[Event "8th Sinquefield Cup 2021"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2021.08.23"] [Round "6"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Vachier Lagrave, Maxime"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2806"] [BlackElo "2751"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "91"] [EventDate "2021.08.16"] {[%evp 0,91,28,25,57,60,69,53,48,32,32,36,44,25,45,23,23,33,33,16,30,20,16,12, 12,27,12,35,27,10,0,-1,6,-33,-30,-42,-18,-18,-42,-42,-20,-21,0,0,29,-6,3,3,3, 17,17,17,17,-48,-83,-83,-36,-66,22,19,19,26,14,2,27,13,13,13,55,14,0,0,0,0,0,0, 29,10,29,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8. f3 Be7 9. Qd2 O-O 10. O-O-O Nbd7 11. g4 b5 12. g5 Nh5 13. Kb1 Nb6 14. Na5 Rc8 15. a3 g6 16. h4 Ng3 17. Rg1 (17. Rh2 { is more common, but correspondence chess seems to show that this is a big nothing for White, with correct play by Black.} Nxf1 18. Rxf1 Na4 19. Nxa4 bxa4 20. Rd1 {happened in 11 games, all drawn.}) 17... Nxf1 18. Rgxf1 Na4 19. Nxa4 bxa4 {This position has arisen 13 times. Carlsen defeated Aronian with Black, a relatively low-rated game back in 2011 finished in a win for White, and the other 11 were drawn.} 20. h5 Qc7 (20... Qd7 $6 {was only played once, by Carlsen. He eventually won a long rapid game against Aronian, but not because of this move.}) 21. Rh1 Rfe8 22. Qh2 Bf8 23. c4 Re7 24. Bd2 Bxc4 25. Bb4 Rd7 26. f4 $146 {Here MVL thought for around 13 minutes, but then cranked out his next few moves immediately. So he didn't seem to be out of his prep here, but was more likely just reviewing and checking things.} (26. Nxc4 Qxc4 27. hxg6 ( 27. Qh3 Rb7 28. hxg6 fxg6 29. Rd5 Qc2+ 30. Ka1 Re8 31. Rb1 Qc6 32. Qf1 Rc8 33. Rbd1 Rb5 34. R5d3 Rbb8 35. Rd5 Rb5 {1/2-1/2 (35) Burzhanetskaya,S-Sukhanitskij, S (2175) ICCF email 2018}) 27... fxg6 28. Qh3 Qf7 29. Rd5 Rc4 (29... Rc6 30. Rhd1 {1/2-1/2 (30) Szijarto,A (2294)-Janisch,M (2416) ICCF email 2017}) 30. Rhd1 Rcc7 31. Bxd6 Bxd6 32. Rxd6 Rxd6 33. Rxd6 Rc1+ 34. Kxc1 Qc7+ 35. Kb1 Qxd6 36. Qc8+ Kg7 37. Qb7+ {1/2-1/2 (37) Szijarto,A (2294)-Voiculescu,C (2458) ICCF email 2017}) 26... Bb5 (26... Be6 {is also playable, trying not to allow White a quick and easy f4-f5.} 27. hxg6 fxg6 28. fxe5 dxe5 29. Rc1 Qb8 30. Rxc8 Qxc8 31. Qxe5 {is a possible continuation, and now the wry} Qe8 {looks like a good option. The immediate threat is ...Ba2+, winning White's queen, and the real point is to play ...Bxb4. White must play} 32. Nc6 {, and now Black can choose between 32...Bg7 and} Bxb4 {for his bishop. After} 33. axb4 Rf7 34. Rc1 $11 { the position is equal, so if you play the Najdorf and 26...Bb5 makes you nervous, this looks like a fully satisfactory alternative.