[Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2022.01.22"] [Round "7.1"] [White "Praggnanandhaa, R."] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D27"] [WhiteElo "2612"] [BlackElo "2865"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "68"] [EventDate "2022.01.14"] {[%evp 0,68,34,20,20,-18,-18,-6,33,45,35,24,42,46,28,38,54,51,57,40,35,46,46, 43,42,69,58,80,89,78,77,79,81,78,64,44,90,44,62,26,78,51,13,-1,-38,-10,-53,-82, 18,-5,52,-79,-98,-103,-97,-98,-91,-181,-169,-207,-149,-424,-556,-562,-347,-518, -524,-626,-636,-650,-669]} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 dxc4 4. e3 a6 5. Bxc4 Nf6 6. O-O c5 7. b3 b6 8. Ba3 {Rare, but Carlsen himself played this against Artemiev last year, albeit in blitz.} Nbd7 (8... cxd4 9. Bxf8 Kxf8 10. Nxd4 Qe7 11. Nd2 Bb7 12. Rc1 g6 13. Be2 Kg7 14. Bf3 Rd8 15. Bxb7 Qxb7 16. Nc4 Rd5 17. Qf3 Ra7 18. Rfd1 Nc6 19. Nd6 Nxd4 20. Rxd4 Qd7 21. Rxd5 Nxd5 22. Qg3 Rc7 23. Rd1 Nc3 24. Qe5+ Kg8 25. Re1 Rc5 26. Ne4 Rxe5 27. Nf6+ Kg7 28. Nxd7 Rb5 29. Ra1 f6 30. Kf1 Kf7 31. Nb8 a5 32. Nc6 Rd5 33. Nd4 e5 34. Ne2 Rc5 35. Nxc3 Rxc3 36. Rd1 Rc2 37. Rd6 Rxa2 38. Rxb6 g5 39. g4 a4 40. bxa4 Rxa4 41. h3 Ra1+ 42. Kg2 Rc1 43. Rb7+ Kg6 44. Rb6 Kf7 45. Rb7+ Kg6 46. Rb6 Kf7 {1/2-1/2 (46) Carlsen,M (2847)-Artemiev,V (2709) chess24.com INT 2021}) 9. d5 exd5 10. Bxd5 Rb8 (10... Nxd5 11. Qxd5 Ra7 12. Bb2 Nf6 13. Qxd8+ Kxd8 14. Rd1+ (14. Ne5 Ke8 15. Nd2 Be6 16. Ndc4 Nd7 (16... b5 17. Na5 Nd7 18. Nec6 Rc7 19. Rad1 Be7 20. e4 f6 21. f4 Bg4 22. Rd2 Nb6 23. f5 Rd7 24. Rxd7 Kxd7 25. h3 Be2 26. Re1 Bd3 27. e5 Re8 28. Nxe7 Rxe7 29. Rd1 c4 30. bxc4 bxc4 31. exf6 gxf6 32. Nxc4 Nxc4 33. Rxd3+ Kc6 34. Bc3 Rf7 35. g4 h5 36. Kg2 hxg4 37. hxg4 a5 38. Kg3 a4 39. Kf4 Nb6 40. Kg3 Nd5 41. Ba1 Rb7 42. Rd1 Re7 43. Rc1+ Kd6 44. Bd4 Re2 45. a3 Ra2 46. Rc4 Rxa3+ 47. Kh4 Ra2 48. Bc5+ {1/2-1/2 (48) Assaubayeva,B (2386)-Belenkaya,D (2323) Sochi 2017}) 17. Nxd7 Bxc4 18. Nf6+ gxf6 19. bxc4 Be7 20. a4 Kd7 21. Rfd1+ Kc6 22. Rd5 Rd7 23. Rf5 Rhd8 24. h4 Rd6 25. Kf1 Re6 26. Ke2 Re4 27. Rc1 Re6 28. Rh5 Rh8 29. g4 b5 30. cxb5+ axb5 31. axb5+ Kxb5 32. g5 Rc8 33. Rxh7 fxg5 34. hxg5 Bxg5 35. Rxf7 Be7 36. f4 Bd6 37. Kf3 Rce8 38. Re1 Rh6 39. e4 Rh3+ 40. Kg4 Rh2 41. e5 Be7 42. Ba1 c4 43. e6 Kc6 44. Kf5 Kd5 45. Rd1+ Kc6 46. Be5 Rh5+ 47. Ke4 Rh6 48. f5 Rh4+ 49. Bf4 c3 50. Rc1 Bb4 51. Rc7+ Kb6 52. Rb1 Rxf4+ 53. Kxf4 Kxc7 54. Rxb4 Kd6 55. Rc4 Rg8 56. Rxc3 Rg1 57. Rd3+ {1-0 (57) Smirnov,P (2589) -Kozionov,K (2437) Kazan 2017}) 14... Ke7 15. Nbd2 Be6 16. Ne5 Rc7 17. Ndc4 b5 18. Na5 Bd7 19. a4 h5 20. f3 Rh6 21. e4 Ne8 22. Bc1 Rb6 23. Bg5+ f6 24. Ng6+ Kd8 25. Be3 Bd6 26. Nf4 Rb8 27. axb5 axb5 28. Nxh5 Be5 29. Rac1 Ra8 30. b4 cxb4 31. Bb6 Kc8 32. Bxc7 Nxc7 33. Nb3 Be6 34. Nc5 b3 35. Nxe6 b2 36. Nxc7 bxc1=Q 37. Rxc1 Bxc7 38. Nxg7 Kb7 39. Nf5 Bb6+ 40. Kf1 Ra2 41. Nd6+ Ka6 42. Rc6 