[Event "Superbet Classic 2022"]
[Site "Bucharest ROU"]
[Date "2022.05.05"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Firouzja, Alireza"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D35"]
[WhiteElo "2786"]
[BlackElo "2804"]
[Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"]
[PlyCount "57"]
[EventDate "2022.05.05"]
{[%evp 0,57,16,-5,-14,-10,-4,-11,4,-23,1,1,18,8,14,-2,33,32,36,30,27,24,25,-3,
50,33,33,23,43,20,28,22,22,21,24,19,11,-10,-2,0,-12,-24,-4,-60,-2,-47,-2,0,1,0,
30,26,50,44,34,27,34,34,34,34]} 1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 Nf6 4. cxd5 exd5 5.
Bg5 c6 6. e3 h6 7. Bh4 Be7 8. Bd3 O-O 9. Nge2 Re8 10. O-O Nbd7 11. a4 $5 {
I have never seen this before, either here in particular or in this sort of
position. But - and the odds that this is a coincidence are extremely close to
zero - Stockfish likes the move. I have, however, seen a4-a5 played after
White has played b2-b4 (after preparation, obviously) and Black has met it
with ...a6. So the obvious guess is that White intends a5 (and possibly a6, if
permitted, if it results in pressure against Black's c-pawn). But what if
Black plays ...a5?} (11. Qc2 Nh5 12. Bxe7 Qxe7 {and now either} 13. Rab1 {
, playing for the minority attack with b4-b5,} ({or} 13. Rae1 {, generally
going for plans with e4 (often but not always prefaced by f3), are common and
typical for this opening.})) ({Likewise,} 11. f3 {followed by Bf2 and
(generally) Ng3, aiming for e4, is what one would expect in the Exchange
Queen's Gambit with Nge2.}) 11... Nh5 (11... Bd6 {Threatening ...Bxh2+
followed by ...Ng4+.} 12. h3 a5 {looks reasonable at first glance. Maybe
White's idea is to resume kingside play, with the thought that if Black tries
to meet an e4 plan with ...c5, he'll have weakened the b5 square.}) 12. Bxe7
Qxe7 13. a5 a6 {The engine "thinks" Black should avoid this, at least for now.}
14. Ra3 (14. Nc1 Nhf6 15. Nb3 $14) 14... Nf8 15. Na4 Rb8 (15... g6 {followed
by ...Ng7 and ...Bf5 is a familiar QGDX idea, aiming to swap off the bad(ish)
bishop.}) 16. Qd2 (16. Rb3) 16... Qg5 17. f3 {Black is ok after this.} (17. Nc5
) (17. f4) 17... g6 18. Bb1 Ng7 19. Nf4 Bf5 20. Ba2 h5 21. Qf2 Nd7 22. h4 Qf6 (
22... Qe7) 23. b4 Qd6 24. Nc5 Nf6 (24... Re7) 25. Qg3 Qd8 26. Qg5 Qd6 27. Qg3
Qd8 28. Qg5 Qd6 29. Qg3 1/2-1/2
[Event "Superbet Classic 2022"]
[Site "Bucharest ROU"]
[Date "2022.05.05"]
[Round "1.2"]
[White "Aronian, Levon"]
[Black "Rapport, Richard"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D17"]
[WhiteElo "2765"]
[BlackElo "2776"]
[Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[EventDate "2022.05.05"]
{[%evp 0,77,16,23,13,4,25,25,45,-2,25,-1,3,-13,-5,-5,39,42,59,37,47,44,30,44,
39,33,30,34,31,24,59,24,24,-6,28,23,11,9,7,-3,22,10,15,-14,1,1,0,10,52,42,31,
21,6,33,36,38,31,-7,27,26,27,27,19,7,12,30,31,0,0,6,6,6,33,19,10,19,19,9,13,9]
} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. Ne5 Nbd7 7. Nxc4 Nb6 8.
Ne5 a5 9. f3 Nfd7 10. Nxd7 Bxd7 (10... Nxd7 {is far more common.}) 11. e4 e6
12. Bf4 $146 (12. Be3) 12... Bb4 13. Be2 O-O 14. O-O Rc8 15. Rf2 {Intending
Bf1 followed by centralizing the rook, but it does create a small tactical
liability.} (15. Be3) (15. Na2) 15... Be8 (15... c5 $1 {White can't take on c5,
and doing nothing allows ...cxd4 followed by ...Bc5. White's only decent move
is} 16. Na2 {, with decent compensation for the pawn after} Nxa4 17. Nxb4 cxb4
18. Bf1 b5) 16. Bf1 f5 17. g3 Bg6 18. h4 Kh8 (18... h6 $15) 19. Rc1 Nd7 (19...
h6 $142) 20. e5 (20. Bg5 $11) 20... Nb6 21. Kg2 h6 22. Qb3 Bf7 (22... Bxc3 $142
23. bxc3 Nd5 $1 $15) 23. Be3 g5 24. hxg5 hxg5 25. Kg1 Kg7 26. Rh2 Rh8 27. Rxh8
Kxh8 28. g4 f4 29. Bf2 Nd5 30. Ne4 Bg6 31. Bc4 Rc7 32. Kg2 Rh7 33. Rh1 Rxh1 34.
