[Event "44th Olympiad 2022"] [Site "Chennai IND"] [Date "2022.08.02"] [Round "5.3"] [White "Erigaisi, Arjun"] [Black "Parligras, Mircea-Emilian"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E20"] [WhiteElo "2689"] [BlackElo "2576"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "91"] [EventDate "2022.07.29"] [WhiteTeam "India"] [BlackTeam "Romania"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IND"] [BlackTeamCountry "ROU"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 d5 (4... c5 5. d5 b5) 5. a3 Bxc3+ (5... Be7 ) 6. bxc3 c6 (6... c5) 7. e4 dxe4 8. fxe4 e5 9. Nf3 Bg4 10. Qd3 Nbd7 11. dxe5 $14 {White's pawns may not be beautiful, but there are more of them and they control lots of useful squares.} Nh5 (11... Ng8 {is also possible, optimistically hoping to have enough time for ...Ne7-g6xe5.}) 12. Be2 O-O 13. O-O Qb6+ 14. Rf2 Rfe8 15. Be3 Qc7 16. c5 $2 (16. Rd1 b6 (16... Bxf3 17. Qxd7 Qxd7 18. Rxd7 Bxe2 19. Rxe2 Rxe5 $8 {This is the only sensible way to address White's threatened 20.g4.} 20. Bd4 Ree8 21. Rxb7 $16) (16... Nxe5 $2 17. Nxe5 Bxe2 18. Qxe2 Rxe5 (18... Qxe5 $2 19. Bd4 Qg5 20. Rdf1 $18 {wins material due to the implicit double attack (21.Rxf7, obviously, and more importantly 21.Rf5 to win the knight).}) 19. Bd4 Rg5 (19... Nf6 $8 20. Bxe5 Qxe5 21. Qd3 $18) 20. h4 Ra5 21. e5 g6 22. e6 $18) 17. c5 $1 bxc5 18. Qd6 Qxd6 19. Rxd6 Nxe5 20. Nxe5 Bxe2 21. Nd7 Bc4 22. e5 Re7 23. Rfd2 Nf6 24. Nxf6+ gxf6 25. Rxc6 $14 {White is better, but the opposite-colored bishops make the draw likely.}) 16... Bxf3 17. gxf3 Nxe5 $17 18. Qc2 Ng6 {For now, Black's knights are better than White's bishops. For now.} 19. Kh1 Nhf4 20. Bc4 Rad8 21. Rd1 Rxd1+ (21... Qe7) 22. Qxd1 Rd8 $2 (22... Ne6 $142) (22... Qa5 $142) 23. Rd2 Rxd2 24. Qxd2 $11 Kf8 25. Bf2 $6 (25. h4 $5 $11) (25. Qd6+ $11) 25... h5 $6 (25... Ke8 $1 $15 {/-/+}) 26. h4 $11 Ne6 27. Kg2 Ngf4+ 28. Kf1 (28. Kh1 $142) 28... Qe5 29. Qd6+ Qxd6 30. cxd6 b6 31. Bg3 f6 32. Kf2 Ke8 33. Ke3 Ng2+ 34. Kf2 Ngf4 35. Bf1 Kd7 (35... b5 $11) 36. Ke3 g5 37. hxg5 fxg5 38. e5 $1 {Black is still hanging in there, but the challenge of defending with two knights against two bishops finally catches up to him. Maybe it was time trouble that cost Black, but regardless, defending against the bishop pair is often very difficult, even if one starts with a very healthy position.} h4 $2 (38... Nd5+ 39. Kd2 Ndf4 $11) 39. Bh2 $16 b5 $2 ( 39... h3 $142) 40. Ke4 $1 $18 Nd5 41. Bh3 $1 Nxc3+ 42. Kf5 Nd4+ 43. Kxg5+ Kd8 44. Bg4 a5 45. e6 Nd5 46. Be5 {Facing heavy material losses, Black gave up.} 1-0 [Event "44th Olympiad 2022"] [Site "Chennai IND"] [Date "2022.08.02"] [Round "5.1"] [White "Shirov, Alexei"] [Black "Gukesh, D.."