[Event "FIDE Candidates 2022"] [Site "Madrid"] [Date "2022.06.23"] [Round "6.1"] [White "Radjabov, Teimour"] [Black "Rapport, Richard"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B46"] [WhiteElo "2753"] [BlackElo "2764"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2022.06.17"] {[%evp 0,34,19,17,57,49,49,38,30,36,36,43,95,67,52,30,23,9,28,13,14,26,35,-53, -24,-21,-24,-34,-8,-20,27,22,26,3,3,-31,29]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Qd3 $1 {This has been a popular maneuver in many Open Sicilians in recent years, to transfer the queen to g3. (This often holds even when Black has/puts a queen on c7. White is happy with the quasi-ending/queenless middlegame as well.)} d5 ({An example of a Qg3 ending, starring a player you might remember from the last Candidates tournament.} 7... Qc7 8. Qg3 Qxg3 9. hxg3 d6 10. f3 Nf6 11. g4 Be7 12. Be3 a5 13. O-O-O Nd7 14. g5 O-O 15. Rh2 Re8 16. Bd3 Ba6 17. Bxa6 Rxa6 18. Rdh1 Nf8 19. Na4 Rd8 20. f4 d5 21. Bc5 Bxc5 22. Nxc5 Rb6 23. a4 dxe4 24. c3 e3 25. g3 Rbb8 26. Re2 Nd7 27. Nxd7 Rxd7 28. Rxe3 g6 29. g4 Kg7 30. Reh3 Rh8 31. Kc2 f6 32. Re1 fxg5 33. fxg5 Rf8 34. Rxe6 Rf2+ 35. Kb3 Rb7+ 36. Kc4 Rf4+ 37. Kc5 Rxg4 38. Kxc6 Rf7 39. Re5 Rxa4 40. Kb6 Ra2 41. Rb5 Rf5 42. c4 a4 43. c5 Rxg5 44. Ra3 Rxa3 45. bxa3 Rf5 46. c6 Rf8 47. c7 h5 48. Rd5 Rc8 49. Rd8 Rxc7 50. Kxc7 h4 51. Kd6 Kf6 52. Rf8+ Kg5 53. Ke5 h3 54. Rh8 Kg4 55. Kf6 g5 56. Rh7 Kg3 57. Kxg5 h2 58. Kf5 Kg2 59. Ke4 h1=Q 60. Rxh1 Kxh1 61. Kd5 Kg2 62. Kc4 Kf3 63. Kb5 Ke4 64. Kxa4 Kd5 65. Kb5 Kd6 66. Kb6 Kd7 67. Kb7 {1-0 (67) Alekseenko,K (2701)-Fedorchuk,S (2612) Chartres 2022}) 8. Qg3 h5 {One of six(!) moves Black has tried here.} (8... f5 {has only been played twice, but the one player responsible was Nepomniachtchi! It doesn't seem like a great idea.} 9. exf5 exf5 10. Bf4 { played in the later game - Anand was ready.} ({The earlier game:} 10. Bg5 Be7 11. Bxe7 Qxe7+ 12. Qe3 Qxe3+ 13. fxe3 Nf6 14. Na4 a5 15. Bd3 Rb8 16. a3 Ke7 17. Rb1 Kd6 18. b4 axb4 19. axb4 Re8 20. Kd2 Ng4 21. Rhe1 Nxh2 22. Rh1 Ng4 23. Rxh7 Rb7 24. Rh5 g6 25. Rh3 Rbe7 26. Nb6 Bb7 27. c4 Kc7 28. c5 Nxe3 29. Rg3 Ng4 30. Ra1 Ne5 31. Bf1 f4 32. Rga3 Rd8 33. Ra7 Nc4+ 34. Nxc4 dxc4+ 35. Kc3 Re3+ 36. Kxc4 Kb8 37. R7a3 Rxa3 38. Rxa3 Rd2 39. Rf3 g5 40. g3 fxg3 41. Rxg3 Rd7 42. Bg2 Rg7 43. Kd4 Kc7 44. Ke5 g4 {½-½ (44) Nakamura,H (2736)-Nepomniachtchi,I (2789) chess24.com INT 2021 (rapid)}) 10... Nf6 11. Be2 Ra7 12. O-O Kf7 13. Rad1 h6 14. Be5 g5 15. Rfe1 Bg7 16. Bf1 Re7 17. Bd4 Rhe8 18. Rxe7+ Qxe7 19. Qd3 f4 20. a3 a5 21. Na4 Bg4 22. f3 Bd7 23. Nc5 Bc8 24. Qc3 g4 25. Nd3 gxf3 26. gxf3 Nd7 27. Bxg7 Rg8 28. Kh1 Rxg7 29. Qxc6 Qg5 30. Bh3 Nb6 31. Bg4 Bxg4 32. fxg4 Kg8 33. Nf2 Rg6 34. Qe8+ Kh7 35. Re1 Rg7 36. b3 Nd7 37. Qe6 Nf6 38. Re5 Qg6 39. Qf5 Rc7 40. Qxf4 Rxc2 41. Re7+ Kh8 42. Re6 Kg7 43. h3 Qf7 44. Qe5 Qf8 45. Re7+ Kg8 46. Qe6+ Kh8 47. Rf7 Qxf7 48. Qxf7 Rxf2 49. Kg1 Rf4 50. Qg6 Rf3 51. Qxh6+ Kg8 52. Qg6+ Kf8 53. Kg2 {1-0 (53) Anand,V (2753)-Nepomniachtchi,I (2792) Zagreb 2021}) (8... d4 {was another Nepo move. I'm not sure this is so great either, but it resulted in a happy ending for Black in the game with Giri, given below because it transposed back to the game.}) (8... Nf6 {is the most common move, and while it hasn't featured in any of Nepo's games it can claim top players like Mamedyarov and Artemiev among its advocates. That said, White seems to be doing fine here as well after} 9. Be2) (8... Ne7 {is rare, but Artemiev defeated Giri with this move (though not *because of* this move).