[Event "German Chess Bundesliga 2023-2024"] [Site "?"] [Date "2024.02.23"] [Round "9"] [White "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Black "Abasov, Nijat"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B30"] [WhiteElo "2748"] [BlackElo "2641"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "93"] [EventDate "2024.??.??"] {[%evp 0,93,18,39,48,41,41,23,44,50,57,18,40,25,25,5,3,-3,5,27,51,41,43,18,49,45,45,36,28,8,14,15,24,0,0,-31,44,38,14,14,9,-24,-21,-20,-1,-29,-6,-7,-7,-16,19,24,32,32,38,46,28,28,55,83,116,69,63,63,72,72,85,85,81,81,134,116,123,124,122,120,143,104,104,49,159,144,176,160,250,225,508,454,606,629,679,667,645,696,555,1146] Anand may not be bothering with the world championship cycle any longer, but the old lion still has teeth. Here he defeats 2024 Candidate Abasov, which also put him back in the world's top 10 and as the top Indian player. (At least for a few days. Praggnanandhaa's first round win in Prague let him leapfrog Anand for the #1 spot in India while kicking the five-time World Champion out of the top 10 as well.)} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 e6 4. O-O Nge7 5. Re1 b6 6. c3 a6 7. Be2 d5 8. exd5 Nxd5 9. d4 Be7 10. dxc5 bxc5 11. c4 Nf6 12. Qxd8+ Bxd8 13. Nc3 Nd4 14. Nxd4 cxd4 15. Bf3 Ra7 16. Na4 Ba5 17. Re2 Bd7 18. Nc5 Rc7 19. Re5 Bb6 20. Nxa6 Rxc4 21. b3 Rc3 22. Bd2 Rc2 23. Ba5 Bxa5 24. Rxa5 Ke7 25. Nb4 Rc3 26. Rd1 Rb8 27. Nd3 Rb5 28. Ra7 g5 29. h3 Kd6 30. b4 h5 31. a4 Rb8 32. b5 g4 33. hxg4 hxg4 34. Be2 Be8 35. Ra6+ Kd5 36. f3 g3 37. Bf1 Nh5 38. Nb4+ Ke5 39. Re1+ Kf5 40. Rd6 Ra8 41. Na6 e5 42. b6 Rb3 43. Nc5 Re3 44. Rxe3 dxe3 45. b7 Rb8 46. a5 Nf4 47. Ne4 1-0 [Event "German Chess Bundesliga 2023-2024"] [Site "?"] [Date "2024.02.24"] [Round "10"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C47"] [WhiteElo "2788"] [BlackElo "2748"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "109"] [EventDate "2024.??.??"] {[%evp 0,109,15,27,33,18,13,16,8,6,6,6,6,-3,-12,20,22,13,6,9,9,5,5,-4,1,4,25,14,9,13,11,11,16,-5,42,34,34,34,53,39,85,92,94,60,110,82,88,93,97,89,96,87,81,57,103,52,94,56,60,60,53,51,59,63,64,63,111,98,98,100,93,116,138,138,133,133,162,191,200,243,190,190,191,186,210,216,283,191,178,77,70,58,58,58,58,58,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0] Nakamura makes Anand sweat, but extremely precise defense by Anand saves the draw.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Bb4 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bd3 O-O 8. O-O d5 9. exd5 cxd5 10. h3 c6 11. Qf3 Bd6 12. Re1 Nd7 13. Bf4 Nc5 14. Rad1 Rb8 15. b3 Qf6 16. Ne2 a5 17. Bxd6 Qxd6 18. c4 Nxd3 19. Qxd3 a4 20. bxa4 Ba6 21. Qc3 Qb4 22. cxd5 Bxe2 23. Qxb4 Rxb4 24. Rxe2 cxd5 25. Rxd5 Rxa4 26. Red2 h5 27. Kf1 Rfa8 28. Rd8+ Rxd8 29. Rxd8+ Kh7 30. Rd2 h4 31. Ke2 g5 32. Kd3 g4 33. hxg4 Rxg4 34. f3 Ra4 35. Kc3 h3 36. gxh3 Ra3+ 37. Kc4 Rxf3 38. Rd3 Rf1 39. a4 Ra1 40. Kb5 f5 41. Rd4 Rf1 42. a5 f4 43. Rb4 f3 44. Rb3 Kg6 45. a6 Kg5 46. Kb6 Kf4 47. h4 Ra1 48. Rb2 Kg4 49. Rb4+ Kg3 50. Rb3 Kg4 51. Rxf3 Kxf3 52. a7 Kg4 53. Kb7 