[Event "Julius Baer GenCup Prelim"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.09.18"] [Round "1.2"] [White "Ivanchuk, Vasyl"] [Black "Praggnanandhaa, R.."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C78"] [WhiteElo "2678"] [BlackElo "2676"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "76"] [EventDate "2022.09.18"] {[%evp 0,76,30,14,14,29,18,-2,29,-4,7,7,19,16,9,13,37,60,64,60,55,31,42,36,61, 63,72,57,55,54,82,52,60,36,51,33,30,27,27,50,55,62,74,65,72,109,114,110,132,36, 48,48,60,47,128,228,238,256,270,0,161,161,175,237,237,156,270,68,0,0,0,-502, -604,-587,-587,-634,-662,-793,-976]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 7. a4 Rb8 8. c3 d6 9. d4 Bb6 10. Na3 O-O 11. axb5 axb5 12. Nxb5 Bg4 13. Bc2 Bxf3 14. gxf3 Nh5 15. f4 Qh4 16. fxe5 dxe5 17. Kh1 Bxd4 18. Nxd4 exd4 19. cxd4 Rb4 20. Be3 Rxb2 21. Rg1 Qh3 22. Bd3 Nb4 23. Bf1 Qh4 24. Qf3 Nf6 25. e5 Ne4 26. Be2 h5 27. Rg2 Nd5 28. Rag1 g6 29. Bh6 Rfb8 30. e6 Ndf6 31. exf7+ Kxf7 32. Be3 g5 {So far, so good for Ivanchuk. But now he hallucinates.} 33. Rxg5 $4 (33. Bxg5 Nxg5 34. Bc4+ (34. Rxg5 $18) 34... Ke7 35. Rxg5 $18 { is completely winning.}) 33... Nxg5 $11 34. Bc4+ ({My guess is that he thought this was 1-0. It works against 34...Qxd4, but there's} 34. Bxg5 Qe4 $11 { instead.}) 34... Ne6 35. d5 $4 (35. Bxe6+ Kxe6 36. Qc6+ Ke7 $8 37. Qxc7+ $11 { would have drawn.}) 35... Qxc4 36. dxe6+ Qxe6 {White has no attack to compensate for the missing rook.} 37. Qg3 Qc6+ 38. f3 Rg8 0-1 [Event "Julius Baer GenCup Prelim"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.09.18"] [Round "1.4"] [White "Gelfand, Boris"] [Black "Niemann, Hans Moke"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E10"] [WhiteElo "2668"] [BlackElo "2688"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "40"] [EventDate "2022.09.18"] {[%evp 0,40,24,23,10,-11,-11,-11,-6,-17,-1,26,20,-17,20,8,26,21,18,8,-18,-2,-3, -4,-6,-1,6,11,11,-6,-12,-4,7,-8,-4,-17,-64,-45,-40,-65,68,-327,-207]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Be7 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O Nbd7 8. Qc2 c6 9. Nc3 dxc4 10. Ne4 Nxe4 11. Qxe4 Nf6 12. Qc2 b5 13. b3 Bb7 14. bxc4 c5 15. cxb5 cxd4 16. a4 Be4 17. Qb2 Qd5 18. Rfd1 Rac8 19. Bf4 e5 20. Bg5 $4 {What? Why? This would be bad even if it weren't for Black's next move.} (20. Bxe5 Bxf3 21. Bxf6 Bxg2 22. Bxe7 Bh3 23. f3 Rfe8 24. Bb4 $14) 20... Rc2 {The end.} (20... Rc2 21. Qb1 {The only move not to lose the queen, but now} Rxe2 $19 {wins major material.}) 0-1 [Event "Julius Baer GenCup Prelim"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.09.18"] [Round "1.8"] [White "Erigaisi, Arjun"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B06"] [WhiteElo "2725"] [BlackElo "2861"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "52"] [EventDate "2022.09.18"] {[%evp 0,52,26,24,94,74,94,86,80,72,91,47,86,49,62,27,37,7,19,27,13,-55,-53, -70,-70,-103,-82,-159,-177,-150,-78,-78,-35,-49,-81,-94,-114,-122,-128,-270, -189,-253,-473,-423,-324,-285,-368,-511,-526,-496,-486,-725,-705,-705,-890] The head-to-head battle between the two players who (as of this writing) seem certain of finishing 1-2 in the preliminaries came in the very first round.