[Event "86th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2024.01.16"] [Round "4"] [White "Wei Yi"] [Black "Maghsoodloo, Parham"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B12"] [WhiteElo "2740"] [BlackElo "2740"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "137"] [EventDate "2024.01.12"] {[%evp 0,137,24,32,66,61,73,55,62,54,54,39,44,52,61,60,32,41,26,14,4,-4,-14,-10,7,-33,30,16,12,12,-12,45,40,34,4,-29,-20,-50,-20,-28,-31,-33,0,-22,61,82,74,79,79,18,79,-5,0,0,0,0,0,-39,-14,-73,0,28,-32,12,0,0,26,29,25,13,25,25,22,4,8,8,8,15,17,17,50,56,42,20,54,0,8,28,50,62,73,68,122,159,168,73,53,72,112,130,126,132,115,132,132,132,115,115,115,115,115,115,107,127,128,127,115,118,118,146,144,174,177,106,213,173,229,239,289,266,289,263,303,331,339,339,339,355,356,417]} 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 Ne7 6. O-O c5 7. dxc5 Nec6 8. Bg5 Be7 9. Bxe7 Qxe7 10. Na3 $146 (10. c4 dxc4 11. Na3 ({Paravyan tried} 11. Nbd2 {a couple of times in 2022, in a small effort to revive this line.}) 11... c3 12. bxc3 {was one branch of a moderately popular line at the start of the '10s.}) 10... O-O 11. c4 Rd8 12. Nb5 Qxc5 $5 (12... dxc4 13. Nd6 Na6 {is at least as good, and is certainly safer.}) 13. Nc7 dxc4 14. Qc1 Nxe5 $5 (14... Nd4 {was, again, both safer and better.}) 15. Nxa8 Nbc6 16. Nxe5 Nxe5 17. Qc3 Rxa8 18. Bxc4 (18. b3 $142 $14) 18... Nxc4 19. b3 b5 20. bxc4 Rc8 (20... bxc4 $142) 21. Rac1 bxc4 $6 (21... h6 $142) 22. Rfd1 Kf8 $8 23. Rd4 $1 Bd3 24. Rd7 (24. a4 $142) 24... Ke8 25. Rb7 $5 Be4 $1 26. Rb4 Qg5 27. g3 Bd5 28. Rcb1 f6 29. Qc2 a5 (29... Kf7 $142) 30. Rb5 Qh5 31. Qa4 Kf7 32. Rxa5 Rd8 33. Ra7+ Kg6 34. Qc2+ Kh6 35. Qd2+ Kg6 36. Qc2+ Kh6 37. Qd2+ Kg6 38. Ra3 {No draw! White's courage is rewarded. The position was (and is) equal, so either choice was justifiable.} Qf5 39. Re1 Rb8 (39... h5 $1 {was probably better, both to give the king a second way back to safety and to gain space (and to prevent White from doing so).}) 40. g4 $1 Qb1 $8 41. h4 Qb6 42. h5+ Kf7 43. Qe3 Qxe3 44. fxe3 (44. Raxe3 $142) 44... Be4 $2 {Surprisingly, this is the losing move. It's not because the bishop is misplaced, but because Black's king gets cut off on the back rank as a result.} (44... f5 $1 {was necessary, to give the king an escape square *up* the board.} 45. g5 {again hopes to cut off the king, so now Black should play} Rb7 $1 {, maintaining equal chances.}) ({The problem with the immediate} 44... Rb7 $2 {is} 45. e4 $18 {, so 44...f5 is a dual-purpose move.}) 45. Ra7+ Ke8 46. Rc1 $18 {It will take some time, but the win is inevitable.} Bd3 47. Rc3 g5 48. Rca3 Rc8 49. Rg7 Kf8 50. Raa7 $1 c3 51. Raf7+ Ke8 52. Rb7 Kf8 53. Rgf7+ Ke8 54. Rbe7+ Kd8 55. Rb7 Ke8 56. Rfe7+ Kf8 57. Rec7 Rxc7 58. Rxc7 c2 59. a4 h6 60. a5 f5 61. Kf2 Ke8 62. gxf5 exf5 63. Ke1 g4 64. Kd2 Be4 (64... g3 65. Rg7 $18) 65. a6 g3 66. Ke1 Kd8 67. Rc3 Ke7 68. a7 Kf6 69. Rxc2 1-0 [Event "86th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2024.01.16"] [Round "4"] [White "Ding Liren"] [Black "Praggnanandhaa, R."