[Event "Superbet Classic 2021"] [Site " Bucharest ROU"] [Date "2021.06.13"] [Round "8.1"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D85"] [WhiteElo "2770"] [BlackElo "2780"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "49"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] {[%evp 0,49,32,13,33,6,38,40,51,54,54,51,51,51,51,43,53,53,50,29,49,50,61,25, 25,25,50,34,38,27,27,27,19,37,24,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Nf3 c5 8. Rb1 { For a long time, this was the absolute main line of the Gruenfeld. Nowadays, it's basically a draw offer.} O-O 9. Be2 cxd4 10. cxd4 Qa5+ 11. Bd2 Qxa2 12. O-O Bg4 13. Rxb7 Bxf3 14. Bxf3 Bxd4 15. e5 Na6 16. Rxe7 Rad8 17. e6 {This has been Wesley So's patent, but I have no idea why he has played it six times, unless in all six games (or at least the last five of the six) a draw was a desirable result. It was also chosen in the game Radjabov-MVL from round 3 of this tournament, which this game reproduces from start to finish. Mamedyarov's aim is apparently to coast to tournament victory.} fxe6 18. Qe1 Nc5 (18... Bf6 19. Rxa7 Rxd2 20. Rxa6 Qxa6 21. Qxd2 Qb6 22. g3 Bd4 23. Kg2 Rxf3 (23... Kg7 24. Be4 Qb2 25. Qxb2 Bxb2 26. Rb1 Bd4 27. Rb7+ Rf7 28. Rxf7+ Kxf7 29. f3 h6 30. g4 g5 31. Bd3 Be5 32. Be4 Kf6 33. h3 Bf4 34. Bd3 Be5 35. Be4 Bf4 36. Bd3 Be5 37. Be4 {1/2-1/2 (37) So,W (2770)-Svidler,P (2723) chess24.com INT 2020}) 24. Kxf3 Qb7+ 25. Ke2 Qe4+ 26. Kd1 Qb1+ 27. Ke2 Qe4+ 28. Kd1 Qb1+ 29. Ke2 Qe4+ {1/2-1/2 (29) So,W (2770)-Vachier Lagrave,M (2784) chess24.com INT 2020}) 19. Bc3 Nd3 20. Bxd4 Nxe1 21. Rg7+ Kh8 22. Rd7+ Kg8 23. Rg7+ Kh8 24. Rd7+ Kg8 25. Rg7+ { As played in So-Nepomniachtchi and So - Vachier-Lagrave from this May, So-Giri from this March, and another So-Nepo game from last December. And, as noted earlier, Radjabov-MVL from round 3 of this tournament.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Superbet Classic 2021"] [Site " Bucharest ROU"] [Date "2021.06.13"] [Round "8.2"] [White "Grischuk, Alexander"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C78"] [WhiteElo "2776"] [BlackElo "2820"] [PlyCount "132"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Bc5 6. c3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. d4 Bb6 9. a4 Bg4 10. axb5 axb5 11. Rxa8 Qxa8 12. h3 Bh5 13. Re1 h6 14. g4 Bg6 15. Be3 exd4 16. cxd4 O-O 17. d5 Bxe3 18. Rxe3 Na5 19. Bc2 Nc4 20. Re1 Nxb2 