[Event "FIDE World Cup 2023"] [Site "Baku AZE"] [Date "2023.08.10"] [Round "4.2"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Keymer, Vincent"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C77"] [WhiteElo "2835"] [BlackElo "2690"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "123"] [EventDate "2021.07.30"] [EventType "k.o."] {[%evp 0,123,14,21,43,61,55,11,13,-22,3,14,7,-18,-33,-42,-43,-83,-73,-59,-63,-70,-70,-70,-51,-56,-35,-35,-23,-31,-27,-23,-4,-79,-62,-61,12,7,27,8,12,9,11,18,14,24,28,7,13,15,32,24,17,17,13,-29,-14,-62,-37,-60,-43,-43,-39,-38,-38,-38,-19,-26,26,4,4,34,34,34,40,23,50,30,27,21,12,20,21,52,51,51,51,22,32,41,71,74,157,87,97,75,68,53,55,83,82,78,78,69,68,68,81,96,130,130,127,192,259,293,293,293,335,356,391,448,448,429,435,442,442,467]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d3 Bc5 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bh4 d6 8. d4 $146 exd4 9. Nxd4 Bd7 10. Bxc6 bxc6 11. Nc3 O-O 12. Qd3 Bb4 (12... Qe7 $142 $11) 13. Nde2 $14 Qe7 14. O-O-O Rfe8 15. f3 Qe5 16. a3 $2 (16. Rhf1 $142) 16... Bxc3 17. Qxc3 Qxc3 $2 (17... Nxe4 $1 18. Qxe5 Rxe5 $17 {would almost certainly have been the end of Carlsen's run in this World Cup. Black is a pawn up for nothing, and there aren't any imbalances for White to work with to play for a win.}) 18. Nxc3 Nh7 19. g4 f6 20. h3 Nf8 21. Bg3 Ne6 22. h4 Kf7 23. h5 Rad8 (23... Rab8 $11) (23... c5 $11) 24. Rhe1 Bc8 25. Rd3 Bb7 (25... a5) 26. Nb1 c5 27. c4 Bc6 28. b3 Rb8 29. Bf2 Rb7 30. Nd2 Reb8 31. Be3 Kg8 32. Kc2 Nd8 33. f4 a5 (33... Nf7 $11 {followed by ...Re8 looks sensible, asking White how he intends to make progress.}) 34. e5 fxe5 35. fxe5 Nf7 $1 36. Bf4 dxe5 $1 37. Bxe5 a4 (37... Re8 $1 38. Bg3 (38. Rde3 a4 $11) 38... Rxe1 39. Bxe1 a4 $11) 38. Bc3 $14 axb3+ 39. Kb2 {Black is still objectively fine, but he needs to transition to a new stage of the game. Black's b-pawn is extra but going nowhere, and it's White's pieces that have more influence in the center and the kingside.} Re8 40. Rxe8+ Bxe8 41. Rd5 Bc6 42. Rxc5 Bd7 43. Bd4 Bxg4 44. a4 Ng5 ({The computer finds a deep, attractive way to force a draw.} 44... Nd8 45. Be3 Ra7 46. a5 Ra8 47. Kxb3 Nb7 48. Rxc7 Nxa5+ 49. Kb4 Be6 50. Kb5 Nxc4 $1 51. Nxc4 Rc8 $1 {The human option.} 52. Rxc8+ Bxc8 53. Ne5 Bf5 54. Kb4 Bc2 55. Ng6 Kf7 56. Nf4 g6 $11) 45. Be3 Nf3 46. Nxf3 Bxf3 47. a5 (47. Bd4) 47... Rb4 $1 48. Bd2 Ra4 49. Kxb3 Bd1+ 50. Kc3 c6 $6 (50... Be2 $11 {was best, keeping an eye on everything and also looking for ...Bxc4 Rxc4 Rxa5 followed by ...Rh5 ideas. That's not possible as long as White's bishop is on the e1-a5 diagonal, but if it moves to e3 or f4, for example, it works.}) (50... Kf7) ({and} 50... g6 51. hxg6 Kg7 {were also decent options, and certainly better than the text.}) 51. Kd4 (51. Re5 $1) 51... Bf3 52. Bc3 Bg2 $2 {The poisoned fruit of Black's earlier decision to play ...c6. What Black needs isn't his c-pawn, but to keep an eye on all of White's pawns.