[Event "Wijk aan Zee"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee"] [Date "2022.01.16"] [Round "2"] [White "Warmerdam, Max"] [Black "Erigaisi, Arjun"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E05"] [WhiteElo "2607"] [BlackElo "2632"] [PlyCount "50"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. c4 e6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 Nf6 4. Nf3 Be7 5. d4 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 b5 8. a4 b4 (8... Bb7 9. axb5 a6 10. bxa6 Nxa6 11. Qxc4 Bd5 12. Qc3 c5 13. Be3 Ne4 14. Qe1 Nb4 15. Nc3 Nc2 16. Rxa8 Qxa8 {Giri,A (2772)-Nepomniachtchi,I (2782) Warsaw 2021}) 9. Nfd2 Nd5 10. Nxc4 c5 11. dxc5 Bxc5 12. e4 Nb6 13. Ncd2 N8d7 14. a5 Ba6 15. axb6 Rc8 16. Rxa6 $146 {Not a good novelty.} ({Better is} 16. Qd1 $1 Qxb6 {and now} (16... Bxf1 $6 17. b7 $1) 17. Nb3 $1 (17. Rxa6 Qxa6 18. Nb3 Qa2 19. N1d2 Rfd8 {was OK for Black in Sorokin,A (2521)-Hakobyan,A (2598) Las Vegas 2021}) 17... Bxf1 18. Qxf1 {with an edge for White.}) 16... Bxf2+ 17. Kxf2 Rxc2 18. bxa7 Nb6 ({In fact,} 18... Rc8 {was also good:} 19. e5 Nxe5 20. a8=Q Qd4+ 21. Ke2 Qd3+ 22. Kd1 Qc2+ 23. Ke2 Rxa8 24. Rxa8 Rxa8 25. Bxa8 Nd3) 19. Kg1 Qc8 $1 {Was this what Warmerdam missed?} 20. Rxb6 Qc5+ 21. Kh1 Qxb6 22. Nf3 Qxa7 23. Bf4 Rxb2 24. Nbd2 Qa2 25. Rc1 Rd8 0-1 [Event "Wijk aan Zee"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee"] [Date "2022.01.16"] [Round "2"] [White "Shankland, Sam"] [Black "Grandelius, Nils"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A37"] [WhiteElo "2708"] [BlackElo "2672"] [Annotator "Peter,Doggers"] [PlyCount "90"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. c4 c5 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. Nc3 Nc6 5. Nf3 e5 6. a3 Nge7 7. d3 (7. O-O O-O 8. Ne1 d6 9. Nc2 Be6 10. Ne3 Qd7 11. Ned5 Bh3 12. d3 Bxg2 13. Kxg2 f5 14. f3 Nxd5 15. Nxd5 e4 16. Rb1 exf3+ 17. exf3 Rae8 18. Be3 Bd4 19. Bh6 Bg7 20. Be3 Bd4 21. Bh6 Bg7 22. Be3 {Radjabov,T (2763)-Vachier Lagrave,M (2766) Terme Catez 2021}) 7... O-O 8. Nd2 d6 9. Rb1 Rb8 $146 (9... h6 10. O-O a5 11. Nd5 Be6 12. Nxe7+ Qxe7 13. Ne4 Kh8 14. Nc3 Qd7 15. Bd2 Rab8 16. Qc1 h5 17. Bh6 Bh3 18. Re1 {½-½ Gelfand,B (2733)-Grischuk,A (2747) Kazan 2011}) 10. b4 b6 11. Nf1 Bb7 12. Ne3 Nd4 13. Bxb7 Rxb7 14. bxc5 dxc5 15. O-O f5 16. Ned5 Nxd5 17. Nxd5 f4 18. f3 Rbf7 19. Kh1 fxg3 20. hxg3 h5 21. Be3 Nf5 22. Rg1 Qd7 23. Kh2 Qd6 24. Bg5 Nd4 25. Kg2 b5 26. Nc3 bxc4 27. dxc4 Qe6 28. Qd3 Rd7 29. Rgd1 Rff7 30. Rb8+ Kh7 31. Rd8 Rb7 32. Ne4 ({Missing} 32. Rh1 $1 {which attacks h5 and after} Rf5 (32... Qf5 33. Ne4 Rb3 34. g4 $1) 33. Bd2 {and the threat of 34.g4 is hard to meet. White is close to winning.}) 32... Rb3 33. Rxd4 Rxd3 34. R4xd3 Bh6 35. Rd5 Qa6 36. R1d2 ({Another good chance for White was} 36. Rd7 $1 Qxc4 37. R1d2 {threatening 38.Nd6.}) 36... Kg7 37. Rxc5 ({The last chance was} 37. Rxe5 Qxa3 38. Re6 Bxg5 39. Nxg5 Qc1 40. Rd5 Qxc4 41. Rdd6 {although here} Rf5 $1 42. Rxg6+ Kf8 {should hold.