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C78"] [WhiteElo "2780"] [BlackElo "2743"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "124"] [EventDate "2024.01.12"] {[%evp 0,124,32,32,20,33,13,11,17,-12,4,4,4,2,2,10,16,-43,14,-57,-41,-57,-18,-23,10,10,25,11,22,19,3,27,11,-6,8,-27,-8,-8,-20,-23,-13,-14,1,-6,-12,-4,-2,-42,-39,-16,8,-46,-29,-67,-67,-64,-86,-127,-122,-93,-85,-104,-76,-83,-83,-95,-100,-98,-102,-100,-77,-94,-97,-97,-84,-82,-82,-108,-75,-101,-78,-80,-80,-109,-97,-90,-93,-135,-116,-122,-122,-144,-134,-136,-144,-141,-154,-214,-258,-260,-172,-193,-206,-223,-232,-232,-221,-214,-214,-214,-184,-267,-274,-282,-290,-336,-351,-366,-415,-373,-539,-1022,-1249,-1269,-1269,-1884,-2201]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d3 (5. O-O Nxe4 {is presumably what White wishes to avoid. If Black wants to play} (5... Be7 {instead and White knows this, then it's better to delay d3 until this move, so Black's bishop will be less active than in the game. Finally, 5.0-0 is also the better option in case Black plays}) (5... Bc5 {here, as he keeps the option of playing d4 in one move (supported by c2-c3, obviously).})) 5... Bc5 6. O-O b5 7. Bb3 d6 {Once Black's e-pawn is defended by the d-pawn, Black threatens/"threatens" ...Na5. So:} 8. c3 h6 (8... Na5 $6 9. Bc2 {preserves the bishop and forces Black to waste a tempo addressing the threatened b2-b4.}) 9. Re1 {Making room for the knight swing to g3 via f1.} O-O 10. Nbd2 Bb6 11. Nf1 Ne7 12. a4 Rb8 13. h3 Ng6 14. Ng3 c5 15. Be3 {Almost a novelty, and probably not a very good move.} (15. axb5 axb5 16. d4 Re8 (16... Qc7 17. Be3 Re8 18. Qd2 exd4 19. cxd4 Nxe4 20. Nxe4 Rxe4 21. dxc5 dxc5 22. Bc2 Rb4 23. Bxg6 fxg6 24. Bxh6 Bf5 25. Bg5 Qd7 26. Qc3 Re4 27. Ne5 Qe6 28. Rxe4 Bxe4 29. Re1 Bb7 30. Nf3 Qc4 31. Qe5 Rf8 32. Qd6 Bxf3 33. gxf3 Ba5 34. Re4 Qb3 35. Be3 Bb4 36. Kg2 Qf7 37. Rf4 Qe8 38. Rxf8+ Qxf8 39. Qxg6 Qf7 40. Qg5 Qd7 41. Bxc5 Bxc5 42. Qxc5 Qd3 43. b4 Qg6+ 44. Kh2 Qd3 45. Qc8+ Kh7 46. Qg4 Qd6+ 47. Kg2 Qb6 48. h4 Qb8 49. h5 Kh8 50. Qg5 Qe8 51. h6 gxh6 52. Qxh6+ Kg8 53. Qg5+ Kh8 54. Qf6+ Kg8 55. Kg3 Qe2 56. Qg6+ Kf8 57. Qf5+ Kg7 58. Qe4 Qf1 59. f4 Kf6 60. Qd4+ Kf7 61. f5 Qg1+ 62. Kf4 Qh2+ 63. Ke4 Qh4+ 64. Kd5 Qd8+ 65. Kc5 Qc8+ 66. Kxb5 Qxf5+ 67. Qc5 Qd3+ 68. Qc4+ {1-0 Carlsen,M (2835)-Keymer,V (2690) FIDE World Cup Baku 2023 (4.6)}) 17. Be3 (17. Bc2 cxd4 18. cxd4 Bb7 19. Be3 exd4 20. Bxd4 Rc8 21. Bd3 Bxd4 22. Nxd4 Qb6 23. Nxb5 d5 24. Bf1 Nxe4 25. Qd4 Qxd4 26. Nxd4 Nxg3 27. fxg3 Re4 28. Red1 Ne5 29. Ra7 Rb8 30. b4 Rxd4 31. Rxd4 Nc6 32. Rxb7 Rxb7 33. Rxd5 {½-½ Korobov,A (2658)-Praggnanandhaa,R (2738) FIDE Grand Swiss Douglas 2023 (10)}) 17... exd4 18. cxd4 Bb7 19. Bc2 Nxe4 20. dxc5 dxc5 21. Qxd8 Rbxd8 22. Nxe4 Bxe4 