[Event "44th Olympiad 2022"] [Site "Chennai IND"] [Date "2022.07.31"] [Round "3.1"] [White "Jobava, Baadur"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A05"] [WhiteElo "2585"] [BlackElo "2783"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "72"] [EventDate "2022.07.29"] [WhiteTeam "Georgia"] [BlackTeam "United States of America"] [WhiteTeamCountry "GEO"] {[%evp 0,72,26,20,28,6,2,7,18,1,19,-41,-24,-36,-45,-78,-55,-73,-25,-32,-8,-50, -36,-48,-45,-53,-53,-53,-26,-26,-23,-21,-28,-17,-27,-19,-16,-18,12,-12,-11,-8, -3,-3,-17,-42,-33,-20,-20,-20,-23,-14,-25,-28,-26,-26,-24,-23,-18,-20,-1,-14, -3,-22,-23,-19,-21,-14,-13,-12,-14,-17,-10,-17,-13]} 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 c5 3. Bg2 Nc6 4. O-O e5 5. c3 $6 (5. c4) (5. e4) 5... d5 6. d4 e4 7. Ne1 h5 $17 {White's position is already rather poor, but Jobava is nothing if not resilient.} 8. h4 Be7 9. Nc2 Be6 10. Nba3 a6 11. dxc5 Bxc5 12. Bg5 O-O 13. Qd2 Qc7 14. Nd4 Nxd4 15. cxd4 Be7 16. Rfc1 Qb6 17. Nb1 Rfc8 18. Nc3 $11 Qd8 19. e3 Ng4 20. Bxe7 Qxe7 21. Ne2 g5 22. hxg5 Qxg5 23. Rxc8+ Rxc8 24. Rc1 Rxc1+ 25. Qxc1 h4 26. Qc7 Qf6 27. Qf4 Qxf4 28. gxf4 Kg7 29. Nc3 Nf6 30. b4 Kf8 31. Bf1 Ke7 32. a4 Kd6 33. a5 Bd7 34. Kg2 Ng4 35. Kg1 Nf6 36. Kg2 Ng4 1/2-1/2 [Event "44th Olympiad 2022"] [Site "Chennai IND"] [Date "2022.07.31"] [Round "3.2"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Mchedlishvili, Mikheil"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A11"] [WhiteElo "2775"] [BlackElo "2593"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "119"] [EventDate "2022.07.29"] [WhiteTeam "United States of America"] [BlackTeam "Georgia"] [BlackTeamCountry "GEO"] {[%evp 0,119,26,-1,36,34,33,-10,1,-17,-32,-19,-14,-17,-20,-11,0,-9,30,21,17,6, 26,-2,-2,28,8,24,25,16,45,33,44,38,59,28,48,40,45,20,42,29,42,25,31,16,14,5,13, 11,18,-11,-1,-34,-5,-7,-14,-4,-6,-6,-15,-12,-18,-12,17,-27,15,19,34,19,37,35, 27,34,38,30,15,19,19,24,19,0,5,4,24,24,35,45,45,45,45,45,45,45,68,76,71,63,61, 61,90,87,87,90,89,141,134,139,180,178,178,177,169,178,178,201,209,215,296,138, 138,169]} 1. c4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. O-O Nbd7 6. Qc2 Nb6 7. Na3 Be6 8. Ne5 h5 9. Naxc4 Nxc4 10. Nxc4 h4 11. Ne5 hxg3 12. hxg3 Qd4 13. Qc3 Rd8 (13... Qd6 14. d4 Rd8 15. Qa5 Bh3 16. Qxa7 Bxg2 17. Kxg2 Qxd4 18. Qxd4 Rxd4 19. Be3 Rd5 20. f4 g5 21. a4 gxf4 22. gxf4 Nd7 23. Nc4 Bg7 24. Rad1 b5 25. axb5 Rxb5 26. Rd2 Nf6 27. Ra1 Nd5 28. Ra8+ Kd7 29. Rxh8 Bxh8 30. Kf3 Rb4 31. Nb6+ Ke6 32. Nxd5 cxd5 33. Bc5 Rb3+ 34. e3 Bxb2 35. f5+ Kxf5 36. Rxd5+ e5 37. Ba7 Ke6 38. Ra5 Bd4 39. Bxd4 exd4 40. Ke4 Rxe3+ 41. Kxd4 Re1 42. Ra2 f6 43. Rb2 Kf7 44. Rf2 Kg6 45. Rg2+ Kh5 46. Rf2 Kg5 47. Rg2+ Kf5 48. Rf2+ Ke6 49. Ra2 Ke7 50. Ra7+ Ke6 51. Ra2 f5 52. Ra6+ Kf7 53. Kd3 Kg7 54. Kd2 Re5 55. Kd3 Kf7 56. Rb6 Re7 57. Ra6 Kg7 58. Rb6 f4 59. Rb4 f3 60. Rf4 Rf7 61. Rxf7+ Kxf7 62. Ke3 f2 63. Kxf2 {1/2-1/2 (63) Ding,L (2791)-Giri,A (2764) chess24.com INT 2020}) 14. Qxd4 Rxd4 15. d3 $146 {=/+/=} a6 $6 {Neutralizing a possible skewer by Be3, but there were better ways to handle the threat.