[Event "FIDE Grand Swiss 2021"] [Site "Riga LAT"] [Date "2021.10.27"] [Round "1.1"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Chigaev, Maksim"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2800"] [BlackElo "2639"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2021.10.27"] {[%evp 0,67,19,25,46,42,88,72,58,23,31,53,47,25,73,14,38,32,32,38,34,-1,20,31, 52,0,13,25,18,48,32,47,28,17,17,1,24,15,-32,-36,45,11,14,-3,0,0,-12,-158,-118, -123,-123,-123,-149,-85,-47,24,-79,-172,53,171,63,96,307,209,563,553,625,669, 669,669]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 e6 (6... e5 {is much more popular, but Chigaev's Scheveningen approach is also entirely normal.}) 7. g4 h6 (7... d5 {was the main move, once upon a time, but it has been supplanted by the text.}) 8. a3 {This, in contrast to the alternatives mentioned in the previous two notes, is extremely unusual, having appeared in only three previous games (all drawn).} ({By contrast, the more obvious-looking } 8. Bg2 {has been played more than 1300 times.}) 8... Be7 $146 {A novelty, though it transposes to one prior game.} (8... b5 {was played in the earlier games, the most recent and highest-rated of which continued as follows:} 9. Bg2 Bb7 10. Qe2 Nbd7 11. Bd2 Rc8 12. O-O-O g5 13. h4 Rg8 14. hxg5 hxg5 15. Rh3 Qc7 16. Rg3 Ne5 17. Kb1 Qc4 18. Qxc4 Rxc4 19. Nb3 Bxe4 20. Na5 Bxg2 21. Nxc4 Bf3 22. Nxe5 Bxd1 23. Nxf7 Bxc2+ 24. Kxc2 Kxf7 25. f3 d5 26. Rh3 Kg6 27. Ne2 Bg7 28. Nd4 Re8 29. Kd3 Nd7 30. Rh5 Bf6 31. Bc3 Nc5+ 32. Kd2 Rc8 33. Rh2 Be5 34. Re2 Bf4+ 35. Kd1 e5 36. Nf5 Rh8 37. b4 d4 38. bxc5 dxc3 39. Kc2 Kf6 40. Kxc3 Ke6 41. Kb4 Kd7 42. Rc2 Re8 43. Nd6 Rd8 44. Nb7 Rc8 45. Nd6 Rf8 46. Nf5 Re8 47. Nd6 Rd8 48. Nb7 Rc8 49. Nd6 Rh8 50. Nf5 Re8 {1/2-1/2 (50) Vocaturo,D (2620) -Inarkiev,E (2693) Douglas 2019}) 9. Be3 Nc6 {Now we're up to two predecessors. } 10. Rg1 (10. Bg2 O-O 11. f4 d5 12. e5 Nd7 13. O-O Nxd4 14. Bxd4 b6 15. Kh1 a5 16. g5 Ba6 17. Rf2 g6 18. gxh6 Bh4 19. Rd2 Kh7 20. Qg4 Qe7 21. Rg1 Rae8 22. Kh2 Qd8 23. Nd1 Rg8 24. Ne3 Qe7 25. Bf3 f5 26. exf6 Bxf6 27. c4 Bxd4 28. Rxd4 Nf6 29. Qg5 Bxc4 30. Nxc4 dxc4 31. Rxc4 Rd8 32. Rc6 Rd2+ 33. Kh1 Qf7 34. f5 Rxb2 35. fxe6 Qe7 36. Qe5 {1-0 (36) Narayanan,S (2565)-Xu,Y (2533) Bhubaneswar 2018} ) 10... Nd7 $146 {From here on out, the players are on their own - at least as far as predecessors go. (Whether Caruana was out of his preparation may be another matter.)