[Event "Julius Baer GenCup Prelim"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.09.19"] [Round "5.1"] [White "Duda, Jan-Krzysztof"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E60"] [WhiteElo "2731"] [BlackElo "2764"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "115"] [EventDate "2022.09.18"] {[%evp 0,115,20,21,27,0,47,25,12,40,48,55,55,57,41,33,49,45,60,25,39,10,19,32, 48,46,99,72,51,-2,30,-12,-8,-7,-16,-8,-12,19,60,39,36,27,27,30,68,62,62,61,117, 132,111,144,138,119,170,126,133,77,20,20,20,41,38,38,104,63,95,37,27,-7,6,-16, -18,-24,0,-8,0,-8,0,0,0,0,0,-3,-2,0,0,0,27,-5,0,0,6,6,0,-11,-4,0,0,0,121,119, 137,129,164,160,161,153,198,195,203,195,309,305,305,305,1012,1016]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. f3 e6 4. e4 c5 5. d5 d6 6. Nc3 Bg7 7. Nge2 exd5 8. cxd5 a6 9. a4 Nbd7 10. Ng3 h5 11. Be2 h4 12. Nf1 Rb8 13. Ne3 Nh5 14. a5 Ne5 15. O-O Nf4 16. Kh1 O-O 17. Rf2 b5 18. axb6 Qxb6 19. Nc4 Nxc4 20. Bxc4 Be5 21. Ne2 g5 22. Nxf4 gxf4 23. Rc2 Kg7 24. Bd2 f5 25. Bc3 Bxc3 26. bxc3 a5 27. Qe1 fxe4 28. Qxh4 Qd8 29. Qxd8 Rxd8 30. fxe4 Re8 31. Bd3 Kf6 32. Rf2 Ke5 33. Bc2 Bd7 34. h3 Ra8 35. Ba4 Bxa4 36. Rxa4 Rf8 37. Kh2 Rf7 38. Rf3 Rb8 39. Rxa5 Rb2 40. Ra8 Kxe4 41. Rg8 Kxd5 42. h4 Ke4 43. Kh3 Rbb7 44. Re8+ Rbe7 45. Rd8 d5 46. Rf1 Rd7 47. Re8+ Kd3 48. Rf3+ Kc4 49. h5 {The standard of play even in these rapid games is generally quite high. The problem is - obviously enough - that once a player's time gets low, it stays there, and it's almost impossible to maintain a decent level of play if the position is complicated - and sometimes even if it's not. In such situations, even the world's best players make mistakes and even blunders on a regular basis, and that's what we're going to see right now.} Rd6 $4 {Aimed against 50.h6, but it leaves the f7-rook unprotected. That's a problem, as White now creates connected passers and wins.} (49... d4 {is fine for Black, and now the burden shifts back to White to prove the draw. Here's a plausible continuation:} 50. cxd4 cxd4 51. Re4 Rh7 52. Rexf4 Rxh5+ 53. Kg3 $11) 50. g4 $1 {Whoops. And just like that, Black is losing.} d4 (50... fxg3 51. Rxf7 {is the basic problem with 49...Rd6.}) 51. cxd4 cxd4 52. Rc8+ $1 Kd5 53. g5 Ke4 54. Kg4 d3 55. g6 Re7 (55... d2 $1 {should have been tried.} 56. gxf7 $1 (56. Rf1 $2 Re7 {and now White must scramble a bit to make the draw.} 57. Rc4+ Ke3 58. Rcxf4 d1=Q+ 59. Rxd1 Rxd1 60. h6 Rg1+ 61. Kf5 Rxg6 62. Kxg6 Kxf4 63. h7 Rxh7 64. Kxh7) 56... d1=Q 57. Re8+ Kd5 58. f8=Q Qg1+ 59. Kxf4 Qd4+ 60. Kf5 $18 {No more checks.}) 56. Rc4+ Ke5 57. Rcxf4 Ke6 (57... d2 58. Re3+ Kd5 59. Rd3+ Kc5 60. Rxd6 $18) 58. Rf6+ (58. Rf6+ Kd7 59. Rxd6+ Kxd6 60. Rxd3+ $18) 1-0 [Event "Julius Baer GenCup Prelim"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.09.19"] [Round "5.6"] [White "Erigaisi, Arjun"] [Black "Niemann, Hans Moke"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E00"] [WhiteElo "2725"] [BlackElo "2688"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "99"] [EventDate "2022.09.18"] {[%evp 0,99,28,28,28,9,9,-14,13,18,21,-2,-2,-2,-2,10,22,2,2,2,60,25,45,33,11,9, 93,34,167,174,171,152,166,169,169,183,181,123,126,130,198,157,134,135,168,142, 137,144,135,133,124,149,179,153,150,136,140,136,140,136,136,137,136,116,166, 157,148,160,137,106,136,118,171,164,158,161,268,268,284,304,322,322,320,320, 338,342,348,335,418,428,494,521,461,486,491,574,663,708,728,767,754,814] Anyone could lose to Arjun Erigaisi, who is one of the world's leading up-and-comers. But the way Niemann lost this game was utterly incredible. Does the chess speak for itself?} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Be7 5. Bg2 d5 6. Nf3 O-O 7. O-O Nbd7 8. c5 Ne4 9. Nc3 f5 10. b4 c6 11. b5 Bf6 12. Rc1 Nxd2 13. Qxd2 {White enjoys an edge in this Bogo-Indian/Dutch hybrid, but he's certainly not winning. One would expect Black to go for kingside play with ... g5 and/or a central break with ...e5.} Qa5 $4 {This seems strange, but I guess Niemann thought he could slow White down on the queenside by planting the queen here, and in the meantime he'd build on the kingside and switch the queen back across. Frankly, that idea doesn't seem to hold water either, but regardless of the positional niceties this is an outright blunder. Anyone who has played either side of the Dragon Sicilian will know this very simple tactical trick, and even if one hasn't it's a very familiar idea. What can happen, though, is that familiar ideas become opaque when they are transposed into unfamiliar contexts. Here's a non-chess example you may have experienced: maybe you go to your bank every week or two, and there's a teller you've seen for years. You know the person, say hello and exchange pleasantries with her whenever you're there, etc. You're not friends, exactly, but it's a friendly acquaintanceship. Now suppose you're at the grocery store and you see the teller pass you by as you're turning the corner from one aisle to the next. "Hmm...she looks familiar. Who is she?", you may say to yourself, even though you've seen her dozens of times over the years. Maybe it only takes a moment or two to remember the person, but because she's not where she's "supposed" to be, from your memory's point of view, you have to do a little mental work to figure out the identity of this mystery person. So I guess something like that happened here. If the position were presented as a tactics puzzle, Niemann would know the answer more or less the instant his eyes took in the position. And I bet that if he had had the white pieces, he would have solved it instantly as well. But this position is unfamiliar enough, and of course so very much unlike a Dragon in practically every respect not having to do with the tactical trick (which doesn't only come up in the Dragon), that he lacked any feeling of danger when he played ...Qa5. (Even so, it's odd that the lineup of the queens and his own queen's being unprotected didn't set off any alarm bells, but these things happen.)} (13... g5) 14. bxc6 bxc6 15. Nxd5 $1 { Winning a pawn, and even better, leaving Black with a sickly c-pawn. Niemann does the best he can, but the outcome is essentially settled at this point.