 16. Qe4 Qb7 17. a3 Na5 18. Nh4 Nb3 $6 (18...
g6 $5) 19. Nf5 $1 Rae8 20. Qa4 Nxa1 21. Rxd7 Qb8 22. Nxe7+ Rxe7 23. Rxe7 Qxe5
24. Bf1 $14 {[%csl Gc1,Gf1] ^^, Carlsen,M (2775)-Anand,V (2798)/Mainz rpd/2008/
}) 12. Qc3 O-O 13. a3 N4c6 14. Bf4 d6 15. Bxd6 Bxd6 16. Rxd6 Qc7 17. Rd1 Nd7
18. Nbd2 {Beliavsky,A (2648)-Khalifman,A (2624)/Bazna/2007/} Rad8 $11) 11...
Nc7 $5 $146 {A plausible novelty, Grischuk is not attracted by} (11... Nf6 12.
Bg5 d5 13. Bxf6 Bxf6 14. Nc3 Bxc3 (14... d4 15. Nb5 Qd7 16. Nfxd4 Bxg2 17. Nf5
$1 (17. Ne6 Qc6 18. Nd6+ Ke7 19. Nf4 Rd8 20. Nf5+ Kf8 21. Rxd8+ Bxd8 22. Nxg2
$14 {Slugin,S (2425)-Grekh,A (2362)/Lipetsk/2008/}) 17... Qc6 18. Nbd6+ Kf8 19.
Qc4 $16 {->}) 15. bxc3 Qc7 (15... Na6 16. Nh4 g6 17. Bxd5 Bxd5 18. Rxd5 O-O 19.
Rad1 Nc7 20. Rd7 Ne6 21. Qe4 Qe8 22. Nf3 c4 23. Qh4 Nc5 24. Re7 Rd8 25. Rf1 {
1-0, Topalov,V (2777)-Anand,V (2798)/Bilbao/2008/}) 16. Nh4 O-O 17. Nf5 Rd8 18.
Ne3 $1 $14 {|^/\} (18. e4 g6 19. Nh6+ Kg7 20. Qd2 d4 21. cxd4 Rxd4 22. Qg5 Nc6
$5 (22... f6 23. Nf5+ Kg8 24. Nh6+ Kg7 $11) 23. Nf5+ Kg8 24. Nxd4 Nxd4 25. Ra2
Re8 $44 {Zhou Weiqi (2556)-Paragua,M (2523)/Manila/2008/}) 18... Qe5 19. Nxd5
$1 Bxd5 $2 20. Rxd5 Rxd5 21. Bxd5 Qxd5 22. Rd1 Qg5 23. Qf5 $1 h6 24. Qc8+ Kh7
25. Qb7 $18) 12. Nc3 Nc6 {Black has other moves, aiming to neutralize White's
initiative by returning the extra P:} (12... d5 13. Bf4 d4 (13... Nba6 14. Qa4+
Kf8 15. e3 Qe8 16. Qc2 Rd8 17. Rd2 Ne6 18. Rad1 Nac7 19. Bxc7 Nxc7 20. Ne1 Bf6
21. Nxd5 Nxd5 22. Bxd5 Rxd5 23. Rxd5 Bxd5 24. Rxd5 g6 25. b3 Kg7 $11 {Arun
Prasad,S (2530)-Melkumyan,H (2541)/New Delhi/2008/}) 14. Ne4 $1 (14. Bxc7 dxc3
(14... Qxc7 15. Nb5 Qc6 16. Ne1 Qc8 17. Nxd4 $36) 15. Bxb8 (15. Bd6 Bxd6 16.
