[Event "85th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2023.01.16"] [Round "3.1"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Ding, Liren"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D02"] [WhiteElo "2859"] [BlackElo "2811"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "2023.01.14"] {[%evp 0,73,20,35,30,25,18,14,33,36,40,30,21,19,16,-2,-6,2,3,3,2,0,4,7,-12,-2,29,36,11,14,24,16,46,43,70,62,39,29,28,25,47,31,49,27,33,43,36,0,0,0,20,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,8,0,0,0,5,8,0,0,9,4,9,8,4,12,10,12]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Bf4 c5 4. e3 e6 5. c3 Bd6 6. Bb5+ Nc6 7. Bxc6+ bxc6 8. Bxd6 Qxd6 9. Qa4 {This seems to be Kamsky's favorite system.} O-O 10. O-O $146 (10. Nbd2 {is a normal move, along with the logical}) (10. Qa3 {. This looks promising at first sight, but after} Ne4 11. Nfd2 (11. Nbd2 cxd4 12. Qxd6 Nxd6 13. cxd4 Rb8 14. b3 Ba6 $11) 11... e5 $1 12. Nxe4 dxe4 13. Qxc5 Qg6 $1 14. Nd2 Qxg2 $1 15. O-O-O Qxf2 {Black has equality.} 16. Rde1 Rb8 17. Rhf1 Qxh2 18. Rh1 Qf2 19. Rhf1 Qh2 20. Rh1 Qf2 21. Rhf1 Qh2 {½-½ Aronian,L (2775)-Dominguez Perez,L (2754) Saint Louis Rapid 2022 (7)}) 10... cxd4 11. cxd4 c5 12. Rc1 $146 (12. Qa3 Ne4 {is even a little better for Black.}) 12... c4 (12... cxd4 {is also fine.}) 13. b3 Bd7 14. Qa5 cxb3 15. axb3 Rfb8 16. Nbd2 Rb5 17. Qc7 Ne8 18. Qxd6 Nxd6 19. Ne5 Be8 {White's position is more comfortable, and against most players Carlsen would have good chances of turning this into something significant. Ding, however, holds this like it's rook vs. rook.} 20. Nd3 a5 21. f3 Rb7 22. Ra2 Rba7 23. Kf2 a4 24. Rca1 Nc8 $11 25. h4 Kf8 26. g4 axb3 27. Rxa7 Rxa7 28. Rxa7 Nxa7 29. Nxb3 Nb5 30. Nbc5 Ke7 31. Nf4 h6 32. g5 hxg5 33. hxg5 Nc7 34. Nh5 Kf8 35. Nf4 Ke7 36. Nh5 Kf8 37. Nf4 {An easy hold for Ding, whose technical play in defense looks ready for the Nepo match.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "85th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2023.01.16"] [Round "3.2"] [White "Gukesh, D."] [Black "Abdusattorov, Nodirbek"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E11"] [WhiteElo "2725"] [BlackElo "2713"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "87"] [EventDate "2023.01.14"] {[%evp 0,87,14,14,18,7,10,10,39,36,37,21,34,-16,-9,6,27,12,10,18,24,20,20,16,15,14,33,-23,-19,-6,-17,0,0,0,-8,-59,-63,-37,-37,-12,19,-8,0,0,3,6,6,-17,0,-19,-22,-22,-23,-20,-21,-16,-9,-24,-13,-6,-8,0,0,0,4,0,10,38,38,50,68,66,66,66,62,66,22,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Bxd2+ 5. Qxd2 d5 {An unpromising system that Carlsen used frequently in 2022, with terrible results. It's not *that* bad, obviously, but I've yet to understand the attraction.} 6. g3 (6. Nc3 O-O 7. e3 {is more popular.