[Event "FTX Road to Miami KO 2022"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.07.14"] [Round "1.13"] [White "Xiong, Jeffery"] [Black "Rapport, Richard"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E16"] [WhiteElo "2691"] [BlackElo "2764"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "94"] [EventDate "2022.07.14"] [EventType "k.o."] {[%evp 0,94,21,25,25,-16,-14,1,28,-13,14,16,19,25,23,21,5,15,10,10,3,10,37,27, 26,27,37,3,12,7,-9,-9,23,-19,-19,-6,9,-37,-40,-37,-47,-34,-20,-14,-11,-9,-13, -27,-1,-19,-12,-13,-5,-13,-9,-5,-9,-16,-16,-16,-21,-24,-35,-45,-48,-16,15,-107, -69,-36,-60,-108,-67,-67,-67,-88,-95,-94,-79,-113,-113,-82,-78,-87,-27,-184, -184,-189,-165,-248,-224,-224,-255,-270,-285,-301,-367]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 a5 7. O-O O-O 8. a3 Bxd2 9. Qxd2 d6 10. Nc3 Ne4 11. Nxe4 Bxe4 12. Qe3 Bb7 13. b4 Nd7 14. b5 Re8 15. Rfd1 Qf6 16. Ne5 dxe5 17. Bxb7 Rad8 18. d5 $6 (18. dxe5 Nxe5 19. c5 $14) 18... Nc5 19. Bc6 Rf8 20. Ra2 Rd6 21. Rad2 Rfd8 22. dxe6 fxe6 23. Kg2 $6 (23. Rxd6 $11) 23... Kf8 (23... Rd4 $1) 24. Kg1 (24. Rxd6) 24... Ke7 (24... Rd4) 25. Kg2 h6 26. h4 Qf5 27. Qc3 Qf6 28. Qe3 Rd4 $1 {Finally. Unfortunately for White, it's still strong.} 29. Qc3 R8d6 30. e3 $4 {Natural, to get rid of the annoying rook on d4, but the weakening of f3 and d3 proves fatal.} Rxd2 31. Rxd2 e4 $19 32. Rd4 Nd3 $2 ( 32... Nb3 {wins on the spot.}) 33. f4 (33. Bxe4 Qxf2+ 34. Kh3 Ne5 {is still winning, though not as easily as 32...Nb3 would have.}) 33... exf3+ 34. Bxf3 Nc5 $19 35. Bc6 a4 36. Qc2 Rxd4 37. exd4 Qxd4 38. Qg6 Qb2+ 39. Kh3 Qf6 40. Qe8+ Kd6 41. Kg2 Ke5 $1 {The king is not only fine, it's got something to do as it heads for White's queenside pawns.} 42. Bf3 Kd4 43. Qc8 Qe5 44. Qd8+ Kc3 45. Qd1 Kb2 46. Kh3 Kxa3 47. Qd2 Nb3 0-1 [Event "FTX Road to Miami KO 2022"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.07.14"] [Round "1.13"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Duda, Jan-Krzysztof"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A07"] [WhiteElo "2760"] [BlackElo "2750"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "86"] [EventDate "2022.07.14"] [EventType "k.o."] {[%evp 0,86,25,25,19,-5,35,41,28,18,62,71,40,54,99,28,38,57,64,64,61,50,90,56, 49,67,76,50,97,102,137,107,116,65,62,57,70,26,90,90,77,77,83,83,71,82,82,29,29, 49,23,29,88,26,26,-6,9,-17,-2,9,59,24,24,24,13,3,38,15,38,38,38,38,0,0,0,0,0, -119,-145,-207,-187,-270,-157,-251,-292,-628,-628,-629,-718] The other three games in the match were drawn, so this one decided the winner.