[Event "ch-USA 2024"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2024.10.23"] [Round "11"] [White "Mishra, Abhimanyu"] [Black "So, W."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2630"] [BlackElo "2751"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "137"] [GameId "2104086374118609"] [EventDate "2024.10.11"] {[%evp 0,137,23,42,33,26,22,12,8,16,0,-4,12,21,10,26,30,-6,-3,11,14,8,38,32,32,20,18,23,20,20,13,4,9,19,54,43,33,21,29,26,45,34,47,53,78,35,64,35,89,35,35,39,51,39,48,76,62,94,87,77,77,78,69,69,69,51,56,56,69,70,36,16,33,7,23,-14,4,0,23,17,8,13,0,-3,21,2,23,7,9,-10,-24,-50,-26,-46,-14,-28,-8,-26,30,8,28,-18,3,-5,8,15,15,15,15,23,15,14,14,14,14,14,15,14,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15,15]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 d6 6. O-O a6 7. a4 O-O 8. Re1 h6 9. h3 Ba7 10. Nbd2 Re8 11. b4 Be6 12. Bxe6 Rxe6 13. Qc2 Ne7 14. Nf1 d5 15. Rb1 Ng6 16. c4 c6 $146 17. Ng3 Qd7 18. Bd2 $146 (18. Nf5 Rd8 19. Rb3 Nh5 20. g3 Ne7 21. Kg2 Nxf5 22. exf5 Rf6 23. g4 Nf4+ 24. Bxf4 exf4 25. c5 h5 26. d4 hxg4 27. hxg4 Rh6 28. Rbb1 Bb8 29. Re2 Rg6 30. fxg6 Qxg4+ 31. Kf1 Qh3+ 32. Ke1 Qxf3 33. gxf7+ Kf8 34. Qg6 Qc3+ 35. Kf1 Qc4 36. Qe6 Be5 37. Qxe5 {1-0 Arjun,K (2509)-Safarli,E (2610) Monsaraz Rapid op 2023 (8)}) (18. c5 Rd8 19. Nf5 Bb8 20. Be3 Ne7 21. N3h4 Kh7 22. Red1 Neg8 23. g4 g6 24. Ng3 Ne8 25. Nf3 Ng7 26. Kg2 Ree8 27. Qb3 f5 28. exf5 gxf5 29. gxf5 Nxf5 30. b5 axb5 31. axb5 Qg7 32. bxc6 Nxe3+ 33. fxe3 e4 34. Qxb7 exf3+ 35. Kxf3 Re7 36. Nf5 Qf6 {0-1 Narayanan,S (2529)-Paravyan,D (2605) Titled Tuesday intern op 6th Aug Chess.com INT blitz 2019 (7)}) 18... Rd8 19. Bc3 Qc7 20. Nf5 d4 $6 {So is counting on being able to hold the kingside together. It's a risky and probably dubious decision, despite the final result.} (20... Qd7 {is one of many reasonable moves, maintaining the tension.}) 21. Bd2 c5 22. b5 a5 23. g3 (23. Qc1) 23... b6 24. Kg2 (24. Kh1 {is another idea, to put the rook on g1 followed by g4.}) 24... Bb8 25. Qd1 Kh7 26. h4 Kg8 27. h5 Ne7 28. Bxh6 $2 (28. Nxe7+ Qxe7 29. Nh4 $18 {followed by Nf5 and more building was better.}) 28... Nxe4 $1 29. dxe4 gxh6 30. N3h4 (30. Nh2 $142 $16 {was better, intending Ng4.}) 30... Kh7 $14 31. Qf3 Rf6 32. Rb3 Qb7 33. g4 Qd7 34. Qe2 Nxf5 35. Nxf5 Rg8 $11 {White doesn't have enough room to break through.} 36. Rg3 Bc7 37. Qd3 Bd8 38. g5 {Otherwise Black moves the rook from f6 and parks his bishop on g5, bringing the game to an immediate end.} hxg5 39. Rg4 Re6 40. Rh1 Ree8 {The players have made the time control. Mishra tries this and that, as he should, but there's no way through.