[Event "FIDE Candidates 2024"] [Site "Toronto CAN"] [Date "2024.04.20"] [Round "13.1"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C64"] [WhiteElo "2758"] [BlackElo "2789"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "53"] [EventDate "2024.04.04"] {The game was a short draw, but not because the players desired a peaceful outcome.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Bc5 5. O-O Nge7 {Another opening surprise from Nakamura.} 6. c3 (6. Nxe5 Nxe5 7. d4 b5 $1 8. Bb3 Bxd4 9. Qxd4 d6 10. f4 c5 11. Qd2 {is an interesting alternative, with a minimal White edge after} c4 ({or} 11... Ng4 {.})) 6... Ng6 7. d4 Ba7 8. Bg5 f6 9. Be3 O-O 10. Nbd2 Kh8 (10... d6 {is more common, but Nakamura's move is also standard and has scored well.}) 11. Re1 exd4 (11... d6 {is the most common move by far, generally met by} 12. h3 $14) 12. Nxd4 Nxd4 13. Bxd4 ({Black should meet} 13. cxd4 {with} d5 {. It's likely that this line got mixed up with the line in the game when Nakamura played 14...d5.}) 13... Bxd4 (13... d6 $142 $11 {/?}) 14. cxd4 d5 $6 {Probably a mix-up with the 13.cxd4 d5 line given above. Now Black gets into some trouble.} ({Nakamura should have played} 14... d6 $142 $14 {, or perhaps even better, played this on the previous move.}) 15. exd5 $1 Qxd5 16. Ne4 $14 {/?} Qd8 (16... b6 17. Rc1 Qd8 18. Bc6 Rb8 19. Qa4 $14 {/?}) (16... c6 $143 17. Bb3 Qd8 18. Nc5 $16) 17. Bc2 $6 {Perhaps hoping for pressure against h7 (e.g. with Qh5), but that's easily neutralized and not the most important thing for him to do.} (17. d5 $16 {keeps Black bottled up. (The surrender of the e5 square matters little.) It's hard for Black to comfortably develop his queenside, and he must worry about pressure against c7, White's knight reaching e6, and d5-d6 breaking open the lines for White's active pieces.}) 17... f5 $1 $14 18. Nc5 b6 19. Nd3 (19. Ne6 $142 Bxe6 20. Rxe6 $11 {/? isn't anything special for White, but he's not in any danger of being worse.}) 19... Bb7 (19... Qxd4 {is playable, perhaps, but inadvisable, as} 20. Ne5 $1 Qxd1 21. Nxg6+ hxg6 22. Raxd1 {gives White terrific compensation for the pawn, especially with the rook coming to e7.}) 20. Ne5 Qg5 (20... Nf4 21. f3 Qg5 22. g3 {looks scary for White, but Black has nothing better than a draw after} Nh3+ 23. Kg2 Nf4+ 24. Kg1 Nh3+ $11) 21. d5 (21. Nxg6+ {can lead to some fun variations, but here too a draw is the likeliest result.} hxg6 (21... Qxg6 22. d5 Rad8 23. Bb3 Bxd5 24. Bxd5 c6 25. Re6 Rf6 26. Qb3 Rxd5 27. Rxc6 Rxc6 28. Qxd5 $11) 22. d5 (22. Re3 $4 {(with the idea of Rh3+ followed by Bb3+) looks attractive, but there's a minor problem.