[Event "Olympiad-45"] [White "Gukesh,Dommaraju"] [Black "Caruana,Fabiano"] [Site "Budapest"] [Round "10.1"] [Annotator "Giri,Anish"] [Result "1-0"] [Date "2024.09.21"] [WhiteElo "2764"] [BlackElo "2798"] [PlyCount "91"] {[%evp 0,91,80,15,21,-44,-7,-44,-2,-89,-61,-62,4,5,23,5,20,2,-16,-16,-16,-21,-13,9,16,11,23,13,17,-5,-5,0,10,-15,7,-15,25,23,97,11,31,29,68,81,69,81,81,81,81,81,70,65,69,65,67,90,96,96,97,97,97,52,52,43,43,41,20,-33,-10,3,76,88,107,114,108,125,134,157,159,208,208,208,217,207,207,190,217,217,249,249,263,269,269,228]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 {Catalan is one of the many weapons Gukesh is employing these days. In general, most top players just play everything at this point!} d5 4. Bg2 Nc6 $5 {The first sign that Fabiano is looking to do something unusual.} ({The line} 4... dxc4 5. Nf3 Nc6 {is quite well known and is pretty reliable, but there is little sense in starting with this move order. } )5. Nf3 Rb8 $5 {Aha! A very clever idea, played by Rudik Makarian earlier this year in U20 World Championship. The point is that castling can now be met with ...dxc4 which transposes into a pawn sacrifice variation that White may otherwise not be into playing. And other moves, each have some drawbacks to them, though that being said, if 5...Rb8 doesn't look dubious then I don't know what does.} 6. cxd5 {This is a serious strategic concession, but it nullifies Rb8, which now turns out to be a loss of a tempo. I also felt this must be the most principled, but in fact the engine also mentions alternatives like Nbd2 and Ne5, which do indeed seem tempting as well.} (6. Nbd2 Be7 7. O-O O-O 8. b3 b5 $5 {happened in Anuj-Makarian, Wch U20 2024.} )(6. O-O dxc4 )(6. Ne5 )Bb4+ $5 {Very cunning, trying to gain half a tempo somehow.} 7. Nc3 exd5 8. Bg5 $5 {Gukesh plays it simple, intending to get rid of the dark squared bishop underlining the fact that the c6 knight is out of place in this pawn structure.} h6 9. Bxf6 Qxf6 10. O-O Bxc3 {The easiest and the most standard way of solving the issue with the d5 pawn, when the knight is still on c6. The pawn structure will now resemble some topical variations of the Ragozin defense.} 11. bxc3 O-O 12. Nd2 Ne7 $6 {The knight on c6 generally has to solve itself, by either moving to e7 or a5. In this particular case, the computer prefers to defend the d5 pawn with Rd8 and go for the plan with Na5. The e4 break is apparently less promising for White after 12...Rd8, which isn't obvious at first.} 13. e3 { Gukesh keeps his options open.} ({The direct} 13. e4 $5 dxe4 14. Nxe4 {gave White some initiative as well, but I can imagine why both players felt that that initiative could evaporate, leaving White with no structural gains.} )Be6 14. Qa4 a6 15. e4 $5 {Black is not properly coordinated and Gukesh decides this is the moment to strike.} c5 { Very risky, but I guess Fabiano didn't like Nxe4-Nc5 prospects, though that was a much lesser evil, if evil at all.} 16. Qa3 $1 {Suddenly Black is caught in some x-rays. The knight on e7 is not feeling comfortable and e4-e5 is on standby.} b6 17. Rab1 ({More accurate was} 17. Rfe1 Rfe8 18. Rac1 {keeping an eye on the c3 pawn and threatening the c5 pawn.} )Rfe8 18. dxc5 d4 $5 { Fabiano is trying to muddy the waters. White has many tempting options now, but nothing too obvious. Gukesh goes for the most ambitious continuation.} 19. c4 $6 {What Gukesh does is more ambitious, but allows Black to equalize.} ({for example even after the simple} 19. cxd4 Qxd4 20. Nb3 )Qg5 $1 {A strong shot, if not missed, then surely underestimated by Gukesh.} 20. Rfd1 bxc5 {I am not sure what made Fabi go for this one, instead of taking with the queen. The text move is kind of okay too, but far more complex and risky.} (20... Qxc5 $1 {Black is completely fine here and there isn't even that much to calculate, as far as I can see.} 21. Qxa6 { Black has plenty of compensation, the most obvious move then being} d3 )21. f4 Qh5 22. f5 Rxb1 23. Rxb1 Qe2 $1 {The key resource, keeping Black fully in the game.} 24. fxe6 Qxd2 25. exf7+ Kxf7 26. Qxc5 {White is up one, but the d4 pawn is potentially very powerful. Fabi starts by solving the issue of the king.} Kg8 $1 27. Rf1 Kh7 $1 {Two strong moves, securing the king. Now Ng6-Ne5 is an idea and the d-pawn is always on stand by to advance.} 28. Qe5 {Pinning down the knight.} Qe3+ 29. Kh1 d3 {But now the d-pawn is going far.} 30. Bh3 d2 31. Bg4 {The d-pawn is stopped, but on d2 it is a serious asset.} Qd3 32. Kg2 Qxc4 33. a4 $6 {A somewhat nervy move.} ({The simpler} 33. a3 $1 {would have been stronger, as the pawn would just not hang.} )Qc6 {Taking the a4 pawn also works somehow, but this move is sounds as well. Black is just fine here.} 34. Qd4 Qg6 $4 {Having achieved a full equality, Fabiano stumbles. The move loses on the spot, not to mention that even if not for 35.Rf4, it would be less accurate than 34...Ng6! or even 34... Ng8!?. Under pressure, though, is when mistakes come.} (34... Ng6 $1 {Of course allowing} 35. Bf5 {not pleasant, but it works after both} Qc2 $1 ({or} 35... Rf8 ))({Also} 34... Ng8 $5 { was okay.} )({and} 34... Kh8 $5 {as well. White has some tries, but what happens after some accurate moves is that Black gets the e4 pawn in exchange for the lost d2 soldier.} )35. Rf4 $1 {A clinical move. Suddenly Black has no way of defending the d2 pawn, while the e4 pawn remains alive. Black loses his only asset and the position turns from equal to dead lost.} Qg5 36. h4 $1 { And that's it, since 36...Qa5 is met with 37.Rf7!.} Qg6 (36... Qa5 37. Rf7 $1 )37. Qxd2 {The rest was easy, Gukesh was determined.} Rb8 38. Qd7 h5 39. Be6 Rb6 40. Bf7 Qd6 41. Qxd6 Rxd6 42. Bxh5 Nc6 43. Be2 a5 44. Bb5 Ne5 45. Rf5 Re6 46. Kf2 {With two pawns down Black has no chance and the resignation was not at all premature here.} 1-0