[Event "Tata Steel Challengers"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2024.01.27"] [Round "12.3"] [White "Salem, A.R. Saleh"] [Black "Mendonca, Leon Luke"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C11"] [WhiteElo "2630"] [BlackElo "2608"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "110"] [EventDate "2024.01.13"] {[%evp 0,110,23,27,43,30,18,39,57,48,35,26,20,32,-11,13,35,20,7,-9,-6,-34,-9,-34,-33,-29,-13,-32,-37,-43,-13,-32,-37,-37,0,-9,36,7,10,-94,24,23,53,10,18,-67,-53,-75,-76,-77,-69,-51,-69,-59,-69,-59,-27,-72,2,-18,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,-77,-70,0,0,0,-22,-46,-46,-45,-23,-119,-107,-128,-102,-168,-171,-200,-200,-220,-210,-174,-217,-206,-247,-205,-204,-326,-387,-400,-404,-576,-540,-529,-392,-418,-443,-563,-614,-732,-516,-516,-1047,-1054,-385,-385,-385]} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 a6 8. Qd2 b5 9. h4 Bb7 10. Qf2 Qb6 11. Rh3 Qa5 12. h5 Be7 13. Bd2 Qc7 14. Ne2 O-O (14... cxd4 15. Nexd4 O-O 16. Be3 Nc5 17. Nxc6 Qxc6 18. Nd4 Qc7 19. Bd3 Ne4 {There are blunders in regular over the board chess all the time, as we all know from personal experience. But blunders of a different sort happen with some regularity in email games, e.g. typos. My understanding of the ICCF server is that it prompts you after you enter a move, asking if you're sure. It seems that White treated it the way everyone treats the "I have read the terms and conditions" legalese when installing a new app, clicked "Okay", and then perhaps swore a blue streak once he realized what he had done.} 20. Kf1 $4 (20. Qf1 $11 {is presumably what White intended.}) 20... Nxf2 21. Kxf2 Bc5 22. h6 g6 23. c3 Rae8 24. g4 f6 25. exf6 Rxf6 26. Kg2 e5 27. fxe5 Qxe5 28. Re1 Rff8 29. Rg3 Bd6 30. Rh3 Bc8 31. Bd2 Qxe1 32. Bxe1 Rxe1 {0-1 Wenzel,A (2325)-Chronopoulos,A (2316) EU-ch 2022 sf03 email ICCF email}) 15. O-O-O cxd4 16. Nexd4 b4 17. Kb1 a5 (17... Nc5 $142 $11 {followed by ...Ne4, and only then ...a5.}) 18. Nxc6 Bxc6 19. f5 $5 $14 exf5 $6 20. Qg3 $16 Kh8 $1 21. Nd4 (21. Bf4 $142) 21... Bc5 22. Nxf5 $2 (22. c3 $1 $16) 22... Qxe5 $11 23. Qg4 Rg8 24. Bd3 Rae8 25. Qh4 h6 26. Rf3 Be7 27. Qf2 Bf6 28. Bc1 (28. c3 $1 Rgf8 $8 $11) 28... a4 (28... Re6 $142) 29. Re3 Qb8 30. Rxe8 Rxe8 31. Nxh6 $1 gxh6 32. Qf5 Kg7 33. Qh7+ (33. Bxh6+ Kxh6 34. Qh7+ Kg5 {looks scary, but White has nothing more than a draw here.} 35. Qf5+ Kh6 36. Qh7+ Kg5 37. Qf5+ Kh6 $11) 33... Kf8 34. Bg6 $1 Ne5 $8 35. Re1 $1 Bg7 $1 36. Bxh6 Bxh6 37. Qxh6+ Ke7 38. Bf5 $2 (38. Qf4 $1 $11 {was necessary, and now Black has more than way to steer the game to a draw.}) 38... Bd7 $19 {Now Black's king will escape, and White's one pawn isn't enough for the knight.} 39. Qg5+ Kd6 40. Qf6+ Kc5 41. Bxd7 Nxd7 42. Qf2+ Kc6 43. Rc1 Qe5 44. Qd2 Rb8 45. h6 a3 46. c3 axb2 47. Rc2 bxc3 48. Rxc3+ Nc5 49. Rc2 Qf5 50. Qe2 d4 51. g4 Qd5 {Threatening ...Qxa2+.