Kxh1 Kg7 35. Kg2 b6 36. Bd3 Be7 37. Bc4 Bb4 38. Bd3 Be7 39. Bc4 {A comfortable
draw with Black for Rapport, who was equal or better almost from start to
finish.} 1/2-1/2
[Event "Superbet Classic 2022"]
[Site "Bucharest ROU"]
[Date "2022.05.05"]
[Round "1.3"]
[White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Black "Deac, Bogdan-Daniel"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C43"]
[WhiteElo "2773"]
[BlackElo "2671"]
[Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"]
[PlyCount "58"]
[EventDate "2022.05.05"]
{[%evp 0,58,16,16,21,23,71,61,10,-7,1,25,6,2,-4,-4,5,-10,-8,-21,12,6,12,22,17,
14,42,12,2,43,47,32,29,-38,-45,-64,30,-74,1,-12,-7,0,-17,-11,0,0,-29,-21,0,0,0,
-118,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. d4 Nxe4 4. Bd3 d5 5. Nxe5 Nd7
6. Nc3 Nxc3 7. bxc3 Nxe5 8. dxe5 Bc5 9. Qh5 (9. O-O) 9... g6 10. Qh6 Bf8 11.
Qe3 Qe7 $146 (11... Be7 {had been played in previous games. (All
correspondence games, so - say it with me! - all drawn.)}) 12. a4 Qc5 13. Qd2 (
13. Qd4 $14) 13... Qa5 (13... Bd7) (13... Be6) 14. Rb1 Be7 (14... Bg7) 15. O-O
O-O 16. Qf4 Qxc3 17. h4 $44 c5 (17... Qc6 $142) (17... b6 $142) 18. h5 (18. Rb5
a6 19. Bd2 Qxd3 20. cxd3 axb5 21. axb5 Be6 $11) (18. Bd2 $1 Qd4 19. Qxd4 cxd4
20. Bg5 $14) 18... Qd4 (18... c4 $142) 19. Qxd4 cxd4 20. Bh6 (20. a5 $14) 20...
Re8 21. f4 Rb8 $6 (21... b6 $11) 22. f5 gxf5 23. Bxf5 (23. Rf3 $1 $14 {/+/-})
23... d3 $1 $11 24. Bxc8 Rbxc8 25. Rf4 dxc2 26. Rg4+ Kh8 27. Bg7+ Kg8 28. Bh6+
Kh8 29. Bg7+ Kg8 1/2-1/2
[Event "Superbet Classic 2022"]
[Site "Bucharest ROU"]
[Date "2022.05.05"]
[Round "1.4"]
[White "So, Wesley"]
[Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E48"]
[WhiteElo "2776"]
[BlackElo "2759"]
[Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"]
[PlyCount "104"]
[EventDate "2022.05.05"]
{[%evp 0,104,16,22,30,4,4,4,17,28,33,33,34,16,9,7,23,8,9,15,8,3,9,18,7,-21,-21,
-12,10,10,38,13,54,-47,-43,-28,24,-5,-6,-3,0,-60,-35,-18,-22,-18,-8,3,-11,17,
36,-12,-10,-13,-23,-17,-25,-9,-17,2,0,0,0,0,0,0,9,5,9,17,17,10,11,9,11,3,8,48,
48,0,0,0,6,20,21,1,0,25,25,25,25,25,25,25,25,9,25,0,0,-8,0,0,42,24,81,81,29985]
} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. cxd5 exd5 7. a3 Bd6 8.
Qc2 a6 (8... c6) 9. Nge2 Re8 10. O-O b6 11. b4 Nbd7 12. Nf4 Bxf4 $146 (12...
Bb7 13. Rb1 Nf8 14. f3 Ng6 15. Nfe2 Qe7 16. Ng3 Qd7 17. Nf5 Bf8 18. Kh1 Ne7 19.
Ng3 Rad8 20. Nce2 Ng6 21. e4 dxe4 22. fxe4 Re6 23. Bb2 Ng4 24. Qb3 b5 25. Bc2
Rc6 26. Nf5 Re8 27. Neg3 a5 28. Bd3 Rce6 29. bxa5 c6 30. e5 Be7 31. Nh5 Bf8 32.
h3 Nh6 33. Nxh6+ gxh6 34. Nf6+ Rxf6 35. Rxf6 Bg7 36. Rf2 Rb8 37. Be4 c5 38.
