[Event "American Cup Champ"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2022.04.20"] [Round "1.1"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Robson, Ray"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A13"] [WhiteElo "2785"] [BlackElo "2681"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "103"] [EventDate "2022.04.20"] {[%evp 0,103,19,-12,3,-30,-30,-15,-11,-14,31,15,4,-23,-20,-24,-24,5,-19,-3,6, -5,-8,-9,-30,35,50,2,26,3,42,-15,10,18,22,4,32,18,17,51,55,55,37,46,47,46,52, 62,71,70,63,74,119,118,106,77,74,84,117,110,100,88,88,89,113,115,143,156,151, 158,191,173,185,184,143,138,139,83,81,75,78,62,28,28,21,14,12,125,125,162,178, 232,225,236,236,268,347,420,507,527,547,557,567,577,577,577]} 1. c4 e6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 d4 4. Nf3 c5 5. O-O Nc6 6. e3 Nf6 7. exd4 cxd4 8. d3 Bd6 9. Bg5 h6 10. Bxf6 Qxf6 11. Nbd2 Qe7 12. Re1 O-O 13. Nb3 Qf6 14. Nfd2 Bc7 15. a3 a5 {This has all happened many times. Now White usually plays 16.Rc1, but Aronian's move is no novelty.} 16. Nc5 Qe7 17. Na4 Bd7 18. Nb3 b6 $146 {Finally something new.} (18... Rfb8) (18... Rab8) (18... Ne5) 19. Bxc6 Bxc6 20. Nxd4 Bb7 {Black's bishop pair offers full compensation for the pawn.} 21. Nb5 Qd7 22. Qe2 Rad8 $6 (22... Bd8 $1 $11) 23. d4 $14 (23. Nac3 $1 $16 {, followed if possible by d4, is clearly better for White.}) 23... Qc6 24. f3 Rd7 25. Kg2 Bd8 $2 {Now it's too late.} (25... Be5 $3 26. Nxb6 $1 (26. dxe5 Rd2 27. Qxd2 Qxf3+ 28. Kg1 Qh1+ 29. Kf2 Qf3+ (29... Qg2+ 30. Ke3 Qe4+ (30... Qf3+ $4 {only manages to chase White's king to safety.} 31. Kd4 Rd8+ 32. Nd6 f6 33. Qe3 $18 { and Black can resign, down a rook and a piece.}) 31. Kf2 Qg2+ $11 (31... Qf3+ $11)) 30. Kg1 Qh1+ $11) 26... Rxd4 $1 27. Nxd4 Bxd4 28. c5 $8 Rd8 29. Rac1 g5 30. h3 h5 $44 {gives Black excellent compensation for White's substantial material advantage.}) 26. Nac3 $16 Bf6 27. Rad1 Qc8 28. d5 Bxc3 29. Nxc3 exd5 $6 (29... Qc5) 30. Nxd5 $2 (30. cxd5 $18) 30... Bxd5 31. Rxd5 $14 Rfd8 $2 ( 31... Rc7 $1 32. Rd4 Rd7 $1 $14) 32. Qe4 $16 {/+-} b5 $6 33. Rxd7 Qxd7 34. c5 $18 {White's c-pawn is too strong, and Black lacks both counterplay and an endgame to swap to with drawing chances.} b4 {The computer dislikes this, but it's sensible. Black artificially isolates White's c-pawn, swaps some pawns, and heads for a rook ending - "All rook endings are drawn." Of course the adage is an exaggeration, and we'll see this clearly in what's to come.