[Event "45th Olympiad 2024"] [Site "Budapest HUN"] [Date "2024.09.12"] [Round "2.1"] [Board "1"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Tin, Jingyao"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "2798"] [BlackElo "2580"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "63"] [GameId "2089205146192936"] [EventDate "2024.09.11"] [WhiteTeam "United States of America"] [BlackTeam "Singapore"] [BlackTeamCountry "SIN"] {[%evp 0,63,18,26,15,29,11,7,14,16,13,12,5,30,28,-6,6,17,29,10,29,25,32,35,24,31,17,17,28,34,21,44,44,40,38,25,27,20,0,1,17,22,271,324,324,321,336,325,569,596,593,592,594,606,615,493,496,517,590,638,648,852,1542,2662,29981,29982]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. O-O d6 6. c3 O-O {Obviously not bad, but the trend is to push a rook's pawn: a6, a5, or h6.} 7. h3 (7. Re1 {is "hotter". On every move there are plenty of alternatives, so I'll skip ahead to where the branches thin out.}) 7... a6 8. a4 h6 9. Re1 Re8 10. b4 (10. Nbd2 {is far more common, but it winds up nothing more than a transposition.}) 10... Ba7 11. Nbd2 {Back to a main road - there are 520 predecessors.} Be6 12. Bxe6 Rxe6 13. Bb2 (13. Qc2 {is much more common.}) 13... d5 (13... Ne7 {is the most popular move, and better than the text.}) 14. b5 $14 Ne7 15. exd5 Qxd5 16. c4 Qxd3 17. Nxe5 $146 (17. Bxe5 {was played in the previous games, and also receives the engine's approval.}) 17... Qf5 18. Qf3 Rd8 ({The engine uncorks the improbable} 18... Nh7 $1 $11 {, clearing the way for ...f6 to evict the knight.}) 19. Nb3 $14 {Looking to play c5, turning off the lights for Black's bishop.} c6 $6 (19... Qxf3 20. Nxf3 Rxe1+ 21. Rxe1 Ng6 22. Na5 axb5 23. cxb5 Bb6 $1 24. Nc4 Bc5 $14) 20. c5 $16 cxb5 $2 {Losing.} (20... Bb8 $8) 21. Qxb7 Qc2 (21... Bb8 22. Nd4 $18) 22. Nd4 Qxc5 {Presumably what Tin was counting on, but it just doesn't work.} (22... Qxb2 23. Nxe6 $18) 23. Nxe6 $1 Qxf2+ 24. Kh1 fxe6 25. Qxe7 Rd2 26. Qf7+ $1 {Best, but by no means the only winning move.} Kh8 (26... Kh7 27. Qg6+ Kg8 28. Rec1 $18) 27. Ng6+ Kh7 28. Nf8+ Kh8 29. Qg6 Rxb2 30. Nxe6 Nh5 {The only sensible way to defend g7. It's a good try, but Caruana has an even better reply:} 31. Qe8+ Kh7 32. Ng5+ $1 (32. Ng5+ $1 hxg5 33. Qxh5+ Kg8 34. Re8+ $18) 1-0 [Event "45th Olympiad 2024"] [Site "Budapest HUN"] [Date "2024.09.12"] [Round "2.1"] [Board "2"] [White "Siddharth, Jagadeesh"] [Black "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C85"] [WhiteElo "2514"] [BlackElo "2748"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "114"] [GameId "2089205146254377"] [EventDate "2024.09.11"] [WhiteTeam "Singapore"] [BlackTeam "United States of America"] [WhiteTeamCountry "SIN"] {[%evp 0,114,18,26,15,17,11,11,8,8,-8,7,27,27,-1,-3,3,3,31,25,37,21,21,2,-12,-12,5,-9,9,7,-10,-8,-8,-6,-2,-8,8,-6,-10,-16,-16,-15,-12,-15,-15,-17,-14,-27,-27,-32,-31,-30,-12,-12,-7,-12,-10,-12,-12,-12,-12,-12,-12,-12,-12,-14,-9,1,-13,-15,-10,-15,-11,-15,0,-15,0,-15,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,-231,-254,-263,-282,-262,-292,-292,-294,-307,-326,-326,-355,-338,-292,-302,-325,-328,-350,-365,-318,-343,-343,-383,-365,-365,-456,-478,-528]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. Nc3 