[Event "chess.com Speed 2020"] [Site "chess.com INT"] [Date "2020.11.15"] [Round "1.6"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Duda, Jan Krzysztof"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2823"] [BlackElo "2743"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "44"] [EventDate "2020.11.01"] [EventType "k.o. (blitz)"] [EventRounds "4"] [SourceTitle "The Week in Chess 1358"] [Source "Mark Crowther"] [SourceDate "2020.11.16"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2020.11.16"] [SourceQuality "2"] {[%evp 0,44,31,39,69,60,77,53,53,30,30,34,43,12,1,-1,16,3,-5,6,6,-16,20,-42, -42,-43,-4,-28,-31,-31,-39,-85,-67,-244,-284,-297,-341,-371,-380,-375,-375, -375,-283,-358,-368,-602,-972]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h4 {Not the most popular line against the Najdorf, to put it mildly, but it has received some attention from top players, including Caruana.} e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8. f4 (8. Bg5 Nbd7 9. Qd2 Rc8 10. O-O-O Be7 11. Kb1 b5 12. f3 O-O 13. g4 b4 14. Nd5 Bxd5 15. exd5 a5 16. Bb5 Nc5 17. Bc6 Nxb3 18. cxb3 Nd7 19. Be3 f5 20. g5 Nc5 21. Bxc5 dxc5 22. d6 Rxc6 23. Qd5+ Rf7 24. dxe7 Qe8 25. Qxc6 Qxc6 26. Rd8+ {1-0 (26) Caruana,F (2811)-Andriasian,Z (2585) chess.com INT 2018}) 8... exf4 9. Bxf4 Nc6 10. Qd2 ({Caruana chose} 10. Qd3 {in his next white game. }) 10... d5 ({The more "polite"} 10... Be7 {has also been played regularly, with good results (but those good results seem to have occurred mainly at the sub-GM level). Still, White seems better after} 11. O-O-O Ne5 12. Nd4 $14) 11. O-O-O Bb4 12. Qe3 $2 {Only played once before (the earlier game was played at a classical time control), and it met the same rejoinder. As the move is objectively inferior, this probably wasn't prepared in advance.} (12. Bg5 { is usual, and Caruana played this in both games 10 and 12.} Nxe4 13. Qe3 Nxg5 14. Nxd5 Bd6 15. hxg5 Ne7 16. Bc4 Nf5 $8 $11 ({In game 10 Duda played} 16... b5 $4 {, losing speedily:} 17. Nxe7 Qxe7 18. Bxe6 fxe6 19. Kb1 Rd8 20. Na5 Rc8 21. Qe4 e5 22. g6 h6 23. Rhf1 Rf8 24. Rxf8+ Qxf8 25. Qg4 Rc7 26. Qe6+ {and Duda resigned.}) 17. Qd2 b5 ({In game 12 Duda deviated from the right path once again, though less egregiously than in game 10. Still, White is clearly better after} 17... Ng3 $2 18. Rh4 $16 {, and Caruana went on to win in 55 moves.