[Event "Tata Steel Challengers 2022"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee"] [Date "2022.01.28"] [Round "11"] [White "Bjerre, Jonas Buhl"] [Black "Murzin, Volodar"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D12"] [WhiteElo "2586"] [BlackElo "2519"] [Annotator "Peter,Doggers"] [PlyCount "95"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 Bf5 5. Nc3 e6 6. Nh4 Bg6 7. Be2 (7. Qb3 Qc7 8. Bd2 Be7 9. Nxg6 hxg6 10. g3 Nbd7 11. Rc1 Nb6 12. c5 Nbd7 {Niemann,H (2645) -Dubov,D (2720) Warsaw 2021}) 7... Nbd7 8. O-O Bd6 9. g3 Qe7 10. c5 Bc7 11. b4 a6 12. a4 O-O $146 (12... e5 13. Bd2 O-O 14. Nxg6 hxg6 15. b5 exd4 16. exd4 axb5 17. axb5 Rxa1 18. Qxa1 Nxc5 19. dxc5 d4 20. Bf3 {½-½ Malhotra,A (2171) -Vibbert,S (2313) Phoenix 2015}) 13. Nxg6 hxg6 14. f4 Rfb8 15. Ba3 Qd8 16. Qc2 b6 17. cxb6 Nxb6 18. a5 Nc4 19. Bxc4 dxc4 20. Nd1 Bd6 21. Qxc4 Qf8 22. Rb1 c5 23. dxc5 Bxc5 24. Rb3 Ba7 25. Nf2 Qe8 26. Rfb1 Nd5 27. Bc1 Rb5 28. Bd2 Rc8 29. Qe2 e5 30. Qf3 exf4 31. gxf4 Rc2 32. Rd3 Qe6 33. Rd1 Kh7 34. Kh1 Nf6 35. Bc3 Rh5 36. Bxf6 gxf6 37. Rd6 Qa2 38. Rf1 Kg7 39. Rd7 Bxe3 $4 ({After} 39... Bb8 { Black is not worse.}) 40. Qxe3 Qc4 {Was Murzin thinking he would win either the rook on f1 or d7? That issue is easily solved.} 41. Rfd1 Rh4 42. Kg1 Re2 43. R7d4 Qb5 44. Qd3 Qe8 45. Re4 Rxe4 46. Qxe4 Qb8 47. Rd4 Qc7 48. Kg2 1-0 [Event "Wijk aan Zee"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee"] [Date "2022.01.28"] [Round "11"] [White "Praggnanandhaa, R.."] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D45"] [WhiteElo "2612"] [BlackElo "2792"] [Annotator "Peter,Doggers"] [PlyCount "92"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. b3 O-O 8. Be2 b6 9. O-O Bb7 10. Bb2 Qe7 11. a4 a5 12. Bd3 (12. e4 Nxe4 13. Nxe4 dxe4 14. Qxe4 Nf6 15. Qh4 c5 16. Bd3 h6 {Andreikin,D (2725)-Artemiev,V (2709) Online 2021}) 12... Bb4 $146 (12... Rac8 13. e4 e5 14. Rfe1 dxc4 15. Bxc4 g6 16. Rad1 exd4 17. Nxd4 Ne5 18. h3 Rfd8 {Ding,L (2791)-Yu,Y (2709) Chess.com 2020}) 13. Rac1 h6 14. Qe2 Rad8 15. Rfd1 Rfe8 16. Bb1 Bd6 17. Re1 Bb4 18. Red1 Rc8 19. Ne5 Nxe5 20. dxe5 Nd7 21. Qc2 Nf8 22. Ne2 b5 23. Nd4 $2 ({After} 23. Ng3 {Black cannot respond as in the game:} dxc4 $6 (23... bxa4 24. bxa4 Ba6 {still gives Black an edge.}) 24. bxc4 bxa4 $6 25. c5 a3 26. Bd4 {and the knight on g3 will reach d6 soon.}) 23... dxc4 24. bxc4 bxa4 25. Qxa4 (25. c5 a3 26. Ba1) 25... c5 26. Ne2 (26. Nb5 $5) 26... Red8 {It's easy to see that Black is clearly better now. } 27. Qc2 Rxd1+ 28. Rxd1 Rd8 29. Rxd8 Qxd8 30. Nc3 $6 {This also helps Black, who now has a concrete way to move forward.} Bxc3 31. Bxc3 Be4 32. Qc1 (32. Qb3 a4 $1 {would lose even quicker.}) 32... Bxb1 33. Qxb1 a4 34. h3 a3 35. Kh2 Qa8 36. Qb3 a2 37. Ba1 Qa5 38. Kg3 g5 39. h4 gxh4+ 40. Kxh4 Ng6+ 41. Kg3 h5 42. Qb2 Qd8 43. f4 Qh4+ 44. Kf3 Qe1 45. Qxa2 Nh4+ 46. Ke4 Qf1 $1 {The killing threat is Nh4-f5-g3 checkmate.