[Event "FIDE Candidates 2024"] [Site "Toronto CAN"] [Date "2024.04.18"] [Round "12.1"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Praggnanandhaa, R."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C01"] [WhiteElo "2758"] [BlackElo "2747"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "109"] [EventDate "2024.04.04"] {[%evp 0,109,19,38,43,18,28,23,23,31,28,16,53,29,52,12,35,31,21,9,2,2,10,6,20,10,44,31,37,26,35,25,22,2,-11,-11,-7,-7,-21,-37,-11,-15,0,-6,-9,-16,-30,-27,10,-37,-48,-65,-65,-61,-53,-43,-52,-52,-52,-51,-51,-55,-49,-40,-51,-43,-37,-29,-22,-37,-38,-27,-26,-33,0,0,-8,-9,-20,-11,-12,-20,0,0,0,0,35,19,40,14,14,22,28,0,13,0,2,-9,0,0,5,0,0,0,5,6,7,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 {Strange days. The Exchange French is a rarity in top-level chess, to put it mildly, and yet here it is. Weirder yet, this was one of *two* Exchange Frenches in the round - see Nakamura-Firouzja for another one! Add to this that there have already been two Exchange Frenches in the tournament via a Petroff move order (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d3 [zzzz] Nf6 6.d4 d5) and the event may be setting some sort of world record.} exd5 4. Nf3 Nc6 (4... Nf6 {would transpose to the Petroff-based Exchange Frenches mentioned above.}) 5. Nc3 {This is rare, to the point where this whole thing has an air of unreality to it. Is this really the best Nepo has against the French, for one of the most important games of his life? Given the amount of work Nepo has done on the French - an opening he played in the 2020 Candidates tournament and in many other events since then - it's hard to believe that this is the best he can do. No doubt he wants to be solid against the super-aggressive Praggnanandhaa, but still.} Nge7 (5... Nf6 6. Bb5 {isn't a big deal, but Pragg doesn't want White to have even this tiny bit of initiative.}) 6. a3 $146 Bf5 7. Be3 $146 Qd7 8. Be2 Ng6 (8... h6) 9. h4 h5 $11 10. Nd2 Bg4 11. Nb3 Be7 (11... Bxe2 12. Qxe2 O-O-O 13. O-O-O Qg4 $11) 12. g3 (12. Bxg4 hxg4 13. g3 $11 {/? isn't much, but the long-term weakness of the g4-pawn may give White a little nibble.}) 12... Bxe2 13. Qxe2 O-O-O 14. O-O-O Qf5 $11 {Black has no problems here at all; if anything, he might have the easier play because he has the better bishop. The knight is badly placed on g6, as knights usually are, but that's more easily corrected than the lameness of White's bishop.} 15. Na4 Nf8 16. Rd3 {Aiming to build an attack with Nbc5, Rb3, Qb5 and so on. Black starts by chasing White's queen from e2, to keep it away from b5.} (16. Nbc5 Nd7 $11) 16... Qg4 17. Qd2 (17. Qf1 {makes more sense, conceptually, and the computer agrees - the queen wants to reach b5.}) 17... b6 $1 {Dominating White's knights, and with White's queen unable to reach b5 or a6 or any other useful square in front of Black's king, White's "attack" is over.