} 9. h4 dxe4 10. Nxe4 Nf5 11. Qf4 c5 12. Bd3 (12. Bd2 $16 {followed by castling long looks even better than 12.Bd3, which wasn't so bad.}) 12... Bb7 13. h5 Qd4 14. Rh3 c4 15. c3 Qd5 16. Bc2 Be7 17. Qg4 O-O 18. Bg5 Kh8 19. Bxe7 Nxe7 20. h6 g6 21. Qh4 f6 22. Rd1 Nf5 23. Qf4 Qb5 24. g4 Ne7 25. b4 cxb3 26. axb3 Nd5 27. Qd2 Qb6 28. g5 fxg5 29. Nxg5 Nf4 30. Rf3 Bxf3 31. Nxf3 Rad8 32. Nd4 e5 33. Qe3 Ng2+ {0-1 (33) Giri,A (2764)-Artemiev,V (2708) Chess.com INT 2020}) (8... Bd7 { is the last of the moves that had been played. This doesn't seem particularly constructive, so any sane White move will give him a better version of any of the foregoing lines.}) 9. h4 d4 10. Nb1 Nf6 11. e5 Ne4 12. Qf3 (12. Qf4 Bb4+ 13. Nd2 Nxd2 14. Bxd2 Bxd2+ 15. Qxd2 Qd5 16. f4 a5 17. Be2 Ba6 18. Bf3 Qc5 19. O-O-O Rd8 20. Kb1 O-O 21. Rhg1 Rd7 22. g4 Rb8 23. Ka1 d3 24. cxd3 Rxd3 25. Qg2 hxg4 26. Bxg4 a4 27. Rxd3 Bxd3 28. Bxe6 g6 29. f5 Kf8 30. fxg6 fxe6 31. Rd1 a3 32. Qf3+ Bf5 33. b3 Qxe5+ {0-1 (33) Giri,A (2776)-Nepomniachtchi,I (2789) chess24.com INT 2021 (rapid)}) 12... Qd5 13. Bd3 Bb4+ 14. Kf1 f5 15. exf6 Nxf6 16. Bg6+ $146 {The first new move of the game, as we finally leave Nepo-land behind.} (16. c3 Bc5 17. Bg6+ Kd8 18. Nd2 dxc3 19. bxc3 e5 20. c4 Qxf3 21. gxf3 Be6 22. Kg2 Rb8 23. Nb3 Bd6 24. Rd1 Ke7 25. Bd3 Kf7 26. Bg5 Bb4 27. Nd2 Rhd8 28. Ne4 Be7 29. Ng3 Bc5 30. Ne4 Nxe4 31. fxe4 Be7 32. Be3 Bxh4 33. c5 a5 34. Be2 g6 35. Rdb1 Rb4 36. Rxb4 axb4 37. a4 bxa3 38. Rxa3 Kf6 39. Ra6 Rc8 40. f4 exf4 41. Bxf4 g5 42. Bd6 g4 43. Ra7 Kg6 44. Ba6 Rh8 45. Rc7 Bd8 46. Rxc6 Bd7 47. Rb6 Bxb6 48. cxb6 Bc6 49. b7 Bxe4+ 50. Kg3 Bxb7 51. Bxb7 Kg5 52. Be7+ Kf5 53. Kh4 Rh7 54. Bc8+ Kf4 55. Bd6+ Kf3 56. Be6 Ke4 57. Bg3 Rh8 58. Bd7 Rh7 59. Be6 Rh8 60. Bd7 Rh7 61. Be6 {½-½ (61) Vachier Lagrave,M (2749) -Nepomniachtchi,I (2792) Zagreb 2021 (rapid)}) 16... Kd7 17. Bg5 {Aiming to develop some more before opening the board, but Black's accurate reply shows the drawback of delaying c2-c3.} (17. c3 $142 $14 {seems better to me, with a possible transposition to the MVL-Nepo game.}) 17... Rf8 $1 {The rook often proves very useful on the f-file, as will at times be seen in the ensuing analysis.} 18. c3 Bd6 (18... Bc5 19. cxd4 Qxd4 20. Be3 Qxb2 21. Qd1+ Nd5 22. Bxc5 Qb5+ 23. Kg1 Qxc5 24. Qd2 Kc7 25. Rh3 e5 26. Rg3 Bg4 27. Nc3 Nxc3 28. Rxc3 Qd4 29. Qc2 Rxf2 30. Rxc6+ Kd7 31. Qxf2 Qxf2+ (31... Qxa1+ 32. Kh2 Kxc6 33. Be4+ Kb5 34. Bd3+ Kc6 35. Be4+ $11) 32. Kxf2 Rf8+ (32... Kxc6 $4 33. Be4+ $18) 33. Ke3 Kxc6 $11 {is only equal, despite Black's extra pawn.}) 19. cxd4 $6 { The play from here until around move 35 may have been perfect.} (19. Qxd5 cxd5 20. cxd4 Rb8 21. b3 Rb4 22. Nd2 (22. Be3 $2 Ng4 23. Ke2 a5 $19) 22... Rxd4 23. Nf3 Rg4 $11) 19... Qxd4 20. Qc3 $8 Qd1+ (20... Bc5 21. Qxd4+ Bxd4 22. Nc3 a5 23. Rd1 e5 24. Be3 $1 c5 25. Rh3 $1 $11) (20... Be5 21. Qxd4+ Bxd4 {comes to the same thing.}) 21. Qe1 Qxe1+ $8 22. Kxe1 Rb8 23. Nd2 (23. b3 $4 {would be desirable, were it not a blunder:} Be5 $19) 23... Rxb2 24. Nc4 Bb4+ 25. Kf1 $8 (25. Kd1 $2 Rxf2 $19 {If White can't get his rooks into the action, he's just down two pawns for nothing.}) 25... Ng4 $8 26. f3 (26. Rd1+ Kc7 27. Nxb2 { (or 26.Nxb2) leads to a draw:} Rxf2+ 28. Kg1 Bc5 29. Rc1 Bd4 30. Rd1 Ba7 31. Rh3 Rf8+ 32. Kh1 Nf2+ 33. Kh2 Ng4+ 34. Kh1 (34. Kg3 $4 Bf2#) 34... Nf2+ $11) 26... Rf2+ $8 27. Kg1 Bc5 $8 28. fxg4 $8 R2f4+ $8 29. Ne3 (29. Kh2 Rxc4 30. Rhd1+ Bd6+ 31. Rxd6+ $8 Kxd6 32. Rd1+ Kc7 33. Be7 Rxg4 34. Bd6+ Kb6 35. Rb1+ Ka7 36. Bc5+ Ka8 37. Bxf8 Rxg6 38. Rb4 $11 {Between the opposite-colored bishops and the weakness of Black's pawns, this is drawn.