} Qxd2 16. Nxf6+ Nxf6 17. Nxd2 Nd5 18. e4 fxe4 19. Nxe4 Ba6 20. Rfd1 Rab8 21. Rd2 h6 22. h4 Rb4 23. Nd6 Rfb8 24. Bh3 Nc7 25. Rc3 Rb1+ 26. Kh2 Bf1 27. Bg4 R8b2 28. Rxb2 Rxb2 29. Ra3 a6 30. Kg1 Rb1 31. Rb3 Ra1 32. Kh2 Bb5 33. Ra3 Rb1 34. Bh3 Bf1 35. Nc8 Bxh3 36. Kxh3 Nb5 37. Rd3 Kf7 38. a4 Nc7 39. Rf3+ Kg8 40. Ne7+ Kh7 41. Nxc6 Ra1 42. Rf7 Nd5 43. Nd8 Kg8 44. Ra7 Ra2 45. Nxe6 Rxf2 46. Rxg7+ Kh8 47. Rd7 Ne3 48. c6 Rf1 49. g4 Rf3+ 50. Kh2 1-0 [Event "Julius Baer GenCup Prelim"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.09.19"] [Round "6.3"] [White "Niemann, Hans Moke"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A50"] [WhiteElo "2688"] [BlackElo "2861"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "3"] [EventDate "2022.09.18"] {[%evp 0,3,25,18,20,9]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 {Strange, my opponents never resign in this position...} 1-0 [Event "Julius Baer GenCup Prelim"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.09.19"] [Round "7.3"] [White "Wojtaszek, Radoslaw"] [Black "Ivanchuk, Vasyl"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D52"] [WhiteElo "2696"] [BlackElo "2678"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "91"] [EventDate "2022.09.18"] {[%evp 0,91,20,20,22,6,6,6,6,6,31,19,15,13,7,0,0,1,1,49,66,1,13,-6,24,49,8,5, 22,25,41,-20,-17,-12,-11,-11,7,15,45,22,31,54,12,20,52,65,72,72,52,57,91,55,52, 41,21,108,149,44,103,41,39,-29,50,39,32,32,32,44,24,35,44,35,60,-25,55,-44,4, 22,0,-38,7,-38,727,813,853,894,29985,29988,29989,1437,29995,29996,29997,29998] } 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c6 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. e3 Qa5 7. Nd2 Bb4 8. Qc2 O-O 9. Be2 c5 10. Bf4 cxd4 11. exd4 Re8 12. O-O Bxc3 13. bxc3 e5 14. Be3 b6 15. a4 exd4 16. cxd4 Ba6 17. Rfc1 Rac8 18. Qb2 h6 19. h3 Nb8 20. Qa3 Nc6 21. Bf3 Nxd4 22. Bxd4 Qxd2 23. Bxf6 gxf6 24. Bxd5 Rc5 25. Rd1 Qf4 26. g3 Qf5 27. Rd4 Bc8 28. Rf4 Qe5 29. Rd1 Kg7 30. Qf3 f5 31. Qh5 Re7 32. Rd3 Qf6 33. Qd1 Bd7 34. g4 Qg5 35. Qd2 fxg4 36. Rg3 Qe5 37. Kh2 h5 38. hxg4 hxg4 39. Kg2 f5 40. Rd4 {It doesn't happen in every game, but it happens a lot: the players contest a tough game that is generally balanced for a long time, and then time pressure hits and the blunders begin. Right now the position is complicated and equal, but a single error spoils the game and Black's efforts.} Be8 $4 {It makes sense, looking to block the coming check on g5. Unfortunately, it's also a straightforward blunder of a sort that would almost never happen in a slower game; here, this sort of thing happens pretty much every round.} (40... Qf6 $11 ) (40... Kh7 $11) (40... Kf8 $11) 41. Qg5+ Bg6 42. Re3 {The end. Black can lose a queen for a rook, a rook, or just get mated.} Qxd4 {Ivanchuk chooses to get mated.} 43. Rxe7+ Kf8 44. Rd7 Rxd5 45. Qe7+ Kg8 46. Qd8+ 1-0 [Event "Julius Baer GenCup Prelim"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.09.19"] [Round "7.6"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A08"] [WhiteElo "2861"] [BlackElo "2759"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "105"] [EventDate "2022.09.18"] {Carlsen shows no ill-effects from his little protest against Niemann, and proceeds to win a nice game against Aronian. This was not an instance of Aronian blundering in time trouble, but of Carlsen showing his class and outplaying his opponent in good style. (Though not in the opening.)