[Event "85th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2023.01.20"] [Round "6"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Keymer, Vincent"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C88"] [WhiteElo "2760"] [BlackElo "2696"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "101"] [EventDate "2023.01.13"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. a4 b4 (8... Rb8) (8... Bb7) 9. a5 (9. d3) (9. d4) 9... Rb8 (9... d6 {is far more common.}) 10. d4 Nxd4 11. Nxd4 exd4 12. e5 Ne8 13. Qxd4 $14 Rb5 $146 14. Bc4 c5 15. Qd3 Rxa5 16. Rxa5 Qxa5 17. Nd2 {White's significant advantage in mobility more than makes up for the pawn - but not by much.} Qc7 18. Nf3 h6 19. Bf4 (19. Bxa6 Bxa6 20. Qxa6 d6 {allows Black to solve most of his problems.}) (19. Rd1 $1 d6 (19... d5 20. Qxd5 Be6 21. Qe4 Bxc4 22. Qxc4 $14) 20. Bf4 $1 d5 $8 21. Bxd5 $14) 19... Qc6 $11 20. Bd5 Qb5 21. Qf5 Bb7 22. Bxb7 Qxb7 23. Rd1 Nc7 (23... d6 $1 24. exd6 Nxd6 25. Bxd6 (25. Rxd6 $4 Bxd6 26. Bxd6 Rd8 $19 {is a skewer of sorts: the bishop can't move because of a back-rank mate.}) 25... Rd8 26. Qxc5 Qb8 $1 27. g3 Rxd6 $11) 24. Rxd7 Rd8 $6 (24... Qc8 $1 25. h3 g6 26. Qd3 $8 c4 $1 27. Qd1 Rd8 28. Rxd8+ Qxd8 29. Qxd8+ Bxd8 30. Bxh6 a5 $44) 25. h4 $14 g6 26. Qd3 Qc8 27. Rxd8+ Qxd8 28. Qxd8+ Bxd8 29. Bxh6 a5 {This position is very similar to the one at the end of the 24...Qc8 variation. The differences are that White's pawn is on h4 rather than h3, which isn't significant; and that Black's pawn is on c5 rather than c4, which is. This gives White time to shore up his queenside defenses, and if he can do that he should win with his 4-2 kingside majority.} 30. b3 Nb5 (30... c4 $5) 31. Bc1 (31. Kf1 $142) 31... Na3 $11 32. c4 $1 a4 $1 33. g3 Nb1 $2 (33... axb3 34. Nd2 f6 $1 35. exf6 Bxf6 36. Nxb3 Nxc4 37. Nxc5 Na5 38. Nd3 (38. Kg2 b3 39. Nd3 Nc4 40. Kf3 b2 $11) 38... b3 39. Bb2 Kf7 40. Bxf6 Kxf6 41. Nb2 Ke5 42. Kf1 Kd4 43. g4 Nc4 44. h5 gxh5 45. gxh5 Kc3 46. h6 Ne5 $11) 34. bxa4 $18 b3 $2 (34... Nc3 35. Bg5 $1 Bc7 36. Bf6 Nxa4 (36... Ne4 37. Ne1 b3 38. Nd3 Nd2 39. Nb2 Ba5 40. e6 {To prevent ...Bc3.} fxe6 41. Kg2 $18) 37. Nd2 $18) 35. Kf1 Ba5 36. Bb2 Nc3 37. Nd2 $1 Nxa4 38. Nxb3 Bb4 39. Bc1 Nb6 40. Nd2 Bxd2 41. Bxd2 Nxc4 42. Bc3 {Black's c-pawn is harmless, but White's kingside majority is not. Also helpful to the white cause: the bishop is much more effective than the knight, and his bishop controls h8 (so Black doesn't have the option of bailing out into a bishop and wrong-colored rook pawn draw).