[Event "13th London Classic 2023"] [Site "London ENG"] [Date "2023.12.03"] [Round "3.1"] [White "Gukesh, D."] [Black "Volokitin, Andrei"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A34"] [WhiteElo "2746"] [BlackElo "2660"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "55"] [EventDate "2023.12.01"] {[%evp 0,55,25,-14,-14,-27,10,4,15,15,14,17,48,21,19,19,27,43,41,46,95,-3,-8,-8,-8,-33,8,16,41,-41,-37,-34,-46,-30,51,-30,-30,-69,-10,-10,-7,-57,-1,-99,36,25,246,73,89,81,365,390,390,436,500,545,633,658]} 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 c5 3. g3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Bg2 Nc7 6. b3 {Rare.} e5 7. Bb2 Be7 8. Rc1 O-O 9. Ne4 $146 {A new move, but in a line that hadn't seen action in years. Of course, it's the computer's recommendation.} b6 10. Bxe5 Bb7 $44 11. Ba1 Qc8 12. g4 Ne6 $2 (12... Nc6 $44) 13. Nh3 $16 Nc6 14. e3 $6 (14. O-O $142 $16) 14... Nb4 $1 15. O-O $1 Nxa2 16. Rb1 $14 {/?} Nb4 $6 17. f4 $16 {/+- Material is equal, but the position is not. White is obviously ready to go full blast on the kingside, while it's anything but obvious trying to figure what Black has in mind.} f6 18. Qf3 $2 (18. f5 $142 {was better, intending g5 next. If Black prevents that with} Ng5 {, then it's the f5-pawn that will do the damage after} 19. Nhxg5 fxg5 20. f6 $18) 18... Bc6 19. f5 (19. Nhf2 $142) 19... Nc7 $2 (19... Ng5 $8 20. Nhxg5 fxg5 {here the f5-f6 push is less effective, so Black is okay.}) 20. g5 $1 {Now the attack takes off, and there will be no further turbulence on its flight.} fxg5 21. Qg3 $1 h6 ({It would be nice to get rid of the pawn, but Black has too many loose pieces.} 21... Rxf5 22. Rxf5 Qxf5 23. Qxc7 Bxe4 24. Qxe7 {and while Black would be in fine shape after} Bxg2 {under normal circumstances (25.Kxg2 Qg4+ and 26...Qxh3), there's a "minor" detail that supercedes Black's plans.} 25. Qxg7#) ({Perhaps} 21... Bxe4 22. Bxe4 h6 {was best, relatively speaking, but Black shouldn't survive after} 23. Bxa8 Nxa8 24. Nf4 $1 $18 {, again taking advantage of the Qxg7# idea.}) 22. f6 $1 {Predictable, sure, but still very strong.} gxf6 23. Bxf6 $1 (23. Nhxg5 $1 {is nice too, with a possible transposition.}) 23... Bxe4 24. Nxg5 $1 Bxf6 (24... hxg5 25. Qxg5+ Kf7 26. Qg7+ Ke6 27. Qxe7+ Kd5 28. Bxe4#) 25. Rxf6 $1 Rxf6 {White is down a rook and a knight, but not for long.} (25... hxg5 26. Qxg5+ Kh8 27. Rh6+ (27. Bxe4 $18) 27... Bh7 28. Rxh7+ $1 Kxh7 29. Be4+ $18 {is mate in two if the king retreats, and if Black instead blocks with something on f5 he'll lose everything and then get mated shortly thereafter.}) 26. Nxe4+ Kh8 (26... Kf7 27. Nxf6 Kxf6 28. Rf1+ Ke7 29. Qh4+ Kd6 30. Rf6+ Ne6 31. Qf4+ Kd7 32. Rf7+ Ke8 33. Qf6 $18 {and now Black must give up his queen and the rook to avoid an immediate mate.}) 27. Nxf6 Qf5 {The last (microscopically small) hope, attacking both the rook and the knight.} 28. Rf1 {Rescuing both pieces; Black cannot in turn save both of his attacked pieces, so it's time to call it quits.