[Event "SuperUnited Blitz 2022"] [Site "Zagreb CRO"] [Date "2022.07.23"] [Round "6.4"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A05"] [WhiteElo "2766"] [BlackElo "2864"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "112"] [EventDate "2022.07.23"] [EventType "tourn (blitz)"] [EventRounds "18"] [EventCountry "CRO"] [EventCategory "21"] [SourceTitle "The Week in Chess 1446"] [Source "Mark Crowther"] [SourceDate "2022.07.25"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2022.07.25"] [SourceQuality "2"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 c5 3. Bg2 Nc6 4. O-O e5 5. c4 d5 6. Qa4 Bd6 7. d4 exd4 (7... cxd4 8. cxd5 Qa5 9. Qxa5 Nxa5 10. Na3 Bd7 $2 (10... O-O $11) 11. b4 $1 Bxb4 12. Nxe5 $18 {White has a winning advantage, but the game finished in a draw after many adventures, many moves later. ½-½ (138) Kramnik,V (2801)-Karjakin,S (2779) Sochi 2016}) 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Nxd4 cxd4 10. Bxd5 O-O 11. Bxc6 bxc6 12. Qxd4 Bh3 $146 (12... Qe7 13. Nc3 Be5 14. Qe4 Re8 15. Be3 Rb8 16. Qc2 h5 17. Rad1 Bh3 18. Rfe1 Bxc3 19. bxc3 Rb2 20. Qa4 Qe6 21. a3 Bg4 22. Kf1 h4 23. Rd4 Bxe2+ 24. Rxe2 Qh3+ 25. Ke1 hxg3 26. fxg3 Rxe2+ 27. Kxe2 Qg2+ 28. Kd3 Qf3 29. Re4 Qf1+ 30. Kd2 Qg2+ 31. Kd3 Qf1+ 32. Kd2 {1/2-1/2 (32) Caruana,F (2807) -Nepomniachtchi,I (2751) Saint Louis 2017}) 13. Re1 Rb8 14. Nc3 (14. Qxa7 Be5 15. Nc3 Bd4 $44) 14... Qe7 15. Bg5 Qe6 16. Bf4 Bxf4 17. Qxf4 Rxb2 18. Rad1 (18. Rab1 $14) 18... Qf5 19. Qxf5 Bxf5 20. Rd6 Rc8 21. Rc1 Kf8 22. Rd4 Be6 23. Ra4 Rc7 24. f3 c5 $6 25. Kf2 $6 (25. g4 $14 {/+/-}) 25... h5 $1 26. h4 g6 27. Ra5 Bc4 28. Ra4 Be6 29. Ra5 Kg7 30. Nb5 Rd7 31. Rxc5 Bxa2 32. Nc3 Be6 33. Ra3 Rc2 34. Ne4 Bc4 35. Nc3 $2 {Blundering a pawn. That's blitz.} (35. Re3 $11) 35... Bxe2 $1 36. Ra2 Rxa2 37. Nxa2 Rd2 38. Nc3 Ba6+ 39. Ke3 Rd3+ 40. Ke4 Rd7 41. Ra5 (41. g4 $142 $15) 41... Bb7+ 42. Ke3 a6 43. Na4 $4 Rd5 $1 {Oops. What was a drawish ending with rooks on is dead lost with the rooks off. Knights have many virtues, but dealing with outside passers isn't one of them.} 44. Nc5 { Avoiding the trade, but the upshot is that the rest of the way White will be unable to use either the knight or the rook, so long as he wishes to avoid the rook swap.} Bc6 45. Kf2 Kg8 46. Ke3 f6 47. Kf2 Kf7 48. Ke3 g5 49. hxg5 fxg5 50. f4 h4 51. gxh4 gxh4 52. Kf2 Kg6 53. Kg1 Kf5 54. Kh2 Kg4 55. f5 Rd2+ 56. Kg1 h3 {White gets mated.