[Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2022.01.25"] [Round "9.1"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E04"] [WhiteElo "2865"] [BlackElo "2767"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "53"] [EventDate "2022.01.14"] {[%evp 0,53,19,15,30,31,27,-21,-3,-23,-6,-9,20,-4,12,28,13,-5,24,34,14,11,4,-8, -13,-15,97,88,93,95,108,103,103,107,101,109,109,118,104,59,138,144,138,75,91, 100,113,135,186,199,226,261,273,282,283,259]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 e6 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 a5 7. O-O (7. Qc1 b6 8. Bxb4 axb4 9. Qxc4 Bb7 10. O-O Nc6 11. Nbd2 O-O 12. Rfc1 Nd5 13. Qc2 h6 14. Nc4 Ra7 15. Nce5 Nde7 16. Nxc6 Bxc6 17. e3 Qa8 18. Ng5 hxg5 19. Bxc6 Nxc6 20. Qxc6 Qxc6 21. Rxc6 Rfa8 22. Rac1 Rxa2 23. Rxc7 Rxb2 24. Rc8+ Rxc8 25. Rxc8+ Kh7 26. Rb8 g4 27. Rxb6 b3 28. Kg2 f5 29. h3 Kg8 30. hxg4 fxg4 31. Rxe6 Rc2 32. Rb6 b2 33. Rb7 Rd2 34. d5 Kf8 35. e4 Ke8 36. d6 Rxd6 37. Rxb2 Rd4 38. f3 Kf7 39. Re2 gxf3+ 40. Kxf3 Kf6 41. Kf4 g5+ 42. Kg4 Kg6 43. Re3 Ra4 44. Kf3 Kf6 45. Rb3 Ra1 46. Rb6+ Ke5 47. Rb5+ Kf6 48. Rf5+ Kg6 49. Kg4 Re1 50. Rxg5+ Kf6 51. Rf5+ Ke6 52. Kf4 Rf1+ 53. Kg5 Re1 54. g4 Rxe4 55. Rf1 Ra4 56. Kh5 Ra8 57. g5 Rh8+ 58. Kg6 {1-0 (58) Grischuk,A (2764)-Carlsen,M (2856) Warsaw 2021}) 7... O-O 8. e3 (8. Bg5) ({and} 8. Qc2 { are the usual moves.}) 8... Ra6 {Preparing ...b5 without having to worry about tactics on the long diagonal.} 9. Qc2 $146 b5 10. a4 c6 11. Nc3 Rb6 (11... Nbd7 $5 12. axb5 cxb5 13. Nxb5 Bb7 $11 14. Na3 (14. Qxc4 $4 Bxf3 $19 15. Bxb4 Bxg2 16. Bxf8 $2 Bxf1 $19) 14... Nb6 15. Bxb4 axb4 16. Nxc4 Nxc4 17. Qxc4 Qa8 18. Rab1 Rc8 (18... Bxf3 $2 19. Bxf3 $18 Qxf3 20. Qxa6 Ne4 21. Qd3 Ng5 22. h4 $18) 19. Qe2 b3 $44) 12. e4 Be7 (12... h6 $11) 13. e5 Nd5 14. axb5 cxb5 $6 (14... Nb4 15. Qe4 cxb5 16. Rxa5 Nd5 {Both sides have their trumps, and the position looks challenging after, e.g. something like this:} 17. h4 Bb7 18. Qg4 Kh8 19. Ne4) 15. Nxd5 exd5 16. Bxa5 Nc6 17. Bxb6 Qxb6 $16 {Black has compensation for the exchange: an imposing queenside majority, the bishop pair, and a bit of pressure aginst d4. But without the "traditional" pawn thrown into the bargain, it doesn't seem to be enough.} 18. Ra8 h6 (18... Be6) 19. Rfa1 (19. Rxc8 Rxc8 20. Qf5 Rd8 21. e6 Bf6 22. exf7+ Kf8 23. Re1 Qa7 24. Re6 Qa1+ 25. Bf1 Ne7 26. Qf4 Kxf7 27. Re1 Qxb2 28. Qc7 Rf8 29. Re2 Qa1 30. Ne5+ Kg8 31. Nd7 Qxd4 32. Nxf8 Kxf8 33. Qb8+ Kf7 34. Qxb5 $18 {is a long, semi-nonsensical computer line. }) 19... Be6 $6 (19... b4 $142 20. Qd2 (20. Rxc8 Rxc8 21. Qf5 Rd8 22. e6 Bf6 23. exf7+ Kf8 24. Re1 Qa7 25. Re6 Qa1+ 26. Bf1 Ne7 27. Qf4 Kxf7 28. Re2 $16) 20... b3 21. h4 Nb4 22. Kh2 Nd3 $16) (19... Nxd4 $2 20. Nxd4 Qxd4 21. Rd1 Qxe5 22. Rxd5 Qe1+ 23. Bf1 $18) 20. Qd1 $18 b4 21. b3 $1 c3 {White's advantage has grown. This seems odd, as Black seems to have made progress on the queenside - the pawn on c3 is just two squares from promotion, and it's protected, too. What has White accomplished? There is an answer, of course, and it's this: stability. Black's queenside play and his pressure against d4 have come to an end. This will become obvious over the next few moves, and then White can start having his own fun.} 22. R8a6 Qc7 23. Ne1 f6 $2 {Trying to gain some counterplay before White finishes consolidating. Unfortunately for Shakh, it fails tactically.} (23... Rb8 24. Nc2 $18 {seals everything up - knights are great blockaders! - and now White will start going forward: h4, something going to d3 (either the queen or the bishop via f1), maybe Ne3, f4-f5, etc.}) 24. Nd3 $1 fxe5 25. Nxe5 Nxe5 26. Rxe6 {With the d-pawn dropping, White gains material and activity to boot.} c2 27. Qe1 1-0 [Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2022.01.25"] [Round "9.2"] [White "Rapport, Richard"] [Black "Vidit, Santosh"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A45"] [WhiteElo "2763"] [BlackElo "2727"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "117"] [EventDate "2022.01.14"] {[%evp 0,117,19,27,27,-13,-14,-3,-3,-40,4,-10,-18,-4,61,69,69,65,91,60,74,5,26, 22,9,45,40,63,62,55,49,52,37,61,57,60,53,8,14,-15,17,24,25,2,3,6,35,32,0,-43, -3,7,3,-26,36,29,36,29,35,35,23,25,24,22,22,22,31,22,34,29,40,45,44,44,72,78, 81,87,80,89,85,88,90,92,92,88,127,127,124,135,142,140,167,105,105,105,118,128, 133,133,133,131,133,131,131,131,131,131,131,131,131,131,131,120,131,123,131, 131,131,115] A win would keep Vidit within half a point of Carlsen, but as it turned out he was suffering almost from start to finish, and did well to make a draw.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 c5 4. c4 cxd4 5. Nf3 dxc4 6. Qxd4 Bd7 7. O-O e6 8. Nc3 Nc6 9. Qxc4 Rc8 10. Qf4 h6 11. Nb5 Nb4 12. Rd1 Nbd5 13. Nd6+ Bxd6 14. Qxd6 Bb5 15. Qxd8+ Rxd8 16. Nd4 Ba6 17. Bd2 O-O 18. a4 Rd7 19. Nb5 Rfd8 20. Be1 b6 21. Rdc1 Ne7 22. e4 Ng4 23. Bc3 Nc6 24. Bf1 Nge5 25. Be2 Bb7 26. Rd1 a6 27. Rxd7 Rxd7 28. Rd1 Rxd1+ 29. Bxd1 axb5 30. axb5 Ne7 31. Bxe5 Bxe4 32. Be2 f6 33. Bd4 Nd5 34. f3 Bc2 35. Bc4 Kf7 36. Kf2 h5 37. Ke2 Ke8 38. Kd2 Bf5 39. Bxd5 exd5 40. Kc3 Bh3 41. Bxb6 Bf1 42. Kb4 g6 43. Bd4 f5 44. f4 Kd7 45. Kc5 Kc7 46. Bf6 Bg2 47. Be7 d4 48. Kxd4 Kd7 49. Bh4 Ke6 50. Kc5 Kd7 51. Bf6 Bf3 52. Kb6 Bg2 53. Ka7 Kc8 54. Bc3 Bf3 55. Ba5 Bg2 56. Bb6 Bf3 57. Ka6 Bb7+ 58. Ka7 Bf3 59. Ka6 1/2-1/2 [Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2022.01.25"] [Round "9.3"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Shankland, Samuel"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A07"] [WhiteElo "2772"] [BlackElo "2708"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2022.01.14"] {[%evp 0,67,27,27,27,-18,14,13,21,17,10,15,9,8,21,13,34,38,20,-17,-15,-12,0,-2, 20,0,2,23,16,22,45,44,38,36,32,39,34,39,39,26,10,15,24,20,51,51,57,62,57,50, 101,101,144,137,188,182,191,177,177,203,194,248,262,306,339,304,315,318,361, 365]} 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. O-O e5 5. d3 Nc6 6. e4 dxe4 7. dxe4 Qxd1 8. Rxd1 Bg4 9. c3 {If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Giri has had Black here twice before, going -1. The position may look completely insipid, but the one fundamental asymmetry of White's pawn on c3 restricting Black's knight on c6 makes White's position a little easier. Maybe it shouldn't amount to anything, but in practice - as we'll see below - it's harder for Black to handle these positions than one might suspect.} Nf6 10. Nbd2 (10. h3 Bxf3 11. Bxf3 h5 12. Nd2 O-O-O 13. Re1 Bh6 14. Nc4 Bxc1 15. Raxc1 Rhe8 16. Kg2 Nb8 17. b4 Nbd7 18. Bd1 Nb6 19. Na5 Rd2 20. Bb3 Re7 21. c4 Nbd7 22. c5 Nb8 23. Nc4 Rd4 24. Nd6+ Kd7 25. Nxf7 Rxb4 26. Red1+ Kc6 27. a4 Rxf7 28. Bxf7 g5 29. Rd8 Nbd7 30. Bd5+ { 1-0 (30) Svidler,P (2723)-Giri,A (2764) chess24.com INT 2020}) 10... O-O-O 11. Re1 (11. h3 Bd7 12. Re1 Ne8 13. Nc4 Be6 14. Bf1 f6 15. Be3 Nd6 16. Nxd6+ Rxd6 17. b4 Kb8 18. Nd2 Nd8 19. Nb3 Nf7 20. Nc5 Bc8 21. h4 Bh6 22. f4 Rdd8 23. a4 Rhe8 24. a5 Nd6 25. Rad1 b6 26. axb6 cxb6 27. Na6+ Bxa6 28. Bxa6 Nxe4 29. Rxd8+ Rxd8 30. Bxb6 axb6 31. Rxe4 Re8 32. Bb5 Re7 33. fxe5 Rxe5 34. Rxe5 fxe5 35. Bc4 Bd2 36. Bg8 h6 37. c4 Bxb4 38. Bh7 g5 39. hxg5 hxg5 40. Kf2 Kc7 41. Kf3 Kd6 42. Ke4 Be1 43. g4 Bd2 44. Bg8 Bf4 45. Bf7 Kc5 46. Bg8 Kd6 {1/2-1/2 (46) Gelfand,B (2676)-Giri,A (2764) chess24.com INT 2020}) 11... Bh6 $146 ({Black had played} 11... h6 {in a couple of prior games, with no more success than Shankland had in the main game.