[Event "12th Norway Chess 2024"] [Site "Stavanger NOR"] [Date "2024.06.03"] [Round "7.1"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E25"] [WhiteElo "2794"] [BlackElo "2830"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "39"] [GameId "2052504715575615"] [EventDate "2024.05.27"] {[%evp 0,39,16,20,32,-4,-11,13,31,-34,-29,-20,-20,-9,2,-2,37,11,39,35,25,44,59,22,20,45,38,26,17,-6,-6,22,0,25,17,17,25,28,28,28,26,30]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 c5 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. dxc5 Qa5 9. e4 Ne7 10. Be3 O-O 11. Qd2 (11. Qb3 {is the main line by a long way.}) 11... Rd8 12. Qb2 Na6 $146 {A new move, but there were only two predecessors and they were far below the super-GM level.} 13. Nh3 (13. Bxa6 Qxa6 14. Ne2 {is the engine's recommendation, but it doesn't look very attractive to give up the bishop pair, and especially to surrender the light-squared bishop when White's queenside is riddled with weak light squares.}) 13... e5 14. Nf2 Be6 15. Nd3 Qc7 16. Qb5 {Not necessary, but there isn't anything that's objectively better.} Bd7 17. Qb2 Be6 18. Qb5 Bd7 19. Qb2 Be6 20. Qb5 1/2-1/2 [Event "12th Norway Chess 2024"] [Site "Stavanger NOR"] [Date "2024.06.03"] [Round "7.2"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2805"] [BlackElo "2737"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "94"] [GameId "2052504715575616"] [EventDate "2024.05.27"] {[%evp 0,94,19,38,18,26,21,19,19,11,11,0,-9,-5,21,-25,-11,-28,-15,-36,-48,-60,-18,-127,13,17,57,26,61,63,23,48,-12,-28,15,-48,-48,-89,-75,-57,-85,-60,-35,-57,-64,-37,-27,-48,-21,-22,0,-36,0,-18,-14,-12,-10,8,0,0,0,-10,5,0,-12,-11,-21,-16,-14,-26,-8,-9,-16,-17,-17,-15,-21,-18,-21,-28,-16,-32,-30,-29,-34,-27,-2,-16,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Nbd2 d6 6. c3 a6 7. Nf1 O-O 8. Ng3 Ba7 9. Bg5 (9. Bb3 {is a normal sort of move here, not letting Black swap off the bishop with ...Na5.}) (9. a4 {makes sense for similar reasons. The drawback, when White's move prevents, is that Black can play} d5 {with impunity.} 10. exd5 Nxd5 11. O-O Kh8 $1 {Black is just in time, so he can play ...f6 next without worrying about any monkey business (or other Marx Brothers shenanigans) on the a2-g8 diagonal.} 12. a5 f6 13. Qb3 Nde7 $11) 9... h6 10. Bh4 g6 (10... g5 $2 {is premature.} 11. Nxg5 Ng4 $1 (11... hxg5 $2 12. Bxg5 $18 {Black must worry about both Qf3 and especially Nh5.}) 12. Nf3 Bxf2+ 13. Ke2 $16 {White is getting this for free, so there's nothing surprising about his having a large advantage.}) 11. a4 Kg7 12. O-O $6 (12. Qd2 $142 {stops ...g5, at least for the moment.}) 12... g5 {Now it's on. The king being on g7 gives Black two extra resources compared to what was going on in the 10...g5 line. First, the king's already defending the knight, so Black's queen has time to run away from the pin. Second, Black has ...Rh8, stopping or at least neutralizing any Nh5+ ideas.