[Event "87th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2025.01.20"] [Round "3.1"] [White "Van Foreest, Jorden"] [Black "Sarana, Alexey"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B50"] [WhiteElo "2680"] [BlackElo "2677"] [PlyCount "83"] [GameId "2136218437890059"] [EventDate "2025.01.18"] [SourceVersionDate "2025.01.05"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 a6 5. a4 e6 6. O-O Be7 7. Nbd2 b6 8. Re1 Bb7 9. Ba2 Nc6 10. c3 Qc7 11. Nf1 Rc8 12. Ng3 O-O 13. h3 b5 14. Bb1 b4 15. Bg5 a5 16. d4 bxc3 17. bxc3 cxd4 18. cxd4 Nb4 19. Qd2 Qc3 20. Qxc3 Rxc3 21. d5 Rfc8 22. Bd2 R3c4 23. dxe6 fxe6 24. Bxb4 Rxb4 25. Ba2 d5 26. exd5 Bxd5 27. Rxe6 Rxa4 28. Rxe7 Rxa2 29. Rxa2 Bxa2 30. Ra7 Bd5 31. Rxa5 Bxf3 32. gxf3 Rf8 33. Kg2 h6 34. Nf5 Kh7 35. Ne3 Rf7 36. f4 Rc7 37. Kf3 Rb7 38. f5 Rb3 39. Kg2 Rb4 40. Rc5 Ra4 41. f3 Nh5 42. Kf2 1/2-1/2 [Event "87th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2025.01.20"] [Round "3.2"] [White "Wei Yi"] [Black "Keymer, Vincent"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2751"] [BlackElo "2733"] [PlyCount "53"] [GameId "2136218437890060"] [EventDate "2025.01.18"] [SourceVersionDate "2025.01.05"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 a5 6. O-O d6 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bh4 Ba7 9. Re1 g5 10. Bg3 h5 11. h4 g4 12. Ng5 O-O 13. Na3 Qe7 14. d4 Kg7 15. f4 gxf3 16. gxf3 Nh7 17. f4 Bg4 18. Be2 Bxe2 19. Qxe2 exd4 20. Kg2 dxc3 21. Nxh7 cxb2 22. Rad1 Kxh7 23. Qxh5+ Kg7 24. Qg4+ Kh8 25. Qh5+ Kg7 26. Qg4+ Kh8 27. Qh5+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "87th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2025.01.20"] [Round "3.3"] [White "Praggnanandhaa, R."] [Black "Erigaisi, Arjun"] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [ECO "E04"] [WhiteElo "2741"] [BlackElo "2801"] [PlyCount "119"] [GameId "2136218437890061"] [EventDate "2025.01.18"] [SourceVersionDate "2025.01.05"] {[%evp 0,119,17,34,22,20,26,22,22,6,11,13,13,14,8,13,-80,-2,44,14,28,-33,32,16,37,51,73,60,61,61,59,102,59,65,77,62,-43,70,50,52,80,-44,85,62,1,85,-89,59,94,16,109,65,70,92,1,95,76,8,94,76,72,35,52,86,92,42,117,1,84,122,130,108,129,118,1,122,155,41,189,266,186,172,186,179,179,189,199,83,199,186,192,163,193,31,202,202,222,204,301,246,242,96,211,217,215,328,104,314,317,215,562,451,423,410,594,689,781,715,839,817,29997,29998]} 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. Ne1 (11. Nb3 {is the top move by a 13-1 ratio over the text.}) 11... Bd7 (11... Rd8 $142) ({and} 11... Be7 $142 {are more usual and better, too, according to the engine.