[Event "6th Prague Masters 2024"] [Site "Prague CZE"] [Date "2024.02.28"] [Round "2.1"] [White "Nguyen, Thai Dai Van"] [Black "Gukesh, D."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A13"] [WhiteElo "2630"] [BlackElo "2743"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "104"] [EventDate "2024.02.27"] {[%evp 0,104,27,-22,6,-20,-20,-59,-3,-6,11,5,40,34,32,20,18,19,21,-10,28,27,11,7,7,-14,-28,-36,-36,-33,-15,-22,-32,-51,-44,-44,-40,-40,-16,-33,-18,-42,-36,-36,-34,-31,-25,-27,-28,-38,-48,-56,-56,-42,-42,-44,-22,-19,-17,-19,-10,-19,-12,-24,-4,-32,-38,-50,-9,-57,-42,-45,-68,-68,-46,-42,-42,-42,-42,-42,-42,-72,-72,-91,-91,-91,-98,-98,-103,-118,-118,-109,-124,-124,-139,-139,-139,-154,-139,-144,-144,-144,-156,-144,-160,-165,-151]} 1. c4 e6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 d4 4. Nf3 c5 5. O-O Ne7 6. d3 Nec6 7. e3 Be7 8. Re1 O-O 9. Na3 dxe3 10. Bxe3 e5 11. Qb3 Na6 12. Rad1 Nab4 13. Nc2 Nxc2 14. Qxc2 Bg4 15. h3 Be6 16. Qc3 f6 17. Qa3 Nb4 18. Qb3 Qc8 19. Kh2 Rb8 20. a3 Nc6 21. Nd2 Kh8 22. Qc2 Qd7 23. Ne4 b6 24. Nc3 Nd4 25. Bxd4 cxd4 26. Nd5 Bd6 27. b4 f5 28. Qe2 Rbe8 29. Rc1 Bb8 30. Kg1 Bf7 31. Qd2 Be6 32. Qd1 Qf7 33. Rc2 b5 $17 {Black has been steadily outplaying his opponent, so rather than slowly get ground down White decides to change the character of the position.} 34. Rce2 Rc8 $2 (34... g5 $1 {was best. The critical point is that} 35. Rxe5 Bxe5 36. Rxe5 f4 $1 $19 {is too fast, so White cannot make the exchange sac. (And if he can't do that, then he's stuck waiting and getting ground down.)}) 35. Rxe5 $1 Bxe5 36. Rxe5 bxc4 37. Nf4 $6 (37. dxc4 $142 Rxc4 38. Nf4 $15 {was the right way. Black is still better, but not winning or even close to it.}) 37... Bd7 $17 38. dxc4 Rxc4 $6 {Transposing to the last comment.} (38... Qxc4 $17) 39. Bf1 $6 (39. Ra5 $15) (39. Kh2 $15) (39. Bd5 $2 {fails to} Qf6 $19) 39... Qf6 (39... Rcc8 $142 $1 {was best. Black can welcome} 40. Qxd4 {, as after} Bc6 $17 {/-+ Black will play ...Rfd8 and bring his rooks into White's camp. Between the active rooks and the possibility of mayhem along the a8-h1 diagonal, White is unlikely to survive.}) 40. Rd5 Rc7 $17 41. b5 Rfc8 42. Qxd4 $2 {The nuisance value of keeping the queens on was more important than the d-pawn.} (42. Qd2) (42. a4) 42... Qxd4 43. Rxd4 Be8 $19 44. Bd3 Rd7 45. Rb4 g6 {Why not? Without the queens on the board, Black has no worries about king safety. He can consolidate the kingside and activate the rooks, and the result is a speedy win.} 46. a4 Rcd8 47. Bc4 Rd1+ 48. Kg2 R8d4 49. Ne6 a5 $1 50. Nxd4 Rxd4 $1 51. Rb1 Rxc4 52. Kf1 (52. b6 Rb4 53. Rxb4 axb4 54. b7 Bc6+ $19 {Check!}) 52... Kg7 (52... Kg7 53. b6 Rc8 {followed by ...Rb8 will win either the a-pawn or the b-pawn.}) 0-1 [Event "6th Prague Masters 2024"] [Site "Prague CZE"] [Date "2024.02.28"] [Round "2.2"] [White "Rapport, Richard"] [Black "Bartel, Mateusz"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C55"] [WhiteElo "2717"] [BlackElo "2660"] [PlyCount "74"] [EventDate "2024.02.27"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 h6 5. O-O d6 6. a4 Be7 7. Nc3 a5 8. Re1 O-O 9. h3 Be6 10. Nd5 Nb4 11. Nxf6+ Bxf6 12. Bxe6 fxe6 13. c3 Nc6 14. b4 axb4 15. cxb4 b5 16. Bd2 bxa4 17. Rxa4 Qd7 18. Rxa8 Rxa8 19. Qb3 Nd8 20. Rc1 c6 21. Be3 Rb8 22. Qa3 Qb7 23. b5 c5 24. Rb1 Nc6 25. Qb3 Qc8 26. Nd2 Nb4 27. Nc4 Qd7 28. Na3 Kh7 29. Bd2 d5 30. exd5 exd5 31. d4 exd4 32. Bxb4 cxb4 33. Qxb4 Qf5 34. Rd1 Be5 35. Qb1 Qxb1 36. Nxb1 Rxb5 37. Nd2 Bf6 1/2-1/2 [Event "6th Prague Masters 2024"] [Site "Prague CZE"] [Date "2024.02.28"] [Round "2.3"] [White "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"] [Black "Abdusattorov, Nodirbek"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C48"] [WhiteElo "2747"] [BlackElo "2744"] [PlyCount "69"] [EventDate "2024.02.27"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. Bb5 Nd4 5. Bc4 Bc5 6. Nxe5 Qe7 7. Nf3 d5 8. Bxd5 Nxd5 9. Nxd4 Nxc3 10. bxc3 Qxe4+ 11. Qe2 Qxe2+ 12. Kxe2 Bg4+ 13. f3 Bd7 14. d3 O-O-O 15. Be3 Rhe8 16. Kd2 Re7 17. Nf5 Re5 18. Bxc5 Rxf5 19. Bd4 h5 20. Rhe1 h4 21. h3 Rg5 22. Rg1 Re8 23. c4 Re6 24. Be3 Ra5 25. a3 Rg6 26. c5 b6 27. cxb6 axb6 28. c4 b5 29. Kc3 bxc4 30. dxc4 Re5 31. Kd4 Re8 32. Rae1 Bf5 33. Bf2 Rxe1 34. Bxe1 Bxh3 35. Bxh4 1/2-1/2 [Event "6th Prague Masters 2024"] [Site "Prague CZE"] [Date "2024.02.28"] [Round "2.4"] [White "Navara, David"] [Black "Keymer, Vincent"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C84"] [WhiteElo "2667"] [BlackElo "2738"] [PlyCount "74"] [EventDate "2024.02.27"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a4 Bd7 9. c3 O-O 10. Bc2 h6 11. Re1 Re8 12. Nbd2 Bf8 13. h3 Rb8 14. axb5 axb5 15. Nf1 d5 16. exd5 Nxd5 17. Bb3 Nf6 18. Ng3 b4 19. Bd2 Bd6 20. Nh4 bxc3 21. bxc3 e4 22. dxe4 Bxg3 23. fxg3 g5 24. Nf3 Nxe4 25. g4 Nxd2 26. Nxd2 Ne5 27. Ne4 Bc6 28. Bd5 Bxd5 29. Qxd5 Qxd5 30. Nf6+ Kf8 31. Nxd5 c6 32. Nf6 Re6 33. Rxe5 Rxf6 34. Rf1 Rxf1+ 35. Kxf1 Rd8 36. Ke2 Rd6 37. Ke3 Kg7 1/2-1/2 [Event "6th Prague Masters 2024"] [Site "Prague CZE"] [Date "2024.02.28"] [Round "2.5"] [White "Maghsoodloo, Parham"] [Black "Praggnanandhaa, R."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A45"] [WhiteElo "2715"] [BlackElo "2747"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2024.02.27"] {[%evp 0,75,27,20,20,15,20,20,45,-22,-22,-5,-8,1,0,0,12,-34,-11,-54,-9,-31,-11,-76,-51,-32,-4,7,-4,2,1,-2,-2,-8,-6,-13,-14,-16,-16,-19,-19,-24,14,-40,-28,-59,-47,-64,-73,-73,-79,-73,-79,-77,-77,-94,-100,-72,-83,-83,-63,-58,-10,-10,-22,-41,0,-81,-81,-52,-37,-42,-64,-68,0,3,453,422]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 d5 3. e3 Bf5 4. c4 e6 5. Qb3 Nbd7 6. Nc3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 Nb6 8. Be2 a5 9. a3 c6 10. Bg5 Be7 11. f3 a4 12. Qd1 Nfd7 13. Bxe7 Qxe7 14. e4 Bg6 15. Nh3 O-O 16. O-O f6 17. f4 e5 18. dxe5 fxe5 19. f5 Bf7 20. Qe1 Nc5 21. Qg3 Bc4 22. Rae1 Rad8 23. Nf2 Bxe2 24. Rxe2 Nc4 25. Ng4 Kh8 26. Rf3 Rd4 27. h3 b5 28. f6 gxf6 29. Ref2 Nd7 30. Nh6 Nd2 31. Re3 Qe6 32. Qh4 Nc5 33. Rf5 b4 34. axb4 Rxb4 35. Qg4 Rbb8 36. Rg3 Qd7 37. Kh1 $14 {There have been a lot of mistakes in this very complicated game, and now comes the last one. Black to move: what would you do?} Ne6 $4 (37... Qe7 $14) ({and} 37... Nc4 $14 {are the best moves.