} 1. e4 g6 2. d4 d6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. Be3 a6 5. Qd2 b5 6. f3 Nd7 7. h4 Ngf6 8. O-O-O (8. g4) 8... h5 9. e5 (9. Nh3 {seems more convincing, bringing out more pieces before going for glory. It's all theory though, so one would think that Erigaisi had made his decision before the game. Given his error on the very next move, however, maybe not.}) 9... b4 10. Nb1 $2 $146 (10. Na4 Nd5 11. Bg5 { may be very slightly in White's favor, though all four games to reach this point finished peacefully.}) 10... Nd5 $17 11. Bg5 $2 (11. e6) 11... N7b6 $19 { Black's attack is about to take wing; White's is over before it begun.} 12. Re1 Be6 13. f4 Qd7 14. Bd3 a5 (14... c5 $142) 15. Qe2 (15. Ne2 $142) 15... O-O-O ( 15... O-O $142) 16. Nf3 Kb8 17. Nbd2 (17. Bb5 $142 {was better, trying to keep Black's queen from the attack for as long as possible.}) 17... Qa4 18. exd6 cxd6 19. Bxg6 ({There's no point to} 19. Kb1 $2 {, as} Nc3+ {wins everything or forces a speedy mate.} 20. bxc3 Qa3 $1 {and the threats of ...bxc3 or ... Na4 followed by mate on b2 in particular will lead to White's speedy demise.}) 19... Qxa2 20. f5 Na4 21. Ne4 Qxb2+ 22. Kd2 Nac3 23. Qd3 Bd7 24. Bxf7 Bb5 { It's the end of the road for White's queen, and this shedding of blood won't even give White's king a respite.} 25. Qxb5+ Nxb5 26. Bxd5 Nxd4 0-1 [Event "Julius Baer GenCup Prelim"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.09.18"] [Round "2.2"] [White "Adhiban, Baskaran"] [Black "Erigaisi, Arjun"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A15"] [WhiteElo "2603"] [BlackElo "2725"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "72"] [EventDate "2022.09.18"] {[%evp 0,72,26,-5,13,-35,21,21,27,23,-2,17,18,2,40,14,9,9,3,8,4,22,34,4,15,16, 26,17,13,12,26,21,31,-31,31,67,74,57,10,27,107,12,120,120,83,102,96,32,75,123, 271,237,237,242,239,239,228,228,228,-435,-545,-491,-491,-953,-884,-924,-634, -634,-648,-637,-656,-665,-669,-1143,-1235]} 1. c4 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. d4 O-O 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Nf3 d5 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. O-O Nb6 9. d5 Na5 10. e4 c6 11. Bf4 Bxc3 12. bxc3 cxd5 13. exd5 Qxd5 14. Nd4 Qc5 15. Re1 Rd8 16. Qc1 Nac4 17. Rb1 a6 18. Nb3 Qh5 19. Bc7 Rd3 20. Qf4 Bh3 21. Bxh3 Qxh3 22. Bxb6 Nxb6 23. Nc5 Rd5 24. Rxe7 Rf5 25. Qd4 Rh5 26. Rxb6 Qxh2+ 27. Kf1 Qh1+ 28. Ke2 Rd5 {White is clearly winning, but with his king exposed he needs to find three good moves to put the game away.} 29. Qe4 $2 (29. Rb1 $1 Qh5+ 30. g4 $1 Qg5 31. Ne4 $1 Qxg4+ 32. f3 Qg2+ 33. Qf2 $18 {and that's that. Black's two pawns are nowhere near enough for the knight in this position; from here, White will win on autopilot.}) 29... Qd1+ 30. Ke3 Rxc5 $19 {Now Black is winning. White's pieces are all active; unfortunately, that is outweighed by the plight of his king.