[Event "Wijk aan Zee"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee"]
[Date "2022.01.17"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Erigaisi, Arjun"]
[Black "Dardha, Daniel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B32"]
[WhiteElo "2632"]
[BlackElo "2532"]
[Annotator "Peter,Doggers"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e5 5. Nb5 d6 6. c4 Be7 7. N1c3 a6 8. Na3
Be6 9. Nc2 Bg5 10. Be2 Bxc1 11. Rxc1 Nf6 12. O-O O-O 13. Qd2 Qe7 14. Nd5 Qd8
15. Nc3 Qb6 16. Rfd1 Rac8 (16... Rfd8 17. b3 h6 18. h3 Qa7 19. Bf3 Ne7 20. Ne3
Nc6 21. Bg4 Nd4 22. Bxe6 fxe6 23. Nc2 Nxc2 24. Rxc2 Rd7 {Carlsen,M (2862)-Hou,
Y (2673) Wijk aan Zee 2015}) 17. b3 Rfd8 18. h3 Qa7 19. Bf1 Ne7 $146 (19... Qb8
20. Re1 Qa7 21. Rcd1 Ne7 22. Re3 Rd7 23. Rd3 Ne8 24. Kh2 Rdc7 25. g3 Qc5 {
Timoshenko,G (2515)-Kiselev,S (2510) Bucharest 1993}) 20. Ne3 Qb8 21. Qd3 h5
22. h4 Qa7 23. Be2 Kf8 24. Bf3 g6 25. Qd2 Kg7 26. Ne2 b5 27. Ng3 bxc4 28. bxc4
Kh7 29. Rc3 Rc6 30. Nef5 $5 Neg8 31. Qg5 Bxf5 $2 (31... Rd7 $1 {allows} 32.
Nxh5 {but} Ne8 $1 33. Nhg3 Rdc7 $1 {will win c4 back in the long run and Black
is alright.}) 32. exf5 {Now White has a winning attack.} Rcc8 33. Be4 $1 Nxe4
34. Nxe4 Qe7 35. Rg3 $1 Qxg5 36. Nxg5+ Kg7 37. fxg6 Nh6 38. gxf7 Rd7 39. Ne4+
Kf8 40. Rg8+ Nxg8 41. fxg8=Q+ Kxg8 42. Nf6+ 1-0
[Event "http://www.chessbomb.com"]
[Site "http://www.chessbomb.com"]
[Date "2022.01.17"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Esipenko, Andrey"]
[Black "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C54"]
[WhiteElo "2714"]
[BlackElo "2743"]
[Annotator "Peter,Doggers"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. O-O h6 7. Re1 O-O 8. h3 a6
(8... Bb6 9. Nbd2 Ne7 10. Bb3 Ng6 11. Nc4 Be6 12. Bc2 Bxc4 13. dxc4 Nh5 14. b4
Qf6 15. a4 a5 {Volokitin,A (2677)-Caruana,F (2792) Warsaw 2021}) 9. a4 a5 10.
d4 Bb6 11. Bb3 $146 (11. Be3 exd4 12. cxd4 d5 13. exd5 Nb4 14. Nc3 Bf5 15. Bf4
Nfxd5 16. Nxd5 Nxd5 17. Bxd5 Qxd5 {Anand,V (2758)-Vitiugov,N (2747) Wijk aan
Zee 2020}) 11... Re8 12. Bc2 Bd7 13. Na3 Qc8 14. Nb5 Na7 15. Na3 Nc6 16. Nb5
Na7 17. c4 Nxb5 18. axb5 exd4 19. Nxd4 c6 20. bxc6 bxc6 21. Bf4 Qa6 22. Bxd6
Qa7 23. c5 Bxc5 24. Bxc5 Qxc5 25. Qd3 g6 26. Rad1 a4 27. Qe3 Qg5 28. f4 Qh4 29.
