[Event "83rd Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2021.01.29"] [Round "11.3"] [White "Tari, Aryan"] [Black "Esipenko, Andrey"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C79"] [WhiteElo "2625"] [BlackElo "2677"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "2021.01.16"] {[%evp 0,65,21,12,12,12,29,17,13,-22,27,25,7,10,23,-2,1,4,10,12,29,-31,17,18, -3,-38,-15,-22,21,27,27,22,47,41,52,54,52,47,49,65,67,30,42,30,49,41,42,33,41, 40,46,43,40,60,66,58,139,165,192,192,202,202,251,312,365,400,395,420]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 {Obviously playable, but a little surprising. Esipenko didn't need to play for a win with Black at this stage of the tournament.} 5. O-O Nf6 (5... Bd7) 6. Re1 Bd7 7. c3 g6 8. d4 Bg7 9. Nbd2 O-O 10. Bc2 (10. h3) ({and} 10. Nf1 {are more common.}) 10... Nh5 (10... exd4 $1 11. cxd4 Nh5 $11) 11. dxe5 (11. d5 $142) 11... dxe5 (11... Nxe5 $142) 12. Nf1 Nf4 (12... Be6 $142) 13. Ne3 (13. g3 $142 $14) 13... Kh8 $2 (13... Be6 { is better, but Black hasn't gone ...Nf6-h5-f4 in pursuit of an equal ending. If he has a coach, his coach may have failed him this game. Tari may be slightly weaker than him and having a bad tournament, but it doesn't mean you can just do anything you want to against such an opponent.}) 14. Nd5 $16 Ne6 15. h4 $6 h5 $2 {After this Black is already nearly lost, with an inferior position on both flanks and in the center.} (15... f5 {had to be tried.}) 16. Be3 f6 17. b4 Ne7 18. Qe2 (18. Qd2) 18... Nc8 19. c4 Qe8 20. c5 a5 21. a3 Na7 22. Bb3 Nb5 23. Bc4 (23. a4 $142 $18) 23... axb4 24. axb4 Rxa1 25. Rxa1 f5 $2 { Black was probably headed for a loss in any case, but this speeds it up.} 26. exf5 gxf5 27. Ng5 Nxg5 28. hxg5 f4 {If White retreats the attacked bishop he's lost. No doubt this is what Esipenko was counting on (or at least hoping for); if so, he's in for a nasty surprise.} 29. Ra8 $1 (29. Bd2 $2 Nd4 30. Qd1 Qg6 $19) 29... Qg6 30. Rxf8+ Bxf8 31. Bd2 Na3 (31... Nd4 32. Qxe5+ Bg7 33. Qe7 $18) 32. Bd3 Qxg5 33. Qe4 (33. Qe4 {It's all disastrously bad from here.} Qg7 (33... Qh6 34. Qxe5+ Bg7 35. Qxc7 Qe6 36. Nxf4 $18) 34. Bc3 $18) 1-0 [Event "83rd Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2021.01.29"] [Round "11.4"] [White "Van Foreest, Jorden"] [Black "Harikrishna, Pentala"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C53"] [WhiteElo "2671"] [BlackElo "2732"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "119"] [EventDate "2021.01.16"] {[%evp 0,119,21,32,17,17,12,10,15,5,5,5,18,12,44,-8,13,-20,8,-13,6,10,44,47,67, 42,65,65,76,76,75,75,118,121,127,112,112,112,118,119,119,115,101,110,103,94,94, 77,149,49,134,127,152,125,152,164,218,221,229,234,241,207,220,230,251,55,202, 175,156,153,139,144,144,136,136,126,409,407,351,140,154,128,127,103,187,168, 196,183,167,162,208,226,212,217,217,202,189,194,208,203,222,237,231,204,238, 240,249,249,277,280,321,375,429,436,517,424,456,463,469,377,384,347]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. O-O h6 7. Re1 O-O 8. Nbd2 a6 9. a4 Ng4 (9... Ba7) ({and} 9... Re8 {are the usual moves, and}) (9... a5 {has been played by a number of super-GMs as well, perhaps most recently - and most successfully - by Wesley So.}) 10. Re2 Kh8 (10... Nf6 {is not such a bad idea, asking White if he has anything better than Re1.