Rf2+ 43. Ke1 Rxg2 44. Nc8 Kb7 45. Rxb6+ Kxc8 46. Rxb5 Rxh2 47. Rd5 Kc7 48. Rd2 Rh8 49. Kf2 f5 50. exf5 Rh5 51. Rd5 Kc6 52. Re5 Kd6 53. f4 Rh3 54. Re8 Kd7 55. Re3 Rh5 56. Kg3 Rxf5 57. Kg4 Rf8 58. Kg5 Rg8+ 59. Kh6 Rf8 60. Re4 Rh8+ 61. Kg6 Rg8+ 62. Kf7 Rg4 63. Rd4+ Kc6 64. Ke6 Kc5 65. Rd5+ {1-0 (65) Adhiban,B (2695) -Yakubboev,N (2556) Makati 2018}) 11. Bb2 Be7 12. Nc3 O-O 13. Qc2 b5 $146 ( 13... Qc7 14. Rad1 b5 15. Be4 Nb6 16. Bd3 Bb7 17. Ne4 Nxe4 18. Bxe4 Bxe4 19. Qxe4 Rbe8 20. Qe5 Qxe5 21. Bxe5 Rc8 22. Bd6 Rfe8 23. Bxe7 Rxe7 24. Rd6 Rb7 25. Rc1 f6 26. g4 Kf7 27. Nd2 Rbb8 28. Ne4 Ke7 29. h3 h5 30. Rdd1 c4 31. gxh5 Ke6 32. bxc4 Nxc4 33. Rd4 Rc6 34. Rcd1 Rbc8 35. Rd7 R8c7 36. Rd8 Rc8 37. Kg2 a5 38. R8d5 b4 39. R1d4 R8c7 40. Rb5 Rc8 41. Kg3 R8c7 42. Kf4 Rc8 43. Rdd5 Ra8 44. Rdc5 Rxc5 45. Nxc5+ Kd6 46. Ne4+ Ke6 47. Rb7 {1-0 (47) Romig,J (2141)-Domingo Gadea,J (1892) FICGS email 2018}) 14. Rfd1 (14. Rad1 $142 $14) 14... Qc7 15. a4 $6 (15. Rac1 $14) (15. Be4 $14) 15... h6 (15... b4 $142 16. Ne2 Nxd5 17. Rxd5 c4 $1 18. bxc4 b3 19. Qd1 Bf6 20. Rd2 $8 Bxb2 21. Rxb2 Nc5 $44) 16. axb5 axb5 17. Qe2 (17. Be4 {is, again, a good idea for White. Another good idea that's far less obvious:}) (17. Ba8 $5 {This clears d5 for the knight, and the obvious } Nb6 $4 {meets an amusing fate:} 18. Nxb5 $18 {wins Black's trapped queen.}) 17... Qb6 $11 18. e4 Re8 19. Qd2 $2 ({The position is equal, but not easy to play. One complicated, inhuman way to maintain equality is this:} 19. e5 Bf8 20. Ba8 Ba6 21. Nd5 Nxd5 22. Bxd5 Nf6 23. Bxf7+ Kxf7 24. Qc2 Ng4 25. Qf5+ Kg8 26. Qxg4 Rbd8 $44) 19... Bf8 $17 20. Qf4 b4 21. Na4 Nxd5 22. Rxd5 Qe6 $6 (22... Qc6 $142 $17) 23. Rad1 $2 $19 (23. Nxc5 $1 Bxc5 24. Rxc5 Nxc5 25. Qxb8 Qxb3 26. Bd4 Nxe4 27. h3 $11 {/=/+ Black's extra pawn should not be usable.}) 23... Ra8 {Not the only winning move, but a good and simple way to handle the position. Black's rook sidesteps the tactical tricks we saw in the last variation, and now White has to worry about his e-pawn and the undermining move ...c4. Superficially, White's position looks nice as his pieces are more aggressively posted, while almost all of Black's army remains on the back rank. The problem is that White's pieces aren't doing anything, and Black's are! Both of Black's rooks, for instance, are firing at genuine targets.} 24. Qc1 Qxe4 25. h3 Ra7 26. Qd2 Qg6 27. Nh4 Qe6 28. Nf5 c4 $2 {Thematic, but it gives White a tactical opportunity.} (28... Bb7 $1 29. Nxh6+ Qxh6 30. Qxh6 Bxd5 $3 31. Qg5 Bxb3 32. Rd3 Bc2 $1 33. Rg3 Ra6 $19 (33... Bg6 $19)) 29. Qd4 $2 (29. Bxg7 $1 Bxg7 30. Nxg7 Kxg7 31. Rd6 Qe7 $1 32. Qxh6+ Kg8 33. R6d4 Nf8 $1 34. Nb6 $1 Ra6 35. Rxc4 $17 {White doesn't enjoy full compensation for the piece, but it's not nothing, especially in time trouble.}) 29... Nf6 $19 {Now it's over for good.