}) 29... Bxe3+ 30. Kh2 Rxg4 (30... hxg4 31. Bxf4 Rxf4 32. Rhf1 Kc7 $11 {is possible, but Black doesn't have more winning chances here than in the game.}) 31. Bxe3 Rxg6 32. Rhd1+ $8 Kc7 $8 (32... Ke8 $2 33. Bg5 Rxg5 $8 (33... Kf7 $2 34. Rf1+ Kg8 35. Rxf8+ Kxf8 36. Rd1 $18 {leaves Black unable to save his bishop (except by giving up the exchange, which is also hopeless).}) 34. hxg5 Rf5 35. Rab1 $16) 33. Rab1 $8 {White needs counterplay, without which Black's material advantage will become meaningful.} Bb7 (33... Rf7 {is also possible, leaving White without a useful discovered check after} 34. Bb6+ Kb8 $11) 34. Bc5 Re8 35. Bd6+ ({Trying to double, say, with} 35. Rd2 {was more dangerous for Black, though manageable.} e5 36. Bb6+ (36. g3 {takes away Black's resource in the 36.Bb6+ line, but Black has more than one trick up his sleeve.} a5 37. Bb6+ Kc8 38. Rbd1 Ba6 39. Bxa5 e4 {likewise leaves White with nothing better than trading rooks and being reconciled to a draw.} 40. Rd8+ Rxd8 41. Rxd8+ Kb7 42. Rd7+ $11 ) 36... Kc8 37. Rbd1 Ba8 38. Rd7 c5 {forces White to swap a pair of rooks to avoid losing the g-pawn.} 39. Rd8+ Rxd8 40. Rxd8+ Kb7 41. Bxc5 $11) 35... Kc8 36. Be5 Rg4 $2 (36... Rf8 $1 $15 {was correct for prophylactic purposes. Black can play ...Rg4 next, and ...Rf5-b5 or ...Rf5-d5 is also worth considering.}) 37. Rf1 $1 {Seizing the open file Black should have taken on the previous move. } Rxh4+ $4 (37... c5 $8 38. Rf7 Rxg2+ 39. Kh3 Re2 40. Bd6 $1 Re3+ $1 41. Kh2 Rd3 42. Rb6 {This is the point of putting the bishop on d6.} Rxd6 43. Rxd6 Rg8 44. Rdd7 Bd5 45. Rc7+ Kb8 46. Rxg7 Rf8 $14 {is probably a draw, after Black suffers a while.}) 38. Kg1 Re4 39. Rf7 $4 (39. Bh2 {wins immediately, as Black has no good answer to the coming 40.Rf7. Radjabov had more than four minutes left, so it can't be chalked up to desperate time trouble; he just blundered.} e5 40. Rf7 Ba8 41. Ra7 {is one illustration of the mess Black is in, and there aren't any lines more complicated than this one.}) 39... Rxe5 40. Rbxb7 Rb5 ( 40... Rb5 41. Rfc7+ Kd8 42. Rd7+ Kc8 43. Rdc7+ $11) 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE Candidates 2022"] [Site "Madrid"] [Date "2022.06.23"] [Round "6.2"] [White "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E06"] [WhiteElo "2793"] [BlackElo "2783"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "83"] [EventDate "2022.06.17"] {[%evp 0,23,26,26,29,6,17,-16,-16,-13,1,9,16,-27,-19,-40,-29,-22,-6,-3,21,26, 22,23,32,9]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Qd3 {I hadn't seen this before! Indeed, no one had until 2019, and even now it has only been played 15 times, including this game. Ding played it once in 2020 (losing to Giri), Xiong also played it once in 2020 (against a considerably lower-rated opponent, winning game), and Boris Gelfand played it three times last November and December. Other strong if moderately less-known GMs have tried it as well, so it may be on its way to "trendy" status.} (6. O-O { has been played 46,382 times in the database, so it's easy to take this move as a given and not even consider alternatives like 6.Qd3.}) 6... c5 {Black's most popular so far, chosen in six games, including two of Gelfand's.