23. Bxc5 Bxc5 24. Rxe4 Rxe4 25. Bxe4 Nf4 26. Kf1 Re8 27. Re1 Kf8 28. Bc6 Rxe1+ 29. Nxe1 Bd4 30. b3 b4 31. g3 Ne6 32. Bd5 Nc5 33. Nf3 Bc3 34. Ke2 g6 35. Ke3 Nd7 36. Nd4 h5 37. Nb5 Bb2 38. Nd6 f5 39. h4 Ke7 40. Nc4 Bc3 41. Ke2 Ne5 42. Ne3 Ng4 43. Ng2 Bd4 44. f3 Ne5 45. Nf4 Bc5 46. Bg8 Bd6 47. Ke3 Bc5+ 48. Ke2 Bd6 49. Ke3 Bc5+ 50. Ke2 {½-½ Carlsen,M (2847)-Aronian,L (2781) NIC Classic Prelim chess24.com INT rapid 2021 (7)}) 15... c4 $1 $146 16. Bxb6 Rxb6 17. Ba2 $6 (17. dxc4 $142 bxc4 18. Bxc4 Rxb2) 17... Qc7 $15 18. axb5 axb5 19. Bb1 cxd3 20. Bxd3 Nf4 21. Ne2 Nxd3 22. Qxd3 Be6 23. Ng3 b4 24. cxb4 Rxb4 {Generally one would expect Ding to hold this, but the game is already in two-results territory. White's b-pawn is flimsier than Black's d-pawn, and there's little else to talk about here.} 25. Rad1 (25. Ra6 $142) 25... Rb6 26. Qa3 $6 (26. Rc1 $142) 26... Rfb8 $17 27. Rd2 Ne8 {Black's d-pawn is a dead issue: it's safe. Meanwhile, Black keeps piling up against the b-pawn.} 28. Nh2 Rb3 29. Qa1 Qb6 30. Nhf1 Rxb2 (30... g6 $1 {was even better, preparing to further tidy up the kingside with ...h5 and ...Kg7 before collecting the b-pawn.}) 31. Rxb2 Qxb2 32. Qxb2 Rxb2 33. Ne3 $6 (33. h4 $1 g6 34. h5 {was better, both to weaken Black's kingside and to usefully swap a pair of pawns.}) 33... g6 $1 $17 {/-+} 34. Ra1 Ba2 $2 (34... h5 $142) 35. h4 (35. Nd1 $1 Rb1 36. Rxa2 Rxd1+ 37. Nf1 $15) 35... h5 36. f3 Rb1+ 37. Rxb1 Bxb1 38. Ne2 Ba2 (38... f5 $142 $17) 39. Kf2 Kf8 40. Nc3 Bb3 41. Ned5 $6 (41. g4 $15 {Trade the pawns!}) 41... Bxd5 42. Nxd5 f5 $17 43. f4 $2 {Here's a good reminder that generalities are just that: generalities. They're not laws. This allows not just one but two pairs of pawns to be traded; the problem is that Black gets a passer as a result.} (43. g3 {(or really, any temporizing move) would keep the game objectively drawn (and practically too, much closer to a draw than a Black win).}) 43... Kf7 44. exf5 gxf5 45. fxe5 dxe5 $19 {I'm not certain that White could hold this if, say, his g-pawn were on f3 instead, but it would at the very least be much harder for Black to win. And if Black's e-pawn were on g6 instead, it's definitely a draw. This position, however, is clearly winning for Black.} 46. g3 Ke6 47. Ne3 Nf6 48. Ke2 Ne4 49. Nf1 f4 {White's h-pawn is so weak that Black can afford to swap another pair of pawns.} 50. gxf4 exf4 51. Kf3 Kf5 52. Kg2 Nd6 53. Nd2 Nf7 54. Nc4 Kg4 55. Kf2 Kxh4 56. Kf3 Kg5 57. Nb2 Kf5 58. Nd1 Ng5+ 59. Kg2 h4 60. Nf2 f3+ 61. Kg1 Kf4 62. Kf1 Ne4 0-1 [Event "86th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2024.01.16"] [Round "4"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, I."] [Black "Donchenko, Alexa"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B72"] [WhiteElo "2769"] [BlackElo "2643"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "112"] [EventDate "2024.01.12"] {[%evp 