[Event "8th Norway Chess 2020"] [Site "Stavanger NOR"] [Date "2020.10.06"] [Round "2.1"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D35"] [WhiteElo "2863"] [BlackElo "2728"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "103"] [EventDate "2020.10.05"] {[%evp 0,103,19,32,35,4,4,4,4,-16,-5,3,13,9,2,3,26,36,35,23,31,25,24,14,23,15, 16,13,28,23,23,-21,42,42,45,35,35,30,29,25,27,32,29,19,29,38,37,42,35,31,30,24, 28,51,39,14,37,20,16,0,3,3,2,31,29,36,22,-3,31,25,54,-8,9,-11,-15,-35,-15,-61, -45,-38,-26,-30,8,-34,6,12,0,4,4,13,2,0,0,0,0,0,0,-25,-18,0,0,0,52,26,24,24]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 c6 6. e3 h6 7. Bh4 Be7 8. Bd3 O-O 9. Nge2 Re8 10. O-O Nbd7 (10... Nh5 11. Bxe7 Qxe7 12. Qd2 Nd7 13. Rae1 Nf8 14. Nc1 Nf6 15. f3 Ne6 16. N1e2 b5 17. Ng3 a5 18. Qf2 Ba6 19. Nf5 Qd8 20. Ne2 c5 21. Qg3 c4 22. Bc2 Nh5 23. Qh3 g6 24. Nxh6+ Kg7 25. Nf5+ Kg8 26. Neg3 Nxg3 27. Qxg3 b4 28. Nh6+ Kg7 29. Nxf7 Kxf7 30. Bxg6+ Ke7 31. Bxe8 Kxe8 32. e4 c3 33. Rf2 Kf7 34. bxc3 bxc3 35. f4 dxe4 36. f5 Nf8 37. Rxe4 Rb8 38. h3 Rb1+ 39. Kh2 Qb8 40. Qxb8 Rxb8 41. Re3 Bc4 42. Rxc3 Bd5 43. Rc5 Rd8 44. Rxa5 Rd7 45. g4 Nh7 46. Kg3 Nf6 47. Rc2 Re7 48. Kh4 Be4 49. Rb2 Nd5 50. Kg5 Rd7 51. Ra6 Rc7 52. Re6 Nc3 53. Rf6+ Kg7 54. Rg6+ Kf7 55. Kh6 Rc8 56. Rg7+ Kf8 57. Rb6 Bd5 58. Rh7 Ne4 59. Rh8+ Bg8 60. Rg6 Kf7 61. Rg7+ Kf6 62. Rhxg8 {1-0 (62) Carlsen,M (2863) -Kramnik,V (2753) chess24.com INT 2020}) 11. f3 b5 {A good if ugly-looking move that has become popular in recent years, as old prejudices against its obvious drawbacks have been overcome.} 12. Bf2 Bb7 13. Ng3 b4 14. Na4 c5 15. Nf5 $5 Bf8 $6 (15... c4 {was probably better, when} 16. Nxe7+ Qxe7 17. Bc2 Bc6 {results in a position where it's hard for either side to make use of their pawn majorities. Still, Black is better if anyone is, but IF (big "if") White can make the e4 break happen, it will be a very big deal.}) 16. Nxc5 Nxc5 17. dxc5 Bxc5 18. Rc1 (18. Bb5) 18... Qb6 19. Qa4 Bc8 $1 20. Nd4 Bd7 21. Qa6 Re7 ( 21... Rac8) 22. Rfd1 Ne8 23. Qxb6 axb6 24. Bb1 Ba4 25. b3 Bd7 26. Ne2 $14 Nc7 27. Rd2 Bc6 28. Nd4 Bb7 29. g4 (29. Bg3 $1) 29... Ne6 30. Nf5 Rc7 31. h4 Rac8 ( 31... Bxe3 $142 32. Rxc7 Bxf2+ 33. Kxf2 Nxc7 34. Nd6 {is playable for Black, but White has more than enough compensation for the pawn.}) 32. Rcd1 Bf8 $6 33. Bg3 Rc3 34. Kf2 Bc5 35. Bd3 $2 (35. Bd6 $1 {was a big opportunity, when Black's position is lost or nearly so.}) 35... d4 $1 36. e4 Ra8 $1 37. Bc4 Rc2 $3 $11 {There were other equalizers too, but this was a very nice move, one Carlsen completely overlooked.} 38. Bd3 (38. Rxc2 $143 d3+) 38... Rcxa2 39. Be5 Rxd2+ 40. Rxd2 Ra5 (40... Ra3) 41. Kg3 (41. Bc4) 41... Ba6 (41... Bf8) 42. Bxa6 Rxa6 43. Nxd4 Bxd4 44. Bxd4 Ra3 45. Rd3 Nxd4 46. Rxd4 Rxb3 47. Rd8+ Kh7 48. h5 {Now Firouza finds a nice way to achieve a torture-free draw.} Ra3 $1 49. Rd4 Ra4 50. e5 {Else Black plays ...f6, solidifying the kingside. Then ...b5 followed by ...b3.