[Event "12th Norway Chess 2024"] [Site "Stavanger NOR"] [Date "2024.06.04"] [Round "8.1"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Praggnanandhaa, R."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C81"] [WhiteElo "2830"] [BlackElo "2747"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "150"] [GameId "2053374469696234"] [EventDate "2024.05.27"] {[%evp 0,150,18,20,21,21,20,25,37,0,9,7,9,-16,1,6,21,21,26,-23,-16,-19,0,-3,24,19,-4,-1,-1,7,0,-29,-33,-21,0,0,43,39,48,43,38,30,46,38,20,21,22,17,4,0,0,0,31,35,64,71,49,57,47,60,54,47,77,45,36,45,75,73,77,72,69,66,66,66,90,88,87,89,89,89,89,89,86,76,66,85,86,86,91,60,58,59,62,60,63,63,63,61,56,61,63,53,54,49,114,49,51,49,51,49,51,49,54,49,53,53,53,56,56,60,61,57,61,61,61,62,62,59,62,62,62,62,62,62,73,52,52,49,52,52,107,112,112,118,112,112,112,112,112,112,112,112,112]} 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. Qe2 {The Keres Variation. As the following day was the 49th anniversary of Keres' death, this might have been a tribute to the Estonian legend. (Probably not, but who knows?)} Be7 10. Rd1 O-O 11. c3 (11. c4 {is by far the main move, but it has been hard for White to squeeze anything out of the old line} bxc4 12. Bxc4 Bc5 13. Be3 Bxe3 14. Qxe3 Qb8 15. Bb3 Na5 {, though to be fair White did manage to win a game involving Carlsen - except that it was Carlsen with Black, losing to Nakamura.} 16. Nd4 c5 17. Nxe6 fxe6 18. f3 c4 19. fxe4 cxb3 20. exd5 bxa2 21. Rxa2 Nc4 22. Qd4 Qb3 23. Nc3 Nxb2 24. Rb1 Qc4 25. Qxc4 Nxc4 26. dxe6 Rf5 27. Nd5 Rxe5 28. Rxa6 Re8 29. Nc7 Rd8 30. Rc6 Ne3 31. Rd6 Rc8 32. Rd7 h6 33. e7 Kh7 34. Re1 {1-0 Nakamura,H (2736)-Carlsen,M (2863) Lindores Abbey Final 8 chess24.com INT rapid 2020 (2.32)}) 11... f5 (11... Qd7) ({and} 11... Nc5 {are more common, but the boss (Stockfish) likes 11...f5. Q.E.D.}) 12. exf6 Bxf6 13. Nbd2 Nc5 14. Bc2 Re8 15. Nf1 Bf7 16. Be3 Ne4 (16... Qe7 17. Ng3 Rad8 18. h4 Qf8 19. Ng5 Bg6 20. Bxg6 hxg6 21. Qc2 Ne5 22. h5 c6 23. b4 Ne6 24. Nxe6 Rxe6 25. hxg6 Bh4 26. Nf5 Qf6 27. Nd4 Qxg6 28. Qf5 Qxf5 29. Nxf5 Bf6 30. Nd4 Ree8 {½-½ Sidenko,A (2399)-Boehme,S (2492) CP-2016-Q-00012 LSS email}) 17. Ng3 Nxg3 $146 (17... Nd6 18. Qd3 g6 19. Bb3 Nc4 20. Bxc4 bxc4 21. Qd2 Ne5 22. Nxe5 Bxe5 23. b4 cxb3 24. axb3 a5 25. Bc5 Qf6 26. Bd4 Qf4 27. Be3 Qf6 {½-½ Klimecki,J (2173)-Wojcik,W (2355) POL-ch67 sf email ICCF email 2022}) 18. hxg3 Ne5 19. Nxe5 Bxe5 20. a4 c6 21. Qd2 {Black's queenside is a little porous, so White has a little advantage.} Qd6 22. Re1 Bg6 23. Bxg6 Qxg6 24. Bd4 Bxd4 25. Qxd4 bxa4 {Not the only equalizer.