[Event "FIDE World Cup 2023"] [Site "Baku AZE"] [Date "2023.08.24"] [Round "8.3"] [White "Praggnanandhaa, R."] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "2690"] [BlackElo "2835"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "94"] [EventDate "2023.07.30"] [EventType "k.o."] {[%evp 0,94,25,16,10,25,17,14,11,10,-1,-6,-12,0,24,19,25,15,14,6,26,8,6,20,14,14,6,17,26,35,34,17,8,8,0,-21,-28,-28,-16,-29,-29,-24,-23,-43,-40,-40,58,65,56,46,64,48,62,36,47,56,49,0,47,53,51,51,81,83,70,53,69,42,46,3,9,0,0,0,0,0,-29,-47,-47,-55,-55,-85,-69,-91,-86,-110,-104,-109,-85,-183,-198,-378,-398,-410,-431,-432,-421]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. a4 d6 6. O-O a5 7. Be3 {After the game Carlsen said that he wasn't so familiar with the line Pragg chose. He didn't specify the moment at which it became "the line", but this is my best guess.} (7. c3 {would transpose to a position that has arisen hundreds of times - including at least one Carlsen game.}) 7... Bxe3 8. fxe3 O-O 9. Nbd2 {This position has only arisen in three previous games, but all featured strong-to-super GMs.} Ne7 $146 (9... Qe7 10. h3 Be6 11. Qe2 Bxc4 12. Nxc4 Nb8 13. Qe1 b6 14. Qh4 Nbd7 15. g4 Nc5 16. b3 Rae8 17. Rf2 Nfd7 18. Qxe7 Rxe7 19. Raf1 g6 20. Nfd2 Nb8 21. Nb1 Nc6 22. Nc3 Nb4 23. Nd5 Nxd5 24. exd5 Kg7 25. e4 Rh8 26. h4 h5 27. g5 Rf8 28. Na3 Ree8 29. Nb5 Rc8 30. Na7 Ra8 31. Nb5 Rac8 32. Rf6 Nd7 33. R1f3 Nxf6 34. Rxf6 Rfd8 35. Kf1 Kf8 36. Ke1 Ke7 37. Na7 c5 38. Nxc8+ Rxc8 39. Kd2 Rb8 40. Rf1 b5 41. axb5 Rxb5 42. Kc3 Rb4 43. Ra1 f5 44. gxf6+ Kxf6 45. Rxa5 g5 46. hxg5+ Kxg5 47. Kd2 Rb8 48. Ke2 h4 49. Ra7 Rf8 50. Rg7+ Kh5 51. Rh7+ Kg4 52. Rg7+ Kh5 53. Rh7+ Kg4 54. Rh6 h3 55. Rxd6 Rh8 56. Rg6+ Kf4 57. Rf6+ Kg4 58. Rf1 h2 59. Rh1 Kg3 60. b4 cxb4 61. d4 Kf4 62. Kd3 Rh3+ 63. Kc4 Kxe4 64. d6 Rc3+ 65. Kxb4 Rc6 66. Re1+ Kxd4 67. Rd1+ Ke3 68. d7 Rb6+ 69. Kc5 Rb8 70. Rh1 Rh8 71. c4 {1-0 Sjugirov,S (2699)-Matlakov,M (2673) Budapest Hetenyi Memorial 2023 (3)}) (9... Be6 10. h3 (10. Bxe6 fxe6 11. d4 Qe8 12. c3 Qg6 13. Qb3 Nxe4 14. Nxe4 Qxe4 15. Qxe6+ Kh8 16. Rae1 Rf6 17. Qd7 Raf8 18. Qxc7 g5 19. h3 h5 20. Rf2 g4 21. Ng5 Qg6 22. Rxf6 Rxf6 23. Qc8+ Kg7 24. Qxb7+ Kh6 25. Qxc6 Kxg5 26. Qd7 Kh4 27. dxe5 dxe5 28. e4 g3 29. Qd3 Rd6 30. Qe3 Qf6 31. Rf1 Rd1 32. Qe2 Qb6+ 33. Kh1 Rxf1+ 34. Qxf1 Qf2 35. Qb1 Qd2 36. Qf1 Qf2 37. Qc1 Qxg2+ 38. Kxg2 {½-½ Movsesian,S (2654)-Michalik,P (2578) CZE-chT 1920 Czech Republic 2019 (4.5)}) 10... Bxc4 11. Nxc4 Qe7 12. Rf2 b6 13. Nfd2 Nb8 14. Nb1 Nbd7 15. Nc3 c6 16. d4 d5 17. exd5 Nxd5 18. Nxd5 cxd5 19. Nxe5 Nxe5 20. dxe5 Qxe5 21. Qd4 {½-½ Aronian,L (2735)-Giri,A (2764) Tata Steel-A 85th Wijk aan Zee 2023 (7)}) 10. Nh4 c6 11. Qe1 d5 12. Bb3 Qd6 {Black gets into difficulties after this move.} (12... Be6 $142 13. Qg3 Nd7 $11) 13. Qg3 Nh5 {Inviting a repetition, but Pragg has a better option.} 14. Qg5 $1 (14. Qf3 Nf6 15. Qg3 Nh5 {would be the repetition.}) 14... g6 $2 (14... Nf6 {was best, with only a slight disadvantage after} 15. h3 h6 16. Qg3 Nh5) 15. Nf5 $2 (15. Nhf3 f6 16. Qh4 $16 {is unpleasant for Black, who lags in development and in the coordination of his pieces.} Ng7 17. c4 {aims to blast open the diagonal. Black is living on the edge here:} ({The routine} 17. Rae1 {is also possible.