[Event "FIDE Candidates 2024"] [Site "Toronto CAN"] [Date "2024.04.17"] [Round "11.1"] [White "Praggnanandhaa, R."] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D06"] [WhiteElo "2747"] [BlackElo "2789"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "108"] [EventDate "2024.04.04"] {[%evp 0,108,24,14,29,10,24,-15,42,36,57,53,35,22,18,17,5,-27,1,-7,1,1,19,10,17,10,29,13,19,4,20,15,34,25,15,17,15,0,15,-34,-41,-35,-32,-20,-2,-12,14,0,0,-17,-17,-44,-30,-43,-64,-68,-73,-83,-91,-121,-120,-102,-109,-148,-124,-265,-272,-280,-276,-329,-290,-300,-211,-244,-192,-201,-217,-212,-201,-207,-195,-188,-190,-224,-163,-167,-171,-204,-244,-258,-220,-237,-224,-226,-232,-233,-229,-234,-203,-236,-249,-239,-237,-287,-323,-419,-540,-1014,-1268,-1302,-1309]} 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 (2. c4 c5) 2... Nf6 3. c4 c5 $5 {The only time I can recall seeing this in an important high-level game was, ironically, in a Karjakin-Svidler match from the 2015 World Cup, though through a slightly different move order. The irony is that Svidler is Pragg's second. The line looks a little suspicious, especially if you've never seen it before, but the reality is that White gets a very slight advantage at best.} 4. cxd5 cxd4 5. Qxd4 Qxd5 6. Nc3 Qxd4 7. Nxd4 a6 {There are 388 games in the database from here, including one where Nakamura was Black. If you're interested in digging deeply into this ...c5 line, look at Mamedyarov's games, as he has played this variation a lot - I count 58 games from the 2.c4 c5 move order, and there are probably others from a different move order.} (7... Bd7 $143 8. Ndb5 Kd8 9. Be3 Nc6 10. f3 (10. h3 $142 $14 {/?}) 10... h5 11. O-O-O Kc8 12. Bg5 g6 13. Nd6+ exd6 14. Bxf6 Rg8 15. e4 Be6 16. Kb1 Kd7 17. Nd5 Bg7 18. Bxg7 Rxg7 19. Bb5 Kd8 20. Rd2 Bxd5 21. Rxd5 Kc7 22. Rc1 Re8 23. Rd4 Re5 24. Ba4 b5 25. Bb3 Rc5 26. Rd5 Rxc1+ 27. Kxc1 a6 28. Rd3 g5 29. Kd2 h4 30. Rc3 Kb6 31. Rd3 Kc7 32. Ke3 f6 33. Rc3 Kb6 34. Rd3 Kc7 35. Rc3 Kb6 36. Bd5 Ne7 37. Kd4 Rh7 38. Be6 Rh8 39. a3 Rd8 40. Rc2 Rh8 41. Rf2 Ng6 42. Kd5 Rd8 43. Bf5 Nf4+ 44. Kd4 Re8 45. g3 Ne6+ 46. Bxe6 Rxe6 47. Kd5 Re5+ 48. Kxd6 hxg3 49. hxg3 g4 50. fxg4 Rxe4 51. Rf4 Re3 52. Rxf6 Rxg3 53. Ke5+ Kb7 54. Kf5 Rb3 55. g5 Rxb2 56. g6 {1-0 Karjakin,S (2762)-Svidler,P (2727) FIDE World Cup Baku 2015 (7.4)}) 8. g3 e5 9. Nb3 Nc6 (9... Bd7 {has been more common (and it's what Nakamura played in an earlier game), looking to meet} 10. Bg2 {with} Bc6 {. 9...Nc6 is also standard, and receives Stockfish's "blessing".}) 10. Bg2 a5 (10... Be6 {is, like 9...Bd7, better represented in the database, but you-know-who/what recommends the move in the game. (I don't mean that as a criticism, of course, especially in the context of a Candidates tournament.)}) 11. Nb5 $146 {This natural move is a novelty.