} (25... Qf6 $11) (25... Rxe1+ 26. Rxe1 bxa4 27. Qxa4 h6 $11) 26. Qxa4 c5 27. Qd7 Rad8 28. Qc7 d4 29. cxd4 cxd4 30. Qc4+ Kh8 31. Rxe8+ Qxe8 32. Rd1 Qd7 33. Qxa6 d3 34. b4 h6 35. Qc4 d2 36. Qe2 Qd3 37. Qxd3 Rxd3 38. f3 Kh7 39. Kf2 Rb3 40. Rxd2 Rxb4 {White is nominally better, but he shouldn't get anything against a player of Pragg's caliber. (Of course, that's true of hundreds of games Carlsen has won over the years, but as this is a textbook ending his chances of getting blood from this stone are vanishingly small.)} 41. Rd5 Rb2+ 42. Kg1 Rb7 43. Kh2 g6 44. Kh3 h5 45. g4 hxg4+ 46. Kxg4 {Now it's really dead. (For GMs. At the club level, White should try to the bitter end.)} Kh6 47. Ra5 Rb4+ 48. f4 Rb2 49. Kh3 Rb4 50. g3 Kg7 51. Kh4 Rc4 52. Ra7+ Kf6 53. Kg4 Rc3 54. Ra5 Rb3 55. Kh3 Rc3 56. Re5 Rc2 57. g4 Rc3+ 58. Kg2 Ra3 59. Kf2 Kf7 60. Re3 Ra1 61. Rb3 Kg7 62. Kg3 Rf1 63. Rb7+ Kg8 64. Ra7 Kf8 65. Ra4 Rh1 66. Kf3 Rg1 67. g5 Rf1+ 68. Ke4 Kg7 69. Ra7+ Kg8 70. Ke5 Rf2 71. Kf6 Rxf4+ 72. Kxg6 Rf8 {If White's passer were an f-pawn, White would win. Against a g-pawn, it's a dead draw - White could only win here if he could play 73.Ri7 (or to j7, k7, etc.). As the board ends with the h-file, there's no way for White to safely get his rook to the 8th rank.} 73. Rg7+ Kh8 74. Rh7+ Kg8 75. Rg7+ Kh8 1/2-1/2 [Event "12th Norway Chess 2024"] [Site "Stavanger NOR"] [Date "2024.06.04"] [Round "8.2"] [White "Ding, Liren"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E61"] [WhiteElo "2762"] [BlackElo "2805"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "75"] [GameId "2053374469700331"] [EventDate "2024.05.27"] {[%evp 0,75,18,25,72,79,53,35,37,33,64,59,50,30,20,37,39,29,73,38,21,16,4,-9,30,-12,38,25,51,51,51,52,76,8,8,9,-12,6,-9,-8,17,37,24,17,22,14,72,61,48,47,55,52,54,59,80,86,81,94,101,98,96,102,115,110,115,101,129,131,113,117,125,91,92,-3,73,0,0,0]} 1. d4 d6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 g6 4. Nc3 Bf5 {Caruana played this in 2022 against Wojtaszek and Aronian, winning both games, but they were blitz games. Trotting out this iffy line in a classical game against Ding - even a badly out of form, out of sorts Ding - is really asking for trouble.} 5. Qb3 b6 6. h3 Bg7 7. g4 Bc8 ({Black has more frequently chosen} 7... Bd7 {, but Caruana's move makes sense, keeping d7 free for a knight.}) 8. e4 h5 $5 9. g5 Nfd7 10. Be3 O-O $146 (10... e5 {White may only be 1595, but so far he has played perfectly.