[Event "Superbet Classic 2021"] [Site " Bucharest ROU"] [Date "2021.06.11"] [Round "6.1"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D38"] [WhiteElo "2770"] [BlackElo "2781"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "79"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] {[%evp 0,79,32,18,20,-16,5,-5,-5,-10,33,-7,0,-7,0,8,34,33,33,8,8,9,-8,-3,-3,-2, 24,39,66,61,39,39,52,63,59,32,60,56,44,57,51,61,74,78,94,91,160,172,133,131, 109,136,141,132,128,125,125,133,147,125,138,157,180,196,219,206,310,287,419, 216,219,237,237,239,253,278,273,282,290,254,259,266]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Qa4+ Nc6 6. e3 O-O 7. Bd2 dxc4 8. Bxc4 Bd6 9. Qc2 e5 10. dxe5 Nxe5 11. Nxe5 Bxe5 12. f4 Bxc3 13. Bxc3 Ng4 14. Bd4 c5 15. Bxc5 Re8 16. O-O { While much can be said about the foregoing, it's all still theory. 2700+ players like Carlsen, So, Giri, Anand, Andreikin, and Vidit have been on one side or the other of this Ragozin line, so we're still in established territory.} Nxe3 ({Sometimes Black first kicks in} 16... b6 {before taking on e3. Two high-level examples:} 17. Bd4 Nxe3 18. Bxe3 Rxe3 19. Rad1 (19. Qf2 Re8 20. Rad1 Qf6 21. Qd4 Qxd4+ 22. Rxd4 Bf5 23. Rfd1 g6 24. Ba6 Kg7 25. Kf2 Re7 26. a3 Rae8 27. Rc1 h5 28. Bb5 Re4 29. Rxe4 Rxe4 30. Rc4 Re7 31. Rc3 Re4 32. Rc4 Re7 33. Rc3 Re4 {1/2-1/2 (33) Giri,A (2782)-So,W (2770) Paris 2016}) 19... Qf6 20. Bd5 Bf5 21. Qc7 Re7 22. Qxe7 Qxe7 23. Bxa8 g6 24. Bf3 Qb4 25. Rf2 Qxf4 26. h3 Qe3 27. a3 Be6 28. Rdd2 Kg7 29. Kh2 Qe5+ 30. Kg1 h5 31. Rfe2 Qc5+ 32. Kh1 Qc1+ 33. Kh2 Qc7+ 34. Kg1 Qc5+ 35. Kh2 Qc7+ 36. Kg1 Qc5+ {1/2-1/2 (36) Andreikin,D (2726)-Vidit,S (2726) Chess.com INT 2020}) 17. Bxe3 Rxe3 18. Rfe1 $146 (18. Qf2 {had been played in the five previous games to reach the position after 17...Rxe3. Here are three from the stratosphere:} Re8 (18... Qb6 19. Rfe1 Rxe1+ 20. Rxe1 Qxf2+ 21. Kxf2 Kf8 22. Rc1 Bf5 23. Bb3 Rc8 24. Rxc8+ Bxc8 25. Ke3 Ke7 26. Kd4 b6 27. Bd5 f6 28. g3 Kd6 29. a3 h6 30. b4 Bd7 { 1/2-1/2 (30) Abasov,N (2632)-Anand,V (2765) Douglas 2019}) 19. Rad1 Qf6 (19... Qc7 20. Rc1 Qd6 21. f5 Qf6 22. Bb3 Bd7 23. Rc7 Re7 24. Rxb7 a5 25. Rb6 Qg5 26. f6 gxf6 27. Rxf6 Be8 28. Bxf7+ Bxf7 29. Rxf7 Rxf7 30. Qxf7+ Kh8 31. Qf6+ Qxf6 32. Rxf6 Rd8 33. g3 Kg7 34. Rf2 a4 35. Kg2 a3 36. bxa3 Rd3 37. Kf1 Rxa3 38. Ke1 h5 39. Kd1 h4 40. gxh4 Kg6 41. Kc1 Ra8 42. Kb2 Rb8+ 43. Kc3 Rc8+ 44. Kd4 Ra8 45. Kc4 Rc8+ 46. Kb3 Rb8+ 47. Kc3 Ra8 48. Kb2 Rb8+ 49. Ka1 Ra8 50. Rf4 Ra3 51. Kb2 Rh3 52. a4 Rxh2+ 53. Kb3 Rh3+ 54. Kb4 {1-0 (54) Andreikin,D (2724)-Carlsen, M (2872) Moscow 2019}) 20. f5 b6 21. Qg3 Rd8 22. Bxf7+ Kxf7 23. Qc7+ Rd7 24. Rxd7+ Bxd7 25. Qxd7+ Kf8 26. h3 a5 27. Rd1 Re8 28. Qd6+ Kf7 29. Qxf6+ Kxf6 30. Rd6+ Kxf5 31. Rxb6 Re2 32. a4 g5 33. b3 Rb2 34. Kh2 h5 35. Rb5+ Kf4 36. Rxa5 Rxb3 37. Ra8 g4 38. hxg4 hxg4 39. a5 Rb5 40. a6 g3+ {0-1 (40) Andreikin,D (2726)-Vidit,S (2726) Chess.com INT 2020}) 18... Rxe1+ 19. Rxe1 Bd7 $2 (19... b5 $1 {looks risky, which is a factor when one has been surprised (judging by his next move, Aronian was in fact surprised by 18.Rfe1), but it appears to be fully satisfactory as a way of neutralizing Mamedyarov's novelty.} 20. Qe4 (20. Bxb5 $4 Qb6+ 21. Kh1 Qxb5 {snags the bishop while covering e8 - no mate. Also important:} 22. Qe4 {win against everything but} Bb7 {, providing further testimony to the queen's effectiveness on b5.}) 20... Bd7 {is fine for Black. White has one mildly entertaining option here, though it's as drawish as pretty much everything else here:} 21. Bxf7+ Kxf7 22. Qd5+ Kf8 23. Qd6+ Kg8 24. Rd1 {winning a pawn, but after} Rc8 25. Qxd7 Qxd7 26. Rxd7 Rc2 27. Rxa7 Rxb2 { and despite the extra pawn it's a routine draw, not least because Black will be able to swap the queenside pawns whenever he wants to.}) 20. Qb3 $16 { This gives White a more meaningful extra pawn than that he enjoyed in the 19... b5 line. Now Black is in trouble.} Qf6 (20... Bc6 $142) 21. Qxb7 Qd4+ 22. Kh1 Re8 $2 {This is a further error, blundering away a second pawn. That said, if it weren't for the small tactical trick we're about to see, this move would equalize and there wouldn't have been anything wrong with 19...Bd7. Unfortunately for Aronian, "almost works" means "is losing" in this case.} 23. Rxe8+ Bxe8 24. Bxf7+ $1 Kf8 (24... Bxf7 $4 25. Qc8+ Be8 26. Qxe8#) (24... Kh8 25. h3 $18) 25. Bb3 $18 {It seems almost unfair the way the geometry keeps working out for White. The bishop covers d1, Black can't take on b2 because 26. Qb4 is mate, and 25...Qxf4 can be met by 26.Qxa7, when there's no back rank problem as the queen can block a check on g1. (And in case of 26...Qc1+ 27.Qg1 Qxb2, it's death by diagonal, part deux: 28.Qc5#.) The bottom line: White is up two clear pawns, and all Black's efforts at counterplay come up short.} Qc5 (25... Qxb2 26. Qb4#) (25... Qxf4 26. Qxa7 (26. Qf3 $2 {*might* win as well, but there's no good reason for White to do this.}) 26... Qc1+ 27. Qg1 Qxb2 28. Qc5#) 26. Qd5 Qc1+ 27. Bd1 $1 (27. Qd1 $2 Qxf4 28. Qf3 {is, as before, certainly in White's favor but neither a clear win nor his best bet.}) 27... Qxf4 (27... Qxb2 {falls prey to something similar to what we've already seen:} 28. Qd6+ Kg8 (28... Kf7 29. Bb3+) 29. Bb3+ {Again, the two diagonals are lethal.