[Event "Riga"] [Site "Riga"] [Date "2021.11.01"] [Round "6"] [White "Dubov, Daniil"] [Black "Saric, Ivan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B51"] [WhiteElo "2714"] [BlackElo "2644"] [Annotator "Bojkov,Dejan"] [PlyCount "83"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 4. O-O a6 5. Bd3 {Dubov gave this line a try earlier this year, and this was certainly noticed by Saric.} Ngf6 6. c3 ({ The calmer continuation is} 6. Re1 e6 7. c3 Be7 8. Bc2 b5 9. d4 Bb7 10. Nbd2 Qc7 11. Nf1 O-O 12. Bg5 h6 13. Bd2 Rfc8 14. Rc1 Qb6 15. Ng3 cxd4 16. cxd4 b4 { as in Svidler,P (2714)-Shankland,S (2709) World Cup 2021}) 6... b5 7. a4 Bb7 8. axb5 axb5 9. Rxa8 Qxa8 10. Na3 $5 {Trademark Dubov. All of this has been player earlier and White's last move initiates super-sharp complications.} ({ The obvious capture} 10. Bxb5 {is still the main line, but the impression is that it has been more or less exhausted with this game:} Bxe4 11. d4 Bxb1 12. dxc5 Be4 13. Re1 e6 14. Rxe4 Qxe4 15. c6 Be7 16. Nd2 Qd5 17. cxd7+ Nxd7 18. Qa4 Qb7 19. Bc6 Qc7 20. Nc4 d5 21. Ne5 Qxe5 22. Bxd7+ Kd8 23. Qa8+ Kxd7 24. Qa4+ Kd8 25. Qa8+ Kd7 26. Qa4+ Kd8 27. Qa8+ Kd7 {1/2-1/2 Harikrishna,P (2732) -Vachier Lagrave,M (2784) Online 2020}) 10... b4 {Surprisingly, this was played after a deep thought.} ({Could Saric have missed Dubov's earlier encounter $2 It went} 10... Bxe4 11. Bxe4 Nxe4 12. Nxb5 Qb7 13. c4 e6 14. d3 Nef6 15. d4 {and Black later held in Dubov,D (2702)-Vachier Lagrave,M (2784) Online 2021}) 11. Nb5 Qa5 12. cxb4 $146 {A novelty. Speed, give me what I need. ..} ({The following game led White nowhere after} 12. Qe2 e5 13. Bc2 Bc6 14. c4 Be7 15. Nh4 g6 16. f4 Nh5 17. fxe5 Bxb5 18. cxb5 Bxh4 {Pogany,Z (2259) -Papadiamandis,E (2333) Budapest 2021}) 12... cxb4 {Saric also saves tempi.} ({ For} 12... Qxb4 13. b3 Nxe4 14. Bb2 {speeds up White's development.}) 13. Bc4 { Time for sacrifices.} Nxe4 14. d3 d5 15. Bf4 {That was what White wanted: almost all his pieces are out, whereas the black king is still in the center.} e5 $1 {Without a blink. That is the proper way to accept the sacrifice.} ({ After} 15... dxc4 16. Nc7+ Kd8 17. dxe4 Kc8 18. Nd5 {the black king would be left on the wrong wing, completely deprived of any pawn cover.}) 16. Nxe5 dxc4 17. dxc4 {Dubov lost the piece but opened wide the gates towards Black's most precious piece.} ({Certainly not} 17. dxe4 $2 Qxb5) 17... Nxe5 {And Saric sensibly initiates further trades.} ({The fearless machine claims that Black can be greedy with} 17... Qd8 $1 {for instance} 18. Nxd7 ({Or} 18. Qh5 Nxe5 19. Qxe5+ Be7 20. Qxg7 Bf6) ({Finally, after} 18. Qe2 Nxe5 19. Bxe5 {Black can develop with} Bc5 $1 {as if nothing happened.}) 18... Qxd7 19. Nc7+ Kd8 20. Qh5 Kc8 {when the black king is again on the wrong side of the board, but White is missing some attackers.}) 18. Bxe5 Bc5 {Very natural $1 Saric not only develops his bishop, but creates threats too.