} 11. O-O-O (11. d5 $16) 11... Nc6 12. d5 $2 (12. dxe5 $16) 12... Nd4 13. Bxd4 exd4 14. Nb5 Nc5 15. Qc2 O-O 16. h4 Bg4 17. Nbxd4 Bxd4 18. Nxd4 Bxd1 19. Kxd1 Qe7 20. Bd3 Qe5 21. Ne2 Nxd3 22. Qxd3 Qxb2 23. Rf1 Qxa2 24. Nc3 Qb2 25. f4 a5 26. e5 a4 27. f5 a3 28. fxg6 a2 29. gxf7+ Kg7 30. Nxa2 Rxa2 31. Qf5 Ra1+ {0-1 Lazaridi,M (1595)-Triapishko,A (2506) Dzhubga Blitz op 2023 (1)}) 11. Qc2 (11. Nh4 {is a cool move, hinting at Nxg6 ideas and (more feasibly) preparing f2-f4.}) 11... a6 12. d5 c6 {This is a tough position to assess, to play, and to annotate. Black has so many pawn breaks to choose from, and White has choices as well, including the fundamental decision about what to do with his king.} (12... b5 $5) 13. Bd4 (13. Bg2 $142 b5 14. O-O) 13... b5 14. Bxg7 Kxg7 15. b3 $6 {Caruana criticized this in the confessional, and the commentators didn't much like it either. It opens the queenside for Black and weakens the dark squares.} bxc4 (15... e5 $5 $15) 16. bxc4 (16. Bxc4 $142) 16... Nc5 $6 (16... e5 $1) 17. Bg2 cxd5 (17... e5 $1) 18. cxd5 e5 (18... a5 {was another option, followed by moving the bishop or the b8-knight to a6.}) 19. dxe6 Bxe6 20. O-O {The safest place for the king to be, despite the goofy pawn on g5.} Nbd7 $6 {It's an okay square for the knight, which wants to go to b6 and then (if all goes well) to c4 or to support ...d5, but it's not a good square if he wants to keep the d6-pawn alive and kicking.} (20... Nc6 $142 $11) 21. Rfd1 Qe7 22. Qd2 $14 {/? Oops.} Rac8 23. Qd4+ Kg8 24. Qxd6 Qxd6 25. Rxd6 Nb7 26. Rd3 Ndc5 27. Rd4 (27. Rdd1 $1 $16 {This is preferable, keeping d4 free for the knight, which can make better use of it.} Nb3 28. axb3 Rxc3 29. b4 Bxh3 $1 30. Bxh3 Rxf3 31. Kg2 Rb3 32. Rd4 Ra8 33. Rc1 Nd8 $8 34. Rd6 (34. Bc8 Ne6 $8 35. Bxe6 fxe6 36. Rc6 Re8 $8 37. Rc7 Rf8 $8 38. Rdd7 Rf4 $8 39. Rg7+ Kf8 {and Black holds.}) 34... Kf8 35. Bc8 Ke7 36. Rb6 $1 $16) 27... Kg7 $6 (27... Nb3 $1 28. axb3 Rxc3 29. b4 (29. Rxa6 Rxb3) 29... Nd8 30. Rxa6 Nc6 31. Rd2 Nxb4 {should be drawn.}) 28. Ne5 $16 {White is in control again.} Rfd8 29. Nd5 $1 Nd7 30. Nc4 $1 Nb8 31. Rb1 $16 {/+- White is creeping closer and closer to a winning advantage.} (31. Nce3 $18) 31... Nd6 32. Nce3 (32. Ncb6 $142 $18) 32... Nc6 (32... Nb5 $142) 33. Ra4 $18 a5 34. Rc1 (34. Nf4 $142 $1 $18) (34. h4 $142 $18) 34... Nb5 (34... h4 $1) 35. Rac4 $6 (35. h4 $18) 35... Nbd4 $1 36. Bf1 $2 (36. Rd1 {keeps what is probably a winning advantage with good technique.}) 36... Nb4 $6 (36... Ne5 $1 37. Rxc8 Nef3+ 38. Kg2 Rxc8 39. Rxc8 Bxc8 $11 {White's extra pawn is is disappearing - the "g" of the g-pawn is short for going, going, gone.