[Event "87th Tata Steel Masters"] [White "Abdusattorov, Nodirbek"] [Black "Mendonca, Leon Luke"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Round "2.1"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [Result "1-0"] [Date "2025.01.19"] [ECO "C02"] [WhiteElo "2768"] [BlackElo "2639"] [PlyCount "61"] [GameId "2135849531949067"] [EventDate "2025.01.18"] [SourceVersionDate "2025.01.05"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. a4 {Not a new move, but it's only 1/100th as popular as pushing the a-pawn a single square. (It's also far less common than White's second and third choices, 6.Bd3 and 6.Be2, respectively.)} cxd4 7. cxd4 Nh6 {This is where the knight goes in the 6.a3 lines, but here it seems to be inaccurate. There are two problems: one is that White can play Bxh6, and the other is that after Bb5 Black should prefer to recapture on c6 with the second knight.} (7... Nge7 $142 $11 8. Bb5 $6 a6 9. Bxc6+ Nxc6 $15) 8. Bb5 (8. Bxh6 $1 Qxb2 9. Nbd2 gxh6 10. Bb5 $14) 8... Nf5 9. Nc3 Bd7 10. O-O a6 (10... Rc8 $142) 11. Bxc6 Bxc6 (11... Qxc6 $142) 12. Ne2 $14 {It's far from fatal, but Black has not managed to coordinate his forces for queenside play, and he also lacks any meaningful pressure against d4.} Be7 (12... Rc8 $142) 13. b3 (13. g4 $5 Nh4 14. Nxh4 Bxh4 15. Nf4 $14) 13... O-O-O $2 {Suicide. If Mendonca is a French player, then this is tribute to what an amazing job 6.a4 did of scrambling Black's intuition.} 14. Bd2 $16 {/+-} (14. g4 $1 Nh4 15. Nxh4 Bxh4 16. Ba3 $18) 14... Kb8 15. b4 $1 Rc8 (15... Bxb4 $4 16. a5 Qb5 17. Rb1 $18) 16. Rb1 $6 {This gives Black time to deal with the threat of b4-b5, but for some reason he doesn't accept the gift.} (16. g4 $1 Nh4 17. Nxh4 Bxh4 18. b5 $1 Bd7 (18... axb5 $2 19. Bb4 $18 {is even worse.}) 19. Bb4 $18) 16... Bd7 17. b5 axb5 $2 {Crazy.} (17... a5 18. Qe1 Bd8 $16 {/+- may not be delightful for Black, but it's better than opening lines for White's attack.}) 18. axb5 $18 Rc4 (18... Bxb5 $4 19. Qb3 $18) 19. Qb3 g5 20. h3 h5 21. Bxg5 Rb4 22. Qa2 Rxb5 23. Ng3 $1 Bxg5 (23... Nxg3 24. Bxe7 $18 Nxf1 $2 25. Bd6+ $18 {wins the queen or forces mate.}) 24. Nxf5 exf5 25. Nxg5 {Black is worse everywhere; the rest is just waiting for the axe to fall.} Qxd4 26. Ra1 Kc7 27. Nxf7 {Not so much for the sake of the pawn but to prevent Black's king from escaping and getting the knight to d6.