[Event "85th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2023.01.29"] [Round "13.1"] [White "Abdusattorov, Nodirbek"] [Black "Van Foreest, Jorden"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B48"] [WhiteElo "2713"] [BlackElo "2681"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "98"] [EventDate "2023.??.??"] {[%evp 0,98,30,25,37,60,53,49,65,63,34,31,79,71,114,57,100,78,89,85,82,95,75,51,48,36,52,68,55,68,76,62,63,54,32,32,36,52,19,56,56,4,74,10,10,2,24,24,83,69,17,-22,-5,15,0,-55,-33,-73,22,19,24,11,5,10,15,4,-11,-34,-30,-34,-41,-33,-28,-49,-47,-83,-86,-129,-125,-139,-122,-144,-150,-149,-175,-220,-222,-229,-222,-237,-236,-326,-246,-271,-282,-325,-315,-312,-305,-334,-315]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be3 a6 7. Qf3 {This has been all the rage for a few years, and is still posing Black difficult questions.} h5 $5 {While it's common after 7...Ne5 8.Qg3, it's unusual here.} 8. O-O-O b5 (8... Ne5 9. Qg3 {would transpose to standard theory.}) 9. Qg3 $146 Qxg3 10. hxg3 $14 Bc5 11. g4 Bb7 $5 12. f3 (12. Rxh5 Rxh5 13. gxh5 Nf6 14. Be2 Rc8 15. g4 Nxd4 16. Bxd4 Nxe4 17. Bxg7 Nxf2 18. h6 Be3+ 19. Kb1 Bxh6 20. Bxh6 Nxd1 21. Nxd1 {was an interesting possibility. The position is roughly equal, maybe a shade better for White.}) (12. gxh5 Nf6 13. h6 gxh6 14. f3 h5 15. a3 $11 {/=/?}) ({Perhaps the very calm} 12. Kb1 $14 {is best, sidestepping any ...Bxe3+ ideas.}) 12... g6 $5 (12... h4 $142 $11) 13. Nf5 (13. a4 $142 b4 14. Nce2 $14) 13... Bxe3+ 14. Nxe3 Ke7 15. Be2 d6 16. g5 $11 {Trying to keep Black's knight restricted. This optimistic plan probably ends up costing White the game.} (16. a3 $14) 16... f6 $1 17. f4 fxg5 18. fxg5 {Black's knight is incarcerated, but it comes at a steep cost: the glorious e5 square and three isolated pawns.} Ne5 19. Rd4 Rd8 $6 (19... Nf7 20. Rhd1 Rd8 21. e5 d5 22. a4 Nxg5 23. axb5 axb5 24. Nxb5 Nh6 $11) 20. Rhd1 $6 (20. a4 $1 $16 {A brief but significant opportunity for Abdusattorov, missed.}) 20... h4 $2 {A second chance.} (20... Nc6 $11) (20... Nf7 $11) 21. Ng4 $2 {Again missed.} (21. a4 $1 $16) 21... Nc6 $1 $11 22. R4d2 Rh5 23. e5 d5 24. Ne4 $1 {Ingenious, but as they say, it's not checkers - Black doesn't have to make a capture.} Bc8 (24... dxe4 25. Rxd8 Nxd8 26. Nf6 {regains the piece. Black has only one way to avoid losing.} Rxg5 $1 27. Rd7+ Kf8 28. Rxd8+ Kf7 $11 {White has multiple choice here: take the knight, check on d7 and take the bishop, or repeat. In all three cases, the evaluation is equal, because grabbing pieces gives Black sufficient compensation after ...Rxg2 followed by the advance of the h-pawn.}) 25. Ngf6 $6 (25. Ngf2 $1 Rh8 {Best.} (25... dxe4 $6 26. Rxd8 Nxd8 27. Bxh5 gxh5 28. Nxe4 Nc6 $8 29. Rh1 Nxe5 30. Rxh4 Bb7 31. Nc5 Bxg2 32. Rxh5 $14) 26. Nd6 Nxe5 27. Nxc8+ Rxc8 28. Re1 Rf8 29. Bd1 Nf7 {Best.