}) 12. Rb1 $1 $14 Na5 13. Nb3 Nxb3 14. axb3 {Unfortunately for Black, there's no convenient way to defend the b-pawn. Putting a rook on b8 is obviously terrible - White plays Bf4. Black must therefore allow his structure to be wrecked, and that ultimately costs him.} Bc6 15. Bxc6 bxc6 16. Nd3 Be7 $146 (16... Bb6 17. Bd2 Ne4 18. Be1 Rfd8 19. Ne5 Rd5 20. Nd3 Rad8 21. c4 R5d7 22. Rdc1 Bd4 23. b4 g5 24. Kg2 g4 25. h3 gxh3+ 26. Kxh3 e5 27. Kg2 f5 28. c5 f4 29. b5 cxb5 30. c6 Rc7 31. Ba5 Bb6 32. Bxb6 axb6 33. Rxb5 fxg3 34. Rxe5 Nxf2 35. Nf4 Ng4 36. Rg5+ Kf7 37. Rxg4 Rd6 38. Nd3 {1-0 Zarkua,D (2426)-Vetoshko,V (2404) TUR-chT2 Konya 2015 (6.5)}) 17. Be3 (17. c4 $14) 17... Rfc8 (17... Nd5) 18. Bc5 $14 Kf8 (18... Bd8 $142) 19. Ra1 $16 {The rest is a prolonged exercise in target practice. Black's a- and c-pawns are weak, and they will be weak forever. (Well, until White wins one or both of them.) That doesn't mean that there's a straight line from this position to the win, and Erigaisi more than once shrunk White's edge to a slight one or occasionally to no advantage at all from the engine's perspective. But the reality is that his permanently weak pawns mean that he'll always be worse (at least practically), laboriously trying to defend the targets and hoping to achieve something like a fortress.} Rc7 20. Kf1 Nd7 21. Bxe7+ Kxe7 22. Ra3 c5 23. c4 Rb7 24. Rda1 a5 25. Ke1 (25. Rxa5 Rxa5 26. Rxa5 Rxb3 27. Nxc5 Nxc5 28. Rxc5 {will be drawn. White's c-pawn isn't distant enough to be useful as a diversion - Black's king can keep an eye on it while remaining tethered to his kingside pawns.}) 25... Kd6 26. Nc1 Rba7 27. Na2 Kc6 28. Nc3 Nb6 29. f4 Nc8 (29... a4 $1 30. Nxa4 Nc8 31. Rd1 Nd6 32. Ra2 h6 33. Rad2 Ne4 34. Rd3 g5 $44 {It's not easy to play like this, but jettisoning the a-pawn to get rid of that defensive burden isn't the worst idea in the world - especially as White's queenside majority won't be mobile for a while.}) 30. Nb5 Ra6 31. Rd1 Nb6 32. Ra2 Rf8 $2 (32... a4 $1 33. Rda1 Rb8 34. Nc3 Nc8 35. Rxa4 Rxa4 36. bxa4 Nd6 $11) 33. Rd6+ Kb7 34. Nc3 $16 Raa8 35. Rad2 Rfc8 36. Ra2 Rf8 37. Rd1 Ra7 38. Rda1 Rfa8 (38... a4 $5 39. Nxa4 Nxa4 40. Rxa4 Rxa4 41. Rxa4 $18 {White will probably grind the win out in this pawn-up rook ending.}) 39. Nb5 $1 $18 {White wins Black's f-pawn, while the a-pawn remains a target. Black is lost.} Ra6 40. Nd6+ Kc7 41. Nxf7 Nd7 42. Ng5 Nf6 43. Nf3 Ne4 44. Nd2 Nf6 45. Kf2 Ng4+ 46. Kg2 e5 47. Ne4 exf4 48. gxf4 Re8 49. Nxc5 Rc6 50. Nd3 Rg6 51. h3 {It can be scary to allow a discovered check, but Black's knight has nothing to target.} Ne3+ 52. Kf2 Rg2+ 53. Kf3 Rh2 54. Nf2 g5 55. Rxa5 gxf4 56. Ra7+ Kd6 57. Ne4+ Ke6 58. R1a6+ Ke5 59. Ra5+ Kd4 60. Rd7+ (60. Rd7+ Nd5 61. Rdxd5#) 1-0 [Event "87th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2025.01.20"] [Round "3.4"] [White "Gukesh, D."] