[Event "37th ECC Open 2022"] [Site "Mayrhofen AUT"] [Date "2022.10.03"] [Round "1.1"] [White "Erigaisi, Arjun"] [Black "Abel, Dennes"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B12"] [WhiteElo "2728"] [BlackElo "2416"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2022.10.03"] [SourceVersionDate "2022.10.01"] [WhiteTeam "TAJFUN - SK Ljubljana"] [BlackTeam "Schachfreunde Berlin"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. h4 h6 (4... h5) 5. g4 Be4 (5... Bd7) 6. f3 Bh7 7. e6 Nf6 {The engine doesn't think much of this sideline, which few strong players, possibly excepting Keymer - and he only plays it against far lower-rated opponents - seem to believe in. Still, its obscurity may give it some value.} (7... Qd6) 8. Bd3 $6 (8. Nc3 {played by precisely nobody (though there are some transpositions), is apparently the best move.} fxe6 9. g5 Nfd7 10. Bd3 Bf5 11. Nge2 Na6 12. a3 $16) (8. Bh3 {is the engine's second choice, also played by no one (nor does it transpose into other games).}) (8. Bf4 {has been played before, and has worked very well against the usual reply of 8...Qb6. It doesn't seem to give much if Black plays} c5 {, however.}) 8... Qd6 $1 $11 9. exf7+ Kxf7 10. Ne2 Nbd7 11. Nbc3 $6 $146 (11. g5 Bxd3 12. Qxd3 hxg5 13. Bxg5 e5 14. Nd2 exd4 15. O-O-O c5 16. Nf4 Ne5 {½- (83) ½ (83) Djokic,M (2194)-Keymer,V (2675) Chess.com INT 2022} 17. Qf5 g6 18. Qxf6+ Qxf6 19. Bxf6 Kxf6 20. Nxd5+ $11) 11... e5 $15 12. dxe5 $2 (12. Kf2) 12... Nxe5 $19 13. O-O Re8 14. Bxh7 $6 Rxh7 15. Kg2 g6 $6 {The right idea, the wrong way.} (15... g5 $1 16. hxg5 $6 hxg5 17. Bxg5 $4 Nexg4 $1 18. Bf4 Rh2+ 19. Kg1 Qxf4 $1 20. Nxf4 Bc5+ {wins almost everything.} 21. Rf2 Bxf2+ 22. Kf1 Ne3+ 23. Ke2 Nxd1+ 24. Kxd1 Rh1+ 25. Kd2 Rxa1 $19) 16. Ng3 Kg8 17. Nce2 h5 18. g5 Nfd7 19. f4 Ng4 20. f5 Rhe7 $2 (20... gxf5 21. Nd4 Nc5 (21... Nde5 22. Ndxf5 Qd7 $17) 22. Ndxf5 Qg6 $19) 21. Bf4 $4 {Here, the brilliantly named Dennes Abel missed his shot at being a superhero.} (21. Nf4 $15) 21... Nde5 $4 (21... Rxe2+ $3 22. Nxe2 Ne3+ $1 23. Bxe3 (23. Kg1 Nxd1 24. Bxd6 Bxd6 25. Raxd1 Rxe2 $19) 23... Rxe3 $19 {leaves White with too many weaknesses, too much open space on the kingside, to survive. Black has ideas like ...Ne5-g4, ...Qe5-e4+, ...Bc5/d6, and he keeps on coming. Meanwhile, White's extra rook on a1 plays no role in the defense (or much of anything).}) 22. f6 $11 Rd7 23. c3 $2 (23. Bxe5 Rxe5 24. Qd3 Re4 25. Rae1 Ne3+ 26. Kg1 Ng4 27. Kg2 Ne3+ 28. Kg1 $11 {Other than 25.Rae1, every move in this line, by both sides, was forced.}) 23... c5 $17 24. Kg1 $2 Qc6 $4 {This takes Black all the way from winning to losing.} (24... d4 $19) (24... Kh7 $19) 25. Bxe5 Nxe5 26. Nf4 $1 $18 {Threatening to crash through with Nxg6.