[Event "Saint Louis Rapid 2020"] [Site "lichess.org INT"] [Date "2020.09.16"] [Round "5.1"] [White "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C41"] [WhiteElo "2758"] [BlackElo "2863"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "82"] [EventDate "2020.09.15"] [EventType "rapid"] {[%evp 0,82,19,38,25,16,75,61,61,57,57,52,45,45,40,47,53,32,68,85,84,47,62,30, 64,34,55,24,24,46,60,21,76,91,110,29,54,-17,5,-55,-30,-22,13,-127,-7,-25,3,-41, -42,-47,-81,-120,-12,-64,-5,-4,-4,-5,-9,0,0,0,0,-5,0,0,-7,-33,-19,-60,-43,-58, -5,-79,-43,-207,-205,-233,-232,-248,-242,-254,-264,-277,-285] After the day's games Carlsen expressed his enthusiasm for his play in this game, referring to his other two wins as "gifts". As we'll see, not everything he did in this game was terrific, but much of it was - especially given the short time control.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Be7 6. Bf4 O-O 7. Qd2 c6 8. O-O-O b5 9. f3 b4 10. Nb1 $2 ({White has scored most heavily with} 10. Na4 {, and it makes the engine very happy, too. (It claims White's advantage is already decisive, or nearly so.) Did Carlsen have something ready for this, or was it a one-off bluff? I'm guessing the latter, but if he plays it again in a real game (i.e. not against a non-rival in casual online blitz) we'll learn something.}) 10... a5 11. g4 a4 12. h4 c5 13. Nf5 Bxf5 14. gxf5 Nc6 15. h5 Nd4 $132 16. Qg2 (16. h6) (16. c3) (16. a3) 16... Kh8 17. Be3 $2 h6 $1 $17 {Black is willing to pitch a pawn to the four winds, if it means that White's attacking chances are also blown far away.} 18. Bd3 $2 Nd7 $1 $19 { Black's coordination is perfect, White's is...not.} 19. Rhg1 Bf6 {The bishop is magnificent, not only covering g7 but very likely to be involved in the attack against White's king.} 20. f4 Re8 $6 (20... Qc7 $142) (20... Qc8 $142) 21. Bxd4 $2 (21. Bf2 $1 {with the idea of Bh4 is a smart idea for White, to get rid of that majestic bishop. Of course Black could put the rook on g8, but then 20...Re8 would have been a waste.}) 21... cxd4 (21... Bxd4 {was possible, but needlessly offers White some play.} 22. e5 $1 Rg8 $1 $19) 22. Nd2 Nc5 23. Nc4 b3 24. Kb1 bxc2+ 25. Bxc2 Rb8 26. Bd3 $2 (26. e5 $142) 26... Rb4 $4 { Black has at least eight moves that keep an advantage of around +2 or more, all the way up to +4.5 or so, but this gives it all away.} (26... Qe7) 27. a3 ( 27. e5 $142 dxe5 28. Nxe5 Qc7 (28... Rxe5 {is possible, by analogy with the game, but it doesn't promise an advantage.} 29. fxe5 Bxe5 30. Qc6 $11) 29. Rc1 $11 {is surprisingly good for White. Even though g7 and f7 are covered and the Bd3 will never see a clear path to h7, his pieces are active and his only really serious worry is the b2 pawn/square.