[Event "2nd UzChess Cup Masters"] [Site "Tashkent UZB"] [Date "2025.06.22"] [Round "4.1"] [White "Praggnanandhaa, R."] [Black "Sindarov, Javokhir"] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [ECO "D43"] [WhiteElo "2767"] [BlackElo "2710"] [PlyCount "89"] [GameId "2191659655260806"] [EventDate "2025.06.19"] [SourceVersionDate "2025.01.05"] {[%evp 0,89,16,19,8,18,13,65,15,21,21,7,15,7,4,-11,21,5,16,4,25,23,23,23,34,23,12,38,31,74,62,1,53,61,61,95,78,50,31,15,72,61,41,38,46,48,59,40,50,40,34,37,27,67,-41,9,-1,7,4,59,6,65,89,83,82,161,86,163,175,129,129,166,187,164,249,1,142,170,158,225,155,249,259,282,279,276,317,333,387,315,430,435]} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 c6 5. Qd3 (5. Bg5) ({and} 5. e3 {are the main moves by a very long way.}) 5... Nbd7 (5... dxc4 6. Qxc4 b5 7. Qd3 a6 {is usual, and now White's main move is surprising:} 8. g4 {This sort of sacrifice is normal when the g7-pawn is unprotected, but it's unusual here. Now Black can either capture or - this is more common at the moment - play ...c5.} c5 (8... Nxg4 9. Rg1 Nf6 10. Bf4 Bb7 11. e4 Nbd7 12. O-O-O {This position can arise through various move orders. Now Black generally chooses 12...Be7 or 12...g6. In both cases White has enough for the pawn but not more, and that squares with the results in the database.}) 9. g5 c4 10. Qe3 Nd5 11. Nxd5 Qxd5 12. Bg2 Bb4+ 13. Kf1 Bb7 14. h4 Qf5 {etc.}) 6. Bf4 {Rare, except in Indjic's games.} (6. g3) (6. e4) 6... a6 $146 7. e4 dxc4 8. Qxc4 {Back to a few predecessors.} b5 9. Qe2 (9. Qd3 c5 10. dxc5 Qa5 11. Nd2 Nxc5 12. Qd4 Bb7 13. b4 Nd3+ 14. Bxd3 Bxb4 15. Nxb5 axb5 16. Rb1 Bc3 17. Qc5 b4 18. Bb5+ Nd7 19. a4 Qa7 20. Qd6 Bxe4 21. O-O Bxb1 22. Rxb1 Bf6 23. Be3 Qb7 24. Bc5 Bd8 25. Re1 Bh4 26. Nc4 Rd8 27. Rxe6+ {1-0 Aditya,M (2479)-Cheparinov,I (2694) Elllobregat op 3rd Sant Boi de Llobregat 2022 (5)}) 9... b4 $6 $146 (9... Qa5 $142 10. Nd2 Qb6 11. a4 Bb4 12. Be3 O-O 13. f3 Qb8 14. Qf2 e5 15. Be2 Bd6 16. g3 Rd8 17. f4 exd4 18. Bxd4 Bb4 19. e5 Bb7 20. O-O c5 21. Be3 Nd5 22. Nxd5 Bxd5 23. Nf3 Qb7 24. Nh4 c4 25. Rfd1 Nf8 26. Bb6 Nd7 27. Be3 bxa4 28. Rxa4 a5 29. Nf5 Bf8 30. Rda1 Qc7 31. Bf3 Bxf3 32. Qxf3 Nb6 33. Rxa5 Rxa5 34. Rxa5 c3 35. bxc3 Qxc3 {½-½ Rangel Garcia,R (2252)-Vertiz Gutierrez,P (2346) WZ-ch01 email ICCF email 2018}) 10. Na4 $16 Bb7 11. Rc1 (11. Rd1 $142 Be7 12. Nd2 $16) 11... Be7 12. Nd2 (12. Nc5 $142 Nxc5 13. dxc5 Nd7 14. Ne5 $1 $14 Nxc5 $6 15. Nc4 $1 $16 {Black will have troubles on various dark squares, including d6.