Games
[Event "CZE-chT 1213"]
[Site "Czechia"]
[Date "2013.04.26"]
[Round "9.4"]
[White "Rogozenco, Dorian"]
[Black "Petr, Martin"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D93"]
[WhiteElo "2498"]
[BlackElo "2521"]
[Annotator "Rogozenco,Dorian"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[EventDate "2012.11.03"]
[EventType "team-tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "CZE"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 160"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2014.05.15"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2014.05.15"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Lysa nad Labem"]
[BlackTeam "Pardubice"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "CZE"]
[BlackTeamCountry "CZE"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 c5 7. dxc5 Ne4 8. Rc1
Nd7 9. cxd5 Qa5 10. Qc2 Nxc3 11. bxc3 Nxc5 12. e4 Bd7 13. Bd2 b5 14. Nd4 e6 15.
Be2 exd5 16. exd5 Rfe8 17. O-O Ne4 18. Bf3 Nxd2 19. Qxd2 Rad8 20. Rfd1 Qa3 21.
c4 Bxd4 22. Qxd4 bxc4 23. Rxc4 Qxa2 24. h4 Qa5 25. h5 Qb6 26. Qa1 Qd6 27. Qxa7
Re5 28. h6 $1 {With the pawn on h6 the black king will always feel
uncomfortable. White applies the rule of creating two weaknesses for his
opponent: one weakness for Black is being a pawn down and the second weakness
now becomes his king. Black is unable to cope with both problems. Mit dem
Bauern auf h6 wird sich der schwarze K鰊ig immer unbehaglich f黨len. Wei?
wendet die Regel an, seinem Gegner zwei Schw鋍hen zuzuf黦en: Eine Schw鋍he f黵
Schwarz ist, einen Bauern weniger zu haben, und die zweite Schw鋍he wird jetzt
sein K鰊ig. Schwarz ist nicht imstande, mit beiden Problemen fertigzuwerden.} (
28. hxg6 $6 hxg6 {only reduces material and it is much more difficult for
White to convert the extra pawn. reduziert nur das Material, und es ist
wesentlich schwieriger f黵 Wei? den Mehrbauern zu verwerten.}) 28... Rde8 (
28... Bb5 29. Rcc1 {doesn't change the evaluation, of course. Black's position
is difficult. 鋘dert nat黵lich nichts an der Einsch鋞zung. Die Stellung von
Schwarz ist schwierig.}) 29. Qa1 {[%cal Ra1g7] Immediately making use of the
pawn on h6: the rook e5 is pinned. Zieht sofort Nutzen aus dem Bauern h6: Der
Turm e5 wird gefesselt.} g5 {As usually in a bad position any active play only
helps the opponent. Now White wins quickly. Wie 黚lich hilft aktives Spiel in
seiner schlechten Stellung nur dem Gegner. Jetzt gewinnt Wei?schnell.} (29...
f6 30. Qa5 $16 {[%csl Rg8][%cal Gc4c7,Gc7h7]}) 30. Re4 $1 $18 f5 (30... f6 31.
Rxe5 Rxe5 (31... fxe5 {[%tqu "En","","","","a1a7","",10]} 32. Qa7 $18 {[%cal
Gd1b1]}) 32. Qa7 Re7 {[%tqu "En","","","","f3h5","",10]} 33. Bh5 $18 {[%csl
Rg8][%cal Ga7a8,Gh5f7]}) 31. Re2 Bb5 32. Re3 g4 33. Rde1 {[%cal Ra1e5,Re3e5,
Re1e5]} R5e7 34. Rxe7 Rxe7 35. Rxe7 Qxe7 36. d6 1-0
[Event "Bundesliga 0001"]
[Site "Germany"]
[Date "2001.03.31"]
[Round "12.2"]
[White "Kasimdzhanov, Rustam"]
[Black "Hertneck, Gerald"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D36"]
[WhiteElo "2690"]
[BlackElo "2541"]
[Annotator "Rogozenco,Dorian"]
[PlyCount "47"]
[EventDate "2000.10.14"]
[EventType "team-tourn"]
[EventRounds "15"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 160"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2014.05.15"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2014.05.15"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Solingen"]
[BlackTeam "Tegernsee"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "GER"]
[BlackTeamCountry "GER"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bg5 Nbd7 5. Nf3 Be7 6. cxd5 exd5 7. e3 c6 8.