} (15... Rh5 $142) (15... Ng4 $142) 16. Bd2 $1 {The bishop will be better on c3 than on e3.} Bh3 17. Rfc1 Bxg2 18. Kxg2 g6 19. Rc4 Rd5 20. Bc3 Rh5 21. f4 Nd7 22. Nf3 e6 23. g4 Rh7 24. g5 (24. Ng5 Rh6 25. Rd4) 24... Bd6 25. a4 Kd8 26. b3 (26. Re4 $142) (26. b4 $142) 26... e5 $11 {White should not have allowed this. Now Aronian has to fight for the advantage all over again - and he succeeds in doing so.} 27. fxe5 Nxe5 28. Bxe5 Bxe5 29. d4 Bc7 (29... Bf4 $142) 30. e4 Rd7 31. b4 Rh8 32. Rac1 (32. b5 $142) 32... Re8 (32... Bf4 $142 {followed by ...Rh5 reestablishes equality.}) 33. e5 Bb6 34. Rh1 Rd5 35. Kg3 Ke7 36. Kf4 Rdd8 37. Ke4 Rh8 38. Rcc1 Rxh1 39. Rxh1 Rd5 40. Rh8 Rd8 41. Rh7 Ke6 $2 {White has been pressing all game, but only now does Black's position become precarious.} (41... a5 $11) (41... Rd7 $11) 42. a5 $1 Ba7 43. Rh1 Ke7 (43... Bb8 $142) 44. Kd3 $1 $18 Ke6 45. Rh4 Ke7 46. Nd2 c5 47. bxc5 Bxc5 48. Kc3 Ba7 49. Nc4 Bb8 50. Kd3 Rd5 51. Ke4 Rb5 52. Rh8 Bc7 53. Ne3 Bxa5 54. Nd5+ Kd7 55. Rf8 Bd8 56. Nf6+ Kc8 57. Rxf7 a5 58. e6 a4 59. e7 Bxe7 60. Rxe7 (60. Rxe7 a3 (60... Ra5 61. d5 a3 (61... Ra6 62. Ke5) 62. d6 Kb8 (62... a2 63. Re8#) 63. d7 Kc7 64. Re8 $18) 61. Re8+ Kc7 62. Ra8 $18) 1-0 [Event "44th Olympiad 2022"] [Site "Chennai IND"] [Date "2022.07.31"] [Round "3.3"] [White "Pantsulaia, Levan"] [Black "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A04"] [WhiteElo "2581"] [BlackElo "2754"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "40"] [EventDate "2022.07.29"] [WhiteTeam "Georgia"] [BlackTeam "United States of America"] [WhiteTeamCountry "GEO"] {[%evp 0,40,26,20,58,21,16,2,13,19,20,20,14,14,55,37,37,31,31,17,6,16,6,3,32, 19,27,4,10,6,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nf6 3. g3 Nc6 4. Bg2 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Nc3 Nc7 7. O-O e5 8. b3 Be7 9. Bb2 O-O 10. Rc1 f6 11. Ne1 Qd7 12. Nd3 b6 13. b4 Nxb4 ({If Black wants to avoid the forthcoming draw, he can play} 13... c4 {, which worked out well for a young Larry Christiansen almost half a century ago.} 14. b5 Nd4 15. e3 (15. Bxa8 Nxa8 16. Ne1 Nxb5 17. Nxb5 Qxb5 18. Qc2 Bh3 19. a4 Qc6 20. Qxc4+ Qxc4 21. Rxc4 Bxf1 22. Kxf1 Rd8 $11 {/=/+/=}) 15... Ndxb5 16. Nxb5 Qxb5 17. a4 Qd7 18. Bxa8 Nxa8 19. Ne1 Ba6 20. Bc3 Nc7 21. a5 b5 22. Nc2 Bb7 23. Bb4 Rd8 24. Rb1 Bxb4 25. Nxb4 e4 26. Qh5 a6 27. Qc5 Ne6 28. Qf5 Qe7 29. h4 Nc5 30. Rb2 Nb3 31. Na2 Nxd2 32. Rc1 Bc8 33. Qh5 Nf3+ 34. Kf1 Bh3+ 35. Ke2 Qd7 {0-1 (35) Birnboim,N-Christiansen,L (2400) Caracas 1976}) 14. Nxb4 cxb4 15. Nb5 (15. Qb3+ Kh8 16. Nb5 Qxb5 17. Rxc7 Bd6 18. Rc6 Be7 19. Rc7 Bd6 $11 {comes to essentially the same thing.