21. Qd4 Nc4 22. Bd3 Qa4 23. Bxc4 bxc4 24. Nc3 Qc2 25. Qd2 Qb3 26. Nd4 Qa3 27. Ndb5 Qa5 28. Nd4 Re8 29. f3 Nd7 30. Kg2 Ne5 31. Rb1 Ra8 32. Kg3 Nd3 33. Nde2 Qc5 34. Nf4 Ne5 35. Qf2 Qa5 36. Qd4 Kh7 37. Nfe2 f6 38. f4 c5 39. dxc6 Nxc6 40. Qxd6 Rc8 41. Rb7 Qd8 42. Rd7 Qf8 43. Qxf8 Rxf8 44. Rc7 Be8 45. Rc8 Kg8 46. Nd5 Bd7 47. Rc7 Rd8 48. Kf2 Be8 49. Ng3 Nd4 50. Rxc4 Nb5 51. Nf5 Kf8 52. h4 Bd7 53. Nfe3 Nd6 54. Rd4 Bc6 55. Rb4 h5 56. Nc3 hxg4 57. Nxg4 Bxe4 58. Nxe4 Nxe4+ 59. Rxe4 f5 60. Re5 fxg4 61. Kg3 Kf7 62. Kxg4 Rd1 63. Rf5+ Kg8 64. Re5 Kf7 65. Rf5+ Kg8 66. Re5 Kf7 1/2-1/2 [Event "Superbet Classic 2021"] [Site " Bucharest ROU"] [Date "2021.06.13"] [Round "8.3"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A34"] [WhiteElo "2770"] [BlackElo "2760"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "79"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] {[%evp 0,79,32,18,26,6,12,17,57,59,45,59,58,60,75,56,56,56,40,40,36,38,63,38, 32,29,33,26,33,0,23,14,19,-35,-35,-3,12,-16,-16,-16,-16,-16,-16,-16,17,-15,0, -27,-7,-8,-8,0,0,5,0,22,19,11,28,-25,-25,-25,-28,-29,-9,-4,0,0,0,9,0,0,0,0,12, 0,11,0,11,0,11,0]} 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nb4 6. Bc4 Nd3+ 7. Ke2 Nf4+ 8. Kf1 Ne6 9. h4 Nd4 10. Nb5 Ndc6 $146 {An (anti-) aesthetic improvement over an earlier game of his. This makes eight moves by the knight out of 10 for the game. Chess is such a stupid game sometimes. :)} (10... Be6 11. d3 Nbc6 12. Nbxd4 Bxc4 13. dxc4 cxd4 14. Bf4 e6 15. Rh3 Bc5 16. a3 a5 17. e5 O-O 18. Ng5 Be7 19. Qh5 h6 20. Ne4 f5 21. exf6 Bxf6 22. Rg3 Ne7 23. Nxf6+ Rxf6 24. Be5 Nf5 25. Rf3 Rf7 26. Rd1 Qe7 27. Qg4 Rc8 28. b3 a4 29. Kg1 axb3 30. Rxb3 Rxc4 31. g3 Qc5 32. Qe4 Rd7 33. Rbd3 Qd5 34. Qf4 Rf7 35. Bxd4 {0-1 (35) Dominguez Perez,L (2739)-Vachier Lagrave,M (2779) Saint Louis 2018}) 11. d4 a6 12. d5 axb5 13. Bxb5 e6 (13... g6) (13... e5) 14. Qe2 Be7 15. dxc6 Nxc6 16. Rh3 $14 O-O 17. Rg3 Bxh4 18. Nxh4 Qxh4 19. Rh3 Qf6 20. Qh5 h6 21. Rg3 (21. Bxc6 $142 bxc6 22. Kg1 $14) 21... Kh7 22. Bxc6 bxc6 $11 23. Kg1 Ra4 $1 24. e5 Qh4 25. Qxh4 Rxh4 {The position is equal, and the rest of the game has an elegant flow on the way to the draw.