} (29... Nc6 $2 30. Bf3 $1 Kd6 31. Ne4+ Kc7 32. Nc5 $16 {/+-}) 30. Rxd5 Nxg5 31. Rxg5 Rxf2 32. Rxg6 $11 {The game is headed for a draw and the tournament to a playoff.}) 25... Rh8 {Black's pieces are going backward, but eventually White's pieces will stop creating threats. Once they do, he's going to be in big trouble due to the weak e5- and g5-pawns.} 26. Nxg8+ $6 (26. a4 $1 $11) 26... Rdxg8 27. Nf6 Rd8 28. Re1 (28. a4 $1) 28... h3 $2 (28... Nxe5 $17) 29. gxh3 Rxh3 (29... Nxe5 $142 $11) 30. Bg4 (30. Bd3 $11) 30... Rh4 $15 31. b3 Rdh8 32. Kb2 (32. c4 $1 $11 {Counterplay and activity - without it, White will lose.}) 32... Rh2 $15 33. Ree2 (33. Rxh2 $142 Rxh2 34. a3) 33... Rxe2 34. Rxe2 a5 35. a3 Ba6 36. Re1 b4 37. a4 $2 (37. axb4 axb4 38. Bf3 $15 Nd8 39. Ra1 $11 {is a critical point illustrating with 37.a4 was a mistake.}) 37... Nd8 $17 {/-+ The knight is headed for f7, and simple as that, everything falls apart.} 38. Be2 $2 (38. Bf3 $142 Nf7 $2 39. Bxd5 $1 $11) 38... Bxe2 39. Rxe2 Nf7 $19 {Now White has no counterplay, and soon he will have no pawns.} 40. c3 bxc3+ 41. Kxc3 Nxg5 42. b4 Rh3+ 43. Kb2 axb4 44. Rc2 Nf3 45. Ng4 Nd4 46. Rc8 Rb3+ 47. Ka2 Ra3+ 48. Kb2 Rxa4 49. Nf6 b3 (49... b3 {I would have tried} 50. Re8+ Kf7 51. Rd8 {before throwing in the towel, threatening to give perpetual check with 52.Rd7+ followed by Nh7+, Nf6+, etc. Of course it's easily met, and after} g5 {it would be time for all but the most bitter-ender to surrender.}) 0-1 [Event "85th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2023.01.29"] [Round "13.2"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Rapport, Richard"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B60"] [WhiteElo "2764"] [BlackElo "2740"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "77"] [EventDate "2023.??.??"] {[%evp 0,77,24,30,51,51,68,66,64,53,53,38,77,57,93,86,86,55,47,47,51,15,15,30,30,14,38,4,0,47,5,24,22,22,14,-24,-5,-9,25,-1,18,53,26,39,35,33,39,25,33,33,46,53,55,48,126,88,91,56,64,58,59,71,78,37,36,48,21,38,47,32,415,410,410,410,412,420,473,319,781,498]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 g6 {Dubov has had remarkable success with this extremely dubious-looking move, beating players like Carlsen, Firouzja, and Dominguez among others with it, so it's not as bad as it looks. (That said, if it's only half as bad as it looks, it's still bad.)} 7. Bxf6 exf6 8. Bb5 Bd7 9. Bc4 $5 {This two-step isn't bad, but it's not a computer idea either. Incidentally, it has been tried a fair number of times before - twice by Svidler, for instance, beating Vitiugov way back in 2007 as well as the aforementioned Dubov in 2022.