} Rg8 28. Nd6 Rb4 29. Qa5+ Qb6 30. Qxd5 Rd8 31. Nc4 (31. Nc4 Qb5 (31... Qc6 32. Qa5+) 32. Qd6+ Kc8 33. Ra8#) 1-0 [Event "87th Tata Steel Masters"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Van Foreest, Jorden"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Round "2.2"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [Result "1-0"] [Date "2025.01.19"] [ECO "D02"] [WhiteElo "2803"] [BlackElo "2680"] [PlyCount "67"] [GameId "2135849531957260"] [EventDate "2025.01.18"] [SourceVersionDate "2025.01.05"] {[%evp 0,67,21,25,12,24,18,106,9,16,13,-7,18,11,21,7,19,15,11,14,-1,1,-2,-22,-6,-17,-5,-4,25,-20,9,-5,-14,-20,20,99,107,-45,124,1,57,5,21,29,-58,73,44,134,63,98,81,97,107,104,113,50,124,114,104,167,155,157,246,345,313,320,313,290,350,371]} 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 e6 3. Bf4 c5 4. e3 Nc6 5. c3 Bd6 6. Bg3 Nh6 $5 {Two straight games with ...Nh6! While it was a standard idea in the Advance French, here it's breaking new ground - there was only one prior game with this move.} (6... Nf6 {is usual unless you're Matthias Bluebaum, in which case you play}) (6... Nge7) 7. Bd3 $146 O-O 8. Nbd2 $14 (8. dxc5 Bxc5 9. O-O $14) 8... b6 9. Qe2 {Remaining coy about castling, especially since Black would generally like to swap on g3.} Bb7 10. dxc5 (10. O-O $142 $14) 10... bxc5 11. e4 Rb8 (11... Bxg3 $1 12. hxg3 Qb6 $11) 12. e5 $6 (12. Rb1) 12... Bc7 13. O-O Nf5 $15 14. Bf4 c4 $6 (14... Nce7 {followed by ...Ng6 looks terrific for Black.}) 15. Bc2 Ba6 $6 {Huh? What is the bishop doing here?} 16. Rab1 (16. Bxf5 $1 exf5 17. Nb3 $1 {would have been a perfect way to meet Black's dubious 14th and 15th moves. The loose bishop on a6 is exploited, and if Black doesn't take White can occupy the splendid outpost on d4.}) 16... d4 $1 {Now Black is reasonably happy again.} 17. Nxc4 Qd5 (17... Na5 $1 18. b3 dxc3 19. Bxf5 exf5 20. Rbc1 $8 Nxc4 21. bxc4 Rb2 22. Qe3 Ba5 23. e6 $1 Qf6 $1 24. e7 Re8 25. Rfe1 h6 $11 {/?}) 18. b3 dxc3 19. Rfd1 Qc5 20. Bxf5 $1 exf5 21. Qc2 $1 Bxc4 22. Qxc3 Bb6 $2 (22... Qb4 $1 23. Qxc4 Qxc4 24. bxc4 f6 $11) 23. Be3 Qb4 24. Qxc4 Qxc4 25. bxc4 Bxe3 26. fxe3 $16 {White's pawns may not look pretty, but Black isn't getting his pawn back.} h6 27. Rb5 Rfc8 $2 28. Kf2 (28. Rd6 $1 $18) 28... Kf8 (28... a6 $142) 29. Rd6 $1 $18 Nd8 30. Nd4 (30. Rxb8 $142 Rxb8 31. c5 $18) 30... g6 $2 31. Rxb8 Rxb8 32. c5 Nb7 33. Rd5 Nd8 34. c6 (34. c6 Rc8 35. c7 Nb7 36. Rd7 Ke8 37. e6 fxe6 38. Rg7 e5 39. Nc6 Nd6 40. Nxa7 $18) 1-0 [Event "87th Tata Steel Masters"] [White "Keymer, Vincent"] [Black "Warmerdam, Max"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Round "2.3"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Date "2025.01.19"] [ECO "A06"] [WhiteElo "2733"] [BlackElo "2646"] [PlyCount "133"] [GameId "2135849531961357"] [EventDate "2025.01.18"] [SourceVersionDate "2025.01.05"] {[%evp 0,133,20,16,18,1,47,-3,0,21,15,-4,5,3,-6,-3,0,0,11,0,8,-10,-3,-9,-20,-20,-21,-35,-104,-34,-33,-75,-41,-27,-59,-18,-45,-43,-43,-34,-37,-26,23,-48,-48,-17,-16,127,-29,-60,-119,-44,-121,-83,-176,-123,-84,-101,-148,-182,-223,-203,-118,-205,-220,-199,-277,-243,-230,16,-235,-237,-107,-107,-61,-89,-111,-95,-98,-87,-86,-41,-115,-105,-96,-38,-82,-21,-85,-127,-79,-155,-89,-122,97,-52,-83,-88,-74,44,-82,-54,-91,-50,-31,-48,-97,-79,-79,-79,-80,-39,-56,-41,-21,-60,-61,-42,-42,24,-53,-31,-10,-71,1,-42,-16,-37,-44,-63,-78,-46,-46,-87,-37,-47] It was Warmerdam's game to win, but his technique wasn't up to the challenge. This is something I've heard about many times over the years: 2700s put up disproportionately greater resistance. This may be because they're usually playing each other, while 2600s have fattened up in large part on a diet of comparatively weak players. They haven't had to get used to facing maximal defense, so their technique hasn't had to be as precise.} 1. Nf3 d5 2. b3 c5 3. e3 g6 4. Bb2 Nf6 5. c4 dxc4 6. bxc4 Bg7 7. Be2 O-O 8. O-O b6 9. d3 Bb7 10. Nbd2 Nc6 11. Ne5 Qc7 12. f4 Rad8 13. Qb3 Ne8 14. Ndf3 Na5 15. Qc2 Nd6 16. e4 f6 17. Ng4 Nc6 18. Rae1 Nf7 19. f5 gxf5 20. exf5 Kh8 21. Qb3 Qd7 22. Ne3 Bh6 23. Nd5 Nd6 24. g4 Rg8 25. Nh4 Nb4 26. Bf3 Nxd5 27. cxd5 Rg7 28. Re6 Nf7 29. Rc6 Be3+ 30. Kh1 Bxc6 31. dxc6 Qxd3 32. Qxd3 Rxd3 33. c7 Nd6 34. Ng2 Bd4 35. Bc1 e5 36. fxe6 Rxc7 37. Nf4 Rxf3 38. Rxf3 Re7 39. Rf1 Nc4 40. Re1 Ne5 41. Kg2 Re8 42. h3 Ng6 43. Nxg6+ hxg6 44. h4 b5 45. Bf4 Kg7 46. Bd6 a5 47. e7 Kf7 48. Kf3 c4 49. h5 gxh5 50. gxh5 Bc3 51. Re2 b4 52. h6 b3 53. axb3 cxb3 54. Ba3 Kg6 55. Rh2 Kh7 56. Kg4 Be5 57. Rh1 Kg6 58. h7 f5+ 59. Kf3 a4 60. Ke3 Kf7 61. Rh5 Kg6 62. Rh1 Bf6 63. Kd3 Rc8 64. Rc1 Re8 65. Rh1 Kf7 66. Rf1 Kg6 67. Rh1 1/2-1/2 [Event "87th Tata Steel Masters"] [White "Fedoseev, Vladimir"] [Black "Gukesh, D."] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Round "2.4"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Date "2025.01.19"] [ECO "D24"] [WhiteElo "2717"] [BlackElo "2777"] [PlyCount "86"] [GameId "2135849531961358"] [EventDate "2025.01.18"] [SourceVersionDate "2025.01.05"] {[%evp 0,86,16,23,20,18,0,13,16,19,29,29,35,39,8,47,50,47,44,42,36,36,39,31,32,43,50,24,46,44,24,38,38,22,27,17,32,20,32,13,20,7,12,15,-38,9,-12,58,-37,21,-108,21,21,31,31,0,43,-17,81,-9,1,1,-10,24,21,32,-13,11,-103,-9,-31,-36,-35,-171,12,-31,-10,-38,-26,-23,-45,-45,-31,1,-26,-35,-34,-26,-22]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. e4 b5 6. e5 Nd5 7. Nxb5 Nb6 8. Nc3 Nc6 9. Be3 Bb7 10. Be2 Ne7 $146 11. b3 cxb3 12. Qxb3 $14 Nf5 13. Bb5+ c6 14. Bd3 Be7 15. O-O Nxe3 16. fxe3 O-O (16... Rb8 $142 {This frees the Nb6 to meet Ne4 with ...Nd5 or Na4 with ...Nxa4.