[Event "Chess.com"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2022.01.21"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Erigaisi, Arjun"]
[Black "Ganguly, Surya Shekhar"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C54"]
[WhiteElo "2632"]
[BlackElo "2627"]
[Annotator "Bojkov,Dejan"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. e5 {Probably the most
fashionable Italian line nowadays.} d5 7. Bb5 Ne4 8. cxd4 Bb6 9. Nc3 O-O 10.
Be3 f6 ({The world champion defended confidently by pinning the white knight
at once with:} 10... Bg4 11. h3 Bh5 12. Qc2 Nxc3 13. bxc3 f6 14. exf6 Qxf6 15.
Be2 Na5 16. O-O Bxf3 17. Bxf3 c6 18. Rae1 Nc4 19. Bc1 Qg6 {in Nepomniachtchi,I
(2792) -Carlsen,M (2855) Stavanger 2021}) 11. exf6 Nxc3 12. bxc3 Qxf6 13. O-O
Bg4 {And this pin is still there.} 14. Be2 Bxf3 {This is the second most
popular choice, although Black is not forced to part with his bishop pair.} ({
The most common continuation is} 14... Rae8 {when after} 15. h3 {Black often
keeps his bishop alive.} Bh5) 15. Bxf3 Rad8 16. Be2 $1 {The bishop has done
its job, and now it is time to look for a better diagonal.} Na5 $146 {This
move is a novelty. The knight needs to step out of the pawn's way for the
black bishop, which has also done its job and seeks a better diagonal.} ({
In the predecessor, however, a different route was chosen for the horse:} 16...
Ne7 {The knight can indeed be more useful on the kingside and the online game
ended quite uneventfully after} 17. Qd2 c6 18. Bg5 Qf7 19. Bh5 g6 20. Rfe1 Rd7
21. Bg4 {1/2-1/2 (21) Harshad,S (1939)-Ravi,T (2294) Rajapalayam 2018}) 17. a4
c6 {That's the plan.} (17... Nc4 $2 18. Bxc4 dxc4 19. a5) 18. Bd3 Bc7 {Ganguly
is following his path.} ({However, it seems as if he needed to challenge the
enemy bishop pair at once with} 18... Nc4 $1) 19. Qg4 Rde8 20. Rae1 {Now
Erigaisi consolidates and starts building concrete threats. His bishops will
soon prove priceless.} Bd8 $1 {A prophylaxis against the Be3-g5 maneuver.} ({
Why this is important can be illustrated by the line} 20... Nc4 21. Bg5 Qf7 22.
Qh4 h6 23. Be7) ({The other way to stay away from the trouble was} 20... Qf7 $5
) 21. g3 Qf3 {Ganguly must have miscalculated something. This move only helps
White!} ({Better was} 21... Nc4 22. Bf4 Qf7 {with defensible, albeit passive,
position.}) 22. Qh3 $1 {The queen communicates well with the bishops, and the
black kingside is defended by just two pawns. So why trade?} ({True, the
endgame is also somewhat better} 22. Qxf3 Rxf3 23. h4 {but the move in the
game promises White more.}) 22... g6 ({Perhaps Ganguly missed that in the line
} 22... h6 23. Bg6 Re7 24. Bf4 $1 Rxf4 25. Rxe7 Bxe7 26. Bh5 $1 {he would lose
material.}) 23. Be2 Qf5 24. Bg4 {This is the more dangerous of the two bishops
as it does not have an opponent.} Qf6 25. Bf4 {Beautiful, harmonious play by
the pair! Once the kingside has been softened, they look to occupy the free
diagonals close to the enemy king.} ({And} 25. Bd7 $5 Re4 26. f3 {looked good
too.}) 25... h5 ({Had Black have given away the file at once with} 25... Rxe1
26. Rxe1 h5 {he would have suffered along the sixth rank} 27. Re6 $1 Qf7 28.
Be2 $1 {as the bishop gets back to the b1-h7 diagonal with decisive effect.})
26. Bd7 $1 {This not only wins the open file, but Erigaisi is preparing the
decisive infiltration.} Rxe1 27. Rxe1 Kh7 ({The most resilient defense was}
27... Nc4 28. Re6 Qg7 29. Be8 Bf6 {Although here, too, Black's position
remains suspicious and White has a pleasant choice between the positional} 30.
Qf1 $5 ({And the more direct} 30. g4 $5)) 28. Re6 Qf7 ({Or} 28... Qg7 29. Be8
Bf6 30. Bd6 Rh8 31. Be5 {when Black is helpless.}) 29. Rd6 $1 {Through the
sixth rank, the rook get access to the seventh one!} Qe7 30. Be6 {That is it;