}) 11. h3 f5 $2 {Consistent, but bad. There are Giuoco lines where this sac is a fine idea; unfortunately for Harikrishna, this isn't one of them.} 12. d4 $1 {This move is a real party pooper for Black.} (12. hxg4 $2 fxg4 13. Ne1 Qh4 $1 14. d4 Nxd4 $1 15. cxd4 Bxd4 16. Nf1 Bxf2+ 17. Rxf2 Qxf2+ 18. Kh1 Qh4+ 19. Kg1 Qf2+ $11 {is (presumably) the sort of thing Harikrishna was hoping for.}) 12... exd4 13. hxg4 d3 ({Now} 13... fxg4 {is well met by} 14. Nxd4 $18) 14. Bxd3 fxg4 15. Nd4 $18 Nxd4 (15... g3 $142) 16. cxd4 Bxd4 17. Nf1 {White is winning, and with the possible exception of one move his advantage is extremely comfortable the rest of the way. A good game by Van Foreest, but his opponent really made it too easy.} Qf6 18. Qc2 c5 19. Be3 Be5 20. Bc4 Bd7 21. Bd5 Rab8 22. Ng3 b5 23. axb5 Rxb5 24. Qd1 a5 25. Ra2 Rfb8 26. Rd2 Qh4 27. b3 R5b6 28. Rxa5 Bc6 29. Bxc6 Rxc6 30. Nf1 Rcb6 31. g3 Qh3 32. Bxc5 dxc5 33. Rd8+ Kh7 34. Rxb8 Rxb8 35. Rxc5 Re8 36. Qd7 Qh5 37. Ne3 Ra8 38. Qb5 Re8 39. Qa5 Qg5 40. Rd5 Qe7 41. Nxg4 Bb2 42. f3 Rc8 43. Qd2 Qa3 44. Rd7 Qxb3 45. Qxh6+ Kg8 46. Qh5 Qe6 47. Qd5 Qxd5 48. Rxd5 Rc2 49. Kf1 Bc1 50. Rd7 Kf8 51. e5 Bb2 52. f4 g5 53. Ne3 Rc5 54. e6 gxf4 55. gxf4 Rc1+ 56. Ke2 Ba3 57. Nf5 Rc8 58. Rf7+ Kg8 59. Kf3 Re8 60. Nh6+ 1-0 [Event "83rd Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2021.01.29"] [Round "11.5"] [White "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C53"] [WhiteElo "2749"] [BlackElo "2823"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "122"] [EventDate "2021.01.16"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. O-O h6 7. Re1 O-O 8. Nbd2 Bb6 9. a4 a5 10. Bb5 Ng4 11. Re2 Ne7 12. d4 Ng6 13. Nf1 d5 14. exd5 exd4 15. h3 Nf6 16. Nxd4 Nxd5 17. Re1 Ndf4 18. Be3 c6 19. Bc4 $2 {Here was Caruana's biggest chance.} Bc7 $2 $11 (19... Nxg2 $1 20. Kxg2 Qh4 21. Bd3 (21. Qf3 c5 { regains the piece, as a knight move allows 22...Qxc4.}) (21. Kg1 c5 22. Nb5 Qxc4 $19) 21... Qxh3+ 22. Kg1 Nh4 23. Be4 Bg4 24. Qd3 (24. f3 Qg2#) 24... Bxd4 25. Bxd4 Nf3+ 26. Bxf3 Bxf3 {and to avoid mate White has to pitch in the queen. } 27. Qxf3 Qxf3 $19) 20. Ng3 (20. Nf3 $142) 20... Nd5 $6 (20... Nxg2 $1 { is still good, though not as damaging as before.} 21. Kxg2 Qh4 22. Bf1 Bxh3+ 23. Kg1 Bxg3 24. Nf3 $1 $11 {allows White to reach a tolerable position.}) 21. Bd2 (21. Qb3 $142 $14) 21... Qd6 22. Bb3 Bd7 23. Nf3 Rfe8 24. Qc2 Ngf4 25. Rad1 Rxe1+ 26. Rxe1 Qf6 27. Nd4 Rd8 28. Re4 $6 Qg6 (28... c5 $142) 29. Bxd5 $2 Nxd5 30. Ngf5 Qf6 $17 31. Rg4 $2 {Caruana gets a second chance to prove a winning advantage.} g6 $2 (31... Kh8 $1 {It's surprising, but Black has a winning advantage. The problem with} 32. Rxg7 $2 {is the simple removing-the-guard idea } (32. Rh4 {is better, but after} Bxf5 33. Nxf5 Ne7 {Black is winning material and the game, the critical point being that} 34. Rh5 {fails to} Nxf5 35. Rxf5 Rxd2 $19) 32... Ne7 {. White's trickiest try is} 33. Rh7+ Kxh7 34. Nxe7+ { , but the bad news is that matters have not resolved themselves. White's knight is stuck, and the bishop on d2 is a problem for White's overloaded queen:} Kh8 35. Ndf5 Bxf5 36. Nxf5 Rxd2 37. Qxd2 Qxf5 38. Qxh6+ Kg8 $19 { and this is not the sort of position where White's two pawns constitute sufficient compensation for the piece, or anything close to it.