[Event "45th Olympiad 2024"] [Site "Budapest HUN"] [Date "2024.09.16"] [Round "6.1"] [Board "1"] [White "Ding, Liren"] [Black "Le, Quang Liem"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A34"] [WhiteElo "2736"] [BlackElo "2741"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "124"] [GameId "2090553630202323"] [EventDate "2024.09.11"] [WhiteTeam "China"] [BlackTeam "Vietnam"] [WhiteTeamCountry "CHN"] [BlackTeamCountry "VIE"] {[%evp 0,124,24,-17,23,22,22,23,23,15,27,25,29,29,39,-7,-3,-21,7,-14,-3,-6,11,-24,-33,-34,-29,-28,-18,-29,-24,-34,-37,-21,-27,-18,1,0,0,-17,1,2,15,5,13,0,0,14,14,-15,-3,0,-3,5,0,-5,0,-38,-64,-35,-30,-61,-60,-90,-82,-36,-38,-40,-27,-105,-95,-116,-123,-120,-115,-128,-129,-121,-117,-128,-121,-111,-99,-93,-90,-84,-92,-92,-92,-92,-86,-80,-59,-118,-77,-118,-103,-75,-69,-120,-72,-75,-85,-85,-85,-165,-165,-158,-173,-173,-212,-214,-214,-218,-270,-270,-270,-270,-270,-270,-270,-270,-270,-270,-270,-270,-485]} 1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. g3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 g6 7. h4 Bg7 8. h5 Bf5 9. h6 Bf6 10. O-O O-O 11. Nh2 Nb6 12. a4 Na5 13. Ne4 Bxe4 14. Bxe4 c4 15. d3 Rc8 16. Rb1 Qd7 17. dxc4 Rxc4 18. Qxd7 Nxd7 19. Bf3 Rxa4 20. Ng4 Nb3 21. Rd1 Ne5 22. Nxe5 Bxe5 23. Bg5 Nd4 24. Bxb7 Rb8 25. Bf3 f6 26. Be3 Nxf3+ 27. exf3 Bd6 28. Ra1 Rxa1 29. Rxa1 Rxb2 30. Rxa7 g5 31. Ra8+ Kf7 32. f4 gxf4 33. gxf4 Kg6 34. Rg8+ Kxh6 35. f5+ Kh5 36. Rg7 Rb5 37. Rxh7+ Kg4 38. Kg2 Rb2 39. Rh8 Kxf5 40. Bc5 Rb7 {White faces a tricky decision. Swapping bishops simplifies the position, but it gives Black a meaningful asset - a passed pawn - for free. It should still be drawn, but there's a greater possibility for error in this case. (Much greater, as it turns out, and neither side played the rook ending perfectly.) Keeping the bishops on will result in prolonged torture, but I think there are also fewer chances to go wrong.} 41. Bxd6 $5 exd6 42. Rd8 {I was sure that Ding would draw this, guaranteeing match victory for the Chinese team. Amazingly, or so I initially thought, it didn't happen. Looking at this ending with the engine, it's subtler than I thought. I think Ding underestimated the dangers.} Ke6 43. Re8+ (43. Kf3 $1 {is my inclination - I wouldn't want my king cut off from the e-file, where it can help fight against the d-pawn.}) 43... Re7 {I would not have guessed that there is only one move that draws for White, but it does square with my intuition about the previous move.} 44. Ra8 $2 (44. Rd8 $1 {is the only move that draws.} d5 (44... Kd5 45. f4 Kc5 46. Rf8 $11) (44... Rd7 45. Re8+ Kf5 46. Kf3 d5 47. Ra8 (47. Ke3 $2 {shows the limits of my intuition - this loses.} Rd6 48. Ra8 Re6+ $1 {Whichever way White's king commits, bad things happen.} 49. Kf3 Ke5 50. Ke3 d4+ 51. Kf3 (51. Kd3 Kf4 $19) 51... Kd5 $19) 47... Rb7 48. Ra3 $1 $11) 45. Kf3 {and White's king gets across.} Rd7 46. Ra8 $11) 44... d5 $1 $19 45. Kf3 Ke5 $1 {Again surprising, though less so if you look at the 44.Rd8 note and see the variation with 47.Ke3 in particular.} 46. Ra1 (46. Ke3 d4+ $1 $19 {is practically identical to the position after 50...d4+ in the aforementioned note.}) 46... Re6 $2 (46... Rb7 $1 47. Re1+ Kf5 $1 48. Rd1 Rb3+ $1 49. Kg2 Ke5 50. Re1+ (50. f3 d4 51. Kg3 d3 $19) 50... Kd4 51. Re6 f5 $19) (46... Rc7 $1 {also wins, but nothing else does.}) 47. Ra4 $2 (47. Re1+ $1 Kf5 (47... Kd6 48. Rd1 $11 (48. Ra1 $11)) 48. Rd1 $11) 47... Rb6 $19 48. Ke2 d4 49. f3 f5 50. Ra5+ Kf4 $1 51. Rd5 Rb2+ 52. Ke1 Rh2 53. Kf1 (53. Rxd4+ Ke3 $19 (53... Kxf3 $4 54. Rd3+ $11)) 53... Kxf3 54. Rxf5+ (54. Rxd4 Rh1#) 54... Ke3 55. Re5+ Kd2 56. Ra5 Rh1+ (56... d3 $4 {Don't miss the skewer!} 57. Ra2+ Kc1 58. Rxh2 d2 59. Rxd2 Kxd2 $11) 57. Kf2 d3 58. Ra8 ({White lacks one file to draw with side checks.} 58. Ra2+ Kc3 59. Ra3+ Kc2 60. Ra2+ Kb3 {If there were one file to the left of the a-file - let's call it the negative a-file (-a file), then 61.R-a3+ would draw. Lacking it, Black wins.} 61. Rd2 Kc3 $19) 58... Rh7 59. Ra2+ Kc3 60. Ra3+ Kc2 61. Ra2+ Kb3 62. Ra8 Re7 {A Lucena-style win is inevitable.