} 30. Nb6 ( 30. Nxh6+ gxh6 31. Qxf6 c3 $19 ({or} 31... Qxf6 32. Bxf6 c3 $19 {, but since White's queen can't do anything it's even better to entomb the white bishop.})) 30... c3 31. Nxc8 Qxd5 32. Qxd5 Nxd5 33. Nxa7 cxb2 34. Rb1 Re2 {There's no good answer to the threatened ...Nc3.} 0-1 [Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2022.01.22"] [Round "7.2"] [White "Rapport, Richard"] [Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B40"] [WhiteElo "2763"] [BlackElo "2767"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "57"] [EventDate "2022.01.14"] {[%evp 0,57,20,26,72,69,59,41,27,32,45,28,47,42,44,31,19,19,30,-10,10,4,10,4,8, 10,13,13,13,-4,-2,-23,-20,-9,-16,-20,51,-27,-6,-50,-58,-149,-169,53,24,40,35, 49,35,33,36,33,33,24,4,17,24,22,41,26]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. a3 {Not a bad system for White, at least as a comparatively fresh option. It has been used by Carlsen (who beat Mamedyarov with it), Caruana (multiple times), Anand (multiple times), Karjakin (multiple times) and Svidler (multiple times, including wins over both of the participants in this game).} d5 (6... Be7 {was the move chosen by Mamedyarov in both his losses, while}) (6... Qc7 {was what he played in a 2020 game with Caruana that finished in a draw.}) 7. exd5 (7. Bb5 {is usual, when play typically continues} Bd7 8. exd5 exd5 9. O-O Be7 10. Re1 {Possibly not the best move.} O-O {and here I'm not sure what the best move. The most common move is the natural 11. Bg5, but maybe 11.Be2, rerouting the bishop to f3 while keeping Black's pieces from g4, could be best. A third possibility is Stockfish's somewhat counterintuitive 11.Be3, which isn't a brilliant fit with 10.Re1.} 11. Be3) 7... Nxd5 8. Nxd5 Qxd5 9. Nxc6 (9. Be3 {is more common.}) 9... Qxc6 $146 { Probably best, though the other two obvious moves are also playable.} 10. Be3 Bd7 {Preparing ...Bc5.} (10... Bc5 $6 {would be fine for Black, were it not for the alert} 11. Qh5 $1 $16 {, the point being that} Bxe3 $4 12. Bb5 $18 { ends the game.}) 11. Qd2 (11. Qd4 $5 Qxc2 12. Bd3 $44) 11... Bc5 (11... Be7) 12. O-O-O Bxe3 13. Qxe3 Rc8 14. c3 Qc5 (14... O-O $2 15. Qxa7 $18) 15. Qg3 g6 { Black is always on the verge of finishing his development and equalizing, but with little pin-prick tactics White is frustrating Black's hopes for an easy life.} 16. Bd3 (16. h4 $14) 16... Ba4 17. Rd2 b5 $1 18. Qf4 a5 (18... O-O) 19. Qf6 O-O {Black has finally castled, and with ...b4 on tap we see that White is not guaranteed an easy, peaceful life either. In fact, he's on the verge of losing, and his next move is the only one that doesn't result in a loss.