}) 27... Rb3 $15 28. Bc2 Rb8 29. e5 $1 dxe5 30. fxe5 Rxe5 $1 31. Nxe5 Bxe5 {White's minuscule material advantage is outweighed by Black's more active pieces and his safer king. Still, Black's advantage is only a slight one - objectively. Dominguez was very short of time, however, and against an elite player like Carlsen it's very difficult to spot every possible trick.} 32. Bd3 Bf6 33. Qc2 (33. Qc6) 33... Qa5 34. Rg2 Nxd3 35. Qxd3 Qd5 {So far, so good for Dominguez. He hasn't let things get worse.} 36. Re2 $2 {If Black can play ...Rb3 and ...d3 without losing anything or allowing the trade of queens, he's practically winning on the spot. This move doesn't prevent it, ergo...} (36. Rc2 {holds, e.g.} Rb3 37. Qc4 {, and}) (36. Rgd2 { was also good, because} Rb3 37. Qc2 d3 $4 38. Rxd3 $18 {would even win for White.}) 36... Kh7 $2 {Giving Dominguez one last chance.} (36... Rb3 37. Qd2 Qxf5+ 38. Ka2 (38. Ka1 Rxa3+) 38... d3 39. Re8+ Kh7 40. Rb1 Qd5 {and mate's coming, as 41.Ka1 allows the immediate ...Rxa3#.}) 37. Qe4 $2 (37. Red2 $11) ( 37. Qh3 $11 Rb3 38. Rd3 {is the point.}) 37... Rxb2+ $1 {A great move, especially since Carlsen was also very low on time.} 38. Kxb2 d3+ 39. Kc1 (39. Kb1 Qb3+ 40. Kc1 Qc3+ 41. Kb1 Qa1#) 39... Qc5+ 40. Kd2 (40. Kb1 Qb5+ 41. Kc1 dxe2 42. Re1 Qb2#) 40... Qc2+ 41. Ke1 Bh4+ {White will lose both rooks with check.} 0-1 [Event "Saint Louis Rapid 2020"] [Site "lichess.org INT"] [Date "2020.09.16"] [Round "5.2"] [White "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C42"] [WhiteElo "2728"] [BlackElo "2770"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "39"] [EventDate "2020.09.15"] [EventType "rapid"] {[%evp 0,39,34,8,25,19,19,3,66,70,29,31,31,33,33,19,7,1,10,1,36,24,34,26,47,26, 33,23,25,-26,-1,-111,-30,0,-30,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Be3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nd7 9. O-O-O Nf6 10. Bd3 Re8 11. Kb1 Bd7 12. h4 c5 13. Bg5 Bc6 ({The source of my interest in the Firouzja-So game came from Gelfand's commentary. He noted that he had a game that reached the position after 13.Bg5, one in which he found a brilliant combination that he, alas, misplayed in the end. Here's the game and the combination.} 13... h6 14. Bc4 b5 15. Bxf6 Bxf6 16. Bd5 Rb8 17. Qf4 b4 18. c4 Be6 (18... Rb6 $11) 19. g4 Qa5 $6 (19... Bxd5 $11) 20. Bxe6 Rxe6 21. Ng5 $2 { Creative, but bad. Gelfand finds the refutation and makes all the hard moves, but then misses the open goal. Rapid chess is exciting, but unfortunately it lends itself to spoiled brilliancies.} (21. Rhe1 $16) 21... b3 $1 22. axb3 hxg5 $1 23. hxg5 Bxb2 $1 24. Kxb2 Rxb3+ $1 25. Kxb3 (25. cxb3 Re2+ $19) 25... Qb4+ 26. Ka2 {Gelfand has found all the hard moves. Now he just has to find one easy one. My suspicion is that he had calculated all of this beforehand, and his next move was planned back on move 21, if not sooner. Had he come to this position fresh, he'd have found the right move in a second or less.