[Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2022.01.30"] [Round "13.1"] [White "Rapport, Richard"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D85"] [WhiteElo "2763"] [BlackElo "2772"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "27"] [EventDate "2022.01.15"] {[%evp 0,27,29,29,29,12,37,37,57,63,52,41,48,50,51,56,51,45,56,-9,15,0,0,0,0,0, 0,0,0,0]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4 Nxc3 7. bxc3 c5 8. Be3 Qa5 9. Nd2 O-O 10. Nb3 Qxc3+ 11. Bd2 Qb2 12. Bc1 Qc3+ 13. Bd2 Qb2 14. Bc1 {This (non-) game was also seen in Karjakin-Giri from round 4 (and in more than 30 other prior games). It could have cost Rapport some money, had Mamedyarov played with ambition and succeeded, but he drew even more quickly against Caruana!} 1/2-1/2 [Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2022.01.30"] [Round "13.2"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D37"] [WhiteElo "2767"] [BlackElo "2792"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "25"] [EventDate "2022.01.15"] {[%evp 0,25,29,26,23,12,12,15,15,15,23,2,26,11,60,56,56,48,51,55,41,45,45,39, 64,62,74,28]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Nxd5 exd5 10. a3 Nc6 11. Bd3 h6 (11... Bb6 {used to be the main move, but it looks like 11...h6 has become more popular.}) 12. O-O Qf6 13. b4 1/2-1/2 [Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2022.01.30"] [Round "13.3"] [White "Praggnanandhaa, Rameshbabu"] [Black "Esipenko, Andrey"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E29"] [WhiteElo "2612"] [BlackElo "2714"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "117"] [EventDate "2022.01.15"] {[%evp 0,117,25,25,25,12,12,15,20,-2,-2,6,14,15,15,-2,26,29,24,24,48,46,38,-23, 36,42,42,42,29,29,0,6,40,5,33,21,20,4,23,7,6,0,0,0,0,-27,0,11,-9,-5,11,61,98, 76,76,61,97,77,184,181,182,174,132,122,195,118,133,131,133,206,393,173,193,193, 193,193,202,185,185,185,218,197,197,183,199,199,201,201,207,213,213,213,203, 211,199,199,213,141,213,213,213,213,213,211,213,213,214,211,214,143,202,200, 207,204,198,210,237,240,237,243]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. a3 {The start of a trend? Van Foreest won a great game against Giri in the Saemisch in round 11, and now we see it again - and again, it results in a nice attack and a big upset.} Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 c5 {The most common approach.} ({Giri played} 5... b6 {, and after} 6. f3 Nc6 7. e4 Na5 8. Bd3 Ba6 9. Qe2 d6 10. f4 {played 10... Qd7, got into trouble, and lost a spectacular game. As I mentioned in my notes to that game, Black is fine after} d5 $1 11. exd5 Qe7 $1 12. dxe6 Qxe6 13. Qxe6+ fxe6 $11) 6. e3 (6. f3 Nc6 7. e4 {has been popular lately.}) 6... Nc6 7. Bd3 O-O 8. Ne2 b6 9. e4 Ne8 10. O-O Ba6 11. f4 f5 12. exf5 exf5 13. dxc5 bxc5 14. Be3 d6 15. Ng3 Ne7 {Only played once before.} (15... g6 {has been almost automatic going back to the last century. An important point is that the greedy try} 16. Bxf5 $2 gxf5 17. Qd5+ Rf7 18. Qxc6 {is terrible for White after } Bb7 19. Qa4 h5 $17 {/-+ , when Black's budding attack gives him a big advantage. (White's awful bishop doesn't help much, either.)