} 31. Rbxb7 Rxc3+ 32. Kf4 Qd2+ 33. Kg4 f5+ 34. Kh3 fxe4 35. Rg7+ Kf8 36. Rxh7 ( 36. Rbf7+ Ke8 37. Re7+ Kd8 {brings an end to the safe checks, and after} 38. Rb7 {or 38.Ref7 Black's simplest way to win is} Qh6+ 39. Kg2 Qxg7 40. Rxg7 Rac8 $19) 36... Qd4 {Black's king can go to g8 next, and with Black's queen covering g7 there's nothing for White to do but resign.} 0-1 [Event "Julius Baer GenCup Prelim"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.09.18"] [Round "3.1"] [White "Ivanchuk, Vasyl"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E51"] [WhiteElo "2678"] [BlackElo "2764"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2022.09.18"] {[%evp 0,67,26,26,26,26,31,13,9,18,19,37,28,9,13,7,15,16,52,36,32,33,26,17,54, 19,16,71,55,36,89,83,88,93,113,136,95,111,105,79,79,83,81,89,111,131,115,104, 113,117,109,109,115,115,149,156,169,166,150,152,142,148,207,162,226,223,270, 265,674,643]} 1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. e3 O-O 6. a3 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 c5 8. Bb2 {This is a slightly weird-looking move - one would think, at the very least, that White should finish his kingside development and wait and see what to do with this bishop. (Maybe Black will play ...cxd4 at some point, and then White might play exd4 and bring the bishop to g5. Or perhaps White will play a4 and Ba3. Or, maybe, b2 will turn out to be the right square - but what's the rush?) This seems to be an Ivanchuk specialty, though, and he has played it on at least five previous occasions - including once against Giri.} Re8 $146 (8... b6 9. cxd5 exd5 10. c4 cxd4 11. Nxd4 Re8 12. Rc1 Bg4 13. f3 Bd7 14. Kf2 Qe7 15. Qd2 Na6 16. Bd3 Nc5 17. Bb1 dxc4 18. Rxc4 Rad8 19. Qe2 Nd5 20. e4 Nf4 21. Qe3 Bb5 22. Qxf4 Bxc4 23. Nf5 Qd7 24. Bxg7 Qd2+ 25. Qxd2 Rxd2+ 26. Kg3 Re6 27. Bc3 Rg6+ 28. Kh4 Rdxg2 29. Ne7+ Kf8 30. Nxg6+ hxg6 31. Kh3 Rg5 32. Kh4 Rg2 33. Kh3 Rg5 34. Kh4 Rg2 {1/2-1/2 (34) Ivanchuk,V (2678)-Giri,A (2764) chess24.com INT 2020}) 9. Be2 Nc6 10. O-O Na5 11. cxd5 exd5 12. dxc5 Ne4 13. Qc2 (13. Bb5 $142 $14) 13... Bf5 14. Rfd1 {The critical moment of the game, for Giri. What would you do?} Nd6 $2 {This makes excellent sense, aiming for a death grip over the c4 square. It turns out that it's losing, however, and Ivanchuk plays like a boss the rest of the way.} (14... Rc8 {was the only correct move, with a complicated equality after} 15. c4 Rxc5 16. Bd4 Rc6 $11) 15. Bd3 $1 {Yes, this increases Black's control over c4, but now the d5-pawn is a goner.} Bxd3 16. Rxd3 Ndc4 17. Rad1 Rc8 18. Rxd5 {White's pawns may be ugly, but he has two more of them than Black does. Additionally, Black's kingside has been abandoned for the time being, so White's pieces look to provide his majesty with a little (unwanted) company.} Qe7 19. Ng5 g6 20. h4 Rcd8 21. Bc1 h6 22. Nf3 Rxd5 23. Rxd5 Qe4 24. Qxe4 Rxe4 25. Nd4 Rxh4 { Regaining a pawn, but at the cost of displacing his rook.} 26. f3 Rh5 { Essentially forced.} 27. e4 (27. Rxh5 gxh5 28. f4 {was even stronger.}) 27... Rxd5 28. exd5 {Now White's queenside structure doesn't look so bad. Speaking of things that look bad, how about the knight on a5?} h5 29. f4 Kf8 30. Kf2 b6 31. c6 Ke7 32. f5 Ne5 33. Bg5+ $1 f6 34. Bxf6+ $1 {A very good game by Ivanchuk!