[Event "Superbet Classic 2022"] [Site "Bucharest ROU"] [Date "2022.05.07"] [Round "3.1"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E06"] [WhiteElo "2786"] [BlackElo "2776"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2022.05.05"] {[%evp 0,80,24,15,33,1,4,1,-4,-19,11,14,12,6,27,2,-16,-17,-20,7,3,-43,-4,-24, 38,21,22,18,23,21,22,8,9,-3,30,-12,28,12,37,17,37,53,54,-28,-19,-6,-32,-46,-36, -53,-49,-49,-59,-66,-89,-97,-97,-97,-103,-96,-102,-99,-66,-103,-87,-107,-87, -154,-98,-150,-53,-39,-36,-27,-47,-42,-32,-47,-35,-31,-22,-35,-31]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qa4 a6 8. Qxc4 b5 9. Qc2 Bb7 10. Bd2 Be4 11. Qc1 c6 12. a4 b4 13. Bg5 Bxf3 14. Bxf3 Qxd4 15. Rd1 Qa7 16. Nd2 Nd5 (16... a5 $142) 17. Nc4 ({For what it's worth, I'd recommend} 17. Bxe7 $142 Qxe7 (17... Nxe7 18. Nb3 $14 {/+/-}) 18. e4 Nf6 19. Nc4 $14 {/+/-}) 17... Bxg5 18. Qxg5 h6 $11 19. Qd2 a5 20. e4 Nb6 21. Nxb6 Qxb6 $15 22. e5 Ra7 23. Qf4 Rd7 24. Rd6 (24. Rxd7 $142 Nxd7 25. Rd1 Qc7 26. Rd6 $15) 24... Rxd6 25. exd6 c5 26. Rd1 Rd8 27. b3 Nc6 28. Bxc6 Qxc6 29. Rd2 f6 30. h4 h5 31. Rd1 Kf7 32. Rd2 { White has no choice but to do nothing; fortunately for him, that looks to be good enough.} Kf8 33. Rd1 Rd7 34. Qd2 Qf3 35. Qc2 Kf7 36. Rd2 Qc6 37. Qd3 Kf8 38. Rd1 Kf7 39. Rd2 Kf8 40. Rd1 Kf7 1/2-1/2 [Event "Superbet Classic 2022"] [Site "Bucharest ROU"] [Date "2022.05.07"] [Round "3.2"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C43"] [WhiteElo "2773"] [BlackElo "2753"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "100"] [EventDate "2022.05.05"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. d4 Nxe4 4. Bd3 d5 5. Nxe5 Nd7 6. Nc3 Nxc3 7. bxc3 Bd6 ( 7... Nxe5 8. dxe5 Bc5 {is the principal alternative. (If you don't like this line either, I'm afraid there isn't a vice-principal you can consult instead.)} ) 8. O-O O-O 9. Re1 c5 10. Qf3 c4 11. Bf5 Nxe5 12. dxe5 Re8 13. Bxc8 Rxc8 14. Bg5 Be7 (14... Qxg5 15. exd6 Re6 16. h4 Qf6 (16... Qd8 17. Qxd5 Rxd6 18. Qxb7 Rd7 19. Qa6 Rd6 20. Qb7 Rd7 21. Qe4 h5 22. Re3 Rd1+ 23. Rxd1 Qxd1+ 24. Kh2 g6 25. Rf3 Qd6+ 26. Rf4 Qd7 27. g3 Qc7 28. Rf6 Qd7 29. Kg2 Kg7 30. Ra6 Rc7 31. Qd4+ Qxd4 32. cxd4 Rb7 33. c3 Rb2 34. Ra4 Rc2 35. Rxc4 Rxa2 36. Kf3 a5 37. Rc6 a4 38. c4 a3 39. Ra6 Ra1 40. Ke4 a2 41. Kd5 Kf8 42. c5 Ke7 43. Ra7+ Ke8 44. Kd6 {1-0 (44) Guseinov,G (2661)-Nesterov,A (2522) Terme Catez 2022}) 17. Qxd5 Rxd6 18. Qxb7 Rf8 19. g3 Qxc3 20. Qxa7 Qxc2 21. Qc5 Qd3 22. Rec1 Re6 23. Rxc4 Rfe8 24. Rc3 Qd2 25. Rc2 Qd3 26. Qc3 Qd5 27. a4 h6 28. a5 Ra6 29. Rd2 Qe5 30. Qa3 Rea8 31. Rda2 g6 32. Qb4 h5 33. Kh2 Kg7 34. Qd2 Qf6 35. Qd5 Qc3 36. Kg2 Kg8 37. Qf3 Qb4 38. Qa3 Qe4+ 39. Kh2 Qe5 40. Qb4 Kg7 41. Ra4 Qf6 42. R1a2 Qe5 43. Qd2 R8a7 44. Qb4 Qf6 45. Qf4 Qxf4 46. gxf4 Kf6 47. Kg3 Kf5 48. Kf3 Ra8 49. R2a3 R8a7 50. Kg3 Ra8 51. f3 R8a7 52. Kf2 Ra8 53. Kg3 R8a7 54. Ra2 Ra8 55. Ra1 R8a7 56. R1a3 Ra8 57. Ra2 R8a7 58. R2a3 Ra8 59. Ra2 R8a7 60. Ra1 Rb7 61. Re1 Rb5 62. Rea1 Kf6 63. R4a3 Kf5 64. Ra4 Kf6 65. R1a3 Ke6 66. Re3+ Kf5 67. Rea3 Kf6 68. Ra1 Kf5 69. R1a3 Kf6 70. Ra1 Kf5 71. R1a3 {1/2-1/2 (71) Deac,B (2679)-Paravyan, D (2617) Chess.com INT 2022}) 15. e6 fxe6 $146 (15... f6 16. Bf4 $14 {0-1 (51) Aguilar Medina,J (1688)-Gralke,W ICCF email 2020}) 16. Rxe6 Bxg5 17. Rxe8+ Qxe8 18. Qxd5+ Kh8 19. Qxg5 Qe2 $11 20. Qf5 Rd8 21. h3 h6 22. a4 b6 23. Qg4 Qxg4 ( 23... Qxc2 24. Qxc4 Qd2 $11) 24. hxg4 Rd2 25. Rc1 Kg8 (25... Kh7 $11) 26. Kf1 Kf7 27. Ke1 Rd5 28. Rb1 Ke6 (28... Rg5 29. f3 h5 30. gxh5 Rxg2 $11) 29. Rb4 Re5+ 30. Kd2 Kd5 $1 {A nice decision by Dominguez. Most players would be afraid - rightly! - of allowing transition to a pawn-down king and pawn ending, but Dominguez has correctly calculated that it's harmless. For himself, that is. *White* will have a problem because of the possibility of ...a5 followed by ...b5.} 31. a5 (31. Rb5+ Kd6 32. Rxe5 Kxe5 33. Ke3 Kd5 34. f4 a5 35. g3 Kc5 {and now White's king had better go back. Going forward would lose to ...b5, while pushing kingside pawns would lose as well.} 36. Ke2 b5 37. axb5 Kxb5 38. Kd2 Kc5 39. Kc1 Kd5 40. Kb2 Ke4 (40... Kc5 41. Ka3 Kb5 $11) 41. Ka3 Kf3 42. g5 $8 {Everything else loses.} hxg5 43. fxg5 Kxg3 44. Ka4 Kg4 45. g6 $8 {Forced again.} (45. Kxa5 $2 Kxg5 46. Kb4 Kh4 $3 47. Kxc4 g5 48. Kd3 g4 $8 49. Ke2 Kh3 50. c4 g3 51. c5 g2 $19) 45... Kf5 46. Kxa5 Kxg6 47. Kb4 Kf5 48. Kxc4 g5 49. Kd3 $11) 31... bxa5 (31... Kc5 $11) 32. Ra4 Kc6 33. Rxc4+ Rc5 (33... Kb5 $142 34. Rc7 Rg5 35. f3 Kb6) 34. Re4 Kb5 35. f4 {After this, the draw is straightforward.} (35. Re7 Rg5 36. f3 a6 37. Kd3 {is a little dangerous for Black, though he can still draw with correct play.} Rd5+ $8 38. Ke4 Rd2 39. Rxg7 a4 $8 40. Rb7+ Ka5 $8 41. Rb2 Rxg2 42. Ra2 h5 $1 43. gxh5 Rh2 44. f4 Rxh5 45. f5 Rh2 $11) 35... a4 36. Re7 a5 37. Rxg7 a3 38. Kc1 Rxc3 39. g5 a2 40. Kb2 Rxc2+ 41. Ka1 hxg5 42. Rxg5+ Kb4 43. Rg3 Rf2 44. Rf3 Rxf3 45. gxf3 Kc5 46. Kxa2 Kd5 47. Ka3 Ke6 48. Ka4 Kf5 49. Kxa5 Kxf4 50. Kb4 Kxf3 1/2-1/2 [Event "Superbet Classic 2022"] [Site "Bucharest ROU"] [Date "2022.05.07"] [Round "3.3"] [White "Rapport, Richard"] [Black "Deac, Bogdan-Daniel"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E46"] [WhiteElo "2776"] [BlackElo "2671"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "104"] [EventDate "2022.05.05"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Nge2 c6 6. a3 Ba5 7. c5 d5 8. cxd6 Qxd6 9. b4 Bb6 10. Bb2 Nbd7 11. Ng3 $146 (11. g3 a5 12. b5 c5 13. Na4 cxd4 14. Nxd4 Nc5 15. Nxc5 Bxc5 16. Nb3 Qxd1+ 17. Rxd1 Be7 18. Be2 a4 19. Nd2 Bd7 20. O-O Rfc8 21. Rc1 Kf8 22. Rfe1 Rc5 23. Rxc5 Bxc5 24. Rc1 b6 25. Nc4 Be8 26. Be5 Ke7 27. Bf3 Rd8 28. Rb1 Rd3 29. Bc6 Bxc6 30. bxc6 Nd5 31. e4 Nc3 32. c7 Kd7 33. Nxb6+ Bxb6 34. Rxb6 {1-0 (34) Gupta,A (2617)-Deac,B (2578) Budapest 2018}) 11... Rd8 12. Bc4 e5 13. Qb3 $2 exd4 14. Bxf7+ Kh8 $2 (14... Kf8 $1 15. Nce4 Qe7 16. Ng5 Nd5 17. Ne6+ Kxf7 18. Nxd8+ Bxd8 19. O-O Qe6 20. Bxd4 N7f6 $15 { /-/+ As usual, two minor pieces are better than a rook and pawn in the middlegame, especially when at least one of the minors is a bishop.}) 15. exd4 $11 Bxd4 16. O-O-O Ne5 17. Nce4 Bxb2+ 18. Qxb2 Nd3+ 19. Rxd3 Qxd3 20. Nxf6 Qd6 21. Nfh5 Qh6+ $2 (21... Qf8 $11) 22. f4 $18 Bg4 23. Qe5 a5 24. bxa5 Rd7 25. Be8 (25. Bb3) 25... Rdd8 26. Re1 $2 Kg8 $11 27. Nf5 Bxf5 28. Bf7+ Kxf7 29. Qxf5+ Kg8 30. Re7 Rf8 31. Qe5 Rf7 32. Re6 g6 33. Nf6+ Kh8 $6 (33... Rxf6 $142 34. Qxf6 (34. Rxf6 Qxh2 $11) 34... Rf8 $11) 34. g4 (34. Kc2 $1 {is wise, getting out of the way of ...Qxf4+ possibilities.