[Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Douglas"] [Date "2019.10.15"] [Round "6"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Fedoseev, Vladimir1"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B31"] [WhiteElo "2812"] [BlackElo "2664"] [Annotator "Caruana,Fabiano"] [PlyCount "87"] [EventDate "2019.10.10"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "11"] [EventCountry "IOM"] [SourceTitle "CBM 193"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2019.12.31"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2019.12.31"] [SourceQuality "1"] {[%evp 0,59,17,17,69,51,56,40,64,48,38,17,62,21,19,18,6,34,47,45,51,52,42,47, 76,76,77,52,63,58,83,89,82,59,122,52,111,102,125,77,82,89,81,67,37,37,68,74, 119,115,143,168,144,144,144,144,144,144,232,155,207,201] This game was played the day after a marathon against Luke McShane, where I was outplayed by my opponent, forced on the back foot for the better part of 7 hours and survived only by a miracle. Several times I was a move away from resignation. After a close call like that I felt both exhausted and inspired.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. O-O Bg7 5. c3 e5 6. d4 $5 {So I went for a very sharp line, involving a long term pawn sacrifice. I didn't feel like I had much energy, but I still wanted a double-edged fight and to put pressure on my opponent from the open.} (6. d3 Nf6) 6... cxd4 7. cxd4 exd4 8. Bf4 {After this it seemed that Fedoseev was already somewhat unfamiliar with the position. His preparation for this variation was probably not thorough enough.} Nge7 9. Bd6 O-O $6 {This surprised me. I remembered that Black should go for an early ... a6, ...b5, ...Bb7 in order to have ...Nc8, kicking the bishop from d6.} (9... a6 10. Bc4 b5 11. Bb3 Bb7 {, with Nc8 coming next, is what I had expected.}) 10. Nbd2 {I spent a lot of time on this move, trying to familiarize myself with the position. However, it seems I didn't choose the most accurate option.} ({I should have restricted Black on the queenside:} 10. a4 $1 a6 11. Bc4 { Now ...b5 isn't available for Black.} b6 12. Nbd2 Bb7 13. Re1 {, and Black will find it very hard to liberate himself.}) 10... a6 11. Qa4 {[%CAl Ra4a8]} Ra7 {This isn't dynamic enough. Black already had to go for drastic measures.} (11... b6 12. Qa3 Bb7 $1 {An exchange sacrifice to help Black regain some freedom for his pieces.} 13. Bxc6 Nxc6 14. Bxf8 Bxf8 15. Qa4 {White is slightly better, but Black has counterplay and good chances to defend.}) 12. Bd3 b5 13. Qc2 {Now Black also has to deal with Qc5 ideas, hitting the stray rook on a7. However, White's main idea is to play a4, fracturing Black's queenside pawns and opening the c4-square for the knight or bishop to use.} Bb7 14. a4 bxa4 ({I was expecting Black to give back the pawn with} 14... Re8 15. axb5 axb5 16. Bxb5 Rxa1 17. Rxa1 Nc8 {, but after the accurate} 18. Bc5 $1 { the d4-pawn is very weak and White is likely to come out a pawn ahead.}) 15. Rxa4 a5 {Now Black has ideas of ...Ba6. Trading off some pieces is undoubtedly in Black's favor, but because of his cramped position, he will still run into tactical problems.} (15... Re8 $2 {attempting to dislodge the bishop with ... Nc8, runs into} 16. Bc4 $1 Nc8 17. Bc5 Ra8 18. Qb3 {, hitting the bishop and f7-pawn and winning the game.}) 16. h4 $6 {A lazy move. I had an abundance of choice and couldn't decide on the right move.} (16. b4 {was simple and strong:} Ra8 (16... axb4 $2 17. Rxa7 Nxa7 18. Bxe7 Qxe7 19. Qc7 {, winning a piece, is the tactical point of b4.}) 17. bxa5 (17. b5 Nb4 {didn't seem clear to me and was the reason I rejected 16.b4}) 17... Rxa5 18. Rb1 $1 Ba8 19. Nc4 Rxa4 20. Qxa4 {, and White has an enormous advantage because Black is practically unable to move a piece.