[Event "Aimchess Rapid"] [Site "?"] [Date "2022.10.14"] [Round "1"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E35"] [WhiteElo "2712"] [BlackElo "2902"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "89"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bh4 Nc6 8. e3 g5 9. Bg3 h5 10. h3 $6 (10. Bb5 $142) 10... Ne4 11. Bh2 Qe7 {Threatening ...Nxd4.} 12. Bb5 (12. Bd3 $1 {looks nuts, but it's the best move.}) 12... Bf5 {This looks scary, but it turns out that there's no "there" there, not yet.} 13. Qc1 $2 $146 {The move makes sense, but at the level of computer play it should be a losing move.} (13. Nge2 $1 {is hard to play at the board, but computers show that there's nothing to fear.} Nxc3 14. Bxc6+ bxc6 15. Qxf5 Ne4+ 16. Kf1 {Black's position is a little better, but it wasn't enough to win in correspondence.} h4 (16... Rh6 17. Qe5 Qxe5 18. Bxe5 h4 19. Bxc7 Rf6 20. f3 Nd2+ 21. Kf2 Ne4+ 22. Kf1 Nd2+ {½-½ (22) Peut,A (2219)-Rodriguez,K (2331) ICCF email 2018}) 17. a3 Bd6 18. Bxd6 cxd6 19. Nc3 Rh6 20. Nxe4 Qxe4 21. Qxg5 Rg6 22. Qh5 Ke7 23. Ke2 Rag8 24. Rac1 Rf6 25. Rhg1 Rf5 26. Qh6 Kd7 27. Rc3 a5 28. b3 Rg6 29. Qh8 Rgf6 30. Rf1 Qxg2 31. Qxh4 Qf3+ 32. Kd2 Qe4 {½-½ (32) Zoll,D (2263)-Beetsma,M (2238) ICCF email 2020}) 13... Rh6 $6 $17 {Logical, but it was better to castle queenside.} 14. Nge2 $8 O-O-O 15. O-O g4 $6 (15... Bxc3 {was better. Here's one spectacular variation:} 16. bxc3 g4 17. f3 gxf3 18. Rxf3 Bg4 $3 19. Rf4 Bxh3 $3 20. gxh3 Rg6+ 21. Kf1 Rdg8 22. Bd3 Qe6 23. Rf3 Rg2 24. Bf4 Na5 $1 $19 {followed by ...Nc4 is winning for Black. A beautiful if unrealistic line.}) 16. h4 $2 {Understandably trying to keep lines closed. Paradoxically, 16.f3 was the better chance.} Qxh4 $17 {/-+} 17. Bf4 Rg6 $2 $11 {/? Once again, the obvious move is a mistake.} (17... Bd6 {Probably the best of the better options.} 18. Nxd5 Bxf4 19. Ndxf4 Qe7 $17) 18. Ng3 Nxg3 19. fxg3 $11 Qf6 20. a3 Be7 21. b4 $6 (21. Qd2) (21. Bxc6) 21... h4 $17 {Carlsen is better once again.} 22. Bxc6 bxc6 23. Be5 Qg5 $4 {It makes sense to have the queen closer to White's king, but I suspect he simply blundered, overlooking that he can't recapture on h4 because the bishop hangs on f5.} (23... Qe6 $1) 24. gxh4 Qh5 25. g3 Bd3 $2 (25... Bxh4 $1 26. gxh4 g3 $1 {is very sharp, and seems to suffice for equality.}) 26. Rf2 $2 $16 (26. Rxf7 $18 Bxh4 $4 27. Rxc7+ $18) 26... Re6 27. Bf4 Bd6 $2 (27... Bc4 $16) 28. Bxd6 $18 Rdxd6 (28... cxd6 $2 29. Ne2 $1 $18) 29. Na4 Rf6 30. Qd2 $2 (30. Rf4 $1 $18) 30... Rxf2 31. Qxf2 Qg6 (31... Qh6 $11) 32. Qf4 Be4 $2 (32... Be2 $1 33. Nc5 Qc2 $11) 33. Nc5 $18 Bf3 (33... Rf6 34. Qe5 Rf3 $4 35. Qe8#) 34. Rc1 $1 {Preventing ...Qc2.} f6 35. a4 Kb8 {White's queen has no moves, and his rook and knight are stuck keeping Black's queen out. Mamedyarov finds a nice solution: move the king to the queenside, where it's safe and frees his other pieces for better tasks.