}) 12... c5 $6 (12... O-O $11 {/?}) 13. Nxc5 Nxc5 14. dxc5 Rc8 15. Be3 $2 (15. c6 $1 Bxc6 16. Qxa6 Bb7 $1 17. Rxc8 Qxc8 18. Bb5+ Kf8 19. Qa7 g5 $1 20. Bxg5 h6 21. Bxf6 Bxf6 22. O-O $16) 15... Nxe4 $2 (15... Nd7 16. Nb3 Bxe4 17. Qg4 Nf6 18. Qg3 O-O 19. Bxa6 Ra8 $11) 16. Nxe4 Bxe4 17. Qg4 $18 Bb7 18. Qxb4 $2 (18. Rd1 $1 Qa5 19. Qxg7 Rf8 20. Be2 b3+ 21. Bd2 Qxc5 22. axb3 Qc2 23. O-O Qg6 24. Qxg6 hxg6 25. Bc3 $18 {Black's a-pawn is seriously weak, and even if he manages to swap it for the b3-pawn White will still probably win thanks to his remaining b-pawn and more effective bishops.}) 18... Qc7 $14 19. f3 O-O 20. Be2 a5 21. Qa3 Bc6 22. O-O Bf6 23. Rc2 a4 24. Rb1 Qe5 25. Qc3 Qf5 $6 (25... Qh5 $1 $14) 26. Qd3 $6 (26. Bd3 $1 Bxc3 27. Bxf5 Bxb2 28. Bxe6 fxe6 29. Rbxb2 $16) 26... Qe5 27. Qc3 Qf5 $6 (27... Qh5) 28. Qd3 $6 (28. Bd3) 28... Qe5 29. Qd2 Rfd8 30. Qc1 Qh5 $2 (30... Ra8 $14) 31. b4 $18 axb3 32. axb3 Be5 33. h3 Qg6 34. b4 Qg3 35. b5 Bd5 36. Kf1 f5 37. Bg1 Be4 38. b6 $1 (38. fxe4 $4 fxe4 39. Bf2 Rf8 40. Qe1 Rf6 (40... Bd4 41. Bf3 Rxf3 $1 42. gxf3 Qxf3 $11) 41. Bc4 Rcf8 42. Rb3 $1 Qh2 $1 43. b6 Qh1+ 44. Ke2 Rxf2+ (44... Qxg2 45. Kd1 Rxf2 46. Rxf2 Rxf2 47. b7 Bb8 $11) 45. Qxf2 Rxf2+ 46. Kxf2 Qd1 47. Bxe6+ $1 Kf8 48. Re2 Bd4+ 49. Rbe3 $1 $11) 38... Bf4 39. Qb2 Be5 40. Qb3 Bxc2 41. Qxc2 Kh8 42. c6 Qf4 43. Qc1 Qa4 44. c7 Rg8 45. Qc5 1-0 [Event "2nd UzChess Cup Masters"] [Site "Tashkent UZB"] [Date "2025.06.22"] [Round "4.2"] [White "Rapport, Richard"] [Black "Vokhidov, Shamsiddin"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [ECO "A29"] [WhiteElo "2714"] [BlackElo "2644"] [PlyCount "100"] [GameId "2191659655260807"] [EventDate "2025.06.19"] [SourceVersionDate "2025.01.05"] {[%evp 0,100,21,-24,12,1,-31,0,5,0,0,-3,10,7,23,0,11,-1,-5,1,0,-2,0,4,-3,-17,-6,-14,-6,-42,-73,-33,-40,-37,-32,-37,-14,-1,-23,-18,-28,-13,-12,-41,-67,-30,-28,-27,-182,-24,-88,-14,7,1,17,25,-7,93,7,3,10,122,-6,0,0,-9,20,1,-17,-24,1,1,12,1,4,-14,-1,-55,-27,-33,-63,-57,-52,-48,-39,-40,-22,-40,-45,-25,-35,-33,1,-21,-41,-14,-34,-21,-33,-86,-41,-14,-29]} 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 ({As mentioned in yesterday's post, in my notes to the round 2 game between Praggnanandhaa and this same Vokhidov, I pointed out that this move order takes the 6...Bc5 option off the table, albeit at the cost of allowing other options (e.g. 3...c6 and 3...Bb4).