} 12. Nc4 Nd7 (12... Rhe8 13. h3 Be6 14. Ncxe5 Nxe5 15. Nxe5 Nxe4 16. Rxe4 Rd1+ 17. Kh2 Bd5 18. Rd4 Rxc1 19. Rxc1 Bxg2 20. Kxg2 Rxe5 21. Rcd1 Bf6 22. Rf4 Re6 23. Rd3 Rb6 24. b4 Rc6 25. b5 Rb6 26. c4 a6 27. a4 axb5 28. axb5 Re6 29. Rdf3 Be7 30. Rxf7 b6 31. Re3 {1-0 (31) Hansen,E (2606) -Ivanisevic,I (2585) Chess.com INT 2021}) 13. Be3 Be6 14. Nfd2 Nb6 15. Nxb6+ axb6 16. Bf1 h5 17. h4 Bh6 18. Bxh6 Rxh6 19. Nc4 f6 20. b4 Rg8 21. Kh2 g5 22. hxg5 Rxg5 23. Bh3 Bxh3 24. Kxh3 h4 25. g4 Nd8 26. f3 Ne6 27. Red1 Rg8 28. Kh2 Ng5 29. Rd3 Rhh8 30. Rad1 Rd8 31. Rxd8+ Rxd8 32. Rxd8+ Kxd8 33. Nd2 b5 34. Kg2 Kd7 35. Kh2 Kd6 36. Kg2 c5 37. a3 Kc6 38. Kh2 c4 39. Kg2 Kd7 40. Nf1 Ke6 41. Ne3 h3+ 42. Kg3 h2 43. Kxh2 Nxf3+ 44. Kg2 Nd2 45. Nd5 Nxe4 46. Nc7+ Kd6 47. Nxb5+ Kc6 48. a4 Nd2 49. Kf2 Nb1 50. Ke2 e4 51. Kd1 Kd5 52. Ke2 Kc6 53. Kf2 Kd5 54. Ke3 Ke5 55. a5 Kd5 56. Kf4 Kc6 57. Nd4+ Kd5 58. Ne2 Nd2 59. Ng3 Ke6 60. Nxe4 Nb1 61. b5 Na3 62. b6 Kd5 {1-0 (62) Santos Latasa,J (2639)-Gumularz,S (2539) Warsaw 2021}) 12. Nc4 Bxc1 13. Raxc1 Bxf3 14. Bxf3 $14 Ne8 (14... b5 $142 15. Ne3 Rd2) 15. Rcd1 (15. Ne3) 15... Nd6 16. Bg4+ Kb8 17. Nxd6 Rxd6 18. Rxd6 cxd6 {White's advantage remains small, but it's still there, as the bishop is the better minor piece.} 19. Re3 $1 Kc7 20. Rf3 $1 {This is a very unusual rook lift, and a brilliant one. Most of us are very used to seeing rooks go to the third rank as part of an attack on the enemy king, but here it lifts to attack an easily defended pawn. What's the point? The answer is that there's no really convenient way to defend the f-pawn. White isn't going to win it, but however Black defends it will make his position awkward in this way or that.} Nd8 (20... Rf8 $143 21. Be6 Nd8 22. Bd5 {is obviously very nice for White, whose bishop is clearly the superior minor piece. Incidentally, White's rook may be called on for an encore - c4 and Rb3/Ra3 and g4 followed by Rh3 are among the ideas lurking in the position.}) 21. h4 d5 $1 (21... Rf8 22. Rf6 {leaves Black paralyzed.}) 22. exd5 f5 23. Bh3 Kd6 (23... Nf7 $142 $1 $14) 24. c4 b6 $2 (24... Nf7 $1 25. g4 (25. Ra3 $142 $16) 25... e4 26. Ra3 (26. Rb3 fxg4 27. Bxg4 Ne5 28. Be2 Rc8 $1 29. Rxb7 Nxc4 $11) 26... Ne5 27. Rxa7 Nf3+ 28. Kg2 Rb8 $11 {Surprisingly, Black has full compensation for the two pawns.}) 25. g4 $1 $18 Nf7 (25... e4 26. Ra3 $18 {Here (compare 24...Nf7) Black has no counterplay, so White's material advantage (and threats) will win the game.}) 26. gxf5 g5 27. Ra3 gxh4 28. Rxa7 Ng5 29. Kg2 Rc8 30. b3 b5 31. Ra6+ Kd7 32. f6+ Nxh3 33. Kxh3 bxc4 34. Rc6 $1 {A nice finishing touch.} (34. Rc6 $1 Ra8 ( 34... Rxc6 35. dxc6+ Kxc6 36. f7 $18) 35. bxc4 Rxa2 36. Kxh4 Rxf2 37. Re6 $18) 1-0 [Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2022.01.25"] [Round "9.4"] [White "Duda, Jan Krzysztof"] [Black "Esipenko, Andrey"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E00"] [WhiteElo "2760"] [BlackElo "2714"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2022.01.14"] {[%evp 0,85,36,27,27,-3,-3,-56,-18,-3,31,20,10,18,20,-23,-18,-48,-31,-36,-28, -32,-12,-4,-3,-5,1,-58,29,14,46,43,41,8,5,33,27,45,56,67,75,67,109,100,113,108, 85,42,62,31,36,0,23,15,153,77,75,94,83,83,83,109,107,70,74,86,90,100,63,59,63, 51,38,41,53,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,4,0]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Bf4 $1 Bb4+ (3... d5) 4. Nd2 Nc6 $5 5. a3 Bxd2+ 6. Qxd2 d6 $146 7. O-O-O Qe7 8. e3 e5 9. Bg5 h6 10. Bh4 g5 11. Bg3 Ne4 12. Qe1 exd4 13. exd4 Nxg3 14. hxg3 Bf5 15. Nf3 O-O-O ( 15... Bg4 $14) 16. d5 $14 {/+/-} Ne5 17. c5 $5 Kb8 $2 (17... g4 $1) 18. c6 $18 Bc8 19. Nd4 b6 20. f3 Rhe8 21. Qc3 (21. Qb4 $142) 21... Ng6 $1 22. Bc4 (22. Rxh6 $18) 22... Qe5 23. Ne2 $6 (23. g4) 23... Rh8 24. Rd4 (24. Nd4 $142) 24... Rde8 25. a4 a6 26. Qd3 $2 (26. Re4 Qxc3+ 27. Nxc3 $16) 26... Ka7 $2 (26... Qg7 $1 $11) 27. a5 $18 Qe3+ 28. Qxe3 Rxe3 29. Kd2 Re7 30. axb6+ Kxb6 31. b4 $6 (31. Ba2 $142 $18) (31. Ra1 $142 $18) 31... Ne5 32. Bb3 (32. Nc3 $142) 32... h5 $16 33. Bc2 (33. Nc3 $142) 33... f5 $14 34. Nc3 h4 35. gxh4 Reh7 36. Ne2 Ng6 (36... Rxh4 $11) 37. g3 (37. Rg1) 37... gxh4 $11 38. gxh4 Nxh4 39. Rf1 Ng6 40. Rf2 Ne5 41. Rf4 Ng6 (41... Rh1) 42. Rd4 Ne5 43. Rf4 1/2-1/2 [Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2022.01.25"] [Round "9.5"] [White "Van Foreest, Jorden"] [Black "Dubov, Daniil"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C90"] [WhiteElo "2702"] [BlackElo "2720"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "68"] [EventDate "2022.01.14"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. d3 d6 9. c3 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. Nbd2 Nc6 12. h3 Re8 13. a4 b4 14. Nc4 a5 15. Bb3 Rb8 16. Ne3 Be6 17. Nd5 h6 18. Bc4 Bf8 19. Nh2 Nd7 20. Ng4 Ne7 21. Nge3 Bxd5 22. Nxd5 Nxd5 23. Bxd5 bxc3 24. bxc3 Nb6 25. Bc6 Re6 26. Rb1 Qc8 27. Bb5 Rg6 28. Kh2 $6 (28. Qf3 $16 {/+-}) (28. Kh1 $16 {/+-}) 28... d5 29. Bd2 dxe4 30. dxe4 (30. Rxe4 $142 $16) 30... c4 $14 {/+/-} 31. Qe2 Bc5 32. Red1 Qc7 33. Be3 $6 (33. Be1 $14 {/+/-}) 33... Bxe3 34. Qxe3 Rd8 $11 1/2-1/2 [Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2022.01.25"] [Round "9.6"] [White "Praggnanandhaa, Rameshbabu"] [Black "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D02"] [WhiteElo "2612"] [BlackElo "2743"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "106"] [EventDate "2022.01.14"] {[%evp 0,106,27,27,19,26,13,18,24,32,69,-11,16,-12,15,17,48,29,36,49,45,28,16, 1,25,27,18,0,0,-32,24,-40,-45,-54,-35,-110,-107,-91,-50,-104,-24,-24,-9,-43, -40,-78,-73,-58,-58,-56,-56,-56,-48,-58,-53,-70,-68,-68,-68,-68,-68,-68,-68, -68,-58,-76,-83,-92,-8,-37,-21,-12,-8,-14,0,0,177,157,130,105,97,82,82,82,0, -108,-108,-135,-118,-139,-139,-118,-138,-149,-173,-188,-191,-196,-186,-186, -186,-149,-200,-255,-280,-426,-473,-473,-507]} 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 c5 4. e3 Nc6 5. Nbd2 Nh5 6. dxc5 Nxf4 7. exf4 g6 8. c3 Bg7 9. Bb5 Qc7 10. Nb3 a6 11. Bxc6+ bxc6 12. Qd2 O-O 13. h4 Bg4 14. h5 a5 15. Nbd4 Bxh5 16. Rxh5 gxh5 17. Qe3 a4 18. O-O-O e6 19. Rh1 Rfb8 20. Ne5 Qb7 21. Nd3 Qa6 22. a3 Qc4 23. Rxh5 Bxd4 24. Qxd4 Qxd4 25. cxd4 f6 26. Kc2 Rb3 27. g4 Rab8 28. Rh3 Kg7 29. Re3 Kf7 30. Rh3 Kg6 31. Re3 Kf7 32. Rh3 Kg6 33. Re3 h5 34. gxh5+ Kf5 35. Nb4 Rxe3 36. fxe3 Ke4 37. Nxc6 Rc8 38. Na7 Ra8 39. Nb5 Kxe3 {The critical moment of what has already been an eventful game. White has several moves that maintain the balance, but on the final move of the time control he probably didn't have enough time to work everything out, and had to guess. Alas, he guessed wrong.} 40. c6 $2 (40. Nc7 {is the simplest and most intuitive.} Rc8 41. Nxe6 Rc6 42. f5 Ke4 43. h6 Kxf5 44. h7 Rc8 45. Nc7 Rh8 $8 (45... Ke4 {may be tempting, but it's a blunder.} 46. c6 $1 Kxd4 47. Nb5+ $1 Ke5 48. Kd3 Ke6 49. Na7 Rh8 50. c7 $18) 46. Kc3 Rxh7 47. Nxd5 Ke6 $8 48. Nf4+ Kd7 49. d5 $11) (40. b4 axb3+ 41. Kxb3 Kxf4 42. h6 $8 $11) 40... e5 $19 ({The immediate} 40... Rc8 {is even better.} 41. c7 e5 42. fxe5 fxe5 43. dxe5 d4 44. Kd1 Rg8 $1 $19) 41. dxe5 $2 ( 41. fxe5 $142 Rc8 $1 (41... fxe5 $2 42. Nc7 Rc8 43. Nxd5+ Kxd4 44. Nb4 e4 45. Kd2 $11)) 41... Rc8 $1 42. Kd1 Rxc6 43. Nd6 fxe5 44. fxe5 Kd3 $1 45. Ke1 (45. h6 Rc2) 45... Rc7 46. Kf2 Re7 47. Kg3 Rxe5 48. Kg4 Re6 (48... Kc2) 49. Nf5 Ke4 50. Ng3+ Ke5 51. Kg5 Re8 52. h6 Rg8+ 53. Kh4 Rg6 $1 {A nice finishing touch. White cannot save the pawn (unless he prefers to lose the knight).} (53... Rg6 $1 54. h7 (54. Kh5 Rxg3 55. h7 Rh3+ $19) 54... Rh6+ $19) 0-1 [Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2022.01.25"] [Round "9.7"] [White "Grandelius, Nils"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C02"] [WhiteElo "2672"] [BlackElo "2792"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "88"] [EventDate "2022.01.14"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Bd7 6. Be2 Nge7 7. O-O Ng6 8. Be3 Be7 9. Nbd2 O-O 10. Re1 a5 11. a3 a4 12. Bd3 cxd4 13. cxd4 h6 14. Qe2 b5 15. g3 Qb6 16. h4 Rfc8 17. Nf1 b4 18. N1h2 Rab8 19. h5 Nf8 20. Ng4 bxa3 21. bxa3 Qb2 22. Nd2 Kh8 23. Qf3 Be8 24. Nf6 Nxd4 25. Qg4 Nf5 26. Nxe8 Rxe8 27. Bxf5 exf5 28. Qxf5 d4 29. Bf4 Ne6 30. Ne4 Nxf4 31. Qxf4 d3 {Black is better, but if White plays correctly he's still in the game.