[Event "Julius Baer GenCup KO"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.09.23"] [Round "2.11"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Keymer, Vincent"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D02"] [WhiteElo "2861"] [BlackElo "2693"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "2022.09.22"] [EventType "k.o."] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. g3 Bf5 4. c4 e6 5. Nc3 h6 6. Bg2 c6 7. Qb3 Qb6 8. c5 Qxb3 9. axb3 Be7 10. Bf4 $146 (10. b4 {followed by b5 is usual here, taking advantage of the pin along the a-file (i.e. 10...a6 11.b5, and if 11...cxb5 12. Nxb5).}) 10... Nbd7 11. b4 g5 12. Be3 a6 13. h4 $1 g4 14. Nd2 e5 $2 (14... Rc8 15. h5 Kf8 {followed by ...Kg7 is around equal.}) 15. dxe5 (15. Nb3 $1 O-O-O 16. O-O $16 {Sooner or later the pawn tension in the center will be resolved, and when it is White's pieces will find their way to some attractive dark squares (f4 at a minimum, possibly d4 as well) while Black doesn't seem to gain anything for his troubles.}) 15... Nxe5 16. b5 (16. O-O O-O-O 17. Bd4 $14 (17. Nb3 $14)) 16... Nfd7 $1 17. Nb3 Be6 (17... O-O) 18. O-O O-O 19. bxc6 bxc6 20. Bxh6 $2 {White grabs a pawn, but gives up his grip on the position. Now Black seizes the initiative.} (20. Na4 $14) 20... Rfb8 $17 21. Nd4 Rxb2 $2 ( 21... Bxc5 22. Nxe6 fxe6 23. Na4 Be7 $15 {Black's central clump is more effective than White's passed h-pawn and bishop pair.}) 22. e4 $14 {Now the pressure on the long diagonal has White with the upper hand. White threatens not only to take on d5, but also 23.Nxc6. Keymer plays well from here on out, and White's advantage proves insufficient.} Bxc5 23. Nxc6 (23. Nxe6 fxe6 24. exd5 exd5 25. Nxd5 $1 a5 $1 {is equal or nearly so.}) 23... d4 $1 24. Na4 Rc2 25. Nxc5 Nxc6 26. Nxd7 Bxd7 27. e5 Re8 28. Rfd1 Nxe5 29. Rxd4 Bc6 30. Rd6 Bxg2 31. Kxg2 Nf3 32. Rdxa6 Ree2 {Forcing an immediate draw.} 33. Rf1 $8 (33. Be3 $4 Rxe3 $19) 33... Ne1+ 34. Kg1 Nf3+ 35. Kg2 (35. Kh1 $4 Rxf2 36. Rxf2 Rxf2 { and ...Rh2# is inevitable.}) 35... Ne1+ 36. Kg1 (36. Kh1 {can be played, but there's no reason to do so. If nothing else, Black can retreat the knight to f3, and White must reply with Kg2.} Nf3 37. Kg2 $8 $11 (37. Be3 $4 Rxe3 38. fxe3 Rh2#)) 36... Nf3+ 37. Kg2 1/2-1/2 [Event "Julius Baer GenCup KO"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.09.23"] [Round "2.11"] [White "Le, Quang Liem"] [Black "Erigaisi, Arjun"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E06"] [WhiteElo "2728"] [BlackElo "2725"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "69"] [EventDate "2022.09.22"] [EventType "k.o."] {[%evp 0,69,27,23,26,6,4,4,20,-30,-5,-5,14,19,5,-14,-6,-6,-11,-30,-30,-25,-33, -33,-18,-50,-27,-2,-7,-7,-15,23,-11,3,10,10,2,-1,16,7,11,8,24,18,20,12,22,22,8, 17,29,35,22,15,25,22,10,9,12,12,15,11,9,9,8,0,2,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Na3 Bxa3 8. bxa3 Bd7 9. Ne5 Bc6 10. Nxc6 Nxc6 11. Bb2 Nd5 12. a4 $146 {Never played before (there are 75 predecessors), but players tend to do Stockfish's bidding nowadays.} (12. Rc1 { is usual. If White regains the sacrificed pawn he's going to be much better, thanks to his bishop pair (against no bishops!) and central pawn majority. So Black should hang on to the pawn with either 12...Nb6 (the usual move) or 12... b5.}) 12... Qd6 (12... c3 $142 13. Ba3 Re8 14. e4 Nf6 15. d5 exd5 16. exd5 Ne7 17. Bxe7 Rxe7 18. Qb3 $44 {is a possible line.