[Event "FIDE Candidates 2022"] [Site "Madrid ESP"] [Date "2022.06.30"] [Round "11.1"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Rapport, Richard"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B33"] [WhiteElo "2760"] [BlackElo "2764"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "191"] [EventDate "2022.06.17"] {[%evp 0,191,29,19,52,41,41,47,38,36,28,28,45,45,60,-7,-6,-27,-3,1,3,1,-12,-18, 15,8,14,17,19,11,22,26,22,16,10,6,6,6,7,35,38,9,6,22,23,23,22,28,19,23,29,26, 30,30,22,22,15,11,17,8,37,25,27,27,28,20,15,20,82,87,81,80,81,87,90,82,78,71, 65,65,72,57,57,57,57,57,57,73,70,53,44,50,66,62,50,63,63,48,63,63,63,50,50,36, 37,30,19,19,55,29,17,17,22,22,70,33,33,22,22,0,0,14,45,14,42,70,69,15,14,14,70, 70,65,70,73,70,70,70,70,14,14,14,70,14,70,70,70,70,70,14,70,14,70,70,70,12,70, 12,12,6,5,0,70,70,70,63,63,54,12,12,5,5,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0, 0,0,0]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 {This was all the rage in the Caruana-Carlsen match and for the next year or two after that, but it has subsided to the point where seeing a Sveshnikov on the board is like a visit from an old friend.} 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 {The old standard.} (7. Nd5 { has been the hot move since the Caruana-Carlsen match.}) 7... a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Nd5 (9. Bxf6 {is the alternative main line.}) 9... Be7 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. c3 { Here Black enjoys a wide choice.} (11. c4 {was trendy in the '10s, but seems to have subsided.}) 11... Rb8 (11... O-O) (11... Bg5) (11... Ne7) 12. Nc2 Bg5 ( 12... O-O) 13. g3 {Known, but fairly rare. White generally plays a quick a4, for the purposes of bothering Black's queenside the bishop typically remains on the f1-a6 diagonal. Once upon a time, two decades ago, I played the Sveshnikov in a correspondence game with a 1900-2000ish friend, who chose a g3 system against me. At least at that time, I was negatively impressed by g3, which seemed entirely harmless. But 20 years have gone by, players find new ideas, and with 3600-level computers one must be suspicious of old assessments. } O-O 14. Bg2 (14. h4 Bh6 15. Bh3 {seems to be a current approach, hoping to reach the fantasy situation where the light-squared bishops are swapped, a pair of knights are swapped, and White's remaining knight strikes a lordly pose on d5 while Black's dark-squared bishop lives out its days in meaningless squalor. That's the dream; the reality is that Black will either play keepaway with the bishop (15...Bb7) or park it on e6, inviting White to swap and evict his own knight.} Be6 $11 (15... Bb7 $5)) 14... a5 15. O-O Ne7 16. Nce3 Be6 { Rare, but a good alternative to the usual move.