} 52. Qf1 d3 53. Rd2 Ne4 54. Rxd3 Nd2+ 55. Rxd2 Qxd2 {White isn't close to making a perpetual check, and if nothing else Black can play ...Qc1+, trade queens, and then round up the kingside pawns with ...Rh8 (meeting g5 with ...f6).} 0-1 [Event "Tata Steel Challengers"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2024.01.27"] [Round "12.4"] [White "Maurizzi, Marc'Andria"] [Black "Dardha, Daniel"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2572"] [BlackElo "2602"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "116"] [EventDate "2024.01.13"] {[%evp 0,116,27,27,34,32,86,67,67,32,28,28,73,43,58,45,59,12,51,18,16,8,-11,0,6,4,6,6,4,12,2,-4,-4,-4,37,8,3,-10,-7,-2,-2,-53,-51,-34,-24,-24,-13,-56,-61,-99,-77,-77,-72,-67,-57,-70,-49,-81,-53,-71,-16,-182,-120,-115,-100,-119,-118,-115,-120,-131,-140,-129,-129,-154,-97,-88,-88,-96,-103,-129,-133,-129,-144,-175,-171,-175,-178,-178,-263,-217,-217,-216,-221,-220,-226,-233,-245,-233,-217,-225,-188,-189,-196,-198,-209,-223,-253,-249,-246,-261,-181,-175,-181,-180,-182,-183,-568,-1012,-1012]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Nf3 $5 {A funny way to cut the Gordian Knot. There are many White 6th moves that are met by 6...e5, when White can go for a plan to conquer the d5 square starting with 7.Nf3, intending moves like Bg5xf6 and Bc4. But what should White's 6th move be? If you start with 6.Bc4 or 6.Bg5, Black will almost always play 6...e6, and there's no d5 square to conquer. If you play 6.Be2, you're wasting a tempo going to c4 a few moves later; likewise, 6.Be3 followed by a later Bg5 also wastes a tempo. There are other tries (e.g. 6.a4), but White decides to switch things around: he'll just retreat the knight to f3 and wait for Black to play ...e5. The only problem is, what if he doesn't?} Nbd7 $1 {Looks sensible.} ({I suppose a further idea of 6.Nf3 is to meet} 6... e6 {with} 7. e5) ({; likewise} 6... g6 $2 {is not just met but punished by} 7. e5 $1 $16 {/+- So there's more to 6.Nf3 than waiting for 6...e5, though it still looks a little suspicious after Dardha's 6...Nbd7.}) 7. a4 g6 8. Bd3 b6 9. O-O Bg7 10. Re1 Bb7 11. Bf4 O-O 12. Qd2 Nc5 13. Bh6 Rc8 $11 {White's position is not worse, but it doesn't look particularly appealing, either.} 14. Bxg7 Kxg7 15. b4 Ncd7 16. Nd5 e5 $1 17. c4 a5 $1 {Black's last two moves carve out control over dark squares like c5 and (hopefully) d4.} 18. h3 (18. Rab1) 18... axb4 19. Qxb4 Nc5 20. Bf1 (20. Bc2 $11 {is probably better, keeping a closer eye on the e-pawn.}) 20... Rb8 $1 $15 21. Nd2 Bc6 22. Ra3 Nfd7 $5 23. Nb1 f5 24. exf5 Bxd5 25. cxd5 Rxf5 $11 26. Bb5 Nf6 27. Nc3 Nh5 28. Bf1 Nf4 29. Ne4 Qh4 30. Qd2 $5 {An interesting exchange sac.} (30. Qc4 $11) (30. a5 Nxd5 31. Qc4 Nxe4 32. g3 $11 {is a computers-r-us variation.}) (30. Qb1 $11) (30. Rg3 $11) 30... Nxe4 31. Rxe4 Nxh3+ 32. Rxh3 Qxe4 33. Qh6+ Kf6 34. Qxh7 $2 (34. Bd3 {was necessary. This forces Black to return the material, but he's somewhat better in the ending arising after} Qf4 $1 35. Bxf5 Qxh6 36. Rxh6 Kxf5 37. f3 $8 Rb7 38. Rh4 $8 $15) 34... Qd4 $1 $19 {White is lost. His attack is over, and while Black's king isn't ideally placed he should manage to consolidate and convert his advantage.