[Event "FTX Road to Miami Prelim"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.07.12"] [Round "11.7"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Wojtaszek, Radoslaw"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B50"] [WhiteElo "2775"] [BlackElo "2708"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2022.07.10"] {[%evp 0,85,19,28,53,61,78,62,70,41,41,40,40,27,27,-27,-1,-42,-23,-23,6,-1,-1, -27,2,-11,4,4,29,0,2,-26,32,-10,27,11,11,16,16,37,37,32,43,29,55,49,115,89,102, 72,142,92,131,124,126,126,159,163,164,140,230,141,230,231,168,190,190,182,172, 164,215,275,306,120,120,120,110,168,194,150,150,115,115,162,419,429,440,430]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 e6 5. O-O Be7 6. a4 O-O 7. Nbd2 Nc6 8. c3 a6 9. Re1 Rb8 10. Bb3 b5 11. Nf1 Bb7 12. Ng3 Rc8 13. d4 cxd4 14. cxd4 Nb4 15. axb5 axb5 16. Bg5 h6 17. Bxf6 Bxf6 18. Qd2 Na6 19. Nh5 Be7 20. Qf4 Kh8 21. Qg4 Rg8 22. Nf4 Nc7 23. Ra7 Ba8 24. d5 e5 25. Nd3 Ne8 26. Rea1 Nf6 27. Qf5 Rb8 28. Nb4 Bb7 29. Nc6 Qe8 30. Nxb8 $5 {There were better moves (e.g. 30.Nd2), but this is good enough to win, and a very nice idea.} Bc8 {This is why I spoke of 30.Nxb8 as a "nice idea"; if not for this, it would be an obvious bit of appropriate greed. So now what?} 31. Nc6 $1 Bxf5 (31... Bf8 $2 {fails to} 32. Ra8 $1 Bxf5 33. Rxe8 Nxe8 34. exf5 $18) 32. Rxe7 Qc8 33. exf5 Qxf5 34. Rd1 { White has a rook, bishop and knight for a queen (and pawn), and his pieces are active and well-coordinated. White should win, but in a rapid game Black retains some chances.} (34. Rxf7 $18) 34... Nh5 $2 {Hoping for play with ... Nf4, looking for threats against g2. But now Black is in for a nasty surprise.} 35. Ncxe5 $1 dxe5 36. Nxe5 {Now the material situation is fine for Black - it just won't stay that way, thanks to White's d-pawn (and the coming collapse of f7).} Nf4 37. d6 Kh7 38. Rxf7 $5 Nh3+ (38... Qxe5 39. Rxf4 Rd8 {should have been tried, though it's an eventual loser as well.} (39... Qxf4 $2 40. Bxg8+ Kxg8 41. d7 $18)) 39. gxh3 Qxe5 40. Bc2+ $1 Kh8 41. d7 Rd8 42. Rf8+ $1 { Fastest and best.} Rxf8 43. d8=Q {Capturing allows mate in two, and otherwise White is a piece up for nothing.} 1-0 [Event "FTX Road to Miami Prelim"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.07.12"] [Round "12.5"] [White "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"] [Black "Tari, Aryan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C67"] [WhiteElo "2754"] [BlackElo "2672"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "97"] [EventDate "2022.07.10"] {[%evp 0,97,28,38,31,28,20,-7,8,26,77,-16,55,63,94,77,77,67,68,68,68,54,106, 104,89,70,74,58,43,47,47,7,43,14,51,35,3,-17,-17,-8,8,-15,-14,-11,-21,-21,-24, -10,-27,-27,-29,-27,-23,-21,2,-6,-5,2,39,-8,-1,0,29,26,17,21,17,29,36,-14,10, -1,-4,0,12,9,25,19,18,25,36,-1,75,84,84,33,37,43,118,136,130,186,181,113,131, 232,240,239,246,248]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. Rd1+ Ke8 10. Nc3 Ne7 11. h3 Ng6 12. Re1 Be7 13. Bg5 Bxg5 14. Nxg5 Ke7 15. Kh2 h5 16. g3 Bf5 17. Re2 Nf8 18. Rd1 Ne6 19. Nxe6 Kxe6 20. f4 Rad8 21. Red2 Rxd2+ 22. Rxd2 f6 23. exf6 Kxf6 24. Kg2 Re8 25. Ne2 a5 26. Nd4 Bc8 27. Nf3 Be6 28. a3 b5 29. Ng5 Bd5+ 30. Kf2 Kf5 31. Nf3 b4 32. axb4 axb4 33. Rd4 Re4 34. Nh4+ Kf6 35. Rxe4 Bxe4 36. c3 {Perhaps this ending should be drawn, but I would be scared as Black and optimistic as White. Black's queenside pawns cannot create a passer, while White's kingside majority is usable. The king and pawn ending is 100% winning for White, and because of Black's permanent inability to make or allow the exchange of minor pieces, White enjoys good winning chances. As we'll see, a 2672 player failed to save it, even if it was in a rapid game, so one shouldn't be bewitched by the engine's claim that the position is equal.