[Event "FIDE World Cup 2023"] [Site "Baku AZE"] [Date "2023.08.16"] [Round "6.2"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Gukesh, D."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B22"] [WhiteElo "2835"] [BlackElo "2744"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "117"] [EventDate "2021.07.30"] [EventType "k.o."] {[%evp 0,117,30,15,40,4,9,6,-8,-8,-5,-5,11,31,50,36,36,45,45,38,28,22,28,30,19,29,16,11,30,27,54,70,20,47,49,49,30,24,86,38,12,1,0,-15,2,15,-1,0,20,-6,-20,-43,-11,-27,-28,-33,-45,-52,-43,-44,3,-57,-57,-48,-71,-60,-73,-64,-87,-74,-91,-75,-73,-89,-89,-95,-96,-96,-90,-99,-94,-100,-107,-96,-98,-94,-89,-90,-81,-91,-87,-86,-84,-75,-76,-82,-88,-104,-100,-126,-124,-133,-122,-131,-122,-123,-129,-129,-129,-129,-129,-129,-129,-129,-125,-118,-81,-82,-83,-83]} 1. e4 c5 2. c3 {A good choice against the Sicilian when a draw is desirable. That said, it's no guarantee - see the Erigaisi-Praggnanandhaa game from today's action.} d5 (2... Nf6 {is the other main line, but there are other playable options like}) (2... e6 {with a good French (and one where Black has avoided the Exchange Variation) and even the very provocative}) (2... e5 {, used successfully by Carlsen and Caruana in rapid games in the last two months.}) 3. exd5 Qxd5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 e6 6. Be2 (6. Na3 {is the most popular move at the moment.}) 6... cxd4 7. cxd4 Nc6 8. O-O Be7 9. Nc3 Qd6 10. Nb5 Qd8 11. Bf4 Nd5 12. Bg3 O-O {All this has happened almost 300 times - it's still in the mainstream of Alapin theory.} 13. Rc1 (13. Bc4 {used to be the main move, but seems to have gone out of business due to} a6 14. Bxd5 exd5 15. Nc7 Rb8 {, when lines like} 16. Ne5 Bf6 17. Rc1 Bxe5 18. Bxe5 Bf5 19. Qf3 Nxe5 20. Qxf5 Nc6 21. Nxd5 Nxd4 $11 {offer White no winning chances at all. Of course, Black has no winning chances either, so it would have been an acceptable option in this game.} 22. Qe4 Ne2+ 23. Qxe2 Qxd5 24. b3 Rfe8 25. Qd1 Qxd1 26. Rfxd1 Re2 27. a4 h5 28. Re1 Rxe1+ 29. Rxe1 b5 30. g3 g6 31. axb5 Rxb5 32. Re8+ Kg7 33. Ra8 Rxb3 34. Rxa6 {½-½ Xu,Y (2502)-Xue,H (2341) CHN-chT DivA Fuling 2023 (11.2)}) 13... Bd7 14. Nc3 ({Here's a recent game between two young superstars, one of whom is still alive and well in the World Cup:} 14. Nd6 Bxd6 15. Bxd6 Nce7 16. Ba3 Re8 17. Ne5 Ng6 18. Qd2 Ngf4 19. Bf3 Bb5 20. Rfd1 Qf6 21. Bd6 Rad8 22. Ng4 Qf5 23. Bxf4 Qxf4 24. Ne3 Bc6 25. Nxd5 Qxd2 26. Rxd2 Bxd5 27. Rc7 Kf8 28. Bxd5 exd5 29. g4 Re7 30. Rdc2 Ke8 31. Kg2 Rxc7 32. Rxc7 Rd7 33. Rc8+ Rd8 34. Rc3 Rd6 35. h4 Kd7 36. Ra3 Rb6 37. Rxa7 