[Event "Superbet Classic 2022"] [Site "Bucharest ROU"] [Date "2022.05.12"] [Round "7"] [White "Deac, Bogdan-Daniel"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D27"] [WhiteElo "2671"] [BlackElo "2776"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "49"] [EventDate "2022.05.05"] {[%evp 0,49,19,23,32,15,13,11,16,25,54,44,41,9,35,10,25,29,33,30,30,24,70,66, 61,48,54,57,58,63,78,71,70,61,61,71,73,70,77,56,50,29,29,23,18,18,18,22,22,22, 18,15] White goes for a safe line, and it would seem that both sides were content with a short, fairly easy draw.} 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 dxc4 4. e3 e6 5. Bxc4 a6 6. O-O c5 7. b3 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Be7 9. Bb2 O-O 10. Be2 b5 11. a4 bxa4 12. Rxa4 Bb7 13. Bf3 Bxf3 14. Qxf3 Ra7 $146 (14... Qd5) 15. Rc1 Rc7 16. Rac4 Rxc4 17. Rxc4 Qd7 18. h3 Rc8 19. Nd2 Rxc4 20. Nxc4 Qd5 21. Qg3 Qb7 22. Na5 Qb6 23. Nc4 Qb7 24. Na5 Qb6 25. Nc4 1/2-1/2 [Event "Superbet Classic 2022"] [Site "Bucharest ROU"] [Date "2022.05.12"] [Round "7"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C24"] [WhiteElo "2765"] [BlackElo "2786"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "51"] [EventDate "2022.05.05"] {[%evp 0,51,26,36,10,18,18,9,10,9,4,4,42,40,53,23,62,11,51,46,36,13,14,8,8,17, 3,3,13,4,36,7,30,6,4,-1,-2,6,6,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d3 c6 4. Nf3 d5 5. Bb3 Bb4+ (5... a5 {is the main move, strongly encouraging (if not quite forcing) White to play a4.}) ({In case you're wondering about} 5... dxe4 $2 {, don't play it. White should not take either e-pawn, but 6.Ng5 gives him a clear plus.} 6. Ng5 $1 $16 (6. dxe4 $2 Qxd1+ 7. Kxd1 Nxe4 8. Re1 Nxf2+ 9. Ke2 $15) (6. Nxe5 $4 Qa5+ $19)) 6. Bd2 Bxd2+ 7. Nbxd2 a5 8. c3 {Arguably more useful than a2-a4, though both moves are fine, as is 8. a3.} Nbd7 9. O-O dxe4 $146 (9... O-O 10. Re1 Re8 11. exd5 cxd5 12. Nf1 { has been usual. In correspondence games, Black has generally played 12...Qc7 or 12...h6, with equality. 12...b5 isn't bad either, but Carlsen did manage to beat Caruana in that line, in a classical game:} b5 13. a4 b4 14. cxb4 axb4 15. Ne3 Bb7 16. d4 e4 17. Ne5 Nxe5 18. dxe5 Rxe5 19. Qd4 Re7 20. Rac1 Rd7 21. Red1 h6 22. Rc5 Ra5 23. Rxa5 Qxa5 24. h3 Kh7 25. Rc1 Rc7 26. Rxc7 Qxc7 27. Qxb4 Qc1+ 28. Bd1 Ba6 29. Qd4 Be2 30. Kh2 Bxd1 31. Nxd1 Qc7+ 32. Kg1 Qc1 33. b4 e3 34. fxe3 Ne4 35. Qxd5 Nd2 36. Qf5+ Kh8 37. Qg4 f5 38. Qe2 Ne4 39. Qe1 Qa1 40. a5 Nd6 41. Qd2 Nc4 42. Qd4 Qc1 43. Kf1 Nxe3+ 44. Qxe3 Qxd1+ 45. Kf2 Qc2+ 46. Kg3 g5 47. Qe5+ Kh7 48. Kh2 f4 49. Qd5 Qa4 50. Qf7+ Kh8 51. Qg6 Qxb4 52. Qxh6+ Kg8 53. Qxg5+ Kh7 54. Qh5+ Kg7 55. Qg5+ Kh7 56. h4 Qd6 57. Qh5+ Kg7 58. Qg5+ Kh7 59. h5 f3+ 60. g3 f2 61. Qg6+ Kh8 62. Qxd6 f1=Q 63. Qh6+ Kg8 64. Qe6+ Kh8 65. Qe3 Qb5 66. Qc3+ Kh7 67. g4 Qd5 68. Qc7+ Kg8 69. Kg3 Qe6 70. Qd8+ Kh7 71. Qd3+ Kh8 72. a6 Qe5+ 73. Kh3 Qa1 74. Qd8+ Kh7 75. Qe7+ Kh6 76. Qe3+ Kh7 77. a7 { 1-0 (77) Carlsen,M (2843)-Caruana,F (2822) Stavanger 2018}) 10. Ng5 {A standard mini-trick in this opening - see the note to Black's 5th move.