}) 38. Rxf6 $1 {This wouldn't have worked when Black's knight was on c5, as Black could now trade queens. Here there's no queen trade, and taking the rook allows 39.Qg8+ followed by 40.Rxg8#. Worse still, White has a double threat here: taking on e6, of course, but also trading rooks followed by 40.Qg8+ and 41.Rxg8#. Black can stop the mate and save the knight with 39...Ng7, but then his queen is hanging. The other tries are also easily refuted, so Black gave up. Tragically for Pragg, the next game was an even more painful disaster.} 1-0 [Event "6th Prague Masters 2024"] [Site "Prague CZE"] [Date "2024.02.29"] [Round "3.1"] [White "Praggnanandhaa, R."] [Black "Rapport, Richard"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E71"] [WhiteElo "2747"] [BlackElo "2717"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "66"] [EventDate "2024.02.27"] {[%evp 0,66,27,20,20,16,37,40,40,32,20,42,21,21,53,42,34,40,33,27,45,30,81,49,81,18,18,-21,-8,-25,-34,-39,-29,-34,-31,-50,13,13,58,-7,58,58,43,71,119,89,119,-7,47,47,47,0,15,-80,196,144,170,144,175,-133,-70,-70,-70,-70,-70,-425,-405,-665,-665]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. h3 O-O 6. Be3 Nc6 {Provocative...and maybe just bad.} 7. d5 Ne5 8. f4 Ned7 9. Nge2 {Showing a bit of restraint. White has scored brilliantly with this line, going 5.5/6. It should have been 6.5/7.} (9. g4 {may look suitable for a caveman (even those who pitch insurance or are unfrozen lawyers), but it seems to be pretty good.}) 9... c6 10. Ng3 Ne8 11. Be2 e6 12. dxe6 fxe6 13. h4 $16 Bf6 14. Bd3 Nc5 $2 (14... Bxh4 $2 15. Qg4 $18) (14... Ng7 {was best.}) 15. Bc2 (15. Bxc5 $1 dxc5 16. e5 Bg7 17. Nge2 $18 {Black has no counterplay - his position is almost comically bad.} (17. h5 $18)) 15... Qa5 (15... Ng7 $142) 16. Qd2 $18 Qb4 17. O-O-O $1 Qxc4 18. h5 b5 19. e5 $1 dxe5 20. Bxc5 Qxc5 21. Nge4 Qe7 22. Nxf6+ Qxf6 23. g3 exf4 24. hxg6 fxg3 25. g7 $1 Rf7 26. Rxh7 $1 e5 27. Rh8+ Kxg7 28. Rxe8 (28. Rdh1 $1 {was better, though the text is (or should have been) good enough.}) 28... Qf4 29. Rh1 $4 (29. Qxf4 {is the cleanest, though it's not easy to work out all the details if one is short of time.} exf4 (29... Rxf4 30. Rg1 Rg4 (30... Rf3 31. Ne4 $18) 31. Rxc8 Rxc8 32. Bf5 $18) 30. Rdd8 Bb7 $1 (30... g2 31. Rg8+ $18) 31. Rg8+ $1 Kf6 32. Ne4+ Ke5 33. Rge8+ Kf5 34. Rxa8 Bxa8 35. Nxg3+ $18) 29... Qxd2+ 30. Kxd2 Rf2+ $1 $11 {Only now did Pragg realize that defending the bishop leads to disaster.} 31. Ke3 $8 (31. Kc1 $4 Rxc2+ 32. Kxc2 Bf5+ 33. Kc1 Rxe8 $19) (31. Ne2 $4 Rxe2+ 32. Kxe2 Bg4+ 33. Ke3 Rxe8 $19) 31... Rxc2 32. Rhh8 $2 (32. Rxe5 {is still equal, despite Black's extra pawns.}) 32... Be6 $1 {Ouch! The g8 square is off limits, and now White's powerful-looking rooks turn out to be helpless to defend themselves without allowing Black to promote the g-pawn.} 33. Rxa8 g2 {This loss was even more painful than the previous one. To his great credit though, Pragg bounced back with wins in rounds 5 and 6 to get back on +1.} 0-1 [Event "6th Prague Masters 2024"] [Site "Prague CZE"] [Date "2024.02.29"] [Round "3.2"] [White "Bartel, Mateusz"] [Black "Nguyen, Thai Dai Van"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "2660"] [BlackElo "2630"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "164"] [EventDate "2024.02.27"] {[%evp 0,164,27,13,11,36,11,14,14,14,21,-14,4,-26,9,-5,9,20,25,9,0,4,1,1,11,20,5,-9,-9,-32,-80,-74,-40,-51,-53,-18,-18,-18,-9,8,55,-27,4,-43,-23,-9,-2,-111,-38,-57,-81,-143,-116,-116,-93,-202,-94,-104,-104,-92,-103,-103,-111,-106,-106,-88,-76,-74,-74,-74,-57,-57,-58,-85,-102,-102,-102,-111,-101,-109,-80,-74,-61,-58,-56,-57,-59,-92,-92,-71,-98,-98,-50,-45,-53,-89,-82,-95,-71,-107,-80,-100,-100,-94,0,0,0,0,-72,-64,-50,-63,-39,-50,0,0,-43,-79,-74,-79,-79,-79,-78,-76,-70,-79,-79,-79,-37,-46,-154,-152,-86,-134,-152,-160,-189,-202,-202,-206,-206,-206,-206,-206,-227,-227,-262,-278,-280,-253,-276,-400,-504,-607,-298,-528,-567,-639,-712,-806,-758,-967,-1009,-1043,-1135,-1083,-1140]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 {Normally I'd make a sarcastic remark about the Giuoco (see the next entry) and move on to the next game, but because the endgame is interesting I'll make an exception.} 4. d3 d6 5. a4 Nf6 6. a5 a6 7. c3 h6 8. O-O O-O 9. h3 Ba7 10. Be3 d5 11. exd5 Nxd5 12. Bxa7 Rxa7 13. Re1 Nf4 14. d4 exd4 15. cxd4 Be6 16. Bf1 Qd6 17. Nc3 Rd8 18. Ne4 Qf8 19. Qc1 Ng6 20. Ra3 Bd5 21. h4 Raa8 22. h5 Nge7 23. Ng3 Rd6 24. Ne4 Re6 25. Ne5 Nxe5 26. dxe5 Rxe5 27. Qf4 Re6 28. Rae3 Bxe4 29. Rxe4 Nd5 30. Qf3 Rxe4 31. Rxe4 c6 32. Qb3 Rb8 33. Bc4 Qd8 34. Rg4 Qc7 35. Bxd5 cxd5 36. Qe3 Qd6 37. Qd4 f6 38. Qd2 Re8 39. g3 Qe6 40. Rd4 Qe1+ 41. Qxe1 Rxe1+ 42. Kg2 Re5 43. Rb4 d4 44. Rxb7 Rd5 45. Kf1 d3 46. Ke1 Rxa5 47. Rb6 Rxh5 48. Rxa6 Rb5 49. Ra3 Re5+ 50. Kd1 Re2 51. b4 Rxf2 {Bartel has played the rook ending very well, and continues to do so. Both players deserve a lot of credit here; White for his resourceful defense, and Black for finding new ways to create problems.} (51... Rb2 52. Rxd3 Rxb4 {is an easy draw for White to hold.}) 52. Rb3 Kf7 53. b5 Rc2 54. Rxd3 Rb2 55. Rd7+ Kg6 56. Rd5 f5 57. Kc1 Rb3 58. Kc2 Rxg3 59. b6 Re3 60. b7 Re8 61. Rb5 Rb8 62. Kd3 Kg5 63. Ke3 Kg4 64. Rb1 g5 65. Rg1+ $2 (65. Kf2 $1 $11 {Despite the 3-0 kingside majority the position is objectively drawn.}) 65... Kh5 $2 (65... Kh3 $1 $19) 66. Rb1 Kg4 67. Rg1+ $2 (67. Kf2 $1 $11) 67... Kh3 $1 {This time Nguyen gets it right, and wins.} 68. Rb1 Kg3 69. Rg1+ Kh2 70. Rb1 Kg2 71. Rb2+ Kg3 72. Ke2 f4 73. Kf1 f3 74. Kg1 g4 75. Rg2+ Kf4 (75... fxg2 $4 {is stalemate, of course. As a practical matter, when I'm White in positions like this I try to avoid making moves like Rg2+ until it forces the opponent to give stalemate or lose material (or if I have no other choice); otherwise, I'm tipping him off to a trick I might be able to use later on.}) 76. Rb2 Kg3 77. Rg2+ Kf4 78. Rb2 g3 79. Rb4+ Kg5 80. Rb5+ Kg4 81. Rb4+ Kh3 82. Rb6 h5 0-1 [Event "6th Prague Masters 2024"] [Site "Prague CZE"] [Date "2024.02.29"] [Round "3.3"] [White "Abdusattorov, Nodirbek"] [Black "Navara, David"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C53"] [WhiteElo "2744"] [BlackElo "2667"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "71"] [EventDate "2024.02.27"] {[%evp 0,71,27,13,11,36,11,6,14,1,-16,6,21,5,17,17,14,25,25,10,14,13,14,9,16,3,13,14,14,23,48,48,65,50,44,44,44,18,34,16,6,0,4,-94,38,29,64,87,153,146,100,38,0,-4,15,-42,-46,-191,-190,287,288,297,297,294,342,335,400,515,578,833,845,525,834,776]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 {A fascinating opening, I'm sure, and if someone else would like to comment on the game, more power to you. You have my blessing!