} (52... Be2 $1 53. Rxc6 Kf7 $1 (53... Bxh5 $2 54. Kc5 $18) 54. Rc5 g5 $1 {should still be drawing, or to put it in practical terms, should give White no better option than to eventually reach R+B vs. R.}) 53. Rf5 $1 $18 {Just as one bad move cost Carlsen yesterday's game, today it's one mistake by Keymer that does him in. Carlsen activates his rook, shuts in the Black king, and prevents ...Bf1.} Bh3 ({As you can probably guess, White will - must! - meet} 53... Bd5 {with} 54. Rxd5 $1 cxd5 55. Kxd5 $18 {, with an easy win as Black's rook will only be able to give itself up for one of White's queenside pawns, not both.}) 54. Rf4 $1 {Again necessary, still preventing ...Bf1 while keeping the c-pawn safe against Black's next move.} Be6 55. Kc5 Ra3 56. Kb4 Ra2 57. Kb3 {Black's rook must abandon the a-file, allowing White's passer to progress to a7.} Re2 58. a6 Bh3 59. a7 Re8 60. Re4 $1 Ra8 61. Re7 c5 62. Rb7 {There are defenses against Rb8, but not good ones.} 1-0 [Event "FIDE World Cup 2023"] [Site "Baku AZE"] [Date "2023.08.10"] [Round "4.2"] [White "Praggnanandhaa, R."] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A29"] [WhiteElo "2690"] [BlackElo "2787"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "83"] [EventDate "2021.07.30"] [EventType "k.o."] {[%evp 0,83,27,-20,-1,-2,-2,-13,-2,-51,10,31,36,26,50,9,6,8,8,-2,26,25,34,16,11,12,10,28,28,-88,-37,-35,-5,23,55,-14,0,0,-10,10,33,10,49,39,63,21,21,23,24,24,24,24,52,38,62,43,43,60,53,53,50,57,55,67,58,51,48,46,49,47,35,24,28,30,35,21,20,10,32,35,35,35,24,-71,-66,-66]} 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 Nd4 5. Bg2 Nxf3+ 6. Bxf3 Bb4 7. g4 {Not a shrinking violet, this youngster. Your opponent is #2 in the world, and you're trying to reach the quarterfinals of the World Cup? No problem: play 7.g4, a move only used once before out of 593 games - and the result in the earlier game was a loss. Of course, making decisions based on n=1 is generally dubious, and it is a move the engine likes. Besides, openings with g4 (or ...g5 by Black) are common. So if one believes in the move and likes the positions, that person should play it.} h6 $146 ({Black sneered at White's 7.g4 in the earlier game and played} 7... c6 {, allowing White to carry out his threat. That said, White is better after} 8. g5 Ng8 9. h4 $14 {, notwithstanding the final result.} Ne7 10. d4 d6 11. Qb3 Ba5 12. dxe5 dxe5 13. Bd2 Nf5 14. Qa3 Nd4 15. O-O-O Bc7 16. Ne4 Qe7 17. Bb4 Qe6 18. Kb1 Qxc4 19. Bd6 Qc2+ 20. Ka1 Qxd1+ 21. Rxd1 Nc2+ 22. Kb1 Nxa3+ 23. Bxa3 Bf5 24. Kc1 Bxe4 25. Bxe4 Rd8 26. Rd3 Rxd3 27. exd3 g6 28. b3 h6 29. Kd2 hxg5 30. hxg5 Rh5 {0-1 Tari,A (2656)-Liang,A (2643) PRO League Prelim Chess.com INT rapid 2023 (1.3)}) 8. d3 (8. h4) 8... c6 9. Qb3 Be7 10. Be3 d6 11. O-O-O $5 (11. Rg1 $14) 11... Nxg4 12. Bxg4 Bxg4 13. Rhg1 Qd7 14. d4 (14. f3 $11) 14... e4 (14... exd4 15. Rxd4 h5 $11) 15. d5 (15. h3 $1 Bxh3 16. Rxg7 {is a little better for White.