} Bg7 10. Nxc6 Bxc6 11. O-O (11. Qd3 f5 12. exf5 Qg5 13. Nd5 Bxb2 14. Rb1 Qxg2 15. Rf1 Bg7 16. f6 Bf8 17. Nc7+ Kd7 18. Bd5 Bxd5 19. Nxd5 Re8+ 20. Kd1 b6 21. Rxb6 Re4 22. Rb7+ Ke6 23. f3 Rd4 24. Qxd4 Qxf1+ 25. Kd2 Qg2+ 26. Kc1 Bh6+ 27. Nf4+ Bxf4+ 28. Qxf4 Qg1+ 29. Kb2 Kd5 30. c4+ {1-0 Svidler,P (2732)-Vitiugov,N (2594) RUS-ch Superfinal 60th Moscow 2007 (6)}) 11... O-O 12. Qd3 (12. Nd5 Rc8 13. c3 b5 14. Bb3 Re8 15. Qd3 a5 16. a3 Rb8 17. Rad1 Qd7 18. Rfe1 Qa7 19. g3 Re5 20. Nf4 Rbe8 21. Bd5 Bd7 22. c4 b4 23. axb4 axb4 24. Qb3 Ba4 25. Ra1 Qxf2+ 26. Kxf2 Bxb3 27. Nd3 R5e7 28. Nxb4 f5 29. Ra3 Bd4+ 30. Kf1 Bc5 31. Rxb3 Rb8 32. Nc6 Rxb3 33. Nxe7+ Kf8 34. Nc6 Rxb2 35. Re2 Rb1+ 36. Kg2 fxe4 37. Rxe4 Rb2+ 38. Kf1 Rxh2 39. Re7 Rf2+ 40. Ke1 h5 41. Rb7 Rf6 42. Ke2 g5 43. Nd8 g4 44. Rxf7+ Rxf7 45. Nxf7 Kg7 46. Ng5 Kg6 47. Ne4 Bb4 48. Be6 Ba3 49. Kd3 Bb4 50. Kd4 Be1 51. Kd5 {1-0 Svidler,P (2683)-Dubov,D (2720) Levitov Chess 50k Lichess.org INT blitz 2022 (4)}) 12... Rc8 13. Nd5 $146 Re8 14. c3 Bd7 15. Bb5 Bc6 16. Bc4 Bd7 17. Rfe1 f5 18. Bb3 fxe4 19. Rxe4 {Black is fine here - White's advantage is minimal.} Bf5 20. Rxe8+ Qxe8 21. Qd2 Be6 22. Rd1 Qd7 23. h3 b5 24. Qf4 Rc5 25. Ne3 {From here, Rapport starts to slip.} Be5 (25... Re5 $142) 26. Qe4 Kg7 $6 (26... Bg7 $142) 27. f4 $6 (27. Bxe6 $1 fxe6 (27... Qxe6 28. f4 Bf6 29. Qxe6 fxe6 30. Rxd6 $18) 28. Ng4 Qc7 29. Qe3 $16) 27... Bf6 28. g4 h6 29. Bd5 $6 (29. Bxe6 $1 fxe6 30. h4 $1 $16 Bxh4 $4 31. Qd4+ $18 {wins the rook thanks to the pin along the d-file.}) 29... Bxd5 30. Nxd5 Rc4 31. Qf3 Qe6 32. f5 gxf5 33. Nf4 Qe5 34. Nh5+ Kg6 $4 {Had the king gone anywhere else the position would remain equal, though Black's burden is greater than White. We might have enjoyed a playoff in that case, here, Giri wins with some nice tactical shots, taking clear first in the tournament.} (34... Kf8 $11) (34... Kg8 $11) (34... Kh8 $11) (34... Kh7 $11) 35. Rxd6 $1 Kg5 (35... Qxd6 36. Qxf5#) 36. Rd5 $1 {Best.} Qe1+ 37. Kg2 Be7 38. Rxf5+ Kh4 39. Qg3+ {Not the fastest way to deliver mate, but a very effective way to win - so effective that Rapport simply resigned.} (39. Qg3+ Qxg3+ 40. Nxg3 Rc5 (40... Bg5 41. Rxf7 $18 {and the threat of Nf5+ will force Black to give up more material - and he's already down two pawns for nothing.}) 41. b4 {gives Black the choice: lose the rook, allow Rh5 mate, or surrender the bishop - all utterly hopeless options.} Rxf5 42. Nxf5+ Kg5 43. Nxe7 $18) 1-0 [Event "85th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2023.01.29"] [Round "13.3"] [White "Erigaisi, Arjun"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A50"] [WhiteElo "2722"] [BlackElo "2859"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "112"] [EventDate "2023.??.??"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 b6 3. Bg2 Bb7 4. O-O g6 {Risky, but with Black it's often necessary to take risks against a good opponent to create winning chances. (Losing chances go up too - c'est la vie.)} 5. c4 Bg7 6. d4 O-O 7. d5 Na6 {The usual move, unlike the 7...b5 he tried in a recent online event.