[Event "ch-USA 2024"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2024.10.21"] [Round "9.1"] [White "Sevian, Samuel"] [Black "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A33"] [WhiteElo "2689"] [BlackElo "2741"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "84"] [GameId "2103386566802539"] [EventDate "2024.10.11"] {[%evp 0,84,22,-5,14,26,23,23,20,-1,-15,18,16,-32,9,-21,-18,29,22,15,13,25,11,23,12,31,28,25,23,42,36,34,26,42,42,29,30,6,0,-10,108,66,72,85,121,79,98,150,150,172,168,80,123,147,121,41,41,0,0,-227,-234,-329,-355,-364,-354,-364,-365,-364,-364,-372,-388,-404,-415,-433,-432,-403,-403,-403,-403,-432,-389,-639,-749,-1061,-1096,-1169,-771]} 1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 e6 6. g3 Qb6 7. Nb3 Ne5 8. e4 Bb4 9. Qe2 d6 10. Bd2 a5 (10... O-O) 11. f4 Nc6 12. Be3 Qd8 (12... Qc7) 13. Nd2 O-O (13... e5) 14. a3 Bxc3 15. bxc3 b6 16. Bg2 Qc7 17. O-O Ba6 18. g4 Nd7 19. Rf3 f5 $2 $146 {A big mistake that should have lost the game.} (19... f6 20. Rh3 Rf7 21. Qf2 Rb8 22. Qh4 Nf8 23. Rf1 Ne7 24. f5 Bxc4 25. Rd1 exf5 26. gxf5 Ba6 27. Kh1 Qxc3 28. Rg1 Re8 29. Rg3 Bb7 30. Bh6 Qc7 31. Bxg7 Rxg7 32. Rxg7+ Kxg7 33. e5 Neg6 34. Qxf6+ Kg8 35. fxg6 hxg6 36. Rf1 Bxg2+ 37. Kxg2 d5 38. Nf3 {½-½ Menendez Rodriguez,G (2270)-Langeveld,M (2328) RM-2021-0-00244 LSS email}) 20. Rh3 $2 (20. exf5 exf5 21. g5 $18 {is much better, as White's light-squared bishop is an absolute monster. The biggest and most obvious threat is to play 22.Rh3 followed by 23.Bd5+ Kh8 24.Rxh7+ and 25.Qh5#. Of course Black can stop this, but probably not without losing the exchange for essentially nothing.}) 20... Nf6 $2 (20... fxg4 21. Qxg4 Rae8 $14) 21. g5 Ng4 22. Kh1 $2 (22. exf5 exf5 23. Bd5+ Kh8 24. Qe1 $18 {Black's king is in enduring trouble, even if there's no direct mate coming over the next few moves.}) 22... d5 $2 (22... Rae8 $16) 23. exd5 exd5 24. Bxd5+ Kh8 25. Rg1 (25. Qe1 $1 $18) 25... Ne7 26. Bxa8 {Enough to win, materially, but now at least Black will have the initiative as some compensation.} (26. g6 $1 Nxd5 27. Rxh7+ Kg8 28. Rxg4 $1 fxg4 29. Qxg4 Nf6 30. Qe6+ Rf7 31. Rh4 $18) 26... Rxa8 27. Bd4 $2 (27. Re1 {was best: it's good for the rook and for the king.