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B30"] [WhiteElo "2704"] [BlackElo "2684"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "88"] [EventDate "2022.07.29"] [WhiteTeam "Spain"] [BlackTeam "India 2"] [WhiteTeamCountry "ESP"] {[%evp 0,88,19,18,36,54,53,60,49,38,53,31,30,15,8,1,44,42,34,-11,-9,-23,-10, -46,-35,-60,-45,-31,-30,-28,-34,-34,-34,-25,-30,-20,-18,-22,-18,-22,-12,-8,-6, -36,-43,-48,-48,-55,-26,-58,-53,-53,-51,-81,-29,-30,-48,-50,-28,-57,-68,-65, -73,-91,-98,-89,-87,-79,-87,-93,-101,-103,-81,-164,-110,-110,-110,-110,-112, -105,-79,-107,-137,-212,-220,-372,-147,-147,-291,-292,-314]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 e5 4. Bc4 d6 5. d3 h6 6. Nd5 Nf6 7. c3 Be7 8. a3 a5 9. Rg1 Nxd5 10. Bxd5 Be6 11. Bxe6 fxe6 12. g4 Qd7 13. g5 hxg5 14. Bxg5 Bxg5 15. Rxg5 O-O-O 16. Qe2 Rdf8 17. O-O-O Rf7 18. Rg2 a4 19. Rdg1 b5 20. Ng5 Re7 {The position is roughly equal here, but after Shirov's next move that changes. It's easy to see why Shirov would be tempted by it, but he has misassessed the position.} 21. d4 $2 exd4 $1 ({The "safe"} 21... c4 $4 {would be a blunder, providing safety for his king and the e6 square for his pieces after} 22. d5 $18) 22. Qxb5 Ne5 $17 23. Qa6+ Qb7 24. Qxb7+ Kxb7 25. cxd4 cxd4 26. Rd1 Nc6 27. f4 e5 28. f5 $2 (28. fxe5 dxe5 29. Nf3 {would have retained far drawing chances.}) 28... Na5 $19 {White is lost, and Gukesh demonstrates fine technique against his legendary opponent to collect the point.} 29. Ne6 Nb3+ 30. Kb1 Kb6 31. Rc2 Rh4 32. Rc4 Rxe4 33. Rxa4 Nc5 34. Rb4+ Kc6 35. Rc1 Re2 36. h4 Kd5 37. Rb5 Ke4 { White has been trying to maintain the knight on e6, but the tricks have come to an end.} 38. Nxc5+ dxc5 39. Rcxc5 d3 40. Kc1 Kf3 41. Rc3 e4 42. Rd5 Ke3 { Threatening 43...Re1#.} 43. b4 Re1+ 44. Kb2 Ke2 {White will be losing a rook or two before his a- and b-pawns will get far enough to make a difference.} 0-1 [Event "44th Olympiad 2022"] [Site "Chennai IND"] [Date "2022.08.02"] [Round "5.1"] [White "Boruchovsky, Avital"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A21"] [WhiteElo "2551"] [BlackElo "2783"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "63"] [EventDate "2022.07.29"] [WhiteTeam "Israel"] [BlackTeam "United States of America"] [WhiteTeamCountry "ISR"] 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 d6 3. Nf3 f5 4. g3 Be7 (4... Nf6 {is more common, but Caruana's move is preferred by the engine. Caruana is well-prepared, as usual.} ) 5. Bh3 $146 {But was Caruana prepared for this? All credit to Boruchovsky, who has managed to escape theory as early as move 5.} c5 (5... e4 {is also possible, but Caruana wants to prevent Nd4 before playing this.}) 6. d3 Nc6 7. Nd5 {It's not clear that it's worth a couple of tempi swapping off Black's mediocre bishop.