[Event "Magnus Carlsen Inv KO"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2021.03.21"] [Round "3.21"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B97"] [WhiteElo "2789"] [BlackElo "2776"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "71"] [EventDate "2021.03.16"] {[%evp 0,71,24,18,55,55,61,73,55,32,39,42,53,47,55,23,23,36,36,0,-2,-12,-17,0, 13,3,3,-19,-3,-17,-5,-5,0,-5,0,0,0,-17,-27,-18,-14,-10,33,46,37,35,35,35,35, -21,-10,-36,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qb6 8. Nb3 {No more sacrificing the b-pawn. By the way, what should this variation be called? It's standard to call 7...Qb6 the "Poisoned Pawn Variation", but as Black not only isn't taking the pawn, but isn't even given the opportunity to take it, the usual name is a misnomer.} Nbd7 9. Qe2 Qc7 10. O-O-O b5 11. a3 Rb8 ({Giri played} 11... Be7 { is their next game with the same colors, but it amounted to a mere transposition after} 12. Kb1 Rb8) 12. Kb1 Be7 13. Qe1 $146 O-O ({Giri chose} 13... h6 {in the later game, and this time the games remained distinct.}) 14. Bd3 Bb7 15. Qg3 Rfc8 (15... Rfe8 $142) 16. Rhf1 $14 e5 17. fxe5 dxe5 18. Nd5 ( 18. h4 $142) 18... Nxd5 19. exd5 Bxg5 20. Qxg5 Bxd5 (20... h6 21. Qf5 Nf6 22. d6 Qxd6 23. Qxc8+ Rxc8 24. Bh7+ Kxh7 25. Rxd6 Bxg2 26. Re1 Re8 27. Rxa6 Ng4 { is 0.00, according to the oracle, but for humans this is likely to be very exciting and full of errors.}) 21. Bxh7+ Kxh7 22. Rxd5 Qxc2+ 23. Ka2 {The pawn sac White committed to with 18.Nd5 is fully sound. Unfortunately, the flurry of excitement will quickly fizzle out into a drawish position.} Nf6 24. Rxe5 ( 24. Rf3 $1 {is a nice try, but there's an antidote.} Qg6 $1 25. Rh3+ Kg8 26. Qxg6 fxg6 27. Rxe5 Rc2 $11) 24... Rc3 25. Qf5+ ({Hopefully none of you were tempted by} 25. Nd4 $4 {, which meets a rather painful refutation.} Rxa3+ 26. Kxa3 Qa4#) 25... Kg8 26. Nc5 b4 27. axb4 Rxb4 28. Re8+ $1 {White can only be worse if the game keeps going, so this wisely puts an end to the action.} Nxe8 29. Qxf7+ Kh7 30. Qh5+ Kg8 31. Qxe8+ Kh7 32. Qh5+ Kg8 33. Qd5+ {Might as well try.} Kh7 (33... Kh8 $4 34. Rf8+ Kh7 35. Qh5# {is the hope.}) 34. Qh5+ Kg8 35. Qf7+ Kh7 36. Qh5+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "Magnus Carlsen Inv KO"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2021.03.21"] [Round "3.21"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E20"] [WhiteElo "2770"] [BlackElo "2847"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "76"] [EventDate "2021.03.16"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 Nc6 $5 5. a3 $6 {Why waste time on this?} ( 5. e4 $142) 5... Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 b6 7. e4 Ba6 8. Bg5 h6 9. Bh4 Qc8 (9... Na5 10. e5 g5 11. Bf2 Nh5 12. c5 Bxf1 13. Kxf1 d6 14. exd6 cxd6 15. h4 gxh4 16. Rxh4 Nf6 17. c4 dxc5 18. dxc5 Qxd1+ 19. Rxd1 Nd7 20. cxb6 axb6 21. Ne2 Rc8 22. Nc3 Rxc4 23. Ne4 Rc7 24. Nd6+ Kf8 25. Bg3 e5 26. Nf5 f6 27. Be1 Nb7 28. Rg4 Rh7 29. Ra4 Nbc5 30. Ra8+ Kf7 31. Bb4 h5 32. Rd8 Ke6 33. Nd6 Rc6 34. Nc8 Kf5 35. Re8 Kg6 36. Kg1 Kf7 37. Rd8 Kg6 38. Kh2 Rg7 39. Re8 Kh7 40. Nd6 Rg8 41. Re7+ Rg7 42. Re8 Rg8 43. Re7+ Rg7 44. Re8 {1/2-1/2 (44) Carlsen,M (2861)-Ding,L (2805) Cupar 2019}) 10. Bd3 (10. e5 Ng8 $11) 10... Na5 11. Qe2 d6 $2 (11... Qb7 $11 { is best, both preparing to castle long and intending to step up the pressure on the c4-pawn with ...Qc6.}) 12. f4 $16 {/+-} Qd7 13. Nf3 $2 (13. e5 $142) 13... Nh5 $1 $11 {/=/+ After this alert move, Black is absolutely fine.} 14. g3 (14. Bg3 $142) 14... g5 $1 15. fxg5 hxg5 16. Nxg5 Nf4 $1 17. gxf4 Rxh4 18. Qf2 (18. Nf3 $1 Rxf4 19. Rg1 O-O-O 20. Qe3 {was White's best bet.}) 18... Rh8 ( 18... Rh6 $1) 19. f5 $2 {This opens up lines, but it's White's king, not Black's, that will pay the price.} (19. Qe2 $142) 19... O-O-O $19 20. fxe6 fxe6 21. Qf7 Rdg8 (21... Qa4 $1 {was even better, but Carlsen's move is also good enough to retain a winning advantage.}) 22. Qxd7+ Kxd7 23. Nf3 Rh3 (23... Bxc4 $142) 24. Kf2 Rf8 25. Be2 Bxc4 26. Raf1 Rf4 (26... Rh4) 27. Ke3 $2 (27. Kg2 $1 Bxe2 28. Kxh3 Rxf3+ 29. Rxf3 Bxf3 30. Re1 Nc4 31. Kg3 Bh5 {is still winning for Black, but it's White's best try. White's h-pawn will probably cost Black his bishop, but it's likely that too much damage will have happened to the rest of White's position by that point.}) 27... e5 28. dxe5 dxe5 29. Rhg1 Bxe2 30. Kxe2 Rxe4+ 31. Kf2 Nc4 {White is conventionally lost here, with no imbalances that might offer counterplay or other hopes of saving the game.} 32. Rg3 Rh6 33. a4 a5 34. Rfg1 Rf4 35. Kg2 Ne3+ 36. Kh1 Nf5 37. Nxe5+ Ke6 38. Rg4 Rf2 {Winning a piece, as White can't both prevent mate (...~Rxh2#) and simultaneously save his knight.} 0-1 [Event "Magnus Carlsen Inv KO"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2021.03.21"] [Round "3.22"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B48"] [WhiteElo "2776"] [BlackElo "2789"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "2021.03.16"] {[%evp 0,81,19,38,40,41,44,38,32,29,58,59,70,89,66,64,60,24,44,13,5,-49,-46, -72,-2,-27,-28,-28,-35,-36,10,1,-9,-34,-15,0,0,0,66,57,121,121,115,114,134,145, 145,118,176,157,160,134,197,168,164,184,187,174,218,147,151,151,174,174,227, 226,226,198,224,234,415,379,432,546,486,411,418,335,468,439,451,450,474,481]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be3 a6 7. g4 {Not surprisingly, this is a rare move, as it seems to be attacking into thin air without a Black knight sitting on f6. But what is Black to do? If he brings the knight to f6, then there's no downside to White's move. If he goes to e7, he avoids the attack with g4-g5, but the knight isn't obviously better there or on c6 (in case the original c6-knight exchanges itself on d4). The other option, to not develop the knight at all, at least not any time soon, is the most common approach, but it has its drawbacks as well.