} 1-0 [Event "Julius Baer GenCup Prelim"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.09.18"] [Round "3.5"] [White "Wojtaszek, Radoslaw"] [Black "Niemann, Hans Moke"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E10"] [WhiteElo "2696"] [BlackElo "2688"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "69"] [EventDate "2022.09.18"] {[%evp 0,69,26,31,31,17,18,18,18,-24,20,20,20,18,12,-3,24,-32,-8,-43,-42,-31, -18,-24,-36,-43,-44,-31,4,-2,-9,-56,-34,-29,15,-29,-29,-25,28,22,20,27,33,53, 67,75,78,99,111,111,141,132,140,139,179,186,129,171,174,174,354,308,288,291, 447,465,570,654,679,693,1171,767] Niemann got off to a 2-0 start (or more precisely, a 6-0 start, given the tournament's 3-1-0 scoring system), but took it on the chin in this round.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Be7 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O Nbd7 8. b4 Ne4 9. Qb3 Nb6 10. c5 Nc4 11. Be1 a5 12. Nbd2 Nexd2 13. Nxd2 b5 14. bxa5 Rxa5 15. Nb1 Ra7 16. Qxb5 Ba6 17. Qb3 e5 18. Bc3 e4 $15 {So far, so good for Niemann.} 19. e3 (19. Na3 $142) 19... Rb7 $6 (19... h5 $1 $17) 20. Qa4 $11 Bb5 (20... Qa8 $142) 21. Qc2 $14 f5 $2 {Too optimistic. It may not seem as if White can do anything, but the appearance of hopeless passivity proves to be an illusion.} ({The less committal} 21... h5 {was still the right way to play on the kingside.}) 22. Re1 g5 23. a4 $1 Ba6 24. Nd2 $18 { If Black tries to maintain the status quo, then 25.Bf1 will be a big problem for him.} f4 $2 {Going all in. On this occasion, he's going to lose all his chips.} 25. exf4 Nxd2 (25... gxf4 26. Nxe4 $1 dxe4 27. Qxe4 $18 {White threatens 28.Qxe7 and 28.Qe6+ followed by 29.Qxa6, and that's not even taking into account threats involving White's bishop pair. Black is dead here.}) 26. Bxd2 {White has collected a pawn for nothing, and Black's weakened kingside will compound his troubles.} Bf6 27. Qc3 Qb8 28. c6 Rb2 29. fxg5 Bxg5 30. Bxg5 Rfxf2 31. Bh3 Rxh2 32. Rab1 $1 Rxh3 33. Rxb2 Qf8 34. Qe3 Qf5 35. Qf4 {Black has no (good) checks and no threats, and is forced to either trade queens, when he's down a rook for nothing, or avoid the trade and get mated. Niemann chose instead to resign.} 1-0 [Event "Julius Baer GenCup Prelim"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.09.18"] [Round "3.7"] [White "Erigaisi, Arjun"] [Black "Le, Quang Liem"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C45"] [WhiteElo "2725"] [BlackElo "2728"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "63"] [EventDate "2022.09.18"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nxc6 bxc6 6. e5 Qe7 7. Qe2 Nd5 8. Nd2 g6 9. c4 Nf4 10. Qe3 Ne6 11. b3 Bg7 12. Bb2 O-O {Not a move liked by the engine, though it's the only move people have played here. (Granted, there are only three games here.)} (12... Bb7) (12... Qc5) 13. Ne4 d5 (13... d6 $146 { is the engine preference.}) 14. Nf6+ Bxf6 15. exf6 Qb4+ 16. Bc3 Qd6 (16... Qa3 {0-1 (57) Ivanchuk,V (2752)-Dragnev,V (2492) Caleta 2017} 17. Be2 $16 {/+-}) 17. O-O-O $16 a5 18. h4 a4 19. b4 $18 d4 20. Qh6 c5 {So far, it has been a smooth game by Erigaisi. The position is quite sharp though, and both sides will wobble before all is said and done.