} c4 27. Nge2 $2 (27. Nxg6 $1 Bc5+ 28. Kh2 Ng4+ 29. Kh3 Re3 30. Qc2 $1 Bd6 (30... Rxg3+ 31. Kxg3 Ne3 32. Qe2 d4 33. Qf3 $18 (33. Nf4 $18)) 31. Nf4 Bxf4 32. Qg6+ Kf8 33. Rxf4 Qe6 34. Qf5 $18) 27... Bc5+ (27... d4 $1 28. Nxd4 Bc5 $11) 28. Nd4 $14 Qd6 $2 (28... Kf7 $1 29. Nxh5 $1 Nd3 $1) 29. Qd2 $2 (29. Qe2 $1 {keeps a significant advantage, but best play from both sides is not easy:} Kf7 30. Rae1 Rdd8 31. Nxh5 Qd7 32. Ng7 Qh3 33. Nxe8 Rxe8 34. Qg2 Nf3+ 35. Qxf3 Qxf3 36. Rxf3 Rxe1+ 37. Kg2 Re4 38. Kg3 Bd6+ 39. Kh3 Re1 40. Kg2 Re4 41. Rh3 Bc5 42. Nf3 Re2+ 43. Kf1 Re3 44. Ng1 $16) 29... Bxd4+ $2 {There was no rush; the knight can't run away.} (29... Nd3 $1 30. Nxg6 (30. Nxd3 $2 cxd3 31. Qxd3 Re4 32. Kg2 Kf7 $17) 30... Re4 31. Kh1 $1 Bxd4 32. cxd4 Kf7 (32... Kh7 33. f7 $8 Kxg6 $8 34. f8=Q Rxh4+ 35. Kg1 Rg4+ 36. Qg2 (36. Kh1 Rh4+ 37. Kg1 Rg4+ $11) 36... Qxf8 37. Rxf8 Nxb2 $11) 33. Nh8+ Kg8 34. Ng6 $11) 30. cxd4 $18 Nd3 31. Nxd3 $2 (31. Nxg6 Qg3+ 32. Qg2 Qe3+ 33. Kh2 Qxd4 34. Rad1 $18) 31... cxd3 32. Qxd3 Re4 $11 33. Rf2 $6 (33. Kg2 $11) 33... Kf7 34. Rc1 $6 Qe6 $1 $17 35. Qf3 $2 {Once again, White is in serious trouble.} (35. Rh2 $8) 35... Rxh4 $6 (35... Rxd4 $19) 36. Re2 $6 (36. Kf1 $142 $17) 36... Rg4+ (36... Qg4+ 37. Qxg4 Rxg4+ 38. Rg2 Rxd4 39. Rc8 $1 $17) 37. Kf2 Qd6 $2 (37... Qf5 $1 38. Qxf5 gxf5 39. Re5 Rxg5 40. Rc8 Kxf6 41. Rh8 $17 {/-+ Black's pawns may not be beautiful, but he's got a lot of them.}) 38. Re5 $11 Qb4 $4 {Black needed to keep the f6 square under control.} (38... Rxd4 $11) (38... Qb6 $11) 39. Re7+ $1 Rxe7 40. fxe7+ Kxe7 41. Qf6+ {The point.} Kd7 42. Qf7+ Kd8 43. Qc7+ (43. Qxd5+ Ke8 44. Qe6+ Kf8 45. Rc8+ Kg7 46. Qg8# {was faster, but the text was good enough.}) (43. Qc7+ Ke8 44. Qc8+ Kf7 45. Rc7+ $18 {was presumably the point.}) 1-0 [Event "37th ECC Open 2022"] [Site "Mayrhofen AUT"] [Date "2022.10.03"] [Round "1.2"] [White "Kristoferitsch, Daniel"] [Black "Nihal, Sarin"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E94"] [WhiteElo "2283"] [BlackElo "2673"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "98"] [EventDate "2022.10.03"] [SourceVersionDate "2022.10.01"] [WhiteTeam "Schachfreunde Berlin"] [BlackTeam "TAJFUN - SK Ljubljana"] {[%evp 0,98,27,27,74,53,56,22,44,43,35,34,43,41,45,35,41,38,37,31,35,30,30,19,17,11,11,13,9,3,10,-21,-3,-15,-16,-9,-9,-9,38,38,38,9,47,38,62,45,47,38,45,32,32,41,48,38,42,49,79,32,78,25,12,12,28,12,12,33,53,55,63,32,54,38,26,17,34,13,13,50,34,-41,-42,-54,-72,-63,-50,-37,-18,-17,-19,-19,0,0,-43,-98,-110,-123,-123,-124,-124,-129,-131]} 1. d4 d6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 g6 4. Nc3 Bg7 5. e4 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O Bg4 8. d5 a5 9. Be3 Na6 10. Qc2 Bd7 11. Nd2 Ng4 12. Bxg4 Bxg4 13. f3 Bd7 14. a3 f5 15. Kh1 f4 16. Bg1 b6 17. Rab1 g5 18. b4 Rf6 19. bxa5 bxa5 20. Rb7 (20. c5 $1 Nxc5 21. Bxc5 dxc5 22. Na4 $16) 20... Bf8 21. Rfb1 h5 22. c5 $5 (22. Nb5) 22... Nxc5 23. Bxc5 dxc5 24. Na4 (24. Nc4 Bd6 25. Nb5 g4 26. Qc3 gxf3 27. gxf3 Rg6 28. Nbxd6 cxd6 29. Qa1 $1 $14 {To meet ...Qg5 with Rg1.