Games
[Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.10.10"] [Round "1.4"] [White "Najer, Evgeniy"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E51"] [WhiteElo "2635"] [BlackElo "2765"] [Annotator "Bojkov,Dejan"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2014.12.06"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd2 d5 6. Nf3 b6 7. Rc1 Bb7 8. cxd5 exd5 9. Bd3 Be7 10. O-O Nbd7 ({Both players definitely knew this recent game:} 10... c5 11. Ne5 Nc6 12. Ne2 Rc8 13. Ng3 cxd4 14. Nxc6 Rxc6 15. exd4 Rxc1 16. Bxc1 Ne4 17. Qa4 {After all, it was one of Anand's former seconds who played it: Fedoseev,V (2664)-Ganguly,S (2658) Khanty-Mansiysk 2019}) 11. Ne5 Nxe5 12. dxe5 Nd7 13. f4 Nc5 14. Bb1 d4 {A double-edged position arose in which both sides consistently carry out their plans. Najer wants to mate his mighty opponent on the kingside, Anand answers in return with the classical central break.} 15. Nb5 d3 16. Nd4 a5 17. Qg4 g6 {N Black comes first with a novelty.} ({In a predecessor Black managed to swap off the queens after} 17... Kh8 18. Rcd1 g6 19. Bc3 Be4 20. b3 Rg8 21. Qh3 Qc8 22. Qxc8 Rgxc8 23. Nf3 Kg8 {and this was very good for the second player, Salemgareev,T (2412)-Alekseev,E (2645) Yaroslavl 2019. Apparently, both players knew something hidden in the played line which was not exactly great for Black.}) 18. f5 Ne4 {But this move is a mistake.} ({Correct was} 18... Qd5 {in order to "fix" the enemy queen with the defense of her own king. Then everything depends on the line} 19. f6 h5 $1 {Then White needs to retreat to} 20. Qh3 ({Both} 20. Qg3 $2 Ne4 { followed by Ne4xd2.}) ({and} 20. Qg5 $2 Ne4 21. Qh6 Nxf6 $1 {are lines in which the attack is repelled convincingly.}) 20... Bd8 {And now the promising exchange sacrifice} 21. Rxc5 $1 {Obviously} Qxc5 $2 {cannot be good for Black after} ({However} 21... bxc5 {looks also risky as White can attack with either} 22. Nf3 $5 ({or the more flashy} 22. Nf5 $5)) 22. Qg3 Qd5 23. Bxd3 {with the unstoppable threat of Bd3xg6!}) 19. Bxd3 $1 {A brilliant piece sacrifice! The attack more than compensates for the lost material.} Nxd2 20. fxg6 fxg6 ({ If Black harvests some material with} 20... Nxf1 {then the refutation is stunning:} 21. Ne6 $3 ({Although the less beautiful} 21. gxf7+ $1 Kh8 (21... Kxf7 22. Qh5+ Kg8 23. Qxh7#) 22. Ne6 {should also do the job for the first player.}) 21... fxe6 22. Qh5 Rf7 23. gxf7+ Kf8 24. Qh6+ Kxf7 25. Qh5+ $1 { and it is forced mate.}) ({The capture with the other pawn} 20... hxg6 { leaves the king completely naked. White's attack is unstoppable after} 21. Bxg6 Bg5 {with another brilliancy to follow:} 22. Rf6 $3 {Yeah, the same move as in the famous Fischer-Benko game, but with a completely different crushing idea:} Bxf6 23. exf6 Qxf6 24. Bxf7+ $3 {One more!} Kxf7 ({Or the prosaic win after} 24... Kh7 25. Qh5+ Kg7 26. Ne6+ Qxe6 27. Bxe6) 25. Rxc7+ Qe7 26. Qe6+ $1 { and mate!}) 21. Bxg6 Kh8 $1 {Anand finds the best defense, hiding behind his last kingside soldier.} ({After} 21... Bc8 {White can continue the attack with} 22. Rxf8+ Qxf8 23. Bf5+ Kh8 24. Rxc7) ({Whereas} 21... hxg6 22. Qxg6+ Kh8 23. Qh6+ Kg8 24. Ne6 {leads to unstoppable mate.}) 22. Bxh7 $1 {The guard is removed!} Rxf1+ (22... Kxh7 23. Qh5+ Kg8 24. Qg6+ {transposes to the line from above.}) ({While the immediate} 22... Qd5 {will be met with} 23. Rxf8+ Rxf8 24. Bd3 {and the threat of Qg4-h5 forces Black to part with his extra material.}) 23. Rxf1 Bg5 ({Here too} 23... Qd5 {is insufficient due to} 24. Bg6 $1 { (Or any other reasonable retreat) when the threats of Qg4-h5 and rook lift along the fifth rank decide.}) (23... Nxf1 24. Bg6 {is mate in six.}) 24. Nf5 $1 {Calmly bringing the last deserves into the attack.} Qd3 25. Re1 Bxe3+ $1 { Anand managed to find counterplay even in a situation where his king is barely holding on the edge of the abyss!} 26. Kh1 ({Of course not} 26. Rxe3 $4 Qf1#) ( {nor} 26. Nxe3 $2 Qxh7) 26... Bh6 27. Qg6 {The only inaccuracy of Najer in the whole game. But taking into account the fact that it led to a victory in three moves, it can hardly be criticized.} ({Instead:} 27. Bg6 $1 {was winning. For example:} Ne4 ({Other tricky moves do not save either:} 27... Qf3 $5 {is best met with} 28. Nxh6 $1 Qxg4 29. Nxg4 Rg8 30. Bf5 {with won endgame.}) 28. Qh5 ( 28. Qh4 $1 {would also do.}) 28... Qd2 ({Or the flashy} 28... Qh3 $5 {with the idea} 29. Qxh3 ({Here the easiest for White is transpose to the main line with } 29. Qxh6+) 29... Nf2+ 30. Kg1 Nxh3+ 31. gxh3) 29. Qxh6+ Qxh6 30. Nxh6 { Two extra pawn guarantee White the win.}) 27... Bxg2+ ({White is winning the endgame after} 27... Qh3 $5 28. Nxh6 Qxg2+ 29. Qxg2 Bxg2+ 30. Kxg2 Kxh7 31. Ng4 ) 28. Kxg2 ({Objectively, better was} 28. Qxg2 $1 Kxh7 29. Nxh6 {Then, the correct sequence of moves is anything but trivial for Black:} Nf3 $1 ({Not} 29... Qf3 30. Ng4) 30. Rc1 Rd8 $3 ({Avoiding the temptation} 30... Kxh6 { leads once more to a forced win for White after} 31. Rc6+ Kh5 ({or} 31... Kh7 32. Qh3+ Kg8 33. Qg4+ Kf8 34. Rf6+ Ke8 35. Qe6+ Kd8 36. Rf8#) 32. Qh3+ Kg5 33. Qh6+ Kg4 34. h3+ Kg3 35. Rg6+ Kf2 36. Rg2+ Kf1 37. Qc1+ Ne1 38. Rg1+ {and mate is happening soon.}) 31. Ng4 Nh4 32. Rxc7+ Kg6 $1 {There are so many checks and each and every one of them looks like mate, but the Black king is somehow surviving:} 33. Qc6+ Kh5 $1 34. Nf6+ Kg5 35. Rg7+ Kf5 $1 {There is no mate and Black can start think about attacking too!}) 28... Qd5+ $2 ({Anand misses a wonderful chance to save the game. The line} 28... Qf3+ $1 29. Kg1 Qf4 { was leading to a draw, in many ways. For example} 30. Qxh6 Nf3+ 31. Kf2 Ng5+ $1 {which forces draw as} ({Also possible is} 31... Nxe1+ $1 32. Qxf4 Nd3+ 33. Ke3 Nxf4 34. Kxf4 Kxh7 {although this is less clear.}) 32. Ke2 $2 Qg4+ 33. Kd2 Rd8+ 34. Nd6 Nxh7 {leads to a position where only Black can play for a win.}) 29. Kh3 Qd3+ ({The endgame after} 29... Qf3+ 30. Kh4 Qf4+ 31. Kh5 Qxh2+ 32. Nh4 Bf4 33. Rg1 Qe2+ 34. Qg4 {is also lost for Black. Here is a nice winning line:} Qxg4+ (34... Qxe5+ 35. Bf5 $1) 35. Rxg4 Kxh7 36. Rxf4 Kg7 37. e6 Rf8 38. Nf5+ $1 Kf6 39. Nd4+ Ke7 40. Nc6+ Ke8 41. Rd4 $1) 30. Kh4 $1 {A remarcable achievement by the former European champion!} (30. Kh4 {Black resigned as the checks will be soon over:} Qd8+ 31. Kh5 Qg5+ 32. Qxg5 Bxg5 33. Kxg5 Kxh7 34. Kf4 {and the endgame is hopeless for the second player.}) 1-0 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.10"] [Round "1"] [White "Magnus Carlsen"] [Black "Yuriy Kuzubov"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2876"] [BlackElo "2636"] [PlyCount "104"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 (2. Bg5 {was played by Carlsen the last time these two players played at the World Under 12 Championship back in 2002. Carlsen had won in 15 moves back then.}) 2... e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Nbd7 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 c6 7. Qc2 h6 8. Bh4 g5 9. Bg3 Nh5 10. O-O-O Nxg3 11. hxg3 Nb6 12. e4 Be6 13. Bd3 { Carlsen chooses a new move.} (13. Ne5 Bg7 {was 0-1 in Nagy, Gabor vs Kuzubov, Yuriy in February 2019}) 13... Qf6 14. e5 Qg7 15. Nh2 g4 16. Ne2 O-O-O 17. Nf4 Qg5 18. Kb1 h5 19. Nf1 Rh6 20. Ne3 Kb8 21. Nf5 Bxf5 22. Bxf5 h4 23. Ne2 hxg3 24. Rxh6 Bxh6 25. Nxg3 Nc4 26. Bd3 Nd2+ 27. Ka1 Qf4 {Kuzukov is sneakily entering White's kingside but Carlsen has sufficient counterplay against the black king.} 28. Nf5 Bg5 29. Nd6 Qxf2 30. Qc3 {Carlsen panics.} (30. Bf5 g3 31. Nxf7 {was the top recommendation.}) 30... Rd7 31. Qb4 {They say one mistake is followed by another and even Carlsen is not an exception to that!} a5 $3 { The pawn moves are difficult to see.} 32. Qxa5 Qxd4 {Black is in the driving seat now.} 33. Rxd2 Bxd2 ({Kuzubov had a crucial intermediate move with} 33... Qxe5 $1 34. Rd1 Qxd6 35. Bf5 Re7 36. Bxg4 Re4 37. Bf3 Rb4 {followed by Bf6 and White's king is under some serious threat.}) 34. Qxd2 Qxe5 35. Nf5 c5 36. Bb1 d4 37. Qd3 Qd5 38. Qg3+ Ka7 39. Qxg4 d3 (39... c4 {is the computer's recommendation.}) 40. Ne3 Qd4 {The players reached the first time control and got 50 minutes each.} 41. Qf3 d2 42. Nd1 Qc4 43. Qe3 Rd4 44. a3 Qc1 45. Qb3 Rd6 46. Ka2 c4 47. Qf3 Rb6 (47... c3 48. Qf4 (48. Qxc3 Qxd1) (48. Nxc3 $2 d1=Q) 48... Rb6 49. Qa4+ Ra6 50. Qd4+ Rb6 51. Qa4+ Ra6 52. Qd4+ Rb6) 48. Bf5 Rb5 $2 ( 48... c3 {was the drawing move again.}) 49. Qe3+ (49. Bg4 Qc2 50. Qf2+ Rb6 51. Qc5 Qb3+ 52. Ka1 Qb5 53. Qd4) 49... Ka6 50. Bg4 Qc2 51. Qc3 Qb3+ 52. Kb1 Rd5 { Here, Kuzubov's flag fell and he lost on time.} (52... Qxc3 53. Nxc3 Rg5 { should be fine for black and holdable but Carlsen will put pressure for sure.}) 1-0 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.10"] [Round "1"] [White "Zhang Zhong"] [Black "Fabiano Caruana"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2636"] [BlackElo "2812"] [PlyCount "112"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 c5 3. e3 Qb6 4. Nc3 cxd4 5. Qxd4 Qxb2 6. Rb1 {The first new move of the game.} (6. Nb5 Qxd4 7. Nc7+ Kd8 8. exd4 Nh5 9. Be5 f6 10. Nxa8 fxe5 {was seen in Skomorokhin R (2377) - Shanglei Lu, (2606), 0-1 Golden Sands, 2015.}) 6... Qa3 7. Bxb8 Rxb8 8. Rb3 Qa5 9. Rb5 Qc7 10. Rc5 Qb6 11. Qc4 Kd8 ( 11... Qd8 {The computer prefers this queen retreat in Fischer Random style.}) 12. Rb5 Qc6 13. Rc5 Qe6 {Rejecting the indirect draw offer.} 14. Qa4 Qb6 15. Rb5 Qc7 16. Rb3 a6 17. Nf3 e6 18. Bd3 b5 19. Qh4 Be7 20. O-O Bb7 21. Qh3 h5 22. Ne2 Ng4 23. Rc1 g5 {Within a period of seven moves, Caruana has managed to recover, consolidate and also put White's queen on a terrible square on h3.} 24. c4 b4 25. c5 Bd5 26. Rb2 Bxf3 ({Better was} 26... Nxe3 27. fxe3 g4) 27. gxf3 Ne5 28. Rd2 Bf6 29. Be4 g4 30. fxg4 hxg4 31. Qg3 Ke7 32. Nf4 Rbg8 ({ The engine's recommendation is} 32... Bh4 33. Qg2 f5) 33. Kf1 Qa5 34. Nd3 Rg5 { Caruana blunders in time pressure.} ({Caruana missed the beautiful b3 here!} 34... b3 {White is lost as there are just too many threats.} 35. Rdd1 b2) 35. Nxe5 Rxe5 36. Rcd1 (36. Qf4 {was White's last chance to get back in the game.} Rxe4 37. Qxe4 b3 38. Qd3 b2 39. Qd6+ Ke8 40. Qxd7+ Kf8 {Black is better but not winning.}) 36... Qb5+ 37. Kg1 Rd8 ({Winning on the spot was} 37... Rxe4 38. Rxd7+ Kf8 39. Qc7 Kg7 40. Rxf7+ Kg6 {Black's king is completely safe.}) 38. Bd3 Qc6 39. Bf1 a5 40. Rc1 Rxc5 41. Rxc5 Qxc5 42. Qxg4 d5 {Black is winning as he is a healthy pawn up with a pawn majority on the queenside and the unsafe white king.} 43. Qd1 Bc3 44. Rd3 Rg8+ 45. Bg2 Qc4 46. e4 Qxe4 47. Rg3 Rxg3 48. hxg3 Qc4 49. Qa4 Qc5 50. Qc2 Bd4 51. Qxc5+ Bxc5 {The opposite-colored bishops have drawing tendencies but this position simply lost.} 52. Bf1 a4 53. Bd3 Kd6 54. Kf1 Ke5 55. Ke2 Kd4 56. Kd2 b3 {An original game by both the players. A great start for Caruana as he wins as Black.} 0-1 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.10"] [Round "1"] [White "Adhiban Baskaran"] [Black "Wu Lie"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2639"] [BlackElo "2332"] [PlyCount "51"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 {The local Isle of Man resident has prepared the solid Petroff as he will playing against stronger players throughout,} 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. c4 Be7 6. d4 O-O 7. Bd3 Nf6 8. h3 d5 9. Nc3 c6 10. O-O dxc4 11. Bxc4 Nbd7 12. Bb3 Nb6 13. Qd3 Nbd5 14. Re1 h6 15. a3 Be6 16. Bc2 c5 $2 { Black totally ignores White's decisive threat.} 17. Rxe6 $1 {The Beast from India doesn't miss his chance.} fxe6 18. Bxh6 {The whole point of the combination.} Qe8 ({Black cannot take because of} 18... gxh6 19. Qg6+ Kh8 20. Qxh6+ Kg8 21. Qg6+ Kh8 22. Ng5 Nf4 23. Qh6+ Kg8 24. Bh7+ Kh8 25. Bf5+ Kg8 26. Bxe6+ Nxe6 27. Nxe6 {a long but rather simple calculation.}) 19. Bg5 Qh5 20. Re1 {Bringing the last piece into the attack.} cxd4 21. Ne2 Bd6 22. Nexd4 { Black is busted here. White's activity and attack is decisive.} e5 23. Nf5 Rad8 24. Bxf6 Nxf6 25. Nxd6 e4 26. Qb3+ 1-0 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.10"] [Round "1"] [White "Raunak Sadhwani"] [Black "Sanan Sjugirov"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2479"] [BlackElo "2662"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] {The talented Indian junior Raunak Sadhwani is one of the wildcards of the event. He is seeking his third and final GM norm here.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Bxd7+ Nxd7 5. O-O Ngf6 6. Qe2 Rc8 7. d3 e6 8. b3 Be7 9. Bb2 O-O 10. Nbd2 Nb8 11. c4 e5 12. Ne1 Nc6 13. g3 Ne8 14. Nc2 Bf6 15. Ne3 g6 16. f4 exf4 17. Bxf6 Nxf6 18. gxf4 Nd4 19. Qg2 Qa5 20. e5 dxe5 21. fxe5 Nd7 22. Nd5 Nxe5 23. Nf6+ Kg7 24. Qg5 Rce8 25. Kh1 Re6 26. Nde4 Qd8 27. Ng3 Kh8 {The strong Russian player playing black, seems to have everything under control.} 28. Ngh5 $2 (28. Nge4 {was the engine's top suggestion.} Kg7 29. Rf4 Ndf3 30. Qg2 Qxd3 31. Rf1 {white maintains his strong attack.}) 28... b5 $2 (28... Qd6 {after the text, Black would have much better.} 29. Qh6 Qc6+ 30. Nd5 Rg8 31. Nhf6 Rg7 32. Rae1 g5 {is the computer's way of counterattack.}) 29. Rae1 {White brings his last piece into the attack.} Rg8 $4 {one mistake is followed by another. Black is just lost now after.} 30. Qh6 Qa8+ 31. Re4 Rxf6 32. Nxf6 Rg7 33. Kg1 1-0 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.10"] [Round "1"] [White "Hrant Melkumyan"] [Black "Irina Bulmaga"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2650"] [BlackElo "2442"] [PlyCount "45"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Nc3 Ne4 8. Bd2 Bf6 9. Re1 c5 10. d5 exd5 11. cxd5 Nxd2 12. Qxd2 d6 13. Qf4 Na6 14. e4 g5 $2 { Black weakens her kingside for absolutely no reason and she pays for it as seen in the game.} (14... Nb4 15. Qd2 Re8 16. a3 Na6 17. Re3 Nc7) 15. Qg4 Nb4 16. e5 $1 {a nice pawn break to create a flight square on e4 for the white pieces.} dxe5 17. Qh5 Nc2 18. Nh4 Nxe1 $4 {Going for material for the cost of king safety always backfires.} ({Black is worse but definitely not lost after} 18... Bg7 19. Be4 h6 20. Bxc2 gxh4) 19. Be4 $1 {The game is now over. White's pieces will be all over black's monarch} Re8 20. Qxh7+ Kf8 21. Nf5 Bc8 (21... Qd7 {fails to} 22. Qh6+ Kg8 23. Qxf6) (21... Re6 22. dxe6) 22. Nh6 Qd7 23. d6 1-0 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.10"] [Round "1"] [White "Ivan Cheparinov"] [Black "Tal Baron"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2670"] [BlackElo "2531"] [PlyCount "71"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. f3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nc3 O-O 6. Nge2 c5 7. d5 e6 8. Ng3 exd5 9. cxd5 a6 10. a4 Nbd7 11. Be2 Rb8 12. Bf4 Ne8 13. Qd2 Qe7 14. O-O Nc7 15. Rab1 b5 16. b4 cxb4 17. Rxb4 {The Bulgarian GM has got a decent edge after the opening. Black now complicates the matters with} a5 $2 (17... Nc5 18. axb5 axb5 19. Nxb5 Nxb5 20. Rxb5 Rxb5 21. Bxb5 {and White wins a pawn with no compensation whatsoever.}) 18. Nxb5 $1 {Cheparinov comes up with an interesting solution.} axb4 19. Bxd6 $1 {The intermediate move.} Bc3 20. Qd1 Qg5 21. Bxc7 Qe3+ 22. Kh1 Ra8 23. f4 Ba6 24. e5 h5 25. Rf3 Qd2 26. Qxd2 Bxd2 27. Ne4 {White is much better now and should win soon.} Rfc8 28. d6 Bc1 29. Rf1 Be3 30. Bc4 Kg7 31. e6 (31. Bd5 {is the engine's recommendation.}) 31... Nb6 32. d7 Nxc4 33. e7 $1 {What a picturesque position! White is a whole rook down but has two connected passed pawns on the seventh rank.} Bxb5 34. axb5 Rxc7 35. d8=Q Rcc8 36. Qd5 {A fine game by Cheparinov.} 1-0 [Event "FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 2019"] [Site "Douglas-Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.10"] [Round "1.4"] [White "Najer, Evgeniy"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E51"] [WhiteElo "2635"] [BlackElo "2765"] [Annotator "TA"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate "2019.10.10"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventCountry "GBR"] [Tiebreak "Cut2 Buchholz+Sum of Buchholz"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd2 d5 6. Nf3 b6 7. Rc1 $146 ({ Predecessor:} 7. cxd5 exd5 8. Bd3 Bb7 {1/2-1/2 (63) Salemgareev,T (2412) -Alekseev,E (2645) Yaroslavl 2019}) 7... Bb7 8. cxd5 {E51: Nimzo-Indian: Rubinstein: 4...0-0 5 Nf3 d5} exd5 9. Bd3 Be7 10. O-O {The position is equal.} Nbd7 11. Ne5 Nxe5 12. dxe5 Nd7 13. f4 Nc5 14. Bb1 d4 15. Nb5 d3 16. Nd4 a5 17. Qg4 g6 18. f5 {Threatens to win with f6.} Ne4 (18... h5 $11 19. Qh3 Qd5) 19. Bxd3 Nxd2 {[#]} 20. fxg6 $1 fxg6 {[#]} (20... Nxf1 $2 21. gxf7+ Kh8 22. Ne6 $1 $18) (20... hxg6 $2 21. Bxg6 $1 Bg5 22. Rf6 $1 $18) 21. Bxg6 $1 Kh8 {[#]} ( 21... Nxf1 $2 22. Ne6 $1 $18) (21... Rxf1+ 22. Rxf1 Nf3+ 23. gxf3 $18) (21... hxg6 $2 22. Qxg6+ Kh8 23. Qh6+ Kg8 24. Ne6 $1 $18) (21... Bc8 $16 {might work better.} 22. Nf5 Bxf5 23. Bxf5+ Kh8) (21... hxg6 22. Qxg6+) 22. Bxh7 $1 $18 Rxf1+ (22... Kxh7 23. Qh5+) 23. Rxf1 {Threatening mate with Bc2!} Bg5 ({ Avoid the trap} 23... Nxf1 $2 24. Bg6 $18) 24. Nf5 Qd3 ({But not} 24... Nxf1 $2 25. Qh5 $18) 25. Re1 $40 {White attacks with force.} Bxe3+ 26. Kh1 $1 Bh6 {[#]} 27. Qg6 (27. Bg6 $1 $18 {Strongly threatening Qh4!} Ne4 {[#]} 28. Qh4 $1) 27... Bxg2+ $1 $14 28. Kxg2 {White wants to mate with Qf6+.} Qd5+ $2 (28... Qf3+ $11 29. Kg1 Qf4) 29. Kh3 $2 (29. Kg3 $18 {White threatens Qf6+ and mate.} Qf3+ 30. Kh4 Qf2+ 31. Kh3 Qf3+ 32. Kh4 (32. Ng3 Qf4 $18) 32... Qf4+ 33. Kh5 Qxh2+ 34. Nh4) 29... Qd3+ $2 (29... Qf3+ $16 30. Ng3 Qf4) 30. Kh4 {Accuracy: White = 85%, Black = 63%.} 1-0 [Event "Douglas-Isle of Man"] [Site "Douglas-Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.10"] [Round "1.18"] [White "Sadhwani, Raunak"] [Black "Sjugirov, Sanan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B52"] [WhiteElo "2479"] [BlackElo "2662"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "2019.10.10"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventCountry "GBR"] [Tiebreak "Cut2 Buchholz+Sum of Buchholz"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Bxd7+ Nxd7 5. O-O Ngf6 6. Qe2 Rc8 7. d3 e6 8. b3 Be7 9. Bb2 O-O 10. Nbd2 Nb8 11. c4 e5 12. Ne1 Nc6 13. g3 Ne8 14. Nc2 Bf6 15. Ne3 g6 16. f4 exf4 17. Bxf6 Nxf6 18. gxf4 Nd4 19. Qg2 Qa5 20. e5 dxe5 21. fxe5 Nd7 22. Nd5 Nxe5 23. Nf6+ Kg7 24. Qg5 Rce8 25. Kh1 Re6 26. Nde4 Qd8 27. Ng3 Kh8 28. Ngh5 b5 (28... Qd6 29. Qh6 Qc6+ 30. Nd5 (30. Ne4 Rg8 31. Nhf6 Rg7 $19) (30. Kg1 Ne2+ 31. Kf2 Nxd3#) 30... Rg8 31. Nhf6 Rg7 $17 {Black is doing really well in these variations.}) 29. Rae1 Rg8 $2 (29... Nf5 30. Rxf5 Nf3 $14) 30. Qh6 Qa8+ 31. Re4 Rxf6 32. Nxf6 Rg7 33. Kg1 1-0 [Event "Douglas-Isle of Man"] [Site "Douglas-Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.10"] [Round "1.28"] [White "Nihal Sarin"] [Black "Sargissian, Gabriel"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C89"] [WhiteElo "2610"] [BlackElo "2690"] [Annotator "TA"] [PlyCount "60"] [EventDate "2019.10.10"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventCountry "GBR"] [Tiebreak "Cut2 Buchholz+Sum of Buchholz"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. c3 d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Nxe5 Nxe5 11. Rxe5 c6 12. d3 Bd6 13. Re1 Bf5 14. Qf3 Qh4 { C89: Closed Ruy Lopez: Marshall Attack} 15. g3 Qh3 16. Be3 Bxd3 {White is slightly better.} 17. Nd2 Bf5 18. Bd4 Rfe8 {[#]} 19. Bxd5 $146 ({Predecessor:} 19. c4 Bg4 20. Qg2 Qxg2+ 21. Kxg2 Nb4 22. Ne4 {1-0 (36) So,W (2788)-Onischuk,A (2665) Saint Louis 2015}) 19... cxd5 20. Qxd5 Bf8 21. a3 Be6 22. Qg2 Qf5 23. f3 Bd5 {The position is equal.} 24. Qf2 Bc6 25. b4 h5 (25... h6 {with more complications.} 26. Kg2 Rxe1 27. Rxe1 Qc2 28. Nf1 Qb3) 26. Rxe8 (26. Kg2 { keeps more tension.} Qg6 27. Rxe8 Rxe8 28. Re1 Ra8 29. Bb6) 26... Rxe8 27. Re1 Rxe1+ 28. Qxe1 Bxf3 29. Nxf3 Qxf3 30. Qe8 h4 {Accuracy: White = 69%, Black = 74%.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Douglas-Isle of Man"] [Site "Douglas-Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.10"] [Round "1.39"] [White "Adhiban, B...."] [Black "Wu, Li"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D20"] [WhiteElo "2639"] [BlackElo "2332"] [PlyCount "51"] [EventDate "2019.10.10"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventCountry "GBR"] [Tiebreak "Cut2 Buchholz+Sum of Buchholz"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. c4 Be7 6. d4 O-O 7. Bd3 Nf6 8. h3 d5 9. Nc3 c6 10. O-O dxc4 11. Bxc4 Nbd7 12. Bb3 Nb6 13. Qd3 Nbd5 14. Re1 h6 15. a3 Be6 16. Bc2 c5 $2 17. Rxe6 fxe6 18. Bxh6 Qe8 (18... gxh6 19. Qg6+ Kh8 20. Qxh6+ Kg8 21. Qg6+ Kh8 22. Nxd5 Qxd5 23. Ng5 $18) 19. Bg5 Qh5 20. Re1 cxd4 21. Ne2 Bd6 22. Nexd4 e5 23. Nf5 Rad8 24. Bxf6 Nxf6 25. Nxd6 e4 26. Qb3+ 1-0 [Event "isle of Man"] [Site "isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.11"] [Round "2"] [White "Alexey Sarana"] [Black "Magnus Carlsen"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2655"] [BlackElo "2876"] [PlyCount "103"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Bxf6 (9. Nd5 {Sarana observed, "Most players choose this against Magnus."