} 20. h4 $1 ({To give one example: if White plays the seemingly safe} 20. Bc2 $2 { , swapping off Black's aggressive bishop and shoring up the c-pawn, then Black wins after} Bxc2 21. Rxc2 b4 22. axb4 (22. h4 bxa3) 22... axb4 23. Rd1 Qa5 24. Kd2 Qd5+ 25. Qd4 Qxg2 $19) 20... b4 21. h5 $1 {Again the only move. Now Black's reply is also forced, as there's no other way to deal with the threat of h6 and mate on g7.} h6 $1 (21... bxc3 $4 22. h6 cxd2+ 23. Kxd2 $18) 22. axb4 (22. hxg6 {looks like it MUST be winning, but it's not.} bxc3 23. gxf7+ (23. Rxh6 $4 cxd2+ 24. Kxd2 Qc1+ 25. Ke2 Bd1+ 26. Kf1 Bf3#) (23. g7 $4 cxd2+ 24. Kxd2 Rfd8 $19 {This stops the Bh7+ Kxh7 R/Qxh6+ and R/Qh8# idea. It also comes with a handful of deadly threats, including ...Qc2+, so White is finished here. }) (23. bxc3 $5 {is playable, but} Qxa3+ 24. Rb2 Qxc3+ 25. Qxc3 Rxc3+ 26. Kd2 Rb3 $11 {leaves Black with the "more equal" position.}) 23... Rxf7 24. Qg6+ Kf8 25. Qxh6+ Ke7 26. Qh4+ (26. Re2 cxb2+ 27. Kb1 Rf6 28. Qg7+ Rf7 29. Qh6 $11 (29. Qxb2 $11)) 26... Kd6 27. Qg3+ Ke7 28. Qh4+ $11) 22... axb4 23. c4 Qg5 $8 24. Qxg5 $8 hxg5 25. hxg6 Bb3 $1 26. Rh5 Bxc4 27. Bxc4 Rxc4+ 28. Kd1 fxg6 29. Rxg5 {Assuming the whole game wasn't sitting in the players' laptops beforehand, it was an impressive performance by both of them.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2022.01.22"] [Round "7.3"] [White "Van Foreest, Jorden"] [Black "Vidit, Santosh"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E32"] [WhiteElo "2702"] [BlackElo "2727"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2022.01.14"] {[%evp 0,85,20,20,20,-7,4,4,25,-17,-8,-24,4,-35,-13,-19,0,21,13,12,14,-13,-31, -38,9,-17,-19,-3,-11,-16,0,-20,10,-15,17,-33,-18,-17,4,-11,-13,-31,-13,-30,-24, -38,-27,-44,-32,5,-1,-8,74,-30,-15,8,17,7,8,-23,0,0,0,0,0,0,2,0,12,23,22,21,32, 43,246,264,240,271,289,294,294,304,314,312,308,306,307,316]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 O-O 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 d5 7. Nf3 dxc4 8. Qxc4 b6 9. Bg5 Bb7 (9... Ba6) 10. Ne5 {Almost a novelty, and a novelty for professional play.} Qd6 11. e3 c5 $146 (11... Bd5 12. Qd3 Nbd7 13. Nxd7 Nxd7 14. f3 h6 15. Bf4 e5 16. dxe5 Nxe5 17. Qd4 Rfe8 18. e4 Nxf3+ 19. gxf3 Qxf4 20. Qxd5 Qxf3 {0-1 (20) Radovic,G (1837)-Milovanovic,S (2069) Nis 2019}) 12. Bf4 Qe7 13. dxc5 Rc8 14. Be2 Rxc5 $11 {So far, so good for Black.} 15. Qd4 {A draw offer?} Nd5 (15... Rd5 $142 {asks White if his last move is an invitation to repeat moves.}) 16. Bg3 f6 $2 {Black wants to achieve ...e5, which is positionally risky as it undermines the stability of his center (the knight on d5 in particular). If it doesn't "work", it's bad.