Enn vann Carlsen – staðan nú 6-3

   [Event "FIDE World Chess Championship 2021"]  [Site "?"]  [Date "2021.12.07"]  [Round "9"]  [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]  [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]  [Result "0-1"]  [ECO "A13"]  [WhiteElo "2782"]  [BlackElo "2856"]  [Annotator "samsh"]  [PlyCount "78"]  [EventDate "2021.??.??"]   {The ninth game saw Nepo avoid 1.e4 for the first time in the match. He  actually got quite a nice position early on, but after White was somewhat  outplayed to reach an equalish position, the game ended abruptly in one move.}  1. c4 e6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 d4 {I was a little surprised to see this move, which  sort of invites a kind of Benoni with two tempi less: one because of colors  reversed, and a second because e6-e5 will come in two moves rather than one.  The move is surely fine objectively, but it felt like it would lead to more  dynamic positions than I would expect someone to want with the black pieces  and a two-game lead. [During the press conference, Carlsen shared that this  was his preparation although he was having trouble recalling all the  subsequent lines.]} (3... Nf6 {This would be more typical. I don't really  think White has anything better than transposing into a Catalan. With Magnus  taking the white side of the Catalan twice already, I assume he would have  checked it pretty closely. So it was a bit surprising to see 3...d4 instead.})  4. Nf3 Nc6 5. O-O Bc5 {This is a pretty unusual setup for Black, but it makes  some sense. Black is never too worried about b2-b4 since he can always meet  a2-a3 with a7-a5. And the bishop obviously does a good job of lessening the  punch of e2-e3, which is the only real way for White to try to open the game.}  6. d3 Nf6 7. Nbd2 {Nepo was still playing pretty fast, if not immediately. I  suspect he had checked this line a little but that he had not reviewed it too  much and spent more of his efforts on other moves, but he still knew what to  do.} a5 8. Nb3 Be7 9. e3 dxe3 10. Bxe3 {Up to here, Magnus was taking some  time, but I think he was still in his preparation. He certainly knew where to  put his pieces and that he should not be castling right away.} Ng4 $1 {Black  harasses the e3-bishop. This is quite a good decision because White's best  chance for an edge is to fix his one bad piece with Nf3-d4. This will be  harder to pull off now that the bishop is destabilized.} (10... O-O {This  looks like a more natural move, but White should be a bit better after} 11.  Nbd4 $1 Bd7 12. Nxc6 Bxc6 13. d4 $14) 11. Bc5 O-O {Nepo took a long think here,  aiming to find the best way to coordinate his pieces.} 12. d4 $1 {This is not  an easy decision. First of all, White loses any hope of playing Nb3-d4 later,  and also his knight will be forced to c5 and unable to retreat after. It takes  a lot of confidence in your calculation to play this way.} a4 13. Bxe7 Qxe7 14.  Nc5 {Now, Magnus needs to find a tough only-move in a very direct position to  keep things under control. His ability to coordinate his pieces in a solid but  uncomfortable situation is out of this world, and it really showed in just how  easily he held these uncomfortable Spanish positions. Here, it is a different  story. Black has to be very direct and calculate close lines in a shaky way.}  a3 $6 {This is a very human move, but it's also a serious mistake. White now  has to be very energetic, but if he finds the way, he is clearly better. One  thing I have often said is that Magnus is certainly not perfect, but if you  want to beat him, you do have to be accurate. He rarely gives chances, and  when he does, you have to be accurate all the way through.} (14... e5 $1 {  This was the only way for Black, and even then, he remains a little worse.} 15.  Re1 $1 Rd8 $1 {Now, White has a few tempting options, but none of them work  too well.} 16. b4 $1 (16. Nxa4 Qb4 $1 17. b3 exd4 $1 {After a precise sequence,  Black gets his pawn back, and looks more or less okay to me.}) (16. h3 $2 Nxd4  $1 {Black emerges ahead, as the c5-knight is hanging.})) 15. bxa3 $2 {Already  now, the machine still gives some 0.2 for White, but in practice, I actually  prefer Black. His position feels very easy to play, and White is the one with  long-term weaknesses. The a-file will cause endless annoyances.} (15. b4 $1 {  This was the way, and White is clearly better after some complications.} Nxb4 {  This has to be the most critical try for a human to worry about.} (15... Rd8 {  This is the machine's choice, but after} 16. Rb1 {White is clearly better.})  16. Rb1 $1 b6 (16... Nc6 17. Nxb7 Rb8 18. Na5 $1 $16 {This is another  only-move that White needs to see before pushing b4. It is not too hard, but  having to find a bunch of easy-ish only-moves all in advance to justify  playing the right way can be tough.