}) 13. Qc1 Rfd8 14. Qxc4 { Give White a tempo to defend the d-pawn, and Black is in big trouble. Therefore } Nb6 {is forced, to pick up the d-pawn.} 15. Qc2 Nxd4 16. Bxd4 Qxd4 17. Bxb7 Rab8 18. Bc6 Nc4 (18... Nd5 $11) 19. Bb5 (19. Rfc1 $14) 19... Na3 {More trades. } 20. Qxc7 Nxb5 21. axb5 Rxb5 {From here, it's just a matter of arranging the draw, a task the players have no trouble coping with.} 22. a4 Rbd5 23. e3 Qc5 24. Rac1 Qxc7 25. Rxc7 Ra5 26. Rb1 Rxa4 27. Rbb7 Rf8 28. Rxa7 Rxa7 29. Rxa7 g6 30. h4 h5 31. Kg2 Kg7 32. Kg1 Kg8 33. Kg2 Kg7 34. Kg1 Kg8 35. Kg2 1/2-1/2 [Event "Julius Baer GenCup KO"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.09.23"] [Round "2.12"] [White "Keymer, Vincent"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D37"] [WhiteElo "2693"] [BlackElo "2861"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "125"] [EventDate "2022.09.22"] [EventType "k.o."] {[%evp 0,125,27,23,26,4,20,17,20,11,12,17,4,15,51,45,60,30,47,50,60,52,39,38, 37,17,22,36,36,36,21,22,20,21,29,4,19,15,14,19,17,38,23,20,7,4,0,5,-11,-16,-15, -14,5,-5,4,0,0,0,0,-10,-6,-10,-6,0,-27,-10,1,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0, 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,-15,-2,0,0,0,0,13,4,15,5,9,8,32,43,46,43,53,42,55,52,49,49,50,53, 44,43,44,52,52,56,63,30,29,65,27,19,0]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 {Improving on the famous game Niemann-Carlsen from round 6 of the preliminaries.} 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Nxd5 exd5 10. Bd3 Bb4+ 11. Nd2 Qf6 $146 {It's new, but is it good? The answer is that it's good enough for a single rapid game, but I don't know if it will open a new chapter in this line of the QGD.} (11... Nc6) ({and} 11... d4 {are standard here. To learn more about this line, have a look at Nakamura's games in the database: there are plenty of them.}) 12. Rb1 (12. a3 $142 Be7 13. Qc2 {Not so much about the tempo on the h7 pawn as it is about preventing ...Bf5.} h6 14. O-O Nc6 15. Rac1 $14) 12... Bf5 $11 13. Bxf5 Qxf5 14. O-O Nc6 (14... d4 $11) 15. Nf3 Rfd8 16. Nd4 Nxd4 17. Qxd4 Ba5 {Looking for ...Bb6 and ...d4.} 18. Rfd1 Bb6 (18... f6 {prevents White's next, and then Black will play ...Bb6.}) 19. Qe5 Qe6 $5 ({The straightforward} 19... Qxe5 20. Bxe5 Rac8 {is fine.}) 20. Rbc1 Rac8 21. h3 (21. Qxe6 fxe6 22. Be5) 21... Rxc1 22. Rxc1 Qd7 23. Qg5 f6 24. Qg4 Qxg4 25. hxg4 g5 26. Bg3 d4 $11 27. exd4 Bxd4 {Amongst mortals, this would be a dead draw, but Carlsen almost manages to make it interesting.} 28. b3 Bb6 29. Bc7 Rc8 30. Bf4 Re8 31. Be3 Bxe3 32. fxe3 Kf7 (32... Rxe3 33. Rc7 $11) 33. Kf2 Re7 34. Ke2 Kg6 35. Rc8 h5 36. gxh5+ Kxh5 37. Kf3 Kg6 38. g4 Rh7 39. Rg8+ Kf7 40. Ra8 a6 41. Kg3 Ke6 42. Re8+ Re7 43. Rf8 Rc7 44. Re8+ Kd5 45. Rd8+ Ke4 46. Re8+ Kd3 {How in the world did this happen? Nevertheless, it's still drawn.} 47. Kf3 a5 48. Rd8+ Kc3 49. Rd5 Kb4 50. Ke4 Rc2 51. Rd4+ Kc3 52. Rc4+ Kb2 53. Rxc2+ $1 {Well-calculated. It's not that it's difficult for a player of Keymer's caliber to work it out, but when one is playing off the increments it can be a challenge, and there's always the fear that one has overlooked something. So, good job by Keymer.