Rxb2 38. Kf3 Ke6 39. Ra8 h6 40. Ke3 Rc2 41. Re8+ Kd6 42. h5 Rc3+ 43. Kf4 Rd3 44. Rg8 Rxd4+ 45. Kf5 Rd2 46. f4 d4 47. Rxg7 Ke7 48. Ke4 Rxa2 49. Rg8 Rd2 50. Rb8 Kf6 51. Rxb7 Re2+ 52. Kxd4 Rg2 53. Rb6+ Kg7 54. g5 hxg5 55. h6+ Kh7 56. fxg5 Rxg5 57. Rf6 Rg6 58. Rxf7+ Kxh6 {½-½ Abdusattorov,N (2734)-Praggnanandhaa,R (2690) Dusseldorf WR Masters 2023 (4)}) 14... Qb6 $146 (14... Rc8 $11 {looks objectively best. Alapin specialist Stevic faced it twice this year, getting nothing against it.} 15. Nxd5 exd5 16. Qb3 Qb6 17. Qxb6 axb6 18. Bb5 f6 (18... Bf6 19. Rfe1 Be6 20. Be5 Be7 21. Bf4 Bf6 22. Be5 Be7 {½-½ Stevic,H (2565)-Gajewski,G (2589) Bundesliga 2223 Germany 2022 (6.5)}) 19. Rfe1 Kf7 20. Bf4 g5 21. Be3 Bf5 22. a3 Na5 23. Nd2 Be6 24. Bd3 f5 (24... h6 $142 $11) 25. Nf3 f4 26. Bd2 (26. Rxc8 $142 Rxc8 27. Ne5+ Kf6 28. Bd2 $11 {/?}) 26... Nb3 $2 (26... Rxc1 27. Rxc1 h6 $11) 27. Rxc8 Rxc8 28. Bc3 $16 h6 29. Ne5+ Kf6 30. Nc4 $14 (30. Be2 $142 $16) 30... dxc4 31. d5+ Kf7 32. dxe6+ Kf8 33. Bg6 Bd6 34. Bf6 Be7 35. Bc3 Bd6 36. Bf6 Be7 37. Bc3 {½-½ Stevic,H (2565)-Gupta,A (2607) Bundesliga 2223 Germany 2022 (8.3)}) 15. Bc4 Nf6 16. Na4 $14 Qa5 $146 (16... Qd8 17. Nc5 Bc8 18. Bb5 Qb6 19. Qa4 Nxd4 20. Nxd4 Bxc5 21. Nb3 Bd6 22. Bh4 Nd5 23. Rfd1 Be5 24. Rc2 a6 25. Be2 Qd6 26. Bg3 Bxg3 27. hxg3 Bd7 28. Qh4 Rac8 29. Rcd2 Qb6 30. Bd3 h6 31. Be4 Bc6 32. Nd4 Nf6 33. Bxc6 bxc6 34. g4 Rfd8 35. g5 hxg5 36. Qh3 c5 37. Nc6 Rxd2 38. Ne7+ Kf8 39. Ng6+ fxg6 40. Rxd2 {0-1 Hernandez Sanchez,E (2308)-Andres Gonzalez,A (2515) San Sebastian op 38th 2015 (6)}) 17. Nc5 Bc8 18. a3 Qd8 (18... Nxd4 $1 19. b4 Nxf3+ 20. Qxf3 Qb6 21. Rfd1 a5 22. Na4 $1 Qc6 23. Qd3 $3 Qxa4 $1 24. Bb5 Qxd1+ 25. Rxd1 axb4 26. axb4 Bxb4 27. Be5 $14) 19. Bb5 (19. Ba2 $142 $16) (19. Bd3 $142 $16) 19... Qb6 $11 {/?} 20. a4 Rd8 21. Qe2 {Setting a nice trap.} Rd5 (21... Nxd4 $6 22. Nxd4 Rxd4 23. Nb3 {attacks the rook *and* threatens Bc7.} Re4 $8 24. Qxe4 Nxe4 25. Bc7 Qxb5 26. axb5 Bd7 27. b6 $16) 22. Bxc6 {Not objectively best, but maybe Carlsen believed that this would lead to positions where Black's potential winning chances are lessened.} (22. Rfd1 $142 Nh5 23. Be5 f6 24. Bg3 Nxg3 25. hxg3 Nxd4 26. Rxd4 Rxc5 27. Rcd1 e5 28. b4 Rxb5 29. axb5 Be6 30. Re4 $11 {/?}) (22. Na6 $142 $5 {is a spectacular move that's easy to miss. The knight can't be captured, and meanwhile White threatens both Nc7 and Bc7. Fortunately for Black, there's an answer:} Bd6 {, with equality.}) 22... Qxc6 23. b3 Rd8 (23... Qb6) 24. Bh4 Qd5 25. Rfe1 b6 26. Ne4 Bb7 27. Bxf6 Bxf6 28. Nxf6+ gxf6 29. Qe3 Rac8 30. h3 $6 (30. Qf4 $142 $11) 30... Qf5 $1 $15 31. Nh2 $6 (31. Nd2 $142) 31... Qg5 (31... Kg7 $142 $15 {/?