} Re2 $4 ( 26... d5 {and it's time to go home. There is no sensible defense to the threatened ...Ra6#.}) 27. Qf5 $2 (27. Qc1 $18 {wins - there's no perpetual, and Black isn't going to win White's queen for his rook, either. It just wins, period. Fortunately for Gelfand and his beautiful idea, he doesn't come away from the game with a big fat zero.}) 27... Qa4+ $11 {Now it is a perpetual.} 28. Kb2 Qb4+ 29. Kc1 Qa3+ 30. Kb1 Qb4+ 31. Kc1 Qa3+ 32. Kb1 Qb4+ 33. Kc1 { 1/2-1/2 (33) Andreikin,D (2759)-Gelfand,B (2719) Hengshui 2019}) 14. Qf4 h6 15. Bf5 (15. Rde1 $142) (15. Bc4 $142) 15... Nh5 (15... d5 {may favor Black, but So was content with an easy draw.}) 16. Qg4 Nf6 17. Qg3 Nh5 18. Qg4 Nf6 19. Qg3 Nh5 20. Qg4 1/2-1/2 [Event "Saint Louis Rapid 2020"] [Site "lichess.org INT"] [Date "2020.09.16"] [Round "5.3"] [White "Grischuk, Alexander"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D37"] [WhiteElo "2777"] [BlackElo "2736"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "44"] [EventDate "2020.09.15"] [EventType "rapid"] {[%evp 0,44,19,19,32,-22,-3,-11,-11,6,22,10,2,15,42,18,46,41,52,34,40,40,40,40, 43,26,42,45,18,30,28,22,78,89,80,63,63,0,-13,-36,0,-20,-11,-11,-22,-46,-39]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. c5 c6 8. b4 b6 9. Bd3 a5 10. a3 Ba6 11. O-O Qc8 12. Rb1 (12. h3 {is by far the main move here, allowing the bishop to retreat to h2 in case Black tries to exchange it off with ...Nh5.}) 12... Bxd3 13. Qxd3 axb4 14. axb4 Qb7 15. Rfc1 Ra3 $146 { It's odd that Nakamura plays a new move that seems worse than Grischuk's earlier choice, and against Grischuk himself.} (15... Ra7 16. h3 Rfa8 17. Qc2 b5 18. Nd2 Nf8 19. Nb3 Ng6 20. Bg3 Bd8 21. Ra1 Rxa1 22. Rxa1 Rxa1+ 23. Nxa1 Qa6 24. Qb2 Ne4 25. Nxe4 dxe4 26. Bd6 Qa4 27. Nc2 Ne7 28. Bxe7 Bxe7 29. Qb1 g6 30. Kf1 f5 31. Ke2 Bf6 32. f3 exf3+ 33. gxf3 Kf7 34. f4 Ke7 35. Kd2 Kd7 36. Kc3 Bh4 37. Kb2 Qa8 38. Qh1 Kc7 39. Na1 Qa4 40. Nc2 Qa8 41. Na1 Qa4 42. Nc2 Qa8 { 1/2-1/2 (42) Dubov,D (2699)-Grischuk,A (2777) chess24.com INT 2020}) 16. b5 $1 Rc8 $2 {And the follow-up is just a blunder. Interestingly, Gelfand saw the problem with this immediately, and was convinced that what is in fact White's best is very strong. Points to the "old" man, who saw (or at least more correctly assessed) the truth of the position!} (16... Rfa8 $142) 17. bxc6 $2 { Now the game rapidly peters out to a draw.} (17. Nxd5 $1 Rxd3 18. Nxe7+ Kf8 19. Nxc8 Qxc8 20. Ne1 $1 Rd2 21. bxc6 Qxc6 22. cxb6 {only gives White a rook and two pawns for the queen, but the b-pawn more than makes up for the material deficit.