Qc2 Nh5 9. Bxe7 Qxe7 10. O-O-O Nb6 11. Ne5 g6 12. g4 Ng7 13. h3 Be6 14. Be2
O-O-O 15. Na4 Nxa4 16. Qxa4 Kb8 {[%tqu "En","In such positions the black king
can often be unsafe on the queenside too. Find the most effective continuation
for White to exploit his potential against Black's king.","","","d1d3",
"Suddenly things become very clear: White is attacking with four (!) pieces
and Black has serious problems defending.",10,"c1b1","is less effective here,
but still leaves White with a small plus.",1,"De","In solchen Stellung kann
der schwarze K鰊ig oft auch am Damenfl黦el unsicher stehen. Finden Sie die
wirksamste Fortsetzung f黵 Wei? sein Potential gegen den schwarzen K鰊ig
auszusch鰌fen.","","","d1d3","Pl鰐zlich wird die Sache glasklar: Wei?greift
mit vier (!) Figuren an, und Schwarz hat ernste Probleme, sich zu verteidigen",
10,"c1b1","ist hier weniger wirksam, 黚erl鋝st Wei?aber dennoch ein kleines
Plus.",1]} 17. Rd3 $1 $16 {[%csl Rb8][%cal Gd3a3,Gd3b3] White is attacking
with four (!) pieces: queen, rook, knight and bishop - the latter is an
important attacking piece too, since it always prevents the move ...a6 (due to
the sac on a6). Black has serious problems to defend. Wei?greift mit vier (!)
Figuren an: Dame, Turm, Springer und L鋟fer - letzterer ist ebenfalls ein
wichtiger Angreifer, da er immer den Zug ...a6 verhindert (wegen des Opfers
auf). Schwarz hat ernste Probleme, sich zu verteidigen} ({Another plan to
start active actions on the queenside Ein anderer Plan, aktive Aktionen am
Damenfl黦el einzuleiten,} 17. Kb1 {is less effective here: , ist hier weniger
wirksam:} f6 {This is the main difference: Black has enough time to drive away
the centralised knight. Das ist der gro遝 Unterschied: Schwarz hat genug Zeit,
den zentralisierten Springer zu vertreiben.} 18. Nd3 h5 $1 $132 19. Nc5 Bc8 20.
gxh5 gxh5 21. Rc1 (21. Rd3 $2 Bf5) 21... Ne6 $11) 17... Rd6 ({Black has no
time for Schwarz hat keine Zeit f黵} 17... f6 {because of wegen} 18. Nxc6+ $1
bxc6 19. Rb3+ {[%cal Gb8c8,Gb8c7,Gb8a8]} Kc8 (19... Kc7 20. Qxa7+ Kd6 21. Qa3+
Kd7 22. Rb7+ $18 {[%cal Rb7e7]}) (19... Ka8 20. Qxc6+ {[%cal Ge7b7,Rc6b7]}) 20.
Qxc6+ Qc7 21. Ba6#) (17... Rc8 {[%tqu "En","","","","d3a3","",10]} 18. Ra3 {
[%cal Ra4a7,Ra3a7]} b5 (18... a6 $6 {[%tqu "En","","","","e2a6","",10]} 19.
Bxa6 f6 (19... bxa6 20. Qxa6 $18) 20. Bxb7 Qxb7 {[%tqu "En","","","","a3b3","",
10]} 21. Rb3 fxe5 22. Rxb7+ Kxb7 23. Qb4+ Ka8 24. dxe5 $16 {/+- /+-}) (18... b6
$2 {[%cal Ge7a7]} {[%tqu "En","","","","e2a6","",10]} 19. Ba6 Rc7 20. Nxc6+ $18
) 19. Qa5 f6 20. Nd3 $16 {[%csl Rc5]}) 18. Ra3 b6 (18... a6 19. Bxa6 bxa6 20.