} Nf6 8. Nxe7 $6 (8. Nd2) 8... Qxe7 9. Nh4 $6 f4 $1 10. Bxc8 Rxc8 $17 {/-+ Black is already much better. Alas, Caruana does not convert his advantage.} 11. gxf4 O-O (11... Nh5) 12. Ng2 (12. Nf5 Qe6 13. fxe5) 12... d5 $6 (12... Qe6 $142 $19 {was better, intending ...Qh3.}) 13. cxd5 Nxd5 14. fxe5 Nd4 15. Be3 Qxe5 16. Bxd4 cxd4 17. O-O Rc6 $1 {White's problems are not yet behind him.} 18. Qb3 (18. f4 $142 {is ugly, but creates a little disharmony in Black's attacking setup.}) 18... Kh8 $6 (18... Rh6 19. f4 Qh5 20. h3 Rb6 21. Qc4 Rb4 22. Qc5 b6 23. Qd6 Rxb2 $17 {/-+}) 19. f4 $1 Nxf4 $6 (19... Qh5 $15) 20. Rxf4 $1 Rxf4 21. Qxb7 Rcf6 22. Nxf4 Qxf4 23. Kh1 $11 (23. Qa8+ Rf8 24. Qe4 $11) 23... Rf7 24. Qa8+ Rf8 25. Qxa7 Qe5 26. Qb7 Qxe2 27. Rg1 g6 28. Qe4 Qxb2 29. Qe5+ Kg8 30. Qd5+ Kg7 31. Qe5+ Kg8 32. Qd5+ {A good save by Boruchovsky after his excessively creative opening play.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "44th Olympiad 2022"] [Site "Chennai IND"] [Date "2022.08.02"] [Round "5.2"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Nabaty, Tamir"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C42"] [WhiteElo "2775"] [BlackElo "2631"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "61"] [EventDate "2022.07.29"] [WhiteTeam "United States of America"] [BlackTeam "Israel"] [BlackTeamCountry "ISR"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. O-O Be7 8. Nbd2 Bf5 9. Re1 Nxd2 10. Qxd2 Bg6 (10... Bxd3 {is the most commmon move, and}) (10... Qd7 {has been the most successful in the database, with almost every game (and *every* game featuring players rated above 2209) finishing in a draw. }) 11. c3 O-O 12. Qc2 Bd6 $146 (12... Qd7 13. Bf4 Rfe8 14. Re2 Bf8 15. Rae1 Rxe2 16. Qxe2 a6 17. h3 f6 18. Bxg6 hxg6 19. Qd3 Ne7 20. g4 c6 21. Kg2 Re8 22. Re3 g5 23. Bg3 Nc8 24. Rxe8 Qxe8 25. h4 gxh4 26. Nxh4 Bd6 27. Nf5 Bxg3 28. Qxg3 {1/2-1/2 (28) Dominguez Perez,L (2758)-Yu,Y (2709) Chess.com INT 2020}) 13. Bg5 {Taking advantage of Black's inability to play ...f6 (White takes twice on g6, then plays Nxg5, and then mates Black). But Black could take on d3 first and *then* play ...f6.} Qd7 (13... Bxd3 14. Qxd3 f6 15. Bh4 Ne7 16. c4 $14) 14. Bh4 {Exchanging the dark-squared bishops is positionally desirable for White, as swapping the light-squared bishops is for Black. Given the coming swaps on the e-file to boot, there won't be much left on the board for White to prove an edge.} (14. Ne5 $14) 14... Rfe8 15. Bg3 Bxg3 16. hxg3 b6 17. Qd2 Bxd3 18. Qxd3 a5 19. a4 Rxe1+ 20. Rxe1 Re8 21. Rxe8+ Qxe8 $11 22. Qb5 Qe6 23. Ng5 Qd6 24. Nh3 Kf8 25. Nf4 Ne7 26. b4 g5 $1 (26... axb4 $6 27. cxb4 {is dangerous for Black, as White can create a passed a-pawn.}) 27. Nd3 (27. Nh5) (27. Nh3) 27... Qc6 $1 28. Qxc6 Nxc6 29. b5 $5 {/?!