}) 18. Bd3 Ng3 19. Rh4 Bxd5 20. Rd4 Qc7 21. Qe1+ Be7 22. Rxd5 O-O 23. Qe5 Qxe5 24. Rxe5 Rfe8 25. c3 g6 26. Kc2 Bf8 27. Rde1 Rec8 28. R1e3 Nh5 29. Be2 b4 30. Bg4 Rc7 31. Nd2 Bd6 32. Re8+ Rxe8 33. Rxe8+ Kg7 34. Ne4 Be7 35. Rc8 Rxc8 36. Bxc8 bxc3 37. Kxc3 a5 38. Kc4 Nf4 39. g3 Ne2 40. a4 h6 41. gxh6+ Kxh6 42. g4 Bb4 43. Nc5 Kg5 44. Nd3 Bd6 45. Kb5 Bc7 46. Kc6 Bd8 47. Ne5 {1/2-1/2 (47) Avotins,M (2400)-Petraitis,G (2465) ICCF email 2017}) 12... d4 $1 13. Nxd4 Bc5 14. Nce2 $2 ({The startling} 14. Nxe6 $1 {is the only move that doesn't leave White in disastrously bad shape.} Bxe3+ 15. Bxe3 Qxd1+ $1 (15... Qa5 $2 16. Nxg7+ Kf8 17. Nf5 $18 {is great for White. For starters, the material situation isn't so bad, with two minor pieces - both bishops! - and two pawns for the queen. Even more importantly, Black's king is in a bad way, both for its own well-being and because it cuts the communication between his rooks. And third, the side with the queen needs loose targets for the queen to be effective, and she lacks them. Note that the attempt to pick up White's e-pawn fails:} Nxe4 $4 18. Bh6+ Kg8 (18... Ke8 $2 19. Nxe4 Qxf5 20. Nd6+ $18) 19. Rd5 $1 Qb4 20. Rh3 Re8 21. a3 Qb6 22. Nxe4 Rxe4 23. Rg3+ Rg4 24. Rxg4#) 16. Nxd1 fxe6 17. Nf2 O-O 18. Bc4 {is only slightly worse for White, who enjoys the bishop pair and a pawn for the exchange. It's not full compensation, but unlike the game it's not a disaster.}) 14... Qb6 $19 15. Kb1 ({The obvious (and possibly best)} 15. c3 { was tried in the earlier game, but White is still in enough trouble to have a losing position after} Bxa2 {. That he went on to win the game is not to the credit of this position, nor is it an indication that things are murkier than the evaluation suggests.} 16. g4 $2 Bb3 (16... O-O $142) (16... Na5 $142) 17. Bg2 Qa5 18. e5 Nxd4 (18... Nd5 $142) 19. Nxd4 (19. cxd4 $142 Qa1+ 20. Kd2 Qxb2+ 21. Ke1 Bb4+ 22. Kf1 Bxd1 23. exf6+ Kd7 $1 24. fxg7 Rhe8 25. Be5 f6 26. Bxb7 fxe5 27. Bxa8 Rxa8 28. dxe5 Qxe2+ 29. Qxe2 Bxe2+ 30. Kxe2 Rg8 $19) 19... Qa1+ ( 19... O-O $142) 20. Kd2 Qxb2+ 21. Ke1 Nd5 22. Bxd5 Bxd5 23. Rh2 Qb6 24. h5 Bxd4 $4 {A very strange move, putting an end to Black's pressure while releasing the bind. The position was very much won for Black before this, but now it's equal. (I leave further annotation of this game to the reader.) Pretty much any non-blundering alternative was better, including castling in either direction.} 25. Rxd4 Be6 26. Bg5 Qc7 27. h6 g6 28. Rd6 O-O 29. Qf3 f6 30. Bxf6 Rae8 31. Rhd2 a5 32. R2d4 a4 33. c4 Qa5+ 34. Kf2 a3 35. Qxb7 Bf7 36. e6 a2 37. Rf4 Qc5+ 38. Bd4 Rxe6 39. Bxc5 Rxd6 40. Bxd6 a1=Q 41. Bxf8 {1-0 (41) Tsydypov, Z (2528)-Oganian,M (2462) Sochi 2017}) 15... Ng4 (15... O-O {is also good - castle early and often, as they say in Chicago.