[Event "Chess.com"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2022.01.20"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Rapport, Richard"]
[Black "Praggnanandhaa, R..."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E36"]
[WhiteElo "2763"]
[BlackElo "2612"]
[Annotator "Bojkov,Dejan"]
[PlyCount "111"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 {Still the main choice against the
Nimzo-Indian Defense.} O-O 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 d5 7. Bg5 c5 ({Another
fashionable choice is:} 7... h6 8. Bh4 c5 9. dxc5 d4 10. Qf3 Nbd7 11. O-O-O e5
12. e3 e4 13. Bxf6 Nxf6 14. Qf4 d3 {White can also undermine the opponent's
center here with} 15. f3 Be6 16. fxe4 g5 17. Qe5 Bxc4 18. Qc3 Ba6 19. Bxd3 Bxd3
20. Qxd3 Qxd3 21. Rxd3 Nxe4 22. Nh3 Nxc5 {and Black was doing fine in
Mamedyarov,S (2767)-Piorun,K (2640) Warsaw 2021}) ({The main line, however,
remains} 7... dxc4 8. Qxc4 b6 9. Rd1 Ba6 {Here is an effort by Rapport from
last year} 10. Qa4 h6 11. Bh4 Qe7 12. Nf3 Rd8 13. e3 Bxf1 14. Rxf1 c5 15. dxc5
Rxd1+ 16. Qxd1 g5 17. Bg3 Qxc5 18. Qd8+ Kg7 19. Be5 Qc1+ 20. Ke2 Qc4+ 21. Ke1
Qc1+ 22. Ke2 Qc4+ {1/2-1/2 (22) Rapport,R (2763)-Nakamura,H (2736) Saint Louis
2021}) 8. dxc5 d4 9. Qg3 {Rapport has an opinion of his own. The move 9.Qf3
gained popularity, thanks to the efforts by the world champion.} ({This is
what the world champion played recently} 9. Qf3 Nbd7 10. e3 h6 11. Bxf6 Nxf6
12. O-O-O e5 13. Ne2 Bg4 14. Qg3 Ne4 15. Qxg4 Nxf2 16. Qf3 Nxd1 17. exd4 Nxb2
18. Kxb2 {Carlsen,M (2847)-Aronian,L (2781) chess24.com INT 2021}) 9... Nbd7
10. Nf3 e5 11. Rd1 {A risky move. White postpones castling, thus putting his
king in serious danger. On the other hand, in an over-the-board game, this is
a novelty. It happened in an email game though.} ({White dared to capture the
second pawn in the following game} 11. Nxe5 Nxc5 12. Nd3 Nce4 13. Bxf6 Nxf6 14.
e3 Re8 15. O-O-O dxe3 16. fxe3 Bg4 17. Rd2 Qb6 {but Black had more than enough
for the pawn in Georgiev,K (2669)-Kosintseva,N (2552) Caleta 2011. Mainly
because of the loose white king.}) 11... Re8 12. b4 a5 $1 {All is
correct—the white king can be attacked from any open file.} 13. Nd2 axb4 14.
axb4 Kf8 $146 {Only this, technically speaking, is a novelty, played after
more than 20 minutes on the clock. Praggnanandhaa prepares the swap of the
opponent's dark-squared bishop.} ({An email predecessor saw:} 14... Qc7 15. e3
Nh5 16. Qh4 Nf4 17. Ne4 Ng6 18. Qg3 f6 19. Bd3 fxg5 20. O-O Nf6 21. Nd6 Re7 22.
Bxg6 hxg6 23. exd4 exd4 24. Qxg5 Bf5 25. Rxd4 {with enough compensation for a
piece in Lautenbach,W (2260)-Ugrinovsky,A (2167) ICCF email 2011}) ({The move
in the game looks safer than} 14... Kh8 {which prepares the same idea, but the
king is more exposed in the corner. For instance after} 15. Qb3 h6 {the bishop
does not even need to leave, and White can try} 16. h4 {besides the simple
retreat.}) 15. Qb3 {Rapport also hesitates. And he keeps neglecting the
development of the kingside.} ({Had the Hungarian wanted to play it safe, he
would have opted for} 15. e4 h6 16. Bxf6 Nxf6 17. Be2 Bd7 18. O-O Ra2 19. Qb3 {
but Black seems to have enough activity after} Qa8 {to compensate him for the
slight material deficit.}) 15... h6 16. Bh4 e4 $1 {A very logical follow-up,
e4-e3 is a huge threat. Therefore} 17. e3 {Is forced, and now, unfortunately
for him, Praggnanandhaa closed the position with} d3 ({A pity, as the bold}
17... Ne5 $1 {would have led to much more interesting play, when Black seems
more than fine, for example} 18. Nxe4 ({Worse seems} 18. Bxf6 Qxf6 19. Nxe4 ({
Or} 19. exd4 Nf3+ $1 {and White collapses at once.}) 19... Qh4 {and Black
crashes through.}) 18... g5 19. Nd6 gxh4 20. Rxd4 h3 $1 {and Black mounts
enough kingside pressure.}) ({Note that the preliminary} 17... g5 18. Bg3 {
and then} Ne5 {is not as effective due to} 19. Bxe5 ({Or even} 19. Qb2) 19...
