[Event "Sinquefield Cup 2022"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.09.02"] [Round "1"] [White "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A34"] [WhiteElo "2778"] [BlackElo "2776"] [Annotator "cahan"] [PlyCount "68"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. e3 e5 $5 {[%CAl Re5e4]} (4... e6 5. d4 d5 { would transpose to a Tarrasch/Semi-Tarrasch, but the text move is much more principled and fighting.}) 5. Qb3 $6 {This is a very unsual move which had only been played twice before.} d6 $5 {[%csl Gd6,Ge5,Gf6][%CAl Rc3d5]} ({ The only \"master game\" went} 5... Be7 6. d3 O-O 7. Be2 d6 8. O-O {and draw agreed, ½-½, Paschall,W (2354)-Papp,T (2315) Budapest 2009. Not much of a game. Caruana's choice of move is endorsed by Stockfish and it soon becomes clear that White achieves nothing with his choice of opening.}) 6. d3 Be7 7. g3 O-O (7... Bf5 $5) 8. Bg2 Nb4 9. Qd1 d5 $5 {Caruana sacrifices a pawn for the initiative.} 10. Nxe5 dxc4 11. dxc4 Qxd1+ 12. Kxd1 Ng4 13. Nxg4 Bxg4+ 14. Kd2 Rad8+ 15. Nd5 Be6 16. e4 f5 17. Bh3 Bf6 18. Ke2 Rfe8 $6 ({According to my engine friends, Black should have played} 18... Nc2 19. Rb1 Nd4+ 20. Kf1 Bf7 { with full compensation for the sacrificed pawn.}) 19. Be3 Nc2 20. Rac1 $6 ({ White had the option to play} 20. Rad1 $5 Nd4+ 21. Kf1 fxe4 22. Bxe6+ Nxe6 23. Kg2 {and White has the better chances.}) 20... Nxe3 $2 ({After} 20... Nd4+ $5 21. Bxd4 Bxd5 22. cxd5 Bxd4 $11 {, the chances are close to equal.}) 21. fxe3 ( {Stockfish 130722:} 21. Nxf6+ $5 gxf6 22. fxe3 fxe4 23. Bxe6+ Rxe6 24. Rhf1 Ra6 25. a3 Rb6 26. Rc2 Rd3 27. Rf4 Rdb3 28. Rxe4 Rxb2 29. Rxb2 Rxb2+ 30. Kf3 Kf7 31. Rh4 $11) 21... fxe4 22. Nxf6+ $2 {This decision to exchange the amazing knight for Black's dark-squared bishop makes no sense.} ({After} 22. Bxe6+ Rxe6 23. b3 Be5 24. Rcf1 {, White would have had a small, but clear advantage in the endgame.}) 22... gxf6 23. Bxe6+ Rxe6 24. Rhd1 {Now the players steer the game to an inevitable draw.} Red6 25. Rxd6 Rxd6 26. Rd1 Rxd1 27. Kxd1 Kf7 28. Ke2 Kg6 29. Kf2 Kg5 30. h3 f5 31. Kg2 Kh5 32. Kf2 Kg5 33. Kg2 Kh5 34. Kf2 Kg5 1/2-1/2 [Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.09.02"] [Round "1"] [White "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"] [Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2754"] [BlackElo "2757"] [Annotator "cahan"] [PlyCount "143"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8. f3 h5 {I still recall when this idea was first played. Now, it is considered one of the main lines and has been featured in nearly 10,000 games in my database $1} 9. Nd5 Bxd5 10. exd5 Nbd7 11. Qd2 g6 12. O-O-O (12. Be2 {is the main line, but the text move has been played several times by Dominguez, including quite recently.}) 12... Nb6 ({In his early games with the line, Dominguez faced} 12... Bg7 {a couple of times:} 13. Kb1 Qc7 14. Be2 O-O 15. g4 Rfc8 16. Rc1 hxg4 17. fxg4 a5 18. g5 a4 (18... Ne4 $6 19. Qd3 Nec5 20. Nxc5 Nxc5 21. Qd1 Qe7 $2 22. h4 {and White had a massive advantage in Dominguez Perez,L (2726)-Bacrot,E (2718) Beijing 2014}) 19. gxf6 Nxf6 20. h4 axb3 21. cxb3 {with a small plus for White in Dominguez Perez,L (2758)-Giri,A (2769) Moscow 2019.}) 13. Kb1 ({Or } 13. c4 Rc8 14. Na5 Nbxd5 15. Bg5 b6 16. Nb7 Qc7 17. Bxf6 Nxf6 18. Nxd6+ Bxd6 19. Qxd6 Qxd6 20. Rxd6 Nd7 {with approximately equal chances, Dominguez Perez, L (2758)-Grischuk,A (2777) Chess.com INT 2020.}) 13... Nbxd5 14. Bg5 Be7 15. a3 ({White has several alternatives at this juncture: a)} 15. Bd3 Qc7 16. Rhe1 Nb6 17. f4 O-O-O 18. Qe2 Nfd5 19. Bxe7 Qxe7 20. fxe5 dxe5 21. Qxe5 Qxe5 22. Rxe5 { with approximately equal chances in Dominguez Perez,L (2758)-Duda,J (2729) chess24.com INT 2021.}) ({b)} 15. c4 Nf4 (15... Nb6 $5) 16. Bxf4 exf4 17. Qxf4 O-O 18. h4 d5 19. g4 Bd6 20. Qc1 Rc8 {was seen in Inarkiev,E (2732)-Vachier Lagrave,M (2811) Germany 2017, and now} 21. c5 Bxc5 22. Nxc5 Qb6 23. Bd3 Rxc5 24. Qh6 d4 {would lead to sharp play and chances to both sides.}) 15... Qc7 16. g3 O-O-O ({In an earlier event on the Grand Chess Tour, the Superbet Chess Classic, which took place in Bucharest in May, Dominguez faced} 16... Rd8 17. Bd3 Nb6 18. Rhe1 d5 19. Qe2 Nbd7 20. c4 O-O 21. cxd5 Nxd5 22. Bh6 Rfe8 { thus far, Dominguez Perez,L (2753)-Deac,B (2671) Bucharest 2022, and now} 23. Qc2 {would have been a better option, leaving White with a tiny edge. Nevertheless, White managed to win the game in the end anyway, although Black also was winning along the way.}) 17. Qf2 Kb8 18. Rd3 Nd7 19. Bd2 N5f6 20. Ba5 b6 21. Bd2 Rc8 {At this point in the game, Vachier-Lagrave was down to just 35 minutes left on the clock, while Dominguez had actually won time, ringing in at 1 hour and 32 minutes left. Now, however, Dominguez went in the tank and spent about 45 minutes on his next move.} 22. Bg5 $1 Nc5 23. Nxc5 dxc5 24. Rb3 $6 ({A better continuation was} 24. Qe2 c4 25. Rd1 Ka7 26. Bg2 Rhd8 27. Rhe1 { and White would have excellent play for the sacrificed pawn.}) 24... Nd5 $6 ( 24... Ka7 $5) 25. Bxe7 Nxe7 26. Bxa6 Rcd8 27. Bc4 (27. a4 $5) 27... Nf5 28. Bxf7 Nd4 ({But not} 28... Qxf7 $4 29. Rxb6+ Ka8 30. Qxc5 {and White is winning. }) 29. Bxg6 $1 {White sacrifices the exchange for a couple of pawns and excellent play on the light squares. It is enough to give White some pressure, but not quite enough to truly threaten Black.} Nxb3 30. cxb3 Rd4 31. Qe2 Rhd8 32. Be4 c4 $1 33. bxc4 Qxc4 34. Qxc4 Rxc4 35. Rc1 Rc7 36. Rxc7 Kxc7 {The endgame should be difficult to lose and impossible to win for both sides. Nevertheless, they play on for another forty moves $1} 37. Kc2 b5 38. b4 Rg8 39. Kb3 Kb6 40. a4 bxa4+ 41. Kxa4 Rd8 42. Bg6 Rd2 43. Bxh5 Rxh2 44. Bg6 Rh3 45. Be4 Rxg3 46. Kb3 Rg8 47. Kc4 Rd8 48. Bd3 Rd6 49. Be4 Rd4+ 50. Kc3 Kb5 51. Bd3+ Ka4 52. Bc2+ Ka3 53. b5 Rb4 54. Bd3 Ka4 55. Kd2 Ka5 56. Ke3 Kb6 57. Be2 Kc5 58. Bd3 Rb3 59. Ke4 Kd6 60. Be2 Rb4+ 61. Ke3 Kd5 62. Bd3 Rb3 63. b6 Kc6 64. Ke4 Kd6 65. Ke3 Kc6 66. Ke4 Kxb6 67. Bf1 Rb1 68. Bh3 Re1+ 69. Kd5 Re3 70. Bf5 Rxf3 71. Kxe5 Rxf5+ 72. Kxf5 {and here, the referee blew his whistle to make the players stop.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.09.02"] [Round "1"] [White "Niemann, Hans Moke"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C67"] [WhiteElo "2687"] [BlackElo "2775"] [Annotator "cahan"] [PlyCount "100"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6. a4 $5 ({This is a somewhat unusual idea. The main line is, of course,} 6. Nxe5 {, which Aronian has faced in countless games.}) 6... a6 ({As far as I could determine, in Aronian's only other game in this line, he played} 6... Be7 7. Nc3 O-O 8. d4 e4 $5 9. Nxe4 Nxe4 10. Rxe4 a6 11. Bd3 (11. Bf1 $5) 11... d5 12. Re3 Nb4 13. Bf1 Bf5 14. c3 Nc6 15. Bd3 (15. a5 $5) 15... Qd7 16. Qc2 Bxd3 17. Qxd3 Rfe8 { with equal chances in Nakamura,H (2776)-Aronian,L (2777) Zuerich 2015.}) 7. Nxe5 Be7 8. Bf1 Nxe5 ({Now, we are entering virgin territory. Previously, Black played} 8... O-O 9. Nf3 Nf5 10. d4 d5 11. g3 (11. c3 $5) 11... h6 12. c3 Nd6 13. Ne5 Nxe5 14. dxe5 Ne4 {as seen in Cornette,M (2555)-Van Foreest,J (2644) Chess.com INT 2020, and now} 15. Be3 {would have given White a minimal edge.}) 9. Rxe5 O-O 10. d4 Ne8 11. Nc3 Bf6 12. Re1 d5 13. a5 {White grabs space and has some pressure. Black, of course, has a solid position and with symmetrical pawn distribution and just one open file on the board, it will not take much to tip the balance back to equality.} c6 14. Bf4 Bg5 15. Be5 Bf6 16. Qd2 Bxe5 17. Rxe5 Nf6 18. f3 (18. h3 $5) 18... Be6 19. Na4 Qd6 20. b4 ({ Niemann decides to fix the pawns on the queenside but he could also have kept the option of putting pressure against Black's backward b7-pawn in reserve and instead opt for something like} 20. Rae1 Nd7 21. R5e3 {when White should have a clear advantage. The text move, however, is also rather unpleasant for Black. }) 20... Nd7 21. Re3 Rae8 22. Rae1 Re7 23. Bd3 Rfe8 24. R1e2 g6 25. c3 f6 26. Qe1 Kf7 27. Qh4 {White launches an attack against Black's greatest weakness: the kingside.} Nf8 28. Qh6 Bc8 29. Rxe7+ Rxe7 30. Rxe7+ Qxe7 31. Kf2 Qd6 32. g3 Kg8 33. Bf1 {The idea is to exchange the light-squared bishops and then target the b7-pawn.} Qc7 34. Nc5 Ne6 35. Nd3 ({The computer prefers} 35. Nxe6 { but after} Bxe6 36. Bd3 Qe7 {Black has decent chances of saving a draw, even if it is quite uncomfortable to go for this line.}) 35... Ng7 36. Qe3 Kf7 37. Qh6 Kg8 38. Nc5 Ne6 39. Na4 Ng7 40. Nb6 Be6 {With the time control reached and White not having made any discernable progress, Aronian may have started counting on saving this game. Niemann, however, keeps pressing.} 41. Qh4 $6 g5 $1 {Cooly played. Now, Black is okay according to the engine, even the h7-pawn now appears slightly vulnerable.} 42. Qh6 Qf7 $6 (42... Qe7 $5) 43. g4 f5 $5 { Playing for active counterplay.} 44. Qxg5 fxg4 45. Qd8+ Ne8 46. Be2 Kf8 47. Qg5 Nd6 48. Qd8+ Ne8 49. Qg5 Nd6 50. Qd8+ Ne8 {and the players agreed to a draw.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.09.02"] [Round "1"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D50"] [WhiteElo "2758"] [BlackElo "2773"] [Annotator "cahan"] [PlyCount "130"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 d5 4. Nc3 c5 5. cxd5 cxd4 6. Qxd4 exd5 7. Bg5 Be7 8. e3 O-O 9. Rd1 ({The previous theoretical battles between Mamedyarov and So in this line have primarily been focused around} 9. Be2 {such as in Mamedyarov,S (2759)-So,W (2776) Stavanger 2022. The text move has only really become popular within the last year or so.}) 9... Be6 10. Bd3 h6 11. Bh4 Nc6 12. Qa4 Qb6 13. Rd2 Rfd8 14. O-O Rac8 (14... Kf8 15. Bb1 Na5 16. Qb5 Nc4 17. Qxb6 axb6 18. Re2 Bg4 ({or} 18... g5 19. Bg3 Bg4 20. h3 Bxf3 21. gxf3 d4 22. exd4 Rxd4 { with about equal chances in Le,Q (2709)-Vidit,S (2723) Prague 2022}) 19. Rc2 Bf5 20. Re2 Bg4 21. h3 Bxf3 22. gxf3 d4 23. exd4 Rxd4 {with equal chances in Le,Q (2728)-Oparin,G (2683) Chess.com INT 2022.}) 15. Rfd1 ({A couple of other recent top games saw} 15. h3 Kf8 ({or} 15... a6 16. Rc1 Kf8 17. Bb1 Na5 18. Qd4 Qxd4 19. Nxd4 Nc4 20. Rdc2 {with a small but clear advantage for White, Wojtaszek,R (2705)-Van Foreest,J (2671) Wijk aan Zee 2021}) 16. Bb1 Na5 17. Qb5 Nc4 18. Qxb6 axb6 19. Re2 Nxb2 20. Rxb2 Rxc3 21. Rxb6 {with a marginal advantage for White in Praggnanandhaa,R (2642)-Ding,L (2806) chess24.com INT 2022.}) 15... Kf8 $1 ({In another recent game, Black instead went} 15... Qb4 $6 16. Qc2 d4 17. exd4 Bg4 18. Bf5 Bxf3 19. gxf3 Ra8 20. a3 Qb6 21. d5 {and White was already well on the way to winning in Bruzon Batista,L (2618)-Vazquez,G (2561) Dulles 2022.}) 16. Bb5 a6 17. Bxc6 Rxc6 18. Qd4 Rdc8 19. Qd3 $6 ({ White should have played} 19. h3 $5 {when he would still have maintained an edge. After the text move, Black is fully back in the game.}) 19... g5 $1 20. Bg3 Bb4 21. Be5 Ne4 {Now, Black is almost taking over the initiative.} 22. Rc2 Bxc3 23. Bxc3 Bf5 24. Bd4 Qb5 25. Qa3+ Kg8 26. Rxc6 bxc6 27. Qe7 Be6 $6 (27... Qe2 $1 {would have given Black the better chances, but with such a vulnerable king, it is understandable that So was a little reticent to send the queen to e2.}) 28. b4 a5 29. a3 axb4 30. axb4 Qb8 31. Be5 Re8 32. Bxb8 Rxe7 {The queens are off the board and a draw seems to be a likely result. But the players are far from done.} 33. Nd4 Rb7 34. Be5 Bd7 35. f3 f6 36. fxe4 fxe5 37. Nf3 Rxb4 38. exd5 cxd5 39. Rxd5 Bc6 40. Rxe5 Kf7 41. Kf2 Rb2+ 42. Kg3 Re2 43. Rc5 Be4 { White has won a pawn but it looks like it is impossible for him to make any progress. That, however, does not mean that Mamedyarov won't give it a shot.} 44. Rc3 Kf6 45. Ra3 h5 46. h4 g4 $6 ({It was better to play} 46... gxh4+ 47. Nxh4 Bc6 {and it seems unlikely that White will be able to make any meaningful progress.}) 47. Ra6+ Kg7 48. Nd4 Rxg2+ 49. Kf4 Bd3 50. Rd6 $6 (50. Ra3 Bh7 51. Ra5 {was a better winning try.}) 50... Rf2+ 51. Ke5 Kf7 52. e4 g3 53. Rd7+ Kg8 54. Rd8+ Rf8 55. Rxf8+ Kxf8 56. Kf4 g2 57. Nf3 Ke7 58. Kg3 Bxe4 59. Kxg2 Bxf3+ 60. Kxf3 Kf7 61. Kf4 Kf6 62. Ke4 Ke6 63. Kf4 Kf6 64. Ke4 Ke6 65. Kf4 Kf6 1/2-1/2 [Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.09.02"] [Round "1"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D35"] [WhiteElo "2864"] [BlackElo "2792"] [Annotator "Rafael Leitão"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [TimeControl "5400+30"] {[%evp 0,85,29,25,27,13,13,13,6,-18,-15,-15,27,16,9,24,22,-1,38,19,26,11,11,13, 8,9,14,16,15,23,25,16,30,2,0,16,4,5,12,12,12,7,0,0,0,0,0,0,30,3,23,42,29,35,78, 61,89,85,74,82,82,94,86,88,96,90,113,93,106,72,109,99,163,144,201,173,233,217, 208,183,182,174,208,228,221,208,278,290]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. cxd5 {The first important moment. Nepomniachtchi has been confidently playing the line with 4. Nc3 c5, which sometimes leads to long forced draws. This system was played by So in this round. Instead of getting into a theoretical battle, Carlsen tries to take the game into his own turf.} exd5 5. Nc3 c6 {The problem for White in this line is that there is no way to prevent the black bishop from developing to f5. Usually in the Queen's Gambit exchange variation it's possible to avoid this by placing a bishop on d3 or the queen on c2. In this game's move order, Black can force the development of the bishop, even if he has to play g6 first.} 6. Bf4 {The third most popular move, simply ignoring 6.. .Bf5.} (6. Bg5 Be7 7. Qc2 g6 {is hugely theoretical.}) (6. Qc2 {is also popular. Now Black can choose between 6...Be7, 6...g6 or 6... Bd6.}) 6... Bf5 ( 6... Bd6 7. Bxd6 Qxd6 8. e3 {was played in Caruana-Karjakin, Wijk aan Zee 2022. }) 7. e3 Nbd7 8. h3 $5 {With this move White plans to play g2-g4 and create some annoyance for the f5-bishop.} Be7 (8... Qb6 {is a critical test.} 9. Bd3 { And now Black can choose between the bishop exchange or grabbing the b2-pawn.} (9. Qc1 {is also possible, but looks harmless.}) 9... Qxb2 $5 (9... Bxd3) 10. Bxf5 Qxc3+ 11. Kf1 {with a double-edged position.}) (8... h6 {also looks reasonable.} 9. g4 Bh7) 9. g4 Be4 $5 {Curiously this move was tried before by Carlsen himself in a blitz game against Anand.} (9... Bg6 {is the most popular move.}) 10. Be2 {The first new move.} (10. Bg2 O-O {was Anand-Carlsen, Moscow 2009 (blitz).}) 10... Qb6 (10... O-O {As I like to say my students: if you are in doubt, just castle. But I don't think this applies to 2790+ players as they don't have too many doubts.} 11. g5 {and now 11...Nh5, 11...Ne8 or 11...Bxf3 are possible, with equal play in all cases.} (11. O-O Bxf3 $5 {The idea is to exchange the knight before it starts to jump.} 12. Bxf3 Nb6 {followed by 12... Bd6 with an equal position.}) 11... Ne8 (11... Nh5) (11... Bxf3)) 11. Qb3 Qxb3 12. axb3 {White doesn't have any particular advantage, but Carlsen thrives in this type of position.} Bg6 (12... h6 {with the idea of going back with the bishop to h7, is interesting. A fine point is that after} 13. Nxe4 Nxe4 14. Bd3 {Black has the accurate} Bd6 $1 {with equality, since after} 15. Bxe4 {he has the intermediate check} Bb4+ $1 16. Ke2 dxe4) 13. Nh4 $1 {Going after the bishop. From now on, Nepomniachtchi starts to play small inaccuracies.} Bb4 $6 {White gets a small plus after this move. 13...Ne4 or 13...Bc2 are more dynamic moves.} (13... Bc2 $5 14. Nf5 (14. Kd2 $5 {this pawn sacrifice is also interesting.} Bxb3 15. Nf5 Bf8) 14... Bxf5 15. gxf5 g6 {is close to equality, althought White looks a bit more comfortable.}) (13... Ne4 14. Nxg6 hxg6 15. f3 Bh4+ 16. Kf1 Ng3+ 17. Bxg3 Bxg3 18. b4 $1 {And again the position is close to equal, but White can try to press with the plan of b4-b5.}) 14. Nxg6 (14. Rc1 { Delaying the bishop's capture is also possible.}) 14... hxg6 15. f3 $1 { Taking the e4-square from the knight and preparing Kf2-g2.} Nf8 16. Kf2 Ne6 17. Bg3 {White has the bishop pair and a small advantage in this endgame.} Ke7 18. h4 a6 19. Kg2 Rad8 20. Bf2 {The problem with Black's position is that he has no active plan. I suspect this is particulartly difficult for Nepomniachtchi, being such an agressive player that thrives in positions where he has the initiative.} Bd6 {The computer suggests the strange 20...Kd7 followed by a plan with Ng8-e7. This is simply unintelligible for humans. With this retreat, Nepomniachtchi wants, I suppose, to prepare c6-c5 in some way, as this is his only active attempt. But Carlsen is going to neutralize this idea.} (20... c5 $2 21. Na2 {and the bishop is badly placed on b4.}) 21. Bd3 Bb8 (21... c5 $2 22. g5 $1 {and the d-pawn falls.}) 22. Na4 $1 Bd6 23. Be1 $1 {[%CAl Gb3b4] White wants to play b4, as this will shut the c5 break forever. Maybe Black should accept this fate, but he decides to act.} c5 $6 24. Nxc5 Nxc5 25. dxc5 Bxc5 26. Bd2 Rhe8 27. b4 Bb6 28. b5 $1 {Chess looks simple in the hands of such a magnificent player. White not only improves the pawn structure, but actually might start an attack on Black's king.} a5 {Black decides to sacrifice a pawn.} (28... axb5 29. Bxb5 {and Black's king is now shaky in the center of the board. White has plans with Bb4+, g5 and then trying to open the center and attack the king.}) 29. Bxa5 Bxa5 30. Rxa5 Kd6 31. Kf2 Re7 (31... Ra8 32. b4 Nd7 {is the lesser evil.}) (31... Nd7 32. Ra7 $1 Nc5 33. Rd1 Nxd3+ 34. Rxd3 {and the rook endgame is very unpleasant for Black.}) 32. Rd1 Rh8 33. g5 $1 Nd7 34. Ra4 Nc5 (34... Nb6 35. Rd4 {and White is ready to open the position with e4, with a decisive advantage.