} 35. axb4 axb4 36. Qxb4 $1 Qd2+ 37. Qxd2 Rxd2+ 38. Kh3 Rxb2 39. Rc1 $1 {The ideal location for the rook, behind the passed pawn. Without this, the ending would be drawn.} Kf8 40. c6 Rb8 41. Kg4 Ke7 42. c7 Rc8 {It might seem as if White has blown the win by pushing his c-pawn so fast. White's king seems to have nothing to do, and Black will soon collect the c-pawn. It's close to a draw, but White is just fast enough to win.} 43. Kh5 $1 Kf6 (43... Kd6 44. f4 $1 { The only winning move.} Rxc7 45. Rxc7 Kxc7 46. f5 {This is the point. White will play f6, with an easy win, unless Black plays ...f6 - but that makes things even worse due to Kg6xg7. If Black's king were one square closer, he'd be fine - ...Ke7 would draw. The tempo matters!}) 44. Rc6+ Ke5 45. f4+ Kd5 46. Rc1 Kd6 47. f5 {Again with the idea of f6, particularly in case of 47...Rxc7 and the rook trade.} Ke5 48. g4 Kf6 49. Rc6+ Ke7 50. f6+ $1 Kd7 51. Rc2 gxf6 52. Kxh6 1-0 [Event "American Cup Champ"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2022.04.20"] [Round "1.1"] [White "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"] [Black "Shankland, Sam"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C53"] [WhiteElo "2756"] [BlackElo "2709"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "64"] [EventDate "2022.04.20"] {[%evp 0,64,26,24,37,29,22,18,7,-10,-7,3,6,8,79,87,36,11,49,47,77,0,66,14,50, -40,-41,-56,-64,-42,-41,-88,-16,-19,-7,0,0,0,10,24,28,28,0,17,25,17,29,0,0,0, 48,74,69,44,69,43,59,52,49,44,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 O-O 6. O-O d5 7. exd5 Nxd5 8. Re1 Bg4 9. h3 Bh5 10. a4 a5 11. Nbd2 Nb6 12. Bb3 Qxd3 13. Nxe5 Qf5 14. Nef3 Rae8 15. g4 Bxg4 16. hxg4 Qxg4+ 17. Kh1 Bxf2 18. Nh2 Rxe1+ $1 $146 (18... Qxd1 $6 19. Rxd1 Re2 $6 20. Ndf3 Rfe8 { ½-½ (20) Kadric,D (2573)-Tari,A (2653) Terme Catez 2022. Don't be fooled by the agreed draw: White is much better, possibly winning here.}) 19. Qxe1 Qg3 $11 20. Qf1 $8 Re8 $8 21. Ndf3 Ne5 22. Qe2 Kf8 $8 23. Bd2 Ng4 24. Qf1 $8 Ne3 25. Bxe3 Rxe3 26. Ng5 Qxg5 27. Qxf2 Qe7 28. Bxf7 Re2 29. Qf3 Re3 30. Qf2 Re2 31. Qf3 Re3 32. Qf2 Re2 {It's quite possible that both players had all this in their laptops before the game. Good prep by Shankland.