} 18. Nc3 Ne6 19. Qe2 {While I haven't been a fan of Nepo's opening, I am a fan of this decision. He has been outplayed, but no irreversible harm has been done. Nepo therefore decides to switch into safety mode, and rightly so. It may be a pity to make a draw and allow two players to possibly catch him; it would be a disaster if they both passed him.} Qxe2 20. Nxe2 Bd6 21. Bd2 a5 22. a4 Ne7 23. Rf3 f6 24. Bf4 $1 {The bishop is a poor piece, and Nepo would be delighted to trade it for either Black's bishop or the knight.} Nf5 25. c3 Bxf4+ 26. Nxf4 Nxf4 27. Rxf4 Nd6 28. Nd2 (28. Na1 $1 $11 {is a little better, bringing the knight to c2. But Nepo's move keeps him well within the bounds of a draw.}) 28... Rde8 $15 29. Kd1 Re6 30. Re1 Kd7 31. Rf3 Rxe1+ 32. Kxe1 Re8+ 33. Kd1 ({Trading is fine for White, in general, but it shouldn't be done indiscriminately.} 33. Re3 $4 {would lose, as his damaged pawns and Black's more active king are enough for Black's advantage to be decisive.} Rxe3+ 34. fxe3 Ke6 $19) 33... Kc6 34. Rf4 (34. Nf1) 34... b5 35. axb5+ Kxb5 36. g4 $1 $11 {It may look slightly ugly for White to split his pawns, but the rook's activity fully compensates for the aesthetic blight.} hxg4 37. Rxg4 Re7 38. b3 a4 39. bxa4+ Kxa4 40. Kc2 Nf5 41. Rf4 Nd6 42. Rg4 {Inviting a repetition.} f5 {Pragg declines the offer, but it's not at all clear that Nepo is the one who should worry about making a draw.} 43. Rg2 f4 44. Kd3 Ne4 $1 {Now Pragg has calmed down and come to his senses. After other moves he would be worse, but now the game will smoothly sail towards the draw.} 45. Nxe4 dxe4+ 46. Kc2 (46. Kc4 e3 $4 (46... Ka3 $11) 47. fxe3 fxe3 48. Ra2# {would be amusing, though altogether unlikely.}) 46... c5 {Clearly playing for the draw.} 47. dxc5 Kb5 48. Rg4 e3 49. fxe3 fxe3 50. Kd1 e2+ 51. Ke1 Kxc5 52. Rg2 Re4 53. h5 Re5 54. Rxg7 Rxh5 55. Kxe2 {Club players should play this out to the end, but for these players making the draw is as easy as saying their name.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE Candidates 2024"] [Site "Toronto CAN"] [Date "2024.04.18"] [Round "12.2"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C01"] [WhiteElo "2789"] [BlackElo "2760"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "103"] [EventDate "2024.04.04"] {[%evp 0,103,28,21,26,27,39,20,18,29,27,13,18,34,28,0,-6,-28,-24,-30,-14,-3,-3,-6,-6,0,16,4,12,-10,23,-22,20,25,27,35,24,66,48,55,55,55,81,90,90,7,39,47,26,29,53,68,42,43,80,67,61,46,65,60,66,81,149,167,164,154,189,184,165,126,131,109,126,117,146,120,120,126,117,117,103,100,106,104,161,161,163,169,167,167,159,138,167,162,167,144,154,144,138,177,179,189,164,188,191,160]} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 {Seriously? As it turns out, Nakamura, seemingly unlike Nepomniachtchi, has an interesting new idea in mind, so at least in this case the answer is "Yes, seriously!"