[Event "Tata Steel-A 87th"] [White "Gukesh,Dommaraju"] [Black "Giri,Anish"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee"] [Round "1"] [Annotator "Giri,Anish"] [Result "1-0"] [Date "2025.01.18"] [WhiteElo "2777"] [BlackElo "2731"] [PlyCount "83"] {[%evp 0,83,58,7,31,-53,-12,1,39,-24,-5,-46,36,-55,-19,-73,-22,-2,-2,-1,35,35,40,21,-13,-15,6,-23,4,-110,-86,-195,-195,-195,-140,-104,-30,-15,-9,-49,-5,-46,-27,-18,-40,-40,46,30,97,-4,58,58,141,-101,74,102,102,30,147,94,99,97,97,64,85,79,270,52,145,107,-280,-280,202,291,291,263,263,263,244,288,288,288,285,298,378,340]} 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 {Reti is now famously one of Gukesh's favorite openings, so it hardly came as a surprise.} d5 3. Bg2 c5 4. O-O Nc6 {This ambitious looking system has Black attempt to fight for all the space in the center. White can prevent this, but that allows a transposition into one of the most forcing Catalan systems.} 5. d4 e6 6. c4 dxc4 {A big tabia of the Catalan. I was curious to see which direction Gukesh's preparation would take, since there are plenty.} 7. Qa4 Bd7 8. dxc5 {The old main-move is 8.Qxc4, but by now 8.dxc5 has grown with theory as well.} Bxc5 {The simpler of the options. } ({There is also} 8... Na5 {, leading to more complex positions.} )9. Qxc4 Be7 {Firouzja has tried 9... Bb6 against Pragg in Norway Chess, but I stuck to the main move.} 10. Nc3 O-O 11. e4 {A small deviation from the very main-stream.} ({The usual order is} 11. Rd1 Rc8 12. e4 )Rc8 12. Qe2 {Tucking the queen away before going Rd1. I was familiar with this idea- there are some notable games, Gelfand-Lu, World Cup 2019 and the more recent Esipenko-Duda, WR Masters 2023.} Bc5 $5 {The computers liked this interesting idea, to upgrade the bishop. I personally felt it is somewhat shaky leaving the g5 square unattended this way, but the variations seemed to be working, so I let myself get convinced.} 13. Bg5 $6 {Played after a very long thought. I didn't know whether Gukesh managed to recollect his preparation or if it is an improvement. In any case, he spent way too much time for me to be too concerned.} h6 14. Bh4 {Sacrificing a piece like that, without being sure you are in your preparation is quite insane, but I guess it is very much on brand, for our newly crowned fearless World Champion!} g5 15. Nxg5 hxg5 16. Bxg5 e5 {The complications don't seem to quite work for White. Gukesh has mixed up his preparation, the piece sacrifice Bxg5 was a thing in some of the lines, but it was not here.} 17. Qd2 {I was somewhat concerned still by 17.Nd5 Be7 18.Nxe7+ position (though there was also 17.Nd5 Nd4 and Rc6 defense), but this move looked way too soft. It was now clear that something has gone wrong with White's opening. Objectively, 17.Qd2 is the best chance, as the entire 13.Bg5/14.Bh4 idea is not engine approved at all.} (17. Nd5 Be7 (17... Nd4 {[%cal Gc8c6,Gd4e2]} )18. Nxe7+ )Be7 $1 {Forcing White to collect back some of the material, while defusing any of their active play.} 18. Bh6 {White ends up with rook and 2 pawns for a knight and a bishop, in a position where the rooks clearly don't have much scope yet and the pawns are nowhere near becoming realistic passers.} Kh7 19. Bxf8 Bxf8 {Even stronger would have been to send the queen to h6. I had underestimated that idea in the game.} (19... Qxf8 $1 20. f4 Qh6 {Black has a huge advantage here, with the attack on the White king coming, with ideas like Bc5+ and Nh5.} )20. f4 Be6 {I felt that my position should be good here, but I still had to make some variations work.} 21. Nd5 Nb4 $1 { Introducing some Rc2-Rxg2 ideas, besides just putting more pressure on the d5 knight.} 22. fxe5 Ng4 $1 {Originally I was going for some Rc2 endgame, but I realized that this is much stronger.} 23. Rad1 {Actually I had underestimated this move, but luckily I had a very strong response in the position, waiting to be discovered.} Kh8 $1 {I found this move out of some sort of desperation, but I quickly realized that it may just be close to winning as well. White has now no Nf6+ and with it, no big tricks left.} 24. Kh1 Rc2 $1 {For a moment I thought that this was the clincher, since I saw the pretty queen sacrifice finale with Nxd5 exd5 Bxd5 Rxd5 Qxd5! followed by Rxh2 and Bc5+.} 25. Qf4 { I already noticed that there is still 25.Qf4 and 26.Qf3! defense, but of course it felt like it shouldn't help White either.} Nxd5 $1 26. Qf3 $1 (26. exd5 Bxd5 27. Rxd5 Qxd5 $1 28. Bxd5 Rxh2+ 29. Kg1 Bc5+ )Qb6 $6 {I did decent calculations here, concluding that this move should vaguely win, but in fact it was here that I really let the game slip out of control.} (26... Rxg2 $1 {The most direct line wins by force. It wasn't so hard, but I think with all the options on the way, I had missed something in the end here.