Bxb7 c4 39. Qf3 Rxb7 40. Bc3 {1-0 (40) Rapport,R (2763)-Vidit,S (2727)
Belgrade 2022}) 13. exf4 $14 c5 14. dxc5 bxc5 15. Rd1 Bb7 16. Na4 (16. bxc5
$142 $14) 16... c4 17. Bf5 a5 (17... Qc7 $142 $11) 18. Be3 axb4 19. axb4 Qe7 $6
(19... Bc6 $142 {was better, aiming to prevent the b-pawn from advancing.}) 20.
Rab1 g6 21. Bxd7 Nxd7 22. Nc3 $16 {Black's connected passers are blockaded and
his minor pieces are restricted. White, meanwhile, has at least four nice
assets: the b-pawn, play against d5, a potential monster bishop on d4, and the
f4-f5 advance.} Nf6 23. Bd4 (23. h3 $142 $16) 23... Nh5 24. Qd2 f6 $2 (24...
Qh4) 25. h3 (25. f5) 25... Ng7 26. Bc5 Qf7 27. Nb5 {Let's note a fifth asset:
the dark squares!} Nf5 28. Nd4 Qd7 29. Re1 Kf7 30. Rxe8 Rxe8 31. Ra1 Ra8 32.
Re1 Re8 33. Rxe8 Qxe8 34. Nxf5 gxf5 35. Bd4 {Even here, with limited material
and opposite-colored bishops, White has a real advantage.} Bc6 36. f3 h5 37.
Qf2 Qf8 38. Qb2 Qb8 $2 (38... Qd6) 39. Qd2 $2 (39. Bxf6 $142 Qxf4 40. Bd4 $18 {
leaves Black's kingside more exposed.}) 39... Kg6 40. Qe3 Kf7 (40... Qxb4 $4
41. Qe6 $18 {wins immediately.}) 41. Bc3 Bd7 42. Kh2 Qd6 43. Kg3 Kg6 44. Kh4
Bb5 45. Qd4 Bd7 46. Qd2 Bc6 47. Bd4 Bd7 48. g3 Be8 49. Qb2 Qc6 (49... Bb5) 50.
Qa3 Qa4 51. Qe3 Qd7 52. b5 $1 Qxb5 $2 {Black was losing in any case, but this
allows White to convert his advantage immediately.} (52... Qxb5 $2 53. Qe6 Qc6
54. Qg8+ Kh6 55. g4 $1 hxg4 56. hxg4 fxg4 57. fxg4 {and there's no defense to
mate in two starting with 58.g5+ (except to resign, lose on time, or allow
mate in one by playing 57...f5).}) 1-0
[Event "Superbet Classic 2022"]
[Site "Bucharest ROU"]
[Date "2022.05.05"]
[Round "1.5"]
[White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Black "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C42"]
[WhiteElo "2750"]
[BlackElo "2753"]
[Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[EventDate "2022.05.05"]
{[%evp 0,71,16,17,17,4,4,1,51,24,24,38,33,19,1,-57,1,7,2,2,27,34,27,36,21,10,
21,26,36,30,36,9,16,15,12,15,17,11,29,7,0,9,5,9,34,9,18,8,23,19,9,10,13,22,20,
20,25,24,30,19,21,12,12,15,13,12,10,0,16,20,21,0,20,21]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3.
Nxe5 d6 4. Nd3 Nxe4 5. Qe2 {It's not that the game is immediately dead drawn
after this. But it does lose almost all of its entertainment value, so you
have my blessing to immediately go on to the next game.} Qe7 6. Nf4 Nf6 7. d4
Qxe2+ 8. Bxe2 Nc6 9. c3 d5 10. Bf3 Ne7 11. O-O Bf5 12. Re1 O-O-O 13. Nd2 Ng6
14. Nf1 Bd6 15. Ng3 Rhe8 16. Be3 Nh4 17. Nxf5 Nxf5 18. Bd2 c6 19. Rxe8 Rxe8 20.
Nd3 Nh4 21. Bd1 Ne4 22. Be1 Nf5 $6 23. a4 $6 (23. Bg4 $14) 23... g6 24. g4 Ng7
25. f3 Nf6 26. Bg3 Bxg3 27. hxg3 Nd7 28. Kf2 h5 29. gxh5 Nxh5 30. Bc2 Ng7 31.