} 41. Kf1 Be7 42. Ke2 Qe6 43. Rh3 Bf8 44. Qc2 Bh6 45. Kd3 Qd7 46. Qc1 Re6 47. Rhg3 Qd8 48. Qd2 Rf6 49. Rf3 Qd7 50. Qc1 Qe6 51. Qh1 Re8 52. Qh3 Rf8 53. Qh1 Re8 54. Qh3 Rf8 55. Rgg3 Rg8 56. Qg4 Bf8 57. Rg1 Bh6 58. Rg2 Kh8 59. Rg1 Kh7 60. Rg2 Kh8 61. Rfg3 Kh7 62. Qf3 Kh8 63. Rg4 Kh7 64. Rg1 Kh8 65. R1g3 Kh7 66. Rg1 Kh8 67. R1g3 Kh7 68. Rg1 Kh8 69. R1g3 1/2-1/2 [Event "ch-USA 2024"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2024.10.23"] [Round "11"] [White "Sevian, Samuel"] [Black "Niemann, Hans Moke"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2689"] [BlackElo "2733"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "93"] [GameId "2104086374118610"] [EventDate "2024.10.11"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 {The last Giuoco of the tournament, thank goodness.} 5. c3 d6 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bh4 a5 8. Nbd2 Ba7 9. a4 Qe7 10. O-O Bd7 11. Rb1 g5 12. Bg3 Rg8 $146 (12... O-O 13. Re1 g4 14. Bh4 gxf3 15. Qxf3 Kg7 16. Nf1 Rh8 17. Ne3 Raf8 18. Kh1 h5 19. Qg3+ Kh7 20. Nd5 Nxd5 21. exd5 f6 22. dxc6 Bxc6 23. d4 Qg7 24. Bd3+ Kg8 25. Re3 exd4 26. Qxg7+ Kxg7 27. Rg3+ Kf7 28. Rg6 Rhg8 29. Rxf6+ Kg7 30. Rg6+ Kf7 31. Rf6+ {½-½ Maghsoodloo,P (2740)-Ding,L (2780) Tata Steel-A 86th Wijk aan Zee 2024 (5)}) (12... Nh7 13. Kh1 Nf8 14. Ng1 h5 15. f3 h4 16. Bf2 Bxf2 17. Rxf2 Ng6 18. Nf1 Qf6 19. Bb5 g4 20. Ne3 g3 21. Nd5 Qg5 22. f4 Nxf4 23. Rxf4 exf4 24. Nf3 Qh6 25. h3 Kd8 26. d4 Ne7 27. Bxd7 Nxd5 28. exd5 Kxd7 29. Qb3 Ra6 30. Qb5+ Kc8 31. b4 axb4 32. cxb4 Kb8 33. Rc1 Rc8 34. a5 Qh5 35. Qc4 Qf5 36. Nxh4 Qe4 37. Nf3 Qf5 38. Nh4 Qe4 39. Nf3 Qf5 40. Nh4 {½-½ Antipov,M (2574)-Bok,B (2620) Saint Louis Spring-A 2024 (9)}) 13. d4 exd4 14. Qb3 O-O-O {To be fair, this is a pretty entertaining position.} 15. Rbe1 g4 (15... dxc3 $142 16. bxc3 Ne5 17. Nxe5 dxe5 18. Nf3 Be6 19. Nxe5 Rd6 {is equal, and of course a mess like anything else in this middlegame would be. Here's a weird computer line:} 20. Bd5 Nxd5 21. exd5 Rxd5 22. Ng6 Qd8 23. Ne7+ $1 Qxe7 24. Qxd5 Bb6 $44) 16. Nxd4 Nxd4 17. cxd4 Bxd4 $2 (17... Nh5 $1 $11) 18. Bh4 $2 (18. Bd5 $1 Nxd5 19. exd5 Qg5 20. Nc4 Kb8 21. Nxa5 Bb6 22. Nxb7 $1 Kxb7 23. a5 $18) 18... Rg5 $1 $14 19. Bd5 c6 20. Nc4 $5 (20. Bxf7 $142 $14) 20... Be8 21. Nxa5 cxd5 22. Qd3 $2 (22. Bxg5 hxg5 23. exd5 Qc7 24. Qd3 $11) 22... Be5 $17 23. Bxg5 hxg5 24. exd5 Kb8 25. Nc4 Qc7 $2 (25... Nd7 $1 $17) 26. b3 (26. g3 $142 $15) 26... Bd7 $6 (26... Nd7 $142) 27. Qd2 $11 Bc8 28. Nxe5 dxe5 29. Qxg5 Nxd5 30. Qxe5 Qxe5 31. Rxe5 {It's still imbalanced, but Black can breathe a sigh of relief now that king safety issues are off the table.