}) 15... Qxb5 16. Rxc7 Bd6 17. Rc6 Be7 18. Rc7 Bd6 19. Rc6 Be7 20. Rc7 Bd6 1/2-1/2 [Event "44th Olympiad 2022"] [Site "Chennai IND"] [Date "2022.07.31"] [Round "3.4"] [White "Shankland, Sam"] [Black "Gelashvili, Tamaz"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B60"] [WhiteElo "2720"] [BlackElo "2549"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "143"] [EventDate "2022.07.29"] [WhiteTeam "United States of America"] [BlackTeam "Georgia"] [BlackTeamCountry "GEO"] {[%evp 0,143,26,21,43,41,69,48,48,31,31,26,50,50,43,43,40,37,24,3,2,10,10,21, 21,36,36,29,20,31,22,22,37,27,24,18,4,-20,17,-27,-5,-9,-34,-62,-44,-51,-50,-72, -63,-74,36,31,31,31,31,41,61,51,42,39,52,53,53,31,31,31,31,24,35,35,32,32,38, 32,87,16,32,38,11,7,71,38,107,36,53,32,111,113,125,123,123,115,109,115,116,56, 139,113,115,121,123,139,115,139,123,123,139,139,152,166,182,179,192,102,98,96, 96,54,65,81,85,103,92,88,138,184,176,164,181,179,215,171,177,155,231,231,404, 322,459,460,628,746,775,830,1151,1166]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 {The Classical Sicilian has been resurgent, though I haven't yet managed to figure out why.} 6. Bg5 Bd7 (6... e6) 7. Nxc6 bxc6 8. Bc4 e6 9. Qe2 $146 Be7 10. e5 Nd5 $2 (10... dxe5 {is better, not that White has anything to complain about after} 11. Qxe5 $14 {/+/-, as Black's lack of space "compensates" for his slightly inferior pawn structure.}) 11. Bxe7 Qxe7 12. exd6 Qxd6 13. Ne4 Qe7 14. O-O $6 (14. O-O-O $16 {/+- was better, though also more volatile (at least in theory) when Black castles short and the attacking race begins.}) 14... O-O $14 {/+/-} 15. Rad1 a5 16. c3 $6 a4 17. a3 { Preventing the disruptive ...a3, but now White's queenside majority has been crippled.} Rab8 $11 18. Qc2 (18. f3 $142) 18... c5 $15 19. Be2 $6 f5 20. Nd2 $2 Nf4 $17 {/-+ After a fine opening, it looks like Shankland is plunging once again, with a third straight day of subpar play. Fortunately, from here on out he starts to play like himself again. (Not counting the hiccup on move 23, which he immediately corrected on the following move.)} 21. Rfe1 Bc6 (21... Qg5 $142) 22. Bf3 Qb7 23. Re3 $2 (23. h4 $1) 23... Rfd8 $2 (23... Bxf3 24. Rxf3 g5 $1 $19) 24. h4 $1 Bxf3 $2 (24... Qxb2 25. Qxb2 Rxb2 26. Bxc6 Rdxd2 27. Rxd2 Rxd2 28. g3 $1 Nh3+ 29. Kf1 $17) 25. Nxf3 $14 Rxd1+ 26. Qxd1 Qc6 27. c4 h6 28. g3 Ng6 29. Qe2 Nf8 30. Ne5 Qd6 31. h5 {From lost to pleasantly better, with a nearly risk-free position. Life is good.} Rb6 32. Rd3 Qc7 33. f4 Qb8 34. Rd2 Rb3 35. Kh2 Qe8 36. Qd1 Rb8 37. Kh3 Nh7 38. Nd7 Rc8 39. Kg2 Kh8 (39... Nf8 $142 ) 40. Rd6 (40. Kf1 $142) 40... Rd8 41. Ne5 Rxd6 42. Qxd6 Kg8 $2 (42... Nf6 { had to be played, with equality.}) 43. Qd7 $1 $18 Qa8+ 44. Kg1 Nf8 45. Qf7+ Kh8 46. Kf2 $6 (46. Ng6+ $1 Nxg6 47. hxg6 Qd8 (47... Qc8 48. Kh2 Qg8 49. Qd7 $22 $18) 48. Qxe6 $18 {There's no perpetual check.}) 46... Qb8 47. Ke1 Qa8 48. Kd2 Kh7 49. Nd3 $1 Qd8 50. Kc2 Qd6 51. Ne5 Qb8 52. Kc1 Qa8 53. Nd3 $1 Qd8 (53... Qc8 54. Qe7 $18) 54. Nxc5 Qd6 55. Nxa4 {With two extra pawns, the rest is a matter of not blundering, and Shankland is up to the challenge.