[Event "ch-USA 2022"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2022.10.05"] [Round "1"] [White "Lenderman, Aleks"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E47"] [WhiteElo "2535"] [BlackElo "2755"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "33"] [EventDate "2022.10.04"] [SourceVersionDate "2022.10.01"] {[%evp 0,33,21,19,21,4,18,18,29,26,41,18,30,21,42,35,35,35,29,29,63,10,-5,3,5,5,10,-1,13,-1,10,-4,31,-1,-8,-9]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 c5 6. Nf3 cxd4 7. exd4 d5 8. O-O dxc4 9. Bxc4 b6 10. Re1 (10. Bg5 {is the traditional main line. It doesn't seem to cause Black any problems any longer, so White has been looking elsewhere.}) (10. Bd3 {is a rare move that has received some high-level attention the last couple of years, with both Carlsen and Caruana trying it out.}) 10... Bb7 11. Bd3 Nc6 12. a3 Be7 (12... Bxc3 13. bxc3 Rc8 {is rarer, but as Aronian had played this way three years ago it's possible that Lenderman had focused his preparation in this direction.} 14. c4 Na5 15. Ne5 Nd7 16. Qh5 g6 17. Qh3 Nxe5 18. dxe5 Nb3 19. Bxg6 fxg6 20. Qxb3 Qd4 21. Ra2 Rxc4 22. Qg3 Rf5 23. h3 Rc3 24. Qg4 Qd5 25. Rae2 Qc6 26. Bb2 Rc4 27. Qg3 Qc5 28. Rd2 Bd5 29. Red1 g5 30. Bd4 Qc7 31. f3 h5 32. Kh2 Qg7 33. h4 gxh4 34. Qxh4 Qxe5+ 35. Bxe5 Rxh4+ 36. Kg3 Rc4 37. Bb2 Kf7 38. Rh1 Ke7 39. Rh4 Rc8 40. Kf2 Kd6 41. Ke3 a5 42. a4 Rc6 43. Re2 Kc7 44. Re1 Rg5 45. g4 hxg4 46. fxg4 Rc4 47. Rc1 Rxc1 48. Bxc1 Re5+ 49. Kf2 Re4 50. Rh7+ Kc6 51. g5 Rxa4 52. g6 Ra2+ 53. Ke1 Rg2 54. g7 e5 55. Rh6+ Kb5 56. Rd6 Bc4 57. Bh6 a4 {0-1 (57) Peralta,F (2580)-Aronian,L (2767) Caleta 2019}) 13. Bc2 Na5 {Relatively rare, but not bad. Even I knew about the drawing line that follows, so it's highly unlikely that Lenderman was caught unawares. Maybe he thought that Aronian, as the higher-rated player, would avoid it? Whatever the players' expectations and ambitions were, a speedy draw is how it ended.} 14. Ne5 Nc6 15. Nf3 Na5 16. Ne5 Nc6 17. Nf3 1/2-1/2 [Event "ch-USA 2022"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2022.10.05"] [Round "1"] [White "Sevian, Samuel"] [Black "Moradiabadi, Elshan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E16"] [WhiteElo "2684"] [BlackElo "2534"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "121"] [EventDate "2022.10.04"] [SourceVersionDate "2022.10.01"] {[%evp 0,121,23,21,24,4,6,18,29,12,11,19,12,12,17,17,23,26,17,-5,31,3,2,36,34,42,11,17,17,21,30,28,25,23,24,0,-2,-3,7,4,5,12,49,52,44,31,29,31,36,25,37,37,48,40,47,40,35,64,86,45,25,30,32,39,45,34,37,48,30,30,33,37,37,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,17,61,64,61,61,0,0,0,0,0,0,43,56,0,0,0,156,149,166,159,157,157,157,156,156,153,157,155,155,163,167,167,183,168,177,178,202,193,231,234,263,284,29993,29994]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 a5 7. O-O O-O 8. Bg5 (8. Bf4 {is more common, but 8.Bg5 is also popular.}) 8... Be7 9. Qc2 (9. Bxf6 Bxf6 10. Nc3 d6 11. Qc2 {is a good alternative.