[Event "World Team-ch 2017"] [Site "Khanty-Mansyisk"] [Date "2017.06.17"] [Round "1"] [White "Bartel, Mateusz"] [Black "Negi, Parimarjan"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2637"] [BlackElo "2670"] [Annotator "AlexYermo"] [PlyCount "161"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. Qe2 Bg4 7. h3 Bxf3 8. Qxf3 Nd7 9. Qg3 O-O 10. Nd2 f6 11. O-O Re8 12. Nb3 Bd6 13. Na5 Qc8 14. Nc4 Nf8 15. f4 exf4 16. Bxf4 Bxf4 17. Rxf4 Kh8 18. e5 f5 19. Rf2 Ng6 20. Qf3 f4 21. d4 Qe6 22. Nd2 Rad8 23. c3 b6 24. Ne4 Qf5 25. b4 Rf8 26. Re1 h6 27. Nd2 c5 28. bxc5 bxc5 29. Nb3 cxd4 30. e6 Qf6 31. cxd4 Rfe8 32. d5 Rd6 {[#] White has made big strides with his central pawns, but his knight is unfortunately positioned. } 33. Rc2 (33. Nc5 Qd4 {drops the d5-pawn}) ({and} 33. Na5 Qg5 34. Rd1 Nh4 35. Qb3 f3 {is unnerving.}) 33... Qg5 34. Rxc7 Rxd5 35. Re4 Re5 {Clear edge to Black now, so Bartel takes a gamble.} 36. Nd4 $5 (36. Rxe5 Qxe5 37. Qc3 Qxc3 38. Rxc3 Rxe6 39. Rc4 $15) 36... Nh4 37. Rxe5 (37. Qe2 f3 $1 38. Nxf3 Rxe4 39. Qxe4 Qxg2#) 37... Nxf3+ 38. Nxf3 Qd8 39. Rd7 Qb6+ 40. Nd4 (40. Kh2 Rxe6 41. Rxe6 Qxe6 42. Rxa7 {I'm not sure Black is winning , but he's certainly going to try.}) 40... Qb1+ ({Opening the white king up with} 40... f3 $1 {was the way to go.}) 41. Kh2 Qxa2 $2 (41... Qb4 $142 42. e7 Kh7) 42. e7 $1 {[#] The tables have turned. Suddenly, it's Black who's in danger.} f3 $5 {Better late than never. Negi wants to create some perpetual check oportunities.} ({Truth to tell,} 42... Qg8 43. Ne6 Qf7 44. Rd8 (44. Nc7 f3) 44... Qxe7 45. Nxg7 Kxg7 46. Rxe8 Qa3 {was enough to draw.}) 43. Nxf3 Kg8 44. Nd4 Qd2 45. Re2 $2 { Another turnaround.} ({Bartel missed} 45. Rf5 Kh7 46. Ne6 {where White is out of danger.}) 45... Qf4+ 46. g3 Qf6 $17 47. Kg2 a5 48. Re6 Qg5 49. h4 Qg4 50. Rdd6 Kf7 $2 {The final twist in the tale.} (50... a4 $19) 51. Nc6 $1 Qxe6 52. Nd8+ Kxe7 53. Rxe6+ Kxd8 54. Ra6 {Black is just one tempo short.} Re5 55. Kf3 Kc8 56. Rg6 Kb8 (56... Re7 57. Ra6) 57. Rxg7 a4 58. Rg4 Ra5 59. Rb4+ Kc7 60. Rb1 a3 61. g4 Kd6 62. Ke4 a2 63. Ra1 Ke6 64. Kd3 Ra4 65. Kc3 Ke5 66. Kb3 Rxg4 67. Rxa2 Rxh4 {The game has reached an endgame book draw.} 68. Ra5+ Kf4 69. Kc3 Rh2 70. Kd3 h5 71. Ra8 h4 72. Rf8+ Kg3 73. Ke3 Ra2 74. Rg8+ Kh2 75. Kf3 h3 76. Rh8 Ra5 77. Rg8 Rf5+ 78. Ke2 Kh1 79. Rh8 h2 80. Rg8 Ra5 81. Kf1 1/2-1/2 [Event "World Team-ch 2017"] [Site "Khanty-Mansyisk"] [Date "2017.06.17"] [Round "1"] [White "Duda, Jan-Krzysztof"] [Black "Adhiban, B."] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2697"] [BlackElo "2670"] [Annotator "AlexYermo"] [PlyCount "131"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Nf3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. Bd3 O-O 8. O-O dxc4 9. Bxc4 e5 10. h3 Qe7 11. Bb3 Bc7 12. Bd2 h6 13. Rad1 Re8 14. Nh4 Nf8 15. Nf5 Bxf5 16. Qxf5 e4 17. h4 Rad8 18. a3 Qd7 19. Qxd7 N8xd7 20. g3 Nb6 21. Kg2 h5 22. Rc1 g6 23. Rc2 Re7 24. Ba2 Bd6 25. Rb1 Red7 26. b4 Bf8 27. Kf1 a6 28. Ke2 Kg7 29. Be1 Re8 30. Rbb2 Ng4 31. Nb1 f5 32. Bb3 Nf6 33. Nd2 Nfd5 34. Rb1 Kf6 35. Ba2 {[#] In this roughly balanced position Adhiban was looking to create something.} g5 $6 36. hxg5+ Kxg5 37. Nb3 Nf6 38. Bd2 Rh7 39. Na5 { This reminds me of Caruana's unfortunate misuse of his knight in the game against Anand at the Norway Chess a few days ago. Luckily for the young Polish star there are no queens on the board here, so White has a lot of leeway.} ({ I can see nothing wrong with} 39. Nc5 Nbd5 40. a4 {as such positions have been handled since the times of Lasker and Capablanca.}) 39... Ree7 40. Rh1 h4 ( 40... Nbd5 41. Rcc1 Rd7 42. Nc4 Bd6 $14) 41. gxh4+ Rxh4 42. Rxh4 Kxh4 43. Rc1 Kg5 44. Rh1 Bg7 45. Nb3 Nbd5 46. Nc5 {[#] Duda has fixed his slight error with the knight placement and now stands better. However, it would have taken him a lot more effort to make progress if Baskaran just sat still.} f4 $6 {But no, he won't do that.} 47. Rg1+ Kf5 48. exf4 $1 {By breaking his own pawn chain, Duda begins concrete play against the suddenly weak e4-pawn.} Bh6 (48... Nh7 49. Bb1 Bxd4 {meets with} 50. Nxe4 $1 Rxe4+ (50... Nhf6 51. Kf3) 51. Kf3 Nhf6 52. Rg5+) (48... Nxf4+ $2 49. Bxf4 Kxf4 50. Rxg7 $1 {Adhiban could not have missed that, could he?}) 49. Bb1 $1 {There it is.} b6 (49... Nxf4+ 50. Kf1 { Powerless as he is to stop f2-f3 Black might as well fish for chances in} Nh3 51. Bxh6 Nxg1 52. Kxg1 Kg4 53. Kg2 b6 54. Nxa6 Rh7 55. Be3 Ra7 56. Nb8 Rxa3 57. Nxc6 Nd5 {but he's very unlikely to succeed.}) 50. Nxe4 Bxf4 51. Kd1 Bxd2 $2 { His final mistake.} ({Instead,} 51... Nxe4 52. f3 Bxd2 53. fxe4+ Kf4 {[#] gives White an interesting choice. Somewhat counterintuitively,} 54. exd5 $1 { is best.} ({but not the conservative} 54. Kxd2 Ne3 55. Bd3 Rh7 56. Kc3 Rh2 { and Black is alive and kicking}) 54... Bc3 55. Rf1+ $1 {An all-important check that drives the black king away.} Kg3 56. dxc6 Bxd4 57. Bf5 Be5 58. Kd2 { I believe White is winning here. A sample line runs as follows:} Bc7 59. Kd3 Kg2 60. Rd1 Kf3 61. Kd4 Kf4 62. Rf1+ Kg5 63. Bc8 a5 64. Kc4 axb4 65. axb4 Re8 66. Bh3 Rh8 67. Rf7 Bd6 68. Bf5 Rh4+ 69. Kd5 Bh2 70. Be4 {We have come a long way in understanding such endgames in past couple of decades. For further study I'd refer the reader to games of Alexey Shirov, the renowned expert in rook plus opposite-colored bishop endings.}) 52. Ng5+ $1 {Pretty.} Ne4 (52... Kf4 53. Nh3+ Kf3 {and the king journey ends right here.} 54. Rg3#) 53. Bxe4+ Rxe4 54. Nxe4 Kxe4 55. Kxd2 Kxd4 56. Rg4+ Ke5 57. Rg6 Nf6 58. Kd3 Kf5 59. Rg7 Ng4 60. Kd4 Ne5 61. Ra7 c5+ 62. bxc5 Nc6+ 63. Kd5 Nxa7 64. cxb6 Nc8 65. b7 Ne7+ 66. Kc5 1-0 [Event "World Team-ch 2017"] [Site "Khanty-Mansyisk"] [Date "2017.06.17"] [Round "1"] [White "Karthikeyan, Murali"] [Black "Piorun, Kacper"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2582"] [BlackElo "2632"] [Annotator "AlexYermo"] [PlyCount "78"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. O-O Re8 7. Nbd2 a6 8. Ba4 Ba7 9. Re1 b5 10. Bb3 d6 11. Nf1 h6 12. a4 b4 13. a5 bxc3 14. bxc3 Ne7 15. Be3 Ng6 16. g3 d5 17. exd5 Nxd5 18. Bxa7 Rxa7 19. d4 e4 20. Qc2 f5 21. N3d2 c6 { [#] Kacper Piorun made a statement by taking down Vassily Ivanchuk in a sharp counterattacking game in the recent Capablanca Memorial. Here he follows the same script: Black has surrendered space on the Q-side and has weakenesses, while looking for a chance to attack the king.} 22. Ba4 ({The surest way of nipping such ambitions in the bud would be} 22. f3 $1 Rae7 23. fxe4 fxe4 24. Ne3 {but the young Indian GM must have felt it wasn't enough for an advantage.} ) 22... Re6 23. Nb3 Nf8 24. Nc5 Rf6 25. Qb3 Re7 26. c4 ({Once again, us old hands would look at} 26. f3 $1 {before anything else. Black then would have to find} Kh8 $1 ({not} 26... exf3 $2 27. Rxe7 Qxe7 28. Bxc6 Rxc6 {where Black's position falls apart, and the forced line} 29. Qxd5+ Kh7 30. Qxc6 Qe2 31. Ra2 Qxa2 32. Qxf3 Qxa5 {leaves him struggling to survive down a piece after} 33. Qc6 Qxc3 34. Qxc8 Qxd4+ 35. Kg2) 27. fxe4 fxe4 {Surprisingly, the e4-pawn is poison:} 28. Rxe4 $2 Ne6 $1 29. Nxe6 Bxe6 30. Qa3 Rf3 {etc.}) 26... Nc7 27. d5 Qd6 ({Objectively speaking,} 27... Nd7 {was better, but Piorun is not interested in drawish lines.}) 28. Qa3 (28. Qb6 $1 cxd5 29. cxd5 Qxb6 30. axb6 Rxb6 31. Ne3 {was certainly worth investigating.}) 28... cxd5 29. cxd5 Kh8 30. Ne3 $2 {[#] One mistake from Murali and the floodgates are open.} f4 $1 31. Nc4 Qxd5 32. Nb6 Qf5 33. Nxc8 f3 $1 {From this moment on everything follows a familiar pattern - White has no chances left.} 34. Kh1 Re5 35. Rxe4 Qh3 36. Rg1 Rh5 37. Rh4 Rxh4 38. gxh4 Rg6 39. Qa1 Rg2 0-1 [Event "World Team-ch 2017"] [Site "Khanty-Mansyisk"] [Date "2017.06.17"] [Round "1"] [White "Solak, Dragan"] [Black "Ponomariov, Ruslan"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2641"] [BlackElo "2712"] [Annotator "AlexYermo"] [PlyCount "145"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 4. d4 cxd4 5. Qxd4 a6 6. Bxd7+ Bxd7 7. O-O Nf6 8. c4 g6 9. Nc3 Bg7 10. a4 O-O 11. Qd3 Bg4 12. Nd2 Nd7 13. h3 Ne5 14. Qc2 Bd7 15. b3 Rc8 16. Bb2 b5 $1 17. axb5 axb5 18. Nd5 bxc4 19. bxc4 Be6 20. Bxe5 Bxe5 21. Ra7 Bxd5 22. exd5 Rc7 23. Rxc7 Qxc7 $15 24. Nf3 Bf6 25. Rc1 Rc8 26. g3 Qc5 27. Kg2 Qa3 28. Qd2 h5 29. g4 hxg4 30. hxg4 Ra8 31. g5 Bg7 32. Qe3 Qxe3 33. fxe3 Ra2+ 34. Kg3 Re2 35. Kf4 $2 (35. c5 dxc5 36. Kf4 $11) 35... Bb2 36. Rb1 Rc2 37. Nd4 Bxd4 38. exd4 Rxc4 {[#] Smoke has cleared and one would expect a master technician, such as Ruslan has always been, to be able to bring home the bacon.} 39. Ke4 Kg7 40. Rb7 Rc1 41. Ra7 Re1+ 42. Kf3 f5 43. gxf6+ Kxf6 44. Ra8 Rf1+ 45. Ke3 Kg7 46. Ra7 Rf7 47. Ra1 g5 48. Rh1 Kg6 49. Rg1 Rf5 50. Ke4 Rf4+ 51. Ke3 Kf5 52. Rh1 g4 {A bit strange.} ({I wonder what Ruslan disliked about} 52... Re4+ 53. Kd3 g4 54. Rh8 Re1 {The thing is, Black promotes the pawn without his king's help after} 55. Kd2 Ra1 56. Rf8+ Ke4 57. Rf7 g3 58. Rxe7+ Kxd5 59. Rg7 g2) 53. Rh5+ Kg6 54. Rh4 Kg5 55. Rh7 Rf3+ 56. Ke2 Rf5 57. Ke3 {[#]} g3 $4 {A terrible oversight that cost Ukraine a match victory.} ( 57... Rxd5 58. Rxe7 Rf5 {followed by d6-d5 is ironclad, as the white king remains cut off from the action.}) 58. Rxe7 Kg4 (58... Rxd5 59. Rg7+ $1 (59. Ke4 $2 Kf6 $1 {Did Ponomariov count on that?}) 59... Kh4 60. Rg6 $1 {with Ke4 to follow is similar to the game. Of course,} Rg5 {is answered by} 61. Rh6+ $1 Kg4 {and only then} 62. Rxd6 $11) 59. Re4+ Kh3 60. Re6 Rxd5 61. Rh6+ Kg4 62. Rg6+ Kh4 63. Rh6+ $1 ({It's never too late to blow it:} 63. Ke4 $4 Rg5) 63... Kg5 64. Rh3 Kg4 65. Rh6 Rg5 66. Rxd6 Kh5 67. Rd8 $1 {Everything clicks for White.} g2 68. Rh8+ Kg6 69. Rg8+ Kf5 70. Rxg5+ Kxg5 71. Kf2 Kf4 72. Kxg2 Ke4 73. d5 1/2-1/2 [Event "11th World Teams Women"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2017.06.17"] [Round "1.4"] [White "Batsiashvili, Nino"] [Black "Vijayalakshmi, Subbaraman"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D23"] [WhiteElo "2469"] [BlackElo "2375"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "131"] [EventDate "2017.06.17"] [WhiteTeam "Georgia"] [BlackTeam "India"] [WhiteTeamCountry "GEO"] [BlackTeamCountry "IND"] 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 c6 4. Qc2 dxc4 5. Qxc4 Bg4 6. Nbd2 e6 7. g3 Nbd7 8. Bg2 Be7 9. O-O O-O 10. Qb3 Qb6 11. Nc4 Qa6 {This is all well known theory.} 12. Bd2 Nb6 13. Rfc1 Rfd8 14. e3 Bf5 $6 (14... Nxc4 15. Rxc4 Qb6 $14 {might have been the right way to go.}) 15. Ba5 (15. Na5 $1 $16 {was even stronger. The threat of Bf1 is extremely hard to meet.}) 15... Rd5 16. Bxb6 Rb5 17. Qd1 axb6 18. Nfe5 {White is still clearly better.} Be4 19. Bf1 Qa7 20. a4 (20. f3 Bg6 $14) 20... Rd5 21. Qb3 Bd8 {This is typical Viji. She defends inferior positions with all her might.} 22. Nd2 Ra5 23. Nxe4 Nxe4 24. Bg2 Nf6 $11 { At this pont Black has solved all the problems. The a4 pawn is hanging and overall she has a solid position.} 25. Qd3 (25. Qc3 $1 $11) 25... Rxa4 $1 { Viji calculates accurately.} 26. Rxa4 Qxa4 27. Nxc6 $2 {This was Batsiashvili's idea, but she misses out on Black's response a move later.} bxc6 28. Bxc6 Qa6 $1 {This is what the Georgian missed. The queen on d3 is hanging and White is just a piece down!} 29. Qxa6 Rxa6 30. Bb7 Ra7 $1 31. Rc8 Kf8 $1 { Accurate play by Viji.} 32. Rxd8+ Ke7 33. Rb8 Nd7 {And there you have it. The bishop is lost.} 34. Rg8 Rxb7 35. Rxg7 Nf6 {White has two pawns for the piece, but in no way is it sufficient.} 36. Rg5 Rc7 37. Rb5 Rc6 (37... Rc2 38. f3 (38. Rxb6 Ng4 $19 {was also possible.}) 38... Nd7 $19 (38... Re2 39. e4 Rd2 40. Rxb6 Rxd4 $19)) 38. Kg2 Kd6 39. Kf3 Kc7 40. g4 Rc2 41. h4 Nd5 42. e4 Kc6 43. Rb3 Nc7 44. h5 Nb5 45. Rb4 Nd6 46. g5 Rc4 (46... b5 {Followed by Nc4 would have been stronger and immediately ended the game.}) 47. Rxc4+ Nxc4 {Of course this knight ending is better for Black. But it is not so simple.} 48. b3 Nd2+ 49. Kf4 (49. Ke3 $5 Nxb3 50. f4 Kd6 51. f5 Ke7 52. d5 exf5 53. exf5 Na5 $19 { This should win.}) 49... Kd6 50. b4 Nc4 51. d5 b5 (51... exd5 52. exd5 Kxd5 53. Kf5 Nd6+ $1 54. Kf6 Ne4+ $19) 52. dxe6 Kxe6 53. h6 Ne5 {Black has absolutely everything under control.} 54. Kg3 Nc6 (54... f6 $1 55. f4 (55. gxf6 Nf7 $19) 55... fxg5 56. fxe5 Kxe5 57. Kg4 Kxe4 58. Kxg5 Ke5 $19) 55. f4 Ke7 (55... Nxb4 {I think this is the variation that scared Viji.} 56. f5+ Ke7 57. g6 $1 fxg6 58. fxg6 $18 {And there is no way to stop a white pawn from queening.}) 56. f5 Kf8 $1 {So far so good. Black is still in control.} 57. Kf4 Nxb4 58. Ke5 Na6 $4 {But why?} (58... Nc6+ $1 59. Kf6 (59. Kd6 b4 60. Kxc6 b3 $19 {White pawns are going nowhere.}) 59... b4 60. g6 fxg6 61. fxg6 Kg8 $19 {This is an absolute no brainer. Black king takes care of the kingside pawns and White is just lost.}) 59. Kd5 $2 (59. Kd6 $1 b4 60. g6 fxg6 61. fxg6 hxg6 (61... Kg8 62. e5 $18 { The knight on a6 is dominated.}) 62. e5 b3 63. e6 b2 64. e7+ Kf7 65. h7 b1=Q 66. e8=Q+ Kxe8 67. h8=Q+ $11) 59... Kg8 (59... b4 $1 $19) 60. e5 b4 (60... Nb4+ {This is the only move to win.} 61. Kc5 (61. Kd4 Nc6+ 62. Kd5 Ne7+ 63. Ke4 Nxf5 $1 64. Kxf5 b4 65. Ke4 Kf8 66. Kd4 Ke7 67. Kc4 Ke6 68. Kxb4 Kxe5 $19) 61... Nd3+ 62. Kd4 Nf4 $19) 61. Kd6 Kf8 $2 {The losing mistake.} (61... b3 62. e6 fxe6 63. fxe6 b2 64. e7 Kf7 65. g6+ hxg6 66. h7 b1=Q 67. e8=Q+ Kxe8 68. h8=Q+ $11 {It was important to play this variation and accept the draw.}) 62. e6 Nc7 63. Kxc7 fxe6 64. g6 hxg6 65. h7 Kg7 66. fxe6 {Suddenly the White pawns are reaching the finish line before Black. What an unbelievable win for Nino.} 1-0 [Event "11th World Teams Women"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2017.06.17"] [Round "1.1"] [White "Harika, Dronavalli"] [Black "Dzagnidze, Nana"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2535"] [BlackElo "2533"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "143"] [EventDate "2017.06.17"] [WhiteTeam "India"] [BlackTeam "Georgia"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IND"] [BlackTeamCountry "GEO"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 Nc6 7. g4 Nxd4 8. Qxd4 e5 9. Qd3 Be6 10. Bg2 Rc8 11. Be3 Be7 12. O-O-O Qa5 13. a3 Nd7 14. Nd5 Nc5 15. Qe2 Bxd5 16. Rxd5 O-O 17. Kb1 Qa4 18. f3 Ne6 19. Qd2 (19. h4 $1 Nf4 20. Bxf4 exf4 21. g5 $16) 19... Rfd8 20. Rd1 $6 (20. h4 $1 {It is very important to cover the g5 square.} Nc7 21. Rd3 d5 22. exd5 Nxd5 23. Bg5 $14) 20... h6 $1 {Excellent move by Dzagnidze. She is going to exchange the bishops with Bg5 and now h4 is no longer possible.} 21. Bf1 Bg5 22. Bxg5 hxg5 $15 {I would say, I already prefer Black.} 23. c3 (23. Rxd6 Rxd6 24. Qxd6 Qxc2+ 25. Ka2 Rd8 $19) 23... Rc6 24. Ka2 Rb6 25. b4 Rc8 26. Rc1 Qc6 27. Qb2 Nf4 $17 {Black is completely in control.} 28. Rd2 a5 29. b5 Qc5 30. a4 Qe3 31. c4 Qxf3 {Black has won a pawn and is well on her way to victory.} 32. Re1 Qg3 33. Red1 Ne6 34. Qa3 Qf4 35. Qc3 Ra8 36. Bd3 Qg3 37. Kb2 Qxh3 38. Rg1 Nd4 39. Be2 Qh2 40. Qe3 Rc8 41. Rg3 Qh6 42. Bf1 Qf6 $2 (42... d5 43. exd5 Qd6 $17) 43. Rh3 Re8 (43... Qxf1 44. Rdh2 Kf8 45. Rh8+ Ke7 46. Qxg5+ Kd7 47. Rxc8 Ne6 48. Qe3 Nc5 $11 { And somehow miraculously it's a draw according to the engine.}) 44. Rdh2 Kf8 45. Rf2 Qg6 46. Qd2 {The a5 pawn is falling.} d5 47. Qxa5 dxc4 $2 (47... Qd6 { was important. White is better, but Black is fighting.}) 48. Bxc4 $1 {Now it is game over. Harika's technique wasn't especially great, but was good enough for the full point.} f5 49. gxf5 Qd6 50. f6 Ne6 51. Rd2 Qc5 52. Rh8+ Kf7 53. Rxe8 Qxc4 54. fxg7 Nxg7 55. Red8 Rf6 56. Qc3 Qxe4 57. R8d7+ Kg6 58. Qc2 Qxc2+ 59. Rxc2 g4 60. Rxb7 g3 61. Rd7 e4 62. a5 Rf5 63. b6 Rxa5 64. b7 Rb5+ 65. Ka2 e3 66. Rc6+ Kh7 67. Rcc7 e2 68. Rxg7+ Kh6 69. Rh7+ Kg6 70. Rh1 g2 71. Rg1 Kf6 72. Rc6+ 1-0 [Event "11th World Teams 2017"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2017.06.17"] [Round "1.1"] [White "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"] [Black "Wojtaszek, Radoslaw"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A14"] [WhiteElo "2692"] [BlackElo "2730"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "53"] [EventDate "2017.06.17"] [WhiteTeam "India"] [BlackTeam "Poland"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IND"] [BlackTeamCountry "POL"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 e6 4. O-O Be7 5. c4 O-O 6. Ne5 $5 {A fresh idea! The knight moves again, but it opens up the bishop and also keeps an eye on the c4 pawn. White will try and follow it up with d4.} (6. d4 {is the normal move. But perhaps Vidit was tired of the 20-move theory!}) 6... c5 (6... Nbd7 7. d4 c6 8. Nc3 Nxe5 9. dxe5 Nd7 10. cxd5 exd5 11. f4 Re8 12. Be3 Bc5 13. Bxc5 Nxc5 14. Qd2 f6 15. exf6 Qxf6 16. b4 Ne4 17. Nxe4 dxe4 18. Qe3 a5 19. b5 cxb5 20. Qb3+ Kh8 21. Qxb5 Qd4+ 22. Kh1 Bg4 23. Rae1 Qd2 24. h3 Be6 25. a3 Qe3 26. Kh2 b6 27. f5 Bf7 28. f6 g6 29. Rc1 Kg8 30. Rc7 Rf8 31. Re7 Qxa3 32. Qg5 { 1-0 (32) Giri,A (2785)-So,W (2815) chess.com INT 2017}) 7. cxd5 exd5 8. e3 Qd6 $6 (8... Nc6 {would not have been such a bad idea. Perhaps Vidit would then go} 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. d3 $13 {And the idea could be to gang up on the d3 pawn.} Ba6 11. Qc2 {[%cal Gb1d2,Gd2b3]}) 9. d4 cxd4 $6 (9... Nc6 $11) 10. exd4 Be6 11. Nc3 $14 {The queen is not happy on d6. The bishop may come out to f4. White has harmonious development. Something has gone terribly wrong for Wojtaszek.} Qb6 12. Re1 Nc6 13. Na4 Qd8 14. Nxc6 bxc6 15. Bf4 $14 Re8 16. Rc1 Bd7 17. Nc5 Bf5 18. Re5 Bc8 (18... Bg6 19. Qa4 $16) 19. Qa4 Bd7 {Radoslaw has absolutely no idea about what he is doing.} 20. Nxd7 Nxd7 21. Re2 g5 22. Bd2 Nb6 23. Qxc6 { White has not only won a pawn, but the black kingside is also in ruins.} Rc8 24. Qh6 Rxc1+ 25. Bxc1 f6 26. Bh3 Bf8 27. Rxe8 {A fine win by Vidit, who made absolutely no errors.} (27. Rxe8 Qxe8 28. Qxf6 $1 Qe1+ 29. Kg2 Qxc1 30. Be6#) 1-0 [Event "11th World Teams 2017"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2017.06.17"] [Round "1.3"] [White "Karthikeyan, Murali"] [Black "Piorun, Kacper"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2582"] [BlackElo "2631"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "78"] [EventDate "2017.06.17"] [WhiteTeam "India"] [BlackTeam "Poland"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IND"] [BlackTeamCountry "POL"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. O-O Re8 7. Nbd2 a6 8. Ba4 Ba7 9. Re1 b5 10. Bb3 d6 11. Nf1 h6 12. a4 b4 13. a5 bxc3 14. bxc3 Ne7 15. Be3 Ng6 16. g3 d5 17. exd5 Nxd5 18. Bxa7 Rxa7 19. d4 e4 20. Qc2 f5 21. N3d2 c6 22. Ba4 Re6 23. Nb3 Nf8 24. Nc5 Rf6 25. Qb3 Re7 26. c4 Nc7 27. d5 Qd6 28. Qa3 cxd5 29. cxd5 Kh8 30. Ne3 $2 (30. Rec1 $1 Qxd5 31. Nxa6 $1 $18) 30... f4 $1 31. Nc4 Qxd5 $1 32. Nb6 Qf5 33. Nxc8 f3 $1 {Great play by Piorun. Qh3 is a deadly threat.} (33... Qxc8 34. Nxe4 $14 {was perhaps what Murali was expecting.}) 34. Kh1 Re5 $1 {You can bank on the World Champion of composing to find such moves. } 35. Rxe4 (35. Nb6 Qh3 36. Rg1 Qxh2+ 37. Kxh2 Rh5# {is a textbook mate.}) (35. Rg1 Rxc5 $19) 35... Qh3 36. Rg1 Rh5 37. Rh4 Rxh4 38. gxh4 Rg6 $1 39. Qa1 Rg2 { Piorun Kacper showed some great tactical vision to win the game.} 0-1 [Event "11th World Teams 2017"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2017.06.17"] [Round "1.2"] [White "Duda, Jan-Krzysztof"] [Black "Adhiban, Baskaran"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D46"] [WhiteElo "2697"] [BlackElo "2670"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "131"] [EventDate "2017.06.17"] [WhiteTeam "Poland"] [BlackTeam "India"] [WhiteTeamCountry "POL"] [BlackTeamCountry "IND"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Nf3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. Bd3 O-O 8. O-O dxc4 9. Bxc4 e5 10. h3 Qe7 11. Bb3 Bc7 12. Bd2 h6 13. Rad1 Re8 14. Nh4 Nf8 15. Nf5 Bxf5 16. Qxf5 e4 17. h4 Rad8 18. a3 Qd7 19. Qxd7 N8xd7 20. g3 Nb6 21. Kg2 h5 22. Rc1 g6 23. Rc2 Re7 24. Ba2 Bd6 25. Rb1 Red7 26. b4 Bf8 27. Kf1 a6 28. Ke2 Kg7 29. Be1 Re8 30. Rbb2 Ng4 31. Nb1 f5 32. Bb3 Nf6 33. Nd2 Nfd5 34. Rb1 Kf6 35. Ba2 {The position is around even and after some shuffling, the players would have agreed to a draw I guess. But Adhiban wanted more.