[Event "Meltwater Tour Final 2022"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.11.18"] [Round "5.1"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C55"] [WhiteElo "2760"] [BlackElo "2741"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "79"] [EventDate "2022.11.14"] {[%evp 0,79,21,21,21,21,29,18,20,22,29,23,19,34,48,35,39,33,26,-6,22,20,19,50,38,59,73,52,50,48,63,24,31,19,22,10,14,22,15,-1,29,31,22,25,33,29,34,44,44,36,36,37,43,47,43,31,53,60,53,60,73,54,74,78,82,92,102,114,115,114,103,113,123,123,192,192,462,472,492,500,499,504]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 d5 {When I was a kid, this was what I wanted to play. Why not? It opens lines for Black's pieces and fights for the center. The only problem, which was why I soon gave it up and "no one" played it until five minutes ago, is that Black's e-pawn comes under fire, and without achieving sufficient Marshall Gambit-like counterplay. But new ideas have been found, and so it has become mildly trendy.} 5. exd5 Nxd5 6. O-O Nb6 (6... Be7 {is standard, and now} 7. Re1 f6 8. d4 Nb6 9. Bb3 Nxd4 ({or} 9... a5 10. a4 Nxd4) 10. Nxd4 Qxd4 11. Qxd4 exd4 12. Bf4 Bf5 13. Bxc7 Kd7 {and now both 14.Nd2 and 14.Bxb6 offer White a minuscule edge.}) 7. Bb5 Bd6 8. Nxe5 $1 {Better than the usual 8.Re1.} Bxe5 9. Bxc6+ bxc6 10. Re1 Qe7 11. Kh1 $1 (11. d4 $143 Bxh2+ 12. Kxh2 Be6 $11) 11... O-O 12. f4 f6 13. fxe5 fxe5 {The tactics are over (for now), and White has a pleasant edge.} 14. Nc3 (14. Be3 $142) 14... Nd5 15. Ne4 Bf5 16. Bg5 Qb4 17. b3 Qd4 18. Rc1 Bxe4 19. dxe4 Qxd1 20. Rcxd1 Nc3 21. Rd7 Nxe4 $6 (21... Nxa2 $11) 22. Be7 Rf7 23. Rxc7 Nf6 24. Bd6 Rxc7 25. Bxc7 e4 26. Kg1 $14 {/? Black's pawns don't look good, and White has the better minor piece. It's very difficult to hold such endings, and Mamedyarov doesn't.} Re8 27. c4 Kf7 28. Kf2 Re7 29. Bd8 Re5 30. Ke3 Ke6 31. h3 h5 32. Re2 Ne8 33. Bh4 Nd6 34. g4 hxg4 35. hxg4 Nf7 36. Bg3 Ra5 37. Kxe4 {Black is already lost, and his plight is compounded by the following move, a tactical blunder.} Ng5+ $2 38. Kf4+ Kf7 39. Be1 Ne6+ (39... Rc5 40. Bb4 Nh3+ 41. Kg3 $18) 40. Rxe6 (40. Rxe6 Kxe6 41. Bxa5 $18) 1-0 [Event "Meltwater Tour Final 2022"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.11.18"] [Round "5.1"] [White "Erigaisi, Arjun"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A45"] [WhiteElo "2718"] [BlackElo "2764"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "111"] [EventDate "2022.11.14"] {[%evp 0,111,21,28,14,16,59,45,45,45,45,32,32,25,39,21,12,4,9,10,-5,0,7,14,37,21,33,16,9,12,46,23,5,22,24,-12,24,4,4,37,38,35,30,36,36,36,36,14,8,1,0,-5,0,0,0,0,0,-10,-17,-15,-16,-31,0,0,24,30,29,32,31,0,0,0,12,13,0,8,1,5,0,-40,32,0,66,44,56,65,70,53,35,18,142,134,162,175,164,164,158,188,223,236,261,271,497,271,527,537,537,537,537,537,547,547,547,547]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. e3 Bg7 5. h4 h5 6. Nf3 O-O 7. Qd2 c5 8. Ne5 Nc6 9. f3 cxd4 10. exd4 Bf5 11. Bb5 Nxe5 12. dxe5 Nd7 13. O-O-O Nxe5 14. Rhe1 d4 15. Bxe5 Bxe5 16. Rxe5 dxc3 17. Qxc3 Qb6 18. Qd4 Rac8 19. c3 Qxd4 20. Rxd4 Rc7 21. g4 hxg4 22. fxg4 Be6 23. a4 Kg7 24. h5 Rh8 25. Bd3 gxh5 26. gxh5 b6 27. Be2 Rc5 28. Re3 Rg5 29. b4 Kf6 30. Kd2 Rd5 31. Rxd5 Bxd5 32. c4 Bb7 33. a5 e5 34. Ra3 Rd8+ 35. Kc3 Kg5 36. Ra1 Be4 37. axb6 axb6 38. Ra6 Rb8 39. Ra7 Rf8 40. Rd7 Kf4 41. h6 Bg6 (41... Ke3 42. Bh5 f5 {looks more natural to me, but by this point in the game the players were probably down to their increments.}) 42. c5 bxc5 43. bxc5 Bf5 44. Re7 {It is and has been equal for a long time, but Giri's tournament has been so difficult that even a near-dead draw isn't yet safe. The blunders begin:} Kg5 $2 (44... Rh8 {is the safe way to trade a pair of pawns.} 45. Rxf7 Rxh6 $11) 45. Rxe5 {Thanks!} Kf6 $4 (45... Kg6 {should still be drawn.}) 46. Rd5 $1 $18 Rh8 47. Bd3 $1 Bxd3 48. Kxd3 Kg6 {If the king had already been here, the pawn could have been safely captured.} (48... Rxh6 49. Rd6+ Kg7 50. Rxh6 Kxh6 51. c6 $18) 49. Rd6+ f6 50. c6 Rf8 51. Kd4 Kxh6 52. c7 Rc8 53. Rxf6+ Kg7 54. Rc6 Kf7 55. Kc5 Ke7 56. Kb6 1-0 [Event "Meltwater Tour Final 2022"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.11.18"] [Round "5.1"] [White "Duda, Jan-Krzysztof"] [Black "Praggnanandhaa, R."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E04"] [WhiteElo "2731"] [BlackElo "2678"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "113"] [EventDate "2022.11.14"] {[%evp 0,113,21,16,16,6,6,-22,-14,-22,-12,-9,26,33,27,-41,44,41,80,32,26,27,16,-2,21,-6,42,16,35,35,35,47,84,43,84,8,46,36,50,34,34,38,70,51,57,53,56,97,101,111,111,111,119,120,124,117,117,118,151,122,145,46,43,0,5,12,38,15,38,26,42,54,59,59,121,101,125,117,106,107,112,73,84,119,182,196,212,234,241,275,306,356,373,218,259,281,284,195,305,268,317,394,500,499,618,692,773,777,777,777,777,822,810,1015,1094,1132]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. Nf3 c6 6. Ne5 Bb4+ 7. Bd2 Be7 8. e3 b5 9. a4 b4 10. O-O O-O 11. Qc2 a5 12. Rd1 Ra7 13. e4 Qxd4 14. Bf4 Qc5 15. Nd2 Nbd7 $2 (15... Ba6) 16. Nexc4 {Despite the sacrificed pawn, White has a big advantage. Black's pieces are uncoordinated, while White's work together beautifully.} Qh5 17. Rac1 (17. Nb3 $142) 17... Ba6 18. Bf3 Ng4 19. Bxg4 Qxg4 20. Nxa5 Rc8 (20... g5 $5) 21. Ndc4 Qh5 22. Rd2 h6 $6 (22... Nf6 $16) 23. Qd1 $1 Qxd1+ 24. Rcxd1 Bxc4 25. Nxc4 $18 Nf6 26. Be3 c5 27. f3 b3 28. Bf4 (28. Rd3) 28... g5 29. Be5 g4 30. f4 $4 (30. Kg2 $18) (30. Bxf6 Bxf6 31. e5 $18) 30... Nxe4 $11 {Now White will have to try to win the game a second time - and he does.} 31. Rd7 Rca8 32. Nb6 Rxd7 33. Rxd7 Ra6 34. a5 Bf6 $2 (34... Rxa5 $1 35. Rxe7 f6 $11 {If White's bishop gives up its protection of b2, then Black's rook goes after and takes the pawn, his b-pawn gives him equal chances. Otherwise, Black regains the piece; either way, Black enjoys (at least) equality.}) 35. Nc4 $16 Bxe5 36. fxe5 f6 $2 {Black is lost, and this time Duda doesn't let him get away.} 37. Rb7 fxe5 38. Rxb3 Nd6 39. Rb6 $1 Rxb6 40. axb6 Nb7 41. Kf2 Kg7 42. Nxe5 h5 43. Ke3 Kf6 44. Kf4 Ke7 45. Kg5 Kd6 46. Ng6 Na5 47. Kxh5 Nc4 48. b3 Nd2 (48... Nxb6 49. Kxg4 $18) 49. Ne5 Nxb3 50. Nc4+ Kc6 51. Kxg4 Nd4 52. h4 Kb5 53. b7 Nc6 54. Nd6+ Kb6 55. h5 c4 56. Nxc4+ Kxb7 57. h6 1-0 [Event "Meltwater Tour Final 2022"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.11.18"] [Round "5.1"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Le, Quang Liem"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C80"] [WhiteElo "2859"] [BlackElo "2728"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "107"] [EventDate "2022.11.14"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. Re1 {Long considered insipid, but perhaps Carlsen can inject a little life into this variation.