}) 9... Na6 (9... h6) (9... Be4) (9... c5 $5) 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. Ng5 Bxg5 12. Bxb7 Nb4 13. Qd1 $146 (13. Qa4 {was played in a couple of earlier games.}) 13... Rb8 14. Bg2 $14 {/? White's position looks pretty comfortable. He'll have more central control, and Black's knight will have a hard time finding a meaningful and secure base.} c5 15. d5 (15. a3 $142) 15... Bf6 $6 (15... exd5 $142 16. a3 (16. cxd5 Bf6 17. Qd2 $14) 16... dxc4 $1 {is a possibility Black would not have had if White had started with 15.a3.} 17. axb4 cxb4 18. Bd5 b5 19. Nd2 a4 {Black's pawn horde gives him counterchances.}) 16. Nc3 $16 exd5 17. Nxd5 Nxd5 18. Bxd5 {White's bishop is so fantastic that he is clearly better, even if Black grabs on b2.} b5 $1 {Looking for activity.} 19. Rb1 (19. Qc2) 19... bxc4 $6 {This is consistent with Black's last move, but the engine insists that Black should instead try to close everything down, trusting that if his worries are confined to the d-pawn and White's kingside majority, he'll be able to manage.} (19... b4 $16) 20. Qc2 c3 21. bxc3 Qc7 22. Bc4 $2 ({The engine prefers} 22. c4 $1 {, which is not the most human option. Of course it cements the bishop on d5 - that's the obvious virtue of the move. But it has two drawbacks, neither of which the computer seems too concerned about. The first is that it completely opens Black's bishop's diagonal, which might lead White to worry about mass simplification on the b2 square. Second, one might expect White to build a kingside attack that starts with a general advance of his kingside pawns. With White's pawn remaining on c3, he can aim for a general advance with e4, f4, and e5. Now that the pawn has gone to c4, however, Black's bishop will immediately embed itself on d4 the instant White plays e4.}) 22... Qe5 (22... g6) 23. Rxb8 Rxb8 24. Rd1 Rd8 $2 (24... d6 $142) 25. Qa4 $1 $18 Qc7 26. Rd3 (26. Bd5 $1 Bxc3 $2 27. Qc4) 26... g6 27. Bd5 Kg7 28. c4 (28. h4 $1) 28... Rb8 $1 29. Bxf7 $1 Qc6 $1 {With the queens off, Black's king won't have to worry about getting mated anytime soon. However, White retains very good winning chances, despite the opposite-colored bishops, thanks to his kingside majority with two extra pawns.} 30. Qxc6 dxc6 31. Rd7 Rb2 32. Be6+ (32. Kf1 $142 Rxa2 33. Bd5+ Kh8 34. Bxc6 a4 35. Ra7 a3 36. f4 Bd4 37. Bf3 {followed by Kg2-h3, retaining some winning chances.}) 32... Kh8 33. Rf7 Bc3 34. Rf8+ Kg7 35. Rf7+ Kh8 36. e3 (36. Kf1 {was best, keeping the second rank closed.} Rxa2 37. f4 $14) 36... Rxa2 $11 37. Rf8+ Kg7 38. Rf7+ Kh8 39. g4 Be1 (39... h6 {may have been more practical.}) 40. Rf8+ Kg7 41. Rf7+ Kh8 42. f4 Bf2+ 43. Kh1 Bxe3 44. g5 {Threatening mate in two.} h6 45. Rf8+ Kh7 46. Rf7+ Kh8 47. f5 $1 {It's the critical moment for Black. The single right move draws, and everything else loses.