Bg4 8. h3 Bh5 9. g4 Bg6 10. Nxe5 Nxe4 11. Nxg6 Nxc3 12. dxc3 hxg6 {White's somewhat cynical approach has resulted in 18 draws in 19 games in the database, and the only Black win was between an 800 and a 1600 that ended here. (Maybe a forfeit in correspondence chess?) This isn't really the way to play in a team event, and while White does manage to reach a drawn ending justice is done and he loses anyway.} 13. Kg2 O-O 14. Bf4 Bd6 15. Bxd6 cxd6 16. Qd4 Re8 17. Rfe1 d5 18. Re3 Rxe3 19. Qxe3 Qe8 20. Re1 Qxe3 21. Rxe3 Kf8 22. h4 f6 23. f4 Kf7 24. Kf3 Rh8 25. Kg3 a5 26. a4 Rb8 27. Kf3 Rh8 28. Kg3 Rb8 29. Kf3 Rd8 30. Re1 Rh8 31. Kg3 Rb8 32. b3 Re8 33. Rxe8 Kxe8 {Still equal, but it ain't over 'til it's over.} 34. Kf3 Kd7 35. Ke3 Kd6 36. Kd4 b5 37. Ke3 Kc5 38. Kd3 $8 g5 39. hxg5 fxg5 40. f5 Kd6 41. Kd4 c5+ 42. Ke3 $1 (42. Kd3 $2 bxa4 43. bxa4 Ke5 44. Ke3 c4 {puts White into a fatal zugzwang, e.g.} 45. Kf3 d4 $19) 42... Kc6 43. Kd3 c4+ {I don't know what the time situation was, but if White had a few minutes left it should have been easy to work out the right move, or at least to reject what he played as the wrong move.} 44. Ke3 $2 (44. Kd4 $2 {loses for essentially the same reason as the game continuation, because it's almost certain to transpose:} bxa4 45. bxa4 Kd6 46. Ke3 Kc5 $19 {transposes to the game, with both sides taking one extra move to get there.} ({or} 46... Ke5)) (44. Ke2 {(or 44.Kd2) is necessary, to meet ...Kc5 with Ke3.} bxa4 45. bxa4 Kd6 46. Kd2 Kc5 (46... Ke5 $4 47. Ke3 Kd6 48. Kd4 $18 {Now it's Black who is in a fatal zugzwang.}) 47. Ke3 $11) 44... bxa4 45. bxa4 Kc5 46. Kf3 d4 $19 {Winning. White does manage to reach a queen ending, but one which is straightforwardly lost.} 47. Ke4 dxc3 48. f6 gxf6 49. Kf5 Kb4 50. Kxf6 Ka3 51. Kxg5 Kb2 $1 (51... Kxa4 $4 $11) 52. Kf5 Kxc2 53. g5 Kb2 54. g6 c2 55. g7 c1=Q 56. g8=Q Qc2+ 57. Ke6 c3 {The presence of a-pawns makes the win trivial, as they shield Black's king from checks.} 0-1 [Event "45th Olympiad 2024"] [Site "Budapest HUN"] [Date "2024.09.12"] [Round "2.1"] [Board "3"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Wong, Zhenyong Jayden"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B48"] [WhiteElo "2729"] [BlackElo "2397"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "75"] [GameId "2089205146258474"] [EventDate "2024.09.11"] [WhiteTeam "United States of America"] [BlackTeam "Singapore"] [BlackTeamCountry "SIN"] {[%evp 0,75,22,26,72,60,37,35,37,34,34,40,94,55,92,76,65,75,59,34,5,-3,-12,-29,-24,-40,-22,-30,-12,-11,-43,-92,-79,-79,-41,-64,-61,-86,-90,-62,-89,3,0,4,0,-64,-75,-82,-88,-85,-76,-70,-90,-96,-132,-143,-124,-146,-143,-477,-301,-301,-166,0,0,0,0,0,0,24,282,298,314,325,336,324,329,330]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be3 a6 7. Qd2 Nf6 8. O-O-O Be7 9. g4 {What? This is almost a novelty, having been played just twice - both times this year - against almost 2000 games with 9.f3.