the light squares cannot be defended.} Rxf4 31. Rd7 Rf6 32. Rxe7+ Bxe7 33. Bc8
{And there is even more pain on light squares.} Rd6 34. g4 Nc4 35. gxh5 gxh5
36. Be6 Kg7 37. f4 Nd2 38. f5 Rxe6 39. fxe6 Ne4 40. Qxh5 Ng5 41. Qe8 Kf6 42.
Qd7 {The seeming ease with which Erigaisi outplayed his creative compatriot
was mind-boggling.} 1-0
[Event "Wijk aan Zee"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee"]
[Date "2022.01.21"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Giri, Anish"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A07"]
[WhiteElo "2792"]
[BlackElo "2772"]
[PlyCount "102"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
1. Nf3 d5 2. b3 Bf5 3. Bb2 e6 4. g3 h6 5. Bg2 Nf6 6. O-O Be7 7. d3 O-O 8. Nbd2
a5 9. a3 c6 10. Re1 Bh7 11. e4 Nbd7 12. Qe2 Qb6 13. a4 (13. e5 Ne8 14. h4 a4
15. b4 c5 16. Bc3 Nc7 17. bxc5 Bxc5 18. d4 Be7 19. Reb1 Qc6 {Radjabov,T (2765)
-Ding,L (2791) Online 2020}) 13... Rfc8 $146 (13... dxe4 14. dxe4 Nc5 15. Nc4
Qa6 16. e5 Nd5 17. Nd4 Rfd8 18. h4 Nb4 19. Na3 Qxe2 20. Rxe2 Rd7 21. Rd1 {
Ternault,M (2324)-Flom,G (2499) Online INT 2020}) 14. Rac1 Bc5 15. e5 Ne8 16.
Nf1 Qd8 17. Ne3 Nc7 18. Kh1 b5 19. Nd4 bxa4 20. bxa4 Nb6 (20... Na6 $5) 21. Ra1
Na6 22. Nb3 Be7 (22... Bxe3 $1 {followed by 23...c5 was good for Black.}) 23.
f4 Qd7 24. f5 $1 {A nice pawn sacrifice after which Bh7 will be out of play.}
exf5 25. Qf3 Nc5 26. Nxc5 Bxc5 27. d4 Be7 28. Bh3 g6 29. g4 f4 30. g5 Qa7 31.
Bxc8 $2 ({Virtually winning was} 31. Ng4 $1 Bxg5 32. Bc1) 31... fxe3 32. e6
Bxg5 33. Bd7 fxe6 34. Bxe6+ Kh8 {Now Black is doing very well.} 35. Ba3 Nc4 36.
Bc5 Qg7 37. Qg4 Bf6 (37... Nd2 $5) 38. Rab1 g5 39. Bf5 Re8 $6 40. Rb6 $4 {
Tragic.} ({Giri had seen the move} 40. Qh5 $1 {and White is out of trouble.})
40... Nxb6 41. Bxb6 Bxf5 42. Qxf5 Bxd4 43. Bxa5 Bc3 44. Bxc3 Qxc3 45. Kg2 Qd2+
46. Kf1 Kg7 47. Qd7+ Kf6 48. Qd6+ Kf5 49. Qd7+ Re6 50. Qh7+ Kg4 51. Qf7 Re4 0-1
[Event "Wijk aan Zee"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee"]
[Date "2022.01.21"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Rapport, Richard"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E04"]
[WhiteElo "2865"]
[BlackElo "2763"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 Nc6 6. O-O Rb8 7. Be3 (7. Nc3
Be7 8. Qa4 O-O 9. Qxc4 Nd5 10. Rd1 Na5 11. Qd3 b6 12. e4 Nxc3 13. Qxc3 Bb7 14.
d5 exd5 15. exd5 Bf6 16. Qc2 b5 {Giri,A (2777)-Mamedyarov,S (2762) Online 2021}
) 7... Bd6 8. Qc1 $146 (8. Nfd2 O-O 9. Nxc4 Ne7 10. Bg5 Nd7 11. e4 f6 12. Be3
Nb6 13. Nbd2 Nxc4 14. Nxc4 b5 15. Na5 c6 16. Qd2 Bd7 {Mulyar,M (2385)-Zeng,S
(1863) Philadelphia 2018}) 8... b5 9. b3 Bb7 10. bxc4 bxc4 11. Qxc4 Nb4 12. a3
Nbd5 13. Bg5 O-O 14. Nbd2 h6 15. Bxf6 Nxf6 16. Rfc1 Nd7 17. Qa4 c5 {Carlsen
thought this was \"reasonable,\" but he didn't like Black taking on f3 on the
next move.} 18. Qxa7 Bxf3 $6 (18... Bd5) 19. Bxf3 cxd4 20. Ra2 Qe7 $2 {The
real mistake.} ({Carlsen probably underestimated} 20... Ne5 $1 {or might have
missed the tactic} 21. Qxd4 Bxa3 $1 {and Black is equal instantly.}) ({Another
try is} 20... Ne5 21. Bg2 {when} d3 $1 {gives counterplay.}) 21. a4 {Now it's
very hard to stop the pawn.} Rfd8 22. Qxd4 Rb4 23. Qc3 Nb6 24. a5 Qa7 25. Qe3
Be7 26. Rcc2 Bg5 27. Qc5 Be7 28. axb6 Qxa2 29. Qxe7 Qxc2 30. Qxd8+ Kh7 31. b7
1-0