} g5 $6 {Nothing positive happens in the position with this move for Black. He is just left with an isolated h5 pawn.} 36. hxg5+ Kxg5 37. Nb3 Nf6 38. Bd2 Rh7 39. Na5 Ree7 40. Rh1 h4 41. gxh4+ Rxh4 42. Rxh4 Kxh4 43. Rc1 Kg5 44. Rh1 Bg7 45. Nb3 Nbd5 46. Nc5 f4 $6 {Once again Adhiban forces the issue.} 47. Rg1+ (47. exf4+ Nxf4+ 48. Bxf4+ Kxf4 49. Rg1 Kf5 50. Be6+ $18) 47... Kf5 48. exf4 Bh6 49. Bb1 $1 { A great move by Duda.} b6 (49... Nxf4+ 50. Kf1 $1 $18 {Everything is badly pinned.} Nh3 51. Bxh6 Nxg1 52. Kxg1 $16 {White should win this.}) (49... Bxf4 50. f3 $1 Bxd2 51. Kxd2 $18) 50. Nxe4 $1 Bxf4 (50... Rxe4+ 51. Kd1 $1 {There is no way to stop f3.}) 51. Kd1 $1 (51. f3 {was also strong.}) 51... Bxd2 52. Ng5+ $1 Ne4 (52... Kf4 53. Nh3+ Kf3 54. Rg3#) 53. Bxe4+ Rxe4 54. Nxe4 Kxe4 55. Kxd2 {The rest is just a matter of technique.} Kxd4 56. Rg4+ Ke5 57. Rg6 Nf6 58. Kd3 Kf5 59. Rg7 Ng4 60. Kd4 Ne5 61. Ra7 c5+ 62. bxc5 Nc6+ 63. Kd5 Nxa7 64. cxb6 Nc8 65. b7 Ne7+ 66. Kc5 1-0 [Event "FIDE World Team Championship"] [Site "?"] [Date "2017.06.17"] [Round "1.3"] [White "Karthikeyan, Murali"] [Black "Piorun, Kacper"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2582"] [BlackElo "2632"] [PlyCount "78"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "India"] [BlackTeam "Poland"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IND"] [BlackTeamCountry "POL"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. O-O Re8 7. Nbd2 a6 8. Ba4 Ba7 9. Re1 b5 10. Bb3 d6 11. Nf1 h6 12. a4 b4 13. a5 bxc3 14. bxc3 Ne7 15. Be3 Ng6 16. g3 d5 17. exd5 Nxd5 18. Bxa7 Rxa7 19. d4 e4 20. Qc2 f5 21. N3d2 c6 22. Ba4 Re6 23. Nb3 Nf8 24. Nc5 Rf6 25. Qb3 Re7 26. c4 Nc7 27. d5 Qd6 28. Qa3 cxd5 29. cxd5 Kh8 30. Ne3 f4 31. Nc4 Qxd5 32. Nb6 Qf5 33. Nxc8 f3 34. Kh1 Re5 $1 { Piorun attacks the knight on c5 and prepares many mates.} (34... Qh3 $2 35. Rg1 Re5 36. g4 $1 {is the wrong move order. White keeps the extra knight and has staved off mate.} (36. Nxe4 $4 Qxh2+ $1 37. Kxh2 Rh5# {is pretty classic.})) 35. Rxe4 (35. Rg1 $1 Rxc5 {was White's only way to avoid mate or catastrophic material loss, but this is also pretty horrible.}) 35... Qh3 36. Rg1 Rh5 37. Rh4 Rxh4 38. gxh4 Rg6 $1 {Removing the defender of g2 forces mate in four.} 39. Qa1 Rg2 {Mate on h2 or g2 can only be delayed slightly with spite checks.} 0-1 [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2017.06.18"] [Round "2.1"] [White "Wojtaszek, Radoslaw"] [Black "Shankland, Samuel L"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2730"] [BlackElo "2676"] [PlyCount "49"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Poland"] [BlackTeam "United States"] [WhiteTeamCountry "POL"] [BlackTeamCountry "USA"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 c6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bg2 d5 6. Nbd2 O-O 7. O-O a5 8. b3 Ne4 9. e3 Bg4 10. Ba3 b5 11. cxd5 cxd5 12. Qc1 b4 13. Bb2 Na6 $6 (13... Nd6 { Simply pulling the knight back from e4 (to d6 or f6) made a lot of sense.}) 14. Nxe4 dxe4 15. Ng5 e5 $6 (15... f5 $4 16. Qc4+) 16. Nxe4 exd4 17. Bxd4 Bxd4 18. exd4 Qxd4 19. Qg5 {Black is suffering from a terrible case of LPDO. The dark squares, rook on a8, and bishop on g4 are are all vulnerable.} Be2 20. Rfe1 Rac8 21. Rac1 $2 (21. Qf6 $1 {was surprisingly just over.} Qd3 (21... Qxf6 22. Nxf6+ Kg7 23. Rxe2 Kxf6 24. Bb7 {wins the exchange.}) 22. Qe5 $1 {with winning threats of Nf6+ and Rxe2.}) 21... Qb2 $2 (21... Rxc1 $1 22. Qxc1 Bd3 23. Rd1 Kg7 $1 {is bad for Black, but is not clearly lost. The computer suggests ...} 24. g4 $3 {stopping f5 (incredible prophylaxis) and keeping a possibly winning edge as Black can't untangle.}) 22. Rxc8 Rxc8 23. Nd6 Rf8 24. Qe7 Bh5 25. Bd5 { f7 just falls. ...Qg7 allows Ne8 or Nxf7 for starters.} 1-0 [Event "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2017.06.18"] [Round "2.2"] [White "Adhiban, Baskaran"] [Black "Yu, Yangyi"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C25"] [WhiteElo "2670"] [BlackElo "2749"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "88"] [EventDate "2017.06.17"] [WhiteTeam "India"] [BlackTeam "China"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IND"] [BlackTeamCountry "CHN"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 {This is the same line with which Adhiban had beaten Andreikin at the Tata Steel 2017.} Bc5 4. Bg2 a6 5. Nge2 d6 6. O-O Nge7 7. Nd5 O-O 8. c3 Nxd5 9. exd5 Ne7 10. d4 exd4 11. Nxd4 Nf5 12. Nf3 Qf6 {Black has been able to get a decent position out of the opening. That being said Adhiban wouldn't have been too upset with his position as well. He has the space and good development.} 13. b4 Ba7 14. Bb2 Re8 15. Qd2 Qh6 16. Rfe1 Bd7 17. Qxh6 Nxh6 18. h3 $6 (18. c4 $11 Ng4 19. Bd4 $11 {I don't see anything wrong with White's position.}) 18... Nf5 {Now the g3 pawn is hanging.} 19. Nd4 Bxd4 20. cxd4 {White structure has been ruined.} a5 21. Rec1 Rec8 22. bxa5 Rxa5 23. Bc3 Ra4 24. Rab1 b6 {The d4 and a2 pawns are weak, while Black has only one weakness right now -c7.} 25. Rb2 h5 (25... Nxd4 26. Bxd4 Rxd4 27. Rbc2 { recovers the pawn.}) 26. Bf3 Nxd4 27. Bxd4 Rxd4 28. Rbc2 Bxh3 29. Rxc7 Ra8 30. R1c6 h4 $1 {A nice move by Yu Yangyi, softening up the white king.} 31. Kh2 $6 (31. gxh4 Rxa2 32. Rxb6 {White had decent chances for a draw.}) 31... Bf5 $1 32. gxh4 Rxh4+ 33. Kg3 Rh3+ 34. Kg2 Rh6 35. Kg3 Rxa2 36. Rxb6 Rg6+ (36... Ra3 $1 $19) 37. Kf4 Rf6 38. Rb4 Ra3 39. Kg3 Be4 40. Rxe4 Raxf3+ 41. Kg4 Rxf2 { Black is now two pawns up and confidently converts.} 42. Rc3 Rg6+ 43. Kh3 Rh6+ 44. Kg3 Rf5 {Maybe Adhiban could have fought on for a bit, but the endgame is just hopeless.} 0-1 [Event "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2017.06.18"] [Round "2.1"] [White "Ding, Liren"] [Black "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2783"] [BlackElo "2692"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "102"] [EventDate "2017.06.17"] [WhiteTeam "China"] [BlackTeam "India"] [WhiteTeamCountry "CHN"] [BlackTeamCountry "IND"] 1. Nf3 c5 2. e4 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 e6 7. g4 Be7 8. g5 Nfd7 9. Be3 b5 10. a3 Bb7 11. h4 Nc6 12. Rg1 Nc5 13. f3 O-O 14. Qd2 Rb8 15. h5 Qc7 16. Qh2 Nxd4 17. Bxd4 e5 18. Be3 f5 19. gxf6 Bxf6 20. O-O-O Ne6 21. Kb1 Nf4 22. Bh3 Bc6 23. Bxf4 exf4 24. Be6+ Kh8 25. Nd5 Bxd5 26. Bxd5 b4 27. a4 Qe7 28. Qd2 Qe5 29. Qc1 h6 30. Bb3 Qxh5 31. Rg4 Qe5 32. Rd5 Qe7 33. Ra5 Qa7 34. Rxf4 Be5 35. Rh4 Rxf3 36. Rxa6 Qe7 37. Rh1 Rc8 38. Qd2 Qf6 39. Ka2 Rb8 40. Qd5 Kh7 41. Ra8 Qd8 42. Ra7 Qb6 43. Rd7 Qe3 44. a5 Qe2 45. Qe6 Qe3 46. a6 Ra8 47. Kb1 Rff8 48. Qc4 Rfc8 (48... Qb6 $1 {Would have given Vidit a chance to continue playing for a win.} 49. Qe6 Rf6 50. Qc4 (50. Qg4 Rg6 $19) 50... d5 $1 {A strong move opening up the rook on f6 to look at the a6 pawn.} (50... Qxa6 51. Qxa6 Rxa6 $17 {is also a pleasant endgame.}) 51. Qxd5 (51. exd5 Qxa6 $1 52. Qxa6 Rfxa6 {is just winning.}) 51... Qxa6 52. Rxg7+ Kxg7 53. Rg1+ Rg6 54. Qxe5+ Kh7 55. Qe7+ Kh8 56. Qe5+ Qf6 57. Qxf6+ Rxf6 $17 {And Black has chances to win this.}) 49. Qf1 Rf8 50. Qc4 Rfc8 51. Qf1 Rf8 {Vidit doesn't risk it and the game ends in a draw.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2017.06.18"] [Round "2.3"] [White "Nemcova, Katerina"] [Black "Padmini, Rout"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A45"] [WhiteElo "2313"] [BlackElo "2375"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "99"] [EventDate "2017.06.17"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackTeam "India"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "IND"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 e6 3. e3 d5 4. Nf3 c5 5. c3 Nc6 6. Nbd2 cxd4 7. cxd4 Qb6 8. Qb3 Qxb3 9. Nxb3 Nh5 10. Bg5 f6 11. Bh4 g5 12. Bg3 Nxg3 13. hxg3 Kf7 14. Rc1 Bd6 15. a3 Ne7 16. Bd3 b6 17. Ke2 g4 18. Ne1 h5 19. Kd2 Bd7 20. Rc3 Rh6 21. Nc1 b5 22. b4 a5 23. Nc2 axb4 24. axb4 Ra4 25. Be2 e5 26. Nd3 Rh8 27. Nc5 Bxc5 28. Rxc5 Ra2 29. Kc3 Bf5 30. Bd3 Ke6 31. Rxb5 Bxd3 32. Kxd3 Nf5 33. Ra5 Ra8 34. Rxa2 Rxa2 35. Rxh5 Nd6 36. dxe5 fxe5 37. f4 gxf3 38. gxf3 {Padmini is two pawns down. But she is fighting hard.} Rb2 39. Rh6+ Kd7 40. Kc3 Rb1 41. g4 Rf1 42. Rh3 Nb5+ 43. Kb2 d4 44. exd4 exd4 {Somehow thanks to the d-pawn Black has managed to keep some counterplay.} 45. Rh5 Kc6 46. Rc5+ Kb6 47. Rd5 Kc6 48. Rc5+ Kb6 49. Rd5 (49. g5 d3 (49... Rxf3 50. Rxb5+ $18) 50. Ne3 Rxf3 51. Nc4+ Ka6 52. Rc6+ Ka7 {The position will mostly end in a draw, but at least White is trying.}) 49... Kc6 50. Rc5+ {Accepting a draw was like suicide. USA was 2. 0-1.0 down in the match and went on to lose 2.5-1.5.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2017.06.18"] [Round "2.2"] [White "Tania, Sachdev"] [Black "Foisor, Sabina-Francesca"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D37"] [WhiteElo "2408"] [BlackElo "2331"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "101"] [EventDate "2017.06.17"] [WhiteTeam "India"] [BlackTeam "United States"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IND"] [BlackTeamCountry "USA"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Qc2 $5 {This is an interesting idea. But I do not think that developing your queen to c2 can be better than 5.Bg5 or 5.Bf4 lines.} O-O 6. cxd5 exd5 7. Bf4 {Tania wants to go for an original position.} c6 (7... c5 {Because White has developed his queen to c2, I am inclined to open up the position with this move. That being said, Sabina's move is perfectly fine.}) 8. e3 Nh5 9. Be5 Nd7 10. Bd3 g6 $1 {This is entire cohesive system of development for Black.} 11. O-O-O $5 {Tania spices it up.} Nxe5 12. Nxe5 Ng7 {I like Black's position quite a bit. Not only does she have the double bishops, White's attacking chances are not so great on the kingside. } 13. h3 Bf5 $1 {I like this move. Usually the exchange of light squared bishops helps Black to equalize the position.} (13... f6 14. Nf3 Be6 15. g4 b5 {White's attacking runs through pretty quickly here.} 16. Rdg1 Qd7 17. h4 b4 ( 17... Bxg4 18. Bxg6 $18) 18. Na4 Bxg4 19. Bxg6 Bxf3 20. Bxh7+ Kh8 21. Qg6 $16) 14. g4 Bxd3 15. Nxd3 {I think Black has equalized.} a5 (15... Bh4 {[%cal Gg7e8, Ge8d6] I really like this move. It stops h4. Next up is the knight coming from e8-d6 where it will be perfectly stationed.}) 16. Kb1 b5 17. h4 $1 {Now Tania's attack runs faster than Black's.} h6 18. f4 $1 {Black's idea with b5-a5 has backfired as there are no hooks on the queenside. On the kingside the pawns h6 and g6, give White ample opportunity to open lines.} a4 19. f5 g5 20. hxg5 Bxg5 21. e4 $1 {And after this point, it is clear that Black is struggling.} a3 (21... dxe4 22. Nxe4 $18) 22. b3 Re8 23. e5 f6 24. Ne2 Rc8 25. Qc5 (25. e6 $18 {creating a strong passer is the human way to play. With the e6 pawn, c5 square, Black is just lost.}) 25... Qe7 26. Qxe7 Rxe7 27. b4 h5 28. gxh5 Nxf5 29. Rdf1 Ne3 30. exf6 Nxf1 31. fxe7 Nd2+ 32. Kc2 Kf7 $6 (32... Ne4 { was a better try.} 33. Nc3 Bxe7 (33... Nxc3 34. Kxc3 Bxe7 35. Rg1+ Kh7 36. Rg6 $16) 34. Re1 $16 {White is better, but Black is fighting.}) 33. Nef4 (33. Ne5+ Kxe7 34. h6 Kf6 35. h7 Rh8 36. Ng3 Nc4 37. Nh5+ Ke6 38. Ng6 Rxh7 39. Nf8+ $18) 33... Ne4 34. Ng6 Bxe7 35. Nde5+ Ke6 36. h6 {The h-pawn just runs through.} Nf6 37. Nxe7 Kxe7 38. h7 Nxh7 39. Rxh7+ {Tania wins a piece and the rest is just easy.} Ke6 40. Rh6+ Kf5 41. Rxc6 Rh8 42. Rc3 Ke4 43. Nc6 Ra8 44. Kb3 Ra6 45. Rc5 Kd3 46. Ne7 Rb6 47. Nxd5 Rb8 48. Nc3 Kxd4 49. Nxb5+ Kd3 50. Kxa3 Ke4 51. Kb3 {Sabina played well in the opening. When she had to improve her pieces with Bh4 and Ne8-d6, she went for a queenside attack which proved to be incorrect. Tania was pretty much ruthless after that point.} 1-0 [Event "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2017.06.18"] [Round "2.4"] [White "Vijayalakshmi, Subbaraman"] [Black "Gorti, Akshita"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E00"] [WhiteElo "2375"] [BlackElo "2240"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "52"] [EventDate "2017.06.17"] [WhiteTeam "India"] [BlackTeam "United States"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IND"] [BlackTeamCountry "USA"] 1. d4 e6 2. c4 Nf6 3. a3 b6 4. Nc3 Bb7 5. Nf3 d5 6. Bg5 Be7 7. Qa4+ Qd7 8. Qc2 dxc4 9. e3 Bxf3 10. gxf3 b5 11. Bxf6 gxf6 12. a4 c6 13. axb5 cxb5 14. Qe4 Nc6 15. Nxb5 Rb8 16. Nc3 Rxb2 {Black is already better after the opening.} 17. Bxc4 f5 18. Qf4 Bb4 19. Rc1 Rg8 $1 {Akshita plays well and White is almost lost.} 20. Bd3 e5 21. Qh6 exd4 22. Qxh7 {[%cal Gc6e7]} Rg6 (22... Ne7 {was the finishing shot. Mainly because the knight on c4 is hanging, so the d4 pawn must be taken.} 23. exd4 Qxd4 24. Bb5+ Kd8 $19 {Now there is absolutely no way to continue the game.}) 23. Qh8+ Ke7 24. Qh4+ Ke8 (24... Rf6 $19 25. exd4 Nxd4 {The position is just lost.}) 25. Qh8+ Ke7 26. Qh4+ Ke8 1/2-1/2 [Event "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2017.06.18"] [Round "2.3"] [White "Wei, Yi"] [Black "Sasikiran, Krishnan"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C84"] [WhiteElo "2728"] [BlackElo "2669"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "112"] [EventDate "2017.06.17"] [WhiteTeam "China"] [BlackTeam "India"] [WhiteTeamCountry "CHN"] [BlackTeamCountry "IND"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a4 b4 9. a5 O-O 10. Nbd2 Rb8 11. h3 Be6 12. Nc4 h6 13. Re1 Qc8 14. Be3 Rd8 15. Qe2 Bf8 16. Nfd2 Re8 17. Ba4 Bd7 18. Qf3 Kh7 19. Nf1 {White is clearly pushing at this point. But Sasikiran has made sure that he is not let the advantage slip too much.} Ne7 20. Bxd7 Qxd7 21. Ng3 Ng6 22. d4 $6 {From here on the fireworks begin.} Qc6 $1 23. b3 Nh4 {A great move by Sasi.} 24. Qe2 Nxe4 $1 {Boldly taking the pawn.} 25. dxe5 Nc3 26. Qf1 (26. Qd3+ g6 27. exd6 Qxg2# {just in case you missed it.}) 26... d5 27. Nd2 Rxe5 $17 {Black is just a simple pawn up.} 28. Qd3+ Kg8 29. Qd4 Qf6 30. Qg4 Rbe8 31. Ndf1 Nf5 (31... c5 {Black has completely dominating position and for a player of Sasikiran's calibre this should be pretty easy to win.}) 32. Nxf5 Qxf5 $6 {Settling for a little too less!} (32... h5 $1 33. Qxh5 Rxf5 34. Qg4 Re4 35. Qg3 d4 36. Bd2 Ne2+ $19 { White is unconditionally busted.}) (32... Rxf5 33. Bd4 $16) 33. Qxf5 Rxf5 34. Bd4 Re6 35. Ne3 Rh5 36. g4 $1 {Smart play by Wei Yi. Sacrificing another pawn to trap the black rook.} Rxh3 37. Kg2 Rh4 (37... Rhxe3 38. Rxe3 Rxe3 39. Bxe3 f6 $11 {would be have been a round about even position.}) 38. Bxc3 bxc3 39. Kg3 g5 40. Ng2 Bd6+ 41. f4 Rf6 42. Rf1 (42. Nxh4 gxh4+ 43. Kxh4 Rxf4 {is fine for Black.}) 42... d4 43. Rad1 c5 (43... Rxf4 44. Nxf4 h5 $1 {This is an easy move to miss!} 45. Rxd4 Rxg4+ 46. Kf3 Bxf4 {And if anyone is better, it is Black.}) 44. b4 cxb4 45. Rxd4 b3 46. cxb3 c2 47. Rc1 Ba3 48. Rxc2 Rh1 {Miraculously the rook has escaped from its h4 prison!} 49. Rc8+ Kg7 50. Rdd8 Re6 51. Re8 Rb1 52. Rxe6 fxe6 53. Rc6 Rxb3+ 54. Kf2 Rb5 55. fxg5 hxg5 56. Rxa6 Bb4 {Sasi played well, but in the early middlegame he was completely winning.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Khanty-Mansyisk"] [Site "Khanty-Mansyisk"] [Date "2017.06.18"] [Round "2"] [White "Gaponenko, Inna"] [Black "Lei, Tingjie"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2429"] [BlackElo "2488"] [Annotator "AlexYermo"] [PlyCount "101"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Nc5 b6 6. Nb3 Nf6 7. Nf3 e6 8. g3 Bd6 9. Bg2 Qc7 10. Nbd2 b5 11. a4 Nbd7 12. O-O O-O 13. Re1 Rac8 14. c3 Rfe8 15. Qb3 a6 16. axb5 axb5 17. Nh4 Bg4 18. Ne4 Nxe4 19. Rxe4 Bh5 20. Re1 Nb6 21. Nf3 Nc4 22. Nd2 Nxd2 23. Bxd2 $14 Ra8 $2 (23... Qd7 24. Ra6 Bg6 25. c4 Bf8) 24. Rxa8 Rxa8 25. c4 $1 bxc4 26. Qxc4 Qb6 27. Qxc6 Qxc6 28. Bxc6 Ra2 29. Bc3 h6 30. Kg2 Bg6 31. d5 exd5 32. Bxd5 Ra4 33. h4 Kh7 34. Bf3 {[#]The game is in the technical stage, but it would still be tough for White to win if it wasn't for the following tactical exchange.} Bb4 $2 {Almost anything else would have been better, but Lei wanted to trade a pair of bishop and attack the b2-pawn.} 35. h5 $1 Bf5 36. Be4 $1 g6 (36... Bxc3 37. Bxf5+ g6 38. hxg6+ fxg6 39. Bxg6+ Kxg6 40. bxc3) 37. hxg6+ fxg6 (37... Kxg6 38. Bxf5+ Kxf5 39. Re5+ $1 Kg6 40. Re4 Bxc3 41. Rxa4 Bxb2 {is a simple matter of technique.}) 38. Bxf5 gxf5 {Black managed to keep the e4-square covered, but the white rook has a backup plan.} 39. b3 $1 Ra3 (39... Bxc3 40. Re7+) 40. Bxb4 {and it's all over.} Rxb3 41. Bd2 Rb6 42. Re7+ Kg6 43. Bc3 Rc6 44. Be5 Kh5 45. Kh3 Rc5 46. f3 Rc6 47. g4+ fxg4+ 48. fxg4+ Kg5 49. Rg7+ Rg6 50. Rxg6+ Kxg6 51. Kh4 1-0 [Event "World Team-ch 2017"] [Site "Khanty-Mansyisk"] [Date "2017.06.18"] [Round "2"] [White "Matlakov, Maxim"] [Black "Can, Emre"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2707"] [BlackElo "2589"] [Annotator "AlexYermo"] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. h3 O-O 6. Be3 e5 7. d5 Na6 8. Nf3 Nc5 9. Nd2 a5 10. Be2 ({I always liked} 10. a3 {better. Kaidanov-Watson, 1989 went} Ne8 11. b4 axb4 12. axb4 Rxa1 13. Qxa1 Na6 14. Qa3 f5 15. Nb3) 10... Bd7 11. g4 c6 12. h4 cxd5 13. cxd5 Rc8 14. f3 a4 15. Rc1 b5 16. Kf2 b4 17. Ncb1 Ne8 18. h5 {[#]} Bf6 {Can settles on a conservative plan.} (18... f5 $5 19. hxg6 fxg4 20. gxh7+ Kh8 {would be a very exciting course of events.}) 19. Kg2 ({Perhaps, Matlakov rejected the natural} 19. Nc4 {on account of} Bh4+ 20. Kg2 gxh5 { and here White has to go for} (20... Bg5 $6 21. Bxg5 Qxg5 22. Qd2 {is what White would love to see.}) 21. Nxe5 $1 ({Indeed, the automatic recapture} 21. gxh5 {lands White is big trouble after} Kh8) 21... dxe5 22. Rxc5 (22. Bxc5 hxg4 23. fxg4 Qf6 $15) 22... hxg4 23. fxg4 Rxc5 24. Bxc5 Be7 $13 {White may have the winnng pawn structure for a possible endgame, but as Dr. Tarrasch has famously said, the chess gods invented the middlegame before the endgame.}) 19... Bg5 20. Qg1 h6 21. hxg6 fxg6 22. Nc4 Bb5 23. Nbd2 $14 Rc7 24. Qf2 Qf6 25. Bxg5 Qxg5 26. Qh4 Qxh4 27. Rxh4 Kg7 {[#] One would expect the newly crowned European Champion to scrape a technical win out of this, but White has to deal with his share of tactical problems.} 28. Rch1 (28. Kf2 {suggests itself, but then comes} Bxc4 29. Rxc4 (29. Bxc4 $2 Nd3+) (29. Nxc4 $2 Nxe4+) 29... Rf4 30. Rh1 Nf6 31. Ke3 Rc8 32. Rhc1 (32. Rxb4 $2 Nxd5+) 32... g5 33. Nf1 h5 {with counterplay.}) 28... Rh8 29. Kf2 Nb7 30. Ke3 Nf6 31. g5 Nh5 32. gxh6+ Rxh6 33. f4 $5 {A good try, but it also gets turned back by clever tactics.} exf4+ 34. Kd4 Bxc4 35. Nxc4 Ng3 $1 36. Rxh6 Nxe2+ 37. Kd3 Nc1+ 38. Kd4 {Matlakov accepts the inevitable.} (38. Kd2 $2 Rxc4 39. Rh7+ Kf6 40. Rxb7 b3 {Only Black can be better here.}) 38... Ne2+ 39. Kd3 Nc1+ 40. Kd4 Ne2+ 41. Kd3 1/2-1/2 [Event "World Team-ch Women 2017"] [Site "Khanty-Mansyisk"] [Date "2017.06.18"] [Round "2"] [White "Nemcova, Katerina"] [Black "Padmini, Rout"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2313"] [BlackElo "2375"] [Annotator "AlexYermo"] [PlyCount "99"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 e6 3. e3 d5 4. Nf3 c5 5. c3 Nc6 6. Nbd2 cxd4 7. cxd4 Qb6 8. Qb3 Qxb3 9. Nxb3 Nh5 10. Bg5 f6 11. Bh4 g5 12. Bg3 Nxg3 13. hxg3 Kf7 14. Rc1 Bd6 15. a3 Ne7 16. Bd3 b6 17. Ke2 g4 18. Ne1 h5 19. Kd2 Bd7 20. Rc3 Rh6 21. Nc1 b5 22. b4 a5 23. Nc2 axb4 24. axb4 Ra4 25. Be2 e5 26. Nd3 Rh8 27. Nc5 Bxc5 28. Rxc5 Ra2 29. Kc3 Bf5 30. Bd3 Ke6 31. Rxb5 Bxd3 32. Kxd3 Nf5 33. Ra5 Ra8 34. Rxa2 Rxa2 35. Rxh5 Nd6 36. dxe5 fxe5 37. f4 gxf3 38. gxf3 Rb2 39. Rh6+ Kd7 40. Kc3 Rb1 41. g4 Rf1 42. Rh3 Nb5+ 43. Kb2 d4 44. exd4 exd4 {[#] [#] Relatively smooth sailing by Nemcova up to this point.} 45. Rh5 {This move sure looked good, but there were some unforeseen problems.} (45. Na3 $142 $1) 45... Kc6 46. Rc5+ Kb6 47. Rd5 $2 {It seems strange to repeat moves, especially since Katerina's team was losing by one point.} ({However, there was no win to be found anywhere.} 47. g5 Rf2 48. Kc1 d3 (48... Rxf3 $2 49. Rxb5+) 49. Ne3 Nd4 50. Nc4+ ({or} 50. g6 Nb3+ 51. Kb1 Nd2+ 52. Kb2 Nc4+) 50... Ka6 51. Nd2 Nxf3 52. Nxf3 Rxf3 53. Kd2 Rg3 54. Kc3 Kb6 55. Rf5 Kc7 56. Rf7+ Kd6 57. Rg7 Kc6 58. g6 Kb5 59. Rg8 Kb6 60. b5 Kb7 {and White can no longer improve her position.