} Kh8 (29... Bf7 30. Qd8#) 30. Qf8#) 28. Qc5+ Kg8 29. Qxa7 h5 (29... Qc1 30. Qd4 $18) 30. h3 Bc6 31. Bb3+ Kh7 32. Qf7 {A nice way of dealing with ideas of ...Qf1+ followed by a capture on g2. The rest is just a matter of Mamedyarov staying awake to any cheapos and making the time control on move 40. } Qc1+ 33. Kh2 Qc5 (33... Qxb2 $4 34. Qxh5#) 34. Qg8+ Kh6 35. Qe6+ g6 36. Qf6 Bd7 37. h4 Qc7+ 38. g3 Qc8 39. Qf4+ Kh7 40. Qf7+ (40. Qf7+ Kh6 (40... Kh8 41. Qxg6) 41. Qg8 {forces the queens off, as there is no sensible way for Black to avoid the trade while still preventing 42.Qh8#.}) 1-0 [Event "Superbet Classic 2021"] [Site " Bucharest ROU"] [Date "2021.06.11"] [Round "6.2"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E49"] [WhiteElo "2770"] [BlackElo "2780"] [PlyCount "168"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. a3 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 dxc4 8. Bxc4 c5 9. Nf3 Qc7 10. Be2 b6 11. Bb2 cxd4 12. cxd4 Ba6 13. O-O Bxe2 14. Qxe2 Nbd7 15. e4 Rac8 16. Rfc1 Qb7 17. Re1 h6 18. Rab1 Rc7 19. Nd2 Rfc8 20. Nf1 Qc6 21. f3 Qc2 22. Qb5 Qc6 23. Qe2 Qc2 24. Ne3 Qxe2 25. Rxe2 Ne8 26. d5 Nc5 27. dxe6 Nxe6 28. Rd2 b5 29. Kf2 Rb7 30. h4 h5 31. Nd5 f6 32. Rbd1 a5 33. Bc3 Ra8 34. Rb2 Kf7 35. Be1 Ra6 36. Ne3 Nd6 37. Bxa5 Rxa5 38. Rxd6 Rxa3 39. Rd5 Nf4 40. Rdxb5 Rxb5 41. Rxb5 g6 42. Rb7+ Ke6 43. Rb6+ Kf7 44. Rb7+ Ke8 45. Rb8+ Kf7 46. Rc8 Ra2+ 47. Rc2 Rxc2+ 48. Nxc2 g5 49. hxg5 fxg5 50. Nd4 h4 51. g3 hxg3+ 52. Kxg3 Nd3 53. Nc6 Kg6 54. Ne7+ Kf6 55. Nd5+ Kg6 56. Ne3 Kf6 57. Ng4+ Ke6 58. Kg2 Nf4+ 59. Kf2 Nd3+ 60. Ke3 Nf4 61. Nh2 Ng2+ 62. Kf2 Nf4 63. Nf1 Nd3+ 64. Ke3 Nf4 65. Nd2 Ng2+ 66. Kd4 Nh4 67. Ke3 Ng2+ 68. Kf2 Nf4 69. Nc4 Nd3+ 70. Ke3 Nf4 71. Nb2 Ng2+ 72. Ke2 g4 73. fxg4 Ke5 74. Kf3 Nh4+ 75. Kg3 Ng6 76. Kf3 Nh4+ 77. Kg3 Ng6 78. g5 Kxe4 79. Kg4 Ne5+ 80. Kh5 Kf5 81. Kh6 Nf7+ 82. Kh5 Nxg5 83. Nc4 Ke4 84. Ne3 Kxe3 1/2-1/2 [Event "Superbet Classic 2021"] [Site " Bucharest ROU"] [Date "2021.06.11"] [Round "6.3"] [White "Grischuk, Alexander"] [Black "Lupulescu, Constantin"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B67"] [WhiteElo "2776"] [BlackElo "2656"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] {[%evp 0,73,32,32,41,57,88,62,63,51,51,20,47,36,40,27,48,37,30,7,18,28,27,36, 37,3,17,-11,13,13,86,64,63,64,94,77,135,122,144,131,83,148,120,138,136,140,140, 144,144,134,200,131,131,137,191,191,191,187,187,160,171,190,326,257,337,244, 244,260,260,335,357,402,402,402,406,293]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 {The Classical Sicilian has made a huge comeback the last 2-3 years. Kramnik's favorite from the mid-90s has returned.