}) 6... O-O 7. Bg2 c6 8. O-O Nbd7 9. Rc1 Qe7 10. Qe3 (10. Na3 a5 11. Rc2 h6 12. Rac1 Re8 13. h3 a4 14. Qe3 e5 15. dxe5 Nxe5 16. Qxe5 Qxe5 17. Nxe5 Rxe5 18. cxd5 Bf5 19. dxc6 bxc6 20. Rxc6 Rb8 21. e3 Be6 22. Nc4 Reb5 23. a3 g5 24. Ra6 Rc5 25. Rxa4 Rxb2 26. Nxb2 Rxc1+ 27. Kh2 Rc2 28. Nd3 Rd2 29. Rd4 Bf5 30. Bf1 Bxd3 31. Bxd3 Rxf2+ 32. Kg1 Ra2 33. a4 Kg7 34. Kf1 h5 35. Ke1 g4 36. h4 Rg2 37. a5 Rxg3 38. Kf2 Rf3+ 39. Ke2 Rh3 40. Ra4 Nd5 41. Kf2 Rf3+ 42. Kg1 Rxe3 43. Bc4 Re4 44. a6 Nb6 45. a7 Re8 46. Rb4 Nxc4 47. Rb8 Re1+ 48. Kf2 Ra1 49. a8=Q Rxa8 50. Rxa8 Nd6 51. Ra5 Ne4+ 52. Ke3 Nf6 53. Kf4 Kg6 54. Ra6 Kg7 55. Kg5 Ne4+ 56. Kf4 Nc5 57. Ra5 Ne6+ 58. Kf5 Nd4+ 59. Kg5 g3 60. Kf4 Ne6+ 61. Kxg3 Kg6 62. Re5 Nd4 63. Rg5+ Kh6 64. Rd5 Ne6 65. Kf3 Kg6 66. Ke4 f6 67. Ra5 Ng7 68. Ra8 Nf5 69. Rg8+ Kf7 70. Rh8 Nxh4 71. Rxh5 Ng6 72. Ra5 Ne7 73. Ra6 Ng6 74. Kd5 Ne7+ 75. Kd6 Nf5+ 76. Kd7 Ng7 77. Ra7 f5 78. Kd6+ Kf6 79. Kd5 Nh5 80. Ra8 Nf4+ 81. Kd4 Ne6+ 82. Kd5 Nf4+ 83. Kd6 Ng6 84. Ra5 f4 85. Kd5 Kf5 86. Kd4+ Kg4 87. Ra8 Nh4 88. Ke4 f3 89. Rg8+ Kh3 90. Ke3 Kh2 91. Kf2 Kh3 92. Rg7 Kh2 93. Rg3 Ng2 94. Rxf3 Nh4 95. Rg3 Nf5 96. Rg5 {1-0 Andreikin,D (2729)-Kramnik,V (2753) Chess.com Rapid Wk19 Swiss Chess.com INT 2022 (6)}) 10... b6 (10... Re8) 11. Ne5 $146 Bb7 12. cxd5 (12. Qa3 $14) 12... Nxd5 13. Qa3 Nxe5 14. Qxe7 Nxe7 15. dxe5 Rad8 16. Nc3 Ba6 17. Kf1 Rd2 18. b3 Rfd8 19. Ke1 g5 20. Be4 Kg7 21. Rd1 Rxd1+ 22. Rxd1 Rxd1+ 23. Nxd1 Ng6 24. Bxg6 Kxg6 $11 {White has the superior minor piece (for the moment), Black has the better pawn structure. It's a wash.} 25. Ne3 c5 26. Kd2 h5 27. f3 Bb5 28. h3 Ba6 29. g4 h4 30. Nc4 Bxc4 31. bxc4 {If Black's king were already on the queenside he'd be winning, but as it is he needs to sprint to that flank to avoid a loss.} Kg7 32. a4 Kf8 33. a5 Ke7 34. axb6 axb6 35. Kc3 Kd7 36. Kb3 Kc7 37. Ka4 Kc6 38. e3 Kc7 39. Kb5 Kb7 40. f4 Kc7 $1 {The only move.} 41. Ka6 Kc6 {The only move (obviously, this time).} 42. fxg5 Kc7 {Ditto.} 43. Ka7 Kc6 {And again.} 44. Ka6 {Of course, White's king needs to come back to prevent ...b5, so it's a draw.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "85th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2023.01.16"] [Round "3.3"] [White "Maghsoodloo, Parham"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "2719"] [BlackElo "2764"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "60"] [EventDate "2023.01.14"] {[%evp 0,60,18,38,38,22,15,17,12,11,15,11,4,-1,60,-6,-2,-18,-24,-42,-1,-3,-5,-7,11,-12,7,7,-2,-1,6,4,15,13,24,17,6,6,8,8,8,3,10,6,16,1,19,-19,-7,-37,-41,-23,2,-34,-34,-25,19,-17,-39,-39,-35,-35,-13]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. O-O d6 6. c3 a5 7. Re1 O-O 8. h3 Be6 9. Bb5 Ba7 10. d4 Bd7 {This isn't one of the trendy positions in the Italian complex, but it did arise in a So-Carlsen game late last year.