[Event "FIDE Grand Swiss 2021"] [Site "Riga LAT"] [Date "2021.11.01"] [Round "6.1"] [White "Shirov, Alexei"] [Black "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B12"] [WhiteElo "2659"] [BlackElo "2770"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2021.10.27"] {[%evp 0,85,32,21,63,70,67,63,57,44,49,51,48,58,76,67,56,40,55,43,43,42,39,26, 36,16,16,-8,-12,-31,-31,-40,37,-40,-44,-38,-38,-40,-51,-56,-78,-66,-63,-59,-39, -53,-55,-55,-63,-54,-24,-89,5,-32,-36,-36,-52,-52,-78,-74,-55,-39,-100,-86,-81, -90,-90,-90,-87,-151,-105,-162,-85,-187,-152,-78,-91,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. h4 h5 5. Bd3 Bxd3 6. Qxd3 Qa5+ 7. Nd2 e6 8. Ngf3 Nh6 9. O-O Nf5 10. Nb3 Qa6 11. Qd1 Be7 12. Bg5 Bxg5 13. Nc5 Qb6 14. Nxg5 (14. hxg5 $142) 14... Na6 15. Nxa6 Qxa6 16. c3 $6 Nxh4 {It's a safe pawn.} 17. g3 Nf5 18. Kg2 Qb6 19. b4 Qd8 20. Qd2 Qe7 21. Rab1 Rh6 22. Rh1 O-O-O $17 23. b5 cxb5 24. Rxb5 h4 25. g4 h3+ 26. Kf1 $5 (26. Rxh3 $17 {was objectively better but (probably) practically worse. White needs to keep pieces on the board to scare up counterplay; if he plays it "safe" he's guaranteed to lose, even if it takes a bit longer to convert the advantage.}) 26... Rg6 27. gxf5 Rxg5 28. fxe6 fxe6 29. Rxh3 Rf5 30. c4 dxc4 31. Qc3 Rdf8 32. Qxc4+ Kb8 33. Rb2 Qf7 34. Qe2 Qc7 (34... a6 $142 $19) 35. Qc2 Qd7 $2 (35... Rxf2+ $1 36. Qxf2 Qc4+ $1 37. Kg1 Rxf2 38. Rxf2 Qxd4 39. Rg3 Qxe5 40. Rfg2 {If I had to bet, I'd say it's a draw, though obviously Black will have all the fun.}) 36. Rhb3 (36. Qc5 $1 Rc8 37. Qd6+ Qxd6 38. exd6 Rd8 39. Ke2 Rxd6 40. Rh8+ Kc7 41. Re8 {should probably finish in a draw.}) 36... b6 (36... Rxf2+ $142 37. Qxf2 Rxf2+ 38. Rxf2 g5 { is a likely draw. Still, Black will press by alternating his queenside (b+a vs. a) pawn majority and his g-pawn.}) 37. Qc5 $1 $11 {Now it's a draw, as Black has no way of playing for a win against the coming Rxb6(+).} Qb7 38. Rxb6 axb6 39. Rxb6 Rxf2+ 40. Ke1 Rf1+ 41. Ke2 R1f2+ 42. Ke1 Rf1+ 43. Ke2 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE Grand Swiss 2021"] [Site "Riga LAT"] [Date "2021.11.01"] [Round "6.2"] [White "Najer, Evgeniy"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B40"] [WhiteElo "2654"] [BlackElo "2800"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "116"] [EventDate "2021.10.27"] {[%evp 0,116,32,21,33,61,61,34,34,47,30,32,54,5,5,2,2,-1,-3,5,-11,-12,45,39,46, 39,45,45,51,51,43,34,60,44,75,21,13,16,68,46,46,61,94,44,23,40,89,103,90,90,86, 83,151,165,134,134,134,145,129,121,163,107,142,107,114,114,114,110,115,115,134, 125,126,71,71,31,106,106,106,42,42,39,37,19,33,50,50,50,50,52,45,43,65,72,95, 93,97,96,98,91,104,106,104,91,91,100,109,98,109,109,109,97,109,98,109,109,109, 109,109]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 {A risky line, but given the rating disparity Caruana undoubtedly wanted to play for a win.