} 17. Nc4 $2 (17. Nd3 $1 Rc8 18. O-O e5 19. Qg4 Nd7 20. Rfd1 $16) 17... Ba6 (17... Nc6 $11) 18. b3 Nc6 19. Qb2 e5 20. Rd1 (20. O-O $14) 20... Na5 $11 21. O-O Nxc4 22. bxc4 Nc7 23. Qb3 $6 (23. f4 $142) 23... Qe6 (23... Ne6 $142 $15) 24. f4 $1 exf4 $6 (24... Bxc4 25. Bxc4 Qxc4 26. Qxc4+ Rxc4 27. fxe5 Ne8 $1 28. Rd7 Re4 $1 $11) 25. Rxf4 $14 Re8 $2 (25... Qf7) (25... Rc8) 26. Bf2 $2 (26. Rfd4 $1 Qxe3+ 27. Qxe3 Rxe3 28. Rd8+ Kf7 29. Bd3 Ne6 30. Rd7+ Kg8 31. Bf2 $18) 26... Qf7 27. Rfd4 Bc8 (27... Ne6 $142 $11 {/=/+}) 28. Bg3 $14 Ne6 29. Rd5 Rxd5 30. cxd5 Nc5 31. Qc3 Ne4 $6 (31... Bd7 $11) 32. Qd4 Bd7 33. Bf4 g5 (33... h6) (33... Qg6) 34. Bc7 Kg7 35. Rf1 (35. Bf3) 35... Qe7 $6 (35... h6 $142 $11 {/+/=}) 36. Bh5 Rc8 $2 {White had been gaining ground, slowly, but after this very natural move Black's position is instantly lost.} (36... Rf8 $14 {/+/- Here} 37. d6 $6 Qe5 38. Qxe5 fxe5 {is nothing for White.}) 37. d6 Qe6 38. Bf3 Nc5 39. Bd5 Qe5 40. Qxe5 fxe5 41. Rf7+ {And there's the reason Black's rook had to be on f8.} Kg6 42. Rxd7 $1 {Crushing.} Nxd7 43. Be6 1-0 [Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2022.01.22"] [Round "7.4"] [White "Esipenko, Andrey"] [Black "Shankland, Samuel"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B48"] [WhiteElo "2714"] [BlackElo "2708"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "102"] [EventDate "2022.01.14"] {[%evp 0,73,20,25,56,46,46,28,28,47,42,44,71,88,64,63,62,57,55,-24,-14,-11,-17, -17,-17,-27,-28,-37,-8,-20,-41,-10,17,26,-7,33,33,29,34,51,33,30,32,35,46,-1, -10,-12,46,-17,-3,0,15,14,0,1,0,22,40,53,42,48,62,48,48,29,19,18,21,18,85,80, 195,154,151,108] A very lively game, in which Esipenko was pressing throughout and was probably winning at times. It's worth your while to reply and analyze it, and I will generously afford you that opportunity without prejudicing your thoughts with my own comments.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be3 a6 7. g4 b5 8. Nxc6 Qxc6 9. Qd2 b4 10. Ne2 Qxe4 11. Rg1 Qc4 12. Ng3 Qc7 13. O-O-O Ne7 14. Nh5 Nd5 15. Bd4 Rg8 16. Qd3 g6 17. Bg2 gxh5 18. Bxd5 Bb7 19. Bxb7 Qxb7 20. gxh5 Rxg1 21. Rxg1 Qd5 22. b3 f5 23. Qe3 Qe4 24. Qd2 Rc8 25. Kb1 f4 26. Qd1 d6 27. f3 Qd5 28. Qd3 Rc7 29. Re1 Re7 30. Re4 e5 31. Qxa6 Kf7 32. Bb2 Qd1+ 33. Bc1 d5 34. Re2 Rc7 35. Rf2 d4 36. Qb6 Rc3 37. Qb7+ Be7 38. Qe4 Ke6 39. Qxh7 Qg1 40. Qg6+ Qxg6 41. hxg6 Kf6 42. Bd2 Rc8 43. Rg2 Kg7 44. Re2 Bd6 45. h4 Rh8 46. Be1 Kxg6 47. Kc1 Ra8 48. Kd2 Rxa2 49. Kd3 Kf5 50. h5 Bf8 51. h6 Bxh6 1/2-1/2 [Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2022.01.22"] [Round "7.5"] [White "Duda, Jan Krzysztof"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D02"] [WhiteElo "2760"] [BlackElo "2792"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "106"] [EventDate "2022.01.14"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Bf4 g6 4. e3 Bg7 5. Be2 O-O 6. Nbd2 c5 7. c3 b6 (7... Nc6 {is the most common move, but Black may have some problems after the crude and direct} 8. dxc5 {.}) 8. Ne5 Nfd7 (8... Ba6 $5) 9. h4 Nxe5 $146 10. Bxe5 Nc6 (10... Nd7 {may improve, so that after White takes on g7 and plays h5 the knight can help with the kingside defense after ...Nf6.