0,112,32,20,61,50,70,53,62,33,33,38,64,32,71,43,36,19,45,12,99,107,86,51,133,111,74,61,94,81,86,60,102,72,81,76,55,40,67,58,58,45,96,55,2,2,2,18,3,5,23,43,29,46,54,37,0,0,0,0,0,6,20,-239,-60,-74,-73,-93,-83,-98,-94,-94,-81,-73,-72,-61,-97,-143,-98,-86,-116,-116,-116,-116,-86,-86,-65,-65,-109,-109,-104,-152,-72,-72,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,28,73,73,75,60,81,97,97,75]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bd3 {Yet another White "sideline" that is turning into...I don't know, maybe we can call it a second-tier mainline? Whatever the label, it has been very popular in the last year or so.} g6 {It's often a good idea for Black to turn an open Sicilian into a Dragon when White has gone for a setup that would be comparatively tame against the Dragon.} 7. f3 {Going for a Yugoslav setup. Who benefits most from the inclusion of Bd3 and ...a6?} Bg7 8. Be3 Nbd7 9. Qd2 b5 10. a4 b4 11. Na2 d5 12. exd5 Nxd5 13. Nxb4 Nxe3 14. Qxe3 Qc7 $146 (14... Nc5 15. c3 Nxd3+ 16. Nxd3 Qc7 17. O-O O-O 18. f4 Bxd4 19. cxd4 Rb8 20. Rf2 Rb3 21. Qd2 Qb6 22. Nc5 Rb4 23. Qc3 a5 24. Re1 Qd6 25. Rd2 Qxf4 26. Re5 Bf5 27. Rxe7 Be6 28. h3 Qd6 29. Nxe6 Qxe7 30. Nxf8 Qe1+ 31. Kh2 Kxf8 32. d5 Rb3 33. Qxb3 Qxd2 34. Qa3+ Kg8 35. Qd6 Qxb2 36. Qd8+ Kg7 37. Qxa5 Qe5+ 38. Kg1 Qd4+ 39. Kf1 Qf4+ 40. Ke2 Qe4+ 41. Kd1 Qxg2 42. Qc3+ Kg8 43. d6 {½-½ Van Leeuwen,E (2486)-Mauritsson,S (2508) SWE-RoW email ICCF email 2018 [7]}) 15. O-O-O (15. Be4) (15. c3) (15. O-O) 15... Bb7 $44 {Black's bishop pair and open lines on the queenside suffice for the pawn.} 16. Be4 O-O 17. Bxb7 Qxb7 18. Ndc6 a5 $1 19. Qxe7 axb4 20. Qxd7 Qb6 21. Ne7+ (21. Kb1 b3 $8 $11) 21... Kh8 22. Nd5 Qf2 (22... Qb8 $11) 23. b3 Rad8 24. Qb5 (24. Qg4 Rxd5 $1 25. Rxd5 Qe3+ 26. Kd1 $1 Qc3 $1 27. Rf1 Re8 $1 28. Qf4 Qa1+ 29. Qc1 Qc3 $11 {White can't break the bind and avoid the perpetual.}) 24... Qxg2 25. Qf1 Qg5+ 26. f4 Qh5 (26... Qf5 $11) 27. Qc4 (27. Qb5) 27... Rc8 28. Qxb4 $5 Rxc2+ $1 29. Kxc2 Rc8+ 30. Nc3 $2 (30. Kd3 Qxd5+ 31. Ke3 $11 {looks ridiculously risky, but Black has nothing more than a draw.}) 30... Qf3 $1 $19 {Now White is losing, though not "dead" lost.} 31. Rd3 Qg2+ (31... Qxh1 $142) 32. Kb1 Qxh1+ 33. Nd1 Qxh2 34. Qd2 Qh4 $1 {In a race between White's a-pawn and Black's h-pawn, Black will win. So White must look for other ways of stirring up trouble.} 35. Ka2 h5 36. a5 Kh7 (36... Qf6 $142 {was better, threatening mate on a1, covering a6, and getting out of the h-pawn's way.}) 37. f5 $5 Qf6 $1 38. fxg6+ fxg6 39. Nb2 Rc5 (39... Rc3 $1) 40. b4 Rf5 41. Nd1 h4 (41... Rf4 $142) 42. Ka3 Rf4 $2 (42... Qe7 {Threatening to take on a5.} 43. Kb3 Qe6+ 44. Ka3 Qf7 45. Ka4 Qc4 46. Nc3 Rf1 47. Nd1 Rf4 48. Ne3 Qc6+ 49. Ka3 Rf3 $19 {etc. If you don't understand the line, don't worry - I don't either (at least not without taking a really deep dive), and since the players didn't manage to produce this what's clear is that the position is *not* clear for humans.