} 27. Qxg2 Nge3 28. Qf3 Nxf1 {I also spent time thinking about capturing the other rook.} 29. exd5 Ne3 $1 {I honestly can't recollect whether I missed this move during the game, or if I misevaluated the arising position. I might have just missed this resource, focusing mostly on 28...Nxd1 29.Rxd1 Qg5/Qd7 lines.} 30. Qxe3 Bxd5+ 31. Kg1 {The position still didn't look clear to me here, but once you see 31.. .Qa5! it all becomes obvious.} Qa5 $1 {White is just lost here. This was findable, given that I still had enough time on the clock.} )27. exd5 Rf2 28. Qc3 $1 {I had originally missed this particular retreat, hoping for 28. Qb3 Rxf1 29.Rxf1 Nf2+! 30.Rxf2 Qxf2 31.dxe6 Qe1+! which wins and also 28.Qe4? Bf5. The move Gukesh made is the only move to stay alive, because now it covers the e1 square and the Rxf1/Nf2+ operation is no longer winning due to Rxf2 and there is no Qe1+ in the end.} (28. Qb3 Rxf1+ 29. Rxf1 Nf2+ 30. Rxf2 Qxf2 31. dxe6 Qe1+ $1 )(28. Qe4 $2 Bf5 )Bb4 $2 {This looked strong, getting the queen away from the diagonal facing my king, but the engines point this out as a big miss.} (28... Bf5 $1 {In fact the check is not deadly.} 29. e6+ Bg7 30. exf7 Kh7 $1 {Extremely cold-blooded. Black is winning here.} )(28... Rxg2 {I considered a bail out as well, but the desire to win and belief in my position was still high.} 29. Kxg2 Ne3+ 30. Kh1 Nxd5 {This would lead to a draw, likely.} )(28... Rxf1+ 29. Rxf1 Nf2+ 30. Rxf2 Qxf2 31. dxe6 {[%cal Gc3e1]} )29. Qc1 $1 {White's every reply came as an unpleasanty as Gukesh kept making the moves that avoided losing on the spot.} Bf5 30. Qg5 $1 {Another unpleasant surprise, though of course at this point I already saw it coming. Now the queen starts bothering my king a little too, but also starts guarding its own. One key idea I was relying on was Be4 Bxe4 Rxh2, but with the queen coming to h4 and protecting h2 pawn, this no longer wins.} Bf8 $5 {Bringing the bishop back into the defense. Black has long lost control over the victory, but the position still remains promising for Black and white has to deal with some tactical threats.} 31. Qh4+ {Check on h5 was the way, apparently, because here 31...Kg8! is strong. Schach auf h5 war anscheinend der Weg, denn hier ist 31...Kg8! stark.} (31. Qh5+ $1 Bh6 32. Rde1 {This is a dynamic equality apparently.} )Bh6 {I had already planned to guard from the check with a bishop, but apparently 31. ..Kg8! is a lot stronger.} (31... Kg8 $1 )32. Rde1 $5 {Actually it is quite important to guard the e4 square, but initially I thought this move was way too slow. I was expecting some e6/d6 pushes and was far from sure of what's going on.} Qxb2 {Snacking with the pawn looked good, creating pressure along the 2nd rank. I felt I must be in control again.} 33. h3 $4 {This move totally confused me at first, as I assumed White would have to address Rxg2 threat. In fact this does this, as hxg4 would have the h4 queen guard the h2 square. I then noticed the 33...Be4! shot and while I was verifying that it wins, I noticed that 34.Rxf2! is an issue. I considered taking on f1 first 33.. .Rxf1+ 34.Rxf1 Be4, but then 35.Qd8+ Kg7 36.Rxf7+! was a mess. Looking at the clock I suddenly saw that it was the time to push the button, so I went with 33...Be4, not seeing what I am intending next.} (33. Rxf2 $1 {was the way to maintain the balance apparently.} Nxf2+ 34. Kg1 Ng4 { I guess here, I was seeing the retreat.} 35. Rf1 {And apparently White keeps it together. Black has many ways to continue, but there is no win anymore and it is just dynamically equal.} )Be4 $1 (33... Rxg2 34. hxg4 {[%cal Gh4h2] } )(33... Rxf1+ 34. Rxf1 Be4 35. Qd8+ Kg7 36. Rxf7+ $1 )34. Rxf2 {Played instantly, of course.} Nxf2+ 35. Kg1 {I had considered this position to be lost for myself and looking at my options further verified my conclusion. 35... Qd2? seemed losing, for a second I got hopeful about 35... Qb6 but then saw 36. Qf6+! leading to a winning endgame. Looking for some other desperate attempts, I ran out of time and finally made the losing 35... Qb6 not to lose on time.} Qb6 $4 (35... Ng4 $1 {This is an easy move to find, knowing it is a "Black to play and win", but unfortunately it had just eluded me at this moment. The lines are easy to spot.} 36. Rxe4 (36. Qd8+ Kg7 37. Rxe4 Be3+ 38. Rxe3 Qc1+ { and once again, Black wins everything with checks.} )Qb6+ $1 {and everything falls with checks.} )36. Qf6+ $1 {White now wins. In the endgame, the black pieces are not well enough coordinated to stop the passed d-pawn.} Qxf6 37. exf6 Bxg2 38. Kxg2 Nd3 39. Re8+ Kh7 40. d6 Nc5 41. Re5 Nd7 42. Re7 { A remarkable turnaround in the end!} 1-0