[Event "FTX Crypto Cup 2022"] [Site "Miami USA"] [Date "2022.08.21"] [Round "7.1"] [White "Duda, Jan-Krzysztof"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C67"] [WhiteElo "2740"] [BlackElo "2760"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "107"] [EventDate "2022.08.15"] {[%evp 0,107,20,7,12,12,26,17,21,22,37,63,71,70,73,71,53,53,62,52,78,64,55,54, 53,48,43,58,58,60,52,46,68,62,48,31,19,22,23,14,42,43,32,30,32,26,25,29,43,49, 70,71,100,87,40,49,95,101,114,110,69,93,85,86,143,122,123,104,205,214,207,214, 214,153,153,182,120,341,334,429,440,103,104,114,132,41,252,333,349,349,507,507, 517,517,537,537,547,497,507,507,507,547,547,557,557,567,577,1005,29971,1012]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. h3 Ke8 10. Nc3 h5 11. Bf4 Be7 12. Ne4 Be6 13. Rfe1 Rd8 14. Nfg5 Nd4 15. Nxe6 Nxe6 16. Be3 h4 17. Rad1 Rxd1 18. Rxd1 Rh5 19. f4 f5 20. g4 hxg3 21. Nxg3 Rxh3 22. Kg2 Rh8 23. Nxf5 g6 24. Nd4 Nxd4 25. Bxd4 Rf8 26. Be3 g5 27. fxg5 Rg8 28. Kf3 Bxg5 29. Bxa7 $1 {On move 29, just like Spassky-Fischer, game 1. Here, however, it's okay: it's a reminder that rules of thumb are not laws.} b6 30. a4 Rf8+ 31. Kg4 Be7 $6 (31... Be3 $142) 32. Bb8 (32. a5 $142) 32... Bd8 33. b4 Rf2 $2 {The losing move - mostly.} (33... Rh8 $1 34. a5 bxa5 35. bxa5 Rh4+ 36. Kf5 Rh5+ $1 (36... Ra4 $2 37. Ke6 Rh4 38. Ra1 $18) 37. Ke4 Rh4+ 38. Kf3 Ra4 $11) 34. a5 bxa5 35. bxa5 Rxc2 36. Kf5 (36. Ra1 {also wins.}) 36... Rb2 37. Ba7 Ra2 38. Ke6 $1 Rxa5 39. Rh1 Kf8 40. Rh8+ Kg7 41. Rxd8 Rxa7 { A critical moment.} 42. Kd7 $2 (42. Rd7+ $1 Kg6 (42... Kf8 $2 43. Kf6 {is too easy.}) 43. Rd1 $1 c5 44. Rg1+ $1 Kh7 45. Kf6 Ra2 46. e6 $18) 42... Ra5 $2 ( 42... c5 $1 {draws. If Black has no c-pawns here, he's drawing, so the task is to get them out of the way.} 43. e6 Kf6 $1 (43... c6+ $2 44. Kd6 $18) 44. Rf8+ (44. e7 c6+ $11) 44... Ke5 $1 45. e7 c6+ $1 46. Kd8 Rxe7 47. Kxe7 c4 $11 { If Black hadn't had the c-pawns, it would have been a draw, but because he couldn't get rid of them fast enough, they proved necessary in the end (at least the one now on c4).}) 43. e6 $18 Rd5+ 44. Kxc7 Re5 45. Kd7 Rd5+ 46. Ke8 Ra5 47. e7 Ra7 48. Rd1 Kf6 49. Rd6+ Kg7 50. Re6 c5 51. Kd8 Ra8+ 52. Kd7 Ra7+ 53. Kd6 Ra6+ 54. Kd5 1-0 [Event "FTX Crypto Cup 2022"] [Site "Miami USA"] [Date "2022.08.21"] [Round "7.1"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Praggnanandhaa, R.."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A08"] [WhiteElo "2864"] [BlackElo "2661"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "152"] [EventDate "2022.08.15"] {[%evp 0,152,20,20,20,-4,13,-21,-10,-3,-8,-10,-10,-10,26,23,12,-40,-10,-40,41, -22,-22,-25,-9,-32,-17,-27,-27,-28,-28,-32,-6,-11,14,3,4,1,5,1,18,18,31,-18,9, -13,-21,-21,-21,-67,-110,-117,-89,-91,-91,-164,-137,-137,-47,-41,-30,-26,-26, -29,-38,-43,-47,-70,-37,-65,-60,-75,-12,-39,-41,-54,-63,-66,-65,-64,-58,-86, -93,-121,-118,-112,-90,-96,-90,-125,-124,-139,-114,-127,-114,-114,-94,-100,-82, -89,-87,-88,-70,-90,-94,-101,-79,-101,-90,-86,-86,-90,-86,-90,-86,-90,-69,-77, -68,-82,-107,-98,-59,-59,66,66,64,56,57,64,47,38,78,76,71,72,64,55,57,13,11,0, 0,0,0,0,0,0,4,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 c5 3. Bg2 Nc6 4. d4 e6 5. O-O cxd4 6. Nxd4 Bc5 7. Nxc6 bxc6 8. c4 Nf6 9. Qc2 Qe7 10. Nc3 O-O 11. Bf4 Ba6 12. Na4 Bb4 13. a3 Bd6 14. Bxd6 Qxd6 15. Rfd1 Qe7 16. b3 Rab8 17. Qc3 dxc4 18. bxc4 c5 19. Rd3 h6 20. Rad1 Rfc8 21. Rd6 Bb7 22. Qe3 Bxg2 23. Kxg2 Qc7 24. Nxc5 $2 { Too clever by half.