}) 47... Kc6 48. Rc5+ Kb6 49. Rd5 Kc6 50. Rc5+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "World Team-ch Women 2017"] [Site "Khanty-Mansyisk"] [Date "2017.06.18"] [Round "2"] [White "Nguyen, Thi Mai Hung"] [Black "Gunina, Valentina"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2301"] [BlackElo "2504"] [Annotator "AlexYermo"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. e3 b6 4. Bd3 Bb7 5. O-O d5 6. b3 Be7 7. Bb2 O-O 8. Ne5 c5 9. Nd2 Nbd7 10. Qf3 Qc7 11. Qh3 h6 12. f4 cxd4 13. exd4 Nxe5 14. fxe5 Ne4 15. Rad1 Bg5 16. Nb1 {[#] True to her uncompromising style, Gunina enters wild complications.} b5 $5 17. Ba3 Rfc8 18. Bxb5 $2 {White didn't have to do this, but the Veitnamese player counted on hitting the f7-pawn.} Qxc2 $1 19. Qf3 Kh8 $1 (19... f5 20. Bd7 Re8 $15) 20. Kh1 (20. Qxf7 Be3+ 21. Kh1 Rc7) 20... Qxa2 $5 ({Safer was} 20... Bc6 21. Ba6 Rc7 22. Bd6 Qxa2 23. Bxc7 Qxa6 $17) 21. Qxf7 { [#]} Be3 $2 {One move that can be criticized.} (21... Qxb3 22. Bd7 Ba6 23. Bxc8 Rxc8 {seems dangerous on account of} 24. Bf8 {but then comes} Qb7 25. Bxg7+ Kh7 26. Qxb7 Bxb7 27. Bf6 (27. Rf7 Kg6 28. Rxb7 Nf2+) 27... Ba6 {winning back the exchange.}) 22. Bd3 $2 (22. Qxb7 Qxb3 23. Qa6 Nf2+ 24. Rxf2 Bxf2 25. Be2 $14 { would allow White to regain coordination of her pieces.}) 22... Qxb3 23. Qf3 Nf2+ 24. Rxf2 Bxf2 25. Rf1 Bxd4 {[#] Gunina's bold play has brought her material gains, but she had to see deeper.} 26. Qg3 {How does Black stop Qg3-g6?} Ba6 $1 {The only way!} 27. Bxa6 Qxg3 28. hxg3 Rcb8 {Black stands better now.} 29. Bd6 Rb6 30. Be2 a5 31. Na3 Bb2 32. Nb5 a4 33. Rb1 Bd4 $1 ( 33... a3 $2 34. Nxa3) (33... Rxb5 34. Bxb5 a3 35. Bxa3 Bxa3 36. Bd7 $11) 34. Rd1 (34. Bd3 $142 Be3 35. Ra1) 34... Bf2 35. Nc7 Rc8 36. Kh2 Rb3 {Action against the white king!} 37. Bd3 a3 $19 38. g4 a2 39. Bg6 Bg3+ 40. Kg1 Rcb8 0-1 [Event "World Team-ch Women 2017"] [Site "Khanty-Mansyisk"] [Date "2017.06.18"] [Round "2"] [White "Tan, Zhongyi"] [Black "Zhukova, Natalia"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2517"] [BlackElo "2449"] [Annotator "AlexYermo"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] 1. c4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. e3 Qa5 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. Rc1 Nxc3 9. bxc3 Ba3 10. Rc2 b6 11. Be2 Ba6 12. O-O Bxe2 13. Qxe2 O-O 14. Rd1 Rfe8 15. Bf4 Rac8 16. c4 Bf8 17. e4 c5 18. d5 e5 19. Bc1 Qa4 20. Rd3 Nf6 21. Ne1 g6 22. Rb3 Qd7 23. Nd3 Nh5 24. h3 Bd6 25. Qg4 {[#] Tan has emerged with a stable advantage based on superior pawn structure, and, naturally, White is seeking a queen trade.} f5 $1 {A great reply from Zhukova.} 26. exf5 Nf6 ({ After the simple recapture} 26... Qxf5 {White is unable to stop e5-e4, and her advantage is very much in doubt.}) 27. Qh4 Qxf5 $2 {Now this is a fatal mistake } (27... e4 $8 28. Nf4 Qxf5 29. Re2 b5 $3 (29... g5 $2 30. Rg3) 30. Rxb5 g5 31. g4 Qe5 32. Qh6 {[#] What a mess. Don't ask me what's going on here, the only thing I can see is that} Bf8 {doesn't win the queen on account of} 33. Ng6 $3) 28. g4 $1 Qf3 29. Ne1 Qd1 {That queen is not coming back home.} 30. Kf1 Nxd5 31. Rd3 $18 {And I'll skip the rest of the moves.} Qxd3+ 32. Nxd3 e4 33. Ne1 Nb4 34. Re2 Nc6 35. g5 Nd4 36. Rxe4 Rf8 37. Rxd4 cxd4 38. Qxd4 Bc5 39. Qd5+ Rf7 40. Nd3 Kf8 41. Nxc5 bxc5 42. Bf4 Kg8 43. Be3 1-0 [Event "11th World Teams Women"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2017.06.19"] [Round "3.2"] [White "Gaponenko, Inna"] [Black "Tania, Sachdev"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B41"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "165"] [EventDate "2017.06.17"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. c4 Nf6 6. Nc3 Qc7 7. a3 b6 8. Be3 Bb7 9. f3 d6 10. Be2 Be7 11. O-O O-O 12. Rc1 Nbd7 {We have another Hedgehog, this time through the Paulsen Sicilian.} 13. Qe1 Rac8 14. Qf2 Qb8 15. b4 Bd8 { Tania follows the same plan that was used by Adhiban.} 16. Na4 Ne5 $6 {I did not really like this move by Tania. The c4 pawn is well defended. And there does not really seem to be any point of moving the knight to e5.} (16... Bc7 17. Kh1 (17. Nb3 d5 $1 $17) 17... Rfe8 18. Nb3 d5 $1 $11) 17. Rfd1 Nfd7 18. f4 Ng6 19. f5 $5 {While this seems interesting, it gives up the e5 square.} Nge5 20. Qg3 Bxe4 $6 (20... Re8 {seemed like a safer move.} 21. Bh6 Bf6 $15) 21. fxe6 fxe6 22. Nxe6 Rf7 23. Nc3 {Overall White has the better structure, and more active pieces, and Black's entire concept of the hedgehog has gone wrong.} Bf5 24. Nxd8 Rxd8 25. c5 $6 (25. Bh5 $16) 25... bxc5 26. bxc5 dxc5 27. Bf4 Re8 28. Bxa6 Qa7 29. Nb5 Qxa6 30. Nc7 Qc8 31. Nxe8 Qxe8 32. Bxe5 Nxe5 33. Rxc5 Nd7 {The position that we have reached here, cannot be worse for Black as long as the queens are on the board. Because as long as the queens exist, there can be some sort of an attacking on the white king and the a-pawn is not so dangerous. But the moment the queens are gone, things become very tricky for Black.} 34. Rcd5 Qe4 35. h3 h6 36. Qc3 Kh7 (36... Nf8 37. Qd4 Qc2 $13) 37. Qd4 Qxd4+ { Black is already in trouble here. He can never think about winning now. It's all about defending.} (37... Qc2 $5) 38. R1xd4 Nb6 39. Rb5 Nc8 40. a4 $16 Rd7 $2 {This is another error from Black. Exchanging the queens was bad, as the attacking chances were gone. But exchanging rooks means that the a-pawn can never be stopped.} 41. Rxd7 Bxd7 42. Rb8 (42. Rc5) 42... Be6 43. a5 Kg6 44. a6 Kf6 45. Kf2 (45. Ra8 $1 Nb6 46. Rf8+ Ke5 (46... Ke7 47. Rb8 Nc8 48. a7 Nxa7 49. Rb7+ $18) 47. Rb8 Nc8 48. Rb7 g5 49. a7 Nxa7 50. Rxa7 $18) 45... g6 46. Rb7 Bd5 47. Rd7 Ke5 48. a7 Nb6 49. Rd8 h5 50. h4 Na8 {Black has blocked the pawn, but the white king will now come in and lift the blockade.} 51. g3 Bh1 52. Rg8 Kf5 53. Rf8+ Ke5 54. Ke3 Bd5 55. Re8+ Kf5 56. Kd4 Bh1 57. Re5+ Kf6 58. Re1 Bg2 59. Rg1 Bb7 60. Rf1+ Ke6 61. Kc5 Ke5 62. Re1+ Kf5 63. Kd6 Kg4 64. Rb1 Bg2 65. Rb5 Be4 (65... Kxg3 66. Rg5+ Kh3 67. Rxg2 Kxg2 68. Kc6 $18) 66. Rb4 Kf5 67. Kd7 ( 67. Rxe4 Kxe4 68. Kc6 Ke5 69. Kb7 Kd6 70. Kb8 (70. Kxa8 $4 Kc7 $19) 70... Kc6 71. Kc8 Nb6+ 72. Kb8 Na8 $11) 67... Bg2 68. Rb5+ Kf6 69. Kc8 Ke6 70. Kb8 Bh1 71. Rg5 Kf6 (71... Be4 72. g4 hxg4 73. Rxg4 $18) 72. Rb5 Ke6 73. Rb3 Bg2 74. Rb2 Bh1 75. Kc8 Bd5 {It's not so easy for White to breakthrough, so Gaponenko makes a few moves to tire out her opponent. I do not believe this position is a draw, because White also has the move g4 at his disposal at any point to change the character of the game.} 76. Kd8 Kf7 77. Kd7 Be4 78. Rf2+ Bf5+ 79. Kc6 Ke7 80. Re2+ Kd8 81. Kb7 Nc7 82. Rd2+ Bd7 83. Rd1 {An interesting fight, but exchanging the queen and the rook was surely a big error by Tania.} 1-0 [Event "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2017.06.19"] [Round "3.2"] [White "Kovalev, Vladislav"] [Black "Adhiban, Baskaran"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B51"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "60"] [EventDate "2017.06.17"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 {Adhiban comes out in aggressive mood and this move fits into that scheme much better than Bd7 or Nc6.} 4. O-O Ngf6 5. Re1 a6 6. Bf1 b6 {Adhiban would like to enter a Hedgehog structure.} 7. d4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Bb7 9. f3 e6 10. c4 Be7 11. Nc3 O-O {This is the exact location of the Black pieces in the Hedgehog. The knights on f6 and d7, bishops on e7 and b7. Now usually the rooks come to e8 and c8 and then the queen makes her way to b8 via c7.} 12. Be3 Rc8 13. Rc1 Qc7 14. Qd2 Qb8 15. b4 Bd8 $5 {This is another plan that you must be aware of in the Hedgehog. Redirecting the bishop from e7 to c7. Then when the d5 break takes place, the bishop aims at the sensitive h2 point.} 16. Kh1 Bc7 17. Na4 {White's play is also very logical. Most of the times he expands on the queenside with the move b4 Na4, Nb3 and aims for the c5 break.} Ba8 {The bishop just steps back to give extra protection to b6. But now the a6 pawn is not defended.} 18. Rc2 d5 $5 {Adhiban thinks that he has all his pieces in place and breaks in the centre.} 19. cxd5 exd5 20. Bxa6 Rce8 $5 {This was Adhiban's idea and one of the reasons why he had not developed the other rook to e8. Well, Black is a pawn down, but look at his pieces. The bishops and queen are pointing towards the kingside, knights are well placed and most importantly the king on g8 is very safe. Objectively White may be better, But practically Black has good counterplay.} 21. Bb5 (21. exd5 Nxd5 $13 ) 21... dxe4 (21... Bxh2 22. Nf5 $16) 22. f4 $5 {Good play by Kovalev. He gives back the pawn, but keeps the position closed.} Rd8 23. Bc6 Ng4 24. g3 $6 {I don't really like this move. It weakens the light squares around the white king.} (24. Bxa8 Nxe3 25. Bxe4 Nxc2 26. Qxc2 {would have been a decent exchange sacrifice, where White has enough compensation.}) 24... Ndf6 (24... Nde5 $5 25. fxe5 Bxc6 26. Rxc6 Bxe5 $19 {The piece will be recovered with interest.}) 25. Bxa8 Qxa8 26. Rxc7 Qxa4 {Adhiban assesses this position correctly. Essentially he has his pieces perfectly posted in the position. White is badly pinned and his king on h1 is also not at all happy.} 27. Rcc1 Nxe3 28. Rxe3 (28. Qxe3 Ng4 29. Qd2 (29. Qc3 Nf2+ 30. Kg1 Nd3 $19) 29... e3 30. Rxe3 Rxd4 31. Qxd4 Qxa2 $1 $19) 28... Ng4 29. Re2 Qa3 $1 {A powerful move threatening Rxd4 and Qxc1 or Qf3+.} 30. h3 (30. Rf1 e3 31. Qd1 Qxb4 $19) 30... Rxd4 {A great game by Adhiban, who should the true power of the Hedgehog.} 0-1 [Event "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2017.06.20"] [Round "4.2"] [White "Akobian, Varuzhan"] [Black "Adhiban, Baskaran"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D45"] [WhiteElo "2673"] [BlackElo "2670"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "82"] [EventDate "2017.06.17"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackTeam "India"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "IND"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c6 {Adhiban likes to play the triangle variation. He is not averse to trying out the Noteboom and he quite likes the Meran.} 4. e3 Nf6 5. Nf3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Be7 $5 {Bd6 is by far the main move in the position. But Adhiban is looking for something that is not deeply analyzed by Var.} 7. g4 {Now this move might not be as potent as it is against Bd6.} dxc4 8. g5 Nd5 9. Bxc4 b5 10. Be2 (10. Bxd5 cxd5 $5 {is also interesting.} (10... exd5 $15) 11. Nxb5 O-O $44) 10... Nxc3 11. Qxc3 Bb7 12. d5 $2 {Adhiban's provocation has worked. Instead of continuing normal development, Akobian wastes precious time with this pawn push. He is severely punished.} O-O $1 13. dxe6 (13. dxc6 Rc8 14. Bxb5 Nb8 $1 $17) 13... fxe6 {True the isolated pawn on e6 looks weak, but apart from that everything is in Black's favour. The f-file just opened up and the rook on f8 is jumping with joy. The c6 pawn is about to move and the bishop on b7 will be unleashed. All in all this is quite a bad position for White already.} 14. h4 (14. Nd4 {was the only logical move.} Nc5 $1 $17 15. b4 $2 Qd5 16. Rg1 Ne4 $19) 14... Rxf3 $1 {The geometric motif is very nice.} ( 14... c5 $19 {was good, but the text is way stronger.}) 15. Bxf3 Qf8 {[%cal Gf8f3,Ge7b4] Not only attacking f3 but also threatening Bb4 winning the queen. White has only one move at his disposal.} 16. Ke2 b4 $1 {Ba6+ cannot be allowed.} 17. Qc4 {Everything seems under control? If Ne5 then the e6 pawn falls with a check.} Qxf3+ $1 {Of course Adhiban had seen it all when he went for Rxf3.} 18. Kxf3 Ne5+ 19. Kg3 Nxc4 $19 {The rest as they say, is just a matter of technique. White is unconditionally lost.} 20. Rd1 c5 21. b3 Nd6 22. Bb2 Rf8 23. f4 Bd5 24. Kh3 Ne4 25. Rf1 g6 26. Be5 a5 27. Bc7 Ra8 28. Kh2 a4 29. Be5 Kf7 30. Rfd1 Nf2 31. Re1 Nd3 32. Rf1 axb3 33. axb3 Rxa1 34. Bxa1 Bxb3 35. e4 c4 36. f5 exf5 37. exf5 c3 38. h5 gxh5 39. Rg1 c2 40. g6+ hxg6 41. fxg6+ Kg8 0-1 [Event "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2017.06.20"] [Round "4.3"] [White "Padmini, Rout"] [Black "Szczepkowska, Karina"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C86"] [WhiteElo "2375"] [BlackElo "2414"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "153"] [EventDate "2017.06.17"] [WhiteTeam "India"] [BlackTeam "Poland"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IND"] [BlackTeamCountry "POL"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Qe2 $5 {Something different!} b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. c3 d5 $1 {Black plays in the most ambitious possible way.} 9. d3 Bb7 10. Nbd2 h6 {This has not been played in many games.} 11. Re1 Re8 12. Nf1 Bf8 13. Ng3 Na5 14. Bc2 c5 15. Bd2 Nc6 16. exd5 Qxd5 17. a4 b4 18. Ne4 Nxe4 19. dxe4 Qe6 {Black has a decent position and nothing much to worry about.} 20. a5 c4 $1 21. Be3 b3 $2 {A bad move by the Polish player. and the reason is that it gives White a clear target on c4, while Black has none.} (21... Na7 $1 22. Nd2 bxc3 23. bxc3 Nb5 24. Qxc4 Qxc4 25. Nxc4 Nxc3 $11) 22. Bd1 Rac8 23. Nd2 Nd8 24. Qg4 (24. Ra4 $1 $16) 24... Bc5 25. Bxc5 $6 (25. Ra4 $1 ) 25... Rxc5 26. Qxe6 Nxe6 27. Be2 Rd8 28. Nxc4 Bxe4 {And this is a pretty good deal for Black. She lost her c4 pawn, which she anyway was going to, but in return she got the e4 pawn.} 29. Bf1 Bd3 30. Nxe5 Bxf1 31. Kxf1 Rdd5 32. Nf3 Rxa5 33. Rxa5 Rxa5 34. g3 Kf8 35. Nd2 Ra2 36. Nc4 Ra4 37. Ne5 Ra2 38. Nd3 Ke7 39. f4 g6 40. Rb1 Ra4 41. Rd1 Ra2 42. Ke2 a5 43. Kd2 a4 44. c4 a3 45. Kc3 axb2 46. Nxb2 {With nimble play, White has been able to get his king activated and also win the b3 pawn.} Nc5 47. Rd5 Ra5 48. Kb4 Ra2 49. Rd2 Ne4 50. Re2 f5 51. Kxb3 Ra8 52. c5 Kd7 53. Nd3 Kc6 54. Kc4 {Padmini's play in the next phase of the game is something to learn from. She keeps her cool even when she knows that everything depends on her.} Ra3 55. Ne5+ Kc7 56. Rc2 g5 57. Kd5 Ra8 58. Ke6 Rf8 59. Ke7 Ra8 60. c6 Nd6 61. Ke6 Re8+ 62. Kf6 gxf4 63. gxf4 h5 64. h4 Rf8+ 65. Ke6 Re8+ 66. Kd5 Ne4 67. Rb2 Nf6+ 68. Kc5 Ne4+ 69. Kd5 Nf6+ 70. Kc4 Ra8 71. Rb7+ Kd6 72. Kb5 Kd5 73. Nc4 Rg8 74. c7 Ke6 75. Nb6 Ne4 76. c8=Q+ Rxc8 77. Nxc8 {A fighting game by Padmini who did not give up when the position was equal.} 1-0 [Event "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2017.06.20"] [Round "4.3"] [White "Sasikiran, Krishnan"] [Black "Robson, Ray"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D45"] [WhiteElo "2669"] [BlackElo "2656"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2017.06.17"] [WhiteTeam "India"] [BlackTeam "United States"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IND"] [BlackTeamCountry "USA"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. Be2 O-O 8. O-O dxc4 9. Bxc4 b5 10. Be2 Bb7 11. a3 a5 (11... a6 {is the main move.}) 12. e4 e5 13. Rd1 Qc7 {The players are following the game Nakamura vs Giri from July 2016.} 14. dxe5 $5 {There is only one game which has seen this move. It was a correspondence game between Otspere and Narozhny. Sasi must have surely studied it.} Nxe5 15. Nd4 Neg4 (15... Bc5 16. Bf4 Bxd4 17. Rxd4 Nf3+ 18. Bxf3 Qxf4 19. Ne2 Qe5 20. Rc1 Rfe8 21. g3 Rac8 22. Qc5 g6 23. Bg2 Qxc5 24. Rxc5 Rcd8 25. Re5 Kf8 26. Rxe8+ Rxe8 27. f3 c5 28. Rd6 Nd5 29. Rd7 Re7 30. Rxe7 Nxe7 31. Kf2 b4 {1/2-1/2 (31) Otspere,U (2209)-Narozhny,Y (2334) ICCF email 2013}) 16. Bxg4 {Sasi quickly picked up the bishop and Robson sank into deep thought. Should he take the h2 pawn or the bishop on g4. After some time he grabbed the pawn on h2, which is the correct move.} Bxh2+ (16... Nxg4 17. h3 $14) 17. Kf1 Nxg4 18. g3 {This is once again part of the preparation by Sasi.} f5 (18... Bxg3 {looked more natural.} 19. fxg3 {Now Qxg3 is met with Qg2, hence Black has to be disruptive.} b4 20. Nd5 Qxg3 21. Ne7+ Kh8 22. Qg2 $13 {It's a crazy line, but Sasi has it all worked out and for Robson to find all the resources for Black on the board is next to an impossible task.}) 19. Bf4 Qf7 20. Nxf5 Qh5 $2 {This is the decisive mistake of the game. Although at first it might not really be apparent.} (20... g6 {It was important to play this move.} 21. f3 $5 (21. Nd6 Qe6 {is complicated. Black is looking to take on g3 here. And after that fxg3 would be met with Qxd6 and Bxg3 with Ne3+.} 22. Kg2 g5 $5 23. Be3 Nxe3+ 24. fxe3 Bxg3 25. Kxg3 Rf3+ $1 26. Kxf3 Qh3+ 27. Ke2 Qh2+ 28. Kd3 Qxd6+ 29. Ke2 Qh2+ $11 {And Black holds the balance.}) 21... Bxg3 22. Bxg3 Ne3+ 23. Nxe3 Qxf3+ 24. Kg1 Qxg3+ 25. Ng2 $14) 21. Rd7 Rxf5 22. exf5 Qh3+ 23. Ke1 Re8+ 24. Kd2 {The king is safe on d2 and White is already a lot of material up. } Bc8 25. Qb3+ Kh8 26. Qf7 (26. Rd6 $18 {would have been stronger.}) 26... Bxd7 27. Re1 Rg8 (27... Rd8 28. Qe7 Rg8 29. Qxd7 $18) 28. Qxd7 Nxf2 29. Re8 h5 ( 29... h6 30. Rxg8+ Kxg8 31. Qe8+ Kh7 32. f6 $1 gxf6 33. Qf7+ Kh8 34. Qxf6+ Kg8 35. Qg6+ Kf8 36. Bd6#) 30. Rxg8+ Kxg8 31. Qe8+ Kh7 32. Qg6+ Kg8 33. Qe8+ Kh7 34. f6 $1 {It's all over.} Ng4 35. Qe4+ Kg8 36. Qe6+ Kh7 37. f7 Bxg3 38. f8=Q { A great win for Sasi, who completely outplayed Robson in the forests of Meran.} 1-0 [Event "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2017.06.20"] [Round "4.4"] [White "Xiong, Jeffery"] [Black "Negi, Parimarjan"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C53"] [WhiteElo "2658"] [BlackElo "2670"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "128"] [EventDate "2017.06.17"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackTeam "India"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "IND"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. O-O h6 7. Re1 O-O 8. Nbd2 a6 9. Nf1 $5 {Bold play by Xiong. He is not afraid that Na5 will win his c4 bishop. Usually White would play Bb3 in such positions to preserve the light squared bishop. But that's a tempo loss and Black usually replies with Be6.} Na5 10. b4 $5 {This was Xiong's idea which has been seen in the game between Giri and Mamedyarov.} Nxc4 11. bxc5 Na5 12. a4 (12. cxd6 cxd6 13. a4 b5 14. axb5 axb5 15. Rb1 Qc7 16. Bd2 Re8 17. h3 Nb7 18. Nh4 d5 19. exd5 Nxd5 20. Rxb5 Nxc3 21. Bxc3 Qxc3 22. Nf3 Ra5 23. Rxa5 Qxa5 24. Qd2 Qb5 25. Qc3 f6 26. d4 exd4 27. Nxd4 Qd7 28. Rxe8+ Qxe8 29. Ne3 Nd6 30. Qc5 Qe5 31. Qxe5 fxe5 32. Nc6 e4 33. Kh2 Kf7 34. Kg3 g5 35. h4 Nf5+ 36. Nxf5 Bxf5 37. hxg5 hxg5 38. Ne5+ Kf6 39. Nc4 Be6 40. Ne3 {1/2-1/2 (40) Giri,A (2755)-Mamedyarov,S (2761) Moscow 2016}) 12... Re8 13. cxd6 Qxd6 14. Ba3 Qd8 15. Ng3 b6 {The bishop will be well placed on b7, but this does seem a tad slow.} 16. d4 $1 {Xiong is quick to realize that this is his opportunity.} Nc4 17. Nxe5 (17. Qb3 Nxa3 (17... Na5 18. Qc2 $16) 18. Nxe5 $16) 17... Nxe5 18. dxe5 Qxd1 19. Raxd1 Rxe5 20. f4 Re8 21. e5 { White is pushing on. And optically it does seem that he is better. But Black has no weaknesses and it is not so easy to find out, which is the point that White should be attacking in Black's position.} Nd7 22. a5 {A little bit too overambitious.} (22. Nf5 {was interesting threatening Ne7 and Nxc8.} Nc5 23. Ne3 Nxa4 24. Nd5 Ra7 25. Ne7+ Kh7 26. Nxc8 Rxc8 27. Rd7 {with good play for the pawn.}) 22... Kh7 23. axb6 Nxb6 24. Rd4 f6 $1 {Black's position doesn't look too attractive. The rooks are disconnected, the pawns seem isolated, yet there is no way for White to take advantage of it and hence the position is equal.} 25. f5 $2 {Now this just loses a pawn.} Rxe5 26. Rxe5 fxe5 27. Rg4 Bd7 {It would be interesting to know what was it that Jeffery had prepared. Because he just lost a pawn!} 28. c4 a5 29. Kf2 a4 30. Ke1 Rg8 (30... Be8 $1 { The idea is to play Bf7 and get the knight to c4 and evict the bishop out of a3.} 31. Ne4 Rd8 (31... Bf7 32. Nd2) 32. f6 g5 $19) 31. Bb2 g6 {Parimarjan plays in a very pragmatic fashion. He gives back the pawn, just so that he can free up his position.} 32. c5 Nd5 33. fxg6+ Rxg6 34. Rxg6 Kxg6 35. Bxe5 { The material is even, but the a4 pawn is a real trump.