[Event "85th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2023.01.27"] [Round "11.1"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Abdusattorov, Nodirbek"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D20"] [WhiteElo "2764"] [BlackElo "2713"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "57"] [EventDate "2023.??.??"] {[%evp 0,57,19,19,19,1,39,-18,-8,22,57,15,40,13,27,8,46,41,44,36,33,-19,-6,-29,15,15,11,23,19,10,15,15,15,16,16,17,12,7,12,4,17,21,30,30,33,28,26,30,22,25,42,37,35,30,22,23,24,15,23,20]} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4 e5 4. Nf3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Bxd2+ 6. Qxd2 exd4 7. Nxd4 (7. Qxd4 {has been more popular, historically, but the engine prefers 7.Nxd4. Q.E.D.}) 7... Nf6 8. Nc3 Qe7 9. O-O-O O-O 10. f3 c5 11. Nc2 $146 ({Apparently Giri said after the game that he mixed up his lines, having been surprised by Abdusattorov's choice of the QGA. I'm not sure where the mix-up occurred, but as the computer likes} 11. Ndb5 $11 {/? this might be the moment.} Nc6 12. Qd6 a6 13. Qxe7 Nxe7 14. Nd6 b5 15. e5 Ne8 16. Nxc8 Rxc8 17. g3 Nc6 18. f4 $11 {/? looks pleasant for White, albeit at the cost of a pawn.}) 11... Nc6 $11 (11... Be6) 12. Bxc4 Be6 13. Bxe6 fxe6 14. Qd6 Rad8 (14... Qxd6 15. Rxd6 Rad8 $1 $11 {Perhaps Abdusattorov avoided this line because of the exchange sac} 16. Rxe6 $5 Kf7 17. Rxc6 bxc6 18. Na4 $11 {It's not that Black "should" avoid this; it's a question of comfort. The move in the game is probably easier to handle.}) 15. Qxe7 Nxe7 16. Rxd8 Rxd8 17. Rd1 Rxd1+ 18. Nxd1 Kf7 $11 {Black's e-pawn is not a meaningful weakness, and the game rapidly heads to a draw.} 19. b4 cxb4 20. Nxb4 e5 21. Ne3 Ke6 22. Kc2 Nd7 23. Kc3 Nc5 24. Kc4 Na4 25. Nd3 Nb6+ 26. Kb5 Nd7 27. Nc5+ Nxc5 28. Kxc5 g5 29. g3 1/2-1/2 [Event "85th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2023.01.27"] [Round "11.2"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E42"] [WhiteElo "2859"] [BlackElo "2760"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "115"] [EventDate "2023.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 c5 5. Nge2 d5 6. a3 Bxc3+ 7. Nxc3 cxd4 8. exd4 dxc4 9. Bxc4 Nc6 10. Be3 O-O 11. O-O b6 12. d5 ({White generally prefers to keep the central tension, e.g. with} 12. Qf3) 12... exd5 13. Nxd5 Be6 14. Nxf6+ Qxf6 15. Bxe6 Qxe6 16. Rc1 (16. Qa4) 16... Rac8 $146 {Varying from a 1930(!) game Rubinstein-Ahues, eventually won by Black. Interestingly, the engine (slightly) prefers Ahues' 16...Ne7!} 17. Qa4 Na5 18. Qf4 Rxc1 19. Rxc1 Rc8 20. Rxc8+ Qxc8 21. h3 {No one is better at getting blood from a stone than Magnus Carlsen, but against Wesley So in a classical game, his chances are still close to zero.