[Event "Magnus Carlsen Inv KO 2021"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2021.03.18"] [Round "2.11"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D37"] [PlyCount "200"] [EventDate "2021.03.16"] [SourceVersionDate "2020.07.21"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. e4 b5 6. Nxb5 Nxe4 7. Qa4 c6 8. Nc3 Nxc3 9. bxc3 Ba6 10. Bxc4 Bxc4 11. Qxc4 Bd6 12. O-O O-O 13. Rb1 Qc7 14. Qd3 Nd7 15. c4 c5 16. d5 exd5 17. Qxd5 Nb6 18. Qd3 Rad8 19. Qc2 h6 20. a4 Rfe8 21. Be3 Bf4 22. a5 Nc8 23. Bxf4 Qxf4 24. Rfd1 Rxd1+ 25. Rxd1 Nd6 26. Qa4 Re6 27. Qd7 Ne4 28. Re1 a6 29. Qd8+ Kh7 30. Qd3 f5 31. g3 Rd6 32. Qb3 Qg4 33. Kg2 Qg6 34. Rd1 Rxd1 35. Qxd1 Qd6 36. Qb3 Qe6 37. Qd3 Qd6 38. Qe3 Qc7 39. Nh4 g6 40. Qd3 Qb7 41. Nf3 Kg7 42. Ne5 Kf6 43. Nd7+ Kf7 44. Nb6 Nf6+ 45. f3 Qe7 46. Nd5 Qd7 47. h4 g5 48. Qb3 Qe6 49. Qb7+ Kg6 50. Kf2 Nxd5 51. cxd5 Qf6 52. Qb6 Kf7 53. hxg5 hxg5 54. Qxc5 Qb2+ 55. Ke3 Qb3+ 56. Kd4 Qd1+ 57. Ke5 Qxf3 58. Qa7+ Kg6 59. Qxa6+ Kh5 60. Qe6 Qxg3+ 61. Kf6 Qc3+ 62. Qe5 Qxe5+ 63. Kxe5 f4 64. Ke4 Kg4 65. d6 f3 66. Ke3 Kg3 67. d7 f2 68. d8=Q f1=Q 69. Qxg5+ Kh3 70. Qh5+ Kg3 71. Qg6+ Kh3 72. Qd3 Qf8 73. a6 Qf7 74. Ke2+ Kg2 75. Qe4+ Kh2 76. Qh4+ Kg2 77. Qg5+ Kh2 78. Qe5+ Kg2 79. Qe4+ Kh2 80. Ke3 Qb3+ 81. Kf2 Qb6+ 82. Kf3 Qb3+ 83. Qe3 Qd5+ 84. Kf2 Qf5+ 85. Ke1 Qb1+ 86. Ke2 Qb5+ 87. Qd3 Qe5+ 88. Kd2 Qa5+ 89. Ke3 Qe5+ 90. Kf3 Qg3+ 91. Ke2 Qe5+ 92. Kd1 Qa1+ 93. Kd2 Qa2+ 94. Ke1 Qa1+ 95. Kf2 Qf6+ 96. Qf3 Qb6+ 97. Qe3 Qf6+ 98. Qf3 Qb6+ 99. Ke1 Qa5+ 100. Kf2 Qb6+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "Magnus Carlsen Inv KO 2021"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2021.03.18"] [Round "2.11"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C65"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "64"] [EventDate "2021.03.16"] [SourceVersionDate "2020.07.21"] {[%evp 0,64,17,33,33,33,22,22,14,9,24,23,21,21,37,18,16,4,-10,-14,-20,-25,-5,1, -10,-7,22,8,11,2,8,3,16,6,12,23,26,25,25,17,26,27,25,34,26,23,26,10,29,39,55, 19,18,37,66,19,98,58,33,-205,-149,-135,-154,-208,-217,-449,-441]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. O-O Nd7 7. c3 O-O 8. d4 Bd6 9. Bg5 f6 10. Bh4 Qe7 11. Nbd2 Qf7 12. Bg3 Re8 13. Qc2 a5 14. b3 exd4 15. cxd4 Bxg3 16. hxg3 Nb6 17. a4 Bg4 18. Rfe1 h6 19. Re3 Re7 20. Rae1 Rae8 21. Qc3 Qh5 22. Nh2 Be6 23. f4 f5 24. Qxa5 Bf7 25. g4 fxg4 26. Qc3 Qh4 27. Ndf1 g3 28. Nxg3 Qxf4 29. Nf5 $4 {White was not hurting for playable moves here, so he must have believed he had something good that proved to a mirage. But what?} (29. Ne2 $11) (29. Nhf1 $11) (29. Rf3 $11) (29. Rf1 $11) 29... Rxe4 30. Rxe4 Rxe4 31. Rf1 Qg5 32. Nxh6+ gxh6 (32... Qxh6 {also wins, so it's hard to know what Giri was thinking on move 29.}) 0-1 [Event "Magnus Carlsen Inv KO 2021"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2021.03.18"] [Round "2.12"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C83"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "40"] [EventDate "2021.03.16"] [SourceVersionDate "2020.07.21"] {[%evp 0,40,17,33,33,33,22,22,24,-2,5,5,35,-18,9,-13,-16,-19,11,-77,-27,-57, -22,-10,-2,-46,35,-16,18,18,86,67,51,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. c3 Be7 10. Nbd2 Nc5 11. Bc2 d4 12. Nb3 dxc3 (12... d3) 13. bxc3 (13. Nxc5 Bxc5 14. Be4 Qd7 15. Bg5 $1 $146 {+/=}) 13... Qxd1 14. Rxd1 Na4 $146 {=} 15. Be4 $8 Bd7 16. Rxd7 Kxd7 17. Bf5+ Ke8 18. Be4 Kd7 19. Bf5+ Ke8 20. Be4 Kd7 1/2-1/2 [Event "Magnus Carlsen Inv KO 2021"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2021.03.18"] [Round "2.12"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D85"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "49"] [EventDate "2021.03.16"] [SourceVersionDate "2020.07.21"] {[%evp 0,49,17,17,26,-20,63,48,60,66,51,72,62,62,62,64,64,76,50,30,58,49,73,39, 32,26,101,63,63,65,76,76,47,46,46,-108,-39,-29,-22,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Nf3 c5 8. Rb1 O-O 9. Be2 cxd4 10. cxd4 Qa5+ 11. Bd2 Qxa2 12. O-O Bg4 13. Rxb7 Bxf3 14. Bxf3 Bxd4 15. e5 Na6 16. Rxe7 Rad8 17. e6 fxe6 18. Qe1 Nc5 19. Bc3 Nd3 20. Bxd4 Nxe1 21. Rg7+ Kh8 22. Rd7+ Kg8 23. Rg7+ Kh8 24. Rd7+ Kg8 25. Rg7+ {This was also So-Nepomniachtchi from the Airthings tournament, played December 27 of last year. Nakamura has his Berlin with 7.a4, So has this line. He is a very solid player, but it's still dangerous to throw away the white pieces like this.