[Event "Sinquefield Cup 2022"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2022.09.05"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Niemann, Hans Moke"]
[Black "Firouzja, Alireza"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C54"]
[WhiteElo "2688"]
[BlackElo "2778"]
[Annotator "cahan"]
[PlyCount "82"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 d6 6. O-O O-O 7. Re1 Bb6 8. a4
a5 9. h3 h6 10. Na3 Ne7 11. d4 ({Black didn't have much to worry about after}
11. Bb3 c6 12. Be3 Bc7 13. Qc2 d5 14. Rad1 Ng6 {as in Le Quang Liem (2713)
-Mamedyarov,S (2772) Bucharest 2019.}) 11... Ng6 12. Bf1 c6 13. Nc4 Bc7 14.
dxe5 Nxe5 15. Bf4 Nxf3+ 16. Qxf3 d5 17. Rad1 Be6 18. e5 Nd7 19. Qg3 Kh8 $2 ({
A clear mistake by Firouzja who now lands in serious trouble. The best
continuation is} 19... dxc4 20. Bxh6 g6 21. Bg5 f6 22. Bh6 g5 23. Bxf8 Kxf8 {
which the computer gives as equal because it has found perpetual check or
repetition of moves further down the rabbit hole. Nevertheless, entering such
a line where any mistake or even inaccuracy can lead to an immediate loss is
not everybody's definition of a wonderful day at the chessboard.}) 20. Nd6 $1
Nc5 21. Rd4 (21. c4 $1 {is even better, according to the engines.}) 21... Bxd6
22. exd6 Ne4 23. Rexe4 $5 ({My silicone friend endorses the fascinating} 23.
Qh2 $1 Re8 24. f3 {with a clear advantage for White; the passed pawn, if he
can keep it, along with the bishop pair will undoubtedly make Black's life
miserable for some time to come.}) 23... dxe4 24. Rxe4 {White obviously has
excellent compensation for the exchange: the passed pawn on d6, the bishop
pair, as well as Black's overall passive position are more than enough to
cause Black worries. Yet, you cannot escape the feeling that Black had escaped
the worst when looking at his position just a few moves earlier.} Qf6 $6 (24...
Re8 {is better as the queen, while active, is not particularly well-placed on
f6; in fact, it is rather vulnerable.}) 25. Bd3 (25. Be3 $1 {giving the rook
more freedom to roam on the fourth rank as well as introducing the bishop to a
more productive diagonal (both d4 and b6 could be useful squares) would have
been a better option.}) 25... Bf5 26. Re3 Bxd3 27. Rxd3 Qf5 {Now Black has
equalized.} 28. Qe3 Rfe8 29. Qd2 Rad8 30. Be3 c5 $1 31. g4 $2 ({A very
aggressive and ambitious decision that was questioned by Nakamura on his
Twitch broadcast. Nakamura believed that Niemann now would end up in trouble,
possibly even losing the game. A draw with} 31. Bxh6 gxh6 32. Qxh6+ Qh7 33.