}) (17. Ng5 {looks exciting, but if Black plays} Nh5 {White has nothing better than retreating the knight and trying something else.}) 17... dxc4 18. Nxc4 Qb4 $1 19. Nfd2 g5 20. Qh6 Be6 21. Rxf6 Rxf6 22. Qxf6 Rf8 23. Qxe5 b5 $8 24. Qd6 $1 bxc4 25. Qxb4 axb4 26. Nxc4 {would have made for an exciting game. For now, Black is on the back foot, with his knights dominated by White's e4-pawn.}) 15... Bxf5 16. exf5 Kg7 $11 {Now Black has no particular problems. Pragg keeps fighting for the initiative, and both combatants play very well for quite a while.} 17. Kh1 (17. Rae1 $142) 17... Qf6 18. Qxf6+ Nxf6 19. fxg6 hxg6 20. e4 dxe4 (20... Rad8 $142) 21. dxe4 Rad8 22. Rf2 Rd4 23. Raf1 Neg8 (23... Nxe4 24. Nxe4 Rxe4 25. Rxf7+ Rxf7 26. Rxf7+ Kh6 27. Kg1 Nf5 $11) 24. c3 Rd7 25. Re2 Re7 26. Bc2 Nd7 27. Nc4 Ra8 28. g4 $6 {This isn't terrible, but it's the first meaningful step in the direction of doom. White is trying to create a bind on the kingside, but there's the danger - later realized - that he's creating holes and targets on his side of the kingside.} f6 $6 {An inaccuracy in return. Nevertheless, the previous comment remains in force. This allows White to resume his fight for the initiative, but if it dries up the potential weaknesses may still become a problem.} (28... Ngf6 $142 29. g5 Nh5) 29. Rg2 Nh6 30. g5 fxg5 31. Rxg5 Nf7 32. Rg2 (32. Rg3 $142) 32... Re6 33. Rd2 Rf6 34. Rxf6 Nxf6 35. b4 axb4 36. cxb4 Kf8 {The king heads to the center to neutralize White's rook - on e7 it covers the entry points on both the d- and f-files.} 37. Kg2 Ke7 38. a5 Rh8 {It would be nice to have a white pawn on g3 (anti-...Rh4 edition).} 39. Re2 Nh5 {It would be nice to have a white pawn on g3 (anti-...Nf4 edition).} 40. Kg1 Nf4 41. Rd2 Rh3 {Even in this case a pawn on g3 would be nice - there would be nothing for the rook to do, horizontally, from h3. Coming back to the position: White is still technically okay, but it's obvious that Black has all the chances. White still has one and only one move to retain a tenable position; everything else loses.} 42. a6 $2 (42. Bd1 $11 {was the only move to stay afloat, with two surface ideas: (1) Bg4 and Rd7+, and (2) Rc2 to safeguard the knight and look for later ideas with a6. This doesn't force a draw, but it keeps the game going.}) 42... bxa6 43. Ba4 Rc3 $6 (43... Ng5 $1 {was best.}) 44. Na5 $2 (44. Rc2 {had to be tried.}) 44... Ng5 $1 {Just like that, it's over. Black doesn't only threaten ...Nxe4 and ...Nf3+, but (depending on where White's rook goes) ...Ngh3+ followed by ...Rc1+, possibly mating.} 45. Rc2 {That stops the ...Rc1+ idea from the preceding line, but doesn't do anything about the more general problem.} Ngh3+ 46. Kf1 Ra3 {The end. White gives a spite check before dying.} 47. Nxc6+ Kf6 {The bishop is trapped, but even if it weren't there's the further problem that Black threatens to give mate starting with ...Ra1+.