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Magnus Carlsen Inv KO 2021"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2021.03.18"] [Round "2.13"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D37"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "90"] [EventDate "2021.03.16"] [SourceVersionDate "2020.07.21"] {[%evp 0,90,30,27,30,2,2,4,4,8,54,60,77,70,55,55,59,57,42,54,54,23,59,39,56,56, 62,47,54,40,41,34,54,19,44,58,57,17,44,2,41,6,31,19,93,20,1,16,16,-12,0,-12,0, -37,18,42,15,-139,-8,-8,-5,-13,0,-164,-148,-253,-251,-248,-240,-257,-253,-250, -247,-257,-246,-274,-283,-281,-281,-283,-297,-312,-309,-310,-321,-341,-341, -393,-393,-492,-500,-505,-454]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. e4 b5 6. e5 Nd5 7. Nxb5 Nb6 8. Be2 Nc6 9. O-O Be7 10. Qd2 Bb7 11. Rd1 (11. Qf4) 11... Qd7 12. Nc3 Nb4 13. a3 (13. Qf4 f5 14. Qg3 (14. exf6 gxf6 15. b3 cxb3 16. axb3 a6 17. Ne4 N6d5 18. Qh6 O-O-O 19. Nc5 Bxc5 20. dxc5 e5 21. Bd2 Qc6 22. Bc4 Kb8 23. Bxb4 Nxb4 24. Rxd8+ Rxd8 25. Qxh7 Qxc5 26. Nh4 Qd4 27. Rf1 a5 28. Qe7 Nc6 29. Qxf6 a4 30. Nf3 Qc3 31. Bb5 a3 32. Bxc6 Qxc6 33. Qxd8+ Ka7 34. Ra1 Qa6 35. Qd2 Bxf3 36. Qe3+ {1-0 (36) Cheparinov,I (2670)-Moiseenko,A (2635) chess24. com INT 2020}) 14... O-O 15. h4 Kh8 16. Bg5 N4d5 17. Nd2 Nxc3 18. bxc3 Bd5 19. a4 a5 20. Rdb1 Bxg5 21. hxg5 f4 22. Qh3 Nxa4 23. Nxc4 f3 24. Bd3 g6 25. Ne3 Nxc3 26. Rc1 Ne2+ 27. Bxe2 fxe2 28. Ng4 Rfb8 29. Nf6 Qe7 30. Rc2 Rb3 31. Nxd5 Qa3 32. Qxe6 Qxa1+ 33. Kh2 Rb6 34. Nxb6 e1=Q 35. Qf6+ Kg8 36. Qe6+ Kh8 37. Qf6+ Kg8 38. Qe6+ {1/2-1/2 (38) Ding,L (2805)-Caruana,F (2818) Saint Louis 2019}) 13... N4d5 14. Ne4 Qc6 15. Re1 $146 {+/=} O-O-O $6 16. Bf1 $16 f5 17. exf6 gxf6 18. Qe2 Kb8 19. Bd2 Rhg8 20. Rac1 Bd6 21. g3 f5 22. Nxd6 cxd6 23. Bg2 $2 (23. Qxe6 $1 {is not only safe, it's strong.} Nc7 {looks scary for a a second, but it's not hard to find the only move in reply.} (23... f4 24. Bg2) (23... Rdf8 24. Qh6 f4 25. Bg2) 24. d5 $18 {and although Black gets his pawn back, the resulting position is awful for him. White will have no trouble neutralizing the a8-h1 diagonal, and between Black's weak pawn structure and White's bishops Nepo will be in for a rough time.}) 23... Rde8 24. Nh4 (24. Ng5 $142) 24... Qb5 $11 25. Rb1 Qb3 26. Bc3 (26. Qf3 $11) 26... Nf4 27. gxf4 Rg4 28. h3 Rxh4 29. Bxb7 Kxb7 30. Qf3+ Ka6 31. d5 $2 {Carlsen has overestimated the strength of his counterplay. As it turns out, he doesn't really get any.} (31. Kh2 $142 $11) 31... Nxd5 32. Rxe6 Rxe6 33. Qxd5 Rg6+ {If it weren't for this check, White would be fine - that's part of the reason why 31.Kh2 was better.} 34. Kf1 Qb5 {White has nothing; in fact, it is his king that will be in trouble if the queens stay on the board. Carlsen allows the trade of queens, but it doesn't help - the rest is easy for Nepo.} 35. Rd1 Qxd5 36. Rxd5 Rxf4 37. Bd4 Rf3 38. Be3 f4 39. Rf5 Re6 40. Bd4 Re4 41. Kg2 Rd3 42. Bc3 d5 43. Rf6+ Kb5 44. Rf7 d4 45. Bb4 Re2 0-1 [Event "Magnus Carlsen Inv KO 2021"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2021.03.18"] [Round "2.13"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C65"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "99"] [EventDate "2021.03.16"] [SourceVersionDate "2020.07.21"] {[%evp 0,99,17,33,33,33,22,22,24,24,24,20,21,18,35,16,20,6,40,-7,39,13,54,-17, -12,-20,-8,-21,-16,-68,-41,-51,-32,-62,-33,-70,-24,-26,-17,-78,-78,-55,-58,-56, -29,-73,18,-78,-10,-15,19,0,-3,-15,26,32,38,42,42,35,64,67,82,28,191,99,99,125, 278,143,201,109,172,189,194,147,147,135,135,146,458,132,123,145,141,143,303,92, 157,72,81,66,87,64,64,64,309,184,29995,332,881,955]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. O-O Nd7 7. c3 a5 (7... O-O {is much more common, as played by So himself against Firouzja last year.} 8. d4 Bd6 9. Bg5 f6 10. Bh4 Qe7 11. Re1 a5 12. Nbd2 Qf7 13. Bg3 Re8 14. b3 a4 15. Qc2 axb3 16. axb3 Rxa1 17. Rxa1 exd4 18. cxd4 Nb6 19. h3 Bxg3 20. fxg3 Be6 21. Ra7 Rb8 22. Kh2 h6 23. b4 Nc8 24. Ra1 Nd6 25. Rf1 Nb5 26. Nb1 Rd8 27. Qb2 Qd7 28. Rd1 f5 29. exf5 Bxf5 30. Nc3 Be6 31. Nxb5 cxb5 32. Qc3 Qd6 33. Ne5 Bd5 34. Rd2 c6 35. Rf2 Rf8 36. Rxf8+ Qxf8 37. Qd2 Qf5 38. Nd3 Kf7 39. Qe3 b6 40. Ne5+ Kg8 41. Qe2 Kf8 { 1/2-1/2 (41) Firouzja,A (2728)-So,W (2770) Lichess.org INT 2020}) 8. d4 Bd6 9. Re1 a4 10. Nbd2 exd4 11. cxd4 $146 (11. Nc4 dxc3 12. Nxd6+ cxd6 13. Qxd6 Qe7 14. Qd4 O-O 15. Qxc3 Qc5 16. Bd2 Qxc3 17. Bxc3 c5 18. Rad1 a3 19. b3 Re8 20. h3 b5 21. Bd2 Nb8 22. Be3 Na6 23. Rd6 Be6 24. Ng5 Nb4 25. Nxe6 fxe6 26. Rd2 Rec8 27. Rc1 c4 28. bxc4 Rxc4 29. Rb1 e5 30. Rb3 Kf7 {1/2-1/2 (30) Pavlov,V (2430) -Panitevsky,I (2489) ICCF email 2016}) 11... Nb6 12. Nf1 O-O 13. Bg5 f6 14. Bh4 Bg4 15. h3 Bh5 16. Qd3 (16. a3 $142) (16. Ng3 $142) 16... Qd7 (16... a3 $142 $15) 17. g4 (17. Bg3 $142) (17. a3 $142) 17... Bg6 $15 (17... Bf7 $15) 18. Ne3 (18. Bg3 $142) 18... Nd5 (18... a3 $142) 19. Nf5 Nf4 20. Qf1 Bxf5 21. gxf5 g6 22. Bg3 Nh5 23. fxg6 hxg6 24. Qg2 Kh7 $6 (24... Bf4) (24... Nxg3 $142) 25. Rad1 (25. e5 $142) 25... Rae8 (25... a3 $11) (25... Bf4 $11) 26. a3 (26. e5) 26... Bxg3 $6 (26... Bf4) 27. fxg3 Qd6 $6 {Also inaccurate, but this was the point of the previous move. It would be good to have a symbol that could give a question mark (or an exclamation mark, for that matter) - that would be distributed over the course of the full idea rather than parcelling it out one move at a time.