}) 32. Ng4 Kg7 33. a5 Qxe3 (33... h5 $142) 34. Nxe3 $1 {Carlsen gives up the d-pawn, because doing so lets him swap off all the queenside pawns. The resulting ending with all the pawns on the kingside should be comfortably drawn - and that's just what happens.} Rxd4 35. Rxc8 Bxc8 36. Rc1 Bd7 37. Rc7 bxa5 38. Rxa7 a4 39. bxa4 Bxa4 40. Ra5 $1 Kg6 ({Black would like to play} 40... f5 {before White gets in g4, but this allows the tactical shot} 41. Rxf5 $1) 41. g4 $1 Bc6 42. Rc5 Be4 43. Kh2 Rd3 44. Kg3 f5 45. Kf4 f6 46. gxf5+ Bxf5 47. Nxf5 exf5 48. f3 (48. Rxf5 Rxh3 {is also drawn, but there's no reason why Carlsen should give up the h-pawn for one of Black's doubled f-pawns.}) 48... Rd4+ 49. Kg3 Kg5 50. Rc2 h5 51. Ra2 f4+ 52. Kg2 {White has a fortress.} Kh4 53. Kh2 Rd7 54. Rb2 Rd3 55. Kg2 Kg5 56. Rb5+ f5 57. Rb2 Kf6 58. h4 Ke5 59. Kf2 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE World Cup 2023"] [Site "Baku AZE"] [Date "2023.08.16"] [Round "6.2"] [White "Erigaisi, Arjun"] [Black "Praggnanandhaa, R."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B22"] [WhiteElo "2710"] [BlackElo "2690"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "150"] [EventDate "2021.07.30"] [EventType "k.o."] {[%evp 0,150,30,11,40,13,28,-2,8,24,14,16,12,18,18,28,34,40,44,30,25,42,42,29,24,6,26,4,16,24,17,16,16,14,12,32,32,-7,0,-12,-18,-33,-33,-10,-20,-20,-28,-6,0,0,0,-38,-18,-48,-32,-30,-34,-33,-31,-33,-23,-23,-22,-21,-16,-51,-26,-9,-8,-7,-39,-11,-7,0,0,0,0,0,-66,-24,-14,-7,0,0,-40,-81,-83,-132,-85,-206,-123,-214,-121,-121,-149,-226,-373,-382,-413,-413,-413,-413,-413,-410,-420,-410,-410,-410,-410,-410,-410,-418,-407,-414,-414,-434,-449,-536,-565,-565,-544,-656,-486,-520,-565,-565,-693,-802,-796,-1002,-1011,-1011,-1011,-1011,-1002,-1002,-1011,-1012,-1012,-1012,-1012,-1390,-1397,-1458,-1458,-1458,-1531,-1894,-2328,-28614,-2398,-1914,-1914]} 1. e4 c5 2. c3 {It worked for Carlsen - see the last game - but it's hard to guarantee a draw against a determined opponent.} Nf6 3. e5 Nd5 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. d4 (5. Bc4) 5... cxd4 6. cxd4 d6 7. Bc4 Nb6 8. Bb5 Bd7 (8... dxe5 {is the main line and a reliable equalizer. The problem, however, is not to equalize but how to create a position with non-trivial winning chances.} 9. Nxe5 Bd7 10. Nxd7 Qxd7 11. Nc3 e6 12. O-O {etc.}) 9. Nc3 dxe5 10. dxe5 g6 11. O-O Bg7 12. Qe2 O-O 13. h3 (13. Rd1) (13. Bf4) 13... Be6 $146 (13... a6) ({and} 13... Qc7 {are usual.