} 7. O-O cxd4 8. Nxd4 Nc6 (8... e5 9. Nf5 dxc4 10. Qxd8 Bxd8 11. Nd6 Nc6 12. Nc3 Be7 13. Nxc4 Be6 14. Bxc6 Bxc4 15. Bxb7 Rab8 16. Bf3 Bb4 17. Bd2 e4 18. Bg2 Bxe2 19. Rfe1 Bd3 20. Rad1 Bc5 21. Na4 Bd4 22. Bc3 Bxc3 23. Nxc3 Rxb2 24. Nxe4 Bxe4 25. Bxe4 Nxe4 26. Rxe4 Rxa2 27. Re7 g6 28. Rdd7 a5 29. Ra7 Kg7 30. Re5 Rd8 31. Rexa5 Rxa5 {½-½ (31) Gelfand,B (2650)-Ganguly,S (2563) Riga 2021 (blitz)}) 9. cxd5 Nxd4 $146 (9... exd5 10. Nc3 h6 11. Rd1 Re8 12. a3 a6 13. Be3 Be6 14. Rac1 Ne5 15. Qc2 Rc8 16. Bf4 Nc6 17. Nxe6 fxe6 18. e4 d4 19. e5 Nh5 20. Qg6 Nxf4 21. gxf4 Bh4 22. Ne4 Rf8 23. Nd6 Rc7 24. Be4 Bxf2+ 25. Kg2 Rff7 26. Qh7+ Kf8 27. Qh8+ Ke7 28. Nxf7 {1-0 (28) Wagner,D (2584)-Gokerkan,C (2445) Terme Catez 2022} ) (9... Nxd5) ({and} 9... Nb4 $146 {(but transposing into another game) are worth considering as well.} 10. Qb3 e5 11. Nb5 Nbxd5 12. Rd1 Qa5 13. Bxd5 Nxd5 14. Qxd5 Be6 15. Qxb7 Rad8 16. Bd2 Bb4 17. N5c3 Rd7 18. Qe4 Rfd8 19. Qc2 h6 20. a3 Be7 21. e4 Bg4 22. Re1 Rc8 23. Kg2 Qa6 24. h3 Be6 25. Be3 f5 26. exf5 Bd5+ 27. Kh2 Ba8 28. Nd2 {1-0 (28) Stefanova,A (2469)-Haria,R (2490) Gibraltar 2022} ) 10. Qxd4 Nxd5 {Transposing to a pre-2019 game that started from a King's Indian Attack(!).} 11. Rd1 Bf6 12. Qg4 Bd7 $146 (12... Qc7 13. e4 Nb6 14. Qe2 Qc4 15. Qe1 Qc7 16. Nc3 Bd7 17. Bf4 Be5 18. Bxe5 Qxe5 19. Rd3 Bc6 20. Rad1 Qc7 21. Ne2 e5 22. Nc3 Rfd8 23. Nd5 Bxd5 24. exd5 Qd6 25. Qe4 Rac8 26. Re3 f6 27. Rc3 Rxc3 28. bxc3 Rc8 29. Qb4 Rd8 30. Qb3 Rc8 31. Bh3 Rd8 32. a4 Rb8 33. Be6+ Kh8 34. a5 Nd7 35. Qb4 Nc5 36. Bf5 g6 37. Bc2 Kg7 38. c4 Rd8 39. Qb5 Rd7 40. Bd3 Rd8 41. Bf1 Rd7 {1/2-1/2 (41) Cehajic,M (2042)-Chadwick,C (1841) IECC email 2002}) 13. Nd2 (13. Nc3 $142) (13. Na3 $142) ({and} 13. e4 $142 {may show up in the database someday soon.}) 13... Qe7 {There's nothing wrong with this more overtly "natural" move, except that 13...Qc7 was even better.} (13... Qc7 $1 {This puts the queen on the open c-file. In most cases this would be a bit strange, inviting White to challenge the queen with a rook going to c1. White's misfortune, thanks to 13.Nd2, is that his rooks are quite a few moves away from reaching c1, so Black's queen is well-placed.}) 14. Nf3 Rac8 (14... Rad8 $5) 15. e4 $6 {Trying to make something happen. Something does happen, but it's not necessarily what Firouzja had in mind.} (15. Bg5 $11) (15. h4 $11) (15. Rb1 $11) 15... e5 $1 $15 {This probably would have been Caruana's response to e4 on move 1 as well, but it's even better here!} 16. Qh5 Nb4 17. Bg5 Bxg5 18. Nxg5 h6 19. Nf3 Nc6 20. Rxd7 $2 {A blunder (perhaps missing 22... Qe8 in response to 22.Bf5), or desperation about his tournament situation? Whatever the case, this transforms a slightly worse but fairly drawish position into one that is losing against correct play.} (20. b4 Nxb4 21. Qxe5 Qxe5 22. Nxe5 Ba4 $15 {This favors Black, but a draw is certainly the likeliest result.}) 20... Qxd7 21. Bh3 f5 $1 22. exf5 $2 (22. Bxf5 Qe8 $19) 22... Rce8 $19 {If White's bishop were better, this might be interesting. On h3, however, it doesn't play enough of a role give White sufficient counterplay.} (22... Rcd8 $19 {is a little better.}) 23. Nh4 e4 $1 24. Rd1 Qf7 ({Walking into pins can be disconcerting at best, but in this case it was the right thing to do. Nevertheless, Caruana's move retains enough of an advantage to win.} 24... Nd4 $1 $19 {Black will continue with ...Rd8, ...Qd5 or ...Qc6, and ...Nf3+.}) 25. Qe2 Qxa2 {Correctly greedy.} 26. Ng6 (26. Qb5 Rf6 $1 27. Rd7 Qb1+ (27... Qa6 $19) 28. Bf1 e3 29. fxe3 Qe4 $19) 26... Rf7 27. Nf4 Qb3 28. Bg4 e3 $1 29. Kg2 Rd8 $1 30. Rxd8+ Nxd8 31. fxe3 {With a pawn for the exchange, it looks as if Firouzja is getting somewhere, and if it were not for Caruana's next two moves it might be true.} Rc7 $1 {Black's intended ...Rc2 is a big problem, and the attempt to hide away with} 32. Kh3 {invites Black's hitherto dormant knight to join the attack.} Nf7 $1 {The end is night.