}) 35. Rg4 {The threat now is 36.Bc4.} Kc7 ( 35... Nxd3+ 36. Rxd3 {and the rook endgame is easily winning, for instance:} Rd7 37. Rgd4 Kc5 38. b4+ Kxb5 39. Rxd5+ Rxd5 40. Rxd5+ Kxb4 41. Rd7 b5 42. Rxf7 {and the kingside pawns decide the game.}) 36. Bb1 $1 Re5 37. Ba2 {Now the d5-pawn is lost.} f6 38. gxf6 gxf6 39. Rxd5 Rxd5 40. Bxd5 Nd3+ 41. Kg3 Ne5 42. Rf4 Rd8 43. b6+ {The kingside pawns are about to fall and it's time to resign. As in Karpov's best games, it's even hard to point out exactly where the losing side went wrong. The advantage grew steadily until it was impossible to defend. A textbook victory by Carlsen.} 1-0 [Event "Sinquefield Cup 2022"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.09.03"] [Round "2"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E11"] [WhiteElo "2775"] [BlackElo "2864"] [Annotator "cahan"] [PlyCount "72"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Bxd2+ {This line has never been Black's primary choice in the Bogo. But some decades ago, Andersson and Spassky used the line effectively to neutralize White's opening pressure.} 5. Qxd2 d5 6. Nc3 O-O 7. e3 Qe7 8. Rc1 dxc4 ({The text move is departure from what Magnus has previously played in this variation:} 8... Rd8 9. Qc2 ({or} 9. cxd5 exd5 10. Bd3 Nc6 11. Bb5 Rd6 12. Bxc6 Rxc6 13. Ne5 Re6 14. f3 b6 15. O-O Bb7 {and White had a tiny edge in Bacrot,E (2713)-Carlsen,M (2837) Biel 2012}) 9... dxc4 ({ in an earlier game between the combatants in the main game, Black continued} 9... a6 10. a3 Nbd7 11. Be2 dxc4 12. Bxc4 c5 13. Be2 b5 14. dxc5 Qxc5 15. b4 Qe7 {and Black had equalized in Aronian,L (2809)-Carlsen,M (2872) London 2013}) 10. Bxc4 c5 11. O-O cxd4 12. Nxd4 Bd7 13. Rfd1 Nc6 14. Nxc6 Bxc6 15. Bb5 Rac8 16. Rxd8+ Qxd8 17. Rd1 Qe7 18. Bxc6 Rxc6 {and Black had equalized, Nakamura,H (2787)-Carlsen,M (2855) Leuven 2016.}) (8... Nbd7 {was the preferred move by Andersson.}) 9. Bxc4 c5 10. dxc5 Rd8 11. Qe2 Qxc5 12. O-O Nc6 13. Bb3 ({ Rather surprisingly, this natural move is the first new move. Previously, White had tried a few other things in this position: a)} 13. Rfd1 Bd7 14. Bd3 Qh5 15. Ne4 Nxe4 16. Bxe4 Be8 17. Rxd8 Rxd8 18. Rd1 Rxd1+ 19. Qxd1 Qc5 { with equality in Megaranto,S (2529)-Antonio,R (2541) Tagaytay City 2013.}) ({b) } 13. a3 Bd7 14. b4 Qh5 15. Rfd1 Ne5 16. Nxe5 Qxe5 17. f4 Qc7 18. Bd3 Rac8 19. Qe1 Qb6 20. Ne4 Ba4 21. Nxf6+ gxf6 22. Rxc8 Rxc8 {and the chances are about equal in the endgame, Girya,O (2461)-Mammadzada,G (2438) Antalya 2019.}) 13... Qa5 (13... Qh5 $5) 14. Qc4 Ne5 15. Nxe5 Qxe5 16. Bd1 Bd7 {Black has equalized.} 17. Bf3 Rac8 18. Qb4 b6 19. Rfd1 Qc5 {An invitation to exchange a bunch of pieces and head down the path toward the draw.} 20. Qxc5 Rxc5 21. Ne4 Nxe4 22. Bxe4 Rxc1 23. Rxc1 Rc8 24. Rxc8+ Bxc8 {It is too early to draw, but the players soon enough find a position where they can repeat moves.} 25. f4 h6 26. Kf2 Kf8 27. Ke1 Ke7 28. Kd2 Kd6 29. g3 e5 30. a3 f6 31. Kc3 Kc5 32. b4+ Kd6 33. Kc4 Ba6+ 34. Kc3 Bc8 35. Kc4 Ba6+ 36. Kc3 Bc8 1/2-1/2 [Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.09.03"] [Round "2"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E04"] [WhiteElo "2792"] [BlackElo "2778"] [Annotator "cahan"] [PlyCount "99"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 a6 6. O-O Nc6 7. Qc2 $5 ({ This is a super rare move. The main moves are} 7. Nc3) ({and} 7. e3 {which often even transpose to the same positions.}) 7... Nxd4 8. Nxd4 Qxd4 9. Nd2 c3 10. bxc3 Qc5 11. Ne4 Nxe4 12. Bxe4 Bd6 $6 ({This is possibly not the best. A better choice was} 12... Be7 $5 13. Be3 Qh5 14. Rab1 c6 15. f4 {when White has full, but probably not more than that, compensation for the sacrificed pawn.}) 13. Rb1 f5 14. Bg2 O-O 15. Be3 ({The computer assesses} 15. c4 $5 {as the better option.}) 15... Qa5 16. c4 f4 17. Bd4 Be5 18. Qb2 ({Here,} 18. Rfd1 Bxd4 19. Rxd4 fxg3 20. hxg3 {gives White a small but clear advantage. Black has problems getting his queenside pieces developed without losing a bunch of pawns.}) 18... Bxd4 19. Qxd4 e5 20. Qd5+ Qxd5 21. Bxd5+ Kh8 22. Bxb7 Rb8 23. Bxc8 Rfxc8 {It could look like the game would be heading toward a draw, but due to Black's countless pawn weaknesses, particularly the advanced e- and f-pawns, White has excellent practical chances.} 24. Rfd1 Kg8 25. Rxb8 Rxb8 26. Rd5 Rb4 $2 ({A mistake; now Black's problems get serious. A better option was} 26... fxg3 27. hxg3 e4 28. Rd4 Rb2 {when Black has excellent chances of holding the draw.}) 27. Rxe5 fxg3 28. hxg3 Rxc4 29. Ra5 Rc6 30. Kg2 Kf7 31. f4 Ke7 32. e4 Rb6 $2 ({This endgame is already very difficult for Black, but apparently the text move makes everything much worse. The better defense was} 32... h6 33. Kh3 Kf6 34. Kg4 g6 {, but after} 35. e5+ Kf7 36. Ra4 {, White has excellent winning chances.}) 33. Kf3 Rc6 34. f5 $2 (34. g4 $1 {was much better. }) 34... Kf7 $2 35. g4 {Now the engine claims this as completely winning for White and Nepo takes home the full point in convincing fashion.} h6 36. Kf4 Ke7 37. Ra4 Rb6 38. Rc4 Kd8 39. e5 Rb1 40. Rc6 Rb4+ 41. Kf3 Rb5 42. Ke4 Rb4+ 43. Kd5 Rxg4 44. Ke6 Kc8 45. Rxa6 Kb7 46. Ra3 Rg2 47. Kf7 Rf2 48. f6 Kc6 49. Kxg7 Kd7 50. Kf7 1-0 [Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.09.03"] [Round "2"] [White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C67"] [WhiteElo "2757"] [BlackElo "2773"] [Annotator "cahan"] [PlyCount "86"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. Nc3 Ke8 10. h3 h5 11. Bf4 Be7 ({Earlier this year, So tried} 11... Bb4 12. Ne2 Be6 13. Ned4 Nxd4 14. Nxd4 Bd5 15. a3 Be7 16. Nf5 Be4 17. Nxe7 Kxe7 {with equal chances in Shirov,A (2704)-So,W (2772) Berlin 2022.}) 12. Rad1 Nh4 ({Or} 12... Be6 13. Ng5 Rh6 14. g3 Bxg5 15. Bxg5 Rg6 16. h4 f6 17. exf6 gxf6 18. Bf4 Nxh4 19. f3 {is considered marginally better for White and was seen in, among others, Naiditsch,A (2718)-So,W (2719) Wijk aan Zee 2014.}) 13. Nd4 ({MVL has also tried} 13. Nxh4 Bxh4 14. Ne2 g5 15. Bg3 Bxg3 16. Nxg3 Ke7 17. f4 gxf4 18. Rxf4 Be6 19. Nf5+ Bxf5 20. Rxf5 Rag8 {with an equal endgame in Vachier Lagrave,M (2757)-Caruana,F (2776) Saint Louis 2022.}) 13... Nf5 14. Nce2 g5 ({Or} 14... Nxd4 15. Nxd4 g5 16. Bh2 Rh6 17. f4 gxf4 18. Bxf4 Rg6 19. Kh2 Bd7 20. Be3 Rd8 {with equal chances in Vachier-Lagrave,M (2766) -Martirosyan,H (2624) Terme Catez 2021.}) 15. Bh2 Rh6 ({Black should not play} 15... a6 $6 16. e6 Nd6 17. Rfe1 Rh6 18. exf7+ Kxf7 19. Nf3 g4 20. Ne5+ Kg7 21. Bf4 {and Black was in serious trouble in Vachier-Lagrave,M (2703)-Caruana,F (2670) Biel 2009.}) 16. Rfe1 ({White achieves less after} 16. Nxf5 Bxf5 17. Nd4 Bd7 18. f4 gxf4 $6 (18... Rd8 $1 {seems to equalize}) 19. Bxf4 Rg6 20. e6 Bxe6 21. Nxe6 fxe6 22. Bxc7 {with a tiny edge for White in Muzychuk,A (2533) -Goryachkina,A (2604) Terme Catez 2021.}) 16... Rg6 ({Or} 16... a6 17. Nxf5 Bxf5 18. Nd4 Be6 19. Nxe6 Rxe6 20. g4 hxg4 21. hxg4 {and White was marginally better in Karjakin,S (2775)-Aronian,L (2815) Beijing 2012.}) 17. Nxf5 Bxf5 18. Nd4 Bd7 ({This appears better than} 18... Be6 19. Nxe6 Rxe6 20. f4 Bc5+ 21. Kf1 gxf4 22. Bxf4 {and soon a draw was agreed in Blank,W (2453)-Osipov,A (2406) ICCF email 2019.}) 19. e6 Bxe6 20. Nxe6 ({Or} 20. Bxc7 Bd7 21. Re5 Kf8 22. Nf5 Bxf5 23. Rxf5 {and a draw was agreed, ½-½ , in Shpakovsky,A (2531)-Voll,A (2572) ICCF email 2015.}) 20... Rxe6 21. Rxe6 fxe6 22. Bxc7 Bf6 {White has a minimal edge, but I find it difficult to believe that So would lose this endgame. However, the French grandmaster gives it a good try.} 23. Kf1 a5 ({Or } 23... c5 24. Ba5 b6 25. Bd2 Bxb2 26. Bxg5 Bd4 {and Black should not be worse in any meaningful way.}) 24. a4 b5 25. b3 Ra7 26. Bb6 Rb7 27. Bxa5 bxa4 28. bxa4 Rb2 29. c3 Ra2 30. Rd6 Rxa4 31. Bb4 c5 32. Bxc5 Bxc3 33. Rxe6+ {White has won a pawn, but the sober engines and soon also the players agree that there are no chances for White to win.} Kf7 34. Re7+ Kf6 35. Rc7 Bd4 36. Ra7 Rc4 37. Ra6+ Kf7 38. Bxd4 Rxd4 39. Ra7+ Kg6 40. Ra6+ Kg7 41. Ra7+ Kg6 42. Ra6+ Kg7 43. Ra7+ Kg6 1/2-1/2 [Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.09.03"] [Round "2"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"] [Result "*"] [ECO "C42"] [WhiteElo "2776"] [BlackElo "2754"] [Annotator "cahan"] [PlyCount "92"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Be3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nd7 9. O-O-O Nf6 10. Bd3 Re8 11. h3 c5 12. g4 Qa5 ({Here, the players depart from official theory. Previously, Black had played} 12... Be6 13. g5 Nd5 14. h4 Nxe3 15. Qxe3 d5 16. Ne5 Bd6 17. f4 Qc7 18. Qg3 Rad8 19. Rhe1 c4 20. Bf1 Kh8 21. Qf3 f6 22. gxf6 gxf6 {which the computer assesses as equal and also eventually led to a draw in Pirs,M (2510)-Bondars,G (2423) ICCF email 2017.}) 13. a3 d5 14. c4 Qa4 15. c3 dxc4 16. Bc2 Qa6 17. g5 Nh5 18. Ne5 Be6 19. f4 Ng3 20. Rhe1 Nf5 {Thus far, both players were happily playing their prep, although Dominguez must have wondered what Caruana had in mind, considering that the engines assess this position as completely equal. Well, he soon found out. It may be equal to an engine, but faced with surprises and adversity, things are rarely completely equal.} 21. Bxc5 $3 {BOOM $3 The exclamation points are exclusively for style points and surprise value. The position is still equal according to the engines, but now Dominguez faces serious practical problems to solve.} Bxc5 22. Bxf5 Bxf5 23. Qd5 Bf2 $1 {Dominguez defends with precision. } 24. Qxf7+ Kh8 25. Qxf5 Bxe1 26. Rxe1 Rf8 $4 ({This is a blunder. It is necessary to play} 26... Rad8 $1 {(only move), when} 27. h4 g6 28. Qe4 Kg8 { accurately allows Black to hold the balance. After the text move, White is winning.}) 27. Qe4 $2 ({With an hour left on the clock, Caruana misses the winning line} 27. Qd7 $1 Rxf4 28. Nf7+ Rxf7 29. Qxf7 Qg6 30. Qxg6 hxg6 31. Re7 {which is trivially won for someone like Caruana: Black's king is boxed in, the pawns are weak, and the rook is hopelessly passive.}) 27... Rad8 $2 ({ Black makes another mistake. After} 27... Qe6 28. g6 Qf5 29. Nf7+ Rxf7 30. gxf7 Qxf7 {, Black should be able to hold the draw.}) 28. f5 $1 {Despite having just a pawn for the exchange, White has a large advantage because of the powerful knight on e5 and the pawn majority marching toward Black's king.} b5 $2 (28... Qd6 {is better but still miserable for Black. Now, however, things get worse.}) 29. Nc6 $1 Rc8 ({For a moment during the game, the transmission showed Black playing} 29... Rd7 $4 {at this point, allowing White to win with} 30. Nb8 Qd6 31. Nxd7 Qxd7 32. Rd1 Qc8 33. Rd5 {and Black is hopelessly tied down and missing a pawn .}) 30. Ne7 Rce8 31. Qh4 $2 ({A mistake. White is winning after} 31. f6 Qd6 (31... gxf6 {is met by} 32. g6 $1) 32. fxg7+ Kxg7 33. Nf5+ Rxf5 34. Qxe8 Qf4+ 35. Kb1 Qxg5 36. Re7+ Kh6 37. Qd7 {and Black, with his open king, will not survive for long.}) 31... Qd6 32. Re4 $6 ({Although it is difficult to think that Black will lose after} 32. Ng6+ Kg8 33. Nxf8 Rxe1+ 34. Qxe1 Qf4+ 35. Qd2 Qf1+ 36. Qd1 Qf4+ 37. Kb1 Qxf5+ 38. Ka2 Kxf8 39. Qd6+ Kf7 { , the computer considers this best.}) 32... Rd8 33. Ng6+ Kg8 34. Rd4 hxg6 35. Rxd6 Rxd6 36. fxg6 Rxg6 {The troubles are mostly over for Black.} 37. a4 a6 38. Qg3 Re6 39. axb5 axb5 40. g6 Rff6 41. Qb8+ Rf8 42. Qxb5 Rf1+ 43. Kd2 Rf2+ 44. Kd1 Rf1+ 45. Kd2 Rf2+ 46. Kd1 Rf1+ * [Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.09.03"] [Round "2"] [White "Niemann, Hans Moke"] [Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A28"] [WhiteElo "2687"] [BlackElo "2758"] [Annotator "Rafael Leitão"] [PlyCount "98"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [TimeControl "5400+30"] {[%evp 0,98,19,-12,-12,-15,-18,-24,-24,-32,17,22,32,35,29,41,41,41,22,18,28,30, 34,58,56,55,54,14,32,24,50,-48,32,12,116,-79,-1,7,-28,-30,-18,-26,5,-32,-26, -42,3,-41,69,69,71,63,61,56,82,82,102,102,117,100,115,119,127,109,119,73,76,82, 75,84,86,88,129,101,155,171,176,201,201,223,220,226,236,94,123,138,234,234,234, 234,234,492,367,368,768,640,768,435,540,468,768] Hans Niemann is a very popular figure right now in the chess world. He gave some hilarious interviews during the St. Louis Rapid and Blitz Championship, and those were always a joy to watch. He is young, confident, and plays all his games to win; he is never afraid even when facing the absolute elite of chess. More than all this, what strikes me as particularly interesting about this player is that he seems to work very hard on his chess, and his rise to the top has been meteoric. His opponent in this game is the already legendary Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, a player who is admired all over the world for his fearless style. This clash promised and delivered fireworks.} 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. e4 {This is currently a fashionable variation of the English Four Knights Opening. It's curious that I have become a sort of \"specialist\" in this line, although I have never played it in an official over-the-board game. But times have changed, and when searching in an online database, I found no fewer than 16 of my own games, all played in Titled Tuesdays. Of course, the reader can find more qualified players to follow in case they decide to study this variation, but I must say my score is not bad at all. Given my poor Titled Tuesday record, this shows that this line must be really very good for White.} Bc5 (4... Bb4 { is a more reliable move.}) 5. Nxe5 $1 {This is the point; otherwise, Black has very comfortable play.} Nxe5 (5... Bxf2+ $2 {is a typical resource, but here it's just losing.} 6. Kxf2 Nxe5 7. d4 {and White has an overwhelming advantage. I played a few online games in this position, but since they were not played in any official event, they cannot (luckily) be found.}) (5... O-O $5 { Nakamura played this against me in a Titled Tuesday once. I was surprised and reacted poorly with} 6. Nxc6 $2 (6. Nf3 $1 {is better.} Nxe4 7. Nxe4 Re8 8. d3 f5 9. Be2 fxe4 10. dxe4 {with the advantage.}) 6... dxc6 {Black has great compensation for the pawn.}) 6. d4 Bb4 7. dxe5 Nxe4 {Now White has a difficult decision between 8.Qd4 and 8.Qf3. To me, it's not clear which is better, but the latter is more popular these days.} 8. Qf3 (8. Qd4 Nxc3 9. bxc3 Be7 10. Qg4 {with a complicated game.}) 8... Nxc3 (8... Qh4 $2 {loses after} 9. g3 Ng5 10. Qe2 Qe4 11. Bxg5 Bxc3+ 12. bxc3 Qxh1 13. f3 {and the h1-queen will soon be captured.}) 9. bxc3 Ba5 (9... Bc5 {This was played against me by German GM Rasmus Svane.} 10. Qg3 g6 $2 (10... Kf8 {is necessary.}) 11. Bd3 {and I had such a good position that even my poor play was unable to spoil it.}) 10. Bf4 O-O 11. O-O-O $5 {It looks crazy for the untrained (or unprepared) eye to direct the king toward such a scattered pawn structure. But if the computers say it's good, we have to study it. More conservative (or lazier) players might consider 11.Rd1 or 11.Be2 and castling short.} Qe7 12. Kb2 {This is necessary to avoid a queen invasion.} Rb8 $1 {An excellent move, creating an x-ray with the king and getting ready for counterplay with b7-b5. This is still mainstream opening theory.} 13. Qe3 $1 {A strong prophylactic move. White gets ready to meet 13...b5 with 14.c5. If White manages to stop Black's counterplay on the queenside, then he is ready for a devastating kingside attack. Let's not forget that Black's king is completely abandoned by his pieces. When the bishop gets to d3, checkmate is going to be a real possibility.} (13. Bd3 {This was played by Carlsen against Caruana, when all this was still new to everyone. Black has good counterplay after} b5 $1 14. cxb5 Bb7 {Carlsen - Caruana, Douglas 2019.}) 13... b6 $6 $146 {This is a new and strange move. Black's counterplay is usually connected with b7-b5, so why advance this move only one square $2} (13... b5 {was tried in a few games.} 14. c5 $1 b4 15. c4 b3 16. a3 $1 {and it seems Black still has problems to solve.} (16. axb3 $6 Bb4)) (13... Bb6 {was played in a recent email game and is the first suggestion of the computer. I guess future games will say whether this move is enough to solve Black's problems.}) 14. Bd3 (14. h4 $1 {is a typical plan and also very strong. White prepares 15.Rh3, and the rook is useful both on attack and defense.}) 14... Qe6 (14... f6 {Maybe Black should try this move. With the bishop on d3, 15.exf6 is not so good because the c3-pawn will be hanging after 15...Qxf6.}) 15. Qg3 {Not the most accurate. I think 15.Qe4 or 15.h4 is better.} (15. Qe4 g6 16. Bh6 Re8 17. Rhe1 {with the advantage.}) (15. h4 $5 {and the idea of Rh3 is also promising.}) 15... Re8 {The idea of this move is to avoid Bg5.} (15... b5 {is interesting. Play might continue:} 16. c5 (16. cxb5 {This move is not what White usually wants to play.} Bb7 {[%CAl Gb7c6,Ga7a6] With the idea of Bc6 followed by a6 with good compensation.}) 16... Ba6 {with a very complicated position. One of the computer lines goes} 17. Bg5 b4 18. c4 b3 $1 19. axb3 Bxc4 20. Bxc4 Qxc4 21. Bh6 Qe2+ 22. Ka1 g6 23. Bxf8 Kxf8 24. Qe3 Qxe3 25. fxe3 Bc3+ 26. Ka2 Ke7 {and the e5-pawn will fall, and Black has good drawing chances.}) 16. Rhe1 {Preparing Bg5 again now that the e5-pawn is protected.} b5 {Mamedyarov starts his counterplay. This is a critical position.