} 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 c5 3. Bg2 Nc6 4. d4 e6 5. O-O Nf6 6. c4 dxc4 7. Qa4 Bd7 8. Qxc4 b5 9. Qd3 c4 10. Qd1 Rc8 11. Bf4 h6 12. Nc3 b4 13. Nb5 Qa5 14. Nd6+ Bxd6 15. Bxd6 Ne4 16. Bf4 c3 17. Qb1 f5 18. a3 O-O 19. axb4 Qb5 20. Re1 $2 (20. Qd3 Nxb4 21. Qxb5 Bxb5 22. bxc3 Nd5 $15) 20... a5 $2 {Up to here, Aronian had played very well, but now Carlsen takes over.} (20... c2 $1 21. Qxc2 Nxb4 22. Qb1 Nc2 $17) 21. bxa5 g5 22. bxc3 $1 Qxb1 23. Rexb1 gxf4 24. Rb7 Be8 25. gxf4 Nxc3 26. e3 $14 { It's possible that Aronian had foreseen this position when he played 20...a5; if so, he misassessed it. White is better, even though only one of his three pawns for the piece is a passer.} Nd5 $2 {Plausible, but after a series of precise moves White obtains a winning advantage.} (26... Nd8) (26... Rf7) 27. a6 $18 Rf7 28. Ne5 $1 Nxe5 29. Bxd5 $1 exd5 30. fxe5 Ra8 31. Rxf7 Kxf7 32. a7 { Black is frozen, and White will win once his king participates in the festivities.} Bb5 33. Kg2 f4 $5 34. exf4 Kg6 35. Kf3 Kf5 36. Rb1 Ba4 37. Rb7 Bd1+ 38. Ke3 Bc2 39. f3 Ke6 40. Kd2 Bf5 41. Kc3 Bh3 42. Kb4 Kf5 43. Rf7+ Kg6 44. Rf6+ Kh5 45. Ra6 Bc8 46. Ra2 Kg6 47. Kc5 Kf5 48. Kb6 Kxf4 49. Rc2 Bf5 ( 49... Kxf3 50. Rxc8 Rxc8 51. Kb7 Re8 52. a8=Q Rxa8 53. Kxa8 $18 {and White queens the e-pawn long before Black can scrounge up any counterplay.}) 50. Rc6 Ke3 (50... Kxf3 51. Rf6 Ke4 52. Rxf5 Kxf5 53. Kb7 $18 {is fundamentally similar to the note on move 49.}) 51. Kb7 Re8 52. a8=Q Rxa8 53. Kxa8 1-0 [Event "Julius Baer GenCup Prelim"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.09.19"] [Round "8.4"] [White "Praggnanandhaa, R."] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B06"] [WhiteElo "2676"] [BlackElo "2861"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "134"] [EventDate "2022.09.18"] {[%evp 0,134,21,21,97,73,82,72,69,66,96,34,29,17,13,-72,-43,-58,-33,-38,-30, -27,17,6,36,43,58,58,118,97,135,172,304,232,372,-30,35,-21,0,27,80,61,54,40,56, 14,6,-16,-6,0,0,0,0,0,45,72,73,-1,44,-16,-25,-26,-11,-11,0,-4,-6,-4,0,-10,-6,0, 0,-26,-13,-30,-23,-30,-32,-34,-16,-29,33,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,-42,-45,-34, -35,-31,-31,-30,-31,-30,-30,-30,-30,-30,-30,-30,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0, 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. e4 g6 2. d4 d6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. Be3 a6 5. h4 $1 Nf6 6. h5 $1 {Even better than 6.f3, which Anand had played against Carlsen a few months earlier on his way to a win. Carlsen looked disgusted here, but really? It's a natural move, and the engine's top choice as well. Didn't Carlsen or anyone on his team even consider this move before or after the game with Anand? } (6. f3 b5 7. Qd2 h5 8. Nh3 Bxh3 9. Rxh3 Nbd7 10. O-O-O Qc8 11. Kb1 c5 12. dxc5 Nxc5 13. Ne2 O-O 14. Bh6 a5 15. Bxg7 Kxg7 16. Rg3 b4 17. Nd4 Ncxe4 18. fxe4 Nxe4 19. Qe3 Nxg3 20. Qxg3 Qg4 21. Qe1 Rac8 22. g3 Rc5 23. Be2 Qe4 24. Qd2 Re5 25. Bf3 Qe3 26. Qg2 a4 27. Nc6 Rf5 28. Rd3 Qe1+ 29. Rd1 Qe3 30. Rd3 Qc5 31. Nxe7 Re5 32. Nd5 Re1+ 33. Bd1 Rfe8 34. Qd2 a3 35. Qxb4 R8e4 36. Qxc5 dxc5 37. bxa3 c4 38. Rd2 Rg1 39. Nc3 Re6 40. a4 Rxg3 41. Nb5 Re4 42. c3 Rxh4 43. a5 Rh1 {1-0 (43) Anand,V (2751)-Carlsen,M (2864) Stavanger 2022}) 6... Nxh5 7. Rxh5 { Having said "A", say "B".