[Event "FIDE World Cup 2023"] [Site "Baku AZE"] [Date "2023.08.21"] [Round "7.3"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Praggnanandhaa, R."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2782"] [BlackElo "2690"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "141"] [EventDate "2023.07.30"] [EventType "k.o."] {[%evp 0,141,27,21,26,22,25,12,18,-9,2,-3,14,31,26,-7,6,-2,4,4,11,11,51,11,13,7,17,25,35,18,31,23,19,25,20,25,19,1,12,-2,20,2,-12,-34,-1,-2,-2,8,15,-10,1,3,57,11,12,15,18,3,24,31,46,34,114,13,10,15,30,57,29,31,31,31,42,43,37,37,47,46,47,55,65,22,14,25,15,20,24,25,21,25,29,0,0,94,108,121,198,193,198,208,222,0,54,203,212,207,213,213,211,209,209,53,207,207,196,187,187,183,183,204,153,124,109,34,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 h6 6. O-O d6 7. Re1 O-O 8. h3 a6 9. a4 Ba7 10. Nbd2 Ne7 11. Bb3 Ng6 12. Nf1 c6 13. Ng3 d5 14. Be3 {Only played once before, and not at the professional level.} (14. exd5 Nxd5 15. d4 exd4 16. Nxd4 {is usual. Successful? Not particularly, so Caruana looks for something more interesting, more likely to force Pragg to solve problems at the board.}) 14... Bb8 $146 {A novelty, but transposing to a professional game.} 15. Bc2 $146 (15. Qc2 Re8 16. Rad1 Bd7 17. d4 exd4 18. Bxd4 Bxg3 19. Bxf6 Bxf2+ 20. Qxf2 Qxf6 21. exd5 cxd5 22. Bxd5 Bxa4 23. Bxb7 Bxd1 24. Bxa8 Rxa8 25. Rxd1 Rb8 26. Rd2 Ne5 27. Nxe5 Qxe5 28. Rd7 Qe6 29. Qd2 Qb6+ 30. Kh1 Qxb2 31. Rd8+ Kh7 32. Qd3+ g6 33. Rxb8 Qxb8 34. Qxa6 Qf4 35. Qd3 {½-½ Volokitin,A (2649)-Leko,P (2693) Wch Rapid Doha 2016 (12)}) 15... Re8 {Transposing to yet another game.} 16. a5 Bc7 $146 {Varying, but it will return momentarily to the game given below.} 17. b4 Be6 18. Bd2 $146 (18. Qe2 Qd7 19. Rad1 Rad8 20. Qf1 Qc8 21. Bc1 c5 22. Ba4 Rf8 23. Bd2 Qb8 24. Rb1 c4 25. Bc2 cxd3 26. Bxd3 dxe4 27. Nxe4 Nxe4 28. Bxe4 f5 29. Bc2 Qc8 30. Be3 Kh8 31. Bc5 Rfe8 32. Rbd1 Rxd1 33. Rxd1 Bxa5 34. Nd2 Rd8 35. Nc4 Rxd1 36. Bxd1 Bc7 37. Bc2 e4 38. Kh1 Qd7 39. Bd4 Nf4 40. Ne3 Qd6 41. g3 Ng6 42. Qc1 Ne5 43. Ng2 Kh7 44. Nf4 Bd7 45. Bb3 Bc6 46. Be3 Nd3 47. Qd2 g5 48. Nxd3 f4 49. Bc5 Qxd3 50. Qxd3 exd3+ 51. Kh2 Bf3 52. gxf4 Bxf4+ 53. Kg1 d2 54. Bc2+ Kg7 55. Bd4+ Kf7 56. Bb3+ Ke8 57. Ba4+ b5 58. Bb3 d1=Q+ 59. Bxd1 Bxd1 60. Kg2 h5 61. Bf6 Kf7 62. Bd4 Ke6 63. Kf1 Be5 64. Bb6 Bxc3 65. Ba5 Kd5 66. Kg2 Kc4 67. Bd8 g4 68. hxg4 hxg4 69. Kg3 Bxb4 70. f4 gxf3 71. Kh2 a5 72. Kg3 a4 73. Bf6 a3 74. Kf2 Bc3 75. Bxc3 Kxc3 {0-1 Bhavesh,M (2051)-Oliva Castaneda,K (2467) Barcelona Sant Marti op 21st 2019 (1)}) 18... Qc8 19. Qe2 Bd6 20. c4 dxc4 {It may have been better to maintain the tension.