[Event "Wijk aan Zee"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee"] [Date "2022.01.23"] [Round "8"] [White "Erigaisi, Arjun"] [Black "Bjerre, Jonas Buhl"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B44"] [WhiteElo "2632"] [BlackElo "2586"] [Annotator "Peter,Doggers"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. g3 Nc6 4. Bg2 d5 5. exd5 exd5 6. O-O Nf6 7. d4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Be7 9. h3 (9. Nc3 O-O 10. h3 h6 11. Be3 Re8 12. Re1 Bb4 13. a3 Bxc3 14. Nxc6 bxc6 15. bxc3 Bf5 {Xiong,J (2710)-Mamedyarov,S (2782) Saint Louis 2021}) 9... O-O 10. Be3 Nxd4 11. Bxd4 Bf5 $146 (11... Be6 12. Nd2 Rc8 13. c3 Ne8 14. Qb3 Nd6 15. Rfe1 Qa5 16. Qd1 Nf5 {Chadaev,N (2591)-Sevian,S (2553) Chess.com 2015}) 12. Nc3 Ne4 13. Re1 Bf6 $6 ({Here Bjerre wanted to play} 13... Bb4 { but, with his bishop in his hand, noticed that it is met by} 14. Bxg7 $1 { so he had to make another move with that bishop because of the touch-move rule. }) 14. Bxf6 Nxf6 15. Nxd5 Nxd5 16. Qxd5 Qxd5 17. Bxd5 Bxc2 18. Re7 Rad8 19. Bxb7 a5 20. Rae1 a4 21. Bc6 Rd4 22. Rd7 Rb4 23. Rd2 Bf5 24. a3 Rb6 25. Bxa4 Bxh3 26. Re5 Rfb8 27. Rb5 Kf8 28. Rd8+ Rxd8 29. Rxb6 Be6 30. Bb3 1-0 [Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.01.23"] [Round "8"] [White "Esipenko, Andrey"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2714"] [BlackElo "2772"] [Annotator "Bojkov,Dejan"] [PlyCount "98"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 {The Italian is as common nowadaysdays as the Ruy Lopez was before.} Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. O-O d5 {The most direct try for an equality.} 7. exd5 Nxd5 8. Re1 {The immediate pressure against the e5-pawn is White's best chance.} Bg4 9. Nbd2 ({White can also throw in:} 9. a4 a5 10. h3 Bh5 11. Nbd2 Nb6 12. Bb3 Qxd3 13. Nxe5 Qf5 14. Nef3 Rad8 15. Qe2 {also with symmetrical position in Firouzja,A (2804)-Aronian,L (2772) Warsaw 2021}) 9... Nb6 {That is the thing, Black can aslo attack the opponent's central pawn.} 10. h3 Bh5 11. Bb3 {According to Megabase, this retreat is recently more successful than 11.Bb5.} Qxd3 12. Nxe5 Qf5 13. Nef3 Rfe8 $5 {\"This is a rare move, but people obviously know about it. It is on my course for White; I say White is slightly better in this game,\" said Giri, with mischievous smile on his face.} 14. g4 {Esipenko accepts the challenge.} Bxg4 15. hxg4 Qxg4+ 16. Kh1 Ne5 17. Nh2 Qg6 18. Bc2 Nd3 19. Bxd3 Qxd3 {Up to here, everything was more or less forced. White needs to quench the opponent's initiative as quick as possible.} 20. Ndf3 $146 {Thus, the trade of the queens is offered, but at the price of a pawn. Giri, however, had memories that he offered another square for the knight.} ({And this might be the b3-square, as in the email predecessor:} 20. Nb3 Qxd1 21. Rxd1 Bxf2 22. Ng4 Bh4 23. Rg1 Kf8 24. Kg2 { and the game eventually ended in a draw, Rohs,R (2318)-Larsson,M (2287) ICCF email 2016}) 20... Qxd1 21. Rxd1 Bxf2 {Black has three pawns for the piece, and as a rule this translates into more pieces traded=the more valuable the pawns become. Their potential value can improve from three to thenty-seven pawns in theory, which means that Esipenko will need to wisely positon his pieces to actively suppress the pawns.