}) 14. Rd1 (14. Re1) 14... Qc7 15. Bf4 Rad8 16. Rac1 Nd5 (16... Rxd1+ 17. Rxd1 Rd8 18. Bxc6 Rxd1+ 19. Qxd1 bxc6 $11 {is "best", but all these trades bring White closer to the coveted draw.}) 17. Nxd5 Bxd5 18. Nd4 (18. Bxc6 $1 $14) 18... Qb6 19. Nxc6 (19. Bxc6 $142 bxc6 20. b3) 19... bxc6 20. Bc4 Bxc4 21. Qxc4 Rxd1+ 22. Rxd1 Qxb2 23. e6 Qf6 24. Be3 Qxe6 25. Qxe6 fxe6 {Black is up two pawns, but his pawns are so weak (and one can be safely taken straight away) that the position is equal. Equal...but not dead.} 26. Bxa7 (26. Rd7 Kf7 27. Rxa7 {looks more natural to me, but there's nothing really wrong with Erigaisi's move.}) 26... Ra8 27. Rd7 Kf7 28. a4 $2 {But there is something wrong with this, and an alert Praggnanandhaa notices it.} (28. Kf1 $142 Be5 29. Bc5 {is perfectly okay for White, as after} Rxa2 {he can play} 30. Rxe7+ Kf6 31. Rxh7 {as} Ra1+ {isn't mate.}) 28... Be5 $1 29. Kf1 (29. Bc5 Rxa4 30. Rxe7+ Kf6 $19 31. Rxh7 $4 Ra1# {shows why 28.Kf1 was best.}) 29... Bd6 $17 {Now Black can play for a win. White no longer has ideas based on Bc5, and on top of that the bishop is awkward on a7 - thus the comment on move 26. White is in real trouble now, even if it's still a draw with best play.} 30. Ke2 e5 $1 31. Kd3 Ke6 32. Rb7 Kd5 33. f3 c5 34. a5 $8 {Otherwise ...Kc6 won material.} Rf8 $2 {A big mistake, allowing White to disentangle his uncoordinated mess on the queenside.} (34... g5 35. a6 h5 36. g3 {Else ...h4.} Rf8 37. Ke3 h4 38. g4 Rd8 {Intending ...Kc4.} 39. Kd3 Ra8 40. Rd7 (40. Ke3 c4 $19) (40. Kc3 e4 $19) 40... Kc6 41. Rb7 Rf8 42. Ke3 Rf4 $19 {The rook is heading to a4, after which everything will be easy.}) 35. a6 $6 (35. Rb2 $1 Rf4 36. Ra2 $11) (35. Rb1 $1 $11 {is also good, with the same idea.}) 35... Ra8 $15 36. Kc3 $2 (36. h4 $1 {had to be played. The importance of kingside space will become clear later on.} h6 37. Rd7 $1 {White doesn't want to move his king if he can avoid it, as it restricts Black's king.} Ke6 38. Rb7 Kf5 39. Ke3 {Black has no easy way to make progress. Note too that a move like} h5 {is useful in some respects - it prevents g4+ ideas and fixes White's pawn on a dark square - but it also takes away some of Black's flexibility on the kingside and may lead to several pawn exchanges, which will generally bring White closer to a draw. Still, White must play accurately, a task made necessary, but also easier to achieve, by the paucity of viable moves at his disposal.} 40. Rd7 $1 c4 41. Kd2 $1 c3+ $5 {lets Black eliminate White's a-pawn, but that also does White a favor as his rook and bishop have been tied down for the sake of its preservation.