}) 37. a3 $6 (37. Rxc8 Bxc8 38. Kg2 $1 (38. Nxb4 axb4 39. Kg2 Bb7 40. f3 Ra8 41. Bc4 $14 {isn't as good, but it still keeps an advantage.}) 38... Nxa2 39. Ra1 Nb4 40. Rxa5 $16 {Black isn't out of the woods yet.}) 37... Nxd5 38. exd5 {The draw offer was slightly premature, as Caruana needed to make a couple of accurate moves and didn't have much time prior to the time control. The moves aren't that tough, but still. In any case, it was a big missed opportunity for Ding, who has shown some signs of life the last few rounds.} (38. exd5 Rxc4 39. Rxc4 Nf3+ 40. Kg2 Bxd5 $8 41. Nxd5 Ne1+ 42. Kg3 Rxd5 $11) 1/2-1/2 [Event "12th Norway Chess 2024"] [Site "Stavanger NOR"] [Date "2024.06.04"] [Round "8.3"] [White "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2737"] [BlackElo "2794"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "112"] [GameId "2053374469700332"] [EventDate "2024.05.27"] {[%evp 0,112,18,20,21,21,25,20,20,11,14,-24,21,26,33,33,28,20,20,20,35,30,35,26,31,26,26,36,72,-20,-4,-9,29,2,31,31,38,15,10,10,20,28,34,47,39,4,15,-5,25,-49,-46,-95,-71,-66,-68,-140,-120,-120,-120,-77,-77,-76,-76,-139,-215,-189,-142,-64,-52,-52,-67,-76,-77,-49,-44,-25,-39,-66,-63,-69,-67,-85,-87,-144,-77,-92,-123,-122,-38,-45,-35,-39,-27,-43,-26,-38,-14,-8,-8,-22,-22,-22,30,30,41,42,33,33,33,33,28,27,28,30,15]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 h6 5. c3 Bc5 6. b4 Be7 7. Qb3 O-O 8. a4 d6 9. O-O Nb8 10. Qa2 a5 11. b5 Bg4 12. Nh4 d5 13. exd5 Bd6 14. f3 Bc8 15. g3 Bh3 16. Ng2 Nbd7 17. Be3 Nh5 18. g4 Nf4 19. Bxf4 exf4 20. Nd2 h5 21. gxh5 f5 22. d4 Qg5 23. Rf2 Rae8 {The game has been very complex, and the assessment of this mess is equality. Firouzja's next move is a serious error with a couple of good motivations: he's looking to activate his bishop and wants to get the c-pawn rolling up to c5.} 24. b6 $6 Nxb6 25. Bb5 Re3 26. c4 Bb4 $1 27. c5 $2 {A tactical error - Firouzja may not have missed Nakamura's next move, but he clearly missed something.} (27. Kh1 $15) 27... Ra3 $1 28. Qb1 Rxa1 29. Qxa1 Nxd5 $19 {Material is equal, but Black is dominating the board (and on the clock).} 30. Bc4 {Nakamura reached to play ...c6, but unfortunately stopped to think and made the wrong choice.} Rd8 $2 (30... c6 $19 31. Qe1 {isn't so effective this time:} Qxh5 32. Qe5 Re8 {A key difference.} 33. Qxf4 Bc3 34. Nf1 Qf7 35. Qh4 Bxg2 36. Rxg2 Qe7 37. Qxe7 (37. Qf2 Qf6 $19) 37... Rxe7 $19 {The d-pawn falls, and it won't be the last bit of material Black wins.}) 31. Qe1 $1 Kh7 32. Qe5 $1 {Black is still better, but now it's a three-results mess again.