[Event "FIDE Candidates 2020"]
[Site "Berlin GER"]
[Date "2020.03.18"]
[Round "2.1"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Alekseenko, Kirill"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E20"]
[WhiteElo "2842"]
[BlackElo "2698"]
[Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2020.03.17"]
{[%evp 0,67,14,23,15,-7,13,4,20,-34,-26,-28,-2,-7,-7,31,57,57,66,66,62,57,60,
60,54,58,58,50,37,70,70,39,83,83,83,91,59,113,105,82,109,123,123,113,105,99,
108,105,127,129,129,64,157,153,153,109,156,193,274,242,346,419,448,279,531,531,
665,667,667,681]} 1. d4 {Already a surprise, as Caruana is a loyal 1.e4 player.
To become the world champion, one must be flexible and develop one's skills,
so even the world's #2 has to adapt.} Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 d5 (4... c5
{is the chief alternative.}) 5. a3 Be7 {A main line, but less popular than
taking on c3.} (5... Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 c5 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. dxc5 Qa5 {is the most
usual way, and after} 9. e4 {either} Ne7 ({or} 9... Nf6 {.})) 6. e4 dxe4 7.
fxe4 c5 (7... e5 {used to be the main move, but results and computers favor
White after} 8. d5 O-O 9. Nf3 $14 {/+/-}) 8. d5 (8. e5 {doesn't seem too
dangerous:} Nfd7 9. dxc5 Nxe5 10. Qxd8+ Bxd8 11. Be2 Nbd7 $15 {1/2-1/2 (80)
Najer,E (2635)-Leko,P (2670) Douglas 2019}) 8... exd5 9. exd5 O-O 10. Be2 Re8 (
10... Bd6 11. Nf3 (11. Nb5 $5 a6 12. Nxd6 Qxd6 13. Nf3 Bg4 14. O-O Nbd7 (14...
Re8 $142) 15. Nh4 Bxe2 16. Qxe2 Rae8 17. Qf3 Re4 18. Bf4 Ne5 19. Qb3 Qd7 20.
Bxe5 Rxh4 21. Bxf6 gxf6 22. Rxf6 Qg4 23. Raf1 Qd4+ 24. Kh1 Qxc4 25. Qxb7 Rh6
26. h3 Rg6 27. d6 Rxf6 28. Rxf6 Qc1+ 29. Kh2 Qe3 30. Qd5 {1-0 (30) Matlakov,M
(2710)-Predke,A (2650) Izhevsk 2019}) 11... Bg4 12. O-O Nbd7 {has fared well
for Black, but no doubt Caruana had something prepared here.}) 11. Nf3 Bg4 12.
O-O Nbd7 (12... Bd6 13. h3 (13. Nb5)) 13. d6 $5 {The die is cast, as they say.
The pawn could be lost someday, but in the meantime White seizes the
initiative.} Bf8 14. h3 Bh5 15. Nb5 Re6 $6 {Already going astray.} (15... Rb8
16. Bf4 (16. Nxa7 Bxd6 $1 17. Qxd6 Rxe2 $15) 16... a6 17. Nc3 Qb6 18. Qd2 Ne4
19. Nxe4 Rxe4 20. Rad1 Rbe8 21. Bd3 Bxf3 22. Rxf3 Rd4 23. Re3 Rxe3 24. Bxe3
Rxd6 25. Bf4 Rd4 26. Be3 Rd6 $11 {This looks like the sort of variation that
might be in Caruana's personal database. We'll see, if there's another 4.f3
Nimzo in this tournament.}) 16. Bf4 $16 a6 17. Nc7 Re4 18. Bh2 (18. Qd2 $142)
18... Rc8 (18... Rb8) 19. g4 (19. Qc2) 19... Bxg4 (19... Nxg4 20. hxg4 Rxg4+
21. Kh1 Rg6 22. Rf2 $16) (19... Bg6 20. Bd3 $16 {/+-}) 20. hxg4 Nxg4 (20...
Rxg4+ 21. Kh1 Ne4 22. Nd5 $1 {Surprisingly, the knight will be White's
defensive hero.} Bxd6 23. Ne3 Rh4 24. Nf5 Ng3+ 25. Nxg3 Bxg3 26. Kg2 Bxh2 27.