} (6. d4 {is the main move by a huge margin.}) 6... Nc5 7. Bxc6 dxc6 8. Nxe5 Be7 9. d4 Ne6 10. Be3 O-O 11. c4 f6 12. Nf3 Re8 13. Nc3 Nf8 14. Qb3 b6 (14... Bg4 {has been more common, unafraid of the capture on b7. (It's also the computer's preference, though it doesn't mind Le's move.)} 15. Qxb7 Qd7 16. d5 Bxf3 17. gxf3 Bd6 18. Ne4 $8 Qf5 $11 {A perpetual based on ...Qxf3 followed by ...Qg4+ is likely.}) 15. h3 Be6 16. Rad1 Bf7 17. d5 c5 18. Bf4 Bd6 19. Rxe8 Bxe8 20. Bxd6 cxd6 (20... Qxd6 $142) 21. Re1 (21. Ne4) 21... b5 22. cxb5 axb5 23. Nxb5 Rb8 (23... Bxb5 $2 24. Qxb5 Rxa2 25. Re8 $16 {/+- was not Black's idea.}) 24. a4 Bxb5 25. axb5 Qa5 26. Qe3 Qxb5 $11 27. Nd2 Qxb2 $6 {This was not necessary.} ({Some routine move like} 27... Qb4) ({or} 27... Qd7 {would have been fine and kept a comfortable equality. Black's d-pawn is a little weak, and so is White's b-pawn.}) 28. Rb1 Qxb1+ 29. Nxb1 Rxb1+ 30. Kh2 $14 {White may not have a big advantage, but now it's a two-results game instead of a one-result game.} Kf7 31. Qa3 Rb7 32. Qa6 Rd7 33. f4 Ng6 (33... f5) 34. Qc8 Re7 35. Qc6 Nxf4 36. Qxd6 g5 $5 (36... Nd3 $1 37. Qc6 Ne5 38. Qxc5 Rd7 {is probably a fortress.}) 37. h4 $1 {Very clever. There's a reason Carlsen is probably the GOAT.} (37. Qd8 {followed by d6 will win a piece. The only question is if} Re2 {will produce a draw, as White won't have enough pawns left to win.} 38. d6 Rxg2+ 39. Kh1 Re2 40. h4 h5 41. d7 Re1+ 42. Kh2 Re7 43. Qc8 Ne6 {Looks like a draw.}) 37... Re2 $2 {What's the difference between this and what we just saw?} (37... Ng6 $1 38. h5 Ne5 39. Qxc5 Rd7 {may still be a fortress, a la the 36...Nd3 line.}) 38. h5 $3 Kg7 (38... Nxh5 $1 39. Qc7+ Kg6 40. d6 Nf4 41. d7 Ne6 42. d8=Q Nxd8 43. Qxd8 {Is this a win for White? I don't know. Stockfish gives an evaluation near +6 at depth 40, which, frankly, seems to me to mean that it's a draw - which would be my guess without the computer's help. Maybe someone who has 7-man tablebases set up on your computer can let us know what the right evaluation is - if it turns out that there are lines that will lead by force to something in the tablebase.}) 39. Qxc5 (39. Qc7+ Kh6 40. d6 Rxg2+ 41. Kh1 Re2 42. d7 Ne6 43. Qd6 Re1+ 44. Kh2 Kxh5 45. Qe7 Kg6 46. d8=Q Nxd8 47. Qxe1 {Another somewhat mysterious ending. If Black parks the knight on f7 and shuttles his king back and forth from g7 to g6 (or plays ...Nf7-e5-f7), maybe/probably pushing the h-pawn to h5 or even h4, can White break through? This time, I'm pretty sure the answer is yes.}) 39... Rxg2+ 40. Kh1 Re2 41. d6 Ne6 42. Qa7+ $1 Kh6 43. Qe7 Kxh5 44. d7 Re5 45. Qxf6 Re1+ 46. Kh2 Kg4 47. Qe7 Re2+ 48. Kg1 Kf3 49. Qf7+ Kg4 50. Qxh7 Rd2 51. Qe4+ Nf4 52. Qe8 Ne2+ 53. Kf1 Ng3+ 54. Ke1 {Great technique by Carlsen.} 1-0 [Event "Meltwater Tour Final 2022"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.11.18"] [Round "5.2"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A35"] [WhiteElo "2741"] [BlackElo "2760"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "70"] [EventDate "2022.11.14"] {[%evp 0,70,21,-33,12,19,9,19,7,4,17,11,23,23,39,28,23,19,28,2,-1,-1,-1,-2,-8,-1,-7,-11,-9,4,6,6,18,21,22,12,5,3,32,25,14,-18,1,4,0,-51,-56,-96,-83,-80,-85,-187,-55,-61,-37,-75,-59,-60,-92,-94,-97,-94,-42,-109,-109,-109,-109,-117,-134,-140,-140,-147,-147]} 1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. g3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 g6 7. d3 Bg7 8. Bd2 e6 9. h4 b6 10. h5 Bb7 11. Qa4 Qd7 12. h6 $146 (12. Nxd5 exd5 13. O-O-O $14) 12... Bf6 13. Ne4 Be7 14. O-O Nd4 15. Qxd7+ Kxd7 16. Nxd4 cxd4 $11 17. Rfc1 Rac8 18. Rc4 $5 {Not a waste of two tempi; White hopes that inducing ...b5 will give him opportunities for queenside play, e.g. the possibility of using the c5 square someday, playing a4 to open the file or create a hole on c4, etc.} b5 19. Rcc1 f6 20. a4 Rxc1+ 21. Rxc1 bxa4 22. Rc4 $6 (22. Nc5+ Bxc5 23. Rxc5 $11) 22... Bc6 23. Nc5+ Bxc5 24. Rxc5 {The lost tempo matters, as Black's rook gets a straight shot at the b-pawn.} Rb8 25. Ra5 $6 (25. Bc1 $142) 25... Rb7 $2 (25... Rxb2 $1 26. Bxd5 $8 Bxd5 27. Rxa7+ Kd6 $1 28. Be1 $8 Rxe2 29. Kf1 Rb2 30. Rxa4 (30. Rxh7 $4 a3 31. Ra7 a2 32. h7 Rb8 $19) 30... e5 $19) 26. Bxd5 $1 exd5 27. Ra6 $2 (27. Bc1 $15) 27... g5 $2 (27... Kd6 {followed by ...Kc5 was better, closing the cage on White's rook.}) 28. Kf1 Kd6 29. Ba5 $2 (29. e3 $1 $15) 29... Kc5 $1 30. Bd8 f5 31. Ra5+ Kb4 32. Ra6 Kc5 33. Ra5+ Bb5 $1 34. Bxg5 Kb4 35. Bd2+ Kb3 {White's rook is fully incarcerated (or will be after ...a6), and then Black's king and rook will wipe out the rest of White's army.} 0-1 [Event "Meltwater Tour Final 2022"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.11.18"] [Round "5.2"] [White "Praggnanandhaa, R."] [Black "Duda, Jan-Krzysztof"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C53"] [WhiteElo "2678"] [BlackElo "2731"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "105"] [EventDate "2022.11.14"] {[%evp 0,105,21,21,33,21,17,22,8,-7,31,9,14,-9,-9,4,1,-2,-9,-6,-3,-6,-7,14,6,-27,-15,-2,58,46,42,61,29,2,45,40,38,36,58,19,40,15,23,17,34,27,31,40,28,29,48,27,35,48,82,24,19,0,0,0,0,0,15,23,0,14,0,0,0,20,6,0,6,0,5,4,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,33,31,2,31,17,78,85,85,93,413,445,424,418,429,377,1694,578,969,1127,1143,1154,1154,1192]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. e5 d5 7. Bb5 Ne4 8. cxd4 Bb6 9. Nc3 O-O 10. Be3 Bg4 11. h3 Bh5 12. Qc2 Bg6 13. Qb3 Nxc3 (13... Ne7 {is far more common, but Duda has played the text move before.}) 14. Bxc6 $1 (14. bxc3 {is also common, and what Duda faced in the previous game, played six days before this one.} f6 15. exf6 Na5 16. Qd1 c6 17. Bd3 Qxf6 18. Ne5 Bxd3 19. Qxd3 Bc7 20. f4 Qh4+ 21. Ke2 Qg3 22. Rhg1 g5 23. Raf1 gxf4 24. Rf3 Qg5 25. h4 Qh6 26. Bc1 Rae8 27. Kd1 Bxe5 28. dxe5 Nc4 29. Qd4 Re6 30. Bxf4 Qxh4 31. Kc1 Qe7 32. Rgf1 Qa3+ 33. Kd1 Qa4+ 34. Ke1 Qc2 35. R1f2 Qb1+ 36. Ke2 Qxa2+ 37. Kf1 Qb1+ 38. Ke2 Qe4+ 39. Kf1 Qxd4 40. cxd4 a5 41. Rg3+ Rg6 42. Rgf3 a4 43. Bc1 Rxf3 44. gxf3 a3 45. f4 Rg3 46. f5 Ne3+ 47. Bxe3 Rxe3 48. f6 b5 {0-1 Kollars,D (2611)-Duda,J (2731) Speed Chess Q2 blitz 2022 (10)}) 14... bxc6 15. Qxc3 $16 {White's position looks awfully comfortable here, so unless Black has a tactical solution to his positional problems (the Bb6 has a great future behind it), this line looks terrible for him.