Magnus Carlsen - Pentala Harikrishna
Tata Steel 2013
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 Nf6
Four years earlier, in his only other known Ponziani, Harikrishna played the sharper 3...d5, although that was in a rapidplay game.
4.d4 d5!?
Not a popular choice, but Hariskrishna is not the only GM to have played it. The main moves are 4...exd4 and 4...Nxe4.
5.Bb5 exd4 6.e5 Ne4 7.Nxd4 Bd7 8.Bxc6 bxc6 9.0-0 Be7 10.Be3 0-0
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| Who stands better out of the opening? |
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The game has reached a position with interesting imbalances: White has the better pawn-structure, and attacking chances thanks to his kingside majority; Black has the bishop-pair. For what it is worth, Stockfish10 and Komodo10 reckon chances are equal.
11.Nbd2 Nc5!?
Andreas Dückstein - Wolfgang Unzicker, 1970 Olympiad, saw 11...Nxd2 12.Qxd2 c5 with a draw in 29 moves.
12.b4 Nb7
Mihail Marin in ChessBase suggests 12...Nd3!? As he says, it looks provocative, but one point is that 13.N2f3 can be met by 13...Nb2, intending ...Nc4. More promising for White is to ignore the knight for the moment and get on with 13.f4.
13.f4 a5
Black almost certainly cannot just try to defend on the kingside; he must create queenside counterplay.
14.f5!
The Ponziani is for attacking spirits, and this pawn sac is very much in line with that.
14...axb4 15.cxb4 Bxb4 16.Qg4!?
16.f6!? was a major alternative, with the engines divided as to which they prefer.
16...Bc3
The engines suggest 16...Qe8!?, but Stockfish10 gives one possible answer in 17.Ne6!? Bxe6 (this seems better than 17...fxe6 18.f6 Rf7 19.Qxb4 Nd8, when Black is a pawn up but White still has a strong kingside attack) 18.Qxb4 Bc8 19.f6 with continuing complications. Having been shown the game move and given enough time to consider it, the engines come to like it.
17.Rac1 Bxd4 18.Bxd4 Rxa2
Black's bishop-pair has gone while White's kingside majority remains. But Black is two pawns up, although opposite-coloured bishops in the middlegame favour the attacker.
19.e6 f6 20.Nb3
Not just saving the knight from capture, but heading for the c5 outpost.
20...Be8 21.Nc5 Nd6
21...Nxc5?? costs the exchange.
22.Qf3 Qe7 23.Rf2
Trying to swop off Black's most-active piece.
23...Ra5?!
But perhaps simplifying was the way to go. After 23...Rxf2 24.Qxf2 Black is two pawns up but can never break the blockade of his queenside. On the other hand, it is not easy to see how White makes progress either.
24.Nb3 Rb5 25.Bc5 Bh5 26.Qc3 Qe8 27.Qe3
Marin reckons 27.Nd4 gives White the upper hand. He does not give any analysis, but one exciting line runs 27...Ne4 28.Nxb5! Nxc3 29.e7 Rf7 30.Nxc7 Qxe7 31.Bxe7 Rxe7 32.Rxc3 Rxc7, when Black has two pawns for the exchange, but the engines prefer White.
27...Qa8 28.Nd4 Rxc5!?
The engines' choice as they reckon a line such as 28...Ra5 29.Bxd6 cxd6 30.Nxc6 is very good for White who, although a pawn down, has much-better coordinated pieces and a protected passed pawn, while Black's extra pawn is one of a pair of doubled isolanis.
29.Rxc5 Ne4?!
Black regains the exchange but gets a virtually lost position. The engines prefer 29...Nc4!?, although White will win one of the c pawns and so be up the exchange for a pawn.
30.Nxc6 Nxf2 31.Kxf2 Qa2+ 32.Kg3 Re8 33.h3!
The king will be safe on h2, should the need arise, and Carlsen has seen that such a quiet move is possible as Black can undertake nothing active.
33...Qa6 34.Qc3
Care is still required. Most unfortunate would be 34.Nb4?? Qd6+.
34...Be2 35.Rxd5 Bb5 36.Nb4 Qb7 37.Qc5 Ba4 38.Rd7 Qe4 39.Rxc7?
A slip that could have cost him half a point. The engines give 39.Rd4, there being no rush to pick up the c pawn.
39...h5 40.Kh2
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| Black to play and draw |
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40...Kh7?
Missing a difficult chance. 40...Qf4+ seems better than the text, but the engines point out 40...Bb3!!, when the game's 41.Qf2?? simply drops the knight. The first point of the engines' move is to clear the a file so the black rook has two files from which to invade White's position; the second, deeper point, will become clear later. White's best, according to the engines, is 41.Rd7 Qf4+ 42.Kg1 Ra8 43.Qd4 (covering a1 and supporting the white rook so the e pawn can be pushed) Qxf5 44.e7 Re8 45.Rd8 Bf7. This is the second point of 40...Bb3! - White seemingly cannot make progress.
41.Qf2!
Harikrishna must have missed that his move meant White's queen is no longer tied to the knight.
41...Rg8
Or 41...Qxb4 42.Qg3 Qf8 (42..Re7 43.Qg6+ Kg8 44.Rc8+ Re8 45.Rxe8+ Bxe8 46.Qxe8+ Kh7 47.Qxh5+ gives White an easily won queen-and-pawn ending) 43.Rf7 Qh8 44.Qg6+ Kg8 45.Ra7 Bc6 46.Qf7+ Kh7 47.Qh5+ Kg8 48.Qf7+ Kh7 49.Qg6+ Kg8 50.Rc7 Bb5 51.Qf7+ Kh7 52.Rc4! Bxc4 53.Qh5+ Kg8 54.Qxe8+ Kh7 55.Qg6+ Kg8 56.e7 Bb5 57.e8=Q+ Bxe8 58.Qxe8+ Kh7 59.Qxh8+ Kxh8, and the pawn-ending is winning for White, who has more space and lots of reserve tempi. This is a very long line given by the engines, but the vast majority of it is forced. Both players would, I am sure, be capable of calculating it, but they may well have concluded White was winning without getting to the very end.
42.Na6?!
Possibly better is 42.Qf3 Qe5+ 43.g3 Rf8 (43...Qc7?? Qxh5#), when the engines are enthusiastic about 44.Rc4 and 44.Nd5, but in each case White's advantage shrinks, according to the engines, as the lines get deeper.
42...Be8?
Better drawing chances were to be had with 42...Bb5, when the engines cannot decide whether White should play 43.Qg3 or 43.Nc5. In neither case do they come up with a convincing winning line for White.
43.Rc5 Qd3 44.Nb4 Qd6+ 45.Kh1 Qd1+ 46.Qg1 Qd6 47.Nd5 Rf8 48.Qd4 Kh8 49.Rc8 Bc6
Harikrishna resigned without waiting for 50.Nxf6.
In the same tournament, five rounds later, Yifan Hou played the Ponziani against Carlsen. The opening of that game went 3...Nf6 4.d4 exd4 (varying from Harikrishna's 4...d5!?) 5.e5 Nd5 6.Bc4 Nb6 7.Bb3 d5 (7...dxc3!? has been played, but White gets a lot of open lines for his pawn) 8.cxd4 Bg4. Marin, again in ChessBase, says of this position: "[It is] no less consistent than those arising from more popular openings. White has the centre, Black intends to undermine it. Just play according to the basic rules. Maybe the Ponziani should be tried more often?" Carlsen won in 66 moves.
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