[Event "FIDE Candidates 2024"] [Site "Toronto CAN"] [Date "2024.04.10"] [Round "6.1"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C47"] [WhiteElo "2758"] [BlackElo "2803"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "2024.04.04"] {[%evp 0,9,52,43,47,56,74,24,20,30,64,32]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 {Hmm.} Nf6 4. d4 {A surprising decision. Unless Nepo has something special prepared in this very drawish line, he's throwing away a white game out of respect for Caruana.} exd4 5. Nxd4 Bb4 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bd3 d5 8. exd5 O-O 9. O-O Bg4 10. f3 Bh5 11. Bg5 cxd5 12. Bxf6 Qxf6 13. Nxd5 Qxb2 14. Rb1 Bc5+ 15. Kh1 Qe5 16. Re1 (16. f4 {has been played more frequently, and while White sometimes wins after} Bxd1 17. fxe5 Bg4 18. Nxc7 Rac8 {and now either} 19. Rb7 ({or} 19. Nb5 {, the position is equal and draws are the most usual result.})) 16... Qd6 17. Ne7+ Kh8 18. Qe2 Bg6 19. Nxg6+ hxg6 20. Qe5 $146 {A new move, but not one that changes the character of the play or its assessment as extremely drawish. Perhaps in addition to his great respect for Caruana, Nepo also needed to recover from his scare in the previous round.} (20. Qe4 Kg8 21. g3 Rab8 22. Kg2 Rxb1 23. Rxb1 Bb6 24. Re1 Rd8 25. h4 Kf8 26. Re2 Qc5 27. Kh3 Qd6 28. Bc4 Qd7+ 29. Qg4 Qxg4+ 30. fxg4 Rd4 31. Bb5 Rd8 32. g5 Bc5 33. Re4 Bd6 34. g4 Be7 35. Ra4 Rd5 36. Rxa7 Bxg5 37. Bc4 Rc5 38. Bd3 Bf4 39. g5 Bd2 40. a4 Ke7 41. Rb7 Ba5 42. Rb8 Re5 43. Rg8 Bc3 44. Kg4 Re3 45. Kf4 Bd2 46. Kg4 Bc3 47. Kf4 Bd2 48. Kg4 Bc3 49. Kf4 Bd2 50. Kg4 Bc3 51. Kf4 Bd2 {½-½ Paravyan,D (2551)-Sjugirov,S (2613) Wch Blitz Almaty 2022 (21)}) 20... Rab8 21. Qxd6 Bxd6 22. g3 g5 23. Rxb8 Rxb8 24. Re4 a5 $1 (24... Rb4 $4 {is desirable in most respects, offering a rook trade to make the draw obvious and preventing White from harassing the a-pawn with 25.Ra4. There is one small problem, however...} 25. Re8+ Bf8 26. Rxf8#) 25. Rg4 (25. Ra4 {is ineffective here due to} Rb1+ 26. Kg2 Bb4 $11) 25... Be7 26. Rd4 Rd8 27. Re4 {Nepo isn't quite ready to call it a day, even if the position doesn't pose Caruana any real challenge.} Bd6 28. Ra4 Ra8 29. Rg4 Be7 30. Rd4 Rd8 {Are we going to repeat?} 31. Ra4 Ra8 {Maybe?} 32. Be4 {Nope - but it doesn't matter.} Ra7 33. Rd4 c5 34. Rd1 a4 35. Rb1 {Threatening mate in two. You never know...} g6 {Putting an end to the back rank tactics.} 36. a3 {This move is a draw offer.} c4 37. Rb7 Rxb7 38. Bxb7 Bxa3 39. Bc6 c3 40. Kg2 Kg7 41. Bxa4 {The time control has been made, the rooks are gone, there are opposite-colored bishops and everyone's pawns are safe. Time to call it a game.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE Candidates 2024"] [Site "Toronto CAN"] [Date "2024.04.10"] [Round "6.2"] [White "Gukesh, Dommaraju"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B27"] [WhiteElo "2743"] [BlackElo "2789"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2024.04.04"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. c3 d5 4. e5 Bg4 (4... a6 {is an interesting alternative, played by Nakamura himself against Esipenko last year.}) 5. Bb5+ {This is obviously what 4...a6 is aimed against.