} Nc6 22. a4 Qd7 23. Kh2 Qe7 24. Qf3 Qe8 25. b3 h6 26. Qd5 Qe6 27. Qxe6 fxe6 28. Kg3 Kf7 29. Kf4 e5+ 30. Kf5 h5 $1 31. Bd2 g6+ 32. Ke4 Ke6 33. Bc3 a6 34. f3 b5 {It's pretty close to dead, but there's still one last idea. Black's knight can't move here, because he'd lose the e-pawn. His king can't go to f6 because of Kd5, and sooner or later he'll run out of pawn moves. So it seems that he's only left with ...Kd6, because the g-pawn prevents White from replying with Kf5. So White could play g4, and if Black takes White recaptures with the f-pawn, then plays h4-h5 to create a passed pawn, and Black's king will give chase, allowing White to win the e-pawn and break through to the queenside. On the other hand, if Black ignores the pawn on g4, then White takes on h5 and sets up the zugzwang already mentioned, because then his king will have the f5 square. So it's not quite dead yet.} 35. g3 (35. g4 b4 {is the monkey wrench here, too.} 36. Bd2 (36. Bb2 Na5 37. Bxe5 Nxb3 $11) 36... Nd4 37. Bxb4 Nxb3 38. gxh5 gxh5 39. f4 exf4 40. Kxf4 a5 41. Ba3 Nd4 42. Kg5 Nf3+ 43. Kxh5 Ng1 44. h4 Nf3 45. Kg4 Nxh4 46. Kxh4 $11 {and Black can get rid of White's a-pawn, with a draw, or drolly retreat his king to a8 with a different sort of draw. Either way, it's over.}) 35... b4 36. Be1 Nd4 37. Bxb4 Nxb3 38. a5 Nd4 39. Bc3 Nb3 40. Bb4 Nd4 41. g4 Ne2 42. Bd2 Ng1 43. h4 Ne2 44. Be1 Nc1 45. gxh5 gxh5 46. Bc3 Nb3 47. f4 Nc5+ 48. Ke3 Nd7 49. fxe5 Nxe5 50. Kf4 Ng6+ 51. Kg5 Nxh4 52. Kxh4 {This time the a-pawn is defended, so Black's king will eventually have to retreat to the a8 corner. (At least normally. The players realize that this is a dead draw, so they expedite matters with a little humor.)} Kd5 53. Kxh5 Kc4 54. Bg7 Kb4 55. Bf6 Kxa5 56. Bd8+ Kb5 57. Kh6 a5 58. Bxa5 1/2-1/2 [Event "85th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2023.01.27"] [Round "11.3"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D33"] [WhiteElo "2735"] [BlackElo "2766"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "77"] [EventDate "2023.??.??"] {[%evp 0,77,19,-10,16,15,15,16,16,7,35,23,-14,18,14,9,13,39,18,24,31,25,50,12,42,12,-1,9,0,5,9,16,22,13,38,42,49,12,24,18,34,25,58,58,73,39,44,45,47,52,57,58,60,66,78,66,69,65,65,71,65,51,61,62,58,55,59,56,57,38,37,12,11,9,9,9,4,1,4,4]} 1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 e6 4. g3 d5 5. cxd5 exd5 6. d4 Nc6 7. Bg2 (7. a3 $5) 7... cxd4 8. Nxd4 Bc5 {This Dubov line has done a nice job of killing White's winning chances for several years now.} 9. Nb3 Bb6 10. O-O d4 11. Na4 O-O 12. Bg5 (12. Re1 Re8 13. Bg5 h6 14. Bxf6 Qxf6 15. Nxb6 axb6 16. Bxc6 bxc6 17. Qxd4 {In this version Black plays the paradoxical} Qd8 $3 $11 {, though 17...Rd8 wouldn't be disastrously bad.}) 12... h6 13. Bxf6 Qxf6 14. Nxb6 axb6 15. Bxc6 bxc6 16. Qxd4 Rd8 (16... Qd8 {isn't as good here, because White can play} 17. Rfd1 {. In the 12.Re1 line Black has a rook on e8, so it would allow Black to regain the e-pawn in that version.