} 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. b4 Bb6 7. a4 a5 8. b5 Ne7 9. Nbd2 O-O 10. O-O Ng6 11. d4 exd4 12. cxd4 d5 13. exd5 Nxd5 14. Qb3 c6 15. Re1 Nb4 16. Ne4 cxb5 17. axb5 Bf5 18. Nfg5 Qd7 19. Ba3 Rad8 20. Bxb4 axb4 21. Nc5 Qc7 22. Rac1 Nf4 23. Bxf7+ Kh8 24. Qf3 h6 25. Nxb7 Ne2+ 26. Qxe2 Qxb7 27. Rc6 Bxd4 28. Kh1 Rxf7 29. Rd6 Rc8 30. Nxf7+ Qxf7 31. Rxd4 b3 32. b6 Rc2 33. Qf3 b2 34. b7 Qf8 35. Rdd1 Rc5 36. Qb3 1-0 [Event "6th Prague Masters 2024"] [Site "Prague CZE"] [Date "2024.02.29"] [Round "3.4"] [White "Gukesh, D."] [Black "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2743"] [BlackElo "2747"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2024.02.27"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. O-O d6 6. Nc3 O-O 7. Na4 Nd4 8. Nxc5 Nxb5 9. a4 dxc5 10. axb5 Qd6 11. Nh4 Rd8 12. Qe2 Bg4 13. f3 Be6 14. b3 Qb6 15. Kh1 Qxb5 16. Bg5 a5 17. Qe3 a4 18. bxa4 Rxa4 19. Rxa4 Qxa4 20. Qxc5 Qc6 21. Qxc6 bxc6 22. f4 exf4 23. Bxf4 Rc8 24. Be3 Ra8 25. Nf3 Ra2 26. Rc1 Nd7 27. Bf4 c5 28. Bxc7 h6 29. Kg1 f5 30. Nd2 fxe4 31. Nxe4 c4 32. d4 Bf5 33. Nc3 Rxc2 34. Rxc2 Bxc2 35. Kf2 Kf7 36. Ke3 Nf6 37. d5 Be4 38. Nxe4 1/2-1/2 [Event "6th Prague Masters 2024"] [Site "Prague CZE"] [Date "2024.02.29"] [Round "3.5"] [White "Keymer, Vincent"] [Black "Maghsoodloo, Parham"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A05"] [WhiteElo "2738"] [BlackElo "2715"] [PlyCount "66"] [EventDate "2024.02.27"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 b5 3. Bg2 Bb7 4. O-O e6 5. b3 c5 6. c4 bxc4 7. bxc4 Nc6 8. Nc3 Rb8 9. Rb1 Ba8 10. Rxb8 Qxb8 11. d4 cxd4 12. Nxd4 Bb4 13. Nxc6 Bxc6 14. Bxc6 dxc6 15. Qa4 O-O 16. Bf4 e5 17. Bxe5 Qxe5 18. Qxb4 h5 19. Rd1 a5 20. Qb2 h4 21. Qd2 Qh5 22. f3 Re8 23. g4 Qc5+ 24. Qd4 Qg5 25. h3 c5 26. Qf2 Qe5 27. Rd3 Qf4 28. Qxh4 Qxc4 29. Qf2 Qf4 30. Kg2 c4 31. Rd4 Qc1 32. Ne4 Nxe4 33. fxe4 Qb2 1/2-1/2 [Event "6th Prague Masters 2024"] [Site "Prague CZE"] [Date "2024.03.01"] [Round "4.1"] [White "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"] [Black "Bartel, Mateusz"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C45"] [WhiteElo "2747"] [BlackElo "2660"] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "2024.02.27"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Qf6 5. Nf3 Bb4+ 6. c3 Bc5 7. Be2 Nge7 8. O-O h6 9. Qc2 d6 10. b4 Bb6 11. Bb2 Qg6 12. Nbd2 O-O 13. Kh1 a6 14. a3 Qh5 15. Ng1 Qg6 16. Ngf3 Qh5 17. c4 Bg4 18. Qc3 f6 19. Nb3 Ne5 20. c5 Ba7 21. Rae1 Rad8 22. Nfd4 dxc5 23. bxc5 Bxe2 24. Rxe2 N7c6 25. f3 Qf7 26. f4 Nxd4 27. Nxd4 Nc4 28. f5 Rfe8 29. Ne6 Rxe6 30. fxe6 Qxe6 31. Rc2 Nxb2 32. Rxb2 Qxe4 33. Qb3+ Kh8 34. Qxb7 Qd3 35. Rbf2 Bxc5 36. Rf3 Qd6 37. a4 Bd4 38. Rd3 c5 39. Rg3 Rd7 40. Qa8+ Rd8 41. Qb7 1/2-1/2 [Event "6th Prague Masters 2024"] [Site "Prague CZE"] [Date "2024.03.01"] [Round "4.2"] [White "Nguyen, Thai Dai Van"] [Black "Praggnanandhaa, R."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E32"] [WhiteElo "2630"] [BlackElo "2747"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2024.02.27"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d6 5. e3 O-O 6. Bd3 d5 7. Nf3 dxc4 8. Bxc4 b6 9. O-O Bb7 10. Bd3 c5 11. Ne4 Nxe4 12. Bxe4 Bxe4 13. Qxe4 Nd7 14. a3 Ba5 15. Qc2 Rc8 16. dxc5 bxc5 17. Rd1 Qc7 18. b3 h6 19. Bb2 Qb7 20. Rac1 Bd8 21. Ne5 Nxe5 22. Bxe5 Be7 23. Qc3 f6 24. Bd6 Rfd8 25. Bxe7 Rxd1+ 26. Rxd1 Qxe7 27. h3 Rb8 28. Rd3 Rb7 29. Qc4 f5 30. e4 fxe4 31. Qxe4 Rd7 32. Qa8+ Kh7 33. Qe4+ Kg8 34. Re3 Rd1+ 35. Kh2 Qd6+ 36. g3 Qd5 37. Qxe6+ Qxe6 38. Rxe6 Ra1 39. a4 c4 40. bxc4 Rxa4 1/2-1/2 [Event "6th Prague Masters 2024"] [Site "Prague CZE"] [Date "2024.03.01"] [Round "4.3"] [White "Navara, David"] [Black "Maghsoodloo, Parham"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D37"] [WhiteElo "2667"] [BlackElo "2715"] [PlyCount "114"] [EventDate "2024.02.27"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. e4 b5 6. e5 Nd5 7. Nxb5 Nb6 8. Be2 Nc6 9. O-O Be7 10. Qd2 Bb7 11. Rd1 Rb8 12. Qf4 O-O 13. Nc3 Nb4 14. Qg4 Kh8 15. Ng5 Qe8 16. Qh5 Bxg5 17. Bxg5 f5 18. exf6 gxf6 19. Qxe8 Rbxe8 20. Bf4 Re7 21. Bg3 Rd8 22. Rac1 Kg7 23. Nb5 Rdd7 24. Bxc4 Ba6 25. Bf1 Nxa2 26. Rxc7 Bxb5 27. Rxd7 Bxd7 28. Ra1 Bc6 29. Rxa2 Bd5 30. Ra1 Nc4 31. b4 Rb7 32. Bd3 Nd2 33. f3 Nb3 34. Ra6 Nxd4 35. Bd6 e5 36. Bc5 Nb3 37. Bd6 Nd4 38. Kf2 Nc6 39. b5 Nd4 40. Ra5 Nb3 41. Ra4 Nd4 42. f4 Nxb5 43. fxe5 Nxd6 44. exd6 Kf7 45. Bxh7 Ke6 46. Bg8+ Kxd6 47. Rd4 Rb5 48. h4 Ke5 49. Rxd5+ Rxd5 50. Bxd5 Kxd5 51. Ke3 Ke5 52. Kd3 f5 53. g3 a5 54. Kc4 f4 55. gxf4+ Kxf4 56. Kb5 Kg4 57. Kxa5 Kxh4 1/2-1/2 [Event "6th Prague Masters 2024"] [Site "Prague CZE"] [Date "2024.03.01"] [Round "4.4"] [White "Rapport, Richard"] [Black "Keymer, Vincent"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C69"] [WhiteElo "2717"] [BlackElo "2738"] [PlyCount "123"] [EventDate "2024.02.27"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. O-O Bg4 6. h3 h5 7. d3 Qf6 8. Nbd2 g5 9. hxg4 hxg4 10. Re1 gxf3 11. Qxf3 Qxf3 12. Nxf3 f6 13. Be3 c5 14. Nd2 Bd6 15. a4 Ne7 16. Nb3 b6 17. a5 Nc6 18. c3 Kd7 19. g3 Kc8 20. Kg2 Kb7 21. Rh1 Rad8 22. Kf3 Be7 23. Ke2 Bd6 24. Kf3 Be7 25. Ke2 Bd6 26. g4 Ne7 27. Rh5 Ng6 28. axb6 cxb6 29. Nd2 a5 30. c4 Bc7 31. Rah1 Nh4 32. Rxh8 Rxh8 33. Nb1 Ng6 34. Rh5 Kc6 35. Nc3 Bd8 36. Nd5 Kd7 37. Kd1 Rxh5 38. gxh5 Nh8 39. Bd2 Nf7 40. Ne3 Be7 41. Kc2 Nh6 42. Kb3 Kc6 43. Nd5 Bd8 44. Ka4 Ng8 45. Kb3 Nh6 46. Kc2 Kd7 47. Kd1 Ke6 48. Ke2 Ng8 49. Kf3 Kf7 50. Ne3 Be7 51. Nd5 Bd8 52. Ne3 Be7 53. Nf5 Bf8 54. b3 Ke6 55. Bc1 Kf7 56. Ba3 Nh6 57. Nxh6+ Bxh6 58. Kg4 Ke6 59. Bc1 Bg7 60. Be3 Bh6 61. Bd2 Bf8 62. Bc1 1/2-1/2 [Event "6th Prague Masters 2024"] [Site "Prague CZE"] [Date "2024.03.01"] [Round "4.5"] [White "Abdusattorov, Nodirbek"] [Black "Gukesh, D."