} 6. Bg5 Bd7 (6... e6 { is the main move by a huge margin, but 6...Bd7 is also well-known. On this occasion, it amounts to no more than a transposition.}) 7. Qd2 a6 8. O-O-O e6 { Back to "normal".} 9. f4 (9. f3 {is also very common.}) 9... b5 (9... Be7 { is the other main move at the moment.}) (9... h6 {is still played sometimes, but it's nowhere near as popular as it used to be.}) 10. Bxf6 gxf6 11. Kb1 Qb6 12. Nxc6 Bxc6 13. f5 b4 (13... h5 {is also popular, while}) (13... Qc5 { , like 9...h6 in an earlier note, is a move that used to be common but has mostly disappeared.}) 14. Ne2 e5 15. Ng3 {We're still early in theory, with nearly 500 games in the database.} Qc5 {Here Qe2 makes less sense, as there's no loose pawn on h5.} (15... h5 {is the most common move. Now White sometimes plays 16.Bc4, but the traditional main move is} 16. h4 {, and here Black should perhaps play 16...Bh6, though 16...Qc5 is far more usual. Were White to meet the latter move with 17.b3, it would transpose to the game, but instead 17.Qe2 is better and more common.}) 16. b3 (16. Bd3 {is a vanilla move, but then vanilla is the most popular flavor of ice cream. Here are a couple of Karjakin's games with this move from 2020:} h5 17. h4 Bh6 18. Qe2 Qe3 19. Nxh5 Ke7 20. Qf1 Rhg8 ({This game was played before the game with 20...Rhg8. Why didn't Black follow in his predecessor's footsteps, and why was Karjakin willing to do so? My suspicion is that he intended neither of the usual moves, 21.Rh3 nor 21.Rg1, but the spectacular} 20... Bxe4 21. Rh3 (21. g4 $3 {instead. It was tried only once before, and although Black survived the game this looks promising.} Bxh1 22. Qxh1 Rad8 23. Qd5 Qc5 24. Nxf6 $1 Kxf6 25. g5+ Ke7 26. f6+ Ke8 27. Qb7 ({The way forward was to go backward:} 27. Qg2 $1 d5 {Best.} 28. gxh6 Kd7 29. Qg7 ({A less obvious (and unfortunately, less good) but flashy idea is} 29. h5 Kc7 30. Bg6 $1 {Of course, Black need not indulge White, and the spoilsport} Qd6 $1 $14 {keeps his disadvantage down to a minimum.}) 29... Kc6 30. Qxf7 Rxh6 31. Bxa6 Rb8 32. h5 $16 {/+- appears unhealthy for Black. But perhaps better computers than mine, or longer analysis, will reveal that Black can survive this. I wouldn't want to try it myself, though.}) 27... Rd7 28. Qa8+ Rd8 29. Qxa6 Rb8 30. Qa4+ Kd8 31. Qb3 (31. Bf5 $1 $146 Qc7 $8 32. Bg4 $1 Bf8 33. h5 Qb7 $8 $11 {leaves White with full compensation and the initiative, but it looks like Black has managed to duct tape everything together.