} 33. Bf3 Rc2 34. Qd1 Ng5+ 35. Kg4 Nxf3 36. Qd8+ Kh7 37. Kxf3 (37. Ng6 Qc4+ 38. Kxf3 Qe2+ 39. Kf4 Rc4+ 40. Ke5 Qxe3+ 41. Kd6 Rd4+ $19 {wins "just" the queen if Black is lazy, and mates in at most five moves if he is not.}) (37. Ne6 Qc4+ $1 38. Kxf3 Qe2+ 39. Ke4 Rc4+ 40. Ke5 (40. Nd4 Qxh2 $19) 40... Qxe3+ 41. Kd6 Qd3+ 42. Ke7 Qxd8+ $19) 37... Qxb2 {Another case of appropriate greed. White's counterattack doesn't quite work, and the queen is well-placed on b2. (It supports ...Rf2+ and can retreat to f6 if need be.)} 38. Qe8 Qf6 39. e4 Rxh2 40. Qd7 Qc3+ 41. Kg4 Qd2 42. Qa4 {and White resigned before Caruana could play his next move, probably 42...h5+.} (42. Qa4 h5+ $1 43. Nxh5 (43. Kg5 Qd8+ 44. f6 Qxf6#) (43. Kf3 Rf2#) 43... Qe2+ 44. Kf4 Qxh5 $19) 0-1 [Event "FIDE Candidates 2022"] [Site "Madrid"] [Date "2022.06.23"] [Round "6.3"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Ding Liren"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "2760"] [BlackElo "2806"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "84"] [EventDate "2022.06.17"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 d6 6. O-O O-O 7. Re1 a5 8. h3 h6 9. Nbd2 Be6 10. Bb5 Qb8 {All this has happened more than 200 times. Now Nakamura significantly culls the herd of predecessors by avoiding the almost automatic 11.Nf1.} 11. Bxc6 bxc6 12. d4 exd4 13. cxd4 Bb6 14. a4 {Down to seven predecessors, six of which featured GMs playing White.} Re8 (14... Qa7 15. Nf1 (15. Nb1) (15. Ra3) 15... d5 16. Ng3 dxe4 17. Nxe4 Nxe4 18. Rxe4 Rad8 19. Ra3 Bf5 20. Re5 Bg6 21. Qe1 Rd5 22. Be3 Bh5 23. Rxd5 cxd5 24. Ne5 Re8 25. Nc6 Qa8 26. Qc1 Re6 27. Ne5 Qe8 28. Nd3 Rc6 29. Rc3 Rxc3 30. Qxc3 Qxa4 31. Nf4 Be2 32. Nxd5 Qc4 33. Qxc4 Bxc4 34. Nxb6 {1/2-1/2 (34) Mekhitarian,K (2562) -Cuenca Jimenez,J (2552) Florianopolis 2022}) 15. Ra3 Qa7 $146 {A novelty, but I'm not sure if it was Ding's home cooking or a reaction at the board. (He didn't spend long on this move, but spent nine minutes on 14...Re8. That's not a huge amount of time and might have been spent remembering his prep and settling into the game, so I don't know.) In any case, this didn't come as any surprise to Nakamura, who made his next 11 moves more or less instantly.} ( 15... Qb7 16. Rae3 Rab8 17. b3 Ba7 18. Bb2 d5 19. e5 Nd7 20. Nh4 c5 21. Rg3 Qa6 22. Qh5 Kh8 23. Bc1 Rg8 24. Ndf3 Nf8 25. Bxh6 g6 26. Nxg6+ fxg6 27. Qh4 Nh7 28. Ng5 {1-0 (28) Giri,A (2780)-Anton Guijarro,D (2674) Batumi 2019}) 16. Nf1 d5 17. e5 Ne4 18. N1d2 {Up to here Ding had also moved quickly, but now he took about 14 minutes before his reply, which was best.} Bf5 $1 19. Re2 (19. Nxe4 $5 dxe4 (19... Bxe4 20. Be3 c5 21. Bxh6 {This doesn't win against accurate defense, but it's highly entertaining.} gxh6 22. Nh4 Kf8 23. Rxe4 dxe4 24. Nf5 (24. Qg4 Ke7 $8 25. Nf5+ Kd8 26. Qxe4 cxd4 $8 27. Rg3 Bc5 28. Qc6 Rf8 29. Rb3 Rb8 $8 30. Rxb8+ Qxb8 31. Qxc5 Qb4 32. Qd5+ Kc8 33. Qa8+ Kd7 34. Qd5+ $11) 24... Re6 $8 25. Rg3 c6 $1 26. Rg7 Rg6 27. Qh5 Rxg7 28. Qxh6 cxd4 29. Qxg7+ Ke8 30. Nd6+ Kd8 31. Qf8+ Kc7 32. Qxf7+ Kb8 33. Qe8+ Kc7 34. Qe7+ Kb8 {Black is in a box, but he'll escape with his extra rook if White eschews the perpetual.} 35. Qe8+ Kc7 36. Qe7+ $11) 20. Bxh6 $1 {"My knight is attacked? No problem, here's my bishop!"} exf3 (20... gxh6 21. Nh4 Bg6 22. Nxg6 Bxd4 $8 23. Rxe4 Bxf2+ 24. Kh1 fxg6 25. Qc2 $1 {Black's best move is the unobvious} Kh8 $1 { , and as always, or so it seems, it's going to be a draw.} 26. Rf4 Be3 27. Qxg6 Bxf4 28. Qf6+ Kg8 29. Qg6+ Kh8 30. Qf6+ Kh7 31. Qf7+ $11) (20... Rad8 {is yet another interesting possibility. Here are a couple of lines, once again concluding in a draw.