}) 37... Qxa3 38. Rxe5 Bxg5 39. Rxg5 Rf5 40. Rd5 Rxg5 41. Nxg5 Qe3 42. Rd7+ Kg8 43. Rd8+ Kg7 44. Rd7+ Kg8 45. Rd8+ Kg7 1/2-1/2 [Event "Wijk aan Zee"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee"] [Date "2022.01.16"] [Round "2"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Esipenko, Andrey"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A50"] [WhiteElo "2767"] [BlackElo "2714"] [Annotator "Peter,Doggers"] [PlyCount "52"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g4 d5 (3... Nxg4 4. e4 Nf6 5. e5 Bb4+ (5... Ne4) 6. Bd2 Bxd2+ 7. Nxd2 Ng8 8. Qg4 g6 9. Bg2 d5 10. O-O-O dxc4 11. Nxc4 Nh6 12. Qf4 Nf5 { Forman,M-Caha,R Svetla nad Sazavou 1995}) 4. g5 Ne4 5. Bg2 Bb4+ 6. Kf1 Be7 7. h4 O-O $146 (7... f6 8. Nc3 Nxc3 9. bxc3 c6 10. Qd3 Nd7 11. Nh3 Nb6 {Napoli,N (2353)-Pienabarca,N (2092) Rome 2009}) 8. Nh3 c6 9. Qc2 e5 $5 10. Nd2 (10. dxe5 $6 Bf5 {is unpleasant.}) 10... Nxd2+ 11. Bxd2 exd4 12. cxd5 cxd5 13. Nf4 Be6 14. g6 $6 {Premature.} (14. Rd1 {was still highly unclear.}) 14... Nc6 $1 15. gxh7+ Kh8 16. Qb3 Qd7 ({Strong was} 16... Bd6 $1 {and White cannot take on d5 with either minor piece:} 17. Bxd5 (17. Nxd5 Ne7) 17... Bxf4 18. Bxe6 Bxd2) 17. Bxd5 Bxd5 18. Qxd5 Rad8 19. Qxd7 Rxd7 20. Rc1 Kxh7 21. Nd3 Rd5 22. Bf4 Re8 23. Bg3 Bd6 24. Rg1 Re4 25. f3 Re7 26. Bf2 f6 1/2-1/2 [Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.01.16"] [Round "2"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E05"] [WhiteElo "2865"] [BlackElo "2772"] [Annotator "Bojkov,Dejan"] [PlyCount "71"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 {The preparation for the world championship match keeps giving fruits for the world champion, and in this game he manages to demonstrate one more powerful Catalan idea.} O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Na3 Bxa3 8. bxa3 Bd7 9. a4 $5 {An interesting side-line according to Megabase. White quickly brings his bishop out, but in the process risks to lose his gambited pawn permanently.} ({Black managed to demonstrate equality in this recent top encounter:} 9. Qc2 Bc6 10. Qxc4 Bd5 11. Qc2 Be4 12. Qb2 Nbd7 13. Bf4 Rc8 14. Rac1 Re8 15. Rfd1 Nd5 16. Bg5 f6 17. Bd2 c5 18. dxc5 Nxc5 { Le,Q (2709)-So,W (2772) chess24.com INT 2021}) 9... Bc6 10. Ba3 Re8 11. Qc2 { [#]} Nbd7 $146 {Technically speaking, it is Giri that produces the novelty. However, an important detail: he does this after more than twelve minutes on the clock.} ({The predecessor witnessed White achieing everything he wished for after:} 11... Bd5 12. Rfe1 Nbd7 13. e4 Bc6 14. Nd2 a5 15. Nxc4 Nb6 16. Nxb6 cxb6 17. Bb2 {Cordova,E (2571) -Slade,T (2124) Saint Louis 2019}) ({Instead of the move in the game, another idea is:} 11... Qd5 $5 12. Rac1 Qa5 {first transfering the queen for the attack against the a4-pawn before accomplishing development with} 13. Qxc4 Nbd7) 12. Rac1 {Carlsen eyeballs the c7-pawn. If White can win his pawn back, his advantage will be enormous. The pressure along the b- and c-files a la Benko, coupled with the nasty bishops and the nastier a-pawns would be too much for Black to cope with.