}) 16. Qf3 $6 $146 (16. Qa4 Nc7 17. Rfd1 Qe8 18. Qc2 Rb8 19. Re1 Qf7 20. Bf2 Rbe8 21. Qa4 Ng6 22. Rxe8 Qxe8 23. Qa5 Qc6 24. Bxf5 Nxf4 25. Be4 Ne2+ 26. Nxe2 Qxe4 27. Re1 Bb7 28. Nf4 Qxf4 {0-1 (28) Chiong Zacarias,R (2373)-Zarnicki,P (2536) Dos Hermanas 2003 }) 16... Nc7 $2 {This is mysterious. The knight can go to e6 (where else?), but what does it do there?} (16... g6 $15 {is better, followed by ...Nf6, ... Qd7, ...Rae8, and ...Bb7.}) 17. Rab1 (17. Bf2 $142 $14) (17. Rfe1 $142 $14) 17... Qd7 18. Rfe1 g6 {Finally!} 19. Bf2 Nc8 20. Nf1 $1 $14 Nb6 21. Ne3 Rae8 22. Bh4 Qg7 23. Rbc1 Re6 24. a4 $1 Nxa4 (24... Rfe8 $1) 25. Nd5 Bb7 26. Rxe6 Nxe6 27. Re1 {Both sides have been playing well, but now Esipenko cracks.} Qd7 $2 (27... Nc7 $14 {was better, and likewise}) (27... g5 28. fxg5 Nxg5 29. Qg3 Ne4 30. Bxe4 Qxg3 31. Bxg3 fxe4 32. Bxd6 Ra8 $14) 28. Qg3 $6 (28. Qf2 $18) (28. Ne7+ Qxe7 (28... Kh8 29. Qg3 Ng7 30. Qg5 Be4 31. Bxe4 fxe4 32. Rxe4 Nxc3 33. Nxg6+ $1 hxg6 34. Re7 $18) 29. Bxe7 Bxf3 30. Bxf8 Nxf8 31. gxf3 $18) 28... Rf7 $4 (28... Bxd5 $8 29. cxd5 Nc7 30. Re7 Qc8 31. c4 $16) 29. Nf6+ Rxf6 30. Bxf6 $18 {Black has a pawn for the exchange, but the weak dark squares around his king make his position untenable.} Kf7 31. Qh4 h5 32. Bg5 Qc6 33. Qh3 Nxg5 34. fxg5 Bc8 35. Qe3 (35. g4 $1 fxg4 36. Qe3 Qd7 37. Qf4+ Kg8 38. Bxg6 Nxc3 39. Qf6 $18 {leads to a quick mate.}) 35... Qd7 36. Qe2 Qd8 37. Qa2 Bd7 38. Bc2 Nb6 39. Qxa7 Nc8 40. Qb7 Ne7 41. h4 Be6 42. Ra1 Qc8 43. Qxc8 Nxc8 44. Bb3 Ke7 45. Ra6 Kd8 46. Kf2 Kc7 47. Ra1 Bf7 48. Ke3 Be6 49. Kf4 Kd8 50. Ra8 Kc7 51. Ra2 Bf7 52. Ra1 Kd8 53. Ke3 Be6 54. g3 Kc7 55. Kf4 Bf7 56. Ba4 Nb6 57. Bb5 Nc8 58. Ke3 { Esipenko has been making Praggnanandhaa's life difficult, but his next move brings his resistance to an end.} Be6 $2 59. Be8 (59. Be8 Ne7 60. Ra7+ Kd8 61. Rxe7 $1 Kxe7 62. Bxg6 Bf7 (62... Kf8 63. Bxh5 Bxc4 64. Bg6 Be6 65. Kf4 { is easy.}) 63. Bxf7 (63. Bxf5 Bxc4 64. g4 $18) 63... Kxf7 64. Kd3 $18 {This is the key - White's king goes around to the queenside, and Black's king is stuck defending against White's g-pawn.} ({Direct approaches don't work:} 64. Kf4 Kg6 ) ({or} 64. Kf3 Kg7 65. Kf4 Kg6 {will get White nowhere until he finds the plan of bringing his king around to the queenside.}) 64... Ke7 65. Kc2 Kf7 66. Kb3 Ke7 67. Ka4 Kd7 68. Kb5 Ke8 69. Kc6 Ke7 70. g6 Ke6 71. g7 Kf7 72. Kxd6 Kxg7 73. Kxc5 $18 ({or} 73. Ke5 Kg6 74. Ke6 $18 {, winning on the kingside instead.