[Event "FIDE Candidates 2024 "] [White "Firouzja,Alireza"] [Black "Gukesh,D"] [Site ""] [Round ""] [Annotator "Firouzja,Alireza"] [Result "1-0"] [Date "2024.04.11"] [WhiteElo "2760"] [BlackElo "2743"] [PlyCount "79"] 1. d4 {Having played only 1.e4 with White in the last rounds, this could be a bit of surprise for my opponent.} Nf6 2. Bf4 {London in Toronto. A solid and slow system, but I try to add some spice to it as usual.} d5 {There are a lot of ways to play against the London, my opponent chooses one of the most principled ways, ...d5 and ...c5.} 3. e3 c5 ({Another line is} 3... Bf5 4. c4 e6 5. Nc3 Bb4 )4. Nf3 (4. Nc3 cxd4 5. exd4 a6 6. Nf3 Bg4 {Black wants a fixed centre, depriving White of the options dxc5 and c4.} 7. h3 Bxf3 8. Qxf3 Nc6 9. O-O-O e6 10. g4 Bd6 11. Be3 Qa5 12. Kb1 Nb4 13. Bc1 Rc8 14. a3 Nc6 15. g5 Nd7 16. h4 Qb6 17. Bh3 Nxd4 18. Qe3 Be5 19. f4 Rxc3 20. Qxc3 Nb5 21. Qf3 Bd4 22. Ka2 g6 23. h5 Nc5 24. Bf1 Ne4 25. Bxb5+ axb5 26. hxg6 fxg6 27. Rhe1 Rf8 28. Qd3 {Firouzja,A (2759)-Nepomniachtchi,I (2769) Wijk aan Zee 2024.} )(4. Nd2 Nc6 5. Ngf3 Bg4 6. Bb5 cxd4 7. exd4 e6 8. O-O Bd6 9. Bxd6 Qxd6 10. c3 {Santos Latasa, J (2656)-Grandelius,N (2684) Baku 2023.} )(4. dxc5 e6 5. b4 a5 (5... b6 $1 6. cxb6 Qxb6 $11 )6. c3 Nc6 7. Bb5 Bd7 8. Qb3 {Giri,A (2780)-Esipenko,A (2675) Dusseldorf 2023.} )e6 5. Nbd2 Qb6 (5... Nc6 {is the main move, but this is also one of the main plans in French pawn structures to exchange the light-squared bishop with Qb6/Bd7/Bb5.} )6. Rb1 cxd4 (6... Bd7 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. c4 )7. exd4 Bd7 8. c3 Bb5 9. h4 {The idea is to activate the rook via h3-g3 and also to play h5 to stop ...Nh5 ideas some times.} Nbd7 (9... Nc6 10. Bxb5 Qxb5 11. Qb3 a6 12. Qxb5 axb5 13. a3 {0-1 (97) Tabatabaei,M (2689)-Keymer,V (2690) Baku 2023.} )10. Rh3 $6 {It's clear that Black is going to castle short and that White should try to attack on the kingside, but it's not easy to find an effective plan for that, since Black is too solid and coordinated.} (10. h5 {was more precise.} Bxf1 11. Kxf1 h6 12. Ne5 Be7 13. Rh3 O-O 14. Kg1 $11 )Be7 {A natural move.} (10... h5 $3 {The knight is going to be super strong.} 11. Ne5 Nxe5 12. Bxe5 Ng4 13. Bg3 Bd7 $15 )11. h5 h6 12. a4 Bxf1 13. Kxf1 O-O 14. Kg1 Qc6 {Attacking the a4-pawn and forcing White to make a decision about it.} 15. Ne5 Nxe5 16. dxe5 Nd7 17. Rg3 Kh8 18. a5 Qc7 19. Nf3 Qxa5 {There was always the possibility for a repetition and bail-out for White, but I decided to go all-in and unbalance the position.} 20. c4 $5 (20. Bxh6 gxh6 21. Qd2 Kh7 22. Qd3+ Kh8 23. Qd2 $11 )Rg8 21. Ra1 $2 (21. cxd5 Qxd5 22. Qxd5 exd5 23. Nd4 $11 )Qb4 22. b3 Nc5 23. Nd4 Ne4 24. Re3 Qc5 $1 (24... Rgd8 25. cxd5 exd5 26. Rd3 $15 )25. Rc1 (25. cxd5 Qxd5 $17 )Rgd8 {White has 5 minutes for 15 moves vs 15 minutes for Black.} 26. b4 $1 {He was playing really well in the last couple of moves and was building on his advantage, but this move made everything complicated, especially in time trouble.} Qxb4 27. cxd5 Nxf2 $1 {Black sacrifices the knight with the hope of regaining it on d4 immediately, but there is a hidden money move for White.} (27... exd5 28. Rb3 Qa4 29. Rxb7 Qxd1+ 30. Rxd1 Bc5 31. Be3 $11 )28. Kxf2 Rxd5 29. Re4 $3 (29. Rd3 Rad8 30. Be3 Bc5 31. Rb1 Qc4 32. Qb3 Qa6 33. Rbd1 Rxe5 34. Nf3 Rxd3 35. Rxd3 Bxe3+ 36. Rxe3 Rxh5 $17 )Rad8 (29... a5 $1 {This was Black's best move here which is super hard to find.} 30. Qd2 Qxd2+ 31. Bxd2 a4 $15 )30. Be3 Bc5 31. Qb3 $3 { He missed this move. Miraculously everything works for White.} Qxb3 (31... Rxd4 32. Rxd4 Qxb3 33. Rxd8+ Kh7 34. Rxc5 Qb4 $3 35. Kf3 $14 )32. Nxb3 Bxe3+ 33. Rxe3 {Now the position is equal according to the engine, but it's Black who should be careful to control the knight's activity. But at this point we were both under time pressure, so it's easier to play for White.} a5 (33... b6 { could be smarter.} 34. Rc6 R8d7 $11 )34. Rc7 a4 35. Nc5 Ra8 {Again, the position is defendable for Black with precise play, and as we will see there are nice variations for a draw, but there was a huge problem for him.} (35... b5 36. Rf3 Rxe5 37. Rfxf7 a3 38. Rxg7 Rxc5 39. Rh7+ Kg8 40. Rcg7+ $11 )36. Nd7 $1 Kh7 $4 {His first and last mistake in the game.} (36... b5 37. Rf3 Rd2+ 38. Ke1 Rd4 $3 39. Rxf7 a3 40. Nf8 Rg4 41. Ng6+ Rxg6 42. hxg6 a2 43. Ra7 a1=Q+ 44. Rxa1 Rxa1+ 45. Kf2 $11 )(36... a3 37. Rxa3 $3 {He missed this move and panicked.} )37. Rf3 a3 38. Rxf7 Kh8 39. Nf8 a2 40. Ng6+ 1-0