}) 27. hxg6 fxg6 28. f5 Rg7 $1 29. f6 ({The immediate} 29. Qd2 {is also possible. If Black doesn't take on f5 a transposition is possible, but Black does have the option of taking it.} gxf5 30. exf5 Qd7 31. f6 Rg6 {is still complicated and still equal. }) 29... Rf7 30. Qd2 Qd7 31. Qd5 Be2 (31... h6) ({and} 31... h5 {are also possible,with a likely ...Be2 coming up.}) 32. Rc1 Rxc1+ 33. Rxc1 h5 {Here Caruana thought for more than 50 minutes before choosing his move.} 34. Nc4 $1 (34. Nc6 {is another possibility, with the very sneaky threat of 35.Bxd6! followed by 36.Ne7+, so Black must play} Bg4 $1 $11 {to protect the queen. White has various options available here: 35.Qa5 (to play 36.Nd8 and then return the queen to d5), 35.Be1 to first prevent the h-pawn from going any further and only then looking for his own ideas, and 35.Ne7+, which leads to liquidations and a very likely draw.}) 34... Bxc4 $6 (34... a5 $3 {is Black's best, diverting White's minor pieces from d6.} 35. Nxa5 (35. Nxd6 axb4 36. Rc8 Bd3+ 37. Ka1 (37. Qxd3 Kh7 38. Qd5 Bxd6 39. Rd8 Qa7 40. Rxd6 Qg1+ 41. Kc2 (41. Qd1 Qxg5 42. axb4 Rxf6 $11) 41... Rc7+ 42. Rc6 b3+ 43. Kd2 Qxg5+ 44. Kd3 Ra7 $11)) 35... Bg4 36. Nc6 h4 37. Qb5 Bf3 38. Qd5 Bg4 $11) 35. Rxc4 h4 36. Rc2 $6 (36. Rc1 $3 h3 37. Rc2 $1 Kh8 38. Rh2 Rh7 39. Ka1 $1 Qg4 40. Ka2 $1 {These absurdly subtle moves are practically impossible to find at the board, and even if one does it's still not clear that White wins against perfect defense. Readers, any improvements?} Qg3 (40... Qd7 41. Qc4 $16) 41. Rh1 (41. Qe6 Qb3+ 42. Qxb3 axb3+ 43. Kxb3 Rh4 44. Ka4 Kg8 45. Ka5 Rxe4 46. Rxh3 {transposes.}) 41... Qb3+ $8 42. Qxb3 axb3+ 43. Kxb3 Rh4 44. Ka4 Kg8 45. Ka5 Rxe4 46. Rxh3 Re2 47. Rb3 d5 48. Kxa6 d4 49. Ba5 e4 50. Rb8 Kf7 51. b4 e3 52. Rd8 Ra2 53. Rxd4 e2 54. Re4 Rxa3 55. Kb6 Rg3 56. Rxe2 Rxg5 57. b5 Kxf6 {Practically, White is better, but it's hard to believe that at worst Black can't give up his bishop for White's b-pawn at some point, with a theoretical draw.}) (36. Rc6 $1 h3 37. Rc2 $1 {is the same thing.}) 36... h3 37. Ka2 Kh8 $2 (37... Qb7 38. Rh2 Qxd5+ 39. exd5 Rh7 $11 {/+/=}) (37... Qb5 38. Rh2 Qxd5+ {is the same.}) 38. Rd2 $2 ( 38. Rh2 $1 Rh7 39. Qc4 $1 {Caruana didn't see why this move was so strong - understandably, due both to the subtlety of the variations and to his being short of time by this point.} Qg4 (39... Rh5 40. Bd2 Rh4 41. Ka1 $1 d5 $1 42. Qxa6 $1 Kg8 43. Qd3 Kf7 44. Bb4 Bxb4 45. axb4 Rh5 46. b5 Rxg5 47. Rxh3 Kxf6 48. Rh1 $18) 40. Bd2 $1 Qg3 41. Qc8 Qb3+ (41... Kg8 42. Qe6+ Kh8 43. Qe8 $18 { is a key point. White hits f8 *and* g6, so ...Kg8 doesn't help.}) 42. Ka1 $1 Kg8 43. Rh1 Qb7 44. Qc4+ Qf7 45. Qxa4 h2 46. Qxa6 Qb3 47. Qe2 $18) 38... Rh7 39. Bxd6 {Settling on a draw.