}) 34... Qxh2 35. Rd6 Qh1+ 36. Kc2 Qg2+ 37. Rd2 Qh3 38. Kb2 Qf1 39. Nxh7+ $1 Kg8 $8 (39... Kxh7 $4 40. Rh2+ Kg8 41. Rh8#) 40. Ng5 $4 (40. Nf6+ $11) 40... Qxf4 $19 {White's rook on d2 is loose, so he cannot play 41.Nxf7. Unfortunately for him, there aren't any great alternatives: he can't protect both the rook and knight without allowing a queen trade, and a queen trade results in a dead lost ending. It's just over. } 41. Qxf4 Rxf4 42. Rd6 Rxa5 43. Rxg6+ Kh8 44. Ne6 Rf3 45. g5 Raxa3 46. Nd4 Rh3 47. Rd6 Rag3 48. Rd8+ Kh7 49. Rd7+ Kg6 50. Rxb7 Rg2+ 51. Ka1 Ra3+ 52. Kb1 Rd3 0-1 [Event "Superbet Classic 2022"] [Site "Bucharest ROU"] [Date "2022.05.07"] [Round "3.4"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D17"] [WhiteElo "2765"] [BlackElo "2804"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "124"] [EventDate "2022.05.05"] {[%evp 0,124,24,-23,36,21,40,19,27,3,15,3,-8,-52,-32,12,24,64,70,-5,13,2,58,2, 36,22,23,34,46,43,26,46,46,-16,-36,0,-23,-28,-15,-18,-24,-26,-24,-43,-28,-23, -36,-46,-39,-49,-47,-79,-58,-70,-79,-85,-92,-112,-91,-88,-96,-92,-92,-87,-78, -79,-71,-89,-88,-87,-97,-96,-81,-81,-89,-92,-40,-40,-25,-20,-25,-28,44,6,28,38, 38,38,38,-35,-35,-120,-287,-270,-257,-257,-252,-252,-236,-229,-229,-229,-226, -224,-224,-206,-206,-200,-189,-233,-234,-228,-228,-228,-228,-46,0,0,0,0,0,0,0, 0,0,0,0]} 1. c4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. Ne5 (6. e3) 6... Nbd7 7. Nxc4 Qc7 (7... Nb6 {is more popular at the moment.}) 8. g3 e5 ( 8... Rd8 {seems to be a Jobava specialty. It's a small bandwagon, though.} 9. Bf4 Qc8 {and now White at least seems to be clearly better after either} 10. Bg2 ({or} 10. f3 {.})) 9. dxe5 Nxe5 10. Bf4 Nfd7 11. Bg2 g5 {A couple of decades ago, Morozevich introduced this into top-level play, creating a massive amount of interest. Alas, the cottage industry has been abandoned, and now it's a ghost town. Happily, it has a couple of visitors today.} (11... f6 { is the older move, and it's still played from time to time.}) 12. Ne3 gxf4 13. Nxf5 O-O-O 14. Qc2 Kb8 15. gxf4 ({Those interested in the line will also need to study} 15. O-O) ({and} 15. O-O-O {.}) 15... Nc4 16. e3 Nc5 17. Rd1 Rxd1+ 18. Nxd1 Qa5+ 19. Ke2 $2 $146 {A novelty, and a bad one.} (19. Nc3 {had been played 33 times in 33 games, with good results. The computer likes it, too, so Aronian probably mixed something up trying to remember the theory. For instance, there's one line that goes like this:} Qb6 20. Ne4 Qb4+ {and now} 21. Ke2 {- maybe this is what stuck out in his memory?} Qxb2 22. Qxb2 Nxb2 23. Nxc5 Bxc5 24. a5 Na4 25. Ra1 Nc3+ 26. Kd3 Nb5 {White is a little better, but - you'll be shocked to hear this - all the games - correspondence games, natch - finished in draws.}) 19... Qa6 $17 20. Kf3 Qxa4 21. Qxa4 Nxa4 22. Ke2 $2 Ncxb2 23. Nxb2 Nxb2 $19 {It will take some time to get everything coordinated, but with three connected passed pawns (against zero White passers) Black must be winning. For a while, everything goes smoothly...} 24. Rb1 Na4 25. Kd2 Nb6 26. Bf3 Bc5 27. Nh6 f6 28. Rg1 a5 29. Rg8+ Rxg8 30. Nxg8 f5 31. Kc2 (31. Nh6 Nc4+ 32. Kc2 Nd6 $19) 31... a4 32. Nh6 Nc4 33. Be2 (33. Nxf5 $4 {wins the pawn, but the a-pawn will cost him his bishop.} a3 34. Kb3 {Or 34.Kb1. Other moves allow Black to promote, but both of these moves allow a winning fork.