[Event "FIDE Candidates 2022"] [Site "Madrid ESP"] [Date "2022.07.01"] [Round "12.1"] [White "Rapport, Richard"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2764"] [BlackElo "2783"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "104"] [EventDate "2022.06.17"] {[%evp 0,38,19,38,25,16,14,23,13,19,13,-8,22,15,16,0,-19,-9,-3,4,15,5,13,16,16, 15,19,0,24,0,10,-15,-13,-24,-21,-11,9,-21,-15,-6,0]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. h3 Be6 7. Nbd2 Nd7 8. Nb3 (8. Nf1 f6 9. Be3 { was played just two weeks ago.} (9. g4 Qe7 10. Ng3 O-O-O 11. Qe2 Kb8 12. a3 Bb6 13. Be3 Nf8 14. O-O-O Ng6 15. Nh5 Bxe3+ 16. Qxe3 c5 17. Nd2 b6 18. Nb1 Nh4 19. Rhg1 g5 20. Nc3 Ng6 21. Kb1 Nf4 22. Nxf4 gxf4 23. Qe2 h5 24. f3 hxg4 25. hxg4 Rh3 26. Rg2 Rdh8 27. Rdg1 Rh1 28. b3 c4 29. dxc4 Qxa3 30. g5 fxg5 31. Rxg5 a5 32. Qd3 Kb7 33. Rg7 Rxg1+ 34. Rxg1 Rh7 35. Na4 Qd6 36. Qc3 Bd7 37. Nb2 Rh3 38. Rd1 Qe7 39. Nd3 Rxf3 40. Qxe5 Rxd3 41. Qxe7 Rxd1+ 42. Kb2 Bc6 43. e5 f3 44. Qf6 Rd2 45. e6 f2 46. e7 Re2 47. Qf7 Rxe7 48. Qxf2 Rg7 49. Qf4 Rg2 50. Qe5 Rg6 51. c3 Rg2+ 52. Kc1 Rg4 53. Qe6 Re4 54. Qf7 Re1+ 55. Kd2 Re4 56. b4 axb4 57. cxb4 b5 58. cxb5 Bxb5 59. Qd5+ Bc6 60. Qc5 Re6 61. Kc3 Rd6 62. b5 Bd7 63. Qe5 Bc8 64. Kc4 Rb6 65. Kc5 Kb8 66. Qe8 Rd6 67. Qf8 Rb6 {1/2-1/2 (67) Nakamura,H (2736) -Carlsen,M (2863) chess24.com INT 2020}) 9... Bd6 10. Ng3 g6 11. O-O Qe7 12. c3 h5 13. d4 h4 14. Ne2 Bc4 15. Re1 O-O-O 16. Qa4 Ba6 17. dxe5 Nxe5 18. Nxe5 Qxe5 19. Bf4 Qb5 20. Qxb5 Bxb5 21. Bxd6 cxd6 22. Nd4 Bc4 23. b3 Bf7 24. Re3 c5 25. Nc2 Be6 26. c4 f5 27. Ne1 Rh5 28. Rd1 Kc7 29. Nd3 g5 30. exf5 Bxf5 31. f3 Rhh8 32. Kf2 Rhe8 33. Rxe8 Rxe8 34. Nc1 Re5 35. Ne2 Bd7 36. Nc3 Bc6 37. Rd3 Kd7 38. g4 hxg3+ 39. Kxg3 Re1 40. h4 gxh4+ 41. Kxh4 Ke6 42. Kg5 a6 43. a4 Rg1+ 44. Kf4 Re1 45. Rd2 Re5 46. Rd3 Re1 47. Re3+ Rxe3 48. Kxe3 b6 49. Ne4 Ke5 {1/2-1/2 (49) Vachier Lagrave,M (2760)-Fressinet,L (2624) Chartres 2022}) 8... Bb6 9. Ng5 Bxb3 $146 (9... Qe7 10. Nxe6 Qxe6 11. Qg4 Qg6 12. Bd2 O-O-O 13. Bc3 f6 14. a4 a6 15. Nd2 Qxg4 16. hxg4 h6 17. Nc4 Nc5 18. Ne3 Ne6 19. Nf5 Rd7 20. g3 Re8 21. Ke2 Bc5 22. Raf1 b5 23. f4 Bd6 24. Bd2 Kb7 25. Be3 Bc5 26. Bc1 Bd6 27. b3 bxa4 28. bxa4 c5 29. Be3 Kc6 30. Rb1 exf4 31. Nxd6 f3+ 32. Kxf3 Rxd6 33. Ke2 Nd4+ 34. Kd2 Nf3+ 35. Ke2 Nd4+ 36. Kd1 Nf3 37. Rh5 Ne5 38. Ke2 Rde6 39. Rb3 c4 40. Rc3 Kd7 41. Bf4 cxd3+ 42. cxd3 Rb8 43. d4 Rb2+ 44. Ke3 Nxg4+ 45. Kf3 Nh2+ 46. Rxh2 Rxh2 47. Rxc7+ Ke8 48. d5 Re7 49. Rc8+ Kf7 50. Bd6 Rd7 51. Bc5 Rc2 52. Rc6 h5 53. a5 g5 54. Ke3 h4 55. gxh4 gxh4 56. Bb6 Rxc6 57. dxc6 Rd6 58. c7 