} a3 36. Kd2 a2 37. Ne2 Nb4 38. Nc1 Kf5 39. Bb2 Be6 40. Nd3 Na6 41. Ke3 Bc4 42. Ne5 (42. Kd4 Bxd3 43. Kxd3 Nxc5+ 44. Kc4 Ne4 45. Kb3 {This should end in a draw.}) 42... Bd5 43. g4+ Kg5 44. c6 Nb4 45. Kd4 Be6 46. Kc3 Nd5+ 47. Kd4 Kh4 48. Ke4 Nb4 49. Nd3 Nxc6 { By nimble manuevring Black has won a pawn!} 50. Bf6+ Kxg4 {And another!} 51. Ne5+ Nxe5 52. Bxe5 Kh3 53. Kf3 c5 {This opposite coloured endgame is completely winning because Black will give up his a-pawn for winning the h2 pawn and the resulting two pawns would be just too far away for White to handle.} 54. Kf2 a1=Q 55. Bxa1 Kxh2 56. Bg7 h5 57. Bf8 c4 58. Bb4 Bd5 59. Bc3 Kh3 60. Be5 Kg4 61. Ke3 h4 62. Kd4 h3 63. Ke3 Bf7 64. Bd6 Be8 (64... Be8 65. Be5 Bb5 66. Bd6 c3 67. Be5 Ba4 68. Kd3 c2 69. Kd2 Kf3 $19) 0-1 [Event "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2017.06.21"] [Round "5.3"] [White "Abdelnabbi, Imed"] [Black "Karthikeyan, Murali"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B55"] [WhiteElo "2428"] [BlackElo "2582"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "134"] [EventDate "2017.06.17"] [WhiteTeam "Egypt"] [BlackTeam "India"] [WhiteTeamCountry "EGY"] [BlackTeamCountry "IND"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. f3 e5 6. Bb5+ Nbd7 7. Nf5 d5 8. exd5 a6 9. Ba4 b5 10. Bb3 Nc5 11. Ne3 Nxb3 12. axb3 Bc5 13. c4 O-O 14. Nc3 Qb6 (14... e4 $5) 15. Qe2 Nh5 $6 16. Nc2 $1 {A very strong move. The threat is simply b4.} bxc4 17. Na4 $1 Qb8 $1 (17... Qa7 18. bxc4 $18 {is a bad position for Black.}) 18. Nxc5 cxb3 {If the knight on c2 moves, then Qb4+ wins the other knight.} 19. O-O bxc2 20. Qxc2 Nf6 {Black has equalized.} 21. Rd1 Nd7 $2 (21... Qd6) 22. Be3 Nxc5 23. Bxc5 $16 {White is just better now.} Re8 24. b4 Bd7 25. d6 Qb5 26. Ra5 Qb7 27. Qe4 Bc6 28. Qe3 Bd7 29. h3 h6 30. Kh2 Re6 31. Rda1 Bb5 32. Qe4 Rb8 (32... Bc6 $6 33. Qe2 Bb5 34. Qxb5 $1 axb5 35. Rxa8+ Kh7 36. R1a7 Qd5 37. d7 $18) 33. Qxb7 Rxb7 34. Rxa6 $5 Bxa6 35. Rxa6 {Although technically this is an interesting exchange sacrifice, Black is out of danger of losing.} Re8 36. Rc6 Rd8 (36... f5 $1 {planning to not only create a passer, but also activate the king would have put quite a lot of pressure on White.} 37. Kg1 (37. Rc7 Rxc7 38. dxc7 Kf7 39. b5 Ke6 40. b6 Kd7 $17) 37... Kf7 38. Kf2 Ke6 39. Ke3 Ra8 $17 {Black is clearly pushing.}) 37. Rc7 $5 Rd7 (37... Rxc7 38. dxc7 Rc8 39. Bd6 $18) 38. Rc8+ Kh7 39. Kg3 Kg6 40. Kf2 Kf6 41. Re8 {White has been able to create this bind which is very difficult for Black to breakthrough from. It is almost a miracle that Karthikeyan managed to survive.} Kg6 {A practical decision.} 42. Rxe5 (42. Ke3 f6 43. Kd3 (43. Ke4 Kf7 44. Ra8 Ke6 $11) 43... Kf7 44. Ra8 Ke6 45. Kc4 $16 {I think Black is under a lot of pressure here. Perhaps the most practical thing would be to give back an exchange.} Rxd6 46. Bxd6 Kxd6 47. Ra6+ Kd7 48. b5 $16 {But I am not sure if this will hold.}) 42... f6 43. Re2 (43. Re4 $1 Rd8 44. Ke3 $18 {It was important to get the king activated and hence Re4 instead of Re2.}) 43... Rd8 44. Ke1 Kf7 45. Kd2 Re8 46. Rf2 Ke6 47. Kc3 Kd7 48. Kc4 Re1 {Things are now under control and Karthikeyan managed to hold the draw.} 49. Ra2 Rc1+ 50. Kd5 Rd1+ 51. Ke4 Ke6 52. Ra8 f5+ 53. Ke3 Re1+ 54. Kf2 Rb1 55. Re8+ Kf7 56. Re2 g5 57. Rd2 Ke6 58. Kg3 h5 59. Re2+ Kf7 60. Re5 Kf6 61. Re8 f4+ 62. Kh2 g4 63. Rf8+ Ke5 64. g3 Rb2+ 65. Kg1 Rb1+ 66. Kh2 Rb2+ 67. Kg1 Rb1+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2017.06.21"] [Round "5.2"] [White "Adhiban, Baskaran"] [Black "Fawzy, Adham"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B32"] [WhiteElo "2670"] [BlackElo "2418"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate "2017.06.17"] [WhiteTeam "India"] [BlackTeam "Egypt"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IND"] [BlackTeamCountry "EGY"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e5 5. Nb5 d6 6. N1c3 a6 7. Na3 b5 { This is very similar to the Sveshnikov, just that the knight is not on f6. So we call it the Kalashnikov. Now White can jump in to d5 with his knight.} 8. Nd5 Nge7 9. Bd3 Nxd5 10. exd5 Ne7 11. c4 g6 (11... bxc4 12. Nxc4 {is definitely the stronger move.} (12. Bxc4 g6 {Might be another way to play.}) 12... g6 13. Qa4+ $18 {is a cute win!}) 12. cxb5 Bg7 {Black sacrifices his queenside pawns for quick development and gaining the centre.} 13. O-O O-O 14. Re1 Bb7 15. bxa6 Bxd5 {A very interesting and imbalanced position has arisen. Black has the centre, White has this chunk of pawns on the queenside. In general I think White should be better, because there is absolutely nothing wrong with his development and the pawn on a6 is just two steps away from queening.} 16. Bf1 Be6 17. b4 d5 18. b5 e4 19. Rb1 {Black central pawns are now going nowhere, where as White pawns are ready to expand.} Qb6 20. Nc2 Nf5 ( 20... d4 {It could have been interesting to give the e4 pawn and complicated the game further.} 21. Rxe4 Nd5 22. Bd2 Rad8 $16 {I don't belive in Black's play, but perhaps he has some compensation.}) (20... Rxa6 21. Be3 $18) 21. a4 Rac8 (21... Rxa6 22. Be3 Nxe3 23. bxa6 $18) 22. Bd2 Be5 23. g3 Rxc2 {Black indulges in an incorrect sacrifice.} 24. Qxc2 Nd4 25. Qd1 $1 {Adhiban has seen it until the end.} Nf3+ 26. Qxf3 exf3 27. Rxe5 {White has a rook and a piece for the queen, but look at those queenside pawns. It's all over!} Rc8 28. Rxe6 $5 (28. a5 {was also just winning.}) 28... fxe6 29. a5 Qd4 30. b6 {[%csl Ga5, Ga6,Gb6] Yes, the d2 bishop is also falling, but those pawns on the queenside have won the day for White.} 1-0 [Event "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2017.06.21"] [Round "5.1"] [White "Hesham, Abdelrahman"] [Black "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E11"] [WhiteElo "2372"] [BlackElo "2692"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "157"] [EventDate "2017.06.17"] [WhiteTeam "Egypt"] [BlackTeam "India"] [WhiteTeamCountry "EGY"] [BlackTeamCountry "IND"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Nbd2 O-O 5. a3 Be7 6. e4 d6 7. Qc2 Nfd7 8. Nb1 e5 9. d5 a5 10. Nc3 Nc5 11. Be3 Nba6 12. Be2 f5 13. O-O Qe8 14. b3 Qg6 15. Kh1 fxe4 16. Nd2 Bf5 17. g4 Bd7 18. Ndxe4 a4 {[%cal Ga5a4] This seems some sort of a misjudgement on Vidit's part.} (18... Bxg4 $5 {An interesting option! } 19. Rg1 Rf3 $1 20. Rg2 Raf8 21. Rag1 h5 $44 {And Black seems to have enough compensation.}) 19. b4 Nb3 20. Rad1 Nd4 21. Bxd4 exd4 22. Rxd4 {Yes it's true that White's position looks overextended, but just have a glance at that poor guy on a6 and you will realize that something has gone terribly wrong for Black.} Rf4 23. Qd1 (23. Qd2 Raf8 24. Rg1 $16) 23... Raf8 24. b5 $2 {The knight on a6 really was poorly placed. There was absolutely no need to let it back in the game.} (24. f3 $16) 24... Nc5 25. Nxc5 Rxd4 26. Qxd4 dxc5 27. Qe4 Qf6 {Now Black has decent compensation and the worst is over.} 28. Qe3 Re8 29. Ne4 Qb2 30. Bd3 Rf8 31. Rb1 Qe5 32. h3 h5 33. Rg1 b6 34. Nd2 {Hesham is unable to hold the tension in the position. The queen exchange is to Black's benefit.} Bd6 35. Qxe5 Bxe5 36. Rg2 hxg4 37. hxg4 Bb2 $17 {Now it's Black who is pushing. At this point it seemed as if Vidit would win.} 38. Bc2 Bxa3 39. Bxa4 Rf4 40. Bc2 Bxg4 41. Be4 Bb4 42. f3 Bh5 43. Rh2 g6 44. Kg1 Kg7 45. Rf2 Kf6 46. Nf1 Bc3 47. Kg2 Bd4 48. Ra2 Be5 49. Ng3 {White has defended well, kept his disadvantage to a minimum.} Bd6 50. Ra8 Rh4 51. Re8 Kg5 52. Re6 Rf4 53. Re8 Rf6 54. Rg8 Kf4 55. Kf2 Be5 56. Re8 Bd6 57. Rh8 Kg5 58. Kg2 Rf7 59. Rg8 Kh4 60. Nxh5 gxh5 61. Bg6 Rf6 62. Be4 Rf4 63. Kf2 Rf7 64. Kg2 Be5 65. Bg6 Rd7 66. Bf5 Re7 67. Be6 Bd6 68. Kf2 Rh7 69. Rg6 Rh8 70. Bg8 Bf4 71. Kg2 Rh6 72. Rxh6 Bxh6 73. d6 cxd6 74. Bf7 Be3 75. Bg8 Kg5 76. Bf7 h4 77. Bg8 Kf4 78. Bd5 Bd4 79. Bc6 {A interesting game. Perhaps if Vidit wouldn't have played ...a4 in the opening, he would have been able to win this game. After ...a4 it is a nice result to have split the point!} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2017.06.21"] [Round "5.4"] [White "Negi, Parimarjan"] [Black "Farahat, Ali"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B31"] [WhiteElo "2670"] [BlackElo "2402"] [PlyCount "57"] [EventDate "2017.06.17"] [WhiteTeam "India"] [BlackTeam "Egypt"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IND"] [BlackTeamCountry "EGY"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. O-O Bg7 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. d3 Nf6 7. Nc3 O-O 8. a4 a5 9. h3 b6 10. Be3 Ne8 11. Qd2 e5 12. Bh6 f6 13. Nh2 Ra7 14. Kh1 g5 15. Bxg7 Nxg7 16. Ne2 h5 17. h4 Ne6 {Black has space and an aggressive position. White is just passive.} 18. g3 f5 (18... c4 $5) 19. exf5 Rxf5 20. hxg5 Nxg5 21. Nc3 Be6 22. Qe3 Qd4 23. Rae1 Raf7 24. f3 Kh7 25. Kg2 Rg7 26. Kh1 Rgf7 27. Qe2 c4 28. Ne4 cxd3 29. cxd3 {The final position is clearly in Black's favour and it was a good decision by Negi to offer the draw.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2017.06.21"] [Round "5.1"] [White "Wafa, Shrook"] [Black "Harika, Dronavalli"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B32"] [WhiteElo "2141"] [BlackElo "2535"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "117"] [EventDate "2017.06.17"] [WhiteTeam "Egypt"] [BlackTeam "India"] [WhiteTeamCountry "EGY"] [BlackTeamCountry "IND"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e5 5. Nb5 d6 6. a4 Nf6 7. N1c3 a6 8. Na3 Bg4 9. f3 Be6 10. Bc4 Rc8 11. O-O Be7 12. Kh1 O-O 13. Bg5 Kh8 14. Bxf6 Bxf6 15. Nd5 Bh4 16. c3 Rb8 17. Qd3 Ne7 18. Rad1 Ng6 19. g3 Bg5 20. Ne3 Bh3 21. Rfe1 Qb6 22. b4 a5 23. Nb5 {White has played a very logical game. She has slowly and steadily built up her position and pushed Harika back. Now the d6 pawn is pretty weak.} Be6 $2 24. Bxe6 $1 fxe6 25. Nc4 $1 Qd8 26. Nxa5 $18 {White has just won a pawn and is simply winning.} Qf6 27. Rf1 h5 28. Nxd6 h4 29. Qe2 Kh7 30. f4 (30. Naxb7 $18) 30... Bh6 (30... exf4 31. gxf4 (31. Qh5+ Bh6 $16) 31... Nxf4 32. Qg4 Bh6 $16 {Black can fight on.}) 31. f5 Ne7 32. Qg4 hxg3 33. hxg3 b6 34. fxe6 Qxf1+ 35. Rxf1 Rxf1+ 36. Kg2 {White has a completely winning position here.} Rc1 37. Nac4 Rc2+ 38. Kh3 Rxc3 39. Nxe5 Ra8 40. Nf5 Rc7 41. Nxe7 Rxe7 42. Qf5+ Kg8 43. Nc6 Rc7 44. Qd5 Kh7 45. Ne7 Rf8 46. Qd6 Rb7 47. Nd5 Re8 48. Nc7 Rc8 49. e7 Rbxc7 50. e8=Q Rxe8 51. Qxc7 Be3 52. Qc6 Re7 53. Kg4 Kg8 54. Qd5+ Kh7 55. e5 g6 56. e6 Kh6 57. Qe5 Bd2 58. Qh8+ Rh7 59. Qxh7+ {A very strong game by Wafa Shrook.} 1-0 [Event "11th World Teams 2017"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2017.06.21"] [Round "5.1"] [White "Ponomariov, Ruslan"] [Black "Wojtaszek, Radoslaw"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2712"] [BlackElo "2730"] [Annotator "Sevag"] [PlyCount "90"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 Ng4 7. Bc1 Nf6 { One of the most famous 'draw' offers in chess. One can not blame black to be happy with a draw in a team tournament. Let the white pieces do their job! :-)} 8. f3 $1 {and so it is!} e6 9. Be3 b5 {This is the Scheveningen-style English Attack of the Najdorf Sicilian. Black makes a lot of pawn moves to start some action before developing the king-side. A very modern approach, that was tried numerous times by the one and only Garry Kasparov in the 2000's. Going deeper, I found that the first time where black tried something similar, was in 1979 by Wachinger (?) and later I found a stronger game, played by Yuri Razuvaev, in 1987.} (9... Be7 10. Qd2 b5 11. g4 Bb7 12. O-O-O b4 13. Nce2 d5 $2 {this is simply wrong, but kudos to Wachinger for trying something new :-). Before this, black always tried to develop the king-side and castle quickly, allowing a straightforward attack by white.} 14. g5 Nfd7 15. exd5 $5 (15. Nf4 $1 {a well-known idea nowadays, preparing to destroy the vulnerable e6 square.} dxe4 $2 16. Ndxe6 $1 fxe6 17. Nxe6 $18 {and white has a demolishing attack after Nxg7+ and Nf5}) 15... Bxd5 16. Kb1 Ne5 17. Nf4 Nxf3 $2 18. Qf2 $1 Nxd4 19. Nxd5 exd5 20. Bxd4 O-O 21. Bd3 Nc6 22. Bxh7+ $1 Kxh7 23. Qh4+ Kg8 24. Bxg7 {a nice finish. White has mate in few moves with Qh6+ and g6 if black takes. Thus Wachinger resigned. 1-0 (22) Teufel,J (2350)-Wachinger,G Passau 1979}) 10. Qd2 Nbd7 11. g4 h6 {slowing down white's attack, this move is very important.} ( 11... Nb6 $6 {was played by Kasparov, but is considered to be bad nowadays} 12. a4 $1 Nc4 13. Bxc4 bxc4 14. g5 Nd7 15. f4 Bb7 16. f5 Nc5 17. fxe6 fxe6 18. Qg2 $1 g6 19. Rf1 Bg7 20. O-O-O Qd7 21. Qg4 O-O-O 22. Ndb5 $1 $16 {and black is in big trouble: 1-0 (44) Stukopin,A (2500)-Artemiev,V (2499) Loo 2013}) 12. a3 $5 {I like this idea} (12. O-O-O {is the most common.} b4 $1 {is the critical move. Black wants to play d5 as fast as possible, before white has time to play h4 and g5.} (12... Ne5 {was seen in 1987, played by the notable Soviet player Yuri Razuvaev.} 13. Bd3 Qc7 14. Rhe1 b4 15. Nce2 Nxd3+ 16. Qxd3 Nd7 $5 $13 {1/2-1/2 (31) Ostojic,P (2385)-Razuvaev,Y (2490) Berlin West 1987}) 13. Nce2 Qc7 $1 {preparing d5 next} (13... d5 $6 14. exd5 Nxd5 15. Nf4 $1 {white gives away his strong bishop, in exchange for a dangerous piece activity towards e6 and the black king. Nxe3 already loses, for example} Nxe3 $2 16. Qxe3 $18 {and there is no good way to deal with the sacrifice on e6 (not to mention moves like Bc4 and Qe4)}) 14. h4 d5 $13 {dozens of games have been played here, and black has been able to control white's scary initiative.}) 12... Bb7 13. O-O-O Rc8 (13... d5 $6 {now is well met by:} 14. exd5 Nxd5 15. Nxd5 Bxd5 16. Bg2 $1 $36 {followed by f4 and black doesn't have time to stabilize the center} Nb6 17. Nf5 $1 Nc4 18. Qe2 $16 {and black is in trouble, a simple move like f4 is very strong}) 14. Kb1 $5 {I never took this move seriously, but Ponomariov showed it has to be investigated in future games.} ( 14. h4 {I thought this was the only critical move} d5 15. Rg1 $1 dxe4 (15... e5 $2 {is already bad} 16. g5 $1 exd4 17. Bxd4 hxg5 18. hxg5 Nh5 19. Bh3 $40 { with a devastating attack!}) 16. g5 hxg5 17. hxg5 Nd5 18. Nxe4 g6 {was a game I played back in 2013} 19. Bf2 (19. Kb1 $5 b4 20. axb4 Bxb4 21. c3 Nxe3 22. Qxe3 Bxe4+ 23. Qxe4 Bxc3 24. Nxe6 $1 $40 {ended in a draw after a wild game, but white is doing well here!: 1/2-1/2 (59) Robson,R (2668)-Zherebukh,Y (2605) Saint Louis 2017}) 19... b4 20. axb4 Nxb4 $2 (20... Bxb4 $1 $13) 21. Nxe6 $1 Bxe4 22. Nxd8 Rxc2+ 23. Qxc2 Bxc2 24. Nxf7 $1 Rh2 25. Rd2 $18 {1-0 (30) Mekhitarian,K (2544)-Ashwin,J (2472) Varna 2013}) 14... d5 $1 15. exd5 Nxd5 16. Nxd5 Bxd5 17. Be2 (17. Bg2 {now this is not very effective} Nb6 $1 {quickly reaching the strong c4 outpost} 18. Nf5 Nc4 19. Qe2 Nxb2 $1 $40) 17... Bc5 18. Rhg1 O-O {black places his king in a dangerous spot, but in the other hand, gets ready for a queen-side assault - in these kind of positions, he has to create something fast, otherwise white slowly gets there on the king-side.} 19. h4 {visually black is entirely fine, but it is not that simple. the white pawns may get there soon!} (19. g5 $5 {was possible, and similar to the game} h5 (19... hxg5 {looks very dangerous} 20. Bxg5 $40) 20. g6 f5 $1 {And I have no idea what is going on}) 19... Ne5 20. f4 Nc4 (20... Bxd4 $5 21. Bxd4 (21. Qxd4 Nf3 22. Bxf3 Bxf3 {probably heading towards an equal endgame}) 21... Nf3 22. Bxf3 Bxf3 23. Rde1 Rc4 24. c3 Qxh4 $13 {white may try different moves here, like f5, g5, Re5, with an interesting attack}) 21. Bxc4 bxc4 22. g5 (22. h5 $5 {would be the ideal attacking setup, but black will do something before g5} Rb8 $1 (22... Qb6 23. Qc3 $1) 23. Qc3 Qd6 24. Ka1 (24. g5 $2 Bxa3 25. Bc1 Rxb2+ $1 {initiative is the key} 26. Bxb2 Rb8 27. Nb3 Bxb2 28. Qxc4 $1 Ba3 $17 {and black has clearly the better chances}) 24... a5 $1 {threatening Bb4} 25. Bc1 $1 (25. g5 $2 Bb4 $1 26. axb4 axb4 27. Qd2 Qa6+ 28. Kb1 Ra8 $19) 25... Bb4 26. Qe3 c3 27. g5 Rfc8 $13 {with a crazy position!}) 22... h5 {a typical reaction to delay white's attack} 23. g6 Qxh4 {brave!} (23... f5 $2 {fails now} 24. Qe2 $1 $18 {and black will get mated soon}) (23... Qf6 $5 24. gxf7+ Rxf7 {with a complex position}) 24. f5 $1 Qh3 $2 (24... Qe4 $1 {was the right square} 25. Rde1 $13 (25. gxf7+ Rxf7 26. fxe6 $2 Bxe6 $17 {and now the queen can't be chased, as in the game (26...Bxe6 27.Rh1)})) 25. gxf7+ Rxf7 26. fxe6 Rb7 $2 ( 26... Bxe6 {probably Wojtaszek dismissed this because of 27.Rh1, but there was still play then:} 27. Rh1 Qg3 {keeping an eye on e3} 28. Rxh5 $40 (28. Rdg1 c3 $1 29. Qxc3 Bxd4 {when black is surviving})) 27. Rg5 $1 {now white is winning} Bxd4 (27... Be4 28. Qc3 $18 {followed by Rdg1 with a tremendous attack, and somewow black can not create anymore counterplay}) 28. Qxd4 Bxe6 29. Rdg1 Rcc7 30. R5g3 $2 {one bad move and it all goes away! How cruel is chess?} (30. Bd2 $1 {adding a new attacker to g7 was decisive - and at the same time, safeguarding the king forever, since the black rooks become useless after the white bishop reaches c3.} Bg4 {this will be forced sooner or later} 31. Bc3 Rf7 32. Ka2 $18 {followed by Re1 or moves like Qd5 and black won't be able to hold it}) 30... Qf5 31. Bh6 Qf8 $1 {now black had time to bring the queen back to defense and also has an eye on the queen-side. Suddenly the position is complicated again} 32. Rg6 $1 c3 33. b4 {White stops the attack for now, but this is not stable at all} Bg4 {closing the file, but allowing something on the a2-g8 diagonal} 34. Bf4 $6 (34. Qd5+ $1 {was the only way to keep the initiative} Kh7 35. R6xg4 hxg4 36. Bc1 {threatening Rh1} Rf7 $1 {forced} 37. Rh1+ Kg8 38. Qe4 g6 $16 {and now both Qxg4 and Qxg6+ are appealing, white has a good attacking potential}) 34... Rf7 35. Bc1 $2 (35. Qc4 $1 {a hard move to find, pinning the rook and preparing Be5 (without allowing Rf1+)} a5 36. Be5 { when the position still remains unclear}) 35... a5 $1 {after some defensive moves, black has once again time to attack, and grabs the initiative until the end of the game. Ponomariov starts to feel the trouble, with his unsafe king.} 36. Rd6 {cutting the f8-queen, and also threatening Rd8} Rb8 $1 37. Qd5 Kh7 $19 {black has a pawn up and a decisive attack now} 38. Ka1 axb4 39. a4 Ra7 40. Kb1 b3 $1 41. cxb3 Rxb3+ 42. Kc2 (42. Qxb3 Qxd6 $19 {and black is simply two pawns up with a winning attack}) 42... Rb8 43. Be3 Bf5+ 44. Kxc3 Rc7+ 45. Bc5 Rbc8 { A dramatic win for Wojtaszek, in a rollercoaster game. Poland scores a major 3-1 victory against Ukraine and now is tied for 2nd-3rd place with China, right behind Russia, after 5 rounds!} 0-1 [Event "11th World Teams Women"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2017.06.23"] [Round "6.4"] [White "Girya, Olga"] [Black "Vijayalakshmi, Subbaraman"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D25"] [WhiteElo "2480"] [BlackElo "2375"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "89"] [EventDate "2017.06.17"] [WhiteTeam "Russian Federation"] [BlackTeam "India"] [BlackTeamCountry "IND"] 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 dxc4 4. e3 Bg4 5. Bxc4 e6 6. O-O Nc6 7. Bb5 Bd6 8. Nbd2 O-O 9. Bxc6 bxc6 10. Qc2 {I would already say that White has a risk free edge here. The two bishops do not compensate for the weaknesses down the c-file.} Qd7 11. e4 $1 Bf4 12. Ne5 $1 {Great play by Girya.} Qxd4 (12... Qd6 13. Ndc4 $18) (12... Qe8 13. Ndc4 $1 Bxc1 14. Raxc1 $18) 13. Ndf3 Qd6 (13... Bxf3 14. Nxf3 {A piece is lost here.}) 14. Bxf4 Bxf3 15. gxf3 Nh5 {It was obvious that Viji was not counting on this tactic. Something had gone wrong on the earluer moves. White has three ways to save her piece.} 16. Rad1 (16. Rfd1 {also wins.}) (16. Bg3 $5 Nxg3 17. Nc4 $18 {also wins.}) 16... Qe7 17. Bg3 $18 {White is a piece up.