} (27... Ng7 $142) 28. Kh2 $16 Re7 29. Rd2 Kg7 $6 (29... Ng7) 30. e5 $16 Qd7 $6 31. Re4 $6 (31. Qe2 $142) 31... Qd5 $4 (31... f5) 32. exf6+ Kxf6 33. Re5 $18 {And Black is completely lost. A bit of chess justice for So's wasting the white pieces in the previous game.} Qd7 34. Rg5 Qd6 35. Rf2 Kg7 36. Nh4 Re6 37. Nf5+ Rxf5 38. Rfxf5 Qxd4 39. Rg4 Qd6 $5 {A small trick.} 40. Rf2 (40. Rxh5 $4 Qd3 {followed by ...Re2 gives Black his material back, with equality.}) 40... Re3 41. Re2 Rd3 42. Qf2 c5 $2 43. Rg5 (43. Qf5 $1 Rxg3 ( 43... Nxg3 44. Re7+ {comes to the same thing.}) 44. Re7+ $1 Qxe7 45. Qxg6+ Kh8 46. Qg8#) 43... c4 44. Rge5 $2 (44. Qf5) 44... Nxg3 45. Re7+ Kh6 46. Qf8+ Kg5 47. Rg2 Re3 $2 (47... Kh4 48. Rh7+ $8 Nh5+ 49. Qxd6 Rxh3+ (49... cxd6 $4 50. Rg4#) 50. Kg1 cxd6 51. Rxg6 $18 {is still winning, but less comfortably than before.}) 48. Rf7 Qd1 49. Rf1 (49. Rxg3+ $1 Rxg3 50. Qe7+ Kh5 51. Rh7#) 49... Qd3 50. Rf4 1-0 [Event "Magnus Carlsen Inv KO 2021"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2021.03.18"] [Round "2.14"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B51"] [PlyCount "131"] [EventDate "2021.03.16"] [SourceVersionDate "2020.07.21"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 4. O-O Ngf6 5. Re1 a6 6. Bf1 b6 7. c4 Bb7 8. Nc3 Ne5 9. a3 e6 10. b4 Be7 11. Rb1 Qc7 12. d3 O-O 13. Nxe5 dxe5 14. bxc5 Bxc5 15. Na4 Bd4 16. Be3 Bxe3 17. fxe3 b5 18. cxb5 axb5 19. Rxb5 Bc6 20. Rb4 Rfb8 21. Nb2 Rxa3 22. Rxb8+ Qxb8 23. Nc4 Ra8 24. Qc2 Nd7 25. Rb1 Qa7 26. Nb6 Nxb6 27. Qxc6 Nd7 28. d4 Nf6 29. Rb7 Qa3 30. Rb3 Qf8 31. dxe5 Rc8 32. Qa4 Ng4 33. Qd4 Rd8 34. Qc3 Qe7 35. h3 Nh6 36. Qb2 g6 37. Rb8 Rxb8 38. Qxb8+ Kg7 39. Kf2 Qh4+ 40. Kf3 Ng8 41. Qd6 Qh5+ 42. Kf2 Qg5 43. g3 h5 44. h4 Qg4 45. Bg2 Nh6 46. Qd8 Kh7 47. Qd7 g5 48. Bf3 Qh3 49. hxg5 Qh2+ 50. Kf1 Qxg3 51. Bxh5 Qxe3 52. g6+ Kg7 53. gxf7 Qh3+ 54. Ke1 Qh4+ 55. Kd2 Qxh5 56. Qxe6 Nxf7 57. Qf6+ Kg8 58. e6 Qh2+ 59. Kc3 Qc7+ 60. Kb2 Qb6+ 61. Ka1 Qa5+ 62. Kb1 Qb5+ 63. Ka1 Nd6 64. Qd8+ Ne8 65. Qd7 Qe5+ 66. Ka2 1/2-1/2 [Event "Magnus Carlsen Inv KO 2021"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2021.03.18"] [Round "2.14"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D83"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "72"] [EventDate "2021.03.16"] [SourceVersionDate "2020.07.21"] {[%evp 0,72,17,17,26,9,31,37,64,21,59,34,13,23,23,-17,20,16,65,58,69,30,70,57, 60,12,16,22,6,-20,21,9,21,13,23,20,33,45,28,-9,28,28,28,28,28,16,44,-86,-50, -64,15,15,-27,-36,-81,-76,-42,-42,10,-39,-15,-201,-221,-242,-246,-242,-205, -357,-393,-497,-216,-450,-454,-454,-465]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bf4 Bg7 5. e3 O-O 6. Rc1 Be6 7. c5 c6 8. Bd3 Bg4 9. Nge2 b6 10. Na4 Nfd7 11. f3 e5 12. Bxe5 Nxe5 13. dxe5 Bc8 14. f4 f6 15. exf6 Qxf6 16. O-O Qe7 17. Qd2 Re8 18. Rf3 Bg4 19. Rg3 Bxe2 20. Bxe2 Nd7 21. b4 Nf6 22. Nc3 bxc5 23. bxc5 Rad8 { The game has not gone all that well for So thus far, but nothing too terrible has happened as yet.} 24. f5 $4 {This gives Black the chance for an immediate win; surprisingly, he misses it.} (24. Bd3 $15) 24... gxf5 $2 {Not a game-ender, but it's probably good enough to win as well.} (24... Bh6 {Pretty much ends the game. Taking on g6 is irrelevant, and trying to defend the e-pawn is hopeless as well.} 25. fxg6 (25. Kf2 $2 d4 $19) (25. Nd1 $2 Ne4 $19) 25... Bxe3+ 26. Rxe3 Qxe3+ 27. Qxe3 Rxe3 28. gxh7+ Kxh7 29. Bf3 Rde8 $19 { followed by ...Rd3 is an easy win. The material situation isn't that bad for White, but he can't do anything. Meanwhile, Black keeps penetrating, pushes the d-pawn, and does whatever he wants.}) 25. Rf1 Ne4 (25... Kh8 $142) 26. Nxe4 fxe4 27. Bg4 Rf8 28. Bf5 Rf6 (28... d4 $142) 29. Qe2 (29. Rh3 $142 $15) 29... Qf7 $6 (29... Rh6 $142 $17) 30. Qg4 $4 {It looks aggressive, but he's allowing his bishop to fall prey to a fatal pin.} (30. Rg5 $15 {/=}) 30... Rf8 $19 31. Rf2 (31. Rf4 Kh8 {White's pieces may look aggressive, but they're jumbled and in a tactically awkward mess.}) 31... Kh8 $1 32. Be6 Qe7 33. Bf5 Bh6 34. Rh3 Qe5 35. Rf1 Rxf5 36. Rxf5 Rxf5 ({After} 36... Rxf5 {White can reestablish material equality for a moment, but there's a wee problem...} 37. Rxh6 Qa1+ { with mate (and an extra queen) next move.