} Rf2 (47... Ra1+ $8 48. Kg2 Rg1+ $8 49. Kf3 (49. Kh3 gxf5 50. gxh6 Bxh6 $11) 49... Bxg5 50. fxg6 Rf1+ $11) 48. Rf8+ Kh7 49. Rf7+ Kh8 50. Ra7 $1 $18 gxf5 (50... hxg5 51. fxg6 {leaves Black without a meaningful defense to the threatened Rh7#.}) 51. g6 Rf1+ 52. Kg2 Rg1+ 53. Kf3 Rxg6 54. Bf7 {Winning the bishop and the game. White is almost out of pawns, but one will prove to be enough.} Rg4 55. Kxe3 Rh4 56. Bg6 (56. Rc7 $142) 56... Rxc4 57. Bxf5 a4 $2 (57... Rh4 58. h3 a4 59. Kf3 Rb4 60. Bc2 $18 {Yes, rook and bishop vs. rook (with no pawns) is a draw, and the ending with the rooks and Black's pawns off the board is also drawn. But with the rooks on the board, White's bishop + h-pawn combination will not allow Black to escape with a draw. Nevertheless, it seems very strange to me that Sevian would prefer this over what he'd have had with 56.Rc7.}) 58. Be4 $1 {Well calculated! Sevian surrenders the h-pawn, too, in return for a mating attack.} Rc3+ 59. Kf4 $1 Rh3 60. Kf5 Kg8 (60... Rxh2 61. Kg6 {mates, as Black's rook has no good check.}) 61. Kf6 {It's mate in at most three moves.} 1-0 [Event "ch-USA 2022"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2022.10.05"] [Round "1"] [White "Liang, Awonder"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C47"] [WhiteElo "2608"] [BlackElo "2774"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2022.10.04"] [SourceVersionDate "2022.10.01"] {[%evp 0,67,19,26,8,25,24,5,17,-18,9,10,2,-2,-1,-1,6,-1,21,-20,-11,-4,-4,19,12,34,18,19,30,25,23,23,21,21,32,31,32,39,28,30,19,7,28,10,19,8,13,5,6,12,16,0,7,7,7,4,24,13,17,8,19,26,21,9,0,5,5,5,5,5]} 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. Bd2 {This was a fresh try a year or two ago, but now it's more or less a draw offer in keeping with the whole Scotch Four Knights ethos.} Bxc3 10. Bxc3 dxe4 11. Bxf6 Qxf6 12. Bxe4 Qxb2 13. Bxc6 Rb8 14. Rb1 Qxb1 15. Qxb1 Rxb1 16. Rxb1 Rd8 17. Bf3 Kf8 {All still standard. In fact, So had been on the white side of this against Carlsen in 2020, in the first game to reach this exact position.} 18. Rb8 Re8 19. h4 Ba6 20. Rb4 $146 (20. Rb3 {had been played in earlier games (including So-Carlsen). Here Black has more than one way to maintain equality, with Carlsen's 20...Be2 looking as good as anything else.} Be2 21. Bxe2 Rxe2 22. Rc3 Re7 (22... Re1+ 23. Kh2 {½-½ (23) Jovanovic,Z (2519)-Stojanovic,D (2472) Neum 2022}) 23. f3 Ke8 24. Kf2 Kd7 25. Ra3 Re5 26. Rxa7 Rc5 27. Ke3 Rxc2 28. g4 h5 29. gxh5 Rc4 30. Ra5 Rxh4 31. Rg5 Ke6 32. Rc5 Ra4 33. h6 gxh6 34. Rxc7 Kf6 35. Rc6+ Kg7 36. Rc2 Kg6 37. Kf2 h5 38. Kg3 Kg5 39. Rc7 h4+ 40. Kh3 f5 41. Rh7 Rc4 42. Rh8 Rc1 43. a3 Kf4 44. Rh5 Ra1 45. a4 Ra2 46. Rxh4+ Kxf3 47. Rb4 f4 48. Rb3+ Kf2 49. Kg4 Rxa4 50. Rf3+ Kg2 51. Rxf4 Rxf4+ 52. Kxf4 {½-½ (52) So,W (2765)-Carlsen,M (2872) Wijk aan Zee 2020}) 20... Re1+ (20... Re5 21. Ra4 Be2 $1 $11 {was also fine.}) (20... Be2 $143 {isn't that bad, but it allows White to play} 21. Bd5 $1 {with a slight edge. And now you know why Black puts his rook on e5.