} Qxc1 23. Rxc1 Nxb6 $18 {is probably Black's best try, but now he's down a pawn with no compensation - indeed, White has the "compensation".}) 17... Rxc6 $11 18. Qb5 Qa8 19. cxb6 Rxb6 20. Qf1 Rxb1 21. Nxb1 Ra1 22. Bg5 h6 1/2-1/2 [Event "Saint Louis Rapid 2020"] [Site "lichess.org INT"] [Date "2020.09.16"] [Round "5.4"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Xiong, Jeffery"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B04"] [WhiteElo "2784"] [BlackElo "2709"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "42"] [EventDate "2020.09.15"] [EventType "rapid"] {[%evp 0,42,19,38,63,52,53,45,59,41,44,34,59,31,42,21,48,-57,-26,-31,-31,-195, -254,-303,-232,-245,-212,-334,-271,-207,-235,-248,-235,-235,-23,-176,-249,-309, -293,-295,-231,-389,-297,-566,-566]} 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. Nf3 dxe5 5. Nxe5 g6 6. Qf3 {Not unknown, but far, far less common than} (6. Bc4 { . But this is part of why we all like Nepo; he finds all sorts of crazy opening ideas, many of which have led to brilliant successes. Not this time, however.}) 6... Be6 7. Bc4 Bg7 8. Qb3 $2 {This move's a real rarity, only tried in a (very) few amateur games. It's also not very good.} (8. O-O) (8. Nc3 ) 8... Bxe5 $1 (8... Nc6 $1 {may be even better, but Xiong's move is very nice, too.}) 9. dxe5 Nc6 $1 $15 10. Qxb7 $4 {Quickly played, and after Black's next move I'm sure it was quickly regretted.} Ndb4 {Threatening to take on c4, to take on c2, or to win White's queen with ...Rb8. Nepo probably counted on his next move, but Xiong shows that there too White is *completely* lost.} 11. Bb5 Nxc2+ 12. Ke2 O-O $1 {Problem solved.} (12... Bd7 {is also very strong, with the nice idea that} 13. Bxc6 Nd4+ 14. Kd1 Bxc6 {is also deadly, e.g.} 15. Qa6 Bxg2) 13. Bxc6 (13. Qxc6 Nd4+ $19) 13... Rb8 14. Qxa7 (14. Qa6 {can be refuted in many ways, including} Qd4 {Threatening ...Bc4+.} 15. Nd2 Rfd8 {, and if White saves the rook with} 16. Rb1 {Black can finish things off like this:} Rb6 17. Qa4 Qd3+ 18. Kd1 Nd4 19. Bf3 Nxf3 20. gxf3 Qxf3+ $19) 14... Nd4+ (14... Bc4+) 15. Ke1 Nc2+ 16. Ke2 Rb6 (16... Bc4+) 17. Na3 Nd4+ 18. Ke1 Nxc6 {White is a pawn ahead, but his king will never be safe in this life.} 19. Qa4 Nxe5 20. Bh6 Qd5 $1 21. f3 (21. Bxf8 Qxg2 22. Rf1 Bh3 $19 (22... Rxb2 $19)) 21... Rxb2 0-1 [Event "Saint Louis Rapid 2020"] [Site "lichess.org INT"] [Date "2020.09.16"] [Round "5.5"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Harikrishna, Pentala"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B12"] [WhiteElo "2773"] [BlackElo "2732"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "116"] [EventDate "2020.09.15"] [EventType "rapid"] {[%evp 0,116,38,38,76,77,71,71,74,58,57,61,57,42,99,57,60,30,9,9,16,11,-1,8,28, 