} (41... e4 42. fxe4+ Kxe4 43. Rb7 Kd5 44. Kc2 $1 $15) 42. Kxc3 Rc8+ 43. Kd2 Rc6 44. Be3 Rxa6 $15) 36... g5 $1 $19 37. Kd3 h5 38. Kc3 e4 $1 {Black's king will head for - and collect - White's kingside pawns.} 39. fxe4+ Kxe4 40. Kc4 Kf4 41. Kb5 h4 42. Rd7 Kg3 43. Bb6 (43. Bxc5 Bxc5 44. Kxc5 Rxa6 45. Rxe7 (45. Rd5 Ra5+ $19) 45... Kxg2 46. Rg7 Kxh3 47. Kd4 (47. Rxg5 Ra5+ $19) 47... g4 $19) 43... c4 (43... Rxa6 {is a little computer-y, but it makes a lot of sense and is very obviously winning. After} 44. Kxa6 Kxg2 {White's pieces are embarrassingly far away from the kingside, and the bishop and the rook practically have to get through an obstacle course just to pretend to slow down Black's g- and h-pawns.} 45. Rd8 Kxh3 46. Ba5 g4 47. Be1 g3 48. Rh8 {looks like the best try, with a bonus hope-for-a-miracle thrown in (48...g2?? 49.Rxh4#!). Black can finish things off with} Kg4 49. Rg8+ Kf3 50. Rh8 g2 {, after which everything is elementary.} 51. Rf8+ Bf4 52. Bd2 {is what passes for a "try", but after} e5 {it's time for White to call it quits.}) 44. Bc7 Bxc7 (44... Kxg2) 45. Rxc7 Kxg2 46. Rc5 Rg8 47. a7 Kxh3 48. Ka6 g4 49. Kb7 g3 {Winning by only one tempo. It's surprising that Erigaisi has managed to make it this interesting, but it's not quite interesting enough.} 50. Rc8 Rxc8 51. Kxc8 g2 52. a8=Q g1=Q 53. Qf3+ Qg3 54. Qh1+ Kg4 55. Qe4+ Qf4 56. Qe2+ Kh3 57. Qxe7 c3 58. Qe1 Qf3 59. Qc1 Kh2 60. Qc2+ Kg3 61. Qc1 Qc6+ 62. Kb8 Qd6+ 63. Kc8 Qc5+ 64. Kb7 c2 65. Qe1+ Qf2 66. Qe5+ Kh3 67. Qe6+ Kh2 68. Qe5+ Qg3 69. Qc5 h3 70. Ka6 (70. Qxc2+ Qg2+ {is a typical winning motif in queen endings: the cross-check.}) 70... Qd3+ 71. Ka7 Qd2 72. Qe5+ Kh1 73. Qe4+ Qg2 74. Qf4 Qg1+ 75. Ka6 c1=Q {On to tiebreaks!} 0-1 [Event "FIDE World Cup 2023"] [Site "Baku AZE"] [Date "2023.08.16"] [Round "6.2"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D33"] [WhiteElo "2782"] [BlackElo "2739"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "187"] [EventDate "2021.07.30"] [EventType "k.o."] {[%evp 0,187,28,-23,14,19,18,16,13,16,16,7,7,7,20,3,13,13,13,19,5,10,8,8,7,12,15,22,18,20,26,11,11,3,13,19,9,6,11,11,20,15,29,1,13,13,13,13,12,13,30,20,33,35,44,25,29,25,47,0,0,0,13,16,30,5,29,48,41,49,43,39,82,86,86,94,87,85,115,89,129,106,106,94,103,109,130,124,133,131,131,128,150,153,160,147,143,160,157,151,156,155,156,156,156,162,150,140,132,109,118,152,159,159,288,130,130,130,154,144,180,174,163,108,106,75,182,267,330,331,336,342,302,272,299,299,282,316,291,287,283,243,285,264,293,238,288,278,302,328,358,358,342,310,350,373,377,381,508,588,592,611,795,829,29983,29984,29985,546,580,390,425,407,407,361,578,495,495,495,495,421,425,428,448,544,631,633,1015,1016,1242,1252]} 1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. g3 d5 5. cxd5 exd5 6. d4 Nc6 7. a3 (7. Bg2 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Bc5 9. Be3 (9. Nb3 {is usual.