} (11. Bd2 {is the engine's top choice (and a move that was played once before), when its top variation goes} a4 12. Nb5 {The point is that here there's no ...Bb4+ - emphasis on the "check". Black is forced to play the awkward} Kd8 {, but White must respond with the equally awkward} 13. Nc1 {, when White's advantage is minimal (in the +0.1 to +0.15 range). Here's how the one game went:} Bb4 14. Nc3 Nd4 15. Rb1 Bf5 16. Nd3 Bd6 17. Bg5 Kc8 18. Kd2 Nd7 19. Be4 Be6 20. Rhd1 Kb8 21. Ke1 h6 22. Bd2 Nf6 23. Bg2 Ra6 24. h3 Re8 25. Kf1 e4 26. Nc1 Nc2 27. Nxe4 Nxe4 28. Bxe4 Bxh3+ 29. Bg2 Bf5 30. e4 Bg4 31. Ne2 Be5 32. f3 Be6 33. f4 Bc7 34. Rbc1 Rc6 35. e5 Rc4 36. b3 axb3 37. axb3 Rc5 38. Be4 Bxb3 39. Rb1 Bd5 40. Bxd5 Rxd5 41. Rbc1 Na3 42. Bb4 Rxd1+ 43. Rxd1 Nc2 44. Bc5 b6 45. Rb1 Kb7 46. Rb2 Rc8 47. Rxc2 Bb8 48. Nd4 Rxc5 49. Rxc5 bxc5 50. Nf5 c4 51. Nxg7 Kc6 52. Nf5 Kb5 {½-½ Agaltsov,I-Tramacere,S (2091) W-Cup22 WS36 email ICCF email 2017}) 11... Bb4+ 12. Bd2 Ke7 $11 13. a3 Bxd2+ 14. Nxd2 a4 $1 {Preventing White from anchoring the knight and preparing (if permitted) ...Ra5 to send it packing.} 15. Nc4 Be6 16. Rc1 Ra6 {I recall a graphic on the commentary screen at this point stating that Pragg's accuracy to this point was 99.1%. Not bad, but Nakamura's was 100.0%. Good prep!} 17. O-O Rd8 18. Ne3 Ra5 (18... Rd2 19. Nc7 Nd4 20. Kh1 Nxe2 21. Rc5 $11 {is some kind of mess. Nakamura's move is neither better nor worse, but keeps more control.}) 19. Bxc6 (19. Nc7 {was possible here, too.} Nd4 20. Nxe6 fxe6 21. Rc7+ Rd7 22. Rxd7+ Nxd7 23. Rb1 Nxe2+ 24. Kf1 Nd4 25. Bxb7 $11) 19... bxc6 20. Nc3 Bb3 {Keeping White's rooks off d1 and c2, and also defending the a4-pawn to free up the rook on a5.} (20... Rd2 21. Rc2 Rxc2 22. Nxc2 Nd5 23. Nb4 $1 {maintains equality, and with the position more simplified than in the game there will be fewer opportunities for either side to create the kinds of problems that could lead to a win.}) 21. Nb1 Ra6 22. f4 e4 $5 {Aiming to keep White's pieces bottled up.} 23. Kf2 (23. Rc5) 23... Rb6 (23... g6) 24. Nc3 (24. Rc5) (24. g4) 24... g6 {Black hopes to get in ...f5 soon to stabilize the pawn on e4, and as there are also some positions where ...Rd4 would be appropriate Black must avoid small problems like Nf5+ winning the rook.} 25. Rb1 {A little passive.} (25. g4) (25. f5) 25... Nd5 26. Rbc1 (26. Rfc1 f5 27. Ncd1 {is a very subtle idea, looking to play Nc4 and then reactivate the other knight on e3.}) 26... f5 27. g4 $5 {Not bad, but very risky - in retrospect, we can say that it was probably too risky, given that Pragg had less than 12 minutes to make the final 13 moves of the time control and the position now becomes extremely tactical.} fxg4 28. Nxg4 Nxf4 29. Ke3 $2 {Already the losing move. The idea makes excellent sense, clearing the f-file so the rook can get active, but Pragg gravely underestimates the danger to his king.} ({The unobvious} 29. Ke1 $1 {was best, likewise activating the rook but with less danger to his king. Only this move maintained equality, which is a serious indictment of 27.g4 from a practical perspective.}) (29. Kg3 $6 $17 {isn't as good as 29.Ke1, but it's still much better than 29.Ke3.}) 29... Nd5+ $1 $19 30. Kxe4 (30. Nxd5+ Bxd5 31. Rc2 Rb3+ 32. Kf2 Rf8+ 33. Kg1 (33. Ke1 Rfb8 $19) 33... Rf5 {Threatening ...Rg5.} 34. Rxf5 gxf5 35. Nf2 e3 $19 {is absolutely horrible for White.}) 30... Nxc3+ (30... c5 $1 {, a move we'll see on the next turn, was even better here, immediately pursuing White's king by clearing the way for ...Re6+.