[Event "Vugar Gashimov Mem 2016"] [Site "Shamkir AZE"] [Date "2016.05.26"] [Round "1"] [White "Safarli, E."] [Black "Eljanov, P."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A13"] [WhiteElo "2664"] [BlackElo "2765"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2016.05.26"] {Without a doubt this was the game of the day - if for no other reason than because how topsy-turvy this encounter was. Eljanov outplayed Safarli decisively, but was unable to finish him off.} 1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 e6 3. g3 dxc4 4. Bg2 a6 5. Qc2 Bd6 6. Qxc4 Nf6 7. O-O b5 8. Qb3 {White's opening is rather unimpressive. Black will eventually play c5 and solve all of his opening problems. It would seem that a counterattack on the b5 pawn is White's idea, but that pawn is surprisingly safe.} Bb7 9. a4 Nbd7 {When Black can ignore a move like a4 and simply continue development, it is clear that White has no chance at an advantage.} 10. axb5 Bd5 (10... axb5 11. Rxa8 Qxa8 {was also possible, surprisingly.} 12. Qxb5 O-O 13. Qb3 Rb8 {and Black's initiative should not be underestimated. That being said, there is no reason to go for this.}) 11. Qc2 (11. Qd3 Be4 12. Qb3 Bd5 {Would be one way of making a draw.}) 11... axb5 12. Rxa8 Qxa8 13. Na3 $6 {The knight is rather misplaced here. If White could force Black to play b4 and then hop to c4, then I will be all for putting the knight on a3, but as it stands it is just misplaced.} Qb7 14. d3 c5 15. Bg5 O-O $15 {Already Black has the freer play.} 16. Rc1 Rc8 17. Nb1 { Admitting the mistake. At least the Knight is back into action.} h6 18. Bxf6 Nxf6 19. Nc3 Bc6 20. Qb3 Be7 21. Ra1 Ne8 22. Ne1 Bxg2 23. Nxg2 Nd6 {Black's advantage lies in his more active pieces and his space advantage on the queenside. The bishop once it comes to f6 will clearly be the strongest minor piece.} 24. Ne3 Bg5 25. Nf1 b4 26. Nb1 $2 {A bit too passive.} (26. Nd1 c4 27. dxc4 Nxc4 28. h4 {allows White to play Nfe3 next move and keep fighting on.}) 26... c4 $1 27. dxc4 Nxc4 {It is clear that Black's pieces are better than White's.} 28. e3 $2 Nxe3 $1 {Beautifully punishing the opponent's backwards pieces.} 29. fxe3 Rc1 30. Kf2 Qh1 $2 {Unfortunately this is just a big oversight.} (30... Qe4 $1 {Regains the piece with a winning position. For example:} 31. Nfd2 (31. Nbd2 Qf5+ {and Rxa1.}) (31. Qa2 Qf5+ 32. Ke2 Qxf1+) 31... Qh1 {is no devastating, with mate threats.} 32. Qd3 Qxh2+ 33. Kf3 Qh1+ 34. Kf2 Qg1+ 35. Kf3 f5 $1 {A key move that is hard to see, but now White has no defense.}) 31. Qd3 {All of White's pieces are protected for now.} f5 $6 ( 31... e5 {with the threat of e4 keeps the initiative going.}) 32. h4 Be7 $6 { too passive, but the saving alternative was a bit crazy.} (32... f4 $1 33. exf4 (33. hxg5 Rxf1+ 34. Qxf1 fxg3+ 35. Ke2 g2 {and now it is White that has to go on the counterattack or lose.} 36. Ra8+ Kh7 37. Qf7 g1=N+ $1 38. Kd2 Qxa8 { with, surprisingly, equality.}) 33... Bf6 {with the threat of Bd4+.}) (32... Bxh4 33. gxh4 h5 $1 {is not human.}) 33. Ra5 f4 34. exf4 Qc6 (34... Bc5+ 35. Rxc5 Rxc5 36. Nbd2 {is pretty hopeless for Black. The knights will dominate the rook.}) 35. Re5 (35. Ne3 $1) 35... Bc5+ 36. Rxc5 Qxc5+ 37. Ne3 b3 38. Nd2 Rc2 $1 {Tricky to the end!} 39. Kf3 $6 (39. Ke2 Rxb2 40. Nd1 {still is bad for Black, though with all the pawns on the same side and the weak king there might be some hope of saving the position.}) 39... Rxb2 40. Qd8+ Kh7 41. Qd3+ Kh8 42. Qd8+ (42. Nxb3 Qc6+ 43. Kg4 h5+ 44. Kxh5 Qf3+ 45. g4 Qxf4 {and even though White can still hold here, it looks like he is playing for the loss.}) 42... Kh7 43. Qd3+ {Safarli forces the draw, but his advantage doesn't exist anymore anyway. He cannot win the b3 pawn unscathed.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Gashimov Memorial"] [Site "Shamkir AZE"] [Date "2016.05.26"] [Round "1.2"] [White "Fabiano Caruana"] [Black "Pentala Harikrishna"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B48"] [WhiteElo "2804"] [BlackElo "2763"] [Annotator "Hess, R"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2016.05.26"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be3 a6 7. Qf3 Nf6 (7... Ba3 $5 {with the idea of loosening the protecting on c3 actually backfires:} 8. O-O-O Ne5 9. Qg3 Qxc3 10. bxa3 Qxa3+ (10... Ng6 11. Qd6 Nf6 12. Bd3 {with a clear edge for White, despite the ruined pawn structure.}) 11. Kb1 Ng6 12. Nb3 {looks excellent for White. For the cost of just a pawn, White gains permanent control over the imporant dark squares. Black is also woefully underdeveloped.} ) 8. O-O-O Nxd4 9. Bxd4 e5 10. Be3 d6 11. h3 b5 12. Bd3 b4 13. Nd5 Nxd5 14. exd5 a5 15. Kb1 Be7 16. g4 O-O 17. g5 Ba6 18. Qe4 g6 (18... Bxd3 19. cxd3 { could allow White some pressure along the c-file, but Black might be able to mix it up with} (19. Rxd3 Rac8 20. Rc1 Qc4 {with no problems for Black.} (20... Qd7 {keeping the queens on might even allow Black to take control of the game.} )) 19... b3 $5) 19. h4 Rfc8 20. Rc1 Qd7 21. Bxa6 Rxa6 22. f4 Qf5 23. Qxf5 gxf5 {With the queens traded off and Black's pawn structure compromised, White stands better. Yet the advantage is moot if Caruana does not act fast.} 24. c3 {Gaining space on the queenside, allowing the king to join the action.} bxc3 25. Rxc3 Rxc3 26. bxc3 Ra8 27. Kc2 Rb8 28. Rf1 e4 {Forced, otherwise f5 falls.} 29. a4 Kf8 (29... h5 $1 {appears to shut down the kingside pawns, leading to an immediate draw.} 30. Rg1 (30. gxh6 Bf6 {flips the script, as White needs to tread carefully. Though with proper play, the position is level.}) 30... Kh7 31. Rb1 Rxb1 32. Kxb1 Bd8 33. Kc2 Kg7 34. Kb3 Kf8 35. Kc4 Ke7 36. Kb5 Kd7 { and progress can't be made, thanks to the passer on e4.}) 30. h5 {If Black isn't going for it, White might as well. Caruana plays the only winning attempt.} Ke8 31. Rg1 Kd7 32. Bd4 Kc7 {I would have preferred moving my king back towards the kingside, but Harikrishna sees his drawing his chances.} ( 32... Ke8 33. g6 fxg6 34. hxg6 hxg6 35. Rxg6 Kf7 36. Rg7+ Kf8 37. Rh7 Re8 { is a bit uncomfortable, but Black has very good chances to hold thanks to the e-pawn.}) 33. g6 fxg6 34. hxg6 hxg6 35. Rxg6 Rf8 36. Rg7 Kd7 37. c4 $2 { It's not that this move is bad, but it does eliminate White's winning chances.} (37. Kb3 {was the only realistic winning attempt, but proper defense might still allow Black to survive.} Ke8 38. Bb6 (38. Kc4 Bf6 39. Bxf6 Rxf6 40. Ra7 ( 40. Kb5 Rf7 {with similar drawing chances. White can't trade rooks (this would in fact result in a losing ending), and Black's activity will let him escape.}) 40... Rh6 41. Rxa5 Rh1 42. Ra8+ Kd7 43. a5 Rd1 44. Rh8 e3 45. Rh7+ Kd8 46. Rh2 Rd2 47. Rh6 Kd7 48. Re6 Ra2 49. Kb5 e2 {should hold for Black.}) 38... Bd8 39. Bxd8 Kxd8 40. Ra7 Re8 41. Kc2 Kc8 42. Ra8+ Kd7 43. Rxa5 Kc7 44. Ra7+ Kb6 45. Rf7 e3 46. Kd1 Re4 47. Rxf5 Rxa4 {is dead draw. White will drop one of his extra pawns.}) 37... Ke8 38. Kc3 (38. Bc3 Bd8 39. Rg6 Kd7 40. Bd4 Be7 {isn't exactly progress.}) 38... Bh4 39. Ra7 Be1+ 40. Kc2 Rg8 41. Ra8+ Kf7 42. Ra7+ Ke8 43. Ra8+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "Shamkir Chess 2016"] [Site "?"] [Date "2016.05.26"] [Round "1.1"] [White "Safarli, Eltaj"] [Black "Eljanov, Pavel"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A13"] [WhiteElo "2664"] [BlackElo "2765"] [Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:45:33"] [BlackClock "0:57:01"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 e6 3. g3 dxc4 4. Bg2 a6 {A solid move which is designed to fight the "Catalan" bishop ong2 as early as possible.} ({Black can naturally play this later} 4... Nf6 5. O-O a6 6. Qc2 Be7 {but then White will have the extra option} 7. Ne5 $5 c5 8. a4 Nd5 9. Qxc4 Nd7 10. Nxd7 Bxd7 11. Bxd5 exd5 12. Qxd5 Be6 13. Qxd8+ Rxd8 14. d3 c4 15. dxc4 Bxc4 {although Black has certainly compensation for a pawn in Li,C (2751)-Lenic,L (2611) Gibraltar 2016} ) 5. Qc2 Bd6 {Now Nf3-e5 is stopped for good.} 6. Qxc4 ({On} 6. Na3 {Black can boldly defend the pawn with} b5 7. Ne5 Ra7) 6... Nf6 (6... b5 {is premature to} 7. Qg4) 7. O-O (7. d4 {will lead to Catalan type of position, good for Black after} b5 8. Qc2 Bb7) 7... b5 8. Qb3 Bb7 9. a4 Nbd7 {A good novelty by Eljanov. } ({Chandra chose the immediate} 9... c5 {against Nakamura which is less precise since after} 10. d3 Bd5 11. Qc2 Nbd7 {White can develop the his queenside knight better} 12. Nc3 {Nakamura,H (2787)-Chandra,A (2477) Saint Louis 2016}) 10. axb5 ({Now} 10. Nc3 {can be met with} b4 {When Black is very serious about capturing on c3, for example} 11. a5 $2 bxc3 12. Qxb7 Rb8 13. Qxa6 cxb2) 10... Bd5 {Thanks to this standrt trick Black takes the pawn back.} 11. Qc2 (11. Qa4 $4 axb5) ({Or} 11. Qd3 Nc5 {can't keep the pawn neither.}) 11... axb5 12. Rxa8 Qxa8 13. Na3 {A poor square for the knight, but} (13. Nc3 Bc6 {yields White nothing as well.}) 13... Qb7 14. d3 c5 {The outcome of the opening is excellent for Black. His piecse are well developed and co-ordinated. } 15. Bg5 ({Maybe} 15. e4 Bc6 16. Nd2 {would have been a better choice.}) 15... O-O 16. Rc1 Rc8 17. Nb1 {Safarli admits his mistake, but the lost tempoes are not for free.} h6 18. Bxf6 {Black adds the bishop pair to his asset box (besides the space advantage.)} ({Perhaps} 18. Bd2 c4 19. dxc4 Rxc4 20. Qd1 Rxc1 21. Bxc1 b4 {was safer for White although he still has to solve problems as his pieces look cramped.}) 18... Nxf6 19. Nc3 ({Forks are never on the agenda} 19. e4 Bc6 20. e5 $2 Bxe5) 19... Bc6 20. Qb3 Be7 $1 {The beginning of a nice maneuver. The knight will then go to e8-d6-f5 and d4, while the bishop wants to reign on the long diagonal. The other choice was} (20... Ra8 {also with advantage for Black.}) 21. Ra1 Ne8 22. Ne1 Bxg2 23. Nxg2 Nd6 24. Ne3 Bg5 25. Nf1 (25. Ncd1 $5 {is more solid, albeit passive.}) 25... b4 26. Nb1 $6 ({ Better was} 26. Nd1 c4 27. dxc4 Nxc4 {although White suffers here as well.}) 26... c4 27. dxc4 Nxc4 28. e3 {A blunder, but White's position was awful anyway.} (28. h4 Bf6) 28... Nxe3 $3 {After outplaying his opponent positionally, Eljanov goes for the decisive tactcs.} 29. fxe3 (29. Nxe3 Rc1+ 30. Nf1 Qb5 {loses on the spot.}) 29... Rc1 30. Kf2 Qh1 $6 {But for some reason the Ukrainian GM slips when the win was so close. Strong was} (30... Qe4 $1 {with the double threat of Qe4-f5+ and Rc1xb1. White is helpless, say} 31. Ra5 (31. Ke2 Qg2+) (31. g4 Bh4+ 32. Ng3 Rc2+) 31... Qxb1) 31. Qd3 f5 $6 { One more click and it is Safarli who can fight for the win. Better was} (31... e5 $1 {With the threat e5-e4 followed by Qh1-f3+. Then an only move is} 32. e4 (32. Ra7 {reveals Black's idea} e4 $1 33. Qe2 Rxf1+ $1 34. Qxf1 Qf3+ 35. Ke1 Qxe3+) 32... Be7 $1 33. Ra5 Bc5+ 34. Rxc5 Rxc5 35. Nbd2 {with unclear position. }) 32. h4 {Even better was} (32. Qa6 $1 {with the double threat of a pawn capture and queen trade and if} Kh7 33. Nbd2 {frees the rook from the pin.}) 32... Be7 33. Ra5 f4 $1 {If White consolidates he will be simply up a piece.} 34. exf4 (34. Nbd2 {looks too risky not only in the time-trouble after} fxg3+ 35. Nxg3 Qh2+ 36. Kf3 Rc8) 34... Qc6 {Better than} (34... Bc5+ 35. Rxc5 Rxc5 36. Nbd2) 35. Re5 Bc5+ 36. Rxc5 Qxc5+ 37. Ne3 b3 $1 {Another energetic move.} 38. Nd2 {The utility of the b3 pawn is demonstrated by the line:} (38. Nc3 Qxc3 $3 39. bxc3 b2 {and White is forced to give perpetual to avoid the worst-} 40. Qd8+ Kh7 41. Qd3+) 38... Rc2 39. Kf3 {The computer suggests instead} (39. Qd8+ Kh7 40. Ke2 Rxb2 41. Qd3+ Kg8 42. Nd1 Qh5+ (42... Ra2 43. Qxb3) 43. Ke1 { although it is highly doubtful if White can ever win this even without the b3 pawn.}) 39... Rxb2 40. Qd8+ {And Safarli forces a draw} Kh7 (40... Qf8 41. Qxf8+ (41. Qd4 $5) 41... Kxf8 42. Ke2 Ra2 43. Kd3 b2 44. Nb1) 41. Qd3+ Kh8 42. Qd8+ Kh7 43. Qd3+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "Vugar Gashimov Mem 2016"] [Site "Shamkir AZE"] [Date "2016.05.27"] [Round "2.2"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A36"] [WhiteElo "2790"] [BlackElo "2779"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "135"] [EventDate "2016.05.26"] 1. g3 c5 2. Bg2 Nc6 3. c4 g6 4. Nc3 Bg7 5. a3 d6 6. Rb1 a5 7. d3 e5 8. e4 h5 9. h4 Bh6 10. Bh3 Bxc1 11. Rxc1 Nf6 12. Bxc8 Rxc8 13. Nge2 O-O 14. O-O Qd7 15. Kg2 Kg7 16. f3 Nd4 17. Rf2 b6 18. a4 Rb8 19. b3 Rb7 20. Rb1 Rbb8 21. Qd2 Rbe8 22. Qb2 Qb7 23. Rbf1 Ng8 24. Nd5 Ne7 25. Nxd4 exd4 26. Nf4 Qd7 27. Re2 Nc6 28. Qd2 Nb4 29. Rfe1 Re5 30. Nh3 Re7 31. f4 f6 32. Qd1 Rh8 33. Kh2 Qg4 34. Kg2 { Up to about this point the game had been as uneventful as imaginable. As you can see from the pawn structure, it is extremely locked up and highly unlikely something actually happens. However, Karjakin lets his guard down for just a second, and that turns out to be more than enough.} Rhe8 $4 {The decisive mistake. Karjakin underestimated the problems he was about to get into, or more likely, didn't even see it coming.} 35. f5 $1 {The threat is clear: Nf2 wins the queen.} gxf5 36. Nf2 Qg6 37. exf5 {Black now faces a very unpleasant choice} Rxe2 (37... Qf7 38. Rxe7 Rxe7 39. Rxe7 Qxe7 40. Qxh5 $18 {looks truly hopeless. Black is down a pawn, and in the knight endgames the double pawns on the d-file don't make a good impression. If Black doesn't trade queens, his king is very weak.}) 38. fxg6 Rxe1 39. Qxh5 {From a material point of view Black is ok, but it is clear that his king is not.} Rh8 40. Qf3 Re3 (40... Kxg6 41. Ne4 f5 42. Nxd6 $18) 41. Qg4 Re5 42. Qd7+ Kxg6 43. Ne4 Nxd3 44. Qg4+ Kh6 ( 44... Kf7 45. Nxd6+ Ke7 46. Qg7+ Kxd6 47. Qxf6+ {followed by Qxh8 looks very unappetizing, but it's the computer's top choice to try to defend.}) 45. Nxd6 Rf8 46. Nf5+ Rxf5 47. Qxf5 {Now Black is down material, and the knight and rook cannot hope to compete with the queen.} Ne5 48. Qe6 d3 49. Qxb6 Rf7 50. Qxa5 Rd7 51. Qd2+ Kg7 52. a5 {The white pawns march now that the queen is forced to be in a passive position. That, however, will only be temporary.} Nc6 53. a6 Kf7 54. h5 Nb4 55. h6 Kg6 56. Qf4 (56. Qe3 {seemed way easier. For example} d2 57. Qe8+ Rf7 58. Qg8+ Kxh6 59. Qxf7 $1 (59. Qd8 {also works, for those that don't want to calculate.}) 59... d1=Q 60. Qxf6+ Kh7 61. Qf7+ Kh6 62. a7 Qe2+ 63. Kh3 {and there is no perpetual. Actually there are no more checks.} ) 56... Rd4 57. h7 $1 {It's important to find this move.} Rxf4 58. h8=Q d2 59. Qe8+ Kh6 60. Qh8+ Kg6 61. Qe8+ {Repeat to gain time: always wise.} Kh6 62. Qe2 (62. a7 {is some nonesense computer line. What Giri chose is very easy.}) 62... Rd4 63. a7 d1=Q 64. Qxd1 Rxd1 65. a8=Q {The passed d-pawn has been eliminated, and now Black can't hold on to his c-pawn. The knight is too short range of a piece.} Rd2+ 66. Kf3 Rd3+ 67. Kf4 Rxb3 68. Kf5 {Black's getting mated.} 1-0 [Event "Vugar Gashimov Mem 2016"] [Site "Shamkir AZE"] [Date "2016.05.27"] [Round "2.3"] [White "Eljanov, Pavel"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D91"] [WhiteElo "2765"] [BlackElo "2804"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "90"] [EventDate "2016.05.26"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bg5 Ne4 6. Bf4 Nxc3 7. bxc3 c5 8. e3 O-O 9. Be2 dxc4 10. Bxc4 Nd7 11. O-O Nb6 12. Bb3 c4 13. Bc2 Nd5 14. Qd2 Nxf4 15. exf4 Be6 16. a4 Bd5 17. Ne5 e6 18. Rfb1 Rb8 19. Qe3 a6 20. a5 b5 21. axb6 Rxb6 22. g3 Rxb1+ 23. Rxb1 Bxe5 24. Qxe5 Qa8 25. h4 Bh1 26. Kf1 h5 27. Ke1 a5 28. Ra1 Qg2 29. Rxa5 Qg1+ 30. Ke2 Bg2 {Black has just sacrificed a pawn and is now clearly putting pressure on the weak king on e2. However, there is nothing clear just yet. White has to be very careful to hang on, but he has his own resources.} 31. Qe3 {Defending the f2 pawn is natural, but now was the time to calculate.} (31. Bxg6 $1 fxg6 (31... Qf1+ 32. Kd2 Qxf2+ 33. Kc1 {surprisingly doesn't change anything. Black still should take on g6 (at the very least Bh7+ with a perpetual is a threat) and it is still a draw.}) 32. Qxe6+ Kh8 33. Qe5+ {leads to a perpetual.}) 31... Rb8 32. Ra2 Bh3 33. Kd2 Bf5 $1 {There is an old maxim that in heavy piece endgames the only thing that matters is king safety, and White isn't feeling particularly comfy.} 34. Qe1 Qg2 35. Bxf5 exf5 36. Kc2 $2 {White blunders in time pressure, but Caruana misses the winning idea.} Qb7 (36... Qf3 $1 {threatening Qd3+} 37. Qe3 Qh1 $19) 37. Kd2 Qg2 38. Kc1 (38. Rc2 $1 {tries to hold on.}) 38... Qf3 {Now this is also strong} 39. Rc2 Ra8 40. Qe2 Qh1+ {With time control reached it is now obvious that White is defenseless.} 41. Kd2 Ra1 42. Qe8+ Kg7 43. Qe5+ Kh7 44. Qe2 Rb1 $1 {nice Zugzwang.} 45. f3 Rg1 0-1 [Event "Vugar Gashimov Mem 2016"] [Site "Shamkir AZE"] [Date "2016.05.27"] [Round "2.5"] [White "Harikrishna, Pentala"] [Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B07"] [WhiteElo "2763"] [BlackElo "2748"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "2016.05.26"] 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Be3 a6 5. a4 Bg7 6. Nf3 O-O 7. Qd2 Nbd7 8. h3 e5 9. dxe5 dxe5 10. Bc4 b6 11. O-O Bb7 12. Rfd1 Qe7 13. Nd5 Nxd5 14. Bxd5 Bxd5 15. Qxd5 Nf6 16. Qc4 Rfe8 17. c3 a5 18. Rd3 {White's slightly better for many reasons. His pieces are slightly more active, his queen on c4 is controlling the entire board, c7 feels unpleasant. Black has a grueling defensive and passive task ahead of him, not something Mamedyarov is known for.} Qe6 $2 { Counterplay is not always the solution} 19. Qxc7 Nxe4 20. Rad1 {Black's pieces are really suffering, b6 is very weak and the rooks are penetrating down the d-file.} Bf6 21. Nd2 $1 {Nice move, eliminating one of the few black active pieces.} Nxd2 22. R1xd2 e4 23. Rd6 Be5 24. Rxe6 Bxc7 25. Rc6 Rec8 26. Kf1 { Always careful - Black was threatening Bh2+.} Bd8 27. Rcd6 Rab8 28. Rd7 $1 Bf6 29. Bf4 Ra8 30. Rb7 Rc6 31. Rdd7 {Black simply can't hold his position together anymore.} Rd8 (31... Rf8 32. Bc7 {drops the b6 pawn and is completely hopeless.}) 32. Rxd8+ Bxd8 33. Rb8 {White wins a piece and the game.} 1-0 [Event "Gashimov Memorial"] [Site "Shamkir AZE"] [Date "2016.05.27"] [Round "2"] [White "Pentala Harikrishna"] [Black "Shakhriyar Mamedyarov"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B06"] [WhiteElo "2763"] [BlackElo "2748"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "2016.05.26"] 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Be3 a6 5. a4 Bg7 6. Nf3 O-O 7. Qd2 Nbd7 8. h3 e5 9. dxe5 dxe5 10. Bc4 b6 11. O-O Bb7 12. Rfd1 Qe7 13. Nd5 Nxd5 14. Bxd5 Bxd5 15. Qxd5 Nf6 16. Qc4 Rfe8 17. c3 a5 18. Rd3 Qe6 $2 {As much as center pawns appeal, this exchange allows White's heavy pieces too much activity.} 19. Qxc7 Nxe4 20. Rad1 Bf6 21. Nd2 $1 {This excellent positional move trades White's least effective piece for Black's most effective. After this, White's advantage is extremely clear. Defense, if possible, will be supremely difficult.} (21. Qxb6 $2 Qxb6 22. Bxb6 Reb8 23. Be3 Rxb2 {is nearly equal.}) 21... Nxd2 22. R1xd2 e4 23. Rd6 Be5 24. Rxe6 Bxc7 25. Rc6 Rec8 26. Kf1 Bd8 27. Rcd6 Rab8 28. Rd7 Bf6 29. Bf4 Ra8 30. Rb7 Rc6 31. Rdd7 Rd8 $2 {This loses a piece, but the game is gone in any case.} (31... Rf8 {Such a passive move cannot be expected to hold.} 32. Bc7 {There are also more patient paths, but this pockets some material.