} (12... Rh8 $3 $15 {is a fascinating idea, an instance of the rarely seen Nimzowitschian "mysterious rook move". The point is to put the rook on h8 first, before playing ...g5, and then after the piece sac the queen can move to g8. Black will have no problems at all there, and White can't play h4 in the meantime to sync up with what would have happened in the game in case of 15.h4.}) 13. Nxg5 hxg5 14. Bxg5 Rh8 15. h3 $2 (15. Qf3 $2 Kg6 16. h4 Bg4 17. Bxf6 Qd7 $19 {was mentioned by Caruana, showing a point to both 15.h3 and 15.h4.}) ({Caruana went to the "confessional" during the game after playing 15.h3, and reported that he had been vacillating between 15.h3 and 15.h4 before choosing the latter. Indeed, he was still unsure after making his move. The quick summary was that he generally though that 15.h4 was better (and he was right about that), but he was attracted to a particular tactical idea that only worked with the pawn on h3.} 15. h4 Qg8 (15... Kg6 16. d4 exd4 $6 (16... Rh7 $3 $11 {Preparing ...Qh8!}) 17. e5 $2 {was mentioned (tentatively) by Caruana.} (17. cxd4 $16) 17... Nxe5 18. cxd4 Nxc4 19. Qc2+ Kg7 20. Qxc4 d5 $17) 16. Qf3 Ne8 17. Nf5+ Bxf5 18. exf5 Nf6 19. Rae1 $44) 15... Qg8 $1 $17 {/-+ White is in serious trouble here.} (15... Z0 16. Qf3 Kg6 17. Nf5 {is threatened by 15.h3 according to Caruana, and the point of 15.h3 is that after} Kxg5 $4 (17... Be6 {is still about equal, so even if we give White the extra move Black is apparently still alright.}) 18. Qg3+ {there's no 18...Ng4 - White just takes it and mates on the next move.} Ng4 19. Qxg4+ Kf6 20. Qg7#) (15... Kg6 {was the move Caruana expected, and while Black is perhaps a tad better after} 16. Be3 Ng8 ({or} 16... Rh4 {, the move in the game - which Caruana either overlooked or didn't bother to mention in the confessional - is much better.})) 16. Qf3 Ne8 $17 (16... Nh7 $1 {looks a little ridiculous, boxing up Black's pieces, but the point is for the knight to spring into g5 after ...Kf8.}) 17. Be3 Kf8 18. Bxa7 Rxa7 19. Qe3 Qg7 $6 (19... Nf6 $1 {was best, a sort of prophylaxis. After} 20. f4 {- pretty much White's only sensible idea - Black has} Bxh3 $1 21. fxe5 $8 (21. gxh3 $2 Rxh3 22. Kg2 Rh2+ $1 23. Kg1 Ng4 24. Qf3 Rh4 $19) 21... Ng4 $1 22. Qf4 Ncxe5 23. gxh3 Rxh3 24. Be6 $1 Rh4 25. d4 $1 Nh2 $1 {and the rook can't be taken because of the fork on f3. White should instead give up the exchange and hope for the best with} 26. Qe3 Nxf1 27. Rxf1 Ke8 28. Bd5 Rh3 $1 29. Kg2 Ng4 $1 30. Qf4 Rxg3+ $1 31. Kxg3 Ne3+ 32. Kf2 Nxf1 33. Kxf1 Qg6 $1 $17 {/-+ This is a very nice line, but not one that's likely to happen in a purely human game.}) 20. f4 Qh6 (20... Rg8 21. Rf3 Nf6 22. Raf1 Bg4 $1 23. hxg4 Nxg4 24. Qd2 Qh8 25. R1f2 Qh2+ 26. Kf1 Qh4 27. Kg1 b5 28. Bb3 $15) 21. Rf3 Nf6 (21... Ra8 $142 $15) 22. Raf1 Bg4 (22... Bxh3 23. fxe5 Qxe3+ 24. Rxe3 Ng4 25. Ref3 Ngxe5 26. Rxf7+ Nxf7 27. Rxf7+ Ke8 28. gxh3 $11) 23. R3f2 $2 (23. fxe5 $1 Bxf3 24. Qxf3 Nxe5 25. Qxf6 Qxf6 26. Rxf6 Rg8 27. Ne2 Nxc4 28. dxc4 $11) 23... Nh5 $2 {Missing a second opportunity, and this one's a bit easier than the last one, though still not easy.