}) 31. bxc3 (31. Rxc3 Bd5+ 32. Ke3 Rxb2 33. Rf4 g5 $1 34. Rxa4 h5 35. Nf2 Rd6 $19) 31... c5 $1 32. Rf4 $2 {Aiming to shield the king from harassment on the f-file after a subsequent 32...Re6+ 33.Kf3. The only problem is that his king won't get to f3.} Bd5+ $1 33. Ke3 {But no problem, right? The king will go to f2 instead. Again, there's just one problem with this:} h5 $1 {The knight is stuck.} 34. c4 (34. Ne5 Re6 $19) (34. Nf2 Re6+ 35. Kd2 {Looks like White's going to get out of this one piece, because almost everything he's got is on a dark square. For now...} g5 $1 {forces the rook to a light square if it hopes to avoid capture on the next move, and then it will be lost to one discovered check or another, e.g.} 36. Rxa4 Bb3+ $19) 34... Ba8 35. Nh6 {This avoids some tactical problems, but the problem now is that the knight is trapped.} (35. Nf2 Re6+ 36. Ne4 Rd4 $19) 35... Re6+ $1 36. Kf2 Rf6 {The rooks come off, and then ...Rh8 will garner the piece.} 37. Kg3 Rh8 38. Rxf6 Kxf6 39. Rf1+ Kg7 40. Nf5+ gxf5 41. Rxf5 Rc8 42. Rxh5 {White's dream is to reach rook vs. rook and bishop (with no pawns) or to leave Black with only the bishop and his a-pawn (provided White's king can reach the a1 corner). The dream will not come true.} Bb7 43. Kf4 Ba6 44. Ke5 Kg6 $1 (44... Bxc4 $6 45. Kd6 Bxe2 46. Rxc5 Rxc5 $4 47. Kxc5 $11 {would allow White to draw by parking his king in the a1 corner. Black will win White's pawns, but can do no more than stalemate White's king.}) 45. Rh4 Kg5 46. Rh3 Bxc4 47. Rg3+ Kh6 48. e4 Rc6 $1 49. Kf5 Bf7 50. Ke5 c4 51. Kd4 Rd6+ 52. Kc5 Rd3 53. Kb4 Rb3+ $1 54. Kxa4 Rxg3 ({After} 54... Rxg3 55. hxg3 c3 {White's king is cut off - Black's bishop controls the b3 square - so Black will promote his pawn. A huge victory for Nakamura, who stays in contention for first, while Praggnanandhaa is effectively eliminated from the race.}) 0-1 [Event "FIDE Candidates 2024"] [Site "Toronto CAN"] [Date "2024.04.17"] [Round "11.2"] [White "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C42"] [WhiteElo "2727"] [BlackElo "2758"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "134"] [EventDate "2024.04.04"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nc4 {Rare in comparison with 4.Nf3, but a well-known line in its own right.} Nxe4 5. Qe2 {The usual follow-up, which is the exception in the 4.Nf3 lines.} Qe7 6. Nc3 Nxc3 7. bxc3 Bg4 $146 (7... Nd7 $146 {may be a slight improvement. It's not yet clear where Black's light-squared bishop belongs.}) 8. Qxe7+ Bxe7 9. Rb1 b6 10. d4 (10. Ne3 {makes sense, and is a mild argument against 7...Bg4. White will continue with c4 and (eventually) Nd5.}) 10... Be6 11. a4 O-O (11... Nc6) 12. Ne3 Bg5 (12... d5) 13. c4 (13. Bb5 $5 {stops ...Nc6 and aims to induce either ...a6 or ...c6, which would soften up Black's queenside structure.}) 13... Re8 14. h4 Bf6 15. c3 (15. Bb2 $142 $11) 15... c5 $15 16. Bd3 Nc6 $1 {Like 16...cxd4, it also looks "impossible" at first glance.} (16... cxd4 $1 {is playable:} 17. cxd4 $8 Bxd4 18. Be4 d5 19. cxd5 Bd7 $11 {/?}) 17. d5 Ne5 $1 (17... Bxc3+ $2 18. Kd1 Ne5 $2 19. Kc2 Bd4 20. dxe6 $18) 18. Bxh7+ Kxh7 19. dxe6 fxe6 20. Ke2 Rad8 $11 {/?} 21. g4 g6 22. g5 Bg7 23. a5 $1 {This was inevitable.