}) 0-1 [Event "Magnus Carlsen Inv KO 2021"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2021.03.19"] [Round "2.21"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C84"] [PlyCount "123"] [EventDate "2021.03.16"] [SourceVersionDate "2020.07.21"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a3 O-O 9. Nc3 Rb8 10. Nd5 Nxd5 11. Bxd5 Bd7 12. b4 Bf6 13. Be3 Ne7 14. Bb3 Ng6 15. a4 bxa4 16. Bxa4 Rxb4 17. Bxd7 Qxd7 18. Rxa6 Ra4 19. Rxa4 Qxa4 20. Qb1 Qc6 21. Qb3 Ra8 22. Rb1 Nf8 23. g3 Ne6 24. h4 h5 25. Nd2 g6 26. Qd5 Qa4 27. Nc4 Rd8 28. Rc1 Rb8 29. Qa5 Qd7 30. Qa7 Qc8 31. Ra1 Kg7 32. Kf1 Rb7 33. Qa8 Rb1+ 34. Ke2 Rb8 35. Qa6 Qd7 36. Qa4 Qd8 37. Qc6 Kh7 38. Nd2 Bg7 39. Nf3 Bh6 40. Bxh6 Kxh6 41. Qc3 Kg7 42. Kf1 Rb5 43. Kg2 Qb8 44. d4 exd4 45. Nxd4 Nxd4 46. Qxd4+ Kg8 47. Ra4 Re5 48. Qa1 Qb7 49. Kh2 Re8 50. Qc3 Rxe4 51. Rxe4 Qxe4 52. Qxc7 d5 53. Qc8+ Kg7 54. Qc3+ Kf8 55. Qc8+ Ke7 56. Qc7+ Kf6 57. Qc3+ Qe5 58. Qc6+ Kg7 59. Qc5 Qe4 60. Qc3+ Kh7 61. Qc7 Qe6 62. Qc5 1/2-1/2 [Event "Magnus Carlsen Inv KO 2021"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2021.03.19"] [Round "2.21"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B51"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "130"] [EventDate "2021.03.16"] [SourceVersionDate "2020.07.21"] {[%evp 0,130,25,19,52,45,97,65,65,52,45,40,45,13,5,5,17,19,11,15,13,-14,-14, -31,1,16,42,18,8,13,33,14,14,13,13,13,26,26,34,26,41,34,53,13,62,35,43,21,37, 26,42,2,2,-12,36,2,18,12,67,64,64,69,52,52,84,84,84,88,71,35,12,34,52,51,53,38, 57,57,79,40,25,25,27,18,46,32,82,34,82,78,75,62,141,121,113,111,111,111,111, 119,116,91,89,88,80,77,67,100,113,119,119,116,111,13,10,-31,-31,-31,-29,-29, -29,-31,-29,-29,-29,-44,-29,-33,-29,-38,-29,-38,-29]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 4. Ba4 Ngf6 5. O-O e6 6. Re1 a6 7. c4 Be7 8. Nc3 O-O 9. d4 cxd4 10. Nxd4 Qc7 11. Qe2 Ne5 12. Bb3 Ng6 13. Kh1 Re8 14. Be3 b6 15. Ba4 Bd7 16. Bxd7 Nxd7 17. Rac1 Rac8 18. b3 Qb7 19. f3 Nf6 20. Bf2 (20. Qd3 $142) 20... Bf8 ( 20... d5 $142) 21. Qd2 Qb8 22. a4 h6 23. Nc2 Red8 24. Red1 Qb7 25. h3 Be7 26. Qe3 Qa8 27. Qd2 (27. Qxb6 $2 Rb8 $19) (27. Nd4 $14) 27... Qb7 28. Rb1 d5 $5 29. exd5 exd5 30. Nxd5 Nxd5 31. cxd5 Bg5 32. Ne3 Ne7 33. d6 Nf5 34. Qd5 Qxd5 35. Nxd5 Rc2 $2 (35... Rxd6 $142) 36. Ne7+ $2 (36. h4 $1 Nxh4 (36... Bxh4 37. Bxh4 Nxh4 38. Rd4 Nxg2 39. Rbd1 $18 (39. Rg1 Nh4 40. Rxh4 Rxd6 41. Ne3 $18)) 37. Bxh4 Bxh4 38. Nxb6 $18) 36... Nxe7 37. dxe7 Re8 38. Bxb6 Rxe7 39. b4 Ree2 $44 40. Rg1 Ra2 41. a5 Be7 42. Bd4 Ra4 43. Bc3 Rc2 44. Rgc1 Rxc1+ 45. Rxc1 Bxb4 46. Bxb4 Rxb4 47. Rc8+ Kh7 48. Rc6 Ra4 49. Rxa6 h5 50. Ra8 h4 {There are endgames of this sort (rook and three pawns for each side on the kingside, with one player having a passed a-pawn and the rook stuck in front of the pawn) are won for the strong side, but this isn't one of them.} 51. a6 Ra1+ 52. Kh2 Ra2 53. a7 g5 54. Kg1 Kg7 55. Kf1 Kf6 56. Ke1 Kf5 57. Kf1 Kf4 58. Re8 (58. Ke1 f6 59. Rf8 Rxa7 60. Rxf6+ Kg3 61. Rf5 Kxg2 {isn't dangerous for Black.}) 58... Rxa7 59. Re4+ Kf5 60. Kg1 f6 61. Kh2 Rd7 62. Re3 Rc7 63. Re4 Rd7 64. Re3 Rc7 65. Re4 Rd7 1/2-1/2 [Event "Magnus Carlsen Inv KO 2021"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2021.03.19"] [Round "2.22"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D35"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "92"] [EventDate "2021.03.16"] [SourceVersionDate "2020.07.21"] {[%evp 0,92,25,27,27,-3,3,2,2,2,4,-2,8,-29,-28,-28,-11,4,-1,2,25,5,5,5,0,4,4,1, 15,12,-1,-9,31,24,24,24,65,53,53,53,62,62,49,49,78,43,114,77,83,83,65,64,56,66, 74,81,65,49,58,67,72,56,56,56,60,29,41,15,61,34,69,34,34,0,0,-22,-22,-45,-45, -191,-209,-211,-2,-46,-46,-106,-63,-222,-220,-325,-341,-571,-576,-576,-509]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 Bb4 6. Qa4+ Nc6 7. e3 h6 8. Bxf6 Qxf6 9. Nge2 O-O 10. a3 Bxc3+ 11. Nxc3 Ne7 12. Be2 c6 13. O-O Nf5 14. b4 Nh4 15. Kh1 Qg6 16. g3 Nf5 17. b5 h5 18. bxc6 bxc6 19. Rg1 $6 (19. Bf3 $142) (19. Rac1 $142) 19... h4 $6 (19... Nh6 $1 $17) 20. gxh4 $1 Qf6 21. h5 c5 $2 22. Nxd5 Bb7 23. Bf3 $2 (23. Qd7 $16 {/+-}) 23... Bxd5 24. Bxd5 Rad8 25. Qc6 Qxc6 26. Bxc6 cxd4 27. Rg5 Ne7 28. Bf3 dxe3 29. fxe3 {White's minuscule advantage is insufficient for the win. A draw would be the normal result, but when you're a fighter like Carlsen, you'll occasionally overpress.} Rd3 30. Re5 Nc8 31. a4 Nd6 32. Rc1 Rb8 33. Kg2 Rbb3 34. Rc6 Kf8 35. a5 f6 36. Re6 Nf5 37. h6 Nxh6 38. Rc8+ (38. Bh5 $11) 38... Kf7 $15 39. Ra6 $2 Rd2+ $19 40. Kg3 Nf5+ $6 (40... Rxe3 $142 $19) 41. Kf4 Rf2 42. Rxa7+ $2 (42. Kxf5 Rxf3+ 43. Kg4 Rbxe3 44. Rxa7+ Kg6 $17 {/-+}) 42... Kg6 43. Rcc7 Kh6 $1 (43... Rxe3 $2 44. Rxg7+ $1 {was Carlsen's idea, and what Nepo's 43...Kh6 avoided.}) 44. Kxf5 Rxe3 45. Rc5 g6+ $1 46. Kg4 Rfxf3 {Avoiding mate (by ...f5+ Kh4 Rh3#) will cost White a rook, so it's time to resign.} 0-1 [Event "Magnus Carlsen Inv KO 2021"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2021.03.19"] [Round "2.22"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C67"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "82"] [EventDate "2021.03.16"] [SourceVersionDate "2020.07.21"] {[%evp 0,82,27,19,28,27,26,18,13,-3,33,-9,58,54,67,61,61,61,59,57,75,76,110,88, 90,91,103,102,94,89,98,98,121,104,104,66,70,50,44,31,31,22,24,0,0,0,5,-25,-28, -32,-19,-24,-24,-36,-12,-15,-7,-15,-10,-14,-7,-32,-27,-25,-22,-24,-22,-22,-16, -22,-20,-29,-29,-25,-2,-4,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. h3 Ne7 10. Nc3 Bd7 11. Ne4 b6 $146 (11... Ng6 {had been played in previous games.