} 11. Bg5 (11. Ba4 Re8 12. Bc2 h6 13. a4 exd4 14. cxd4 Nb4 15. Nc3 Nxc2 16. Qxc2 c6 17. Re2 b5 18. axb5 cxb5 19. e5 dxe5 20. dxe5 Nh7 21. Be3 Bxe3 22. Rxe3 Ng5 23. Nxg5 Qxg5 24. Rae1 Bc6 25. Ne4 Qg6 26. Nf6+ gxf6 27. Rg3 Qxg3 28. fxg3 Re6 29. Qf5 fxe5 30. Rxe5 Rae8 31. Qg4+ Rg6 32. Rxe8+ Bxe8 33. Qf4 a4 34. g4 Bc6 35. Kf2 Re6 36. Qd2 Kg7 37. g5 h5 38. Kg3 Be4 39. Qb4 Bg6 40. Qxb5 Re3+ 41. Kh2 Re4 42. g3 Kh7 43. Kg1 Rd4 44. Kf2 Rd3 45. Qxa4 Rd2+ 46. Kf3 Rxb2 47. g4 h4 48. Qd1 Ra2 49. Qe1 Ra3+ 50. Kg2 Rg3+ 51. Kh2 Kg8 52. Qe8+ Kg7 53. Qe1 Kg8 54. Qe8+ Kg7 55. Qd8 Rd3 56. Qf6+ Kg8 57. Qf2 Rg3 58. Qc5 Kg7 59. Qb4 Kg8 60. Qb2 Kh7 61. Qa1 Kg8 62. Qe5 Kh7 63. Qf6 Kg8 64. Qd6 Kg7 65. Qb8 Rd3 66. Qe5+ Kg8 67. Qb8+ Kg7 68. Qe5+ Kg8 69. Qb8+ Kg7 {½-½ So,W (2760)-Carlsen,M (2859) Meltwater Tour Final chess24.com INT rapid 2022 (1.4)}) 11... h6 12. Bh4 $146 (12. Bxf6 Qxf6 13. dxe5 Qg6 14. Bxc6 Bxh3 15. Nh4 Qg3 16. Qf3 Qxh4 17. gxh3 bxc6 18. exd6 cxd6 19. Na3 Rae8 20. Nc4 Re6 21. Ne3 Qxe4 22. Qxe4 Rxe4 23. Ng2 Rfe8 24. Rxe4 Rxe4 25. Re1 f5 26. Kf1 Rxe1+ 27. Nxe1 Kf7 28. Ke2 g5 29. f3 h5 30. a4 Ke6 31. b4 axb4 32. cxb4 Ke5 33. b5 cxb5 34. axb5 Kd4 35. Ng2 Kc4 36. h4 g4 37. fxg4 fxg4 38. Nf4 Kxb5 39. Nxh5 Bd4 40. Ng3 Kc4 41. Nf5 Kd5 42. h5 Be5 {½-½ Acs,P (2565)-Kantor,G (2527) HUN-ch Rapid Ajka 2021 (13)}) 12... g5 13. Bg3 Re8 $11 14. dxe5 Nxe5 15. Bxd7 Nxf3+ 16. Qxf3 Nxd7 17. Na3 Qf6 18. Qxf6 Nxf6 19. Nb5 Bb6 20. e5 Nh5 21. Bh2 d5 22. Rad1 Rad8 23. Kf1 Ng7 24. f4 gxf4 25. Bxf4 Kh7 26. Be3 Bxe3 27. Rxe3 Nf5 28. Ree1 c6 29. Nd4 Ng3+ 30. Kg1 Ne4 {A good, professional draw. Clap, clap, and let's go on to something more interesting.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "85th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2023.01.16"] [Round "3.4"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Van Foreest, Jorden"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C42"] [WhiteElo "2766"] [BlackElo "2681"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "91"] [EventDate "2023.01.14"] {Time for the day's one decisive result in the Masters tournament. With this win, Caruana makes it a five-way tie for first.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 {It doesn't seem to be Van Foreest's main weapon - I only see a couple of his games in the database, with another six from his brother - but maybe he's taking it up in earnest. It's a cheeky choice against Caruana, who is a great specialist in this opening with both colors.} 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Be6 {Wow. I've never seen this before - there are only 50 games with this in the database, with only perhaps one featuring a GM on the black side. (Compare that with about 12,000 6...Nc6 games, around 10,000 with 6...Be7 and approximately 9,000 with 6...Bd6 - not to mention other Black moves likes the trendy 6...Bf5 with hundreds of prior outings.) Is this a once-only idea, or something real? We'll see.