} 22. Bf4 c6 23. Rd2 {\"This move is not critical.\" (Giri) And the Dutchman quickly proves why.} ({More in the spirit of the position might have been} 23. Ng4 Bc5 24. b4 Re4 25. Be5 Rxg4 26. bxc5 Nd5 {with approximate equality. A white bishop on d4 will make a difference.}) 23... Be3 $1 {\"After the trade of the bishops I was comfortable. Generally, if I trade the right pieces, and if White does not jump quickly on my king with some Nh2-g4 and Ra1-g1 then I am safe.\" (Giri)} 24. Bxe3 Rxe3 25. Nd4 Nc4 26. Rf2 Rae8 27. Raf1 ({It made sense to centralize the knights at once with} 27. Nf5 $5 Re1+ 28. Rxe1 Rxe1+ 29. Kg2 Kf8 30. Nf3 {when it is still about even.}) 27... Nd6 28. Nf5 ({Here, too} 28. Ng4 {is possible, but without the bishop on board, not as impresisve and Black can fight for the initiative with either} Rg3 ({Or} 28... Re1)) 28... Nxf5 29. Rxf5 f6 30. Kg2 Kf7 31. Rd1 h5 $1 {Using a small tactic Giri brings his pawns into motion. This is why Esipenko needed more pieces on board; it would have been riskier then, pushing the foot-soldiers in front of the king.} 32. Rf2 ({The forcing line} 32. Rxh5 Re2+ 33. Kg3 Rxb2 34. Rd7+ Re7 35. Rxe7+ Kxe7 36. Ra5 a6 {forces White to a gloomy defense.}) 32... g5 33. Rd7+ {\"I think this was his mistake. He should have freed the knight to either f1, or via f3-d4-square and then enter with the rook behind, and then I was not thinking I would be able to win this game.\" (Giri)} ({But how exaclty? The line} 33. Nf3 Kg6 34. Nd4 Re1 $1 35. Rdd2 g4 $1 {looks more than fine for Black as his pawns keep moving.}) ({Whereas} 33. Nf1 {can be met with} Re2 34. Ng3 Rxf2+ 35. Kxf2 h4 36. Nf5 Kg6 {once again lifting the loose White blockade.}) 33... R3e7 34. Rd6 Re6 {Black would love to swap one pair of rooks, when his pawns would move effortlessly.} 35. Rd7+ R8e7 36. Rd8 $1 {Not allowing further trades.} g4 $1 {But now the knight is depressed.} 37. Rh8 ({Still, it was not too late to bring this piece back to the game with} 37. Nf1 $1 {Then in the forcing line} h4 38. Rh8 g3 39. Rf4 Re2+ 40. Kg1 g2 41. Nh2 Rxb2 42. Rh7+ Ke8 43. Rxe7+ Kxe7 44. Rxh4 Rxa2 45. Rh7+ { White is just in time to hold on to the material equlibrum.}) 37... Kg6 38. Rg8+ Rg7 39. Rf8 Kg5 {More progress is made by Black in the time-trouble.} 40. Nf1 h4 41. a4 a5 $1 {Another instructive decision by Giri. He wants to build a self-sufficient queenside setup, put the rook on e5-square and finally push f6-f5. Therefore, the pawn is ideally located on the fifth rank.} ({Here and on the next move Black correctly avoids} 41... g3 42. Nxg3 $1 hxg3 43. Kxg3 { which should likely lead to a draw despite the extra pawn for Black.}) 42. b4 b6 43. bxa5 bxa5 44. Ra8 Re5 {All set for f6-f5.} 45. Nd2 {And Esipenko blunders under pressure, practically blitzing this natural move.} ({He should have improved the knight, no question about that, but only after the preliminary} 45. Rc8 Rc5 {and now} ({Instead Black could have fought further with the cunning} 45... Rg6 $5 46. Rxc6 f5 47. Rc8 f4 {This looks very scary for the first player, but perhaps he might be able to survive. The key is to sacrifice the knight in the proper moment for a blockade, as in the following (non-forcing) line} 48. Rb2 h3+ 49. Kf2 Kh4 50. Rh8+ Rh5 51. Rxh5+ Kxh5 52. Ng3+ $1 fxg3+ 53. Kxg3 {and White seems to hold.