} 0-1 [Event "45th Olympiad 2024"] [Site "Budapest HUN"] [Date "2024.09.16"] [Round "6.1"] [Board "2"] [White "Nguyen, Ngoc Truong Son"] [Black "Wei, Yi"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D36"] [WhiteElo "2633"] [BlackElo "2762"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "29"] [GameId "2090553630202324"] [EventDate "2024.09.11"] [WhiteTeam "Vietnam"] [BlackTeam "China"] [WhiteTeamCountry "VIE"] [BlackTeamCountry "CHN"] {[%evp 0,29,24,16,21,6,6,13,13,14,51,15,11,-9,10,3,39,42,60,58,33,30,30,32,49,41,47,30,56,47,41,18]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c6 {There are six Wei Yi games in the database reaching this position from 2023 and 2024. Nguyen shouldn't have been surprised here.} 5. cxd5 exd5 {Still a couple of Wei Yi games here, but on those occasions White played 6.Bg5.} 6. Qc2 g6 {No Wei Yi games here, but 6...g6 is the second-most popular move in the position, played more than 750 times. There's no chance that Nguyen is surprised or out of prep here.} 7. Bg5 Be7 8. e3 {Thanks to the wonders of transpositions there are 1911 games here, and in 1901 of them Black played what Wei Yi plays.} Bf5 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 Nbd7 $11 11. Bh6 (11. h3 {or}) (11. O-O O-O 12. h3 {is what you play when you're pretending you're going to fight for the advantage.}) 11... Ng4 12. Bf4 Ngf6 (12... O-O 13. h3 Ngf6 14. O-O Re8 $11) 13. Bh6 (13. h3) (13. O-O) (13. h4 $5 {has been played four times by Carlsen. It may just be for quick games, but the point is that White has options; the repetition is far from obligatory.}) 13... Ng4 14. Bf4 Ngf6 15. Bh6 {I don't understand this game. Why throw away the white pieces? If Wei Yi had played something that was unusual or at least unusual for him I might understand it, but he chose a main line, one he himself had played multiple times in the last couple of years. Bizarre.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "45th Olympiad 2024"] [Site "Budapest HUN"] [Date "2024.09.16"] [Round "6.2"] [Board "3"] [White "Sjugirov, Sanan"] [Black "Erigaisi, Arjun"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C60"] [WhiteElo "2644"] [BlackElo "2778"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "114"] [GameId "2090553630206425"] [EventDate "2024.09.11"] [WhiteTeam "Hungary"] [BlackTeam "India"] [WhiteTeamCountry "HUN"] [BlackTeamCountry "IND"] {[%evp 0,114,24,24,25,21,23,19,32,-6,2,-2,13,10,13,-2,22,8,29,2,3,-8,-8,-25,37,22,28,22,44,50,48,52,87,52,70,32,28,28,44,28,13,10,32,10,16,4,10,-9,11,5,-4,-6,-9,-49,-40,-73,-65,-66,-81,-81,-80,-80,-72,-74,-74,-82,-59,-92,-52,-59,-24,-24,-12,-24,-9,-21,-9,-38,-51,-54,-36,-66,-64,-104,-105,-100,-33,-24,-37,-74,-48,-52,-57,-67,-86,-85,-92,-90,-93,-102,-102,-186,-176,-152,-160,-175,-187,-174,-187,-243,-282,-282,-297,-460,-1012,-1003,-1025] There's no stopping Erigaisi, who moves to 6-0 with the win.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O d6 $5 6. Re1 Bd7 7. c3 g6 8. d4 Bg7 9. h3 O-O 10. Nbd2 exd4 11. cxd4 Nb4 12. Bxd7 Qxd7 13. Qb3 a5 14. a3 Nc6 15. d5 Nb8 16. Qxb7 Na6 17. Qb3 Nc5 {Still theory.} 18. Qc4 Qa4 19. e5 (19. Qxa4 Nxa4 20. Ra2 Nc5 21. b3 Rfe8 22. Rc2 Rab8 23. Re3 Bh6 24. Rec3 Bxd2 25. Nxd2 Nfxe4 26. Nxe4 Rxe4 27. Be3 Rxb3 28. Rxb3 Nxb3 29. Rxc7 Nd4 30. Bh6 Re8 31. g4 Nb5 32. Rc6 a4 33. Ra6 Nxa3 34. Rxa4 Nb5 35. Kg2 Nc7 36. Ra5 Ra8 37. Rxa8+ Nxa8 38. Kf3 Nc7 39. Ke4 f6 40. Bf4 Ne8 41. h4 Kf7 42. Kd4 Ke7 43. h5 Ng7 44. h6 Ne8 45. Bd2 Nc7 46. Kc4 Kd7 47. Ba5 Na6 48. Bb6 Kc8 49. Kb5 Kb7 50. Bd8 f5 51. gxf5 gxf5 52. Be7 Nc7+ 53. Kc4 Ne8 54. Kd4 Kc7 55. Ke3 Kd7 56. Bg5 Nc7 57. Kf4 Nxd5+ 58. Kxf5 Ke8 59. Ke6 Nc3 60. Be3 d5 61. f4 Nb5 62. Bb6 d4 63. f5 d3 64. f6 Nd6 65. Kxd6 Kf7 66. Be3 Kxf6 67. Bd2 Kf7 68. Kd7 Kf8 69. Ke6 Ke8 70. Kf6 Kf8 71. Bb4+ Kg8 72. Ke7 d2 73. Bxd2 Kh8 74. Kf7 {½-½ Kiolbasa,O (2404)-Muetsch,A (2238) BL 2223 (Women) Germany 2022 (10.1)}) 19... Qxc4 20. Nxc4 dxe5 21. Nfxe5 Nxd5 (21... Nb3 22. Rb1 Nxd5 23. Rd1 Nb6 24. Nxb6 cxb6 25. Nd7 Rfe8 26. Be3 b5 27. Rd5 b4 28. Rd3 a4 29. axb4 Re4 30. Nb6 Rae8 31. b5 Nd4 32. Nxa4 Nxb5 33. b4 Rc4 34. Rd5 Na3 35. Rb3 Nc2 36. Bc5 Re1+ 37. Kh2 Be5+ 38. g3 Kg7 39. Nb2 Rc3 40. Rxc3 Bxc3 41. Nd3 Rb1 42. b5 Ba5 43. Ne5 Kf6 44. Nc4 Bc7 45. b6 Bb8 46. Rd8 Ne1 47. Nd2 Rb5 48. Rxb8 {1-0 Patel,A (2461)-Betaneli,A (2272) Saint Louis SPICE Cup op 12th 2018 (3)}) 22. Rd1 Nb6 23. Be3 Nca4 $146 {The homework ends, the game begins.