Kxh4 54. a8=R Rxa8 55. Kxa8 1/2-1/2 [Event "German Chess Bundesliga 2023-2024"] [Site "?"] [Date "2024.02.25"] [Round "11"] [White "Abasov, Nijat"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D30"] [WhiteElo "2641"] [BlackElo "2788"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "138"] [EventDate "2024.??.??"] {[%evp 0,138,40,13,18,-3,-1,4,13,17,26,26,25,11,20,-3,10,10,56,21,68,77,92,87,93,96,122,128,120,114,114,114,138,108,124,93,110,81,76,104,85,92,86,109,98,85,111,109,112,106,99,97,102,91,103,105,105,110,108,48,105,45,52,34,38,32,40,40,33,31,45,32,30,30,19,34,59,-93,-98,-94,-66,-107,-107,-112,-103,-100,-108,-115,-115,-97,-107,-111,-55,-35,-50,-51,-2,0,0,-10,-35,-11,-16,0,0,-179,-107,-131,-198,-223,-289,-295,-285,-401,-272,-272,-276,-368,-343,-349,-372,-372,-350,-369,-282,-282,-332,-332,-235,-241,-241,-241,-241,-241,-278,-278,-301,-314,-313,-313,-314] Two Candidates face off in a wild game. Abasov gets in trouble, but almost saves the game with a brilliant defensive effort.} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 a6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. Bxe7 Qxe7 6. Nbd2 Nf6 7. g3 c5 8. dxc5 O-O 9. Bg2 d4 10. Nxd4 Rd8 11. N4b3 a5 12. a4 Nfd7 13. O-O Nxc5 14. Nxc5 Qxc5 15. Ne4 Qc7 16. Qc2 Na6 17. Rfd1 Bd7 18. Ng5 f5 19. e4 h6 20. Nf3 fxe4 21. Qxe4 Nc5 22. Qc2 Bc6 23. Re1 Bxf3 24. Bxf3 Rd4 25. Rad1 Rad8 26. Rxd4 Rxd4 27. Re3 Qd7 28. Bh5 Rd3 29. Qe2 b6 30. Bg6 Rxe3 31. Qxe3 Qd1+ 32. Kg2 Qg4 33. Bd3 Qd1 34. Be2 Qxa4 35. Qe5 Kh7 36. Qd6 Qb3 37. Qd2 e5 38. Bg4 Qxc4 39. Bf5+ g6 40. Bb1 Qd4 41. Qe2 e4 42. h4 h5 43. f3 e3 44. f4 Qd2 45. Kf3 Nb3 46. Qxe3 Nd4+ 47. Ke4 Qxb2 48. Kd5 Nf5 49. Bxf5 Qb5+ 50. Kd6 Qxf5 51. Qe7+ Kg8 52. Qe5 Qf8+ 53. Kc6 Qc5+ 54. Kd7 a4 55. g4 hxg4 56. h5 Qf8 57. hxg6 Qg7+ 58. Kd8 Qxg6 59. f5 Qg5+ 60. Ke8 g3 61. Qe6+ Kh7 62. f6 g2 63. f7 Qb5+ 64. Kd8 g1=Q 65. f8=Q Qd4+ 66. Kc7 Qbc5+ 67. Qxc5 Qxc5+ 68. Kb7 a3 69. Qf6 b5 0-1 [Event "6th Prague Masters 2024"] [Site "Prague CZE"] [Date "2024.02.27"] [Round "1.1"] [White "Bartel, Mateusz"] [Black "Maghsoodloo, Parham"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B51"] [WhiteElo "2660"] [BlackElo "2715"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "68"] [EventDate "2024.02.27"] {[%evp 0,68,26,42,52,41,83,50,66,69,69,69,59,52,90,75,58,42,32,-14,-14,-21,-14,30,32,3,5,-25,-2,-27,-14,-53,-43,-43,-41,-45,-46,-62,-48,-54,-46,-46,-47,-69,-29,-30,-3,-46,-46,-46,-58,-65,-58,-94,-125,-161,-160,-110,-126,-126,-151,-130,-105,-226,-184,-295,-388,-450,-450,-450,-502]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 4. d4 cxd4 5. Qxd4 e5 6. Qd3 h6 7. Nc3 Ngf6 8. O-O a6 9. Bxd7+ Bxd7 10. Nd2 b5 11. a4 Rb8 12. Rd1 (12. axb5 axb5 $11) 12... Qc7 $146 (12... Be7 13. axb5 axb5 $11) 13. Nf1 $6 (13. axb5 axb5 14. b4 Be7 15. Nf1 O-O 16. Ne3 {White doesn't have anything tangible yet, but he's the one pressing for an advantage.}) 13... b4 {White had multiple opportunities to swap on b5; now he's going to regret not taking any of them.