[Event "ch-USA 2022"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2022.10.17"] [Round "11"] [White "Swiercz, Dariusz"] [Black "Sevian, Samuel"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C80"] [WhiteElo "2652"] [BlackElo "2684"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "84"] [EventDate "2022.10.04"] {[%evp 0,84,18,13,39,17,11,28,29,-2,0,8,19,17,7,9,30,8,8,-40,26,10,28,28,32,20,30,42,71,68,63,6,30,-44,9,0,3,18,26,-4,-14,-14,16,7,-4,6,-8,-4,22,-11,11,-30,0,-38,-27,-18,0,3,-1,0,0,0,0,-59,-61,-66,-66,-72,-63,-8,0,-117,-122,-120,-120,-505,-531,-538,-538,-538,-554,-573,-577,-596,-617,-601,-632]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. Nbd2 Be7 10. c3 Nc5 11. Bc2 d4 12. Nb3 d3 13. Bb1 Nxb3 14. axb3 Bf5 15. Re1 O-O 16. h3 Qd7 17. b4 Rfd8 {We're still well within theory, with almost 130 games in the database.} 18. Bf4 {Played 38 times before, while transposing to another 35 games. Theory in the Open Ruy goes a long way in many variations.} a5 19. g4 Bg6 {Still more transpositions - now we're up to 99 games!} 20. bxa5 Rxa5 21. Ba2 Rf8 22. b4 (22. e6 {is more common, but after} Qd8 23. exf7+ Kh8 24. b4 Ra4 {we've transposed to the game.}) 22... Ra4 23. e6 Qd8 24. exf7+ Kh8 {50 games got here, with 25.Bd2 played in 48 of them. But there are no games with the next move.} 25. Be6 $146 {The real game begins.} (25. Bd2 h6 26. Be6 Rxa1 27. Qxa1 Bxf7 $11 {has been played 30-odd times.}) 25... Rxa1 26. Qxa1 Bxf7 $11 27. Qa2 (27. Bxf7 Rxf7 28. Re4 Qd5 29. Qe1 h6 30. Ne5 Nxe5 31. Rxe5 Qd6 32. Rf5 Qg6 33. Rd5 Rxf4 34. Qxe7 Rxg4+ 35. hxg4 Qxg4+ $11 {forces a perpetual. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if this line was in Sevian's laptop.}) 27... Bg6 (27... Bxe6 28. Qxe6 d2 29. Rd1 Qe8 $1 30. Qe4 Qf7 31. Qxc6 Qxf4 32. Kg2 $11 {is another possibility.}) 28. Qd2 $8 h6 29. Kg2 Bd6 30. Bxd6 Qxd6 31. Nh4 $6 {It's not fatal in its own right, but it's the first move of a plan that will cost White the game.} (31. Bb3 $142 Qf6 {Best.} 32. Bd5 Qd6 {More or less forced, and now White can make a draw by repetition if he is so inclined.}) 31... Bh7 32. Nf5 (32. f4 $1) 32... Bxf5 33. Bxf5 $2 ({The ugly} 33. gxf5 {was best.} Ne5 34. Re4 $11) 33... Ne5 $2 (33... Ne7 $1 {should win.} 34. Be4 (34. Bxd3 $4 Ng6 $19) (34. Qxd3 $4 Nxf5 $19) (34. Rxe7 Qxe7 35. Qxd3 {may be White's best try, hoping to create a fortress.}) 34... Nd5 35. Kg1 Nf4 36. Re3 Rd8 $19 {and it seems unlikely that White will be able to keep Black's pieces at bay for very long. Black will start with a couple of improving moves, ...c6 and ...g5, and then look to penetrate somewhere, maybe with ...Ra8 or ...Re8.}) 34. f4 Rxf5 35. fxe5 $4 {Time pressure? I guess Swiercz expected Black to take on e5, when White will trade rooks and play 37.Qxd3, with a dead draw. But Black has better.} (35. Rxe5 $1 $11 {is the right way.}) 35... Qd5+ $1 36. Kg1 Rf3 $19 {Now 37...Rxh3 followed by a check on h1 is a humongous threat, and White doesn't have a good defense to it.} 37. Qg2 d2 38. Rd1 Qd3 39. Rxd2 Qe3+ 40. Kh2 Qf4+ 41. Kg1 Rg3 42. Re2 Qf3 {White can keep the e-pawn, but he'll lose too many other pawns to save the game.