}) 24... Bxa4 (24... g4 $142) 25. Qxa4 $16 Bd6 26. Qb5 $2 (26. Nc4 $16) 26... a4 $1 $11 27. Nc4 Rf8 28. Qc6 Qf6 (28... Rf7) 29. Nxd6 cxd6 30. R1b6 Rad8 31. Qxa4 g4 32. Qd1 Qh4 33. a4 Rf7 34. a5 Rxb7 35. Rxb7 Ra8 {Surprisingly, White is in a little danger here. Only one move keeps equality - and it's not the move in the game.} 36. Rb5 $2 (36. Qb1 $1 Rxa5 37. Rb8+ Kf7 $8 38. g3 $1 fxg3 (38... Qf6 39. Qb7+ Kg6 40. Rg8+ Kh6 41. fxg4 hxg4 42. Qc8 Ra1+ 43. Kg2 Ra2+ 44. Kh1 $8 $11) 39. Qb7+ $8 Qe7 $8 40. Qc8 $8 Ra1+ $8 41. Kg2 gxf3+ $8 42. Kh3 $8 f2 {Fortunately for Black, he's not getting mated; fortunately for White, he has a perpetual check.} 43. Qg8+ $8 Kf6 44. Rf8+ Qxf8 45. Qxf8+ Kg6 46. Qg8+ Kf6 47. Qf8+ $11) 36... Kh7 $2 (36... Qf2 $1 {wins. The idea is that if White tries to stand pat, Black pushes the c-pawn until something breaks.} 37. fxg4 c4 $1 38. Rb1 c3 39. Rc1 Qd2 $3 40. h3 Qxd1+ 41. Rxd1 Rxa5 42. gxh5 c2 43. Rc1 Rc5 44. Kg1 Kh7 45. Kf2 Rc3 46. Ke2 Kh6 47. Kd2 Rc7 48. Rxc2 Rxc2+ 49. Kxc2 Kxh5 50. Kd2 Kh4 51. Ke2 Kg3 52. Kf1 f3 53. gxf3 Kxf3 54. h4 Kxe4 $1 $19) 37. Qf1 $2 (37. Rb7+ $8 Kh6 38. Rd7 $11) 37... c4 $2 (37... g3 $1 38. h3 Kg6 (38... Qe7 $2 39. a6 Rxa6 40. Rxc5 Qa7 41. Rc1 Ra5 {is simply a fortress.}) 39. a6 Qd8 40. Rb1 Qa5 41. Ra1 Qb6 42. Qc4 Ra7 $19) 38. Rb7+ Kg6 39. Rc7 {A mistake if you look at the engine's evaluation, but not in reality.} (39. Rb6 $11) 39... Rxa5 40. Rxc4 Ra2 41. Rc1 gxf3 {The only real try.} (41... g3 42. h3 {is the fortress mentioned in the line with 37...g3 38.h3 Qe7. Black can huff and puff for around another 200 moves (49 pointless moves followed by ...h4, then 49 pointless moves followed a queen trade, 49 more and a rook trade, and then 50 more), but it's all in vain. Don't be beguiled by Stockfish's meaningless "-2.25". It's a dead draw.}) 42. Qxf3 Qg4 43. Rg1 $1 Kh6 44. Qb3 Re2 45. Qb8 Qg6 46. Qh8+ (46. Qd8 $11) 46... Kg5 47. Qd8+ (47. Rf1 $5 Rxe4 48. g4 $3 {is a mind-blowing computer idea that leads to a draw (as do other ideas, but this one is especially spectacular).} hxg4 (48... Kxg4 $4 49. Rg1+ $18) 49. h4+ $1 Kf5 50. Qc8+ $8 Kf6 51. Qd8+ Kg7 52. Rc1 $8 Kh6 53. Qh8+ Qh7 54. Qf6+ Qg6 55. Qh8+ Qh7 56. Qf6+ $11) 47... Qf6 48. Qg8+ Kh6 49. h3 $2 (49. Rf1 $1 Rxe4 50. g4 $1 {is still equal.