}) (11... h6 $146 ) 12. Re1 $6 (12. Nfg5 $142) 12... Kc8 $2 (12... h6 $1 $15) 13. Nfg5 $1 Be8 14. Nd6+ $1 cxd6 15. exd6 Kd7 16. dxe7 Bxe7 17. Bf4 (17. Bd2 $3 Rd8 18. Rad1 { and because the bishop shields the rook on d1, Black cannot play ...Kc8.} c5 $8 19. Nxh7 $16 (19. Nxf7 $16)) 17... Rd8 18. Rad1+ $6 {It was better to avoid this exchange, which results in an equal ending. So has no trouble from here on out.} (18. a4 $142) 18... Kc8 19. Ne4 Rxd1 20. Rxd1 Bd7 21. Nd6+ Bxd6 22. Rxd6 Re8 23. Be3 c5 24. a3 {The rest is unnecessary, except for whatever anti-draw rules are in effect, and/or So's need to win a game.} Bf5 25. Rd2 h5 26. Kf1 Be4 27. Bf4 Rd8 28. Rxd8+ Kxd8 29. c3 Kd7 30. g3 Kc6 31. Ke1 Kb5 32. Bb8 a6 33. Kd2 Kc4 34. Ba7 b5 35. b4 cxb4 36. axb4 g6 37. h4 Bf5 38. Bb6 Bg4 39. Ba7 Bf5 40. Bb6 Bg4 41. Ba7 Bf5 1/2-1/2 [Event "Magnus Carlsen Inv KO 2021"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2021.03.19"] [Round "2.23"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B40"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "110"] [EventDate "2021.03.16"] [SourceVersionDate "2020.07.21"] {[%evp 0,110,28,20,52,44,51,32,27,26,76,76,102,90,134,87,98,85,64,69,100,71, 110,70,68,68,84,43,103,48,63,51,47,41,35,-11,57,57,67,64,52,52,55,52,69,43,43, 53,81,40,78,40,40,39,15,20,20,17,20,0,-8,-24,0,-66,-52,-69,-63,-75,-66,-112, -112,-112,1,18,18,12,81,9,71,0,0,-44,-82,-52,-90,-85,-31,0,0,0,0,-136,-165, -165,-165,-112,-134,-177,-232,-196,-190,-429,-429,-468,-468,-470,-470,-494, -431,-519,-541,-541,-527]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Qb6 5. Nc3 a6 6. a3 Qc7 7. g3 Nf6 8. Bg2 Nc6 9. O-O h5 10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. Bf4 e5 12. Bg5 Bc5 13. Qf3 d6 14. h3 Nd7 15. Rad1 Nf8 16. Na4 Ne6 17. Be3 Bxe3 18. Qxe3 h4 19. Nb6 Rb8 20. Nc4 O-O 21. Nxd6 hxg3 22. fxg3 Rxb2 23. Qc3 Qb8 24. Nf5 Rb5 {Having one the first day's match and enjoying a lead in this one, with a better position and needing only a draw in this game or the next one to make it to the finals, it would seem that Nepomniachtchi has everything he could dream of. Unfortunately for him, this dream turns into a nightmare.} 25. Ne7+ (25. a4 $142 Rb7 26. Kh2 $16) 25... Kh7 26. Kh2 Qc7 27. Nf5 Rc5 $11 28. Qd2 Rd8 29. Qf2 Rc3 30. a4 Nd4 {Objectively a good move, but in the match context a blunder.} ( 30... f6 $142) 31. Nxd4 $2 (31. Nxg7 $1 {almost certainly wins the match. If Black doesn't take the knight, he's in big trouble; if he does, it's an instant draw.} Kxg7 (31... Qe7 {is the only relatively reasonable alternative, when White is "only" clearly better after} 32. Nf5 $16) 32. Qf6+ Kh7 33. Qh4+ Kg7 34. Qf6+ Kg8 35. Qg5+ Kf8 36. Qh6+ Kg8 $8 (36... Ke8 $2 37. Qh8+ Ke7 38. Rxf7+ $1 Kxf7 39. Qh7+ $18) 37. Qg5+ $11) 31... Rxd4 32. Qe2 Be6 33. Rxd4 exd4 34. Qh5+ Kg8 35. Rf4 Qe7 $2 (35... c5 $19) 36. Rh4 f6 37. e5 $1 fxe5 38. Qxe5 Rxc2 39. Re4 $2 {Tempting, but an error.} (39. Qe4 $11) (39. Kh1 $11) (39. Qb8+ Kf7 40. Rxd4 Bd5 41. Qf4+ Kg8 (41... Qf6 42. Qc7+ Kg6 43. Rxd5 Rxg2+ 44. Kxg2 Qb2+ 45. Kg1 Qb1+ 46. Kf2 Qa2+ 47. Ke3 Qxd5 48. Qb6 $11) 42. Rd2 $11) 39... d3 $1 40. Qxe6+ Qxe6 41. Rxe6 d2 42. Rd6 c5 $2 (42... Kf7 $1 43. g4 Ke7 44. Rd3 c5 45. Rd5 c4 46. Kg3 c3 47. Bf3 Rc1 48. Kf2 c2 49. Rxd2 Rf1+ 50. Kxf1 c1=Q+ { and whether White plays 51.Rd1 or 51.Ke2, Black will win the a-pawn after 51... Qc4+, with an eventual win.}) 43. g4 c4 44. Kg3 c3 45. Kh4 $2 (45. Bd5+ $1 Kf8 46. Bb3 Rb2 47. Bd1 Rb1 48. Bc2 Rc1 49. Bb3 c2 50. Bxc2 Rxc2 51. Kf3 $11) 45... Kf8 $19 46. Bf3 Rc1 47. Rd3 Ke7 48. Kg5 Rf1 49. Re3+ Kd6 50. Rd3+ Ke5 51. Rxc3 Rxf3 52. Rxf3 d1=Q 53. Rf5+ Ke4 54. a5 {Hoping for a fortress, but Black breaks it almost immediately.} Qd6 55. Kh4 g6 (55... g6 56. Rf7 (56. Rg5 { keeps the a-pawn, but at the cost of almost everything else.} Kf4) 56... Qd8+ { picks up the a-pawn, with an easy win.