[Event "Superbet ROM Classic 2025"] [Site "Bucharest ROU"] [Date "2025.05.10"] [Round "4.1"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Abdusattorov, Nodirbek"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E05"] [WhiteElo "2776"] [BlackElo "2771"] [PlyCount "46"] [GameId "2176107230466177"] [EventDate "2025.05.07"] [SourceVersionDate "2025.01.05"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 e6 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. d4 dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. a4 Nc6 9. Qxc4 h6 10. Bd2 Qd5 11. Rc1 Rd8 12. Qxd5 exd5 13. e3 Bd6 14. a5 Bf5 15. Nc3 Rac8 16. Na4 Ne4 17. Be1 Nb4 18. Ne5 Nf6 19. Bc3 Nc2 20. Ra2 Nb4 21. Raa1 Nc2 22. Ra2 Nb4 23. Raa1 Nc2 1/2-1/2 [Event "Superbet ROM Classic 2025"] [Site "Bucharest ROU"] [Date "2025.05.10"] [Round "4.2"] [White "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2757"] [BlackElo "2751"] [PlyCount "82"] [GameId "2176107230466178"] [EventDate "2025.05.07"] [SourceVersionDate "2025.01.05"] {[%evp 0,82,14,22,-10,16,11,-4,26,15,9,15,9,11,12,12,12,10,18,25,21,12,17,26,21,-16,69,7,11,15,12,57,1,-29,10,32,0,39,-17,31,22,61,58,-47,92,83,144,129,9,81,180,246,167,170,19,141,115,113,179,71,128,44,43,284,83,90,68,-174,-249,-196,-231,-193,-186,-169,-165,-217,-1,-1,1,-1,1,-1,-1,-1,-1]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. Nbd2 Nd7 7. O-O a5 {A rare move, but apparently a favorite of So's.} 8. Nc4 f6 (8... Qe7 9. Be3 (9. c3 O-O 10. Re1 Qe6 11. b3 b5 12. Ne3 Re8 13. Nf5 Bf8 14. Be3 a4 15. Rb1 axb3 16. axb3 c5 17. c4 f6 18. Qc2 g6 19. Nh6+ Bxh6 20. Bxh6 b4 21. Bc1 Nb8 22. Be3 Qd6 23. Ra1 Rxa1 24. Rxa1 Nc6 25. Ra8 Kf7 26. Ne1 Bd7 27. Rxe8 Bxe8 28. Qa2 Nd8 29. f3 Ne6 30. Kf1 f5 31. Qa1 f4 32. Bf2 g5 33. Ke2 h5 34. h3 Ke7 35. Nc2 h4 36. Qa8 Qc6 37. Qa1 Qd6 38. Qa8 Qc6 39. Qa1 Qd6 {½-½ Giri,A (2752)-So,W (2752) Sinquefield Cup 10th Saint Louis 2023 (3)}) 9... f6 10. Qd2 b6 11. a3 Qf7 12. b4 Be7 13. bxa5 b5 14. Nb2 O-O 15. c4 Nc5 16. Qc3 Ne6 17. d4 exd4 18. Nxd4 Nxd4 19. Bxd4 c5 20. Be3 b4 21. axb4 cxb4 22. Qb3 Ba6 23. Rfc1 Qe6 24. Nd3 Qxe4 25. Nc5 Bxc5 26. Bxc5 Rfb8 27. f3 Qf5 28. Bf2 c5 29. Rd1 Rd8 30. Rd5 Rxd5 31. cxd5 Rc8 32. Rc1 c4 33. Qxb4 Qxd5 34. h3 h6 35. Qe1 Kh7 36. Rd1 Qb7 37. Bd4 Rd8 38. Rb1 Qc8 39. Qc3 Rd6 40. Qc2+ Kh8 41. Ba7 Rd8 42. Qc3 Rd3 43. Qe1 Rd8 44. Qe7 c3 45. Rb8 Qxb8 46. Bxb8 Rxb8 47. Kf2 c2 48. Qe3 Rc8 49. Qc1 Bd3 50. Ke3 Bg6 51. a6 Ra8 52. g4 Rxa6 53. h4 Rd6 {0-1 Caruana,F (2804)-So,W (2757) American Cup Elim Saint Louis rapid 2024 (3.5)}) 9. c3 $146 b5 10. Ne3 O-O 11. d4 Bd6 12. Re1 Re8 13. Nf5 ({The computer wants White to ignore the kingside for the time being and instead gain space on the queenside while it remains available.} 13. a4 $142) 13... Bf8 14. N3h4 (14. Qb3+ $142 Kh8 15. Qc2) 14... Nb6 (14... exd4 $1 15. cxd4 Nb6 $15) 15. Qg4 exd4 16. cxd4 $6 (16. Nh6+ {is better, but making a quick perpetual was not the plan when White started migrating everything to the kingside.}) 16... Bxf5 $6 (16... Kh8 $1 $15 {/?