} Qxg2#) 22... Rad8 23. h4 $5 (23. Re5 Qf4 24. Re3 Bxd5 25. Bb3 Qd6 26. Rh3+ Kg8 27. Rd3 c6 28. Rc1 Rfe8 29. Rxc6 Qb4 30. Rc1 Bxb3 31. Qxb3+ Qxb3 32. Rxb3 Re6 $11) 23... Qxh4 24. Re3 Qg4 25. Qxg4 fxg4 26. Re7 Bxd5 27. Rxc7 $44) 21... Rad8 22. Bb3 c5 {Intending ...b5 followed by ...c4, closing the dangerous a2-g8 diagonal.} (22... Bxd5 23. Bxd5 Nxe5 24. Rxe5 c6 25. Qb3 Rxd5 26. Rxd5 cxd5 27. Qxd5 $11) 23. Nf3 (23. Nxg6+ hxg6 24. Re3 b5 {Just in time, before Rh3+ Kg8 d6+ would force ...Rf7.} 25. Qc1 $1 f4 $1 26. Rg3 Qf5 27. Rh3+ Kg8 28. Qxc5 Bxd5 $11) 23... Qh5 (23... Qf4 24. g3 Qh6 $8 25. Rc1 f4 26. Rc3 $11 {The position is very sharp.}) 24. Ne5 Qg5 $1 (24... Qxd1 {was also playable, but I think Black has the harder problems to solve in the following variation:} 25. Nxg6+ hxg6 26. Raxd1 b5 27. Re7 Ba8 28. d6 c4 29. Bc2 Rf6 30. d7 Bc6 31. g4 Kg8 $8 (31... fxg4 $4 32. Be4 $1 Bxe4 33. Re8+ $18) 32. g5 Rf7 33. Rxf7 Kxf7 34. Rd6 Rxd7 $5 35. Rxc6 Rd2 $11) 25. Nf3 (25. Nxg6+ hxg6 26. h4 Qxh4 27. Re3 c4 $1 28. Rh3 Qxh3 29. gxh3 Rxd5 {followed by ...cxb3 is equal, though I'm not sure how confident I would be trying to figure things out over the board in this position without the engine's soothing "0.00" display.}) 25... Qh5 26. Ne5 Qg5 27. Nf3 {The players call it a day, hoping that Gukesh won't win or that he'll be stopped tomorrow.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE Candidates 2024"] [Site "Toronto CAN"] [Date "2024.04.20"] [Round "13.2"] [White "Praggnanandhaa, R."] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B30"] [WhiteElo "2747"] [BlackElo "2803"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "178"] [EventDate "2024.04.04"] {[%evp 0,178,18,17,56,48,44,50,58,12,44,44,59,37,22,22,31,31,24,23,30,15,8,25,25,0,-8,-10,43,43,56,11,14,15,45,-13,-2,-31,-28,-41,-6,-14,-42,-61,-61,-109,-116,-111,-111,-108,-104,-104,-101,-101,-97,-113,-107,-105,-98,-93,-99,-106,-85,-114,-91,-103,-109,-103,-91,-103,-97,-103,-95,-109,-111,-111,-100,-108,-93,-93,-66,-77,-75,-75,-81,-74,-74,-69,-64,-59,-55,-60,-14,-61,-64,-88,-83,-96,-107,-108,-108,-108,-102,-98,-108,-108,-107,-95,-95,-101,-78,-97,-97,-97,-97,-97,-97,-124,-124,-111,-115,-125,-80,-80,-82,-82,-81,-77,-81,-91,-53,-32,-20,-20,-43,-74,-29,-102,-89,-83,-117,-126,-57,-68,-100,-139,-143,-143,-34,-59,-61,-65,-83,-143,-154,-131,-166,-237,-250,-272,-262,-320,-230,-240,-191,-302,-287,-320,-462,-462,-556,-816,-869,-1262,-1282,-1282,-1292,-1302,-1302,-1292,-1312]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 {Caruana also played this back in rounds 3 and 5 rather than the generally preferred 3...g6 or 3...e6.} 4. Bxc6 (4. Nc3 {was Firouzja's choice in round 3.