} (29. g4 $11) (29. Kf1 $11) 29... Na7 30. Kf1 Ke7 (30... Nc8 31. Ke2 Nd6 32. Nb2 h5 33. Kd3 Ke7 34. c4 $1 $11) 31. Ke2 1/2-1/2 [Event "44th Olympiad 2022"] [Site "Chennai IND"] [Date "2022.08.02"] [Round "5.3"] [White "Smirin, Ilia"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C67"] [WhiteElo "2601"] [BlackElo "2773"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "62"] [EventDate "2022.07.29"] [WhiteTeam "Israel"] [BlackTeam "United States of America"] [WhiteTeamCountry "ISR"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6. Nxe5 Be7 7. Bf1 Nxe5 8. Rxe5 O-O 9. d4 Bf6 10. Re1 Re8 11. c3 Rxe1 12. Qxe1 Ne8 13. Nd2 (13. Bf4 { is a much more popular way to slouch towards a draw.}) 13... d5 14. Bd3 (14. Nb3 {was played once before, but it was a perfect ad for the variation in this game: Giri used it against So, and won.} c6 15. Bf4 g6 16. Qe3 Ng7 17. Re1 Bf5 18. Nc5 Qb6 19. b4 a5 20. a3 axb4 21. axb4 h5 22. h3 Re8 $4 {Of course, it wasn't so much the line Giri chose as this tactical infelicity that was primarily to blame.} (22... Qa7) 23. Qxe8+ $1 Nxe8 24. Rxe8+ Kg7 25. Bb8 { White's threat is Na4 followed by taking the trapped queen. Black's answer is.. .?} Bxd4 {The only move that puts up any resistance.} 26. cxd4 $1 (26. Na4 $6 Bxf2+ 27. Kh1 Qe3 28. Rxe3 Bxe3 {still wins for White, of course, but converting won't be automatic in a rapid game.}) 26... g5 (26... Qxb4 27. Be5+ f6 (27... Kh6 28. Rh8+ Kg5 29. h4+ Kxh4 30. Bf6+ g5 31. g3+ Kg4 32. Be2+ Kh3 33. Rxh5#) 28. Re7+ Kf8 29. Rxb7 Qe1 30. Bxf6 $18) 27. Be5+ Kg6 28. Rg8+ Kh6 29. Rb8 {1-0 (29) Giri,A (2780)-So,W (2770) chess24.com INT 2021 (rapid)}) 14... Nd6 15. Nf3 Bf5 16. Bxf5 Nxf5 17. Bf4 c6 (17... Qd7 18. Ne5 Bxe5 19. Qxe5 c6 20. Re1 f6 21. Qe2 g5 22. Bg3 Ng7 23. Qf3 Qf5 24. Qxf5 Nxf5 25. f3 Kf7 26. Kf2 h5 27. h3 Re8 28. Rxe8 Kxe8 29. Bb8 a6 30. g4 Ng7 31. f4 hxg4 32. hxg4 gxf4 33. Bxf4 Kf7 34. Kf3 Kg6 35. Be3 Ne6 36. Bf4 b5 37. Be3 a5 38. Bf4 a4 39. Be3 Nc7 40. b3 axb3 41. axb3 Ne6 42. Ke2 Ng5 43. Bxg5 Kxg5 44. Kf3 b4 45. cxb4 f5 46. gxf5 Kxf5 47. b5 cxb5 48. b4 Kg5 49. Kg3 Kf5 50. Kf3 Kg5 51. Kg3 Kf5 52. Kf3 {1/2-1/2 (52) Caruana,F (2820)-Carlsen,M (2847) chess24.com INT 2021}) 18. Qe2 g6 {Transposing to a ton of 13.Bf4 games, virtually all of which were drawn.} (18... Qe7 {A 2014 game Becerra-So was drawn here. You can tell that this line is a real barn-burner.} 19. Re1 (19. Qd3 Nh4 20. Nxh4 Bxh4 21. g3 Bf6 {1/2-1/2 (21) Smeets,J (2662)-Kramnik,V (2784) Wijk aan Zee 2011}) 19... Qxe2 20. Rxe2 {1/2-1/2 (20) Nakamura,H (2751)-Kramnik,V (2784) Wijk aan Zee 2011}) 19. Be5 {White promptly "untransposes" from theory, which has almost exclusively focused on 19.Re1.