[Event "FIDE Candidates 2020"]
[Site "Yekaterinburg"]
[Date "2021.04.26"]
[Round "13.1"]
[White "Wang, Hao"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2763"]
[BlackElo "2820"]
[Annotator "TA"]
[PlyCount "84"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. c3 Nf6 4. e5 Nd5 5. d4 cxd4 6. cxd4 d6 7. Bc4 Be7 8. O-O
{B22: Sicilian: 2 c3.} O-O 9. a3 Bd7 $5 {[#] Leaves trodden paths.} 10. Bxd5
$146 {The position is equal.} ({Predecessor:} 10. Qe2 Bc6 11. Bd2 Nd7 12. Nc3
dxe5 13. Bxd5 exd5 14. dxe5 Nc5 15. Be3 Ne4 16. Rac1 {1-0 (24) Kryvoruchko, Y
(2628)-Pavlovic,M (2537) Kavala 2008}) 10... exd5 11. Nc3 Be6 12. Bf4 Nc6 13.
exd6 Bxd6 14. Bxd6 Qxd6 15. Re1 Rac8 16. Qd3 f6 17. h3 Bf7 18. Rac1 Qd7 19. Nh2
Rfe8 20. Rxe8+ Rxe8 21. Nf1 g6 22. Ne3 Kg7 23. Na4 Qd6 24. Nc3 h5 25. Rd1 a6
26. Rc1 h4 27. Rd1 Na5 28. b4 Nc4 29. Nxc4 dxc4 30. Qd2 Bd5 31. b5 Bf7 (31...
axb5 {feels hotter.} 32. Nxb5 Qd7 33. Nc3 g5 34. Rb1 Be4) 32. bxa6 bxa6 33. a4
g5 34. d5 Bg6 35. Re1 Qf4 36. Qd1 {[#]} Bc2 $1 37. Qa1 Re5 38. Rxe5 Qxe5 39. a5
Kg6 40. Kh1 (40. f3 $15) 40... Be4 $19 41. d6 {[#] Hoping for d7.} Bc6 42. Qb2
Qxd6 {Weighted Error Value: White=0.14/Black=0.03} 0-1
[Event "FIDE Candidates 2020"]
[Site "Yekaterinburg"]
[Date "2021.04.26"]
[Round "13.2"]
[White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2789"]
[BlackElo "2758"]
[Annotator "TA"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 b6 3. g3 Bb7 4. Bg2 g6 5. d4 Bg7 6. d5 {A50: Queen's
Fianchetto Defence (1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 b6).} Na6 7. Nc3 Nc5 8. O-O {White has an
edge.} O-O 9. Qc2 a5 {[#]} 10. Rd1 $5 $146 {An interesting novelty.} ({
Predecessor:} 10. e4 d6 11. Be3 e5 12. h3 c6 13. dxc6 Bxc6 14. Nd2 Qc7 15. Rfd1
Rfd8 16. Nb3 {1-0 (40) Banusz,T (2623)-Jimenez Garcia,E (2397) chess.com INT
2020}) 10... Ne8 11. Bf4 Nd6 12. b3 Re8 13. Be5 e6 14. Bxg7 Kxg7 15. Rab1 e5
16. Nd2 f5 17. a3 Qf6 18. b4 axb4 19. axb4 Na6 20. e4 f4 21. Ne2 fxg3 22. fxg3
c5 23. bxc5 Nxc5 24. Rxb6 Qd8 25. Rdb1 Qc7 26. Nc3 Rf8 27. R6b2 Ba6 28. Nd1
Rab8 29. Rxb8 Rxb8 30. Rxb8 Qxb8 31. Qb2 Qxb2 32. Nxb2 Nc8 33. Kf2 Nb6 34. Bf1
d6 35. Ke3 Kf6 36. Be2 Ke7 37. Nb1 Bc8 38. Nc3 Bd7 39. Bd1 Be8 40. Bc2 Bd7 41.
Bd1 Be8 $1 42. Bc2 {Weighted Error Value: White=0.09/Black=0.08} (42. g4 $14)
1/2-1/2
[Event "FIDE Candidates 2020"]
[Site "Yekaterinburg"]
[Date "2021.04.26"]
[Round "13.3"]
[White "Alekseenko, Kirill"]
[Black "Ding, Liren"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2696"]
[BlackElo "2791"]
[Annotator "TA"]
[PlyCount "122"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 d6 6. O-O O-O 7. h3 h6 8. Re1 a5
$1 {outshines the older 8...a6. C54: Giuoco Piano: 4 c3 Nf6, main lines with 5
d4 and 5 d3.} 9. b3 (9. Nbd2 Be6 10. Bb5 Qb8 11. Nf1 Qa7 12. d4 exd4 13. Bxc6
dxc3 14. Ba4 Bxf2+ 15. Kh2 Bxe1 16. Qxe1 d5 17. Be3 Qa6 18. e5 Ne4 19. bxc3 {
1/2-1/2 (60) Alekseenko,K (2671)-Ding,L (2811) Khanty-Mansiysk 2019}) 9... Bb6
10. Nbd2 Be6 {The position is equal.} 11. Nf1 d5 12. exd5 Nxd5 {[#]} 13. Qc2
$146 ({Predecessor:} 13. Bd2 Qf6 14. N1h2 Rad8 15. Ng4 Bxg4 16. hxg4 e4 17. g5
hxg5 18. Bxg5 Nxc3 19. Bxf6 Nxd1 20. Raxd1 gxf6 21. Rxe4 Rfe8 22. Rg4+ Kf8 {
1/2-1/2 (22) Wunderlich,H (2596)-Zidu,J (2594) GER email 2017}) 13... Qf6 14.