}) 16. Qc3 (16. Qg1 {is better, according to the computer, but what human voluntarily buries his queen like this, remaining in the pin and abandoning the already underprotected king to his fate?}) 16... Rd8 17. Nxe6 $6 {Too late.} Rxd1+ 18. Bc1 fxe6 19. Qxg7 Rf8 20. Qxg4 Ba3 (20... Rfxf1 21. Rxf1 Rxf1 22. Qxe6+ Ne7 {is also totally winning, but there's nothing wrong with Duda's stylish approach.}) 21. Qxe6+ Kd8 22. b3 (22. Qb3 Qxb3 23. axb3 Bd6 $1 {is decisive. The Bf1 can't run away, and Black's last move saves his bishop while preventing White from trying to do likewise by playing Ng3.}) 22... Qd4 $1 {An attractive finishing touch. The threat is ...Qb2#, and taking the queen allows ...Rxc1#. The only way to avoid a more or less immediate mate is to trade queens, but that's hopeless, too.} ( 22... Qd4 $1 23. Qd5+ Qxd5 24. exd5 Nd4 $1 {The knight can't be taken for the same reason the queen couldn't - mate on c1 - and indeed the only way to avoid an almost immediate mate is} 25. c3 Nxe2 26. Bxe2 Rxh1 27. Kc2 {, but after taking on c1 one need not be Duda to defeat Caruana from here.} Bxc1 $19) 0-1 [Event "chess.com Speed 2020"] [Site "chess.com INT"] [Date "2020.11.16"] [Round "1.11"] [White "Artemiev, Vladislav"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A45"] [WhiteElo "2708"] [BlackElo "2764"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "52"] [EventDate "2020.11.01"] [EventType "k.o. (blitz)"] [EventRounds "4"] [SourceTitle "The Week in Chess 1358"] [Source "Mark Crowther"] [SourceDate "2020.11.16"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2020.11.16"] [SourceQuality "2"] {[%evp 0,52,19,31,14,22,12,31,24,23,25,13,4,-19,30,26,13,14,33,-6,-12,-21,15, 20,-1,1,-6,-8,42,36,15,-30,-3,-58,-27,-22,-23,-210,-55,-706,-742,-745,-753, -796,-781,-781,-740,-688,-906,-906,-1101,-1101,-1105,-2924,-29986] Artemiev won the match, but Giri won the prettiest game.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bf4 a6 4. e3 e6 5. g4 {This wild-looking move is one of White's mainstream options, believe it or not.} Bb4 (5... c5 6. g5 Nfd7 7. Nf3 Nc6 8. h4 (8. a3 b5 9. h4 Bb7 10. h5 Nb6 11. Ne5 Nxe5 12. Bxe5 Nc4 13. Bxc4 dxc4 14. Rg1 f6 15. Bf4 Qd7 16. h6 O-O-O 17. Qe2 cxd4 18. exd4 Qxd4 19. Rd1 Qxf4 20. Qxe6+ Kc7 21. Qf7+ Be7 22. Qxe7+ Kc8 23. hxg7 Rxd1+ 24. Nxd1 Rg8 25. Qf8+ Kc7 26. Qxg8 {1-0 (26) Carlsen,M (2832)-Caruana,F (2808) Stavanger 2017}) 8... b5 9. Ne2 Nb6 10. c3 Bd6 11. h5 Bb7 12. Bh3 Qe7 13. Bxd6 Qxd6 14. dxc5 Qxc5 15. g6 hxg6 16. hxg6 f6 17. Ned4 e5 18. Nf5 Bc8 19. N3h4 Ra7 20. Qf3 Na4 21. Nxg7+ Rxg7 22. Qxf6 Rhg8 23. Bxc8 Nxb2 24. Be6 Qxc3+ 25. Ke2 Qc2+ 26. Kf1 Qd3+ 27. Ke1 Qc3+ 28. Ke2 