[Event "ch-USA 2022"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2022.10.13"] [Round "8"] [White "Sevian, Samuel"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E20"] [WhiteElo "2684"] [BlackElo "2763"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "93"] [EventDate "2022.10.04"] {[%evp 0,93,19,17,23,-5,7,-4,31,-38,-30,-25,16,13,10,17,56,40,54,77,60,70,41,60,57,53,55,40,43,16,42,-1,-27,-72,-80,-51,-86,-69,-34,-25,-25,-25,-24,-105,-24,-24,-25,-93,-42,-88,-63,-68,-82,-66,-30,-136,-114,-127,-126,-126,-126,-117,-103,-114,-107,-98,-115,-122,-115,-126,-124,-142,-151,-146,-137,-145,-151,-144,-118,-144,-95,-100,-70,-83,-73,-66,-60,-57,-60,-82,-83,-83,-83,-75,-75,-67]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 d5 (4... c5 5. d5 b5 {is the most popular way of meeting the Neo-Saemisch (4.f3) at the moment.}) 5. a3 Be7 (5... Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 c5 7. cxd5 Nxd5 {used to be the absolute main line of the Neo-Saemisch.}) 6. e4 dxe4 7. fxe4 c5 8. d5 exd5 9. exd5 O-O 10. Be2 a6 (10... Re8 11. Nf3 Bg4 {is more common, but Caruana wants to jump on the dark squares as quickly as he can with ...Bd6, and the preliminary ...a6 rules out Nb5 in response.}) 11. Nf3 Bd6 12. O-O $146 (12. Bg5 {had been played in the (very few - three) previous games.}) 12... h6 13. Ne1 Nbd7 14. Nd3 b5 $1 {Very dynamic. I'm not sure that the 4.f3 Nimzo is trendy enough for a game like this to make a huge difference, but it could lead to a new chapter in the variation.} 15. cxb5 (15. Bf4 $142) 15... axb5 16. Be3 (16. Nxb5 c4 $1 17. Nf2 $8 (17. Nxd6 $4 cxd3 18. Qxd3 Qb6+ $19) 17... Bc5 18. Nc3 (18. Bxc4 $2 Ne5 $19 {followed by ...Nfg4 is big trouble for White.}) 18... Qb6 $15 {/?}) (16. Bf4 Bxf4 17. Nxf4 b4 18. Nb5 Qb6 $15) 16... Re8 $17 17. Bf2 Rb8 (17... Ba6) 18. Bf3 b4 19. axb4 c4 (19... cxb4 20. Ne2 Bb7 $17 {is also good.}) 20. Nc5 Rxb4 21. Nxd7 (21. N5e4 $142 $15 {/?}) 21... Nxd7 $2 (21... Bxd7 $142 $17 {/-+ was better. One point is that} 22. Ra2 {is met by the double attack} Qb8 $19 {, hitting h2 and b2. White is in serious trouble.}) 22. Ne4 Be5 23. Bd4 $6 (23. Ra2 $142 $15) 23... Bb7 $15 {/?} (23... Rb5 $17) 24. Qd2 Bxd4+ 25. Qxd4 Ne5 26. Rad1 Nxf3+ $6 (26... Rb5 $15 {/? was better. After the text, the ensuing series of exchanges lead to a very drawish ending.}) 27. Rxf3 Qxd5 28. Qxd5 Bxd5 29. Rxd5 Rxe4 {If White can swap the queenside pawns without a disaster happening elsewhere, the resulting ending will be drawn. And that's just what happens.} 30. Rd2 Rb6 31. Rc2 g5 32. h3 Kg7 33. Rfc3 Rb4 34. Kh2 h5 35. b3 $1 cxb3 36. Rb2 f5 {After this Black cannot sensibly avoid the exchange of rooks, so this is essentially a draw offer. But there is nothing better - the draw is inevitable in any case.