Carlsen-Morozevich

Carlsen

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[Event "Tal Memorial"]

[Date "2009.11.06"]

[Round "2"]

[White "Carlsen, M."]

[Black "Morozevich, A."][ECO "E25"]

[WhiteElo "2801"][BlackElo "2750"]

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1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 c5 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. dxc5 Qa5 9. e4 Nf6 10. Be3 O-O 11. Qb3 Na6 (A lesser known move. Most popular is 11...Nfd7) 12. Nh3 += (I expect Morozevich to play Nd7 here. Even though Black is down a pawn, he can recapture at c5 at will.

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However, I am not very impressed with Black's position. The Bishop on c8 is stuck.) 12... Nd7 (Now, White's best option is to take the Knight on a6. Even when Black recaptures with the Queen, White does not worry about the castling problem because White always has the f2 square for the King. White can also play c4 to block the Black Queen.)

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13. Ba6 Qxa6 14. c4 (White can now castle safely.) 14...Ne5 (The only decent square for the Knight) 15. Rc1 Bd7 (Pretty much a must since Black has to begin to develop his Bishop.)16. Qc3 f6 17. 0-0 Ba4 += (The idea is to block the White's Rooks from the d file.)

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18. Nf4 Rfd8 (White must chase the Black Knight from the best square e5. Bd4 would solve this problem. White can also solidify his Bishop with Ne2 eventually.) 16. Bd4 (Black has many choices to retreat his Knight. A logical spot is on f7. Nc6 is no good because of Nxe6. Ng6 is also playable.)

16...