[Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.09.06"] [Round "5"] [White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C43"] [WhiteElo "2757"] [BlackElo "2792"] [Annotator "cahan"] [PlyCount "66"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. d4 Nxe4 4. Bd3 d5 5. Nxe5 Nd7 6. Nc3 Nxc3 7. bxc3 Bd6 ({ Or} 7... Nxe5 8. dxe5 Bc5 9. O-O O-O 10. Qh5 g6 11. Qh6 Re8 12. Bg5 Bf8 13. Bxd8 Bxh6 14. Bxc7 Bf5 15. Rab1 Bxd3 16. cxd3 Rac8 17. Bd6 b6 {with equality in Vachier Lagrave,M (2751)-Dominguez Perez,L (2758) chess24.com INT 2021.}) 8. O-O O-O 9. Nxd7 ({In a recent game with Nepomniachtchi behind the White pieces, he tried} 9. Re1 c5 10. Qf3 c4 11. Bf5 Nxe5 12. dxe5 Re8 13. Bxc8 Rxc8 14. Bg5 Be7 15. e6 fxe6 16. Rxe6 Bxg5 17. Rxe8+ Qxe8 18. Qxd5+ Kh8 19. Qxg5 Qe2 { with complete equality in Nepomniachtchi,I (2773)-Dominguez Perez,L (2753) Bucharest 2022.}) 9... Bxd7 10. Qh5 f5 11. Bg5 Qe8 12. Qf3 Qg6 13. h4 (13. Bf4 {is the main line, but Black has not experienced any problems in this line, so it is hardly a surprise that the French GM wanted to try something different.}) 13... h6 ({This is better than} 13... Kh8 14. Rfe1 Rae8 15. Bf4 Bxf4 16. Qxf4 Qc6 17. Rab1 a6 {as seen in Munguntuul,B (2430)-Kashlinskaya,A (2484) Moscow 2019, when} 18. Re5 {seems to offer White an advantage.}) 14. Bf4 Bxf4 15. Qxf4 Qd6 ({Finally, Nepomniachtchi departs from a game between very low-rated players:} 15... Qc6 16. Rab1 a6 17. Rfe1 Rae8 18. Re5 b5 19. Rbe1 Rxe5 20. Rxe5 Qd6 21. g3 c6 22. Kg2 a5 {and draw agreed ,½-½, Moreira,J (1750)-Husemann,A (1934) LSS email 2011.}) 16. Qxd6 cxd6 17. Rfb1 {According to the engines, White is marginally better thanks to his somewhat superior pawn structure. However, Nepo had reached this position after barely a thought and he continued to play the remainder of the game at a steady, fast pace.} Rab8 18. a4 Rfc8 19. Ra3 Kf7 20. a5 Kf6 {It is difficult to see where White will find a way through. In the remainder of the game, it is clear that neither side is particularly interested in giving it a try.} 21. f4 g5 22. Rab3 Rc7 23. hxg5+ hxg5 24. Kf2 gxf4 25. Rh1 Kg5 26. Rh7 Rbc8 27. Rb1 Bc6 28. Rbh1 Rxh7 29. Rxh7 Kg6 30. Re7 Kf6 31. Rh7 Kg6 32. Re7 Kf6 33. Rh7 Kg6 1/2-1/2 [Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.09.06"] [Round "5"] [White "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"] [Black "Niemann, Hans Moke"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2745"] [BlackElo "2688"] [Annotator "Rafael Leitão"] [PlyCount "94"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [TimeControl "5400+30"] {It must be difficult for the participants to just focus on playing the games right now. It's no wonder that the level of play and combativeness of the tournament has dropped in the last two rounds. Fortunately, tomorrow is a free day and I hope everyone's energies are renewed and tempers calmed so that the tournament continues with great games in its final phase.