Nxh4 Qg5+ 28. Bg4 $1 Ne5 29. Nf3 Qxg4+ 30. Kxh2 Nxc4 31. Rf2 $16 {/+-}) 21. Bd3
Nxh2 22. Bxe4 Nxf1 23. Qxf1 Bxd6 $6 (23... Nf6 $142 24. Re1 Nxe4 25. Rxe4 Qxd6
26. Nd5 $16 {/+/=}) 24. Nd5 g6 25. Qh3 $16 {/+- White has consolidated, and
it's only a matter of time before his beautifully placed pieces converge on
Black's king.} Kg7 26. Kh1 (26. Bf5 $5 {is nice, if unnecessary and not the
sort of move one wants to risk in round 2 of the Candidates.}) 26... Ne5 27.
Nh4 h5 $2 28. Rg1 Bf8 29. Nf4 {Good enough.} ({It was already possible to
crash in:} 29. Nxg6 $1 fxg6 30. Nf4 Qe8 31. Nxh5+ $18 (31. Bxg6 $18)) 29... Ng4
30. Nxh5+ $1 gxh5 31. Bf5 Be7 32. Bxg4 hxg4 33. Qxg4+ Bg5 34. Qh5 $1 (34. Qh5
f6 35. Nf5+ Kf8 36. Qh8+ Kf7 37. Qh7+ Kf8 (37... Ke6 38. Re1+ Be3 39. Rxe3#)
38. Qg7+ Ke8 39. Re1+ {mates.}) 1-0
[Event "FIDE Candidates 2020"]
[Site "Berlin GER"]
[Date "2020.03.18"]
[Round "2.2"]
[White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Black "Grischuk, Alexander"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C67"]
[WhiteElo "2774"]
[BlackElo "2777"]
[Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "2020.03.17"]
{[%evp 0,80,23,33,42,38,18,8,7,6,49,7,49,55,63,59,73,69,61,65,53,68,62,64,59,
56,53,48,63,59,61,51,45,24,50,37,17,7,13,10,-15,-1,-14,-31,-38,-38,-9,-4,33,
-31,-21,-108,-107,-93,-83,-76,-99,-103,-20,-47,-44,-55,-42,-46,-46,-71,-66,-55,
-31,-22,-20,-38,8,9,42,47,54,56,48,53,54,47,58]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6
4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. Nc3 Ke8 10. h3
h5 11. Bf4 Be7 12. Rad1 Be6 13. Ng5 Rh6 14. Rfe1 Bb4 15. a3 Bxc3 16. bxc3 h4
17. Kh2 $146 (17. Ne4 Rg6 18. g4 hxg3 19. fxg3 Kf8 20. Kh2 (20. Kf2 Ne7 21. h4
Nd5 22. Bg5 Bf5 23. h5 Nxc3 24. hxg6 Nxe4+ {1/2-1/2 (24) Vachier Lagrave,M
(2775)-Nakamura,H (2754) Paris 2019}) 20... Ne7 21. g4 Re8 22. Rd3 Kg8 23. Ng3
Bd5 24. Rde3 c5 25. e6 Rxe6 26. Bxc7 Rxe3 27. Rxe3 Be6 28. Bd6 Nd5 29. Rf3 b6
30. Kg1 f6 31. Kf2 Bf7 32. c4 Ne7 33. Re3 Nc6 34. Rxe8+ Bxe8 35. Nf5 Kf7 36.
Bf4 Bd7 37. Nd6+ Ke7 38. Ke3 g5 39. Bg3 Be6 40. Kd3 Bg8 41. Nf5+ Kd7 42. Ne3
Bh7+ 43. Kd2 Be4 44. h4 gxh4 45. Bxh4 Ke6 46. Bg3 Ne5 47. Bf4 Bb7 48. Kc3 Be4
49. Kd2 Bc6 {1/2-1/2 (49) Vachier Lagrave,M (2778)-Karjakin,S (2750) Saint
Louis 2019}) (17. g4 hxg3 18. fxg3 Kf8 (18... Ne7 19. g4 Nd5 20. Bd2 Nb6 21.