} 21. Bd2 $2 {White understandably wants to avoid the threatened trade of queens (...Qf4+), but underestimates the danger to his own king.} (21. h5 $1 Qf4+ 22. Bd2 Qxh6 23. Bxh6 Re8 24. b5 $18 {won't leads to a quick and tidy mate, but it doesn't need to. Black is worse in every respect, and White should win without much trouble.}) 21... d3 $1 $19 22. h5 Qd4 (22... Qe5 $1 {was better, the key point being that after} 23. Kb1 a3 24. Bc1 Ra4 25. Bxa3 {Black has} Qg5 26. Qxg5 Nxg5 $19 {, and with the knight on g5 rather than f4 it's ready to leap into e4.}) 23. Kb1 a3 24. Bc1 Qxc4 $2 {After this very big error, White is winning, and does a nice job of finishing things off.} (24... Ra4 25. Bxa3 Qf4 26. Qxf4 Nxf4 27. Bc1 { is better for White than the similar 22...Qe5 line given above. Better by comparison, that is: instead of having a lost position White is worse but still in the game.} Rxb4+ 28. Ka1 Rxc4 $17) 25. Rxd3 $1 Ba6 (25... Qxb4+ $2 26. Rb3 Qe4+ 27. Bd3 Qxg2 28. hxg6 $18 {forces Black to cough up the queen to avoid mate.}) 26. hxg6 Qxd3+ 27. Bxd3 Bxd3+ 28. Ka1 Bxg6 29. f4 (29. Re1 { isn't bad, intending Rxe6 followed by Qg7#. Black can prevent the immediate mate only with} Kh8 30. Rxe6 Rg8 {, which is of course hopeless.}) 29... Rfb8 30. g4 Be4 31. f5 {Threatening both Qxh7+ followed by Qh8# as well as fxe6 followed by Qg7#.} Rxb4 {Threatening 32...Rb1#. Alas, White gets there first.} 32. Qxh7+ (32. Qxh7+ Kf8 33. Qh8#) 1-0 [Event "Julius Baer GenCup Prelim"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.09.18"] [Round "4.2"] [White "Le, Quang Liem"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D30"] [WhiteElo "2728"] [BlackElo "2861"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "86"] [EventDate "2022.09.18"] {[%evp 0,86,18,18,21,-11,0,4,23,24,8,18,42,48,45,40,38,37,34,32,39,35,51,3,-8, -24,24,-19,-26,-22,-27,-52,-65,-54,-50,-46,-14,-205,-178,-159,-164,-177,-185, -161,-163,-184,-159,-160,-168,-168,-169,-168,-211,-185,-186,-189,-187,-186, -191,-200,-201,-204,-201,-215,-218,-192,-179,-200,-189,-214,-144,-134,-142, -161,-215,-319,-341,-344,-386,-410,-427,-421,-348,-554,-575,-583,-590,-652, -688]} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c6 4. Bg5 Nf6 5. e3 Be7 6. Nc3 Nbd7 7. Bd3 h6 8. Bh4 dxc4 9. Bxc4 b5 10. Bd3 Bb7 11. e4 $2 {Even as great a player as Le can be tricked! Yes, pushing e3-e4 is standard for White in the Meran Variation, which is similar, but here it doesn't work.} (11. O-O O-O 12. Rc1 $14) 11... b4 $17 12. Na4 c5 (12... O-O $142) 13. e5 $2 (13. Bxf6 $142 Nxf6 14. Bb5+ Kf8 15. Nxc5 Bxc5 16. dxc5 Bxe4 17. Qd6+ Qxd6 18. cxd6 Bxf3 19. gxf3 $15) 13... Nd5 $17 14. Bxe7 Qxe7 15. dxc5 O-O $19 16. Rc1 Rac8 17. O-O Nf4 18. Qd2 $2 Nxe5 $1 19. Be4 (19. Nxe5 $2 Qg5 {wins White's queen, as he cannot prevent both ...Qxg2# and ...Nh3+ followed by ...Qxd2.}) (19. Qxf4 $2 Nxd3 $19) 19... Bxe4 20. Qxf4 Nxf3+ 21. gxf3 Bc6 {White's position is riddled with weaknesses, and while I doubt Le could hold this against anyone else in the field, it's a mortal lock that Carlsen will reel in the full point.