} Nd7 56. Qg6+ Kh8 57. Qe8+ Kh7 58. Qd8 Qd3 59. Nc3 Qf1+ 60. Kc2 Qf2+ 61. Kb3 Nc5+ 62. Ka2 Qxg3 63. Qd4 Nd3 64. a4 Nxf4 65. a5 Nd3 66. Ka3 Ne5 67. a6 Nc6 68. Qc5 Qc7 69. b4 f4 70. b5 Qa5+ 71. Kb3 Nd8 72. Qa3 1-0 [Event "44th Olympiad 2022"] [Site "Chennai IND"] [Date "2022.07.31"] [Round "3.1"] [White "Vocaturo, Daniele"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B13"] [WhiteElo "2616"] [BlackElo "2864"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "111"] [EventDate "2022.07.29"] [WhiteTeam "Italy"] [BlackTeam "Norway"] [WhiteTeamCountry "ITA"] [BlackTeamCountry "NOR"] {[%evp 0,111,26,21,72,70,73,77,67,22,46,26,23,33,33,33,33,15,17,11,23,29,29, -26,2,7,0,-3,24,23,18,20,27,27,27,17,17,17,17,21,26,21,30,17,35,19,16,10,28,24, 22,10,21,13,17,17,4,0,38,-48,24,-34,-15,-16,0,0,0,0,36,0,20,11,40,-2,4,11,0,0, 0,-9,8,36,26,32,11,0,0,0,0,0,30,22,13,42,12,12,53,53,13,16,40,39,40,14,1,7,7,7, 7,7,7,0,7,0]} 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. Bd3 Nc6 5. c3 e6 6. Bf4 Bd6 7. Bxd6 Qxd6 8. Nf3 Nge7 9. O-O Bd7 10. Re1 O-O 11. Ne5 Nxe5 12. dxe5 Qb6 13. Qb3 Qxb3 14. axb3 Rfd8 15. Na3 f6 16. Nc2 Nc6 17. exf6 gxf6 18. Bb5 Kf7 19. Bxc6 Bxc6 20. f4 a5 21. Re3 h5 22. Rae1 Bd7 23. Nd4 Ra6 24. Kf2 b5 25. g3 Re8 26. h3 Rh8 27. Kg2 b4 28. Ra1 Re8 29. Rae1 a4 30. bxa4 Rxa4 31. R1e2 Ra2 32. cxb4 Ra4 33. Nc2 Raa8 34. Kf2 Reb8 35. Ra3 Ke7 36. Rd2 Kd6 37. Ne3 Bc6 38. Nc4+ Ke7 39. Na5 Bd7 40. Nb3 Kd6 41. Nc5 Bc6 42. Re3 e5 43. Ne4+ Ke7 44. Nc5 e4 45. Rd4 f5 46. Ra3 Rg8 47. Rxa8 Bxa8 48. Na4 Kd6 49. Nc3 Bc6 50. Nd1 Bd7 51. Ne3 Be6 52. Rd2 Rb8 53. Nc2 Bd7 54. Ne3 Be6 55. Nc2 Bd7 56. Ne3 {A solid game by Vocaturo. Initially he was better, but Carlsen eventually seized the initiaive. Still, the Italian GM kept his poise and never let Carlsen get anything serious going. } 1/2-1/2 [Event "44th Olympiad 2022"] [Site "Chennai IND"] [Date "2022.07.31"] [Round "3.1"] [White "Georgiadis, Nico"] [Black "Gukesh, D."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B44"] [WhiteElo "2578"] [BlackElo "2684"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "74"] [EventDate "2022.07.29"] [WhiteTeam "Switzerland"] [BlackTeam "India 2"] [WhiteTeamCountry "SUI"] {[%evp 0,74,26,21,43,47,41,21,21,21,33,22,59,13,24,0,-12,-34,23,16,16,-1,14,5, 11,14,14,-19,4,4,10,-13,-6,-30,-30,-44,-12,-112,-112,-112,-107,-107,-131,-106, -109,-109,-109,-117,-90,-87,-103,-106,-80,-129,-73,-124,-124,-170,-181,-162, -162,-162,-162,-184,-172,-184,-239,-253,-220,-582,-547,-665,-693,-732,-740, -732,-740]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e6 5. a3 {Rare, but even so there are 475 games from this position in the database.} e5 $5 {/?! But none of them continue with this move!