} (7... b5 8. Qb3 c6 9. Nc3 cxd5 10. cxb5 a6 11. Nd4 e6 12. Bf4 Ne8 13. Rfd1 axb5 14. Ndxb5 Nc6 15. e4 d4 16. Nxd4 Bxd4 17. Qxb7 e5 18. Rxd4 exd4 19. Nd5 Ra7 20. Qb3 Ng7 21. h4 Ne6 22. Bd6 Re8 23. Qf3 Kg7 24. Rc1 Rxa2 25. h5 Qg5 26. h6+ Kxh6 27. Rc5 Kg7 28. Nc7 Ra1+ 29. Bf1 Nxc5 30. Nxe8+ Kg8 31. Nf6+ Kg7 32. Bf8+ Kh8 33. Nxh7 Ne5 34. Nxg5 Nxf3+ 35. Nxf3 Nxe4 36. Kg2 d6 37. Nxd4 Kg8 38. Bh6 Rb1 39. Bd3 Rd1 40. Bxe4 Rxd4 41. Bf3 Rb4 42. Bc1 Kg7 43. Kf1 Kf6 44. Ke2 Ke6 45. Kd3 d5 46. Kc3 Rc4+ 47. Kd2 Rb4 48. Kc2 Rc4+ 49. Kd1 Rb4 50. Be2 f5 51. Bd3 Rb3 52. Kc2 Rb8 53. b3 Rc8+ 54. Kd2 Rb8 55. Bc2 Ra8 56. Bb2 Ra2 57. Bd4 Ra8 58. f4 Rb8 59. Kc3 Rb7 60. b4 Rh7 61. b5 Rh3 62. Kb4 Rxg3 63. b6 Kd6 64. Ba4 Rg1 65. Be5+ Ke6 66. b7 Rb1+ 67. Bb3 Rxb3+ 68. Kxb3 Kf7 69. b8=Q g5 70. Qd6 gxf4 71. Qf6+ {1-0 Shevchenko,K (2649)-Carlsen,M (2859) MrDodgy Online Inv Finals 3rd Chess.com INT blitz 2022 (2.6)}) 8. Nc3 Nc5 9. Nd4 e5 10. Nc2 (10. Ndb5 a6 11. Na3 d6 12. b4 Ncd7 13. e4 $14) (10. Nb3) 10... a5 11. b3 d6 12. e4 (12. Na3 $146) 12... Bc8 13. Na3 $146 (13. Rb1 Bd7 14. a3 a4 15. b4 Nb3 16. Bb2 h5 17. h4 Ng4 18. f3 Nh6 19. Qd3 f5 20. Ne2 f4 21. gxf4 Qxh4 22. fxe5 dxe5 23. Qe3 Nf7 24. f4 Nd6 25. Qd3 exf4 26. Bxg7 Kxg7 27. Ncd4 Nxd4 28. Qxd4+ Kh7 29. e5 Bh3 30. exd6 Bxg2 31. Kxg2 Qg4+ 32. Kf2 Rae8 33. Rfe1 Qh4+ 34. Kf1 Qh3+ 35. Kf2 Re3 36. Ng1 Qg3+ 37. Kf1 f3 38. Qd2 f2 {0-1 Vidit,S (2707)-Rapport,R (2736) Hengshui IMSA blitz 2019 (1)}) 13... Ne8 14. Nab5 Bd7 (14... f5) 15. Rb1 f5 16. f3 f4 $15 17. a3 g5 $6 (17... a4 $1 {was better, forcing White to either wreck his queenside structure by taking on a4 or else allowing the knight into b3 after b4.}) 18. b4 Nb7 19. g4 {It may have been better to eschew this, though it's not that bad.} h5 20. h3 Rf7 21. Kf2 Bf8 22. Rg1 Rh7 23. Bf1 Nf6 24. Ke1 Qc8 25. Rb2 Nd8 26. Qd3 Nf7 27. Kd1 Be7 28. Kc2 axb4 29. axb4 hxg4 30. hxg4 {The position is still equal. Black has both open files, for the moment, but his pieces are passive. The one thing his pieces can do is crash through on g4, and that's what we'll see in a moment or two.} Ra1 31. Rb1 Rh2+ 32. Rg2 Rxg2+ 33. Bxg2 Rxb1 34. Kxb1 Nxg4 $1 35. fxg4 Bxg4 36. Bf3 Bh3 37. Bh5 g4 38. Ne2 Bf1 39. Qd1 Bg2 40. Bg6 Ng5 41. Nbc3 Bf3 42. Qf1 $2 {The position is very hard to play, and even though the players have made the time control White still doesn't have enough time to work everything out.} (42. Bf5 Qe8 43. Qe1 $11) (42. Qa4 g3 43. Bf5 $11) 42... Kg7 $17 43. Bf5 Qh8 44. Nxf4 (44. c5 {may have been better, trying desperately to open lines for a bit of counterplay.}) 44... exf4 45. Bxf4 Bf6 (45... Qh4 $142 $19) 46. Qc1 $17 Nf7 (46... Qh4) 47. Nb5 Qa8 $5 {From one end to the other.} 48. e5 $2 (48. Qa3 $8) 48... dxe5 (48... Bxe5 $142 $19) 49. Bd2 Nd6 50. Bh6+ (50. Nxc7 Qa7 51. Ne6+ Kf7 $19) 50... Kf7 51. Nxd6+ cxd6 52. Bg5 Qh8 $1 {Back again.} 53. Be3 e4 54. Bxb6 Qh2 $1 55. Bg1 Qe2 56. b5 Qd3+ (56... Qd3+ 57. Ka2 Bd1 {White is getting mated - there's no good answer to ...Qb3#.