} exd5 4. Nf3 Bd6 (4... Nc6 {was Nepo-Pragg, and}) (4... Nf6 {(by transposition through the Petroff) was Nepomniachtchi-Abasov from round 8 and Nakamura-Abasov from round 10.}) 5. c4 Nf6 6. c5 Be7 7. Qa4+ {Not brand new, but rare from non-Frenchmen. (Bacrot and MVL have used it in multiple games.)} Bd7 8. Qc2 O-O 9. Be3 (9. Bd3 b6 10. O-O Nc6 11. a3 bxc5 12. dxc5 Bg4 13. Nbd2 a5 14. Bb5 Na7 15. Bd3 Nc6 16. Bb5 Na7 17. Bd3 Nc6 {½-½ Vachier Lagrave,M (2736)-So,W (2760) Speed Chess Chess.com INT blitz 2022 (2.54)}) 9... Nc6 $146 (9... Ng4 10. Bf4 Nc6 11. a3 Bf6 12. h3 Re8+ 13. Be2 Nh6 14. Bxh6 gxh6 15. Qd2 Bf5 16. Nc3 Be4 17. O-O Bxf3 18. Bxf3 Nxd4 19. Bg4 Bg7 20. Rae1 Rxe1 21. Rxe1 c6 22. Qd3 Qf6 23. Nd1 Qg6 24. Qg3 h5 25. Bd7 Qxg3 26. fxg3 Rd8 27. Re8+ Rxe8 28. Bxe8 Nb3 29. Bd7 Nxc5 30. Bc8 b6 31. b4 Ne4 32. Bb7 Nxg3 33. Bxc6 d4 34. Kf2 Nf5 35. Kf3 Nd6 36. Nf2 Kf8 37. Ne4 Nc4 38. a4 Ne5+ {0-1 Bacrot,E (2672)-Holt,C (2549) Titled Tuesday intern op 17th Aug Chess.com INT blitz 2021 (8)}) 10. Nc3 b6 (10... Qc8 $1 {may improve, looking to activate the poorly placed light-squared bishop on f5.}) 11. Be2 Nb4 12. Qd2 Bf5 13. Rc1 Ng4 $5 (13... Nc6 {wasn't bad (either here or on the previous move), but Firouzja chooses a friskier approach. (Both in keeping with his style and the tournament situation - to have even a tiny chance of winning the event Firouzja needed to win out.)}) 14. Bf4 bxc5 15. dxc5 Bxc5 16. O-O Re8 17. a3 $14 {Black's pieces are very aggressively placed, but if he can't maintain their activity White will push them back and take over the board. Let the crazy complications begin!} d4 $6 (17... Nxf2 $1 18. Rxf2 (18. axb4 $2 Ne4+ 19. bxc5 Nxd2 20. Bxd2 d4 $19) 18... Rxe2 $1 19. Nxe2 (19. Qxe2 $6 Nd3 20. Rcf1 Nxf4 21. Qe5 Bd3 22. Qxf4 Bxf1 23. Kxf1 Bxf2 24. Kxf2 c5 $15) 19... Bxf2+ 20. Kxf2 Nd3+ 21. Kg3 Nxc1 22. Qxc1 Rc8 $11 {/?}) 18. Nb5 d3 19. Rxc5 $6 (19. Bd1 $142 Na6 20. Nxc7 Nxc7 21. Rxc5 Nd5 22. Bc7 $1 Nxc7 23. Rxf5 $14) 19... dxe2 20. Re1 Nd3 21. Rxf5 Nxe1 $2 (21... Qd7 $1 22. Nbd4 ({The computer proposes the insane} 22. Rc5 $1 {, e.g.} Nxc5 23. Qxd7 Nxd7 24. Nxc7 Re4 $1 25. Nxa8 Rxf4 26. Rxe2 Rc4 27. Re8+ Nf8 28. h3 Nf6 $11 {The poor placement of White's a8-knight gives Black enough for the pawn.}) 22... Nxe1 23. Qxe1 Re4 24. h3 g6 25. Rc5 Rxf4 26. hxg4 Rxd4 27. Nxd4 Qxd4 28. Rc2 Qxg4 29. Rxe2 $11 {This time it's White who has enough for the pawn.}) 22. Nxe1 $16 Qxd2 23. Bxd2 Rad8 24. Bc3 Rd1 25. f3 $1 Ne3 26. Nxc7 Re7 27. Rc5 f6 (27... h6 {doesn't change anything of significance.}) 28. Bb4 $1 (28. Nb5 $1) 28... Kf7 29. h4 $1 h5 {Nakamura has played great chess all game, and his on his way to securing a critical victory. Here, however, he stumbles.} 30. Kf2 $2 (30. Rc6 $18) (30. Nb5 $18) (30. b3 $18) 30... Rb1 $2 (30... Rxe1 $1 31. Bxe1 Nd1+ 32. Kg1 Nxb2 33. Rc3 {Else ...Nd3.