Qxa6 $18) 19. Kb1 (19. Nxc6+ $4 Rxc6+ 20. Qxc6 Rc8 $19) 19... Rc8 20. Rc1 $18 {
The game is over: Black cannot protect c6. Die Partie ist gelaufen: Schwarz
kann c6 nciht decken.} c5 21. dxc5 bxc5 22. Ba6 Rc7 23. Rb3+ {[%csl Ga8,Rb7,
Rc8]} Ka8 24. Rxc5 $1 (24. Rxc5 Rxc5 25. Bb7+ Qxb7 26. Rxb7 Kxb7 27. Qb4+ $18 {
[%csl Rc5]}) 1-0
[Event "Leipzig"]
[Site "Leipzig"]
[Date "1863.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Petrov, Alexander"]
[Black "Journoud, Paul"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C39"]
[Annotator "Rogozenco,Dorian"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "1862.??.??"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 160"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2014.05.15"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2014.05.15"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. h4 g4 5. Ne5 Nf6 6. Bc4 d5 7. exd5 Bd6 8. d4
Nh5 9. Bb5+ Kf8 10. Nc3 Ng3 11. Bxf4 Nxh1 12. Qd2 Qxh4+ 13. g3 Nxg3 14. Qf2 Nf5
15. Qxh4 Nxh4 16. Bh6+ Kg8 17. Ne4 Be7 18. Be8 Nf3+ 19. Kf2 Nxe5 20. dxe5 Bf5
21. Nf6+ Bxf6 22. exf6 Nd7 23. Bxd7 Bxd7 24. Re1 {With such a king Black can
never win, but the move played by White in the game allows Black to exchange
rooks and it leads only to a draw. Mit einem solchen K鰊ig kann Schwarz nie
gewinnen, aber der von Wei?in der Partie gespielte Zug erlaubt Schwarz, die
T黵me zu tauschen, und er f黨rt nur zum Remis.} ({White wins with a subtle
Wei?gewinnt mit dem subtilen} 24. Rh1 $1 {[%cal Rh1h5,Rh5g5] with the idea
Rh5-g5. mit der Idee Rh5-g5.} Bf5 {[%cal Gf5g6] And only now does he take
control over the open file: Und erste jetzt nimmt er die offene Linie unter
Kontrolle:} 25. Re1 $1 {[%cal Re1e7,Re7c7] Even without the c-pawn White will
win. His plan is to bring the king on to f4 (thus winning the g4-pawn by
taking the f5-square away from the black bishop), then at the right moment to
transfer the rook to the c-file and with the black rook on c8 White advances
d5-d6, creating a passed pawn. Then he easily wins due to the weakness of his
opponent's back rank. Below there are a few variations. Actually this is a
good position to check the "understanding" and depth of your engines. Sogar
ohne den c-Bauern wird Wei?gewinnen. Sein Plan lautet, den K鰊ig nach f4 zu
bringen (und somit den g4-Bauern zu erobern, da dem schwarzen L鋟fer das f5
Feld genommen wird), dann im richtigen Moment den Turm in die c-Linie zu
transferieren, und mit dem schwarzen Turm auf c8 r點kt Wei?mit d5-d6 vor und
schafft einen Freibauern. Danach gewinnt er leicht aufgrund der Schw鋍he der
gegnerischen Grundreihe. Unten sind ein paar Varianten. Eigentlich ist dies
eine gute Stellung, um das 'Verst鋘dnis' und die Tiefe Ihrer Engines zu pr黤en.
} Bxc2 (25... Rd8 26. c4 $18 {[%cal Gc4c5,Gd5d6,Ge1e5,Gd6d7,Gf2g3,Gg3f4,Gc4d5,
Ge1e7,Re7c7,Re5g5]}) 26. Kg3 Bf5 27. Re7 Rc8 (27... Rd8 28. Kf4 Bg6 29. Rxc7
$18) 28. Kf4 Bd3 29. Kxg4 Bg6 (29... a5 30. Re3 Bg6 31. Rc3 $18 {[%cal Gd5d6]}
Rd8 32. Rxc7 $18) 30. Kf4 b5 (30... Bd3 31. Re3 Bg6 32. Rc3 $18 {[%cal Gd5d6]})
(30... Bc2 31. Re3 $18 {[%cal Ge3c3,Gd5d6]}) (30... Bb1 31. Re1 Bg6 32. Rc1 $18
{[%cal Gd5d6]}) 31. Re1 Rd8 (31... a5 32. Rc1 $18) 32. b4 a6 33. Re3 Bb1 34.