}) 9... gxf6 10. Nd5 Bg7 11. Bd3 Ne7 12. Nxe7 Qxe7 13. c4 f5 14. O-O O-O 15. Qh5 d5 (15... Rb8 {Sarana claimed, "Magnus had played this earlier."}) 16. cxd5 Qd8 17. exf5 Qxd5 18. Rad1 {N The first new move of the game.} (18. Qe2 {was played in Tari-Vorobiov, Teplice, June 2019.}) 18... e4 19. Bxb5 Qxf5 20. Qxf5 Bxf5 21. Bd7 Bxd7 22. Rxd7 Bxb2 23. Nc4 Bg7 24. g3 {Sarana's preparation ended here that he prepared alone but said that it's easy.} Rfd8 25. Rfd1 Rxd7 26. Rxd7 Rc8 27. Nd6 Rc1+ 28. Kg2 Rc2 29. Nxe4 Rxa2 30. Rd8+ Bf8 31. Nf6+ Kg7 32. Nh5+ Kg8 33. g4 a5 34. g5 a4 35. h4 Rb2 36. Nf6+ Kg7 37. h5 Rb5 $1 (37... h6 $4 38. gxh6+ Kxf6 39. Rxf8 {Now the h-pawn cannot be stopped.} ) 38. f4 h6 39. Ng4 (39. gxh6+ Kxf6 40. Rxf8 Rxh5 {Black salvages the draw.}) 39... Ba3 40. Nxh6 Be7 41. Rd7 Bxg5 {Carlsen simply calculates like a machine and enters into a long and forced variation that leads to a rook vs. rook and knight ending.} 42. Nxf7 Rb2+ 43. Kf3 Bxf4 44. Ne5+ Kh6 45. Kxf4 a3 (45... Kxh5 46. Rh7#) 46. Rd5 Rb4+ 47. Kg3 a2 48. Ra5 a1=Q 49. Rxa1 Kxh5 50. Ra5 Rb1 51. Kf4 Rf1+ 52. Nf3+ {Sarana expressed: "I would have played on if my opponent was 200 points lower than me, but Carlsen knows how to draw."} 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.11"] [Round "2"] [White "Erwin L'ami"] [Black "Alexei Shirov"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2619"] [BlackElo "2664"] [PlyCount "78"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. Be2 cxd4 7. cxd4 Nh6 8. Nc3 Nf5 9. Bb5 Bd7 10. Bxc6 Bxc6 11. O-O Bb4 12. a4 O-O 13. Ne2 Qa5 14. Bf4 b5 15. axb5 Qxb5 16. Ng3 a5 17. Nh5 Rfc8 18. g4 Ne7 19. Bd2 Ng6 20. Bxb4 Qxb4 21. Qd2 Nxe5 22. Qxb4 Nxf3+ 23. Kg2 Nh4+ 24. Kg3 axb4 25. Kxh4 Rxa1 26. Rxa1 Be8 27. Kg3 Rc4 28. Ra8 Kf8 29. f3 Rxd4 30. Rb8 Rc4 31. g5 d4 32. h4 d3 33. Rd8 e5 34. b3 Rd4 35. Rxd4 exd4 36. Kf2 Ba4 $3 {Shirov would have definitely seen this idea from afar and thus knowingly went into this position that resulted after a rook trade.} 37. Nf4 d2 38. Ke2 Bxb3 39. Kxd2 Bc4 {Black's two extra pawns on the queenside will decide the game.} 0-1 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.11"] [Round "2"] [White "Bu Xiangzhi"] [Black "Alexander Riazantsev"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2721"] [BlackElo "2645"] [PlyCount "69"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 e6 4. O-O Be7 5. c4 O-O 6. d4 c6 7. b3 b6 8. Bb2 Bb7 9. Nc3 Nbd7 10. Qc2 a5 11. e4 Nxe4 12. Nxe4 dxe4 13. Qxe4 a4 14. Rad1 Qc7 15. Rfe1 Rfe8 16. Qc2 axb3 17. axb3 h6 18. Re2 Bf8 19. h4 {White has a tiny edge after this rather simple opening.} c5 $6 {A little premature by Black. He could have prepared the break with Rad8.} 20. d5 exd5 21. cxd5 Qd6 22. h5 Rxe2 23. Qxe2 Ra2 {Black seems to pose enough problems for White and looks fine.} 24. Nh4 Ba6 25. Qd2 Ne5 (25... Nf6 {is much better than the text.}) 26. Ra1 Rxa1+ 27. Bxa1 c4 $2 (27... Qe7 28. Nf5 Qf6 29. Bxe5 Qxe5 30. d6 Qxf5 31. d7 Be7 32. d8=Q+ Bxd8 33. Qxd8+ Kh7 {should be a simple draw.}) 28. Qe2 ({Much stronger is} 28. Qd4 Nd7 29. Nf5) 28... f6 29. Nf5 Qa3 $4 {The decisive mistake.} (29... Qd7 {Black stays in the game.} 30. Ne3 Nf7 31. Nxc4) 30. Bxe5 cxb3 31. Nxh6+ Kh8 32. Nf7+ Kg8 33. Qg4 fxe5 34. Qe6 Qe7 35. Nh6+ 1-0 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.11"] [Round "2"] [White "Jeferry Xiong"] [Black "Adhiban Baskaran"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2708"] [BlackElo "2639"] [PlyCount "68"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 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. c3 Bc5 10. Qd3 O-O 11. Be3 Bxe3 12. Qxe3 f5 13. exf6 Qxf6 14. Nbd2 Nxd2 15. Qxd2 Kh8 16. Rfe1 Rad8 17. Nd4 Bg8 18. Bc2 Ne5 19. b4 Nc4 20. Qe2 a5 21. Qf3 Qb6 22. Qg3 $2 (22. bxa5 Nxa5 23. Qh3 Qf6 {looks equal.}) 22... axb4 23. Nf5 Qf6 24. cxb4 d4 {This pawn now runs and is crucial in Black's win.} 25. Ne7 Be6 26. Nc6 Rd6 27. Na5 Bf5 28. Bxf5 Qxf5 29. Nb3 d3 30. Rad1 d2 31. Re7 (31. Rf1 Ra8 32. h3 Rxa2 {looks lost for White.}) 31... Rg6 32. Nd4 Qf6 33. Re6 Qxd4 34. Rxg6 Qe4 {White resigns as Black has multiple threats that can't be parried.} 0-1 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.11"] [Round "2"] [White "Gabriel Sargissian"] [Black "Eric Hansen"] [Result "*"] [WhiteElo "2690"] [BlackElo "2611"] [PlyCount "55"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. Nc3 d5 5. h4 {An offbeat choice against the Grunfeld. This is GM Miso Cebalo's pet variation against the Grunfeld.} dxc4 6. e4 c5 7. d5 O-O 8. Bxc4 b5 9. Bxb5 Nxe4 10. Nxe4 Qa5+ 11. Nc3 Bxc3+ 12. bxc3 Qxb5 13. h5 Qc4 14. hxg6 fxg6 15. Rh4 Bg4 $2 (15... Qxc3+ {is highly recommended.} 16. Bd2 Qd3 17. Bh6 Qxd1+ 18. Rxd1 Re8 19. Be3 Nd7 20. Ng5 { White maintains a slight edge.}) 16. Nd2 $1 {A brilliant knight-retreating move that Hansen must have overlooked.} Qxc3 17. Qxg4 Qxa1 18. Qe6+ Kh8 19. Qxe7 {It is all over for Black.} Qxc1+ 20. Ke2 Rxf2+ 21. Kxf2 Qxd2+ 22. Kg1 h5 23. Qf8+ Kh7 24. Re4 Nc6 25. Qxa8 Qxd5 26. Qe8 c4 27. Qe6 Qc5+ 28. Kh1 { A crushing win by Sargissian.} * [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.11"] [Round "2"] [White "Sethuraman SP"] [Black "Elina Danielian"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2624"] [BlackElo "2385"] [PlyCount "78"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 a6 8. a3 cxd4 9. Nxd4 Bc5 10. Qd2 O-O 11. O-O-O Bxd4 12. Bxd4 b5 13. h4 Rb8 14. Rh3 b4 15. Na2 a5 16. h5 h6 17. Rg3 Nxd4 18. Qxd4 Qh4 19. Rh3 Qe7 20. axb4 axb4 21. Rb3 Ra8 22. Qxb4 Nc5 23. Ra3 Bd7 24. Kb1 Ba4 25. Qd4 Rfb8 26. Kc1 Be8 27. Rxa8 Rxa8 28. Nc3 Qa7 29. Be2 (29. b4 Qa1+ 30. Nb1 Nb3+ 31. cxb3 Rc8+ 32. Bc4 { White is slightly better after the smoke clears.}) 29... Rc8 30. Qb4 Rb8 31. Qd4 Rc8 32. Qb4 Rb8 33. Qa3 {Sethuraman avoids the indirect draw offer and gets into a slightly dubious position to avoid the draw.} Qb6 34. Bf3 Bc6 35. Ne2 Ra8 36. Qe3 $4 Ne4 $1 {Black is completely winning as the nasty threat of Ra1# just cannot be stopped unless by} 37. Qa3 Rxa3 38. bxa3 Qe3+ 39. Kb2 Nc5 0-1 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.10.11"] [Round "2.2"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Sevian, Samuel"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A20"] [WhiteElo "2812"] [BlackElo "2654"] [Annotator "Bojkov,Dejan"] [PlyCount "105"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2014.12.06"] 1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. O-O Nb6 7. b3 Be7 ({ Movsesian chose instead} 7... Bd6 8. Bb2 O-O 9. d3 Qe7 10. Nbd2 Ba3 11. Bxa3 Qxa3 12. Qc1 Qe7 13. Qb2 Bg4 14. Rac1 {in a game from their World Cup match, Ding,L (2811)-Movsesian,S (2654) Khanty-Mansiysk 2019}) 8. Bb2 f6 9. Na3 { N A novelty. The knight is moving towards the c2 square from where it can support the central break with d2-d4.} ({Black was doing fine in the predecessor:} 9. d3 O-O 10. Nbd2 Be6 11. Rc1 Qd7 12. Ne4 Rad8 13. Qc2 Nd5 { Le,Q (2714)-Giri,A (2783) St Petersburg 2018}) 9... Be6 10. Nc2 O-O 11. e4 { An important part in White's plan.} ({Otherwise:} 11. d4 $6 {is not effective due to:} e4 12. Nd2 f5) 11... Qd3 12. Re1 Rad8 {The main reason for Black's problems. Choosing the right rook to place on a file is an eternal problem for players at all levels. This rook seems to be more natural contender for the open file as the other one can be quite useful on the kingside. However, there is a minor tactical defect in the position which ruins this logic.} ({Correct was:} 12... Rfd8 {when:} 13. Bf1 Qd7 14. d4 exd4 15. Ncxd4 $2 {No longer works due to} ({Here} 15. Nfxd4 Nxd4 16. Qxd4 {would be the right way to play, but Black has no problems at all after} Bf7) 15... Bb4 $1 16. Re3 Nxd4 17. Nxd4 c5 18. Nxe6 Qxd1 19. Rxd1 Rxd1 {and in comparison to the game there is no black rook hanging on f8.}) 13. Bf1 {Caruana frees himself in the center and gets better position.} Qd7 14. d4 exd4 15. Ncxd4 Bg4 ({Now:} 15... Bb4 {does not work that well. After:} 16. Re3 Nxd4 17. Nxd4 c5 18. Nxe6 Qxd1 19. Rxd1 Rxd1 20. Nxf8 {That is the tacticl difference!} Kxf8 21. Kg2 {White is better in the endgame. This line however might have been Sevian's best try.}) 16. Qc2 Nxd4 17. Nxd4 Rfe8 {Sevian is developing naturally and occupies the central files with his rooks.} 18. Rac1 (18. f3 Bh5 19. Rad1 {was another way to treat the position. However here there was the danger of mass exchanges along the d-file which would have dried the position.}) 18... c6 19. b4 $1 {Minority attack is an effective way of creating weaknesses on the queenside.} Kh8 (19... Bxb4 $4 20. Qb3+) 20. b5 c5 21. Nf5 Bf8 ({After:} 21... Bxf5 22. exf5 Bf8 23. Red1 {White pieces dominate.}) 22. h3 Bxf5 {Going into passive position.} ({ Apparently, Sevian was afraid of the central break after} 22... Bh5 23. g4 (23. a4) 23... Bf7 24. e5 {This is indeed unpleasant for Black, but here thanks to his light-squared bishop he always has chances to create counterplay on the queenside, if he survives the middlegame.}) 23. exf5 Rxe1 24. Rxe1 {White has a clear plan of advancing his pawn all the way to a5. Then his bishop will occupy the c4 square, or will move to the long diagonal; he has many ways to improve. Therefore Sevian needs to search for counterplay at once.} c4 { Practically sacrificing the pawn. In return Black opens the diagonal for his bishop and gain some activity for his rook.} 25. a4 Bb4 26. Re4 Qd2 27. Qxd2 Bxd2 (27... Rxd2 $4 28. Re8+) 28. Bxc4 Nxa4 29. Ba3 {The endgame is extremely difficult for Black. The bishops are outrageously powerful in an empty board.} Nb6 30. Bb3 Nc8 31. Bd5 ({Caruana could have won a pawn with:} 31. Ra4 Bc3 32. Be6 Be5 33. Bxc8 Rxc8 34. Rxa7 Rb8 {However this would have made Black's defense much easier. He would bring the king to the queenside and then release the rook.}) 31... a6 {Black correctly tries to get rid of all the white queenside pawns.} (31... b6 $2 {would have lost on the spot after} 32. Rc4 g6 33. Be6 Nd6 34. Rd4 Nf7 35. Ra4) 32. b6 ({The other way to play it was:} 32. Bxb7 axb5 33. Bc5) 32... Nxb6 33. Bxb7 a5 34. Bc5 Na8 $6 ({Psychologically, it was difficult to retreat the knight to a position from which it just left. Moreover, it was in a dangerous spot there, but} 34... Nc8 {was the best move. Then} 35. Rc4 Kg8 {leads to a strange situation where White wants to move his bishop away to trap the knight, but it also wants to stay where it is to restrict the knight.}) 35. Rc4 Bb4 36. Be3 h6 37. h4 $1 {Caruana consistently builds a mating attack on the kingside. The plan that he conducts is reminiscent of the famous game Alekhine-Reti from the New York 1924 tournament. } Kh7 38. g4 ({The immediate} 38. Rc6 a4 39. Ra6 {was better.}) 38... Rb8 39. Be4 Nb6 40. Rc7 Na4 ({Once more Black instinctively avoids to place his knight on a passive square:} 40... Nc8 {but again this was his best chance. For example:} 41. g5 hxg5 42. hxg5 Nd6 43. g6+ Kh8 44. Bd3 Ra8 {but whether is this defendable is another question.}) 41. g5 Nc3 42. Bf3 Nb5 43. Rd7 hxg5 { This can be named the decisive mistake. The open h-file puts the black king into mortal danger.} (43... Kh8 $1 {was the last chance. Black must sit and pray if this is a solid-enough fortress.}) 44. hxg5 Kh8 ({Or else the black king will hardly survive the attack after} 44... fxg5 45. f6 Bf8 46. Be4+ Kh6 47. Kg2 {followed by a king march to g4 and Be3xg5}) 45. g6 $1 {The king is locked and Be3-h6! becomes powerful threat.} Nc3 ({After a move like} 45... a4 {White's win is typical:} 46. Bh6 $1 {In order to clear the seventh rank.} Bf8 (46... gxh6 47. Bd5 $1 {and mate follows.}) 47. Bf4 $1 Rc8 48. Bb7 {Now White hopes to clear the back rank. Black can hold onto it with} Re8 {but then comes a problem along the h-file:} 49. Rd3 $1) 46. Bd2 a4 (46... Nb5 47. Bh6 $1 { wins for White as above.}) 47. Rd3 $1 {Not only hitting the knight, but looking for the king too!} a3 48. Bxc3 {Nicely calculated.} Bxc3 49. Bd5 Bd2 ( 49... a2 50. Rh3#) 50. Rxd2 Rb1+ 51. Kg2 a2 {The last chance is stalemate.} 52. Bb3 (52. Bxa2 Rg1+ 53. Kxg1 $4 {is the stalemate Black is hoping for.} ({ Although White can still win after} 53. Kf3 Rg3+ 54. Ke4 Re3+ 55. Kd5 Re5+ 56. Kc4 Re4+ 57. Kc5 (57. Rd4 $4 Rxd4+ 58. Kxd4 {Another stalemate!}) 57... Rc4+ ( 57... Re5+ 58. Kb4 Re4+ (58... Rb5+ 59. Kc3 Rc5+ (59... Rb3+ 60. Kxb3) 60. Bc4) 59. Bc4) 58. Kxc4 {But all these lines are unnecessary.})) 52... Rg1+ 53. Kf3 $1 {Mate is inevitable.} 1-0 [Event "FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 2019"] [Site "Douglas-Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.11"] [Round "2.9"] [White "Xiong, Jeffery"] [Black "Adhiban, B...."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C82"] [WhiteElo "2708"] [BlackElo "2639"] [PlyCount "68"] [EventDate "2019.10.10"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventCountry "GBR"] [Tiebreak "Cut2 Buchholz+Sum of Buchholz"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceQuality "1"] 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. c3 Bc5 10. Qd3 O-O 11. Be3 Bxe3 12. Qxe3 f5 13. exf6 Qxf6 14. Nbd2 Nxd2 15. Qxd2 Kh8 16. Rfe1 Rad8 17. Nd4 (17. Re3 Bg8 18. Rd1 d4 19. Ree1 dxc3 20. Qxc3 Qxc3 21. bxc3 Na5 22. Bxg8 Kxg8 {1/2-1/2 (50) Kamsky,G (2710)-Anand,V (2715) Las Palmas 1995}) 17... Bg8 18. Bc2 Ne5 19. b4 Nc4 20. Qe2 a5 21. Qf3 Qb6 {White has to find a way to keep his knight posted on d4 otherwise Black will manage to thrust forward with his 4 to 3 queenside pawn majority.} 22. Qg3 $6 (22. bxa5 $1 Nxa5 23. Qd3 Nc4 24. a4 bxa4 25. Bxa4 $15 {Black is still a tad better but White has decent chances.}) (22. Qd3 $6 {is also inaccurate. After} axb4 23. cxb4 Rf4 $17 {White once again has to abandon control of d4 which will allow Black to get in d5-d4.}) 22... axb4 23. Nf5 Qf6 24. cxb4 d4 $1 {now the d-pawn rolls} 25. Ne7 Be6 26. Nc6 Rd6 27. Na5 Bf5 28. Bxf5 Qxf5 29. Nb3 d3 30. Rad1 d2 31. Re7 Rg6 32. Nd4 Qf6 33. Re6 Qxd4 34. Rxg6 Qe4 0-1 [Event "Douglas-Isle of Man"] [Site "Douglas-Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.11"] [Round "2.28"] [White "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Black "Baron, Tal"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B33"] [WhiteElo "2765"] [BlackElo "2531"] [PlyCount "53"] [EventDate "2019.10.10"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventCountry "GBR"] [Tiebreak "Cut2 Buchholz+Sum of Buchholz"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Nd5 Nxd5 8. exd5 Nb8 9. a4 Be7 10. Bd2 O-O 11. Be2 {is a new move.} (11. a5 {is the most common continuation.} a6 12. Na3 Nd7 13. Nc4 $11) 11... a6 12. Na3 a5 13. Bb5 f5 14. Qe2 Nd7 15. O-O-O {Although objectively this must be equal but White's position seems more comfortable and active.} Nc5 16. f4 Bf6 $6 (16... Bd7 17. Bxd7 Qxd7 18. Qb5 Rfd8 $14) 17. fxe5 dxe5 (17... Bxe5 18. Nc4 Bf6 19. Rhe1 $16 {White has an excellent control on the e-file aided by the bishop on b5. Note} Bd7 {is simply not possible because of} 20. Bxd7 Qxd7 21. Nb6 $18) 18. Be3 b6 19. Nc4 Rb8 20. Nxa5 (20. Bxc5 bxc5 21. d6 e4 22. d7 Bb7 23. Kb1 $18) 20... bxa5 21. Bxc5 Rf7 22. Kb1 f4 23. d6 Bf5 24. Rd5 Bg6 25. d7 e4 26. Rf1 Bg5 27. Qg4 1-0 [Event "Isle of Man"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.12"] [Round "3.1"] [White "Alexei Shirov"] [Black "Fabiano Caruana"] [Result "*"] [WhiteElo "2664"] [BlackElo "2812"] [PlyCount "104"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 {Played after a 4.5-minute deliberation by Shirov.} cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 Ng4 7. Bc1 Nf6 8. Be3 e5 9. Nb3 Be7 10. f3 Be6 11. Qd2 Nbd7 12. g4 O-O 13. g5 Nh5 14. Rg1 {Interestingly, both players had once played the same from the white side.} (14. O-O-O b5 (14... Nb6 15. Kb1 Rc8 16. Rg1 {1/2-1/2 (46) Shirov,A (2710)-Ftacnik, L (2612) Germany 2006}) 15. Nd5 Bxd5 16. exd5 f6 17. gxf6 Bxf6 18. Kb1 {1/2-1/2 (49) Caruana,F (2784) -Mamedyarov,S (2809) Berlin 2018}) 14... b5 15. Nd5 Bxd5 16. exd5 f5 17. h4 Qe8 18. O-O-O Bd8 19. Na5 Bb6 20. Nc6 Nf4 21. Bxb6 $6 (21. Kb1 {is the better alternative.}) 21... Nxb6 22. Qb4 Qd7 23. c4 Kh8 24. Kb1 Rae8 25. cxb5 Nbxd5 26. Qb3 e4 27. Rxd5 Nxd5 28. Qxd5 exf3 29. Qd2 Re4 30. Rg3 $4 (30. Nd4 { and White keeps his initiative.}) 30... Qe6 31. Bd3 Re3 $4 {Caruana returns the favor and blunders himself.} (31... Re1+ 32. Kc2 axb5 {with the threat of Rc8 is decisive.}) 32. Rg1 f2 33. Rc1 axb5 34. Nb4 Rf3 35. Bxb5 Qe4+ 36. Nc2 Rc8 37. Ba6 d5 38. a3 $2 {Shirov was in time-pressure. He had to find Rf1.} ( 38. Rf1 {and White keeps his edge.}) 38... d4 39. Bxc8 f1=Q 40. Rxf1 Rxf1+ 41. Ka2 d3 42. Ne3 Rf3 43. Bxf5 Qxe3 {Black has got the exchange, but White has good activity and enough compensation to hold.} 44. Qa5 Qe8 45. Qd5 Qg8 46. Be6 Qf8 47. h5 Re3 48. g6 d2 49. Bf7 Re2 50. Qd3 {Shirov has put up a good defence. } Rh2 51. Qf3 $4 (51. a4 {White should have pushed his passed pawns to create some counterplay.}) 51... Rg2 {The only decisive winning idea! This was found by Caruana in three minutes.} 52. Qd3 Qb8 {Multiple threats of d1=Q and the weak white king forced resignation. Caruana joined co-leader Wang Hao with this win.} * [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.12"] [Round "3.2"] [White "Wang Hao"] [Black "Bu Xiangzhi"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2726"] [BlackElo "2721"] [PlyCount "51"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. c3 O-O 6. O-O {Wang takes a idea out of his compatriot Ding's book and tries the trendy Italian himself.} d5 7. exd5 Nxd5 8. Nbd2 Nb6 9. Bb5 f6 {Bu had built up a healthy advantage on the clock as he played quickly while Wang took more than 30 minutes until here.} 10. d4 exd4 11. Nb3 {The first new move of the game.} (11. Ne4 {was played earlier.}) 11... Qd5 12. Bf4 Bg4 13. Bxc7 Rf7 14. Bg3 {White has snatched a pawn, but Black believes his compensation is evident.} Ne5 $6 ({Saving the bishop and threatening Qxb5 was important.} 14... Bf8) 15. Bxe5 fxe5 16. Be2 Rd8 $4 (16... Na4 17. Nxc5 Nxc5 18. Nxd4 Bxe2 19. Nxe2 {and White maintains his edge, but Black still has decent chances.}) 17. c4 $1 {A nice shot by Wang, highlighting the poor bishop on c5.} Qd6 18. Ng5 Bf5 19. Nxf7 Kxf7 20. Bd3 e4 21. Nxc5 Qxc5 22. Qh5+ Kf6 23. Bxe4 Na4 24. b4 Qe5 25. f4 Qxe4 26. Rae1 { A quick win for Wang Hao that made him the first player to have a full score after three rounds.} 1-0 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.12"] [Round "3.4"] [White "Magnus Carlsen"] [Black "Rustam Kasimdzhanov"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2876"] [BlackElo "2657"] [PlyCount "109"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. c4 c5 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. Nc3 Nc6 5. Nf3 e6 6. h4 {Both Carlsen and Kasimdzhanov have good experience in these setups.} Nf6 7. d4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 O-O 9. O-O d5 10. cxd5 Nxd5 11. Bg5 (11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. Bd2 Nxc3 13. Bxc3 Bxc3 14. bxc3 {1/2-1/2 (59) Giri,A (2771)-So,W (2812) Stavanger NOR 2017}) 11... Qa5 12. Nb3 Nxc3 13. Nxa5 Nxd1 14. Nxc6 Nxb2 15. Ne7+ Kh8 16. Rac1 Bd7 17. Bxb7 Rab8 18. Rc7 Bb5 19. Bf3 a6 20. Rfc1 h6 21. Be3 Rbd8 22. Kg2 Kh7 23. Nc6 (23. h5 { It's always nice to create more weak points in the opponent's camp.} g5) 23... Rc8 24. Na7 Rxc7 25. Rxc7 Kg8 26. Nxb5 axb5 27. h5 g5 28. Rb7 (28. Bc5 Rb8 29. Ba7 Rd8 30. Rb7 {is an improvised version of what Carlsen tries to get in the game.}) 28... Nc4 29. Bc5 Ra8 {An unnatural move but Black seems to be okay in all the lines.} 30. Be4 Be5 31. Bb1 Bd6 32. Ba7 Bf8 33. f4 gxf4 34. gxf4 Na5 35. Rd7 Nc6 36. Bf2 Nb4 37. f5 {Carlsen tries to open more diagonals and files to use his two bishops but sadly there isn't much left for him.} exf5 38. Rd2 Be7 39. Be1 f4 40. Rd7 Bf8 41. Kf1 Bc5 42. Rb7 Nxa2 43. Rxb5 Bd4 44. Rb3 { Carlsen is a pawn down but has some initiative going. He is no danger of losing but doesn't have any serious threats himself.} Kg7 45. Rd3 Bf6 46. Bd2 Ra4 47. Rd7 Kg8 48. Rc7 Rd4 49. Bxa2 Rxd2 {The opposite colored-bishops just cement the draw.} 50. Bxf7+ Kf8 51. Bc4 Bg5 52. Kf2 Rc2 53. Kf3 Rc3+ 54. Ke4 f3 55. exf3 {Carlsen offers the draw as Re3+ followed by Rxf3 is simply dead equal.