} Rd7 $1 34. a4 Nd3 35. Rxd3 Rxd3 36. a5 g5 $14 {gives Black excellent drawing chances.}) 31. Nd5 $1 $18 Nd1+ 32. Kg3 Re5 33. Nd3 Re8 $1 34. Be1 $2 {Another error. Firouzja had a minute or slightly less to make it to move 40, yet he not only made the time control but did so making all the right moves.} (34. N5f4 Nxb2 35. Rc7+ Kg8 36. Ne1 $1 $18) 34... Nxb2 $1 35. Rb5 Rd1 $1 36. Rxb2 Rxd3 37. Rb7+ Kf8 $1 (37... Kg8 $2 38. Ne7+ Kh7 (38... Kf7 39. Nf5+ Kg6 40. Kf4 $18) 39. Rxa7 $18) 38. Nf4 Rxa3 $1 {Only around here did Nakamura recognize that his 34th move was a big error.} 39. Kf2 (39. Bb4+ Kg8 40. Nxe2 (40. Bxa3 $4 e1=Q+ $19) 40... Rb3 41. Nf4 Re5 42. Ng6 Re8 43. Ne7+ Rxe7 44. Rxe7 Rxb4 45. Rxa7 $11) 39... a5 40. Ra7 Ra4 $11 {The time control has been made, and although White is still nominally the one hoping for a win the position is essentially equal.} 41. g3 g5 $4 {Unfortunately, Firouzja fails to calm himself down after surviving the lost position he faced in the first time control, and immediately jumps back into the fire. He doesn't get a third pardon from Governor Nakamura.} (41... Ra3 42. Rxa5 Rxa5 43. Bxa5 Kf7 44. Nxe2 {is a drawn ending, though only White is playing for a win.}) 42. hxg5 fxg5 43. Nxh5 {Black's e-pawn is going nowhere, and White will happily target all three of Black's pawns, each of which is vulnerable. The win should be straightforward, and with Nakamura's hyper-vigilance at this point it's a guarantee.} Re5 44. g4 Ke8 45. Ng7+ Kf8 46. Nf5 Ra2 47. Ra8+ Kf7 48. Nd6+ Ke6 49. Nc4 Rb5 50. Rxa5 Rbxa5 51. Nxa5 Kd5 52. Ke3 {If Black maintains the status quo White plays Bd2 and Kxe2, and then brings the knight over to collect the g-pawn as well.} 1-0 [Event "FIDE Candidates 2024"] [Site "Toronto CAN"] [Date "2024.04.18"] [Round "12.3"] [White "Abasov, Nijat"] [Black "Gukesh, D."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E32"] [WhiteElo "2632"] [BlackElo "2743"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "114"] [EventDate "2024.04.04"] {[%evp 0,114,38,32,32,3,4,4,33,-14,40,29,27,22,21,18,23,10,45,35,37,40,42,39,92,99,95,72,106,66,54,52,39,27,78,70,66,49,54,54,41,46,50,58,54,49,47,37,49,0,0,-40,27,-63,-64,-57,-69,-67,-74,-67,-50,-64,-37,-37,-16,-21,-21,-25,-28,-22,-24,-52,-50,-55,-35,-35,-34,-30,-46,-61,-52,-76,-80,-71,-66,-78,-118,-112,-106,-114,-114,-118,-125,-125,-100,-101,-101,-101,-101,-101,-101,-144,-155,-151,-162,-182,-203,-225,-262,-265,-265,-273,-272,-308,-324,-378,-394]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 h6 {This isn't your daddy's Nimzo-Indian. To give credit where it's due, this isn't a novelty - it was first played by Grob, of 1.g4?? infamy. Nor is it a novelty at the GM level, but it is extremely rare. The obvious point of the move is to prevent Bg5, but it turns out that there's an odd clearance idea underlying it as well, as we'll see.