} 1-0 [Event "13th London Classic 2023"] [Site "London ENG"] [Date "2023.12.03"] [Round "3.5"] [White "Royal, Shreyas"] [Black "Tabatabaei, M. Amin"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D38"] [WhiteElo "2404"] [BlackElo "2694"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "105"] [EventDate "2023.12.01"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 Bb4 6. Nf3 h6 7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8. Qb3 Qd6 9. a3 Bxc3+ 10. Qxc3 O-O 11. e3 Bf5 12. Rc1 c6 13. Ne5 Nd7 14. Bd3 Bxd3 15. Nxd3 Rfe8 16. O-O Nf6 17. b4 a6 18. a4 Ne4 19. Qb2 Qe7 20. b5 cxb5 21. axb5 a5 22. b6 Qd6 23. Rc7 Re7 24. Rfc1 Rae8 25. Nc5 Nxc5 26. dxc5 Qe6 27. Rxe7 Qxe7 28. Qb5 Rb8 29. Qxa5 Qd7 30. h3 Qc6 31. Qc3 Rc8 32. Qe5 g6 33. h4 h5 34. Kh2 Re8 35. Qd6 Qxd6+ 36. cxd6 Rd8 37. Rc7 Rxd6 38. Rxb7 $18 {Let's start here. White is a pawn up, but sometimes endings like this, where the strong side has an extra pawn on the outside, ends up in a draw. In this particular case, White has a winning advantage, but it doesn't mean that it will be easy.} Kg7 39. Kg3 Kf6 (39... d4 40. exd4 Rxd4 {wins for White, but only if he plays 41.Rc7 or} 41. Re7 $1 $18) 40. Kf3 d4 {Here too White has only one way to win. You might think, based on the last note, that the solution is to trade and play 42.Rc7, but the problem is that the h-pawn hangs. So what about trading and playing 42.g3? That doesn't work, either.} 41. Ke2 $3 {This is the one winning move, not allowing Black's rook to get behind White's passer on the b-file.} (41. exd4 $2 Rxd4 42. g3 Rb4 $1 $11 {and Black holds, as he can bring his king to at least d5. There is no danger for Black in the rook and three vs. rook and two ending with all the pawns on the kingside.}) 41... dxe3 42. Kxe3 Ke6 43. f3 Kf6 44. g3 g5 45. Rb8 gxh4 {Now what?} 46. Rh8 $1 {Very well-calculated! The threat is simply 47.b7, and Black can't take the b-pawn right now because of the skewering 47.Rh6+.} (46. gxh4 {may also win, but it's not nearly as clean as the move in the game.}) 46... Re6+ (46... Rxb6 $2 47. Rh6+ $18) (46... Kg7 47. b7 $18) (46... Rd7 47. gxh4 Kg6 (47... Rb7 48. Rxh5 Rxb6 $2 (48... Kg6 49. Rb5 $18) 49. Rh6+ $18) 48. Rg8+ Kh6 49. Rg5 {and with White's rook going to b5 next, Black is finished.}) 47. Kf4 hxg3 (47... h3 48. b7 h2 49. b8=Q $18) 48. b7 $1 (48. Kxg3 Re7 49. Rxh5 $18 {also wins, though again it's not as clear-cut as the text.}) 48... g2 (48... Rb6 49. Rh6+ $18) 49. b8=Q ({Now it's too late to worry about Black's pawn:} 49. Rg8 $2 Rb6 $11 {is a draw, and one that White will have to prove. (Admittedly, it shouldn't be difficult to do so.)}) 49... g1=Q 50. Qd8+ Re7 (50... Kg7 51. Rg8+ $18) 51. Rh6+ $1 Qg6 (51... Kg7 52. Qh8# {is the fundamental problem. Without this, Black would be fine.}) 52. Qd4+ $1 ({White is winning after} 52. Rxg6+ {, but once again Royal finds the best way, making sure he will win Black's pawns right away.}) 52... Ke6 53. Qb6+ (53. Qb6+ Kd7 54. Rxg6 fxg6 55. Qxg6 {and the h-pawn can't be saved.}) 1-0