[Event "Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee"] [Date "2021.01.30"] [Round "12.4"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C11"] [WhiteElo "2764"] [BlackElo "2749"] [Annotator "Bojkov,Dejan"] [PlyCount "134"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:26:25"] [BlackClock "0:19:46"] 1. e4 e6 {A big surprise! Although Firouzja has played the French before, he did that rarely and almost always in blitz games. Maybe this has something to do with the country that he currently lives in?} 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 a6 ({A typical blockading structure was achieved after} 7... Be7 8. Qd2 a6 9. a3 b5 10. Bd3 O-O 11. O-O Qc7 12. dxc5 Nxc5 13. Ne2 Bb7 14. Ned4 {in Alekseenko,K (2696)-Firouzja,A (2728) Chess.com 2020}) 8. a3 {The first micro-thought by Giri, and he deviates from what he had always played before.} ({The Dutch GM had always chosen so far} 8. Qd2 b5 9. Be2 Be7 10. O-O O-O 11. a3 b4 12. axb4 Nxb4 13. dxc5 Nxc5 14. Nd4 {Giri,A (2769) -Jumabayev,R (2646) Moscow 2019}) 8... cxd4 9. Nxd4 Bc5 10. Qd2 O-O 11. Be2 { A calm developing move.} ({Grischuk tried to squeeze his opponent positionally in the following game:} 11. h4 Rb8 12. h5 h6 13. g3 Qe7 14. Bg2 Nxd4 15. Bxd4 b5 16. b4 Bxd4 17. Qxd4 f6 18. exf6 Qxf6 19. Ne2 Nb6 20. Qxf6 gxf6 21. O-O-O { and eventually succeeded, Grischuk,A (2777)-Bluebaum,M (2644) Moscow 2019}) 11... Qc7 12. O-O b6 $146 {This falls short by a move.} ({A quick draw occurred after} 12... Nxd4 13. Bxd4 b5 14. Qe3 Bxd4 15. Qxd4 Qa7 16. Qxa7 Rxa7 17. Bd3 g6 18. Ne2 Nc5 19. g4 b4 20. axb4 Nxd3 {1/2-1/2 (20) Faber,H (2502) -Glatzel,H (2460) Remote email 2013}) 13. Nxc6 $1 {Giri finds a good way to fix a pleasant positional advantage.} Qxc6 14. b4 {Removing the excellent bishop.} Bxe3+ 15. Qxe3 Bb7 16. Bd3 {One more move and White will be able to maneuver with his knight to d4 when Black's position would be positionally lost. Therefore:} d4 {Forcing an endgame.} ({Since} 16... b5 17. Ne2 Nb6 18. Nd4 {is just bad for Black.}) 17. Qe4 Qxe4 18. Nxe4 ({White is also better after} 18. Bxe4 $5 dxc3 ({However, Giri might have disliked the possible pawn sacrifice after} 18... Rab8 19. Bxb7 Rxb7 20. Ne2 b5 21. Nxd4 Nb6 22. Nb3) 19. Bxb7) 18... Bd5 19. Ng5 {Accumulating another small advantage.} g6 20. Nf3 Bxf3 21. Rxf3 {White's advantage is very pleasant. He has the more valuable light piece, and the d4-pawn is an obvious target. Firouzja's knight does not seem to have brilliant outposts, and the impression is that Black's position will only deteriorate from here on.} b5 $1 22. Be4 Rad8 23. Rd3 Nb6 {Not that fast! There is plenty of energy in this knight.} 24. Bb7 Na4 25. Bxa6 Nc3 {A very nice maneuver. Black gets counterplay.