} Kxc2 54. Kf5 Kb2 55. Kxf6 Kxa2 56. e4 Kxb3 57. e5 a4 58. e6 a3 59. e7 a2 60. e8=Q a1=Q+ 61. Kxg5 Qc1+ 62. Kf5 Qf1+ 63. Kg5 1/2-1/2 [Event "Julius Baer GenCup KO"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.09.23"] [Round "2.12"] [White "Erigaisi, Arjun"] [Black "Le, Quang Liem"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C53"] [WhiteElo "2725"] [BlackElo "2728"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "2022.09.22"] [EventType "k.o."] {[%evp 0,81,27,12,18,18,18,17,11,11,20,-12,3,19,21,-9,-19,-24,-5,-42,6,-1,-15, -10,28,-24,92,-3,-7,-24,67,63,84,30,28,-13,51,3,55,-23,15,53,40,25,102,0,0,-46, -34,-184,235,70,246,195,315,348,316,316,328,364,377,402,402,402,378,435,443, 455,607,853,919,919,930,949,949,1004,1004,1034,951,1064,1095,1104,1796,29986]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. O-O O-O 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bh4 a5 9. Re1 Ba7 ({The immediate} 9... g5 {is more popular, but it may be less flexible than Le's move order, as after} 10. Bg3 Ba7 {White can play 11.Nbd2, transposing to the game, but he can - and often does - play} 11. Na3 {instead. From here the knight may go to c2 on its way to e3, but Nb5 is also possible.}) 10. Nbd2 ({Of course,} 10. Na3 {could be played here as well. The question is whether Black has anything better than ...g5 in this situation, and the answer is...probably not, though 10...Be6 is playable.}) 10... g5 11. Bg3 Nh7 12. d4 $146 (12. Nf1 h5 13. h3 h4 14. Bh2 g4 15. hxg4 Bxg4 16. Ne3 Bxe3 17. Rxe3 Ng5 ( 17... Qf6 18. Qd2 Kh8 19. d4 Rg8 20. Ne1 Rg7 21. f3 Bh5 22. Kh1 Rag8 23. Rc1 Ne7 24. Rc2 Ng6 25. Rd3 Ng5 26. Qe3 Nf4 27. Rdd2 h3 28. g4 Ng2 29. Nxg2 hxg2+ 30. Rxg2 Bg6 31. Be2 Rh7 32. dxe5 dxe5 33. Kg1 Rd8 34. Rd2 Rxd2 35. Qxd2 Bxe4 36. Qe3 Rh3 {1/2-1/2 (36) Schilcher,A (2554)-Straka,Z (2569) ICCF email 2017}) 18. Qd2 Bxf3 19. gxf3 Qf6 20. Kh1 Kh8 21. Qe2 Ne7 22. f4 exf4 23. Qh5+ Nh7 24. Rf3 Ng6 25. Rg1 Rae8 26. Bxf7 Qxf7 27. Rxg6 Qxa2 28. Bxf4 Qf7 29. Be5+ Rxe5 30. Rxf7 Rxh5 31. Rxc7 h3 32. Rxd6 h2 33. Rxb7 Rxf2 34. Rd8+ Nf8 {0-1 (34) Demchenko,A (2610)-Bodnar,N (2434) Chess.com INT 2021}) 12... h5 13. h3 { Back to theory, including three super-GM games.} h4 (13... Qf6 14. Bb5 h4 15. Bh2 g4 16. hxg4 Bxg4 17. Bxc6 bxc6 18. Qa4 h3 19. Bg3 Qh6 20. gxh3 Qxh3 21. Re3 Bd7 22. Nxe5 dxe5 23. Bxe5 Qh5 24. Rg3+ Bg4 25. Qd1 {1-0 (25) Anand,V (2751) -Radjabov,T (2753) Stavanger 2022}) 14. Bh2 g4 (14... exd4 15. Nxd4 Nxd4 16. cxd4 Bxd4 17. Nf3 Bxb2 18. Rb1 Bg7 19. e5 d5 20. Bxd5 c6 21. Bxf7+ Kxf7 22. e6+ Bxe6 23. Qc2 Kg8 24. Rxe6 Qd5 25. Rd6 Qf5 26. Qxf5 Rxf5 27. Rxb7 Rb5 28. Rxg7+ Kxg7 29. Be5+ Kf8 30. Rd7 Re8 31. Bd4 Re7 32. Rd6 Rc7 33. Be5 Re7 34. Bd4 Rc7 35. Be5 Re7 36. Bd4 {1/2-1/2 (36) Carlsen,M (2847)-Aronian,L (2781) chess24. com INT 2021}) 15. hxg4 Bxg4 16. Be2 Qf6 17. Nc4 exd4 $146 (17... Bxf3 18. Bxf3 Ng5 19. Ne3 exd4 20. Nd5 Qg7 21. Bg4 dxc3 22. bxc3 Ne5 23. Bxe5 Qxe5 24. Bf5 Rae8 25. Qh5 Qg7 26. Kf1 c6 27. Nf4 d5 28. exd5 Bb8 29. Qxh4 Bxf4 30. Qxf4 cxd5 31. Rad1 Qf6 32. Qg4 Qg7 33. Rxe8 Rxe8 34. Rxd5 Ne4 35. Qxe4 {1-0 (35) Nepomniachtchi,I (2773)-Esipenko,A (2714) chess24.com INT 2022}) 18. e5 $1 { A critical moment. What should Black do now?} dxe5 $2 {A good indication that 17...exd4 wasn't a planned novelty.} (18... Qg7 $1 19. Nxh4 (19. exd6 h3 $1 20. Nh4 Rae8 $1 21. Qd3 Rxe2 $1 22. Rxe2 Qg5 $1 23. f3 $1 dxc3+ 24. Kh1 c2 $1 $11 { is an improbable line, to put it mildly. Here White has several surprising moves that maintain equality, and I'll leave the fun of figuring it out to the reader.}) 19... Be6 20. exd6 Ng5 21. dxc7 dxc3 22. bxc3 Ne4 23. Rf1 Nxc3 24. Qd3 Qd4 $1 25. Qg3+ Kh8 $11 {is a complicated mess.}) 19. Ncxe5 $18 Bxf3 20. Bxf3 dxc3 21. Nd7 Qf5 (21... Qg7 $142) 22. Be4 $1 {A great move, and most likely a surprise for Le.