Rh1 Nf5 32. g4 Nd6 33. Rh7 Nf6 34. Rh1 Nd7 35. Rh7 Nf6 36. Rh1 1/2-1/2
[Event "Superbet Classic 2022"]
[Site "Bucharest ROU"]
[Date "2022.05.06"]
[Round "2.1"]
[White "So, Wesley"]
[Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D27"]
[WhiteElo "2776"]
[BlackElo "2750"]
[Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"]
[PlyCount "47"]
[EventDate "2022.05.05"]
{[%evp 0,47,16,15,15,26,38,6,25,21,37,58,22,25,48,20,16,20,33,33,40,40,63,52,
48,46,47,37,34,26,51,15,24,22,31,31,25,47,52,28,29,20,17,17,43,17,14,17,67,9]}
1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 dxc4 4. e3 e6 5. Bxc4 a6 6. O-O c5 7. b3 cxd4 8. Nxd4
Be7 9. Bb2 O-O 10. Be2 b5 (10... Bd7 11. Nd2 Nc6 {is usual.}) 11. a4 bxa4 12.
Rxa4 Bb7 13. Bf3 (13. Nd2 Nbd7 14. Nc4 Nb6 15. Ra1 Nxc4 16. Bxc4 Qb6 17. Qe2
Rfd8 18. Bc3 Bb4 19. Bxb4 Qxb4 20. Bxa6 e5 21. Nf3 Bxf3 22. Qxf3 e4 23. Qe2
Qxb3 24. Bc4 Qc3 25. Rac1 Qe5 26. h3 g6 27. Rfd1 Kg7 28. Rxd8 Rxd8 29. Qa2 Rd7
30. Qa1 Qxa1 31. Rxa1 Rc7 32. Bf1 Nd7 33. g4 Ne5 34. Be2 Rc2 35. Kf1 f5 36.
gxf5 gxf5 37. Ra5 Kf6 38. Ra6+ Kg5 39. Ra5 Kf6 40. Ra6+ Kg5 41. Ra5 {1/2-1/2
(41) Sargissian,G (2702)-Dominguez Perez,L (2732) Huaian 2016}) 13... Qd7 $146
14. Nd2 (14. Rc4 $14) 14... Nc6 15. Nc4 Nxd4 16. Bxd4 Bxf3 17. Qxf3 Qb5 $11 18.
Rb1 Rab8 19. Raa1 Rfd8 20. h3 Rd5 (20... Nd5 $11) 21. Qg3 Rg5 $6 (21... Nh5
$142 $11) 22. Qf3 $6 (22. Qf4 $142 $1 Rf5 23. Qc7 Re8 (23... Bd8 24. Qa7 $16 {
/+-}) 24. Ra5 $16) (22. Qc7 Bd8 $11 23. Qa7 $4 Qc6 $19 {is why White needs to
first nudge Black's rook to f5.}) 22... Rd5 23. Qg3 Rg5 $6 24. Qf3 $6 1/2-1/2
[Event "Superbet Classic 2022"]
[Site "Bucharest ROU"]
[Date "2022.05.06"]
[Round "2.2"]
[White "Firouzja, Alireza"]
[Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C24"]
[WhiteElo "2804"]
[BlackElo "2773"]
[Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"]
[PlyCount "110"]
[EventDate "2022.05.05"]
1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 {As a fan, I enjoy seeing this move, though it's probably less
promising than other 1.e4-based ways of facing or skirting the Berlin.} Nf6 3.
d3 c6 4. Nf3 d5 5. Bb3 a5 6. a4 Bb4+ 7. c3 Bd6 8. exd5 cxd5 9. Bg5 Be6 10. Na3
Nbd7 11. Nb5 Bb8 12. d4 (12. O-O O-O 13. Bh4 h6 14. Re1 Re8 15. d4 e4 16. Nd2
Ra6 17. c4 dxc4 18. Bxc4 Bxc4 19. Nxc4 Qe7 20. d5 Qb4 21. b3 Ne5 22. d6 Nxc4
23. bxc4 Bxd6 24. Bxf6 gxf6 25. Qg4+ Kf8 26. Rxe4 Rxe4 27. Qxe4 Bc5 28. Nc7
Bxf2+ 29. Kf1 Qd2 30. Qf3 Rd6 31. Nb5 Qb2 32. Nxd6 Qxa1+ 33. Kxf2 Qd4+ 34. Ke2
Qxd6 35. Qxb7 Qe5+ 36. Kd3 Qf5+ 37. Qe4 Qf1+ 38. Kd4 Qd1+ 39. Kc5 Qxa4 40. Qb1
Qa3+ 41. Kb5 Kg7 42. c5 a4 43. Qb4 Qb3 44. c6 Qd5+ 45. Kb6 Qb3 46. Kc5 Qe3+ 47.