} Bb7+ 28. Kg1 Qc6 29. Nf3 $18) 27... Bb7+ 28. Nf3 $6 (28. Rf3 $1 $16) 28... Ng6 $1 $44 {Now Black has full compensation. In situations like this, however, matters are far worse for White than the sanguine equality claimed by the computer might suggest. As many of you will recognize from personal experience, when one player takes over the momentum in a game it generally keeps going. If you've been worse all game and suddenly it's equal, it doesn't feel equal. It feels like you're better. Your mood brightens and your confidence returns and grows, while the reverse happens to your opponent. It takes a tough psyche to be able to stop the slide when things are going the wrong way. On this occasion, Sevian wasn't up to the task. I'd also add that Black's initiative is very dangerous, even aside from the momentum issue. Finding a series of only-moves is challenging even under more or less ideal conditions, so one should not like Sevian's chances here.} 29. Qe6 $4 (29. Re1 $1 {was still best, clearing g1 for the king.} Be4 $1 $11) 29... Nxf4 $19 {Now Dominguez is clearly winning, and he brings home the point with accuracy and style.} 30. Qxf5 Nxh3 31. Rxg4 Qe7 32. Rg3 Qe1+ $1 33. Kg2 Qe2+ 34. Kxh3 (34. Kh1 Qf1+ 35. Rg1 (35. Bg1 Nf2#) 35... Bxf3+ $19) 34... Bc8 35. Qxc8+ Rxc8 36. g6 Rf8 37. Ne5 Qh5+ 38. Kg2 Qe2+ 39. Kh3 Qf1+ 40. Rg2 Rf5 41. Nf7+ Kg8 42. gxh7+ Kxh7 {If it were legal, 43.Rxg7 would be mate. It's not, of course, but Black will soon deliver mate to the white king, and so Sevian resigns.} 0-1 [Event "ch-USA 2024"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2024.10.21"] [Round "9.2"] [White "Robson, Ray"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D33"] [WhiteElo "2693"] [BlackElo "2751"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "188"] [GameId "2103386566806636"] [EventDate "2024.10.11"] {[%evp 0,188,22,34,32,-9,4,4,31,21,25,25,27,13,13,6,36,10,10,26,26,26,55,52,14,19,16,7,-13,5,17,25,28,22,41,43,40,21,0,17,17,28,29,20,65,67,67,63,64,41,71,67,114,99,110,109,89,56,61,65,90,77,85,74,100,75,80,75,95,70,81,69,75,69,57,62,84,84,88,83,78,64,64,64,62,55,62,62,62,62,62,62,62,62,62,21,18,16,62,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,13,14,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,16,13,3,3,0,13,13,13,13,13,13,13,13,13,13,13,0,13,13,5,3,3,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. g3 Nf6 7. Bg2 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Bc5 {Dubov's move, and line, have been faring brilliantly for years. (As a drawing weapon.)