} 0-1 [Event "Wijk aan Zee"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee"] [Date "2022.01.28"] [Round "11"] [White "Van Foreest, Jorden"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E24"] [WhiteElo "2702"] [BlackElo "2772"] [Annotator "Bojkov,Dejan"] [PlyCount "83"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. a3 Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 b6 6. f3 {The Samisch line. As in all the relative lines that are named after the German GM, the modest f2-f3 move aims for a solid central occupation, followed by a monstrous kingside attack.} Nc6 7. e4 Na5 ({Instead} 7... d6 8. Nh3 Na5 {was recently tested in another hot game that went} 9. Bd3 Ba6 10. Rb1 Qd7 11. Qe2 c5 12. O-O Qa4 13. Bf4 Rd8 14. Bxd6 Rxd6 15. e5 Rd8 16. exf6 gxf6 17. d5 {and anything was possible in Carlsen,M (2855)-Aronian,L (2782) Online 2021}) 8. Bd3 Ba6 9. Qe2 d6 10. f4 {\"I wanted to go for a fight today after my loss two days ago so I thought, let's give it a try.\" (Van Foreest) What the young Dutch meant was that he was basically burning the positional bridges behind him. If his kingside attack would not succeed, he was doomed to a miserable failure on the opposite wing.} (10. Nh3 {is certainly a move too.}) 10... Qd7 {Giri started to burn quite a lot of time on the clock, but follows the most straightforward path towards the enemy weaknesses.} 11. Nf3 Qa4 12. Nd2 e5 $146 {A novelty, played after a lengthy thought.} ({Black ran away from the fire as fast as he could in this game:} 12... O-O-O 13. O-O Nd7 14. Rb1 Nb8 15. Rb5 c5 16. Rb1 Rd7 17. f5 exf5 18. exf5 Nbc6 19. Ne4 Bxc4 {and that worked pretty well for the second player in Deze,V (2220)-Aleksic,N (2420) Barcelona 1991}) 13. O-O O-O { Now that is certainly play with the fire game.} ({This was the last moment for } 13... O-O-O) 14. fxe5 dxe5 15. Rb1 {After a lot of hesitation, White finally declines the immediate sacrifice.} ({The instant} 15. Rxf6 $3 {was great though, with the following out-of-the-space line to follow} gxf6 16. Qf2 $3 { All of this is absolutely illogical to the human eye.} ({The human way would be } 16. Qf3 Qc6 17. d5 Qd6 18. a4 c5 19. Nf1 $1 {which however leads to a very similar situation as in the game as the c4-pawn is immune due to the line} Bxc4 20. Ne3 $1 Bxd3 21. Nf5 {and wins.}) 16... Qd1+ 17. Nf1 $3 {Go figure!} Qxd3 ({ Perhaps Black needs to try and defend with} 17... Qg4 18. Be2 Qg6 19. Ng3 { but his chances of a successful defense are very slim.}) 18. Qh4 $3 {The main point is that the black queen cannot help her king.} h5 (18... Bb7 19. d5 h5 20. Bh6 Kh7 21. Ne3 $3 Bc8 22. Qxh5 {and White wins according to the machine.}) 19. Bh6 Kh7 20. Qxh5 Qxe4 21. Bxf8+ Kg8 22. Be7 {and wins. Luckily, people still do not see that much!}) 15... c5 {But Giri invites the sacrifice once more! He desperately needs to win in the contest for the first place and this might explain the logic behind his decision.