} 3. g3) 3... Nc6 4. g3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 Bc5 7. Qc2 {Rare, but a Nepomniachtchi favorite.} Ndb4 8. Qa4 Bd7 9. O-O $146 (9. Qd1 {was played in two earlier games, but it amounts to nothing more than a transposition of moves.}) 9... Nd4 10. Qd1 {Back to the predecessors.} Nxf3+ 11. Bxf3 Nc6 12. Rb1 $146 {Now it's genuinely new ground.} (12. d3 O-O 13. Be3 Nd4 14. Bxb7 (14. Bxd4 Bxd4 15. Bxb7 Rb8 16. Bg2 Rxb2 17. Qc1 Rb8 18. e3 Bb6 19. Nd5 Be6 20. Qc6 Qd6 21. Rfc1 Bxd5 22. Bxd5 Qxc6 23. Bxc6 Rbd8 24. Bb5 g6 25. a4 a5 26. Kf1 f5 27. Ke2 f4 28. Rc6 fxe3 29. fxe3 Rd6 30. Rac1 Rdf6 31. Rxf6 Rxf6 32. h4 Kg7 33. Bc6 g5 34. h5 g4 35. Be4 Kh6 36. Rb1 Rf7 37. Rb5 Re7 38. Bc6 Kg5 39. d4 Kf6 40. d5 e4 41. d6 Re6 42. d7 Ke7 43. Rd5 Kd8 44. Bb7 c6 45. Rg5 Kxd7 46. Rg7+ Re7 47. Bxc6+ Kd6 48. h6 Re6 49. Ba8 Rxh6 50. Bxe4 Rh2+ 51. Kd3 Ra2 52. Rxg4 Ke5 {½-½ Fier,A (2556)-Vrolijk,L (2509) Maastricht Limburg 17th 2025 (7)}) 14... Rb8 15. Bg2 Rxb2 16. Rb1 Qb8 17. Bxd4 Bxd4 18. Nd5 Bg4 19. Ne7+ Kh8 20. Nc6 Qb6 21. Nxd4 exd4 22. Bf3 Bh3 23. Rxb2 Qxb2 24. Qc1 Rb8 25. Qxc7 Bxf1 26. Kxf1 f6 27. Qxa7 Qb6 28. Qf7 Qc5 29. Kg2 Rf8 30. Qd7 Qa3 31. Qe6 f5 32. h4 h6 33. Qc4 Kh7 34. h5 Rf6 35. Bd5 Qc3 36. Qb5 Qc8 37. Bf3 Qa6 38. Qb3 Qa5 39. a4 Ra6 40. Qf7 Rd6 41. Qe7 Rd8 42. Bc6 Kh8 43. Kh2 Rc8 44. Qe6 Qa6 45. Bd7 Qxe6 46. Bxe6 Re8 47. Bxf5 Rxe2 48. Kg2 Ra2 49. Bd7 g6 50. hxg6 Kg7 51. Be8 Ra3 52. Bb5 Kxg6 53. f4 Ra1 54. Kf3 Kf6 55. g4 Ke6 56. Ke4 Rg1 57. Ba6 Ra1 58. Bc4+ Kf6 59. Bb5 Rg1 60. a5 Rxg4 61. a6 Rg7 62. Bc6 Ra7 63. Bb7 h5 64. Kxd4 h4 65. Kc5 h3 66. Kb6 Rxb7+ 67. axb7 h2 68. b8=Q h1=Q 69. Qe5+ Kf7 70. Qe4 Qh6+ 71. Kc7 Qg7 72. Qe5 Qg3 73. d4 Qb3 74. f5 Qc4+ 75. Qc5 Qa4 76. Qd5+ Kf6 77. Qc6+ {1-0 Nepomniachtchi,I (2784)-Giri,A (2764) Carlsen Inv Prelim chess24.com INT rapid 2020 (3.2)}) 12... Rb8 13. d3 O-O $11 14. Be3 (14. Bg2) 14... Bxe3 (14... Nd4 $11 {was played in the two games given above (without the inclusion of Rb1 and ...Rb8), and it's playable here as well.}) 15. fxe3 Ne7 16. b4 c6 17. Qd2 Bh3 (17... b6) 18. Rfc1 b6 19. Nd1 Rc8 20. e4 Be6 21. Rc2 Qd7 22. Rbc1 Rc7 23. Nf2 Rfc8 24. Kg2 f6 25. h3 c5 26. bxc5 Rxc5 27. Rxc5 Rxc5 28. Rxc5 bxc5 29. Qa5 c4 30. dxc4 Bxc4 31. Bg4 Nc6 32. Qc5 Be6 33. Bxe6+ Qxe6 {The game continues drifting to a draw.