[Event "Pepe Cuenca Invitational"] [Site "?"] [Date "2020.04.13"] [Round "1"] [White "Harikrishna, Pentala"] [Black "Duda, Jan Krzysztof"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A46"] [WhiteElo "2719"] [BlackElo "2753"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "154"] [EventDate "2020.04.12"] [EventType "k.o. (blitz)"] [EventRounds "3"] {[%evp 0,154,16,33,30,24,24,6,6,13,16,14,3,-18,-16,6,-6,6,24,4,29,23,38,43,30, 33,62,44,47,58,46,39,39,-96,36,41,59,59,62,37,59,63,65,52,56,47,92,129,115,120, 121,128,119,75,59,159,138,66,84,90,90,115,127,114,122,91,130,117,168,118,109, 92,100,61,76,148,167,52,29,5,105,86,93,0,0,0,54,0,92,92,75,0,0,98,93,98,92,73, 69,0,73,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,-35,0,-70,0,-60,-67,-314,208,210,213,206,215, 215,245,235,311,223,216,220,775,104,120,116,117,108,152,108,108,130,123,0,0, -207,-46,-42,-37,-42,-24,-43,-37,-48,-25,-37,-37]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. Bg5 d5 4. e3 Nbd7 5. Bd3 h6 6. Bh4 c5 7. c3 Bd6 8. Nbd2 Qc7 9. O-O b6 10. e4 dxe4 11. Nxe4 Nxe4 12. Bxe4 Bb7 13. Bxb7 Qxb7 14. Re1 g5 15. d5 O-O-O 16. dxe6 Nf8 17. e7 Bxe7 18. Qe2 Bd6 19. Bg3 Bxg3 20. hxg3 Ng6 21. a4 Qc6 22. a5 b5 23. Ne5 Nxe5 24. Qxe5 Kb7 25. a6+ Kb6 26. b4 Rhe8 27. bxc5+ Qxc5 28. Qxe8 Rxe8 29. Rxe8 Qxc3 30. Rb8+ Kc7 31. Rb7+ Kc6 32. Rb1 Qc5 33. Rxf7 Kb6 34. Rf6+ Ka5 35. Ra1+ Kb4 36. Rf7 Kb3 37. Rb7 Kc2 38. Ra2+ Kc3 39. Re2 b4 40. Re3+ Kc2 41. g4 Qd4 42. Re2+ Kc1 43. Re3 Qd1+ 44. Kh2 Qd6+ 45. g3 Qd4 46. Kg2 Qd5+ 47. Kh2 Qd4 48. Re2 Kd1 49. Re3 Kc2 50. Rc7+ Kb2 51. Rb7 Ka2 52. Kg1 Qd1+ 53. Kg2 Qd5+ 54. Kh2 Qd2 55. Rf3 Qd4 56. Rff7 b3 57. Rxa7 b2 {This was the first game of the match, and it has been eventful. White has been trying to convert his advantage, without much success, and now it's a real mess. Neither player has much time, but that doesn't stop them from demonstrating some inspired chess.} 58. Rab7 {Obvious, and good enough to draw, but there was a better winning try.} (58. Rae7 $1 { This comes close to winning, but doesn't quite succeed. Nevertheless, it was the best try, at least in theory. In the context of a blitz game with only seconds remaining, it's only slightly more realistic than jumping to the moon.} Qd8 (58... b1=Q $2 {leaves Black with two extra queens, but a lost position.} 59. a7 $1 Qh8 (59... Qbe4 60. Rxe4 Qxe4 61. Rf8 $18) 60. a8=R+ $1 {Queening is also fine, but it's more thematic to promote to a rook!} Qxa8 61. Ra7+ Kb3 ( 61... Qxa7 62. Rxa7+ Kb2 63. Rb7+ Kc2 64. Rxb1 Kxb1 65. f4 $18) 62. Rxa8 $18) 59. a7 Qa8 60. Rf6 $1 {The best try.} (60. Re2 Ka1 61. Rxb2 Kxb2 {is an easier draw for Black.}) 60... b1=Q 61. Re2+ Qb2 62. Ra6+ Kb1 63. Rxb2+ Kxb2 64. f4 gxf4 65. gxf4 {Now it's Black who must play with computer-like accuracy to save the game.