} Qxf2+ 23. Kh1 Nf6 24. Bxc6 bxc6 25. Rf1 (25. Be5 $142 $1) 25... c2 $1 26. Qc1 Qxf1+ 27. Qxf1 Nxd7 28. Qf5 Rfe8 29. Qxd7 Rad8 { If it weren't for White's next move, this would win. But that's too big an "if".} 30. Qg4+ Kf8 31. Bf4 Be3 32. Bxe3 Rxe3 33. Rf1 h3 34. Qh5 hxg2+ 35. Kxg2 Rd2+ 36. Kh1 Ke8 37. Qxf7+ Kd8 38. Qg8+ Kd7 39. Rf7+ Re7 40. Rxe7+ Kd6 (40... Kxe7 41. Qg5+) 41. Qd8+ {A very good game by Erigaisi.} 1-0 [Event "Julius Baer GenCup KO"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.09.23"] [Round "2.13"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Keymer, Vincent"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A07"] [WhiteElo "2861"] [BlackElo "2693"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "185"] [EventDate "2022.09.22"] [EventType "k.o."] {[%evp 0,185,27,26,23,-16,22,-11,19,30,97,61,61,48,63,55,73,46,48,46,37,33,49, -5,-1,73,90,-35,103,106,114,108,102,99,127,129,130,111,114,96,96,89,92,90,135, 114,119,111,107,44,31,30,34,84,78,67,68,63,49,8,8,10,13,6,6,7,5,13,14,7,0,5,14, 6,21,20,20,22,21,15,20,23,35,23,20,25,41,43,50,45,55,56,58,57,60,58,56,51,53, 51,46,53,49,51,51,50,51,56,56,56,52,47,47,46,49,46,46,46,43,37,35,96,118,132, 128,127,130,139,146,103,101,94,101,0,49,61,61,61,86,79,96,102,105,93,93,93,105, 106,106,93,92,93,93,66,66,66,93,93,93,86,77,77,97,77,116,121,154,125,138,133, 154,154,154,154,176,194,167,130,130,178,393,410,442,442,442,527,715,735] This epic game is a credit to both players. Carlsen was twice winning, and twice Keymer fought his way back to equality. After that second comeback the game seemed like a certain draw, but Carlsen kept finding ways to create trouble for his opponent. Finally, after a long defense, Black made the fatal error on move 81, and Carlsen converted the advantage.} 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Bg4 3. c4 Bxf3 4. exf3 c6 5. d4 e6 6. Qb3 Qd7 7. Nc3 Ne7 8. Be3 Nf5 9. Bh3 Nxe3 10. fxe3 Be7 11. cxd5 cxd5 12. e4 Nc6 13. O-O-O Na5 14. Qc2 Qd8 15. exd5 exd5 16. Qf5 O-O 17. Nxd5 Nc6 18. Kb1 Qd6 19. Nxe7+ Nxe7 20. Qe5 Rad8 21. Rhe1 Nc6 22. Qxd6 Rxd6 23. d5 Rfd8 24. Rd2 Nb4 25. Rd4 Nxd5 26. Red1 Kf8 27. Bf1 Ke7 28. Bc4 Ne3 29. Rxd6 Rxd6 30. Re1 Rd1+ 31. Rxd1 Nxd1 32. Kc1 Ne3 33. Bd3 Kd6 34. Kd2 Nd5 35. Bb1 b6 36. Kd3 h6 37. Kd4 Nc7 38. f4 Ne6+ 39. Kc4 Nc7 40. a3 Kc6 41. Ba2 Kd6 42. Kd4 f6 43. Ke4 Ke7 44. Bc4 Kd6 45. Kf5 Ke7 46. Kg6 Kf8 47. g4 Ne8 48. g5 hxg5 49. fxg5 fxg5 50. Kxg5 Nd6 51. Bd5 Ke7 52. Kg6 Kf8 53. h3 Ne8 54. Kf5 Ke7 55. Ke5 Nc7 56. Bf3 Kd7 57. Bg4+ Ke7 58. Bf5 Na6 59. Kd5 Nc5 60. Kc6 Na4 61. b4 Nc3 62. Bd3 Na4 63. Kb7 a5 64. bxa5 bxa5 65. Bc2 Nb2 66. Bb3 Kd6 67. Kb6 a4 68. Bf7 Nd3 69. Kb5 Nf4 70. h4 Ng2 71. h5 Ne3 72. Bg6 Nd1 73. Kxa4 Kc5 74. Kb3 Ne3 75. Kc3 Nc4 76. a4 Nb6 77. Kb3 Nc4 78. Bd3 Ne5 79. Be2 Nc6 80. Kc3 Nd4 81. Kd3 Nc6 $2 ({Only} 81... Nf5 $1 {maintains a draw. Black threatens ...Kb4 followed by ...Ng3 and ...Nxh5, which will eliminate all the pawns. The only way to stop this plan is} 82. Kc3 {, offering a repetition.}) 82. Ke4 Kd6 83. Bf3 (83. Bb5 {also wins, e.g.} Na5 (83... Ne7 84. a5 $18) 84. Kf5 Ke7 85. Kg6 Kf8 86. Bd3 Nc6 87. Be4 {allows the a-pawn to advance, as} Na5 88. Bd5 {is an immediate win.