[Event "2nd UzChess Cup Masters"] [Site "Tashkent UZB"] [Date "2025.06.27"] [Round "9.1"] [White "Abdusattorov, Nodirbek"] [Black "Praggnanandhaa, R."] [Result "0-1"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [ECO "B45"] [WhiteElo "2767"] [BlackElo "2767"] [PlyCount "98"] [GameId "2193397548254015"] [EventDate "2025.06.19"] [SourceVersionDate "2025.01.05"] {[%evp 0,98,13,25,20,25,28,24,18,13,32,21,20,5,21,33,15,60,10,17,12,6,0,0,-1,0,1,-6,-30,-28,-161,-22,-30,-27,-182,-15,-96,-82,-101,-67,-88,-70,-167,-32,-64,-88,-265,-192,-115,-160,-332,-230,-203,-207,-249,-312,-371,-294,-348,-160,-374,-406,-327,-393,-423,-254,-434,-411,-293,-380,-431,-404,-448,-389,-430,-368,-460,-418,-344,-389,-388,-350,-397,-415,-335,-358,-391,-391,-253,-375,-331,-279,-291,-285,-305,-510,-702,-689,-711,-1250,-1294]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. Bf4 {Comparatively rare.} (6. Nxc6) (6. Ndb5) 6... d6 (6... Bb4 {leads to great complications after} 7. Ndb5 Nxe4 8. Qf3 d5 9. Nc7+ Kf8 10. Nxa8 e5 11. Bd2 Nd4 12. Qd1 Qh4 13. g3 Qf6 14. Nxe4 Nf3+ {15.Qxf3 and so on. But in a must-win situation Pragg was forced to avoid this as} 15. Ke2 {forces Black to make a draw by repetition with} Nd4+ 16. Ke1 Nf3+ {as everything else loses. 6.Bf4 is thus a clever situational choice by Abdusattorov.}) 7. Bb5 (7. Ndb5 e5 8. Bg5 a6 {transposes to a Sveshnikov.}) 7... Bd7 8. Nxc6 bxc6 9. Ba4 e5 $146 (9... d5 $11) 10. Bg5 h6 11. Bxf6 (11. Bh4 Qb6 12. Bxf6 Qxb2 13. Ne2 gxf6 14. Bb3 Qa3 15. O-O a5 16. Ng3 a4 17. Bc4 $44 {gives White full compensation for the pawn.}) 11... Qxf6 12. Qd3 a5 13. O-O-O Be7 14. Rhf1 (14. f3) 14... O-O (14... Ra7 $1 $15) 15. g3 (15. Nd5 {shows the point of 14...Ra7, but Black is fine here in any case after} cxd5 16. Bxd7 Qf4+ 17. Kb1 dxe4 18. Qe2 Qxh2 19. Qxe4 $44) 15... Rab8 (15... Ra7 $1 $15) 16. f4 (16. Nd5 $1 $11) 16... Rb4 17. Qa6 (17. a3 $142 Rd4 18. Qf3) 17... exf4 (17... Rfb8 $142 18. Bb3 exf4 19. Qxa5 Qg5 20. Qxg5 hxg5 $15 {/? Black's bishop pair gives him a significant advantage in the endgame.}) 18. gxf4 $2 (18. Qxa5 Rb7 19. Rxf4 Qg6 20. Qa6 $1 Rfb8 21. Qd3 $1 Bg5 22. Qxd6 Qxd6 23. Rxd6 Kf8 24. h4 Bxf4+ 25. gxf4 Ke7 {Black is a little better, but White should hold this.}) 18... Rfb8 $19 19. e5 Qf5 20. exd6 Bf6 {The good news for White is that he's up a pawn. The good news for Black is that every one of his pieces, excepting the bishop on d7, is ready to slaughter the white king.} 21. Bb3 Qc5 22. Rfe1 ({It would be nice to avoid ...Bxc3, e.g. with} 22. Ne2 {, but then there are other problems.} a4 23. Bxa4 Qe3+ 24. Rd2 Bxb2+ 25. Kd1 Bc3 {and White is getting mated -} 26. Nxc3 Rb1+ 27. Nxb1 Rxb1# {, for example.}) (22. Rd3 {doesn't exactly improve matters as the White queen is now stuck and lost to} Bc8 $19) (22. Rf3 {keeps the queen alive but walks into the fatal skewer} Bg4 $19 {.}) ({Finally,} 22. Qd3 {is yet one more way to lose:} Bf5 23. Qd2 a4 24. Bxa4 Rxb2 $19 {So Abdusattorov decides to allow ...Bxc3 and hope for the best.