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E10"] [WhiteElo "2744"] [BlackElo "2743"] [PlyCount "78"] [EventDate "2024.02.27"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Be7 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O c6 8. Qc2 Nbd7 9. Rc1 a5 10. a4 Re8 11. Be1 Bf8 12. Nbd2 e5 13. dxe5 Nxe5 14. Nxe5 Rxe5 15. cxd5 cxd5 16. Nf3 Re8 17. Nd4 b6 18. e3 Ba6 19. b4 axb4 20. Qb2 Ne4 21. Bxe4 dxe4 22. Bxb4 Bxb4 23. Qxb4 Rc8 24. Nf5 Qf6 25. Nd4 g6 26. Kg2 Bd3 27. Rc3 Rxc3 28. Qxc3 Ra8 29. h4 h5 30. Rc1 Ba6 31. Qb3 Rc8 32. Rxc8+ Bxc8 33. Qd5 Qe7 34. Nc6 Qd7 35. Qc4 Qe6 36. Ne7+ Qxe7 37. Qxc8+ Kg7 38. Qc3+ Kg8 39. Kf1 Qe6 1/2-1/2 [Event "6th Prague Masters 2024"] [Site "Prague CZE"] [Date "2024.03.02"] [Round "5.1"] [White "Keymer, Vincent"] [Black "Nguyen, Thai Dai Van"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D40"] [WhiteElo "2738"] [BlackElo "2630"] [PlyCount "96"] [EventDate "2024.02.27"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c5 5. e3 dxc4 6. Bxc4 a6 7. e4 b5 8. Bb3 cxd4 9. Nxd4 Nbd7 10. Be3 Bb7 11. O-O Bb4 12. a4 O-O 13. axb5 axb5 14. Rxa8 Qxa8 15. f3 Qb8 16. Kh1 Bc5 17. Qe2 b4 18. Na4 Bd6 19. Qb5 Bxh2 20. Nxe6 fxe6 21. Bxe6+ Kh8 22. Bxd7 Nxd7 23. Qxd7 Bxe4 24. Ba7 Bf5 25. Bxb8 Bxd7 26. Bxh2 Bxa4 27. Rc1 b3 28. Rc7 Kg8 29. Rb7 Rf7 30. Rb4 Ra7 31. Bg1 Ra8 32. Bd4 Bc6 33. Rxb3 Rd8 34. Bc3 Rd7 35. Rb6 Bd5 36. Kh2 Rb7 37. Rd6 Bb3 38. g4 Kf7 39. Kg3 Be6 40. Rd8 Rd7 41. Rh8 h6 42. Be5 Rd5 43. f4 Rd3+ 44. Kh4 Rd5 45. Kg3 Rd3+ 46. Kf2 Bxg4 47. Rh7 Rf3+ 48. Kg2 Rxf4 1/2-1/2 [Event "6th Prague Masters 2024"] [Site "Prague CZE"] [Date "2024.03.02"] [Round "5.2"] [White "Praggnanandhaa, R."] [Black "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A29"] [WhiteElo "2747"] [BlackElo "2747"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "103"] [EventDate "2024.02.27"] {[%evp 0,103,27,-22,-22,-22,-10,-18,-25,-34,-3,-3,-3,-10,21,-22,-4,-30,-12,-13,-5,-10,2,-8,9,-16,4,5,9,-26,-11,11,-37,-26,-36,-20,-9,-14,-9,-12,-2,-2,30,15,30,31,30,20,31,29,43,45,27,9,18,34,29,9,9,11,14,14,33,16,17,2,0,-23,0,-22,-11,-21,0,0,0,-9,-11,-51,-35,-46,0,-11,0,0,61,87,131,73,0,29,22,29,0,354,953,1019,1028,1028,1028,1034,29991,29992,29993,29994,29995,29996]} 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 Bc5 {This has been hot for a while now, and it's still holding up well.} (6... Nb6 {is the old move,}) (6... Nf6 {the piping fresh one.}) 7. d3 O-O 8. Bd2 {Rare on this move, but the bishop often ends up here within a move or two.} (8. O-O h6 9. Nxd5 Qxd5 10. Bd2 {is a common continuation.}) 8... Nf6 9. a3 $146 h6 10. b4 Bd6 $146 11. O-O a6 12. Bc1 Bf5 13. Bb2 Qd7 14. Na4 Bh3 15. Rc1 Rad8 16. Qc2 Rfe8 $11 17. Rfd1 Bxg2 18. Kxg2 Qe6 19. e4 Rd7 20. Qc4 Qe7 21. Qb3 Red8 22. Re1 Qe8 23. h3 Nh7 24. Nc3 Ng5 25. Nxg5 Nd4 26. Qd1 hxg5 27. Nd5 Ne6 28. Qg4 Bf8 $2 (28... f6 29. h4 c6 30. Nb6 Re7 $11) 29. h4 $1 $16 c6 30. Nb6 (30. hxg5 $3 cxd5 31. Rh1 Nxg5 $8 32. Qxg5 f6 33. Qf5 dxe4 34. dxe4 $16) 30... Rxd3 31. hxg5 $14 {/?} Be7 (31... Nd4 $142) 32. g6 Bg5 (32... Bf6 $142) 33. gxf7+ Qxf7 34. Rcd1 $2 (34. Rc2 $16) 34... Bd2 $2 (34... Rf8 $1 $11) 35. Re2 $2 (35. Rf1 $16) 35... Bc3 $1 $11 36. Rxd3 Rxd3 37. Nc4 Qf6 38. Bxc3 Rxc3 39. Ne3 Rxa3 40. Rd2 Nd4 41. Nf5 {Having just made the time control, you'd expect Vidit to take a reasonably long think here and make the best move. Easier said than done.} a5 $2 {This isn't a safe solution. It doesn't lose, but to stay afloat Black has to find a very difficult idea on move 44.} (41... Nxf5 42. exf5 Ra1 43. Qg6 Qxg6 44. fxg6 Kf8 45. Rd7 b5 46. Rf7+ Kg8 47. Rc7 Kf8 $11 {is annoying for Black, but there's no way for White to win rather than just be a pest.}) (41... Rb3 42. Nxd4 exd4 43. e5 Qxe5 44. Rxd4 Rb2 $1 $11 {is still equal, but more dangerous.}) 42. Nxd4 exd4 43. e5 $1 Qxe5 44. Rxd4 {Black has no margin for error here. Can you find the best move?} axb4 $2 (44... Rb3 $3 {This looks as stupid as can be: it attacks a pawn that can take on a5, and does nothing about White's possible back rank checks. To top it all off, there's no threat and the rook looks more vulnerable to tactics on b3 - on the same diagonal as Black's king - than it did on a3. What's the point?} 45. Re4 (45. bxa5 Rb5 $8 {Again (and again, and again) the only move.} 46. a6 bxa6 $8 47. Qc8+ Kf7 $8 48. Rd7+ Kg6 $8 49. Qxc6+ Kh7 $8 $11 {The point in this variation is that the Black rook has been safely nailed down; White has no fancy checking sequences culminating in its capture.}) 45... Qd5 $8 $11 46. Kh2 $2 Rxb4 $8 $17 {is a critical point. This is Black's only saving move here, and in the game it doesn't exist.}) 45. Re4 $1 Qd5 46. Kh2 $1 $18 Ra2 47. Qc8+ Kh7 48. Rh4+ Kg6 49. Qe8+ Kg5 50. Qe7+ $1 {Even better than 50.Rh5+.} Kf5 51. Rf4+ Kg6 52. Rg4+ {It's mate in two more moves.} 1-0 [Event "6th Prague Masters 2024"] [Site "Prague CZE"] [Date "2024.03.02"] [Round "5.3"] [White "Bartel, Mateusz"] [Black "Abdusattorov, Nodirbek"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B35"] [WhiteElo "2660"] [BlackElo "2744"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "56"] [EventDate "2024.02.27"] {[%evp 0,56,27,13,67,55,55,40,64,45,45,43,50,37,36,25,18,18,16,10,15,13,7,27,20,2,-4,5,30,2,13,-8,0,0,-19,-27,-21,-55,-42,-58,-87,-148,-142,-155,-116,-129,-158,-158,-158,-158,-159,-213,-226,-227,-227,-325,-277,-304,-315]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 g6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Bc4 O-O 8. Bb3 d6 9. h3 (9. f3) 9... Bd7 (9... Na5) 10. O-O Na5 (10... Nxd4 11. Bxd4 Bc6 12. Qd3 a5 13. a4 Nd7 14. Bxg7 Kxg7 {is another, more solidity-based approach.}) 11. Qd3 a6 12. Rfe1 Rc8 13. Rad1 b5 14. Bg5 (14. Nd5) 14... Re8 $146 15. Nd5 (15. Qd2 $11) 15... Nxd5 16. exd5 Nc4 17. Bxc4 bxc4 18. Qe3 (18. Qe4 $11) 18... Qa5 {Sometimes it's just that simple: threaten two pawns, one win one of them, and hope to win the endgame.} 19. Qe4 $2 (19. Qc1 $142 $1 $11 {was best, counterattacking e7 while shoring up the b-pawn in case of ...Qxa2.}) 19... Qxa2 $17 20. Qh4 $6 Qxb2 21. Bxe7 h6 $1 $19 {White has problems with both the bishop on e7 and the knight on d4.} 22. Qf4 (22. Bxd6 $4 Rxe1+ 23. Rxe1 Qxd4 $19) (22. Re3) 22... Ba4 $1 {Still another problem: the pending absence of White's c-pawn means that Black's c-pawn will be a beast.} 23. Nc6 Bxc6 24. dxc6 Rxc6 25. Bxd6 Rxe1+ 26. Rxe1 Qxc2 27. g4 Rc8 28. Qf3 Qb3 {White has no compensation for the missing pawns, and Black's passers will win further material. An easy win for Abdusattorov, as Bartel did most of his work for him.