[Event "FIDE World Cup 2025"] [Site "Goa IND"] [Date "2025.11.17"] [Round "6.1"] [White "Sindarov, Javokhir"] [Black "Martinez Alcantara, Jose Eduardo"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [ECO "D26"] [WhiteElo "2721"] [BlackElo "2644"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "77"] [GameId "2245260843836216"] [EventDate "2025.11.01"] [EventType "k.o."] [SourceVersionDate "2025.01.05"] {[%evp 0,77,12,15,13,20,27,21,31,25,18,23,31,29,58,49,47,55,40,37,45,32,57,40,39,46,34,47,34,37,32,32767,50,66,40,50,59,41,53,33,50,24,35,9,102,65,32767,20,70,40,32,32767,54,50,47,58,32767,28,39,41,52,32767,51,38,49,57,32767,112,153,52,49,35,33,24,1,38,65,23,32,7]} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Bxc4 c5 6. O-O Be7 7. dxc5 Qxd1 8. Rxd1 Bxc5 9. Nc3 O-O 10. Be2 Nc6 11. a3 b6 12. b4 Be7 13. e4 Rd8 14. Rxd8+ Nxd8 15. e5 Ne8 $146 {Black's position looks passive, but there's nothing for White to grab a hold of. As long as Black can expel the invaders, he's fine.} (15... Nd5 16. Nxd5 exd5 17. Be3 a5 18. bxa5 bxa5 19. Nd4 Bd7 20. a4 Nc6 21. Nxc6 Bxc6 22. Bd1 Rb8 23. Rc1 Bd7 24. Rc7 Rb1 25. Bc1 f6 26. exf6 Bd6 27. Rxd7 Rxc1 28. Kf1 Rxd1+ 29. Ke2 Rd4 30. Rxd6 gxf6 31. Rxf6 Rxa4 32. g3 Ra2+ {½-½ Van Bommel,T (2203)-Misericordia,A (2325) RA-2017-0-00496 LSS email 2016}) 16. Bg5 Kf8 17. Rd1 h6 18. Be3 (18. Rxd8 $2 hxg5 $11 {/? All White has done is given up the bishop pair.} (18... Bxd8 $5 {may be even better, surprisingly.} 19. Bxd8 Bb7 20. Bh4 g5 21. Bg3 Rc8 22. Nd1 Rc2 23. Kf1 Nc7 $15)) 18... Bb7 (18... Nc6 $142) 19. Nd4 $14 Nc7 20. f4 (20. Ndb5 $1 Nxb5 21. Nxb5 Bc6 22. Rc1 f6 23. exf6 Bxf6 $14 {isn't terrible for Black, but it's not completely comfortable either.}) 20... a5 $1 $11 {Now Black has no problems.} 21. bxa5 Rxa5 (21... bxa5 $1) 22. Nc2 (22. Ndb5) 22... Ke8 23. a4 Bc5 (23... Bc6 $1 24. Bxb6 Bc5+ 25. Bxc5 Rxc5 26. Rd3 Bxa4 $11 {and it's time for a handshake.}) 24. Bb5+ $1 Nxb5 25. axb5 f6 26. exf6 (26. Bxc5 bxc5 27. Ne3 Ra3 28. Rc1 {with Nc4-d6 on the way offers White at least a small initiative.}) 26... gxf6 27. Bxc5 bxc5 28. Kf2 Nf7 29. Ra1 Rxa1 30. Nxa1 Bd5 31. Nc2 Nd6 32. Ne3 Bb7 $2 (32... f5 $1 $11 {cuts out the possibility in the game. Taking twice on d5 is fine for Black, who then takes on b5. If White doesn't take on d5, Black's bishop moves away and White still has nothing.}) 33. Ng4 f5 34. Ne5 $2 (34. Nxh6 $1 Kf8 35. g4 $16 {rescues the knight (it's not a sort of Spassky-Fischer 29...Bxh2? redux), and Black must prove that the missing pawn doesn't matter.} Kg7 36. g5 Bc8 37. b6 Bd7 38. Nd1 Bc8 39. Ne3 {Maybe Black will hold this, maybe not. Either way, 32...Bb7 was a mistake.}) 34... Kd8 35. Nd3 c4 36. Ne5 Kc7 37. Ke3 Bxg2 38. Kd4 Bf1 39. Kc5 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE World Cup 2025"] [Site "Goa IND"] [Date "2025.11.17"] [Round "6.1"] [White "Wei, Yi"] [Black "Erigaisi, Arjun"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [ECO "C92"] [WhiteElo "2754"] [BlackElo "2773"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "61"] [GameId "2245260843877178"] [EventDate "2025.11.01"] [EventType "k.o."] [SourceVersionDate "2025.01.05"] {[%evp 0,60,18,26,21,27,12,16,15,4,22,21,7,31,19,25,16,35,29,42,37,43,42,36,39,53,53,61,56,42,65,44,32767,32767,51,45,27,49,63,42,48,5,16,1,-7,-1,16,0,0,1,-3,0,0,-4,-1,-6,32767,-2,0,-1,-1,-1,-1]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 {It's rare that Black avoids all the (attempted) drawing lines like the Berlin and the Marshall, but here we are.