} O-O 11. Ngxe4 Nxe4 12. Nxe4 Nf6 13. Ng3 (13. Re1 $142) (13. Nxf6+ $142 Qxf6 14. Re1 ) 13... Re8 14. Re1 Qd6 (14... Bg4 $5) 15. h3 Be6 {Inviting exchanges. Aronian doesn't have to be asked twice.} 16. Ne4 Nxe4 17. dxe4 Rad8 18. Qxd6 Rxd6 19. Rad1 Red8 20. Rxd6 Rxd6 21. Bxe6 fxe6 {And now all that's left is to engineer a repetition, thanks to the Sofia rules.} 22. Kf1 Rd2 23. Re2 Rd1+ 24. Re1 Rd2 25. Re2 Rd1+ 26. Re1 1/2-1/2 [Event "Superbet Classic 2022"] [Site "Bucharest ROU"] [Date "2022.05.12"] [Round "7"] [White "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Black "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E48"] [WhiteElo "2804"] [BlackElo "2753"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "115"] [EventDate "2022.05.05"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. cxd5 exd5 7. a3 Bd6 8. Qc2 c6 9. Nge2 {The Russian GM Alexander Predke played this a few times last December (defeating Firouzja in one of those games), and since then there has been a flurry of interest around this approach. It looks like an Exchange QGD with Nge2, except of course that White's dark-squared bishop is inside the pawn chain instead of g5.} Re8 10. Bd2 b6 (10... c5 11. dxc5 Bxc5 12. O-O (12. Nb5 Bb6 13. Bc3 Nc6 14. O-O {1-0 (60) Oparin,G (2674)-Esipenko,A (2723) Berlin 2022}) 12... Nc6 13. h3 $14) (10... Nbd7 11. f3 c5) 11. f3 (11. O-O Ba6 (11... c5) 12. Kh1 c5 $11 {1-0 (64) Aronian,L (2772)-Vidit,S (2727) Berlin 2022}) 11... c5 12. g4 c4 13. Bf5 Bxf5 14. Qxf5 g6 15. Qg5 Nc6 16. O-O Bf8 $11 17. Qh4 h6 18. Rad1 b5 19. Qf2 Qd7 20. Qg2 Bg7 21. h4 $6 (21. Kh1 $142 b4 (21... a5 22. Nxb5) 22. axb4 Nxb4 23. g5 hxg5 24. e4 $44) 21... Ne7 $1 22. Nf4 (22. Ng3 $142) 22... a5 $17 23. Nce2 Qb7 (23... Reb8 $142) 24. g5 hxg5 25. hxg5 Nd7 (25... Nh7 $142 26. Kf2 b4 27. Rh1 Nf5 28. Rdg1 {A tempo needed to prepare Qh3, and that wasn't needed in the game.} Nf8 29. Qh3 Qd7 30. Ng3 Nxd4 31. Qxd7 Nxd7 32. exd4 Bxd4+ 33. Kg2 Bxg1 34. Rxg1 d4 35. Ne4 $8 $13) 26. Kf2 b4 27. Rh1 Nf5 (27... Nf8 $11) 28. Qh3 Ne7 29. Ng3 Ra6 (29... Nf8 30. Ngh5 $1 gxh5 31. Nxh5 Qd7 32. Nxg7 $1 Qxh3 33. Nxe8 $1 Qf5 34. Nf6+ Kg7 35. Nh5+ Kg6 36. Nf4+ Kg7 (36... Kxg5 $4 37. e4 $18 (37. Nh5 $18)) 37. Nh5+ Kg8 38. Nf6+ $11) 30. axb4 (30. Qh7+ Kf8 31. Rhe1 (31. Ngh5 $2 gxh5 32. Nxh5 Rg6 $19 {demonstrates the point of 29... Ra6.})) 30... axb4 31. Bxb4 Qxb4 32. Qxd7 Raa8 (32... Qxb2+ $11) 33. Nfe2 Rad8 34. Qg4 Qxb2 $11 35. Qf4 Nc6 $4 {Spoiling what hitherto been a very well played game by both sides. The tactical idea Firouzja uncorks is one most of us have seen many times with no bishop sitting on g7 (and especially with the king on g7 instead), but in this different, far less familiar setting, it's easy to overlook.