}) 32. Nxh6+ Kf8 33. Re4 Nf4 $2 {Now it's Caruana's turn to get into trouble.} (33... c5 $14) 34. Ng4 $18 Bxg4 35. hxg4 Kg7 $2 (35... Re8 {was better, hoping that because White's extra pawn is a doubled pawn that won't easily create a passer, Black would retain reasonable drawing chances.}) 36. Bxf4 $2 (36. Nf3 {Keeping pieces on would have made Black's life harder.}) 36... Bxf4 37. Nf5+ gxf5 38. Rxf4 Qg5 39. Rxf5 $2 ({The subtle} 39. g3 $1 fxg4 40. Qe4 {would have kept a winning advantage, not that it would have been easy or automatic.}) 39... Qxg4 40. Rf3 Qh5 41. c4 $6 Rd4 42. Qc3 Qe5 43. Rd3 c5 $14 {White is still better, of course, but to win he's almost starting from scratch. Black has escaped.} 44. Rg3+ Kf8 45. Qxa5 Rd1+ 46. Kh2 Qh5+ 47. Rh3 Qe5+ 48. g3 Qf5 $1 (48... Qe4 $2 {would be winning for Black, were it not for} 49. Qxc5+ $18) 49. Qa8+ Ke7 50. Qxb7+ Rd7 $8 51. Qh1 $5 (51. Qg2 {makes no progress after} Rd2 52. Kg1 Rd1+ 53. Kh2 Rd2 $11) 51... Qxf2+ 52. Qg2 Rd2 53. Qxf2 Rxf2+ 54. Kg1 Rxb2 55. Rh5 Ra2 56. Rxc5 Rxa4 {White has succeeded in getting rid of the queens and maintaining his extra pawn. That's not nothing...but unfortunately the resulting rook ending is an easy draw, and Firouzja doesn't try for very long.} 57. Kg2 Kd6 58. Rd5+ Ke6 59. Rd4 Ke5 60. Rf4 f5 61. Kh3 Ra3 1/2-1/2 [Event "82nd Tata Steel GpA"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2021.01.30"] [Round "12.1"] [White "Wojtaszek, Radoslaw"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D45"] [WhiteElo "2705"] [BlackElo "2862"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "69"] [EventDate "2021.01.16"] {[%evp 0,69,21,19,19,6,6,6,42,42,44,44,38,21,25,19,35,38,44,38,45,28,29,8,1,21, 9,9,0,13,21,15,15,-18,0,0,0,0,4,-3,0,-27,-35,-17,-2,-2,0,0,0,0,0,0,5,0,0,-6,0, -6,-8,-17,-24,-8,-16,-14,10,10,23,20,14,12,12,0]} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c6 4. e3 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. Bd3 O-O 8. O-O dxc4 9. Bxc4 Qe7 10. a3 a6 11. h3 b5 12. Be2 Re8 13. Ng5 c5 14. dxc5 Nxc5 15. b4 Ncd7 16. Nce4 Nxe4 17. Nxe4 ({"Hey, wait a minute!" you might say. "Can't White just win with} 17. Qxe4 {, attacking the rook and threatening mate by Qxh7+ and Qh8#?" The answer is no, and we might call this the "Anything you can do, I can do better" trap. Here's the problem: Black first takes the knight...} Qxg5 18. Qxa8 {...and now repays the favor with the same fork:} Qe5 $19 {. White won the exchange, but Black is winning the full rook, leaving him a knight to the good and winning the game. Accordingly, 17.Qxe4 is a blunder.}) 17... Be5 18. Bb2 Bxb2 19. Qxb2 Bb7 20. Bd3 Rac8 21. Rfc1 Bxe4 22. Bxe4 Nb6 23. Bd3 g6 24. Rxc8 Rxc8 25. Rc1 Rc7 26. g3 Rxc1+ 27. Qxc1 Qd6 28. Be2 Nc4 29. Bxc4 Qc6 30. Qc3 bxc4 31. Kf1 Qh1+ 32. Ke2 Qb1 33. Qxc4 Qb2+ 34. Kf3 Qxa3 35. b5 1/2-1/2 [Event "83rd Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2021.01.30"] [Round "12.4"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C11"] [WhiteElo "2764"] [BlackElo "2749"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "134"] [EventDate "2021.01.16"] {[%evp 0,134,21,26,36,36,36,28,47,25,29,5,20,23,21,21,31,14,29,33,32,22,19,21, 23,16,30,16,19,-1,-5,3,0,0,19,43,43,44,60,55,48,36,28,33,28,28,28,18,22,2,2,2, 0,-4,6,-27,-20,-20,24,0,32,28,30,29,40,44,46,46,34,32,46,49,51,36,53,75,89,102, 100,100,100,85,85,84,102,104,108,85,142,124,221,221,216,166,161,178,178,123, 128,117,126,137,109,141,147,147,128,137,143,143,143,149,176,174,190,198,176, 159,159,195,195,119,128,100,89,104,85,71,67,72,81,81,81,74,74,74,74]} 1. e4 e6 {Definitely not the opening to use when one is playing for a draw, so Firouzja may have had grander ambitions, trailing Giri by half a point with two rounds to go.