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. O-O d6 6. c3 a6 7. a4 Ba7 8. Nbd2 O-O 9. h3 h6 10. Re1 Ne7 {An interesting attempt in this heavily theoretical position. 10...Re8 and 10...Be6 are more common.} (10... Re8) (10... Be6) 11. Bb3 (11. Nf1 {is the main move.}) (11. d4 {is not so good here because of the wise} Nc6 $1 {and White's center is under attack.}) 11... c5 {This move is ugly because it closes the a7-bishop, but it's point is to make the d4-advance harder for White.} (11... Ng6 {is the natural move.}) 12. Nf1 (12. a5 Nc6 13. Nc4 Be6 { and White will have to sacrifice the a5-pawn.}) (12. Nc4 Be6 13. Ne3 { transposes to the game.}) 12... Be6 13. Ne3 Qd7 14. Bd2 Rad8 $6 {I don't see how this move is useful for Black.} (14... b5 $6 {is also not very good after} 15. axb5 axb5 16. Bxe6 fxe6 17. Ng4 $1 Nxg4 18. hxg4 {and this position is me more unpleasant for Black than it seems at first sight. White will push g4-g5 and start some pressure on the kingside.}) (14... Bb6 $5 {Trying to improve the bishop's position is the computer suggestion, although I prefer White.} 15. a5 Bc7) 15. a5 $1 {Gaining space on the queenside.} Bb8 (15... Ng6 16. c4 { followed by Nd5 with a similar position to what happens in the game.}) 16. Ba4 Qc8 17. c4 {With natural moves, Dominguez achieves a big positional advantage. White is ready to place a knight on d5 and b2-b4 will open the queenside.} Ng6 18. Nd5 Nxd5 19. cxd5 Bd7 20. b4 cxb4 $6 (20... Ba7 {is more stubborn.}) 21. Rc1 Bxa4 22. Qxa4 Qd7 23. Qxd7 Rxd7 24. Rc4 {A nice touch, although the simple 24.Bxb4 is simple and good.} Ba7 25. Be3 $1 Bxe3 26. fxe3 {This position is objectively lost for Black because of the weaknesses on b7/d6 and the lack of space and counterplay.} f5 {A desperate attempt.} (26... Ne7 27. Rxb4 Rc8 28. Reb1 Rcc7 29. g4 {and White is winning in the long run as he can slowly improve the position.}) 27. exf5 Rxf5 28. Rb1 Rff7 29. Nd2 $1 Ne7 30. e4 Kf8 31. Rcxb4 (31. Rbxb4 {is also good.}) 31... Nc8 32. Nf3 Na7 33. d4 $1 exd4 34. Nxd4 g6 35. R1b3 Kg7 36. h4 {An interesting move, improving the pawn structure. , although it's not really necessary.} (36. Ne6+ Kf6 37. Rf3+ Ke7 (37... Ke5 38. Nf8 $18) 38. Rg3 g5 39. h4 $1 gxh4 40. Rg6 {is winning.}) 36... Nb5 37. Nxb5 $2 {A horrible mistake.The knight belongs to the e6-square.} (37. Ne6+ Kf6 38. Rf3+ Ke7 (38... Ke5 39. Nf8 $18) 39. Rg3 {is easily winning since Black is paralyzed.} Rf6 (39... Kf6 40. Rc4 $18) 40. Rc4 Na7 {To avoid Rc8.} 41. h5 $1 gxh5 (41... g5 {weakens the f5-square and White can win in many ways.}) 42. Rg7+ Rf7 43. Rg8 {with complete domination.}) 37... axb5 38. Rf3 $6 {Another bad move. Dominguez loses control of the game.