} 22. b3 Rfd8 23. Rfd1 Rxd1+ 24. Rxd1 Bxa4 25. bxa4 Rxc5 {Black has an extra pawn, while White has five isolated pawns - four of which are doubled - and a weak king.} 26. Kf1 a5 27. Qe4 Qg5 28. h4 Qf5 29. Qxf5 Rxf5 30. Rd8+ Kh7 31. Kg2 Kg6 32. Rb8 Rd5 33. Kg3 Kf6 34. Rb7 Ke5 $1 35. Rxf7 Rd2 36. f4+ Kd4 37. f5 exf5 38. Rxf5 Rxa2 39. Rxa5 b3 40. Ra7 b2 41. Rb7 Ra3+ 42. Kg4 Rxa4 $1 43. Kf5 (43. Rxb2 Kc3+ {is discovered check.}) 43... Kc3 {Next comes ...Rb4.} 0-1 [Event "Julius Baer GenCup Prelim"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.09.18"] [Round "4.6"] [White "Praggnanandhaa, R."] [Black "Yoo, Christopher Woojin"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A45"] [WhiteElo "2676"] [BlackElo "2563"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "134"] [EventDate "2022.09.18"] {[%evp 0,59,21,22,18,20,11,14,18,9,-2,-4,-1,-3,-3,5,4,4,10,10,12,-6,-7,-32,-27, -42,-42,-34,-45,-53,-49,-30,-29,-137,-116,-116,-73,-131,-100,-95,-109,-139, -144,-128,-124,-123,-57,-65,-40,-46,-68,-91,-81,-93,-46,-36,-31,-71,-45,-32, -27,-13] Praggnanandhaa had started out 3-0, while Yoo lost his first two games before making a draw against Aronian. One would expect Pragg to finish day one with a 4-0 score, and...one would be wrong.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bf4 e6 4. Nb5 Bb4+ 5. c3 Ba5 6. e3 a6 7. Na3 O-O 8. Nf3 Nbd7 9. Be2 c5 10. O-O Bc7 11. Bg5 h6 12. Bh4 b5 13. Nc2 Bb7 14. a4 c4 15. Nd2 Bd6 16. b3 Qc7 17. axb5 axb5 18. bxc4 dxc4 19. Bg3 Bxg3 20. hxg3 Nd5 21. Rxa8 Rxa8 22. Nb1 N7f6 23. Bf3 Qa5 24. Qd2 Qa2 25. Qc1 Qb3 26. Nca3 Qa4 27. Re1 g5 28. Re2 g4 29. Bxd5 Bxd5 30. Rb2 Rb8 31. Nc2 Be4 32. Nd2 Qa8 33. Ne1 Kg7 34. Kh2 Qa3 35. f3 Bg6 36. e4 gxf3 37. gxf3 Nd7 38. Nb1 Qd6 39. Ng2 e5 40. Rd2 Qf6 41. Nh4 Ra8 42. Qb2 Rb8 43. Qb4 exd4 44. cxd4 Qg5 45. f4 Qd8 46. Nc3 Nf6 47. Nxg6 Kxg6 48. Kg2 Qd7 49. d5 h5 50. Ra2 Kg7 51. Ra6 h4 52. Qb2 b4 53. Nb5 c3 54. Nxc3 bxc3 55. Qxb8 Qg4 56. Rxf6 Qxg3+ 57. Kf1 Kxf6 58. Qh8+ Kg6 59. Qg8+ Kh5 60. Qxf7+ Kg4 61. d6 Qf3+ 62. Kg1 Qe3+ 63. Kf1 Qc1+ 64. Kf2 Qd2+ 65. Kf1 c2 66. Qg8+ Kh3 67. Qb3+ Kh2 0-1 [Event "Julius Baer GenCup Prelim"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.09.18"] [Round "4.7"] [White "Saric, Ivan"] [Black "Gelfand, Boris"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B30"] [WhiteElo "2668"] [BlackElo "2668"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "53"] [EventDate "2022.09.18"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 e6 4. O-O Nge7 5. d4 cxd4 6. Nxd4 Ng6 7. Be2 Be7 8. c4 O-O 9. Nc3 b6 10. Be3 Bb7 11. g3 Nxd4 12. Qxd4 Bf6 13. Qd3 Bxc3 14. bxc3 f5 15. exf5 Ne5 16. Qd6 Rxf5 17. f4 Nf7 18. Qd2 Qc7 19. Rad1 {The tournament has gone poorly for Gelfand, who just hasn't had enough games with elite opposition in recent years. This game has been a success for him so far, and with his great bishop and superior structure he has a significant advantage. Unfortunately, he finds an idea that is, as they say, too clever by half.} Ng5 $4 {Black threatens 20...Nh3#, and White also loses if he takes the knight. In fact, this wins against every move except the one Saric plays.