} 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 b6 3. Bg2 Bb7 4. O-O g6 5. d4 Bg7 6. c4 Nf6 7. cxd5 O-O 8. Re1 Bxd5 9. Nc3 Bb7 10. e4 Na6 11. Bg5 h6 12. Bf4 e6 13. Qd2 Kh7 14. Rad1 Qe7 15. a3 Rfd8 16. b4 c5 17. bxc5 Nxc5 18. Qc2 Ncxe4 19. Nxe4 Bxe4 20. Rxe4 Rac8 21. Qd3 Nxe4 22. Qxe4 Qxa3 23. h4 {Black is lost, but this is rapid chess.} Qa4 24. Rd2 Qc6 25. Qe3 Qe8 26. Kh2 (26. Qb3) (26. Bf1 {followed by Bd3 is a nice idea - we'll see this in the game.}) 26... a5 27. Bf1 b5 28. Bd3 b4 29. h5 Rc3 30. hxg6+ fxg6 31. Ne5 $6 (31. Be5 $142) (31. Qe2 $142) 31... a4 32. Qe4 (32. Rc2 $142) 32... Kg8 33. Qb7 Rb8 34. Qa7 (34. Qh1 {is a computer move, of course, but we can see the advantage in its great flexibility. The queen might return to b7 or e4, but might swing across to d1 or b1.}) 34... Ra8 35. Qb7 Rb8 36. Qa7 Ra8 37. Qb6 Rb8 38. Qa5 $4 (38. Qd6 $18 {kept what *should* be a winning advantage, which doesn't mean that cashing in will be easy.}) 38... g5 $19 39. Bg6 (39. Be3 Qh5+ 40. Kg2 Rc1 {is the basic problem. The threat is 41...Qh1#, and in case of} 41. Bf1 g4 42. Qa6 Qh3+ 43. Kg1 {Black pushes White over the edge with a mass liquidation followed by the advance of his queenside passers:} Rxf1+ 44. Qxf1 Qxf1+ 45. Kxf1 Bxe5 46. dxe5 b3 47. Bd4 a3 $19) 39... Qb5 40. Qa7 Qb7 41. Bf7+ Kf8 42. Qa5 Ra8 43. Nd7+ Kxf7 0-1 [Event "FTX Road to Miami KO 2022"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.07.14"] [Round "1.13"] [White "Erigaisi, Arjun"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D27"] [WhiteElo "2689"] [BlackElo "2775"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2022.07.14"] [EventType "k.o."] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Bxc4 a6 6. O-O c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 {It's hard to believe Aronian, down a point, will win in this line - but he does.} 9. Be2 Ke7 10. Ne5 Nbd7 11. Nc4 a5 12. Bf3 g5 13. Nc3 (13. g3 $142 $14) 13... g4 14. Bd1 (14. Be2 $142 $11) 14... b6 $15 15. Na4 Ba6 16. b3 Bb4 $5 17. Naxb6 Nxb6 18. Nxb6 Bxf1 19. Nxa8 Ba6 20. Nb6 (20. Nc7 $142 Bd3 21. Bb2) 20... Rd8 21. Bc2 Ne4 22. Nc4 (22. Bxe4 $4 Rd1#) 22... f5 23. Ba3 $2 (23. Ne5) 23... Bxc4 $2 (23... Bxa3 $1 24. Nxa3 Nc3 $19) 24. Bxb4+ axb4 25. bxc4 Rd2 26. Bxe4 fxe4 {If White could eliminate Black's b-pawn, he would be in no danger of losing even to Stockfish, even if it came at the cost of his a- and c-pawns. Unfortunately for him, he can't make that happen, but the position is still drawn with correct play.} 27. h3 (27. Kf1 Kd6 28. Ke1 Rc2 29. Rd1+ Kc5 30. Rd2 Rc1+ 31. Rd1 Rxc4 32. Kd2 $11) 27... Kd6 (27... g3 $5) 28. hxg4 Kc5 29. g5 (29. f4) 29... Kxc4 30. g3 $6 (30. Rc1+ Kd3 31. Rc7 Rxa2 32. Rb7 Kc3 33. Rc7+ Kb2 34. Rxh7 b3 35. Kh2 Ka1 36. g6 Ra8 37. Kg3 b2 38. Rh1+ b1=Q 39. Rxb1+ Kxb1 40. Kf4 $11) 30... Kc3 31. Kg2 Kb2 32. Rh1 Rd7 33. Rh4 Kxa2 34. Rxe4 b3 35. Rxe6 Rb7 36. Ra6+ Kb1 {The last critical moment of the game. White can still draw with the right move.