} 37. Rbxb3 Rxb3 38. Rxb3 Re6 39. Rb4 Kf6 40. h4 g4 41. Kg3 Re2 42. Rb6+ Ke5 43. Rb5+ Ke4 44. Rb4+ Ke5 45. Rb5+ Ke4 46. Rb4+ Ke5 47. Rb5+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "ch-USA 2022"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2022.10.13"] [Round "8"] [White "Yoo, Christopher Woojin"] [Black "Xiong, Jeffery"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B12"] [WhiteElo "2563"] [BlackElo "2690"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "100"] [EventDate "2022.10.04"] {[%evp 0,100,19,18,73,59,70,36,60,34,121,30,29,23,24,24,60,17,66,26,19,16,0,11,10,3,11,-8,-2,0,3,3,0,-3,-3,-3,-5,-2,0,-40,-26,-32,-37,-37,-38,-39,-31,-73,-74,-78,-85,-85,-78,-85,-85,-90,-90,-97,-103,-110,-116,-121,-129,-218,-233,-243,-267,-264,-282,-296,-270,-282,-288,-294,-291,-299,-307,-310,-311,-312,-313,-332,-335,-335,-331,-328,-332,-357,-303,-334,-346,-349,-349,-400,-450,-576,-603,-619,-649,-651,-777,-1015,-667]} 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. f3 Qb6 4. Nc3 dxe4 5. fxe4 e5 6. Nf3 exd4 7. Qxd4 Be6 8. Bf4 Ne7 9. Bd6 Ng6 10. Bxf8 Rxf8 11. O-O-O Qxd4 12. Nxd4 Ne5 13. Nf5 Bxf5 14. exf5 Nbd7 15. Be2 O-O-O 16. g4 Kc7 17. g5 Rh8 18. h4 h6 19. Ne4 hxg5 20. hxg5 Nb6 21. Rxh8 Rxh8 22. f6 g6 {Black is already better for two reasons. First, White's g-pawn is a burden, in need of constant protection. Second, Black's rook has a useful open file, while White's rook is almost (not entirely) useless on the d-file. These factors mean that Black is better, though a win is a long ways off. White is under pressure, but I don't see how his next move is supposed to help.} 23. c4 $4 (23. Re1 $1 $15) 23... Nbxc4 $19 24. Bxc4 Nxc4 25. Nc5 Nd6 (25... Nb6 {isn't as good, but it's winning too. It's really hard to see what Yoo had in mind with 23.c4.}) 26. Re1 Re8 {The end. White has no compensation for the pawn, and his g-pawn remains weak. Xiong converts his advantage without a hitch.} 27. Rxe8 Nxe8 28. Kd2 b6 29. Nd3 Kd6 30. Ke3 Nc7 31. Ke4 Ne6 32. Ne5 Nxg5+ {Two extra pawns.} 33. Kf4 Ne6+ 34. Ke4 Nd8 35. Kf4 Ke6 36. Ng4 Nb7 37. Kg5 Nc5 38. Nf2 Nd7 39. Nd3 Nxf6 {Three extra pawns.} 40. Nb4 c5 41. Nc6 a5 42. Nd8+ Ke7 43. Nc6+ Kd7 44. Ne5+ Ke6 45. Nc4 Nd7 {All the pawns are protected and the time control has been made. Why the heck is Yoo still playing, three pawns down in a knight ending?} 46. a4 Kd5 47. b3 Kd4 48. Nd6 Kc3 49. Nxf7 Kxb3 50. Kf4 Kxa4 {Okay, now we know Yoo's limits. Four pawns down is one too many, at least against a 2690. A bizarre game.} 0-1 [Event "ch-USA 2022"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2022.10.13"] [Round "8"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Swiercz, Dariusz"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "2774"] [BlackElo "2652"] [PlyCount "79"] [EventDate "2022.10.04"] {[%evp 0,79,19,18,6,16,16,19,13,13,6,16,17,10,24,-6,-1,-34,-19,-22,-19,-26,-26,-26,-26,-24,-4,-3,-3,-34,-37,-21,-19,-42,-23,-26,-30,-36,-32,-40,-40,-43,-40,-62,-31,-48,-28,-99,-54,-61,-37,-40,-47,-104,-125,-97,-97,-97,-19,-36,-20,-111,-11,-39,-28,-32,-2,-17,-7,-45,-33,-62,-20,0,0,-77,-2,-2,0,-60,0,0]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. O-O