} Nc6 6. Bxc6+ {It's often wrong to immediately capture pinned pieces (if one can wait until the pinning piece is kicked, that's better), but if White waits Black may play ...Qb6 and avoid the doubled pawns.} bxc6 7. O-O c4 $146 {White will have to play b3/b4 or d3/4 sooner or later, so that Black will have the chance to swap off his doubled pawn. The downside is that it's not a developing move, so Black must be sure that White can't make anything of his leap in development. (Which he no doubt has done, in prep.)} 8. d3 (8. Qa4 $6 Rc8 9. Nd4 Bd7 $15 10. Qxa7 c5 11. Nf3 e6 $15) (8. Re1 {is a good alternative to the text.}) 8... cxd3 9. Qxd3 (9. Nbd2 $5 c5 10. c4) 9... Bxf3 $1 10. Qxf3 Bg7 11. Qe2 $1 {Clearing f3 for the knight.} Qc7 (11... e6 $142 12. Nd2 Ne7 13. b4 a5 14. a4 O-O 15. Nf3 Qc7 16. Bd2 Rfb8 $11) 12. Re1 e6 13. b4 $14 Ne7 14. Nd2 Nc8 15. c4 (15. a4 $142 Nb6 16. a5 Nd7 17. Nf3 O-O 18. h4 h6 19. Bf4 c5 20. a6 $14 (20. b5 $14)) 15... O-O $11 16. Bb2 a5 17. a3 (17. cxd5 $142 exd5 $1 18. bxa5 Rxa5 19. Nb3 Ra4 20. Nc5 Rc4 21. Rac1 Rxc1 22. Rxc1 Re8 23. f4 Nb6 $11) 17... axb4 18. axb4 Rxa1 19. Rxa1 dxc4 (19... Qb8 20. Bc3 Rd8 {is still more equal than not, but the momentum is on Black's side.}) 20. Nxc4 Nb6 21. Nxb6 (21. Nd6 $11 {looks nice, but White will have to worry about various ways in which the knight could be undermined - not to mention that Black can always play ...Nc8 if absolutely necessary to get rid of the critter.}) 21... Qxb6 22. Bc3 {As the b4 and e5-pawns are stuck on dark squares, hemming in White's bishop while being targeted or targetable by Black's, it's only Black who can be better here. Unfortunately for Nakamura, it's too easy for White to keep everything covered, and the players call it a day once they're allowed to on move 40.} Qb5 23. Qe4 Rd8 24. g3 Bf8 25. Kg2 Qb7 26. Rc1 Rd5 27. Be1 h5 28. Bc3 Be7 29. h4 Bf8 30. Ra1 Be7 31. Rc1 Bf8 32. Ra1 {Here and on move 28, White is implicitly offering a draw. Nakamura isn't satisfied yet, but no matter: White has everything under control.} Rb5 33. Rc1 Rb6 34. Bd2 Ra6 35. Rc4 Rb6 36. Be3 {Black could keep the tension, such as it is, with 36...Ra6, but decides instead to call off the dogs and finish the game.} Rxb4 37. Qxc6 Qxc6+ 38. Rxc6 Rb8 39. Bc5 Bxc5 40. Rxc5 Kg7 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE Candidates 2024"] [Site "Toronto CAN"] [Date "2024.04.10"] [Round "6.3"] [White "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"] [Black "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B57"] [WhiteElo "2727"] [BlackElo "2760"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "79"] [EventDate "2024.04.04"] {[%evp 0,79,44,44,48,41,99,53,66,33,33,37,55,44,60,39,95,18,104,75,64,64,67,73,53,37,85,65,187,-53,184,164,167,163,162,135,140,143,151,135,151,124,111,138,144,174,178,190,206,179,179,203,279,278,278,264,264,273,293,246,254,230,264,251,279,234,240,277,284,225,251,272,340,285,295,324,317,325,375,504,566,450]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bc4 (6. Bg5 {is the most popular move and, most importantly for present purposes, the move Vidit always or at least usually plays. Firouzja would have been best prepared for this, and may not have rehearsed his prep for 6.Bc4 before the game (or done so only superficially).