Kb5 Qb3 48. c7 Qd5+ 49. Qc5 Qd7+ 50. Qc6 Qc8 51. Kxa4 h5 52. Kb5 h4 53. Kb6 h3
54. g3 f5 55. Ka7 {1-0 (55) Karjakin,S (2758)-Nepomniachtchi,I (2792)
Stavanger 2021}) 12... e4 13. Nd2 O-O 14. Nf1 h6 15. Bh4 Bf4 16. h3 $146 (16.
Ne3 $142 {is usual.} Nb6 17. Qe2 Rc8 18. h3 Re8 19. Bg3 Bxg3 20. fxg3 Rf8 (
20... Na8 21. g4 Nc7 22. Na3 Qd6 23. O-O Red8 24. Qd2 Rb8 25. Bd1 Qg3 26. Be2
Nh7 27. Kh1 Ra8 28. Nac2 Nf8 29. Nf5 Bxf5 30. gxf5 Rd6 31. Ra3 Rb6 32. b4 Qg5
33. Ne3 Qe7 34. bxa5 Rxa5 35. Rfa1 Ra7 36. a5 Rc6 37. Qb2 Nd7 38. Bb5 Rd6 39.
Bxd7 Qxd7 40. Rb3 Ne8 41. Rb1 Rxa5 42. Rxb7 Qa4 43. Qf2 Ra8 44. Ng4 Rad8 45.
Re7 Kf8 46. Qh4 Qc2 47. Reb7 Kg8 48. Ne5 Rf6 49. Rb8 Rxb8 50. Rxb8 Qc1+ 51. Kh2
Rxf5 52. Rxe8+ Kh7 53. Rf8 f6 54. Qg3 Rg5 55. Ng4 h5 56. Qe3 Qc2 57. Qf2 Qxc3
58. Ne3 Qxd4 59. h4 Qe5+ 60. g3 Rg6 61. Rd8 d4 62. Nc4 e3 63. Qf3 Qe6 64. Qxh5+
Rh6 65. Qe2 Qe4 66. Qg2 Qxg2+ 67. Kxg2 f5 68. Ne5 e2 69. Kf2 f4 70. g4 Rxh4 71.
Rxd4 Rh3 72. Re4 {1-0 (72) Valinova,J (2385)-Kudr,R (2353) ICCF email 2018})
21. g4 Ne8 22. O-O Nd6 23. Nxd6 Qxd6 24. Rf2 Qd7 25. Rf4 Rcd8 26. Raf1 f6 27.
h4 Nc8 28. g5 fxg5 29. Rxf8+ Rxf8 30. Rxf8+ Kxf8 31. hxg5 hxg5 32. Qh5 Ne7 33.
Qxg5 Qd6 34. Bd1 Bf7 35. Be2 Qf6 36. Qxf6 gxf6 37. Bg4 Ke8 38. Kf2 Kd8 39. Kg3
Kc7 40. Be2 Kd6 41. Kf4 {1/2-1/2 (41) Valinova,J (2385)-Bell,A (2409) ICCF
email 2018}) 16... Re8 (16... g5 17. Bg3 Nb6) 17. g3 $6 (17. Qe2 $11) 17... Bb8
$15 18. g4 {Black threatened ...g5.} Nf8 19. Ne3 Ng6 20. Bxf6 $2 (20. Bg3 Nf4
$15) 20... Qxf6 $17 21. Bxd5 Bxd5 $6 (21... Nf4 $1 $17 22. Bxe4 $2 Bc4 $1 23.
Nxc4 Rxe4+ 24. Kd2 Re2+ 25. Qxe2 Nxe2 26. Kxe2 Bf4 $19) 22. Nxd5 Qg5 $15 23. c4
(23. Ne3 $142) 23... Bf4 $2 (23... Nf4 $15) 24. Qb3 $2 (24. Qe2 $142 $16) 24...
h5 $6 (24... Qh4 $15) 25. Ne3 Qh4 26. gxh5 Qxh5 (26... Bxe3 $142 27. Qxe3 Qxh5
$44) 27. Qd1 Qh6 28. Nf5 $6 {Of course the knight looks great here, and it's
nice to kick Black's queen to h7. But the e-pawn needs blockading!} (28. Qe2 $1
$16) 28... Qh7 $11 29. Qg4 Ra6 $6 (29... e3 $1 30. fxe3 Bxe3 31. Kd1 Rad8 32.