} 21. Qc1 (21. Bg5 exf3 22. Qxf3 Bh7 23. Bxd8 Rxd8 24. e6 fxe6 25. Rxe6 Bxd4 26. Qh5 Qc5 27. Re8+ Rxe8 28. Qxe8+ Qf8 29. Qe6+ Kh8 30. Rf3 Qc5 31. Qe8+ Bg8 32. Rf8 Qd5 33. Rxg8+ Qxg8 34. Qh5+ Qh7 35. Qe8+ Qg8 36. Qh5+ $11) 21... exf3 22. Rxf3 Bg6 23. h4 $1 gxh6 24. Qxh6 Bxd4 25. h5 Rxe5 26. hxg6 $1 Rxe1+ 27. Kh2 Be5+ $8 28. g3 fxg6 29. Qxg6+ Bg7 30. Qf7+ Kh8 31. Qh5+ Kg8 32. Qf7+ $11) 21. Qxf3 Bg6 22. Bxg7 $1 Bxd4 $1 {The only move.} (22... Kxg7 $2 23. Qf6+ Kg8 24. Rg3 Bxd4 25. Rxg6+ fxg6 26. Qxg6+ Kf8 27. Qf6+ Kg8 28. Re4 Bxf2+ 29. Kh1 Qd4 {Otherwise 30.Rg4 will be mating.} 30. Rxd4 Bxd4 31. Qg5+ $18 {followed by a check on the 4th rank and 33.Qxd4, winning.})) 19... Rad8 { After another nine minutes.} 20. Nb3 $8 c5 $1 21. dxc5 Bxc5 22. Nxc5 Qxc5 23. Nd4 Bd7 $1 {Five more minutes.} 24. Bf4 Qe7 {And this one took another 15 minutes.} (24... Qb6 $11 {was also possible.}) 25. Nb5 {Here too Black has multiple options of approximately equal value. After another 13 and a half minutes, he finally chose one of them.} Bxb5 26. axb5 {Nakamura blitzed out all of his moves to this point, while Ding had used well over an hour by this point. Whether he was reconstructing his knowledge or figuring it out over the board is unclear, but whatever the case, he made all the best (or equal-best) moves. Only his next move came as a mild surprise to Nakamura.} Ng5 {Not one of the engine's 0.00 options, though it's close. Only here did Nakamura start thinking, and after 21 minutes decided to grab the a-pawn.} (26... Qc5 27. Rxa5 Qb6 28. Ra4 Nc5 (28... Qxb5 29. e6 fxe6 30. Bxc7 Rd7 31. Be5 Nd6 32. Rg4 Nf5 { looks more pleasant for White with the monster bishop on e5, but the coming ... d4 gives Black enough counterplay for equality.}) 29. Rb4 Qa5 30. Bd2 d4 $44) ( 26... Qb4 {is another move the engine likes, with obvious virtues: it defends a5, hits the b5 pawn (and b2 for that matter, though the pawn is defended), and sets up tactical possibilities against the Bf4 (e.g. ...Nc3).} 27. e6 Rxe6 (27... fxe6 $2 28. Bxc7 Rd7 29. b6 $18) 28. Bxc7 Rde8 {Here White has lots of possibilities, though none lead to more than equality. Here's one of his best tries (and something to avoid).} 29. Rb3 (29. b6 $4 Nxf2 $19 {is a major difference with the 27...fxe6 line.}) 29... Qc5 30. Qc2 a4 $8 31. Qxc5 Nxc5 32. Rbe3 d4 $8 33. Rxe6 Nxe6 34. b6 d3 $8 35. Rd2 Nxc7 36. bxc7 Rc8 37. Rxd3 Rxc7 $11) 27. Rxa5 (27. Rg3 {This prevents Black from planting the knight on e6 for the moment (27...Ne6?? 28.Bxh6) - but only for the moment.} Ne4 28. Rd3 Nc5 29. Rxd5 Ne6 30. Be3 Qb4 $11 {White is a pawn up, but it seems unlikely that he can keep his loose pawns on b2, b5, and e5 defended in the long term. (And even if he can, how can use his extra pawn?)}) 27... Ne6 28. Bd2 d4 29. Ra3 ( 29. Qb3 $142) (29. Re1 $142) 29... Qc5 {Black is starting to take over the initiative. Nakamura thought for a very long time here as well.} 30. Rg3 { After 50 minutes! After being more than an hour ahead on the clock, he fell below Ding after this move.} d3 31. Re1 (31. Re4 Qc2 (31... Qxb5 32. Bxh6 d2 33. Kh2 g6 (33... Qxb2 $4 34. Rxg7+ Nxg7 35. Qg4 Kf8 36. Bxg7+ Ke7 37. Bf6+ Kf8 38. Qg7#) 34. Bxd2 (34. Qh5 $2 Ng7 $1 $19) 34... Qxb2 35. Bc1 Rxd1 36. Bxb2 Rd2 37. Bc1 Rxf2 $11) 32. Re1 Nd4 (32... Qxb2)) 31... Qxb5 32. Qh5 (32. Kh2 Rd4 ( 32... Qxb2 33. Bxh6 g6 34. Qh5 Qxf2 35. Rxg6+ fxg6 36. Qxg6+ Kh8 37. Bg5 Nxg5 38. Qxg5 $11 {Surprisingly, Black cannot avoid a draw. (That White cannot have more than a draw isn't the least bit surprising.)