Qf6+ Qg7 34. Qh4+ {was immediately available for Niemann had he so desired.})
31... Qe4 32. Bxc5 ({Or} 32. f3 Qxf3 33. Bg5 Qxd3 34. Qxd3 hxg5 35. Qf5 Re1+
36. Kf2 Re6 {when only Black can be better.}) 32... Qxa4 33. Bd4 Re6 (33... Kg8
$5) 34. Bb6 Rd7 35. Bc7 Qc6 $6 ({A strange decision by Firouzja who had plenty
of time, over 20 minutes, to find} 35... Qa1+ 36. Kg2 Re1 {and Black is
clearly better.}) 36. Re3 Rxe3 $6 ({Firouzja rather strangely decides to
exchange down to a drawn queen ending. Instead} 36... a4 {is a better winning
try.}) 37. Qxe3 Rxc7 38. dxc7 Qxc7 39. Qe8+ Kh7 40. Qe4+ Kg8 41. Qe8+ Kh7
1/2-1/2
[Event "Chess.com"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2022.09.05"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Aronian, Levon"]
[Black "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B30"]
[WhiteElo "2759"]
[BlackElo "2745"]
[Annotator "cahan"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
1. e4 c5 {No Petroff today.} 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4 {A favorite Anti-Sicilian line
of Aronian.} Nf6 4. d3 Nc6 5. O-O g6 6. Nc3 Bg7 7. h3 O-O 8. a3 ({Previously,
Aronian had tried a couple of other moves: a)} 8. Bf4 h6 9. Re1 e5 10. Bd2 Kh7
11. a3 a6 12. Nd5 Nxd5 13. Bxd5 Ne7 14. Ba2 f5 15. b4 f4 {was played in
Aronian,L (2775)-Giri,A (2760) chess24.com INT 2022, and now} 16. a4 {would
have given White a comfortable edge.}) ({b)} 8. Be3 Na5 9. Bb3 b6 10. Qd2 Nxb3
11. axb3 d5 12. exd5 Nxd5 13. Bh6 Bb7 14. Bxg7 Kxg7 {with approximately equal
chances, Aronian,L (2775)-Fedoseev,V (2701) Chess.com INT 2022.}) 8... e6 (8...
b6 9. Be3 (9. Ba2 Bb7 10. Re1 e6 11. Bf4 a6 12. Qd2 Re8 13. Bh6 Rc8 14. Bxg7
Kxg7 {1-0 (50) Aronian,L (2781)-Vachier Lagrave,M (2784) Chess.com INT 2020}
15. Ne2 b5 16. Ng3) 9... Bb7 10. Ba2 e6 11. Qc1 Rc8 12. Re1 Ne5 13. Nh2 a6 14.
Bh6 Re8 15. Bxg7 Kxg7 16. f4 Nc6 {1/2-1/2 (72) Aronian,L (2765)-Wojtaszek,R
(2696) Warsaw 2022} 17. Qd2) 9. Ba2 {White's setup looks a little weird, but
it is, of course, well-known with the colors reversed, in the English Opening.}
b6 10. Rb1 $5 {This rook move is a well-known idea in the Closed Sicilian.
Whether it is particularly applicable in this particular position is a good
question. The computer is, however, unimpressed.} Bb7 11. b4 Rc8 12. Ne2 Qe7
13. b5 Nb8 14. Ng3 Nbd7 15. Re1 a6 16. a4 {Around here, in the official
broadcast from the tournament, GM Yasser Seirawan expressed that he didn't
like Aronian's approach in this particular game. Indeed, the text move is not
the best and almost instantly lets Black solve his opening problems.} ({
A more ambitious approach by White is} 16. bxa6 Bxa6 17. c3 {although it is
difficult to imagine Black actually being worse in this position.}) 16... axb5
17. axb5 Ra8 $1 {With the a-file open and the c-file mostly closed for
business, putting the rook back on the a-file makes a lot of sense.} 18. Bb3
Rfc8 {Nimzowitsch talked about mysterious rook moves, but this particular move
is uncontroversially unmysterious $1 In case White decides to play d3-d4,
Dominguez puts his f8-rook where it potentially could play a role.} 19. c3 Ne5
$5 ({This is more solid than ambitious. A more tenacious option is} 19... Ra5
$1 20. Bc2 Ne8 {when only Black, if anyone, can be better. Objectively though,
this is pretty even.}) 20. Nxe5 dxe5 21. Qc2 Ne8 {The knight is on the way to
d6 to entice White to play c3-c4 and thus close the center.} 22. Nf1 Nd6 23.
Nd2 Ra5 $6 ({While the text move doesn't unbalance the game in any meaningful
way, it is almost certainly not the best. After} 23... Nxb5 24. Bxe6 Qxe6 25.