} 21. dxc4 Nf4 22. Qf1 c5 (22... Bc7 $142) 23. b5 axb5 24. cxb5 c4 25. Bc3 Bd7 (25... Bxh3 $1 26. gxh3 Nxh3+ 27. Kh1 Bc5 28. Re2 Ng4 29. Be1 Qe6 $44) 26. Red1 $14 {/? Now White is definitely better.} Qc5 27. Rab1 (27. Rdb1 $142) 27... Bf8 28. b6 g6 (28... Rxa5 $1) 29. Qe1 Bg7 $2 30. Qd2 $6 (30. Ne2 $18 {was best, getting rid of Black's best minor piece.}) 30... Rad8 $2 (30... h5 $16) 31. Qd6 $2 (31. Bxe5 $1 {wins material. Maybe Caruana was worried about something like} Nxg2 {when the knight shouldn't be taken because of 32...Bxh3+ followed by taking the queen. But there's no need for that. White has several clearly winning options, including} (31... Rxe5 32. Qxf4 $18) 32. Qd6 Qxd6 33. Bxd6 Bxh3 34. a6 bxa6 35. b7 Nd7 36. Ba4 c3 37. Kh2 $18 {and White is going to do some serious collecting.}) 31... Qxd6 32. Rxd6 $16 N6h5 33. Nxh5 (33. Bb4) (33. Kh2) 33... Ne2+ 34. Kf1 Nxc3 35. Nxg7 Kxg7 36. Ra1 Bb5 37. Rxd8 Rxd8 38. Ke1 $2 (38. Ra3 $142 Nb1 $1 39. Bxb1 Rd1+ 40. Ke2 Rxb1 41. Kd2 $16 {/+- is surprisingly bad for Black. One reason is that Black must always be on the lookout for a6 Bxa6 Rxa6 bxa6 b7 ideas - e.g.} Rf1 42. Kc3 $1 Rxf2 $2 43. a6 $1 Bxa6 44. Rxa6 bxa6 45. b7 $18) 38... Ba6 $2 {Natural, but a mistake.} (38... f5 $1 39. exf5 e4 $11) 39. Nxe5 $16 Re8 $2 40. Kd2 $2 (40. f4 $1 {first, and only after} f6 {is it time for} 41. Kd2 $1 Nxe4+ 42. Bxe4 fxe5 43. Re1 $3 {Otherwise Black's disadvantage remains manageable.} exf4 44. Bxb7 $1 {is of course the point of the last move.} Rxe1 45. Bxa6 $18 {Black is finished here. I'm not sure how much time Caruana had left here, so it's entirely understandable that he'd miss such a subtle tactic. In a slow game he probably would have found it, and maybe even in a rapid game in a shorter, less arduous tournament.}) 40... Nxe4+ 41. Bxe4 Rxe5 $11 42. Bf3 Rb5 43. Kc3 Rb3+ $2 {Having just escaped from trouble (again), Pragg jumps back into the fire (again).} (43... Kf6) 44. Kd4 $16 Kf6 45. Kc5 $2 (45. Bd5 Ke7 $1 46. Ra4 $1 Rd3+ 47. Kc5 c3 48. Re4+ Kf6 49. Re1 Rd2 50. Rc1 c2 51. Bb3 Bd3 52. g3 Rxf2 53. Kd6 $16 {Not the easiest line.}) 45... c3 $2 (45... Ke7 $1 $11) 46. Kd6 $18 c2 47. Rc1 Bd3 48. Bxb7 Rb1 49. Rxc2 Bxc2 {There's no way Caruana will fail to win this one, right?} 50. Bf3 (50. Bc6 $142) (50. Kc7 $142) 50... Bd3 51. b7 Ba6 52. Kc7 Rc1+ 53. Bc6 Bxb7 54. Kxb7 Rc2 55. f4 $2 {This just throws away a valuable tempo for no reason, and would be a terrible move even if it didn't give away half a point.