} 7. O-O f5 8. Qe2 Be7 9. Ne5 $146 {The engine prefers the old move, so I guess even Caruana doesn't know everything about the Petroff.} (9. c4 {was played in every previous game, and then} c6 10. Nc3 O-O {and now either 11.Re1 or 11.Bf4.}) 9... Nd7 10. Nxd7 Qxd7 $11 11. f3 O-O $1 12. Bf4 (12. fxe4 $6 fxe4 13. Rxf8+ Rxf8 $15 14. Bb5 $2 c6 15. Ba4 Bg4 16. Qe1 Bd6 $19 {Black's attack will pay dividends before White's sleeping queenside comes into play.}) 12... Bf6 $1 13. c3 g5 14. Be5 Nd6 (14... Bxe5 $142 15. dxe5 Nc5 $11) 15. f4 g4 $6 {Now any play Black might generate on the kingside will be too slow.} (15... Bxe5 $142 16. fxe5 Ne4 $11) 16. Na3 $16 Rae8 17. Nc2 Bd8 18. Rad1 c6 19. Ne3 b5 $6 20. a4 (20. h3 $142 $18) 20... bxa4 $1 {Structurally bad, but opening the b-file gives Black a chance for counterplay that wouldn't otherwise be there.} 21. Qc2 h5 22. Kh1 $6 (22. Ra1) 22... a3 $1 $16 23. bxa3 (23. b4) 23... Nc4 24. Bxc4 dxc4 25. Kg1 (25. Qa4 $142 $16) 25... h4 $4 {It's just not Van Foreest's day.} (25... Bd5 $1) 26. Nxg4 $1 {Whoops.} Bd5 (26... fxg4 $2 27. Qg6+ Qg7 28. Qxg7#) 27. Ne3 $18 Be4 28. Qe2 Bd3 29. Rxd3 $1 cxd3 30. Qxd3 {Black's position is in tatters. White's army will advance and destroy.} Re6 31. Rb1 (31. Rf3) 31... Rg6 32. Rb8 Qf7 33. c4 (33. Nxf5 $1) 33... c5 34. dxc5 (34. Nxf5) 34... Be7 35. Rb7 $1 Qe6 36. Rc7 Rc8 37. Rxc8+ Qxc8 38. Qd5+ Kf8 39. Bd6 Qe6 40. Qxe6 Rxe6 41. Nxf5 Bxd6 42. cxd6 Re1+ 43. Kf2 Rc1 44. Ke3 $1 Ke8 (44... Rxc4 45. d7 {and the pawn can't be stopped.}) 45. Kd4 Rc2 46. c5 ({After} 46. c5 {the win is a snap. For example:} Rxg2 47. c6 Rxh2 48. Ng7+ Kd8 49. Ne6+ {followed by d7+ and d8Q(+).}) 1-0 [Event "85th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2023.01.16"] [Round "3.5"] [White "Erigaisi, Arjun"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E39"] [WhiteElo "2722"] [BlackElo "2735"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "122"] [EventDate "2023.01.14"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 c5 5. dxc5 O-O 6. a3 Bxc5 7. Nf3 d5 8. Bf4 (8. Bg5 {is the main move, and a successful one at that.}) 8... dxc4 9. e3 a6 10. Bxc4 b5 11. Be2 Nbd7 12. O-O Bb7 13. Rfd1 Rc8 $146 {=} 14. Rd2 Qb6 15. Rad1 Rfd8 16. Qb1 h6 17. Bg3 Be7 18. Ne5 Nc5 19. Bf3 Rxd2 20. Rxd2 Nce4 21. Nxe4 Bxe4 22. Bxe4 Nxe4 23. Rd1 Nxg3 24. hxg3 Qc7 $15 {Bit by bit, Black has outplayed White. The advantage isn't huge, but it's durable thanks to his control of the c-file and the bishop vs. knight imbalance - especially with White's queenside pawns on dark squares.} 25. Nd3 Qc2 26. Rc1 Qxb1 27. Rxb1 Rd8 $1 28. Rd1 e5 29. f3 f5 30. Kf1 e4 31. fxe4 fxe4 32. Nf2 Rxd1+ 33. Nxd1 {Black will lose the e-pawn, but in return he'll have pressure against White's many weak pawns.