[Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.01.21"] [Round "6"] [White "Erigaisi, Arjun"] [Black "Ganguly, Surya Shekhar"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2632"] [BlackElo "2627"] [Annotator "Bojkov,Dejan"] [PlyCount "83"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. e5 {Probably the most fashionable Italian line nowadays.} d5 7. Bb5 Ne4 8. cxd4 Bb6 9. Nc3 O-O 10. Be3 f6 ({The world champion defended confidently by pinning the white knight at once with:} 10... Bg4 11. h3 Bh5 12. Qc2 Nxc3 13. bxc3 f6 14. exf6 Qxf6 15. Be2 Na5 16. O-O Bxf3 17. Bxf3 c6 18. Rae1 Nc4 19. Bc1 Qg6 {in Nepomniachtchi,I (2792) -Carlsen,M (2855) Stavanger 2021}) 11. exf6 Nxc3 12. bxc3 Qxf6 13. O-O Bg4 {And this pin is still there.} 14. Be2 Bxf3 {This is the second most popular choice, although Black is not forced to part with his bishop pair.} ({ The most common continuation is} 14... Rae8 {when after} 15. h3 {Black often keeps his bishop alive.} Bh5) 15. Bxf3 Rad8 16. Be2 $1 {The bishop has done its job, and now it is time to look for a better diagonal.} Na5 $146 {This move is a novelty. The knight needs to step out of the pawn's way for the black bishop, which has also done its job and seeks a better diagonal.} ({ In the predecessor, however, a different route was chosen for the horse:} 16... Ne7 {The knight can indeed be more useful on the kingside and the online game ended quite uneventfully after} 17. Qd2 c6 18. Bg5 Qf7 19. Bh5 g6 20. Rfe1 Rd7 21. Bg4 {1/2-1/2 (21) Harshad,S (1939)-Ravi,T (2294) Rajapalayam 2018}) 17. a4 c6 {That's the plan.} (17... Nc4 $2 18. Bxc4 dxc4 19. a5) 18. Bd3 Bc7 {Ganguly is following his path.} ({However, it seems as if he needed to challenge the enemy bishop pair at once with} 18... Nc4 $1) 19. Qg4 Rde8 20. Rae1 {Now Erigaisi consolidates and starts building concrete threats. His bishops will soon prove priceless.} Bd8 $1 {A prophylaxis against the Be3-g5 maneuver.} ({ Why this is important can be illustrated by the line} 20... Nc4 21. Bg5 Qf7 22. Qh4 h6 23. Be7) ({The other way to stay away from the trouble was} 20... Qf7 $5 ) 21. g3 Qf3 {Ganguly must have miscalculated something. This move only helps White!} ({Better was} 21... Nc4 22. Bf4 Qf7 {with defensible, albeit passive, position.}) 22. Qh3 $1 {The queen communicates well with the bishops, and the black kingside is defended by just two pawns. So why trade?} ({True, the endgame is also somewhat better} 22. Qxf3 Rxf3 23. h4 {but the move in the game promises White more.}) 22... g6 ({Perhaps Ganguly missed that in the line } 22... h6 23. Bg6 Re7 24. Bf4 $1 Rxf4 25. Rxe7 Bxe7 26. Bh5 $1 {he would lose material.}) 23. Be2 Qf5 24. Bg4 {This is the more dangerous of the two bishops as it does not have an opponent.} Qf6 25. Bf4 {Beautiful, harmonious play by the pair! Once the kingside has been softened, they look to occupy the free diagonals close to the enemy king.} ({And} 25. Bd7 $5 Re4 26. f3 {looked good too.}) 25... h5 ({Had Black have given away the file at once with} 25... Rxe1 26. Rxe1 h5 {he would have suffered along the sixth rank} 27. Re6 $1 Qf7 28. Be2 $1 {as the bishop gets back to the b1-h7 diagonal with decisive effect.}) 26. Bd7 $1 {This not only wins the open file, but Erigaisi is preparing the decisive infiltration.} Rxe1 27. Rxe1 Kh7 ({The most resilient defense was} 27... Nc4 28. Re6 Qg7 29. Be8 Bf6 {Although here, too, Black's position remains suspicious and White has a pleasant choice between the positional} 30. Qf1 $5 ({And the more direct} 30. g4 $5)) 28. Re6 Qf7 ({Or} 28... Qg7 29. Be8 Bf6 30. Bd6 Rh8 31. Be5 {when Black is helpless.}) 29. Rd6 $1 {Through the sixth rank, the rook get access to the seventh one!} Qe7 30. Be6 {That is it; the light squares cannot be defended.} Rxf4 31. Rd7 Rf6 32. Rxe7+ Bxe7 33. Bc8 {And there is even more pain on light squares.} Rd6 34. g4 Nc4 35. gxh5 gxh5 36. Be6 Kg7 37. f4 Nd2 38. f5 Rxe6 39. fxe6 Ne4 40. Qxh5 Ng5 41. Qe8 Kf6 42. Qd7 {The seeming ease with which Erigaisi outplayed his creative compatriot was mind-boggling.} 1-0