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.10.12"] [Round "3.16"] [White "Nguyen, Ngoc Truong Son"] [Black "McShane, Luke J"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2638"] [BlackElo "2682"] [Annotator "Bojkov,Dejan"] [PlyCount "66"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2014.12.06"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. O-O Nd4 6. Nxd4 Bxd4 7. c3 Bb6 8. Ba4 O-O 9. Bg5 h6 10. Bh4 d6 11. Nd2 g5 ({A quick draw was agreed after} 11... Bg4 12. Qe1 Be6 13. Bb3 Bxb3 14. axb3 Qe7 15. Nc4 Qe6 16. Bxf6 {in Karjakin,S (2748)-Giri,A (2779) Riga 2019}) 12. Bg3 h5 {N "This looks quite promising. Why not give it a try?!" - McShane.} (12... Bg4 13. Qe1 Nh5 14. Bd1 Bxd1 15. Qxd1 Nxg3 16. hxg3 f5 17. exf5 Rxf5 18. Nc4 Qf6 19. Qe2 Rf8 20. Nxb6 axb6 { with approximate equality in Caruana,F (2828)-Robson, R (2667) Chess.com INT 2019}) 13. h3 {This might be the main inaccuracy for White in the game.} ({ Correct is} 13. h4 Bg4 14. Qe1 Nh7 {although this also "looks quite dangerous [for White]" - McShane.} (14... Nd7 $5)) 13... h4 {Now Black fixes the pawn on h3 and will manage to open the g-file for his major pieces.} 14. Bh2 g4 15. Kh1 {Nguyen wants to use the open file as well! McShane admitted he felt nervous at this stage of the game.} Kh8 ({Especially after calculating the line} 15... gxh3 16. gxh3 Bxh3 17. Rg1+ Kh8 18. Qf3 {"And I do not think it is me who is doing the attack here." - McShane. For example:} Be6 19. d4 exd4 20. c4 $1 { With the idea e4-e5!}) 16. f4 ({Better is the preliminary} 16. hxg4 Nxg4 { and then} 17. f4 {although Black is better thanks to his dark-square superiority after e.g.} Nxh2 18. Kxh2 Be3 19. Qh5+ Kg7 20. f5) 16... gxh3 17. gxh3 ({According to the English GM} 17. f5 $5 {to lock the bishop on c8 was a chance for White, although after} hxg2+ 18. Kxg2 Rg8+ 19. Kh1 Bd7 {Black is definitely much better. It is important that his bishop on b6 control the g-file, as McShane mentioned.} (19... Qf8 {followed by Qf8-g7 might be even more convincing.})) 17... Bxh3 18. Rf3 Bg4 19. fxe5 {Nguyen was probably hoping to take over the initiative, but Black's next cool move clarifies matters.} Nh5 $1 {"Very natural" - McShane. He does not allow any pins and instead brings the knight into the attack.} (19... dxe5 $2 {would lose instead for Black after:} 20. Bxe5 Bxf3+ 21. Qxf3 Kg7 22. Rf1) 20. Qf1 (20. exd6 { is White's last chance. Then after} Qg5 21. d4 {Nguyen could have at least excluded the black dark-squared bishop from the game. Nevertheless, Black should win after} Rg8 22. Qg1 Qh6 $1) 20... Qg5 {Black's attack is unstoppable, especially after his next flashy move.} 21. Nc4 f5 $3 {McShane was now certain that he is winning. His rooks enter the kingside assault, and it is all over quickly.} (21... Bxf3+ {is not that accurate due to} 22. Qxf3 f5 23. d4) 22. Nxb6 ({or} 22. exf6 Bxf3+ 23. Qxf3 Rxf6 {"followed by Ra8-f8" - McShane.}) 22... axb6 23. Bd7 Bxf3+ {Black not only wins material but keeps the attack running even in the endgame.} 24. Qxf3 fxe4 25. Qg4 Ng3+ 26. Bxg3 Qxg4 27. Bxg4 hxg3 28. exd6 Rf4 29. Be6 cxd6 30. dxe4 Rxe4 31. Bd5 Re2 32. b4 Rf8 33. Rd1 Rf4 (33... Rf4 {White resigned due to} 34. Bxb7 Rh4+ 35. Kg1 g2 36. Bxg2 Rg4 { (McShane)}) 0-1 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.12"] [Round "3.29"] [White "Andrey Esipenko"] [Black "Levon Aronian"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2624"] [BlackElo "2758"] [PlyCount "78"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. c5 Nh5 8. Bd3 Nxf4 9. exf4 b6 10. c6 Nb8 11. Ne5 Bd6 12. a3 Bxe5 13. dxe5 Nxc6 14. Qh5 g6 15. Qh6 f5 16. h4 Rf7 17. h5 g5 18. g4 $6 ({After} 18. O-O-O gxf4 19. Qxf4 { the game is double-edged with good chances for both sides.}) 18... Qf8 $2 ({ Black could have punished White's ambitious play by} 18... gxf4 19. Qxf4 fxg4 20. Qxg4+ Rg7) 19. Qxg5+ Rg7 20. Qh4 $2 (20. Qf6 {is the best move for White and was missed by both players.} Qxf6 21. exf6 Rxg4 22. Ne2 {with the threat of f3 and trapping the rook.}) 20... Rxg4 21. Qh2 Qh6 22. Ne2 Bb7 23. Rc1 Rc8 24. b4 Kh8 25. f3 Rgg8 26. Kf2 Qf8 {Aronian wanted to bring his queen to e7.} 27. Bb5 Nb8 28. Nd4 $2 {This just invites Black's play.} c5 29. Nxe6 Qe7 30. Ng5 h6 31. e6 (31. Nh3 cxb4 {is curtains for White.}) 31... hxg5 32. fxg5 Qxg5 33. Qe5+ Qg7 34. Rhe1 Nc6 35. Bxc6 Rxc6 36. Qxg7+ Kxg7 37. Rg1+ Kh7 38. Rxg8 Kxg8 39. Rg1+ Kh7 {Except for missing 20.Qf6, a fine effort by Aronian.} 0-1 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.12"] [Round "3.28"] [White "Rinat Jumabayev"] [Black "Sergey Karjakin"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2630"] [BlackElo "2760"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Be7 5. Bg2 d5 6. Nf3 O-O 7. O-O Nbd7 8. Qc2 c6 9. Bf4 b6 10. Rd1 Ba6 11. cxd5 cxd5 12. Ne5 Nxe5 13. dxe5 Ng4 14. h3 Rc8 15. Qa4 {The novelty. 15.Qd2 had been played earlier.} Bxe2 16. hxg4 b5 17. Qb3 Bxd1 18. Qxd1 b4 19. a3 a5 20. axb4 axb4 21. Be3 Bc5 22. Bxc5 Rxc5 {White has two pieces against a rook but has to be careful of the pressure along the c file.} 23. Nd2 Qc7 24. Nf3 Rc2 25. Ne1 Rxb2 26. Nd3 Rc2 27. Nxb4 Rc3 28. Nd3 h6 29. Bf1 Qb6 30. g5 hxg5 31. Qg4 {Jumabayev tries to open up the kingside for an attack.} Qb3 32. Ne1 Qb2 33. Rd1 Qb3 $2 (33... Ra8 {is imperative.} 34. Qxg5 Raa3) 34. Ra1 ({White has the better game after} 34. Bd3 g6 35. Kg2) 34... Qb2 35. Rd1 Qb3 36. Bd3 {In severe time-trouble, Jumabayev refuses to take the repetition with Ra1 and plays on!} Rfc8 37. Qh5 Rc1 38. Be2 $4 {The Kazakh player still had a fantastic defensive idea:} (38. Rxc1 Rxc1 39. Kg2 Rxe1 40. Qh7+ Kf8 41. Qh8+ Ke7 42. Qc8 {forces the perpetual.} Qb6 43. Qc3 Rd1 44. Qa3+ Kd8 (44... Ke8 45. Qa4+) 45. Qf8+ Kc7 46. Qxf7+) 38... g6 39. Qg4 R8c4 40. Nd3 Rxd1+ {A sad and unnecessary loss for Jumabayev.} 0-1 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.12"] [Round "3.69"] [White "Nihal Sarin"] [Black "Vera Nebolsina"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2610"] [BlackElo "2252"] [PlyCount "49"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. e3 Bg7 5. h4 h5 6. Nf3 O-O 7. Ne5 c6 8. Be2 Nfd7 (8... Nbd7 {The natural knight move is better.}) 9. g4 $1 {Nihal sniffs the smallest opportunity and grabs it.} Nxe5 10. Bxe5 Bxg4 11. Bxg4 hxg4 12. Qxg4 Nd7 13. f4 Qc8 14. Qg3 f6 15. h5 {Nihal simply goes for it.} (15. Rg1 { is better than the text.}) 15... gxh5 $4 16. O-O-O {The game is effectively over. The white pieces will simply clean up on the kingside now.} fxe5 17. Rdg1 Rf7 18. dxe5 Nxe5 19. Rxh5 Ng4 20. Qh4 $1 {Not interested in the material at all.} e5 21. Rxg4 Kf8 (21... Qxg4 22. Qxg4 Re8 23. Ne2 {Black holds on for longer, but she is just lost.}) 22. Rxg7 $3 {A decisive blow!} Rxg7 23. Rh8+ Kf7 24. Qh5+ Ke7 25. Qxe5+ {A simple attack that gives a clean win to the Indian prodigy.} 1-0 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss 2019"] [Site "Douglas, Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.12"] [Round "3.11"] [White "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"] [Black "Chigaev, Maksim"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E61"] [WhiteElo "2718"] [BlackElo "2644"] [PlyCount "77"] [EventDate "2019.10.10"] [EventRounds "11"] [EventCountry "ENG"] 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. d4 Nc6 6. e3 e5 7. d5 Nb8 8. d6 cxd6 9. Qxd6 Nc6 10. Nge2 Ne8 11. Qd3 f5 12. e4 Nc7 13. O-O Ne6 14. f4 Nb4 15. Qd1 fxe4 16. Bxe4 d5 $6 (16... d6 17. fxe5 Rxf1+ 18. Kxf1 Bxe5 $14) 17. Nxd5 Nxd5 18. Bxd5 Qb6+ 19. Kg2 Kh8 20. fxe5 Rxf1 21. Qxf1 Bd7 22. Qf2 Qb4 $2 (22... Bxe5 23. Qxb6 axb6 24. Nc3 Nc5 25. Be3 Nd3 26. Rb1 Nxb2 27. Rxb2 Bxc3 28. Rxb6 Rxa2+ {and it is not easy for White to prove advantage in this line.}) (22... Qxf2+ 23. Kxf2 Bxe5 24. Bxb7 Rb8 25. Bd5 Bxb2 26. Bxb2+ Rxb2 27. Ke3 $16) 23. Nf4 Rf8 24. Qe2 Nd4 25. Qe4 Nf5 26. Nd3 Qa4 27. b3 Qa5 28. Bf4 $18 {Black is just down two pawns without compensation.} Ne7 29. Bxb7 Bf5 30. Qe3 Qc3 31. Rd1 Qc2+ 32. Rd2 Qb1 33. Nf2 g5 34. Bxg5 Ng6 35. Rd8 Rxd8 36. Bxd8 Nxe5 37. Bc7 Qb2 38. Bxe5 Bxe5 39. Qf3 1-0 [Event "Douglas, Isle of Man"] [Site "Douglas, Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.12"] [Round "3.30"] [White "Harikrishna, Pentala"] [Black "L'ami, Erwin"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E04"] [WhiteElo "2748"] [BlackElo "2619"] [PlyCount "115"] [EventDate "2019.10.10"] [EventRounds "11"] [EventCountry "ENG"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 c5 6. O-O Nc6 7. Na3 cxd4 8. Nxc4 Be7 (8... Bc5 9. a3 a5 10. Bf4 O-O $11 {1/2-1/2 (18) Svidler,P (2754) -Naiditsch,A (2689) Khanty-Mansiysk 2009}) 9. b3 O-O 10. Bb2 d3 $6 (10... Bc5 11. Rc1 Re8 $14) 11. e3 Bd7 (11... h6 12. Nfe5 Nxe5 13. Nxe5 Rb8 {½-½ (35) Gelfand,B (2686)-Lu,S (2602) Khanty-Mansiysk 2019 - White got a comfortable position out of the opening although the game ended in a draw.}) (11... b6 12. Ne1 (12. Nd4 Nxd4 13. Bxa8 Ne2+ 14. Kh1 Ba6 15. Bf3 b5 16. Ne5 b4) 12... Bb7 13. Nxd3 $11 {would also be an interesting continuation.}) 12. Qxd3 Nb4 13. Qe2 $16 {White's excellently placed bishops give him the edge.} Bb5 14. Rfd1 Qc7 15. Nd4 Ba6 16. a4 {stops b5} (16. a3 Nbd5 (16... Nc6 17. Nxc6 bxc6) 17. Rac1 $16) 16... Bxc4 17. bxc4 $14 (17. Qxc4 Qxc4 18. bxc4 $16 {liquidates into a better endgame for White but Harikrishna wanted to keep the queens on board.}) 17... Rac8 18. a5 a6 19. Rab1 b6 20. axb6 Qxb6 21. Nb3 Qc7 22. c5 a5 23. Qb5 Nfd5 24. e4 Nf6 25. Rbc1 Nc6 26. Bc3 Rfd8 27. Rxd8+ Bxd8 28. Rd1 Rb8 29. Qa4 Qb7 30. Nd4 Nxd4 31. Rxd4 Bc7 32. Rd1 h6 33. Bxf6 gxf6 34. Rd7 Qb4 35. Qxb4 axb4 36. Rxc7 b3 37. Bf1 b2 38. Bd3 Rb3 39. Bb1 Rc3 40. Kg2 Rc1 41. Bd3 Rc3 42. Rb7 Rxd3 43. Rxb2 Rc3 44. Rb8+ Kg7 45. Rc8 Kg6 (45... f5 46. exf5 exf5 47. c6 h5 48. c7 f4 49. gxf4 Kf6 $16 {is better resistance.}) 46. c6 f5 47. exf5+ Kxf5 48. h4 e5 49. c7 h5 50. g4+ Kf6 (50... hxg4 51. h5 $18) 51. f3 hxg4 52. fxg4 Kg7 53. g5 e4 54. Kf2 Kh7 55. Ke2 e3 56. h5 Kg7 57. h6+ Kh7 58. Kf3 1-0 [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.10.13"] [Round "4.7"] [White "Kovalev, Vladislav"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B52"] [WhiteElo "2661"] [BlackElo "2876"] [Annotator "Bojkov,Dejan"] [PlyCount "93"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2014.12.06"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ {The Moscow variation was especially popular today at the IOM.} Bd7 4. Bxd7+ Qxd7 5. c4 {A very solid approach against the world champion.} e5 6. Nc3 Nc6 7. d3 Be7 ({The more entertaining} 7... g6 8. h4 Nf6 9. Nd5 Nxd5 10. cxd5 Nb4 11. a3 Na6 12. h5 {was played in Anand,V (2767) -Caruana,F (2819) Zagreb 2019}) 8. a3 Bd8 {Black's setup is somewhat artificial, but since the center is clamped, he can afford to play slowly.} 9. O-O Nge7 ({In case of} 9... Ba5 10. b4 $1 {is unpleasant for Black, when} cxb4 11. Nd5 bxa3 12. Rxa3 Nge7 13. d4 {promises White a lot for the pawn.}) 10. b4 O-O 11. bxc5 {N Simple and good.} ({White was somewhat better in a correspondence game after} 11. Rb1 Nd4 12. bxc5 Nxf3+ 13. Qxf3 dxc5 14. Nd5 Nxd5 15. exd5 {Fasser,W (2115)-Berko,M (2042) ICCF email 2014}) 11... dxc5 12. Nd5 Ng6 ({Here} 12... Ba5 {only brings the bishop to a seemingly active position from where it has little to no influence on the opponent's position. White would proceed with} 13. Be3 b6 14. Nh4 {with an advantage.}) ({However, the immediate} 12... f5 {deserves serious consideration.}) 13. Be3 b6 14. Nd2 $1 {Kovalev is getting ready for his opponent's main resource.} f5 15. exf5 Qxf5 $6 ({Better is} 15... Rxf5 16. Ne4 Nf4 {with equality. In this case the black queen would cover the squares along the d-file.}) 16. Ne4 {All the white pieces are perfectly placed, and Carlsen has to be careful.} Nf4 17. g3 Qg6 ({ With the black queen away from the d-file, the capture on d5 is not good:} 17... Nxd5 18. cxd5 Nd4 19. Bxd4 exd4 20. Qb3 {with an advantage for White, thanks to his better minor piece.}) 18. Kh1 {Practically forcing the trade on d5.} Nxd5 19. cxd5 Ne7 $6 {One more inaccuracy. Not obvious but a serious one. The knight is not stable where it is heading.} ({Safer is} 19... Na5 {when} 20. d6 ({If} 20. f4 exf4 (20... Nc4 $6 {is not as effective as it looks after} 21. Bc1 $1) 21. Bxf4 Bf6 {and Black should be OK.}) 20... Nb7 {gives Black enough time to organize himself in the battle against the passer. For example:} 21. Qb3+ Qf7 22. Qxf7+ Rxf7 23. f4 Bf6) 20. d6 $1 Nf5 21. Qb3+ Kh8 ({Here:} 21... Qf7 {will be met with} 22. Qxf7+ Rxf7 23. g4 Nxe3 24. fxe3 {with an advantage for White.}) 22. Qd5 {The passer is nicely supported. Next Kovalev opens the road for his major pieces, and Carlsen's situation becomes critical.} Bf6 23. Rae1 $1 Rad8 ({Not much is changed after} 23... h6 24. f4 exf4 25. Bxf4 Rad8 26. d7) 24. f4 Nxe3 {This only helps White.} (24... exf4 25. Bxf4 h6 {would have been more stubborn.}) 25. Rxe3 exf4 26. Rxf4 h6 27. d7 {So far Kovalev played flawlessly and managed to outplay his mighty opponent. But within a striking distance from the win, he starts to hesitate. The game move is the most logical continuation.} ({However, even better is} 27. Nxf6 $1 Rxf6 28. d7 {The threat is the simple capture on f6 and if} Rxf4 29. gxf4 $1 {when Black cannot hold his defenses:} Kh7 30. Re6 $1 {White is winning.} Qf7 31. Rxh6+ $1 Kg8 32. Rh8+) 27... Be7 $1 {The world champion understands that no matter how bad this bishop is, it is an important defender.} 28. Ref3 $1 {Consistently trading the blockers of the passer.} Rxf4 29. Rxf4 b5 30. Nxc5 {Again not a bad move.} ({But once more Kovalev misses a clear win.} 30. Rf5 $1 {with the idea of moving the rook to a better position that would have led White to a deserved victory after} c4 31. Re5 Bf6 32. Nxf6 gxf6 (32... Qxf6 33. Re8+) 33. Re7 cxd3 34. Qe6 {and the passer becomes a queen.}) 30... Bxc5 31. Qxc5 Kh7 $1 {The best defense.} ({In case of} 31... Qxd3 {White planned the cute} 32. Qf8+ $1 ({rather than} 32. Rf8+ Kh7 33. Rxd8 Qf1+ 34. Qg1 Qf3+ 35. Qg2 Qd1+ { with a perpetual.}) 32... Rxf8 ({If} 32... Kh7 33. Qxd8 Qd1+ 34. Kg2 Qe2+ 35. Kh3 Qe6+ 36. Rg4 $1 h5 37. Qh4 {saves White from the checks and wins.}) 33. Rxf8+ Kh7 34. d8=Q {and there is not a perpetual.}) 32. Qd5 Qg5 33. Qe4+ { Missing the third win.} ({True, this time it was close to impossible to find. The winning line runs} 33. Rf5 Qg4 34. Rf7 Qe2 {Black threatens many checks, and this makes the assessment of the position extremely tough, but} 35. d4 $3 { Now Black is helpless against the mating attack, e.g.} ({White should not hurry with the mating threats as the immediate} 35. Qf5+ Kg8 36. Qg6 {is well met with} Qe5 $1 {and Black survives.}) 35... a5 36. Qf5+ Kg8 37. Qg6 {and mate is inevitable.}) 33... Qg6 34. Qd5 Qg5 35. Qd6 Qg6 36. Qc7 ({The rook endgame is the dream of the defender:} 36. Qxg6+ Kxg6 37. Rd4 Kf7 38. Rd5 a6 39. Rd6 Ke7 40. Rxa6 Rxd7 {with a draw.}) 36... Qg5 37. Qd6 Qg6 38. Qc7 { Finally missing the win.} ({The last chance to revert to the winning line is here:} 38. Qd5 $1) 38... Qg5 39. Qc6 Qe7 {And the world champion escaped from trouble after:} 40. Qxb5 Rxd7 41. Qf5+ g6 42. Qf8 Qxf8 43. Rxf8 Kg7 44. Ra8 Kf6 45. Kg2 Rxd3 46. Rxa7 Rd2+ 47. Kg1 {White cannot win with the passive king.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.13"] [Round "4"] [White "Fabiano Caruana"] [Black "Wang Hao"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2812"] [BlackElo "2726"] [PlyCount "91"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 {Many Chinese players play the Petroff like Caruana.} 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Bd6 7. O-O O-O 8. c4 c6 9. Re1 Bf5 10. Qb3 {Interestingly, Caruana chooses a line which he himself has played in three games as Black.} Qd7 11. Nc3 Nxc3 12. Bxf5 Qxf5 13. Qxb7 Qd7 (13... Ne4 { is the other main move that Caruana himself has tried.}) 14. Qxd7 Nxd7 15. c5 Bxh2+ 16. Nxh2 Ne4 17. Bf4 Rfe8 18. f3 Nef6 19. Nf1 Nf8 20. Be5 {The first new move of the game. All this had already been seen in Svidler vs. Ivanchuk in 2007.} Ne6 21. Rad1 a5 22. Ne3 Nd7 23. Bd6 g6 24. Rd3 {White's plan is to swing the rook to the queenside and create play there.} Ra7 25. Nc2 h5 26. Ra3 Rea8 27. Ra4 Ng7 28. Bf4 (28. b4 {is worth considering.}) 28... Nf5 29. Bd2 Nf8 30. Kh2 Ne6 31. g4 hxg4 32. fxg4 Nh4 33. Kg3 g5 34. Ra3 Ng6 35. Rb3 Ngf4 36. Rb6 Kg7 37. Rh1 Rc7 38. Bc3 Kg6 39. Kf3 Ng7 40. a4 Nfe6 41. b4 axb4 42. Nxb4 Rxa4 43. Nxc6 f6 44. Ke3 Ra3 45. Rc1 Ra8 46. Ra1 {Here, Caruana offered a draw that Hao accepted after some thought.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.13"] [Round "4.6"] [White "Luke McShane"] [Black "Adhiban Baskaran"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2682"] [BlackElo "2639"] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ {The Moscow variation again as seen in this round in Kovalev vs. Carlsen.} Bd7 4. Bxd7+ Nxd7 5. O-O Ngf6 6. Qe2 e6 7. d4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 a6 9. c4 Rc8 10. b3 g6 11. Bb2 Bg7 12. Nc3 O-O 13. Rad1 {"The world's strongest amateur player," McShane is known for his openings. He chooses side lines and tries to get decent but playable positions out of the opening instead of striving for an edge like other professional players.} Qc7 14. Kh1 Rfd8 15. f4 Qb8 16. Nf3 Nh5 {A knight on the rim is dim!} ({It is imperative for Black to start with his counterplay on the queenside with} 16... b5) 17. f5 {McShane senses his opportunity and goes for it.} Re8 18. fxe6 fxe6 19. e5 Nxe5 20. Nxe5 Bxe5 21. Ne4 Bxb2 22. Qxb2 d5 $2 (22... Rf8 {with the idea to trade pieces that is important.}) 23. g4 $1 {Probably missed by Adhiban.} dxe4 24. gxh5 e5 (24... Rf8 {is once again badly needed!}) 25. hxg6 hxg6 26. Qg2 Rc6 27. Rd7 {Thanks to the exposed king and the passivity of the black queen, White is much better.} Rd6 $2 {This throws away the game.} (27... Rd8 {Trading the rooks is important.}) 28. Rdf7 (28. Rff7 {and Black is lost!}) 28... Qc8 29. R7f6 Rxf6 30. Rxf6 Re7 31. Rxg6+ {White is clearly winning and goes for the simplest option.} Kh8 32. Qg5 Qf8 33. Qh5+ Rh7 34. Qxe5+ Rg7 35. Qxg7+ Qxg7 36. Rxg7 Kxg7 37. Kg2 {McShane wins another fine game and is now shares the lead with 3.5 out of 4 games.} 1-0 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.13"] [Round "4.4"] [White "Parham Maghsoodloo"] [Black "Vidit Gujrathi"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2664"] [BlackElo "2718"] [PlyCount "96"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. b3 Nf6 4. Bb2 {Maghsoodloo is well-known for his fianchetto and is believed to be an expert on operating such systems.} d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Nc3 e5 7. e3 Nxc3 8. Bxc3 Bd6 9. Bb5 Qe7 10. Bxc6+ {White gives up the bishop pair as Black will end up with doubled pawns and and a weak pawn structure.} bxc6 11. d3 Ba6 12. Qc2 Rd8 13. Ba5 Rd7 14. Nd2 O-O 15. Nc4 f5 16. e4 {Anti-positional but well calculated by the Iranian.} Qg5 17. f3 Rf6 18. h4 Qg3+ 19. Qf2 Qg6 20. h5 Qf7 21. Qc2 Rh6 22. O-O-O Rxh5 23. Nxd6 Rxd6 24. Rxh5 Qxh5 25. Qxc5 Qh6+ $2 ({Black still had decent chances to save the game after} 25... Rxd3 26. Qxa7 Rxd1+ 27. Kxd1 Bc8 28. Qb8 Qe8 29. exf5 Qd7+ 30. Kc1 Qxf5 31. Bc3) 26. Kc2 fxe4 27. fxe4 Qf6 28. Qxa7 c5 29. Bc3 Qf2+ 30. Rd2 Bxd3+ 31. Kb2 Qf1 32. Qb8+ ({Even better is the slightly risky} 32. Qxc5 Qb1+ 33. Ka3 Ra6+ 34. Kb4) 32... Qf8 33. Qxf8+ Kxf8 34. Bxe5 {White will soon trade the rooks and push his queenside pawns.} Rd7 35. Kc3 Bb5 36. Rxd7 Bxd7 37. Kc4 Bc6 38. Kxc5 Bxe4 39. Kd6 Bxg2 40. b4 Ke8 41. Kc7 $1 {Good technique as the black king joins the defensive task.} Ke7 42. b5 Ke6 43. Bd6 h5 44. b6 h4 45. a4 g5 46. a5 Bb7 47. Kxb7 Kxd6 48. Kc8 Kd5 {A smooth win by Maghsoodloo.} 1-0 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.13"] [Round "4.3"] [White "Ivan Cheparinov"] [Black "Nikita Vitiugov"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2670"] [BlackElo "2732"] [PlyCount "172"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 a6 4. Nc3 d5 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 Be6 7. e3 Nbd7 8. Bd3 h6 9. Bh4 g5 10. Bg3 Nh5 11. Be5 Nhf6 12. Qb3 g4 13. Bxf6 Qxf6 14. Ne5 Nxe5 15. dxe5 Qxe5 16. Qxb7 Rd8 17. Qc6+ Ke7 18. O-O h5 {The first new move of the game.} ({An interesting and somewhat similar idea was seen last year.} 18... Kf6 19. Rad1 h5 20. Bc2 Kg7 21. Ne2 Bd6 22. Nf4 {1/2-1/2 (37) Akobian,V (2647) -Deac,B (2549) Caleta 2018}) 19. Rae1 Kf6 20. e4 Bd6 21. g3 d4 22. Nd5+ Kg7 23. h4 gxh3 24. f4 Bxd5 25. exd5 Qf6 26. Rf3 $2 ({The machine recommends the greedy } 26. Kh2 Rhg8 27. Kxh3) 26... Rhg8 27. Qc2 Rde8 (27... h4 {opens more lines against the white king.