} Bxe5 $146 20. Nxe5 Qe7 21. Re1 f6 22. Nd3 Qxe2 23. Rxe2 Kf7 {The rest was unnecessary. In fact, the preceding moves were also unnecessary, except to satisfy event regulations.} 24. f3 h5 25. a4 a5 26. Kf2 g5 27. Nc5 Nd6 28. Re6 Ne8 29. Re2 Nd6 30. Re6 Nc8 31. Re2 Nd6 1/2-1/2 [Event "44th Olympiad 2022"] [Site "Chennai IND"] [Date "2022.08.02"] [Round "5.4"] [White "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"] [Black "Rodshtein, Maxim"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2754"] [BlackElo "2596"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "107"] [EventDate "2022.07.29"] [WhiteTeam "United States of America"] [BlackTeam "Israel"] [BlackTeamCountry "ISR"] {Here's Dominguez saving the U.S. team's bacon once more - though that metaphor should probably be avoided in the context of a match with Israel. (Please assume that I'm referring to beef bacon.)} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. O-O d5 7. Nbd2 dxe4 8. dxe4 Qe7 9. h3 (9. b4) 9... a5 10. a4 Rd8 (10... Nb8 {was the move, at least several years ago.}) ({ The ungainly} 10... Na7 $146 {is the engine's recommendation, intending to put the knight back on c6 once White's bishop leaves b5.}) 11. Qc2 Nb8 ({An example of ...Na7:} 11... Na7 12. Bc4 h6 13. Re1 Nc6 14. Bb5 Na7 15. Bf1 Nc6 16. Nc4 Nh5 17. Ne3 Nf4 18. Nf5 Qf6 19. g3 Ng6 20. Nd2 Nge7 21. Ne3 Be6 22. Bg2 Qg6 23. Ndf1 Rd7 24. b3 f6 25. Ba3 Bxa3 26. Rxa3 Rad8 27. Nc4 Qh5 28. Kh2 Kh8 29. Nfe3 Qf7 30. Raa1 Qh5 31. Bf1 Qf7 32. Rad1 Qh5 33. Rxd7 Rxd7 34. h4 Qe8 35. Bh3 Bxh3 36. Kxh3 b6 37. Qe2 Kg8 38. Kg2 Kf8 39. h5 Qa8 40. Rd1 Qd8 41. Rxd7 Qxd7 42. Qf3 Ke8 43. Nd5 Kd8 44. Nce3 Kc8 45. Qe2 Nxd5 46. Qa6+ Kb8 47. exd5 Ne7 48. Qb5 Qxb5 49. axb5 Kc8 50. Kf3 Kd7 51. Ke4 Nc8 52. Nf5 Nd6+ 53. Nxd6 cxd6 54. Kf5 Ke7 55. Kg6 Kf8 56. c4 Kg8 57. Kf5 e4 58. Kxe4 {1/2-1/2 (58) Hakobyan,A (2601)-Robson,R (2676) Saint Louis 2022}) 12. Re1 Ne8 $146 ({ In all the previous games, including several with super-GMs, Black played} 12... Nbd7 {. Here's the latest of them, and the only one that didn't finish in a draw:} 13. Bf1 Nf8 14. Nb3 Bb6 15. Nfd2 Be6 16. Nc4 Bxc4 17. Bxc4 Ne6 18. g3 h6 19. Kg2 Rd7 20. Nd2 Qc5 21. Nf3 Qxc4 22. Nxe5 Qc5 23. Nxd7 Nxd7 24. Be3 Qc6 25. Rad1 Bxe3 26. Rxe3 Re8 27. Qb3 Nb6 28. Qb5 Qxb5 29. axb5 a4 30. Re2 f5 31. e5 g5 32. Kf3 Kf7 33. Kg2 Ke7 34. Red2 Rg8 35. Ra1 Nc5 36. Rad1 Ke6 37. Re2 Ra8 38. h4 g4 39. h5 Ne4 40. f3 gxf3+ 41. Kxf3 Rg8 42. Rg2 Nc4 43. Rd4 Nxe5+ 44. Ke3 Nc5 {0-1 (44) Anand,V (2757)-Vidit,S (2722) Kolkata 2019 (blitz)}) 13. Rb1 (13. Nf1 $14) 13... Nd6 (13... h6) 14. Bd3 Nc6 15. Nf1 f6 16. Be3 Bxe3 17. Nxe3 $14 Be6 18. b4 b6 19. b5 Nb8 20. Nd5 Qf7 21. c4 Nb7 {White's extra space looks impressive, but his lack of dark-squared control means that Black is still okay.} 22. Nh4 Nc5 (22... g6) 23. Be2 (23. Re3) 23... Kh8 24. Bg4 { Now Black must make a critical decision.