}) 17. Qxf6 gxf6 18. Rfc1 Be6 19. Kf1 Ra4 $1 20. Ke1 $146 Rda8 $1 21. Rc3 Rxa2 22. Rxa2 Rxa2 23. Nc1 Rxb2 24. Rxc6 Kg7 {Black's kingside structure would be a big problem for him if White had a healthy queenside majority and Black's wreck was his majority. But as a minority it's fine - the pawns are safe, and for combatting White's kingside majority they're at least as effective as they would be if they were undoubled.} 25. Nd3 Rb1+ 26. Kd2 f5 27. Nf4 Kf6 28. h4 Ke7 29. Rc7+ Kf6 30. h5 Ba2 31. Kc2 Rf1 32. Rc6+ Be6 33. Nd3 Kg7 34. Rxb6 Bc4 35. f3 Bxd3+ 36. Kxd3 Rg1 37. Rb5 Kf6 38. Rb6+ Kg7 39. Rb5 {White has no winning chances if he allows Black to take the g-pawn and reestablish material equality.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "85th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2023.01.27"] [Round "11.4"] [White "Praggnanandhaa, Rameshbabu"] [Black "Maghsoodloo, Parham"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2684"] [BlackElo "2719"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "104"] [EventDate "2023.??.??"] {[%evp 0,104,19,19,54,54,67,66,58,33,33,26,76,28,32,32,66,5,15,18,45,27,6,3,7,-11,21,22,18,18,30,16,25,29,19,44,50,9,27,-29,-7,-2,-21,-21,31,-72,1,-74,-35,-259,-199,-201,-216,-199,-178,-237,-192,-201,-180,-180,-180,-192,-172,-177,-195,-192,-179,-183,-213,-215,-206,-292,-282,-275,-296,-331,-331,-946,-240,-233,-251,-274,-268,-268,-262,-269,-239,-287,-248,-261,-184,-211,-204,-193,-231,-225,-220,-220,-240,-468,-474,-466,-454,-582,-598,-745,-830] The day's only decisive game:} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 e5 7. Nf3 Qc7 8. Nh2 $5 {Almost a novelty, suggested by you-know-who (or better, you-know-what). White's idea in the Nf3 lines (6.Be3/Be2/a4/h3 e5 7.Nf3) is to go for a death grip on the d5 square, and this eccentric-looking move fits right in: the knight is going to g4 on its way to e3.} Nbd7 9. Ng4 b5 10. Ne3 {The only problem is that White's bishop can't leap to g5 to exchange itself for a Black knight.} Nb6 11. a3 Be7 12. Bd3 Be6 13. Qf3 g6 14. O-O $11 {/?} Nfd7 $6 (14... O-O 15. Bd2 Qb7) 15. Bd2 $16 Nc5 16. Be2 O-O 17. Nf5 $2 (17. b4 $1 Ncd7 18. a4 bxa4 19. Bd3 $16) 17... Bxf5 (17... gxf5 18. exf5 Kh8 $15 {is even better.}) 18. exf5 d5 $15 19. Bh6 (19. Rad1 $142) 19... Rfd8 20. Rad1 (20. Qg3 {improves, stopping ...e4 for the time being.}) 20... e4 $17 21. Qg4 Nca4 22. Nxa4 Nxa4 23. fxg6 hxg6 24. f4 $2 (24. Rb1 {is psychologically unappealing, but needed to be played.}) 24... Qb6+ $1 {It's hard to believe, but maybe Pragg missed this move, preparing ...f5?} 25. Kh1 f5 $19 {Now that White can't himself play f4-f5, he has no attacking prospects. Black has an enormous center and, after his next move, a material advantage to go with it. Pragg is completely lost.} 26. Qg3 Nxb2 27. Rb1 Nc4 28. a4 Kh7 29. Bxc4 Kxh6 30. Bb3 Rac8 31. axb5 axb5 32. Rfd1 d4 33. Qf2 Rc3 34. Ra1 Qf6 35. Ra7 Qh4 36. Qf1 d3 37. g3 dxc2 38. Rxd8 Bxd8 (38... c1=Q $1) 39. gxh4 c1=Q 40. Qxc1 Rxc1+ 41. Kg2 Bxh4 42. Ra6 {Opposite-colored bishops and all that, yes. But Black has majorities (and passers) on both sides, and White's remaining pawns are also weak. White is still completely lost.