} ({The routine} 19... Rd8 $17 {/-+ keeps a large advantage.}) 20. Bg4 $1 (20. fxg5 $2 Qc6 21. Bf3 Rxf3 22. Rxf3 Qxf3 23. Rf1 Qh1+ 24. Kf2 Rf8+ 25. Bf4 Qxh2+ 26. Ke1 Qxd2+ 27. Bxd2 (27. Kxd2 $2 e5 $19) 27... Rxf1+ 28. Kxf1 Ba6 29. Kf2 Bxc4 30. a3 e5 $19 {Opposite-colored bishop endings can be drawish, but this one's hopeless.}) 20... Qxc4 (20... Qc6 21. Bxf5 Qh1+ 22. Kf2 Qg2+ 23. Ke1 Nf3+ 24. Rxf3 Qxf3 25. Bd3 $18 {is simply an extra piece for White.}) 21. Bxf5 exf5 22. fxg5 Qe4 { Black doesn't have a perpetual check, and White has multiple ways of finishing the game.} 23. Rf4 Qh1+ 24. Kf2 Qxh2+ 25. Ke1 Qxg3+ 26. Qf2 Qh3 27. Rh4 1-0 [Event "Julius Baer GenCup Prelim"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.09.18"] [Round "4.8"] [White "Ivanchuk, Vasyl"] [Black "Duda, Jan-Krzysztof"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B54"] [WhiteElo "2678"] [BlackElo "2731"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "97"] [EventDate "2022.09.18"] {[%evp 0,97,20,17,40,49,68,80,64,51,58,11,-10,20,15,4,19,7,-1,26,16,14,14,14, 14,-8,11,13,18,2,-17,-16,38,19,21,21,23,36,23,11,9,32,32,23,31,29,44,52,56,61, 88,54,45,65,29,31,141,92,192,172,186,258,256,256,274,248,225,251,311,0,321,248, 337,350,352,359,401,333,421,355,350,376,376,379,382,378,381,388,401,412,421, 418,416,431,424,434,1191,434,437,410] Where Gelfand struggled, Ivanchuk had his moments. After losing in round 1, Ivanchuk reeled off three wins in a row to finish day 1 tied for second, just behind Carlsen.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. f3 e5 6. Nb3 d5 7. Bg5 Be6 8. Bxf6 gxf6 9. exd5 Qxd5 10. Qxd5 Bxd5 11. Nc3 Be6 12. Nb5 Kd8 13. O-O-O+ Kc8 14. Na5 a6 15. Nc3 Rg8 16. g3 Nd7 17. Nd5 f5 18. f4 exf4 19. Nxf4 Bh6 20. Rd4 Kc7 21. Bg2 Nc5 22. Rhd1 Rac8 23. Kb1 Kb8 24. a3 Bg5 25. Rb4 Rc7 26. Rd6 {To this point Duda has been struggling, though at the moment he's only slightly worse despite White's pressure around Black's king. Here, however, he goes astray, albeit with a very natural move.} Ka7 $2 (26... Re8 $1) 27. Nd5 $1 Bxd5 (27... Rcc8 $2 28. Rdb6 Rb8 $2 29. Rxb7+ $1 Rxb7 30. Rxb7+ $1 Nxb7 31. Nc6+ Ka8 {is the nicest line, leaving White with the difficult choice of which way to mate. My preference is for} 32. Nb6#) (27... Rd7 28. Rxd7 Bxd7 29. Nxb7 $1 Nxb7 30. Nf6 $1 $18) 28. Rxd5 b5 29. c4 $1 f4 30. cxb5 axb5 31. Rxb5 fxg3 32. hxg3 {With extra material and an ongoing attack, White is clearly winning. He does a nice job of converting the advantage too, except for one hiccup coming up in a moment.} Be7 33. Rf5 Rxg3 34. Bd5 $4 (34. Nc6+ $1 Rxc6 (34... Ka6 35. Bf1 $1 Rg1 36. Nb4+ Ka7 37. Nd5 $18) 35. Bxc6 $18) 34... Bd6 $4 (34... Rg1+ 35. Ka2 ( 35. Kc2 Ne6+ 36. Nc6+ Rxc6+ 37. Bxc6 Nd4+ $11) 35... Nd3 $11 {threatens not only a perpetual with ...Nc1+ followed by ...N-almost anywhere+ and ...Nc1+ again, but also ...Rc2.}) 35. Nc4 $18 Rg6 36. Ra5+ Na6 37. b4 Be7 38. b5 Rc5 39. Rxf7 Rxd5 40. Rxa6+ Kb8 41. Rxg6 Rxb5+ 42. Kc2 hxg6 43. Rxe7 Rf5 44. Rg7 g5 45. Kc3 Rf3+ 46. Kb4 Rg3 47. a4 Rg1 48. Ne5 Rb1+ 49. Ka5 1-0