Kg2 Rd8 22. Kg3 Nc4 23. Bf4 Rxd1 24. Rxd1 Nxa3 25. Ra1 Nb5 26. h4 Nxc3 27. Bd2
Ne2+ 28. Kf2 Bxg4 29. Rxa7 Rxh4 30. Rxb7 Rh2+ 31. Ke3 Ng3 32. Bb4 Nf1+ 33. Kf4
Bd1 34. Rb8+ Kd7 35. Be1 Rg2 36. e6+ fxe6 37. Ne4 Bxc2 38. Bh4 c5 39. Nxc5+ Kd6
40. Nb7+ Kc6 41. Na5+ Kc5 42. Be7+ Kd4 43. Rd8+ Kc3 44. Rc8 Re2 45. Rxc7+ Kd2
46. Nc4+ Kc1 47. Ba3+ Kb1 48. Bd6 Bd3 49. Ne5 Rf2+ 50. Kg5 Be4 51. Rxg7 Rf5+
52. Kh6 Ne3 53. Rg1+ Kc2 54. Kg7 Rf2 55. Bc5 Rf5 56. Bxe3 Rxe5 57. Kf6 Rf5+ 58.
Kxe6 Rf3 59. Bd4 Bd3 60. Be5 Kb3 61. Rg3 Bc4+ 62. Kd6 Be2 63. Rxf3+ Bxf3 64.
Kc5 Be2 65. Bd4 Bd3 66. Be5 Be2 67. Bd4 {1/2-1/2 (67) Vachier Lagrave,M (2779)
-Nakamura,H (2777) chess.com INT 2018}) 19. Kf2 Ne7 20. g4 Nd5 21. Bd2 Nb6 22.
Kg3 Nc4 23. Bc1 Bd5 24. Re2 Re8 25. Rde1 Kg8 26. Ne4 Rhe6 27. Nc5 Rxe5 28. Rxe5
Rxe5 29. Rxe5 Nxe5 30. Nxb7 Nc4 31. Nc5 Nd6 32. Bf4 Ne4+ 33. Nxe4 Bxe4 34. Bxc7
f6 35. Bd6 Bxc2 36. Bc7 Bd3 37. Bd6 Bc2 38. Bc7 Bd3 39. Bd6 {1/2-1/2 (39) Giri,
A (2779)-Nakamura,H (2754) Zagreb 2019}) 17... Kf8 18. Rb1 b6 19. Rb4 Re8 20.
Ra4 a5 21. Bd2 c5 22. Rf4 Rh5 23. Rf3 Kg8 24. Bc1 Ne7 25. g4 hxg3+ 26. fxg3 Nc6
27. Bf4 Bc8 28. Rfe3 Nd8 29. Kg2 Ne6 30. Nxe6 Bxe6 31. g4 Rh8 32. Bg5 Kh7 33.
Kg3 Rb8 34. Rd3 Rhe8 35. Red1 b5 36. Rd8 b4 37. Rxe8 Rxe8 38. cxb4 cxb4 39.
axb4 axb4 40. Rd8 Rxd8 1/2-1/2
[Event "FIDE Candidates 2020"]
[Site "Berlin GER"]
[Date "2020.03.18"]
[Round "2.3"]
[White "Wang Hao"]
[Black "Giri, Anish"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A37"]
[WhiteElo "2762"]
[BlackElo "2763"]
[Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"]
[PlyCount "121"]
[EventDate "2020.03.17"]
{[%evp 0,121,33,-12,12,19,52,19,19,8,9,9,24,31,29,21,19,-10,51,9,5,16,32,25,25,
-5,43,45,41,45,49,46,59,8,25,17,17,14,41,-10,-17,-7,7,-5,-8,0,0,-3,5,-2,8,5,6,
0,6,5,7,7,6,6,28,15,22,2,27,0,20,38,36,37,78,45,69,72,72,79,70,76,77,80,77,71,
78,78,113,142,129,145,137,137,155,125,158,137,160,158,158,128,128,128,141,113,
101,111,108,109,106,89,89,83,94,78,83,58,53,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. c4 c5 2. Nc3
g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 Nc6 5. Nf3 e6 6. h4 h6 7. d4 cxd4 8. Nb5 d5 9. cxd5 exd5
10. O-O Nf6 11. Bf4 O-O 12. Qc1 a6 13. Nbxd4 Nxd4 14. Nxd4 Kh7 15. Rd1 Re8 16.
Qc7 Qxc7 17. Bxc7 Bg4 18. f3 Rac8 19. Ba5 Bd7 20. Kf2 h5 21. Bf1 Ng8 22. Bc3
Bh6 23. Rd3 Ne7 24. Rad1 Bg7 25. e3 Kg8 26. R3d2 Ba4 27. Re1 Bd7 28. Ne2 Rc7
29. Bxg7 Kxg7 30. Nc3 Be6 31. Red1 b5 32. a3 Rb8 33. Ne2 a5 34. Nd4 Bd7 35. b4
axb4 36. axb4 Ra8 37. Rb2 Ra4 38. Rdb1 Rb7 39. Rc1 Rba7 40. Nxb5 Bxb5 41. Bxb5
{White should be winning, but today it wasn't "just a matter of technique".}
Ra3 42. Be2 Rb7 43. b5 Rb6 44. Rd1 Kf6 45. Rdd2 Rb7 46. Bd3 Nc8 47. e4 dxe4 48.