Rxd6 cxb2 17. Rad1 Nc6 $13) 15... Rxb8 16. bxc3 O-O $11) 14... Ne6 (14... Nd5
15. Nxd4 $1 {/\} Nxf4 $2 16. Nf5 $1 $18) 15. Nd6+ Bxd6 16. Bxd6 $44) (12... O-O
13. Bf4 Ne6 $13) 13. Bf4 (13. e4 {doesn't make too much sense here, compared
with Carlsen-Anand above White has lost a tempo for a3.}) 13... O-O $6 {Now
White will have full compensation for his minimal investment.} ({This was the
last chance to play} 13... Ne6 $5 $13) 14. Bxc7 Qxc7 15. Nb5 $1 ({More
concrete, than} 15. Nd5 Qd8 $13) 15... Qd8 (15... Qc8 16. Nd6 Bxd6 17. Rxd6 $36
{[%cal Ya1d1,Yg2h3,Rf3g5] /\Ng5,Rad1,Bh3}) 16. Ne5 (16. Nd6 Ba6 $5 $132 {is
unconvincing}) 16... Nxe5 17. Bxb7 Rb8 18. Be4 {[%cal Rb5a7,Re4h7] A
double-attack.} a6 $5 (18... g6 19. Nxa7 b5 20. Nc6 Nxc6 21. Bxc6 $14 {[%csl
Gc6,Re7] |^^- Black wants to avoid the positional squeeze and goes for
complications.}) 19. Bxh7+ $1 {This is in fact an enterprising piece-sacrifice,
as the B won't leave h7 alive.} (19. Nc3 g6 $11) 19... Kh8 20. Qf5 $1 {[]} (20.
Nc3 g6 21. Rd5 Bf6 22. f4 Ng4 $5 (22... Kxh7 $11) 23. Bxg6 Bd4+ $1 24. Kh1 fxg6
25. Qxg6 Nf6 $15) 20... g6 (20... axb5 21. Qh5 Ng4 $5 (21... g6 22. Bxg6+ Kg7
23. Qh7+ Kf6 24. Be4 d6 25. f4 Ng6 26. Rd5 $16 {->}) 22. Qxg4 g6 23. Qh3 (23.
Bxg6 fxg6 24. Qxg6 Rf6 25. Qh5+ Kg7 26. e4 $44 (26. Rd5 $5) (26. Qg4+ Rg6 27.
Qxd7 Qxd7 28. Rxd7 Re6 $13 {/=/+})) 23... Kg7 24. Bxg6 fxg6 25. Rxd7 Qe8 26.
Qe6 Rf7 27. Rad1 $36 {White doesn't risk much here, he has 2P for the pieces
and Black's pieces are tied down.}) 21. Qxe5+ Bf6 22. Qf4 axb5 23. Qh6 Bg5 24.
Qh3 Kg7 25. Bxg6 $1 (25. Rxd7 $6 Qf6 $15 {only helps Black to activate his
forces, while the Bh7 still remains trapped.}) 25... Kxg6 26. Rd6+ Kg7 27. Rad1
Rg8 $2 (27... Rh8 $142 $5 28. Qg4 Kf8 29. Rxd7 Qf6 30. R1d6 $44 {|^ Although
White has strong pressure, thre is still no direct win.}) 28. f4 Bf6 29. e4 $1
Rh8 (29... Bd4+ $4 30. R1xd4 {/\} cxd4 31. Qh6# {, so Black has to admit he
has lost tempo and go with his R to h8 anyway.}) 30. Qg4+ Kf8 31. e5 Be7 32.
Rxd7 Qe8 33. f5 (33. e6 $1 $40 Rh6 (33... f6 $2 34. Rxe7 $1 Qxe7 35. Rd7 $18) (
33... Rh7 34. Rxe7 Qxe7 35. Rd7 Qf6 36. e7+ Ke8 37. Qd1 $1 $18) 34. f5 Rd8 35.
Rxd8 Bxd8 36. Rd7 $16) 33... f6 34. Qf4 c4 $6 (34... Rd8 $142 $1 35. e6 $36)
35. e6 $2 {Closing the position enhances Black's defensive chances, now
Grischuk puts up a blockade and can plod on.} (35. exf6 $142 Bxf6 36. Qd6+ Kg8
37. Qd5+ (37. Qxf6 $2 Qe3+ $11) 37... Kf8 38. h4 $1 {White frees the h3-square
for his K and Black is practically defenceless:} Rc8 (38... Qe3+ 39. Kg2 Qe2+
40. Kh3 Rxh4+ 41. gxh4 Qe3+ 42. Kg2 Qe2+ 43. Kh1 $18) 39. Kg2 $1 Rh6 40. Re1
Qh5 41. Re4 {[%cal Rg3g4] /\g4+-}) 35... Rc8 36. R1d4 Rh7 ({The liberating
attempt} 36... c3 37. bxc3 Rxc3 38. Rb7 $40 {is not too effective, as} Bc5 $2 {
fails to} 39. Rb8 Bxd4+ 40. Qxd4 $1 $18) 37. h4 Kg8 {Although Black doesn't
have active counterplay, it's still not easy for White to advance his P and
break down the >> defences. Initially Grischuk holds on well.} 38. Kh2 Rg7 39.