} 58. Qb1 Qxc4+ 59. Ka3 Qa4#) 0-1 [Event "85th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2023.01.29"] [Round "13.4"] [White "Praggnanandhaa, Rameshbabu"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D41"] [WhiteElo "2684"] [BlackElo "2760"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "103"] [EventDate "2023.??.??"] {[%evp 0,103,25,21,23,-3,-4,-8,6,6,44,27,55,-2,-2,15,4,5,5,20,20,-38,-47,-23,-18,-14,-14,-8,-12,5,-7,-16,-14,-12,0,0,-126,45,23,34,34,25,24,22,22,25,48,67,65,53,55,17,61,48,61,61,40,61,77,77,91,77,86,92,97,66,71,89,68,79,88,88,83,88,91,93,97,103,97,89,84,60,83,92,85,73,109,57,57,55,63,2,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c5 5. cxd5 cxd4 {So has turned this into a powerful drawing weapon the last couple of years. Pragg tries a slightly less tested approach than the usual 6.Qxd4.} 6. Qa4+ Bd7 7. Qxd4 exd5 8. Nxd5 Qa5+ 9. Nc3 Nc6 10. Qd1 Ne4 11. Bd2 Nxd2 12. Nxd2 (12. Qxd2 {has been usual, when} O-O-O $44 {looks like sufficient compensation.}) 12... Bb4 13. Rc1 $146 ({The inferior} 13. Qc1 $6 {had been played in a couple of games, back in the previous century.} Rc8 $17) 13... Bxc3 14. Rxc3 Qxa2 15. Nc4 Be6 16. e4 (16. Nd6+ Ke7 17. Nxb7 Qxb2 18. Qd6+ Kf6 $1 19. Rf3+ {looks scary, but then if there's no mate White's king isn't so brilliant either. In fact it's a draw:} Kg6 20. Rg3+ (20. Qg3+ $2 Kh5 $19 {leaves White without checks, and now Black has all sorts of threats: ...Qc1#, ...Qxb7, and ...Nb4, for instance.}) 20... Kh5 (20... Kf6 21. Qf4+ Ke7 22. Qd6+ Kf6 $11) 21. Qc5+ f5 22. e4 Qb1+ 23. Kd2 Qxe4 24. Be2+ Kh6 25. Rc1 Nd4 26. Rh3+ Kg6 27. Re3 Rhc8 28. Rxe4 Nb3+ 29. Ke3 Nxc5 30. Re5 Nxb7 31. Rxe6+ Kf7 32. Rxc8 Rxc8 33. Ra6 $11 {is an adventurous line that leads to a calm equality. White regains the pawn, 33...Ra8 34.Bf3 doesn't help Black, to put it mildly.}) 16... Rd8 (16... O-O $4 17. Ra3 $18) 17. Nd6+ Kf8 18. Qc1 $1 Qa4 $1 19. Nxb7 Qxe4+ 20. Qe3 Qxe3+ 21. fxe3 Rb8 $1 22. Nc5 Nd8 23. Bd3 g6 24. O-O Rxb2 25. Ra3 Kg7 26. Nxe6+ Nxe6 27. Rxa7 Rf8 28. Bc4 Rb6 {Black has done a fine job of maintaining equality.} 29. Bd5 g5 30. Re7 Rd6 31. Rf5 h6 32. g4 Nc5 $5 33. Rexf7+ Rxf7 34. Rxf7+ Kg6 35. Rf5 Nd7 36. Bf7+ Kg7 37. Bc4 Nf6 38. h3 Rc6 39. Bb5 Re6 40. Rf3 h5 {Despite the extra pawn, White has no real winning chances, or even real prospects of reaching rook and bishop vs. rook.} 41. gxh5 Nxh5 42. Bd7 Rf6 43. Bf5 Nf4 $1 {Not necessary, but a nice touch that makes Black's job easier.