} (10... Qc7 11. Qe2 Nxd4 12. Bxd4 e5 13. Be3 Be6 14. O-O-O Rc8 15. Kb1 Qc6 16. Bg2 Nd7 17. f4 Bd8 18. Nd5 exf4 19. Bxf4 Ne5 20. Bf1 Bh4 21. Rg2 Qc5 22. Bg3 Bxg3 23. Rxg3 Rc6 24. Rc3 Qa5 25. Rxc6 Nxc6 26. Qe3 O-O 27. Qb3 Rb8 28. Qg3 Re8 29. Qxd6 Rd8 {1/2-1/2 (29) Zolochevsky,V (2365)-Ermolaev,A (2431) ICCF email 2011}) 11. Be2 (11. Qd2) (11. Qe2) 11... g5 {Even before this move, the engine wasn't exactly enamored with Black's position. After it, it's even less enthusiastic, considering that White is already clearly better. Pushing a pawn to g5 is a known idea in Najdorfs with a pawn on e6, securing the e5 square (and on a really good day, f4) for a knight. Here, though, it seems that White's play will get going before Black can make use of this asset. } (11... Rb8) 12. Qd2 $16 Nce5 13. O-O-O b5 14. h4 Bb7 15. hxg5 hxg5 16. Rh1 Rg8 17. Rh5 (17. Nb3 $1 {is subtle but strong. The point is that Black wants to play ...Nb6 (or at least he should!), to create a "permanent" knight on c4. Here, however,} Nb6 {is well met by} 18. Na5 $16 {/+-, and with this bit of prophylaxis achieved White will presently resume his kingside play.}) 17... Rc8 (17... Nb6 $1 $14) 18. Rdh1 Bf6 19. f3 (19. Rh6 $142) 19... Qe7 $2 (19... Nb6 $1 $11 {was again best. Now White has no advantage whatsoever, and must be careful to avoid serious problems on the queenside.}) 20. Kb1 $16 (20. Nb3 $1 $18) 20... Nc4 (20... Nb6 $1) 21. Bxc4 Rxc4 22. b3 $18 Rc8 23. Nd5 $2 { Objectively bad, but who doesn't enjoy playing (and seeing) such sacrifices (unless one is playing Black)?} (23. Nde2 {followed by R1h3 and attempting to improve everything before breaking through was the way to go. It isn't inspiring, but sometimes we have to be patient.}) 23... exd5 24. Nf5 Qe6 25. Bxg5 Bc3 (25... Rxg5 $1 26. Rxg5 Ne5 $1 $11 {is fine for Black. Material is equal, and after a quick ...Kd7 his king will be safe enough. In the long run, Black's bishops will dominate, so the job is for White to keep enough pressure on the black king to save the game.}) 26. Qh2 Ne5 27. Rh6 Rg6 $2 (27... Ng6 { Who wants to retreat the knight from its beautiful square and allow Nxd6 - with check and a fork, no less! And yet, this is the right way to go.} 28. Nxd6+ Kd7 29. Nxb7 (29. Nxc8 $143 Kxc8 {gives Black equality, and maybe more.}) 29... Kc6 $1 30. Nc5 $1 Kxc5 31. f4 Qxe4 32. f5 $1 Rh8 $1 33. fxg6 Rxh6 34. Qxh6 fxg6 $11 {In this nutty position, both the material and the prospects are equal.}) 28. Rxg6 Qxg6 29. Qf4 $18 (29. Qf2 {is even better, heading for b6. But the text is good enough.