1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Nf3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. Qxc4 b5 9. Qc2 Bb7 10. Bd2 Bd6 11. Be3!? A novelty that doesn't look too dangerous. 11... Nbd7 12. Nbd2 Qe7 13. Nb3 Be4 14. Qc1 e5 It seems Black has equalised comfortably already. 15. dxe5 Nxe5 16. Nxe5 Bxg2 17. Nc6 White decides to sacrifice a pawn. 17... Bxc6 18. Qxc6 Ng4 19. Bd4 Qxe2 20. Rfe1 Qd3 21. h3 Golubev gives 21. Re4?! Qf3! as good for Black.(21... f5?? 22. Qd5+ Kh8 23. Bxg7+) 21... Nh6 22. Be5 Another try was 22. Rad1 Qg6 23. Bc5 but this is also not more (or less) than dead equal: 23... Nf5 24. Bxd6 cxd6 25. Nd4 Rac8 26. Qd5 Nxd4 27. Rxd4= 22... Bxe5 23. Rxe5 Nf5 24. Rae1 A natural move that involves a nasty threat. 24... g6?! According to Golubev, better was 24... Qd6! 25. Rd5! Qc4 This time 25... Qf3? is wrong because of 26. Nd2 Nd4 27. Qc5 Ne2+ 28. Kh2 (Golubev) 26. Rc5 Qd3 27. Rd5 Qc4 28. Rc5 Qd3 29. Rd5 1/2-1/2

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 A small surprise but in Ivanchuk's hand, even a surprise isn't a surprise! 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Bd2 Bg7 6. e4 Nb6 7. Be3 O-O 8. Bb5 Golubev: "Strangely looking 8.Bb5 is in fact the main move. The idea is that 8...a6 weakens the b6 knight (this is important in some lines) while 8...c6 abandons the idea ...Nc6." 8... Qd6 9. Nge2 c6 10. Bd3 e5 11. dxe5 Qxe5 12. Bd4 Qe7 13. Bxg7 Kxg7 White's position looks slightly better but perhaps it's just a symbolic advantage. 14. Bc2 Rd8 15. Qc1 Na6 16. O-O Be6 17. Nf4 Bc4 18. Re1 Nb4 19. a3 Nxc2 20. Qxc2 Qf6 21. Nce2 Rd7 22. b3 Ba6 23. Rad1 Rad8 24. g3 Qe5 25. f3 Kg8 26. a4 h5 27. Kf2 Rd6 28. Qc3 Nd7 29. Rxd6 Qxd6 30. Rc1 Ne5 31. h4 Qf6 32. b4?? A blunder, completely missing (or misjudging) Black's threat. 32... Rd3! Winning instantly. One for the tactics books. 33. Nxd3 Qxf3+ 34. Kg1 34. Ke1 Bxd3 35. Qb2 Qe3! and White can resign. 34... Bxd3 35. Qxe5 Qe3+! Even stronger than 35... Bxe4 36. Nf4 Qe3+ 37. Kh2 Qd2+! although this also wins. 36. Kh2 Qxe2+ 0-1