} Be4 16. Nd2 $1 Bf5 (16... Bxg2 17. Rg1 Be4 $8 (17... Bxh3 $4 18. Bh6 g6 19. Qxh3 $18) 18. Nxe4 dxe4 19. Qxc6 $1 {is at the very least nearly winning for White. If Black could safely take the d-pawn it would be another matter, but in that case White pins and wins.} Bxd4 $4 20. Rd1 $18) 17. O-O (17. g4 Bd7 18. f4 $16 {/+- Plausible conclusion: The 13...Nxc3 line stinks for Black.}) 17... f6 18. f4 $16 (18. Bf4 $142 $18) 18... Bd7 19. Rae1 a5 20. a4 {Of course White isn't going to allow ...a4 and let the bishop into the game on a5.} Qe7 21. Kh1 (21. Nb3 $142) 21... fxe5 22. fxe5 Rxf1+ 23. Rxf1 Rf8 $14 24. Rxf8+ Qxf8 25. Kh2 Qf5 26. Nf3 Qe4 27. Bf2 h6 28. b4 {White has not maximized his advantage, and now it's just about gone. This would breathe some life into it, were it not for the tactical resource coming up next.} axb4 29. Qxb4 c5 $1 30. Qa3 Qc2 31. dxc5 Ba5 $6 (31... Qxf2 $142 32. cxb6 cxb6 $11 {was a better choice for Black, bidding farewell to his bad bishop.}) 32. Qe3 (32. Bd4 $142 $14) 32... Bxa4 $11 33. e6 Be8 34. Qa3 Qa4 35. Qb2 Qb4 36. Qa2 c6 37. Kh1 Bc7 38. Qa6 Kh7 39. Bg1 Qb1 40. Qa8 Qb8 41. Qa1 Bg6 42. Bd4 Qf8 43. Be5 Bxe5 44. Qxe5 Qxc5 $2 {Natural, but an error.} (44... Be8 {maintains "official" equality; obviously, the position is still (much) easier for White to play.}) 45. e7 Qc1+ $1 (45... Be8 46. Qf5+ g6 47. Qf8 {wins the bishop and the game, as Black not only doesn't have perpetual check; he only has one (safe) check (...Qc1+ Ng1 is the end).}) 46. Kh2 $1 (46. Ng1 $2 {is met not by 46...Be8, which would lose as in the last note, but by} c5 $1 47. e8=Q Bxe8 48. Qxe8 c4 {and Black's speedy c-pawn will suffice for a draw - White will either have to give a perpetual or surrender his knight for Black's c- and d-pawns.}) 46... Qc2 $2 (46... c5 $1 {was still the best try.} 47. e8=Q Bxe8 48. Qxe8 Qf4+ 49. Kg1 Qc1+ 50. Ne1 Qf4 {is probably winning for White, but it doesn't look trivial (especially when playing off the increment).}) 47. Nh4 $1 Be8 48. Nf5 Kg6 49. Nxg7 Bf7 50. e8=Q Bxe8 51. Nxe8 Kf7 52. Nd6+ Kg6 53. Qe6+ {It's mate in a few moves unless Black gives up the queen (after Nf5 in certain lines), and that will only stave off the inevitable for a very short time.} 1-0 [Event "Meltwater Tour Final 2022"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.11.18"] [Round "5.2"] [White "Le, Quang Liem"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D30"] [WhiteElo "2728"] [BlackElo "2859"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "101"] [EventDate "2022.11.14"] {[%evp 0,101,21,16,14,-3,-6,6,42,-3,7,14,3,13,7,-6,21,3,-5,-33,7,4,24,13,109,-7,51,14,45,45,109,85,84,90,97,127,93,97,93,104,126,152,125,123,143,157,166,157,167,146,151,146,146,117,117,141,130,141,143,141,177,189,175,175,210,205,243,233,233,190,190,153,153,186,274,280,336,369,318,343,361,315,355,335,337,375,399,409,409,444,456,467,469,485,492,492,492,485,492,429,456,509,579,861] After eight consecutive wins in the tournament, Carlsen finally receives his comeuppance.} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c6 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 b5 6. Ne5 Bb7 7. O-O Nf6 8. b3 cxb3 9. Qxb3 Be7 10. Nc3 a6 11. Rd1 Qc8 12. Bg5 $146 Nbd7 $2 {Black is in serious trouble after this. He needs to play ...c5, or he is in danger of getting squished despite his extra pawn.} (12... c5 $142) 13. Rac1 $16 O-O (13... c5 {is an interesting try, but at the end of a crazy tactical sequence White retains a clear plus.} 14. Nxd7 c4 $1 15. Nb6 $1 Bxg2 16. Nxc8 cxb3 17. Nxe7 b2 18. Rb1 Bb7 19. Bxf6 gxf6 20. Nf5 $1 exf5 21. Rxb2 $16) 14. Ne4 Nxe4 15. Bxe7 Re8 16. Nxc6 (16. Ba3 $142 $16 {/+-}) 16... Bxc6 (16... Ndc5 $1 17. dxc5 Bxc6 18. Bd6 $14 {/?}) 17. Bxe4 Bxe4 18. Rxc8 Raxc8 $16 {Carlsen has famously said that he doesn't believe in fortresses, and in this game his belief receives confirmation.} 19. Qa3 Nb6 (19... Rc2 $142) 20. Bc5 $18 Na4 21. f3 Bd5 22. Rc1 a5 23. Kf2 h6 24. g4 Bc6 25. Qe3 Bd5 26. g5 Nxc5 27. dxc5 hxg5 28. Qxg5 f6 29. Qg6 Bxa2 30. Rg1 Re7 31. Qxf6 Rf7 32. Qa1 Bc4 33. Qxa5 Rxc5 34. Qd8+ Kh7 35. Qh4+ Kg8 36. Rg3 Rcf5 37. Rh3 Rf8 38. Qh7+ Kf7 39. Rg3 Rg8 40. h4 Rf6 41. h5 Rh6 42. Qe4 g5 43. Rxg5 Rxg5 44. Qf4+ Kg7 45. Qxg5+ Kh7 46. e4 e5 47. Qe7+ Kg8 48. Qe8+ Kh7 49. Kg3 Re6 50. Qf7+ Kh6 51. Kh4 1-0 [Event "Meltwater Tour Final 2022"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.11.18"] [Round "5.2"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Erigaisi, Arjun"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D19"] [WhiteElo "2764"] [BlackElo "2718"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "88"] [EventDate "2022.11.14"] {[%evp 0,88,21,16,19,-6,30,16,19,26,24,19,18,7,12,12,33,23,20,-8,24,16,28,18,10,1,9,17,32,34,35,9,30,38,60,11,26,10,-5,-26,-21,-19,-23,-110,-106,-111,-94,-72,-78,-85,-86,-85,-80,-81,-57,-63,-62,-73,-65,-65,-65,-79,-90,-90,-92,-97,-100,-94,-100,-101,-100,-101,-101,-119,-108,-108,-109,-195,-183,-260,-255,-255,-274,-274,-261,-305,-306,-354,-309,-395,-404]} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. e3 e6 7. Bxc4 Bb4 8. O-O O-O 9. Qe2 Bg6 10. Ne5 Nbd7 11. Nxg6 hxg6 12. Rd1 Qc7 {Still theory, of course. White's next move is usual, but in a game last year Giri cose the rare 13.g3 against Liang; that game finished in a draw.} 13. e4 (13. g3 Rad8 14. Qc2 a5 15. Na2 Be7 16. Bd2 e5 17. Rac1 Kh8 18. Be1 exd4 19. exd4 Qb6 20. Rd3 c5 21. Re3 Bd6 22. d5 Ne5 23. b3 Bc7 24. Rd1 Nfg4 25. Rc3 f5 26. Bf1 f4 27. Bg2 Bd6 28. Nc1 c4 29. bxc4 Bc5 30. Rd2 Rde8 31. Be4 g5 32. d6 Bxd6 33. gxf4 Rxf4 34. Rh3+ Nh6 35. Re2 Ref8 36. Nd3 Nxd3 37. Qxd3 Bc5 38. Qg3 Re8 39. Qg2 Qe6 40. Bd3 Qd7 41. Rxe8+ Qxe8 42. Kf1 Qd7 43. Be2 Qf5 44. Rd3 Rd4 45. Rxd4 Bxd4 46. Qxb7 Ng4 47. Qb8+ Kh7 48. Qg3 Ne5 49. Bxa5 g4 50. Be1 Nf3 51. c5 Bxc5 52. Bxf3 gxf3 53. Kg1 Qe4 54. Qh3+ Kg6 55. Qf1 Bd6 56. Kh1 Bxh2 57. Kxh2 Qf4+ 58. Kh3 Kh5 59. Qb5+ g5 60. Qe8+ Kh6 61. Qh8+ Kg6 62. Qg8+ Kh6 63. Qe6+ Kh5 64. Qe8+ Kh6 65. Qh8+ Kg6 66. Qg8+ Kh6 67. Qh8+ {½-½ Giri,A (2776)-Liang,A (2587) Aimchess US Rapid Prelim 2021 (8)}) 13... e5 14. d5 {Here theory spreads out in many directions. The most common move has been 14...Nb6, which the engine approves of, along with the text and 14...Rac8.