} 44. e4 Ne2+ 45. Kg2 Nd4 46. Rf2 Nxf5 47. exf5 Ra6 48. f6+ Rxf6 49. Rxf6 Kxf6 50. Kg3 Kf5 51. h4 gxh4+ 52. Kxh4 1/2-1/2 [Event "85th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2023.01.29"] [Round "13.5"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Maghsoodloo, Parham"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B92"] [WhiteElo "2735"] [BlackElo "2719"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "118"] [EventDate "2023.??.??"] {[%evp 0,118,34,23,51,66,68,58,66,35,62,35,90,61,45,61,40,51,36,24,44,24,24,29,37,10,37,34,34,13,13,1,40,15,14,29,26,56,59,33,88,-3,30,25,45,46,38,15,13,11,16,43,36,-79,-84,-100,-90,-79,-88,-88,-78,-119,-109,-101,-78,-197,-55,-110,-93,-103,-110,-96,-139,-134,-98,-169,-169,-199,-97,-122,-87,-86,-86,-94,-68,-195,-138,-138,-159,-150,-153,-160,-172,-162,-161,-171,-171,-164,-181,-190,-195,-199,-204,-200,-98,-117,-135,-120,-117,-203,-250,-209,-209,-556,-579,-646,-649,-700,-711,-692,-552]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 {Like practically every other 6th move White has tried against the Najdorf, this has gone in and out of fashion. At the moment, it is experiencing a mild flurry of popularity.} e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. Be3 Be6 9. O-O Nbd7 10. a4 Rc8 11. a5 O-O (11... Rxc3 12. bxc3 Nxe4 {is possible (not necessarily recommended).}) 12. Bf3 Ne8 $146 {To play ...Bg5, swapping off the bad bishop (and to relieve the pressure on b6).} 13. Qd2 h6 14. h3 Nef6 (14... Bg5 {Black said "A" and "B"; I don't know why he refrained from saying "C".}) 15. Rfd1 Re8 (15... Rc6) 16. Qe1 Rc6 17. Nd2 Nf8 18. Nf1 Ng6 19. Ng3 Qc8 20. Rd2 Nh4 21. Be2 Rxc3 $1 22. bxc3 d5 23. f3 Qxc3 24. Bf2 d4 25. Rdd1 Qc7 {White is not worse, but Black's position does seem easier to play for the moment.} 26. c3 $6 (26. Bd3 Bxh3 27. Bf1 Be6 28. c3 dxc3 29. Ne2 {is a very subtle tactical line, and the adventures aren't over yet.} Nxg2 $1 30. Bxg2 Rc8 31. Rac1 Bb4 32. Bb6 Qc4 33. Rc2 Nd7 34. Be3 Bxa5 {Black has five pawns for the rook, including three connected passers. White is still objectively (slightly) better, but that's almost meaningless in a practical context, given this very nonstandard position.}) 26... dxc3 $15 27. Bb6 Qc6 28. Rdc1 Rc8 29. Bd1 Nd7 $17 30. Ba4 Qc4 31. Bf2 Bb4 (31... Bg5) 32. Nf1 Ng6 $11 {/?} 33. Ne3 $2 {After this one error, White is lost. He's right to want to move the knight here, but first had to take on d7. In that case, his knight can reach d5. Now it can't - not safely - and so Black's advantages will decide.} (33. Bxd7 $142 Bxd7 34. Ne3 {followed by Nd5 keeps the game completely up for grabs.}) 33... Qc7 34. Bxd7 Qxd7 $19 35. Rcb1 Bf8 36. g3 c2 37. Rc1 Bb3 38. Qe2 Rc6 39. Kg2 Bb4 40. Rxc2 Bxc2 41. Nxc2 Bc5 42. Rb1 Bxf2 43. Qxf2 Rd6 44. Re1 Qd8 45. Ne3 Rd2 46. Re2 Rxe2 47. Qxe2 Qxa5 {White was lost; now his position is hopeless.