} 0-1 [Event "6th Prague Masters 2024"] [Site "Prague CZE"] [Date "2024.03.02"] [Round "5.4"] [White "Gukesh, D."] [Black "Navara, David"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A22"] [WhiteElo "2743"] [BlackElo "2667"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "122"] [EventDate "2024.02.27"] {[%evp 0,122,27,-27,6,-24,-24,-22,-22,-53,-51,-26,-25,-41,-38,-38,-35,-29,-17,-15,12,-32,28,28,27,-19,-14,-14,-8,-5,-5,-2,-2,-2,-8,-2,12,5,0,7,22,35,49,50,90,117,126,117,121,121,126,56,71,100,125,134,129,129,132,107,104,102,115,124,121,83,97,35,40,29,11,13,21,22,49,60,59,58,54,32,43,8,0,15,23,-13,-23,-39,0,-65,-65,-52,-107,-89,-88,-107,-133,-135,-143,-134,-135,-135,-150,-199,-199,-200,-205,-225,-216,-239,-239,-239,-245,-295,-248,-315,-328,-334,-326,-399,-402,-476,-511,-631,-369]} 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. e3 Nc6 4. Qb3 {Is this good? Beats me, but this uncommon move (33 games in the database) has been used by Carlsen three times (draws vs. Giri and Pechac, and a win vs. Ding). The idea is straightforward: prevent ...d5.} b6 $146 {It's not often that there's a brand-new position on the board after just four moves. (Actually, this isn't quite brand-new, as it transposes to a game between an 810 and an 1192. In that game, White played 5.Bd3, which probably shouldn't be emulated.)} 5. Nf3 $146 Bb7 6. a3 (6. d4 $142 $11 {/?}) 6... e4 7. Ng5 Qe7 (7... Ne5 $142 $15) 8. Qc2 $11 O-O-O 9. Ngxe4 Nd4 10. Qd3 Bxe4 (10... Nxe4 $142 11. Nxe4 Ne6 12. b4 Nf4 13. exf4 Bxe4 14. Qe3 Re8 15. d3 Bb7 $44) 11. Nxe4 Qxe4 12. Qxe4 Nxe4 13. exd4 Re8 14. Be2 g6 (14... Nd6 $142 15. b3 g6) 15. d3 $14 Nd6 16. d5 Nf5 17. Kf1 Bg7 (17... h5) 18. Rb1 h5 19. Bd2 (19. h4 $142 $14 {/?}) 19... Re7 (19... h4 $142) 20. h4 $16 Rhe8 21. Bd1 c5 $2 22. g4 $2 (22. dxc6 dxc6 23. g4 $18) 22... hxg4 23. Bxg4 $16 Bh6 $2 (23... Nh6) 24. Bc3 $18 Nd4 25. b4 $6 (25. h5 {was better, either getting rid of the weak-ish pawn while activating the rook or, in case of ...g5, having the h-pawn turn into a strong passer.}) 25... f5 $1 26. Bd1 (26. bxc5 $1) 26... Ne2 $2 (26... Bg7) 27. Bxe2 Rxe2 28. bxc5 bxc5 29. Rb5 (29. Rb2) 29... Bf8 30. Rb2 $1 Rxb2 31. Bxb2 {Things are going swimmingly for Gukesh. He has a good extra pawn, has swapped off all the right pieces, has the more active bishop, etc. Black has no counterplay either, so 1-0 is coming up, right? Nine times out of 10, yes, but some days disaster strikes. And let's not forget that Navara is a resilient guy (ask Kasparov about this).} Kc7 32. Rg1 $6 (32. Bc3 $1 Rb8 33. Ke2 Rb3 34. Bf6 Rxa3 35. Rg1 $18 {was the best way.}) 32... Rb8 $1 33. Bc3 $4 (33. Bf6 Rb1+ $1 34. Kg2 Rxg1+ 35. Kxg1 Kb6 36. Bd8+ $1 Ka6 37. Kg2 $18) 33... Rb1+ 34. Be1 (34. Kg2 Rxg1+ 35. Kxg1 Be7 $11) 34... Bg7 $1 $11 {White is tied up and fortunate that he isn't worse...yet. Stay tuned.} 35. Kg2 (35. Ke2 Bc3 36. f4 d6 37. Bf2 Rxg1 38. Bxg1 Kb6 39. Kd1 Bb2 40. a4 Ka5 41. Kc2 Bf6 42. Kb3 $11) 35... Kb7 36. Bd2 Rxg1+ 37. Kxg1 Bb2 38. a4 Bf6 {Black will regain his pawn, grabbing either the a- or the h-pawn. It's still a draw, but the trend is in Black's favor.} 39. Be3 Kb6 40. Kg2 Bxh4 41. d4 cxd4 42. Bxd4+ Ka5 43. c5 Be7 (43... Kxa4 $4 44. c6 Bd8 45. Be5 $18) 44. d6 {This isn't losing, but it's a tilt move. White has no justification for doing anything other than trying to make the draw as easily as he can.} (44. c6 dxc6 45. dxc6 Bd6 46. Bxa7 Bc7 {Black wins both queenside pawns, but the draw is easy for White to achieve.} 47. Kf3 Kxa4 48. Be3 Kb5 49. Bf4 Bxf4 50. Kxf4 Kxc6 51. Kg5 Kd5 52. Kxg6 Ke4 53. Kf6 Kf3 54. Kxf5 Kxf2 $11) 44... Bd8 45. c6 dxc6 46. Bxa7 Kxa4 47. Bb8 Bb6 48. Kf3 $2 {Finally, White falls off the cliff.} (48. Bc7 {looks scary for a moment, but} Kb5 {followed by ...c5 and ...Kc6 neutralizes (and soon collects) the d-pawn. White barely draws (which is better than what happens in the game) with} 49. Kg3 $8 g5 50. f4 $8 g4 51. Kh4 $8 c5 52. Bxb6 Kxb6 53. Kg5 $3 $11 {Somewhat reminiscent of the Reti maneuver. White will either queen the d-pawn in time (with the king's help) or he'll grab the f- and g-pawns and then return to stop the c-pawn.}) 48... g5 $19 49. d7 Kb5 50. Be5 Bd8 $8 {Necessary, to stop Bf6.} 51. Ke3 Kc5 52. Kd3 Kd5 53. Bc3 Ke6 54. f3 Kxd7 55. Bd2 Ke6 56. Kc4 Be7 57. Kd4 c5+ 58. Kc4 Ke5 59. Be3 g4 60. fxg4 fxg4 61. Kd3 Kd5 0-1 [Event "6th Prague Masters 2024"] [Site "Prague CZE"] [Date "2024.03.02"] [Round "5.5"] [White "Maghsoodloo, Parham"] [Black "Rapport, Richard"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A21"] [WhiteElo "2715"] [BlackElo "2717"] [PlyCount "193"] [EventDate "2024.02.27"] 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 d6 3. e3 g6 4. d4 Nd7 5. Bd3 Bg7 6. Nge2 a5 7. O-O Ngf6 8. b3 O-O 9. f3 Re8 10. Rb1 b6 11. Bc2 c6 12. Rf2 Ba6 13. a4 d5 14. cxd5 Nxd5 15. Nxd5 cxd5 16. dxe5 Nxe5 17. Nf4 d4 18. exd4 Nxf3+ 19. gxf3 Bxd4 20. Qd2 Rc8 21. Be4 Rc5 22. Ba3 Qg5+ 23. Kh1 Bxf2 24. Qxf2 Qxf4 25. Bxc5 bxc5 26. Re1 Re5 27. Bc6 Qd4 28. Qg3 Be2 29. f4 Re3 30. Qf2 Re6 31. Kg2 Qd2 32. Kg1 Rxc6 33. Qxe2 Qd4+ 34. Qe3 Rd6 35. Kg2 Qd5+ 36. Qf3 Qxf3+ 37. Kxf3 Rb6 38. Re3 f5 39. Rc3 Kg7 40. Kf2 Rc6 41. Ke2 Kf6 42. Kd3 g5 43. fxg5+ Kxg5 44. Ke3 Re6+ 45. Kf3 Re5 46. Rd3 f4 47. Kf2 Kg4 48. Rd7 Rh5 49. Kg2 f3+ 50. Kg1 Kf4 51. Re7 Rh6 52. Rc7 Rh5 53. Re7 h6 54. Re6 Rg5+ 55. Kf1 h5 56. Rf6+ Ke4 57. Rc6 Rd5 58. Ke1 Ke3 59. Re6+ Kf4 60. Rc6 Re5+ 61. Kf1 Ke3 62. Rd6 h4 63. Rd1 Re4 64. Rd5 c4 65. bxc4 Rxc4 66. Re5+ Kf4 67. Rxa5 Rc1+ 68. Kf2 Rc2+ 69. Kg1 Rc1+ 70. Kf2 Rh1 71. Ra8 Rxh2+ 72. Kf1 Ra2 73. Rf8+ Kg4 74. Rg8+ Kf4 75. Rf8+ Kg3 76. Rg8+ Kh3 77. Rf8 Kg4 78. Rg8+ Kh5 79. Rh8+ Kg5 80. Rg8+ Kf5 81. Rf8+ Ke4 82. Re8+ Kd4 83. Rd8+ Kc5 84. Rc8+ Kd6 85. Rd8+ Ke7 86. Rh8 Rxa4 87. Kf2 Rf4 88. Rh6 Kf7 89. Ra6 Kg7 90. Rb6 h3 91. Rb1 h2 92. Rh1 Rh4 93. Kxf3 Rh6 94. Kg3 Rg6+ 95. Kxh2 Rh6+ 96. Kg2 Rxh1 97. Kxh1 1/2-1/2 [Event "6th Prague Masters 2024"] [Site "Prague CZE"] [Date "2024.03.04"] [Round "6.1"] [White "Gukesh, D."] [Black "Bartel, Mateusz"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D37"] [WhiteElo "2743"] [BlackElo "2660"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2024.02.27"] {[%evp 0,80,27,20,27,9,19,24,24,24,21,6,4,-17,46,46,50,64,64,46,79,39,15,10,49,49,71,-3,0,-17,35,34,38,-24,-5,4,16,-18,-37,-36,-9,-72,-35,-62,-54,-62,-55,-55,-55,-93,-81,-56,-98,-113,-149,-204,-115,-149,-134,-150,-167,-154,-86,-224,-190,-206,-281,-309,-154,-267,-315,-379,-407,-429,-440,-406,-406,-488,-513,-658,-714,-471,-896]} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. cxd5 exd5 6. h3 Nbd7 7. Bf4 Nf8 8. e3 Ng6 9. Bh2 Bd6 10. Ne5 c6 11. Bd3 Bxe5 12. dxe5 Nd7 13. f4 Qh4+ 14. Kd2 $2 (14. g3 $14 Qxh3 15. Bf1 Qe6 16. Bg1 $14 (16. e4 $14)) 14... Nc5 $15 15. Bc2 O-O 16. Kc1 Rd8 17. Qf3 f5 18. exf6 $2 (18. Bg3 $11) 18... Qxf6 $17 19. g4 $6 b5 $2 (19... Ne5 $1) 20. Rd1 $2 (20. f5 $15) 20... b4 $19 (20... Ne5 $19 {followed by ...Nc4 is even better.