[Event "PSPB Rapid Chess Championship"] [Site "?"] [Date "2023.03.11"] [Round "3"] [White "Praggnanandhaa, Rameshbabu"] [Black "Adhiban, Baskaran"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A40"] [WhiteElo "2587"] [BlackElo "2522"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "95"] [EventDate "2023.??.??"] {[%evp 0,95,20,20,37,-11,20,38,17,21,27,-16,-8,-14,-11,-37,6,-17,22,2,19,-5,6,-5,1,-28,26,-64,-26,-13,2,-48,-15,-54,-34,-72,-60,-48,-37,-31,-2,-7,-7,-8,0,-23,22,29,15,10,3,16,16,4,5,5,18,26,37,25,34,8,10,8,59,57,61,63,54,49,55,55,55,63,83,91,107,96,91,95,102,103,216,154,251,254,252,232,254,254,359,461,511,937,982,1016,1016,1016]} 1. d4 e6 2. c4 b6 {A slightly offbeat opening, but that's characteristic of Adhiban. If he played a "normal" opening *that* would be a little offbeat for him.} 3. a3 ({White avoids the complications that ensue in these lines:} 3. e4 Bb4+ ({and especially} 3... Bb7 4. Bd3 Bb4+)) 3... Bb7 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. d5 (5. Nf3 {transposes to the Petrosian/Kasparov Variation against the QID.}) 5... Na6 (5... Bd6 {is standard, though the knight usually goes to a6 pretty soon, aiming for c5.}) 6. Nf3 (6. b4 $6 {is ambitious, but probably one pawn move too many.} exd5 7. cxd5 c5 $1 8. dxc6 dxc6 9. Qxd8+ Rxd8 {is already slightly in Black's favor.}) 6... Nc5 7. g3 a5 8. Bg2 g6 $146 9. O-O Bg7 10. Bf4 $146 ({The immediate} 10. Be3 {had been played.} O-O 11. Ne1 (11. Rc1 a4 (11... Ng4 12. Bxc5 bxc5 13. h3 Nf6 14. e4 d6 15. Re1 Nd7 16. b3 {½-½ Votruba,P (2355)-Zsinka,L (2405) Frankfurt 1989 (5)}) 12. Bxc5 bxc5 13. Nxa4 d6 $6 (13... Qe7 $44) 14. dxe6 fxe6 15. b4 Ne4 16. Ne1 Qe8 17. b5 Ra5 18. Bxe4 Bxe4 19. Nc3 Bb7 20. a4 d5 21. cxd5 exd5 22. Nd3 Qe7 23. Qd2 c4 24. Nf4 Rxf4 25. Qxf4 d4 26. Rfd1 g5 27. Qf5 Qe5 28. Qxe5 Bxe5 29. b6 dxc3 30. bxc7 Rc5 31. Rd7 Bc8 32. Re7 Ba6 33. Rc2 Bd6 34. Re6 Rc6 35. Rxc3 Kf7 36. Rh6 Kg7 {1-0 Browne,W (2530)-Gurevich,I (2400) US Open-89 Boston 1988}) 11... exd5 12. cxd5 Re8 13. Nc2 {½-½ Benko,P (2420)-Zsinka,L (2355) HUN-chT 9596 Hungary 1995 (7)}) 10... d6 11. Be3 (11. b4 Nce4 12. Nxe4 Nxe4 13. Rc1) 11... O-O (11... exd5 12. cxd5 O-O {followed by ...a4 is also possible, with equality.}) 12. dxe6 fxe6 (12... Nxe6 $11) 13. Rc1 Nfe4 14. Nxe4 Nxe4 15. Qc2 $14 (15. Nd4 Qd7 16. Qc2 Nc5 17. b4 Bxg2 18. Kxg2 $14) 15... Nf6 16. b4 (16. Bh3 $5) 16... axb4 17. axb4 Ra3 (17... Qe8 $142) 18. Bd4 (18. Bh3 $1 $16) 18... Qa8 $1 19. Ra1 Be4 (19... e5 $1 20. Bc3 Be4 21. Qb2 Rxa1 22. Rxa1 Qb7 23. b5 $14 {We'll see this structure again a little later, in the game.}) 20. Qb2 Rxa1 21. Rxa1 Qb7 22. Qa2 (22. Qd2 $14) (22. Qb3 $14) 22... Ra8 (22... e5 23. Bc3 h6 24. b5 Ra8 25. Qxa8+ Qxa8 26. Rxa8+ Bxa8 27. Nd2 Bxg2 28. Kxg2 $11 {is another version of the ending we'll see in the game.}) 23. Qxa8+ Qxa8 24. Rxa8+ Bxa8 25. Ng5 $1 Bxg2 26. Kxg2 e5 27. Bb2 Ne8 $6 28. b5 $1 {Black is still "officially" okay, but the queenside structure gives him all kinds of problems to worry about. White's king might march straight up the diagonal, his knight could paralyze Black from d5, and if his bishop could make it to d8 it might enjoy breakfast, lunch and dinner. As for Black's bishop, it has little scope and no targets and is consigned to the role of a "special" pawn, likely to be stuck on d8 to guard the base of Black's pawn chain. So don't be fooled by the "?" evaluation. It is true that the position should still be drawn, but in a game between humans, even very strong GMs when playing with only a few minutes on the clock, it's very easy for Black to lose.