}) 32. Rxd8+ Bxd8 33. Rb8 1-0 [Event "Shamkir Chess 2016"] [Site "?"] [Date "2016.05.27"] [Round "2.2"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A36"] [WhiteElo "2790"] [BlackElo "2779"] [Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"] [PlyCount "135"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:23:06"] [BlackClock "0:49:30"] 1. g3 c5 2. Bg2 Nc6 3. c4 g6 4. Nc3 Bg7 {The symetrical English opening has a drawish reputation. But which solid opening does not?} 5. a3 d6 6. Rb1 a5 7. d3 e5 8. e4 h5 {A very sound idea. Karjakin intends to swap off he dark-squared bishop via h6. Giri's choice was probably influenced by his own poor experience. In Wijk, he had the Black pieces in the following game:} (8... Nge7 9. Nge2 O-O 10. O-O Bd7 11. Bd2 h6 12. Nb5 Be6 13. Nec3 b6 14. Nd5 {So,W (2773) -Giri,A (2798) Wijk aan Zee 2016}) 9. h4 {A novelty. White got nothing after:} (9. Nb5 Bh6 10. h4 Bxc1 11. Qxc1 {Tesar,P (1984)-Kelecevic, N (2341) Triesen 2009}) 9... Bh6 10. Bh3 Bxc1 11. Rxc1 {Karjakin equalized confidently in the opening.} Nf6 {A slight inaccuracy. Black wants to control the g4 square, but it will be easier now for White to carry out the f2-f4 attack. Safer was} ( 11... Nge7 12. Bxc8 Rxc8 13. Nf3 (13. Nge2 O-O 14. O-O f5) 13... f6 14. Nd5 O-O ) 12. Bxc8 Rxc8 13. Nge2 O-O 14. O-O Qd7 (14... Nd4 $5 {looked OK as well.}) ({ There is no need to lose control of the central square} 14... Ng4 15. Nd5) ({Or } 14... Ne8 15. f4) 15. Kg2 Kg7 16. f3 {Giri slowly prepares the opning of the kingside. He intends to double the rooks along the "f" file and to open it.} Nd4 17. Rf2 b6 18. a4 $1 {Blocks the queenside. White clearly understands that he has the better chances on the other wing.} Rb8 19. b3 Rb7 {The art of doing nothing... But, it made sense to play more actively with} (19... Ng8 20. Nxd4 cxd4 21. Nd5 f5) 20. Rb1 Rbb8 21. Qd2 Rbe8 22. Qb2 Qb7 23. Rbf1 Ng8 24. Nd5 ({ Similar is} 24. Nxd4 exd4 (24... cxd4 25. Nd5 Ne7 26. Nxe7 Qxe7 27. f4) 25. Nd5 Ne7) 24... Ne7 25. Nxd4 exd4 {The only move, but White gets something tangible at last-pawn majority on the kingside.} ({Not} 25... Nxd5 26. Nf5+ $1) (25... cxd4 26. Nxe7 Rxe7 27. f4 {is clearly better for White as the further advance of the "f" pawn is unstoppable}) 26. Nf4 Qd7 27. Re2 Nc6 28. Qd2 Nb4 29. Rfe1 { Prepares e4-e5 in a good moment.} Re5 30. Nh3 Re7 31. f4 f6 32. Qd1 {Giri keeps the tension} (32. f5 $5 {was already quite interesting} gxf5 33. Nf4 { But with the queen on d1 it would be even more fun!}) 32... Rh8 33. Kh2 {Here} (33. f5 {leads White nowehere} gxf5 34. exf5 Re5) 33... Qg4 34. Kg2 Rhe8 $2 { A blunder.} (34... Qd7 {would have forced Giri to look for something concrete.} ) 35. f5 $1 {All of a sudden the queen is trapped. Nh3-f2 is the obvious threat.} gxf5 36. Nf2 {Forces the queen to step under a tempo.} Qg6 37. exf5 Rxe2 {The alternative was the loss of a key pawn in front of the king} (37... Qf7 38. Rxe7 Rxe7 39. Rxe7 Qxe7 40. Qxh5) 38. fxg6 Rxe1 39. Qxh5 Rh8 40. Qf3 { Normally, the queen should be weaker than the rooks. But here they had to separate themselves in an attempt to defend the king and this determines White's decisive advantage.} Re3 {If the king gets open} (40... Kxg6 { everything ends very quick} 41. Qg4+ Kf7 42. Ne4 Nxd3 43. Nxd6+ Ke7 44. Nf5+ { Even better than} (44. Qg7+ {which should also win though}) 44... Kd8 (44... Kf7 45. Qg7+) 45. Qf3 {with the double threat on Nd3 and the Rh8.}) 41. Qg4 Re5 42. Qd7+ $1 {Forces the king to discover itself.} Kxg6 43. Ne4 Nxd3 44. Qg4+ ({ But not} 44. Nxd6 $2 Re2+ 45. Kh3 Nf2+ 46. Kg2 Nd3+ {with perpetual.}) 44... Kh6 {Black cannot save the exchange} (44... Kf7 45. Nxd6+ Ke7 46. Qg7+) 45. Nxd6 Rf8 46. Nf5+ Rxf5 47. Qxf5 Ne5 48. Qe6 d3 {Karjakin's last chance is connected with his passer. If he manages to force the white queen into passive defense, he may survive.} 49. Qxb6 Rf7 (49... d2 50. Qd6 {drops the pawn.}) 50. Qxa5 Rd7 51. Qd2+ Kg7 {Blac succeeded with his plan but lost a couple of important pawns in the process.} 52. a5 Nc6 53. a6 Kf7 ({Or} 53... Nb4 54. Qf4 Kf7 55. Qf5 Rd8 56. Qxc5 d2 57. Qh5+ Kg7 58. a7) 54. h5 Nb4 55. h6 {One more pawn advances and exposes the king again.} Kg6 {The utility of Giri's previous move is seen in the line:} (55... Nxa6 56. h7 Kg7 57. Qd1 {and the rook on d7 is goner-} ({Even better than} 57. Qh6+ Kxh6 58. h8=Q+ Kg6 59. Qe8+ Rf7 60. Qe4+) 57... Kxh7 58. Qh5+ Kg7 59. Qg4+) 56. Qf4 Rd4 57. h7 $1 {Well calculated. } (57. Qc1 Nxa6 {would not win.}) 57... Rxf4 58. h8=Q d2 {Nothing helps.} ( 58... Rd4 59. a7 d2 60. a8=Q d1=Q 61. Qag8+ Kf5 62. Qhh7+ Ke5 63. Qe7+ Kf5 64. Qee6#) 59. Qe8+ Kh6 60. Qh8+ Kg6 61. Qe8+ Kh6 62. Qe2 {Simpler than} (62. gxf4 d1=Q 63. Qh8+ Kg6 64. Qg8+ Kf5 65. a7 {when Black has too many checks.}) 62... Rd4 63. a7 d1=Q 64. Qxd1 Rxd1 65. a8=Q Rd2+ 66. Kf3 Rd3+ 67. Kf4 Rxb3 68. Ke4 { This move was probably not played, and I guess that Karjakin resigned without making a move. White is easily winning after:} (68. Kf5 Kg7 69. Qb7+ Kf8 70. Kxf6) 1-0 [Event "Gashimov Memorial"] [Site "Shamkir AZE"] [Date "2016.05.27"] [Round "2"] [White "Pavel Eljanov"] [Black "Fabiano Caruana"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D80"] [WhiteElo "2765"] [BlackElo "2804"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "90"] [EventDate "2016.05.26"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bg5 Ne4 6. Bf4 Nxc3 7. bxc3 c5 8. e3 O-O 9. Be2 dxc4 10. Bxc4 Nd7 11. O-O Nb6 12. Bb3 c4 13. Bc2 Nd5 14. Qd2 Nxf4 15. exf4 Be6 16. a4 Bd5 17. Ne5 e6 18. Rfb1 Rb8 19. Qe3 a6 20. a5 b5 21. axb6 Rxb6 22. g3 Rxb1+ 23. Rxb1 Bxe5 24. Qxe5 Qa8 25. h4 Bh1 26. Kf1 h5 27. Ke1 a5 28. Ra1 Qg2 29. Rxa5 Qg1+ 30. Ke2 Bg2 31. Qe3 (31. Bxg6 $1 {This forces a draw, but it allows Caruana to pick up f2 with check. Scary.} fxg6 (31... Qf1+ { This attempt ultimately doesn't improve. White's king stays on dark squares and Black must eventually give or accept perpetual.} 32. Kd2 Qxf2+ 33. Kc1 Qxg3 $4 {Attempting to win leads only to loss.} 34. Bh7+ $1 Kxh7 35. Qxh5+ Kg7 36. Rg5+ {Both the queen and bishop fall.}) 32. Qxe6+ Kg7 33. Qe5+ Kg8 34. Qe6+ Kh7 35. Qe7+ Kg8 36. Qe6+ {Black cannot avoid the checks.}) 31... Rb8 32. Ra2 $1 Bh3 33. Kd2 Bf5 34. Qe1 Qg2 {Keeping chances alive.} 35. Bxf5 $2 {This seems an error as Black now has the possibility of Kf8 and Re8 as well as the previous threats.} exf5 36. Kc2 $2 (36. Rc2 $1 {Komodo argues this is the only move. Black retains pressure though.} Kf8 {intending Re8.} 37. Rc1 {Preparing a response to Re8.} Re8 38. Qf1 $1 {...Qf3 retains some pressure, but Black lacks a clear line to win.}) 36... Qb7 $2 (36... Qf3 $1 {White would be in zugzwang except that Black will win if White passed too. There are no helpful moves for White. Here are some tries...} 37. Qe3 {surrenders the back rank.} ( 37. Rb2 Qd3+ 38. Kc1 Ra8 39. Rb1 Ra2 {mates.}) (37. Qd2 {surrenders e4.} Qe4+ 38. Kd1 Rb1+ {mates.}) 37... Qh1) 37. Kd2 $1 {Eljanov finds the only defense. Caruana now repeats.} Qg2 38. Kc1 {Once again, the unintuitive fortress attempt Rc2! was forced.} Qf3 $1 39. Rc2 Ra8 $1 {White cannot hold all the squares and lines. Caruana is now infiltrating.} 40. Qe2 Qh1+ 41. Kd2 Ra1 42. Qe8+ Kg7 43. Qe5+ Kh7 44. Qe2 Rb1 {Zugzwang!} 45. f3 Rg1 {The threat of ...Rg2 forces capitulation.} 0-1 [Event "Vugar Gashimov Mem 2016"] [Site "Shamkir AZE"] [Date "2016.05.28"] [Round "3"] [White "Mamedyarov, S."] [Black "Eljanov, P."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E21"] [WhiteElo "2748"] [BlackElo "2765"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "117"] [EventDate "2016.05.26"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 b6 5. Qb3 c5 6. Bg5 Bb7 7. e3 O-O 8. Be2 cxd4 9. Qxb4 Nc6 10. Qa3 dxc3 11. bxc3 h6 12. Bh4 Rc8 13. Rd1 Qc7 14. Bxf6 gxf6 15. O-O Kg7 16. Nd4 Ne5 17. Nb5 Qc5 18. Qb4 a5 19. Qxc5 Rxc5 20. Nd6 Ba6 21. Rd4 f5 22. Rb1 Rb8 23. f4 Nc6 24. Rd2 Ne7 25. Kf2 Kf8 26. e4 Nc8 27. Nb5 Ke7 28. Rbd1 Rb7 29. exf5 Rxf5 30. g3 Rc5 31. Na3 d6 32. g4 Rd7 33. h4 Rd8 34. Rd4 Na7 35. Rb1 Nc8 36. Nc2 d5 37. cxd5 Bxe2 38. Kxe2 Rdxd5 39. Kd3 h5 40. Ne3 Rd7 41. f5 $1 {A very powerful move. Black has unpleasant choiecs to make now.} hxg4 (41... exf5 42. Nxf5+ Kd8 43. Rf1 $1 {Holding the knight on f5} hxg4 44. h5 {and the h-pawn is very dangerous.}) 42. h5 $1 {Excellent! Passed pawns must be pushed, and this one is not easy to stop.} Nd6 43. h6 Rc8 44. Re1 (44. f6+ {is some computer move that is very hard to find, but I like Mamedyarov's human approach}) 44... Nb7 45. Rxd7+ Kxd7 46. Nxg4 Nc5+ 47. Kd4 Kd6 (47... Rh8 48. fxe6+ Nxe6+ 49. Ke5 $18) 48. Ne5 $1 f6 49. Ng6 $1 e5+ 50. Ke3 Rc7 51. Rd1+ Kc6 52. Rd8 {This rook maneuver is the finishing touch. Black can't prevent the pawn from pushing forward.} Nb7 53. Rc8 $1 {Excellently timed rook trade.} (53. Rh8 Nd6 54. h7 {might be winning, but is nowhere near as clear.}) 53... Rxc8 54. Ne7+ Kc5 (54... Kc7 55. Nxc8 {there is no time to capture the knight, so this would just be similar to the game.}) 55. Nxc8 Nd8 56. h7 Nf7 57. Ne7 Kc4 58. Ng8 $1 Kxc3 59. Nxf6 {The knight remaneuvers to g5, where it cannot be taken, and then helps push the f-pawn.} 1-0 [Event "Vugar Gashimov Mem 2016"] [Site "Shamkir AZE"] [Date "2016.05.28"] [Round "3"] [White "Caruana, F."] [Black "Hou Yifan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C80"] [WhiteElo "2804"] [BlackElo "2663"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "69"] [EventDate "2016.05.26"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 {Yifan is not known for defending 1.e4 e5 with Black, but after successfully doing so against Muzychuk it makes sense that she incorporates it into her normal repertoire.} a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. Nbd2 Nc5 10. c3 Be7 11. Bc2 d4 12. Nb3 d3 13. Bb1 Nxb3 14. axb3 Bf5 15. Re1 O-O 16. Be3 Qd5 17. Bd4 Rfd8 {A welwl known position, actually, which has been seen since 1997 when Topalov had it against Piket. More recently a draw between Wei Yi and Wesley So in January proves that this variation is still playable.} 18. h4 {The novelty of the game, but it shouldn't come as a surprise to a very well prepared player: it is after all Komodo's first suggestion.} Bg6 {Oops, it seems that Yifan was not well prepared in this line! This inaccuracy was played after a 27 minute think.} ( 18... d2 {right away was the better choice} 19. Bxf5 $5 (19. Qxd2 {would simply be the game down a tempo.}) 19... dxe1=Q+ 20. Qxe1 {seems dangerous for Black, but at least he has more material in this variation. It is possible that White is simply better, but we need pratical tests for that.} a5 $5) 19. b4 {Clamping down on the queenside.} d2 20. Qxd2 Bxb1 21. Raxb1 Bxb4 {This is the tactical justification for Black's play, but it falls short.} 22. Qf4 Be7 23. e6 $1 fxe6 24. Qg4 Nxd4 25. Nxd4 {White's initiative is strong: the knight coming to e6 will be difficult to remove.} Bf6 26. Nxe6 Rd7 27. Re3 h5 $2 { There was no reason to weaken her position so much.} (27... g6 {gave better chances of survival, with potential ideas of Qf5 or Qh5 to reduces the pressure.}) 28. Qg6 Rf7 29. Rbe1 {White's attack simply plays itself now.} Rc8 30. Nf4 Qd7 31. Qxh5 Re7 32. Nd5 Rf7 33. Rd1 (33. Nxf6+ Rxf6 34. Re7 {was also good.}) 33... Qc6 34. Nf4 Rd7 35. Re8+ {A very one-sided game.} 1-0 [Event "Vugar Gashimov Mem 2016"] [Site "Shamkir AZE"] [Date "2016.05.28"] [Round "3"] [White "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Black "Harikrishna, P."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C42"] [WhiteElo "2779"] [BlackElo "2763"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "123"] [EventDate "2016.05.26"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Be3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nd7 9. O-O-O c5 {An interesting idea, perhaps. The computers really don't like it and almaost everyone else plays 9...c6 instead.} 10. Bd3 Nf6 11. Rhe1 Be6 12. Bg5 {Putting some pressure on Black's center.} h6 $2 {This move simply does not work.} 13. Bxh6 $1 c4 {Played instantly} (13... gxh6 14. Qxh6 { Is completely lost. For example:} c4 15. Rxe6 {Other moves win, but this is the cleanest.} fxe6 (15... cxd3 16. Ng5 {threatening Rxf6} fxe6 17. Qg6+ Kh8 18. Rxd3 {with unstoppable mate.}) 16. Qg6+ Kh8 17. Ng5 {the bishop is taboo, but there is no defense against Qh6+ followed by Bh7+ with a decisive attack.}) 14. Bxg7 $1 cxd3 15. Qg5 Ne4 {Nh7 is similar} 16. Qh6 Bg5+ 17. Nxg5 Qxg5+ 18. Qxg5 Nxg5 19. Bxf8 dxc2 20. Rxd6 Kxf8 $18 {The smoke has cleared. After many trades the material balance will be of a Rook and three pawns agaisnt two minor pieces. This is an almost hopeless material difference unless the minor pieces are well coordinated, which they are not here. White's technical task is long and not the easiest, but Karjakin eventually reeled in the full point.} 21. h4 Nh7 22. Kxc2 Nf6 23. f3 Ke7 24. Rd4 Rh8 25. c4 Nd7 26. b3 a6 27. Kc3 Nb8 28. g3 Nc6 29. Rd2 Kf6 30. Rh2 b5 31. cxb5 axb5 32. Rd2 Rh5 33. Re3 Ne7 34. Re4 Rf5 35. Rd3 Rc5+ 36. Kd2 Nf5 37. Rg4 Rc8 38. Rc3 Ra8 39. Rc2 Ne7 40. Rf4+ Kg7 41. Ke1 Nd5 42. Rd4 Kf6 43. Kf2 Ke5 44. Re4+ Kd6 45. h5 Ke7 46. g4 Kd6 47. Rd2 f5 48. gxf5 Bxf5 49. h6 Rh8 50. Red4 Be6 51. Rh4 Ke7 52. Rh5 Nf6 53. Rxb5 Rxh6 54. a4 Rh1 55. a5 Nd7 56. b4 Bc4 57. Rg5 Ke6 58. Rd4 Rc1 59. a6 Rc2+ 60. Kg3 Bf1 61. a7 Nb6 62. Rd1 1-0 [Event "Shamkir Chess 2016"] [Site "?"] [Date "2016.05.28"] [Round "3.2"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Hou, Yifan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C83"] [WhiteElo "2804"] [BlackElo "2663"] [Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"] [PlyCount "69"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:44:35"] [BlackClock "0:02:24"] 1. e4 e5 {Surprise, surprise. But not a big one, Hou had done a lot of work prior to her World championship match in Ukraine this year.} 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 {The Ruy Lopez happens in her games for the first time though.} a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 {It should be noted though that the Open Ruy Lopez was the main weapon of Hou's opponent in the match, Maria Muzychuk.} 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. Nbd2 {Caruana deviates from his latest game in the line. Against Wei Yi he went for} (9. c3 Be7 10. Bc2 Bg4 11. h3 Bh5 12. g4 Bg6 13. Nd4 Qd7 14. f4 Nxd4 15. cxd4 f5 16. Be3 O-O 17. Nc3 c6 {and won a nice game after} 18. Bxe4 dxe4 19. d5 {Caruana,F (2787)-Wei,Y (2706) Wijk aan Zee 2016}) 9... Nc5 10. c3 Be7 11. Bc2 d4 {Black's main option that stops the maneuver Nd2-b3-d4.} 12. Nb3 {The endgame is not particularly dangerous for Black. One fresh game to prove this was:} (12. Nxd4 Nxd4 13. cxd4 Qxd4 14. Nf3 Qxd1 15. Rxd1 O-O 16. Be3 Rfd8 {So,W (2775)-Ding,L (2778) Shanghai 2016}) 12... d3 (12... dxc3 { would not be the good kind of endgame for Black after...} 13. Nxc5 Bxc5 (13... Qxd1 14. Rxd1 Bxc5 15. Be4) 14. Be4 {Dosov,N (2326)-Meteleno,E (2145) Astana 2012}) 13. Bb1 Nxb3 14. axb3 Bf5 15. Re1 O-O 16. Be3 Qd5 {All of this had been seen already in Caruana's play.} 17. Bd4 {That game went} (17. b4 Qd7 18. h3 Rfd8 19. g4 Be6 20. Bf4 h5 21. Re3 Bxg4 22. Qxd3 Qxd3 23. Bxd3 {with advantage for White in Caruana,F (2808)-Mamedyarov,S (2736) Baku 2015. Obviously Hou prepared something there and Caruana decided to be the first one to deviate.}) 17... Rfd8 18. h4 {A nice novelty. Caruana makes a useful move and asks his opponent to do something. The previous tries did not yield White much:} ({ The straightforward attempt to win the d3 pawn with} 18. Re3 {led to dynamic equality after the forcing sequence} Nxd4 19. cxd4 c5 20. Bxd3 cxd4 21. Re2 Qe6 22. Rd2 Bxd3 23. Rxd3 Bc5 24. Qd2 Rd5 25. h3 h6 26. Qf4 Re8 27. Qd2 Ba7 $1 28. Rd1 Bb8 29. Re1 Bxe5 30. Nxe5 Rxe5 31. Rxe5 Qxe5 32. Rxd4 Qe1+ 33. Kh2 Qxd2 34. Rxd2 {and later a draw in Wei,Y (2706)-So,W (2773) Wijk aan Zee 2016}) ({ One key line runs} 18. Bxd3 Bxd3 19. Qxd3 Qxb3 20. e6 fxe6 21. Qe4 Qc4 22. Qxe6+ Qxe6 23. Rxe6 Bd6 {when Black has nothing to complain about once the queens leave the board, Abdumalik,Z (2379)-Koneru,H (2581) Chengdu 2015}) ({ It should be also noted that the immediate} 18. b4 {is met with} Bxb4 19. Bxd3 Bxd3 20. Qxd3 Nxd4 21. Nxd4 c5) 18... Bg6 $6 {Hou found nothing more useful than moving the bishop away from the vulnerable f5 square. This, however, weakens the control of the vital e6 point. The other options were:} (18... Nxd4 19. Nxd4 Be4 {which is dubious for two reasons. Either} 20. b4 {When Black cannot win a pawn with} ({Or the preliminary} 20. e6 $5 fxe6 21. b4) 20... Bxg2 $4 21. Qxd3 g6 22. Qg3 {as the bishop is trapped.}) ({Perhaps Black's best chance is} 18... Bc5) ({Or the forcing line} 18... Bg4 19. Qxd3 g6 20. b4 Bxf3 21. Ba2 Nxb4 22. cxb4 Qxd4 23. Qxf3 {although White has the more active bishop in opposite colored bishop attack and this should be betetr for him.}) 19. b4 d2 ({The bishop on f5 is missing in the line} 19... Bxb4 20. Ba2 Qd7 21. e6) ({ Also bad is the other forcing move} 19... Nxd4 20. Nxd4 Bxb4 21. Ba2 Qb7 22. h5 (22. e6) 22... Be4 23. Qg4 Rxd4 24. h6 {Even better than} (24. cxd4 Bxe1 25. Rxe1 Bd5 26. h6 g6 27. Bxd5 Qxd5 28. Qg5) 24... g6 25. Qf4) ({One more proof that the bishop was needed on f5 is seen in the line} 19... Bf8 20. Ba2 Qd7 21. e6) 20. Qxd2 Bxb1 21. Raxb1 Bxb4 (21... a5 22. bxa5 Nxa5 {is just a solid pawn up for White.}) 22. Qf4 {White's chances are tied to a kingside attack.} (22. cxb4 {would blow all hopes for the advantage after} Nxd4 23. Qxd4 Qxd4 24. Nxd4 Rxd4) 22... Be7 {Black's position is difficult as well after} (22... Nxd4 23. Nxd4 Bc5 24. Nf5 $1 ({The knight is an important attacker and should be preserved} 24. Rbd1 Bxd4) 24... Qd2 25. Qf3 {As well as the queen!} Qd5 26. Qg3 g6 27. h5 {Here we see the utility of the h2-h4! novelty. Still, Black's position is not that easy to crack.}) 23. e6 $1 {Caruana opens the road for his rooks and adds more manpower to the attack.} fxe6 24. Qg4 Nxd4 (24... Bf8 { looks more stubborn, for example} 25. Rxe6 Nxd4 26. Nxd4 c5) 25. Nxd4 Bf6 26. Nxe6 Rd7 {The only move as} (26... Rdc8 27. Nxg7 {loses on the spot.}) 27. Re3 {Adding more pieces to the attack is a must.} (27. h5 $5) 27... h5 {This makes things easier for White although it is highly doubtful that Black can survive after} (27... g6 28. Rbe1) 28. Qg6 {With the idea to double the rooks on the e file and then move the knight from e6. The squares c7, g7, f4 and g5 are very appropriate for the task.} Rf7 ({In the line} 28... Bxh4 29. Rbe1 Re7 30. g3 Bf6 {The knight moves} 31. Nxc7 $1 {and it is soon over-} Rxe3 32. Rxe3 Qd1+ 33. Kh2 Rf8 34. Ne6 Ra8 35. Nxg7 $1) 29. Rbe1 Rc8 30. Nf4 {White decided that the h5 pawn is more important.} (30. Nxc7 {would have won as well.}) 30... Qd7 31. Qxh5 {Threatening Nf4-g6 and mate on h8.} Re7 32. Nd5 Rf7 (32... Rxe3 33. Nxf6+ gxf6 34. Rxe3) 33. Rd1 Qc6 34. Nf4 Rd7 35. Re8+ 1-0 [Event "Gashimov Memorial"] [Site "Shamkir AZE"] [Date "2016.05.28"] [Round "3"] [White "Sergey Karjakin"] [Black "Pentala Harikrishna"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C42"] [WhiteElo "2779"] [BlackElo "2763"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "123"] [EventDate "2016.05.26"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Be3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nd7 9. O-O-O c5 10. Bd3 Nf6 11. Rhe1 Be6 12. Bg5 h6 $2 {It's hard to understand this move. Surely Harikrishna considered the sac. The real mystery is what he missed.