}) 29... Nxf3 $2 (29... f6 $142 30. Nxd6+ Kd7 31. Bxf6 $1 Rf8 32. Rh6 Rxf6 33. Qxf6 Qxf6 34. Rxf6 Bc6 35. g5 $18) 30. Qxf3 dxe4 $2 (30... Be5) 31. Qe3 Bg7 32. Qa7 Qxg5 33. Qxb7 Rd8 34. Rh7 {The bishop can't move on account of 35.Qxf7#, and if it can't move it will simply be lost without compensation. Either way, Black loses, and so he gave up.} 1-0 [Event "FIDE Grand Swiss 2021"] [Site "Riga LAT"] [Date "2021.10.27"] [Round "1.3"] [White "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Black "Abasov, Nijat"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C43"] [WhiteElo "2770"] [BlackElo "2638"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "55"] [EventDate "2021.10.27"] {[%evp 0,55,18,11,10,19,19,52,43,10,8,9,30,28,23,17,7,11,28,14,61,31,42,28,45, 41,32,14,46,29,37,36,79,19,56,32,48,48,73,78,83,73,115,124,135,152,251,242,319, 285,274,398,398,416,475,474,474,539]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. d4 Nxe4 4. dxe5 d5 5. Nbd2 Be7 (5... Nxd2 {is more common, scores better, and is better-liked by the computer than the text move. There's really no chance that Abasov didn't know all this as well, so we'll see what he prepared.}) 6. Nxe4 {Standard and best, so if Abasov hoped to surprise Firouzja, it at least didn't work on this move.} dxe4 7. Qxd8+ Bxd8 8. Nd4 Nd7 {Less common than 8...0-0 or 8...Bd7, but it has the engine's seal of approval.} 9. Bf4 $14 Nc5 $146 (9... O-O 10. O-O-O c6 11. e6 Nb6 12. Bd6 Bg5+ 13. Kb1 Re8 14. exf7+ Kxf7 15. Be2 Bf6 16. Rhe1 g6 17. Nb3 Na4 18. c3 Kg7 19. Nd4 h5 20. h3 Nb6 21. Rg1 Nd5 22. Bc4 Bd7 23. Nc2 Be6 24. Bxd5 Bxd5 25. Ne3 Be6 26. Bc5 b6 27. Bd4 Rad8 28. b3 c5 29. Bxf6+ Kxf6 30. Kc2 h4 31. Rge1 {1/2-1/2 (31) Wen,Y (2613)-Bai,J (2585) Xinghua 2017}) ( 9... g5 10. Bg3 h5 11. h3 h4 12. Bh2 Nc5 $14 {is the engine's recommendation, grabbing as much kingside space as possible before bringing the knight to c5. It doesn't equalize, but it limits White to a small advantage.}) 10. O-O-O c6 11. Bc4 $16 {White's position looks good and *is* good, so it's hard to know what Abasov had had in mind in his preparation.} Be7 12. Rhe1 a5 13. h3 h5 14. a3 (14. a4 $1 Nxa4 $2 15. e6 $1 fxe6 (15... Bxe6 16. Bxe6 fxe6 17. Nxe6 Bf6 ( 17... Kf7 $143 18. Rxe4 $18) 18. Nc7+ Kf7 19. b3 Nc3 20. Rd7+ Kg6 21. Nxa8 Rxa8 22. Be3 $18) 16. Rxe4 $18) 14... Bd7 (14... h4) 15. Kb1 b5 16. Ba2 O-O $2 ( 16... h4) 17. g4 $5 $16 hxg4 $2 (17... b4 $1) 18. hxg4 Bxg4 19. Nxc6 $18 Rfe8 20. Rd5 Rac8 (20... Ne6 {was better, though no solution as White's position is wonderful after} 21. Rd7 Bc5 22. Be3 $18) 21. Na7 Ra8 22. Nxb5 Reb8 {Hoping for counterplay.} 23. Nc7 Ra7 24. e6 Rab7 25. exf7+ Kf8 26. Be5 {So much for counterplay. The game ends quickly and attractively.