}) 22... Bxc3 23. bxc3 Qxc3 24. Qd3 Qa1+ 25. Kd2 Qf6 26. c3 Bf5 27. Qxf5 (27. Qg3 Qxd6+ 28. Kc1 Qxf4+ 29. Qxf4 Rxf4 $19 {is just a different way to lose. Abdusattorov prefers his material deficit to come with an imbalance.}) 27... Rd4+ 28. cxd4 Qxf5 29. Kc3 Qd7 30. Re5 Qxd6 {This is over. The game goes on - rightly - but barring a time trouble "miracle" there's no saving this.} 31. Rde1 Kf8 32. Kd3 Rd8 33. R1e4 Qb4 34. f5 a4 35. Bc4 Qb1+ 36. Kc3 Qc1+ 37. Kd3 Qb1+ 38. Kc3 Rb8 39. Re3 Qc1+ 40. Kd3 Qd1+ 41. Kc3 Qa1+ 42. Kd3 Qb1+ 43. Kc3 g6 44. fxg6 Qc1+ 45. Kd3 Rb4 46. Re8+ Kg7 47. Rg8+ Kxg8 48. gxf7+ Kh7 49. f8=Q {A new queen! Too bad White is getting mated.} Qxc4+ {Abdusattorov had seen enough. With the win Praggnanandhaa caught up to his opponent and to Sindarov, who drew his game, to end the (Classical) tournament in a three-way tie for first. The players went on to contest a blitz tiebreak, and Pragg won that, too, to finish as the event's winner. A great performance by the youngster (ok, all three players in the tie are youngsters: two are 19 and Abdusattorov is the "old" guy at 20), especially after his back-to-back losses in rounds 5 and 6.} (49... Qxc4+ 50. Ke4 (50. Kd2 Rb2+ 51. Kd1 Qc2+ 52. Ke1 Qc1#) 50... Qxd4+ 51. Kf3 (51. Kf5 Qf4+ {wins the queen with mate soon to follow.}) 51... Qg4+ 52. Kf2 Rb2+ 53. Kf1 Qg2+ 54. Ke1 Rb1#) 0-1 [Event "2nd UzChess Cup Masters"] [Site "Tashkent UZB"] [Date "2025.06.27"] [Round "9.2"] [White "Vokhidov, Shamsiddin"] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [ECO "B45"] [WhiteElo "2644"] [BlackElo "2757"] [PlyCount "75"] [GameId "2193397548254016"] [EventDate "2025.06.19"] [SourceVersionDate "2025.01.05"] {[%evp 0,75,24,20,10,-29,16,32,22,22,21,22,3,11,24,11,0,11,6,14,21,-7,49,47,36,33,-11,58,50,46,-4,79,108,121,29,119,97,155,131,260,124,157,245,186,256,247,271,301,73,277,272,203,268,271,272,282,283,284,291,223,296,163,283,264,338,245,323,309,309,323,292,278,364,459,459,496,496,563]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 {Amazing - back-to-back games in the Sicilian Four Knights. What's going on here? And don't the players know that every game that starts with 1.e4 is supposed to be an Italian or at least a Berlin?} 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. e5 {The most principled reply to this variation.} Nd5 8. Ne4 Qc7 9. f4 Rb8 {Definitely a sideline. The engine thinks White has a fairly hefty edge after 10.c4, the main move, but Black has done very well against that according to the database. Vokhidov chooses a line the engine is less excited about but has had excellent results in the database.} (9... Qb6 {is the main line here. White has decent chances for an edge, but nothing special.}) 10. Bd3 c5 (10... Qb6 {has been preferred by man and machine.}) 11. c4 Nb4 12. O-O {We're already down to one precedent.