} (42... Qf3 43. Qxg3 Qxg3+ 44. Kf1 Qxh3+ 45. Kf2 Qxg4 46. e6 Kg8 47. e7 Qxe2+ 48. Kxe2 Kf7 $19) 0-1 [Event "ch-USA 2022"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2022.10.17"] [Round "11"] [White "Robson, Ray"] [Black "Liang, Awonder"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C02"] [WhiteElo "2690"] [BlackElo "2608"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2022.10.04"] {[%evp 0,67,28,17,46,30,30,39,-2,2,-13,-3,0,-10,23,41,21,15,20,0,1,-6,-6,-10,4,6,2,2,-3,3,-7,-12,-24,-24,-25,-48,-42,-42,-49,-37,-21,-21,-16,-16,-16,-32,-24,-30,-25,-21,-36,-16,-16,-16,-22,-16,-48,-26,-18,-6,-11,-18,11,24,21,-13,21,17,19,-6]} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. a3 c4 7. Nbd2 Na5 8. Be2 Bd7 9. h4 O-O-O 10. Rb1 Kb8 11. O-O Ne7 12. Re1 h6 13. Nf1 Nb3 14. Bf4 Ba4 15. N3d2 Ng6 16. Bg3 h5 17. Nh2 Be7 18. Nhf3 Rc8 19. Nxb3 Qxb3 20. Qxb3 Bxb3 21. Rbc1 Rc6 22. Kh2 Rb6 23. Bf1 Rc8 24. Re2 Rcc6 25. Rd2 Rb5 26. Be2 Rcb6 27. Ra1 Ba4 28. Ra2 Kc8 29. Kh3 Nf8 30. Bf4 Bb3 31. Ra1 Ba4 32. Ra2 Bb3 33. Ra1 Ba4 34. Ra2 1/2-1/2 [Event "ch-USA 2022"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2022.10.17"] [Round "11"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Xiong, Jeffery"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D35"] [WhiteElo "2763"] [BlackElo "2690"] [PlyCount "114"] [EventDate "2022.10.04"] {[%evp 0,114,16,16,13,-10,-9,4,4,-1,-1,-1,0,14,18,3,30,23,32,27,29,28,43,40,34,-7,-8,-9,-13,-12,-12,-12,-17,-11,-8,-20,-14,-5,0,-12,11,-9,30,-12,-8,-18,3,3,23,6,14,-14,-6,-4,2,-6,0,0,16,20,20,-27,-13,-10,0,0,0,0,-6,-6,-9,-9,-9,-9,-3,-2,0,0,10,-12,-27,-16,-16,-14,14,0,28,35,41,6,4,2,1,0,0,0,24,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 c6 6. e3 h6 7. Bh4 Be7 8. Bd3 O-O 9. Nge2 Re8 10. O-O a5 11. Rc1 Nbd7 12. Na4 b5 13. Nc5 Nxc5 14. dxc5 Nd7 15. Bxe7 Qxe7 16. Nd4 Ne5 17. Bb1 Bd7 18. h3 Qf6 19. b3 a4 20. Re1 Ra7 21. Qh5 Raa8 22. Rcd1 Ra7 23. Qe2 Ng6 24. Qf3 Qg5 25. Kh2 axb3 26. axb3 Nf8 27. Bf5 Bxf5 28. Nxf5 Qf6 29. e4 Qe5+ 30. Ng3 d4 31. Qf5 g6 32. Qxe5 Rxe5 33. Ne2 Ne6 34. Nxd4 Nxd4 35. Rxd4 Rxc5 36. e5 Re7 37. f4 Rc3 38. b4 c5 39. Rd5 cxb4 40. Rxb5 Rc4 41. Kg3 g5 42. Rf1 Re4 43. fxg5 R4xe5 44. Rxe5 Rxe5 45. gxh6 Rg5+ 46. Kh2 b3 47. h7+ Kh8 48. Rxf7 Rb5 49. Rf1 b2 50. Rb1 Kxh7 51. Kg3 Kg6 52. Kf4 Kh5 53. Ke3 Kh4 54. Kd3 Kg3 55. Kc3 Kxg2 56. Rxb2+ Rxb2 57. Kxb2 Kxh3 1/2-1/2 [Event "ch-USA 2022"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2022.10.17"] [Round "11"] [White "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"] [Black "Yoo, Christopher Woojin"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B01"] [WhiteElo "2747"] [BlackElo "2563"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "261"] [EventDate "2022.10.04"] {[%evp 