} 35. Re3 Rc8 (35... Rf8 {is even stronger.}) 36. Qd7 Rc1 37. Qxd6+ Kg7 38. Qe7+ Rf7 39. Qxe5+ Qxe5 40. Rxe5 {If White's bishop were functioning properly he might be okay. It's not, so he's not.} Rf5 41. Re7+ Kf8 42. d6 Rd5 43. Rc7 Re1 $1 44. Re7 Ra1 45. Re3 Rxd6 {Winning not just the one pawn but the second as well, as White must defend against the threatened ...Rdd1.} 46. f4 Rxa4 {The rest is elementary, given the outside passed pawn.} 47. Rf3 Rf6 48. g3 Ra2 49. Rf2 Rxf2 50. Kxf2 Ke7 51. Ke3 Re6+ 52. Kd4 Re1 53. Bd3 Kf6 54. g4 Rg1 55. g5+ Kg7 56. Kd5 Rd1 57. Ke4 {Now a nice finish:} Rxd3 $1 58. Kxd3 {Only one move wins here, and Dardha finds it. (Of course, he would have found it before playing 57...Rxd3, which would otherwise have been inexcusably irresponsible!)} b5 $1 (58... Kf7 $2 59. Ke4 $1 {Never mind the b-pawn!} Ke6 60. f5+ $1 gxf5+ 61. Kf4 $1 b5 62. g6 b4 (62... Kf6 63. g7 Kxg7 64. Kxf5 $11 {and White's king is in the square of the b-pawn.}) 63. Kg5 $1 b3 64. Kh6 $1 $11 {Both sides queen, and the resulting ending is a tablebase draw.}) (58... b5 $1 59. Kd4 (59. Ke4 b4 $1 {and now White is too late with f5, e.g.} 60. f5 gxf5+ 61. Kxf5 b3 $19) 59... Kf7 60. Kc5 Ke6 61. Kxb5 Kf5 62. Kc4 Kxf4 63. Kd3 Kxg5 64. Ke3 Kg4 65. Kf2 Kh3 66. Kg1 Kg3 $19) 0-1 [Event "Tata Steel Challengers"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2024.01.28"] [Round "13.2"] [White "Dardha, Daniel"] [Black "Vrolijk, Liam"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D00"] [WhiteElo "2602"] [BlackElo "2573"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "43"] [EventDate "2024.01.13"] {[%evp 0,43,27,27,23,21,24,27,67,21,21,4,0,16,21,6,106,45,154,117,146,134,146,137,144,161,141,126,123,135,108,104,119,151,211,187,194,199,203,223,209,204,173,175,183,167]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 d5 3. e3 c5 4. dxc5 e6 5. b4 a5 6. c3 axb4 7. cxb4 b6 $4 {In many positions where a player has (temporarily) sacrificed the c-pawn, this undermining move is completely correct. Here it's a blunder, and one which quite a few grandmasters have fallen into (Jobava, Hracek, Rychagov, Alsina Leal, Zierk, and now Vrolijk). Bizarrely, IM Korchmar has fallen into it at least twice!} (7... Bd7 {first and only after} 8. Nd2 {should Black play} b6 {, with an equal but complex position after} 9. cxb6 Bxb4 10. Bc7 Qe7 $11) 8. Bxb8 $1 Rxb8 9. Bb5+ $18 {Blocking on d7 with a minor piece loses at least that piece after 10.c6 (because if that piece moves away, then 10.c7+ wins Black's queen), so Black is forced to play the horrible 9...Ke7.} Ke7 10. c6 {White is winning, and while Black wriggles there's not much he can do. White plays well, keeps control, and cashes in.