[Event "FIDE Candidates 2020"] [Site "Yekaterinburg"] [Date "2021.04.24"] [Round "12.1"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2820"] [BlackElo "2776"] [Annotator "TA"] [PlyCount "90"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] 1. e4 {Moradiabadi,E} c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. a3 Be7 7. Be3 O-O {B45: Sicilian Four Knights.} 8. Be2 d6 {[#]} 9. Qd3 $146 ({ Predecessor:} 9. Qd2 a6 10. O-O-O Na5 11. Kb1 Qc7 12. g4 Nc4 13. Bxc4 Qxc4 14. Rhg1 d5 15. exd5 Rd8 16. Bg5 exd5 17. Rge1 Be6 {1-0 (28) Demchenko,A (2629) -Kovalenko,I (2657) Minsk 2017 CBM 179 [Moradiabadi,E]}) 9... Bd7 {The position is equal.} 10. f4 e5 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. O-O exf4 13. Bxf4 Be6 14. Qg3 Nd7 15. Rad1 Re8 16. Kh1 Qb8 17. b4 (17. b3 {is more complex.} Ne5 18. Bh5 g6 19. Ne2 Kh8 20. Bf3) 17... Ne5 18. b5 Rc8 19. bxc6 Rxc6 20. Nd5 Qf8 21. c3 Rac8 22. Rc1 Ng6 23. Bd2 Bh4 24. Qe3 Rc5 25. c4 h6 26. Qb3 Bg5 27. Bxg5 hxg5 28. Qg3 Qd8 29. Rcd1 Bxd5 30. exd5 Nf4 31. Qf2 {Black should prevent g3.} R8c7 (31... Nxe2 32. Qxf7+ Kh8 33. Qh5+ Kg8 34. Qxe2 $16) 32. Rd4 Qe8 33. Bf3 Rxc4 34. Rxc4 Rxc4 35. Qxa7 Ra4 36. Qf2 ({Better is} 36. Qc7 $15) 36... Rxa3 $19 37. h4 Qe5 38. hxg5 Qxg5 39. Re1 Ra8 {Hoping for ...Nd3!} ({But not} 39... Nxd5 $2 40. Re8+ Kh7 41. Be4+ f5 42. Bxf5+ g6 {[#]} 43. Bxg6+ $1 Qxg6 44. Qh4+ Qh6 45. Rh8+ $3 Kxh8 46. Qxh6+ Kg8 47. Qxd6 $18) 40. Be4 (40. Rf1) 40... Ra2 $2 41. Rb1 { Threatening mate with Rb8+.} Ra8 ({Weaker is} 41... Rxf2 42. Rb8+ Qd8 43. Rxd8# ) ({Wrong is} 41... Qh5+ $2 42. Kg1 $18) (41... Qh6+ 42. Kg1 Ra8) 42. Re1 $1 f5 43. Bb1 Kf7 {( -> ...Rh8+)} 44. Re3 Rh8+ 45. Kg1 {[#]} Nxg2 $1 {Weighted Error Value: White=0.37/Black=0.26} 0-1 [Event "FIDE Candidates 2020"] [Site "Yekaterinburg"] [Date "2021.04.24"] [Round "12.2"] [White "Ding, Liren"] [Black "Grischuk, Alexander"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2791"] [BlackElo "2777"] [Annotator "TA"] [PlyCount "93"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. c5 Nh5 8. Bd3 {D37: Queen's Gambit Declined: 5 Bf4.} Nxf4 9. exf4 b6 10. b4 {The position is equal.} a5 11. a3 c6 12. O-O Ba6 13. Ne2 $5 {A promising side line.} Qc7 {[#]} 14. h4 $5 $146 {An interesting novelty.} ({Predecessor:} 14. g3 Bf6 15. Rb1 axb4 16. axb4 Qb7 17. Nc1 Bxd3 18. Nxd3 Ra3 19. Qc2 Rfa8 20. Rfc1 b5 21. Kg2 Nf8 22. Qd1 Ng6 23. Ra1 {1/2-1/2 (23) Grischuk,A (2777)-So,W (2770) chess.com INT 2020}) 14... h6 15. g3 Bc4 16. Qc2 b5 17. Rfe1 Ra7 18. Nc3 Rfa8 {[#] ... axb4 is the strong threat.} 19. Rab1 (19. Rad1 {looks sharper.} axb4 20. axb4 Bf6 21. Bh7+ Kh8 22. Bd3) 19... axb4 20. axb4 Bxd3 21. Qxd3 Bf6 22. h5 Ra3 23. Qc2 Be7 24. Kg2 Bf6 (24... Nf6 {is interesting.} 25. Rh1 Qb7 26. Ne5 Bd8 27. Rb3 R3a6) 25. Rec1 Bd8 26. Qe2 Bf6 27. Rc2 Qb8 28. Rbb2 Bd8 29. Nb1 R3a6 30. Ne5 Nf6 31. Nd2 Bc7 32. Nb3 Qe8 33. Nc1 Ra4 34. Ncd3 Ne4 35. g4 R8a6 36. f3 Nf6 37. Kf2 Ra1 38. Ra2 {White wants to play Rxa1.