}) 28. Ref1 $2 {A serious mistake. White should have traded a pair of rooks to reduce the attacking chances for Black.} ({After} 28. Rxe8 Rxe8 29. Kh2 {White has decent chances of survival.}) 28... Kf8 29. Qh2 h4 30. Qxh3 hxg3 31. Rxg3 Rh8 32. Qg4 Re3 $2 {Vitiugov has played a great game until now but throws away the initiative.} ({Black is winning after} 32... Qh6 33. Rg2 Re3 34. Qg5 Qxg5 35. fxg5 Rxd3 36. g6 Rh4 37. gxf7 Bf4) 33. Rff3 Rxf3 34. Qxf3 Bxf4 35. d6 {In time pressure, Cheparinov finds this tricky move that gives up another pawn but forces the trade of rooks.} Qxd6 36. Qa8+ Ke7 37. Qxh8 Bxg3 38. Qh7 Qf4 39. Qe4+ Qxe4 40. Bxe4 Kd6 {The smoke has cleared, and the players have reached the time control. Black is two pawns up, but endings with opposite-colored bishops are notorious for their drawish tendencies.} 41. Kg2 Bf4 42. Bd3 a5 43. Kf3 Bc1 44. b3 Ke5 45. a4 Bd2 46. Bc4 f5 47. Bd3 f4 48. Ke2 {White has set up a blockade on the light squares, and it's almost a draw.} Be3 49. Bc2 Kd5 50. Bd1 Kc5 51. Kd3 Kb4 52. Kc2 Bf2 53. Be2 Be1 54. Bd1 Bc3 55. Be2 Kc5 56. Kd3 Kd5 57. Bf3+ Kc5 58. Kc2 Kb4 59. Be2 c5 60. Bc4 f3 61. Bd5 f2 62. Bc4 Be1 63. Bf1 c4 64. Bxc4 Kc5 65. Kd1 Kd6 66. Ke2 Ke5 67. Kf3 Kf5 68. Bd3+ Kg5 69. Be2 Kf5 70. Bd3+ Ke5 71. Bc4 Kd6 72. Ke2 Kc6 73. Kd1 Kc5 74. Bd3 Kd6 75. Ke2 Kd5 76. b4 $1 {Cheparinov finds a nice tactical shot to force matters and liquidate quickly.} axb4 77. a5 b3 78. a6 Kc6 79. Kf1 Kb6 80. Ke2 Bb4 81. Kxf2 Bc5 82. Bc4 b2 83. Bd3 Ka5 84. Ke2 Kb4 85. Kd2 Kb3 86. Bb1 Bb6 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.13"] [Round "4.10"] [White "Levon Aronian"] [Black "Samuel Sevian"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2758"] [BlackElo "2654"] [PlyCount "93"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] {A game involving two players of Armenian origin.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. Bd3 O-O 8. O-O dxc4 9. Bxc4 b5 10. Be2 a6 11. Ng5 Qc7 12. e4 Bxh2+ 13. Kh1 c5 14. e5 cxd4 15. exf6 Nxf6 {A well-known position involving a lot of theory where Black gives up a piece for ample compensation. Both players were literally blitzing their moves until this point.} 16. f4 Bg3 17. Rf3 $1 {A strong novelty by the two-time World Cup winner. Aronian puts Sevian in a spot right after theory, and he fumbles.} (17. Qd3 dxc3 18. Qxg3 h6 19. Nh3 Ne4 20. Qe1 {1/2-1/2 (67) Pogonina,N (2456) -Muzychuk,M (2526) Sochi 2015} (20. Qe3 Bb7 21. Nf2 Nxf2+ 22. Rxf2 {1/2-1/2 (54) Yilmaz,M (2582)-So,W (2779) Kocaeli 2015})) 17... Be1 {Sevian chooses the third best option, according to the computer.} (17... h6 {is the engine's top reply.}) (17... Bh4 {is another option for Black.}) 18. Bd3 h6 19. Nh7 Nxh7 20. Bxh7+ Kh8 21. Ne2 Qxc2 22. Bxc2 {Aronian, up a piece, has smartly traded queens and looks to consolidate.} Bb7 23. Rf1 Rac8 24. Bd3 Bh4 25. Bd2 Bd5 26. b3 Be7 27. Rfd1 Ba3 28. Bc1 Bb4 29. Bb2 Bc3 30. Nxc3 dxc3 31. Ba3 Rfd8 32. Rac1 Bb7 33. Bb4 Rd4 34. Bxc3 Rxf4 35. Kg1 {Although Black has three pawns for the piece, the bishop pair and White's activity are too much for Black to handle.} Rg4 36. Bf1 Kg8 37. Be1 Rxc1 38. Rxc1 Rd4 39. Rc7 Bd5 40. Be2 Be4 41. Bh5 f6 42. Bf7+ Kh8 43. Bxe6 Rd1 44. Kf2 Rb1 45. Bb4 Rb2+ 46. Ke3 Bb1 47. g4 {White has managed to weave a mating net around the black king, and Black throws in the towel.} 1-0 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss 2019"] [Site "Douglas, Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.13"] [Round "4.7"] [White "Kovalev, Vladislav"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B52"] [WhiteElo "2661"] [BlackElo "2876"] [PlyCount "93"] [EventDate "2019.10.10"] [EventRounds "11"] [EventCountry "ENG"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Bxd7+ Qxd7 5. c4 e5 6. Nc3 Nc6 7. d3 Be7 8. a3 Bd8 9. O-O Nge7 10. b4 {Interestingly Magnus had himself reached this exact position two years ago playing a blitz game against Etienne Bacrot in Paris GCT!} O-O 11. bxc5 dxc5 12. Nd5 Ng6 13. Be3 b6 14. Nd2 f5 15. exf5 Qxf5 16. Ne4 Nf4 17. g3 Qg6 18. Kh1 Nxd5 19. cxd5 Ne7 $6 (19... Nd4 20. Bxd4 exd4 21. d6 ( 21. Qb3 Qf7) 21... c4 22. Qa4 Rc8 23. Rfe1 Qf7 $16 {White has an edge but it is far from decisive.}) (19... Na5 {would have been the best move} 20. Qa4 Bc7 21. Bd2 Nb7 22. Rae1 Qf7 23. Qc6 Rab8 {and Black is doing absolutely fine, there is no way White can make progress with his d-pawn.}) 20. d6 Nf5 21. Qb3+ Kh8 22. Qd5 Bf6 23. Rae1 Rad8 24. f4 Nxe3 $2 (24... exf4 25. Rxf4 {is also pleasant for White.}) 25. Rxe3 exf4 26. Rxf4 h6 27. d7 $18 {White is simply winning here!} Be7 28. Ref3 (28. Nd6 Bf6 29. Nb7 Rb8 30. h4 Kh7 31. h5 Qf7 32. Qxf7 Rxf7 33. d8=Q Rxd8 34. Nxd8 {is for instance one possible way to win. But indeed, there is a plethora of choices...Sometimes too many options overwhelm the mind and this is what happened in Kovalev's case.}) 28... Rxf4 29. Rxf4 b5 30. Nxc5 Bxc5 31. Qxc5 Kh7 32. Qd5 Qg5 33. Qe4+ ({It is not hard to find a winning way even from here} 33. Rf5 Qe7 34. Rf7 Qg5 35. Qe4+ Qg6 (35... Kg8 36. Rf5 Qc1+ 37. Kg2 Qc2+ 38. Kh3 Qc7 39. Qe8+ $18) 36. Qe7 $18) 33... Qg6 34. Qd5 Qg5 35. Qd6 Qg6 36. Qc7 $11 (36. Rd4 Qxd6 37. Rxd6 $16 {is also winning even though much difficult than before}) 36... Qg5 37. Qd6 Qg6 38. Qc7 Qg5 39. Qc6 Qe7 40. Qxb5 Rxd7 41. Qf5+ g6 42. Qf8 Qxf8 43. Rxf8 Kg7 $11 44. Ra8 Kf6 45. Kg2 Rxd3 46. Rxa7 Rd2+ 47. Kg1 1/2-1/2 [Event "Isle of MAN"] [Site "Isle of MAN"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "5.4"] [White "Alexander Grischuk"] [Black "Ivan Cheparinov"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2759"] [BlackElo "2670"] [PlyCount "83"] 1. Nf3 {This game starts off as a Reti...} c5 2. e4 {...transposes into the Sicilian but then ends up as a reversed King's Indian with White being two tempi up!} d6 3. c3 Nf6 4. g3 g6 5. Bg2 Bg7 6. O-O O-O 7. Re1 Nc6 8. d3 { Grischuk said he didn't know why he played this line as White because it's an idea of Vladimir Kramnik and usually it's like a sign of approval, but this one is an exception!} e5 9. a4 h6 10. Na3 d5 $6 {Grischuk:"Basically, I think . ..d5 is a strange decision because I think Black is already better and after 10...d5 we get sort of a King's Indian reversed with two tempi up; one is I am White instead of Black and second is that its d6-d5."} 11. exd5 {Grischuk: "Instead of being slightly worse, I got a promising position from the opening and I have these jumps whereas Black's main ideas after exd5, Nxd5, are Re8-Be6-Qd7 but here it's not so easy for Black to achieve that."} Nxd5 12. Nc4 Re8 13. a5 Rb8 14. Qa4 Bf5 15. Nfd2 Bxd3 16. Ne4 {White gives up a pawn to collect the bishop pair and also for big initiative along the open d-file and the center.} Bxe4 17. Bxe4 Re7 18. Ne3 Nf6 19. Bxc6 bxc6 20. Qxc6 Rc8 21. Qa4 e4 22. Rd1 Rd7 23. Rxd7 Qxd7 24. Qxd7 Nxd7 25. Nc4 Ne5 26. Nxe5 Bxe5 27. a6 { Fixing the pawn on a7. White's play is quite simple here whereas Black has to defend accurately.} Rb8 28. Ra2 Rb3 (28... Kg7 29. Be3) 29. Bxh6 {White wins a pawn and now is ahead on material.} Bd6 30. h4 f6 31. Be3 Kf7 32. Ra5 Rxb2 33. Bxc5 Bxc5 34. Rxc5 {The transition into the rook ending is easy and so is this endgame to convert.} Ra2 35. Rc6 Ra3 36. g4 f5 37. g5 f4 38. Rf6+ Kg7 39. Rxf4 e3 40. fxe3 Rxa6 41. Kf2 Rc6 42. Ra4 {A nice technical win by Grischuk to join the leaders with 4 points out of 7 games.} 1-0 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.14"] [Round "5.6"] [White "Vladimir Fedoseev"] [Black "Radoslaw Wojtaszek"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2664"] [BlackElo "2748"] [PlyCount "93"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 {One of White's more aggressive options against the Nimzo-Indian.} c5 5. d5 b5 6. e4 d6 7. Bd2 Bxc3 8. Bxc3 b4 9. Bd2 O-O 10. Be3 exd5 11. cxd5 a5 12. a3 bxa3 13. Rxa3 {Both players took considerable time to reach this very original position.} Nbd7 14. Ne2 Rb8 15. Bd2 Rxb2 16. Bxa5 Qe7 17. Bc3 Rb7 18. Ng3 Ne5 19. Be2 {White clearly seems to have won the battle of the opening stage as he has the bishop pair, the better center and also the more active pieces.} h5 20. h4 Bd7 21. Kf2 Rfb8 22. Qd2 Rb3 23. Rha1 Nh7 24. Rxb3 Rxb3 25. Qc2 (25. Ra8+ Nf8 26. Bd1 {and White has a huge advantage.}) 25... c4 (25... Rb8 {Black should have secured his backrank first. }) 26. Bxc4 (26. Ra8+ {It was again advisable to control the back rank.}) 26... Rb8 27. Be2 Rc8 28. Qb2 Qf6 29. Bxe5 {Being a pawn up, white prefers to trade pieces.} dxe5 30. Rh1 Nf8 31. Nxh5 Qh6 32. g4 Ng6 {Black has given up another pawn to create some counterplay against the white king.} 33. Ra1 Nf4 34. Ra6 f6 35. Ra7 {White is two pawns up and totally wining. He just has to consolidate and safeguard his king.} Nh3+ 36. Kg2 Qe3 37. Ra1 Nf4+ 38. Nxf4 exf4 39. Ra3 Qc5 40. Rb3 {The time control reach and two extra pawns, the rest is just a matter of technique} Kh7 41. Bd3 Ba4 42. e5+ Kh6 43. Rb8 Bd1 44. Rxc8 Bxf3+ { A last-ditch effort by the defending champion.} 45. Kxf3 Qe3+ 46. Kg2 Qg3+ 47. Kf1 {A fabulous win by Fedoseev to join the leaders!} 1-0 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.14"] [Round "5.8"] [White "Alexei Shirov"] [Black "Gabriel Sargissian"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2664"] [BlackElo "2690"] [PlyCount "91"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. d4 d6 9. c3 Bg4 10. Be3 Bh5 11. h3 exd4 12. cxd4 Na5 13. Nbd2 Nxb3 14. axb3 d5 $6 {The first new move of the game.} (14... c5 {had been played before in Kantans vs Inarkiev, 2017.}) 15. e5 Ne4 16. Qc2 Nxd2 17. Nxd2 c5 {Played to avoid handing over the c file to White.} 18. dxc5 d4 19. Bf4 Bg6 20. Qc1 a5 21. Nf3 Qd5 22. e6 Qxc5 23. Qd2 fxe6 24. Rxe6 {Black has recovered his pawn and is doing fine.} Bf6 25. Be5 d3 26. Bxf6 Rxf6 (26... gxf6 {was trivial. The rook on a8 needs to stay defended by the other rook!}) 27. Rxf6 gxf6 28. b4 $1 { Shirov jumps at the opportunity to grab some material and the initiative.} Qd6 29. bxa5 b4 30. a6 Rxa6 31. Rxa6 Qxa6 32. Qxb4 {The passed d-pawn is sufficiently controlled and White's b-pawn will cause serious headache for Black.} Qa1+ 33. Kh2 Qc1 34. Kg3 $1 {The king must be used as a piece in the endgame.} Qc2 35. Qd4 Qc7+ 36. Qf4 Qb6 37. b4 {Perfect harmony amongst White's pieces. The queen is an anchor and protects everything.} Kf8 38. Nd2 Ke7 39. h4 Qb5 40. Qd4 Ke6 41. Kf4 Qh5 42. Nf3 Qh6+ 43. Kg3 Qc1 44. h5 Bf5 (44... Bxh5 45. Qe4+ Kd6 46. Qxd3+ {is simply lost for Black.}) 45. Qf4 Qc3 46. b5 {Sargissian resigned as White's passed pawn will cost him a bishop.} 1-0 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.14"] [Round "5.11"] [White "Magnus Carlsen"] [Black "Surya Shekhar Ganguly"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2876"] [BlackElo "2658"] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. g4 h6 9. Be3 Nbd7 10. a4 b6 11. f3 Qc7 {Carlsen said Black should have gone for a quicker ...Bb7 and ...d5.} 12. h4 Nf8 13. Rg1 Be6 14. g5 hxg5 15. hxg5 N6d7 16. Nd5 Qc6 17. Qd2 Ng6 18. a5 b5 {At this juncture, Carlsen felt that Black's position was solid but that White's king now felt very safe.} 19. O-O-O { Carlsen: "It's really hard for him to create any counterplay."} Rc8 20. Kb1 Nc5 21. Be2 Bd8 22. Nxc5 dxc5 23. f4 {With all his pieces in the perfect position, Carlsen blows open the game with this energetic move.} exf4 24. Bxf4 Be7 25. Nxe7 Kxe7 26. Bd6+ Ke8 27. Qc3 Rh7 28. Bg3 b4 29. Qd3 c4 30. Qd6 Qxe4 (30... Qa4 31. Qxa6 {Carlsen:"I am just winning}) (30... b3 {is the engine's recommendation.} 31. Qxc6+ Rxc6 32. cxb3 cxb3 33. Rd4) 31. Rd4 (31. Rge1 b3 32. Bd3 cxd3 $1 {This was the trick the Indian GM was hoping for.}) (31. Rde1 { Avoids the above mentioned line and is also winning but Magnus prefered the direct Rd4.}) 31... Qb7 32. Qb6 Qa8 33. Rgd1 Rh1 34. Be1 Ne5 35. Bxb4 Rxd1+ 36. Rxd1 Qc6 37. Qe3 Qb5 38. Bc3 Rc5 39. b4 {A nice idea using the the pin on the black queen.} Nd3 40. cxd3 Rd5 41. dxc4 {Carlsen: "A really tough game."} 1-0 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.14"] [Round "5.66"] [White "Nihal Sarin"] [Black "Anna Zatonskih"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2610"] [BlackElo "2422"] [PlyCount "49"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 e6 3. c4 Nf6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 Bxf6 7. e3 b6 { Played after some thought.} (7... O-O 8. Qc2 c5 {Sarin:"Black should have gone for something active like ...c5 and if Black is accurate, she equalizes and holds easily but otherwise it is just bad. It's quite tricky."}) 8. Qc2 { Sarin: "I decided to go for the same plan as above."} Bb7 9. cxd5 {Sarin: "Now, I thought it's wise to close the diagonal for the bishop."} exd5 10. O-O-O O-O 11. Kb1 {Just played to get out of some tactics along the c file.} Nd7 12. h4 { "I have played this idea many times," Nihal said. "I think I played this line about 3-4 years ago against Praggnanandhaa online and lost one game."} c5 13. g4 cxd4 14. exd4 Be7 15. g5 {Trying to play against the knight coming to f6.} h5 16. Bh3 g6 17. Rhe1 {Nihal: I thought I was much better here."} Re8 18. Bxd7 (18. Qb3 {Nihal didn't like going for the central pawn.} Bf8 19. Nxd5 Rxe1 20. Rxe1 Nc5 {was something Nihal found and didn't really like.}) 18... Qxd7 19. Ne5 Qe6 (19... Qf5 {was the better alternative.} 20. Qxf5 gxf5 21. Ne2 { Nihal:" My knight comes over to f4 or g3 and I collect the pawns.}) (19... Qc7 20. Nxg6 fxg6 21. Qxg6+ Kh8 22. Re6 {is curtains for Black.}) 20. Nb5 Bd8 ( 20... Rac8 21. Nc7 Qd6 22. Nxe8 Rxc2 23. Nxd6 {is lost for Black.}) 21. Nxf7 { "I thought this was quite clean" - Nihal.} (21. Re3 Rc8 22. Qd3 Ba6 {wasn't convincing for Nihal.}) 21... Qxe1 (21... Qxf7 22. Nd6 Rxe1 23. Rxe1 Qg7 24. Re6 Kh7 25. Nxb7 Bc7 26. Nd6 {Nihal thought this was winning for White.}) 22. Qxg6+ Kf8 23. Qh6+ (23. Rxe1 Rxe1+ 24. Kc2 {should also be winning without much difficulty.}) 23... Kg8 (23... Kxf7 24. Nd6+ Kg8 25. Qg6+ {and white mates on f7 on the next move.}) 24. Qh8+ Kxf7 25. Nd6+ 1-0 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.14"] [Round "5.1"] [White "McShane, Luke J"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C48"] [WhiteElo "2682"] [BlackElo "2812"] [Annotator "Bojkov,Dejan"] [PlyCount "169"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Bd6 {A fighting move. Caruana avoids the many theoritecial drawish lines.} 5. d3 O-O 6. O-O h6 ({Instead:} 6... a6 7. Ba4 h6 8. a3 Re8 9. h3 Bf8 10. Be3 d6 11. Bb3 Be6 12. Bxe6 Rxe6 {led to an ultra-solid position for Black in Nepomniachtchi,I (2776)-Tomashevsky,E (2718) Khanty-Mansiysk 2019}) 7. Kh1 {N Preparing a quick f2-f4 in the spirit of the Rossolimo line.} ({Another game of the aforementioned match at the World Cup saw a similar development:} 7. a3 Re8 8. Be3 Bf8 9. Bc4 d6 10. h3 Be6 11. Bxe6 Rxe6 12. Nd5 {Again Black was super solid, but this time he did not survive, perhaps because it was rapid, Nepomniachtchi,I (2776)-Tomashevsky, E (2718) Khanty-Mansiysk 2019}) 7... Re8 {Black wants to retreat the bishop to f8 once that his center is defended.} 8. Bxc6 bxc6 $5 {Another fighting move.} ({ More common is to recapture with the other pawn:} 8... dxc6 {Intending c6-c5 and then a knight transfer towards d4. Then McShane would have most likely gone for} 9. Ng1 Nh7 10. f4 exf4 11. Bxf4 Bxf4 12. Rxf4 Ng5 {with a tiny edge for White.}) 9. Ng1 Bf8 10. f4 exf4 11. Bxf4 d5 $1 {This is why Caruana recaptured with the c-pawn. He wants a piece of the center. At this stage of the game the American GM skillfully outplays his opponent.} 12. e5 Bg4 13. Qd2 Nh5 14. Rae1 ({Objectively better was} 14. h3 Nxf4 15. Qxf4 Be6 {although Black does not have any problems whatsoever here to say at least.}) 14... Rb8 { Sending the rook to the center!} ({Very good for Black was instead:} 14... g5 $1 15. Bg3 (15. Be3 $2 d4) 15... Nxg3+ 16. hxg3 Bg7 {with an advantage.}) 15. h3 (15. Na4 $5 c5 16. b3) 15... Nxf4 16. Qxf4 Bh5 {In order to keep the bishop more active.} ({There was nothing wrong with} 16... Be6 {except that it would have taken the square from the black rook.}) 17. Nd1 Rb4 18. Qf2 c5 19. b3 Rb6 20. Nf3 Rbe6 21. Ne3 Qd7 $6 {So far Black did everything fine, but this last move is a mistake. For a moment Caruana stalls and this gives McShane the needed time to create his own play.} ({He should have opened the game for his bishops with:} 21... f6 $1 {when} 22. g4 {is nothing to worry about and Black is better after} Bg6 23. Nh4 Bh7 24. exf6 Rxf6 25. Nef5 Kh8) 22. g4 $1 { McShane seizes his chance.} Bg6 23. Ng2 c4 $1 ({Apparently here Black noticed the positional trap:} 23... Bh7 24. Nf4 Ra6 25. e6 $3 fxe6 26. Ne5 {with the Nimzowitsch knights beating any long-range piece Black has.}) 24. Nf4 cxd3 25. cxd3 {Another accurate move.} ({There is no need to be greedy:} 25. Nxe6 $2 Rxe6 26. cxd3 Bxd3 27. Rg1 Be4 {is good for Black.}) 25... Bb4 26. Rd1 ({ A tad more accurate was:} 26. Rc1 $5 c5 27. Nxe6 Rxe6 28. Rcd1) 26... R6e7 { The counterplay is not good enough here.} ({Better was the solid} 26... Ra6 $1 {intending to meet} 27. e6 {with} Raxe6 $1 28. Nxe6 Rxe6 29. Qxa7 Re2 {with compensation for the exchange due to the weak white king.}) 27. Qxa7 { Snatching two pawns in a flash.} (27. Nxg6 $5 fxg6 28. Qxa7 {was also good for White.}) 27... Bh7 28. Qd4 c5 29. Qxd5 Qa7 $1 {The only chance is active play.} 30. Qc4 {Very accurate play again.} ({Instead:} 30. a4 {would have lost the more important central pawn after} Bc3 $1) 30... Qxa2 31. g5 $1 {The knights are perfect for a close fight and the kingside attack is the most natural way.} hxg5 32. Nxg5 Qa8+ 33. Kg1 ({Not as good is} 33. Kh2 Qb8) 33... Qc6 {Not the optimal square for the queen.} ({Here too, Black needed to go for} 33... Qb8 $1 {Then} 34. Nd5 Qxe5 35. Nxe7+ Rxe7 36. Qf4 Qxf4 37. Rxf4 Bg6 {might be defendable.}) 34. d4 $1 {Now that the central pawns come into motion Black's position is close to collapse.} Bf5 35. Nd5 Rd7 36. Ne3 {Solid human move.} ({ The computer-like decision} 36. Nf6+ $1 gxf6 37. d5 Qc7 38. Rxf5 fxg5 39. Rxg5+ Kf8 40. Qh4 {with winning attack is not something one can afford to play with seconds on the clock.}) 36... Bg6 37. d5 Qc7 38. Ng4 Qd8 39. e6 {Very impractical. McShane was left with his last seconds and there was no need to force matters. The time control was approaching.} ({It made sense not to force matters and to solidify instead the position with:} 39. h4 $1 {Black would be helpless against the central breaks. For example:} Rb7 (39... Ba3 40. e6 $1 fxe6 41. Ne5 {wins on the spot for White.}) 40. d6 $1 Ba5 {And now after the additional time is added on the clock White will have the time to calculate the brilliancy:} 41. Rxf7 $1 Rxf7 ({If:} 41... Bxf7 42. Qe4 $1 g6 (42... Ra7 43. Qh7+ Kf8 44. Qh8+ Bg8 45. Rf1+ {is a quick mate.}) 43. Qxb7 {winning.}) 42. e6 $1 {and there is no way out for Caruana.}) 39... fxe6 {Caruana misses his chance in return!} ({He could have saved the half point at once with the brilliant} 39... Qxg5 $3 40. exd7 Re4 41. Qa6 Rxg4+ 42. hxg4 Qxg4+ {with perpetual check.}) 40. Nxe6 Qb8 {Sneekily looking at the enemy king from afar.} 41. d6 $1 {Now McShane gets a second chance to finish the game.} Rxd6 42. Nc7+ Rde6 ({There is not time to escape from the pin:} 42... Kh8 43. Rxd6 Qxc7 44. Rxg6 Qg3+ 45. Kh1 Qxh3+ 46. Nh2) 43. Rd7 ({White in return needs not to rush:} 43. Nxe6 $2 Qg3+ 44. Kh1 Qxh3+ 45. Nh2 Qxe6 {should be a draw.}) 43... Kh8 44. Qf4 {The time to pick up the exchange came.} Qb6 45. Nxe6 Qxe6 46. Rd6 Qe4 47. Qg5 $1 {Correct! White wants to trade the queens under more favorable circumstances. McShane's treatment of the position is beautiful and effective.} ({The endgame after} 47. Qxe4 Bxe4 48. Rd7 Kg8 {should be holdable for Black.}) 47... Kh7 48. Qh4+ Kg8 49. Qg3 Kh7 50. Nf2 Qc2 51. Nd3 $1 {If White can trade the light-squared bishop he will be winning.} Be4 $1 {Although this move loses in a strange way, I award it with an exclamation mark as it was Black's only practical chance.} ({In the line} 51... Bxd3 52. Qxd3+ Qxd3 53. Rxd3 {there is no way out for Caruana.}) 52. Qg5 Qe2 53. Nxb4 ({Missing the sudden retreat} 53. Nc1 $3 {which wins on the spot as Black cannot defend against the check on h5!}) 53... cxb4 54. Rd2 $1 {McShane found a forcing win.} ({An even more accurate win was} 54. Rd4 $1 {and only when the black rook leaves the back rank:} Re6 55. Rd2) 54... Qa6 55. Qh5+ Qh6 56. Qxh6+ Kxh6 57. Re1 $2 {Oh, just a step from the epic victory!} ({The other rook was the right one:} 57. Re2 $1 Re5 58. Kh2 Kg5 59. Rd1 Kf4 60. Rd4 {as Black cannot untie his pieces.