} )) 1-0 [Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2022.01.30"] [Round "13.4"] [White "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Black "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C47"] [WhiteElo "2743"] [BlackElo "2727"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "127"] [EventDate "2022.01.15"] {[%evp 0,127,25,16,11,11,33,13,13,-7,-8,2,0,-10,-21,24,24,-15,-1,-19,23,23,8, 24,-2,16,28,34,26,34,34,20,25,25,36,31,32,40,34,24,10,28,47,43,44,45,44,29,18, 27,36,27,28,33,63,42,62,58,94,100,118,107,116,79,113,128,139,128,122,121,124, 117,116,116,120,118,113,135,126,105,104,110,99,102,105,97,88,75,75,68,68,68,68, 79,79,79,79,79,79,90,100,100,110,110,110,145,145,155,159,213,215,159,209,159, 159,159,209,306,306,289,309,309,309,309,309,128,546,565,563,546]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Bb4 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bd3 d5 {White has been achieving next to nothing with the Scotch Four Knights for generations, but every so often White finds an idea that injects a little life into the opening for a while, and sometimes Black will find something a bit spicier for the sake of variety. White's next move is the latest wrinkle.} 8. Bd2 O-O 9. O-O Bxc3 {Principled, but not the only good option.} (9... Rb8 {is another popular approach, protecting the bishop on b4 to defuse any Nxd5 ideas.}) 10. Bxc3 dxe4 (10... Nxe4 11. Bxe4 dxe4 {is also playable, but White's results have been very good after} 12. Qh5 {.} (12. Qe2 {is also standard - Black must be ready for this as well if he plays 10...Nxe4.})) 11. Bxf6 Qxf6 12. Bxe4 Qxb2 13. Bxc6 Rb8 14. Rb1 Qxb1 15. Qxb1 Rxb1 16. Rxb1 Rd8 {We're still on the beaten trail. This position has arisen in 10 previous games, with players like Carlsen, So, Grischuk, Andreikin, Matlakov, and McShane headlining the battles, which include other GMs as well. Black's results had been unimpeachably great: two wins, eight draws, and no losses. The position is genuinely equal as well - Black's good results are not some sort of fluke. Nevertheless, there's still *just* enough play for White to win on a good day against a peer, and that's what happens in this game.} 17. Bf3 Kf8 18. Rb8 Re8 19. h4 (19. h3 Bf5 20. Rb7 c5 21. c3 Re1+ 22. Kh2 Rc1 23. Bd5 Be6 24. Bxe6 fxe6 25. Rxa7 Rxc3 26. Rc7 Rc2 27. Kg3 Rxa2 28. Rxc5 Kf7 29. f3 Kf6 30. h4 Rb2 31. Ra5 {1/2-1/2 (31) Zawadzka, J (2428)-Harika,D (2511) Riga 2021}) 19... Ba6 (19... Bf5 20. Rb7 Bxc2 21. Rxc7 Be4 22. Rxa7 Bxf3 23. gxf3 Rc8 24. Kg2 Rc4 25. Kg3 g6 26. Ra5 Kg7 27. f4 Kf6 28. a4 h5 29. Ra7 Ke6 30. Ra6+ Kf5 31. Ra5+ Kf6 32. Ra7 Ke6 33. a5 Ra4 34. a6 f6 35. Ra8 Kf5 36. a7 Ra3+ 37. Kg2 Kxf4 38. Rf8 Rxa7 39. Rxf6+ Kg4 40. Rxg6+ Kxh4 41. f4 Ra2+ 42. Kf3 Ra3+ 43. Ke4 Ra4+ 44. Ke5 Ra5+ 45. Kf6 Ra6+ 46. Kg7 Rxg6+ 47. Kxg6 Kg3 48. Kxh5 Kxf4 {1/2-1/2 (48) Andreikin,D (2728)-Matlakov,M (2682) Ufa 2021}) 20. Rb3 Re5 $146 (20... Re1+ 21. Kh2 Re5 22. Rc3 Be2 23. Bxe2 Rxe2 24. Kg3 Re4 25. Rxc7 Ra4 26. c4 Rxa2 27. c5 a5 28. Ra7 a4 29. c6 Rc2 30. c7 Ke8 31. Rxa4 {1/2-1/2 (31) Mastrovasilis,D (2619)-Grischuk,A (2773) Terme Catez 2021}) (20... Be2 21. Bxe2 Rxe2 22. Rc3 Re7 23. f3 Ke8 24. Kf2 Kd7 25. Ra3 Re5 26. Rxa7 Rc5 27. Ke3 Rxc2 28. g4 h5 29. gxh5 Rc4 30. Ra5 Rxh4 31. Rg5 Ke6 32. Rc5 Ra4 33. h6 gxh6 34. Rxc7 Kf6 35. Rc6+ Kg7 36. Rc2 Kg6 37. Kf2 h5 38. Kg3 Kg5 39. Rc7 h4+ 40. Kh3 f5 41. Rh7 Rc4 42. Rh8 Rc1 43. a3 Kf4 44. Rh5 Ra1 45. a4 Ra2 46. Rxh4+ Kxf3 