Re7 Rc8 35. Re1 Bg6 36. Rc1 $18 {[%cal Gd5d6] So what is the logical
explanation that White is able to win in our initial position, even though
being a rook and two pawns down at some moment? Here it is: the bishop on h6
keeps away the opponent's rook and king. Thus we have two pieces from White in
play (king and rook) and two pieces from Black (rook and bishop). But the
difference is that the black king always needs the protection of both the rook
(weak back rank) and bishop (weak g-file) and in reality White's pieces are
much more flexible and powerful. In other words the black king is not only out
of play, but is also very weak. Also was ist die logische Erkl鋜ung daf黵,
dass Wei?in unserer Ausgangsstellung gewinnen kann, obwohl er an einer Stelle
einen Turm und zwei Bauern weniger hat? Hier ist sie: Der L鋟fer auf h6 klemmt
Turm und K鰊ig des Gegners ab. Somit sind haben wir zwei Figuren bei Wei?im
Spiel (K鰊ig und Turm) und zwei bei Schwarz (Turm und L鋟fer). Aber der
Unterschied ist, dass der schwarze K鰊ig immer den Schutz vom Turm (schwache
Grundreihe) wie auch dem L鋟fer braucht (schwache g-Linie), und in
Wirklichkeit sind die Figuren von Wei?deutlich flexibler und st鋜ker. In
anderen Worten, der schwarze K鰊ig ist nicht nur au遝r Spiel, er ist auch sehr
schwach.}) 24... Re8 (24... Rd8 $4 25. Re5 $18 {[%cal Ge5g5]}) 25. Rxe8+ Bxe8
26. Kg3 Bd7 $11 {Neither side can make progress, so the draw is obvious. Keine
Seite kann Fortschritte machen, daher ist das Remis offensichtlich.} 27. c4 a5
28. a3 a4 29. c5 Bc8 30. d6 cxd6 31. cxd6 Bd7 32. Kf4 Be6 33. Kg3 1/2-1/2
[Event "FIDE Candidates Tournament"]
[Site "Yekaterinburg"]
[Date "2021.04.19"]
[Round "8.1"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B97"]
[WhiteElo "2820"]
[BlackElo "2758"]
[Annotator "Bojkov,Dejan"]
[PlyCount "147"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
{[%evp 0,147,19,31,72,53,68,67,59,36,32,28,71,46,91,26,21,0,0,0,0,0,-23,-39,
-39,-39,-21,-105,-119,-108,-77,-98,-110,-81,-113,-110,-116,-286,-286,-305,-145,
-179,-166,-166,-179,-66,-41,-41,2,-48,-41,-40,-28,-17,17,-5,-9,-9,62,65,75,75,
40,35,54,43,64,54,57,59,51,65,83,82,87,82,84,84,85,84,172,185,192,193,196,199,
197,132,147,147,145,143,228,233,229,165,240,165,253,247,252,254,254,254,263,
254,269,254,254,254,260,260,263,263,263,260,260,252,245,254,243,245,260,245,
245,241,260,245,245,249,260,256,260,260,260,260,260,260,260,260,260,248,248,
248,248,248,251,231,402,443]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3
a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qb6 {Vachier-Lagrave lost two painful games in Wijk an Zee
earlier this year in the Poisoned Pawn Variation. However, the point of having
a reliable opening repertoire is that despite the occasional cracks, the
foundation will remain solid and one can repair the building relatively fast
and easy.} 8. Qd2 Qxb2 9. Rb1 Qa3 {The other main direction of the line was
tested by Radjabov recently:} 10. e5 ({One of the dreadful games of
Vachier-Lagrave was exactly against Caruana. The American GM deviated from the
main lines and scored an important victory after} 10. Be2 Nc6 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12.