} Kf7 34. Nf2 Bf6 35. b3 Be7 36. a4 bxa4 37. bxa4 Ke6 38. Nxe4 Kd5 39. Nd2 Kc5 40. Ke2 Kb4 41. Kd3 Kxa4 42. Kc4 Bg5 43. Nf1 Ka5 44. e4 Kb6 45. Nh2 $1 {White has been defending like a champ for a long time, and Black's advantage remains minor. One of Black's problems is that White can give up everything in return for Black's a- and g-pawns, provided the white king can reach h1.} h5 46. Nf3 Be7 47. e5 Kc6 48. Nd4+ Kd7 49. e6+ Kc7 50. Kd5 a5 $11 51. Nb5+ $6 ({White has several adequate adequate ways to achieve a draw, including} 51. Nf5 Bf6 52. g4 $1 hxg4 53. Ne3 g3 54. Kc5 Be7+ 55. Kb5 Kd6 56. Nf5+ Kxe6 57. Nxe7 Kxe7 58. Kxa5 Ke6 59. Kb4 Ke5 60. Kc3 Ke4 61. Kd2 $11) 51... Kd8 $1 52. Nc3 $2 (52. Nd4 $8 a4 53. Kc4 Bf6 54. Ne2 $8 g5 55. g4 $1 h4 56. Kb4 $8 Ke7 57. Kxa4 Kxe6 58. Kb3 $8 Ke5 59. Kc2 Ke4 60. Kd2 $11) 52... Bb4 $19 53. Na4 Ke7 54. Nb6 Kf6 $2 (54... Be1 55. g4 hxg4 $19) 55. g4 $2 (55. Nd7+ $8 Kg5 56. Nc5 $11) 55... hxg4 $19 56. Nd7+ Ke7 (56... Kg5 $1 57. Nc5 Kg6 $1 58. Nd7 a4 $19) 57. Nb6 Be1 (57... Kf6 58. Nd7+ Kg5 59. Nc5 Kg6 $19) 58. Ke5 Bg3+ 59. Kd5 Bh4 60. Ke5 Kd8 $2 (60... Bg3+ 61. Kd5 Be1 62. Ke5 Bc3+ 63. Kd5 Bf6 64. Na4 Kd8 65. Kc4 Kc7 66. Kd5 Be7 67. Nc3 Kb6 68. Ne2 a4 69. Nc3 a3 70. Kc4 Kc6 $19) 61. Nd5 $11 a4 1/2-1/2 [Event "85th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2023.01.16"] [Round "3.6"] [White "Rapport, Richard"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B14"] [WhiteElo "2740"] [BlackElo "2760"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "50"] [EventDate "2023.01.14"] {[%evp 0,50,15,-27,17,23,33,21,15,12,68,51,63,40,30,16,30,4,63,12,23,30,19,19,39,-7,57,56,50,40,40,30,30,64,78,44,45,13,11,51,51,51,66,38,41,34,42,34,34,35,45,35,29]} 1. c4 (1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. c4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 {is the Caro-Kann way to reach the position after Black's 5th move in the game.}) 1... c5 2. Nc3 g6 3. e3 Nf6 4. d4 cxd4 5. exd4 d5 {Transposing to the Panov Attack against the Caro-Kann.} 6. Qb3 Bg7 7. cxd5 O-O 8. Be2 Na6 9. Bf3 Qb6 10. Nge2 Qxb3 11. axb3 Rd8 {This is considerably rarer than 11...Nb4, but the boss (Stockfish) has spoken, so we can expect that move to disappear from the games of the cognoscenti.} 12. Ra5 (12. O-O) (12. d6) 12... Bg4 13. Bxg4 Nxg4 14. O-O Nf6 15. Bf4 $146 (15. Bg5 Nc7 16. Bxf6 Bxf6 17. Rc5 Rd7 18. Ra1 b6 19. Rc6 Nxd5 20. Nxd5 Rxd5 21. Rxb6 axb6 22. Rxa8+ Kg7 23. Ra4 Rb5 24. b4 Rd5 25. Kf1 Bxd4 26. Nc3 Rf5 27. f3 Re5 28. Ra7 f5 29. Rd7 Bxc3 30. bxc3 Re3 31. Rc7 b5 32. Kf2 f4 33. h4 Kf6 34. g3 e5 35. gxf4 exf4 36. Rxh7 Rxc3 37. Rb7 Rc2+ 38. Kg1 Rb2 39. Rxb5 Kg7 40. Rb8 Kh6 41. b5 g5 42. hxg5+ Kxg5 43. b6 Kg6 44. Kf1 Kg7 45. Ke1 Rb3 46. Ke2 Re3+ 47. Kf2 Re6 48. Rb7+ Kg8 49. Kg2 Rh6 50. Kf1 Re6 51. Kf2 Kh8 52. Rb8+ Kg7 53. Kg2 Rh6 54. b7 Rb6 55. Kh3 Rb3 56. Kg4 Rb4 57. Kf5 Kh7 58. Ke6 Kg7 59. Ke5 Kh7 60. Kd6 Rb1 61. Kd5 Kg7 62. Kd6 Kh7 63. Ke5 Rb4 64. Kf6 