} Rc3 43. Be6 Rc2+ 44. Kh1 Bf6 (44... Kg7) 45. Bd7 Kg7 46. Bxb5 Rf2 47. Ra7+ Kh6 48. Ra6 Bd4 49. Be8 {It might seem that Black is blowing it, but he's got it all worked out.} e3 $1 50. Rxg6+ Kh7 51. Rg1 e2 $1 52. Bb5 {Only one move wins (which was true of his last three moves as well, but this one is the big payoff):} Rh2+ $1 (52... Rh2+ $1 53. Kxh2 Bxg1+ 54. Kxg1 e1=Q+ $19) 0-1 [Event "85th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2023.01.27"] [Round "11.5"] [White "Keymer, Vincent"] [Black "Rapport, Richard"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A48"] [WhiteElo "2696"] [BlackElo "2740"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "2023.??.??"] {[%evp 0,81,19,19,30,27,50,-3,70,54,66,79,69,66,94,74,59,52,48,34,34,34,27,36,31,9,3,-6,3,-12,9,9,3,-25,8,-8,6,4,11,-10,0,-32,-13,14,12,0,16,16,90,57,83,84,87,29,96,87,87,78,69,63,66,57,65,57,122,96,102,116,114,84,112,53,38,55,52,31,52,27,25,29,17,0,0,0]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Nbd2 c5 4. dxc5 Qa5 5. a3 Qxc5 6. b4 Qc3 $5 (6... Qc7 {is far more common.}) 7. Rb1 Bg7 8. Bb2 Qc7 9. e3 O-O 10. Bd3 (10. c4) 10... d6 11. O-O Nbd7 $146 12. c4 b6 13. Qb3 $14 Bb7 14. Rfe1 Rfe8 15. Rbc1 Rac8 16. h3 Qb8 17. Bf1 Qa8 18. Nd4 a6 19. Ne2 d5 20. Nc3 dxc4 21. Nxc4 Qb8 $6 (21... b5 $142 22. Na5 Ne4 23. Nxb7 Qxb7 24. Nxe4 Qxe4 25. Bd3 Qb7 26. Bxg7 Kxg7 $11) (21... Nd5 $142 22. Ne2 Bxb2 23. Qxb2 b5 24. Na5 N5b6 $11) 22. a4 Ba8 23. Rcd1 $14 {/?} (23. e4 $14 {/?}) 23... Nf8 $6 24. a5 $16 {Black is rapidly drifting into trouble.} N8d7 (24... b5 $142) 25. axb6 (25. Nxb6 $1 Nxb6 26. Bxa6 $16 {/+-}) 25... Nxb6 26. Na5 $6 (26. e4 $16) 26... Nbd5 27. Nxd5 Bxd5 28. Rxd5 Nxd5 29. Bxg7 Kxg7 30. Qxd5 Qxb4 31. Ra1 $14 Qc3 32. Qa2 Red8 33. Nc4 a5 34. Rb1 Rc5 35. Qa1 Qxa1 36. Rxa1 Ra8 37. Ra4 Rb5 38. g3 e5 39. Kg2 f5 40. e4 fxe4 41. h4 $11 1/2-1/2 [Event "85th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2023.01.27"] [Round "11.6"] [White "Ding Liren"] [Black "Van Foreest, Jorden"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D12"] [WhiteElo "2811"] [BlackElo "2681"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "2023.??.??"] {[%evp 0,65,19,19,19,1,30,20,26,32,41,1,-3,5,17,9,26,12,19,26,16,17,36,68,123,107,134,78,76,76,76,-24,-24,0,0,12,26,43,41,29,17,36,-24,-26,-21,-21,-23,-29,-29,-19,-16,-37,-12,-27,1,2,2,2,0,-6,0,-24,-9,-11,0,-16,-10,-19]} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 Bf5 5. Nc3 e6 6. Nh4 Be4 7. f3 Bg6 8. Bd2 Nbd7 9. Nxg6 hxg6 10. Qb3 dxc4 $5 $146 {A radical attempt to solve all Black's problems. If White doesn't take on b7, then Black is completely equal, so Ding jumps in.} (10... Qb6 $14 {is a main-ish line where White has scored pretty well.