} (16... Bxe3 {is standard - in fact, it's one main reason why Black plays ...Bg5, to chop off a knight on e3 to avoid the "fantasy situation" mentioned in the last note.}) 17. Nxe7+ $146 ( 17. Qd3 $142) 17... Qxe7 18. Nf5 {Not allowing Black to swap off the dark-squared bishop.} Qd8 $1 (18... Bxf5 $6 19. exf5 e4 20. Re1 e3 {is playable for Black, but in the game he has the advantage.}) 19. Qxd6 g6 (19... Qxd6 $142 20. Nxd6 Be7 $11 {/=/+}) 20. Qxd8 Rfxd8 21. h4 (21. f4 $142) 21... Bf6 (21... gxf5 $142 22. hxg5 f4) 22. Ne3 Rd2 $44 23. b3 a4 24. Rfd1 Rxd1+ 25. Rxd1 axb3 26. axb3 Bxb3 $11 {If your suspicion is that the position is equal and certainly going to end in a draw, congratulations! Your suspicion is correct. If your suspicion is that it will end in a *quick* draw, however, you are mistaken. Grab a cup of coffee and get comfortable; we're going to be here for a while - at least if you're going to play through the remaining moves. I'd recommend going for a walk in the park instead, or playing with your kids, or maybe listening to some classical music.} 27. Rb1 Ba2 28. Rb2 Be6 29. Bf3 Be7 30. Bg4 Bxg4 31. Nxg4 b4 32. cxb4 Rb5 33. h5 Rxb4 34. Rxb4 Bxb4 35. hxg6 hxg6 36. Nxe5 {Hikaru fans were probably perking up at this point, but it's an illusion. The game remains completely drawn. Go home, people; there's nothing to see here!} Bc3 37. Nd3 f5 38. f3 Kf7 39. Kg2 Kf6 40. g4 Bd4 41. Kg3 Be3 42. Nb2 Kg5 43. Nd3 Kf6 44. Nb4 Ke5 45. Nc6+ Ke6 46. Na5 Kf6 47. Nc4 Bc1 48. Nb6 Ke6 49. Nc4 Kf6 50. Na5 Kg5 51. Nc6 Bf4+ 52. Kh3 Kf6 53. Kg2 Be3 54. Kf1 Bb6 55. Ke2 Ke6 56. Nb4 Bc7 57. Nd5 Bd6 58. Ne3 {Not exactly progress, but it does force something to happen.} fxe4 59. fxe4 Ke5 60. Kf3 Kf6 61. Nd1 Bc7 62. Nf2 Bd6 63. Nh3 Ke5 64. Nf4 Kf6 65. Nd3 Bc7 66. Kg2 Kg5 67. Kf3 Kf6 68. Ne1 Bd6 69. Nc2 Ke5 70. Ne3 Kf6 71. Nd5+ Kg5 72. Ne3 Kf6 73. Nc4 Bc7 74. Nd2 Bd6 75. Nb3 Bc7 76. Nc1 Bd6 77. Ne2 Bc7 78. Ng1 Bd6 79. Nh3 Ke5 80. Nf4 Kf6 81. Nd3 Bc7 82. Kg2 Kg5 83. Kh3 Bd6 84. e5 {More "action".} Bc7 85. Kg3 Bb8 86. Kf3 Bc7 87. Ke4 Kxg4 88. e6 Bd8 89. Nb4 Kg5 90. Nd5 Bf6 91. e7 {Euthanizing the game at last.} Bxe7 92. Nxe7 Kh5 93. Nd5 {Or not. Nakamura's continuing is a little joke; there is zero chance of Rapport's walking into Stamma's mate or anything like it.} (93. Nxg6) 93... g5 94. Kf5 g4 95. Nf6+ Kh4 96. Nxg4 {While Rapport was in no danger, there's nothing wrong with Nakamura's playing on forever. With a possible World Championship match at stake in these remaining rounds, he's absolutely right to play to the very end. My joking about the game is from a fan's perspective, and is not meant as criticism.