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [ECO "D38"] [WhiteElo "2777"] [BlackElo "2803"] [PlyCount "48"] [GameId "2136218437890062"] [EventDate "2025.01.18"] [SourceVersionDate "2025.01.05"] {[%evp 0,48,12,27,9,0,14,15,13,8,16,5,-1,9,19,8,21,9,3,-2,-3,24,10,32,22,6,16,4,13,-1,21,-34,20,21,31,25,16,24,19,29,20,25,27,27,32,30,12,22,44,-1,24]} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bh4 Bf5 8. Qa4+ Nc6 9. e3 g5 10. Bg3 O-O 11. Bb5 Bxc3+ 12. bxc3 Ne7 13. Nd2 Ng6 14. Qd1 h5 15. h3 c6 16. Be2 h4 17. Bh2 b5 18. a4 a6 19. O-O Re8 20. Re1 Qe7 21. Bf3 Be4 22. Be2 (22. Bg4 Nxg4 23. Qxg4 f6 24. Qe2 $14 {/?}) 22... Bf5 23. Bf3 (23. Nf1 $14) 23... Be4 24. Be2 Bf5 {Gukesh showed himself to be a great fighter in his match with Ding, so it's weird seeing him let Caruana off the hook so quickly here. Perhaps he underestimated his position.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "87th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2025.01.20"] [Round "3.5"] [White "Warmerdam, Max"] [Black "Abdusattorov, Nodirbek"] [Result "0-1"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [ECO "C78"] [WhiteElo "2646"] [BlackElo "2768"] [PlyCount "114"] [GameId "2136218437890063"] [EventDate "2025.01.18"] [SourceVersionDate "2025.01.05"] {[%evp 0,114,20,31,28,125,16,13,11,17,19,2,4,2,3,14,11,2,-20,11,9,12,0,9,15,4,23,17,31,43,30,28,13,9,19,4,8,-8,27,-4,14,14,20,-1,7,20,9,5,14,-4,0,21,9,32,0,-9,7,1,5,9,5,20,28,31,43,25,13,-19,-8,-30,24,-61,-24,-52,-65,-64,-64,-82,-51,-87,-35,-113,54,-128,-127,-134,1,-183,-30,-149,-204,-183,-145,-140,-245,-203,-161,-153,-94,-91,-86,-144,30,-96,-125,-84,-156,-25,-218,-172,-263,-183,-168,-50,-158,-532,-559]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d3 Bc5 6. c3 d6 7. O-O O-O 8. h3 Ba7 9. Re1 Ne7 10. d4 Ng6 11. Bc2 Bd7 12. Be3 Re8 13. Nbd2 a5 14. a4 Bc6 15. Qb1 Qe7 16. dxe5 dxe5 17. Bxa7 Rxa7 18. Bd3 Nf8 19. Nc4 N8d7 20. Qc2 g6 21. b3 b6 22. Rad1 Raa8 23. Qb2 Nh5 24. Ne3 Rad8 25. Bc2 Nhf6 26. Nc4 Kg7 27. b4 Ra8 28. Ra1 h6 29. Re3 Nh7 30. Nfd2 Ra7 31. Ree1 Ng5 32. Ne3 Nf6 33. b5 Bb7 34. c4 Nd7 {White has been a bit more successful over the past few moves and has an edge. Here Warmerdam misses a tactic, and the game turns around.} 35. Nd5 $2 (35. Red1 $14) (35. Rad1 $14) 35... Nxh3+ $1 36. Kf1 $1 (36. gxh3 $2 Qg5+ 37. Kf1 Bxd5 38. cxd5 Qxd2 $17) 36... Bxd5 37. cxd5 Ng5 $15 38. Ra3 f6 {It was better to do without this, though it's tempting to take f4 off the table.} 39. Ke2 $6 {An interesting but misguided idea. White wants to pull a "Petrosian", sending his king to the queenside so he can push his kingside pawns with a clear conscience.