} 32. Rad1 $2 (32. Nd6 $1 { Both for the sake of counterplay and to protect the a-pawn.} Bxd6 33. exd6 d2 34. Red1 Re2 (34... Qxa1 35. Rxa1 Re1+ {looks scary for a moment, but it isn't checkers - White doesn't have to capture the rook.} 36. Kg2 d1=Q 37. Rxd1 Rxd1 38. Qxf7 Rxd6 39. Qa7 $11) 35. Kg2 Rbe8 36. Rab1 Qc3 37. Qxf7 Qc6+ 38. Kh3 $1 Qxd6 39. Rb7 {gives White enough counterplay to keep the balance.} Qe6+ { is one possibility. This ends White's counterplay, and while he'll lose his d-pawn, he will reach a pawn-up rook ending.} 40. Qxe6 R8xe6 41. Rd7 Rxf2 42. R1xd2 Rxd2 43. Rxd2 Re3 {The a-pawn is a goner, but the resulting ending is a basic draw.} 44. Rd8+ Kh7 45. Ra8 Rxa3 46. Kg4 $11) 32... Bxa3 $19 33. Nd6 (33. Rxd3 Bb4 34. Red1 Qxe5 $19 {Black's a-pawn will decide the game in his favor.}) 33... Bxd6 34. exd6 Rxe1+ 35. Rxe1 Qc3 36. Rd1 Qc2 37. Qd2 a3 38. d7 a2 39. Qe1 Qe2 40. Kg2 Kh7 41. Qxe2 dxe2 42. Ra1 Rd8 43. Kf3 Rxd7 44. Kxe2 Ra7 {Unlike the rook ending at the tail-end of the variation starting with 32.Nd6, this endgame with an extra a-pawn is winning. White's rook is terribly passive, and Black's king can get activated. If White's king runs to the queenside, Black's king will ransack the kingside. If White's king tries instead to shut out the Black king, the Black rook will push the White king back. Black's king will break through on one flank or another.} (44... Ra7 45. Kd3 g6 46. hxg6+ fxg6 ( 46... Kxg6 {also wins.}) 47. Ke4 Kg7 48. Ke5 Kf7 49. g4 Ra4 50. f3 Ra3 51. Ke4 Kf6 52. f4 Ra4+ 53. Ke3 (53. Kd5 Rxf4 54. Rxa2 Rxg4 $19) 53... h5 54. gxh5 gxh5 55. Kf3 Kf5 56. Kg3 Ra3+ 57. Kh4 Kxf4 58. Kxh5 Ke3 {The king is headed to b2.}) 0-1 [Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2022.01.26"] [Round "10.1"] [White "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C67"] [WhiteElo "2743"] [BlackElo "2865"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "32"] [EventDate "2022.01.14"] {[%evp 0,32,29,16,23,28,11,10,22,16,35,37,36,36,36,2,35,19,19,22,32,23,30,35, 34,7,10,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6. Nxe5 Be7 7. Bf1 Nf5 8. c3 Nxe5 9. Rxe5 d6 10. Re1 O-O 11. d4 d5 12. Bf4 Bd6 13. Qf3 Nh4 14. Qg3 Nf5 15. Qf3 Nh4 16. Qg3 Nf5 {This has all happened before. It's not crazy for Carlsen to go for this, but why Karjakin? His tournament standing was pretty good, and he was coming off a win in the previous round. It's good to be king, as they say.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2022.01.26"] [Round "10.2"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Duda, Jan Krzysztof"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A18"] [WhiteElo "2772"] [BlackElo "2760"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "76"] [EventDate "2022.01.14"] {[%evp 0,76,29,-27,12,-35,9,3,3,18,39,23,23,25,50,49,46,32,24,38,46,41,29,48, 48,45,45,-9,-36,-2,-1,5,3,16,5,6,-6,-26,5,-26,0,-35,-45,-49,-47,-55,-43,-110, -107,-92,-94,-14,-47,-47,-39,-45,-11,4,4,4,37,26,40,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0, 0,0,0] After four wins in a row and with the white pieces against an out-of-form Duda, Giri started the round with grounds for optimism: one more win and he'd catch Carlsen in first. Not today. Duda was well-prepared, and came out of the opening as the only player who might have winning chances.} 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e6 3. e4 d5 4. e5 d4 5. exf6 dxc3 6. bxc3 Qxf6 7. Nf3 c5 8. Bd3 Bd7 9. Be4 Bc6 10. Qc2 Bxe4 11. Qxe4 Nc6 12. Rb1 O-O-O 13. d4 Qg6 14. Qxg6 hxg6 15. Be3 f6 16. Ke2 g5 17. h3 Be7 18. dxc5 e5 19. Rbd1 Na5 20. Nd2 Rd7 21. Rb1 f5 22. f3 Rhd8 23. Rb2 Rd3 24. Rc2 Bf6 25. g4 g6 26. gxf5 gxf5 27. Rg1 e4 28. Bxg5 Bxg5 29. Rxg5 e3 30. Nb3 Nxc4 31. f4 Na3 32. Rc1 Nb5 33. Nd4 Rxc3 34. Rxc3 Nxc3+ 35. Kxe3 Nd1+ 36. Kd3 Nb2+ 37. Kc3 Nd1+ 38. Kc4 Nb2+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2022.01.26"] [Round "10.3"] [White "Shankland, Samuel"] [Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E04"] [WhiteElo "2708"] [BlackElo "2767"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "58"] [EventDate "2022.01.14"] {[%evp 0,58,29,29,29,12,12,12,12,-14,-11,-19,-14,11,38,31,55,19,-5,29,10,4,9,6, 6,1,6,6,-8,-7,-3,-7,0,-13,-5,10,16,20,34,15,31,34,24,36,43,28,49,-1,10,33,0,11, 21,24,15,7,25,11,52,2,48]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 a5 7. a3 (7. Qc2) 7... Bxd2+ 8. Nbxd2 b5 9. b3 c3 {Rare, and a new move at the GM level.} (9... cxb3 {is far more common.} 10. Qxb3 c6 11. O-O O-O 12. Rfc1 Bb7 13. Qb2 Nbd7 14. Ne1 {is standard, and here there's no consensus as to Black's best move.}) 10. Nb1 Bb7 (10... b4 $2 {would be winning, permanently incarcerating the knight on b1, were it not for the loose rook on a8.} 11. axb4 $18) 11. Nxc3 b4 12. Na4 Nbd7 13. O-O O-O 14. Qc2 $14 Be4 15. Qb2 Qb8 16. Rfc1 Qb7 17. Ne1 Bxg2 18. Nxg2 Rfe8 19. Nf4 (19. axb4 $142 axb4 20. Nf4 $14 {/+/-}) 19... bxa3 20. Rxa3 e5 21. dxe5 Rxe5 22. Nd3 Re7 23. Nc3 $6 { After this slow move, Black equalizes.} (23. Rca1 $142) 23... Ne5 24. Nxe5 Rxe5 25. Rca1 h5 26. Ra4 Qb6 27. Rc4 Rae8 28. Rd1 Qe6 29. Qc2 Qh3 1/2-1/2 [Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2022.01.26"] [Round "10.4"] [White "Vidit, Santosh"] [Black "Praggnanandhaa, Rameshbabu"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E32"] [WhiteElo "2727"] [BlackElo "2612"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "156"] [EventDate "2022.01.14"] {[%evp 0,156,29,29,29,12,12,15,11,-15,-4,1,-10,-7,-6,6,10,48,65,-30,2,13,-6, -58,-58,0,-26,-53,-26,-23,-24,-24,84,2,19,-13,67,23,49,22,-6,17,0,17,6,15,9,0, 8,0,0,13,16,8,3,33,18,35,57,18,57,39,55,0,37,23,23,-138,-16,-10,-10,-150,-147, -219,-48,-69,0,-41,-38,-41,-65,-19,-24,-56,-42,-98,-136,-88,-93,-129,-118,-118, -88,-98,-129,-142,-146,-134,-152,-148,-120,-118,-133,-148,-120,-128,-119,-152, -115,-115,-118,-118,-123,-125,-125,-125,-132,-135,-114,-114,-121,-132,-91,-95, -97,-103,-87,-91,-80,-80,-91,-77,-78,-75,-76,-91,-75,-91,-76,-79,-75,-89,-79, -89,-75,-79,-75,-79,-89,-89,-83,-89,-89,-87,-87,-98,-83,-101,-98]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 O-O 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 d5 7. Bg5 c5 8. dxc5 d4 9. Qf3 Nbd7 10. e3 h6 11. Bxf6 Nxf6 12. O-O-O e5 13. Ne2 d3 14. Nc3 Bg4 15. Rxd3 Qa5 16. Qg3 Qxc5 17. Rd2 Be6 18. b4 Qc8 19. Qxe5 Bxc4 20. Kb2 a5 21. b5 Bxf1 22. Rxf1 Qc4 23. Rc1 a4 {The first part of the game has gone well for Vidit. He has an extra pawn and active pieces, and while there's a lot of air around his king there isn't too much danger yet. Once he protects the a-pawn, all Black has is a single check on b3. If he finds the right way to defend a3, he's in great shape.} 24. Nb1 $2 (24. Qe7 $16 {The queen will come back to b4 at its earliest opportunity, and Black's attack will be at an end.}) 24... Qb3+ 25. Ka1 Rac8 26. Rxc8 Rxc8 $44 27. Qf5 Qc4 28. Rd4 Qc7 $2 (28... Qc1) 29. g3 $2 ( 29. Rxa4) 29... b6 $2 (29... Qc1) 30. Rxa4 Nd7 31. Re4 $2 (31. Rd4 Nf8 { Undesirable, but best.} 32. Rd1 g6 33. Qd3 $16 {/+- is nice and safe.}) 31... g6 $1 32. Qf4 Qc5 $1 33. Qxh6 $4 (33. Rb4 Qc1 34. Qd4 Nc5 35. Qd2 $14) 33... Qxb5 $1 $19 {Maybe Vidit thought this was impossible due to 34.Rh4, but that would only make things worse.} 34. a4 (34. Rh4 $2 Qe5+ 35. Ka2 Rc2+ 36. Kb3 Qb2+ 37. Ka4 Nc5#) 34... Qc6 $1 35. Qf4 (35. Rh4 Qf6+) 35... Nc5 {Black's h-pawn was of no significance, but the further weakening of White's queenside should prove fatal. Black's play the rest of the way wasn't perfect, but he was better throughout and finally converted his advantage deep in the endgame.