} Kf8 43. Ke2 Ke7 44. Kd3 Nb6 45. Ke4 Ke6 46. g4 Na4 47. Ba1 c4 48. Bd4 c3 49. Kd3 Kd5 50. h5 c2 51. Kxc2 (51. Kxc2 Kxd4 52. h6 $18) 1-0 [Event "85th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2023.01.20"] [Round "6"] [White "Ding Liren"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "2811"] [BlackElo "2735"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "95"] [EventDate "2023.01.13"] {[%evp 0,95,46,46,18,18,11,18,22,17,12,7,3,3,3,-17,0,-11,6,17,31,18,11,22,22,-6,89,77,58,34,34,35,35,53,25,22,24,9,3,-26,26,41,19,25,25,25,21,21,19,13,22,22,21,22,21,0,0,3,3,0,0,-15,0,-5,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,4,0,-2,33,-2,29,45,51,-45,-64,-43,-72,-72,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. O-O O-O 6. h3 d6 7. c3 Bb6 8. Re1 Ne7 9. d4 exd4 10. cxd4 d5 11. exd5 h6 12. a4 Ba5 13. Nc3 Nexd5 14. Nxd5 Nxd5 {Here White missed at least a small opportunity.} 15. Bd2 (15. Re5 $1 c6 16. Rh5 $1 Nf6 (16... Be6 $142 17. Ne5 Nf6 18. Bxe6 $1 fxe6 19. Rxh6 $3 Bc7 $3 (19... gxh6 $2 20. Ra3 $1 Bc7 21. Rg3+ Kh8 22. Bf4 Bxe5 23. Bxe5 Rg8 24. Qf3 Rxg3 25. Bxf6+ Kh7 26. Qe4+ $1 Rg6 27. Bxd8 Rxd8 28. h4 $18) 20. Qc2 $1 Qxd4 $1 21. Nf3 Qd5 22. Rh4 $14 {The position is still dangerous for Black.}) 17. Rh4 Nd5 18. Bxh6 $1 gxh6 19. Qc1 Qf6 20. Bxd5 cxd5 21. Rxh6 Qg7 22. Rh5 f6 23. Ra3 $1 Be6 24. Ng5 $1 Rac8 $1 (24... fxg5 $2 25. Rxg5 $18) 25. Qe3 Bf7 $8 26. Nxf7 Rxf7 27. Qe6 Rc1+ 28. Kh2 Bc7+ 29. g3 Rc6 30. Qf5 $16) 15... Bxd2 16. Qxd2 Be6 17. a5 a6 18. Ne5 {White's position is a little more comfortable, but the danger has passed.} Re8 19. Nd3 Qf6 20. Re5 Ne7 21. Bxe6 fxe6 22. Qe3 Nf5 23. Qe4 Rad8 24. Ra4 Nd6 25. Qe2 Nf7 26. Re4 Nd6 27. Rf4 Qg5 28. Rg4 Qb5 29. Qc2 Re7 30. b3 Qf5 31. Rf4 Qg6 32. Rg4 Qf5 33. Rf4 Qg6 34. Qe2 Qg5 35. h4 Qb5 36. Qc2 Nf5 37. Qc3 Rd5 38. h5 Red7 39. g4 Ne7 40. Nc5 e5 41. Nxd7 exf4 42. Ne5 Qe2 43. Qxc7 Qe1+ 44. Kg2 Qe4+ 45. Kh2 Qe2 46. Kg1 Qe1+ 47. Kg2 Qe4+ 48. Kh2 1/2-1/2 [Event "85th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2023.01.20"] [Round "6"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Erigaisi, Arjun"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D47"] [WhiteElo "2764"] [BlackElo "2722"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "90"] [EventDate "2023.01.13"] {[%evp 0,90,46,-16,11,-16,4,-10,45,50,32,42,42,38,55,41,56,30,21,15,11,-5,21,21,9,20,7,-17,34,2,55,35,42,30,7,15,1,-3,-23,-16,0,8,11,-115,8,-15,18,18,11,-12,-8,32,15,23,31,13,49,49,49,17,82,98,98,23,24,0,0,0,17,-118,-115,-78,-58,-64,1,-2,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,4,4,55,8,22,25,38]} 1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 c6 4. e3 Nf6 5. Nf3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 b5 8. Bd3 Bb7 9. O-O a6 10. e4 c5 11. d5 c4 12. Bc2 Qc7 13. Qe2 (13. dxe6 {is the usual move, and after} fxe6 14. Ne2 {is the newest move, replacing} (14. Ng5) (14. Nd4) ({and} 14. Qe2)) 13... O-O-O $2 (13... Bd6 {had been almost automatic. Perhaps Erigaisi mixed up his prep?