} 34. Nd1 a6 35. Nc3 h5 36. Qd5 Kf7 37. Kf2 Ne7 38. Qb3 (38. Qb7 $11) (38. Qxe6+ $11) 38... Qxb3 39. axb3 Nc6 40. Na4 Ke7 41. Ke3 Kd6 42. Kd3 Nd4 43. b4 Kc6 44. Nc3 Nb5 45. Nd5 Nd6 46. Ne7+ Kb5 47. Nd5 Ne8 48. Kc3 Nd6 49. Kd3 Ne8 50. Kc3 Nd6 1/2-1/2 [Event "2nd UzChess Cup Masters"] [Site "Tashkent UZB"] [Date "2025.06.22"] [Round "4.3"] [White "Erigaisi, Arjun"] [Black "Abdusattorov, Nodirbek"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2782"] [BlackElo "2767"] [PlyCount "120"] [GameId "2191659655285384"] [EventDate "2025.06.19"] [SourceVersionDate "2025.01.05"] {[%evp 0,120,17,31,22,106,19,11,30,19,24,11,2,1,1,5,20,15,29,4,-4,11,25,43,35,20,-1,29,24,15,48,23,46,1,43,112,75,26,-29,17,-18,4,40,8,0,-11,-38,-49,-35,-30,-20,-31,-20,-55,-147,-56,-29,-68,-74,-82,-99,-84,-62,77,-74,-92,-92,-66,-89,-12,-76,-5,-52,-42,-38,2,-72,-29,-82,-65,-112,-45,-71,-36,-6,-29,-67,-17,-28,-30,-15,-13,-13,-38,-9,-83,-17,-199,1,-227,-35,-15,4,2,1,0,-1,1,5,-1,1,-1,-1,1,-1,-1,-1,-1,-1,1,1,-1,-1]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. O-O Re8 (6... d6) (6... d5) 7. Bg5 (7. Nbd2) 7... h6 (7... a6) 8. Bh4 Be7 (8... a6) 9. Bg3 (9. Nbd2) 9... d6 10. h3 (10. Nbd2) 10... Bd7 11. Nbd2 $146 (11. Ba4 Bf8 12. Nbd2 g6 13. Re1 Bg7 14. Nf1 a5 15. Bb3 Nb8 16. a4 Na6 17. Ne3 Nc5 18. Bc2 Qb8 19. Nd2 b6 20. Bh2 Qb7 21. f4 Bc6 22. fxe5 dxe5 23. b4 axb4 24. cxb4 Ne6 25. Bxe5 Ng5 26. Ndc4 b5 27. axb5 Bxb5 28. Rxa8 Rxa8 29. Qd2 Qc6 30. Bb3 Re8 31. Qb2 Ngh7 32. Rf1 Bxc4 33. Bxc4 Re7 34. Nd5 {1-0 Smirin,I (2594)-Michalik,P (2556) Olympiad-43 Batumi 2018 (7.5)}) (11. Bh2 Bf8 12. Re1 a6 13. Bxc6 Bxc6 14. Nbd2 g6 15. Qc2 b6 16. d4 Nd7 17. Nc4 Bg7 18. Rad1 Qe7 19. dxe5 dxe5 20. Ne3 Qe6 21. Nd5 Rac8 22. c4 a5 23. h4 Nc5 24. h5 g5 25. Nd2 f6 26. Nf1 Qf7 27. Ng3 Ne6 28. Nf5 Rcd8 29. g4 Rd7 30. Kg2 Kh7 31. f3 Bf8 32. Bg1 Red8 33. Be3 Bc5 34. Kg3 Bxe3 35. Rxe3 Nf4 36. Ree1 Qf8 37. Rd2 Kg8 38. Red1 Kf7 39. Nxc7 Qc5 40. Nd5 b5 41. cxb5 Qxc2 42. Rxc2 Bxb5 43. Nxh6+ Kf8 44. Nf5 Be2 45. Rdd2 Bd3 46. Rc6 Kf7 47. Rxf6+ {1-0 Firouzja,A (2526)-Sargsyan,S (2453) World ol U16 Ahmedabad 2017 (4.2)}) 11... Nh5 12. Bh2 Bg5 {This sort of trade in Closed Ruys has been around since before I was born, and maybe even before my parents were born.} 13. Nxg5 Qxg5 14. Nf3 Qf6 15. Re1 a6 16. Bc4 Nf4 17. d4 Rad8 ({The "Black Lion" move} 17... g5 {looks reasonable here. The second knight will swing around to g6, and Black will have play along the g-file whether White trades (Bxf4 gxf4) or not (a possible ...g4 at some point).}) 18. Bxf4 Qxf4 19. Qc1 (19. Re3 $142 $14) 19... Qf6 $11 (19... Qxc1 $11 {is also equal.