} Kc3 $1 66. f5 h5 $1 67. g5 (67. gxh5 Kd4 (67... Kd3) 68. f6 Ke5 69. f7 {White can promote, but his king is too exposed, so Black will draw.} Qd8 $11 ({or} 69... Qf3 $11 {.})) 67... h4 $1 68. f6 Kb3 {Two other moves are also possible - the bottom line is that Black's king must prevent Ra2.} (68... Kb2) (68... Kc2) (68... h3 $2 69. Ra2 $18) 69. f7 h3 $1 70. Kxh3 {and now Black has various ways to draw. The "simplest" - if you're a computer - is} Qh1+ (70... Qc8+ 71. Kh4 Qxa6 72. f8=Q Qxa7 {with a tablebase draw. White's pawn is well on its way, but Black's king is where it should be, near the diagonally opposite corner.}) 71. Kg4 Qd1+ 72. Kf4 Qf1+ $11) 58... b1=Q 59. a7 $5 {This move is objectively mistaken, but I don't know if it was a panicky error or a brilliant trap. Maybe there's a bit of both?} (59. Rxb1 Kxb1 60. a7 Qa4 $11 {is drawn. White can play} 61. f4 {, but the instant he does his king is so exposed that it's an almost immediate draw:} Qc2+ 62. Kh3 Qe4 {and White has no choice but to retreat the king, after which the perpetual is immediate.} 63. Kh2 Qe2+ $11) 59... Qa4 $2 {A strange move, allowing White the sort of rook vs. queen ending we've seen several times, but without losing his f-pawn. But who said White had to take on b1?} ({The simple} 59... Qxb7 $142 60. Rxb7 Qxf2+ {gives Black a much better version of the sort of line we've already seen, as he has picked off White's f-pawn for free. I suspect it's still a draw. For one thing, if Black's king goes up towards the a-pawn and everything is exchanged there, White's king gets out in time to not only draw but even win. So it's checkmate or bust, and I don't see how Black can get his king safe enough to threaten mate without allowing White a rook check to drive the king away or without having allowed White to safely promote.} 61. Kh3 Qf1+ 62. Kh2 Qa6 63. Re7 {etc. White probably draws, as stated above.}) 60. a8=Q $3 { A beautiful move, and a fantastic spot with basically no time left on the clock. This wins - or should have.} Qxa8 61. Ra7+ Kb2 62. Rxa8 $18 Qe4 63. Rc8 Qd5 64. Rf6 Qd4 65. Rf5 Kb3 {White is winning, but in time trouble he was unable to convert his advantage.} 66. Rcf8 $2 (66. Rb5+ $1 {is the fastest win: } Ka4 67. Rb1 Qxf2+ 68. Kh3 Qf3 69. Ra8+ (69. Rcb8 $1 {is faster, but not as automatic for a human in time pressure.}) 69... Qxa8 70. Ra1+ $18) 66... Qxg4 67. Rf3+ (67. Rc5 $1) 67... Kc4 68. Re3 Kd5 (68... h5 $142) 69. Rd8+ Kc4 70. Kg2 (70. Re7 $142 $18) 70... Qf5 71. Rf3 $2 {Only this move gives away the win/ his winning chances for good.} Qe4 $11 {The threat of ...g4 forces White to surrender material, after which the draw is sure.