[Event "WCh 2023"] [Site "Astana KAZ"] [Date "2023.04.23"] [Round "10.1"] [White "Ding, Liren"] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A28"] [WhiteElo "2788"] [BlackElo "2795"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "90"] [EventDate "2023.04.09"] 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. e4 {To the classically-minded among us, this looks ugly as sin. What about the d4 square? What about White's light-squared bishop? On the other hand, d4 is only one square, and White enjoys plenty of space. Moreover, the natural 4...Bc5 walks into a fork trick that's generally considered at least slightly in White's favor, so Black generally plays ...Bb4, then ...d6, and only then ...Bc5. So White gains a little time as well.} (4. g3 {is the most popular move here, while}) (4. e3 {, the second-most popular move, was Ding's choice in game 4, which he won.}) 4... Bc5 {It's obviously the best move, if 5.Nxe5 isn't a big deal. White's results have been excellent, so we'll have to see what Nepo has in mind.} 5. Nxe5 Nxe5 6. d4 Bb4 7. dxe5 Nxe4 8. Qf3 Nxc3 (8... f5 $5 {is rare, but Aronian used it a couple of times in 2022 - and against the same player (Abdusattorov) in different events. So there well be something to it.}) 9. bxc3 Bc5 (9... Ba5 {is the most commonly chosen move.}) (9... Be7 {has a (very) poor track record, but Nepo did draw with it against none other than Carlsen back in 2019.} 10. Qg3 g6 11. Bh6 d6 12. Be2 Be6 13. Rd1 Qd7 14. exd6 cxd6 15. O-O O-O-O 16. Be3 Qa4 17. Rb1 d5 18. Qf3 Qc6 19. Bxa7 dxc4 20. Qe3 Rhe8 21. Rb6 Qd7 22. Bf3 Bd5 23. Qe5 Qc7 24. Qxc7+ Kxc7 25. Bxd5 Rxd5 26. Rfb1 Ra8 27. Rxb7+ Kd8 28. g3 Rd7 29. Rxd7+ Kxd7 30. Rb7+ Ke6 31. a4 Bd8 32. Kg2 h5 33. Kf3 Bf6 34. Rb6+ Kf5 35. Rb7 Ke6 36. a5 Bxc3 37. a6 Ba5 38. Ke2 c3 39. Kd3 Rd8+ 40. Kc2 Rd6 41. Rb3 Rxa6 42. Bd4 Rd6 43. Bxc3 Rc6 44. Kd3 Bxc3 45. Rxc3 Rxc3+ 46. Kxc3 Kf5 47. f3 g5 48. Kd4 Ke6 49. Ke4 f6 50. h4 f5+ 51. Ke3 f4+ 52. gxf4 gxh4 {½-½ Carlsen,M (2861)-Nepomniachtchi,I (2773) Abidjan GCT blitz 2019 (6)}) 10. Qg3 Kf8 {Interestingly, Nepo has had this position before - but with White.} (10... O-O {would obviously be desirable, were it not for} 11. Bh6 {.}) (10... g6 {keeps the option of castling, but is terribly weakening.}) 11. Be2 (11. Bf4 d6 12. Rd1 Qe7 13. Be2 {was the move order in the Nepo-Cardoso game, transposing to the main game after White's 13th move.}) 11... d6 12. Bf4 (12. Bg5 Qe8 13. Rd1 Bd7 14. Bf4 Qe6 $1 15. exd6 Re8 $1 16. Rd2 Bxd6 17. Bxd6+ cxd6 18. O-O (18. Qxd6+ Qxd6 19. Rxd6 Bc6 20. Rg1 g5 21. Kd2 Re5 $11) 18... Bc6 19. Bf3 Bxf3 20. Qxf3 b6 21. Qb7 Qe7 22. Qc6 g6 23. Rxd6 Kg7 24. Rd7 Qe5 25. Rxa7 Re6 26. Qf3 Rf6 27. Qd3 Re8 {The position is equal, despite Black's being two pawns in arrears.} 28. h3 Rd6 29. Qe3 Ree6 30. Qxe5+ Rxe5 31. Ra6 Rc6 32. Rb1 Rxc4 33. Rbxb6 Rxc3 $11 {Of course White can and should continue to play for a win, but the position is objectively drawn.}) 12... Qe7 ({The immediate} 12... h5 {is also possible.