[Event "Chennai Women's Chess Olympiad"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.07.31"] [Round "3.4"] [White "Abrahamyan, Tatev"] [Black "Mungunzul, Bat-Erdene"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2291"] [BlackElo "2163"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "116"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackTeam "Mongolia"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "MGL"] {0-} 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nc6 3. Nf3 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 h6 6. c3 d6 7. Nbd2 O-O 8. h3 a6 9. Bb3 Re8 10. Re1 Be6 11. Bc2 d5 12. exd5 Bxd5 13. Ne4 Nxe4 14. dxe4 Be6 15. Qe2 Qf6 16. b4 Ba7 17. Be3 Ne7 18. Nh2 Bxe3 19. Qxe3 Ng6 20. Ng4 Qh4 21. Qf3 Rad8 22. Ne3 Rd2 23. Rad1 Red8 24. Bb3 Bxb3 25. axb3 R2d3 26. Qg4 Qxg4 27. hxg4 Nf4 28. Kf1 c6 29. g3 Ne6 30. Rxd3 Rxd3 31. Rc1 Rd2 32. Nc4 Ra2 33. Nxe5 Ng5 34. Re1 f6 35. Nc4 Nf3 36. Rd1 Nh2+ 37. Kg2 Nxg4 38. Rd2 Rxd2 39. Nxd2 { The ending is quite equal.} Kf8 40. f4 Ke7 41. Kf3 h5 42. Ke2 Ke6 43. Nf3 g6 44. Nd4+ Kd6 45. Nf3 Ke6 {Black is obviously fine with a draw.} 46. Ne1 Kd6 47. Nd3 b6 48. Nb2 c5 49. Nd3 $6 {White gives Black a ray of hope.} cxb4 50. Nxb4 $6 (50. cxb4 Kc6 51. Kf3 Kb5 52. e5 fxe5 53. fxe5 g5 54. Ke4 h4 55. gxh4 gxh4 56. Kf4 Nxe5 57. Nxe5 Kxb4 58. Nd7 b5 59. Nb8 a5 60. Nc6+ Kxb3 61. Nxa5+ { is just a draw.}) 50... a5 51. Nd5 $4 (51. Nc2 Kc5 52. c4 Nh6 53. Kd3 Nf7 54. Kc3 Nd6 55. Kd3 f5 $5 56. e5 Ne4 {is a better ending for Black, though it is a question if she would have been able to win.}) 51... b5 52. Kd3 g5 $1 { Creating a crucial passer on the kingside.} 53. Ke2 h4 54. gxh4 gxh4 55. Kf3 h3 $1 56. Nb6 h2 57. Kg2 Ne3+ 58. Kxh2 Kc7 (58... Kc7 59. Nd5+ Nxd5 60. exd5 a4 { is one pawn too far away.}) 0-1 [Event "Chennai Women's Chess Olympiad"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.07.31"] [Round "3.3"] [White "Munkhzul, Turmunkh"] [Black "Yip, Carissa"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C68"] [WhiteElo "2277"] [BlackElo "2416"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "115"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Mongolia"] [BlackTeam "United States"] [WhiteTeamCountry "MGL"] [BlackTeamCountry "USA"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. d4 exd4 6. Qxd4 Qxd4 7. Nxd4 c5 8. Ne2 Bd7 9. Nbc3 O-O-O 10. Be3 Bc6 11. f3 Bd6 12. Rd1 Ne7 13. Bf4 Ng6 14. Bxd6 cxd6 15. Kf2 Rhf8 16. g4 Ne5 17. Nd5 Bxd5 18. Rxd5 Nc4 19. b3 Nb6 20. Rh5 h6 21. Nc3 Rfe8 22. Rd1 f6 23. a4 Re6 24. Ne2 Kc7 25. Nf4 Ree8 26. h4 Kc6 27. g5 fxg5 28. hxg5 hxg5 29. Rxg5 Rd7 30. Rdg1 Rf7 31. R1g4 Ref8 32. Kg3 Nd7 33. Rxg7 Ne5 34. Rxf7 Rxf7 35. Rg8 b5 36. axb5+ axb5 37. Rc8+ Kd7 38. Ra8 b4 39. Ra7+ Ke8 40. Rxf7 Kxf7 41. Nd5 $2 (41. Kf2 Nc6 42. Ne2 Ke6 43. Ke3 Kf6 44. Nf4 Kf7 (44... Nd4 45. Nd5+ Ke6 46. Nxb4 $1) 45. Nd5 Ke6 46. f4 {is the correct way to proceed.}) 41... Nc6 42. f4 Nd4 43. Ne3 Kf6 44. Kg4 Kg6 45. Kg3 Kf6 $2 ( {The correct defense is the illogical( $1)} 45... Kh5 $3 46. Kf2 Kh4 {creating counterplay with the king sortie.}) 46. Kf2 {Now the white king makes inroads into the black queenside. White is winning.} Kf7 47. Ke1 Ne6 48. Nd5 Nd4 49. Kd2 Ke6 50. Kd3 {White is threatening 51.Nxb4.