} Rad8 15. dxc6 Bxc3 $146 16. cxd7 Bd4 17. Bg5 Qxd7 $11 18. h3 Rc8 19. Be3 {An okay move, but one which Giri miscalculated.} (19. b3) ({and} 19. Rdc1 {maintain equality without the need to find any tactical finesses.}) 19... Nxe4 20. Bxd4 exd4 21. Qxe4 $2 (21. Qd3 $1 {regains the pawn, as} Rfd8 {allows} 22. Bxf7+ {, which was not possible when the rook was on f8. (Black would capture with the queen, and then have ...Qxf2+ once White took on e4.)} Kxf7 23. Qxe4 d3 24. Rd2 $11) 21... Rxc4 22. b3 Rb4 {The "loan" of the d-pawn turned out to be permanent. White isn't losing - his pieces are/will be active and the d-pawn will be fairly securely blockaded, but what was a safe position is now a defensive slog.} 23. Rd3 Re8 24. Qf4 Qd5 25. Rc1 g5 26. Qg3 Qe5 27. Qxe5 Rxe5 28. g3 $6 (28. Rc8+ Kh7 29. Rd8 Re1+ 30. Kh2 Rb1 31. R8xd4 R4xb3 32. Rxb3 Rxb3 33. Rd5 f6 34. a5 {should hold.}) 28... Re6 $6 (28... Kf8 $142) 29. Rc5 (29. Rc8+) 29... f6 30. Rd5 Re1+ 31. Kg2 Rb1 32. Rb5 $6 (32. R5xd4 Rxd4 33. Rxd4 Rxb3 34. a5 {is similar to the line given above; White should draw this.}) 32... Rxb5 33. axb5 Kf8 $17 34. Kf3 Rb2 $1 35. Ke4 $2 {Giri apparently doesn't believe in Black's last move.} Rxf2 36. Rxd4 Re2+ $1 37. Kd3 (37. Kd5 Re3 $19) 37... Rg2 (37... Re5) 38. Rd7 (38. g4 $142) 38... Rxg3+ 39. Kc4 b6 $1 {Now Black's frontmost g-pawn will queen hours before White's b-pawn makes it.} 40. Rxa7 Rxh3 41. Kd5 Rxb3 42. Kc6 g4 43. Kxb6 g3 44. Kc6 f5 0-1 [Event "Meltwater Tour Final 2022"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.11.18"] [Round "5.3"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A50"] [WhiteElo "2760"] [BlackElo "2741"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "57"] [EventDate "2022.11.14"] {[%evp 0,57,21,16,16,6,23,20,33,23,38,37,41,25,45,51,72,33,46,40,64,56,112,83,107,36,21,27,64,32,28,28,17,39,40,27,21,17,54,0,77,62,82,90,105,78,94,81,146,121,122,122,129,148,145,232,226,240,582,591]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 b6 $6 {Down 2-0, a bit of desperation.} 3. Nc3 Bb7 4. Qc2 e6 5. e4 Bb4 6. Bd3 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 $16 {White enjoys an enormous 70+% score from this position in the database.} d6 8. Ne2 ({Why not} 8. f4 {followed by Nf3? White can afford to be greedy for space after all of Black's liberties.}) 8... c5 9. O-O Nc6 10. f4 cxd4 11. cxd4 O-O 12. Bd2 $146 Rc8 13. Qb1 h6 14. a4 (14. Bc3 $142 $16) (14. d5 $142 $16) 14... d5 $2 (14... Ba6 $1 $14) 15. cxd5 exd5 16. e5 Ne4 {The knight is good, but it's not enough.} 17. Be1 (17. Qa2 $16 {/+-}) 17... Rc7 (17... f6 $142) 18. Qb2 (18. f5 $142 $18) 18... Qc8 19. a5 $2 (19. Ng3) (19. Rc1) (19. f5) 19... bxa5 $2 (19... Ba6 $11) 20. Bxa5 $18 Nxa5 21. Rxa5 Bc6 22. Qa2 (22. f5 $142) 22... Qg4 (22... Qd7 $142) 23. h3 Qh4 (23... Qd7 $142) 24. Rxa7 Rxa7 25. Qxa7 Ng3 $4 26. Nxg3 Qxg3 27. Qa3 $1 Qe3+ 28. Kh2 g6 (28... Qxd4 $2 29. Bh7+ Kxh7 30. Qxf8 {was almost certainly what Mamedyarov overlooked when contemplating 25...Ng3.}) 29. Qc3 $1 {There's no defense to the threatened Rf3, winning the queen.} 1-0 [Event "Meltwater Tour Final 2022"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.11.18"] [Round "5.3"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Le, Quang Liem"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A07"] [WhiteElo "2859"] [BlackElo "2728"] [PlyCount "96"] [EventDate "2022.11.14"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 c6 3. c4 dxc4 4. Bg2 Nf6 5. O-O Nbd7 6. Na3 Nb6 7. Qc2 Be6 8. Re1 g6 9. Ng5 Qd7 10. Nxe6 Qxe6 11. b3 cxb3 12. axb3 Bg7 13. Bb2 O-O 14. e4 Rfd8 15. d4 Ne8 16. Rad1 a5 17. h4 a4 18. Re3 Nd6 19. h5 axb3 20. Rxb3 Nbc4 21. d5 Nxa3 22. Rxa3 cxd5 23. Rxa8 Rxa8 24. e5 Ne4 25. Qb3 Bxe5 26. Bxe4 Bxb2 27. Bxd5 Qf6 28. Bxf7+ Kg7 29. hxg6 hxg6 30. Bd5 Bd4 31. Qf3 Rd8 32. Qxf6+ Bxf6 33. Bf3 Rb8 34. Rd7 b5 35. Rb7 Rxb7 36. Bxb7 b4 37. Bd5 Bd4 38. Kf1 Kf6 39. f3 Ke5 40. Be4 g5 41. g4 b3 42. Ke2 b2 43. Kd2 Kf4 44. Kc2 Bf6 45. Kb1 Ke3 46. Kc2 Kf4 47. Kb1 Ke3 48. Kc2 Kf4 1/2-1/2 [Event "Meltwater Tour Final 2022"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.11.18"] [Round "5.3"] [White "Duda, Jan-Krzysztof"] [Black "Praggnanandhaa, R."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E04"] [WhiteElo "2731"] [BlackElo "2678"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2022.11.14"] {[%evp 0,85,21,20,16,6,6,-15,-21,-22,-9,-9,33,16,26,-16,27,44,88,15,24,18,12,9,17,-6,0,-12,-13,-17,-9,13,13,9,0,12,-15,-41,-41,-42,-42,-40,-35,-34,0,15,73,79,131,115,115,135,145,118,150,145,151,149,172,191,253,268,265,267,273,278,292,269,277,283,463,300,478,323,323,322,374,294,286,259,276,282,280,278,285,281,326,271]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. Nf3 c6 6. Ne5 Bb4+ 7. Bd2 Be7 8. e3 b5 9. a4 b4 10. O-O O-O 11. Qc2 Bb7 12. Rc1 a5 13. Be1 Qc7 14. Qxc4 c5 $1 {As we saw in a Le-Carlsen game earlier in this round, Black can get squished in the Catalan and in Catalan-like positions if he doesn't play ...c5 at the right time. Here it's the correct decision by Praggnanandhaa, a pawn sac he has correctly assessed as only temporary.} 15. Bxb7 Qxb7 16. dxc5 Rc8 17. Qb5 Qc7 18. Nd3 Nbd7 19. Nd2 Rab8 $6 {Surprisingly, taking this "free" tempo before regaining the pawn turns out to be inaccurate. The problem is that after all the captures White will play Nc4, and if the rook returns to a8 to protect the a5-pawn it's White, not Black, who gets the free move.} (19... Bxc5 $142 20. Nxc5 Nxc5 21. Nb3 Nfd7 $11) 20. Qc4 Nxc5 21. Nxc5 Qxc5 $6 (21... Bxc5 {was better, but it required spotting an amazing tactical idea.} 22. Nb3 Qa7 $3 {Another temporary sac on c5.} (22... Qe7 $2 23. Qa6 $18) 23. Nxc5 Qe7 $1 (23... Nd7 $4 24. Qa6 $1)) 22. Qxc5 Bxc5 $6 (22... Rxc5 $142) 23. Nc4 $16 Nd7 $2 (23... Ra8 $2 {fails to another neat tactical trick:} 24. Nxa5 $1 $18 Rxa5 $2 25. Bxb4 {and 1-0.}) (23... Bf8 {was the only try.} 24. Nxa5 Rxc1 25. Rxc1 Ra8 26. Nc6 Rxa4 27. Nxb4 $1 Bxb4 28. Bxb4 $16) 24. Nxa5 $18 Ne5 25. Nc4 Nd3 26. Rd1 Nxe1 27. Rxe1 Bd4 28. Rac1 Bc3 $2 {Cute, but bad.} 29. Nd6 $1 Rd8 30. bxc3 Rxd6 31. cxb4 {As they used to say in the old chess books, the curtain could have been drawn here.