}) 13. Rd1 h5 14. O-O $146 (14. h4 dxe5 15. Bxe5 Bg4 16. Bxg4 hxg4 17. Kd2 Re8 18. Rhe1 Qd7+ 19. Kc1 Ba3+ 20. Kb1 Qf5+ 21. Ka1 Qc2 22. Rb1 f6 23. Rb3 Rxe5 24. Reb1 Re2 25. Rxa3 Rd2 26. Qxc7 Rd1 27. Qb8+ Kf7 28. Qxb7+ Kg6 29. Qb3 Rxb1+ 30. Qxb1 Qxb1+ 31. Kxb1 Rxh4 32. c5 g3 33. fxg3 Rc4 34. Kc2 Rxc5 35. Rxa7 Rg5 36. Rd7 Rxg3 37. Rd2 Kf7 38. a4 Rg4 39. Kb3 Re4 40. a5 f5 41. a6 f4 42. a7 Re8 43. Kb4 Ra8 44. Ra2 Ke6 45. Kc5 Kd7 46. Kb6 g5 47. Kb7 Rf8 48. a8=Q Rxa8 49. Rxa8 {1-0 Nepomniachtchi,I (2784)-Cardoso Cardoso,J (2414) Titled Tuesday intern op 5th May Chess.com INT blitz 2020 (4)}) (14. exd6 cxd6 15. Bxd6 Bxd6 16. Qxd6 Bf5 17. Qb4 Re8 18. Rd2 Rh6 19. O-O Rc6 20. Bxh5 Qxb4 21. cxb4 Rxc4 22. Rb2 Rec8 $11 {In line after line, Black always has enough for the pawn.}) 14... h4 (14... Bd7 $1 {is best, but the degree of difficulty needed to see this through to the end is very high.} 15. exd6 (15. Rfe1 h4 16. Qd3 Re8 $1 17. Bf1 Be6 18. exd6 Bxd6 19. Bxd6 Qxd6 20. Qxd6+ cxd6 21. Rxd6 Rh5 $11) 15... Qxe2 16. dxc7 h4 $8 (16... Qg4 $4 17. Bd6+ $18) 17. Qg5 Bxf2+ $1 18. Rxf2 $8 (18. Kh1 $2 h3 19. Be5 Rh7 20. Qd8+ Be8 $1 21. Qd5 hxg2+ 22. Qxg2 Qxe5 23. Rd8 (23. Qxf2 Qxc7 $19) 23... Bb6 24. Rxa8 Bxc7 25. h3 Ke7 $19) 18... Qxd1+ 19. Rf1 Qe2 $8 20. Be5 $8 Rh7 $8 21. Qd8+ Rxd8 $8 22. cxd8=Q+ Be8 23. Qd6+ (23. Bd6+ Kg8 24. Be7 Rh6 $8 25. Qxe8+ Kh7 26. Qxf7 h3 27. Qf5+ Kh8 $8 28. Qc8+ Kh7 29. Qxb7 Qe3+ $1 30. Kh1 hxg2+ 31. Qxg2 $8 (31. Kxg2 $4 Qe2+ $19) 31... Qxe7 $11) 23... Kg8 24. Qe7 Rh5 $1 25. Qxe8+ Kh7 26. Qxf7 Rxe5 27. Qxb7 Qxa2 28. Qb1+ Qxb1 29. Rxb1 Rc5 30. Rb4 a5 31. Ra4 Kg6 $11) 15. Qd3 g5 (15... Be6 $142) 16. exd6 cxd6 17. Bxd6 Qxd6 18. Qxd6+ Bxd6 19. Rxd6 Be6 $11 {White has an extra pawn, but a terrible queenside structure. The one advantage White has is that Black isn't yet fully mobilized. Once Black has played ...Ke7/g7 and lines up a rook or two on the c-file, it will be White who will have to scrape for a draw. Therefore, White pushes for the initiative.} 20. f4 Ke7 21. Rd4 gxf4 22. Rfxf4 h3 $1 23. g4 Rac8 24. Kf2 Rc5 (24... b6) 25. a4 (25. Bf3 {is trickier.} Ra5 $1 (25... b6 $2 26. Bd5 $16) 26. Rd2 Ra3 $1 27. Bxb7 ({After} 27. Rc2 Rc8 28. Bxb7 Rxc4 29. Rxc4 Bxc4 30. Kg3 a5 31. Kxh3 Rxa2 32. Rxa2 Bxa2 33. Bc6 Bb3 34. Kg3 a4 35. Bxa4 Bxa4 $11 {it's White who must make the draw, which won't be a difficult task.}) 27... Rxc3 28. Bd5 Rg8 29. Bxe6 fxe6 30. Re2 Kd6 $11) 25... Ra5 26. Bd1 b6 27. Kg3 Rh6 $1 28. Rfe4 Kf8 29. Rd8+ Kg7 30. Ra8 Rc5 (30... Bd7 $11) 31. Rxa7 Bxc4 32. Rae7 Rhc6 33. R7e5 {This allows Black to kill the game.} (33. Kxh3 Be6 $11 {is thoroughly drawn as well, though perhaps White could pretend a while longer if he was so inclined.}) 33... Rxe5 34. Rxe5 Bb3 $1 {Very nice.} 35. Bxb3 Rxc3+ 36. Kh4 Rxb3 37. Rb5 Ra3 38. Rxb6 Rxa4 39. Kxh3 f5 $1 {Without this Black would have to suffer a while. After this, the job is done, and the rest is going through the motions.} 40. gxf5 Rf4 41. Rb5 Kf6 42. Kg3 Rxf5 43. Rxf5+ Kxf5 44. h4 Kg6 45. h5+ Kxh5 {A smooth hold for Nepomniachtchi.} 1/2-1/2