} (39. Rh2 Qg4 $132) 39... Qxd6 (39... Bxd6 $4 { is not interchangeable with the text!} 40. Qa8+ {mates.}) (39... h2 {, however, also results in a draw.} 40. Bxf8 Qxd5+ 41. Rxd5 h1=Q 42. Rd8 Kg8 43. Bh6+ Kf7 44. Rd7+ Ke6 (44... Kg8 45. Rxh7 Kxh7 46. f7 Qd1 47. f8=Q Qb3+ 48. Kb1 Qd1+ $11 ) 45. Rxh7 Qxe4 46. f7 Qd5+ 47. Kb1 Qd1+ 48. Ka2 Qb3+ $11) 40. Qxd6 Bxd6 41. Rxd6 Kg8 (41... h2 $4 42. Rd8#) (41... Rh5 $4 42. Rd8+ Kh7 43. f7 h2 44. f8=Q h1=Q 45. Qf7#) 42. Rd8+ Kf7 43. Rd7+ Kg8 44. Rd8+ Kf7 45. Rd7+ Kg8 46. Rd8+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "8th Sinquefield Cup 2021"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2021.08.23"] [Round "6"] [White "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"] [Black "Svidler, Peter"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C53"] [WhiteElo "2758"] [BlackElo "2714"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "70"] [EventDate "2021.08.16"] {[%evp 0,70,30,38,6,13,21,17,31,10,-4,-7,5,-17,-16,-29,13,1,50,5,13,7,7,9,70, 44,58,53,2,21,58,49,30,40,40,21,74,18,127,127,98,89,48,59,35,30,61,9,3,-4,26,7, 24,24,14,3,42,19,15,5,6,8,7,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bh4 Qe7 8. O-O a6 9. b4 Ba7 10. Nbd2 g5 11. Bg3 Nh7 12. a4 h5 13. h4 g4 14. Ne1 Nf8 15. Nc2 Ng6 16. Ne3 Be6 17. b5 Nd8 18. d4 Nxh4 19. dxe5 dxe5 20. Bxe5 O-O 21. Bxe6 $6 (21. Qe1 $142 $14) (21. Rb1 $142 $14) 21... fxe6 22. Bd4 (22. Nxg4 $5 Qg5 23. Bf6 Rxf6 24. Nxf6+ Qxf6 25. Qxh5 Nf7 $15) (22. bxa6 bxa6 23. Nxg4 $15 {is essentially the same.}) 22... c5 ( 22... Ng6 $142 $15) 23. bxc6 Nxc6 24. Bxa7 Rxa7 25. Ndc4 $6 (25. f4 $142 gxf3 26. Nxf3 Raa8 $11) 25... Rd8 26. Qb3 $2 (26. Qe2 $15) 26... Raa8 $2 {What could be more natural? But this gave away a win - yes, a win!} (26... b5 $3 { Winning, believe it or not. The variations are fantastic.} 27. Nb6 (27. axb5 { Black would be clearly worse, were it not for} Nf3+ $3 28. gxf3 gxf3 29. Ng4 ( 29. bxc6 $2 Qg5+ 30. Kh1 Qh4+ 31. Kg1 Rg7+ {shows one of the main ideas behind 26...b5 - it clears the path for the rook to go from a7 to g7. Here, it's mate next move.}) 29... hxg4 30. Ne3 Re8 31. Rxa6 Rxa6 32. bxa6 Qh4 33. Qb7 g3 34. fxg3 Qxg3+ 35. Kh1 Kh8 $19) 27... Na5 28. Qb4 Qg5 29. Rfd1 (29. Qxa5 $2 Nf3+ 30. gxf3 gxf3+ 31. Kh2 Qh4+ 32. Kg1 Rg7+ 33. Ng2 Rxg2#) 29... Nf3+ 30. Kf1 (30. gxf3) 30... Nd2+ 31. Ke2 Rf7 32. Nbd5 (32. Rxd2 Rxf2+ 33. Kxf2 Rxd2+ $19) 32... Nc6 33. f4 (33. Qc5 Rxf2+ $1 34. Kxf2 Nxe4+ $19) 33... Qh4 34. Qc5 Nxe4 35. Qxc6 Qf2+ 36. Kd3 Rxd5+ 37. Nxd5 Nc5+ 38. Qxc5 Qxc5 $19) 27. Rfd1 {Now White is okay, and the draw comes quickly.