} 5. Nf3 ({I'd probably prefer the caveman approach with} 5. e4 {, but there are other good moves to choose from, and this isn't so bad for Black after} c5 6. d5 exd5 7. exd5 {and now} b5 $1) 5... c5 6. dxc5 Na6 7. g3 (7. c6 $5 {is interesting, a la Morozevich in a similar line.}) 7... Nxc5 8. Bg2 Nce4 9. O-O (9. Bd2 {is less ambitious but strategically safer.}) 9... Nxc3 (9... Bxc3 10. bxc3 O-O {is also playable, tested in a Carlsen-Yu game in 2022.} 11. Ba3 Re8 12. Nd4 d5 13. Rad1 Qc7 14. cxd5 exd5 15. c4 Bd7 16. cxd5 Qxc2 17. Nxc2 Nc3 18. Rd2 Rxe2 19. Rxe2 Nxe2+ 20. Kh1 Nc3 21. Ne3 Nxa2 22. d6 Rb8 23. Ra1 Nc3 24. Bb2 Nb5 25. Be5 a6 26. Nc4 Ng4 27. Bf4 Nxf2+ 28. Kg1 Nd3 29. Be3 Be6 30. Bb6 Bxc4 31. d7 Ne5 32. d8=Q+ Rxd8 33. Bxd8 Nc6 34. Bb6 Be6 35. h4 h5 36. Bf3 Bg4 37. Bxg4 hxg4 38. Rd1 Ne5 39. Rd8+ Kh7 40. Rb8 Nd6 41. Bc7 Nec4 42. Bxd6 Nxd6 43. Rd8 Ne4 44. Rd7 b5 45. Rxf7 Nxg3 46. Ra7 Nf5 {½-½ Carlsen,M (2830)-Yu,Y (2807) Wch Blitz Almaty 2022 (6) (These are blitz ratings; Yu has never been over 2800 in classical chess.)}) 10. bxc3 Bc5 11. e4 Nh7 $1 $146 {The engine's move, of course. The knight runs away before e4-e5 happens, so that he has more flexibility in dealing with the move when it comes.} (11... b6 12. e5 Nh7 13. Nd4 Rb8 14. Rd1 Bb7 15. Nc6 Bxc6 16. Bxc6 O-O 17. Rxd7 Qc8 18. Qa4 a6 19. Bf4 Ng5 20. Bxg5 hxg5 21. Rad1 f6 22. Qc2 f5 23. Bf3 Rf7 24. Qd2 g4 25. Rxf7 Kxf7 26. Qd7+ Qxd7 27. Rxd7+ Kf8 28. Be2 Rc8 29. Kg2 a5 30. f3 gxf3+ 31. Kxf3 Be7 32. Rb7 Rc5 33. Rxb6 Rxe5 34. Rb8+ Kf7 35. Rb5 Bc5 36. Bd1 g5 37. h3 Ke7 38. Rxa5 Kd6 39. Ra6+ Ke7 40. Ra5 Kd6 41. Ra6+ Kc7 42. Ra5 Kb6 43. Rb5+ Kc6 44. Ba4 Kd6 45. Rb2 Re3+ 46. Kg2 Rxc3 47. Rd2+ Ke7 48. Re2 Bd6 49. Bb3 Rxg3+ 50. Kf2 Rxh3 51. Kg2 Rh2+ 52. Kf1 Rxe2 53. Kxe2 g4 54. a4 Bc5 55. a5 e5 56. Ba4 e4 57. Bc6 Kf6 58. a6 Ke5 59. Bd7 g3 60. Kf1 f4 {0-1 Narayanan,S (2677)-Maghsoodloo,P (2742) Wch Blitz Samarkand 2023 (17)}) 12. e5 Rb8 $1 {To play ...b6 and ...Bb7 ASAP.} (12... O-O $2 13. Nd4 Rb8 14. Rd1 $1 {Preventing ...b6 for the moment due to Nc6.} Qe7 15. Qa4 {Again stopping ...b6.} a6 16. Nb3 $16 {Now Black is in a bad way, whether he plays ...b6 or not. White threatens 17.Nxc5 Qxc5 18.Ba3, and while Black can avoid losing the exchange his position he can't fix his bad development and dark-squared weaknesses.}) 13. Nd2 (13. Qa4 b6 $1 14. Qxa7 Bb7 $44) 13... b6 14. Ne4 Bb7 $11 {White has more space, but the future belongs to Black thanks to White's doubled, isolated c-pawns.} 15. h4 {Aiming to keep the knight buried.} (15. Nxc5 bxc5 16. Bxb7 Rxb7 17. a4 $11) (15. Qe2 $11) 15... Qc7 16. Rd1 Bxe4 17. Qxe4 O-O 18. Bf4 Rfd8 {Clearing f8 for the knight. ("A knight on f8 and there won't be a mate.")} 19. Rd2 (19. Bf1 {takes the crazy ...g5 idea off the table - see the next note.