[Event "45th Olympiad 2024"] [Site "Budapest HUN"] [Date "2024.09.11"] [Round "1.1"] [Board "1"] [White "Sanchez Alvarez, Roberto Carlos"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E54"] [WhiteElo "2376"] [BlackElo "2752"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "81"] [GameId "2088898226107393"] [EventDate "2024.09.11"] [WhiteTeam "Panama"] [BlackTeam "United States of America"] [WhiteTeamCountry "PAN"] {[%evp 0,81,25,26,18,-17,3,2,30,20,23,19,25,20,27,20,18,23,40,30,33,34,44,-37,-37,-31,23,-69,-48,-49,-20,-23,-12,1,13,-3,1,1,-3,5,-10,-10,18,0,11,0,0,-35,-31,-38,-34,-37,-36,-13,-11,-17,-13,-10,-10,0,-3,-11,-5,-9,-11,-22,-12,-10,-3,0,-4,0,0,0,-4,0,0,0,0,-39,20,3,10,-1]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nf3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 c5 8. O-O Nc6 9. a3 Ba5 10. Qd3 a6 11. Rd1 (11. dxc5 {is best and, ironically enough, a better way to play for a draw, too.} Qxd3 12. Bxd3 Bxc3 13. bxc3 Na5 $11 (13... Nd7 $6 {is sometimes played here, but it's not very good at all.} 14. a4 Nxc5 15. Bc2 $14 {followed by 16.Ba3, with a pleasant edge.})) 11... b5 $15 12. Ba2 Bb7 $6 (12... c4 $142 $15) 13. Qe2 (13. dxc5 $1 Bxc3 14. Qc2 $1 {had to be seen. It might help that it has been played in more than a dozen prior games, and by such past luminaries as Najdorf, Gligoric, Portisch (twice), and Reshevsky.}) 13... cxd4 14. exd4 Bxc3 $146 15. bxc3 Ne7 16. c4 bxc4 17. Bxc4 $11 {Black has an isolated pawn to work against and good control over d5; White has the bishop pair and no other problems besides the d-pawn. It's equal.} Ng6 18. Ne5 Ne4 19. Nxg6 (19. Qe1) 19... hxg6 20. Bb2 Re8 21. Rac1 Qb6 22. f3 Nd6 23. Kh1 Rab8 (23... a5) 24. Bc3 Nxc4 25. Qxc4 {Black has eliminated White's bishop pair, but at the cost of an opposite-colored bishops situation. Every major piece trade brings White closer to the halfway-promised land.} Rec8 26. Qe2 Bd5 27. Qd2 Qb3 28. Bb4 a5 29. Bd6 Ra8 30. h3 f6 31. Kh2 g5 32. Rxc8+ Rxc8 33. Rc1 Rd8 34. Bc7 Ra8 35. Bd6 Qb6 36. Bc7 Qb7 37. Rc3 a4 38. Qc1 Rc8 39. Bd6 Bc6 40. Bg3 Bd7 41. Rxc8+ {There's just nothing for So to try.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "45th Olympiad 2024"] [Site "Budapest HUN"] [Date "2024.09.11"] [Round "1.1"] [Board "2"] [White "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"] [Black "Delgado Rosas, Alex Antonio"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C42"] [WhiteElo "2748"] [BlackElo "2157"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "65"] [GameId "2088898226115586"] [EventDate "2024.09.11"] [WhiteTeam "United States of America"] [BlackTeam "Panama"] [BlackTeamCountry "PAN"] {[%evp 0,65,25,17,25,25,38,25,41,44,21,-11,-3,-28,35,20,50,50,70,44,56,-36,18,-8,30,-31,-34,-34,-16,-16,47,9,78,55,24,7,62,59,64,86,145,98,98,100,160,149,141,140,194,193,216,216,209,223,297,314,294,315,328,250,287,204,250,227,461,416,475,492]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Bd6 7. O-O O-O 8. c4 c6 9. Re1 Bf5 10. Ng5 {This little-known move is a good choice: it keeps chances for an edge while (probably) taking the opponent out of prep and saving the "good stuff" for a higher-rated opponent later in the event.