} Nxg4 10. Bf4 Nge5 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. Rg1 g5 (12... O-O {was played in the first game in this line, back in February.} 13. Qe3 f6 14. Qg3 Rf7 15. Be2 Bf8 16. Bh5 Re7 17. Be3 Qa5 18. Be2 d5 19. f4 Nf7 20. Bf2 Nd6 21. Qh4 f5 22. exd5 cxd5 23. Bd4 Bb7 24. Qxe7 Bxe7 25. Rxg7+ Kf8 26. Bh5 Qd8 27. Rdg1 Bf6 28. Bxf6 Qxf6 29. Rg8+ Ke7 30. R1g7+ Nf7 31. Rxf7+ Qxf7 32. Bxf7 Kxf7 33. Rxa8 Bxa8 34. Kd2 Kf6 35. Ke3 e5 36. fxe5+ Kxe5 37. Ne2 f4+ 38. Kf2 d4 39. Nc1 a5 40. Nd3+ Kf5 41. b3 Bc6 {½-½ Yan,N (2311)-Liu,P (2130) Santa Clara Presidents Day IM 2024 (2)}) 13. Rxg5 Bxg5 14. Bxg5 Nf3 15. Qe3 Nxg5 16. Qxg5 d6 {Good prep - or good play - by Wong thus far, following in Erigaisi's footsteps from the second game in the line, played back in March.} 17. f4 $146 (17. Qg3 e5 18. f4 Qe7 19. Qg7 Rf8 20. f5 f6 21. Qg1 Rf7 22. Qg8+ Rf8 23. Qg1 Rf7 24. Qg8+ Rf8 25. Qg1 {½-½ Yu,Y (2720)-Erigaisi,A (2738) Shenzhen Longgang 5th 2024 (5)}) 17... Qe7 (17... Bb7 {makes sense, preparing to castle (after ...Qe7). In the game he can't yet do it because the h8-rook is hanging.} 18. e5 d5 19. Na4 c5 20. f5 {is messy. Black is objectively okay, but that evaluation by itself won't let Black survive against a player of Aronian's caliber (especially in wild positions).}) 18. Qg1 (18. Qg7 $142 Rf8 19. Qg1 $44) 18... Kf8 $15 (18... Bb7 $15 {was best, intending ...c5. The text is also good, though - so far, Wong is playing well.}) 19. e5 Rg8 $2 {But this is a big mistake.} (19... d5 {needed to be played; ...Rg8 isn't running away.}) 20. Qb6 d5 {Black may have only anticipated 21.Qxc6 here, and he can handle that. What he almost certainly missed was} 21. Ne4 $3 $18 {The knight cannot be taken, but on the other hand it will be intolerable once it lands on f6.} Rg6 (21... dxe4 $2 22. Rd8+ Kg7 (22... Qxd8 23. Qxd8+ Kg7 24. Qc7 $18 {There are positions where two rooks are a full match for a queen (or better); this is not one of them. It's not entirely the rooks' fault: Black's bishop is also terrible, while he c-, e4- and to a lesser degree a-pawns are all weak as well, while there's little to aim at in White's position.}) 23. Qg1+ Kh6 24. Rxg8 $18 {Black's king will be mated shortly, though his position would be lost in any case.}) 22. Nd6 $2 {Surprisingly, Aronian puts the knight on the wrong square, letting Wong back into the game.} (22. Nf6 $1 Rxf6 23. exf6 Qxf6 24. Qc5+ $1 Kg7 25. Kb1 $18 {Aronian probably underestimated the strength of his position here. Black is up a pawn, with lots of pawns on the board that *almost* keep Black's king safe - emphasis on "almost". There's also the problem of Black's development, or the lack thereof. For example:} Bd7 26. Bxa6 $1 e5 (26... Rxa6 $2 27. Rg1+ Kh6 28. Qf8+ Kh5 29. Qg8 Kh6 30. Qg3 Qg6 31. Qh4+ Qh5 32. Qf6+ $18) 27. Rg1+ Kh8 28. fxe5 Qxe5 29. a4 $18 {Black's king is safe-ish, unfortunately, his queenside is also falling to pieces (Bb7xc6xd5 is coming; Black's rook is stuck on the back rank preventing Qf8#).