Bxe4 Rb6 49. Rd7 Rc3 50. Rb7 Rxb7 51. Bxb7 Nb6 52. Be4 Ke5 53. Rd2 Rb3 54. Bc6
Nc4 55. f4+ Kf6 56. Rd8 Rb2+ 57. Kf3 Nd2+ 58. Ke3 Nf1+ 59. Kf3 Nd2+ 60. Ke2
Ne4+ 61. Kf3 1/2-1/2
[Event "FIDE Candidates 2020"]
[Site "Berlin GER"]
[Date "2020.03.18"]
[Round "2.4"]
[White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Black "Ding Liren"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C88"]
[WhiteElo "2767"]
[BlackElo "2805"]
[Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[EventDate "2020.03.17"]
{[%evp 0,73,36,36,18,18,9,15,25,-31,5,15,13,-2,10,-3,-6,-6,10,9,8,10,27,12,34,
39,30,23,50,44,43,55,64,58,54,52,50,50,50,47,60,63,81,66,98,84,104,74,175,82,
117,124,228,193,216,216,215,224,218,232,304,279,258,119,113,129,146,136,136,
112,196,196,261,267,322,325]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O
Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. h3 Bb7 9. d3 d6 (9... d5 {is also a main line.
Ding has played this way as well.}) 10. a3 Qd7 11. Nc3 Rfe8 12. Bd2 (12. Ne2
Nd8 13. Ng3 Ne6 14. Nf5 Bd8 15. Ng5 c5 16. Qf3 d5 17. exd5 Bxd5 18. Bxd5 Nxg5
19. Bxg5 Qxd5 20. Qg3 g6 21. Qh4 Re6 22. Nh6+ Kg7 23. Re3 Ng8 24. Nxf7 Kxf7 25.
Qxh7+ Kf8 26. Rf3+ Bf6 27. Qxg6 Qd6 28. Re1 Ra7 29. Rg3 Rg7 30. Qh5 Bxg5 31.
Rxg5 Rxg5 32. Qxg5 Qe7 33. Qf5+ Qf6 34. Qe4 Ne7 35. Re3 Ke8 36. Rf3 Qg6 37.
Qa8+ Kd7 38. Rf8 Rc6 39. Qd8+ Ke6 40. Re8 Qf6 41. c4 Rd6 42. Qc8+ Rd7 43. Qxa6+
Rd6 44. Qc8+ Rd7 45. cxb5 Qf4 46. Qc6+ Kf7 47. Qxd7 Qc1+ 48. Kh2 Qf4+ 49. Kg1
Qc1+ 50. Kh2 Qf4+ 51. Kg1 {1/2-1/2 (51) Shankland,S (2705)-Ding,L (2811) chess.
com INT 2019}) (12. Nd5 Nxd5 13. exd5 Na7 (13... Nd4 14. Nxd4 exd4 15. Bd2 Bf6
16. Qg4 Qxg4 17. hxg4 h6 18. Rxe8+ Rxe8 19. a4 Ra8 20. axb5 axb5 21. Rxa8+ Bxa8
22. Ba5 Bd8 23. c4 dxc3 24. bxc3 Kf8 25. c4 bxc4 26. dxc4 Ke7 27. Bc3 Kf8 28.
Ba4 Bb7 29. f3 Bf6 30. Bxf6 gxf6 31. Kf2 Bc8 32. Bc2 Bd7 33. Be4 Ba4 34. Ke3
Ke7 35. Kd2 Bb3 36. Bd3 Kd8 37. Kc3 Bd1 38. Bc2 Be2 39. Bd3 Bd1 40. Bc2 Be2 41.