} (12... d5 {Black's position seems quite reasonable here.}) 13. Bxh6 $1 c4 (13... gxh6 $2 {Acceptance is just not possible.} 14. Qxh6 { White now pressures h7 and supplements the attack with rook lifts. Black cannot hold.} c4 (14... Qd7 15. Ng5 Bf5 16. Rxe7 $1 Qxe7 17. Bxf5 d5 18. Bh7+ { The fastest. Nh7 is also good.} Kh8 19. Be4+ Kg8 20. Rd3 $1 {Again Rh3 is just too strong.}) 15. Rxe6 $1 {I'd speculate that this was the oversight, but Re4 and Ng5 are also strong.} fxe6 (15... cxd3 {White can simply smash through again.} 16. Ng5 fxe6 17. Qg6+ Kh8 18. Rxd3 {*cough* Rh3 *cough*}) 16. Qg6+ Kh8 17. Ng5 cxd3 18. Rxd3 {and Rh3+ will mate.}) 14. Bxg7 cxd3 (14... Kxg7 15. Qg5+ Kh8 16. Qh6+ Kg8 17. Rxe6 $1 {Transposes into a previous line.}) 15. Qg5 Ne4 { This escapes to an endgame, but from here onwards, the game is just suffering for Harikrishna.} 16. Qh6 Bg5+ 17. Nxg5 Qxg5+ 18. Qxg5 Nxg5 19. Bxf8 dxc2 20. Rxd6 Kxf8 21. h4 Nh7 22. Kxc2 Nf6 23. f3 Ke7 24. Rd4 Rh8 25. c4 Nd7 26. b3 a6 27. Kc3 Nb8 28. g3 Nc6 29. Rd2 Kf6 30. Rh2 b5 31. cxb5 axb5 32. Rd2 Rh5 33. Re3 Ne7 34. Re4 Rf5 35. Rd3 Rc5+ 36. Kd2 Nf5 37. Rg4 {Karjakin's advantage has slipped from about +2 to +1 through consistent, but very small, inaccuracies. That doesn't mean the position is a draw though. He now starts to press with his pawns. Ultimately, they will advance.} Rc8 38. Rc3 Ra8 39. Rc2 Ne7 40. Rf4+ Kg7 41. Ke1 Nd5 42. Rd4 Kf6 43. Kf2 Ke5 44. Re4+ Kd6 45. h5 Ke7 46. g4 Kd6 47. Rd2 f5 48. gxf5 Bxf5 49. h6 Rh8 50. Red4 Be6 51. Rh4 Ke7 52. Rh5 Nf6 53. Rxb5 Rxh6 {Karjakin's queenside pawns (especially the a-pawn) make steady progress now.} 54. a4 Rh1 55. a5 Nd7 56. b4 Bc4 57. Rg5 Ke6 58. Rd4 Rc1 59. a6 Rc2+ 60. Kg3 Bf1 61. a7 Nb6 62. Rd1 1-0 [Event "Gashimov Memorial"] [Site "Shamkir AZE"] [Date "2016.05.28"] [Round "3"] [White "Shakhriyar Mamedyarov"] [Black "Pavel Eljanov"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E12"] [WhiteElo "2748"] [BlackElo "2765"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "117"] [EventDate "2016.05.26"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 b6 5. Qb3 c5 6. Bg5 Bb7 7. e3 O-O 8. Be2 cxd4 9. Qxb4 {A novelty according to the author's diminutive database. I'm sure plenty of readers will correct me though ;)} Nc6 10. Qa3 dxc3 11. bxc3 { Initially, Komodo is very dissapproving of Mamedyarov's position -- His pawn structure would certainly not receive classical approval -- However, after thought, the computer appreciates the position a bit more. Perhaps, Eljanov is better, but Mamedarov's activity and bishop pair were hard to contain.} (11. Qxc3 Ne4 $1 12. Bxd8 Nxc3 13. Bc7 Nxe2 14. Bd6 Ned4 15. exd4 Rfe8 {Endgame lines like this are not what Mamedyarov is after.}) 11... h6 12. Bh4 Rc8 (12... Na5 13. Rd1 Bxf3 14. gxf3 Rc8 15. Rg1 Rc5 $1 {is Komodo's preference. Black simply keeps a lock on the position. White's activity may fade and Black's pawn structure has good chances to carry the day.}) 13. Rd1 Qc7 14. Bxf6 gxf6 { Now both players have pawn structure concerns.} 15. O-O Kg7 (15... Na5 16. Qe7 $1 {Is problematic.}) 16. Nd4 Ne5 17. Nb5 Qc5 (17... Qc6 $5 18. f3 Qc5 { Black's subltety has induced the weakening move f3 and denied the move Qb4! as played in the game because e3 is hit.}) 18. Qb4 $1 {Fix my pawns? Pretty please?} a5 {Now White keeps the b5 square. It turns out that Black is no longer able to succesfully exploit the c-pawns, and it is Black who is struggling to tamp down the energy of White's pieces.} 19. Qxc5 Rxc5 20. Nd6 Ba6 21. Rd4 f5 22. Rb1 {White makes maximum use of the two half-open files that result from the doubling.} Rb8 23. f4 Nc6 24. Rd2 Ne7 25. Kf2 Kf8 26. e4 Nc8 $1 {This move recalls Nd2! from Harikrishna's game against Mamedyarov yesterday. It is again a good idea to try to exchange White's best piece.} 27. Nb5 Ke7 28. Rbd1 Rb7 29. exf5 Rxf5 30. g3 Rc5 31. Na3 {The game has clearly shifted again as Black has successfully handled the b and d-file pressure and pushed White's knight back to passivity on a3.} d6 32. g4 Rd7 33. h4 Rd8 34. Rd4 Na7 35. Rb1 Nc8 36. Nc2 d5 $2 {This seems an attempt by Eljanov to win, but the exchange of the weak c4-pawn is not the way to go about it.} 37. cxd5 Bxe2 38. Kxe2 Rdxd5 39. Kd3 {Suddenly White's pieces are making more sense again. The b6 pawn is now weaker than the c3 pawn.} h5 40. Ne3 Rd7 41. f5 $1 { Mamedyarov refuses to lock the position with g5, and forcibly acquires a passed h-pawn.} hxg4 42. h5 $1 {This pawn eventually carries the day for Mamedyarov.} Nd6 43. h6 Rc8 44. Re1 (44. Rxb6 Nxf5 {allows Black to make helpful trades.}) 44... Nb7 45. Rxd7+ Kxd7 46. Nxg4 Nc5+ 47. Kd4 Kd6 48. Ne5 f6 49. Ng6 e5+ 50. Ke3 Rc7 51. Rd1+ Kc6 52. Rd8 Nb7 53. Rc8 $1 {A pleasant finish :)} Rxc8 54. Ne7+ Kc5 55. Nxc8 Nd8 {This is the only way to stop the h-pawn, but the knight will be utterly passive.} 56. h7 Nf7 57. Ne7 Kc4 58. Ng8 (58. Ng6 $4 {This would be too greedy. Winning the knight will not win the game alone.} Kxc3 59. h8=Q Nxh8 60. Nxh8 a4 {Now White needs accurate defense to draw the game. It is possible though. For example...} 61. Nf7 Kb2 62. Nxe5 Kxa2 63. Nd3 Kb3 64. Kd4 a3 65. Kd5 Kc3 66. Nc1 Kc2 67. Na2 Kb3 68. Nc1+ Kb2 69. Nd3+ Kb1 70. Nb4 {White's knight maneouvers are sufficient to draw, but barely. ..}) 58... Kxc3 59. Nxf6 {White intends Nd7, Nxe5, and Ng6. The pawns will rush through.} 1-0 [Event "Vugar Gashimov Mem 2016"] [Site "Shamkir AZE"] [Date "2016.05.29"] [Round "4.3"] [White "Mamedov, Rauf"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C53"] [WhiteElo "2655"] [BlackElo "2804"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "102"] [EventDate "2016.05.26"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 {It's interesting that with the Berlin being such a difficulty for white players, the Italian is back in vogue. } a6 6. O-O d6 7. a4 {It's this new a4 stuff that everyone is playing nowadays. It grabs some space on the queenside and it gives the bishop a retreat square. Oh and it avoids the Berlin. Caruana himself used to beat Nakamura in a blitz game last month.} Ba7 8. Bg5 {Kind of rare, and I suspect it won't gather a great following.} h6 9. Bh4 g5 10. Bg3 Ne7 11. d4 {This idea of breaking through on the center is too artificial. It's risky for both sides, but Caruana calculates well.} Nxe4 12. Nxe5 O-O (12... dxe5 13. Bxe5 Rh7 {is a weird position. White is down a piece but he has a lot of initiative, for example} 14. Re1 f5 15. Nd2 $1 Nxd2 16. Qxd2 {and Black's king lacks any shelter. Still, the position is very unclear. Caruana's choice is much safer.}) 13. Nxf7 $2 {This is probably too ambitious.} (13. Ng4 d5 $1 14. Bd3 Bxg4 15. Qxg4 f5 {seems very unclear to me.}) 13... Rxf7 14. Bxf7+ Kxf7 15. f4 g4 (15... Nf5 $1 16. fxg5 Kg6 $1 17. gxh6 Ne3 {is very coldblooded, but it works.}) 16. f5 {Otherwise Black blocakdes on f5 with a huge advantage.} Nxg3 17. hxg3 Ng8 $1 (17... Qg8 {There wasn't any need to give up the pawn on g4, but Black does gain time in this variation. The knight can maneuver to f6 from d5.}) 18. Qxg4 Qg5 $1 19. Qxg5 hxg5 20. Nd2 Nf6 (20... c5 $1) 21. Nf3 Nh7 22. g4 Bd7 23. Rfe1 Rg8 {Despite the computer's evaluation, I much prefer Black's position. The two pieces are stronger than the rook and once the knight reaches f6 it is hard to play for White, but easy to come up with moves for Black.} 24. Kf2 Nf6 25. Kg3 c5 26. Re2 cxd4 27. cxd4 Bb6 28. b3 Bc6 29. Rae1 $2 (29. Rc1 $15) 29... Ba5 $1 30. Re7+ Kf8 31. R1e2 Bd8 32. R7e6 Bd7 {The rooks are rather clumsy and are kicked around easily. They are quickly running out of squares.} 33. R6e3 Nd5 34. Re4 Nc3 {The finishing touch. Black emerges up a piece and the rest is technique, which does not need to be too strong.} 35. d5 Bf6 36. Nd2 Rg7 37. Re1 Nxe4+ 38. Nxe4 Re7 39. Kf3 Kg7 $2 {Quite inaccurate in time trouble, but it does not matter.} 40. Rh1 Be8 41. Nxd6 Bf7 42. Nxf7 Kxf7 43. Rc1 Bd4 44. Rc4 Bb6 45. Re4 Rxe4 46. Kxe4 Ke7 {The endgame is an elementary win.} 47. b4 Bd8 48. a5 Kd6 49. Kd4 Bf6+ 50. Kc4 Bg7 51. b5 Bf6 0-1 [Event "Shamkir Chess 2016"] [Site "Shamkir"] [Date "2016.05.29"] [Round "4.3"] [White "Mamedov, Rauf"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2655"] [BlackElo "2804"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "102"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Azerbaijan"] [BlackTeam "United States"] [WhiteTeamCountry "AZE"] [BlackTeamCountry "USA"] [WhiteClock "0:57:10"] [BlackClock "0:46:45"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 a6 6. O-O d6 7. a4 Ba7 (7... h6 8. Re1 O-O 9. Nbd2 Re8 10. Nf1 Ba7 11. Be3 Be6 12. Bxe6 Rxe6 13. Bxa7 Rxa7 14. Ng3 d5 {Kramnik,V (2801)-Svidler,P (2762) Sochi 2016}) 8. Bg5 h6 9. Bh4 g5 10. Bg3 Ne7 11. d4 (11. Nbd2 Ng6 12. d4 Nd7 13. Ba2 h5 14. h4 gxh4 15. Qb3 Rh7 16. Bh2 Rg7 17. Nc4 h3 {Ribeiro,V (2456)-Anderson,B (2346) ICCF email 2007}) 11... Nxe4 12. Nxe5 $5 O-O $2 ({Caruana didn't like} 12... dxe5 13. Bxe5 O-O 14. Qf3 Bf5 15. g4 Bg6 16. Re1 Nc6 {as his bishop on a7 is out of play.}) 13. Nxf7 $5 ( 13. Nf3 $5 {Caruana}) 13... Rxf7 14. Bxf7+ Kxf7 15. f4 (15. Nd2 Nxd2 16. Qxd2 Nf5) 15... g4 16. f5 (16. Bh4 Bf5 17. Qb3+ Kg6 18. Qxb7 Qc8 $1) 16... Nxg3 17. hxg3 Ng8 $1 {The safest.} (17... Nd5 $2 18. Qb3 c6 19. Nd2 {Caruana}) 18. Qxg4 Qg5 19. Qxg5 hxg5 20. Nd2 Nf6 21. Nf3 Nh7 22. g4 Bd7 23. Rfe1 Rg8 24. Kf2 (24. Re2 {Mamedov} Nf6 25. Rae1 c5 $1 {Caruana}) 24... Nf6 25. Kg3 c5 26. Re2 cxd4 27. cxd4 Bb6 28. b3 Bc6 29. Rae1 $6 {From here Black starts to take over the game.} (29. Rc1) 29... Ba5 $1 30. Re7+ $6 {This loses an exchange.} (30. Rc1 Ne4+ 31. Kh2 Rh8+ 32. Kg1 Ng3 33. Rec2 Bd5 {is also good or Black.}) 30... Kf8 31. R1e2 Bd8 $1 32. R7e6 (32. R7e3 Nd5) 32... Bd7 33. R6e3 Nd5 34. Re4 Nc3 35. d5 Bf6 36. Nd2 Rg7 37. Re1 Nxe4+ 38. Nxe4 Re7 39. Kf3 Kg7 40. Rh1 Be8 41. Nxd6 Bf7 42. Nxf7 Kxf7 43. Rc1 Bd4 44. Rc4 Bb6 45. Re4 Rxe4 46. Kxe4 Ke7 47. b4 Bd8 48. a5 Kd6 49. Kd4 Bf6+ 50. Kc4 Bg7 51. b5 Bf6 0-1 [Event "Shamkir Chess 2016"] [Site "?"] [Date "2016.05.29"] [Round "4.1"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Harikrishna, P."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D41"] [WhiteElo "2790"] [BlackElo "2763"] [Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"] [PlyCount "53"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:38:54"] [BlackClock "0:25:22"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 {The Semi-Tarrasch defense has the advantage that it avoids the isolated pawn on d5. The line is a favorite of Harikrishna.} 6. e4 Nxc3 7. bxc3 cxd4 8. cxd4 Bb4+ 9. Bd2 Bxd2+ 10. Qxd2 O-O 11. Rc1 {On the other hand, this opening has a drawback too: it allows White very strong center and more space.} b6 {The main line. Black decided not to test his opponent's analyzes.} ({Harikrishna had also played} 11... Nc6 {recently, with easy equality after} 12. Be2 ({But White had more problems after} 12. Bb5 Bd7 13. O-O Ne7 14. Bd3 {and maybe this was the line that the Indian GM was afraid of, Dominguez Perez,L (2732)-Harikrishna,P (2753) Huaian 2016}) 12... Qb6 13. O-O Rd8 14. d5 exd5 15. exd5 Be6 16. d6 Ne7 17. Rb1 Qxd6 18. Qxd6 Rxd6 19. Rxb7 Ng6 {and draw on move 26 in Ding,L (2766) -Harikrishna,P (2753) Huaian 2016}) 12. Bd3 Bb7 13. O-O h6 14. Qe3 Nc6 15. h4 { White wants to save a tempo on the rook move and create threats against the enemy king as soon as possible.} ({Last year's edition of the Gashimov Memorial saw the following game:} 15. Rfd1 Rc8 16. h4 Ne7 17. h5 Qd6 18. d5 Rxc1 19. Rxc1 Rc8 {with equalityin Mamedyarov,S (2756) -Kramnik,V (2783) Shamkir 2015. Much for the pleasure of the local audience though, Mamedyarov managed to win later.}) 15... Rc8 16. h5 {This blocks the g7 pawn and prepares a battery on the b1-h7 diagonal.} Qe7 ({Maybe Black will try to trade the rooks at once in the future with} 16... Nb4 17. Bb1 Rxc1 18. Rxc1 Qe7) 17. Bb1 Rfd8 {This innocent-looking move creates a devilish trap.} (17... Na5 18. Qd3 Rxc1 19. Rxc1 Rc8 20. Rxc8+ Bxc8 21. e5) (17... e5 18. d5 Na5 19. Bd3 {is also better for White.}) 18. d5 $1 {A typical pawn sacrifice which Polugaevsky used to defeat none else but Mikhail Tal. But why not save the pawn with the immediate} (18. e5 $2 {The answer is} Nxd4 $1 19. Nxd4 Rxc1 20. Rxc1 Rxd4 21. Qxd4 Qg5 {and the dual threat of checkmate and the hanging rook on c1 will leave Black a solid pawn ahead.}) ({On the other hand} 18. Qd3 {yield White nothing due to the complex} Qf6 ({Or the simple} 18... Nb4) 19. e5 Qf4 { when the g7-pawn is poisoned:} 20. Qh7+ Kf8 21. Qh8+ Ke7 22. Qxg7 Nxd4 { since Black will go for a decisive counter-attack.}) (18. Rfd1 Nb8 $1 {Giri/ Hari}) 18... exd5 19. e5 {With the threat Qe3-d3.} Ba6 (19... d4 20. Qe4 g6 21. hxg6 f6 {was mentioned by Hari but} 22. g7 Qxg7 23. exf6 {is just winning. (Ljubojevic)}) 20. Rfe1 {For the pawn White has plenty of fruitful ideas: Qe3-f4-f5, or Qe3-f4, Nf3-h4-f5 and rook lifts along the third rank are some of those. For example if} Qd7 (20... Na5 {to trade rooks, then} 21. Rxc8 Rxc8 22. Qf4 {and Qf4-f5 with a large advantage for White.}) (20... Kf8 21. Qf4 $1) 21. Qf4 (21. Qa3 $5 {Giri} Bc4 22. Qb2 Qe6 23. Qc2 g6 {Hari} 24. hxg6 fxg6 25. Qd2 $1 Kg7 26. Nh4 Ne7 27. Rc3 d4 28. Rh3 g5 29. Nf3 d3 30. Nxg5 $1 hxg5 31. Qxg5+ Kf8 32. Rh8+ Ng8 33. Re4 d2 34. Rf4+ Ke8 35. Bg6+ Kd7 36. Rd4+ Kc6 37. Rxd8 Rxd8 38. Qxd8 Qxg6 39. Qxd2 {7 Stockfish}) 21... Ne7 {Harikrishna covered the f5-square but allowed the d4 outpost for the white knight.} 22. Nd4 Rxc1 23. Qxc1 ({Better than} 23. Rxc1 Rc8 {The white rook is needed on the e-file for the e5-e6 advance.}) 23... Qa4 {Black's position was very difficult but this idea loses.} ({Best was} 23... Qc8 {when both} 24. Qb2 ({Or} 24. Qd1 { with the threat e5-e6 give White strong attack.})) ({The other possibility was } 23... Rc8 24. Qa3 Bc4 25. e6 fxe6 26. Rxe6 {although White has serious initiative here as well.}) 24. e6 $1 {Giri sacrifices a piece and wins.} Qxd4 ( {After} 24... fxe6 {White has a pleasant choice between and} 25. Qe3 (25. Qc7 Qd7 (25... Rd7 26. Qe5) 26. Qc2) 25... Re8 26. Nxe6 {winning in both cases.}) ( 24... f6 {doesn't help either due to} 25. Qc7) ({[The best move was} 24... Rf8 {when} 25. Qe3 {is still good for White. - PD]}) 25. exf7+ Kxf7 26. Qc7 Re8 ({ Or} 26... Rf8 27. Qxe7+ Kg8 28. Bh7+ $1) 27. Bg6+ {Harikrishna resigned not wishing to see his king mated after} (27. Bg6+ Kf8 (27... Kf6 28. Qd6+ Kg5 29. Re5+) 28. Rxe7 Rxe7 29. Qd8+) 1-0 [Event "Shamkir Chess 2016"] [Site "Shamkir"] [Date "2016.05.29"] [Round "4.5"] [White "Eljanov, Pavel"] [Black "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D30"] [WhiteElo "2765"] [BlackElo "2779"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "82"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Ukraine"] [BlackTeam "Russia"] [WhiteTeamCountry "UKR"] [BlackTeamCountry "RUS"] [WhiteClock "0:59:50"] [BlackClock "1:33:46"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Bg5 Nbd7 5. e3 h6 6. Bh4 Be7 7. Nbd2 c5 8. Be2 O-O 9. O-O b6 (9... cxd4 10. Nxd4 Ne5 11. Rc1 Nc6 12. N2f3 Bd7 13. Nxc6 Bxc6 14. Ne5 Qb6 {Ivanchuk,V (2731)-Beliavsky,A (2659) Panormo 2001}) 10. cxd5 Nxd5 11. Bg3 Bb7 12. Nc4 (12. Rc1 Rc8 13. a3 N5f6 14. dxc5 Nxc5 15. Be5 Ncd7 16. Bc3 Rc7 17. b4 Qa8 18. Bd4 Rfc8 19. Rxc7 Rxc7 20. Qa1 a5 21. b5 {½-½ Paredes Prats,J (2292)-Grifoll Miro,J (2186) corr. 2005}) 12... N7f6 (12... N5f6 $5 13. Nd6 Bd5 {Karjakin}) 13. dxc5 Bxc5 14. Nfd2 Rc8 15. e4 Ne7 16. e5 Ne4 (16... Nd7 $5 17. Nb3 Nf5) 17. Nxe4 Bxe4 18. Nd6 Bxd6 19. exd6 Nf5 20. Qa4 Bd5 21. d7 Rc5 22. b4 (22. Bb5 a6 23. Qxa6 Nd4) 22... Nxg3 23. hxg3 Rc7 24. Bb5 Qg5 25. Rfe1 Rd8 26. Re3 h5 27. Rae1 h4 28. Re5 Qf6 $6 (28... Qd2 $1 29. Rd1 ( 29. gxh4 $2 Rc1 $1 30. Rf1 Rxd7 $1 {Ljubojevic}) 29... Rc1 30. Ree1 Rxd1 31. Rxd1 Qg5 32. Qxa7 hxg3 33. Qxb6 gxf2+ 34. Qxf2 Bxg2 $1 35. Qxg2 Qxb5 36. Qd2 { is probably a draw.}) 29. Qa3 (29. Rxd5 $1 exd5 30. Re8+ Kh7 31. Qd1 g6 ({ The players didn't immediately see that} 31... Kh6 32. gxh4 {wins for White.}) 32. Rxd8 Qxd8 33. Qxd5 {was quite promising for White.}) 29... Ba8 30. Qe3 hxg3 31. Qxg3 a6 32. Rxe6 fxe6 33. Qxc7 Rf8 34. Qxb6 axb5 35. Qxe6+ Qf7 36. Qxf7+ Kxf7 37. Re5 Rd8 38. Rxb5 Rxd7 39. a4 Bc6 40. Rf5+ Ke6 41. Ra5 Rd1+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "Shamkir Chess 2016"] [Site "Shamkir"] [Date "2016.05.29"] [Round "4.2"] [White "Radjabov, Teimour"] [Black "Safarli, Eltaj"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D87"] [WhiteElo "2726"] [BlackElo "2664"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Azerbaijan"] [BlackTeam "Azerbaijan"] [WhiteTeamCountry "AZE"] [BlackTeamCountry "AZE"] [WhiteClock "0:46:26"] [BlackClock "0:51:35"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 { The old main line.} c5 8. Ne2 Nc6 9. Be3 O-O 10. O-O Qc7 11. Rc1 Rd8 12. f4 ({ Against Fischer, Spassky twice prepared this move:} 12. Qe1 e6 13. f4 Na5 14. Bd3 f5 15. Rd1 b6 16. Qf2 cxd4 17. Bxd4 Bxd4 18. cxd4 Bb7 19. Ng3 Qf7 {Spassky, B-Fischer,R Santa Monica 1966 and}) (12. h3 b6 13. f4 e6 14. Qe1 Na5 15. Bd3 f5 16. g4 fxe4 17. Bxe4 Bb7 18. Ng3 Nc4 {Spassky,B-Fischer,R Siegen 1970}) 12... Bg4 (12... Na5 13. Bd3 Bg4 14. f5 cxd4 15. cxd4 Qb6 16. Rb1 Bxd4 17. Rxb6 Bxe3+ 18. Kh1 axb6 19. Qb1 Rac8 {Rashkovsky,N (2485)-Kortschnoj,V (2650) Moscow 1973} ) (12... e6 {is another move.}) 13. f5 gxf5 14. h3 cxd4 ({Radjabov showed} 14... Bxe2 15. Qxe2 cxd4 16. cxd4 Qg3 17. Bf4 (17. Rf3 Qh4) 17... Qh4 (17... Bxd4+ 18. Kh1 Qg7 19. exf5) 18. d5 Nd4 19. Qe3 Ne6 20. dxe6 Bd4 21. exf7+ Kf8 22. Kh2 Bxe3 23. Bxe3 Rac8 {and now the drawing move is} 24. Rxf5 Rc6 25. Rf4 Qh5 26. Rf5) 15. Bxf7+ (15. cxd4 Bxe2 16. Qxe2 Qg3 17. Rf3 Qh4 18. Rxf5 Nxd4 19. Bxf7+ Kh8 20. Bxd4 Bxd4+ 21. Kh1 Rac8 {Balashov,Y (2560)-Bagirov,V (2515) Baku 1972}) 15... Kxf7 16. Qb3+ e6 17. Nxd4 (17. Nf4 Qe7 18. cxd4 Nxd4 19. Bxd4 Bxd4+ 20. Kh1 Rac8 21. Rxc8 Rxc8 22. exf5 Bxf5 23. Ne2 Bg7 24. Rxf5+ Kg8 { and Black is OK.}) 17... Nxd4 18. cxd4 Qb6 $1 {"Very strong." (Radjabov) Black is just in time.} 19. Qxb6 axb6 20. hxg4 Bxd4 21. Bxd4 Rxd4 22. exf5 Rxg4 23. Rc7+ Kf6 24. fxe6+ Kxe6 25. Rxb7 Rxa2 26. Rxb6+ Ke5 27. Rf2 Rxf2 28. Kxf2 Kf5 29. Kf3 Rf4+ 30. Kg3 Rg4+ 31. Kf3 Rf4+ 32. Kg3 Rg4+ 33. Kf3 1/2-1/2 [Event "Vugar Gashimov Mem 2016"] [Site "Shamkir AZE"] [Date "2016.05.30"] [Round "5"] [White "Caruana, F."] [Black "Radjabov, T."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B31"] [WhiteElo "2804"] [BlackElo "2726"] [Annotator "Ramirez alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "71"] [EventDate "2016.05.26"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. d3 Bg7 6. h3 Nf6 7. Nc3 O-O 8. Bf4 {Actually not the mainline, but played before. 8.Be3 is far more common.} b6 {Pretty rare. Black usually puts his f6 knight somewhere else.} (8... Nh5 { was played by Radjabov previously in 2012 against Grischuk. That game ended in a win for the Russian.