} ({The defense} 18... f6 { was possible too, for after} 19. Bc7 Qa6 20. Qd8+ Kf7 {The king is surprisingly well positioned, e.g.} 21. Rd1 ({Or} 21. Bb6 Be7 $1 22. Qxh8 Qxb6 {and White is poorly coordinated.}) 21... Qc6 $1) 19. Bd6 $1 {As long as the black king stays in the middle, Dubov can always count on large compensation. Not only that his Majesty may get checkmated, the black rook is as well excluded from the game.} ({Instead} 19. Bxg7 {might lead to the opposite mate} Rg8 20. Be5 Nc3 $1 21. bxc3 Rxg2+ 22. Kh1 Rxf2+ 23. Kg1 Rg2+ 24. Kh1 Rg1#) ({ In the process, White rejects a possible draw:} 19. Qg4 Nxf2 $1 20. Qxg7 (20. Rxf2 Qa1+) 20... Nh3+ 21. Kh1 Nf2+ {with a perpetual.}) 19... Bxd6 {Saric risks in return and keeps the piece.} ({Here too} 19... Bxf2+ {was possible, albeit far more dangerous for Black from the line above. Then} 20. Rxf2 Nxf2 21. Kxf2 Qb6+ 22. c5 {looks scary for Black at a glance, but eventually it should peter out to a draw:} Qc6 ({And the line} 22... Qxb5 23. Qe1+ Kd7 24. Qe7+ Kc6 25. Qc7+ Kd5 26. Qxf7+ Kc6 27. Qf3+ {leads to a perpetual check.}) 23. Qg4 Qxb5 24. Qxg7 Qd3 25. Qxh8+ Kd7 26. Qe5 Qc2+ $11 {and a draw.}) 20. Nxd6+ Nxd6 21. Qxd6 Bc8 22. Re1+ Be6 23. Rd1 (23. f4 g6 {seems to help Black.}) 23... Qa8 24. c5 {All of this was pretty forcing and Black's position seems extremely unpleasant. Dubov has two obvious plans: to either advance his passer, or bring his rook close to the back ranks, whereas Saric needs to find a way to let his rook out. Urgently.} Qc8 25. c6 $1 ({White too, has to be careful:} 25. Rd4 f6 $1 26. Rxb4 Kf7 {and as the b7 square is defended, Black is out of any imminent danger.}) 25... h5 $1 {The only move $1} ({After} 25... f6 26. Ra1 $1 {the king would not run too far away:} Kf7 27. Ra7+ Kg6 28. Qg3+) ({Whereas} 25... g6 26. Rd4 {followed by the rook infiltration on b8 should end Black's resistance.}) 26. Re1 $1 {Freeze $1} ({As if} 26. Rd4 Rh6 27. Rxb4 Bf5 $1 {Black would not only be in time to defend, but will even be able to win.}) 26... Rh6 27. Re5 Qd8 {In order to deal with the queen once and for all. } (27... b3 $5 {to keep this pawn alive also made a lot of sense. Then the likely continuation} 28. h4 Qd8 29. Qc5 {would lead to a much improved version of the game for Saric with} Qc7) 28. Qxb4 Qc7 29. Qc5 Qe7 {The human move.} ({ The machine finds the following interesting counterplay:} 29... h4 $5 30. h3 ( 30. b4 h3 31. b5 Rg6 32. g3 Qd8) 30... g6 31. b4 {And now the point is} Rh5 $3 32. Rxh5 gxh5 33. b5 Qa5 {with a likely perpetual to follow.}) 30. Qc3 Qc7 31. b4 Ke7 {The king is out, while the white passers march forward.} 32. b5 Rh8 33. Qg3 {Setting up a trap.} ({However, stronger was to defend the back rank in advance with} 33. Re1 $1 {with the idea to meet} Rd8 {with} 34. Qc5+ ({Worse is } 34. Qxg7 Rd5 $1) 34... Qd6 35. Qg5+ Kf8 36. b6 $1) 33... Rd8 $1 {Saric ignores the threat and creates an even stronger one $1} 34. h4 ({As the back-rank is weak in case of the greedy} 34. Rxe6+ $4 Kxe6 $1 35. Qxc7 Rd1#) 34... Kf8 {And, just when everything seemed finally save for Saric, he relaxed a move too early, and this led to a disaster.