Rc6 59. Kf4 Rc3 60. Kg4 h3 61. Bd4 Rxc7 62. Kxh3 Rc4 63. Bb6 Rxe4 64. Kg3 Ke6 65. Kf3 Kd5 66. Kf2 f5 67. Kf3 Kc6 68. Kf2 Kb5 69. Kf3 Ra4 70. Bd8 Rxa5 71. Kf4 Kb4 { 0-1 (71) Sevian,S (2556)-Radjabov,T (2738) Baku 2015}) 10. axb3 f6 11. Nf3 Nc5 12. Nd2 Ne6 13. Nc4 Qd7 14. h4 a6 15. h5 O-O-O 16. Nxb6+ cxb6 17. Be3 c5 18. Qg4 Kb8 19. g3 g6 $6 (19... Rhf8 $11) (19... Qf7 $11) 20. O-O-O $14 {White is a little better, and has the better of the play for a while.} Qf7 21. f4 exf4 22. Bxf4+ (22. gxf4 $142 $14) 22... Ka7 23. Rdf1 f5 24. Qh3 Qf6 25. Kb1 Rhf8 26. Rf2 Qe7 $6 (26... Qd4 $11) (26... Nd4 $11) (26... Nxf4 27. Rxf4 Rde8 28. Rhf1 Qd6 $1 $11) 27. Bh6 $14 Rf6 28. Qh4 $6 {This allows Black a nice little trick that puts White under a bit of pressure.} (28. exf5 $142 gxf5 29. Bd2 $14 ) 28... Rg8 $1 29. exf5 g5 $1 30. Qe4 Qd6 $1 (30... Rxh6 31. Re2 $1 $14) 31. fxe6 Rxf2 {A moment of success, but White has his own counter-trick to maintain equality.} 32. Bxg5 (32. e7 Qxh6 33. e8=Q Rxe8 34. Qxe8 Qd6 $11) 32... Rxg5 33. e7 Re5 34. e8=Q {Self-forking his queens (not that there was an alternative) - it's not every day that one does that.} Rxe8 35. Qxe8 Qxg3 $11 36. Qe4 $6 (36. Re1 $142) 36... h6 37. Qg6 Qe3 38. Qg1 Qe2 39. Qd1 Qxd1+ 40. Rxd1 Rh2 41. d4 $1 cxd4 (41... Rxh5 $1 {improves a little, but it shouldn't be enough to give Black serious winning chances.}) 42. Rxd4 Rxh5 43. Rd6 {This is dead.} b5 44. b4 Rh4 45. b3 Kb8 (45... Rxb4 46. Rxh6 {is very easy to draw. Even in the comparatively ideal case where Black has b-, c-, and d-pawns it's a relatively easy theoretical draw (a very easy one for these players); in this case, it's trivial.}) 46. Kb2 Kc7 47. Rg6 h5 48. Rh6 Kd7 49. Ka3 Rh1 50. c4 bxc4 51. bxc4 h4 52. Rh7+ Kc6 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE Candidates 2022"] [Site "Madrid ESP"] [Date "2022.07.01"] [Round "12.2"] [White "Ding Liren"] [Black "Radjabov, Teimour"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E48"] [WhiteElo "2806"] [BlackElo "2753"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "52"] [EventDate "2022.06.17"] {[%evp 0,48,19,31,14,1,-3,4,28,28,41,26,35,20,26,4,16,8,4,-7,-14,-16,-33,-33, -33,-16,-34,-30,-18,-44,-1,-49,-33,-58,-64,-61,18,-114,-63,-135,-108,-146,-137, -141,-180,-327,-224,-332,-157,-139,-285]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 { It's odd that this move, which is so common in chess history down to the present day, is such a rare guest in top-level play nowadays. We did have a sighting in round 7 (in Duda-Nakamura) though, so perhaps a small surge is underway.