}) 43. Nc3 Rf2 (43... Rg4 $142) 44. Qd1 $1 Rf1 45. Qd2 (45. Qg4 $142) 45... Qe6 46. Qa2 Qe1 $2 (46... Qc8 $1 $19 {is a nice move that's relatively understandable: it hits c3, covers a6, and keeps the h3 square under control as well.}) 47. Qc4 $1 $11 {White's king is safe (enough), and Black's pawns aren't going anywhere.} Qc1+ 48. Kb3 Rf4 49. Qc7 $1 Rf2 50. Rd7 $1 Qc2+ 51. Ka3 Qc1+ 52. Ka4 Qa1+ 53. Kb5 Qf1+ 54. Ka4 ({White can get away with} 54. Kb6 {, but after} Rf6+ {he'd better go back.} 55. Kc5 $11 (55. Kb7 $4 Qa6+ 56. Kb8 Rf8+ 57. Rd8 Rxd8+ 58. Qxd8 Be5+ $19)) 54... Qa1+ 55. Kb5 Qf1+ 56. Ka4 Qa1+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "86th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2024.01.16"] [Round "4"] [White "Giri, A."] [Black "Gukesh, D."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A28"] [WhiteElo "2749"] [BlackElo "2725"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "143"] [EventDate "2024.01.12"] {[%evp 0,143,20,-21,-12,-15,-18,-18,-14,-22,-9,-7,-7,-42,9,-22,1,-18,-8,2,-2,-4,1,-22,10,-20,29,-17,8,12,2,-8,-9,-14,-8,-13,0,-68,-53,-45,-32,-37,33,45,42,44,48,44,55,55,60,47,60,69,96,81,92,126,93,110,113,95,148,150,159,157,157,157,157,140,143,159,158,170,157,161,178,154,195,203,209,180,204,197,214,227,222,221,232,221,209,212,227,225,248,248,246,190,246,184,217,196,195,199,196,189,218,225,229,229,229,229,229,197,229,229,229,229,229,229,229,196,209,183,229,184,196,188,196,199,215,192,229,200,229,229,248,292,309,305,305,307,318,315,326,318]} 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. d3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. g3 {Nepo-Donchenko was Dragon-ish, and now we get a reversed Dragon.} Nf6 $5 7. Bg5 Be7 8. Bg2 O-O 9. O-O h6 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. Rb1 $146 a5 12. a3 Nd4 13. e3 Nxf3+ 14. Bxf3 c6 $11 {Black is fine, but the game is still young.} 15. Qc2 Bf5 16. Rfd1 Qd7 17. Na4 Qc7 18. b4 axb4 19. axb4 Rfd8 (19... Rfc8 {wasn't bad, aimed against White's intended b4-b5.} 20. b5 {(Not forced.)} cxb5 21. Qxc7 Rxc7 22. Nb6 Ra5 {and White will have to work a little to prove that the position is still equal.}) 20. b5 Rxd3 {This leads to an interesting situation. Gukesh is looking to liquidate to an opposite-colored bishop ending, and he succeeds. The question is whether success is all it's cracked up to be.} 21. Rxd3 Bxd3 22. Qxd3 Rxa4 23. bxc6 bxc6 24. Bxc6 Ra7 (24... Qxc6 $4 25. Rb8+ {is mate in at most two more moves.}) 25. Bd5 {Material is equal, there are opposite-colored bishops, and all the pawns are on the same side of the board. Why not get to move 30 and call it a day? The answer is that White's bishop is much, much, much better than its opponent - so much so, in fact, that Black's best might be a pawn sac to give his bishop some scope and aim to swap queens or rooks.