} Kh8 28. Rab1 Rxd1+ 29. Qxd1 Rd8 30. Qb3 Ng6 31. Rb2 Rd7 32. Nb6 Rd8 33. Nbc4 Rd7 34. Nb6 Rd8 (34... Rc7 35. Na8 Rc8 36. Nb6 Rb8 $15) 35. Nbc4 Rd7 1/2-1/2 [Event "8th Sinquefield Cup 2021"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2021.08.23"] [Round "6"] [White "Xiong, Jeffery"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D02"] [WhiteElo "2710"] [BlackElo "2772"] [PlyCount "111"] [EventDate "2021.08.16"] {[%evp 0,88,38,28,29,19,26,27,20,18,21,21,11,10,23,19,38,24,36,31,21,33,30,5, 13,8,28,16,36,36,36,20,33,27,37,6,6,0,0,31,46,34,34,38,43,45,54,48,53,25,19,43, 42,13,63,47,38,49,33,25,38,52,25,21,13,24,24,27,29,27,39,13,10,17,15,10,10,8, 11,14,11,16,22,15,21,13,12,8,15,15,14]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Bf4 e6 4. e3 Bd6 5. Nbd2 O-O 6. Bd3 c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. O-O Nbd7 9. c4 b6 10. Rc1 Bb7 11. Qe2 Rc8 12. Rfd1 Qe7 13. cxd5 e5 14. Bg5 Bxd5 15. Ba6 Rcd8 16. Nc4 Bc6 17. a3 h6 18. Bh4 Ba4 19. Re1 e4 20. Nd4 Bxd4 21. exd4 Nb8 22. Ne3 Nxa6 23. Qxa6 Qd7 24. Qc4 Rc8 25. Qb4 Nh5 26. Bg3 Bc6 27. d5 Bb7 28. Qxe4 Nf6 29. Qd3 Nxd5 30. Rxc8 Rxc8 31. Nf5 Re8 32. Rxe8+ Qxe8 33. h3 Qd7 34. Bb8 Bc6 35. Bg3 Nf6 36. Qxd7 Bxd7 37. Nd4 Nd5 38. Kf1 Ne7 39. Bb8 a6 40. Bc7 b5 41. Ke2 f6 42. Kd3 Kf7 43. Ke4 g6 44. f3 Nf5 45. Nxf5 Bxf5+ 46. Kd4 b4 47. axb4 h5 48. g4 Bd7 49. Ke3 hxg4 50. hxg4 f5 51. gxf5 Bxf5 52. Kd4 Bd7 53. Ke3 Bf5 54. Kd4 Be6 55. Ke3 Bf5 56. Kd4 1/2-1/2 [Event "8th Sinquefield Cup 2021"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2021.08.23"] [Round "6"] [White "Shankland, Sam"] [Black "Rapport, Richard"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C45"] [WhiteElo "2709"] [BlackElo "2763"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "93"] [EventDate "2021.08.16"] {[%evp 0,93,38,34,33,25,22,27,27,-4,32,3,1,3,32,45,8,-7,22,7,-3,-7,2,-25,13, -14,1,7,0,14,16,-2,-5,-17,-17,-11,2,0,3,-22,-36,-34,-5,-33,-37,-23,-29,0,-23, -19,-3,-25,-33,-13,-43,-43,-34,-46,-47,-47,-22,-44,-39,-59,-50,-65,-52,-52,-49, -67,-53,-47,-44,-37,-57,-61,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,11,0,0,0,20,0,0,0]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Nb3 Bb6 6. Qe2 Qf6 7. Nc3 Nge7 8. h4 d6 9. Bg5 Qe6 10. O-O-O Bd7 11. Qd2 O-O-O 12. f3 h6 13. Be3 Bxe3 14. Qxe3 Kb8 15. Bb5 f5 16. Qd2 fxe4 17. Rhe1 Qg6 18. Rxe4 a6 19. Bf1 Rhe8 20. Rde1 Nf5 (20... Qg3 $1 21. Ne2 Qh2 $1 $17 {It's an odd thing to do with the queen, but it's safe on h2 while causing some havoc in the heart of White's kingside.}) 21. Bd3 Rxe4 (21... Ne5 $142) 22. Bxe4 Qg3 23. h5 Re8 (23... Nfe7 $142 $15) 24. Nd5 $6 {Another chance for Rapport to obtain a serious advantage.} (24. a3 $15) (24. Rd1 $15) 24... Qg5 $2 (24... Nfe7 $17) 25. Qxg5 hxg5 26. Kd2 $11 Ng3 27. Bg6 Rh8 28. f4 $2 {And yet another chance...