}) 22... Bd7 $11 23. Bd3 Rg2 24. Kb1 Be8 (24... f5 $1 {is a good move, taking advantage of the misplaced (and underprotected) knight on d6. Next up: ...Be8.}) 25. f5 $5 Qa7 $1 26. Qb4 Rg1 {Fewer pieces, fewer problems. Black has played very well since his error on move 19.} 27. Be2 $8 Rxd1+ 28. Bxd1 Qg1 29. a3 $1 Qxd1+ 30. Ka2 exf5 {This is one of those decisions you hate, whichever way you go. If Black doesn't take the pawn, it goes to f6 and tightens the noose around Black's king; if he does, then the knight gains access to the fantastic f5 square. Objectively, Black is still fine.} 31. Nxf5+ Kg8 32. Qe7 h6 $1 {The only defense.} (32... Qg1 $2 33. Nh6+ Kg7 34. Qf6+ Kf8 35. e6 $1 Ra7 36. e7+ $1 Rxe7 37. Qh8+ Qg8 38. Qxg8#) 33. Nxh6+ Kh7 34. Qh4 {The last critical moment: Black has one and a half ways to draw; everything else loses.} Kg6 $2 (34... f5 $1 35. Ng4+ Kg6 36. Qf6+ Kh5 37. Qxf5+ Kh4 38. Nf6 Bh5 39. Qf4+ Bg4 40. Qh6+ Bh5 41. Qf4+ Bg4 $11) ({or} 34... f6 {, which is similar.} 35. Ng4+ Kg6 36. Qxf6+ Kh5 $8 37. Qf5+ Kh4 38. Nf6 Bh5 39. Qf4+ Bg4 40. Qh6+ Bh5 41. Qf4+ Bg4 $11) 35. Qf6+ Kh5 36. Nf5 {Without the bishop's help, Black cannot save his king.} Qf3 37. Qh6+ Kg4 38. Ne3+ {The queen is lost, and Black's compensation isn't nearly enough.} 1-0 [Event "45th Olympiad 2024"] [Site "Budapest HUN"] [Date "2024.09.12"] [Round "2.1"] [Board "4"] [White "Goh, Wei Ming Kevin"] [Black "Robson, Ray"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2449"] [BlackElo "2700"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "136"] [GameId "2089205146258475"] [EventDate "2024.09.11"] [WhiteTeam "Singapore"] [BlackTeam "United States of America"] [WhiteTeamCountry "SIN"] {[%evp 0,136,22,26,60,50,99,58,61,40,42,37,74,62,76,43,67,43,44,33,27,15,8,4,4,27,13,13,15,13,20,19,18,18,27,27,20,8,4,0,0,0,-1,-9,-9,-5,10,3,5,0,0,0,22,29,29,31,25,13,26,26,18,19,34,0,9,0,0,0,0,2,29,-11,-11,-35,0,-37,-37,-37,-37,-40,-41,-43,-56,-58,-58,-58,-58,-58,-58,-58,-58,-48,-48,-48,-48,-48,-48,-48,-48,-48,-48,-48,-48,-48,-37,-34,-45,-41,-32,-46,-41,-37,-37,-37,-37,-41,-41,-63,-81,-78,-42,-37,-3,-84,-164,-164,-163,-168,-125,-163,-163,-168,-508,-557,-952,-962,-982,-1439,-1520] Robson was at an unfair disadvantage in this game, as he had to play both chess and Goh at the same time. (Thank you, I'll be here all week.)} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bc4 e6 7. a4 {This is logical, preventing ...b5, but for a long time it was considered a poor move. Lately it has caught on a bit, with Carlsen, MVL, and Van Foreest all playing it this year.} Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. Be3 Nc6 10. Qe2 Bd7 11. Nxc6 Bxc6 12. a5 Nxe4 13. Nxe4 d5 14. Bb6 Qc8 15. Bd3 dxe4 16. Bxe4 Bb5 17. Bd3 Bxd3 18. Qxd3 Bc5 19. Bxc5 Qxc5 {All this has been seen before. The position is equal, and all five games to get here finished in draws.