Nf3 Qg3 30. Ne5 Qxe3+ 31. Rxe3 Reb8 $2 ({Strange.} 31... Re7 {is unpleasant
but not more than that, e.g.} 32. Red3 (32. Rd6 Kg7) 32... Be6 33. Nxc6 Rb7)
32. Nxd7 Nxd7 33. Rxd7 Rxb2 {Karjakin must have missed that White can defend
this and keep the extra piece:} 34. Re2 a3 35. Rd1 a2 36. Ra1 c5 37. Kf2 Ra3
38. Ke1 c4 39. Kd2 Rg3 40. Kc1 c3 41. Kd1 h5 42. e5 {And with 43.Be4 coming,
Black is doomed.} 1-0
[Event "Wijk aan Zee"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee"]
[Date "2022.01.17"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Van Foreest, Jorden"]
[Black "Praggnanandhaa, R.."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B30"]
[WhiteElo "2702"]
[BlackElo "2612"]
[PlyCount "111"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 e6 4. O-O d5 5. Bb5 dxe4 6. Ne5 Qc7 7. Nxc6 $146 (7.
Qh5 g6 8. Qg5 f6 9. Qg3 Qxe5 10. Qxe5 fxe5 11. Nc3 Bd7 12. Nxe4 Nb4 {Davis,M
(1600)-Godat,T (2137) FICGS email 2008}) 7... bxc6 8. Bc4 Bd6 9. Kh1 Nf6 10.
Nc3 e5 11. f3 exf3 12. Qxf3 O-O 13. d3 Be6 14. Bxe6 fxe6 15. Bg5 Qd7 16. Bxf6
gxf6 17. Ne4 f5 18. Nxd6 Qxd6 19. Rae1 f4 20. Re4 Rab8 21. b3 Rb4 22. Rfe1 Rf5
23. Qe2 Rxe4 24. Qg4+ Kh8 25. Rxe4 {Up to here, Praggnanandhaa had played
quite well.} f3 $6 ({Humanly, it makes sense to give back the pawn and get
some activity, but the engine continues passive defense with} 25... Qf8) 26.
gxf3 Qf8 27. Qg3 h6 28. Kg2 Qf6 29. Rg4 Kh7 30. Qh4 Qxh4 31. Rxh4 {The rook
endgame is just hopeless due to Black's pawn structure.} Rf4 32. Rg4 h5 33. Rg5
Rf5 34. Rg3 ({Not spoiling anything, but} 34. Rxf5 exf5 35. f4 {would be a
fairly easy win in the pawn endgame.}) 34... Rf4 35. Kf2 Rf7 36. Rg5 Rf5 37.
Rg1 c4 38. dxc4 e4 39. Rg3 h4 40. Rh3 Kg6 41. Ke3 exf3 42. Rxf3 Ra5 43. a4 Re5+
44. Kd3 Rg5 45. b4 Rg1 46. b5 c5 47. a5 Rd1+ 48. Ke4 Rd4+ 49. Ke5 Rxc4 50. b6
axb6 51. axb6 Rxc2 52. Rb3 c4 53. Rb1 c3 54. b7 Re2+ 55. Kd4 c2 56. Rg1+ 1-0
[Event "Wijk aan Zee"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee"]
[Date "2022.01.17"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Grandelius, Nils"]
[Black "Rapport, Richard"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B47"]
[WhiteElo "2672"]
[BlackElo "2763"]
[Annotator "Peter,Doggers"]
[PlyCount "62"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. g4 h6 7. Be3 Nf6 8. f3
a6 9. Qd2 Ne5 10. f4 $146 (10. O-O-O Bb4 11. g5 hxg5 12. Bxg5 b5 13. Qe1 Bxc3
14. Qxc3 Qxc3 15. bxc3 Bb7 16. Bf4 d6 {Manik,M (2495)-Laznicka,V (2480) Brno
2005}) 10... Nc4 11. Bxc4 Qxc4 12. e5 Nxg4 13. Rg1 Nxe3 14. Qxe3 b5 15. O-O-O
Bb7 16. Kb1 O-O-O 17. Ne4 Kb8 18. Rd3 Rc8 19. Rgd1 Be7 20. Rc3 Qa4 21. Rcd3
Bxe4 22. b3 Qa5 23. Qxe4 Rc7 24. f5 Rhc8 25. Rg3 Ba3 26. h4 Qb4 27. h5 Rc3 $6 {
This actually gives White a chance.} ({The engine prefers} 27... Rxc2 $1 28.