} f6 18. Nxc6 Qf7 19. Rd2 e5 20. Rfd1 Qxa2 21. Rd7 g5 22. Rxc7 Rf7 23. Rxf7 Qxf7 24. Nd8 Qe7 25. Qc4+ Kg7 26. Nc6 Qf7 27. Qxf7+ Kxf7 28. Rd7+ Kg8 29. Rxa7 Rxa7 30. Nxa7 Ng7 31. Nc6 Kf7 32. Nxe5+ fxe5 33. Bxe5 Ne6 34. b4 Ke7 35. Kg2 Kd7 36. Kg3 Kc6 37. Kg4 Kb5 38. Kf5 Nd8 39. Bd6 h6 40. Be7 Nc6 41. Bc5 Kc4 42. e5 Kd5 43. e6 Nd8 44. e7 Ne6 45. Kf6 1-0 [Event "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2017.06.23"] [Round "6.3"] [White "Padmini, Rout"] [Black "Gunina, Valentina"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B12"] [WhiteElo "2375"] [BlackElo "2499"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "76"] [EventDate "2017.06.17"] [WhiteTeam "India"] [BlackTeam "Russian Federation"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IND"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 Ne7 6. O-O h6 7. Nbd2 Nd7 8. Nb3 g5 9. a4 a5 10. Bd2 Bg7 11. Ne1 c5 12. Bb5 Nc6 13. c3 O-O 14. Bxc6 bxc6 15. Nxc5 Nxc5 16. dxc5 Bxe5 17. f4 Bg7 18. fxg5 hxg5 19. Nf3 Qe7 20. Nxg5 f6 21. Nf3 Qxc5+ 22. Kh1 Be4 {Black with the centre and two bishops is better in this position. However, now Padmini starts to find good resources.} 23. Qe1 Qd6 24. Be3 c5 25. Nd2 Bd3 26. Rf3 c4 27. b3 f5 28. bxc4 dxc4 29. Qh4 e5 30. Nxc4 $1 { When a pawn is offered and you do not see anything wrong with it, why not take it.} Qe6 31. Nxe5 $5 {The black king looks weak, and there are definitely practical chances. A good decision by Padmini.} (31. Nb6 Rab8 32. c4 e4 33. Rh3 Rxb6 34. Bxb6 Qxb6 35. Qh7+ Kf7 36. Qxf5+ {White is not worse in the resulting position.}) 31... Bxe5 32. Bd4 $5 Be4 33. Rh3 $2 {Padmini misses Black's next move.} (33. Bxe5 $1 Qxe5 (33... Bxf3 34. gxf3 $1 Qxe5 35. Rg1+ Kf7 36. Re1 $18 {with a winning position.}) 34. Rg3+ (34. Rh3 Ra7 $19) 34... Kf7 35. Rd1 $13 { This looks very scary for Black.}) 33... Qg6 $1 {Gunina does not falter.} 34. Rg1 Rab8 $1 {A very cool move.} 35. Re3 (35. Bxe5 Bxg2+ 36. Rxg2 Rb1+ $19) 35... Rb1 36. Rxe4 Rxg1+ 37. Kxg1 fxe4 38. Bxe5 Qb6+ {A good fight by Padmini, but Gunina was stronger tactically.} 0-1 [Event "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2017.06.23"] [Round "6.3"] [White "Sasikiran, Krishnan"] [Black "Can, Emre"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2669"] [BlackElo "2589"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "143"] [EventDate "2017.06.17"] [WhiteTeam "India"] [BlackTeam "Turkey"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IND"] [BlackTeamCountry "TUR"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8. f3 h5 9. Nd5 Bxd5 10. exd5 Nbd7 11. Qd2 g6 12. O-O-O Nb6 {110 positions have reached this position and the White goes here is that he sacrifices the d5 pawn and continues as if nothing has happened.} 13. Kb1 $5 (13. Qa5 $5 Bh6 14. Bxh6 Rxh6 15. Kb1 Kf8 16. g3 {with an interesting position.}) 13... Nbxd5 14. Bg5 Be7 15. h4 Nb6 16. Bd3 d5 17. Rhe1 {White has excellent compensation for the pawn especially because the black king is still in the centre.} Nfd7 18. Na5 Bxg5 19. hxg5 Qc7 20. c4 $1 dxc4 21. Nxc4 O-O (21... Nxc4 22. Bxc4 $16) 22. Nxb6 Qxb6 (22... Nxb6 23. g4 $16) 23. g4 $1 {This looks pretty strong, but Black has an option to close the position with h4 and hence, it is not a huge advantage for White. Yet, it would be nice to be White in such a position.} Nc5 24. Bc2 Rfd8 25. Qe3 Rxd1+ 26. Rxd1 h4 $1 27. Rh1 Rd8 (27... Qb5 $1 28. Qxe5 Re8 $44) 28. Qe1 $1 h3 29. Qg3 Qd6 30. Qxh3 Kf8 31. Rd1 Qc7 32. Qh8+ Ke7 33. Qf6+ Ke8 {White has completely outplayed Black. It is now time to finish him off.} 34. Qh8+ (34. Re1 $1 Nd7 35. Qh8+ Ke7 36. Qg7 $1 {Not an easy move to see. The idea now is Bxg6.} Qb6 37. Rd1 $18 {Overall Black is pinned pretty badly and White is winning.}) 34... Ke7 35. Qf6+ Ke8 36. Rxd8+ Qxd8 37. Qxe5+ Qe7 38. Qh8+ Kd7 39. Qd4+ Qd6 40. Qb4 {White is a pawn, but Black has good drawing chances.} b6 41. Qc4 Qe6 42. Qc3 Qd6 43. Qe3 Qe6 44. Qf2 Qd6 45. f4 Ne6 46. f5 $1 Nxg5 47. Qe3 Nh7 48. fxg6 fxg6 49. Qd3 Nf8 (49... Qxd3 50. Bxd3 Nf8 51. Bxa6 $18 {This will win for White.}) 50. Qxa6 {A pawn is a pawn! Sasi went on to convert this position confidently.} Ke7 51. a4 Qb4 52. Qe2+ Kf6 53. Qe4 Qd6 54. Qd3 Qb4 55. Qd8+ Ke5 56. Qc7+ Kf6 57. Qd8+ Ke5 58. Qg5+ Kd6 59. Qf6+ Ne6 60. Qxg6 Qe1+ 61. Ka2 Kc5 62. Qf5+ Kd6 63. Qd3+ Kc7 64. Qe4 Qxe4 65. Bxe4 Kd6 66. Bf5 Nd4 67. Ka3 Kc5 68. Bd3 Nf3 69. Kb3 Ne5 70. Be2 Kd4 71. g5 Ke3 72. Bh5 1-0 [Event "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2017.06.23"] [Round "6.1"] [White "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"] [Black "Solak, Dragan"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D16"] [WhiteElo "2692"] [BlackElo "2641"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "49"] [EventDate "2017.06.17"] [WhiteTeam "India"] [BlackTeam "Turkey"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IND"] [BlackTeamCountry "TUR"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 a5 $5 {I think Vidit was perhaps surprised by Dragan choosing this line.} 6. e4 Bg4 7. Bxc4 e6 8. Be3 Bb4 9. Qc2 Nbd7 10. Be2 O-O {Black doesn't have the centre but he has been able to develop both his bishops and knights and castled. I think he has equalized out of the opening.} 11. Rd1 Qe7 12. O-O Bxf3 $1 {A typical exchange. } 13. Bxf3 (13. gxf3 Nh5 14. Kh1 f5 {is not something that a player like Vidit would like to indulge in.}) 13... e5 $1 14. dxe5 Nxe5 15. Be2 {If White can get in f4 and e5 he would be better, but that's just not possible.} Neg4 $1 16. Bc1 Qe5 17. g3 Qh5 18. h4 Qc5 {The queen and the knight have created weaknesses in a way that the g4 square has become an outpost for the knight.} 19. Kg2 Rad8 20. Bf4 h5 21. Bg5 Rxd1 22. Bxd1 Re8 23. Bf3 b5 24. Bxf6 Nxf6 25. Rc1 {Overall it seems like a wise decision by Vidit to offer a draw at this point as Black never had a problem in the game, and will never have one. A good game by Solak.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2017.06.23"] [Round "6.2"] [White "Yilmaz, Mustafa"] [Black "Adhiban, Baskaran"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D46"] [WhiteElo "2630"] [BlackElo "2670"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "169"] [EventDate "2017.06.17"] [WhiteTeam "Turkey"] [BlackTeam "India"] [WhiteTeamCountry "TUR"] [BlackTeamCountry "IND"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 c6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. Bd3 O-O 8. O-O dxc4 9. Bxc4 Qe7 (9... b5 {is the normal way to play in the Meran. But Adhiban goes for a line that is not played so much now.}) 10. h3 e5 11. Bb3 Bc7 12. Rd1 h6 $6 (12... Rd8 13. Nh4 (13. Ng5 Rf8 $11) 13... Nf8 $11) 13. Nh4 Rd8 14. Nf5 Qf8 15. Nb5 $1 Bb8 (15... Bb6 16. Nbd6 $18) 16. dxe5 Nxe5 17. Rxd8 Qxd8 18. Nbd4 $14 a5 19. a4 Ba7 20. Bd2 c5 $5 21. Nb5 c4 22. Ba2 {Black has bitten more than what he can chew. Now there are weaknesses all over in the position and so Adhiban has to continue with his aggressive play.} Nf3+ (22... Bxf5 23. Qxf5 Qxd2 24. Qxe5 $16) 23. gxf3 Bxf5 24. Qxf5 Qxd2 25. Bxc4 {The most human move to play.} (25. Nxa7 $1 {was the winning move, but it is very difficult to see through all the complications.} Qxb2 26. Rd1 $3 Qxa2 27. Nc8 {Now threatening Rd8+} g6 28. Rd8+ Kg7 29. Qc5 {Theres a mate on f8} Qb1+ 30. Kg2 Qb4 {This might have been what Yilmaz saw and left it. But White has a killer move.} 31. Qc7 $3 {The idea is to play Nd6.} h5 32. e4 $3 $18 {Once again Black is all tied up and e5-e6 is just too powerful.}) 25... Bb6 26. Qd3 Rd8 27. Qb3 Qd7 28. Kg2 $16 {Adhiban is a pawn down and has a huge defensive task ahead. Not that he is not capable of defending such positions. He has done much better before. But landing in such situations is not a good idea, in any case!} Nh7 29. h4 Bc5 30. Nc3 Qe7 31. Rd1 Rxd1 32. Qxd1 Nf6 (32... Qxh4 33. Bxf7+ Kxf7 34. Qd5+ $16) 33. Qd3 Bb4 34. Ne2 Nd7 35. Qf5 Ne5 36. Bd5 b6 37. f4 Nd7 38. Ng3 {The opposite coloured bishops is making Black's defensive task tougher because White is playing on the light squares.} Nf6 39. Bb3 Qc7 40. e4 Qc6 41. Qg6 Qb7 42. Kf1 Kf8 43. Qf5 Qd7 $1 44. Qxd7 Nxd7 {This is just what the doctor ordered for Black. The queens are off and the drawing chances have increased.} 45. Bc2 Bd2 46. f5 Ne5 47. Ke2 Bf4 48. Nh5 Bc1 49. b3 Ng4 50. Kf3 Ne5+ 51. Kg3 Nc6 52. Bd1 Nd4 53. Nf4 Bxf4+ $2 {A bad decision by Adhiban that lands him in a lost endgame.} (53... b5 $1 {keeping the bishops on the board would have increased his chances of draw.}) 54. Kxf4 Ke7 55. e5 f6 56. Ke4 fxe5 57. f4 $1 {it could be that Adhiban missed this.} Nc6 58. fxe5 $18 {Now white is just winning and went on to convert the game, but we have a interesting case of a photographic draw pointed out by one of the readers.} Nb4 59. Be2 {Position number one - Ke4, Be2 vs Ke7, Nb4 and Black to play.} Nc6 60. Bf3 Nb4 61. Bg2 Nc2 62. Bf1 Nb4 63. Be2 {Position number two - Ke4, Be2 vs Ke7, Nb4 and Black to play.} Nc2 64. Kd3 Nb4+ 65. Kc4 Nc6 66. Kd5 Nb4+ 67. Kd4 Nc6+ 68. Ke4 Nb4 {Now one might assume that this is the third time that the position was repeated and claim a photographic draw. However, a difference is that it is White to play here, and while on the last two occasions it was Black to play. Hence, this is not a draw yet.} 69. Bb5 Nc2 70. Bf1 Nb4 71. Kd4 (71. Be2 {would have been a photographic draw.}) 71... Nc2+ 72. Kd3 Ne1+ 73. Ke3 Nc2+ 74. Ke4 Nb4 75. Kd4 Nc2+ 76. Kd3 Ne1+ 77. Kc4 $1 Nf3 78. Kb5 Nxe5 79. Kxb6 Kd6 80. Kxa5 Nc6+ 81. Kb6 Nd4 82. a5 Nxb3 83. a6 Nc5 84. a7 Nd7+ 85. Ka5 {Quite an untypical loss for Adhiban after three excellent wins in the last three rounds.} 1-0 [Event "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2017.06.24"] [Round "7.2"] [White "Adhiban, Baskaran"] [Black "Korobov, Anton"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C11"] [WhiteElo "2670"] [BlackElo "2711"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2017.06.17"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 Be7 8. Qd2 O-O 9. dxc5 (9. O-O-O c4 {is supposed to give Black a very strong attack on the queenside. And hence before 0-0-0 White takes on c5.}) 9... Nxc5 10. O-O-O Qa5 11. Kb1 Rd8 12. Nd4 Bf8 13. g4 {Adhiban's play has been very logical. He has 0-0-0, put his knight on d4 to prevent Black from playing d4 and now begins with his kingside expansion.} Bd7 14. h4 Rab8 {This is the tough moment in the game. White has to decide on what course of action he would like to take in the game now. Would he like to indulge in a race with h5-h6 and Black coming down with b5-b4 or he would like to play an endgame, like Adhiban did in the game.} 15. Nce2 $5 {Objectively not the best move, but Adhiban surely must have some psychological objectives in mind when he made this move.} Qxd2 16. Rxd2 Ne4 17. Rd1 Nxd4 18. Bxd4 (18. Nxd4 Ng3) 18... b6 19. Bg2 Bb5 20. Rhe1 Bb4 (20... Nc5 {After what happened in the game I was thinking if this was a better option, but I think White can just go} 21. Be3 $14 {Put the knight on d4 and be better.}) 21. c3 Be7 22. Bxe4 dxe4 23. g5 {Well White is not better in this position yet, but Black has to be careful. White is threatening Ng3, and there would not be a good way to save the e4 pawn.} Bd3+ (23... Rbc8 $5 24. Kc1 $5 (24. Ng3 Bd3+ 25. Ka1 Bb4 $1 26. Nxe4 (26. Re3 Rxd4 27. cxd4 Bd2 $1 $15) 26... Rxd4 27. cxd4 Bxe1 28. Nd6 Rc2 29. Rxe1 Rh2 $132) 24... h6 25. Kd2 hxg5 26. hxg5 $14 {I still get the feeling that with Ke3 and Ng3 White is just better.}) 24. Kc1 h5 {[%cal Gc1d2,Gd2e3,Ge2g3,Gg3e4] The question on my mind is - why h5? The battle is revolving around the e4 pawn, what would be the reason for Korobov to make a move like h5? Well, I think he was tempting Adhiban to go for Ng3. So h5 was more like a trap.} (24... a5 25. Kd2 a4 26. Ke3 Bc4 27. a3 $16 {This is the problem for Black. He will lose the e4 pawn without any compensation.}) 25. Kd2 $1 {A strong move by Adhiban. He sees through his opponent's plans. Now Ng3 is a strong threat. Also Ke3 just strengthening the position is possible.} (25. Ng3 Rxd4 $1 26. cxd4 Rc8+ 27. Kd2 Bb4+ 28. Ke3 Bxe1 29. Rxe1 Rc2 30. Nxe4 Bxe4 31. Kxe4 Rxb2 $11 {And the game would most probably ended in a draw.}) 25... Bc5 {Well, this move is really not a good idea, but I think Black was already short of ideas in the position.} 26. Ke3 Rbc8 (26... Bxe2 27. Rxe2 Bxd4+ 28. Rxd4 Rxd4 29. cxd4 (29. Kxd4 Rd8+ 30. Kxe4 Rd1 {with good drawing chances.}) 29... Rc8 30. Kxe4 g6 {Once again, White will push here, but I think draw is a possibility.}) 27. Bxc5 Rxc5 (27... bxc5 28. Ng3 $16) 28. Ng3 Rcd5 (28... g6 29. Nxe4 $18) 29. Nxh5 {The bad news for Black at this point is that the e4 pawn is still weak and he is a pawn down!} Bc4 30. Rd4 $1 Bxa2 31. Ra1 Rxd4 32. cxd4 Bd5 33. Rxa7 g6 34. Rd7 $1 { A nice finishing stroke. The knight will pick up all the pawns! A controlled and matured game by Adhiban. It's really tough to say where Korobov went wrong in the game.} 1-0 [Event "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2017.06.24"] [Round "7.4"] [White "Padmini, Rout"] [Black "Guo, Qi"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B12"] [WhiteElo "2375"] [BlackElo "2417"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "121"] [EventDate "2017.06.17"] 1. e4 c6 {It seems like Padmini's opponents have found her Achilles heel. Caro Kann.} 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 Nd7 6. O-O Ne7 7. Nbd2 c5 8. c4 a6 9. Re1 Rc8 10. dxc5 Nxc5 11. Nb3 Nd7 12. Bd2 dxc4 13. Na5 Nd5 14. Nxc4 { With more space, White is surely slightly better.} Bc5 15. Bg5 $1 f6 16. exf6 N7xf6 17. Bd3 {At this point, it would seem like White has quite a bit of initiative in the position, but Guo Qi defends well.} O-O 18. Bxf5 exf5 19. Qb3 Kh8 20. Rad1 Qc7 21. Nce5 Qb6 22. Qxb6 Bxb6 23. Nd7 Nxd7 24. Rxd5 Nc5 25. Be3 Na4 26. Bxb6 Nxb6 27. Rd6 Na4 28. b3 Nc5 29. h3 {Truth be told, this position is round about even. White should have a small pull thanks to her active pieces, but with accurate defence Black can nullify the initiative.} Kg8 30. Nd4 g6 31. Re5 Ne4 {Already Black is fine.} 32. Rd7 Rf7 33. Rxf7 Kxf7 34. g4 Rd8 $15 {The tables have turned. Suddenly it is Black's pieces that are much more active.} 35. Nf3 Kf6 36. Kg2 h6 37. Ra5 Nc3 (37... Rc8 $15 38. gxf5 Rc2 $17) 38. Rc5 Nd5 39. Kg3 Ke6 40. Rc2 Nf6 41. Rc7 Ne4+ 42. Kg2 Nd6 43. g5 $3 { One can say that this is the winning move of the game. Positionally it seems incorrect because it breaks the structure. But if you look deeper, it helps White to create some sort of mating nets against the Black king.} hxg5 44. Nxg5+ Ke5 (44... Kf6 45. f4 $14 {is not what Guo Qi wanted. Her knight is tied down to the defence of the f7 square.}) 45. Kg3 Rc8 46. Nf7+ $1 {Padmini has seen it all!} Ke6 (46... Kf6 47. Nxd6 Rxc7 48. Ne8+ $18) (46... Kd5 47. Rxc8 Nxc8 48. Kh4 {And Kg5 gives White the advantage.}) 47. Rxc8 Nxc8 48. Nd8+ { And there we have it! White has won a crucial pawn. And knight endgames are a lot like pawn endgames. A pawn up position is more often than not winning.} Ke5 49. Nxb7 Ne7 50. Na5 Nd5 51. Nc4+ Kd4 52. h4 Nb4 53. Kf4 $1 {One of the important skills in an endgame is when to leave control and start the race. Padmini realizes that her h-pawn is extremely strong and doesn't care about anything else.} Nd3+ 54. Kg5 Nxf2 55. Kxg6 f4 56. h5 Ng4 57. Kf5 Nf6 (57... f3 58. Kxg4 f2 59. Nd2 Ke3 60. Nf1+ Ke2 61. Ng3+ $18) 58. Kxf6 f3 59. Nd2 f2 60. Nf1 Kd3 61. h6 {With this win India levelled the scores. Once again Padmini proved that she has some amazing nerves.} 1-0 [Event "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2017.06.25"] [Round "8.4"] [White "Fedoseev, Vladimir"] [Black "Negi, Parimarjan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "2690"] [BlackElo "2670"] [PlyCount "161"] [EventDate "2017.06.17"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. O-O d6 6. a4 h6 7. c3 a6 8. Re1 O-O 9. h3 Re8 10. Nbd2 Ba7 11. Qb3 Qe7 12. a5 Rb8 13. Nf1 Be6 14. Be3 Bxc4 15. Qxc4 Qd7 16. b4 Qe6 17. Qxe6 Rxe6 18. Bxa7 Nxa7 19. Ne3 Rd8 20. c4 c6 21. Nd2 d5 22. exd5 cxd5 23. Nb3 g6 24. Reb1 Re7 25. Nc5 Rc7 26. Na4 d4 27. Nf1 e4 28. Nd2 exd3 29. Nb2 Nc8 30. Ra3 Nd6 31. Rxd3 Nde4 32. Nb3 Nc3 33. Re1 Na2 (33... Rcd7 $11) 34. b5 axb5 35. cxb5 Rd5 36. b6 Rc3 37. Re7 Nb4 38. Rf3 Rxf3 39. gxf3 Nd7 $15 {Black is clearly better.} 40. Re8+ Kg7 41. Rc8 Nc6 42. Rc7 Nxb6 $6 (42... Nde5 43. Rxb7 Rb5 44. a6 Rxb3 45. a7 Nxa7 46. bxa7 Ra3 $15) 43. Rxb7 $1 (43. axb6 Rb5 $11) 43... Nc8 44. Nc4 $16 d3 45. a6 Nd4 46. Nbd2 Nb5 47. f4 Rc5 48. Kg2 g5 49. Kf3 gxf4 50. Kxf4 h5 51. h4 Kh6 52. Ke3 Nba7 53. Rxf7 Rc6 54. Ne5 Rxa6 55. Ne4 Re6 56. f4 Nc6 57. Nxc6 Rxc6 58. f5 Rc4 59. Kxd3 Ra4 60. Rc7 Na7 61. Rb7 Nc8 62. Rb8 Na7 63. Rg8 Ra6 64. f6 Nc6 65. Nd6 Ra7 66. Ke4 Kh7 67. Rc8 Ra4+ 68. Kd5 Kg6 69. f7 Ne7+ 70. Ke6 Nxc8 71. f8=Q Nxd6 72. Qg8+ Kh6 73. Qg5+ Kh7 74. Qxh5+ Kg7 75. Qg5+ Kh7 76. Qe7+ Kg6 77. Kxd6 Rg4 78. Ke5 Kh6 79. Qf8+ Kh5 80. Qh8+ Kg6 81. Qg8+ 1-0 [Event "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2017.06.25"] [Round "8.3"] [White "Karavade, Eesha"] [Black "Vo, Thi Kim Phung"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E90"] [WhiteElo "2388"] [BlackElo "2378"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "161"] [EventDate "2017.06.17"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. h3 Nbd7 7. Be3 e5 8. d5 a5 9. g4 Nc5 10. Nd2 Ne8 11. h4 f5 12. g5 f4 13. Bxc5 dxc5 14. Qf3 Nd6 {Seven games have been played until this point with all wins for White. 0-0-0 and Bh3 are the main moves. Eesha goes for something different. But essentially the nature of the position doesn't change.} 15. Nb5 Rf7 16. Nxd6 cxd6 17. Bh3 $1 { Exchanging the bishop so that black is left with a bad bishop.} Bf8 18. Nb1 Qb6 19. Qb3 Qb4+ 20. Nc3 Bxh3 21. Rxh3 Qxb3 $6 {Vo Thi Kim Phung would not have imagined how this capture would drastically change the nature of the position.} 22. axb3 b6 $2 (22... h6 $1 {This would have given Black enough counterplay.} 23. O-O-O Rh7 $1 24. Rdh1 Be7 {And White is under pressure.} 25. gxh6 Rxh6 26. h5 Rxh5 27. Rxh5 gxh5 28. Rxh5 Kg7 $11 {I am not 100% sure that White will be able to claim any advantage here because after the rook exchange, the white king cannot roam freely on the queenside as the black king will enter the kingside.}) 23. O-O-O $1 Raa7 24. Rg1 Be7 25. Kb1 Bd8 26. Ka2 Kf8 27. Ka3 Rg7 28. Ka4 Ke8 29. Nb5 Rad7 30. h5 Kf8 31. Nc3 Ra7 32. Nb1 Kg8 33. Nd2 Be7 34. Nf3 {You must see how Eesha performs one task after another with admirable calm. First she blocked the a-pawn with her king so that no breakthrough is possible. Then she got her knight to f3 so that g5 is not weak. And now she will open the h-file and enter the position.} Bf8 35. hxg6 hxg6 36. Rgh1 {The rooks threaten to enter on the kingside, the king on the queenside. This is a completely dominating position for White.} Kf7 37. Rh7 Ra8 38. Rxg7+ Bxg7 39. Kb5 Kg8 40. Nd2 (40. Kxb6 Rb8+) 40... Bf8 41. Kxb6 Be7 42. Kc7 Bf8 (42... Bxg5 43. Kxd6 $18) 43. Kb7 Re8 44. Nb1 Be7 45. Kc7 Bxg5 46. Kxd6 Rb8 47. Nd2 f3 48. Nxf3 Bf4 49. Ke6 Rxb3 50. Nxe5 Rxb2 51. Nxg6 Rb6+ 52. Kf5 Bc7 53. e5 a4 54. d6 Bxd6 55. exd6 Rxd6 56. Ra1 Ra6 57. Ra3 Kg7 58. Nf4 Kf7 59. Ke5 Ra8 60. Nd3 Ke7 61. Nxc5 Rc8 62. Kd4 Rd8+ 63. Kc3 Rf8 64. Nd3 Ra8 65. Kb4 Rb8+ 66. Kxa4 Kd6 67. Rb3 Rf8 68. Kb4 Rf5 69. c5+ Kd5 70. Kc3 Kc6 71. Rb6+ Kc7 72. Kd4 Rf3 73. Ke4 Rh3 74. f4 Rh1 75. f5 Rh4+ 76. Nf4 Rh7 77. Nd5+ Kc8 78. f6 Rh4+ 79. Ke5 Kd7 80. Rb7+ Kc8 81. c6 {Such fine and dominating play by the girl from Pune.} 1-0 [Event "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2017.06.25"] [Round "8.3"] [White "Sasikiran, Krishnan"] [Black "Matlakov, Maxim"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B35"] [WhiteElo "2669"] [BlackElo "2714"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "94"] [EventDate "2017.06.17"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 g6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Bc4 Qa5 8. O-O O-O 9. Bb3 d6 10. h3 Bd7 11. Re1 Rac8 12. Qd2 Qa6 13. f4 Rfd8 14. Rad1 b5 $2 {This is just a pawn blunder.} 15. Ndxb5 $1 Nxe4 16. Qd5 $1 {A simple tactical miss by Matlakov. e4 and f7 both are attacked.} Nf6 17. Qxf7+ { Well after winning a pawn like this one would imagine that Sasi would win the game.} Kh8 18. Qc4 Qb7 19. Qe2 (19. Nd4 $1 $16 {White is just better here, without any problems.