} h6 $146 (7... b5 8. Nxc6 Qxc6 {is how things have usually gone. White has generally played 9.a3 here, so that ...b4 won't win the e-pawn, but the computer has its own amazing idea, which is almost certainly what Giri had in mind.} 9. Qd2 $3 $146 b4 10. Ne2 Qxe4 11. Rg1 {White's pieces explode to good squares now: he castles queenside, plays Nf4-h5, Bg2, and Black will be assailed and assaulted from every angle.}) 8. h4 Nf6 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. Qf3 $14 d5 11. g5 hxg5 12. hxg5 Rxh1 13. Qxh1 Ng4 14. Bd2 $16 Bb7 (14... Bc5 $2 15. Qh8+ Ke7 $2 16. O-O-O $18) ( 14... Rb8 $142) 15. Qh3 (15. Be2 $142 Ne5 16. Be3 $16) 15... Ne5 16. O-O-O d4 17. Nb1 (17. Na4 $142) 17... c5 (17... Ng6 $142) 18. f4 Nc6 $2 (18... Ng6 { had to be played. It's psychologically unpleasant to allow} 19. f5 {with tempo, but desperate times and all that.} Ne5 {and White has some advantage after} 20. Bf4 $1 Nd3+ $1 21. Bxd3 Qxf4+ 22. Nd2 exf5 23. g6 $1 f6 24. exf5 O-O-O 25. Kb1 Kb8 {, but it's not the end of the world.}) 19. g6 $18 O-O-O 20. gxf7 Qxf7 21. Bc4 Kb8 22. Bxe6 {With an extra pawn and a strong grip on the center, White is clearly winning.} Qc7 23. Bc4 Ka7 24. Na3 Nb4 25. Re1 Be7 26. Kb1 Re8 27. e5 Bd8 28. Bb3 $1 g5 29. Nc4 gxf4 30. Bxf4 Nd5 31. Bd2 Qg7 32. Nd6 Rh8 33. Qe6 Bh4 34. Rc1 (34. Nxb7 $1 Bxe1 35. Nxc5 Bxd2 36. Qxa6+ Kb8 37. Qb5+ $1 Ka7 38. a3 $18 {is the sort of nonsense one considers with half an hour on the clock, not in a glorified blitz game.}) 34... Nc7 (34... Ne3 $142) 35. Qc4 Qxe5 36. Nf7 Qh2 37. Qxc5+ Kb8 38. Qxd4 Rf8 39. Bf4 Bg3 40. Bxg3 Qxg3 41. Qb4 1-0 [Event "Magnus Carlsen Inv KO"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2021.03.21"] [Round "3.22"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B52"] [WhiteElo "2847"] [BlackElo "2770"] [PlyCount "84"] [EventDate "2021.03.16"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Bxd7+ Qxd7 5. c4 Nf6 6. Nc3 g6 7. d4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Bg7 9. h3 O-O 10. O-O Nc6 11. Be3 a6 12. a4 e6 13. Rc1 Rfd8 14. b3 Rac8 15. Re1 d5 16. cxd5 exd5 17. Nxc6 bxc6 18. exd5 Nxd5 19. Nxd5 cxd5 20. Rxc8 Qxc8 21. Bd4 Qc6 22. Bxg7 Kxg7 23. Qd4+ Qf6 24. Re5 h5 25. g4 hxg4 26. hxg4 Rb8 27. g5 Qb6 28. Rxd5+ Qxd4 29. Rxd4 Rxb3 30. Rd6 Rb4 31. Rxa6 Rg4+ 32. Kf1 Rxg5 33. a5 Re5 34. Kg2 g5 35. f4 gxf4 36. Kf3 Rf5 37. Ra8 Kh7 38. a6 Rf6 39. Rf8 Rxa6 40. Rxf7+ Kg6 41. Rxf4 Rf6 42. Rxf6+ Kxf6 1/2-1/2 [Event "Magnus Carlsen Inv KO"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2021.03.21"] [Round "3.23"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B97"] [WhiteElo "2789"] [BlackElo "2776"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "96"] [EventDate "2021.03.16"] {[%evp 0,96,35,35,41,58,77,55,56,31,37,37,74,58,88,20,30,25,54,20,17,7,-12,-11, 2,2,9,-9,-16,-20,-31,-15,50,34,27,38,38,22,27,30,22,28,38,20,-5,-22,-11,-71, -74,-76,-76,-63,0,-9,19,-162,0,0,0,0,0,0,31,36,34,34,22,19,34,34,25,26,27,26, 27,27,27,27,28,28,20,28,27,31,30,24,24,26,7,4,12,4,38,4,4,4,29,3,1]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qb6 8. Nb3 Nbd7 9. Qe2 Qc7 10. O-O-O b5 11. a3 Be7 12. Kb1 Rb8 13. Qe1 h6 14. Bh4 Bb7 15. Bd3 Nc5 16. Nxc5 dxc5 17. e5 Nd5 18. Nxd5 Bxd5 19. Bxe7 Qxe7 20. Be4 b4 21. a4 $6 (21. Bxd5 exd5 22. Qg3 bxa3 23. Qxg7 Rf8 {is a crazy but triple-zero equal position, whether or not White plays 24.b3. It's fun to analyze, so I'll only offer one of the possibilities here.} 24. f5 Rxb2+ 25. Ka1 Qb7 {Threatening ...Ra2+ followed by ...Qb2#.} 26. Rb1 Qb4 {Threatening ....Qc3.} 27. e6 d4 28. exf7+ Kd7 29. Qxf8 Qc3 {and now White must keep giving checks, lest he perish.} 30. Qe8+ Kc7 31. Qe7+ Kb6 32. Qd8+ Kb7 ({Black must observe a modicum of caution as well. For instance,} 32... Kb5 $4 {loses to} 33. Qb8+ Kc6 34. Rxb2 $18 { , when White is up a rook (soon to be a queen and a rook).}) 33. Qd7+ $11) 21... b3 22. cxb3 Rxb3 $15 23. Rxd5 $5 exd5 24. Bxd5 Rb4 25. e6 fxe6 26. Bxe6 Qf6 (26... Qd6 $142 $17) (26... Rf8 $142 $17) 27. b3 $15 Qxf4 (27... Qd4 $142) (27... Rb6 $142) 28. Bc4+ $11 Kd8 29. Qe6 Qd4 30. Qxa6 Re8 31. Rf1 Qe4+ 32. Ka2 Rxc4 33. Qxc4 Qxc4 34. bxc4 Re2+ 35. Kb3 {and it's a draw.} Re3+ 36. Kb2 Re2+ 37. Kb3 Re3+ 38. Kc2 Re2+ 39. Kd3 Rxg2 40. Rf7 Rxh2 41. Rxg7 Ra2 42. Ke4 Rxa4 43. Kd5 Ra6 {Setting up Philidor's defensive method. The h-pawn is irrelevant.} 44. Kxc5 Kc8 45. Rh7 Rg6 46. Kb5 Rf6 47. c5 Re6 48. c6 Re1 1/2-1/2 [Event "Magnus Carlsen Inv KO"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2021.03.21"] [Round "3.23"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A20"] [WhiteElo "2770"] [BlackElo "2847"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "88"] [EventDate "2021.03.16"] {[%evp 0,88,33,-16,-2,-51,-32,-51,-34,-32,-34,-38,-22,-15,5,18,39,10,39,-16,18, 25,14,19,64,68,60,73,50,36,23,28,28,32,19,27,27,5,1,-45,-50,-68,-58,-58,-45, -45,-45,-48,-55,-55,-61,-62,-34,-35,-39,-45,-51,-55,-50,-55,-57,-59,-40,-52, -103,-103,-94,-94,-16,-31,0,0,0,0,0,0,43,26,43,32,39,-7,-5,-5,-2,0,-6,-2,-2,-2, -2] With So having lost the first day's match and down 0.5-1.5 today, only a win in this game keeps the match going.} 1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. O-O Nf6 7. Nc3 h6 8. a3 a5 9. b3 Bd6 10. d4 O-O 11. Bb2 e4 12. Nd2 Nxd4 13. Ndxe4 Be5 14. Nxf6+ Bxf6 15. e3 Nb5 16. Nxb5 Bxb2 17. Qxd8 Rxd8 18. Rad1 (18. Nxc7 Bxa1 19. Nxa8 Bb2 20. a4 Be6 21. Nb6 Bxb3 22. Rb1 (22. Bxb7 $4 Rb8) 22... Bc2 23. Rxb2 Rd1+ 24. Bf1 Bd3 $11) 18... Bg4 19. Rb1 (19. Rxd8+ $142 Rxd8 20. Bxb7 Rd2 $44) 19... Be5 $15 20. Rfc1 (20. f4 $142) 20... c6 21. Nc3 Bxc3 (21... Rd2 $17) 22. Rxc3 Rd2 $17 23. h3 Bf5 24. e4 Be6 25. b4 $2 axb4 (25... Ba2 $1 26. Ra1 axb4 27. axb4 Ra4 {is probably winning, though White can still resist after} 28. Rc4 $1) 26. Rxb4 $1 $17 Ra7 27. f4 f6 28. h4 Kf8 29. f5 Bf7 30. g4 Be8 (30... Ke8 $142) 31. g5 b5 32. e5 fxe5 33. Re4 Ra4 34. Rxa4 bxa4 35. Bxc6 Bxc6 36. Rxc6 hxg5 37. hxg5 $11 {The good news for So: he won't lose this game. The bad news: it doesn't matter, as he has no (non-trivial) winning chances, and a draw is as bad as a loss.} Rd4 38. Rc8+ Ke7 39. Rc7+ Kf8 40. Kh2 Rf4 41. Rc8+ Ke7 42. Rc7+ Kf8 43. Rc8+ Ke7 44. Rc7+ Kf8 1/2-1/2 [Event "Magnus Carlsen Inv KO"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2021.03.21"] [Round "3.24"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B30"] [WhiteElo "2776"] [BlackElo "2789"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "76"] [EventDate "2021.03.16"] {It's win or go home for Nepo, and despite having the black pieces and no wins in the first seven games of the final, he finally wins.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 ( 2... e6 {hadn't been doing him any favors up to this point in the match (the overall match, including the previous day's games).}) 3. Bb5 e6 4. Bxc6 bxc6 5. d3 Ne7 (5... Qc7 {has also been very popular.}) 6. Nbd2 (6. Qe2) (6. h4) 6... Ng6 (6... Qc7) (6... d6) 7. h4 h5 8. e5 d6 $146 (8... f6 {had been the move, with good results and a lousy engine evaluation.}) 9. exd6 e5 10. Nc4 $14 Bg4 11. Bg5 $1 f6 12. Bd2 (12. Be3 $142) (12. d4 $142 $3 {I'm not sure if it's better than the boring 12.Be3, but it is a good move - and what a move!} fxg5 ( 12... exd4 13. Qd3 Kf7 14. Qb3 Be6 15. Nfe5+ Kg8 $8 16. Nxg6 Qe8 17. Nge5 fxe5 18. O-O-O $14) 13. dxc5 Qf6 (13... Nxh4 14. Rxh4 $1 gxh4 15. Qd3 Qf6 16. Nfxe5 $16) 14. Qe2 Qf4 15. Ncxe5 Nxe5 16. Qxe5+ Kd7 17. Qxf4 gxf4 18. Ne5+ Ke6 19. Ng6 Rg8 20. Kd2 $1 $14) (12. Qe2 $142 Bxd6 (12... fxg5 $4 13. Qe4 Nxh4 14. Nfxe5 $18 {is just over.}) 13. Qe4 Ne7 14. Be3 Be6 15. Nfd2 Bd5 16. Nxd6+ Qxd6 17. Qa4 $14) 12... Bxd6 $11 13. Qe2 Bc7 14. O-O-O O-O 15. Kb1 $6 (15. Qe4 $11) (15. Rde1 $11) 15... Rb8 $15 16. Rdg1 (16. Bc1 $142) 16... Nf4 $6 (16... a5 $142 $17) 17. Bxf4 exf4 18. Re1 $11 Qd5 19. Qd1 (19. Qe4 $11) (19. a3 $11) (19. a4 $11) 19... Rfe8 20. b3 Kf7 21. a4 $6 Rbd8 (21... Bxf3 $15) 22. Ka2 Kg6 ( 22... Bxf3 $142) 23. Rhg1 (23. Re2 $1) 23... Kh6 24. Rh1 Qf7 25. Kb1 Be6 $17 26. Nfd2 Bd5 27. Rhg1 Qg6 28. Rxe8 Rxe8 29. f3 $2 {It was better to keep waiting.} f5 $19 {It might not look like White's position is that bad, as the static structure (featuring Black's gruesome pawns) seems to leave Black's bishops without anything useful to do. But White has problems too: the g-pawn, the e-file, the g-file in general, and the h-pawn are at least one difficulty too many.