Qf3 Kh8 40. Ra7 Qf8 41. Rdd7 Re8 42. Rab7 Rb8 43. Ra7 Re8 44. Kh3 Qg8 45. Ra6
Qh7 46. Ra8 Rxa8 47. Qxa8+ Rg8 48. Qf3 Rg7 49. Qf4 Qh5 50. g4 Qe8 51. Rb7 Kh7
52. Qe4 Bc5 (52... b4 $5 53. axb4 Qa4 54. Qf3 Bd8 55. g5 Rxb7 56. Qxb7+ Kh8 $14
{/~~ Both K are exposed and Black has counterplay.}) 53. g5 Rxb7 $6 (53... Qd8
$142 $1 {was more resilient.}) 54. Qxb7+ Qe7 55. g6+ $2 ({White returns the
favour by renewing the blockade. After} 55. Qd7 Kg7 (55... Kh8 56. g6 $1) 56.
Kg4 $16 {/+- he should gradually win.} Qxd7 $2 57. exd7 Be7 58. g6 {[%cal
Rg4f3,Rf3c6] /\Kf3-e4-d5-c6}) 55... Kg7 $2 {The defence is difficult and Black
falters.} (55... Kh6 $1 56. Qd7 b4 57. axb4 Bxb4 58. Kg4 b5 $1 $132 {/\} 59.
Qxb5 Qa7 $1 60. Qxb4 Qd4+ 61. Kf3 Qd3+ $11) 56. Qd7 b4 57. axb4 Bxb4 58. Kg4
Kh6 {Now it should have been too late, but there are more mistakes to come.}
59. Kf3 (59. Qc8 $1 Kg7 60. h5 Bd2 61. Qd7 Bb4 62. Qc6 $18 {[%cal Rh5h6,Rc6b6,
Rc6c4] /\Qc4,Qb6,h6}) 59... b5 (59... Qg7 60. h5 Qf8 $1 (60... Be7 $2 61. Qd2+
Kxh5 62. Qh2+ Kg5 63. Qf4+ Kh5 64. Qg4+ Kh6 65. Qh4#) 61. Kg4 Be7 62. Qd2+ Kg7
63. h6+ Kg8 $14) 60. Ke4 $2 (60. Qxb5 Qd6 61. Qd7 $18) 60... Bc5 $2 ({The last
one to err after a tough defence is Black. The engines quickly point out} 60...
Qg7 $1 61. Qxb5 (61. Kd5 Bf8 {and White has no obvious inroads.}) 61... Qc7 $11
{freeing the Q and saving the game.}) 61. Kd5 $18 Bb4 (61... Kg7 62. h5 (62.
Qc6 $5) 62... Kh6 63. Kc6 b4 64. Qd2+ Kxh5 (64... Kg7 65. h6+ Kg8 66. Kb5 $18)
65. g7 $1 Qxg7 66. Qh2+ Kg5 67. Qg3+ $18) 62. Kc6 {White's K advances further
and decides the issue.} Qc5+ 63. Kb7 Qe7 64. Ka6 (64. Ka6 Kg7 65. Qxe7+ Bxe7
66. Kxb5 $18) 1-0

[Event "Dresden ol (Men) 38th"]
[Site "Dresden"]
[Date "2008.11.22"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Sargissian, Gabriel"]
[Black "Avrukh, Boris"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A33"]
[WhiteElo "2642"]
[BlackElo "2657"]
[Annotator "Avrukh,B"]
[PlyCount "125"]
[EventDate "2008.11.13"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2009.01.28"]
[WhiteTeam "Armenia"]
[BlackTeam "Israel"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "ARM"]
[BlackTeamCountry "ISR"]

1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. g3 Qb6 7. Ndb5 Ne5 8.