} Nd2+ 35. Ka2 Nxf3 $19) 33... Nd6 34. Bd3 Ne4 35. Bxe4 fxe4 36. Ng8 b5 37. Nf6 Kc7 38. Nxh7 b4 39. Ng5 b3+ 40. Kb2 Bb4 41. Nxe4 c5 $2 {One error, and alas - the win is gone.} (41... Kb6 42. f5 Kb5 {Going to c4, and then ...a3+.} 43. Nc3+ Ka5 $1 44. f6 Bf8 $1 45. h4 Kb4 $19) 42. Nc3 $1 Bxc3+ 43. Kxc3 c4 44. Kb2 {Remarkably, Black has only one move to draw.} Kd6 $1 45. f5 $1 {Also forced. White cannot give Black time to park his king on b4.} Ke5 $1 46. f3 $1 {All these moves are forced.} (46. h4 $2 {is not a harmless transposition, counting on 46...Kxf5 47. f3. Instead, Black plays} Ke4 $1 47. f6 Kd3 {and wins:} 48. f7 c3+ 49. Ka3 c2 50. f8=Q c1=Q+ 51. Kxa4 b2 52. Qf5+ Ke2 53. Qg4+ Kf1 54. Qh3+ Ke1 55. Qh1+ Ke2 $19 {and the (sensible) checks have come to an end.}) 46... Kxf5 $1 47. h4 $1 Ke5 48. h5 $1 Kf5 49. f4 $1 Ke4 $1 50. h6 $1 Kd3 $1 51. h7 c3+ $1 52. Ka3 $1 c2 53. h8=Q c1=Q+ 54. Kxa4 b2 55. Qh7+ $1 {It's similar to the 46.h4 line, but this time Black's king has nowhere to hide. He tries for a while, but the draw is inevitable.} Kxe3 56. Qh3+ Kxf4 57. Qh4+ Kf5 58. Qh3+ Ke5 59. Qh5+ Kd6 60. Qg6+ Kc7 61. Qg7+ Kb6 {Allowing a cute finish.} 62. Qxb2+ (62. Qd4+ {also drew, but of course Aronian's move is best.}) 62... Qxb2 1/2-1/2 [Event "Superbet Classic 2022"] [Site "Bucharest ROU"] [Date "2022.05.07"] [Round "3.5"] [White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B10"] [WhiteElo "2750"] [BlackElo "2759"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "40"] [EventDate "2022.05.05"] 1. e4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 {This is a better version of the 4.. .Nf6 line than Black gets when White has played 2.d4. There White generally puts the knight on e2 instead of f3.} 5. Qe2 Nxe4 6. Qxe4 Qa5 (6... Nd7) (6... Qd5) 7. c3 (7. Bc4) (7. b4) 7... Bf5 8. Qh4 (8. Qf4 {is more common, as played by MVL himself a few years ago in a rapid game against Karjakin. 1-0 (66) Vachier Lagrave,M (2778)-Karjakin,S (2750) Saint Louis 2019}) 8... Nd7 $146 9. d4 e6 10. Nd2 c5 11. dxc5 Qxc5 12. Be2 Be7 13. Qg3 O-O 14. Nb3 Qe5 15. Bf4 Qe4 16. Qf3 Qc2 17. Bd1 Qe4+ 18. Be2 Qc2 19. Bd1 Qe4+ 20. Be2 Qc2 1/2-1/2 [Event "Superbet Classic 2022"] [Site "Bucharest ROU"] [Date "2022.05.08"] [Round "4.1"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E06"] [WhiteElo "2776"] [BlackElo "2773"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "115"] [EventDate "2022.05.05"] {[%evp 0,115,24,12,17,19,23,2,0,-25,4,14,14,6,13,-17,11,22,49,52,66,30,47,26, 41,49,31,29,45,36,44,11,0,0,0,11,18,2,9,0,23,23,0,0,63,0,33,33,31,48,126,118, 118,124,129,113,127,124,118,133,133,133,148,133,136,136,133,133,132,124,144, 138,141,141,144,147,147,144,147,144,144,144,144,144,144,144,144,138,144,134, 142,141,135,132,132,150,144,136,144,159,159,149,153,145,146,152,153,169,172, 155,148,143,180,186,248,253,278,281]} 1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 b5 {A trendy line, which explains Caruana's choice of 7.Qa4+ against So in the previous round.} 8. a4 Bb7 (8... b4 {is the most popular move overall, but the trend within the trend is for 8...Bb7.}) 9. axb5 a6 10. bxa6 Nxa6 11. Qxc4 Bd5 12. Qc3 (12. Qd3 Nb4 13. Rxa8 Qxa8 14. Qd1 { is the alternative.