}) 17. Ne4 Rb8 18. Nc5 Bxc5 (18... Bc8) 19. dxc5 $16 {White's pawns are ugly, but they're beautiful compared to the thing on b7.} Nd5 20. Qa3 (20. Qc4 $142 Nxe3 $4 21. Qe4 Nf5 22. g4 $18) 20... a5 $1 21. Rad1 (21. Rab1 $142) 21... Qc7 22. Bc4 Nb4 23. Rd6 Ba6 $1 24. Bxa6 Nxa6 25. Rc1 Nb4 26. h3 Qa7 (26... Rfc8) 27. e4 (27. Nd4) 27... Qa6 (27... h6) 28. Kf2 (28. Nd4 $142 $14) 28... h6 $11 29. Rc3 a4 30. Rd4 Qb5 31. Rcc4 Na6 {Both sides look a bit clumsy here, and it all cancels out.} 32. Kg3 Rfd8 33. Rxa4 Rxd4 34. Nxd4 Qxc5 35. Qxc5 Nxc5 36. Nxc6 Rb6 37. Ne7+ (37. Ra8+ Kh7 38. Nd8 Kg6 39. Ra7 Nxe4+ 40. Kf4 Ng5 41. h4 Rb4+ 42. Kg3 Ne4+ 43. Kh2 Nc5 44. Kh3 Rd4 45. Nxf7 Kh5 46. g3 g5 $11 {Black's counterplay is easily enough to hold the balance.}) 37... Kf8 38. Rc4 Nxe4+ 39. Rxe4 Kxe7 40. Rg4 g6 41. Re4 Rb1 42. h4 Kf8 43. Kf3 Ke7 1/2-1/2 [Event "87th Tata Steel Masters"] [White "Harikrishna, Pentala"] [Black "Praggnanandhaa, R."] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Round "2.5"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [Result "0-1"] [Date "2025.01.19"] [ECO "B30"] [WhiteElo "2695"] [BlackElo "2741"] [PlyCount "110"] [GameId "2135849531961359"] [EventDate "2025.01.18"] [SourceVersionDate "2025.01.05"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. Nc3 Qc7 5. O-O Nd4 6. Re1 a6 7. Bf1 Ng4 8. g3 Nxf3+ 9. Qxf3 Ne5 10. Qe2 e6 11. d3 d6 12. Be3 Nc6 13. f4 Be7 14. Qf2 O-O 15. Bg2 Bd7 16. g4 b5 17. h4 Nd4 18. Rac1 Rae8 19. Ne2 Nxe2+ 20. Rxe2 d5 21. g5 d4 22. Bd2 c4 23. c3 dxc3 24. Rxc3 f6 25. g6 $2 (25. gxf6 Rxf6 26. e5 Rg6 27. h5 Rg4 28. Qf3 Bc5+ 29. Be3 $11) 25... hxg6 26. dxc4 bxc4 27. b3 Bc5 (27... Qa5 $142 $17) 28. Be3 Bxe3 29. Rexe3 $15 g5 $5 30. f5 (30. fxg5 $1 fxg5 31. Rxc4 $1 $11) 30... Qf4 31. hxg5 Qxf2+ 32. Kxf2 cxb3 33. axb3 fxg5 34. Rc7 Bb5 35. Bh3 exf5 36. exf5 Rxe3 37. Kxe3 Rd8 38. Bg4 Rd7 39. Rc8+ (39. Rxd7 Bxd7 40. b4 $1 g6 41. Ke4 $11 (41. Be2 $11)) 39... Kf7 40. b4 Kf6 41. Rf8+ Rf7 42. Rb8 (42. Rxf7+ $11) 42... Rc7 (42... Re7+ $1 43. Kd4 Rc7 $15) 43. Rb6+ Rc6 {For a third time Harikrishna avoids the trade of rooks. The first two times the alternatives were okay, but not this time.