} 0-1 [Event "SuperUnited Blitz 2022"] [Site "Zagreb CRO"] [Date "2022.07.24"] [Round "15.2"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B23"] [WhiteElo "2864"] [BlackElo "2766"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "99"] [EventDate "2022.07.23"] [EventType "tourn (blitz)"] [EventRounds "18"] [EventCountry "CRO"] [EventCategory "21"] [SourceTitle "The Week in Chess 1446"] [Source "Mark Crowther"] [SourceDate "2022.07.25"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2022.07.25"] [SourceQuality "2"] {[%evp 0,99,29,23,50,50,88,53,68,64,39,20,35,-4,12,-13,6,11,68,88,81,54,52,54, 60,59,56,15,26,10,24,21,22,42,51,27,52,60,63,63,56,66,57,54,49,61,45,41,42,22, 57,41,61,43,31,30,50,25,44,15,42,35,48,46,53,48,45,53,53,69,105,105,106,124, 169,126,126,126,155,179,219,252,246,280,430,159,143,131,131,104,77,117,435,497, 617,618,976,976,1114,1217,1339,1217]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Qxd4 Nc6 5. Qd2 {Carlsen returns once again to the Carlsen Variation, not afraid of a reprise of the Carlsen-MVL game from the rapid portion of the tournament.} g6 ( 5... e6 6. b3 d5 7. exd5 exd5 8. Qxd5 (8. Nxd5 {may improve.}) 8... Qf6 (8... Qe7+ $142) 9. Bb2 (9. Qd2 $142 $1) 9... Ba3 $11 10. O-O-O Qxc3 11. Bxa3 Nf6 12. Qc4 Qa1+ 13. Kd2 Qxa2 14. Re1+ Be6 15. Rxe6+ fxe6 16. Qxe6+ Kd8 17. Qd6+ Ke8 18. Qe6+ Kd8 19. Qd6+ Ke8 {and 1/2-1/2 was how the earlier game went.}) 6. b3 f5 $146 (6... Bh6 {is usual, but the game could transpose.}) 7. Bb2 Bg7 $2 { This is the real novelty (though it turns out that it transposed to one earlier, sub-professional game). As mentioned in the last note, the bishop generally goes to h6, and *should* go there.} (7... Bh6 8. f4 Nf6 {is back to the heart of Carlsen Variation theory.}) 8. O-O-O $16 Qa5 $146 9. Nd5 Qxd2+ 10. Rxd2 Bxb2+ 11. Kxb2 {White's position is very comfortable.} Kf7 12. exf5 Bxf5 { Black's pieces can all reach decent squares. The problem with his position is the central pawn island, which is easy to target (as long as the rooks remain) no matter how Black chooses to configure those pawns.} 13. Bc4 Ne5 14. Be2 Nf6 15. Nxf6 Kxf6 16. f4 Nd7 17. Bf3 Nc5 18. Ne2 Be4 19. Bxe4 Nxe4 20. Rd4 Nc5 21. Nc3 Kf7 22. Re1 Rhe8 23. Nd5 Rac8 24. c4 h6 25. Re3 a6 26. Rh3 Kg7 27. Re3 Kf7 28. g4 $1 Nd7 29. f5 {Perhaps a little too direct.