} (10. Qb3 {is the main move and it's gotten a workout lately, most famously in Nakamura-Nepomniachtchi from this year's Candidates.}) 10... Nd7 $146 (10... Re8 {is usual and best.}) 11. cxd5 cxd5 12. Qf3 Bg6 13. Nxe4 dxe4 14. Bxe4 Re8 $2 {Natural and wrong.} (14... Qc7 $1 15. h3 Rfe8 {was best, with just about enough for the pawn.}) 15. Nc3 $16 Qb6 16. Rd1 Nf6 17. Bxg6 hxg6 18. g3 Rad8 19. Bg5 Bb4 $6 20. Bxf6 Qxf6 21. Qxb7 $18 {Two extra pawns is (at least) one too many for Black to cope with.} Rb8 22. Qxa7 {Make it three pawns.} Bxc3 23. bxc3 Rb2 24. Rf1 Ree2 25. Qa8+ Kh7 26. Qg2 g5 (26... Rxa2 27. Rxa2 Rxa2 28. Qe4 $18 {will be an easy technical win.}) 27. a4 g6 28. a5 Qa6 29. Qf3 Kg7 30. Rae1 Red2 (30... Rxe1 31. Rxe1 Qxa5 32. Re7 Qf5 (32... Qa2 $6 33. d5) 33. Qxf5 gxf5 34. Kg2 $18 {is a super-easy win.}) 31. Re7 Qc4 32. a6 Rd3 33. Rxf7+ $1 (33. Rxf7+ Qxf7 34. Qxd3 $18 {Four extra pawns should be enough.}) 1-0 [Event "45th Olympiad 2024"] [Site "Budapest HUN"] [Date "2024.09.11"] [Round "1.1"] [Board "3"] [White "Mendez Machado, Andre"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B30"] [WhiteElo "2122"] [BlackElo "2729"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "90"] [GameId "2088898226119683"] [EventDate "2024.09.11"] [WhiteTeam "Panama"] [BlackTeam "United States of America"] [WhiteTeamCountry "PAN"] {[%evp 0,90,18,25,51,50,50,33,64,53,79,56,90,39,30,33,20,28,60,41,48,35,63,62,63,21,159,230,269,269,286,275,278,246,259,224,234,227,219,224,213,198,238,238,270,297,314,243,267,305,270,266,80,0,-11,0,0,0,0,0,14,12,22,8,0,-23,-25,-59,-47,-55,-57,-57,-46,-37,-10,-31,-16,-20,-20,-14,18,-75,-89,-75,-86,-548,-565,-577,-596,-1979,-1979,-29983,-29992]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 {This has a poor reputation, but it has experienced something of a resurgence this year, being played repeatedly by Caruana and Andreikin.} 4. Nc3 g6 (4... Nd4) (4... Qc7) 5. e5 Nh5 6. Bxc6 (6. O-O) 6... dxc6 7. O-O (7. h3) 7... Ng7 {It looks terrible, but it's just passing through on the way to e6 and then (usually) d4.} 8. d3 h6 $6 $146 (8... Ne6) 9. Ne4 (9. a4 $1 $16) 9... b6 10. Re1 (10. a4 $142) (10. b3 $142) 10... Nf5 $6 (10... Ne6 $142 $14) 11. c3 $16 g5 $6 12. Qa4 $1 $16 {/+- Suddenly Black is in serious trouble.} Qc7 $4 {Yes, a blunder. Despite the 600 point rating difference, White is strong enough to take advantage of this error.} 13. g4 $1 Qb7 (13... Ng7 14. Nd6+ $18 {is the point, with devastation in Black's camp.}) 14. gxf5 Bxf5 {White is up a piece for just one pawn, and enjoys the better position to boot. Unfortunately for him, he doesn't manage to reel in the full point, or even half a point. I'l leave you to work out the sadness for yourself.