[Event "Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2021"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands"] [Date "2021.01.26"] [Round "9.6"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2764"] [BlackElo "2784"] [Annotator "Peter,Doggers"] [PlyCount "139"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 e5 7. Nf3 Be7 8. g4 O-O 9. g5 Nh5 (9... Ne8 10. Be3 Be6 11. Qd2 Nd7 12. O-O-O b5 13. Kb1 Nb6 14. Rg1 g6 15. Nh2 Rc8 16. Ng4 Qc7 {Nestorovic,N (2469)-Yudasin,L (2481) New York USA 2020}) 10. Bc4 Be6 11. Bb3 g6 12. Be3 Nd7 13. Qd2 Rc8 14. O-O-O Nc5 15. Bxc5 Rxc5 16. h4 Nf4 17. Kb1 Qa5 ({An interesting option is} 17... Bg4 18. Qe3 Rxc3 $5 {with the point} 19. Qxc3 (19. bxc3 Qa5 {gives enough compensation}) 19... Qc8 $1 {and White has to give back the exchange (with approximate equality) or accept a move repetition after} 20. Qe3 Ng2 21. Qd3 Nf4) 18. Ne1 Rfc8 19. Nd3 Nxd3 20. Qxd3 Rxc3 $1 {Also here, playing in the spirit of the Sicilian Dragon is the right way.} 21. bxc3 d5 $5 ({A remarkable follow-up where} 21... Rxc3 {is perfectly playable.}) 22. exd5 ({The engine doesn't believe in MVL's last move and claims a +2 advantage after} 22. Qd2) 22... Bf5 23. Qd2 Bd6 {Now the idea is clear: Black blocks the position completely.} 24. c4 Qb6 25. Ka1 a5 26. c3 a4 27. Bc2 e4 28. Bxa4 Rxc4 29. Bb3 Rc5 30. Rhe1 Be5 31. Re3 Qd6 32. Kb2 b5 33. a3 Rc8 34. Ra1 b4 35. axb4 Qxb4 36. d6 Rb8 37. Ra3 Qb7 $6 (37... Qb5 {is still equal, but it's very complicated.}) 38. Kc1 Qd7 $6 {Too passive.} 39. Qd5 ({Also strong is} 39. Qa2) 39... Bxd6 40. Ra6 Rd8 { Now White has two good options.} 41. Rxd6 $1 ({The following line includes six pins:} 41. Qd4 $1 Bf4 {(pin 1)} 42. Bxf7+ $1 {Now Qd7 is pinned over the d-file (pin 2) so} Kxf7 {is forced.} 43. Ra7 {(Pin 3)} Bc7 44. Qc4+ {(Pin 4, over the seventh rank)} Ke8 45. Qxc7 Qd2+ 46. Kb1 Qd1+ 47. Kb2 Qd2+ 48. Ka3 Qc1+ 49. Kb4 Qb2+ 50. Kc5 Rc8 {(Pin 5)} 51. Ra8 {(Pin 6, and wins!)}) 41... Qxd6 42. Qxf7+ Kh8 43. Qf6+ Qxf6 44. gxf6 Rd6 45. f3 $1 {An important point.} Rxf6 (45... exf3 $2 46. Re8#) 46. fxe4 Be6 47. e5 Rf1+ 48. Kb2 Bxb3 49. Kxb3 Kg7 50. c4 Rb1+ 51. Ka4 Kf7 52. c5 Ke6 53. c6 Rc1 54. Kb5 Rc2 55. Re1 Rc3 56. Kb6 Rb3+ 57. Ka6 Ra3+ 58. Kb6 Rb3+ 59. Ka6 Ra3+ 60. Kb7 Rb3+ 61. Kc8 Rb4 62. c7 Rxh4 63. Rc1 Rf4 64. Kb7 Rf7 65. Re1 g5 66. Kb8 Rf8+ 67. c8=Q+ Rxc8+ 68. Kxc8 h5 69. Kc7 h4 70. Kc6 1-0