} 17. c5 $2 {This is a mistake because the e1-rook will be hanging. I understand Niemann probably saw this and decided to sacrifice the exchange, but the stone- hearted computer is not impressed.} (17. cxb5 $1 { is better with big complications.}) 17... b4 18. c4 b3 $1 {This is the point.} 19. axb3 Bxe1 20. Rxe1 a5 $2 {After this move, the exchange sacrifice is fully justified, and White achieves enormous compensation. Black should open the center with 20...d6 or 20...d5.} (20... d6 $1 {20...d5 is the same.} 21. cxd6 cxd6 {[%CAl Gd6d5] and White has some compensation for the exchange, but objectively Black is better.}) 21. Bd2 $1 {A very good move, preparing to meet 21...a4 with 22.b4.} (21. Qh4 g6 22. Bd2 $1 {is also good with the same idea.}) 21... Ba6 (21... a4 22. b4 {with a winning position for White due to the big space advantage. The rooks have no columns to control, and the king is very insecure.}) 22. Qh4 g6 23. Qd4 $1 {I like this move a lot, centralizing the queen.} (23. Bxa5 $6 {is not so clear after} Qc6 $1) 23... Rb7 {This is the only plan for counterplay. The game flows logically.} 24. Bxa5 Reb8 25. b4 Rxb4+ $1 {Otherwise Black can resign.} 26. Bxb4 Rxb4+ 27. Kc3 Rb8 28. Be4 Qe8 ( 28... Bxc4 $5 {is an interesting try to complicate the game. After} 29. Qxc4 Qxe5+ 30. Kd3 Qb2 $1 {White has to find the precise} 31. Bd5 $1 Qxf2 32. Qc3 $1 {Everything is protected, and the position is winning.}) 29. Bd5 (29. Rd1 $1 { is more accurate.}) 29... Bb7 30. Rb1 Ba8 $2 {This move loses.} (30... Bxd5 $1 {is the only chance. After} 31. Rxb8 Qxb8 32. cxd5 (32. Qxd5 Qe8 $14) 32... Qb5 {Black can fight for the draw.}) 31. Rxb8 Qxb8 32. Bxa8 Qxa8 33. Qxd7 Qa1+ 34. Kb4 Qxe5 35. Kb5 {The c7-pawn will fall, and White has an easy winning position. This is a good time to pay respect for the doubled pawns, an often-misunderstood positional element of chess. Doubled pawns are usually not as bad as people think. Here, for instance, this extra pawn on c4 serves as a shelter for the king against the checks.} h5 36. Kc6 Qxh2 37. Qd8+ Kh7 38. Qf6 Qxg2+ 39. Kxc7 {The rest is easy.} Qe4 40. Qxf7+ Kh6 41. Qd5 Qe7+ 42. Kb6 Qf6+ 43. c6 Qxf2+ 44. Kb7 Qb2+ 45. Qb5 Qg2 46. Kb8 h4 47. c7 Qg3 48. Kb7 Qf3+ 49. Qd5 Qb3+ 1-0 [Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.09.04"] [Round "3"] [White "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2754"] [BlackElo "2792"] [Annotator "cahan"] [PlyCount "84"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e5 7. Nf3 Be7 8. Bc4 O-O 9. O-O Qc7 10. Bb3 Nbd7 $6 (10... Be6 {is the main line and considered best.}) 11. a4 Nc5 12. Nd5 Nxd5 13. Bxd5 Be6 14. c3 Nd7 $6 {Another inaccurate knight move to d7. Now White is clearly better.} 15. Bxe6 fxe6 16. Qb3 Kf7 { Things are not going well when you have to play such a move.} 17. a5 Qc6 18. Ra4 $1 Rac8 19. Rd1 h6 20. Nd2 Bg5 21. Rc4 Nc5 22. Bxc5 Bxd2 $2 ({A blunder which Nepo played after only a 10-second thought. It is necessary to play} 22... dxc5 23. Nf3 {, when White is clearly better.}) 23. Rxd2 $4 ({Dominguez misses his chance and loses nearly all of his advantage. After} 23. Bxd6 Qxc4 ( {also} 23... Qxd6 24. Qxb7+ Qe7 ({or} 24... Kf6 25. Rxc8) 25. Qxe7+ Kxe7 26. Rxc8 Rxc8 27. Rxd2 {wins for White}) 24. Qxb7+ Kg8 25. Bxf8 Rc7 26. Qb6 Qe2 27. Rf1 Rf7 28. Bc5 {and White has two extra pawns and an easily won position.}) 23... dxc5 24. Qd1 Ke7 $6 (24... Qb5 $1 {would have secured equality.}) 25. b4 Qb5 26. bxc5 Rc7 27. Rb4 Qxc5 28. Qb3 Rb8 29. Rb6 Qc4 30. Qxc4 Rxc4 31. f3 Rc6 {The rook ending is equal and soon drawn.} 32. Rdb2 Rc5 33. Rxb7+ Rxb7 34. Rxb7+ Kf6 35. h4 Rxa5 36. Ra7 Rc5 37. Rxa6 Rxc3 38. Kh2 h5 39. Ra5 Rb3 40. Ra6 Rc3 41. Ra5 Rb3 42. Ra6 Rc3 1/2-1/2 [Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.09.04"] [Round "3"] [White "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "2778"] [BlackElo "2775"] [Annotator "cahan"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. h3 O-O 6. Nc3 Na5 $5 {A very rare move.} 7. a3 $6 ({Earlier this year, also in St. Louis, a game in this line continued} 7. Bb3 Nxb3 8. axb3 d5 9. Bg5 dxe4 10. Nxe4 Be7 11. Bxf6 Bxf6 12. O-O Re8 13. Re1 Bf5 {, Oparin,G (2685)-Theodorou $146 (2567) St. Louis 2022, and now} 14. Qd2 {or 14.g4 would have given White a small but clear advantage despite Black's pair of bishops.}) 7... Nxc4 8. dxc4 d6 $6 ({Here, Black could have considered} 8... c6 $5) ({or} 8... Re8 $5 {.}) 9. Bg5 Be6 10. Qd3 h6 11. Bh4 g5 $2 ({Provocative and definitely wrong. A better choice was} 11... c6 12. O-O-O b5 {with sharp play and chances to both sides.}) 12. Nxg5 $1 hxg5 13. Bxg5 Kg7 14. f4 $5 {[%c_effect f4;square;f4;type;Interesting;persistent;true]} ({Opening the kingside. An interesting alternative is} 14. Qf3 $1 c6 15. h4 Rh8 16. O-O-O Rh6 17. Na4 {with a clear advantage for White.}) 14... exf4 15. Ne2 c6 ({Also} 15... Qe7 16. O-O-O Kg6 17. Bxf4 {looks scary for Black.}) 16. b4 Be3 17. Rf1 Kg6 18. h4 $6 ({Here,} 18. Bh4 $1 Rh8 19. Rxf4 Bxf4 20. e5+ { is even stronger and gives White a decisive attack.}) 18... Bxc4 19. Qxc4 d5 20. Qb3 Re8 $2 ({Making matters worse. A better choice is} 20... Qd6 21. Nxf4+ Bxf4 22. Bxf4 Qe7 23. e5 Ne4 24. O-O-O {although White obviously is much better in this line too.}) 21. Bxf4 Bxf4 22. Nxf4+ Kh7 23. O-O-O Nxe4 $2 24. Ne2 $4 ({Here, Firouzja, rather uncharacteristically missed a tactic:} 24. Nxd5 $1 cxd5 25. Rxf7+ Kg6 26. Rxd5 Qxh4 27. Qf3 Nf6 ({or} 27... Qe1+ 28. Rd1) 28. Rxf6+ Qxf6 29. Qh5+ Kg7 30. Rg5+ Qxg5+ 31. Qxg5+ {and White is winning the endgame.}) 24... Nd6 $4 ({Aronian counterblunders. After} 24... Kg8 $1 25. Rf4 Qe7 {, Black has some chances of survival.}) 25. Qd3+ {Now, Black's king is very open and vulnerable.} Kh8 26. Qd4+ Kh7 27. Ng3 Qb6 28. Qd3+ Kg8 29. Nf5 Nxf5 30. Qxf5 {In pure heavy-piece endings with both queens and rooks on the board, king safety is crucial, and to the surprise of no one, Black's kingside does not represent the concept of safety particularly well. In other words, death is knocking heavily on Black's door.} Qe3+ 31. Kb1 Qe6 32. Qf2 a5 33. Rd3 axb4 34. Rg3+ Kf8 35. Rf3 Kg8 ({Or} 35... Re7 36. Qd4 Qh6 37. Qxb4 Qg7 38. Re3 Rae8 39. Qd6 {and Black is completely tied and will lose material.}) 36. Rxf7 Rxa3 37. Rf8+ Kh7 38. Qf7+ {and Black resigned on account of} (38. Qf7+ Qxf7 39. R1xf7+ Kg6 40. h5+ {, winning the e8-rook.}) 1-0 [Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.09.04"] [Round "3"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C42"] [WhiteElo "2773"] [BlackElo "2776"] [Annotator "cahan"] [PlyCount "133"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] {[%evp 0,133,19,29,30,25,40,0,43,24,29,11,20,7,14,2,14,-3,12,5,20,20,42,42,22, -5,-11,-16,-9,-9,39,19,2,-10,-13,-18,3,-27,-18,-18,18,-19,10,10,36,0,77,91,62, 75,68,67,94,66,76,57,47,78,92,54,92,92,70,94,108,105,111,81,141,100,109,51,127, 127,144,99,192,214,214,198,206,224,216,213,213,195,146,140,173,155,173,173,154, 141,141,141,140,121,131,84,90,98,99,99,112,86,273,145,136,159,147,90,42,201, 221,221,255,265,339,339,373,378,387,389,1113,1256,29987,29984,29985,29986, 29987,29988,29989,29986,29989,29988]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Bd3 Nf6 6. O-O Be7 7. h3 ({After} 7. Re1 O-O 8. h3 d5 9. c3 Bd6 10. Bc2 Nbd7 11. d4 h6 12. Nbd2 Re8 13. Rxe8+ Qxe8 {the chances were fairly equal in So,W (2773)-Nepomniachtchi,I (2792) Chess.com INT 2022.}) 7... O-O 8. c3 d5 9. Bc2 Bd6 10. d4 h6 11. Re1 Re8 12. Rxe8+ Qxe8 13. Be3 Nc6 14. Nbd2 Ne7 15. Nh4 g5 $6 ({A bizarre decision, riddling his position with some uncurable structural defects. In a previous game, Black had tried} 15... Qb5 16. Rb1 Be6 17. Qf3 Qa6 18. a4 Re8 19. Kh1 Nd7 20. Nf1 Nf6 21. Nd2 Nd7 {, and a draw was agreed, ½-½, in Benz,G (2542)-Mayer,R (2485) ICCF email 2019}) 16. Nhf3 Nf5 17. Nf1 Bd7 18. Bd3 c6 19. Qb3 (19. Qc2 $5 Nxe3 20. Nxe3 Qe7 21. Re1 {would possibly be better.}) 19... Ne4 20. Re1 Nxe3 21. Nxe3 Be6 22. Qxb7 $2 ({ Too greedy, giving Caruana the counterplay he craved. Instead,} 22. Qc2 $1 f5 23. g4 fxg4 24. hxg4 Qf7 25. Bxe4 dxe4 26. Qxe4 Rf8 27. Re2 {would have given White an extra pawn and a clear advantage. Possibly So was unsure how to assess this position from afar.}) 22... Rb8 23. Qa6 f5 $2 ({Not sure why Caruana didn't capture on b2. After} 23... Rxb2 {, it is difficult for White to prove any kind of advantage.}) 24. Re2 Qd7 25. Qa4 Bf4 26. Qc2 h5 27. g3 g4 28. hxg4 hxg4 29. Bxe4 fxe4 30. Ne5 Bxe5 31. dxe5 Qc7 32. Qa4 c5 33. Rd2 Rd8 34. Ng2 ({Also} 34. b4 $5 {could be considered.}) 34... Bf7 35. Qb5 d4 36. e6 $1 Bxe6 37. cxd4 Qb6 38. Qe2 Rxd4 39. Rxd4 cxd4 40. Qxe4 Bxa2 41. Qxg4+ Kf8 42. Qf3+ Bf7 43. Qa3+ Ke8 44. Qa4+ ({Here, the immediate} 44. Nh4 Bd5 45. Nf5 Qc7 46. Qd3 {is more accurate.}) 44... Kd8 45. Qa3 Ke8 $2 (45... Bd5 $1 {should have been played.}) 46. Nh4 $1 Bd5 47. Nf5 Qc7 48. g4 Kf7 49. f3 $6 (49. Qb4 $1 {is more precise.}) 49... a5 50. Kg2 Qe5 51. Kh3 Qe2 52. f4 d3 $4 ({Now Black loses almost by force. A better try was} 52... Kg6 {although White also seems to be winning after} 53. Qd6+ Be6 54. Nh4+ Kf7 55. f5 Qe3+ 56. Kh2 Ba2 57. Qd7+ {, but there is still work to be done.}) 53. Qd6 Bf3 54. Qd7+ Kf8 55. Qd8+ Kf7 56. Qd7+ Kf8 57. Nh6 Bg2+ 58. Kg3 Qf3+ 59. Kh4 Qf2+ 60. Kg5 Qc5+ 61. Nf5 Bd5 62. Qd8+ Kf7 63. Qd7+ Kf8 64. Qd8+ Kf7 65. Nd6+ Kg7 66. Qe7+ Kg8 67. Kh6 1-0 [Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.09.04"] [Round "3"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D27"] [WhiteElo "2758"] [BlackElo "2757"] [Annotator "cahan"] [PlyCount "70"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 {No Grunfeld Indian today.} 3. c4 dxc4 4. e3 e6 5. Bxc4 c5 6. O-O a6 7. dxc5 ({This capture is not the biggest threat to the viability of the Queen's Gambit Accepted, but it can be quite annoying for Black. This year, Mamedyarov and other top GMs have been quite fond of} 7. b3 {which has been featured in several of MVL's games this year, for instance,} cxd4 8. Nxd4 Be7 9. Be2 O-O 10. Bb2 b5 11. Nd2 Bb7 12. a4 (12. Rc1 h6 13. Bf3 Qd7 14. Qc2 Ra7 15. Bxb7 Qxb7 16. Rfd1 Rd8 17. N2f3 {with some pressure for White, Radjabov,T (2753)-Vachier Lagrave,M (2750) Stavanger 2022.}) 12... bxa4 13. Rxa4 Nbd7 14. Qa1 Nc5 15. Ra5 Qb6 16. Nc4 Qc7 17. Rc1 Bd5 18. b4 {and White had the upper hand in Mamedyarov,S (2759)-Vachier Lagrave,M (2750) Stavanger 2022.}) 7... Bxc5 ({The alternative is} 7... Qxd1 8. Rxd1 Bxc5 9. Be2 {which seems a little uncomfortable for Black albeit still quite solid. Vachier-Lagrave, however, has not tried this as Black.}) 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. Be2 ({Some other games by the French GM have seen White try other approaches: a)} 9. Nbd2 Nc6 10. a3 Ke7 11. b4 Bd6 12. Bb2 b5 13. Be2 Bb7 14. Rac1 Rac8 15. Nb3 {was played in Nihal,S (2620)-Vachier Lagrave,M (2784) Chess.com INT 2020, and here} Rhd8 {seems to lead to something close to equality.}) ({b)} 9. Ne5 Ke7 10. Be2 Nbd7 11. Nc4 b6 12. Nbd2 a5 13. Nb3 Ba6 14. Nxc5 bxc5 15. f3 Rhb8 16. e4 Nb6 17. Nxb6 Rxb6 18. Bxa6 Raxa6 19. Rf2 a4 20. Rc2 Nd7 {and draw agreed, ½-½, L'Ami,E (2621) -Vachier Lagrave,M (2761) Germany 2022.}) 9... Ke7 10. Nc3 b5 11. Nd2 Bb7 12. Nb3 Nbd7 13. Nxc5 Nxc5 14. b4 Nce4 15. Bb2 (15. Nxe4 Nxe4 16. Bb2 Rac8 { leads to similar play.}) 15... Rac8 16. Rfc1 Rhd8 17. Nxe4 Nxe4 18. Bxg7 f6 19. Bf3 Kf7 20. Bh6 Kg6 21. Bf4 e5 {White has won a pawn and has the bishop pair, yet Vachier-Lagrave seems unconcerned.} 22. Bg3 Rc4 23. a3 Rxc1+ 24. Rxc1 Nxg3 25. hxg3 Bxf3 26. gxf3 Rd3 {White's extra pawn is of no importance due to Black's active rook.} 27. a4 bxa4 28. Rc5 Rb3 29. Ra5 Rxb4 30. Rxa6 h5 31. Kg2 Rc4 32. Kh3 Rc2 33. Kg2 Rc4 34. Kh3 Rc2 35. Kg2 Rc4 1/2-1/2 [Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.09.04"] [Round "3"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Niemann, Hans Moke"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E20"] [WhiteElo "2864"] [BlackElo "2687"] [Annotator "Rafael Leitão"] [PlyCount "114"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [TimeControl "5400+30"] {[%evp 0,114,18,18,22,11,11,11,26,-12,-6,-12,-10,5,5,-1,-10,-24,-32,-7,-5,-24, 8,7,7,-10,-1,10,8,-11,-6,-8,-8,-10,-3,-43,-45,-42,-34,-37,-18,-18,-18,-17,-19, -35,-39,-47,-47,-36,-48,-56,-56,-45,-33,-57,-56,-71,-67,-84,-85,-99,-102,-99, -89,-94,-106,-104,-94,-94,-94,-101,-101,-101,-101,-101,-101,-101,-94,-94,-94, -122,-125,-126,-126,-126,-90,-148,-107,-102,-103,-103,-103,-101,-105,-111,-114, -199,-205,-240,-220,-353,-381,-368,-373,-386,-398,-398,-471,-636,-636,-709, -576,-1011,-1011,-1011,-1011] Last time Niemann with the black pieces beat Carlsen. This was just a few days ago, and he granted us one of the most iconic sentences in modern chess history. Will he be up to the challenge in future interviews after repeating the feat, this time in a classical game $2 But what he says, as we know, is not so important as chess speaks for itself.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 {Of all the world champions, Carlsen is the one of with the most flexible opening repertoire. He can play anything. I wonder how his opponents prepare against him.} Bb4 4. g3 {Not the most popular move against the Nimzo.} O-O 5. Bg2 d5 6. a3 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 dxc4 8. Nf3 c5 9. O-O { Carlsen uses his usual strategy of going for a sideline with not so much theory and not so much advantage either. This worked like a charm in his first-round game, but it's going to backfire in this game. I admired his cleverness when he won, and I am going to criticize the same strategy now that he lost, since, as we say jokingly, \"The same hands that clap are the ones that boo.\"} cxd4 {9...Bd7 and 9...Nc6 are also possible.} 10. Qxd4 {Already a new move.} (10. cxd4 {was tried before.}) 10... Nc6 11. Qxc4 e5 $1 {A good move, preparing to develop the bishop to an active square.} 12. Bg5 h6 13. Rfd1 $6 {It seems smart to play this before capturing the knight, but this move is wrong for tactical reasons.} (13. Bxf6 {It's better to take immediately, although White has nothing special after} Qxf6 14. Nd2 Qe7) 13... Be6 $1 { An accurate move.} (13... Qe7 $6 {is exactly what White wants, as he wins a tempo compared to 13. Bxf6.} 14. Bxf6 Qxf6 15. Nd2 {and now it's possible to fight for the advantage.}) 14. Rxd8 {The best move to fight for equality.} (14. Qc5 Qa5 15. Be3 Nd5 {is unpleasant.}) 14... Bxc4 15. Rxa8 Rxa8 16. Bxf6 gxf6 { The opening phase is over, and the conclusion is clear: a sad outcome for Carlsen, who now must fight for a draw, after no more than 16 moves, without any winning chances whatsoever. This must have depressed him, as his play in this endgame is not up to his very high standards.} 17. Kf1 {A solid move. White can also sacrifice the e2-pawn in different ways with good drawing chances in all cases.} (17. Rd1 $5 Bxe2 18. Rd7) (17. Nd2 Bxe2 18. Ne4) (17. Nh4 Bxe2 18. Nf5) 17... Rd8 18. Ke1 Na5 19. Rd1 Rc8 $1 {It's necessary to keep the rooks in order to play for a win; otherwise, it will be much easier for White to protect his queenside weaknesses.} 20. Nd2 Be6 21. c4 $5 (21. Ne4 f5 22. Nd6 Rxc3 {The computer indicates drawing chances here with precise play, but it looks very scary for human eyes as the compensation for the missing pawn is not clear.}) (21. Rc1 {is too passive.} f5 {followed by bringing the king to the center with a better pawn structure and more active pieces.}) 21... Bxc4 (21... Kf8 {followed by Ke7 is also possible.}) 22. Nxc4 (22. Ne4 { is the natural move and gives good drawing chances. Maybe Carlsen missed the correct reply after 22...Bb3.} Bb3 23. Nd6 $1 {An important move.} (23. Nxf6+ { is dangerous, although it's still possible to defend after} Kg7 24. Bh3 $1 (24. Nh5+ $2 Kg6 25. Rd6+ Be6 $1 {and Black wins.} (25... Kxh5 $4 {It's always possible to lose a winning game.} 26. Bf3+ Kg5 27. h4+ Kf5 28. e4#)) 24... Rc2 25. Rd6 {with drawing chances.})) 22... Rxc4 23. Rd8+ Kg7 24. Bd5 {Otherwise, Black closes off the bishop with e5-e4.} Rc7 {Black is a pawn up, but with an active rook and bishop against knight, it should be possible for White to secure a draw.} 25. Ra8 (25. f3 {This seems good technique, preparing Kf2 and hindering the advance of Black's central pawns.}) 25... a6 26. Rb8 f5 27. Re8 { Carlsen provokes the advance in order to break Black's pawn structure, but this is not a good strategy.} (27. f3 {This move, avoiding e5-e4, is useful again.}) 27... e4 28. g4 $2 {It's better to break the structure with 28.f3 or wait with 28.Rd8.} (28. f3) (28. Rd8) 28... Rc5 $1 29. Ba2 Nc4 $6 (29... fxg4 $1 {is the best. After} 30. Rxe4 f5 {Black should win with an extra pawn.}) 30. a4 $2 (30. Bxc4 $1 {\"All rook endgames are drawn.\" This quote is attributed to Siegbert Tarrasch, and even if it's not entirely true, it gives us some guidance to search for salvation in rook endgames.} Rxc4 31. gxf5 {And it's probably possible to escape, for instance:} b5 32. Rb8 $1 Ra4 33. Rb6 Rxa3 34. Kd2) 30... Nd6 $1 {Niemann now uses a nice tactical idea to achieve a winning position.} 31. Re7 (31. Rd8 e3 $1 {This is the point.} 32. fxe3 Ne4 33. Kf1 Rc1+ 34. Kg2 Rc2 {and the e2-pawn falls.}) 31... fxg4 {This doesn't spoil anything, but 31...Rc2 wins immediately.} (31... Rc2 $1 32. Bb3 (32. Bd5 Rc1+ 33. Kd2 Rc5 34. Bb3 fxg4 {and Black is simply two pawns up.}) 32... Rc3 33. Ba2 fxg4 34. Rd7 Nc4 $1 {and the b7-pawn cannot be captured because of mate.}) 32. Rd7 e3 $1 33. fxe3 (33. Rxd6 Rc1+ 34. Rd1 exf2+ $19) 33... Ne4 34. Kf1 Rc1+ $6 (34... Rf5+ $1 {is better.