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "American Cup Champ"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2022.04.20"] [Round "1.1"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Sevian, Samuel"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E48"] [WhiteElo "2778"] [BlackElo "2693"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "72"] [EventDate "2022.04.20"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. cxd5 exd5 7. a3 Bd6 8. Qc2 c6 9. Nge2 Re8 10. Bd2 Nbd7 11. f3 c5 12. h4 h5 $146 (12... c4 13. Bf5 Nf8 14. g4 Rb8 15. h5 h6 16. O-O-O b5 17. Rdg1 N8h7 18. f4 Bxf5 19. Qxf5 Qc8 20. Ng3 b4 21. axb4 Bxb4 22. g5 Bxc3 23. Bxc3 hxg5 24. fxg5 Ne4 25. g6 fxg6 26. Qxd5+ Qe6 27. Qxe6+ Rxe6 28. d5 Nxg3 29. Rxg3 Ra6 30. Rhg1 g5 31. e4 Rd8 32. Kd2 Nf6 33. Ke3 Re8 34. Bxf6 gxf6 35. Rf1 Rb6 36. Kd4 Kg7 37. Rf2 Rb4 38. Rc3 a5 39. Re2 Kh6 40. Rxc4 Rxc4+ 41. Kxc4 Kxh5 42. d6 g4 43. Kd5 g3 44. d7 Rg8 45. Ke6 Kg4 46. Rd2 Kf3 47. d8=Q Rxd8 48. Rxd8 Kxe4 49. Kxf6 g2 50. Rg8 Kf3 51. Ke5 Kf2 52. Kd4 g1=Q 53. Rxg1 Kxg1 {1-0 (53) Predke,A (2682)-Donchenko,A (2636) Warsaw 2021 }) (12... a6 13. O-O-O b5 14. g4 b4 15. axb4 cxb4 16. Na4 Bb7 17. Kb1 Rc8 18. Qb3 Qa5 19. Qa2 Bc6 20. b3 Bxa4 21. Qxa4 Qxa4 22. bxa4 Nb6 23. Bxa6 Ra8 24. Bb5 Reb8 25. Rc1 Nxa4 26. Bxa4 Rxa4 27. Rc6 Bf8 28. Rhc1 b3 29. Rc8 Rb7 30. R1c7 Rxc7 31. Rxc7 Ra2 32. Kc1 Ba3+ 33. Kd1 Ra1+ {0-1 (33) Predke,A (2682) -Petrosyan,M (2620) Warsaw 2021}) 13. O-O-O a6 14. g4 hxg4 15. fxg4 Nxg4 16. h5 (16. Nxd5 Nf2 {is sharp and will leave White with sufficient compensation for the exchange. One possible line:} 17. Bh7+ Kh8 $8 (17... Kf8 $2 18. Rhf1 Nxd1 19. Rxf7+ $1 Kxf7 20. Qg6+ Kf8 21. Qxd6+ $18) 18. Qf5 $8 Nxd1 19. Qxf7 $8 Nf6 ( 19... Kxh7 $4 20. Rg1 Bf8 (20... Rg8 $2 21. Qh5#) 21. Rg5 $18) 20. Nxf6 Qxf6 21. Qxe8+ Kxh7 22. Rxd1 Qf3 $11) 16... Nf8 $2 (16... Ndf6 17. h6 Nxh6 18. Rdg1 Bg4 19. Bh7+ $1 Kf8 (19... Nxh7 $6 20. Rxg4 $14) 20. Rxh6 $1 gxh6 21. e4 cxd4 22. Bxh6+ Ke7 23. Nxd4 Be5 24. Bg5 $1 Bxd4 25. Rxg4 Rc8 26. exd5 $44) 17. Rdg1 $6 (17. Rhg1 $1 b5 (17... Nf2 $2 18. Rdf1 Nxd3+ 19. Qxd3 $18) 18. Rg2 b4 19. Nxd5 bxa3 20. Bc4 cxd4 21. Nxd4 Be5 22. Rdg1 Kh8 23. Bc3 axb2+ 24. Kb1 Qd6 $8 25. Rxg4 Bxg4 26. Rxg4 Rac8 27. Bb3 Qa3 28. Bxb2 Rxc2 29. Bxa3 Rf2 $14 { Black is holding on by a thread - but he's holding!}) 17... Nf2 18. dxc5 $6 ( 18. Nxd5 Nxh1 19. h6 Ng3 20. Nxg3 Bxg3 21. e4 Qh4 22. hxg7 Nd7 {is yet another razor-sharp line that hardly clarifies matters.}) 18... Be5 19. h6 g6 20. h7+ Kh8 21. Rh6 $6 (21. Rh5 $142 Bg4 $1 22. Rxe5 Rxe5 23. Be1 Nxd3+ 24. Qxd3 Bxe2 25. Nxe2 $15 {/-/+}) 21... Bg7 22. Rh2 Ng4 $17 {/-+} 23. Rh3 $2 (23. Rhh1) 23... Ne5 $19 24. Rhg3 Ne6 $1 25. Nf4 Nxf4 26. exf4 Nxd3+ 27. Qxd3 d4 28. Ne4 Qd5 {Suddenly it's Black who is whipping up an attack, and White is lost.