} Bxd2 $2 (32... Nc3 $142 $17) 33. Rxd2 Ne3 34. Qxf4 $1 Qxf4 35. Nxf4 Nxc4 36. Re2 $1 Rxd4 (36... Bg4 $5) 37. Nxh3 $11 {White is okay, and manages to steer the game to safety and an Armageddon battle.} Kh6 38. Re7 Nd2 39. Kg2 Rxa4 40. Rxc7 Rb4 41. c6 bxc6 42. Rxc6+ Kxh5 43. Rc5 Nc4 44. Rxf5+ Kh6 45. Rc5 a4 46. Nf4 Ne3+ 47. Kf2 Nd1+ 48. Kg3 Kh7 49. Rh5+ Kg8 50. Ra5 Nb2 51. Ra8+ Kf7 52. Ra7+ Kg8 53. Ne6 Rb6 54. Nc5 Rg6+ 55. Kf2 Rh6 56. Nxa4 Nxa4 1/2-1/2 [Event "12th Norway Armageddon"] [Site "Stavanger NOR"] [Date "2024.06.04"] [Round "8.1"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Praggnanandhaa, R."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D00"] [WhiteElo "2830"] [BlackElo "2747"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "133"] [GameId "2053375000477144"] [EventDate "2024.05.27"] {[%evp 0,133,18,13,25,25,27,27,18,-19,-14,-23,46,-4,22,-25,-6,-7,-13,-17,16,15,30,-4,4,5,7,0,16,45,0,0,17,30,43,57,75,35,35,29,53,8,38,30,39,20,32,9,39,34,66,68,73,52,75,68,86,68,85,51,59,61,59,70,57,54,55,56,57,50,58,52,62,52,56,58,56,7,7,23,21,15,7,3,0,0,0,0,29,40,22,30,31,25,26,23,86,74,113,112,133,122,222,115,111,107,109,107,89,86,109,94,124,125,122,166,258,318,326,637,668,727,830,1016,1223,1016,1144,1016,1144,1016,1281,1392,1658,2396,2336,2420]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 d5 3. e3 Bf5 4. c4 e6 5. Nc3 Bd6 6. Bxd6 Qxd6 7. Qb3 b6 8. Nf3 O-O 9. Be2 dxc4 10. Qxc4 a6 11. O-O Nbd7 12. Rfd1 b5 13. Qb3 c5 14. dxc5 Qxc5 15. Nd4 Bg6 16. Bf3 Ra7 $6 ({Pragg could have kept equality with the sneaky} 16... Bh5 $1 $11) 17. Rac1 $16 Qg5 $5 {A clever move, whose point Carlsen misses.} 18. Nc6 $2 Ne5 $1 $11 19. Nxe5 (19. Nxa7 $4 Nxf3+ 20. Kh1 Ng4 $1 $19) 19... Qxe5 {It's equal, but it's also a Carlsen-friendly position, and he grinds out the victory.} 20. a4 bxa4 21. Qb6 Qb8 22. Nxa4 h6 23. Be2 Nd5 24. Qd4 a5 25. Nc5 Qb6 26. Bf3 Rb8 27. Bxd5 exd5 28. b3 Rc7 29. Ne6 Qxd4 30. Nxd4 Rbc8 31. Ra1 Bc2 32. Rdc1 Bd3 33. Rxc7 Rxc7 34. f3 Rc5 35. Kf2 h5 36. Ke1 g6 37. Kd2 Bf5 38. Rc1 Rxc1 39. Kxc1 Bd7 {The engine calls this equal. Maybe that's true in correspondence chess, or *maybe* in a classical game between these players. In a game between humans, especially one without a lot of time, this is all pleasure for White and white-knuckled horror for Black.} 40. Kb2 Kf8 41. Kc3 Ke7 42. Ne2 Kd6 43. Kd4 a4 44. bxa4 Bxa4 45. Nf4 Bb3 46. h4 Ba2 47. g4 {A new problem for Black: allow White to win a pawn, or swap and allow White to create a passed h-pawn?} hxg4 48. fxg4 Ke7 {Not a bad move, but bleeding away a pawn isn't going to stop White's winning attempts.