}) 31... Qc7 32. Bc4 Rb7 33. gxh6 Rxh6 34. Qe3 Rxh4 35. Bd5 Rh2 36. Bb3 Kc8 37. Qg1 Rh8 38. Bd5 Ra7 39. Qg4+ Kd8 40. Qxb4 Rh6 41. Rg1 Rh8 42. a3 Qc5 43. Qb8+ Kd7 44. Qxh8 Qxg1+ 45. Ka2 Qc5 46. Qh3+ Kc7 47. Bxf7 d5 48. Be8 Kd8 49. f7 Qc4+ 50. Kb1 Qf4 51. Qb3 Ke7 52. Qxd5 Rc7 53. Bb5 e4 54. b3 e3 55. Bd3 Kf8 56. Bg6 Rxf7 57. Qd8+ Kg7 58. Bxf7 Kxf7 {1/2-1/2 (58) Sychev,K (2510) -Maghsoodloo,P (2572) Yerevan 2018}) 21... Bxd3 22. Rxd3 Qc1+ 23. Qxc1 Bxc1 24. Nxf6 Kxf6 25. Kxc1 Kxf5 26. Rxd6 Rag8 27. Rd2 Rg4 28. Rf2+ Ke6 29. Rhf3 Rhxh4 30. Rxf7 Rxg2 31. R7f6+ Ke7 32. Rf7+ Ke6 33. R7f6+ Ke7 34. Rf7+ Ke6 {1/2-1/2 (34) Karjakin,S (2752)-Harsha,B (2509) Chess.com INT 2020}) 21. Rh3 Qc5 22. Qe2 a5 23. g4 a4 24. Nxf6 Kxf6 25. g5+ Bxg5 26. hxg5+ Rxg5 27. Bc4 Rag8 28. Rh6+ Ke7 29. Rhxd6 Qxd6 30. Rxd6 Kxd6 31. a3 Rg1+ 32. Ka2 Rh1 33. Qd2+ Kc7 34. Qxb4 Rgg1 35. Qe7+ Kb6 36. b4 Rg2 37. Qc5+ Kb7 38. Bd3 f6 39. b5 Bd7 40. Qe7 Kc8 41. Kb2 Rgg1 42. Qf8+ Kc7 43. Qxf6 Rb1+ 44. Kc3 Ra1 45. Qxe5+ Kb6 46. Kb4 Rhb1+ 47. Kxa4 Bc8 48. Qd6+ Kb7 49. Qc6+ Kb8 50. f6 Bb7 51. Qd6+ Ka7 52. f7 Rf1 53. Qc5+ Kb8 54. f8=Q+ Rxf8 55. Qxf8+ {1-0 (55) Karjakin,S (2752)-Vidit,S (2726) Chess. com INT 2020}) 16... h5 17. h4 Bb5 {Only played once before, 20 years ago. Stockfish is not a fan, so I guess Lupulescu was surprised somewhere.} (17... Ke7 {is usual, when play typically continues} 18. Bc4 Bh6 19. Qe2 Bb5 20. Rd3 { , and while all five games to reach this position were email games ending in a draw (but I repeat myself), the engine claims that White is better here.} Bxc4 21. bxc4 Qxc4 22. Nxh5 Rhc8 23. g4 Rc5 24. Qg2 Rg8 {Initially Stockfish thought that White was doing brilliantly after 25.Rhd1, but after a while it thinks it's only good for a slight edge - which is also the way it assesses the move in the games. I'll leave this rabbit trail now and return to the main game.} 25. g5 Ra5 26. Rb3 fxg5 27. Rd1 g4 28. f6+ Kd7 29. Ng7 Be3 30. Nf5 Bd4 31. Ne7 Rb8 32. Qxg4+ Kc7 33. Nd5+ Kc6 34. Ne7+ Kc7 35. Rc1 Qb5 (35... Be3 36. Re1 Rc5 37. Qe2 Bd4 38. Qxc4 Rxc4 39. Rh3 Rh8 40. h5 Kd7 41. h6 Rh7 42. Nd5 Ke6 43. a3 a5 44. Re2 Rc8 45. Ka2 Rg8 46. axb4 axb4 47. Kb3 Rg6 48. Reh2 Bc3 49. Kc4 Rg4 50. Kd3 Rg6 51. Kc4 Rg4 52. Rh4 Rg6 53. Kb5 Kd7 54. Kc4 Ke6 55. Rh5 Rg4 56. Re2 Rg6 57. Reh2 Rg4 58. Re2 Rg6 59. Kb5 Kd7 60. Reh2 Rg4 61. R5h4 Rg8 62. Rh1 Rg2 63. Kc4 Ke6 64. R4h2 Rg4 65. Kd3 Rg6 66. Ke2 Rg3 67. Kf2 Rg6 68. Kf3 Kd7 69. Kf2 Ke6 70. Kf3 Kd7 71. Rh4 Ke8 72. Rg4 Rhxh6 73. Rxh6 Rxh6 74. Rg8+ Kd7 75. Ra8 Rh3+ 76. Kg4 Rh7 77. Rg8 Rh6 78. Rf8 Rh7 79. Kf3 Bd2 80. Ke2 Bh6 81. Rb8 Bg5 82. Rxb4 Rh2+ 83. Kd3 Rd2+ 84. Kc3 Rd4 85. Rxd4 exd4+ 86. Kxd4 Ke6 87. c3 Bxf6+ 88. Nxf6 {1/2-1/2 (86) Semmler,R (2326)-Bennborn,J (2311) ICCF email 2015}) 36. c4 Qc5 37. Rc2 Ra3 38. Qg7 Qa5 39. Qg3 Qc5 40. Nd5+ {1/2-1/2 (40) Helbich,J (2504)-Novak,J (2497) ICCF email 2015}) 18. Qe1 $1 $146 {+/-} ({ The natural if tepid} 18. Be2 $2 {was played in the earlier game, and after} Ke7 $1 {Black stood better.