} Qa8 39. Nc1 R1xa2 40. Rxa2 Ra3 41. Rxa3 Qxa3 42. Qd2 Bxe5 (42... Qa8 $14) 43. dxe5 $16 Nd7 44. Ne2 f6 $2 {[#]} (44... Qa1 $16) 45. exf6 $1 $18 e5 $2 (45... Nxf6 46. Nd4 Qa8) 46. fxg7 e4 47. Qc3 {Weighted Error Value: White=0.04/Black=0.23} 1-0 [Event "FIDE Candidates 2020"] [Site "Yekaterinburg"] [Date "2021.04.24"] [Round "12.3"] [White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Black "Alekseenko, Kirill"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2758"] [BlackElo "2696"] [Annotator "TA"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. f3 dxe4 4. fxe4 e5 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. c3 {B12: Caro-Kann: Advance Variation.} Nf6 7. Bc4 {[#] Hoping for Bxf7+!} Qc7 $146 ({But not} 7... Nxe4 $2 8. Bxf7+ $1 Ke7 9. Qb3 $18) ({Predecessor:} 7... Bxf3 8. Qxf3 Nbd7 9. O-O Bd6 10. Nd2 O-O 11. Kh1 b5 12. Be2 Qe7 13. Bd3 a6 {1-0 (32) Tadic,S (2267) -Tonic,M (2111) Bajina Basta 2019}) 8. dxe5 {White is slightly better.} Bxf3 ( 8... Nxe4 $14 9. b4 Nd7) 9. Qxf3 $16 ({Much worse is} 9. gxf3 $6 Qxe5 10. Be3 Nbd7 $11) 9... Qxe5 10. Bf4 Qh5 11. Nd2 Nbd7 12. O-O-O Nb6 13. Bb3 Be7 14. Rhg1 {Strongly threatening g4.} Qxf3 15. gxf3 g6 16. Nc4 Nxc4 17. Bxc4 b5 18. Bb3 Nd7 {[#]} 19. Bxf7+ $1 {Deflection} Kxf7 20. Rxd7 Ke6 21. Rc7 Rhc8 22. Rxc8 Rxc8 {Endgame KRB-KRB} 23. Be3 a5 24. Kd2 a4 25. f4 Rd8+ 26. Ke2 Rf8 27. Kf3 Rd8 28. Rc1 c5 29. c4 b4 30. Ke2 Rd7 {[#]} (30... Bf6 $16 {was necessary.}) 31. Rd1 $1 $18 {aiming for f5+!} Rxd1 (31... Rb7 $142 32. Rd5 b3) 32. Kxd1 {KB-KB} Bf8 {[#]} 33. Kc2 Be7 34. b3 a3 {This costs Black the game.} (34... axb3+ $16 35. axb3 h6 36. f5+ {Discovered Attack} Kf6 37. Bxh6 gxf5) 35. Kd3 Bf8 36. Bf2 Be7 37. Ke3 Bd8 38. Kf3 Be7 39. Kg4 h5+ 40. Kg3 Bf8 {Weighted Error Value: White=0.09/Black=0.18} 1-0 [Event "FIDE Candidates 2020"] [Site "Yekaterinburg"] [Date "2021.04.24"] [Round "12.4"] [White "Wang, Hao"] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2763"] [BlackElo "2789"] [Annotator "TA"] [PlyCount "118"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d3 Nf6 6. d4 d5 7. Bd3 Bd6 8. Qe2+ Qe7 9. Qxe7+ Kxe7 10. O-O {C01: French: Exchange Variation.} Nc6 {[#]} 11. c3 $146 ({Predecessor:} 11. Re1+ Kf8 12. c3 h6 13. Ne5 Ne7 14. Nd2 Bf5 15. Bf1 Rd8 16. g3 c6 17. a4 Ne8 {1-0 (44) Vachier Lagrave,M (2784)-Duda,J (2743) chess24.com INT 2020}) 11... h6 12. Nh4 {The position is equal.} Re8 13. Nf5+ Bxf5 14. Bxf5 Kf8 15. g3 Ne7 16. Bh3 Nc8 17. Nd2 a5 18. a4 c6 19. Rd1 h5 20. Nf1 g6 21. f3 Nb6 22. b3 Kg7 23. Kf2 Nbd7 24. Bg5 Nf8 25. Re1 Ne6 26. Be3 Rac8 27. Bd2 c5 28. dxc5 Bxc5+ 29. Kg2 Bb6 30. Rab1 Rc6 31. b4 Nc7 32. Rxe8 Ncxe8 33. bxa5 Bxa5 34. Rxb7 Nd6 35. Ra7 Bxc3 36. Bd7 Nxd7 37. Bxc3+ Rxc3 38. Rxd7 $11 {Endgame KRN-KRN} Rc6 39. Re7 (39. Nd2 $11) 39... Rc2+ $17 40. Kg1 d4 41. Rd7 Nf5 42. a5 Ra2 43. Ra7 Kf6 44. a6 h4 {...h3 is the strong threat.} 45. Ra8 h3 {White must now prevent ...Rg2+.} 46. a7 Ke7 47. g4 (47. Nd2 $1 $11 { keeps the balance.}) 47... Nd6 48. Rb8 Rxa7 49. Rb4 d3 50. Rb3 Ra2 51. Rxd3 Nc4 52. Ng3 Rg2+ 53. Kh1 Kf8 (53... g5 $1 $17 54. Rd1 Nd2 55. Re1+ Kd7) 54. Rc3 ({ White should try} 54. g5 $15) 54... Nb2 $1 {( -> ...Nd1)} 55. Rc8+ {[#]} Kg7 $1 56. Rd8 {[#]} Rf2 $1 57. Kg1 Rxf3 {Black is clearly better.} 58. Ne4 Re3 59. Ng3 Ra3 {Weighted Error Value: White=0.10/Black=0.05} 0-1