}) 6... Qb6 7. Nb3 e6 8. Bf4 {Only the third-most popular move, behind 8.0-0 and 8.Be3, but it has gained in popularity in recent years and has Stockfish's backing, so *if* Firouzja was prepared for 6.Bc4, he'd have had a close look at this move as well.} Qd8 {Boris Gelfand once played this rare, somewhat odd move, but he (and Firouzja) are most definitely in the minority. However, when your minority has the imprimatur of Stockfish, you're going to be a bit more brave about going against the crowd.} (8... Ne5 {has been played in more than 700 games, as opposed to a grand total of three games with 8...Qd8 (including this one).}) 9. Qd2 $146 {? Still another problem for Vidit's prep: even if he was ready for 6.Bc4 and 8.Bf4, he's now facing a novelty, albeit a very plausible one.} a6 10. a3 b5 11. Be2 Bb7 $2 {Probably just forgetting his prep, which isn't so shocking given the considerations mentioned above.} (11... Ne5 12. O-O-O Be7 $14 {was the right way, with a typically complicated Sicilian middlegame to look forward to. (I'm sure this was in Firouzja's computer, with detailed analyses going to move 20, 30, or maybe even move 80.)}) 12. O-O-O {The d-pawn is in trouble, and more direct ways of defending it fail.} Qb6 {(The second ...Qb6 of the game.) This takes care of the (immediate) problem of his d-pawn, but as we'll see in a moment there are other major problems facing Firouzja.} (12... e5 13. Bg5 $16 {/+- is positionally gross for Black, who is seriously weak on both d6 and d5.}) (12... Ne5 {has a tactical problem:} 13. Nxb5 $1 Nxe4 $1 (13... axb5 $2 14. Bxe5 $1 $18 dxe5 $2 15. Bxb5+ {mates or wins everything.}) 14. Qd4 axb5 15. Bxe5 $1 f6 $1 {Not an easy move to come up with, and Black is still probably lost even so.} 16. Bxb5+ Kf7 17. Bg3 $16 {/+-}) 13. g4 $1 $16 {/+-} (13. Bxd6 $2 O-O-O 14. Qf4 Bxd6 15. Rxd6 Rxd6 16. Qxd6 Qxf2 $11 {is the tactical justification of 12...Qb6.}) 13... Qxf2 $2 {Either based on a miscalculation, or on a desire to roll the dice. If White doesn't figure things out, Black is okay; if he does, well, Black's position was lousy anyway, so what does it matter if he loses a little more quickly taking this path?} (13... h6) 14. e5 $1 $18 Nd7 (14... Nxe5 $2 15. Bxb5+ axb5 16. Qxf2 $18) (14... dxe5 15. Be3 Qg2 (15... Qh4 16. Bg5 Qh3 17. Bxf6 $18 gxf6 18. Qd7#) 16. Rdg1 Qh3 17. Rg3 Qh4 18. Bg5 $18) 15. exd6 {Material is equal, but almost nothing else about the position is. Black's queen is in some trouble; likewise for his king. He's also going to have a hard time coping with White's d-pawn in the long run, and it won't be easy to get his kingside pieces going. In short, he's lost.} Qb6 {(The third time the queen has gone to b6.)} 16. Be3 Qd8 {(The second retreat to d8.)} 17. Rhf1 Nce5 18. Qd4 (18. Nc5 $142) 18... Rc8 19. Qa7 $1 Bc6 20. Qxa6 Ra8 21. Ba7 {This self-pin looks awkward, but there isn't any way for Black to take advantage of it.} g6 {Hoping to finish his development.} 22. Bxb5 Bh6+ 23. Kb1 Bxb5 24. Nxb5 O-O 25. Nc7 Nxg4 (25... Be3 {tries to use the pin, but White can either play the immediate} 26. Nd4 $1 $18 {or swap on a8 first and only then play 27.Nd4.