} c5 37. Ke3 Bd5 38. Nf3 Kf5 39. Ne5 Bg2 40. g4+ hxg4 $2 {This automatic move is all that Black needed to slip into a lost position. It's generally a good idea for the weaker side to trade pawns, but here Black needed to keep the target on h3.} 41. hxg4+ Ke6 42. Nd3 bxc3 43. bxc3 Kd5 44. f5 Kc4 45. Nf4 Bc6 46. Kd2 Bd7 47. Nh5 g6 48. fxg6 Bxg4 49. g7 1-0 [Event "FTX Road to Miami Prelim"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.07.13"] [Round "14.5"] [White "Duda, Jan-Krzysztof"] [Black "Sevian, Samuel"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E49"] [WhiteElo "2750"] [BlackElo "2684"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "53"] [EventDate "2022.07.10"] {[%evp 0,53,32,29,29,-11,-11,-10,-3,4,33,24,20,-12,-11,-11,3,3,49,-2,18,23,19, 9,3,2,-10,-3,10,4,77,-38,52,9,9,-33,40,6,28,28,44,44,61,54,63,51,73,2,34,0,466, 426,1965,1965,1965,1827]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. a3 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 dxc4 8. Bxc4 c5 9. Ne2 Qc7 10. Bd3 Nc6 11. f4 Rd8 12. O-O b6 13. Ng3 a5 14. Qe2 Qa7 $2 15. e4 $2 (15. f5 $1 $18) 15... Ba6 16. e5 Bxd3 17. Qxd3 Ne8 $2 (17... Nd5 $11) 18. f5 $1 $18 {White's center will collapse, but so will Black's kingside. Too much of Black's army is too far from the king's defense.} cxd4 (18... Nxe5 19. Qe2 Nc6 20. fxe6 $18) 19. fxe6 (19. Qe4 { may improve, though White is doing fine after the game continuation.}) 19... Nxe5 20. exf7+ $6 (20. Qe4 $142) 20... Nxf7 21. cxd4 Qd7 22. Nf5 $16 {White has lost some of his advantage, though Black's position remains precarious. Now Sevian should probably play 22...g6, though it looks ugly to make such a move when White has a dark-squared bishop and Black doesn't.} Ned6 {This looks natural. However...} 23. Nxg7 $1 Kxg7 24. d5 $1 {is a big problem for Black. He does have one move that keeps him in the game; can you find it?} Rg8 $2 { Now it's over.} (24... Nh8 $3 {is the only way to keep the game going, though there's no guarantee of Black's ultimate salvation after} 25. Qc3+ Kg8 26. Bb2 Ng6 27. Rf6 Qg7 $8 28. Raf1 Rac8 $8 29. Rxg6 $1 Rxc3 30. Rxg7+ Kxg7 31. Bxc3+ $16) 25. Qg3+ Kf8 26. Bh6+ Ke7 27. Rae1+ {Black is going to lose a LOT of material on his way to getting mated. This was Sevian's only loss in the preliminaries, and he still won the event.} 1-0 [Event "FTX Road to Miami Prelim"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.07.13"] [Round "15.1"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Niemann, Hans Moke"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E94"] [WhiteElo "2760"] [BlackElo "2688"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "49"] [EventDate "2022.07.10"] {[%evp 0,49,29,29,29,-11,39,46,62,38,38,45,45,24,72,43,103,52,34,33,70,35,107, 68,54,48,96,62,101,87,135,92,150,150,136,98,136,115,161,134,129,169,169,142, 142,142,144,70,481,602,669,949]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O h6 (7... Nc6 {is the ultra-main line move, and after} 8. d5 Ne7 {White often plays} 9. Ne1 {so he can safely put the bishop on e3 and to play Nd3 in support of the c4-c5 advance. He'd rather have the knight on d2, so it can go to c4 after he plays c5, but the problem is that if he plays Nd2 he won't be able to achieve c5 (except as a "sac"/blunder). Note too that 9. Nd2 shuts in the Bc1, which really wants to go to e3.}) 8. Be3 Ng4 9. Bc1 Nf6 10. Be3 Nc6 $2 {This is a terrible move, giving White a dream version of a Classical King's Indian - see the note on move 7.} ({Why not repeat moves with } 10... Ng4 {? For one thing, Niemann's tournament was a disaster, and it would make sense to finish with a draw with Black against one of the top seeds. (Assuming Giri would accede to the repetition.) But more to the point, it's the only good move.