} 29. Ng5 Qxc5+ (29... Bf5 $142) 30. Kd1 Qd5 31. Qf3 Qa2 $2 (31... Be6 $19) 32. Nxf7+ $1 Qxf7 33. Rxg6 $11 {So gets another chance.} d3 34. Be3 $4 {And there it goes.} (34. Qxd3 $8 Bf5 $8 35. Rxg7 $8 Qh5+ {If there was serious time trouble at this point, it's possible that So found 35...Qh5+ and gave up on the line. But it turns out that he's fine:} 36. Kc1 $8 Bxd3 37. Rc7 $3 {Now Black has only one move that doesn't lose.} ({You may well wonder, why not} 37. Bc3 { first? There's an answer.} Qc5 $1 38. Rc7+ Qxc3+ $19 {White's attack is over, and his isolated kingside pawns will drop, sooner or later, for free.}) 37... Re7 $3 38. Bc3+ $1 (38. Rxe7 $2 {is not met by 38...Qc5+, which loses, but with } Rc8+ $1 (38... Qc5+ $4 39. Bc3+ Qxc3+ 40. bxc3 $18) 39. Bc3+ Rxc3+ 40. bxc3 Bg6 $19) 38... Kxh7 39. Rxe7+ Kh6 {White can take the draw immediately (e.g. 40.Bg7+ Kh7 41.Be5+ Kh6 42.Bg7+ etc.) or fiddle around for a couple of moves first, but ultimately his choice is between taking a version of that draw and losing.} 40. Bg7+ Kh7 41. Be5+ Kh6 42. Bg7+ $11) 34... Qb3+ 35. Ke1 d2+ 36. Kf2 d1=Q (36... d1=Q 37. Rxd1 Qc2+ $19 {wins the rook on g6, and thereby the game.} ) 0-1 [Event "American Cup Champ"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2022.04.20"] [Round "1.1"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Xiong, Jeffery"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C42"] [WhiteElo "2781"] [BlackElo "2685"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "97"] [EventDate "2022.04.20"] {[%evp 0,97,29,29,10,12,15,21,58,42,35,-1,1,-7,9,48,81,72,43,57,57,58,75,79,58, 32,39,41,38,32,53,12,10,8,10,6,15,13,16,-2,73,71,83,55,41,36,26,58,56,43,6,39, 26,2,-5,-14,-3,-87,-38,-64,-66,-49,-99,-116,-68,-68,-95,-76,-70,-86,-86,-86,0, 0,0,-31,-31,-7,-12,-11,-42,-44,-63,-42,-40,-90,-50,-42,-2,-42,-35,-56,-27,-35, -35,-59,-35,-27,-57,-98] White won the first half of the game, Black won the second half of the game, and then it was drawn.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Bf5 7. O-O Be7 8. Nc3 Nc6 9. Re1 Nxc3 10. bxc3 Bxd3 11. Qxd3 O-O 12. Re2 Qd7 13. Bf4 Rfe8 14. Rae1 a6 15. h3 Bd6 16. Ng5 g6 17. Be5 Be7 18. Nf3 b5 19. Qe3 f6 20. Bg3 Kf7 21. Nh2 h5 22. Qf3 b4 23. Re6 bxc3 24. Bh4 Qxe6 25. Rxe6 Kxe6 26. Qxc3 Kd7 27. Nf1 Rab8 28. g4 hxg4 29. hxg4 Rb1 30. Kg2 Rd1 31. Qh3 Rxd4 32. Bxf6 Bxf6 33. g5+ Re6 34. gxf6 Rf4 35. Ne3 Rfxf6 36. Nxd5 Rf5 37. Ne3 Rh5 38. Qg4 Rhe5 39. c4 Ne7 40. Qd4+ Kc8 41. Qa7 Ra5 42. Qd4 Rae5 43. Qa7 Rg5+ 44. Kf1 Ra5 45. Qd4 Rae5 46. Qa7 Ra5 47. Qd4 Rae5 48. Qa7 Ra5 49. Qd4 1/2-1/2