} O-O 5. Bd3 d5 ({Nakamura played} 5... c5 {in that game.}) 6. cxd5 exd5 7. a3 (7. Nge2 {is the most common move in the database, but it looks like 7.a3 is trendier.}) 7... Bd6 8. Qc2 Na6 $5 {This didn't exist until five weeks ago, and now there are three games with it. It's not a stampede, but it's not nothing, especially since Black has gone 2.5/3 with it.} (8... c6 { is much more common, when play often continues} 9. Nge2 Re8 10. Bd2 {. White will play 11.f3 against most moves, while Black prepares 11...c5 with 10... Nbd7 or 10...b6.}) 9. Nge2 {Funny enough, this transposes to a couple of other games, one of which was cutting edge...90 years ago.} (9. Nf3 c5 10. dxc5 Nxc5 11. b4 Nxd3+ 12. Qxd3 Bg4 13. Bb2 Rc8 14. Rd1 Bxf3 15. gxf3 Be5 16. O-O Rc6 17. Kh1 Bxh2 18. Kxh2 Ng4+ 19. Kg3 Ne5 20. Qf5 Rg6+ 21. Kh3 Rg5 22. Rxd5 Rxf5 23. Rxd8 Rxd8 24. f4 Nc4 25. Bc1 Rf6 26. Ne2 Nd2 27. Bxd2 Rxd2 28. Nd4 g6 29. Kg3 Ra2 30. Rc1 Rxa3 31. Rc8+ Kg7 32. Rc7 Rb6 33. Nf3 Rxb4 34. Ng5 a5 35. Rxf7+ Kg8 36. Rxh7 a4 37. Rc7 Ra1 38. Ne6 a3 39. Kg4 Rg1+ {0-1 (39) Durarbayli,V (2638) -Oparin,G (2685) Chess.com INT 2022}) (9. b4 c6 10. Nge2 Nc7 11. f3 a5 12. Rb1 Qe7 13. Qb3 axb4 14. axb4 Na6 15. Na2 b6 16. b5 cxb5 17. Bxb5 Nc7 18. Bd3 b5 19. O-O Bd7 20. Ng3 Bxg3 21. hxg3 Nh5 22. Bd2 Nxg3 23. Rfc1 Rfc8 24. Nb4 Qg5 25. Qd1 Qh4 26. Rc5 Be6 27. Rbc1 Ne8 28. Rxc8 Rxc8 29. Rxc8 Bxc8 30. Qc1 Bb7 31. Bxb5 Nd6 32. Bd3 Qh1+ 33. Kf2 Qh4 34. Kg1 g6 35. Qc7 Qh1+ 36. Kf2 Qh2 37. Qd8+ Kg7 38. Qe7 Nh1+ 39. Kf1 Ng3+ 40. Kf2 Nh1+ 41. Kf1 Ng3+ {1/2-1/2 (41) Deuer,M (2351)-Hagner,B (2186) Willingen 2022}) 9... c5 10. Bxa6 (10. dxc5 Nxc5 11. b4 Nxd3+ 12. Qxd3 Be6 ({Here Mr. "When I'm Black, I win because I'm Bogoljubow" should have played} 12... Ng4 {, with a significant advantage after } 13. h3 Qh4 14. Rf1 $8 Nh2 15. Rh1 Be5 16. Bb2 Be6 17. Rxh2 Bxh2 18. g3 Qxh3 $17) 13. Bb2 a5 14. b5 Ng4 15. Nd4 Ne5 16. Qe2 Rc8 17. h3 Nc4 18. O-O Qf6 19. Nd1 Qg6 20. Kh1 Bd7 21. a4 Rfe8 22. Bc3 Re4 23. Nf3 Rce8 24. Ra2 Bb8 25. Ba1 Qd6 26. Nc3 Rh4 27. Rd1 Bxh3 28. g3 Bg4+ 29. Nxh4 Bxe2 30. Rxe2 Nxe3 31. Rxd5 Qe6 32. Rxe3 Qh3+ 33. Kg1 Rc8 34. Nf5 Rf8 35. Ne4 f6 36. Bd4 Be5 37. Ne7+ Kh8 38. Bxe5 fxe5 39. Rf3 Rc8 40. Nxc8 Qxc8 41. Rxe5 h6 42. Re7 Qc2 43. Rff7 Qxa4 44. Nf6 {1-0 (44) Johner,P-Bogoljubow,E Bern 1932. Apparently he forgot that he was Bogoljubow.