}) 12... c5 13. Be3 Ne4 14. Qe1 Nb4 15. Rxa8 Qxa8 16. Nc3 Nxc3 17. bxc3 Nc2 18. Qd2 Nxe3 19. Qxe3 cxd4 20. cxd4 Rd8 21. Qf4 h6 22. e3 $146 {Both sides are happy, I guess. So has a safe extra pawn, and can play forever hoping to exploit it. Black has a solid position with all the pawns on one side (not technically, but it's good enough for government work), no weaknesses, active pieces and the bishop pair. I wouldn't recommend this approach for civilians.} (22. h4 Bf6 23. e3 Rc8 24. Ne1 Bxg2 25. Nxg2 Rc4 26. Qg4 e5 27. Qe2 Qc6 28. dxe5 Bxe5 29. Qh5 Rc5 30. Qg4 h5 31. Qd1 g6 32. Nf4 Bxf4 33. exf4 Qd5 34. Qe2 Qc6 35. Re1 Kg7 36. Qe3 Rd5 37. Rc1 Qd6 38. Qc3+ Qf6 39. Qf3 Qd6 40. Kg2 Rd3 41. Qe4 Qd5 42. Qxd5 Rxd5 43. Re1 f5 {1/2-1/2 (43) Giri,A (2772)-Nepomniachtchi,I (2782) Warsaw 2021}) 22... Bd6 23. Qh4 Bb4 24. Qg4 Bxf3 25. Bxf3 {So much for the bishop pair. Of course the opposite-colored bishops can be plenty drawish, but with the queens on Black must be careful that White doesn't find some way to start hassling the Black king.} Qa5 26. Rb1 Bd6 27. h4 Rb8 28. Rxb8+ {Perhaps White should have kept the rooks on? Fewer pieces should make for fewer problems for Black - provided, of course, that the bishops remain.} Bxb8 29. d5 Qa1+ 30. Kg2 Qe5 31. Qc4 Bd6 32. dxe6 Qxe6 33. Bd5 Qd7 34. h5 Qf5 35. Qc6 Bf8 36. Bf3 Qe6 37. Qa8 Qe5 38. Bg4 Qf6 39. Bd1 { White would like to play Bc2 and Qe4. That's not winning either, but if it can be prevented, it should be.} Qf5 40. Qb7 Qe5 41. Be2 Qf5 42. Bf3 Qe5 43. Bg4 Qg5 44. Qf3 g6 {Not necessary, and not bad.} 45. hxg6 Qxg6 46. Bf5 Qf6 47. Qd5 Qd6 48. Qc4 Qb4 49. Qe2 Qb7+ 50. Kh2 Bg7 51. Bd3 Qd5 52. Bc4 Qe4 53. Bb3 Qf5 ( 53... Qc6 $142) 54. e4 {White can keep pushing, so this is okay. He would not want to allow Black a secure blockade on e5.} Qf6 55. Kg2 (55. f4) 55... Qb6 56. Bd5 Bd4 $2 (56... Qg6) 57. e5 $1 $18 {Now the bishop is cut off from the king, and suddenly White can create some threats around Black's king. This sort of thing happens regularly, especially at lower levels: a player is forced to defend passively for a long time, with no non-trivial hopes of anything more than a draw. At the sub-professional level, mistakes are inevitable, and we see here that being a world championship finalist doesn't provide any guarantee of perpetual error-free defense either.} Qg6 $4 {One bad move often brings another in its train. This loses immediately.} 58. Bxf7+ $1 { Winning a second pawn and eliminating the opposite-colored bishop problem.} ( 58. Bxf7+ $1 Qxf7 (58... Kxf7 59. Qc4+ Qe6 60. Qxd4 $18) 59. Qg4+ Qg7 60. Qxd4 $18) 1-0 [Event "Superbet Classic 2022"] [Site "Bucharest ROU"] [Date "2022.05.08"] [Round "4.2"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Deac, Bogdan-Daniel"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D37"] [WhiteElo "2759"] [BlackElo "2671"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "79"] [EventDate "2022.05.05"] {[%evp 0,79,24,19,27,0,0,0,-11,6,53,43,58,42,39,37,41,41,64,87,65,62,62,15,38, -40,-24,-25,27,-30,-31,-9,6,-32,18,-23,39,17,45,-15,-33,-56,-39,-71,-12,-30, -47,0,-31,-20,-26,-28,-26,-69,-54,-80,-49,-58,-57,-47,-71,-50,-53,-55,-47,-40, -39,-32,-10,0,-8,-2,-7,-7,-7,0,0,-1,0,-7,0,-8]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. e4 Bb4 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8. Bxc4 c5 9. O-O cxd4 10. e5 Qd8 11. Ne4 O-O 12. Qe2 Be7 13. Rfd1 Qa5 14. a3 Rd8 15. b4 Qb6 16. g4 {Still theory.