} 36. Rh7 $1 {Very nice! We're used to seeing this idea as "Rxh7+", but it works here as well. The immediate threat is to take on g7, followed by Qf6+, Rh1, and R/Qh8#.} Re6 $8 37. Qh4 $1 {Threatening essentially the same thing, but from the other side (Rxg7+, Qh6+, Rh1, Qh8#).} Nxd4 $8 38. Rxg7+ $1 Kxg7 39. Qxd4+ (39. Qh6+ $2 Kg8 40. Rh1 $4 Nxe2 $19 {and Black's sneaky queen covers h8.}) 39... Qxd4 40. Rxd4 $18 {Two knights against a rook and pawn are generally far less advantageous than a bishop and knight or especially two bishops against a rook and pawn. Here, though, Black's d-pawn is terribly weak - and if it goes, Black's c-pawn will be headed for the exit as well. White is therefore not just better, but winning.} Red6 41. Nc3 f6 42. gxf6+ Kxf6 43. Nge2 Ke5 44. Rg4 Rg8 45. Nd4 Rd7 46. Rg5+ Kf6 47. f4 Rgd8 48. Re5 Kf7 49. Rg5 Rh8 50. Nf3 Kg7 51. Rg1 Rb7 52. Ra1 Rd8 53. Nd4 Rdd7 54. Ra5 g5 55. f5 Rb2+ 56. Kf3 Rd2 57. Nxd5 c3 58. Ne6+ 1-0 [Event "Superbet Classic 2022"] [Site "Bucharest ROU"] [Date "2022.05.12"] [Round "7"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "2773"] [BlackElo "2759"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "112"] [EventDate "2022.05.05"] {[%evp 0,112,20,18,18,33,22,29,31,8,-3,12,24,2,19,15,14,-5,24,31,66,41,46,-34, 58,59,64,38,78,54,52,-9,-7,-103,-98,-98,-88,-85,-87,-87,-83,-75,-70,-70,-72, -109,-46,-46,-37,-133,-105,-105,-60,-115,-101,-76,-26,-71,-15,-1,-1,0,0,0,0,0, 0,0,0,0,0,-77,0,-7,4,0,0,-66,-34,-66,-76,-57,-76,-112,-113,-100,-100,-161,-154, -161,-162,-161,-173,-206,-189,-220,-209,-504,-244,-255,-217,-216,-216,-219, -219,-232,-224,-326,-391,-492,-524,-636,-976,-1036,-1056]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 O-O 6. c3 d5 7. exd5 Nxd5 8. Re1 Bg4 9. Nbd2 Nb6 10. h3 Bh5 11. Bb3 Kh8 {There aren't a lot of games with this move, but a high percentage of them are from super-GM battles.} ({The most common line starts} 11... Qxd3 12. Nxe5 Qf5 13. Nef3 Rad8 14. Qe2 {and now Black generally chooses} Qc8 ({or} 14... Nd5)) 12. Ne4 Nd7 13. Ng3 $146 (13. Bd5 f5 (13... Bb6 14. Ng3 Bxf3 15. Qxf3 f5 16. d4 f4 17. Ne4 Qh4 (17... exd4 18. Bxc6 bxc6 19. Bxf4 dxc3 20. bxc3 Ne5 21. Qg3 Nd3 22. Rad1 Nxe1 23. Rxd8 Raxd8 24. Be5 Rd7 25. Kh2 Nd3 26. Bxg7+ Rxg7 27. Qxd3 c5 28. c4 c6 29. g3 Bc7 30. h4 Be5 31. f4 Bd4 32. Ng5 Re7 33. Qf3 h6 34. Qh5 Kg7 35. Nf3 Rf6 36. Kh3 Rg6 37. f5 Rf6 38. g4 Re3 39. g5 hxg5 40. hxg5 Rxf5 41. Qh6+ Kf7 42. Qh7+ Ke6 43. Qg6+ Rf6 44. gxf6 Rxf3+ 45. Kg4 Rf2 46. Qh7 Rg2+ 47. Kh3 Rxa2 48. Qe7+ Kf5 49. f7 Ra3+ 50. Kg2 Ra2+ 51. Kf1 Bg7 52. f8=Q+ Bxf8 53. Qxf8+ Ke4 54. Qxc5 Ra6 55. Qd6 Kf3 56. Qd3+ Kf4 57. Qd4+ Kf3 58. c5 Ra3 59. Qf6+ {1-0 (59) Nepomniachtchi,I (2784)-Aronian,L (2781) chess24.com