}) 15... c5 16. Nxe4 Bf5 17. Ng3 Bg6 (17... Bh7 $142) 18. Bd2 $1 O-O-O 19. e4 Bh4 20. f3 Bh7 21. Kb1 (21. Qd3 {was a little better, fighting against ...f5.}) 21... Bxg3 $2 (21... f5 $1 $11) 22. hxg3 $16 f5 23. exf5 $2 {Missing his chance, after which Black was fine and the match was headed for tiebreaks.} (23. e5 $3 dxe5 24. f4 $1 $16 {is a wonderful idea, both killing Black's bishop while looking to turn his own into a superstar by creating open diagonals for it and a possible outpost on e5.}) 23... Qxf5+ $11 24. Ka1 Rhf8 25. f4 h5 26. Rde1 Qc2 27. Bc3 Qxb3 28. axb3 Rf7 (28... Rde8) (28... b5 $5) 29. b4 cxb4 30. Bxb4 Bf5 31. b3 Kd7 32. Kb2 Re7 33. Rxe7+ Kxe7 34. Re1+ Kd7 35. c5 dxc5 36. Bxc5 Re8 37. Re5 (37. Rxe8 Kxe8 38. Bxa7 Be4 39. d6 Kd7 {is a dead draw despite White's extra pawn. All that's going on at this point is the players engineering an end to the game.}) 37... Rxe5 38. fxe5 Be4 39. e6+ Ke8 40. d6 Bd5 41. d7+ Kd8 42. Bd4 {Now it's Black who will have the extra pawn, but the result will be just as dead a draw as in the last line, where White had the extra pawn.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE World Cup 2023"] [Site "Baku AZE"] [Date "2023.08.10"] [Round "4.2"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Robson, Ray"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2782"] [BlackElo "2689"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "53"] [EventDate "2021.07.30"] [EventType "k.o."] {[%evp 0,53,27,45,37,18,39,25,20,-17,24,9,2,2,63,-11,16,-28,15,-2,7,-32,18,-1,26,4,13,-8,46,-1,-1,-6,-14,-7,-7,-66,-19,-3,18,18,12,-141,-104,-64,-83,0,57,68,68,68,151,91,569,569,521,530]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 d6 6. O-O a5 7. Re1 Ba7 8. Nbd2 h6 9. Nf1 O-O 10. Ng3 Ne7 11. h3 Ng6 12. Bb3 Be6 {This has been played a few times, though never at the super-GM level, and Black's results have been terrible. (With this game, one draw and six losses in seven games.) Has Robson worked everything out, or did he get loss in a morass of transpositions?} 13. Bc2 {Some fresh transpositions, but the results are still dismal for Black: one win, one draw, nine losses.} (13. d4) 13... c5 $146 {Prep? Maybe - I don't know. It's not a bad move, so it might be.} 14. d4 cxd4 15. cxd4 Qb6 16. Be3 $1 Qxb2 17. Bb3 $1 ({The obvious} 17. Rb1 Qxa2 18. Rxb7 {is met by the sharp} Rfb8 $1 {, not only allowing but even encouraging White to play the tactical} 19. Rxa7 $1 Rxa7 20. dxe5 {, when at the end of the forced moves there is equality:} Rc7 21. exf6 Qxc2 22. Qxd6 Qc6 $11) 17... Bxb3 18. axb3 Qc3 $6 (18... d5 $1 {returns the pawn in exchange for safety. For example:} 19. dxe5 Nxe4 20. Bxa7 Rxa7 21. Nxe4 dxe4 22. Rxe4 b6 $11) 19. Nf5 $14 {/?} Qc7 $6 20. Bxh6 $1 $16 {/+- Black is on the verge of collapse.