} 14. Nd5 Nxd5 15. exd5 (15. Qxd5 $142 Qxc2 (15... Bg4 $142) 16. Ne3 Qc6 17. Qd3 $44 {White's knight will be wonderful on d5 (or on c4 in a pinch).}) 15... a5 (15... Be7 $5 16. Qxa6 f5 $15) 16. Ne3 (16. f4) 16... Be7 17. b3 $2 {The c2 and c3 squares are going to be a problem. Also a problem: Black's bishop pair. Also also a problem: the coming ...f5 advance. With White frozen on the queenside, it's going to be one-way traffic.} (17. Nc4 O-O (17... Bf6 18. b3) 18. Nxe5) 17... O-O $17 18. Bb2 Bg5 19. Nc4 Bc8 {Heading for a6.} ({There was nothing wrong with going straight for the kill with} 19... f5) 20. c3 Ba6 21. cxb4 axb4 22. g3 f5 $19 23. h4 Bd8 24. Rac1 Qe7 (24... f4 {was fine (better), as} 25. Nxe5 {isn't a real threat:} Bxd3 26. Rxc7 Bxc7 27. Nxd3 fxg3 28. fxg3 Rf5 29. Nf4 g5 30. Ne6 Bb6+ 31. Kh1 Rf2 32. Bd4 Bxd4 33. Nxd4 gxh4 34. gxh4 Kh7 $19) 25. Re1 (25. f4 $142 {was better, and while it's not good enough to save White (assuming good play from Black) it might make him regret not playing ...f4 when he had the chance.}) 25... f4 {Now the proverbial end is nigh.} 26. Kg2 Bb6 27. Rc2 Qf6 28. Qf3 Rbc8 29. Re4 Qg6 $1 30. g4 Rc5 $1 31. h5 Qg5 32. Qd1 {Hoping to play f3, and threatening to take on d6. Of course, Black is not going to allow the former move, which would (mostly) lock up the kingside.} f3+ 33. Kg1 Rf4 34. Rxf4 Qxf4 {The g-pawn falls, either immediately or in a few moves (in case of Ne3), and if White takes on d6 it's 35...Qxg4+ and 36...Qg2#.} 0-1 [Event "6th Prague Masters 2024"] [Site "Prague CZE"] [Date "2024.02.27"] [Round "1.2"] [White "Gukesh, D."] [Black "Rapport, Richard"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B67"] [WhiteElo "2743"] [BlackElo "2717"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "79"] [EventDate "2024.02.27"] {[%evp 0,79,19,25,48,46,76,67,67,49,49,39,38,40,33,26,39,41,25,24,24,24,18,32,31,36,45,27,57,23,50,25,89,56,72,18,88,87,98,66,66,45,46,58,32,13,24,19,24,13,18,-71,-4,-33,25,-55,30,50,64,85,88,85,97,67,77,72,96,92,77,73,73,65,53,60,60,60,82,57,55,39,35,21]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 Bd7 7. Qd2 a6 8. O-O-O e6 9. f3 Nxd4 10. Qxd4 Be7 11. Kb1 Qc7 12. Qd2 b5 13. h4 b4 14. Ne2 a5 15. c4 {Still theory, with several super-GM games in the database. Rapport's next move is rare, but it's Stockfish's top choice, ergo...} e5 16. Ng3 $146 {New, but again, Stockfish's top choice.} h6 {I didn't watch much of the games, but I turned on a live stream on YouTube for a couple of minutes to see Sagar Shah going insane wondering why Gukesh didn't take on f6 and then on d6. (Black's recapturing with the g-pawn is positionally undesirable.) My tolerance for hearing his hypercaffeinated anguish ran out after a minute or two, but it's a reasonable question. Such sacs are common in the Classical Sicilian, but that doesn't mean that the pawn is inedible.