d6 6. c3 a6 7. Re1 O-O 8. Bb3 h6 9. Nbd2 Be6 10. Bxe6 fxe6 11. b4 Ba7 12. Nf1 Ne7 13. Be3 Bxe3 14. Rxe3 Ng6 15. h3 Nf4 16. Kh2 g5 17. g3 g4 18. Ng1 Nxh3 19. Nxh3 gxh3 20. Kxh3 Qe8 21. Qe2 Qg6 22. Nd2 h5 23. Rg1 Rf7 24. Rf3 Raf8 25. Kg2 h4 26. Kf1 h3 27. Rh1 Rh7 28. Ke1 Rff7 29. g4 h2 30. Nf1 Rh4 31. Rxh2 Rxg4 32. Rfh3 Rh7 33. Qe3 Rxh3 34. Qxh3 Kf7 35. f3 Rg5 36. Qh8 Qg8 37. Qh6 Qg6 38. Qh8 Qg8 39. Qh6 Qg6 40. Qh8 1/2-1/2 [Event "ch-USA 2022"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2022.10.13"] [Round "8"] [White "Liang, Awonder"] [Black "Shankland, Sam"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B53"] [WhiteElo "2608"] [BlackElo "2712"] [PlyCount "78"] [EventDate "2022.10.04"] {[%evp 0,78,19,18,46,56,80,58,58,59,69,69,54,-8,27,21,40,27,29,46,39,34,34,49,49,46,40,31,22,21,13,-4,4,4,1,5,6,4,0,-10,16,-2,10,-20,-3,23,-6,23,17,0,35,31,0,16,9,32,32,25,6,10,13,15,87,87,87,83,77,70,70,-33,-33,-30,-30,-34,-11,-34,-30,-30,-13,-30,-30]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Qxd4 Nf6 5. e5 Nc6 6. Qa4 Nd5 7. Bb5 Bd7 8. exd6 a6 9. Be2 e6 10. c4 b5 11. Qd1 bxc4 12. Nc3 Ncb4 13. Bxc4 Bxd6 14. Bxd5 Nxd5 15. Nxd5 exd5 16. O-O Be6 17. Bf4 O-O 18. Bxd6 Qxd6 19. Nd4 a5 20. Re1 Bd7 21. Qd3 Rab8 22. b3 g6 23. Qg3 Qxg3 24. hxg3 a4 25. Rac1 axb3 26. axb3 Rb4 27. Red1 Rfb8 28. f3 h5 29. Rc7 Be6 30. Rc6 Rxd4 31. Rxd4 Rxb3 32. Rc5 Rb1+ 33. Kh2 Kg7 34. Rcxd5 Bxd5 35. Rxd5 Ra1 36. Rb5 Rc1 37. Rd5 Ra1 38. Rb5 Rc1 39. Rd5 Ra1 1/2-1/2 [Event "ch-USA 2022"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2022.10.13"] [Round "8"] [White "Lenderman, Aleks"] [Black "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E06"] [WhiteElo "2535"] [BlackElo "2747"] [PlyCount "76"] [EventDate "2022.10.04"] {[%evp 0,76,19,17,18,5,0,-24,-24,-24,3,10,7,11,6,6,11,-8,47,38,35,18,18,35,34,32,23,34,19,7,13,-4,-7,1,15,20,19,21,32,4,21,16,51,0,18,-21,-2,0,0,-3,20,21,31,20,31,20,34,-9,41,33,204,39,39,45,34,34,48,28,18,49,41,41,67,19,18,41,67,41,41]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 b5 8. a4 Bb7 9. axb5 a6 10. bxa6 Nxa6 11. Qxc4 Bd5 12. Qc3 c5 13. Be3 Ne4 14. Qe1 Nb4 15. Rxa8 Qxa8 16. Nc3 Nxc3 17. bxc3 Nc2 18. Qd2 Nxe3 19. Qxe3 h6 20. Qf4 Rd8 21. c4 Be4 22. dxc5 Bxc5 23. Qe5 Bd6 24. Qc3 Rc8 25. Ra1 Qc6 26. Rc1 Bd5 27. Qd2 Qc5 28. Nd4 Bxg2 29. Kxg2 Bxg3 30. hxg3 Rd8 31. e3 e5 32. Qe2 exd4 33. exd4 Rxd4 34. Qe8+ Qf8 35. Qc6 Qd6 36. Qe8+ Qf8 37. Qc6 Qd6 38. Qe8+ Qf8 1/2-1/2 [Event "ch-USA 2022"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2022.10.13"] [Round "8"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Niemann, Hans Moke"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C58"] [WhiteElo "2755"] [BlackElo "2699"] [PlyCount "114"] [EventDate "2022.10.04"] {[%evp 