} Nxd3 $146 (12... Bb7 13. Bb1 Be7 14. f5 Qxe5 15. Bf4 Qxb2 16. Bxb8 Qxa1 17. fxe6 dxe6 18. Nd6+ Bxd6 19. Bxd6 Nc6 20. Rxf7 Kxf7 21. Bg6+ hxg6 22. Qxa1 Rd8 23. Qf1+ Kg8 24. Qb1 Ba6 25. Bxc5 Bxc4 26. Qxg6 Ne5 27. Qe4 Rd1+ 28. Kf2 Nd3+ 29. Kg3 {1-0 Shirov,A (2661)-Bykov,E (2424) Titled Tuesday intern op 09th Apr Early Chess.com INT blitz 2024 (7)}) 13. Qxd3 $16 {And now the players are on fresh ground. White seems to be doing very well here, so I don't know if Nepo failed to remember something in his preparation or was bluffing.} Bb7 14. Rf2 Qc6 15. Re2 d5 $2 {Black wants to some space, especially for the sake of his bishops, but this just doesn't work.} 16. exd6 $18 Rd8 17. Bd2 Bxd6 18. Qg3 O-O 19. Bc3 {Black's position is a disaster.} e5 20. fxe5 Be7 21. Nd6 g6 22. Nf5 Qe6 23. Nxe7+ Qxe7 24. e6 {The opposite-colored bishops aren't going to save Black; in fact, they exacerbate his problems as White can (and will) attack on the dark squares while Black's bishop can only look on in horror.} f6 (24... fxe6 25. Qe5) 25. Rf1 Bc8 26. Qh4 Bxe6 27. Bxf6 Qf7 28. Ref2 Rd7 29. b3 Qe8 30. Qg5 Rdf7 31. Qxc5 {Two extra pawns and an attack. Barring a blunder - and it's hard to see how White *could* blunder in such a situation - Black is toast.} Qd7 32. Qg5 Qd3 33. h3 {Taking back-rank worries off the table.} ({That said, why not kill two birds with one stone?} 33. h4) 33... Bc8 34. h4 {There we go. It's not as if Black is repairing anything with the extra tempo.} Bb7 35. h5 a5 36. Rf5 {Threatening to take twice on g6.} Rg7 37. Qh6 Rff7 38. R5f2 {White wins the exchange to add to his growing list of assets. Black decided he had suffered enough.} 1-0 [Event "2nd UzChess Cup Masters"] [Site "Tashkent UZB"] [Date "2025.06.27"] [Round "9.3"] [White "Sindarov, Javokhir"] [Black "Maghsoodloo, Parham"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2710"] [BlackElo "2691"] [PlyCount "59"] [GameId "2193397548254017"] [EventDate "2025.06.19"] [SourceVersionDate "2025.01.05"] {[%evp 0,59,12,34,22,22,22,6,18,19,5,-1,3,13,-7,-7,27,34,33,26,33,30,32,53,61,53,54,17,52,48,53,67,42,40,-129,48,49,36,45,37,67,34,50,-4,31,0,-49,-36,37,41,20,44,3,10,9,14,18,49,23,30,25,62]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Nbd2 {It's almost as if every day in this tournament is Christmas with all the fresh openings. Sindarov trots out an interesting line that has gained some attention lately - it's a fresh alternative to the entertaining but defunct Moller Gambit and the rather boring 7.Bd2 line.} d5 (7... Nxe4) ({and} 7... Bxd2+ {are important alternatives.}) 8. exd5 Nxd5 9. O-O O-O 10. a3 Bxd2 (10... Be7 {was more common, but it has been supplanted by the text.}) 11. Bxd2 Nb6 (11... Bg4 {is the principal alternative.}) 12. Ba2 {The most popular move, but White has also tried 12.Bd3, 12.Bg5, and 12.Bb5.} Be6 (12... Bg4 {has been more popular, but the text is probably better if less intuitive.