} (24. Nc3 Rb3 25. Qc1 {is roughly equal.}) 24... Ne8 $1 ( 24... Qxc5 $4 25. Rd8+ $18) 25. Nxe6 Qb7+ (25... Qxc4 $142 $19) 26. R6d5 fxe6 27. Qxe6+ Kh8 28. Qe4 Qc6 $6 (28... Qa8 $19 {was better right away.}) (28... Nd6 $19 {is better still.}) 29. R1d4 Qa8 $1 $17 30. Re5 (30. Qf3 $142) 30... Qxe4+ 31. Rexe4 Rc7 32. Re5 Nf6 33. f3 Rbc8 34. Ra5 Nd7 35. Kf2 Nc5 36. Rd5 a6 37. g4 Rc6 38. h4 Kg8 39. Rf5 R8c7 40. h5 Nb7 41. Rad5 Rxc4 42. Rfe5 R4c5 43. Rxc5 Nxc5 44. f4 Kf7 45. Kf3 Nb7 (45... Nd7 $142 $19) 46. Rd5 Ke6 47. Re5+ Kd6 $2 48. e3 (48. Re8 $11) (48. g5 $11) 48... Nc5 49. g5 Ne6 50. gxh6 gxh6 51. Rf5 $4 Ke7 52. Kg4 $2 (52. Rd5) 52... Rc3 $4 (52... Rc5 {won on the spot - the resulting ending is an easy win.}) 53. Re5 Kf6 54. Rf5+ Kg7 55. Re5 Kf7 56. Rf5+ Ke7 57. Re5 Rc5 {Too late.} 58. Re4 $11 Kf6 59. Ra4 $6 (59. Rb4) 59... a5 60. e4 Nc7 (60... Ke7 $142) 61. Rd4 Ne6 (61... Ke7 $142) 62. Rd7 {Now it is Black who must be careful, and Pragg simplifies to secure the draw.} Nxf4 63. Kxf4 Rxh5 64. Rd6+ Ke7 65. Ra6 Rh4+ 66. Ke5 Rh5+ 67. Kd4 Rb5 68. e5 h5 69. Rh6 Rb3 70. a4 h4 71. Kd5 Rd3+ 72. Ke4 Ra3 73. Kf5 Rf3+ 74. Ke4 Ra3 75. Kf5 Rf3+ 76. Ke4 Ra3 1/2-1/2 [Event "FTX Crypto Cup 2022"] [Site "Miami USA"] [Date "2022.08.21"] [Round "7.2"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Duda, Jan-Krzysztof"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A18"] [WhiteElo "2760"] [BlackElo "2740"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "52"] [EventDate "2022.08.15"] {[%evp 0,52,20,-15,5,1,5,3,32,2,32,21,21,23,49,53,50,32,19,44,49,-10,-14,-8,41, 46,46,-51,-35,-67,-67,-107,-41,-23,106,81,79,54,106,9,54,-129,-87,-122,274, -332,-324,-430,-430,-337,-337,-337,-357,-356,-344] I present this to you because it's an entertaining game, one which is worth trying to analyze without the help of an engine.} 1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. e4 d5 4. e5 d4 5. exf6 dxc3 6. bxc3 Qxf6 7. Nf3 c5 8. d4 h6 9. Bd3 Nc6 10. Rb1 cxd4 11. cxd4 Nxd4 12. Nxd4 Qxd4 13. Bb2 Bb4+ 14. Kf1 Bc3 15. Ba3 Bd7 16. Rxb7 g5 17. Qb1 Rd8 18. h4 g4 19. h5 Rg8 20. g3 Rg5 21. Be2 Re5 22. Rh4 Rxe2 23. Kxe2 Qxc4+ 24. Qd3 Qxa2+ 25. Kf1 Qxa3 26. Rxg4 Qc1+ 0-1 [Event "FTX Crypto Cup 2022"] [Site "Miami USA"] [Date "2022.08.21"] [Round "7.2"] [White "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C84"] [WhiteElo "2778"] [BlackElo "2775"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "119"] [EventDate "2022.08.15"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 Re8 10. Re1 Bf8 11. Nbd2 h6 12. d4 Bb7 13. Bc2 Nb8 14. b3 Nbd7 15. Bb2 c6 16. c4 exd4 17. Nxd4 g6 18. cxb5 axb5 19. a4 bxa4 20. bxa4 Bg7 21. Nc4 Nb6 22. Nxb6 Qxb6 23. Rb1 Qc7 24. Bc3 Ba6 25. Nf3 d5 26. exd5 Rxe1+ 27. Nxe1 Rd8 28. Bxf6 Bxf6 29. Qf3 Rd6 30. dxc6 Qxc6 31. Qxc6 Rxc6 32. Bd3 Bxd3 33. Nxd3 Rc4 34. a5 Ra4 35. Rb6 Kg7 36. a6 Ra3 37. Rd6 Kf8 38. Rxf6 Rxd3 39. Kf1 Rd2 40. Rb6 Ra2 41. g4 h5 42. g5 h4 43. Ke1 Kg7 $2 (43... Ke7 $1 {should hold.}) 44. Rf6 $2 (44. Kd1 $1) 44... Ra5 45. f4 Ra3 46. Rb6 Rxh3 $2 (46... Kh7 {is still drawn.