} 35. Kg1 b5 36. axb5 axb5 37. Bb1 Re5 {with a winning position.}) 35. Kg2 Rc2 36. Bxf7 Rxe2+ 37. Kg1 Re1+ 38. Kg2 Re2+ 39. Kg1 Kf6 {White still has drawing chances here, but it's nearly impossible to find it.} 40. Bd5 $2 (40. Rxb7 {is the best move. But after} Ng5 {It looks like the game is over, since the knight is too dangerous. But the machine indicates} 41. Bh5 $1 Nf3+ 42. Kf1 Ra2 {And now the fantastic (and forced)} 43. h4 $3 {is close to a draw, according to my PC. No human can play like this yet. }) 40... Rd2 $1 41. Rf7+ Kg6 42. Rd7 $6 (42. Rf4 {Going for a rook endgame is the best chance.} Rxd5 43. Rxe4) 42... Ng5 $1 {Now it's over.} 43. Bf7+ Kf5 44. Rxd2 Nf3+ 45. Kg2 Nxd2 46. a5 Ke5 $1 {A fine move, as the king must control the bishop's active attempts connected with Be6-c8.} 47. Kg3 Nf1+ 48. Kf2 (48. Kxg4 Nxh2+ 49. Kh5 Nf1 50. Kxh6 Nxe3 {followed by Kd4 and Nc4.}) 48... Nxh2 49. e4 Kxe4 50. Be6 Kf4 51. Bc8 Nf3 52. Bxb7 Ne5 53. Bxa6 Nc6 54. Bb7 Nxa5 55. Bd5 h5 56. Bf7 h4 57. Bd5 Ke5 {A convincing win. GM Niemann must be very proud of his efforts in this game.} 0-1 [Event "Sinquefield Cup 2022"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.09.05"] [Round "4"] [White "Niemann, Hans Moke"] [Black "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2688"] [BlackElo "2778"] [Annotator "cahan"] [PlyCount "82"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 d6 6. O-O O-O 7. Re1 Bb6 8. a4 a5 9. h3 h6 10. Na3 Ne7 11. d4 ({Black didn't have much to worry about after} 11. Bb3 c6 12. Be3 Bc7 13. Qc2 d5 14. Rad1 Ng6 {as in Le Quang Liem (2713) -Mamedyarov,S (2772) Bucharest 2019.}) 11... Ng6 12. Bf1 c6 13. Nc4 Bc7 14. dxe5 Nxe5 15. Bf4 Nxf3+ 16. Qxf3 d5 17. Rad1 Be6 18. e5 Nd7 19. Qg3 Kh8 $2 ({ A clear mistake by Firouzja who now lands in serious trouble. The best continuation is} 19... dxc4 20. Bxh6 g6 21. Bg5 f6 22. Bh6 g5 23. Bxf8 Kxf8 { which the computer gives as equal because it has found perpetual check or repetition of moves further down the rabbit hole. Nevertheless, entering such a line where any mistake or even inaccuracy can lead to an immediate loss is not everybody's definition of a wonderful day at the chessboard.}) 20. Nd6 $1 Nc5 21. Rd4 (21. c4 $1 {is even better, according to the engines.}) 21... Bxd6 22. exd6 Ne4 23. Rexe4 $5 ({My silicone friend endorses the fascinating} 23. Qh2 $1 Re8 24. f3 {with a clear advantage for White; the passed pawn, if he can keep it, along with the bishop pair will undoubtedly make Black's life miserable for some time to come.}) 23... dxe4 24. Rxe4 {White obviously has excellent compensation for the exchange: the passed pawn on d6, the bishop pair, as well as Black's overall passive position are more than enough to cause Black worries. Yet, you cannot escape the feeling that Black had escaped the worst when looking at his position just a few moves earlier.} Qf6 $6 (24... Re8 {is better as the queen, while active, is not particularly well-placed on f6; in fact, it is rather vulnerable.}) 25. Bd3 (25. Be3 $1 {giving the rook more freedom to roam on the fourth rank as well as introducing the bishop to a more productive diagonal (both d4 and b6 could be useful squares) would have been a better option.}) 25... Bf5 26. Re3 Bxd3 27. Rxd3 Qf5 {Now Black has equalized.} 28. Qe3 Rfe8 29. Qd2 Rad8 30. Be3 c5 $1 31. g4 $2 ({A very aggressive and ambitious decision that was questioned by Nakamura on his Twitch broadcast. Nakamura believed that Niemann now would end up in trouble, possibly even losing the game. A draw with} 31. Bxh6 gxh6 32. Qxh6+ Qh7 33. Qf6+ Qg7 34. Qh4+ {was immediately available for Niemann had he so desired.}) 31... Qe4 32. Bxc5 ({Or} 32. f3 Qxf3 33. Bg5 Qxd3 34. Qxd3 hxg5 35. Qf5 Re1+ 36. Kf2 Re6 {when only Black can be better.}) 32... Qxa4 33. Bd4 Re6 (33... Kg8 $5) 34. Bb6 Rd7 35. Bc7 Qc6 $6 ({A strange decision by Firouzja who had plenty of time, over 20 minutes, to find} 35... Qa1+ 36. Kg2 Re1 {and Black is clearly better.}) 36. Re3 Rxe3 $6 ({Firouzja rather strangely decides to exchange down to a drawn queen ending. Instead} 36... a4 {is a better winning try.}) 37. Qxe3 Rxc7 38. dxc7 Qxc7 39. Qe8+ Kh7 40. Qe4+ Kg8 41. Qe8+ Kh7 1/2-1/2 [Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.09.05"] [Round "4"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B30"] [WhiteElo "2759"] [BlackElo "2745"] [Annotator "cahan"] [PlyCount "69"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 {No Petroff today.} 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4 {A favorite Anti-Sicilian line of Aronian.} Nf6 4. d3 Nc6 5. O-O g6 6. Nc3 Bg7 7. h3 O-O 8. a3 ({Previously, Aronian had tried a couple of other moves: a)} 8. Bf4 h6 9. Re1 e5 10. Bd2 Kh7 11. a3 a6 12. Nd5 Nxd5 13. Bxd5 Ne7 14. Ba2 f5 15. b4 f4 {was played in Aronian,L (2775)-Giri,A (2760) chess24.com INT 2022, and now} 16. a4 {would have given White a comfortable edge.}) ({b)} 8. Be3 Na5 9. Bb3 b6 10. Qd2 Nxb3 11. axb3 d5 12. exd5 Nxd5 13. Bh6 Bb7 14. Bxg7 Kxg7 {with approximately equal chances, Aronian,L (2775)-Fedoseev,V (2701) Chess.com INT 2022.}) 8... e6 (8... b6 9. Be3 (9. Ba2 Bb7 10. Re1 e6 11. Bf4 a6 12. Qd2 Re8 13. Bh6 Rc8 14. Bxg7 Kxg7 {1-0 (50) Aronian,L (2781)-Vachier Lagrave,M (2784) Chess.com INT 2020} 15. Ne2 b5 16. Ng3) 9... Bb7 10. Ba2 e6 11. Qc1 Rc8 12. Re1 Ne5 13. Nh2 a6 14. Bh6 Re8 15. Bxg7 Kxg7 16. f4 Nc6 {1/2-1/2 (72) Aronian,L (2765)-Wojtaszek,R (2696) Warsaw 2022} 17. Qd2) 9. Ba2 {White's setup looks a little weird, but it is, of course, well-known with the colors reversed, in the English Opening.} b6 10. Rb1 $5 {This rook move is a well-known idea in the Closed Sicilian. Whether it is particularly applicable in this particular position is a good question. The computer is, however, unimpressed.} Bb7 11. b4 Rc8 12. Ne2 Qe7 13. b5 Nb8 14. Ng3 Nbd7 15. Re1 a6 16. a4 {Around here, in the official broadcast from the tournament, GM Yasser Seirawan expressed that he didn't like Aronian's approach in this particular game. Indeed, the text move is not the best and almost instantly lets Black solve his opening problems.} ({ A more ambitious approach by White is} 16. bxa6 Bxa6 17. c3 {although it is difficult to imagine Black actually being worse in this position.}) 16... axb5 17. axb5 Ra8 $1 {With the a-file open and the c-file mostly closed for business, putting the rook back on the a-file makes a lot of sense.} 18. Bb3 Rfc8 {Nimzowitsch talked about mysterious rook moves, but this particular move is uncontroversially unmysterious $1 In case White decides to play d3-d4, Dominguez puts his f8-rook where it potentially could play a role.} 19. c3 Ne5 $5 ({This is more solid than ambitious. A more tenacious option is} 19... Ra5 $1 20. Bc2 Ne8 {when only Black, if anyone, can be better. Objectively though, this is pretty even.}) 20. Nxe5 dxe5 21. Qc2 Ne8 {The knight is on the way to d6 to entice White to play c3-c4 and thus close the center.} 22. Nf1 Nd6 23. Nd2 Ra5 $6 ({While the text move doesn't unbalance the game in any meaningful way, it is almost certainly not the best. After} 23... Nxb5 24. Bxe6 Qxe6 25. Rxb5 Ba6 26. Rb1 Rd8 27. c4 Qd7 {followed by ...b6-b5, Black has a comfortable position.}) 24. c4 Bh6 25. Bb2 $1 {White doesn't want to exchange Black's bad bishop.} f6 26. Qc3 Rd8 27. Nf3 Nf7 28. Bd1 Bg7 29. Be2 Ra4 30. Bf1 Rda8 31. g3 Rb4 $6 {A tentative draw offer, inviting to repeat moves... yet, it was objectively better to play} (31... Qd8 {intending ...f6-f5, but clearly, as earlier indicated by his 19...Ne5, Dominguez came for a draw today, not an ambitious attempt to win with the black pieces.}) 32. Ra1 Rba4 33. Rab1 ({ Aronian accepts the quiet draw offer. If he had been ambitious, he would have tried} 33. h4 $5 {intending Bh3 when only White can claim an edge.}) 33... Rb4 34. Ra1 Rba4 35. Rab1 1/2-1/2 [Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.09.05"] [Round "4"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E05"] [WhiteElo "2792"] [BlackElo "2771"] [Annotator "cahan"] [PlyCount "50"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 b5 { This move has been all the rage for a while now. Nepomniachtchi used it himself against Magnus Carlsen in last year's world championship match.} 8. a4 Bb7 9. axb5 a6 10. Nc3 axb5 11. Rxa8 Bxa8 12. Nxb5 Bd5 13. Rd1 Nc6 14. Qa4 ({ Some other options are: a)} 14. Bg5 Nb4 15. Qc1 c5 16. dxc5 Qa5 17. Nfd4 Bxg2 18. Kxg2 Rc8 19. Bxf6 gxf6 20. Nd6 {gave White a small plus in Bok,B (2624) -Vazquez,G (2561) Dulles 2022.}) ({b)} 14. Nc3 Bxf3 15. exf3 Nxd4 16. Qa4 c5 17. Qxc4 Nd5 18. f4 Nb6 {and Black had equalized, Zubritskiy,A (2442)-Grigorov, G (2511) Chess.com INT 2022.}) ({c)} 14. Bf4 Nb4 15. Qb1 c5 16. Be5 Ng4 17. Nc3 Nxe5 18. dxe5 Qc7 {with equal chances, Ghazarian,K (2379)-Wachinger $146 (2360) Marianske Lazne 2022.}) 14... Qb8 $5 ({A new move. In the rapid event ahead of Sinquefield Cup, Nepomniachtchi faced} 14... Nd7 15. h4 ({Or} 15. Qa1 Nb4 16. Qb1 Nf6 17. Nc3 Bb7 18. Bg5 Qa8 19. Qa1 h6 20. Qxa8 Rxa8 {1/2-1/2 (64) Fedoseev,V (2701)-Nakamura,H (2750) Chess.com INT 2022}) 15... Nb6 16. Qa1 Qd7 17. Nc3 f5 18. Bf4 Bd6 19. Ne5 Qe8 20. e4 fxe4 21. Nxe4 Bxe5 22. Bxe5 Nxe5 23. dxe5 Nd7 {with a comfortable position for Black, Nepomniachtchi,I (2792) -Nakamura,H (2768) Saint Louis 2022.}) 15. Nc3 Qb6 16. e3 Rb8 17. Nxd5 exd5 18. Ne5 Qa7 19. Qxc6 Rb6 20. b3 Bf8 21. Qa4 Ra6 22. Qb5 Rb6 23. Qa4 Ra6 24. Qb5 Rb6 25. Qa4 Ra6 {At the end of the game, White had used about eight minutes, and Black just 40 seconds, in addition to the 30-second increments added after each move. It is safe to say that So never left his opening preparation.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.09.05"] [Round "4"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2758"] [BlackElo "2757"] [Annotator "Rafael Leitão"] [PlyCount "183"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [TimeControl "5400+30"] {Round four was a strange day for the chess world. Magnus Carlsen made the surprising decision to withdraw from the tournament, leaving everyone dumbfounded. Fortunately, the day was not only made up of controversies; we also had great chess. This game is very interesting in all its phases and also had its share of drama.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. f3 {Vachier-Lagrave is faithful to his Najdorf Defense and Caruana to his English Attack. A theoretical battle appears on the board.} e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8. Be3 Be7 9. Qd2 O-O 10. O-O-O Nbd7 11. g4 b5 12. g5 Nh5 (12... b4 13. gxf6 bxc3 14. Qxc3 Nxf6 15. Na5 {and Caruana achieved an important win in the Olympiad. Caruana-Maghsoodloo, Chennai 2022.}) 13. Kb1 Nb6 14. Na5 Rc8 15. Nd5 (15. a3 { was played by Caruana against the same opponent last year.}) 15... Nxd5 16. exd5 Bxd5 17. Qxd5 Qxa5 18. c4 Nf4 19. Bxf4 exf4 {All this is still well-known theory.} 20. h4 Qa4 21. Rc1 (21. Bd3 {gave Dominguez a win against Vachier-Lagrave last year. The Frenchman certainly has some improvement up his sleeve.}) 21... Rc5 {A novelty in my human database, but there are still computer games with this move. The Najdorf theory can go very far.} (21... Rfe8 {seems more reliable.}) 22. Qe4 {From now on, I suspect Vachier-Lagrave's preparation ended, or maybe he forgot his analysis.} Re5 $6 (22... Re8 $1 { is better. The idea is to sacrifice a pawn and achieve good compensation after} 23. Bd3 g6 24. Qxf4 Bf8) 23. Qxf4 f6 $2 {Black wants to activate his bishop, but this move creates weaknesses around the king and loses. 23...Rb8 or 23... Qb4 are better alternatives, although Black's position is already difficult.} ( 23... Rb8) (23... Qb4) 24. Qh2 {Caruana thought for a long time to play this move. It still gives White a big advantage, but 24.Qd2 is even better.} (24. gxf6 $2 Bxf6 {is what Black wants.}) (24. g6 {is tempting, but not clear after} d5 $1 (24... hxg6 $2 25. Qg3 {with a strong attack.})) (24. Qd2 $1 {This is a very strong move and will be played later in the game with the difference that the rook is on e5 here and on c5 in the game. White simply prepares f3-f4.} fxg5 (24... bxc4 {is better but has an overwhelming advantage after} 25. Bxc4+ Kh8 26. f4) 25. hxg5 {Now White is winning in all variations.} Bxg5 (25... Rxg5 26. Bd3 {[%CAl Gd3h7,Gd3c2]} h6 27. Bc2 $1 {and the queen has no squares.}) 26. Qxd6 Bxc1 (26... Rfe8 27. Bd3 h6 28. Bc2 $1 Qa5 29. f4 $3 {This strong move is given by my computer.} Bxf4 (29... R5e6 30. Qd5 $18) 30. Rcd1 bxc4 31. Rhf1 Rf8 32. Qg6 {with a deadly attack.}) 27. Bd3 $1 Bh6 28. Qxe5 bxc4 29. Qe6+ Kh8 30. Qe4 g6 31. Qh4 $1 {and White wins.}) 24... Rc5 (24... bxc4 {is a better try, although White is much better after} 25. Bxc4+ Kh8) 25. Qe2 Re5 26. Qh2 (26. Qd2 {transposes to the lines we checked before.}) 26... Rc5 27. Qd2 $5 { This is also very effective with the rook on c5.} bxc4 (27... fxg5 $2 {Loses in a similar way to the variations previously analyzed.} 28. hxg5 Bxg5 (28... Rxg5 29. Bd3) 29. Qxd6 Bxc1 30. Bd3 $1) 28. Bxc4+ Kh8 29. Qe2 Re5 30. Qd3 d5 31. f4 {A human move, but not the most accurate, according to the machine.} ( 31. Bb3 $6 Qb5) (31. Bxd5 {is possible, with a better endgame after} Rd8 32. Bb3) (31. Bxa6 {is the computer's favorite.}) 31... dxc4 32. Rxc4 Re3 $1 33. Qxe3 Qxc4 34. Qxe7 Kg8 35. Qe3 fxg5 36. fxg5 Rf1+ 37. Rxf1 Qxf1+ 38. Kc2 { After all this logical play, the game arrives at a queen endgame with good winning chances for White. I firmly believe queen endgames are the most difficult in chess, even more than rook endgames. Even the very best can make mistakes, as we will soon see.} Qc4+ 39. Kd2 {The nuances in queen endgames are very hard to understand and even more to explain. Play is very concrete, and sometimes you must check on some exact squares that only a computer can find. For this reason, I will indicate sometimes what the machine think is best, but the reader should not believe that I know why.} Qb4+ (39... Qd5+ { is better.}) 40. Kd3 (40. Kd1 $1 {is better. Chess is difficult.}) 40... Qb5+ 41. Kc3 Qc6+ 42. Kd2 h6 (42... Qd5+ {is better.}) 43. gxh6 Qd5+ 44. Kc2 Qg2+ $6 (44... Qc6+ {is more accurate.}) 45. Qd2 Qc6+ 46. Qc3 (46. Kb3 {is more precise.} gxh6 47. Qd3) 46... Qxh6 (46... Qg6+ {For some mysterious reason, it's better to give this check before capturing the pawn.} 47. Kb3 Qxh6 { Maybe it's because now White can't play b4 like in the game $2}) 47. Qc4+ Kf8 48. b4 $1 {Now the king hides behind the pawn.} Ke7 49. Kb3 Kd7 50. Ka4 { It's finally clear that White is winning. But the adventures are not over.} Qh5 51. a3 g6 52. Qxa6 Qxh4 53. Qxg6 {The position is easily winning with tablebases on, but not so much when actually playing the game.} Kc7 54. Kb5 Kb7 55. a4 Qe7 56. Qc6+ Kb8 57. Qd5 Qe8+ 58. Kb6 Qe3+ 59. Ka6 Qa7+ 60. Kb5 Qe7 61. Qc6 Qe2+ 62. Ka5 Qe7 63. Qc5 Qf7 64. Qc6 (64. b5 {wins easily. It's finally time to push the pawn.}) 64... Qa7+ 65. Kb5 Qe7 66. Qb6+ Ka8 67. Qc5 $2 { This move throws away the win.} (67. Qa6+ Kb8 68. Qc6 {With this triangulation, White forces the black queen to move to a worse square, since she is ideally placed on e7. Chess is easy to explain when you have tablebases at your side.}) 67... Qb7+ 68. Ka5 Qc7+ $1 {This is the trick.} 69. Kb5 Qb7+ 70. Kc4 Qe4+ 71. Kc3 Qe1+ 72. Kb2 Qd2+ 73. Kb3 Qd1+ 74. Qc2 Qd5+ 75. Kb2 Qd4+ 76. Qc3 Qf2+ 77. Ka3 Qf7 78. Qd3 Qf6 79. a5 Qa1+ $2 (79... Qe6 $1 {and tablebases indicate a draw.}) 80. Kb3 Qe1 81. Kc4 Kb8 82. Qd6+ Ka7 83. Qd4+ Kb7 84. Qd7+ Kb8 85. Qd4 Kb7 86. Qd7+ Kb8 87. a6 $2 {Now it's a draw again.} (87. Qd6+ {is one of the winning moves.}) 87... Qe2+ 88. Qd3 Qe6+ (88... Qe7 $1 {is the only move to make a draw. As I wrote earlier, these endgames are impossible for a human to play precisely.}) 89. Kc5 Qe5+ 90. Qd5 {Now it's over.} Qe3+ 91. Kb5 Qe7 92. a7+ $1 {[%c_effect a7;square;a7;type;GreatFind;persistent;true] Caruana forces the exchange of queens.} 1-0 [Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.09.06"] [Round "5"] [White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C43"] [WhiteElo "2757"] [BlackElo "2792"] [Annotator "cahan"] [PlyCount "66"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. d4 Nxe4 4. Bd3 d5 5. Nxe5 Nd7 6. Nc3 Nxc3 7. bxc3 Bd6 ({ Or} 7... Nxe5 8. dxe5 Bc5 9. O-O O-O 10. Qh5 g6 11. Qh6 Re8 12. Bg5 Bf8 13. Bxd8 Bxh6 14. Bxc7 Bf5 15. Rab1 Bxd3 16. cxd3 Rac8 17. Bd6 b6 {with equality in Vachier Lagrave,M (2751)-Dominguez Perez,L (2758) chess24.com INT 2021.}) 8. O-O O-O 9. Nxd7 ({In a recent game with Nepomniachtchi behind the White pieces, he tried} 9. Re1 c5 10. Qf3 c4 11. Bf5 Nxe5 12. dxe5 Re8 13. Bxc8 Rxc8 14. Bg5 Be7 15. e6 fxe6 16. Rxe6 Bxg5 17. Rxe8+ Qxe8 18. Qxd5+ Kh8 19. Qxg5 Qe2 { with complete equality in Nepomniachtchi,I (2773)-Dominguez Perez,L (2753) Bucharest 2022.}) 9... Bxd7 10. Qh5 f5 11. Bg5 Qe8 12. Qf3 Qg6 13. h4 (13. Bf4 {is the main line, but Black has not experienced any problems in this line, so it is hardly a surprise that the French GM wanted to try something different.}) 13... h6 ({This is better than} 13... Kh8 14. Rfe1 Rae8 15. Bf4 Bxf4 16. Qxf4 Qc6 17. Rab1 a6 {as seen in Munguntuul,B (2430)-Kashlinskaya,A (2484) Moscow 2019, when} 18. Re5 {seems to offer White an advantage.