}) ({Still another approach is not to deal with h4-h5, but to prevent it.} 10... h5) 11. Bxg7 Kxg7 12. h5 $14 Qd6 13. Qa4 (13. dxc5 bxc5 14. Qa4 $14 {followed by 15.0-0-0 gives White a nice position, with possibilities of kingside pressure as well as pressure against Black's c- and d-pawns.}) 13... cxd4 14. exd4 Bf5 (14... Bd7 $142) 15. Nf1 $1 g5 16. Ne3 Bd7 17. h6+ $16 {White is clearly better, thanks to the "AlphaZero pawn" on h6.} Kh8 18. Qb3 e6 19. Rd1 $6 (19. a4 $142) (19. O-O-O $142) 19... Rac8 (19... f5 $142) 20. Qc2 $6 (20. c4) 20... f5 21. c4 $1 Ne7 $1 22. Qc3 Ng6 23. b3 (23. c5 $1 Qe7 24. b4 $11) 23... Qe7 24. g3 $6 { Moves like this are often dangerous. Yes, it keeps the Black knight out of f4, but the danger is that if and when Black can achieve ...f4 - and this is hardly a pie-in-the-sky possibility - the board will explode with Black pieces chasing White's king.} Bc6 (24... Qf6 $142 $17) 25. Rh5 Qf6 26. Rd2 Ne7 $17 27. Nc2 $2 f4 $19 {And there we go.} 28. gxf4 gxf4 29. Kd1 Be8 (29... Nf5 $142) ( 29... dxc4 $142) 30. Rh3 Bg6 31. Ne1 Bf5 32. Rh1 dxc4 33. bxc4 b5 34. c5 Nd5 35. Qb2 b4 {White's pieces are almost comically bad, but it still isn't that easy to break through.} 36. Bd3 a5 $2 (36... e5 $1 $19 37. dxe5 $2 Qc6 $1 { is the sneaky point, threatening ...Nc3+ (followed by ...Qxh1) as well as the banal ...Qxc5. White's a goner here.}) 37. Kc1 $17 Nc3 38. Nf3 Rfd8 $2 { Caruana's bad form in the tournament continues.} 39. Qc2 $11 (39. Bxf5 $142 Qxf5 40. Re1 $16 {now favors White, who stands better and is ready to park his knight on the glorious e5 square. It's surprising that White can be so well off with that knight on c3 spreading gloom around White's king, but he is.}) 39... Bxd3 (39... Bg4 40. Ne5 Rxc5 $1 41. dxc5 Qxe5 $11) 40. Rxd3 Rd5 41. Ne5 $6 (41. Rxc3 $5 bxc3 42. Qe4 Rcd8 43. Rg1 Qxh6 44. Kc2 Qf6 45. Rh1 Qf5 46. Qxf5 Rxf5 47. Re1 $11) 41... Nb5 42. Rhd1 $4 {Unless it was due to lag in transmission, Duda took quite a while before making this blunder.} (42. Qb2 $1 Nxd4 (42... Qf5 43. Rhd1 Kg8 44. f3 Rxe5 45. dxe5 Rxc5+ 46. Kb1 Na3+ 47. Ka1 Nc2+ 48. Kb1 Na3+ $11 (48... Ne3 49. Ka1 Nxd1 50. Qg2+ Qg6 51. Rd8+ Kf7 52. Qd2 $11)) 43. Rxd4 Rcxc5+ 44. Kb1 Qxe5 45. Rxf4 $1 {Duda may have missed this move. } Qxb2+ 46. Kxb2 Rd2+ 47. Kb1 Rf5 48. Rxf5 exf5 49. Rc1 $11 {gives White sufficient counterplay to draw (easily).}) 42... Nxd4 {Of course.} 43. Rxd4 Rcxc5 44. Rxd5 Rxc2+ 45. Kxc2 exd5 46. Rxd5 Kg8 47. Rxa5 Qf5+ (47... Qxh6 $4 48. Ra8+ Kg7 49. Ra7+ {and there's no way for Black to avoid a perpetual check without losing his queen.} Kf8 50. Ra8+ Ke7 51. Ra7+ Ke8 (51... Kd8 $4 52. Nf7+ $18) (51... Ke6 $4 52. Ra6+ $18) 52. Ra8+ Ke7 $11) 48. Kb3 Qb1+ 49. Kc4 Qe4+ 50. Kb3 f3 51. Nc4 Qb1+ 52. Ka4 Qxa2+ 53. Kb5 (53. Kxb4 Qxf2 {Covering the a7 square.