}) 19... Rf8 20. Rf1 Nh5 21. Rf3 a6 22. Nd4 Nxd4 23. Bxd4 Bc6 (23... Nxf4 24. Bxg7+ Kxg7 25. Qxe7+ $18) 24. Bxg7+ Kxg7 25. Nd5 Bxd5 26. Bxd5 Qa7+ 27. Qe3 Qxe3+ 28. Rxe3 Rxc2 {Black has managed to gain activity in return for his pawn and things are not so simple any more.} 29. Rxe7+ Kh6 30. f5 Rxb2 31. Be4 Ng3 32. fxg6 hxg6 33. Rxd6 Nxe4 34. Rxe4 Rxa2 35. Ree6 Rg8 36. Rxa6 Rxa6 37. Rxa6 {This is just a draw.} Rb8 38. Rf6 Rb3 39. Kh2 Kg5 40. Rf3 Rxf3 $1 {Matlakov knows his endgames.} 41. gxf3 Kf4 42. Kg2 g5 43. Kf2 Ke5 44. Kg3 Kf5 45. h4 gxh4+ 46. Kxh4 Kf4 47. Kh5 Kxf3 1/2-1/2 [Event "chess24.com"] [Site "chess24.com"] [Date "2017.06.25"] [Round "8.1"] [White "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"] [Black "Svidler, Peter"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D78"] [WhiteElo "2692"] [BlackElo "2756"] [PlyCount "129"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "India"] [BlackTeam "Russia"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IND"] [BlackTeamCountry "RUS"] [WhiteClock "0:00:40"] [BlackClock "0:04:34"] {The game between India and Russia was an extremely crucial one with both the teams fighting for a medal at this very prestigious tournament.Both the teams were experienced and although the Russians did lead the Indian team on the basis of rating on almost all the boards, the difference between the ratings was not as much. Also the notion that Indians are under-rated made it a MUST-WATCH and high entertaining match.Russia eventually won owing to Fedoseev's gradual 'Karpovian Victory' over India's Parimarjan Negi, but the game was well fought on all the boards!} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 c6 4. Bg2 { According to the Chess24 database,Vidit used 3 minutes 30 seconds for this move which could well be utilised later in the crucial moments of the game!} d5 5. Nf3 (5. Qa4 Nfd7 6. cxd5 Nb6 7. Qd1 cxd5 8. Nc3 (8. Nf3 Bg7 9. O-O O-O 10. b3 Nc6 11. Bb2 Bf5 12. h3 Qd7 13. Kh2 Be4 14. Nbd2 Rfd8 15. Ne5 Bxe5 16. Nxe4 Bxd4 17. Bxd4 dxe4 18. Bxb6 axb6 19. Qxd7 Rxd7 20. Bxe4 Rd2 21. Rac1 Nd4 22. e3 Ne6 23. Bb1 Rad8 24. Kg2 Kg7 25. Rc2 f5 26. b4 Kf6 27. a4 Rxc2 28. Bxc2 Nc7 29. Rc1 Na6 30. Rb1 Rd2 31. Bd1 Ke5 32. Bf3 Ra2 33. a5 bxa5 34. bxa5 Nc5 35. Rb5 Kd6 36. Bxb7 Nxb7 37. Rxb7 Rxa5 {1/2-1/2 (37) Grachev,B (2667) -Khismatullin,D (2657) Dagomys 2010}) 8... Nc6 9. e3 Bf5 10. Nge2 Nb4 11. O-O Nc2 12. Rb1 Nb4 13. Ra1 Nc2 {was already drawn in Vidit-Loek Van Wely in Baku Olympiad 2016.}) 5... Bg7 6. b3 O-O 7. O-O Ne4 8. Bb2 Bf5 9. e3 Nd7 10. Qe2 a5 {[%csl Rb5][%cal Ga5a4] It is quite curious to know that this line was played with the White pieces by Giri as well(albeit in Blitz)and Svidler also had the same position as Black! This is however the most common move but one move which was very possibly analyzed by Vidit at home seeing the speed at which the next moves were played!} 11. cxd5 $146 {The first choice of the Engines and with an aim to challenge the authenticity of the move ...a5 which does weaken the b5-square and also the Knight is now placed at d7 and now taking on d5 makes more sense as the Knight does not have its ideal c6-square here!This same theme was also played out by Vidit against Joorden Van Foreest in Reykjavik Open 2017 which shows his strong acquaintance with our Classics also!However, this move was played after 11 minutes and it can very possibly be an on-the spot innovation as well.} (11. Nc3 Nxc3 12. Bxc3 Be4 (12... Nf6 13. Rfc1 Be4 14. Be1 e6 15. Bf1 c5 16. cxd5 cxd4 17. Nxd4 Bxd5 18. Rd1 Qb6 19. Rac1 Rfc8 20. Nb5 Ne4 21. Bg2 Rc6 22. f3 Rac8 23. Rxc6 Bxc6 24. Nd4 Bxd4 25. Rxd4 Nf6 26. Bf2 e5 27. Rd6 Kg7 28. e4 Qb4 29. Qd2 Bb5 30. Qxb4 axb4 31. Be1 Rc2 32. Bxb4 Rxa2 33. Bc3 Rc2 34. Bxe5 Rc1+ 35. Kf2 Rc2+ 36. Kg1 Rc1+ 37. Kf2 Rc2+ 38. Ke3 Rxg2 39. Bxf6+ Kh6 40. Rd5 Bc6 41. Rd8 {1-0 (41) Nikolic,P (2645)-Svidler,P (2630) Ter Apel 1996}) 13. cxd5 cxd5 14. Qb5 Qc7 15. Rfc1 Qc6 16. Qe2 Rfc8 17. Bh3 Bxf3 18. Qxf3 e6 19. a4 Qb6 20. Qd1 Bf8 21. Bf1 Bb4 22. Bb2 Nf6 23. Rxc8+ Rxc8 24. Rc1 Rc7 25. Bd3 Qd6 26. Rxc7 Qxc7 27. Qc2 Qxc2 28. Bxc2 g5 29. h3 h5 30. f3 g4 31. hxg4 hxg4 32. Kf2 Kf8 33. Bc1 Ke7 34. Bd3 b6 35. Bc2 Kd7 36. Bd3 Ke7 37. Bc2 Kd7 38. Bd3 Ke7 {1/2-1/2 (38) Giri,A (2734)-Radjabov,T (2713) Beijing 2013} ) (11. Nh4 Be6 12. f3 Nd6 13. c5 Nb5 14. a4 Nc7 15. f4 Nf6 16. Nd2 Na6 17. Nhf3 b6 18. cxb6 Qxb6 19. Rfc1 Rfc8 20. Ba3 Nb4 21. Ne5 Nd7 22. Ndf3 f6 23. Bxb4 axb4 24. Nxd7 Bxd7 25. Ne1 e5 26. Nd3 exd4 27. Nc5 Bf5 28. exd4 Re8 29. Qf2 Bf8 30. Re1 Bd6 31. Bf1 Qa7 32. Rac1 Rac8 33. Qd2 Qb6 34. Bd3 Bxd3 35. Rxe8+ Rxe8 36. Qxd3 Qa7 37. Qd2 Qe7 38. Kf2 Kf7 39. Re1 Qxe1+ 40. Qxe1 Rxe1 41. Kxe1 Bxc5 42. dxc5 Ke7 43. g4 Kd7 44. Ke2 Kc7 45. h4 Kd7 46. Kf3 Kc7 47. h5 gxh5 48. gxh5 Kd7 49. h6 {1/2-1/2 (49) Nikolic,P (2625)-Smirin,I (2640) Elenite 1993}) 11... cxd5 {[%csl Rd7]} 12. Nc3 Nxc3 13. Bxc3 Qb6 14. Rfc1 Rfc8 15. Ne1 {[%csl Rd5] [%cal Ge1d3] Both the players played the last couple of moves reasonably fast which shows that they were following theory and their home preparations. Understandable and typical manuevre to regroup the Knight to d3 where it would be eyeing on e5 as well as on c5 up here!12 Minutes were spent playing this move and it is quite probable that this was not opening preparation by our Indian Board No.1!} e5 {A wild reaction which was however also played after only 1 minute of thought instead of the normal ...Nf6. So this may also be opening preparation!It is great to see the DEPTH of the Opening Preparation of these strong players!} (15... Nf6 16. Nd3 {[%cal Gd3c5,Gd3e5]} Qa6 17. Bf1 Ne4 18. Be1 {This position here is now quite important as White hopes for some more pleasant positions after inserting Nf4 yet Black has STRONG COUNTERCHANCES in the position up here!} Ng5 $1 {[%csl Rd3,Rf3,Rg1,Rh3][%cal Gf5e4] is a very strong resource which Black would have had to find to equalize completely here!} (18... Qb6 {[%csl Gc5]} 19. g4 Bd7 (19... Be6 20. f3 Rxc1 (20... Nf6 21. Nc5 $14 {[%cal Gh2h3,Gf1g2,Ge1f2] to clearly better position for White up here!}) 21. Rxc1 Nd6 22. Nc5 $14 {[%csl Ra5][%cal Ge2d2] to clearly better position for White up here!}) 20. a4 {[%cal Gf2f3,Gd3c5] The critical reply and Black has to make RESPONSIBLE DECISIONS in this position here!} (20. f3 Bb5 {[%cal Ge4d6] with STRONG COUNTERCHANCES when Black should be doing absolutely fine up here!}) 20... e5 21. dxe5 Qxb3 22. f3 (22. Rcb1 Qc4 {[%cal Ge4c3] is absolutely fine for Black here also!}) 22... Nc3 23. Qd2 Nxa4 24. Rab1 Qa3 {with extremely complex play when Black should principally be fine up here!}) 19. Nc5 Qxe2 20. Bxe2 e5 {[%csl Gf5,Gg5,Gg7] and Blacks activity ensures STRONG PLAY when the position should be dynamically balanced up here!}) 16. dxe5 Rxc3 17. Rxc3 {Now Vidit bhaiya probably tried to recollect his analysis after thinking for 1 minute which looked a little awkward to me as this was the only move in the position and the consequences could have been found on the opponents move here.This thought may actually be an indication that ....e5!? was not as thoroughly analyzed by Vidit bhaiya as was ....Nf6.} Bxe5 18. Rac1 Bxc3 19. Rxc3 {[%csl Gd4,Rd5][%cal Ge2d2,Ge1c2]} d4 {The most principled reaction by Black simply aiming to trade his} (19... Nf6 20. Nf3 {[%cal Gf3d4,Ge2b2]} Ne4 21. Rc1 Re8 22. Nd4 Nxg3 (22... Bd7 23. Qd1 $14 {[%csl Rd5][%cal Gd4e2,Ge2f4,Gd1d4] to clearly better position for White when the play is going on for 2 results only up here!}) 23. Qf3 Ne4 24. Nxf5 gxf5 25. Qxf5 $14 {[%csl Rd5]}) 20. exd4 Qxd4 21. Bxb7 {And almost 4 minutes were used here while this looks to be the most logical move in the position here!} Qxc3 22. Bxa8 {So Vidit managed to take one pawn here but Black has VERY strong activity of pieces as compensation for the pawn deficit and Black has REALISTIC HOLDING chances also due to the awkward position of the Knight on e1 up here!} Ne5 $6 {Svidler sir understandably plays an active looking move which however is objectively not the best in the position as near equality could have been achieved by ...Nf6 up here!This move was probably played a little too fast thinking for just over a minute as this was a critical moment of the game!} (22... Nf6 {[%csl Gd5,Ge4]} 23. Kg2 (23. Nf3 $2 { This natural looking move has a very neat refutation up here!} Qc8 {[%csl Ra8]} 24. Qe7 Qxa8 25. Ng5 Qd5 26. Qxf6 h6 {[%csl Rg1,Rg5]} 27. Nxf7 Qxf7 $17) 23... Bb1 {[%csl Ra2][%cal Gc3a1]} (23... Qc8 24. Bf3 $14 {[%cal Ge2e3,Ge1d3] to clearly better position for White when White can simply continue playing on without any risk up here!}) 24. Nf3 Qc8 (24... Qa1 25. Qe7 $18 {[%csl Rf6,Rf7, Rg8][%cal Gf3e5]}) 25. Qb2 Bf5 26. Qxf6 Bh3+ (26... Qxa8 27. Qc3 a4 {should also easily be held with accurate play up here!}) 27. Kh1 {[%cal Gf3g1]} (27. Kg1 Qc1+ 28. Ne1 Qxe1#) 27... Qxa8 28. Kg1 h5 {[%csl Rg1,Gh3][%cal Ga5a4,Ga8d5] with STRONG COMPENSATION and Counterplay when Black is doing very well in this position up here!}) 23. Kg2 {[%cal Ge1f3] Simply improving the position and there is absolutely nothing wrong with this move!} (23. Nf3 $5 Nd3 (23... Qc1+ 24. Qf1 (24. Kg2 Qc8 $1 {[%csl Ra8,Rg2][%cal Gf5h3]} 25. Qxe5 Qxa8 {with strong counterplay and an eventual draw up here!}) 24... Qc8 25. Nxe5 Qxa8 26. Qb5 $16 {[%cal Gg1g2,Gb5e2] and with an extra pawn and Preferable Endgame Piece Combination(Queen+Knight VS Queen+Bishop)White has realistic practical chances up here!}) (23... Nxf3+ 24. Bxf3 (24. Qxf3 Qa1+ 25. Kg2 Qxa2 $11 { [%cal Ga2d2]}) 24... Bh3 25. Bg2 Be6 26. h4 $16 {and although the position is holdable,it is practically not very easy to hold it in such a tough encounter.} ) 24. Qd2 (24. Nd2 Qxd2) 24... Qc1+ 25. Kg2 Qc8 26. Bd5 Bh3+ 27. Kg1 Nb4 28. Bc4 $16) 23... h5 24. Nf3 $6 {Vidit probably underestimated Blacks following reply after which Black simply equalizes the game on the spot up here!This move was played after a 8 minute think but White probably still underestimated opponents next move!} (24. Be4 $1 Be6 (24... Bg4 25. Qe3 Qxe3 26. fxe3 Be2 27. Kf2 Bb5 28. h3 Kg7 29. Nf3 $16 {[%cal Gf3d4] with a torture in the endgame for the Black pieces up here!}) (24... Bd7 25. Nf3 Bg4 26. h3 Bxf3+ 27. Bxf3 Qd4 { [%csl Gd4,Ge5]} 28. Be4 $16 {and Black again has to suffer from the torture although there are good practical drawing chances here aswell!})) 24... Qc8 $1 {[%csl Rg2][%cal Gf5h3]} 25. Kg1 (25. Qxe5 Qxa8 26. Qf6 Be4 {[%csl Rf3][%cal Ga5a4]} 27. h4 a4 28. bxa4 Qxa4 $11 {[%csl Ra2]}) 25... Bh3 {[%csl Rg1]} (25... Qxa8 26. Nxe5 a4 {[%csl Ra1]} 27. h4 (27. bxa4 Qxa4 28. Qc4 Qxc4 29. Nxc4 Be6 $1 30. Ne3 Bxa2 31. h4 Kg7 $11) 27... axb3 28. axb3 Qa3 29. Qd1 Be6 30. Nc4 Qb4 31. Qd3 Qb5 $14 {[%cal Ge6d5] but with very strong prospects for a draw as White has no reasonable way to continue in this position up here!}) 26. Qxe5 Qxa8 27. Ne1 Qa6 (27... a4 $1 {Black should try to continue playing ENERGETICALLY having Better Co-ordination of his pieces and Dynamic Advantage and this move would have equalised the game yet again!} 28. bxa4 (28. b4 a3 { [%csl Ra2][%cal Gh3e6]} 29. b5 Be6 30. Nc2 Bxa2 31. Qa1 (31. Qc3 Qa4 $1 $19 { [%csl Ga3,Rb5][%cal Ga2b3]}) 31... Be6 32. Qxa3 Qe4 {[%csl Rb5][%cal Ge4b1] with good counterplay and compensation when Black is already fine up here!}) 28... Qxa4 29. Qb2 Qe4 30. Qd2 Kg7 $11) 28. Qe8+ $1 {[%csl Gc6] This move again was probably underestimated by Svidler after the game is mainly going on for 2 results only up here!} (28. Ng2 $5 {An interesting practical resource to simply try and repeat the position before proceeding with the way White wants to play up here!} Qc6 29. Ne1 Qa6 $11 30. Qe8+ Kg7 31. Ng2 $14) 28... Kg7 29. Ng2 g5 $6 {[%csl Rg5,Rg7] Played after a 6 and a half minute meditation and probably not the most accurate move up here!} (29... Qf6 $1 {[%csl Ra1,Ra2,Rg1] [%cal Gf6d4] Black should again try to play as ENERGETICALLY as possible in order to try and exploit his dynamic advantage up here and this is the way!Having DYNAMIC ADVANTAGE,try to play as energetically as possible!} 30. Qe1 {[%csl Ga1,Gg1][%cal Gg2f4]} (30. Qe2 Qa1+ 31. Ne1 (31. Qe1 Qxa2 32. Nf4 Bf5 33. h4 Qb1 34. Qxb1 Bxb1 {[%csl Rb3]} 35. Ne2 Kf6 {[%cal Gf6e5]} 36. Nd4 { [%cal Gd4c6]} Be4 37. f4 Ke7 $17 {[%csl Rb3][%cal Ge7d6,Gd6c5,Gc5b4]}) 31... Qc3 $11) 30... Qd4 31. Nf4 Bg4 32. h4 {[%csl Gg5]} (32. Qxa5 Qd1+ 33. Qe1 (33. Kg2 Bf3+ 34. Kh3 Qd7+ {[%csl Rh3]} 35. Kh4 (35. g4 Qxg4#) 35... Qg4#) 33... Qxe1+ 34. Kg2 Qe4+ $19 {[%csl Rg2]}) 32... Bf3 {[%csl Gf3]} 33. Kh2 Bb7 { with great compensation and again a probable draw up here!}) 30. Qe5+ {Again played after a think of 4 minutes but after the game, this is one of the moments when White could have won the game practically by simply playing this natural move immediately!} f6 (30... Kh6 31. f4 $1 {[%csl Rh3,Rh6] The Black King gets weak and here White simply plays this resource exploiting Blacks weaknesses up here!} gxf4 (31... Kh7 {[%csl Gh7]} 32. Kf2 {[%cal Gg2e3]} Bxg2 33. Kxg2 $16) 32. Qh8+ (32. Qxf4+ Kg7 33. Qg5+ Kf8 34. Qd2 $16 {[%cal Gg2e3]}) 32... Kg5 (32... Kg6 33. Nxf4+ Kf5 34. Nxh3 $18) 33. Qd8+ Kf5 34. Qc7 {[%csl Rf5]} Kf6 35. gxf4 $16 {[%csl Rf6][%cal Gc7e5]}) 31. Qe7+ Kg6 32. Qe4+ Kg7 33. Ne3 {Again played after thinking for around 2 minutes and Vidit was already under time trouble although this move probably can be played automatically as well!} Qc8 34. Qc2 Qb7 35. Qd1 Qe4 {Played after a two minute though by Svidler and this initially looks like a mistake simply giving up the h5-pawn but Svidler Sir probably wanted to pressurize Vidit in his time trouble!} 36. Qxh5 $1 {He takes the gauntlet and it is probably Vidit's next move that Svidler completely missed!} Qb1+ 37. Qd1 Qxa2 38. g4 $1 {[%csl Rh3] This move was also played automatically after just 8 seconds of thought and now White just has to make two more accurate moves to reach the time control undeterred!} Qb2 39. Nf5+ $2 {A think of almost 7 minutes which spoils a major part of the advantage here but f3!made the position extremely difficult for Black to defend!} (39. f3 $1 {[%csl Gf3,Gg1] is what the Silicon Engines cry for simply providing a safe Escape Square for the White King on f2 up here!This move would just pass on the move to Svidler Sir and it is extremely difficult to defend this objectively lost position up here!} Kf8 (39... Qc3 40. Qd7+ Kf8 ( 40... Kg6 41. Qe8+ Kh6 (41... Kg7 42. Nf5+ Kh7 43. Qf7+ Kh8 44. Qg7#) 42. Nf5+ {[%csl Rh6]} Kh7 43. Qf7+ Kh8 44. Qg7#) 41. Qd6+ Kf7 42. Kf2 $18 {[%csl Rf6, Rf7][%cal Gf2g3]}) (39... Qe5 40. Qd3 {[%csl Rg7]} Qb2 41. Qd7+ Kf8 42. Qe6 $18 {[%csl Rf6][%cal Gg1f2,Gf2g3]}) 40. Qd6+ Kf7 (40... Ke8 41. Qd3 Kf8 42. Qd8+ Kf7 43. Qd7+ Kf8 44. Qe6 $18 {[%csl Rf8][%cal Gg1f2]}) 41. Qd5+ Ke8 42. Qe4+ { [%cal Ge4c4,Gc4c2]} Kf7 43. Qc4+ Kf8 44. Qc2 $16 {[%cal Gg1f2] to winning position for White looks to be the simplest practical solution up here!}) 39... Kg6 40. Nd6 {[%csl Rg6][%cal Gd1d3] The time control is up and both sides get an additional time control of 30 minutes!} Kh6 41. Nf5+ Kg6 42. Ng3 $6 { This move however was played in around 2 minutes only in a critical moment and time management is probably where we slipped the win from our hands!} (42. Ne3 $1 {[%cal Gf2f3] in order to get the same position simply repeating the position!A good move after which Black has to make a series of good moves in order to get good prospects to get a worse yet holdable position up here!} Qc3 $1 {[%csl Rb3] simply preventing f2-f3 and White needs to find something concrete as Blacks activity and Whites weak King are a major source of counterplay for Black here!} (42... Kg7 43. f3 $1 $18 {[%csl Gf3,Rg7,Rh3][%cal Gd1d7,Gd7d3] and this move again transposes to 39f3!up here!}) 43. Nd5 Qe5 ( 43... Qc5 44. Nxf6 $1 {[%csl Rg6,Rh3][%cal Gd1d3]} Kh6 (44... Kxf6 45. Qf3+ Kg6 46. Qxh3 $18 {[%csl Rg6][%cal Gg1g2,Gh3f3]}) 45. Ne4 {[%csl Ge4]} Qe5 46. Ng3 { [%csl Gd1,Gg3,Rh3,Rh6] and the Queen+Knight Piece Combination works excellently to win the game for White up here!}) 44. Nxf6 $1 {[%csl Rh3][%cal Gd1d3]} (44. Qd3+ Kg7 45. Qxh3 Qxd5 46. Qg3 (46. Qe3 Qd1+ 47. Kg2 Qxg4+ $11) 46... Qe4 47. h3 a4 48. bxa4 Qxa4 $14 {[%csl Gf6,Gg5] and White is slightly to clearly better although the position shall be held with accurate play here again!}) 44... Kh6 $1 {This however is practically extremely difficult to find and most players would leave there calculations after seeing ...Kh6 itself!} ( 44... Qxf6 45. Qd3+ Kg7 46. Qxh3 $18) (44... Kxf6 45. Qf3+ Qf4 46. Qxh3 $18 { [%csl Rf6]}) 45. Nd5 {[%cal Gd5e3]} (45. Nd7 Qe6 46. f3 Qe3+ {[%csl Rg1]} 47. Kh1 Kg7 $11 {[%csl Gg7,Rh1]}) 45... Bxg4 46. Qxg4 Qxd5 47. h4 gxh4 48. Qxh4+ Kg6 49. Qg3+ $16 {with again a riskless advantage when White can continue pressing on in this endgame although draw is the most likely result up here!}) 42... Kg7 43. Nf1 (43. Nf5+ $1 {[%csl Rg7]} Kg6 (43... Kg8 44. Qd8+ Kf7 45. Qe7+ Kg8 (45... Kg6 46. Qg7#) 46. Qg7#) 44. Ne3 {[%csl Ge3] again can lead to the same position and White can continue with f2-f3 simply winning the game!White again has very realistic practical chances to win the game!}) 43... Qe5 $1 {[%csl Ge5,Gh3] and Black now gains STRONG PLAY up here again!} 44. Ne3 Qc5 $2 (44... Qc3 $1 {[%csl Gc3,Re1,Re3,Rg1] Black has to FIGHT in order to avoid opponent to get good co-ordination of pieces as Co-ordination is 80% Endgame Skill!And this way it is again very difficult for White to make progress up here!} 45. Nf5+ Kg6 46. f3 Qc5+ 47. Nd4 f5 $16 {but with STRONG PROSPECTS for a draw up here!}) 45. Qd2 {[%csl Ra5,Gd2,Rh3][%cal Gf2f3,Gg1f2, Ge3c4] and Vidit finally hits upon the right plan!Yeah!} Qa3 {[%csl Rg7] Completely leaving the King extremely weak and we get a lifeline up here!} 46. Qc3 $1 {[%csl Rg7,Rh3][%cal Ge3f5] and it looks like practically game over for Svidler here!Practicaly winning aswell are both the moves but this looks much simpler also!} (46. Qd7+ Kf8 (46... Kg8 47. Qe8+ Kh7 (47... Kg7 48. Nf5+ Kh7 49. Qf7+ Kh8 50. Qg7#) 48. Qf7+ Kh8 49. Qxf6+ Kg8 50. Qxg5+ $18 {[%csl Rh3]}) ( 46... Kh8 47. Qe8+ Kh7 (47... Kg7 48. Nf5+ Kh7 49. Qf7+ Kh8 50. Qg7#) 48. Qf7+ Kh8 49. Qxf6+ Kh7 50. Qf7+ $18 {[%csl Rg5,Rh3]}) 47. Qc8+ Kf7 (47... Ke7 48. Nf5+ Kf7 49. Qd7+ Kf8 50. Qd8+ Kf7 51. Nd6+ $18 {[%csl Rf7]}) 48. Qd7+ Kf8 49. Qd8+ Kf7 50. Qc7+ Kf8 51. Qc3 $18 {[%csl Ra5,Rf6]} Kf7 52. Nc4 $18 {[%csl Ra5, Rh3]}) 46... a4 {[%csl Rb3] but Svidler decides to fight on!} (46... Bxg4 47. Nxg4 Qd6 48. Nxf6 Qxf6 49. Qxf6+ Kxf6 50. Kg2 $18) 47. Nf5+ Kf8 (47... Kg6 48. Qxh3 {[%csl Rg6][%cal Gh3h5]} Qc1+ 49. Kg2 Qc6+ 50. Qf3 Qxf3+ 51. Kxf3 axb3 ( 51... a3 52. Nd4 a2 53. Nc2 $18 {[%csl Ra2]}) 52. Ne7+ Kf7 53. Nd5 $18 { [%csl Rb3][%cal Gd5c3,Gf3e4]}) (47... Kf7 48. Qc7+ Ke6 (48... Ke8 49. Nd6+ Qxd6 (49... Kf8 50. Qf7#) 50. Qxd6 $18) 49. Qc6+ Kf7 (49... Ke5 50. Qe8+ Kd5 51. Ne3+ $18 {[%csl Ra3,Rd5]}) 50. Qd7+ Kf8 51. Qd8+ Kf7 52. Nd6+ $18 {[%csl Rf7]}) 48. Qc8+ Kf7 49. Qd7+ Kf8 50. Qd8+ Kf7 51. Qd7+ (51. Nd6+ $1 {[%csl Rf7] was the clearest chance winning the position for White up here!} Kg7 (51... Ke6 52. Qg8+ $18 {[%csl Ra3,Re6]}) (51... Kg6 52. Qg8+ Kh6 53. Nf7# (53. Nf5#)) 52. Qe7+ Kg8 53. Qf7+ Kh8 54. Qxf6+ $18) 51... Kf8 52. Qg7+ (52. Qd8+ {here however would lead to a perpetual draw!}) 52... Ke8 53. Qh8+ Kd7 54. Qh7+ Kd8 55. Qh8+ Kd7 56. Qh7+ Kd8 57. Qg8+ Kc7 {[%csl Gc7,Rg1][%cal Gc7b6,Gb6b7] and Black simply defends this position up here due to Whites weakened weak King!} 58. Qf7+ Kb8 59. Qg8+ Kc7 60. Qc4+ Kb8 61. Qb5+ Kc7 62. Qa5+ Kb7 63. Qd5+ Kc7 64. Qc4+ Kb8 65. Qg8+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2017.06.26"] [Round "9.4"] [White "Adhiban, Baskaran"] [Black "Salomon, J."