} bxa5 24. Rb7 Rd7 (24... Rb8 $5 25. Rxa7 Ra8 $11) 25. Rxd7 Nxd7 26. Rd1 Bf8 27. Ng4 $44 Rb8 28. Bf4 Rb2+ 29. Kf3 {This is a very complicated ending. Black is up a pawn and has a better structure in general. On the other hand, the d6 pawn is weak, and White has the makings of a dangerous kingside initiative. On the other other hand, Black's a-pawn will soon tie White down, so whatever White's got going had better happen fast.} e5 30. Be3 Nb6 $5 {Ambitious, but it's risky for his king.} (30... Rb6 31. Ra1 Ra6 $11 {was safer, and *could* result in an immediate draw, though both players can safely deviate from the sequence} 32. Rb1 Rb6 33. Ra1 Ra6 {.}) 31. Nf6+ Kh8 32. Ke4 a4 $1 {Otherwise Black is much worse.} 33. Ra1 {It looks at first as if White is giving up on his kingside ambitions and will focus primarily on queenside defense. This may in fact be the case, but It turns out that Black's king really is still in serious danger.} (33. h5 {is dangerous for Black, going for a mating attack. Black must find a series of only-moves, though none look extraordinarily difficult for a world-class player.} Nxc4 $8 34. Rh1 Nxe3 35. fxe3 gxh5 36. Kf5 {Threatening Kg6 with a mating net, so Black's next is forced.} Kg7 37. Nxh5+ Kf7 $8 38. g6+ Ke7 $8 39. Rg1 Rh2 40. g7 Rxh5+ $8 41. Kg6 Bxg7 42. Kxh5 Bf6 $11 {Black should hold the draw.}) 33... Rb3 $2 {This could have lost the game, dramatically changing the players' chances. Had Vidit won, then Nakamura and Gukesh would have been tied for first, with Vidit, Nepo, and Caruana half a point back and Pragg a further half a point behind. (In short, the exact same score distribution for the top six as there was before the round, but with different players filling the relevant score groups.)} (33... Kg7 $1 34. h5 gxh5 35. Kf5 h4 $1 36. g6 Nc8 $1 $11) 34. Kd3 $2 $11 (34. h5 $1 Rxc3 35. hxg6 Rxc4+ 36. Kf5 Rh4 {seems safe, but there's} 37. Ne8 $3 Kg8 38. Ke6 $1 Rh2 39. g7 $1 Bxg7 40. Nf6+ $1 Bxf6 (40... Kf8 41. Bxc5 $1 dxc5 42. Rd1 $18) 41. gxf6 Rh7 42. Rg1+ Kf8 43. Rg6 {and 44.Bh6+ will win the game. I didn't say that it was an *easy* winning opportunity for Vidit.}) 34... a3 $5 {Nepo sacs the a3-pawn, and will soon offer another pawn, to get his remaining pieces into the action.} 35. Bc1 a5 $2 (35... Na4 36. Rxa3 Rxa3 37. Bxa3 Nb6 $11) 36. Bxa3 $18 d5 $2 {The point of Black's last few moves, but collectively they constitute a blunder.} 37. Kc2 $2 $11 {Understandable, and don't forget that this is the lead-up to the time control, and Vidit didn't have all day to make these critical decisions.} (37. cxd5 $4 {fails:} Rxa3 38. Rxa3 c4+ 39. Ke4 Bxa3 $19) (37. Nxd5 $1 {seems to fail for essentially the same reason:} Nxd5 38. cxd5 Rxa3 39. Rxa3 c4+ 40. Kxc4 Bxa3 {The "only" problem is that this ending is completely lost for Black.} 41. f3 $1 (41. Kb5 $6 {isn't as clean:} e4 $1 42. c4 $8 a4 $1 43. c5 (43. Kxa4 $2 Bc5 $11) 43... Bxc5 44. Kxc5 a3 45. d6 a2 46. d7 a1=Q 47. d8=Q+ Kh7 {and White still has some work to do. There's no need for White to do this.}) 41... Kg7 42. Kb5 Kf7 43. c4 $1 $18 {and White wins easily, helped by the availability of h5 to create a third passed pawn once Black's king and bishop are tied down defending White's c- and d-pawns.