} 30. Qf1 Qg3 31. Rh1 Bd8 $2 (31... Re6 $1 {One prophylactic move first, and *then* ...Bd8 will start the collection process. Note too that ... Re6 isn't merely prophylactic, but also enables a possible ...Rg6.}) 32. Nd6 Rf8 $2 (32... Re5 $142 {This had to be played, but had Nepo realized this he wouldn't have played ...Bd9 on the previous move.}) 33. N2c4 $2 {The attempt to activate the knight leads nowhere, and the cavalry ends up further and further out of play over the next few moves.} (33. Qe2 $1 Bxh4 34. Qe5 $44) 33... Bxh4 $19 34. Ne5 $2 Rf6 35. c4 Bg8 36. Nb7 Re6 37. Rh3 $2 {A blunder in a lost position.} Rxe5 $1 38. Rxg3 Bxg3 {There's no satisfactory way to address the threatened ...Re1(+), "mating" the queen even if White's king leaves the back rank. Nepomniachtchi survived the match, and so it was on to the blitz playoff.} 0-1 [Event "Magnus Carlsen Inv KO"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2021.03.21"] [Round "3.31"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C02"] [WhiteElo "2776"] [BlackElo "2789"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "63"] [EventDate "2021.03.16"] {[%evp 0,63,16,30,71,50,41,8,29,-8,4,19,0,-4,2,-14,-19,-11,4,-2,-3,-3,3,6,3,9, 23,22,41,47,70,59,59,55,102,-115,-142,-142,-70,-66,-40,-147,-74,-121,-150,-166, -108,-108,-73,-196,-60,-142,275,320,368,368,521,469,608,470,450,451,1515,1665, 1680,2059]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 {Not trusting 2...Nc6 for another go-round.} 3. c3 d5 4. e5 Nc6 5. d4 Bd7 (5... Qb6 {is the absolute main line.}) 6. Be2 Nge7 7. Na3 cxd4 8. cxd4 Ng6 $6 (8... Nf5 {is far more common, and after} 9. Nc2 { the usual choice is between 9...Qb6 and 9...Nb4, with 9...Be7 an important third option.}) 9. Nc2 $6 ({The obvious} 9. h4 {looks strong. Black's idea is presumably} Bb4+ {, but after} 10. Kf1 h6 11. h5 Nge7 12. Nc2 $16 {/+- there is little to recommend about Black's position.}) 9... f6 {Now Black is fine, with the knight on g6 fitting in nicely with Black's plan of counterplay.} 10. exf6 gxf6 $6 (10... Qxf6 $142 $11) 11. O-O Bd6 12. g3 (12. b4 $1 $14) 12... h5 (12... Qe7) 13. Bd3 Nce7 14. Ne3 h4 15. Ng4 Kf7 16. Re1 (16. Ng5+ $5 fxg5 17. Bxg5 Qf8 $8 18. Nf6 $44) 16... Qf8 (16... Nf5) 17. Nfe5+ $2 {Exciting, and it worked. And maybe it's a good move from a practical point of view in a blitz playoff. Objectively though, it's bad.} fxe5 18. dxe5 Bc5 (18... Bb4 $142 19. Re3 Nf5 20. Rf3 Rd8 $19) 19. Bg5 (19. b4 $5) 19... hxg3 (19... Nf5 $142) 20. hxg3 Bc6 $2 (20... Rh5 $19) 21. Rc1 $2 (21. Qf3+ Kg8 22. Bf6 $44) 21... d4 $1 22. Be4 Bxe4 23. Rxe4 Nf5 $19 24. Qa4 Rc8 (24... Be7 {is best, but Nepo's move is good enough to maintain a winning advantage.}) 25. Bf6 Rh7 $4 {And with that, Nepo's inspiring comeback comes to a screeching halt.} (25... Rg8 $19) ( 25... Qe8 $19) 26. Qd7+ Nge7 (26... Kg8 27. Qxe6+ Rf7 28. Qxf5 $18 {is even worse.