} gxh6 21. Qd2 Nf4 22. g3 N6h5 $2 (22... Kh8 $1 23. gxf4 (23. Rxa5 $5) (23. dxe5 $5 dxe5 24. gxf4 Rfd8 25. Qe2) 23... exd4 24. N3xd4 Bc5 {was Black's best chance to keep the game going.}) 23. gxf4 $18 {It wasn't long ago that Black was fine. Now he's completely lost.} Nxf4 24. Kh1 (24. Rxa5 $1) 24... Kh7 25. Rxa5 Bb6 $2 (25... Qb6 $142 {wouldn't have saved the game (against best play), but would have avoided the speedy execution we're about to see.} 26. dxe5 $2 (26. b4 $18) (26. Rea1 $18) 26... dxe5 27. Rxe5 $2 Nxh3 $11 {Black's queen defends h6, so the game goes on.}) 26. dxe5 $1 dxe5 (26... Bxa5 27. Qxf4 f6 (27... Bxe1 28. Qxh6+ Kg8 29. Qg7#) 28. Rg1 $18) 27. Rxe5 {Black's knight can't move because 28.Qxh6+ will result in a speedy mate, and if it doesn't move it will disappear from the board.} 1-0 [Event "FIDE World Cup 2023"] [Site "Baku AZE"] [Date "2023.08.10"] [Round "4.2"] [White "Sarana, Alexey"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D85"] [WhiteElo "2685"] [BlackElo "2769"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "60"] [EventDate "2021.07.30"] [EventType "k.o."] {[%evp 0,60,28,23,18,-14,35,39,51,48,48,48,48,48,48,48,29,42,42,42,42,9,9,-1,-6,-6,-6,2,-11,-11,-11,-11,1,9,-7,3,3,-5,3,0,0,0,4,1,0,-28,-28,-13,-22,-24,-24,-18,-18,-30,-30,-28,-23,-18,-18,-18,-12,-8,-9]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Nf3 c5 8. Bb5+ Nc6 9. O-O O-O 10. Bxc6 bxc6 11. Qc2 cxd4 (11... Qa5 {was played in Abasov-Svidler in the same round. (Also drawn.)}) 12. cxd4 Bg4 13. Ne5 Qxd4 14. Bb2 Qb6 15. Rab1 Bxe5 16. Bxe5 Qa5 17. Bc3 Qc5 18. Qb2 {Black has been pretty effective with this line when it comes to making draws, but it has been a non-starter when it comes to playing for a win. So tries a new move here, but achieves nothing with it.} Rfd8 $146 19. Bb4 (19. h3 Be2 20. Rfc1 {and if anyone is better here it's White.}) 19... Qg5 20. Qc1 Qxc1 21. Rfxc1 Rd7 22. Ba5 Rc8 23. Rc5 f6 24. f3 Be6 25. a3 Kf7 26. Rbc1 Rd3 27. Bb4 g5 28. Rxc6 Rxc6 29. Rxc6 a5 30. Bxa5 Rxa3 {And with that, So's World Cup comes to an end.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE World Cup 2023"] [Site "Baku AZE"] [Date "2023.08.10"] [Round "4.2"] [White "Esipenko, Andrey"] [Black "Gukesh, D."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C47"] [WhiteElo "2683"] [BlackElo "2744"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "103"] [EventDate "2021.07.30"] [EventType "k.o."] {[%evp 0,103,22,28,42,18,10,31,31,26,51,-3,-3,-12,9,2,-4,22,18,16,62,44,102,45,58,82,67,34,60,63,54,70,66,70,56,40,74,51,57,39,50,19,49,25,21,13,6,-14,-14,-11,-14,-19,-5,-12,-13,-2,-4,-20,14,10,14,18,17,7,32,9,4,-21,-50,-73,-73,-68,-73,-73,-56,-74,-28,-26,-41,-128,-27,-112,-100,-91,-123,-106,-65,-65,-23,-46,0,0,-15,1,-64,-4,-4,-3,-9,-8,-24,-24,-24,-19,-12,-12]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Bb4 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bd3 d5 8. exd5 O-O 9. O-O Bg4 