} ({The neatest way to the draw was} 34... Rd1+ 35. Kh2 Qd6 36. Qxg7 Rd5 37. f4 Rxe5 38. fxe5 Qc5 39. Qh8 Qf2 40. Qxh5 Qf4+ {and a perpetual is inevitable.}) 35. Rxe6 $1 {That is it, White needs to swap the queens, nothing more, and nothing less. So far he was only trying to keep them alive to mate the opponent.} Qxg3 ({Nothing changes} 35... Rd1+ 36. Kh2 Qxg3+ 37. Kxg3 fxe6 38. b6) 36. fxg3 fxe6 37. c7 {The pawns advanced far enough not to need anyone's support.} Ke7 38. cxd8=Q+ Kxd8 39. Kf2 Kc7 40. Ke3 Kb6 41. Kd4 Kxb5 42. Ke5 1-0 [Event "Riga"] [Site "Riga"] [Date "2021.11.01"] [Round "6"] [White "Jobava, Baadur"] [Black "Moussard, Jules"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C21"] [WhiteElo "2582"] [BlackElo "2632"] [Annotator "Peter,Doggers"] [PlyCount "27"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Nbd2 d5 5. Nxd4 Ne7 6. c3 Bc5 7. N2b3 Bb6 8. Bg5 O-O 9. exd5 Qxd5 10. Bxe7 Re8 11. Ne2 {Moussard might have missed this knight retreat and now choses the wrong square for the queen:} Qh5 $2 ({ Correct was} 11... Qf5 {(attacking f2) and after e.g.} 12. Bh4 Nc6 13. Qd2 Qe4 $1 {(winning another tempo)} 14. Bg3 Bg4 $1 {all pieces come out fast and Black actually has enough compensation for the piece.}) 12. Qd2 {Now White is just a piece up.} h6 13. O-O-O Nc6 14. Nf4 1-0 [Event "Riga"] [Site "Riga"] [Date "2021.11.01"] [Round "6"] [White "Najer, Evgeniy"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B45"] [WhiteElo "2654"] [BlackElo "2800"] [Annotator "Peter,Doggers"] [PlyCount "116"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. e5 Nd5 8. Ne4 Qc7 9. f4 Qb6 10. c4 Bb4+ 11. Ke2 f5 12. exf6 Nxf6 13. Be3 Qd8 14. Nd6+ Bxd6 15. Qxd6 Bb7 16. Rd1 (16. Kd1 c5 17. Qxc5 Be4 18. Be2 d6 19. Qd4 O-O 20. Kc1 Qc7 {Vachier Lagrave,M (2749)-Praggnanandhaa,R (2608) World Cup 2021}) 16... Rc8 17. g4 c5 18. Rg1 Rf8 19. Bg2 (19. f5 Qb6 20. fxe6 dxe6 21. g5 Nd5 22. Qxb6 Nxb6 23. Ke1 Nd7 24. Be2 Ke7 {Karjakin,S (2762)-Yu Yangyi (2721) Baku 2015}) 19... Bxg2 20. Rxg2 Rf7 21. Kf1 Qb6 $146 (21... Qc7 22. Kg1 Qxd6 23. Rxd6 h5 24. gxh5 Nxh5 25. Ra6 Nxf4 26. Bxf4 Rxf4 27. Rxg7 Rf7 {1/2-1/2 (27) Fabri,L (2330)-Troia,E (2313) ICCF email 2013}) 22. Kg1 Rc6 23. Qd3 d5 24. g5 dxc4 25. Qe2 Ng8 26. Qxc4 Ne7 27. Rgd2 Rf5 28. Qe4 Qc7 29. b3 a6 30. Rd3 Qc8 31. Bc1 g6 32. Bb2 Rd5 33. Rxd5 exd5 34. Rxd5 Re6 35. Re5 Rxe5 36. fxe5 (36. Bxe5 $5) 36... Qd7 37. e6 Qd1+ 38. Kg2 Qd2+ 39. Kh3 Qd5 40. Qxd5 Nxd5 41. Kg4 Ke7 42. Ba3 Kd6 43. Kf3 Ne7 44. Ke4 Nd5 45. e7 Nxe7 46. b4 Nc6 47. bxc5+ Ke6 48. Bc1 Ne7 49. Bd2 Nc6 50. Bc3 Ne7 {The first time the position appears...} 51. Kd4 Nf5+ 52. Ke4 Ne7 {...and the second time.