} Nd7 27. Rxd7 $1 Bxd7 28. Rh1 (28. Rh1 Bxa3 29. Rh8+ Ke7 30. Nd5+ Kxf7 31. Nf4+ Be6 (31... Ke7 32. Ng6#) 32. Bxe6+ Ke7 33. Rxb8 Rxb8 34. Bxb8 $18) 1-0 [Event "FIDE Grand Swiss 2021"] [Site "Riga LAT"] [Date "2021.10.27"] [Round "1.52"] [White "Budisavljevic, Luka"] [Black "Bluebaum, Matthias"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C07"] [WhiteElo "2508"] [BlackElo "2640"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "86"] [EventDate "2021.10.27"] {[%evp 0,86,19,38,31,30,30,30,46,31,39,60,46,48,30,20,22,20,20,16,9,22,28,11, 10,-3,24,-6,-17,1,-5,-12,-6,1,-11,-6,-3,-9,2,-27,-17,-28,-30,-26,-26,-33,-18, -73,-87,-87,-87,-134,-143,-208,-188,-212,-209,-212,-220,-218,-216,-216,-212, -218,-218,-221,-233,-239,-239,-238,-243,-245,-242,-242,-238,-252,-250,-255, -252,-323,-341,-345,-346,-454,-465,-631,-677,-709,-740]} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. exd5 Qxd5 5. Ngf3 cxd4 6. Bc4 Qd6 7. O-O Nf6 8. Nb3 Nc6 9. Nbxd4 Nxd4 10. Qxd4 {Long considered inferior to 10.Nxd4, and this game does nothing to undermine that judgment.} Qxd4 11. Nxd4 Bd7 12. Be2 Rc8 (12... Bc5 {is more usual, and has been played by Bluebaum himself this year.}) 13. Bf3 Bc5 14. Nb3 (14. Rd1 {hasn't been played before, but it's the engine's favorite. Maybe it will be tried soon.}) 14... Bb6 15. c3 Bc6 16. Bxc6+ Rxc6 $11 17. Bf4 Nd5 ( 17... Ke7 $15) 18. Bg3 $146 h5 $1 19. h4 Ne7 $17 {Already White is in some trouble, due not least to the threat of ...Nf5.} 20. Be5 Ng6 (20... Nf5 $142 $17 {/-+}) 21. Bg3 Rc4 22. a4 a6 23. Nd2 $2 {White was in trouble in any case, but this makes things worse.} Rg4 $19 24. Kh2 Nxh4 25. f3 Nf5 26. a5 Nxg3 27. fxg4 Nxf1+ 28. Nxf1 hxg4+ 29. Kg3 Bc7+ 30. Kxg4 Rh1 {If it were only the one pawn difference, White might have some slim hopes of saving the game. But with the knight pinned and the dangling a-pawn, there's no chance.} 31. Kf3 (31. b4 {defends the a-pawn, but after} Be5 {White is faced with the same difficulty.}) 31... Bxa5 32. Ke2 Bc7 33. Ra4 f5 34. Rc4 Kd7 35. Rd4+ Bd6 36. Ne3 Ke7 37. Nc4 Bc7 38. Rd3 b5 39. Nd2 Rg1 40. Kf3 e5 41. Rd5 e4+ 42. Kf2 Bb6+ 43. Kg3 Ke6 { An amusing finish, though White was dead lost in any case.