Gukesh, D vs Tari, Aryan - Game Analysis
So I’m trying something different with this post, It is going to be my analysis of Gukesk’s game against Aryan Tari in the Norway Chess Tournament.
A few things to keep in mind while reading this post:
This analysis was made without the engine;
I analyzed the game only with a board, pen, and paper and I did not move the pieces while calculating and evaluating variations;
Total time spent on this game was 4 hours and 22 minutes over 4 days;
At the time of this analysis, my elo was 1565 fide;
With that in mind, expect some mistakes in the analysis, and feel free to point them out in the comment section.
Gukesh, D (2732) - Tari, Aryan (2642)
Norway Chess 08.06.2023
1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 d5 3.e3 g6 London system against the Grunfeld 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Nbd2
[5.Be2 0-0 6.h3 This is how I usually play against the Grunfeld]
5...0-0 6.c3 seems premature to me, I prefer to wait until to see what black does with the c-pawn to decide if I play c3 or c4 which is more active
[6.Be2 preparing to castle]
6...b6 7.h4!? interesting idea to play against he g6, and Bg7 systems, That is the next line in the London system I want to study 7...c5 8.Ne5 I think Ne5 is to maintain the white's initiative, but wouldn't Be2 followed by short castling to finish development be better?
[8.Be2 Nbd7 9.0-0 Nh5 10.Bh2
(10.Ne5 Nxf4 11.exf4 cxd4 12.cxd4µ whites pawn structure looks very bad for white)
10...Re8! preparing e5 11.Ne5 f6 black was the initiative, maybe 8.Ne5 had the goal of stopping black from taking the initiative]
8...Nbd7 9.Be2 h5 to avoid a future h5 for white
[9...Bb7 maybe it would be better to avoid Nc6]
10.Nc6 Qe8 11.b4 white takes advantage of his piece activity to launch an attack to destroy black's center, is safer to open the center because if 11...Bb7 maybe 12.b5 is interesting
[11.g4? hxg4 12.Bxg4 Nxg4 13.Qxg4 Black wins the knight on c6 13...Ne5]
[11.c4? trying to open the center, but maybe it’s risky to open the center while our king is still in the center, but 11.0-0 Bb7! gives black the initiative 11...dxc4?!
a) 11...cxd4 12.exd4 (12.Nxd4?? e5! winning a piece) 12...dxc4 13.Bxc4² instead of Bf3 like in the last line. the next step would be to castle and play in an IQP structure, which I think favors white for having more active pieces like the knight on c6, the bishop on f4, and the bishop on c4;
b) 11...Bb7! getting the annoying knight off the c6 square 12.Ne5
(12.cxd5?? Nxd5 13.Bf3?
(13.Ne5 Nxe5 (13...Nxf4 14.exf4 Bxg2-+) 14.Bxe5 Bxe5 15.dxe5 e6µ white has a weakness on e5 and black pieces are much more active)
13...Bxc6µ)
12...dxc4 the bishop on b7 now attacks the pawn on g2 13.0-0 b5µ black is a pawn up;
12.Bf3 threatening 13.Nxe7, winning the rook on a8 (12.Bxc4² after analysing better I think this is better because whites pieces are more active) ]
11...Ng4
[11...cxd4? 12.cxd4 with a symmetrical structure, but if 12.exd4 the pawn on c3 would be weak 12...Bb7 13.b5 Rc8 (13...Bxc6? 14.bxc6+- b7) 14.Rc1 a6 15.a4± white has the space advantage on the queenside and has control of the c-file Also white has more active pieces, next The plan would be to short castle and continue with the attack]
[11...cxb4 trasposes to the last line]
12.0-0
[12.Bxg4?? looks like it wins a pawn but it loses the knight on c6 12...hxg4 13.Qxg4 Ne5!-+]
12...e5 13.Bg3 Qe6 14.b5 Bb7 15.c4!? Bxc6
[15...dxc4? 16.Bxc4 Qe8 17.d5±]
[15...cxd4 16.cxd5 Qxd5
a) 16...Qe8 17.e4÷ supporting the passed pawn on d5, but black also has a passed pawn;
b) 16...Qf6?? loses the bishop 17.Ne4 Qf5 18.Nd6 attacking the queen on f5 and the bishop on b7 (18.Ne7+!+- after a while I saw that Ne7 wins the queen) ;
17.Bc4 Qd6 18.Ne4 Qc7 19.exd4± blacks can’t play exd4 because the queen would be hanging]
[15...exd4?? strategically it doesnt look good because it opens the diagonal for the bishop on g3 16.cxd5 Qxd5 (16...Qf6 17.Ne4 Qf5 18.Ne7+ winning the queen) 17.Bc4 Qf5 18.Ne7+ winning the queen]
16.bxc6 Ndf6
[16...Qxc6?! 17.Bxg4 hxg4 18.Qxg4±]
17.e4 increases the tension in the center and gives black more chances to make a mistake
[17.dxe5? Nxe5 18.Bxe5 Qxe5 19.Nf3 Qd6 20.e4!? The idea is that Black can't take on c4 or on e4 with the pawn because they would lose the queen
(20.cxd5? my idea after cxd4 was that white would have two connected passed pawns and the pawn on d-file was supported by the queen but then I saw that actually the pawn was being attacked by the queen and the knight)
20...Nxe4 21.cxd5
(21.Qxd5!? Rfd8
(21...Qxd5 22.cxd5 Bxa1 23.Rxa1° white is an exchange down but was two connected passed pawns and I think white has compensation for that)
22.Qxe4 Bxa1 23.Rxa1²)
21...Bxa1 22.Qb3
(22.Ba6 I don't know if the connected passed pawns and the bishop on a6 are enough compensation for the rook)
22...Bg7 23.Ba6µ Next the plan is to play the rook to d1 to help support the d-pawn, but still, I don’t think it’s enough compensation]
17...Nxe4
[17...dxe4 18.d5+-]
[17...dxc4 18.d5+-]
[17...cxd4 18.cxd5+-]
[17...exd4 18.cxd5+-]
18.cxd5
[18.Nxe4!? dxe4 only move so black doesn’t lose a piece 19.d5! white has two connected passed pawns]
18...Qxd5 19.Nxe4 Qxe4 20.d5!+- achieves the same objective as the line before, white has two connected passed pawns 20...Nf6 21.Bf3 Qf5 22.d6 e4 23.Be2 Nd5 24.Rc1
[24.Bc4 the idea is to not lose the initiative giving up the exchange but maybe it’s not really necessary 24...Bxa1 25.Bxd5 we sacrificed the exchange but now we have the two bishops supporting the two passed pawns, I think white is still winning in this position but maybe it’s not necessary to complicate the position this much]
24...Nb4 25.c7 Bd4 26.Qa4 a6 27.d7 b5 28.Bxb5 axb5 29.Qxa8 the easiest way to simplify the position 29...Qxd7
[29...Rxa8 30.d8Q+ Rxd8 31.cxd8Q+ Kg7+-]
30.Qxe4 Nxa2 31.Rce1 Bf6 32.Rd1 Bd4 33.Qc2 Qe6
[33...Nb4? 34.Qxc5 Bxc5 35.Rxd7+-]
34.Rfe1 Qc4 35.Qxc4 bxc4 36.Bd6 Rc8 37.Bxc5!! 1-0