} 37. g6 $2 {White understandably wants to create connected passers straight away. On this occasion, it's a mistake.} (37. f4 $1 b2 38. Kf3 Kc2 39. Ra2 Kd3 40. Rxb2 Rxb2 41. f5 $1 Rb1 42. g6 hxg6 43. fxg6 Rb6 44. Kf4 $1 Rxg6 45. g4 {is may not "feel" like a draw, but it is one. Black's rook would be much better on g1 than it is on g6; as the old rule of thumb rightly says, one should (generally) put one's rook behind passed pawns, whether one's own or the opponent's, and not in front of the pawns.} Rg8 46. g5 Kc4 47. Kf5 Kd5 48. g6 Kd6 49. Kf6 Rf8+ 50. Kg5 $1 Ke7 51. g7 Rf3 (51... Ra8 52. Kg6 Rg8 53. e4 $1 Ra8 54. e5 Rb8 55. Kh7 Kf7 56. e6+ Kxe6 57. g8=Q+ Rxg8 58. Kxg8 $11) 52. g8=N+ $1 {The only drawing move, but one is enough.} Ke6 53. Nh6 Rxe3 $11 {and this is not a position where the rook will win against the knight, or even come close to doing so.}) 37... hxg6 38. Rxg6 b2 39. Rh6 Kc2 40. Rh1 Rd7 (40... b1=Q 41. Rxb1 Rxb1 $8 42. g4 Kd3 43. Kf3 Rb4 44. g5 Ra4 45. Kg3 Ke4 46. Kg4 Ra1 $19) (40... Rd7 {does not force promotion, though it's still winning.} 41. Re1 Rd1 42. Re2+ Kc3 43. Rxb2 Kxb2 {still wins, even though Black's king is a file further away than in the 40...b1Q line.}) 0-1 [Event "FTX Road to Miami KO 2022"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.07.14"] [Round "1.14"] [White "Sevian, Samuel"] [Black "Wei, Yi"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B06"] [WhiteElo "2684"] [BlackElo "2727"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "194"] [EventDate "2022.07.14"] [EventType "k.o."] {[%evp 0,141,34,29,73,73,114,86,114,40,62,16,14,20,13,1,26,5,31,8,44,-38,86, -32,-24,-14,-14,-94,-65,-65,-51,-10,10,-30,-17,-28,-25,-12,-20,-45,15,8,49,17, 28,-23,-18,38,38,38,38,50,46,18,36,-6,48,33,64,91,91,42,78,20,50,39,97,86,134, 53,48,22,35,9,56,35,70,35,50,56,92,25,76,53,54,42,51,-205,-278,-278,-278,-278, -278,-278,-278,-278,-278,-340,-280,-306,-306,-313,-320,-338,-338,-447,-366, -328,-314,-439,-436,-487,-340,-407,-331,-422,-419,-424,-441,-490,-253,-290, -290,-378,-240,-262,-282,-305,-311,-336,-220,-230,-220,-238,-191,-207,-215, -227,-216,-219,-266,-284,-304,-319] All Sevian needs is a draw with White to advance. What could go wrong?} 1. d4 g6 2. e4 Bg7 3. Nc3 a6 4. g4 {Probably not the way to play in a situation where a draw will suffice.} d6 5. Bg2 Nc6 6. d5 Nd4 7. g5 h6 8. h4 e5 9. Nce2 (9. Nb1 $1 {is the best way to prepare c3, embarrassing the Nd4.}) 9... c5 $2 (9... Nxe2) 10. Ng3 f5 11. gxf6 Nxf6 12. c3 Nb5 13. Bh3 $16 {/+- White has a big positional advantage. Match victory is in the bag...