} 36. Rc4 Rd8 37. Rc2 Qh1 38. Qb4 Nxa4 39. Rd2 Rc8 40. Qe7 Qa8 41. Ra2 b5 42. Qb4 Qh1 43. Ra3 Qxh2 44. Qd2 Qh5 45. f4 Qf5 46. Qd3 Qf6+ 47. Qd4 Qe7 48. Rb3 Ra8 49. Ra3 Rd8 50. Qe5 Qxe5+ 51. fxe5 Re8 52. Rb3 Rxe5 53. Na3 Nc5 54. Rxb5 Rxe3 55. Nc4 Re1+ 56. Kb2 Ne4 57. g4 Re2+ 58. Kc1 Nf2 59. g5 Kg7 60. Nd2 Re8 61. Kb2 Rc8 62. Rd5 Nd1+ 63. Ka3 Ne3 64. Rd3 Nc4+ 65. Kb4 Nxd2 66. Rxd2 Rc1 67. Ra2 Kg8 68. Ra8+ Kh7 69. Ra2 Kg7 70. Ra5 Kf8 71. Ra7 Ke8 72. Ra5 Kd7 73. Ra6 Ke7 74. Ra2 Ke6 75. Ra5 Rf1 76. Ra6+ Ke5 77. Ra5+ Kf4 78. Kc3 Kg4 0-1 [Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2022.01.26"] [Round "10.5"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Rapport, Richard"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A19"] [WhiteElo "2792"] [BlackElo "2763"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "84"] [EventDate "2022.01.14"] 1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. e4 c5 4. e5 Ng8 5. d4 (5. Nf3 Nc6 6. d4 cxd4 7. Nxd4 Nxe5 8. Ndb5 {is the start of the traditional main line of this gambit, and now Black generally chooses either 8...a6 (the top move) or 8...f6.}) 5... cxd4 6. Qxd4 Nc6 7. Qf4 (7. Qe4 {is more common, but not necessarily better.} d6 8. Nf3 dxe5 9. Nxe5 Bd7 10. Nxd7 Qxd7 $11) 7... d6 8. Nf3 Nh6 9. exd6 $146 (9. Bd2 dxe5 10. Nxe5 Bd6 11. Nxc6 Bxf4 12. Nxd8 Bxd2+ 13. Kxd2 Kxd8 14. Bd3 $11 { /+/= 1-0 (84) Dubov,D (2710)-Pichot,A (2630) chess24.com INT 2021}) 9... Bxd6 10. Qg5 (10. Qe4) 10... Qxg5 11. Bxg5 f5 (11... Nf5 $11) (11... Bb4 $5) 12. O-O-O $14 Bc5 13. Ne5 (13. Bxh6 $142 gxh6 14. Rd2) 13... Nf7 14. Nxc6 bxc6 15. Be3 Bxe3+ 16. fxe3 Ke7 $11 17. Be2 (17. Na4) 17... g5 18. Na4 h5 19. Nc5 h4 20. g4 Ne5 21. Rd4 $2 (21. Rhg1 $11) 21... Nxg4 22. Bxg4 e5 $19 {A simple refutation, and an incredible oversight for a player of Caruana's level. Some days, things just don't work.} 23. Rd2 fxg4 24. Nd3 Rh6 $2 (24... Bf5 $1 25. Nxe5 Ke6 26. Nxc6 (26. Nd3 $2 Bxd3 27. Rxd3 Raf8 $18) 26... Be4 27. Nd4+ Ke5 28. Rg1 g3 29. hxg3 h3 30. Rh2 g4 $19 {The passed h-pawn and the powerhouse bishop on e4 more than make up for White's two extra pawns.}) 25. Nxe5 Re6 26. Nxg4 Re4 27. Nf2 Rxc4+ 28. Rc2 Rxc2+ 29. Kxc2 Be6 $17 30. Rg1 Rf8 31. Nd3 g4 32. Nf4 Bf5+ 33. Kd2 $6 Rd8+ 34. Ke2 $2 (34. Kc3) 34... Kf6 $17 35. b3 $2 (35. b4) 35... a5 $19 36. Ke1 Ke5 37. Ng2 Rh8 38. Nf4 g3 39. Rg2 (39. hxg3 h3 $19) 39... Be4 40. Rd2 h3 41. a3 Rd8 $1 42. Rb2 Bf3 $1 (42... Bf3 $1 43. hxg3 Rd1+ 44. Kf2 h2 $19) 0-1 [Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2022.01.26"] [Round "10.6"] [White "Esipenko, Andrey"] [Black "Van Foreest, Jorden"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "2714"] [BlackElo "2702"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "119"] [EventDate "2022.01.14"] {[%evp 0,119,29,16,23,20,12,11,11,11,11,11,22,17,27,10,6,-27,27,21,34,25,16,0, 2,4,13,9,16,14,19,16,51,23,49,16,16,16,67,49,44,55,52,49,49,40,49,44,53,54,66, 40,33,43,47,47,59,57,137,115,110,111,111,94,106,71,101,101,106,102,102,98,105, 69,97,65,56,69,103,98,99,110,110,112,116,140,104,106,106,105,200,206,200,200, 200,203,174,195,195,152,155,160,210,206,208,220,224,208,224,221,253,219,224, 228,236,211,224,214,387,243,265,248]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Nc3 h6 {A true Scholastic Giuoco Piano. Those of you who work with kids will have seen this position or something very much like it once or twice, or two or three hundred, or three or four thousand times. On to the next game.} 6. Be3 Bb6 7. Nd5 d6 8. h3 Bxe3 9. fxe3 Na5 10. Nxf6+ Qxf6 11. Bb3 Nxb3 12. axb3 O-O 13. O-O Qe7 14. Qe1 f5 15. exf5 Rxf5 16. Qb4 c5 17. Qe4 Be6 18. Nh4 Rg5 19. Qf3 a6 20. e4 Rd8 21. Rf2 Kh7 22. Kh2 Qc7 23. Qe2 a5 24. Raf1 b5 25. Rf8 a4 26. bxa4 bxa4 27. c4 Qe7 28. Qf3 Bg8 29. Rxd8 Qxd8 30. Qf8 Qa5 31. Rf2 Be6 32. Re2 a3 33. bxa3 Qxa3 34. Qxd6 Bxc4 35. dxc4 Qg3+ 36. Kh1 Qxh4 37. Qxc5 Qf4 38. Qe3 Qf1+ 39. Kh2 Rg6 40. c5 Rc6 41. Rc2 Qd1 42. Qf2 Qd3 43. Qf5+ Rg6 44. Rf2 Qc3 45. Rf3 Qxc5 46. h4 h5 47. Rg3 Qd6 48. Rg5 Qc6 49. g3 Qa6 50. Kh3 Qc6 51. Rxh5+ Kg8 52. Qxe5 Rd6 53. Qc5 Qd7+ 54. Qf5 Re6 55. Qd5 Qxd5 56. exd5 Re4 57. Rg5 Rd4 58. h5 Rd3 59. Kh4 Kf7 60. Rf5+ 1-0 [Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2022.01.26"] [Round "10.7"] [White "Dubov, Daniil"] [Black "Grandelius, Nils"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B52"] [WhiteElo "2720"] [BlackElo "2672"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "164"] [EventDate "2022.01.14"] {[%evp 0,164,29,29,50,46,77,48,55,36,41,-13,3,-35,-8,-13,4,11,8,24,38,34,35,33, 20,-1,0,-6,-6,-15,0,-10,-5,-4,-6,-9,-10,-4,-13,-6,-5,-33,-40,-40,-51,-70,-69, -84,-84,-84,-84,-84,-78,-84,-51,-131,-120,-153,-92,-85,-85,-85,-85,-85,-88,-88, -83,-83,-95,-92,-92,-92,-114,-129,-70,-69,-75,-77,-74,-70,-70,-84,-84,-69,-77, -62,-60,-86,-26,-110,-117,-89,-88,-158,-180,-164,-181,-172,-103,-152,-131,-138, -151,-151,-169,-166,-188,-179,-44,-43,-43,-47,-43,-41,-59,-187,-163,-159,-147, -174,-181,-170,-179,-181,-130,-106,-150,-161,-164,-163,-156,-175,-175,-175, -122,-141,-85,-102,-95,-102,-49,-56,-56,-56,-39,-38,-38,-38,-38,-38,-37,-31, -38,-267,-317,-321,-324,-330,-338,-364,-353,-372,-371,-385,-358,-529,-971]} 1. Nf3 c5 2. e4 d6 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Bxd7+ Nxd7 5. c3 Ngf6 6. Qe2 e6 7. d4 cxd4 8. cxd4 d5 9. e5 Bb4+ 10. Bd2 Bxd2+ 11. Nbxd2 Ng8 12. O-O-O Ne7 13. Kb1 Nc6 14. h4 Qb6 15. Qe3 Rc8 16. h5 h6 17. g4 Qb5 18. Rc1 O-O 19. a3 Ne7 20. Nh4 Nb6 21. Ka2 Nc4 22. Qb3 Qa6 23. Nhf3 Rc6 24. Qd3 Qb5 25. Qb3 Qa6 26. Qd3 Rfc8 27. Rc3 Nxd2 28. Qxd2 Rxc3 29. bxc3 Qc4+ 30. Kb2 Qb5+ 31. Ka2 Qc4+ 32. Kb2 Rc6 33. Qc2 Rb6+ 34. Kc1 Ra6 35. Kb2 Rb6+ 36. Kc1 Qb3 37. Qxb3 Rxb3 38. Kc2 Rxa3 39. Kb2 Ra4 40. Nd2 Nc6 41. Nb3 b5 42. Rc1 Na5 {In the first time control, Dubov was worse-to-losing from shortly after the opening. Somehow, he has managed to survive, and for the first time in a very long time, enjoys equal chances. Unfortunately for Dubov, whose tournament came to an end after this game due to COVID, he loses the game for a second time.} 43. Nd2 $2 (43. Nxa5 $1 Rxa5 44. f4 $11 {White's huge space advantage on the kingside assures him of equal chances. (Useful factoid: the kingside pawn structure wins for White if no pieces are around. Imagine the rooks have been traded and Black's king is on a5. Then: White plays 1.g5. If Black takes, then White recaptures and plays 3. h6, promoting on h8. If Black leaves things alone over there (e.g. with 1...b4) White plays 2.f5!!, threatening 3.f6, and wins. If Black replies to 2.f5 with 2...hxg5, then 3.f6 guarantees that White will queen on the h- or g-file. If 2. ..exf5, then 3.g6 guarantees promotion on the e- or f-file.)}) (43. Nc5 { isn't as good as trading knights, but it should keep the game within drawing margins.}) 43... b4 (43... Kh7) 44. cxb4 $4 (44. c4 $17) 44... Rxb4+ 45. Kc3 Nc6 $19 {Just like that, White is lost. Defending the d-pawn allows Black to trade rooks, resulting in an easily won knight ending. White finds the best try, but it's not good enough. (Or shouldn't have been.)} 46. Kd3 Nxd4 47. Rc8+ Kh7 48. Rc7 a5 49. Rxf7 Nc6 50. f4 a4 51. Rc7 Rb6 52. Rc8 a3 53. Ra8 Nb4+ $2 ( 53... a2 $142 $1 54. Kc3 Rb4 $1 $19 {is best, giving up the a-pawn for White's kingside.}) 54. Kc3 Na6 55. Nb3 a2 56. Na1 Rb1 $2 (56... Rc6+ 57. Kd2 Nb4 $19) 57. Nc2 $2 (57. Rxa6 Rxa1 58. Kb2 Rf1 59. Kxa2 Rxf4 60. Rxe6 Rxg4 61. Kb3 { is a draw.}) 57... a1=Q+ 58. Nxa1 Rxa1 59. f5 exf5 60. gxf5 {Dubov may have thought that the pin would force Black to give up the knight to deal with the e- and f-pawns. Unfortunately for him, Black ends up winning too many pawns in that case, and the resulting rook ending is still a win for him.