}) 83... Kc5 84. Be2 Kd6 85. Kf4 Kc5 86. Kg5 Ne7 87. a5 Kc6 88. a6 Kb6 89. Bc4 Ka7 90. Kf4 Kb6 91. Ke5 Nc6+ 92. Kf5 Nd4+ 93. Kg6 1-0 [Event "Julius Baer GenCup KO"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.09.23"] [Round "2.13"] [White "Le, Quang Liem"] [Black "Erigaisi, Arjun"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E04"] [WhiteElo "2728"] [BlackElo "2725"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "113"] [EventDate "2022.09.22"] [EventType "k.o."] {[%evp 0,113,23,23,26,4,12,12,12,-21,-14,5,12,16,23,-21,0,-23,8,10,38,49,50,20, 51,43,41,48,48,34,57,2,-3,11,23,-29,-42,-42,-49,-32,-52,-27,-29,-26,-36,-43, -36,-36,5,0,-21,-24,-26,-45,-24,-23,-19,-53,-58,-40,-33,-35,-30,-35,-33,-27, -65,-104,-63,-63,-166,-210,-127,-111,-18,-8,-32,-29,7,-4,0,1,47,-11,-11,-12, -15,-43,-44,-67,-65,-62,-61,-62,-69,-71,-48,-68,-81,-66,-72,-82,-80,-82,-77, -85,-82,-82,-82,-82,-82,-82,-81,-81,-81,-81]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 a6 6. O-O Nc6 7. Be3 Rb8 8. Qc1 b5 9. b3 Nd5 10. bxc4 Nxe3 11. Qxe3 bxc4 12. Rc1 Be7 13. Nbd2 O-O 14. Nxc4 Bb7 15. a3 Bf6 16. Rd1 Ne7 17. Rac1 Nf5 18. Qd3 Bxf3 19. Qxf3 Nxd4 20. Qg4 Rb5 21. Kf1 h5 22. Qe4 Rd5 23. Qd3 Nf3 24. Qc2 Rxd1+ 25. Rxd1 Nd4 26. Qa4 Qb8 27. Qxa6 Qb3 28. Ne3 Nf5 $1 {An annoying move for White to deal with.} 29. Rd3 (29. Qd3) 29... Nxe3+ 30. fxe3 ( 30. Rxe3 $4 Qd1# {is the problem.} ({Or} 30... Qb1# {, in honor of the Aronian-Ivanchuk game a couple of days ago.})) 30... Qb2 31. a4 $2 (31. Kf2) 31... Qc1+ 32. Kf2 c5 $17 33. a5 $2 c4 $6 (33... Bc3 $1 $19) 34. Rd7 $2 (34. Qc6 $1) 34... Bc3 $19 {Black has a winning advantage, and if he can convert it the match is over.} 35. Bf3 Be1+ $2 $17 (35... Bd2 $1 36. Qb6 c3 37. Qd4 Qe1+ 38. Kg2 c2 $19 {was game over, match over.}) 36. Kg2 c3 $6 (36... Bd2 37. Qd6 $1 Bxe3 38. Qd1 $17) 37. Rc7 (37. Rxf7 $1 {A spectacular way to maintain equality.} Rxf7 (37... Kxf7 38. Bxh5+ g6 39. Qa7+ $8 Kf6 (39... Kg8 40. Bxg6 Rf2+ 41. Kh3 Qa3 42. a6 c2 43. Qh7+ Kf8 44. Qh8+ $1 Ke7 45. Qg7+ Kd6 46. Qd4+ Kc7 47. Qa7+ $11)) 38. Qxe6 Qd2 39. a6 Qd7 40. Bd5 Qxe6 41. Bxe6 Kf8 $8 42. Bxf7 Kxf7 43. a7 c2 44. a8=Q c1=Q 45. Qd5+ $11) (37. Qd6 Qxe3 38. Qb6 $8 $11) 37... c2 38. Qd3 Qa1 39. Qxc2 Qxa5 40. Rc5 Qa3 41. Qc1 Qxc1 42. Rxc1 Bd2 { The draw is inevitable.} 43. Ra1 g6 44. Ra8 Rxa8 45. Bxa8 Bxe3 {The extra pawn makes no difference. White sets up a fortress, which is easy with the opposite-colored bishops, and the game soon ends in a repetition.} 46. Kf3 Bc5 47. e4 Kg7 48. h3 Kf6 49. Bc6 g5 50. g4 h4 51. Ba4 Ke5 52. Be8 f6 53. Bd7 Bd4 54. Bc8 Bc5 55. Bd7 Bd4 56. Bc8 Bc5 57. Bd7 1/2-1/2 [Event "Julius Baer GenCup KO"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.09.23"] [Round "2.14"] [White "Keymer, Vincent"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A15"] [WhiteElo "2693"] [BlackElo "2861"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "82"] [EventDate "2022.09.22"] [EventType "k.o."] {[%evp 0,82,23,-2,12,12,17,18,31,18,12,19,31,11,13,-29,14,2,23,18,26,26,75,52, 52,57,57,27,49,27,60,54,61,51,78,0,-3,-18,-10,-17,-5,0,6,-34,-22,-79,-76,-72, -58,-95,-51,-86,-96,-86,-91,-89,-84,-95,-75,-171,-78,-140,-146,-179,-200,-207, -218,-253,-278,-406,-444,-515,-515,-839,-839,-852,-885,-949,-949,-985,-1007, -1047,-1073,-1079,-1101]} 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 c5 3. Nc3 e6 4. e3 d5 5. d4 a6 6. cxd5 exd5 7. g3 c4 8. Bg2 Bb4 9. Qa4+ $2 $146 (9. O-O $11) (9. Bd2 $11 O-O 10. Ne5 (10. b3 Bf5 11. O-O Bd3 12. Re1 Nc6 13. Ne5 Nxe5 14. dxe5 Bxc3 15. Bxc3 Ne4 16. Bb4 Re8 17. f3 a5 18. Ba3 Nc3 19. Qd2 Nb5 20. Bb2 a4 21. f4 a3 22. Bc3 Qb6 23. Bb4 Red8 24. Rac1 Be4 25. Be7 Re8 26. Bxe4 dxe4 27. bxc4 Rxe7 28. Qb4 Rc7 29. Qxb5 Qxb5 30. cxb5 Rac8 31. Rxc7 Rxc7 32. Rd1 g5 33. b6 Rc6 34. Rd8+ Kg7 35. Ra8 Rc1+ 36. Kg2 Rc2+ 37. Kh3 gxf4 38. gxf4 Rxa2 39. Kg4 Rxh2 40. Rxa3 Rb2 41. f5 Rg2+ 42. Kf4 h5 43. Kxe4 h4 44. Ra1 h3 45. Kf3 Rb2 46. Rh1 