}) 10... bxa6 11. dxc5 Bxc5 12. b4 (12. O-O $142 Bd6 13. b3 Re8 14. Nd4 a5 15. Ncb5 Ba6 16. Nxd6 Qxd6 17. Rd1 Rac8 18. Qf5 Ne4 19. a4 g6 20. Qf3 Qe5 21. Bb2 Rc5 {1/2-1/2 (21) Vecek,M (2164)-Popov,V (2276) ICCF email 2010}) 12... Bd6 13. Bb2 ({There's no Greek gift after} 13. O-O {, though slower attacking play will still give Black at least equality.} Bb7 (13... Bxh2+ $2 14. Kxh2 Ng4+ 15. Kg3 $8 Qg5 16. f4 $8 Qh5 17. Nd4 $1 Qh2+ 18. Kf3 Re8 19. Bd2 Qh4 20. Ke2 Qg3 21. Qc1 $16 {/+- followed by Kd1-c2, and Black's attack runs out of steam (or whatever they use to power engines these days).}) (13... Re8 14. h3 Bb8 15. Rd1 Qc7 16. f4 $8 Bd7 $11) 14. Bb2 (14. h3) (14. Rd1) (14. Qf5) 14... d4 $1 15. Nxd4 Bxh2+ $1 {Here it's remarkable that White is not losing.} 16. Kxh2 Ng4+ 17. Kh3 (17. Kg3 Qd6+ 18. f4 $2 (18. Kxg4 { transposes to the 17.Kh3 line.}) 18... Nxe3 19. Qd3 Rfe8 $17) 17... Qd6 18. Kxg4 f5+ 19. Nxf5 Qg6+ 20. Kf4 Rae8 21. e4 Bxe4 22. Nxe4 Qxf5+ 23. Kg3 Qf4+ 24. Kh3 Qh6+ 25. Kg3 Qf4+ $11) 13... a5 (13... Re8) 14. b5 (14. O-O axb4 15. axb4 Bxb4 16. Ba3 Bxa3 17. Rxa3 $44 {is still around equal. Black is up a pawn, but the pawns on d5 and a7 can be targets while his light-squared bishop is ineffective.}) (14. Nb5 axb4 15. Nxd6 Qxd6 16. O-O Ba6 17. axb4 Ng4 18. g3 Rfc8 19. Qd2 d4 $1 20. Bxd4 Ne5 21. Rxa6 Nf3+ 22. Kg2 Qd5 23. Nf4 Qb7 24. Qa2 Nxd4+ 25. Kh3 Qd7+ 26. Kg2 (26. g4 Qb7 27. Nh5 Rc2 28. Qa4 Rc3 $11) 26... Qb7+ 27. Kh3 Qd7+ $11 {is a fun line.}) 14... a6 (14... Bb7 15. O-O Rc8) 15. h3 ({ White is not worried about the Greek gift after} 15. O-O $6 {, but the implicit fork} Qc7 $1 {, i.e.} 16. h3 axb5) 15... Bd7 16. bxa6 $2 (16. a4 $11) 16... Rxa6 17. Rd1 Rb6 18. Rd2 $2 (18. Ba1 Bxa3 $17) (18. Nxd5 $2 Nxd5 19. Rxd5 Qb8 $1 20. Bc3 Rc8 $1 21. O-O Bb5 $1 {Too many of White's pieces are attacked and vulnerable, and something's going to drop. For example:} 22. Rg5 Bf8 23. Re1 Bxe2 24. Rxe2 Rb1+ $19) 18... Qc8 $1 {A nice move, pinning the knight, looking to play ...Bf5, and preventing White from castling thanks to the stock sac on h3.} (18... Qb8 $1 $19 {followed by ...Rc8 is also strong.}) 19. f3 $2 { This lessens White's light-squared problems, at the cost of gravely weakening e3 and g3.} Re8 (19... Qb8 {is also winning.}) 20. Kf2 Qb8 21. Qc1 $2 Rxe3 $1 { White can resign.} 22. Nd1 (22. Kxe3 Bc5+ 23. Nd4 (23. Rd4 Rxb2 $19) (23. Kd3 Bf5+ $19) 23... Qe5+ 24. Kd3 Bxd4 25. Kc2 Bxc3 26. Bxc3 Ba4+ 27. Kd3 Rb3 28. Re1 Bb5+ 29. Kc2 Rxc3+ 30. Kb2 Re3+ $19) 22... Re8 23. Ne3 Rb3 $1 {One good move among many.} (23... Rxe3 $1 {Both strong and amusing. After} 24. Kxe3 { there's no check on c5, but cutting off the king's retreat with} Bg3 {, also clearing the 6th rank for ...Re6+, wins quickly.