Bf4 Nfg4 9. Qa4 $5 {A very interesting idea, that was first played by Aronian,
but most probably found by Gabriel, who has been coaching Levon for many years.
} ({The normal continuation has always been} 9. e3 {, but everybody knows ,
that Black is fine after} a6 $1) 9... a6 $5 $146 {Unfortunately I had only one
day for  preparation, also this variation was one of a few possible lines my
opponent can choose,  while I believe this variation has been deeply
investigated by Aronian's camp. Anyway I believe I found a quite interesting
idea, that might give Black a reasonable game.} ({The model game here is} 9...
g5 10. Bxe5 Nxe5 11. O-O-O a6 12. e3 Rb8 13. Nd4 Qc7 14. Be2 Be7 {with very
complex struggle Aronian,L (2739)-Leko,P (2753)/Morelia/Linares 2008. Also
it's quite obvious, that my opponent had prepared some improvement over this
game.}) (9... Qxf2+ {looks extremely risky:} 10. Kd2 {for example:} Qc5 11. Ne4
$1 Qc6 (11... Nxc4+ $2 12. Kc3 $1 $18) 12. Bg2 $1 {and White has powerful
compensation for being a pawn down.}) 10. f3 {The best reply.} ({Another
natural option is} 10. h3 {Here is the line I prepared at home:} Qxf2+ (10...
g5 {might be an interesting alternative as well.}) 11. Kd2 ({In the event of} 
11. Kd1 Ne3+ 12. Bxe3 Qxe3 13. Nc7+ Kd8 14. Nxa8 Qd4+ 15. Ke1 ({Clearly worse} 
15. Kc2 Nxc4 16. Rd1 Ne3+ 17. Kc1 Qxa4 18. Nxa4 Nxd1 19. Kxd1 b5 20. N4b6 Bb7
21. Rh2 Bc5 {and White is lost with such ugly knights.}) 15... Bc5 $44 {Black
has a serious initiative.}) 11... Rb8 ({Also wortho considering is} 11... axb5
12. Qxa8 Nxc4+ 13. Kc2 Nb6 14. Qa5 Nf6 15. Qxb5 Nbd5 $44) 12. Nc7+ Kd8 13. hxg4
Bd6 14. Nxe6+ (14. Be3 {leads to a draw after} Nf3+ $1 15. Kd3 Ne5+ $11) 14...
dxe6 {and Black seems to me alright in this messy position.}) 10... g5 $1 {The
point of Black's previous move.} ({Absolutely senseless} 10... Qf2+ $2 11. Kd1
{[%csl Ge5,Gg4] and Black loses material.}) 11. Bxg5 f6 ({Much worse would
have been} 11... Ne3 $2 12. Nc7+ Qxc7 13. Bxe3 Nxc4 14. Bd4 Rg8 15. e3 $16) 12.
Bf4 Ne3 {I still was following my preparation. Black doesn't get a
satisfactory position after} (12... Nf2 13. Nc7+ Qxc7 14. Kxf2 Qb6+ 15. Be3
Qxb2 16. Qb3 $1 {and White is better after both} Qa3 ({and} 16... Qxa1 17. Bg2
Qxh1 18. Bxh1 Be7 19. c5 $1 $16) 17. Bd4) 13. Nc7+ Qxc7 14. Bxe3 Nxc4 {Here I
decided to go for more complicated play, while} (14... Qxc4 {was a worthy
alternative, for example} 15. Bd4 (15. Qxc4 Nxc4 16. Bd4 Kf7 17. O-O-O b5 {
leads to a normal position for Black.}) 15... b5 {This move is stronger than} (
15... Bb4 16. Qd1 $1 {and Black's queen is obviously misplaced on c4.}) 16.