} 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. e5 Nd5 8. Ne4 Qc7 9. f4 Qb6 10. c4 Bb4+ 11. Ke2 f5 12. exf6 Nxf6 13. Be3 Qd8 14. Nd6+ Bxd6 15. Qxd6 Bb7 16. Rd1 Rc8 17. g4 c5 {Still well-known theory, and generally considered to favor White.} 18. Rg1 Rf8 (18... Rc6) 19. Bg2 (19. g5 Nh5 (19... Ne4 20. Qe5 Qe7 21. Bh3 g6 22. Rd3 Kf7 23. Rgd1 Rcd8 24. Rd6 Nxd6 25. Rxd6 Kg8 26. Bxc5 Qg7 27. Qxg7+ Kxg7 28. Bd4+ Kf7 29. Bf6 Bc6 30. Bxe6+ Ke8 {1-0 (30) Martin Duque,J (2426)-Stella,A (2457) Figueira da Foz 2020}) 20. Bh3 Qc7 21. Rgf1 Qxd6 22. Rxd6 g6 23. Bg4 Ng7 24. Bf3 Bxf3+ 25. Rxf3 Nf5 26. Ra6 Rc7 27. Bf2 d6 28. Rfa3 Rff7 29. Kd3 Rb7 30. b3 Rfd7 31. R3a5 Ng7 32. Kc3 Nh5 33. Be3 Ng7 34. a3 Nf5 35. Bf2 Ne7 36. b4 cxb4+ 37. axb4 Nc8 38. c5 dxc5 39. Rxe6+ Kf7 40. Rf6+ Kg8 41. Bxc5 Ne7 42. Kc4 Nd5 43. Rd6 Nb6+ 44. Kb3 Rxd6 45. Bxd6 Kf7 46. Bc5 Ke6 47. Bxb6 axb6 48. Re5+ Kd6 49. Kc4 Rf7 50. Re4 Rf5 51. b5 Rc5+ 52. Kb4 Rf5 53. h4 Kd5 54. Rc4 Rf7 55. Kc3 Ra7 56. Rc6 Ke4 57. Rxb6 Kxf4 58. Ra6 Rb7 59. b6 Kg4 60. Ra4+ Kf5 61. Rb4 Ke5 62. Kc4 Kd6 63. Kb5 Rb8 64. Rd4+ Ke5 65. Rd7 Ke6 66. Rxh7 Rd8 67. b7 Rd1 68. Kb6 Rb1+ 69. Kc7 Rc1+ 70. Kd8 Rf1 71. b8=Q {1-0 (71) Solodovnichenko,Y (2557)-Travadon,L (2426) Europe Echecs INT 2020}) (19. f5 Qb6 20. fxe6 dxe6 21. g5 Nd5 22. Qxb6 Nxb6 23. Ke1 Nd7 24. Be2 Ke7 25. Rd3 Be4 26. Ra3 Rc7 27. Kd2 e5 28. Rf1 Rb8 29. Kc3 Rb6 30. Rd1 Rbc6 31. Bg4 Nb6 32. Ra5 g6 33. b3 Bf5 34. Be2 Nd7 35. a3 Be6 36. h4 Bf7 37. Bf3 Rb6 38. Rxd7+ Kxd7 39. Bxc5 e4 40. Bg4+ {1-0 (40) Karjakin, S (2762)-Yu,Y (2721) Baku 2015}) 19... Bxg2 20. Rxg2 Rf7 (20... Qb6 21. Qxb6 axb6 22. Kf3 h5 23. gxh5 Nxh5 24. Rd6 Rb8 25. Rg5 Rf5 26. Rxf5 exf5 27. Rd5 Nf6 28. Rxf5 Kf7 29. Bc1 Rh8 30. Kg2 d6 31. Rg5 Re8 32. Kf3 Rh8 33. Rg2 Rh3+ 34. Ke2 d5 35. cxd5 Nxd5 36. Bd2 Ke6 37. a4 Kf5 38. Kd1 {1/2-1/2 (38) Rekhtman,P (2244)-Lukyanenko,V (2168) ICCF email 2017}) 21. Kf1 Qb6 $146 {The game begins at last - at least in theory (no pun intended). I don't know how far the players were following their preparation.