}) 17. Nxf5 g6 $11 18. e5 Kh8 (18... fxe5 19. dxe5 Qf6 $1 {A fun move to play.} 20. Nh6+ Bxh6 21. Bxh6 Rxe5 22. Rxe5 Qxe5 23. Rc1 $44) (18... Qd7 19. e6 $1 Qd5 ({Of course not} 19... Rxe6 $4 20. Rxe6 Qxe6 $4 21. Nh6+ Bxh6 22. Qxe6+ $18) 20. Nh6+ Kg7 21. h4 Re7 22. Qg3 Kh8 23. Nf7+ Kg8 24. Nh6+ Bxh6 25. Bxh6 Rc8 26. Bf4 Qf5 $11 {is another complicated and imbalanced option.}) 19. Nh6 Qd5 (19... Qd7 $1 20. e6 (20. Qh4) (20. Qf3) 20... Qd5 {was the right way.}) 20. h4 $14 Nd7 $6 (20... Re6 $142) 21. Bf4 f5 (21... c5 $142) 22. Qg3 $16 {A kingside breakthrough may not be imminent, but Black's dark-squared problems there will leave him vulnerable for a while.} Bg7 23. Rac1 {Reminding Black that he can have problems on other parts of the board as well. ("Reminding" may seem like a funny word, but chess players have an odd habit of saying that they "forgot" something, a weird euphemism for "overlooked".)} Nf8 $6 24. h5 $18 Bxh6 25. Bxh6 Re6 26. Bg5 Nd7 27. h6 (27. Bf6+ $1 {is even better:} Nxf6 $8 28. exf6 Rxf6 29. Qxc7 $18 {and Black's porous position will soon be swarming with white pieces and depleted of black pawns.}) 27... Kg8 28. Rc2 c5 {So far, Firouzja is on the way to a convincing and deserved victory. But now, a poor decision ruins everything.} 29. Qf3 $2 (29. dxc5 $1 Rxe5 30. Rcc1 $18 {White will break through on the central files. Black can't cope with all the gaps in the center (and the queenside for that matter) while also keeping his king safe from the permanent possibility of Qg7#.}) 29... Qxf3 30. gxf3 {White threatens to play f4 and d5, and would welcome ...cxd4 as Rxc7 is crushing. After the move in the game, however, White's advantage shrinks considerably.} c6 $1 {No more d5 ideas, and now ...cxd4 is a threat.} 31. dxc5 Nxe5 $2 {This should have cost Black the game.} (31... Rxe5 $1 32. Rd1 $1 Rxc5 $1 33. Rxc5 Nxc5 34. Rd6 Rc8 35. Be3 $1 Na6 $8 36. Bb6 Nb8 $1 37. Bxa5 Kf7 38. Bd8 b4 $1 $14) 32. Kg2 $18 Rae8 33. Rce2 $2 (33. f4 $1 Nd3 34. Rxe6 Rxe6 35. Rd2 Nxc5 36. Rd8+ Kf7 37. Rh8 $18) 33... Nd3 $1 {This trick must have been missed (er, "forgotten") by Firouzja. White is fortunate not to be losing on the spot.} (33... Kf7 $2 34. Rd1 $1 {followed by f4 would win for White, roughly as in the 33.f4 variation.}) 34. Rd1 $1 {The only move.} (34. Rxe6 $4 Nxe1+ $19) 34... Rxe2 35. Rxd3 {Black has no sensible way of preventing Rd7, which gives White enough counterplay to make a draw.} Rxb2 36. Rd7 Ree2 37. Kg3 Rxf2 38. Rd8+ Kf7 39. Rd7+ Kg8 (39... Ke6 {isn't bad - Black would win if White took on h7. It just doesn't help:} 40. Rd6+ {and the king must retreat to f7 as} Ke5 $4 41. Bf4# {is mate.}) 40. Rd8+ Kf7 41. Rd7+ Kg8 1/2-1/2 [Event "Superbet ROM Classic 2025"] [Site "Bucharest ROU"] [Date "2025.05.10"] [Round "4.3"] [White "Deac, Bogdan-Daniel"] [Black "Praggnanandhaa, R."