} gxh5 8. Qxh5 {Black's position is terrible, either lost or nearly lost.} e6 9. e5 d5 10. O-O-O $18 c5 11. dxc5 Bd7 {Now Pragg starts going astray, and his advantage drips away over the next few moves.} 12. f4 (12. Nf3 $142 {was best, looking to jump into g5 or d4. For instance:} h6 13. Nd4 Kf8 14. f4 $18 {looks nightmarishly bad for Black.}) 12... Nc6 (12... Qa5 $142) 13. Nf3 (13. Na4 $1 {is a nice move, taking advantage of Black's inaccuracy.}) 13... Qa5 14. Ng5 (14. Nd4 $142) 14... O-O-O 15. Qxf7 (15. Nxf7 $4 Be8 $19) 15... d4 $1 16. Bxd4 $2 (16. Qxg7 $1 dxc3 (16... dxe3 $4 17. Nf7 Rhg8 18. Qxh7 Rdf8 19. Nd6+ Kc7 20. Nc4 {is a position that Praggnanandhaa's grandparents could win against Carlsen.}) 17. a3 $1 {is still winning, though the position is much messier than what White had a few moves ago.}) 16... Nxd4 17. Qxg7 $2 (17. Rxd4 $142 Bxe5 $8 18. fxe5 Rhf8 19. Rxd7 $8 Rxf7 20. Rxf7 Qxc5 $1 21. Nf3 {is still *probably* winning for White, though with a short time control anything could happen.}) 17... Nf5 18. Qf7 $6 (18. Qf6 $142 {forces Black to find more precise moves than does the text.} Rhf8 $8 19. Nf7 $8 Ne3 $8 20. Rd3 Qxc5 21. Be2 $1 Nxg2 22. Ne4 Qb4 $8 23. a3 Qxe4 $1 24. Nd6+ Kc7 25. Rc3+ Kb8 26. Nxe4 Rxf6 27. Nxf6 Nxf4 28. Bg4 {The fireworks are at an end, and the result is that White has the slightly sunnier side of an almost certain draw.}) 18... Rhf8 19. Qh5 Ne3 $6 (19... Qxc5 $1 $15) 20. Rxd7 $1 Rxd7 21. Nxe6 Rg8 22. Bd3 Nd5 23. Nxd5 (23. c6 $1 bxc6 24. Qf3 Qb6 $1 $11) 23... Qe1+ (23... Rxd5 $142 24. Kd1 $1 Rxd3+ $5 25. cxd3 Qxa2 $11) 24. Qd1 Qxd1+ 25. Kxd1 Rxd5 26. Ke2 (26. Ke1 $1 {forces Black to find a series of only-moves to stay alive. } Rxg2 27. Be4 Rg1+ 28. Kf2 Rdd1 29. Bd3 h5 $8 30. f5 Kd7 $8 31. Nf4 Rg5 $8 32. f6 Rxd3 $8 33. e6+ Kd8 $8 34. cxd3 Rf5 35. Ke3 Rxf6 36. d4 h4 37. d5 {is equal but messy, and it looks easier for Black to lose this than for White.}) 26... Rxg2+ $2 (26... Kd7 $8 27. Ng5 (27. Bf5 Rxg2+ $11) (27. Bxh7 Rxg2+ 28. Kf3 Rdd2 $11) 27... Rxg5 28. fxg5 Rxe5+ $11) 27. Kf3 $18 {Pragg is winning again.} Rh2 $2 28. Kg3 $2 {But not now. Easy come, easy go.} (28. Ke4 $1 $18) 28... Rh6 $2 (28... Rh1 $1 $14) 29. Ng5 $16 {/+- One more chance for Pragg.} Rxc5 30. Nxh7 Kd7 31. Nf6+ $2 {Careless. After Black's next move it's an easy draw.} (31. b3 {was White's best move, but essentially any normal move other than 31.Nf6 keeps a meaningful advantage.}) 31... Rxf6 $1 32. exf6 Ke6 {The job is more or less done.} 33. Kf3 Kxf6 34. Ke3 a5 35. Kd4 Rh5 36. f5 Rh6 37. Kd5 Ke7 38. a4 Rc6 39. b3 Kf6 40. Kd4 Ke7 41. Be4 Rc7 42. Ke5 Rc5+ 43. Bd5 Rxc2 44. f6+ Kd7 45. Bxb7 Re2+ 46. Kf5 Rf2+ 47. Kg6 Ke6 48. Bc8+ Ke5 49. f7 Kd6 50. Ba6 Ke7 51. Bc4 Rf6+ 52. Kg5 Rf2 53. Kg4 Rf6 54. Kh5 Rxf7 55. Bxf7 Kxf7 56. Kg5 Ke6 57. Kf4 Kd5 58. Ke3 Kc5 59. Kd3 Kd5 60. Kd2 Kd4 61. Kc2 Kd5 62. Kd3 Kc5 63. Kc3 Kd5 64. b4 axb4+ 65. Kxb4 Kc6 66. a5 Kb7 67. a6+ Kxa6 1/2-1/2