} O-O 14. h5 g5 15. Bxc8 Rxc8 16. Be3 $2 (16. Nf3 $18 {is better, looking to dominate the light squares on the kingside with Nh2-g4. (It's useful to throw in a4 as well, keeping plusses on both sides of the board.)}) 16... Nc7 $6 (16... Qd7) 17. f3 $2 b5 18. N1e2 Qd7 19. Qd2 Nh7 20. Rf1 Na8 21. b3 a5 $2 (21... Nb6) 22. a4 Nb6 23. axb5 Qxb5 24. Qa2 Ra8 25. c4 Qd7 26. Qc2 Nf6 27. Rh1 a4 28. b4 $2 (28. bxa4 Rxa4 29. Rxa4 Nxa4 30. Nf5 $16) 28... Qc7 $2 (28... cxb4 $1 29. Bxb6 b3 30. Qc3 Qb7 31. Ba5 g4 $1 32. fxg4 Nxg4 33. Rg1 a3 34. Rxa3 b2 35. Kd2 b1=Q (35... b1=N+ 36. Rxb1 Qxb1 37. Qb4 {Otherwise White would be dead lost.} Rfb8 38. Qxb1 Rxb1 $17)) 29. bxc5 dxc5 30. Nf5 $18 a3 31. Qc1 (31. Kf2 $142 $18) (31. Neg3 $142 $18) (31. Bc1 $142 $18) 31... a2 (31... Ne8 32. Rxa3 Rxa3 33. Qxa3 Nxc4 34. Qxc5 Nxe3 35. Qxe3 Nd6 $16) 32. Qc2 Ra4 33. Rxa2 Rxc4 34. Qb1 (34. Qd3) 34... Rb4 35. Qc2 Nc4 36. Bc1 Qd7 37. Neg3 Rfb8 38. Kf1 Bf8 39. Kg2 Kh7 40. Qc3 Qf7 41. Bd2 $2 (41. Ra6 $18) 41... Nxd2 $14 42. Qxd2 c4 $2 (42... g4 43. Qe2 gxf3+ 44. Qxf3 Rb2+ 45. Rxb2 Rxb2+ 46. Kh3 c4 $14) 43. d6 $4 (43. Qc3 $16) (43. Rc2 Ra4 44. Qc3 $16) 43... c3 $1 $19 44. Qf2 (44. Qxc3 Qxa2+ {is the relevant point that demonstrates why 43.d6 was so bad.}) 44... Rb2 45. Rxb2 Rxb2 46. Ne2 Nxh5 (46... Qc4) 47. Rxh5 Qxh5 48. d7 g4 $1 ( 48... Rd2 {was also winning, so it's not that Sevian had simply missed 48...g4. }) 49. fxg4 (49. d8=Q Qh3+ 50. Kg1 Rb1+ {mates.}) 49... Qxg4+ 50. Nfg3 Be7 51. Qf7+ Qg7 52. Qc4 Bh4 53. Kh3 Bd8 54. Qc8 Qg5 55. Qc4 Qg7 56. Qc8 Qe7 57. Kg2 Qg5 58. Qc4 c2 59. Kf3 c1=Q 60. Qf7+ Qg7 61. Qf5+ Qg6 62. Nxc1 Rd2 63. Nce2 Rd3+ 64. Kf2 Bh4 65. Qxe5 Rxd7 66. Kg2 Bxg3 67. Nxg3 Qg4 68. Qf5+ Qxf5 69. exf5 Rd3 70. Nh5 Kg8 71. Nf6+ Kg7 72. Ng4 Rd5 73. Ne3 Rd4 74. Kf3 Kf6 75. Kg3 Kg5 76. Kf3 h5 77. Kg3 Rf4 78. Kg2 h4 79. Nd1 Rxf5 80. Nf2 Ra5 81. Nh3+ Kh5 82. Nf2 Rg5+ 83. Kh2 Rg3 84. Ne4 Re3 85. Nf2 Kg5 86. Kg2 Rg3+ 87. Kh2 Kf4 88. Nh3+ Kg4 89. Nf2+ Kf3 90. Nd3 Ke3 91. Ne1 Kf2 92. Nc2 Rg4 93. Na1 Rg2+ 94. Kh3 Rg1 95. Nc2 Rh1+ 96. Kg4 Rc1 97. Na3 h3 0-1 [Event "FTX Road to Miami KO 2022"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.07.14"] [Round "1.14"] [White "Rapport, Richard"] [Black "Xiong, Jeffery"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B50"] [WhiteElo "2764"] [BlackElo "2691"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "223"] [EventDate "2022.07.14"] [EventType "k.o."] {[%evp 