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE Candidates 2022"] [Site "Madrid ESP"] [Date "2022.06.30"] [Round "11.2"] [White "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C42"] [WhiteElo "2793"] [BlackElo "2766"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "70"] [EventDate "2022.06.17"] {[%evp 0,70,26,33,18,22,12,-16,33,27,40,-12,17,-20,-16,-17,-16,0,-2,-25,7,-18, 2,11,21,-12,25,6,-35,-13,-24,-22,0,-8,-28,-55,-79,-81,-48,-53,-61,-12,-64,-59, -64,-47,-61,-120,-32,-54,-87,-83,-83,-83,-83,-137,-137,-150,-151,-137,-137, -208,-207,-194,-201,-226,-177,-205,-170,-343,-362,-419,-416]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. c4 {I assume Firouzja prepared this line before the tournament. He didn't do it last night, as reports are that he drowned his sorrows about the previous round's disaster by playing 357 bullet games online. Maybe he'll play 400 tonight?} Nc6 6. d3 (6. Nc3 {is the most popular move.}) 6... Nf6 7. d4 Be7 (7... d5) 8. d5 {Very direct!} (8. Nc3) 8... Ne5 9. Nd4 $146 O-O 10. Nc3 Bg4 11. f3 {A good move for restricting the bishop, but it comes at the cost of a potential weakening on the a7-g1 diagonal.} (11. Be2 Bxe2 12. Qxe2 Re8 13. O-O $14) 11... Bd7 12. Be2 c6 {Not only fighting for the center, but clearing the way for ...Qb6.} 13. O-O cxd5 14. cxd5 Qb6 (14... Qa5 { makes a lot of sense, though b6 is still the queen's intended destination. The d5 pawn is attacked, and in case of} 15. Nb3 {the queen now goes to b6, with the benefit of having chased the knight to an unimpressive square.} Qb6+ 16. Kh1 Rfc8 $11) 15. Kh1 Rac8 16. g4 $2 {White does not have enough control over the center and the queenside to justify this, but it takes some great play by Nepo to prove it.} (16. f4 Nc4 17. b3 Ne3 18. Bxe3 Rxc3 19. Bg1 Qa5 20. a4 Rcc8 $11 {/+/= was interesting without being reckless.}) 16... h6 $17 17. h4 $2 { Also bad, but there's no other point to 16.g4 then to force through g5.} Rfe8 $1 $19 {Bring it!} 18. g5 $2 hxg5 19. hxg5 Nh5 20. Kg2 $2 {Another error, but again, it's kind of unfair to pick on each move. It's all one big plan: White wants to play f4 next and chase Black's knights and, ultimately, his king.} Ng6 $1 21. f4 {Hitting the knight on h5 while "preventing" a knight from going to f4.} Nhxf4+ $3 {Really, the exclams are for the whole conception, because at this point it's too late to do anything else.} 22. Bxf4 Qxb2 23. Ne4 Rc4 (23... Bd8 $1 {is even stronger.} 24. Nxd6 Rxe2+ 25. Nxe2 (25. Qxe2 Qxd4 26. Nxc8 Qxf4 $1 27. Rxf4 Nxf4+ 28. Kf3 Nxe2 $19)) 24. Be3 Bxg5 $1 {Otherwise, White is fine. } 25. Rb1 Qxa2 26. Ra1 {Draw?} Rxd4 $1 {Nope!} (26... Bxe3 $1 {also works.} 27. Rxa2 Rxd4 28. Nxd6 Rxd1 29. Bxd1 {transposes to the game, which is winning for Black after} Re7 $19) 27. Rxa2 (27. Bxd4 $2 Qxd5 $19) 27... Rxd1 28. Bxd1 Bxe3 29. Nxd6 Re7 30. Bb3 (30. Re2 {is better, though still eventually losing.} b6 31. Ree1 f6 32. Bc2 Bc5 $1 $19) 30... Bc5 31. Nxb7 Bb6 32. Bc4 Re3 33. Kh1 Bh3 34. Rc1 Bf5 35. Bf1 Be4+ (35... Be4+ 36. Kh2 Bxd5 {adds another White piece to Black's coffers.