}) 21. Ne2 (21. Na4 $142) 21... Ne5 22. Qg3 Nc4 23. Nd4 Re8 24. g5 Qd6 25. Bg1 Ne4 {White's position is horrible. Bartel still has to find a breakthrough, and he manages.} 26. Qg2 a5 $1 {Aiming to ram the pawn to a3, opening up some appetizing dark squares on the queenside.} 27. b3 {It was better to wait, but White's demise is inevitable.} Na3 28. Bxe4 Rxe4 29. Kb2 a4 $1 30. Rac1 c5 31. Nc2 Bf5 32. Nxa3 axb3 $1 33. axb3 Qa6 ({There's nothing wrong with the obvious} 33... Rxa3 34. Ra1 Qa6 $19 (34... c4 $19)) 34. Ra1 bxa3+ 35. Ka2 c4 (35... Rb4) 36. Rab1 d4 37. b4 c3 38. b5 Qa4 39. Rdc1 Qc4+ 40. Rb3 Be6 {The time control has been made, giving Gukesh enough time to resign.} (40... Be6 {Had White continued, the game might have ended like this:} 41. Qc2 d3 42. Qxc3 Qxc3 43. Rcxc3 d2 44. Rd3 Bxb3+ 45. Kxb3 a2 $19) 0-1 [Event "6th Prague Masters 2024"] [Site "Prague CZE"] [Date "2024.03.04"] [Round "6.2"] [White "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"] [Black "Keymer, Vincent"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A29"] [WhiteElo "2747"] [BlackElo "2738"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "68"] [EventDate "2024.02.27"] {[%evp 0,68,27,-7,6,-39,-15,-18,-24,-23,-23,-16,-13,-8,53,55,13,21,34,0,4,4,4,4,2,2,24,-26,46,24,40,34,17,-2,48,48,78,62,95,82,103,39,45,17,65,66,72,56,71,96,96,55,55,55,55,101,82,82,86,75,75,136,152,133,194,199,298,-352,-365,-365,-383]} 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 Bb4 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O e4 7. Ng5 Bxc3 8. bxc3 Re8 9. Qc2 Qe7 10. d3 exd3 11. exd3 d6 12. Nf3 h6 13. h3 Be6 14. Nd4 Nxd4 15. cxd4 d5 16. c5 Nh7 17. Rb1 b6 18. Bf4 Nf8 19. Rfe1 Qd7 20. c6 Qd8 21. h4 g5 22. hxg5 hxg5 23. Bd2 f6 24. f4 $18 {Things are going very well for Vidit, but when it rains it pours.} g4 25. f5 $2 (25. Qb3 $1 {first, and next f5 maintains a winning advantage.}) 25... Bxf5 26. Rxe8 Qxe8 27. Bxd5+ $14 {/?} Be6 $2 {A second chance.} (27... Kg7) 28. Re1 $18 Bxd5 29. Rxe8 Rxe8 30. Qd1 f5 31. Qf1 Bf3 32. d5 Re7 {Black's idea is obvious, but Vidit didn't stop for a moment to see that ...Rh7 is more than a one-move threat.} 33. Bb4 $4 (33. Qa1 Rh7 34. Qf6 $18 {is one simple way to solve the problem; there are (plenty of) others.}) 33... Rh7 $19 {It's over, simple as that. White's queen has no escape from the coming ...Rh1 - unless he plays 34.Qf2 and gets mated.} 34. Kf2 (34. Qf2 Rh1#) 34... Rh1 0-1 [Event "6th Prague Masters 2024"] [Site "Prague CZE"] [Date "2024.03.04"] [Round "6.3"] [White "Nguyen, Thai Dai Van"] [Black "Maghsoodloo, Parham"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E36"] [WhiteElo "2630"] [BlackElo "2715"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "63"] [EventDate "2024.02.27"] {[%evp 0,63,27,20,20,6,9,24,19,-4,0,-3,-3,-8,8,9,33,-2,3,-5,-5,-18,22,27,12,18,18,38,71,31,19,-32,-11,-39,-26,-125,-123,-154,196,-57,-32,-77,54,-18,20,20,367,234,253,200,158,66,72,69,59,75,75,-47,279,281,328,336,465,477,766,785]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 dxc4 7. Qxc4 b6 8. Nf3 Ba6 9. Qa4+ Qd7 10. Qc2 O-O 11. Bg5 c5 12. Bxf6 gxf6 13. dxc5 Rc8 14. Rd1 {All standard theory.} Qb7 $2 {Black is not hurting for good options after 14.Rd1, but Maghsoodloo managed to find one of the bad moves.} (14... Rxc5 $11 {is rare but seems perfectly fine.}) (14... Qe7 $11 {is the most popular choice.}) (14... Qb5 $11) (14... Qc6 $11) 15. h4 $1 $146 {?} Nd7 $2 16. Qd2 $18 Nxc5 17. Qh6 Ne4 $2 (17... Rd8 $142) 18. Rh3 $1 Rc5 19. Nd4 $6 {Still winning, but there was a better option.} (19. Nh2 $1 {Intending f3 followed by Ng4. Black is out of business.}) 19... Qc7 $1 20. f3 Ng3 {Now White would love to play 21.Ng4, but the knight can't get there from d4.} 21. b4 (21. Kf2 $1) 21... Rh5 22. Qxf6 Qc3+ $2 (22... Nf5 $142) 23. Kf2 Nf5 24. f4 $1 Nd6 25. Kg1 (25. Re3 $1) 25... Ne4 26. Qe7 Qc8 27. b5 (27. Nf3 $1) 27... Bxb5 28. Re3 Ba4 29. Rdd3 $1 {Threatening 30.Rg3+ as well as 30.Rxe4. The contest is over.} Qc5 30. Rg3+ $1 Kh8 31. Qxf7 $1 Rg5 (31... Nxg3 32. Qf6+ Kg8 33. Rxg3+ {wins everything.}) 32. Rxg5 (32. Rxg5 Nxg5 33. Qf6+ Kg8 34. Rg3 h6 35. hxg5 h5 36. Qxe6+ $18 {White is up a piece and two pawns with an ongoing attack.}) 1-0 [Event "6th Prague Masters 2024"] [Site "Prague CZE"] [Date "2024.03.04"] [Round "6.4"] [White "Navara, David"] [Black "Rapport, Richard"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E97"] [WhiteElo "2667"] [BlackElo "2717"] [PlyCount "93"] [EventDate "2024.02.27"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O Nc6 8. d5 Ne7 9. b4 a5 10. Ba3 b6 11. bxa5 Ne8 12. Nb5 Rxa5 13. Bb4 Ra8 14. a4 f5 15. Nd2 Bd7 16. a5 bxa5 17. Bxa5 fxe4 18. Nxe4 Rxa5 19. Rxa5 c6 20. dxc6 Bxc6 21. Ra4 Bxe4 22. c5 Bc6 23. Nxd6 Nxd6 24. cxd6 Nf5 25. Bb5 Bxb5 26. Qd5+ Kh8 27. Qxb5 Qxd6 28. Qb7 Qd8 29. Qe4 h5 30. Rfa1 Kh7 31. Ra8 Qd4 32. Qxd4 exd4 33. Rxf8 Bxf8 34. Kf1 Kh6 35. Ke2 Kg5 36. Kd3 Kf4 37. h3 h4 38. Re1 Bd6 39. g3+ Kf3 40. Re6 hxg3 41. fxg3 Bxg3 42. Rxg6 Bf2 43. Rg4 Be3 44. Re4 Kg3 45. h4 Nxh4 46. Rxe3+ dxe3 47. Kxe3 1/2-1/2 [Event "6th Prague Masters 2024"] [Site "Prague CZE"] [Date "2024.03.04"] [Round "6.5"] [White "Abdusattorov, Nodirbek"] [Black "Praggnanandhaa, R."