INT 2020}) 18. Nd2 exd4 19. Nc4 Rad8 20. Bxc6 bxc6 21. Bd2 Nf6 22. Nxb6 cxb6 23. cxd4 c5 24. Re7 Rxd4 25. Bc3 Nd5 26. Rxa7 Nxc3 27. bxc3 Rdd8 28. Re1 c4 29. Re4 b5 30. a4 Rd3 31. Qxf4 Qxf4 32. Rxf4 Rg8 33. axb5 Rxc3 34. Rc7 Rb3 35. Rc5 c3 36. Rfc4 h6 37. Rxc3 Rb1+ 38. Kh2 Kh7 39. Rg3 Rb2 40. f4 g6 41. f5 g5 42. Rd3 Re8 43. Rd7+ Kg8 44. Rc6 Rxb5 45. Rg6+ Kf8 46. Rxh6 Kg8 47. f6 { 1-0 (47) Vachier Lagrave,M (2751)-Swiercz,D (2655) Saint Louis 2021}) 14. Neg5 h6 15. Ne6 Qf6 16. Nxf8 Rxf8 17. d4 e4 18. dxc5 Nde5 19. Nxe5 Bxd1 20. Nd7 Qd8 21. Bxc6 Re8 22. Rxd1 bxc6 23. Bf4 Qh4 24. Bxc7 e3 25. fxe3 Rxe3 26. Rd4 Qe7 27. Bf4 Re2 28. b4 Qe8 29. Rf1 Qe6 30. Rf2 Rxf2 31. Kxf2 Qxa2+ 32. Bd2 Qe6 33. c4 a6 34. Bf4 Qe7 35. b5 axb5 36. cxb5 Qe6 37. b6 Qb3 38. Kg1 g5 39. Bd2 g4 40. Rb4 Qd1+ 41. Kh2 g3+ 42. Kxg3 f4+ 43. Kh2 {1-0 (43) Firouzja,A (2770) -Sasikiran,K (2640) Riga 2021}) 13... Bxf3 14. Qxf3 f5 15. d4 $5 {Probably not so great.} exd4 16. Bf4 dxc3 17. bxc3 g5 $1 18. Be3 (18. Bc1) 18... Bxe3 19. fxe3 Nde5 20. Qh5 Qf6 21. Rf1 Qg6 22. Qe2 a6 (22... f4 $142 23. Bc2 Qg8 $15) 23. Bc2 $11 Ne7 24. Rf2 (24. Qf2 $142 $11) 24... Rf7 (24... g4 $142 25. h4 Qh6 26. h5 Qg5 $15) 25. Raf1 Raf8 (25... g4 $142 $11) 26. Bb3 Rf6 27. Nh5 Rd6 28. g4 Rd3 (28... Nd3 $11) 29. Bc2 Rxc3 $2 30. Bxf5 $2 (30. Qd2 $1 Qc6 $8 31. Bxf5 Ng8 $8 32. Qd4 Qc5 $8 33. Qxc5 Rxc5 34. Be4 $16) 30... Nxf5 31. Rxf5 Rxf5 32. Rxf5 Rc1+ $11 33. Kf2 Qd6 34. Qb2 $8 Rc5 $8 35. Kg2 h6 $4 36. Rf6 $4 (36. Qf2 $18 {should win quickly. For example:} Nd7 (36... Kg8 {is met by} 37. Nf6+ $18 {followed by Ne4.}) 37. Rxc5 Qxc5 38. Qf7 Qc2+ 39. Kg3 Qh7 40. Qe8+ $18) 36... Qd1 $11 37. Rf2 Qd5+ 38. Kh2 Qd6 39. Ng3 Rb5 40. Qc2 Rd5 41. Kg2 $2 Nd3 $6 ( 41... Rd3 $1 $19) 42. Qc3+ Qe5 43. Qa3 $2 (43. Qxe5+ Nxe5 44. Nh5 $15) 43... c5 $19 44. Re2 Kh7 45. Qa4 Qe6 46. Qc2 b5 47. Nh5 Rd6 48. Re1 $2 Qc4 (48... Qg6 $1 {wins at least the exchange:} 49. Re2 $2 Ne1+ $19) 49. Qb1 Qb4 50. Qxb4 Nxb4 51. Rf1 c4 52. e4 c3 53. e5 Rc6 54. Rf7+ Kg8 55. Rd7 c2 56. e6 Rxe6 (56... Rxe6 57. Rc7 Rc6 $19) 0-1 [Event "Superbet Classic 2022"] [Site "Bucharest ROU"] [Date "2022.05.12"] [Round "7"] [White "Rapport, Richard"] [Black "Vachier Lagrave, Maxime"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D26"] [WhiteElo "2776"] [BlackElo "2750"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "56"] [EventDate "2022.05.05"] {[%evp 0,56,18,20,13,18,15,-5,12,41,41,58,40,24,27,18,-22,18,27,21,18,-4,25,2, 6,32,44,53,75,75,75,52,55,5,46,2,37,45,45,45,45,47,48,9,35,-8,-8,-23,-24,-37, -32,-64,-49,-35,-25,-77,-69,-364,-353]} 1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 dxc4 { Looks like a mild-mannered QGA, right? Stay tuned.} 4. e3 e6 5. Bxc4 a6 6. Bb3 c5 7. Nc3 b5 8. e4 {Very rare.} (8. O-O {is normal.}) 8... Bb7 9. d5 $146 { Brand-new territory! Everything will be brand new!