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E41"] [WhiteElo "2668"] [BlackElo "2758"] [PlyCount "69"] [GameId "2176107230466179"] [EventDate "2025.05.07"] [SourceVersionDate "2025.01.05"] 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. e3 c5 6. cxd5 Nxd5 7. Bd2 cxd4 8. Nxd5 Bxd2+ 9. Qxd2 Qxd5 10. Qxd4 Qxd4 11. Nxd4 Bd7 12. Rc1 Nc6 13. Nxc6 Bxc6 14. f3 Ke7 15. Bc4 Rac8 16. Ke2 Rc7 17. Rc3 Rhc8 18. Bd3 Bd5 19. Rxc7+ Rxc7 20. b3 e5 21. h4 h6 22. Kd2 a5 23. Rb1 Rc8 24. a3 Kd6 25. Be2 g5 26. hxg5 hxg5 27. e4 Be6 28. b4 Ra8 29. bxa5 Rxa5 30. Rxb7 Rxa3 31. Rb6+ Kc7 32. Rb2 Kd6 33. Rb6+ Kc7 34. Rb2 Kd6 35. Rb6+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "Superbet ROM Classic 2025"] [Site "Bucharest ROU"] [Date "2025.05.10"] [Round "4.4"] [White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Black "Gukesh, D."] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [ECO "C45"] [WhiteElo "2723"] [BlackElo "2787"] [PlyCount "61"] [GameId "2176107230466180"] [EventDate "2025.05.07"] [SourceVersionDate "2025.01.05"] {[%evp 0,61,9,-2,19,16,22,6,10,23,4,10,4,16,23,24,31,41,53,66,52,40,44,43,27,22,-33,51,64,72,107,102,63,24,-69,33,23,23,25,38,31,29,58,68,88,64,107,154,156,176,234,232,242,242,279,135,368,251,380,373,387,405,387,416]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 (4... Nf6 {is the other main line, while}) (4... Qf6 {is an important third option.}) 5. Nb3 {Arguably the main move at the moment, supplanting} (5. Be3) ({and} 5. Nxc6 {.}) 5... Bb6 6. Nc3 Qf6 {Ideal for scholastic chess. You never know!} (6... Nf6 {is also standard.}) 7. Qe2 {A standard move in the 5.Nb3 lines. White hurries to castle queenside.} Nge7 8. Be3 (8. h4 {is also common, intending Bg5.}) 8... O-O $2 (8... d6 9. O-O-O Bd7 $11 {followed by castling *queenside* is how this line is supposed to work. We're not in a huge main line, but it's still somewhat surprising to see that Gukesh is already out of prep (or has forgotten it).}) 9. O-O-O $16 (9. Bxb6 axb6 10. O-O-O $16) 9... d6 10. Qd2 (10. Bxb6 $142 axb6 11. Kb1 Be6 12. g3 $16 {is clearly better for White, who will expand on the kingside starting with f4.}) 10... Be6 (10... Bxe3 $142 11. Qxe3 a6 $14 {was best, intending ...b5.}) 11. Bb5 (11. Kb1 $142) 11... Qg6 (11... a6 $1 $11) 12. h4 $14 f5 $6 13. h5 $16 {Here comes White.} Qf7 14. h6 {AlphaZero style.} g6 (14... Bxe3 $142 15. Qxe3 g6 $16) 15. Bg5 $1 $18 {Very good. Normally the plan is to swap off the opponent's bishop when he has a weak color complex, but White recognizes that Black's bishop on b6 can't easily get back to the kingside. It therefore makes sense for him to keep his own dark-squared bishop, as it will have its way around Black's king.} a6 16. Bxc6 $6 {The engine prefers to keep the bishop, but taking is very human: you get rid of a potential dark-squared defender, with tempo.} Nxc6 $16 17. Nd5 (17. Rh4) 17... Bxd5 18. exd5 Ne5 19. Rh4 Rfe8 20. f3 $1 {Stopping ...Ng4, which would be annoying.} Ba7 21. Kb1 {Another wise prophylactic move. The attack will resume shortly.} Bb6 $6 (21... b5 {first makes sense.