} Be6 {Relatively rare, but there are still more than 1400 games with this in the database.} 10. d4 Bxb3 11. Qxb3 (11. axb3 {is about equally popular.}) 11... h6 {Rare, though it's not an unusual move in general in the Closed Ruy.} (11... Qd7 {is usual.}) 12. a4 Qd7 $146 13. axb5 axb5 14. Rxa8 Rxa8 15. Qxb5 Nxd4 16. Nxd4 exd4 17. Qxd7 Nxd7 18. cxd4 {White is up a pawn, but he can't keep it.} Bf6 19. Be3 Rb8 20. Nd2 (20. Re2 Rb4 21. Rd2 c5 22. dxc5 Nxc5 23. f3 (23. Rxd6 Nxe4 24. Rb6 Rxb6 25. Bxb6 Bxb2 $11) 23... Rxb2 24. Rxb2 Bxb2 $11) 20... Rxb2 21. Rc1 Bxd4 22. Bxd4 Rxd2 23. Rxc7 Rd1+ 24. Kh2 Rxd4 25. Rxd7 Rxe4 26. Rd8+ Kh7 27. Rxd6 Re2 28. Kg1 Re1+ 29. Kh2 Re2 30. Kg1 Re1+ 31. Kh2 {Very tidy!} 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE World Cup 2025"] [Site "Goa IND"] [Date "2025.11.17"] [Round "6.1"] [White "Shankland, Sam"] [Black "Esipenko, Andrey"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [ECO "D35"] [WhiteElo "2654"] [BlackElo "2693"] [WhiteFideId "2004887"] [WhiteFideId "24175439"] [PlyCount "75"] [GameId "2245260843877179"] [EventDate "2025.11.01"] [EventType "k.o."] [SourceVersionDate "2025.01.05"] {[%evp 0,75,25,8,22,17,18,17,15,22,17,12,23,34,31,24,17,17,20,16,16,32767,35,40,71,49,58,22,22,16,22,22,19,9,0,-3,32767,-3,1,-14,-13,-25,13,6,8,-6,1,-24,-7,-14,23,32767,55,25,101,48,30,29,27,5,-1,32767,20,48,36,20,14,11,13,-1,40,33,26,19,31,14,24,14]} 1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 Nf6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 Bb4 6. e3 h6 7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8. Qa4+ Nc6 9. Nge2 (9. Bb5) ({and especially} 9. Nf3 {are usual.}) 9... O-O 10. Rc1 $146 (10. Nf4) (10. a3) 10... Rd8 11. Nf4 {Transposing to two of the 10.Nf4 games.} Bxc3+ $146 12. Rxc3 Ne7 13. Bd3 c6 14. O-O Nf5 15. Rfc1 Nd6 16. Qd1 Bf5 $11 {Black has nothing to complain about; if anything, he's pushing towards a slight edge.} 17. Bf1 g5 $1 18. Nd3 Kg7 19. Nc5 h5 (19... g4 $15) 20. a4 (20. Qxh5 $6 Rh8 21. Qe2 g4 22. g3 $8 Rh6 23. h4 gxh3 24. Kh2 Re8 $17) 20... h4 (20... g4 $142 $15) 21. h3 $11 a5 22. b4 (22. Rb3 $11) 22... axb4 23. Rb3 b6 24. Nd3 Bxd3 (24... Nc4 25. Nxb4 Qd6 26. Ra1 Ra5 $11) 25. Bxd3 Ne4 26. Bxe4 {Allowing ...Nc3 isn't a good idea.} dxe4 27. Rxb4 c5 28. Rb5 cxd4 29. exd4 Qf4 30. Rc3 Rd6 31. g3 hxg3 32. Rxg3 f6 33. Rg4 Qf3 34. Qc1 e3 35. Qxe3 Qxe3 36. fxe3 Rxa4 37. h4 Ra5 38. Rb3 (38. Rxa5 bxa5 39. hxg5 fxg5 40. Rxg5+ $4 Rg6 $19 {White's king is outside of the square of the a-pawn.}) 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE World Cup 2025"] [Site "Goa IND"] [Date "2025.11.17"] [Round "6.1"] [White "Yakubboev, Nodirbek"] [Black "Donchenko, Alexander"] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [ECO "E60"] [WhiteElo "2689"] [BlackElo "2641"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "87"] [GameId "2245260843881276"] [EventDate "2025.11.01"] [EventType "k.o."] [SourceVersionDate "2025.01.05"] {[%evp 0,87,15,19,17,23,32,32767,16,18,16,23,17,14,10,15,13,26,20,32767,18,34,9,6,32,32767,29,42,51,42,64,32767,84,81,94,58,65,32767,73,63,86,55,199,32767,160,159,111,97,77,96,141,103,104,99,111,119,105,151,219,255,250,181,238,230,180,170,370,284,323,291,355,299,395,309,337,399,310,394,447,367,386,393,365,384,32767,585,527,445,558,454]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 {Definitely not playing it safe.