}) 21. Kh2 Re5 $1 22. Ra4 Be2 $1 {The only move Black had to find, and it's pretty obvious given that the idea is standard in the variation.} 23. Kg3 Bxf3 24. Kxf3 Rc5 25. Rxa7 Rc3+ 26. Ke2 Rxc2+ 27. Ke3 {Maybe we could lose this position to a super-GM (though I'd hope not), but So is not going to lose this against Liang.} h5 28. g3 Ke7 29. a4 g6 30. Ra8 Rc3+ 31. Ke4 Rc2 32. Ke3 Rc3+ 33. Ke4 Rc2 34. Ke3 {Games like this are good for busy bloggers, but a pity for the fans.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "ch-USA 2022"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2022.10.05"] [Round "1"] [White "Yoo, Christopher Woojin"] [Black "Niemann, Hans Moke"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A45"] [WhiteElo "2563"] [BlackElo "2699"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "108"] [EventDate "2022.10.04"] [SourceVersionDate "2022.10.01"] {[%evp 0,108,21,21,28,20,17,20,15,6,6,6,18,18,20,16,13,-12,-20,-20,5,7,7,-13,-10,-16,0,-9,-1,-52,-52,-60,-32,-16,-66,-65,-65,-75,-36,-36,-42,-37,-53,-47,-48,-60,-47,-52,-57,-77,-76,-77,-52,-109,-108,-114,-119,-137,-137,-152,-1,-123,-15,-168,-111,-161,-135,-144,-144,-122,-122,-114,-114,-129,-181,-205,-220,-179,-185,-179,-179,-315,-278,-336,-336,-382,-351,-423,-432,-432,-448,-435,-428,-445,-456,-459,-459,-466,-490,-529,-507,-517,-527,-537,-537,-547,-547,-669,-705,-715,-715]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bf4 e6 4. Nb5 Na6 5. e3 Be7 6. Nf3 O-O 7. Be2 Nh5 8. Be5 f6 9. Bg3 c6 10. Nc3 c5 11. O-O Nxg3 12. hxg3 c4 13. e4 Bb4 14. exd5 exd5 15. Nb1 (15. Nb5 Nb8 16. a4 a6 17. Na3 Qb6 18. c3 Bxa3 19. bxa3 $11 {looks a bit weird, but is equal.}) 15... Nc7 16. c3 Bd6 17. Nbd2 $6 (17. a4 $142 $11) 17... b5 (17... a6 $142 18. a4 Be6 {and only next ...b5.}) 18. Ne1 $2 (18. a4 $1) 18... Be6 $2 (18... a5 $142 $17) 19. Nc2 $2 (19. a4 $142) 19... Qd7 $2 (19... a5 $142 $17 {/-+}) 20. Re1 (20. b3 $142) 20... a5 $17 21. a3 (21. b3 $142) 21... g6 (21... Qf7 $142 $17 {/-+ followed by some combination of ...g5 and ...f5, when White will be squeezed across the board.}) 22. Nf1 (22. Ne3 $142) 22... h5 23. Qd2 Kg7 24. f4 Rh8 25. Bf3 f5 $6 (25... Raf8 26. Nce3 f5 $19) 26. Re2 $6 (26. Re5 $1 $17) 26... Ne8 $1 27. Rae1 Bf7 28. Re5 Nf6 $1 29. Nfe3 h4 $6 {Possibly a bit hasty.} 30. Qf2 h3 $6 (30... Nh5 $142 $17) 31. Re2 $2 (31. gxh3 Rxh3 32. Nxd5 {was best, leading to a draw after a long tactical line:} Bxd5 33. Bxd5 Ng4 34. Qg2 Rh2 35. Qf3 Rxc2 36. Bxa8 Bxe5 37. fxe5 Rxb2 38. e6 Qe7 39. Qb7 Qxb7 40. Bxb7 b4 41. axb4 axb4 42. d5 bxc3 43. d6 Rd2 44. d7 c2 45. e7 Rd1 46. e8=Q c1=Q 47. Qe7+ Kh6 48. Qf8+ Kh7 49. Qe7+ Kh6 $11) 31... Rad8 $17 32. Qe1 $2 (32. Qf1 $1 hxg2 33. Qxg2 $17) 32... Ne4 $19 33. g4 Bxe5 $2 (33... hxg2 34. Rxg2 Rh3 35. Bxe4 dxe4 36. Rg3 fxg4 37. Rxh3 gxh3 38. Qf2 Be6 $19) 34. dxe5 $17 hxg2 35. Rxg2 Rh3 36. e6 $2 (36. Bxe4 dxe4 37. Nd4 $17 {/? keeps the game messy.}) 36... Bxe6 37. gxf5 Bxf5 38. Nxf5+ Qxf5 $19 39. Nd4 Qf6 40. Bxe4 Re8 $1 41. f5 Rxe4 42. Qf2 Reh4 $1 43. Rxg6+ Qxg6+ 44. fxg6 Rh1+ 45. Kg2 R4h2+ 46. Kg3 Rxf2 47. Kxf2 Rh2+ 48. Ke3 Rxb2 {The rest was simple.