Qc4+ 29. Ke1 Nd3+ 30. Kd2 Qb4+ 31. Kxd3 Qc4+ 32. Kd2 Qb4+ 33. Kd1 Qa4+ 34. Ke1 Qb4+ 35. Kf1 Qc4+ 36. Kg1 {1-0 (36) Carlsen,M (2876)-Grandelius,N (2691) chess24. com INT 2020}) 6. Nge2 O-O 7. a3 Be7 8. Ng3 $6 {A disimprovement over 8.g5, as played by Carlsen. Understandably, Artemiev doesn't want to allow Black to move the knight to h5, where it bothers the bishop and hopes to clog up the kingside to slow White's attack, but this seems too slow.} (8. g5 Nh5 9. h4 c5 10. Bxb8 Rxb8 11. dxc5 Bxc5 12. Nd4 Bxd4 13. Qxd4 g6 14. Be2 Ng7 15. O-O-O Qc7 16. h5 b5 17. h6 Nf5 18. Qf6 Qe7 19. Qe5 Qd6 20. Qxd6 Nxd6 21. e4 b4 22. axb4 Rxb4 23. exd5 Bb7 24. dxe6 Bxh1 25. e7 Re8 26. Rxd6 Rb7 27. Bxa6 Rbxe7 28. b4 Re6 29. Rxe6 Rxe6 30. Bd3 Kf8 31. b5 Ke7 32. Kb2 Kd6 33. Kb3 Re5 34. f4 Re8 35. Kb4 Rf8 36. Na4 f6 37. c4 fxg5 38. c5+ Kd5 39. fxg5 Rf4+ 40. Ka5 Kd4 41. Bxg6 hxg6 42. c6 Rf8 43. Nb6 Kc5 44. Nd7+ {1-0 (44) Carlsen,M (2876)-Sjugirov,S (2662) chess24.com INT 2020}) 8... c5 $15 {/-/+ The move played in the earlier game wasn't bad, but this is even better.} (8... Ne8 9. h4 (9. e4 $1 {is why Giri's move was better.}) 9... c5 10. g5 Nc6 11. Nce2 Qb6 12. Rb1 Nd6 13. h5 Nc4 14. c3 e5 15. dxe5 Be6 16. g6 Rad8 17. gxh7+ Kh8 18. Bg2 d4 19. exd4 cxd4 20. cxd4 Nxd4 21. Qc1 Nxe5 22. Bxe5 Qa5+ 23. Qc3 Qxe5 24. f4 Qf6 25. Ne4 Nxe2 26. Qxf6 gxf6 27. Kxe2 Kxh7 28. Rbd1 Rc8 29. Rc1 Kh6 30. Bf3 b5 31. Ke3 Bc4 32. b4 Bd8 33. Kf2 Bb6+ 34. Kg2 Rg8+ 35. Ng3 Be3 36. Rc3 Bxf4 37. Bb7 Rcd8 38. Kh3 Be6+ 39. Kh2 Be5 40. Re3 Rd2+ 41. Bg2 Rxg3 42. Rxg3 Rd3 {0-1 (42) Tologontegin, S (2358)-Illingworth,M (2493) chess.com INT 2020}) 9. g5 Nfd7 (9... Ne8 $142) 10. Qh5 $2 ({The pawns need to do the work this time.} 10. h4) 10... Re8 (10... Nc6 $142) 11. h4 Nc6 12. O-O-O {It looks like it's asking for trouble, and maybe it is. But White has already committed himself by this point.} b5 $17 13. dxc5 (13. Bd3 $142) 13... b4 $1 14. axb4 Nxb4 15. e4 $2 {White hopes to open lines for his attackers. Unfortunately for him, Black's attack is far more lethal.} (15. c6 $142) 15... Qa5 16. Kb1 Nxc5 17. exd5 exd5 18. Qf3 Be6 19. Nge2 $2 {Headed for d4. That's a beautiful square, but Artemiev has missed a nice tactical shot.} Bf5 20. Nd4 Nb3 $3 {Boom! Black was winning even without this move, however, so this is just the cherry on top of the sundae.} 21. Nxb3 (21. Nxf5 Qa1#) 21... Bxc2+ 22. Kc1 Bxb3 23. Bd3 Qa1+ 24. Bb1 (24. Kd2 Qxb2+ 25. Bc2 Bf6 $19 {is no improvement.}) 24... Na2+ 25. Nxa2 Bxa2 26. Qd3 Rac8+ $1 (26... Rac8+ 27. Kd2 Bb4+ 28. Qc3 Qxb2+ 29. Bc2 Bxc3+ 30. Kd3 Bc4# {is the fastest mate.}) 0-1