}) 19... Nf8 (19... g5 $5) 20. h5 b5 $5 {Allowing White to rid himself of one of his weaknesses, in return for immediate queenside activity.} 21. cxb5 Rxb5 22. Bf1 Rb6 23. Rad1 Rdb8 24. a4 {The computer doesn't mind this, but it seems to destabilize White's queenside. The b3 square is now accessible, and White is also prevented from parking the bishop on b3 to neutralize Black's rooks.} ({On the other hand,} 24. Bc4 {has its own problem:} Be7 25. Bb3 Qxc3 {costs White his weak c-pawn. The engine claims White has sufficient compensation for the pawn after} 26. Rc2 Qa5 27. Bd2 Bb4 28. Be3 $44 {, which is entirely plausible, but it's not so easy to surrender the pawn if it's not necessary and if there's no tangible compensation for it. Given the way the game went, I think this is the better choice: Abasov ends up losing one of his weak pawns anyway, but without achieving the stability he has in this line.}) 24... Rb3 25. Rd3 Ra3 26. Rf3 Qc6 $1 27. Qxc6 dxc6 $15 28. Rfd3 Rxa4 {There goes the pawn, and c3 is still weak. Moreover, without queens on the board White's chances for counterplay or to keep Black restricted from concern about his king's safety are diminished.} 29. Bg2 Ra2 (29... g5 $142 $1 $15) 30. R1d2 $6 (30. R3d2 $142 Ra3 $11 {/?}) 30... Rxd2 $6 (30... Ra1+ $1 $17) 31. Rxd2 Rc8 (31... Rb3 $142) (31... Rb1+ $142) 32. Be4 $44 a5 33. Bc2 (33. Ra2 $142) 33... g5 $1 34. hxg6 Nxg6 35. Kg2 (35. Bxg6 $1 fxg6 36. Ra2 Ra8 37. Bxh6 a4 38. Bc1 $11 {is purportedly equal, and it's likely that if this position arose after the time control Abasov could work out enough of the details to see that Black's king can't successfully enter, or defend the a-pawn in such a way that Black's rook could cause fatal damage. Instead, he is forced under time pressure to trust his intuition, and he prefers to keep his light-squared bishop.}) 35... Kg7 (35... Nxf4+ $6 36. gxf4 {gives Black a second passed pawn, but the drawishness of the opposite-colored bishops is more important.}) 36. Ba4 (36. Re2 $1) 36... Ne7 37. c4 $2 {Keeping the knight out of d5, but weakening b4 and d4.} (37. Rb2) 37... Rb8 $1 $17 38. Ra2 $8 Bb4 39. Kf3 Rd8 40. Be3 (40. Ke4 $6 {makes sense, trying to keep the rook out of d3, but it makes things worse after} c5 $1 $19) 40... Rd3 $1 $19 {White probably would have survived after other moves. The time control has been made, but it's a little too late for Abasov - Black's pieces have invaded White's camp. The pawns on c4 and e5 are weak, and White's pieces are uncoordinated and somewhat passive.} 41. Ke2 $2 (41. Kg4 Rc3 42. Kh5 Nf5 43. Bf4 Rxc4 44. Bc2 {was a try, looking for counterplay.}) 41... Rc3 42. c5 Nd5 $1 43. Rc2 {Otherwise Black will be two pawns up. Still, without rooks White's chances for counterplay are slim. Abasov keeps fighting, but at this point only a blunder can save him.