} 47. Kd2 Rxh3 $1 {Now the pawn can be taken, because after} 48. a7 Ra3 { White can't save the a-pawn and prevent Black's h-pawn from queening. Either the king must dash over immediately, or after} 49. Rb7 h3 50. Rxf7+ Kg8 51. Rb7 h2 {the rook must retreat and abandon the a-pawn.} 52. Rb1 Rxa7 53. Ke3 Rh7 54. Rh1 Kf7 55. Kf3 Ke6 56. Kg3 Kf5 $11) 47. a7 $18 Ra3 48. Rb7 Ra4 49. Ke2 h3 50. Kf3 $2 (50. Kf2 $1 Rxf4+ (50... Ra2+ 51. Kg1 h2+ 52. Kh1 $18 {Black is in zugzwang, and ultimately has no defense against White's king first taking the h-pawn, then going across to the queenside, then up, then to b8 and queening the pawn.}) 51. Kg3 Ra4 52. Kxh3 {and now White's king will go across, then up, then hide on b8 and win.}) 50... Ra2 $1 $11 51. Kg3 h2 52. Rb1 Rxa7 53. Kxh2 f6 54. gxf6+ Kxf6 55. Kg3 Ra2 56. Rb6+ Kf5 57. Rb5+ Kf6 58. Rb6+ Kf5 59. Rb5+ Kf6 60. Rb6+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "FTX Crypto Cup 2022"] [Site "Miami USA"] [Date "2022.08.21"] [Round "7.2"] [White "Praggnanandhaa, R.."] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D38"] [WhiteElo "2661"] [BlackElo "2864"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "129"] [EventDate "2022.08.15"] {[%evp 0,129,20,20,27,5,-10,-10,6,6,26,-37,-35,-63,-23,-37,-4,-4,-3,9,25,28,42, 19,15,-45,-24,-4,-13,-15,-2,-56,-16,3,-138,-138,-129,-148,-129,-161,-95,-130, -106,-121,-92,-87,-95,-95,-96,-96,-96,-96,-81,-87,-88,-88,-88,-81,-34,-95,-114, -114,-95,-95,-87,-83,-85,-55,-60,-78,-83,-83,-78,-93,-90,-93,-90,-169,-172, -166,-154,-145,-166,-166,-166,-193,-186,-182,-204,-216,-127,-113,-98,-92,-117, -145,-83,-79,-74,-102,-88,-118,-124,-144,-149,-131,-116,-158,-163,-148,-136, -136,-136,-136,-116,-112,-99,-97,-83,-76,-79,-79,-3,-5,-5,-5,-1,-1,-1,-1,0,0]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Qa4+ Nc6 6. e3 O-O 7. Qc2 Na5 8. cxd5 exd5 9. Bd3 c5 10. dxc5 Nc6 11. Bd2 Bxc5 12. Ne2 Nb4 13. Qb1 Nxd3+ 14. Qxd3 Ne4 15. Nfd4 a5 16. Rc1 b6 17. Bc3 Ba6 18. Qd1 Rc8 19. O-O Bxd4 20. exd4 Qf6 21. f3 Nxc3 22. bxc3 Qe7 23. Re1 Qe3+ 24. Kh1 Rfe8 25. Ng3 Qxe1+ 26. Qxe1 Rxe1+ 27. Rxe1 g6 28. Rc1 Rc4 $19 {Carlsen has played a great game to this point, and is completely winning. To Pragg's credit, he hangs on like a barnacle, and somehow manages to save the draw.} 29. Ne2 Ra4 30. Rc2 Ra3 (30... Bd3 $1 {picks up a useful tempo.} 31. Rd2 Bc4 32. Nc1 Ra3 33. Rc2 Kg7 34. Kg1 Kf6 35. Kf2 Kf5 36. g3 b5 37. Ke3 h5 38. Kd2 g5 39. Ke1 (39. Ke3 b4 40. Kd2 Rxc3 41. Rxc3 bxc3+ 42. Kxc3 g4 $19 {Black's king breaks through, with an easy win.}) 39... h4 40. Kf2 f6 41. Kg2 h3+ $1 42. Kf2 (42. Kxh3 $2 Bf1+ $19 { is amusing (for Black, anyway).}) 42... g4 43. fxg4+ Kxg4 $19 {and it's zugzwang; Black wins.}) 31. Nc1 Bb5 32. Kg1 Ba4 $6 (32... Bc4 {is better, intending to continue with the same sort of plan we saw in the last note.}) 33. Rb2 $1 Rxc3 34. Ne2 Rc4 35. Rxb6 Bd1 36. Kf1 Bxe2+ 37. Kxe2 Rxd4 38. Kf2 $2 { Pragg wants to make sure that his king doesn't get caught on the back rank, but this gave Carlsen a chance to avoid the sort of ending that follows, and that could have been guaranteed after 38.Rb5.} (38. Rb5 $142) 38... Rd2+ $2 ( 38... Ra4 $1 39. a3 Kf8 $1 40. Rb5 d4 $1 {all the queenside pawns stay on the board, and with Black's king coming up it will be an easy win.