[Event "London Paris IDF Chess Congress - Open"] [Site "Paris, France"] [Date "2020.06.13"] [Round "2"] [White "Matsumura, Cocoro"] [Black "Grigorian, Roudolph"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C60"] [WhiteElo "1851"] [BlackElo "2233"] [Annotator "ChesspatzerESP"] [PlyCount "287"] [EventDate "2020.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 {The Ruy Lopez Fianchetto Variation, endorsed but Steinitz in the eighties (that is, the 1880s)} 4. O-O Bg7 5. c3 Nge7 { The main alternative is 5... a6} 6. d4 exd4 7. cxd4 d5 8. exd5 Nxd5 9. Re1+ Be6 10. Bg5 Qd6 11. Nbd2 O-O 12. Ne4 Qb4 13. Bxc6 bxc6 14. Qc2 ({Abandoning the trodden path. The main line continues} 14. Qc1 {Why Qc1 instead of Qc2? In c1 the queen supports the g5 bishop and a potential exchange of bishops via Bg5-h6, it also stays away from the Bf5 pin and puts pressure on c6. The b-pawn is covered as white generally plays b3.}) 14... Rfe8 15. a3 Qb6 16. Qc5 $6 {Offering the exchange of queens. Qd2, supporting the bishop or Nc5 were stronger.} Bg4 17. Ne5 Rxe5 18. dxe5 Bxe5 19. Rac1 $5 $11 {With Qc4 or Qc2 white would have maintained the advantage. Worth noting that the black queen is tied to the defence of the c6 pawn and Bxb2 runs into Rb1 (pinning the bishop).} Bxb2 20. Qxc6 Qxc6 21. Rxc6 Re8 $2 {Not a good idea to expose the rook to Nf6+ tricks. Equality could be maintained simply by taking the a3 pawn. } 22. Rc5 $18 {We have reached a complex ending. White is better but has to find a way to restrain black's bishop pair.} f5 23. Rxd5 {It is a natural decision for white to simplify the game, but the exchanges reduce the advantage and it will not be easy now. Stay tuned because it gets interesting.} fxe4 24. Rd8 Rxd8 25. Bxd8 Bf5 26. g4 Bxg4 27. Rxe4 Bf5 $5 28. Ra4 c5 29. Rxa7 c4 $18 30. Rc7 $2 {White should have just pushed the a pawn and hope for the best. Without the a3 pawn, it is not straightforward to convert the advange.} Bxa3 31. Rxc4 h5 32. Rc7 Bd6 33. Rb7 Be5 34. Bc7 Bd4 35. Bd6 h4 36. Re7 h3 37. Be5 Bc5 38. Rc7 Bb6 39. Rb7 Bc5 40. Kf1 Be4 41. Rc7 Bb6 42. Rd7 Kf8 $2 43. Ke2 $6 (43. Bc7 $1 {Forcing the exchange of bishops was the way to go.}) 43... Bf5 44. Rb7 Bc5 45. Kf3 Ke8 46. Kg3 Bd7 47. f3 Ke7 48. Kf4 Ke6 49. Kg5 (49. Kg4 $1 Ba4 50. f4 $18 {and white makes progress.}) 49... Bc6 50. Rc7 Be7+ 51. Kf4 Bd5 52. Kg4 Bd8 53. Rc8 Kd7 54. Rb8 Be6+ 55. Kg3 Ba5 56. Rb7+ Kc6 57. Rb1 Bd2 58. Rd1 Bb4 59. Kf4 Be7 60. Rc1+ Kd5 61. Rd1+ Kc6 62. Ra1 Kd5 63. Ra5+ Kc4 64. Ra7 g5+ $6 {White is clearly struggling to find the way forward, so this pawn thrust is probably a bad idea as it makes white's job easier.} 65. Kg3 $5 Bb4 66. Ra1 Kd5 67. Bb8 Kc4 68. Rb1 Ba5 69. Bd6 Kd3 70. Kf2 Bc3 71. Be7 Bd4+ 72. Kf1 Bc4 {Black is cornering the white king!} 73. Ke1 Ke3 74. Rc1 Bd3 75. Bc5 Bxc5 76. Rxc5 Kxf3 77. Rxg5 Kf4 78. Rg3 Bf5 79. Kf2 Bd7 80. Rf3+ Kg4 81. Rf7 Bc6 82. Ke3 Bg2 83. Rf8 Kg5 84. Rf4 Kg6 85. Kd4 Kg5 86. Ke5 Bh1 87. Rf8 Kg4 $2 {Black is probably lost after this move as king and bishop will lose all coordination.} 88. Rg8+ Kh5 89. Kf5 Kh6 90. Rh8+ Kg7 91. Rxh3 {Another transformation. What a rich game! The result of this ending depends mainly on the colour of the bishop. (Averbakh).} Bc6 92. Rg3+ Kh7 93. Kf6 Bd5 94. h4 { Coincidentally, Carlsen played an identical ending agaisnt Caruana the day our game was played. However, Carlsen managed to convert without issues.} Kh6 95. Rd3 Be4 96. Rd8 Kh7 97. h5 Bf3 98. h6 $2 $14 {Too commital. A drawish ending is in sight.} Be4 99. Kg5 Bc2 {The correct defensive maneouvre. The bishop must remain in the b1-h7 diagonal as soon as the pawn advances to h6 and there is no way to vacate the king from h7-h8.} 100. Rd7+ Kh8 101. Kf6 Be4 102. Rd4 Bc2 103. Rg4 Bd1 $2 {Ignoring the correct defensive mechanism as the bishop cannot abandone the b1-h7 diagonal if black wants to survive.} 104. Rc4 $1 Be2 105. Rc3 Bb5 106. Kf7 $2 {Unfortunately for white, it is an error to allow the black king to get to h7.} (106. Kg6 $1 Be8+ 107. Kg5 {and mate will follow.}) 106... Kh7 107. Kf6 Ba6 108. Rg3 Bc4 109. Rg7+ Kh8 110. Rd7 Bb3 111. h7 $2 { Now the draw is almost certain due to stalemate tricks.} Bc2 $11 112. Kf7 Kxh7 {Now we find ourselves in RvB ending where the black king is, using Avervakh's terminology, in the "safe corner", that is, the corner of the opposite to the colour of the bishop.} 113. Rd2 Bb3+ {A technical draw is achieved by putting the bishop in this diagonal} 114. Kf6 Bc4 115. Rh2+ Kg8 116. Rg2+ Kh7 117. Rg7+ Kh8 118. Rg4 Bb3 119. Kg6 Bc2+ 120. Kf7 Bb3+ 121. Kf8 Kh7 122. Ke7 Bc2 123. Kf7 Bb3+ 124. Kf6 Kh8 125. Kg6 Bc2+ 126. Kh6 Bb3 127. Rg7 Bc4 128. Kg6 Bd3+ 129. Kh6 Bc4 130. Rc7 Bd5 131. Kg6 Be4+ 132. Kf7 Bd5+ 133. Kg6 Be4+ 134. Kh6 Bd5 135. Rh7+ Kg8 136. Rd7 Bb3 137. Rc7 Bd5 138. Rd7 Bb3 139. Kg6 Bc2+ 140. Kf6 Bb3 141. Rc7 Bd5 142. Rd7 Bb3 143. Rg7+ Kh8 144. Rg3 {Draw} 1/2-1/2