} 17. Be3 (17. Bxf6 Bxf6 18. Qxd6 Qxd6 19. Rxd6 Ke7 $44 {is fine for Black (and for White). Black's unopposed bishop is excellent - h4-h5 lets the bishop park itself on g5 - while White's light-squared bishop is unhappy. Another point in favor of the adequacy of Rapport's approach is that if White's knight makes it to d5 Black can often snap it off, aiming to draw with the opposite-colored bishops. (Though that's not an ironclad guarantee - see the next game, between Abdusattorov and Nguyen.)}) 17... h5 (17... O-O $142) 18. Be2 (18. Nf5 $142 $14) 18... g6 19. Nf1 Be6 (19... Rc8 $142 $11) 20. Bf2 $14 Qb7 21. Ne3 O-O 22. Bd3 Rfc8 23. Nd5 (23. g4 {is worth considering; indeed, Gukesh comes back to this in a couple of moves.}) 23... Bxd5 24. exd5 Bf8 25. g4 {Here we go.} b3 $2 (25... a4) 26. a3 e4 27. Bd4 $1 $16 {A great move Rapport may have missed. Now Black is in trouble.} exd3 28. Bxf6 Qa6 $2 {A mistake, but fortunately for him Gukesh also missed the problem with the move.} (28... Rxc4 29. Qxd3 $16) 29. gxh5 Qxc4 30. Qxd3 $2 {Now Black is fine.} (30. Ka1 $1 $18 {sidesteps ...Qc2+ and therefore keeps the queens on the board. Black has no queenside breakthrough; the same cannot be said of the progress White will make on the kingside. White is clearly winning.}) 30... Qc2+ $11 31. Ka1 Qxd3 32. Rxd3 a4 33. Rg1 Rc4 34. Bc3 Rxh4 35. hxg6 fxg6 36. Rxg6+ Kh7 37. Rg1 Bh6 38. Re1 Rf8 39. Re7+ Kg8 40. Re1 {With his terrible king White has no chance to play for a win.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "6th Prague Masters 2024"] [Site "Prague CZE"] [Date "2024.02.27"] [Round "1.3"] [White "Abdusattorov, Nodirbek"] [Black "Nguyen, Thai Dai Van"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E04"] [WhiteElo "2744"] [BlackElo "2630"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "2024.02.27"] {[%evp 0,81,37,29,19,-16,-4,-11,16,-29,-19,-29,-7,-37,-37,6,26,31,18,13,6,9,-5,9,-12,-22,0,11,27,-10,-10,-10,27,9,31,38,21,23,21,27,21,28,37,37,72,64,70,65,82,59,60,79,69,67,71,68,60,61,71,47,49,53,53,53,48,63,62,69,60,61,65,74,87,79,83,68,75,64,92,90,115,114,111,103]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 Bb4+ 6. Nbd2 b5 7. O-O Bb7 8. Nxc4 {An enjoyable move to make at the board. It's not a novelty, though - this has been around since 2005.} bxc4 9. Qa4+ Nc6 10. Qb5 {Played once before, in a *very* short email game.} (10. Ne5 {also regains the piece, and has been tried in a couple of GM games (both drawn).}) 10... Rb8 11. Ne5 O-O 12. Nxc6 Bxc6 13. Qxc6 Qxd4 $11 {The correspondence game ended here and is given as 0-1, which often indicates that the player with White withdrew from the event (possibly due to illness).} 14. Be3 Qxb2 15. Qxc4 Qc3 (15... Bd6 $142 $1 16. Bxa7 Rb4 17. Qa6 Nd5 18. Bxd5 exd5 19. Rac1 Rc4 20. Rxc4 dxc4 21. Qxc4 Ra8 22. Bc5 Bxc5 23. Qxc5 Qxe2 24. Qxc7 Qxa2 $11) 16. Rfc1 $14 Qxc4 17. Rxc4 Ba5 18. Bxa7 Rb2 19. Bc5 Rfb8 20. Bf3 {White doesn't have much, but between the bishop pair and the outermost passed pawn it's worth his while to continue.