[Event "FIDE World Cup 2023"] [Site "Baku AZE"] [Date "2023.08.03"] [Round "2.2"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Pantsulaia, Levan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A40"] [WhiteElo "2835"] [BlackElo "2564"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "57"] [EventDate "2023.07.30"] [EventType "k.o."] {[%evp 0,57,24,-20,14,30,24,25,30,16,18,32,90,82,88,84,72,77,43,62,62,22,23,38,132,30,55,6,24,34,11,17,14,14,14,-7,21,4,0,0,5,11,29,-7,-23,-52,-74,-59,0,0,17,16,25,25,25,25,292,286,29991,29992]} 1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. d4 Bg7 4. d5 d6 5. e4 e6 6. h3 Ne7 7. Nc3 h6 8. dxe6 Bxe6 9. Bf4 Nbc6 10. Qxd6 Qa5 11. Qd2 Nb4 12. a3 g5 13. Bh2 Rd8 14. Qc1 Nd3+ 15. Bxd3 Rxd3 16. O-O Bxc4 17. Nd5 Bxd5 18. exd5 Rxd5 19. Re1 Qd8 20. Qc4 Kf8 21. Ne5 Nc6 22. Rad1 Nd4 23. Kh1 {Black's position looks pretty awful, thanks mainly to his poorly placed king and the attendant problems with the rook on h8, but the real world #1 (Stockfish) says it's 0.00 if Black plays perfectly. (Good luck with that.) I'm not sure how Carlsen would fare from here if the players switched sides; with the current arrangement, Pantsulaia quickly perished.} b5 {Not so bad.} (23... h5 $1 $11 {was apparently the move, looking to play ...g4.}) 24. Qd3 $14 h5 25. Nc6 Qb6 26. Ne7 Rd8 27. Nf5 {Now Black has only one move to keep the game up for grabs.} Qg6 $4 {A blunder, though not an obvious one.} (27... Bf6 $8 28. Be5 Rg8 $1 {leaves White only slightly better after} 29. Ng3 $14) 28. Bc7 $1 $18 {An easy move for White to find, and I'm sure Pantsulaia considered it as well. If it weren't for the rook on d8, White would have Bd6+ followed by Ne7+ winning the queen. It thus makes sense to nudge the rook, but Black probably thought this was no problem after his next move.} Rd7 29. Re8+ $1 {Oops - this is of course what Black had missed.} (29. Re8+ $1 {It's a back rank mate of sorts after} Kxe8 30. Qe4+ Ne6 31. Qa8+ Nd8 32. Qxd8+ $1 Rxd8 33. Rxd8#) 1-0 [Event "FIDE World Cup 2023"] [Site "Baku AZE"] [Date "2023.08.03"] [Round "2.2"] [White "Iskandarov, Misratdin"] [Black "Gukesh, D."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B33"] [WhiteElo "2551"] [BlackElo "2744"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "88"] [EventDate "2023.07.30"] [EventType "k.o."] {[%evp 0,88,25,25,37,46,51,40,36,12,32,22,50,43,40,35,39,39,75,19,23,1,6,0,-10,-1,-2,1,-6,9,0,4,17,18,16,15,12,12,5,-3,-2,3,-1,0,0,-36,-4,-14,-10,-19,-9,-29,-40,-114,-107,-90,-106,-136,-124,-153,-172,-164,-108,-139,-135,-126,-126,-121,-151,-110,-182,-171,-161,-161,-165,-179,-187,-179,-187,-187,-187,-166,-197,-168,-180,-228,-247,-261,-263,-267,-280] This win put the 17-year-old Gukesh into the top ten in the world; in fact, he's currently #9.