} (43. Bxc6 Rxe3+ $1 44. fxe3 Nc3+ $19) 43... Rxc2+ 44. Bxc2 a4 $1 {Again using fork tricks.} (44... Nxe3 $6 45. Kxe3 Bxc5+ {*probably* wins, but it's not a sure thing.}) 45. Kd3 (45. Bxa4 Nc3+ $19) 45... a3 46. Bb3 Kg6 (46... Nxe3 {is a better version, as White's bishop is tied down to the defense of the a2 square. Still, there's no need for Black to do this.}) 47. Bd4 Kg5 48. Kc4 Be1 49. Kd3 Kg4 50. Bd1+ Kg5 51. Bb3 Kf5 52. Kc4 Ke4 53. Bd1 a2 (53... Bxf2 $1 54. Bxf2 a2 55. Bd4 Ne3+ $1 {was a nice trick. Gukesh's method is good enough.}) 54. f3+ (54. Bg4 $5 {wouldn't have worked, but was as good a try as any. White threatens 55.f3#, and Black has only one satisfactory answer. Unfortunately for White, it wins.} Bxf2 $1 $19) 54... Kf5 55. Bc2+ Kg5 56. Bb3 Bxg3 57. Bxa2 h5 {Black's a-pawn is gone, but now the h-pawn will decide. Abasov has had enough, and finally loses his first game with the white pieces.} 0-1 [Event "FIDE Candidates 2024"] [Site "Toronto CAN"] [Date "2024.04.18"] [Round "12.4"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2803"] [BlackElo "2727"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "103"] [EventDate "2024.04.04"] {[%evp 0,103,34,24,25,25,7,24,24,29,24,3,19,7,43,-2,21,10,30,13,38,15,28,7,35,25,41,10,25,19,19,29,29,27,27,18,34,35,35,35,62,51,56,50,50,47,47,46,70,54,74,73,99,79,97,82,85,85,100,97,97,97,131,97,143,122,92,85,149,114,164,143,127,124,111,70,67,81,88,80,85,109,142,139,136,152,294,88,98,97,75,78,82,94,99,66,158,158,158,158,308,337,436,673,695,695]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3 a6 7. a4 Ba7 8. Nbd2 O-O 9. h3 Ne7 10. Re1 Ng6 {So far, everything is very normal (not forced; there are reasonable alternatives for both sides on practically every move), and the players are following in the footsteps of hundreds of prior games. But now Caruana takes the game off the beaten trail.} 11. a5 (11. Nf1) (11. d4) 11... c6 12. Bb3 Re8 $146 (12... h6) 13. d4 d5 $146 {Very direct play by Vidit, justifiably. In general, if Black can achieve ...d5 in the d6+e5 vs. d4+e4 configuration without losing a pawn or suffering some other concrete ill, it means that he has equalized. That seems to be the case here as well.} (13... h6) 14. dxe5 Nxe5 15. Nxe5 Rxe5 16. exd5 Rxe1+ 17. Qxe1 Nxd5 $11 18. Bc2 {Switching to the unblocked diagonal.} (18. Bxd5 cxd5 19. Nf3 d4 $5 {Interesting, but not necessary.} 20. Nxd4 (20. cxd4 Be6 $44) 20... Bxd4 21. cxd4 Be6 $11 {Black's light-squared domination should let him hold with ease.}) 18... Be6 19. Nf3 Qd7 {Finishing his development and neutralizing the threat of Ng5, which can be met by ...Bf5.} 20. c4 $1 Ne7 (20... Nf6 $1 21. Bg5 (21. Qc3 Bxh3 $1 22. Ne5 (22. gxh3 Qxh3 23. c5 Qg4+ 24. Kf1 Qh3+ 25. Kg1 $8 (25. Ke1 $4 Re8+ 26. Kd2 Qg2 $19) 25... Qg4+ $11) 22... Qd6 23. gxh3 Bd4 24. Nxf7 $1 Kxf7 25. Qf3 Re8 $11) 21... Bxh3 $1 {Don't forget about the sniper bishop on a7 - Black can have threats, too.