} 9. Nb3 Bb6 10. O-O d4 11. Na4 O-O 12. Bg5 h6 13. Bxf6 Qxf6 14. Nxb6 axb6 15. Bxc6 bxc6 16. Qxd4 Rd8 17. Qxf6 gxf6 18. Rfc1 Be6 19. Kf1 Ra4 20. Ke1 Rda8 21. Rc3 Rxa2 22. Rxa2 Rxa2 23. Nc1 Rxb2 24. Rxc6 b5 (24... Kg7 25. Nd3 Rb1+ 26. Kd2 f5 27. Nf4 Kf6 28. h4 (28. Nd5+ Kg7 29. Nxb6 h5 30. Na4 Bd7 31. Rb6 Rh1 32. Nc5 Be8 33. h4 f4 34. Ne4 f5 35. Rb7+ Kg6 36. Rb6+ Kg7 37. Ng5 fxg3 38. fxg3 Rg1 39. Rb3 Ra1 40. Rb7+ Kf6 41. Rb6+ Kg7 42. Ne6+ Kf7 43. Nf4 Kg7 44. Rb7+ Kf6 45. Ke3 Ra3+ 46. Kf2 Bf7 47. Rb6+ Kg7 48. Nh3 Ra2 49. Rc6 Ra3 50. Ng5 Bg8 51. Nf3 Ra4 52. Rc5 Kf6 53. Ng1 Bf7 54. Nh3 Ra3 55. Nf4 Ra6 56. Ke3 Ra3+ 57. Nd3 Ra4 58. Rc6+ Kg7 59. Rb6 Re4+ 60. Kf2 Bc4 61. Rb4 Bxd3 62. Rb7+ Kf6 63. exd3 Rd4 64. Ke3 Rg4 65. Kf3 Rd4 66. Rb6+ Kg7 67. Rb3 Kf6 68. Ra3 Kg6 69. Rc3 Kf6 70. Rc6+ Kg7 71. Rc4 Rxd3+ 72. Kf4 Kf6 73. Rc6+ Kg7 74. Re6 Rd4+ 75. Kxf5 Rg4 76. Re3 Kf7 77. Ra3 Kg7 78. Rb3 Kh7 79. Kf6 Rg6+ 80. Kf7 Rg7+ 81. Ke6 Rg6+ 82. Ke5 Rg4 83. Kf6 Rg6+ 84. Kf5 Rg4 85. Rb7+ Kh6 86. Rb3 Kh7 87. Re3 Kg7 88. Rd3 {½-½ Daneshvar,B (2577)-Salem,A (2661) FIDE World Cup Baku 2023 (3.3)}) 28... Ke7 29. Rc7+ Kf6 30. h5 Ba2 31. Kc2 Rf1 32. Rc6+ Be6 33. Nd3 Kg7 34. Rxb6 Bc4 35. f3 Bxd3+ 36. Kxd3 Rg1 37. Rb5 Kf6 38. Rb6+ Kg7 39. Rb5 {½-½ Aronian,L (2735)-Caruana,F (2766) Tata Steel-A 85th Wijk aan Zee 2023 (11)}) 25. Nd3 Ra2 $146 (25... Rb1+ 26. Kd2 Kg7 27. Nf4 Bc4 28. g4 Be6 29. h3 b4 30. Nxe6+ fxe6 31. Rxe6 b3 32. Rb6 b2 33. f3 Rh1 34. Rxb2 Rxh3 35. Rb5 Kg6 36. Kd3 Rh2 37. Ke3 Rg2 38. Rh5 Rg1 39. Kf2 Ra1 40. f4 Ra4 41. Kf3 Ra3+ 42. e3 Ra7 43. Rb5 Rc7 44. Kg3 Re7 45. Kf3 Rc7 46. Rb6 Ra7 47. Rc6 Rb7 48. Ra6 Rc7 49. f5+ Kg7 50. Kg3 Rc1 51. Ra7+ Kg8 52. Kf3 Rg1 53. Kf4 Rg2 54. e4 Rg1 55. Ra6 Kg7 56. Re6 Rf1+ 57. Ke3 Rg1 58. Kf3 Rf1+ 59. Kg2 Ra1 60. Re7+ Kg8 61. Kf3 Rf1+ 62. Ke3 Rg1 63. Kd4 Rxg4 64. Kd5 Rf4 65. Ke6 Rxe4+ 66. Kxf6 Rf4 67. Re8+ Kh7 68. Ke6 Kg7 69. Re7+ Kf8 70. Ra7 {½-½ Nguyen,T (2653)-Shankland,S (2711) Prague Masters 5th 2023 (4)}) 26. Rb6 Bc4 27. Rxf6 b4 28. Nxb4 Rxe2+ 29. Kd1 Re4 30. Kd2 Kg7 31. Rf3 Be2 32. Rb3 Bf1 33. Rb2 h5 34. h4 f5 35. Nc2 f4 36. Rb4 Re2+ 37. Kd1 Rxf2 38. Rxf4 Rxf4 39. gxf4 {The game goes for another 55 moves. Why, I don't know.} Kf6 40. Ne3 Ba6 41. Kd2 Bb7 42. Ke2 Ba6+ 43. Kf2 Ke6 44. Kg3 Bd3 45. Kf3 Kd6 46. Nd1 Ke6 47. Nf2 Bb5 48. Nd1 Bd3 49. Nc3 Kf5 50. Kg3 Bc4 51. Nb1 Bd3 52. Nd2 Be2 53. Nb3 Ke4 54. Nd2+ Kf5 55. Nf3 Ba6 56. Nd4+ Ke4 57. Ne6 Bc4 58. Nf8 Bd5 59. Ng6 Bf7 60. Ne5 Bd5 61. Nf3 Bb7 62. Nd2+ Kf5 63. Nc4 Bc6 64. Ne3+ Ke4 65. Nc2 Bb7 66. Ne1 Kf5 67. Nd3 Be4 68. Nf2 Bc6 69. Nh3 Bb7 70. Ng5 Bd5 71. Nf3 Ke4 72. Nd2+ Kf5 73. Nb1 Be4 74. Nc3 Bc6 75. Ne2 Ke4 76. f5 Be8 77. f6 Ke5 78. Ng1 Kxf6 79. Kf4 Bc6 80. Ne2 Be8 81. Ng3 Bg6 82. Ne4+ Bxe4 83. Kxe4 Ke6 84. Kf4 Kf6 85. Ke4 Ke6 86. Kf4 Kf7 87. Kg5 Ke6 88. Kxh5 Kf5 89. Kh6 Kf6 90. h5 Kf7 91. Kh7 Kf8 92. h6 Kf7 93. Kh8 Kf8 94. h7 Kf7 1/2-1/2 [Event "ch-USA 2024"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2024.10.21"] [Round "9.3"] [White "Oparin, Grigoriy"] [Black "Shankland, Sam"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B48"] [WhiteElo "2662"] [BlackElo "2677"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "33"] [GameId "2103386566806637"] [EventDate "2024.10.11"] {[%evp 0,33,34,22,51,50,62,74,42,51,62,56,58,84,86,95,110,61,77,65,67,60,47,33,39,17,20,-11,-11,-11,20,-11,0,19,0,19]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. a3 a6 5. d4 cxd4 6. Nxd4 Qc7 7. Be3 Be7 8. h4 $146 (8. f4 {is the most popular move, while}) (8. g4 {is #2. Might as well keep going from left to right and push the h-pawn.}) 8... h5 (8... Nf6 9. g4 d5 {is worth checking.}) 9. Qd2 (9. g4 $5) 9... Nf6 10. O-O-O b5 11. Nxc6 dxc6 12. e5 Qxe5 13. Bf4 (13. Bd4 Qb8 14. Qg5 $14 {is possible. It doesn't promise a large advantage, but it's not a forced draw.}) 13... Qc5 14. Be3 Qe5 15. Bf4 Qc5 16. Be3 Qe5 17. Bf4 1/2-1/2 [Event "ch-USA 2024"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2024.10.21"] [Round "9.4"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Liang, Awonder"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2796"] [BlackElo "2677"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "92"] [GameId "2103386566806638"] [EventDate "2024.10.11"] {[%evp 0,92,27,22,22,14,15,9,12,5,10,9,19,29,29,2,27,-2,15,15,40,20,22,-16,-16,10,3,-25,-27,-27,-27,-27,-27,-21,-29,-35,-22,-22,-30,-53,-40,-30,-38,-29,-23,-65,-65,-70,-70,-70,-78,-75,-73,-82,-67,-66,-60,-63,-67,-54,-24,-62,-9,-13,0,0,0,0,0,0,18,4,4,4,0,0,0,10,16,15,19,17,12,14,22,9,5,0,0,0,4,0,0,0,4]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3 Bb6 7. Nbd2 O-O 8. Bb3 Ne7 9. Nc4 Ng6 10. Re1 Re8 11. d4 {After a long think, apparently. Perhaps even Caruana mixed up something in his prep?} (11. Bc2) 11... exd4 12. Nxb6 axb6 13. cxd4 Nxe4 14. Bxf7+ Kxf7 15. Rxe4 Rxe4 16. Ng5+ Kg8 17. Nxe4 Qe7 $146 {=} (17... Bf5 18. Qb3+ d5 19. Ng3 Qd7 20. Be3 Be6 21. Rc1 b5 22. Bd2 c6 23. Bb4 Qf7 24. Re1 Bd7 25. Re3 Qf6 26. Bc5 Ra6 27. Qd1 Ra8 28. Qe1 Qf7 29. a3 Re8 30. Rxe8+ Qxe8 31. Qxe8+ Bxe8 32. Nf5 Nf4 33. Nd6 Bd7 34. Nxb7 Nd3 35. b3 Nc1 36. Na5 Kf7 37. a4 bxa4 38. bxa4 Ne2+ 39. Kf1 Nc3 40. Ba3 Nxa4 41. Ke2 Nb6 42. Kd3 Nc4 43. Nxc4 dxc4+ 44. Kxc4 Be6+ 45. Kd3 Bd5 46. f3 g5 47. Ke3 h5 {½-½ Gluma,C (2245)-Buchinger,A (1823) GER-chT U20 Magdeburg 2023 (2.2)}) 18. Nc3 Qf7 19. d5 (19. Be3 $142 $11) 19... Bd7 20. Qd4 Qf5 21. Be3 Ne5 22. Qe4 $2 (22. f3) ({and} 22. b3 {are still approximately equal.