} Qd6 11. a3 Ne8 12. Nc3 Nc7 13. Nge2 g6 14. O-O Bg7 15. Rc1 Rd8 16. Bd3 b5 17. Nd4 Bxd4 18. exd4 Ba6 19. Qg4 Kf8 20. Ne2 Rb6 21. Qg5 Ne8 22. Rc5 1-0 [Event "Tata Steel Challengers"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2024.01.28"] [Round "13.4"] [White "L'Ami, Erwin"] [Black "Maurizzi, Marc'Andria"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B22"] [WhiteElo "2627"] [BlackElo "2572"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "58"] [EventDate "2024.01.13"] {[%evp 0,58,27,27,44,52,47,22,24,24,20,25,25,25,119,-33,-42,32,50,33,66,17,53,-9,7,-28,16,-5,36,29,19,21,17,-29,-37,0,0,0,-17,0,-17,-10,-7,-57,11,11,13,-5,2,-11,6,-21,12,13,5,5,5,0,5,0,0]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. c3 {This is not what you want to see as Black in a must-win situation.} d5 4. exd5 Qxd5 5. d4 Nf6 6. Na3 Nc6 7. Be3 cxd4 8. Nb5 Qd8 9. Nbxd4 {All the more so here. In many Alapin lines White has an isolated d-pawn Black can hope to play against. No such luck here.} Nd5 10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. Bd2 Rb8 12. Qc2 $146 {Maybe l'Ami mixed up his move order?} (12. c4 Nf6 13. Qc2 Qb6 14. O-O-O Ne4 15. Be3 Bc5 16. Re1 Bxe3+ 17. Rxe3 Nc5 18. Bd3 f6 19. Rd1 $11 {/? has been usual, with White having little to complain about.}) 12... Qb6 13. b4 Ba6 (13... Bd6 $142) (13... Qc7 $142) 14. a3 $1 $14 Bxf1 15. Rxf1 Qa6 (15... a5 $142) 16. Qe4 $2 (16. c4 $1 $16 {looks like a blunder, but it's a very strong move.} Nxb4 $2 17. Qc3 $1 $18 {wins the trapped knight. Because the rook on a1 is now protected, Black doesn't have time to extricate the knight with a move like 17...c5.}) 16... Be7 $11 (16... Bd6 $142 $15) 17. Qe2 Qa4 18. Qd1 Qa6 19. Qe2 Qb7 20. Ne5 O-O 21. f4 {Looking to castle by hand.} Bh4+ 22. g3 Bf6 23. Kf2 Rfd8 24. Rfd1 Qc7 25. Rac1 Nb6 26. Ng4 Be7 (26... Nd7 $142) 27. Ne5 {L'Ami has content to force a draw, and while Black can play on without undue risk he's not doing so from a position of strength.} (27. c4 $142 $14) 27... Bf6 28. Ng4 Be7 29. Ne5 Bf6 1/2-1/2 [Event "Tata Steel Challengers"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2024.01.28"] [Round "13.5"] [White "Mendonca, Leon Luke"] [Black "Divya, Deshmukh"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B45"] [WhiteElo "2608"] [BlackElo "2420"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate "2024.01.13"] {[%evp 0,59,27,42,47,36,47,47,47,47,47,47,35,26,42,42,42,27,22,29,-7,-39,-19,-25,19,19,18,43,53,61,75,63,75,-18,75,33,48,18,31,12,46,-49,28,-64,11,-11,39,39,129,61,-8,-50,-22,-62,-62,-62,-9,-9,0,27,246,247]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Nf6 {This branch of the Sicilian has become trendy with Carlsen, Kramnik, MVL, and Abdusattorov among its regular adherents in recent months.} 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. e5 Nd5 8. Ne4 Qc7 (8... Bb7 {is an important alternative.}) 9. f4 Qb6 10. c4 Bb4+ 11. Ke2 {It looks weird the first few times you see it, but it's standard. The king will often go even further, to f3, but then often settles down to a comfortable bourgeois existence after g3 and Kg2 (or sometimes h3, Kg3-h2).