h2 47. Kg3 Rb5 48. Kf4 Rb2 49. Kf3 Kh6 50. Kf4 Rf2+ 51. Kg4 Re2 52. Kf3 Rb2 53. Kg3 Kg5 54. e6 fxe6 55. fxe6 Rxb6 56. Rxh2 Rxe6 {1/2-1/2 (56) Caruana,F (2823)-Van Foreest,J (2671) Wijk aan Zee 2021}) 10... Nc6 11. O-O Re8 12. Nxc6 bxc6 13. b3 a5 14. bxc4 Ba6 15. Qc2 Bxc4 16. Rfb1 Bxc3 17. Bxc3 Ne4 18. Be1 h5 19. Qd1 h4 20. g4 a4 21. a3 Bb3 22. Qe2 Re6 23. Rc1 Qg5 24. f4 Qe7 25. Bb4 Qc7 26. f5 Ree8 27. Qe1 Qd8 28. Rxc6 h3 29. Bxh3 Qg5 30. Qe2 Rac8 31. Rac1 Bc4 32. Rxc8 Bxe2 33. Rxe8+ Kh7 34. Bd2 Bxg4 35. Bg2 Bf3 {0-1 (35) Artemiev,V (2704)-Carlsen,M (2847) chess24.com INT 2021}) 9... Nc6 10. Ne5 {Is White's novelty a bluff, or a blunder? Whatever the case, Carlsen refutes the idea at the board and wins convincingly.} O-O $1 11. Nxc6 Bxc3+ 12. bxc3 bxc6 $17 {Black's grip on the light squares in the center and on the kingside are more important than White's bishop pair; in fact, the dark-squared bishop has nothing to do.} 13. O-O (13. Qxc6 $6 Qa5 14. O-O Bf5 $19 15. Bd2 $2 Bd3 16. Rfd1 Rab8 $19 {Black is dominating.}) 13... Bf5 14. Ba3 Re8 $19 15. Qxc6 Re6 16. Qa4 h5 $1 { Creating a new set of problems for White, who must worry about ...h4-h3.} 17. h3 Bd3 18. Rfc1 Ne4 19. Qd1 Qg5 {If you looked at this position for the first time for just a second or two, would you even notice that White is up a pawn?} 20. Qe1 Rae8 21. Kh2 Rg6 22. Rab1 {A desperate bid for counterplay.} Bxb1 23. Rxb1 Qd8 24. Bb4 Rb6 25. Rc1 (25. Ba5 $4 Rxb1) 25... Qb8 {Threatening ...h4.} 26. h4 a5 $1 27. Ba3 (27. Bxa5 $2 Rb2 $19 {makes things worse.}) 27... Ree6 28. Rd1 Qe8 29. Bc1 Rb1 30. f3 {Chasing the knight away feels good, but now there are new weaknesses, especially the e-pawn.} (30. Bxe4 {is better, though it doesn't matter at this point.}) 30... Nd6 {Now White must watch out for the possibility of ...Rxc1 followed by ...Rxe3.} 31. Bd2 Rb2 32. Rb1 Rxa2 33. Qc1 Nf5 34. e4 dxe4 35. fxe4 Rxe4 {Of course.} 36. Bf4 (36. Bxe4 Qxe4 37. Rb2 Qe2+ 38. Kg1 Ne3 $19) 36... Ree2 $1 37. Rb8 Rxg2+ 38. Kh1 Qxb8 39. Bxb8 Rh2+ 40. Kg1 Rag2+ 41. Kf1 Rh1+ {Keeping it simple. Black will be a rook up, and if that's not enough the a-pawn is going to queen.} 0-1 [Event "Julius Baer GenCup KO"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.09.23"] [Round "2.14"] [White "Erigaisi, Arjun"] [Black "Le, Quang Liem"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B08"] [WhiteElo "2725"] [BlackElo "2728"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "64"] [EventDate "2022.09.22"] [EventType "k.o."] {[%evp 0,64,23,17,94,75,87,54,90,65,69,75,74,59,81,44,47,55,53,37,49,24,38,42, 56,49,49,45,29,14,18,22,29,19,35,29,37,31,18,-5,22,36,111,115,162,163,151,46, 46,27,13,-17,-26,-26,-26,-34,-28,-10,-36,-97,-139,-187,-552,-946,-1333,-1333, -1457] Erigaisi could have clinched match victory had he converted his winning advantage in the last game; still, all he needs is a draw with White in this game, and it's over. Piece of cake, right?} 1. e4 g6 {A popular move in must-win situations.} 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nf3 (3. Nc3) 3... d6 4. Be2 (4. Bc4) 4... Nf6 5. Nc3 O-O 6. O-O a6 7. a4 (7. Re1) 7... Nc6 8. h3 (8. a5 $5) (8. Re1 Bg4) 8... h6 (8... e5) (8... e6 $5) 9. Be3 e6 (9... e5) 10. e5 {Perhaps a little too direct.} (10. a5 $142 $16) (10. Qd2 $142 $16) 10... dxe5 11. Nxe5 Ne7 12. Bd3 $2 (12. f4 {was a better way of dealing with Black's intended} Nf5 { , allowing the bishop to retreat to f2. After} 13. Bf2 $16 {White will finish developing, while Black will have to worry indefinitely about the possibility of g4.