0,223,34,14,92,40,86,54,37,1,35,-11,6,20,31,31,34,6,8,9,37,38,26,-25, -23,9,21,4,20,4,24,12,40,16,23,13,48,14,1,1,31,12,30,-3,-10,-4,33,5,33,-5,-4, -68,-18,13,-6,17,-11,-14,-11,2,-25,-5,1,-39,-49,-17,-23,-69,-46,-66,-56,-79, -70,-70,-65,-104,-11,-131,-124,-204,-141,-273,-283,-268,-267,-259,-57,-78,-99, -109,-68,-75,-86,-106,-103,-113,-114,-108,-103,-108,-106,-109,-76,-61,-62,-63, -63,-62,-59,-59,-59,-59,-59,-61,-59,-130,-103,-92,-107,-373,-107,-107,-107, -107,-107,-107,-107,-107,-107,-161,-107,-107,-107,-418,-107,-107,-45,-91,0,0,0, -92,-56,-34,-37,-17,-21,-37,-21,-10,-10,-21,0,-37,-35,-117,-78,-262,-139,-140, -140,-140,-150,-132,-132,-99,-110,-140,-140,-125,-94,-128,-71,-81,-81,-83,-72, -72,-72,-77,0,-81,-77,-163,-192,-126,0,-126,-128,-143,-141,-141,-141,-191,0, -137,-57,-73,-40,-40,-39,-46,-46,-56,-43,-52,-32,-27,-27,-26,-27,-20,-20,-26, -19,-14,-12,-14,-10,-14,-14,-10,-10,-10,-10,-10]} 1. Nf3 c5 2. e4 d6 3. c3 Nf6 4. Be2 Bd7 5. Qc2 Bc6 6. d3 g6 7. O-O Bg7 8. Nbd2 Nbd7 9. d4 cxd4 10. Nxd4 O-O 11. Rd1 Qc7 12. Nxc6 bxc6 13. Nf1 Nc5 14. Bf3 a5 15. Be3 Nfd7 16. Be2 a4 17. Nd2 d5 18. b4 axb3 19. axb3 e6 20. b4 Nb7 21. Rac1 Nd6 22. Bf4 Ne5 23. Bg3 Qb6 24. Kh1 Ra3 25. c4 dxc4 26. f4 Nd3 27. Nxc4 Nxc4 28. Rxd3 Ne3 29. Qd2 Rxd3 30. Qxd3 Rd8 31. Rxc6 Qxc6 32. Qxd8+ Bf8 33. Qd2 Qxe4 34. Bf3 Qb1+ 35. Qe1 Qb3 36. b5 Nf5 37. Qf1 Bd6 (37... Bc5 $19) 38. b6 Qxb6 $19 39. Be4 Qc5 (39... Qe3 40. Bxf5 gxf5 41. Qc4 h6 42. Qf1 Kg7 43. Qc4 h5 44. Qf1 Kg6 45. Qc4 Be7 46. Qf1 h4 47. Be1 Qc1 {Threatening ...Bb4.} 48. Qg1 Qxf4 $19) 40. Qe1 Nxg3+ 41. hxg3 Qh5+ 42. Kg1 g5 $2 (42... Bc5+ 43. Kf1 Bb6 $1 {followed by ...Qc5 should still win.} ) 43. Qa5 $11 Qd1+ 44. Kh2 Be7 45. Bf3 Qd4 46. fxg5 Kg7 47. Bh5 Bd6 48. Kh3 Qe3 49. Bf3 Be5 50. Qb4 Qc1 51. Qh4 Qh1+ 52. Kg4 Qb1 53. Kh3 Qh1+ 54. Kg4 Qe1 55. Kh3 Kf8 56. Kh2 Qe3 57. Qxh7 Qxg5 58. Qh3 f5 59. Be2 Ke7 60. Bf3 Kd6 61. Bh5 Kd5 62. Bf7 Qg7 63. Bh5 Qg5 64. Bf7 Kd6 65. Bh5 Kc5 66. Bf7 Kd5 67. Be8 Ke4 68. Bf7 Qf6 69. Qh5 Kd4 70. Kh3 Kc5 71. Qg6 Qh8+ 72. Qh5 Qg7 73. Qg6 Qh8+ 74. Qh5 Qf6 75. Qg6 Qd8 76. Qh5 Qd7 77. Bg6 Qd2 78. Bxf5 $5 exf5 (78... Qe1 $1 79. Qh4 exf5 {comes down to whether White can give perpetual check (or trade queens). If not, he's going to be mated on g3 or h1.} 80. Qe7+ Kc4 81. Qe6+ Kd4 82. Qd7+ Ke3 83. Qa7+ Kd2 84. Qa5+ Kd1 85. Qxe1+ Kxe1 86. Kh4 {and White will get rid of Black's last pawn, with a draw.}) 79. Qxf5 Qh6+ 80. Kg4 Kd6 81. Qd3+ Ke7 82. Qf5 Qh8 83. Kf3 Qa8+ 84. Kg4 Qa4+ 85. Kh3 Qa1 86. Qh7+ Kd6 87. Qd3+ Ke6 88. Qg6+ Bf6 89. Qe4+ Kf7 90. Qh7+ Kf8 91. Qe4 Qh1+ 92. Kg4 Kg7 93. Qd5 Qc1 94. Kh3 Qh6+ 95. Kg4 Qg6+ 96. Kf3 Kh6 97. Qe4 Qh5+ 98. g4 Qa5 99. g5+ Bxg5 100. Qe6+ Kg7 101. Qd7+ Kf8 102. Qd6+ Be7 103. Qh6+ Ke8 104. Qg6+ Kd8 105. Qg8+ Kd7 106. Qg4+ Kc7 107. Qc4+ Bc5 108. Qf7+ Kd8 109. Qd5+ Kc7 110. Qf7+ Kd8 111. Qd5+ Kc7 112. Qf7+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "FTX Road to