} ({The move} 15... Ne8 $1 { was more or less mandatory. It does not even matter if White will win a pawn, or not, as in the line} 16. Nf3 f6 17. dxe5 fxe5 18. Nxe5 Rxf1+ 19. Qxf1 Nd6 { The king priority is all that matters.}) 16. Rxf6 $3 {And White does not need a second invitation! From the times of Bronstein, this might be White's most famous sacrifice in the Nimzo-Indian. The first player often even sacrifices a pawn there with some f5-f6, lures the black knight back on the f6-square and then takes it.} ({Instead} 16. d5 $4 Ne8 {would be the typical Nimzo-Indian failure for the first player once that the black knight reaches d6.}) 16... gxf6 17. Qf3 $1 {The point behind the sacrifice is that the black king has been weakened forever. And that is a permanent weakness. Which, by the Dorfman theory, means that White needs not to rush; he holds the long-term trumps!} ({ The greedy machine wants its material back and suggests instead} 17. Nb3 Nxb3 18. Bh6 Kh8 19. Qf3 Qc6 20. d5 Qd6 21. Bxf8 Rxf8 22. Rxb3 {but this seems much easier to defend for Black as there will be no white Nf5.}) ({The inhuman sacrifice from above} 17. Qf2 {does not work this time as after} Qd1+ 18. Nf1 Qxd3 19. Qh4 {Black would not take a second rook} Qxb1 $2 ({But would defend instead with} 19... Bb7 $1 20. d5 ({Or} 20. Bh6 $2 Qxe4) 20... h5 21. Bh6 Kh7 22. Bxf8 Qxb1 23. Qxf6 Rxf8 24. Qf5+ {with a perpetual check.}) 20. Bh6) 17... Qc6 18. d5 Qd6 19. Nf1 Kh8 {Giri is in a hurry to bring the rook out to defend the f6-pawn.} ({We already know what happens after} 19... Bxc4 $2 20. Ne3 $1 Bxd3 21. Nf5) 20. Ne3 Bc8 ({A more resilient defense was} 20... Rg8 $1 21. Bd2 ({After} 21. Nf5 Qd8 {the white c4-pawn finally starts to hang.}) 21... Rg6 22. Be1 Rag8 23. Bh4 Bc8 {and in comparison to the game the black queenside rook is where it is needed.}) 21. Bd2 {No rush! Just bring everyone out there and the weaknesses will start dropping.} Rg8 22. Be1 Rg6 23. Bh4 Rh6 ({After} 23... Bd7 {White would have likely continued as in the game} 24. Qf2 $5 Kg7 25. Be2) 24. Qf2 Bd7 {Giri does everything that he can but the avalanche is about to move.} 25. Rf1 {Now almost all the white pieces are where they are needed, just one last reserve player is left behind.} Kg7 {This can hardly be called a mistake.} ({Although, bringing the knight into the game with} 25... Nb7 $1 { as Van Foreest suggested might have been better, True, Black needs to find a further pawn sacrifice:} 26. Be2 f5 27. exf5 f6 {and self-lock his rook which also lowers his chances for a survival, but that is another story.}) 26. Be2 $1 {Last reserves en route.} Rg6 ({Or else the light squares will be cleared after } 26... Rg8 27. Bg4 Kf8 28. Bxd7 Qxd7 29. Bxf6) 27. h3 $1 {A pretty way to make it to the f6-pawn!