}) 57... Re5 $1 58. Kh2 Rd5 {This is the difference: Caruana unpins himself. Now only a very narrow road leads to the win.} 59. Rxd5 Bxd5 60. Re3 g5 61. Kg3 ({Missing his last chance. McShane needed to "fix" the enemy king first with:} 61. Rg3 $1 {Then the active attempt} Kh5 {loses to} (61... Kg6 $2 62. h4 $1) ({Or} 61... Be6 62. Kg2 {as in the game, except that the black king is inactive.}) 62. Kg1 Kh4 63. Rg4+ Kxh3 64. Rxb4) 61... Kg6 62. Kf2 Kf5 $1 {Grand defense by Caruana. } ({The other route for the king was tempting, but not enough after:} 62... Kh5 63. Rg3 Kh4 64. Rg4+ Kxh3 65. Rxg5 Bxb3 $4 66. Rg3+) 63. Rg3 Be6 64. Ke2 Bd5 65. Kd2 Be6 {White's problem is that in the battle of the long-ranged pieces the bishop often matches the rook. The needed conditions is that the pawns of the rook side are fixed on the color of the bishop (which is the case). One other problem is that the trade of the queenside pair leads automatically to a draw. In short, the win is gone.} 66. Rf3+ Ke5 67. Re3+ Kf6 68. Kc2 Bf5+ 69. Kc1 Be6 70. Kd2 Bd5 71. Kc2 Be6 72. Kb2 Bf5 73. Rg3 Be6 74. Rd3 Ke5 75. Re3+ Kf6 76. Re4 Bxh3 77. Rxb4 ({The last chance was:} 77. Kc1 $5 g4 78. Kd2 g3 79. Ke3 {to stop the pawn with the weaker piece, but it is a textbook draw after} Be6 80. Rxb4 g2 81. Kf2 Bd5) 77... g4 78. Re4 g3 79. Kc3 Kf5 80. Re1 Kf4 81. b4 Kf3 82. b5 Kf2 83. Kd2 g2 84. b6 Bc8 85. Re2+ {An epic battle! I recommend analyzing it under the sound of Nightwish. ;)} 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 2019"] [Site "Douglas-Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.14"] [Round "5.11"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Ganguly, Surya Shekhar"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2876"] [BlackElo "2658"] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "2019.10.10"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventCountry "GBR"] [Tiebreak "Cut2 Buchholz+Sum of Buchholz"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 { B90: Sicilian Najdorf: Unusual White 6th moves, 6 Be3 Ng4 and 6 Be3 e5} (7... Be6 8. f4 g6 9. Be2 Nbd7 10. g4 Rc8 11. f5 Bxb3 12. axb3 Rxc3 13. bxc3 Nxe4 14. O-O Qh4 15. Bf3 gxf5 16. Bxe4 fxe4 {1/2-1/2 (53) Caruana,F (2818)-Vachier Lagrave,M (2778) Saint Louis 2019}) 8. g4 h6 9. Be3 Nbd7 {The position is equal.} 10. a4 b6 11. f3 Qc7 12. h4 Nf8 $146 ({Predecessor:} 12... Bb7 13. Qd2 Rd8 14. Rh3 d5 15. Nxd5 Nxd5 16. exd5 {1/2-1/2 (54) Nichols,S (2202)-Bernal Varela,N (2138) FICGS email 2010}) 13. Rg1 Be6 14. g5 $1 hxg5 15. hxg5 N6d7 16. Nd5 $36 {White fights for an advantage.} Qc6 17. Qd2 Ng6 18. a5 b5 19. O-O-O Rc8 20. Kb1 Nc5 21. Be2 Bd8 (21... Rh7 $142) 22. Nxc5 $16 dxc5 23. f4 $1 exf4 24. Bxf4 Be7 (24... Rh4 $16) 25. Nxe7 $18 Kxe7 26. Bd6+ $1 Ke8 27. Qc3 Rh7 28. Bg3 b4 29. Qd3 c4 {[#]} 30. Qd6 $1 Qxe4 $2 (30... b3 {might work better.} 31. cxb3 Qxe4+ {Double Attack} 32. Ka1 cxb3 33. Bxa6 Qa4+ 34. Qa3 Qxa3+ 35. bxa3 Rc5) 31. Rd4 ({Weaker is} 31. Qxa6 b3 $15) ({Inferior is} 31. Qxb4 Qxe2 32. Rge1 Qg2 $11) 31... Qb7 $2 {[#]} (31... Qc6 32. Qxc6+ (32. Qxb4 Rh1 $16) 32... Rxc6) 32. Qb6 $1 {White is clearly winning.} Qa8 33. Rgd1 {Bf3! is the strong threat.} Rh1 34. Be1 {Strongly threatening Bf3!} Ne5 35. Bxb4 Rxd1+ 36. Rxd1 Qc6 (36... Rd8 $142 37. Rxd8+ Qxd8) 37. Qe3 Qb5 38. Bc3 Rc5 39. b4 Nd3 40. cxd3 Rd5 41. dxc4 {Accuracy: White = 91%, Black = 36%.} 1-0 [Event "Douglas-Isle of Man"] [Site "Douglas-Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.14"] [Round "5.20"] [White "Adhiban, B...."] [Black "Howell, David W L"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E05"] [WhiteElo "2639"] [BlackElo "2694"] [PlyCount "121"] [EventDate "2019.10.10"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventCountry "GBR"] [Tiebreak "Cut2 Buchholz+Sum of Buchholz"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 Be7 4. Bg2 d5 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. a4 Bd7 9. Rd1 {E05: Open Catalan: 5 Nf3 Be7} Bc6 10. Bg5 b5 11. Bxf6 {The position is equal.} Bxf6 12. Nc3 bxa4 $146 {This simplification favours White.} ({Black should try} 12... Qe8 $11) ({Predecessor:} 12... Qe8 13. d5 exd5 14. Nd4 Qe5 15. e4 dxe4 16. axb5 axb5 17. Nxc6 Nxc6 18. Rxa8 Rxa8 19. Qxe4 Qxe4 20. Bxe4 {1/2-1/2 (32) Rapport,R (2726) -Giri,A (2797) Shenzhen 2019}) 13. Nxa4 $14 Ra7 14. Qxc4 Rb7 15. Qc2 Rb4 16. e3 $1 Bxa4 17. Rxa4 Rxa4 18. Qxa4 Qd7 19. Qxd7 Nxd7 20. Rc1 Rc8 21. Bf1 Nb8 22. Nd2 Kf8 23. Nb3 Be7 24. Ra1 Ke8 25. Ra5 Bb4 26. Ra4 Be7 27. Kg2 Kd7 28. Kf3 h5 29. h4 g6 30. Ra5 Rd8 31. Bc4 Ke8 32. Bxa6 Nxa6 33. Rxa6 $16 {Endgame KRB-KRN} Rb8 34. Na5 Bf6 (34... Rxb2 $2 35. Ra8+ Kd7 36. Nc4 $18) 35. Nc4 Rb4 {[#]} 36. Rc6 $1 Kd7 37. Rc5 Bg7 38. Ke2 Ra4 39. Kf3 Rb4 {[#]} 40. Ke4 $1 Rb3 41. Ra5 Rb4 (41... Rb8 $16 42. Kd3 Kc6) 42. Kd3 $18 Rb8 43. Kc3 Bf6 (43... f6 $142 44. f4 Bf8) 44. b4 Kc6 45. Ra6+ Kb5 46. Ra5+ Kc6 47. Nb2 Be7 48. Nd3 Bd6 49. Kc4 Rg8 50. f4 Rd8 51. e4 Kb6 52. Ra3 Kc6 $2 (52... Kb7 53. Ra2 c6) 53. b5+ Kb7 54. Ra6 Rd7 55. Nc1 Rd8 56. Nb3 Re8 57. Na5+ Kb8 58. b6 c6 59. Nxc6+ {White mates.} Kb7 60. Kb5 Rc8 61. Ra7# {Accuracy: White = 80%, Black = 42%.} 1-0 [Event "Isle of Man"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.15"] [Round "6.1"] [White "Fabiano Caruana"] [Black "Vladimir Fedoseev"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2812"] [BlackElo "2664"] [PlyCount "87"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. O-O Bg7 5. c3 e5 {An odd choice by the Russian. He goes for the Nezhmetdinov variation in the Sicilian Rossolimo.} 6. d4 {Caruana plays the most principled move, striking in the centre.} cxd4 7. cxd4 exd4 {Fedoseev was well prepared for 8.Na3 and didn't expect the move in the game.} 8. Bf4 {Caruana:"He just wasn't prepared for this line which is very dangerous for Black."} Nge7 9. Bd6 {Caruana:"It is very clear that White has a clear positional bind and Black's king is unsafe."} O-O {Caruana said that Black should have delayed castling and tried to play something else.} 10. Nbd2 a6 11. Qa4 Ra7 12. Bd3 b5 13. Qc2 {Caruana:"I thought this position is very pleasant for White. The point is Black can't really free himself."} Bb7 14. a4 bxa4 15. Rxa4 a5 {The best idea for black would have been ...Re8 followed by ...Nc8 but it always runs into Bc4.} (15... Re8 16. Bc4 Nc8 17. Bc5 Ra8 18. Qb3 {and White is winning.}) 16. h4 {"I am not really sure if this is right." - Caruana.} (16. b4 Ra8 (16... axb4 17. Rxa7 Nxa7 18. Bxe7 Qxe7 { loses to} 19. Qc7) 17. b5 Nb4 {and Black might hold. White looks better but one bad move and it's equal.}) 16... Ba6 17. Bxa6 Rxa6 18. b4 Na7 19. Qc5 Nac8 20. Bc7 Qe8 21. b5 d6 22. Qc4 d5 {This was the decisive mistake according to Caruana.} (22... Nb6 23. Bxb6 Rxb6 24. Rxa5 {is unpleasant for Black but at least he is not lost.}) 23. Qc5 dxe4 24. Nxe4 d3 (24... Nf5 25. bxa6 Qxa4 26. Be5 {and White should be clearly better if not winning.}) 25. Ra3 Re6 26. Nfg5 Nf5 27. Nxe6 Qxe6 28. Ra4 Re8 29. b6 Qd7 30. Qxa5 Nxb6 31. Bxb6 {White is now a rook up and the rest is just a mere formality.} Qc6 32. f3 d2 33. Bf2 Bh6 34. Ra3 Qc2 35. Qd5 Qc1 36. Ra7 Rf8 37. Ra1 (37. Ng5 Bxg5 38. hxg5 Ne3 39. Bxe3 d1=Q 40. Rxd1 Qxe3+ 41. Kh1 Qxa7 {is just equal.}) 37... Ne3 38. Bxe3 Bxe3+ 39. Kh1 Qc7 40. Qd3 Bh6 41. Qd4 Rd8 42. Nf6+ Kh8 43. Nd5+ Kg8 44. Ra8 {Caruana was the first to move to 5 on 6 but was soon joined by Wang Hao.} 1-0 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.10.15"] [Round "6.3"] [White "Wang, Hao"] [Black "McShane, Luke J"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E00"] [WhiteElo "2726"] [BlackElo "2682"] [Annotator "Bojkov,Dejan"] [PlyCount "125"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2014.12.06"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 c5 5. Bxb4 cxb4 {The Bogo-Indian has a reputation of a solid opening.} 6. Bg2 O-O 7. e4 ({Another way to play it is} 7. Nf3 d6 8. O-O Nc6 9. a3 Qb6 10. axb4 Nxb4 11. Nc3 Bd7 12. e4 Rfd8 {Kuzubov, Y (2663)-Fedorchuk,S (2637) Brest 2018}) 7... d6 8. Ne2 Nc6 9. O-O Bd7 {N} ({ The predecessor saw} 9... e5 10. Qd2 Qb6 11. Rd1 Bg4 12. f3 Bd7 13. Qe3 a5 14. Nd2 Nxd4 15. Nxd4 exd4 16. Qf2 Be6 {Zubritskiy,A (2442)-Naiditsch,A (2687) Tallinn 2016}) 10. Qd3 a5 11. Nd2 e5 {McShane is doing everything right. He traded the dark-squared bishop and now he posts his pawns on the opposite color of the remaining one. Still, his position remains somewhat worse as the space advantage counts for something!} 12. Rfd1 Qb8 {This brings the queen out. } 13. Rac1 Qa7 {The logical finish of the maneuver.} ({However, it made sense to keep the queen where it is, at least for the time being and make another useful move:} 13... Re8 $5 {Then if Wang proceeds as in the game:} 14. Nf1 { Black has the resource:} b5 $1 15. cxb5 Nd8 {getting closer to the equality.}) 14. Nf1 {Thanks to his extra space White has the luxury of comfortable stretching, sorry maneuvering. He intends to bring this knight to e3, then prepare f2-f4 and expand on the kingside. What exactly does Black do is the question.} Rac8 15. h3 Rfd8 16. Ne3 h6 17. b3 Qb8 {McShane came back to the idea of a b-pawn break.} ({Not much is changed after} 17... Re8 18. Kh2 { and f2-f4 remains on the agenda.}) 18. f4 b5 {However, this time White is better prepared for it.} 19. cxb5 Ne7 20. Rxc8 Rxc8 21. dxe5 ({Even better was } 21. b6 {when Black cannot easily deal with the annoying pawn. For example:} exf4 (21... exd4 22. Nc4 $1) (21... Qxb6 22. Nc4 $1) 22. e5 dxe5 23. dxe5 Qxe5 24. Nxf4 {and the b-passer is an asset.} ({Or even} 24. gxf4 Qb8 25. Qd6)) 21... dxe5 22. Qd6 {White wins a pawn, but Black had anticipated that.} Bxb5 ({ Worse is} 22... Qxd6 $6 23. Rxd6 Bxb5 (23... exf4 $2 24. e5 fxe3 25. exf6 Bxb5 26. fxe7 Bxe2 27. Rd8+ {wins on the spot.}) 24. fxe5 Ng4 $5 25. Nxg4 Bxe2 26. Ne3 {with advantage for White.}) 23. Qxb8 Rxb8 24. fxe5 Nd7 {But this is not optimal.} ({Correct was} 24... Bxe2 $1 {Then} 25. Rd2 ({However, the English GM might have been worried about the exchange sacrifice} 25. exf6 $5 Bxd1 26. fxe7 {In the line} Be2 27. Nf5 Re8 28. e5 {Black seems unable to cope with the Bg2-c6 threat. But there is an excellent idea:} Bb5 $1 29. Nd6 Rxe7 30. Nxb5 Rxe5 {The rook and the pawn should not be worse than the pieces.}) 25... Nh5 26. Rxe2 Nxg3 27. Rc2 Ng6 {is absolutely harmless for Black.}) 25. e6 $1 { A nasty blow.} fxe6 (25... Bxe2 26. Rxd7 {is horrible for Black.}) 26. Nd4 Ne5 {McShane decided to sacrifice the pawn in hope of compensation based on the better bishop and the nice central outpost for his knights.} ({However, better was:} 26... Nf8 27. Nxb5 Rxb5 28. Nc4 {with unpleasant, but most likely defendable endgame.}) ({Whereas} 26... e5 $2 {drops a piece after} 27. Nxb5) 27. Nxe6 Rc8 ({Nothing changes} 27... Kf7 28. Nf4) 28. Nd5 {Wang has good squares for his knights as well.} (28. Nf5 Nxf5 29. exf5 {was also good for White.}) 28... N7g6 29. Nd4 Be8 30. Bf1 {The bishop is not bad neither.} Bf7 31. Kf2 {And the king gets into the game. Apparently, a pawn is a pawn after all!} Rc5 32. Bg2 Nf8 33. Ke3 Nfd7 34. Ne2 Kf8 {The last mistake. Without the rooks Black has too wide an area to defend.} (34... Rc2 $1 {would have kept Black in the game after} 35. Rd2 Rc5) 35. Rc1 Bxd5 ({Or} 35... Rxc1 36. Nxc1 Be6 37. Kd4) 36. Rxc5 Nxc5 37. exd5 Ke7 38. Nd4 Nb7 39. Ke4 (39. Nc6+ Kd6 40. Ke4 Nd7 {is similar.}) 39... Nd7 40. Kd3 Ne5+ 41. Ke4 Nd7 42. Nc6+ Kd6 43. Kd4 Kc7 (43... Ndc5 {lets the white king in after} 44. Kc4) 44. Bf3 Kb6 ({Or else the white king makes it to the enemy queenside pawns:} 44... Kd6 45. Kc4 Ne5+ 46. Nxe5 Kxe5 47. Kb5) 45. Ne5 $1 {Without the pair of knigths Black can no longer cover all the squares.} Nf6 (45... Nxe5 46. Kxe5 Kc7 47. Kf5 {wins at once.}) 46. Nc4+ Kc7 47. Ke5 Ne8 48. Ke6 Ned6 49. Nxd6 Nxd6 50. h4 {It is over. Wang forces zugwang and makes it to the kingside pawns.} g5 51. h5 Nb5 52. Ke7 Nd6 53. g4 Nb5 54. Be2 Nd6 55. Bd3 {It is always useful to limit the knight.} Nc8+ 56. Ke6 Nd6 57. Kf6 Kd8 58. Kg6 Ke7 59. Kxh6 {The job is done, now White needs to get his king out which he does with ease.} Kf6 60. Kh7 Kf7 61. h6 Nc8 62. Bf5 Nd6 63. Be6+ 1-0 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.15"] [Round "6.4"] [White "Magnus Carlsen"] [Black "Alexei Shirov"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2876"] [BlackElo "2664"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] {Carlsen:"I was really happy to get another white game today."} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. d4 Nxe4 4. Bd3 d5 5. Nxe5 Nd7 6. Nc3 Nxe5 7. dxe5 Nxc3 8. bxc3 Be7 9. O-O O-O 10. f4 {Carlsen:"I quickly got a pleasant position in the opening.".} f5 11. Be3 c5 (11... Be6 {was played in Vitiugov vs So, World Cup 2019.}) 12. Be2 Be6 13. Bf3 Qd7 14. a4 Rad8 15. Qe2 Qc7 16. Rfb1 {The main idea of this move is to provoke b6 so that black does not have Qa5.} b6 17. Rd1 {Carlsen:" I knew black had to play g5 or d4 to try for some counterplay. It wasn't really something new as all this had already played in Vitiugov vs So, World Cup 2019 in which So was struggling and ultimately lost in the end."} g5 { this isn't move you want to play but it was born out of frustration. He felt he was a bit worse and ultimately wanted to break out as he doesn't improve his position.} 18. h3 Rd7 19. Rd2 Rfd8 20. Rad1 gxf4 21. Bxf4 d4 22. Qf2 Kh8 23. Kh1 Qc8 24. Kh2 Rg8 25. cxd4 cxd4 26. Rxd4 Rxd4 27. Rxd4 Bc5 28. c3 { played instantly by Carlsen.} (28. Qh4 {the engine's top recommendation.}) 28... Bxd4 29. cxd4 Qd7 30. Qd2 {Carlsen:"I wasn't sure about the other line, so I just played this. Practically, it is just impossible to hold."} ({I felt I was a bit sloppy as I thought this wins but it didn't."} 30. Qh4 Qd8 31. Bg3 Qxh4 32. Bxh4 {I was d5 and the pawns but it wasn't convincing.}) 30... Bd5 31. e6 Qxe6 32. Be5+ Rg7 33. Qc3 Bxf3 34. Qxf3 Qe8 (34... h6 35. Qa8+ Kh7 36. Bxg7 Kxg7 37. Qxa7+ Kg6 38. Qc7 {and white has great winning chances.}) 35. Qxf5 Kg8 36. Bxg7 Kxg7 37. Qg5+ Kf8 38. Qf4+ Ke7 39. Qe4+ Kf8 40. Qxh7 Qxa4 41. Qf5+ Kg7 42. Qe5+ Kf7 43. h4 {and he just resigned here, it's funny that in a lot of lines he offers the trade of queens even though he is a pawn down. An effortless win by Carlsen.} 1-0 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.15"] [Round "6.6"] [White "Levon Aronian"] [Black "Aleksey Dreev"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2758"] [BlackElo "2662"] [PlyCount "51"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. g3 d5 4. exd5 exd5 5. Bg2 Qe7+ 6. Kf1 {Odd looking, but still theory.} Nc6 7. d4 Qd8 $6 {Dreev opts for a new move in this already strange looking position.} (7... Bg4 {was seen in Mareco - Dreev, June 2019.}) 8. c4 {Aronian hits the centre and is up for the challenge.} dxc4 9. d5 Nb4 10. Nc3 Nf6 11. Ne5 Bd6 12. Nxc4 Bf5 13. Ne3 Bg6 14. a3 Nd3 {Black has this strong knight on d3 deep inside White's camp. Knights like these are often known as an octopus because they control squares like the eight legs of an octopus.} 15. f4 O-O $5 (15... Qd7 {was the alterntive, to stop White's f5.}) 16. f5 c4 17. fxg6 fxg6 18. Bf3 Nd7 {Black is a piece down but the knight on d3 and the exposed white king give plenty of compensation.} 19. Kg2 N7e5 20. Nxc4 Rxf3 21. Nxe5 Rf2+ $2 {This move loses. Black is just not in time to get everything done.} (21... Nxe5 22. Bf4 Qb6 23. Bxe5 (23. Qe2 g5 24. Bxe5 Re3 {and Black holds because of his activity.})) 22. Kg1 Qb6 {Simply missing White's next move.} ({One weird engine line goes} 22... Nxb2 23. Qb3 Qf6 24. Be3 Rf8 25. Ne4 Rf1+ 26. Kg2 {and White is better!}) 23. Be3 {It is believed that Dreev completely overlooked this move.} Qxb2 24. Nxd3 Rg2+ 25. Kf1 Rf8+ 26. Bf4 { A nice and important win for Aronian just before the rest day.} 1-0 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.15"] [Round "6.7"] [White "Nikita Vitiugov"] [Black "Matthias Bluebaum"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2732"] [BlackElo "2643"] [PlyCount "69"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. e4 d5 4. e5 d4 5. exf6 dxc3 6. bxc3 Qxf6 7. d4 e5 8. Nf3 exd4 9. Bg5 Qe6+ 10. Be2 Be7 11. Nxd4 Qe4 12. Bxe7 Qxe7 13. O-O O-O 14. Re1 Qf6 15. Bf3 Qa6 $6 {The first new move of the game.} (15... c6 {was played in Vachier-Lagrave vs Ris, Reykjavik, 2013}) 16. Bd5 c6 {inviting the text.} 17. Bxf7+ {The "iceman" from Russia goes for it. White has given up a piece and states the fact that four of Black's pieces don't participate in the game at all. Vitiugov thought this was winning.} Kxf7 18. Qh5+ Kg8 19. Re8 Qxc4 $4 { White is only winning after this move.} (19... Qa3 $1 20. c5 Na6 {is the engine's suggestion, missed by both players, and Black has decent chances of survival.}) 20. Rxf8+ Kxf8 21. Re1 Bd7 22. Qg5 Qxc3 23. Qd8+ Kf7 24. Nf3 { A nice retreating move to bring the knight into the attack.} h6 25. Ne5+ ({ Much stronger was} 25. Re7+ Kg6 26. Ne5+) 25... Ke6 26. Kf1 Kd6 27. Nxd7 Qd3+ 28. Kg1 Nxd7 29. Qxa8 {White is completely winning and just consolidates to win.} Qd2 30. Rf1 Qxa2 31. Qxb7 Qa4 32. Qb2 Nf6 33. Re1 Qa5 34. Qd4+ Nd5 35. Qe5+ {A fantastic effort by Vitiugov and this win sees him leapfrog into joint third.} 1-0 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.15"] [Round "6.11"] [White "Viswanathan Anand"] [Black "Nodirbek Abdusattorov"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2765"] [BlackElo "2608"] [PlyCount "93"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] {Anand: "It was nice to win yesterday and today. Now, my tournament is improving a little bit."} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 d5 6. Nbd2 dxe4 7. dxe4 O-O 8. O-O Qe7 9. b4 Bd6 10. a3 Nd8 11. Re1 a5 12. Rb1 axb4 13. axb4 Bg4 14. h3 Bh5 15. Nf1 Ne6 16. g4 Bg6 17. Ng3 Rfd8 18. Qe2 (18. Nf5 { was possible here..}) 18... Nf4 19. Qf1 c6 20. Bc4 b5 21. Bb3 {Anand: "Perhaps he could here go ...c5. I wasn't sure which way this was going anyway."} Bc7 $6 22. Bxf4 {A series of exchanges follow.} exf4 23. Nf5 Bxf5 24. exf5 Qf8 { Anand:" This is somewhat of a model position. Here the point is the position is quite identical, in fact we both have the same pieces but the main difference is my bishop is hitting f7.} 25. c4 $1 {Anand:"f7 is really weak but I can play on the queenside and have to undermine the pawns on the queenside first."} h6 26. cxb5 cxb5 {Anand "I felt this position should be winning already."} 27. Qxb5 Rab8 28. Qe2 Re8 29. Qa2 Rxe1+ 30. Rxe1 Re8 31. Rxe8 Qxe8 32. Qa7 Qb8 33. Qc5 Bd6 34. Qc4 Qc7 {Anand:"Here I realized that he will keep chasing me and it makes sense to trade the queens."} 35. Qxc7 Bxc7 36. g5 hxg5 37. Nxg5 {White now wins the f7 pawn.} Kf8 38. Bxf7 Bd6 39. b5 Nd7 {Anand:"Here I knew I was going to win as my king comes to f3 and I swap the knights."} 40. Be6 Nc5 41. Kg2 Ke7 42. Kf3 Bc7 43. Bc4 Kf6 44. Ne4+ Nxe4 45. Kxe4 {Anand: "This is just over and sooner or later the pawns are going to win. "} Ke7 46. f3 Kd6 47. f6 {and white queens one of the pawns.} 1-0 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.15"] [Round "6.17"] [White "Hikaru Nakamura"] [Black "Alexander Riazantsev"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2745"] [BlackElo "2645"] [PlyCount "63"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7. Nf3 Nd7 8. h5 Bh7 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 e6 11. Bd2 Ngf6 12. O-O-O Qc7 13. Ne4 O-O-O 14. g3 Be7 15. Nxf6 Nxf6 16. Qe2 Rhe8 17. Kb1 Nd7 18. Rhe1 Kb8 19. c4 Ka8 20. c5 { Nakamura goes for some queenside play in this heavily analyzed position of the Caro-Kann.} Qc8 21. Qc4 Nf6 22. Ne5 Rf8 23. Qa4 Rd5 24. Nc4 Bd8 25. Bf4 Rxh5 $2 ({The other recapture doesn't help either as after} 25... Nxh5 26. Bd6 Rg8 27. Ne5 {White is much better.}) 26. Re3 a6 (26... Nd5 $4 {perfectly shows Nakamura's threat of} 27. Qxa7+ Kxa7 28. Ra3+ Ba5 29. Rxa5#) 27. Nd6 Qc7 28. Nxb7 $1 {The game is over!} Qxb7 29. Rb3 Nd5 30. Rxb7 Kxb7 31. Qb3+ Kc8 32. Qb8+ {A clinical win by Nakamura as he enters the rest day with 4 on 6.} 1-0 [Event "FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 2019"] [Site "Douglas-Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.15"] [Round "6.11"] [White "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Black "Abdusattorov, Nodirbek"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C00"] [WhiteElo "2765"] [BlackElo "2608"] [PlyCount "93"] [EventDate "2019.10.10"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventCountry "GBR"] [Tiebreak "Cut2 Buchholz+Sum of Buchholz"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 d5 6. Nbd2 dxe4 7. dxe4 O-O 8. O-O Qe7 9. b4 Bd6 10. a3 Nd8 11. Re1 a5 12. Rb1 axb4 13. axb4 Bg4 14. h3 Bh5 15. Nf1 Ne6 16. g4 Bg6 17. Ng3 Rfd8 18. Qe2 Nf4 19. Qf1 c6 20. Bc4 b5 21. Bb3 Bc7 $2 {this allows White to open up the center.