} 44. Rb7 $2 {Losing, but it wasn't easy to be sure that the bishop ending was drawn. There are more chances for counterplay with the rooks on, so White's decision was entirely understandable.} (44. Rxc6+ Bxc6 45. Kf2 $1 {The only move.} Ke5 46. Kg3 $1 {Again, the only move.} Kd4 47. Bd1 Kc3 48. Kg4 Kxb4 49. Kxg5 Be8 50. Bh5 $1 $11 {Once again forced.}) 44... Rc3+ $1 45. Kf2 Rd3 46. Bh5 Rd7 $2 {A fourth chance!} (46... Rh3 $1 47. Bg6 g4 $1 48. Rf7+ Kg5 49. Rxg7 Rf3+ $1 50. Ke1 g3 51. Rg8 Kf6 52. Bh7 Bd3 53. Rg6+ Ke5 54. Rg4 Be4 55. Bg6 Bd5 56. Kd2 Ra3 $19 {Next up, ...g2 and ...Ra1.}) 47. Rb8 $2 (47. Rxd7 Bxd7 48. Bf3 Kxf5 49. Bb7 Bb5 50. Kg3 $11 {This is a dead draw, as Black's g-pawns are going nowhere and moving the king to the queenside will result in the disappearance of all three Black pawns.} Ke5 (50... Bd3 51. Bc8+ Ke5 52. Kg4 Kd4 53. Kxg5 Kc3 54. Bxa6 Bxa6 55. Kg6 $11) 51. Kg4 Kd4 52. Kxg5 Bd3 53. Bxa6 Bxa6 54. Kg6 $11) 47... Kxf5 $19 48. Rf8+ Ke5 49. Bg6 Kd4 50. Rc8 Rd6 51. Bh5 Rc6 52. Rg8 Rc7 53. Kg3 Kc3 54. Bd1 Kxb4 55. Kg4 a5 0-1 [Event "87th Tata Steel Masters"] [White "Sarana, Alexey"] [Black "Wei Yi"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Round "2.6"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Date "2025.01.19"] [ECO "C48"] [WhiteElo "2677"] [BlackElo "2751"] [PlyCount "107"] [GameId "2135849531961360"] [EventDate "2025.01.18"] [SourceVersionDate "2025.01.05"] {[%evp 0,107,22,22,18,16,28,6,14,8,9,9,9,0,-40,5,10,11,8,12,6,5,11,-2,-3,24,-9,-3,-9,-3,-17,-4,-20,-25,-39,-31,-20,-25,-33,-33,-24,132,-7,-19,-29,-21,-114,-22,0,-1,3,77,-3,-1,-21,-16,-19,-22,-22,-13,-14,4,3,-14,-90,-36,-61,12,9,-7,-28,4,-23,-25,-13,-4,-4,-65,-4,-91,-4,-15,-64,-40,-9,-138,1,-106,-11,-1,-1,-1,-1,1,-1,-1,-1,-1,-1,1,-1,1,-1,1,1,-1,1,1,-1,-1]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Nd4 5. Nxd4 exd4 6. e5 {Life is too short to analyze games with this variation.} dxc3 7. exf6 Qxf6 8. dxc3 Bc5 9. Qe2+ Qe6 10. Qxe6+ fxe6 11. a4 a6 12. Bd3 a5 13. h4 O-O 14. f3 e5 15. Bd2 d6 16. c4 Bf5 17. O-O-O Bxd3 18. cxd3 h5 19. Rhe1 b6 20. Re4 Rf5 21. Rde1 Raf8 22. Bc3 Rf4 23. Bd2 R4f5 24. Bc3 Bf2 25. R1e2 Bg3 26. Be1 Bf4+ 27. Bd2 c5 28. Bxf4 Rxf4 29. Kd2 R4f5 30. Ke3 R5f6 31. Rf2 Kf7 32. g4 Kg6 33. gxh5+ Kxh5 34. Rg4 g6 35. Rg5+ Kh6 36. Rg3 Rf4 37. Rh2 R8f5 38. b3 Rf6 39. Rh1 R6f5 40. Rhg1 Rf6 41. Rh1 Rd4 42. Rg4 d5 43. Rxd4 exd4+ 44. Kf2 dxc4 45. bxc4 Re6 46. Rb1 Kh5 47. Kg3 g5 48. hxg5 Kxg5 49. Rb2 Kf5 50. Rb1 Rg6+ 51. Kf2 Rh6 52. Kg3 Rg6+ 53. Kf2 Rh6 54. Kg3 1/2-1/2 [Event "87th Tata Steel Masters"] [White "Erigaisi, Arjun"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Round "2.7"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Date "2025.01.19"] [ECO "B92"] [WhiteElo "2801"] [BlackElo "2731"] [PlyCount "101"] [GameId "2135849531961361"] [EventDate "2025.01.18"] [SourceVersionDate "2025.01.05"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. Qd3 Be6 9. Nd5 Nxd5 10. exd5 Bc8 11. a4 a5 12. O-O O-O 13. f4 Nd7 14. Kh1 b6 $146 (14... Bf6 15. f5 Bg5 16. Be3 b6 17. Nd2 f6 18. b3 Ra7 19. Rae1 Ba6 20. c4 Bc8 21. Bg1 Bxd2 22. Qxd2 Nc5 23. Bd1 g6 24. Bc2 gxf5 25. Bxf5 Bxf5 26. Bxc5 bxc5 27. Rxf5 Rg7 28. Ref1 Kh8 29. h3 Kg8 30. g4 Rgf7 31. Qh6 Qe7 32. R1f3 e4 33. Re3 Re8 34. Kg2 Qd8 35. Kg3 Re5 36. Qf4 Qe7 37. h4 Kg7 38. Kf2 Rf8 39. Ke2 Rf7 40. Rg3 Kf8 41. Rg2 Kg7 42. Rf2 Rxf5 43. Qxf5 Qb7 44. g5 Qe7 45. g6 Rf8 46. gxh7 Kh8 47. Qe6 Qg7 48. Qxe4 f5 49. Rxf5 Qb2+ 50. Kf3 Rxf5+ 51. Qxf5 Qxb3+ 52. Kg4 Qxc4+ 53. Kg5 Qd4 54. Qf8+ Kxh7 55. Qh6+ Kg8 56. Qe6+ Kh7 57. Qg6+ Kh8 58. Qxd6 Qd2+ 59. Kg6 Qd3+ 60. Kf6 Qf3+ 61. Ke7 Qe4+ 62. Qe6 Qh7+ 63. Qf7 c4 64. d6 Qe4+ 65. Qe6 Qh7+ 66. Kf8 Qg7+ 67. Ke8 c3 68. d7 c2 69. d8=Q c1=Q 70. Qf7 Kh7 71. Qd3+ Kh8 72. Qh5+ Qch6 73. Qxh6+ Qxh6 74. Qd4+ Kh7 75. Qe4+ Kg8 76. Qd5+ Kh8 77. Qe5+ Kg8 78. Qg5+ Qxg5 79. hxg5 Kg7 80. Kd7 {1-0 Oparin,G (2667)-Mendonca,L (2603) FRA-chT Top 16 GpB Chartres 2023 (4.4)}) 15. Qd1 Ba6 16. Bxa6 Rxa6 17. fxe5 dxe5 18. d6 Bg5 19. Bxg5 Qxg5 20. Qd5 Qg4 $6 21. Nd2 $14 Qe6 (21... h6 $142) 22. Qxe6 fxe6 23. Rxf8+ Kxf8 24. Nc4 Ra8 25. Kg1 Kf7 26. Kf2 Rc8 27. b3 Kg6 28. Ke3 $16 Rf8 29. g3 h5 30. Rd1 Kg5 31. h3 Kg6 32. Ke2 Rc8 33. Rf1 Rc5 34. Kd3 Rd5+ 35. Kc3 $2 (35. Ke2 Rc5 36. Ke3 Rd5 37. h4 Nf6 38. Rb1 Kh6 39. c3 e4 40. b4 Rd3+ 41. Kf4 Rxc3 42. Ne5 axb4 43. Rxb4 Nd5+ 44. Kxe4 Nf6+ (44... Nxb4 45. d7 $18) 45. Kd4 Rxg3 46. Rxb6 Rh3 47. Rb4 $1 Rxh4+ 48. Kc5 Rh1 49. a5 Re1 50. Nd3 Rd1 51. Rd4 $18) 35... Rc5 $2 (35... Nc5 $1 36. Nxb6 Ne4+ 37. Kb2 Rxd6 $16) 36. b4 (36. Kd3 $1 Rd5+ 37. Ke2 $1 $18) 36... axb4+ 37. Kxb4 Rc8 (37... Rd5 $142) 38. Ra1 (38. g4 $142) 38... Kf5 39. a5 $2 {Winning this ending was never easy, as you can ascertain from the vague lines given above, but after this the win is gone. Not having to worry about the b-pawn makes Black's remaining woes manageable.} bxa5+ $14 40. Rxa5 Ke4 41. Ra7 Rb8+ $6 (41... Kd5 $1 $11) 42. Kc3 Rd8 43. Rc7 Nf6 44. Rxg7 (44. Kb4 $1) 44... Nd5+ 45. Kd2 Kd4 $2 (45... Nb6 $1 46. Nxb6 Rxd6+ $11) 46. Na3 $2 (46. Rc7 $1 e4 47. Na5 e3+ 48. Ke2 Rxd6 49. Rc4+ Ke5 50. Rh4 $1 Kf6 51. Rxh5 $18) 46... Nc3 47. d7 e4 48. Ke1 Kc5 49. Kd2 Kd4 50. Ke1 Kc5 51. Kd2 1/2-1/2