}) 4... dxc6 5. d3 Qc7 {Varying from his 5...Bg4 against Vidit in round 5.} 6. Nbd2 (6. e5) 6... e5 7. a4 $146 (7. Nc4) 7... Be6 8. b3 Be7 9. Nc4 Nd7 10. Ng5 Bxc4 $146 11. bxc4 Nf8 {Even in this slightly offbeat Rossolimo, Black wants to maneuver the knight to e6, on its way to d4 or f4.} 12. Qg4 h5 $5 13. Qf5 Bd6 14. O-O Qe7 15. Qh3 $2 (15. f4 f6 16. Nf3 g6 17. Qh3 exf4 {is equal but very sharp. White can go for some 19th century-style action with} 18. e5 Bxe5 (18... fxe5 $2 19. Bxf4 $1 Ne6 20. Bxe5 O-O 21. Rae1 Rae8 22. Qg3 Bxe5 23. Rxe5 $18 {doesn't look like a position Black is likely to survive.}) 19. Nxe5 fxe5 20. Bxf4 $1 Nd7 $1 21. Rae1 O-O 22. Bh6 Rxf1+ 23. Rxf1 $44 {White's compensation is (only) sufficient, but I think that most of us non-superGMs would find White's position easier to handle.}) 15... f6 16. Nf3 g5 $1 $17 {Suddenly White faces an attack that will proceed quite naturally. Pragg does well to find a plausible defense, albeit at the cost of the exchange.} 17. Nd2 (17. Qf5) 17... Ne6 (17... g4 18. Qe3 Ne6 $17) 18. Re1 (18. Nb3) 18... g4 19. Qe3 O-O-O 20. Qe2 (20. h4 $1 {is the engine's surprising suggestion, taking advantage of the pin after} gxh3 21. Qxh3 {. After} Kb8 22. Nf3 $15 {/? White has the d4 and f4 squares covered, and isn't *that* much worse.}) 20... Rdg8 $17 21. Nf1 h4 (21... Nf4 $142 22. Qd1 h4 23. Ne3 g3 $1 $17) 22. Ne3 Nd4 23. Qd1 h3 ({It may have been better to protect the g4-pawn and wait. The ...h3 idea isn't going anywhere, and Black can make some further improving moves before cashing in.} 23... Qd7) 24. g3 Nf3+ 25. Kh1 Nxe1 ({Here too, waiting may have been best. The bishop goes back to c7, maybe ...b6 and ...a5 are played to keep the king pretty much permanently safe, and ...Rh5 gets thrown in to sac the exchange (for a pawn) in case of Nf5.} 25... Qd7) 26. Qxe1 Qd7 $15 {Only Caruana can be better, but there's a lot of work to do if he hopes to win. (And not only does he "hope" to, he needs to.)} 27. Rb1 Bf8 28. Ba3 Kb8 29. Qe2 Ka8 30. Kg1 Rh7 31. Qd1 Rhg7 32. Kf1 {So how does Black make progress? One important thing to note, practically, is that he doesn't have to, at least not right away. He can try this and that, seeing what's there, seeing how Pragg reacts, and letting him burn his time and energy before going for the win.} Qd8 33. Qe1 Rg5 34. Rb3 Rh5 35. Rb1 Bd6 36. Bb2 Bc7 37. Bc3 Qd7 38. Qd1 Bd6 39. Qe2 Bf8 {Now we see an idea. The bishop will go to h6 and swap itself for the knight unless it jumps to f5, and in that case Black may give up the exchange.} 40. f3 $1 gxf3 41. Qxf3 $11 {Now when White plays Nf5 Black will be unable to give up the exchange for a pawn.