} g6 32. b5 Rd2 33. Red1 Ra2 34. Ra1 Rc2 35. Rdc1 Rd2 36. Rcb1 Rd5 37. Ra2 Kf8 38. Rb4 Ke7 39. Rc4 Rd1+ 40. Kg2 Rb1 41. Rc7+ Kf6 42. Rd2 Rb4 43. Rd4 1-0 [Event "Meltwater Tour Final 2022"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.11.18"] [Round "5.3"] [White "Erigaisi, Arjun"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E94"] [WhiteElo "2718"] [BlackElo "2764"] [PlyCount "71"] [EventDate "2022.11.14"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 Nbd7 7. O-O e5 8. Qc2 exd4 9. Nxd4 Nc5 10. Be3 Ng4 11. Bxg4 Bxg4 12. f3 Bd7 13. Qd2 f5 14. exf5 gxf5 15. Bh6 Rf7 16. Bxg7 Rxg7 17. Rae1 a5 18. Re2 c6 19. Rd1 Qh4 20. Qe1 Qg5 21. Qd2 Qh4 22. Qe1 Qxe1+ 23. Rexe1 Kf7 24. Nb3 Nxb3 25. axb3 Rg6 26. Re2 Re6 27. Red2 Ke7 28. Ne2 Rf6 29. Nf4 b6 30. h4 Rg8 31. Kf2 Rh6 32. g3 Rf6 33. Nh5 Rh6 34. Nf4 Rf6 35. Nh5 Rh6 36. Nf4 1/2-1/2 [Event "Meltwater Tour Final 2022"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.11.18"] [Round "5.4"] [White "Le, Quang Liem"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E11"] [WhiteElo "2728"] [BlackElo "2859"] [PlyCount "169"] [EventDate "2022.11.14"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Bxd2+ 5. Qxd2 d5 6. Nc3 O-O 7. e3 b6 8. Rc1 Bb7 9. cxd5 Nxd5 10. Be2 Nd7 11. O-O c5 12. Rfd1 Qe7 13. Ne4 Rac8 14. dxc5 Nxc5 15. Nxc5 Rxc5 16. Rxc5 Qxc5 17. Rc1 Qe7 18. Nd4 Rd8 19. Bf3 h6 20. h3 e5 21. Nf5 Qg5 22. Ng3 Nf4 23. exf4 exf4 24. h4 Qxh4 25. Nf5 Qg5 26. Nxh6+ gxh6 27. Qe2 Bd5 28. Rd1 Bxa2 29. Rxd8+ Qxd8 30. Qa6 Be6 31. Qxa7 Qd4 32. Qa3 Qd2 33. Qc3 Qxc3 34. bxc3 Kg7 35. Be4 Kf6 36. f3 Ke5 37. Kf2 Bf5 38. Bc6 Kd6 39. Bb5 Kc5 40. Be2 Be6 41. Ke1 Bc4 42. Bd1 h5 43. Bc2 Kb5 44. Kf2 Be6 45. Ke1 Kc4 46. Kd2 h4 47. Bd1 Bf5 48. Be2+ Kb3 49. Bd1+ Kb2 50. Be2 Kb3 51. Bd1+ Ka3 52. Be2 Ka4 53. Bd1+ Ka5 54. Be2 b5 55. Bd1 Be6 56. Ke1 Bc4 57. Bc2 Kb6 58. Kf2 Kc5 59. Ke1 Be6 60. Bd3 Bb3 61. Kf2 Kb6 62. Ke1 Ka5 63. Kd2 Bd5 64. Kc1 Ka4 65. Kc2 Be6 66. Kb2 b4 67. cxb4 Kxb4 68. Kc2 Bc4 69. Kd2 Kc5 70. Kc3 Be6 71. Be4 Bd7 72. Bd3 Kd5 73. Bc4+ Ke5 74. Bxf7 h3 75. gxh3 Bxh3 76. Kd2 Bg2 77. Ke2 Kf6 78. Bd5 Ke5 79. Be4 Kd4 80. Kf2 Bh1 81. Kg1 Bxf3 82. Bxf3 Ke3 83. Kg2 Kd4 84. Bg4 f3+ 85. Bxf3 1/2-1/2 [Event "Meltwater Tour Final 2022"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.11.18"] [Round "5.4"] [White "Praggnanandhaa, R."] [Black "Duda, Jan-Krzysztof"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C53"] [WhiteElo "2678"] [BlackElo "2731"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "79"] [EventDate "2022.11.14"] {Pragg needed a win to force a blitz playoff, and he got it.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. e5 d5 7. Bb5 Ne4 8. cxd4 Bb6 9. Nc3 O-O 10. Be3 Bg4 11. h3 Bh5 12. Qc2 Ba5 {The third option, heading for forcing play.} (12... Bg6 {is the most common move (and Duda's choice in an earlier game in this match).}) (12... Nxc3 13. bxc3 f6 14. exf6 Qxf6 {is also very popular.}) 13. O-O Bxf3 14. gxf3 Nxd4 {It's not quite a forced draw, but it's good enough for full equality.} (14... Ng5 {is comparatively solid, but that's not why Duda chose this line. (It's also objectively inferior to 14...Nxd4, as far as I can tell.)}) 15. Bxd4 Qg5+ 16. Kh1 Bxc3 17. Bxc3 Qf5 18. Rfc1 (18. fxe4 Qxh3+ 19. Kg1 Qg4+ {is obviously a draw, one which has been seen more than once.}) 18... Qxh3+ 19. Kg1 Ng5 20. Be2 Qh6 (20... Qh4 21. Bd2 $1 Nh3+ $6 (21... Rae8 $146 {is better, though still not quite a forced draw:} 22. Qf5 Nh3+ 23. Kg2 Qxf2+ 24. Kxh3 Qxe2 25. Rg1 $1 Qxe5 $1 (25... Qxd2 $4 26. Rxg7+ Kxg7 27. Qf6+ Kg8 28. Rg1+ Qg5 29. Rxg5#) 26. Qxe5 Rxe5 27. Rac1 c6 28. Bc3 Rh5+ 29. Kg4 g6 30. Rge1 {and White's great bishop and his control of the e-file slightly outweighs Black's four extra pawns.}) 22. Kg2 Qxf2+ 23. Kxh3 Qxe2 24. Kg3 Qxe5+ 25. Bf4 Qf6 26. Qxc7 $16 {White has gone 1.5/2 in this position.}) (20... Nxf3+ $2 21. Bxf3 Qxf3 22. Qd1 Qe4 {is just bad for Black after} 23. f3 $146 {?/+- or} (23. Qd4 $146)) 21. Bd2 Rae8 22. Qd3 $146 {This might allow a forced draw.} (22. f4 {is also okay, despite the eventual result.} Nh3+ 23. Kg2 Nxf4+ 24. Bxf4 Qxf4 25. Qxc7 Rxe5 26. Rc3 Rg5+ 27. Kf1 Qh4 28. Bf3 d4 29. Rd3 Qh3+ 30. Ke2 Qe6+ 31. Kd2 $5 (31. Kf1 Qh3+ $11) 31... Rf5 32. Rh1 Qxa2 {It has been perfect play by both sides so far, and the evaluation would remain with triple zeroes after 33.Qxb7 or 33.Be4.} 33. Qc2 $6 Qa5+ 34. Kd1 g6 35. Qd2 Qa1+ 36. Qc1 Qa4+ 37. b3 Qa6 38. Be2 $4 (38. Qc4 $15 {was necessary.}) 38... Rxf2 $19 39. Ke1 $2 Rxe2+ $1 40. Kxe2 Re8+ 41. Kd2 Qa2+ {0-1 Fier,A (2569)-Sousa,A (2390) POR-chT Peniche 2021 (8.4)} 42. Qc2 Re2+ 43. Kxe2 Qxc2+ 44. Rd2 Qe4+ $19) 22... Qh4 {Not bad, but not best.} (22... Rxe5 $1 23. f4 $8 Nh3+ 24. Kf1 $8 Rxe2 $1 (24... Nxf4 25. Qf3 $8 Re4 26. Bxf4 Rxf4 27. Qxd5 Re8 28. Rxc7 {Not forced.} (28. Rc4 $11) (28. Qg2 $11) (28. Bf3 $11) 28... Rxf2+ 29. Kxf2 Qh2+ 30. Kf1 Qxc7 $11) 25. Qxe2 (25. Kxe2 Re8+ 26. Kf3 Nxf2 27. Qxd5 (27. Kxf2 Qh2+ 28. Kf1 $8 Qh1+ 29. Kf2 Qh2+ $11) 27... Ne4 $8 28. Rh1 $8 Nxd2+ 29. Qxd2 Qc6+ $8 30. Kf2 Qb6+ {and White must submit to a perpetual.}) 25... Nxf4 26. Qf3 Qa6+ 27. Kg1 (27. Ke1 $5 Nd3+ 28. Kd1 Nxc1 29. Rxc1 c6 $15) 27... Qg6+ 28. Kf1 Qa6+ $11) 23. Bf1 (23. Qf5 $1 Nh3+ 24. Kg2 Qxf2+ 25. Kxh3 Qxe2 26. Rg1 Qxe5 {we've already seen:} 27. Qxe5 Rxe5 28. Rac1 c6 29. Bc3 Rh5+ 30. Kg4 g6 31. Rge1 {with the better half of equality for White.}) 23... Rxe5 $6 (23... Re6 $1 $11) 24. Rxc7 $6 (24. Re1 $14) (24. f4 $14) 24... Nh3+ $2 ({The subtle} 24... d4 $1 {was not just best, but forced to maintain a decent position.} 25. Bg2 (25. Bxg5 Rxg5+ 26. Bg2 Rxg2+ 27. Kxg2 Qg5+ 28. Kf1 Qh4 $11 {is a draw - Black threatens not only ...Qh1+ but also ...Re8.}) (25. Rxb7 $4 Re3 $1 {is the point of 24...d4.} 26. fxe3 Qg3+ 27. Bg2 (27. Kh1 Nxf3 {leaves White unable to stop both ...Qg1# and ...Qh2#.}) 27... Nh3+ 28. Kh1 (28. Kf1 Qf2#) 28... Nf2+ 29. Kg1 Nxd3 $19) 25... Nh3+ 26. Bxh3 Qxh3 27. Qf1 Qxf3 28. Qg2 Qh5 29. Bf4 Re6 $11) 25. Bxh3 Qxh3 26. Qf1 $18 {Black's attack has been neutralized, and his pawns are insufficient compensation for White's bishop. Pragg has survived to the blitz playoff.