} (23... Rg8 $1 24. Qd2 (24. Bxf7 Kxf7 25. hxg4 Rh8 $1 26. Nh5 Ke7 27. Qh3 Nxg4 28. Qxg4 Qxh5 29. Qxh5 Rxh5 $19) 24... Bxh3 $1 25. fxe5 Qxd2 26. Rxd2 Rxg3 27. Rxf6 Nxe5 28. Kh2 Re3 29. gxh3 Nf3+ 30. Rxf3 Rxf3 $19) 24. Nxh5 (24. Bxf7 Kxf7 25. fxe5+ Ke8 26. Rf8+ Kd7 27. R1f7+ Ne7 28. Qxh6 (28. Qxa7 $2 Rxf8 $19) 28... Rxh6 29. Nf5 Bxf5 30. exf5 dxe5 $8 31. g4 Nf4 32. f6 Nxh3+ 33. Kf1 Rxf6+ 34. Rxf6 Nf4 $11) 24... Bxh5 25. Bd5 Ra8 $15 26. Qg3 Qg7 27. Qxg7+ Kxg7 28. fxe5 dxe5 29. Bxf7 Raf8 30. Bd5 Rxf2 31. Rxf2 Bg6 {Only Black can be better here, but Caruana shows that Firouzja's advantage isn't enough.} 32. Rf3 Nd8 33. Kf2 c6 34. Bb3 b5 35. Ke3 Nb7 36. Bc2 Nc5 37. axb5 axb5 38. Rf1 Ra8 39. d4 Nd7 40. g4 Rh8 41. Rf3 (41. Rh1 $142) 41... Nb6 (41... c5 $142) 42. b3 exd4+ 43. cxd4 Re8 44. Kf4 Rf8+ 45. Ke3 Re8 46. Kf4 Rf8+ 47. Ke3 Re8 1/2-1/2 [Event "12th Norway Chess 2024"] [Site "Stavanger NOR"] [Date "2024.06.03"] [Round "7.3"] [White "Praggnanandhaa, R."] [Black "Ding, Liren"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2747"] [BlackElo "2762"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "60"] [GameId "2052504715575617"] [EventDate "2024.05.27"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. O-O O-O 6. h3 d6 7. c3 a5 8. Re1 h6 9. Nbd2 Be6 10. Bb5 Bb6 ({Ding has generally played} 10... Qb8 {here, most recently (through a different move order) against Caruana in round 3.}) 11. a4 Nd7 {Intending the aggressive ...f5.} (11... Na7 {has also been tried.}) 12. Nc4 f5 13. exf5 Bxf5 $146 (13... Rxf5 14. Nxb6 Nxb6 15. Bxc6 bxc6 16. Nd4 exd4 17. Rxe6 Qh4 18. f3 dxc3 19. bxc3 Raf8 20. Re4 Qf6 21. Qe1 Nd5 22. Bd2 Nf4 23. Bxf4 Rxf4 24. Re7 Qg6 25. Kh2 Qxd3 26. Rxc7 Qc2 27. Qe6+ Kh7 28. Rxc6 Rxf3 29. Ra2 Qf5 30. Qxf5+ R3xf5 31. Rxd6 Rc5 32. Rd3 {½-½ Tanti,J (2236)-Nemec,Z (2195) W-ch WS/CCM/B/05 email ICCF email 2019}) 14. d4 e4 15. Nh2 (15. Nfd2 $142 d5 16. Nxb6 Nxb6 17. f3 $11 {/?}) 15... d5 (15... Ne7 $142 16. Bxd7 Qxd7 17. Nxb6 cxb6 18. d5 b5 $11) 16. Nxb6 Nxb6 17. Qh5 (17. b3 $142 $14) 17... Ne7 $11 18. b3 c6 19. Bf1 Nd7 20. Ba3 (20. Qh4 $142 {followed by Qg3 and Ng4.}) 20... Bg6 (20... Rf7) 21. Qg4 (21. Qh4) 21... Kh7 22. Qd1 (22. Qh4) 22... Nf6 (22... Rf7) 23. Ng4 (23. Nf3 $5) 23... Nxg4 24. Qxg4 (24. hxg4 $142 {was better, keeping Black's pieces off the valuable f5 square.}) 24... Rf7 $15 25. b4 $6 {This is way too slow. Now Ding gets a serious advantage.