0,114,19,18,10,17,17,13,6,1,-14,-14,-14,11,0,0,0,-33,-12,8,12,-1,-11,17,12,12,31,-6,58,28,33,35,40,11,37,28,27,59,45,1,35,24,21,-10,-7,-38,-39,-41,-49,-53,-55,-50,-36,-45,-39,-45,-50,-45,-45,-31,-39,-46,-29,-29,-26,-17,-30,-52,32,8,1,5,-3,0,0,0,5,5,8,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,19,27,4,3,4,0,-3,-8,-8,-3,-3,0,22,29,21,27,12,13,12,0,0,-20,-13,-13,-12,-12,-6,-6,-5,-5,-6]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 8. Bd3 Nd5 9. Nf3 Bd6 10. O-O Nf4 11. Nc3 Nxd3 12. cxd3 O-O 13. b3 c5 14. Ba3 Ba6 15. Re1 Re8 16. Re3 Rc8 17. Ne4 Bf8 18. Rc1 Nb7 19. Ne1 Bb5 20. Bb2 Nd6 21. Nxd6 Qxd6 22. Rc3 g6 23. Rc1 f6 24. Qc2 Red8 25. Rh3 Bd7 26. Rh4 Bb5 27. Rh3 Kg7 28. Re3 Qd5 29. Qc3 Rd6 30. Re4 g5 31. h4 h6 32. hxg5 hxg5 33. Rg4 Kf7 34. d4 exd4 35. Rxd4 Qxd4 36. Qxd4 Rxd4 37. Bxd4 a5 38. Bc3 a4 39. bxa4 Bxa4 40. Rb1 Ra8 41. Rb7+ Kg6 42. Rb6 Be7 43. Nd3 Kf7 44. Rb7 Ke6 45. f4 c4 46. f5+ Kxf5 47. Rxe7 cxd3 48. Re3 Bc2 49. Rf3+ Kg4 50. Rxf6 Rxa2 51. Kf2 Ra4 52. Rf3 Rf4 53. Rxf4+ gxf4 54. Bb2 Bb1 55. Bc3 Bc2 56. Bb2 Bb1 57. Bc3 Bc2 1/2-1/2 [Event "ch-USA 2022"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2022.10.13"] [Round "8"] [White "Moradiabadi, Elshan"] [Black "Robson, Ray"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2534"] [BlackElo "2690"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "76"] [EventDate "2022.10.04"] {[%evp 0,76,19,18,17,33,16,16,25,22,13,13,6,18,15,23,5,1,26,26,20,22,25,36,37,25,27,27,10,0,14,19,32,30,47,53,62,43,38,45,45,32,38,25,-1,-11,23,-13,22,-23,-38,-241,-243,-108,-101,-203,-109,-157,-39,-214,-319,-522,-137,-193,-194,-194,-237,-250,-310,-310,-175,-303,-303,-303,-213,-278,-196,-1016,-760]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. Nbd2 Nd7 7. Nc4 f6 8. Be3 Bxe3 9. Nxe3 Nc5 10. O-O Ne6 11. c3 c5 12. Qc2 b6 13. Rfd1 Qd7 14. a4 Ba6 15. b4 Rd8 16. b5 Bb7 17. Qb3 Qf7 18. g3 a5 19. bxa6 Bxa6 20. a5 b5 21. Nf5 O-O 22. Qc2 Kh8 23. d4 Qh5 24. d5 Nf4 {Shades of the Yoo-Xiong game: Black is a bit better but not winning, but White makes a relatively simple miscalculation and is immediately lost as a result.} 25. N5h4 $4 {Essentially losing on the spot.} (25. gxf4 Qxf3 26. fxe5 Qg4+ 27. Ng3 fxe5 28. Qe2 {is (at worst) only a touch better for Black.}) 25... g5 $19 26. gxf4 gxh4 27. Qe2 exf4 {It's not so much the extra pawn - a very ugly extra pawn at that - as it is Black's attacking prospects that leaves White in a hopeless position.} 28. Kf1 (28. Kh1 b4 $1 {is the basic problem. (Note the value of the ugly pawn on f4: it takes away the Qe3 option, which would leave White with a defensible position.)} 29. Qxa6 Qxf3+ 30. Kg1 h3 31. Kf1 Qh1+ 32. Ke2 Qxe4+ $19) 28... Rg8 29. c4 bxc4 30. Ra3 Rb8 (30... Rde8 {is even better.}) 31. Rc3 Qg4 32. Ke1 Rge8 33. Nd2 Qg1+ 34. Qf1 Qg7 35. Rdc1 f5 36. f3 Qd4 37. Qf2 Rg8 38. Qxh4 Rb2 {Death is coming for White's king from the left, the right, and from the front. What a disaster.} 0-1