} Qd8 (25... e4 $1 26. Qxe4 Qe5 $1 27. Qd3 Ra1 28. Rxa1 Qxa1+ 29. Kg2 Qe5 {should be drawn, and as a practical matter I believe Gukesh would have held the draw.}) 26. h4 $14 h5 27. Rb5 Rd7 $2 (27... Ra5 $1) 28. Qb3 $1 $18 {Sure, material is still equal, but Black's position is awful. His pieces have no scope and he's tied to the defense of the f7 pawn.} Qe7 29. Bc6 (29. Qb1 $1 {Looking to play Qf5 or Qg6.} Qd8 30. Rb8 Rxd5 31. Rxd8+ Rxd8 32. Qf5 $1 {picks up the h-pawn, when the ending is probably won. (Without picking up that pawn, it's probably drawn.)}) 29... Rd6 30. Rb8+ Rd8 31. Rb7 Qe6 {Horrible, but forced.} (31... Qf8 $2 32. Bd5 Be7 33. Qb5 $1 $18 {followed by Bb3 will lead to the rapid collapse of Black's position.}) 32. Qxe6 fxe6 {Now both e6 and h5 are targets, while e5 helps keep Black's bishop entombed.} 33. Be4 g5 {Trying to swap pawns is a good idea.} 34. Bh7+ $1 Kh8 35. hxg5 Bxg5 36. Bg6 {Winning the h-pawn.} Rd1+ (36... h4 37. gxh4 Bxh4 $4 38. Rh7+ $18) 37. Kg2 Rd2 38. Kf1 $1 h4 39. gxh4 Bf6 40. Rf7 Bg7 41. h5 Rd8 42. Re7 Bf6 43. Rxe6 {That's two extra pawns. If the rooks were gone it would be a draw, as Black could give up his e-pawn and bishop for White's e- and f-pawns, resulting in an h-pawn and wrong-colored bishop draw. With the rooks on the board, White can avoid this and convert his material advantage.} Rf8 44. Bf5 $2 {I'm not sure if White is winning after this. That said, Black will have to suffer for hours before he makes a draw, if it's even possible to.} (44. Kg2 $142 Kg7 45. Kh3 Kh6 46. Kg4 {keeps Black's king locked in.}) 44... Kg7 45. Kg2 Kh6 46. Bg4 Kg5 $1 47. Kg3 Rf7 48. Rb6 Rf8 49. Rb7 Kh6 50. Ra7 Bg7 51. Bf3 Rf5 52. Rb7 Rf8 53. Be4 Rf6 54. Rd7 Rf8 55. Ra7 Rf6 56. Ra2 Rf8 57. Kg4 Rf6 58. Bf5 Rb6 59. Ra7 Rc6 60. Kf3 Rc4 61. Bd3 Rc6 62. Ke4 Rf6 63. f3 Bh8 64. Bc4 Rb6 65. Bf7 Bg7 66. Bg6 Rb4+ (66... Rf6 $1) 67. Kf5 $1 {Now I'm certain that White is winning (again?).} Rb3 ({The problem with trying to go back into the defensive shell with} 67... Rb6 {is that White can break through with an exchange sac:} 68. Rxg7 Kxg7 69. Kxe5 $18 {with a clear (and easy) win.}) 68. Ra6 $1 Rb8 (68... Rxe3 69. Kg4 Bf8 70. Be4+ Kg7 71. h6+ Kf7 72. h7 Bg7 73. Kf5 Bh8 74. Ra7+ Kf8 75. Ke6 Rc3 76. Ra8+ Kg7 77. Rg8+ $18) 69. Bf7+ Kh7 70. Kg5 Bf8 71. Bg6+ Kh8 72. Re6 {White picks up the third pawn, and then he can happily trade rooks.} 1-0 [Event "86th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2024.01.16"] [Round "4"] [White "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Black "Abdusattorov, Nodirbek"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C82"] [WhiteElo "2759"] [BlackElo "2727"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "2024.01.12"] {[%evp 0,65,20,33,13,24,19,-2,19,4,4,-19,33,-59,2,0,17,0,-9,-53,-8,-28,-8,-4,44,44,28,-88,-53,-59,-59,-59,6,-58,-59,-226,18,18,17,-12,25,23,51,67,57,37,37,37,37,7,-12,24,10,14,14,-22,-12,11,44,49,50,52,50,37,44,44,52,38]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 {We'll get a glimpse at how the Ding-Pragg game could have gone.