} 26. Rc3 Re4 27. Rxc5 Re1+ 28. Kh2 Rd8 29. Bg5 Rxa1 30. Bxd8 Rxa2 31. Rxc6 Bb7 32. Rc7 Bd5 33. Rxf7 Rxb2 34. Bf6 Rb7 35. Rxb7 Bxb7 36. Bd8 Bd5 37. Bc7 Bb7 38. Bd8 Bd5 39. Bc7 Bb7 40. Bd8 1/2-1/2 [Event "Superbet Classic 2021"] [Site " Bucharest ROU"] [Date "2021.06.13"] [Round "8.4"] [White "Deac, Bogdan-Daniel"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B51"] [WhiteElo "2627"] [BlackElo "2781"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "124"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] {[%evp 0,124,32,32,62,36,76,50,73,37,49,49,42,35,35,5,72,65,58,47,56,54,53,44, 60,56,47,61,72,42,42,40,40,40,40,36,39,40,113,50,45,41,49,38,29,27,41,41,42,42, 38,37,37,25,0,-58,18,-24,10,14,3,-21,-20,-42,-25,-25,-27,-41,-50,-54,-18,-52, -5,0,-5,-42,-48,-54,-38,-64,-78,-104,-99,-104,-104,-101,-101,-101,-102,-96,-96, -126,-112,-102,-103,-106,-75,-172,-172,-172,-172,-172,-172,-172,-172,-172,-172, -172,-172,-172,-172,-172,-172,-172,-172,-172,-55,-58,-1,-134,-126,-447,-447, -550,-550,-678,-814]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 4. d4 cxd4 5. Qxd4 a6 6. Be2 (6. Bxd7+ {is more common, and after} Bxd7 {White chooses between 7.c4 and 7.Nc3.}) 6... Ngf6 7. O-O e6 {Surprisingly rare, though MVL played this last year.} ({Black generally chooses a more Najdorf-ish} 7... e5 {or the Dragonian} ) (7... g6) 8. Rd1 (8. c4) 8... Be7 9. Nc3 (9. c4 $142) 9... Qc7 10. a4 O-O 11. a5 Rd8 12. Be3 Ng4 13. Bg5 Ngf6 14. Qc4 (14. Qb4 $14) (14. Be3 Ng4 15. Bf4 Nge5 (15... e5 $4 16. Nd5 $18) 16. Qb4 $14) 14... Qxc4 15. Bxc4 b5 16. axb6 Nxb6 17. Be2 Bb7 18. Nd2 $11 {/+/=} Rd7 $2 (18... a5) 19. Bd3 $2 (19. Be3 $1 Bd8 20. f3 d5 21. Bd4 dxe4 22. Ndxe4 Nxe4 23. Nxe4 $16 {/+-}) 19... Rc7 20. f3 (20. Bf4) 20... d5 21. Be3 (21. exd5 $142) 21... dxe4 $11 22. Ndxe4 Nfd5 23. Bd4 f6 24. b3 Kf7 25. Nxd5 Nxd5 26. Bc4 (26. c4) 26... a5 27. c3 (27. h4 $142) 27... g5 ( 27... a4 $142) 28. Ra4 f5 29. Ng3 Bc5 30. Bxc5 (30. Re1 $142) 30... Rxc5 31. Bxd5 Bxd5 32. c4 Bc6 33. Ra3 a4 $15 34. Rda1 Rg8 35. bxa4 g4 36. f4 Rxc4 37. Ne2 Rb8 38. R3a2 Bd5 39. a5 Rcb4 40. Rd2 Rb2 41. Rad1 Rxd2 42. Rxd2 Ra8 43. Nc3 Rxa5 44. Kf2 $6 (44. Nxd5 $142 $15) 44... Bc6 $17 45. Nd1 Ra4 46. g3 Ra1 47. Nb2 Rh1 48. Nd3 Rxh2+ 49. Ke3 Rxd2 50. Kxd2 {Even down two pawns, it may still be a draw for White, thanks to his dark-squared control.} Ke7 51. Ne5 Kd6 52. Ke3 Kd5 53. Kd3 Be8 $1 {A funny way to dominate White's knight, but that's just what it does.} 54. Ke3 h5 55. Nd3 (55. Kd3 $2 h4 56. gxh4 g3 57. Ke3 Bh5 $19) 55... Kc4 56. Ne5+ Kc3 57. Nd3 h4 $1 (57... Kc2 58. Nc5 Kd1 59. Kf2 Bf7 60. Nb7 {and White is still afloat.