}) 49... Rxe4 (49... Rxe4 50. Ra1 f3 51. Qe6 $1 Qxe6 52. dxe6 f2 53. e7 $1 Re1+ 54. Rxe1 $1 fxe1=Q+ 55. Kh2 Qh4 56. e8=Q Qf6 57. Qc6 $11 {apparently maintains "official" equality, though of course Black will torture White for a long time. It's a tough line to find though, and perhaps White even lost on time.}) 0-1 [Event "37th ECC Open 2022"] [Site "Mayrhofen AUT"] [Date "2022.10.03"] [Round "1.1"] [White "Meshkovs, Nikita"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E06"] [WhiteElo "2566"] [BlackElo "2856"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "87"] [EventDate "2022.10.03"] [SourceVersionDate "2022.10.01"] [WhiteTeam "Vammalan Shakkikerho"] [BlackTeam "Offerspill Chess Club"] {[%evp 0,87,27,27,26,13,6,6,6,-13,11,12,21,1,19,14,14,14,18,10,13,-1,12,5,12,16,8,0,28,12,10,21,7,3,9,6,48,31,30,31,42,34,24,23,27,19,29,29,45,11,6,8,0,0,0,4,10,15,19,17,14,-23,-1,-6,0,0,0,0,0,7,0,0,0,0,0,-14,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 {Suspicious play by White?} e6 {A possible improvement on one of his recent games.} 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Be7 6. Bg2 c6 7. Qc2 O-O 8. O-O b6 9. Bf4 Ba6 10. cxd5 cxd5 11. Rc1 Nbd7 12. Nc3 Nh5 13. Qa4 Nxf4 14. Qxa6 Nxg2 15. Kxg2 Qc8 16. Qxc8 Rfxc8 17. Nb5 $14 {This has all been played before, and White has yet to lose a game here. Out of 13 games, eight were drawn (now nine) and White won the other five. This is one model of how to play against a considerably higher-rated player: find a safe main line and leave the burden of trying to prove something to your opponent. Maybe Carlsen plays slightly better than Meshkovs the rest of the way, but he doesn't come anywhere near a win.} Rd8 18. Nc7 Rab8 19. Rc6 $146 Rb7 20. Na6 g5 21. Rac1 $16 g4 22. Ne1 Nf6 23. Nd3 Bd6 24. Rc8 (24. Nc7 $1 Rxc7 25. Rxc7 Bxc7 26. Rxc7 Rd7 27. Rc8+ Kg7 28. b4 $16 {/+- Black is in serious danger here. If Carlsen had White, the win would be close to a sure thing.}) 24... Rxc8 25. Rxc8+ Kg7 26. h3 (26. b4 $142) 26... h5 27. hxg4 (27. h4 $142) 27... hxg4 $11 {/? The worst has passed for Black, and the game soon coasts to a draw. White could have hoped for more, but an easy draw against the World Champion isn't a bad day for an "ordinary" GM.} 28. Nab4 a5 29. Nc6 Nd7 30. a4 Kf6 31. f3 gxf3+ 32. exf3 Kg7 33. Kf2 Nf6 34. g4 Rc7 35. Rxc7 Bxc7 36. Ke3 Ne8 37. Na7 Bb8 38. Nb5 Nf6 39. b3 Nd7 40. f4 Nf6 41. Nf2 Ng8 42. Nd3 Nf6 43. Nf2 Ng8 44. Nd3 1/2-1/2 [Event "37th ECC Open 2022"] [Site "Mayrhofen AUT"] [Date "2022.10.03"] [Round "1.1"] [White "Hjartarson, Johann"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D40"] [WhiteElo "2468"] [BlackElo "2756"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "60"] [EventDate "2022.10.03"] [SourceVersionDate "2022.10.01"] [WhiteTeam "Viking Chess