e5 Nd5 13. Nxd5 exd5 14. e6 f6 15. Bh5+ Kd8 16. Bh4 d4 17. Bf2 Qc3 18. f5 Qxd2+
19. Kxd2 {Caruana,F (2823) -Vachier Lagrave,M (2784) Wijk aan Zee 2021}) ({
The other main direction of the line was tried against Vachier-Lagrave in the
Netherlands and did not end well either:} 10. f5 Be7 ({Another way to defend is
} 10... Nc6 11. fxe6 fxe6 12. Nxc6 bxc6 13. Be2 Be7 14. e5 dxe5 15. Bxf6 Bxf6
16. Bh5+ g6 17. Ne4 $1 O-O 18. O-O Qe7 19. Bf3 Qa7+ 20. Kh1 Be7 21. Qc3 Rb8 22.
h3 Rxb1 23. Rxb1 Qc7 {as in Karjakin,S (2752)-Duda,J (2757) Chess.com 2020})
11. fxe6 Bxe6 12. Nxe6 fxe6 13. Bc4 {A fashionable line, and a favorite choice
of the Chinese top GM Wei Yi. White's play is very straightforward and logical.
} Nbd7 14. Bxe6 Nc5 15. Bb3 {That is an over-the-board novelty.} ({Both
Vachier-Lagrave and Nepomniachtchi defended against the Chinese GM after} 15.
Bf5 g6 16. Bh3 Nfxe4 17. Nxe4 Nxe4 18. Qd4 Qc3+ 19. Qxc3 Nxc3 20. Bxe7 Kxe7 {
Wei,Y (2721)-Vachier Lagrave,M (2774) chess.com 2019 and Wei,Y (2736)
-Nepomniachtchi,I (2773) Moscow 2019}) 15... Rc8 {Played without much
hesitation.} ({Another lesson learned by Caruana came in the following game:}
15... Ncxe4 16. Nxe4 Nxe4 17. Bf7+ $3 Kxf7 18. Qd5+ Ke8 19. Qxe4 Qa5+ 20. Kd1
Qxg5 21. Rxb7 {which transposes to the game from above. when White regained
the piece and eventually won thanks to his superb preparation in Caruana,F
(2819)-Vachier Lagrave,M (2779) Stavanger 2019}) ({The immediate capture of
the bishop} 15... Nxb3 16. Rxb3 Qc5 17. Rxb7 {simply wins a pawn for White.})
16. O-O Nxb3 {It's a good moment to get rid of this beast and bring the queen
back into the play.} 17. Rxb3 Qc5+ 18. Be3 Qc4 19. Rf4 {With the strong threat
of e4-e5.} (19. Nd5 {is not dangerous for Black after} Nxd5 20. exd5 Bf6) 19...
Qe6 $146 {Technically speaking, only this is a novelty. But not a good one.
Black spent 18 minutes on his clock and might have messed up the lines.} ({
Perhaps Vachier-Lagrave intended to defend like in the following email game
where Black immediately attacked the annoying rook in return:} 19... Nh5 $1 20.
Rf1 (20. Rf3 Nf6) (20. Rg4 O-O) (20. Rf5 Nf6) 20... Rf8 21. Re1 b5 22. Nd5 Qxc2
23. Qd4 Nf6 24. Qa7 Nxd5 25. exd5 Rc7 26. Qxa6 Kf7 27. h3 Kg8 {and the game
eventually ended peacefully, Rothman, I (2158)-Pessoa, F (2525) ICCF email 2010
}) ({Notice that the queen cannot retreat easily on the c-file:} 19... Qc6 20.
Nd5 Qxc2 21. Qxc2 Rxc2 22. Rxb7 {still wins a pawn for White.}) ({Whereas}
19... Qc7 20. Nd5 Nxd5 21. Qxd5 Rf8 22. Qh5+ {with a strong atatck would be
even more unpleasant than the previous retreat.}) 20. Rxb7 {Picking up a nice
healthy pawnwhile occupying the seventh rank and eventually winning in
Grandelius,N (2663)-Vachier Lagrave,M (2784) Wijk aan Zee 2021}) 10... h6 11.
