[Event "Titled Tue 13th Jun Early"] [Site "chess.com INT"] [Date "2023.06.13"] [Round "6"] [White "Kramnik, Vladimir"] [Black "Nihal, Sarin"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B08"] [WhiteElo "2753"] [BlackElo "2681"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "57"] [EventDate "2023.06.13"] [EventType "swiss (blitz)"] [EventRounds "11"] [SourceTitle "The Week in Chess 1493"] [Source "Mark Crowther"] [SourceDate "2023.06.19"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2023.06.19"] [SourceQuality "2"] {[%evp 0,57,15,15,105,66,80,67,83,69,75,59,66,57,69,59,80,52,45,31,60,51,50,42,100,84,85,58,72,71,119,82,78,48,54,48,47,52,96,18,32,0,44,0,174,-10,66,160,327,227,253,370,1385,1948,29995,29996,29997,29998,29999,-30000]} 1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nf3 d6 4. Be2 {A very quiet system, but don't worry - Kramnik's play will get much louder.} Nf6 5. Nc3 O-O 6. O-O Nc6 7. d5 Nb8 8. h3 c6 9. a4 a5 (9... b6 {is the alternative, not (yet) surrendering the b5 square.}) 10. Bg5 (10. Re1) ({and} 10. Be3 {are more common.}) 10... Na6 11. Re1 Nd7 $146 12. Qd2 $16 Nb4 13. Bf1 Re8 14. Rad1 Qb6 15. Be3 Nc5 16. Bd4 Bxd4 17. Nxd4 Bd7 $6 (17... e5 $142) 18. Qh6 $1 $16 {/+- Doesn't the queen need friends? Don't worry, she'll find some. In fact Nf3-g5 is already a serious threat, and if Black plays ...f6 to stop Ng5, then Nh4xg6 will be the problem.} e5 $6 (18... Kh8 $142) 19. dxe6 $18 (19. Nf3 $1 {is still strong, but Kramnik's move is also fine.}) 19... Nxe6 $2 (19... fxe6 {was better, not that Black has much to be happy about after} 20. Nf3 Qc7 21. e5 d5 22. Rd4 $18) 20. Nf5 $1 Nxc2 (20... gxf5 21. Rxd6 $18) 21. Rxd6 $2 {This flashy move works out well, but it gives Black a chance to stay alive.} (21. Re2 $1 gxf5 22. Rxd6 $18) (21. Bc4 $1 gxf5 22. exf5 Nxe1 23. Ne4 $18) 21... gxf5 $2 (21... Nxe1 $8 22. Rxe6 gxf5 23. Rxe8+ Rxe8 24. Nd5 {must have been Kramnik's idea. It's good enough for an advantage, but not a decisive one after} Re6 $8 25. Qg5+ Rg6 26. Qxg6+ fxg6 27. Nxb6 Be6 28. exf5 gxf5 29. Nc4 Bxc4 30. Bxc4+ Kg7 31. f4 $16) 22. exf5 Nxe1 23. Ne4 $1 Kh8 24. Rxd7 Nf3+ 25. Kh1 $1 (25. gxf3 Rg8+ 26. Kh1 Qb3 27. Qf6+ Rg7 {won't ultimately save the game, but it's a resource Black lacks after Kramnik's 25th move.}) 25... Qxb2 26. Nf6 Neg5 27. Rxf7 $1 Qxf6 (27... Nxf7 28. Qxh7#) 28. Qxf6+ Kg8 29. Qg7# {Not quite perfect, but very good, especially for blitz.} 1-0 [Event "Rapid Superleague Arm TB"] [Site "Poland POL"] [Date "2023.06.07"] [Round "9.1"] [White "Pechac, Jergus"] [Black "Navara, David"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A20"] [WhiteElo "2610"] [BlackElo "2676"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "27"] [EventDate "2023.04.04"] [EventType "blitz"] [EventRounds "14"] [EventCountry "POL"] [SourceTitle "The Week in Chess 1492"] [Source "Mark Crowther"] [SourceDate "2023.06.12"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2023.06.12"] [SourceQuality "2"] [WhiteTeam "KSz Dwie Wieze Equity Advisors Krakow"] [BlackTeam "Wasko Hetman GKS Katowice"] {[%evp 0,27,15,-13,-13,-35,17,-15,-15,-15,-8,-2,3,-7,-7,-7,40,33,30,12,6,6,226,226,262,211,193,197,822,829]} 1. c4 e5 2. g3 c6 3. Nf3 e4 4. Nd4 d5 5. cxd5 Qxd5 6. Nc2 Nf6 7. Nc3 Qe6 (7... Qe5 {is (by far) the main move. I wonder if Navara avoided it because after} 8. Bg2 Bc5 (8... Na6 9. O-O Be7 {is usual.}) 9. b4 Bb6 10. Na4 {would be "impossible" (you'll see what I mean), so he hoped to sucker his opponent into playing Na4.}) 8. Bg2 Bc5 (8... Na6 {is playable here, too, but for some reason no one plays it after 7...Qe6.}) 9. b4 Bb6 10. Na4 {"Falling" into the trap. In fact, it's a normal move that had been played in the three previous games to reach the position after 9...Bb6, including two games where GMs had White.} Bxf2+ $4 {Tactics!...?} 11. Kxf2 Ng4+ 12. Ke1 (12. Kg1 {may be a little better, but it doesn't really matter, as long as White doesn't split the difference with 12.Kf1(??).}) 12... Qf6 {With a fork, sort of.} 13. Rf1 Qxa1 $4 {Did he still not know? If any of you have seen something about this, please tell us in the comments.} 14. Nxa1 {Apparently 10...Bxf2+ wasn't best...} 1-0