}) (25... Rc8 {saves the exchange at the expense of unpinning White's bishop. White has nothing to complain about after} 26. Qe2 $18 {, leaving him with two extra pawns and a much better position on top of it.}) 26. Nxa8 Qxa8 27. Qe2 {Breaking the pin and (therefore) stopping the threat of 27...Ne3. The rest, as they used to say, is agony. (At least for Black. For White, it's sheer delight.)} Qxa7 28. Qxg4 {White is up the exchange and a pawn, and Black has no counterplay against White's king. Perhaps Firouzja was in time trouble and didn't have the time to resign, or perhaps he was so disgusted by what had happened in the game, and what has been happening to him in this tournament, that he played on from a sort of masochistic inertia. Regardless, it's his prerogative, and Vidit remains attentive until Firouzja throws in the towel.} Bg7 29. Qc4 {Stopping ...Rc8 and looking to play Qc7 with more trades ahead.} Qb7 {Again hoping to achieve ...Rc8.} 30. Qc7 Qb5 31. Rf4 {Threatening (sort of) Rb4. (Only "sort of" because Black can respond with ...Qe2, and if Rd2 then ...Qe1+.)} Qe2 32. Rd2 Qe5 {Threatening mate as well as the f4-rook.} 33. Rfd4 Nf6 34. Qc5 Nd5 35. Ka2 Qf6 36. c3 {No more ...Qxb2# worries.} Bh6 37. Rxd5 $1 {A nice practical decision. White returns a tiny amount of material to eliminate Black's best piece, and this also helps the d-pawn turn into a game-ending weapon.} exd5 38. Rxd5 Bf4 39. d7 Rd8 40. Nd4 {White is up two pawns, and more than that, threatens simply 41.Nc6, winning the exchange for starters and probably a full rook for the d-pawn. Better still, in case Vidit was in time trouble: he has made the time control. White's position is even cheapo-proof, so Firouzja calls it a day.} 1-0 [Event "FIDE Candidates 2024"] [Site "Toronto CAN"] [Date "2024.04.10"] [Round "6.4"] [White "Praggnanandhaa, Rameshbabu"] [Black "Abasov, Nijat"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D40"] [WhiteElo "2747"] [BlackElo "2632"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "89"] [EventDate "2024.04.04"] {[%evp 0,89,42,24,19,24,21,-7,4,0,38,15,11,14,17,-17,4,4,13,-39,17,-28,-25,-14,-12,-3,-7,2,15,15,15,15,27,12,33,14,19,21,22,14,76,61,61,98,111,93,100,82,80,78,78,42,68,50,12,-7,15,-10,41,65,92,98,72,74,101,77,67,62,48,70,71,91,91,20,66,95,86,117,100,101,103,57,70,186,210,397,440,631,642,663,725,786]} 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 c5 5. e3 {We also saw a "Declined" Tarrasch in the round 1 game Gukesh-Vidit, but in this case Pragg might have been avoiding the Semi-Tarrasch or the So Tarrasch rather than the "normal" Tarrasch.} (5. cxd5 exd5 {is the "normal" Tarrasch, though the conventional wisdom is that Black shouldn't go for a Tarrasch when the knight is on f6 rather than c6, as} 6. Bg5 {used to be considered especially favorable for White. In fact it's not so bad, and Abdusattorov has used this line repeatedly with decent results, and Carlsen, Nakamura, Vidit, and Nihal Sarin have all employed it as well.}) (5. cxd5 Nxd5 {is the Semi-Tarrasch, which is still played, but the line that has sucked all the oxygen out of the room is}) (5. cxd5 cxd4 {, which So did a lot to popularize.