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A13"] [WhiteElo "2670"] [BlackElo "2501"] [Annotator "Aradhya Garg"] [PlyCount "77"] [EventDate "2017.06.17"] [WhiteTeam "India"] [BlackTeam "Norway"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IND"] [BlackTeamCountry "NOR"] 1. Nf3 $5 {The last round game was supposed to be quiet interesting as we did have a chance for a medal in the Womens section but in the Mens section,we had to try to fight for a victory against a young,upcoming but a little weakened Norweigian team without their top players Magnus Carlsen and Ludvig Hammer.The thing about Adhiban here is that he can simply play anything and have it prepared beforehand and it is extremely difficult for his opponent to predict what he has in store for the day and this immediately puts some psychological pressure on the opponent!} d5 2. c4 e6 3. e3 Nf6 4. b3 Be7 5. Bb2 O-O 6. Nc3 c5 7. cxd5 {Adhiban had been blitzing his moves uptil now whereas his opponent had already spent 6 minutes on the clock which was definitely a psychological boost for us!} exd5 {Probably a strong pragmatic decision of not going into a variation Black has little knowledge about and a variation that can be Extremely dangerous and is very concrete!However this position resulted to the Tarrasch Defense like structures which Salomon probably did not have good knowledge about!} (7... Nxd5 {Black wants to avoid any weaknesses in the centre but leaves the kingside poorly defended.This move is probably the most challenging one and Adhiban already had faced it against Gagare Shardul just one month after the initial model game Karjakin-Anand Candidates Chess 2016 and probably had an improvement up in his sleeves!} 8. Qc2 {[%cal Gh2h4]} Nc6 ( 8... Bf6 9. h4 $5 {This idea was originally of Van Wely but Karjakin used it in a different position quite probably inspired by the knowledge and understanding of the Dutch theoritician and played a remarkable game against Anand Sir.} b6 10. Ng5 g6 11. a3 Nxc3 12. Bxc3 Bb7 13. f4 Nd7 14. Bb5 Bxc3 15. Qxc3 Nf6 16. h5 Bxg2 17. Rh2 Ne4 18. Nxe4 Bxe4 19. Kf2 a6 20. Be2 Ra7 21. d3 Ba8 22. Rg1 f6 23. hxg6 hxg6 24. Rxg6+ Rg7 25. Rhh6 Rxg6 26. Rxg6+ Kh7 27. Rg3 Rg8 28. Bg4 Qe7 29. e4 b5 30. Qa1 Rg6 31. f5 Rh6 32. fxe6 Rh2+ 33. Kg1 { 1-0 (33) Van Wely,L (2714)-Van der Werf,M (2435) Netherlands 2001}) 9. h4 $5 $146 {[%csl Rh7][%cal Gf3g5,Gf1d3,Gd3e4,Ga2a3] A very ambitious move, aiming at weakening the enemy kingside with Ng5. But if for any reason White will have to castle short, the early advance of the h-pawn will also count as a weakening move.} ({Previously, White was successful with a reversed Hedgehog approach:} 9. a3 Nxc3 10. Bxc3 Bd7 11. Be2 Rc8 12. O-O b6 13. Qb2 Bf6 14. b4 $14 {Lysyj,I (2691)-Zhou,W (2627) China 2015 (1-0, 40)} Bxc3 15. Qxc3 Ne7 16. Qb2 Bc6 17. bxc5 Bxf3 18. Bxf3 Rxc5 19. d4 Ra5 20. g3 g6 21. Rfc1 Qd7 22. Rc4 Rc8 23. Rac1 Rxc4 24. Rxc4 Qd6 25. a4 h5 26. Qc3 Kf8 27. Bd1 e5 28. Bb3 exd4 29. Rxd4 Rc5 30. Qd2 Qf6 31. Rd7 Rc3 32. Ba2 a5 33. Rd6 Rc1+ 34. Kg2 Qa1 35. Rxb6 Rg1+ 36. Kf3 Qf1 37. Rf6 Kg7 38. Rxf7+ Kh6 39. e4+ g5 40. Rxe7 {1-0 (40) Lysyj,I (2691)-Zhou,W (2627) China 2015}) 9... b6 ({Black cannot really exploit the exposed position of the white queen. If} 9... Ndb4 10. Qb1 b6 11. a3 Nd5 {White can choose between transposing to the game with} 12. Qc2 { or playing some other constructive move.}) 10. a3 {or playing some other constructive move.} (10. Ng5 {is premature due to} f5 {Karjakin decides to wait until Black develops his bishop, which would leave the e6-pawn undefended. }) 10... Bf6 $5 $146 {[%csl Gf6,Gg8] was Sharduls improvement on ...f5 played by Anand Sir against Karjakin.This move is also quite logical as Black refrains from weakening his King and simply gets the Bishop to its ideal diagnol and asks White to make some decisions up here!However,it was not convincing and Adhiban gained a very dangerous initiative out of the opening here!} (10... Bb7 11. Ng5 g6 {looks dangerous. Over the board one would be afraid of} 12. Nxh7 (12. Nce4 $5 {may be simpler}) 12... Kxh7 13. Nxd5 exd5 14. h5 {but things are not entirely clear:} f5 15. hxg6+ Kxg6 16. Bd3 d4 17. Bxf5+ Kf7 (17... Rxf5 18. g4) 18. exd4 cxd4 (18... Nxd4 19. Rh7+ Ke8 20. Bg6+ Kd7 21. Bxd4 cxd4 22. Kf1 $1 $18 {[%csl Re7][%cal Ga1e1,Rc2c8] leaves the black king cut off along the c-file and the e7-bishop vulnerable.}) 19. Rh6 $5 {[%csl Gc6] } (19. Rh7+ Ke8 20. Bg6+ Kd7) 19... Ne5 20. f4 Rh8 $1 21. Rxh8 Qxh8 22. O-O-O Nc6 23. g4 $44) (10... h6 11. g4 $36 {[%csl Rh6][%cal Gg4g5]}) (10... Nf6 11. g4 $1 $36 Nxg4 $2 12. Qe4 $18 {[%csl Rc6,Rg4]}) (10... f5 {Not an easy move to play, but with Ng5 hanging in the air there were micro problems in all the alternative lines.} 11. Bb5 Bb7 12. Nxd5 exd5 {[%csl Ge5]} (12... Qxd5 { leaves the e6-pawn vulnerable.}) 13. d4 Rc8 ({Black misses a good chance for counterplay:} 13... c4 $5 14. bxc4 a6 15. Bxc6 Bxc6 16. c5 (16. cxd5 Bxd5 { [%csl Rf3,Rh4][%cal Ga8c8,Gd5c4]}) 16... Rc8 {Black will soon retrieve the c-pawn as} 17. cxb6 $2 Bb5 {leaves the king trapped.}) 14. dxc5 bxc5 15. O-O Bf6 16. Rfd1 $14 {[%csl Rc5,Rd5,Rg8] 1-0 (43) Karjakin,S (2760)-Anand,V (2762) Moscow 2016 CBM 172 [Marin,M] Black's position has two minor defects: the bad placement of the knight and the weaknesses induced by ...f7-f5.}) 11. Bb5 Bb7 12. Ng5 g6 13. Nce4 Bxb2 14. Qxb2 {[%csl Rf6,Rg7,Rg8,Gh1,Rh6,Rh7,Rh8][%cal Gh4h5] Whites initiative looks very promising practically and it already seems as if White has an advantage and the White Rook can play from its Inititial position on h1 up here!} h6 15. h5 hxg5 16. hxg6 {[%csl Rg8,Rh8]} f6 (16... Nd4 17. exd4 $18 {[%csl Rh8]}) 17. Nxg5 Nc7 $1 $146 {[%cal Gc6e5]} (17... Qd6 18. g7 {[%csl Rg8]} Rfb8 19. Qc2 $6 {[%csl Rg8,Rh7]} (19. Rh8+ $1 {here was the strongest simply getting a winning position up here!} Kxg7 20. Rh7+ Kf8 { and it is probable that Adhiban simply left his calculatins here although White still gets a DECISIVE ADVANTAGE after} (20... Kg8 21. Qb1 {[%csl Rg6,Rg8] } f5 22. Rh6 $18 {[%csl Rc6,Re6,Rg8][%cal Gh6g6,Gb1b2]}) (20... Kg6 21. Bd3+ Kxg5 (21... f5 22. Qg7#) 22. Rg7+ Kh6 23. Rg6+ Kh7 24. O-O-O $18 {[%csl Rh7]}) 21. Qc2 {[%csl Rf8][%cal Gc2g6]} f5 22. Qd1 $5 {[%csl Rf7,Rf8,Rh5,Rh8] Again trying to use the ENERGY of more and more pieces in the position and also trying to see the WHOLE GEOMETRY of the board very clearly when White has a decisive advantage up here!} Nf6 23. Rf7+ Kg8 24. Rxf6 $18) 19... f5 20. O-O-O Qe5 21. Rh8+ Kxg7 22. Rh7+ Kg6 23. Rdh1 Rh8 {and the game was still extremely complicated and eventually led to a draw.} 24. f4 Rxh7 25. Rxh7 Qa1+ 26. Qb1 Qxb1+ 27. Kxb1 Na5 28. b4 cxb4 29. axb4 Bc6 30. Be2 Nf6 31. Re7 Nb7 32. Nf3 Be4+ 33. d3 Bd5 34. Ne5+ Kh6 35. Rf7 Ne8 36. g4 fxg4 37. Nxg4+ Kg6 38. Ne5+ Kh6 39. e4 Nbd6 40. exd5 Nxf7 41. Nxf7+ Kg6 42. dxe6 Kf5 43. Bf3 Rc8 44. Bd5 Kxf4 45. d4 Ke3 46. Bb7 Rc7 47. d5 Rxb7 48. d6 Nf6 49. Ne5 Kd4 50. d7 Nxd7 51. Nxd7 Rc7 52. e7 Rc8 53. Nf6 {1/2-1/2 (53) Adhiban,B (2663)-Gagare,S (2491) Dubai 2016}) 18. g7 $5 {[%csl Rg8,Rh7][%cal Gb2c2] White simply continues with his Initiative on the Kingside and Whtie has great prospects as ALL his pieces are playing on the Kingside up here and White is continously trying to use the ENERGY of more and more pieces in the variations also!} (18. Bc4 Ne5 19. g7 Kxg7 20. Qc2 {[%csl Rg7,Rh7]} Nd3+ 21. Bxd3 fxg5 22. Qc3+ {[%csl Rg7][%cal Gh1h7]} Qf6 23. Rh7+ Kg8 24. Qxf6 Rxf6 25. Rxc7 Bxg2 26. Bc4 Raf8 {with some initiative for White although a very probable draw!}) 18... Kxg7 (18... Re8 19. Qb1 $1 {[%csl Rg8,Rh7]} f5 (19... Kxg7 20. Qh7+ Kf8 21. Qf7#) 20. Nxe6 { [%csl Rc7,Gg7,Rg8][%cal Gh1h8]} Nxe6 21. Qxf5 $18 {[%csl Rg8]}) 19. Rh7+ Kg8 ( 19... Kg6 20. Be2 $1 {[%csl Gb2,Ge2,Gg5,Rg6,Gh7][%cal Ge1c1,Gf2f4] Backward attacking moves must also be considered!They MUST also be considered!And White is able to gain an Extremely dangerous initiative aswell as the attack up here which should be practically decisive up here!White simply gets another piece into the attack with this move here!}) 20. Bxc6 (20. Qc2 {[%csl Rg6]} f5 21. Bxc6 Qxg5 $19 {[%csl Rh7]}) 20... Bxc6 21. Qc2 f5 22. Qc3 {[%csl Rg7,Rh8]} Qf6 23. Rxc7 $16 {[%csl Rg8]} Qxg5 24. Rxc6 $16 {[%csl Rg8][%cal Ge1c1]}) 8. d4 Nc6 9. Be2 {A simpler way was} cxd4 (9... Bg4 10. dxc5 Bxc5 11. O-O a6 12. h3 Be6 { [%csl Gd4]} 13. Na4 Bd6 14. Nd4 Qe7 15. Rc1 Bd7 16. Nxc6 Bxc6 17. Qd4 Bxa4 18. bxa4 $16 {[%csl Gb2,Rb6,Ge2][%cal Ge2f3,Gf1d1] Alekseev,E (2700)-Hracek,Z (2615) Rijeka 2010 (1/2-1/2, 55)}) 10. Nxd4 Be6 $5 {This move was played almost automatically showing a willingness to go into Tarrasch like pawn structures with an Isolated pawn.It is quite probable,therefore that Salomon did not even consider the move ...Bc5 up here.However,...Bc5 was definitely a more challenging move.} (10... Bc5 {is an interesting alternative simply hoping to maybe take on d4 on the next move or to get the pawn on b7 towards the center also forcing opponent to make decisions!However,this move is comittal and difficult to play when playing without much preparation during the game!} 11. Nxc6 (11. O-O Nxd4 12. exd4 Bd6 {[%csl Ge4][%cal Gf8e8,Gc8f5] is however absolutely fine for Black without absolutely any problems!}) 11... bxc6 12. O-O Bd6 13. Rc1 Bf5 {[%csl Ge4][%cal Gf8e8,Ga8c8] and if Black manages to complete his development with ...Re8 and gets in ...Rc8,it may even be he who would be fighting for the Initiative and therefore it is White who should try to play energetically up here!Black looks for active counterplay to counter his broken pawn structure.} 14. Na4 {[%csl Gc5,Rc6]} (14. h3 Bc7 $1 { [%csl Rg1,Rh2][%cal Gd8d6] An Important resource simply aiming to get Strong co-ordination with ....Qd6 here.} (14... Rc8 15. Ba6 $1 {An important idea as White simply manages to Disco-ordinate Opponents pieces this way and White manages to take over the Initiative up here!} Rc7 (15... Rb8 16. Na4 $14 { [%csl Rc5,Rc6] to clearly better and with some Very clear initiative for White up here!}) 16. Bd3 Qd7 {[%cal Gf8c8]} (16... Bxd3 17. Qxd3 Be5 {[%cal Gf8e8]} 18. Rfd1 {[%csl Rc6,Rd5][%cal Gd3a6] is more pleasant to slightly better for White up here!}) 17. Qc2 Bxd3 18. Qxd3 Re8 19. Rc2 {[%cal Gc3e2,Gf1c1,Gf1d1] and White definitely has the Easier game and more pleasant positions up here!}) 15. Ba3 (15. Na4 $6 Qd6 16. f4 Bb6 {[%csl Re3,Rg1][%cal Gf8e8]} 17. Nxb6 axb6 { [%csl Ga8][%cal Gf8e8] and Black has the Initiative and is absolutely fine up here!}) 15... Re8 (15... Bd6 16. Bxd6 Qxd6 17. Na4 $14 {[%cal Gd1d4,Ge2d3] and White can keep pressing on in the position with some edge!}) 16. Bd3 Bxd3 ( 16... Qd7 17. Bxf5 Qxf5 18. Nb5 $1 {[%csl Rc6,Rd4]} cxb5 19. Rxc7 $14 {[%csl Rc5,Rd5][%cal Ga3b2,Gd1d4] to clearly better position for White up here!}) 17. Qxd3 {[%cal Gc1c2,Gf1c1]} Qd7 (17... Bb6 18. Qf5 {[%cal Gf1d1] is again easier to play for White up here!}) 18. Rc2 {[%cal Gf1c1,Gc3e2]} Re6 {[%cal Ga8e8, Gc7b6,Gf6e4] and Black has Very strong counterplay and is absolutely fine in this position up here!}) 14... Rc8 (14... Bd7 15. Nc5 {[%cal Gc5b7]} Bc8 16. Qc2 $16 {[%cal Gf1d1]}) 15. Nc5 Qe7 16. Qd4 {[%csl Gc5,Gd4][%cal Gf1d1] and Whites position again looks quite promising despite the Engine not agreeing to this!}) 11. O-O {This was played after a minutes think but Adhiban was deciding probably whether to get the Rook to c1 first or castle and chose the right decision as he can try to flexible with the a1-rook also!Try to be flexible with your development!Flexible!} Rc8 12. Rc1 $14 {Adhiban again took some time and was probably trying to remember the subtelities of the Tarrasch Defense and trying to get acquanted with the middlegame subtelites up here!However,it is quite clear that White has some clear initiative and edge up here!However,Whites opening strategy has been quite a success and White has managed to get some edge objectively and also has the advantage on the clock up here!} Qa5 $6 {Probably not such a good move as Black simply aims at this air and the computer comically even suggests ....Qd8 after a3!This move was also played after a four and a half minute think which makes the decision even more dubious here!} (12... Nxd4 $5 {Normally when having an IQP,the side should try to avoid exchanges but here it is necessary as Black should also try to play as ENERGETICALLY as possible when having an IQP and this is the case up here!} 13. Qxd4 (13. exd4 a6 {[%cal Ge7d6,Gf6e4,Ge6f5,Gf8e8] and Black is absolutely fine without much problems in this position up here!}) 13... Bc5 14. Qd2 {[%csl Rd2] The Queen is actually a little vulnerable here as it can get into unpleasant pins after ....Bb4 and Qd3 is better but it is diffucult to see that from the practical eye!} (14. Qd3 {[%cal Gf1d1,Ge2f3,Gc3e2,Ge2d4]} Qe7 (14... Qd7 {[%cal Gf8d8,Ge6f5]} 15. Rfd1 Rfd8 16. Bf3 {[%csl Rd5]} Bf5 17. Qb5 Qxb5 18. Nxb5 $16 {[%csl Gd4,Rd5]}) 15. Bf3 {[%cal Gf1d1]} Ba3 16. Qd2 { [%cal Gf1d1]} Bxb2 17. Qxb2 $14) 14... Qe7 $1 {[%cal Gf8d8] The right scheme of development and Black hopes to get the other rook to d8 up here!} (14... Re8 15. Bf3 $14 {[%cal Gf1d1] to clearly better position for White here!}) 15. Bf3 (15. Nb5 {[%csl Gd4]} Ne4 $1 {A move to the Wing should ALWAYS be countered in the center!Always!Always!} 16. Qd3 (16. Qd1 a6 $1 (16... Qg5 17. Bd4 {[%csl Gd4][%cal Ge2f3]} b6 (17... a6 18. Bxc5 Nxc5 19. Nd6 {[%csl Rb7,Rc5]} Bh3 ( 19... Rc7 20. b4 {[%csl Rb7,Rc5] with almost the decisive advantage for White up here!}) 20. Bf3 $16 {[%csl Rb7,Rd5] to winning position for White up here!}) 18. Bf3 {[%csl Gd4][%cal Gd1e2,Gc1c2,Gf1c1] and White has some very definite initiative and advantage in this position up here!}) 17. Nd4 Qg5 18. Bf3 Bd7 { [%cal Gf8d8] and the position looks to be dynamically balanced and Black has fine play here!}) 16... Rfd8 17. Nd4 Bd7 {and with his Active pieces Black is absolutely fine in this position up here!}) 15... Rfd8 16. Ne2 {[%csl Gd4] [%cal Ge2f4]} (16. Rfd1 d4 $1 {[%csl Gd4]} 17. exd4 Bxd4 18. Nd5 Bxd5 19. Rxc8 Rxc8 20. Qxd4 Bxf3 21. gxf3 Re8 {with STRONG COUNTERPLAY and Black is absolutely fine up here!}) 16... Ne4 (16... Bf5 17. Nd4 Bg6 18. Rfd1 Ne4 19. Qe2 Bb6 20. g3 {[%csl Gg1] with some clear edge for White up here!}) 17. Qd1 Ng5 18. Nf4 Nxf3+ 19. Qxf3 $14 {[%csl Rd5][%cal Gf1d1]}) (12... Qd7 {[%cal Gf8d8] was still more logical simply connecting the rooks and aiming to continue with ...Rfd8 in this position up here!} 13. Nxc6 bxc6 (13... Rxc6 14. Bb5 $18 {[%csl Rc6,Rd7][%cal Gc3e2,Ge2d4]}) (13... Qxc6 14. Ne4 {[%csl Rf6]} Qb6 (14... Qd7 15. Nxf6+ Bxf6 (15... gxf6 16. Qd4 $18 {[%csl Ra7,Rg8][%cal Ge2f3,Gf1d1,Gd4h4]}) 16. Bxf6 gxf6 17. Qd4 $16 {[%csl Ra7,Rf6,Rf7,Rg8][%cal Gf1d1,Ge2f3] to the winning initiative for White up here!}) 15. Nxf6+ Bxf6 16. Bxf6 gxf6 17. Qd2 $16 {[%csl Rf6,Rf7,Rg8][%cal Gd2b2,Ge2f3]}) 14. Na4 $14 { [%csl Rc5][%cal Gb2d4] to clearly better position for White up here!}) 13. Nxe6 $5 {Very similiar to one of Kasparovs Classical Games in the Tarrasch from the White side when White does give Black the open "f" file but gains the two Bishops and clear initiative and also destroys opponents pawn structure even further!It is great how even todays top players study tons and tons of Classical games!} (13. a3 $1 {[%csl Ra5][%cal Gb3b4]} Nxd4 (13... Qb6 14. Na4 { [%csl Rb6]} Qd8 15. Nxe6 fxe6 16. b4 $16 {[%csl Gb2,Ge2,Re5][%cal Gf2f4,Ge2d3]} ) (13... Rfd8 14. b4 {[%csl Ra5]} Qc7 (14... Qb6 15. Na4 Qc7 16. Nxe6 (16. b5 Nxd4 $1 17. Rxc7 (17. Qxd4 Qb8 {[%cal Ge6f5]} 18. Nc5 Bf5 {[%cal Ge7d6]} 19. Nd3 Bd6 {when White has some edge but Black has STRONG COUNTERPLAY in this position here!}) 17... Nxe2+ 18. Qxe2 Rxc7 19. Bd4 $16 {but 16Ne6!was therefore definitely stronger up here!}) 16... fxe6 17. b5 $18 {[%csl Rc6]}) 15. Nxe6 fxe6 16. b5 $18 {[%csl Rc7]}) 14. Qxd4 $14 {[%cal Gf1d1] to clearly better position for White!} (14. exd4 a6 15. b4 Qd8 {[%csl Rc4][%cal Gf8e8, Ge7d6] and Black is absolutely fine in this position here!})) 13... fxe6 14. Bg4 $6 {Objectively not a good move and one which could potentially have drained all of Whites advantage!White offers his important asset-the two Bishops and also the open "f" file but does not get anything substantial here!This move was also played immediately and was probably a little haste.} ( 14. a3 $1 {[%cal Gb3b4]} Qd8 (14... Bd6 15. b4 Qd8 16. Nb5 $14 {[%cal Gb5d4] to clearly better position for White!}) 15. Bd3 (15. Na4 Bd6 {and Black looks to have strong counterplay in the position here!}) 15... a6 16. Ne2 $14 { [%csl Gb2,Gd3][%cal Gd1d2,Gf2f4,Ge2d4] and with some very definite initiative for the White pieces up here!}) 14... Kf7 $2 (14... Nxg4 $1 {The Obvious move simply challenging Blacks plan!} 15. Qxg4 Rf6 {[%cal Gf6g6]} (15... Bf6 16. Qxe6+ Kh8 {[%cal Gd5d4]} 17. a3 {[%csl Rd5][%cal Gf1d1]} Qa6 (17... Rfd8 18. Rfd1 $18 {[%csl Rd5][%cal Gb3b4]}) 18. Rcd1 (18. Rfd1 d4 $1 {[%csl Rg1] This move just shows how Strong Blacks counterplay can be with even just one inaccuracy from Black in these structures!} 19. Nd5 {[%csl Gd5]} (19. exd4 Bxd4 {[%csl Gd4,Re6,Rf2,Gf8,Rg1][%cal Gc8e8] and Black gets Very strong counterplay and is doing very well up here!}) 19... Rce8 20. Qh3 Qe2 {[%csl Rf2]} 21. Nxf6 Rxf6 (21... gxf6 22. Bxd4 Nxd4 23. Rxd4 $18 {[%csl Rh8]}) 22. Bxd4 Qxf2+ (22... Rxf2 23. Bxg7+ Kg8 (23... Kxg7 24. Qg3+ Kh8 25. Qxf2 $18) 24. Qg3 $18 {[%csl Rg8]}) 23. Kh1 Rf7 24. Bc5 $16) 18... Nb4 19. Qxa6 Nxa6 20. Rd3 $16 {[%csl Rd5] [%cal Gf1d1,Gb3b4]}) 16. Na4 (16. Nxd5 Qxd5 {[%csl Gd5][%cal Gd5f5]} 17. Bxf6 Bxf6 18. Rfd1 Qf5 19. Qxf5 exf5 20. b4 a6 21. a4 {can possibly be what was in Adhibans mind but the position actually has high drawing tendency if Black can keep his pieces well-co-ordinated here!} Rd8 22. b5 axb5 23. axb5 Rxd1+ 24. Rxd1 Nd8 $11 {[%cal Gg8f8,Gf8e8,Gf8e7]}) 16... Rg6 17. Qe2 Rf8 {[%cal Ge7d6, Ga5c7]} 18. g3 Bd6 {[%cal Ga5c7,Gc7e7] with Strong counterplay and the edge for White does not look as convincing here!}) 15. Bh3 {[%csl Re6,Gh3][%cal Gc3e2,Ge2f4,Ga2a3] and Adhibans strategy is complete and he even got his worst piece into the game to its ideal position(albeit with a little luck)but White gets clear advantage up here!} Rcd8 {[%cal Gd5d4]} 16. Ne2 {[%csl Gd4,Rf7] [%cal Gf2f4,Gf4f5]} Rd6 (16... Qxa2 17. Bxf6 $1 {White is consisten with his attack and White gets a winning position up here!} Bxf6 (17... Kxf6 18. Nf4 $18 {[%csl Re6,Rf6][%cal Gd1h5]}) 18. Nf4 g6 (18... e5 19. Qh5+ Ke7 (19... Kg8 20. Be6+ Rf7 (20... Kh8 21. Ng6#) 21. Bxf7+ Kf8 22. Ne6+ $18) 20. Ne6 $18 {[%csl Rd8,Rf8,Rh7]}) 19. Nxe6 $18) (16... e5 17. f4 $1 {[%csl Gf1,Gf4,Rf7] Every piece can play from its Initial position!Every piece can play from its Initial position!} Kg8 (17... Ne4 18. fxe5+ Kg8 19. Nf4 $16) 18. fxe5 Ne4 19. Nf4 { [%csl Re6,Rg8]} Bg5 {[%csl Re3]} 20. g3 Qxa2 21. Qc2 $16 {[%csl Gb2,Rd5,Ge5, Gh3][%cal Gc2b1,Gf1d1] and with clear dominance up here!}) 17. Nf4 {[%csl Rc5, Re5,Re6,Rf7][%cal Gf4d3] and White simply gets a Decisive attack up here!} g6 18. a4 $1 {[%csl Rd6,Re6,Rf7][%cal Gb2a3] An Extremely extremely strong move simply aiming to get the last reserves of pieces into the game by getting the Bishop to a3 Removing opponents Key Defensive Rook and also aiming to get More and more pieces into the attack up here!This move was also suggested by Paul Keres in one very popular classical game in Keres-Botvinnik Candidates Tournament 1953 and was also a strong idea during the K-K Matches in 1986 and this original way White makes the advantage simply decisive up here!} Qb6 $1 { The toughest defense and now it is White who has to make a decision!} 19. b4 $5 {[%cal Gb4b5] The good think about this move is that it was played after a 20-minute think that shows that Adhiban did recognize this as a Critical Moment and therefore thought for such a long time here and played a practically strong move here also!} (19. Re1 {is the engine suggestion but unfortunately we are mere mortals and normally no one would seriusly consider this move!}) (19. Ba3 {[%csl Re6]} Nb4 (19... Rdd8 20. Bxe6+ (20. Bxe7 Kxe7 21. Nxe6 $18 {[%csl Rd8,Rf8]}) 20... Ke8 21. Bb2 $18 {[%csl Gb2,Rd5,Ge6]}) 20. g3 { [%csl Re5,Rf6,Rf7][%cal Ga3b2,Gf4d3] This is an engine move but White simply tries to keep the concept of Development!intact and also hopes to now continue with Bb2 and Nd3 and White has a DECISIVE ADVANTAGE up here!