} Ra5 $1 51. Rxb4 Rxe5 52. Rxb6 1/2-1/2 [Event "8th Norway Chess 2020"] [Site "Stavanger NOR"] [Date "2020.10.06"] [Round "2.2"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Duda, Jan-Krzysztof"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D10"] [WhiteElo "2828"] [BlackElo "2757"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "187"] [EventDate "2020.10.05"] {[%evp 0,187,32,35,35,4,26,16,37,34,46,43,46,13,33,29,40,40,71,40,38,17,23,19, 19,24,24,20,29,23,59,50,77,63,61,75,60,56,59,63,85,69,70,43,45,60,60,64,87,95, 80,80,83,73,93,87,92,91,118,119,116,115,125,119,119,120,120,123,123,126,125, 125,106,105,108,119,114,108,108,126,105,99,106,113,118,97,94,84,89,76,77,53,42, 42,42,42,42,33,68,63,62,47,54,61,68,77,111,121,122,122,121,121,120,131,131,131, 131,131,132,134,142,131,131,131,131,131,142,149,146,146,146,146,146,122,146, 143,149,149,145,149,149,143,143,143,143,143,143,143,143,143,143,143,143,143, 143,143,143,143,143,143,143,143,148,143,143,142,196,211,234,242,271,250,354, 414,436,311,331,315,338,321,321,276,360,276,850,918,946,946,945,1165]} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. cxd5 cxd5 4. Bf4 Nc6 5. e3 Nf6 6. Bb5 $5 {Rare.} Bd7 7. Nc3 a6 8. Bd3 Bg4 {But now play transposes to a main line, with both sides having wasted a tempo with their light-squared bishops.} 9. Nge2 e6 10. O-O Bxe2 11. Qxe2 Be7 12. a3 $14 O-O 13. Na4 h6 14. Bg3 Nd7 15. h3 Qa5 16. Qd1 $1 Rfc8 17. b4 $16 Qd8 18. Rb1 (18. Nc5 $142) 18... Ra7 $6 (18... b5 $142) 19. Nc5 Ncb8 20. Qe2 (20. Rc1 $142) 20... a5 21. Rfc1 (21. e4 $5) 21... axb4 22. axb4 Nf6 23. b5 b6 $4 { This doesn't lose material, but it's a huge positional error, after which White is winning.} 24. Na6 $18 Rxc1+ 25. Rxc1 Nbd7 26. Rc6 Qf8 27. Qc2 Ra8 28. Rc7 Bd6 29. Bxd6 Qxd6 30. Qc6 Qf8 31. Rxd7 Nxd7 32. Qxd7 Rc8 33. g3 Rc3 34. Bf1 Qc8 35. Qxc8+ Rxc8 36. h4 g5 37. Nb4 Kf8 38. Nc6 Ra8 39. Be2 Ra2 40. Kf1 Ra1+ 41. Kg2 Ra2 42. Bd3 Rd2 43. Bf1 f6 44. hxg5 hxg5 45. g4 $2 {A hyper-subtle error, especially with neither player having much time. (There is no second time control in the tournament, only 10-second increments after move 40 added to whatever was left of the initial two hours.)} Ke8 $2 (45... Rb2 $1 { Apparently holds. Again, this isn't obvious, but the basic idea is that to make progress White will have to play f4, but there may be no way to achieve it. (That, and the further very important fact that White's knight is stuck.)}) 46. Kg3 (46. Kg1) 46... Rd1 (46... Rb2 47. f4 $18) 47. Be2 $2 Rg1+ 48. Kh2 Re1 (48... Rb1 $1) 49. Bd3 Rd1 $2 (49... Rc1 50. f4 (50. Kg2 Rc3 $11) 50... Re1 $11 ) 50. Nb4 Kd7 51. Kg2 $18 {White is winning again, and while it takes him a long time to cash in, Caruana does finally reel in the point. (Or rather, the three points.)