} 49. Nxd5+ Ke6 50. e4 Bb3 51. Nf4+ Kf6 52. g5+ Kg7 53. Ke5 Bc2 $1 {Still hanging on, but down to seconds.} 54. Nd5 Bd3 $2 {After this natural move, he's lost.} (54... Kf8 {was absolutely the only move to maintain objective equality, though it would not bring an end to the suffering.}) 55. Nf6 $1 Kf8 56. Kd6 Bb1 57. Kd7 $1 Bc2 58. Kd8 Bb1 59. Nd7+ Kg7 60. e5 {White's king will shuffle its way over, and he'll eventually win a second pawn.} Bf5 61. Ke7 Bb1 62. Nc5 Bc2 63. Nb7 Bb1 64. Nd6 Ba2 65. Nxf7 $1 {Very classy.} Bxf7 66. e6 Bg8 67. Kd7 {Black must return the bishop here or after e7 Bf7 e8Q, after which White's king will win the g-pawn by zugzwang.} 1-0 [Event "12th Norway Armageddon"] [Site "Stavanger NOR"] [Date "2024.06.04"] [Round "8.2"] [White "Ding, Liren"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A14"] [WhiteElo "2762"] [BlackElo "2805"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "58"] [GameId "2053375000579545"] [EventDate "2024.05.27"] {[%evp 0,58,25,-7,13,-49,-18,-9,-24,-3,-5,-10,-2,-30,-3,-24,8,3,0,-6,-2,-2,-2,-2,-5,22,20,17,11,18,40,46,47,47,47,49,42,42,42,13,51,100,101,66,86,80,79,83,79,73,73,70,71,66,71,54,54,71,54,71,54]} 1. c4 Nf6 2. g3 e6 3. Bg2 d5 4. Nf3 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. b3 c5 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. Nc3 Nc6 9. Bb2 b6 10. Nxd5 exd5 11. d4 Be6 12. Rc1 Rc8 13. Qd2 h6 14. Rfd1 Qd7 (14... a5 $146 {=}) 15. dxc5 bxc5 16. Ne1 $1 $146 (16. Ne5 Nxe5 17. Bxe5 Rfd8 18. Qa5 Bf8 19. Rc2 Qe7 20. Bb2 d4 21. Ba3 Re8 22. Rdc1 Bf5 23. Rxc5 Qxe2 24. Rxc8 Bxc8 25. Bxf8 Rxf8 26. Bf1 Qb2 27. Rd1 Bg4 28. Qd2 Qxd2 29. Rxd2 Rd8 30. Be2 Be6 31. Bc4 Bh3 32. Bf1 Bc8 33. f4 Kf8 34. Kf2 Ke7 35. Bc4 Bg4 36. Be2 Be6 37. Bc4 Bf5 38. Bd3 Bxd3 39. Rxd3 Ke6 40. Ke2 Kd5 41. Kd2 a5 42. Rf3 Rb8 43. Rf1 a4 44. Rb1 axb3 45. Rxb3 Ra8 46. a3 Ke4 47. Rb7 Rxa3 48. Re7+ Kd5 49. Rxf7 g5 50. fxg5 hxg5 51. Rf8 g4 52. Rd8+ Ke4 53. Re8+ Kf3 54. Rd8 Ra2+ 55. Kd3 Rxh2 {0-1 Kovalev,D (2487)-Karjakin,S (2752) Titled Tuesday intern op 20th Oct Chess.com INT blitz 2020 (3)}) 16... Rfd8 $6 (16... Nb4 $1 17. a3 Nc6 18. Bxd5 Rfd8 19. e4 Bg5 20. f4 Be7 21. Nc2 Qb7 $11 {/? This is an impossible line for Black in a blitz game.}) 17. Nd3 $16 {Again Caruana is in trouble, but as usual in this event, Ding fails to make the most of his chances.} c4 18. Nf4 Bb4 19. Qc2 Na5 20. Bxd5 $18 cxb3 21. Bxe6 $2 ({Ding had to find} 21. Qe4 $1 {, after which the win would have been within reach.