} (23... Nxc4 24. Nxc4 Ne6 25. a4 Rfb8 26. Rab1 Bf8 27. Rd5 Bb4 28. Ne5 Bc3 29. Nc6 Rb3 30. Rc1 Bxb2 31. Rb1 Rc3 32. Rxa5 Rxa5 33. Nxa5 Rc2 34. Nc6 Rxc6 35. Rxb2 Kf8 36. Rb8+ Ke7 37. Ra8 Rc2 38. a5 Ra2 39. a6 c5 40. g4 g5 41. Kg2 Kf6 42. Kf3 h6 43. Ra7 Ra4 44. Ke2 Nd4+ 45. Kd2 Kg7 46. Bxd4+ cxd4 47. Ra8 Ra3 48. a7 {½-½ Kushagra,M (2410)-Dragnev,V (2585) Tsaghkadzor op 2023 (6)}) 24. Bd4 (24. Rab1 $142 Rfe8 25. Nxb6 cxb6 26. Nc4 b5 27. Nd6 Nxb2 28. Nxe8 Nxd1 29. Nxg7 Nxe3 30. fxe3 Rb8 31. Ne8 Rxe8 32. Rxb5 Rxe3 33. Rxa5 $11) 24... Rad8 25. Bxb6 cxb6 26. Nd7 (26. f4) 26... Rfe8 27. Ndxb6 Nxb6 28. Nxb6 Bxb2 29. Rxd8 Rxd8 30. Ra2 Rd1+ 31. Kh2 Bd4 32. Nc4 a4 {The engine still claims it's equal, but the reality is that Black has the better bishop and White's a-pawn is a liability. One and only one player can hope for a win, and it's not Sjugirov.} 33. g3 (33. Rc2 $142) 33... Bc5 (33... Rc1 $142 34. Nd6 $8 Bc5 $15) 34. Rc2 Rd4 35. Kg2 Kf8 36. Rc3 Ke7 37. Ne5 Rd5 38. Nd3 Bb6 39. Kf3 (39. g4) 39... Rb5 40. Ke2 Rb3 41. Nb4 $6 (41. Rc6 $1 Bd8 42. Ra6 Rxa3 43. h4 {was best, accepting a new status quo by giving up the a-pawn for activity and health.}) 41... Kd7 $1 $17 42. Rd3+ $2 (42. Rc4 $8 Rxa3 43. Nc2 Ra2 44. Kd3 $1 $17 {again makes the best of a bad lot.}) 42... Rxd3 43. Nxd3 Kc6 $19 {White's decision to hang on grimly to everything makes things worse. The a-pawn is still weak, his f- and g-pawns are a problem for now, and Black's king is more active. Those sorts of issues can be managed with rooks on the board and the counterplay they offer; here, White's slow-moving king and knight provide no activity, and Black will eventually overcome White's passive defense.} 44. Kd2 (44. Ne5+ Kd5 45. Nxf7 Bc5 46. Kd3 Bxa3 47. Ng5 h6 48. Ne4 Bb2 49. Nd2 a3 50. Kc2 Bd4 51. Kb3 Bxf2 $19) 44... Bd4 45. f3 Kd5 (45... Kb5) 46. Kc2 Bg7 47. h4 {Letting pawns get fixed on dark squares isn't a good idea. Is there better? Not really:} (47. Kd2 Kc4 48. Kc2 Bf8 49. Nb2+ Kb5 $19) (47. g4 Kc4 48. Nb2+ (48. Nc1 Bf8 $19) 48... Bxb2 49. Kxb2 Kd3 $19) 47... Bf6 48. Kd2 Kc4 49. Kc2 h5 50. g4 {White has one last trick in mind.} hxg4 51. fxg4 Bxh4 52. Ne5+ Kd5 53. Nxf7 Bf6 {White's knight is trapped, but Black still has to go and get it.} 54. Kd3 Ke6 55. Nh6 (55. g5 Kxf7 56. gxf6 Kxf6 57. Ke4 g5 58. Kf3 Ke5 59. Kg4 Kd4 60. Kxg5 Kc3 61. Kf4 Kb3 62. Ke3 Kxa3 63. Kd2 Kb2 $19 {Winning by one tempo.}) 55... Bg5 56. Nf5 gxf5 57. gxf5+ Kd5 $1 (57... Kxf5 $4 58. Kc4 Be7 59. Kb5 $11) (57... Kd5 58. Kc3 Kc5 59. Kd3 Bc1 60. f6 Bxa3 61. f7 Kb5 {and Black wins since the bishop controls the queening square. (Both players' queening squares!)}) 0-1 [Event "45th Olympiad 2024"] [Site "Budapest HUN"] [Date "2024.09.16"] [Round "6.4"] [Board "1"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Deac, Bogdan-Daniel"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2798"] [BlackElo "2680"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "249"] [GameId "2090553630210527"] [EventDate "2024.09.11"] [WhiteTeam "United States of America"] [BlackTeam "Romania"] [BlackTeamCountry "ROU"] {[%evp 0,249,24,24,19,22,22,17,17,17,12,2,6,-9,-12,26,38,-33,-16,-7,12,-7,4,25,-2,24,7,17,22,11,18,7,10,0,0,-4,-4,-3,11,-6,13,21,24,15,65,20,94,74,68,70,70,67,36,34,43,12,18,24,17,40,56,54,54,54,67,29,48,44,44,4,6,0,27,68,94,78,85,69,95,90,90,86,79,54,60,20,20,44,32,32,58,5,21,11,2,23,11,20,11,20,14,0,101,101,118,125,117,123,140,149,147,155,125,124,126,119,110,111,100,93,85,74,164,71,123,101,137,132,132,125,127,93,92,80,75,63,86,0,36,21,20,15,13,0,12,17,6,0,16,0,16,16,0,0,0,0,8,0,0,0,0,11,9,9,0,4,0,0,8,7,26,19,19,31,0,37,37,37,36,37,37,36,38,38,38,36,36,36,36,37,37,37,39,38,39,40,40,41,40,40,40,40,40,40,40,41,41,41,42,41,41,41,40,42,40,41,43,43,41,41,41,41,41,39,40,39,42,42,42,41,42,41,42,40,40,40,40,40,40,41,41,41,41,41,41,41,41,41,41,41,40,40]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 d6 6. a4 a6 7. O-O Ba7 8. Re1 O-O 9. h3 Re8 10. Na3 h6 11. b4 Be6 12. Bxe6 Rxe6 13. Nc2 Ne7 14. c4 a5 15. b5 Ng6 16. Ne3 Bxe3 17. Bxe3 b6 18. Nd2 Nd7 19. Nf1 Qf8 20. Ng3 Rae8 21. Ra2 Nf4 22. d4 g5 23. Nf5 $2 (23. d5 Rg6 24. Nf5 $18 {was the right way, not allowing Black to open the center.