} Nc5 $15 40. Kd1 $6 Raa8 $17 41. Kc1 Rad8 42. g3 Nf7 43. f4 exf4 44. gxf4 Rxd5 $1 $19 {It's hard to know if Warmerdam was on tilt, or if he intended this second pawn sacrifice. He's objectively lost now, but there are practical chances thanks in part to the open lines available to his rooks.} 45. Nf3 Rh5 $6 (45... Rdd8 $142 46. e5 f5 $1 47. e6+ Kh7 48. exf7 $4 Qxe1+ 49. Nxe1 Rxe1+ 50. Bd1 Rexd1+ 51. Kc2 R1d2+ $19 {Maybe both players missed this line.}) 46. e5 fxe5 47. Rae3 Nd7 $2 (47... Kh7 $19) 48. fxe5 Nfxe5 49. Rd1 $1 $11 {White's pieces are just about perfect. Black may be three pawns up, but for now he needs to survive.} Nf6 50. Rde1 Nfd7 51. Rd1 Kh7 52. Qc3 $2 (52. Kb1 $1 $11 Nf6 $6 53. Rg1 $1 {Here (compare the game) there's no point to 52...Nd5.} Qb4 $8 54. Rxe5 Rhxe5 55. Nxe5 Rxe5 56. Rxg6 Re1+ 57. Ka2 Qc4+ $8 58. Qb3 Ra1+ $1 59. Kxa1 Qxb3 60. Rg2+ Qxc2 61. Rxc2 Nd5 $11) 52... Nf6 $1 53. Rg1 Nd5 $19 54. Bxg6+ Kh8 55. Qd4 Nxe3 56. Bxh5 Qa3+ 57. Kd2 Nf5 {White can't simultaneously maintain the pin on the diagonal, save his queen, and prevent ...Rd8+ with a mating attack.} 0-1 [Event "87th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2025.01.20"] [Round "3.6"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Fedoseev, Vladimir"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C55"] [WhiteElo "2731"] [BlackElo "2717"] [PlyCount "60"] [GameId "2136218437890064"] [EventDate "2025.01.18"] [SourceVersionDate "2025.01.05"] 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d3 Nc6 4. Nf3 Be7 5. O-O d6 6. a4 O-O 7. Re1 h6 8. a5 Rb8 9. h3 Re8 10. Nc3 a6 11. Bd2 Bf8 12. Qb1 Be6 13. Bxe6 Rxe6 14. Nd5 Ne7 15. Nxf6+ Rxf6 16. Qd1 Ng6 17. d4 exd4 18. Nxd4 c5 19. Nf5 d5 20. Qg4 Qc8 21. Ne3 Qxg4 22. Nxg4 Rd6 23. exd5 Rxd5 24. Bc3 Rbd8 25. Ne3 R5d7 26. Nc4 f6 27. g3 Ne7 28. Nb6 Rd6 29. Nc4 R6d7 30. Nb6 Rd6 1/2-1/2 [Event "87th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2025.01.20"] [Round "3.7"] [White "Mendonca, Leon Luke"] [Black "Harikrishna, Pentala"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E52"] [WhiteElo "2639"] [BlackElo "2695"] [PlyCount "88"] [GameId "2136218437890065"] [EventDate "2025.01.18"] [SourceVersionDate "2025.01.05"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 b6 5. e3 O-O 6. Bd3 d5 7. O-O Ba6 8. cxd5 exd5 9. Bxa6 Nxa6 10. Qa4 Qc8 11. Bd2 Re8 12. Rfc1 Bf8 13. Ne2 c5 14. dxc5 Nxc5 15. Qd1 Qb7 16. Bc3 Nce4 17. Bxf6 Nxf6 18. Rc2 Rac8 19. Rac1 Rc5 20. Nfd4 Rec8 21. Nc3 Ne4 22. Nb3 R5c7 23. Nxe4 dxe4 24. Rd2 g6 25. g3 Be7 26. Rxc7 Rxc7 27. Nd4 Bb4 28. Rc2 Rd7 29. Qe2 Bc5 30. Nb3 Be7 31. Qc4 Kg7 32. Nd4 Bc5 33. Nb3 Be7 34. Nd4 Bc5 35. Nb5 a5 36. Nc3 f5 37. Kg2 Be7 38. Ne2 Qd5 39. Qc8 Bc5 40. Nf4 Qd1 41. Ne6+ Kh6 42. Rxc5 Qf3+ 43. Kh3 Qg4+ 44. Kg2 Qf3+ 1/2-1/2