}) 0-1 [Event "FIDE Candidates 2022"] [Site "Madrid ESP"] [Date "2022.06.30"] [Round "11.3"] [White "Radjabov, Teimour"] [Black "Duda, Jan-Krzysztof"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A15"] [WhiteElo "2753"] [BlackElo "2750"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "66"] [EventDate "2022.06.17"] {[%evp 0,66,23,-14,-16,-4,-4,-37,-18,-18,-12,-23,-23,-20,3,-1,-2,11,20,10,25,5, 1,11,23,16,9,-20,-1,-11,-6,-6,16,9,13,16,30,27,33,36,31,31,26,14,4,7,10,-3,-1, 3,38,49,42,14,11,0,5,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. b3 d5 4. Bb2 Be7 5. g3 O-O 6. Bg2 b6 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. d4 Bb7 9. O-O c5 ({Black more often makes one more developing move before playing ...c5, but both moves are fine, normal, and result in nearly equal positions.} 9... Nd7) 10. dxc5 Bxc5 11. Nbd2 Nf6 {Preventing Ne4. Black's score with this has been poor, but most of those games were at a sub-GM level.} 12. a3 a5 $146 (12... Be7 13. b4 a6 14. Nc4 Nbd7 15. Rc1 Rc8 16. Qd4 b5 17. Na5 Bd5 18. Ne5 Nxe5 19. Qxe5 Bxg2 20. Kxg2 Rxc1 21. Rxc1 Qa8+ 22. Nc6 Re8 23. f3 Bf8 24. Nd4 Rc8 25. Rxc8 Qxc8 26. Qg5 Nd5 27. Qc1 Qxc1 28. Bxc1 Nb6 29. e4 Bd6 {1/2-1/2 (29) Potkin,V (2597)-Leko,P (2693) Tallinn 2016}) 13. Nc4 $146 (13. Qc2 Nbd7 14. e3 Qe7 15. Nd4 Bxg2 16. Kxg2 Rac8 17. Qd3 Ne5 18. Qe2 Rfd8 19. f3 Nc6 20. Nxc6 Rxc6 21. Nc4 Rc7 22. Rfd1 Rcd7 23. e4 h6 24. a4 Ne8 25. Ne5 Rd6 26. Nc4 R6d7 27. Ne5 {1/2-1/2 (27) Heigermoser,R (2161)-Schindler,S (2165) Bayern 2019}) 13... Nbd7 14. Nfe5 { This looks like a tacit draw offer. Exchanges come fast and well, not so furious. They're peaceful and comfortable, like a soft bed or an old recliner.} Bxg2 15. Kxg2 b5 16. Nxd7 Qxd7 17. Qxd7 Nxd7 18. Nxa5 Rxa5 19. b4 Ra6 20. bxc5 Nxc5 {Beautiful chess. Now we just have to get rid of the queenside pawns and the imbalanced minor piece situation, and maybe get rid of a pair of rooks as well so there won't be any tactical possibilities. Then we can repeat moves and call it a day.} 21. Rab1 Ne4 22. Rfd1 h6 23. Ba1 Rxa3 24. Rxb5 Nc3 25. Bxc3 Rxc3 {Bravo!} 26. Rdb1 g6 27. Rb8 h5 28. h4 Rxb8 29. Rxb8+ Kg7 30. e3 Rc2 31. Ra8 Rc3 32. Rb8 Rc2 33. Ra8 Rc3 {It might seem like I'm mocking the players, but I'm not. They have nothing to play for at this point, so a quick and easy draw makes sense.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE Candidates 2022"] [Site "Madrid ESP"] [Date "2022.06.30"] [Round "11.4"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Ding Liren"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C88"] [WhiteElo "2783"] [BlackElo "2806"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "156"] [EventDate "2022.06.17"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. a4 Bb7 9. d3 d6 10. Bd2 {Not as popular as Nbd2, but this awkward-looking move, stopping ...Na5 for the moment, is an important alternative.