} 3. f3 c5 {Also not particularly safe, but that ship sailed with 2...g6.} 4. d5 d6 5. e4 Bg7 6. Ne2 e6 7. Nec3 exd5 8. cxd5 a6 9. a4 Nh5 $6 {This has been played a few times, with success, but it seems to be bad! Oddly, the refutation hasn't been played - either players are too scared and/or trust their opponents, or my engine isn't able to reach a sufficient depth to see the problem with it. On the other hand, a strong GM (Romain Edouard) gave the refutation in his comments to Niemann-Puranik, so I'm not sure what to think.} 10. Qe2 $6 (10. Be3 $6 {is usual, when} f5 {has been tried a bunch of times and seems to be okay for Black.} 11. Qd2 O-O 12. Be2 $2 f4 13. Bf2 Nd7 $17 {in particular is quite nice for Black thanks to his grip on the dark squares.}) (10. g4 $1 {is the problem.} Nf6 (10... Qh4+ 11. Kd2 Nf6 (11... Nf4 12. Kc2 $16 {Edouard}) (11... Ng3 $4 12. hxg3 Qxh1 13. Bb5+ $18 {Edouard}) 12. Kc2 $16) 11. Na3 $16 {White's getting g4 in for free is more useful than weakening, notwithstanding the long-term dangers.}) 10... Bd4 11. g4 $146 {White clearly isn't afraid to push the pawn; he just should have done it on the previous turn.} (11. Kd1 O-O 12. g4 Ng7 13. Na3 f5 14. gxf5 gxf5 15. Qg2 Nd7 16. Bg5 Qc7 17. Nc4 Ne5 18. Nxe5 Bxe5 19. h4 Qf7 20. Be2 Kh8 21. h5 Ne8 22. f4 Bd4 23. h6 Nf6 24. e5 dxe5 25. fxe5 Bxe5 26. Bf3 Rg8 27. Qd2 Ne4 28. Bxe4 fxe4 29. Kc2 b5 30. Raf1 Bf5 31. Kc1 Qd7 32. Bf4 Bf6 33. Be3 b4 34. Nd1 Rg6 35. Rf2 Bg4 36. Bxc5 Rc8 37. Qxb4 Qxd5 38. Rc2 Bxd1 {0-1 Niemann,H (2645)-Puranik,A (2604) Sitges Sunway op 8th 2021 (7.3)}) (11. Be3 $146 {? may be better.}) 11... Qh4+ $2 (11... Ng7 $1 $11 {The knight looks stupid here, sure, but with ...h5 coming it has decent chances to reemerge on a decent square.}) (11... Nf6 $2 12. Be3 $16) 12. Kd1 $16 Nf6 $6 (12... Ng7 {was better here as well.}) 13. Kc2 {Black's position is pretty terrible. His risky opening did not pay off.} (13. Qg2 $1 $16 {/+- The queen keeps an eye on the dark squares on the kingside before putting a piece on e2.}) 13... Nfd7 (13... O-O $142) 14. Bf4 Qf6 15. Be3 Ne5 16. Nd2 Qh4 {If White plays h4 he'll control everything.} 17. Bf4 {To play Bg3 and h4, of course.} h5 18. Bg3 Qe7 19. gxh5 Rxh5 20. h4 $18 Ra7 21. a5 {Giving Black the choice between having no space on the queenside either, or playing ...b5/b6 to get some space at the cost of a bunch of weaknesses and no safe haven for his king.} b5 22. axb6 Rb7 23. Bxe5 (23. f4 $142) 23... Bxe5 24. Nc4 Rxh4 $2 25. Rxh4 Qxh4 26. Nxe5 dxe5 27. Qe3 Rxb6 28. b4 $1 {A nice shot Black may have overlooked when deciding on 24...Rxh4 - not that his position wasn't already a disaster.} Nd7 (28... Rxb4 $4 29. Qxc5 $18 {hits b4 and c8.}) 29. bxc5 Rb4 30. c6 Nb6 31. Be2 Qh2 32. d6 {What pawns! Black has no material and no counterplay, just a collection of loose, uncoordinated pieces.} Be6 33. d7+ Bxd7 34. cxd7+ Nxd7 35. Rxa6 Kf8 36. Rd6 Rb7 37. Qd2 Nc5 38. Qd5 Rc7 39. Rxg6 $1 Ne6 {Black has a bunch of threats at the moment, but White has it all under control.} (39... fxg6 $4 40. Qd8+ $18) 40. Qd6+ Re7 41. Rg4 f6 42. Qb8+ Re8 43. Rg8+ Kxg8 44. Qxe8+ (44. Qxe8+ Nf8 45. Kb3 {and the coming Bc4+ will do even more damage.}) 1-0