}) 27. Bxe7 $18 Qxe7 (27... Bxe7 28. Rxc8 $18) (27... Nxe7 28. Rf4+ $18) 28. Qxc8 Bb6 29. Nf6 Rg7 {Give Black the chance to play ...d3, and there might be some hopes of cheapos on g3 and f2. But White comes first here.} 30. Qh8 d3 31. Qh5+ Rg6 (31... Kf8 32. Rc8+) 32. Rg4 1-0 [Event "Magnus Carlsen Inv KO"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2021.03.21"] [Round "3.32"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A01"] [WhiteElo "2789"] [BlackElo "2776"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "88"] [EventDate "2021.03.16"] {[%evp 0,88,23,-19,-4,-4,-14,-21,16,3,19,0,-6,11,3,20,21,32,2,19,17,-7,14,-13, 22,-58,-74,-48,-30,-36,-24,-41,-35,-119,-123,-120,-131,-125,-128,-122,-123, -134,-122,-145,-152,-147,-147,-171,-166,-169,-164,-161,-181,-169,-166,-199, -193,-196,-178,-191,-195,-191,-146,-202,-170,-178,-175,-221,-173,-166,-136, -197,-256,-256,-253,-256,-187,-243,-224,-322,-345,-384,-185,-278,-260,-320, -310,-344,-377,-563,-298] Can Nepomniachtchi come back a second time? Or rather, *will* he?} 1. b3 d5 2. Bb2 Bf5 3. d3 c5 4. Nd2 Nf6 5. g3 Nc6 6. Bg2 e5 7. e4 dxe4 8. dxe4 Be6 $15 9. Ngf3 Qc7 10. O-O Be7 $6 {Illogical, especially in light of his next move.} (10... Rd8 $142) 11. Nc4 (11. Qe2 $142) 11... Rd8 ( 11... Bxc4 $142) 12. Qb1 $2 {Beats me.} (12. Qe2 $14) 12... Bxc4 13. bxc4 $15 O-O 14. Re1 Nd7 15. Bf1 Nd4 16. Nd2 $4 Bg5 $1 17. Bxd4 Bxd2 18. Rd1 cxd4 19. Rxd2 {White saved the exchange, but the resulting position is a strategic nightmare. His pawns are awful, his bishop is awful, and Black's central control is superior. White's hopes are now mainly tied to the swindling possibilities inherent in blitz chess.} Nc5 20. Bd3 Rd6 21. Re2 Ra6 22. Qc1 Ra4 23. Qg5 f6 24. Qh5 Ra3 25. Rd2 Qa5 26. Rdd1 Rxa2 27. Rab1 Qc7 28. Rf1 { Intending f4.} Ra5 {An amusing way of preventing f4, though only for a moment.} 29. Qg4 (29. f4 $4 exf4 30. gxf4 $4 Nxd3 31. cxd3 $4 Rxh5 $19 {is the point.}) 29... Ra3 30. f4 exf4 31. gxf4 Nxd3 32. cxd3 Rxd3 33. e5 {White's position has been so restricted that it probably felt good to finally make an active move. Unfortunately for those hoping for an Armageddon game, White's position is as lost as ever. (On the other hand, this game is itself a kind of Armageddon game: Nepo has White, while Black wins the match with a draw or a win. Other than the bonus time for White, these are Armageddon conditions.)} Re3 34. Qg2 Qc6 {"Generously" offering a pawn to swap off the queens. White would still be lost even in that case, but what matters is that Black will have made his position accident-proof. And that's enough in a situation where he has de facto draw odds.} 35. Qd5+ Qxd5 36. cxd5 fxe5 37. Rxb7 exf4 38. Rc1 f3 39. Kf2 (39. Rcc7 {threatens mate in two, but Black delivers mate first.} f2+ 40. Kf1 Re1+ {etc.}) 39... Re2+ 40. Kf1 Re5 (40... d3) 41. Rcc7 Rg5 42. h4 Rg4 43. Kf2 Rg2+ 44. Kf1 f2 0-1