} Nb5 51. Ne3 Nc3 52. f5+ Kf7 53. Kc4 Kg7 54. e5 $18 dxe5 55. Kxc5 Na2 56. Nd5 e4 57. Kd4 Kf7 58. Kxe4 1-0 [Event "Chennai Women's Chess Olympiad"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.07.31"] [Round "3.2"] [White "Vaishali R"] [Black "Toma, Katarzyna"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B31"] [WhiteElo "2442"] [BlackElo "2303"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "129"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "India"] [BlackTeam "England"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IND"] [BlackTeamCountry "ENG"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. O-O Bg7 5. c3 e5 6. d4 exd4 7. cxd4 cxd4 8. Bf4 d6 9. Nxd4 Nge7 10. Bxd6 O-O 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. Bxe7 Qxe7 13. Bxc6 Bb7 14. Bxb7 Qxb7 15. Qb3 Qxe4 16. Nc3 Qh4 17. g3 Qf6 18. Rad1 Rab8 19. Qc2 h5 20. h4 Rfc8 21. Rfe1 Qb6 22. Re2 Qa5 23. Rd3 Qf5 24. Qd1 Re8 25. Nd5 Rxe2 26. Qxe2 Rxb2 27. Ne7+ Kh7 28. Qxb2 Qxd3 29. Qb8 Qf3 30. Qxa7 Be5 31. a4 Qd1+ 32. Kg2 Qd2 33. Qa8 Kg7 34. Qf3 Bd4 35. Nc6 Bb6 36. Ne5 Qa2 37. Qf4 Qd5+ 38. Nf3 f6 39. Qb4 Bc5 40. Qc3 Bb6 41. Qb4 Bc5 42. Qd2 Qb7 43. Qd3 Bb6 44. Qb5 Qa7 45. Qe2 Bc5 46. Qc2 Bb6 47. Ne1 Qe7 48. Kf1 Ba5 49. Ng2 Qb7 50. Qd3 Qc6 51. Qd1 Bb6 52. Kg1 Qc3 {Vaishali finishes the game with forced play, showing good technique.} 53. Qd7+ Kh6 54. Qe8 f5 55. Ne3 Bd4 56. Kg2 Qd2 57. Qe6 Kh7 58. Qd7+ Kh8 59. a5 Qb2 (59... Bxe3 60. Qxd2 Bxd2 61. a6 {is the point.}) 60. a6 Qb6 61. Qc8+ Kg7 62. Qb7+ Kf8 63. Qxb6 Bxb6 64. Nd5 Bc5 65. Nb4 1-0 [Event "Chennai Chess Olympiad | Open"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.07.31"] [Round "3.4"] [White "Warmerdam, Max"] [Black "Berg, Emanuel"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B53"] [WhiteElo "2610"] [BlackElo "2533"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Netherlands"] [BlackTeam "Sweden"] [WhiteTeamCountry "NED"] [BlackTeamCountry "SWE"] 1. Nf3 c5 2. e4 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Qxd4 a6 5. h3 Nc6 6. Qe3 Nf6 7. Be2 e6 8. O-O Be7 9. Rd1 Qc7 10. c4 O-O 11. Nc3 Rd8 12. b3 Bd7 13. Ba3 Be8 14. Rac1 Qa5 15. Bb2 Ne5 16. Nd4 Ng6 17. a3 h6 18. Bf1 Qg5 19. Qe1 h5 20. Nf3 Qh6 {A misadventure. Though Black's queen maneuver is not objectively bad, Warmerdam latches on to the poor placement of the queen to increase his advantage.} 21. Rc2 h4 (21... Ne5 22. Nd4 g5 {is incredibly the better way to find counterplay. }) 22. Bc1 Nf4 $2 {[%c_effect f4;square;f4;type;Mistake;persistent;true]} ( 22... Qh5 23. Be2 Qa5 {could have been a better way to conduct the game.}) 23. Kh1 e5 24. c5 $1 {Correctly opening up the center and seizing the initiative.} dxc5 25. Nxe5 g5 $6 {[%c_effect g5;square;g5;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true]} (25... Rxd1 26. Qxd1 Rd8 27. Qe1 g5 {could have relieved some pressure.}) 26. Nd5 $1 {A sound pawn sacrifice. Warmerdam correctly judged that initiative is on his side.} N6xd5 27. exd5 Nxd5 (27... Bd6 28. Ng4 Qg6 {is a better fight.}) 28. Bc4 Nb6 29. Ng4 Qf8 30. Rxd8 Bxd8 31. Bd3 Bc6 32. Bb2 {All the white pieces are \"looking\" at the black king.} Nd5 33. Qe4 Nf6 (33... Qe8 34. Qh7+ Kf8 35. Qh8+ Ke7 36. Re2+ {is curtains as well.