}) 5... Nc6 (5... a6 {is an important alternative favored by Carlsen.}) 6. a3 a6 (6... dxc4 7. Bxc4 a6 {is another option.}) 7. b3 {Playing for hanging pawns rather than an isolated d-pawn (or giving Black an isolated d-pawn).} (7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. b4) ({and} 7. cxd5 {are more common than the text.}) 7... cxd4 8. exd4 Be7 (8... dxc4 9. bxc4) 9. c5 b6 (9... Ne4 {is the other stock reaction to c5 in similar structures.}) 10. cxb6 Qxb6 (10... Nd7 {was Kramnik's choice many years ago, in his Candidates match with Boris Gelfand. (Won by Gelfand in an upset.)} 11. Bd3 a5 12. Nb5 Qxb6 13. Bf4 O-O 14. O-O Na7 15. Nc7 Rb8 16. b4 Bb7 17. bxa5 Qxa5 18. Qe2 e5 19. Bxe5 Nxe5 20. Qxe5 Nc6 21. Qf4 Rbc8 22. Nb5 Ba6 23. a4 Nb4 24. Bf5 Rcd8 25. Rfe1 Bf6 26. Ne5 Bxe5 27. dxe5 Bxb5 28. axb5 Qxb5 29. Ra3 Qc4 30. Bxh7+ Kxh7 31. Qf5+ Kg8 32. Rh3 Rfe8 33. Qh7+ Kf8 34. Qh8+ Ke7 35. Qxg7 d4 36. e6 Kd6 37. e7 Rd7 38. Qe5+ Kc6 39. Rh6+ Kb7 40. Qa5 Rdxe7 41. Rxe7+ Rxe7 42. Qb6+ {1-0 Gelfand,B (2680)-Kramnik,V (2710) Candidates FIDE sf2 Sanghi Nagar 1994 (4)}) 11. b4 {First played by the late Ukrainian GM Vladimir Savon, best known for his shocking victory in the 1972 USSR Championship, ahead of Tal, Smyslov, Karpov and other greats of the Soviet era.} Ne4 (11... O-O 12. Bd3 Qc7 13. Ne2 Bd6 14. Bb2 Bd7 15. O-O Rfc8 16. Qd2 Qb7 17. Ne5 Be8 18. Ng3 Ne7 19. Rfe1 Bb5 20. Bb1 a5 21. bxa5 Qc7 22. Qe3 Qxa5 23. h3 Be8 24. Bd3 Rab8 25. Re2 Qa4 26. Qd2 Bb5 27. Bc2 Qa7 28. Ree1 Be8 29. Bd3 Rb3 30. Ra2 {½-½ Savon,V (2435)-Fakhretdinov,R (2350) RUS-chT2 Orel 1996}) 12. Na4 $14 Qb8 13. Be2 {While it was better to develop the bishop to the more active square, Pragg probably wanted to keep the d-pawn securely defended.} (13. Bd3 $142 $14) 13... O-O 14. O-O Bf6 (14... Bd7 $142 $11) 15. Be3 $14 Ne7 16. Nc5 $1 {White is happy to trade off Black's only really active piece and secure c5 for his knight at the low cost of surrendering the bishop pair.} Nc3 17. Qd2 Nxe2+ 18. Qxe2 Nf5 19. Rab1 e5 $5 ({Stockfish prefers the patient} 19... Be7 {followed by ...Bd6 and ...f6, but it's hard for a human to hunker down in such a passive middlegame.}) 20. dxe5 Bxe5 21. Rfd1 $16 d4 $5 22. Bg5 $6 $14 {A missed chance, though not an easy one to confidently calculate. After this, Abasov plays extremely well for a while.} (22. Bxd4 $1 Nxd4 23. Nxd4 Bxh2+ 24. Kh1 Bc7 25. Nc6 Qb6 26. Qe4 $1 {White's knights do an amazing job of nullifying Black's bishops while shutting the enemy queen out of play as well.} Kh8 (26... a5 27. Kg1 $1 (27. Ne7+ $2 Kh8 28. Qxa8 Qh6+ 29. Kg1 Qh2+ 30. Kf1 Qh1+ 31. Ke2 Bg4+ 32. Kd3 $16) 27... Kh8 28. Rdc1 Bd6 29. Nxa5 $18) 27. Rbc1 $1 a5 28. bxa5 Rxa5 $1 29. Nxa5 Qh6+ 30. Kg1 Qh2+ 31. Kf1 Bxa5 32. Rc4 $1 $16 {/+-}) 22... Bd6 $1 23. g4 h6 $1 24. Qe4 $1 hxg5 25. gxf5 Ra7 $1 26. Rxd4 g4 $2 {A mistake, but once again, not one where it's easy for White to work out all the relevant details.} (26... Re7 $1 27. Qd3 Bf4 $11) 27. Ng5 $6 ({The basic tactical point of Black's last move is} 27. Qxg4 $4 Bxc5 28. bxc5 Qxb1+ $19) (27. Rbd1 $3 Bxc5 28. bxc5 gxf3 29. f6 $1 {is winning for White, though not immediately.