Miami KO 2022"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.07.14"] [Round "1.14"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Erigaisi, Arjun"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B50"] [WhiteElo "2775"] [BlackElo "2689"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "101"] [EventDate "2022.07.14"] [EventType "k.o."] {[%evp 0,101,34,20,46,52,92,80,109,66,49,42,42,-2,25,-11,-9,-30,4,-16,1,1,32,6, 9,-18,-15,-20,-3,-3,-5,-5,-1,-15,-13,-17,5,-8,8,-41,-18,-51,-45,-37,-38,-25, -47,-32,-25,-52,-37,-42,-46,-40,-50,-30,-29,-67,-81,-61,-15,-27,-34,17,-24,0,0, 0,0,0,0,0,21,23,23,27,37,52,52,0,99,99,98,115,118,86,98,117,111,118,128,133, 132,132,132,982,1013,1016,1016,1016,1111,1162,1192,1246]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 e6 5. O-O Be7 6. Nbd2 O-O 7. Re1 Nc6 8. c3 Na5 9. Bb5 Bd7 10. Bxd7 Qxd7 11. Nf1 b5 12. d4 cxd4 13. cxd4 d5 14. e5 Ne4 15. Ng3 Nxg3 16. fxg3 Rac8 17. Rf1 Nc6 18. Rf2 a5 19. g4 a4 20. h4 f6 21. exf6 Bxf6 22. g5 Be7 23. Be3 Bd6 24. Rc1 Ne7 25. Rxc8 Rxc8 26. Rc2 Nf5 27. Bf2 Ng3 28. Ne5 Bxe5 29. dxe5 Nf5 30. h5 Rxc2 31. Qxc2 d4 {A good move, though it commits Black to sacrificing this pawn.} 32. Qd3 Qd5 33. g4 Ne3 (33... Ne7 34. Qxd4 Qxd4 35. Bxd4 Nc6 36. Bc3 Kf7 {followed by ...g6 is unloseable for Black, though also with scant chances to play for a win. Unfortunately for him, he wanted more.}) 34. Bxe3 dxe3 35. Qc2 (35. Qxe3 Qd1+ 36. Kf2 Qxg4 $11) 35... Qd8 (35... g6) ( 35... Kf8) (35... Qd4) 36. g6 $1 {Allowing this was not a good idea for Black. It's still "officially" equal, but the reality is that Black's margin for error is now very narrow.} hxg6 37. hxg6 b4 38. b3 axb3 39. axb3 Qa8 (39... Kf8 $142 $11) 40. Kh2 Qb8 $2 (40... e2 $8 41. Qxe2 Qa1 $11 {is apparently still a draw. Black's intention is to play 42...Qb1 and 43...Qxg6.}) 41. Qe4 $18 { It's over White will win the advanced e-pawn for free, while Black's king remains in its death trap.} Qc8 42. Kg2 e2 43. Qxe2 Qc6+ 44. Kg3 Qc1 45. Qf2 Qc7 46. Kh4 Qb7 47. Qf7+ $1 {Well calculated. White returns the pawn to reach a winning king and pawn ending.} Qxf7 48. gxf7+ Kxf7 49. Kh5 {Such a huge space advantage is almost invariably winning.} g6+ 50. Kh6 g5 51. Kh5 { Simplest.} (51. Kxg5 {also wins - Black was making a small bluff.} Kg7 52. Kh5 Kh7 53. g5 Kg7 54. g6 Kg8 {and from here White wins with a textbook example of triangulation.} 55. Kg4 Kf8 56. Kh4 Kg8 57. Kh5 {and Black is in zugzwang; he must either allow White to promote the g-pawn or else lose the e-pawn.