[Event "chess24 Banter Series Final"] [Site "chess24.com"] [Date "2020.09.22"] [Round "1.2"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Svidler, Peter"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A16"] [WhiteElo "2764"] [BlackElo "2723"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "57"] [EventDate "2020.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Netherlands"] [BlackTeam "Russia"] [WhiteTeamCountry "NED"] [BlackTeamCountry "RUS"] {[%evp 0,57,19,29,18,2,61,60,80,57,49,37,55,6,-6,41,7,-66,-59,-112,-76,-45,-69, -69,-33,-33,23,29,29,35,42,24,33,33,36,14,0,28,37,36,36,37,77,73,81,71,95,117, 175,109,124,120,119,132,278,281,297,289,478,530]} 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. h4 {Subtle.} Nc6 6. h5 Bg7 7. d4 Bf5 8. Rh4 $1 $146 (8. Bd2 e5 9. dxe5 Nxe5 10. e4 Nxc3 11. Bxc3 Qe7 12. Bb5+ c6 13. Bxe5 Bxe5 14. exf5 Bxb2+ 15. Be2 Rd8 16. Qb1 Bc3+ 17. Kf1 gxf5 18. a4 Bxa1 19. Qxa1 Rg8 20. Rh4 Rg4 21. g3 Qe4 22. Qb2 Rxh4 23. gxh4 b6 24. h6 Rd6 25. a5 b5 26. a6 Ke7 27. Qc1 Re6 28. Ng1 Kd7 29. h5 Re5 30. Qg5 b4 31. Qg8 Ke7 32. Qb8 Qd4 33. Qc7+ Kf6 34. Qxc6+ Re6 35. Qc8 Ke7 36. Qb7+ Kf8 37. Qb8+ Ke7 38. Qc7+ Kf8 39. Qb8+ Ke7 40. Bf3 Qb6 41. Qe5 Rxe5 {0-1 (41) Aronian,L (2782)-Svidler,P (2750) Nice 2010}) 8... Bf6 9. g4 $1 Bxh4 10. gxf5 Bf6 11. e4 Nxc3 12. bxc3 $14 {/+/- White's idea has worked out very nicely. This looks like a dangerous idea by Giri, and in blitz, fuhgedaboutit. If Black hasn't prepared for this (and, if he did prep, doesn't remember it), it's going to be a tough outing.} gxf5 $2 (12... Qd6 {is better, allowing the fork. White should abstain and play} 13. Qb3 O-O-O 14. Bg2 { instead.}) 13. e5 $18 Bxe5 (13... Bg7 14. h6 Bf8 15. d5 $18 {is hilarious if you're White, somewhat less so if you're on the other side.}) 14. dxe5 Qxd1+ 15. Kxd1 O-O-O+ 16. Kc2 $18 {Even with two pawns to accompany the rook in exchange for the bishops, Black's situation is hopeless, and Giri has no trobule converting his advantage.} Rhg8 17. e6 $5 (17. Bg5 $142 Nxe5 18. Nxe5 Rxg5 19. Nxf7 Rxh5 20. Nxd8 Kxd8 21. Rd1+ $18) 17... fxe6 18. Bc4 Rd6 (18... Rg2 $1) 19. Ba3 Kd7 20. Re1 $1 (20. Bxd6 $2 exd6 $11) 20... Rg4 21. Bxd6 Rxc4 22. Bg3 b5 23. Ng5 h6 24. Nxe6 Nb4+ 25. Kb3 Nd5 26. Re5 f4 27. Rxd5+ Kxe6 28. Rxb5 fxg3 29. Kxc4 {White's rook can stop the pawn by going back to b1, so it's time for Black to resign.} 1-0 [Event "chess24 Banter Series Final"] [Site "chess24.com"] [Date "2020.09.22"] [Round "3.2"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Svidler, Peter"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B06"] [WhiteElo "2764"] [BlackElo "2723"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "35"] [EventDate "2020.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Netherlands"] [BlackTeam "Russia"] [WhiteTeamCountry "NED"] [BlackTeamCountry "RUS"] {[%evp 0,35,29,21,85,76,90,94,81,105,105,97,64,29,46,26,75,65,136,150,124,128, 141,132,148,126,126,126,163,141,205,138,362,179,179,197,391,366]} 1. Nf3 g6 2. e4 Nf6 $2 {Trolling? Svidler is trying one of Carlsen's dodgy opening ideas. Considering how much Giri likes to fight with Carlsen, this doesn't seem like a brilliant idea - Giri is bound to have done more preparation for this idea than most super-GMs would, precisely to be ready in case the world champion tries it against him.