} 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. c3 Bc5 10. Nbd2 O-O 11. Bc2 Nxf2 12. Rxf2 f6 13. Nf1 Bxf2+ 14. Kxf2 fxe5 15. Kg1 Bg4 16. Ne3 Be6 17. b3 {White has scored well here, but it's also the sort of position where working with the engines might prove that it's a draw.} d4 18. cxd4 Nxd4 19. Nxd4 (19. Be4 {is worth a look, but probably doesn't offer White an advantage after} c6 $146 ({or} 19... Rc8 {.})) 19... Qxd4 20. Rb1 Rad8 {Still following theory.} 21. Qe2 {Only played once before.} (21. Qe1 Bf5 22. Bb2 Qb6 23. Bxf5 Rxf5 $11 24. Kh1 Rf7 25. h3 Rfd7 26. Rc1 e4 27. b4 Qe6 28. Qh4 Rf8 29. Rc5 Qxa2 30. Bc3 Qf2 31. Qxe4 Rdf7 32. Rg5 h6 33. Rg6 Qe2 34. Rxh6 {1-0 Duda,J (2732)-Lysyj,I (2589) Wch Rapid Samarkand 2023 (11)}) (21. h3 h6 22. Qe1 Bf5 23. Bxf5 Rxf5 24. Rb2 {½-½ Mesquita Jr,F (2354)-Lyne,C (2296) W-ch WS/M/897 email ICCF email 2023}) 21... Bf5 22. Bb2 Qb6 23. Bxf5 Rxf5 24. h3 Rf7 $146 {=} (24... Rf4 25. Kh2 Re4 26. Re1 Qh6 27. Bc1 Qg6 28. Qc2 Rd7 29. Bb2 Kh8 30. Re2 Rf4 31. Qc3 h5 32. Qe1 Re4 33. Qb1 Rd6 34. Ba3 b4 35. Bb2 h4 36. Kg1 Kh7 37. Qc2 a5 38. Ng4 Rxe2 39. Qxe2 Qb1+ 40. Kh2 Qf5 41. Bxe5 Re6 42. Qb5 c6 43. Qxa5 Re7 44. Qc5 Re6 45. Qd4 Re7 46. Qd6 Ra7 47. Qxb4 Rxa2 48. Qe7 Rxg2+ 49. Kxg2 Qe4+ 50. Kf2 Qc2+ 51. Ke3 Qc1+ 52. Ke4 Qc2+ 53. Kf4 Qc1+ 54. Ne3 {1-0 Razafindratsima,T (2462)-Otero Marino,A (2204) Wch U18 Montesilvano 2023 (8)}) 25. Kh1 Qg6 26. Re1 Qe4 27. Ng4 (27. Kg1) 27... Qxe2 28. Rxe2 c5 (28... e4) 29. Nxe5 Re7 30. Kh2 Rd3 31. Rc2 Rd5 32. Nf3 a5 (32... Re4) 33. Kg3 1/2-1/2 [Event "86th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2024.01.16"] [Round "4"] [White "Van Foreest, Jorden"] [Black "Vidit, S."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C48"] [WhiteElo "2682"] [BlackElo "2742"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "69"] [EventDate "2024.01.12"] {[%evp 0,69,19,19,19,17,19,10,19,8,8,7,30,52,4,-99,27,-60,-42,-23,-23,-27,-23,2,2,2,31,-30,-21,-8,-8,-8,9,6,-7,-12,-18,-20,-14,-15,-12,-12,-1,-25,-20,-24,-20,-19,-10,-12,15,0,0,0,3,0,2,0,5,4,5,0,18,0,0,0,4,4,4,4,4,5]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Nd4 5. Bc4 Bc5 6. Nxe5 Qe7 7. Nf3 d5 8. Nxd5 Qxe4+ 9. Ne3 Bg4 10. Be2 Nxe2 11. Qxe2 O-O-O 12. d3 Qe6 (12... Bxf3 13. Qxf3 Qxf3 14. gxf3 Rhe8 $44 {is also well-tested, but Vidit's line seems the most reliable option.}) 13. Nxg4 Qxe2+ 14. Kxe2 Nxg4 15. Bg5 (15. Be3 Rhe8 16. Rae1 Nxe3 17. fxe3 Rxe3+ $11 (17... Bxe3 $11)) 15... Rde8+ 16. Kd2 Bxf2 17. Rhf1 h6 18. h3 hxg5 19. hxg4 Be3+ $146 (19... Bg3 20. Nxg5 Rh2 21. Ne4 Rxg2+ 22. Kc3 Be5+ 23. d4 Bf6 24. Kd3 Rxg4 25. Nxf6 gxf6 26. Rxf6 Rg3+ {½-½ Pommrich,R (2323)-Salzmann,S (2370) W-ch WS/M/849 email ICCF email 2022}) 20. Kc3 g6 21. d4 Bf4 22. Rae1 Rxe1 23. Rxe1 Kd7 24. Kd3 f5 25. Ne5+ Bxe5 26. Rxe5 Rh2 27. gxf5 gxf5 28. Rxf5 Rxg2 29. Rf7+ Kd6 30. Rg7 b5 31. b3 Rg3+ 32. Ke4 Rg4+ 33. Kd3 Rg3+ 34. Ke4 Rg4+ 35. Kd3 {It would seem that Van Foreest wanted to make a draw, and he succeeded.