}) 22. Na5 $5 c5 $2 23. dxc6 bxc6 24. Qc3 $1 {Mate's not coming, at least not yet, but Black's position on the queenside and in the center is on the verge of collapse.} Bc5 {Defending d6 and shielding the c-pawn.} 25. Ra4 $1 {Now Nb3 is coming.} Qc7 26. a3 (26. Nb3 {was fine. One point is that Black's queen will soon be overloaded, trying to protect both d6 and g7. For example:} Bf2 27. f4 Ng4 28. Rxd6 $1 {when the rook can't be taken because of 29.Qg7#. Black can play 28...Re1+, and while it doesn't get anywhere it's unpleasant to have to play 29.Nc1. So MVL cuts it out with the move in the game, recognizing that Black won't have the time to cover up all his weaknesses.}) 26... Ra7 {This protects g7 so that the idea in the last note will no longer work. Still, White has enough assets to win the game.} 27. Bf4 {Threatening to take on e5 and then play b4 and win the c-pawn.} Qb6 28. Nb3 {Black would like to move the bishop, but then d6 falls.} a5 29. Nxc5 Qxc5 30. Qxc5 dxc5 31. Re1 {Weirdly reminiscent of Firouzja-So from this same round. Here, White wins.} (31. Re1 Rae7 32. Rxa5 {wins easily. Black's c-pawns are weak, and White's h-pawn gives Black king and h-pawn some problems as well.}) 1-0 [Event "Superbet ROM Classic 2025"] [Site "Bucharest ROU"] [Date "2025.05.10"] [Round "4.5"] [White "Duda, Jan-Krzysztof"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "0-1"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [ECO "C58"] [WhiteElo "2739"] [BlackElo "2747"] [PlyCount "80"] [GameId "2176107230466181"] [EventDate "2025.05.07"] [SourceVersionDate "2025.01.05"] {[%evp 0,80,20,35,17,11,-9,0,9,8,6,8,18,4,42,36,34,7,12,27,16,-3,-34,-10,-21,-12,-28,-30,29,11,11,24,19,22,15,33,-33,-25,-47,-43,-29,-26,-8,-83,-86,-80,35,-98,-70,34,-89,-109,12,-63,-87,-58,-126,-112,-186,-211,-178,-211,-81,-171,-194,-153,-198,-162,-171,-218,-198,-187,-186,-277,-181,-236,-193,-234,-226,-195,-240,-237,-495]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 {The "duffer's move" almost invariably leads to interesting games.} d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 8. Qf3 {Well known, if considerably rarer in master and grandmaster play than 8.Be2 and 8.Bd3.} Be7 (8... cxb5 {is the "cure", but one must remember a fairly long line to play this way.} 9. Qxa8 Qc7 10. Qf3 Nc6 11. c3 Bg4 12. Qg3 Nd4 $1 13. Na3 Ne2 $1 14. Qd3 (14. Qe3) 14... Nf4 15. Qxb5+ Bd7 16. Qc4 Qb7 17. f3 Bxa3 18. bxa3 O-O 19. O-O Bb5 20. Qb3 Qa6 21. d3 Nxd3 {is almost completely forced for both sides. White is still the exchange and a pawn ahead, but the game is equal. For starters, Black threatens ...Qb6+ followed by ...Nf2+, and ...Nc5 isn't bad either. White has always played} 22. Nh3 $11 {, and now 22...Bc4, 22...Nc5, and perhaps 22...Qb6+ and only then 23...Nc5 all seem to maintain equality.}) (8... Rb8 {is another good move. White should play 9.Bd3 rather than grabbing the second pawn.}) 9. Bd3 O-O 10. Nc3 h6 11. Nge4 Nd5 12. Ng3 Nb4 13. Nf5 Nxd3+ 14. Qxd3 $14 {This looks pleasant for White, at least comparatively, and he has gone 5-0 from this position in previous games. Aronian plays something new.