} Rxc1 22. Bxc1 Bxd5 23. Qxb4 Nc6 24. Qc3 Ne7 25. Bb2 Qg4 26. f3 Qg5 27. axb3 $18) 21... Rxc2 $1 22. Rxd7 Rxd7 $1 23. Bxd7 Rxc1+ 24. Bxc1 bxa2 25. Bb2 {Ding probably missed Black's next move, without which he's probably lost.} Ba3 $1 (25... Nb3 $2 {, which regains the piece but leaves Black lost after} 26. Ba4 a1=Q+ 27. Bxa1 Nxa1 28. Nd5 $18 {due the fatally dominated knight on a1.}) 26. Bc3 Bb4 $1 27. Bb2 Ba3 28. Bc3 (28. Ba1 Nb3) 28... Bb4 29. Bb2 Ba3 1/2-1/2 [Event "12th Norway Armageddon"] [Site "Stavanger NOR"] [Date "2024.06.04"] [Round "8.3"] [White "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2737"] [BlackElo "2794"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "80"] [GameId "2053375000579546"] [EventDate "2024.05.27"] {[%evp 0,80,18,20,21,25,12,11,14,7,14,-15,21,23,33,33,28,20,22,20,60,30,35,26,26,21,51,51,68,45,66,61,61,61,121,66,57,52,82,53,84,94,80,97,114,86,61,61,62,62,62,72,114,101,114,113,152,28,88,91,92,88,170,66,55,61,181,187,181,184,193,205,202,202,255,258,288,293,288,303,303,398,402]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 h6 5. c3 Bc5 6. b4 Be7 7. Qb3 O-O 8. a4 d6 9. O-O Nb8 10. Qa2 a5 11. b5 c6 12. Nbd2 Bg4 13. h3 Bh5 14. Re1 $14 d5 $2 (14... Nbd7 $14) 15. exd5 cxd5 16. Bb3 $18 Nbd7 17. Nxe5 $6 (17. Bxd5 $142) 17... Nxe5 18. Rxe5 $16 Bd6 19. Re1 Qd7 (19... Rc8 $142) 20. Ba3 Rac8 21. c4 $18 Bg6 22. d4 Bxa3 23. Qxa3 dxc4 24. Nxc4 Qxd4 25. Rad1 Qf4 26. Qd6 (26. Nd6 $1 $18) 26... Qxd6 27. Rxd6 Bc2 $1 28. Ba2 $2 (28. Nxa5 Bxb3 29. Nxb3 Rc4 30. Rd4 $18) 28... Ne4 $6 ({Both players probably rejected the equalizing} 28... Bxa4 $1 {because of} 29. Nb6 {, but Black has the subtle tactical reply} Rce8 $3 30. Rxe8 Nxe8 $11 {to avoid material loss.}) 29. Rd7 Nc5 30. Rde7 Nd3 $2 (30... Bxa4 $14 {/?}) 31. R1e3 $2 $16 (31. Ra1 $1 $18 Bxa4 32. Nd6 $18) 31... Nb4 32. Nd6 Rcd8 $2 (32... Nxa2 $8 33. Nxc8 Rxc8 34. Rxb7 $16) 33. Bxf7+ $18 {White still has to find one more move to prove that his advantage is winning.} Rxf7 34. Nxf7 Rd1+ 35. Kh2 Nd5 36. Nxh6+ $1 {There it is. Now Black is busted. Two minor pieces can often outperform a rook and a pawn, sometimes a rook and two pawns (at least when the minors are bishops). But not here: Black's pieces aren't well coordinated, White's rooks are great, and Black is bleeding pawns.} gxh6 37. Rg3+ Kf8 38. Rxb7 Bxa4 39. Rg6 Ne7 40. Re6 {My recollection is that Nakamura lost on time making his next move, but the position is hopeless in any case.