}) 9... Qb6 10. Na4 Qb4+ {This idea is what 7.a3 is aimed against.} 11. Bd2 Qxd4 12. e3 Qe5 13. Nxc5 Qxb2 14. O-O O-O 15. Nd3 Qa3 16. Bc1 $44) 7... cxd4 8. Nxd4 Bc5 9. Be3 Bb6 10. Na4 Bxd4 11. Bxd4 O-O 12. Bg2 Re8 ({Black has played other moves, such as} 12... Ne4 {as in Bluebaum-Lysyj from this past March.}) 13. Nc3 Bf5 $146 14. O-O Ne4 {Transposing to Bluebaum-Lysyj. Here White played 15.Rac1, but we'll see that game one more time.} 15. Re1 $146 Qd7 16. Rc1 {Bluebaum-Lysyj once again.} Rad8 17. Nxe4 $146 {The last novelty of the game. In fact any move would have been a novelty, because Bluebaum and Lysyj agreed to a draw after 16...Rad8.} Bxe4 18. e3 Bxg2 19. Kxg2 Re4 20. Bc3 Qe6 21. Qf3 h6 22. Red1 Ne7 (22... b6 $142) 23. Rd2 b6 24. Rcd1 Nc6 25. h3 Rd7 26. Qh5 Ne7 27. Rd3 a5 28. R3d2 Rc4 29. Qf3 Rdc7 30. Rd4 Rxd4 31. Rxd4 Rc4 $6 32. a4 $6 (32. Rxc4 $1 dxc4 33. Qg4 Qc6+ $8 34. e4 $14 {/?}) 32... Qc6 (32... Rxd4 $142 33. Bxd4 Nc6 $1 $11 34. Bxb6 Ne5 35. Qf4 Nd3 $1 36. Qd4 Ne1+ $1 37. Kf1 Nf3 38. Qc5 d4 $1 $11 (38... Qe4 $11)) 33. Rxc4 Qxc4 34. Bd4 (34. Qf4 $142 $14) 34... Qxa4 35. Qg4 Ng6 (35... g6 $11 {looks dangerous, but is apparently okay.}) 36. Qc8+ Kh7 37. Qf5 Kg8 38. Qxd5 b5 $2 {Now Dominguez gets into trouble.} (38... Qc2 $11 {/?} 39. Qd8+ Kh7 40. Qxb6 Qe4+ $1 41. Kh2 Qc2 $11 {leaves White unable to keep the extra pawn without allowing some sort of repetition.}) 39. h4 $16 {/+-} Qd1 40. Qa8+ Kh7 41. Qxa5 {White is up a very good pawn, has the better minor piece and has targets while Black has very little opportunity for counterplay.} Qg4 42. Kf1 Qd1+ 43. Qe1 Qd3+ 44. Qe2 Qf5 45. Kg2 Nf8 46. Qf3 Qd7 47. Qe4+ f5 48. Qf3 Ng6 49. Bc3 Ne7 50. e4 Kg8 51. exf5 Nxf5 52. Qa8+ Kf7 53. h5 Ne7 54. Bb4 Nd5 55. Qf8+ Ke6 56. Qg8+ Ke5 57. Bd2 Kd4 58. Qh7 Qe7 59. Kg1 b4 $2 60. b3 $1 Qe5 61. Qc2 Qxh5 62. Bxb4 Qf3 (62... Nxb4 63. Qc4+ Ke5 64. Qxb4 $18) 63. Ba3 Ke5 64. Bb2+ Kd6 65. Bxg7 h5 66. Bd4 h4 67. Qg6+ Kd7 68. Qh7+ Ne7 69. Qxh4 Qxb3 70. Qg4+ Kd6 71. Qe4 Qb5 72. Kg2 Qh5 73. g4 Qb5 74. Bf6 Nd5 75. Be5+ Kd7 76. Kg3 Ne7 77. Bf6 Nd5 78. Qf5+ Ke8 79. Qe6+ Kf8 80. Be5 Qd3+ 81. f3 Qd1 82. Bd6+ Kg7 83. Bc5 Nf6 84. Qe5 Kf7 85. Bd4 Nd7 86. Qe4 Nf8 {White has many ways to win - eventually - but the ideal is to do so in a way that doesn't allow any counterplay. Caruana finds a nice way to achieve that aim.