}) 14. Bf4 Bxf4 15. Qxf4 Qd6 ({Finally, Nepomniachtchi departs from a game between very low-rated players:} 15... Qc6 16. Rab1 a6 17. Rfe1 Rae8 18. Re5 b5 19. Rbe1 Rxe5 20. Rxe5 Qd6 21. g3 c6 22. Kg2 a5 {and draw agreed ,½-½, Moreira,J (1750)-Husemann,A (1934) LSS email 2011.}) 16. Qxd6 cxd6 17. Rfb1 {According to the engines, White is marginally better thanks to his somewhat superior pawn structure. However, Nepo had reached this position after barely a thought and he continued to play the remainder of the game at a steady, fast pace.} Rab8 18. a4 Rfc8 19. Ra3 Kf7 20. a5 Kf6 {It is difficult to see where White will find a way through. In the remainder of the game, it is clear that neither side is particularly interested in giving it a try.} 21. f4 g5 22. Rab3 Rc7 23. hxg5+ hxg5 24. Kf2 gxf4 25. Rh1 Kg5 26. Rh7 Rbc8 27. Rb1 Bc6 28. Rbh1 Rxh7 29. Rxh7 Kg6 30. Re7 Kf6 31. Rh7 Kg6 32. Re7 Kf6 33. Rh7 Kg6 1/2-1/2 [Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.09.06"] [Round "5"] [White "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"] [Black "Niemann, Hans Moke"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2745"] [BlackElo "2688"] [Annotator "Rafael Leitão"] [PlyCount "94"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [TimeControl "5400+30"] {It must be difficult for the participants to just focus on playing the games right now. It's no wonder that the level of play and combativeness of the tournament has dropped in the last two rounds. Fortunately, tomorrow is a free day and I hope everyone's energies are renewed and tempers calmed so that the tournament continues with great games in its final phase.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. O-O d6 6. c3 a6 7. a4 Ba7 8. Nbd2 O-O 9. h3 h6 10. Re1 Ne7 {An interesting attempt in this heavily theoretical position. 10...Re8 and 10...Be6 are more common.} (10... Re8) (10... Be6) 11. Bb3 (11. Nf1 {is the main move.}) (11. d4 {is not so good here because of the wise} Nc6 $1 {and White's center is under attack.}) 11... c5 {This move is ugly because it closes the a7-bishop, but it's point is to make the d4-advance harder for White.} (11... Ng6 {is the natural move.}) 12. Nf1 (12. a5 Nc6 13. Nc4 Be6 { and White will have to sacrifice the a5-pawn.}) (12. Nc4 Be6 13. Ne3 { transposes to the game.}) 12... Be6 13. Ne3 Qd7 14. Bd2 Rad8 $6 {I don't see how this move is useful for Black.} (14... b5 $6 {is also not very good after} 15. axb5 axb5 16. Bxe6 fxe6 17. Ng4 $1 Nxg4 18. hxg4 {and this position is me more unpleasant for Black than it seems at first sight. White will push g4-g5 and start some pressure on the kingside.}) (14... Bb6 $5 {Trying to improve the bishop's position is the computer suggestion, although I prefer White.} 15. a5 Bc7) 15. a5 $1 {Gaining space on the queenside.} Bb8 (15... Ng6 16. c4 { followed by Nd5 with a similar position to what happens in the game.}) 16. Ba4 Qc8 17. c4 {With natural moves, Dominguez achieves a big positional advantage. White is ready to place a knight on d5 and b2-b4 will open the queenside.} Ng6 18. Nd5 Nxd5 19. cxd5 Bd7 20. b4 cxb4 $6 (20... Ba7 {is more stubborn.}) 21. Rc1 Bxa4 22. Qxa4 Qd7 23. Qxd7 Rxd7 24. Rc4 {A nice touch, although the simple 24.Bxb4 is simple and good.} Ba7 25. Be3 $1 Bxe3 26. fxe3 {This position is objectively lost for Black because of the weaknesses on b7/d6 and the lack of space and counterplay.} f5 {A desperate attempt.} (26... Ne7 27. Rxb4 Rc8 28. Reb1 Rcc7 29. g4 {and White is winning in the long run as he can slowly improve the position.}) 27. exf5 Rxf5 28. Rb1 Rff7 29. Nd2 $1 Ne7 30. e4 Kf8 31. Rcxb4 (31. Rbxb4 {is also good.}) 31... Nc8 32. Nf3 Na7 33. d4 $1 exd4 34. Nxd4 g6 35. R1b3 Kg7 36. h4 {An interesting move, improving the pawn structure. , although it's not really necessary.} (36. Ne6+ Kf6 37. Rf3+ Ke7 (37... Ke5 38. Nf8 $18) 38. Rg3 g5 39. h4 $1 gxh4 40. Rg6 {is winning.}) 36... Nb5 37. Nxb5 $2 {A horrible mistake.The knight belongs to the e6-square.} (37. Ne6+ Kf6 38. Rf3+ Ke7 (38... Ke5 39. Nf8 $18) 39. Rg3 {is easily winning since Black is paralyzed.} Rf6 (39... Kf6 40. Rc4 $18) 40. Rc4 Na7 {To avoid Rc8.} 41. h5 $1 gxh5 (41... g5 {weakens the f5-square and White can win in many ways.}) 42. Rg7+ Rf7 43. Rg8 {with complete domination.}) 37... axb5 38. Rf3 $6 {Another bad move. Dominguez loses control of the game.} (38. Rxb5 Kf6 39. Rg3 {Still give some winning chances, although Black should make a draw after} (39. Kf2 $6 Ke5+ 40. Ke3 Rf4 $1 {with counterplay.}) 39... g5 40. hxg5+ hxg5 {As his king and rooks can become active in the next moves.}) 38... Rfe7 39. Kf2 Rc7 40. Ke3 Rc2 {Now Black has enough counterplay for a draw.} 41. Rf2 Rc1 42. Kd3 Rd1+ 43. Rd2 Re1 44. Re2 Rd1+ 45. Rd2 Re1 46. Rf2 Rd1+ 47. Rd2 Re1 1/2-1/2 [Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.09.06"] [Round "5"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D38"] [WhiteElo "2757"] [BlackElo "2758"] [Annotator "cahan"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bf4 Ne4 7. Rc1 Qe7 8. Nd2 Nxc3 9. bxc3 Ba3 10. Rb1 O-O 11. e3 ({This is much better than} 11. g3 $6 c6 12. h4 $6 Bf5 13. Rb3 b5 14. Bg2 a5 15. Nb1 $2 a4 16. Rxa3 Bxb1 17. Qc1 Bd3 18. O-O Bc4 19. Bxb8 Raxb8 20. Re1 f5 21. e3 Rbe8 22. Bf1 f4 {and White had finally had enough, 0-1, Abdusattorov $146 (2634)-Aronian,L (2782) chess24.com INT 2021.}) ({Another reasonable option was} 11. Nf3 c5 12. dxc5 Bxc5 13. e3 Nc6 14. Bd3 Bg4 15. h3 Bh5 16. g4 Bg6 17. Bxg6 hxg6 18. Qxd5 {was better for White in Peralta,F (2595)-Berdayes Ason,D (2489) Barcelona 2022.}) 11... g5 12. Bg3 f5 13. Be5 Nc6 14. f4 ({Or} 14. Qb3 Nxe5 15. dxe5 f4 16. e4 Bc5 (16... g4 $5) 17. Bd3 Qxe5 $2 (17... g4 $1) 18. Qxd5+ Qxd5 19. exd5 Bf5 20. Bxf5 Rxf5 { with equality in Abdusattorov $146 (2634)-Aronian,L (2782) chess24.com INT 2021.}) 14... Nxe5 15. fxe5 f4 16. Bd3 ({Thus far, the players had followed a game between lower-ranked players, which continued} 16. e4 g4 17. Qb3 Kh8 18. Bd3 Qh4+ 19. Kd1 Be7 20. exd5 Qf2 21. Kc2 {and White was winning in Barseghyan, A (2356)-Grebnev,A (2463) Cheliabinsk 2022.}) (16. Qf3 $5 {could also be considered.}) 16... fxe3 17. Nf1 c5 18. Nxe3 cxd4 19. cxd4 Bb4+ 20. Ke2 Qf7 21. Qg1 Bc3 22. Rf1 {Has White managed to stabilize and is on top $2} Qxf1+ $1 { Nope $1 A brilliant reply.} 23. Qxf1 ({A fascinating point is that} 23. Nxf1 { is met by} Bg4+ 24. Ke3 Rf4 {which looks terrible for White, yet he is able to save himself with} 25. Bxh7+ Kxh7 26. Kd3 Rc8 27. Ng3 Rc4 28. Qb1 {The line continues in forced fashion to a drawn ending, which I suspect Caruana had on his computer ahead of the game.} Kh6 29. Rf1 Rfxd4+ 30. Ke3 Bd2+ 31. Kf2 Rf4+ 32. Kg1 Be3+ 33. Kh1 Rxf1+ 34. Nxf1 Rc1 35. Qd3 Rd1 36. Qxd1 Bxd1 37. Nxe3) 23... Rxf1 24. Rxf1 Bxd4 25. Nf5 Bxf5 26. Rxf5 Re8 {This was the first time Caruana thought for more than 30 or so seconds. Now the draw is inevitable.} 27. Rxg5+ Kh8 28. Kf3 Rxe5 29. Rxe5 Bxe5 30. h4 Kg7 31. Bc2 h6 32. Bb3 d4 33. Ke4 Bf6 34. g4 Kf8 35. g5 hxg5 36. hxg5 Bxg5 37. Kxd4 b5 38. a4 a6 39. axb5 axb5 40. Bc4 Be3+ 41. Kxe3 bxc4 42. Kd4 c3 43. Kxc3 1/2-1/2 [Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.09.06"] [Round "5"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E04"] [WhiteElo "2771"] [BlackElo "2759"] [Annotator "cahan"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 c5 6. O-O Nc6 7. dxc5 Qxd1 8. Rxd1 Bxc5 9. Nbd2 c3 10. bxc3 O-O 11. Nb3 Be7 12. Nfd4 ({This is a departure from the lines both of the combatants have debated the most:} 12. c4 Bd7 13. Bb2 ({or} 13. a4 Rad8 14. Bb2 Bc8 15. Nfd4 Nxd4 16. Bxd4 b6 17. a5 Nd7 18. axb6 axb6 19. Bc6 {with a clear advantage for White in Giri,A (2780)-Aronian,L (2781) Bucharest 2021.}) 13... Rfd8 (13... Rfc8 14. Rac1 (14. Bxf6 Bxf6 15. Rxd7 Bxa1 16. Nxa1 Rd8 17. Rd2 Ne5 18. Nb3 Nxc4 19. Rd4 Rxd4 20. Nfxd4 Nd6 { was about equal in Erigaisi,A (2567)-Aronian,L (2781) chess24.com INT 2021.}) 14... Be8 15. Nfd4 a5 16. Nxc6 Bxc6 17. Bxc6 Rxc6 18. Nd4 Rcc8 19. Nb5 a4 20. Bxf6 Bxf6 21. Rd7 b6 22. Rb7 Rab8 23. Ra7 Ra8 24. Rb7 Rab8 25. Ra7 Ra8 26. Rb7 {and draw by repetition, ½-½, So,W (2776)-Anand,V (2751) Warsaw 2022.}) 14. Nfd4 Rac8 15. Nb5 b6 (15... Be8 16. c5 Nd5 17. Nd6 Bxd6 18. cxd6 Nb8 19. Rac1 { gave White a clear advantage in So,W (2760)-Kaidanov,G (2561) Las Vegas 2015.}) 16. Nd6 Rc7 17. Ba3 Ne5 18. Nb5 Bxb5 19. Rxd8+ Bxd8 20. cxb5 Nc4 21. Bb4 Be7 22. Bxe7 Rxe7 23. Rc1 {and White had a small plus in So,W (2776)-Aronian,L (2765) Warsaw 2022, but Black ultimately saved a draw.}) 12... Nxd4 ({So had previously faced} 12... Bd7 13. Nxc6 Bxc6 14. Bxc6 bxc6 15. c4 Rfb8 16. Bd2 Rb6 17. Rac1 c5 18. Be3 Rc6 {was, more or less, completely equal in So,W (2780) -Vidit,S (2718) Chess.com INT 2018, even though Wesley kept pushing for a a very long time.}) 13. Rxd4 e5 14. Rd1 Rb8 15. Na5 Bc5 ({Or} 15... Bg4 16. Kf1 e4 17. Rb1 Be6 18. Bf4 Rbd8 19. Nxb7 Rxd1+ 20. Rxd1 {as played in Popov,I (2614)-Socko,M (2445) St Petersburg 2012, and here} Rc8 21. Be5 Nd5 22. Bxe4 Nxc3 {seems likely to lead to a draw.}) 16. h3 h6 17. Nc4 Re8 18. Nxe5 Bf5 19. Nd3 ({Another try was} 19. g4 $5 Be4 20. Bf4 {with a perhaps an edge for White, but, like in the game, Black as excellent drawing chances.}) 19... Rbd8 20. Kf1 Be4 21. Bxe4 Nxe4 22. Bb2 Bf8 23. c4 Rd6 {White has an extra pawn, but it will be very difficult to hang on to the c-pawn once Black starts attacking it with both rooks. Nakamura was already certain that the game would end in a draw at this juncture.} 24. c5 {Handing the pawn back.} Nxc5 25. Ba3 Rc6 26. Bxc5 Bxc5 27. Rac1 Rec8 28. Nxc5 Rxc5 29. Rxc5 Rxc5 {While White will win a pawn, this endgame is completely drawn in praxis. It didn't take long for the players to reach that conclusion in this game too.} 30. Rd8+ Kh7 31. Rd7 Rc1+ 32. Kg2 Ra1 33. Rxf7 Rxa2 34. Rxb7 Rxe2 35. Rxa7 h5 36. Ra5 g6 37. Ra7+ Kh6 38. h4 Rb2 39. Rf7 Ra2 40. Rc7 Rb2 41. Rf7 Ra2 42. Rc7 Rb2 43. Rf7 1/2-1/2 [Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.09.08"] [Round "6"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B45"] [WhiteElo "2792"] [BlackElo "2758"] [Annotator "cahan"] [PlyCount "106"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] {[%evp 0,106,17,8,58,46,56,34,40,31,50,35,28,4,62,29,30,30,30,30,30,34,31,36, 41,43,34,41,49,45,87,87,60,61,116,56,56,63,64,64,64,43,39,40,51,34,46,56,49,38, 39,43,42,29,54,48,58,47,54,46,75,58,52,66,54,62,55,41,55,65,47,45,47,66,51,65, 53,65,55,48,46,40,46,46,46,46,51,46,51,44,76,60,69,65,50,50,76,50,43,42,14,21, 14,12,7,12,12,7,7]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Ndb5 Bb4 7. a3 Bxc3+ 8. Nxc3 d5 9. exd5 exd5 10. Bd3 O-O 11. O-O Bg4 12. f3 Bh5 13. Bg5 Qb6+ 14. Kh1 Ne4 {A spectacular move, but a well-known one. It was also featured in a game from last year by Nepomniachtchi.} 15. Nxe4 dxe4 16. Bxe4 Qxb2 17. Qb1 Qb6 18. Qxb6 axb6 19. Rfb1 Bg6 20. Bxc6 bxc6 21. Rxb6 h6 22. Bf4 ({The first departure from the previously trodden path, a path laid out in another Nepo game:} 22. Be7 Rfe8 23. Bb4 Rac8 24. a4 c5 25. Bc3 Re3 26. Bd2 Re2 27. Bf4 Rce8 28. Bg3 Rxc2 29. a5 Ree2 30. a6 Ra2 31. Rxa2 Rxa2 32. Kg1 Bd3 33. Rc6 Ra1+ 34. Kf2 Ra2+ 35. Kg1 Ra1+ 36. Kf2 Ra2+ {and draw agreed, ½-½, Nepomniachtchi,I (2792)-Rapport,R (2763) Paris 2021.}) 22... Bxc2 23. Rxc6 Rfc8 24. Bc7 Ba4 25. Rc3 f6 {It was only around here that Caruana starting thinking but in reality, the game is already decided, it will be a draw. To his credit, Nepomniachtchi, kept trying for a while longer.} 26. h4 h5 27. Kh2 Kf7 28. Rac1 Bd7 29. Kg3 Ra4 30. Bb6 Rxc3 31. Rxc3 g5 {Caruana tries to force the draw. The computer claims 31...Bb5 as better, but in reality, it is a case of all roads leading to Rome... in this case, representing the draw.} 32. hxg5 fxg5 33. Bd8 Kg6 34. Rd3 h4+ 35. Kh2 Bf5 36. Rd6+ Kh5 37. Rf6 Bc8 38. Rc6 Bf5 39. Be7 Rd4 40. Rf6 Bd7 41. Rf8 Kg6 42. Rd8 Rd1 43. Bc5 Kf7 44. Bf2 g4 45. fxg4 Bxg4 46. Ra8 Rd2 47. Ra7+ Ke6 48. Ra6+ Kd7 49. Ra4 Bf3 $1 50. Kg1 Rd1+ 51. Kh2 Rd2 52. Kg1 Rd1+ 53. Kh2 Rd2 1/2-1/2 [Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.09.08"] [Round "6"] [White "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A20"] [WhiteElo "2778"] [BlackElo "2757"] [Annotator "cahan"] [PlyCount "55"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nf6 ({In the Candidates tournament in Madrid, Nepomniachtchi was a good game against Ding Liren after} 2... c6 3. Nf3 e4 4. Nd4 d5 5. cxd5 Qxd5 6. Nc2 Nf6 7. Nc3 Qe5 8. Bg2 Na6 9. O-O Be7 10. Ne3 O-O 11. a3 Re8 12. b4 Ng4 13. Bb2 Qh5 14. h4 Bf6 15. Qc2 Nxe3 16. dxe3 Bf5 17. Na4 Bxb2 18. Nxb2 Nc7 19. Nc4 Re6 20. Rfd1 Nd5 21. Rd4 h6 22. Qd2 Rae8 23. Kh2 Bg4 24. Na5 Rf6 25. Kg1 g5 26. Nxb7 gxh4 27. Nc5 h3 28. Rxe4 hxg2 29. Rxe8+ Kg7 30. f4 Qh1+ 31. Kf2 Qxa1 32. Kxg2 Bh3+ {0-1 (32) Ding,L (2806)-Nepomniachtchi,I (2766) Madrid 2022} ) ({One of the Rapid & Blitz games between Firouzja & Mamedyarov saw} 2... Be7 3. Nc3 d6 4. d4 f5 5. Bh3 exd4 6. Qxd4 Nc6 7. Qd3 Bf6 8. Bxf5 Bxc3+ 9. bxc3 Ne5 10. Qc2 Bxf5 11. Qxf5 Qd7 12. Qxd7+ Kxd7 {and although Black is somewhat better in this position, White managed to win, Firouzja,A (2778)-Mamedyarov,S (2758) Saint Louis 2022.}) 3. Bg2 c6 4. Nf3 ({The other game between the combatants from the Rapid & Blitz event saw} 4. d4 e4 5. a3 d5 6. Nc3 Be7 7. Bg5 Nbd7 8. Qb3 O-O 9. e3 h6 10. Bxf6 Nxf6 11. cxd5 cxd5 {and once more, Black was better but White eventually won the game, Firouzja,A (2778)-Mamedyarov,S (2758) Saint Louis 2022.}) 4... e4 5. Nd4 d5 6. cxd5 Qxd5 7. Nc2 Qh5 {The main line.} 8. h3 Qg6 9. Nc3 Bc5 ({The other main move is} 9... Bd6 10. O-O O-O 11. d3 exd3 12. Qxd3 Qxd3 13. exd3 Be6 {with equal chances in Ding Liren (2791) -Giri,A (2764) chess24.com INT 2020.}) 10. b4 Bb6 11. Bb2 O-O 12. Ne3 Re8 13. Qc2 Nbd7 14. Rd1 $6 ({Apparently, White is considering an advance of the d-pawn at some point but this is definitely not the best. Another try was} 14. Rb1 h5 15. h4 Bd4 16. Na4 Bxb2 17. Rxb2 {as seen in Hertneck,G (2455)-Lehmann, K (2320) Germany 1989, and here} Ne5 18. O-O b6 19. Nc3 Neg4 {would have given Black a satisfactory position.}) 14... a5 $6 (14... a6 $5) 15. b5 Bd4 $6 16. Rb1 $6 (16. h4 $5) 16... c5 17. h4 $6 ({Here, the positional, temporary pawn sacrifice} 17. b6 Nxb6 18. Nb5 {was the to go.}) 17... h5 18. Ncd5 $2 (18. b6 { was again better.}) 18... Nxd5 19. Nxd5 Bxf2+ $1 {It seems almost too trivial to have been something Firouzja had overlooked, but now Black is clearly better.} 20. Kxf2 Qf5+ 21. Ke1 Qxd5 {As Peter Svidler said in the official broadcast, it is rather remarkable that Mamedyarov manages to take this position, which is much better for Black, to a point where he resigns just six moves later.} 22. Rf1 Nf8 $2 (22... b6 {intending ...Bb7 is better.}) 23. Qc3 Ne6 24. Rf4 f5 $2 ({After} 24... Bd7 25. Rxe4 Qf5 {, both sides would have chances.}) 25. d3 Nd4 $4 {A bizarre blunder.} 26. e3 Qxa2 ({Or} 26... Ne6 27. dxe4 Qxa2 28. Ra1 {and White wins.}) 27. Ra1 Qe6 28. dxe4 {and Black resigned.} 1-0 [Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.09.08"] [Round "6"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2759"] [BlackElo "2757"] [Annotator "cahan"] [PlyCount "97"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] {[%evp 0,97,19,31,72,53,68,72,74,26,26,35,67,42,50,23,37,36,64,29,28,45,31,47, 48,15,11,-53,30,25,19,-26,-7,-42,-3,-3,0,-20,-20,-65,-31,-29,-30,-33,-23,-31, 31,48,45,45,51,49,45,45,36,36,59,60,58,47,61,64,61,58,67,42,72,68,61,55,36,17, 15,11,59,65,89,75,86,81,80,84,146,169,169,186,181,203,242,183,245,163,218,230, 251,282,266,326,716,884]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. f3 e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8. Be3 h5 ({In round 4, against Caruana, Vachier-Lagrave tried} 8... Be7 9. Qd2 O-O 10. O-O-O Nbd7 11. g4 b5 12. g5 Nh5 13. Kb1 Nb6 14. Na5 Rc8 15. Nd5 Nxd5 16. exd5 Bxd5 17. Qxd5 Qxa5 18. c4 Nf4 19. Bxf4 exf4 20. h4 Qa4 21. Rc1 Rc5 22. Qe4 Re5 23. Qxf4 f6 24. Qh2 {and White had a clear advantage in Caruana,F (2758) -Vachier-Lagrave,M (2757) Sinquefield Cup 2022.}) 9. Nd5 Bxd5 10. exd5 Nbd7 11. Qd2 g6 12. O-O-O Nb6 13. Kb1 Nbxd5 14. Bg5 Be7 15. Bd3 ({In the first round of the event, Dominguez here tried} 15. a3 Qc7 16. g3 O-O-O 17. Qf2 Kb8 18. Rd3 Nd7 19. Bd2 N5f6 20. Ba5 b6 21. Bd2 Rc8 22. Bg5 { and White had phenomenal compensation for the sacrificed pawn, Dominguez Perez, L (2745)-Vachier-Lagrave, M (2757), Sinquefield Cup 2022.}) 15... Qc7 16. Rhf1 ({A new move. Thus far, the main line has been} 16. Rhe1 {. The text move prepares f3-f4, giving White some positional compensation for the sacrificed pawn.}) 16... Nh7 17. Bh6 Nhf6 {Draw $2} 18. c4 $1 {No draw for you $1} Nb6 19. Bg7 $5 Rg8 $6 ({According to the engines,} 19... Rh7 $5 {was better but it is a decidedly non-human move. It makes more sense to keep the rook on the back rank, potentially connectiing it to the other rook if Black decides to castle queenside, or, as in the game, castle by hand to the kingside.}) 20. Bxf6 Bxf6 21. Na5 (21. Rc1 $5) 21... Kf8 22. Be4 {For the sacrificed pawn, White has nice light-squared compensation as well as better coordinated pieces. The entire black set-up is somewhat disjointed, even if the computer thinks Black's position is entirely acceptable.} Kg7 $6 (22... Nxc4 23. Nxc4 Qxc4 { was possibly better, forcing White to demonstrate what he has mind for the material investment he has made.