} Nf5 $17 26. bxa5 Qxa5 27. Bb4 Qc7 28. h4 $6 Rf6 (28... h5 $1 29. Qg5 Re8 $19 {Black is ready to play ...e3, and White can only delay it or stop it by throwing a rook on e3. Either way, he's lost. A sample line:} 30. Bd3 Rf6 31. Bc2 Ree6 32. a5 e3 33. fxe3 Nh6 34. Bxg6+ Rxg6 35. Qxh5 Qg3 36. Re2 Rg4 37. Rf1 Rxh4 38. Qf3 Qh2+ 39. Kf2 Rf6 $19) 29. Qh3 (29. h5 $8) 29... Bf7 $2 (29... Bh5 $1 $19) 30. Be2 $6 (30. g4 $11 {was even better, though not the sort of move you normally want to make after you've spent the last half hour considering lines where your king gets butchered. Still, this move takes away so many of Black's pieces' possible squares that White's king *won't* get butchered.}) 30... Be6 $6 (30... h5 $15 {/? keeps the advantage, though it's not what it could have been.}) ({If White meets} 30... Be6 {with} 31. g4 {, he equalizes; if not, then not. Ding stopped his four-game losing streak in classical chess, but even so this game was a disappointment in its own right, as he failed to take advantage - or seemingly to even try very hard to take advantage - of a winning position.}) 1/2-1/2 [Event "12th Norway Armageddon"] [Site "Stavanger NOR"] [Date "2024.06.03"] [Round "7.1"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D35"] [WhiteElo "2794"] [BlackElo "2830"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "101"] [GameId "2052505034334617"] [EventDate "2024.05.27"] {[%evp 0,101,21,10,18,-16,-4,6,18,-18,-3,2,23,11,51,-1,37,23,23,36,57,42,42,36,36,7,24,41,28,1,12,4,9,37,11,55,102,110,92,92,105,70,112,85,89,180,183,170,164,124,202,192,196,207,218,196,203,203,203,250,231,235,254,279,279,338,333,335,345,316,316,149,107,103,97,108,111,109,106,107,118,124,131,131,120,90,119,0,0,0,-9,-3,0,0,12,-39,0,9,0,0,0,0,-21,-2]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 Be7 6. e3 h6 7. Bh4 Bg4 8. f3 Be6 9. Bd3 c5 10. Nge2 Nc6 11. O-O O-O 12. Re1 $146 {This new move was prep, and it worked like a dream.} Re8 (12... cxd4 13. Nxd4 (13. exd4 Rc8) 13... Nxd4 14. exd4 Qb6) 13. Bc2 Rc8 14. Nf4 cxd4 $6 {This (temporarily) wins a pawn, but it's a bad idea.} 15. Nxe6 fxe6 16. exd4 Nxd4 17. Bg6 Rf8 18. Bf2 Nc6 19. Rxe6 $14 {White's bishop pair - especially the light-squared bishop - gives him the advantage, and Black's d-pawn could be weak as well. (Or not - see the game.) Nakamura's prep extended to this point, and he had a massive lead on the clock - around 5 minutes, two minutes more than he started the Armageddon game with.} d4 20. Ne2 Bc5 $6 (20... Nd5 $1) 21. Nf4 (21. Rc1 $16 {/+- may be better, but Nakamura's move is good and also sets a trap Carlsen falls for.}) 21... Nd5 $2 22. Qb3 $1 $18 {From here on out Carlsen puts up tremendous resistance, and it nearly pays off.} Nxf4 23. Rd6+ Kh8 24. Rxd8 Rcxd8 25. Qxb7 (25. Be4 $142) 25... Ne5 26. Be4 Bb6 27. a4 Nc4 28. Qa6 Nd2 29. a5 Bc5 30. Bb7 Nb3 31. Rd1 d3 32. Bxc5 Nxc5 33. Qxa7 Nxb7 34. Qxb7 Rfe8 35. g3 d2 {Suddenly, White has only move that keeps a winning advantage - and only two moves that don't lose.