10. f3 Bh5 11. Bg5 Bxc3 12. bxc3 cxd5 13. c4 Bg6 14. Bxg6 hxg6 15. cxd5 Qxd5 16. Qxd5 Nxd5 17. c4 Nf6 18. Bf4 Rfb8 19. Rac1 Rb7 20. Rc2 Nd7 21. c5 c6 22. Rd1 Nf6 23. Rd6 Nd5 24. Bd2 Rc8 25. Kf2 Kf8 26. h4 Ke8 27. Bg5 f6 28. Bd2 Rd7 29. Rxd7 Kxd7 30. Rb2 Ke6 31. a4 Rd8 32. Ke2 Rd7 33. g4 Ke5 34. a5 Kd4 35. a6 Re7+ 36. Kd1 Kxc5 37. Be1 Kc4 38. Rb7 c5 39. Bg3 $4 Re3 $4 (39... Nc3+ 40. Kc2 Re2+ 41. Kc1 Re6 42. Kd2 (42. Rxa7 $4 Ne2+ $19) 42... Rxa6 $19) 40. Rxa7 Rxf3 41. Be1 Ra3 42. Bd2 Ra2 43. Ke1 Nb4 $2 (43... Kd4 $142 $17) 44. Rxg7 Nd3+ 45. Ke2 Rxa6 46. Rxg6 $11 Re6+ 47. Kf1 Ne5 48. Rg8 Nf3 49. Bf4 Nxh4 50. Kf2 Kd3 51. Kg3 Ke4 52. Rc8 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE World Cup 2023"] [Site "Baku AZE"] [Date "2023.08.10"] [Round "4.2"] [White "Erigaisi, Arjun"] [Black "Sindarov, Javokhir"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C83"] [WhiteElo "2710"] [BlackElo "2659"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "119"] [EventDate "2021.07.30"] [EventType "k.o."] {[%evp 0,119,28,15,43,43,28,5,15,-6,-2,-22,27,-61,-39,-34,-2,-10,17,-31,-7,-1,19,27,-2,-61,-47,-47,-47,-47,-20,-45,-5,-51,-21,-40,-9,-41,3,-71,-48,-52,15,1,-9,-9,76,64,86,86,69,61,101,101,109,109,107,107,137,99,90,76,75,66,56,67,134,98,102,86,76,57,54,57,120,79,78,90,94,80,79,94,100,100,113,91,94,91,100,100,100,107,107,102,102,106,121,120,122,127,163,167,172,172,172,172,172,176,176,181,188,158,172,172,187,180,204,206,204,206,206,206]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. Nbd2 Nc5 10. c3 Be7 11. Bc2 d4 12. Nb3 d3 13. Bb1 Nxb3 14. axb3 Bf5 15. b4 O-O 16. Bf4 Qd7 17. h3 Rfd8 18. g4 Bg6 19. Bg3 Kh8 (19... a5 $1 20. bxa5 b4 $1 $11 21. a6 Qd5 22. Kh2 {½-½ Daubenfeld,N (2533)-Novikovas,V (2533) LIT MT-Arlauskas email ICCF email 2017} (22. h4 bxc3 (22... h6 23. h5 Bh7 24. Re1 d2 25. Bxh7+ Kxh7 26. Rf1 Bg5 27. Nxg5+ hxg5 28. Qe2 Na5 29. cxb4 Nb3 30. Rad1 Kg8 31. f4 Qd3 32. Qxd3 Rxd3 33. Kg2 gxf4 34. Bxf4 Rxa6 35. Rf3 Rd4 36. Rxb3 Rxf4 37. Rxd2 {½-½ Podvoysky,E (2312)-Robertson,G (2336) RA-2019-0-00613 LSS email 2018}) 23. bxc3 h5 24. Nd2 Nxe5 25. Re1 Bd6 26. gxh5 Bf5 27. Ba2 Qc5 28. Bb3 Qxc3 29. Rxe5 Bxe5 30. Rc1 Qa5 31. Nc4 Qxa6 32. Bxe5 Qh6 33. Rc3 Be6 34. Rxd3 Rxd3 35. Qxd3 Qxh5 36. Qg3 g6 37. Qf4 Rb8 38. Qf6 Qg4+ {½-½ Kraft,D (2477)-Dijon,J (2461) LAT jub25/A email ICCF email 2018})) 20. Re1 Qc8 $2 21. Nh4 $1 $146 {? A failure of preparation by Sindarov.} (21. Nd2 a5 22. bxa5 Rxa5 23. Rxa5 Nxa5 24. f4 f5 25. exf6 Bxf6 26. Ba2 Nc4 27. Bxc4 bxc4 28. g5 Qxh3 29. Qf3 Bh5 30. Qf2 Be2 31. gxf6 gxf6 32. Qg2 Qe6 33. Kh2 Rg8 34. Ra1 Rg6 35. Qe4 Qxe4 36. Nxe4 Bf3 37. Nf2 d2 38. Ra7 Rh6+ 39. Bh4 d1=Q 40. Nxd1 Bxd1 41. Kg3 Kg8 42. f5 Bc2 43. Rxc7 Bd3 44. Rc5 Rh5 45. Bxf6 Rxf5 46. Rxf5 {½-½ Harikrishna,P (2752)-Caruana,F (2808) Olympiad-42 Baku 2016 (7.1)}) 21... Bxh4 22. Bxh4 d2 23. Re2 Rd5 24. Bxg6 (24. Ba2 {may be even better.