} Be6 {Best.} 30. Kh1 $1 {Otherwise, White has no advantage at all.} Re8 31. Rg1 g6 32. Qh4 $1 Qe5 33. Re4 Qxc5 (33... Qf5 34. Rf4 Qh3 35. Qg5 Rd7 36. Rh4 $18) 34. Qh6 $1 {Otherwise, White is losing.} Qf8 35. Qh5 Rd7 36. Rh4 Qg7 37. fxg7 gxh5 38. Rxh5 f5 39. Rh8+ Kf7 40. g8=Q+ Rxg8 41. Rhxg8 $18 {White could work his way through such a line a bit at a time, but I think Pragg would have to rely at least partly on his intuition to play 27.Rbd1.}) 27... Bxh2+ 28. Kg2 Qe5 $16 29. Rd5 Qxe4+ 30. Ngxe4 Bb8 $2 {The bishop is out of harm's way and the a7-rook's way, too. In fact, it's so far out of the way that it's almost useless, and White's attack should now prove decisive.} (30... Bf4 31. Re1 $16) (30... Bc7 31. f6 Rd8 $16) 31. f6 $1 $18 Bf4 {The best try.} 32. Rbd1 $2 {White chooses the wrong file. Abasov again plays a series of fine defensive moves, and almost escapes.} (32. Rh1 $1 {should win, with the immediate intention of playing Rdh5.} Rc7 33. Rdh5 Bh6 34. Nc3 $1 {The idea is Nd5 followed by Ne7+ and fxg7, winning the pinned bishop on h6.} Bb7+ 35. Nxb7 Rxc3 36. R1h4 Rc6 37. fxg7 Bxg7 38. Rxg4 Rb8 39. Nc5 Rbb6 40. Rd5 $18 {Black's king is weak, his bishop is vulnerable, and the a6-pawn can prove to be weak as well.}) 32... Rc7 $1 $14 33. R1d4 Rc6 $1 34. Nd6 g5 $1 (34... Be6 $1 35. Nxe6 fxe6 36. f7+ Kh7 37. Rc5 Rxd6 38. Rxf4 g6 $14) 35. Nxc8 Rfxc8 36. Rd8+ $6 (36. Ne4 $14) 36... Rxd8 37. Rxd8+ Kh7 $11 38. Ra8 {A critical moment. When White takes the a-pawn, Black will be lost unless he can generate counterplay - fast.} Rxf6 $2 {It's not the number of pawns that matter, but what they can do.} (38... Rd6 $1 39. Rxa6 Rd2 {is the way to go, threatening ...g3.} 40. Kf1 Rd1+ 41. Ke2 Rd2+ 42. Ke1 Kg6 43. a4 Rb2 44. Nd3 (44. b5 g3 45. fxg3 Bxg3+ 46. Kd1 Bf4 $11 {Black's g-pawn will start running.}) 44... g3 $1 45. fxg3 (45. Nxb2 $4 g2 $19) (45. Kf1 Rd2 46. Nxf4+ gxf4 47. fxg3 fxg3 48. b5 Rb2 $11 {Black's king will approach White's, and the mating threats will force White's rook to retreat. When that happens, he'll lose one of his queenside passers and the resulting ending will be an easy draw.}) 45... Bxg3+ 46. Kd1 Ra2 47. b5 Kf5 48. b6 Ke4 49. Nc5+ Kd4 50. Nb3+ Kc3 {and White has nothing better than to bail out with something like} 51. b7 Kxb3 52. b8=Q+ Bxb8 53. Rb6+ Kxa4 54. Rxb8 Rf2 55. Rg8 Rxf6 56. Rxg5 $11) 39. Rxa6 $18 Rf5 40. Nd7 (40. Ne4 $1 $18 {may be even better.}) 40... Kg7 $2 {A fatal error on the last move of the time control - it's not the first time that's happened to someone in the history of chess. Black's position was very difficult even with best play, though, and possibly lost if White played perfectly.} (40... Bd2) ({and} 40... Bc1 {were better tries. For example,} 41. Nf6+ Kg7 42. Nxg4 {and while I think White will win this, Black can hope for a scenario where he gives up his bishop for the queenside pawns and both kingside pawns for White's f-pawn, to reach the theoretically drawn rook vs. rook and knight ending.}) 41. Ra5 {The rooks go, and the a-pawn promotes.} Kg6 42. a4 g3 43. Rxf5 Kxf5 44. a5 gxf2 45. a6 (45. a6 Be3 46. Nc5 {and the a-pawn goes through.}) 1-0