} Rh7 42. Nf5 (42. a5 $1 Bh6 {and only now} 43. Nf5 $1 $11) 42... Qe8 (42... b6 $1 $15) 43. Bd2 (43. a5 $1 $11) 43... Qh5 $15 (43... b6 $15) 44. Qxh5 $6 (44. Qe3 $142) 44... Rxh5 {Black still isn't guaranteed a win, but with the queens off his chances improve. Now Black can use his king to help the queenside pawns advance, which is something he couldn't have dreamed of while the queens remained.} 45. Ke2 (45. a5) 45... b6 $1 $17 46. Kf3 Rh7 47. g4 Be7 48. Kg3 Bd8 49. Be3 a5 $5 {Now the king will go to a6, to help support ...b5.} 50. Rb3 Ka7 51. Rb1 Ka6 52. Rb2 Bc7 53. Rb1 Rb8 54. Rf1 {All of Black's pieces are on their best available squares, so it's time to go forward.} b5 $1 $19 55. cxb5+ cxb5 56. Bxc5 bxa4 57. Ne3 Bd8 58. Ba3 {So far, so good for Caruana, but now he makes some errors. Rather than penetrating with the rooks, he allows the rooks to remain and gives White the chance to improve his (attempted) fortress and to win the a4 pawn.} Rc8 $6 (58... Rhb7 $1 59. Kxh3 Rb1 $19) 59. Nc4 Rc6 $6 60. Ra1 $17 Bb6 61. Bc1 Bd4 62. Rxa4 Bc3 $8 63. Ra3 (63. Kf3) 63... Bb4 (63... Be1+ $142 $1 64. Kf3 Rhc7 {was best, looking to sac on c4.}) 64. Ra2 Be1+ {The right idea, but too late.} (64... Kb5 $142) 65. Kf3 $11 Rb7 66. Bb2 Rb5 67. c3 $2 (67. g5 $1 fxg5 68. Kg4 Rxc4 69. dxc4 Rb4 70. Kxh3 Rxc4 71. Kg4 Rxe4+ 72. Kxg5 $11 {The draw is nigh.}) 67... Rc7 $17 68. Ba1 $2 {The losing move.} (68. Ra1 $1 Bd2 $1 69. Nxd2 Rxb2 70. Nc4 Rxh2 71. Kg3 Rc2 72. Rxa5+ Kb7 73. Kxh3 Rxc3 74. Rb5+ Kc6 75. Rb6+ Kd7 76. Nb2 $8 R3c6 $17 {White should hold a draw.}) 68... Rd7 $19 69. d4 Rc7 $1 70. Ne3 exd4 (70... Rb3 $1) 71. cxd4 Rb3 {Between Black's material advantage, is more active and better-coordinated pieces, and his passed a-pawn, it's clear that is winning. (The h3 vs. h2 situation is also in his favor, and in the game it accounts for the margin of victory.)} 72. Kf4 Rc1 73. e5 fxe5+ (73... Bh4 $1 {was nice, and possibly more efficient.} 74. exf6 Bxf6 75. Nd5 Bd8 $19) 74. dxe5 Rxa1 $1 75. Rxa1 Bd2 76. e6 Bxe3+ $1 (76... Rxe3 $4 77. Rd1 Rd3+ 78. Ke4 Re3+ $8 (78... Rd8 $2 79. e7 Re8 80. Rxd2 Rxe7+ 81. Kf5 $18) 79. Kf4 Re2+ 80. Kf3 Rxe6 81. Rxd2 $11) 77. Kf5 Bc5 78. Rc1 Kb6 79. g5 Be7 80. Kg6 a4 81. Rc8 Re3 (81... a3 {is also playable, with a Saavedra-like win after} 82. Rb8+ Ka7 $1 83. Rxb3 a2 $19) 82. Re8 a3 83. Ra8 Kb7 84. Ra5 Rxe6+ 85. Kf7 Ra6 86. Rxa6 Kxa6 87. g6 a2 88. g7 a1=Q 89. g8=Q Qa2+ {It's impressive that White managed to promote a pawn, though he is still completely lost.