} 48. Nd5 Qa3 49. Qd2 Ne7 50. Ne3 Nc6 51. Nf5 Nd4 52. Nxd4 exd4 53. Qxd4 Qa2+ 54. Kg1 a5 55. h4 a4 56. h5 Qb1+ 57. Kg2 Qc2+ 58. Kh3 a3 59. g4 a2 0-1 [Event "85th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2023.01.29"] [Round "13.6"] [White "Ding Liren"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C78"] [WhiteElo "2811"] [BlackElo "2766"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "37"] [EventDate "2023.??.??"] {[%evp 0,37,25,13,27,21,20,8,18,-4,5,8,18,22,22,3,41,17,37,1,6,29,44,28,25,21,12,8,15,-11,-9,-9,16,2,23,13,25,0,41,25]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 7. c3 d6 8. d4 Bb6 9. Be3 O-O 10. Nbd2 h6 11. h3 Re8 12. Re1 Rb8 13. Bc2 Bb7 14. a3 exd4 15. cxd4 Ne7 16. Nh4 Nc6 17. Nhf3 Ne7 18. Nh4 {While the game wasn't so interesting, there are some funny points of a purely academic nature. This position has arisen in previous games - one which even repeated once, as this game has so far. So does the second repetition count as a novelty? Also funny: the two games that reached this position finished with a decisive result, with both sides winning once.} Nc6 19. Nhf3 1/2-1/2 [Event "85th Tata Steel Masters"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2023.01.29"] [Round "13.7"] [White "Keymer, Vincent"] [Black "Gukesh, Dommaraju"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E51"] [WhiteElo "2696"] [BlackElo "2725"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "62"] [EventDate "2023.??.??"] {[%evp 0,62,34,17,17,0,-4,-4,11,13,27,36,28,22,22,26,36,18,38,38,43,36,55,68,94,78,74,102,91,61,71,32,47,17,17,21,21,2,9,25,15,11,30,42,43,-2,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,-11,17,-3,-9,-2,8,-22,-17,-18,-14,-9,-10]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. e3 O-O 6. Bd2 b6 7. cxd5 exd5 8. Bd3 Re8 9. O-O Bd6 10. Re1 (10. Nb5 Bf8 11. Ne5 c5 12. f4 {is another approach.}) 10... Bg4 $6 $146 (10... Bb7 11. Qc2 Na6 12. a3 c5 13. Nb5 Bf8 $11) 11. h3 Bh5 12. e4 $1 dxe4 13. Nxe4 $16 Nbd7 14. Bg5 Qc8 $6 (14... h6 $142 15. Bh4 g5 $1) 15. Bxf6 $2 (15. Qb3 $1 {Unexpectedly, this move gives White a winning advantage. Not only does White not wreck Black's pawn structure; he gives Black the chance to wreck his. And yet his extra space causes Black all sorts of problems.} Bxf3 (15... Nxe4 16. Bxe4 Rb8 17. g4 Bg6 18. Bc6 Rxe1+ 19. Rxe1 Nf6 20. Ne5 $18) 16. gxf3 h6 17. Bxf6 Nxf6 18. Nxf6+ gxf6 19. Rxe8+ Qxe8 20. Qd5 Kg7 $1 21. Kh1 Rd8 $1 22. Rg1+ Kf8 23. Qh5 Qe6 $1 {is the best Black can do, and he's still probably losing after} 24. Qxh6+ ({or} 24. b3 {followed by Bc4.}) 24... Ke7 25. Qh4 $16 {/+-}) 15... Nxf6 16. Nxf6+ gxf6 $11 {Now Black is okay, as White can't exploit Black's split kingside pawns.} 17. Be4 Rb8 18. Qd3 Bg6 19. Nh4 Qe6 20. Nxg6 hxg6 21. Qc3 Qd7 22. Qc4 Kg7 23. Bc6 Rxe1+ 24. Rxe1 Qf5 25. g3 Rh8 26. h4 Qg4 27. Re4 Qh3 28. Qf1 Qc8 ({There's nothing wrong with} 28... Qxf1+ 29. Kxf1 f5 $11) 29. Qe2 f5 30. Re8 Rxe8 31. Qxe8 Qxe8 {One more game to regret for Keymer, who was better in round 7 and winning in rounds 9, 10, 11, and now 13 - yet without converting a single one of those opportunities. (This time. Next time, it will probably be very different. Let's hope he gets a next time.)} 1/2-1/2