}) 23... exd4 $1 24. Bxf4 gxf4 25. Qxd4 (25. Qg4+ Rg6 26. Qxf4 Nc5 $14) 25... Kh7 $11 {White huffs and puffs for a very long time, but his chance to blow the door down has come and gone.} 26. f3 Qh8 27. Qxh8+ Kxh8 28. Nd4 Rf6 29. Ne2 Nc5 30. Nc3 Rg6 31. Nd5 Ne6 32. e5 Nd4 33. Kf1 dxe5 34. Nxf4 Rd6 35. Nd5 Kg7 36. Rd2 Nb3 37. Rdd1 Red8 38. Rxe5 c6 39. bxc6 Rxc6 40. Re3 Nc5 41. Ra3 Ne6 42. Rb1 Rxc4 43. Ne3 Rc6 44. Rab3 Kg6 45. Rxb6 Rxb6 46. Rxb6 Rd4 47. g3 Rxa4 48. f4 Kg7 49. Nf5+ Kg6 50. Nd6 Nxf4 51. gxf4 Rxf4+ 52. Ke2 Rf6 53. Ke3 Re6+ 54. Kd4 f6 55. Ra6 a4 56. Kd5 Re5+ 57. Kc6 Rh5 58. Rxa4 Rxh3 59. Rg4+ Kh5 60. Rg8 Rd3 61. Ne4 Rf3 62. Kd5 Rd3+ 63. Kc4 Rf3 64. Kd4 Kh4 65. Rg6 h5 66. Nd2 Ra3 67. Ke4 Kh3 68. Nf1 h4 69. Ne3 f5+ 70. Kf4 Ra4+ 71. Kxf5 Ra8 72. Ke4 Rf8 73. Nf5 Rh8 74. Nd4 Re8+ 75. Kf4 Rf8+ 76. Ke3 Re8+ 77. Kf2 Ra8 78. Rh6 Kg4 79. Nc2 Ra2 80. Rc6 Rb2 81. Rc4+ Kg5 82. Kg2 Kh5 83. Kf3 Rb3+ 84. Ne3 h3 85. Rc8 Rb6 86. Kg3 Rb3 87. Rh8+ Kg5 88. Kf3 Rb4 89. Rxh3 Rf4+ 90. Ke2 Rd4 91. Rh8 Kf6 92. Kf3 Ra4 93. Rc8 Ke6 94. Nc4 Ra1 95. Ke4 Re1+ 96. Ne3 Re2 97. Rc6+ Kd7 98. Rh6 Re1 99. Kd4 Re2 100. Nf5 Rd2+ 101. Kc5 Rc2+ 102. Kd5 Rd2+ 103. Nd4 Rd1 104. Rh7+ Kd8 105. Ke5 Ke8 106. Nc6 Re1+ 107. Kd6 Rd1+ 108. Ke6 Re1+ 109. Ne5 Kd8 110. Rg7 Kc8 111. Rg3 Re2 112. Rc3+ Kd8 113. Rc1 Re4 114. Rh1 Re2 115. Rh3 Re1 116. Rh7 Kc8 117. Rg7 Re2 118. Kd5 Rd2+ 119. Kc5 Rc2+ 120. Nc4 Rc1 121. Kd5 Kd8 122. Kd6 Rd1+ 123. Ke6 Re1+ 124. Ne5 Kc8 125. Re7 1/2-1/2 [Event "45th Olympiad 2024"] [Site "Budapest HUN"] [Date "2024.09.16"] [Round "6.4"] [Board "2"] [White "Shevchenko, Kirill"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E21"] [WhiteElo "2673"] [BlackElo "2752"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "60"] [GameId "2090553630214624"] [EventDate "2024.09.11"] [WhiteTeam "Romania"] [BlackTeam "United States of America"] [WhiteTeamCountry "ROU"] {[%evp 0,60,24,21,21,6,7,10,25,28,27,14,35,6,-14,-7,-7,-35,22,-34,-48,-48,-12,-37,-66,-109,-138,-62,-29,-38,-30,-34,-54,-94,-104,-148,-58,-88,-101,-79,-52,-52,-52,-52,-89,-89,-89,-130,-66,-52,-23,-13,-1,-1,-20,-13,-13,-30,18,17,0,13,11]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 O-O 5. Bg5 c5 6. Rc1 cxd4 7. Nxd4 h6 8. Bh4 d5 9. cxd5 g5 10. Bg3 Qxd5 11. e3 Qxa2 12. Bd3 Qxb2 13. O-O Bxc3 14. Rc2 Qb4 15. Nb5 e5 16. Rxc3 Nc6 17. f4 a6 18. Rb3 Qe7 19. fxg5 Ng4 20. Nd6 Nxe3 21. Bh7+ Kxh7 22. Rxe3 Qxg5 23. Qe1 $146 (23. Qb3 Qg6 24. Rxf7+ Rxf7 25. Nxf7 Nd4 26. Qd5 Qb1+ 27. Re1 Ne2+ 28. Kf2 Qf5+ 29. Kxe2 Be6 30. Qxb7 Bc4+ 31. Kd2 {½-½ Li,D (2579)-Xu,X (2564) Hangzhou GM 2022 (12)}) 23... Qg6 24. Nc4 Be6 (24... Bf5 25. Nxe5 Nxe5 26. Bxe5 Rae8 27. Qb4 Qg4 {keeps the game going, with chances for both sides.} 28. Qd6 $44) 25. Nxe5 Nxe5 26. Bxe5 Rg8 27. Rg3 Qh5 28. Qe4+ f5 (28... Rg6) 29. Qxb7+ Qf7 30. Qxf7+ Bxf7 1/2-1/2 [Event "45th Olympiad 2024"] [Site "Budapest HUN"] [Date "2024.09.16"] [Round "6.4"] [Board "3"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C55"] [WhiteElo "2729"] [BlackElo "2580"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "58"] [GameId "2090553630218721"] [EventDate "2024.09.11"] [WhiteTeam "United States of America"] [BlackTeam "Romania"] [BlackTeamCountry "ROU"] {[%evp 0,58,24,24,19,22,22,17,17,17,19,21,13,16,20,17,9,18,22,24,24,2,25,15,23,21,28,13,22,7,50,29,37,30,41,41,52,52,51,57,56,-1,82,101,95,82,68,45,92,69,63,60,186,60,63,67,120,63,83,54,91]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Be7 5. Nc3 d6 6. a3 O-O 7. Be3 Be6 8. Nd5 Bxd5 9. exd5 Nb8 {You might remember this position from a couple of games in the Speed Chess Championship finale last week between Firouzja and Carlsen. (Apologies if that's a spoiler.)