Bh4 dxe5 12. fxe5 Nfd7 13. Ne4 {In this line White often sacrifices three to
four pawns in the blink of an eye:} Qxa2 14. Rd1 Qd5 15. Qe3 Qxe5 16. c3 {
All of these were confidently blitzed by both the players, but Black's next
move came after more than eighteen minutes on the clock.} ({The Frenchman
successfully defended after} 16. Be2 Bc5 17. Bg3 Qd5 18. c4 Bxd4 19. Rxd4 Qa5+
20. Rd2 O-O 21. Bd6 {which means that Black is always ready to part with some
material to slow down the opponent's initiative:} f5 22. Bxf8 Nxf8 {with sharp
and interesting play in Radjabov,T (2765)-Ding, L (2791) Online 2020} 23. Nd6
Nbd7 24. O-O ({A recent top game from last year saw} 24. g4 {Radjabov,T (2765)
-Ding,L (2791) Online 2020}) 24... Qc5 25. Qd4 a5 26. g4 f4 27. Rxf4 a4 {
and later Black even won in Giri,A (2779) -Vachier Lagrave,M (2775) Paris 2019}
) 16... Bc5 17. Bg3 Qd5 18. Bc4 $1 $146 {And in a blitz tempo Caruana bangs a
nasty novelty.} ({The online predecessor was won by White after} 18. Bd6 Bxd6
19. Nb5 Qxd1+ 20. Kxd1 Be5 21. Nbd6+ Ke7 22. Nc4 Rd8 23. Kc2 Bc7 {but this
does not mean that he necessarily had the advantage in Beveridge,C (1963)
-Milde,L (2075) ICCF email 2013}) 18... Qxc4 19. Bd6 {Without the blink of his
other eye, White sacrifices a piece on top the three pawns. All-in-all he is
down six fighting units! Nevertheless, we should not forget that the aim of
the game is to pronounce the enemy king checkmated and material only supports
that task.} Nf6 $1 {Correctly returning a big portion of the material in order
to bring the reserves into the play. The main problem for Vachier-Lagrave was
that he had to spend almost half-an hour more from his precious time.} ({
No doubt Caruana had a heavy file prepared against the greedy} 19... Bxd4 20.
Rxd4 Qb3 21. Qg3 {It's pretty obvious that White has a strong attack against
the king. For example:} Qb1+ 22. Kf2 Qxh1 $4 {might lead to a modern Evergreen
game after} ({Instead the computer claims that Black can survive after} 22...
Qc2+ 23. Ke3 g5 {but this looks suspicious due to the simple} 24. Ba3) 23. Qxg7
Nf8 24. Nf6+ Kd8 25. Bxb8+ Bd7 26. Qxh8 {and mate is inevitable.}) ({MVL
briefly mentioned} 19... f5 20. Nxc5 Nxc5 21. Nxf5 Qe4 22. Nxg7+ Kf7 {but
Caruana pointed out that} 23. O-O+ Kxg7 24. Be5+ {just wins.}) 20. Nxc5 Nd5 {
This is also needed. The knight blocks the important d-file, but above all
prepares the queen swap.} ({As the obvious development is not possible:} 20...
Nbd7 $2 21. Nf5 Rg8 22. Be7 $1) 21. Qe5 Rg8 $1 {Once again, pretty much the
only move. Black feels the position. Vachier-Lagrave practically forces an
endgame.} ({In the line} 21... Qxc3+ 22. Kf2 {the white pieces dominate and
this can lead to quick detoriation of the enemy position. For example:} Nd7 ({
Or:} 22... Rg8 23. Rhe1 Nf6 24. Qf5 $1 {with the unstoppable sacrifice on e6:}
Nc6 25. Ndxe6 {and White has a mating attack.}) (22... Qb2+ 23. Kg3 Rg8 (23...
Nf6 24. Rhf1 Nbd7 25. Nxd7 Bxd7 26. Rxf6 $1) 24. Rhe1 {with the obvious threat
of Qxd5, which however is not that easily parried.}) 23. Qxg7 {and White
crashes through.}) 22. Ndxe6 $1 {This is what White's set-up is designed for.
And, yes, Caruana was still blitzing!} fxe6 23. Nxe6 Qxc3+ {This is apparently
what Black had calculated from afar. He is ready to part with another chunk of
the extra material, just to liquidate into an endgame.} ({Of course not:} 23...