}) 13. Bxe6 (13. Bg5 Qd7 14. Bxe6 Qxe6 15. Re1 Qd5 16. Bf4 Rac8 17. Rc1 Rfd8 18. Rc5 Qd7 19. h3 {½-½ Libiszewski,F (2519)-Velten,P (2486) FRA-chT Top 16 Gp Haute Chartres 2022 (4.3)}) 13... fxe6 14. Qe2 Nxd4 $146 (14... Qd5 15. Bc3 Rae8 16. Rfe1 Qd6 17. Ng5 h6 18. Ne4 Qd8 19. Nc5 Nd5 20. Qg4 b6 21. Nd3 Rf6 22. Re4 Qe7 23. h3 Qf7 24. f4 Rf5 25. Qg3 Nf6 26. Re2 Rd5 27. Qf2 Red8 28. Ne5 Nxe5 29. fxe5 Nd7 30. Qxf7+ Kxf7 31. Rf1+ Kg8 32. Rf4 Nb8 33. Ref2 R5d7 34. Rg4 Kh7 35. h4 Nc6 36. Rff4 Ne7 37. h5 Nd5 38. Rf3 Re8 39. Rg6 Kg8 40. Bd2 Ne7 41. Rxe6 Rxd4 42. Bb4 c5 43. Bc3 Rdd8 44. Rd6 Nd5 45. Rxd8 Rxd8 46. Rd3 Kf7 47. e6+ Kxe6 48. Bxg7 Rg8 49. Bxh6 Rh8 50. Bc1 Rxh5 51. g3 Ke5 52. Kg2 Ke4 53. Rd1 Rh7 54. Re1+ Kd3 55. g4 Kc2 56. Kg3 Re7 57. Rh1 Re4 58. g5 Ne7 59. Kf3 Rc4 60. b4 cxb4 61. axb4 Rxb4 62. Be3 a5 63. Rh7 Ng6 64. Ra7 Ne5+ 65. Kg3 Nc4 66. Bf4 Rb1 67. Kg2 Re1 68. g6 Re6 69. g7 Rg6+ 70. Kf3 b5 71. Ke4 a4 72. Kf5 Rxg7 73. Rxg7 a3 74. Rg2+ Kd3 75. Rg3+ Kd4 76. Be5+ Nxe5 {½-½ Savitha Shri,B (2329)-Alekseenko,K (2673) Sitges Sunway op-A 11th 2024 (5)}) 15. Nxd4 Qxd4 16. Qxe6+ Rf7 {A theoretical success for Black, who has equalized. Unfortunately for the players, it's an equality in which neither side has much in the way of winning chances, and so the game rapidly peters out to a draw.} 17. Bc3 Qd7 18. Qe4 c6 19. Rad1 Qf5 20. Qxf5 Rxf5 21. Rfe1 Nd5 {Against a knight like this, one cannot speak of the "advantage" of bishop vs. knight.} 22. f3 Nxc3 {Not at all necessary, but not bad, and it allows the players to engineer a speedy draw.} 23. bxc3 Raf8 24. Re7 R5f7 25. Rxf7 Rxf7 26. Rd8+ Rf8 27. Rd7 Rf7 28. Rd8+ Rf8 29. Rd7 Rf7 30. Rd8+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "2nd UzChess Cup Masters"] [Site "Tashkent UZB"] [Date "2025.06.27"] [Round "9.4"] [White "Rapport, Richard"] [Black "Yakubboev, Nodirbek"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [ECO "C69"] [WhiteElo "2714"] [BlackElo "2659"] [PlyCount "60"] [GameId "2193397548254018"] [EventDate "2025.06.19"] [SourceVersionDate "2025.01.05"] {[%evp 0,60,12,20,25,15,12,15,4,45,6,-2,-10,-11,22,30,34,24,23,37,68,48,48,53,54,88,28,39,-37,45,-17,25,1,20,-11,-5,-90,-6,-78,1,15,5,-36,-8,-28,-15,-16,-30,-19,-32,-32,-19,-23,-19,-22,-10,-15,-1,-1,-1,-6,7,-15]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. O-O f6 6. d4 exd4 7. Nxd4 c5 8. Nb3 {The old-school move from Fischer's day, superseded for a while by 8.Ne2 but never done away with.} (8. Ne2) 8... Qxd1 9. Rxd1 Bd7 (9... Be6) (9... Bg4) 10. Bf4 O-O-O 11. Nc3 Be6 12. Rxd8+ Kxd8 13. Rd1+ Kc8 14. Nd5 Bxd5 15. Rxd5 b6 16. Rd1 Ne7 17. g3 {Almost a novelty.} (17. Nd2 {has been usual, looking to send the knight to c4.}) 17... Nc6 $146 18. Be3 Bd6 19. f4 Re8 20. Nd2 c4 {A nice concept. If the pawn isn't taken Black cements it with ...b5. And if it is...} 21. Nxc4 Bb4 $1 {is the point. Black regains the pawn and, having shed his doubled pawn, enjoys complete equality.} (21... Rxe4 $2 22. Nxb6+ $1 cxb6 23. Rxd6 {would be great for White.}) 22. e5 fxe5 23. Nxe5 Nxe5 24. fxe5 Rxe5 25. Kf2 Bc5 26. Bxc5 Rxc5 27. c3 Rf5+ 28. Ke3 Re5+ 29. Kf3 Rf5+ 30. Ke3 Re5+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "2nd UzChess Cup Masters"] [Site "Tashkent UZB"] [Date "2025.06.27"] [Round "9.5"] [White "Erigaisi, Arjun"] [Black "Aravindh, Chithambaram VR."