}) 39. Kg3 a4 40. a3 $1 Rd3 41. Rb5 Kg7 42. Rb4 $2 {A weird way to do it, wasting at least a tempo.} (42. Ra5 {forces the immediate exchange, as} Rd4 (42... Rxa3 43. Rxd5 Rc3 44. Rd6 $1 {slows Black's king down compared with the game.}) 43. Kf2 { (intending Ke3) ruins the attempt to keep both queenside pawns.}) 42... Rxa3 43. Rd4 Kf6 44. Rxd5 Rc3 45. Ra5 a3 $2 (45... Rc4 $1 {keeps winning chances.}) 46. Kf4 $1 $11 Ke6 47. h4 f6 48. Ke4 $1 h5 49. Kd4 {Very direct: Pragg's king will chase Black's rook away from its defense of the a3-pawn. Black will win one of White's kingside pawns, but even with split pawns White will easily draw the resulting R+2 vs. R+3 ending.} Rb3 50. Kc4 Rb2 51. Rxa3 Rxg2 52. Kd3 g5 53. hxg5 fxg5 54. Ke3 h4 55. Ra6+ Kf5 56. Ra5+ Kg6 57. Ra6+ Kh5 58. Ra8 Rb2 59. Rh8+ Kg6 60. f4 $1 h3 61. fxg5 Kxg5 62. Kf3 h2 63. Kg3 Ra2 64. Rxh2 Rxh2 65. Kxh2 1/2-1/2 [Event "FTX Crypto Cup 2022"] [Site "Miami USA"] [Date "2022.08.21"] [Round "7.3"] [White "Duda, Jan-Krzysztof"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B51"] [WhiteElo "2740"] [BlackElo "2760"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "2022.08.15"] {[%evp 0,65,20,7,60,60,91,55,63,60,96,91,87,27,43,47,25,29,86,66,56,19,23,20, 29,15,15,-2,1,9,13,4,41,14,34,5,22,24,22,18,29,18,5,4,5,8,18,0,6,2,0,0,0,0,0,0, 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0] Here's a game for the Duda of round 6 to study carefully. There he twice played ridiculous openings when a draw with White would have clinched match victory. This time, he does it right.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 4. d4 cxd4 5. Qxd4 a6 6. Bxd7+ Bxd7 7. Nc3 Nf6 8. Bg5 e6 9. e5 (9. O-O-O {is the better move if one is playing for a win. But Duda is happy to take the air out of the football, to use an old sports cliche, and for that purpose 9.e5 is excellent.}) 9... dxe5 10. Nxe5 Bb5 11. Qxd8+ Rxd8 12. Nxb5 axb5 13. Bxf6 (13. Nd3 {is perhaps slightly preferable, but Duda's choice is sufficient to the intended aim.}) (13. a3 {also makes sense - see later in the game.}) 13... gxf6 14. Nd3 Rg8 $1 15. g3 Rg5 {Duda doesn't have too many problems to solve here. He wants to put a rook on the d-file, either by castling or in conjunction with Ke2, move the knight someplace safe, swap all the rooks and call it a day. It's important not to make too many concessiona along the way, and he doesn't.} (15... b4 $1) 16. a3 $1 {Very good, preventing Black from fixing White's a- and c-pawns with ...b4.} Rgd5 17. Ke2 e5 18. Rhd1 (18. f3 {is also fine, but Duda has a different setup in mind.}) 18... f5 19. f4 $1 e4 20. Nb4 $1 {One must always be very careful about going into the weaker side of a pawn ending. Here, however, it's easy to see that White will create a fortress if everything gets swapped off: his king goes to e3 and his pawn to b3, preventing Black's king from penetrating on the queenside or in the center, and the kingside is also easily handled: ...Kh5 is met by h3, and . ..h5 by h4. As for the minor piece ending, that too needs to be checked, but as we'll see - or can easily work out for ourselves - it too holds no terrors for White.} Rxd1 21. Rxd1 Rxd1 22. Kxd1 Kd7 (22... Bxb4 23. axb4 Ke7 24. Ke2 Ke6 25. b3 Kd5 26. c3 {Or 26.Ke3.