} (21... Qc7 22. Kg1 Qxd6 23. Rxd6 h5 24. gxh5 Nxh5 25. Ra6 Nxf4 26. Bxf4 Rxf4 27. Rxg7 Rf7 {1/2-1/2 (27) Fabri,L (2330)-Troia,E (2313) ICCF email 2013}) 22. Kg1 (22. Qd3) 22... Rc6 $2 (22... Nd5 $1 $11) 23. Qd3 $16 d5 24. g5 dxc4 25. Qe2 $1 ({Perhaps Caruana was counting on} 25. Qxc4 $2 Nd5 $11) 25... Ng8 ({The point is that} 25... Nd5 $4 { is a blunder:} 26. Rxd5 exd5 27. Bxc5+ Re6 28. Bxb6 Rxe2 29. Rxe2+ $18) 26. Qxc4 Ne7 27. Rgd2 Rf5 28. Qe4 Qc7 29. b3 a6 30. Rd3 Qc8 31. Bc1 g6 32. Bb2 Rd5 33. Rxd5 exd5 34. Rxd5 Re6 35. Re5 Rxe5 36. fxe5 $2 {Althought the pawn reaches e6, it was still better to keep the e-file open. Even so, Black isn't out of the woods.} (36. Bxe5 $18) 36... Qd7 37. e6 Qd1+ 38. Kg2 Qd2+ 39. Kh3 Qd5 $8 40. Qxd5 Nxd5 41. Kg4 Ke7 42. Ba3 {without this trick White would have no advantage at all. Black should still be alright, but he gives White a winning plus for a second time.} Kd6 $4 (42... Kxe6 43. Bxc5 Nc3 44. a3 Kd5 45. Bf2 Ke4 {Black's king is so active that White has no real winning chances here. }) 43. Kf3 $1 Ne7 44. Ke4 (44. Ke3 $1 Nd5+ 45. Ke4 $1 a5 (45... Nc3+ 46. Kd3 Nxa2 47. Kc4 Kxe6 48. Bxc5 $18 {This may well be what the players missed. Black's knight is trapped, and can only be extricated at the cost of the a-pawn. Even that isn't automatically fatal, but here it is.}) 46. h3 Kxe6 47. Bxc5 Nc3+ 48. Kd3 Nxa2 49. Kc4 $18 {leaves Black in essentially the same mess we saw a moment ago in the 45...Nc3+ variation.}) 44... Nd5 45. e7 (45. Kf3 $1 {and heading for the previous line was better, but this should still be enough to win.}) 45... Nxe7 46. b4 $1 Nc6 (46... cxb4 $2 47. Bxb4+ Ke6 48. Bxe7 Kxe7 49. Kd5 Kd7 50. Kc5 Kc7 51. a4 Kb7 52. h4 Kc7 53. a5 Kb7 54. Kd6 $18) 47. bxc5+ Ke6 {Is White winning? I think so, but I'm not sure.} 48. Bc1 Ne7 49. Bd2 Nc6 50. Bc3 Ne7 {ONCE.} 51. Kd4 Nf5+ 52. Ke4 ({Steering the king towards a5 doesn't work:} 52. Kc4 Ne3+ 53. Kb3 Nd5 54. Bf6 Kd7 55. Ka4 (55. Bc3 Kc6 56. Bd4 Kb5) (55. Bd4 Ne7 56. Ka4 Nc6) 55... h6 $1) 52... Ne7 {TWICE.} 53. Be5 Nc6 54. Bf4 Nb4 55. Kd4 Nc6+ (55... Nxa2 $4 56. Kc4 Kf5 57. Bd2 $18 {and the knight will soon be collected.}) 56. Ke4 Nb4 57. Bd2 Nc6 58. Bc3 Ne7 {THRICE. (See "ONCE" and "TWICE" for the other times this position happened. I'm not 100% sure, but I think Najer is winning here.) Did Najer blunder into the repetition, or had he given up on trying or fall so short of time that he couldn't check?} (58... Ne7 59. Kd4 Nc6+ 60. Kc4 Na7 61. a3 Nc6 62. a4 Na7 63. c6 Kd6 64. Bb4+ Kc7 (64... Kxc6 65. Bc5 Nc8 66. a5 Kb7 (66... Nd6+ 67. Bxd6 Kxd6 68. h3 Kc6 69. h4 Kd6 70. Kd4 Kc6 71. Ke5 Kb5 72. Kf6 Kxa5 73. Kg7 Kb4 74. Kxh7 a5 75. h5 a4 76. hxg6 a3 77. g7 a2 78. g8=Q a1=Q 79. Qb8+ $18 {is apparently a tablebase win for White.