}) 53... b3 {A nice touch.} (53... Qxf2 $19 {is also possible.}) (53... b3 54. Rxa2 bxa2 {and Black makes a new queen. White doesn't have to take on a2, but there isn't anything constructive for him to do instead of this.}) 0-1 [Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2022.01.22"] [Round "7.6"] [White "Grandelius, Nils"] [Black "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C42"] [WhiteElo "2672"] [BlackElo "2743"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "74"] [EventDate "2022.01.14"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Be3 Nd7 8. Qd3 {While 8.Qd2 is very normal, this is not. It had only been played once before, out of 538 prior opportunities.} Nc5 $146 9. Bxc5 dxc5 10. Qxd8+ Bxd8 { As this could also happen after 8.Qd2, we've reached a position that has happened before. But just barely - there's no good reason for White to take on c5 in that case.} 11. Bc4 $146 O-O 12. O-O-O {Again back to a tiny amount of previous practice.} Re8 $146 (12... Bg4) 13. Rhe1 Rxe1 14. Rxe1 Bd7 {The position is equal, but it isn't guaranteed to stay that way. White has completed his development, but if he can't do anything with it Black could start to harbor some slight hopes thanks to his pair of bishops. White hits on a radical solution that's probably not entirely sound.} 15. h4 (15. g3 Kf8 16. Ne5 Be8 17. f4 {is one way to (try) to skin the proverbial cat, grabbing as much space as possible while Black is untangling. But it looks nicer than it really is: Black will push White back a little at a time, e.g.} Be7 18. Bd5 c6 19. Bf3 Rd8 {followed sooner or later by ...f6 and more small moves that oust White's pieces, gain a little more space, creep forward, and so on. Maybe Black isn't better, but his position is more "improvable". White will always be the one aiming to hold the position.}) 15... Kf8 16. Ng5 $6 {This is of course the point of the previous move. White's knight hits both f7 and h7, and if Black takes on g5 the draw can be agreed to right away. That's the good news; the bad news comes in the game.} b5 $1 {White's bishop cannot stay on the a2-g8 diagonal, and if it retreats to d3 or f1 Black plays ...h6, driving the knight back, and White's whole plan will have been in vain. Nevertheless, it's what Grandelius should have played, but he was consistent.} 17. Nxh7+ $6 Kg8 18. Bd3 Bxh4 19. g3 $8 Bd8 20. f4 $8 f6 $15 {/-/+ For better or for worse - just kidding, it's entirely for worse - White has executed his plan. His reward is that he didn't win a pawn, but will have to worry about his stranded knight for a long time to come.} 21. Bg6 c6 $6 {A strange move, making it harder for Black's rook to enter the game.