} Nd7 $6 (20... Nd5 $142) 21. Bd4 Rb1+ $6 (21... Rd2 $142) (21... R2b4 $142) 22. Rc1 (22. Rxb1 $142 Rxb1+ 23. Kg2 $16) 22... Rxa1 23. Bxa1 $14 f6 (23... Nf6 $142) 24. Bc6 $16 Nf8 25. a4 Kf7 26. Bd4 (26. Bc3 $1 Bxc3 27. Rxc3 Ke7 28. Kg2 Nd7 29. a5 Rb2 30. Bf3 Ra2 31. Rxc7 Kd6 $8 32. Ra7 $16) 26... Ng6 $14 27. Bb5 Ne7 28. Kg2 Nf5 29. Ba7 Ra8 30. Bc5 Nd6 31. Bd3 g6 (31... f5 $142) 32. Rb1 f5 (32... Rc8) 33. Bxd6 cxd6 34. Rb7+ Kf6 35. Rxh7 Bb6 (35... g5 $142) 36. Bb5 $16 Ra7 $4 {Surprisingly, going into the pure opposite-colored bishop ending is a huge error, going from a worse but defensible ending that's probably drawn with correct play to one that's lost. Normally this trade would make the defender's job easier, but Black clearly underestimated the danger of White's ability to create a second passer on the h-file.} 37. Rxa7 Bxa7 38. a5 $1 g5 {Not sure why Black is helping, but it doesn't matter very much.} (38... e5 39. h4 d5 40. f3 $18 {followed in due course by g4 and (if/when appropriate) h5.}) 39. h4 e5 40. h5 g4 41. Bd7 (41. Bd7 Kg5 42. a6 d5 43. h6 Kxh6 44. Bxf5 Kg5 45. Be6 d4 46. f3 gxf3+ 47. Kxf3 {White parks the pawn on g4 and the bishop on f5, and then sends the king to b7.}) 1-0 [Event "6th Prague Masters 2024"] [Site "Prague CZE"] [Date "2024.02.27"] [Round "1.4"] [White "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"] [Black "Navara, David"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2747"] [BlackElo "2667"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "178"] [EventDate "2024.02.27"] {[%evp 0,178,37,10,21,14,26,13,8,13,11,-19,-12,-37,59,-8,-65,-84,-54,-59,-50,-61,9,32,39,38,38,2,12,15,0,18,21,15,41,1,17,5,22,13,43,15,34,26,14,14,21,21,19,28,16,23,33,33,40,36,23,25,0,17,17,-25,-26,-6,0,-15,5,2,9,0,0,0,26,26,23,18,25,27,31,26,33,34,32,36,35,37,37,44,46,44,42,37,41,40,44,38,42,42,38,42,42,41,37,42,42,42,37,31,38,38,39,37,42,35,42,39,42,42,40,40,40,31,28,38,34,38,37,32,42,42,42,42,42,42,42,42,42,42,40,40,40,40,40,39,40,40,40,40,40,40,39,39,39,39,41,40,40,40,40,40,40,37,37,37,34,23,0,23,13,12,37,32,27,29,31,31,29,31,33,31,33] Not much happens here. I recommend proceeding directly to the next game.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 Ne7 7. d4 exd4 8. e5 Nfd5 9. O-O O-O 10. Nxd4 Bxd4 11. Qxd4 Nf5 12. Qxd5 Qxh4 13. Qc5 Qd8 14. Rd1 d6 15. exd6 Nxd6 16. Nc3 {White has a little more space and a slight lead in development, but as long as Black doesn't create any weaknesses in his position he's doing fine.} b6 17. Qe5 Bd7 18. a4 Re8 19. Qg3 Re6 20. a5 Rb8 21. axb6 axb6 22. Bd3 Bc6 23. Ne2 Re8 24. Nd4 Bd7 25. Nb5 Re6 26. Nxd6 Rxd6 27. Bc4 Ra8 28. Qf3 Rxa1 29. Rxa1 Qe7 30. Bd3 Bc6 31. Qf4 Re6 32. h4 Re1+ 33. Rxe1 Qxe1+ 34. Kh2 Qe7 35. b3 Qd6 {Here's an "exciting" moment: in the hopes of putting a speedy end to the game, Black allows a slight weakening of his pawn structure. If he thought this would induce Vidit to call it quits at the time control; well, he was sorely mistaken. But why should you pay for his mistake? Please, move on to the next game.