} f5 12. exf6 (12. Nf2 Ba6 13. Kf3 Ne7 14. Be3 Bc5 15. Bxc5 Qxc5 16. Qd6 Qb6 17. b3 c5 18. Rd1 Bb7+ {and now the king is happy to go to either e3 or g3, with plenty of games in both cases.}) 12... Nxf6 13. Be3 Qd8 14. Nd6+ Bxd6 15. Qxd6 Bb7 16. Kd1 {This is also very well known.} c5 17. Qxc5 Be4 18. Be2 d6 {A slight inaccuracy, perhaps, but Black is in good company as Praggnanandhaa played this way against MVL in 2021.} (18... Rc8 {is the most common move, and probably best.}) 19. Qd4 $14 O-O 20. b4 $6 $146 {Perhaps Mendonca was surprised by 18...d6? The move makes sense, as Black wants to play ...a5, which can now be met by b5. But it's also a bit slow, and Black can take advantage of this.} (20. Kc1 $14 Qc7 21. b3 e5 22. fxe5 dxe5 23. Qc5 Qb7 24. Kb2 Nd5 25. cxd5 Rfc8 26. Rac1 Rxc5 27. Rxc5 h6 28. d6 Bxg2 29. Rd1 Qe4 30. Bc4+ Kh8 31. d7 Qxe3 32. Rc8+ Kh7 33. d8=Q {1-0 Vachier Lagrave,M (2749)-Praggnanandhaa,R (2608) FIDE World Cup Krasnaya Polyana 2021 (4.2)}) (20. Bf3 $14) 20... Qe8 $1 21. a4 $1 e5 $11 {Not bad.} (21... Qg6 22. Kc1 Rac8 $15 {and Black has active ideas like ...e5 and ...Nd5, exploiting White's overextended pawns and the empty space between the pawns and White's unsafe king.}) 22. Qd2 $2 (22. fxe5 {is hard to play, but at the moment it's more important to keep the e-file closed than the d-file.} dxe5 23. Qb2 $11) 22... exf4 23. Bxf4 Bxg2 24. Rg1 Ne4 $1 $19 {White is lost, but fortunately for him the position is messy enough for Black to go badly astray.} 25. Qd5+ Kh8 26. Kc2 Nf2 27. Rxg2 Qxe2+ $4 {Obvious, but bad - surprisingly, but bad all the same.} (27... Rxf4 $1 28. Bf1 Rc8 $19 {One powerful arrow in Black's quiver is ...Ng4, looking to jump into e3 or e5.}) 28. Bd2 $18 Rac8 29. Re1 $1 Rxc4+ $2 (29... Qxc4+ 30. Qxc4 Rxc4+ 31. Kb3 Rcc8 32. Be3 {is better for Black than the game, but White is still clearly winning.} Ne4 (32... Nd3 33. Rd1 Ne5 34. Rf2 $18 {doesn't "feel" lost, but it is. White will regain the sacrificed pawn, and his queenside pawns matter while Black's kingside majority doesn't.}) 33. Bd4 Nf6 34. Re7 Ne8 (34... Rg8 $2 35. Rgxg7 Rxg7 36. Bxf6) 35. b5 $18 {Black is just about paralyzed here, and the combination of threats against g7 with the advance of White's queenside pawns will soon result in Black's capitulation.}) 30. Kb3 $1 ({After} 30. Kb3 $1 {Black may have counted on} Rf3+ {, but White's king simply retreats, and after} 31. Ka2 {not only are all of Black's pieces under attack, there are back rank problems as well (32.Qa8+ mates). That means that although} Rc2+ 32. Kb1 Rxd2 {looks good as far as material is concerned, it's a more or less immediate loss after} 33. Qa8+ {. A narrow escape for Mendonca, whose win in this game (combined with Maurizzi's only making a draw against l'Ami) gave him first place in the tournament and qualification for next year's Masters group.}) 1-0