}) 16... Ba6 $2 ({It was again time for drastic measures:} 16... Nc8 $1 17. Bxf8 Bxf8 {is a straight exchange sacrifice, and of course Black doesn't have full compensation, but because of the counterplay with ...Nb4 he would have good practical chances to defend.}) 17. Bxa6 Rxa6 18. b4 $1 {The tactical problem with ...Ba6. The a-pawn is pinned and White threatens the decisive b5.} Na7 {Forced.} (18... Ra8 $2 19. b5 Nb4 20. Qb3 { , and with the knight on e7 fully pinned and Nc4 coming, Black would be dead lost.}) 19. Qc5 $2 {Another inaccurate move. My technique was far from ideal in this game.} (19. e5 $1 {was my first instinct, and as usual it was what I should have trusted.} Rc6 20. Qd3 Rc3 21. Qxd4 Nb5 {seemed messy to me, but after} 22. Bxe7 Qxe7 23. Qb6 {the tactics work out for White and I would have been a solid pawn up.}) 19... Nac8 {Now a forced sequence of moves begins.} ( 19... Re8 20. e5 {is now crushing, since b5 is unstoppable.}) 20. Bc7 Qe8 21. b5 d6 {Forced, so as not to allow b6.} 22. Qc4 d5 $2 {This move absolutely shocked me. It hadn't even crossed my mind when I was calculating beforehand. After seeing it on the board I couldn't understand what my opponent was hoping for, because it looked like I had an abundance of good options.} (22... Nb6 $1 {is absolutely forced.} 23. Bxb6 Rxb6 24. Rxa5 {White still has a solid advantage, but Black's defensive chances are reasonable. I was rather upset at myself for having not made the most of my advantage.}) 23. Qc5 $1 {The cleanest refutation. Once I saw this move I barely hesitated.} (23. exd5 Nd6 24. Bxd6 Rxd6 {is of course not what White wants.}) (23. Qd3 $5 {also seemed very strong, however. But Qc5 was just too tempting to pass by.}) 23... dxe4 24. Nxe4 d3 $5 {A sneaky move, but not difficult to refute.} ({I believe that one of the things that Fedoseev missed was that} 24... Re6 25. Nfg5 {traps the rook on e6 and wins.}) (24... Ra7 {was the most tenacious defense, and among other winning moves White has the powerful} 25. Re1 $1 {, with unstoppable threats.} (25. Rxa5 Rxa5 26. Bxa5 {is also simple and good. The trapped knight on c8 and the passed b5-pawn constitute White's winning advantage.})) 25. Ra3 { A good move, but not the only one.} ({The point of d3 is that} 25. bxa6 $2 Qxa4 {hits the knight on e4.}) (25. Rc4 $1 Ra7 26. b6 Rb7 27. Qxa5 {was also crushing.}) 25... Re6 ({Fedoseev understandably didn't want to maroon his rook with} 25... Ra7 26. b6 Rb7 {, but perhaps it was slightly more tenacious than his choice.}) 26. Nfg5 {Now Black is forced to abandon his rook, so White secures a decisive material advantage} Nf5 27. Nxe6 Qxe6 28. Ra4 $1 {This move was psychologically difficult to decide on, because my rook just came from a4, but stopping anything from coming to d4 is worth it. The rest was easy.} Re8 29. b6 {This pawn is so strong it will cost Black more material.} Qd7 30. Qxa5 Nxb6 31. Bxb6 Qc6 32. f3 d2 33. Bf2 Bh6 34. Ra3 Qc2 35. Qd5 Qc1 36. Ra7 Rf8 37. Ra1 ({Actually here I had a scary moment. I'm up a rook and nearly any move wins, but I was briefly considering} 37. Ng5 $4 {and then realized that it allows} Ne3 $1 38. Bxe3 d1=Q 39. Rxd1 Qxe3+ {, and the rook on a7 surprisingly falls. Thankfully I avoided that disaster!}) 37... Ne3 38. Bxe3 Bxe3+ 39. Kh1 Qc7 40. Qd3 Bh6 41. Qd4 Rd8 42. Nf6+ Kh8 43. Nd5+ Kg8 44. Ra8 {And here Fedoseev threw in the towel. This win helped me secure a share of first place, which I held to the end. Wang Hao caught me with a clutch win against David Howell in the last round, edging me on tiebreaks and securing qualification to the 2020 Candidates. Congratulations to him!} 1-0