}) 14. dxe6 fxe6 15. e5 $16 Nd5 16. Nxd5 Bxd5 17. Bg5 Re8 18. b3 Bc5 19. bxc4 bxc4 (19... Bxc4 $2 20. Bd3 $18) 20. Rac1 Rhf8 21. Be4 h6 22. Bh4 Kb8 $6 (22... Rf4 $142) 23. Bxd5 (23. Rfd1 $18 {may be even better, but the text is fine.}) 23... exd5 24. Bg3 $16 {/+-} Ka8 25. Qd2 Nb6 $6 (25... Qb7 $142) (25... Qc6 $142) 26. a4 $2 (26. Nd4 $18) 26... Qc6 $16 27. Rfd1 Nxa4 (27... g5 $142) 28. Ra1 $1 Rb8 29. e6 Rb4 30. Nd4 $18 Qb7 31. Nc2 c3 32. Qxd5 Qxd5 33. Rxd5 Rb2 {White needs to solve the back rank problem, but which way should he do it?} 34. h4 $2 {As natural as can be, but it's wrong.} (34. Kf1 $1 Rxc2 35. Rxa4 {The decisive point is that} Bxf2 {doesn't come with check, so White can play} 36. Rf4 {, winning:} Rxf4 37. Bxf4 Bh4 38. g3 $1 {Not just to kick the bishop, but to stop ...Rf2+.} Bf6 39. Rf5 {Threatening to take on f6, followed by e7-e8Q.} Be7 40. Rf7 Ba3 41. e7 (41. Rxg7 $18) 41... Bxe7 42. Rxe7 $18) 34... Rxc2 35. Rxa4 Bxf2+ $11 36. Kh2 Rd2 37. e7 Bxg3+ 38. Kxg3 Re8 39. Rxd2 cxd2 40. Rxa6+ Kb7 41. Rd6 Rxe7 42. Rxd2 Kc7 43. Kf4 Rd7 44. Ra2 Kd8 45. Kf5 Rd6 1/2-1/2 [Event "85th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2023.01.20"] [Round "6"] [White "Abdusattorov, Nodirbek"] [Black "Praggnanandhaa, Rameshbabu"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C80"] [WhiteElo "2713"] [BlackElo "2684"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "107"] [EventDate "2023.01.13"] {[%evp 0,107,46,41,22,22,19,18,22,-2,12,0,23,-11,14,17,3,-7,-11,-17,14,-22,-28,-42,-34,-30,-40,-50,41,-12,-3,-3,9,-4,4,14,0,0,41,30,44,22,22,37,37,16,40,28,28,26,58,46,46,45,82,42,78,78,94,67,93,61,79,81,79,79,70,83,84,76,63,63,94,82,93,74,84,92,86,89,99,87,96,93,99,63,84,78,78,73,72,71,59,59,59,46,79,83,96,87,86,57,70,9,20,20,20,45,33,30]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. Be3 Be7 10. Nbd2 Nc5 11. Bxc5 Bxc5 12. Qe2 O-O 13. c3 Qe7 14. Rfe1 Bb6 15. h3 Rad8 16. Bc2 g6 17. a4 b4 18. Nb3 bxc3 19. bxc3 d4 20. a5 Bxb3 21. axb6 Bxc2 22. bxc7 Rc8 23. Qxc2 Rxc7 24. Ra4 Rfc8 25. Qd2 dxc3 26. Qxc3 Nd8 27. Qa1 Ne6 28. Rxa6 Rc2 29. Rd6 Qc7 30. Qa4 Rc4 31. Qa6 Rc1 32. Rdd1 Rxd1 33. Rxd1 Qc2 34. Rd2 Qc1+ 35. Kh2 Qc4 36. Qa3 Qf4+ 37. g3 Qe4 38. Qd3 Qxd3 39. Rxd3 {Move White's e-pawn back a square and he'll have serious winning chances. Here, there's nothing, and Praggnanandhaa draws without breaking a sweat.