} 49. Kf4 Kxg6 50. Ke5 b4 51. axb4 axb4 52. cxb4 c3 53. b5 Rxb5 54. Nxb5 c2 0-1 [Event "ch-USA 2022"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2022.10.05"] [Round "1"] [White "Xiong, Jeffery"] [Black "Swiercz, Dariusz"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D11"] [WhiteElo "2690"] [BlackElo "2652"] [PlyCount "116"] [EventDate "2022.10.04"] [SourceVersionDate "2022.10.01"] {[%evp 0,116,19,19,21,18,37,32,31,-8,19,1,15,15,15,9,23,10,13,8,22,19,26,25,40,40,48,55,55,55,57,72,63,46,60,71,73,74,74,69,54,45,60,56,48,35,35,-10,10,4,2,7,21,12,39,39,37,38,34,27,30,0,44,50,43,39,43,-20,0,20,65,-63,-33,-73,-41,-57,-28,-30,29,36,48,48,52,43,89,88,100,100,100,100,101,101,109,80,54,66,59,62,59,64,67,67,67,67,59,58,58,58,58,58,58,58,58,58,58,58,58,58,58]} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Qc2 e6 5. g3 Be7 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O b6 8. b3 Nbd7 9. Rd1 Ba6 10. Nbd2 b5 11. c5 b4 12. Re1 Bb5 13. a4 bxa3 14. Rxa3 a5 15. Bb2 Qc7 16. Bc3 Ra6 17. e3 Rfa8 18. Rea1 Bd8 19. Qd1 Qb8 20. R1a2 R8a7 21. Qa1 Qa8 22. Ne1 a4 23. b4 Ne8 24. Bf3 Nc7 25. Bd1 f5 26. Nef3 Nf6 27. Ne5 Ne4 28. Ndf3 Ne8 29. Be1 Bf6 30. Qc1 Ng5 31. Nxg5 Bxg5 32. Bc2 Bf6 33. Nd3 Nc7 34. Nb2 e5 35. Qd1 e4 36. Bd2 g6 37. Bc1 Bd8 38. Nxa4 h5 39. h4 Ne8 40. Bb2 Kf7 41. Qa1 Bc4 42. Nb6 Rxa3 43. Rxa3 Rxa3 44. Qxa3 Qxa3 45. Bxa3 Bb5 46. Na4 Nc7 47. Nc3 Bc4 48. Ba4 Nb5 49. Nxb5 Bxb5 50. Bxb5 cxb5 51. Kg2 Ke6 52. f3 exf3+ 53. Kxf3 Bc7 54. Bc1 Kd7 55. Ba3 Bb8 56. Bc1 Bc7 57. Ba3 Bb8 58. Bc1 Bc7 1/2-1/2 [Event "ch-USA 2022"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2022.10.05"] [Round "1"] [White "Shankland, Sam"] [Black "Robson, Ray"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2712"] [BlackElo "2690"] [PlyCount "70"] [EventDate "2022.10.04"] [SourceVersionDate "2022.10.01"] {[%evp 0,70,17,17,17,17,17,21,24,24,13,5,25,11,11,4,12,-3,21,27,27,23,16,15,19,17,30,27,39,13,30,26,36,12,31,24,26,5,6,10,10,-45,-45,-45,-40,-37,-38,-38,-34,-46,-23,-26,-30,-39,-25,-31,-35,-30,-30,-30,-30,-30,-22,-30,-9,-33,-22,-23,-22,-35,-25,-23,-25]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. Nbd2 Be6 7. O-O Nd7 8. Nb3 Bb6 9. Ng5 Bxb3 10. axb3 Qe7 11. Nf3 f6 12. Nd2 O-O-O 13. Nc4 a6 14. Kh1 g5 15. Be3 Kb8 16. Qd2 h5 17. b4 Rhg8 18. Rad1 h4 19. f3 h3 20. g4 Bxe3 21. Nxe3 Nf8 22. Nf5 Qd7 23. c3 Ne6 24. d4 Nf4 25. Qc2 Qe6 26. b3 Rd7 27. Rd2 Rgd8 28. Rfd1 Ng6 29. Kg1 Nf4 30. Kf1 Ng6 31. Kf2 Ne7 32. Ng3 Ng6 33. Nf5 Ne7 34. Ng3 Ng6 35. Nf5 Ne7 1/2-1/2 [Event "ch-USA 2022"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2022.10.05"] [Round "1"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C67"] [WhiteElo "2763"] [BlackElo "2747"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "94"] [EventDate "2022.10.04"] [SourceVersionDate "2022.10.01"] {[%evp 0,94,24,17,17,21,17,4,24,-13,37,60,71,-5,3,6,32,22,31,-8,1,-3,-13,-5,8,-8,9,-32,40,0,0,-39,3,-38,-7,-30,-33,-180,-45,-42,-25,-27,-49,-77,-70,-77,-65,-64,-38,-55,-56,-71,-65,-70,-55,-55,-55,-55,-78,-82,-78,-71,-70,-89,-58,-62,-97,-93,-102,-102,-94,-94,-55,-127,-97,-131,-129,-142,-135,-135,-48,-46,-41,-23,-30,-21,11,6,32,12,12,0,29,8,24,0,29]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. dxe5 Nxb5 7. a4 {Generally played as a prelude to a short draw, but not this time.