} 0-1 [Event "FIDE World Cup 2023"] [Site "Baku AZE"] [Date "2023.08.24"] [Round "8.3"] [White "Abasov, Nijat"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A45"] [WhiteElo "2632"] [BlackElo "2782"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "56"] [EventDate "2023.07.30"] [EventType "k.o."] {[%evp 0,56,24,17,28,-15,18,8,21,7,7,3,10,13,15,16,12,0,-2,3,1,13,1,-22,-27,-32,-21,-26,-25,-72,-57,-58,-33,-36,-36,-33,-4,-6,4,-25,-44,-80,-80,-125,-12,-212,-202,-336,-320,-319,-315,-315,-335,-491,-453,-556,-556,-592,-592] Caruana may have been emotionally reeling from the Pragg tiebreak when he played the first classical game against Abasov. He recovered strongly in game 2, and in the tiebreak he played like a guy who was p***ed off and wanted not only to beat his opponent, but to destroy and humiliate him as well. He succeeded.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 Nc6 {What the heck is this? It's not quite the Bong Cloud, but there are some wisps of smoke floating around the move.} 3. e3 (3. d5 $1 {is the right reply to Caruana's provocation, even if only as a matter of self-respect.}) 3... e5 $146 {=} 4. d5 Ne7 (4... Nb8 {may be best, looking to develop the knight on d7 a little later.}) 5. Bxf6 gxf6 6. c4 (6. Nc3 $142) 6... d6 $11 7. Nc3 f5 8. h4 (8. Nge2 $142) 8... Bg7 $15 9. h5 O-O $6 (9... h6 $142 $15) (9... Ng8 $142 $15) 10. Bd3 $2 (10. h6 $11 {is always right - just ask AlphaZero.}) 10... c6 $15 (10... h6 $142 $17) 11. Qd2 (11. h6 $142) 11... cxd5 (11... h6 $142) 12. cxd5 (12. h6 $1) 12... Bd7 (12... h6 $142) (12... Bh6 $142) 13. Nge2 (13. h6 $142) 13... Rc8 (13... Bh6 $142) 14. Ng3 $2 (14. h6 $142) 14... e4 $17 15. Bc2 b5 $17 (15... h6 $17 {is still best.}) 16. Bb3 Qa5 17. Rc1 (17. h6 $142) 17... h6 {No longer the absolute best move, but still a good option.} (17... Qb6) (17... b4) 18. O-O Rc5 19. f3 (19. Ncxe4 {wins a pawn for a moment, but Black will pick up the d- and/or b-pawns very soon.} Qxd2 20. Nxd2 Rfc8 21. Rxc5 Rxc5 $17) 19... Be5 $1 20. Qf2 (20. Kf2) (20. Nh1) 20... exf3 21. Qxf3 Qb4 $1 {Headed for h4. The end is near.} 22. Rc2 $2 a5 $1 23. Rcf2 Rxc3 $1 (23... Qh4 24. Nce2) 24. Nxf5 (24. bxc3 Qh4 {wins the knight (and then some) as} 25. Nh1 {allows mate in one.} Bh2# (25... Qh2#)) 24... Nxf5 25. bxc3 Qh4 26. g3 (26. Qh3 Qxh3 27. gxh3 a4 28. Bc2 Nxe3 $19) 26... Nxg3 27. Rh2 Qg5 28. Rg2 Bh3 {A very one-sided game. Both players underestimated the value of h5-h6, but aside from that Black's play was purposeful and powerful.} 0-1 [Event "FIDE World Cup 2023"] [Site "Baku AZE"] [Date "2023.08.24"] [Round "8.4"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Praggnanandhaa, R."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B22"] [WhiteElo "2835"] [BlackElo "2690"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "44"] [EventDate "2023.07.30"] [EventType "k.o."] {[%evp 0,44,28,25,46,7,7,14,14,17,17,38,17,13,13,13,13,-11,13,-39,13,27,27,15,25,25,33,37,44,44,88,88,42,41,60,56,67,61,79,75,68,75,71,55,56,43,43]} 1. e4 c5 2. c3 {It didn't work for Erigaisi against Pragg in their match, and while Carlsen survived with it against Gukesh in that match he was worse there as well. Still, Carlsen has faith that he can succeed in killing the game with the Alapin, and he does.} Nf6 3. e5 Nd5 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. d4 cxd4 6. Bc4 Nb6 7. Bb3 d6 (7... dxc3 $2 {is not a gambit worth accepting. White already has a big advantage after} 8. Nxc3 $16 {, and aside from a Gufeld game late in his career in the first round of an open tournament, you won't find any GMs who would dare to play this.