} (55. a6 Rxf2 (55... Rb2+ 56. Kc7 Rxf2 (56... Ra2 57. Kb6 Rxf2 58. a7 Ra2 59. a8=Q Rxa8 60. Bxa8 $18) 57. a7 $18) 56. a7 Ra2 57. Bb5 Rxa7+ 58. Kxa7 $18) 55... Kf5 $11 56. a6 Rb2+ 57. Kc7 Ra2 58. Kb6 Kxf4 59. Bd5 Rxa6+ 60. Kxa6 Kg3 {Remember that Black has two ways to draw this ending. Getting rid of all White's pawns is one way, of course, but it's enough if he gets rid of White's g-pawn, as long as his king can get back to h8.} 61. Kb5 f5 62. Kc5 g5 63. Kd4 g4 64. hxg4 fxg4 65. Ke5 h5 66. Kf5 h4 67. Kg5 h3 68. gxh3 gxh3 69. Bc6 h2 70. Bd5 h1=Q 71. Bxh1 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE World Cup 2023"] [Site "Baku AZE"] [Date "2023.08.21"] [Round "7.4"] [White "Praggnanandhaa, R."] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D02"] [WhiteElo "2690"] [BlackElo "2782"] [PlyCount "105"] [EventDate "2023.07.30"] [EventType "k.o."] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 d5 3. e3 Bf5 4. Bd3 Bg6 5. Nf3 e6 6. c4 Bd6 7. Bg3 dxc4 8. Bxc4 O-O 9. Nc3 Nbd7 10. O-O Bxg3 11. hxg3 c5 12. Be2 Qe7 13. Qb3 cxd4 14. Nxd4 Nc5 15. Qa3 Rfe8 16. Rfd1 a6 17. Rac1 Rad8 18. Nf3 Kf8 19. Ne5 Rxd1+ 20. Nxd1 Ncd7 21. Nxg6+ hxg6 22. Qb3 b5 23. Qc2 Qd6 24. a4 bxa4 25. Qxa4 Qd2 26. Qc2 Qxc2 27. Rxc2 a5 28. f3 Nd5 29. e4 Nb4 30. Rc7 Ne5 31. Rc5 Nec6 32. Ne3 Ke7 33. Nc4 Ra8 34. Bd1 a4 35. Rb5 Ra7 36. Kf2 Kd8 37. Ke3 Kc7 38. g4 Ra8 39. g5 f6 40. g3 e5 41. gxf6 gxf6 42. f4 Rd8 43. Bxa4 Rd3+ 44. Kf2 exf4 45. gxf4 Rd4 46. b3 Rxe4 47. Kf3 f5 48. Rc5 Rxf4+ 49. Kxf4 Nd3+ 50. Kg5 Nxc5 51. Bxc6 Kxc6 52. Kxg6 Nxb3 53. Kxf5 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE World Cup 2023"] [Site "Baku AZE"] [Date "2023.08.21"] [Round "7.5"] [White "Praggnanandhaa, R."] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C55"] [WhiteElo "2690"] [BlackElo "2782"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "125"] [EventDate "2023.07.30"] [EventType "k.o."] {[%evp 0,125,27,25,25,12,17,24,24,7,17,16,31,31,18,-5,8,14,38,40,72,36,31,31,36,33,34,34,37,32,35,32,41,51,65,42,41,31,58,40,45,-6,52,65,52,52,60,42,44,50,71,58,53,45,36,25,61,39,48,27,81,118,105,106,134,113,118,149,148,150,121,121,167,163,158,160,154,156,193,175,175,185,224,211,213,217,211,192,169,217,202,219,219,219,277,284,284,284,279,298,316,360,360,290,357,381,381,406,628,592,592,495,495,393,622,492,985,985,1087,1138,1138,1109,1140,1105,1468,1721,29997,29998]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. Nc3 d6 7. a4 Bg4 8. h3 Bh5 9. Be3 Nd4 10. Bxd4 exd4 11. Nd5 Nxd5 12. Bxd5 c6 13. Bb3 Bxf3 14. Qxf3 g6 $146 15. Qg4 Kg7 16. f4 Qc7 17. Rae1 Rae8 18. Qf3 Qd7 19. Re2 Bd8 20. Kh1 d5 $1 {It's a good pawn sac, but there's always the danger that someday the player who sacs a pawn will just be a pawn down.