Re1 Nh4 $1 33. Qxh4 (33. Nxh4 $4 Qd3#) (33. Nxe3 Qd3+ 34. Kc1 Rxe3 35. Qxh4
Rde8 36. Rxe3 Rxe3 37. Qd8+ (37. Ra3 Qf1+ 38. Kc2 Qf5+ 39. Kd2 g5 $8 40. Rxe3
$8 gxh4 $11) 37... Kh7 38. Qh4+ Kg8 $11) 33... Qxf5 34. Rxe3 Rxe3 35. Qxd8+ Kh7
{and the weakness of White's own king forces him to take a perpetual.} 36. Qh4+
Kg8 37. Qd8+ $11) 30. Kd1 (30. h4 $142 Rf6 31. Nc3 Nf8 $1 {The only move.} 32.
Ne3 $1 {Likewise.} Ne6 33. Ncd5 Rg6 34. Qh3 Qh5 $8 35. Rd1 Bxe3 36. fxe3 f5 37.
Qh2 f4 38. Nxf4 Nxf4 39. Qxf4 Ree6 $1 40. Rd2 $1 $14 {Not a realistic line,
perhaps (ok, definitely), but it looks like best play. White is better, but
it's messy.}) 30... Rf6 31. Re1 $2 (31. Rg1) 31... Nf8 $17 32. Ne3 Bb8 33. Qe2
Qh4 $15 (33... Rf3 $142) 34. Rf1 Rf3 35. Kc2 Ne6 36. Nd5 Ng5 $6 (36... Rxh3
$142) 37. Rae1 $11 (37. Ra3 $1 $14) 37... Re6 38. Ndc3 Ref6 39. Nd1 $2 (39. Kb1
$1 Rxf2 40. Rxf2 Rxf2 41. Qg4 $11) 39... R3f4 $2 (39... Rxh3 $142 $19) 40. Qe3
$2 (40. c5 $11) 40... Nf3 $19 41. d5 Be5 42. c5 Nxe1+ (42... Qxh3 $142) 43.
Rxe1 Rxf2+ 44. Nxf2 Rf3 $2 (44... Rxf2+ 45. Re2 Rxe2+ 46. Qxe2 Qf4 $1 $19) 45.
Nxe4 $2 {The final critical mistake in this crazy game.} (45. Qxe4 $1 Rxf2+ 46.
Kd1 Qh5+ 47. Re2 Bxb2 48. c6 Rxe2 49. Qxe2 Qxd5+ 50. Kc2 $11) 45... Rxe3 46.
Rxe3 f5 $19 47. Nec3 Bxc3 48. Nxc3 Qf2+ 49. Kd3 f4 50. Re4 Qg3+ 51. Kd2 $2 (51.
Kc2) 51... f3 52. d6 Qg2+ 53. Ne2 f2 54. Re8+ Kf7 55. Re7+ (55. d7 Qd5+) 55...
Kf6 0-1
[Event "Superbet Classic 2022"]
[Site "Bucharest ROU"]
[Date "2022.05.06"]
[Round "2.3"]
[White "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B33"]
[WhiteElo "2753"]
[BlackElo "2786"]
[Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"]
[PlyCount "94"]
[EventDate "2022.05.05"]
{[%evp 0,94,16,17,45,48,73,49,22,28,27,48,47,21,16,20,1,3,3,-25,21,-6,0,-6,7,
-2,1,3,7,-10,-2,-16,-14,-46,-14,-14,-24,-24,18,1,-3,-2,-2,9,1,3,-9,0,0,16,15,1,
12,-3,-4,7,35,27,31,33,26,10,26,12,40,26,13,6,3,6,5,0,94,-3,-3,0,0,-23,15,27,
31,50,51,6,0,13,45,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4
Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bf4 e5 8. Bg5 a6 9. Na3 b5 10. Nd5 Be7 11. Bxf6
Bxf6 12. c3 Rb8 13. Nc2 O-O 14. a3 (14. h4 {is the traditional main line.})
14... g6 {Very rare.} (14... Bg5 {is more common; indeed, it's a very popular
choice on either of the last two moves.}) 15. Ncb4 Bb7 16. Be2 Bg5 17. O-O $146
Ne7 $11 18. Qd3 Nc8 {Leaving White with his "superfluous" knight on b4.} 19.
Rfd1 a5 20. Nc2 Nb6 21. Nce3 Na4 22. Qc2 Bxe3 23. Nxe3 Nc5 24. Bd3 a4 25. f3
Bc8 26. Qf2 Be6 27. Bc2 Qe7 28. Rd2 Nb3 29. Bxb3 Bxb3 30. Re1 $14 Qe6 31. f4 {
Slightly premature.} (31. Qg3 Kh8 32. Rf1 {and next f4 would be better - but
not much better.}) 31... exf4 32. Qxf4 Qe5 (32... Rbe8 $1 33. Ng4 f5 34. Rxd6
Qe7 35. Nh6+ $8 Kg7 36. Rd4 Rd8 37. e5 Rxd4 38. cxd4 Be6 39. h4 $8 Rc8 $44 {/=}
) 33. Qh4 h5 34. Rd4 Rbe8 35. Rf1 f5 36. Rf4 Rf7 37. Qg5 Kh7 38. h4 fxe4 39.