}) 37... dxc4 38. Ne4 Rb5 (38... a4 $142 39. Bxc5 Bxc5 40. Nxc5 Rb5 41. Rb1 (41. Nxa4 $5 Ra5 42. Nxb6 Rxa1 43. Nxc4 $11) 41... Rxb1 (41... Rxc5 $2 42. Rxb6 $18) 42. Kxb1 Kg7 $11) 39. Rd1 Be7 40. Re1 Kg7 41. Nd2 Bd6 42. Ne4 Be7 43. Ng3 {Playable, but no better than acquiescing to the draw with} (43. Nd2 {, allowing the repetition.} Bd6 $11) 43... Rb3 44. Bc1 Nd5 45. Ne4 Kf7 46. Bd2 {Keeping an eye on f4, but now the a-pawn creeps forward.} (46. Bb2 Nf4) 46... a4 47. Ra1 Nb6 48. Be3 Rb5 49. Nd2 Ra5 50. Kb2 (50. Nb1 $11) 50... Ke6 51. Ka3 Rb5 (51... Ra8 52. Rb1 Nd5 53. Rc1 Nc7 54. Nxc4 Nb5+ 55. Kb2 a3+ 56. Ka2 $11) 52. Rc1 Kf5 53. f3 (53. Rg1 {stops ...Kg4 without undermining the stability of the bishop on e3.}) 53... Nd5 $5 {Very interesting! Nepo sacs a couple of pawns, but the price of White's taking the a-pawn is that his king is vulnerable to mating ideas now that the a-file is open.} 54. Kxa4 (54. Nxc4 Rb3+ 55. Kxa4 Rxc3 56. Rxc3 Nxc3+ $11) 54... Rb8 55. Nxc4 e4 $1 56. fxe4+ Kxe4 57. Bf2 Kd3 58. Bg3 Nxc3+ 59. Ka3 (59. Rxc3+ Kxc3 60. Bxb8 Kxc4 {is a draw, though it looks scary for White and is certainly capable of being lost. By this point the players were yet again very short of time, especially Vidit, and given a choice between this and a less all-or-nothing approach he understandably chose the latter.}) 59... Rb4 {All of Black's forces, excepting the g-pawn, are involved in attacking the White king. Surprisingly, the position is still drawn, but White must find the only move here.} 60. Nb2+ $2 (60. Ne5+ $1 Kd2 $8 61. Rg1 $3 (61. Rh1 $2 Nb1+ $1 62. Ka2 Kc2 $1 63. Rh2+ Nd2 64. Ka3 Rb3+ 65. Ka4 Rxg3 $19 {shows why the rook must go to g1.}) 61... Nb1+ 62. Ka2 Kc2 63. Rg2+ Nd2 64. Ka3 $11) 60... Kd2 $8 $19 61. Rf1 c4 $1 62. Rf2+ Ne2 63. Be5 c3 {Not only hitting the knight, but clearing the 4th rank so that Black threatens ...Rf4+, winning White's rook.} 64. Rf7 Rb7+ 65. Ka4 c2 66. Nc4+ Kd3 67. Nb2+ Ke4 {White is losing loads of material.} 0-1 [Event "FIDE Candidates 2024"] [Site "Toronto CAN"] [Date "2024.04.17"] [Round "11.3"] [White "Gukesh, D."] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D35"] [WhiteElo "2743"] [BlackElo "2803"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2024.04.04"] {[%evp 0,80,24,17,19,-23,-9,-3,4,4,40,35,25,-2,0,12,21,24,25,12,43,54,54,41,28,38,39,32,27,4,16,16,0,-13,31,28,44,47,49,59,77,71,67,47,71,71,75,62,71,47,67,52,79,80,85,-6,12,16,-10,-17,-9,-51,-40,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Nbd7 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bh4 c6 8. e3 {The earliest game from this position in the database is from 1925, while the earliest game to see Black's next move is from 2007, and the game after that from 2009.} g5 $5 {It looks crazy, but it has been played more than 250 times. It's true that g4/...g5 ideas are everywhere in today's openings, but it's still surprising to see it in the historically stodgy Exchange Queen's Gambit Declined.} 9. Bg3 Nh5 10. Bd3 Nxg3 11. hxg3 Bg7 12. O-O ({The immediate} 12. Qc2 {is more common, generally followed by queenside castling.