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. a3 Bb7 5. Nc3 d5 6. cxd5 Nxd5 7. Qc2 Nxc3 8. bxc3 Be7 9. e4 Nd7 10. Bd3 c5 11. O-O Qc7 12. Qe2 O-O 13. Bb2 Rfd8 14. Rfd1 Rac8 15. Nd2 Nb8 15... Nf6 16. a4 cxd4 17. cxd4 Bb4 18. Nf3 Qe7 19. h3 h6 20. Qe3 a5 Kasparov-Kramnik, Linares 2004 16. Nc4 Ba6 17. d5 b5 18. Ne3 c4 19. Bc2 Nd7 20. a4 b4 21. dxe6 fxe6 22. cxb4 Bxb4 23. Qg4 Nf8 The game now gets very sharp and quite interesting. 24. Bf6 Rd2!? 24... Rxd1+ 25. Rxd1 h5 was the alternative but after 26. Qg5 (26. Qxh5?! gxf6 27. Ng4 Bc3! defends) 26... Nh7 27. Qe5! (threatening to take on e6 and a6) White is slightly better. 25. Rab1 Ba5 26. Rxd2 Bxd2 27. h3 Qf7 Possible was 27... Bxe3 28. fxe3 c3 because 29. Rb3 can be answered by 29... Be2! 28. Be5 Ng6 29. Bd6 Qf6 30. Qe2 Ba5 31. Ng4 Qc3 32. e5 Bb6 After 32... Nf4!? 33. Nf6+!? looks dangerous (Golubev) 33. Bb4 Qd4 34. a5 Bc5 35. Rd1 Nf4 36. Nh6+ Kh8 37. Nf7+ Svidler decides to take no more risks. An important alternative was 37. Qf3 Nd3 38. Bxc5 (38. Bxd3 cxd3 39. Bxc5 (not 39. Qf7 Qxf2+ 40. Qxf2 Bxf2+ 41. Kxf2 (Golubev) 41... gxh6 and Black has the better ending) 39... Qxc5 40. Qf7 Qf8 41. Qxe6 Bc4 42. Nf7+ and White gives perpetual.) 38... Qxc5 39. Qf7 Qf8 (39... gxh6? 40. Qf6+ Kg8 41. Bxd3 cxd3 42. Qxe6+) 40. Qxe6 (40. Bxd3 cxd3 41. Qxe6 Bc4 42. Nf7+ is the same draw we saw before) 40... Qxf2+ 41. Kh1 Qxg2+! 42. Kxg2 Nf4+ (Golubev) leads to a probably drawn ending. 37... Kg8 38. Nh6+ Kh8 39. Nf7+ Kg8 40. Nh6+ 1/2-1/2

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Be7 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 O-O 7. e3 Ne4 The Lasker Variation again - Volokitin had played the same against Shirov in round 4. 8. Bxe7 Qxe7 9. Rc1 c6 10. Bd3 Nxc3 11. Rxc3 Nd7 12. Qc2 dxc4 13. Bxc4 b6 14. Bd3 c5 15. Bh7+ Sakaev's small improvement of the immediate 15. Be4 Rb8 16. O-O a5 17. Rd1 Bb7 18. Bxb7 Rxb7 19. a3 Van Wely-Azmaiparashvili, Mallorca 2004 15... Kh8 16. Be4 Rb8 17. O-O a5 Barely a novelty, but OK. 17... Ba6 18. Rc1 Rfc8 19. h3 Kg8 20. Qa4 Bb7 21. Bxb7 Rxb7 22. Qb5 Sakaev-Lysyj, Krasnoyarsk 2007 18. Rd1 Bb7 19. Bxb7 Rxb7 20. a3 Rc8 With his king on g8, Azmaiparashvili played 20...Re8 here. 21. b4 axb4 22. axb4 Rbc7 23. Rc1 c4 23... Nf6! looks like a possible improvement. 24. Qa4 Nf6?! 24... Qd6 25. b5 Qd5 looks better. 25. Ne5! Now the Black c-pawn drops. White finishes the game with fifteen very accurate moves. 25... Ra7 26. Qb5 Qe8 27. Qxb6 Qa4 28. Rxc4 Rxc4 29. Nxc4 Nd5 30. Qb8+ Kh7 31. Ne5 Nc3 32. Re1 Qa2 33. h4 Ne4 34. Rf1 Nd2 35. Rc1 Ne4 36. Nd3 Ra3 37. Qb7 Nd6 38. Qc6 Rxd3 39. Qxd6 Qd2 40. Rf1 h5 41. Qe7 1-0

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. Nc3 e6 4. g3 b6 5. Bg2 Bb7 6. O-O Be7 7. b3 O-O 8. Bb2 d6 9. e3 Nbd7 10. d4 Ne4 11. Nxe4 Bxe4 12. Qe2 Qc7 13. Rfd1 Qb7 14. Ne1 Nf6 14... Bxg2 15. Nxg2 Nf6 16. Rac1 cxd4 17. Bxd4 Rfd8 18. h4 Rac8 19. Rc2 1/2-1/2, Kortschnoi-Bischoff, Brno 1992 15. Rac1 cxd4 16. Bxd4 1/2-1/2