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Nd5 Nxd5 8. exd5 Nb8 9. a4 Be7 10. Bd2 O-O 11. a5 a6 12. Na3 Bf5 13. Nc4 Nd7 14. Bb4 Rc8 15. Be2 Bg6 16. O-O Nc5 17. Ra3 f5 18. Nb6 Rc7 19. Bxc5 Rxc5 20. b4 Rc7 21. c4 e4 22. f4 exf3 23. Bxf3 Bf6 24. Kh1 Be5 25. Re1 Rcf7 26. Rae3 Bf4 27. Qd4 Bxe3 28. Qxe3 f4 29. Qe6 Bf5 30. Qe2 Qh4 31. Kg1 Qf6 32. Qd2 Re7 33. Rxe7 Qxe7 34. c5 dxc5 35. d6 Qe3+ 36. Qxe3 fxe3 37. bxc5 Be4 38. Bg4 Bd3 39. Bf3 Be4 40. Bg4 Kf7 41. Nc4 Kf6 42. Nxe3 Ke5 43. Nc4+ Kd4 44. Nb6 Bc6 0-1 [Event "FIDE World Cup 2023"] [Site "Baku AZE"] [Date "2023.08.03"] [Round "2.2"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Tin, Jingyao"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D30"] [WhiteElo "2742"] [BlackElo "2573"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2023.07.30"] [EventType "k.o."] {[%evp 0,80,25,24,20,5,4,4,13,17,31,30,32,32,28,31,32,22,22,21,16,10,22,20,33,22,60,56,41,41,43,74,65,72,25,10,32,0,8,-27,-22,-81,47,-40,-54,-54,-73,-64,-64,-36,-52,-62,-66,-84,-84,-78,-33,-99,-108,-115,-126,-123,-151,-171,-171,-166,-166,-184,-197,-309,-307,-281,-170,-179,-129,-129,-129,-485,-414,-790,-1081,-29989,-29990] The biggest upset of the round (so far). Mamedyarov lost the game and, with it, the match.} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 a6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. Bxe7 Qxe7 6. e3 Nf6 7. Nbd2 O-O 8. Rc1 Nc6 9. cxd5 exd5 10. Qb3 Qd6 11. Bd3 Rb8 12. h3 Ne7 13. g4 c6 14. Ne5 Nd7 15. f4 Kh8 16. Qc2 f6 17. Nef3 g5 18. O-O gxf4 19. exf4 Qxf4 20. Rce1 Rf7 21. Rf2 Nf8 22. Nf1 Rg7 23. Qd2 Ne6 24. Re3 Qd6 25. Bc2 Bd7 26. Nh4 Ng5 27. Kh1 b6 28. b4 c5 29. bxc5 bxc5 30. dxc5 Qxc5 $17 31. Rxf6 $2 d4 $19 32. Rb3 Rc8 33. Bd3 Nxh3 34. Bxa6 Bc6+ 35. Ng2 Rxg4 $2 {Giving White a chance to save this crazy game.} (35... Qe5 36. Rh6 Nf4 {more or less forces White to give up the exchange, and after} 37. Rxc6 Rxc6 38. Qxf4 Qxf4 39. Nxf4 Rxa6 40. Nh2 Rg8 $19 {Black should be able to convert his advantage despite the paucity of pawns.}) 36. Bxc8 $11 Bxg2+ 37. Kh2 Qxc8 38. Ng3 $2 (38. Qh6 $1 Qc7+ 39. Rg3 Ng8 40. Rf8 Qe5 (40... Bxf1 41. Qf6+ Rg7 42. Qxg7+ Qxg7 43. Rxg7 Kxg7 44. Rxf1 $11) 41. Kxg2 $1 Nf4+ 42. Qxf4 $8 Qxf4 $8 (42... Rxf4 $4 43. Rgxg8#) 43. Rxf4 Rxf4 $11) 38... Bd5 $1 $19 {Now Black is winning again, and the game comes to a speedy end.} 39. Qe2 $2 Rh4 40. Qe5 (40. Qxe7 Nf2+ 41. Kg1 Qc1+ 42. Kxf2 Rh2#) 40... Nf4+ (40... Nf4+ 41. Kg1 Qc1+ 42. Nf1 Rh1+ 43. Kf2 Qxf1+ 44. Kg3 Rh3+ 45. Kg4 Qg1+ 46. Rg3 Qxg3#) 0-1 [Event "FIDE World Cup 2023"] [Site "Baku AZE"] [Date "2023.08.03"] [Round "2.2"] [White "Abdusattorov, Nodirbek"] [Black "Sanal, Vahap"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D53"] [WhiteElo "2725"] [BlackElo "2585"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "88"] [EventDate "2023.07.30"] [EventType "k.o."] {[%evp 0,88,25,24,12,4,26,32,38,8,43,15,46,41,54,38,44,16,27,19,18,-18,-1,-6,-7,-40,-1,-11,-1,-6,-3,-44,-39,-57,93,-46,-53,-44,-37,-22,-24,0,-19,-22,-14,-64,-63,-57,-31,-26,-25,-25,-21,-21,-21,-32,-42,-49,-46,-51,-41,-56,-44,-83,-64,-64,-79,-79,-68,-69,-83,-119,-171,-147,-178,-178,-175,-174,-181,-220,-214,-203,-218,-219,-265,-238,-264,-383,-401,-411,-426] Another 2700 is eliminated.} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 Be7 6. e3 h6 7. Bf4 Nbd7 8. a3 Nh5 9. cxd5 exd5 10. Bd3 Nxf4 11. exf4 Nf6 $146 12. Ne5 Nd7 $6 (12... Qb6 $142 $11) 13. O-O Nxe5 14. fxe5 $16 Qb6 15. Ne2 Qxb2 16. f4 f5 $2 (16... Bg4 $142 $16) 17. exf6 $2 (17. Rb1 $1 Qxa3 18. Qc2 $1 {With a winning double attack. White threatens the f-pawn, but even more to win Black's queen with Ra1 followed by Rfb1.} Qa5 (18... g6 $2 19. Ra1 Qb4 20. Rfb1 {is game over, match over.}) 19. Bxf5 O-O 20. Bg6 $18 {followed in most cases by f5 and Nf4, with a kingside buildup that should soon bear fruit.}) 17... Bxf6 $15 18. Bg6+ Kd8 19. f5 b6 20. Qd3 Qb5 21. Qe3 Bd7 $6 (21... Qa4) 22. Kh1 Kc7 23. Nf4 Qa4 24. Rad1 Kb7 $6 (24... Raf8 $11) 25. Nh5 $14 Rad8 $6 26. Nxf6 gxf6 27. Rde1 $14 (27. Qe7 $16) 27... Ka8 28. h3 Bc8 29. Rf4 Qa5 30. Rd1 $6 (30. Rc1) (30. Rff1) 30... c5 $15 31. Qe7 Qa4 32. Re1 Qc6 33. Rf3 c4 34. Rfe3 Kb8 $15 {/?} 35. Re6 $2 {This just doesn't work.} (35. Qg7) 35... Bxe6 36. fxe6 c3 $19 37. Qxf6 Qd6 $1 38. Rc1 Rc8 39. Rxc3 Rxc3 40. Qxh8+ Kb7 41. Qxh6 Qxe6 42. Qg5 Rxa3 43. h4 Qd6 44. Qc1 Qg3 0-1 [Event "FIDE World Cup 2023"] [Site "Baku AZE"] [Date "2023.08.03"] [Round "2.2"] [White "Schitco, Ivan"] [Black "Shankland, Sam"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A19"] [WhiteElo "2507"] [BlackElo "2711"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "87"] [EventDate "2023.07.30"] [EventType "k.o."] {[%evp 0,87,25,-27,10,-19,15,14,48,35,29,30,29,20,15,9,57,58,70,57,47,58,58,31,21,21,17,17,9,13,12,-8,-17,-44,-14,-32,29,63,53,6,70,48,59,0,0,0,-7,23,18,0,57,20,22,33,51,43,43,35,25,13,54,32,17,20,18,5,28,21,10,10,10,0,19,2,0,0,0,0,17,12,14,18,18,18,18,18,18,18,18,18] After blundering into mate in the first game, Shankland needed to win with the black pieces in the rematch to force tiebreaks. He didn't manage to do it.} 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e6 3. e4 c5 4. e5 Ng8 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. d4 cxd4 7. Nxd4 Nxd4 8. Qxd4 Ne7 9. Bf4 b6 10. Bd3 Ng6 11. Bg3 Bc5 12. Qe4 Rb8 13. Qe2 Bb7 14. O-O h5 15. Bxg6 fxg6 16. Bf4 O-O 17. Be3 Bxe3 18. Qxe3 Rf5 19. f3 a6 20. Rad1 Bc6 21. Ne2 Qg5 22. Qxg5 Rxg5 23. Nf4 b5 24. cxb5 Bxb5 25. Rfe1 Bc6 26. b3 Rf8 27. h4 Rgf5 28. Nh3 Rb8 29. Re3 Rff8 30. Rd6 Rb5 31. Kf2 Rc5 32. Rd2 a5 33. Kg3 Rf5 34. f4 Rf8 35. Ng5 Rb8 36. Nf3 Bd5 37. Nd4 Kf7 38. Ne2 Rbc8 39. Kf2 Ke7 40. g3 R8c7 41. Ke1 Bb7 42. Red3 Bd5 43. Re3 Bb7 44. Red3 1/2-1/2