} (21... Qe8 {and now} 22. Bxf4 exf4 23. Nf5 Be5 $11 {holds the balance!}) 22. Bxf4 exf4 23. Nf5 Bxf5 (23... Qe8 24. e5 Nd5 25. Rbd1 Ra3 26. Bxd5 cxd5 27. Nd6 Qe7 28. Nxb5 $18) 24. exf5 Qf8 25. c4 $1 $18 h6 26. cxb5 cxb5 27. Qxb5 Rab8 28. Qe2 Re8 ({The pawn on b4 can't be taken} 28... Rxb4 29. Bxf7+ $18) 29. Qa2 Rxe1+ 30. Rxe1 Re8 (30... Rxb4 31. g5 hxg5 32. Nxg5 $18) 31. Rxe8 Qxe8 32. Qa7 Qb8 33. Qc5 Bd6 34. Qc4 Qc7 35. Qxc7 Bxc7 36. g5 hxg5 37. Nxg5 Kf8 38. Bxf7 Bd6 39. b5 Nd7 40. Be6 Nc5 41. Kg2 Ke7 42. Kf3 Bc7 43. Bc4 Kf6 44. Ne4+ Nxe4 45. Kxe4 Ke7 46. f3 Kd6 47. f6 1-0 [Event "Douglas-Isle of Man"] [Site "Douglas-Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.15"] [Round "6.9"] [White "Ganguly, Surya Shekhar"] [Black "Jobava, Baadur"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B13"] [WhiteElo "2658"] [BlackElo "2617"] [PlyCount "69"] [EventDate "2019.10.10"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventCountry "GBR"] [Tiebreak "Cut2 Buchholz+Sum of Buchholz"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. Bd3 Nc6 5. c3 e6 6. Bf4 Nge7 7. Nd2 f6 $6 ( 7... Ng6 8. Bg3 Bd6 9. Ne2 $11 {1/2-1/2 (55) Harikrishna,P (2729)-Ganguly,S (2615) Kolkata 2018}) 8. Qe2 Bd7 9. Nb3 b6 10. h4 a5 11. Nd2 a4 12. a3 h5 13. O-O-O Kf7 14. Nh3 b5 15. Nf3 Kg8 16. Kb1 Na5 17. Bxb5 Nc4 (17... Nec6 18. c4 ( 18. Bxa4 Bxa3 $19 19. bxa3 Nc4 $1 {Black is winning!}) 18... dxc4 19. d5 exd5 20. Rxd5 $16 {leads to some sharp play, although White is better.}) 18. Ka1 Ng6 $2 (18... Qc8 $16) 19. Bxc4 dxc4 20. Qxc4 Rc8 21. Qd3 Qe8 $18 22. Rhe1 Bb5 23. Qe4 Bc4 24. d5 e5 25. Nd2 Bb5 26. Bg3 Bd7 27. f4 f5 28. Qb1 e4 29. d6 Rh6 30. Ng5 Nh8 31. Ndxe4 fxe4 32. Qa2+ Be6 33. d7 Qxd7 34. Rxd7 Bxa2 35. Kxa2 1-0 [Event "Douglas-Isle of Man"] [Site "Douglas-Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.15"] [Round "6.4"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Shirov, Alexei"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C43"] [WhiteElo "2876"] [BlackElo "2664"] [Annotator "TA"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2019.10.10"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventCountry "GBR"] [Tiebreak "Cut2 Buchholz+Sum of Buchholz"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. d4 Nxe4 4. Bd3 d5 5. Nxe5 Nd7 6. Nc3 Nxe5 7. dxe5 Nxc3 8. bxc3 Be7 9. O-O O-O {[%emt 0:00:03] C4: Petroff Defence: 3 d4} 10. f4 f5 11. Be3 c5 {The position is equal.} (11... Be6 12. a4 Qd7 13. Qf3 Rfd8 14. Rfd1 c5 15. Kh1 g6 16. h3 Qc7 17. Qf2 {1-0 (60) Vitiugov, N (2732)-So,W (2767) Khanty-Mansiysk 2019}) 12. Be2 $146 ({Predecessor:} 12. c4 d4 13. Bd2 Be6 14. Rb1 Rb8 15. Qe2 Qd7 16. h3 g6 {1-0 (38) Korneev,O (2465) -Wehmeier,S (2315) Wisla 1992}) 12... Be6 13. Bf3 Qd7 14. a4 Rad8 15. Qe2 Qc7 16. Rfb1 b6 (16... Rd7 $14) 17. Rd1 g5 {aiming for ...g4.} 18. h3 Rd7 19. Rd2 Rfd8 20. Rad1 gxf4 21. Bxf4 d4 22. Qf2 Kh8 23. Kh1 Qc8 24. Kh2 Rg8 (24... Qc7 $14) 25. cxd4 $18 cxd4 26. Rxd4 Rxd4 27. Rxd4 Bc5 28. c3 Bxd4 29. cxd4 {And now d5 would win.} Qd7 30. Qd2 {Black must now prevent d5.} Bd5 {[#]} 31. e6 $1 Qxe6 {Hoping for . ..Bxf3.} (31... Bxe6 32. Be5+) 32. Be5+ Rg7 {[#]} 33. Qc3 $1 {Qc7 is the strong threat.} ({Much worse is} 33. Bxg7+ $6 Kxg7 34. Qg5+ Kf7 $14) 33... Bxf3 34. Qxf3 $16 {Endgame Threatens to win with Qa8+. KQR-KQB} Qe8 $2 (34... h5 $16 {is a better chance.}) 35. Qxf5 $18 Kg8 36. Bxg7 Kxg7 {KQ-KQ} 37. Qg5+ Kf8 38. Qf4+ Ke7 $2 (38... Qf7 39. Qe5 a5) 39. Qe4+ {White is clearly winning.} Kf8 40. Qxh7 Qxa4 41. Qf5+ Kg7 42. Qe5+ Kf7 43. h4 {Accuracy: White = 89%, Black = 44%. } 1-0 [Event "Douglas-Isle of Man"] [Site "Douglas-Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.15"] [Round "6.14"] [White "Kovalev, Vladislav"] [Black "Harikrishna, Pentala"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C92"] [WhiteElo "2661"] [BlackElo "2748"] [Annotator "TA"] [PlyCount "119"] [EventDate "2019.10.10"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventCountry "GBR"] [Tiebreak "Cut2 Buchholz+Sum of Buchholz"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 Nd7 10. d4 Bf6 11. a4 Bb7 12. d5 Ne7 13. axb5 axb5 14. Rxa8 Bxa8 15. Na3 Nc5 {C92: Closed Ruy Lopez: 9...Be6, Karpov and Flohr-Zaitsev Variations} 16. Bc2 c6 17. b4 Na6 {White is slightly better.} 18. dxc6 Bxc6 19. Qd3 Nc7 20. Rd1 {[#]} Nc8 $146 ({Predecessor:} 20... Qa8 21. Qxd6 Ne6 22. Qd3 Ng6 23. Re1 { 1-0 (44) Huebner,R (2605)-Short,N (2660) Skelleftea 1989}) 21. Be3 $36 { White has some pressure.} Qd7 22. Nd2 Ne6 23. Nb3 Bd8 24. Nc5 Nxc5 25. bxc5 Be7 {[#]} 26. c4 $1 b4 27. Nb5 Rd8 {[#]} 28. Qb3 $1 Qe8 (28... Qb7 $16 {keeps fighting.}) 29. cxd6 $18 Nxd6 30. Nxd6 Bxd6 31. c5 Bc7 32. Rxd8 Qxd8 33. Qxb4 Qd7 (33... Qb8 $16 34. Qxb8+ Bxb8) 34. Qb1 h6 35. Bb3 Kf8 36. Bc4 Qd8 37. Qc2 Ke7 38. Bb3 Qd7 39. Qc4 Kf8 40. Qc2 $2 (40. Kh2 $18) 40... Bd8 $2 (40... Ke7 $1 $11 {and Black stays safe.}) 41. Bc4 Bc7 42. f3 f5 (42... Qd8 $142 43. Qb3 Qe7) 43. Bb3 ({Don't take} 43. exf5 Qd8) 43... f4 44. Bf2 {Qc4 is the strong threat. } Ke7 (44... Bb5 {might work better.} 45. Qa2 Qe8) 45. Qc4 Qe8 46. Qd3 Qb8 47. Bd5 Qb5 48. Qc2 Qa4 49. Qc1 Bb5 50. c6 Qa5 (50... Qa6 $142 51. Qc2 Kd8) 51. Kh2 g5 52. Bc5+ Bd6 $2 (52... Kf6 $18 53. Bg1 Qb4) 53. Qb2 {White mates.} Bxc5 54. Qxe5+ Kd8 55. Qb8+ Ke7 56. Qb7+ Kd6 57. Qd7+ $1 Ke5 58. Qg7+ {Double Attack} Kd6 59. Qf6+ Kc7 60. Qf7+ {Accuracy: White = 91%, Black = 43%.} 1-0 [Event "Douglas-Isle of Man"] [Site "Douglas-Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.15"] [Round "6.23"] [White "Harika, Dronavalli"] [Black "Adly, Ahmed"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D13"] [WhiteElo "2495"] [BlackElo "2636"] [Annotator "TA"] [PlyCount "116"] [EventDate "2019.10.10"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventCountry "GBR"] [Tiebreak "Cut2 Buchholz+Sum of Buchholz"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 c6 3. d4 d5 4. cxd5 cxd5 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bf4 Nh5 7. Bd2 { D13: Slav Defence: Exchange variation without ...Bf5} g6 8. g3 Bg7 9. Bg2 O-O 10. O-O Bg4 11. h3 $146 ({Predecessor:} 11. e3 Nf6 12. h3 Bxf3 13. Qxf3 e6 14. Rac1 Qe7 {1/2-1/2 (26) Bai,J (2579)-Matlakov,M (2704) Qinhuangdao 2018}) 11... Bxf3 12. Bxf3 Nxd4 13. Bxd5 Qb6 14. e3 Nc6 15. Qb3 Nf6 16. Bg2 Qxb3 17. axb3 Rfd8 18. Rfd1 Nd7 19. Na4 Rac8 20. b4 b6 (20... b5 $11 21. Nc3 Nb6) 21. b5 $16 Nce5 {[#]} 22. Bb4 $1 Bf8 23. Nc3 e6 24. Bxf8 Kxf8 25. Rxa7 {Threatens to win with f4.} Nc5 26. Rd4 Nb3 27. Rxd8+ Rxd8 28. Ra8 (28. g4 $16) 28... Rxa8 $11 29. Bxa8 {Endgame KBN-KNN} Ke7 30. Na4 Nc4 31. e4 Kd6 32. f4 f6 $1 33. Kf2 Nc5 34. Nc3 Nd3+ 35. Ke2 Ndxb2 36. Bc6 Na5 37. e5+ (37. f5 $11) 37... fxe5 $15 38. Ne4+ Ke7 ({Better is} 38... Kc7 $17 {White must now prevent ...exf4.} 39. fxe5 Nxc6 40. bxc6 h6) 39. fxe5 $11 Nbc4 40. Ng5 Nxe5 41. Nxh7 Naxc6 42. bxc6 Nxc6 { KN-KN} 43. g4 b5 44. Ng5 {The position is equal.} b4 45. Ne4 Ne5 46. Ke3 b3 { Strongly threatening ...b2.} 47. Kd2 $1 Nc4+ 48. Kc1 e5 49. h4 Kf7 50. h5 gxh5 51. gxh5 Kg7 52. Nc5 Kh6 53. Nxb3 Kxh5 54. Kc2 Kg4 55. Kd3 Nd6 56. Ke3 Kf5 57. Nd2 e4 {[#]} 58. Nxe4 $1 Nxe4 {Accuracy: White = 84%, Black = 51%.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Douglas-Isle of Man"] [Site "Douglas-Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.15"] [Round "6.3"] [White "Wang, Hao"] [Black "McShane, Luke J"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E00"] [WhiteElo "2726"] [BlackElo "2682"] [Annotator "TA"] [PlyCount "125"] [EventDate "2019.10.10"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventCountry "GBR"] [Tiebreak "Cut2 Buchholz+Sum of Buchholz"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 c5 5. Bxb4 cxb4 6. Bg2 O-O 7. e4 {E00: Catalan Bogo-Indian (3 g3 Bb4+)} d6 8. Ne2 Nc6 9. O-O {White is slightly better.} Bd7 $146 ({Predecessor:} 9... e5 10. Qd2 Qb6 11. Rd1 Bg4 12. f3 Bd7 13. Qe3 a5 14. Nd2 Nxd4 15. Nxd4 exd4 {0-1 (88) Zubritskiy,A (2442) -Naiditsch, A (2687) Tallinn 2016}) 10. Qd3 a5 11. Nd2 e5 12. Rfd1 Qb8 13. Rac1 Qa7 14. Nf1 Rac8 15. h3 Rfd8 16. Ne3 h6 17. b3 Qb8 18. f4 b5 19. cxb5 Ne7 ({Black should try} 19... Nxd4 $14 20. Nxd4 Rxc1 21. Rxc1 exd4 22. Qxd4 Bxb5) 20. Rxc8 $1 $16 Rxc8 {[#]} 21. dxe5 (21. b6 $1 $16 {And now fxe5 would win.} exf4 22. e5 (22. gxf4 Qxb6 23. Nc4 Qc7 $11) (22. Nxf4 Rc3 $14) 22... dxe5 23. dxe5 Qxe5 24. Nxf4 (24. gxf4 Qc5 $16)) 21... dxe5 $14 22. Qd6 (22. b6 $5 Qxb6 23. fxe5 $14) 22... Bxb5 23. Qxb8 Rxb8 24. fxe5 Nd7 (24... Bxe2 $11 25. Rd2 Nh5) 25. e6 $1 $36 { Black is under strong pressure.} fxe6 26. Nd4 Ne5 27. Nxe6 Rc8 28. Nd5 N7g6 29. Nd4 Be8 30. Bf1 Bf7 31. Kf2 Rc5 32. Bg2 Nf8 33. Ke3 Nfd7 34. Ne2 Kf8 {[#]} ( 34... Rc2 $16) 35. Rc1 $1 $18 Bxd5 (35... Rxc1 $142 36. Nxc1 Bxd5) 36. Rxc5 ({ But not} 36. exd5 $6 Rxc1 37. Nxc1 Ke7 $16) 36... Nxc5 37. exd5 {Endgame KBN-KNN} Ke7 38. Nd4 Nb7 (38... a4 $142 39. bxa4 Nc4+ 40. Ke2 Nxa4) 39. Ke4 Nd7 40. Kd3 Ne5+ 41. Ke4 (41. Ke3 $142) 41... Nd7 $1 42. Nc6+ Kd6 43. Kd4 Kc7 44. Bf3 Kb6 45. Ne5 Nf6 46. Nc4+ Kc7 47. Ke5 Ne8 (47... Kd7 $142 48. Bd1 Ke8) 48. Ke6 Ned6 (48... Kd8 $142 49. d6 Nc5+ 50. Kd5 Nd3 51. Nxa5 h5 52. Nc6+ Kd7 53. Nb8+ Kd8) 49. Nxd6 Nxd6 {KB-KN} 50. h4 g5 51. h5 Nb5 52. Ke7 Nd6 53. g4 Nb5 54. Be2 Nd6 55. Bd3 Nc8+ 56. Ke6 Nd6 57. Kf6 Kd8 58. Kg6 Ke7 59. Kxh6 Kf6 60. Kh7 Kf7 61. h6 Nc8 62. Bf5 Nd6 63. Be6+ {Accuracy: White = 79%, Black = 33%.} 1-0 [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.10.17"] [Round "7.2"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Wang, Hao"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D42"] [WhiteElo "2758"] [BlackElo "2726"] [Annotator "Bojkov,Dejan"] [PlyCount "117"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2014.12.06"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e3 Nc6 7. Bd3 Be7 8. a3 Nxc3 9. bxc3 O-O 10. Qc2 h6 11. O-O b6 12. Rd1 ({Another possibility is} 12. Bb2 Bb7 13. Rad1 Qc7 14. e4 Na5 15. Qe2 Bf6 16. Rfe1 {Nagy,G (2484)-Lenic,L (2644) Mali Losinj 2019}) 12... Bf6 {N A novelty and a typical Gruenfeld-like pawn sacrifice.} ({Black is by no means forced to sacrifice a pawn. A predecessor went} 12... cxd4 13. cxd4 Bb7 14. Bb2 Rc8 15. Qe2 Bf6 16. Bb5 Na5 17. e4 Qc7 18. Rac1 Qf4 19. Bd3 Rfd8 {where White had a strong center, but Black could fight it successfully, Emms,J (2488)-Webb,L (2306) Hull 2018}) 13. dxc5 Qc7 14. cxb6 axb6 15. Bb2 Ne5 {One of the points behind the sacrifice. Wang clears the road for his long-ranged pieces and puts pressure against the c3 pawn at once.} 16. Bh7+ ({The other way to play it is the simple-minded} 16. Nxe5 Bxe5 17. f4 Bf6 18. c4 Bxb2 19. Qxb2) 16... Kh8 17. Be4 Ra5 18. c4 Nxf3+ ( {More accurate was} 18... Ba6 $1 19. Nxe5 (19. Rac1 Rc8) 19... Bxe5 20. Bxe5 Rxe5 21. Rd4 Rc5 {dealing ith the c-pawn once and for all.}) 19. Bxf3 Bxb2 20. Qxb2 {Aronian manages to stick to his extra pawn.} Ba6 21. Be2 Bxc4 ({Here} 21... Rc5 22. Rd4 Rd8 23. Qb4 {does not win the c-pawn as convincingly as in the line from above.}) 22. Bxc4 Qxc4 23. Qxb6 Raa8 {Conceptually, this is the result of the novelty. Very soon an endgame with an extra pawn for White will appear on the board. Many openings are based on these hypothetical endgames. Are they holdable for the defender, or not?} 24. Qb4 Qc7 25. h3 Qa5 $1 { The right plan. Wang goes for the queen swap.} ({With the Ladies on} 25... Rfb8 26. Qd4 Rb5 27. a4 Rba5 {White can combine the advance of his extra passer with kingside threats more easily. He can even start pushing his kingside pawns.}) 26. Qf4 Qf5 27. Qxf5 exf5 {The endgame should be holdable for Black, but Aronian's skillful play puts a lot of pressure on his opponent all the time.} 28. Rd5 $1 {This secures the advance of his passer all the way to a5.} g6 29. a4 Rfc8 30. Ra2 $1 {Another small, almost unnoticeable move which deprives Black of any chance of counterplay along the second rank.} Rc1+ 31. Kh2 h5 {Wang is correctly arranging his pawns on the kingside.} 32. a5 Ra6 33. g3 ({White cannot give an impulse to the pawn:} 33. Rb5 Kg7 34. Rb6 Rxb6 35. axb6 Rb1 $1 {as with the rook from behind Black easily holds.}) 33... Kg7 34. Kg2 {Time to activate the king.} Rb1 35. Kf3 Kf6 36. Rc5 Ke6 37. h4 {Aronian secures a path for his king into the enemy camp.} Rb4 38. Rd2 {Aronian is trying to get his king in.} ({The other way to try and break through is to search for a trade of a pair of rooks with} 38. Rac2 {Then Black can defend either with} Ra4 ({Or with the clever} 38... Ra7 $5 39. Rc6+ Kd7 40. a6 Ra4 41. Rf6 Ke7 {forcing the white rooks into passivity:} 42. Rcc6) 39. Rc6+ Rxc6 40. Rxc6+ Kd7 (40... Ke7 41. a6) 41. Ra6 Ke7 {With the rook placed ideally on a4 Black should be able to hold.}) 38... Rb7 ({Wang misses an even better chance: } 38... Ra4 $1 {He was probably afraid of the doubling along the seventh rank:} 39. Rc7 {But this is not as scary as it seems:} R4xa5 40. Rdd7 Rc5 41. Re7+ Kd5 {and Black is getting closer to the draw.}) 39. Kf4 Kf6 40. Rcd5 Ke6 41. Kg5 { Everything goes according to the plan. White sneaks into the opponent's camp. The problem is that his pawns are also left undefended.} ({Nothing is achieved after} 41. Re5+ Kf6 42. Rc5 Rb4+) 41... Rba7 42. Kh6 Rxa5 43. Rd6+ Ke7 $1 ({ Not the pseudo-active:} 43... Ke5 $2 44. R2d4 $1 f4 45. exf4+ Kf5 46. f3 { when the black king lands into mating net.}) 44. Kg7 R5a6 45. R6d5 $1 {The most flexible choice.} ({Or} 45. Rxa6 Rxa6 46. Rd5 Ra2 47. Re5+ Kd6 48. Re8 Rxf2 49. Kxf7 Rf3 50. Kxg6 Rxg3+ 51. Kxf5 Rg4 {with a draw.}) 45... Ra5 46. Rxa5 ({Aronian wanted to go} 46. f4 {but after} Rxd5 47. Rxd5 Ra6 48. Rb5 Re6 { he didn't see a way through but here} 49. Re5 $1 {wins on the spot. "I've seen Re5 in zillions of lines but not exactly here!" he said.}) 46... Rxa5 47. Rb2 Ra7 48. Rb5 Ra2 {Now in comparison to the line from above White has the extra possibility:} 49. Rb7+ (49. Re5+ {will be as above.}) 49... Ke6 50. Rxf7 Rxf2 51. Rf6+ Ke5 52. Rxg6 {That is the difference. Aronian keeps the extra pawn and gets two connected passers.} Rf3 53. Kh6 Rxe3 54. Kxh5 {Nevertheless, Black is still holding.} f4 {And active move and.. .a practical mistake. Although Wang can still hold this, he needs to find an only move in a very sharp situation.} ({Here the easiest was to ask White how is he improving his position:} 54... Ra3 $1 55. Rg8 Rb3 {and White can hardly make progress. This was also pointed out by Aronian.}) 55. g4 {The pawns come into motion. White's plan is easy to see: he will advance the passers as far as he can and sacrifice the rook for the enemy passer.} f3 56. Kg5 Ra3 $2 {This natural move loses.} ({The only defense was:} 56... Rd3 $3 {With the key point being that after:} 57. Rf6 Rd8 58. Rf5+ Ke4 59. h5 {Black can trade the rooks and secure his pawn promotion:} Rd5 $1 60. Rxd5 Kxd5 61. h6 f2 62. h7 f1=Q 63. h8=Q Qc1+ { with a draw.}) 57. Rf6 Ra8 58. Rf5+ $1 {A nasty surprise for Black!} ({He was probably hoping for:} 58. Rxf3 Rg8+ 59. Kh6 Rxg4 {with a draw.}) 58... Ke4 59. h5 (59. h5 {The pawns are unstoppable:} Ke3 60. h6 f2 61. h7 ({There is still a chance to spoil everything:} 61. Kh5 $2 Ra5 $1) 61... Ke2 62. Kh6 f1=Q 63. Rxf1 Kxf1 64. g5) 1-0 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.17"] [Round "7.1"] [White "Alexander Grischuk"] [Black "Fabiano Caruana"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2759"] [BlackElo "2812"] [PlyCount "84"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 c6 4. d4 e4 5. a3 $5 {Caruana: "He played a rare idea which I was kind of familiar with; I knew it was a possibility. Black has so many ways to set up the pieces."} d5 6. Nc3 Be7 7. f3 exf3 8. Nxf3 O-O 9. O-O h6 10. Nh4 Re8 11. Nf5 Bf8 12. g4 $1 {Caruana:"A good move by Grischuk. He has to try and create some counterplay on the kingside. If I get Be6-Ne7, then Black has a great position."} Bxf5 13. Rxf5 dxc4 14. e4 Nbd7 15. g5 Nh7 16. gxh6 g6 17. Rf1 Qh4 {Caruana:" We already have a crazy position. But, I still thought my position was good I can see that the engines show I am in trouble, But I don't see how I am in trouble."} 18. Bf4 $6 {Caruana: "This was very surprising. I was only expecting Rf4 or Qf3."} Bxh6 19. Bg3 Qe7 20. e5 f5 { Caruana: "White gave up a pawn for compensation but f5 is really important. I had to stop Ne4 and even my king is pretty safe. White has the centre and the two bishops but Black is doing fine."} 21. b3 {A mistake according to Caruana.} (21. Qe2 {Carauna: "I was expecting this and was playing on sacrificing the pawn; because after} Nb6 22. a4 a5 23. d5 {White gets a clear edge."}) 21... Nb6 22. bxc4 Nxc4 23. Qb3 Qf7 24. Rab1 Be3+ 25. Bf2 Bxf2+ 26. Rxf2 Rad8 27. Ne2 Re7 28. h4 Nd2 29. Qxf7+ Rxf7 30. Rb4 {Caruana: "I thought I was really close to winning here but I just didn't know what to do. He defended very accurately as White is just one move away from losing."} Nf8 (30... a5 31. Ra4 Nb3 { Caruana:"I thought I trapped his rook but always has some kind of defense after"} 32. Rf3 b5 33. Rxb3 bxa4 34. Rc3 {when Black wins the exchange but the weak c6 pawn and the centre with the doubled and meaningless a-pawns, White has huge compensation.}) 31. Nc3 a5 32. Ra4 Nb3 33. d5 Kg7 {Caruana:"I was proud to find this idea."} 34. h5 {Caruana:"We were both in time-trouble but the thing with Sasha is that his quality of play never gets low in time-trouble."} b5 35. Raf4 cxd5 36. Nxb5 Re7 (36... Ne6 {Caruana: "I thought at first this was better but I missed that after} 37. hxg6 Rb7 38. Nd6 { now things are hanging and it should be a draw."}) 37. hxg6 Nxg6 38. Rxf5 d4 39. Nd6 Rxe5 40. Rf7+ Kg8 41. R7f6 Kg7 42. Rf7+ Kg8 {Caruana:"Overall a good game. Before the game, I was happy with a draw. But, of course the fact that I had a good position, It is a bit disappointing."} 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.17"] [Round "7.3"] [White "Kirill Alekseenko"] [Black "Magnus Carlsen"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2674"] [BlackElo "2876"] [PlyCount "110"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 {Carlsen has played the Najdorf only twice times in the last three years. The last time was against Naiditsch at the 2018 Grenke tournament.} 6. Be2 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. Kh1 b5 10. a4 Bb7 11. Nd5 b4 12. Nxf6+ Bxf6 13. f3 Qc7 14. Bd2 {Alekseenko:"I spent maybe 20 minutes in this position. I am trying to provoke Black to play a5 to weaken the b5 square and then play c3."} Nc6 {Alekseenko:"Carlsen comes up with a brilliant idea with Nc6."} (14... Nd7 15. Rc1 {"looks very promising for White." - Alekseenko.}) 15. a5 Bc8 {Alekseenko: "A nice idea by Carlsen. Now, the bishop on e6 will be a completely different bishop on e6."} 16. Bc4 Be6 17. Bxe6 (17. Bd5 Rac8) 17... fxe6 18. Qe2 (18. Be3 Ne7 {and Black has good counterplay.}) 18... Rfc8 19. Rfd1 Nd4 20. Nxd4 exd4 21. Bxb4 Qxc2 22. Qxc2 Rxc2 23. Bxd6 Rxb2 24. e5 Bd8 25. h3 Rc8 26. Rxd4 h5 27. Bb4 Bg5 28. f4 Bh4 29. Be1 Bxe1 30. Rxe1 Rcc2 31. Rg1 Ra2 32. Rd6 Rxa5 33. Rxe6 Rf2 34. Rc1 Kh7 35. Re1 (35. Rcc6 {Alekseenko: "My first idea was to play Rcc6 but I missed a wonderful idea with} Ra1+ 36. Kh2 h4 37. Rxa6 Re1 {is just lost for me."}) 35... Raa2 36. f5 {Alekseenko: "I was very calm now and knew I could hold this position."} Rxg2 37. Rxa6 Rh2+ 38. Kg1 Rag2+ 39. Kf1 Rf2+ 40. Kg1 Rfg2+ 41. Kf1 Rg5 42. Ra3 Rh1+ 43. Ke2 Rxe1+ 44. Kxe1 Rxf5 45. e6 Re5+ 46. Kf2 Rxe6 47. Kg3 g5 48. Ra8 Rd6 49. Rb8 Kg7 50. Ra8 Kf6 51. Rf8+ Ke5 52. Re8+ Kf5 53. Rf8+ Rf6 54. Ra8 h4+ 55. Kg2 Rb6 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.17"] [Round "7.4"] [White "David Anton Guijjaro"] [Black "Nikita Vitiugov"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2674"] [BlackElo "2732"] [PlyCount "82"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] {Both these players started with 4.5 on 6 and could have caught the leaders with a win today.} 1. c4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. b3 O-O 8. Be2 e5 {A well-known and rather forced line.} 9. cxd5 cxd5 10. Nb5 Bb4+ 11. Bd2 Bxd2+ 12. Nxd2 a6 13. dxe5 Nxe5 14. Nd4 Bg4 {This has been widely researched. This position has several games in the database that have mostly ended in draws.} 15. Bxg4 Nfxg4 16. O-O Rc8 17. Qf5 g6 18. Qf4 Qe7 19. N2f3 Rc5 20. Rfd1 {The first new move of the game.} (20. Nxe5 Nxe5 21. Rad1 {was a draw in Le vs Sasikiran, Asian Games 2017}) 20... Rfc8 21. h3 Nxf3+ 22. gxf3 { An interesting recapture by White.