[Event "Lewis Chess Legends Open"] [Site "Hell NOR"] [Date "2024.08.11"] [Round "6.2"] [White "Urkedal, F."] [Black "Hammer, J."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C57"] [WhiteElo "2564"] [BlackElo "2596"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "25"] [GameId "2077829295518817"] [EventDate "2024.08.06"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [SourceTitle "The Week in Chess 1553"] [Source "Mark Crowther"] [SourceDate "2024.08.12"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2024.08.12"] [SourceQuality "2"] {[%evp 0,25,25,11,5,15,15,15,9,-6,-14,-2,10,47,160,15,14,35,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Nd4 {A far more entertaining line than the standard 5...Na5. It's not (that) bad, either, but there is a reason why 5...Na5 is the nearly automatic move.} 6. c3 h6 {Quite rare, which may be at least part of the point.} (6... b5 {is usual (but is it best?), when play continues} 7. Bf1 Nxd5 {and now White has several important options (given in decreasing order of frequency): 8.cxd4, 8.Ne4, 8.Nxf7, and 8.h4.}) 7. Nxf7 (7. cxd4 {is also playable:} hxg5 8. dxe5 Nxd5 9. Qb3 $146 {may be slightly in White's favor. That's well and good if you've got an engine beside you, but would you want to play this without prior preparation against a GM who *has* prepared, and to try your luck in the position after} Nf4 $1 10. Bxf7+ Ke7 {? I'll let you analyze this yourself, but will show one entertaining possibility:} 11. O-O $2 Ne2+ 12. Kh1 Qd4 {Threatening to win the queen with 13...Rxh2+ followed by ...Qh4+.} 13. e6 g4 $1 14. Qe3 $1 g3 $1 15. Qg5+ $8 Qf6 $8 16. Qxf6+ gxf6 17. h3 gxf2 18. Rxf2 $8 Nxc1 19. Bg6 f5 $1 20. Bxf5 Bxe6 21. Nc3 Bxf5 22. Rxf5 Nd3 $17 {/-+}) 7... Kxf7 8. cxd4 exd4 9. d6+ (9. O-O Bd6 10. d3 Re8 11. h3 $14 {/? White doesn't have too much, but it doesn't terribly risky for him to play this way, either.}) 9... Kg6 $1 10. Bd3+ Kf7 11. Bc4+ (11. dxc7 {is the only move that offers White even a pretend advantage, according to the engine. In reality, few humans would want any part of this, even given the knowledge that White has a microscopic "plus" at the end of this variation.} Qe7+ 12. Be2 (12. Qe2 Qxc7 $44) 12... Bg4 (12... d3 $2 13. Qb3+ Be6 14. Qxd3 $16) 13. Qb3+ Kg6 14. Qd3+ Bf5 15. Qxd4 Qxc7 16. O-O Bc5 $44 {I would take Black here every day of the week.}) 11... Kg6 12. Bd3+ Kf7 13. Bc4+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "Tbilisi WGP 2024"] [Site "Tbilisi GEO"] [Date "2024.08.15"] [Round "1.2"] [White "Muzychuk, A."] [Black "Muzychuk, M."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2525"] [BlackElo "2508"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "42"] [GameId "2080373921111476"] [EventDate "2024.08.15"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "GEO"] [EventCategory "10"] [SourceTitle "The Week in Chess 1554"] [Source "Mark Crowther"] [SourceDate "2024.08.19"] [SourceVersion "2"] [SourceVersionDate "2024.08.19"] [SourceQuality "2"] {[%evp 0,42,15,5,15,14,15,16,18,12,12,10,3,-6,-1,-19,22,-4,146,28,28,28,28,20,278,246,19,5,-8,-34,-15,-15,-14,-20,10,13,0,43,26,0,11,15,41,11,31] Unless the sisters Muzychuk are playing in an elimination event the draw is pretty much guaranteed. But that's okay: we watch movies and TV sitcoms knowing how things are going to turn out; the fun is seeing how they get there. Let's see if the Muzychuks will expand our knowledge of how to make a draw in the opening, or if they'll follow in someone else's footsteps.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. O-O d6 7. h3 Ne7 8. d4 c6 9. Bd3 Bb6 10. dxe5 dxe5 11. Nxe5 Bxh3 12. gxh3 $146 {An improvement over Nakamura's error in his white game with Vidit from the Candidates back in April. This low-hanging fruit was pointed out by everyone at the time, including even your humble scribe.} (12. Nc4 Bg4 13. Qc2 Bc7 14. e5 Nd7 15. Bxh7+ Kh8 16. Bd3 b5 17. Ne3 Nxe5 18. Be2 f5 19. f4 Bb6 20. Kf2 Nd5 21. Rh1+ Kg8 22. fxe5 Qg5 23. Ke1 Bxe3 24. Bxg4 Qxg4 25. Bxe3 Nxe3 26. Qe2 Qg3+ 27. Kd2 Rad8+ 28. Kc1 Qg5 29. b3 Nf1+ {0-1 Nakamura,H (2789)-Vidit,S (2727) Candidates Tournament Toronto 2024 (2)}) 12... Qb8 13. Bf4 Bc7 14. Bh2 Bxe5 15. f4 Bc7 {My analysis stopped here, evaluating the position is as equal and commenting thus: "White has more space and the bishop pair, but White's kingside pawns may also be somewhat overextended." I would add that while the position is equal and there's nothing wrong with what the sisters did from here, it wasn't necessary to convert the game into an instant draw.} 16. Qf3 Ng6 17. Na3 Nh4 18. Qg3 (18. Qe2 Qc8 19. f5 (19. e5 Qxh3 20. exf6 Rfe8 21. Be4 $8 g5 $1 22. Qd3 $1 Qg4+ $8 23. Kh1 $8 Rad8 $1 24. Qc2 $1 Qh3 25. Bg2 $1 Qg4 26. Be4 Qh3 $11 (26... Qh5 $5 {might keep the game going, but might also lead to another repetition, e.g.} 27. Rae1 Ng6 28. Qe2 Qh6 29. Qf2 Nxf4 30. Nc2 Nh3 31. Qg2 Nf4 32. Qf2 Nh3 $11)) 19... Bxh2+ 20. Qxh2 Qd8 21. Rad1 Nh5 {is equal but, as far as I can tell, does not lead to a forced repetition.}) 18... Ng6 19. Qf3 Nh4 20. Qg3 Ng6 21. Qf3 Nh4 1/2-1/2