} 72. g4 Qxg4+ 73. Rg3 Qe4+ 74. Kh2 Qh4+ 75. Kg2 Qe4+ 76. Kh2 Qh4+ 77. Kg2 Qe4+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "Pepe Cuenca Invitational"] [Site "?"] [Date "2020.04.13"] [Round "4"] [White "Duda, Jan Krzysztof"] [Black "Harikrishna, Pentala"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2753"] [BlackElo "2719"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "89"] [EventDate "2020.04.07"] [EventType "blitz"] {[%evp 0,89,79,48,53,56,39,-17,24,4,4,0,-2,7,24,-9,26,30,29,-20,25,0,25,1,11, 19,17,-24,16,-25,-16,-6,5,8,38,6,20,44,35,34,26,9,34,10,25,33,62,17,14,14,30, 24,35,26,34,26,49,66,56,45,72,68,60,44,43,0,0,0,0,0,22,-89,-100,-538,-612,-755, -763,-766,-182,-216,-209,-209,-210,-210,-298,-161,47,20,2,0,761,794]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. c3 d6 6. O-O h6 7. Nbd2 a6 8. a4 O-O 9. Re1 Ba7 10. Nf1 Re8 11. b4 Be6 12. Bxe6 Rxe6 13. Rb1 d5 14. Qc2 b5 15. Ra1 Bb6 16. h3 Qe8 17. Be3 Bxe3 18. Nxe3 Rd8 19. axb5 axb5 20. Ra3 dxe4 21. dxe4 Ne7 22. Ra5 Qc6 23. Nf5 Ng6 24. g3 Kh7 25. Re3 Ree8 26. Qe2 Rb8 27. Nd2 Qe6 28. Rxb5 Nxe4 29. Rxb8 Rxb8 30. Nxg7 Kxg7 31. Rxe4 Qxh3 32. Rxe5 Nxe5 33. Qxe5+ Kg8 34. Ne4 Qe6 {At this point in the match Harikrishna led 2-1. A win would have given him a commanding lead in this best-of-12 match, and he came close.} 35. Qxc7 $2 (35. Nf6+ $11) 35... Re8 $17 36. Nc5 $4 (36. f3) 36... Qd5 $1 $19 { If White had resigned here, no one would have been too surprised. But Duda is very resourceful, keeps his wits about him, and makes Harikrishna prove the win.} 37. Kh2 $1 Re1 38. Qc8+ $1 {Very precise!} (38. g4 $2 Qh1+ 39. Kg3 Rg1+ 40. Kf4 Qh2+ $19) 38... Kh7 39. g4 $1 {Now this is correct; everything else gets mated quickly. Black is still winning, but it's not trivial.} Rh1+ (39... Qf3 $2 40. Qf5+) 40. Kg3 Rg1+ 41. Kf4 $8 Qg5+ (41... Qd2+ 42. Ke4 Re1+ 43. Kf3 (43. Kf5 Qxf2#) 43... Qxc3+ 44. Kg2 Qxb4 45. Qf5+ Kg7 $19) 42. Kf3 Qd5+ $2 { A big mistake, but once again, time trouble (in blitz? Shocking, right?) rears its ugly head.} (42... h5 $19) 43. Ne4 $11 h5 $1 {Now Duda seems to be at death's door, but in the nick of time he finds the only escape.} 44. Kf4 $8 { It looks like a blunder, but it's (a) absolutely forced and (b) sets a brilliant cheapo. (Brilliant within the context of a mad time scramble.)} (44. Qf5+ $2 Qxf5+ 45. gxf5 h4 46. c4 h3 47. c5 h2 48. Ng3 Rxg3+ $19) 44... Rxg4+ $4 {Winning?} (44... Kg7 $1 45. gxh5 Qxh5 46. Qg8+ (46. Qf5 $11) 46... Kxg8 47. Nf6+ Kf8 48. Nxh5 Rc1 $11 49. Ng3 Rxc3 50. b5 Rb3 51. Kg4 Rxb5 52. Nf5 $11) 45. Qxg4 $1 $18 {No, losing! Harikrishna didn't recover from this game, and Duda scored 4.5/5 the rest of the way to wrap up the match by a decisive 6.5-2.5 margin.} (45. Qxg4 hxg4 46. Nf6+ {is the painful point.}) 1-0