}) 23. Qxd6 Rac8 24. Bxb7 Nxc4 25. Qxc7 Rxc7 26. Nxc4 Rxb7 27. Rfe1 Rgb8 28. b3 {This position is somewhat better for White: the queenside majority, the good knight vs inferior bishop and weakness free position whereas Black has both the a6- and e5-pawns to worry about. However, at present, White is still far away from converting his advantage.} Rc7 29. Re4 Rc5 $6 (29... Rb5 {was apparently the more accurate move.}) 30. Rd7 Rbc8 31. Re1 R8c7 32. Red1 ({It seems that Aronian wasn't sure if White's advantage after} 32. Rxc7 Rxc7 33. Nxe5 {would be convertable.}) 32... h4 ({Or} 32... Rxd7 33. Rxd7 Rc6 34. a4 Re6 {, and it is far from obvious that White will win. }) 33. h3 Bg5 34. a4 Bf4 35. a5 e4 $1 ({Or} 35... Rxd7 $1 36. Rxd7 Rb5 37. Kc2 e4 $1 38. fxe4 Rg5 {and Black has excellent drawing chances.}) 36. R7d4 $6 (36. fxe4 {would transpose to the above mentioned line.}) 36... f5 $2 ({A blunder. After} 36... Re7 $1 37. Rxe4 Rxe4 38. fxe4 Rg5 39. Rf1 Bc7 40. Rf2 Bxa5 { , White is, if anything, slightly worse $1}) 37. fxe4 Kh6 38. exf5 Rxf5 39. Rf1 {Now, White has a clear advantage.} Rcf7 $2 40. b4 Kh5 $6 41. Nd6 $1 {Now the game is swiftly over.} Bxd6 42. Rxf5+ Rxf5 43. Rxd6 Rf4 44. Rb6 g5 45. Rb8 Rf1+ 46. Kb2 Rf2+ 47. Kb3 Rxg2 48. b5 g4 49. Rh8+ 1-0 [Event "St. Louis"] [Site "St. Louis"] [Date "2022.09.08"] [Round "6.2"] [White "Niemann, Hans Moke"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C42"] [WhiteElo "2688"] [BlackElo "2771"] [Annotator "Bojkov,Dejan"] [PlyCount "118"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackTeam "United States"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "USA"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 {So noticed that his opponent has thousands of games against 2...Nc6 in the database, but very few with 2...Nf6. \"We had a rest day yesterday and Hans prepares extremely well the openings, so why not the Petroff $6\"} ({Despite the fact that So rarely plays the Petroff he should have felt pretty confident, as the arising pawn structures were familiar to him thanks to his Berlin experience. One example:} 2... Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6. Nxe5 Be7 7. Bf1 Nf5 8. Nf3 d5 9. d4 O-O 10. c3 Bd6 11. Bd3 Re8 12. g3 Rxe1+ 13. Qxe1 Nfe7 14. Nbd2 Bf5 15. Qe2 Qd7 16. Nf1 Re8 17. Ne3 Bxd3 18. Qxd3 Nd8 19. Bd2 c6 20. Re1 f6 21. Nf5 Nxf5 22. Rxe8+ Qxe8 {and a draw later in Tari,A (2639)-So,W (2772) chess24.com 2021}) 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Bf5 {Black solves the problem of his most problematic piece. A very good sign for the second player.} 7. O-O Be7 8. Re1 O-O 9. Nbd2 { Main theory so far as expected.} Nd6 10. Nf1 c6 ({Instead:} 10... Bg6 11. Bf4 Nd7 {has been tried in another top-GM game and after} 12. Ng3 Re8 13. c3 Nf8 14. Bxg6 hxg6 15. Qc2 Qc8 16. Qb3 Nc4 17. Nf1 Ne6 18. Bg3 c5 {it was dynamically balanced in Aronian,L (2775)-Xiong,J (2690) Saint Louis 2022}) 11. Bf4 Bxd3 12. Qxd3 Na6 {Looks like the best path for the knight.} ({A creative GM chose instead} 12... Nd7 13. Qb3 Nb6 14. a4 Nbc4 {and Black held this, although the knight's position seemed a tad artificial in Esipenko,A (2677) -Duda,J (2743) Wijk aan Zee 2021}) 13. Ne3 Nc7 {[#]} 14. b3 $146 {This is a novelty, and a logical one. Niemann prepares the c2-c4 advance, the only realistic chance to put the opponent's center under pressure.} ({Black felt confidently in the predecessor:} 14. Re2 Ne6 15. Bxd6 Bxd6 16. g3 Qd7 17. Rae1 Rae8 18. b3 Nc7 19. c4 Bb4 {Anand,V (2767)-Yu,Y (2738) Stavanger 2019}) 14... Ne6 15. Be5 {So assumed that his opponent's opening preparation ended here.} Ne4 $1 {A nice maneuver $1 \"Black's only problem is the d5 -pawn.\"} 16. c4 Nf6 {\"I thought this equalizes well.\" (So)} 17. Rad1 ({Another idea was} 17. Qf5 g6 18. Qh3 {(So) in order to try and organize some play on the kingside, but Black should be very solid there as well.}) (17. g3 $5 {at once also made sense.}) 17... g6 18. g3 {Covers the f4 square in advance, and prepares the double trade on f6 and d5.} ({Black carefully checked if he is not mated after } 18. Nf5 gxf5 19. Nh4 Ne4 20. Nxf5 {and came to the conclusion that the attack is insufficient after both} Bf6 ({Or} 20... f6)) ({And in case of} 18. Bxf6 Bxf6 19. cxd5 Nf4 20. Qe4 {\"completely equal.\" (So)}) 18... a6 19. Re2 Re8 20. h4 {A very risky attempt to play for the win. \"I thought this move a blunder because after:\"} ({If Niemann was content with the draw, he would have instead chosen} 20. Bxf6 Bxf6 21. cxd5 cxd5 22. Ng4 Bg7 {with approximate equality.}) 20... Nh5 {\"his bishop is getting trapped.\" (So)} 21. cxd5 { Played after more than twenty-three minutes of thought. It was evident that Niemann had missed something.} ({After} 21. Ng4 {Black planned} f6 22. Rde1 Bf8 $1 {with an edge.} ({But not the other move suggested by So} 22... Qd7 {due to} 23. c5 $1 {and the bishop is immune} fxe5 $2 24. Nfxe5 Qc8 25. Nxg6 $1 { simply crushes Black.})) 21... cxd5 22. Ng2 {The most natural reaction is not the best one.} ({The fabulous defense} 22. b4 $3 {was suggested by the engine and the online commentators (Svidler, Seirawan, Ramirez), with the main points that after} Qd7 (22... f6 23. Qb3 $1 fxe5 24. Nxd5 {is fact more than dangerous for Black.}) 23. Qb3 Rad8 24. Rde1 f6 {The bishop suddenly goes numb} 25. Bb8 $3 {with equality, since none can do anything to it} Rxb8 $2 26. Nxd5 $1 {and again White takes over.}) 22... f6 23. Bb8 {Same trick here is simply ignored with} Kf7 {And White has no other choice but to weaken his kingside with} 24. g4 Qxb8 25. gxh5 Nf4 26. Nxf4 ({Once again So calculated everything neatly and was not afraid of the aggressive} 26. hxg6+ hxg6 27. Ne5+ fxe5 28. Nxf4 exf4 29. Rde1 {Due to the cool} (29. h5 Rg8 $1) 29... Qc8 $1 {\"probably the only move that wins.\" (So)} ({Indeed} 29... Qd6 30. h5 $1 {is likely a draw according to the quick machine check.})) 26... Qxf4 27. hxg6+ hxg6 28. Rde1 Bd6 {Now that Black relives the pressure along the d-file, he is clearly better in the endgame.} 29. Rxe8 Rxe8 30. Rxe8 Qg4+ 31. Kf1 Kxe8 32. a4 Kf7 { \"I thought the endgame was unpleasant (for White) but it was not clear if was gonna win.\" (So)} 33. Qe3 Bf4 {Missing his best plan, for which So regretted later.} ({He realized later that the knight should have been controlled with} 33... Bb4 $1 {(intending Qg4-e4 and Kf7-e6-f5 $1), when a possible line like} 34. Ke2 Qe4 35. Qxe4 dxe4 36. Ng1 Ke6 37. Ke3 {would have led to an endgame, similar to the actual game.}) 34. Qd3 Qh3+ 35. Ke2 Qe6+ 36. Kf1 Qe4 37. Qc3 $1 {That is the difference, if the black bishop stood on b4-square, this counterplay would not have been possible.} Bd6 38. Kg2 (38. Ne1 $1 {might have been more precise as White needs not to worry} Qxh4 39. Qc8 $1) 38... Qg4+ 39. Kf1 Ke7 40. Ng1 Qf5 41. Qe3+ Qe4 {And just when Niemann came that close to the draw...} 42. Ke2 {\"I thought this is a serious blunder.\" (So)} ({White would have likely survived after} 42. Ne2 $1 Ke6 43. Qh3+ f5 44. h5 $1) 42... Bh2 $3 {So needs to trade the queens but he needs them out on his own terms. The move in the text looks very illogical as it chases the knight towards the center, but it is far more important that this same knight will block its own pawn.} ({ Apparently the younger player only concentrated on the line} 42... Bf4 43. Qxe4+ dxe4 44. f3 {with chances to hold.}) 43. Nf3 (43. Nh3 Kd6 $1 44. Kf1 Qg4 {is equally hopeless for White as all his pieces are dominated.}) 43... Bf4 $1 {Now this is good.} 44. Qxe4+ dxe4 45. Ne1 Ke6 46. Ng2 ({In comparison to the line from above Black won a couple of valuable tempoes and} 46. f3 {is well met with} Kd5) 46... Bb8 {A very concrete approach.} (46... Bh6 47. Ne3 f5 { should also do.}) 47. Ne3 Ba7 {White cannot hold all his weaknesses.} 48. d5+ Kd6 49. Ng2 Ke5 50. d6 Kxd6 51. Nf4 g5 52. hxg5 fxg5 53. Nh3 g4 54. Ng5 Ke5 55. Nf7+ Kf4 56. Kf1 (56. Nd8 e3 $1) 56... Bb6 $1 57. Nd6 (57. Kg2 Bc7 $1 {traps the knight.}) 57... Kf3 58. Nc4 Bxf2 {A nice finish $1} 59. Nd2+ Kf4 0-1 [Event "Sinquefield Cup 2022"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.09.09"] [Round "7"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E32"] [WhiteElo "2757"] [BlackElo "2792"] [Annotator "cahan"] [PlyCount "68"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 O-O 5. e4 d5 6. e5 Ne4 7. Bd3 c5 8. Nf3 cxd4 9. Nxd4 Nd7 10. Bf4 Qh4 11. g3 Qh5 12. O-O g5 ({In an online game earlier this year, Nepomniachtchi tried} 12... Bxc3 13. bxc3 Nxe5 $4 (13... g5 { is well-known and leads to equality; after the text move, White is winning $1}) 14. Be2 Ng4 15. Bxg4 Qxg4 16. f3 Qh5 17. fxe4 $2 (17. g4 $1 {wins}) 17... e5 18. cxd5 exd4 19. cxd4 Bh3 20. Rfe1 $6 (20. Rf2 $1 {would have kept a large advantage}) 20... Rac8 21. Qf2 $2 ({now, Black is okay; after} 21. Qd3 $1 { White would still have an advantage but Black has annoying counterplay against White's somewhat vulnerable king}) 21... Rc3 22. Rac1 Rfc8 23. Qd2 $4 (23. Rxc3 Rxc3 24. Qe2 {was still okay for White; now he was lost}) 23... Rxc1 24. Rxc1 Rxc1+ 25. Qxc1 Qe2 {and White resigned, 0-1, Nogerbek,K (2424)-Nepomniachtchi, I (2773) Chess.com INT 2022.}) 13. cxd5 Nxc3 14. dxe6 gxf4 15. exd7 fxg3 16. hxg3 Bxd7 17. bxc3 Rac8 18. Qd1 ({White has some alternatives: a)} 18. Bxh7+ Kg7 19. e6 fxe6 20. Qd1 $4 (20. Qe2 Qxh7 21. cxb4 Rh8 22. Qg4+ Kf8 23. Qf3+ { is a draw}) 20... Qxh7 21. cxb4 e5 22. Nf3 Bg4 23. Ng5 Qh5 24. Ne6+ Kf6 25. Qd6 Bxe6 {and Black was winning in Sarana,A (2654)-Sevian,S (2660), Chess.com INT 2020.}) ({b)} 18. Bf5 $5 Bxc3 19. Bxd7 ({a better choice was} 19. Qd1 $1 { , although} Qxd1 20. Raxd1 Rc4 21. Bxd7 Rxd4 {should lead to a draw, akin to the game continuation.}) 19... Bxa1 20. Bxc8 Bxd4 21. Bxb7 ({or} 21. Bf5 Qf3 22. Bxh7+ Kg7 23. Qd3 Qxd3 24. Bxd3 Bxe5 {with an eventual draw in Nesterov,A (2501)-Yilmaz,M (2607) Moscow 2020}) 21... Qxe5 22. Kg2 Rb8 23. Rb1 Kg7 24. Qd3 Qf6 {with equal chances in, Leko,P (2732)-Dominguez Perez,L (2726) Tashkent 2012.}) 18... Qxd1 19. Raxd1 Bxc3 20. Bf5 Rc4 21. Bxd7 Rxd4 22. Rxd4 Bxd4 23. Re1 (23. Rb1 {and draw agreed was played in Vitiugov-Caruana, Wijk aan Zee 2020.}) 23... Rd8 24. e6 ({After} 24. Ba4 Rd5 25. e6 fxe6 26. Rxe6 Re5 27. Rd6 Bc5 28. Rd2 Kg7 {, White had a minimal edge, which somehow sufficed for White to win in Vachier Lagrave,M (2778)-Giri,A, (2764) chess24.com INT 2020.}) 24... fxe6 25. Bxe6+ Kg7 26. Kg2 Re8 27. Re4 Bc5 28. Bd5 Rxe4 29. Bxe4 b6 30. f4 h6 31. Kf3 Kf6 32. Kg2 Kg7 33. Kf3 Kf6 34. Kg2 Kg7 {and draw agreed.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.09.09"] [Round "7"] [White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Black "Niemann, Hans Moke"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D73"] [WhiteElo "2757"] [BlackElo "2688"] [Annotator "cahan"] [PlyCount "109"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 c5 4. O-O g6 5. d4 cxd4 6. Nxd4 Bg7 7. c4 O-O 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Nb3 ({This is a relatively rare line. The main line is} 9. Nc3 Nxc3 10. bxc3 Nd7 11. Ba3 Nb6 12. Qb3 Qc7 13. Rab1 Re8 ({or} 13... Bd7 $6 14. Bxe7 Rfe8 15. Bg5 Rac8 16. Rfc1 Qc5 17. Bf4 {with a clear advantage for White in Wei Yi (2721)-Vachier Lagrave,M (2774), Chess.com INT 2019}) 14. Nb5 Qc4 15. Rfd1 Bf5 16. Rbc1 Rad8 $6 (16... Bg4 $1) 17. Qxc4 Rxd1+ 18. Rxd1 Nxc4 19. Bc5 ( 19. Nc7 $1 {was better}) 19... b6 20. Nc7 Rc8 {and Black had equalized in Rustemov,A (2525)-Vachier Lagrave,M (2784) Chess.com INT 2020.}) ({Another option for White was} 9. Nb5 e6 10. N5c3 Nc6 11. Nxd5 exd5 12. Qxd5 Qxd5 13. Bxd5 Nb4 14. Bb3 Bh3 {with some but not full compensation for the sacrificed pawn for Black, Sadhwani,R (2616)-Vachier Lagrave,M (2761), Chess.com INT 2022. }) 9... Nb4 10. Nc3 N8c6 11. Bd2 Bf5 12. Rc1 Rc8 13. a3 Na6 14. Be3 Be6 15. Qc2 ({The first new move and an improvement over} 15. Nd2 Nc7 $6 (15... b6 $1 { leads to a comfortable position for Black}) 16. Qa4 Nd5 17. Bxd5 Bxd5 18. Rfd1 Bxc3 19. Rxc3 Qd7 $4 (19... Qa5 {would have kept White's advantage at a minimum.}) 20. Ne4 {and Black was already busted in Pantsulaia,L (2607) -Grigoryan,A (2537), Martuni 2008.}) 15... Bf5 16. Be4 $1 Qd7 (16... Bxe4 17. Qxe4 {is not particularly pleasant for Black.}) 17. Rfd1 Qe6 18. Bxf5 gxf5 19. Nd4 $6 ({This is not the best. According to my engine assistants, White had some interesting alternatives in} 19. Rd2 Rfd8 20. Rcd1) ({and} 19. Nd5 $1 Rcd8 20. Nf4 {, both of White offer White the better chances.}) 19... Nxd4 20. Bxd4 Nc5 21. Bxg7 Kxg7 22. Rd5 {White has a small plus due to Black's inferior pawn structure and open king but whether he will actually be able to take advantage of it is extremely doubtful. After taking a little while to chew on it, the engines think Black is almost okay.} Ne4 23. Qd3 Rc6 24. Rd1 Nxc3 25. bxc3 Rfc8 26. c4 Rxc4 27. Rxf5 Qe4 28. Qxe4 Rxe4 {This rook ending is completely drawn at this level. While the players continued for awhile, the result was never in jeopardy of changing...} 29. Rd7 b6 30. e3 a5 31. Rg5+ Kf6 32. Rb5 Re6 33. Rd4 Kg7 34. Rf4 Rf6 35. Rxf6 exf6 36. Rxb6 Rc3 37. Ra6 Rxa3 38. g4 Ra1+ 39. Kg2 a4 40. h4 h6 41. Kf3 a3 42. h5 Ra2 43. Kg3 Ra1 44. Kf4 Ra2 45. Kf3 Ra1 46. e4 Ra2 47. Ke3 Ra1 48. Kf4 Ra2 49. f3 Ra1 50. Kf5 a2 51. f4 Kg8 52. Ra8+ Kg7 53. Ra6 Kg8 54. Ra8+ Kg7 55. Ra6 1/2-1/2 [Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.09.09"] [Round "7"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2758"] [BlackElo "2759"] [Annotator "cahan"] [PlyCount "89"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 d5 (5... O-O {is the main line, but the two players have some history with the text move as we will return to later.}) 6. exd5 Qxd5 7. Bc4 Qd6 8. b4 Bb6 9. a4 O-O 10. Nbd2 Bf5 11. Ba3 e4 12. dxe4 Nxe4 13. Nxe4 Bxe4 14. Qxd6 cxd6 15. O-O-O Rac8 16. Bd5 Bxd5 17. Rxd5 Ne5 18. Nxe5 dxe5 19. Kc2 $6 ({In an earlier game between the combatants, Caruana had opted for} 19. Kb2 Bxf2 $2 ({it is now well-known that Black does not have any meaningful problems after} 19... Rfd8 {, for instance,} 20. Rxe5 Rxc3 21. Rd1 Rcc8 22. Rxd8+ Rxd8 23. Re7 Bd4+ 24. Kb3 b5 25. f3 bxa4+ 26. Kxa4 h5 27. h3 Rc8 28. Rd7 Bb6 29. Kb3 Re8 30. Bc1 Re1 31. Bf4 Rb1+ 32. Kc4 { and draw agreed, ½-½, in Yu Yangyi (2704)-Deac,B (2643) Riga 2021.}) 20. Rxe5 Bh4 21. Rd1 Bf6 22. Re3 Rc7 23. b5 Rfc8 24. Bb4 {with a clear advantage which White enventually converted in Caruana,F (2832)-Aronian,L (2765) London 2018.}) 19... Bxf2 20. b5 {In this position, both previous games with 19.Kc2, both correspondence games, ended in draws. The computer assesses this position as equal, but the players, and that was mainly Aronian enjoyed the opportunity to play some chess.} Rfd8 21. Rhd1 Bb6 22. Bb4 a5 23. bxa6 bxa6 24. Rxe5 Rxd1 25. Kxd1 Bc7 26. Rc5 Rd8+ 27. Kc2 Bxh2 {The computer soberly assesses this as completely equal, but in praxis White is down a pawn so some precision is required.} 28. Rc6 Ra8 29. c4 h5 30. Kd3 Rd8+ 31. Kc2 Rd4 32. a5 h4 33. Rxa6 Rxc4+ 34. Kb3 Rc1 35. Bc3 Kh7 36. Ra7 Rg1 37. Rxf7 Rxg2 38. a6 Bg1 39. a7 Bxa7 40. Rxa7 h3 41. Be5 h2 42. Rxg7+ Rxg7 43. Bxh2 Kh8 {Aronian cannot be bothered to carry on and offers White an opportunity to exchange the bishop for the rook.} 44. Be5 Kg8 45. Bxg7 {1/2-1/2 (45) Caruana,F (2758)-Aronian,L (2759) Chess.com 2022 [cahan]} 1/2-1/2 [Event "St. Louis"] [Site "St. Louis"] [Date "2022.09.09"] [Round "7.2"] [White "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"] [Black "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2745"] [BlackElo "2778"] [Annotator "Bojkov,Dejan"] [PlyCount "109"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackTeam "France"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "FRA"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 Ng4 {This move remains one of the most reliable ways to fight the English attack.} 7. Bc1 Nf6 8. Be3 Ng4 9. Bg5 h6 10. Bh4 g5 11. Bg3 Bg7 12. h3 Ne5 13. Nf5 Bxf5 14. exf5 Nbc6 {The arising positions can hardly be called Najdorf, but they are full of tactics and in-depth strategy due to the piece imbalances.} 15. Nd5 e6 16. fxe6 fxe6 17. Ne3 Qa5+ 18. c3 Nf3+ 19. gxf3 ({In another game Vachier-Lagrave defended successfully after:} 19. Qxf3 Bxc3+ 20. Kd1 Qa4+ 21. Nc2 Bxb2 22. Qb3 Qxb3 23. axb3 Bxa1 24. Nxa1 Ne5 {and later the game ended a draw, Bologan,V (2690)-Vachier Lagrave,M (2721) Sibenik 2010}) 19... Bxc3+ 20. bxc3 Qxc3+ 21. Qd2 Qxa1+ 22. Nd1 {It is not surprising that one of the key Najdorf specialists has played this position already twice. Vachier-Lagrave might have been quite curious following the neighboring board.} Qd4 {The \"old\" main line.} ({A couple of years back the French GM came with the novelty} 22... Qf6 $5 $146 {and after a fierce fight managed to take home the whole point after} 23. Bg2 ({The machine prefers} 23. Be2 {when} Nd4 ({Also possible is the game move} 23... Rd8 {when White has a vast choice of reasonable continuations:} 24. f4 (24. Ne3) (24. O-O)) 24. O-O Rc8 ({But not} 24... Nxf3+ $2 25. Bxf3 Qxf3 26. Qxd6 {with a crushing attack for White.}) 25. Ne3 e5 26. Bd1 {This allows the bishop a chance to find a new working diagonal.}) 23... Rd8 {An extremely complex position arose after the opening. White's king looks safer for the time being, whereas the black will be always exposed as he does not have a good hiding spot. On the other had Vachier-Lagrave has a lot of pawns and a possible endgame might be quite a success for him.} 24. f4 Nd4 25. Ne3 { So bravely enters complications.