}) 24. Ng4 Bxg4 (24... Rxe2+ $19) (24... Nh5 $19) 25. hxg4 Rc8 $1 26. Qa1 Bf4 {Ding had had enough. He's down material, losing more, and his king is in all sorts of trouble.} 0-1 [Event "FIDE Candidates 2022"] [Site "Madrid ESP"] [Date "2022.07.01"] [Round "12.3"] [White "Duda, Jan-Krzysztof"] [Black "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D45"] [WhiteElo "2750"] [BlackElo "2793"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "82"] [EventDate "2022.06.17"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. Be2 O-O 8. O-O dxc4 9. Bxc4 b5 10. Bd3 Bb7 11. a3 a5 12. e4 e5 13. dxe5 Nxe5 14. Nxe5 Bxe5 15. h3 Ba6 16. Be3 b4 17. Bxa6 bxc3 18. Bc4 cxb2 19. Rad1 Qe7 20. Bc5 Qc7 21. Bxf8 Rxf8 22. g3 {The players were clearly unaware of this during the game, but they were still in theory. (Kudos to them for rediscovering it over the board, but "anti-kudos" to them for having to rediscover it over the board.) Most of the games have been correspondence, but the first game was an OTB battle between Dubov and Shirov - not obscure players! - though back in 2013. All 11 games were drawn, and all 11 started with 22...c5, aiming to put the bishop on d4.} g5 $2 $146 {More bullet-style play.} (22... c5 23. f4 Bd4+ 24. Kh2 { Here Shirov played 24...Qb7, which isn't best. Everyone since then has played} Rd8 {, and after} 25. Rfe1 {Black has more than one good option. Choose for yourself:} Kh8 (25... g6 26. e5 Nd5 (26... Nh5 27. e6 fxe6 28. Rxe6 (28. Rxd4 Rxd4 29. Rxe6 Kg7 30. Qxb2 Qd7 31. Qe2 Rd2 32. Re7+ Qxe7 33. Qxd2 Nf6 34. Bf1 Qc7 {1/2-1/2 (34) Rivas Maceda,J (2302)-Yanez Garcia,J (2126) ICCF email 2018}) 28... Kg7 29. Rde1 Rd7 30. Bb5 Rf7 31. Be8 Nxg3 32. Bxf7 Nf5 33. Qe4 Kxf7 34. Rc6 {1/2-1/2 (34) Tyulenko,Y (2413)-Kohlstetter,P (2146) ICCF email 2018}) 27. e6 fxe6 28. Rxe6 Kh8 29. Bxd5 Rxd5 30. Qe4 Rd7 31. h4 Qb7 32. Re8+ Kg7 33. Rxd4 b1=Q 34. Qe5+ Kh6 35. Qg5+ Kg7 36. Qe5+ Kh6 37. Qg5+ Kg7 38. Rxd7+ Qxd7 39. Re7+ Qxe7 40. Qxe7+ Kh6 41. Qxc5 Qf1 42. Qg5+ {1/2-1/2 (42) O'Hare,C (2450) -Broniek,M (2420) ICCF email 2016}) (25... Qe7 26. Qg2 Rb8 27. e5 Ne8 28. Qf3 Qb7 29. Bd5 Qc7 30. Ba2 {1/2-1/2 (30) Weber,K (2313)-Cilloniz Razzeto,A (2354) ICCF email 2014}) 26. Rb1 Rb8 27. e5 Ng8 28. Red1 g6 29. Bb5 Qb6 30. a4 Rd8 31. Rd3 Ne7 32. Qd2 Nd5 {1/2-1/2 (32) Poehr,A (2465)-Gerasimov,V (2507) ICCF email 2015}) 23. f4 gxf4 24. gxf4 Bxf4 (24... Bd4+ $1 25. Kh2 (25. Rxd4 $2 Qb6 26. Qf2 $8 (26. Rfd1 $2 Rd8 $19) 26... b1=Q 27. Rxb1 Qxb1+ 28. Kh2 $11) 25... c5 $16 {/+-}) 25. Qxb2 $18 Nh5 $2 (25... Be5) 26. Rd3 {White is clearly winning here, but Duda hasn't been in great form in the tournament either.