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Nd5 Be7 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. c4 b4 12. Nc2 a5 13. g3 O-O 14. h4 Be6 15. Bh3 a4 A logical and strong novelty. 15... Bxd5 16. cxd5 Ne7 17. Ne3 g6 18. Kf1 Bg7 19. h5 Nc8 20. hxg6 hxg6 21. Rc1 Brkic-Havas, Bizovac 2007 15... Nd4 16. Nxd4 exd4 17. Qd3 Rc8 18. Kf1 Rc5 19. Kg2 Bxd5 20. exd5 Rc7 21. Rhe1 1/2-1/2, Svidler-Eljanov, Germany 2006 16. Ncxb4 Nxb4 17. Bxe6 17. Nxb4? loses a pawn to 17... Bxh3 18. Rxh3 Qc8 17... fxe6 18. Nxb4 Qb6 19. Qd2 Be7! A great move (probably still preparation), pinpointing White's problem in the position: his oddly placed knight. 20. a3 20. O-O d5 is very annoying for White. 20... Rf3! Preventing White from castling kingside. 21. Rf1 Raf8 Black has a clear advantage. 22. O-O-O Rb3!? Black consequently plays for the move ...d5, but it seems he could have won a healthy pawn here with 22... Qc5 23. Qc2 d5! Black goes for it. The move has to be played! 24. exd5! Bxb4 25. axb4 Qxb4 26. dxe6! Rb8 27. Rd2 a3!? In upcoming timetrouble, Black decides to play for a win. 27... Rxb2 28. Qxb2 Qxc4+ 29. Qc2 Qxf1+ 30. Rd1 Qb5 31. e7= will soon lead to a draw. 28. Rfd1 g6 29. Rd8+ Rxd8 30. Rxd8+ Kg7 31. Qe4! Active defence! 31... Kh6? This loses. As a computer-generated analysis shows, 31... axb2+ 32. Kb1 Kf6! seems to draw: 33. e7!? (33. f4!? Qa5 34. Qxe5+ Qxe5 35. fxe5+ Kxe6 36. Re8+ Kd7 37. Rh8 Rxg3 38. Rxh7+ Ke6=) 33... Qc3! (33... Qxe7? 34. Qc6+ Kf5 35. Qc8+ Kf6 36. Rd7) 34. Qc6+ Kg7 35. Rg8+! Kh6 36. Rxg6+! hxg6 37. Qxg6+ Kxg6 38. e8=Q+= 32. Qg4! Cold-blooded, again. 32... Qe1+ 33. Rd1 a2 34. Kc2 a1=N+ 35. Rxa1 Qxf2+ 36. Kxb3 1-0

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. Nc3 Ne7 10. h3 Ng6 11. Ne4 h6 12. b3 a5 13. a4 c5 13... Bd7 14. Bb2 Nf4 15. Rad1 Ke8 16. Kh2 Rd8 Bologan-Naiditsch, Saint Vincent 2005 14. Bb2 Be6 15. Nfd2 Nf4 16. Kh2 g6 17. Nc4 Kd7 18. g3 Nd5 19. f4 h5 20. Rad1 Kc6 21. Ng5 Bg7 22. Nxe6 fxe6 23. Bc1 Bh6 24. Kg2 Rhf8 25. Na3 Rf7 26. c4 Ne7 27. Rd3 Rg8 28. Rfd1 Nf5 29. Nb5? The ugly 29. h4 at least allows White to play one without risking too much. 29... g5! White must have miscalculated because this move is what Black has been preparing for a while. 30. g4? And another mistake leads to a lost position. 30. Rd8 still looks quite playable. 30... gxf4 31. Kf3 Nh4+ First 31... hxg4+ 32. hxg4 and then 32... Nh4+ also gives a clear, probably winning advantage. 32. Ke4 Suddenly White threatens mate in two, but that doesn't help very much. 32... b6 33. gxh5 Rg2 This too is just horrible for White. 34. Nc3 Nf5 35. Rd8 Rg3 36. Nb5 Rxb3 37. R1d3 Rxd3 38. Rxd3 f3 39. Bxh6 f2 40. Rd1 Ng3+ 41. Ke3 f1=Q 42. Rxf1 Nxf1+ 43. Kd3 Ng3 44. h4 Rf3+ 45. Kd2 Rf5 46. Bg5 Ne4+ 47. Ke3 Nxg5 48. hxg5 Rxg5 0-1