} ( 16. Ng3 Bd7 17. Rxd4 Bc6 18. Rg4 Bxf3 19. Qxf3 Nc6 20. Nh5 g5 21. Nf6+ Kg7 22. Qf4 Rh8 23. h4 Rad8 24. hxg5 h5 25. Rh4 Rd4 26. Qh2 Rxh4 27. Qxh4 Qd4 28. Qxd4 Nxd4 29. Rd1 Rd8 30. Kf1 h4 31. f4 a5 32. bxa5 Bxa3 33. Rb1 Rc8 34. Bd3 Rc1+ 35. Kf2 Rxb1 36. Bxb1 Nc6 37. Kf3 Nxa5 38. Kg4 b5 39. Kxh4 b4 40. Ne8+ Kf8 41. Nd6 b3 42. g6 fxg6 43. Kg5 Bxd6 44. exd6 Nc4 45. d7 Ke7 46. Kxg6 Ne3 47. g3 b2 48. Kh5 Kxd7 49. g4 Ke7 50. Kg5 Kf7 51. f5 exf5 52. gxf5 Nxf5 53. Bxf5 b1=Q 54. Bxb1 {1/2-1/2 (54) Mamedyarov,S (2782)-So,W (2772) Saint Louis 2021}) 16... Nd7 17. Rac1 Qc7 18. Ng3 $146 (18. Bxe6 {had always been chosen in previous games. The highest-level example:} Qb6 19. Bf5 Nf8 20. Nc5 g6 21. Na4 Qa6 22. Qxa6 bxa6 23. Bxc8 Raxc8 24. Rxc8 Rxc8 25. Rxd4 Ne6 26. Rd7 Rc1+ 27. Kg2 Nf4+ 28. Kg3 Ne2+ 29. Kg2 Nf4+ 30. Kg3 Ne2+ 31. Kg2 Nf4+ {1/2-1/2 (31) Gukesh,D (2578) -So,W (2770) chess24.com INT 2021}) 18... Qb8 19. h4 (19. Rxd4) 19... Nf8 ( 19... b6) 20. Bd3 b6 21. g5 Bb7 $1 22. gxh6 $6 (22. Re1) 22... Bxf3 23. Qxf3 Qxe5 $17 24. hxg7 Qxg7 $6 (24... Nd7 $1) 25. Kh1 $44 Qf6 26. Qg4+ Ng6 27. Be4 Rac8 28. Bxg6 Qxg6 29. Qxg6+ fxg6 30. Rxc8 Rxc8 31. Rxd4 $11 a5 32. Kg2 axb4 33. axb4 Rc2 34. Re4 Kf7 35. Rf4+ Kg8 36. Re4 Kf7 37. Rf4+ Kg8 38. Re4 Kf7 39. Rf4+ Kg8 40. Re4 1/2-1/2 [Event "Superbet Classic 2022"] [Site "Bucharest ROU"] [Date "2022.05.08"] [Round "4.3"] [White "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Black "Rapport, Richard"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B45"] [WhiteElo "2804"] [BlackElo "2776"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "92"] [EventDate "2022.05.05"] {[%evp 0,92,24,22,48,48,81,63,37,40,40,40,31,30,35,35,16,20,0,0,-2,6,46,46,57, 9,14,41,21,17,10,8,8,5,70,0,77,11,52,52,102,85,46,49,49,9,2,0,4,0,13,60,26,0,0, 0,10,-30,10,40,32,65,76,76,76,78,88,84,84,74,66,71,71,52,67,42,46,27,11,0,27, 11,30,62,0,44,41,41,74,41,41,0,41,41,60]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Nf6 {Black invites a Sveshnikov (6.Ndb5) while bypassing the Rossolimo (2...Nc6 3.Bb5). The drawback of this move order is that it allows the line chosen in the game.} 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. e5 Nd5 8. Ne4 {This is of course playable for Black, but White's results have been good over the years.} Qc7 9. f4 Qb6 10. c4 Bb4+ 11. Ke2 f5 12. Nf2 (12. exf6 Nxf6 13. Be3 Qd8 14. Nd6+ Bxd6 15. Qxd6 Bb7 {is the alternative main line, and now White generally chooses between 16.Rd1 and 16.Kd1. (But not 16.Qd1.)}) 12... Ba6 13. Kf3 {It's less scary than it looks. (See hundreds of games in the database for proof.)} Ne7 14. Be3 Bc5 15. Bxc5 Qxc5 16. Qd6 Qb6 17. Be2 (17. b3 {is the main margin by a huge margin, taking ...Qxb2 and ...Bxc4 concerns off the table.}) 17... Rd8 ( 17... Qxb2 $2 {is not refuted by sticking a rook on the b-file. Instead, it's} 18. Nd3 $1 $18 {followed by Nc5 that's the problem.}) 18. b4 Nc8 ({The engine suggests} 18... g5 {. In a completely unrelated coincidence, this happened in the one previous game to reach the position after 18.b4, also coincidentally a correspondence game.