} Ne5 (29... gxf5 $142 30. gxf5 Nf6) 30. a4 $6 (30. fxg6+ $142) 30... gxf5 (30... g5 $142) 31. gxf5 Rg8 32. Rh4 b5 $6 (32... Rg2+ 33. Ka3 Rh8) 33. cxb5 axb5 34. axb5 Rc5 $2 (34... Rg2+ $1 35. Ka3 Rb8 36. Nc3 $8 Rf2 37. Rxh6 Rxf5 {and the paucity of pawns gives Black fair chances for a draw.}) 35. Nc3 $18 Rg2+ 36. Ka3 Rc8 37. Rxh6 Ra8+ 38. Na4 Rg4 39. Rc3 Ra5 40. b6 Rb5 41. Rc7 Rgb4 42. Rh3 $2 {The most obvious move in the world, but it's a mistake.} (42. f6 $1 Rxb3+ 43. Ka2 Ng6 44. fxe7 Nxe7 45. Rh7+ $18) 42... Kf6 $1 43. Rhc3 Rh4 44. h3 Rf4 $6 (44... Rhb4 $142 $16) 45. Re3 Rf1 $2 (45... Kf7 $1) 46. Nc3 $1 $18 Ra5+ 47. Kb4 Ra6 48. Nd5+ Kxf5 49. b7 Rc6 50. b8=Q 1-0 [Event "55th Biel GM 2022"] [Site "Biel SUI"] [Date "2022.07.22"] [Round "7.3"] [White "Esipenko, Andrey"] [Black "Le, Quang Liem"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C78"] [WhiteElo "2682"] [BlackElo "2722"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "83"] [EventDate "2022.07.14"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "7"] [EventCountry "SUI"] [EventCategory "18"] [SourceTitle "The Week in Chess 1446"] [Source "Mark Crowther"] [SourceDate "2022.07.25"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2022.07.25"] [SourceQuality "2"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 (3... Nf6 {is a better choice for a must-draw game, but it's not something to play on the spur of the moment if it's not a part of one's normal repertoire.}) 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 7. c3 d6 8. a4 Rb8 9. d4 Bb6 10. a5 Ba7 11. h3 O-O {All standard theory, and Le has played this position on many previous occasions.} 12. Be3 Ra8 13. Nbd2 h6 14. Re1 (14. Qe2 Re8 15. Rfd1 Bd7 16. d5 Ne7 17. Bxa7 Rxa7 18. Qe3 Qb8 19. c4 c5 20. dxc6 Nxc6 21. c5 Be6 22. Bxe6 Rxe6 23. Nb3 Rd7 24. cxd6 Rexd6 25. Rxd6 Rxd6 26. Qb6 Nd7 27. Qxb8+ Ncxb8 28. Kf1 Kf8 29. Ke2 Ke7 30. Ne1 Rc6 31. Nd3 Rc2+ 32. Kd1 Rc4 33. Nd2 Rd4 34. Ke2 Nc6 35. f3 Nb4 36. Nxb4 Rxb4 37. Kd3 Nc5+ 38. Kc2 Rd4 39. Ra3 Kd6 40. Rc3 Ra4 41. Ra3 Rd4 42. Rc3 h5 43. h4 g6 44. Nb3 Nxb3 45. Rxb3 f5 46. Rd3 Kc5 47. exf5 gxf5 48. g3 e4 49. fxe4 fxe4 50. Rc3+ Kd5 51. g4 hxg4 52. h5 Ke5 53. h6 Rd7 54. Rc6 e3 55. h7 Rxh7 56. Kd3 g3 57. Kxe3 Rg7 58. Rc1 g2 59. Kf2 g1=Q+ 60. Rxg1 Rxg1 61. Kxg1 Kd4 62. Kf2 Kd3 