}) (45... Re6 46. Ra8) 46. Nd2 $1) 45... g3 $1 {Esipenko obviously missed an important detail in his calculations.} 46. Nf3+ Kf4 $1 {Under a discovered check! Such moves are easily missed, even by top-grandmasters.} ({Maybe the Russian GM only saw} 46... Kh5 $2 47. Rh8+ {from afar, which is winning, but for White.}) 47. Rf1 ({ Or else White loses too much material.} 47. Nxe5+ gxf2+ 48. Kxf2 fxe5) 47... h3+ $1 {The final, neat move! Black wins by force.} ({Weaker was} 47... Re2+ 48. Kg1 g2 49. Rf2 {when White defends.}) 48. Kxh3 ({A prettier finish would have been} 48. Kg1 g2 49. Rf2 Kg3 50. Nxe5 h2#) 48... g2 49. Rf2 Ke3 0-1 [Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.01.23"] [Round "8"] [White "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"] [Black "Grandelius, Nils"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A48"] [WhiteElo "2727"] [BlackElo "2672"] [Annotator "Peter,Doggers"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Nbd2 Bg7 4. e4 O-O 5. e5 (5. Bd3 d6 6. O-O Nc6 7. c3 e5 8. dxe5 Nxe5 9. Nxe5 dxe5 10. Nc4 Nh5 {Xiong,J (2709)-Grandelius,N (2661) World Cup 2021}) 5... Nh5 {Provoking White's next move, and Vidit is up for the challenge.} 6. g4 $5 Nf4 7. Ne4 d5 8. Ng3 Ne6 9. Nf5 $5 {A nice follow-up.} c5 (9... gxf5 10. gxf5 {with the knight trapped on e6 cannot be recommended.}) 10. Nxg7 Nxg7 11. h3 cxd4 12. Bh6 $146 (12. Nxd4 Nc6 13. Bg2 Nxe5 14. O-O Nc6 15. Re1 Re8 16. Bh6 e5 17. Nxc6 bxc6 18. c4 Bb7 {Doluhanova,E (2264) -Dolzhikova,K (2161) Kharkov 2021}) 12... Qa5+ 13. Qd2 Qxd2+ 14. Nxd2 Nc6 15. f4 f6 16. exf6 exf6 17. O-O-O Re8 18. Nb3 $6 {This allows a tactic that Grandelius misses.} (18. Bg2) 18... Ne6 $6 ({With} 18... Bf5 $3 {Black suddenly equalizes, e.g.} 19. Bb5 (19. gxf5 Nxf5 {wins back the bishop on h6}) 19... Be4 20. Rh2 Rac8) 19. Bg2 Nc7 20. f5 $5 gxf5 21. Rhf1 Kf7 (21... fxg4 22. Rxf6 gxh3 23. Bf3 {looks very dangerous for Black.}) 22. gxf5 Rg8 23. Rd2 Ne5 $6 ({The best chance was again} 23... Bxf5 $1 24. Rxf5 Kg6 {with good chances to save the game.}) 24. Nxd4 {Now White is in full control.} Bd7 25. b3 Rae8 26. a4 a6 27. Bf4 Re7 28. Rff2 Bc6 29. Kb2 Rd7 30. Ka3 Ne8 31. c4 Ng7 32. Nxc6 bxc6 33. cxd5 Rgd8 34. dxc6 1-0 [Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.01.23"] [Round "8"] [White "Shankland, Sam"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D32"] [WhiteElo "2708"] [BlackElo "2865"] [Annotator "Peter,Doggers"] [PlyCount "69"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c5 4. cxd5 cxd4 5. Qa4+ Bd7 6. Qxd4 exd5 7. Qxd5 Nf6 8. Qb3 (8. Qd1 Bc5 9. Nf3 O-O 10. e3 Qe7 11. Be2 Nc6 12. O-O Ne5 13. Bd2 Rad8 { Salem,A (2690)-Tari,A (2653) Warsaw 2021}) 8... Na6 9. Nf3 Nc5 10. Qc2 Rc8 11. e3 Nce4 12. Bd3 Nxc3 13. bxc3 Nd5 $146 (13... Bd6 14. O-O Qc7 15. Bb2 Bc6 { Nita,C (1800)-Mosshammer,M (1873) ICCF email 2008}) 14. O-O Nxc3 15. Bb2 Bb4 { Earlier in his calculations, Shankland had missed that he cannot put a rook on c1 here because of ...Nxa2. \"At this point I already felt my position was uncomfortable.