} Nf6 23. Qg5 Kf8 24. Kg2 Ng8 25. h4 Qf6 26. b4 Rc4 27. Rab1 Qxg5+ 28. hxg5 h6 29. f4 hxg5 30. fxg5 Ne7 31. b5 axb5 32. Rxb5 {White is trying to put pressure on Black's weak queenside pawns but it just isn't enough.} R8c7 33. Rd2 Ra4 34. Kf3 Kg7 35. Rdb2 Ra7 36. Kf4 Rd7 37. Rc5 Ra4 $1 {Vitiugov finds a good active defense.} 38. Kf3 Nf5 39. Nxf5+ gxf5 { On the cusp of time trouble, Black gets a doubled pawn to weaken his pawn structure but ironically it just about seals the draw.} 40. Rd2 Kg6 41. Rdxd5 Rxd5 {A fighting draw.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.17"] [Round "7.13"] [White "Wesley So"] [Black "Surya Shekar Ganguly"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2767"] [BlackElo "2658"] [PlyCount "111"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 4. d4 cxd4 5. Qxd4 a6 6. Bxd7+ Bxd7 7. Nc3 Rc8 8. O-O e5 9. Qd3 h6 10. Nd2 Qc7 11. Rd1 Bg4 12. Re1 Nf6 13. Nf1 Be6 14. Ne3 Be7 15. a4 {The first new move of the game.} (15. Bd2 O-O 16. Rad1 Qc5 {was a draw in Mastrovasilis vs Olszewski, Polish Extraliga, 2013.}) 15... O-O 16. Rd1 Rfd8 17. a5 Bf8 18. Bd2 g6 19. Be1 Qc5 20. Na4 Qc6 21. Nb6 Nxe4 {Black gives up an exchange in true Sicilian style. He has enough compensation with a knight and a pawn against a rook.} 22. Nxc8 Rxc8 23. c4 f5 24. Bb4 Bxc4 25. Nxc4 Qxc4 26. Qxc4+ Rxc4 27. Ba3 Kf7 $6 (27... Nc5 28. Rac1 Ra4 29. Bxc5 dxc5 30. Rd7 Rxa5 { and Black has decent chances to hold.}) 28. Rac1 Ra4 29. f3 Nc5 30. Bxc5 dxc5 31. Rd7+ Kf6 {Black tries the same idea as mentioned before but the main difference is that his king comes under threat.} 32. Rxb7 Rxa5 33. Rb6+ Kg5 34. h4+ Kh5 35. Rc4 Rb5 36. Rxa6 Be7 37. g4+ fxg4 38. Re6 Bxh4 ({Black had better chances to hold after} 38... Bd8 39. Rxg4 Bxh4 40. Rxe5+ g5) 39. Rxe5+ g5 40. fxg4+ Kg6 41. Rexc5 Rxb2 42. Rc6+ Kg7 {The weak black king and the inactive bishop on h4 makes it much easier for White to convert this position.} 43. Rd6 Rb1+ 44. Kg2 Rb2+ 45. Kf3 Rf2+ 46. Ke3 Rf6 47. Rc7+ Kg6 48. Rxf6+ Kxf6 49. Ke4 {A winning but somewhat tricky endgame.} Bf2 50. Rc6+ Kg7 51. Kf5 h5 {Black tries to enter the notorious position that is a draw because the rook pawn has crossed the fifth rank, but So gets there first converts smoothly.} 52. gxh5 Kh7 53. h6 Be3 54. Kg4 Bf4 55. Re6 Bd2 56. Kh5 1-0 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.17"] [Round "7.15"] [White "Hrant Melkumyan"] [Black "Bu Xiangzhi"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2650"] [BlackElo "2721"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4 Nxc3 7. bxc3 cxd4 8. cxd4 Bb4+ 9. Bd2 Bxd2+ 10. Qxd2 O-O 11. Bc4 Nd7 12. O-O b6 13. Rad1 Bb7 14. Rfe1 Rc8 15. Bb3 Qf6 16. d5 {A sharp move in this well-known position. Ding Liren has also played this once.} Nc5 17. Bc2 {The first new move of the game.} (17. Nd4 e5 18. Nf5 Nxe4 19. Nh6+ Qxh6 20. Qxh6 gxh6 21. Rxe4 {was seen in Ruck vs Korpa, Zalakaros, 2015.}) 17... exd5 18. e5 Qe7 19. Nd4 Ne4 20. Qf4 g6 21. h4 {White launches his h-pawn to create more weaknesses on the kingside.} Kh8 22. h5 g5 23. Qf5 Rc5 24. h6 {This pawn creates some mating nets throughout the game and in the end also proves pivotal to White's win!} Bc8 25. Qf3 Rc3 $6 {An inaccuracy by Bu.} (25... Qxe5 26. Bxe4 dxe4 27. Rxe4 g4 $1 { and Black has decent chances of survival.}) 26. Re3 Rxe3 27. Qxe3 Nc5 28. Nf3 $6 ({Much stronger was} 28. Nc6 Qe6 29. Rxd5 $1 Qxd5 (29... Qxh6 30. Nxa7) 30. Qxg5 Ne6 31. Qf6+ Kg8 32. Ne7#) 28... f6 29. Re1 Ne4 $2 (29... g4 30. Nd4 Ne6 { and Black can fight.}) 30. Bxe4 dxe4 31. exf6 Qxf6 32. Nxg5 Bf5 33. Rd1 Kg8 34. Qg3 Bg6 35. Rd7 {It's just all over for Black.} Re8 36. Nxh7 Qf5 37. Qc3 Re5 38. Rg7+ {A crushing win by the Armenian.} 1-0 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.10.18"] [Round "8.8"] [White "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Black "Dreev, Aleksey"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B45"] [WhiteElo "2760"] [BlackElo "2662"] [Annotator "Bojkov,Dejan"] [PlyCount "61"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2014.12.06"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 {The Four Knights Sicilian is sort of a business card of the Azerbaijani players. Dreev is constantly working with the team and definitely knows a thing or two about it.} 6. Nxc6 {Karjakin goes for the main line.} (6. Ndb5 {often transposes to the Sveshnikov Sicilian after} d6 ({However, the genuine Four Knight Sicilian typically chooses to defend the slightly inferior position after} 6... Bb4 7. a3 Bxc3+ 8. Nxc3 d5 {which by the way leads to French type of positions. And guess who is a French specialist...}) 7. Bf4 e5 8. Bg5) 6... bxc6 7. e5 Nd5 8. Ne4 Qc7 9. f4 Qb6 10. c4 Bb4+ 11. Ke2 f5 12. exf6 Nxf6 13. Be3 Qd8 14. Nd6+ Bxd6 15. Qxd6 Bb7 16. g4 ({Two other moves were played instead:} 16. Kd1 { which did not end so good for White in the following game:} c5 17. Bd3 Rc8 18. Kc2 Qb6 19. Qxb6 axb6 20. a4 Bxg2 21. Rhg1 Be4 22. Rxg7 Bg6 23. f5 Nh5 24. Bh6 Nxg7 25. Bxg7 Rg8 26. fxg6 Rxg7 27. gxh7 Rg2+ 28. Kc3 Rxh2 {Czarnota,P (2532) -Navara,D (2724) Katowice 2019}) ({And sort of a main move} 16. Rg1 {which recently decided the outcome of a whole tournament after} Ne4 17. Qe5 c5 18. Qxg7 Qh4 19. g3 Qxh2+ 20. Rg2 Qh1 21. Rg1 Qh5+ 22. g4 Qh2+ 23. Rg2 Ng3+ 24. Kd3 Bxg2 25. Bxg2 O-O-O {Black eventually won in Salimova,N (2260)-Videnova,I (2345) Pleven 2018. Videnova was well prepared by her husband for this game, GM Davorin Kuljasevic, and this game was nominated for best novelty of 2018 by New in Chess.}) 16... c5 17. Rg1 Ne4 {N "This move I did not remember." (Karjakin) The interesting thing is that it was played after 30 minutes of thought and apparently under the influence of tech neighboring board where Yu chose it against Shirov. After the game Dreev told Karjakin that he intended to play another line, but got confused by the neighbour.} ({The predecessor saw a quick draw after} 17... Qb6 18. Bxc5 Qxb2+ 19. Ke3 Kd8 20. Bd4 Qxh2 21. Bxf6+ {1/2-1/2 (22) Bacrot,E (2696)-Chernov,V (2391) Karlsruhe 2017}) ({ whereas Karjakin believed Dreev would have played} 17... Rc8) 18. Qe5 $2 { "I was told this was very bad." (Karjakin) But since on the neighboring board it was played by Shirov relatively quickly and Yu replied momentarily with d8-h4 White believed this might be critical.} Qh4 $2 {A mistake in return.} ({ From afar White calculated} 18... O-O 19. Bg2 d6 20. Qxe6+ Kh8 21. Bxe4 { and believed he is winning after:} Re8 ({However, later he understood that the rook can choose a much better square:} 21... Rf6 $1 {which is essentially winning for Black as in the line} 22. Qxf6 Qxf6 23. Bxb7 {There is the double-attack:} Qxb2+ {(Karjakin)}) 22. Qxe8+ Qxe8 23. Bxb7 {this is true for this line.}) 19. Bg2 {It is all about the initiative and who will get to the enemy king first!} Qxg4+ {This is the moment in which the neighboring board was moved to another room, thus everyone could start thinking on their own again... [#]} 20. Kd3 ({Shirov chose instead} 20. Bf3 {But Karjakin did not like it due to} Nc3+ 21. bxc3 (21. Kd3 Qxf3 22. Kxc3 Rg8 23. Rg3 Qc6 24. Bxc5 O-O-O 25. Bd6 Ba6 26. b3 Kb7 27. Rd1 Rc8 28. Rxg7 Rxg7 29. Qxg7 Bxc4 30. Kb2 Be2 31. Re1 Qxd6 32. Rxe2 Qd1 33. Qg2+ Rc6 34. a4 Qd4+ 35. Ka2 Qxf4 36. Qg7 Rd6 37. Qxh7 Rd1 38. Qh5 Qd4 39. Rb2 e5 40. h4 Rd2 41. Rxd2 Qxd2+ 42. Ka3 Qc1+ 43. Ka2 Qc2+ 44. Ka3 Qc1+ {½-½ Shirov,A-Yu,Y, FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss 2019}) 21... Qxf3+ 22. Kd3 Rg8 {(Karjakin)} (22... Rf8 {is not bad for Black either.}) ) 20... Nf2+ {Another mistake after which the game is quickly over.} ({White was more worried about the line} 20... d6 {when} 21. Qxe4 $5 {looks like a good sacrifice but Karjakin was not sure:} ({"There is also the safe line"} 21. Bxe4 dxe5 22. Rxg4 O-O-O+ 23. Ke2 Bxe4 24. fxe5 {"but this should most likely be a draw." (Karjakin) Say:} Bd3+ 25. Kf2 Rhf8+ 26. Kg1 Rf5) ({There was a third option:} 21. Bh1 $5 {Then} dxe5 (21... Qxg1 22. Qxe6+) 22. Rxg4 O-O-O+ 23. Ke2 {preserves the bishop pair for White, thus his winning chances.}) 21... Bxe4+ 22. Bxe4 Qh5 (22... Qh3 {might be even better as then} 23. Bxa8 d5 { comes faster, for example:} 24. cxd5 O-O 25. Bc6 Rxf4 $1 {This is the main point behind Black's queen placement!} 26. dxe6 Rd4+ 27. Ke2 Qxe6 {with the white king exposed he can hardly hope for the advantage.}) 23. Bxa8 O-O { "White has material advantage but next d6-d5 is coming." (Karjakin)}) 21. Bxf2 Bxg2 22. Bxc5 {"Here I thought I am almost winning. Huge advantage" (Karjakin)} Rc8 ({Karjakin suggested instead a preliminary check with either:} 22... Qf3+ 23. Kd2) ({Or} 22... Qh3+ 23. Kc2 {but in both cases the evaluation of the position does not change. The black king has no hiding place whereas the white monarch is remarkably comfortable in the center.}) 23. Rae1 Kf7 24. Re2 ({ White also considered} 24. Bd4 {to be winning, but the game move is simpler.}) 24... Qf3+ 25. Be3 {And since the black bishop is not moving he is losing material and the game.} d6 26. Qd4 e5 27. Qxa7+ Ke6 28. Rgxg2 Rxc4 29. Kxc4 Rc8+ 30. Kb4 Qe4+ 31. Bd4 1-0 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.18"] [Round "8.3"] [White "David Anton Guijjaro"] [Black "Alexander Grischuk"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2674"] [BlackElo "2759"] [PlyCount "47"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 Bc5 4. Nc3 c6 5. Nf3 e4 6. Nh4 d5 7. cxd5 cxd5 8. d3 Ng4 9. O-O g5 10. d4 Be7 11. h3 {This line was analyzed deeply by Anton's trainer and then he himself checked it for more than an hour this morning.} Nxf2 {Anton:"Nxf2 was also possible."} (11... gxh4 12. hxg4 Nc6 (12... hxg3 { It's a complete mess.})) 12. Rxf2 gxh4 13. Qb3 hxg3 $2 {Anton: "I think the mistake was here to take on g3. Also, I talked to Grischuk after the game and even he felt it was a mistake. Actually, I know for sure because I think if you don't take on g3, Black can play."} (13... Be6 14. Qxb7 Qd7 15. Qxa8 O-O { Anton: "Here the idea is that the queen is trapped and it's not easy to play I think. White has to take on e4 or Bh6 first. I think it's Bh6 first...} 16. Nxe4 (16. Bh6 Rd8 17. Nxe4 Nc6 {...and it's going to be a position with two rooks against a queen and I think White is still a bit better but probably black can hold."})) 14. Rf4 {The position already seems difficult for Black here.} Nc6 15. Qxd5 {Played after one hour of thought. Anton: "Of course 14... Nc6 was not in my analysis. So, I had to think for a long time. You know when you check with a computer, it seems easy but during the game I had no idea what was happening. I knew I had the advantage, I didn't know what was the best line. The problem is also instead of Qd5, I can take with the knight or maybe Be4 is interesting. So, I had many choices. So, when you have so many choices, It's so difficult to calculate."} f5 16. Bxe4 {Played after only 18 seconds of thought.} fxe4 17. Qh5+ Kd7 18. Be3 {Anton: "I think I evaluated well this positon. White is completely winning here. It took me a long time to realize this, but this is just crushing for White."} Qg8 19. d5 Nd8 20. Nxe4 { Anton: "Here I was close to blunder, First I wanted to play d6 but Qg5 is just good for Black.} (20. d6 $4 Qg5 {and the tables have turned. Black is better here.}) 20... Qg6 21. Qe5 Nf7 (21... Re8 22. Rc1 Bd6 23. Nf6+ Qxf6 24. Qxf6 { is simply over.}) 22. Rxf7 Qxf7 23. Rc1 Rf8 24. Bg5 {A crushing win by the Spaniard. He joins the leaders, Caruana and Aronian and will play one of them tomorrow.} 1-0 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.18"] [Round "8.1"] [White "Fabiano Caruana"] [Black "Levon Aronian"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2812"] [BlackElo "2758"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] {We still don't have a sole leader at the event and this game between the leaders never showed any promise to give one either.} 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 {The Sicilian or the reversed Sicilian was the theme of the day as it featured in six of the top eight boards.} Nb6 7. O-O Be7 8. b3 O-O 9. Bb2 Re8 10. Rc1 Bf8 11. Ne4 ({Caruana chooses a sideline over the more preferred} 11. d3 Nd4 12. e3 Nxf3+ 13. Qxf3 c6 14. Rfd1 {and Black won in Dubov,D (2690)-Nakamura,H (2761) Moscow RUS 2019}) 11... f6 12. d4 f5 13. Nc5 e4 14. Ne5 Nxe5 15. dxe5 Qxd1 16. Rfxd1 c6 17. g4 (17. f3 {was another possible pawn break when} Bxc5+ 18. Rxc5 exf3 19. exf3 Be6 20. f4 { seems fairly equal.}) 17... g6 18. gxf5 gxf5 19. f3 Bh6 20. Rc2 e3 21. e6 Bxe6 22. Nxb7 Nd5 {Aronian rightfully gives up another pawn for activity and has good compensation.} 23. Rxc6 Rac8 24. Rdc1 Rxc6 25. Rxc6 Nf4 26. Bf1 {This inactive light-squared bishop is the reason for the position not being much better for Caruana.} Bf8 27. Nc5 Bd5 28. Rc7 Bxc5 {The start of a long series of exchanges.} 29. Rxc5 Bxf3 30. exf3 e2 31. Bc3 Re3 32. Ba5 exf1=Q+ 33. Kxf1 Rxf3+ 34. Kg1 h5 35. h4 Rh3 36. Rxf5 Rxh4 37. Kf2 Ne6 38. Bc3 {A draw is agreed and both the leaders remain in the lead.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.18"] [Round "8.6"] [White "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Black "Fedoseev, Vladimir"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2765"] [BlackElo "2664"] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [TimeControl "600"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Qb6 5. Nb3 e6 6. Nc3 Qc7 7. f4 d6 8. Be3 Nf6 9. Bd3 Be7 10. Qf3 Nb4 {Anand: "I didn't understand why he did this without any provocation."} 11. O-O (11. O-O-O Nxd3+ 12. cxd3) 11... Bd7 12. a3 Nxd3 13. cxd3 {Anand: "And here I saw his hand flicker. Even seeing the approximate area, I simply couldn't understand the idea of Qc6."} Qc6 $2 { Anand: "I think it should be punished clearly/ But, somehow at the board I had difficulty in nailing that one down."} 14. Rac1 ({Anand's wasn't sure about} 14. g4 h5 15. g5 Ng4 16. Bd4 e5 17. Nd5 exd4 18. Rac1 Qa4) 14... Qa6 15. g4 Bc6 16. g5 Nd7 17. d4 Bb5 18. Rf2 O-O 19. f5 (19. d5 {was also considered by Vishy. But he was afraid of} Bc4 20. Nd4 (20. Nd2 {This looks better for White.}) 20... Nc5) 19... Bd8 20. Nd2 Bd3 21. fxe6 fxe6 22. Qg4 Rxf2 23. Kxf2 Nf8 24. d5 e5 25. h4 {The point is to play h5 before Black gets his knight to g6.} g6 26. h5 gxh5 27. Qxh5 Bb6 28. Qh3 ({Anand blundered that} 28. Rh1 Bxe3+ 29. Kxe3 Bc2 {and Black's queen is coming to d3.}) 28... Re8 (28... Ng6 29. Qe6+ {Anand had planned to take the perpetual here.}) 29. Nd1 ({Also tempting was} 29. Na2 Ba5 30. b4 (30. Nb4 Bxb4 31. axb4) 30... Bb6 31. Rc3 (31. Bxb6 Qxb6+ 32. Qe3)) 29... Be2 30. Ke1 Bd4 ({Anand and Fedoseev both thought White would be better after} 30... Bxd1 31. Kxd1 Ng6 32. Bxb6 Qxb6 33. Qd7 {but it's too complicated. } Qg1+ 34. Kc2) 31. Nf2 (31. Bxd4 exd4 32. Nf2) 31... Re7 $2 {The last mistake according to Anand.} (31... Bxe3 32. Qxe3 Bh5 33. Rc7 (33. Qd3) (33. Nh1 Ng6 34. Ng3 Nf4 {This is quite bad for White.})) 32. Bxd4 exd4 33. Rc8 {Anand: "After this, it's just lost."} Rf7 34. e5 dxe5 35. Nfe4 h5 (35... Qd3 36. Nf6+ Kh8 37. Qh6 (37. Qxd3 Bxd3 38. d6 Kg7 39. d7 Nxd7 40. Rg8#) 37... Qg3+ 38. Kxe2 d3+) 36. gxh6 Rf4 37. Qe6+ {A fantastic win by Anand and he is only half a point behind the leaders after starting with a loss.} 1-0 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.18"] [Round "8.9"] [White "Radoslaw Wojtaszek"] [Black "Vladislav Kovalev"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2748"] [BlackElo "2661"] [PlyCount "112"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e6 3. e4 c5 4. e5 Ng8 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. d4 cxd4 7. Nxd4 Nxe5 8. Ndb5 a6 9. Nd6+ Bxd6 10. Qxd6 f6 11. Be3 Ne7 12. Bb6 Nf5 13. Qb4 Nc6 14. Qc5 Qe7 15. Qxe7+ (15. O-O-O d6 16. Qa3 O-O 17. g4 Nh6 18. Rg1 {was Ding,L (2811) -Radjabov,T (2758) Khanty-Mansiysk 2019}) 15... Ncxe7 16. O-O-O d5 17. Be2 { The first new move of the game.} (17. b3 Kf7 18. cxd5 Nxd5 19. Nxd5 exd5 20. Rxd5 Be6 21. Rd1 {was a hard-fought draw in Komodo vs Stockfish, TCEC Superfinal, 2015.}) 17... Kf7 18. b3 d4 19. Ne4 $6 {c} ({b} 19. Bxd4 Nxd4 20. Rxd4 Nf5 21. Rd2 e5 {and White enjoys a slight edge in this position.}) 19... e5 20. g4 Nh4 21. f4 exf4 22. Nd6+ Kf8 23. Rxd4 f3 24. Bd1 h5 25. h3 (25. gxh5 Rxh5 26. Re1 {was much better than the text.}) 25... Nc6 26. Re4 Bd7 27. gxh5 Rxh5 28. Bf2 Nf5 29. Nxb7 Ne5 30. Nc5 Bc6 31. Rf4 Kf7 32. b4 (32. h4 g6 33. Bc2 a5 34. Nd3 {was equal.}) 32... Ne7 33. Bb3 g5 {Black now gets his pawns rolling on the kingside.} 34. Rd4 g4 35. b5 Nf5 36. Rd2 g3 {The position looks scary for White.} 37. bxc6 gxf2 38. Rxf2 Rc8 39. Rd1 Rxc6 40. Nd7 Rxh3 41. c5+ Ke7 42. Nxe5 fxe5 43. Rd5 Kf6 44. Ba4 Rc7 45. Bd7 (45. Bc2 Nd4 46. Bd3 Ne6 47. Be4 {White has some chances of survival.}) 45... Rh7 $2 (45... Rxd7 {was much stronger} 46. Rxd7 e4 47. c6 e3 48. Rxf3 Rxf3 49. c7 e2 50. c8=Q e1=N {and Black wins!}) 46. Bxf5 Kxf5 47. Rxf3+ Ke4 48. Rfd3 Rh2 49. a3 Ra2 50. Kb1 Rxa3 51. Rd7 (51. Rd2 Ra5 52. R5d3 Rcxc5 53. Rh3 {is a long shot but having two rooks gives White a glimmer of hope.}) 51... Rxd7 52. Rxa3 Rc7 53. Ra5 (53. Ra4+ Kd3 54. Ra3+ Kd4 {is also winning for White.}) 53... Kd4 54. Rxa6 Rxc5 55. Ra4+ Kd3 56. Ra3+ Rc3 {An impressive win by Kovalev} 0-1 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.18"] [Round "8.10"] [White "Hikaru Nakamura"] [Black "Hrant Melkumya"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2745"] [BlackElo "2650"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. a4 b4 9. a5 d6 10. c3 Rb8 11. d3 bxc3 12. bxc3 Be6 13. Bxe6 fxe6 14. Nbd2 Rb5 15. d4 exd4 16. cxd4 Nxa5 17. Qc2 {The first new move of the game by White.} (17. d5 e5 18. Qc2 {was seen in Smith vs Hammer, Drancy 2016.}) 17... Qd7 18. Ra4 Rfb8 19. Ba3 Ne8 {The first small inaccuracy.} (19... Nh5 20. Qc3 Nb3 21. Rxa6 R5b7 22. Nxb3 Rxb3 23. Qd2 Qb5 24. Ra5 Qb6 {was roughly equal.}) 20. Qa2 Nb3 21. Rxa6 Nxd2 22. Nxd2 R5b6 23. Ra7 R6b7 24. Rxb7 Rxb7 25. e5 Ra7 26. Qb3 dxe5 27. Bxe7 Qxe7 28. dxe5 Ra5 29. Nf3 Rd5 $2 (29... h6 {Creating an escape square but more importantly not giving up the control of the open a-file.}) 30. Ra1 Qd7 31. h4 h6 32. Ra8 {The White rook gains access to the eighth rank and this proved to be the deciding factor in the game.} Qc6 33. Rb8 {The White rook gains access to the eighth rank and this proved to be the deciding factor in the game.} Qc1+ 34. Kh2 Qf4+ 35. g3 Qf7 36. Kg2 Qd7 37. h5 Qc6 38. Kh2 Qd7 39. Qb4 Kf7 $2 (39... c5 {would have kept Black in the game.} 40. Qg4 Qf7 41. Kg2 { White is better because of the more active rook.}) 40. Qf4+ Kg8 41. Nh4 g5 42. hxg6 Kg7 43. Rd8 {A nice finish by the reigning U.S. Champion.} 1-0 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.18"] [Round "8.11"] [White "Boris Gelfand"] [Black "Zhang Zhong"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2686"] [BlackElo "2636"] [PlyCount "63"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 dxc4 4. Qa4+ Nc6 5. Qxc4 Nf6 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8. Nc3 Bd6 9. e3 {A new move in this already uncommon position.} (9. g3 O-O 10. Bg2 Bd7 {was seen in Kveinys vs Sveshnikov at the Baltic FIDE Zonal, 2016 and in Kramnik vs Ivanchuk, Dortmund 1995.}) 9... a6 10. Be2 O-O 11. O-O Bd7 12. Rfd1 Qe7 13. Ne4 Rfc8 14. Rac1 e5 15. d5 Nd8 16. Qc2 f5 17. Nc5 {White's play is simple: to try and create counterplay on the queenside and keeping the opponent's kingside attack in check.} e4 18. Nd4 Qe5 19. g3 Be8 20. Nde6 Rab8 21. Qc3 Nf7 22. Bh5 Qxc3 23. Rxc3 Be5 $2 {Black's first mistake.} (23... Kh7 24. Kg2 g6 25. Be2 a5 26. Nd4 {White has the better chances but nothing concrete.}) 24. Rc2 b6 25. Nxa6 Ra8 26. Nb4 $2 (26. Naxc7 Ra7 27. Rdc1 Bd7 28. b3 Ng5 29. a4 Nf3+ 30. Kg2 Bxc7 31. Nxc7 {and White is much better.}) 26... Bd6 27. Nc6 Rxa2 28. Bg6 Bxc6 29. dxc6 Ra5 30. Nd4 Rd5 (30... Rd8 {was the tougher defence.} 31. Rcc1 Ne5 32. Bxf5 Nf3+ 33. Nxf3 Rxf5 {Black has slim chances to survive.}) 31. Rcc1 Rxd4 $6 (31... Re5 32. Nxf5 Re6 33. Bxf7+ Kxf7 34. Kg2 Kf6 35. g4 {White is clearly better but not winning.}) 32. Rxd4 {Black resigned as he will lose both his pawns. The winner of the 1993 Biel Interzonal is now on 5.5 out of 8 games.