} 19. c3 $4 {And this is losing. A very strange couple of moves by the Icelandic legend.} bxc3 $19 20. Qc2 Rg8 (20... Bh6 $142) 21. Rd5 Qc7 $2 (21... Qb4 $142) 22. Bxb5 Rxg3 $6 (22... axb5 $19) 23. Rd3 $2 ( 23. Bc4) 23... Rxd3 24. Bxd3 Bh6 $1 $19 25. Qe2 $2 Rc8 $2 (25... Qc5) 26. Bc4 Qb6 27. Kc2 $4 Rxc4 {0-1 (27) Stefansson,H (2586)-Filipenko,A (2410) Pardubice 2001}) 18... Rc8 19. Bxb5+ $1 {Now that Black's rook has quit the a-file, this makes sense.} axb5 20. Qe2 Ra8 $2 {As the saying goes, you can't go home again. } (20... Ke7 $1 21. Rd5 Qa7 22. Rxb5 Bh6 23. Rxb4 Rc3 {was the best try, with some activity for the pawns.}) 21. Rd5 $18 Qa7 22. Qxb5+ Kd8 23. a4 {Simple. White returns the pawn, putting a full end to Black's attack, and in the meantime dominates the board, especially the light squares.} bxa3 24. Rhd1 $1 ( {The routine} 24. Ka2 {is the usual follow-up to the a4 bxa3 idea, but Grischuk sees that he needn't use a tempo on that bit of prophylaxis.}) 24... Be7 (24... a2+ $142) 25. Qe2 (25. Ka2 $1) 25... Rc8 26. c4 $2 (26. Ka2 $142) 26... Rg8 $2 (26... a2+ $1 27. Qxa2 Qxa2+ 28. Kxa2 Rg8 {still favors White, but it's no longer a clear win.}) 27. Nxh5 a2+ 28. Ka1 $1 $18 Rb8 29. R5d3 Qa3 30. Qc2 {Black's activity has maxed out; now White will start going forward again.} Rg4 31. c5 Rc8 $2 (31... d5 $142 32. Rxd5+ Kc8) 32. Rc3 d5 33. Rxd5+ Ke8 34. g3 Qb4 35. Rc4 Qe1+ 36. Rd1 Qe3 37. Qd3 {The threat of 38.Qd7+ means that Black must trade queens, after which there's nothing to play for.} 1-0 [Event "Superbet Classic 2021"] [Site " Bucharest ROU"] [Date "2021.06.11"] [Round "6.4"] [White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C78"] [WhiteElo "2760"] [BlackElo "2820"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "58"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Bc5 6. c3 b5 7. Bc2 d5 8. a4 dxe4 9. axb5 Bg4 10. bxc6 exf3 11. gxf3 Bh3 12. Re1 O-O 13. Ra5 Qd6 14. b4 Bxf2+ 15. Kxf2 e4 16. Kg1 Rae8 17. Re3 Nh5 18. f4 $146 (18. Rg5 $142 Qh6 19. f4 (19. Rg3 Nxg3 20. hxg3 exf3 21. Qxf3 Re6 22. Qf4 g5 23. Qd4 Rd6 24. Qe5 Re6 25. Qd4 Rd6 26. Qe4 Rf6 27. Bd3 Bf5 28. Qd5 Bxd3 29. Qxd3 Qh3 30. Qe2 Rxc6 31. Qg2 Qxg2+ 32. Kxg2 f6 33. d4 Kf7 34. Nd2 Re6 35. Nb3 Rxe3 36. Bxe3 h5 37. d5 Rb8 38. Nc5 Ra8 39. Nb7 