} 36. Kf2 Ka8 37. Ke1 Qf7 38. Kd2 Rd8 39. Na6 Kb7 40. Nc5+ Ka8 41. b5 $1 Rd6 42. Na6 Kb7 43. Qf5 Be4 44. Qf1 c5 45. Rxc5 1-0 [Event "Aimchess Rapid"] [Site "?"] [Date "2022.10.14"] [Round "3"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D00"] [WhiteElo "2712"] [BlackElo "2737"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate "2022.10.14"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bf4 e6 4. Nb5 Na6 5. e3 Be7 6. h4 O-O 7. Nf3 c6 8. Nc3 Qb6 9. a3 $146 {Indirectly protecting the b-pawn. This trick is well-known from the Poisoned Pawn Variation in the Najdorf.} (9. Rb1 {had been played in both of the prior games, which ended in draws.} c5 10. g3 (10. a3 Bd7 11. Bd3 c4 12. Be2 Qd8 13. Ne5 Be8 14. g4 Nd7 15. Nf3 Nc7 16. g5 b5 17. h5 Nb6 18. g6 fxg6 19. hxg6 Bxg6 20. Ne5 Bd6 21. Nxg6 hxg6 22. Be5 Bxe5 23. dxe5 d4 24. Qxd4 Qxd4 25. exd4 Rf4 26. Rd1 Raf8 27. f3 Nbd5 28. Nxd5 Nxd5 29. c3 g5 30. Kf2 {½-½ (30) Cirulis,I (2239)-Mirra,T (2164) FICGS email 2020}) 10... Nb4 11. Bg2 Nh5 12. dxc5 Qxc5 13. O-O Nc6 14. Re1 h6 15. Ne2 Bd7 16. c3 Qb6 17. Ned4 Nf6 18. Nxc6 Bxc6 19. Ne5 Be8 20. Re2 Bb5 21. Rc2 Rfd8 22. g4 Nh7 23. Nf3 Nf8 24. g5 hxg5 25. hxg5 Ng6 26. Rd2 Be8 27. Ne5 f6 28. Nxg6 Bxg6 29. gxf6 Bxf6 30. Rc1 Rac8 31. Qf3 Rc4 32. Qg3 {½-½ (32) Cirulis,I (2246)-Wernikiewicz,Z (2283) LSS email 2020}) 9... c5 $1 (9... Qxb2 $4 10. Na4 $18) 10. Bxa6 $6 (10. Be2) (10. Rb1) 10... Qxa6 $6 $11 (10... bxa6 $1 $15 {/?}) 11. h5 h6 12. g4 $5 {Here he comes! Black should decline the kind offer, and defend the g5 square instead.} Nxg4 $6 {Already a first step in the wrong direction.} (12... Ne4 $142 $15) (12... Nh7 $142 $15) 13. Rg1 $14 f5 14. Ne5 cxd4 15. exd4 $11 (15. Qxd4 $142 $14) 15... Bf6 $2 (15... Qb6 $1 {was better, aiming for counterplay against b2 and potentially f2.}) 16. Rxg4 $1 $18 {Now Black is in big trouble.} fxg4 17. Qxg4 b5 {Looking to blast open some lines with ...b4, but mostly to have ...Qb7.} (17... Qd6 {was also possible, but after} 18. O-O-O $1 {White's kingside prospects should still suffice for a win.}) 18. Bxh6 Qb7 (18... Bxe5 $142 {was better, so that White's pieces can't use the e5 square. Still, White maintains a winning advantage after, say,} 19. dxe5 Qb7 20. O-O-O Rb8 21. Ne2 b4 22. axb4 Rxf2 23. Be3 $18) 19. O-O-O (19. Bf4 $1) 19... a5 $2 {Dreaming of counterplay.} (19... Bxe5 $142) 20. Nxb5 $1 {Exploiting the overloaded queen.} Qxb5 21. Bxg7 {The point.} Bxg7 22. h6 Ra7 23. Rh1 $1 {This is probably what Giri missed when he played 19...a5. The threat is 24.h7+ followed by 25.Ng6#.} Rxf2 24. h7+ Kf8 (24... Kh8 25. Ng6#) 25. Qxg7+ $5 ({The routine} 25. h8=Q+ {also wins.}) 25... Rxg7 26. h8=Q+ Rg8 (26... Ke7 27. Qxg7+ Kd6 28. Nd3 $1 {wins easily, with most moves met by 29.Rh7 or 29.Rh8.}) 27. Ng6+ $1 Ke8 (27... Kf7 28. Rh7+ Kxg6 29. Qxg8+ Kf5 30. Rf7+ Ke4 31. Qg4+ Ke3 32. Qg3+ Kxd4 33. Qxf2+ Kc4 34. Rf4+ d4 35. Qxd4#) 28. Qxg8+ Kd7 {Many moves look tempting, but Mamedyarov finds the cleanest way.} 29. Ne5+ $1 Kd6 30. Nd3 $1 {This puts an end to Black's desperate dreams of counterplay with ...Rf1+, and the double attack against f2 and c8 means White is winning a piece (to go along with his extra pawn and attacking prospects). A great game by Mamedyarov!} 1-0