}) 9. Qd2 Re8 10. O-O-O {Long castle makes a lot of sense in this position. Black's rigid structure on the queenside makes an attack on that flank difficult, while White has the option of going h4-h5 at any point.} a5 11. Ne5 $1 b5 12. Qe3 Qb6 13. Bh6 Bh8 14. f4 $1 {Also strong is to start via the f-file.} a4 15. Rhf1 {Black is making some threats on the queenside, but nothing quite concrete yet.} e6 $2 (15... Nd7 $1 {This was probably the only move. It was time to remove the powerful e5 knight.} 16. Nxd7 Bxd7 17. e5 {blocking off the bishop on h8.} f5 $5 {Blocking White's attack for now. The position is complicated and hard to evaluate.} 18. h4 b4 19. Nb1 Be6 {is just unclear.}) 16. g4 a3 (16... Nd7 17. Nxd7 Bxd7 18. e5 {is just positionally bad now with the f6 square being so weak.}) 17. b4 $1 {Brave! White accurately calculates that nothing is happening on the h8-a1 diagonal and he simply threatens the c5 pawn.} Nd7 18. Nxd7 Bxd7 19. e5 f5 20. Ne2 Bg7 21. Bxg7 Kxg7 22. h4 $1 {Excellent! Caruana senses that Black has no useful moves, so he starts with his own attack down the kingside.} (22. Qxc5 Qxc5 23. bxc5 {was also a great advantage}) 22... fxg4 23. h5 gxh5 24. Ng3 Kh8 25. Nxh5 Re7 26. Nf6 Be8 27. f5 {Black is already lost. There are too many pieces attacking the king and simply no counterplay.} exf5 28. Rxf5 Qc7 29. Rg5 Rg7 30. Rh1 Bg6 31. Rxg4 (31. bxc5 {was more accurate, killing off Black's ideas.}) 31... Qf7 32. Kb1 $2 (32. Qxc5 Qxa2 33. Qxc6 {is winning, but requires some calculation}) 32... cxb4 (32... c4 $1 {Was the best way to create counterplay, but White should still be winning after} 33. d4) 33. Qd4 Bf5 $2 (33... Qa7 { keeps Black alive for a little bit longer}) 34. e6 $1 {A nice little combination} Rxg4 35. exf7 Rxd4 36. Ne8 {Black has no defense against f8 queen. Brilliant finish!} 1-0 [Event "Vugar Gashimov Mem 2016"] [Site "Shamkir AZE"] [Date "2016.05.30"] [Round "5"] [White "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Black "Hou Yifan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C80"] [WhiteElo "2779"] [BlackElo "2663"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "105"] [EventDate "2016.05.26"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. Nbd2 Be7 10. c3 O-O 11. Bc2 f5 12. Nb3 Qd7 13. Nbd4 Nxd4 14. Nxd4 c5 15. Nxe6 Qxe6 16. f3 Ng5 17. a4 Rad8 18. axb5 axb5 19. Bxg5 Bxg5 20. f4 Be7 21. Kh1 Qb6 22. Qd3 c4 23. Qh3 g6 24. g4 d4 25. gxf5 Qc6+ (25... d3 $1 $17 {right away was more precise. Black doesn't have to fear the fxg6 intermezzo} 26. fxg6 Qc6+ 27. Rf3 (27. Kg1 Bc5+ $19) 27... hxg6 {and now White can't protect the bishop and the f4 pawn at the same time.}) 26. Qg2 Qxg2+ 27. Kxg2 d3 28. Bd1 Rxf5 { This position is rather tricky. One would think that with the protected passed pawn on d3 it is Black that is pushing for something, but upon closer inspection it is White that has pressure on the enemy pawns.} 29. Bg4 Rff8 30. Ra5 h5 {This move is perhaps a bit weakening, but it was already unpleasant to start defending everything.} 31. Bd1 b4 32. Ra6 bxc3 33. bxc3 Kh7 34. Ra7 Rf7 35. Rc7 {Very precise maneuvers by Karjakin. The c4 pawn falls, though thanks to the opposite colored bishops the endgame is not hopeless.} Rd5 36. Rxc4 Bf8 $6 (36... Rc5 37. Rxc5 Bxc5 {promised some drawing chances, but with the king marching to e4 it still looks grim.}) 37. Rc8 Rc5 38. Rd8 {Now Karjakin even gets to avoid the rook trade.} Bh6 (38... Rxc3 $1 {Since in the game Black had to give up the bishop anyway, perhaps this was the best way to do it.} 39. e6 Rf6 40. Rd7+ Kh6 41. e7 Bxe7 42. Rxe7 Rc4 43. Rd7 Rcxf4 44. Rxf4 Rxf4 {and now the king is not trapped in the last rank. If this is winning or not I will leave it up to Karsten Muller.}) 39. Rxd3 Rxf4 40. Rd7+ Kh8 41. Rxf4 Bxf4 42. e6 Bg5 43. e7 Bxe7 44. Rxe7 Rxc3 {We can see the stark difference in the variations. This seems impossible to hold.} 45. Bf3 Rc8 46. Kg3 Rg8 $2 (46... Rc3 $1 {I played around with the computer and was unable to crack Black's defense, but intuitively it just feels losing for Black. More analysis will be required in this endgame.}) 47. Kh4 {Now the result is clear.} Rg7 48. Re8+ Kh7 49. Kg5 Ra7 50. Bd5 Kg7 51. Re6 Kh7 52. Be4 Ra5+ 53. Kf6 {The win in this case is rather elementary.} 1-0 [Event "Vugar Gashimov Mem 2016"] [Site "Shamkir AZE"] [Date "2016.05.30"] [Round "5"] [White "Safarli, E."] [Black "Giri, A."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B51"] [WhiteElo "2664"] [BlackElo "2790"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "86"] [EventDate "2016.05.26"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 4. c4 Ngf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. O-O Bg7 7. Ba4 O-O 8. h3 Nb6 9. Bb3 e5 10. d3 Ne8 11. Bg5 f6 12. Be3 f5 13. Bg5 Bf6 14. Bh6 Bg7 15. Bg5 Qd7 16. exf5 gxf5 17. a4 a5 18. Nb5 Kh8 19. Re1 Bf6 20. Bxf6+ Nxf6 21. d4 e4 22. dxc5 dxc5 23. Qxd7 Nbxd7 {It's hard to believe this endgame is not about even. Black might have the slightest of pulls, but White's pieces are ok and he should have enough counterplay against the pawns.} 24. Nd2 $6 {Putting the knight here is the first step towards passive play, which soon will cost Safarli dearly.} (24. Nh4 Ne5 25. Bc2 {with an idea of f3 coming up, for example} Nxc4 26. b3 Ne5 27. f3 $11) 24... Ne5 25. Bc2 Bd7 26. f3 Rad8 27. Rad1 Rg8 $1 28. Kh2 (28. fxe4 Bxb5 29. cxb5 Rxd2 30. Rxd2 Nf3+ {is a problem}) 28... Be8 $1 29. Nc7 (29. fxe4 Bh5 {is another problem}) 29... Bh5 30. Ne6 Rde8 31. Nc7 $6 (31. Nf4 exf3 32. Ra1 {is plain ugly, but surprisingly better than what was played}) 31... Re7 32. Nd5 Nxd5 33. cxd5 exf3 34. d6 Reg7 $1 {White is just getting mated now} 35. g4 Nxg4+ {Of course} 36. hxg4 Rxg4 37. Nxf3 (37. Kh3 Rg3+ 38. Kh2 Rg2+ 39. Kh3 f4 {mates in 10, though there were other ways of winning besides 39...f4}) 37... Rg2+ 38. Kh3 Bxf3 39. Bb3 R8g3+ 40. Kh4 Rg4+ 41. Kh3 Bxd1 42. d7 R4g3+ 43. Kh4 Rd3 {Black's up too much material and is threatening mate in two with Rg4 and Rh3.} 0-1 [Event "Shamkir Chess 2016"] [Site "Shamkir"] [Date "2016.05.30"] [Round "5.5"] [White "Harikrishna, P."] [Black "Eljanov, Pavel"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C49"] [WhiteElo "2763"] [BlackElo "2765"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "India"] [BlackTeam "Ukraine"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IND"] [BlackTeamCountry "UKR"] [WhiteClock "1:12:13"] [BlackClock "1:00:04"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Bb4 5. O-O O-O 6. d3 Bxc3 7. bxc3 d6 8. Nd2 (8. h3 Ne7 9. Re1 a6 10. Bc4 b5 11. Bb3 c5 12. Bg5 Ng6 13. Bd5 Rb8 14. a4 h6 15. Bxf6 Qxf6 16. axb5 axb5 {Andreikin,D (2720)-Carlsen,M (2850) Berlin 2015 }) 8... Bd7 (8... a6 9. Bc4 Na5 10. Bb3 Nxb3 11. axb3 d5 12. f3 Re8 13. Kh1 c6 14. Qe1 Nh5 15. Qf2 Nf4 {Kovalenko,I (2682)-Meskovs,N (2457) Warsaw 2015}) 9. f4 exf4 10. Rxf4 Ne7 (10... Ne5 $5) 11. Bxd7 Nxd7 12. c4 Ne5 13. Bb2 f6 14. Nf1 Qd7 15. Ne3 a6 16. Qh5 b5 17. Rh4 h6 18. Rf1 bxc4 19. d4 Nf7 20. Ng4 Qb5 21. Nxf6+ gxf6 22. e5 Kh8 23. Bc1 Ng8 24. Qg6 dxe5 25. Rxf6 Qb1 26. Rf1 exd4 $2 ({ After} 26... Nd6 {White has nothing better than} 27. Rxh6+ Nxh6 28. Qxh6+ Kg8 29. Qg6+) 27. Bxh6 Qxf1+ 28. Kxf1 Nfxh6+ 29. Kg1 Rab8 30. Rxh6+ Nxh6 31. Qxh6+ Kg8 32. Qg6+ Kh8 33. h3 d3 34. Qh6+ Kg8 35. Qxa6 dxc2 36. Qxc4+ Kh8 37. Qc3+ Kg8 38. Qxc2 Rfc8 39. Qc6 Kf7 40. a4 Ke7 41. a5 1-0 [Event "Shamkir Chess 2016"] [Site "Shamkir"] [Date "2016.05.30"] [Round "5.2"] [White "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Black "Hou, Yifan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C83"] [WhiteElo "2779"] [BlackElo "2663"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "105"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Russia"] [BlackTeam "China"] [WhiteTeamCountry "RUS"] [BlackTeamCountry "CHN"] [WhiteClock "1:09:02"] [BlackClock "0:48:47"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. Nbd2 Be7 10. c3 O-O 11. Bc2 ({A century ago to world class players went } 11. Re1 Nc5 12. Bc2 d4 13. cxd4 Nxd4 14. Nxd4 Qxd4 15. Nb3 Nxb3 16. axb3 Qxd1 17. Rxd1 c5 {Lasker,E-Tarrasch,S St Petersburg 1914}) 11... f5 12. Nb3 Qd7 13. Nbd4 Nxd4 14. Nxd4 c5 15. Nxe6 Qxe6 16. f3 Ng5 17. a4 ({Even this is quite old: } 17. Bxg5 Bxg5 18. f4 Bd8 19. Qf3 Bb6 20. Rad1 Rad8 21. Kh1 Rd7 22. h3 c4 { Chajes,O-Tarrasch,S Karlsbad 1923}) 17... Rad8 18. axb5 axb5 19. Bxg5 (19. Kh1 f4 20. Bd2 c4 21. Ra5 Qc6 22. Qa1 Bc5 23. Ra6 Qb7 24. Qa5 Rde8 25. Re1 Bf2 26. Rf1 Be3 27. Bxe3 fxe3 28. Qb6 Qxb6 29. Rxb6 Rxe5 30. Rxb5 e2 31. Re1 Rxf3 32. gxf3 Nxf3 33. Rxd5 Rxd5 34. Rxe2 Rg5 {0-1 Karjakin,S (2660)-Vallejo Pons,F (2650) Cuernavaca MEX 2006}) 19... Bxg5 20. f4 Be7 21. Kh1 Qb6 (21... Kh8 22. Qd3 Qb6 23. g4 c4 24. Qh3 Qc6 25. Qg2 fxg4 26. f5 Bc5 27. Qxg4 Rde8 28. f6 gxf6 29. Bxh7 Rxe5 30. Bf5 Rf7 31. Rae1 d4+ 32. Be4 Qe6 33. Bf5 Qc6+ 34. Be4 Qe6 35. Bf5 Qc6+ {?-? Karjakin,S (2678)-Carlsen,M (2690) Wijk aan Zee NED 2007}) 22. Qd3 {Finally deviating from his previous games!} (22. b3 d4 23. c4 bxc4 24. bxc4 Qb7 25. Bd3 Ra8 26. Rb1 Qc6 27. Be2 Rab8 28. Bf3 Rxb1 29. Qxb1 Qc7 { was Karjakin,S (2672)-Fressinet,L (2640) Cap d'Agde 2006}) 22... c4 23. Qh3 g6 24. g4 d4 25. gxf5 Qc6+ ({The computer goes} 25... d3 {and doesn't see it for White.}) 26. Qg2 Qxg2+ 27. Kxg2 d3 28. Bd1 Rxf5 29. Bg4 Rff8 30. Ra5 h5 31. Bd1 (31. Be6+ Kh8 32. f5 gxf5 33. Rxb5 f4 34. Kf3) 31... b4 (31... Rb8) 32. Ra6 bxc3 33. bxc3 Kh7 34. Ra7 Rf7 35. Rc7 Rd5 36. Rxc4 Bf8 37. Rc8 Rc5 38. Rd8 Bh6 39. Rxd3 Rxf4 40. Rd7+ Kh8 41. Rxf4 Bxf4 42. e6 Bg5 43. e7 Bxe7 44. Rxe7 Rxc3 45. Bf3 Rc8 46. Kg3 (46. Be4) 46... Rg8 (46... Rc3) 47. Kh4 Rg7 48. Re8+ Kh7 49. Kg5 Ra7 50. Bd5 Kg7 51. Re6 Kh7 52. Be4 Ra5+ 53. Kf6 1-0 [Event "Shamkir Chess 2016"] [Site "Shamkir"] [Date "2016.05.30"] [Round "5.4"] [White "Safarli, Eltaj"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B51"] [WhiteElo "2664"] [BlackElo "2790"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "86"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Azerbaijan"] [BlackTeam "Netherlands"] [WhiteTeamCountry "AZE"] [BlackTeamCountry "NED"] [WhiteClock "0:53:13"] [BlackClock "1:02:40"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 4. c4 $5 ({A rare move. More popular are} 4. d4) (4. O-O {and}) (4. c3) 4... Ngf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. O-O Bg7 7. Ba4 (7. d3 O-O 8. Ne1 Nb6 9. f4 a6 10. Ba4 Nxa4 11. Qxa4 b5 12. Qc2 bxc4 13. dxc4 Rb8 14. Nd3 Be6 { Munoz Pantoja,M (2482)-Leon Hoyos,M (2548) Barcelona 2011}) 7... O-O 8. h3 (8. a3 Nb6 9. Bb3 Bg4 10. h3 Bxf3 11. Qxf3 Nfd7 12. Qe2 Ne5 13. Ba2 Qd7 14. d3 Nc6 15. Be3 Nd4 {Gurgenidze,B (2203)-Izoria,Z (2547) Tbilisi 2002}) 8... Nb6 9. Bb3 e5 10. d3 Ne8 11. Bg5 f6 12. Be3 f5 13. Bg5 Bf6 14. Bh6 Bg7 15. Bg5 Qd7 $5 { After 5.5 minutes of thinking Giri decides to avoid the repetition.} 16. exf5 gxf5 17. a4 a5 18. Nb5 Kh8 19. Re1 Bf6 20. Bxf6+ Nxf6 21. d4 $5 e4 ({White definitely gets some play after} 21... exd4 22. Qd2 (22. Nh4 $5) 22... Ne4 23. Qf4 {(threatening to take the knight)} Qe7 24. Nh4) 22. dxc5 ({Playing with the queens on the board with} 22. Nh4 $5 {might have been more promising, e.g.} Ne8 23. Qd2 Qg7 24. Rad1) 22... dxc5 23. Qxd7 Nbxd7 24. Nd2 Ne5 25. Bc2 Bd7 26. f3 (26. Nd6 $5) 26... Rad8 27. Rad1 Rg8 28. Kh2 (28. fxe4 $2 Bxb5 $1 29. cxb5 Rxd2 $1 30. Rxd2 Nf3+ 31. Kf2 Nxd2) 28... Be8 29. Nc7 $6 (29. f4 Nc6 30. Nb3 b6 31. Rxd8 Nxd8 32. Nd6 Bd7) 29... Bh5 30. Ne6 Rde8 31. Nc7 $6 ({Also bad is} 31. Nxc5 exf3 {but maybe White could have complicated the position a bit with}) ( 31. Nf4 exf3 32. Rc1 fxg2 33. Bxf5 {although Black must be winning here too.}) 31... Re7 32. Nd5 Nxd5 33. cxd5 exf3 34. d6 Reg7 35. g4 Nxg4+ $1 36. hxg4 Rxg4 37. Nxf3 Rg2+ 38. Kh3 Bxf3 39. Bb3 R8g3+ 40. Kh4 Rg4+ 41. Kh3 Bxd1 42. d7 R4g3+ 43. Kh4 Rd3 0-1 [Event "Shamkir Chess 2016"] [Site "?"] [Date "2016.05.30"] [Round "5.3"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Radjabov, Teimour"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B31"] [WhiteElo "2804"] [BlackElo "2726"] [Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"] [PlyCount "71"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:00:54"] [BlackClock "0:00:30"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 {The Rossolimo remains the pet line of Caruana against the 2...Nc6 approach - especially against someone who plays the Sveshnikov/Kalashnikov lines well, like Radjabov.} g6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. d3 Bg7 6. h3 Nf6 7. Nc3 {The most flexible move which keeps the option on castling either side. Caruana also tried:} (7. O-O Nd7 8. Nc3 e5 9. Be3 Qe7 10. Qd2 h6 11. Ne2 Nf8 12. Nh2 Ne6 {but that was back in 2005, Caruana,F (2219)-Valet,R (2082) Budapest 2005}) 7... O-O {According to my Megabase, Caruana faces this move for the first time. Radjabov had played it twice, but with poor results.} ({Black can be flexible with the castling as Nakamura proved at the U.S. Championship last year:} 7... Nd7 8. Be3 b6 9. Qd2 h6 10. O-O e5 11. Nh2 g5 12. Ne2 Nf8 13. Ng3 Ng6 {with unclear play, Caruana,F (2787)-Nakamura,H (2793) Saint Louis 2015. But, you can be certain that Caruana did his homework here as well.}) 8. Bf4 {It makes sense to take away the e7-e5 resource.} b6 { In a blitz game against Grischuk, Radjabov went for} (8... Nh5 9. Be3 b6 10. g4 Nf6 11. Qd2 {In comparison to the 8.Be3 b6 line White has an extra tempo g2-g4 which is extremely valuable with opposite castling, Grischuk,A (2763) -Radjabov,T (2788) Astana 2012}) 9. Qd2 Re8 10. O-O-O a5 11. Ne5 {Once again Caruana unleashes a novelty in Shamkir. The idea is to block Black's main resource- e7-e5.} ({A predecessor saw:} 11. g4 a4 12. Be5 b5 13. g5 Nh5 14. Bxg7 Kxg7 15. Ne2 e5 {when Black seems very stable on the kingside, Dolzhikova, K (2351)-Aslanian,L (2183) Nikolaev 2008}) ({None tried yet} 11. Bh6 {to which Black can react with} e5) 11... b5 $5 {Active play.} (11... Bb7 {is possible but passive.}) 12. Qe3 {This drags the enemy queen to a vulnerable square. Radjabov would not mind seeing his pawn disappear after} (12. Nxc6 Qb6 13. Ne5 a4 {the tempoes and the diagonals that he had won in return would compensate him with interest.}) 12... Qb6 13. Bh6 Bh8 {Safer than:} (13... Bxh6 14. Qxh6 a4 {when Black has to anticipate the sacrifice of the knight:} 15. Nxf7 { with the idea} Kxf7 $2 16. e5 Nd5 17. Qxh7+ Ke6 (17... Kf8 18. Ne4 {followed by Ne4-g5 and mate.}) 18. Nxd5 {and White wins.}) 14. f4 a4 15. Rhf1 {Both sides consistently improve on "their" flanks.} e6 {Somewhat slow.} ({It made sense to get rid of the active knight with} 15... Nd7 16. Nxd7 Bxd7 17. e5 f5 { with unclear play.}) ({Also interesting was} 15... b4 {but after} 16. Nc4 $1 Qb8 17. Ne2 {Black's offense slows-} b3 18. cxb3 axb3 19. a3) 16. g4 a3 { Not sure what Radjabov missed, but} (16... b4 {was still playable.}) 17. b4 $1 Nd7 18. Nxd7 Bxd7 19. e5 {Black will be soon down a pawn with inactive pieces as compensation.} f5 20. Ne2 {Caruana correctly pins his hopes on the middlegame. After} ({After} 20. Qxc5 Qxc5 21. bxc5 b4 22. Ne2 Ra5 {Black gets counterplay, as} 23. d4 Bc8 {followed by Ba6-c4-d5 revives the bishop.}) 20... Bg7 21. Bxg7 Kxg7 22. h4 {Consistent strategy.} fxg4 23. h5 gxh5 {Or else the files will be opened in White's favor:} (23... Qa7 24. hxg6 cxb4 25. Qg3 hxg6 26. Qh4 $1 Qe3+ 27. Kb1 Rf8 28. Rh1 {and White crashes in.}) 24. Ng3 Kh8 { Black cannot hold the kingside pawns with} (24... h4 {due to} 25. Nh5+ Kh8 26. Nf6 {This is the square that White sacrificed all the pawns for.} Re7 27. Rh1 h3 28. Rdg1 {and Black is helpless.}) 25. Nxh5 Re7 26. Nf6 {Once again the knight reaches the key f6 square. I dare to say Caruana would not sell the steed for a million bucks.} Be8 27. f5 {White is determined to help the knight. } (27. Rh1 {was also good of course.}) 27... exf5 28. Rxf5 Qc7 29. Rg5 Rg7 { The best defense.} ({Still, it is a pity that Radjabov did not enter the extremely beautiful line} 29... Bg6 30. Rxg6 hxg6 31. Qh6+ Rh7 32. Rh1 $3) ({ Less pretty is} 29... Bf7 30. Nxh7 $1) ({Prosaically loses} 29... Bd7 30. Qxc5 ({Although White can try the flashy} 30. e6 Rxe6 (30... Bxe6 31. Re1) 31. Rh1)) 30. Rh1 Bg6 31. Rxg4 (31. bxc5 {was safer.}) 31... Qf7 ({Or} 31... cxb4 32. e6) 32. Kb1 cxb4 {White should also win after} (32... c4 33. d4 Ra4 34. Qd2 Bf5) 33. Qd4 Bf5 {It seems as Black managed to catch his breath, however...} 34. e6 $3 {Caruana finds a study in the middlegame!} Rxg4 ({The alternative is mate after} 34... Bxe6 35. Rxh7+ Rxh7 36. Nxh7+ Kxh7 37. Qe4+ Kh6 38. Qe3+) 35. exf7 Rxd4 36. Ne8 $1 {Up a rook and a pawn Radjabov resigns in the endgame!} 1-0 [Event "Vugar Gashimov Mem 2016"] [Site "Shamkir AZE"] [Date "2016.06.01"] [Round "6"] [White "Safarli, E."] [Black "Caruana, F."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E12"] [WhiteElo "2664"] [BlackElo "2804"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2016.05.26"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. a3 Ba6 5. Qc2 Bb7 6. Nc3 c5 7. e4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Bc5 9. Nb3 Nc6 10. Bg5 a6 {An old move, and judging by its results not a very good one. Perhaps Caruana was simply trying to strafe away from the known path. } (10... h6 11. Bh4 Nd4 12. Nxd4 Bxd4 {has been seen in many grandmaster games} ) 11. Rd1 (11. O-O-O $5 {was played by every White player here, including Kasparov against Van der Wiel back in 1988.}) 11... Qc7 12. Be2 (12. Nxc5 bxc5 {gives up the d4 square and I'm not as thrilled about it as the computer is.}) 12... Be7 13. Bh4 (13. Qd3 $1 {Reminds me of a strong Sicilian motif - trasnfering the queen to g3 to reach a superior endgame.}) 13... Ne5 14. Bg3 h5 $5 {Going for it!} 15. O-O g5 {Black's plan is actually quite justified. There are no good breakthroughs in the center and White has to deal with the incoming pawn storm somehow.} 16. Nd4 (16. f4 $2 h4 $1 17. fxe5 hxg3 18. exf6 Bc5+ {is too dangerous for White.}) (16. c5 $5 bxc5 17. Na5 {initiates some kind of weird counterplay}) 16... h4 17. Bxe5 Qxe5 18. Nf3 Bxe4 19. Nxe5 Bxc2 20. Rd2 {Black emerges up a pawn from the opening. Safarli now has to suffer considerably.} Bf5 (20... Bb3 {seemed cleaner, forcing White to simply the game a little more in order to double on the d-file.}) 21. Rfd1 Ra7 22. Na4 Rc7 (22... d6 23. Rxd6 $5 (23. Nc6 Rc7 24. Nxe7 Kxe7 25. Nxb6 Ne4 $17)) 23. Nxb6 d6 24. Nf3 Ne4 25. Rd3 Rb7 {Even though Safarli has recovered his pawn, he still faces serious difficulties. Black's bishops are about to become very powerful.} 26. Na4 Nc5 $1 27. Nxc5 dxc5 28. R3d2 Bf6 29. b4 $1 {A good practical decision. White gives up the pawn on b4 in order to start pushing his c-pawn.} g4 (29... cxb4 30. axb4 Rxb4 31. c5 O-O $1 32. Bxa6 Ra8 {leaves Black with the much better game, but still a lot of work to be done and great drawing chances due to all the pawns for Black being on the same side of the board.}) 30. Ne1 cxb4 31. axb4 Rxb4 32. c5 O-O 33. Bxa6 {This is similar to the previous variation, except g4 seems more weakening than it is useful.} Be4 34. Be2 Bc3 35. Rd6 Bd5 36. Rb6 Re4 37. Kf1 Be5 38. h3 Bc7 39. Rb2 f5 40. Nd3 Rb8 {With time control reached the smoke has cleared a bit. White is basically out of danger.