0,261,27,11,59,40,48,63,63,63,63,47,100,67,50,33,36,45,49,27,51,51,37,54,34,56,46,46,46,54,51,41,35,42,43,38,31,31,18,12,12,35,43,8,-6,-9,-6,-3,0,-26,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,30,-5,49,49,120,142,149,142,139,137,162,167,166,161,181,186,186,186,178,179,171,186,183,187,177,177,181,167,198,200,218,223,223,223,244,209,234,214,234,233,240,240,229,219,240,228,237,224,238,236,221,228,239,240,240,247,244,247,247,247,247,247,258,258,247,226,247,232,263,254,254,239,244,245,263,258,258,232,259,247,247,264,262,264,262,258,247,247,247,240,260,260,284,285,285,253,253,247,244,247,247,234,268,230,232,232,230,229,227,195,258,195,237,262,260,268,262,212,261,221,233,220,238,238,233,212,231,221,226,226,233,232,246,254,254,253,246,238,261,261,264,258,261,261,256,263,263,263,263,214,217,263,263,263,263,263,263,263,263,263,263,263,263,236,223,236,253,254,255,248,248,226,239,222,233,204,251,166,165,142,149,268,268,285,279,264,337,355,339,367,371,376,376,375,397,397,405,429,448,448,448,462,557,547,547,527] Sorry, not gonna happen. In brief, though: Dominguez sacrificed a couple of pawns for excellent play and two beautiful bishops, and it eventually bore fruit. Yoo gave up the exchange to break the bind, and reached a position with rook and knight vs. two rooks, with all the pawns on the kingside. Dominguez had a *very* difficult time figuring out how to break down Black's (attempted) fortress, and finally did so - but only after giving Yoo a single chance to escape very near the end.} 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qd6 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 g6 6. Nb5 Qb6 7. Na3 Be6 8. Nc4 Bxc4 9. Bxc4 Qb4+ 10. Nd2 Bh6 11. Qe2 Bxd2+ 12. Bxd2 Qxb2 13. O-O Qxd4 14. Rab1 Qe4 15. Bc3 Qxe2 16. Bxe2 b6 17. Bf3 c6 18. Rfe1 O-O 19. Bb2 Rc8 20. Rxe7 Nd5 21. Rb7 Na6 22. c4 Ndb4 23. Bf6 Nxa2 24. Rd7 N2b4 25. Rd6 Rab8 26. Rd7 Ra8 27. Rd6 Rab8 28. g4 c5 29. Rd7 b5 30. cxb5 Nc7 31. Be5 Nxb5 32. Bxb8 Rxb8 33. Bd5 Rf8 34. Rc1 Nxd5 35. Rxd5 Nd4 36. Rcxc5 Ne2+ 37. Kf1 Nf4 38. Rd1 Rb8 39. Rc4 g5 40. h4 h6 41. hxg5 hxg5 42. Rc5 Ne6 43. Ra5 Rb4 44. f3 Rb3 45. Kf2 Rb2+ 46. Ke3 a6 47. Rd3 Rb8 48. Rda3 Kg7 49. Rxa6 Nf4 50. R6a5 Kg6 51. Ra8 Rb7 52. Rg8+ Kf6 53. Ra6+ Ne6 54. Rd8 Kg7 55. Rd5 Rb3+ 56. Kf2 Rb2+ 57. Kg3 Re2 58. Rad6 Kg6 59. Rd2 Re1 60. Ra6 Rb1 61. Ra7 Rb4 62. Rdd7 Rf4 63. Kf2 Rf6 64. Rd5 Nf4 65. Rda5 Nh3+ 66. Kg3 Nf4 67. R7a6 Ne6 68. Re5 Rf4 69. Re4 Rf6 70. Ra5 Kg7 71. Ree5 Rh6 72. Ra7 Kg6 73. Rf5 Rh7 74. Kf2 Nd4 75. Rd5 Ne6 76. Ke3 Rh8 77. Rf5 Re8 78. Kf2 Rf8 79. Rd7 Kg7 80. Kg2 Kg6 81. Kg3 Nf4 {A serious mistake, if only because it allows White to force ...f6. That makes the count for the 50-move rule start all over again.} 82. Rd6+ f6 {Alas, with just 16 moves to go the count starts all over again.} 83. Ra5 Rf7 84. Ra2 Rb7 85. Raa6 Rf7 86. Kf2 Kg7 87. Ra2 Kg6 88. Rad2 Rh7 89. Rd7 Rh2+ 90. Ke3 Rh8 91. Rd8 Rh1 92. Rd1 Rh2 93. R8d2 Rh7 94. Rd7 Rh2 95. R1d2 Rh8 96. Ra7 Re8+ 97. Kf2 Rh8 98. Rdd7 Rg8 99. Ke3 Ng2+ 100. Ke4 Nf4 101. Re7 Ng2 102. Ra2 Nf4 103. Rh2 Ra8 104. Rd2 Ra4+ 105. Rd4 Ra8 106. Rdd7 Rg8 107. Kd4 Ng2 108. Kd5 Nh4 109. Re3 Ng2 110. Rc3 Nf4+ 111. Kd6 Re8 112. Rcc7 Re6+ 113. Kc5 Re5+ 114. Kc4 Ne6 115. Rc8 f5 {Once again, with 16 moves to go, Black pushes a pawn and the count starts all over again. There won't be another run at the 50-move rule, as pushing this pawn ends the "fortressness" of the position.