[Event "Candidates 2020-21"] [Site "Yekaterinburg, Russia"] [Date "2021.04.19"] [Round "8"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B97"] [WhiteElo "2820"] [BlackElo "2758"] [Annotator "Llewellyn,Alan"] [PlyCount "147"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qb6 8. Qd2 Qxb2 9. Rb1 Qa3 10. e5 h6 11. Bh4 dxe5 12. fxe5 Nfd7 13. Ne4 Qxa2 14. Rd1 Qd5 15. Qe3 Qxe5 16. c3 $1 $146 {this is a novelty in this poisoned pawn variation of the sicilian defence najdorf system so belloved by MVL. Many thought he was asking for it playing the same line day in day out and they thought Fabiano was bound to find some novelty somewhere.} Bc5 17. Bg3 Qd5 18. Bc4 $3 {a bishop sacrifice definetely prepared by Fabiano} Qxc4 19. Bd6 $1 Nf6 $2 (19... Bxd4 $1 20. cxd4 Qd5 21. Ba3 Rf8 22. Nd6+ Kd8 23. O-O f5 24. Qg3 g5 25. Nxc8 Kxc8 26. Bxf8 Nxf8 27. Qh3 b5 28. Qxh6 Nbd7 29. Qxg5 Kb7 30. Rf2 Rc8 31. Qg7 Rc7 32. h4 b4 33. Ra1 Rc4 34. Rd1 a5 35. Re2 a4 36. h5 a3 37. h6 b3 38. Re5 Rc1 39. Rxc1 Qxd4+ 40. Kh1 Qxe5 41. Rd1 a2 42. Rxd7+ Nxd7 43. Qxd7+ Kb6 44. Qd8+ Kb5 45. Qd7+ Kc4 46. Qc6+ Kd3 47. Qf3+ Kd4 48. Qf1 Kc5 49. Qg1+ Kb4 50. Qb6+ Ka3 51. Qa7+ Kb2 52. Qf2+ Kc3 53. Qa7 Qe1+ 54. Kh2 a1=Q $19) (19... Bxd6 $4 20. Nxd6+ Kf8 21. Nxc4 $18) 20. Nxc5 $5 Nd5 21. Qe5 Rg8 22. Ndxe6 $3 {this play is superb and deserves a win for Fabby...} fxe6 23. Nxe6 Qxc3+ $1 {calmly done} 24. Qxc3 Nxc3 25. Nc7+ Kf7 26. Rd3 Ne4 27. O-O+ Kg6 28. Nxa8 Nc6 29. Nb6 Rd8 30. Nxc8 Rxc8 31. Ba3 Rc7 32. Rf4 Nf6 33. Bb2 Ne7 34. Bxf6 gxf6 35. h4 h5 36. Rg3+ Kf7 37. Rg5 Rc1+ $6 $14 (37... b5 $13) 38. Kh2 Ng6 39. Rf2 Nxh4 $2 $16 { another poisoned pawn, MVL was better off keeping his connected passed pawns on the queenside...} 40. Rxh5 Ng6 41. Rh7+ Ke6 42. Rxb7 Ne5 43. Rb6+ Rc6 44. Rxc6+ Nxc6 45. Kg3 Kf7 46. Rc2 Nb4 47. Rd2 Nc6 48. Kf4 Kg6 49. Rd6 Ne5 50. Rxa6 Nf7 51. Ke4 Nh6 52. Ra5 Nf7 53. Ra3 Nd6+ 54. Kf4 Nf5 55. Rd3 Nh6 56. Rg3+ Kf7 57. Ke4 Ng8 58. Kf5 Ne7+ 59. Kf4 Nd5+ 60. Kg4 Kg6 61. Kf3+ Kf7 62. Ke4 Ne7 63. Kf4 Nd5+ 64. Kf5 Ne7+ 65. Ke4 Ng8 66. Rh3 Kg6 67. Ra3 Kf7 68. Kf4 Nh6 69. Rg3 Ng8 70. Kg4 Ne7 71. Kh5 Nd5 72. Rf3 Ke6 73. g4 Ke5 74. Kg6 (74. Kg6 {the win is obvious to super grandmasters but far from obvious to me but here is a possible line...} Ke6 75. Rf1 Ne7+ 76. Kg7 Nd5 77. Re1+ Kd6 78. Rd1 Ke5 79. Rxd5+ Kxd5 80. Kxf6 Kd6 81. g5 Kd7 82. g6 Ke8 83. g7 Kd7 84. g8=Q) 1-0