} 15. d4 Bg4 16. Nfd2 cxd4 17. Nb3 O-O-O 18. cxd4 Kb8 19. Bd2 Bd7 20. Qa3 Bf5 21. Rac1 e6 22. Qa4 Rc8 23. Rc3 Ka8 24. Ng3 Bh3 25. Nf1 b5 26. Na5 bxa4 27. Nxb7 Bxf1 28. Kxf1 Kxb7 29. Rc4 Be7 30. Rxa4 Rhd8 31. Be3 c5 32. dxc5 Bxc5 33. Re4 Bb6 34. Bxb6 axb6 35. R1e2 Rd1+ 36. Kg2 h5 37. f4 g4 38. Kg3 Rg8 39. R4e3 Rf1 40. Rf2 h4+ 41. Kg2 Rd1 42. Ree2 h3+ 43. Kg3 Rg1+ 44. Kh4 g3 45. hxg3 R1xg3 0-1 [Event "45th Olympiad 2024"] [Site "Budapest HUN"] [Date "2024.09.11"] [Round "1.1"] [Board "4"] [White "Robson, Ray"] [Black "Baules Rodriguez, Jorge Luis"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B78"] [WhiteElo "2700"] [BlackElo "2271"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "63"] [GameId "2088898226123780"] [EventDate "2024.09.11"] [WhiteTeam "United States of America"] [BlackTeam "Panama"] [BlackTeamCountry "PAN"] {[%evp 0,63,25,25,53,48,67,58,67,26,35,42,84,80,58,49,38,34,34,11,49,7,33,-1,14,21,27,48,48,40,40,46,42,56,69,114,114,87,101,110,165,125,147,86,165,143,46,143,133,133,202,198,208,89,299,234,411,381,382,279,229,208,1505,1725,2064,2342]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nc6 9. Bc4 Bd7 10. O-O-O Rc8 11. Be2 $5 {Carlsen played this interesting retreat once (in a loss to MVL) and some other GMs have tried it as well, including Yu Yangyi and - multiple times - both Savchenko and Paravyan.} (11. Bb3 {is by far and away the most popular move, keeping control over d5 and an eye on f7.}) 11... Nxd4 (11... a6 {is probably best, preparing ...b5.}) 12. Bxd4 Qa5 13. Kb1 Rfe8 $146 (13... Be6 14. a3 a6 15. g4 b5 16. g5 Nd7 17. Nd5 Qd8 18. Bxg7 Kxg7 19. Qd4+ Kg8 20. Ne3 Qb6 21. f4 Qxd4 22. Rxd4 f6 23. f5 gxf5 24. exf5 Bf7 25. h4 Rc5 26. Rg1 fxg5 27. hxg5 Re5 28. Rg3 Nc5 29. Bd3 Be8 30. Rd5 Nxd3 31. cxd3 Bd7 32. Rxe5 dxe5 33. Rf3 Kg7 34. Kc2 h6 35. gxh6+ Kxh6 36. Kd2 Kg5 37. Rg3+ Kf4 38. Rg4+ Kf3 39. Rg7 Bxf5 40. Rxe7 Bxd3 41. Kxd3 Rd8+ 42. Kc3 Rc8+ 43. Kd3 Rd8+ 44. Kc3 Rc8+ 45. Kb4 Kxe3 46. Rxe5+ Kd4 47. Rh5 Rc4+ 48. Kb3 Rc5 49. Rh4+ Kd5 50. Kb4 Rc2 51. b3 Kc6 52. Ka5 Ra2 53. Rh6+ Kc7 54. Rh7+ Kc6 55. a4 bxa4 56. bxa4 Ra1 57. Rg7 Ra2 58. Rg6+ Kc7 59. Rxa6 Rb2 60. Rh6 Rc2 61. Rh7+ Kb8 62. Kb6 Rb2+ 63. Ka6 Rb1 64. a5 Rb2 65. Rh8+ Kc7 66. Ka7 Rb5 67. a6 Rb1 68. Rh2 Rb3 69. Rc2+ Kd7 70. Rc5 Rb1 71. Ka8 Rb2 72. Rh5 Kc8 73. Rh8+ Kc7 74. Rh7+ Kc8 75. Rg7 Rb8+ 76. Ka7 Rb1 77. Rb7 Ra1 78. Rb6 Kc7 79. Rb7+ Kc8 80. Rb5 Rc1 81. Rb6 Rc2 82. Ka8 Kc7 83. Rh6 Rb2 84. Rh8 Rb1 85. Ka7 Rb2 86. Rh1 Rb3 87. Rh7+ Kc8 88. Rb7 Ra3 89. Rb4 Rc3 90. Rb5 Kc7 91. Rb2 Rc1 92. Rb7+ Kc8 93. Rb4 Kc7 94. Ka8 Ra1 95. Rb7+ Kc8 96. Rb6 Kc7 97. Ka7 Rc1 98. Rb2 Rc3 99. Rb7+ Kc8 100. Rb2 Kc7 101. Rb5 Rc1 102. Rh5 Rb1 103. Rh8 Rb2 104. Rh1 Rb3 105. Rc1+ Kd7 106. Rc5 Rb2 107. Rc4 Rb1 108. Rc3 Rb2 109. Ka8 Rb1 110. Rh3 Kc7 111. Rh7+ Kc8 112. Rb7 Rc1 113. Ka7 Rc2 114. Kb6 Rb2+ 115. Ka7 Rc2 116. Rh7 Rb2 117. Rh8+ {½-½ Yu,Y (2709)-Can,E (2600) PRO League Stage Chess.com INT rapid 2020 (6)}) (13... Rfd8 14. g4 Be6 15. h4 Rxc3 16. Qxc3 Qxa2+ 17. Kc1 Qa1+ 18. Kd2 Qa4 19. Ke1 Rc8 20. b3 Rxc3 21. bxa4 Rxc2 22. Kf2 Ra2 23. g5 Nh5 24. Bxg7 Nf4 25. Ke3 Ng2+ 26. Kd3 Nf4+ 27. Ke3 Ng2+ {½-½ Savchenko,B (2642)-Gochelashvili,D (2420) Voronezh op-A 14th 2010 (7)}) 14. g4 $16 Be6 15. a3 a6 16. h4 b5 17. h5 $18 b4 18. axb4 (18. Na2 $142 $1 $18) 18... Qxb4 19. Nd5 Qa4 $6 (19... Qxd2 20. Rxd2 Bxd5 21. exd5 $16 {/+- is wonderful for White, but relatively speaking Black is better here than after other 19th moves.