} Qxf3 27. Qg2 Qh5 28. Rxb7 Re6 29. Rb3 Qe2 30. Qxd5 $1 Rfe8 31. Rg3 Re5 32. Qd4 Qe4 33. Bc3 g6 34. Rd1 a6 35. Qxe4 Rxe4 36. Rd6 a5 37. Bxa5 Ra4 38. Ra3 Rxa3 39. bxa3 Ra8 40. Rd8+ 1-0 [Event "Meltwater Tour Final 2022"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.11.18"] [Round "5.5"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Le, Quang Liem"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D38"] [WhiteElo "2859"] [BlackElo "2728"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "157"] [EventDate "2022.11.14"] {[%evp 0,157,21,13,19,6,6,6,2,6,37,2,13,-32,-15,-25,8,-9,32,38,52,29,22,28,90,57,46,61,87,93,108,88,78,97,88,90,90,118,128,125,127,112,96,90,102,77,126,146,136,120,120,107,115,115,115,126,116,115,115,123,123,123,135,142,131,138,139,135,144,116,155,139,145,165,177,150,208,210,193,190,184,203,188,178,204,198,198,238,239,204,219,227,239,233,232,229,249,207,209,182,182,190,196,199,206,130,137,284,278,326,330,350,359,361,361,361,361,346,366,366,366,360,366,368,368,360,368,193,360,366,368,368,368,368,368,363,383,383,391,394,388,390,395,395,470,395,438,470,494,500,505,505,530,656,860,979,1002,1012,1088,1112]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bf4 {An up-and-coming option against the Ragozin.} Ne4 7. Rc1 Qe7 (7... Nc6 {is the most common move, preparing ...g5 (if Be5 in reply the knight on c6 will take it).}) 8. Nd2 Nxc3 9. bxc3 Ba3 10. Rb1 O-O 11. e3 c5 $146 (11... g5 12. Bg3 f5 13. Be5 Nc6 {had been seen in all the previous games to reach the position after 11.e3. The engine claims a small edge for White after} 14. f4 Nxe5 15. fxe5 f4 {, provided he deviate from 16.Bd3 (Mamedyarov-Caruana) and 16.e4 (Barseghyan-Grebnev and Sevcikova-Cornelisse), all earlier this year, and play instead} 16. Be2 $1 fxe3 17. Nf1 c5 18. Nxe3 cxd4 19. Qxd4 $14) 12. Bd3 Nc6 $6 {Forgetting prep? There's too much to remember.} (12... cxd4 $1 13. cxd4 {is the only legal recapture, and the point is that after} Nc6 14. O-O {Black has} Nb4 {, with equality (though not triple-zero equality).}) 13. O-O cxd4 14. exd4 $16 {Now White has a nice position, and Carlsen produces another masterpiece, gradually increasing his advantage and grinding out a win.} Bd6 15. Re1 Qc7 16. Bxd6 Qxd6 17. Qh5 h6 18. Rb5 Ne7 19. Qe5 Qxe5 20. Rxe5 a6 $2 21. Rb6 $18 Re8 22. Nb3 Kf8 23. Nc5 Ra7 24. Kf1 Rd8 25. f3 Nc6 26. Re2 Re8 27. Reb2 Re7 28. Bxa6 Nxd4 29. cxd4 bxa6 30. Rd6 Re8 31. a4 Rae7 32. Kf2 Re1 33. Rxd5 Rd1 34. h4 g6 35. Rd6 Ke7 36. Rc6 Kf8 37. Rb8 Bf5 38. Rxe8+ Kxe8 39. Ke3 a5 40. g4 Bc2 41. h5 Kf8 42. Nd7+ Ke7 43. Rxc2 Kxd7 44. Rc5 Re1+ 45. Kd2 Rf1 46. Ke2 Ra1 47. Rxa5 {Black could resign here...} Ra3 48. Ra7+ Ke6 49. Ra6+ Kd5 50. hxg6 fxg6 51. Rxg6 Kxd4 52. Rd6+ Ke5 53. Rxh6 Rxa4 54. Ke3 Ra3+ 55. Kf2 Kf4 56. Rf6+ Kg5 57. Rf5+ Kg6 58. Kg3 {...or here.} Rb3 59. Re5 Kf6 60. Re4 Kg5 61. Re5+ Kf6 62. Re2 Kg5 63. Kf2 Rb5 64. Re8 Rb2+ 65. Kg3 Rb3 66. Rg8+ Kf6 67. g5+ Kf5 68. Kh4 Rb1 69. Rf8+ Kg6 70. Rf6+ Kg7 71. f4 Rg1 72. Kh5 Rh1+ 73. Kg4 Rg1+ 74. Kf5 Ra1 75. Rg6+ Kf7 76. Re6 Ra5+ 77. Re5 Ra6 78. g6+ {A nice way to make progress.} Kf8 (78... Rxg6 79. Re7+ Kxe7 80. Kxg6 Kf8 81. Kf6 Kg8 82. Ke7 $18 {[%CAl Bf4f5,Bf5f6,Bf6f7,Bf7f8]}) 79. Kg5 1-0 [Event "Meltwater Tour Final 2022"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.11.18"] [Round "5.5"] [White "Praggnanandhaa, R."] [Black "Duda, Jan-Krzysztof"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C10"] [WhiteElo "2678"] [BlackElo "2731"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "99"] [EventDate "2022.11.14"] {[%evp 0,99,21,21,36,42,42,42,44,44,44,44,47,47,53,53,49,27,42,38,44,31,19,-3,87,21,83,42,46,18,39,-5,46,46,47,34,27,27,53,4,20,7,71,108,139,94,165,179,452,323,323,141,259,373,283,190,256,258,258,257,257,269,239,247,283,290,290,234,260,228,239,231,230,218,209,209,265,201,209,211,205,204,197,186,186,182,190,156,163,180,228,227,227,188,199,207,215,195,238,243,249,72]} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bd7 {A slightly masochistic line that scores better than it deserves - though not as well as healthier variations - because White sometimes gets a little careless.} 5. Nf3 Bc6 6. Bd3 Nd7 7. O-O Ngf6 8. Ng3 (8. Ned2 {, looking to cycle the knight to c4, also does well.}) 8... g6 (8... Bxf3 9. Qxf3 c6 $16 {is more common at the club level - the "Fort Knox" approach. At the GM level, it's semi-suicidal.}) 9. Re1 (9. b3 {is the most popular move, looking to develop the bishop with tempo:} Bg7 10. Ba3 Bf8 11. Bb2 Bg7 12. c4 O-O {and only now 13.Re1 or some other useful move. Duda had this position as Black against Nepo several years ago:} 13. b4 Bxf3 14. Qxf3 c6 15. a4 Qc7 16. a5 a6 17. Rfe1 Rfe8 18. Qe2 Rad8 19. Rad1 Re7 20. Bb1 Nf8 21. Qf3 Ne8 22. Ne4 Red7 23. Nc5 Re7 24. Qe2 Nd7 25. Nb3 Ndf6 26. Bc1 Red7 27. g3 Bf8 28. Bf4 Qc8 29. Bd2 Bg7 30. Bc3 Re7 31. Qf3 Qc7 32. Bd2 Nh5 33. Bg5 Nhf6 34. Nc5 h6 35. Bf4 Qc8 36. h4 Nh7 37. Be5 Nef6 38. Na4 Qd7 39. Nb6 Qe8 40. c5 Qf8 41. Bd6 Rxd6 42. cxd6 Re8 43. b5 axb5 44. a6 Nd5 45. Nxd5 cxd5 46. d7 Rd8 47. axb7 Nf6 48. h5 Qd6 49. hxg6 Qxd7 50. gxf7+ Kxf7 51. Qd3 Rb8 52. Qg6+ Kf8 53. Bd3 Rxb7 54. Ra1 Qf7 55. Ra8+ Ke7 56. Ra6 Qxg6 57. Bxg6 Ne4 58. Bxe4 dxe4 59. Rxe4 Kf7 60. Rexe6 Bxd4 61. Red6 Bc5 62. Rxh6 Bd4 63. Rad6 Kg7 64. Rh5 Bc3 65. Rhd5 b4 66. Rd7+ Rxd7 67. Rxd7+ Kf6 68. Rd3 Ke5 69. Kf1 Bd4 70. Ke2 Kd5 71. Kd2 Kc4 72. Rxd4+ {1-0 Nepomniachtchi,I (2733)-Duda,J (2706) EU-chT (Men) 21st 2017 (6.2)}) 9... Bg7 10. h4 $1 $16 {Only played once before, but nowadays what compy wants, humans want too.} O-O 11. h5 b6 12. Qe2 ({Stockfish, in the style of AlphaZero, says to keep going:} 12. h6 $1 $16 {/+- Humans are still more hesitant to take this final step than are engines: we want to keep the possibility of using h6 with our pieces, or (more often in a position like this) hope to smash through on g6. The engines typically have a high level of trust that the pawn on h6 will somehow be useful someday, whether it's to tie the opponent's king down to a weak back rank, or to use the g7 square someday, or to fix the pawn on h7 (Ng5/f6xh7 in some ending). It doesn't mean that we should forsake our own judgment and always play h6 (or ...h3, or a6/...a3), but we probably don't play it as often as we should.}) 12... Bb7 ({Amazingly, Stockfish rates h6 so highly that it recommends the gruesome} 12... Nxh5 {as Black's best chance.} 13. Nxh5 gxh5 14. Bf4 $16) 13. Bf4 (13. h6 $1) 13... c5 14. c3 cxd4 15. cxd4 (15. h6 $1 $16) 15... Nd5 (15... Bxf3 $1 16. Qxf3 Nd5 $14) (15... Nxh5 $5 {Again, the computer's favorite, but not many humans are jumping on this train.}) 16. Bg5 $16 Bf6 17. Bd2 Qe7 18. Ne4 Bg7 19. Neg5 (19. h6 $1) 19... Rfd8 $2 (19... h6) 20. Nxh7 $1 $18 {In the battle of the humans, Pragg's hesitance to play h5-h6 pays off: he will break through on the g6 square.} Kxh7 $2 (20... gxh5 {is much better, though obviously not fully satisfactory.}) 21. hxg6+ fxg6 22. Ng5+ Kg8 23. Bxg6 N5f6 24. Bf7+ Kh8 25. Qd3 Nf8 26. Qh3+ (26. Rxe6) ({and especially} 26. Re3 {are very strong.