}) 20. Qe3 Ne7 21. Bf1 {Pre-defending h3 to prevent a knight from landing on f4 or to oust it once it's there (with a preliminary Kh2 in the latter case).} Ng6 (21... g5 {still looks good.}) 22. Kh2 (22. g3 $142 d5 $1 23. exd5 exd4 {White would like to play Qxd4 here, but it hangs the knight. That's one reason for 22.Kh2 rather than 22.g3.} 24. Qd3 $1 {is still about equal, but here it's White reacting to Black rather than the other way around. Still, 22.g3 is better than the text.}) (22. Rad1 $142 $1 $11) 22... exd4 $1 23. cxd4 c5 (23... Bc6 $15) 24. Qd2 $11 {Another advantage of 22.Kh2 over 22.g3.} Bc6 25. d5 Bb5 26. Bxb5 axb5 27. a3 Ra8 $1 {This is a reason to prefer a move like 26.Re3 to the swap on b5, but it's about equal either way.} 28. Re3 b4 29. Rae1 bxa3 30. Rxa3 (30. bxa3 $142) 30... Rxa3 31. bxa3 b5 $15 32. Qe3 (32. Re3 $142) 32... Qb2 33. Re2 Qb1 34. Nd2 Qa1 (34... Qa2 $142 $17) 35. Re1 (35. Qb3 $142) 35... Qe5+ 36. g3 Qb2 37. Rb1 Qc2 38. Rxb5 c4 39. Kg2 c3 40. Nf3 Rc8 41. Qe1 Qd3 42. Rb1 c2 43. Rc1 Qxa3 (43... Ne5 44. Nxe5 dxe5 45. a4 Rb8 {It looks bad for White, but his passers give him just enough ballast to save the draw.} 46. d6 $8 Rb1 47. d7 $11) 44. Qd2 $1 Qa4 45. Qe2 Rc4 46. Qd2 Rc5 47. Qe2 Rc4 48. Qd2 f6 49. Ne1 Rxe4 50. Nxc2 {With a sigh of relief.} Rc4 51. Ne3 Rxc1 52. Qxc1 Qe4+ 53. Kg1 Ne5 54. Qc8+ Kf7 55. Qe6+ Kg6 56. Qxd6 Nf3+ 57. Kg2 {Not fearing ghosts.} Ng5+ 58. Kh2 Nf3+ 59. Kg2 Ng5+ 60. Kh2 Nf3+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "2nd UzChess Cup Masters"] [Site "Tashkent UZB"] [Date "2025.06.22"] [Round "4.4"] [White "Aravindh, Chithambaram VR."] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2749"] [BlackElo "2757"] [PlyCount "151"] [GameId "2191659655285385"] [EventDate "2025.06.19"] [SourceVersionDate "2025.01.05"] {[%evp 0,151,17,34,16,19,21,50,12,12,15,29,16,17,19,13,31,17,22,11,31,32,16,51,25,27,31,31,24,23,22,-2,33,35,6,14,-89,-6,24,-18,17,1,-117,19,-90,26,31,33,22,2,-20,-43,-42,127,2,-57,0,-36,-40,-17,-32,-48,-81,-79,65,-14,-19,-19,64,-1,-14,-28,-41,95,58,184,53,57,56,265,51,32,102,69,35,37,37,30,111,28,185,23,118,28,25,12,37,26,94,31,97,42,29,34,38,40,40,38,45,40,36,34,35,36,39,19,15,15,20,30,12,62,12,8,19,10,29,14,15,1,1,21,7,38,1,47,1,2,68,1,97,1,25,4,37,1,1,1,15,1,1,1,1,1]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 {This was a major move not all that long ago. Now it has an almost nostalgic feel to it.