}) 0-1 [Event "Magnus Carlsen Inv KO 2021"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2021.03.19"] [Round "2.23"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A48"] [PlyCount "117"] [EventDate "2021.03.16"] [SourceVersionDate "2020.07.21"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Nbd2 d5 4. c4 c5 5. dxc5 Bg7 6. cxd5 Qxd5 7. e4 Qxc5 8. Bd3 O-O 9. O-O Nc6 10. h3 Rd8 11. Qe2 Be6 12. Nb3 Bxb3 13. axb3 Nh5 14. Kh1 e6 15. Ra4 Qd6 16. Bc2 a6 17. Bg5 Rdc8 18. Rd1 Qc7 19. Rc4 Nf6 20. e5 Nd7 21. Bf4 Nb6 22. Re4 Rd8 23. Rxd8+ Rxd8 24. h4 h5 25. g3 Rd5 26. Kg2 a5 27. Bd3 Qd7 28. Bb5 Qc7 29. Be3 Rd8 30. Bc5 Nc8 31. Be3 N8e7 32. Bg5 Rd5 33. Bc4 Rd7 34. Bb5 Rd5 35. Bc4 Rd7 36. Bxe7 Rxe7 37. Bb5 Rd7 38. g4 hxg4 39. Rxg4 Rd5 40. Bxc6 Qxc6 41. Rc4 Rc5 42. Kg3 b5 43. Rxc5 Qxc5 44. Qe4 Qd5 45. Qxd5 exd5 46. Kf4 f6 47. e6 Bh6+ 48. Kg3 Bc1 49. Nd4 Bxb2 50. Nxb5 Kf8 51. f4 f5 52. Nc7 Ke7 53. Nxd5+ Kxe6 54. Ne3 Bc3 55. Kh3 Bf6 56. Nc4 Bc3 57. Ne3 Bb4 58. Nc4 Bc3 59. Ne3 1/2-1/2 [Event "Magnus Carlsen Inv KO 2021"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2021.03.19"] [Round "2.24"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B90"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "2021.03.16"] [SourceVersionDate "2020.07.21"] {[%evp 0,65,29,19,52,39,80,64,64,32,32,32,64,24,24,30,36,-10,1,1,3,-3,4,5,24, 34,54,54,60,60,47,46,46,20,69,65,134,132,132,115,148,95,168,170,176,154,192, 192,211,221,206,206,206,206,206,224,238,238,238,229,229,223,233,205,408,454, 446,449]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. a4 e5 7. Nf3 h6 8. g3 Be7 9. Bg2 O-O 10. O-O Be6 11. Nh4 Nbd7 $6 (11... Bg4 $1 $11) 12. Nf5 $14 Bxf5 $6 (12... Rc8 $142) 13. exf5 $16 Qc7 14. a5 Rab8 15. Be3 Rfc8 16. Qd3 Bf8 17. Rfc1 b6 $2 18. axb6 Nxb6 19. Rxa6 $18 {With a pawn and the compensation. The rest was easy for Carlsen.} Nc4 20. Nd5 Qd8 (20... Nxd5 21. Bxd5 Nxb2 {re-establishes material equality for a moment, but after} 22. Qe4 { the coming Ra7 will only make things worse.} Qd8 23. Ra7 Rc7 (23... Be7 $2 24. f6) 24. Rca1 Rbc8 25. Rxc7 Rxc7 (25... Qxc7 26. Ra7 $18) 26. Bb6 $18) 21. b3 Nxe3 22. Qxe3 Rc5 23. c4 Qc8 24. Nxf6+ gxf6 25. Ra7 Qxf5 26. Bd5 Qg5 27. Rb1 Qxe3 28. fxe3 Rb4 29. Bxf7+ Kh8 30. Bd5 Rc8 31. Kg2 Rcb8 32. Rf7 Bg7 33. Ra1 1-0 [Event "Magnus Carlsen Inv KO 2021"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2021.03.19"] [Round "2.24"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C02"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "53"] [EventDate "2021.03.16"] [SourceVersionDate "2020.07.21"] {[%evp 0,53,30,19,47,36,36,28,28,2,0,6,0,-4,-8,-8,-3,-8,-8,-19,-3,-1,-1,3,8,-2, 16,-36,-36,-37,-9,-20,-3,5,5,3,14,-40,-42,-42,-29,-34,6,3,10,-12,-12,-15,-7, -17,-11,-25,8,-68,304,343]} 1. e4 e6 {Needing a win, So gives the French a try. In a similar situation against Giri in the previous round, MVL tried the Modern and lost disastrously. Alas, a different pawn didn't produce a different result.} 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Bd7 (4... Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6) ({or the slight finesse} 4... Qb6 {(to avoid the minor sideline 4...Nc6 5.Be3!?)} 5. Nf3 Nc6 {is the most common approach, but So's line is also well known.}) 5. Nf3 Nc6 (5... Qb6 {is common here (and is another option through the 4...Qb6 move order), intending ...Bb5 to swap off the traditionally "bad" French bishop.}) 6. Be2 Nge7 (6... Rc8) ({and} 6... f6 {are important alternatives.}) 7. Na3 Nf5 8. Nc2 cxd4 9. cxd4 Be7 (9... Qb6) 10. O-O O-O 11. Bd2 {A rare move, and a first at the GM level (though it did transpose to one high-level game a move later, or could have). It has been played by some good OTB players, though, and in a few correspondence games as well.} (11. Bd3) 11... Rc8 (11... f6 $142 $11) 12. Bd3 (12. b4 $1 $146 {+/=}) (12. Bc3 f6 13. Qd2 fxe5 (13... Be8 14. Ne3 fxe5 15. Nxe5 Nd6 16. Bg4 Rf6 17. f3 Rh6 18. a4 Bg5 19. f4 Ne4 20. Qd3 Be7 21. Nf3 Qc7 22. f5 Bd6 23. h3 Ne7 24. Rac1 Rf6 25. fxe6 Bg6 26. Ne5 Nf2 27. Qd2 Ne4 28. Qd3 Bxe5 29. dxe5 Rxf1+ 30. Qxf1 Qb6 31. Qe1 d4 32. a5 Qc7 33. Bd2 Qxe5 34. Rxc8+ Nxc8 35. Nc4 Qd5 36. b3 Bf5 37. Bxf5 Qxf5 38. Qh4 g5 39. Qh5 Qxe6 40. Bxg5 b5 41. Nd2 Ncd6 42. Nxe4 Nxe4 43. Bf4 a6 44. Qh4 Nc3 45. Qg5+ Kf7 46. Be5 Qg6 47. Qd8 Ne2+ 48. Kh2 Qf5 49. Qd5+ Ke8 50. Qc6+ Kf7 51. Bd6 d3 52. Qc7+ Ke6 53. Qc8+ Kf6 54. Qxa6 Qe6 55. Qc6 Kg6 56. Qc5 Kf6 57. Qf2+ Kg6 58. Bb4 Qe5+ 59. g3 Nd4 60. a6 Qd5 61. g4 h5 62. gxh5+ Kxh5 63. a7 Nf3+ 64. Kg3 Ng5 65. Qe3 Ne4+ 66. Kf4 {1-0 (66) Herrera,A (2191)-Zawadski,A (2233) ICCF email 2006}) 14. dxe5 a6 15. a4 Be8 16. b4 Bh5 17. b5 Bxf3 18. Bxf3 Bg5 19. Qd3 Nce7 20. bxa6 bxa6 21. Be2 Rc4 22. Bd2 Ng6 23. Bb4 Nf4 24. Qd1 Rxc2 25. Qxc2 Nd4 26. Qd1 Ndxe2+ 27. Kh1 Be7 28. Bxe7 Qxe7 29. g3 Nc3 30. Qc2 Nfe2 31. Rae1 Qf7 32. f3 Qd7 33. Rxe2 Nxe2 34. Qxe2 Qxa4 35. Kg2 Rc8 36. Rf2 h6 37. h4 Rc1 38. h5 Rb1 39. Qc2 Qxc2 40. Rxc2 a5 41. Rc8+ Kf7 42. Rc7+ Kf8 43. Rc8+ Ke7 44. Rc7+ Kd8 45. Rxg7 Rb2+ 46. Kf1 a4 47. Ra7 Ra2 48. g4 a3 49. f4 d4 50. g5 hxg5 51. fxg5 Kc8 52. g6 Kb8 53. Ra4 {1-0 (53) Ljubojevic,L (2605)-Short,N (2655) Monte Carlo 1993}) 12... f6 13. exf6 Bxf6 14. Bc3 Qb6 $6 {Black's pressure against d4 will soon force White to play Bxf5, but this will be to White's advantage.} (14... Be8 $142) 15. Qd2 Kh8 {Now there's no Bxh7+ at the end of a long series of captures on d4, so the d-pawn is genuinely threatened at the moment.