}) 26... N6h7 27. Rxe6 (27. Bxe6 $142) 27... Bc8 28. Rxe7 Bxh3 29. Nxh3 Bxd4 30. Bc3 Bxc3 31. bxc3 {Black is still losing, though he has done well to avoid getting mated or losing a piece.} Rac8 32. Rxa7 Rxc3 33. Re1 Rd7 34. Rxd7 Nxd7 35. Nf4 Nhf6 36. Nd5 Nxd5 37. Bxd5 Nf6 38. Bf3 Kg7 39. Rb1 Ra3 40. Rb2 $1 (40. Rxb6 {was also fine - Black will not draw after taking on a2 - but Pragg's move was best.}) 40... Nd7 41. Be2 Nc5 42. g3 Na4 43. Rd2 Nc3 44. Bc4 Ne4 45. Rd7+ Kf8 46. Rd4 Nc3 47. Rd2 b5 48. Bb3 b4 49. Kg2 Ke7 50. Rd4 ({After} 50. Rd4 {, Duda resigned rather than try, say,} Nxa2 51. Bxa2 Rxa2 52. Rxb4 {with the same ending we just saw in the Carlsen-Le game in the previous entry, from the same round within the round. It's a remarkable thought: Duda has more faith in Praggnanandhaa's technique than Le has in Carlsen's. Unbelievable - and the moral isn't that Duda is wrong.}) 1-0 [Event "Meltwater Tour Final 2022"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.11.18"] [Round "5.6"] [White "Le, Quang Liem"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E11"] [WhiteElo "2728"] [BlackElo "2859"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "84"] [EventDate "2022.11.14"] {[%evp 0,84,21,13,13,6,6,6,40,31,23,20,33,33,33,21,42,32,42,44,44,36,59,58,48,23,22,27,101,70,97,112,137,137,134,138,77,104,127,72,89,86,147,143,134,118,119,112,112,116,143,137,144,137,137,137,122,97,86,96,100,92,101,65,71,-70,47,108,108,106,144,26,41,41,59,30,203,227,195,230,157,107,944,951,974,984,1048] Le needs to win to force Armageddon. Couldn't happen, could it?} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Bxd2+ {A very passive, "Draw please, mister?" approach. It's really odd to see Carlsen play this way.} 5. Qxd2 d5 6. Nc3 O-O 7. e3 b6 (7... Qe7 {is more common, chosen by Kramnik a month ago and by Carlsen at least twice in the past.}) 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Rc1 Bb7 10. Nxd5 (10. Bd3) (10. Be2) 10... Bxd5 11. Bd3 h6 ({The greedy} 11... Bxa2 $6 {backfires, as} 12. Qc2 $16 {regains the pawn thanks to the threatened 13.b3.}) 12. Qc2 (12. Bb1 $142 $14) 12... c5 $1 $11 13. dxc5 Nd7 $2 (13... bxc5 $1 $11 14. Be2 (14. Qxc5 $4 Bxf3 15. gxf3 Qxd3 $19) (14. a3 Bxf3 (14... Nd7 $11) 15. gxf3 Nd7 $11) 14... Qa5+ $11 {followed by ...Qxa2 is fine.} (14... Nc6 $5 $11)) 14. e4 (14. c6 $1 Nc5 (14... Rc8 15. c7 $18) 15. b4 Bxf3 16. Bh7+ Kh8 17. gxf3 $16) 14... Bc6 (14... Bb7 $142 15. c6 Rc8 16. Bb5 (16. c7 $2 Qe7 $15 {followed by ...Nc5, and Black will round up the overextended pawn.}) 16... Nb8 17. c7 Qe7 18. O-O a6 19. Ba4 Nc6 $1 20. Bxc6 Rxc7 21. Qa4 b5 22. Bxb5 axb5 23. Qxb5 Bxe4 $14) 15. cxb6 $16 Rc8 16. bxa7 Qa5+ 17. Qc3 Qxa7 18. O-O Nf6 19. a3 $6 (19. Qb4 $142 $16 {/+-}) 19... Bxe4 20. Qxc8 Rxc8 21. Rxc8+ Kh7 22. Rd1 $2 (22. Bxe4+ $142 Nxe4 23. Rc4 $16) 22... Bxd3 23. Rxd3 Qb7 24. Rc2 e5 $1 $11 {Carlsen has clawed his way back into the game.} 25. Re3 Ng4 26. Ree2 e4 27. Nd2 f5 28. h3 Ne5 29. Nc4 (29. Nf1 $142 $11) 29... Nd3 30. b4 (30. Red2 $142) 30... Qa6 $15 31. Red2 f4 (31... Qg6 $142) 32. Nb2 $2 (32. Rc3 $142) 32... Qxa3 $2 (32... Ne5 $17) 33. Nxd3 exd3 34. Rb2 $14 {Everything is defended, and the b-pawn's ready to roll. Black needs to break up the kingside and hope for enough counterplay to save the game.} f3 $2 {Right idea, wrong timing.} (34... Qa1+ 35. Kh2 f3 $1 {does the trick. For example,} 36. gxf3 Qe1 37. b5 Qe5+ 38. Kg2 Qg5+ 39. Kf1 Qf4 40. Rd1 Qxf3 41. Ke1 Qxh3 42. b6 Qh1+ 43. Kd2 Qg2 44. Kxd3 Qf3+ 45. Kc2 Qc6+ 46. Kb1 Qe4+ $11 {etc.}) 35. b5 $2 (35. gxf3 $1 Qa1+ 36. Kg2 $18) 35... Qa1+ 36. Kh2 fxg2 37. Kxg2 $11 Qe1 $2 (37... Qa8+ $11) 38. b6 $2 (38. Rxd3 $1 $18) 38... Qe4+ 39. f3 Qg6+ 40. Kf2 Qg5 $2 (40... Qd6 {was the only move to maintain equality.}) 41. b7 Qc5+ 42. Kf1 Qe3 {On to Armageddon.} (42... Qe3 43. b8=Q Qxf3+ 44. Kg1 Qe3+ 45. Kh2 $18 {and no more checks.}) 1-0 [Event "Meltwater Tour Final 2022"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.11.18"] [Round "5.6"] [White "Duda, Jan-Krzysztof"] [Black "Praggnanandhaa, R."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C24"] [WhiteElo "2731"] [BlackElo "2678"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "2022.11.14"] {[%evp 0,81,21,21,21,13,26,-2,14,5,-3,-33,-32,0,13,30,53,51,26,33,57,52,55,39,43,6,-25,-10,3,-3,-1,-19,11,20,3,3,26,4,12,25,52,57,68,38,66,27,70,39,81,53,70,57,58,29,26,37,19,25,81,48,81,-8,30,29,46,66,70,65,71,63,81,90,217,226,251,317,254,333,646,722,709,787,806,779] Now it was Duda's turn to win on demand, and he rose to the challenge.} 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d3 Nc6 4. Nc3 Na5 5. Qf3 Bb4 6. Nge2 O-O $6 (6... Nxc4 7. dxc4 d6 $11) 7. a3 Bxc3+ 8. Nxc3 Nxc4 9. dxc4 $16 d6 10. Bg5 Be6 11. b3 h6 12. Bh4 (12. Bxf6 Qxf6 13. Qxf6 gxf6 14. O-O-O $16 {was good too, followed by Rhf1 and f4. Even with the limited material on the board, White can generate an attack against Black's king and the weak pawns in front of him.}) 12... g5 13. Bg3 Qe7 14. a4 Kg7 15. Qe2 Bg4 16. Qd2 Nh5 17. Nd5 Qd8 18. Ne3 Be6 19. O-O-O Qf6 20. f3 a6 21. Qc3 Rfd8 22. a5 Rd7 23. Rd2 Rad8 24. Rhd1 Nf4 25. Qb4 Rb8 26. Kb1 Qe7 27. Ka2 Rdd8 28. Bf2 Qf6 29. Qc3 Rdc8 30. g4 $1 {A really clever idea. It looks like it's cementing the knight on f4...and that's exactly right. The knight will be stuck there forever (after Nf5+ Bxf5 gxf5), which would be nice if anything was happening on the kingside. Meanwhile, White moves everybody to the queenside, and the knight is left alone, useless.} Ng6 31. Nf5+ Bxf5 32. gxf5 Nf4 33. Ba7 Ra8 34. Be3 Rd8 35. Qb4 b6 (35... Rdb8 {is uninspiring, but at least it forces White to do something to earn the win.}) 36. axb6 a5 37. Qb5 Rab8 38. Qc6 (38. bxc7 {is good and fun.}) 38... a4 39. bxc7 axb3+ 40. cxb3 Ra8+ 41. Kb2 {A great game by Duda - and it was blitz.} 1-0 [Event "Meltwater Tour Final 2022"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.11.18"] [Round "5.7"] [White "Duda, Jan-Krzysztof"] [Black "Praggnanandhaa, R."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B23"] [WhiteElo "2731"] [BlackElo "2678"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "179"] [EventDate "2022.11.14"] {[%evp 0,179,21,21,38,33,45,48,51,40,40,36,36,-4,14,13,41,41,40,44,48,35,32,11,18,16,47,28,22,12,46,38,42,34,54,30,45,32,83,73,54,49,60,58,58,64,67,54,65,61,56,53,51,20,27,13,16,11,15,12,15,8,11,15,6,-8,6,-8,5,12,15,-15,15,0,-15,-11,21,16,35,0,35,35,35,0,0,0,23,-18,0,0,16,18,15,11,11,16,27,0,24,28,43,43,53,26,53,15,28,15,53,53,53,53,53,15,15,-17,15,-18,15,-29,53,53,53,15,53,15,15,0,0,-55,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,-24,0,0,0,0] Armageddon!