} 19. fxg5 Ng6 20. g3 Qb8 21. Kg2 Nxe5 22. Bh5+ Ng6 23. Qd4 O-O 24. c5 d6 25. Rhe1 e5 26. Qc3 dxc5 27. bxc5 e4 28. Bxg6 hxg6 29. h4 Qb5 30. Rac1 Rd5 31. Kg1 Kh7 32. Re3 Qa4 33. Nh3 Rfd8 34. Rce1 Rd3 35. Rxd3 Rxd3 36. Qf6 Qd4+ 37. Qxd4 Rxd4 38. Nf4 Bb5 39. h5 gxh5 40. g6+ Kh6 41. Kf2 Rd2+ 42. Ke3 Rxa2 43. Rh1 Kg7 44. Rxh5 Ra3+ 45. Kd4 Kf6 46. Rh8 Ra4+ 47. Ke3 Ra3+ 48. Kd4 Ra4+ 49. Ke3 {1/2-1/2 (49) Baranowski,T (2375)-Leupold,V (2386) ICCF email 2018 }) 19. Qc5 $14 d5 $1 20. exd6 Nxd6 21. Qe5 c5 $1 22. Qxc5 Rc8 (22... Bxc4 $1 23. Bxc4 Qxc5 24. bxc5 Nxc4 25. Rhc1 Na5 26. Rab1 Ke7 $11) 23. Qxb6 axb6 24. Rhc1 $14 Bxc4 25. Bxc4 Nxc4 26. Nd3 Ke7 27. a4 Rhd8 28. Ke2 Rd4 29. a5 bxa5 30. bxa5 Rcd8 31. Rc3 Re4+ 32. Kf2 Red4 33. Ne5 Nxe5 34. fxe5 R8d7 $11 35. a6 Ra7 36. Ra5 Rd2+ 37. Kf3 Rb2 38. Rc6 g5 39. Rd6 Rc7 {It was possible to draw with passive play, but it's better to be active when possible. Rapport has calculated everything correctly, and the game comes to a speedy end.} 40. Ra3 Rcc2 41. Rdd3 Rf2+ 42. Ke3 Rbc2 43. Rdb3 Rcd2 44. Rd3 Rc2 45. Rd1 Ra2 46. Rdd3 Rac2 1/2-1/2 [Event "Superbet Classic 2022"] [Site "Bucharest ROU"] [Date "2022.05.08"] [Round "4.4"] [White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C82"] [WhiteElo "2750"] [BlackElo "2786"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "77"] [EventDate "2022.05.05"] {[%evp 0,77,24,22,22,32,13,14,18,6,10,8,9,1,14,5,-5,-5,-5,-28,-13,7,3,-12,44, 32,43,63,60,-47,-47,-33,-24,-55,-66,-59,-58,-56,-62,-62,8,-33,8,31,63,38,99, 103,107,68,105,0,34,96,182,112,95,115,185,180,192,180,180,180,153,153,185,183, 203,197,208,222,234,245,256,260,285,274,274,303]} 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 10. Nbd2 O-O 11. Bc2 Nxf2 {The Dilworth Variation, which has gone in and out of fashion for many decades. At the moment it's experiencing something of a renaissance.} 12. Rxf2 Bxf2+ 13. Kxf2 f6 14. Nf1 (14. exf6 {is the historic main line, but Black has no problems after} Qxf6 15. Nf1 Ne5 16. Be3 Rae8 17. Bc5 Nxf3 18. gxf3 Rf7 19. Kg2 Qg5+ 20. Ng3 d4 $1 21. Bxd4 c5 22. Bf2 Rxf3 $1 23. Be4 Bh3+ 24. Kxh3 Rxf2 25. Qd5+ Qxd5 26. Bxd5+ Kh8 $11) 14... fxe5 15. Kg1 Qd7 (15... Bg4) ({and } 15... Qd6 {are the alternatives. This move in particular featured in two other MVL games, and even a Caruana game where he too had White:} 16. Be3 (16. Ng5 Bf5 17. Bb3 Ne7 18. Ng3 c6 19. Qe2 Kh8 20. Bd2 h6 21. Re1 e4 22. Qh5 Bg6 23. Qh3 Nf5 24. Nxf5 Bxf5 25. Qh4 Qe7 26. Nf3 Qxh4 27. Nxh4 Bh7 28. g3 g5 29. Ng2 Kg7 30. Be3 Bf5 31. Bc5 Rf7 32. Bd1 Kg6 33. h4 Bh3 34. h5+ Kh7 35. Ne3 Bd7 36. Ng4 Re8 37. Rf1 Rxf1+ 38. Kxf1 Bxg4 39. Bxg4 {1-0 (39) Vachier Lagrave,M (2778)-Heimann,A (2617) Karlsruhe 2020}) (16. Ng3 h6 17. Qe1 Bg4 18. Nh4 e4 19. h3 Bd7 20. Be3 Qf6 21. Nh5 Qe5 22. Nf4 Rxf4 23. Ng6 Rf1+ 24. Kxf1 Qf5+ 25. Nf4 g5 26. Qg3 Kh7 27. Ke2 gxf4 28. Qxf4 Qxf4 29. Bxf4 Rg8 30. Kf2 Rf8 31. Ke3 Ne7 32. Bxc7 Nf5+ 33. Ke2 b4 34. Bf4 bxc3 35. bxc3 Nh4 36. g3 Ng2 37. c4 Nxf4+ 38. gxf4 Rc8 39. Rd1 Rxc4 40. Bb3 Ba4 41. Rxd5 Bxb3 42. axb3 Rc3 {1/2-1/2 (42) Vachier Lagrave,M (2779)-Mamedyarov,S (2801) Biel 2018}) 16... Rad8 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 {1/2-1/2 (27) Caruana,F (2792)-Van Foreest,J (2702) Wijk aan Zee 2022}) 16. Bg5 (16. a4) 16... Rae8 17. Qd2 $146 ( 17. Bh4 $142 d4 18. Ng3 Bd5 19. Ne4 Rf4 20. Qe1 Ref8 21. Bg3 Rxf3 22. gxf3 Rxf3 23. Ng5 Rf5 24. Ne4 Rf3 25. Ng5 Rf5 26. Ne4 {1/2-1/2 (26) Chen,Q (2479)-Bai,J (2600) Liaocheng 2021}) 17... d4 18. Ng3 $6 (18. Re1 $142) 18... h6 19. Bh4 ( 19. Qe2 $5) (19. Bxh6 $5) 19... dxc3 20. Qxc3 {The opening has gone very well for Caruana, who now gets a bit overheated.