}) 34. Nxf6+ 1-0 [Event "FIDE Chess Olympiad 2022"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.07.31"] [Round "3"] [White "Harikrishna, Pentala"] [Black "Mastrovasilis, Dimitrios"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E07"] [WhiteElo "2720"] [BlackElo "2599"] [Annotator "Rafael Leitão"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [TimeControl "5400+30"] {I enjoy watching the games of GM Harikrishna very much. He has a very subtle positional style and excellent endgame technique. In this game he also shows his tactical vision, but the genuine beauty is how he first paralyzes Black's counterplay completely. It reminds me of Karpov's best games.} 1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. d4 c6 {An attempt to avoid the main line of the Catalan that arises after 6...dxc4. I have tried this move a few times, but it doesn't promise full equality.} 7. Nc3 Nbd7 8. Qd3 b6 9. b3 a5 {The point of this move is to develop the bishop on a6.} (9... Bb7 {Mastrovasilis had tried this move in 2019 game against GM Cheparinov.}) 10. e4 Ba6 {This is typical of this variation. Black waits after White plays e4, accepting a somewhat cramped position after the inevitable advance of e4-e5. He pins his hopes on queenside play with Ne8-c5 and then either c6-c5 or b6-b5. The problem is that he might get mated while doing all that, since White can try to exploit his space advantage and start an attack.} 11. e5 Ne8 12. a4 $1 { Prophylaxis. Harikrishna restricts the b6-b5 advance and also secures the b5-square for his knight in case Black tries c6-c5.} Nc7 13. Rd1 h6 {A new move, but this is usually necessary sooner or later.} (13... Rc8 14. h4 { was better for White in: Andreikin-Maghsoodloo, Chess.com INT 2022.}) (13... Rb8 {Sachdev-Andreikin, Reykjavik 2016.} 14. h4 h6 {Transposes to the game. 14. ..h6 is necessary to avoid Ng5.}) 14. h4 $1 {This is a useful move in many ways and a good plan in this pawn structure. Here we can also point out the similarity with positions from the King's Indian Attack, where White's plan is usually h4-Nh2-Ng4 and then a sacrifice on h6.} Rb8 {Black has to move on the queenside before it's too late. He prepares b6-b5.} 15. Bf4 {Natural, but maybe it's possible to improve here.} (15. Nh2 $1 {is also possible. Now Black must play} c5 $1 {,since the b5-break is not so good.} (15... b5 $6 16. axb5 dxc4 (16... cxb5 17. Nxd5 $3 {This is the point.} exd5 18. cxd5 {and White's central pawns decide the game.}) 17. bxc4 cxb5 18. Qe2 bxc4 {and now there are many tempting moves, but} 19. Ng4 $1 {preparing to sacrifice on h6 is the best. White has an overwhelming advantage.}) 16. Nf3 {it looks odd to go back and forth with the knight, but it's necessary to bring this piece back after the center is opened. White has the advantage.} (16. Nb5 Bb7 {with a slight advantage for White.})) 15... b5 $1 {Black is able to realize his plan, but now Harikrishna plays some fine moves to control the opponent's counterplay.} 16. cxb5 cxb5 17. Qc2 Rc8 $6 (17... Qc8 $1 {is better with the idea of playing Qb7 and Rfc8.}) 18. Rdc1 $1 {Not only bringing the rook to the open file, but also preparing Qd1, and the queen can support the attack on the kingside after Nh2. I love games where we see a clear logic behind every move.