Rxb5 Ba6 26. Rb1 Rd8 27. c4 Qd7 {followed by ...b6-b5, Black has a comfortable
position.}) 24. c4 Bh6 25. Bb2 $1 {White doesn't want to exchange Black's bad
bishop.} f6 26. Qc3 Rd8 27. Nf3 Nf7 28. Bd1 Bg7 29. Be2 Ra4 30. Bf1 Rda8 31. g3
Rb4 $6 {A tentative draw offer, inviting to repeat moves... yet, it was
objectively better to play} (31... Qd8 {intending ...f6-f5, but clearly, as
earlier indicated by his 19...Ne5, Dominguez came for a draw today, not an
ambitious attempt to win with the black pieces.}) 32. Ra1 Rba4 33. Rab1 ({
Aronian accepts the quiet draw offer. If he had been ambitious, he would have
tried} 33. h4 $5 {intending Bh3 when only White can claim an edge.}) 33... Rb4
34. Ra1 Rba4 35. Rab1 1/2-1/2
[Event "Chess.com"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2022.09.05"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Black "So, Wesley"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E05"]
[WhiteElo "2792"]
[BlackElo "2771"]
[Annotator "cahan"]
[PlyCount "50"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 b5 {
This move has been all the rage for a while now. Nepomniachtchi used it
himself against Magnus Carlsen in last year's world championship match.} 8. a4
Bb7 9. axb5 a6 10. Nc3 axb5 11. Rxa8 Bxa8 12. Nxb5 Bd5 13. Rd1 Nc6 14. Qa4 ({
Some other options are: a)} 14. Bg5 Nb4 15. Qc1 c5 16. dxc5 Qa5 17. Nfd4 Bxg2
18. Kxg2 Rc8 19. Bxf6 gxf6 20. Nd6 {gave White a small plus in Bok,B (2624)
-Vazquez,G (2561) Dulles 2022.}) ({b)} 14. Nc3 Bxf3 15. exf3 Nxd4 16. Qa4 c5
17. Qxc4 Nd5 18. f4 Nb6 {and Black had equalized, Zubritskiy,A (2442)-Grigorov,
G (2511) Chess.com INT 2022.}) ({c)} 14. Bf4 Nb4 15. Qb1 c5 16. Be5 Ng4 17. Nc3
Nxe5 18. dxe5 Qc7 {with equal chances, Ghazarian,K (2379)-Wachinger $146 (2360)
Marianske Lazne 2022.}) 14... Qb8 $5 ({A new move. In the rapid event ahead of
Sinquefield Cup, Nepomniachtchi faced} 14... Nd7 15. h4 ({Or} 15. Qa1 Nb4 16.
Qb1 Nf6 17. Nc3 Bb7 18. Bg5 Qa8 19. Qa1 h6 20. Qxa8 Rxa8 {1/2-1/2 (64)
Fedoseev,V (2701)-Nakamura,H (2750) Chess.com INT 2022}) 15... Nb6 16. Qa1 Qd7
17. Nc3 f5 18. Bf4 Bd6 19. Ne5 Qe8 20. e4 fxe4 21. Nxe4 Bxe5 22. Bxe5 Nxe5 23.
dxe5 Nd7 {with a comfortable position for Black, Nepomniachtchi,I (2792)
-Nakamura,H (2768) Saint Louis 2022.}) 15. Nc3 Qb6 16. e3 Rb8 17. Nxd5 exd5 18.
Ne5 Qa7 19. Qxc6 Rb6 20. b3 Bf8 21. Qa4 Ra6 22. Qb5 Rb6 23. Qa4 Ra6 24. Qb5 Rb6
25. Qa4 Ra6 {At the end of the game, White had used about eight minutes, and
Black just 40 seconds, in addition to the 30-second increments added after
each move. It is safe to say that So never left his opening preparation.}
1/2-1/2
[Event "Chess.com"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2022.09.05"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B90"]
[WhiteElo "2758"]
[BlackElo "2757"]
[Annotator "Rafael Leitão"]
[PlyCount "183"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]
{Round four was a strange day for the chess world. Magnus Carlsen made the
surprising decision to withdraw from the tournament, leaving everyone
dumbfounded. Fortunately, the day was not only made up of controversies; we
also had great chess. This game is very interesting in all its phases and also
had its share of drama.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6.
f3 {Vachier-Lagrave is faithful to his Najdorf Defense and Caruana to his
English Attack. A theoretical battle appears on the board.} e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8.