Bxe6 $4 24. Qxe6+) ({Even with thorough preparation, one can hardly imagine
Black choosing the computer-generated} 23... Nf6 $3 {The machine claims that
Black is fine:} 24. Nf4+ Be6 {The main point is that:} 25. Nxe6 $2 ({
Objectively best is} 25. Qxe6+ Qxe6+ 26. Nxe6 Kf7 27. Nc7 Ra7 {And then:} 28.
O-O $1 {with enough compensation for the pawns and approximate equality.} ({
Rather than} 28. Bc5 $2 b6 29. Bxb6 Rb7 30. Ba5 Nc6 {when Black is on top.}))
25... Kf7 $1 {is actually winning for Black.}) 24. Qxc3 Nxc3 25. Nc7+ Kf7 {
Again, the human choice: as far away from the danger as possible, ideally,
behind the pawn shield.} ({In the quick analysis I could not find a win for
White after} 25... Kd7 26. Rd3 Nb5 (26... Ne4 $5 {might be playable as well.})
27. Bg3+ Kc6 {True, Black still needs to survive a lot of pitfalls:} 28. Kd2 ({
White is better advised not to go for the rook:} 28. Nxa8 $6 Nd7 29. O-O Nc5
30. Rc1 Bf5 {with an advantage for Black.}) 28... Nd7 29. Nxb5 {Now Black has
to find the accurate} ({Again:} 29. Nxa8 $6 Nc5 30. Rc1 Bf5 {works only for
Black.}) 29... Nc5 $1 {Then the accurate play by both leads to a perpetual:} ({
And definitely should not recapture the knight!} 29... Kxb5 $2 30. Rb1+ Kc6 (
30... Kc5 31. Rc1+ {is equally bad.}) 31. Rd6+ Kc7 ({Or mate in the line:}
31... Kc5 32. Rc1+ Kb5 33. Rd5+ Kb4 34. Bd6+ Kb3 35. Rd3+ Ka4 36. Ra3+ Kb5 37.
Rb3+ Ka4 38. Rb4+ Ka3 39. Ra1#) 32. Rxa6+ {and wins.}) 30. Rd6+ Kxb5 31. Rb1+
Ka4 ({Or:} 31... Kc4 32. Rc1+ Kb5) 32. Rd4+ Ka3 33. Bd6 Ka2 34. Bxc5 Kxb1 35.
Rb4+ Ka2 36. Ra4+ Kb3 37. Rb4+ {In comparison to the line from above White
misses one rook in the attack.}) 26. Rd3 Ne4 {Black made up his mind to
sacrifice the exchange as well.} ({But perhaps} 26... Ra7 {as Caruana pointed
out as well, would have been more accurate. I suspect that Vachier-Lagrave
feared White's initiative in case of} 27. Rxc3 Kg6 28. O-O Kh7 29. Nd5 {
with enough initiative for the pawns, in a very sharp situation still.} ({Or:}
29. Bc5 b6 30. Bxb6 {when the black pieces finally enter the battle.})) 27.
O-O+ {Castling on move 27! Somebody please check if this a record for a
Candidates Tournament! And finally, Caruana retreats all his material and
spends some time on his clock! Marvellous preparation.} Kg6 28. Nxa8 Nc6 {
The pressure takes its toll! This is inaccurate.} ({White's pieces dominate in
case of:} 28... Nxd6 $2 29. Rxd6+ Kh7 30. Nb6) ({However, after the precise}
28... Rd8 $1 29. Rfd1 Bf5 30. Bxb8 Rxb8 31. Nc7 Nf6 {Black would have
solidified his position and would have had an easier time than in the game.})
29. Nb6 Rd8 ({Here} 29... Bf5 30. Ba3 $1 {does not solve all of Black's
problems.}) 30. Nxc8 $1 {That is the thing, the important bishop is gone.} Rxc8
31. Ba3 {However, this is not optimal.} ({Caruana should have inserted} 31. Re1
$1 {first as} Nxd6 ({Whereas} 31... Re8 32. Ba3 Nf6 33. Rxe8 Nxe8 34. Rd7 {
is a much superior version of the game for White.}) 32. Rxd6+ Kh7 33. Rd7 {
is clearly favorable for him.}) 31... Rc7 {Black can finally breathe more
freely, although he is not yet completely out of the woods.} 32. Rf4 Nf6 33.