\"} 16. Bxc3 {\"Damage control.\" (Shankland)} Bxc3 ({Shankland thought} 16... Rxc3 {was much stronger.}) 17. Rab1 Bf6 18. Qe2 Rc7 19. e4 O-O 20. e5 Be7 21. Nd4 Bc5 22. e6 {\"At first I thought my position should be very good but then I started thinking after...} Bxe6 23. Nxe6 fxe6 24. Qxe6+ Kh8 { was on the board, I didn't really see a great way through.\" (Shankland)} 25. Qh3 h6 26. Qg3 Rd7 27. Rb3 ({Shankland had seen that} 27. Rxb7 $2 {fails to} Bxf2+ $1 ({not} 27... Rxb7 28. Qg6 {with an immediate draw:} Kg8 29. Qh7+ Kf7 30. Qg6+ Kg8) 28. Rxf2 Rxb7 29. Qg6 Rb1+ $1 {and Black wins.}) 27... Rf6 28. h3 b6 29. Be2 Rd2 30. Rd3 Rxd3 31. Bxd3 Qd6 32. Qxd6 Rxd6 33. Rd1 g5 34. Kf1 Kg7 35. Bc2 1/2-1/2 [Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.01.23"] [Round "8"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Praggnanandhaa, R...."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A20"] [WhiteElo "2767"] [BlackElo "2612"] [Annotator "Peter,Doggers"] [PlyCount "91"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. c4 e5 2. g3 c6 3. d4 e4 4. Qa4 $5 d5 5. cxd5 {Now the c-pawn is pinned, which is the main point behind White's fourth move.} b5 6. Qb3 Nf6 7. Bg5 $146 (7. Bg2 cxd5 8. Bg5 Qa5+ 9. Nc3 b4 10. Qa4+ Qxa4 11. Nxa4 Nbd7 {Eccles, A-Sherwood, R (2361) ICCF email 2019}) 7... Qa5+ 8. Nc3 b4 9. Nd1 Nxd5 10. Bh3 Bxh3 $6 {This helps White's development too much.} (10... Nd7) 11. Nxh3 Nd7 12. Rc1 h6 13. Bd2 Rc8 14. f3 N7f6 (14... N5f6 $5) 15. Nhf2 exf3 16. e4 Nb6 (16... Qb5 17. Qxf3 Nc7) 17. O-O Be7 18. Ne3 {With the white knight looking at f5, Black is in big trouble.} Qa4 19. Qd3 Qb5 20. Qxb5 cxb5 21. Rxc8+ Nxc8 22. e5 Nd7 23. Nf5 g6 24. Rc1 Ndb6 25. Nxe7 Nxe7 26. Bxb4 Nbd5 27. Bxe7 Kxe7 28. Ne4 g5 29. h3 f6 30. Rc5 f5 31. Nd2 Rd8 32. Nxf3 b4 33. Kf2 Nb6 34. Rc6 Rc8 35. Rxc8 Nxc8 36. h4 g4 37. Ne1 Nb6 38. Ng2 Na4 39. Ne3 Nxb2 40. Nxf5+ Ke6 41. Nxh6 Nd1+ 42. Ke1 Nc3 43. Nxg4 Nxa2 44. h5 Nc3 45. Kd2 Ne4+ 46. Kc2 1-0 [Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.01.23"] [Round "8"] [White "Dubov, Daniil"] [Black "Duda, Jan-Krzysztof"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E04"] [WhiteElo "2720"] [BlackElo "2760"] [Annotator "Peter,Doggers"] [PlyCount "94"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 c5 6. O-O Nc6 7. Qa4 Bd7 8. Qxc4 cxd4 9. Nxd4 Rc8 10. Nc3 Nxd4 11. Qxd4 Bc5 12. Qf4 (12. Qh4 O-O 13. Bxb7 Rb8 14. Bf3 {½-½ Chigaev,M (2639)-Kryvoruchko,Y (2689) Mali Losinj 2021}) 12... Bc6 13. Bxc6+ Rxc6 14. Rd1 Qc8 15. Be3 O-O 16. Bd4 $146 (16. Rd3 a6 17. Rad1 Be7 18. Bd4 b5 19. Be5 Rc4 20. Qf3 Qc6 {Kachar,V (2373)-Kanko,I (2265) Naumburg 2002}) 16... Bxd4 17. Rxd4 Re8 18. Rd6 Rxd6 19. Qxd6 Rd8 20. Qf4 h6 21. Rc1 Qc6 22. Qe3 a6 23. f3 Nd5 24. Nxd5 Qxd5 25. b3 Qd2 26. Qxd2 Rxd2 27. Rc8+ Kh7 28. Kf2 (28. Rc7 {was probably simpler.}) 28... b5 $1 {Now Black will end up with an extra pawn, but it's still a draw.} 29. a4 bxa4 30. bxa4 Rd4 31. h4 $1 {It's useful to prevent ...g5.} Kg6 32. Rc5 Rxa4 33. h5+ Kf6 34. f4 a5 35. Kf3 Ra1 36. g4 a4 37. g5+ Ke7 38. Rc7+ Ke8 39. g6 $1 {Active play is almost always good in rook endgames.} fxg6 40. hxg6 a3 41. Kf2 a2 42. Ra7 Kd8 43. Kg2 Ke8 44. Kf2 h5 45. Kg2 h4 46. e4 h3+ 47. Kh2 Re1 1/2-1/2