}) 33. b4 (33. Bxh6 $2 d2 34. Bxg7 Nxg7 $19) 33... Qd5 34. Qh5 Re4 35. Qf3 Rxe5 36. Qxd3 Qxd3 37. Rxd3 Rxe1 38. Bxe1 $11) 32... Qxb2 33. Bxh6 d2 (33... Qb4 {isn't better, but it keeps the game going.} 34. Rd1 Qe4 35. Be3 g6 36. Rg4 Qd5 37. Qf5 Nf8 38. Qe4 c5 39. Qxd5 Rxd5 40. Rc4 Rc8 {White has more work to do than Black, but it's objectively equal and headed to a draw.}) 34. Rd1 Rd5 (34... Qc2 35. Qe2 $8 Qb2 36. Bxd2 $2 (36. Rxd2 Rxd2 37. Qxd2 (37. Bxd2 $2 Rd8 {wins, as} 38. Rd3 { fails to} Qb1+ $19) 37... Qxe5 $11) 36... Rd5 37. Rd3 Rxd3 38. Qxd3 Rd8 39. Qe2 Qc2 $19 {White cannot escape the pin on the d-file, and ...c5-c4-c3 will win the bishop and the game.}) 35. Bxg7 (35. Rxg7+ Nxg7 36. Bxg7 {comes to the same thing, as Black must play} Kxg7 $11) 35... Nxg7 36. Rxg7+ Kxg7 37. Qg5+ Kf8 38. Qh6+ Kg8 {Wisely repeating moves so he can make the critical decision we'll see on move 41 *after* the time control.} 39. Qg5+ Kf8 40. Qh6+ Ke7 41. Qf6+ Kf8 (41... Kd7 42. Qxf7+ (42. e6+ $4 Rxe6 43. Qxb2 Re1+ 44. Kh2 Rxd1 45. Qb3 Rh1+ 46. Kxh1 d1=Q+ $19) 42... Kc6 43. Qxe8+ Kb7 {would have been a mess. Ding decided he had had enough excitement for one day, and forced the draw. (Or forced his opponent to force the draw.)}) 42. Qh6+ Kg8 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE Candidates 2022"] [Site "Madrid"] [Date "2022.06.23"] [Round "6.4"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Duda, Jan-Krzysztof"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A07"] [WhiteElo "2766"] [BlackElo "2750"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "69"] [EventDate "2022.06.17"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 {Switching things up!} Bg4 3. Bg2 e6 4. O-O Nd7 5. h3 Bh5 6. d4 Ngf6 7. c4 c6 {There were lots of move-order finesses and transpositions along the way, but we're still well within theory, with more than 450 games in the database. Black has many other ways to meet the Reti, so I'll take this position as a given and proceed from here.} 8. cxd5 exd5 9. Ne5 {This is the almost obsessive choice of Svane (of the 60 games in the database with this move, 33(!!) are by Svane) and, to a lesser extent, Grandelius ("only" 13). Their results with this have been very good, so why not?} (9. Qb3 Qb6 10. Qe3+ Be7 11. Nh4 Bg6 {is the main line of this branch, and}) (9. Nh4 {is also common.}) 9... Nxe5 (9... Bg6 {is the most common move, which is not to say that it's a proven equalizer. Here's Grandelius taking an impressive scalp:} 10. Nc3 Bb4 11. Qb3 $16 a5 12. f4 h6 $2 13. Nxg6 fxg6 14. e4 $18 {White is already winning. Giri didn't make it easy, but Grandelius was winning all the way. 1-0 (77) Grandelius,N (2656)-Giri,A (2773) Chess.com INT 2022 (rapid)}) 10. dxe5 Ne4 11. Nd2 {This seems better than 11.Bxe4, which Svane played twice. Some predecessors remain, but none by either Mr. S or Mr. G.} Nxd2 12. Bxd2 { By transposition, we have now rejoined, or been joined by, a super-GM game between Svidler and Karjakin.} Bc5 13. Rc1 $146 {+/- A novelty, but we'll rejoin Svidler-Karjakin again soon.} (13. Qc2 $6 Qe7 14. Rac1 Bb6 15. e4 { 0-1 (26) Harutyunian,T (2539)-Gharibyan,M (2431) Yerevan 2021} (15. e3 $14) ( 15. Rfe1 $14) (15. a4 $14) 15... Bg6 $1 $11) 13... Qe7 14. Kh2 O-O 15. g4 Bg6 16. f4 h6 $146 {A big improvement on Karjakin's 16...f5, though White remains better.