} ({Not the instant} 12. Qxc4 Nb6) 12... a6 13. Qxc4 Nb6 14. Qc3 {Played after a lenghty thought.} ( {The more obvious} 14. Qd3 Bxa4 {allows Ba4-b5 next, with a tempo, and might have been the reason for the rejection.}) 14... Nxa4 15. Qb3 Qd5 {For now, the world champion does play} ({Giri was evidently afraid of the positional exchange sacrifice after} 15... Nb6 16. Rxc6 $1 bxc6 17. Ne5 Qxd4 18. Nxc6 { when the white knight somehow manages to dominate both the rooks!}) ({However} 15... Bb5 $5 {might have been a safer alternative.}) 16. Rxc6 $3 {anyway, and even though the black pawns are still intact after} Qxc6 17. Ne5 Qb5 18. Qc2 $1 {Black has serious problems to solve. His queen is exposed, the knight on the rim is in mortal danger, and all the queenside pawns are hanging.} Nd5 { The most natural move turns out to be a serious mistake.} ({The best defense was connected with the cute tactical line} 18... Nb6 $1 19. Bxb7 Nc4 $3 20. Bxa8 Nxa3 {when Black is OK after both} 21. Qc6 ({Interestingly, White can afford sacrificing a piece and entering an endgame with} 21. Qxc7 Rxa8 22. Qxf7+ Kh8 23. Rc1 Qe8 $1 24. Qxe8+ Rxe8 25. Rc6 {when White's initiative should soon net him another pawn} a5 26. Ra6 Nb5 27. e3 Nc3 28. Rxa5 {and all of this leads to approximately even endgame.}) 21... Qxe2 22. Bb7 Qxa2) 19. Rb1 Qa5 20. Bxd5 $1 {Perhaps Giri underestimated this idea.} ({Wrong was instead} 20. Rxb7 $2 Nab6 21. Qc1 Qc3 $1 {when tables are turned in Black's favor.}) ({ However, the capture might have worked even better with the inclusion of the moves} 20. Be4 $5 g6 21. Bxd5 exd5 {As now White has an additional idea} 22. Bb4 $1 Qb6 23. Bc3 Qxb1+ 24. Qxb1 Nxc3 25. Qxb7 Nxe2+ 26. Kg2 Nxd4 27. Qxc7 { and White's queen and knight crash through thanks to the weakened long diagonal.}) 20... exd5 ({There is not enough for the pieces after} 20... Qxd5 21. Qxa4) 21. Rxb7 $1 {A very precise move! Ba3-b4 is a mortal threat and that forces Black to weaken his seventh rank.} ({The resource from above does not work with a black pawn on g7 as the line} 21. Bb4 Qb6 22. Bc3 Qxb1+ 23. Qxb1 Nxc3 24. Qxb7 ({White does not achieve anything more than a balanced position after} 24. Qd3 Nxe2+ 25. Qxe2 f6 26. Qf3 fxe5 27. Qxd5+ Kh8 28. dxe5 Rad8) 24... Nxe2+ 25. Kg2 Nxd4 26. Qxc7 f6 {proves good for Black.}) 21... c5 ({Or} 21... Nc3 22. Bb4 Qxa2 23. Qxc3) 22. Qf5 Rf8 23. Nxf7 Qd8 {A passive defense, but there was nothing else.} ({Or else Black can easily get smothered-mated after} 23... Qe1+ 24. Kg2 Qxe2 25. Qxd5) 24. dxc5 {Wins an inportant pawn, but above all, opens the long diagonal for the bishop.} Qf6 25. Qxf6 gxf6 26. Nh6+ Kh8 27. c6 Rfc8 28. c7 {Next the white knight will come to either d6 or e7, and there is no way out.} Nc3 (28... Kg7 29. Nf5+) 29. Bb2 d4 30. Nf7+ Kg7 31. Nd6 Kg6 32. Kf1 Nb5 33. Nxc8 Rxc8 34. a4 Nxc7 35. Bxd4 Ne6 36. Be3 1-0