63. Kf3 b4 64. Kf4 b3 65. Ke5 Kc2 66. Kd5 Kxb2 67. Kc5 Ka3 68. Kb6 b2 {0-1 (68) Navara,D (2700)-Le,Q (2709) chess24.com INT 2022}) (14. dxe5 Nxe5 15. Bxa7 Rxa7 16. Nxe5 dxe5 17. Nf3 Qe7 18. Qe2 c5 19. Rfd1 Rd7 20. Qe3 c4 21. Bc2 Rfd8 22. Rxd7 Rxd7 23. Qb6 Bb7 24. Re1 g6 25. Kh2 Kg7 26. Kg1 Rd6 27. Qc5 Re6 28. Qe3 Qc7 29. Ra1 Bc6 30. Qc5 Nd7 31. Qe3 Qb7 32. b3 cxb3 33. Bxb3 Re7 34. Re1 Nf6 35. Nd2 Qc7 36. Qc5 Bb7 37. Qb4 Rd7 38. Nf3 Re7 39. c4 bxc4 40. Qxc4 Qxa5 41. g3 Qb5 42. Qxb5 axb5 43. Nd2 Rd7 44. Re2 Rd3 45. Bc2 Rc3 46. Bb3 b4 47. f3 Ba6 48. Rf2 Nd7 49. g4 Nc5 50. Bd5 b3 51. Kh2 Nd3 52. Kg3 Nxf2 {0-1 (54) Pichot,A (2630)-Le,Q (2709) Chess.com INT 2020}) 14... Re8 (14... exd4 15. cxd4 Nb4 16. Bc2 c5 17. Nf1 Re8 18. Ng3 Nxc2 19. Qxc2 Nxe4 20. Nxe4 Bf5 21. Bf4 d5 22. dxc5 Rxe4 23. Rxe4 Bxe4 24. Qc3 Bxf3 25. Qxf3 Bxc5 26. Rd1 d4 27. Be5 Qf8 28. Bxd4 Rd8 29. Bxc5 Rxd1+ 30. Qxd1 Qxc5 31. Qd2 h5 32. b4 Qc6 33. h4 g6 34. g3 Qe4 35. Qd6 Qe1+ 36. Kg2 Qe4+ 37. Kh2 Qe2 38. Qd4 Qf1 39. Qd8+ Kg7 40. Qd4+ Kg8 41. Qd8+ {1/2-1/2 (41) Esipenko,A (2625)-Wen,Y (2604) China 2019}) 15. Bc2 (15. g4 Qe7 16. Nf1 Nd8 17. Ng3 c5 18. Qd2 c4 19. Bc2 Nh7 20. b4 cxb3 21. Bxb3 Be6 22. Bc2 Rc8 23. Bd3 Nb7 24. Rec1 Qd8 25. Qb2 Nxa5 26. Nd2 d5 27. Re1 Bb8 28. exd5 Bxd5 29. Bf5 Rc6 30. Qa3 Nb7 31. Rad1 exd4 32. Bxd4 Ng5 33. c4 Rxe1+ 34. Rxe1 Be6 35. Qe3 Bf4 { 0-1 (35) Caruana,F (2799)-Carlsen,M (2827) Douglas 2017}) 15... exd4 (15... Bb7 {is the (possibly superior) alternative.}) 16. cxd4 Bb7 17. Bb1 Ne7 $146 (17... Nb4 18. d5 c5 19. dxc6 Bxc6 20. Qb3 d5 21. Qd3 Nxd3 {0-1 (21) Aravindh,C (2641) -Rasulov,V (2478) Lichess.org INT 2021}) 18. Nh4 $16 c5 19. d5 Bc8 20. Nf1 (20. Ndf3 $142 $1 {is a nice move, clearing d2 for the queen, supporting an eventual e4-e5, and looking to jump into d4 at some point if/when Black plays . ..c5-c4.}) 20... Ng6 (20... c4) 21. Nxg6 fxg6 22. Ng3 g5 23. Qc2 Bd7 24. b3 Rc8 25. Qd2 Rc7 26. Bc2 Bc8 27. Qd3 Rf7 28. Re2 g4 $6 29. h4 Re5 $6 30. Bf4 $16 Nd7 $6 {The point of the last move, of course. If White had to take the rook, it would be a brilliant sac...but he doesn't.} 31. Nf5 $18 Kh8 32. h5 $6 (32. g3) (32. Bg3) 32... Rf6 33. Rae1 Qe8 34. Bd1 Qxh5 35. Qg3 c4 36. bxc4 bxc4 37. Re3 $2 (37. Rf1 $16) (37. Qc3 $16) 37... Bxe3 $11 38. Rxe3 Rexf5 39. exf5 Qxf5 40. Bxd6 Bb7 41. Bxg4 Qxd5 42. Bxd7 1/2-1/2