} Rxf3 $2 {/?? This just doesn't work.} (20... b4 $1 21. Qe3 Nd4 22. Nxd4 Qxd4 23. Qxd4 exd4 $17) 21. gxf3 $18 Nd4 22. Bd1 Rf8 23. Ne4 Bc4 24. Kg2 (24. Bf2 $142) 24... Rf4 {Setting a nasty trap.} 25. Be1 $1 {MVL is alert, and remains so to the end.} (25. Bg3 $4 Qh3+ $3 $19 26. Kxh3 Bf1#) 25... Qf5 26. Nd2 e4 27. Bg3 exf3+ 28. Kf2 Rg4 29. Nxc4 bxc4 30. Bxf3 Nxf3 31. Qxf3 Qc2+ 32. Qe2 Qf5+ 33. Kg1 h5 34. Rf1 Qg6 35. Kh1 h4 36. Bxc7 h3 37. Qf3 Qd3 38. Be5 Rg2 39. Bc3 1-0 [Event "Superbet Classic 2022"] [Site "Bucharest ROU"] [Date "2022.05.08"] [Round "4.5"] [White "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "2753"] [BlackElo "2765"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "128"] [EventDate "2022.05.05"] {[%evp 0,128,24,22,22,32,13,8,13,29,29,29,19,6,1,1,19,-2,33,11,25,20,35,22,25, -11,23,23,16,-4,-3,-1,8,-43,9,-78,-68,-45,-18,-43,7,-82,-17,-47,-48,-33,-76, -16,-7,-14,-10,-41,-24,-15,-30,-31,-29,-29,-67,-114,-103,-111,-87,-91,-98,-93, -60,-93,-92,-87,-87,-74,-76,-59,-72,-74,-56,-60,-49,-43,-34,-65,-52,-53,-28, -75,-78,-78,-71,-126,-154,-126,-113,-134,-139,-140,-132,-133,-143,-143,-140, -143,-142,-182,-124,-132,-129,-144,-163,-151,-151,-188,-177,-202,-224,-217, -239,-242,-238,-242,-227,-258,-227,-341,-372,-625,-705,-848,-906,-955,-990]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 O-O 6. h3 d5 7. exd5 Nxd5 8. Nbd2 a5 9. Ne4 Bb6 10. c3 f6 11. d4 exd4 12. Re1 Kh8 13. cxd4 Bf5 14. Ng3 Bg6 15. Nh4 Bf7 16. Ngf5 Re8 17. Rxe8+ Qxe8 18. Qg4 Qf8 19. Bd2 Rd8 20. Re1 Nde7 21. Bxf7 Qxf7 22. Bc3 Nxf5 23. Nxf5 g6 24. Nh6 Qf8 25. d5 Nb4 26. Qe6 Kg7 27. Bxb4 axb4 28. Ng4 Qf7 29. Qe4 Rxd5 30. Qf4 Bc5 31. Qh6+ Kh8 32. Qf4 Rd8 33. b3 Bd4 34. Ne5 Qg7 35. Nf3 Bc5 36. g3 b6 37. Re6 Bd6 38. Qd4 Rf8 39. h4 h5 40. Kg2 Kh7 41. Qd5 Qg8 42. Qe4 Qf7 43. Nd4 Bc5 {White is worse due to his missing pawn, but not losing. This changes after his next move.} 44. f4 $2 (44. Nb5) (44. Ne2 ) 44... Rd8 $19 {Now White can add a vulnerable king to his list of problems. He's able to solve this by a queen trade, but the resulting ending is lost.} 45. Nf3 Kg7 46. f5 gxf5 47. Qxf5 Qg6 48. Qxg6+ Kxg6 49. Re2 Rd3 50. Ne1 Rc3 51. Rc2 Rxc2+ 52. Nxc2 {Sometimes the knight's blockading powers can save the day; this is not one of those cases. White has two problems: his kingside pawns are on dark squares, and Black will be able to create a queenside passer with ... b5, ...c5-c4. The win is routine.} f5 {Making sure White can't achieve counterplay or helpful exchanges with a timely g4.} 53. Kf3 Kf6 54. Ne1 b5 55. Nd3 Bd6 56. Nc1 Ke5 57. Ne2 Kd5 58. Ke3 c5 59. Kf3 c4 60. Ke3 Bc5+ 61. Kf4 c3 62. Kxf5 Be3 63. a3 Bd2 64. axb4 c2 (64... c2 {wins not by promoting the c-pawn next, but by zugzwang. Black's king will enter in a move or two, and Black will promote the c-pawn for "free":} 65. g4 hxg4 66. Kxg4 Ke4 67. h5 Ke3 68. h6 (68. Ng3 c1=Q $19) 68... Kxe2 69. h7 Bc3 $19) 0-1