Ke7 40. c4 Kd7 41. Nc5+ Kd6 42. Nb7+ Kd7 43. Na5 Re8 44. Kf3 h4 45. gxh4 gxh4 46. Bf4 Re1 47. Nb3 Kc8 48. Nc5 Rf1+ 49. Ke3 h3 50. Ne4 Rb1 51. b5 a5 52. d6 f5 53. Nf2 a4 54. c5 a3 55. c6 cxd6 56. Bxd6 a2 57. b6 a1=Q 58. b7+ Rxb7 59. cxb7+ Kxb7 {0-1 (59) Dominguez Perez,L (2758)-Caruana,F (2835) Lichess.org INT 2020}) 19... Nxf4 20. Rgg3 ({Let's push the theory along with something new:} 20. Reg3 $1 f5 21. Rxg7+ Qxg7 22. Rxg7+ Kxg7 23. Qe1 Rg8 24. Qh4 Kh8+ 25. Kf2 Rg2+ 26. Ke3 Ne6 27. c4 $1 (27. Qxh3 $4 f4+ 28. Kxe4 Ng5+ $19) 27... Kg8 {looks like a complicated mess that probably favors White after} 28. b5 f4+ 29. Kxe4 Rxh2 30. Ke5 Re2+ 31. Be4 Ng7+ 32. Kd5 R2xe4 33. Bb2 {To those of you who want to play this variation, good luck. I will enjoy watching your games, but I probably won't be joining you!}) 20... f5 21. Qe1 Bg4 22. d4 Nh3+ 23. Kh1 Qh5 24. Nd2 Ng5 25. Qg1 h6 26. Re1 Bh3 27. Bd1 Qh4 28. Nf1 f4 29. Bxf4 Rxf4 30. Ne3 Ref8 31. d5 Kh8 32. c4 Nf3 33. Bxf3 exf3 34. Qf2 Bg2+ 35. Nxg2 fxg2+ 36. Qxg2 Rf2 37. Rg4 Qh5 38. Qg3 Rxh2+ 39. Qxh2 Qxg4 40. Qe2 Qh4+ 41. Kg1 Qg3+ 42. Kh1 Rf4 {0-1 (42) Ikeda,J (2452)-Kuybokarov,T (2543) Canberra 2021}) 18... Nxf4 19. Rg5 $2 {My guess is that MVL forgot his prep here, or maybe got the last two moves backward (18.Rg5 followed by 19.f4 was played in the Ikeda-Kuybokarov game above).} (19. Rg3 f5 20. d4 exd3 21. Bb3+ Kh8 22. Bxf4 Qxf4 23. Rxh3 Re2 24. Qf1 Qg4+ 25. Rg3 Qh4 26. Rh3 Qg4+ $11) 19... f5 $17 20. d4 $2 (20. Rgg3 $142) 20... Bg4 $19 21. Rxg4 fxg4 22. Qxg4 Nd3 $2 $11 (22... Qf6 $1 23. Bxe4 (23. Nd2 Nd5 24. Rh3 Qf2+ 25. Kh1 Nf4 26. Bb3+ Kh8 27. Rg3 Re7 $19) 23... h5 24. Qf5 Qxf5 25. Bxf5 Rxe3 26. Bxe3 Rxf5 $19) 23. Bxd3 exd3 24. Rxe8 Rxe8 25. Bf4 Qxc6 26. Be5 Qh6 27. Bf4 Qc6 28. Be5 Qh6 29. Bf4 Qc6 1/2-1/2 [Event "Superbet Classic 2021"] [Site " Bucharest ROU"] [Date "2021.06.11"] [Round "6.5"] [White "Deac, Bogdan-Daniel"] [Black "Radjabov, Teimour"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C67"] [WhiteElo "2627"] [BlackElo "2765"] [PlyCount "94"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6. Nxe5 Be7 7. Bf1 Nxe5 8. Rxe5 O-O 9. d4 Bf6 10. Re1 Re8 11. Bf4 Rxe1 12. Qxe1 Ne8 13. c3 d5 14. Bd3 g6 15. Nd2 Ng7 16. Qe2 c6 17. Re1 Bf5 18. Nf3 Qd7 19. Be5 Re8 20. Qd2 Bxe5 21. Nxe5 Qd8 22. Bxf5 Nxf5 23. g3 f6 24. Nd3 Nd6 25. h4 Rxe1+ 26. Qxe1 Kf7 27. f3 Qe7 28. Kf2 Nf5 29. Qd2 Qd6 30. Qf4 Qxf4 31. Nxf4 g5 32. hxg5 fxg5 33. Nd3 h5 34. g4 hxg4 35. fxg4 Nd6 36. Ke2 Ke7 37. Ne5 Nc4 38. Nxc4 dxc4 39. Ke3 b5 40. Ke4 Ke6 41. a3 a5 42. Kf3 Kd5 43. Ke3 Kd6 44. Ke4 Ke6 45. Kf3 Kd5 46. Ke3 Kd6 47. Ke4 Ke6 1/2-1/2