Rb1 65. Kg5 Rb4 66. Rf8 Rxb7 67. Rxf4 Kg7 68. Rf6 Rb5+ 69. Rf5 Rb6 70. Re5 Rg6+ 71. Kf5 Rf6+ 72. Ke4 Ra6 73. f4 Kf6 74. Rh5 Ra4+ 75. Kf3 Ra1 76. Rb5 Rf1+ 77. Ke3 Ra1 78. Rg5 Ra3+ 79. Ke4 Ra4+ 80. Kf3 Ra1 81. Rg8 Rf1+ 82. Ke3 Ra1 83. Rf8+ Ke7 84. Rb8 Kf6 85. Rb6+ Kf5 86. Rb5+ Kf6 87. Rc5 Rb1 88. Ra5 Re1+ 89. Kf2 Rb1 90. Re5 Rb3 91. Re3 Rxe3 92. Kxe3 Kf5 93. Kf3 Kf6 94. Ke4 Ke6 95. f5+ Kf6 96. Kf4 Kf7 97. Kg5 Kg7 98. f6+ Kf7 99. Kf5 Kf8 100. Kg6 Kg8 101. f7+ Kf8 102. Kf6 {½-½ Belous,V (2524)-Mishra,A (2357) Charlotte CCCSA Winter GM 2021 (1)}) (15. Rb5 b6 16. Bf4 Ne8 17. Ra1 Nac7 18. Bxc7 Nxc7 19. Rb4 Nxd5 20. Nxd5 Rxd5 21. Rxb6 Bxd4 22. Nxd4 Rxd4 23. Rb7 Rd2 24. Rxe7 Rxb2 25. g3 {½-½ Vratonjic,S (2396)-Raicevic,M (2379) SRB-chT Central Kraljevo 2011 (7)}) 15... Nb4 16. d6 e6 17. Rb5 Nbd5 18. Be5 b6 19. Nxd5 Nxd5 20. Nc3 Nf6 $146 (20... Nxc3 21. bxc3 Bf8 22. Ra1 Bxd6 23. Bf6 Rd7 24. f3 Rb7 25. Kf2 a6 26. c4 h6 27. c5 Bc7 28. d5 exd5 29. c6 Rbb8 30. Rxd5 Re8 31. Rd7 Rac8 32. Rxa6 g5 33. Bd4 Re6 34. Ra7 Rxc6 35. Ke3 Kf8 36. h3 Ke8 37. Rd5 Rc2 38. g4 Rc1 39. Ra1 Rc2 40. Ke4 Rc6 41. Kf5 Kf8 42. Ra4 Bd6 43. Ra7 Bc7 44. Bf6 Re8 45. Ra4 Kg8 46. Rad4 Rc3 47. Rd3 Rc6 48. R3d4 Rc3 49. Rd3 Rc6 50. h4 gxh4 51. Bxh4 Ree6 52. f4 Kg7 53. b4 Rf6+ 54. Bxf6+ Rxf6+ 55. Ke4 Rxf4+ 56. Ke3 Rxb4 57. Rf5 Rxg4 58. Rd7 Kg6 59. Rfxf7 Be5 60. Rf8 h5 61. Rd5 Bg7 62. Rc8 {½-½ Relyea,A (2234)-Runarsson,G (2142) WS TT/2/17/2 email ICCF email 2017}) 21. Ra1 Nd7 22. Ra6 Nb8 23. Ra4 Nd7 24. Ra6 Nb8 25. Ra4 Nd7 1/2-1/2 [Event "85th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2023.01.16"] [Round "3.7"] [White "Praggnanandhaa, R."] [Black "Keymer, Vincent"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E32"] [WhiteElo "2684"] [BlackElo "2696"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "156"] [EventDate "2023.01.14"] {[%evp 0,156,28,34,18,8,6,6,20,-6,0,-8,-2,-6,-11,-15,-5,15,40,9,5,12,42,-42,-7,-38,-27,-25,-16,-16,-14,-1,4,9,11,24,53,41,43,13,30,-24,30,39,29,85,39,59,79,66,48,66,121,117,108,108,126,124,86,59,64,62,49,68,58,19,23,23,47,29,62,63,70,56,52,72,55,61,55,60,63,36,39,42,35,35,35,42,35,32,32,25,59,56,95,97,107,87,87,84,86,95,85,89,103,101,97,4,104,107,123,96,128,125,125,125,104,123,123,120,119,118,118,118,118,118,118,118,118,116,117,109,109,109,109,109,109,109,109,107,109,107,107,105,107,107,107,107,107,106,107,105,107,106,107,40,0,0,0]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 O-O 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 d6 7. f3 b6 8. e4 Bb7 $6 (8... c5 $142) 9. Ne2 $6 $146 (9. Bd3 $142) 9... c5 $6 10. d5 $16 exd5 11. exd5 Re8 12. a4 Nbd7 (12... Bxd5 $1 13. cxd5 Nxd5 {Black is still worse, but has some compensation.