} 10. b4 $146 (10. Ba2 Nbd7 11. d4 e4 12. Nd2 b5 13. Qe2 a6 14. Bg5 Nb6 15. Bxf6 Bxf6 16. c3 Re8 17. Nxe4 Bxd4 18. cxd4 f5 19. O-O Rxe4 20. Qc2 Qd7 21. Rac1 Re7 22. Rfe1 Rxe1+ 23. Rxe1 Re8 24. Re6 g6 25. h4 Kg7 26. h5 Rxe6 27. dxe6 Qe7 28. Qc1 d5 29. Qf4 Qd6 30. Qe3 Kf6 31. Qh6 Qxe6 32. Qxh7 gxh5 33. Kf1 Qe4 34. Qxh5 Nc4 35. Qh8+ Ke7 36. Qg7+ Kd6 37. Qf6+ Kd7 38. Bxc4 dxc4 39. Kg1 a5 40. f3 Qe1+ 41. Kh2 Qe6 42. Qg7+ Kc6 43. g4 fxg4 44. fxg4 b4 45. axb4 axb4 46. g5 Qd6+ 47. Kh3 Qe6+ 48. Kg3 Qe3+ 49. Kg4 c3 50. bxc3 bxc3 51. Qf6+ Kd5 52. Qf5+ Kxd4 53. Qd7+ Kc4 54. Qxc7+ Kd3 55. g6 c2 56. g7 c1=Q 57. Qd8+ Ke2 58. g8=Q Qcg1+ 59. Kf5 Qgf2+ 60. Kg6 Qeg3+ {0-1 Firouzja,A (2767)-Carlsen,M (2832) Chess.com SpeedChess Final Paris blitz 2024 (2.12)}) (10. a4 c6 11. dxc6 bxc6 12. Ba2 Nbd7 13. O-O d5 14. c3 a5 15. Qc2 Re8 16. b4 axb4 17. cxb4 Bxb4 18. Qxc6 Qa5 19. Bb3 Rac8 20. Qb5 Qxb5 21. axb5 Rb8 22. Rfc1 Rxb5 23. Ba4 Ra5 24. Bc6 Rc8 25. Rab1 Bf8 26. g4 d4 27. Bd2 Rc5 28. Bb5 Rxc1+ 29. Bxc1 Rb8 30. Nd2 Nc5 31. g5 Nd5 32. Bc4 Rxb1 33. Nxb1 Nb4 34. Nd2 Nbxd3 35. Ba3 Nf4 36. Nf3 Nd7 37. Bc1 Ne6 38. Bb5 Nec5 39. Kg2 Bd6 40. Bc4 Kf8 41. h4 Ke7 42. h5 f6 43. Nh4 Kd8 44. Nf5 Bf8 45. g6 hxg6 46. hxg6 e4 47. Nxd4 Ne5 48. Bd5 Nxg6 49. Kf1 Ne5 50. Ba3 Kd7 51. Bxe4 Nxe4 52. Bxf8 g6 53. Ke2 Nd6 54. Ke3 Nc6 55. Ne2 Nf5+ 56. Kd3 Ke6 57. Nf4+ Kf7 58. Ba3 Ne5+ 59. Ke2 g5 60. Nd5 Ke6 61. Nc3 Nd4+ 62. Kf1 f5 63. Bc5 Ndf3 64. Ne2 f4 65. Ba3 Kf5 66. Be7 Nd2+ 67. Ke1 Nef3+ 68. Kd1 Ne4 69. Kc2 Ne5 70. Bxg5 Nxg5 71. Nxf4 Kxf4 72. f3 Ne6 73. Kc3 Ng7 74. Kd4 Nf5+ 75. Kd5 Nd3 76. Kc4 Ke3 77. Kd5 Nf4+ 78. Ke5 Nd4 79. Kd6 Nde2 80. Ke5 Kd3 81. Kd6 Kd4 82. Kc6 Ke5 83. Kc5 Nd4 84. Kc4 Nde6 85. Kc3 Kd5 86. Kc2 Kc4 87. Kd2 Kd4 88. Kc2 Nc5 89. Kd2 Nb3+ 90. Kc2 Kc4 91. Kd1 Kd3 92. Ke1 Nd4 93. Kf2 Nf5 94. Ke1 Kc2 95. Kf1 Kd2 96. Kf2 Kd1 97. Kf1 Kc2 98. Ke1 Kd3 99. Kd1 Ne3+ 100. Ke1 Nc2+ 101. Kf2 Kd2 102. Kg3 Ke3 103. Kg4 Nd4 104. Kg5 Nde6+ 105. Kf5 Kd4 106. Kf6 Kd5 107. Kf5 Kd6 108. Ke4 Ke7 109. Kf5 Kd6 110. Ke4 Kc6 111. Ke5 Kc5 112. Ke4 Kd6 113. Kf5 Kd5 114. Kf6 Nd4 115. Kg5 Ke5 116. Kg4 Nde6 117. Kg3 Kd4 118. Kg4 Ke5 119. Kg3 Kf5 120. Kf2 Nc7 121. Ke3 Ke5 122. Kf2 {½-½ Firouzja,A (2767)-Carlsen,M (2832) Chess.com SpeedChess Final Paris blitz 2024 (2.10)}) 10... c6 11. dxc6 bxc6 12. O-O Nbd7 13. Bb3 a5 14. c4 Rb8 15. Bd2 axb4 16. axb4 $14 d5 17. c5 Qc7 18. Re1 Rfe8 19. h3 Bf8 20. d4 (20. Bc2 $142 $14 {/?}) 20... exd4 $6 (20... e4 $142 21. Nh2 g6 $11 {/?}) (20... Ne4 $142 $1 21. Rxe4 $1 dxe4 22. Ng5 Re7 23. Nxe4 exd4 24. Qf3 Ne5 25. Qf5 (25. Qg3 Ng6 26. Qd3 Nf4 27. Qf3 Ng6 $11) 25... Qc8 26. Qh5 Nd3 27. Bc2 Rxe4 28. Bxd3 g6 29. Qf3 Re7 30. Ra6 $44) 21. Rxe8 (21. Bc2 $142 $16) 21... Rxe8 22. Nxd4 $14 Ne4 23. Be3 Ne5 (23... g6 $142) 24. Rc1 (24. Ra6 $142 $16) 24... g6 $14 25. Ba4 Nc4 (25... Ra8) 26. Qf3 (26. Rxc4 $1 dxc4 27. Bxc6 Re7 28. Qf3 Ng5 29. Qd5 Rxe3 $1 30. fxe3 Qg3 31. Kf1 Qxe3 32. Ne2 c3 33. Qc4 {It's "equal", but the burden is on Black to keep it that way.}) 26... Ne5 (26... Nxe3 $1 27. Qxe3 Bg7 28. Nxc6 Ra8 29. Bb5 (29. Na5 Rb8 30. Nc6 Ra8) 29... Bb2 30. Rb1 Bf6 $44) 27. Qd1 Nc4 28. Qf3 (28. Rxc4) 28... Ne5 (28... Nxe3) 29. Qd1 Nc4 1/2-1/2 [Event "45th Olympiad 2024"] [Site "Budapest HUN"] [Date "2024.09.16"] [Round "6.4"] [Board "4"] [White "Parligras, Mircea-Emilian"] [Black "Robson, Ray"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D38"] [WhiteElo "2537"] [BlackElo "2700"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "99"] [GameId "2090553630222818"] [EventDate "2024.09.11"] [WhiteTeam "Romania"] [BlackTeam "United States of America"] [WhiteTeamCountry "ROU"] {[%evp 0,99,24,21,27,10,10,10,7,26,31,6,33,33,28,35,38,30,54,68,64,74,50,1,93,66,58,48,45,69,47,60,30,28,27,25,23,24,47,20,26,19,18,5,5,15,5,0,24,25,25,1,48,28,24,10,11,12,5,-6,7,9,30,19,33,28,25,27,31,30,30,30,29,28,29,30,29,26,26,27,26,29,29,29,29,29,29,29,24,24,24,24,27,27,27,27,27,27,27,27,27,27]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 Qxf6 7. e3 O-O 8. Rc1 dxc4 9. Bxc4 c5 10. O-O cxd4 11. Ne4 Qe7 12. a3 Ba5 13. Qxd4 {This is a super-boring line. Maybe at the beginning White could legitimately entertain hopes of grinding out a win on a great day, but at this point White only heads down this path when he wants to make a draw.} Rd8 14. Qc5 {Groan. There are 55 games in the database with this move. 54 were drawn, and White lost the 55th.} (14. Qe5 {probably isn't better, but it's livelier.