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C70"] [WhiteElo "2744"] [BlackElo "2747"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "112"] [EventDate "2024.02.27"] {[%evp 0,112,27,13,13,36,14,15,18,3,40,31,42,4,9,13,13,-7,5,-7,-1,-32,-5,-16,-5,-3,20,19,19,-14,-5,-5,-7,-10,-2,-2,32,-18,17,37,64,36,51,19,63,82,66,41,102,70,78,80,121,49,69,61,117,61,107,107,85,105,108,108,109,52,56,22,64,-15,2,43,20,40,116,-166,-174,-176,-176,-181,-177,-177,-182,-179,-179,-179,-170,-179,-152,-178,-188,-184,-105,-100,-102,-109,-93,-135,-99,-107,-86,-95,-114,-111,-108,-147,-158,-156,-168,-168,-184,-272,-289,-306,-317]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nge7 5. O-O Ng6 6. c3 d5 7. exd5 Qxd5 8. Bb3 Qd3 9. Bc2 Qd6 10. Re1 Be6 11. d4 Be7 12. Be3 exd4 13. Nxd4 Nxd4 14. Bxd4 O-O 15. Nd2 c5 16. Be3 Qc7 17. Qh5 Rad8 18. g3 Rd5 19. Qe2 b5 20. f4 Qc8 21. Be4 Rdd8 22. a4 Bg4 23. Qf2 Bf5 24. axb5 axb5 25. Bg2 Bh3 26. Bh1 b4 27. c4 Bf6 28. Ra8 Qd7 29. Rxd8 Rxd8 30. Ne4 Qd3 31. Bxc5 Qxc4 32. Nd6 Qb3 33. Bf3 h6 34. Bh5 $2 (34. Bd1 Qd5 35. Bf3 $11) 34... Qd5 $2 (34... Bxb2 35. Nxf7 $1 (35. Rb1 Qc3 $17) 35... Qxf7 36. Qxb2 Qf5 37. Qa2+ $1 Kh7 38. Bxg6+ Qxg6 39. Qb1 $1 b3 40. Qxb3 Qc6 41. Qc2+ Kh8 42. Qf2 Bc8 $1 43. h4 $1 Bb7 44. Kh2 Rd3 45. f5 $1 Rf3 46. Qa2 $1 Rxf5 $15 {White is hanging on by a thread throughout this line.}) 35. Bf3 Qb3 36. Re2 $2 {Abdusattorov is nothing if not ambitious, but this winning attempt loses material to a relatively simple (though not elementary) combination.} (36. Bd1 $11) 36... Rxd6 $1 37. Re8+ (37. Bxd6 Qd1+ 38. Re1 Qxd6 $19) 37... Kh7 38. Bxd6 Bd4 $1 39. Qxd4 Qxf3 40. Qf2 Qd1+ 41. Re1 Qxd6 $19 {Two minor pieces generally dominate against a rook, and this is no exception.} 42. Qe3 Be6 43. Re2 Ne7 44. Qe5 Qb6+ 45. Qe3 Qxe3+ 46. Rxe3 b3 {If Black can (safely) get his bishop to c2, it's over, as Black's knight will maneuver its way to win the b2-pawn.} 47. Kf2 g6 48. g4 Kg7 49. h3 Kf6 50. Re4 h5 51. Kg3 Nd5 52. Kh4 hxg4 53. hxg4 Kg7 54. g5 Bf5 55. Rc4 Bc2 {Mission accomplished. There's no sensible defense to ...Ne3-d1, so White plays one last move and throws in the towel.} 56. Kg3 Ne3 0-1 [Event "6th Prague Masters 2024"] [Site "Prague CZE"] [Date "2024.03.05"] [Round "7.1"] [White "Praggnanandhaa, R."] [Black "Gukesh, D."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "2747"] [BlackElo "2743"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "182"] [EventDate "2024.02.27"] {[%evp 0,182,27,5,16,5,16,13,55,7,14,16,21,14,17,-26,-22,-14,-18,-67,-13,-21,-2,4,-3,-25,-6,-5,32,21,33,15,18,-3,-4,-4,94,76,215,155,200,31,39,-33,85,88,89,66,73,87,87,72,72,97,94,54,111,124,120,120,90,97,100,129,109,107,116,103,101,99,109,107,203,189,181,109,167,128,130,123,118,127,130,131,131,129,135,135,152,80,71,60,54,93,92,114,108,96,94,98,181,169,100,126,122,136,135,141,141,141,141,135,148,146,144,144,153,154,148,148,150,146,141,139,139,139,139,139,139,139,143,143,143,139,139,112,143,126,143,139,139,126,139,126,126,139,143,139,139,139,139,139,139,139,139,81,139,120,116,116,111,115,115,115,115,115,115,115,115,115,115,115,115,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. O-O d6 6. c3 a6 7. Re1 Ba7 8. Nbd2 O-O 9. Nf1 Na5 10. Bb3 Nxb3 11. axb3 h6 12. Ng3 Re8 13. h3 b5 14. b4 Bb7 15. Nh2 d5 16. Qf3 Re6 17. Nf5 Kh7 18. Qg3 Ne8 19. Ng4 dxe4 20. dxe4 Nd6 21. Nxe5 Nxf5 22. exf5 Rf6 23. Be3 Bxe3 24. Qxe3 Rxf5 25. Rad1 Qf6 26. f3 h5 27. Kh2 Bc6 28. Nxc6 Qxc6 29. Qe7 a5 30. bxa5 Rxa5 31. Re5 b4 32. Rxa5 Rxa5 33. Qxb4 Re5 34. Qf4 Qe6 35. Rd7 Rf5 36. Qxc7 Qe2 37. Re7 Qd2 38. h4 Rf4 39. Qe5 Rxh4+ 40. Kg3 Rh1 41. Qe4+ Kh6 42. Qf4+ (42. Qe3+ $142 Qxe3 43. Rxe3 Rb1 44. Re2 $18 {White's king will migrate to the queenside to help the pawns advance, and he should win.}) 42... Qxf4+ 43. Kxf4 g5+ $1 44. Kg3 $2 (44. Kf5 $18) 44... f5 $11 (44... Rb1 $11) 45. Re6+ Kg7 46. Kf2 Rb1 47. Re2 f4 48. Rd2 g4 49. g3 h4 50. gxh4 g3+ 51. Kg2 Rc1 52. Kh3 Rh1+ 53. Kg4 Rh2 54. Rd1 Rxb2 55. Kxf4 g2 56. Rg1 Rc2 57. Kg4 Kh6 58. f4 Kg6 59. c4 Rxc4 60. Rxg2 {This is a well-known theoretical draw, and Gukesh has no difficulty showing that he understands how to hold the position.} Rc1 61. h5+ Kh6 62. Re2 Rg1+ 63. Kf5 Ra1 64. Re8 Ra2 65. Kg4 Rg2+ 66. Kf3 Ra2 67. Re5 Ra1 68. Rb5 Ra2 69. Rc5 Ra1 70. Re5 Ra2 71. Kg4 Rg2+ 72. Kf5 Rf2 73. Ke4 Ra2 74. Kf3 Ra1 75. Kg4 Rg1+ 76. Kf5 Rf1 77. Re4 Ra1 78. Kf6 Kxh5 79. f5 Ra6+ 80. Re6 Ra7 81. Rd6 Kh6 82. Rb6 Kh5 83. Re6 Kh6 84. Re5 Kh5 85. Re7 Ra6+ 86. Kg7 Kg5 87. Rf7 Rb6 88. f6 Ra6 89. Re7 Rxf6 90. Re5+ Rf5 91. Rxf5+ Kxf5 1/2-1/2 [Event "6th Prague Masters 2024"] [Site "Prague CZE"] [Date "2024.03.05"] [Round "7.2"] [White "Bartel, Mateusz"] [Black "Navara, David"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B94"] [WhiteElo "2660"] [BlackElo "2667"] [PlyCount "114"] [EventDate "2024.02.27"] {[%evp 0,114,27,5,60,60,90,70,49,27,24,31,68,45,73,64,69,38,60,68,51,35,29,37,27,8,38,9,34,13,80,23,23,10,10,22,20,6,12,5,5,-12,8,24,25,2,10,-13,-7,-14,7,9,5,-14,-25,-37,0,0,-4,-14,-8,-22,-17,-22,-24,-21,-6,-21,-7,-21,0,0,0,0,0,0,38,35,30,28,29,40,90,57,52,67,49,42,42,33,48,34,31,19,31,21,-14,-14,8,11,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 Nbd7 7. Bc4 Qb6 8. Bb3 e6 9. a4 Qa5 10. Qd2 Be7 11. f3 Nc5 12. Ba2 Bd7 13. O-O Rc8 14. Rfe1 Nxa4 15. Nxa4 Qxd2 16. Bxd2 Bxa4 17. Bxe6 fxe6 18. Rxa4 Kf7 19. c3 Nd7 20. Raa1 Bf6 21. Be3 Ne5 22. Re2 Rhd8 23. Nb3 Nc4 24. Bd4 g6 25. Bxf6 Kxf6 26. f4 e5 27. Rf1 exf4 28. Rxf4+ Ke7 29. Nd4 Rf8 30. Rxf8 Rxf8 31. b3 Ne5 32. c4 a5 33. Nb5 Nd3 34. Re3 Nb4 35. Rh3 Rf7 36. Rg3 Rf4 37. Nc3 Ke6 38. Rg5 Nc6 39. Rd5 Rf7 40. Nb5 Nb4 41. Nd4+ Kd7 42. Rxa5 Nc6 43. Rd5 Nxd4 44. Rxd4 Kc6 45. b4 Rf4 46. g3 Rf3 47. Kg2 Rb3 48. b5+ Kc5 49. Rd5+ Kxc4 50. Rxd6 Rxb5 51. Kf3 Rc5 52. Kf4 g5+ 53. Ke3 b5 54. Rd4+ Kc3 55. Rd5 Kc4 56. Rd4+ Kc3 57. Rd5 Kc4 1/2-1/2 [Event "6th Prague Masters 2024"] [Site "Prague CZE"] [Date "2024.03.05"] [Round "7.3"] [White "Rapport, Richard"] [Black "Nguyen, Thai Dai Van"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A07"] [WhiteElo "2717"] [BlackElo "2630"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "64"] [EventDate "2024.02.27"] {[%evp 0,64,27,7,-3,-4,16,-5,-1,8,8,8,47,52,69,69,61,39,26,-6,19,7,1,1,2,-11,11,7,20,9,23,23,14,14,43,-33,-49,-31,-31,-32,-17,-17,-13,-13,-13,-16,24,20,19,-33,-55,-134,-147,-160,-175,-181,-177,-176,-176,-176,-197,-199,-203,-207,-206,-200,-190]} 1. g3 d5 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4 dxc4 4. Na3 Bg7 5. Nxc4 c5 6. Bg2 Nc6 7. d3 Nf6 8. Bd2 $146 O-O 9. Bc3 Be6 10. O-O Rc8 11. a3 Nd4 12. Rc1 Nxf3+ 13. Bxf3 Bd5 14. Bxf6 exf6 15. Bxd5 Qxd5 16. Qa4 Qe6 17. Rfe1 a6 18. Qb3 b5 19. Nd2 Qxb3 20. Nxb3 f5 21. Rc2 c4 $11 {White thinks he spots an opportunity, but perhaps he should have had more faith in his opponent's calculations.