} 41. Rxb8+ Bxb8 42. Rb1 Bh2 43. Nb4 (43. Nb4 Rxe2 $5 {was a cool but futile attempt. } 44. Nxd5 (44. Kxe2 Bxg2 45. hxg4 fxg4 {is a bit scary with the h-pawn rolling down.}) 44... Rc2 45. Ne3 Rxc5 46. hxg4 {with a draw being the most likely outcome.}) 1/2-1/2 [Event "Shamkir Chess 2016"] [Site "Shamkir"] [Date "2016.06.01"] [Round "6.5"] [White "Radjabov, Teimour"] [Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B19"] [WhiteElo "2726"] [BlackElo "2748"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "71"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Azerbaijan"] [BlackTeam "Azerbaijan"] [WhiteTeamCountry "AZE"] [BlackTeamCountry "AZE"] [WhiteClock "1:08:49"] [BlackClock "1:35:15"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7. Nf3 Nf6 8. Ne5 Bh7 9. Bd3 Nbd7 10. Bxh7 Nxe5 11. dxe5 Qa5+ 12. Kf1 Nxh7 13. e6 (13. Qe2 O-O-O 14. e6 Qd5 15. Be3 Qxe6 16. Bxa7 Qxe2+ 17. Kxe2 Nf6 18. Rhd1 Rxd1 19. Rxd1 e6 20. Bd4 Be7 21. h5 b5 {?-? Kuzubov,Y (2632)-Mamedyarov,S (2748) Nakhchivan 2016 }) 13... Qd5 14. Qxd5 cxd5 15. Ne2 fxe6 (15... g6 16. Nf4 d4 17. Bd2 Bg7 18. Rh3 Nf8 19. exf7+ Kxf7 20. Rf3 Bf6 21. Re1 Nd7 22. Nd5 Rae8 {Negi,P (2633) -Ragger,M (2646) Graz 2014}) 16. Nf4 Rg8 17. Nxe6 (17. Ng6 e5 18. Nxe5 e6 19. Be3 Bd6 20. Bd4 {is where Parimarjan Negi ended his analysis. He claims White is better but it's probably not much.}) 17... Rc8 18. c3 Kf7 19. Nxf8 Rgxf8 20. Be3 Nf6 21. Bxa7 b6 22. Bxb6 Rb8 23. Bd4 Rxb2 24. a4 e5 25. Bxe5 Ng4 26. Bd4 Nxf2 27. Bxf2 Kg8 28. Kg1 Rfxf2 29. Rh2 Ra2 30. Rxa2 Rxa2 31. g3 Ra1+ 32. Kf2 Ra2+ 33. Kg1 Ra1+ 34. Kf2 Ra2+ 35. Kg1 Ra1+ 36. Kf2 1/2-1/2 [Event "Shamkir Chess 2016"] [Site "Shamkir"] [Date "2016.06.01"] [Round "6.4"] [White "Mamedov, Rauf"] [Black "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2655"] [BlackElo "2779"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "70"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Azerbaijan"] [BlackTeam "Russia"] [WhiteTeamCountry "AZE"] [BlackTeamCountry "RUS"] [WhiteClock "0:46:53"] [BlackClock "1:18:53"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 {A line Karjakin plays himself as well.} e5 (6... e6 7. g4 Nfd7 8. Be3 Be7 9. g5 b5 10. a3 Bb7 11. h4 O-O 12. Qd2 Nb6 13. h5 N8d7 {Karjakin,S (2760)-Topalov,V (2780) Moscow RUS 2016}) 7. Nb3 Be6 8. Be3 (8. f4 g6 9. Qf3 Nc6 10. Be3 exf4 11. Bxf4 Nh5 12. Bh2 Qh4+ 13. g3 Qg5 14. g4 Qh4+ 15. Qf2 Qxf2+ 16. Kxf2 Nf6 {Karjakin,S (2767) -Gelfand,B (2748) Baku AZE 2014}) 8... Be7 9. f4 Nc6 (9... exf4 10. Bxf4 Nc6 11. Qe2 Nd7 12. O-O-O Nce5 13. Kb1 O-O 14. g4 Rc8 15. Qe3 Re8 {Swiercz,D (2665) -Wojtaszek,R (2713) Poznan 2016}) 10. f5 Bxb3 11. axb3 Nb4 12. g3 d5 13. exd5 Qc7 (13... e4 14. Bg2 Qc7 15. Bf4 Qc5 16. Qe2 Nbxd5 17. Nxd5 Qxd5 18. g4 h6 { Lovakovic,F (2343)-Rawlings,A (2411) corr. 2014}) 14. d6 $1 {The most critical move, played after 7.5 minutes.} Bxd6 15. Nb5 $1 {The point.} Nxc2+ 16. Ke2 Qc6 17. Nxd6+ Ke7 18. Rc1 Nxe3 19. Rxc6 Nxd1 20. Nxb7 Rhb8 {This was all more or less forced, and the endgame is only slightly better for White. Karjakin remembered that the conclusion in his notes was that Black is fine.} 21. Rc7+ Kf8 22. Kxd1 Ra7 23. Bc4 Raxb7 24. Rxb7 Rxb7 25. Re1 Nd7 26. Kc2 Rb6 27. Ra1 Nb8 28. Kd3 Nc6 29. Ra4 Ke7 30. Ke4 f6 31. h4 Nb8 32. Kd5 Rd6+ 33. Ke4 Rb6 34. Kd5 Rd6+ 35. Ke4 Rb6 1/2-1/2 [Event "Shamkir Chess 2016"] [Site "Shamkir"] [Date "2016.06.01"] [Round "6.1"] [White "Hou, Yifan"] [Black "Harikrishna, P."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C42"] [WhiteElo "2663"] [BlackElo "2763"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "60"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "China"] [BlackTeam "India"] [WhiteTeamCountry "CHN"] [BlackTeamCountry "IND"] [WhiteClock "0:22:35"] [BlackClock "0:33:17"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Be7 7. O-O Nc6 8. Nc3 Bf5 9. Re1 Nxc3 10. bxc3 Bxd3 11. Qxd3 O-O 12. Re2 (12. Rb1 Na5 13. Bf4 c6 14. c4 dxc4 15. Qf5 Bf6 16. Bd2 c3 17. Bxc3 Nc4 18. Qc5 Nb6 {Harikrishna,P (2753)-Wang,Y (2718) Huaian 2016}) 12... Qd6 (12... Qd7 13. Bf4 Rae8 14. Rae1) 13. Rb1 (13. Bd2 Bf6 14. Rae1 h6 15. Qf5 Rad8 16. Qh5 Qd7 17. h3 Ne7 18. Nh2 Qf5 {Naiditsch,A (2698)-So,W (2653) Belfort 2012}) 13... b6 14. Bd2 Bf6 15. Rbe1 Na5 16. Qf5 (16. g4 g6 {Hari}) 16... g6 17. Qh3 Qc6 18. Bg5 ({Hou Yifan suggested} 18. Bh6 Rfe8 19. Ne5 Bxe5 20. dxe5 {and now after} Qe6 21. g4 { followed by f2-f4-f5 is promising.}) 18... Nc4 19. Bxf6 Qxf6 20. Ne5 ({ Ljubojevic suggested} 20. Re7 {when Harikrishna was planning} Nd6 21. Rxc7 (21. R1e6 Qf4 22. Rxc7 $2 Ne4) 21... Rfc8 {and now the computer goes} 22. Qd7 { and maybe White can keep the pawn, but winning the game is a whole different ballgame.}) 20... Nxe5 21. Rxe5 Qc6 22. R1e3 Rae8 23. Qh6 Rxe5 24. dxe5 Qb5 25. g4 Qb1+ 26. Kg2 Qxc2 27. Rh3 Qe4+ 28. Kf1 Qb1+ 29. Kg2 Qe4+ 30. Kf1 Qb1+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "Shamkir Chess 2016"] [Site "Shamkir"] [Date "2016.06.01"] [Round "6.2"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Eljanov, Pavel"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A07"] [WhiteElo "2790"] [BlackElo "2765"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "84"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Netherlands"] [BlackTeam "Ukraine"] [WhiteTeamCountry "NED"] [BlackTeamCountry "UKR"] [WhiteClock "0:56:48"] [BlackClock "0:56:11"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 c6 3. Bg2 Bg4 4. h3 Bh5 5. O-O {Inspired by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who played three games like this.} Nd7 6. d4 e6 7. c4 Ngf6 8. cxd5 cxd5 (8... exd5 9. Qb3 Qb6 10. Qe3+ Be7 11. Nh4 Bg6 12. Nc3 Kf8 13. Nxg6+ hxg6 14. Qd3 Re8 {Vachier Lagrave,M (2758)-Kramnik,V (2777) Berlin 2015}) 9. Qb3 Qb6 10. Nc3 {White is hoping to profit from the black knight on d7 which should be on c6 here.} Be7 11. Ne5 (11. Qxb6 Nxb6 12. Ne5 Bg6 13. Bf4 O-O 14. Rfc1 a6 15. g4 Rac8 16. h4 h5 17. g5 Ne4 {Blomqvist,E (2526)-Kobalia,M (2646) Gjakova 2016}) 11... Qxb3 12. axb3 a6 13. g4 Bg6 14. g5 Nh5 15. Nxg6 (15. Nxd7 Kxd7 16. e4 dxe4 17. Nxe4 Bxe4 18. Bxe4 Rab8 {Giri}) 15... hxg6 16. e4 dxe4 17. d5 $5 (17. Bxe4 O-O-O 18. Be3 Nb6 19. Rfd1 f5 {and here Ljubojevic suggested} ( 19... Nd5 20. Bxd5 exd5 21. Ra5) 20. d5 {and indeed it's still not easy for Black.}) 17... exd5 18. Nxd5 Bd6 19. Be3 (19. Rd1 $5 O-O-O 20. b4) 19... f5 20. gxf6 Ndxf6 (20... Nhxf6 21. Rfd1 Be5 22. Ra4 $5) 21. Rfd1 O-O-O 22. Ra5 $6 { Now Black will be a bit better.} Bc7 23. Ne7+ Kb8 24. Raa1 Rhe8 25. Nxg6 Nd5 26. Bg5 Rd6 27. Ra4 Rxg6 28. Rxd5 Nf4 29. Bxf4 Bxf4 30. Rb4 e3 31. fxe3 Bxe3+ 32. Kh1 b5 33. Re4 Rxe4 34. Bxe4 Rg1+ 35. Kh2 Rf1 36. Kg3 Kc7 37. b4 Rf4 38. Re5 Kd6 39. Re8 g5 40. Bb7 Bc1 41. Bxa6 Rxb4 42. Rb8 Ke5 1/2-1/2 [Event "Shamkir Chess 2016"] [Site "Shamkir"] [Date "2016.06.01"] [Round "6.3"] [White "Safarli, Eltaj"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E12"] [WhiteElo "2664"] [BlackElo "2804"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Azerbaijan"] [BlackTeam "United States"] [WhiteTeamCountry "AZE"] [BlackTeamCountry "USA"] [WhiteClock "0:57:02"] [BlackClock "0:54:30"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. a3 Ba6 5. Qc2 Bb7 6. Nc3 c5 7. e4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Bc5 9. Nb3 Nc6 10. Bg5 a6 {Both players were on their own here.} (10... h6 11. Bh4 Nd4 12. Nxd4 Bxd4 13. Bd3 Be5 14. O-O-O Qc7 15. Bg3 a6 16. Kb1 O-O { Bauer,C (2641)-Zhigalko,S (2677) Bilbao 2014}) 11. Rd1 (11. O-O-O Qc7 12. Kb1 O-O-O 13. Qd2 d6 14. f3 h6 15. Bf4 Ne5 16. h4 Kb8 17. h5 Rd7 18. Rc1 Rc8 19. Be2 Ka7 20. Rhd1 Rdd8 21. g4 Ng8 22. Bg3 Ne7 23. f4 N5c6 24. Bf3 Rb8 25. Bh4 Rd7 26. Nb5+ axb5 27. cxb5 Na5 28. Nxa5 bxa5 29. Rxc5 dxc5 30. Qxd7 Qxf4 31. Rd6 {1-0 Kasparov,G (2750)-Van der Wiel,J (2555) Amsterdam 1988}) (11. Nxc5 bxc5 12. Bd3 Nd4 13. Qd1 {Caruana}) 11... Qc7 12. Be2 Be7 13. Bh4 (13. O-O Ng4 14. Bxg4 Bxg5) 13... Ne5 14. Bg3 h5 15. O-O (15. h3 d6 16. Nd2 g5) 15... g5 16. Nd4 (16. f4 $2 h4 17. fxe5 hxg3 18. exf6 Bc5+ {Caruana}) 16... h4 (16... d6 17. Qa4+ Kf8 18. f4) 17. Bxe5 Qxe5 18. Nf3 Bxe4 (18... Qf4 19. e5 Bxf3 20. Bxf3 ( 20. exf6 Bxe2 21. Qxe2 Qxf6) 20... h3) 19. Nxe5 Bxc2 20. Rd2 Bf5 (20... Bb3 { was stronger than Caruana thought:} 21. Bf3 (21. Bd1 Bxd1 22. Rfxd1 Ra7) 21... Ra7 22. Ne4 Nxe4 23. Bxe4 d6) 21. Rfd1 Ra7 22. Na4 (22. h3 Rc7 23. Bf3 Rg8 24. Na4 $6 d6 25. Nc6 g4) 22... Rc7 (22... d6 23. Nc6 Rc7 24. Nd4) 23. Nxb6 d6 24. Nf3 (24. Rxd6 Bxd6 25. Rxd6 Ke7 26. Rc6 Rxc6 27. Nxc6+ Kd6 {Caruana}) 24... Ne4 25. Rd3 Rb7 26. Na4 Nc5 27. Nxc5 dxc5 28. R3d2 Bf6 29. b4 g4 30. Ne1 cxb4 31. axb4 Rxb4 32. c5 O-O ({The best chance was} 32... Be4 {e.g.} 33. Bxa6 g3 $5) 33. Bxa6 Be4 34. Be2 Bc3 35. Rd6 Bd5 36. Rb6 Re4 37. Kf1 Be5 38. h3 Bc7 39. Rb2 f5 40. Nd3 Rb8 41. Rxb8+ Bxb8 42. Rb1 Bh2 43. Nb4 1/2-1/2 [Event "Vugar Gashimov Mem 2016"] [Site "Shamkir AZE"] [Date "2016.05.26"] [Round "1.1"] [White "Safarli, Eltaj"] [Black "Eljanov, Pavel"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A13"] [WhiteElo "2664"] [BlackElo "2765"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2016.05.26"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 e6 3. g3 dxc4 4. Bg2 a6 5. Qc2 Bd6 $5 (5... b5 6. Ne5 Ra7 7. b3 cxb3 8. axb3 Bb7 9. Bxb7 Rxb7 10. O-O (10. Rxa6 $2 Qd5) 10... Nf6 11. Rxa6 Qd5 12. Ra8 Bd6 13. d4 O-O 14. Bb2 Rb6) 6. Qxc4 Nf6 7. O-O (7. d4 b5 8. Qc2 Bb7) ( 7. Qc2 e5 $1) 7... b5 8. Qb3 Bb7 9. a4 Nbd7 10. axb5 Bd5 11. Qc2 axb5 12. Rxa8 Qxa8 $11 13. Na3 $6 (13. Nc3 Bc6 14. d3 O-O 15. e4 b4 16. Nd1 e5 17. Ne3 Bb5 18. Nc4 Qa6 19. b3 Bxc4 20. dxc4 Nc5 21. Re1 h6) 13... Qb7 14. d3 c5 $1 15. Bg5 O-O 16. Rc1 Rc8 17. Nb1 h6 18. Bxf6 Nxf6 $15 19. Nc3 Bc6 20. Qb3 Be7 21. Ra1 Ne8 22. Ne1 Bxg2 23. Nxg2 Nd6 24. Ne3 Bg5 25. Nf1 b4 $1 26. Nb1 (26. Nd1 $142) 26... c4 27. dxc4 Nxc4 28. e3 (28. Nc3 Nxb2 29. Na2 Qa6 30. Rb1 (30. Qxb4 Qxe2 31. Qe1 Qg4 32. Nb4 Bf6 33. Ne3 Qe4 34. Nec2 Qb7 35. Rb1) 30... Bf6 31. Nxb4 Qxe2 32. Qe3 Qb5 33. Na2 Qf5 34. Rc1 $17) 28... Nxe3 $1 (28... Bf6 29. Ra4 Be7 30. Ra1 (30. Nbd2 Nxd2 31. Nxd2 Rc1+ 32. Nf1 Qb5) 30... Qd7 $19) 29. fxe3 (29. Nxe3 Rc1+ 30. Nf1 Qb5) 29... Rc1 30. Kf2 Qh1 $2 (30... Qe4 $1 $19 31. Nfd2 (31. Ra5 Qxb1 32. Nd2 Qc2 $19) 31... Qh1 32. h4 Rg1 33. Ke2 Re1+ 34. Kd3 Rxe3+ {0-1} ) 31. Qd3 f5 (31... e5 $1 32. Ra7 $140 (32. e4 $1) 32... e4 $19) 32. h4 (32. Qa6 $1 Bxe3+ (32... Kh7 33. Nbd2 Rc2 34. Qd6 Rxb2 35. Ra6 $16) 33. Nxe3 Qxh2+ 34. Kf3 Qh5+ 35. g4 Qh1+ (35... fxg4+ 36. Ke2 g3+ 37. Kd2 $18) 36. Ke2 (36. Kf4 $2 Qe4+) 36... f4 37. Qa8+ Qxa8 38. Rxa8+ Kf7 39. Nd2 fxe3 40. Kxe3 Rc2 $16) 32... Be7 (32... f4 $1 33. hxg5 Rxf1+ 34. Qxf1 fxg3+ 35. Ke2 g2 36. Ra8+ Kh7 37. Qf7 g1=N+ 38. Kf2 Nh3+ 39. Kg3 Qg1+ 40. Kxh3 Qh1+ 41. Kg3 $11) 33. Ra5 f4 34. exf4 Qc6 35. Re5 $2 (35. Ne3 Bc5 36. Nd2 $18) 35... Bc5+ 36. Rxc5 Qxc5+ 37. Ne3 b3 38. Nd2 Rc2 39. Kf3 (39. Ke2 $1 Rxb2 40. Nec4 Qh5+ 41. Kf2 Qc5+ 42. Kf1 Rc2 43. Qxb3 Rc1+ 44. Ke2 Qg1 $132) 39... Rxb2 $11 40. Qd8+ Kh7 41. Qd3+ Kh8 42. Qd8+ Kh7 43. Qd3+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "Vugar Gashimov Mem 2016"] [Site "Shamkir AZE"] [Date "2016.05.26"] [Round "1.1"] [White "Safarli, Eltaj"] [Black "Eljanov, Pavel"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A13"] [WhiteElo "2664"] [BlackElo "2765"] [Annotator "Crest"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2016.05.26"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 e6 3. g3 dxc4 4. Bg2 a6 5. Qc2 Bd6 $5 (5... b5 6. Ne5 Ra7 7. b3 cxb3 8. axb3 Bb7 9. Bxb7 Rxb7 10. O-O (10. Rxa6 $2 Qd5) 10... Nf6 11. Rxa6 Qd5 12. Ra8 Bd6 13. d4 O-O 14. Bb2 Rb6) 6. Qxc4 Nf6 7. O-O (7. d4 b5 8. Qc2 Bb7) ( 7. Qc2 e5 $1) 7... b5 8. Qb3 Bb7 9. a4 Nbd7 10. axb5 Bd5 11. Qc2 axb5 12. Rxa8 Qxa8 $11 13. Na3 $6 (13. Nc3 Bc6 14. d3 O-O 15. e4 b4 16. Nd1 e5 17. Ne3 Bb5 18. Nc4 Qa6 19. b3 Bxc4 20. dxc4 Nc5 21. Re1 h6) 13... Qb7 14. d3 c5 $1 15. Bg5 O-O 16. Rc1 Rc8 17. Nb1 h6 18. Bxf6 Nxf6 $15 19. Nc3 Bc6 20. Qb3 Be7 21. Ra1 Ne8 22. Ne1 Bxg2 23. Nxg2 Nd6 24. Ne3 Bg5 25. Nf1 b4 $1 26. Nb1 (26. Nd1 $142) 26... c4 27. dxc4 Nxc4 28. e3 (28. Nc3 Nxb2 29. Na2 Qa6 30. Rb1 (30. Qxb4 Qxe2 31. Qe1 Qg4 32. Nb4 Bf6 33. Ne3 Qe4 34. Nec2 Qb7 35. Rb1) 30... Bf6 31. Nxb4 Qxe2 32. Qe3 Qb5 33. Na2 Qf5 34. Rc1 $17) 28... Nxe3 $1 (28... Bf6 29. Ra4 Be7 30. Ra1 (30. Nbd2 Nxd2 31. Nxd2 Rc1+ 32. Nf1 Qb5) 30... Qd7 $19) 29. fxe3 (29. Nxe3 Rc1+ 30. Nf1 Qb5) 29... Rc1 30. Kf2 Qh1 $2 (30... Qe4 $1 $19 31. Nfd2 (31. Ra5 Qxb1 32. Nd2 Qc2 $19) 31... Qh1 32. h4 Rg1 $1 33. Ke2 (33. Ra8+ Kh7 34. Qd3+ g6 35. Nf1 Qg2+ 36. Ke1 Bxe3 37. Qe2 Qxg3+ 38. Kd1 Qf4 39. Ke1 Qxh4+ 40. Kd1 Qf6 41. Ke1 Bg5 {[%cal Gg5h4]}) 33... Re1+ 34. Kd3 Rxe3+ {0-1}) 31. Qd3 f5 (31... e5 $1 32. e4 $1 (32. Ra7 $140 e4 $19) 32... b3 33. h4 Be7 $1 (33... Rc2+ 34. Ke1 Be7 35. Nbd2 Bb4 $36) 34. Ra5 $1 Bb4 35. Rxe5 Be1+ 36. Ke3 Qg2 37. Rf5 Qxb2 38. Qd5 Rxb1 39. Qxf7+ Kh7 40. h5 Qc1+ 41. Kf3 Qc6 42. Rd5 Qf6+ 43. Qxf6 gxf6 44. Nd2 Bxd2 45. Rxd2 $11) 32. h4 (32. Qa6 $1 Bxe3+ (32... Kh7 33. Nbd2 Rc2 34. Qd6 Rxb2 35. Ra6 $16) 33. Nxe3 Qxh2+ 34. Kf3 Qh5+ 35. g4 Qh1+ (35... fxg4+ 36. Ke2 g3+ 37. Kd2 $18) 36. Ke2 (36. Kf4 $2 Qe4+) 36... f4 37. Qa8+ Qxa8 38. Rxa8+ Kf7 39. Nd2 fxe3 40. Kxe3 Rc2 $16 41. b3 Rc3+ 42. Ke4 Rg3 43. Kf4 Rd3 $132) 32... Be7 $2 (32... Bxh4 $5 33. gxh4 h5 $3) (32... Bxe3+ 33. Nxe3 Qg1+ 34. Kf3 Qh1+ 35. Kf4 Rc5 36. Nd2 Qxa1 37. Nb3 e5+ 38. Kxf5 e4+ 39. Kxe4 Qa8+ 40. Kf4 Rc7 41. h5 $16) (32... f4 $1 33. hxg5 (33. exf4 Bf6) 33... Rxf1+ 34. Qxf1 fxg3+ 35. Ke2 g2 36. Ra8+ Kh7 37. Qf7 g1=N+ (37... g1=Q $2 38. g6+ Qxg6 39. Qg8#) 38. Kf2 Nh3+ 39. Kg3 Qg1+ 40. Kxh3 Qh1+ 41. Kg3 $11) 33. Ra5 f4 34. exf4 Qc6 (34... Bc5+ 35. Rxc5 Rxc5 36. Nbd2 $18) 35. Re5 $2 (35. Ne3 Bc5 36. Nd2 $18 (36. Rxc5 $5 Rxc5 37. Nd2)) 35... Bc5+ 36. Rxc5 Qxc5+ 37. Ne3 b3 38. Nd2 Rc2 $1 39. Kf3 (39. Ke2 $1 Rxb2 40. Nd1 $5 (40. Nec4 Qh5+ 41. Kf2 Qc5+ 42. Kf1 Rc2 43. Qxb3 Rc1+ 44. Ke2 Qg1 $132) 40... Qh5+ 41. Ke1 Ra2 42. Qxb3 $16) 39... Rxb2 $11 40. Qd8+ Kh7 41. Qd3+ Kh8 42. Qd8+ Kh7 43. Qd3+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "Vugar Gashimov Mem 2016"] [Site "Shamkir AZE"] [Date "2016.05.26"] [Round "1.2"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Harikrishna, Pentala"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B48"] [WhiteElo "2804"] [BlackElo "2763"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "6k1/4bp1p/r2p4/p2PppP1/5P1P/2P1B3/P7/1K5R b - - 0 26"] [PlyCount "34"] [EventDate "2016.05.26"] 26... Ra8 27. Kc2 Rb8 28. Rf1 e4 29. a4 (29. Rb1 Rxb1 30. Kxb1 Bd8 $1 31. h5 Kf8 32. a4 Ke7 33. Kc2 Kd7 34. Kb3 Bc7 35. Kc4 Bd8 36. Kb5 Bc7 $11) 29... Kf8 30. h5 Ke8 31. Rg1 Kd7 32. Bd4 Kc7 33. g6 $1 fxg6 34. hxg6 hxg6 35. Rxg6 Rf8 36. Rg7 Kd7 37. c4 $2 (37. Kb3 $1 Ke8 38. Kc4 Bf6 (38... Rf7 39. Rg8+ Bf8 40. Kb5 Re7 41. Rg3 Bh6 42. Be3 Rc7 43. Kxa5 Rxc3 44. Kb4 Rc2 45. a5 Ra2 46. Kb5 $18) 39. Bxf6 Rxf6 40. Ra7 (40. Kb5 Rf7 41. Rxf7) 40... Rg6 41. Rxa5 Rg1 $1 ( 41... Rg4 42. Ra8+ Kd7 43. Ra7+ Kc8 44. Kb5 Rxf4 45. Kc6 Kb8 46. Rb7+ $1 Ka8 47. Re7 Rf1 (47... Rf3 $4 48. Kb6) 48. Kxd6 Rc1 49. Ke5 Rxc3 50. Kxf5 e3 51. d6 Rd3 52. Ke6 e2 53. Kd7 Rd2 54. Re5 Kb7 55. a5 $18) 42. Ra8+ Kd7 43. Ra7+ Kd8 44. a5 (44. Rf7 Ra1) 44... Rd1 45. Rh7 e3 46. Rh2 Rd2 47. Rh6 Kd7 48. Re6 e2 49. a6 Ra2 50. Kb5 Rb2+ 51. Ka5 Ra2+ 52. Kb4 Rxa6 53. Rxe2 Rb6+ 54. Kc4 Rb1) 37... Ke8 38. Kc3 Bh4 $1 39. Ra7 Be1+ 40. Kc2 Rg8 41. Ra8+ Kf7 42. Ra7+ Ke8 43. Ra8+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "Vugar Gashimov Mem 2016"] [Site "Shamkir AZE"] [Date "2016.05.27"] [Round "2"] [White "Giri, A."] [Black "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A36"] [WhiteElo "2790"] [BlackElo "2779"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "4rr2/3qnpk1/1p1p2p1/p1p4p/P1PpPN1P/1P1P1PP1/1Q2R1K1/5R2 b - - 0 27"] [PlyCount "36"] [EventDate "2016.05.26"] 27... Nc6 (27... Qc8 28. Qd2 Qd7 29. Nh3 Ng8 $1 30. f4 f5 31. Ng5 fxe4 32. dxe4 (32. Nxe4 Nh6) 32... Nf6 33. Qd3 Qb7) 28. Qd2 Nb4 $2 (28... Ne7) 29. Rfe1 Re5 30. Nh3 $1 Re7 31. f4 f6 $8 (31... Nc6 32. f5 Ne5 33. Rf1 Ree8 34. Nf4 Rh8 35. Nd5 Qd8 36. Ref2 Ref8 37. f6+ Kh7 38. Rf5 $40) 32. Qd1 $1 (32. f5 gxf5 33. Nf4 fxe4 34. Nxh5+ Kh7 35. Rxe4 Re5 36. Nf4 Rfe8 37. Qd1 Qf7 $11) 32... Rh8 (32... Rfe8 33. f5 $1 gxf5 34. Nf4 fxe4 35. Nxh5+ Kg6 36. Rxe4 Rxe4 37. Rxe4 Rxe4 38. dxe4 $16) 33. Kh2 Qg4 34. Kg2 Rhe8 $2 (34... Qd7 35. Rf2 f5 (35... Qg4 36. Rf3) 36. Ng5 Rhe8) 35. f5 $1 gxf5 36. Nf2 Qg6 37. exf5 Rxe2 38. fxg6 Rxe1 39. Qxh5 Rh8 40. Qf3 (40. Qf5 Nc2 41. Qd7+ Kxg6 42. Ne4 Ne3+ 43. Kf3 $18) 40... Re3 41. Qg4 Re5 42. Qd7+ Kxg6 43. Ne4 Nxd3 44. Qg4+ Kh6 45. Nxd6 1-0 [Event "Vugar Gashimov Mem 2016"] [Site "Shamkir AZE"] [Date "2016.05.27"] [Round "2"] [White "Eljanov, P."] [Black "Caruana, F."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D91"] [WhiteElo "2765"] [BlackElo "2804"] [PlyCount "90"] [EventDate "2016.05.26"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bg5 Ne4 6. Bf4 Nxc3 7. bxc3 c5 8. e3 O-O (8... dxc4 9. Bxc4 O-O 10. O-O Nd7 11. Bb3 Nb6 12. e4 {extra tempo for White}) 9. Be2 $6 (9. cxd5 Qxd5 10. Be2 cxd4 11. cxd4 Qa5+ 12. Qd2 Qxd2+ 13. Kxd2 Nc6) 9... dxc4 10. Bxc4 Nd7 11. O-O Nb6 12. Bb3 c4 $5 13. Bc2 Nd5 14. Qd2 Nxf4 15. exf4 Be6 16. a4 Bd5 17. Ne5 e6 18. Rfb1 Rb8 19. Qe3 a6 20. a5 b5 21. axb6 Rxb6 22. g3 $6 Rxb1+ 23. Rxb1 Bxe5 $1 (23... Qa8 24. Nd7 Rd8 (24... Bh1 25. f3) 25. Nb6 Qc6 26. Nxd5 exd5 27. Kg2 $14) 24. Qxe5 Qa8 25. h4 Bh1 26. Kf1 h5 27. Ke1 a5 28. Ra1 Qg2 29. Rxa5 Qg1+ 30. Ke2 Bg2 31. Qe3 (31. Bxg6 Qf1+ 32. Kd2 Qxf2+ 33. Kc1 fxg6 34. Qxe6+ Kh8 $11) 31... Rb8 32. Ra2 Bh3 33. Kd2 Bf5 34. Qe1 Qg2 35. Bxf5 exf5 36. Kc2 (36. Rc2 Kh7 37. Ra2 Kh6 38. Rc2 Rb6 39. Rc1 Re6 40. Qf1 Qf3 41. Re1 Rb6 42. Rc1 Qe4 43. Rc2) 36... Qb7 $2 (36... Qf3) 37. Kd2 Qg2 38. Kc1 $2 (38. Rc2) 38... Qf3 $19 39. Rc2 (39. Re2 Rb3 40. Re3 Qb7) 39... Ra8 40. Qe2 (40. Kd2 Qd3+) (40. Qe3 Ra1+ 41. Kb2 Qa8) 40... Qh1+ 41. Kd2 Ra1 42. Qe8+ Kg7 43. Qe5+ Kh7 44. Qe2 Rb1 $22 45. f3 Rg1 0-1 [Event "Vugar Gashimov Mem 2016"] [Site "Shamkir AZE"] [Date "2016.05.27"] [Round "2"] [White "Harikrishna, P."] [Black "Mamedyarov, S."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B07"] [WhiteElo "2763"] [BlackElo "2748"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "r4rk1/1bpnqpbp/pp3np1/4p3/P1B1P3/2N1BN1P/1PPQ1PP1/R2R2K1 w - - 0 13"] [PlyCount "41"] [EventDate "2016.05.26"] 13. Nd5 $1 Nxd5 14. Bxd5 Bxd5 15. Qxd5 Nf6 16. Qc4 (16. Qc6 Qb4) 16... Rfe8 17. c3 a5 18. Rd3 Qe6 19. Qxc7 Nxe4 20. Rad1 Bf6 (20... Bf8 21. Rd5 Nc5 22. Ng5 ( 22. Rxe5 Qb3) 22... Qf6 23. Bxc5 Bxc5 24. Ne4 Qf4 25. Re1 Rac8 26. Qd7 Rcd8 27. Qxd8 Rxd8 28. Rxd8+ Kg7 29. Rd7 h5 $14) 21. Nd2 $1 Nxd2 22. R1xd2 e4 23. Rd6 Be5 24. Rxe6 Bxc7 25. Rc6 Rec8 26. Kf1 Bd8 27. Rcd6 Rab8 (27... Kf8 28. g4 $1 Rab8 29. Rd7 Ke8 30. Bf4 Ra8 31. Rb7) 28. Rd7 Bf6 29. Bf4 Ra8 30. Rb7 Rc6 31. Rdd7 Rd8 32. Rxd8+ Bxd8 33. Rb8 1-0 [Event "Vugar Gashimov Mem 2016"] [Site "Shamkir AZE"] [Date "2016.05.28"] [Round "3.1"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Eljanov, Pavel"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E21"] [WhiteElo "2748"] [BlackElo "2765"] [PlyCount "127"] [EventDate "2016.05.26"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 b6 5. Qb3 c5 6. Bg5 Bb7 7. e3 O-O 8. Be2 cxd4 9. Qxb4 Nc6 10. Qa3 dxc3 {Diagram [#]} 11. bxc3 $5 $146 ({Predecessor:} 11. Qxc3 Ne4 $1 12. Bxd8 Nxc3 13. Bxb6 Nxe2 14. Bc5 Rfc8 15. Kxe2 Na5 16. Bd4 Nxc4 $11 {Vecek,M (2140)-Leonard,A (2137) ICCF email 2011}) 11... h6 12. Bh4 Rc8 13. Rd1 Qc7 (13... Na5 $5 14. Ne5 Qc7 15. Bxf6 gxf6 16. Nxd7 Bxg2 17. Nxf8 (17. Rg1 Qxh2 $1) (17. Nxf6+ Kh8 18. Qc1 Bxh1 19. Qc2 Kg7 20. Nh5+ Kh8 21. Nf6 $11) 17... Bxh1 18. Nd7 Qxh2 19. Nxf6+ Kg7 20. Qe7 Qg1+ 21. Bf1 Qg5 22. Ne8+ Kg8 (22... Kg6 $2 23. Bd3+) 23. Nf6+ Kg7 $11) 14. Bxf6 (14. O-O $5) 14... gxf6 15. O-O Kg7 (15... Na5 $6 16. Qe7) 16. Nd4 Ne5 17. Nb5 Qc5 (17... Qc6 $1 18. f3 Qc5 {[%cal Gc5e3]} 19. Qxc5 Rxc5 $11) 18. Qb4 $1 a5 19. Qxc5 Rxc5 20. Nd6 $14 { [%csl Gb6] etc.