} g5 40. Rd5 Rc4 41. Kg2 Kg7 42. Nh2 h5 43. Nf1 h4 44. Ne3 Ra4 45. Nf5+ Kg6 46. Ne7+ Kg7 47. Rd7 hxg3 48. fxg3 Re4 49. Rd5 Ra4 50. Kf2 Ra3 51. Rd1 Nc5 52. Nf5+ Kg6 53. Ne7+ Kg7 54. Nf5+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "85th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2023.01.20"] [Round "6"] [White "Van Foreest, Jorden"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B47"] [WhiteElo "2681"] [BlackElo "2859"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "107"] [EventDate "2023.01.13"] {[%evp 0,107,46,22,65,65,52,52,32,41,35,39,93,71,92,65,82,55,140,101,101,75,65,36,47,47,47,30,27,8,-15,-4,-9,-8,22,-5,15,-10,2,-17,-14,-15,-20,-20,-20,-20,-23,-23,-27,-30,-25,-38,-28,-45,-18,-42,-19,-35,0,0,16,6,38,16,22,2,0,24,12,18,16,0,109,71,69,0,0,0,-11,-13,-21,-21,-23,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,0,86,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be2 a6 7. Nxc6 Qxc6 {Much rarer than the pawn recaptures.} 8. Be3 (8. O-O b5 9. Bf3 Bb7 10. a4 b4 11. Nd5 {is a typical idea, and one of the reasons why 7...Qc6 isn't so popular.}) 8... b5 9. Bf3 (9. Qd4 Bb7 10. f3) 9... Bb7 10. Qd4 Qd6 {Now Black is fine. Carlsen does most of the pushing in what follows, but Van Foreest defends well and holds the draw.} 11. Qxd6 Bxd6 12. O-O-O Be5 13. Bd4 d6 14. Be2 Nf6 15. f3 Ke7 16. a3 g5 17. Kb1 Rhg8 18. a4 b4 19. Na2 Bxd4 20. Rxd4 a5 21. c3 bxc3 22. Nxc3 d5 23. exd5 Nxd5 24. Nxd5+ Bxd5 25. Rc1 Kf6 26. Bc4 Bb7 27. b4 axb4 28. Bb3 Ra5 29. Rxb4 Ba8 30. Kb2 h5 31. h3 Re5 32. Rc2 h4 33. Rb5 Rd8 34. Rxe5 Kxe5 35. a5 Kf4 36. Rc7 Bd5 37. Rxf7+ Kg3 38. Bxd5 Rxd5 39. a6 Kxg2 40. a7 Ra5 41. Kc3 Kxh3 42. Rg7 g4 43. fxg4 Kg3 44. Kb4 Ra6 45. Kb5 Ra1 46. Kb6 h3 47. g5 h2 48. Rh7 Rb1+ 49. Kc7 Rc1+ 50. Kb7 Rb1+ 51. Kc7 Ra1 52. Kb7 Rb1+ 53. Kc7 Ra1 54. Kb7 1/2-1/2 [Event "85th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2023.01.20"] [Round "6"] [White "Rapport, Richard"] [Black "Maghsoodloo, Parham"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B53"] [WhiteElo "2740"] [BlackElo "2719"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "66"] [EventDate "2023.01.13"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Qxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Qd3 {This is a huge Jeffery Xiong specialty. I don't know if he plays this in "real" (i.e. classical) chess, but he has used it repeatedly in online blitz events, with great success.} g6 7. Nd5 Bg7 8. c3 O-O 9. Bg5 Be6 10. Be2 Qa5 $1 $146 {= Black is not afraid of the isolated d-pawn. Xiong's blitz opponents, take note!