}) 67. Kd5 Kc7 68. h3 Kd7 69. h4 Kc7 70. Ke6 Kc6 71. Ba3 Na7 72. Kf7 Nb5 73. Kg7 $3 $18 (73. Bb4 $2 Nd4 74. Kg7 Nf3 75. Kxh7 Nxh4 $11) (73. Bb2 $2 Nd6+ 74. Kg7 Nf5+ 75. Kxh7 Nxh4 $11)) 65. Kd5 Nxc6 66. Bd6+ Kb6 67. h4 Kb7 68. Bc5 Kc7 69. Ke6 Kd8 70. Kd6 Ne7 71. Bb6+ Ke8 72. Kc7 Nf5 73. Kb7 Kd7 74. Kxa6 Kc6 75. a5 Nd6 76. Ka7 Nc4 77. Kb8 Kb5 78. Kc7 Nd2 79. Kd6 $18) 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE Grand Swiss 2021"] [Site "Riga LAT"] [Date "2021.11.01"] [Round "6.3"] [White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Black "Ponkratov, Pavel"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C02"] [WhiteElo "2763"] [BlackElo "2659"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "51"] [EventDate "2021.10.27"] {[%evp 0,51,29,21,38,34,38,38,25,-3,-14,7,-6,1,23,-32,-32,-84,-56,-62,-48,-105, -33,-35,-19,-62,-83,-76,-92,-77,-67,-107,-10,-2,9,13,13,17,70,67,113,86,86,107, 279,209,209,191,249,264,282,299,382,385]} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. Bd3 cxd4 7. O-O Bd7 8. Re1 Nge7 9. h4 h6 10. a3 (10. h5 {is usual.}) 10... Rc8 $146 11. b4 a6 12. Bb2 g5 $1 13. Nh2 $1 Bg7 (13... gxh4) 14. Ng4 gxh4 {If this were a game played by little kids, the coaches among us would be pulling our hair out, wondering why in the world Black isn't taking on c3 and White not recapturing on d4. This odd game of "after you" is in fact well-justified, but it's still amusing and odd-looking. White quits playing it, but he should have kept it going for at least another move.} 15. cxd4 $5 (15. Qf3 $1 Qd8 {and only now} 16. cxd4 {, with a messy and roughly equal game after } Nf5 17. Bxf5 exf5 18. Nf6+ Bxf6 19. exf6+ Be6 20. Nc3 Kf8 $11) 15... h5 $2 ( 15... Nxd4 $142 16. Nd2 Bb5 $1 17. Ne4 $1 Ne2+ $1 {is a good practical choice, leading to a comparatively safe position after} (17... Bxd3 18. Nd6+ Kd7 19. Qxd3 Nc2 20. Nxf7 Rhf8 21. Nd6 Nxe1 22. Rxe1 Rf4 $1 23. Nxc8 Kxc8 24. Rc1+ Kb8 25. Qe2 $11 {is an absurdly impractical variation to try to work out at the board.}) 18. Rxe2 dxe4 19. Rxe4 Bxd3 20. Qxd3 O-O $11 {/=/+}) 16. Nf6+ Bxf6 17. exf6 Ng8 18. Qf3 $16 Rh6 $2 (18... Qd8 {had to be played, intending ...Nxf6.}) 19. Qxd5 $18 Nxf6 (19... Nce7 $142) 20. Qg5 Ng4 21. Nc3 Qd8 22. Qxd8+ Kxd8 23. Ne4 e5 $2 (23... Rg6) 24. f3 Nxd4 25. fxg4 hxg4 26. Ng5 {Black has three pawns for the piece for a moment, but the e-pawn's a goner and White's active pieces will cause fatal problems long before Black's kingside majority can come within a mile of accomplishing something.