47. Rb4 f4 48. Rb3+ Kf2 49. Kg4 Rxa4 50. Rf3+ Kg2 51. Rxf4 Rxf4+ 52. Kxf4 {1/2-1/2 (52) So,W (2765)-Carlsen,M (2872) Wijk aan Zee 2020}) 21. Rc3 Re7 $6 $14 {/+/- This suggests that Vidit hadn't specially prepared this, but new everything up to move 20 or so, knew that it was "dead" equal, and assumed he could figure out anything he needed to at the board. While that would be true if he were playing me, it's a riskier strategy against Karjakin. The problem with Black's last move is its passivity. Rooks hate to defend, and if it's possible to defend actively, it's almost always preferable to do so.} (21... Be2 $1 22. Bxe2 Rxe2 23. Rxc7 Re4 24. Rxa7 (24. g3 Ra4 $11) 24... Rxh4 25. c3 Rc4 26. Ra3 h5 27. f3 g5 {White's rook is tied down to the defense of the queenside pawns - they're not going anywhere without the king's help. But the king can't help, because he needs to keep an eye on Black's advancing pawn majority. The position is therefore a draw.}) 22. Ra3 ( 22. Kh2 $142) 22... Re6 (22... Be2 $1 23. Rxa7 Bxf3 24. gxf3 Ke8 $11 {should still be an easy draw. White's a-pawn isn't dangerous with Black's king well on its way to the queenside, and as all five of White's pawns are isolated it's almost impossible for him to do something constructive while keeping the pawns defended.}) 23. Bd5 Rb6 24. Bb3 c5 25. Ra4 g6 $6 (25... Be2 $1 26. Rxa7 c4 27. Ba4 g6) 26. f3 $1 $16 Rd6 27. c4 (27. a3 $142) 27... Ke7 28. Ra5 Kd8 $2 (28... Rc6 $1 29. Ba4 Rb6 30. Rxc5 Rb4 31. Ra5 (31. Bb3 Kd6 32. Rd5+ Kc6 33. Rd4 Bc8 {followed by ...Be6 and ...a5-a4, with equality.}) (31. Bb5 Bxb5 32. cxb5 Kd7 $11 (32... Ra4 $11)) 31... Bxc4 32. Rxa7+ Kf6 33. a3 Rb2 $14) 29. Rxc5 $18 {White has an extra pawn, and has acquired it without allowing any counterplay. (On the contrary, Black's bishop is sad and all of White's pawns are guarded except for the h-pawn, and that's easily defended.)} Bc8 30. Kf2 Rd2+ 31. Kg3 h6 32. h5 Rd6 33. hxg6 fxg6 34. Kf4 g5+ 35. Ke5 Re6+ 36. Kd4 Re2 37. g4 Rd2+ 38. Ke3 Rd6 39. Ra5 Re6+ 40. Kd4 Rf6 41. Bd1 a6 42. Be2 Rf4+ $2 43. Ke3 Bb7 $2 44. Rf5 {No rooks, no counterplay, no problems. White's second passed pawn more than outweighs the value of Black's (soon to be) passed h-pawn.} Rxf5 45. gxf5 Ke7 46. c5 Kf6 47. Bd3 Ke5 48. Be4 Bc8 49. c6 h5 50. c7 a5 51. a4 Kf6 52. Kf2 h4 53. Kg2 Ke5 54. Kh2 Kf6 55. Bd3 Ke5 56. Bf1 Kf6 57. Bh3 Bd7 58. Bg4 {Everything has been secured, and now White's king can go around and start collecting on the queenside.} Bc8 59. Kg2 Bd7 60. Kf2 Bc8 61. Ke3 Bd7 62. Kd4 Bc8 63. Kc5 Kf7 64. Kb6 1-0 [Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2022.01.30"] [Round "13.5"] [White "Van Foreest, Jorden"] [Black "Shankland, Sam"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D02"] [WhiteElo "2702"] [BlackElo "2708"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "137"] [EventDate "2022.01.15"] {[%evp 0,137,25,25,25,27,25,25,20,27,63,6,57,39,31,13,21,29,24,29,24,19,28,29, 24,19,26,28,42,47,55,58,66,59,57,71,80,96,118,91,56,66,102,97,92,88,90,85,87, 