} 16. Bxf5 exf5 17. Ne5 $14 Be6 18. Nxc6 Rxc6 19. Rfe1 (19. Ne1 $1 {was a good idea, rerouting the second knight to e5.}) 19... Bg8 (19... Bf7) 20. Re2 h6 21. Rae1 Bg5 (21... Bf7) 22. f4 $11 (22. Qd3 $142 $14) 22... Bf6 23. Re8 Rxe8 24. Rxe8 Kh7 25. Qd3 Be6 (25... Bf7 $1 $11 {/=/+}) 26. g4 $2 {Nervousness? Excessive optimism? Instead of remaining solid, Giri makes a move that could have been the start of a tragedy of self-destruction. Instead, it wins the game.} Qc7 $4 {Oh my...} (26... Bd7 $17) (26... Qa6 $17) 27. Rxe6 $1 {And Giri qualifies for the final.} 1-0 [Event "Magnus Carlsen Inv KO 2021"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2021.03.19"] [Round "2.31"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C84"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "283"] [EventDate "2021.03.16"] [SourceVersionDate "2020.07.21"] {[%evp 0,283,27,19,19,27,26,18,18,-3,-3,-6,23,2,23,23,23,8,25,25,25,16,16,20, 20,-8,9,9,27,7,14,-1,-1,-1,-1,7,6,6,6,10,18,15,15,23,5,19,21,21,25,14,35,40,47, 30,59,5,5,0,-22,0,-16,-16,-16,-16,-6,-6,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,-20,-20, -10,0,-40,0,-45,-45,-40,-57,-36,-45,-43,-53,-55,-55,-55,-23,-23,-33,-13,-17, -17,-13,-24,-19,-19,-19,-28,-17,-17,0,-24,-5,-10,-11,-25,-25,-26,-26,-26,-21, -29,-26,-34,-40,-38,-38,-39,-39,-39,-39,-39,-39,-40,-39,-39,-37,-39,-39,-38, -39,-39,-39,-39,-38,-38,-38,-38,-38,-38,0,-39,-38,-38,-38,-40,-39,-40,-39,-39, -38,-39,-38,-39,-38,-38,-38,-38,-38,-38,-38,-40,-39,-38,-38,-39,-38,-40,-37, -39,-40,-39,-39,-40,-39,-39,-39,-40,-39,-39,-36,-39,-36,-39,-39,-39,-39,-39, -39,-39,-36,-36,-39,-39,-39,-38,-40,-40,-40,-39,-36,-40,40,40,41,40,41,40,40, 40,40,40,40,40,40,40,40,40,40,40,42,42,40,40,40,40,40,40,40,40,40,40,40,40,40, 40,40,40,40,40,40,40,40,40,40,40,40,40,40,40,40,40,40,40,40,40,40,40,40,40,40, 40,40,40,40,40,40,40,40,40,40,40,40,40]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a3 O-O 9. Nc3 Rb8 10. Nd5 Nxd5 11. Bxd5 Bd7 12. b4 Bf6 13. Be3 Ne7 14. Bb3 Ng6 15. c3 a5 16. bxa5 Ra8 17. a4 bxa4 18. Bxa4 Rxa5 19. Bxd7 Rxa1 20. Qxa1 Qxd7 21. Rb1 Qc6 22. Nd2 Ra8 23. Qb2 Nf8 24. d4 exd4 25. cxd4 h6 26. Qb3 Qa4 27. Qxa4 Rxa4 28. d5 Bd4 29. Bxd4 Rxd4 30. Rb2 f5 31. f3 fxe4 32. fxe4 Nd7 33. Kf2 Nc5 34. Ke3 Rd3+ 35. Ke2 Rd4 36. Ke3 Rd3+ 37. Ke2 Rc3 38. Rb8+ Kf7 39. Rc8 Nd7 40. Nf3 Nf6 41. Nd2 Kg6 42. g3 Kh5 43. e5 Nxd5 44. exd6 cxd6 45. Rd8 Re3+ 46. Kf2 Re6 47. Nc4 Nf6 48. Kf3 d5 49. Ne3 Re5 50. Kf4 Re4+ 51. Kf3 Rd4 52. Nf5 Rd3+ 53. Ke2 Ra3 54. Nxg7+ Kg6 55. Ne6 Ra2+ 56. Kf3 Rxh2 57. Nf4+ Kf7 58. Nxd5 Rd2 59. Rh8 Rxd5 60. Rxh6 Ke6 61. Rh4 Rd3+ 62. Ke2 Rxg3 {Now begins a long and mostly tedious endgame, in which *both* players get to defend the worse side of a theoretically drawn ending.} 63. Ra4 Nd5 64. Ra8 Ke5 65. Re8+ Kd4 66. Rd8 Re3+ 67. Kf2 Re5 68. Ra8 Kd3 69. Ra3+ Nc3 70. Kf3 Rf5+ 71. Kg4 Rf8 72. Ra7 Nb5 73. Rd7+ Nd4 74. Re7 Nf5 75. Ra7 Ne3+ 76. Kg3 Nf5+ 77. Kf4 Nd4+ 78. Kg3 Nc6 79. Ra4 Ne5 80. Ra3+ Ke4 81. Ra4+ Ke3 82. Ra3+ Nd3 83. Kg4 Rf1 84. Kg5 Ke4 85. Ra4+ Kd5 86. Ra5+ Nc5 87. Kg4 Kd4 88. Ra8 Ne6 89. Ra4+ Ke5 90. Ra5+ Ke4 91. Ra4+ Nd4 92. Kg5 Rf5+ 93. Kg6 Rb5 94. Kf6 Rd5 95. Kg6 Kf4 96. Kf6 Rd7 97. Ra6 Rh7 98. Ra4 Rh6+ 99. Ke7 Ke4 100. Ra1 Nc6+ 101. Kf7 Ne5+ 102. Ke7 Nd3 103. Kf7 Kf5 104. Ke7 Re6+ 105. Kd7 Ne5+ 106. Kc7 Rb6 $4 {A mouseslip? Pre-move? Fortunately for Black, the resulting ending is still drawn, but now it's Carlsen who has to prove it.} 107. Kxb6 Ke4 108. Ra4+ Kd5 109. Rh4 Nc4+ 110. Kc7 Ne5 111. Rh5 Kd4 112. Kd6 Nc4+ 113. Ke6 Ne3 114. Rh4+ Kd3 115. Ke5 Nc4+ 116. Kd5 Ne3+ 117. Kc5 Nc2 118. Ra4 Ne3 119. Rd4+ Kc3 120. Rd8 Nc2 121. Kd5 Kd3 122. Ke5+ Ke3 123. Rc8 Kd3 124. Rd8+ Ke3 125. Rh8 Kd3 126. Rh4 Kc3 127. Kd5 Ne3+ 128. Ke4 Nc2 129. Rh8 Kd2 130. Rh3 Nb4 131. Rb3 Nc2 132. Rd3+ Ke2 133. Rh3 Kd2 134. Rb3 Ne1 135. Ra3 Nc2 136. Rd3+ Ke2 137. Rd8 Ne1 138. Rh8 Kd2 139. Rh1 Nc2 140. Rh3 Ne1 141. Rg3 Nc2 142. Rd3+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "Magnus Carlsen Inv KO 2021"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2021.03.19"] [Round "2.32"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D35"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "130"] [EventDate "2021.03.16"] [SourceVersionDate "2020.07.21"] {[%evp 0,130,27,27,27,2,3,2,2,4,4,-2,8,1,-2,-14,5,5,25,29,60,-26,18,18,31,31, 49,28,32,32,32,23,21,13,37,22,40,40,45,32,41,35,45,43,66,60,60,61,67,57,57,61, 63,82,82,82,95,72,72,38,38,28,28,19,27,29,32,16,29,9,29,31,47,22,30,34,9,0,0,0, 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,-4,-13,-13,-23,-52,-50,-55,-49,-49,-74,-45,-64,-59,-21,0,-67, -56,-74,-40,-40,-27,-27,-37,-23,-26,-25,-22,-22,-22,-22,-22,-89,-89,-103,-103, -283,-233,-549,-549,-682,-447,-792,-823,-2257,-29990] Having come all the way back from the dead and surviving his black game in the playoff, one would expect that Carlsen would now complete his comeback and win with his white game. A reasonable expectation, but unfortunately for Carlsen, his remarkably long string without a tournament victory continues. (I don't think it has reached double digits yet, but it must be getting close. Readers?)} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 Bb4 6. e3 h6 7. Bh4 g5 8. Bg3 Ne4 { As far as I can tell, Carlsen has not had this position with either color, while Nepomniachtchi has had it twice - as White.} 9. Nge2 (9. Rc1 h5 10. f3 Nxg3 11. hxg3 c6 12. Bd3 Be6 13. Nge2 Nd7 14. Kf2 Bd6 15. Qc2 Qe7 16. Na4 h4 17. g4 Nf6 18. Bf5 Rh6 19. Nac3 O-O-O 20. Ke1 Kb8 21. Kd2 Re8 22. Qd3 Nd7 23. Rce1 Nb6 24. b3 Bb4 25. Rc1 Nc8 26. e4 dxe4 27. fxe4 Bxf5 28. exf5 Qe4 29. Qf3 Rd6 30. Rh3 Nb6 31. a3 Qxf3 32. gxf3 Bxa3 33. Rc2 Bb4 34. Kd3 Bxc3 35. Nxc3 Nd5 36. Nxd5 Rxd5 37. f4 gxf4 38. Rf2 Rb5 39. Kc2 Re4 40. Rxh4 Rxd4 41. Rh8+ Kc7 42. Rh7 Rc5+ 43. Kb2 Rd7 44. Rxf4 a5 45. g5 Rd2+ 46. Kb1 Rd1+ 47. Kb2 Rd2+ 48. Kb1 Rd7 49. Rf2 Rc3 50. Ka2 Rg3 51. Rg7 Rg4 52. g6 f6 53. Rf7 a4 54. Rd2 axb3+ 55. Kb2 {1-0 (55) Nepomniachtchi,I (2763)-Riazantsev,A (2649) Moscow 2018}) 9... h5 10. h3 {Not quite a novelty, but very rare, and never before played at the GM level.} (10. h4 Nxg3 11. Nxg3 gxh4 12. Nxh5 Qg5 13. Qa4+ Nc6 14. Nf4 Rh6 15. Qb5 Bf5 16. Nfxd5 a6 17. Qa4 Bd6 18. O-O-O Kf8 19. f4 Qg6 20. Be2 Re8 21. Bf3 b5 22. Qxa6 Nb8 23. Qb7 c6 24. Nc7 Rc8 25. e4 Bxc7 26. exf5 Qxf5 27. Be4 Qd7 28. Kb1 Bxf4 29. Qb6 Qd6 30. Rhf1 Nd7 31. Qa6 Re8 32. Bc2 Nf6 33. a3 Qc7 34. d5 Nxd5 35. Nxd5 cxd5 36. Qxb5 Rb6 37. Qxd5 Qc3 38. b4 Rf6 39. Rxf4 { 1-0 (39) Nepomniachtchi,I (2784)-Matlakov,M (2698) Moscow 2020}) 10... Nxg3 11. Nxg3 h4 12. Nh5 $146 {+/=} (12. Nge2 $6 {was played in the two previous games with 10.h3.}) 12... c6 13. Be2 Nd7 $6 (13... Qe7) (13... f5) 14. Qb3 $6 (14. O-O $142 $16) 14... Bxc3+ 15. Qxc3 (15. bxc3 $142 $14) 15... Nf6 $11 16. Nxf6+ Qxf6 {The position is "officially" equal, but White's plan with the minority attack is very natural, while Black's counterplay takes more skill. Practically then, White retains an edge, and one of the sort that plays into Carlsen's great technical strengths.} 17. b4 a6 18. a4 Bf5 19. b5 axb5 20. axb5 O-O 21. O-O Qe6 22. Rfc1 cxb5 23. Qb3 Rxa1 24. Rxa1 Rc8 25. Bf3 Be4 $6 ({ The counterintuitive} 25... Qd7 $1 {was best, keeping the doubled b-pawn while surrendering the d-pawn, thereby extending White's bishop's activity and giving him a passed d-pawn. I'm tempted to give 25...Qd7 two exclamation points.} 26. Qxd5 (26. Bxd5 Bc2 27. Qa2 b4 $11) 26... Qxd5 27. Bxd5 Rc7 $11) 26. Bxe4 Qxe4 27. Qxb5 $16 {Now Black is in for a long defensive task, of a sort that used to be unsurvivable against Carlsen.} Rc7 28. Qb6 $6 (28. Ra8+ $142 Kg7 29. Rd8 Rc1+ 30. Kh2 Qb1 31. Qxb1 Rxb1 32. Rxd5 f6 33. g3 $16) 28... Qe7 $8 29. Qa5 Qd6 $11 30. Rb1 Kg7 31. Qb5 b6 $5 32. Qd3 (32. Qxb6 $4 Rc1+ $19 {Note that White cannot easily do away with tricks of this sort by playing g3, thanks to Black's pawn on h4. It's not always possible to get the pawn there, but when it's possible it's often very effective. We see that in this game, and see also the first So-Giri game in this batch, where Giri drew a pawn-down rook ending easily thanks to his h4-pawn.}) 32... Qe6 33. Qa6 Qd6 34. Qe2 Qg6 35. Ra1 Qe4 36. Qb5 Qe6 37. Qb4 Rc4 38. Qb1 Qc6 39. Qf5 Rc1+ 40. Rxc1 Qxc1+ 41. Kh2 Qc7+ 42. g3 hxg3+ 43. Kg2 Qd8 44. Kxg3 {Carlsen is trying very hard to win. The position doesn't merit it, but maybe the clock situation did. Regardless, this attempt is unjustified, and soon we'll see that if anyone can play for anything, it's Black on account of his passed b-pawn.} (44. fxg3 $11) 44... b5 45. Qb1 Qd6+ 46. Kf3 b4 47. Qb3 Qf6+ 48. Kg2 (48. Ke2) 48... Qd6 49. Kg1 (49. Kf3 $142) 49... f6 (49... Kf6 $142 $15) 50. Kg2 Qb6 51. h4 $6 gxh4 52. Kh3 Qb5 (52... Qd6) 53. Kxh4 Kf7 54. Kg4 $2 (54. f4 $1 {was better, getting things going on the kingside, lest Black's king tour over to the queenside in support of his b-pawn.}) 54... Ke6 (54... Ke7) 55. Kf4 $2 Qc4 $2 (55... Kd6 $142 $19) 56. Qa4 $11 b3 57. Qe8+ Kd6 58. Qb8+ Kc6 59. Kf5 $2 ({Only} 59. Kf3 $1 { drew. The point is that the king has to be out of the way of cross-checks.} Qb5 60. Qc8+ Kb6 61. Qd8+ Kb7 62. Qe7+ Kc8 63. Qf8+ Kc7 64. Qe7+ $11 {Note that with White's king on f5, this would be met by the cross-check 64...Qd7+, winning.}) 59... Qb5 $19 60. Qc8+ Kb6 61. Qb8+ (61. Qd8+ Kb7 62. Qe7+ Kc8 63. Qf8+ (63. Qe6+ Qd7 $19) 63... Kc7 {and White is out of checks, as checks on e7, f7, or g7 would be met by 64...Qd7+, forcing a queen trade.}) 61... Ka5 62. Qa7+ Kb4 63. Qa1 Qe2 64. Ke6 b2 65. Qa6 {Cheap. Fortunately, this bit of gamesmanship was not rewarded.} Qxa6+ 0-1