}) 14... Qxc5 15. Nxc5 Nd7 16. Nb3 Bb6 17. Be2 Nf6 18. Ne5 Bd7 19. Nc5 Bxc5 20. Rxc5 Rac8 21. Rfc1 Rxc5 22. Rxc5 Be8 23. Kf1 Ne4 24. Rc7 Nd6 25. e4 Kf8 26. f3 Rc8 27. Rxc8 Nxc8 28. Nc4 f6 $146 {This new move will shake up everything in this variation! A new day has begunzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz} (28... Ke7 29. e5 f6 30. Kf2 b5 31. exf6+ Kxf6 32. Nd2 Nd6 33. Ke3 e5 34. Kd3 Ke6 35. Kc3 Kd5 36. Bd3 Kc5 37. b4+ Kb6 38. Nb3 g5 39. Nc5 a5 40. Nb3 a4 41. Nd2 {½-½ Martirosyan,H (2685)-Robson,R (2689) Prague Masters 5th 2023 (1)}) 29. f4 Ke7 30. e5 fxe5 31. Nxe5 Nd6 32. Kf2 Nf7 33. Ke3 Nxe5 34. fxe5 a5 35. Kd4 b6 36. Bf3 Bb5 37. g3 Kd7 38. h4 Ke7 39. Kc3 Kd7 40. b4 axb4+ 41. Kxb4 Ba6 42. Bd1 Bb7 43. Kb5 Kc7 44. Bg4 Bc6+ 45. Kb4 Bd7 46. Bh3 Bc8 47. Kb5 Bd7+ 48. Kb4 Bc8 49. Kb5 Bd7+ 50. Kb4 {Don't be fooled by the move count; White took the day off. This could have been a blitz game, and the players would have had time to spare.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "45th Olympiad 2024"] [Site "Budapest HUN"] [Date "2024.09.16"] [Round "6.5"] [Board "1"] [White "Rodshtein, Maxim"] [Black "Abdusattorov, Nodirbek"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C55"] [WhiteElo "2600"] [BlackElo "2766"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "110"] [GameId "2090553630226915"] [EventDate "2024.09.11"] [WhiteTeam "Israel"] [BlackTeam "Uzbekistan"] [WhiteTeamCountry "ISR"] [BlackTeamCountry "UZB"] {[%evp 0,110,24,24,19,22,22,17,17,17,13,29,22,8,17,-7,45,-14,12,-9,6,30,65,45,18,27,39,19,37,6,38,-6,21,32,61,27,78,29,73,73,87,44,112,22,60,17,9,-9,51,51,55,60,42,29,43,4,63,17,23,6,83,40,40,15,15,15,104,-61,-12,-35,-37,-28,7,2,44,-33,-41,-59,-65,-65,-40,-66,-72,-72,-40,-42,-45,-45,-43,-42,-63,-66,-97,-60,-20,33,-236,-266,-265,-270,-215,-310,-290,-310,-294,-315,-170,-181,-298,-585,-585,-562,-587] Abdusattorov continues to be a one-man wrecking ball for Team Uzbekistan. Rodshtein does not go down easily, but in the end he's overwhelmed with some brilliant tactics.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. Re1 d6 7. a3 Kh8 8. c3 Nd7 9. d4 Nb6 10. Bd3 Bg4 11. d5 Nb8 12. Nbd2 a5 13. h3 Bh5 14. b3 f5 15. c4 fxe4 16. Bxe4 Bf7 17. Bd3 Na6 18. Qc2 Bg8 19. Ne4 Nd7 20. Be3 c6 21. Nc3 Ndc5 22. Be2 h6 23. Qb2 e4 24. Nd4 Bg5 25. Qd2 Qf6 26. Bf1 Bxe3 27. Rxe3 Bh7 28. Rae1 Rae8 29. g3 Nc7 30. b4 cxd5 31. bxc5 dxc5 32. Ndb5 Nxb5 33. Nxd5 Qd4 34. Qxa5 Nd6 35. Qc3 Rf7 36. Qc1 Nf5 {White is still fine here. Unfortunately but understandably, he gets sick of looking at Black's active pieces and decides to push them back, underestimating the long-term damage he's doing to his position.} 37. Rd1 $6 (37. R3e2 b5 38. Bg2 $1 Nd6 $1 (38... Nxg3 $2 39. Rd2 $18) 39. Rd1 Qxc4 40. Rc2 Qa4 41. Rxc5 Nc4 42. Ne3 Nxe3 43. fxe3 $11) 37... Qe5 38. f4 $2 Qe6 39. Rb3 b5 $1 $19 40. Rxb5 Nxg3 {White's knight looks awesome, but its range of influence doesn't extend to the relevant areas of catastrophically weakened White kingside.} 41. Rb6 Qc8 42. Kh2 Nf5 43. Be2 Qd8 44. Rg1 Ref8 45. Bh5 Rd7 46. Qb2 Bg8 {It's remarkable how deceiving a superficial look at this position is. White's pieces look amazingly active: the knight on d5, White's queen teaming up with both rooks in various directions - the b-file, g7, Rxh6 if it weren't for Black's knight, etc. Other than Black's knight, Black's pieces are huddled on the back two ranks. And yet, despite all that, Black is *completely* winning. Black threatens to take on d5, and the knight can't move because of ...Rd2+. That is what matters here, despite all the beautiful activity of White's pieces.} 47. Bg4 Bxd5 48. cxd5 Rxd5 $1 49. Rg2 (49. Bxf5 $2 {threatens mate on g7, but before that happens Black collects White's queen.} Rd2+ $19) 49... Nd4 50. Rg6 Qc7 51. Qf2 Rxf4 52. Qg3 {Black can win easily with a host of normal moves, e.g. 52...Qe5, 52...c4, or 52...e3, but that's not how a super-GM rolls.