}) 12... Nb6 13. Qc2 ({Ding played} 13. b4 {several years ago, expediting his queenside play. It may be slightly less accurate though, if Black plays} h5 $1 $11) 13... O-O {Now ...h5-h4 ideas are less worrisome, so it's time for the good old-fashioned minority attack.} (13... h5 {is poor here. White will promptly forget about his slow queenside play and blast open the center with} 14. e4 $1 $16) 14. b4 Qe7 15. Rab1 $146 Be6 $146 16. a4 Nd7 $146 {The last novelty.} 17. a5 (17. b5 {is less effective here:} c5 18. dxc5 Qxc5 19. Ne2 Qxc2 20. Bxc2 Nb6 $11) 17... a6 {Extremely committal. Black prevents pawn breaks like a6 and b5 for good, but at the cost of his queenside pawn structure losing all its flexibility. It is hard to break down the structure - I can recall a couple of games in which strong opponents tried to finish me off for a long time and didn't manage to do it (I even managed to win them both, thanks to a bit of luck and tactical awareness) - but Black will have a fair amount of suffering ahead of him (as I did in the aforementioned games).} 18. Na4 $14 Rad8 19. Nc5 Nxc5 20. bxc5 f5 $1 {Otherwise White parks his bishop on f5, which will enable him to make further inroads on the kingside and/or the center} 21. Qc3 (21. Ne5 {was worth considering. Gukesh probably rejected it because of} Bxe5 22. dxe5 d4 $14 {, so he first tries to cut out this idea before making the knight jump.}) 21... Rf7 (21... h5) 22. Rb4 Qc7 (22... h5 $142) 23. Rb2 (23. Ne5 $1 Bxe5 24. dxe5 Qxa5 25. Rfb1 $14 {/? followed by Qd4 gives White much more than enough for the (temporarily) sacrificed pawn.}) 23... Re8 24. Ne5 $1 {Otherwise Black plays ...Bc8, taking Ne5 off the table for good.} Bxe5 25. dxe5 h5 26. f4 Qd8 27. fxg5 $5 {It's not bad, as White's heavy pieces get lots of room and the f5-pawn will be a target. Still, it's almost impossible to notice just how dreadful White's pawn structure is: seven isolated pawns, including doubled pawns and tripled pawns. This makes it likely that if a queenless endgame arises, Black will have good chances to draw even if he's a pawn or maybe even two pawns down.} Qxg5 28. Rf3 Qg7 29. Rbf2 Bd7 $6 (29... Rfe7 $142 $11) 30. Qb4 $6 (30. Qb2 $142 $1 Qxe5 $8 31. Qxb7 Qc3 32. Qb1 Ref8 33. Ra2 Qxc5 34. Qe1 $14) 30... Bc8 $11 {Now Black is securely equal. White has nothing better than to liquidate the board and allow a perpetual.} 31. Bxf5 Rxf5 32. Rxf5 Bxf5 33. Rxf5 Rxe5 34. Rxe5 Qxe5 35. Qxb7 Qxg3 36. Qxc6 Qe1+ 37. Kh2 Qh4+ 38. Kg1 Qe1+ 39. Kh2 Qh4+ 40. Kg1 Qe1+ {It's a bit much to say that 30.Qb2 was a missed chance, as it was far from winning and wasn't an obvious move. Aside from that exchange of inaccuracies it was a very clean game by both players, and a hard fought game that cost the players have a point in the race for first.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE Candidates 2024"] [Site "Toronto CAN"] [Date "2024.04.17"] [Round "11.4"] [White "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Black "Abasov, Nijat"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D04"] [WhiteElo "2760"] [BlackElo "2632"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "47"] [EventDate "2024.04.04"] {[%evp 0,47,19,30,20,-16,-2,12,13,17,23,2,8,3,1,8,3,-2,9,10,14,15,24,18,18,43,45,-2,52,52,83,58,56,44,39,105,107,143,137,137,136,149,359,336,338,364,364,372,378,373]} 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. b3 {It almost won against Nepo in round 9 (albeit against 1...d5), so why not try it again?