} 0-1 [Event "FIDE Grand Swiss 2021"] [Site "Riga LAT"] [Date "2021.10.28"] [Round "2.1"] [White "Nihal, Sarin"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D32"] [WhiteElo "2652"] [BlackElo "2800"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "113"] [EventDate "2021.10.27"] {[%evp 0,113,25,28,23,-14,-14,4,46,14,15,9,12,18,23,-5,-15,-5,-2,20,17,33,19, 13,33,25,39,27,53,35,54,49,70,3,11,0,-6,0,0,0,-108,-85,-93,-76,-76,-77,-77,-79, -106,-89,-94,-98,-93,-114,-103,-111,-94,-149,-122,-117,-131,-131,-111,-128, -126,-112,-111,-126,-126,-116,-116,-116,-116,-57,-54,-46,-43,-78,-78,-78,-55, -36,-44,-43,-44,-44,-48,-37,-64,-45,-32,-26,-26,-26,-27,-53,-53,-63,-53,-68, -56,-46,-49,-56,-27,-21,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c5 4. e3 Nf6 5. Nf3 a6 6. cxd5 exd5 7. Be2 Nc6 8. O-O Bd6 9. dxc5 Bxc5 10. b3 O-O 11. Bb2 Ba7 12. Rc1 Re8 13. h3 Qd6 14. Bd3 Bd7 15. Ne2 Rad8 16. Ned4 $6 $146 (16. Qd2) (16. Re1) 16... Ne4 17. Qe2 $2 Bb8 18. Rfd1 Qg6 $17 {White's play has looked natural, but his position is now precarious with a significant proportion of Black's army aimed at White's kingside.} 19. Nh4 $2 {This should have lost.} Nxd4 $1 20. Bxd4 Qh6 $1 21. Nf3 Bxh3 $1 22. gxh3 Qxh3 23. Qf1 { Forced, as given the chance to play ...Re6-g6+ the game would end immediately.} Qxf3 24. Qg2 Qxg2+ 25. Kxg2 {With two extra pawns, Black is of course winning. Being the stronger and more experienced player, one would expect Caruana to convert his advantage as a matter of routine, but it doesn't happen!} h6 26. b4 Re6 $2 (26... Be5 {was better, getting rid of White's bishop pair. (Technically not true, as White could play the terrible 27.Bb6 or 27.Ba7. But practically speaking, it does.)}) 27. a4 (27. f3 $142) 27... h5 (27... Rg6+ $142) 28. Rc2 $2 (28. f3 $142) 28... Be5 $19 {All is well again.} 29. Bxe5 Rxe5 30. Rc7 Nd6 $6 ({Black can afford to cast his b-pawn upon the waters, because after} 30... Rg5+ $1 31. Kf1 f5 $1 32. Rxb7 {his h-pawn is ready to fly.} h4 $1 {should lead to a speedy victory.}) 31. Be2 Rg5+ (31... b5) 32. Kf1 Rf5 33. Kg2 Rg5+ 34. Kf1 Rf5 35. Kg2 b5 $2 (35... Rb8 $142) 36. axb5 Nxb5 37. Rc5 Rb8 ( 37... g6) 38. Bf1 $6 (38. f4 $1 $11 {/=/+}) 38... Rg5+ 39. Kh2 Rg4 (39... g6 $142) 40. Rdxd5 $11 Rxb4 41. Rxh5 g6 42. Rhd5 Kg7 43. Kg3 Rb6 44. Bd3 Rb2 45. f3 Rb3 46. e4 Rd6 47. Rxb5 $1 Rxd3 48. Rxd3 Rxd3 49. Rb6 a5 50. Ra6 Ra3 51. e5 a4 52. Ra7 Kf8 53. Kg4 Re3 54. Kf4 Ra3 55. Kg4 Re3 56. Kf4 Ra3 57. Kg4 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE Grand Swiss 2021"] [Site "Riga LAT"] [Date "2021.10.28"] [Round "2.30"] [White "Shirov, Alexei"] [Black "Adly, Ahmed"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B69"] [WhiteElo "2659"] [BlackElo "2602"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "2021.10.27"] {[%evp 0,73,23,23,66,50,101,79,67,42,48,30,46,55,79,44,69,30,28,35,57,29,28,12, 8,1,11,13,30,15,18,-94,-107,-107,-100,-106,-108,-99,-130,-76,-63,-63,-44,-132, -94,-129,-107,-101,140,168,168,220,215,201,201,110,106,-18,-18,150,157,170,172, 137,152,152,185,190,201,208,215,224,229,240,259,274]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 a6 8. O-O-O Bd7 9. f4 Be7 10. Nf3 b5 11. Bxf6 gxf6 12. Bd3 Qb6 13. Kb1 O-O-O 14. a4 {Extremely rare, chosen only once, before by Shirov's native countryman.