} Bb4 $6 { After this move, Black is left with no counterplay.} (18... bxa4 {is better. Black may sacrifice a pawn after} 19. Nxa4 Nb5 20. Qd1 Rxc1 21. Rxc1 Qb8 22. Bd2 Rc8 23. Rxc8+ Qxc8 24. Bxa5 Qb7 {with drawing chances due to the activity on the queenside.}) 19. Qd1 $1 Nb6 20. Nh2 $1 {Harmony: one move leads to the other. We can already sense the sacrifice on h6, followed by a queen and knight invasion. As is well known, a queen and a knight are a powerful combination when attacking a lonely king.} bxa4 21. Nxa4 Nxa4 22. bxa4 Qe7 23. Ng4 {Just as we see in the games of Karpov, it's barely possible to say where mistakes were made, but the position is already lost. I call the reader's attention to the helpless situation of the black king. Remember this rule: if you have castled and there are no minor pieces around your king, then he is in deep trouble.} Na8 {This loses by force.} (23... Ne8 {is the only move according to the computer, but who would play like this $2}) 24. Bxh6 $1 { The natural conclusion to Harikrishna's deep previous play.} gxh6 25. Nf6+ Kg7 (25... Kh8 26. Rxc8 Rxc8 27. Qb1 $1 {and mate is unavoidable.}) 26. Qg4+ Kh8 27. Qf4 Kg7 28. Bxd5 $1 {A second bishop sacrifice $1} Bd3 (28... exd5 29. Qg4+ Kh8 30. Qf5 $1 {This is the point.}) 29. Nh5+ Kh7 30. Be4+ {A very nice game, but I want to clarify that the most beautiful and impressive part is not the sacrifice starting with 24.Bxh6. Any competent tactician can find this move. What is really impressive in this game is the way White hinders the opponent's play and prepares a kingside attack at the same time. This is the reason this game is outstanding.} (30. Be4+ Bxe4 31. Qxe4+ Kh8 32. Nf6 $18) 1-0 [Event "Chennai Chess Olympiad | Open"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.07.31"] [Round "3.4"] [White "Shankland, Sam"] [Black "Gelashvili, Tamaz"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B60"] [WhiteElo "2720"] [BlackElo "2549"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "143"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackTeam "Georgia"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "GEO"] [WhiteClock "0:05:44"] [BlackClock "0:00:05"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 Bd7 7. Nxc6 bxc6 8. Bc4 e6 9. Qe2 Be7 10. e5 Nd5 11. Bxe7 Qxe7 12. exd6 Qxd6 13. Ne4 Qe7 14. O-O O-O 15. Rad1 a5 16. c3 a4 17. a3 Rab8 18. Qc2 c5 19. Be2 f5 20. Nd2 Nf4 21. Rfe1 Bc6 22. Bf3 Qb7 23. Re3 Rfd8 24. h4 Bxf3 25. Nxf3 Rxd1+ 26. Qxd1 Qc6 27. c4 h6 28. g3 Ng6 29. Qe2 Nf8 30. Ne5 Qd6 31. h5 Rb6 32. Rd3 Qc7 33. f4 Qb8 34. Rd2 Rb3 35. Kh2 Qe8 36. Qd1 Rb8 37. Kh3 Nh7 38. Nd7 Rc8 39. Kg2 Kh8 40. Rd6 Rd8 41. Ne5 Rxd6 42. Qxd6 Kg8 43. Qd7 Qa8+ 44. Kg1 Nf8 45. Qf7+ Kh8 46. Kf2 { Shankland misses a win, but without this slip we might not have got another kind of beauty $1} (46. Ng6+ $1 {[%c_effect g6;square;g6;type;GreatFind; persistent;true]} Nxg6 47. hxg6 Qc8 48. Kh2 {Zugzwang $1} Qg8 49. Qd7 {would have netted the e6-pawn.}) 46... Qb8 47. Ke1 $1 {Watch that king. Watch out for a Tigran Petrosian maneuver.} Qa8 48. Kd2 $1 Kh7 49. Nd3 Qd8 50. Kc2 { The white king reaches the relatively safer queenside.