Qxc2 Rxc2 29. Nxc2 (29. Kxc2 Qc5+ 30. Kb1 Qxe5) 29... Qf4 30. Rxg7 Qxf5) 28.
Rxg7 $2 ({Both players might have missed the remarkable intermediate move} 28.
fxe6 $1 fxe6 {when} (28... Rxg3 $2 29. exd7) 29. Rxg7 {does work:} R3c5 (29...
Rh3 30. Rxd7 {now threatens mate before Black can do so}) 30. Qe3 Rd5 31. Rd3)
28... Rh3 $1 {An unexpected square but with the lethal threat 29...Qc3.} 29.
Qe1 Rh1 $1 {Not difficult, but still pretty.} 30. Rg1 Rxg1 31. Qxg1 Qc3 0-1
[Event "Wijk aan Zee"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee"]
[Date "2022.01.17"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Dubov, Daniil"]
[Black "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C54"]
[WhiteElo "2720"]
[BlackElo "2727"]
[Annotator "Bojkov,Dejan"]
[PlyCount "74"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 {A Giuoco Pianissimo by Dubov? There is
something wrong here, the Russian GM usually sacrifices a pawn around here...}
Bc5 5. c3 d6 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bh4 a5 8. Na3 $146 {Ah, that is a juicy novelty!
Dubov surprises Vidit on his own territory.} ({An earlier game of the Indian
GM went} 8. Nbd2 Ba7 9. O-O g5 10. Bg3 O-O 11. a3 Nh7 12. Kh1 Kh8 13. b4 h5 14.
b5 Ne7 15. Bxe5+ dxe5 16. Nxe5 Kg7 17. f4 g4 18. d4 {a true delight for the
eye, Adhiban,B (2672)-Vidit,S (2727) Kolkata 2021}) 8... Bxa3 {Vidit accepts
the challenge and ruins the opponent's pawn structure.} 9. bxa3 Qe7 {In the
spirit of the Four Knights defence. There are also doubled pawns there. True,
on the c-file, but still, a blockade on the dark squares makes perfect sense.}
10. O-O Nb8 {The logical follow up.} 11. d4 {Dubov searches for a class. He's
got the development, the bishops, the mood.} Nbd7 12. Rb1 $1 {The rook is
getting ready to torture the opponent, even if he stays in the center.} g5 13.
Bg3 Nxe4 {A most principled move!} 14. Qc2 f5 $1 {The exclamation mark is for
the courage. One needs a lot of conviction to play like this.} ({The
alternative was} 14... Nxg3 {when} 15. fxg3 $1 {deprives Black of a short
castle. How safe the black king is in the center is hard to say, but the
impression is that there should be a strong storm gathering around it. True,
in the line} Nb6 {White cannot win on the spot with} ({On the other hand} 15...
f6 16. Qg6+ Kd8 {promises White a good choice between a knight transfer to e4,
or the instant brick-walling} 17. h4) 16. Bxf7+ Qxf7 17. Nxe5 Qh7 18. Qe2 dxe5
19. Qxe5+ Kd8 20. Qf6+ Kd7 21. Rbe1 {because of} Ra6 {when White does not seem
to have more than perpetual with} 22. Qe6+ Kd8 23. Qf6+) 15. dxe5 {A file is
opened.} dxe5 {And this is correct!} ({As after} 15... Nxe5 16. Bxe5 dxe5 17.
Rb5 c5 18. Re1 {Black's situation is delicate, to say the least.}) 16. Rfe1 {
Dubov is already creating a bunch of threats: to attack the e5-pawn with
Rb1-b5, remove the black knight with the help of Bc4-d5, or even better, a
brutal exchange sacrifice.} Nxg3 {Also a correct trade, but look how exposed
now the black king becomes!} ({The exchange sacrifice seals the deal after}
16... Kf8 $2 17. Rxe4 fxe4 18. Qxe4) 17. hxg3 e4 18. g4 $1 {Remember, courage
and conviction! Strong, strong faith in yourself is needed to enter this
position, which is about to collapse at any given moment!} Nc5 {Vidit does not
seem to tremble. This knight is his most valuable asset as we shall see.} ({
The other square for the knight was not good} 18... Ne5 19. Nxe5 Qxe5 20. Rb5
c5 21. gxf5 Bxf5 22. Rd1 {and White wins.}) 19. Nd4 ({Not letting the bishop
improve:} 19. gxf5 Bxf5 20. Nd4 Bg6) 19... Rf8 $1 {Overprotecting the f5-pawn.