} 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Nf3 e5 4. Bc4 Be7 5. d3 d6 6. Nd2 Nf6 7. Nf1 Bg4 8. f3 Be6 9. Ne3 O-O 10. a3 (10. O-O {is usual, but 10.a3 is a known alternative.}) 10... Nd7 11. O-O Nb6 12. Ned5 (12. Ba2 $5 {would seem to have been the point of 10.a3.}) 12... Bg5 {No trades yet, but in 10 moves we'll be in an ending.} 13. Bxg5 Qxg5 14. b3 Bxd5 15. Bxd5 Nxd5 16. Nxd5 Rad8 17. c3 Rd7 18. b4 cxb4 19. axb4 Ne7 20. Nxe7+ Rxe7 21. Qc1 Qxc1 22. Rfxc1 {Straight to the endgame. After 22 moves, only two rooks (and pawns, and the kings) remain, and that will be the case 68 moves later. Pragg's main worry was the clock, but he's a great mouser and avoided losing on time. (Some Armageddons have increments beginning after 60 moves, but not this one.)} a6 23. Kf2 f5 24. Ra5 fxe4 25. dxe4 Rc7 26. Ke3 Kf7 27. Kd3 Ke6 28. Rd5 g5 29. Kc2 b5 30. Rcd1 Rc6 {White's position is prettier, but he has nothing.} 31. R5d3 h5 32. Rf1 Rf7 33. Kd2 Ra7 34. Ra1 Rf7 35. Ke2 Rfc7 36. Ra3 Rf7 37. Kf2 Rd7 38. Kg3 Rg7 39. Ra2 Rgc7 40. Rad2 Rg7 41. h4 g4 42. f4 Rgc7 43. f5+ {The last pawn move of the game.} Ke7 44. Kf2 Rd7 45. Ra2 Rdc7 46. Ra3 Rb6 47. Ke3 Rc4 48. Rd1 Kf6 49. Rda1 Rcc6 50. Kd3 Ke7 51. R1a2 Kf6 52. Rc2 Rc4 53. Rca2 Rcc6 54. Ra1 Kf7 55. R3a2 Kf6 56. Re1 Rc4 57. Ra3 Rc8 58. Kc2 Rc4 59. Kd2 Rc7 60. Rea1 Rcc6 61. Kc2 Kf7 62. Kb3 Kf6 63. Re1 Rc4 64. Re3 Rcc6 65. Ra2 Rc4 66. Rd2 Ke7 67. Rd5 Rcc6 68. Rd2 Kf6 69. Rd1 Rc4 70. Kb2 Rcc6 71. Red3 Ke7 72. Kb3 Kf6 73. R3d2 Ke7 74. Re1 Kf6 75. Ra1 Rc4 76. Re2 Rcc6 77. Re3 Rc4 78. Rd1 Ke7 79. Rd2 Kf6 80. Rd5 Ke7 81. Ka2 Kf6 82. Kb2 Ke7 83. Kb3 Kf6 84. Rd2 Ke7 85. Rf2 Kf6 86. Rf1 Rcc6 87. Rb1 Rc4 88. Rb2 Rbc6 89. Ra2 Rb6 90. Rd2 {White could make six more meaningless moves, then play g3 and go for another 50, but the game ended here, giving Pragg victory in the match. (I'm not sure if White accidentally allowed a three-time repetition, or finally felt sheepish about beating the dead horse.)} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Meltwater Tour Final 2022"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.11.18"] [Round "5.7"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Le, Quang Liem"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C82"] [WhiteElo "2859"] [BlackElo "2728"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "79"] [EventDate "2022.11.14"] {[%evp 0,79,21,21,26,21,22,26,36,16,10,6,21,-27,13,6,7,7,0,-34,-4,-4,21,14,38,38,48,-58,-63,-63,-69,-75,0,-60,-3,-3,16,-58,-12,-12,0,-18,4,24,0,0,0,-26,19,23,9,15,17,0,-4,0,0,-18,19,0,15,34,13,27,82,30,135,138,142,149,155,155,232,234,235,240,236,244,303,303,306,308] Armageddon #2.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. c3 Bc5 (9... Be7) 10. Nbd2 O-O 11. Bc2 Nxf2 {As the old joke goes, in theory, there's no difference between theory and practice; in practice, there is. The Dilworth Variation (this line with 11...Nxf2) is decent according to the engine, but at least in recent top GM play Black seems to get hammered. We're about to see another chapter added to that book.} (11... Bf5) 12. Rxf2 f6 13. Nf1 Bxf2+ 14. Kxf2 fxe5 15. Kg1 Qd6 (15... Bg4) ({and} 15... Qd7 {are important alternatives.}) 16. Be3 $14 Bf5 {Including this game, Black has gone 0 for 3 here.} (16... Rad8 {may be more reliable.} 17. Qe1 Bf5 18. Bxf5 Rxf5 19. Rd1 h6 20. Bf2 Rf7 21. Bg3 Qc5+ 22. Bf2 Qd6 23. Qe2 Rdf8 24. Bg3 Qc5+ 25. Bf2 Qd6 26. Bg3 Qc5+ 27. Bf2 {½-½ Caruana,F (2792)-Van Foreest,J (2702) Tata Steel-A 84th 2022 (8)}) 17. Bb3 Rad8 18. Qe1 Na5 19. Qf2 Nb7 (19... Nxb3 20. axb3 Rf7 21. Bc5 Qf6 22. Qg3 Re8 23. Re1 Bd3 24. N1d2 e4 25. Ng5 Qc6 26. b4 Rf5 27. Nh3 Rf7 28. Nf2 a5 29. Qe3 Ra8 30. Nxd3 exd3 31. bxa5 h6 32. b4 Qg6 33. Nf3 Qf5 34. Rd1 Ra6 35. Qe8+ Kh7 36. Qxb5 Rg6 37. Qxd3 Qg4 38. Ne1 Kh8 39. h3 Qh5 40. b5 Rgf6 41. Nc2 Rf3 42. Qe2 Rf1+ 43. Qxf1 Rxf1+ 44. Rxf1 Qe2 45. b6 Qb5 46. Nd4 Qxc5 47. b7 Qxc3 48. b8=Q+ Kh7 49. Qb1+ g6 50. Rf7+ Kh8 51. Qb8# {1-0 Malicka,M (2329)-Mei,A (2336) San Jose Mission 360 GM/IM 3rd 2022 (3)}) 20. Re1 Kh8 $146 (20... c5 21. Ng3 Bd3 22. Qd2 c4 23. Bd1 Rd7 24. Bf2 Rdf7 25. Nh1 e4 26. Nd4 Qg6 27. h4 Nc5 28. h5 Qd6 29. Bg4 h6 30. Qe3 Qf4 31. Qxf4 Rxf4 32. Ne6 Nxe6 33. Bxe6+ Kh7 34. Bxd5 R8f5 35. Bc6 Rxh5 36. Bd4 Rhf5 37. Nf2 Rf7 38. b4 h5 39. a4 bxa4 40. Bxa4 h4 41. Be3 R4f5 42. Ra1 h3 43. Ra2 hxg2 44. Bd1 R7f6 45. Bg4 Rd5 46. Kxg2 Rg6 47. Kg3 Bf1 48. Bd4 Bd3 49. Kf4 Kg8 50. Bf5 Rh6 51. Ng4 Rhd6 52. Ne3 Rb5 53. Bc5 Rf6 54. Ke5 Kf7 55. Nd5 Rxf5+ 56. Kxf5 e3+ 57. Ke5 e2 58. Bf2 Rb8 59. Be1 Re8+ 60. Kf4 g5+ 61. Kg3 Re6 62. Kf2 Rh6 63. Ke3 Re6+ 64. Kf2 Rh6 65. Ne3 Rf6+ 66. Kg3 Rf1 67. Ng2 Rf6 68. Bf2 Kg6 69. Ra5 Re6 70. Ne1 Bf5 71. Nf3 Rd6 72. Nd4 Bd3 73. Re5 Kf6 74. Nf3 {1-0 Nakamura,H (2760)-Caruana,F (2783) Candidates Tournament 2022 (8)}) 21. Qg3 Rde8 22. Bf2 ({The engine initially loves the preposterous} 22. Ba7 {, which, like the text, aims to clear the e-file. The obvious rejoinder, ...c5, doesn't work, but after the preliminary 22...Be4 it's a good idea.} Be4 (22... c5 $2 23. Rxe5 Ra8 (23... Rxe5 24. Qxe5 Qxe5 25. Nxe5 Be6 26. Bd1 $18 {The bishop is stuck on a7 for the moment, but there's no way to collect it - especially since White can play b4 at almost any time to ensure its escape.}) 24. Bxd5 $1 Rxa7 25. Bxb7 Rxb7 26. Rxf5 $18) 23. Ng5 c5 $11) (22. h4 {may be best.}) 22... Be4 $11 23. N1d2 (23. N3d2 Bg6 $11) 23... Bxf3 $2 {A big mistake, giving White two unopposed bishops and forcing Black to push the e-pawn, which gives White lots of squares for his pieces.} (23... Nc5 $1 $11 {/?}) 24. Nxf3 $16 e4 25. Qxd6 Nxd6 26. Nd4 $6 (26. Nd2 $1 {was better, letting the Bf2 keep watch over d4 and c5.}) 26... Nc4 (26... c5 27. Nc6 e3 $1 28. Rxe3 Rxe3 29. Bxe3 Nc4 $1 $14) 27. Bxc4 bxc4 28. b4 $6 (28. Nc6 $142 $1 Re6 29. Bc5 $1 $16) 28... cxb3 29. axb3 a5 $2 (29... c5 $8 $11) 30. Nc6 $16 Ra8 31. Ra1 a4 $6 (31... Ra6 32. Nxa5 h5 {isn't great, but White's lack of coordination keeps Black in the game.}) 32. Rxa4 $2 (32. bxa4 $18) 32... e3 $4 (32... Rxa4 33. bxa4 Ra8 34. Na7 (34. a5 Ra6 $11) 34... Kg8 $11 {/?}) 33. Bxe3 $18 Rae8 34. Rf4 $1 Rxf4 35. Bxf4 Kg8 36. Bxc7 $1 Kf7 (36... Rc8 $4 37. Ne7+) 37. Be5 $1 Rc8 (37... Re6 $4 38. Nd8+) 38. Nb4 g6 39. Nxd5 $1 Ke6 40. Nb6 1-0