}) 24... hxg6 25. Rxd2 Rxd2 26. Qxd2 Nxe5 27. Qd5 Qe8 28. f4 $6 (28. Qe4 $1 $16) 28... g5 $6 (28... Nc4 $142 $14) 29. Re1 $2 (29. Bxg5 $16) 29... c6 30. Qxe5 Qxe5 31. fxe5 gxh4 $11 {Now Black is fine, but if yesterday's lesson was that not all endings with opposite-colored bishops are drawn, today's is that not all rook endings are drawn, either.} 32. Ra1 $1 Rc8 (32... Rd8 33. Rxa6 Rd2 $44 {is a good alternative.}) 33. Rxa6 c5 $1 34. bxc5 Rxc5 35. e6 fxe6 36. Rxe6 {Black didn't have to sac a pawn, but having done so the burden is on him to prove that he's not in a losing pawn-down ending. That requires playing the right move here, and he doesn't.} b4 $2 (36... Rd5 $1 $11 {had to be played, looking to penetrate on one or more of White's first three ranks.}) 37. Re3 $1 $18 {White is winning. The rook on e3 covers both of his potential weaknesses, and now his king can run to the queenside to help the c-pawn advance. Black can't get at the h-pawn, nor can his king cross the center to join the fight against White's c-pawn. The rest, as they say, is a matter of technique.} bxc3 38. bxc3 Kh7 39. Kf2 Kg6 40. Ke2 Kf6 41. Kd3 Rd5+ 42. Kc4 Rd8 43. Kc5 Rc8+ 44. Kd5 Rd8+ 45. Kc6 Rc8+ 46. Kd7 Rc4 47. Kd6 Ra4 48. Rf3+ Kg5 49. Kd5 Ra3 50. Rf5+ Kg6 51. Kd4 Ra4+ 52. Kd3 Ra8 53. Rh5 Kf6 54. Rxh4 g5 55. Rh7 Rd8+ 56. Kc2 Ke5 57. Rf7 Ke4 58. Rf5 Rh8 59. Rxg5 Rxh3 60. Kb3 1-0 [Event "FIDE World Cup 2023"] [Site "Baku AZE"] [Date "2023.08.10"] [Round "4.2"] [White "Bacrot, Etienne"] [Black "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A36"] [WhiteElo "2662"] [BlackElo "2719"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "2021.07.30"] [EventType "k.o."] {[%evp 0,81,45,-16,18,31,17,17,5,-49,-53,-25,-4,-22,13,19,19,-2,35,12,6,6,6,-40,-10,-12,31,-35,-30,-30,-4,-3,125,88,88,-71,-13,-33,-20,0,0,-191,15,15,15,15,67,42,83,31,37,-101,-92,-101,-17,-19,-17,-89,0,0,0,0,0,-74,-97,-103,-42,-42,-78,-193,-124,-208,-164,-265,-201,-217,-63,-63,0,-84,-94,-126,-113,-167]} 1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. e4 Nc6 4. g3 d6 5. Bg2 g6 6. Nge2 e5 7. d3 Bg7 8. h3 a6 9. O-O O-O 10. Bg5 h6 11. Be3 Nd4 12. f4 b5 13. g4 bxc4 14. dxc4 Rb8 15. Qd2 Bxg4 16. hxg4 Nxg4 17. Bxd4 cxd4 18. Nd5 Qh4 19. Rf3 f5 $2 (19... d3 $1 $15) 20. Qe1 Qxe1+ 21. Rxe1 Rxb2 22. exf5 gxf5 23. fxe5 $2 (23. Ne7+ Kh7 24. Rb3 Rxb3 (24... Rxa2 $2 25. Nxf5 $1 $18) 25. axb3 Ne3 26. Ng3 Bf6 27. Nexf5 $1 exf4 28. Be4 Kg8 29. Nxe3 fxe3 30. Rf1 $16 {/+-}) 23... Bxe5 $14 24. Nef4 Rxa2 25. c5 dxc5 (25... d3 $1 26. Nxd3 Bd4+ 27. Kh1 Bxc5 $14) 26. Ng6 $6 (26. Rg3 $14 {/?}) 26... Bh2+ 27. Kh1 Rf7 $11 28. Re8+ Kh7 29. Nf8+ Kg7 30. Ne6+ Kh7 31. Bf1 Bd6 32. Rd8 Nf2+ 33. Kg1 Ne4 34. Rh3 $2 Ra1 $19 35. Kg2 Rb7 36. Rf3 Rb2+ 37. Kh1 Ng3+ (37... Kg6 $19 {wins, but for the match a draw is just as good, so Vidit makes Bacrot an offer he can't refuse.}) 38. Kg1 (38. Rxg3 Rxf1+ 39. Rg1 Rh2#) 38... Ne2+ 39. Kh1 Ng3+ 40. Kg1 Ne2+ 41. Kh1 1/2-1/2