} Rc1+ 61. Kd2 Rf1 62. f6 (62. Rxa6 Rxf5 63. e6 Rxh5 64. e7 Re5 65. Rd6 (65. Ra7 Kg6 66. Kd3 Kf6 $19) 65... Rxe7 66. Rxd5 g5 $19) 62... Nc5 63. Ra7 Kg8 64. Rxg7+ Kf8 65. Rc7 Ne6 66. Rb7 Ng5 67. Ke3 Rf5 $4 {Dubov gets yet another chance!} 68. Rb8+ Kf7 69. Rb7+ Kf8 70. Rb8+ Kf7 71. Rb7+ Ke8 72. Re7+ $1 Kf8 73. Kd4 $1 Nf7 74. Kxd5 Rxh5 75. Ke4 $1 Rg5 76. Kf4 $2 {Losing - the board turns out to be just big enough for Black.} Nh8 $1 {It's not every day one sees a knight using the h8 square. Here, it's the only way for Black to win.} 77. Ke4 Ng6 $8 78. Rh7 Rxe5+ $8 79. Kd4 h5 $8 80. Rg7 Rg5 $8 81. Rh7 Ne5 82. Rg7 Nf7 {Forcing the trade of rooks (83.Rh7 Kg8), so the game finally comes to an end.} 0-1 [Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2022.01.28"] [Round "11.1"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "2865"] [BlackElo "2727"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "102"] [EventDate "2022.01.15"] {[%evp 0,102,29,16,18,10,10,11,11,11,11,11,31,22,20,9,16,1,19,15,11,6,15,8,8,7, 3,0,8,14,10,7,6,10,12,-9,-16,-31,9,-20,-9,0,0,0,0,0,13,20,22,11,11,16,3,22,29, 29,33,24,38,34,32,31,25,15,16,0,0,0,0,0,65,65,6,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,2,9,0,78,0,0,0, 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d3 Nc6 4. Nf3 Bc5 5. Nc3 h6 6. h3 a6 7. a4 d6 8. Be3 Bxe3 9. fxe3 Be6 10. b3 O-O 11. O-O d5 12. exd5 Nxd5 13. Qd2 Nxc3 14. Qxc3 Qd6 15. Nd2 f5 16. Bxe6+ Qxe6 17. Qc4 Qxc4 18. bxc4 e4 19. d4 f4 20. Rxf4 Rxf4 21. exf4 Nxd4 22. Nxe4 Ne2+ 23. Kf2 Nxf4 24. Rb1 b6 {So far, everything has gone smoothly for Vidit, who has maintained equality from the first to the last. It's one thing to obtain equality against Carlsen, however, and another thing altogether to keep it.} 25. c5 Rf8 (25... b5 $1 26. axb5 axb5 27. Rxb5 Ra4 $11) (25... Nd5 $1 26. c4 Rf8+ 27. Kg3 Ne3 28. cxb6 cxb6 29. Rxb6 Nf1+ 30. Kg4 $8 Ne3+ $11) 26. cxb6 cxb6 27. c4 Nd5+ 28. Ke2 Re8 $2 ( 28... Nf4+ $142 29. Ke3 Nxg2+ 30. Kd4 Rd8+ 31. Kc3 Re8 32. Nd6 Re3+ 33. Kd4 Ra3 34. Rxb6 Rxa4 {is still equal, but the degree of difficulty has gone up. White's pieces are more active and better coordinated than their counterparts, and the c-pawn is the most dangerous pawn on the board.}) 29. cxd5 Rxe4+ 30. Kd3 Rxa4 $2 (30... Rf4 $142) 31. d6 $18 {Now Black is losing.} Kf7 32. Re1 Ra5 33. Kd4 Ra2 34. Kd5 Rd2+ 35. Kc6 b5 {The critical moment. Carlsen still had some time here, but apparently not enough to work all the details.} 36. d7 $2 $11 {Missing a chance, though not an easy one.} (36. Re7+ $1 {was the only winning move.} Kf6 (36... Kf8 37. Rc7 {is simpler, with Rc8+ and d7 coming next.}) 37. Re4 $3 {This is, likewise, the only winning move.} (37. Re8 Rc2+ 38. Kb7 Rd2 39. Kc7 Rc2+ 40. Kd8 b4 $8 41. d7 b3 42. Re7 b2 {Just in time - compare the similar variation in the 37.Re4 analysis.} 43. Ke8 b1=Q 44. d8=Q Qb5+ $8 45. Kf8 Qc5 $11 {Or 45...Qb4, but nothing else. White doesn't get the chance to start checking, and Black therefore survives.}) 37... Kf5 (37... Rc2+ 38. Kb7 b4 39. Rd4 $18 {shows why the king had to be lured to f6 first, before playing Re4. If the king was still on f7, Black could play ...Ke8 here and all would be well.}) 38. Re8 $1 Rc2+ 39. Kb7 Rd2 40. Kc7 Rc2+ 41. Kd8 b4 42. d7 b3 (42... Kf6 43. Re7 $1 $18 {followed by Ke8 and promotion.}) 43. Ke7 $18 { This is one reason Black's king had to be drawn away from f6 before White played Re8.}) 36... Rc2+ 37. Kb6 Rd2 38. Kc7 Rc2+ 39. Kd8 b4 40. Re7+ Kf8 ( 40... Kf6 $4 41. Ke8 $18) 41. Re3 Kf7 42. Re7+ Kf8 43. Re5 g6 44. Re6 b3 45. Rf6+ Kg7 46. Ke7 Re2+ $8 47. Re6 Rxe6+ 48. Kxe6 b2 49. d8=Q b1=Q 50. Qc7+ Kg8 51. Qd8+ Kg7 1/2-1/2 [Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2022.01.28"] [Round "11.2"] [White "Van Foreest, Jorden"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E24"] [WhiteElo "2702"] [BlackElo "2772"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "83"] [EventDate "2022.01.15"] {[%evp 0,83,29,29,29,12,12,4,24,-2,-2,0,7,-16,19,19,47,15,47,32,28,28,67,54,62, 71,65,70,60,53,51,53,35,-52,-44,-35,-25,8,19,-59,-38,-38,3,3,26,0,2,2,53,53,56, 56,68,68,68,68,240,233,261,261,261,250,253,271,271,191,217,217,238,173,307,307, 344,344,344,196,208,229,295,286,295,278,274,295,479,524]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. a3 Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 b6 6. f3 Nc6 7. e4 Na5 8. Bd3 Ba6 9. Qe2 d6 10. f4 Qd7 $6 {Headed to a4, to round up the c4 pawn.} (10... d5 $1 11. exd5 Qe7 $1 12. dxe6 Qxe6 13. Qxe6+ fxe6 $11) 11. Nf3 Qa4 12. Nd2 (12. e5 $142 $16) 12... e5 13. O-O O-O 14. fxe5 dxe5 15. Rb1 (15. Rxf6 $142) 15... c5 $2 (15... Nd7 $142) 16. Rxf6 {A good move, but it's also one you want to say "of course" to. It isn't a shock that this would be strong, given the complete absence of Black pieces on the kingside. (We might have to repeat that more loudly, so the cluster of Odysseuses at the edge of the universe [aka the a-file] can hear it.)} gxf6 17. Qf3 Qc6 18. d5 Qd6 19. Nf1 $16 Kh8 20. Ne3 (20. Ng3 $1 Bxc4 $2 21. Bxc4 Nxc4 22. Qf1 $3 Na5 23. Rb2 $18 {followed by Rf2 ought to finish Black off, post haste.}) 20... Bc8 21. Bd2 Rg8 22. Be1 Rg6 23. Bh4 Rh6 $2 ( 23... Bd7 24. Qf2 h5 {had to be tried, hoping to prevent White from swinging his bishop around to exchange it for Black's bishop. That gives f5 to White's knight, and the game won't last long after that.}) 24. Qf2 Bd7 25. Rf1 $18 Kg7 26. Be2 Rg6 27. h3 $5 {Intending Bg4, or - if Black doesn't play ...Rf8 - Bh5 Rh6 Bg4.} (27. Bh5 Rf8 28. Bxg6 $4 fxg6 $17 {is fine for Black.}) 27... Bxh3 $2 28. Bh5 $1 {Now Black is too late for ...Rf8 - compare 27.Bh5 - because he'll lose the bishop on h3 at the end.} Bd7 (28... Rf8 29. Bxg6 fxg6 30. gxh3 $18) 29. Bxg6 fxg6 30. Bxf6+ {The rest is torture - for Giri, anyway. For Van Foreest, it must have been an endorphine flood.} Kg8 31. Qh4 Rf8 32. Rf3 Rf7 33. Qg5 Qf8 34. Qxe5 Nb7 35. Qf4 Nd6 36. e5 Ne8 37. d6 Nxf6 38. exf6 Qe8 39. Nd5 Qe1+ 40. Kh2 Qd1 41. Ne7+ Kh8 42. Rh3 $1 {A nice finishing touch.} (42. Rh3 $1 {The threat is 43.Nxg6+, and it's not easily dealt with.} Bxh3 (42... Qc2 43. Qf3 Rf8 44. Rh6 Bf5 45. Qb7 {Threatening Nxg6+ followed by Qg7#.} Rxf6 46. Nxf5 Qxf5 47. Qxh7#) 43. d7 $1 Qxd7 44. Qb8+ {wins everything.}) 1-0 [Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2022.01.28"] [Round "11.3"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C53"] [WhiteElo "2767"] [BlackElo "2743"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "46"] [EventDate "2022.01.15"] {[%evp 0,46,29,11,10,10,35,11,13,21,49,-4,-8,-9,4,1,1,-2,-19,-19,7,23,26,20,-1, -2,-6,8,8,-31,-45,-41,-1,-51,-24,15,25,30,50,31,43,19,80,30,-12,28,86,28,30] As usual when they play, friendship comes first.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. e5 d5 7. Bb5 Ne4 8. cxd4 Bb6 9. Nc3 Bg4 10. h3 Bh5 11. Be3 O-O 12. g4 Bg6 13. O-O f5 14. exf6 Qxf6 15. Bxc6 bxc6 16. Ne5 Qh4 17. Nxe4 Bxe4 18. Kh2 c5 19. dxc5 Qe7 20. Nc6 Qd7 21. Ne5 Qe7 22. Nc6 Qd7 23. Ne5 Qe7 1/2-1/2 [Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2022.01.28"] [Round "11.4"] [White "Grandelius, Nils"] [Black "Esipenko, Andrey"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C84"] [WhiteElo "2672"] [BlackElo "2714"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "74"] [EventDate "2022.01.15"] {[%evp 0,74,29,10,18,16,20,10,23,-13,-5,16,25,2,4,18,22,-1,-22,-18,0,-4,4,-16, 18,16,24,19,19,19,25,-2,37,52,37,-35,-35,-35,-3,-7,-3,-16,0,0,43,43,30,59,47, 37,64,20,46,14,20,-26,-11,-6,-16,-27,-16,0,28,37,34,34,35,46,44,39,39,60,40,39, 60,46,39]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. d4 Qc7 12. d5 Nc4 13. b3 Nb6 14. Be3 Bd7 15. Qe2 Nxe4 16. Bxe4 f5 17. c4 fxe4 18. Nfd2 bxc4 19. bxc4 Na4 20. Nxe4 Rab8 21. Nbd2 Bf5 22. f4 exf4 23. Rxf4 (23. Bxf4 $142 $16) 23... Qd7 24. Raf1 Rbe8 25. Qf3 Bg6 26. Qg3 Nb2 27. Ng5 Rxf4 28. Bxf4 Bxg5 29. Bxg5 Nd3 30. Rf3 Ne5 31. Ra3 Qb7 32. Rb3 (32. Kh2 $142 $16) 32... Qc7 33. Bf4 Qa5 34. Qc3 Qd8 35. Qg3 Qa5 36. Qc3 Qd8 37. Qg3 Qa5 1/2-1/2 [Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2022.01.28"] [Round "11.5"] [White "Praggnanandhaa, R."] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D45"] [WhiteElo "2612"] [BlackElo "2792"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "92"] [EventDate "2022.01.15"] {[%evp 0,92,29,29,29,12,12,12,15,15,44,43,32,21,30,16,2,9,15,16,12,12,4,1,-2, -1,-1,0,-1,0,0,-8,5,-8,-9,-14,-9,-3,10,-11,10,0,6,-34,14,9,-15,0,29,47,-6,0,13, -44,6,-22,-28,-28,-31,-36,-46,-35,-80,-89,-97,-85,-98,-102,-85,-85,-111,-113, -113,-182,-192,-178,-186,-178,-171,-170,-151,-172,-188,-166,-161,-246,-245, -363,-416,-416,-423,-430,-430,-436,-369]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. b3 O-O 8. Be2 b6 9. O-O Bb7 10. Bb2 Qe7 11. a4 a5 12. Bd3 Bb4 13. Rac1 h6 14. Qe2 Rad8 15. Rfd1 Rfe8 16. Bb1 Bd6 17. Re1 Bb4 18. Red1 Rc8 19. Ne5 Nxe5 20. dxe5 Nd7 21. Qc2 Nf8 $11 22. Ne2 (22. f4) 22... b5 23. Nd4 $2 (23. cxb5 cxb5 24. Qd3 bxa4 25. bxa4 $15) 23... dxc4 24. bxc4 bxa4 25. Qxa4 c5 $19 26. Ne2 Red8 27. Qc2 Rxd1+ 28. Rxd1 Rd8 29. Rxd8 Qxd8 {Black's light squared bishop is the best minor piece on the board, and the a-pawn is the most important imbalance in the position.} 30. Nc3 $2 {This allows Black a very nice exchanging sequence that underlies the power of Black's a-pawn while leaving White with only the very sad dark-squared bishop to accompany the queen.} Bxc3 $1 31. Bxc3 Be4 $1 32. Qc1 Bxb1 33. Qxb1 a4 34. h3 a3 35. Kh2 Qa8 36. Qb3 a2 37. Ba1 Qa5 38. Kg3 g5 39. h4 gxh4+ 40. Kxh4 Ng6+ 41. Kg3 h5 42. Qb2 Qd8 $1 {Black's a-pawn has done great work, and now it's time for Black to demonstrate that White has other things to worry about. The immediate threat is mate in two by 43...Qh4+ 44.Kf3 Qg4#.} 43. f4 Qh4+ 44. Kf3 Qe1 $1 45. Qxa2 Nh4+ 46. Ke4 Qf1 {White's king is in trouble, the bishop is always vulnerable, and Black may soon find himself with a passed h-pawn. Or would, except that ... Nf5-g3+/# will finish things off even sooner. Lacking a sensible defense to that idea, White gives up.} 0-1 [Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2022.01.28"] [Round "11.6"] [White "Duda, Jan-Krzysztof"] [Black "Shankland, Sam"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D02"] [WhiteElo "2760"] [BlackElo "2708"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "19"] [EventDate "2022.01.15"] {[%evp 0,19,29,29,29,29,26,29,25,20,48,22,41,27,33,29,40,33,37,30,32,27]} 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 e6 4. e3 c5 5. Nbd2 Qb6 6. Rb1 Bd6 7. Bxd6 Qxd6 8. dxc5 Qxc5 9. c4 O-O 10. cxd5 {This was more interesting than the next game, but just barely.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2022.01.28"] [Round "11.7"] [White "Rapport, Richard"] [Black "Dubov, Daniil"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2763"] [BlackElo "2720"] [PlyCount "0"] [EventDate "2022.01.15"] 1-0 [Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2022.01.29"] [Round "12.1"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B31"] [WhiteElo "2792"] [BlackElo "2865"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "98"] [EventDate "2022.01.15"] {[%evp 0,69,29,11,50,50,50,45,48,42,28,-4,24,2,-7,8,1,-7,1,-26,3,-11,14,-19,-6, -8,-15,-15,7,-1,11,11,12,-1,4,-2,0,-5,16,2,-3,-5,12,13,34,34,26,10,28,0,9,0,1, -13,-21,-22,-6,-31,-29,-60,-27,-79,-76,-78,-78,-81,-77,-71,-64,-76,-72,-82] Caruana hasn't had a particularly good tournament, but with a good win in round 11 he seemed to be rounding into form. A win wouldn't be enough for a shot at tournament victory (he would still be half a point behind Carlsen going into the last round, and Carlsen is getting a full point there thanks to Dubov's getting COVID), but it would turn the event into a success. Could it happen, with the white pieces?} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 {Renewing the theoretical battle joined in their 2018 World Championship match.} g6 (3... e6 {seems to be the current trend, preferred in most of Carlsen's more recent games - and Caruana's, too, at least in blitz.}) 4. O-O ({Caruana has generally preferred} 4. Bxc6 {, but he has played the text before, too.}) 4... Bg7 5. c3 Nf6 6. Re1 O-O 7. d4 (7. h3 {is an important alternative, waiting to see what Black does.}) 7... d5 8. e5 Ne4 9. Be3 (9. Bxc6 {used to be the main move. It hasn't disappeared, but 9.Be3 is more popular at the moment.}) 9... cxd4 10. cxd4 Qb6 11. Qe2 (11. Bxc6 {is usual, and now both captures are common with} Qxc6 {the more popular of the two. White now plays to evict the knight with} 12. Nfd2 {making f3 available if necessary while keeping the other knight to reach c3. Black is solid if slightly worse after either of the following:} (12. Ng5 $5) 12... Be6 (12... Nxd2 13. Qxd2 Bf5 14. Nc3 $14) 13. f3 Nxd2 14. Qxd2 Rfc8 15. Nc3 $14) 11... Bd7 {Threatening to win a pawn with ... Nxe5.} 12. Ba4 (12. a4 a6 13. Bd3 $14 {is the alternative.}) 12... Rac8 13. Nc3 (13. h3 Rfd8 14. Na3 Nb4 15. Bb3 a5 16. Nd2 a4 17. Nxe4 axb3 18. Nc3 bxa2 19. Nxa2 Nxa2 20. Rxa2 Qb3 21. Raa1 b5 22. Rec1 b4 23. Nb5 Rc4 24. Nc7 Bf5 25. Qd2 Rc8 26. Na6 Rxc1+ 27. Rxc1 Rxc1+ 28. Qxc1 Qa4 29. Nc7 Qd7 30. Qc5 e6 31. Qb6 h5 32. Qb8+ Kh7 33. Ne8 Qe7 34. Bf4 Qf8 35. Qd8 Bh6 36. Bxh6 Kxh6 37. Nd6 Kg7 38. Qxf8+ Kxf8 39. h4 Bd3 40. f3 Ba6 41. Kf2 Ke7 42. Ke3 f6 43. Kf4 fxe5+ 44. Kxe5 Bf1 45. g3 Ba6 46. b3 Be2 47. Nb7 Bxf3 48. Nc5 Bd1 49. Nd3 Bxb3 50. Nxb4 Ba4 51. Na6 {1/2-1/2 (51) Henriquez Villagra,C (2608)-Mamedov,R (2673) Riga 2021}) 13... Nxc3 14. bxc3 Qd8 15. Bb3 Na5 $146 (15... Bf5 16. Nh4 Be6 17. Bd2 Na5 18. f4 Nc4 19. Bxc4 Rxc4 20. f5 gxf5 21. Rf1 f4 22. Rxf4 Qc8 23. h3 Kh8 24. Qh5 Ra4 25. a3 Qe8 26. Nf5 Bxf5 27. Qxf5 Ra6 28. Rb1 Rg6 29. Rxb7 Bh6 30. Rf2 Bxd2 31. Rxd2 Qc6 32. Rxe7 Qxc3 33. Re2 Qxd4+ 34. Kh2 Kg8 35. Rf2 Qe4 36. Rxa7 Qxf5 37. Rxf5 Rb6 38. a4 d4 39. Rf4 d3 40. Rd4 Re6 41. Rxd3 Rxe5 42. Ra3 Re2 43. a5 Kh8 44. a6 {1/2-1/2 (44) Brundisch,V (2067)-Taksrud,V (2090) ICCF email 2019}) 16. Rac1 Nxb3 17. axb3 Qb6 (17... a5 $142 18. h3 b5 19. Red1 a4 20. Ne1 {offers White a minuscule edge at best.}) 18. Qa2 $14 a5 19. Qa3 (19. c4 a4 (19... dxc4 20. bxc4 a4 21. c5 (21. h3 $5 $14) 21... Qb3 22. Qxb3 axb3 23. Rb1 Be6 24. Nd2 Bd5 25. Nxb3 f6 26. exf6 Bxf6 27. Nd2 $11 {/+/= Black's bishops, especially the powerful and unopposed blockading bishop on d5, should suffice for a draw.} ) 20. c5 Qxb3 21. Qd2 $44) (19. Nd2 $14) (19. h3 $14) 19... Rfe8 20. c4 dxc4 21. bxc4 Qa6 (21... a4 $11) 22. c5 Bc6 23. Rb1 (23. Nd2 Bd5 24. Rb1 b5 $1 25. cxb6 e6 $1 $11 {Black will round up the b-pawn. It may come at the cost of the a-pawn, but the bottom line is that the cement block on d5 fully neutralizes White's extra pawn.}) 23... a4 (23... b5 $1 24. cxb6 e6 {is similar to the line in the previous note. One difference is that White can preserve the b-pawn by surrendering the d-pawn. That will make the position a little more interesting, but it's still roughly equal after} 25. d5 Bxd5 26. Ra1 Bf8 27. Qa4 (27. Qxa5 Qxa5 28. Rxa5 Bxf3 29. gxf3 Bb4 30. Rea1 Bxa5 31. Rxa5 $11) 27... Qa8 28. Rec1 Bb4 $11) 24. Rec1 $6 (24. Nd2 $14) (24. Rb4 $14) 24... Rcd8 (24... b5 $1 25. cxb6 e6 {followed by ...Bf8, ...Bd5, rounding up the b-pawn and going forward. White must play} 26. d5 $8 {to maintain equality.