[Event "WCh 2024"] [White "Gukesh, Dommaraju"] [Black "Ding, Liren"] [Site "Singapore SIN"] [Round "7.1"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Date "2024.12.03"] [ECO "D78"] [WhiteElo "2783"] [BlackElo "2728"] [PlyCount "143"] [GameId "2118779638829482"] [EventDate "2024.11.25"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 g6 3. d4 Bg7 4. c4 c6 5. Bg2 Nf6 6. O-O O-O 7. Re1 {An extremely rare move. It is the *15th*-most popular move, only played 22 times (and reaching a position that has only occurred 31 times) out of more than 18,000 games in the database. White's most popular moves include 7.cxd5 followed by 8.Ne5 or 8.Nc3, the immediate 7.Nc3, and 7.b3.} dxc4 $1 {Down to four games, none involving players rated 2200 or above. About the move: it's the most principled move, and it's best, according to the engine.} (7... Bf5 $11 {looks fine, asking White what exactly the rook is doing on e1.}) 8. e4 $146 {And now we're already in new territory.} Bg4 9. Nbd2 c5 $6 ({The greedy Semi-Slav-like} 9... b5 $11 {/? is best.}) 10. d5 $14 e6 11. h3 (11. Nxc4 $142 exd5 12. exd5 Nbd7 13. h3 (13. d6 $5) 13... Bxf3 {transposes to the game after 14.Bxf3, but} 14. Qxf3 $14 {may be slightly more accurate.}) 11... Bxf3 12. Bxf3 (12. Qxf3 $143 Re8) 12... exd5 13. exd5 Nbd7 14. Nxc4 b5 15. Na3 Qb6 $11 {/?} 16. Bf4 Rfe8 17. Qd2 Rad8 18. Nc2 Nf8 (18... Rxe1+ 19. Rxe1 Ne8 {was better, looking to plant the blockading knight on d6.}) 19. b4 $1 {It looks risky to expose the a1-rook on the long diagonal, but White has the advantage whether Black plays greedily or not. In any case, the main point of White's last move is to gain access to the d4 square.} c4 (19... cxb4 20. Nxb4 Ne4 21. Bxe4 Bxa1 {wins the exchange, but White has more than enough compensation after} 22. Nc6 $1 Rc8 23. Be3 $1 Qb7 24. Bf3 Bf6 25. Rc1 $14 {thanks to the bishop pair and, obviously, the super-knight on c6. It doesn't do Black much good to have an extra exchange if both rooks are essentially locked in by White's knight.}) 20. Be3 (20. Rxe8 $142 Rxe8 21. Rd1) 20... Qa6 {Keeping control of d6.} 21. Bd4 Rxe1+ $6 (21... N8d7 $142) 22. Rxe1 Qxa2 {Pushing the envelope. It has been odd in the match: when Ding has the advantage, he seems to play too cautiously; when he doesn't, he sometimes takes almost extravagant risks.} 23. Ra1 Qb3 $6 (23... c3 $1 24. Bxc3 Qc4) 24. Ra3 $16 {Black's queen is in trouble, and if she's in trouble so is Ding.} Qb1+ 25. Kg2 Rd7 $6 (25... N6d7 $142 $1 $16 26. Rxa7 Bxd4 27. Nxd4 Re8 $1 28. Nxb5 Qd3 $16 {isn't great for Black, but it keeps the fight going.}) 26. Ra5 $18 Qb3 27. Ra3 (27. Rxb5 $142) 27... Qb1 28. Ra5 Qb3 (28... Ne8 $142) 29. Rxb5 {White is clearly winning at this point. His pieces are better, the d-pawn is a terrific asset, and Black's queenside pawns are weak.} Qd3 30. Qf4 $6 (30. Be3 $1) 30... Qxc2 (30... g5 $1 31. Qxg5 h6 32. Qc1 c3 33. Rc5 Nxd5 $1 34. Bxg7 Kxg7 {would force White to find} 35. Qe1 $1 $16 {/+- in order to keep any advantage at all. Fortunately for him, it's still a significant plus.}) 31. Bxf6 Qf5 $1 32. Qxf5 $6 (32. Bg5 $1 $18 {was unobvious but best, keeping the bishops on the board and the knight corralled on f8.}) 32... gxf5 {Now Black's knight can get activated via the g6 square. Surprisingly, this matters more than the damage to Black's pawn structure.} 33. Bxg7 (33. Bg5 $142 {is better, keeping the bishop pair.}) 33... Kxg7 34. Rc5 Ng6 35. Rxc4 Ne5 36. Rd4 Nc6 $1 37. Rf4 $6 (37. Rd2 $1 Nxb4 38. d6 $16) 37... Ne7 $14 38. b5 Kf6 39. Rd4 h6 40. Kf1 Ke5 $4 {A big error on the last move of the time control - a recurring theme at all levels of play throughout chess history.} (40... Nc8 $1 {followed by ...Nb6 or ...Nd6 makes the draw a near-certainty.}) 41. Rh4 $18 Nxd5 42. Rxh6 Nc3 43. Rc6 Ne4 44. Ke1 $6 (44. h4 {was more to the point. White need not fear the exchange of minor pieces, as Black's horrid structure guarantees a lost rook and pawn ending.}) 44... f6 (44... Rd5 $142) 45. h4 $6 (45. Rc8 $1 $18 {is a nice move, increasing the rook's scope. One tactical point is that if Black plays as in the game, he loses immediately.} Rd3 $4 46. Re8+ $1 Kd4 47. Rd8+ Kc3 48. Rxd3+ Kxd3 49. Bxe4+ Kxe4 50. h4 $18) 45... Rd3 $1 {The point of this intermezzo is to induce White's king forward, which can give Black useful checks with the rook or the knight a little later.} 46. Bd1 $4 {White avoids the tactical inconvenience mentioned in the last note, but now something much worse happens to him.} (46. Ke2 $142 $18) 46... f4 $1 {This pretty much draws on the spot.} 47. gxf4+ Kxf4 $11 48. Bc2 Rd5 49. Rc4 (49. Bxe4 Kxe4 50. Rxf6 Rxb5 51. Ra6 Kf3 52. Rxa7 Rb1+ 53. Kd2 Kxf2 $11) 49... f5 50. Rb4 Kf3 51. Bd1+ Kg2 52. Rb3 Re5 (52... Nxf2 $4 53. Bf3+ $18) 53. f4 Re7 54. Re3 Rh7 55. h5 Nf6 {Too many pawns are disappearing.} 56. Re5 Nxh5 57. Rxf5 Ng3 58. Rf8 (58. Rg5 Rf7 $11) 58... Rb7 59. Ba4 Kf3 60. f5 Kf4 61. f6 Ne4 62. Bc2 Nd6 63. Rd8 Ke5 64. Bb3 Nf7 {The f-pawn's a goner, and with its disappearance White's dreams of winning also disappear.} 65. Rd5+ Kxf6 66. Kd2 Rb6 67. Bc4 Rd6 68. Kc3 Rxd5 69. Bxd5 Nd6 70. Kb4 Nxb5 71. Kxb5 a6+ 72. Kxa6 1/2-1/2