} Rxg4 $1 53. hxg4 (53. Qxc7 Nf3+ 54. Kh1 Rd1+ 55. Rg1 Rdxg1#) (53. Rxg4 Nf3+ 54. Kh1 Rd1+ $19) 53... Nf3+ 54. Kh3 Qf7 $1 55. Qb8+ (55. Rd6 Rh5+ 56. gxh5 Qxh5+ 57. Qh4 Qxh4#) 55... Kh7 (55... Kh7 56. Rd6 (56. Rc6 Rd3 $19) 56... Qf4 57. Rd8 Rh5+ $1 58. gxh5 Qh4#) 0-1 [Event "45th Olympiad 2024"] [Site "Budapest HUN"] [Date "2024.09.16"] [Round "6.21"] [Board "2"] [White "Demchenko, Anton"] [Black "Nielsen, Hogni Egilstoft"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "2597"] [BlackElo "2379"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "292"] [GameId "2090553630308900"] [EventDate "2024.09.11"] [WhiteTeam "Slovenia"] [BlackTeam "Faroe Islands"] [WhiteTeamCountry "SLO"] [BlackTeamCountry "FAI"] {[%evp 0,292,24,24,25,25,25,23,11,7,10,-14,-3,-10,-10,-27,6,-15,-7,5,7,9,3,8,13,19,17,9,14,9,26,-21,-18,-19,-8,-21,-16,-19,-2,-22,-39,-32,-40,-29,-16,-38,-38,-44,-44,-34,-26,-25,-25,-34,-39,-30,-38,-38,-27,-36,-4,-6,-9,-18,-4,-10,13,1,18,17,24,30,64,56,56,50,56,48,60,78,98,105,95,95,74,95,94,64,54,51,51,47,61,64,71,77,80,85,85,95,76,108,109,36,46,28,28,0,0,8,53,51,48,53,70,82,77,82,82,96,96,101,132,111,109,109,126,133,155,106,104,86,95,97,109,113,118,107,107,102,105,102,120,102,136,121,121,106,104,102,94,97,104,89,92,84,97,85,97,97,93,45,45,49,78,93,93,80,83,39,83,63,49,21,82,88,82,82,90,90,90,87,92,92,92,92,101,92,119,107,106,105,110,98,87,90,104,104,104,108,105,103,115,113,107,108,143,146,126,115,119,106,111,118,119,118,118,93,123,66,76,39,63,31,51,29,36,10,7,5,7,7,83,68,4,3,5,2,2,2,5,4,4,2,1,-24,0,12,88,1,71,88,20,20,104,104,108,108,104,104,104,108,104,100,120,485,547,96,45,20,67,24,24,4,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. a4 a6 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bh4 Be7 8. Bg3 d6 9. Nbd2 O-O 10. c3 g6 11. O-O Nh5 12. h3 Bg5 13. Bh2 Kg7 14. Re1 Qf6 15. Nf1 Be6 16. Bxe6 fxe6 17. b4 Bf4 18. Ra2 g5 19. Kh1 Bxh2 20. N1xh2 Qg6 21. g3 Nf6 22. Qb3 Nd7 23. d4 Qf6 24. Rd2 b5 25. a5 Rab8 26. d5 exd5 27. Qxd5 Ne7 28. Qa2 Qf7 29. Kg2 Qxa2 30. Rxa2 Nf6 31. Ng4 Kg6 32. Rc2 Nc6 33. Nd2 Ng8 34. Rh1 Nge7 35. Ne3 Rbc8 36. h4 Nd8 37. hxg5 hxg5 38. Ng4 Nf7 39. c4 Nc6 40. cxb5 Nd4 41. Rc3 axb5 42. Ne3 c6 43. Nf5 Nxf5 44. exf5+ Kxf5 45. Rhc1 c5 46. bxc5 dxc5 47. Rxc5 Rxc5 48. Rxc5 Rb8 49. Rc6 g4 50. a6 Nd8 51. Rc7 Ra8 52. a7 Ke6 53. Ne4 b4 54. Rc4 Rxa7 55. Rxb4 Rc7 56. Nd2 Nc6 57. Rxg4 Nd4 58. Rg8 Kf5 59. Rf8+ Kg6 60. Ne4 Rc6 61. Kh3 Kg7 62. Ra8 Rh6+ 63. Kg2 Rc6 64. Re8 Ne6 65. Kh3 Kf7 66. Ra8 Nd4 67. Ra5 Ke6 68. Kg4 Rb6 69. f3 Rc6 70. Ra8 Kf7 71. Ra7+ Kg6 72. Rd7 Nf5 73. Rd3 Rb6 74. Ra3 Rc6 75. Rd3 Rb6 76. Rc3 Ra6 77. Kh3 Nd4 78. Re3 Nf5 79. Rd3 Nd4 80. Nf2 Kf5 81. Re3 Ne6 82. Kg2 Ra5 83. Nd3 Ra2+ 84. Kg1 Ra1+ 85. Kf2 Ra2+ 86. Ke1 Ra5 87. g4+ Kf6 88. Kf2 Ra2+ 89. Kg3 Ra3 90. Kf2 Ra2+ 91. Re2 Ra5 92. Kg3 Ng5 93. Re3 Ra3 94. Nb4 Ra5 95. Rc3 Ne6 96. Nd3 Ra6 97. Nf2 Ng5 98. Kh4 Kg6 99. Re3 Kf6 100. Rb3 Kg6 101. Kg3 Kf6 102. Nd3 Rc6 103. Rb5 Nf7 104. Nb4 Rd6 105. Nd5+ Ke6 106. Ne3 Kf6 107. Nc4 Rc6 108. Nd2 Ng5 109. Kh4 Rd6 110. Ne4+ Nxe4 111. fxe4 Rd4 112. g5+ Ke6 113. Rb6+ Kf7 114. Kh5 Rxe4 115. Rb7+ Kf8 (115... Ke6) 116. Kg6 Re1 117. Rf7+ Kg8 118. Rg7+ Kf8 119. Rf7+ Kg8 120. Ra7 {Caruana's unsuccessful attempt to defeat Deac with rook and knight vs. rook had just ended, and I was curious to see if any other games were still going. There were three: this one, and two queen endings. I stuck with this one, and found it fascinating. The first thing to say about this is that if Black could eliminate his e-pawn it would be a dead draw. He could play 120...Re6+, or even 120...Re8 - as passive defense holds against a-, b-, g-, and h-pawns. The pawn is there, however, and 120...Rf1 is a blunder as White checks on a8, trades rooks, plays 123.Kh7 and promotes the pawn in time to stop and collect Black's e-pawn. So Black's next move is forced.} Kf8 $8 121. Ra8+ Ke7 122. Kg7 Rg1 123. g6 {Now the ending would be won if Black lacked the e-pawn. White's king and g-pawn worm their way to g8 and g7, respectively, Black puts his rook on the h-file, and then White finishes things off with the Lucena method (e.g. Ra2, Re2+, Re4 followed by Kf7-g6-f6-g5 and Rg4 (assuming Black keeps checking once the king comes out). So how does Black draw? The obvious way is to have his king escort the e-pawn down the board, giving up his rook for White's g-pawn at the last sensible moment. That works, and I have no idea why Black didn't go for it. That said, the approach Black chose was fascinating, and I learned something. There's no Lucena win with Black's e-pawn in place, because there's no e-file check to drive Black's king off the file and to clear f7 for White's king. So Black just leaves the e-pawn where it is and challenges White to make progress.