} Nf4 $11 32. Re4 Ng6 33. f3 f5 34. Ree1 $14 gxf3 35. Rxf3 f4 36. Rc3 (36. h3 $142) 36... Nh4 $6 (36... Bf5 $11) 37. Re4 (37. Rf1 $142 $14) 37... Ng6 38. h3 Bf5 39. Re2 Rd1+ 40. Kh2 Bd7 41. Rf2 Bc6 42. Rc5 Bd5 43. b4 Ka7 $6 (43... Rd4 $11) 44. Ra5+ (44. Rcc2 Bb3 45. Rcd2 Bxa4 46. Rxd1 Bxd1 47. Rd2 Bb3 $1 $14) 44... Kb8 45. Rc5 Ka7 (45... Rd4 $142) 46. Ra5+ (46. Rcc2 $142) 46... Kb8 47. Rc5 1/2-1/2 [Event "ch-USA 2024"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2024.10.23"] [Round "11"] [White "Caruana, F."] [Black "Shankland, S."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B95"] [WhiteElo "2796"] [BlackElo "2677"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "119"] [GameId "2104086374118611"] [EventDate "2024.10.11"] {[%evp 0,119,33,22,72,53,99,59,67,38,28,30,64,64,86,55,55,19,19,24,47,10,38,14,19,10,17,8,10,-20,29,-7,-6,15,-3,-4,-20,-13,3,-11,19,-6,8,-6,-4,-9,-9,22,-8,20,15,1,18,-19,-7,8,10,0,29,16,63,36,34,31,26,26,26,56,63,54,54,18,18,41,79,55,91,89,86,64,74,78,74,74,103,94,193,236,259,131,132,150,109,151,151,151,148,148,122,119,155,158,167,192,170,167,167,159,170,125,211,211,176,198,299,367,388,412,630,650,689,689]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qf3 {This was relatively popular many decades ago, and is coming back into fashion (relatively speaking) once again.} h6 (7... Nbd7) 8. Bd2 {This certainly wasn't popular in the old days, though it does go back to 1954.} Qb6 (8... Nbd7) 9. Nb3 {Those of us raised on old-time Najdorfs will find it hard to believe this could pose any dangers to Black, but this mainly means that we need to recalibrate our intuitions about the Najdorf.} Qc7 (9... Nbd7 10. Be2 Qc7 11. a4 b6 12. Qg3 Bb7 13. Bd3 Nh5 14. Qh3 Nhf6 15. O-O Be7 16. Rae1 Ne5 17. f4 Nxd3 18. cxd3 Qd7 19. f5 e5 20. Qg3 Kf8 21. d4 exd4 22. Nxd4 Kg8 23. Nd5 Nxd5 24. exd5 Bf6 25. Bc3 Kh7 26. Ne6 Bxc3 27. Qxc3 Rhg8 28. f6 fxe6 29. dxe6 Qxa4 30. f7 Rgc8 31. Qd3+ Kh8 32. e7 {1-0 Nepomniachtchi,I (2757)-Grischuk,A (2766) chess.com Speed 5m+1spm 2018 Chess.com INT blitz (1.5)}) 10. a4 (10. O-O-O b5 11. Bd3 Bb7 12. Qg3 Nbd7 13. Rhe1 b4 14. Nd5 exd5 15. exd5+ Kd8 16. Bxb4 a5 17. Ba3 Nxd5 18. Bb5 Nb4 19. Bxb4 axb4 20. Qe3 Qc8 21. Qe8+ Kc7 22. Qxf7 Ba6 23. Nd4 Bxb5 24. Nxb5+ Kb8 25. Re8 {1-0 Chigaev,M (2632)-So,W (2760) Titled Tuesday intern op 31st Jan Late Chess.com INT blitz 2023 (7)}) 10... b6 (10... Bd7 11. Be2 Bc6 12. O-O Nbd7 13. Nd4 Be7 14. b4 Ne5 15. Qg3 Bxe4 16. f3 Bg6 17. Nxe6 fxe6 18. f4 Bf5 19. fxe5 dxe5 20. Kh1 Bd6 21. Rxf5 exf5 22. Qg6+ Qf7 23. Qxf5 O-O 24. Ne4 Qd5 25. Bd3 Nxe4 26. Bxe4 Qxd2 27. Qe6+ Kh8 28. Qg6 Kg8 29. Qe6+ Rf7 30. Rf1 Raf8 31. Bg6 Kh8 32. Bxf7 Qxb4 33. h3 Bc7 34. Rd1 Qf4 {0-1 Dragnev,V (2589)-Brkic,A (2633) AUT-chT 2324 Austria 2023 (8.1)}) 11. Bd3 $146 (11. Qg3 Nc6 12. Bd3 g6 13. f4 Bg7 14. O-O O-O 15. Be3 Bb7 16. Qf2 Nd7 17. Rad1 Nb4 18. f5 d5 19. f6 Bxf6 20. Bxh6 Be5 