92,92,62,71,68,77,67,66,67,62,70,70,58,70,70,59,50,52,41,63,65,65,67,60,67,71, 60,71,60,57,32,44,44,93,95,98,83,83,56,53,48,57,70,79,87,106,90,106,107,100, 106,107,91,100,116,108,93,96,96,211,179,262,248,260,248,232,236,231,231,240, 235,258,240,264,228,205,205,274,291,386,294,770,1014,1014,1014,1629,1699,1691, 1738,2166,29982] Van Foreest didn't manage to repeat last year's amazing success - first place! - but finishing with a +1 score (and that plus didn't include a free COVID point from Dubov; they played and drew their game) despite being the third lowest-rated player in the field is still a great achievement. His win against Giri was one of the best games in the tournament, too, so major kudos to the young (22) Dutchman.} 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 e6 4. e3 c5 5. Be2 Nc6 6. O-O cxd4 7. exd4 Bd6 8. Bxd6 Qxd6 9. c3 O-O 10. Re1 e5 11. dxe5 Nxe5 12. Nxe5 Qxe5 13. Bf3 Ne4 14. Na3 Bf5 15. Nc2 Rfe8 16. Qd4 Qxd4 17. Nxd4 Bd7 18. c4 Kf8 19. h4 Rac8 20. cxd5 Nd6 21. Rxe8+ Bxe8 22. Rd1 Bd7 23. Kh2 Ke7 24. g4 h6 25. h5 Kf6 26. Kg3 Rc4 27. Kf4 Rc5 28. Rd2 g5+ 29. hxg6 fxg6 30. Rd1 Ra5 31. a3 Nc4 32. Nb3 Rb5 33. Nd2 g5+ 34. Kg3 Nxd2 35. Rxd2 Rb3 36. Kg2 Ke5 37. Re2+ Kf6 38. Rc2 Ke5 39. Rc7 Kd6 40. Rc1 Rb6 41. b4 Ke5 42. Rc7 Kd6 43. Rc3 a5 44. bxa5 Rb5 45. Rc1 Rxa5 46. Rh1 Rxa3 47. Rxh6+ Kc5 48. Rh7 Kd6 49. Rh6+ Kc5 50. Rh7 Kd6 51. Rg7 b5 52. Rxg5 b4 53. Rg8 {Shankland has been suffering for a long time, but has managed to stay within drawing range until now. Unfortunately, he finally slips beyond repair.} Ra5 $2 (53... b3 $1 { should still hold.}) 54. g5 $18 b3 55. g6 b2 56. Rb8 Rb5 57. Rxb5 Bxb5 58. g7 b1=Q 59. g8=Q {Black queened first and can check first, but he runs out of checks almost immediately. By contrast, Black's king is exposed, and White's d-pawn is a major asset.} Qf1+ 60. Kg3 Qd3 61. Qe6+ Kc7 62. Qe5+ Kd7 63. Qe3 Qb1 64. Qe6+ Kd8 65. d6 Qh7 66. Qf6+ Kd7 67. Bg4+ Ke8 68. Qe5+ Kd8 69. Qg5+ ( 69. Qg5+ Ke8 70. Qxb5+ $18) 1-0 [Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2022.01.30"] [Round "13.6"] [White "Grandelius, Nils"] [Black "Duda, Jan-Krzysztof"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B66"] [WhiteElo "2672"] [BlackElo "2760"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2022.01.15"] {[%evp 0,61,27,11,46,46,77,61,66,28,28,28,48,57,52,50,44,34,53,21,32,10,10,12, 47,57,41,44,35,38,46,49,74,26,30,21,19,19,14,14,8,4,19,-104,-66,-174,-190,-190, -63,-63,-78,-75,-87,-118,-100,-359,65,65,50,29,12,0,0,0]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 a6 8. O-O-O h6 {This used to be a common move, but 8...Bd7 has been sucking up all of the oxygen for some time now.} 9. Bf4 (9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. Bf4 d5 11. Qe3 {has been scoring heavily in White's favor for years, so I wonder what Black had in mind.}) 9... Bd7 10. Nxc6 Bxc6 11. f3 Qb6 (11... d5 {has been almost automatic in the past.}) 12. Bc4 {This variation used to get some action...in the 1970s and 1980s. What's going on?