} 26. Bb7 ({Or else the bishop might be trapped after} 26. Kf2 Rd7 $1) 26... Ne2+ 27. Kf2 Nxf4 28. Rd2 d3 {But this is the wrong path.} ({Stronger is to bring the central pawns into motion with} 28... f6 29. exf6 Rxf6 30. Kg1 e5 {and that should prove enough counterplay for Black.}) 29. c3 {Of course! The d3-pawn should be taken, not traded.} ({ Also nice is:} 29. c4 bxc4 30. Rc1 Rd4 31. Ba6 f6 32. exf6 Rxf6 33. Rxc4 { with big edge for White.}) 29... Ne2 30. Ke3 Nxc3 31. Rxd3 Rxd3+ ({It is bad too after} 31... Rb8 32. Rd7 {for Black.}) 32. Kxd3 {Black's knight is again in trouble. On the top of that, White's king got centralized, and the bishop increased its domination against the knight in the open position.} Na4 33. Rc1 Rd8+ 34. Ke2 (34. Kc2 $1 {would have been even better. White would later need this king on the queenside anyway.}) 34... Kg7 ({Alas, there is no way to bring the knight back into the game:} 34... Nb2 35. Rc2 Rb8 36. Bc6 Nc4 { is neatly refuted by:} 37. Rxc4 $1 bxc4 38. Kd2 {and the pawns are unstoppable. }) 35. Bc6 Rb8 36. Rc2 {Before the time-control White starts wasting time.} ({ Giri could have wrapped up the game with the straightforward king march:} 36. Kd2 $1 Kf8 37. Kc2 Ke7 38. Kb3 g5 {when} 39. Bxb5 $1 Rxb5 40. Kxa4 Rxe5 41. b5 {crowns White's passers quickly.}) 36... Kf8 {A loss of time, as Firouzja admitted after the game.} 37. Kd2 Ke7 38. Kc1 f6 $1 {Now Firouzja at least creates a passer.} 39. exf6+ Kxf6 40. Kb1 Ke5 41. Ka2 Kd4 42. Kb3 Kd3 43. Rf2 ( {The straightforward} 43. Bxb5+ Rxb5 44. Kxa4 Rb8 45. Rc5 {would have won, e.g. } Re8 46. b5 e5 47. b6 e4 48. Ka5 e3 49. b7 e2 50. Rc1 Kd2 51. Ra1 e1=Q 52. Rxe1 Kxe1 53. a4 Kd2 54. Kb6 Kc3 55. a5 Kb4 56. a6 Re6+ 57. Kc7 {[PD]}) 43... e5 44. Rf7 {But White is, of course, still winning.} (44. Rf6 $5) 44... Nb6 $1 {This desperate try is borne out of necessity.} ({The pawn is not going anywhere otherwise:} 44... e4 45. Rd7+ Ke3 46. Re7) 45. Bxb5+ Kd4 46. a4 ({ More in Giri's style would be the restricting} 46. Rf1 $1 e4 ({As this time the knight cannot be centralized:} 46... Nd5 47. Rd1+ Ke4 48. Bc6) 47. Rd1+ Ke5 48. Bc6 {and the passer is stopped, while the knight is controlled.}) 46... Nd5 47. Rxh7 {A third pawn is won, but the passer finally moves, and that causes a headache for White. The main problem is that the game continues, though. Giri probably felt that he had missed neater wins, and that might have made him nervous.} e4 48. Rf7 {The human way.} ({The computer suggests} 48. Rh6 $5 e3 49. Rh4+ $1 Ke5 50. Rc4) 48... e3 49. Rf1 Nc3 50. Rf4+ {Once again a human decision.} ({Both players probably calculated the line} 50. Bc6 $1 e2 51. Re1 Kd3 52. a5 Kd2 53. Rxe2+ Nxe2 {when White does not have time for} 54. a6 ({ However, the stunning} 54. Kc4 $3 {would produce a true masterpiece. The pawns are unstoppable.}) 54... Nd4+ {and it is Black who is winning.