} ({More to the point was} 25. fxg5 $1 { Then White does not need to worry about:} Nf3+ (25... hxg5 26. Qd3) 26. Ke2 Nd4+ 27. Kf1 $1) 25... gxf4 26. Ng4 Qf5 27. Qxd4 Qb1+ 28. Ke2 Qxa2+ 29. Kf3 { Rejecting the possible perpetual check.} Qb3+ 30. Ne3 ({Courage should not be confused with reckless play:} 30. Ke4 $2 Rf8 31. Bxf4 d5+ 32. Ke5 Qc2 {would mate the white king.}) 30... Rf8 {Vachier-Lagrave decided to keep the queens on the board in order to bother the white king. Black was successful later in So,W (2741)-Vachier-Lagrave,M (2860) Airthings Masters 2020. Curiously, none repeated this line ever after.}) 23. Bd3 Ne5 ({Vachier-Lagrave chose instead} 23... Rf8 24. O-O Rxf3 25. Ne3 Kd7 26. Rd1 {but lost later in Giri, A (2779) -Vachier Lagrave,M (2775) Paris 2019}) 24. Bxe5 Qxe5+ 25. Kf1 O-O {Finally, the blitzing is over and Firouzja takes 15 minutes on the clock to prepare for the emerging fight.} 26. Be2 {Technically speaking, Black has more than enough material for the two pieces. It is the position of his king which demands care. } Rac8 ({Black has also tried the solid} 26... Rf4 {which stops White's next idea and then} 27. Ne3 Rc8 28. Kg2 Qd4 29. Bd3 h5 30. Rd1 Qc3 31. Qe2 Rcf8 32. Nf1 {is another attempt to reach the black king. This should be dynamically balanced after} Qf6 33. Nh2 d5 34. Bb1 Rf7 35. Rc1 e5 36. Qd3 e4 37. Qxd5 Rxf3 38. Qxe4 Rxf2+ 39. Kg1 Qd8 40. Nf1 R2f6 41. Ne3 Qd7 42. Rc5 Re7 43. Qc4+ Qe6 { ½-½ Wei,Y (2732)-Lu,S (2615) Xinghua 2020}) 27. h4 $146 {The most direct approach to make it to the black king. Dominguez spent approximately 44 minutes on this move $1} ({A balanced email game went} 27. Qd3 Rf7 (27... Rc7 $5) 28. Ne3 Kg7 29. Kg2 b5 30. a4 Rc3 31. Ng4 Qc5 32. Qe4 Qd5 33. Qxd5 exd5 34. axb5 axb5 35. Bxb5 d4 {Boehme,S (2323)-Schmidt,J (2236) FICGS email 2020}) 27... Rf4 $1 {Firouzja understands well what might happen once his king is exposed.} ({White's attack is not easy to repel after} 27... gxh4 $2 28. Rxh4 Rf6 29. f4) 28. Qd3 {Sneaking towards the king.} ({After} 28. hxg5 hxg5 29. Ne3 {Black can defend with} Qd4 $1) 28... Rxh4 $1 {The rook swap eliminates the immediate kingside danger.} 29. Qg6+ Kf8 30. Rxh4 gxh4 31. Qxh6+ Ke7 32. Qxh4+ Kd7 {At the price of a pawn, Black managed to escape to the safer flank.} ({ Similar would have been} 32... Qf6 33. Qh7+ Qf7 34. Qb1) 33. Qh7+ Kc6 34. Qc2+ Kd7 35. Qh7+ Kc6 36. Qc2+ Qc5 {And Firouzja rejects the repetition of moves.} 37. Qb2 {So does Dominguez.} ({If he wanted a draw, he would have opted for} 37. Qg6 Qe5) 37... Kc7 38. Bd3 d5 {The pawns are moving but cannot realistically worry the white king.} 39. Ke2 Qd6 40. Ne3 {The lack of material points towards equality.} e5 (40... Rf8 $5) (40... Qf4 $5) 41. Qb3 ({Once again White can more or less force repetition with} 41. Nf5 Qf6 42. Ne3 Qd6) ({ Or put pressure against the center with} 41. Bf5 Rf8 42. Qc2+ Kb8 43. Qb3 Rd8) 41... Rd8 42. Bc2 Qc5 ({One thing that Black needs to be careful about is the opening of solid outposts for the enemy light pieces. A move like} 42... d4 $2 {would allow White a chance to occupy such outposts forever, with devastating effect after} 43. Be4 b5 44. Nd5+ Kd7 45. Nb4 $1) 43. Qd3 Kb8 44. Bb3 d4 45. Ng4 Ka7 46. Qc4 d3+ {The last try to gain more than half-a-point from the position.} ({Firouzja too, could have stayed put with something like} 46... Qa5 47. Qd3 Rc8 48. Qd2 Qc5 49. Qd3) 47. Kd2 Qe7 48. Ne3 {The most solid reaction.} ({Dominguez did not want to risk with} 48. Qe4 Rd4 49. Qxe5 (49. Qe3 $5) 49... Qb4+ 50. Kd1 d2 51. Ne3 Qc3 {Although this line, too should end with some form of a peace after} 52. f4 Qa1+ 53. Ke2 Qe1+ 54. Kf3 Qh1+ 55. Kg4 Rd7 56. Qc5+ Kb8 57. f5 {and now a perpetual with} Qg1+) 48... Rd4 49. Qc3 Kb8 50. Qa5 Qf6 51. Nd5 Qd6 ({Perpetual check would have been the other form of a draw after} 51... Qxf3 52. Qd8+ Ka7 53. Qb6+) 52. Ne3 Qf6 53. Nd5 Qd6 54. Ne3 Qf6 55. Nd5 1/2-1/2 [Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.09.10"] [Round "8"] [White "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"] [Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C83"] [WhiteElo "2745"] [BlackElo "2757"] [Annotator "cahan"] [PlyCount "170"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] {[%evp 0,48,19,38,25,16,14,15,25,-4,-2,3,23,-14,0,0,1,7,33,-19,14,-15,17,28,17, -41,-11,4,4,45,21,3,33,-40,-13,-44,-41,-37,-58,-77,18,-37,-58,-70,9,-6,22,13,0, -18,19]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. c3 Be7 10. Nbd2 Nc5 11. Bc2 d4 12. Nb3 d3 13. Bb1 Nxb3 14. axb3 Bf5 15. b4 O-O 16. h3 Qd7 17. Re1 Rfd8 18. Re3 {A novelty.} ({Both} 18. g4 ) ({and} 18. Bf4 {has been played countless times, including in games featuring Mamedyarov.}) 18... h5 19. Ba2 Be6 20. Bb1 Bf5 21. Ba2 Be6 22. Bd2 ( 22. Bb1 Bf5 {would be the path to the repetition.}) 22... g6 23. Bb1 Bf5 24. Ba2 Be6 25. Bxe6 ({Or} 25. Bb1 Bf5 26. Qe1 Kg7 27. Ba2 Be6 28. Bxe6 Qxe6 29. Rd1 {with a clear advantage for White, whereas}) (25. Ne1 $2 Bxa2 26. Rxa2 Qd5 {is fine for Black.}) 25... Qxe6 26. Ne1 $6 ({Not the best. White should have played} 26. Qe1 Qb3 27. e6 f5 28. Qf1 Qxb2 29. Rae1 {which looks odd, but after } Qc2 30. g4 $3 fxg4 31. hxg4 hxg4 32. Qg2 {it becomes obvious what White was up to; Black is completely busted.}) 26... a5 27. Nxd3 axb4 28. Rxa8 Rxa8 29. cxb4 Rd8 30. Qf1 Nd4 31. Bc3 Qf5 32. Ne1 c6 33. Qd3 Qd7 34. Qe4 Ne6 35. Rd3 Qc8 36. Rxd8+ Bxd8 37. Nd3 Be7 38. Kf1 Qd7 39. Ke2 Kf8 40. Bd2 Nd4+ 41. Kf1 Ke8 42. Be3 Ne6 43. Ke2 Kf8 44. Bc5 Bxc5 45. Nxc5 Nxc5 46. bxc5 Qe6 47. b4 {White is clearly better, but there is still a lot of work to be done.} Qa2+ 48. Kf3 Qa3+ 49. Kf4 Qc1+ 50. Kg3 Qc3+ 51. Kh2 $2 (51. f3 $1) 51... Qd2 $2 (51... Qc4 $3 { saves the game $1}) 52. Kg3 $6 (52. f3 $1) 52... Qc3+ $2 (52... h4+ $1) 53. f3 Kg7 54. h4 $1 {Now, White's win begins to look like a formality.} Qd2 55. Qf4 Qe1+ 56. Kh2 Kg8 57. Qd4 Kh7 58. Qf4 Kg8 59. Qf6 Qxb4 $4 (59... Qc3 $1) 60. e6 fxe6 61. Qxg6+ Kf8 62. Qf6+ Kg8 63. Qxe6+ Kg7 64. Qe5+ Kg8 65. Qe8+ Kg7 66. Qe7+ Kg8 67. Qe8+ Kg7 68. Qe5+ Kf8 69. Qf6+ $2 (69. Kg3 $1 {was the winning move.}) 69... Kg8 70. Qg5+ Kf8 71. Qxh5 $2 {For some reason, the pawn should only be taken if Black's king is on the g-file.} Qf4+ 72. g3 Qd2+ 73. Kh3 b4 $4 ({The computer indicates} 73... Qe3 74. Qg4 Qxc5 {as best when White's chances of converting are quite limited.}) 74. Qh8+ ({White's simplest win was} 74. Qf5+ Ke7 75. Qe5+ Kf7 76. Qc7+ Kf8 77. Qxc6 {which wins according to the computer...}) 74... Kf7 75. Qh7+ Kf6 76. Qb7 $4 {No no no no no no $1 You do not put your queen on such a passive square.} ({White wins after} 76. g4 Qe2 77. g5+ Ke6 78. Qg8+ Kd7 79. Qg7+ Kc8 80. Qf8+ Kb7 81. Qf7+ Ka6 82. g6 { and White's king will run to safety while helping the g-pawn become a queen.}) 76... Qe1 $3 {Brilliant $1 The c6-pawn cannot be captured because of ...Qe6+. Now Black saves the draw.} 77. h5 Qe6+ 78. Kh4 Qc4+ 79. f4 Qd5 80. Qxb4 Qh1+ 81. Kg4 Qd1+ 82. Kh3 Qh1+ 83. Kg4 Qd1+ 84. Kh3 Qh1+ 85. Kg4 Qd1+ {with a draw by perpetual check and repetition. What a disaster for Dominguez.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.09.10"] [Round "8"] [White "Niemann, Hans Moke"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A21"] [WhiteElo "2688"] [BlackElo "2758"] [Annotator "cahan"] [PlyCount "138"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Bb4 3. Nd5 a5 4. a3 Bc5 5. Nf3 d6 6. e3 c6 7. d4 Ba7 8. Nc3 Nd7 9. b4 Ngf6 10. Bb2 O-O 11. Be2 exd4 ({A novelty. Previously, Black had tried} 11... Re8) ({and} 11... Bb8 {, though, in both cases, with better chances for White.}) 12. Nxd4 Ne5 13. h3 Re8 14. O-O Bd7 15. Qd2 Bb6 16. Rad1 $6 (16. Rfd1 {is the right rook to put on d1.}) 16... axb4 17. axb4 Qc8 18. f4 $6 ({This move somewhat resembles ideas that White use in the main line of Budapest Gambit, but somewhat surprisingly, it is not as good here despite the similarity in pawn structure and pice distribution.} 18. e4 {was apparently better, although fully ok for Black.}) 18... Ng6 19. Kh2 c5 $6 (19... Nh4 $1 { intending ...Bf5 was better for Black.}) 20. bxc5 Qxc5 21. g4 $2 ({Aggressive and an outright mistake. White would have had an advantage after} 21. Rf3 Qb4 22. Bd3 {.}) 21... Ba5 22. Qd3 Bxc3 23. Qxc3 Ne4 {Black chases the queen away from the long diagonal and is now better.} 24. Qd3 Qb4 25. Rb1 $2 ({A blunder, losing/sacrificing the exchange. White should have played} 25. Ra1 {although} Rxa1 ({White survives after} 25... Qxb2 26. Rxa8 Rxa8 27. Qxe4 Bc6 28. Qb1) 26. Bxa1 Nc5 27. Qd1 Qa3 {and Black is better but White is alive.}) 25... Nd2 26. Bc3 Nxf1+ 27. Bxf1 Ra2+ 28. Kg1 Qa4 29. Rxb7 Nh4 30. Bb2 Qa8 31. Qb3 Ra7 32. Rxa7 Qxa7 33. Qc3 f6 $1 {Nope, no fun for you on that diagonal $1} 34. Qd2 Qxd4 35. Qxd4 Nf3+ 36. Kf2 Nxd4 37. Bxd4 Rc8 {The endgame should win for Black but with pawn and bishop pair for the exchange, there are some technical difficulties that Black has to handle. Unfortunately for Niemann, Caruana has both the patience and the ability to deal with such obstacles.} 38. Bg2 Kf8 39. Bd5 Ke7 40. f5 Ba4 41. Ke2 Bb3 42. Kd3 Ba2 43. Ba7 Bb3 44. Kd4 h5 45. gxh5 Rh8 46. Bf3 Bc2 47. Bg4 Ra8 48. Bb6 Ra3 49. c5 Rd3+ 50. Kc4 dxc5 51. Bxc5+ Kf7 52. Bd4 Ra3 53. Bc3 Be4 54. Kd4 Ra4+ 55. Kc5 Bc2 56. Bb4 Ra1 57. Kd4 Rf1 58. Be2 Rxf5 59. Bd6 Bb3 60. Bf4 Ra5 61. h4 Kg8 62. h6 g6 63. Bc7 Rd5+ 64. Kc3 Rc5+ 65. Kxb3 Rxc7 66. Bd3 f5 67. h5 gxh5 68. Bxf5 h4 69. e4 Rc5 0-1 [Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.09.10"] [Round "8"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C42"] [WhiteElo "2759"] [BlackElo "2792"] [Annotator "cahan"] [PlyCount "104"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Bd6 7. O-O O-O 8. c4 c6 9. Re1 Bf5 10. Qc2 Bg6 11. c5 Bc7 12. Nbd2 $6 (12. Nc3 {is the main line which is supposed to give White a tiny edge and generally scores well for White. But it would be very surprising if Nepomniachtchi hhad not looked at this as part of his preparation for the world championship match against Magnus Carlsen last year.}) 12... f5 13. Qb3 $6 Rf7 14. Bc2 $6 h6 15. Nf1 a5 16. a4 $2 Na6 17. Bd2 Bh5 18. Rad1 $6 Qf6 19. Ng3 Bxf3 20. Qxf3 Bxg3 21. hxg3 Qxd4 22. Bxa5 Qxb2 {At this point, Black is much better or even winning..} 23. Re2 Naxc5 24. Be1 Qf6 25. a5 Rd8 26. Bb1 Rfd7 $6 ({Surprisingly, this is a mistake. A better option was} 26... Ne6 {.}) 27. Qa3 (27. g4 $5) 27... d4 28. Bb4 Na6 29. Be1 c5 $4 (29... Nac5 {was still much better for Black. After the text move, rather surpringly, nearly all of Black's advantage is gone.}) 30. g4 $3 {Now White is back in business, the knight on e4 is being undermined, the light-squared bishop on b1, springs to life, and nothing is clear.} g6 $2 { Another mistake by Nempomniachtchi.} 31. Qc1 $6 ({White is almost better after } 31. gxf5 gxf5 32. Bxe4 fxe4 33. Rxe4 Rg7 34. Qb3+ Qf7 35. Qh3 {.}) 31... Kg7 $2 (31... Nc7 $1 {was much better.}) 32. gxf5 gxf5 33. Rd3 $2 ({Aronian misses his chance. After} 33. Bxe4 fxe4 34. Rxe4 Qg6 35. f3 Kh7 36. Rg4 Qf5 37. Bd2 { , Black's king is in trouble, the knight is out of play and the passed pawns cannot be pushed in a meaningful way.}) 33... Re7 34. Rf3 Rde8 35. Rxe4 Rxe4 36. Bxe4 Rxe4 37. Bd2 {White is two pawns down but as Seirawan said in the broadcast, the passed pawns are like stuck in mud.} Qe6 38. Qb1 Qd5 39. Rh3 $6 ({White has the wonderful rook manouver} 39. Rb3 $1 Re7 40. Rb6 $1 Kg8 41. Rf6 $1 {available which would leave White with a fully playable position, in fact, one could argue that White's position is easier to play.}) 39... Re6 40. Qc1 $4 ({Noooo $1 Now Black is winning again. On the last move before the time control, White blunders the game away. After} 40. Rb3 {, White would still be in the game.}) 40... Rg6 41. Bxh6+ Kf6 $2 ({According to the engine,} 41... Kf7 $1 {was better, but maybe Nepo was concerned about} 42. Bg5 {followed by Rh7+, but} Nc7 $1 43. Rh7+ Rg7 {wins for Black.}) 42. f3 $2 (42. g3 {would have kept the game going a bit longer.}) 42... Nc7 43. Qf4 $2 Ne6 44. Qb8 Qa2 45. g4 $2 fxg4 46. Qh8+ Kf7 47. Rg3 Qb1+ 48. Kh2 Qc2+ 49. Kh1 Qd1+ 50. Kh2 Qe2+ 51. Rg2 g3+ 52. Kh3 Qf1 0-1 [Event "St. Louis"] [Site "St. Louis"] [Date "2022.09.10"] [Round "8.3"] [White "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2778"] [BlackElo "2771"] [Annotator "Bojkov,Dejan"] [PlyCount "63"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "France"] [BlackTeam "United States"] [WhiteTeamCountry "FRA"] [BlackTeamCountry "USA"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 {The Italian is the new Ruy Lopez in complexity and a chance to play for a win nowadays.} Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. O-O d6 6. c3 O-O 7. h3 h6 8. Re1 a6 ({So deviates from an earlier game of theirs that went} 8... a5 9. Bb3 Be6 10. Ba4 Bb6 11. d4 Bd7 12. Be3 exd4 13. cxd4 Re8 14. d5 Ne5 15. Nxe5 Bxa4 16. Qxa4 Bxe3 17. Rxe3 Rxe5 18. Nd2 Qd7 19. Qc2 Rae8 20. Rae1 R5e7 21. Qc3 Qa4 {and Black won later, Firouzja,A (2759) -So,W (2770) chess24.com 2021}) 9. a4 {9.Nbd2 is the topical line these days.} ({And has been tried by So, with reversed colors:} 9. Nbd2 Na5 10. b4 Nxc4 11. bxc5 Nxd2 12. Qxd2 Re8 13. cxd6 cxd6 14. a4 d5 15. exd5 Qxd5 16. c4 Qd6 17. Ba3 Qc7 18. Bb2 Nd7 19. Qc3 f6 20. d4 {and this was another success for the American GM, So,W (2773)-Sjugirov,S (2696) Chess.com 2022}) 9... a5 {\"He surprised me [with this move], of course. I knew the move, but there are better tries for Black\" (Firouzja). So spent his rest day well and as we shall see got more than he could have dreamt for from the opening.} 10. Nbd2 Be6 11. b3 Re8 12. Bb2 $146 {A top novelty, but most likely we shall not see it too often... In hindsight, White regretted playing this, and felt that he should have played better.} ({Giri did not get much after} 12. Qc2 Ba7 13. Nf1 Nh5 14. Ne3 Bxe3 15. Bxe3 Qf6 16. Qe2 Nf4 17. Bxf4 Qxf4 18. Nd2 Qf6 19. Qf3 Qxf3 20. Nxf3 Nb8 21. Nd2 Nd7 {Giri,A (2761) -Praggnanandhaa,R (2642) chess24.com 2022}) ({The main line is} 12. Bb5) 12... d5 $1 {Forcing an immediate resolution in the center. That is Black's key resource.} 13. Bb5 dxe4 14. dxe4 {Only this is the real mistake.} ({Had Firouzja known how bad things might get, he would have still bailed out with} 14. Nxe4 $1 Nxe4 15. Rxe4 {Then the forcing continuation} Bd5 16. Bxc6 bxc6 17. Rxe5 Rxe5 18. Nxe5 Qg5 19. Nf3 Bxf3 20. Qxf3 Qd2 21. Rf1 Bd6 22. Qxc6 Rb8 { would soon lead to a mass annihilation of the queenside pawns and a draw. One funny line to prove this runs} 23. Bc1 Qxd3 24. b4 axb4 25. cxb4 Rxb4 26. Qe8+ Kh7 27. Qxf7 Rb1 28. g4 Qxh3 29. Qf5+ Kg8 30. Qe6+) 14... Nh5 $3 {\"I completely underestimated this move. I felt kind of stupid, as it is an only move. If he backs up, he is worse. Then I felt I should hold here, but with very precise play.\" (Firouzja)} ({Indeed, White would have been happy after} 14... Nd7 15. Qe2 ({Or} 15. Nc4)) 15. Nc4 {Played after a bit more than five minutes on the clock. It seems as Firouzja did not yet feel how bad the situation is.} ({Otherwise he would have tried to defend with} 15. Ba3 Bxa3 16. Rxa3 {Although Black is doing more than fine after} Qf6 ({Or} 16... Nf4)) ({ Or even} 15. b4 $5 axb4 16. Bxc6 bxc6 17. cxb4 {and the complications after} Bxb4 18. Bxe5 Bxh3 {clearly favor Black, but at least it is still playable.}) 15... Qf6 $1 {So does not back up and launches a decisive attack.} 16. Bxc6 bxc6 17. Ncxe5 Bxh3 {Not bad at all, but that was the first moment when the inclusion of the reserves could have settled the game at once.} ({The move} 17... Rad8 $1 {could have led Black to the win as} 18. Nd3 {is spectacularly refuted with} Bxb3 $3 ({Firouzja mainly expected} 18... Nf4 19. Nd4 {and then} Bxb3 $1 {but here White manages to consolidate with} 20. Qf3 Nxd3 21. Qxd3) 19. Qxb3 Rxd3 20. Qc4 {This is how far Firouzja saw, but it seems as they both missed} Rxf3 21. Qxc5 Nf4 $3 {with unstoppable attack.}) 18. Nd3 $1 {The knight are covering a lot of squares, but will this be enough $2} Qg6 {The second most obvious move throws away the largest chunk of the attack.} ({ So could have still won spectacularly with} 18... Rad8 $3 {first and only after } 19. Nd4 Qg6 20. Qf3 Bg4 21. Qe3 Bb6 $3 {\"Because I don't have\"} ({And even better might have been} 21... Ba7 $3 {with the idea to meet the defense} 22. Nf4 Nxf4 23. Qxf4 c5 24. Nb5 {with an amazing inclusion back in the game} Bb8 $3) 22. c4 ({It seems as they both missed the stunning} 22. Ba3 Rxd4 $3 23. cxd4 Bxd4 24. Qxd4 Bf3 $3 {and mate follows $1}) ({Therefore White needs to try } 22. Nf4 Nxf4 23. Qxf4 {which is clearly better for the second player, but not yet over.}) 22... Bxd4 $1 ({The already familiar resource} 22... Rxd4 23. Bxd4 Bxd4 24. Qxd4 Bf3 $3 {works again} 25. g3 Nxg3) 23. Bxd4 Qd6 {\"This is what I blundered.\" (Firouzja)}) 19. Nh4 Qg5 20. Nxc5 Qxh4 {Missing his last chance for an advantage.} ({This was the last moment for} 20... Rad8 $1 21. Qf3 Bg4 22. Qe3 Qxh4 23. Nd3 Rd5 $1 {and Black should be still better.}) 21. gxh3 { A lot of pieces have been swapped and White does not risk to be mated anymore. On the other hand, the possibility of an ugly endgame (for Black) with a strong bishop versus a poor knight starts to frighten the second player.} Qg5+ ({Here a better try seemed} 21... Re5 $1 22. Bc1 {And here White expected} ({ More precise looks} 22. Qf3 $5 Rxc5 23. Bc1) 22... Rxc5 ({But} 22... Qxh3 $1 { is better when after} 23. b4 (23. Be3 $2 Rxc5 $1 24. Bxc5 Nf4) 23... Rae8 { with serious attack for Black.