} Ke6 (26... h5) 27. Ke3 Kf6 28. Ke2 Kg6 29. Ke3 Kh5 30. h3 Kg6 31. Ke2 h5 {Here White must remain awake for one more move. If Black plays ...h4 he'll win, so White must play} 32. h4 $11 {, and now the game is over.}) 23. Nd5 Kd6 (23... Bc5 {is not dangerous, as White can easily meet the threat of ...Bg1-/xh2. Here's one way:} 24. Ke2 Bg1 25. Kf1 Bxh2 $4 26. Kg2 $18) 24. Ne3 Ke6 25. c3 Bc5 26. Ke2 h5 27. h4 $1 {As we've already seen, this is desirable in case of a pawn ending, and it's safe in the B vs. N ending as well.} Bxe3 {There isn't anything else to try - Black has no pawn breaks, his bishop can't (sensibly) attack White's pawns on b2 or g3, and his king is stuck defending the pawn on f5. So he goes into the pawn ending, which is a dead draw.} 28. Kxe3 Kd5 29. b3 Kc5 30. Ke2 Kd5 31. Ke3 Kc5 32. Ke2 Kd5 33. Ke3 {And that, Round 6 Duda, is how it's done.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "FTX Crypto Cup 2022"] [Site "Miami USA"] [Date "2022.08.21"] [Round "7.3"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Praggnanandhaa, R.."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E04"] [WhiteElo "2864"] [BlackElo "2661"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "143"] [EventDate "2022.08.15"] {[%evp 0,143,20,25,18,27,24,-10,-14,-25,-23,-19,-17,-17,-4,-4,0,16,16,15,18,-2, 16,-112,-30,-73,-73,-67,-29,-21,47,23,23,35,42,42,53,63,60,70,88,48,59,72,62, 39,32,39,40,38,52,38,19,20,44,34,26,41,31,8,21,27,16,-2,38,16,72,70,78,82,90, 67,81,80,82,82,82,89,95,91,116,121,124,124,112,94,96,96,104,92,103,98,100,114, 114,106,113,116,123,114,123,129,129,129,130,130,135,122,135,85,100,112,172,179, 198,255,255,208,293,254,267,208,260,260,260,260,260,150,208,225,260,217,216, 212,352,376,409,512,578,812,834,975,992,1002,1032,1032]} 1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 Bd7 6. Qc2 c5 7. Qxc4 Bc6 8. dxc5 Nbd7 9. Be3 Bd5 10. Qc1 Ng4 11. Bg5 Qa5+ 12. Qc3 Qxc5 13. O-O Bc6 14. h3 Nge5 15. Nxe5 Nxe5 16. Rd1 Bxg2 17. Kxg2 Qc6+ 18. f3 Qxc3 19. Nxc3 a6 20. Na4 Be7 21. Bf4 Nc6 22. Nb6 Rd8 23. Bc7 Rxd1 24. Rxd1 Bc5 25. Nc8 f6 26. Bb6 O-O 27. Bxc5 Rxc8 28. Rd6 { Otherwise Black plays ...Rd8, with a dead draw.} (28. Rd7 $4 {is an exception to the preceding comment. Here 28...Rd8 wouldn't be so good, but} Ne5 $19 { instead wins on the spot.}) 28... Rd8 $1 {A good decision, activating the rook in exchange for the pawn.} 29. Rxe6 Rd2 30. Ba3 Kf7 31. Re4 b5 $1 32. Kf2 $1 f5 $6 {This tempting move worsens Black's position.} ({The right decision was to do...nothing. Black will hold by maintaining the status quo, with do-nothing moves like} 32... Rc2) ({or} 32... Rd1 {.}) 33. Rf4 Ke6 $2 {And this move, which is also tempting (Black to move wins with 34...g5), loses, though it takes some fine technique by Carlsen (after the exchange of errors on the next move) to prove it.} (33... g6 $8 34. g4 a5 $1 35. Ke3 Rc2 36. Kd3 Rc1 37. b3 Rd1+ 38. Kc2 Re1 {and Black can make enough of a nuisance of himself to (probably) save the game.}) 34. Ke1 $2 (34. g4 $142 $18) 34... Rd8 $2 (34... g5 $1 35. Rxf5 Kxf5 36. Kxd2 b4 37. Bxb4 Nxb4 38. a3 Nc6 39. Kd3 {may be tenable for Black, though it won't be any fun.}) 35. g4 $18 g5 36. gxf5+ Kf6 37. Re4 Kxf5 38. Bc5 Rd5 39. Be3 Ne5 40. h4 h6 41. hxg5 hxg5 42. Rd4 ({The engine prefers} 42. Bd4 {, but it's natural to trade rooks, and that should still be winning.