} Bxd5 27. Bc5 $8 $11) 25. Nd2 (25. Rb6) 25... Qe2 (25... f6 {is also possible, especially as it would be suicidal to try to maintain the pawn wedge with f4.} 26. exf6 (26. f4 $2 fxe5 27. fxe5 Bxe5 $1 $19 28. dxe5 $2 Qe2 29. Nf3 Rd3 $19) 26... Bxf6 $11 ) 26. f3 $2 (26. Nf3 $11 Bxf3 $2 27. Rb2 Qxb2 (27... Qa6 $2 28. gxf3 Qc6 29. Kg2 $18) 28. Qxb2 Bc6 {favors White, but Black may have an unbreachable fortress on the light squares.}) 26... Rxd4 $1 {Did Caruana miss this, or only underestimate it? Either way, he's in trouble.} 27. Bxd4 Qxd2 $17 {White's bishop is bad, his e- and c-pawns are restricted, and his rooks have nothing to do along the open files.} 28. Rd1 Qf4 29. Qb4 e6 30. Bc3 $2 {White needed to temporize.} Qxb4 31. Bxb4 (31. Rxb4 Bf8 32. Bd4 Rd8 33. Rc4 a3 34. Kf2 a2 35. Ra1 Ra8 $19 {White is tied up, and step by step Black will improve his position until he wins material and the game. For White, there is no way to improve his position; all he can do is wait.}) 31... Bxe5 $19 {With two pawns for the exchange and White's rooks having nothing to do, the win is inevitable. } 32. Ba3 Bf6 33. Kf2 Be7 34. Rb6 Rc8 35. Rd2 f6 36. f4 e5 37. fxe5 fxe5 38. Re2 Rf8+ 39. Ke1 Rf5 40. Rb1 e4 41. Rc1 Bh4+ 42. g3 Bg5 43. Rb1 Rf3 44. Bc1 Bf6 45. Rb6 Rf5 46. Ba3 Kf7 47. Rf2 Rf3 48. Rxf3 exf3 49. Kf1 Bd4 {A safe check by the light-squared bishop will promote the f-pawn. Additionally, White must also worry about boring things like ...Ke6-d5 followed by ...Bxc5, when Black's three passed pawns will decide. White's resignation is not premature.} 0-1 [Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2022.01.29"] [Round "12.2"] [White "Esipenko, Andrey"] [Black "Rapport, Richard"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2714"] [BlackElo "2763"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "71"] [EventDate "2022.01.15"] {[%evp 0,71,29,11,11,11,11,-2,27,19,31,52,45,30,70,51,78,64,48,7,42,2,8,-15, -27,-18,-16,-16,8,-21,-15,7,-14,-30,-25,-34,-30,-33,-34,-41,-5,-46,-8,-11,-10, -34,0,-31,-21,-71,-51,-51,-30,-17,49,98,44,45,47,47,25,48,48,51,42,43,59,41,48, 60,57,59,41,26]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Ne7 $5 5. Nc3 (5. Nxe5 $4 {One can always hope that White will fall for this trap, but it would be unwise to play 4...Ne7 for this reason alone.} c6 6. Nxf7 (6. Bc4 Qa5+ 7. Nc3 Qxe5 $19 {is the trap.}) (6. Nc4 {might work in a bullet game.} d6 (6... cxb5 $4 7. Nd6#) 7. Ba4 b5 $19) 6... Kxf7 7. Bc4+ d5 $19) (5. Bc4) (5. d4) 5... c6 6. Bc4 d6 7. O-O (7. d4 exd4 8. Qxd4 Ng6 $14) 7... h6 8. d4 $14 {White is better because of his extra space, but Black is very solid. The pawn on c6 is important, as it helps restrict the Bc4 and the Nc3.} Qc7 (8... Qa5 $5) 9. Nh4 g5 $146 (9... g6 10. f4 exd4 11. Qxd4 Bg7 12. e5 dxe5 13. Bxf7+ Kxf7 14. fxe5 Rd8 15. Qf4 Be6 16. exf6 Qxf4 17. Bxf4 Bxf6 18. Be5 Bf5 19. Bxf6 Kxf6 20. Rae1 Rd4 21. Nf3 Rb4 22. Ne5 h5 23. h3 h4 24. b3 Nd5 25. a3 Rd4 26. Nf3 Rf4 27. Ne2 Re4 28. c4 Nf4 29. Ned4 Rae8 30. Rxe4 Rxe4 31. Nxf5 gxf5 32. Nd2 Rd4 33. Nf3 Re4 34. Nd2 Rd4 35. Nf3 {1/2-1/2 (35) Saric,I (2689)-Fedorchuk,S (2626) Rio Achaea 2018}) 10. dxe5 $1 dxe5 11. Qf3 $1 Bg7 12. Nf5 Bxf5 13. exf5 Rd8 14. Bd3 Ned5 15. Nxd5 $6 (15. Ne4 $14 {/+/-}) 15... Nxd5 $2 (15... cxd5 $1 16. Bb5+ Kf8 17. Qa3+ Kg8 18. Qxa7 e4 $44) 16. Be4 (16. Re1 $142 $16) 16... Nf6 17. c3 O-O 18. h3 Qb6 19. Qe2 Rd7 20. a4 Rfd8 21. Be3 Qc7 22. Qc4 $16 Rd6 23. b4 (23. h4 $1) 23... b6 (23... a5) 24. b5 Nxe4 25. Qxe4 cxb5 26. axb5 Qxc3 27. Rxa7 Qb3 28. Qb7 $2 (28. Rc1 $1 Qxb5 29. Rcc7 Rf6 {Black is apparently in some sort of mini-zugzwang here, because the engine insists on the following otherwise incomprehensible move:} 30. Kh1 $3 Bf8 31. Kh2 $1 Qb3 32. g4 $1 {If one starts with 30.Kh2 or 30.g4, the engine doesn't buy it.} Qb5 33. h4 Qe2 34. Rc2 $1 Qe1 35. Ra8 Rxa8 36. Qxa8 Qb4 37. Rc8 $1 gxh4 38. Kh3 $1 Kg7 39. Qf3 $1 $18) 28... e4 $11 29. Kh2 Rf8 30. Qxe4 Qxb5 31. Rb1 Qe5+ 32. Qxe5 Bxe5+ 33. g3 Rb8 34. Rb5 Bd4 35. Bxd4 Rxd4 36. Ra3 1/2-1/2 [Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2022.01.29"] [Round "12.3"] [White "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"] [Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C53"] [WhiteElo "2727"] [BlackElo "2767"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "76"] [EventDate "2022.01.15"] {[%evp 0,76,29,11,13,10,18,11,11,1,13,5,9,25,33,-3,5,-17,9,11,35,13,14,-27,-24, -38,18,38,33,-34,-34,-28,-1,-26,13,4,28,-19,-21,2,-11,-15,-43,-75,-12,-33,18, 14,41,73,45,25,15,-229,-243,-364,-243,-263,-254,-267,-294,-300,-297,-306,-281, -275,-296,-296,-296,-339,-294,-302,-298,-301,-323,-307,-309,-309,-623]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. O-O h6 7. Re1 O-O 8. Nbd2 Bb6 9. h3 Ne7 10. d4 Nc6 $1 {This nice little switchback has been played before, and seems to equalize.} 11. a4 exd4 $146 ({Caruana played 11...a5 once, and on another occasion reached the same position by transposition. What most catches my eye, however, is Caruana's rating: at the time of the Candidates in Ekaterinburg last year his rating was 2842; now it's down to 2781.8. Oof.} 11... a5 12. Ba2 ({The "pensioner" beats Caruana in a blitz game last June:} 12. dxe5 Nxe5 13. Nxe5 dxe5 14. Bf1 Be6 15. Qc2 Nd7 16. Nc4 Bc5 17. Rd1 Qh4 18. Be3 Bxe3 19. Nxe3 Nc5 20. Bc4 Rae8 21. Bxe6 Rxe6 22. Rd5 Nxe4 23. Re1 Nd6 24. Rxa5 c6 25. Nf5 Nxf5 26. Qxf5 Rf6 27. Qc2 e4 28. Re5 e3 29. R1xe3 Rd6 30. Re8 Rd8 31. Rxf8+ Rxf8 32. Qe4 Qd8 33. g3 g6 34. Kg2 h5 35. b4 Qd7 36. a5 Rd8 37. c4 Kg7 38. Qe7 Kg8 39. Qf6 Qd4 40. Re8+ {1-0 (40) Kramnik,V (2753)-Caruana,F (2820) Paris 2021 (blitz)}) 12... exd4 13. Nc4 dxc3 14. Nxb6 c2 15. Qxc2 cxb6 16. Bd2 Be6 17. Bxe6 fxe6 18. Qb3 Qe8 19. Qxb6 Nd7 20. Qe3 e5 21. Qd3 Qe6 22. Nh4 Nc5 23. Qg3 Kh7 24. Rad1 g5 25. Nf3 Rf7 26. Bc1 Raf8 27. Qg4 Qxg4 28. hxg4 Rf6 29. Be3 Nxa4 30. Rd5 Nxb2 31. Rc1 R8f7 32. Rc2 Na4 33. Rc4 Nb2 34. Rc2 Na4 35. Rc4 Nc5 36. Bxc5 dxc5 37. Rcxc5 Re7 38. Nxe5 Nxe5 39. Rxe5 Rxe5 40. Rxe5 Ra6 41. Re7+ Kg6 42. Rxb7 a4 43. f3 a3 44. Rb1 a2 45. Ra1 Kf6 46. Kf2 Ke5 47. Ke3 Ra8 48. Kd3 Kf4 49. Kc4 Kg3 50. e5 Kxg2 51. e6 Kxf3 52. Kd5 Kxg4 53. e7 Kf3 54. Rxa2 Re8 55. Ke6 g4 56. Kf7 Rxe7+ 57. Kxe7 g3 58. Kf6 g2 59. Rxg2 Kxg2 { 1/2-1/2 (59) Alekseenko,K (2698)-Caruana,F (2842) Ekaterinburg 2021}) 12. cxd4 d5 $6 {This is generally good for Black, but it doesn't seem to work here.} ( 12... a5) (12... Re8) 13. exd5 Nxd5 14. b3 $2 (14. Ne4 $142 $16) 14... Be6 $11 15. Ne4 Re8 16. Bb2 Na5 $6 (16... Ba5 $11) 17. Ne5 $1 c6 18. Qf3 f6 $2 19. Nd3 $2 (19. Ng4 $1 {sets up sacrifices on h6 and f6, and despite the obviousness of the threat Black can't do much about it.} Nxc4 (19... Bxg4 {may be the only sure way to avoid a sac, but with the kingside pawns on dark squares swapping off the light-squared bishop isn't the key to success.} 20. Qxg4 Bc7 21. Rad1 Rf8 22. Ng3 Bxg3 23. Qxg3 Nxc4 24. bxc4 Ne7 25. Ba3 Re8 26. Qg4 Kh7 27. Re3 $18 {is awful for Black. White intends 28.Rg3.}) (19... f5 20. Nef6+ $1 gxf6 21. Bxd5 cxd5 (21... Bxd5 22. Qxf5 $18) 22. Nxh6+ Kg7 23. Rxe6 $3 Rxe6 (23... Kxh6 24. Rae1 Rxe6 25. Rxe6 Kg6 (25... Kg7 26. Qxf5 {followed by Ba3, winning.}) 26. g4 $1 fxg4 27. hxg4 Nc6 (27... Nxb3 28. g5 $1 $18) 28. Qf5+ Kg7 29. g5 Nxd4 30. gxf6+ Kf7 31. Bxd4 Bxd4 32. Re7+ $18) 24. Nxf5+ Kf8 25. Ba3+ Ke8 26. Qh5+ Kd7 27. Qf7+ Kc8 28. Qxe6+ $18) 20. bxc4 f5 21. Nxh6+ gxh6 22. Nc5 $1 Bxc5 23. dxc5 Qg5 24. Rxe6 $1 Rxe6 25. cxd5 cxd5 26. Qxd5 Rae8 27. Rd1 $1 {With the idea of Rd3-g3.} Kf8 28. Bc3 $18 {White's attack should win, though there's no immediate knockout blow.}) 19... Bf7 $14 20. Re2 $6 (20. Ng3 Bg6 21. Nc5 $14) ( 20. Ndc5 $14) 20... Bc7 $11 21. Rae1 b6 $2 (21... a6 $142 $11 {followed by ... b5.