} (16... f5 $2 17. Qb3 (17. Qc2 $1) 17... Rad8 18. gxf5 (18. a4 $18) ( 18. Kg3 $18) 18... Bxf5 19. Rxc5 $1 Qxc5 20. e4 $16 Bg6 $2 (20... Bc8 $16) 21. Bb4 $6 (21. f5 $1 $18) 21... Qc4 22. f5 $18 Bh5 23. Bxf8 $2 (23. e6 $1 Qxb3 24. axb3 a5 25. Bxa5 Ra8 26. Bc3 dxe4 27. Bxe4 $18) 23... Qxb3 24. axb3 Kxf8 $11 25. exd5 cxd5 26. Kg3 d4 27. Bf3 Bxf3 28. Kxf3 d3 29. Rd1 d2 30. Ke3 Rd5 31. Ke4 Rd8 {1/2-1/2 (31) Svidler,P (2768)-Karjakin,S (2753) Wijk aan Zee 2018}) 17. Qe1 $5 {A nice multi-functional move. On the kingside, White may play Qg3 and/or h4, and on the queenside this supports both b2-b4 and the exchanging idea we saw in the Svidler-Karjakin game; namely, 1.Rxc5 Qxc5 2.Bb4 and 3.Bxf8. } (17. Qa4 $14) 17... Rfe8 (17... Bh7 $1 $11 {/+/= is a useful prophylactic move, aimed against f4-f5. (With the bishop on g6, f5 can't be met by ...Qxe5+ because Bf4 leaves Black with two attacked pieces. [Or rather, three - the Bc5 is also hanging. But the problem for Black would be the same even if it weren't hanging in this line.])}) 18. Qg3 Bh7 19. h4 Rad8 $2 (19... Bd4 $1 { was best, safeguarding the bishop, hitting b2, and looking to blow up White's f4+e5 construction with ...g5! Black should be alright after} 20. b4 ({or} 20. Bc3 Bxc3 21. bxc3 {Best, to neutralize the d-pawn.} g5 $1 22. hxg5 hxg5 23. e3 f6 $1 $11 {/+/=}) 20... g5 21. e3 Bb2 22. Rb1 $5 Bxb1 23. Rxb1 gxh4 24. Qf2 Bxe5 25. fxe5 Qxe5+ 26. Kg1 $13 {will be tricky. Materially, Black is fine with a rook and three pawns for two bishops, but this is a position where the power of the bishops could lead to instant death for Black.}) 20. g5 $16 { Now the undermining shots have been prevented, and Black is in trouble.} hxg5 $2 (20... Kh8 $8 21. Bh3 Bd4 22. b4 $16) 21. hxg5 $18 Bb4 22. Bxb4 Qxb4 23. f5 Qxb2 24. e6 $2 {White is still much better, but he missed a great move.} (24. Rc3 $1 {gets the rook into the action while cutting off Black's queen. Now Black is toast:} Qxe2 25. Re3 Qd2 26. Rf2 Qb4 27. g6 fxg6 28. fxg6 {Here Black gets no counterplay. White's attack rages on, while Black's massive queenside majority is useless.}) 24... fxe6 25. g6 $2 (25. Rb1 $142 Qxe2 26. g6 exf5 27. gxh7+ Kh8 28. Rxb7 Re7 29. Rxe7 Qxe7 30. Rxf5 $18 {*probably* wins in the long run, but the specter of R+B vs. R leaves a little uncertainty about the outcome.}) 25... exf5 26. gxh7+ Kh8 $2 (26... Kxh7 $1 27. Rb1 $1 Qe5 28. Rxb7 Qxg3+ 29. Kxg3 Rxe2 30. Bh3 $1 Re3+ $1 31. Kh4 Kg6 32. Bxf5+ Kf6 33. Rxa7 Rh8+ 34. Kg4 Rhh3 $16 {is far from an automatic win for White, if it's a win at all. }) 27. Rb1 $18 Qf6 28. Rxb7 Rxe2 29. Rxf5 $1 Qh6+ (29... Qxf5 $4 30. Qxg7#) 30. Kg1 Rxa2 31. Rbf7 Ra1+ $2 (31... Re2 $1 32. Rg5 $1 Re1+ 33. Bf1 Rde8 $1 34. Rgxg7 Qe3+ 35. Kh2 Qxg3+ 36. Rxg3 R1e3 37. Rg6 $1 Rb8 (37... R3e6 38. Rxe6 Rxe6 39. Bd3 $18) 38. Bh3 Rb2+ 39. Rg2 Rxg2+ 40. Kxg2 {is allegedly a win. If it is a win, the idea is that White will pick off all of Black's pawns, then bring his king to the kingside and force Black to take the h-pawn in a position that's a losing R vs. R+B ending - all while avoiding stalemate tricks. I'm not 100% sure that this plan will work, but I think it will. Whether it does or not, this was Duda's best chance of holding the game. (That said, it might have been better for him to lose quickly, as he did, rather than play another two-three hours only to lose in 150 pain-filled moves.)}) 32. Bf1 d4 33. Rg5 Qd6 34. Qf2 $1 Qa3 35. Rg3 $1 (35. Rgxg7 Qe3 {is what White wanted to prevent, when the win will take much longer.}) (35. Rg3 $1 Qc5 36. Rfxg7 {leads to a speedy mate:} Rxf1+ 37. Kxf1 Rf8 38. Rg8+ Kxh7 39. Qxf8 Qc4+ 40. Kg1 Qc1+ 41. Kg2 Qc2+ 42. Kh3 {the good checks are over, and all that's left for Black is to give up the queen to delay the mate by one more move, and then mate on move 44.}) 1-0