} Rg2 $6 (123... Ke6 124. Ra6+ Kd5 (124... Kf5 125. Kf7 e4 126. g7 Rxg7+ $1 (126... e3 $2 127. Rf6+ $1 Ke4 128. Rg6 Rxg6 129. Kxg6 e2 130. g8=Q e1=Q (130... Kf3 {doesn't lose immediately, but the resulting ending is still an elementary textbook win for White:} 131. Qd5+ Kf2 132. Qd2 Kf1 133. Qf4+ Kg2 134. Qe3 Kf1 135. Qf3+ Ke1 136. Kf5 Kd2 137. Qf2 Kd1 138. Qd4+ Kc2 139. Qe3 Kd1 140. Qd3+ Ke1 141. Kf4 Kf2 142. Qg3+ Kf1 143. Kf3 e1=Q 144. Qg2#) 131. Qe6+ $18) 127. Kxg7 e3 $11) 125. Kf7 e4 126. g7 Rxg7+ $1 (126... e3 $2 127. Rg6 $1 Rxg6 128. Kxg6 e2 129. g8=Q+ $18 {Check, oops!}) 127. Kxg7 Kd4 128. Kf6 e3 $1 129. Kf5 (129. Rd6+ Kc3 $11) 129... e2 130. Re6 Kd3 131. Kf4 Kd2 132. Kf3 e1=Q 133. Rxe1 Kxe1 $11) 124. Kh7 Rh2+ 125. Kg8 Rg2 (125... Ke6) (125... Kf6) (125... e4) 126. g7 Rh2 {Perhaps Nielsen thought that this was the end, and that there was nothing for White to try. We'll soon see that he was wrong.} (126... Ke6) (126... e4) 127. Ra7+ $1 Ke8 $2 {Consistent, but consistently bad. Nielsen was playing off the increment by now, so he doesn't have much choice but to trust his earlier decision. Demchenko had more time, and very nearly manages to cash in the win.} (127... Ke6 $1 {was best and still draws, despite the many wasted tempi, but it would also be an admission that the whole idea was misguided.} 128. Kf8 Rf2+ 129. Ke8 Rg2 130. Re7+ Kd5 131. Kf8 e4 132. g8=Q+ Rxg8+ 133. Kxg8 Kd4 134. Kf7 e3 135. Kf6 Kd3 136. Kf5 e2 137. Kf4 Kd2 138. Kf3 e1=Q $11) 128. Rb7 {This doesn't spoil the win, but it also fails to make progress towards it.} (128. Ra5 $1 {Setting up a zugzwang.} Rh5 129. Ra8+ Ke7 130. Rf8 {This is zugzwang: Black's rook is forced to abandon its defense of the e-pawn.} Rh1 (130... Rg5 131. Kh7 Rh5+ 132. Kg6 $18) 131. Rf7+ Ke8 (131... Ke6 132. Kf8 Rg1 133. g8=Q Rxg8+ 134. Kxg8 e4 135. Kg7 $1 Ke5 136. Kg6 e3 137. Kg5 Ke4 138. Kg4 $1 e2 139. Re7+ $1 Kd3 140. Kf3 $18) 132. Rf5 {If Black surrenders the pawn, then White takes it and wins with the elementary Lucena method. If Black defends it, then White speedily promotes.} Re1 (132... e4 133. Re5+ Kd7 134. Rxe4 Rh2 135. Kf7 Rf2+ 136. Kg6 Rg2+ 137. Kf6 Rf2+ 138. Kg5 Rg2+ 139. Rg4 $18) 133. Rh5 e4 134. Kh7 Rg1 135. g8=Q+ Rxg8 136. Kxg8 Ke7 137. Re5+ $18) 128... Rh1 129. Rf7 (129. Rb5 $1 Rh5 130. Rb8+ Ke7 131. Rf8 $18) 129... Rh5 {Black avoids the zugzwang (see the note to White's 128th move). White can still win, but he has to go back to reach this position with Black to move.} 130. Rf2 Ke7 131. Rf8 Rh1 132. Rf7+ $1 Ke6 {Finally! It's too late, if White plays correctly, but it's still the best try.} (132... Ke8 133. Rf5 $18) 133. Ra7 $2 ({Demchenko either lacked the time to correctly calculate the win, or was too exhausted to do so.} 133. Kf8 $1 Rg1 (133... Ra1 {loses two ways:} 134. g8=Q (134. Re7+ $1 Kf5 135. g8=Q $18) 134... Ra8+ 135. Kg7 Rxg8+ 136. Kxg8 e4 137. Kg7 $1 Ke5 138. Kg6 e3 139. Kg5 Ke4 140. Kg4 e2 141. Re7+ Kd3 142. Kf3 $18) 134. g8=Q Rxg8+ 135. Kxg8 e4 136. Kg7 $1 Ke5 (136... e3 $6 137. Rf3 {snares the pawn.}) 137. Kg6 e3 138. Kg5 Ke4 139. Kg4 e2 140. Re7+ Kd3 141. Kf3 $18) 133... e4 $11 {Finally, Black achieves the easy draw he could have secured almost 20 moves ago.} 134. Ra5 $5 {A good try.} Kf6 (134... e3 $2 135. Ra3 Rh3 136. Kf8 Rg3 137. Rxe3+ $1 $18) 135. Ra6+ (135. Kf8 Rb1 136. Ra6+ Kf5 $1 (136... Ke5 $2 137. Re6+ $3 $18) 137. g8=Q Rb8+ 138. Kg7 Rxg8+ 139. Kxg8 e3 $11) 135... Ke5 136. Ra8 e3 137. Re8+ Kd4 138. Re6 Rg1 139. Kf7 Kd3 $6 {Whenever my students make moves like this, another once-brown hair turns gray. Taking on g7 lets Black draw with his eyes closed; now he has to calculate Rg6 nonsense too - check out the note to Black's 123rd move above for a couple of examples where Black loses in Rg6 lines. Of course it's not a difficult calculation, but after 139 moves you never know what hallucinations you're capable of.} (139... Rxg7+ 140. Kxg7 Kd3 141. Kf6 e2 142. Kf5 Kd2 143. Kf4 e1=Q 144. Rxe1 Kxe1) 140. Rd6+ Kc2 141. Rg6 Rxg6 142. Kxg6 e2 143. g8=Q e1=Q 144. Qa2+ Kd1 145. Qb1+ Kd2 146. Qxe1+ Kxe1 {A happy ending for Nielsen after all; well, up to a point. His team lost the match 3.5-0.5.} 1/2-1/2