}) 23. Qg4 (23. Qd4 $5) 23... Qxg4+ 24. hxg4 Nf6 25. c4 (25. f3) 25... Nxg4 26. Bf4 {\"I am not better, but I am playing.\" (Firouzja)}) 22. Qg4 ({White can already feel safe, and has a good choice, for instance} 22. Kh1 Qxc5 23. Qf3) 22... Qxc5 23. c4 {\"Here I felt it is getting very tricky for him.\" (Firouzja)} Rab8 {\"I thought this is correct, actually. \" (Firouzja)} ({It was time to think about equality, but how exactly $2 A move like} 23... Re6 24. Qf5 Rg6+ 25. Kh2 Qxf5 26. exf5 Rg5 {Looks too risky for Black, as both his rook and knight might end up stranded on the kingside. Nevertheless, it seems as Black can fix a draw with some cunning knight hocus-pocus:} 27. Re5 f6 28. Rc5 Nf4 $1 29. Bd4 Nd3 30. Rxc6 Nb4 31. Rxc7 Nc2 { A relentless knight $1} 32. Rd1 Rd8 33. f4 Rxf5 34. Rg1 Nxd4 35. Rgxg7+ { and perpetual.}) ({Maybe the safest was} 23... Qg5 24. Bc1 Nf6 25. Qxg5 hxg5 26. e5 Nd7 27. Bxg5 Rxe5 28. Rxe5 Nxe5 {with a likely draw.}) 24. e5 g6 { \"This is really bad. When he played it, I thought for about one minute and then I saw... \"} ({Firouzja felt that his opponent should have gone for} 24... Rxb3 25. Bd4 Qxc4 26. Be3 Qxg4+ 27. hxg4 Rxe5 28. gxh5 Rxh5 {\"At first I thought I was winning with\"} 29. Rec1 {\"but then I saw\"} ({Then White switched to} 29. Reb1 $1 Rd3 30. Rb7 {\"I thought, I am a little better, but I should be equal at the end.\" (Firouzja) But the machine claims a large advantage for White.}) 29... Rb4 $1 {\"and if\"} 30. Rxc6 $4 Rg4+ 31. Kf1 Rh1+ {(Firouzja)}) 25. Ba3 $3 {The black queen is removed from the kingside and this is suddenly deadly for the second player.} ({From afar White was thinking of bailing out with} 25. e6 {when indeed White has nothing to worry about after } Rxb3 ({White is better in the line} 25... Qg5 26. exf7+ Kxf7 27. Rxe8 Rxe8 28. Bc3) 26. exf7+ Kxf7 27. Rxe8 Rg3+ 28. Qxg3 Nxg3 29. Rae1 Nh5 30. Rc8 Qg5+ 31. Kh1 Qf4 {with unclear play.}) 25... Qb6 26. e6 $1 c5 {Trying to block the bishop, but in vain.} 27. exf7+ Kxf7 28. Qd7+ Kf8 29. Qd5 Kg7 30. Bxc5 { White wins a bunch of pawns and the game.} Nf6 31. Bxb6 Nxd5 32. Rxe8 1-0 [Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.09.12"] [Round "12"] [White "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A20"] [WhiteElo "2778"] [BlackElo "2792"] [Annotator "cahan"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. c4 Nf6 2. g3 e5 3. Bg2 c6 4. Nf3 e4 5. Nd4 d5 6. cxd5 Qxd5 7. e3 ({Earlier in the tournament, Firouzja survived a scare versus Mamedyarov after} 7. Nc2 Qh5 8. h3 Qg6 9. Nc3 Bc5 10. b4 Bb6 11. Bb2 O-O 12. Ne3 Re8 13. Qc2 Nbd7 14. Rd1 a5 15. b5 Bd4 16. Rb1 c5 17. h4 h5 18. Ncd5 Nxd5 19. Nxd5 Bxf2+ 20. Kxf2 Qf5+ 21. Ke1 Qxd5 22. Rf1 Nf8 23. Qc3 Ne6 24. Rf4 f5 25. d3 Nd4 26. e3 Qxa2 27. Ra1 Qe6 28. dxe4 {1-0 Firouzja,A (2778)-Mamedyarov,S (2757) Sinquefield Cup (St. Louis) 2022.}) 7... Na6 $2 {[%c_effect a6;square;a6;type;Mistake; persistent;true] This is a mistake, but one that Nepomniachtchi had played before $1} ({The main lines are} 7... Qe5) ({and} 7... Bc5 {.}) 8. d3 $1 ({Or} 8. Nc3 Qe5 9. O-O Be7 10. d3 exd3 11. Qxd3 O-O 12. h3 Rd8 {as played in Iturrizaga Bonelli,E (2607)-Nepomniachtchi,I (2789) Chess.com INT 2021, and now } 13. Rd1 {would have been marginally better for White.}) 8... Bb4+ 9. Nc3 Bxc3+ 10. bxc3 Nc5 11. c4 $6 (11. dxe4 {was better, for instance,} Ncxe4 12. O-O c5 13. Nb3 Qxd1 14. Rxd1 b6 15. Bb2 Bb7 16. c4 {and White has a comfortable advantage.}) 11... Qe5 $2 {[%c_effect e5;square;e5;type;Mistake; persistent;true]} ({Black could have kept the chances even with} 11... Qh5 12. Qxh5 Nxd3+ 13. Ke2 Nxc1+ 14. Raxc1 Nxh5 15. Bxe4 {.}) 12. dxe4 Ncxe4 13. O-O c5 14. Nb3 O-O 15. f3 Nd6 16. e4 Qe7 $4 {[%c_effect e7;square;e7;type;Blunder; persistent;true] A blunder that costs Black a piece.} ({However, after} 16... Nxc4 17. f4 Qe7 18. e5 Nd7 19. Qd5 {, White is clearly better.}) 17. e5 $1 { Boom $1 The pawn cannot be taken because of Bf4, so Nepomniachtchi tries to confuse matters for a bit, but to little avail.} Nxc4 18. exf6 Qxf6 19. Qd5 Be6 20. Qxc5 h6 21. f4 Rad8 22. f5 b6 23. Qc7 Rc8 24. Qf4 Bd7 25. Qd4 $1 { [%c_effect d4;square;d4;type;GreatFind;persistent;true] Forcing the queens off the board, killing Black's hopes for a swindle.} Qxd4+ 26. Nxd4 Rfd8 27. Bf4 Ba4 28. Nf3 Bc2 29. g4 Nb2 30. Ne5 Ba4 31. Rac1 Rxc1 32. Rxc1 f6 33. Ng6 Nd3 34. Rc7 {and Black finally resigned.} 1-0 [Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.09.12"] [Round "11"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E05"] [WhiteElo "2792"] [BlackElo "2778"] [Annotator "cahan"] [PlyCount "139"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] {[%evp 0,139,16,13,30,-10,-10,-4,6,-34,10,14,-5,20,38,-2,-4,0,-10,-9,-9,0,11, -14,-7,-41,-18,0,13,10,9,-8,22,28,28,25,33,35,48,29,30,15,23,6,0,0,10,1,-6,-25, -10,-9,-3,-6,33,48,32,51,58,67,61,61,70,68,62,68,68,75,75,70,73,52,78,66,67,41, 65,65,60,65,33,53,31,52,36,33,33,36,36,33,53,14,12,-18,46,50,32,28,28,20,21,10, 10,15,15,8,1,1,1,2,2,1,1,1,2,2,2,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0, 0,0]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. a4 Bd7 9. Qxc4 Bc6 10. Bg5 Bd5 11. Qc2 Be4 12. Qc1 Nc6 13. e3 Bb4 14. Nc3 Bxc3 15. bxc3 h6 16. Bxf6 Qxf6 17. Nd2 Bxg2 18. Kxg2 Na5 19. Qb1 e5 20. Qe4 Rfe8 21. Qd5 b6 22. Qf3 Qxf3+ 23. Kxf3 Rad8 {Black has, of course, completely equalized at this point.} 24. Ra2 f5 25. Rb1 Rd6 26. Rc2 c5 $2 (26... Kf7 { would have been about equal.}) 27. d5 $3 e4+ $1 {Only move.} 28. Ke2 c4 { Another only move.} 29. Rcb2 Rxd5 30. Rxb6 Red8 31. R1b2 {White has a slight advantage in the endgame, but thanks to precise play from Firouzja, it never gets beyond that.} R8d6 32. Rxd6 Rxd6 33. Rb4 Rc6 34. h3 Kf7 35. g4 $6 ({ Logical, but} 35. f3 $5 {was a better try.}) 35... g6 36. Rb8 Kf6 37. gxf5 gxf5 38. Rf8+ Kg6 39. Rb8 Kg5 40. f3 Nb3 $3 {This forces a drawn rook ending.} 41. Nxb3 cxb3 42. Rxb3 Kh4 43. fxe4 fxe4 44. Rb4 Re6 45. c4 Kxh3 46. c5 Rc6 47. Rb6 Rxc5 48. Rxh6+ Kg4 49. Rg6+ Kf5 50. Rxa6 Rc2+ 51. Kd1 Ra2 52. a5 Kg4 53. Rf6 Rxa5 54. Rf4+ Kg5 55. Kd2 Rd5+ 56. Kc2 Rd6 57. Rxe4 Kf5 58. Rd4 Rxd4 59. exd4 Ke4 60. Kc3 Kd5 61. Kd3 Kd6 62. Kc4 Kc6 63. d5+ Kd6 64. Kd4 Kd7 65. Ke5 Ke7 66. d6+ Kd7 67. Kd5 Kd8 68. Kc6 Kc8 69. d7+ Kd8 70. Kd6 1/2-1/2 [Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.09.02"] [Round "9"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E35"] [WhiteElo "2757"] [BlackElo "2759"] [Annotator "cahan"] [PlyCount "77"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] {[%evp 0,77,14,19,27,-11,-6,13,15,0,5,-12,-12,-60,-21,-57,-16,-34,-32,2,12,15, 22,-33,11,14,54,56,56,55,55,56,58,40,10,31,31,-13,0,19,15,-13,0,10,0,-8,-13,-9, 3,-15,5,5,19,10,10,14,14,41,36,36,36,15,39,42,27,16,21,11,12,0,0,-10,-3,-4,0, -8,-4,0,0,0]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bh4 c5 8. dxc5 g5 9. Bg3 Ne4 10. e3 Qa5 11. Rc1 Nc6 12. Bd3 Nxg3 13. hxg3 d4 14. exd4 Nxd4 15. Qd2 Bxc5 16. Nf3 ({A new move. Previously, White had tried} 16. Nge2 Nc6 17. a3 Bb6 18. Bb5 Be6 19. Ra1 a6 20. b4 Bxf2+ 21. Kxf2 Qb6+ 22. Qd4 Qxd4+ 23. Nxd4 axb5 24. Ncxb5 {and draw agreed, ½-½, in Sargsyan,S (2628) -Pashikian,A (2606) Yerevan 2022.}) 16... Nxf3+ 17. gxf3 Be6 18. O-O O-O-O { This move looks crazy but just works tactically, allowing Black's king to get to safety on the queenside.} 19. Qe2 ({The tempting} 19. Ne4 $4 Qxd2 20. Rxc5+ Kb8 21. Nxd2 Rxd3 {actually wins for Black $1}) 19... Kb8 20. Qe5+ Ka8 21. Nb5 Bd6 $5 22. Qe3 Rhe8 23. Nxd6 Rxd6 24. Bc4 Qb6 25. Bxe6 Qxe3 26. fxe3 Rdxe6 { The dust has settled and the chances are close to completely equal.} 27. e4 g4 28. fxg4 Rxe4 29. Rxf7 Rxg4 30. Kf2 a6 31. Rcc7 Rb4 32. b3 Re5 33. Rf4 Rb6 34. Rcc4 Ka7 35. Rc7 Ra5 36. Rc2 Re5 37. Rc7 Ra5 38. Rc2 Re5 39. Rc7 {with a draw by repetition.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.09.02"] [Round "9"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D27"] [WhiteElo "2771"] [BlackElo "2745"] [Annotator "cahan"] [PlyCount "77"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Bxc4 c5 6. O-O Nc6 7. Nc3 a6 8. dxc5 Qxd1 9. Rxd1 Bxc5 10. Bd2 O-O 11. Rac1 Bd7 12. Be2 Rfd8 13. Na4 Ba7 14. Nc5 Bxc5 15. Rxc5 Ne4 16. Rcc1 Nxd2 {Here the commentators considered that So could take the draw with} 17. Nxd2 $5 {[%c_effect d2;square;d2;type; Interesting;persistent;true]} (17. Rc2 Be8 18. Rcxd2 Rxd2 19. Rxd2 Rd8 20. Rxd8 Nxd8 {after which the players would have to engineer a repetition of moves to get the draw in place. So, however, was not ready for a peace treaty just yet.} ) 17... Ne7 18. Nb3 Ba4 19. Rxd8+ Rxd8 20. Nc5 Rc8 21. Kf1 b6 22. Nd3 Rxc1+ 23. Nxc1 a5 {The position is completely equal and the draw is now only a matter of time.} 24. Nd3 Kf8 25. Ke1 Nf5 26. Ne5 Nd6 27. Nc4 Nxc4 28. Bxc4 Ke7 29. Kd2 Bc6 30. g3 e5 31. f4 f6 32. a3 h6 33. h4 Kd6 34. b4 axb4 35. axb4 Be4 36. Bb3 Bc6 37. Bc4 Be4 38. Bb3 Bc6 39. Bc4 1/2-1/2 [Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.09.02"] [Round "9"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Niemann, Hans Moke"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A21"] [WhiteElo "2792"] [BlackElo "2688"] [Annotator "Rafael Leitão"] [PlyCount "108"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [TimeControl "5400+30"] 1. c4 {The English Opening is very popular right now at top level.} e5 2. Nc3 Bb4 {Hans played this same position yesterday, with the white pieces, against Caruana.} 3. Nd5 Be7 {Caruana played the slightly less popular 3...a5.} 4. d4 exd4 (4... d6 {is considered the main move, but probably without good reason.} 5. e4 Nf6 6. Nxe7 Qxe7 7. f3 {and White has chances to achieve a better position due to the bishop pair.}) 5. Qxd4 Nf6 6. Nxe7 Qxe7 7. Bg5 Nc6 8. Qc3 d6 9. Nf3 Be6 {All this is still theory.} 10. g3 {A new move. White played 10. e3 in a high profile recent game.} (10. e3 Rg8 $5 11. Bxf6 Qxf6 12. Qxf6 gxf6 13. g3 {and White won this endgame in Donchenko - Ter Sahakyan, Jermuk 2022.}) 10... h6 {A logical move, forcing White to take on f6 and simplifying the position.} 11. Bxf6 Qxf6 12. Qxf6 gxf6 13. Nd2 $6 {This move is wrong. Maybe Nepomniachtchi confused his opening prepartion, since Black can achieve comfortable equality now.} (13. b3 {is the best move. After} d5 14. cxd5 Bxd5 15. Bg2 O-O-O 16. O-O-O {it remains to be seen whether white's better pawn structure is enough for any serious winning attempt, but he certainly can try.} ) 13... d5 $6 (13... Nb4 $1 {forces White to move the king and this gives Black a good game after} 14. Kd1 d5 $1 15. a3 Nc6 16. cxd5 Bxd5 17. e4 Be6 18. Bb5 Bd7) 14. Bg2 (14. cxd5 {is a good option and was suggested by Firouzja in the interview after his game.} Bxd5 15. e4 Be6 16. Bb5 O-O-O (16... Bd7 { is also playable.}) 17. Bxc6 bxc6 18. Ke2 {with an unbalanced endgame where Black's activity should be enough to compensate the damaged pawn structure.}) 14... dxc4 (14... O-O-O {This move seems more logical, since Black is not really afraid of a capture on d5 and he can decide later whether to take on c4 or not.} 15. O-O-O {Now Black can decide if he captures on c4 or if he plays a move 15...Rhe8 or 15...f5. The position remains equal.} (15. cxd5 Bxd5 16. Bxd5 Rxd5 {This is an easy equality because black's pieces are very active.})) 15. Bxc6+ bxc6 16. O-O-O (16. Rc1 {leads to simplification and a possible draw after} Rb8 17. Nxc4 Bxc4 18. Rxc4 Rxb2 19. O-O Rxa2 20. Rxc6 Rxe2) 16... c3 { This is not necessary, but it it's not easy to evaluate that Black is ok with such a bad structure. It was crucial to see that White cannot force the exchange of all the rooks on the d-file.} (16... O-O-O 17. Nb1 (17. Ne4 { The computer suggest this, but I think no human player would ever allow 17... Bd5.} Bd5 18. f3 Bxe4 19. fxe4) 17... Rd6 $1 {This is a very important move. If White exchanges rooks, than the position can become very unpleasant for Black because it will be difficult to defend the weaknesses.} 18. Nc3 f5 { and it seems that White can't make progress here - at least that's what my computer thinks.}) 17. bxc3 Ke7 (17... Bxa2 $2 {Of course this is not possible since the bishop is trapped after} 18. c4) 18. Kc2 Rhb8 19. Rb1 Rb6 $1 { This is the point of the move 16...c3. Since White can't exchange rooks, Black is able to activate the rook and attack the a-pawn. This is enough for equal chances.} 20. c4 Ra6 (20... Bf5+ 21. e4 Be6 {This bishop dance is interesting, because White doesn't really want to place the pawn on e4. Now it's possible to play f6-f5 at some point, activating the bishop and improving the pawn structure.}) 21. Rb2 Rg8 $5 {Attempting an interesting rook maneuver that is similar to the one employed in the famous rook ending of the game Capablanca x Alekhine, New York 1924 (in that game the maneuver was Rh8-h5). By the way, I have a short story to tell about this reference game. The endgame played by those giants of chess history is so complex, that once the famous coach Mark Dvoretsky gave it as an analytical task to a young Garry Kasparov, during one of the camps of the Botvinnik School. Dvoretsky told me that, upon studying the analysis written in the young player's notebook, he was sure that Kasparov would be World Champion one day.} (21... Ra4 22. Kc3 c5 {and Black is ok. It's not easy for White to improve the knight's position.}) 22. h4 $5 {White avoids the Rg5-a5 maneuver. Incidentally, a similar approach should have been taken by Capablanca in the aforementioned game. I'm sure Nepomniachtchi knows everything about it.} (22. Ra1 Rg5 $1 {leads to a draw after} 23. a4 Rga5 24. Rba2 c5 $1 25. Kc3 (25. Nb3 Bxc4) 25... Bd7 26. Nb3 Rxa4 27. Rxa4 Rxa4 28. Rxa4 Bxa4 29. Nxc5 Bc6) 22... Ra4 23. Kc3 Rg4 $5 {Niemann's rook is persistent $1} ( 23... c5) 24. Kb3 Ra5 $6 {After this move White gets a large advantage.} (24... Ra6 $1 {is necessary. If White now conitnues} 25. a4 {then} c5 $1 {and White is not in time to stabilize the position, since after} 26. Ra1 Rb6+ 27. Kc3 Rxb2 28. Kxb2 Bxc4 29. f3 Rd4 {the d4-rook is protected and 30.Kc3 is not a double attack.}) 25. Rc2 $6 (25. a4 $1 {This is very strong. The a4 idea will be a common recurrence in this endgame. If now} Ra6 26. Ra1 Rb6+ 27. Kc3 Rxb2 28. Kxb2 Bxc4 $2 29. f3 Rd4 30. Kc3 {and White wins a piece.}) 25... Rb5+ 26. Kc3 Rc5 $6 {The rook is not well placed here.} (26... Ra5 {is necessary.}) 27. Kb2 $6 (27. a4 $1 {Once again this move $1 White wants to improve the position with Ra1 and to limit black's rook activity. If he manages that, the better pawn strucutre is going to te felt and Black will have a hard time defending the endgame.} Bxc4 28. Kb2 $1 {This is the tactical justification.} Bd5 29. Rxc5 Bxh1 30. Ra5 {and Black has a painful defence ahead.}) 27... Re5 (27... Ra5 $1 28. Ra1 Rf5 29. Rf1 Ra5 {And Black holds.}) 28. e3 Rf5 29. Rf1 Rg8 $6 ( 29... Ra5 $1 {The common pattern is that Black should leave the rook on the a-file before White can shut it down with a4 and Ra1. An interesting variation is} 30. Ra1 Ra4 31. Kb3 Ra6 32. a4 c5 33. Kc3 Bf5 $1 34. Rb2 Rd6 $1 {and Black saves the game.}) 30. Kc3 {Both 30.a4 and 30.Nb3 are also very good.} (30. a4) (30. Nb3) 30... Ra5 31. Rb1 $1 {Now White can play 32.Rb3 in case Black checks on a3.} Rg4 $6 {This makes things worse because white's rook can attack from the rear with a possible Rb8.} (31... c5) 32. Rb4 c5 33. Rb7 Kd7 34. Rb8 $1 Ra3+ $6 35. Kb2 Ra6 36. Rh8 {Now the h6-pawn falls and White is winning.} Ra4 37. a3 {A refined move, but the pawn could be taken immediately.} (37. Rxh6 { Black cannot take on c4 and the check on b4 is not dangerous.} Rb4+ (37... f5 38. Rh8 Bxc4 (38... Rb4+ 39. Kc3 $18) 39. f3 $1 Rxa2+ 40. Kb1 Rxc2 41. Kxc2 { and White wins material.}) 38. Kc3 {The c4-pawn is taboo because the bishop is lost after} Bxc4 39. f3) 37... f5 38. Rc3 {White misses another chance of taking the pawn.} (38. Rxh6 Rg8 39. Rc3 {with a winning position.}) 38... Ke7 39. Rb8 $2 {This gives up the idea of taking on h6 altogether and this deserves a question mark. I suspect Nepomniachtchi was uncomfortable leaving the rook on h6 more or less trapped after} (39. Rxh6 Rg8 {but the rook will soon start to play again after} 40. e4 {White is winning easily (for Nepomniachtchi standards, at least).}) 39... Ra6 40. Kc2 Rb6 {Now things are not clear anymore.} 41. Ra8 Ra6 42. Kb2 Rb6+ 43. Kc1 (43. Rb3 {leads to a rook endgame that is probably not enough for a White win after} Bxc4 44. Nxc4 Rxc4 45. Rxa7 Rc6) 43... Ra6 44. Kc2 Bd7 $1 {An excellent move, activating the bishop now that 46.Nb3 is not so dangerous.} 45. Kb2 (45. Nb3 {After this move Black can choose between taking the a3-pawn or playing 45...Ba4.} Ba4 (45... Rxa3)) 45... Be6 $6 (45... Rgg6 $1 {It's more accurate to activate the rook now. As my former coach liked to say, the rooks should always be enamored.}) 46. Rh8 Rd6 (46... Bd7 $1) 47. Kc1 Bd7 48. Nb3 $2 {This leads to a forced draw. White still has the advantage here.} (48. a4 $5 {Is one of the computer's suggestions, but if Nepomniachtchi didn't play it before, I guess it's too late to play it now.}) (48. Ra8 Ra6 49. Rb3 $1 {And White is still pressing.}) 48... Ba4 $1 49. Nxc5 Rd1+ {White can't escape perpetual check now.} 50. Kb2 Rd2+ 51. Kb1 Rd1+ 52. Kb2 Rd2+ 53. Kb1 Rd1+ 54. Kb2 Rd2+ 1/2-1/2