18,51,57,41,61,79,14,79,89,106,75,76,34,52,52,54,58,23,67,63,78,65,-2,57,63,75, 59,67,59,74,-2,13,13,9,0,0,0,53,49,47,36,39,40,77,68,85,81,87,64,125,118,152, 144,183,190,183,183,183,204,220,210,220,204,193,193,213,193,193,197,213,197, 232,211,234,87,78,54,53,55,55,55,55,55,55,56,56,53,53,53,55,53,56,52,55]} 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Bd3 Bxd3 5. Qxd3 e6 6. Ne2 Qa5+ 7. c3 Qa6 8. Qd1 c5 9. Be3 Nd7 10. O-O Ne7 11. Ng3 cxd4 12. cxd4 f6 13. exf6 Nxf6 14. Bg5 Ng6 15. Nc3 Be7 16. f4 O-O 17. f5 Nd7 18. Re1 Bxg5 19. Rxe6 Qc4 20. fxg6 hxg6 21. Rxg6 Be3+ 22. Kh1 Rf7 23. Nh5 Qxd4 24. Nxd5 Qxd1+ 25. Rxd1 Bd4 26. b3 Raf8 27. g3 Rf1+ 28. Rxf1 Rxf1+ 29. Kg2 Rf2+ 30. Kh3 Rxa2 31. Rd6 Ne5 32. Ne7+ Kf7 33. Rxd4 Rxh2+ 34. Kxh2 Nf3+ 35. Kg2 Nxd4 {The main interest of this game was this ending. Will White manage to reach two knights vs. a single pawn, and if so, will he manage to blockade that last pawn behind the Troitzky line?} 36. Nc8 Nxb3 37. Nxa7 g6 38. Nf4 g5 39. Ne2 g4 40. Nb5 Nd2 41. Nec3 (41. Kf2 Ne4+ 42. Ke3 Nxg3 $2 43. Nxg3 {is apparently a tablebase win for White, which makes sense. If Black could somehow push the b-pawn to b5 (and White blockades it with a knight on b4), he would draw. But b7 or even b6 is not quite far enough. }) 41... Ke6 42. Kf2 Kd7 43. Ke2 (43. Ke3 Nf1+ 44. Kf4 Nh2 {will hold, as in the game.} (44... Nxg3 $2 45. Kxg3 Kc6 46. Kxg4 b6 {and again, it's one square too far back. Here's how White wins such a position - this is best play from both sides:} 47. Kf4 Kc5 48. Ke4 Kc4 49. Ke3 Kc5 50. Kd3 Kb4 51. Kd4 Kb3 52. Nd5 Kc2 53. Ke3 Kd1 54. Nb4 Kc1 55. Ke2 Kb2 56. Kd3 Kc1 57. Nd5 Kd1 58. Nf6 Ke1 59. Ne4 Kf1 60. Ke3 Kg2 61. Ke2 Kh3 62. Kf3 Kh4 63. Kf4 Kh5 64. Nf6+ Kg6 65. Ng4 Kf7 66. Kf5 Kg7 67. Ne5 Kh6 68. Kg4 Kg7 69. Kg5 Kf8 70. Kf6 Ke8 71. Ke6 Kf8 72. Nd3 Kg7 73. Nf4 Kf8 74. Nh5 Ke8 75. Ng7+ Kd8 76. Kd6 Kc8 77. Ne6 Kb7 78. Nec7 Kb8 79. Kc6 Kc8 80. Ne6 Kb8 81. Nbc7 b5 {Too late!} 82. Nc5 b4 83. Nb3 Kc8 84. Ne6 Kb8 85. Nec5 Kc8 86. Nb7 Kb8 87. Nd6 Ka7 88. Nc5 Ka8 89. Kc7 Ka7 90. Nb5+ Ka8 91. Na4 b3 92. Nb6#)) 43... Nf3 44. Ke3 Nh2 45. Kf2 Nf3 46. Ke3 Nh2 47. Ke2 Kc6 $2 (47... Nf3 $142) 48. Nd4+ Kc5 49. Ndb5 $2 {Now it's a draw, and Troitzky line business is irrelevant.} (49. Ncb5 $1 Nf3 (49... Kc4 50. Kf2 Kc5 51. Kg1 $1 (51. Kg2 $4 Nf3 52. Nxf3 gxf3+ $11 {Check! That's why the king goes to g1 on move 51.}) 51... Nf3+ 52. Nxf3 gxf3 53. g4 $18) 50. Ke3 $1 Ne5 (50... Kc4 51. Nxf3 gxf3 52. g4 $18) 51. Ke4 Nf7 52. Kf5 $18) 49... Kc4 {The knights are stuck to each other, and White's king is stuck on the kingside, as ... Nf1xg3 will make the draw easy if it doesn't cost him his knight.} 50. Ke3 b6 51. Kf4 Kb4 52. Ke3 Kc4 53. Ke4 Nf1 54. Kf4 Nh2 55. Kf5 Kb4 56. Ke4 Kc4 57. Kf4 Kb4 58. Ke3 Kc4 1/2-1/2