} c5 (14... Bc5 {had been usual, while}) (14... Bb4 {had also been tried.}) ({It's obvious but important to notice that} 14... Qxd3 $4 {is impossible as it loses a piece:} 15. Nxe7+ Kh8 16. cxd3 $18) 15. Qxd8 (15. b3 $14) 15... Bxd8 16. Ne3 (16. Nd6) 16... f5 $44 {I think White should have varied on one of the last two moves. Now Black has full compensation, and I think his position is easier to play, too.} 17. b3 f4 18. Ned1 (18. Nc4 $142 Nxc4 19. bxc4 Ba5 $1 $11) 18... Nc6 19. Ba3 Nd4 20. Rc1 Rf6 $1 21. Nb2 $2 {Activating the sad knight is desirable, but White doesn't have the time for this.} (21. Bxc5 Rg6 22. Kf1 Rc6 23. Ne4 f3 24. Bxd4 fxg2+ 25. Kxg2 Rg6+ 26. Kf1 Bh3+ 27. Ke2 exd4 $44 {As they might say in Maine, Black has wicked good bishops.}) 21... Rg6 $1 $19 22. Kf1 f3 23. g3 Bf5 $1 24. Bxc5 (24. d3 $4 Bg5 $19 {and if the rook moves Black has 25...Nxc2+ followed by 26...Nxa3.}) 24... Nxc2 $2 $15 {Taking a pawn and creating White weaknesses on d2 and d3 is attractive, but it seems to be an error.} ({Instead,} 24... Rc8 $3 {, offering a third pawn, was the way to go - at least for an engine.} 25. Bxd4 (25. Bxa7 Bg5 $1 26. Bxd4 exd4 27. Nb1 Rgc6 $3 {Who's going to play this??} 28. Nc4 Bh3+ 29. Ke1 Re6+ 30. Kd1 Re2 {Black is winning, but no human is going to play this way.}) 25... exd4 26. Nb5 Bh3+ 27. Ke1 a6 $1 28. Na3 (28. Nxd4 $2 Bf6 $19) 28... Bg5 $19 {and ...Re6+ followed by ...Re2 gives Black endless play.}) (24... Bg5 25. Ke1 Rd8 $19 {is a more reasonably human option that's also better than the game.}) 25. h4 $2 {This makes lots of sense, keeping Black's rapacious bishops off the h3 and g5 squares. Nevertheless, it's a mistake.} (25. h3 $1 Rc8 (25... Rc6 $142 $15) 26. g4 $1 {is the reason 25.h3 was better.} Bd7 27. Rxc2 Rxc5 28. Nc4 $11) 25... Rc8 $1 26. Bxa7 Ba5 27. Nc4 Bxc3 28. dxc3 Ra6 $1 29. Be3 Rxa2 $19 {Very well-handled by Aronian. Black has broken through, White's army remains incarcerated, and his extra pawn is of no significance. Black's victory isn't yet inevitable, but he's on the way.} 30. Kg1 $1 Be6 $1 31. Bb6 Rc6 $6 (31... Bxc4 32. bxc4 Na3 $1 33. c5 h5 $1 $19 {keeps White locked up.}) 32. Ba7 $1 Bxc4 33. bxc4 Rxc4 34. Bb8 $2 (34. Kh2 {was a brief chance to make a game of it. In fact, White is a favorite to survive unless Black finds} g5 $1 {, keeping White's king from achieving full comfort. Black remains much better after} 35. Rhd1 $1 Rxa7 36. Rxc2 g4 $1 $17 {/-+ , but the win isn't yet assured. Close, but not yet.}) 34... e4 $19 35. Bf4 Rxc3 36. Kh2 e3 $1 {Time to win the game.} 37. g4 e2 38. Kg3 Rd3 39. h5 Kh7 $1 40. Rhg1 Ra1 $1 {A powerful finish.} (40... Ra1 $1 41. Rxa1 Nxa1 42. Rxa1 Rd1 {and now we see the point of 39...Kh7: White can't play 43.Ra8 with check (43...Kh7 44.Re8 e1Q 45.Rxe1 Rxe1 46.Kxf3 with a drawn ending). White can only stop (safe, permanent) promotion by giving up the rook *and* the bishop, which is hopeless.}) 0-1