21. Qh4 Rfe8 22. Bf4 Rac8 23. Be2 Bxf4 24. Rxf4 Qe5 25. Nd4 Qg7 26. Rff1 Nc5 27. exd5 Nxd5 28. Nxd5 Bxd5 29. Nf3 Rf8 30. c3 Rcd8 31. Rd4 {½-½ Fenes,L (2532)-Lanc,A (2422) SVK-ch23 fin email ICCF email 2017}) 11... Bb7 12. O-O Nbd7 13. Rae1 Be7 14. Kh1 h5 (14... d5 $1 15. exd5 Nxd5 16. Nxd5 Bxd5 17. Qh3 {makes it look scary for Black to castle kingside, but} Bc4 {seems a good way to take care of the problem:} 18. f4 Bxd3 19. cxd3 O-O 20. f5 Qd6 $1 $11) 15. Bg5 h4 (15... Ne5) 16. h3 Rh5 17. Bf4 Ne5 18. Qd1 Rh8 19. Qd2 $14 Nfd7 20. Bg5 f6 $6 {The e6 square is howling in anticipated pain.} 21. Be3 Nc4 22. Bxc4 (22. Qc1 $142 $16) 22... Qxc4 23. f3 $14 (23. f4 $142 $16) 23... Rc8 24. Qf2 Qc7 25. Rd1 (25. f4 $142 $16) 25... Kf7 26. Rd2 Bc6 27. Nd4 Ne5 28. b3 $16 g5 $6 {Delaying f4, but when it comes it's going to hurt even worse.} 29. Nce2 Bd7 30. c4 Qb7 31. Nc3 (31. f4) 31... Ng6 32. Rfd1 Rc7 33. Nde2 $6 {Too much waiting.} (33. Ra1 $1 Rcc8 34. Nc2 Rb8 35. Rad1 Rhd8 36. f4 $1 $18) 33... b5 $1 34. cxb5 axb5 35. Bb6 Rc6 (35... b4 $1) 36. a5 $14 Rb8 37. Qe3 Rxb6 $5 38. axb6 Qxb6 39. Nd4 $16 (39. Qxb6 Rxb6 40. Ra1 $16) 39... b4 40. Na4 $6 (40. Nce2 $1 $16) 40... Qa7 $14 41. Nb2 Nf4 42. Nd3 Rc8 $4 (42... Nh5 $11) 43. Nxf4 gxf4 44. Qe1 $18 {Black needed the knight. Now he has no counterplay and lots of weak pawns. The end is in sight.} e5 45. Nf5 Bxf5 46. exf5 Qd7 47. Qe4 Kg7 48. Rd5 {White has a death grip on the light squares, while Black's bishop is almost comically bad.} Kh6 49. Qxb4 Qxf5 50. Qb7 Bf8 51. b4 Rc3 {Hoping for a successful ...Rxf3 sac.} 52. Qa8 Rc8 53. Qa7 Rc3 54. Qf2 {End of sacs. White hits h4 and is ready to start shoving the b-pawn up the board.} Kh5 55. b5 Qc8 56. Qb2 Qc4 57. Qb1 Kh6 58. b6 Rb3 59. Qf5 Kg7 60. Ra5 {Black's king is in grave danger, and there's the further threat of Rb1 followed by the b-pawn's advance.} 1-0 [Event "ch-USA 2024"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2024.10.23"] [Round "11"] [White "Liang, Awonder"] [Black "Dominguez Perez, L."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A00"] [WhiteElo "2677"] [BlackElo "2741"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "98"] [GameId "2104086374118612"] [EventDate "2024.10.11"] {[%evp 0,98,34,-18,9,12,18,9,21,9,45,54,46,46,24,30,32,13,20,10,23,19,14,18,15,0,15,24,20,24,31,58,34,25,32,22,26,15,18,7,28,32,61,60,60,78,72,77,70,73,62,65,72,73,86,50,42,52,89,87,99,85,91,81,101,97,97,89,109,40,82,87,89,87,96,89,95,88,88,47,88,84,91,34,56,38,-88,-224,-178,-178,-178,-300,-193,-224,-257,-296,-258,-258,-258,-213,-135]} 1. a3 {Seriously? In fact, I don't think Liang was trolling Dominguez; instead, this was most likely a sign of respect for Dominguez's very professional opening preparation. To have a chance of catching Caruana in first place Liang almost certainly had to win, and he must have felt that the best way of having a chance to win was to avoid his opponent's prep.