} 1-0 [Event "FIDE Grand Swiss 2021"] [Site "Riga LAT"] [Date "2021.11.01"] [Round "6.11"] [White "Esipenko, Andrey"] [Black "Abdusattorov, Nodirbek"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A61"] [WhiteElo "2720"] [BlackElo "2646"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "53"] [EventDate "2021.10.27"] {[%evp 0,53,29,32,32,-11,-3,-3,14,27,59,47,86,78,117,65,97,62,56,44,23,31,-23, -8,-25,-29,-21,-3,6,7,7,7,7,7,0,-2,38,29,20,-15,11,8,16,23,23,26,32,32,44,29, 37,8,50,57,315,310]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4. d5 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nc3 g6 7. h3 Bg7 8. Bf4 O-O 9. e3 Na6 10. Bxa6 bxa6 11. Rc1 Rb8 12. b3 a5 13. O-O Rb4 14. Re1 Nh5 15. Bh2 f5 16. a3 Rb7 17. e4 Bxc3 18. Rxc3 fxe4 19. Nd2 Nf6 20. Nxe4 Nxe4 21. Rxe4 Bf5 22. Re1 a4 23. bxa4 Rb1 24. Rc1 Rb2 25. Bg3 Qf6 26. Re2 {Black is objectively lost, but proving it may prove difficult. Not after the next move, however.} Bd7 $4 27. Be5 $1 {A nice combination of fork and interference motifs, but one that shouldn't be hard for a 2646 to spot in his sleep. Unfortunately for Abdusattorov, and almost all of us, we find it much easier to spot moves like 27.Be5 when it's our move rather than our opponent's. } (27. Be5 $1 dxe5 28. Rxb2 $18) 1-0 [Event "FIDE Grand Swiss 2021"] [Site "Riga LAT"] [Date "2021.11.01"] [Round "6.31"] [White "Jobava, Baadur"] [Black "Moussard, Jules"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C21"] [WhiteElo "2582"] [BlackElo "2632"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "27"] [EventDate "2021.10.27"] {[%evp 0,27,28,21,25,1,1,1,7,3,12,21,23,21,21,10,17,5,4,14,132,139,109,101,169, 179,230,250,350,329]} 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. Nf3 {Attempting to get a Scotch without allowing the Petroff.} Bb4+ {An attempt to punish White's move order.} 4. Nbd2 (4. c3) ({and} 4. Bd2 {are more usual, but not necessarily better.}) 4... d5 $146 (4... Nc6) (4... c5 $5 $146) 5. Nxd4 Ne7 (5... Nf6 $142) (5... Qe7 $142) 6. c3 $14 Bc5 7. N2b3 Bb6 8. Bg5 $5 {Probably just bad, but considering how well it worked we'll call it "tricky".} (8. exd5 Qxd5 9. Be3 $14) 8... O-O (8... h6 $1 9. Qh5 O-O $1 $17) 9. exd5 Qxd5 {This piece sac isn't bad, but it's soon clear that Moussard hasn't calculated it well - at all.} (9... Re8 $142 $15 {Keep it simple.