}) 13. Kf2 Ne5 14. Ng3 a6 15. Be2 b5 16. b3 bxc4 17. bxc4 a5 18. Re1 Ba6 19. Rb1 (19. Bd2 $142 $16 {/+-}) 19... Nfd7 (19... h5 $142) 20. Bd2 $6 (20. Kg1 $1 $16 {/+-}) 20... Qh4 $14 21. Rec1 Rab8 (21... h5 $1) 22. Rxb8 Rxb8 23. Kg1 $16 Qd4+ 24. Qxd4 cxd4 25. f4 d3 $2 (25... Ng6) 26. fxe5 dxe2 27. exd6 $18 Rc8 28. Nxe2 Rxc4 29. Rxc4 $2 {White needed to keep the rooks on to retain good winning chances. It's not quite a pure opposite-colored bishop ending, but it's close enough that the drawish tendencies of such endings will save Black.} (29. Nc3 $18) 29... Bxc4 30. Nd4 Kf8 31. Bxa5 Ke8 32. Bd2 Nc5 33. a5 Bxd5 34. Bb4 Na6 35. Ba3 Kd7 36. Kf2 Nb8 37. Nf5 g6 38. Ne7 Bb7 39. g3 Nc6 40. Nd5 Nxa5 41. Nf6+ Kd8 42. Nxh7 Nc4 43. Bb4 Ne5 44. Ke3 Kd7 45. Ng5 Ba8 46. h4 Nc4+ 47. Kd4 Nxd6 48. Bxd6 Kxd6 49. Nxf7+ Ke6 {The rest is wishful thinking - the position is far too simple for a player of Keymer's caliber to lose. (I'm not even sure Keymer's cat would lose it.)} 50. Nh6 Bb7 51. Ke3 Ke5 52. Ng4+ Kf5 53. Nh2 Bc8 54. g4+ Kf6 55. Kf3 g5 56. h5 Kg7 57. Kg3 Kh6 58. Nf3 Be6 59. Nd4 Bd7 60. Kf3 Bc8 61. Nb5 Bb7+ 62. Kf2 Bc8 63. Kg3 Bd7 64. Nd6 Be6 65. Kf3 Bd5+ 66. Kf2 Be6 67. Kg3 Kg7 68. Nf5+ Kf6 69. Nd4 Bc8 70. Nf3 Be6 71. Nd4 Bc8 72. Nc2 Be6 73. Kf3 Bd5+ 74. Kf2 Be6 75. Kg3 Kf7 76. Ne3 Kg7 77. Kf3 Kh6 78. Ke4 {Finally surrendering to reality.} Bxg4 1/2-1/2 [Event "Tata Steel Challengers"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2023.01.16"] [Round "3.1"] [White "Mishra, Abhimanyu"] [Black "Ivic, Velimir"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D11"] [WhiteElo "2559"] [BlackElo "2585"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "96"] [EventDate "2023.01.14"] {[%evp 0,96,34,26,18,17,17,6,25,21,55,24,25,19,40,1,5,-15,-4,8,6,-7,5,3,3,3,-6,-21,-17,-21,-17,-8,-13,-24,-11,-23,23,-1,29,10,35,40,43,50,24,29,55,23,33,1,30,1,24,15,-3,0,12,19,15,1,-21,-21,-11,-39,-53,-10,-33,-90,-82,-72,-124,-82,-90,-90,-78,-142,-138,-243,-201,-229,-312,-285,-555,-555,-319,-469,-295,-423,-205,-205,-241,-241,-241,-582,-738,-805,-805,-1066,-1072]} 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 c6 4. e3 Bg4 5. Nc3 e6 6. h3 Bh5 7. g4 Bg6 8. Ne5 Nbd7 9. Nxg6 hxg6 10. Bd2 Bb4 11. cxd5 exd5 12. Bd3 Qe7 13. a3 Bxc3 14. Bxc3 a5 15. Qe2 Ne4 16. Kf1 f5 17. Kg2 O-O 18. f3 Nd6 19. Be1 Rfe8 20. Bf2 a4 21. Rhe1 Nb6 22. Bg3 Nbc4 23. Bf4 b5 24. g5 Qf7 25. Qf2 Re6 26. Re2 Rae8 27. h4 R6e7 28. Rae1 Nb7 29. e4 $11 {White finally achieves his thematic break, but it doesn't go as planned.} fxe4 30. fxe4 Rf8 $1 31. Bxc4 $2 (31. exd5 Rxe2 32. Rxe2 Nd8 (32... Qxf4 $2 33. Qxf4 Rxf4 34. dxc6 Nbd6 35. Re6 $18) 33. dxc6 Nxc6 34. Be4 Qd7 35. Bxc6 Qg4+ $11) 31... bxc4 $17 32. Be5 Qe6 $1 33. Qe3 $2 (33. Qg3 $17) 33... Nc5 $3 34. Bxg7 (34. dxc5 Qxe5 $19) 34... Rxg7 35. dxc5 {The position is equal unless Black finds the right move - which he did.} d4 $1 36. Qh3 (36. Qxd4 Qg4+ 37. Kh2 Qxh4+ 38. Kg2 (38. Kg1 Qg3+ 39. Rg2 (39. Kh1 Rh7+ 40. Rh2 Rxh2#) 39... Qxe1+ 40. Kh2 Rh7#) 38... Qg4+ 39. Kh1 Rh7+ 40. Rh2 Qf3+ 41. Kg1 Qg3+ $19 {with mate next move.