} d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. d4 e6 4. Bf4 c5 5. e3 Qb6 6. Nc3 Bd7 (6... Qxb2 $4 {loses to the standard trick} 7. Na4 $18 ({, but} 7. Nb5 Na6 8. Rb1 Qa2 9. Qc1 $18 {followed by Nc3 or Ra1 will also do the trick.})) 7. Rb1 Nc6 8. dxc5 Bxc5 9. Bd3 Be7 10. O-O O-O 11. b4 Rfc8 12. e4 Nd4 13. Nxd4 Rxc3 14. e5 $16 {White's anti-theoretical approach has worked brilliantly so far, and he has a clear advantage with the makings of a kingside attack in the near future.} Ne8 15. Be3 (15. Ra1 $142) 15... Qd8 (15... Qc7 $142) 16. Ra1 (16. Bc1 $1 $16 {/+-}) 16... g6 17. Bd2 (17. Qd2 $142 Rac8 $6 (17... Rcc8 $142 18. f4 Ng7 19. g4 $16 {/+- looks pretty awful for Black, like a disastrous French Defense.}) 18. Ne2 R3c6 19. b5 $18) 17... Rcc8 18. a4 Ng7 19. g4 f6 20. f4 $16 Qb6 (20... a5 $142) 21. c3 $18 a5 22. b5 Rf8 23. Qe2 Bc5 24. Be3 (24. exf6 Rxf6 25. Kh1 Bxd4 26. cxd4 Qxd4 27. Be3 Qb4 28. Rac1 Rc8 29. Rxc8+ Bxc8 30. Qc2 Qf8 31. Bc5 Qe8 32. Bd4 Rf7 33. h3 $18 {There's no immediate win, but White's bind will soon bear fruit.}) 24... Qc7 25. Bd2 (25. Nb3 $142 Bxe3+ 26. Qxe3 Qxc3 $2 27. Nc5 d4 28. Qc1 $18) 25... Qb6 (25... Bxd4+ $142 26. cxd4 f5) 26. Qe3 (26. exf6 $1 Rxf6 27. Kh1 $18) 26... Rf7 (26... f5) 27. Rae1 (27. Be1 $142 Raf8 28. h3) 27... Raf8 28. h3 f5 29. Kg2 Rc8 30. Qf2 (30. Rc1 $142) 30... Qd8 31. Be3 Qf8 32. Qd2 b6 33. Rc1 Be8 34. Bf2 Rfc7 35. Rc2 Bf7 36. Rfc1 Ba3 37. Ra1 Bc5 {Black is just waiting, as there's really nothing else he can do.} 38. Rh1 Be8 39. Be2 $2 Bf7 $2 (39... g5 $1 40. fxg5 Bg6 $14) 40. Bg3 Be8 {The time control has been made, and now Liang should take his time and figure out how to break through. Instead, he plays a careless "improving" move, and this time Dominguez has the time to spot and take his opportunity.} 41. Qd3 $4 (41. g5 $142) 41... g5 $1 $19 {In the move 39 version, White was still better after ...g5. Now, he's completely lost, believe it or not. Chess is brutal, but at least Liang could console himself that Caruana's win kept him (Liang) out of first place no matter how this game finished.} 42. Rf1 Bg6 $1 43. Qd2 Bxd4 $1 44. Qxd4 fxg4 {The rook on c2 is under attack, so Black gets to keep his extra pawn while infiltrating on the kingside.} 45. Rcc1 Be4+ 46. Kh2 Nf5 47. Qxb6 Nxg3 48. Qxe6+ Kh8 49. Kxg3 gxf4+ 0-1 [Event "ch-USA 2024"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2024.10.23"] [Round "11"] [White "Oparin, G."] [Black "Aronian, L."