} (12. Qe1 $1 $146 {is clearly better according to the engine. It's hard to understand what the players were up to in this game, prep-wise.}) 12... Rd8 (12... O-O-O $2 $16 {/+- was the main move, way back in the day, but the engine assures us that it's terrible.}) (12... Be7 $142 $146) 13. Bb3 $16 Be7 14. Be3 Qc7 15. Qf2 Qb8 $146 (15... Nd7 16. Qg3 Kf8 17. Ne2 Rc8 18. Kb1 Nc5 19. Bd4 Rg8 20. e5 d5 21. Qf2 b6 22. Nc1 a5 23. a3 Ba4 24. Qd2 Bd7 25. Nd3 Bb5 26. Ba2 g5 27. h4 gxh4 28. Qxh6+ Ke8 29. Qd2 Nxd3 30. cxd3 Kd7 31. Qf2 Bc5 32. Bxc5 Qxc5 {1/2-1/2 (32) Unzicker,W-Pustina,Y Siegen 1970}) 16. Bb6 (16. Ba7 $1 Qa8 17. Bb6 $16 {/+-}) 16... Rc8 17. g4 (17. Kb1 $142) 17... O-O (17... Nd7 $142) 18. h4 (18. g5 $1 hxg5 19. Kb1 $18 {is admittedly not the most obvious two-move sequence ever. The upshot is not so surprising, however: White has a big, probably winning advantage, and he will now get to the business of opening lines on the kingside, putting a rook on g1 and playing h4. With little space and no counterplay, it's not surprising that Black is (probably) lost.}) 18... Nd7 19. Bd4 $2 {It's a nice-looking bishop, but it was more important to allow its exchange for the sake of keeping Black bottled up on the queenside.} (19. g5 $1 h5 20. f4 Nxb6 21. Qxb6 $16 {/+-}) 19... Nc5 $11 20. Rhg1 b5 21. h5 $2 (21. Ne2) 21... b4 22. g5 {White's idea was to prevent Black from meeting this with ...h5 (as in the 19.g5 h5 line above). It's a very nice idea, but he probably missed Black's brilliant 24th move.} Bxg5+ 23. f4 Nxb3+ 24. axb3 {White is winning against every move but one.} f6 $3 (24... bxc3 $2 25. fxg5 cxb2+ 26. Kxb2 Bxe4 (26... e5 $2 27. gxh6 Kh8 (27... exd4 $2 28. Qf6 { mates.}) 28. Rxg7 Bxe4 29. Qf6 Rxc2+ 30. Ka3 $18 {with unavoidable mate.}) 27. Rc1 hxg5 28. Rxg5 f6 29. Bxf6 Rf7 30. Qg3 $1 Rcc7 (30... Rxf6 31. Rxg7+ Kh8 32. Rd7 Rg8 33. Qh4 $18) 31. Bc3 Kh7 32. Qxd6 $18) 25. fxg5 fxg5 26. Qe3 bxc3 $2 { Obvious, but wrong.} (26... Qb7 $3 27. Na4 Bxe4 28. Rd2 e5 29. Bb6 Rf4 { Black has three pawns for the piece, so there's no real trouble on that count. As for the position, White's pieces are in disarray, while Black's position is harmonious. White's king isn't so safe, either, so Black is probably winning.}) 27. Bxg7 $1 {Bailing out with a draw.} (27. Bxc3 $2 e5 $19) 27... cxb2+ 28. Kxb2 Kxg7 29. Rxg5+ $1 hxg5 30. Qxg5+ Kf7 31. Rf1+ Ke8 32. Qg6+ Kd8 33. Rxf8+ Kc7 34. Rxc8+ Qxc8 35. h6 {If Black doesn't have something special now, White plays 36.h7 and wins. There's only one move that can save the game, and Duda finds it.} Bxe4 $1 36. Qxe4 Qh8+ 37. Ka2 Qxh6 38. Qc4+ Kb7 39. Qb4+ Kc7 40. Qc4+ Kb7 1/2-1/2 [Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2022.01.30"] [Round "13.7"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Dubov, Daniil"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2865"] [BlackElo "2720"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "0"] [EventDate "2022.01.15"] {Best game ever! (At least for the annotator.)} 1-0