} (14. Rhe1 {White - and that includes Shirov himself in a 2018 game - has almost always preferred this move. } Rhe8 15. f5 Rg8 16. Bf1 Ne5 17. Nd4 Kb8 18. Qh6 Bc8 19. g3 Rde8 20. Bh3 Bd8 21. Nce2 Ng4 22. Bxg4 Rxg4 23. Nf4 Qb7 24. Nh5 e5 25. Nb3 Rxe4 26. Rxe4 Qxe4 27. Nxf6 Qf3 28. Rxd6 Bxf6 29. Qxf6 Qf1+ 30. Nc1 Qc4 31. b3 Qc7 32. Nd3 Bb7 { 1-0 (32) Shirov,A (2643)-Jumabayev,R (2602) St Petersburg 2018}) 14... b4 15. Nd5 $5 {Shirov's gotta Shirov, as the kids say. Of course this sort of sacrifice is routine, speaking generally, but one must evaluate these things on a case by case basis.} (15. Ne2 {Less flashy but possibly better.} Kb8 16. Rhf1 Bc8 17. f5 d5 18. fxe6 fxe6 19. exd5 Rxd5 20. Nf4 Rd6 21. Qe2 e5 22. Nh5 Qa5 23. Be4 Rhd8 24. Rxd6 Rxd6 25. Rd1 Qd8 26. Rxd6 Qxd6 27. Ng3 Nd4 28. Nxd4 Qxd4 29. Nf5 Qg1+ 30. Ka2 Bf8 31. Qd3 Qb6 32. b3 Be6 33. Ne3 h6 34. Nd5 Bxd5 35. Qxd5 Bc5 36. Qg8+ Kc7 37. Qg7+ Kd8 38. Qxh6 Be7 39. Qh8+ Kd7 40. Bf5+ Kd6 41. Qc8 Bd8 42. h4 {1-0 (42) Klovans,J (2470)-Scheipl,R (2250) Dresden 1999}) 15... exd5 16. exd5 Nb8 17. Rhe1 Rde8 18. a5 $1 {Without this move the sacrifice would be clearly unsound.} Qxa5 19. Re4 $44 Bd8 $8 20. Rxb4 $8 Bc7 21. Nd4 Qxd5 22. Qc3 {So far, so good. Both sides have played well, but now Adly goes awry.} Qxg2 $2 (22... Kd8) (22... Bg4) (22... Qh5 23. g4 $1 Qxg4 ( 23... Bxg4 24. Rg1 Be6 25. Nxe6 Rxe6 26. Rc4 Re7 27. Rg5 $1 fxg5 28. Qxh8+ Kb7 29. Rb4+ Kc6 $8 30. Qc3+ Kd7 31. Rc4 Bd8 {is also equal (and very complicated). }) 24. Rc1 Qxf4 25. Nc6 $1 Qxc1+ $8 26. Kxc1 Nxc6 27. Bxa6+ Kd8 28. Qxf6+ Ne7 29. Rb7 $11 {gives White enough activity to hold the balance.}) 23. Nf5 $18 Re6 (23... Bxf5 $2 24. Bxf5+ Kd8 $2 25. Qxf6+) 24. Be4 Qg4 25. Nxd6+ $1 Rxd6 26. Rxd6 Bb5 27. Qc5 (27. Rxb5 axb5 28. Qc5 $18) 27... Nd7 28. Rxd7 $1 Bxd7 29. Rc4 Qxf4 30. Bb7+ Kxb7 31. Rxf4 Bxf4 32. Qb4+ $1 {Now all is clear. White's material plus is small, but with targets everywhere he is certainly winning.