Once more, an only move.} ({After} 19... fxg4 {Dubov can remove the defender
with} 20. Nb3 $1 {when a nice line that demonstrates how quickly Black's
defense may crumble is} Bf5 21. Nxc5 Qxc5 22. Rxe4+ Kf8 23. Rb5 Bxe4 24. Qxe4 {
and Black is helpless with his dull rookies.}) 20. gxf5 $1 {Once more,
depriving Black of extra possibilities.} ({After} 20. Bb5+ {the black king can
run to the hills with} Kf7 21. gxf5 Kf6) 20... Bxf5 {Everything seems
protected, Black is ready to castle and his knight does the best of the jobs.}
21. Rxb7 $3 {Not so fast with castling, and yeah, this knight needs to go away
from the center.} ({Nothing yields} 21. Bb5+ c6 22. Nxc6 bxc6 23. Bxc6+ Kf7)
21... Rf6 $3 {Not so fast removing this knight!} ({And indeed} 21... Nxb7 {
loses after} 22. Bb5+ Kf7 23. Nxf5 {when all the queen retreats lead Black to
trouble, e.g} Qf6 ({Or} 23... Qe6 24. Nd4 Qg6 25. Bc6) ({Or finally} 23... Qe5
24. Nxh6+) 24. Qxe4) 22. Qb1 $5 {Dubov is strictly following his plan and
wants to have his queen inside the enemy camp. In the process he sets up a
nasty trap.} ({Black is stabilizing his position in case of} 22. Bb5+ Kf8 23.
Nc6 Qd6) ({However} 22. Nxf5 $5 {seemed playable as well. Then, after} Rxf5 23.
Rb5 (23. Qb1 $5) 23... c6 $1 {The further trades might lead to an
approximately even endgame} 24. Rxe4 Qxe4 25. Qxe4+ Nxe4 26. Rxf5 O-O-O ({Or}
26... Kd7)) 22... Nxb7 23. Qxb7 ({For the moment rejecting the possible draw
after} 23. Nxf5 Rxf5 24. Rxe4 Re5 25. Qxb7 Rxe4 26. Qxa8+ Kd7 27. Qd5+ Ke8 28.
Qa8+ $11) 23... Rd8 24. Nxf5 Rxf5 25. Rxe4 Rd1+ $1 {Vidit spots the trap for
just a bit more than a minute!} ({The instant} 25... Re5 $2 {would have lost
due to} 26. Qc6+ Rd7 27. Qg6+ Kd8 28. Qg8+ Qe8 29. Rxe5 $1) 26. Kh2 Re5 {
Now he can. White has a bunch of checks and starts announcing them in the
mutual time-deficit.} 27. Qc6+ Kd8 28. Qa8+ ({A nice detail that once more
proves why a good move works in multiple lines is} 28. Bb5 Qd6 {Now White
wants to checkmate with} 29. Qe8+ {But is checked after} ({Still, a draw is
possible after} 29. Qa8+ Ke7 30. Qe8+ Kf6 31. Qh8+) 29... Rxe8+ $1) 28... Kd7
29. Bb5+ Ke6 ({The endgame after} 29... Rxb5 30. Rxe7+ Kxe7 31. Qc6 {is more
pleasant for White.}) 30. Qc8+ Kf6 31. Qh8+ Kf5 {And just when Dubov was
forced to give a perpetual, he suddenly hesitates...} 32. f3 {...and loses the
game!} ({Instead} 32. Qc8+ $3 {would have split the point as} Kg6 {is more or
less forced.} ({The greedy} 32... Kxe4 $4 {leads to mate after} 33. Qg4+ Kd5
34. Qc4+ Kd6 35. Qc6#) 33. Qg8+ Kf5 {with repetition.}) 32... Rxe4 33. fxe4+
Kxe4 34. Qa8+ Ke3 {Ironically, the almost mated black king is leading Vidit's
army towards the win!} 35. Bc6 Qe5+ 36. g3 g4 37. Qa7+ Kd2 {0-} 0-1