}) 50... Ke5 51. Rf3 Nxb5 52. Rxe3+ {That was White's idea. He finally got rid of the opponent's passer. True, at the price of a piece, but he is gaining Black's last pawn as well. And since the pawns are far away from each other, it seems that they can easily outstretch the knight.} Kd4 53. Rg3 Nd6 54. Rxg6 Ne4 55. a5 $1 {An important move.} Kd5 ({The other way to use the knight:} 55... Nc5+ 56. Ka3 Nd3 {is refuted by} 57. Rb6 $1) 56. a6 Nc5+ 57. Ka3 Nd3 $1 {The last chance is to make tricks (miracles) with the knight.} 58. a7 Ra8 59. Rg7 Kc6 { If White could only get rid of the rooks, all his problems would be gone, and he should easily beat the knight.} 60. h4 ({From the aforementioned variation, we can better understand the line} 60. Kb3 $1 Ne5 61. b5+ Kb6 62. Kc3 Rxa7 63. Rxa7 Kxa7 64. Kd4 {when White wins easily as the enemy king is left far away.}) 60... Nf4 61. g4 {What can be more natural than pushing the passers? And nevertheless, this leads to a draw now!} ({The last chance to win could have been used had White not allowed the knight to c7 with} 61. Ka4 $1 Ne6 62. b5+ Kb6 63. Rg6 Rxa7+ 64. Kb4 Re7 65. h5 Kb7 66. h6 {Black is paralyzed, and the g-pawn will confidently march to g5.}) 61... Ne6 $1 62. Rf7 Nc7 {And Firouzja survived this super-tense game!} 63. g5 Rxa7+ 64. Kb2 Ra8 65. g6 Ne6 66. h5 Rh8 67. Rh7 Rg8 {The knight will be always able to sacrifice itself for the two kingside pawns if needed, therefore, a draw.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2021"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands"] [Date "2021.01.30"] [Round "12.7"] [White "Harikrishna, Pentala"] [Black "Donchenko, Alexander"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E20"] [WhiteElo "2732"] [BlackElo "2668"] [Annotator "Peter,Doggers"] [PlyCount "99"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 c5 5. g3 Ne4 6. Qd3 cxd4 7. Nxd4 Bxc3+ 8. bxc3 Nc5 9. Qf3 d6 10. Bg2 Nbd7 11. O-O O-O 12. Nb3 Qc7 13. Rd1 Nb6 $146 (13... Ne5 14. Qf4 Na4 15. c5 Nxc5 16. Ba3 Re8 17. c4 Rb8 18. Nxc5 dxc5 19. Bb2 f6 { Moiseenko,A (2628)-Donchenko,A (2615) Riga 2019}) 14. Nxc5 Qxc5 15. Be3 Qc7 16. Bxb6 axb6 17. Qd3 Rd8 18. a4 Ra5 19. Rdb1 Bd7 20. Rb4 Bc6 21. Qd4 Bxg2 22. Kxg2 Rc5 23. Rab1 h6 24. Qd3 Rc6 25. a5 bxa5 26. Rxb7 Qc8 27. Qf3 Rf8 28. Rb8 Qd7 29. R1b7 Rc7 30. Rxf8+ Kxf8 31. Rb8+ Ke7 32. Rg8 Qc6 33. e4 g6 34. Qe3 g5 35. h4 Qc5 36. Qf3 Qe5 37. hxg5 hxg5 38. Ra8 Qc5 39. Qh5 Ra7 40. Rg8 Qe5 41. Qg4 a4 (41... Kf6 $5 {Harikrishna}) 42. Rxg5 Qf6 $2 ({Black would still draw with} 42... Qxc3 43. Rg8 Qxc4 44. Rb8 {and now the only move} e5 $1) 43. c5 $1 { Leading to a decisive attack.} dxc5 $6 (43... Qxc3 44. Qf4 $1 Qd4 (44... dxc5 45. e5 $1) 45. c6) 44. Rxc5 a3 45. e5 Qh8 46. Qb4 Qa8+ 47. Kh2 Ke8 48. Rb5 Qc6 49. Rb8+ Kd7 50. Qd4+ 1-0