} Re8 21. Bb2 Nc6 22. Nd3 $18 {[%cal Gb3b4,Gb4b5]}) (19. Nd3 Ne4 {[%cal Ge7f6]} 20. Ba3 {[%csl Rf7]} a5 (20... Rdd8 21. b4 {[%csl Re5][%cal Gb4b5,Gd3f4]} Ng5 22. Bg4 Nxb4 { with still a clear advantage for White although it is much more murky here!}) 21. Bxd6 (21. Nc5 {[%csl Re6]} Nxc5 22. Bxc5 Qc7 23. Qg4 $18 {[%csl Re6,Rf7] [%cal Gf1d1]}) 21... Bxd6 22. g3 $18 {[%csl Re6][%cal Gd3f4]}) 19... Qxb4 ( 19... a6 20. Rb1 $18 {[%csl Rd4,Re5,Rf7][%cal Gb4b5]}) 20. Rb1 Qc5 21. Bxf6 $6 {Probably also ok,but there was definitely a much stronger alternative here!} ( 21. Qd3 $1 {[%csl Rc5,Rf7][%cal Gf1c1,Gb2a3] White simply plays as Energetically as possible and this would practically be a better option here probably!White also tries to use energy of as many pieces as possible and White gets a winning position up here!} Nd8 (21... a5 22. Rfc1 Qa7 23. Qb5 $18 {[%csl Rd6,Re6,Rf7][%cal Gf4d3,Gb2a3]} (23. Bd4 Nxd4 24. exd4 $16 {[%csl Re6, Rf7][%cal Gd3e3]})) (21... Qa5 22. Bxf6 Kxf6 (22... Bxf6 23. Rxb7+ Ne7 24. e4 $18) 23. Rxb7 $18) (21... Qc4 22. Qxc4 dxc4 23. Ba3 Rfd8 (23... Nd8 24. Bxd6 Bxd6 25. Rfc1 $18) 24. Rxb7 $18 {[%csl Re6,Rf7]}) 22. Ba3 (22. Rfc1 Qa5 23. Qd4 g5 24. Nd3 $16 {[%cal Gd3e5] and White has clear initiative here also!}) 22... Qa5 23. Bxd6 Bxd6 24. g3 $16) 21... Bxf6 22. Rb5 {This move was played after only 1 minute of thinking and is probably not the strongest but has a strong virtue of hoping to displace the Opposition Queen up here!} (22. Rxb7+ Ne7 ( 22... Be7 23. Qg4 {[%csl Re6,Re7,Rf7]} Nd8 24. Rxe7+ Kxe7 25. Qh4+ $18 { [%csl Rh7]}) 23. Qb3 {[%csl Re6,Rf7][%cal Ge3e4,Gf4d3,Gf1c1]} Rc8 {[%cal Gc5c3] } 24. e4 {[%csl Re6,Rf7]} Qc4 $1 (24... Qc3 25. Bxe6+ Rxe6 26. Qxd5 Qe5 27. Nxe6 Qxe6 28. Rxa7 $18 {[%csl Ga4]}) 25. Qa3 {[%csl Re7,Rf7] with irresistible practical pressure up here again!}) 22... Qc4 (22... Qc3 23. Bxe6+ {[%csl Rf7]} Kg7 (23... Rxe6 24. Nxe6 $18 {[%csl Rb7,Rd5]} (24. Qxd5 $18 {[%csl Rb7]})) 24. Rxb7+ $18) 23. Rxb7+ Ne7 24. Rxa7 $16 {but the position is not as clear up now and therefore Qd3!was stronger and Black has some chances to counterplay in the position now!} e5 $6 {[%csl Rf7] The final nail in the coffin...Having such an exposed King,Black should not play so commital chess although not allowing sacrifice on e6 is understandable.} (24... Rb8 $1 {[%cal Gb8b2] Simply hoping to get as much activity of pieces as possible and Black hopes to play energetically to compensate for Whites material advantage up here!} 25. Nxe6 Rxe6 26. Bxe6+ Kxe6 27. Qf3 {[%cal Gf3h3]} Kf7 28. Rd1 Rb6 $16 {[%cal Gb6a6] but the position is very much defendable up now here!}) 25. Nd3 e4 ( 25... Rb8 {[%cal Gb8b3]} 26. Rd7 Rxd7 27. Bxd7 $16 {[%cal Gd7b5,Gd1d2,Gf1d1, Gd1c1] but this option is still the stauchest defense up here!}) 26. Nf4 { [%csl Gf4,Rf7][%cal Ga7d7]} Rfd8 27. Qb1 {[%csl Rf7][%cal Gf1c1,Gc1c7] White simply again tries to use the Energy of all pieces and White gets a winning position up here!} Qc5 28. Rb7 {[%csl Rf7][%cal Gf1c1,Gc1c7]} Rc6 (28... Ra8 29. Rc1 Qa5 30. Bd7 $18 {[%csl Rf7][%cal Gd7b5]}) 29. Bd7 $1 {[%csl Rf7]} Rd6 ( 29... Rc7 30. Ne6 $18 {[%csl Rc5,Rd8]}) 30. Rc1 Qa5 31. Bb5 {[%csl Rf7][%cal Gc1c7]} Kf8 32. g3 {[%csl Gg1][%cal Gg1g2] Simply improving the position of King even though there was no need for it but this is an extremely important practical moment and also probably practically the best move in this position here!This approach of improving the position even if not needed has been applied by brilliant players and here is another example!} Qd2 33. Rc2 Qa5 34. Rcc7 {[%csl Gb7,Gc7,Rf8]} Qd2 35. h4 {[%csl Gf4] Not even allowing ... g5!Stopping every ounce of counterplay up here!} Kf7 36. Kg2 {[%csl Gg2]} Rg8 37. Nxd5 $1 {[%csl Re4,Rf7] Forcing moves MUST have PRIORITY!They MUST have PRIORITY!} Rxd5 (37... Qxd5 38. Bc4 $18 {[%csl Rf7]}) 38. Rxe7+ Bxe7 39. Qxe4 $18 {[%csl Re7,Rf7]} 1-0 [Event "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2017.06.26"] [Round "9.1"] [White "Tari, Aryan"] [Black "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C45"] [WhiteElo "2593"] [BlackElo "2692"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "111"] [EventDate "2017.06.17"] [WhiteTeam "Norway"] [BlackTeam "India"] [WhiteTeamCountry "NOR"] [BlackTeamCountry "IND"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nxc6 bxc6 6. Bd3 (6. e5 {is by far the main move.}) 6... d5 7. Qe2 dxe4 8. Nc3 Bb4 9. Bxe4 O-O {I already like Black's position. He has got his king castled. His bishops are active. There are open lines for his rooks on e8 and b8. All in all there's a reason why e5 is preferred over Bd3.} 10. Bxc6 Rb8 11. Be3 $6 (11. O-O {was a good move. I am not sure what Aryan was worried about. With Rd1 coming up White should have no real issues here.}) 11... Qd6 12. Bf3 Ba6 $6 (12... Ba5 $1 { Attacking b2 makes it very difficult for White to meet this move.} 13. Qd2 Rxb2 $19) 13. Qd2 Qe7 14. O-O-O Ba3 $1 {Vidit is in his element! I would be very afraid if I was White here. First of all Black king is safe and I already have four Black pieces looking at my king.} 15. Na4 Bxb2+ $1 {Now for a second, let's leave the engines aside and try to look at this game from a practical point of view. The bishop has taken the pawn on b2 and opened the white king. As Kasparov says in an attack there are no pieces or pawns. There are units of attack and units of defence. Here b2 is a unit of defence that is destroyed by a unit of attack!} 16. Nxb2 Qa3 17. Bd4 (17. c4 {Might have been better, but I am already quite cynical after} Qxa2 {I have a feeling that Black should have decent compensation here.}) 17... Qxa2 18. Qc3 Rfd8 $1 {Bringing the last piece in the game. Black's threat is Qa1 followed by taking the piece on b2.} 19. Bc6 Bb5 $3 {Vidit finds a great resource. The idea is to simply deflect the bishop from the control of the e4 square so that the knight can jump in.} ( 19... Qa1+ 20. Kd2 Qxb2 21. Qxb2 Rxb2 22. Kc3 {And even though White is a pawn down, he is better here because of his active bishops.} Rbb8 23. Bxa7 $16) 20. Bf3 (20. Bxb5 Ne4 $19) 20... c5 $5 (20... Be2 $3 {Following the same theme this move would have won the game.} 21. Bc6 (21. Rde1 Bxf3 22. gxf3 c5 $1 23. Qxc5 Qa1+ 24. Kd2 Qxb2 $19) 21... Bxd1 22. Rxd1 Qa1+ 23. Kd2 Qxb2 24. Qxb2 Rxb2 {The rest is just matter of technique.}) 21. Qxc5 Qa1+ 22. Kd2 Qxb2 {Once again, though this looks completely winning, white king manages to survive. Now this is not something that you can blame a player for. Vidit's evaluation ended somewhere here saying the material is even, and white king is disastrous, while black king is great. Should be better for Black. But the tragedy is that it is not!} 23. Ke3 Qa2 (23... Re8+ 24. Kf4 $1 $16 {The king is afraid of no one! (Inspired by Eesha Karavade's eighth round king march?!)}) 24. Bxf6 gxf6 $2 (24... Qe6+ 25. Be5 Re8 $11 {was how Black could have survived.}) 25. Rxd8+ Rxd8 26. Qxb5 {Black is just a piece down now with no compensation.} Qxc2 27. Rd1 $2 (27. Be4 $1 {Not such a difficult move to find for Aryan.} Qd2+ (27... Qc3+ 28. Kf4 $18 {Once again the king is safe.}) 28. Kf3 $18) 27... Rxd1 28. Qb8+ Kg7 29. Bxd1 Qxd1 {Now the game is drawn.} 30. Qxa7 Qg1 31. Kf3 Qxh2 32. Qd7 h5 33. g3 Qh1+ 34. Ke3 Qe1+ 35. Kf3 Qe5 36. Kg2 f5 37. Qd2 Qe4+ 38. Kh2 Qg4 39. Qc3+ Kh7 40. Qc7 Qg6 41. Qf4 Qf6 42. Kh3 Kg6 43. Qb8 Kg7 44. Qf4 Qg6 45. Kh4 f6 46. f3 Kh7 47. g4 hxg4 48. fxg4 fxg4 49. Qc7+ Kg8 50. Qd8+ Kf7 51. Qd7+ Kf8 52. Qd8+ Kg7 53. Qc7+ Qf7 54. Qxf7+ Kxf7 55. Kxg4 Ke6 56. Kf4 1/2-1/2 [Event "Khanty-Mansiysk"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk"] [Date "2017.06.17"] [Round "1.4"] [White "Batsiashvili, Nino"] [Black "Vijayalakshmi, Subbaraman"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D23"] [WhiteElo "2468"] [BlackElo "2375"] [Annotator "Jovi"] [PlyCount "131"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackTeam "United States"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "USA"] [WhiteClock "0:02:25"] [BlackClock "0:01:44"] 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 c6 4. Qc2 dxc4 5. Qxc4 Bg4 6. Nbd2 e6 7. g3 Nbd7 8. Bg2 Be7 9. O-O O-O 10. Qb3 Qb6 11. Nc4 Qa6 12. Bd2 Nb6 13. Rfc1 Rfd8 14. e3 Bf5 15. Ba5 Rd5 16. Bxb6 Rb5 17. Qd1 axb6 18. Nfe5 Be4 19. Bf1 Qa7 20. a4 Rd5 21. Qb3 Bd8 22. Nd2 Ra5 23. Nxe4 Nxe4 24. Bg2 Nf6 25. Qd3 Rxa4 26. Rxa4 Qxa4 27. Nxc6 bxc6 28. Bxc6 Qa6 29. Qxa6 Rxa6 30. Bb7 Ra7 31. Rc8 Kf8 32. Rxd8+ Ke7 33. Rb8 Nd7 34. Rg8 Rxb7 35. Rxg7 Nf6 36. Rg5 Rc7 37. Rb5 Rc6 38. Kg2 Kd6 39. Kf3 Kc7 40. g4 Rc2 41. h4 Nd5 42. e4 Kc6 43. Rb3 Nc7 44. h5 Nb5 45. Rb4 Nd6 46. g5 Rc4 47. Rxc4+ Nxc4 48. b3 Nd2+ 49. Kf4 Kd6 50. b4 Nc4 51. d5 b5 52. dxe6 Kxe6 53. h6 Ne5 54. Kg3 Nc6 55. f4 Ke7 56. f5 Kf8 57. Kf4 Nxb4 {We join the action here, White has one trick on the position which is to push the g5 pawn to g6 and see where her passed pawns will take her.} 58. Ke5 Na6 $4 ({The easiest route to victory was:} 58... Nc6+ 59. Kd5 b4 $1 60. Kc4 f6 $1 61. g6 Kg8 62. g7 Kf7 {Would have been an easy win.}) (58... Nd3+ {is also possible} 59. Kd4 { but not} Nf2 $2 (59... Ne1 $1 60. g6 fxg6 61. fxg6 hxg6 62. e5 Nf3+ $1) 60. e5 Nh3 61. g6 fxg6 62. fxg6 hxg6 63. h7 Kg7 64. e6 Ng5 65. e7 Ne6+ 66. Kd5 Nc7+ 67. Kd6 Ne8+ 68. Kd7 {The attack on the knight is enough for a draw.}) 59. Kd5 $4 ({White could have drawn with} 59. Kd6 $1 b4 60. e5 b3 61. g6 fxg6 62. fxg6 hxg6 63. h7 Kg7 64. e6 b2 65. e7 b1=Q 66. h8=Q+ Kxh8 67. e8=Q+ {Black does not escape the perpetual check}) 59... Kg8 (59... b4 $1 60. Kc4 Nc5 $1 61. e5 b3 { The black knight is close enough to attack the kingside pawns.}) 60. e5 b4 ( 60... Nb4+ $1 61. Kc5 (61. Kd6 Nc2 62. g6 Nd4 $1) 61... Nd3+ 62. Kd4 Nf4 63. Ke4 Nh3 {winning}) 61. Kd6 Kf8 $4 {The losing move and from nowhere black is lost and the match is lost!!} 62. e6 Nc7 (62... b3 63. e7+ Ke8 64. g6) 63. Kxc7 fxe6 64. g6 hxg6 65. h7 Kg7 66. fxe6 1-0 [Event "Khanty-Mansiysk"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk"] [Date "2017.06.17"] [Round "1.3"] [White "Gunina, Valentina"] [Black "Zhao, Xue"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B05"] [WhiteElo "2504"] [BlackElo "2490"] [Annotator "Jovi"] [PlyCount "93"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackTeam "United States"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "USA"] [WhiteClock "1:18:54"] [BlackClock "0:49:44"] 1. e4 {This is already a surprise as Gunina usually opens with 1.d4} Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. c4 Nb6 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. exd6 exd6 7. Be2 Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. Nc3 Nc6 10. Re1 $5 {An unusual move} (10. b3 Bf6 11. Be3 d5 12. c5 Nc8 13. h3 {Is more mainstream.}) 10... Bf6 11. c5 dxc5 12. dxc5 Bxc3 $6 {An inaccuracy.} (12... Qxd1 $1 {Now} 13. Bxd1 {can be met with} Nd7 $1) 13. bxc3 Qxd1 14. Bxd1 (14. Rxd1 $6 {Is already an inaccuracy because of:} Na4 $1) 14... Rfe8 $4 {A gross miscalculation.} (14... Nd5 15. Bd2 Rfe8 16. Bb3 {And the game continues.}) 15. Rxe8+ Rxe8 16. cxb6 Bxf3 17. gxf3 ({Of course not} 17. Bxf3 Re1#) 17... cxb6 ({ The point is that after} 17... Re1+ {White can simply play} 18. Kg2 {as after} Rxd1 19. bxc7 Ne7 {White now can play the stunning} 20. Ba3 $1) 18. Be3 { White is a piece up and after some adventures converted the point.} Na5 19. Be2 Rc8 20. Rd1 Kf8 21. Bb5 Ke7 22. Bf4 Kf6 23. Rd6+ Ke7 24. Rd7+ Ke6 25. Rd3 Rc5 26. Bd7+ Kf6 27. Bd6 Rg5+ 28. Kf1 Nc4 29. Bf8 b5 30. Rd4 Nb6 31. Rd6+ Ke5 32. f4+ Kxf4 33. Rd4+ Kf3 34. h4 Nxd7 35. Rxd7 Rf5 36. Bxg7 a6 37. Rxb7 Rf4 38. h5 f5 39. Rd7 Rh4 40. Rd3+ Kg4 41. h6 Rh1+ 42. Kg2 Ra1 43. Rg3+ Kh5 44. f4 Kh4 45. Bf6+ Kh5 46. Rg5+ Kh4 47. Bd4 1-0 [Event "Khanty-Mansiysk"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk"] [Date "2017.06.20"] [Round "4.3"] [White "Khotenashvili, Bela"] [Black "Gunina, Valentina"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E12"] [WhiteElo "2452"] [BlackElo "2504"] [Annotator "Jovi"] [PlyCount "89"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackTeam "United States"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "USA"] [WhiteClock "0:20:41"] [BlackClock "0:29:02"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. Bf4 Bb7 5. e3 Bb4+ 6. Nfd2 O-O 7. a3 Be7 8. Nc3 c5 9. d5 $1 exd5 ({White gets a pleasant centre after} 9... d6 10. e4 $1) 10. cxd5 Bxd5 ({It might also be tempting to play} 10... Nxd5 {But white drops material after} 11. Qf3 $1) 11. Nxd5 Nxd5 12. Qf3 Nc7 (12... Nxf4 13. Qxa8 Qc7 14. Qf3 Ne6 15. Bc4 {Isn't quite sufficient for the offered exchange.}) 13. Qb7 $1 d6 14. Nc4 Nba6 15. Nxd6 Rb8 16. Qf3 b5 ({Black had to play} 16... Bxd6 $1 17. Rd1 Ne8 18. Bxd6 (18. Bxa6 b5 $1) 18... Nxd6 19. Qc6 Qc7 20. Qxd6 Rfd8 { with equality.}) 17. Nf5 Bf6 18. Rd1 Qe8 19. Bd3 Bxb2 $4 {Khotenashvili finds an amazing blow} 20. Nxg7 $1 Bxg7 (20... Kxg7 21. Qg4+ Kh8 22. Qf5 {Leads to checkmate}) 21. Bxc7 $1 {White wins the exchange and with it the game.} Qe6 ({ The bishop is a poisoned chalice.} 21... Nxc7 22. Qf5 {winning a lot of material.}) 22. Bxb8 Bc3+ 23. Kf1 Rxb8 24. g3 Nc7 25. Qh5 c4 26. Bxh7+ Kg7 27. Bf5 Qf6 28. Rd7 Ne8 29. Kg2 a5 30. Rhd1 Bb2 31. Rxf7+ Qxf7 32. Rd7 Qxd7 33. Qh7+ Kf8 34. Qxd7 Bxa3 35. Bg6 Nd6 36. e4 Rb7 37. Qe6 Rc7 38. e5 Nf7 39. Qb6 Re7 40. Bxf7 Rxf7 41. Qxb5 c3 42. Qxa5 Bb2 43. Qc5+ Kg7 44. e6 Rf6 45. Qg5+ 1-0 [Event "Khanty-Mansiysk"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk"] [Date "2017.06.20"] [Round "4.2"] [White "Lagno, Kateryna"] [Black "Javakhishvili, Lela"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D23"] [WhiteElo "2539"] [BlackElo "2447"] [Annotator "Jovi"] [PlyCount "57"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackTeam "United States"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "USA"] [WhiteClock "0:10:34"] [BlackClock "0:03:09"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c6 4. Qc2 dxc4 5. Qxc4 Nf6 6. Qc2 c5 7. dxc5 Na6 8. e4 Nxc5 9. Nc3 a6 10. b4 Ncd7 11. a3 Qc7 12. Bb2 b5 13. Bd3 Bb7 14. O-O Bd6 15. Qe2 O-O 16. Rac1 Qb8 17. h3 Rc8 18. Nb1 Rxc1 19. Rxc1 Ne5 20. Nbd2 Nxd3 21. Qxd3 Bf4 (21... e5 $1 {maintains the balance.}) 22. Bxf6 gxf6 23. Qd7 $1 { A lovely aggressive move, black has to play very accurately to maintain the balance.} Bxe4 $2 {Failing the test!} (23... Kg7 24. g3 Bc8 $1 ({There is no perpetual after} 24... Bxg3 25. fxg3 Qxg3+ 26. Kh1 Qxh3+ 27. Nh2) 25. Qd3 Qd6 $1) 24. Nxe4 $3 Bxc1 25. Nxf6+ Kg7 26. Qd4 $3 {Surprisingly there is no defence to this queen move.} Qd8 (26... e5 27. Nxe5 Kxf6 (27... Bb2 28. Qxb2 { Also gives a comfortable material advantage.}) 28. Nd7+) 27. Nh5+ Kf8 28. Qc5+ Ke8 29. Ng7+ (29. Ng7+ Kd7 30. Ne5#) 1-0 [Event "Khanty-Mansiysk"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk"] [Date "2017.06.19"] [Round "3.3"] [White "Lei, Tingjie"] [Black "Vo, Thi Kim Phung"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D12"] [WhiteElo "2488"] [BlackElo "2378"] [Annotator "Jovi"] [PlyCount "71"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackTeam "United States"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "USA"] [WhiteClock "0:22:05"] [BlackClock "0:00:47"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 Bf5 5. Nc3 e6 6. Nh4 Bg4 7. Qb3 Qb6 8. h3 Bh5 9. g4 Bg6 10. Nxg6 hxg6 11. g5 $5 (11. Bg2 {is more mainstream.}) 11... Ng8 12. c5 $5 Qc7 13. e4 $1 Nd7 (13... Rh4 14. exd5 exd5 15. Ne2 Na6 16. Qg3 Rh8 17. Bf4 Qa5+ 18. Bd2 Qc7 19. h4 {Gave white a pleasant pull in Dreev,A (2680) -Huebner,R (2620) Julian Borowski A, Essen GER 2000}) (13... dxe4 {Looks very natural but} 14. Nxe4 Nd7 15. Qa3 Rh4 16. Bg2 {Leaves black a little bit tied up.}) 14. exd5 $1 exd5 15. Qc2 $146 ({I also like the very direct} 15. Ne2 $5 Ne7 16. Bf4 Qa5+ 17. Bd2 Qc7 18. Bf4 Qa5+ 19. Bd2 Qc7 20. O-O-O Rh4 21. Qe3 O-O-O 22. Ng3 Nf5 23. Nxf5 gxf5 24. f4 {Clamping down on the position.}) 15... Ne7 16. Bd3 b6 17. cxb6 Nxb6 18. Ne2 Qd7 ({Black probably needed to start developing her black bishop on f8.} 18... Nec8 $5) 19. Bf4 $1 {White ignores the attacked h3 pawn and instead concentrates on developing her pieces, priming them for the attack.} Rxh3 $16 20. O-O-O Rxh1 21. Rxh1 Nc4 22. Rh8 $1 Nf5 $2 (22... Qe6 23. b3 Nb6 24. Qc5 $1 {and the black position is not pretty.} ) 23. b3 Ncd6 24. Qc5 $1 Ke7 (24... O-O-O 25. Ba6+ Kb8 26. Ng3 {Black will have to throw in the towel.}) 25. Be5 Rd8 26. Nf4 $1 Re8 27. Kd1 {A cute waiting move, White's position is such a pleasure to behold.} Kd8 28. Rxf8 Rxf8 29. Bxf5 gxf5 30. Bxd6 Rh8 31. Be5 Rh1+ 32. Kc2 Rf1 33. Nd3 Ke8 34. Bxg7 Kd8 35. Qf8+ Kc7 36. Be5+ 1-0 [Event "Khanty-Mansyisk"] [Site "Khanty-Mansyisk"] [Date "2017.06.26"] [Round "9"] [White "Matlakov, Maxim"] [Black "Robson, Ray"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2707"] [BlackElo "2656"] [Annotator "A. Silver"] [PlyCount "105"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. e3 h6 7. Bh4 g5 8. Bg3 Nh5 9. Qc2 Nxg3 10. hxg3 Bg7 11. O-O-O Qe7 12. Bd3 Nb6 13. c5 Nd7 14. e4 $36 g4 15. Nh4 $1 Bxd4 16. exd5 Nxc5 17. Bf5 $146 (17. dxe6 Bxe6 {0-1 (28) Vitiugov,N (2726)-Artemiev,V (2653) Doha 2016}) 17... Be5 (17... Bg7 $1 $11 {keeps the balance.} 18. dxe6 Bxe6) 18. dxe6 $16 Bxe6 19. Rhe1 Bf6 {[#]} 20. Bxg4 $2 (20. b4 $1 $18) 20... Bxh4 $11 21. gxh4 Rd8 22. Bxe6 Nxe6 23. Ne4 O-O 24. Qc3 Rxd1+ 25. Rxd1 Rd8 26. Qg3+ Kf8 27. Rxd8+ Qxd8 28. Qd6+ {[#]} Qxd6 (28... Qe7 { was better and less trouble.}) 29. Nxd6 $14 Nf4 30. g3 Nd3+ 31. Kd2 Nxf2 32. Ke2 Ke7 33. Nxb7 Ne4 (33... Ng4 $1 $14) 34. Kf3 $18 Nf6 35. b4 Nd5 36. a3 Nc3 ( {Black had once again managed to reset the balance but goes astray once more. He had to play} 36... f5 $1 $11) 37. Na5 $16 Kd6 38. Kg4 ({White should play} 38. g4 $16) 38... Ne2 39. Nc4+ Ke6 $1 40. Ne3 Ke5 41. Nf5 h5+ 42. Kg5 f6+ $2 { The last mistake, after which there is no salvation.} (42... a6 $16 {was tougher.} 43. g4 hxg4 44. Kxg4 Nc3) 43. Kg6 $18 a6 44. a4 Nc3 45. Ne7 Kd6 46. Nf5+ Ke5 47. Ng7 Ne4 48. Nxh5 f5 49. a5 c5 {[#]} 50. b5 $1 c4 (50... axb5 51. a6) 51. bxa6 c3 52. a7 c2 53. Nf4 1-0 [Event "World Team-ch 2017"] [Site "Khanty-Mansyisk"] [Date "2017.06.26"] [Round "9"] [White "Xiong, Jeffery"] [Black "Fedoseev, Vladimir"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2658"] [BlackElo "2703"] [Annotator "A. Silver"] [PlyCount "86"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Be7 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O c6 8. Qc2 a5 (8... Nbd7 9. Rd1 b6 10. Bf4 Bb7 11. Ne5 Nh5 12. Bd2 Nhf6 13. cxd5 cxd5 14. Nc6 Bxc6 15. Qxc6 Rc8 16. Qb5 Ne8 17. Qd3 Nd6 18. Nc3 Nf6 19. b3 Qd7 20. Rac1 Rfd8 21. Rc2 Nde4 22. Be1 {1/2-1/2 (22) Radjabov,T (2710) -Gelfand,B (2724) Moscow 2017}) 9. Rd1 b5 10. c5 Nbd7 11. Bf4 Nh5 12. Bc1 f5 13. Ne5 Nxe5 14. dxe5 g5 15. Nd2 Qc7 16. Nf3 g4 17. Nd4 Bd7 $146 18. Bf4 Nxf4 19. gxf4 b4 ({ It seems unlikely the players knew it, but they transposed to a game played three years ago all the way up to move 19.} 19... Kh8 20. f3 Rg8 21. Kh1 Rg6 22. fxg4 Rxg4 23. e3 Rag8 24. Bf3 R4g6 25. a3 Qd8 26. b4 a4 27. Rg1 Rxg1+ { 1/2-1/2 (27) Andersen,M (2476)-Farago,I (2484) Germany 2014}) 20. a4 bxa3 21. Rxa3 Rfb8 22. h3 Qa7 23. Rc3 gxh3 $1 {[#]} 24. Bxd5 $3 (24. Bxh3 {was certainly playable, but allows Black to grab the initiative after} Kh8 25. Kh2 Rb4 26. e3 Qb8 27. b3 Qf8) 24... cxd5 (24... exd5 25. e6 Kh8 26. exd7 Qxd7 27. Rxh3 Bf6 28. e3 Rb4) 25. c6 Kh8 26. cxd7 Rg8+ 27. Kh1 Qxd7 28. Rc7 Qe8 29. Qc3 (29. Nxe6 $5 Qg6 30. Ng5 Bxg5 31. Rg1 $14) 29... Rg6 30. Rc1 Bh4 31. Nf3 $1 Bd8 32. Rb7 Qg8 33. Nd4 $2 (33. Nh2 $1) 33... Bh4 $2 ({Stronger was} 33... Rg4 { with the idea of Qxh3 Rh4} 34. Nxf5 $1 h2 $1 {The threat is Rg1+ Kxh2 Qg2 mate. } ({The point being that after} 34... exf5 35. e6+ {is game over for Black.}) 35. Ng3 Rxf4 $17) 34. Qf3 (34. Nf3 $1 $11 {was the only way to keep the balance.} Bd8 35. Ng1) 34... Rc8 35. Rc6 $2 Rg1+ $19 36. Kh2 Rg2+ 37. Kh1 Rxc6 38. Nxc6 Qg4 39. Nd4 Rxf2 40. Rb8+ Kg7 41. Nxe6+ Kh6 42. Qxg4 fxg4 43. Rb6 Bg3 0-1