} 11. Nxf6+ exf6 12. Be3 Rfd8 (12... d5 $11 {Why prepare to do something, when you can just do it?}) 13. O-O a6 (13... d5) 14. Nd4 Ne5 {For pity's sake...} (14... Nxd4 15. Bxd4 d5 $11) 15. Qc2 Bc4 16. Rfd1 (16. b3 $142 Bxe2 17. Nxe2 d5 18. exd5 Qxd5 19. c4 Qc6 20. Rad1 $14) 16... Rac8 (16... d5 $142 $11 {For the love of...}) 17. Nb3 (17. b3 $142 Bxe2 18. Nxe2 d5 19. exd5 Rxd5 20. Rxd5 Qxd5 21. Rd1 $14) 17... Qc7 18. Bf4 b5 (18... d5 $11) 19. a4 d5 $1 {About time. Fortunately, it's still good, and good enough for equality.} 20. axb5 axb5 21. exd5 Bxd5 22. Rd4 f5 23. Rad1 Be4 $6 (23... Bc4 $11) 24. Rxd8+ $6 (24. Qd2 $1 Rxd4 25. Nxd4 b4 $1 26. cxb4 Rd8 27. Qc1 $1 $16) 24... Rxd8 $11 25. Rxd8+ Qxd8 26. Qd2 Qa8 27. Bf1 Nc4 28. Qe2 h6 29. Nd2 Nxb2 30. Nxe4 Qxe4 31. Qxe4 fxe4 32. Bxb5 Bxc3 33. Bxh6 Bd4 1/2-1/2 [Event "85th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2023.01.20"] [Round "6"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Gukesh, Dommaraju"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D38"] [WhiteElo "2766"] [BlackElo "2725"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "71"] [EventDate "2023.01.13"] {[%evp 0,71,22,27,29,8,-2,14,18,18,37,-28,-21,-38,-7,-25,-3,8,-3,10,9,10,13,27,56,15,69,84,71,71,58,58,71,71,74,129,112,112,96,96,99,96,64,62,55,70,63,45,73,66,65,75,86,42,125,133,169,214,249,186,151,196,198,191,204,170,170,156,191,186,202,202,227,199]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Qa4+ Nc6 6. e3 O-O 7. Qc2 Ne7 {A good alternative to the usual 7...Re8.} (7... Re8) 8. Bd2 b6 9. a3 Bxc3 10. Bxc3 Ba6 (10... a5) (10... Bb7) (10... Ne4) (10... dxc4) 11. b3 $14 Rc8 12. Rd1 $146 (12. Bd3 Nf5 13. O-O Nd6 14. Bb4 c5 15. dxc5 bxc5 16. Bc3 dxc4 17. bxc4 h6 18. Rfd1 Qc7 19. e4 Nd7 20. e5 Nb7 21. Rab1 Rfd8 22. Qa4 Qc6 23. Qxc6 Rxc6 24. Be4 Rb6 25. Rbc1 Rb3 26. Bxb7 Rxb7 27. Rd6 Rb6 28. Rcd1 Rxd6 29. Rxd6 Bc8 30. Nd2 Re8 31. f4 Nb8 32. Nb3 Ba6 33. Na5 Rc8 34. g4 Kh7 35. Kf2 Rc7 36. f5 Bc8 37. Rd8 Nc6 38. Nxc6 Rxc6 39. f6 gxf6 40. exf6 e5 41. Kg3 Be6 42. Bxe5 {½-½ Grachev,B (2639)-Bluebaum,M (2605) Moscow Aeroflot op-A 15th 2016 (3)}) 12... c5 (12... Ne4) 13. dxc5 Rxc5 $2 (13... Ne4 $142) 14. Qb2 $1 $16 {/+- I'm not sure what happened with Gukesh's preparation, but he's already almost lost.} Qc8 $2 (14... Ne8) 15. Bxf6 gxf6 16. Qxf6 $18 Ng6 17. h4 dxc4 18. h5 Rf5 19. Qc3 Ne7 20. bxc4 $6 (20. Rh4 $1 f6 21. e4 Rc5 22. b4 Rc7 23. Be2 $18) 20... f6 21. Be2 Rc5 22. Nd2 Bb7 23. Rh4 e5 24. Ne4 Bxe4 25. Rxe4 Qe6 26. Qd2 Ra5 $2 (26... f5 $142) 27. Rg4+ Kf7 28. h6 Ng6 29. c5 $1 Rxc5 30. Qd7+ Qxd7 31. Rxd7+ Kg8 32. Rxa7 Rc1+ 33. Kd2 Rh1 34. Rb4 Rxh6 35. Rxb6 Rh2 36. Rbb7 1-0