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C02"] [WhiteElo "2662"] [BlackElo "2738"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "94"] [GameId "2104086374118613"] [EventDate "2024.10.11"] {[%evp 0,94,34,19,39,10,36,25,4,-8,-6,-7,15,-11,-2,-2,1,-28,-15,-8,7,-53,-8,-13,48,-61,-28,-54,-23,-50,-28,-48,-17,-15,5,0,0,17,19,-12,9,14,-8,6,17,-11,-11,-99,0,0,0,-103,-128,-162,-81,-78,-115,-95,-95,-95,-64,-61,-53,-197,-204,-245,-185,-193,-189,-189,-189,-189,-189,-189,-189,-200,-158,-181,-164,-158,-162,-162,-176,-214,-218,-241,-263,-254,-266,-252,-320,-721,-270,-1011,-312,-317,-327]} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Bd7 6. Be2 Nge7 7. O-O Nf5 8. dxc5 Bxc5 9. Bd3 O-O (9... Nh4 10. Nbd2 Ng6 11. Nb3 Bb6 12. Bxg6 hxg6 13. Bg5 f6 14. exf6 gxf6 15. Bf4 e5 16. Bg3 Be6 17. Re1 Qd7 18. a4 a6 19. Nbd2 g5 20. b4 g4 21. b5 axb5 22. axb5 Rxa1 23. Qxa1 Ne7 24. Nxe5 fxe5 25. c4 Bd4 26. Qa8+ Qc8 27. Qa3 Ng6 28. cxd5 Bxd5 29. Rc1 Qd7 30. Nf1 Kf7 31. Ne3 Be6 32. Rd1 Qxb5 33. Rc1 Rc8 34. Re1 Qc5 35. Qa4 b5 36. Qd1 Bxe3 37. fxe3 b4 38. h4 gxh3 39. Qh5 Kg7 40. Qg5 Rf8 41. Ra1 Rf5 42. Qd8 Qxe3+ 43. Kh2 hxg2 {0-1 Abdusattorov,N (2762)-Aronian,L (2729) Saint Louis Blitz 2024 (8)}) 10. Re1 $146 h6 11. Nbd2 a5 12. Bc2 a4 13. Nf1 Nh4 14. Nxh4 Qxh4 15. Be3 Bxe3 16. Rxe3 f5 17. exf6 Rxf6 (17... Qxf6 $11) 18. g3 $6 (18. Ng3 $14) 18... Qc4 $15 19. Nd2 Qb5 20. Nf3 Raf8 21. b3 ({It's already getting difficult for White, who needs to sac a pawn to reach a (probably) drawn major piece endgame.} 21. Bxa4 Qxb2 22. Rb1 Qxa2 23. Re2 $1 Qa3 24. Bxc6 Bxc6 25. Ne5 Qxc3 26. Rc1 Qa3 27. Nxc6 bxc6 28. Rxc6 $15) 21... Be8 $17 22. h3 Qc5 $6 (22... a3 $17) 23. bxa4 $2 (23. Qe2 $15) 23... Qxe3 $2 $11 {Interesting, but objectively bad.} ({The banal} 23... e5 $19 {gives Black an overwhelming advantage, as White has no good answer to the coming ...e4.} 24. Bb3 {is the only try worth speaking of.} Bf7 25. Ne1 Rxf2 $1 26. Kxf2 Bh5+ 27. Nf3 Rxf3+ 28. Qxf3 Bxf3 29. Kxf3 $19 {is the best White can do, but it's lousy.}) 24. fxe3 Rxf3 25. Qd3 Rxg3+ 26. Kh2 Bg6 27. Qb5 $1 Rff3 28. Bxg6 Rxh3+ 29. Kg2 Rfg3+ 30. Kf2 Rxg6 {So far, so good for White, but now he slips on a banana peel.} 31. Qxb7 $2 (31. Rg1 $1 $11) 31... Rh2+ $1 $19 {This forces White's king to the back rank, where it will be in permanent danger.} 32. Kf1 (32. Kf3 Ne5+ 33. Kf4 Nd3+ 34. Kf3 Rf2#) 32... Ne5 $1 {Not necessary, but nice.} 33. Qb8+ Kh7 34. Qxe5 Rh1+ 35. Ke2 Rxa1 36. e4 Rxa2+ 37. Kf3 Rxa4 38. exd5 exd5 39. Qxd5 Rf6+ 40. Kg3 Ra7 41. Qe4+ g6 42. Qd4 Raf7 43. Qc5 Rf3+ 44. Kg2 Rf2+ 45. Kg3 h5 46. Qe5 R2f5 47. Qe6 Rc7 {Black will round up the c-pawn and then push the kingside pawns. White has no real prospects of making a draw by perpetual, so he resigns.} 0-1