}) 11. d5 Ne7 12. Nd2 $16 {/+- As I said, this is a fantasy for White, and to achieve it against a 2688 is almost as improbable as Jim Carrey achieving success with Lauren Holly in "Dumb and Dumber".} c5 {If Black allows 13.c5 followed by 14.Nc4 he can almost resign.} 13. Rb1 h5 14. h3 Kh7 15. b4 (15. f4 $142 $18) 15... b6 (15... cxb4 $142 16. Rxb4 Nd7) 16. bxc5 bxc5 17. Qc1 $18 Nfg8 18. Nf3 ({The immediate} 18. f4 {was very strong, but Giri decides to first bring the d2-knight to g5, and only then play f4. Note that White is better on every part of the board, while Black's pieces are largely undeveloped and huddling on the back two ranks - mostly *the* back rank.}) 18... Bh6 (18... f6) 19. Ng5+ Kg7 20. f4 f6 {Too late.} 21. fxe5 $1 fxg5 22. Rxf8 Kxf8 23. Bxg5 (23. Qf1+ Kg7 24. exd6 Qxd6 25. Nb5 {was even better. White is spoiled for choice.}) 23... Bg7 (23... Kg7 $142) 24. Qf4+ Ke8 25. e6 { Perhaps Black should have played 25...Bf8 instead of resigning, to come closer to completing the undevelopment picture. What a disastrous game for Niemann, and much of it is due to the very, very strange 10...Nc6.} 1-0 [Event "FTX Road to Miami Prelim"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.07.13"] [Round "15.4"] [White "Sevian, Samuel"] [Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B40"] [WhiteElo "2684"] [BlackElo "2759"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "2022.07.10"] {[%evp 0,73,29,28,53,50,46,36,41,40,40,34,36,24,62,63,67,23,94,58,57,28,11,23, 13,-71,-78,-79,-51,-62,-55,-55,-38,-41,72,38,132,145,234,188,182,182,194,164, 267,267,362,341,341,196,185,175,188,186,186,186,186,169,169,169,187,178,186, 190,192,173,167,174,214,180,185,189,183,188,234,198]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. a3 Be7 7. Be3 O-O 8. Be2 Qc7 9. f4 d6 10. g4 { An interesting sac - whether it's a good one is unclear.} Nxd4 11. Qxd4 e5 12. Qd2 Nxg4 13. Bxg4 Bxg4 14. f5 Bh4+ 15. Bf2 Bxf2+ 16. Qxf2 d5 $2 {Moves like this are often very good. At the cost of the backward pawn (which was an extra pawn) Black aims to open the board for his major pieces. With White's king looking a little suspicious, this makes sense. What he failed to take into account, however, was not so much the material element as that of time. White's knight is not just good on d5 as an end in itself, but because of its proximity to the Black king. This logical but flawed pawn sac brings the game from a very complicated equality to a clearly winning position for White.} 17. Rg1 $1 Bh5 18. Nxd5 {Threatening the queen and a fork on f6.} Qc4 {Jettisoning the piece in hopes of counterplay.} (18... Qc6 $4 19. Ne7+ $18) (18... Qd6 19. Qh4 $1 Qh6 (19... Qc5 20. Rg2 $18) 20. Qxh5 $1 Qxh5 21. Nf6+ Kh8 22. Nxh5 $18) (18... Qa5+ 19. b4 Qa6 20. b5 Qa5+ 21. Qd2 Qxd2+ 22. Kxd2 f6 {looks like the best Black can do. Here he'll get to lose a slow game, e.g. after} 23. c4 $18 { and the mobilization of White's queenside majority.}) 19. Nf6+ Kh8 20. Nxh5 Qxe4+ 21. Kf1 {Counterplay over.} Rad8 22. Rxg7 Rd6 23. Re1 Qc4+ 24. Qe2 $5 { It might seem that this is the simple way, swapping queens, but oddly enough White is going to return his extra piece.} (24. Kg1 $1 {is best, but only if White spots the subtle follow-up.} Rh6 25. Rg2 $3 Rxh5 26. Qg3 {Sneaky and nice - but the line's not over yet.} Qd4+ 27. Kh1 e4 {Now g7 is covered.} 28. Reg1 {Threatening mate in two starting with 29.Qg8+.} h6 29. Qg4 {Black's rook is almost trapped.} Rg5 30. Qh4 $18 {Finally, Black is out of meaningful defensive resources, and he will suffer significant material losses or get mated. (Or both.)}) 24... Qxe2+ 25. Rxe2 Rh6 26. Rg5 $1 f6 27. Nxf6 $1 Rhxf6 28. Rxe5 h6 29. Rh5 {The awkward state of White's rook on h5 is temporary, and does not compensate Black for his two-pawn deficit. White's victory is inevitable.} Kg7 30. Ke2 Rb6 31. b3 Rc8 32. Kd1 Rd6+ 33. Kc1 Rdc6 34. Re2 R8c7 35. a4 Rc3 36. Kb2 Rf3 37. Rg2+ 1-0