} 87. Bc5 Ng6 88. Qc4+ $1 {A nice way to end Black's resistance. Black cannot both save his knight and avoid a queen trade.} Kg7 (88... Ke8 89. Qe6+ Kd8 90. Bb6# (90. Qxg6)) 89. Qd4+ Qxd4 90. Bxd4+ {The rest is Dominguez reconciling himself to the inevitable.} Kf7 91. f4 Ne7 92. f5 Nd5 93. g5 Ne7 94. Kg4 {Black is in zugzwang - any move other than 94...Nxf5 or 94...Ng6 allows White to make progress 95.g6+, and then later he'll repeat the procedure to achieve f7+ with promotion to follow.} (94. Kg4 Nc6 95. g6+ Ke8 96. Bb2 Ne7 97. Kg5 Nc6 98. f6 Nd8 99. Kf5 Kf8 100. Ba3+ Ke8 101. Bb4 {Zugzwang again.} Kd7 102. f7 Ne6 103. Ke5 {etc.}) 1-0 [Event "FIDE World Cup 2023"] [Site "Baku AZE"] [Date "2023.08.16"] [Round "6.2"] [White "Abasov, Nijat"] [Black "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D02"] [WhiteElo "2632"] [BlackElo "2719"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "87"] [EventDate "2021.07.30"] [EventType "k.o."] {[%evp 0,87,30,29,36,28,27,26,24,21,52,2,46,28,37,19,59,35,25,8,13,42,50,18,53,42,36,34,36,49,23,37,48,55,39,39,31,35,11,24,35,11,12,31,-13,18,36,36,22,18,33,31,31,49,49,52,58,51,60,30,111,96,167,175,234,262,268,273,369,317,350,285,423,518,594,604,602,530,748,787,784,832,923,923,928,968,1472,1501,29999,-30000]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Bf4 c5 4. e3 Nc6 5. Nbd2 e6 6. c3 Be7 {The main idea is to play ...Nh5 without allowing Bg5.} 7. h3 (7. Bd3) (7. Ne5) 7... Bd6 {A well-known trick. When Black plays 6...Bd6 instead, White plays 7.Bg3 and Black won't capture because it opens the h-file. Now, however, there's no sense to 8.Bg3 (or 8.Bh2, for that matter).} 8. dxc5 Bxc5 9. Bd3 Bd6 10. Bxd6 Qxd6 {White doesn't have much here, if anything, but there's enough life in the position to keep the game going.} 11. Qc2 Ne5 $6 $146 {It doesn't matter much yet, but Black hasn't developed a new piece in quite a while.} (11... h6 $142 $146 {=}) (11... O-O $142 $11) 12. Nxe5 Qxe5 13. O-O $14 Bd7 14. e4 {Again, it's not much - yet - but White gets a little initiative now thanks to Black's delayed development.} dxe4 15. Nxe4 Nd5 (15... Bc6 $142 16. Nxf6+ gxf6 17. Rfe1 Qc7 18. Rad1 O-O-O 19. Be4 $14) 16. Rfe1 Bc6 17. Rad1 O-O-O $2 {Vidit must have been very unhappy with his position to do this, as it's very easy to see how White can build an attack on the queenside. It's hard to believe he would do this unless he thought that all the saner options were even worse. In fact things weren't that bad, though Black's position does have a precarious feel to it. Now Abasov does the obvious thing, preparing and executing an attack on the queenside.