} Kc8 33. Qxf4 Be6 34. Qxf6 Rd8 35. b3 h5 36. Qc3+ Kb7 37. Qf3+ 1-0 [Event "FIDE Grand Swiss 2021"] [Site "Riga LAT"] [Date "2021.10.29"] [Round "3.1"] [White "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Black "Predke, Alexandr"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C92"] [WhiteElo "2770"] [BlackElo "2666"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "125"] [EventDate "2021.10.27"] {[%evp 0,125,28,23,30,16,25,25,29,2,-6,-6,18,-4,-2,-8,13,-11,-21,-11,-11,-11, -15,4,28,-1,-5,4,25,27,30,36,56,19,22,13,42,26,29,13,31,5,9,13,41,43,50,52,71, 53,67,87,90,96,85,82,81,89,93,112,73,72,73,98,78,45,52,9,-5,22,5,16,28,24,6,23, 23,25,30,36,31,29,43,49,49,36,61,61,61,70,70,70,72,69,82,71,76,65,79,77,77,95, 97,86,107,104,134,138,145,145,145,138,146,145,147,197,333,485,952,961,982,1002, 1002,1002,1016,1016,1016,1002]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 Re8 10. d4 Bb7 11. Nbd2 Bf8 12. a3 h6 13. Bc2 Nb8 14. b3 {A very popular move, only surpassed in frequency by} (14. b4 {, interestingly enough.}) 14... Nbd7 15. Bb2 Rb8 {Black has done very well here, but I'm not sure that this can be chalked up to the evaluation. I don't think Black has proved equality just yet.} 16. Rb1 (16. a4 {is the main move.}) 16... g6 17. Bd3 $146 (17. b4 Ba8 18. Bd3 exd4 19. cxd4 Nb6 20. d5 c6 21. dxc6 Bxc6 22. Rc1 Bb7 23. Nb3 Ba8 24. Nbd4 Bg7 25. Nc6 Bxc6 26. Rxc6 Qd7 27. Rc2 Rbc8 {1/2-1/2 (27) Werten,T (2280)-Mislin,R (2299) ICCF email 2017}) 17... c6 $6 {Unnecessary at best.} (17... Bg7) 18. Qc2 Nh5 19. Bf1 Ng7 20. dxe5 dxe5 21. c4 $16 Rc8 22. Rbd1 Qe7 $6 (22... Qc7 {prevents the trick we're about to see in the game.}) 23. c5 $1 {Very nice. The move Black's last move seemed to prevent helped foster it.} Nxc5 24. Nxe5 $18 Nd7 25. Ndc4 Nxe5 26. Nxe5 Red8 27. Qc3 {Threatening Ng4, which would be extremely difficult to meet.} h5 28. Rxd8 Qxd8 29. Re3 Rc7 30. Rd3 $6 (30. b4 $142) 30... Qe7 31. Qd2 $2 Bc8 $14 { Though worse, Black is back in the game.} 32. f4 c5 33. Rf3 (33. Rg3 $142 $14) 33... Ne6 34. a4 Nd4 (34... Qd6 $142) 35. Bxd4 cxd4 36. axb5 axb5 37. Bxb5 Qb4 38. Qxb4 (38. Qe2 $142) 38... Bxb4 39. Bc4 Kg7 (39... Bd2 $142 $11) 40. Rf2 Ra7 $6 (40... Be1 $11) 41. Nc6 Ra1+ 42. Rf1 Rxf1+ 43. Kxf1 Bd2 44. Ke2 $1 Bxf4 45. Kd3 {This should be a draw, but White keeps chances thanks to his outside passed pawn.} Bd7 46. Nxd4 g5 47. Kc3 Be5 $2 (47... Kf6 $142 $11) 48. Be2 g4 49. hxg4 hxg4 50. Kc4 $16 Kf6 51. Kd5 Bc8 52. b4 Bb7+ $2 53. Nc6 $18 g3 54. b5 Bc7 55. Kc5 Kg5 56. e5 $1 Kf4 57. Bf3 Ke3 58. b6 Bb8 {Now for some nice little tactics.} 59. Nxb8 $1 Bxf3 60. Nc6 $1 Bxg2 61. b7 Be4 62. b8=Q g2 63. Qb2 $1 { A cute way to finish the game. Promoting is met by 64.Qd4+ followed by a capture on g1, and White is ready to play Qd4+ even if Black does not promote.} 1-0