} 36. Qb4 $2 (36. Kf1 $1 {was the only winner. Nakamura saw it, but talked himself out of it due to} Nd5 37. Rxd2 Ne3+ {, thinking that the discovered checks would save Black. As he realized when discussing the game afterwards, they will run out:} 38. Ke1 Ng2+ 39. Kd1 Re1+ (39... Ne3+ 40. Kc1 $18) 40. Kc2 Ne3+ 41. Kc3 Rc1+ 42. Kb3 Rxd2 43. Qa8+ Kh7 44. Qe4+ $18 {leaves White with too many extra pawns after he captures the knight.}) 36... Rd4 $1 37. Qxd2 Rxd2 38. Rxd2 Ne6 39. b4 (39. Re2 $1 Kg8 $8 40. f4 g6 41. b4 $14) 39... Kg8 (39... Rb8 $1) 40. b5 Ra8 41. Ra2 $2 {The question mark is for the move's objective merit; it's impossible to blame Nakamura for not finding the following line, especially with less than a minute on the clock.} (41. a6 $1 Nc7 42. b6 $3 Nxa6 43. Ra2 Kf7 44. f4 $1 Ke7 45. f5 $1 Rf8 $1 46. Rxa6 Rxf5 47. Ra7+ $1 Kf6 48. Rd7 $1 Rb5 49. b7 $1 Rb2 50. Kf1 $1 g5 51. Ke1 $1 Ke6 52. Rh7 $1 Kf5 53. Kd1 $1 h5 54. Kc1 Rb6 55. Rf7+ $1 Kg4 56. Rg7 $1 Kf3 57. Rxg5 $1 Rxb7 58. Rxh5 $1 $18 {is a tablebase win. All the exclamation points for White in this variation indicate that they were the only moves to keep a decisive advantage.}) 41... Kf7 42. Kf2 Ke7 43. b6 Nc5 44. Ke3 Kd6 45. Kf4 g6 46. h4 Kd5 47. Kg4 Kc6 48. h5 Rg8 $1 49. Rc2 Kb5 50. hxg6 Rxg6+ 51. Kh5 {Based on a miscalculation, but it did the trick. Carlsen couldn't figure out quickly enough whether taking on g3 was possible, and lost on time.} (51. Kh5 Rxg3 52. f4 (52. Rxc5+ $4 Kxc5 53. b7 Rg8 54. a6 Kb6 $19) 52... Rf3 53. Kxh6 Rxf4 $11) 1-0 [Event "12th Norway Armageddon"] [Site "Stavanger NOR"] [Date "2024.06.03"] [Round "7.2"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2805"] [BlackElo "2737"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "148"] [GameId "2052505034334618"] [EventDate "2024.05.27"] {[%evp 0,148,21,21,21,11,11,11,11,9,12,-5,2,2,-7,-2,21,-21,2,-5,5,-26,-3,1,13,4,11,-22,-25,-20,-11,-16,-7,6,12,-2,3,3,10,-16,-15,-15,13,-4,20,2,-8,-3,10,-5,9,-12,7,-20,-8,0,0,0,0,-31,-4,-21,-12,-41,-13,-2,-18,-2,-14,-61,-41,-71,-34,-34,-44,-33,-34,-74,-48,-50,-54,-134,-183,-171,-211,-194,-194,-207,-165,-283,-273,-254,-152,-180,-156,-156,-153,-153,-153,-147,-124,-130,-101,-160,-153,-149,-106,-79,-96,-175,-150,-150,-150,-122,-122,-122,0,-163,-167,-413,-167,-413,-167,-296,-207,-390,-167,-286,-22,-15,0,-83,-40,-40,-45,-47,-25,-15,-15,-15,-15,-15,-25,-17,-15,-89,-89,-88,-89,-88,-74] I have been ignoring The Policy (i.e. to not analyze Giuoco Pianos) so far, but this looks like a good moment for its reinstatement. Suffice it to say that Firouzja was always fine, and in the end it was Caruana who had to scrap for a draw. (It should be added that the main reason he had to do any scrapping is because White is obliged to play for a win at all costs in the Armageddon format, so he had to take extra risks.)} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Nbd2 a6 6. c3 O-O 7. O-O d6 8. a3 Ba7 9. h3 h6 10. Re1 Re8 11. Nf1 Be6 12. Bxe6 Rxe6 13. c4 a5 14. b3 Nd4 15. Ng3 Nxf3+ 16. Qxf3 Nh7 17. Nf5 Ng5 18. Qe2 Rg6 19. Kh2 Ne6 20. Be3 Rf6 21. b4 Kh7 22. Qd2 Bxe3 23. fxe3 g6 24. Ng3 h5 25. Rf1 h4 26. Ne2 axb4 27. axb4 Rxf1 28. Rxf1 Kg7 29. Ng1 Ng5 30. Qf2 Ra3 31. Rd1 Qh8 32. Qb2 Qa8 33. Qf2 Qh8 34. c5 Rb3 35. Qd2 Qa8 36. cxd6 cxd6 37. Rf1 Qd8 38. Rc1 d5 39. Qc2 Ra3 40. Rf1 dxe4 41. Qb2 Rxd3 42. Qxe5+ f6 43. Qb5 Qd5 44. Qa4 Rxe3 45. Rc1 Rc3 46. Rxc3 Qe5+ 47. Kh1 Qxc3 48. Qd7+ Nf7 49. Qxb7 e3 50. Qe4 f5 51. Qxh4 g5 52. Qg3 f4 53. Qg4 Qxb4 54. Nf3 Qe7 55. Qc8 e2 56. Qc3+ Kg8 57. Kh2 Qe3 58. Qa5 Kg7 59. Qe1 Kg8 60. Qa1 Kf8 61. Kh1 Kg8 62. Qb1 Kg7 63. Qe1 Kg8 64. Ng1 Ne5 65. Nxe2 f3 66. gxf3 Qxf3+ 67. Kh2 Qe3 68. Qf1 Nf3+ 69. Kh1 Nh4 70. Kh2 Nf3+ 71. Kh1 Nh4 72. Ng1 Qe4+ 73. Kh2 Qe5+ 74. Kh1 Qe4+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "12th Norway Armageddon"] [Site "Stavanger NOR"] [Date "2024.06.03"] [Round "7.3"] [White "Praggnanandhaa, R."] [Black "Ding, Liren"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D00"] [WhiteElo "2747"] [BlackElo "2762"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "45"] [GameId "2052505034334619"] [EventDate "2024.05.27"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 d5 3. e3 c5 4. Bxf6 gxf6 5. Bb5+ Bd7 6. Bxd7+ Nxd7 7. Ne2 e6 8. O-O Qc7 9. Nd2 Bd6 10. h3 cxd4 11. Nxd4 a6 12. Qh5 ({I was thinking of} 12. Rc1 $1 {during the game (though I also spotted Pragg's move), and am happy to report that Stockfish is a fan. The idea is as obvious as can be, but that doesn't make it any less effective. Black can prevent c4 with} b5 {, but then White has something to grab a hold of with} 13. a4 $14) 12... O-O 13. c3 {This surprised me, and indeed, Black has full equality after this.} Kh8 14. Rad1 {Reasonable, but it's a strange fit with c3.} f5 {Stopping e3-e4 ideas while clearing f6 for the knight.} 15. N2f3 Nf6 16. Qh6 Qe7 $15 17. c4 $6 {Objectively bad, and situationally bad as well.} dxc4 $1 {This is "bad" in the context of a normal game compared to 17...Ng8, as it allows White to force a perpetual check. But in an Armageddon game that's as good as a win for Black.} (17... Ng8 $1 18. Qh5 dxc4 $17) 18. Ng5 $2 (18. Nc6 bxc6 19. Rxd6 Qxd6 20. Qxf6+ Kg8 21. Qg5+ Kh8 22. Qf6+ $11) (18. Ne2 $142 $17) 18... Rad8 $2 (18... Rg8 $19) 19. Rd2 $2 (19. Ndf3 $44) 19... Rg8 $19 20. Rfd1 Rg6 21. Qh4 {Ding played reasonable well in their classical game, and has done well so far. Is he going to win a second Armageddon game against Pragg?} Rdg8 $4 (21... Bb4 $1 22. Nxf5 (22. Rc2 e5 $19) 22... Rxd2 $1 23. Nxe7 Rxd1+ 24. Kh2 Bxe7 $19) 22. Ndf3 $1 $18 {No, he's not winning this game. White threatens Rxd6, obviously, and the bishop can't move because 23.Rd7 would be even worse. (The knight can't capture the rook because 24.Qxh7 is mate.)} h6 (22... Bb4 23. Rd7 Nxd7 (23... Qe8 24. Nxf7+ Kg7 25. N7e5+ $18) 24. Qxh7#) 23. Rxd6 (23. Rxd6 Kg7 (23... Rxg5 24. Nxg5 Rxg5 25. Qxh6+ Nh7 26. Rd7 Qf6 27. Qxf6+ Nxf6 28. Rxf7 $18) 24. Nxf7 $1 Kxf7 25. Ne5+ Ke8 26. Nxg6 Rxg6 27. Qxc4 $18) 1-0