} (89... Qa2+ 90. Kg7 Qxg8+ 91. Kxg8 Bd6 92. Kf7 Bxh2 93. Kg6 Bb8 $19) 0-1 [Event "FIDE Candidates 2024"] [Site "Toronto CAN"] [Date "2024.04.20"] [Round "13.3"] [White "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"] [Black "Abasov, Nijat"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C42"] [WhiteElo "2727"] [BlackElo "2632"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "62"] [EventDate "2024.04.04"] {[%evp 0,62,18,17,17,17,54,17,36,37,43,-1,-1,-1,-9,4,25,0,71,69,81,81,78,81,70,51,21,33,26,20,20,0,9,17,19,-61,-45,-20,-28,-51,-34,-42,7,-70,-33,-56,-30,-59,-51,-37,23,18,15,-14,-15,-20,7,-9,-4,-30,7,-3,-3,-18,-3]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. O-O Be7 8. Nbd2 Nxd2 9. Bxd2 Bg4 10. c3 O-O 11. h3 Bh5 12. g3 {First played in 2011, and now there are more than 500 games with this move.} Qd7 13. Kg2 Bg6 14. Bxg6 (14. Bf4 {is a popular alternative.}) 14... fxg6 15. Bf4 (15. Qc2 {is usual, with almost 200 games in the database. Most of them seem to be correspondence games, which means almost definitionally that most of them have been drawn.}) 15... h6 (15... Rf5) 16. Qd3 g5 17. Be5 Rf7 18. Rae1 Raf8 {Still nothing new.} 19. Re3 (19. Nh2 Nxe5 20. Rxe5 Bd6 21. Re3 Qa4 22. a3 a5 23. Ng4 Rf5 24. Ne5 Bxe5 25. Rxe5 Qd7 26. Rxf5 {½-½ Milde,L (1893)-Kuhn,C (2063) SA-2018-0-00622 LSS email}) 19... a6 20. Qe2 $146 (20. Nh2 Nxe5 21. Rxe5 Bd6 22. Re3 a5 23. b3 c6 24. Qg6 Rf6 25. Qd3 b5 26. Rf3 Rxf3 27. Nxf3 Qf5 28. Qe3 Rf7 29. g4 Qf6 30. Re1 Re7 31. Qd3 Rxe1 32. Nxe1 Kf7 33. Kf1 Bf4 34. Qe2 Qe6 35. Qd3 Qf6 36. Qe2 Qe6 37. Nc2 Qxe2+ 38. Kxe2 Ke6 39. Kd3 Bd6 40. Ke2 b4 41. Kd3 bxc3 42. Kxc3 Kd7 43. b4 axb4+ 44. Nxb4 Bc7 {½-½ Tkachenko,Y (2345)-Yurchuk,T (2285) W-ch12 final (Women) email ICCF email 2020}) (20. Qg6 Bd8 21. Qc2 Be7 22. a4 Na5 23. b3 c5 24. dxc5 Bxc5 25. Bd4 Bd6 26. Qd1 Nc6 27. Qd3 Ne7 28. Ne5 Bxe5 29. Rxe5 Nc6 30. Re3 Qd6 31. b4 b6 32. b5 Nxd4 33. Qxd4 axb5 34. axb5 Rf5 35. Re2 Qf6 36. Ra1 Rf3 37. Qxd5+ Kh8 38. Raa2 Rxc3 39. Re6 Qf5 40. Qxf5 Rxf5 41. Rxb6 Rb3 42. Rb7 {½-½ Hariman,A (2091)-Gravini Amador,E (2048) W-ch WS/H/926 email ICCF email 2022}) 20... Rf5 21. b4 R5f7 22. a4 Na7 23. g4 Nc8 24. a5 Bd6 25. Re1 {White's position looks nice, but what can he do with it?} Qd8 (25... Na7 $142) 26. Rf1 (26. Qa2 $142 $14) 26... Ne7 27. Qd3 Qd7 28. Kg1 {Hinting - or acknowledging - that he has nothing, and also hinting that he might be willing to repeat.} Nc6 29. Kg2 Ne7 {Mission accomplished! Since the position is equal, neither player has any hopes of winning the tournament, and all the spectators' eyes are on the other three games, a draw is a satisfactory and understandable result.