Club"] [BlackTeam "CSU ASE Superbet"] {[%evp 0,60,27,-17,19,18,12,16,16,12,15,22,7,4,7,5,5,5,5,1,-7,-7,-7,-7,-19,-40,-40,-40,-24,-24,-28,-50,-38,-43,-18,-18,-9,0,0,14,14,14,0,22,11,-8,-4,-3,0,0,0,-5,-3,-9,0,-20,-5,-5,9,5,7,4,4]} 1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. e3 e6 5. d4 d5 6. a3 a6 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. b4 Bd6 9. Bb2 O-O 10. Be2 $6 {Shades of the embarrasing Rotlewi-Rubinstein game, in which White managed to go two tempi down in a symmetrical position on his way to a catastrophic loss for the ages. White, to his relative credit, "only" manages to lose a single tempo. As a result, he's worse, but it's not so bad that he can't save the game.} (10. cxd5 exd5 11. Be2 {is normal.}) (10. Qd2 Qe7 11. Bd3 dxc4 12. Bxc4 b5 13. Bd3 Rd8 14. Qe2 Bb7 15. O-O {Having lost one tempo each with both the queen and the bishop, Rotlewi finds himself down two tempi in this symmetrical position. A notable achievement.} Ne5 $17 16. Nxe5 Bxe5 17. f4 $2 (17. Rfd1 {followed by Rac1 might not be too bad, though Black is certainly better. White chooses a more ambitious way of preventing Black's threatened ...Qd6 (or ...Bxh2+ Kxh2 Qd6), but his position cannot justify it.}) 17... Bc7 18. e4 $2 Rac8 19. e5 $2 {Give White rooks on d1 and c1 (amazing what two tempi can do!) and maybe this is okay. Not here.} Bb6+ 20. Kh1 {Now comes the punishment.} Ng4 $1 21. Be4 Qh4 22. g3 {Time now for one of the most famous combinations in chess history.} Rxc3 $3 23. gxh4 Rd2 $1 {Every Black piece except the bishop on b6 is under attack, and besides that Black is down a queen for a mere knight. It doesn't matter - as Tal once famously said, they can only take them one at a time, and before White can get rid of enough of Black's army, he will have been checkmated.} 24. Qxd2 Bxe4+ 25. Qg2 Rh3 {. White can delay the mate on h2, but cannot stop it. (At least not with moves on the board.) 0-1 (25) Rotlewi,G-Rubinstein,A Lodz 1907}) 10... dxc4 11. Bxc4 b5 12. Be2 {Make it a tempo down with a more poorly developed king's bishop.} (12. Bd3 {is probably better, as long as White doesn't further imitate Rotlewi with something ridiculous like Qd2-e2.}) 12... Bb7 13. O-O Qe7 14. Qb3 Rac8 (14... Rfd8 $142 15. Rfd1 Ne5 $15) 15. Rfd1 Rfd8 16. h3 h6 17. a4 $1 {Wisely liquidating the queenside, after which the draw is a given.} bxa4 18. Rxa4 Bxb4 19. Rxd8+ Rxd8 20. Bxa6 Bxa6 21. Rxa6 Rc8 22. Ba3 Bxa3 23. Qxa3 Qd8 24. Qb2 Rb8 25. Qd2 Qxd2 26. Nxd2 Ne5 27. Ra2 Rc8 28. Nde4 Ned7 29. Nxf6+ Nxf6 30. Ne2 Nd5 {I'm guessing that draw offers were not permitted until move 30. No matter, the players would have engineered a repetition if the rules forced them to play this out.} 1/2-1/2