}) 36... Qe5 $2 $17 (36... Qe7 $1 37. Rf1 Rgf7 38. Rxf7 Qxf7 $19 {is why the queen should have gone back to e7.}) 37. Qg3 $2 (37. Rf1 $8) 37... Qxc5 $2 {Still winning, but it gives White the chance to put up more resistance.} (37... Rf4 $1) 38. e5 $2 (38. Rf1) 38... Qd5+ 39. Kh2 d3 40. Rf2 Rxf2+ 41. Qxf2 Rf7 42. Qd2 Qf3 (42... Rf3) 43. Qg2 Qf2 44. Qxf2 Rxf2+ 45. Kg3 Rxb2 46. Kf3 c3 47. Ke3 c2 48. Kd2 {Now for a nice trick worth remembering.} (48. Kxd3 Rb1 $19) 48... c1=Q+ $1 (48... c1=Q+ $1 49. Kxc1 d2+ $19) 0-1 [Event "Tata Steel Challengers"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2023.01.16"] [Round "3.6"] [White "Beerdsen, Thomas"] [Black "Pechac, Jergus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C52"] [WhiteElo "2515"] [BlackElo "2637"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "71"] [EventDate "2023.01.14"] {[%evp 0,71,28,28,17,15,21,15,15,-33,-33,-30,-30,-58,16,10,25,-36,2,-44,0,-6,14,-12,-6,-27,-5,-57,-65,-65,-58,-58,-55,-57,5,-182,-192,-75,22,-40,-40,-1,0,0,88,2,14,0,71,-5,111,111,111,44,44,69,39,58,58,8,73,0,0,7,48,26,0,-12,-70,0,-35,-86,-23,-106]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 {Somehow, Pechac gets fun games every round. In the first round he lost to a brilliant attack, in round 2 he played the King's Gambit and won a piece in the first 10 moves, and this time he's on the receiving end of the Evans Gambit.} Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. d4 d6 7. Qb3 Qd7 8. O-O Bb6 9. Nbd2 Na5 10. Qc2 f6 (10... Nxc4 {is the most common move, but the text is fine, overprotecting e5.}) 11. a4 Ne7 12. Ba2 Nec6 13. Ba3 exd4 14. cxd4 Nxd4 $2 ({The problem wasn't greed, but the way that greed was expressed.} 14... Bxd4 {was the right way to collect the pawn. Black's pawns are sufficient compensation for White's attacking possibilities.}) 15. Nxd4 Bxd4 16. Rad1 Qe7 17. e5 $2 (17. Nf3 $142 Be5 18. Nxe5 fxe5 19. f4 $18) 17... fxe5 18. Nf3 Nc6 19. Bd5 Kd8 $2 (19... Be6 $16) 20. Rfe1 Qf6 21. Bxc6 bxc6 22. Qxc6 (22. Bxd6 $3 cxd6 (22... Qxd6 23. Nxe5 $1 Bxe5 24. Rxe5 Bd7 25. Rxd6 cxd6 26. Re1 $18) 23. Nxd4 $18 exd4 $2 24. Qxc6 Rb8 25. Rc1 $18) 22... Rb8 23. Rc1 $18 Bb6 (23... Rb7 $142) 24. Nxe5 $1 Re8 25. Bxd6 $2 {Spectacular, but not best.} (25. a5 $3 Bxa5 26. Bxd6 $1 {Only now.} cxd6 27. Nf7+ Qxf7 28. Qxd6+ Qd7 29. Rxe8+ Kxe8 30. Qxb8 Kd8 {All forced, just like the game.} 31. Qf4 $1 {Threatening 32.Qf8+ followed by taking on c8 and then e8.} Qf5 32. Qxf5 Bxf5 {And now, at last, the point of 25.a5:} 33. Rc5 $18) 25... cxd6 26. Nf7+ Qxf7 27. Qxd6+ Qd7 28. Rxe8+ Kxe8 29. Qxb8 Kd8 30. Qf4 Qf5 $11 31. Qg3 g6 32. a5 Bxa5 33. Qd6+ Bd7 34. Qb8+ Ke7 35. Qxa7 Qd5 36. Qc5+ $11 {With all the pawns on one side of the board the rook (and extra pawn) can survive against Black's bishops.} 1/2-1/2