} 21. exd5 Rxe2 22. Qxe2 Re8 23. dxc6 bxc6 $15 24. Qf2 Qd6 $11 (24... Re3 $142 25. Re1 Qe8 26. Rxe3 dxe3 27. Qe2 Bf6 28. c3 $2 Qb8 {forks b3 and f4.}) 25. g3 Re3 26. Re1 Bb6 27. Kg2 Qf6 (27... h5) 28. Bc4 a5 29. Qf1 Bc5 $2 (29... h5 $142 30. Rxe3 (30. h4 Qe7 31. Rxe3 dxe3 32. Kf3 Qd7 $1 $11) 30... dxe3 31. c3 h4 32. d4 c5 33. d5 Bc7 $11 {Black is okay, as White's kingside is crumbling.}) 30. Rxe3 dxe3 31. c3 $16 {Suddenly Caruana is in danger - his e-pawn is in trouble, and he has no counterplay.} Bb6 32. Qf3 Qe7 33. Kf1 Ba7 34. Ke2 Qb7 35. b3 Qe7 36. d4 c5 $2 (36... Qa3 $16 {/+-}) 37. d5 $2 (37. Qxe3 $18 {is just over.}) 37... Bb8 38. Qxe3 $18 {Still, this isn't good for Black.} Qf8 $2 (38... Qf6 $142) 39. Bb5 Qd6 40. Bc6 {White's king is ready to waltz into the queenside and help collect some more pawns.} Bc7 41. Kd3 Qf6 42. Kc4 Bd6 43. Qe4 g5 44. fxg5 Qf1+ 45. Qd3 Qxh3 46. Kb5 Qg4 47. Kxa5 Qxg5 48. Kb5 Bxg3 49. a5 Bd6 50. a6 Qe7 51. Qf3 Bb8 52. Qg4+ Kh6 53. Qc8 Bf4 54. Qd7 Qe2+ 55. Kb6 c4 56. b4 Qe3+ 57. Kb5 Qxc3 58. a7 Qd3 59. a8=Q $1 {Not afraid of ghosts.} c3+ 60. Kb6 Qe3+ 61. Kb7 c2 {This gets mated, but there weren't any good alternatives hiding in the bushes.} 62. Qf8+ Kg5 63. Qg7+ {White can meet either king move with 64.Qdg4#.} 1-0 [Event "FIDE World Cup 2023"] [Site "Baku AZE"] [Date "2023.08.21"] [Round "7.6"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Praggnanandhaa, R."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2782"] [BlackElo "2690"] [PlyCount "163"] [EventDate "2023.07.30"] [EventType "k.o."] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 h6 6. b4 Be7 7. Qb3 O-O 8. a4 d6 9. O-O Nb8 10. Nbd2 c6 11. Qa2 d5 12. Bb3 Qc7 13. a5 Be6 14. Re1 Nbd7 15. Bb2 Rfe8 16. h3 Bf8 17. Nf1 a6 18. Rad1 dxe4 19. dxe4 c5 20. Bxe6 Rxe6 21. Qb3 b6 22. Ra1 cxb4 23. cxb4 bxa5 24. bxa5 Rb8 25. Qa2 Bb4 26. Re2 Rb5 27. Rc1 Rc6 28. Rxc6 Qxc6 29. Qa4 Qb7 30. Ng3 Rxa5 31. Qd1 Bf8 32. Kh2 Rb5 33. Qa1 Nc5 34. Bxe5 Nfxe4 35. Nf5 Ne6 36. Qa4 N4g5 37. N3d4 Nxd4 38. Qxd4 Qd5 39. Qg4 f6 40. f4 fxe5 41. fxg5 e4 42. Ng3 Qxg5 43. Qxe4 Rb8 44. Nf5 Kh8 45. Rc2 Rb4 46. Qe6 Rf4 47. g4 Qd8 48. Qxa6 Rb4 49. Qe2 Qb8+ 50. Kg2 Qa8+ 51. Kf2 Qa7+ 52. Kg2 Qa8+ 53. Qf3 Qxf3+ 54. Kxf3 g6 55. Ne3 Rb7 56. Rc6 Kg7 57. h4 Rf7+ 58. Kg3 Rf6 59. Rc8 Bd6+ 60. Kg2 Rf4 61. Rc6 Re4 62. Kf3 Rf4+ 63. Ke2 Be5 64. h5 gxh5 65. gxh5 Rf6 66. Rc4 Bf4 67. Nd5 Re6+ 68. Kf3 Bg5 69. Rc7+ Kf8 70. Kg4 Re5 71. Nb6 Ke8 72. Nc4 Rd5 73. Nb6 Re5 74. Rh7 Kd8 75. Kf3 Re3+ 76. Kg4 Re5 77. Rd7+ Ke8 78. Ra7 Be7 79. Ra8+ Kf7 80. Ra7 Ke8 81. Ra8+ Kf7 82. Ra7 1/2-1/2