} Qd7 (10... b4 { is the main alternative.}) 11. Nc3 Na5 12. Ba2 b4 13. Ne2 c5 14. Ng3 Rab8 15. Nh4 $146 {In previous games White had played 15.Nf5 directly. Caruana prefers to use the other knight instead.} (15. Nf5 Bd8 (15... Bc8 16. N3h4 Bd8 17. Re3 g6 18. Rh3 c4 19. Bh6 b3 20. cxb3 cxb3 21. Bb1 d5 22. Qc1 Qc6 23. Qd2 Re8 24. Bg5 gxf5 25. exd5 Qxd5 26. Bxf6 Bxf6 27. Qh6 f4 28. Qxf6 Bxh3 29. Qg5+ Kf8 30. d4 exd4 31. Qh6+ Ke7 32. Bd3 Be6 33. Re1 Kd7 34. Qxf4 Nc6 35. Nf5 Nb4 36. Re5 Qc6 37. Qxd4+ Bd5 38. Rxe8 Rxe8 39. Qxb4 Re4 40. Qd2 Rxa4 41. Qe3 Be4 42. h3 Qc7 43. Ng3 Bxd3 44. Qxd3+ Kc8 45. Qxb3 Rc4 46. Qd3 h6 47. Kh2 Rc6 48. Qe4 Kb8 49. b3 Re6 50. Qd4 Rb6 51. f4 Qd6 52. Qe3 Qc7 53. Nf5 Rb4 54. Nd4 Kb7 55. Kg3 Qd6 56. Nc2 Rb5 57. Nd4 Rd5 58. Nf3 Rd3 59. Qe4+ Kb6 60. Kh2 f6 61. Qc4 a5 62. Kg3 Rd5 63. Qe4 Rd3 64. Qc4 h5 65. Qg8 Rc3 66. Qf7 {0-1 (66) Motylev,A (2642) -Ponkratov,P (2650) Moscow 2021}) 16. h3 b3 17. Bxb3 Nxb3 18. cxb3 Bc6 19. Bc3 Ne8 20. Ne3 Nc7 21. Nc4 Ne6 22. Nxd6 f6 23. Nc4 Nf4 24. Re3 Bc7 25. Ba5 Rfd8 26. Rc1 Ba8 27. Rc3 Bxa5 28. Nxa5 Qc7 29. Nc4 Rd7 30. Qc2 Qd8 31. Ne1 a5 32. Nd2 Ne6 33. Kh2 Bb7 34. Qd1 Ba6 35. Qg4 Rd6 36. g3 Qe7 37. f4 Rbd8 38. fxe5 fxe5 39. Nc4 Bxc4 40. Rxc4 Rb6 41. Rc3 Rdb8 42. Rf3 Nd4 43. Rf2 Nxb3 44. Nf3 Nd4 45. Nxd4 exd4 46. Rcc2 h6 47. Qf5 Rf6 48. Qd5+ Kh8 49. Rxf6 Qxf6 50. Qxc5 Rf8 51. e5 Qf1 52. Qxd4 Qd1 53. Rf2 Rxf2+ 54. Qxf2 Qxd3 55. g4 Qe4 56. Qf8+ { 1-0 (56) Duda,J (2760)-Durarbayli,V (2615) Katowice 2021}) (15. c3 b3 16. Bb1 Qc7 17. Nf5 Bc8 18. N3h4 Bd8 19. d4 g6 20. Nh6+ Kg7 21. Bd3 Ng8 22. Nxg8 Rxg8 23. Nf3 Re8 24. Be3 Bf6 25. d5 c4 26. Be2 Bg4 27. Nd2 Bxe2 28. Qxe2 Rbc8 29. Rf1 Bd8 30. f4 f6 31. Rf3 Qb7 32. Raf1 Rf8 33. Qf2 Rb8 34. Kh1 Bb6 35. Bxb6 Qxb6 36. Qh4 Rf7 37. Rh3 Kg8 38. Qg4 exf4 39. Rxf4 Re8 40. Rhf3 Qd8 41. Rf1 Nb7 42. Nxc4 Nc5 43. Qf3 Nxa4 44. g4 h6 45. Qe3 Qe7 46. R4f3 Kg7 47. Qf4 Rff8 48. Nxd6 Rd8 49. Nc4 Nc5 50. Re3 Rde8 51. Rfe1 Qd7 52. h3 Re7 53. Qf3 Qb5 54. Qe2 Kg8 55. Kg1 Rfe8 56. Nd6 Qxe2 57. R1xe2 Rd8 58. Nc4 Rde8 59. d6 Re6 60. Kg2 Nb7 61. e5 fxe5 62. d7 R8e7 63. Nxe5 Kg7 64. c4 Rd6 65. Rxb3 Nc5 66. Rb6 Rdxd7 67. Rxg6+ Kh7 68. Rc6 Nd3 69. Nxd7 Rxe2+ 70. Kf3 Rxb2 71. Rxa6 Rc2 72. Ke3 Nb4 73. Ra7 Rc3+ 74. Kd4 Rxh3 75. Ne5+ Kg8 76. c5 h5 77. Rb7 Nc2+ 78. Kd5 Ne3+ 79. Ke4 Nxg4 80. Nxg4 hxg4 81. c6 Rc3 82. c7 {1-0 (82) Bjerre,J (2529)-Andersen,M (2601) Germany 2020}) 15... g6 16. Bh6 Rfe8 17. Nhf5 Bd8 $1 (17... gxf5 $2 { is just bad.} 18. Nxf5 c4 19. Qf3 Qe6 20. Qg3+ Ng4 21. Qxg4+ $18) (17... Bf8 $2 {is also bad, but not because White will swap the dark-squared bishops and play Qd2-h6-g7#.} 18. Bg5 $1 {is the problem. Black's knight has nowhere to move, and there's no convenient way to protect it.} Qd8 19. Qf3 b3 20. Ne3 bxa2 21. Bxf6 Qd7 22. Rxa2 $16 {/+- collects a pawn while maintaining good attacking prospects on the kingside.