} Ba6 21. Rd4 f5 22. Rb1 Rb8 (22... Nc6 23. Rd2 (23. Rh4 Rb8 { [%csl Gh4]}) 23... Ne5 24. f4 $1 (24. Rxb6 Bxc4) 24... Nxc4 25. Bxc4 Bxc4 26. Rxb6 Bd5 27. c4 $1 $14) 23. f4 Nc6 24. Rd2 Ne7 25. Kf2 Kf8 $1 (25... Nc8 26. Ne8+ $1 Kg6 (26... Kf8 27. Nf6) 27. Rxd7 Bxc4 28. Bxc4 Rxc4 29. h4 h5 30. Rh1 $1 {[%cal Gh1h3,Gh3g3]}) 26. e4 Nc8 27. Nb5 (27. exf5 Nxd6 28. Rxd6 Bxc4 29. f6 $1 $14) 27... Ke7 (27... fxe4 28. Rxd7) 28. Rbd1 (28. e5 Bxb5 29. Rxb5 Rb7 $11) 28... Rb7 29. exf5 Rxf5 30. g3 Rc5 31. Na3 d6 32. g4 Rd7 33. h4 Rd8 34. Rd4 Na7 35. Rb1 Nc8 36. Nc2 d5 37. cxd5 Bxe2 38. Kxe2 Rdxd5 39. Kd3 {Diagram [#]} h5 ( 39... b5 40. Ne3 Rd6 41. c4 b4 $13) 40. Ne3 Rd7 $6 (40... Rd6 $1 41. f5 $6 hxg4 42. h5 $2 exf5 {[%cal Gd6h6]} 43. Rxd6 Nxd6 44. h6 b5 (44... g3 $5) 45. h7 Rc8 46. Rh1 Rh8 $17) 41. f5 $1 {[%cal Gh4h8]} hxg4 42. h5 $1 Nd6 (42... exf5 $2 43. h6 $1 $18) 43. h6 Rc8 $2 (43... Nxf5 $2 44. Nxf5+ Rxf5 45. Rxd7+ Kxd7 46. Rh1 $18) (43... g3 $1 44. h7 Rc8 45. Rxb6 Rh8 46. f6+ Kxf6 47. Rdxd6 Rxd6+ 48. Rxd6 Rxh7 $14) 44. Re1 $1 Nb7 (44... Rh8 $2 45. Nd5+ Kd8 46. fxe6 fxe6 47. Nxb6 $16) (44... Kf8 $1 45. fxe6 fxe6 46. Nxg4 Ke7 47. Ne3 Rh8 48. Nd5+ Kf7 49. Nxb6 Rdd8 $16) 45. Rxd7+ Kxd7 46. Nxg4 Nc5+ (46... Rh8 47. fxe6+ fxe6 48. Rb1 Kc7 49. Kd4 $16) 47. Kd4 Kd6 (47... Rh8 48. fxe6+ fxe6 49. Ne5+ Ke8 50. Rh1 Nd7 51. Nxd7 Kxd7 52. h7 Ke7 53. a4 Kf6 54. Ke4 e5 55. c4 Kg7 56. Kxe5 Re8+ 57. Kd5 Kh8 58. Rh6 Rb8 59. Kc6 Rc8+ 60. Kb5 $18) 48. Ne5 $1 f6 49. Ng6 e5+ 50. Ke3 Rc7 51. Rd1+ Kc6 52. Rd8 Nb7 (52... Rh7 53. Rh8 Rd7 54. h7 Kb5 55. Nf8 Rd3+ 56. Ke2 Rh3 57. Rg8 $18) 53. Rc8 $1 Rxc8 54. Ne7+ Kc5 55. Nxc8 Nd8 56. h7 Nf7 57. Ne7 Kc4 58. Ng8 Kxc3 59. Nxf6 {[%cal Gf6d7,Gd7e5] 1-0 in view of} Kc4 60. Nd7 Kd5 61. Nxb6+ Kc5 62. Nc8 Kd5 63. Ne7+ Kd6 64. Ng6 1-0 [Event "Vugar Gashimov Mem 2016"] [Site "Shamkir AZE"] [Date "2016.05.28"] [Round "3.2"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Hou, Yifan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C80"] [WhiteElo "2804"] [BlackElo "2663"] [PlyCount "69"] [EventDate "2016.05.26"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. Nbd2 Nc5 10. c3 Be7 11. Bc2 d4 12. Nb3 d3 13. Bb1 Nxb3 14. axb3 Bf5 15. Re1 O-O 16. Be3 Qd5 17. Bd4 Rfd8 {Diagram [#]} 18. h4 $1 $146 (18. Bxd3 Bxd3 19. Qxd3 Qxb3 20. e6 fxe6 21. Qe4 Qc4 22. Qxe6+ Qxe6 23. Rxe6 Bd6 $11 { Abdumalik,Z (2379)-Koneru,H (2581) Chengdu 2015}) (18. Re3 Nxd4 19. cxd4 (19. Nxd4 Bg6 20. Bxd3 $2 Bxd3 21. Rxd3 c5) 19... c5 20. Bxd3 cxd4 21. Re2 Qe6 22. Rd2 Bxd3 23. Rxd3 Bc5 24. Qd2 Rd5 25. h3 h6 $11 {Wei,Y (2706)-So,W (2773) Wijk aan Zee 2016}) 18... Bg6 $6 (18... Bc5 19. Bxc5 Qxc5 20. b4 Qc4 21. e6 $5 (21. Re3 h6 22. Ba2 Qf4 23. Qe1 a5 24. e6 Bxe6 25. Bxe6 fxe6 26. Rxe6 Qc4 27. bxa5 Nxa5 28. Re4 Qf7 29. Rd4 Nc4 30. Qb1 d2 31. Nxd2 c5 32. Rxd8+ Rxd8 33. Nf3 $14) 21... Bxe6 22. Ng5 Bd5 23. g3 $1 (23. Bxd3 Qxh4) 23... h6 24. Bxd3 Qb3 25. Qd2 $1 hxg5 26. Ra3 Qxa3 27. bxa3 Bc4 28. Re3 Ne5 29. Rxe5 Rxd3 30. Qe1 gxh4 $14) ( 18... Nxd4 $5 19. Nxd4 (19. cxd4 Bb4 20. Re3 c5 $11) 19... Be4 20. e6 c5 21. exf7+ Kxf7 22. Qg4 cxd4 23. c4 Qf5 24. Rxe4 Qxg4 25. Rxg4 bxc4 26. bxc4 d2 27. Bxh7 Rab8 $14) (18... Bg4 $5 19. Qxd3 g6 20. b4 Bxf3 21. Ba2 Nxb4 (21... Nxe5 22. Qe3 $1) 22. cxb4 Qxd4 23. Qxf3 Rf8 24. Rad1 Qxb4 25. Bxf7+ Kg7 26. h5 Rad8 27. e6 Qxb2 $13) (18... h6 $5) 19. b4 $1 d2 (19... Nxd4 20. Nxd4 Bxh4 21. Bxd3 Be7 (21... Bxd3 22. Qxd3 Be7 23. Qe4 $1 {[%cal Gd4c6]}) 22. Bxg6 hxg6 23. Qf3 Qxf3 24. gxf3 Kf8 25. Nc6 Rd2 26. Re4 $1 Rxb2 27. Kg2 {[%cal Ga1h1]} Ke8 (27... Rc2 28. Rh1) 28. Rd1 Rc2 29. e6 $40) 20. Qxd2 Bxb1 21. Raxb1 Bxb4 22. Qf4 Be7 23. e6 $1 (23. h5 Qe6 $1 $11) 23... fxe6 24. Qg4 Nxd4 (24... Bf8 $5 25. Be5 $5 Nxe5 26. Nxe5 Re8 27. Rbd1 Qb3 28. Rd7 $36 Qxb2 $2 29. Qf3 Qc2 30. g4 $1 a5 31. Qf7+ Kh8 32. h5 a4 33. h6 gxh6 34. Qf6+ Kg8 35. Nd3 Re7 36. Rxe7 Bxe7 37. Qxe6+ $1 Kh8 38. Qe5+ Kg8 39. Qd5+ {1-0}) 25. Nxd4 Bf6 26. Nxe6 Rd7 27. Re3 (27. h5 $5) 27... h5 $2 (27... g6 $1 28. Rbe1 Re8 $14 {[%cal Ge8e7]}) 28. Qg6 Rf7 ( 28... Re7 29. Rbe1 Rae8 30. Nxg7 $1 $18) (28... Bxh4 29. Rbe1 Bf6 30. Nxg7 $1 Bxg7 31. Re8+) 29. Rbe1 Rc8 30. Nf4 Qd7 31. Qxh5 {[%cal Gf4g6]} Re7 32. Nd5 Rf7 (32... Rxe3 33. Nxf6+ gxf6 34. Rxe3 $18) 33. Rd1 Qc6 34. Nf4 Rd7 35. Re8+ 1-0 [Event "Vugar Gashimov Mem 2016"] [Site "Shamkir AZE"] [Date "2016.05.28"] [Round "3.4"] [White "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Black "Harikrishna, Pentala"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C42"] [WhiteElo "2779"] [BlackElo "2763"] [PlyCount "123"] [EventDate "2016.05.26"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Be3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nd7 9. O-O-O c5 ({Relevant:} 9... c6 10. h4 d5 11. Bd3 Nc5 12. Bxc5 Bxc5 13. Rde1 Qf6 14. Nd4 Bd7 15. Re3 Rae8 16. Rf3 Qe5 17. Bf5 Bxf5 18. Nxf5 Re6 $11 {Carlsen,M (2850)-Ivanchuk,V (2726) Berlin 2015}) 10. Bd3 Nf6 11. Rhe1 { Diagram [#]} Be6 $146 ({Predecessor:} 11... d5 12. c4 d4 13. Bg5 Be6 14. c3 b5 15. cxb5 Qa5 16. c4 Qb6 $2 (16... Qxa2 $1) 17. Ne5 $16 {Kosintseva,T (2536) -Kosteniuk,A (2469) Nalchik 2011}) 12. Bg5 (12. Ng5 Bxa2 $1 13. b3 (13. c4 b5) 13... c4 14. Bxc4 d5 15. Bxd5 $5 Ba3#) 12... h6 $4 (12... Bxa2 13. Qf4 $5 Be6 14. Qh4 g6 (14... h6 15. Bxh6) 15. Bc4 d5 16. Bxd5 Nxd5 17. c4 $40) (12... d5 13. Qf4 Bd6 (13... Re8 $5 14. Bb5 Rf8) 14. Qh4 h6 15. Bxh6 gxh6 16. Qxh6 Re8 $1 (16... c4 $2 17. Ng5 cxd3 18. Rxe6 fxe6 19. Qg6+ Kh8 20. Rxd3 $18) 17. Ng5 Bf4+ $1 (17... Bf8 18. Bh7+ Kh8 19. Qh4 Kg7 20. Rxe6 Rxe6 21. Qg3 $36) 18. Kb1 Bxg5 19. Qxg5+ Kf8 20. Qh6+ Ke7 $1 21. f4 Kd6 $13) 13. Bxh6 c4 (13... gxh6 14. Qxh6 Re8 15. Rxe6 fxe6 16. Ng5 Bf8 17. Bh7+ Kh8 18. Nf7#) 14. Bxg7 $1 cxd3 (14... Kxg7 15. Qg5+ Kh8 16. Qh6+ Kg8 17. Rxe6 cxd3 18. Ng5 $1 fxe6 19. Qg6+ Kh8 20. Rxd3 $18) 15. Qg5 $1 (15. Qh6 Nh7 16. Rxd3 Bf6 17. Bxf8 Nxf8 $1 (17... Qxf8 18. Qxf8+ Nxf8 19. Rxd6 $18) 18. Qf4 (18. h4 Bg7 19. Qf4 Qa5 $1) 18... Bg7 19. Qxd6 Qa5 $1 $132) 15... Ne4 (15... Nh7 16. Qg3 Bg5+ 17. Nxg5 Qxg5+ 18. Qxg5 Nxg5 19. Bxf8 {- perehod}) 16. Qh6 Bg5+ 17. Nxg5 Qxg5+ 18. Qxg5 Nxg5 19. Bxf8 dxc2 20. Rxd6 Kxf8 21. h4 (21. b3 $5 $18) 21... Nh7 22. Kxc2 $18 Nf6 23. f3 Ke7 24. Rd4 Rh8 25. c4 Nd7 26. b3 a6 27. Kc3 Nb8 28. g3 Nc6 29. Rd2 Kf6 30. Rh2 b5 31. cxb5 axb5 32. Rd2 Rh5 33. Re3 Ne7 34. Re4 Rf5 35. Rd3 Rc5+ 36. Kd2 Nf5 37. Rg4 Rc8 38. Rc3 Ra8 39. Rc2 Ne7 40. Rf4+ Kg7 41. Ke1 Nd5 42. Rd4 Kf6 43. Kf2 Ke5 44. Re4+ Kd6 45. h5 Ke7 46. g4 Kd6 47. Rd2 {Diagram [#]} f5 48. gxf5 Bxf5 49. h6 $1 Rh8 50. Red4 Be6 51. Rh4 Ke7 52. Rh5 Nf6 53. Rxb5 Rxh6 54. a4 Rh1 55. a5 Nd7 56. b4 Bc4 57. Rg5 Ke6 58. Rd4 Rc1 59. a6 $1 Rc2+ (59... Bxa6 60. Rg6+ Nf6 61. Rf4 $18) 60. Kg3 Bf1 61. a7 Nb6 62. Rd1 $3 (62. Rg6+ $4 Kf5 63. Rxb6 Rg2+ 64. Kh4 Rh2+ 65. Kg3 Rg2+ 66. Kh4 $11) 1-0 [Event "3rd Shamkir Chess 2016"] [Site "Shamkir"] [Date "2016.06.02"] [Round "7"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Safarli, Eltaj"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E20"] [WhiteElo "2746"] [BlackElo "2673"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "87"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [EventCountry "AZE"] [TimeControl "40/7200:20/3600:900+30"] 1. d4 {(3s)} Nf6 {(13s)} 2. c4 {(4s)} e6 {(5s)} 3. Nc3 {(5s)} Bb4 {(21s)} 4. g3 {The move 4.g3 is not the most common idea in the Nimzo-Indian, but it's one of the many ways in which White can try to get a small but riskless edge.} d5 { (179s)} 5. Bg2 {(14s)} O-O {(12s)} 6. a3 {(2s)} Bxc3+ {(144s)} 7. bxc3 {(2s)} c5 $5 {This exact position had been seen in the game... Kuzubov-Safarli, from eleven years ago! I doubt that Mamedyarov prepared against that game, but you never know.} (7... dxc4 8. Nf3 Nc6 9. O-O {was Ivanchuk-Fressinet from March. The position is very interesting with Black having a material advantage but White having the pair of bishops and easier play overall.}) 8. cxd5 {(3s)} exd5 {( 250s)} 9. Nf3 {(3s)} cxd4 {(356s)} 10. Nxd4 {(65s)} (10. cxd4 {looks more natural at first, but it is slower and it prevents White from having any breaks. The move played in the game is much stronger and shows a great feel for the position.}) 10... Nc6 {(231s)} 11. O-O {(94s)} Ne4 $6 {Underestimating White's resources.} 12. c4 {This move is obvious, White just needs to make sure it works.} Re8 {(882s)} (12... dxc4 13. Nxc6 {just loses for Black.}) ( 12... Nc3 13. Nxc6 bxc6 (13... Nxd1 14. Nxd8 Nc3 15. Nxf7 $18) 14. Qd3 { with a very clear advantage for White. That dark squared bishop will become a monster.}) 13. Bb2 {(830s)} Na5 {(806s)} 14. cxd5 {(75s)} Nc4 {(88s)} 15. Rb1 { (238s)} (15. Qb3 $1 Ned2 (15... Ncd2 16. Qd3 Nxf1 17. Bxe4 $18) (15... Nxb2 16. Qxb2 Qxd5 17. Rfc1 {was very strong, as White has a huge development advantage and will continue with Rc7.}) 16. Qc3 $18) 15... Nxb2 {(375s)} (15... Qxd5 16. Ba1 {is better for White as he has the bishops, but it was the lesser evil.}) 16. Rxb2 {(61s)} Qxd5 {(90s)} 17. Qd3 {(1053s)} Bd7 {(476s)} 18. Rfb1 {(23s)} Rab8 {(194s)} 19. Rb5 $1 {A simply but nice tactical coup. Black is forced to give up two of his pieces for one rook.} Bxb5 {(154s)} 20. Rxb5 {The queen cannot keep protection of the black knight.} Nxf2 {(116s)} 21. Kxf2 {(91s)} Qd6 {(398s)} 22. Bxb7 {(337s)} Rbd8 {(703s)} 23. e3 {Unfortunately for Safarli the material disadvantage here is just too big. Mamedyarov has all he needs to take the point home.} Re5 {(49s)} 24. a4 {(114s)} h5 {(275s)} 25. h4 {( 165s)} Rde8 {(177s)} 26. e4 {(158s)} Qf6+ {(302s)} 27. Kg2 {(60s)} Rxb5 {(55s)} 28. axb5 {(30s)} g6 {(77s)} 29. Bd5 {(77s)} Re7 {(4s)} 30. Qd2 {(353s)} a6 {(88s)} 31. bxa6 $2 {Somehow Mamedyarov really lets go of his advantage in the next few moves.} (31. Nc6 Rb7 32. e5 $18) 31... Qxa6 {(5s)} 32. Nc6 {(13s)} Rc7 { (96s)} 33. Nd8 $6 {(428s)} (33. Ne5 $16) 33... Qa4 {(102s)} 34. Qh6 $2 { A time pressure blunder. The players missed an incredible resource here} Rc2+ $2 {(26s)} (34... Qc2+ 35. Kh3 Qd1 $1 36. Qxg6+ Kf8 37. Qd6+ Kg7 {Surprisingly, White has no way of avoiding the perpetual. This would have been a crazy end to the game and a dissapointment for Mamedyarov, but Safarli did not find it.}) 35. Kh3 {(7s)} Qd7+ {(15s)} 36. Ne6 $1 {A resource that keeps the advantage in White's camp} fxe6 {(1s)} 37. Qxg6+ {(5s)} Kf8 {(4s)} 38. Bxe6 {(14s)} Qg7 { (18s)} 39. Qxh5 {(11s)} Rc3 {(11s)} 40. Qg4 {(0s)} Qxg4+ {This leads to a lost endgame. More resistance was put up by not trading the queens, but the endgame is lost anyway.} 41. Kxg4 {(134s)} Kg7 {(513s)} 42. Kf4 {(45s)} Rc1 {(164s)} 43. Kg5 {(20s)} Re1 {(577s)} 44. Bf5 {(24s)} 1-0 [Event "3rd Shamkir Chess 2016"] [Site "Shamkir"] [Date "2016.06.02"] [Round "7"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C81"] [WhiteElo "2804"] [BlackElo "2790"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [EventCountry "AZE"] [TimeControl "40/7200:20/3600:900+30"] 1. e4 {(3s)} e5 {(3s)} 2. Nf3 {(5s)} Nc6 {(6s)} 3. Bb5 {(3s)} a6 {(5s)} 4. Ba4 {(4s)} Nf6 {(4s)} 5. O-O {(5s)} Nxe4 {(15s)} 6. d4 {(8s)} b5 {(3s)} 7. Bb3 { (4s)} d5 {(4s)} 8. dxe5 {(5s)} Be6 {(8s)} 9. Qe2 {(80 s)} Be7 {(183s)} 10. Rd1 {(6s)} O-O {(6s)} 11. c4 {(4s)} bxc4 {(46s)} 12. Bxc4 {(5s)} Bc5 {(30s)} 13. Be3 {(6s)} Bxe3 {(8s)} 14. Qxe3 {(4s)} Qb8 {(48s)} 15. Bb3 {(5s)} Na5 {(6s)} 16. Nd4 {(9s)} c5 {(61s)} 17. Nxe6 {(8s)} fxe6 {(2s)} 18. f3 {(10s)} c4 {(38s)} 19. fxe4 {(6s)} cxb3 {(2s)} 20. exd5 {(15s)} bxa2 {(415s)} 21. Rxa2 {(6s)} Nc4 {(5s)} 22. Qd4 {(85s)} Qb3 {(124s)} 23. Nc3 {(34s)} Rac8 {(103s)} 24. Rb1 { (1619s)} Ne3 {(771s)} 25. Qxe3 {(301s)} Rxc3 {(11s)} 26. Qxc3 {(5s)} Qxa2 {(3s) } 27. Rd1 {(72s)} exd5 {(5s)} 28. Qd4 {(171s)} Re8 {(460s)} 29. Rc1 {(271s)} h6 {(932s)} 30. h3 {(1029s)} Kh8 {(1078s)} 31. e6 {(1739s)} Rxe6 {(268s)} 32. Rc8+ {(18s)} Kh7 {(2s)} 33. Qd3+ {(11s)} Re4 {(13s)} 34. Qf1 {(13s)} Re5 {(295s)} 35. Qd3+ {(6s)} Re4 {(4s)} 36. Qf1 {(10s)} Re5 {(4s)} 37. Qd3+ {(201s)} Re4 { (18s)} 38. Qf1 {The draw was agreed at this point. Fortunate for Giri, as he is completely lost:} (38. Qf1 Re5 39. Qf7 {snuffing out the Black king. The strange part of not going for this is that White cannot possibly lose, worst case scenario there is another perpetual.} Qa4 (39... Qxb2 40. Qg8+ Kg6 41. Rc6+ Kf5 42. Qf7+ Ke4 43. Qf3+ Kd4 44. Qd1+ Ke4 45. Kh2 {again this important move, safeguarding the king before going for the kill.}) 40. Kh2 $3 {Is the winning trick. A computer move, simply making the king a bit safer. The "threat" is b3, removing the defender of either the fourth rank or of the c6 square. You can try to work out the variations on your own.}) 1/2-1/2 [Event "3rd Shamkir Chess 2016"] [Site "Shamkir"] [Date "2016.06.02"] [Round "7"] [White "Eljanov, Pavel"] [Black "Hou, Yifan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D02"] [WhiteElo "2751"] [BlackElo "2663"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "119"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [EventCountry "AZE"] [TimeControl "40/7200:20/3600:900+30"] 1. d4 {(3s)} Nf6 {(5s)} 2. Nf3 {(8s)} d5 {(17s)} 3. Bf4 {(11s)} e6 {(44s)} 4. e3 {(37s)} c5 {(89s)} 5. c3 {(8s)} Nc6 {(51s)} 6. Nbd2 {(6s)} Bd6 {(29s)} 7. Bg3 {(10s)} O-O {(205s)} 8. Bb5 {(65s)} a5 {(539s)} 9. a4 {(451s)} Ne7 {(289s)} 10. Qe2 {(574s)} Nf5 {(859s)} 11. Bd3 {(688s)} Be7 {(1133s)} 12. Be5 {(376s)} b6 {(285s)} 13. Bxf6 {(526s)} Bxf6 {(6s)} 14. g4 {(5s)} Nd6 {(294s)} 15. h4 { (201s)} Be7 {( 225s)} 16. g5 {(1001s)} Bb7 {(174s)} 17. Ne5 {(15s)} Qe8 {(235s) } 18. Rg1 {(272s)} f5 {(202s)} 19. gxf6 {(29s)} Bxf6 {(5s)} 20. Qg4 {(183s)} Ba6 {(378s)} 21. Bc2 {(93s)} Ra7 {(118s)} 22. Ndf3 {(598 s)} Bxe5 {(161s)} 23. dxe5 {(412s)} Nf5 {(244s)} 24. Ng5 {(172s)} h6 {(548s)} 25. Nh3 {(4s)} d4 $2 { (81 s)} (25... b5 $1 {Counterattack is the only way. Black keeps options open by taking on a4 and opening the b-file.}) 26. e4 {(101s)} d3 {(192s)} 27. Bb3 { (46s)} c4 {(168s)} 28. Bd1 {Black has established a strong pawn chain, but now her knight on f5 is doomed as it has nowhere to go: putting it on e7 would allow Qxg7#.} Qb8 {(71s)} 29. exf5 {( 55s)} Qxe5+ {(5s)} 30. Kd2 {(56s)} Rxf5 { (9s)} 31. f4 {(65s)} Qf6 {(88s)} 32. Bf3 {(304s)} Bb7 {(15s)} 33. Bxb7 {(435s)} Rxb7 {(1s)} 34. Qf3 {Black simply does not have enough for the piece.} Rf7 { (103s)} 35. h5 {(91s)} Qh4 {(17s)} 36. Rg4 {(57 s)} Qxh5 {(81s)} 37. Rag1 { (22s)} Rd5 {(131s)} 38. Nf2 {(38s)} Qf5 {(67s)} 39. Ne4 {(32s)} Rdd7 {(2s)} 40. Qe3 {(0s)} b5 {(0s)} 41. Nc5 {(1660s)} Rde7 {(557s)} 42. Qe5 {(4s)} bxa4 { (750s)} 43. Ke3 {(47 s)} Kh7 {(164s)} 44. Rh4 {(563s)} Qxe5+ {(473s)} 45. fxe5 {(5s)} Rf5 {(4s)} 46. Rxc4 {(37s)} Rxe5+ {(5s)} 47. Ne4 {(128s)} g5 {(223s)} 48. Rxa4 {(30s)} Kg6 {(67s)} 49. Kxd3 {(251s)} Rf7 {(215s)} 50. Nd2 {(225s)} h5 {(137s)} 51. Re4 {(14s)} Rxe4 {(207s)} 52. Nxe4 {(6s)} g4 {(3s)} 53. c4 {(249s) } Rf3+ {(353s)} 54. Kd4 {(5s)} Kf5 {(9s)} 55. Ng3+ {(73s)} Rxg3 {(311s)} 56. Rxg3 {(4s)} h4 {(4s)} 57. Rg1 {(14s)} g3 {(1s)} 58. Ke3 {(7s)} Kg4 {(1s)} 59. Rd1 {(8s)} e5 {(124s)} 60. c5 {(0s)} 1-0 [Event "Shamkir"] [Site "?"] [Date "2016.06.02"] [Round "7"] [White "Caruana"] [Black "Giri"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "2R5/6pk/p6p/3pr3/8/7P/qP4P1/5QK1 w - - 0 35"] [PlyCount "27"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] 35. Qf7 $1 Qxb2 (35... Qa4 $5 {not the mainline perhaps, but quite tricky} 36. Kh2 $1 h5 {again makes White find a move} 37. b4 $1 {Blocking the Qf4+ possibility to set up Qg8+ and Rc7 (if Black does nothing), and if Qxb4 then Rc6+ is possible with a Q/R hunt as in mainline, with differing details though} ) 36. Qg8+ Kg6 37. Rc6+ Kf5 38. Qf8+ Ke4 39. Qf3+ Kd4 40. Qd1+ Ke4 41. Kh2 $1 { Is a somewhat different type of Q/R hunt.} a5 42. Rc1 $1 {Though after other Black tries Rc2! would be the killer.} Qf2 (42... h5 $5 {Stopping Qg4+ in some lines if nothing else} 43. Qf3+ Kd4 44. Qf4+ Re4 45. Rd1+ Kc3 46. Qc7+ Kb4 47. Rxd5 {and Black's king dies of overexposure, though again this is not immediately obvious}) 43. Rc2 Qf4+ 44. g3 Qg5 45. h4 {Here Rf2 also works, though h4 shows how Black's queen lacks squares. After Qg4/Qh5 then Re2+ sets up a discovery, while Qf6 runs into a f-file skewer.} Qd8 {Still perhaps no "clear" win to a human here, as Black can grovel on with Re7 after Rf2} (45... Qe7 46. Rf2 {and the Black king is trapped}) 46. Qb1 $1 {Again the threatened discovery is quite strong} Kd4 47. Qb2+ Ke4 48. Re2+ {and captures on e5} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Shamkir Chess 2016"] [Site "Shamkir"] [Date "2016.06.02"] [Round "7.3"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C81"] [WhiteElo "2804"] [BlackElo "2790"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackTeam "Netherlands"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "NED"] [WhiteClock "0:23:28"] [BlackClock "0:36:51"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. Qe2 Be7 10. Rd1 O-O 11. c4 bxc4 12. Bxc4 Bc5 13. Be3 Bxe3 14. Qxe3 Qb8 15. Bb3 Na5 16. Nd4 (16. Nbd2 Qa7 17. Qxa7 Rxa7 18. Nxe4 Nxb3 19. axb3 dxe4 20. Nd4 Rb7 {Lu,S (2619)-Wei,Y (2700) Xinghua 2016}) 16... c5 17. Nxe6 fxe6 18. f3 c4 19. fxe4 cxb3 20. exd5 bxa2 (20... Nc4 21. Qd4 Qa7 22. Qxa7 Rxa7 23. axb3 Ne3 24. Rc1 Raf7 25. Nd2 Rf2 {Kosteniuk,A (2489)-Muzychuk,A (2594) Belgrade 2013}) 21. Rxa2 Nc4 22. Qd4 Qb3 23. Nc3 Rac8 24. Rb1 (24. dxe6 Nxb2 25. e7 Rfe8 26. Rb1 Qxc3 27. Qxc3 Rxc3 28. Raxb2 Rc7) 24... Ne3 25. Qxe3 Rxc3 26. Qxc3 Qxa2 27. Rd1 exd5 28. Qd4 Re8 $6 (28... Qc4 $1 29. Qxd5+ Qxd5 30. Rxd5 Rb8 31. e6 Kf8 {forces a draw.}) 29. Rc1 $1 {Keeps the game going.} h6 30. h3 Kh8 31. e6 Rxe6 32. Rc8+ Kh7 33. Qd3+ Re4 34. Qf1 $1 {Very strong.} Re5 35. Qd3+ ({Missing } 35. Qf7 $1 Qa4 {and now with a tempo down} (35... Qxb2 36. Qg8+ Kg6 37. Rc6+ Kf5 38. Qf7+ Ke4 39. Qf3+ Kd4 40. Qd1+ Ke4 41. Kh2 $1) (35... Qa1+ 36. Kh2 Qa4 37. b3 $1 Qxb3 38. Qg8+ Kg6 39. Rc6+ Kf5 40. Qxg7 {and there is no check on f4} ) 36. Kh2 $1 {also wins, but the lines the computer gives are very long and complicated. It turns out that Black doesn't have a good move here, e.g.} Rg5 37. Qg8+ Kg6 38. Qe6+ Kh7 39. b4 $1 Qxb4 (39... Qb3 40. Qg8+ Kg6 41. Rc6+ Kf5 42. Qc8+ Ke4 43. Rc3 Qd1 44. Qe6+ Re5 45. Qg6+ Kd4 46. Rf3 Qe2 47. Qg4+ Qe4 48. Qxg7) 40. Qg8+ Kg6 {and here White gives mate in 26(!) starting with} 41. Rc6+ Kh5 (41... Kf5 42. Qxd5+ Kf4 43. g3+) 42. Qf7+ Kh4 43. Qf2+ Kh5 44. Qf3+ Kh4 45. g3+) 35... Re4 36. Qf1 Re5 37. Qd3+ Re4 38. Qf1 1/2-1/2 [Event "Shamkir Chess 2016"] [Site "?"] [Date "2016.06.02"] [Round "7.1"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Safarli, Eltaj"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E20"] [WhiteElo "2748"] [BlackElo "2664"] [Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"] [PlyCount "87"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [WhiteClock "1:15:47"] [BlackClock "0:39:23"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. g3 d5 5. Bg2 O-O 6. a3 {A fresh line in comparison to the standard} (6. Nf3) 6... Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 c5 {"I am not sure about this move. I analyzed this and I think it is easier to play as White." Mamedyarov.} ({Black's major alternative is to accept the sacrificed pawn with } 7... dxc4 8. Nf3 Nc6 9. O-O Na5 10. Bg5 c6 11. e4 h6 12. Bh4 {as in Ivanchuk, V (2710)-Fressinet,L (2700) Huaian 2016}) 8. cxd5 exd5 9. Nf3 cxd4 {A novelty, but "I think this is a bad move as it gives me time" - Mamedyarov. There are other continuations, for example:} ({Predecessors have seen so far:} 9... Bf5 { wh obviously Mamedyarov spent a lot of time analyzing this line} 10. O-O (10. dxc5 $5) 10... Qc8 {Now} 11. Bg5 $5 {seems to give White some edge} (11. Bf4 c4 12. Nd2 Bh3 {Colls Gelaberto,E (2164)-Naroditsky, D (2622) Benasque 2015}) ({ Or also} 11. dxc5)) ({White believed that best for his opponent is} 9... Re8 10. O-O Qe7) ({On} 9... Ne4 {Mamedyarov intended} 10. Qc2) 10. Nxd4 Nc6 11. O-O Ne4 12. c4 $1 {" I missed this move" - Safarli.} Re8 {White has big advantage as the tactical line:} (12... Nc3 13. Nxc6 Qe8 14. Qd2 Nxe2+ 15. Kh1 Nxc1 16. Nd4 {leaves Black a knight down.}) 13. Bb2 {Simple and strong.} ({White also considered} 13. Be3 $5 {but was not sure about the complications after} Nc3 14. Nxc6 bxc6 15. Qd3 d4 16. Bxc6 Bg4 (16... Bd7 {might be better with the idea} 17. Bxa8 $2 Qxa8 18. Rfc1 Bh3 19. f3 Rxe3) 17. Bxe8) 13... Na5 ({On} 13... Qb6 {strong is} 14. cxd5 Qxb2 15. dxc6 bxc6 16. Qd3 {Mamedyarov.}) 14. cxd5 Nc4 15. Rb1 ({Also good was} 15. Qb3 Nxb2 16. Qxb2 Qxd5 17. Rfd1 {with a large advantage for White.}) 15... Nxb2 (15... Ned2 {does not work on the account of} 16. Rc1 Nxf1 17. Rxc4 {and the knight is trapped.}) ({And if the other knight jumps} 15... Ncd2 {simply} 16. Bxe4) 16. Rxb2 Qxd5 17. Qd3 {Mamedyarov goes for a forcing line.} ({He disliked} 17. Rb5 Qd6 18. Qd3 a6 19. Rb4 Nc5 { with some chances for a draw.}) 17... Bd7 18. Rfb1 Rab8 {This loses material but it is extremely difficult to give Black good advice.} ({The point of White's idea was that in case of the natural move} 18... b6 {he has} 19. Nb5 $1 Qxd3 20. exd3 Bxb5 21. Bxe4 {winning the exchange.}) ({He also calculated} 18... Rad8 19. Rxb7 Bc8 20. R7b4 a5 21. Ra4 Qd7 22. Qc2 {and saw no danger for White's rook getting trapped.}) ({Safarli discarded} 18... Bc6 {because of the rook endgame after} 19. Nxc6 bxc6 20. Bxe4 Qxe4 21. Qxe4 Rxe4 22. Rb8+ Re8 23. Rxa8 Rxa8 24. Rb7 {which he believed is lost for Black.}) 19. Rb5 $1 Bxb5 20. Rxb5 Nxf2 21. Kxf2 Qd6 ({Or} 21... Qd7 22. Rd5 {followedby Nd4-f5 and a typical kingside attack. If you have two pieces against a rook in the middlegame, then you should attack the king.}) 22. Bxb7 Rbd8 {Mamedyarov has won two minor pieces for a rook and is clearly winning.} 23. e3 {Even better was} (23. Bd5 a6 {and now not Ljubojevic's recommendation} 24. Nf5 ({But} 24. Bxf7+ $1 Kxf7 25. Qb3+ Re6 (25... Kf8 26. Rf5+ Ke7 27. Qf7#) 26. Rb7+ Kf6 27. Qf3+ Ke5 28. Nxe6 Kxe6 (28... Qxe6 29. Qc3+) 29. Qf7+ {and White wins.}) 24... Qf6 25. Rb7 Re5 26. e4 g6 27. Rxf7 {which Mamedyarov saw, and which was the main reason for him not to chose this line due to the tricky refutation} Rdxd5 $1 28. Qxd5 Qb6+) 23... Re5 24. a4 h5 25. h4 Rde8 26. e4 Qf6+ 27. Kg2 Rxb5 28. axb5 g6 29. Bd5 Re7 30. Qd2 (30. Qe3 $5 {should be winning too.}) 30... a6 31. bxa6 {Only here does Mamedyarov go wrong. Without the queenside pawns Black's surviving chances increase greatly.} (31. Nc6 $1 {suggested by Safarli would have won after} Rd7 32. Nb8 $1 ({But not} 32. e5 Qe6 $1 {(Mamedyarov)})) 31... Qxa6 32. Nc6 (32. Qf4 {would have been a better try.}) (32. Qf2 Qb6) 32... Rc7 33. Nd8 {Mamedyarov lost the path once that the queenside pawns were traded.} ( 33. Ne5 Kg7) ({For some reason White was afraid of the possible fortresses after} 33. Qf2 Qxc6 34. Bxc6 Rxc6 {although he admitted he should be winning here.}) 33... Qa4 34. Qh6 ({From far away White thought he is winning after} 34. Bxf7+ Rxf7 35. Qd5 {but saw the refutation just in time} Qc2+ 36. Kh3 Qc8+) (34. Qd3 Kg7 35. Nxf7 {seems winning for White but there is the fantastic resource} Rxf7 36. Qc3+ Rf6 37. Qc7+ Kh6 38. Qd8 Rf7 $3 39. Qg5+ (39. Bxf7 Qxe4+ 40. Kf2 Qf5+) 39... Kg7 40. Qe5+ Kh7 41. Bxf7 Qc2+ 42. Kh3 Qd1 43. Bxg6+ Kxg6 44. Qf5+ Kh6 {and despite the two extra pawn, this might be a draw.}) 34... Rc2+ ({White intended to repeat moves after} 34... Qa6 35. Qd2 Qa4 36. Qg5 Qa6) ({However, at this very moment Safarli missed a study-like draw with} 34... Qc2+ $1 35. Kh3 Qd1 $3 36. Qxg6+ Kf8 37. Qd6+ Kg7 38. e5 Qg4+ 39. Kh2 Rc2+ 40. Bg2 Rxg2+ 41. Kxg2 Qe2+ {with perpetual.}) 35. Kh3 Qd7+ 36. Ne6 fxe6 37. Qxg6+ Kf8 {Now White is back in control. It is unclear though if he is winning after} (37... Kh8 38. Qxh5+ Kg7 39. Qg4+ Kf7) 38. Bxe6 Qg7 39. Qxh5 Rc3 40. Qg4 Qxg4+ {Without the queens the pawns are unstoppable. The last chance was} (40... Qf6 41. Qg8+ Ke7 42. Bf5) 41. Kxg4 Kg7 42. Kf4 Rc1 43. Kg5 Re1 44. Bf5 1-0 [Event "Shamkir Chess 2016"] [Site "?"] [Date "2016.06.02"] [Round "7.4"] [White "Eljanov, Pavel"] [Black "Hou, Yifan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D02"] [WhiteElo "2765"] [BlackElo "2663"] [Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"] [PlyCount "119"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:20:17"] [BlackClock "0:00:26"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Bf4 {The London System attracted one more strong GM. According to my Megabase, this is only the second time that Eljanov plays it.} e6 ({His previous game went:} 3... Bf5 4. e3 e6 5. Bd3 Ne4 6. Nbd2 Bd6 7. Bxe4 dxe4 8. Ne5 {Eljanov,P (2765)-Li,C (2755) Stavanger 2016}) 4. e3 c5 5. c3 Nc6 6. Nbd2 Bd6 7. Bg3 O-O 8. Bb5 {A rare move. White normally develops the bishop on the b1-h7 diagonal:} (8. Bd3 b6 9. e4 Be7 10. Ne5 Nxe5 11. dxe5 Nxe4 12. Nxe4 dxe4 13. Bxe4 Qxd1+ 14. Rxd1 Rb8 {with a slight pull for White in Kamsky, G (2678)-Nakamura,H (2787) Saint Louis 2016}) 8... a5 {This has never been played before. A common approach is} (8... Ne7 9. dxc5 Bxc5 10. Bd3 b6 { Kramnik, V (2801)-Nakamura,H (2787) Zuerich 2016}) ({while Eljanov tried as Black} 8... Qe7 9. O-O Bxg3 10. hxg3 Bd7 11. Bxc6 Bxc6 12. Ne5 Rac8 {Kayumov,S (2505)-Eljanov,P (2723) Dubai 2014}) 9. a4 {This stops Black's plan Nc6-a7 followed by b7-b5 and a queenside attack.} Ne7 10. Qe2 Nf5 11. Bd3 Be7 { Naturally, Hou does not want to open a file against her king with} (11... Nxg3 12. hxg3 {when g3-g4-g5 comes automatically.}) 12. Be5 {But Eljanov finds another way to advance his pawns.} b6 13. Bxf6 Bxf6 14. g4 Nd6 15. h4 Be7 16. g5 Bb7 ({Perhaps} 16... Nf5 $5 {to block the diagonal was better.}) 17. Ne5 Qe8 $1 {Prophylaxis.} 18. Rg1 {Eljanov improves his position.} ({The immediate} 18. Bxh7+ {is wrong due to} Kxh7 19. Qh5+ Kg8 20. g6 fxg6 21. Nxg6 Rf5) ({Hou's idea is seen in the line} 18. Qh5 {to weaken the kingside} f5 $1) 18... f5 { Black has to watch out for the sacrifice on h7 already.} (18... c4 {In comparison to before} 19. Bxh7+ Kxh7 20. Qh5+ Kg8 21. g6 fxg6 22. Nxg6 Rf5 $2 { leads to mate with the white rook on g1} ({Nothing is clear though after} 22... Nf7) ({Or} 22... Bf6) 23. Qh8+ Kf7 24. Ne5+ Kf6 25. Qxg7#) 19. gxf6 Bxf6 20. Qg4 {White is happy to open files on the kingside, but he still has a major problem to solve: where to hide his own king? We can now fully appreaciate the value of Hou's novelty.} Ba6 21. Bc2 Ra7 22. Ndf3 Bxe5 {An inaccuracy. After the preliminary} (22... cxd4 23. exd4 Bxe5 24. Nxe5 Nc4 {Black is very solid.}) 23. dxe5 $1 Nf5 24. Ng5 h6 {Black plays in a very classical way and tries to counter the flank attack with a central strike. But she comes a move short.} ( 24... b5 $5 {deserved attention first when a possible line runs} 25. axb5 ({ However, here too White has} 25. e4 dxe4 26. Nxe4 {with advantage.}) 25... Qxb5 26. Nxe6 Qxb2 27. Kd2 d4 28. exd4 cxd4 29. cxd4 Rc8 30. Qxf5 Qc3+ 31. Kd1 Qxa1+ 32. Bb1 g6 33. Rxg6+ hxg6 34. Qxg6+ Kh8 35. Qh6+) (24... d4 {would be answered} 25. e4 {as well.}) 25. Nh3 d4 26. e4 $1 {The knight is trapped.} d3 27. Bb3 ( 27. exf5 $2 dxc2 28. f6 Bd3 $1) 27... c4 28. Bd1 Qb8 29. exf5 Qxe5+ 30. Kd2 Rxf5 31. f4 ({Instead} 31. Qg3 {would have saved White a lot of nerves as Black cannot escape the endgame} Qf6 $2 32. Qb8+) 31... Qf6 32. Bf3 Bb7 33. Bxb7 Rxb7 34. Qf3 Rf7 35. h5 Qh4 36. Rg4 Qxh5 37. Rag1 {One more chance was missed in time trouble:} (37. Qa8+ {would have discoordinated the black pieces} Kh7 (37... Rf8 38. Qg2) 38. Qg2 {The threat is Nh3-g5+} Re7 39. Rg1 Qf7 40. Qe4 {and White should win.}) 37... Rd5 38. Nf2 Qf5 39. Ne4 Rdd7 40. Qe3 b5 { The time trouble is over and Eljanov found a way to convert his advantage:} 41. Nc5 Rde7 42. Qe5 {Back to the endgame idea.} bxa4 (42... Qxe5 43. fxe5 Rf2+ 44. Kc1 {was a better version of the endgame for Black although it is doubtful she can save it anyway.}) 43. Ke3 Kh7 44. Rh4 Qxe5+ 45. fxe5 Rf5 46. Rxc4 Rxe5+ 47. Ne4 g5 48. Rxa4 Kg6 49. Kxd3 Rf7 50. Nd2 h5 51. Re4 Rxe4 52. Nxe4 g4 53. c4 Rf3+ 54. Kd4 Kf5 55. Ng3+ Rxg3 ({Or} 55... Kg5 56. c5) 56. Rxg3 h4 57. Rg1 g3 58. Ke3 Kg4 59. Rd1 e5 60. c5 1-0 [Event "Shamkir Chess 2016"] [Site "Shamkir"] [Date "2016.06.02"] [Round "7.5"] [White "Harikrishna, P."] [Black "Mamedov, Rauf"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B31"] [WhiteElo "2763"] [BlackElo "2655"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "103"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "India"] [BlackTeam "Azerbaijan"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IND"] [BlackTeamCountry "AZE"] [WhiteClock "0:35:25"] [BlackClock "0:46:40"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. Bxc6 bxc6 5. O-O Bg7 6. Re1 Nh6 7. c3 O-O 8. h3 f5 9. e5 Nf7 10. d4 cxd4 11. cxd4 c5 12. dxc5 Bb7 13. Nc3 e6 (13... Qc7 14. Bf4 Qxc5 15. Qxd7 Bxf3 16. gxf3 Qc4 17. e6 Qxf4 18. exf7+ Rxf7 {Nepomniachtchi, I (2703)-Kamsky,G (2670) Sochi 2016}) 14. Nd4 Bxe5 15. f4 Bg7 16. Be3 g5 17. fxg5 f4 18. Bf2 $6 ({Hari said he should have played} 18. Bxf4 e5 (18... Nxg5 $5 {Mamedov and now White has to find} 19. Nce2 $1) 19. c6 dxc6 20. Ne6 Qxd1 21. Raxd1 exf4 22. Nxf8 Rxf8 23. Re7 Bc8 24. Ne4 Bxb2 25. Rxa7 Bf5 26. Nf6+) 18... Qxg5 19. c6 Bxd4 20. Qxd4 (20. Bxd4 Bxc6 21. Ne4 Bxe4 22. Rxe4 e5 23. Bf2 Qg6 24. Qd5 d6 {is also good for Black.}) 20... Bxc6 21. Ne4 Qg7 22. Qxg7+ (22. Nf6+ Kh8 23. Nh5 Qxd4 24. Bxd4+ e5 25. Bxe5+ (25. Bc3 $5) 25... Nxe5 26. Rxe5 f3 27. g3 f2+ 28. Kf1 {Hari} Rab8 $1 29. a4 Rxb2 {Ljubojevic}) 22... Kxg7 23. Rad1 (23. Rac1 $5 e5 {Mamedov}) 23... Rg8 24. Bh4 Kh6 25. Rd2 Rg6 26. Nf6 e5 27. b4 Kg7 28. b5 (28. Nh5+ Kf8 {threatens Rh6}) 28... Bxb5 29. Nxd7 Re8 30. Nc5 Nd6 31. Ne4 Nxe4 ({Also strong was} 31... Nf5 $1 32. Bf2 Bc6 {and White can hardly move.}) 32. Rxe4 Bc6 33. Rc4 e4 34. Rdc2 Ree6 35. Be1 h5 (35... f3 $5 {Hari}) 36. Kh2 Kh6 37. Rd4 (37. g3 $5 f3 38. Bf2 {might be a direct way to a draw.}) 37... f3 38. Bh4 e3 39. gxf3 e2 40. Be1 Bxf3 (40... Re3 $5 {was a good try but perhaps White can still hold after} 41. Rcd2 Bxf3 42. Rd6 h4 43. Rxg6+ Kxg6 44. Rd4 Be4 45. Ra4) 41. Bd2+ Kh7 42. Rc7+ Rg7 43. Rxg7+ Kxg7 44. Kg3 Bc6 45. Kf2 Kg6 46. a4 a6 47. Be1 Kf5 48. Bd2 Kg6 49. Be1 Be4 50. Kxe2 Bf5+ 51. Kf2 Bxh3 52. Bb4 1/2-1/2 [Event "Shamkir Chess 2016"] [Site "Shamkir"] [Date "2016.06.02"] [Round "7.2"] [White "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Black "Radjabov, Teimour"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C18"] [WhiteElo "2779"] [BlackElo "2726"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Russia"] [BlackTeam "Azerbaijan"] [WhiteTeamCountry "RUS"] [BlackTeamCountry "AZE"] [WhiteClock "0:23:18"] [BlackClock "0:23:49"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Qa5 7. Bd2 Qa4 8. h4 (8. Qb1 c4 9. Ne2 Nc6 10. Nf4 Nge7 11. Nh5 Rg8 12. g3 Bd7 13. Bh3 O-O-O { Wang,H (2717)-Ivanchuk,V (2710) Huaian 2016}) 8... Nc6 9. Nf3 Nge7 10. h5 h6 11. Rb1 c4 12. g3 b6 (12... Bd7 13. Rxb7 O-O-O 14. Qb1 Qa6 15. Rb2 Kc7 16. Bh3 Rb8 17. Rxb8 Rxb8 18. Qc1 Rb5 {Kalegin,E (2467)-Yakimenko,A (2211) St Petersburg 2011}) 13. Bh3 Bd7 14. O-O O-O-O 15. Nh4 Rdg8 16. Ng2 Kb8 17. Re1 Bc8 18. Kh2 Ka8 19. Bf4 (19. Qc1) 19... Rf8 ({Radjabv didn't like} 19... Qxa3 20. Qd2 Qa6 21. Ra1 Qb7 22. Reb1 Kb8 23. Qd1) 20. Qc1 Rhg8 21. Re2 Rh8 22. Re1 Rh7 23. Bd2 Rhh8 24. Re2 (24. Qb2 $5 g6 $5 25. Bg4 Ng8 $5 {with the idea ...g5 and ...f5 (Radjabov).}) 24... Rh7 25. Kg1 Rhh8 26. Ra1 Rh7 27. Kh2 Rhh8 28. Ne3 Ng8 29. Ng2 Nge7 30. Bf4 Ng8 31. Bd2 Nge7 32. Bf4 Ng8 33. Bd2 1/2-1/2 [Event "Vugar Gashimov Mem 2016"] [Site "Shamkir AZE"] [Date "2016.06.03"] [Round "8"] [White "Caruana, F."] [Black "Mamedyarov, S."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B33"] [WhiteElo "2804"] [BlackElo "2748"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "116"] [EventDate "2016.05.26"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Nd5 Be7 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. c4 b4 12. Nc2 O-O {This variation of the Sveshnikov is not known for the most exciting games, but it is a positional and hard strugge usually.} 13. h4 $5 {The idea of this move is to take away the g5 square from the Black bishop as well as to give White the option of play Bh3 in the future. It has been tested at the top level a few times.} a5 14. g3 Be6 15. Bh3 Rb8 16. Qd3 Qd7 {Played before but not a move easily played. It is true that it's awkward to make a decision with the bishop on h3, but Black is sacrificing his structure at the moment without a clear option of going f5 in the future.} (16... a4 {Caruana himself had this position previously, against Van Wely in 2014. He won that game.}) 17. Nxf6+ gxf6 18. Bf5 (18. Bg2 f5 $6 (18... Rbd8 $13) 19. O-O-O {leads to some Sveshnikov play that I suspect favors White.}) 18... Qb7 19. Ne3 Nd4 20. O-O b3 21. a3 Kh8 22. Rac1 {Black's structural problems on the kingside are clear. In compensation he has a powerful knight on d4 that is not very easily dislodged, pressure against e4 and c4, and space on the queenside. The game is dynamically balanced at the moment.} Rbc8 23. Rfe1 Rc5 (23... Nf3+ 24. Kg2 Nxe1+ 25. Rxe1 { looks like a free exchange, but upon closer inspection it is unclear if the rook on e1 is worth less than the knight on d4.}) 24. Qd1 Bxf5 25. Nxf5 Nxf5 26. exf5 {Mamedyarov decides to swap some pieces. The structural weakness of f6 is now hidden behind the f5 pawn, so it is not a problem for the moment. Meanwhile Black has active pieces and pressure on c4.} Rd8 27. Qh5 Kg7 { Wouldn't want to allow a queen to h6.} 28. Rc3 (28. Qg4+ Kf8 29. Qh5 {would ask for a draw, but Black doesn't have to oblige.} Ke7 $5) 28... h6 29. Ree3 $6 {White's strange configuration with the rooks I can only guess is aimed at opening the kingside somehow. However it simply does not work, and now Black takes the opportunity to open up the position.} a4 30. Qe2 d5 $1 {The break exposes a couple of key features of the position: one is that White gets backrank mated in any many variations as long as the queen is on b7, the other is that the pawn on b3 can potentially become a monster.} 31. Qf3 Rdc8 $1 32. cxd5 Rxc3 33. Rxc3 Rxc3 34. Qxc3 Qxd5 {The queenendgame is lost for White. There will be no defense against Qd1-c2.} 35. Qb4 h5 $2 {Black's king is very safe against perpetuals, so this wasn't necessary.} (35... e4 $1 36. Qxa4 Qd1+ 37. Kg2 (37. Kh2 Qe2 38. Qd4 e3 39. Qxe3 Qxb2 {changes very little.}) 37... Qf3+ 38. Kg1 e3 $19 {is a far more accurate approach.}) 36. Qxa4 Qd3 $6 37. g4 Qb1+ 38. Kg2 Qxb2 39. gxh5 Qc2 {As your computer will tell you, the drawing move here is} 40. Qg4+ (40. Qb4 $1 b2 41. h6+ $1 Kxh6 (41... Kh7 42. Qf8 Qe4+ 43. f3 $1 Qe2+ 44. Kg3 Qe1+ 45. Kg2 $11) 42. Qf8+ Kh5 43. Kg3 $1 {Again a quiet king move in a Caruana variation. This threatens a perpetual with Qh8-g8 and it cannot be stopped. Unless, of course, Black doesn't see the other threat, Qxf7 and Qg6 mate.} Qxf5 44. Qh8+ Kg6 45. Qg8+ Kh6 46. Qf8+ Kh7 47. Qxf7+ Kh6 48. Qf8+ Kg6 49. Qg8+ Kh6 50. Qf8+ Kg6 51. Qg8+ Kh5 52. Qh8+ $11) 40... Kh7 41. h6 $2 (41. Qa4 $1 {Was the only way to still keep the pawn in check. The computer still claims this is drawn.}) 41... Kxh6 42. Qg8 Qxf5 43. Qf8+ Kh5 (43... Kg6 $1) 44. f3 Kxh4 (44... Qc2+ $1 45. Kg3 Qc4 {is some computer shenanigans.}) 45. Qb4+ Qf4 46. Qxb3 Qd2+ 47. Kf1 Kg3 {This positoin is still totally winning for Black.} 48. f4+ Kxf4 49. a4 f5 50. Qb5 Qd1+ 51. Kf2 Qc2+ 52. Kf1 f6 53. Qb4+ {This just helps Black, but Caruana was busted no matter what he did.} e4 54. Qb5 Kg3 55. Qe2 Qxe2+ 56. Kxe2 f4 57. a5 f3+ 58. Kf1 e3 (58... e3 59. a6 e2+ 60. Ke1 Kg2 61. a7 f2+ 62. Kxe2 f1=Q+ 63. Ke3 Qa6) 0-1 [Event "Vugar Gashimov Mem 2016"] [Site "Shamkir AZE"] [Date "2016.06.03"] [Round "8"] [White "Safarli, E."] [Black "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B13"] [WhiteElo "2664"] [BlackElo "2779"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "43"] [EventDate "2016.05.26"] 1. c4 c6 2. e4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. d4 {The Caro-Kann (which this now is) is not part of Karjakin's repertoire, but since the Panov-Botvinnik is considered acceptable for Black in most variations, a lot of Black players are not afraid of answering 1.c4 with c6.} Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 Be6 {This line has been considered good for Black for a while now, though White keeps trying to find an edge somehow. The most popular move here is 7.a3.} 7. Be2 (7. a3 Qd7 8. b4 $5 $13) 7... Qa5 8. Bf3 {By far not the most common move, but it scores well. Both Nf3 and c5 are more common but score badly.} dxc4 9. d5 O-O-O 10. Bd2 Nxd5 11. Nxd5 Rxd5 12. Bxd5 {The novelty, although of questionable value.} (12. Bxa5 Rxd1+ 13. Rxd1 Nxa5 14. Bd5 {led to a win for White in Naiditsch-Dreev from 2014, but Black should be at least fine here.}) 12... Qxd5 13. Nf3 Bf5 { White is up the exchange, but as soon as Black finishes development he not only has enough material for the exchange, but a fantastic position.} 14. O-O e6 $6 {This inaccuracy lets the advantage slip away.} (14... Bd3 15. Re1 e5 $1 {With real pressure}) 15. b3 $1 Bd3 16. bxc4 {With the c-file open like this it's hard to believe Black can be better. On the other hand his pieces should be strong enough to not be worse either.