} 116. Rd5 Kf6 117. Rh8 fxg4 118. Rh6+ Kf5 119. fxg4+ Ke4 120. Rxe5+ Kxe5 121. Kd3 $2 {It's hard to believe, but this move lets Black survive. I don't want to imagine what it would feel like to be Dominguez, trying to win this game for hour after hour after hour, only to squander the win on move 121.} (121. Rh8 $1 {was the only move to preserve victory. It might seem insane to allow Black's king to f4, but in this weird position the Black knight is so badly placed that his king will have to return to e5:} Kf4 122. Re8 Ke5 (122... Nc7 123. Rc8 Ne6 (123... Na6 124. Kb5 Kxg4 125. Kxa6 Kf3 126. Rf8+ $1 Ke3 127. Rg8 Kf4 128. Kb5 g4 129. Kc4 Kf3 130. Kd3 g3 131. Rf8+ Kg4 132. Ke4 $18) 124. Kd5 Ng7 125. Rg8 $18) 123. Kd3 $18 {This is similar to the game, but Black won't have the resource he missed there.}) 121... Nf4+ $2 (121... Nd8 $3 122. Ke3 Nf7 $1 {From f7 the knight can reach e5 or h6, so in a position where White pushes Black's king back and his own king advances, a black knight on h6 will prevent White from playing Kf5 while tying White down to the g-pawn. It's a draw.}) 122. Ke3 $18 Nd5+ 123. Kf3 Nf4 124. Ra6 Ne6 125. Ra5+ Kf6 126. Ke4 Nc7 ({Trying to get the knight to h6 starting with} 126... Nd8 {is too slow; White's king gets to f5 first.} 127. Ra6+ Kg7 128. Kf5 Nf7 129. Rb6 $18) 127. Ra7 Nb5 128. Ra6+ Ke7 129. Kf5 Nd4+ 130. Kxg5 Kf7 131. Ra7+ 1-0 [Event "ch-USA 2022"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2022.10.17"] [Round "11"] [White "Niemann, Hans Moke"] [Black "Lenderman, Aleks"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D11"] [WhiteElo "2699"] [BlackElo "2535"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "89"] [EventDate "2022.10.04"] {[%evp 0,89,19,28,20,-16,30,23,35,37,47,27,27,28,27,-14,-13,6,-6,-3,13,1,11,12,4,4,10,12,29,0,0,0,36,37,35,14,-6,1,5,-7,0,8,16,13,0,0,35,29,16,38,18,-7,1,-3,-18,-23,-4,0,0,-11,-7,0,-16,-26,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,-42,-42,-17,7,7,0,0,297,297,425,437,448,500,593,593,593,593,714,427,985,1154]} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 Bg4 5. Nc3 e6 6. h3 Bh5 7. g4 Bg6 8. Ne5 Nbd7 9. Nxg6 hxg6 10. g5 Ne4 11. Nxe4 dxe4 12. h4 Bb4+ 13. Bd2 Qa5 14. a3 Bxd2+ 15. Qxd2 Qxd2+ 16. Kxd2 f5 17. c5 Ke7 18. b4 Rad8 19. Kc3 e5 20. Bc4 exd4+ 21. exd4 Nf8 22. f3 exf3 23. Raf1 Kd7 24. Rxf3 Ne6 25. Re1 Nc7 26. Rh3 Rde8 27. Rxe8 Kxe8 28. a4 Kd7 29. b5 Ne6 30. Kb4 Nf4 31. Rh2 Kc7 32. a5 cxb5 33. Bxb5 a6 34. Ba4 Ne6 35. d5 Nxg5 36. d6+ {Black has been under annoying pressure for a long time, but as Niemann hadn't made the most of his chances Lenderman can still survive.} Kd8 $2 {But not with this move.} (36... Kc8 $1 37. c6 bxc6 38. Kc5 Ne4+ 39. Kxc6 {and the difference is that Black survives with} Rd8 $11 ({, or even the extravagant} 39... g5 $11 {, intending ...Rh6.})) 37. c6 $1 bxc6 38. Kc5 f4 (38... Ne4+ 39. Kxc6 {Now 39...Rd8 is illegal, while} g5 {is too slow thanks (only) to} 40. Rb2 $18) 39. Rb2 Ne6+ 40. Kxc6 Nd4+ 41. Kd5 Nb5 42. Bxb5 axb5 43. Kc6 $1 ({It's almost never to late to blow a win:} 43. Rxb5 $4 Rh5+ $19) 43... Ke8 44. Kc7 Kf7 45. d7 {White's d-pawn will win Black's rook, and his rook can easily deal with Black's pawns while his a-pawn promotes.