} 6. Nb5 (6. Nf3) 6... d6 7. c4 Nf6 8. Bd3 (8. N5c3) 8... g6 9. O-O Bg7 10. Bg5 O-O 11. N5c3 h6 12. Bxf6 {This is normally the thing to do when Black has the hole on d5, but the engine dislikes it, claiming that pretty much any bishop retreat would be (slightly) better.} Bxf6 $14 13. Ne2 $6 ({Obvious moves are often good moves: White should prefer} 13. Nd5 $11 {followed by Nbc3.}) 13... Bg7 14. Nbc3 f5 $6 (14... Be6 $142) 15. exf5 gxf5 16. Bc2 Be6 17. Nd5 $2 (17. b3 $11) 17... Rc8 $17 18. Qd2 $2 {A tactical error. The youngster - as is characteristic of youngsters everywhere - is all over it.} Na5 $1 19. b3 b5 $1 $19 {White is lost, as 20.cxb5? Rxc2 21.Qxc2 Bxd5 leads to a situation where Black's minor pieces are far more effective than White's rook.} 20. Rad1 bxc4 21. b4 Nc6 22. Rfe1 Qd7 {The d5 square is not enough to compensate for the missing pawn, Black's bishop pair, and the massive central pawn phalanx. Black goes on to a comfortable win.} 23. Ba4 Qf7 24. Bxc6 Rxc6 25. Nec3 Kh8 26. f4 a5 27. Qe3 e4 28. Rd2 Bxd5 29. Rxd5 axb4 30. axb4 Ra6 31. Rc1 Rb8 32. g4 fxg4 33. Qxe4 Rxb4 34. Rf5 Qa7+ 35. Kf1 Ra1 36. Ne2 Rxc1+ 37. Nxc1 Qa1 0-1 [Event "44th Olympiad 2022"] [Site "Chennai IND"] [Date "2022.07.31"] [Round "3.2"] [White "Nihal, Sarin"] [Black "Bogner, Sebastian"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E06"] [WhiteElo "2651"] [BlackElo "2545"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "53"] [EventDate "2022.07.29"] [WhiteTeam "India 2"] [BlackTeam "Switzerland"] [BlackTeamCountry "SUI"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. Qd3 {This is a rare move (18 games, including this one), as opposed to 6.0-0, which has been played in 400 trillion games (and several billion more before I finish this sentence). Its advocates compose an impressive list, though: Ding, Firouzja, Gelfand, Xiong, Deac, and Bluebaum, to stick to the top of the pile. Add Sarin to the list, and this game makes for a good advertisement on the line's behalf.} Nbd7 (6... b6 {is the unimpressed computer's suggestion.}) 7. O-O b6 8. cxd5 exd5 9. Nc3 Bb7 10. Bf4 Nh5 11. Rad1 $5 $146 (11. e3 $146 {(to recapture with the e-pawn) is a better way to take on doubled f-pawns.}) (11. Bd2 {is of course fine, preserving the bishop from exchange.}) 11... Nxf4 12. gxf4 Re8 13. Ne5 Nf6 14. e3 c6 15. Kh1 $5 {Not a subtle move, but even with the heavy foreshadowing Black doesn't manage to fend off the attack.} Bd6 $1 16. Bf3 c5 $6 {Too optimistic.} (16... Qe7 17. Rg1 g6) 17. Rg1 Qe7 18. Ng4 $1 { Threatening Nh6+ followed by Nf5 and Rxg7(+), in either order.} Nxg4 19. Rxg4 $16 Rad8 20. Rdg1 g6 21. Bxd5 Bxd5+ 22. Nxd5 Qe6 23. Rg5 cxd4 24. e4 $5 ({ There was nothing wrong with the routine} 24. Qxd4 $18) 24... f5 $6 (24... Kh8 $142) (24... Bf8 $142) 25. f3 Rf8 $2 26. exf5 $1 Qxd5 {was the "point" of Black's last move, but after} 27. fxg6 {there's nothing for him to do but resign.} (27. fxg6 Qc6 28. Qb3+ (28. gxh7+ {also mates.}) 28... Kg7 29. gxh7+ Kh8 30. Qg8+ Rxg8 31. hxg8=Q+ Rxg8 32. Rh5#) 1-0