}) 18. Ng7 Rf8 19. h3 {To prevent ...Ng4, winning material.} (19. N7f5 Re8 20. Ng7 Rf8 $11 {is possible, but obviously not what Caruana had in mind.}) 19... b3 $5 20. Bxb3 Nxb3 21. cxb3 Bc6 22. Rc1 $6 (22. Re2 $14 {/=}) 22... Kh8 $1 {Threatening both ...Ng8 and ...Rg8.} 23. Ne6 Qxe6 24. Bxf8 Ba5 25. Bh6 Bxe1 26. Qxe1 Rxb3 (26... Qxb3 $142 $15) 27. Qa5 Ng8 (27... Rxb2 $142 28. Qxa6 Qd7) 28. Be3 Bb7 (28... Rxb2 $142 29. Qxa6 Bb7) 29. Qd2 f6 30. f4 {Here comes the second wave of the attack.} exf4 $2 (30... Bc6) 31. Bxf4 g5 32. Be3 $16 {/+-} Qe5 33. Nf5 $3 $18 Ne7 (33... Rxb2 $2 34. Nxd6 $1 {is the brilliant point.} Rxd2 (34... Kg7 $2 35. d4 Rxd2 36. dxe5 Rd3 37. Bxc5 $18) 35. Nf7+ Kg7 36. Nxe5 Re2 37. Nc4 $18 {Material is equal for the moment, but not for long.}) 34. Nxe7 (34. Rf1 $18) 34... Qxe7 35. Qc2 Rb6 36. Rf1 (36. b4 $1 {was even stronger.} Rxb4 37. Bd2 Rb6 38. a5 Rc6 (38... Rb5 { leaves the room immobilized.} 39. Re1 c4 40. d4 $18) 39. Qb2 {Threatening to take on g5.} Kg8 40. Rf1 d5 41. exd5 Rd6 42. Bc3 $18) 36... Kg7 37. a5 (37. b4 $1) 37... Rc6 38. Bd2 (38. h4 h6 39. b4 $1 $18) 38... Rc8 39. Bc3 Rf8 40. Qf2 h6 $16 {Black is hanging on by a thread, but he is hanging on. For now, it's still Caruana who is having all the fun.} 41. h4 (41. b4 $142 $1 d5 $1 42. bxc5 dxe4 43. dxe4 Qxe4 44. Re1 Qd5 45. Re7+ Kg8 $8 46. Re2 $16 {/+/= There's no clear payoff for White, just more suffering for Black.}) 41... Bc8 $6 (41... Qe6 $1) 42. b4 $1 $16 {It was better earlier, but even here it's a good idea, though for different reasons.} Bd7 $6 (42... cxb4 $142 43. Bxb4 Rf7) 43. bxc5 dxc5 44. Rb1 (44. Qf3 $1 $18) 44... Bb5 $8 45. hxg5 $6 {It was better to maintain the tension.} (45. Re1 $16 {/+-}) 45... hxg5 46. Qf5 {The advantage of 45.hxg5 is that this move comes with the threat of 47.Qxg5+. On balance, though, White has lost out - in some lines the pawn might have gone to h5.} Kg8 $8 47. d4 $6 {Too direct.} (47. Rd1 $142 $16) 47... Bd3 (47... Qd7 $1 {was best, but the text isn't bad.} 48. dxc5 (48. Qxd7 Bxd7 49. d5 Bb5 $11) (48. Qxc5 $6 Rc8 49. Qb4 Qc6 {regains the pawn while taking over the initiative.}) 48... Qxf5 49. exf5 Rc8 50. Bd4 Kf7 {should be drawn, despite White's extra pawn.}) 48. Re1 cxd4 49. Bxd4 Qh7 (49... Qf7 $142) 50. Qf3 Bb5 51. e5 Qd7 $1 ( 51... fxe5 $2 52. Qd5+ Rf7 53. Qxe5 $18 {Black's king is too weak to survive.}) 52. Bc5 Rc8 53. Qb3+ (53. Bf2 $142 fxe5 54. Qf6 $14) 53... Qf7 54. e6 Qc7 55. e7+ Kg7 $11 {As beautiful as White's pawn looks on e7, the position is equal. It won't promote, Black's king is (relatively) safe, and as we'll soon see White's king can be harassed as well.} 56. Bd4 Qf4 57. Be3 $2 (57. Qe3 { gives up on winning the game; but it avoids a loss.