} 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 a6 8. a3 { This was really popular around a decade ago, but had mostly disappeared since then. As the '70s song put it, everything old is new again.} cxd4 9. Nxd4 Bc5 10. Qd2 O-O 11. Be2 Qc7 12. O-O b6 $146 {A novelty, but probably not such a good one. Most likely Firouzja ad-libbed this one.} (12... Nxd4) (12... b5) 13. Nxc6 Qxc6 14. b4 Bxe3+ 15. Qxe3 $14 Bb7 16. Bd3 d4 17. Qe4 Qxe4 18. Nxe4 Bd5 ( 18... Rfd8 {was better, to prevent 19.c3/c4.} 19. c4 $2 dxc3 20. Nxc3 Nxe5 21. Bxh7+ Kxh7 22. fxe5 Rd2 $17) 19. Ng5 (19. c4 $1 dxc3 20. Nxc3 $14 {/+/-}) 19... g6 20. Nf3 (20. Be4 $142) 20... Bxf3 21. Rxf3 b5 22. Be4 Rad8 23. Rd3 Nb6 24. Bb7 Na4 25. Bxa6 Nc3 {Black is still okay, but he's hanging on with a series of tactical tricks.} 26. Bb7 Ne2+ 27. Kf2 Nxf4 28. Rd2 d3 (28... f6 $11 { was better and, pleasantly for those of us who aren't top-15 players, refreshingly obvious.}) 29. c3 (29. c4 $1 bxc4 30. Rc1 $16) 29... Ne2 (29... g5 ) (29... Rb8) 30. Ke3 (30. a4 $1 bxa4 31. Ra3 $16 {/+- Black's a- and d-pawns are not long for this world.}) 30... Nxc3 31. Rxd3 Rxd3+ $2 (31... Rb8 $16) 32. Kxd3 $18 Na4 33. Rc1 Rd8+ 34. Ke2 (34. Kc2 $142) 34... Kg7 (34... Nb6 $142) 35. Bc6 Rb8 36. Rc2 $2 (36. Kd3) 36... Kf8 $2 (36... g5) 37. Kd2 Ke7 38. Kc1 f6 39. exf6+ Kxf6 40. Kb1 Ke5 41. Ka2 Kd4 42. Kb3 $18 {Just in time, before Black could play ...Nc3.} Kd3 43. Rf2 e5 44. Rf7 Nb6 45. Bxb5+ Kd4 {It's amazing that Giri failed to win this, but he did.} 46. a4 $6 (46. Bc6 e4 (46... Rc8 47. b5 e4 48. Rf4 Nd5 49. Rf1 $18) 47. Re7 e3 48. Kc2 {Threatening Re4, which doesn't win the e-pawn because it's an immediate mate.} Nd5 49. Rd7 {and it's the end.}) 46... Nd5 47. Rxh7 (47. Rd7 Rb6 48. Ka3 e4 49. Be2 {and White will push the queenside pawns next, with what should be a speedy win.}) 47... e4 48. Rf7 e3 49. Rf1 Nc3 50. Rf4+ Ke5 51. Rf3 Nxb5 52. Rxe3+ Kd4 53. Rg3 Nd6 54. Rxg6 {White is still winning, but a piece is a piece and knights are tricky.} Ne4 55. a5 Kd5 56. a6 (56. h4 $142) 56... Nc5+ 57. Ka3 Nd3 58. a7 Ra8 59. Rg7 Kc6 60. h4 $2 {This endangers the win, but it's still there with best play.} (60. Kb3 $142) ({or} 60. Ka4 $142 {still wins in relative comfort.} Kb6 (60... Nf4 61. Ka5 {prevents the try in the game.}) 61. h4 Nf4 62. Kb3 $1 {The point is that ...Rxa7 won't come with check (after 62...Ne6 63.Rg6), so in that line Black loses the knight and the game.} Rxa7 63. Rxa7 Kxa7 64. g3 $18) 60... Nf4 61. g4 $2 {Believe it or not, the win is now gone.} (61. Ka4 Ne6 62. b5+ Kb6 63. Rg6 Rxa7+ 64. Kb4 Re7 65. h5 Kc7 66. h6 Kd6 67. b6 $18 {Black can't stop everything.}) 61... Ne6 $11 62. Rf7 Nc7 63. g5 Rxa7+ 64. Kb2 Ra8 65. g6 Ne6 66. h5 Rh8 67. Rh7 Rg8 {The threat is ...Nf4 followed by ...Nxh5 and ...Rxg6 (the ending with R + b-pawn vs. R is a dead draw). The only way to stop this is with 68.Rf7, whereupon Black's rook returns to h8.} 1/2-1/2