}) 11. Qxb7 $1 c5 12. Nb5 (12. Bxc4 cxd4 13. exd4 Rb8 14. Qxa7 Rh5 $1 15. Bf4 Ra5 16. Qc7 Rb4 17. Rc1 Nh5 18. Qxd8+ Kxd8 19. Ne2 Nxf4 20. Nxf4 Rxb2 21. O-O $14 {/= Maybe White retains a minimal edge, but even getting here is a scary journey if White has to find all this over the board (and must assure himself that none of Black's alternatives along the way are any better).}) 12... Rb8 13. Nc7+ Ke7 14. Qxa7 Qc8 {Threatening ...Rb7.} 15. dxc5 (15. Qa5 {is apparently best, when play might continue} cxd4 16. exd4 Rh5 {This again.} 17. Bb4+ $8 Rxb4 $1 18. Qxb4+ Kd8 19. Nxe6+ fxe6 20. Qxc4 Qb8 21. O-O-O Ra5 $44 {/=/?}) 15... Rb7 16. Qa3 Qxc7 17. c6+ Ke8 18. cxd7+ Nxd7 $11 {White is still a pawn ahead, which is fully compensated by Black's activity. This is clearly a position (and a situation, given that this was obviously prep by JVF) where White wants to find a way to kill the game and make a draw.} 19. Qc3 Bb4 20. Qc2 Qe5 21. Bxb4 Qxe3+ (21... Rxb4 $142 22. O-O-O Ke7 $15) 22. Qe2 Qxe2+ 23. Bxe2 Rxb4 24. O-O-O $11 Ke7 25. Rd2 g5 26. Rc2 Nb6 27. a3 Ra4 28. Kb1 Rh4 29. g3 Rh3 30. Bd1 Ra5 31. Be2 Ra4 (31... Rc5 {avoids the draw, at the cost of some risk - White could go for} 32. b4 {, for instance.}) 32. Bd1 Ra5 33. Be2 1/2-1/2 [Event "85th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2023.01.27"] [Round "11.7"] [White "Erigaisi, Arjun"] [Black "Gukesh, Dommaraju"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C67"] [WhiteElo "2722"] [BlackElo "2725"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "90"] [EventDate "2023.??.??"] {[%evp 0,90,19,19,19,19,19,17,26,13,57,28,67,-24,-9,-27,14,13,22,-12,-14,-27,-29,-25,-19,-17,-27,-27,-24,2,-2,-2,-2,-64,-5,-9,-9,-8,83,39,45,41,47,28,36,36,26,28,27,20,43,0,12,-3,-3,-27,-7,-38,0,-15,-20,0,0,-18,-13,-58,-62,-73,-57,-47,-17,0,0,-19,-13,-19,-23,0,0,0,0,0,0,41,35,29,30,0,0,0,0,0,53]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. dxe5 Nxb5 7. a4 Nbd4 8. Nxd4 d5 {and the draw is coming up?} 9. c3 $11 {No, White is playing for more.} ({Versions of} 9. exd6 Nxd4 10. Qxd4 Qxd6 11. Qe4+ Qe6 12. Qd4 Qd6 {(and draw) have been played something like 1500 times, just counting the database.}) 9... Be7 10. f4 O-O 11. Be3 f6 12. Nd2 $146 (12. Nxc6 bxc6 13. Nd2 {had been played in previous games.}) 12... Nxd4 13. Bxd4 c5 14. exf6 cxd4 15. fxe7 Qxe7 16. Qf3 (16. cxd4 Qe3+ {followed by ...Qxd4 is also equal.}) 16... dxc3 17. Qxc3 Qf6 18. Qd3 Qxb2 19. Qxd5+ Kh8 20. Nc4 Be6 $1 {Tactically astute.} 21. Qe5 (21. Qxe6 Qd4+ 22. Kh1 Rae8 {regains the piece with continued equality.}) 21... Qxe5 22. Nxe5 Rac8 23. Rf2 Rc5 24. Re1 b5 25. a5 Rd8 26. Rb2 Kg8 27. h3 Bc8 28. Nf3 Rf8 29. Rb4 a6 30. Re7 Rcf5 31. g3 R5f7 32. Re3 Rc7 33. g4 Rc2 34. f5 Rd8 35. Rd4 Rxd4 36. Nxd4 Rc4 37. Nf3 Kf8 38. Kf2 Rc2+ 39. Kg3 b4 40. Rb3 Rc4 41. Kf2 Bd7 42. Nd2 Ba4 43. Rb1 Rc2 44. Ke1 b3 45. Nxb3 Bxb3 (45... Bxb3 46. Rxb3 Ra2 {regains the pawn, maintaining the equality that has been present throughout the game.}) 1/2-1/2