}) 57... Qg3 {Now White's trouble's begin. The rook is attacked, the bishop is pinned, and moves like ... Bc6 and ...Rh8 suggest themselves. It's so hard for a player to pull the brakes after having been better for a very long time, but sometimes it's necessary.} 58. Qb4 Rh8 59. e8=Q Qh2+ $2 (59... Rxe8 $2 60. Bf2 {is very drawish, and what Ding wanted to avoid. Rightly so, but as we'll see his way of handling the situation also has its flaws, or flaw.}) (59... Bxe8 $1 { was the right way, though White should still draw with perfect play.} 60. Bd4 $8 Qh2+ 61. Kf2 Qf4+ 62. Kg1 Bb5 63. Bc3 {leaves Black with nothing better than } Qxb4 64. Bxb4 Rh4 {with an ending that's similar to what we'll eventually see in the game. This version isn't as good for Black, though it could conceivably end up in the same spot.}) 60. Kf2 Rxe8 61. Qg4 $2 {Now Black is back on track.} (61. Bxg5 $1 {was the problem with 59...Qh2+.} Rxe1 (61... fxg5 62. Rxe8 Bxe8 63. Qe7+ Bf7 64. Qxg5+ {and White will either deliver perpetual check or trade queens, which is also an immediate draw. (White's king will reach a1 in time, with an elementary draw.)}) 62. Qxe1 fxg5 63. Qe7+ Kg6 64. Qe6+ Kh5 65. Qf7+ $8 $11 {Black cannot (safely) escape the perpetual check.}) 61... Qe5 $19 62. Qd4 Qf5+ 63. Kg1 Kg6 $6 (63... Re4 $1 {was best, looking in most cases to play ...Rg4.}) 64. Qd2 Bc6 $6 (64... Rc8 $1 $17) 65. Bf2 $2 (65. Bd4 $15) 65... Qg4 66. Qd3+ Be4 67. Qg3 Qxg3 $6 (67... Kf5 {is a better way to execute the queen trade, but it's surprising that Ding didn't keep the queens on the board.}) (67... Qf5) (67... Qe6) 68. Bxg3 f5 69. Bc7 $8 Kh5 70. Kf2 Kg4 71. Rc1 (71. g3 $142 Rh8 72. Ke3) 71... Re7 {Surprisingly, White has only one move to stay alive here.} 72. Rc3 $2 (72. Rc5 $1 {is it, to meet} Bd3 {with the equally forced} 73. Be5 $1 {White will keep suffering, but for now he remains alive.}) 72... Rd7 $2 (72... Bd3 $1 {won. The plan is to go ...Re2+, .. .Bb5, ...f4 and then ...Bc6. Here's a sample line in which White tries to prevent the full execution of that plan.} 73. Bd6 (73. Rxd3 Rxc7 74. Rd2 Rc5 75. Ra2 Kh4 76. Kf3 Rc3+ 77. Kf2 g4 78. Ra4 Rc2+ 79. Kg1 f4 80. Rxf4 Kg3 81. Rf1 Rxg2+ 82. Kh1 Ra2 $19) 73... Re2+ 74. Kg1 Bb5 75. Rg3+ Kh5 76. Rh3+ Kg6 77. Rc3 Re1+ 78. Kf2 Rf1+ 79. Ke3 f4+ 80. Ke4 Re1+ 81. Kf3 Kh5 82. g3 Rf1+ 83. Kg2 Kg4 84. gxf4 gxf4 85. Bc5 Ra1 86. Bb6 Ra2+ 87. Kg1 f3 88. Rc8 (88. Bf2 Rxa5 $19 ) 88... Rg2+ 89. Kh1 f2 $19) 73. g3 $1 {Alive again! Caruana was falling short of time, and between all the emotions and fatigue of this game and the three games before that, it would take tremendous mental strength to save this.} Bd3 74. Bb8 Bb5 75. Bc7 $2 (75. Rc2) (75. Rc8) ({and} 75. Ke1 {keep the game going. }) 75... Re7 $1 76. Bd8 (76. Rc2 Bd3 $19 {forces the rook to give up control of e2 or the defense of the bishop.}) 76... Re2+ 77. Kg1 Rd2 78. Be7 Bd3 (78... Bd3 79. Bd6 Kh3 80. Rc8 Rg2+ 81. Kh1 Be4 82. Rh8+ Kg4 $19 {The g3-pawn falls.}) 0-1