} 20. Rfd1 Qc7 21. Qe4 Rfd8 $146 (21... Rad8 22. g3 g6 23. c4 Rd6 24. Rxd6 Qxd6 25. Qxb7 Rb8 {½-½ Aravindh,C (2646)-Ter Sahakyan,S (2643) Sant Boi de Llobregat op 4th 2023 (7)} 26. c5 Qxg3+ 27. hxg3 Rxb7 28. Rb1 Kf8 29. b4 Ke7 30. f4 Kd7 31. Rd1+ Ke7 32. Rb1 Kd7 33. Rd1+ Ke7 34. Rb1 {½-½ Gullaksen,E (2413)-Laghetti,G (2399) EU-chT10 sf1 email ICCF email 2014 [3]}) 22. g3 h6 23. c4 Rac8 24. b4 Rd7 25. b5 Qxc4 26. Qxc4 Rxd1+ 27. Rxd1 Rxc4 28. bxa6 bxa6 29. Rd6 Ra4 30. Rxa6 {This ending would be drawn even without the a-pawn, though the side with the extra pawn does win from time to time.} g5 $1 {A good move, preventing White from setting up the ideal kingside formation with h4. Of course it's still entirely drawn, but every little bit helps.} 31. h3 h5 32. Kg2 Kg7 33. Ra8 h4 34. gxh4 Rxh4 {Allowing White's rook to free itself, though it's also fine where it is.} 35. Rb8 (35. a6 Ra4 36. a7 $11 {is a perfectly legitimate alternative.}) 35... Ra4 36. Rb5 Kg6 37. Rc5 Ra3 38. Rb5 f6 39. Rb6 e5 40. a6 e4 41. Rc6 Kf5 42. Rb6 Ke5 43. Rc6 f5 44. Rc5+ Kf4 45. Rc6 Ra4 46. Rf6 Ra5 47. Rb6 Ra1 48. Rc6 Ke5 49. Rc5+ Kf4 50. Rc6 Ra2 51. Re6 g4 52. hxg4 Kxg4 {Here too, the ending would be drawn even without White's a-pawn. This is one of those interesting psychological situations that also comes up in different endings like rook and bishop vs. rook and pawn. Sometimes, the thing to do is to jettison the pawn rather than hanging on to it and heading straight for the pawnless ending. What sometimes happens is that the player with the pawn hangs on to it, giving the other player more time to improve the position, and by the time the defender finally gives up on the pawn and attends to the more important problems, it's too late.} 53. Rg6+ (53. a7 $5 Rxa7 54. f3+ $5 {is a radical approach, but not a bad one.} exf3+ 55. Kf1 Ra2 56. Re8 {and how is Black going to make progress?} Kg3 57. Rg8+ Kf4 58. Rb8 $11) 53... Kf4 54. Rb6 Kg5 55. Re6 Ra3 56. Kf1 Kf4 57. Kg2 Ra5 58. Rb6 Ke5 59. Rh6 Ra2 60. Rb6 f4 $1 {Now it's time for White to forget about the stupid a-pawn and make sure the kingside is under control.} (60... e3 {is tempting, but for the moment White can handle it without much trouble.} 61. Rb5+ Kf6 62. a7 Rxf2+ 63. Kg3 Ra2 64. Kf3 $11) 61. Kg1 (61. Rb8 Rxa6 62. Re8+ $11) 61... f3 62. Rb5+ Kf4 63. Rb6 Kf5 64. Rb5+ Kg4 65. Rb4 $2 {Losing.} (65. Re5 $1 Kf4 66. Re8 Rxa6 67. Rf8+ Ke5 68. Re8+ $11) (65. a7 $1 {also draws; everything else loses.} Rxa7 66. Re5 $1 {Absolutely forced. This is the key.} Kh3 67. Rh5+ $8 Kg4 68. Re5 Ra1+ 69. Kh2 Kf4 70. Rb5 $1 (70. Re8 $2 {loses:} Rf1 71. Rf8+ Ke5 72. Kg3 Rg1+ 73. Kh3 Rg2 $19) 70... Rf1 71. Rb2 $11) 65... Kh3 $1 66. Rb1 {With White's rook condemned to passivity, the win is easy.} e3 ({There was nothing wrong with taking the pawn first.} 66... Rxa6 $19) 67. fxe3 Kg3 {Black wins by the same method he'd use without White's pawns: ...Rg2+, Rh2(+), f2(+), ...Rh1+, etc.} 68. e4 Rg2+ 0-1