}) 22. Bc1 $1 $16 Re6 $6 (22... Nxc4 23. bxc4 Ne7 24. Nxf6+ $5 (24. Bf4 $14 {keeps some advantage, but it's more fun to sac.}) (24. Bb2 {also makes sense, with a possible two-part sac with d4-d5 followed by (probably) Nxf6+.}) 24... gxf6 25. Bxh6 Ng6 26. Rxe8+ Bxe8 27. Re4 $44 {It may be equal, but in positions like this it's easy for the defender to fall apart.}) 23. Bd2 $16 Nxc4 24. bxc4 Ne7 25. Bxh6 $2 (25. Bf4 $1 f5 $8 26. Bxc7 Qxc7 27. Ne5 $1 { White's position is strategically won.} Rxe5 (27... Ng6 28. Nc3 Nxe5 29. dxe5 $1 $18) 28. Nf6+ $1 gxf6 29. dxe5 Bxc4 30. Re3 $16 {/+- Black's material situation is fine, but his king isn't. White has too many open lines, and it's going to be almost impossible for Black to finagle his way to even a bad ending.}) 25... Qxd4 $2 ({The lines are very difficult here, especially if the players were getting into time trouble.} 25... Ng6 $1 26. d5 cxd5 27. cxd5 Rxe4 28. Rxe4 gxh6 29. h4 Qd6 $1 30. g3 Bxd5 31. Qf5 Bxe4 32. Qxe4 Nf8 33. Qxa8 Qxd3 $11) 26. Qg4 $4 {Sometimes this happens: one calculates one complicated line after another, after another, after another...and then misses something easy.} (26. Bf4 $1 Bxf4 27. Nxf4 Re5 28. Qg4 Kf8 29. Nxf6 Rxe2 $1 (29... gxf6 $4 30. Ne6+ $18 {(or 30.Ng6+) followed by 31.Qxd4.}) 30. Nh7+ $8 Kg8 31. Rxe2 $8 Kxh7 32. Rxe7 Qxc4 33. Qf5+ Kg8 34. h4 $18) 26... f5 {The queen on d4 covers g7, and the fork wins, easy as that.} 27. Bxg7 Qxg7 (27... Qxd3 $19 {works too.}) 28. Qxg7+ Kxg7 29. Ng5 Rxe2 30. Rxe2 Ng6 31. Ne6+ Bxe6 32. Rxe6 Rd8 33. Rxc6 Bb8 34. Ne1 Ne5 35. Re6 Kf7 36. Rh6 Rd1 37. Kf1 Nxc4 38. Rh4 {Now for a nice finishing touch.} Ne3+ $1 (38... Ne3+ $1 39. Ke2 (39. fxe3 Bg3 {wins the knight *and* the rook, on account of the mate threat.}) 39... Rxe1+ 40. Kxe1 Nxg2+ 41. Ke2 Nxh4 $19) 0-1 [Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2022.01.29"] [Round "12.4"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Grandelius, Nils"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E60"] [WhiteElo "2772"] [BlackElo "2672"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "49"] [EventDate "2022.01.15"] {[%evp 0,49,29,29,29,12,54,43,37,19,21,12,15,16,15,7,16,-8,-3,0,3,-21,28,31,49, 51,40,35,54,35,56,45,69,21,40,25,25,32,25,25,29,28,44,31,15,26,35,0,0,-43,-11, -25]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 c6 5. Nc3 d5 6. Qb3 O-O 7. Bg2 dxc4 8. Qxc4 Bf5 9. O-O Nbd7 10. a4 Rc8 11. a5 b5 12. axb6 axb6 13. Bf4 Be6 14. Qd3 Bf5 15. Qa6 h6 16. Rfd1 Nd5 17. Nxd5 cxd5 18. Qb7 g5 19. Bd2 g4 20. Ne1 e6 21. Bf4 Nf6 22. Ra7 Rc4 23. Bf1 Rb4 {Giri has been better since the opening, but on his next two moves he goes in the wrong direction.} 24. Qc6 $2 (24. Rda1 $1 $16 {/+-} Rxb2 25. Bc1 $1 Rb3 26. Ba3 $18) 24... Ne4 $15 25. Nd3 $2 $17 (25. Nd3 $2 Rc4 26. Qb5 Bxd4 $17) 1/2-1/2 [Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2022.01.29"] [Round "12.5"] [White "Shankland, Sam"] [Black "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E20"] [WhiteElo "2708"] [BlackElo "2743"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "51"] [EventDate "2022.01.15"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 c5 5. d5 b5 6. e4 d6 7. Bd2 a6 (7... Bxc3 8. Bxc3 b4 9. Bd2 O-O {is a good alternative.} (9... exd5 10. cxd5 O-O { is similar, and can transpose.})) 8. a4 bxc4 9. Bxc4 Nbd7 10. dxe6 fxe6 11. Bxe6 Ne5 12. Bxc8 Qxc8 13. Bf4 c4 14. Bxe5 dxe5 15. Nh3 Bc5 $146 (15... Qc5 { had been played thrice before.} 16. Nf2 (16. Qe2 O-O-O (16... O-O 17. Nf2 Rad8 18. O-O Rd3 19. Kh1 Bxc3 20. Nxd3 cxd3 21. Qxd3 Bd4 22. Qxa6 Bxb2 23. Rab1 Qa3 24. a5 h6 25. Qb7 Bd4 26. a6 Qa2 27. Rfc1 Rf7 28. Qc8+ Rf8 29. Qc4+ Qxc4 30. Rxc4 Ra8 31. Rc6 Nd7 32. h4 Nc5 33. Rb5 Rxa6 34. Rbxc5 Ra1+ 35. Rc1 Ra7 36. Rc7 Ra6 37. R1c6 Ra1+ 38. Kh2 Kh7 39. h5 Ra8 40. Rg6 Rg8 41. Kh3 Be3 42. Re7 Bd4 43. Kg4 Bc3 44. g3 Bd2 45. f4 exf4 46. gxf4 Kh8 47. Rge6 Kh7 48. Re8 {1-0 (48) Woelk,T (2310)-Bhambure,S (2377) Cattolica 2021}) 17. Nf2 Rd4 18. O-O Rhd8 19. Rfd1 Bxc3 20. bxc3 Rxd1+ 21. Rxd1 Rxd1+ 22. Qxd1 Qe3 23. Qa1 Nd7 24. Kf1 Nc5 25. Qe1 Qh6 26. Qd1 Qc6 27. Ng4 Nd3 28. Ne3 Qb6 29. Ke2 Nf4+ 30. Kd2 Qd6+ 31. Kc2 Qc6 32. g3 Qxa4+ 33. Kd2 Qd7+ 34. Ke1 Nd3+ 35. Ke2 Qb5 36. Qd2 a5 37. Nxc4 Nf4+ 38. gxf4 Qxc4+ 39. Ke3 exf4+ 40. Kxf4 a4 41. Qc1 Qb3 42. Qe3 a3 43. Qc5+ Kb7 44. Qe7+ Ka8 45. e5 Qc4+ 46. Kg3 a2 47. Qd8+ Kb7 48. Qd7+ Ka6 49. Qd6+ Ka5 50. Qa3+ Kb5 51. Qa8 Qe6 52. c4+ Qxc4 53. Qb7+ Ka4 54. Qa7+ Kb3 55. Qb6+ Qb4 56. Qe3+ Qc3 57. Qb6+ Kc2 58. Qf2+ Qd2 59. Qc5+ Kd1 60. Qa3 Ke2 61. Qa6+ Ke1 62. Qa7 Kf1 63. e6 Qe1+ 64. Kh3 Qxe6+ 65. Kg3 Qe1+ 66. Kh3 a1=Q 67. Qf7 Qe2 { 0-1 (67) Nechaeva,M (2359)-Kashlinskaya,A (2494) Moscow 2020}) 16... Bxc3+ 17. bxc3 Qe3+ 18. Kf1 Qxc3 19. Rc1 Qa3 20. Qc2 Rc8 21. Qc3 Qxa4 22. Qxe5+ Kf7 23. g4 Rhe8 24. Qf4 Kg8 25. Kg2 c3 26. Rhd1 c2 27. Rd3 Nd7 28. Qd6 Ne5 29. Ra3 Qb5 30. Qxa6 Qb2 31. Raa1 Ra8 32. Qf1 Rxa1 33. Rxa1 Qc3 34. Rc1 Qxf3+ 35. Kg1 Nxg4 36. Rxc2 Ne3 37. Rc3 Rf8 38. Rxe3 Qxe3 39. Qc4+ Kh8 40. Qc2 h5 41. Kg2 Qf3+ 42. Kg1 h4 {0-1 (42) Basso,P (2538)-Alsina Leal,D (2500) Cattolica 2021}) 16. Qe2 Rb8 17. Nf2 Qb7 $2 {Either a miscalculation or a memory lapse.} (17... Bd4 $1 { is approximately equal.}) 18. O-O (18. Qxc4 $1 {looks scary, but it's even better.} Bxf2+ (18... Qxb2 19. O-O {transposes to the game.}) 19. Kxf2 Qxb2+ 20. Kg3 Nh5+ 21. Kh4 {The only move, but it wins.} Nf4 22. Qc6+ $1 Kf7 23. Qc7+ Kf8 24. Ra2 Qb6 25. Qxb6 Rxb6 26. g3 $18) 18... Qxb2 (18... Qb4 $142 $16) 19. Qxc4 Bxf2+ 20. Kh1 $18 {Threatening an immediate win with 21.Ra/fb1.} Qb3 $5 ( 20... Qb4 21. Qxb4 Rxb4 22. Rxf2 $18) 21. Qc7 {Renewing the threat of (either) Rb1, while hitting e5 and g7 for good measure.} Qb6 22. Qxe5+ Kf7 23. Nd5 $1 Nxd5 (23... Qa7 24. Rxf2 $1 Qxf2 (24... Rhe8 25. Qc7+ Qxc7 26. Nxc7 $18) 25. Qc7+ $1 {White must leave the e7 square available for the knight.} Kg6 26. Ne7+ Kh5 27. Qe5+ g5 28. Qxf6 $18) 24. Qxd5+ Ke7 25. Qe5+ Kf7 26. Rac1 (26. Rac1 Rb7 (26... Rbc8 27. Rxc8 Rxc8 28. Qf5+ $18 {picks up the rook.}) 27. Qd5+ Ke7 28. Rc6 $18) 1-0 [Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2022.01.29"] [Round "12.6"] [White "Duda, Jan-Krzysztof"] [Black "Van Foreest, Jorden"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D43"] [WhiteElo "2760"] [BlackElo "2702"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "87"] [EventDate "2022.01.15"] {[%evp 0,87,29,29,29,12,25,20,29,10,36,1,38,31,30,-29,0,-15,2,12,17,-11,9,-15, 4,9,22,47,19,36,42,39,30,7,23,16,20,20,20,25,25,20,25,19,15,14,27,19,23,11,15, 9,14,-4,9,-2,0,0,0,1,1,3,13,-8,-1,-24,-59,-80,0,-25,-15,0,-45,-37,-37,-57,0,0, 0,-23,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 Qxf6 7. g3 Nd7 8. Bg2 dxc4 9. O-O Bb4 10. Qc2 Qe7 11. a3 Bd6 12. Nd2 Nb6 13. Nce4 e5 14. Nxc4 Nxc4 15. Qxc4 exd4 16. Nxd6+ Qxd6 17. Rfd1 Be6 18. Qa4 O-O 19. Rxd4 Qe5 20. e3 Rfd8 21. Rad1 Rxd4 22. Rxd4 Qc7 23. h3 Qb6 24. Rb4 Qc7 25. Rd4 Qb6 26. Rd2 a5 27. Qh4 Re8 28. Kh2 Kf8 29. e4 f6 30. Qf4 Rd8 31. Re2 $6 { White has been trying to avoid a draw on account of the tournament situation, but one must be careful not to try too hard - one might succeed in the wrong way.} Qb5 32. Qc7 $2 (32. Rd2) 32... Rd7 $19 33. Qb8+ Kf7 $2 (33... Ke7 $1 $19) 34. Bf3 $1 $17 {Now White gets counterplay. He's still worse, but not losing.} Qd3 35. Qf4 g5 36. Bh5+ Kg7 $6 (36... Ke7 $142) 37. Qb8 $1 g4 $6 (37... Bf7) 38. Re1 $11 Qd2 39. Rf1 Bc4 40. Qe8 $1 Bxf1 41. Qg6+ Kh8 42. Qe8+ Kg7 43. Qg6+ Kh8 44. Qe8+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2022.01.29"] [Round "12.7"] [White "Dubov, Daniil"] [Black "Praggnanandhaa, Rameshbabu"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2720"] [BlackElo "2612"] [PlyCount "0"] [EventDate "2022.01.15"] 0-1