}) 42... Rxd4 43. Bxd4 Nc6 44. Bc3 g4 45. Kf2 gxf3 46. Kxf3 $1 (46. exf3 {also makes sense, creating a passer that's further away from the queenside (to make it a more effective diversion).}) 46... Ke6 $6 {I was surprised that Pragg voluntarily retreated his king, allowing White's king to go to e4.} (46... a5 {was better, or even a temporizing move like 46...Nb8 followed by 47...Nc6.}) 47. Ke4 $1 Nb8 48. Kd4 Nd7 49. Bb4 {Zugzwang, although Black has a healthy number of tricks before White can cash in.} Nb6 50. b3 (50. Kc5 $4 Na4+) 50... Nd5 51. Bd2 (51. Kc5) 51... Nf6 {Again preventing Kc5.} 52. e4 (52. Bb4 $142 Nd7 53. a3 {was simpler.}) 52... Nd7 (52... Nh5 $1) 53. Bb4 Nf6 54. e5 Nd5 (54... Nd7 55. Bd6 {is a fatal zugzwang.}) 55. Bd6 b4 56. Kc4 a5 57. Kb5 Nc3+ 58. Kxa5 Nxa2 59. Ka4 (59. Bxb4 $4 Nc1 60. Ka4 Nxb3 61. Kxb3 Kxe5 $11) 59... Kd5 60. Kb5 ({But now there's nothing wrong with} 60. Bxb4 {, which we'll see seven moves from now (with Black's king on e6, a difference that makes no difference either way).} Nc1 (60... Kxe5 61. Bd2 $1 {is the problem. Black's knight is trapped, and Ka3xa2 will collect it.}) 61. Bd6 $18 {wins, just as in the game.}) 60... Ke6 61. Kc4 Kf5 62. Kd5 Nc3+ 63. Kc6 Ke6 64. Kc5 Na2 65. Kb5 Kd5 66. Ka4 Ke6 67. Bxb4 {At last. The rest is trivial.} Nc1 68. Bd6 Kd5 69. b4 Nd3 70. b5 Nb2+ 71. Ka5 Nc4+ 72. Ka6 {This guaranteed that Carlsen would, at worst, reach the tiebreaks for this match, which in turn guaranteed tournament victory.} 1-0 [Event "FTX Crypto Cup 2022"] [Site "Miami USA"] [Date "2022.08.21"] [Round "7.4"] [White "Praggnanandhaa, R..."] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A40"] [WhiteElo "2661"] [BlackElo "2864"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "101"] [EventDate "2022.08.15"] {[%evp 0,101,20,25,27,-14,35,49,42,-1,64,56,57,40,52,30,64,43,81,51,49,49,49, 18,18,17,6,-5,-5,-22,-18,-24,0,-8,25,72,72,40,66,32,19,28,44,54,83,74,60,-8,32, 58,86,39,38,34,33,32,33,32,19,3,60,34,19,19,25,28,30,0,55,55,39,52,26,33,39,42, 16,12,90,101,93,48,221,230,208,218,218,218,218,218,202,192,210,246,259,259,267, 248,249,236,337,217,328,359] A game that reflected the match situation. Carlsen had clinched and was (especially) unmotivated, and first threw away a winning advantage and then a draw. It didn't matter for him, but it mattered a great deal to Praggnanandhaa. By reaching the tiebreak, which he went on to win, he was able to catch Firouzja in second (given that Firouzja also won his 4th game, in his match with Aronian), and even come ahead of him on tiebreaks, based on his win in their head-to-head match.} 1. d4 e6 2. c4 Bb4+ 3. Bd2 Bxd2+ 4. Qxd2 f5 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. e3 d6 7. Bd3 e5 8. Nge2 c5 9. d5 e4 10. Bc2 Nbd7 11. Ba4 O-O 12. Bxd7 Nxd7 13. h4 Ne5 14. b3 Nd3+ 15. Kf1 Qf6 16. Nf4 b5 17. Nxd3 exd3 18. cxb5 a6 19. Rd1 axb5 20. Nxb5 f4 21. exf4 Bg4 22. f3 Bf5 23. Kf2 Rfe8 24. Nc3 h5 25. Rde1 Rxe1 26. Rxe1 Qxh4+ 27. Kg1 Qf6 28. Nb5 h4 29. a4 c4 30. bxc4 Rxa4 31. Rc1 Kh7 32. Kh2 Bg6 33. Rc3 Ra2 34. Qxa2 Qxf4+ 35. Kh1 d2 36. Qa1 Qe5 37. Rc1 dxc1=R+ 38. Qxc1 Bd3 $2 (38... h3 39. gxh3 Qg3 40. Qf1 Bf5 $11 { should make a draw.