} Ra1 52. f4 Ra3 53. fxg5 fxg5 54. Nc6 Kd6 55. Ne5 Ke7 56. Kf3 Ra2 57. e4 Ra1 58. Ke3 Re1+ 59. Be2 Rg1 60. Kf2 Ra1 61. Nf3 Kf6 62. Ke3 Ra8 63. Bd3 Rg8 64. Bb1 Ke7 65. Ne5 Ra8 66. Bd3 Rc8 67. Nc6+ Kd6 68. Ne5 Rf8 69. exd5 exd5 70. Bf5 Re8 71. Kd3 Re7 72. Bg6 Ra7 73. Ke3 Ke6 74. Bf5+ Kd6 75. Kd2 Ra2+ 76. Kc3 Ra3+ 77. Kb4 Ra7 78. Bc2 Ke6 79. Nc6 Ra2 80. Kb3 Ra1 81. Kc3 Rc1 82. Ne5 Rg1 83. Bf5+ Ke7 84. Nd7 Rc1+ 85. Kb3 Rc4 86. Nxb6 Rxd4 87. Kc3 Rd1 88. Nc8+ Kd8 89. b6 d4+ 90. Kc2 Re1 91. Nd6 Re3 92. Nf7+ Ke7 93. b7 d3+ 94. Kd1 1-0 [Event "8th Norway Chess 2020"] [Site "Stavanger NOR"] [Date "2020.10.06"] [Round "2.3"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Tari, Aryan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C89"] [WhiteElo "2767"] [BlackElo "2633"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "95"] [EventDate "2020.10.05"] {[%evp 0,95,35,45,28,26,26,5,8,-8,-10,-10,16,-11,-4,-8,6,-27,2,21,21,45,45,44, -5,-9,-5,7,7,20,39,3,54,27,42,32,49,61,63,34,41,-1,32,48,64,57,69,61,79,82,102, 102,133,140,109,140,202,191,152,112,120,120,115,75,80,76,191,180,179,181,186, 187,181,193,195,195,218,195,218,220,226,222,251,233,243,234,234,235,218,237, 314,300,308,302,312,428,690,700]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. c3 d5 {Aronian is known as a huge Marshall Gambit specialist, while Tari had apparently never played it before this game. But yes, Aronian had White!} 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Nxe5 Nxe5 11. Rxe5 c6 12. Re1 Bd6 13. g3 Bf5 14. d4 Qf6 (14... Qd7 {is more common.}) 15. Be3 Qg6 16. Nd2 Rae8 17. Qf3 Bg4 18. Qg2 Qh5 19. h4 $5 {This move shocked and offended Kramnik's sensibilities, but Aronian was happy enough with it and defended it in the postgame interview. The engine seems to agree with Kramnik, but the Marshall is the sort of opening where one must analyze fairly deeply before it's wise to trust the engine's claims.} (19. a4) 19... Be2 20. Nf1 Re6 21. Bd2 Rfe8 22. a4 Bf3 (22... h6 23. axb5 axb5 {, and only next ...Bf3 may be a touch more accurate.}) 23. Rxe6 Rxe6 24. Qh3 Bg4 25. Qh2 h6 26. axb5 axb5 27. Ne3 Bf3 $2 { This loses.} 28. Qh3 $18 {The queen gets out, and Black's attacking aspirations are at an end. Now White's extra pawn and better structure are meaningful.} Be4 29. Qg4 (29. Ra8+ $142) 29... Qxg4 30. Nxg4 f5 31. Ne5 $1 Bxe5 32. dxe5 Kf8 (32... Rxe5 $4 33. Re1 $18 {, threatening f3, wins the pinned bishop.}) 33. f4 Re7 34. Bxd5 cxd5 {There are opposite-colored bishops, yes, but Black is nowhere near a draw.} 35. Be3 Rc7 36. Ra5 Bd3 37. Bd4 Rc6 38. Kf2 h5 39. Ke3 Bc4 40. Ra3 Rg6 41. b3 Bf1 42. Bc5+ Ke8 43. Bb4 Bg2 44. Kd4 Rc6 45. Ra7 g6 46. Re7+ Kd8 47. e6 Rc7 48. Rf7 $1 {Taking on c7 followed by a king invasion with Ke5 also won, but this is a beautiful way to finish the game right away. White threatens 49.Rf8#, 49.Ba5, and 49.e7+ followed by Rf8. It's too much.