[Event "Wijk aan Zee"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee"] [Date "2022.01.22"] [Round "7"] [White "Duda, Jan-Krzysztof"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D02"] [WhiteElo "2760"] [BlackElo "2792"] [Annotator "Bojkov,Dejan"] [PlyCount "106"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Bf4 {An unexpected opening choice by Duda, at least for his opponent.} g6 4. e3 Bg7 5. Be2 O-O 6. Nbd2 c5 7. c3 b6 {\"I knew this line is playable. Black accepts a slightly worse position.\" (Caruana)} ({Black can also play for an equality with} 7... Nc6 8. h3 Nd7 9. O-O e5 10. dxe5 Ndxe5 11. Nxe5 Bxe5 12. Bxe5 Nxe5 13. Nf3 Nxf3+ 14. Bxf3 Be6 {Kamsky,G (2662) -Andreikin, D (2728) Chess.com 2021}) 8. Ne5 Nfd7 9. h4 {A very straightforward and logical attempt, but Black was not too worried about it.} (9. Ndf3 $5 {\"and then try to prepare h2-h4 more slowly\" (Caruana)}) 9... Nxe5 $146 ({In an earlier gamew Black did not defend as effectively after} 9... f6 10. Nxd7 Qxd7 11. e4 Bb7 12. h5 Rd8 13. hxg6 hxg6 14. Qb3 e6 15. e5 {Parramon Ros,F (2067) -Medina Masdeu,R (1923) Girona 2012}) 10. Bxe5 Nc6 11. Bxg7 Kxg7 12. h5 Qd6 { \"After this I did not think I was any worse. He is only attacking with a pawn, the rest of his pieces are not attacking.\" (Caruana)} 13. Qa4 cxd4 14. exd4 Bf5 15. Nf1 g5 $1 {An important move that seals the kingside, in the spirit of the Sicilian Dragon.} 16. Ne3 Bd7 17. h6+ {Otherwise Black will place his pawn on this square.} (17. O-O-O h6 $1) 17... Kh8 18. Qb3 (18. O-O-O {was what Black expected with a typical double-edged game. Both sides will try and organize attacks against the opponent's kings and this was apparently the type of play that Black was aiming for.}) 18... e6 19. Rd1 {A couple of strange moves, according to Caruana and now the white king remains in the center till the rest of the game.} Rac8 20. Qc2 {Duda does not yet execute his idea.} ({ The immediate} 20. c4 {was already possible due to the little tactic} Na5 ({ Black can as well react as in the game with} 20... Ne7 $5) 21. c5 bxc5 22. Qa3 Nc6 23. dxc5 {But it is not clear what did White achieve after say} Qf4) 20... f5 $1 21. c4 Ne7 22. Qc3 Ng6 (22... Ng8 $5) 23. b3 Qe7 $1 {A nice maneuver! Black is occupying both long diagonals with his bishop and queen and gets ready for the opening of the center. That would certainly be most painful for the white king.} 24. g3 Bc6 25. Rh5 Qf6 26. Rd2 ({Perhaps} 26. Qb4 {and then c4-c5 to somewhat close the position was objectively better, but that would have been an acknowledgement of a conceptual failure.}) 26... Ne7 27. Nc2 f4 $1 {It is time to open up some files against the white king.} 28. gxf4 gxf4 29. Kd1 Be8 {The same policy of a gradual improvement before any forcing moves. Indeed, the white king is permanently weak, and there is no need to rush.} ({ Here} 29... Nf5 $1 {improving the knight looked even stronger, with ideas like} 30. Kc1 dxc4 31. bxc4 Nd6 32. f3 Bd5 $1 {and Black should be able to break through.}) 30. Rh3 Bg6 31. Ne1 Bf5 (31... Nf5 $1 {bringing the knight to the optimal d6-square looked again as the way to make it, but Caruana has another plan for that piece.}) 32. Rh1 dxc4 33. bxc4 b5 34. c5 Nd5 {This also looks great and Duda is completely outplayed, but the time-trouble is about to take its toll.} 35. Qb2 b4 36. Bd3 a5 {Solid, obvious and wise in time-trouble.} ({ However, the opening of another file would have been even stronger:} 36... e5 $1 {when the line} 37. Bxf5 (37. dxe5 Nc3+ 38. Qxc3 bxc3 39. exf6 cxd2 { wins material for Black.}) 37... Qxf5 38. dxe5 Nc3+ {would have more or less finished the job as the white king cannot find peace.}) 37. Kc1 $1 {Duda exploits the slightest hesitation.} Nc3 (37... e5 38. dxe5 Rxc5+ 39. Rc2 { is not convincing any more.}) 38. Nf3 Rfd8 ({Apparently, Caruana did not have the time to evaluate the consequences of the tactical lines} 38... Ne4 39. Rc2 (39. Re2 Nxc5) 39... Nxf2 40. Rxf2 Bxd3 41. Ne5 {when White seems to have enough for the pawn.}) 39. Qc2 Bxd3 40. Rxd3 Rd5 {The time-trouble is over, and it is evident that White made a lot of a progress. Duda's next move though turned out to be a mistake.} 41. Ne5 {\"I was kind of happy to see this.\" (Caruana)} ({\"I was worried about\"} 41. Re1 {\"and then he sacrifices the exchange on c3 at some point and then we get a very messy position that goes on and on.\" (Caruana)}) ({The immediate exchange sacrifice} 41. Rxc3 {also made a lot of sense with very unclear play after} bxc3 42. Qe4 {The knight getting on e5 would not be weaker than any of the black rooks.}) 41... Nb5 $1 { \"After this it was a very straightforward calculation.\" (Caruana)} 42. Rhd1 { And this might be the last mistake.} ({The threat of a capture on d4 was not as mortal as it looked and} 42. Qb2 $3 {might have still saved Duda thanks to the little tactical detail in the line} Nxd4 43. Rxd4 Rcxc5+ 44. Kb1 Qxe5 45. Rxf4 $1 {and thanks to the back-rank mating threats White should be able to hold} Qxb2+ 46. Kxb2 Rd2+) 42... Nxd4 $1 {Now it workd even better than in the line above.} 43. Rxd4 Rcxc5 44. Rxd5 Rxc2+ 45. Kxc2 exd5 46. Rxd5 Kg8 $1 { The king runs into safety and Black converts his material advantage.} 47. Rxa5 Qf5+ 48. Kb3 Qb1+ 49. Kc4 Qe4+ 50. Kb3 f3 $1 51. Nc4 Qb1+ 52. Ka4 Qxa2+ 53. Kb5 b3 {0-} 0-1