}) 39. Qd2 $1 $18 Bf5 (39... Bxc4 $4 40. Qc2+ $18) 40. Qg5 $1 h3 41. Nxd6 $1 hxg2+ 42. Kg1 $1 Qe1+ 43. Kxg2 Qe2+ 44. Kg3 $1 Qe5+ 45. Kf2 $8 Qb2+ 46. Kg1 $1 Qd4+ 47. Kg2 Qb2+ 48. Kh1 $1 Bd3 49. Qe3 (49. Ne4) 49... Bf1 50. Qg1 Qc1 51. Nf5 1-0 [Event "FTX Crypto Cup 2022"] [Site "Miami USA"] [Date "2022.08.21"] [Round "7.4"] [White "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2778"] [BlackElo "2775"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "2022.08.15"] {[%evp 0,81,20,7,21,21,21,20,26,36,22,-12,-6,1,19,-18,-21,-14,-14,-11,19,15,31, 37,47,0,47,1,1,19,16,-2,5,9,54,31,60,-2,-2,-13,-7,0,17,25,101,101,115,100,100, 100,179,148,179,200,217,185,217,147,157,160,165,151,151,151,188,225,222,262, 262,279,289,289,322,323,378,354,576,330,329,248,258,211,402,372]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. O-O Re8 7. Bg5 a6 8. Bxc6 dxc6 9. h3 Bf8 10. Qe2 Qd6 11. Nbd2 Nd7 12. Bh4 a5 13. Bg3 b6 14. Nc4 Qf6 15. Nfd2 b5 16. Ne3 Qd8 17. Rad1 a4 18. a3 Nc5 19. Nf3 f6 20. Qc2 Be6 $2 (20... Qe7 {prevents d3-d4, and keeps an advantage for Black.}) 21. d4 $1 $16 {Very nice, not fearing 21...Bb3. Now Black is in trouble.} Nd7 $2 {Now Black is lost.} (21... exd4 22. cxd4 Bb3 23. dxc5 Bxc2 24. Rxd8 Raxd8 25. Nxc2 Bxc5 26. Bxc7 Rd3 $16 { /+/= was the best try. Black's active pieces give him reasonable chances to hang on for a draw.}) 22. c4 (22. dxe5 $142 Bb3 23. Qb1 Bxd1 (23... Qe7 $142 24. exf6 Nxf6 25. e5 $18) 24. Rxd1 fxe5 25. Nxe5 $18 {is a complete disaster for Black.}) 22... Qe7 23. dxe5 fxe5 24. Bxe5 Bxh3 $2 (24... Nxe5 $142 25. Nxe5 Qc5) 25. Bxc7 Be6 26. Bd6 Qf6 27. e5 {Black is only a pawn down, but his position is terrible. From here on out, Firouzja rolls.} Qh6 28. Nd4 Bxd6 29. exd6 Ne5 30. cxb5 cxb5 31. Nxe6 Rxe6 32. f4 Nf7 33. Nf5 Qf6 34. Ne7+ Kh8 35. Nd5 Qh4 36. Qf5 Re2 37. Nc3 Re3 38. d7 Kg8 39. Nxb5 Rd8 40. Nd4 Nh6 41. Qg5 1-0 [Event "FTX Crypto Cup 2022"] [Site "Miami USA"] [Date "2022.08.21"] [Round "7.5"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Praggnanandhaa, R.."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B23"] [WhiteElo "2864"] [BlackElo "2661"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "126"] [EventDate "2022.08.15"] {[%evp 0,126,25,21,79,47,47,46,48,52,40,52,47,43,80,70,92,43,70,63,67,54,56,42, 79,74,73,78,78,78,83,43,38,37,53,31,11,2,2,-3,-3,-40,-30,-66,-53,-41,-36,-46, -68,-74,-65,-69,-55,-64,-50,-111,-30,-36,-84,-41,-29,-71,-66,-82,-62,-133,-113, -134,-134,-134,-123,-210,-194,-194,-194,-219,-215,-175,-247,-249,-290,-301, -354,-351,-366,-366,-380,-380,-380,-372,-365,-430,-369,-399,-411,-427,-427, -461,-496,-514,-509,-662,-394,-644,-354,-546,-441,-444,-458,-458,-375,-374, -374,-725,-385,-619,-666,-2079,-340,-528,-581,-651,-404,-499,-469,-542,-704, -704,-426]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nd4 4. Nf3 e6 5. O-O a6 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. Be2 Nd4 8. Bd3 Nc6 9. b3 d6 10. Bb2 Nf6 11. Re1 g6 12. e5 Nxe5 13. Nxe5 dxe5 14. Rxe5 Bg7 $1 15. Rxc5 Nd7 16. Rc4 Ne5 17. Ne2 $2 Nf3+ $1 18. gxf3 Bxb2 $17 19. Rb1 Bg7 20. a4 O-O 21. Re4 Bd7 (21... b6 $142 $19) 22. Re3 e5 (22... Qg5+ $142 23. Kh1 Qh5 $19) 23. Be4 Rb8 24. c4 Qh4 25. Bd5 Kh8 26. Qe1 (26. Kh1 $1) 26... f5 27. Kh1 b6 (27... f4 $142 $19) 28. Nc3 Rbe8 29. Qg1 Bh6 30. b4 $2 Bxe3 31. fxe3 f4 (31... g5 $142) 32. exf4 (32. Ne4 $142) 32... Qxf4 33. Qxb6 $2 Qxd2 $19 {From here the game is decided. Carlsen wriggles as best he can, but the hole is too deep against a highly motivated Praggnanandhaa.