} Qf5 17. Re1 Bc5 18. Be3 Bb4 19. Bd2 Bc5 20. Be3 Bb4 21. Bd2 Bc5 22. Be3 1/2-1/2 [Event "Vugar Gashimov Mem 2016"] [Site "Shamkir AZE"] [Date "2016.06.03"] [Round "8.2"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Hou, Yifan"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D38"] [WhiteElo "2790"] [BlackElo "2663"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "206"] [EventDate "2016.05.26"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 Qxf6 7. Qb3 c5 8. cxd5 exd5 9. a3 Bxc3+ 10. Qxc3 Nd7 11. g3 O-O 12. Bg2 Re8 13. e3 b6 14. O-O Bb7 15. Rfc1 a5 16. dxc5 Qxc3 17. Rxc3 Nxc5 18. Rac1 Kf8 19. Nd4 Rad8 20. Bf1 Re7 21. Bb5 g6 22. b4 axb4 23. axb4 Ne4 24. Rc7 Nd6 25. Rxe7 Kxe7 26. Rc7+ Kf8 27. Bd3 Rb8 28. g4 Ke8 29. Bb5+ Kf8 30. Bd7 Bc8 31. h3 Bxd7 32. Rxd7 Ne4 33. Nc6 Ra8 34. Ne5 Ra1+ 35. Kg2 Ra2 36. Rxf7+ Kg8 37. h4 Rb2 38. Rf4 Kg7 39. Nc6 b5 40. Nd8 Rxb4 41. Ne6+ Kg8 42. Rf8+ Kh7 43. Rf7+ Kh8 44. Rf8+ Kh7 45. Rf7+ Kh8 46. f3 {Black has been against the ropes for a while, but this position is already not as bad as it used to be. Black could move her knight to c3 and hope to hold, though it is still very unpleasant, but Yifan has a clear cut solution.} Rb2+ $1 47. Kh3 Re2 48. Rf8+ Kh7 49. Rf7+ Kh8 50. Rf8+ Kh7 51. fxe4 {Black gives up her knight, but this time she gets enough pawns and the pawn count from White is too reduced.} Rxe3+ 52. Kh2 Rxe4 53. Rf7+ Kh8 54. Rf8+ Kh7 55. Rf7+ Kh8 56. Nc7 Kg8 57. Rd7 Rxg4 58. Kh3 Rc4 59. Nxd5 Kf8 60. Nf6 Rc6 $1 61. Ng4 Rb6 $1 62. Nxh6 b4 {By sacrificing the h6 pawn and pushing the b-pawn Black guarantees that the rook will remain passive. This gives her enough time to bring in her king and easily draw, as White cannot both take the b-pawn and hang on to her h-pawn.} 63. Rf7+ Ke8 64. Rf2 b3 65. Rb2 Ke7 66. Ng4 Ke6 67. Re2+ Kf7 68. Rb2 Ke6 69. Kg3 Rb5 70. Nf2 Kf6 71. Ne4+ Kg7 72. Ng5 Kh6 73. Nf3 Rb4 74. Kf2 (74. Nd2 Kh5 75. Nxb3 {is a draw either by taking the h-pawn or just keeping the rook on the b-file. White can't make progress.}) 74... Kh5 75. Ke3 Rb8 76. Ke4 Rb4+ 77. Kd5 Kg4 78. Ne5+ Kh5 79. Nf3 Kg4 80. Kc5 Rb8 81. Ne5+ Kh5 82. Nc6 Rb7 83. Na5 Rb8 84. Nc6 Rb7 85. Ne5 Rb8 86. Kc4 Rc8+ 87. Kd4 Rb8 88. Kc3 Rb5 89. Nf3 Rb8 90. Nd4 Kxh4 91. Nxb3 g5 92. Rh2+ Kg3 93. Rh7 g4 94. Nd2 Rg8 95. Kd3 Kg2 96. Nc4 Rf8 97. Nd2 g3 98. Rg7 Ra8 99. Ke3 Ra3+ 100. Kf4 Kg1 101. Nc4 g2 102. Nxa3 Kf2 103. Rxg2+ Kxg2 1/2-1/2 [Event "Shamkir Chess 2016"] [Site "?"] [Date "2016.06.03"] [Round "8.3"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B33"] [WhiteElo "2804"] [BlackElo "2748"] [Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"] [PlyCount "116"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:01:09"] [BlackClock "0:59:39"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 {The Sveshnikov came back into popularity after the Anand-Gelfand match. The Israeli GM adopted the opening to fully neutralize Anand's white color.} 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Nd5 Be7 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. c4 {A solid positional line.} b4 12. Nc2 O-O 13. h4 {Caruana deviates from a game that he played in the same tournament a year ago.} ({After} 13. g3 Bg5 14. Bg2 Qa5 15. O-O Qc5 16. b3 a5 17. Kh1 a4 { Black did well in Caruana,F (2808)-Mamedov,R (2657) Baku 2015}) 13... a5 14. g3 Be6 15. Bh3 {White is generally happy to swap off the light-squared bishops. Ideally, without trading on e6.} Rb8 16. Qd3 (16. Kf1 {with the idea to meet 16...Qd7 with 17.Kg2 can be answered by} b3) 16... Qd7 17. Nxf6+ gxf6 18. Bf5 { A novelty.} ({Black started an interesting plan after} 18. Bg2 f5 19. Rd1 Rbd8 20. Qe3 f4 21. gxf4 f5 {So,W (2577)-Pascua,H (2174) Manila 2008}) (18. Bxe6 { would be wrong because of} fxe6) 18... Qb7 $1 {"A strong move" - Caruana. The queen moves away from the pin and creates X-ray threats along the major diagonal.} 19. Ne3 ({Now} 19. Qxd6 $4 {would be a losing blunder} Rfd8 20. Qc5 Bxf5 21. exf5 Nd4) ({Caruana considered} 19. O-O {but came to the conclusion that it is drawish after} b3 $1 20. Bxe6 ({Or} 20. axb3 Qxb3 21. Qxd6 Bxf5 22. exf5 Qxc2 23. Qxc6 Qxf5) 20... bxc2 21. Bd5 Nb4) ({Also equal is} 19. Bxe6 fxe6 20. O-O ({But again not} 20. Qxd6 $2 Nd4 21. Nxd4 Qxe4+ 22. Kd2 Rbd8)) 19... Nd4 20. O-O b3 $1 {This same idea, which creates counter-attacking possibilities for Black on the queenside.} 21. a3 ({Too unclear is} 21. Nd5 Bxd5 22. exd5 bxa2 23. Bxh7+ Kg7 24. Rxa2 {Caruana.}) 21... Kh8 22. Rac1 Rbc8 23. Rfe1 $5 {The positional sacrifice of an exchange...} Rc5 {...which Mamedyarov does not accept. The blockading knight is indeed not worse than the rook in the line} (23... Nf3+ 24. Kg2 Nxe1+ 25. Rxe1) 24. Qd1 Bxf5 25. Nxf5 Nxf5 26. exf5 Rd8 27. Qh5 Kg7 28. Rc3 ({Maybe it was time to force a draw with } 28. Qg4+ Kf8 29. Qh5) ({or at least risk with} 28. g4 Qf3 29. Rc3 Qf4 30. g5 {which both players considered good for Black after either} Qxf5 ({or} 30... fxg5)) 28... h6 {"Black is better" - Mamedyarov.} 29. Ree3 ({White did not like } 29. a4 d5 {but this was possibly best.}) 29... a4 {This keeps Black's most important pawn secure.} 30. Qe2 d5 $1 {White's position is very difficult. The powerful pawn on b3 provides Black better chances in any endgame. His king is also safer.} 31. Qf3 ({Or} 31. cxd5 Rcxd5 32. Qg4+ Kh7 33. Qe4 Rd1+ 34. Kg2 Qa7 ) 31... Rdc8 32. cxd5 {Ljubojevic and Mamedyarov claimed that White could have made a draw with either:} (32. Rcd3 Rxc4 33. Rxd5 Rc2 {but here Black is definitely on top.}) ({or} 32. Red3 Rxc4 33. Rxc4 Rxc4 34. Qxd5 {This though loses by force after} Qxd5 35. Rxd5 Rc2 36. Ra5 Rxb2 37. Rxa4 Rc2 38. Rb4 b2 39. Kg2 e4 $1 {and e4-e3-e2 is an unstoppable threat.}) 32... Rxc3 33. Rxc3 Rxc3 34. Qxc3 Qxd5 35. Qb4 ({Caruana had another idea for the defense, which also fails:} 35. h5 Qd1+ 36. Kg2 Qc2 37. Qb4 e4 $1 (37... Qxb2 38. Qg4+ Kh7 39. Qc4) 38. Qxa4 (38. Qd4 e3 39. Qxe3 Qxb2) 38... e3 39. Qg4+ Kh7) 35... h5 { Black misses a clear win:} (35... e4 36. Qxa4 (36. g4 Qd1+) 36... Qd1+ 37. Kg2 Qc2) 36. Qxa4 Qd3 ({It was not too late for:} 36... e4 $1) 37. g4 $1 {Caruana grabs his chance and opens up the black king for a perpetual.} Qb1+ 38. Kg2 Qxb2 39. gxh5 Qc2 40. Qg4+ ({With his last move before the time control Caruana misses a draw. It should be noted that it was extremely difficult to find without the time deficit.} 40. Qb4 b2 ({Or} 40... e4 41. h6+ Kxh6 42. Qf8+ Kh5 43. Qxf7+ Kg4 44. Qxf6) 41. h6+ Kxh6 (41... Kh7 42. Qf8 Qe4+ 43. f3) 42. Qf8+ Kh5 43. Kg3 Qc3+ 44. f3 Qe1+ 45. Kg2 Qxh4 46. Qxf7+ Kg5 47. Qg8+ Kxf5 48. Qc8+ Kf4 49. Qc4+ Kg5 ({The last trick is} 49... e4 $1 50. Qc7+ $1 ({Not} 50. Qxe4+ Kg5 51. Qd5+ Kh6)) 50. Qg8+ {with perpetual.}) 40... Kh7 41. h6 {This definitely loses. The last chance was:} (41. Qa4 $3 {(Ljubojevic, Tiviakov) when White may still survive:} e4 (41... Qc3 42. Qd7 (42. Qa7 $5) 42... Qc4 43. Qb7 e4 44. a4 e3 45. fxe3 Qe2+ (45... Kg7 46. Kg3) 46. Kg3 Qxe3+ 47. Kg2 Qe2+ 48. Kh3 Qd3+ 49. Kg2 {Black is still much better, but objectively it should be a draw.}) 42. Qe8 Qc4 43. Qf8 (43. h6 e3 44. Qf8 Qg4+ 45. Kf1 Qg8 46. Qb4)) 41... Kxh6 42. Qg8 Qxf5 43. Qf8+ (43. Qh8+ Qh7) 43... Kh5 44. f3 Kxh4 (44... Qc2+ 45. Kg3 Qg6+ 46. Kh3 {complicates things.}) 45. Qb4+ Qf4 46. Qxb3 Qd2+ 47. Kf1 Kg3 48. f4+ (48. Qxf7 $4 Qd1#) 48... Kxf4 49. a4 ({On} 49. Qxf7 f5 ({ Best is} 49... Qc1+ $1 50. Ke2 Qc2+ 51. Kf1 f5 {and wins.}) 50. Qb3 e4 51. a4) 49... f5 50. Qb5 Qd1+ 51. Kf2 Qc2+ 52. Kf1 f6 $1 {A subtle move that coordinates the black forces.} 53. Qb4+ e4 54. Qb5 Kg3 55. Qe2 Qxe2+ 56. Kxe2 f4 57. a5 f3+ 58. Kf1 e3 0-1 [Event "Shamkir Chess 2016"] [Site "Shamkir"] [Date "2016.06.03"] [Round "8.2"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Hou, Yifan"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D38"] [WhiteElo "2790"] [BlackElo "2663"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "202"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Netherlands"] [BlackTeam "China"] [WhiteTeamCountry "NED"] [BlackTeamCountry "CHN"] [WhiteClock "0:23:26"] [BlackClock "0:28:22"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 Qxf6 7. Qb3 c5 8. cxd5 exd5 9. a3 Bxc3+ 10. Qxc3 Nd7 11. g3 (11. Qe3+ Qe7 12. Qxe7+ Kxe7 13. dxc5 Nxc5 14. Rc1 Kd6 15. Nd4 Bd7 16. f3 Rac8 {Nakamura,H (2764)-Radjabov,T (2726) Tashkent 2014}) 11... O-O 12. Bg2 Re8 13. e3 b6 14. O-O Bb7 15. Rfc1 a5 (15... c4 16. Nd2 Bc6 17. b3 b5 18. a4 a6 19. bxc4 bxc4 20. Qa5 Qd6 21. Nb1 Nf6 { Sakaev,K (2619)-Lastin,A (2643) Moscow 2009}) 16. dxc5 Qxc3 17. Rxc3 Nxc5 18. Rac1 Kf8 19. Nd4 Rad8 20. Bf1 Re7 21. Bb5 g6 22. b4 axb4 23. axb4 Ne4 24. Rc7 Nd6 25. Rxe7 Kxe7 26. Rc7+ Kf8 27. Bd3 Rb8 28. g4 Ke8 29. Bb5+ Kf8 30. Bd7 Bc8 31. h3 Bxd7 32. Rxd7 Ne4 33. Nc6 Ra8 34. Ne5 Ra1+ 35. Kg2 Ra2 36. Rxf7+ Kg8 37. h4 Rb2 38. Rf4 Kg7 39. Nc6 b5 40. Nd8 Rxb4 41. Ne6+ Kg8 42. Rf8+ (42. Nc7 $1 { was a good chance when Black needs to find} g5 $1 {and she might miraculously hold:} 43. Nxd5 (43. hxg5 hxg5 44. Rf5 Rb2 45. Nxd5 Kg7 46. Nb6 b4 47. Na4 Rc2 48. Kf3 Nxf2 49. Rxg5+ Kf7 50. Rb5 b3 51. Rxb3 Nxg4) 43... gxf4 44. Nxb4 fxe3 45. fxe3 h5 $3 46. g5 Nd6) 42... Kh7 43. Rf7+ Kh8 44. Rf8+ Kh7 45. Rf7+ Kh8 46. f3 Rb2+ 47. Kh3 Re2 48. Rf8+ Kh7 49. Rf7+ Kh8 50. Rf8+ Kh7 51. fxe4 Rxe3+ 52. Kh2 Rxe4 53. Rf7+ Kh8 54. Nc7 (54. Nf4 Kg8 55. Rf6 g5 56. Ng6 Rxg4 57. h5 Kg7 { is closer to a draw than a win.}) 54... Kg8 55. Rd7 Rxg4 56. Kh3 Rc4 57. Nxd5 Kf8 58. Nf6 Rc6 59. Ng4 Rb6 60. Nxh6 b4 61. Rf7+ Ke8 62. Rf2 b3 63. Rb2 Ke7 64. Ng4 Ke6 65. Re2+ Kf7 66. Rb2 Ke6 67. Kg3 Rb5 68. Nf2 Kf6 69. Ne4+ Kg7 70. Ng5 Kh6 71. Nf3 Rb4 72. Kf2 Kh5 73. Ke3 Rb8 74. Ke4 Rb4+ 75. Kd5 Kg4 76. Ne5+ Kh5 77. Nf3 Kg4 78. Kc5 Rb8 79. Ne5+ Kh5 80. Nc6 Rb7 81. Na5 Rb8 82. Nc6 Rb7 83. Ne5 Rb8 84. Kc4 Rc8+ 85. Kd4 Rb8 86. Kc3 Rb5 87. Nf3 Rb8 88. Nd4 Kxh4 89. Nxb3 g5 90. Rh2+ Kg3 91. Rh7 g4 92. Nd2 Rg8 93. Kd3 Kg2 94. Nc4 Rf8 95. Nd2 g3 96. Rg7 Ra8 97. Ke3 Ra3+ 98. Kf4 Kg1 99. Nc4 g2 100. Nxa3 Kf2 101. Rxg2+ Kxg2 1/2-1/2 [Event "Shamkir Chess 2016"] [Site "Shamkir"] [Date "2016.06.03"] [Round "8.4"] [White "Safarli, Eltaj"] [Black "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B13"] [WhiteElo "2664"] [BlackElo "2779"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "43"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Azerbaijan"] [BlackTeam "Russia"] [WhiteTeamCountry "AZE"] [BlackTeamCountry "RUS"] [WhiteClock "0:38:15"] [BlackClock "1:22:57"] 1. c4 c6 2. e4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 Be6 ({The main move, after the more popular} 6... e6) 7. Be2 $5 (7. a3 {Played by several GMs, but}) (7. Nf3 {and}) (7. Bxf6 {are more popular.}) 7... Qa5 8. Bf3 {This is relatively rare.} (8. Nf3) (8. c5) 8... dxc4 (8... Rd8 9. Bxf6 exf6 10. cxd5 Bxd5 11. Bxd5 Rxd5 12. Nf3 Bb4 13. Qe2+ Kd8 {½-½ Gulko,B (2615) -Rogers,I (2575) Oropesa del Mar 1996}) 9. d5 O-O-O 10. Bd2 Nxd5 11. Nxd5 Rxd5 $1 {This is the idea; Black is happy to give an exchange in return for the bishop pair and a strong pawn extra on c4.} 12. Bxd5 {Black will get more than enough compensation.} ({Karjakin expected} 12. Bxa5 Rxd1+ 13. Rxd1 Nxa5 { which was played, and about equal, in Naiditsch,A (2705)-Dreev,A (2667), World Rapid (Dubai) 2014}) 12... Qxd5 13. Nf3 Bf5 ({The players looked at} 13... Qe4+ 14. Be3 (14. Qe2 $5) 14... Bd5 15. O-O e6 16. Re1 $6 Ne5 17. Bxa7 Nxf3+ 18. Qxf3 {and here they missed} Qxe1+ $1 19. Rxe1 Bxf3 20. gxf3 Bd6 {with a close to winning advantage for Black.}) 14. O-O e6 $6 ({With first} 14... Bd3 $1 15. Bc3 {and then} e6 {Black could have prevented b2-b3 (Karjakin) .}) 15. b3 $1 { Grabbing the first chance to solve some problems.} Bd3 16. bxc4 Qf5 17. Re1 Bc5 18. Be3 Bb4 19. Bd2 Bc5 20. Be3 Bb4 21. Bd2 Bc5 22. Be3 1/2-1/2 [Event "Shamkir Chess 2016"] [Site "Shamkir"] [Date "2016.06.03"] [Round "8.5"] [White "Mamedov, Rauf"] [Black "Eljanov, Pavel"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B11"] [WhiteElo "2655"] [BlackElo "2765"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "87"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Azerbaijan"] [BlackTeam "Ukraine"] [WhiteTeamCountry "AZE"] [BlackTeamCountry "UKR"] [WhiteClock "0:23:19"] [BlackClock "0:29:14"] 1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 Bg4 4. h3 Bxf3 5. Qxf3 e6 6. d4 Nf6 7. Bd3 dxe4 8. Nxe4 Qxd4 9. c3 (9. O-O Nbd7 10. Rd1 Be7 11. Be3 Qb4 12. c3 Qa5 13. b4 Qc7 14. Bf4 e5 15. Bg5 Nxe4 16. Bxe7 Kxe7 17. Qxe4 Nf6 18. Qe3 Rhd8 {Mamedov,R (2650) -Navara,D (2734) Huaian 2016}) 9... Qd8 10. O-O Nxe4 11. Bxe4 Bd6 (11... Qf6 12. Qg3 e5 13. Qg4 Nd7 14. Bg5 h5 15. Qg3 Qe6 16. f4 f6 17. Bg6+ Kd8 18. f5 Bc5+ 19. Kh1 Qe7 {Kochurov,D (2354)-Bachin,V (2489) Samara 2004}) 12. Rd1 Qc7 13. Qd3 Be5 14. Bxh7 Nd7 15. Be4 (15. Bg5 $5 Bf6 (15... Bh2+ 16. Kh1 Ne5 17. Qe4 {is good for White}) 16. Bf4 Be5) 15... O-O-O 16. Qf3 Nf6 17. Bg5 Qa5 { This is more comfortable for Black (Eljanov).} 18. Bxf6 (18. Rxd8+ Rxd8 19. h4 Qb5 {Mamedov}) 18... gxf6 19. Rxd8+ Rxd8 20. Qe2 Bc7 21. Bf3 f5 22. a4 Bb8 23. Kf1 a6 24. Qe3 Bc7 25. Qe2 Kb8 26. Bh5 Qc5 27. Rd1 Rxd1+ 28. Qxd1 Qc4+ 29. Be2 Qh4 30. Qd4 Qxd4 31. cxd4 Bb6 32. Bh5 Kc7 33. Bxf7 Kd6 34. Ke2 Bxd4 35. b3 b5 36. axb5 cxb5 37. g4 Ke7 38. Bg8 fxg4 39. hxg4 a5 40. f4 a4 41. bxa4 bxa4 42. Bh7 a3 43. Bb1 e5 44. fxe5 1/2-1/2 [Event "Shamkir Chess 2016"] [Site "Shamkir"] [Date "2016.06.04"] [Round "9.3"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D02"] [WhiteElo "2748"] [BlackElo "2790"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "105"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Azerbaijan"] [BlackTeam "Netherlands"] [WhiteTeamCountry "AZE"] [BlackTeamCountry "NED"] [WhiteClock "0:46:32"] [BlackClock "0:11:17"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 d5 5. O-O O-O 6. c3 Nbd7 7. Bf4 b6 (7... c5 8. dxc5 Nxc5 9. Qc1 b6 10. h3 Bb7 11. Nbd2 Rc8 12. Nb3 e6 {Wen,Y (2614)-Wei, Y (2700) Xinghua 2016}) 8. a4 c5 (8... Ne4 9. Ng5 Ndf6 10. Nxe4 Nxe4 11. Nd2 Nxd2 {½-½ Benko,P (2425)-Tolnai,T (2500) Hungary 1993}) 9. Nbd2 Bb7 10. a5 bxa5 11. Nb3 Qb6 12. dxc5 Nxc5 13. Be3 Qxb3 14. Bxc5 Qxd1 15. Rfxd1 Rfe8 16. Rxa5 a6 17. Ne5 Rad8 18. Bb6 Rb8 19. Ba7 Rbd8 20. Bb6 Rb8 21. Bd4 e6 22. e3 Red8 23. Bb6 Rdc8 24. Ba7 Ra8 25. Bd4 Rc7 26. Rda1 Nd7 27. Nxd7 Rxd7 28. Bf1 e5 29. Bc5 d4 30. cxd4 exd4 31. Bxa6 Rxa6 32. Rxa6 Bxa6 33. Rxa6 f5 34. exd4 Bxd4 35. b4 Bxc5 36. bxc5 Rd1+ 37. Kg2 Rc1 38. Rc6 Kf7 39. Kf3 g5 40. Ke3 Rc3+ 41. Kd4 Rf3 42. Ke5 Rxf2 43. Rf6+ Ke8 44. Rxf5 Rxh2 45. Kd6 Rd2+ 46. Kc7 Rd7+ 47. Kb6 g4 48. Re5+ Kd8 49. Rg5 Rd3 50. Rg8+ Ke7 51. Rxg4 Rb3+ 52. Kc7 Kf6 53. c6 1-0 [Event "Shamkir Chess 2016"] [Site "Shamkir"] [Date "2016.06.04"] [Round "9.4"] [White "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C83"] [WhiteElo "2779"] [BlackElo "2804"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Russia"] [BlackTeam "United States"] [WhiteTeamCountry "RUS"] [BlackTeamCountry "USA"] [WhiteClock "1:11:44"] [BlackClock "1:40:16"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. Nbd2 Nc5 10. c3 Be7 11. Bc2 d4 12. Nb3 (12. Nxd4 Nxd4 13. cxd4 Qxd4 14. Nf3 Qxd1 15. Rxd1 O-O 16. Be3 Rfd8 17. Rdc1 h6 {So,W (2775)-Ding,L (2778) Shanghai 2016}) 12... d3 13. Nxc5 dxc2 14. Qxd8+ Rxd8 15. Nxe6 fxe6 16. Be3 Rd5 17. Rfc1 Nxe5 18. Nxe5 Rxe5 19. Rxc2 Rd5 20. c4 (20. b3 Rd7 21. c4 Kf7 22. cxb5 axb5 23. a4 Ra8 24. Kf1 c5 25. Ke2 c4 {leads to a draw (Caruana).}) 20... Rd7 21. cxb5 axb5 22. a4 (22. g3 Kf7 23. Re1 Ra8 24. b3 Ra6 25. Kg2 Bd6 26. Rd1 Re7 27. Kf3 Re8 {Kukel,I (2316)-Lahner,J (2314) Czechia 2008}) 22... bxa4 23. Kf1 Kf7 24. Rxa4 Rb8 25. Rac4 c5 26. Bxc5 Bxc5 27. Rxc5 Rd1+ 28. Ke2 Rb1 {Karjakin had missed this idea in his calculations.} 29. g3 R1xb2 30. Rxb2 Rxb2+ 31. Kf3 Rb3+ 32. Ke2 Rb2+ 33. Kf3 Rb3+ 34. Ke2 1/2-1/2 [Event "Shamkir Chess 2016"] [Site "Shamkir"] [Date "2016.06.04"] [Round "9.5"] [White "Hou, Yifan"] [Black "Mamedov, Rauf"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A11"] [WhiteElo "2663"] [BlackElo "2655"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "104"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "China"] [BlackTeam "Azerbaijan"] [WhiteTeamCountry "CHN"] [BlackTeamCountry "AZE"] [WhiteClock "0:32:48"] [BlackClock "0:35:55"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 c6 3. g3 g6 4. Qa4 d4 (4... Nd7 5. cxd5 cxd5 6. Bg2 Bg7 7. Nc3 Ngf6 8. O-O O-O 9. d4 b6 10. Bf4 Bb7 11. Rfc1 a6 {Kramnik,V (2777)-Carlsen,M (2850) Berlin 2015}) 5. e3 {The novelty!} (5. b4 Bg7 6. d3 e5 7. Nbd2 Ne7 8. Bg2 O-O 9. Ba3 Nd7 10. O-O h6 11. Rab1 f5 {Le Roux,J (2572)-Landa,K (2626) Germany 2015}) 5... dxe3 6. dxe3 (6. fxe3 $5) 6... Na6 {This prevents Bg2.} 7. Nc3 ({Perhaps the safest was} 7. Be2 Bg7 (7... Nc5 8. Qa3 $1) 8. O-O) 7... Nc5 8. Qc2 Bg7 9. h3 Nf6 {Threatening Bf5.} 10. e4 O-O 11. Be3 Qa5 12. Bd2 ({After } 12. Nd2 {Black can consider} Nfxe4 13. Ncxe4 Nxe4 14. Qxe4 Bxb2 15. Rd1 Bf5 16. Qf3 Bc2) 12... Qb6 13. Rd1 Rd8 14. Be2 Be6 15. Kf1 h6 16. g4 Qc7 17. b4 Ncd7 18. g5 $5 {Risky but interesting.} hxg5 19. Nxg5 Nf8 20. Kg2 N6h7 21. h4 a5 22. a3 $6 {The a-file will be useful for Black.} (22. b5 $5 {is not so clear.}) 22... axb4 23. axb4 Nxg5 24. hxg5 Qe5 25. Rc1 b5 $1 {Opening up the position even further.} 26. Be3 (26. cxb5 Bb3 $1 27. Qxb3 Rxd2 28. bxc6 Ne6 { with a strong attack.}) 26... Bxc4 (26... Ra3 $5 {was perhaps even stronger.}) 27. Bxc4 bxc4 28. Ne2 c3 $5 29. Nxc3 Qe6 $6 ({Again} 29... Ra3 {e.g.} 30. Ne2 Rdd3 31. Rh3 Qxe4+ 32. Rf3 Qxb4 33. Qxc6 Qg4+ 34. Ng3 Rac3 35. Rxc3 Rxc3 36. Qb7 Qe6 {with a healthy extra pawn.}) 30. Rh3 $6 (30. Rh4 Ra3 31. Ne2 {is quite playable for White because here c6 hangs.}) 30... Ra3 31. Nb1 (31. Ne2 Be5 $1 {protects c6 in an active way and after} 32. Ng3 Rd6 {Black's advantage is clear.}) (31. Na4 {might have been the best choice.}) 31... Rb3 32. Nd2 Rc3 33. Qd1 Rcd3 {Now White is under serious pressure.} 34. Rc2 Nh7 35. Qh1 ({Again } 35. Rh4 {was a good try here.}) 35... Nxg5 36. Bxg5 Qg4+ 37. Rg3 Rxg3+ 38. fxg3 Qxg5 {With a pawn down and an open king White should be lost here.} 39. Nf3 Qb5 40. Qe1 Qa4 41. Rd2 Rb8 42. e5 Bh6 43. Rd4 Qc2+ 44. Qf2 Qb3 45. Qe1 Be3 46. Rh4 Ra8 47. Kh3 Qd3 48. Rg4 e6 49. Ng5 Bxg5 50. Rxg5 Qf3 $1 {Deciding the game quickly.} 51. Rg4 Kg7 52. Rh4 g5 0-1 [Event "Shamkir Chess 2016"] [Site "Shamkir"] [Date "2016.06.04"] [Round "9.1"] [White "Eljanov, Pavel"] [Black "Radjabov, Teimour"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A45"] [WhiteElo "2765"] [BlackElo "2726"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "88"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Ukraine"] [BlackTeam "Azerbaijan"] [WhiteTeamCountry "UKR"] [BlackTeamCountry "AZE"] [WhiteClock "0:41:53"] [BlackClock "0:53:15"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. e3 Bg7 5. Be2 (5. Nb5 Na6 6. h3 c6 7. Nc3 Nc7 8. Nf3 O-O 9. Bd3 Nd7 10. O-O Re8 11. e4 dxe4 12. Bxe4 Ne6 13. Be3 Nf6 { Aronian,L (2784)-Svidler,P (2727) Berlin 2015}) 5... c6 6. h4 h6 7. Nf3 Qa5 ( 7... Qb6 8. a3 Bg4 9. O-O Nbd7 10. Rb1 O-O 11. Ne5 Bxe2 12. Nxe2 e6 13. Nxd7 Nxd7 {Curien,N (2199)-Bellahcene,B (2465) Basel 2016}) 8. Qd2 Bg4 9. Ne5 Bxe2 10. Qxe2 Qa6 11. Qf3 Nbd7 12. a3 Nxe5 13. Bxe5 O-O 14. g4 Nd7 15. Bxg7 Kxg7 16. h5 g5 17. e4 (17. Qg3 {followed by 18.f4 was stronger, as pointed out by Ljubojevic. A sample line goes} e6 18. f4 c5 19. O-O-O b5 20. dxc5 Rac8 21. fxg5 hxg5 22. e4 {and Black is in big, big trouble.}) 17... e6 (17... dxe4 18. Qxe4 Nf6 19. Qe5 {with an edge.}) 18. Qe3 dxe4 19. Nxe4 Qa5+ 20. c3 Qc7 21. O-O-O Nb6 22. Kb1 Nd5 23. Qd2 b5 24. Nc5 a5 25. Rhe1 Qf4 26. Qe2 Rad8 27. Nd3 ( 27. Rd3 $5 Kg8 {Radjabov}) 27... Qd6 28. Qd2 Rb8 29. Qc2 Rfd8 30. Nc5 Nf4 31. Qe4 Qd5 32. Nd3 Qxe4 33. Rxe4 Nxd3 34. Rxd3 a4 35. Kc2 Rd5 36. Re5 Rbd8 37. Rde3 R8d7 38. Kd3 Kf8 39. Ke4 Ke7 40. Kf3 R7d6 41. Ke2 Rd8 42. Kf3 R8d6 43. Ke2 Rd8 44. Kf3 R8d6 1/2-1/2