Bb2 Ne7 34. Bxf6 {There is nothing concrete and White transforms one advantage
into another.} gxf6 35. h4 {With the threat of Rd6!} (35. Rd6 Rc1+ {does not
seem convincing yet.}) 35... h5 $1 {Nicely calculated by Vachier-Lagrave. If
his knight ever lands on g4 he will be the only one to play for a win.
Therefore Caruana chooses the forcing} 36. Rg3+ Kf7 37. Rg5 Rc1+ 38. Kh2 Ng6
39. Rf2 Nxh4 ({Caruana expected} 39... Kg7 40. Rxh5 Ne5 {but MVL wasn't sure
about} 41. Ra2 Rc6 42. Rf5 b5 43. Rf1) 40. Rxh5 Ng6 {But this trades another
pawn and brings Black closer to a draw. Now all he needs to do is to swap off
a pair of rooks and place his knight on g5. Even without his queenside pawns
that would be a textbook draw.} 41. Rh7+ Ke6 42. Rxb7 Ne5 43. Rb6+ Rc6 $1 44.
Rxc6+ Nxc6 45. Kg3 Kf7 {Mission almost accomplished! Next the king should go
to g6 and the knight to e5 or g5.} 46. Rc2 Nb4 (46... Ne5 {would have been
more in line with the fortress strategy.}) 47. Rd2 Nc6 48. Kf4 Kg6 49. Rd6 Ne5
50. Rxa6 Nf7 {There it is, a fortress. However, that is not one of those
text-book examples that everyone knows about. Most likely both players were
aware that this might be the case, but it is a much more pleasant task proving
that this is not a fortress than defending your point of view (and life).} 51.
Ke4 Nh6 52. Ra5 Nf7 53. Ra3 {Caruana methodically squeezes his opponent,
threatening infiltration from both sides.} Nd6+ (53... Ng5+ {looked like a
more solid defensive set-up. However then Black should have foreseen in
advance the aggressive defense after:} 54. Kd5 Kf5 $1 55. Kd6 Kg4 56. Ke7 Ne4
$1) 54. Kf4 Nf5 55. Rd3 Nh6 {Not here!} ({Both} 55... Ne7 $1) ({And} 55... Ng7
$1 {would have kept the textbook draw evaluation.}) 56. Rg3+ {Once that the
king is expelled from the wonderful defensive spot on g6 things start to get
dire for Black.} Kf7 57. Ke4 Ng8 58. Kf5 ({Only later in the game Caruana will
find the winning setup:} 58. Ra3 Kg6 59. Rb3 Kf7 60. Kf4 Nh6 61. Rg3 Ng8 62.
Kg4) 58... Ne7+ 59. Kf4 Nd5+ 60. Kg4 Kg6 $1 {It's again a draw, but extremely
difficult to hold.} 61. Kf3+ Kf7 {The only move.} (61... Kf5 {for instance
loses to} 62. Rg7) 62. Ke4 Ne7 {After this Black is losing again.} (62... Nc7
$1 {holds surprisingly!}) 63. Kf4 Nd5+ 64. Kf5 $1 {Caruana found the way
through!} Ne7+ 65. Ke4 $1 Ng8 (65... Ke6 66. Rg7 Nc6 67. g3 Ne5 68. Ra7 {
and Black is ready for the decisive sacrifice:} Nc6 69. Ra6 Kd6 70. Rxc6+ Kxc6
71. Kf5) 66. Rh3 Kg6 67. Ra3 Kf7 68. Kf4 Nh6 69. Rg3 Ng8 70. Kg4 $1 {The
infiltration is inevitable. This is why Vachier-Lagrave should have kept his
king on g6.} Ne7 (70... Kg6 71. Kh4+ Kh7 72. Kh5 {would not help Black neither.
}) 71. Kh5 Nd5 72. Rf3 Ke6 73. g4 Ke5 (73... Kf7 74. g5 {followed by 75.Rf5.})
74. Kg6 1-0