} 34. Ne4 Qd3 35. Re1 Qxf3+ 36. Kg1 Qg4+ 37. Ng3 Bxa4 38. Qxa6 Qd4+ 39. Kh1 Bb3 40. Re4 Qd1+ 41. Kg2 Bc2 42. Re2 Bd3 43. Qa2 Bxe2 44. Qxe2 Qd4 45. b5 Rd8 46. Kh3 Rxd5 47. cxd5 Qxd5 48. Ne4 Rf4 49. Ng3 h5 50. Qc2 Kg7 51. b6 Rf7 52. Qb2 Rb7 53. Qc3 Qe6+ 54. Kg2 Qxb6 55. Qxe5+ Qf6 56. Qd5 Re7 57. Qc5 h4 58. Nf1 Qe5 59. Qf2 Qe4+ 60. Kg1 Qg4+ 61. Kh1 Re2 62. Qa7+ Kh6 63. Qa8 Qe4+ 0-1 [Event "FTX Crypto Cup 2022"] [Site "Miami USA"] [Date "2022.08.21"] [Round "7.6"] [White "Praggnanandhaa, R.."] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B06"] [WhiteElo "2661"] [BlackElo "2864"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "103"] [EventDate "2022.08.15"] {[%evp 0,103,25,25,68,83,93,49,89,88,73,31,56,37,90,38,50,70,70,64,67,43,43,30, 62,62,56,58,71,62,65,56,56,48,49,51,39,27,33,20,23,17,17,6,37,30,27,21,21,-7, -4,-6,-2,4,11,14,12,0,0,0,0,0,-5,-3,-24,-5,-15,-46,-15,7,-13,-5,0,-7,-11,-51, -59,-131,-164,-170,-175,-176,-247,-311,-311,-311,-311,-311,-344,-360,-410,-420, -492,-29993,-392,-1197,-262,-262,-211,-211,-146,-184,0,0,157,159]} 1. d4 g6 2. e4 Bg7 3. Nf3 d6 4. Bc4 Nf6 5. Qe2 Nc6 6. h3 e5 7. dxe5 Nxe5 8. Nxe5 dxe5 9. O-O O-O 10. Rd1 Qe7 11. b3 Rd8 12. Rxd8+ Qxd8 13. Nc3 c6 14. a4 Qe8 15. Be3 Be6 16. Rd1 Bf8 17. Bxe6 Qxe6 18. Rd3 a6 19. Qd1 Bb4 20. f3 Qe7 21. Kh2 b5 22. Na2 Bc5 23. Bxc5 Qxc5 24. axb5 axb5 25. Rd8+ Rxd8 26. Qxd8+ Kg7 27. Qd2 Nh5 28. Nb4 Nf4 29. c3 h5 30. h4 Ne6 31. Nd3 Qd6 32. Qe3 c5 33. Nf2 Nf4 34. g3 Ne6 35. Qd3 Qb6 36. Kg2 Qa5 {White has been playing for a draw from the get-go, and Carlsen has, a little at a time, made some progress. An engine would still draw this in its sleep, but for humans it's getting a little unpleasant, especially as time starts running low. Tired of playing passively and worried about the inevitable ...b4 to secure d4 for the Black knight, Pragg lashes out. } 37. c4 $2 (37. Qc2 $1 b4 38. cxb4 $1 cxb4 39. Nd3 {keeps everything together. } Nd4 40. Qd2 $11) 37... b4 $19 38. Qd5 Qa1 {Pragg probably missed this.} 39. Nd3 Qa2+ 40. Kh3 Qxb3 {Now Black's b-pawn will cost White his knight, and White's counterplay will be too little, too late.} 41. Nxe5 Qb1 42. Kh2 Qb2+ 43. Kh3 b3 44. Nd3 (44. Nxf7 Kxf7 45. e5 Qd4 $19) 44... Qc3 45. f4 b2 46. Nxb2 $4 {Time trouble.} (46. Qb7) 46... Qxb2 $4 {Still good enough, of course, but missing an immediate win.} (46... Nxf4+ {mates (or collects the queen, if Black overlooks the mate).} 47. Kh2 Qxb2+ 48. Kg1 Qg2#) 47. f5 Qa1 (47... g5 $1 48. fxe6 g4#) 48. Kg2 (48. fxe6 $2 Qh1#) 48... gxf5 49. exf5 Qb2+ 50. Kh3 Qc1 $4 {When White's pawn was still on e4, this was a mate threat. But not now!} ( 50... Nf8 51. Qxc5 {is a bit of progress for White, though he's still objectively lost.}) 51. fxe6 $11 fxe6 $2 {From bad to worse.} (51... Qf1+ $11) 52. Qe5+ $1 {The only winning move. I'm not sure if Carlsen resigned out of disgust or lost on time, and in any case Pragg only needed a draw here to clinch the match. Whatever the story, this was Pragg's third consecutive win and fourth in six games, a very impressive performance even against a comparatively unmotivated Magnus Carlsen.} 1-0