Bd3 {1/2-1/2 (41) Vachier Lagrave,M (2686)-Tkachiev,V (2644) Pau 2012}) 14. d4
exd4 15. Qxd4 c5 16. dxc6 Nxc6 17. Qd3 Bf6 18. Bd2 Ne5 19. Rxe5 Rxe5 20. Nxe5
Bxe5 21. c3 Qc6 22. f3 d5 23. Re1 Bc7 24. Bc2 g6 25. Bh6 Re8 26. Rxe8+ Qxe8 27.
Qe3 Qxe3+ 28. Bxe3 f5 29. f4 Kf7 30. g3 Ke6 31. Kf2 h5 32. h4 Bc6 33. Ba7 Bd8
34. Ke3 Bf6 35. Bb6 Kd6 36. Kd2 Bd7 37. Kd3 Bc6 38. Bd1 Bd7 39. Bf3 Bc6 40. Kc2
d4 41. Bxc6 Kxc6 42. Bxd4 Be7 43. Kd3 Kd5 44. Be3 Bd6 45. Bd4 Be7 46. Be3 Bd6
47. Bd4 Be7 {1/2-1/2 (47) Nakamura,H (2743)-Ding,L (2805) Saint Louis 2019})
12... Nd8 13. Nd5 Nxd5 14. exd5 c5 {Only played once before.} (14... c6 {
is more common, though it seems to be confined to correspondence games.} 15. c4
(15. dxc6 Nxc6 16. c3 {1/2-1/2 (16) Sirobaba,F (2372)-Anokhin,Y (2394) ICCF
email 2015}) 15... cxd5 16. cxd5 f6 17. d4 Nf7 18. Bc3 (18. Rc1 Bf8 19. Ba5
Rec8 20. Bc3 a5 21. Qd3 b4 22. axb4 Ba6 23. Qe3 axb4 24. Bd2 g6 25. Rxc8 Bxc8
26. Rc1 Qd8 27. Qe1 Bb7 28. h4 h5 29. Bxb4 Qb6 30. Bc4 e4 31. Qxe4 Qxb4 32.
Qxg6+ Bg7 33. b3 Re8 34. Qxh5 Qa3 35. Rb1 Re7 36. Qg6 Qb4 37. Rc1 Qa3 38. Qb1
Qb4 39. Qf5 Nh6 40. Qf4 Bc8 41. Ra1 Qb8 42. Re1 Rxe1+ 43. Nxe1 Bf5 44. g3 Qb4
45. Ng2 {1/2-1/2 (45) Villaescusa Navalon,M (2306)-Acosta Mira,J (2314) ICCF
email 2016}) (18. Qb1 g6 19. a4 Bd8 20. axb5 axb5 21. Rxa8 Bxa8 22. h4 Kh8 23.