Ng3 Qg6 {Strongly threatening ...Qxg3.} 15. Kh2 Rad8 16. Ba3 Rfe8 17. Nxe5 Nxe5
18. Rxe5 c6 19. Bxd5 Rxd5 20. Rxd5 Bxd5 21. c4 Be6 22. Re1 Rd8 23. Ne4 Bc7+ 24.
Kh1 Qh5 {Hoping for ... Bxh3!} 25. Re3 Qe5 26. Ng3 Qa1+ 27. Kh2 Qf6 28. Bb2 Qg6
29. Kh1 Bb6 30. Rf3 Bc7 $1 31. Bc3 b5 32. Qe2 bxc4 33. bxc4 a4 34. Qe3 Qg5 35.
Qe1 Qg6 36. Qe3 Qg5 $1 37. Qe1 Qg6 $1 38. Qe2 a3 39. Bb4 (39. Kg1 $14) 39...
Rb8 40. Qe1 Rd8 41. Qc3 h5 (41... Rb8 $11 {remains equal.}) 42. Bxa3 $16 h4 43.
Ne2 Bf5 44. Nd4 Be4 45. dxe4 Qxe4 46. Rd3 {Threatens to win with Qd2.} Be5 {
next ...Qf4 is good for Black.} 47. Bc5 $2 (47. Bb2 $1 $16 {is forced if you
want to stay better.}) 47... Rb8 $1 $17 {( -> ...Rb1+)} 48. Bb4 {[#]} ({
Wrong is} 48. Rd1 $2 Rb1 $19) 48... Rxb4 $1 $40 {Black is out for blood.} 49.
Qxb4 Qxd3 50. Nf3 Qf1+ {Double Attack} 51. Ng1 Bd4 $1 ({Resist} 51... Qxf2 52.
Qb1 $15) 52. Qb8+ Kh7 53. Qf4 (53. Qc8 $17) 53... Bxf2 $19 54. Qf5+ Kh6 55.
Qf4+ Kg6 $1 56. Qg4+ $2 {[#]} (56. Qe4+ {was the only chance.} Kf6 57. Qf3+ Ke5
58. Qe2+ Qxe2 59. Nxe2) 56... Kf6 $1 {Black is clearly winning.} 57. Qf4+ {[#]}
Ke6 $1 58. Qe4+ Kd6 59. Qf4+ Kc5 60. Qe5+ Kxc4 61. Qe4+ Kb5 {Black used his
chance. Weighted Error Value: White=0.44/Black=0.07} 0-1
[Event "FIDE Candidates 2020"]
[Site "Yekaterinburg"]
[Date "2021.04.26"]
[Round "13.4"]
[White "Grischuk, Alexander"]
[Black "Giri, Anish"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2777"]
[BlackElo "2776"]
[Annotator "TA"]
[PlyCount "101"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 c5 7. Bxb4 cxb4 8.
O-O O-O 9. Nbd2 d6 10. Qb3 a5 11. a3 Na6 12. Rfd1 {E16: Queen's Indian: 4 g3
Bb7 5 Bg2 Bb4+.} Qe7 13. Ne1 Bxg2 {[#]} 14. Kxg2 $5 $146 {White has an edge.
An interesting novelty.} ({Predecessor:} 14. Nxg2 e5 15. Nf3 e4 16. Nfh4 Qd7
17. Ne3 Rfc8 18. Rac1 g6 19. Nhg2 b5 20. Nf4 a4 21. Qa2 bxc4 22. Nxc4 {0-1 (62)
Reis,C (2408)-Dieguez Vera,C (2466) ICCF email 2013}) 14... h5 15. Nc2 bxa3 16.
bxa3 ({Don't play} 16. Qxb6 Rfb8 $15) 16... Rab8 17. e4 e5 18. Qd3 Nc7 19. Rab1
Ne6 20. Rb5 Rfe8 (20... h4 $5) 21. h4 g6 22. f3 Nd7 23. Nf1 exd4 24. Nxd4 Ne5
25. Qe2 Nxd4 26. Rxd4 Nc6 27. Rd1 Qe6 28. Ne3 Ne7 29. Qd2 f5 $2 {[#] Black
cannot hold the game after this.} (29... Nc6 $16 {was worth a try.} 30. Qxd6
Red8 31. Qxe6 fxe6) 30. Qxd6 Nc6 $2 (30... Qxd6 31. Rxd6 fxe4 32. fxe4 Kf7) 31.
exf5 gxf5 32. Qxe6+ Rxe6 33. Nxf5 Ne5 34. Rd6 Ree8 35. Rd4 Nc6 36. Rd2 Rbd8 37.
Rxd8 Rxd8 38. Rd5 {[#] aiming for Ne7+!} Rxd5 39. cxd5 $18 {Endgame KN-KN.
White is clearly winning.} Ne5 40. Nd6 Kf8 (40... Nd7 $142 41. Ne4 b5) 41. Kf2
Ke7 42. Nb5 Kf6 43. Ke3 Kf5 44. Nd6+ Kf6 45. Ke4 Nd7 46. Kd4 Ke7 47. Nb5 Kf6
48. Nc3 Kf5 49. Ne4 Kg6 50. g4 b5 51. Nc5 {Weighted Error Value: White=0.14/
Black=0.36} 1-0