Be3 Be7 9. Qd2 O-O 10. O-O-O Nbd7 11. g4 b5 12. g5 Nh5 (12... b4 13. gxf6 bxc3
14. Qxc3 Nxf6 15. Na5 {and Caruana achieved an important win in the Olympiad.
Caruana-Maghsoodloo, Chennai 2022.}) 13. Kb1 Nb6 14. Na5 Rc8 15. Nd5 (15. a3 {
was played by Caruana against the same opponent last year.}) 15... Nxd5 16.
exd5 Bxd5 17. Qxd5 Qxa5 18. c4 Nf4 19. Bxf4 exf4 {All this is still well-known
theory.} 20. h4 Qa4 21. Rc1 (21. Bd3 {gave Dominguez a win against
Vachier-Lagrave last year. The Frenchman certainly has some improvement up his
sleeve.}) 21... Rc5 {A novelty in my human database, but there are still
computer games with this move. The Najdorf theory can go very far.} (21... Rfe8
{seems more reliable.}) 22. Qe4 {From now on, I suspect Vachier-Lagrave's
preparation ended, or maybe he forgot his analysis.} Re5 $6 (22... Re8 $1 {
is better. The idea is to sacrifice a pawn and achieve good compensation after}
23. Bd3 g6 24. Qxf4 Bf8) 23. Qxf4 f6 $2 {Black wants to activate his bishop,
but this move creates weaknesses around the king and loses. 23...Rb8 or 23...
Qb4 are better alternatives, although Black's position is already difficult.} (
23... Rb8) (23... Qb4) 24. Qh2 {Caruana thought for a long time to play this
move. It still gives White a big advantage, but 24.Qd2 is even better.} (24.
gxf6 $2 Bxf6 {is what Black wants.}) (24. g6 {is tempting, but not clear after}
d5 $1 (24... hxg6 $2 25. Qg3 {with a strong attack.})) (24. Qd2 $1 {This is a
very strong move and will be played later in the game with the difference that
the rook is on e5 here and on c5 in the game. White simply prepares f3-f4.}
fxg5 (24... bxc4 {is better but has an overwhelming advantage after} 25. Bxc4+
Kh8 26. f4) 25. hxg5 {Now White is winning in all variations.} Bxg5 (25... Rxg5
26. Bd3 {[%CAl Gd3h7,Gd3c2]} h6 27. Bc2 $1 {and the queen has no squares.}) 26.
Qxd6 Bxc1 (26... Rfe8 27. Bd3 h6 28. Bc2 $1 Qa5 29. f4 $3 {This strong move is
given by my computer.} Bxf4 (29... R5e6 30. Qd5 $18) 30. Rcd1 bxc4 31. Rhf1 Rf8
32. Qg6 {with a deadly attack.}) 27. Bd3 $1 Bh6 28. Qxe5 bxc4 29. Qe6+ Kh8 30.
Qe4 g6 31. Qh4 $1 {and White wins.}) 24... Rc5 (24... bxc4 {is a better try,
although White is much better after} 25. Bxc4+ Kh8) 25. Qe2 Re5 26. Qh2 (26.
Qd2 {transposes to the lines we checked before.}) 26... Rc5 27. Qd2 $5 {
This is also very effective with the rook on c5.} bxc4 (27... fxg5 $2 {Loses
in a similar way to the variations previously analyzed.} 28. hxg5 Bxg5 (28...
Rxg5 29. Bd3) 29. Qxd6 Bxc1 30. Bd3 $1) 28. Bxc4+ Kh8 29. Qe2 Re5 30. Qd3 d5
31. f4 {A human move, but not the most accurate, according to the machine.} (
31. Bb3 $6 Qb5) (31. Bxd5 {is possible, with a better endgame after} Rd8 32.
Bb3) (31. Bxa6 {is the computer's favorite.}) 31... dxc4 32. Rxc4 Re3 $1 33.