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [ECO "C45"] [WhiteElo "2782"] [BlackElo "2749"] [PlyCount "84"] [GameId "2193397548254019"] [EventDate "2025.06.19"] [SourceVersionDate "2025.01.05"] {[%evp 0,84,11,20,22,15,18,20,17,23,25,30,20,-18,-115,-15,-27,2,-16,-44,-55,4,39,-3,13,40,19,25,2,0,-31,26,23,124,18,111,11,23,16,17,21,143,63,87,73,126,74,80,90,72,107,75,118,111,4,114,138,14,106,103,65,81,21,82,1,54,35,44,47,43,-55,11,-52,-1,-24,-8,1,-1,52,11,46,10,12,7,10,1,-10]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nxc6 bxc6 6. Qe2 {Odd-looking but not that bad, and if it comes as a surprise to the opponent, so much the better.} (6. e5 Qe7 7. Qe2 Nd5 {is almost automatic at the GM level.}) (6. Bd3 {is generally the move White chooses when taking a day off from 6.e5.}) 6... d5 $5 {I like this! It's very principled, prioritizing rapid development over a pawn or two. This really asks White what in the world the queen is doing on e2.} (6... Qe7 {invites a transposition to the main line with 7.e5, but White can play} 7. Nc3 {instead (though without any advantage).}) 7. exd5+ Be7 8. dxc6 O-O {Black has done quite well here, especially in grandmaster games. White must be careful to get out of the opening in one piece, notwithstanding his two extra pawns.} 9. Nc3 Bb4 10. Qd3 Qe7+ 11. Be2 Re8 12. Be3 Rd8 $1 $146 {=} 13. Qc4 Nd5 $1 14. O-O $8 Bxc3 $1 15. Bc5 $1 {Both players have done their homework, or are doing a great job of finding all the best moves at the board.} Qg5 $1 16. h4 $1 Qe5 (16... Qf6 {was also good.}) 17. bxc3 Nxc3 18. Bf3 Be6 19. Qb4 a5 $1 20. Qa3 Ne2+ 21. Kh1 Nd4 (21... Bd5 {is a good alternative.} 22. Rae1 Bxf3 23. Qxf3 Qxc5 24. Rxe2 Rd6 25. Rfe1 Rf8 26. Kg1 Qxc6 $11) 22. Rfe1 Qf5 23. Bxd4 Rxd4 24. Qe7 {Both sides have played (and undoubtedly prepared) very well, but now, as so often in this tournament, things start to go wrong for Aravindh.} h6 $6 {Not best, but not bad.} (24... Qf4 $142 25. Kg1 Qd6 26. Qxd6 Rxd6 $11) 25. Qxc7 {The obvious, testing move.} (25. Rad1) 25... Rxh4+ $2 (25... Bd5 $1 {Only this unobvious move maintains equality.} 26. Bxd5 Rxd5 $1 27. Qb7 Rf8 28. Kg1 Rc5 $11) 26. Kg1 $18 Rc8 27. Qe5 Qxe5 28. Rxe5 Ra4 29. a3 $2 (29. c4 $1 {is very strong. If Black does nothing White will play Bd5 with an obviously winning position, so let's look at the captures.} Bxc4 (29... Rxc4 30. Rxa5 $18) 30. Rc5 $1 Rxa2 31. Rxa2 Bxa2 32. c7 Be6 33. Bb7 Rf8 34. c8=Q Bxc8 35. Bxc8 $1 $18 {White will round up the a-pawn and eventually win on the kingside.}) 29... Kf8 $16 30. Rb5 $2 $14 (30. Rc5 $142 Ke7 31. Rc3) 30... g5 31. g3 Ke7 32. Rb7+ (32. Bg2) 32... Kf6 33. Ra7 $11 (33. Rb5) 33... h5 34. c3 Rc4 {White's advantage is gone, and the players cooperatively liquidate almost everything to make the draw.} (34... h4) 35. Rxa5 Rxc3 36. Bxh5 g4 37. Re1 R8xc6 38. Re4 R6c4 39. Rxc4 Rxc4 40. f3 Rc3 41. fxg4 Bxg4 42. Bxg4 Rxg3+ 1/2-1/2