}) 58. gxh4 g3 59. Ne5 $2 {The losing move.} (59. Nc1 $1 Kc2 60. Ne2 g2 61. Kf2 Kd3 62. Ng1 Ke4 63. Nh3 g1=Q+ 64. Kxg1 Kf3 65. Ng5+ Kxf4 66. Nxe6+ Kg3 67. Ng7 $11) 59... Bh5 60. Nd7 e5 $1 (60... Kc2 $2 61. Nf6 $11) 61. Nxe5 (61. fxe5 f4+ $1 $19) 61... Kc2 $1 62. Nd3 Kd1 0-1 [Event "Superbet Classic 2021"] [Site " Bucharest ROU"] [Date "2021.06.13"] [Round "8.5"] [White "Radjabov, Teimour"] [Black "Lupulescu, Constantin"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B67"] [WhiteElo "2765"] [BlackElo "2656"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "82"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] {[%evp 0,82,32,32,36,36,75,44,44,53,42,42,41,45,27,42,35,31,40,8,41,37,37,36, 36,29,52,39,39,41,39,43,91,72,86,77,76,58,66,66,66,71,84,71,71,71,75,71,75,67, 82,74,89,105,108,38,68,62,68,55,32,21,24,28,47,47,47,41,44,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0, 0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 Bd7 7. Qd2 a6 8. O-O-O e6 9. f4 b5 10. Bxf6 gxf6 11. Kb1 Qb6 12. Nce2 ({In round 6, Grischuk played the main move,} 12. Nxc6 {, against the very same Lupulescu with success. Radjabov takes his opponent at his word, trusting that he has repaired everything, and goes for a secondary line.}) 12... b4 13. f5 Nxd4 14. Nxd4 e5 15. Nf3 h5 (15... Bc6 {seems better.}) 16. Bc4 $16 Rc8 17. Qd5 (17. Qe2 $142 a5 18. Rd5 Rc5 19. Nd2 a4 20. Nf1 Bc6 21. Ne3 Be7 22. Rhd1 a3 23. b3 Bxd5 24. Nxd5 Rxd5 25. Rxd5 Qg1+ 26. Rd1 Qc5 27. c3 bxc3 28. Kc2 Bd8 29. Kxc3 Ba5+ 30. Kc2 Bb6 31. Qd2 Ke7 32. Qd5 Qxd5 33. Rxd5 Rg8 34. g3 Kd7 35. Rd3 Rc8 36. Rc3 Ke7 37. Be2 Rh8 38. b4 h4 39. Rxa3 hxg3 40. hxg3 Rh2 41. Kd2 Rh1 42. Ra6 Bd4 43. Bc4 Rh2+ 44. Kd3 Rh3 45. Bd5 Rxg3+ 46. Kc4 Rg8 47. Ra8 Rg2 48. Bc6 Rc2+ 49. Kd5 {1-0 (49) Efimenko,Z (2546)-Andreev,E (2490) Kramatorsk 2003}) 17... Rh7 18. Nd2 Bc6 19. Qd3 a5 20. Bd5 Bb5 21. Bc4 (21. Nc4 $142 Qc5 22. b3 $16 { /+-}) 21... Bc6 22. Bd5 Bb5 23. Bc4 Bd7 24. Rhe1 a4 25. Nf1 $2 {It was better to activate the knight and force Black to give up the light-squared bishop for it. Letting Black get rid of his lousy bishop for it lets him solve his problems.} (25. Bd5 $142 Bb5 26. Nc4) 25... Bh6 $11 {Of course.} 26. b3 Ke7 27. Qe2 h4 28. Rd3 axb3 29. cxb3 Bb5 30. Bxb5 Qxb5 31. Nd2 Bxd2 {Again: Of course.} 32. Qxd2 Qb6 33. Rd1 Rc6 34. g4 hxg3 35. hxg3 Rg7 36. Qe2 Rg8 37. g4 Qc5 38. Rd5 Qc3 39. R5d3 Qc5 40. Rd5 Qc3 41. R5d3 Qc5 1/2-1/2