} 36. Qxd6 cxd6 37. f4 Kf8 38. Kg3 Ke7 39. Kf2 f6 40. g3 g5 41. Ke3 gxh4 42. gxh4 Bd7 43. Kd4 Be6 44. Be4 Kd7 45. b4 Ke7 46. Bc6 Bh3 47. c3 Be6 48. Bd5 Bh3 49. Bg8 Bf5 50. Kc4 Kd7 51. Kd5 Bh3 52. Bh7 Be6+ 53. Ke4 Ke7 54. Bg6 Kd7 55. Ke3 Ke7 56. Kf3 Kf8 57. Bh5 Bd5+ 58. Ke3 Be6 59. Kf3 Bd5+ 60. Kg3 Ke7 61. Bg4 Bb3 62. Bf5 Bd5 63. Kf2 Kd8 64. Ke3 Ke7 65. Kd4 Bf7 66. Bc8 Kd8 67. Ba6 Ke7 68. Bc4 Bh5 69. Ke4 Bg6+ 70. Kd4 Bh5 71. Bg8 Kd7 72. Ke4 Bg6+ 73. Kd5 Bf5 74. Bf7 Bg4 75. Ke4 Ke7 76. Bb3 Kd7 77. Bc4 Ke7 78. Kd4 Kd7 79. Bd3 Be6 80. f5 Bb3 81. Bb5+ Kc7 82. Bc4 Bc2 83. Be6 Kd8 84. Ke3 Ke7 85. Kf4 Bd3 86. Bd5 Bc2 87. Bc4 Kd7 88. Bd5 Ke7 89. Be6 Kd8 {Are you still here? My guess is that you fell asleep at your computer, hopefully without spilling anything on the keyboard. After you make sure that all is well, please proceed to the next game.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "6th Prague Masters 2024"] [Site "Prague CZE"] [Date "2024.02.27"] [Round "1.5"] [White "Praggnanandhaa, R."] [Black "Keymer, Vincent"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2747"] [BlackElo "2738"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "2024.02.27"] {[%evp 0,81,39,37,31,9,15,20,23,13,19,12,21,11,43,13,34,-23,1,0,35,19,19,15,32,-8,14,-174,-114,-115,0,0,0,0,0,-42,-5,-91,-56,-65,-75,-157,-73,-88,-88,-139,-52,-52,-92,20,20,-50,96,-39,8,-49,273,216,221,217,228,215,243,288,288,280,297,304,280,282,282,315,307,354,468,468,476,489,469,480,490,464,470,470]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. O-O a6 6. c3 Ba7 {This line seems to be a Keymer specialty, though it has been played by many others as well. (Though not by so many at the top.)} 7. a4 d6 8. Re1 O-O 9. h3 Nh5 {Only played in three previous games, but one of them was by Keymer.} (9... h6 {is literally 300 times more popular.}) 10. Bg5 Nf6 11. d4 $146 (11. Nbd2 h6 12. Be3 Bxe3 13. Rxe3 a5 14. d4 exd4 15. Nxd4 Nxd4 16. cxd4 d5 17. Bb3 dxe4 18. Nxe4 Ra6 19. Rc1 Nxe4 20. Rxe4 Rd6 21. Qd2 b6 22. Qf4 Bb7 23. Re3 Qd7 24. Rec3 c6 25. Rg3 Kh8 26. Re1 Bc8 27. Qe5 Rf6 28. Ree3 Qd8 29. Rgf3 Rxf3 30. Rxf3 Re8 31. Qf4 Be6 32. Bxe6 fxe6 33. Qe5 Qd7 34. Rb3 c5 35. dxc5 {0-1 Volokitin,A (2664)-Keymer,V (2717) FIDE Grand Swiss Douglas 2023 (4)}) 11... h6 12. Bh4 g5 13. Nxg5 {Best, but not winning. Lines like this need the "do not try this at home" warning for most of us - mostly from the Black side.} hxg5 14. Bxg5 Kh7 $8 15. Qf3 Kg6 $8 16. Bh4 $8 exd4 $8 17. Qg3+ Kh7 18. Bg5 Rh8 $8 19. Nd2 Qg8 $1 20. e5 $1 Nh5 $8 (20... dxe5 $2 21. Nf3 e4 22. Qh4+ Kg6 23. Qf4 $1 Nh5 24. Qxe4+ Kg7 25. cxd4 $18 {White isn't winning immediately, but Black will not be able to get out of the mess.}) 21. Qh4 $8 Qg6 $8 22. Bf6 Rg8 $8 23. Bd5 $8 {I don't know if this was all prep - it might have been - but essentially everything has been best/forced since the sac.} Bf5 {Here Black had other options that were equally good.} 24. Bf3 $8 Rae8 $2 {Here, finally, Black errs. This, frankly, is why lines like this are of the "do not try this at home" variety. Black is a great player who had clearly prepared the variation very deeply, and even so his reward for a dozen accurate moves is a position that's still very messy. He makes one mistake, and it's not an egregious one, and that's it.