Qxc4 bxc4 {And now the critical line runs} 17. f4 (17. Bg2 Bb7 {leads to an
unclear position.}) 17... Bb7 18. Rg1 Nc6 19. Bxf6 Bc5 20. Bxh8 Bxg1 $44 {and
Black has good compensation for the pawn.}) 15. Bf4 Qc5 $6 {As often happens
the very first move played over the board appears to be a serious inaccuracy.}
({I didn't like the position after} 15... Qc6 16. Qxc6 bxc6 17. e4 Ne5 18. Kf2
{there is nothing dangerous for Black , but White is obviously slightly better.
}) ({The correct continuation would have been} 15... e5 $1 16. Bc1 ({Black is
not worse after} 16. Nd5 Qc6 17. Qxc6 bxc6 18. Nxf6+ ({Risky for White} 18.
Nc7+ Kd8 19. Nxa8 Bb4+ 20. Kd1 exf4 21. e4 Ne3+ 22. Ke2 Nxf1 23. Rhxf1 Bc5 $1
$17 {and White cannot save his knight.}) 18... Kf7 19. Bg5 Bb4+ 20. Kf2 h6 (
20... Bc5+) 21. Rc1 d5 22. Bh4 {and Black has at least a draw:} Bc5+ 23. Ke1
Bb4+ $11 (23... Be3 $5)) 16... Qc6 17. e4 b5 18. Qb3 Bb7 {with a very
complicated double-edged game, for example} 19. a4 Na5 20. Qd1 Bb4 21. Bh3 d5
$1 {and Black should be OK here}) 16. Ne4 $1 Qb4+ 17. Qxb4 Bxb4+ 18. Kf2 f5 $2
{Unfortunately I misjudged the position, that has arisen after my 23th move
and went for the forced line. Instead I should have played} (18... Kf7 19. e3
d5 20. Bxc4 dxc4 21. Bd6 Ba5 22. Bc5 $14 {and though White is slightly better
here, Black's position seems to me pretty defendable.}) 19. b3 $1 ({This is
much stronger than} 19. e3 fxe4 20. Bxc4 b5 21. Be2 Bb7 {and White has nothing
special.}) 19... fxe4 20. bxc4 b5 21. Rb1 Bc5+ {A tempting continuation, but
most probably  better was} (21... Be7 22. fxe4 ({Black manages to equalise
after} 22. Bg2 O-O 23. Rhc1 Bb7 24. cxb5 axb5 25. Rxb5 Bc6 26. Rh5 exf3 27.
Bxf3 Bxf3 28. Kxf3 Rxa2 29. Rc7 Rd8 $11) 22... O-O 23. e5 Bc5+ 24. e3 Bb7 25.
Rg1 b4 $14 {and I believe Black has reasonable chances to hold this endgame.})
22. Be3 Be7 23. Bg2 O-O 24. f4 $1 {[%csl Ge4] Somehow I simply forgot about
this natural move. Now Black faces serious problems in this endgame.} bxc4 {I
also examined two other options, but neither of them appealed to me:} (24...
Bb7 25. cxb5 axb5 26. Rxb5 Bc6 27. Rb2 Ra4 28. Rc2 Rfa8 {it looks like Black
has definite positional compensation, but after} 29. Rd1 Rxa2 30. Rxc6 $1 dxc6
31. Rd7 Kf8 32. Bxe4 $16 {White is clearly better.}) (24... d5 25. cxd5 exd5
26. Rbc1 Be6 27. Bc5 $1 Rf7 28. Rhd1 $16 {and this position looks very
unpleasant for Black.}) 25. Bxe4 d5 26. Bf3 Bf6 27. Bc5 $1 {A very strong idea.