} 30. Kg1 Nc6 31. Kg2 Ne7 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE Candidates 2024"] [Site "Toronto CAN"] [Date "2024.04.20"] [Round "13.4"] [White "Gukesh, D."] [Black "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2743"] [BlackElo "2760"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "125"] [EventDate "2024.04.04"] {[%evp 0,125,18,17,17,17,17,9,24,12,25,6,-3,-16,-9,9,14,-41,10,-4,-7,-5,17,6,31,19,9,-12,18,-27,-6,-28,-25,-25,-32,-55,15,-8,18,18,3,-2,38,-9,-15,-31,-22,-22,-12,-14,-39,-37,-25,-48,6,-7,-19,-15,-15,-9,19,-18,12,-37,-17,-33,37,37,-20,1,76,20,43,32,23,34,23,53,63,66,60,68,66,56,72,52,30,42,52,56,82,74,93,106,102,115,160,177,178,154,156,170,221,221,222,199,310,214,202,252,252,254,296,250,250,234,250,199,254,251,281,270,281,281,274,191,423,423]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. O-O Nd4 {Generally considered the cure for 5.0-0.} 6. Nxd4 Bxd4 7. Nd2 c6 8. Bc4 (8. Ba4 {is much more common.}) 8... d6 9. c3 Bb6 10. Bb3 {Transposing to a few dozen games.} a5 {Only played once before, but since Black in that game was Peter Leko it's a good sign of quality.} (10... O-O) (10... h6) 11. Nc4 $146 {A novelty, but again one that transposes back to more games.} Ba7 {Preferred by Aronian in two earlier games, including a win over Carlsen.} 12. Ne3 $146 {One more novelty, and this time there will be no further transpositions.} O-O 13. Qf3 d5 14. Bc2 g6 $11 {/? Black is in great shape here.} 15. Re1 Be6 16. exd5 cxd5 17. h3 Re8 $6 {Probably missing White's reply.} (17... Kg7) (17... Bb8) 18. Ba4 $1 e4 19. dxe4 dxe4 20. Qe2 {Black has more space, which is counterbalanced by his dark-squared weaknesses on the kingside.} (20. Qf4 $11) 20... Re7 21. Nf1 Qc7 22. Bb3 a4 23. Bxe6 Rxe6 24. Be3 a3 $5 (24... Nd5 25. Rad1 Bxe3 26. Rxd5 Bc5 {is also equal.}) 25. c4 Nh5 (25... axb2 26. Qxb2 Nd7 27. Bxa7 Rxa7 28. Ne3 Ne5 29. Qd4 $11) 26. g3 Bc5 27. b3 (27. Rab1 $11) 27... f5 {Stabilizing the structure, but at the cost of creating some excess air around the king.} 28. Bxc5 Qxc5 29. Rad1 Rf8 (29... Rae8 $142 $1) (29... f4 $142) 30. Rd5 (30. Qd2 $1 $11) 30... Qe7 31. f4 $1 {A brave, good move. At the cost of Black's receiving a protected passed pawn, White stops Black's kingside play and creates a potential outpost on e5.} Nf6 (31... Re8) 32. Rd2 g5 $5 {This very ambitious move weakens *both* players' structures.} ({Another interesting option:} 32... e3 $5 33. Rd3 Re8 34. Rxe3 Qc5 $44) ({If Black wants to be solid, at least through the time control, he might try} 32... h5 $11) ({or} 32... Rd8 $11 {.}) 33. Ne3 $1 gxf4 34. gxf4 Qf7 (34... Rd8 35. Rxd8+ Qxd8 36. Nxf5 Qa5 $1 $11 {is equal according to the engine, but it's hardly self-evident to a human that his compensation suffices for the pawn.