} Qe7 27. Rf2 $2 Be5 $1 28. Qe2 Nf6 $2 {Duda gets a second chance.} (28... Nf4 29. Qg4+ Kh8 30. Rxf4 Rg8 31. Rxf7 Rxg4+ 32. hxg4 Qh4 $11) 29. Kh1 $18 Kh8 30. Rg2 Rb8 31. Ba2 (31. Rf3 $142 $18) 31... Ne8 32. Qe3 (32. Qg4 $142 Nd6 33. Rdg3 $1 Qd8 34. Qf3 $18) 32... Nd6 33. Rd1 (33. Qc5 $1) 33... Qf6 34. Rf2 (34. Rdg1) 34... Qg6 35. Rg1 (35. Rg2 $142 {was better, offering to repeat and then playing the best move the second time around.}) 35... Qxe4+ 36. Qxe4 Nxe4 37. Rxf7 $2 { A simple oversight, probably in time trouble.} (37. Rfg2 $1 Rf8 $1 38. Bb1 $1 ( {Don't fall for this trick:} 38. Bxf7 $2 Ng3+ 39. Rxg3 Bxg3 $11) 38... Nc3 39. Bd3 $18 {It's not going to be easy, but White is *probably* still winning here. }) 37... Ng3+ 38. Kg2 Rb2+ 39. Rf2 Rxf2+ 40. Kxf2 Bd4+ $11 41. Kxg3 Bxg1 { Black's extra pawn is meaningless here, and the draw was agreed.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE Candidates 2022"] [Site "Madrid ESP"] [Date "2022.07.01"] [Round "12.4"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C67"] [WhiteElo "2766"] [BlackElo "2760"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "28"] [EventDate "2022.06.17"] {[%evp 0,28,20,23,28,23,21,-2,21,20,42,33,52,17,-3,24,17,22,31,38,26,43,38,44, 44,38,42,38,42,38,42]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. dxe5 Nxb5 7. a4 Nbd4 ({Those of you who are willing to play the white side of this to troll higher-rated opponents should make sure you're ready for} 7... d6 {. It's not "better" than 7...Nbd4, but it keeps the game going and has a very good score. (That said, I wouldn't recommend it unless you're the clear favorite.)}) 8. Nxd4 Nxd4 9. Qxd4 d5 10. exd6 Qxd6 11. Qe4+ Qe6 12. Qd4 Qd6 13. Qe4+ Qe6 14. Qd4 Qd6 {Now this is the kind of game that I as a commentator can get behind, a known draw that has happened on the order of around 1000 times. (Not counting extra-database games. Nakamura himself accounts for at least 29 of the games from the black side, and he has explored the richness of the white side of this line as well. He's a genuine connoisseur.) My recollection is that both Nepo and Nakamura were critical of Firouzja's overnight bullet marathon a couple of days ago. Now we see that the problem wasn't with the quantity of games, but with the amount of time spent. This game finished in approximately six minutes, far more the one minute max for the game/30 second hyperbullet games Firouzja played.} 1/2-1/2