Carlsen-Navara, Dresden 2008

I'm finally following a single game in Dresden, and mostly logging comments on Rolling Pawn's attractive blog.

Carlsen,M - Navara, D
Olympiad, Dresden 2008

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.d3 d6 7.c3 0–0 8.Re1 Re8 9.Nbd2 Bf8 10.h3 b5 11.Bc2 Bb7 12.d4 g6 13.d5 Ne7 14.Nf1 Bg7 15.b3 Nxe4 16.Bxe4 f5 17.Bc2

Black to move


Black sacrificed a knight to get to this position. In Geller - Eingorn, Black ended up getting three pawns for the knight and went on to win. Then, in a correspondence game, Timar's 19.Bd2 appeared to take the sting out of 17...e4. Consequently, Cimra played 17...Nxd5, which is the move Navara adopted in this game.

Geller,E (2540) - Eingorn,V (2525) [C92]
URS-ch52 Riga (9), 01.1985
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0–0 9.h3 Bb7 10.d4 Re8 11.Nbd2 Bf8 12.Bc2 g6 13.d5 Ne7 14.Nf1 Bg7 15.b3 Nxe4 16.Bxe4 f5 17.Bc2 e4 18.Nd4 Nxd5 19.Ne2 Nxc3 20.Nxc3 Bxc3 21.Rb1 c5 22.Bb2 Bxb2 23.Rxb2 d5 24.Qc1 d4 25.Bd1 Qd6 26.Rc2 Rac8 27.Qg5 Qe5 28.h4 f4 29.Bg4 Qxg5 30.hxg5 Rc7 31.Rd1 d3 32.Rc3 Re5 33.f3 e3 34.Rcxd3 e2 35.Re1 exf1Q+ 36.Kxf1 Rxg5 37.Kf2 Kg7 38.Rd7+ Rxd7 39.Bxd7 Kf7 40.a4 Bd5 41.Bc8 Bxb3 42.a5 c4 43.Bxa6 c3 44.Bb7 b4 45.Ra1 Bd5 46.Bxd5+ 0–1

Timar,Z - Kovacs,A [C92]
HUN-ch7J corr Hungary, 1987
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0–0 9.h3 Re8 10.d4 Bb7 11.Nbd2 Bf8 12.Bc2 g6 13.d5 Ne7 14.Nf1 Bg7 15.b3 Nxe4 16.Bxe4 f5 17.Bc2 e4 18.Nd4 Nxd5 19.Bd2 c5 20.Ne2 Nb6 21.Rb1 d5 22.Be3 1–0

Cimra,J (2330) - Bisco,I [C92]
SVK-ch Trencin, 1991
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0–0 9.h3 Bb7 10.d4 Re8 11.Nbd2 Bf8 12.Bc2 g6 13.b3 Bg7 14.d5 Ne7 15.Nf1 Nxe4 16.Bxe4 f5 17.Bc2 Nxd5 18.c4 Nc3 19.Bg5 Qd7 20.Qd2 e4 21.N3h2 c6 22.Be3 d5 23.Bd4 Bxd4 24.Qxd4 Qg7 25.Qxg7+ Kxg7 26.cxd5 cxd5 27.b4 d4 28.Bb3 Rad8 29.Rac1 Rc8 30.Rc2 f4 31.g3 g5 32.h4 h6 33.hxg5 hxg5 34.gxf4 gxf4 35.f3 exf3 36.Rxe8 Rxe8 37.Rd2 Re2 38.Nxf3 Bxf3 39.Rxe2 Bxe2 40.Nd2 Kf6 41.Kf2 Ke5 42.Nf3+ Bxf3 0–1

17...Nxd5 18.b4

The novelty

18...Nxc3 19.Bb3+ d5 20.Qc2 Ne4 21.Rxe4 fxe4 22.Ng5 a5 23.bxa5 Rxa5 24.Nxe4 Kh8 25.Bg5 Qc8 26.Nf6 Rd8 27.Ne3 e4 28.Rc1 h6 29.Nxe4 dxe4 30.Bxd8 Qxd8 31.Qxc7 Qxc7 32.Rxc7 Ba6 33.Nd5 b4 34.Ra7 Bd4 35.Ra8+ Kh7 36.Nxb4 Rf5 37.Rxa6

Everyone thinks that Navara is lost, except Navara it seems.

37...Rxf2 38.Rd6 Rd2+ 39.Kf1 e3 40.Rxd4 Rxd4 41.Nd5

Magnus Carlsen has the sort of advantage that I frequently manage to lose to the computer. But he's a lot better than me, and David Navara is probably not quite as good as the Silicon Beast.

41...Rd3 42.Ke1 h5 43.Bc4 Rd4 44.Nxe3 Kh6 45.a4 Kg5 46.a5 Kf4 47.Kf2 Rd2+ 48.Be2 Ke4 49.a6 Ra2 50.h4 1-0

Congratulations to Magnus the Magnificent!

I'll add some diagrams and more analysis, including taking a stab at joco's questions, later today or tomorrow. I have my make-up game with David Griffin in the Turkey Quads in less than two hours. It's a must win if I care about ratings and want my entry fee back.