} 1-0 [Event "8th Norway Armageddon"] [Site "Stavanger NOR"] [Date "2020.10.06"] [Round "2.1"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D35"] [WhiteElo "2863"] [BlackElo "2728"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "93"] [EventDate "2020.10.05"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 c6 6. e3 h6 7. Bh4 Be7 8. Qc2 O-O 9. Nf3 Re8 10. Bd3 Ne4 11. Bxe7 Qxe7 12. Bxe4 dxe4 13. Nd2 f5 14. O-O-O $2 {Too risky - not just practically, but objectively.} Nd7 $6 (14... Na6 { is even better, according to both Kramnik and the engine. Black is already much better, within sniffing distance of a winning advantage.}) 15. g4 $6 fxg4 16. Ndxe4 Nb6 (16... b5 $142 {first makes excellent sense.}) 17. Ng3 Be6 18. Kb1 Rf8 19. e4 Rad8 20. Rhe1 Qf6 $19 {Winning a pawn, and it should win the game. Despite starting the game with three fewer minutes, Black was also ahead on the clock around here.} 21. f4 $5 gxf3 22. Qf2 Nc4 23. Rg1 Qh4 24. b3 Nd6 25. Kb2 Rf7 26. Rd2 Rdf8 27. Re1 Kh8 28. Rd3 Rf4 29. e5 Nf5 30. Nce4 Bd5 $6 31. Rxf3 Nxg3 $4 {Making the game far, far, far more difficult than it had to be.} (31... Rxf3 32. Qxf3 Qxh2+ 33. Re2 Qxg3 34. Qxf5 Rxf5 35. Nxg3 Rf3 36. Ne4 Bxe4 37. Rxe4 Kg8 $19 {should win easily - and all Black needs is a draw.}) 32. hxg3 Rxf3 33. Qxf3 Rxf3 (33... Qh2+ $142 $1 34. Qe2 Qh3 $1 $17 {is too subtle to play with less than a minute on the clock.}) 34. gxh4 Bxe4 35. Rxe4 $11 { Just like the 31...Rxf3 line, except that White has an h-pawn. There Black had an extra pawn and two connected passers; here, he has neither.} Kg8 36. Ka3 Kf7 37. Kb4 h5 38. a4 Ke6 39. a5 Rg3 40. a6 b6 41. Kc4 $2 Rg4 $19 {Winning again, though the reason isn't at all obvious. At this point, however, it was all about nerves. Both players were living off the increment (one second per move), and Firouzja's hands were trembling every move.} 42. Kd3 Rg3+ $2 $11 (42... c5 $1 43. dxc5 bxc5 {White needs to keep rooks on and surrender the h-pawn - which is almost certainly hopeless in the long run too (especially as a winning try), because if he tries to maintain the status quo with} 44. Ke3 { Black could check on g3 and grab the b-pawn or, even better, play} Kf5 $19 { , forcing the rooks off and achieving a king and pawn ending that's trivially easy to win.}) 43. Re3 Rg4 44. Rf3 c5 45. dxc5 bxc5 46. Rf8 Kxe5 47. Rf7 { It's still equal, but here Firouzja froze, tried to play ...Rd4+ (which probably loses), knocked over the rook, and lost on time. This is reminiscent of his tragic loss to Carlsen in last year's World Blitz Championship, where he also lost an "unloseable" game on time - there in a position where nothing bad could happen to him on the board. Considering what a cool customer he is in online blitz and bullet, even against Carlsen, it's surprising that he has struggled with his nerves against him in live games. Hopefully, for his sake, he works through this, and if Carlsen is to beat him in the future it will be by outplaying him and not by Firouzja self-destructing.} 1-0