}) 20. b3 Qa3 21. hxg6 hxg6 22. g5 Nh5 23. Bxg7 Kxg7 24. f4 {Black is in trouble whether the knight stays on h5 or not.} Bxd5 (24... Ng3 25. Qd4+ f6 26. gxf6+ Kf7 27. Rh7+ Kg8 28. Rg7+ Kh8 29. Rxg6 $18 {A speedy mate is on the way.}) 25. exd5 Rh8 26. Bg4 (26. f5 $142) 26... Rcd8 27. Qd4+ Kg8 28. f5 Qc5 29. Qb2 {Black's king is terribly weak; there's no incentive for White not to play for mate.} Rh7 30. fxg6 fxg6 31. Be6+ Kf8 32. Rdf1+ 1-0 [Event "45th Olympiad 2024"] [Site "Budapest HUN"] [Date "2024.09.11"] [Round "1.7"] [Board "1"] [White "Christiansen, Johan-Sebastian"] [Black "Lee, Junhyeok"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B94"] [WhiteElo "2661"] [BlackElo "2364"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "53"] [GameId "2088898226385926"] [EventDate "2024.09.11"] [WhiteTeam "Norway"] [BlackTeam "South Korea"] [WhiteTeamCountry "NOR"] {[%evp 0,53,25,25,48,48,62,48,48,27,42,42,75,62,69,82,56,29,45,6,27,-2,38,-90,75,-86,-52,-53,185,182,164,223,223,205,205,145,388,347,245,245,257,479,603,295,295,295,549,822,1016,1016,1034,1038,1021,928,29997,29998]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 {No subtlety about this move: this is as go-for-the-throat as possible in the Najdorf. (Or rather, against it.)} Nbd7 (6... e6 {is the classic main line, and it remains Black's top choice to the present day.}) 7. Bc4 e6 (7... Qb6 8. Bb3 e6 {is more popular.}) 8. Qe2 b5 9. Bb3 Qc7 10. O-O-O b4 $146 {This happened a grand total of zero times out of 15 opportunities. White's next move is obvious, but apparently Lee didn't think it was real.} 11. Nd5 exd5 12. exd5+ Be7 13. Rde1 $2 {White miscalculated something, but the net result is in his favor after Black makes an even bigger mistake.} (13. Nc6 $142 Ne5 14. Nxe5 dxe5 15. d6 Bxd6 16. Bxf6 gxf6 17. Qf3 $44 {White is a full piece down, and enjoys full compensation for it.}) 13... O-O $4 (13... Ne5 14. f4 Ng6 15. Bxf6 gxf6 16. Nc6 (16. g4) (16. Ba4+) 16... Bb7 $19 {leaves White a piece down without much compensation.}) 14. Qxe7 Re8 15. Qxe8+ {Of course.} Nxe8 16. Rxe8+ Nf8 17. Rhe1 $1 $18 ({Perhaps Lee only saw} 17. Be7 $4 Bb7 $17 {, correctly assessing that he is much better here.}) (17. Ne6 $1 {is also great.}) 17... Bb7 18. Rxa8 Bxa8 19. Re8 h6 20. Ne6 $1 (20. Be7 {is okay this time (compare the note to White's 17th move), but the text is even better.}) 20... Qb7 (20... fxe6 21. dxe6 Kh7 22. e7 $18 {and when the knight moves away White plays 23.Rh8+ and promotes on e8, winning easily.}) 21. Rxf8+ (21. Be3 $1) 21... Kh7 22. Bc4 $1 {Finishing in style.} Kg6 (22... hxg5 23. Bd3+ g6 (23... Kh6 24. Rh8#) 24. Rxf7+ $1 Qxf7 25. Nxg5+ Kg7 26. Nxf7 Kxf7 27. Bxa6 Bxd5 28. g3 $18) 23. Bd3+ $1 Kh5 24. Be2+ Kg6 25. Bd3+ Kh5 26. h3 {Threatening 27.g4#.} fxe6 27. f4 $1 {This time there's no stopping g4# on the next move. A fun and (mostly) correct game by Christiansen.} 1-0