} Bxd5 $2 {The wrong one. Yes, White's knights (like all knights) can play on and against both light and dark squares, but the the degree to which this further extends White's light-squared grip far outweighs Black's solidifying his control over c5. That's a beautiful square, but there are 63 others.} (24... Rc8 25. f4 $14) (24... Bxg4 {starts a long and intricate variation.} 25. hxg4 Ne6 $1 26. f4 $1 Nxf4 27. Nxf4 exf4 28. e5 $1 fxe5 29. Nf3 $1 Nd7 30. Ng5 Qg8 31. Qf5 g6 32. Qe6 Qxe6 33. Nxe6 Rdc8 34. Rbd1 Nf6 35. c5 $14) 25. cxd5 $18 Nbd7 26. Re3 g6 27. Rc3 {You'll never guess what White is up to.} Nf8 28. Rc1 {How about now?} Rd6 29. g3 Rad8 30. Rxc5 $1 bxc5 31. Qxc5 f5 32. Bf3 Rf6 33. Rc2 Nd7 34. Qxc7 Rf8 35. Qa7 $1 {The f2-pawn must be defended. Black does what he can to make something happen along the f-file, as the moment his counterplay comes to an end White will win - easily - with his queenside advantages.} Nb6 36. Rc7 Qg8 37. Rc6 Nxa4 38. Qxa5 fxe4 39. Bxe4 Rxf2 (39... Nb2 40. f3 {is an even easier win for White. Again, Black must go for counterplay at all costs. (Not literally true, but we all understand what is meant by that exaggeration.)}) 40. Qxa4 Qf7 41. Rc1 Qf6 42. Qa3 Rf1+ 43. Rxf1 Qxf1+ 44. Kh2 Rf2+ 45. Ng2 Qxb5 46. Qe7 Qe2 47. Qxe5+ Kg8 48. Qe8+ Kg7 49. Qe7+ Rf7 50. Qe5+ Rf6 51. d6 Qa6 52. d7 Qd6 53. Qe8 Rf8 54. Nf4 { A cute final touch. White threatens one fork (55.Ne6+), and will meet the capture on e8 with another fork (55.dxe8N+, which is even better than making a new queen - which also wins, of course).} 1-0 [Event "44th Olympiad 2022"] [Site "Chennai IND"] [Date "2022.08.02"] [Round "5.1"] [White "Bwalya, Gillan"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E51"] [WhiteElo "2396"] [BlackElo "2864"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "52"] [EventDate "2022.07.29"] [WhiteTeam "Zambia"] [BlackTeam "Norway"] [WhiteTeamCountry "ZAM"] [BlackTeamCountry "NOR"] {[%evp 0,52,27,27,27,0,-4,6,13,7,33,33,27,11,26,15,23,16,15,25,8,-5,5,4,-3,-60, -8,-40,-51,-64,-39,-52,-4,-17,-40,-35,-48,-55,-63,-67,-86,-116,-116,-158,-150, -234,-248,-311,-315,-405,-405,-29997,-29998,-29999,-30000] Given the rating mismatch, it's not surprising that Carlsen wins, and does so in style.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bb4 5. e3 {There is nothing wrong with this, but it's slightly odd to go into a "normal" Nimzo-Indian (as opposed to remaining within a Ragozin) in this way.} O-O 6. a3 {Stranger still...except that he's emulating Magnus Carlsen himself, who played this several times against Giri in a blitz match in 2020.} Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 c5 8. Bd3 (8. Qc2 {was Carlsen's choice.