} Qd6 51. Ne5 Qb8 52. Kc1 $1 {Getting away from a check on b3 and keeping Black in a \"spot.\"} Qa8 53. Nd3 Qd8 (53... Qc8 54. Kc2 Kh8 55. Ne5 {White is threatening 56.Qxf8 and 57. Ng6+ with a won-pawn ending.} Kh7 56. Ng6 Nxg6 57. hxg6+ Kh8 58. Kc1 {is a zugzwang, as the e6-pawn falls.}) 54. Nxc5 $18 Qd6 55. Nxa4 Nd7 56. Qg6+ Kh8 57. Qe8+ Kh7 58. Qd8 {White could have handled this part of the game better, but the ultimate outcome of the game is never in doubt.} Qd3 59. Nc3 Qf1+ 60. Kc2 Qf2+ 61. Kb3 Nc5+ 62. Ka2 Qxg3 63. Qd4 Nd3 64. a4 Nxf4 65. a5 Nd3 66. Ka3 Ne5 67. a6 Nc6 68. Qc5 Qc7 69. b4 f4 70. b5 Qa5+ 71. Kb3 Nd8 72. Qa3 1-0 [Event "Chennai Chess Olympiad | Open"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.07.31"] [Round "3.2"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Mchedlishvili, Mikheil"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A11"] [WhiteElo "2775"] [BlackElo "2593"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "119"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackTeam "Georgia"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "GEO"] 1. c4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. O-O Nbd7 6. Qc2 Nb6 7. Na3 Be6 8. Ne5 h5 9. Naxc4 Nxc4 10. Nxc4 h4 11. Ne5 hxg3 12. hxg3 Qd4 13. Qc3 Rd8 14. Qxd4 Rxd4 15. d3 a6 16. Bd2 Bh3 17. Rfc1 Bxg2 18. Kxg2 g6 19. Rc4 Rd5 20. Bc3 Rh5 21. f4 Nd7 22. Nf3 e6 23. g4 Rh7 24. g5 Bd6 25. a4 Kd8 26. b3 e5 27. fxe5 Nxe5 28. Bxe5 Bxe5 29. d4 {White is on the \"better side of equality,\" and it is noteworthy to see Aronian spin a web around the mildly passive black pieces, unperturbed by Black's possession of a rooks and bishop combination over rooks and a knight.} Bc7 30. e4 Rd7 31. b4 {Keeping up the pressure.} Rh8 32. Rac1 Re8 33. e5 $1 {[%c_effect e5;square;e5;type;GreatFind;persistent;true] Seeds of dominating the black bishop in the long run.} Bb6 34. Rh1 Rd5 35. Kg3 $1 { Activating her majesty's power.} Ke7 36. Kf4 Rdd8 37. Ke4 Rh8 38. Rcc1 Rxh1 39. Rxh1 Rd5 40. Rh8 Rd8 41. Rh7 Ke6 $2 {[%c_effect e6;square;e6;type;Mistake; persistent;true]} ({Black misses his last chance to play} 41... a5) 42. a5 Ba7 {Watch that bishop $1} 43. Rh1 Ke7 44. Kd3 Ke6 45. Rh4 {White's rook gets ready to make inroads $1} Ke7 46. Nd2 {Seemingly allowing ...c6-c5, but Aronian has seen deeper.} c5 47. bxc5 Bxc5 48. Kc3 {Important to keep the white king on the queenside to keep the black bishop fromachieving freedom in that area.} Ba7 49. Nc4 $16 {The position almost resembles a legendary Genrikh Kasparyan composition -- the theme of domination} Bb8 50. Kd3 $1 {Having achieved his objective of watching the black bishop wander off to freedom on the queenside, the white king returns to the center. The king always belongs in the center in an endgame.} Rd5 (50... Ba7 51. Nd6 Bb8 52. Nxb7 $18) 51. Ke4 Rb5 52. Rh8 Bc7 53. Ne3 {White gives up the a5-pawn, but focuses on what is the more important: the f7-pawn.} Bxa5 54. Nd5+ Kd7 55. Rf8 Bd8 56. Nf6+ Kc8 ({ Black can't support the f7-pawn:} 56... Bxf6 57. gxf6 Ke6 $4 {[%c_effect e6; square;e6;type;Blunder;persistent;true]} 58. Rd8 {will checkmate the black king.}) 57. Rxf7 a5 58. e6 a4 59. e7 Bxe7 60. Rxe7 1-0