} 1-0 [Event "ch-USA 2022"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2022.10.17"] [Round "11"] [White "Shankland, Sam"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E04"] [WhiteElo "2712"] [BlackElo "2755"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "30"] [EventDate "2022.10.04"] {[%evp 0,30,40,28,26,-14,0,4,5,-10,-7,-8,27,9,65,57,16,24,25,-26,-12,-39,-36,-48,-4,-24,-39,-44,22,-24,-32,-44,22]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 c6 6. O-O b5 7. Ne5 Bb7 8. a4 a6 9. b3 cxb3 10. Qxb3 Qxd4 11. Bb2 Qb4 12. Qc2 Qc5 13. Qb3 Qb4 14. Qc2 Qc5 15. Qb3 Qb4 {You won't be surprised to learn that all this happened before.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "ch-USA 2022"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2022.10.17"] [Round "11"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Moradiabadi, Elshan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B28"] [WhiteElo "2774"] [BlackElo "2534"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "71"] [EventDate "2022.10.04"] {[%evp 0,71,40,40,58,65,83,17,10,42,65,27,26,45,41,32,68,4,6,15,4,12,29,1,-2,-3,-6,8,18,-31,-38,-43,-35,-35,31,44,29,59,38,54,56,70,68,71,99,72,91,86,108,105,118,41,67,76,91,72,107,103,103,113,129,86,187,186,190,190,167,187,182,189,264,282,267,291]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 a6 3. c3 {One of the two best ways to meet the O'Kelly. (The other is 3.c4.)} d5 4. exd5 Nf6 (4... Qxd5) 5. d4 cxd4 6. Qa4+ Qd7 7. Qxd7+ Bxd7 (7... Nbxd7 {is more common, and now play usually goes} 8. c4 b5 {and either 9.b3 or 9.cxb5.}) 8. c4 e6 9. dxe6 fxe6 10. Nxd4 {All theory. White has gone an undefeated 5/7 here, and the engine thinks White is doing well, too. So doesn't play as precisely as he could, though, and Moradiabadi even manages to equalize.} e5 11. Nc2 (11. Nb3 $142 $14 {/?}) 11... Nc6 12. Nc3 Bf5 $146 13. Ne3 Bg6 14. Bd2 (14. Be2 $142) 14... Bc5 15. O-O-O (15. Ned5 $14) 15... O-O $11 16. f3 {Having finally equalized, Moradiabadi slips up.} Nd4 $2 (16... e4 17. f4 Nb4 $11) (16... Nb4 $11) 17. Ncd5 $16 Rfd8 $2 (17... Nc6 $142 {Sometimes, the right thing to do is to say "I'm sorry".}) 18. b4 $18 Bf8 19. Nb6 Ra7 {The rook looks terrible here, but Black is counting on ...a5 to give it a little hope.} (19... Rab8 20. c5 $18 {is just as bad.}) 20. c5 a5 21. Bc4+ Bf7 22. Kb2 (22. a3 $142) 22... axb4 23. Bxb4 Bxc4 24. Nexc4 e4 25. a4 (25. Rhe1 $142) 25... exf3 26. gxf3 Be7 27. Rhe1 Nc6 28. Rxd8+ Bxd8 29. Bc3 Ra6 30. Rd1 Ne8 31. Rd7 Be7 32. Bd4 Kf8 33. Bf2 Nd8 {There have been games in chess history where a player has had a sorrier collection of pieces than Black's in this game, but percentage-wise there can't be many such games.} 34. Nd5 Nc6 35. Nxe7 Nxe7 36. Nb6 {Black has had enough. The straw that broke the camel's back is the b-pawn. The only sensible-looking defense is 36...Ra7, but that walks into a tactic: 37.Rxe7 Kxe8 38.Nc8+ and 39.Nxa7.} (36. Nb6 Ra7 37. Rxe7 Kxe7 38. Nc8+ $18) 1-0