Rxe5 20. Qb2 $1) 18. h3 {Finally preparing the kingside development with g2-g4
and a fianchetto.} (18. Bg3 Ne5 {is not as effective for White.}) 18... g5 {
Black prevents this plan.} 19. Bg3 Ne5 {But it also commits a serious
inaccuracy at once.} (19... Kg8 $1 {is necessary, when Black is still in game
after} 20. Bd6 b6) 20. Qb2 {Now Rapport makes the best out of his dark-squared
supremacy to force massive trades.} (20. Qc3 $5 {would have been similar.})
20... Qe7 21. Ra1 $1 {Safeguards the king from the left.} Rxa1+ 22. Qxa1 Bf5
23. Bxe5 Qxe5 24. Qxe5 Rxe5 25. g4 $1 {Both the white extra pawn and the iffy
king survived the middlegame, and now it is Black's turn to suffer.} Bg6 26.
Bg2 {White's plan is obvious: bring the king out, ideally to c3 or even d4,
and then get the open file for the rook. Since Rapport owns all the long-term
trumps, Praggnanandhaa needs to find counterplay as soon as possible.} (26. Kd1
$5) 26... Re8 ({In case of} 26... Re6 {White can parry the opponent's activity
with} 27. Nb3 Ra6 28. Na5 Nd7 29. Nxb7 Ra1+ 30. Kd2 Ra2+ 31. Kc3 Rxf2 32. c6 $1
) 27. Nb1 $5 {Looks like the fastest way to achieve the desired setup.} (27.
Nb3 Ra8 28. Na5 Nd7 {would have likely transposed to the line from above.})
27... Nd7 {Black is wasting a precious tempo.} ({The only chance is the
dynamic play with} 27... Ra8 $1 28. Nc3 Nd7 {Then} 29. Nxe4 ({Whereas the
planned} 29. Kd2 {is not as clear as it seems as the line} Ne5 30. Bxe4 Bxe4
31. Nxe4 Ra2+ 32. Kc3 Ra3+ 33. Kd4 Nc6+ 34. Kd5 d2 $1 {shows. Black is
suddenly threatening mate in one, and a possible (but certainly not forcing)
follow-up might be} 35. Kd6 Rd3+ 36. Kc7 d1=Q 37. Rxd1 Rxd1 38. Kxb7 Nxb4 39.
c6 Rb1 40. c7 Nd5+ 41. Kc6 Ne7+ 42. Kd7 Rc1 43. c5 Rc2 44. c8=Q+ Nxc8 45. Kxc8
Ke7 {with a likely draw.}) 29... Ra2 30. O-O Rb2 {should not scare Black too
much.}) 28. Kd2 Ra8 29. Kc3 {Now White is almost in time.} Ra2 30. Rd1 ({
Nothing is clear yet in case of} 30. Kd4 Rxf2 31. Bxe4 Bxe4 32. Kxe4 Rb2 33.
Kxd3 Rxb4 34. Kd4 Rb2) 30... Rxf2 31. Rd2 Rf6 {There is simply no time for
this. After this, Black's central pawn pair cannot survive.} ({It sounds
counterintuitive, but the rook swap would have helped better.} 31... Rxd2 32.
Nxd2 Nf6 33. Kd4 ({Or} 33. Nb3 Nd7 34. Na5 Ne5 {when} 35. Nxb7 $2 {fails to}
Nxc4 $1) 33... Ke8 $1 {The neatest. We can see clearly now why the rooks are
better off the board for Black—his pawn on e4 is immune. Furthermore, it
seems that White cannot force zugzwang, say} 34. b5 (34. Ke5 Ke7) 34... Ke7 35.
Ke5 Nd7+ 36. Kd5 Nf6+ 37. Kd4 Bh7 {shuffling the bishop back and forth.}) 32.
Kd4 Re6 33. Nc3 Nf6 34. b5 {Black has too many things to worry about as the
a-file becomes another weakness.} Kg7 35. Ra2 h5 36. gxh5 Bf5 37. Rb2 ({Or} 37.
Ra7 d2 38. Ra1 {liquidating the pawn.}) 37... Kh6 38. Rf2 Bh7 39. Nd5 {Rapport
does not want to rush in the time trouble.} ({Also good is} 39. Rxf6+ $1 Rxf6
40. Bxe4 Bxe4 41. Nxe4 Rf1 42. Kxd3 {gradually winning.}) 39... Nxh5 40. Rxf7
d2 41. Nc3 Ng3 {Black tries his last chance.} 42. Nd1 Ne2+ 43. Kd5 Re8 44. Kd6
({Actually} 44. Rxb7 {wins as well after} Nf4+ 45. exf4 e3 46. Bf3 e2 47. fxg5+
Kxg5 48. Bxe2 Be4+ 49. Kd4 Bxb7 50. Bg4) 44... Bg6 45. Rd7 Nf4 $1 {That's the
tactic Praggnanandhaa was looking for.} 46. Kc7 $1 {The simplest. The advanced
passer quickly wrap up the game tahnks to the king support.} ({The alternative
is} 46. exf4 gxf4 47. Bxe4 Rxe4 48. Kc7 Rxc4 49. c6 bxc6 50. b6 Rb4 51. Rxd2)
46... Nxg2 47. Rxd2 Ne1 48. Kxb7 Nd3 49. c6 Bf5 50. c7 Re5 51. Nb2 Nc5+ 52. Kc6
Nb3 53. Rd8 Rc5+ 54. Kd6 g4 55. hxg4 Bxg4 56. b6 1-0