} c5 3. Bb2 Nc6 4. e3 g6 5. d4 cxd4 6. Nxd4 Bg7 7. Be2 ({Nakamura plays 1.Nf3, 2.b3 systems a lot in online games, and here he has generally preferred to play} 7. Nxc6 {.}) 7... O-O 8. O-O Nxd4 (8... d5 $11) 9. Bxd4 d5 $11 10. Nd2 Qd6 (10... Bf5 {is a good alternative, tried by stars like Volokitin, Dominguez, and even one Magnus Carlsen (albeit in bullet).} 11. c4 Rc8 12. Rc1 Qa5 13. cxd5 Rxc1 14. Qxc1 Rc8 15. Qb2 Rc2 16. Nc4 Rxb2 17. Nxa5 Rxe2 18. Nxb7 Nxd5 19. Bxa7 Rxa2 20. Bc5 Rb2 21. b4 Nxb4 22. Ra1 Nd5 {0-1 Le,T (2557)-Carlsen,M (2835) Bullet Chess Winners Chess.com INT blitz 2023 (2.10)}) 11. c4 Rd8 $146 (11... e5 {was played by Paravyan, and is the computer's choice. (More to the point, isn't this the reason for 10...Qd6?)} 12. Bb2 d4 13. exd4 exd4 14. Nf3 Ng4 15. h3 Ne5 16. Nxd4 Rd8 17. Qc2 Nc6 18. Nxc6 Bf5 19. Qc1 bxc6 20. Bxg7 Kxg7 21. Bf3 Qf6 22. Re1 Bxh3 23. Bxc6 Qxc6 24. Qc3+ Qf6 25. Qxh3 Rd2 26. Qe3 Rad8 27. Rac1 Rxa2 28. c5 Rd3 29. Qe5 Rxf2 30. Qxf6+ Rxf6 31. c6 Rd8 32. Re4 Rc8 33. Rec4 Rc7 34. b4 a6 35. Kh2 Kf8 36. Kg3 Ke7 37. R1c2 h5 38. Rc5 Re6 39. Kf4 Kf6 40. g3 Ke7 41. Rc1 Kd8 42. R1c2 Kc8 43. Rc1 Rce7 44. Kg5 Kc7 45. Kh6 Re5 46. Rxe5 Rxe5 47. Rf1 Re7 48. Rf6 Kb6 49. Kg7 Re3 50. Kxf7 Rxg3 51. Ke7 Kc7 52. Kf7 h4 53. Kg7 h3 54. Rf2 g5 55. Kg6 g4 56. Kg5 Rg2 57. Rf1 h2 {0-1 Le,T (2542)-Paravyan,D (2586) Speed Chess Q1 KO Chess.com INT blitz 2022 (3.15)}) 12. cxd5 (12. c5 Qc7 13. f4 {is a principled approach, looking to dominate the central dark squares and punish Black for omitting ...e5.}) 12... Qxd5 13. Bf3 Qf5 (13... Qb5 $142 $11 {makes sense, overprotecting b7 so the c8-bishop can be developed.}) 14. Rc1 Ne8 15. Rc5 e5 $2 {Natural...and losing.} ({Black's position is a bit clumsy, but there doesn't seem to be any concrete problem after the admittedly ugly-looking} 15... Qe6 {. Surprisingly, the position is still objectively equal.}) 16. Nc4 $1 $18 {Notwithstanding the apparent self-pin, White wins an important pawn - at least unless Black plays ...f6.} f6 $2 {Right - except this makes it even worse.} 17. Rd5 $1 Rxd5 (17... Be6 18. e4 Qg5 19. Be3 {wins lots of material, as White is threatening the queen *and* the rook on d8.}) 18. Bxd5+ Kh8 19. Bc5 Qd7 20. Bf3 {There's no mate and Black hasn't even lost any material yet, but his development is terrible. How does he fix it?} Rb8 $4 {Rounding off the proceedings with an outright blunder, not that there was any real chance of saving the game.} (20... Qc7 21. Qd5 $1 $18 {Renews the dilemma: give up the b-pawn or else give up on developing the queenside.}) 21. Bxa7 Ra8 22. Nb6 $1 Qxd1 23. Rxd1 Rxa7 24. Rd8 $1 (24. Rd8 $1 Rxa2 25. Rxe8+ Bf8 26. h4 {Black will be down a piece for nothing. Firouzja's play over the last five rounds has been pretty good, but going -3 over the first six rounds left him in too deep a hole to contend for first.}) 1-0