} ({White is playing everything these days against the Najdorf, and among the more recently popular options} 6. Bd3 {seems to stand out more than the others.} e5 7. Nde2 {followed by 0-0 and f4 is the usual follow-up.}) 6... e5 7. Nde2 h5 8. g3 (8. Ng1 {is a fun idea introduced to OTB chess by Nepo himself in 2014, but it has been figured out and has left the building, at least as far as world-class chess is concerned.}) 8... Be7 9. Bg2 b5 10. Nd5 Nxd5 11. Qxd5 Ra7 12. Be3 Rb7 {This position has arisen a couple of hundred times, but now the trunk branches out.} 13. Qd2 Nd7 14. Nc3 Nf6 15. a3 a5 16. b4 $146 (16. O-O) (16. Bg5) (16. Qd3) 16... Be6 17. O-O O-O $11 18. Kh2 axb4 (18... a4 $142) 19. axb4 Qc7 20. Rfc1 Rc8 21. Nd5 Nxd5 22. exd5 Bd7 23. Ra6 $14 Qc4 24. Bc5 $5 {Very clever, but it gives away White's advantage.} (24. c3 $14 {Sometimes obvious and boring is best.}) 24... dxc5 25. d6 e4 $8 26. dxe7 Be8 27. Qd8 (27. Qg5 $1 Rd7 $1 $11) 27... Rbb8 (27... cxb4 $1 28. Rd1 Qxc2 (28... Rbc7 29. h4 $8 f5 30. Rd2 $44) 29. Raa1 Rcb8 30. Rac1 Qxf2 31. Rc7 Qa7 $1 32. Rxb7 Qxb7 33. Rd4 f5 34. Qd6 Qb6 35. Qd5+ $11) 28. Qd6 cxb4 (28... e3 $1) 29. Qe5 (29. Re1 $1 Qxc2 30. Qf4 Qc7 31. Bxe4 Qxf4 32. gxf4 b3 33. Rd6 b2 34. Rb1 f6 $1 $11) 29... Qc7 30. Qxe4 b3 $1 31. Ra3 b2 32. Rb1 Rb6 33. Ra8 Re6 34. Rxc8 Qxc8 35. Qd4 Qxc2 (35... Rxe7 36. Rxb2 Re2) 36. Rxb2 Qc7 37. Rxb5 Qxe7 38. Rxh5 {The excitement finally comes to an end. White is a safe pawn up, but has almost no winning chances, at least or especially if the players reach a pure rook ending.} Bc6 39. Bxc6 Rxc6 40. Re5 Re6 {A queen ending offers White more winning chances than the rook ending does, at least the last time I checked on this sort of thing, but not enough to make a difference at this level. (It doesn't help White that his extra pawn is the h-pawn rather than an f- or e-pawn.)} 41. Rd5 Qf6 {The rook ending is a dead draw for these guys.} 42. Qd2 Qf3 43. Rd8+ Kh7 44. Qc2+ g6 45. Qb2 Qf6 46. Qd2 Re4 47. Rd3 Qe5 48. Re3 Rxe3 49. Qxe3 {Trading to a king and pawn ending is another story: it's a routine win for White is Black swaps.} Qd5 50. h4 Kg8 51. Qe8+ Kg7 52. Qe2 Kg8 53. Qe3 Kh7 54. Qf4 Kg8 55. Kg1 Kh7 56. Kh2 Kg8 57. g4 Qc5 58. Kg2 Kg7 59. Qe4 Kg8 60. Qf3 Kg7 61. Kg3 Qe5+ 62. Qf4 Qc3+ 63. Qe3 Qa1 64. f3 Qa5 65. Qd4+ Kg8 66. Qe3 Kg7 67. f4 Kh7 68. Kh3 Qd5 69. Kg3 Qa5 70. Qf3 Qe1+ 71. Kh3 Kg7 72. g5 Qe6+ 73. Kg2 Qa2+ 74. Kg3 Qb1 75. Qc3+ Kg8 76. Qe3 1/2-1/2 [Event "2nd UzChess Cup Masters"] [Site "Tashkent UZB"] [Date "2025.06.22"] [Round "4.5"] [White "Yakubboev, Nodirbek"] [Black "Maghsoodloo, Parham"] [Result "0-1"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [ECO "D17"] [WhiteElo "2659"] [BlackElo "2691"] [PlyCount "84"] [GameId "2191659655285386"] [EventDate "2025.06.19"] [SourceVersionDate "2025.01.05"] {[%evp 0,84,12,35,8,15,18,14,12,6,15,0,8,-110,16,9,-15,33,36,6,53,37,9,8,-1,-6,17,14,-5,17,22,14,30,21,18,16,66,25,18,-12,44,65,24,11,6,38,23,43,-63,26,16,41,0,48,33,1,14,0,91,37,32,24,1,-34,-18,-57,-9,-126,-203,-279,-245,-294,-247,-370,-502,-496,-496,-572,-655,-567,-703,-822,-831,-843,-887,-29993,-29994]} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. Ne5 Nbd7 7. Nxc4 Nb6 8. Ne5 a5 9. h4 (9. f3) ({and} 9. g3 {used to be automatic. People still play 9.f3, but 9.g3 is disappearing, replaced by the move in the game.}) 9... e6 (9... h6 {will generally transpose.}) 10. f3 h6 11. e4 Bh7 12. Be3 Nfd7 13. Nxd7 (13. Nd3 {is much more popular.}) 13... Nxd7 14. Bc4 Bb4 15. Kf2 $146 (15. g4) (15. Qe2 $142 $146) 15... e5 16. d5 O-O 17. g4 Kh8 18. dxc6 {Not terrible, but probably not best. This looks obvious, but experience with this pawn structure has shown that White's b-pawn is often just as much a target as Black's c-pawn, which usefully controls d5 and b5.} (18. Qe2 $142) (18. Kg2 $142) 18... bxc6 19. Ne2 Bg8 (19... h5 $142 20. Ng3 hxg4 21. fxg4 Bc5) 20. b3 (20. Rc1) 20... Bc5 21. Qc1 Qb6 22. Rd1 Rad8 23. Ng3 f6 24. Bxg8 Rxg8 $6 {Black's king isn't snug, it's suffocating.} (24... Kxg8 $142) 25. Nf5 $1 $14 Qxb3 (25... Bd4 $1 $14) 26. g5 {Black is drifting into trouble.} fxg5 27. hxg5 Bxe3+ 28. Nxe3 Rgf8 $2 (28... Qf7 $142 $14) 29. gxh6 $2 {A big missed opportunity for Yakubboev.} (29. Nf5 $1 Qf7 (29... g6 $2 30. Qxc6 $18) 30. Rd6 $1 $18) 29... g6 $14 {Black is okay again.} 30. Ra3 (30. Qc4 $142 $14) 30... Qe6 $11 31. Rad3 {Not bad, but risky. White's king isn't safe here, and just two moves later he makes the losing move.} (31. Kg2 $142) 31... Qh3 32. Nf1 Rf4 33. Ke1 $2 (33. Kg1 $1 {, paradoxically running away from his own pieces, was the way to maintain equality.} Rdf8 34. Nh2 (34. Rxd7 $4 Qxf3 $19 {leads to mate.}) 34... Qg3+ 35. Kh1 Rh4 36. R1d2 $11) 33... Rdf8 $1 $19 34. Kd2 Rxf3 35. Rxf3 Rxf3 36. Qc4 Rf2+ 37. Ke1 Qh4 $1 38. Rd2 Rf4+ 39. Kd1 Rxe4 40. Qf7 Re1+ $1 41. Kc2 Qxa4+ 42. Kb2 Qa1+ $1 (42... Qa1+ $1 43. Kb3 (43. Kc2 Qc1+ 44. Kb3 (44. Kd3 Nc5#) 44... Nc5+ 45. Ka2 Qa1#) 43... Nc5+ 44. Kc4 Rc1+ 45. Rc2 Rxc2#) 0-1