Rxf7+ Bxf7 40. Qxe5 dxe5 41. Rd7 Kg7 42. Kf2 Kf6 43. Rd6+ Re6 44. Nd5+ Kf5 45.
Ne3+ Kf6 46. Nd5+ Kf5 47. Ne3+ Kf6 1/2-1/2
[Event "Superbet Classic 2022"]
[Site "Bucharest ROU"]
[Date "2022.05.06"]
[Round "2.4"]
[White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"]
[Black "Rapport, Richard"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C10"]
[WhiteElo "2759"]
[BlackElo "2776"]
[Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[EventDate "2022.05.05"]
{[%evp 0,73,17,16,30,37,36,19,54,22,50,50,71,51,52,42,66,36,36,7,7,18,47,18,33,
57,10,24,67,47,33,16,47,-2,46,-28,57,-54,64,57,2,-46,58,42,0,0,0,50,36,42,85,
73,86,77,49,9,0,6,0,0,0,8,17,17,17,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3.
Nc3 Nc6 $5 {/?! Not a popular line, but Rapport - like Mamedyarov - likes his
semi-correct sidelines.} 4. e5 f6 5. Bb5 Qd7 6. Nf3 a6 7. Bxc6 (7. Bd3 fxe5 8.
dxe5 Nh6 9. O-O g6 10. Bf4 Bg7 11. Qd2 Nf7 12. Rfe1 b6 13. a3 Bb7 14. Rad1 Ne7
15. Ng5 O-O 16. Nxf7 Rxf7 17. Bh6 Raf8 18. Bxg7 Kxg7 19. f3 c5 20. Ne2 Qa4 21.
c3 Qh4 22. Rf1 Bc6 23. Bxa6 b5 24. a4 bxa4 25. Qe3 Rb8 26. Qxc5 Rxb2 27. Nd4
Bd7 28. Rb1 Ra2 29. Rb7 Qg5 30. Be2 Nf5 31. f4 Nxd4 32. Qxd4 Qf5 33. Bf3 Be8
34. Bxd5 Rxb7 35. Bxb7 Qc2 36. Qc5 Bf7 37. h4 Qb2 38. Bf3 Ra1 39. Rxa1 Qxa1+
40. Kh2 Qc1 41. Kg3 a3 42. Qe7 Qxc3 43. h5 gxh5 44. Qf6+ Kg8 45. Qd8+ Kg7 46.
Qf6+ Kg8 47. Qd8+ {1/2-1/2 (47) Najer,E (2707)-Rapport,R (2675) Tbilisi 2017})
7... Qxc6 8. O-O (8. exf6 Nxf6 9. Ne5 Qb6 10. O-O Bd6 11. Na4 Qa7 12. Be3 b6
13. b3 O-O 14. c4 dxc4 15. bxc4 Bb7 16. c5 bxc5 17. dxc5 Nd5 18. Qd4 Nxe3 19.
fxe3 Bxe5 20. Qxe5 Rxf1+ 21. Rxf1 Bd5 22. Rd1 Qb8 23. Nc3 c6 24. Qxb8+ Rxb8 25.
e4 Bc4 26. Rd4 Bxa2 27. Ra4 Bb1 28. Rxa6 Bd3 29. Rxc6 Rb3 30. Na4 Rb4 31. Nb6
Bxe4 32. Rxe6 Kf7 33. Re5 Rb1+ 34. Kf2 Rb2+ 35. Ke3 Bxg2 36. Nc4 Ra2 37. Nd6+
Kf6 38. Rf5+ Ke6 39. Rf7 Rc2 40. Rxg7 Rxc5 41. Rxg2 {1/2-1/2 (41) Hansen,E
(2559)-Rapport,R (2691) Caleta 2014}) 8... Ne7 $146 9. exf6 (9. Re1 $14 {
/+/- is a good alternative. White maintains the tension, and intends Ne2-f4.})
9... gxf6 10. Nh4 h5 11. Qf3 Bg7 12. b3 (12. Re1 $1 {looks dangerous for Black.