} 22. gxh3 Qxh3 23. Ra3 Ng4 24. Bh4 g5 $3 25. Bxh7+ Kg7 26. Qc3+ $1 f6 27. Qb4 $1 gxh4 28. Qe7+ Kh6 $1 29. c5 $8 Rh8 {and this wild line can end in perpetual check, e.g.} 30. Qd6 Rxh7 31. Qf4+ Kh5 32. Qf5+ Kh6 33. Qf4+ $11) 21. Be3 $14 Bxe3 22. Qxe3 Rd8 23. Qc5 (23. Qb6 $142 $14) 23... h6 (23... Ng6 $142 24. Ng5 h6 $11) 24. b3 (24. Rd1 $142 Qc7 25. Nd4 $14) 24... Qc7 (24... Ng6 $1 25. Bxg6 fxg6 26. Ne5 Qd2 $1 27. Nxg6 Re8 $1 $44) 25. Re1 $14 Kf8 $6 (25... Qd6 $1 {looks like a blunder for a moment due to} 26. Rd1 {, but Black can simply retreat and it's no problem.} Qc7 $1 $14) 26. Re3 $16 {White is slowly encasing, even entombing Black's pieces. Almost imperceptibly, Black's pieces are finding it increasingly difficult to even move.} (26. Nd4 $16) 26... Ke8 27. Qh5 $5 Kf8 28. Qc5 (28. g4 $5) 28... Ke8 29. g4 Qf4 30. Kg2 Rd7 31. Re4 Qd6 32. Qe3 c5 $6 {Keeping White's queen from returning into the heart of Black's queenside, but this will come at the cost of the c-pawn.} (32... Rd8) 33. Re5 Nc6 (33... Rc7 {could be met by Ne1-d3, but then Black would play ...g5 followed by ...Ng6. The right move, preventing this and looking to cause some trouble on the kingside as well is} 34. g5 $1 hxg5 35. Nxg5 $18) 34. Rd5 $1 Qc7 35. Rxc5 $18 Re7 36. Qc3 Qd6 37. Rh5 $2 {A slip that could have spoiled an otherwise nearly flawless game.} (37. b4 $18) (37. Rxc6 $5 bxc6 38. Qxg7 $18) 37... f6 $11 38. Bg6+ Kd8 $6 {Black understandably decides to "castle" long, but it was better to return to the kingside.} (38... Kf8 $11) 39. Qe3 $1 $14 Kc8 40. Qb6 Kb8 $2 {The bane of move 40 strikes again. Having escaped from Caruana's clutches, a big mistake on the last move of the time control puts him back in his shackles.} (40... Qf4 $1 $11 {/? has the nasty threat of ...Bxg4, and as a result White can't get his own attack going.}) 41. Rc5 $1 $18 Bd7 42. b4 Qf4 43. Bf5 $2 {Another error, but this only delays the win; it doesn't give it away.} ({The obvious} 43. b5 {was correct. Caruana just needed to take the time to notice that} Bxg4 {is harmless this time around thanks to} 44. Ng1 $1 {(otherwise Black would have a draw), when there's no attack, no perpetual, and no defense for the queenside.} Bxh3+ 45. Nxh3 Qg4+ 46. Kh2 $18) 43... Bxf5 44. Rxf5 Qc7 45. Qc5 $18 Re4 46. Qd5 Re2 (46... Re8) 47. b5 Nxa5 (47... axb5 48. cxb5 Ne7 49. Qd3 $18) 48. Nd4 Rb2 49. bxa6 Nc6 (49... Nxc4 50. Qg8+ Ka7 (50... Qc8 $2 51. a7+ $1 $18) 51. Nb5+ $18) 50. Qg8+ Nd8 (50... Qc8 51. Nxc6+ bxc6 52. a7+ $18) (50... Ka7 51. Nb5+ $18) 51. Rd5 Ka7 (51... Kc8 52. a7 Ra2 53. a8=Q+ Rxa8 54. Ne6 $18) 52. Rxd8 (52. Rxd8 Rxf2+ {doesn't lead to a perpetual:} 53. Kxf2 Qh2+ (53... Qf4+ 54. Nf3 $18) 54. Ke3 Qg1+ (54... Qg3+ 55. Nf3 $18) (54... Qxh3+ 55. Nf3 $18) 55. Kd2 Qg2+ (55... Qf2+ 56. Ne2 $18) (55... Qh2+ 56. Ne2 $18) 56. Ne2 $18) 1-0