}) (8. a4 {was played by Caruana in a rapid game.}) 8... dxc4 9. Bxc4 Qc7 {The players have transposed to an old-fashioned main line which is still played in 2022.} 10. Nd2 {Very rare, and never before played by an IM, let alone a GM.} (10. Be2 {is the main move here at the moment, while}) (10. Ba2 { used to be the main move (and is still played sometimes, especially by Korobov) .}) 10... Nc6 11. O-O {Transposing to some other lines (it's hard to avoid theory), including one game where the late great Vasily Smyslov had White. That's the good news; the bad news is that White has gone 0-6 from here. (Make that 0-7.)} Rd8 12. f4 Nd5 13. Bxd5 $2 exd5 14. Qh5 $146 (14. dxc5 Na5 15. f5 Qxc5 16. f6 Qxe3+ 17. Kh1 Qxc3 18. Rb1 Qd3 19. Qe1 Bf5 20. Rf3 Qc2 21. Rb2 Qc8 22. Nf1 Nc4 23. Rbf2 Bg6 24. fxg7 Re8 25. Qb4 Ne5 26. Rc3 Qd7 27. Qd4 Rac8 28. Rxc8 Qxc8 29. Bd2 Nd3 30. Rf3 Qc4 31. Qf6 Nc5 32. Bh6 Ne4 33. Qb2 b6 34. h3 d4 35. Nd2 Nxd2 36. Qxd2 d3 37. Re3 Be4 38. Kh2 Qc2 39. Rg3 Qxd2 40. Bxd2 Rc8 41. Rg4 f5 42. Rf4 Kxg7 43. Kg3 Rc2 44. Rf2 Kg6 45. Kf4 Ra2 46. g4 Rxa3 47. Ke5 Ra4 48. gxf5+ Kf7 49. Be3 Bb7 50. Rf4 Rxf4 51. Bxf4 Bg2 52. h4 h5 53. Kd4 Bf1 54. Bg5 a5 55. Bd2 Ke7 56. Bc3 Kd6 57. Ke3 Kd5 58. f6 Ke6 59. Kd2 b5 60. Bxa5 Kxf6 61. Bb4 Ke5 62. Kc3 Kf4 63. Kd2 Ke4 64. Kc1 Kd4 65. Kb2 Ke3 66. Kc1 Ke2 67. Ba5 Bg2 68. Bc3 Bd5 69. Bb4 Bc4 70. Bc3 Kf2 71. Kb2 Kg3 72. Be1+ Kg4 73. Kc3 Kf3 74. Kd2 b4 75. Kd1 b3 76. Bc3 Kg4 77. Bf6 b2 78. Bxb2 Kxh4 79. Kd2 Kg4 80. Ke3 h4 81. Be5 Ba6 82. Bc7 h3 83. Bh2 Kf5 84. Bg3 Ke6 {0-1 (84) Smyslov,V (2570) -Van Riemsdijk,H (2440) Manila 1990}) 14... cxd4 15. cxd4 Ne7 $19 16. Nf3 ({ White would like to play f5, if only to prevent Black from getting a death grip on the light squares. Unfortunately for this idea, and for the hopes of pushing on f6, Black can simply take (with either minor piece) as 17.Rxf5 in reply leaves White dead lost after 17...g6 forking the queen and the rook.} 16. f5 Nxf5 $19 (16... Bxf5 $19)) (16. g4 {is a bit better, but not good enough.} Rd6 {followed by ...Rh6 keeps a winning advantage for Black. White can of course stop that with} 17. g5 $2 {, but then the light squares have been gifted to Black forever - even if we ignore the disaster that is} Qc3 $19) 16... Bf5 17. Bd2 f6 18. Nh4 Be4 19. f5 {Closing the barn door after the horses have escaped.} Rac8 20. Bb4 a5 21. Bxe7 Qxe7 22. Rf4 Rc3 23. Re1 Qxa3 24. Rg4 Rc1 25. Rxc1 Qxe3+ $1 26. Kf1 Bd3# {Seeing Carlsen (and other top GMs) make the occasional blunder against his rivals may give us the idea that on some perfect day we might have a chance against him. Games like this are a helpful corrective to that fantasy - Bwalya, a strong player in his own right, was made to look almost like a beginner against him.} 0-1