} (38. Rxb5 Kf6 39. Rg3 {Still give some winning chances, although Black should make a draw after} (39. Kf2 $6 Ke5+ 40. Ke3 Rf4 $1 {with counterplay.}) 39... g5 40. hxg5+ hxg5 {As his king and rooks can become active in the next moves.}) 38... Rfe7 39. Kf2 Rc7 40. Ke3 Rc2 {Now Black has enough counterplay for a draw.} 41. Rf2 Rc1 42. Kd3 Rd1+ 43. Rd2 Re1 44. Re2 Rd1+ 45. Rd2 Re1 46. Rf2 Rd1+ 47. Rd2 Re1 1/2-1/2 [Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.09.06"] [Round "5"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D38"] [WhiteElo "2757"] [BlackElo "2758"] [Annotator "cahan"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bf4 Ne4 7. Rc1 Qe7 8. Nd2 Nxc3 9. bxc3 Ba3 10. Rb1 O-O 11. e3 ({This is much better than} 11. g3 $6 c6 12. h4 $6 Bf5 13. Rb3 b5 14. Bg2 a5 15. Nb1 $2 a4 16. Rxa3 Bxb1 17. Qc1 Bd3 18. O-O Bc4 19. Bxb8 Raxb8 20. Re1 f5 21. e3 Rbe8 22. Bf1 f4 {and White had finally had enough, 0-1, Abdusattorov $146 (2634)-Aronian,L (2782) chess24.com INT 2021.}) ({Another reasonable option was} 11. Nf3 c5 12. dxc5 Bxc5 13. e3 Nc6 14. Bd3 Bg4 15. h3 Bh5 16. g4 Bg6 17. Bxg6 hxg6 18. Qxd5 {was better for White in Peralta,F (2595)-Berdayes Ason,D (2489) Barcelona 2022.}) 11... g5 12. Bg3 f5 13. Be5 Nc6 14. f4 ({Or} 14. Qb3 Nxe5 15. dxe5 f4 16. e4 Bc5 (16... g4 $5) 17. Bd3 Qxe5 $2 (17... g4 $1) 18. Qxd5+ Qxd5 19. exd5 Bf5 20. Bxf5 Rxf5 { with equality in Abdusattorov $146 (2634)-Aronian,L (2782) chess24.com INT 2021.}) 14... Nxe5 15. fxe5 f4 16. Bd3 ({Thus far, the players had followed a game between lower-ranked players, which continued} 16. e4 g4 17. Qb3 Kh8 18. Bd3 Qh4+ 19. Kd1 Be7 20. exd5 Qf2 21. Kc2 {and White was winning in Barseghyan, A (2356)-Grebnev,A (2463) Cheliabinsk 2022.}) (16. Qf3 $5 {could also be considered.}) 16... fxe3 17. Nf1 c5 18. Nxe3 cxd4 19. cxd4 Bb4+ 20. Ke2 Qf7 21. Qg1 Bc3 22. Rf1 {Has White managed to stabilize and is on top $2} Qxf1+ $1 { Nope $1 A brilliant reply.} 23. Qxf1 ({A fascinating point is that} 23. Nxf1 { is met by} Bg4+ 24. Ke3 Rf4 {which looks terrible for White, yet he is able to save himself with} 25. Bxh7+ Kxh7 26. Kd3 Rc8 27. Ng3 Rc4 28. Qb1 {The line continues in forced fashion to a drawn ending, which I suspect Caruana had on his computer ahead of the game.} Kh6 29. Rf1 Rfxd4+ 30. Ke3 Bd2+ 31. Kf2 Rf4+ 32. Kg1 Be3+ 33. Kh1 Rxf1+ 34. Nxf1 Rc1 35. Qd3 Rd1 36. Qxd1 Bxd1 37. Nxe3) 23... Rxf1 24. Rxf1 Bxd4 25. Nf5 Bxf5 26. Rxf5 Re8 {This was the first time Caruana thought for more than 30 or so seconds. Now the draw is inevitable.