} c4 10. Bc2 Nbd7 11. O-O { Ok, maybe not. Through a funny move order, the players have transposed into an extremely well-known line of the Meran, though one which is out of fashion at the moment.} Qc7 12. dxe6 fxe6 13. Ng5 Nc5 14. e5 {Still following in the footsteps of 530 previous games.} Qxe5 15. Re1 Qd6 16. Qxd6 Bxd6 17. Be3 O-O 18. Rad1 Be7 19. Bxc5 Bxc5 20. Nxe6 {Still more than 300 games, going back to the mid-90s, featuring players like Karpov, Kramnik, and Topalov.} Rfc8 21. a3 {Prep? Inspiration? It's a relatively minor move, but there are still 43 games with this in the databsae. (Mostly from correspondence chess.)} (21. h3) ({and } 21. Nxc5 {are the standard moves.}) 21... Rab8 (21... Bb6 {is the alternative, permitting a brief tactical flurry:} 22. Nxg7 Ng4 23. Rf1 Rd8 24. Ne6 Rxd1 25. Nxd1 Ne5 $44 {Black's compensation for the pawn is sufficient, and he has drawn five of five games from here.}) 22. h3 $146 {A novelty... except that it transposes back into 21.h3 games. 17 of them, to be precise.} ( 22. Bf5 {is usual, and}) (22. Nxc5 {is the alternative.}) 22... Bb6 23. g4 Re8 (23... Bf3 24. Rd6 Rc6 25. Rxc6 Bxc6 {was played in four of the five previous games.}) 24. Kf1 $146 {Finally, a novelty that will "keep".} (24. g5 Nh5 25. g6 h6 26. Kf1 Nf6 27. Bf5 Rbc8 28. Rd6 Ba5 29. Red1 Rb8 30. Ne2 Rbc8 31. Rd7 Nxd7 32. Rxd7 Bf3 33. N2d4 c3 34. bxc3 Rxc3 35. Rxg7+ Kh8 36. Nxf3 {1-0 (37) Auburger,K-Kaspschak,K (1545) GER email 2011}) 24... Re7 (24... Ba5) 25. f4 ( 25. g5) 25... Rbe8 26. f5 Ba5 27. Re5 (27. Rd6 Bc7 28. Rdd1 Ba5 $11 {was a convenient - and correct - way to put the game to bed.}) 27... Nd7 28. Nd5 $4 { If you've ever watched a live broadcast and read the comments, you'll see keyboard jockeys label this, that, and the other move by a GM a "blunder" if the engine's evaluation falls by a pawn or more. That GM will have revealed himself to be a talentless hack that our intrepid 1000-rated commentator could easily beat, at least on a good day. Usually the error is something subtle - either the mistake is deep, or it comes in a position where there are so many tactical options that it's hard to navigate them all, especially in time trouble. On *this* occasion, however, all the chess fans screaming "BLUNDER!!!" got it right. (Errare humanum est!) It may have been a one-move blunder or a three-mover, but either way, it's losing and it's obvious. It happens to everyone, alas.} (28. Ree1 {doesn't force Black to repeat, but it wouldn't be surprising or particularly inappropriate if he did.}) 28... Nxe5 ({ It's possible that MVL saw this (but also possible that he didn't), and overlooked that after} 28... Nxe5 29. Nxe7+ Rxe7 {he didn't have mate or the win of a rook with} 30. Rd8+ {(?? - not that it matters at this point) due to} Bxd8 {. Time to resign.}) 0-1