}) 22... Qxe4 23. Nxe4 Ra5 $17 (23... Nd3 $17) 24. Nc3 b5 25. b4 Ra3 26. Bd2 c5 $2 (26... Nc4 27. Be1 Kf7 $17) 27. dxc6 bxc6 28. Ne4 Nc4 29. Bf4 Rd3 30. f3 Bf5 31. Ng3 Bg6 32. a4 {Trades are coming, and soon the position is an obvious dead draw.} bxa4 33. Rxa4 Rd1+ 34. Kf2 Nb2 35. Ra8+ Kf7 36. Ne4 Bxe4 37. fxe4 Rd4 38. Rc8 Rxb4 39. Bxd6 Rxe4 40. Rxc6 Nd3+ 41. Kf3 Ne5+ 42. Bxe5 Rxe5 43. Kf4 Re2 44. Kf3 Re5 45. Kf4 Re2 46. Kf3 Re5 1/2-1/2 [Event "ch-USA 2024"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2024.10.21"] [Round "9.5"] [White "Mishra, Abhimanyu"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E48"] [WhiteElo "2630"] [BlackElo "2738"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "80"] [GameId "2103386566806639"] [EventDate "2024.10.11"] {[%evp 0,80,27,32,24,4,-2,6,28,23,22,27,25,19,22,14,34,4,7,5,20,3,-8,-17,-33,-36,-34,-41,-30,-30,-30,-23,-26,-29,-19,-26,-31,-26,15,-5,-18,-19,-9,-17,-23,-23,-8,-22,10,-24,5,11,11,9,10,13,13,6,8,8,9,8,9,9,21,21,20,19,21,20,23,15,11,11,28,11,14,12,26,11,14,18,21]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. cxd5 exd5 7. a3 Bd6 8. Qc2 b6 (8... c6 {is far more common. Aronian as the higher-rated (and far more experienced) player is probably looking for something slightly off the beaten track in the hopes of getting a position where he can force Mishra to solve some problems.}) 9. b4 c6 10. Nge2 a5 11. bxa5 $146 (11. b5 $142 {was played in three previous games. Here's the most recent one:} c5 12. Bd2 Re8 13. O-O g6 14. Nf4 Bxf4 15. exf4 c4 16. Be2 Bf5 17. Qd1 Ne4 18. Nxe4 Bxe4 19. f3 Bc2 20. Qxc2 Rxe2 21. Rae1 Rxe1 22. Rxe1 Ra7 23. f5 Re7 24. fxg6 {½-½ Kaidanov,G (2559)-Ghazarian,K (2475) American Continental 17th Juan Dolio 2023 (10)}) 11... Rxa5 12. O-O c5 (12... Re8) 13. Bb5 Na6 (13... Rxb5 $5 {is tricky, but White can just hold the balance.} 14. Nxb5 Bxh2+ $1 15. Kxh2 Ng4+ 16. Kg3 Qg5 17. f4 Qh5 18. Nd6 $1 Ba6 19. Qf5 Qh2+ 20. Kf3 $1 Qh4 21. g3 Qh3 22. Bd2 Nc6 23. Rae1 Nh2+ 24. Kf2 Ng4+ 25. Kf3 Nh2+ $11 {is one possible line.}) 14. Bd2 Nc7 15. a4 Ra8 16. f3 Nxb5 17. Nxb5 Ba6 18. Rfb1 Be7 19. a5 Qd7 20. Nec3 bxa5 21. Rxa5 cxd4 22. exd4 Qc6 23. Rba1 h6 24. Qb3 {Black has had a little pressure for some time now, which Mishra has done well to neutralize. Now Aronian decides to call it a day.} Bxb5 25. Qxb5 Qxb5 26. Nxb5 Rxa5 27. Rxa5 Rb8 28. Bf4 Rb7 29. Ra7 Rxa7 30. Nxa7 Nd7 31. Nb5 Nf8 32. Nc7 Bf6 33. Be3 Ne6 34. Nxd5 Bxd4 35. Bxd4 Nxd4 36. Kf2 Nf5 37. Ne3 Nd4 38. Nd5 Nf5 39. Ne3 Nd4 40. Nd5 Nf5 1/2-1/2