} Nc8 (40... Nc8 41. Rxh6 $18) 1-0 [Event "12th Norway Chess Women"] [Site "Stavanger NOR"] [Date "2024.06.04"] [Round "8.2"] [White "Ju, Wenjun"] [Black "Cramling, Pia"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E46"] [WhiteElo "2559"] [BlackElo "2449"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "70"] [GameId "2053374699922729"] [EventDate "2024.05.27"] {[%evp 0,70,25,25,25,13,13,10,16,28,32,39,36,31,36,-23,32,39,36,35,42,42,34,16,16,16,22,-7,-3,-1,11,-40,1,-17,-17,-59,-41,-29,-5,-45,-4,7,39,42,32,-36,-23,-7,-7,-17,-24,-15,3,-6,0,-13,10,4,16,31,16,-7,130,76,287,206,673,1847,2292,2706,29983,29984,29991] This was an exciting fight and Cramling played perhaps the nicest move of the round. Unfortunately, the move couldn't compel Ju's cooperation, and she went on to win anyway.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd2 b6 6. Bd3 Bb7 7. Nge2 d5 8. cxd5 exd5 9. O-O Re8 10. Rc1 a6 11. f3 Bd6 12. g4 h6 13. Qe1 c5 14. Qh4 Nbd7 15. Qf2 Nf8 16. h4 Ne6 17. Kh1 b5 18. a3 Nd7 19. Rg1 Ndf8 20. f4 {White is looking to roll Black off the board on the kingside. Cramling has only one satisfactory defense, and she finds it.} cxd4 $1 21. exd4 Nc5 $3 22. Bc2 (22. dxc5 Bxc5 $1 (22... d4+ $2 23. Ne4 $18) 23. Qxc5 d4+ 24. Ne4 $8 Rxe4 $1 25. Bxe4 Qxh4+ 26. Kg2 Bxe4+ 27. Kf1 Qh3+ 28. Ke1 Re8 $1 29. Qxd4 $8 Bd3 30. Rc3 $8 Qh4+ 31. Kd1 $8 Bxe2+ 32. Kc1 Bxg4 $15) 22... Ne4 (22... Ng6 $1 {might be even better, but it's tough to keep the knight hanging on c5 indefinitely.} 23. g5 $8 h5 24. f5 Ne5 $3 25. Qg2 $1 Ng4 26. dxc5 Bxc5 27. Bb3 Bxg1 28. Rxg1 Qd7 29. Nf4 $1 d4 30. Ncd5 Kh8 31. Rf1 $1 Re5 $1 32. Kg1 $1 Rxf5 33. Qe4 $1 Rd8 $1 34. Qxd4 Bxd5 35. Bc3 $1 Nf6 $1 36. Nxd5 Rxd5 37. Bxd5 Qxd5 38. Qxd5 Nxd5 39. Rxf7 Nxc3 40. bxc3 $11 {Yes, White has equalized, but getting here is probably impossible, probability-wise, for a human.}) 23. Nxe4 dxe4 24. Be3 $11 {White stabilized the position and kept the center shut, so now she can return to her kingside ambitions.} Rc8 25. f5 Qd7 $6 (25... g5 $1 $11 {is best, but good luck even considering the move.}) 26. Bb3 $6 (26. Nc3 $16) 26... Rxc1 $1 27. Nxc1 (27. Rxc1 Rc8 $11) 27... Bb8 $11 (27... a5 $1) 28. Ne2 Bd5 29. Bxd5 (29. Bd1 $11) 29... Qxd5 30. f6 (30. Nc3 $11) 30... Ne6 $6 (30... g6 $1 {It's more important to maintain king safety than material equality.} 31. Bxh6 Nh7 $11 {/?}) 31. fxg7 Kxg7 $4 {After this everything falls apart. It's a pity that a very well game, highlighted by Cramling's brilliant piece offer, concludes with this fatal error.} (31... Nxg7 32. Bxh6 e3+ 33. Qg2 Qe6 $14) 32. Rf1 Nf8 (32... Qd7 33. d5 $1) 33. Qf6+ Kg8 34. Bxh6 e3+ 35. Kg1 Ne6 (35... Ne6 36. Qxf7+ Kh8 37. Qxe8+ Kh7 38. Rf7+ Kxh6 39. Qh8+ Kg6 40. Rf6#) 1-0