}) 12... Nf5 $11 13. Bxf5 exf5 14. Qd2 Kh7 15. Rad1 c6 16. Rfe1 Be6 17. Nd3 g5 $5 {No messing around - and why should he, in this must-win situation?} (17... Re8) 18. Nc5 Bc8 19. d5 $1 b6 20. Nb3 c5 $2 {Objectively mistaken, but again, it's a must-win situation, so he needs complications.} (20... cxd5 { is objectively better, but giving White the d4 square makes his position easier to handle.}) 21. f4 $2 {White immediately goes wrong. Preventing ...f4 is as natural as can be, but Black's next move shows that he has other avenues for his attack.} (21. Qd3 $1 $16 {was best, pinning the f-pawn and threatening 22.a5, wrecking Black's queenside.}) 21... g4 $17 22. a5 gxh3 23. gxh3 Rg8 24. Kh1 $6 (24. Qf2 $142) 24... Ne4 $19 25. Nxe4 fxe4 26. Qh2 Qh4 {The h-pawn is dropping, and after a subsequent ...Qh5 the weakness of White's light squares around his king will prove fatal.} 27. axb6 Bxh3 28. Rg1 Qh5 29. Nd2 Bd4 $1 { With a beautiful point we'll see on the next move.} 30. Bxd4 e3 $1 {Very nice! Black will play ...Qxd5+ next, and mate is inevitable.} 31. Be5 Bg2+ (31... exd2 {was faster, but the text was good enough.}) 32. Rxg2 Qxd1+ {A powerful attacking game by Le. On to the blitz playoff!} (32... Qxd1+ 33. Rg1 Rxg1+ 34. Qxg1 Qxg1+ 35. Kxg1 exd2 $19) 0-1 [Event "Julius Baer GenCup KO"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.09.23"] [Round "2.21"] [White "Le, Quang Liem"] [Black "Erigaisi, Arjun"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E06"] [WhiteElo "2728"] [BlackElo "2725"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "94"] [EventDate "2022.09.22"] [EventType "k.o."] {[%evp 0,94,26,23,26,4,12,12,12,-24,3,14,19,13,13,-4,53,31,36,16,8,-15,24,2,-5, 17,-10,1,8,2,8,4,-15,-9,-5,-17,21,24,19,-4,6,7,2,7,-14,-45,-10,-14,1,-93,-89, -89,-85,-85,-85,-81,-93,-93,-156,-285,-264,-264,-284,-391,-406,-574,-512,-536, -552,-559,-564,-568,-567,-580,-590,-592,-589,-592,-608,-655,-696,-682,-696, -1008,-760,-760,-894,-967,-838,-852,-907,-982,-982,-1684,-1684,-1684,-2112]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qa4 c6 8. Qxc4 b5 9. Qb3 Bb7 10. Rd1 Qb6 11. Ne5 c5 12. Bxb7 Qxb7 13. dxc5 Bxc5 14. Be3 Bxe3 15. Qxe3 Nc6 16. Qf3 Rac8 17. Nc3 b4 18. Ne4 Nd5 19. Nxc6 Qxc6 20. a3 a5 21. axb4 axb4 {White's knight is a little clumsy here, so Le tries to give it a better square than d2 or h3 (Ng5 h6 and the knight either returns to e4 or goes to h3) .} 22. g4 $6 (22. Nd2 $11) 22... h6 23. Rd2 $6 f5 $1 24. Ng3 $2 (24. gxf5 Rxf5 25. Qb3 $17) 24... fxg4 25. Qxg4 Nf4 $19 {In just four moves, White's position has gone from drawishly equal to lost. Erigaisi doesn't let his prey escape this time.} 26. e4 $2 (26. Nf1) 26... Qb5 (26... Rf6 {was better, preparing to double.}) 27. h4 $2 h5 $1 28. Qd1 Qe5 (28... Qc5 {is also very good, threatening ...Nh3+ but also looking to play ...Qe7 and ...Qxh4.}) 29. Rc1 $2 Rxc1 30. Qxc1 Qf6 {The h-pawn drops, and the attack becomes even more powerful. } 31. Qf1 Qxh4 32. Qe1 Qg4 33. Qd1 Nh3+ 34. Kg2 Rxf2+ 35. Rxf2 Qxd1 36. Kxh3 Qg4+ 37. Kh2 h4 38. Nf1 Qxe4 {Black has at least two pawns too many. White could have resigned here, as Black had plenty of time. No one ever won a game by resigning though, so Le continues a while longer.