} 53. Be5 Nc6 54. Bf4 Nb4 55. Kd4 Nc6+ 56. Ke4 Nb4 57. Bd2 Nc6 58. Bc3 Ne7 1/2-1/2 [Event "Riga"] [Site "Riga"] [Date "2021.11.01"] [Round "6"] [White "Shirov, Alexei"] [Black "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B12"] [WhiteElo "2659"] [BlackElo "2770"] [Annotator "Peter,Doggers"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. h4 h5 5. Bd3 Bxd3 6. Qxd3 Qa5+ 7. Nd2 e6 8. Ngf3 Nh6 9. O-O Nf5 (9... Be7 10. c4 Nf5 11. g3 Na6 12. b3 Rd8 13. Bb2 c5 14. cxd5 Nb4 15. Qe4 Nxd5 16. Nc4 Qa6 {Anand,V (2753)-Duda,J (2738) Zagreb 2021}) 10. Nb3 Qa6 11. Qd1 Be7 12. Bg5 Bxg5 13. Nc5 Qb6 14. Nxg5 $146 (14. hxg5 h4 15. g6 fxg6 16. Nxe6 Ke7 17. Nf4 Rh6 18. Qd3 Nd7 19. Nxg6+ Rxg6 20. Qxf5 Rh6 {Kollars, D (2586)-Kobalia,M (2614) Chess.com 2020}) 14... Na6 15. Nxa6 Qxa6 16. c3 Nxh4 17. g3 Nf5 18. Kg2 Qb6 19. b4 Qd8 20. Qd2 Qe7 21. Rab1 Rh6 22. Rh1 O-O-O 23. b5 cxb5 24. Rxb5 h4 25. g4 h3+ 26. Kf1 Rg6 27. gxf5 Rxg5 28. fxe6 fxe6 29. Rxh3 Rf5 30. c4 dxc4 31. Qc3 Rdf8 ({Firouzja's best chance in the whole game seems to be} 31... Kb8 32. Qxc4 Rc8 33. Qd3 Qf7 {but even this doesn't look so clear. }) 32. Qxc4+ Kb8 33. Rb2 Qf7 34. Qe2 Qc7 35. Qc2 Qd7 ({After} 35... Qf7 36. d5 $5 exd5 37. Qc5 {is a nice way to remain active and defending at the same time. }) 36. Rhb3 b6 (36... Rxf2+ 37. Qxf2 Rxf2+ 38. Rxf2 {should be a draw as well.} ) 37. Qc5 $1 ({In fact} 37. Rxb6+ $1 axb6 38. Rxb6+ Ka7 (38... Ka8 39. Qc4) 39. Qc5 {would have forced a similar draw.}) 37... Qb7 38. Rxb6 axb6 39. Rxb6 Rxf2+ 40. Ke1 Rf1+ 41. Ke2 R1f2+ 42. Ke1 Rf1+ 43. Ke2 1/2-1/2 [Event "Riga"] [Site "Riga"] [Date "2021.11.01"] [Round "6"] [White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Black "Ponkratov, Pavel"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C02"] [WhiteElo "2763"] [BlackElo "2659"] [Annotator "Peter,Doggers"] [PlyCount "51"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. Bd3 cxd4 7. O-O Bd7 8. Re1 ( {MVL said he had been inspired by this game:} 8. Nbd2 Rc8 9. Nb3 dxc3 10. bxc3 Qc7 11. Re1 Nge7 12. h4 Ng6 13. Qe2 Be7 14. h5 Ngxe5 15. Nxe5 Qxe5 16. Qxe5 Nxe5 17. Rxe5 Bf6 18. Re3 Rxc3 19. Rb1 {and White won in Carlsen,M (2863) -Harikrishna,P (2732) Online 2020.}) 8... Nge7 9. h4 h6 10. a3 Rc8 11. b4 $146 (11. Bc2 Nf5 12. Bxf5 exf5 13. cxd4 Be7 14. Nc3 Be6 15. Re2 O-O 16. Bf4 Na5 17. h5 Nb3 18. Rb1 Rc4 {Svoboda,S (2409)-Krak,T (2349) Slovakia 2019}) 11... a6 12. Bb2 g5 13. Nh2 Bg7 14. Ng4 gxh4 15. cxd4 h5 $6 {This cannot be right.} ({ Critical was} 15... Nxd4) 16. Nf6+ Bxf6 17. exf6 Ng8 18. Qf3 Rh6 19. Qxd5 Nxf6 20. Qg5 Ng4 21. Nc3 {Ponkratov must have underestimated the strength of this \"simple\" developing move. White is winning.} Qd8 22. Qxd8+ ({Vachier-Lagrave calculated} 22. Qg8+ Ke7 23. Nd5+ Kd6 24. Qxf7 Kxd5 25. Qf4 Qf8 26. Be4+ Kc4 27. Qc1+ Kb5 28. Qc5+ Qxc5 29. dxc5 {when there's no win for White.}) 22... Kxd8 23. Ne4 $1 {With, among the threats, 24.f3 and 24.Nd6.} e5 24. f3 Nxd4 25. fxg4 hxg4 26. Ng5 1-0