} Nbd4 8. Nxd4 d5 9. Nxc6 {Rare, but a few strong and elite GMs - most notably Nepomniachtchi, once - have given it a punt.} (9. exd6 Nxd4 10. Qxd4 Qxd6 11. Qe4+ Qe6 12. Qd4 Qd6 13. Qe4+ Qe6 $11 {has been played many hundreds of times; doubtless many thousands of times if blitz and amateur games are included.}) 9... bxc6 10. Qd3 (10. Nd2 {is the secondary option, which has rightly or wrongly fared better than the text.}) 10... Qd7 11. Nd2 a5 12. Qe3 $146 (12. Re1 {has been played by no less than Nakamura and Xiong, but the engine dislikes it.}) (12. Rd1 $142 {, with equality, gets the engine's vote.}) 12... c5 13. Nb3 (13. f4 $142) 13... Qc6 14. Qc3 (14. Bd2 $142) 14... Qb6 (14... Ra6 $1 $17 {This is a nice, fancy way to defend the a-pawn. (15.Nxa5 Qa8)}) 15. Bd2 $2 (15. Qf3 $142) 15... Be6 $19 {Caruana goes on to save the game, but the opening experiment is a clear failure. Black's bishop pair and beautiful c- and d-pawns give him a large, possibly winning advantage.} 16. Kh1 d4 $6 {Too quick on the trigger.} (16... Be7 {was better, intending to finish development with kingside castling. (It's nice for chess coaches when the engine recommends the fundamentals: "See, kids, even GMs are sometimes wrong when they neglect their development and castling!")}) 17. Qf3 Ra6 18. Nc1 Be7 19. b3 O-O 20. Nd3 $6 (20. Ne2 $142 $17) 20... Qc6 $19 21. Qe2 c4 22. bxc4 Qxc4 {It's remarkably that Caruana saved this position.} 23. Rfc1 Bf5 (23... Rb8 $142 {Develop!}) 24. Qf3 Bg6 25. h3 Re8 $6 (25... Rb8 $142) 26. Nb2 (26. Qb7 $142) 26... Qe6 (26... Qc6 $142 $1 27. Qxc6 Rxc6 28. Nd3 (28. Bxa5 $2 Bg5 $1 $19) 28... Ra8 $19 {happens in the game, after a preliminary repetition.}) 27. Nd3 Qc4 28. Nb2 (28. Qb7 $1) 28... Qc6 29. Qxc6 Rxc6 30. Nd3 Ra8 $19 31. Ra2 Rc4 (31... f6 $142) 32. Rb1 Bf5 $2 {This has the right idea, of bringing the bishop to the a4-e8 diagonal, but it's the wrong way to implement the idea.} (32... f6 $1 $19 33. Rb5 (33. exf6 gxf6 $1 34. Rb5 Bd6 $1 35. g3 (35. Rxa5 $4 Rxa5 36. Bxa5 Bxd3 37. cxd3 Rc1+ 38. Be1 Rxe1#) 35... Rxc2 $1 $19) 33... Be8 34. Rxa5 Rxa5 35. Bxa5 fxe5 $19 36. Nxe5 $2 Rc5 $19) 33. Rb5 Bd7 34. Rxa5 Rxa5 35. Bxa5 $15 h5 (35... Rxa4 36. Rxa4 Bxa4 37. Ne1 c5 38. c3 $15 {White's position is compact enough to minimize the value of Black's bishops.}) 36. e6 $2 fxe6 (36... Bxe6 $142) 37. Ne5 Rxa4 38. Rxa4 Bxa4 39. c3 c5 $6 (39... dxc3 40. Bxc3 Ba3 $15 {keeps a little hope alive, intending ...c5 followed by ...Bb4.}) 40. cxd4 $11 Bf6 41. Bc3 cxd4 42. Bxd4 Bxe5 43. Bxe5 g6 44. Kg1 Kf7 45. Kh1 Kg8 46. Kg1 Kf7 47. Kh1 Kg8 1/2-1/2