} (28. Ne7 $1 Ne5 29. Nc5 $1 $11) 28... gxf4 29. Nxf4 Ne5 (29... Rf8 $142 30. Ke3 Ne5 $17) 30. Nc1 Bc6 $6 (30... Kc8 $142 $17) 31. Ncd3 Nxh5 32. Bxh5 Nxd3 33. Kxd3 g5 34. Bf3 gxf4 (34... Bxf3 35. Ng6 Rh6 36. gxf3 Rxg6 37. Rg1 Rf6 38. Rxg5 Rxf3+ 39. Kd2 {is a theoretical draw, though Black can make White suffer indefinitely.}) 35. Bxc6 bxc6 36. Re2 d5 37. Rf2 Rg8 38. Kd4 Rg5 39. Kc5 Kb7 40. Rxf4 Rxg2 41. Rb4+ Kc8 42. Kxc6 Rxc2+ 43. Kxd5 Rd2+ 44. Kc6 Rc2+ 45. Kd5 Rd2+ 46. Kc6 Rc2+ 47. Kd5 1/2-1/2 [Event "8th Sinquefield Cup 2021"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2021.08.23"] [Round "6"] [White "Swiercz, Dariusz"] [Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C67"] [WhiteElo "2655"] [BlackElo "2782"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "83"] [EventDate "2021.08.16"] {[%evp 0,83,34,25,25,21,14,8,22,18,47,31,46,3,3,16,13,21,27,27,59,4,-6,-5,35, 30,26,33,42,36,39,37,53,53,52,58,58,52,51,74,67,48,31,43,37,33,44,62,20,42,22, 3,-6,-24,-18,-24,-13,-15,-6,0,5,7,3,-18,-8,-7,0,2,2,-4,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0, 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 Nxe5 8. Rxe5 O-O 9. Nc3 Ne8 10. Nd5 Bd6 11. Re1 Nf6 $6 (11... c6 {is well-known and has proven repeatedly over the years to give Black a good position. Mamedyarov presumably wants to keep things a touch more complicated in the hopes of outplaying his lower-rated opponent. (He didn't succeed.)} 12. Ne3 Be7 13. Nf5 (13. c4 Nc7 14. d4 d5 15. cxd5 Bb4 16. Bd2 Bxd2 17. Qxd2 Nxd5 18. Nxd5 Qxd5 19. Re5 Qd6 20. Bc4 Bd7 21. Rae1 {has also led to a lot of draws after} Rae8 ({and} 21... b5 {.})) 13... Bg5 (13... Bf6 14. Qe2 d5 15. Ne7+ Kh8 16. Nxc8 Rxc8 17. d3 $14) 14. d4 Bxc1 15. Rxc1 d5 16. Ne7+ Kh8 17. Nxc8 Rxc8 { and the draw is a-comin'. Case in point:} 18. c3 Nd6 19. Bd3 Re8 20. Re5 Qd7 21. Qf3 f6 22. Ree1 Rxe1+ 23. Rxe1 Re8 24. Rxe8+ Qxe8 25. Kf1 Qe6 26. Qh5 f5 27. Qg5 g6 28. Qd8+ Kg7 29. Qc7+ Kh6 30. Qd8 Kg7 31. Qc7+ Kh6 32. Qd8 Kg7 { ½-½ (32) Bacrot,E (2678)-So,W (2770) Paris 2021 (rapid)}) 12. Nxf6+ Qxf6 13. d4 b6 14. Qg4 Bb7 15. Bd3 h6 16. Bd2 c5 17. Bc3 Qf4 $6 (17... Qg5 $142 $14) 18. Qxf4 Bxf4 19. dxc5 bxc5 20. Be5 $2 {Now Mamedyarov manages to sneak out with an easy draw.} (20. g3 Bg5 21. h4 Bd8 22. Be5 $16) 20... Bxe5 21. Rxe5 d6 22. Re7 Bd5 23. Rd1 Bxa2 $1 {Correctly ignoring the "lesson" we're all supposed to have learned from game 1 of the Spassky-Fischer match back in 1972.} 24. b3 d5 {The bishop will not be lost (or if it is, White will lose his as well). White can do no better than to regain his pawn, and the game ends in a routine draw.} 25. Bb5 c4 26. Ba4 Rab8 27. Rxa7 Rfd8 28. bxc4 Bxc4 29. h3 Rb2 30. Rc7 Rdb8 31. Bb3 Bxb3 32. cxb3 R2xb3 33. Rxd5 R3b7 34. Rdd7 Rxc7 35. Rxc7 g5 36. g4 Kg7 37. Kg2 Kg6 38. Rc6+ Kg7 39. Rc7 Kg6 40. Rc6+ Kg7 41. Rc7 Kg6 42. Rc6+ 1/2-1/2