} 39. Kh3 g5 40. Nh2 Kg7 41. Ng4 b3 42. Rg2 e5 43. Nf2 Qf3+ 44. Kh2 Qf4+ 45. Kh3 e4 46. Ng4 Qf3+ 47. Kh2 e3 0-1 [Event "Julius Baer GenCup KO"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.09.23"] [Round "2.22"] [White "Erigaisi, Arjun"] [Black "Le, Quang Liem"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A40"] [WhiteElo "2725"] [BlackElo "2728"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "103"] [EventDate "2022.09.22"] [EventType "k.o."] {[%evp 0,30,26,23,75,57,44,33,32,1,17,19,12,9,30,32,51,35,57,31,34,-15,32,38, 48,-4,-4,16,25,55,57,51,54] In game 4 Le won on demand to keep the match going; would he do it again?} 1. d4 g6 {Inviting White to play 2.e4 and go for the Modern again. Erigaisi declines the offer.} 2. c4 Bg7 3. Nf3 d6 4. g3 Nf6 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Nc3 a5 8. h3 Re8 9. e4 e5 10. Re1 h6 {Not a good move, but it was most likely chosen for the sake of avoiding theory and the possibility of Erigaisi playing some line that would allow him to kill the game.} (10... exd4) (10... c6) 11. Be3 $16 exd4 12. Nxd4 Nc5 13. Qc2 c6 14. Rad1 Qc7 15. Nb3 {Not bad, but it's a pity for White that he didn't play the move he returned to three moves later.} (15. Ndb5 $1 cxb5 16. Nxb5 Qe7 17. Nxd6 Qc7 (17... Ne6 18. e5 Nd7 19. f4 $18) 18. f4 $1 Rxe4 $1 19. Nxe4 Ncxe4 20. Bxe4 Nxe4 21. Qxe4 Bxh3 22. c5 $18) 15... Ne6 16. f4 a4 17. Nd4 (17. Nc1) 17... Nc5 (17... Qa5 $142) 18. Ndb5 $2 {It doesn't look all that different from move 15, but this time it's a big mistake.} (18. Bf2 {kept a large advantage. Black doesn't have much space, and he'll be squeezed even further with g4.}) 18... cxb5 19. Nxb5 Qa5 $17 {This square was unavailable in the earlier version.} 20. Nxd6 Rd8 21. e5 (21. Qf2 $142) 21... Ne8 22. Qf2 Nxd6 23. exd6 Nd7 24. Bd5 Ra6 $1 25. f5 $6 (25. g4 $142) (25. c5 $142) 25... g5 $6 (25... gxf5 $1 {was far from obvious, but it was a good idea to get rid of that pawn.} 26. c5 $1 Rf8 27. Qxf5 Nf6 28. Qf3 Nxd5 29. Qxd5 Bd7 $1 $17 {/-+ and ...Bc6 and ...Qb5 will start Black's counterplay.}) 26. c5 Nf6 $2 {In this very unusual position, it's almost impossible for the players to get every move right, all the more so in a blitz game.} (26... Qb4 $17) 27. Bg2 $2 (27. Bd4 $1 {was correct, not fearing exchanges. If} Nxd5 $2 {(the counterintuitive 27...Rf8 was best), then} 28. Bxg7 Kxg7 29. Rxd5 $18 {and White is winning, as Black's pieces are stuck on the queenside, too far away from the king to keep him alive.}) 27... Nd7 $2 (27... Bd7) (27... Qb4) 28. Rd5 $2 (28. f6 $1 Bxf6 (28... Nxf6 $2 29. Bd2 $1 Qb5 30. Bc3 $18) 29. h4 $1 $16) 28... Qb4 $2 (28... Rc6 $1 $19) 29. Re2 (29. h4 $1 $11) 29... a3 (29... Rc6 $15) 30. b3 Qc3 (30... Bc3 $11) 31. Kh2 $1 $14 Rc6 $6 (31... Nf8) (31... Rf8) 32. Rdd2 (32. Rc2 Qa5 33. Rdd2 $16) 32... Ra6 33. Rc2 (33. Rd1 $142) 33... Qf6 34. Rc4 (34. Rcd2 $142) 34... Nf8 $2 (34... Re8 $142 $11) 35. g4 $18 Qe5+ 36. Kg1 Re8 37. Bf3 (37. Re4 $142 Qxe4 38. Bxe4 Rxe4 39. Qf3 Re5 40. Kf1 {followed by b4 and Bd2, should win, getting the queenside pawns in motion.}) 37... Qa1+ 38. Rc1 Qf6 39. Kg2 Qd8 40. Rce1 Qa5 $2 (40... Bf6) 41. Bd4 $1 {White is very clearly winning now, but Black gets one last chance to stay in the game.} Rxe2 42. Rxe2 Qb4 43. Bxg7 (43. f6) 43... Kxg7 44. Rc2 $2 (44. Re7 {is best, intending Bd5.}) 44... Bd7 $2 (44... Qf4 $1 45. Rc4 Qe5 46. Re4 $8 Qc3 47. Qe3 Qb2+ 48. Kg3 Nd7 {leaves White with little to no advantage whatsoever.}) 45. Rc4 {White is winning again, and Black will be given no further chances to save the game or even to complicate it.} Qb5 46. Qd4+ Kg8 47. Rb4 Qa5 48. Rxb7 Qe1 49. Rb8 Be8 50. d7 Bxd7 51. Qxd7 Qa1 52. Qe8 (52. Qe8 Qg7 53. c6 Ra7 54. f6 {and mate is coming.}) 1-0