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "86th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2024.01.16"] [Round "4"] [White "Warmerdam, Max"] [Black "Ju, Wenjun"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E05"] [WhiteElo "2625"] [BlackElo "2549"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "61"] [EventDate "2024.01.12"] {[%evp 0,61,19,-18,-5,-21,-30,-19,-17,-1,5,14,-5,16,17,-24,-5,-15,-17,3,-5,-13,-1,0,0,-35,-38,-4,10,10,10,-8,19,18,18,26,14,21,36,27,29,21,18,24,26,31,37,25,47,6,6,6,0,9,0,0,29,2,3,29,0,22,19,18]} 1. c4 e6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 Nf6 4. Nf3 Be7 5. d4 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. a4 Bd7 9. Qxc4 Bc6 10. Bg5 Bd5 11. Qc2 Be4 12. Qc1 Nc6 (12... h6 {is also very common.} 13. Bxf6 Bxf6 {and now White generally plays either} 14. Rd1 ({or} 14. Nbd2)) 13. e3 (13. Nbd2) 13... Bb4 (13... Nb4) 14. Nc3 Bxc3 15. bxc3 h6 16. Bxf6 Qxf6 17. Nd2 Bxg2 18. Kxg2 Na5 19. Qa3 $146 (19. Qb1 e5 (19... Qd8 20. Rd1 Qd7 21. e4 b6 22. Nf3 Nc4 23. Qb4 Qc6 24. d5 exd5 25. exd5 Qc5 26. Rd4 Na5 27. Rad1 Rfe8 28. Rg4 Rad8 29. Qf4 Qd6 30. Qd4 g6 31. Qd3 c6 32. Rh4 h5 33. Qxa6 cxd5 34. c4 Qc6 35. cxd5 Rxd5 36. Rxd5 Qxd5 37. Qxb6 Nc6 38. Qb5 Qd6 39. Rc4 Re6 40. Ng5 Na7 41. Qb7 Re7 42. Qa8+ Kg7 43. h4 Qd1 44. Re4 Rc7 45. Qb8 Qc2 46. Qb6 Qc6 47. Qxc6 Nxc6 48. Rc4 Rc8 49. Ne4 Kf8 50. Nd6 Rc7 51. Nb5 Rc8 52. Nd4 Na7 53. Rxc8+ Nxc8 54. Nc6 Ke8 55. a5 f6 56. a6 Kd7 57. a7 Nb6 58. Nb4 Kd6 59. Kf3 Ke5 60. Nd3+ Kf5 61. Nf4 Na8 62. Ke3 g5 63. hxg5 Kxg5 64. Ke4 {1-0 Li,C (2666)-Xu,Y (2527) CHN-chT Hangzhou 2023 (7.1)}) 20. Qe4 Rfe8 21. Qd5 b6 22. Qf3 Qxf3+ 23. Kxf3 Rad8 24. Ra2 f5 25. Rb1 Rd6 26. Rc2 c5 27. d5 e4+ 28. Ke2 c4 29. Rcb2 Rxd5 30. Rxb6 Red8 31. R1b2 R8d6 32. Rxd6 Rxd6 33. Rb4 Rc6 34. h3 Kf7 35. g4 g6 36. Rb8 Kf6 37. gxf5 gxf5 38. Rf8+ Kg6 39. Rb8 Kg5 40. f3 Nb3 41. Nxb3 cxb3 42. Rxb3 Kh4 43. fxe4 fxe4 44. Rb4 Re6 45. c4 Kxh3 46. c5 Rc6 47. Rb6 Rxc5 48. Rxh6+ Kg4 49. Rg6+ Kf5 50. Rxa6 Rc2+ 51. Kd1 Ra2 52. a5 Kg4 53. Rf6 Rxa5 54. Rf4+ Kg5 55. Kd2 Rd5+ 56. Kc2 Rd6 57. Rxe4 Kf5 58. Rd4 Rxd4 59. exd4 Ke4 60. Kc3 Kd5 61. Kd3 Kd6 62. Kc4 Kc6 63. d5+ Kd6 64. Kd4 Kd7 65. Ke5 Ke7 66. d6+ Kd7 67. Kd5 Kd8 68. Kc6 Kc8 69. d7+ Kd8 70. Kd6 {½-½ Nepomniachtchi,I (2792)-Firouzja,A (2778) Sinquefield Cup 9th playoff Saint Louis rapid 2022 (1)}) 19... Qd8 $11 20. Kg1 b6 21. Rab1 c5 22. Rb2 Rc8 23. Qa2 cxd4 24. cxd4 Rc6 25. Qb1 Qc7 26. Qd3 Ra8 27. Kg2 Rc3 28. Qe4 Rb8 29. Rfb1 Nc4 30. Nxc4 Rxc4 31. Rb4 {Good prep by the Women's World Champ resulted in a comfortable draw.} 1/2-1/2