}) 1-0 [Event "FTX Road to Miami KO 2022"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.07.14"] [Round "1.22"] [White "Wei, Yi"] [Black "Sevian, Samuel"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A01"] [WhiteElo "2727"] [BlackElo "2684"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "93"] [EventDate "2022.07.14"] [EventType "k.o."] {[%evp 0,93,39,-6,1,-13,-19,-35,-14,-13,-2,-26,-23,-30,21,-4,6,12,26,15,41,47, 33,32,29,29,34,34,36,31,34,27,46,28,120,110,91,110,110,112,104,95,95,84,330, 320,49,37,55,47,64,64,62,34,34,2,46,29,42,50,45,23,109,125,99,129,138,61,63,49, 58,40,113,82,82,80,169,97,180,207,205,444,614,1185,1588,29984,29987,29984, 29985,29986,29987,29988,29989,29990,29997,29998]} 1. b3 (1. e4) 1... d5 2. Bb2 Bf5 3. d3 e6 4. Nd2 Nf6 5. g3 h6 6. Bg2 Be7 7. Ngf3 O-O 8. O-O Bh7 9. Qe1 c5 10. Ne5 Nfd7 11. Nxd7 Qxd7 12. e4 Nc6 13. f4 Rac8 14. Qf2 Nb4 15. Rfc1 dxe4 16. Nxe4 Nc6 $4 (16... b5 $15) 17. Nxc5 {Oops.} Qc7 18. Ne4 Rfd8 19. a3 a5 20. Rf1 Bxe4 21. Bxe4 Nd4 22. Bxd4 Rxd4 23. Kh1 Bf6 24. Rac1 Rd6 25. c4 Bd4 26. Qe2 Bc5 $2 {Sevian hopes to hold up White's queenside majority, but now his kingside is lacking protection.} 27. f5 Bxa3 28. Ra1 Bb4 29. Qg4 exf5 30. Rxf5 Rg6 31. Qh5 Bc3 32. Raf1 $2 (32. Bd5 $18) 32... Rf6 $14 33. Bd5 Qe7 34. Qg4 Re8 35. d4 Rxf5 $2 {Despite everything that has happened so far, Sevian could still save this game and force an Armageddon playoff to decide the match. Alas, this final error finishes things.} (35... Qd7 36. h3 Re7 37. Rxf6 Qxg4 38. hxg4 gxf6 $11) 36. Qxf5 $18 Rf8 37. Qd3 Bb2 38. Kg2 Qd6 39. Rf2 Qa3 40. Qg6 Bxd4 41. Rxf7 Kh8 42. Be4 Kg8 43. Bd5 Kh8 44. Be4 Kg8 45. Rxb7 Rf2+ 46. Kh3 Qd6 47. Qh7+ (47. Qh7+ Kf8 48. Qh8#) 1-0 [Event "FTX Road to Miami KO 2022"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.07.14"] [Round "1.22"] [White "Rapport, Richard"] [Black "Xiong, Jeffery"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B15"] [WhiteElo "2764"] [BlackElo "2691"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "2022.07.14"] [EventType "k.o."] {[%evp 0,65,16,25,72,74,69,44,36,47,38,26,24,14,17,13,31,10,27,34,44,29,78,40, 65,56,48,48,89,89,92,19,45,-17,133,83,83,200,208,210,198,203,388,404,419,419, 379,417,417,345,335,335,343,347,407,336,396,374,415,415,395,367,447,410,445, 380,373,369]} 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Qd3 $1 {A good move under the circumstances: a draw is as good as a win, so White keeps the imbalances and the mess to a minimum.} g6 $5 6. Nxf6+ $5 exf6 7. Nf3 Be6 8. Be2 Bg7 9. Qa3 Bf8 10. Qc3 Qd5 11. O-O Na6 12. Bxa6 bxa6 13. b3 Bd6 14. Bh6 Rg8 15. Be3 Kd7 16. Rad1 Qh5 17. Ne5+ Ke7 18. Bf4 fxe5 19. dxe5 Ba3 20. Qa5 Bb2 21. Qc5+ Ke8 22. Qxc6+ Kf8 23. Qxa8+ Kg7 24. Rd8 Rxd8 25. Qxd8 h6 26. Qd2 g5 27. Bg3 Ba3 28. f4 gxf4 29. Qxf4 Qe2 30. Qf2 Qe4 31. Bf4 Bd5 32. Qg3+ Kh7 33. Qd3 1-0