} 1-0 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss 2019"] [Site "Douglas, Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.18"] [Round "8.60"] [White "Soumya, Swaminathan"] [Black "Efimenko, Zahar"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E12"] [WhiteElo "2365"] [BlackElo "2604"] [PlyCount "79"] [EventDate "2019.10.10"] [EventRounds "11"] [EventCountry "ENG"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. a3 Bb7 5. Nc3 d5 6. cxd5 Nxd5 7. e3 Be7 8. Bb5+ c6 9. Bd3 Nxc3 10. bxc3 Nd7 11. e4 c5 12. Qe2 Qc7 13. O-O O-O 14. Bb2 c4 15. Bc2 b5 16. a4 a6 17. Rfb1 Rab8 18. Bc1 Ba8 19. axb5 axb5 20. Ra6 $5 {an interesting plan to control the sixth rank before pushing d4-d5} Nf6 ({If Black chooses to kick the rook away from a6 with} 20... Bb7 {then} 21. Ra7 Qb6 (21... Ra8 22. Rxa8 Rxa8 23. Rxb5) 22. Ra2 {followed by Rab2 etc are strong.}) 21. Bg5 Rfe8 22. h3 g6 $2 $18 {This weakens the dark squares around the black king and justifies the position of a6 rook all the more.} (22... Nd7 23. Bxe7 Rxe7 24. e5 $14 {is a better continuation, although White has gained more space but Black is solid.}) 23. Qe3 {idea: Bf4!} Nh5 24. Bh6 (24. Bxe7 Rxe7 25. Rba1 Ree8 26. e5 $16 {is a strong alternative.}) 24... b4 (24... Bb7 25. Ra7 Qb6 26. Ra2 {followed by Rab2 is strong}) 25. cxb4 Rxb4 26. Rxb4 Bxb4 27. Ne5 c3 (27... f6 28. Ba4 Rd8 29. Nd7 Bb7 30. Rxe6 $16) 28. g4 Ng7 29. Qf4 f5 $2 ( 29... Bf8 30. Ba4 Rb8 31. Kh2 c2 32. Bxc2 Bb7 (32... Qxc2 33. Qxf7+ $18) 33. Ra7 Ra8 34. Rxa8 Bxa8 $18) 30. gxf5 gxf5 31. exf5 Nxf5 32. Qg5+ Ng7 33. Qf6 $2 (33. Rxe6 Rxe6 34. Bb3 $18 {is more forceful!}) 33... Qe7 34. Bxh7+ Kxh7 35. Qg6+ Kg8 36. Rxe6 Qb7 37. Rxe8+ Bf8 38. d5 c2 39. Ng4 Qb1+ 40. Kh2 1-0 [Event "Douglas, Isle of Man"] [Site "Douglas, Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.18"] [Round "8.6"] [White "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Black "Fedoseev, Vladimir"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B32"] [WhiteElo "2765"] [BlackElo "2664"] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "2019.10.10"] [EventRounds "11"] [EventCountry "ENG"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Qb6 5. Nb3 e6 6. Nc3 Qc7 7. f4 d6 8. Be3 Nf6 9. Bd3 Be7 10. Qf3 Nb4 11. O-O Bd7 12. a3 Nxd3 13. cxd3 Qc6 14. Rac1 Qa6 { Black has moved his queen four times till now!} 15. g4 Bc6 $2 (15... h6 { looks more logical}) 16. g5 Nd7 17. d4 Bb5 18. Rf2 O-O 19. f5 Bd8 (19... exf5 20. exf5 Rae8 21. f6 $16) 20. Nd2 (20. f6 {is better} gxf6 21. gxf6 Kh8 (21... Bxf6 22. Qh5 $18 {The bishop on b5 is attacked twice.} Bg7 (22... Bc6 23. Rxf6 Nxf6 24. Qg5+ Kh8 25. Qxf6+ Kg8 26. Bh6 {mate follows!}) 23. Qxb5 Qxb5 24. Nxb5 $18)) 20... Bd3 21. fxe6 $2 {This allows Black to get into the game.} fxe6 22. Qg4 Rxf2 23. Kxf2 Nf8 24. d5 e5 25. h4 $11 g6 26. h5 gxh5 27. Qxh5 Bb6 28. Qh3 Re8 29. Nd1 Be2 30. Ke1 Bd4 $2 (30... Bb5 31. Bxb6 Qxb6 32. Nf2 $11) 31. Nf2 Re7 $2 {leaves the back rank defenseless.} 32. Bxd4 exd4 33. Rc8 $18 Rf7 34. e5 dxe5 35. Nfe4 h5 36. gxh6 Rf4 37. Qe6+ 1-0 [Event "Isle of Man"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.19"] [Round "9.5"] [White "Vladislav Kovalev"] [Black "Hikaru Nakamura"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2661"] [BlackElo "2745"] [PlyCount "62"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 {Nakamura said that his opening choice was a little bit risky as his opponent had probably prepared for it in his game with Carlsen earlier in the tournament.} 3. Bb5 g6 4. Bxc6 bxc6 5. O-O Bg7 6. Re1 Nh6 { Nakamura: "My tiebreaks aren't very good, so I figured if I want to have a chance I had to do something."} 7. c3 O-O 8. h3 f5 9. e5 Nf7 10. d4 cxd4 11. cxd4 Bb7 12. Nc3 c5 {Nakamura was very well prepared and was quickly blitzing out his moves.} 13. dxc5 {Kovalev wasn't probably very well versed in the opening as he spent a lot of time early on.} e6 14. Be3 {Kovalev spent almost 15 minutes on every move after move 10.} g5 {Nakamura was glad to have such a position and later admitted that it was the only way he could create a mess.} 15. Nh2 $6 {Played after 20 minutes of thought.} (15. Bd4 {was the move in Nakamura's preparation.}) 15... Bxe5 16. Bd4 Bxh2+ 17. Kxh2 Qc7+ 18. Kg1 { Black is a healthy pawn up and has a great center and the more active pieces.} e5 19. Be3 f4 20. Bc1 Qxc5 21. Qxd7 Rab8 22. Qg4 Rfd8 23. h4 $2 {A serious mistake.} (23. Ne4 Bxe4 24. Rxe4 Rd4 25. Re1 Rc4 {and Black is better, but White still has a fighting chance.}) 23... Rd3 24. Ne4 {Kovalev was basically playing off the increment from here on.} (24. hxg5 {Nakamura blundered this line and missed that his attacking chances aren't great after} Rg3 25. Qf5 f3 26. Be3 Rxg2+ 27. Kh1 Qc6 28. Rg1) 24... Bxe4 25. Rxe4 Rbd8 26. Re1 Qd4 27. a4 (27. Kf1 {The best move in the position that even left Nakamura puzzling. Black has no direct win but can consolidate with h6 as White has no way to improve his position whatsoever.}) 27... Rd1 28. Qe2 Rxe1+ 29. Qxe1 Qd1 30. Kf1 (30. Qxd1 {also loses to} Rxd1+ 31. Kh2 Nh6 32. hxg5 (32. f3 g4 33. fxg4 Nxg4+ 34. Kh3 Nf2+ 35. Kh2 Rh1#) (32. g3 f3 33. hxg5 Ng4+ 34. Kh3 Nxf2+ 35. Kh2 Rh1#) 32... Ng4+ 33. Kh3 Nxf2+ 34. Kh2 Rh1#) 30... Qc2 31. Bxf4 gxf4 {A crushing win by Nakamura to join the leaders.} 0-1 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.10.19"] [Round "9.1"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Anton Guijarro, David"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2758"] [BlackElo "2674"] [Annotator "Bojkov,Dejan"] [PlyCount "122"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2014.12.06"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 {The Italian game was heavily discussed at the recent World Cup.} Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. O-O a5 ({One game at the World Cup went} 6... a6 7. a4 Ba7 8. Re1 O-O 9. h3 Kh8 10. b4 Ng8 11. Nbd2 f5 12. b5 {with a sharp, double-edged battle in Karjakin,S (2760)-Vitiugov,N (2732) Khanty-Mansiysk 2019}) 7. Re1 O-O 8. h3 h6 9. Nbd2 Be6 10. Bb5 {Super topical! Almost all the top players have played this with either color. In particular, Mamedyarov and Vacher-Lagrave are having some sort of a theoretical duel in this line.} Qb8 11. Nf1 Qa7 12. d4 {Also a very hot topic!} ({The latest encounter of the duel ended peacefully after just 75 moves:} 12. Be3 Bxe3 13. Nxe3 Ne7 14. a4 Rad8 15. Bc4 Bc8 16. Qc2 c6 17. Ba2 Ng6 18. Rad1 {Do not worry, I will not show you the rest, Vachier Lagrave,M (2775)-Mamedyarov,S (2765) Paris 2019}) 12... exd4 13. Bxc6 dxc3 14. Ba4 Bxf2+ 15. Kh2 Bxe1 16. Qxe1 d5 17. Be3 ({White has a big choice:} 17. e5 cxb2 18. Bxb2 Ne4 19. Ng3 {has not been tested yet.}) ({Neither has} 17. Ng3 dxe4 18. Nxe4 Nxe4 19. Qxe4 Qc5 20. Bc2 g6 21. Be3 cxb2 22. Rb1 Qd6+ 23. Bf4) 17... c5 {N Anton comes first with an improvement.} ({In Khanty-Mansiysk, one game went} 17... Qa6 18. e5 Ne4 19. bxc3 Qc4 20. Bb3 Qxc3 21. N1d2 a4 22. Rc1 Qa5 23. Bc2 {but Black could not solve his problems completely, Alekseenko,K (2671)-Ding,L (2811) Khanty-Mansiysk 2019}) 18. e5 Ne4 19. bxc3 f5 20. exf6 {A funny contradiction. In order to secure good squares for his pieces, Aronian needs to open the road for Anton's rooks.} Rxf6 21. Bc2 Qb8+ {Played with a very concrete idea.} ({ The more solid} 21... b6 $5 {might have been preferable.}) 22. Kh1 {Aronian sacrifices a pawn.} ({The self-pin does not seem attractive:} 22. Ng3 b6 23. Bxe4 dxe4 24. Nd2 Rg6 {with good play for Black.}) 22... Bxh3 23. N3d2 { But White returns it at once and consolidates in the process.} ({Not} 23. gxh3 $2 Rxf3 {with a mating attack.}) 23... Bf5 ({If} 23... Nxd2 24. Qxd2 Be6 25. Bxc5) 24. Nxe4 Bxe4 25. Bxe4 dxe4 26. Bxc5 Qe5 27. Bd4 Qh5+ 28. Kg1 {All of this was forced, and now Black goes for a queen swap while speculating with mating threats.} Rf4 $1 29. Qd1 Qxd1 30. Rxd1 b5 {Often in these endgames, the rook and the pawns are stronger, but here the strong positions of White's minor pieces promise him an edge. Magnus Carlsen has demonstrated exceptional technique in similar situations with the light pieces.} 31. a3 $1 {It is important not to allow the swap of the queenside pawns.} Rc8 32. Ne3 Rf7 33. Rb1 Rb7 34. Kf2 Kh7 35. Nc2 ({Missing a chance to activate:} 35. Ng4 $1 { In order to move the knight to a better position and open the road for his king that is better. Apparently Aronian was afraid of his opponent's activity:} Rc4 {But this does not lead Black anywhere after} 36. Ne5 Ra4 37. Rb3 {and the e4 pawn drops. True, there is still a lot of work for White.}) 35... Rc6 $1 { Activating the rook.} ({Here} 35... Rc4 {makes no sense after} 36. Ke3) 36. Rh1 {Aronian also tries to activate his major piece.} ({However, better is} 36. Ke3 $1 Rg6 37. Ne1 Rg4 38. Be5 {with winning chances.}) 36... Rf7+ $1 {A nice spoiler.} 37. Kg1 (37. Ke3 Rg6 {forces White into passive defense.}) 37... Rfc7 {Anton prepares the sacrifice of an exchange.} 38. Rh3 g5 39. Re3 Re7 {An inaccuracy in time trouble.} ({The other rook is the right one:} 39... Re6 { with the idea} 40. Re1 e3 $1 41. Nxe3 Rd7 42. Kf2 b4 {trading the pawns and securing the draw.}) 40. Re1 Kg6 ({Alas:} 40... e3 {does not work due to the poor coordination of the black rooks after} 41. Nxe3 Rd6 $2 42. Bc5) 41. Rb1 Rb7 42. Kf2 h5 {Despite the missed opportunity, Black manages to hold relatively easy.} 43. Ke3 Rbc7 44. Kxe4 Rxc3 $1 {This time the sacrifice works. Anton gets rid of both the queenside pawns and the better minor piece at once.} 45. Bxc3 Rxc3 46. Ne3 Rxa3 47. Rxb5 h4 48. Rb8 Ra4+ 49. Ke5 Rb4 50. Rg8+ Kh5 51. Rd8 ({Perhaps White should have tried} 51. Rh8+ Kg6 52. Ra8 a4 53. Ra6+ Kh5 54. Nd5) 51... a4 52. Kf6 Rb6+ 53. Kf5 Rb5+ 54. Nd5 Kh6 55. Kg4 a3 56. Rd6+ Kg7 57. Nc7 ({Or} 57. Kxg5 a2 58. Rd7+ Kf8 {and White is not in time with the mating threats.}) 57... Ra5 58. Ne6+ Kf6 59. Nxg5+ Ke5 60. Nf7+ Ke4 61. Rd1 Ra4 {Next the a-passer will win the white rook; the g-passer, the black one.} ( 61... a2 62. Ra1 Kd3) 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.19"] [Round "9.2"] [White "Magnus Carlsen"] [Black "Fabiano Caruana"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2876"] [BlackElo "2812"] [PlyCount "50"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] {Carlsen and Caruana played their 50th classical game. Before today, the score was 10 to 5 for Carlsen with 34 draws, 12 of which were played in their title match last year.} 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. e4 Bc5 5. Nxe5 {Carlsen shows his intentions early on and goes for a sharp line in the English opening. He has good results when using this line with a win and a draw.} Nxe5 6. d4 Bb4 7. dxe5 Nxe4 8. Qf3 Nxc3 9. bxc3 Ba5 {Not the best move in the position but not a mistake either. Caruana was clearly out of his preparation as he played this after almost 20 minutes of thought. Later in the post-game interview, Caruana said: "I couldn't remember anything. It's kind of silly since he's played this line with e4 recently and more than once; he played it against Anish [Giri]."} (9... Be7 {was played against Carlsen by Nepomniachtchi and Giri earlier.}) 10. Bf4 O-O 11. O-O-O Qe7 12. Kb2 Rb8 13. Bd3 b5 14. cxb5 Bb7 15. Qh3 g6 {Until this point, Caruana had used 35 minutes on the clock whereas Carlsen had used just under a minute. He was simply blitzing out the moves.} 16. Qe3 Rfe8 17. Rhe1 {But this one was played after 46 minutes of thought. Caruana thought that Carlsen was still in his preparation until now.} (17. Qxa7 {The main alternative.} Bb6 18. Qa3 (18. Qa4 {is also possible.}) 18... Bc5 19. Qb3 {White is a pawn up but Black definitely has some counterplay. Carlsen also thought it was too vague and contains risks for White.}) 17... Bc6 18. a4 a6 19. Bg5 Bxc3+ $1 {Caruana forces the issue and a perpetual.} (19... Qf8 20. Bh6 Qe7 21. Bg5 {is another way of repeating and making a draw.}) 20. Kxc3 Qa3+ 21. Kd2 Qb4+ 22. Ke2 Qg4+ 23. Kd2 ({White can't avoid the perpetual with} 23. f3 Qxg2+ {and Black is winning!}) 23... Qb4+ 24. Ke2 Qg4+ 25. Kd2 Qb4+ { Caruana: "A good result. It's a tough pairing, Black against Magnus."} 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.19"] [Round "9.6"] [White "Nikita Vitiugov"] [Black "Wang Hao"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2731"] [BlackElo "2726"] [PlyCount "155"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] {Both players have had a great tournament. In fact, Wang has the best tiebreak of the entire tournament,} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. a4 {A harmless way to counter the sharp Sicilian Najdorf} g6 7. Be2 Bg7 8. O-O O-O 9. Be3 Nc6 10. Qd2 Bd7 11. Rfd1 Ng4 12. Bxg4 Bxg4 13. f3 Be6 14. Nd5 Bxd5 15. exd5 Nxd4 16. Bxd4 Bxd4+ 17. Qxd4 Rc8 18. Rd2 Qa5 19. c3 Rfe8 20. Kf2 {Vitiugov gets the position that he aimed for where he is slightly better and can press without any risk.} b5 21. b4 Qd8 22. axb5 axb5 23. Re2 Rc4 24. Qd3 Qc7 25. Ra3 Rc8 26. Re3 Qb7 {Slowly but surely, Black has managed to outplay his opponent and get the more active pieces.} 27. h3 h5 28. Kg1 h4 29. Qd2 Kg7 30. Qe1 R8c7 31. Rd3 Qc8 32. Qe3 Qf5 {Wang has considerably improved his positon and is basically playing for two results.} 33. Ra5 Qf6 34. Ra3 g5 35. Kf2 $6 {Vitiugov errs here. There was no reason to bring the king out and pin his own pawn.} (35. Qd2 {is the solid and logical alternative.}) 35... g4 $1 { Finally, after about a dozen moves of trying, Wang manages to change the structure and get a pawn break.} 36. hxg4 Rxg4 37. Kf1 Rg3 $6 (37... Rcc4 { It was critical to get the another rook in action and pile on the pressure.}) 38. Ra2 Rg4 39. Kg1 Rgc4 40. Ra3 Qg6 41. Kf1 Qf5 42. Kg1 Qf6 43. Kh1 Rc8 44. Kg1 R8c7 45. Kh1 Qg6 46. Ra2 Qg3 47. Re2 Rc8 48. Qa7 Rh8 (48... h3 {was worth considering.} 49. Rd4 Rh8 50. Kg1 Qg5 51. Qxe7 Qxe7 52. Rxe7 h2+ 53. Kh1 Rxc3 { is an engine line that gives Black some hope to convert.}) 49. Kg1 h3 50. Rd4 Qg5 51. Qxe7 Qxe7 52. Rxe7 Rxc3 53. gxh3 Rxf3 54. Rb7 Rhxh3 {Black has won a pawn and is clearly the one trying. It is very difficult to suggest moves for either side as there is no simple plan.} 55. Rg4+ Kf6 56. Kg2 Ke5 57. Rxb5 f5 58. Rg8 Rb3 59. Rb6 Rhd3 {Objectively, this position looks drawish, but Wang manages to create huge chances for Black.} 60. Re8+ Kf4 61. Re2 Rxd5 62. Rf2+ Ke4 63. Rb8 f4 64. Rf8 $6 (64. Rg8 {to control the g-file is imperative.}) 64... Rg5+ 65. Kh2 f3 $2 {A hasty move by Wang that may end up costing him the qualification to the Candidates'.} (65... Rh5+ 66. Kg1 f3 {and Black is close to winning!}) 66. Re8+ Kf4 67. Rf8+ Kg4 68. Rh8 Rxb4 69. Rh3 Rb3 $2 {This throws away the win.} (69... Rf4 70. Rg3+ Kf5 71. Rxg5+ Kxg5 {and Black's winning chances look great.}) 70. Rg3+ Kf4 71. Rxg5 Kxg5 72. Kg3 Rd3 $4 { Now it's all over.} (72... Kf6 {is the last winning try for Black.}) 73. Rf1 Kf5 74. Re1 $1 {Nikita the Iceman Vitiugov sets up the correct defensive technique, and Black has no way to progress.} d5 75. Re8 Rc3 76. Re7 d4 77. Re8 Ra3 78. Re7 {A thrilling game with plenty of talking points in the endgame.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.19"] [Round "9.7"] [White "Maxim Matlakov"] [Black "Boris Gelfand"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2716"] [BlackElo "2686"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] {Russia's Maxim Matlakov eliminated Boris Gelfand from last month's FIDE World Cup and again defeated his 51-year-old opponent today.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 dxc4 7. e4 g5 8. Bg3 b5 9. h4 g4 10. Ne5 Nbd7 11. Be2 Bb7 12. O-O Rg8 13. Nxg4 b4 14. Na4 Nxe4 15. Bxc4 Qa5 16. Qe2 Qh5 $2 { The first new move of the game.} (16... Qf5 17. Ne3 {was Levin vs Smirnov, Batumi 2018.}) 17. Qxe4 Qxg4 (17... Rxg4 18. Qf3 Rxh4 19. Bxh4 Qxh4 20. Rad1 { White is much better.}) 18. Qe3 Bd6 19. Be2 Qg7 20. Nc5 O-O-O 21. Nxb7 Kxb7 22. a3 {Simple but effective chess by Matlakov. Opening up files against the opponent's king is always a good idea.} Nb6 23. axb4 Bxg3 24. fxg3 Nd5 25. Qf2 f5 26. Ra3 {A beautiful, multi-purpose move to use the rook along the rank and also trying to double the rooks on the a-file.} Kb8 27. b5 cxb5 28. Bxb5 Rc8 $2 (28... Rd6 29. Rfa1 Nc7 30. Be2 Qxd4 {Trying to defend this minus endgame was advisable for the veteran Gelfand.}) 29. Re1 Qe7 30. Rb3 Ka8 31. Ba6 {Black's king is extremely weak and will always be under threat.} Rc6 32. Bb5 (32. Bb7+ Qxb7 33. Rxb7 Kxb7 {is also completely winning for White.}) 32... Rc7 33. Re5 Qd6 34. Be2 Rc2 35. Qe1 Qc6 36. Kh2 (36. Qa5 {is the engine's recommendation, but Matlakov wanted to keep everything protected in time pressure.}) 36... f4 37. Re4 Qc7 $2 ({Black's best resource is} 37... Rc1 38. Bd1 Rxd1 39. Qxd1 Rxg3 40. Rxg3 fxg3+ 41. Kxg3 Nc3 42. bxc3 Qxe4 43. Qf3 Qb7 44. Qe3 {should be winning for White.}) 38. Re5 (38. Rxe6 fxg3+ 39. Rxg3 {and White is completely winning.}) 38... fxg3+ 39. Rxg3 Rd8 40. Bf3 Rxb2 {The time control has been reached, but the problems for Black haven't ended.} 41. Rxe6 Qf4 42. Qe5 Qxh4+ 43. Rh3 {Gelfand resigns and is officially out of the race for first place.} 1-0 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.19"] [Round "9.10"] [White "Alexander Grischuk"] [Black "Alexei Shirov"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2759"] [BlackElo "2664"] [PlyCount "103"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Qb6 9. Qd2 Qxb2 10. Rb1 Qa3 11. Bb5 Nxd4 12. Bxd4 a6 13. Bxd7+ Bxd7 14. Rb3 Qe7 15. Rxb7 Rc8 16. O-O Qd8 {This highly theoretical line has another guest today. } 17. Rf3 $6 (17. Qe3 {is the more standard response and was played in Shirov vs. Esteban, Spanish Team Championship, 2018.}) 17... Rc4 18. Ne2 Qc8 19. Rb2 Bc5 20. h3 O-O 21. Kh2 f6 {Generally a good idea for Black in the French but not here.} 22. exf6 gxf6 23. Bxc5 Rxc5 24. Rg3+ Kh8 25. Nd4 Rg8 26. Rbb3 Rxg3 27. Rxg3 Qf8 $2 (27... Qe8 {keeps everything protected, and Black is very much in the game.}) 28. Qe3 $1 {A simple double-attack and Black's life is very difficult here on.} Rc4 29. Nxe6 Qe7 30. Ng5 $1 Qe8 $2 (30... Qxe3 31. Nf7#) ( 30... Qf8 31. Ne6 Qe7 32. f5 {and White enjoys a healthy advantage.}) 31. Qb6 { Black's weakened kingside and material disadvantage make White's edge decisive. } Rc6 32. Qd4 Qe7 33. c3 Be8 34. Nf3 Bf7 35. Qd2 Rb6 36. Nd4 Bg6 37. f5 Bf7 38. Qf4 (38. Qh6 {would have won much quicker as} Be8 39. Ne6 Rb7 40. Rg7 Qxg7 41. Nxg7 Rxg7 42. Qxf6 {and Black is completely lost.}) 38... Bg8 39. Re3 Qd6 40. Qxd6 Rxd6 41. Re7 Rd8 {The position is lost for Black.} 42. Rc7 {Grischuk plays very calmly, and the rest is just a matter of technique.} a5 43. a4 Re8 44. Kg3 Re1 45. Rc5 Kg7 46. Kf2 Rc1 47. Ne2 Rc2 48. Ke3 h5 49. h4 Ra2 50. Rxa5 Bh7 51. Rxd5 Rxa4 52. Nf4 {A smooth win and a nice comeback for Grischuk after losing to David Anton yesterday.} 1-0 [Event "FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss"] [Site "Isle of Man"] [Date "2019.10.19"] [Round "9.45"] [White "Raunak Sadhwani"] [Black "Alexander Motylev"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2479"] [BlackElo "2651"] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] {The Indian prodigy Sadhwani had scored enough points earlier and just needed his opponent to show up to become a grandmaster.} 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. e4 Bb4 5. d3 d6 6. h3 a6 7. a3 Bc5 8. g3 h6 9. Bg2 Be6 10. O-O g5 11. Ne1 Nd4 12. Be3 b5 13. cxb5 Qd7 $6 {An aggressive option but not recommended.} (13... axb5 14. Bxd4 Bxd4 15. Nc2 Bxc3 16. bxc3 O-O {and White has a tiny edge. }) 14. Bxd4 Bxd4 15. Nc2 Bb6 ({It is imperative to play} 15... Bxc3 16. bxc3 axb5 17. Kh2 g4 18. h4 {would be a good fight.}) 16. bxa6 Bxh3 17. Qf3 Qe6 { With an indirect draw offer.} 18. d4 {India's latest grandmaster decides to play on. When asked about this decision, Sadhwani replied that since he had already made the norm, it made more sense to play on.} ({White could have forced the repetition with} 18. Bxh3 Qxh3 19. Qxf6 Qxg3+ 20. Kh1 Qh3+ 21. Kg1) 18... Bg4 19. Qd3 h5 20. a4 {White's counterplay on the queenside has started slowly but is more effective.} h4 21. a5 h3 $2 (21... Ba7 22. f3 Bh3 23. Nb5 Kf8 24. Nxc7 {and White is much better.}) 22. Bf3 $2 ({White misses a beautiful win with} 22. axb6 hxg2 23. b7 gxf1=Q+ 24. Kxf1 Ke7 25. bxa8=Q Rxa8 26. a7) 22... h2+ 23. Kg2 Bh3+ 24. Kh1 Bxf1 25. Qxf1 $2 (25. Rxf1 {is winning.} ) 25... Ba7 $2 (25... Bxd4 26. Nxd4 exd4 27. e5 O-O {is a crazy position but almost equal.}) 26. Nb5 Qd7 $2 (26... Qb3 27. Ne3 Kf8 28. dxe5 dxe5 29. Nxa7 Rxa7 30. Qe2 {White is slightly better.}) 27. dxe5 dxe5 28. Rd1 Qc6 29. Rc1 Nxe4 (29... Kf8 {is much better than the text.} 30. Nxa7 Rxa7 31. Nb4) 30. Bxe4 Qxe4+ 31. f3 Qa4 32. Nxc7+ Ke7 33. Qe2 Qxa5 34. Nb4 Kf8 35. Nxa8 Kg7 36. Nc6 Qd5 37. Nc7 {Sadhwani beats the former European champion to become a grandmaster in style!} 1-0