}) 10. Bxe7 Re8 11. Ne2 Qh5 $4 (11... Qf5 $1 12. Bh4 Nc6 13. Qd2 Qe4 14. Bg3 Bg4 15. Qf4 Qg6 16. Rd1 Ne5 $15 {is very complicated and scary for both sides. If Black doesn't find something good, he's just out a piece, while White is badly tied up and a single inaccuracy could lose immediately.}) (11... Qe5 12. Bh4 Nc6 13. Bg3 Qf6 {followed by ...Bg4 or ... Bf5 also gives Black roughly sufficient compensation for the piece. (11...Qf5 is probably best, though.)}) 12. Qd2 $1 (12. Ba3 $4 Nc6 {followed by ...Bg4 gives Black an overwhelming attack.}) 12... h6 (12... Rxe7 $4 13. Qd8+) 13. O-O-O Nc6 (13... Rxe7 14. Qd8+ {isn't mate, but the extra material will suffice for an easy win.}) 14. Nf4 {White's king is safe, he keeps his extra piece, and if that's not enough he has the better position, too.} 1-0 [Event "FIDE Grand Swiss 2021"] [Site "Riga LAT"] [Date "2021.11.01"] [Round "6.44"] [White "Movsesian, Sergei"] [Black "Van Foreest, Lucas"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C42"] [WhiteElo "2627"] [BlackElo "2543"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "57"] [EventDate "2021.10.27"] {[%evp 0,57,27,21,25,21,25,34,33,32,34,5,-20,-21,-21,-15,-19,8,12,-15,-24,-25, -6,20,46,26,26,-2,27,22,34,30,61,48,68,25,45,50,44,45,79,64,111,81,318,401,414, 414,716,715,715,738,738,757,1739,2008,2298,28793,29999,-30000]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. c4 Nc6 6. d3 Nf6 7. d4 Be7 8. Nc3 O-O 9. h3 d5 10. c5 b6 11. Bb5 Nb8 12. cxb6 axb6 13. Ne5 Ba6 14. Bxa6 Rxa6 15. O-O c6 16. Qd3 b5 17. Bf4 Qb6 18. Rfe1 b4 19. Ne2 Ne4 $2 (19... c5 $142 $16) 20. Ng3 $18 Nxg3 $2 (20... f5) 21. Qxg3 Ra8 $2 (21... Ra7 {was better, so that the B@e7 won't be hanging after 22.Ng4.}) 22. Ng4 Qd8 {It would be shocking if White didn't have something good here, with three well-placed attackers (including the queen) and Black having only his pawns ready to defend. Black's last two moves, setting up the board for the next game, don't inspire confidence either. But how does White win?} 23. Rxe7 $1 Qxe7 24. Nh6+ Kh8 25. Nf5 Qf6 26. Be5 { Otherwise, White's exchange sac would have been pointless.} Qg6 27. Bxg7+ Kg8 28. Bf6 $1 {Threatening knight mates on both h6 and e7 (and in some cases, to play Ne7+ and Nxg6(+), winning the queen for just the knight rather than for the knight and bishop, per the immediate 28.Ne7+.} (28. Ne7+ Kxg7 29. Nxg6 hxg6 30. Qd6 {isn't as good, but still wins easily.}) 28... Qxg3 {Sportingly allowing mate on the board.} (28... Re8 {stops mate in one and saves the queen, but it's still an easy mate in three.} 29. Nh6+ Kf8 30. Qd6+ Re7 31. Qxe7#) 29. Nh6# 1-0