} 27. Rxg5+ Kh8 28. Kf3 Rxe5 29. Rxe5 Bxe5 30. h4 Kg7 31. Bc2 h6 32. Bb3 d4 33. Ke4 Bf6 34. g4 Kf8 35. g5 hxg5 36. hxg5 Bxg5 37. Kxd4 b5 38. a4 a6 39. axb5 axb5 40. Bc4 Be3+ 41. Kxe3 bxc4 42. Kd4 c3 43. Kxc3 1/2-1/2 [Event "Chess.com"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.09.06"] [Round "5"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E04"] [WhiteElo "2771"] [BlackElo "2759"] [Annotator "cahan"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 c5 6. O-O Nc6 7. dxc5 Qxd1 8. Rxd1 Bxc5 9. Nbd2 c3 10. bxc3 O-O 11. Nb3 Be7 12. Nfd4 ({This is a departure from the lines both of the combatants have debated the most:} 12. c4 Bd7 13. Bb2 ({or} 13. a4 Rad8 14. Bb2 Bc8 15. Nfd4 Nxd4 16. Bxd4 b6 17. a5 Nd7 18. axb6 axb6 19. Bc6 {with a clear advantage for White in Giri,A (2780)-Aronian,L (2781) Bucharest 2021.}) 13... Rfd8 (13... Rfc8 14. Rac1 (14. Bxf6 Bxf6 15. Rxd7 Bxa1 16. Nxa1 Rd8 17. Rd2 Ne5 18. Nb3 Nxc4 19. Rd4 Rxd4 20. Nfxd4 Nd6 { was about equal in Erigaisi,A (2567)-Aronian,L (2781) chess24.com INT 2021.}) 14... Be8 15. Nfd4 a5 16. Nxc6 Bxc6 17. Bxc6 Rxc6 18. Nd4 Rcc8 19. Nb5 a4 20. Bxf6 Bxf6 21. Rd7 b6 22. Rb7 Rab8 23. Ra7 Ra8 24. Rb7 Rab8 25. Ra7 Ra8 26. Rb7 {and draw by repetition, ½-½, So,W (2776)-Anand,V (2751) Warsaw 2022.}) 14. Nfd4 Rac8 15. Nb5 b6 (15... Be8 16. c5 Nd5 17. Nd6 Bxd6 18. cxd6 Nb8 19. Rac1 { gave White a clear advantage in So,W (2760)-Kaidanov,G (2561) Las Vegas 2015.}) 16. Nd6 Rc7 17. Ba3 Ne5 18. Nb5 Bxb5 19. Rxd8+ Bxd8 20. cxb5 Nc4 21. Bb4 Be7 22. Bxe7 Rxe7 23. Rc1 {and White had a small plus in So,W (2776)-Aronian,L (2765) Warsaw 2022, but Black ultimately saved a draw.}) 12... Nxd4 ({So had previously faced} 12... Bd7 13. Nxc6 Bxc6 14. Bxc6 bxc6 15. c4 Rfb8 16. Bd2 Rb6 17. Rac1 c5 18. Be3 Rc6 {was, more or less, completely equal in So,W (2780) -Vidit,S (2718) Chess.com INT 2018, even though Wesley kept pushing for a a very long time.}) 13. Rxd4 e5 14. Rd1 Rb8 15. Na5 Bc5 ({Or} 15... Bg4 16. Kf1 e4 17. Rb1 Be6 18. Bf4 Rbd8 19. Nxb7 Rxd1+ 20. Rxd1 {as played in Popov,I (2614)-Socko,M (2445) St Petersburg 2012, and here} Rc8 21. Be5 Nd5 22. Bxe4 Nxc3 {seems likely to lead to a draw.}) 16. h3 h6 17. Nc4 Re8 18. Nxe5 Bf5 19. Nd3 ({Another try was} 19. g4 $5 Be4 20. Bf4 {with a perhaps an edge for White, but, like in the game, Black as excellent drawing chances.}) 19... Rbd8 20. Kf1 Be4 21. Bxe4 Nxe4 22. Bb2 Bf8 23. c4 Rd6 {White has an extra pawn, but it will be very difficult to hang on to the c-pawn once Black starts attacking it with both rooks. Nakamura was already certain that the game would end in a draw at this juncture.} 24. c5 {Handing the pawn back.} Nxc5 25. Ba3 Rc6 26. Bxc5 Bxc5 27. Rac1 Rec8 28. Nxc5 Rxc5 29. Rxc5 Rxc5 {While White will win a pawn, this endgame is completely drawn in praxis. It didn't take long for the players to reach that conclusion in this game too.} 30. Rd8+ Kh7 31. Rd7 Rc1+ 32. Kg2 Ra1 33. Rxf7 Rxa2 34. Rxb7 Rxe2 35. Rxa7 h5 36. Ra5 g6 37. Ra7+ Kh6 38. h4 Rb2 39. Rf7 Ra2 40. Rc7 Rb2 41. Rf7 Ra2 42. Rc7 Rb2 43. Rf7 1/2-1/2