} (17... Qc7) (17... Rd8) 18. Bf1 $16 {/+- Sidestepping any ...Nf4 business, which would now lose the queen.} ({There was nothing wrong with the caveman approach:} 18. b4 $16 {/+-}) 18... Kb8 (18... Nf4 $4 19. Nd6+ $18) 19. Qd2 $2 (19. Ng3 Qc7 20. c4 Nf6 21. b4 {was the way to go. Sure, it's a pity to retreat the knight to g3, but it keeps Black bottled up, and now White can hit the accelerator on the queenside.}) 19... Qc7 $6 (19... Nf6 {is natural and correct. Perhaps the issue was that both players thought} 20. Nd6 {would be bad for Black, but he has a trick:} Ne4 $1 21. Nxf7 Qf6 $1 {, and White has nothing better than} 22. Nxd8 Nxd2 23. Nxc6+ bxc6 24. Rxd2 Kc7 $11 {/?, which should be fine for Black.}) (19... Qf4 $14 {isn't as good as 19...Nf6, but it's (a) better than the text and (b) leaves Black much better off than he would have been had White not played 19.Qd2. So it's hard to understand what Abasov was thinking there.}) 20. Nc5 $16 (20. Qc2 $142) 20... h6 $2 {Did someone abduct Vidit and replace him with a body double? What is this?} (20... Ne7 {could and should have been played right away.} 21. Qg5 {is presumably the point behind 20...h6, but so what?} Nf5 $14 {is where the knight wanted to go in any case (see the game!) and covers the g7 pawn as well.}) 21. c4 $16 {/+-} (21. b4 $18 {is even better.}) 21... Ne7 22. Qc3 (22. Qb4) 22... Nf5 (22... Bxg2 $2 23. Na6+ $1 bxa6 24. Bxg2 $18 {helps White far more than it does Black.}) 23. b4 Rxd1 24. Rxd1 Rd8 (24... Rc8 {was a bit better, freeing the queen from the task of defending the bishop while also serving as prophylaxis against b4-b5.} 25. b5 $4 Bxb5 $11) 25. Rxd8+ Qxd8 26. b5 $18 Be8 27. a4 (27. g3) 27... Kc8 28. Nb3 f6 29. a5 Qd1 30. Qb4 {Even with limited material and the bishop stuck on f1, White has a winning attack. It's not just the queen and the knight, but the pawns as well: they will participate in the attack, and they also keep Black's pieces away. (If, for example, Black could safely anchor his bishop on c6, it would be great for both defense and attack - there would be ideas with ...Nh4.)} b6 31. axb6 axb6 32. c5 bxc5 33. Qxc5+ Kb8 34. Qb6+ Kc8 35. Qxe6+ Bd7 36. Qc4+ Kd8 (36... Kb8 37. b6 Qd6 38. Qa6 $18) 37. b6 Qd6 38. Qg8+ (38. b7) 38... Ke7 39. b7 Be8 40. Bb5 (40. Nc5) 40... Qd1+ 41. Kh2 Qd6+ 42. g3 Bf7 {Showing a nice sense of humor.} 43. b8=Q Bxg8 44. Qe8# {A good game by Abasov, excepting 19.Qd2?, but Vidit was unrecognizable.} 1-0