} 25. g3 $1 $18 (25. g4 $2 {isn't very good here - its value later in the game comes in part from the strength of a subsequent g5+.}) 25... Kh6 $2 (25... dxc3 $142 26. Ne4 $1 Kh6 27. Bg5+ Qxg5 28. Nxg5 Rxg5 29. Bxh5 Rxh5 30. Qf6+ Bg6 31. exd6 {should eventually win.}) 26. g4 $1 dxc3 27. bxc3 Nxe5 28. g5+ $1 Qxg5+ 29. Bxg5+ Rxg5+ 30. Kh2 $2 {White is probably still winning, but h1 was the better square.} (30. Kh1 $142 Bg6 31. Bg4 $1 Rh8 32. f4) 30... Ng6 $2 (30... Bg6 $142 31. Bg4 Rh8 32. f4 $2 (32. f3 $18 {/?}) 32... Nxg4+ {comes with check - compare the 30.Kh1 line.} 33. hxg4 Rd5 $11) 31. Qxg5+ $1 Kxg5 32. Rxe8 {Two extra exchanges is one too many.} Nhf4 33. Bxb7 a5 34. Ra8 Bb6 35. Nc4 Bxf2 36. Rxa5 d5 37. Rf1 Bb6 38. Nxb6 cxb6 39. Rb5 (39. Rxd5 {is a decent simplifying alternative.}) 39... Bxh3 40. Rxf4 Nxf4 41. Rxb6 1-0 [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2024.02.28"] [Round "?"] [White "13th Century Jew and Muslim, Play Chess"] [Black "Al andalus"] [Result "*"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "3q1k2/6R1/p2N1p1P/4pB2/1Pp3P1/P1n5/4r3/K7 w - - 0 1"] [PlyCount "9"] [EventDate "2024.02.15"] {Black is threatening mate in one, and there is no way for White to meet the threat except by getting to Black's king first. You might think otherwise: Can't White play 1.Bb1? The answer is no, but it would be useless even if he could. In the 13th century, bishops could only hop two squares away on a diagonal, so the bishop could only get to d3 on its next turn. Worse, it wouldn't matter even if it were given a second move to reach b1, because it wouldn't cover the a2 square. It could leap over the rook to the third rank of a hypothetical file to the left of the a-file, but couldn't capture it.} 1. Rf7+ Kg8 {Now what? 2.Rg7+ would lead to a repetition, and 2.Bh7 would be ineffective even if it was a check, which it's not. (Remember, it only moves two squares away!) What's left is} 2. h7+ {, but after} Kh8 {you might understandably think that White's attack is over. Remember, though, that the piece on d8 is not the modern queen, but a sluggard that only moves one square away on a diagonal. It is not protecting the f8 square.} 3. Rf8+ Kg7 {Once again, we must overcome our modern prejudices. 4.h8Q would be mate by today's standards, but by 13th century rules it fails for three(!) reasons. First, Black's king could take the rook on f8. Second, the king could go to h6 - the queen doesn't cover that square. And third, the king could go to g6 - the bishop could hop over the king, but it isn't threatening it.} 4. Rg8+ Kh6 {Once again, you might want to make a queen, but once again that's a temptation to resist - it wouldn't even be a check, so Black could finally deliver mate on a2. An even stronger temptation might be 5.h8R#. It is indeed mate, by 13th century rules as well as those we use in the 21st century. Just one problem: the move is illegal. Only promotion to a queen was permitted back then. Fortunately for White, there is another move that does result in mate.} 5. Nf7# *