Qxe3 Qxc4 34. Qxe7 Kg8 35. Qe3 fxg5 36. fxg5 Rf1+ 37. Rxf1 Qxf1+ 38. Kc2 {
After all this logical play, the game arrives at a queen endgame with good
winning chances for White. I firmly believe queen endgames are the most
difficult in chess, even more than rook endgames. Even the very best can make
mistakes, as we will soon see.} Qc4+ 39. Kd2 {The nuances in queen endgames
are very hard to understand and even more to explain. Play is very concrete,
and sometimes you must check on some exact squares that only a computer can
find. For this reason, I will indicate sometimes what the machine think is
best, but the reader should not believe that I know why.} Qb4+ (39... Qd5+ {
is better.}) 40. Kd3 (40. Kd1 $1 {is better. Chess is difficult.}) 40... Qb5+
41. Kc3 Qc6+ 42. Kd2 h6 (42... Qd5+ {is better.}) 43. gxh6 Qd5+ 44. Kc2 Qg2+ $6
(44... Qc6+ {is more accurate.}) 45. Qd2 Qc6+ 46. Qc3 (46. Kb3 {is more
precise.} gxh6 47. Qd3) 46... Qxh6 (46... Qg6+ {For some mysterious reason,
it's better to give this check before capturing the pawn.} 47. Kb3 Qxh6 {
Maybe it's because now White can't play b4 like in the game $2}) 47. Qc4+ Kf8
48. b4 $1 {Now the king hides behind the pawn.} Ke7 49. Kb3 Kd7 50. Ka4 {
It's finally clear that White is winning. But the adventures are not over.} Qh5
51. a3 g6 52. Qxa6 Qxh4 53. Qxg6 {The position is easily winning with
tablebases on, but not so much when actually playing the game.} Kc7 54. Kb5 Kb7
55. a4 Qe7 56. Qc6+ Kb8 57. Qd5 Qe8+ 58. Kb6 Qe3+ 59. Ka6 Qa7+ 60. Kb5 Qe7 61.
Qc6 Qe2+ 62. Ka5 Qe7 63. Qc5 Qf7 64. Qc6 (64. b5 {wins easily. It's finally
time to push the pawn.}) 64... Qa7+ 65. Kb5 Qe7 66. Qb6+ Ka8 67. Qc5 $2 {
This move throws away the win.} (67. Qa6+ Kb8 68. Qc6 {With this triangulation,
White forces the black queen to move to a worse square, since she is ideally
placed on e7. Chess is easy to explain when you have tablebases at your side.})
67... Qb7+ 68. Ka5 Qc7+ $1 {This is the trick.} 69. Kb5 Qb7+ 70. Kc4 Qe4+ 71.
Kc3 Qe1+ 72. Kb2 Qd2+ 73. Kb3 Qd1+ 74. Qc2 Qd5+ 75. Kb2 Qd4+ 76. Qc3 Qf2+ 77.
Ka3 Qf7 78. Qd3 Qf6 79. a5 Qa1+ $2 (79... Qe6 $1 {and tablebases indicate a
draw.}) 80. Kb3 Qe1 81. Kc4 Kb8 82. Qd6+ Ka7 83. Qd4+ Kb7 84. Qd7+ Kb8 85. Qd4
Kb7 86. Qd7+ Kb8 87. a6 $2 {Now it's a draw again.} (87. Qd6+ {is one of the
winning moves.}) 87... Qe2+ 88. Qd3 Qe6+ (88... Qe7 $1 {is the only move to
make a draw. As I wrote earlier, these endgames are impossible for a human to
play precisely.}) 89. Kc5 Qe5+ 90. Qd5 {Now it's over.} Qe3+ 91. Kb5 Qe7 92.
a7+ $1 {[%c_effect a7;square;a7;type;GreatFind;persistent;true] Caruana forces
the exchange of queens.} 1-0