Qd3 Bb7 24. Ba2 Bb6 25. h5 Rg8 26. hxg6 Qg4 27. Nh4 hxg6 28. Nf3 Bc8 29. dxe5
Nxe5 30. Nxe5 fxe5 31. Qxb5 Bd4 32. Be3 Kg7 33. Qe2 Qxe2 {1/2-1/2 (33) Beck,G
(2135)-Utesch,W (2190) GER email 2015}) 18... Bd8 (18... a5 19. Qd3 a4 20. Ba2
Bf8 21. h4 Ba6 22. Bb4 Qg4 23. Re4 Qg6 24. dxe5 Nxe5 25. Nxe5 Rxe5 26. Bb1 Qxe4
27. Qxe4 Rxe4 28. Bxe4 Bb7 29. g4 g6 30. Rc1 Rc8 31. Rd1 Rc7 32. Kg2 Bc8 33.
Kg3 Bd7 34. Bd3 Rc8 35. Rh1 f5 36. gxf5 gxf5 37. Re1 Kf7 38. Be2 Be7 39. f4 Kf8
40. h5 h6 41. Bd3 Kf7 42. Kf3 Rg8 43. Rc1 Bh4 44. Bxd6 Rg3+ 45. Ke2 Bd8 46. Be5
Rg2+ 47. Kf3 Rd2 48. Bb1 Bb6 49. Bc3 Rf2+ 50. Kg3 Re2 51. Rc2 Re3+ 52. Kg2 Re4
53. Rf2 Bxf2 54. Bxe4 Be1 55. Bxe1 fxe4 56. Kf2 Kf6 57. Ke3 Kf5 58. Bb4 Be8 59.
d6 Ke6 60. Kxe4 Bxh5 61. f5+ Kd7 62. Ke5 Bd1 63. f6 Bb3 64. Bd2 h5 65. Bf4 Be6
66. Bg3 Bf7 67. Kf5 h4 68. Be5 h3 69. Kg4 Be6+ 70. Kh5 Ke8 71. Kg6 Bf7+ 72. Kg7
{1/2-1/2 (72) Nierobisz,J (2291)-Evans,G (2262) ICCF email 2007}) 19. Qd3 Bb6
20. a4 Rac8 21. Re2 g6 22. a5 Ba7 23. Rae1 Kg7 24. Ba2 Rc7 25. Kh1 Qc8 26. dxe5
dxe5 27. Nh2 Bc5 28. f4 {1/2-1/2 (28) Conde Poderoso,A (2333)-Zielasko,A (2334)
ICCF email 2016}) 15. a4 $146 {A new move, but it transposes to more
correspondence games.} (15. c4 f5 16. Bc2 Nf7 17. b4 cxb4 18. axb4 Bf6 19. Rc1
Rec8 20. Bb3 bxc4 21. dxc4 a5 22. c5 dxc5 23. bxc5 Bxd5 24. Bf4 Rd8 25. Bxe5
Nxe5 26. Nxe5 Qe6 27. Nc4 Qf7 28. Qc2 g6 29. Ba2 a4 30. c6 Rac8 31. Qxa4 Ra8
32. Qb3 {1/2-1/2 (32) Nefedov,S (2561)-Bauer,R (2558) ICCF email 2017}) 15...
f5 $2 $146 {Finally the players are in new territory. Unfortunately for the
world's #3, the first genuinely new move is a serious error.} (15... f6 16.
axb5 axb5 17. Rxa8 Bxa8 18. c4 Rf8 19. cxb5 (19. Qa1 Nf7 20. cxb5 Qxb5 {
1/2-1/2 (20) Los,A-Perez Ferris,M (2183) ICCF email 2012}) 19... Qxb5 20. Bc4
Qb7 (20... Qxb2 21. Qa1 Qb8 22. Rb1 Bb7 23. Bc3 Rf7 24. Qb2 f5 25. Qb3 Kf8 26.
Nxe5 dxe5 27. d6 Qxd6 28. Bxf7 Bxg2 29. Bg8 Bxh3 30. Bxh7 Nf7 {1/2-1/2 (30)
Ojeda,J (2285)-Schulz,R (2251) ICCF email 2018}) 21. b4 cxb4 22. Qb3 Nf7 23.
Ra1 f5 24. Ra4 Qd7 25. Rxb4 Bf6 26. Bc3 h6 {1/2-1/2 (26) Zeihen,P (2315)
-Schulz,R (2263) ICCF email 2019}) 16. axb5 axb5 17. Rxa8 Bxa8 18. c4 $1 {
Killing the bishop on a8.} Nf7 19. cxb5 $1 g5 20. Nh2 $1 Kg7 (20... Qxb5 $4 21.
Ba4 $18) 21. Bc4 Kg6 22. g4 $1 {Very nice. Black's kingside will be riddled
with light-squared holes (none of which will be protected by the AWOL bishop
on a8), while his other pieces are suffocating on the dark squares, locked
behind his pawns. What a disaster!} Nh6 23. Qf3 (23. gxf5+ Qxf5 24. Re3 $1 $18)
23... Bd8 24. Qg2 f4 $2 {Complete surrender. It's incredible that Ding is
going down without a fight.} 25. b4 $18 Bb6 26. Qe4+ Kg7 27. bxc5 dxc5 28. Nf3
Nf7 29. Bc3 Bc7 30. b6 Bb8 31. Qf5 (31. Rb1 {looks awfully attractive as well,
with ideas of Bb5 and b7.}) 31... Qxf5 32. gxf5 Kf6 33. Nd2 (33. Bb5 Re7 34.
Bc6 {is even better.}) 33... Rd8 (33... Kxf5) 34. d6 (34. b7 Bxb7 35. Rb1 Ba8
36. Ba5 Rc8 37. Ne4+ Kg7 38. Rb6 {is another horrible possibility for Black.})
34... Rxd6 35. Rb1 $1 Nd8 (35... Bc6 36. b7 Rd7 37. Rb6 Nd8 38. Ne4+ Kxf5 39.
Nxc5 $18) 36. b7 $1 Bxb7 (36... Nxb7 37. Ne4+ Kxf5 38. Nxd6+ $18) 37. Ba5 {
Winning a piece while keeping full control. It's time for Black to give up.}
1-0