}) 35. Kh2 Nh5 36. Qf2 Rg6 (36... Kh8 $142) 37. Rd5 $14 Ng7 38. Red1 (38. Qh4 $1) 38... Rh6 $1 39. Rg1 Rg6 40. Rgd1 Rh6 41. Rg1 Rg6 42. Qh4 $1 {Gutsily refusing to repeat. Gukesh's drive in this tournament has been awesome. He is not just very strong - all the players are (especially the top 7) - he's also a very tough dude at the board, despite his tender age.} Rxg1 43. Kxg1 Kh8 (43... Qg6+ 44. Kf2 Ne6 45. Rd6 Kh8 $1 $11 {maintains equality, with ideas like ...Rg8 and ...Qg7 on tap.}) 44. Kf2 Rg8 $2 (44... Qg6) 45. Qg5 $2 (45. Qh6 $1 $16 {/+- leaves Black tied down.}) 45... Qg6 $2 {Going into a lost endgame. Black needed to keep the queens on in search of counterplay.} (45... Ne6 $1 46. Qxf5 Qg7 $1 {Threatening checks on the g-file *and* on b2. White should swap the queens.} 47. Qe5 (47. Qxe6 $4 Qg1+ 48. Ke2 Qh2+ 49. Ke1 Rg1+ 50. Nf1 Qg3+ 51. Kd2 Rg2+ 52. Kc1 Qc3+ 53. Kd1 Qa1#) 47... Qxe5 $1 (47... Nxf4 $2 48. Qxf4 Qb2+ 49. Kf1 Qa1+ 50. Rd1 $18) 48. fxe5 (48. Rxe5 Nxf4 49. Rxe4 Nxh3+ $11) 48... Rf8+ 49. Ke1 (49. Ke2 $4 Nf4+ $19) 49... Rf3 $11) 46. Qxg6 hxg6 47. Rd6 $18 {Firouzja finds lots of clever ideas from here until the end. They would probably work against most of us, but Gukesh is zoned in, despite the tension and his relative lack of time.} Re8 48. Rxg6 (48. Nd5 $1) 48... Ne6 49. Nd5 (49. Nxf5 Nxf4 50. Rh6+ $1 Kg8 51. Rf6 $18) 49... Nd4 (49... e3+ 50. Nxe3 Nxf4 51. Rh6+ Kg8 52. Kf3 Nd3 53. Rd6 $18) 50. Rb6 $1 Nc2 (50... e3+ $5 51. Nxe3 Re4 52. Nd5 $1 Re2+ 53. Kg3 Rxa2 54. Rxb7 {Threatening Nf6 and Rh7#, an idea we'll see again.} Kg8 55. Ra7 $1 Nxb3 56. Kh4 $1 {Black's a-pawn is under control, and White has too many assets everywhere else for the game to finish as anything other than 1-0.}) 51. Rxb7 Re6 (51... e3+ 52. Ke2 Nd4+ 53. Kd3 Nxb3 {is a very cool idea, though it won't work against best play.} 54. axb3 (54. Rxb3 $1 e2 55. Rb1 e1=Q 56. Rxe1 Rxe1 57. c5 $18) (54. Nf6 Nc5+ 55. Ke2 Nxb7 56. Nxe8 $18) 54... e2 55. Nf6 Re3+ $1 {is the main idea. Taking the rook allows Black to queen with check, while other moves are met by ...Rxh3, stopping White's mate and hoping to make hay with either the e-pawn or the a-pawn. Unfortunately for Firouzja, even here White has a defense.} 56. Kc2 $1 Rxh3 57. Kd2 $1 a2 58. Ra7 Rh1 59. Kxe2 a1=Q 60. Rxa1 Rxa1 61. b4 $18 {Even this great try comes up short.}) 52. Re7 $1 Rh6 53. c5 Nd4 54. Kg2 {To gain time on the clock. (After move 40, the players receive a 30-second bonus after every move.)} Rg6+ 55. Kf2 Rh6 56. b4 Rxh3 57. Kg2 Rh6 58. Rb7 Kg8 59. b5 Kf8 60. b6 Rg6+ 61. Kf2 Rh6 62. Rc7 Rh2+ {Black's counterplay is way too slow.} 63. Kg3 (63. Kg3 Rb2 64. b7 {and the threat of Nb6 more or less forces Black to give up the rook, which is hopeless.}) 1-0