}) 8. exd6 Qxd6 9. O-O Bf5 (9... Be6 {is the most popular move, but in the context of playing for a win it's also ineffective:} 10. Bxe6 (10. Na3 {is the historic main line.}) 10... Qxe6 11. Nxd4 Nxd4 12. Qxd4 Rd8 13. Qf4 {is not a position anyone is going to win against Magnus Carlsen. In fact, hardly anybody manages to win here, period.}) 10. Nxd4 Nxd4 11. cxd4 $14 {If this were the sort of position where Black could produce sustained pressure against White's d-pawn, maybe there would be some long-term chances. But it's not.} e6 12. Nc3 Be7 13. Qf3 O-O 14. d5 {Black can't play 14...e5 (the bishop hangs), so White even manages to get rid of the isolated pawn while keeping the freer position.} Bg6 15. dxe6 fxe6 16. Qe2 $146 Kh8 $16 (16... Nd5 $142) 17. Qxe6 (17. Rd1 $16 {is better if the aim is to win, but Carlsen's move forces Black to make the position a dead draw if he wants to avoid being much worse.}) 17... Qxe6 18. Bxe6 Bc5 19. Be3 Bxe3 20. fxe3 Rfe8 21. Bb3 Rxe3 22. Rae1 (22. Rad1 $14) 22... Rxe1 {Even though it means losing the match, Pragg realizes that there's no chance of winning such a position against Carlsen, and calls it a day. Congrats to both players on a great tournament!} 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE World Cup 2023"] [Site "Baku AZE"] [Date "2023.08.24"] [Round "8.4"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Abasov, Nijat"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B30"] [WhiteElo "2782"] [BlackElo "2632"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "57"] [EventDate "2023.07.30"] [EventType "k.o."] {[%evp 0,57,27,17,44,41,41,38,52,48,40,18,28,25,13,12,5,-3,10,17,57,-25,27,-40,-39,-35,34,4,7,-38,18,4,42,23,53,-8,71,-2,-9,-9,139,128,109,223,313,262,373,373,373,396,396,434,396,469,580,653,672,507,1144,1272]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 e6 4. O-O Nge7 5. Re1 a6 6. Bf1 d5 7. exd5 Nxd5 8. d4 Nf6 9. Be3 Ng4 $2 {It creates an interesting position; the problem is that it's MUCH more interesting for White than for Black.} (9... cxd4 {is normal, but as in the Carlsen-Pragg game we just saw, all that White needs is a draw, and so options that would normally be fine for Black become unplayable in a must-win context.} 10. Nxd4 Bd7 11. c4 $14 {is very easy for White.}) 10. Bg5 $1 $16 {/+-} f6 (10... Nf6 $142) 11. Bf4 $2 {Natural, but there was a slick way to punish Black's last two moves.} (11. d5 $1 $18 fxg5 12. dxc6 Qxd1 13. Rxd1 bxc6 14. Na3 Nf6 15. Nxg5 $18 {Black's structure is in ruins and his pieces are undeveloped. Caruana would win such a position in his sleep, even against Carlsen.}) 11... cxd4 $14 12. h3 Nh6 $2 (12... g5 $1) 13. Bxh6 gxh6 14. Nbd2 $16 b5 $2 {Black understandably wants to keep White's pieces off the c4 square, but this creates further targets while neglecting development.} 15. a4 $18 Rb8 16. axb5 axb5 17. Nb3 Bb4 18. Nfxd4 $1 {White would keep a winning advantage with the boring 18.Re4 or 18.Re2, but Caruana wants to twist the knife.} Nxd4 19. Qh5+ Kf8 20. Red1 $1 e5 21. c3 Bd6 22. cxd4 e4 23. Ra7 Rb7 24. Rxb7 Bxb7 25. Nc5 Bd5 26. Bxb5 Qa8 27. Nd7+ Ke7 28. Qxh6 (28. Qf5) 28... Bc6 $2 29. Qg7+ (29. Qg7+ Ke6 (29... Ke8 30. Qxh8+ $18) (29... Kd8 30. Ne5 $1 $18 {is extra nasty, but of course there's nothing wrong with taking the rook.}) 30. d5+ $1 Bxd5 31. Qxf6#) 1-0