} 3. e5 Nh5 4. d4 d6 5. Bc4 Nc6 6. Qe2 $16 {/+- Okay, so Black has what looks like a terrible Alekhine's Defense. What's the point?} Bg7 7. O-O $2 (7. h3 $1) 7... dxe5 $2 (7... O-O $142) 8. dxe5 $18 Nd4 9. Bxf7+ $1 { Black's position is already resignable, even if he doesn't make it official for another nine moves.} Kxf7 10. Qc4+ Be6 11. Ng5+ Ke8 12. Nxe6 Nxe6 13. Qxe6 Qd4 14. Qb3 b6 15. e6 Nf4 $4 16. Qb5+ $2 (16. Qf3 {wins on the spot. Maybe Giri forgot that Black couldn't defend the knight and the a8-rook at the same time by castling kingside? Note that 16...Nd5 fails straightforwardly to 17. Rd1.}) 16... Kf8 17. Nc3 Nxg2 18. Qc6 $1 {Not one for Svidler's best games collection, if he ever writes one. (And he should. Perhaps due to his self-deprecating persona, he has been loath to write such a book. In the best interests of the chess world, which would benefit from such a work, I propose the following title, which would enable him to avoid his scruples against boasting: "My [Number] Least Terrible Games".)} 1-0 [Event "chess24 Banter Series Final"] [Site "chess24.com"] [Date "2020.09.22"] [Round "13.2"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Svidler, Peter"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B01"] [WhiteElo "2764"] [BlackElo "2723"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "53"] [EventDate "2020.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Netherlands"] [BlackTeam "Russia"] [WhiteTeamCountry "NED"] [BlackTeamCountry "RUS"] {[%evp 0,53,21,17,76,78,83,83,89,100,110,114,85,82,94,77,59,44,38,30,29,27,34, 17,17,14,14,7,7,6,4,21,2,38,52,54,85,73,102,105,105,125,125,96,246,246,215,326, 458,532,823,846,846,846,904,2263] Armageddon!} 1. Nf3 (1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qd8 4. d4 g6 5. Bf4 Bg7 6. Qd2 Nf6 7. O-O-O c6 8. Bh6 O-O 9. h4 Qa5 10. h5 gxh5 11. Bd3 Nbd7 12. Nge2 Rd8 13. g4 Nf8 14. gxh5 Ne6 15. Rdg1 Kh8 16. Bxg7+ Nxg7 17. Qh6 Rg8 18. Rg5 Qd8 19. Rhg1 Nf5 20. Bxf5 {1-0 (20) Fischer, R-Robatsch,K Varna 1962}) 1... g6 2. e4 d5 {This doesn't seem like the thing to do when a draw is good enough, but as Svidler knows all the cliches, too, I'm sure he knew what he was doing.} 3. exd5 Qxd5 4. Nc3 Qd8 5. d4 Bg7 6. Bf4 c6 7. Qd2 {Reminiscent of the famous Fischer-Robatsch game (given above), but there White didn't play (and didn't have reason to play) Nf3.} Nf6 8. O-O-O O-O 9. Bh6 Bg4 10. Be2 Nbd7 11. Bxg7 Kxg7 12. Ne5 Bxe2 (12... Nxe5 $4 13. dxe5 Qxd2+ 14. Rxd2 $18 {gets the queens off, yes, but now Black loses a piece as 14...Bxe2 15.exf6 is check.}) 13. Qxe2 Nd5 $6 14. Nxd5 cxd5 15. h4 $1 h5 16. g4 $16 {Of course.} Nxe5 (16... Rh8 $142) 17. dxe5 $6 (17. Qxe5+ $142 f6 18. Qe6) 17... Rh8 $2 (17... hxg4 $1 {is scary, but apparently the best defense.}) 18. e6 $18 {Black's kingside structure gets cracked everywhere. In blitz, and probably in any sort of time control, his defensive task is insuperable.} f6 19. Rhg1 hxg4 20. Qxg4 (20. Rxg4 {probably makes things easier.}) 20... Rh6 21. h5 (21. Qf5) 21... Qd6 22. Qf5 Kh8 (22... g5 23. f4 {is crushing, as is the more direct} (23. Rxg5+ {.})) 23. Rxg6 Rh7 24. Rxf6 $1 {Not necessary, but nice. (And best.)} Rg8 25. Rf8 Rhg7 26. h6 Rg2 27. h7 (27. h7 Rxf8 28. Qxf8+ Kxh7 29. Rh1+ Rh2 (29... Kg6 30. Qf7+ Kg5 31. Rh5+ Kg4 32. Qf5#) 30. Rg1 { mates.}) 1-0