} (21... Rb8 $1) 22. c4 $5 {This move makes sense, aiming to stop Black's queenside blob from advancing (...c4, ...c5, and then ...Rb8-b6 etc.). Neither is he afraid of Black "winning" the pawn and accepting tripled pawns.} (22. f5 $1 $11 {This is an important move, killing Black's light-squared bishop.}) 22... bxc4 (22... Bc7 23. Re7 Rd8 24. b3 $8 Bd6 $15) 23. c3 $6 (23. f5 $1) 23... Bc7 24. Re3 $2 {So you're probably wondering why I've been giving the move f4-f5 an exclamation point. Here's your chance to learn the answer. Black had one and only one winning move here, and it's this:} (24. Re7 Rd8 25. f5 Bxg3 $17) 24... Rd8 $2 (24... Bh3 $3 { What's the idea? It's ...Bg2-d5, and once that piece is alive and kicking White will have more problems than he can handle. (One in particular is the possibility of ...Kh8 followed by ...Bg8.)} 25. Kd2 Bd6 $1 26. Ke1 Bg2 27. Kf2 Bd5 28. f5 Rb8 29. Re2 Kh8 30. Rd2 a5 31. Re2 a4 32. a3 Kg8 33. g4 (33. Rd2 Rb7 34. Re2 Re7) 33... Bf4 $1 34. Rc2 Kh8 35. Re2 Bg8 36. Kf3 Bh6 $19) 25. f5 $1 $11 {Finally! Now Black can no longer win, despite the ridiculous knight on h7. } Bc8 26. Kc2 Be5 27. g4 Rd3 28. Re4 Rd5 (28... Rg3 {is playable, but has the drawback of allowing} 29. Ng5) 29. a4 a5 30. Re2 Bd7 31. Re4 Bd6 32. Re3 Re5 33. Rxe5 Bxe5 {Here we see yet another reason why Black's bishop needed to go to h3 on its way to d5. In that scenario, Black would put the bishop on e7, then play ...Kh8 and ...Bg8, game over. Here, thanks in part to the unfortunate pawn on c6, Black's bishop cannot safely reach the a2-g8 diagonal. Put another way, his light-squared bishop is as useless as White's knight.} 34. Kb1 Bf4 35. Kc2 Bc8 36. Kb1 Ba6 37. Ka2 Be3 1/2-1/2 [Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2022.01.22"] [Round "7.7"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Dubov, Daniil"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2772"] [BlackElo "2720"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "1"] [EventDate "2022.01.14"] {[%evp 0,1,23,20]} 1. d4 {Game of the year? It ranks up there - it's not every day that a super-GM loses in one move. Perhaps Dubov gave Giri too much credit - even if Giri is winning here, would he have found all the right moves? The actual story, of course, has nothing to do with chess. From what I understand at this point, Dubov had been around someone who subsequently tested positive for COVID. Dubov was then tested as well, and his test came back negative; moreover, he was asymptomatic. Nevertheless, the organizers asked him to wear a mask for his game with Giri, pending the results of a PCR test. Dubov refused, and as that was a requirement for playing, refused to show up. Dubov is expected to play the next round. Maybe something can be worked out where Giri plays Dubov on the next rest day? We'll see.} 1-0