} ({Black would be OK after} 27. Rhd1 Bd7 $14) 27... Rf7 28. e4 Rc7 29. Be3 d4
{The alternative would be} (29... Bb7 30. e5 Bg7 (30... Be7 {runs into the
unpleasant} 31. f5 $1) 31. Rb6 Re8 32. Bd4 Bc8 33. Rhb1 $16 {and it's hard to
believe Black can hold this endgame.}) 30. e5 dxe3+ 31. Kxe3 Raa7 32. exf6 Kf7
{Black regains the pawn, but his position appears to be strategically very
difficult , due to the weakness of his pawns, especially c4, and the passivity
of his pieces.} 33. Rhc1 Rc5 ({In the event of} 33... Kxf6 34. Be2 c3 35. Rb3
$16 {Black loses his c-pawn.}) 34. Kd4 Rac7 35. Rc3 $1 {Obviously White
shouldn't allow Black to push forward his c-pawn.} Kxf6 36. Be4 Ra5 ({Again} 
36... h5 37. Rb4 $1 {loses the c4-pawn.}) 37. Rb2 $6 {I believe this is the
only slight inaccuracy commited by Gabriel in this game.} ({Better would have
been} 37. a3 $142 {anyway it is essential for White to put his pawn on a3 in
order to free his second rook from defending the a2-pawn.} h5 38. Rb6 $16)
37... Ra4 $2 $138 {In general my last move is wrong, as my rook will be out of
play on a4. Unfortunately I didn't exploit my chance} (37... h5 $1 {this move
is very strong , somehow it's not easy for White to make any progress} 38. Rxc4
(38. Rbc2 Bd7 {and now the forced line} 39. Rxc4 Rxc4+ 40. Kxc4 Ra4+ 41. Kd3
Bb5+ 42. Ke3 Bc4 {promises Black good chances to escape.}) ({If White executes
the same idea like in the game} 38. h3 Rb5 39. Rf2 Ra5 40. g4 {Black is just
in time to create counterplay} Rd7+ 41. Ke3 (41. Kxc4 Ra4+ 42. Kb3 Rxe4 43.
Rxc8 Rd3+ $11) 41... Bb7 $1) (38. a3 {also allows Black to get some activity.}
Rd7+ 39. Ke3 Rd1 $132) 38... Rxc4+ 39. Kxc4 e5 $1 40. fxe5+ Kxe5 41. Bb1 Be6+
42. Kc3 Rc5+ 43. Kd2 Ra5 $14 {and Black has good chances to hold this.}) 38. g4
$1 {A very strong positional idea. White grabs even more space on the kingside
chasing off Black's king from the f6-square.} h6 39. h4 Kg7 40. g5 {Now White
is strategically winning. Gabriel converted his advantage very convincingly
into the full point.} Rd7+ 41. Ke3 Rc7 42. a3 {White could have won a pawn
already by means of} (42. Bc2 Ra5 43. Bd3 $1 Rac5 44. Rbc2 $18 {, but the game
continuation is good enough.}) 42... Ra5 43. Rb4 Bd7 44. Rb6 Bc8 45. Rb4 {
White repeats the position to gain some extra time.} Bd7 46. Kd4 Bb5 47. Bc2
Rf7 48. Ke3 Bd7 49. Rb6 $5 ({White doesn't allow Black any activity, though
after} 49. Rbxc4 e5 50. g6 $1 exf4+ 51. Kf3 Re7 52. Rc5 $16 {White should be
winning.}) 49... Bc8 (49... hxg5 {doesn't help either:} 50. fxg5 Rf1 51. Rb7
Re5+ 52. Kd2 Rf2+ 53. Kc1 Rf1+ 54. Kb2 Rb5+ 55. Rxb5 axb5 56. h5 $18) ({, nor
does} 49... Re7 50. Rb7) 50. Rc6 Bd7 51. Rd6 ({Once again White avoids any
possible activation of Black's forces} 51. R6xc4 e5 $1) 51... Bc8 52. Be4 Rc5
53. Rb6 Ra5 $6 {This is not the most pleasant position to defend in permanent
time trouble. My last move slightly eases White's task, but even in the event
of} (53... Rfc7 54. Kd4 $1 {Black cannot hold out for long.}) 54. Rc6 Bd7 55.
Rc7 $1 $18 {Now Black unavoidably loses the c4-pawn and the rest is very easy
and doesn't require any special comments.} hxg5 {Just an agony.} 56. fxg5 $1
Be8 57. R7xc4 Rb5 58. Rc8 Bd7 59. Rd8 Ra5 60. g6 Re7 61. Rc7 Rxa3+ 62. Kd2 Ra2+
63. Kc1 1-0