} 22. Rec1 $4 (22. dxc4 Rxc4 23. Rd2 $11) 22... cxb3 $1 23. Rxc8 Bxb2 24. Rxf8+ Kxf8 25. Rb1 Bxa3 26. Rxb3 b4 {It's a race, and Black comes first.} 27. Kf1 a5 28. Ke1 a4 29. Rb1 b3 30. Kd1 Bd6 31. Kc1 Be5 32. e3 {White to move plays 33.d4 and wins, but he's a move too late.} Bc3 $1 {Black has two ways to win here, which is one more than he needs.} (32... Bc3 $1 33. d4 Ke7 (33... a3 34. Rxb3 a2 35. Ra3 a1=Q+ 36. Rxa1 Bxa1 37. Kc2 Ke7 {Black's bishop is stuck for now, but White can't approach it without letting it out. In the meantime, Black's king will march down the board and he'll win with zugzwang, if not by any other means.}) 34. Kd1 Ke6 35. Ke2 Kd5 36. Kd3 {This almost saves the game, but not quite:} Bb4 $1 37. f3 a3 $1 38. Rxb3 a2 $19) 0-1 [Event "6th Prague Masters 2024"] [Site "Prague CZE"] [Date "2024.03.05"] [Round "7.4"] [White "Maghsoodloo, Parham"] [Black "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A14"] [WhiteElo "2715"] [BlackElo "2747"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "63"] [EventDate "2024.02.27"] {[%evp 0,63,27,20,27,-9,-3,-2,21,2,12,-10,14,-25,1,-17,-17,-14,5,-7,-3,-16,-9,-44,-30,-81,-40,-47,-30,7,10,17,17,17,17,-37,6,-29,-17,-31,-13,-31,36,-2,-9,-9,-10,-38,-38,-38,-37,-56,8,-60,57,4,-2,-38,95,-38,305,318,328,331,350,348]} 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 e6 4. O-O Be7 5. c4 O-O 6. b3 c5 7. e3 Nc6 8. Bb2 d4 9. exd4 cxd4 10. Re1 Re8 11. d3 Bb4 (11... Bc5 {is usual.}) 12. Nbd2 e5 (12... a5 {is rare but possibly best.}) 13. a3 Bd6 ({Black has generally chosen} 13... Bc3 {, which makes more sense of 11...Bb4 than the text.}) 14. b4 $11 {/?} Bf5 15. c5 Bc7 16. Nc4 a6 17. Qc2 $6 $146 (17. Qd2 $142 $146) (17. a4 $142 $146 Nxb4 18. Nfxe5) 17... Qd7 18. Rad1 (18. Qb3 $142) (18. Qd2 $142) 18... Bg4 (18... Rad8 $15) 19. Rd2 $6 {The game has gone well for Vidit so far, but he's having a poor tournament, the kind where you just know that sooner or later, something bad is going to happen. It does.} Qf5 {This doesn't spoil Black's advantage, but White can force him to try again and play ...h6 the second time.} (19... h6 $17) 20. Nh4 Qh5 $6 (20... Qd7 21. Nf3 h6 $1 $17) 21. h3 $11 Be6 22. Rde2 Bd5 23. Nd2 $6 (23. Qb3 $11) (23. Bc1 $11) 23... Bxg2 24. Kxg2 Nd5 $15 25. Ndf3 (25. Nhf3 $142) 25... Rad8 $6 (25... f6 $142 $17) 26. Qc4 Nf6 $4 {Vidit doesn't sense the danger at all.} (26... Rf8) 27. Bc1 $1 {Just one move, and it's too late. Black's queen is stuck, and White will win material.} h6 28. Re4 $1 Nxe4 29. Rxe4 {Next stop, g3-g4, and Black must surrender the queen.} g5 30. g4 Qxh4 31. Nxh4 gxh4 32. Bxh6 1-0 [Event "6th Prague Masters 2024"] [Site "Prague CZE"] [Date "2024.03.05"] [Round "7.5"] [White "Keymer, Vincent"] [Black "Abdusattorov, Nodirbek"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D20"] [WhiteElo "2738"] [BlackElo "2744"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "76"] [EventDate "2024.02.27"] {[%evp 0,76,27,20,27,9,26,27,50,77,65,49,44,38,39,12,14,6,60,48,47,50,61,-9,3,-10,-4,0,75,45,45,33,11,6,59,66,52,-29,47,0,18,-6,9,-9,62,-37,-37,-20,3,-65,-69,-82,-82,-83,-90,-68,-95,-96,-108,-111,-119,-139,-141,-181,-183,-154,-176,-176,-176,-286,-241,-232,-290,-300,-316,-322,-355,-355,-359]} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 {For a time this was played in the hopes of making a draw. Now it's being used as a fighting weapon, as we'll see in this game.} 3. e4 Nc6 (3... e5) (3... Nf6) ({and} 3... b5 {are among the important alternatives.}) 4. Nf3 Bg4 5. d5 Ne5 6. Nc3 (6. Bf4 Ng6 7. Be3 $14) 6... Nf6 7. Be3 a6 8. h3 (8. Be2 {might improve.} Bxf3 (8... Nxf3+ $2 9. gxf3 Bh5 $2 {and the difference here is that White doesn't play 10.Bxc4, which is like the game except with the pawn on h3, but} 10. e5 Nd7 11. f4 $18) 9. gxf3 $14) 8... Nxf3+ 9. gxf3 Bh5 10. Bxc4 (10. e5 Nd7 $11 {There's no 11.f4 here (11...Bxd1-+), and that makes all the difference.}) 10... e5 11. Be2 $146 (11. dxe6 $142 Qxd1+ 12. Rxd1 fxe6 13. Ke2 $14 e5 14. Rhg1 g6 15. Bg5 Be7 16. Be6 h6 17. Bxf6 Bxf6 18. Nd5 Bd8 19. Ne3 Ke7 20. Bg4 Bxg4 21. Nxg4 Ke6 22. Rd5 Bf6 23. Nxf6 Kxf6 24. Rd7 Rac8 25. Rgd1 Rhe8 26. R1d5 Re6 27. Rh7 h5 28. h4 Rb6 29. b3 Rd6 30. Rxc7 Rxd5 31. Rxc8 Ra5 32. a4 g5 33. Rh8 gxh4 34. Rxh5 b5 35. f4 bxa4 36. bxa4 Rxa4 37. Kf3 Ra3+ 38. Kg4 h3 39. f3 exf4 40. Kxf4 a5 41. Rxh3 a4 42. Rh6+ Ke7 43. Ra6 Ra1 44. Ke5 a3 45. Ra7+ Kd8 46. f4 a2 47. f5 Kc8 48. f6 Kb8 49. f7 Rf1 50. Rxa2 Rxf7 51. Rc2 Rf1 52. Ke6 Rd1 53. e5 Re1 54. Kd6 Rf1 55. e6 Rd1+ 56. Ke7 Rf1 57. Kd7 Rd1+ 58. Ke8 Re1 59. e7 Rd1 60. Rf2 Kc7 {1-0 Bogdanov,V (2323)-Maryasin,B (2258) Wch Seniors 65 30th Assisi 2022 (10)}) 11... Bd6 $11 12. Qb3 b5 13. a4 bxa4 14. Qxa4+ Nd7 15. Rg1 (15. Nb5 $142) (15. Qc6 $142) 15... O-O 16. Qc2 a5 17. Nb5 Qe7 (17... f5 $11) 18. Na7 (18. Kf1 $142) (18. Ra4 $142) 18... f5 19. Nc6 Qf7 (19... Qf6 $142) 20. h4 $2 (20. Rg5 $142 Bg6 21. O-O-O) 20... Kh8 $17 21. Rg5 Qe8 $6 (21... fxe4 22. fxe4 Bxe2 23. Rf5 Qg6 24. Rg5 Qe8 25. Qxe2 a4 $17) 22. Kd1 $2 (22. Rxf5 Rxf5 23. exf5 Nf6 24. Rxa5 $11 {Despite the "Irish pawn center" (tripled pawns) and an all-around horrid pawn structure, having two extra pawns is enough to give him equality.}) 22... h6 $17 23. Rg1 $2 (23. Rxf5 Qg6 $1 24. Kc1 Rxf5 25. exf5 Qg2 26. Rxa5 Re8 $17 {Here White's two extra pawns aren't enough to make up for all his problems.}) 23... a4 $1 $19 {This handy move grabs some space and makes sure that if White takes the pawn, it will be in a situation that's unfavorable to him. As we'll see in a few moves, the absence of White's queen from the center and its lack of access to the kingside will allow Black's attack to strike paydirt.} 24. Rxa4 Rxa4 25. Qxa4 fxe4 26. fxe4 Bxe2+ 27. Kxe2 Qh5+ 28. Kd3 Qf3 $19 {Threatening 29...Nc5+.} 29. Kc2 Nf6 30. Qc4 Nxe4 {Material is equal, but White's remaining pawns are isolated and his king isn't as safe as it ought to be.} 31. Rf1 $6 Nf6 32. Rd1 Ng4 {Now White loses a pawn, and his central stability (what's left of it) with it.} 33. Re1 Nxf2 34. Bxf2 Qxf2+ 35. Re2 Qf1 36. Qe4 Rf4 37. Qe3 Rc4+ 38. Kb3 Rxh4 0-1