}) 17. Rxb4 bxc5 18. Rb5 $1 {An important  only-move that White has to see before pushing b2-b4. Black cannot take on d4  and will lose his c5-pawn. The game then continues, but White is surely better  due to his superior structure.}) 15... Rd8 16. Nb3 Nf6 17. Re1 Qxa3 18. Qe2 h6  {This is exactly the kind of position where the a-file is a huge problem for  White. He needs to play Ne5, and to do this, he needs to secure the d4-pawn.  As such, he would very much like to get his a-rook to d1, but this would drop  the a2-pawn.} (18... Bd7 {I would have preferred simply tucking the bishop  away on e8, as the inclusion of h4 and h6 could allow some vague chances on  the kingside. What Magnus did is fine too, of course.}) 19. h4 Bd7 20. Ne5 Be8  {Now, I was somewhat surprised White did not take on c6.} 21. Qe3 {This is a  solid and reasonable move, though I certainly would have tried something else.}  (21. Bxc6 $5 Bxc6 22. g4 $5 {The machine is totally unimpressed with this idea,  and claims Black is just better. But in human terms, this feels very scary.  g4-g5 is not messing around and all of Black's pieces are on the queenside—I  would be worried about getting mated. When I was following the game without  the computer, I thought this could be very powerful. It would be interesting  to know if Nepo saw this option and (correctly) chose to reject it—or if it  did not occur to him.} Nd7 $1 {Not an easy decision as this seems to just be  begging for Nxf7.} 23. Nxf7 $1 {Let the fun begin!} (23. Nxc6 bxc6 24. g5 hxg5  25. hxg5 Nf8 $1 {Black prevents g6, and once his knight sits on g6, any queen  and rook lift to the h-file doesn't do much either.}) 23... Rf8 $1 {This is a  very tough move.} (23... Kxf7 24. Qxe6+ Kf8 25. d5 Ba4 26. Re3 {Apparently,  Black is fine here. I would be terrified.}) 24. Nxh6+ gxh6 25. Qxe6+ Kh7 {  The machine claims Black is better here, but it looks very unclear to me, and  it is hard to get here in the first place.}) 21... Qb4 $1 {A high-class move.  As soon as White's queen no longer defends a2, this move is possible without  allowing Rad1. Furthermore, it is prophylaxis against the plan of Qe3-f4 and  g4-g5.} 22. Reb1 (22. Qf4 {This looks scary, but after} Rxa2 $1 {it's all over  already.}) 22... Nxe5 $1 {I was surprised to see this move—it felt a little  inhuman, but it is also best.} 23. dxe5 Ng4 $1 {It takes some guts to play  this move since the knight is nearly trapped, but it is correct.} 24. Qe1 (24.  Qf4 $2 h5 $1 {The knight can escape to h6. After} 25. Bf3 Qc3 $1 {Black's  pieces are plenty active, and White can't win a pawn so easily.}) 24... Qxe1+  25. Rxe1 h5 26. Bxb7 Ra4 27. c5 $4 {I have a bit of sympathy for this decision,  but I still have to give it two question marks. I suspect what happened is  that Nepo saw the idea of c6, realized it is not a big deal because the bishop  is easily defended by Nc5, and then sort of forgot about it. Once c4-c5 comes  though, the c5-square is no longer available, and the bishop is straight up  lost. [During the press conference, Nepo admitted he missed the idea of ...c6  entirely. He mentioned that ...c6 is easy to miss because it is never possible  while the white pawn is on c4 because White would have Nc5 to defend the  bishop.]} (27. f3 {This should be preferred, but after} Nh6 28. Be4 Nf5 {  White will not keep his extra pawn, and a draw looks super likely. Still, this  is obviously better than what actually happened.}) 27... c6 $19 {I have to  give Nepo a little credit; he forced Magnus to find some only-moves later on,  but they were all routine enough.} 28. f3 Nh6 29. Re4 Ra7 30. Rb4 Rb8 31. a4  Raxb7 32. Rb6 $1 {a4-a5-a6 is coming.} Rxb6 {This is the only move, but hardly  rocket science.} 33. cxb6 Rxb6 34. Nc5 {White gets the c5-square and the  a-pawn is coming, but Magnus still has it under control.} Nf5 35. a5 Rb8 36. a6  Nxg3 $1 {White will not be able to force the pawn through without moving the  knight off of c5. Once this happens, c6-c5 comes and the bishop gets to c6.  White can win a piece back but will be down several pawns and still have no  hope.} 37. Na4 c5 $1 {The bishop gets to c6 and that is the end of that.} 38.  a7 Rd8 $1 {The last important move, and it is all over.} 39. Nxc5 (39. Rb1 {  This would have been more challenging, inviting Black to play Bc6, but I'd be  beyond shocked if Magnus did not play it right.} Ra8 $1 (39... Bc6 $2 {I  suppose I could see a human messing this up.} 40. Rb8 Rf8 41. Nxc5 $1 {Black  cannot prevent Nd7 and the tables have turned.}) 40. Rb8 Rxa7 41. Rxe8+ Kh7 42.  Nxc5 Nf5 {White got his piece back, but is obviously done for.}) 39... Ra8 {  Nothing more to say here.} 0-1