} Bh6 $6 (28... h6 $142 29. Ne4 Kf7) 29. Ne4 $16 Kf7 30. Nc3 Nf6 31. Nd5 $1 {Highlighting another negative aspect of Black's position. After the trade of knights Black's c-pawn will be safe (though there's no guarantee that White's bishop won't get to d8 someday), but it will also be immobile. And that in turn means that Black's queenside majority is useless, while White can play with his 4-3 kingside majority. White's aim will be to create a passed pawn on the kingside, and once Black is tied down to preventing its advance, White will try to get his bishop to d8 after all, aiming to overstretch Black's defenses.} Ne8 {Possibly worse than swapping on d5, but it's hard to be sure at the board which of a pair of bad options is the least bad.} 32. Kf3 (32. h4) 32... Bg5 33. h4 Bd8 34. Bc1 $1 {Threatening Bg5. After the swap, Black's knight will be forever pinned down to the c-pawn's defense - especially because once it goes, b6 will soon join it in the afterlife.} Ke6 $1 {Now Bg5 is bad - Black takes and plays ...Kf5, winning the pawn - and a move like g4 or e4 to keep Black's king off of f5 would poor as well (the former hangs the h-pawn, the latter prevents White's king from possibly entering the queenside). Unfortunately for Black, White has a solution. (More than one, but one is enough.)} 35. Bh6 $1 (35. Ke4 {was also excellent, but it requires White to calculate the bishop ending after 35...Nf6+. Pragg's method is much simpler.}) 35... Kd7 {Now that Black's king isn't in range of f5, it's time for Bg5.} (35... Nf6 36. Bg5 $1 {is the point. The pawn ending after 36...Nxd5+ is dead lost, and the knight vs. bishop ending after (say) 36...h6 37.Bxf6 Bxf6 38.Nxc7+ is also hopeless for Black.} Nxd5 37. cxd5+ Kd7 (37... Kxd5 38. Bxd8 Kc5 39. Bxc7 Kxb5 40. Bxd6 $18 {isn't the least bit challenging for White to win.}) 38. Bxd8 Kxd8 39. Kg4 Ke7 (39... h6 40. h5 g5 41. Kf5 $18) 40. Kg5 Kf7 41. Kh6 Kg8 42. g4 Kh8 43. g5 Kg8 44. h5 gxh5 45. Kxh5 Kg7 46. f3 Kf7 47. Kh6 Kg8 48. g6 hxg6 49. Kxg6 Kf8 50. e3 Kg8 51. f4 exf4 52. exf4 Kf8 53. f5 Kg8 54. f6 Kf8 55. f7 $18 {Even if it were White to move, it would be over: Kf6 forces the c-pawn to advance, and White can take it - there's no stalemate, and then White promotes and mates.}) 36. Bg5 $1 Bxg5 37. hxg5 c6 {Going for counterplay is Black's best option.} (37... Ng7 38. Nf6+ $18) ({Purely passive defense won't save the game - there's no fortress.} 37... Kd8 38. Ke4 Kd7 39. e3 Ke6 40. f4 exf4 41. exf4 Kd7 42. g4 Ke6 43. f5+ Kd7 44. Kf3 Ng7 (44... Kd8 45. f6 $18 {Black's king needed to be able to meet this with ...Ke6. Now there's no defense to f7-f8Q.}) 45. Nf6+ Ke7 46. Ke4 $18) 38. Nxb6+ Kc7 39. Na4 Ng7 40. Ke4 Nf5 41. e3 d5+ 42. Kxe5 $1 (42. cxd5 cxb5 {is still thoroughly lost for Black, but it gives him the slight consolation of a more remote passed pawn.}) 42... dxc4 43. b6+ Kb7 44. e4 Ng7 45. f4 c3 46. Nxc3 Kxb6 47. f5 gxf5 48. exf5 {Black must surrender his knight to prevent White's f-pawn from promoting. It was a very good, smooth technical win by Pragg against a player who has been rated as high as 2701. It's very rare that one defeats a player of that caliber without letting him put up any meaningful resistance.} 1-0