} ({The alternative was} 27. Bh5 $1 Rf8 28. h3) 27... Bxh3 28. Bh5 {It is not just the exchange that Black loses, it is mainly about the f6-pawn.} Bd7 29. Bxg6 fxg6 30. Bxf6+ {and Black is due to collapse on the dark squares.} Kg8 31. Qh4 ({Or} 31. Qg3 Re8 32. Qg5) 31... Rf8 32. Rf3 ({ A tad faster was} 32. Qg5 $1 Re8 33. Nf5 Bxf5 34. exf5) 32... Rf7 33. Qg5 Qf8 34. Qxe5 Nb7 35. Qf4 Nd6 36. e5 Ne8 37. d6 ({Here} 37. g4 $1 {followed by g4-g5 would have been nice too.}) 37... Nxf6 38. exf6 Qe8 39. Nd5 Qe1+ 40. Kh2 Qd1 41. Ne7+ Kh8 {For a moment Van Foreest is frustrated, but then finds the last brilliancy:} 42. Rh3 $3 ({Giri resigned as in the line} 42. Rh3 Bxh3 43. d7 $1 {the back rank is opened and the only way to prevent the mate from there is} Rf8 {which allows} 44. Nxg6+ $1 hxg6 (44... Kg8 45. Nxf8) 45. Qh6+ Kg8 46. Qg7#) 1-0 [Event "Wijk aan Zee"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee"] [Date "2022.01.28"] [Round "11"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "2865"] [BlackElo "2727"] [Annotator "Peter,Doggers"] [PlyCount "102"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d3 Nc6 4. Nf3 Bc5 5. Nc3 h6 6. h3 a6 7. a4 d6 8. Be3 Bxe3 9. fxe3 Be6 10. b3 O-O 11. O-O d5 $146 (11... Nb8 12. Bxe6 fxe6 13. d4 Nbd7 14. Qd3 Qe7 15. a5 Rac8 16. Qc4 Kh7 {Aronian,L (2772)-Giri,A (2772) Warsaw 2021}) 12. exd5 Nxd5 13. Qd2 Nxc3 14. Qxc3 Qd6 15. Nd2 f5 16. Bxe6+ Qxe6 17. Qc4 Qxc4 18. bxc4 e4 $1 19. d4 (19. dxe4 Rad8 $1 20. Rad1 Nb4) 19... f4 $1 {Excellent, concrete play from Vidit.} 20. Rxf4 Rxf4 21. exf4 Nxd4 22. Nxe4 Ne2+ 23. Kf2 Nxf4 24. Rb1 b6 25. c5 Rf8 26. cxb6 cxb6 27. c4 Nd5+ 28. Ke2 Re8 $6 {The first slip.} ({The simplest was} 28... Nf6 $1) 29. cxd5 Rxe4+ 30. Kd3 Rxa4 $2 ({The increcible} 30... Rf4 $3 {draws, and the path is very narrow after the best try} 31. g3 $1 (31. Rxb6 Rxa4 32. d6 Kf7 33. Rb7+ Ke8 34. Rxg7 a5 $11) (31. d6 Kf7 32. Rxb6 (32. Re1 Rf6) 32... Rxa4 {transposes to the earlier line.}) 31... Rf6 $1 32. Ke4 Kf7 33. Rc1 Rg6 $1 34. g4 Rg5 $1 35. Re1 Rg6 $1 36. Ke5 Ke8) 31. d6 Kf7 32. Re1 $1 {Carlsen thought Vidit might have missed this move when he played 28...Re8.} Ra5 33. Kd4 Ra2 34. Kd5 Rd2+ 35. Kc6 b5 36. d7 $2 ({The winning maneuver wasn't easy:} 36. Re7+ Kf6 (36... Kf8 37. Rc7 {followed by 38.Rc8+ and 39.d7}) 37. Re4 $1 {(improving the rook's position while preventing 37...b4)} ({not e.g.} 37. Re1 b4 38. d7 b3 39. Kc7 a5 40. d8=Q+ Rxd8 41. Kxd8 a4 42. Rb1 Ke5 43. Kc7 Kd4 44. Kb6 Kc3 45. Ka5 Kc2 46. Rg1 b2 47. Kxa4 b1=Q 48. Rxb1 Kxb1 {would be a draw}) 37... Rc2+ (37... Kf5 38. Re8 Rc2+ 39. Kb7 Rd2 40. Kc7 Rc2+ 41. Kd8 Rxg2 42. d7) 38. Kb6 Rd2 39. Kc7 Rc2+ 40. Kd8 Rxg2 (40... Rd2 41. d7 Kf5 42. Re8) 41. Rd4 Rc2 42. d7 Kf7 43. Rf4+ Ke6 44. Ke8) 36... Rc2+ 37. Kb6 Rd2 38. Kc7 Rc2+ 39. Kd8 b4 40. Re7+ Kf8 41. Re3 Kf7 42. Re7+ Kf8 43. Re5 g6 44. Re6 b3 45. Rf6+ Kg7 46. Ke7 Re2+ 47. Re6 Rxe6+ 48. Kxe6 b2 49. d8=Q b1=Q 50. Qc7+ Kg8 51. Qd8+ Kg7 1/2-1/2