So finishes second overall to Fabio Caruna, recent transferee to the USCF. Game and commentary from Chessbase.com
[Event "43rd GM 2015"]
[Site "Dortmund GER"]
[Date "2015.07.05"]
[Round "7.2"]
[White "So, Wesley"]
[Black "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C67"]
[WhiteElo "2778"]
[BlackElo "2783"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "151"]
[EventDate "2015.06.27"]
{Wesley had been having a topsy turvy tournament in Dortmund. Wins against Caruana and Nepo were compensated by losses against Nisipeanu and Naiditsch. But his final round victory against Kramnik would have been especially sweet because he beat the former World Champion in his favourite Berlin Defence.} 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. h3 Ne7 10. Nc3 Bd7 {Kramnik uses a line that has only been played ten times in the past and one in which Black players haven't scored a win. But it was never been tried by a 2700+ player.} (10... Ng6 {is the main move.}) (10... h6 {is the second most played move in the position.}) 11. Ng5 $146 {This is a new move in the position. A clear indication that this was not prepared by Wesley is the fact that he used seven and a half minutes for this move.} Ke8 12. e6 $5 {Played after 20 minutes of thought. Wesley definitely was trying to weigh the pros and cons of this sacrifice. On one hand he loses a pawn but on the other he get a very nice initiative and squares like e4 for his knight.} Bxe6 (12... fxe6 13. Re1 Nf5 14. Nxe6 Bxe6 15. Rxe6+ Kf7 16. Re5 $11 {was also a possible line.}) 13. Nxe6 fxe6 14. Re1 Kf7 {The computer already likes Black's position but in a practical game things are not so simple. So would like to place his knight on e4 and create some problems for the king on f7.} 15. Ne4 h6 {Of course, preventing Ng5.} 16. Rd1 {Nine and a half minutes for this move. It would definitely not have been easy for Wesley to play this move. But he realises that the d-file is more important than the e-file.} e5 (16... Nd5 17. c4 Nf6 18. Nxf6 Kxf6 19. Bd2 (19. Rd7 Bd6 $15) 19... Bd6 20. Bc3+ e5 $11 {Black doesn't have too many problems here.}) 17. Rd7 Rc8 18. Bd2 b6 {After the c5 square is controlled, Black now threatens K to e6.} ( 18... Ke6 $2 19. Nc5+ $14) 19. Re1 Ke6 20. Rd3 c5 ({Maybe it's not such a huge inaccuracy to play c5, but it made more sense to play g5 followed by Bg7 to finish the development.} 20... g5 {and with this move Black also prevents the move f4.}) 21. f4 Nc6 22. Rg3 Re8 (22... Nd4 23. c3 Nf5 24. Rg4 $13) 23. fxe5 g5 (23... Nxe5 24. Bc3 Kd5 {The king looks pretty cool in the center of the board. Unlike Bruzon's king against Wei Yi, this one is way safer!} 25. Nd2 c4 $13) 24. h4 Bg7 25. hxg5 Bxe5 26. Rf3 hxg5 27. Bxg5 $6 {The game had reached the pinnacle of excitement with both players making excellent moves. Here Bxg5 is not the most accurate. Better would have been} (27. Nf6 $5 Ref8 28. Bxg5 Nd4 $2 (28... Rf7 $142) 29. Rxe5+ Kxe5 30. Nd7+ Kd6 31. Rxf8 Rh5 $1 32. Nxc5 $1 bxc5 (32... Rxg5 $2 33. Ne4+ $16) 33. Bf6 Nxc2 34. g4 $14) 27... Bd4+ $1 28. Nf2+ Kd5 29. Rd1 Rhg8 (29... Ne5 $5) 30. Bf4 Re2 $5 {Kramnik might have assessed the piece sacrifice in his favour. Objectively White should be better but practically it's easier to play as Black as the pawns on the queenside just have to be pushed whereas So has to find the accurate setup of pieces.} ( 30... Kc4 $1 31. c3 Be5 $11 {Black has absolutely no problems here.}) 31. c3 Rxb2 32. cxd4 Nxd4 33. Be3 (33. Ra3 $5 {would have been definitely preferable to retain the a2 pawn.}) 33... Rxa2 34. Rf4 Ra4 35. Ne4 Kc6 36. Nc3 Ra3 37. Bxd4 cxd4 38. Ne2 d3 39. Rf3 Ra2 (39... dxe2 40. Rc1+ $18) 40. Nf4 d2 41. Kf2 b5 42. Rc3+ Kb7 43. Nd5 Rg7 44. Rb3 a6 45. Nb4 Ra4 46. Rxd2 {White has won an important pawn but now the c-pawn moves ahead with a few tempi.} c5 47. Nd5 Rd7 {The game is still nicely balanced. It is interesting to see how top two players in the world are actually playing this weird material balance to the best of their abilities.} 48. Rf3 Re4 49. Rf6 Ka7 50. Rd3 c4 51. Rh3 Rd4 52. Nb4 R4d6 53. Rhh6 Rxf6+ 54. Rxf6 Rd2+ 55. Kf3 a5 (55... Kb7 56. Nxa6 (56. Rxa6 $2 Rb2 $15) 56... c3 57. Nc5+ Kc7 58. Ke3 Rxg2 $11) 56. Ra6+ Kb7 57. Rxa5 Kb6 58. Ra2 Rd7 (58... Rd8 {maybe it was better to prevent the rook infiltration to a8.}) 59. Ra8 Kc5 60. Nc2 $16 {The knight and the rook have now started to co-ordinate really well. The knight prevents, the black king from entering the position and the White rook will start checking from behind. A deadly combo.} Rc7 61. Rf8 $1 c3 62. Rf5+ Kb6 63. g4 $18 {The queenside pawns have been blockaded and the g-pawn marches ahead!} Ka5 64. g5 Ka4 65. Ke3 Rd7 66. g6 b4 67. Rf4 Kb3 68. Nxb4 Re7+ 69. Re4 Rg7 70. Rg4 Re7+ 71. Kf3 Rg7 72. Nc6 Rg8 73. g7 c2 74. Nd4+ Kc4 75. Nxc2+ Kd5 76. Rg6 {A beautiful game by both sides. Firstly So for finding this brilliant idea with Ng5 and e6 to sacrifice a pawn for initiative in the opening. Then Kramnik who sacrificed a pieces for this mass of queenside pawns. And in the end, So for using his knight and rooks so well to keep things under control. An absolute world class contest.} 1-0
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