For example:} Bd7 (12... e5 $2 13. dxe5 fxe5 14. Bg5 $18) 13. b3 O-O-O 14. Ba3
Rhe8 15. Bxe7 Rxe7 16. Nxd5 Ree8 17. Nf4 Qxc2 18. Rac1 $16) 12... e5 $1 13. Ba3
$1 (13. dxe5 $4 fxe5 $19 14. Bg5 $2 e4 {would be 0-1. This is why 12.Re1 is
more precise.}) 13... Bg4 14. Qg3 Rg8 15. Bxe7 Kxe7 16. Rae1 $14 e4 17. Na4 (
17. Qe3 $14 {is best, followed by f3.}) 17... f5 $1 $11 18. f3 (18. h3 f4 $8)
18... Bxd4+ 19. Kh1 f4 $8 20. Qxf4 Raf8 21. Qd2 Bf6 22. fxe4 $1 dxe4 23. Rxe4+
Qxe4 24. Re1 Qxe1+ 25. Qxe1+ Kd8 26. h3 Bxh3 $1 27. gxh3 Bd4 28. Qd1 Rg1+ 29.
Qxg1 Bxg1 30. Kxg1 {The long, crazy tactical sequence has come to an end.
Normally such a situation would be great for White, as Black has no extra
pawns to compensate for White's two knights vs. his rook. It's because White's
knights are awkwardly placed that Black's rook can save the day.} Rf4 31. Ng2
Rf3 32. h4 b6 33. Nb2 Rc3 34. Ne1 Rh3 35. Ng2 Rc3 36. Ne1 Rh3 37. Ng2 {A nice
game, though I wouldn't recommend that Rapport (or anyone else) repeat his
opening.} 1/2-1/2
[Event "Superbet Classic 2022"]
[Site "Bucharest ROU"]
[Date "2022.05.06"]
[Round "2.5"]
[White "Deac, Bogdan-Daniel"]
[Black "Aronian, Levon"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D27"]
[WhiteElo "2671"]
[BlackElo "2765"]
[Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"]
[PlyCount "105"]
[EventDate "2022.05.05"]
{[%evp 0,105,17,15,15,20,28,6,21,23,27,25,45,55,49,20,20,20,41,38,39,29,25,32,
34,34,73,34,34,21,25,12,41,-4,5,5,20,9,14,17,23,16,16,-8,-8,-12,-10,-16,-15,
-12,-1,-50,-3,-8,-10,-44,-42,-36,-21,-26,-28,-24,-27,-30,-28,-13,-27,-73,-79,
-78,-78,-89,-65,-90,-96,-70,-65,-52,-52,-70,-12,-14,-14,-12,0,0,0,-9,58,49,51,
42,33,42,38,29,40,18,30,22,29,31,75,22,23,13,70,22]} 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4
dxc4 4. e3 e6 5. Bxc4 c5 6. O-O a6 7. b3 Nc6 (7... cxd4 {was played in So-MVL,
also in this round.}) 8. Bb2 cxd4 9. Nxd4 Nxd4 10. Bxd4 Bd7 11. Nd2 Bc6 12. Nf3
Be4 13. Ng5 Bc6 14. Qe2 Qa5 15. f4 Be7 16. Rad1 (16. f5 h6 17. Nf3 Qxf5 18. Ne5
Qg5 {would be interesting, giving White the choice to make a real sac out of
it with something like 19.Rf4 and Raf1, or to regain the material with} 19.
Nxc6 bxc6 20. Bxa6 {. Both are equal, but at least this line forces Black to
come up with} O-O $1 21. Bb7 c5 $1 22. Bxa8 cxd4 23. Bf3 dxe3 $44 {, when it's
now Black who has the compensation for his small material deficit.}) 16... h6
17. Nf3 O-O 18. Ne5 Be4 19. Bd3 (19. g4 $5 {is more bloodthirsty, though not
necessarily better.}) 19... Bxd3 20. Rxd3 Rac8 21. Nc4 Qh5 22. Qxh5 Nxh5 23. g4
Nf6 $11 {From here Aronian outplays Deac, but not enough to win.} 24. Bxf6 Bxf6
25. a4 b5 26. axb5 axb5 27. Na3 Rb8 28. Rf2 Rb6 29. Rfd2 Ra8 30. Nc2 Rc6 31.
Nd4 Rc1+ 32. Kg2 b4 33. Rd1 Ra2+ 34. Kg3 Rc5 $2 (34... Rxd1 35. Rxd1 Rb2 36.
Rd3 e5 37. Nf5 exf4+ 38. exf4 Bc3 $17) 35. h4 e5 36. fxe5 Bxe5+ 37. Kf3 Bf6 38.
h5 Rh2 39. Ne2 Rg5 40. Nf4 Rh4 41. Rg1 Be5 42. Rd8+ Kh7 43. Rf8 Bxf4 44. exf4
Rh3+ 45. Rg3 Rxg3+ 46. Kxg3 Rd5 47. Rxf7 Rd3+ 48. Kf2 Rxb3 49. Rb7 Rb2+ 50. Kf3
Rb3+ 51. Kf2 Rb2+ 52. Kf3 Rb3+ 53. Kf2 1/2-1/2
