[Event "5th Sinquefield Cup 2017"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2017.08.02"] [Round "1.1"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C84"] [WhiteElo "2807"] [BlackElo "2822"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2017.08.02"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a4 b4 9. a5 O-O 10. Nbd2 Rb8 11. Re1 Be6 12. Bxe6 fxe6 13. Nb3 Qc8 14. Qe2 Nd8 15. d4 exd4 16. Nbxd4 c5 17. Nb3 e5 18. Nbd2 Ne6 19. Nc4 Nd4 20. Nxd4 cxd4 21. Nb6 Qc6 22. Bg5 Bd8 23. Bxf6 Bxb6 24. axb6 (24. Bxg7 $2 d3 $1 25. Qg4 Bxf2+ 26. Kh1 Rf4 27. Qg5 Bh4 $1 {And White loses the bishop on g7. Caruana was amused at the black bishops's diamond-like path.}) 24... Rxf6 25. Rxa6 h6 26. Qd3 Rxb6 27. Rea1 Rxa6 28. Rxa6 Qc5 29. Ra8+ Kh7 30. h3 b3 31. Qxb3 d3 32. cxd3 Qxf2+ 33. Kh2 Qf4+ 34. Kh1 Qc1+ 35. Kh2 Qf4+ 36. Kh1 Qg3 37. Qg8+ Kg6 38. Rf8 Qxd3 39. Rxf6+ Kxf6 40. Qf8+ Ke6 41. Qe8+ Kf6 42. Qf8+ Ke6 43. Qe8+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "Saint Louis USA"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2017.08.02"] [Round "1.5"] [White "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Black "Svidler, Peter"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C53"] [WhiteElo "2773"] [BlackElo "2749"] [PlyCount "77"] [EventDate "2017.08.02"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. O-O a6 7. a4 Ba7 8. Re1 O-O 9. h3 Ne7 10. d4 Ng6 11. Nbd2 h6 12. Bb3 Re8 13. Bc2 b5 14. b4 Bb7 15. Bb2 Qd7 16. c4 $1 exd4 (16... Nh5 {Svidler said the idea occurred to him, but not in this exact position. "The idea of just not doing anything and keeping the center completely quiet...I guess that was a much better trying for practical purposes."} 17. Nh4 $5 (17. Re3 Nhf4 18. axb5 axb5 19. Qf1) 17... Nxh4 18. Qxh5 Ng6 {would be White bailing out and not wanting to see knights landing on f4 and possibly sacrificing on g2.}) 17. cxb5 d3 (17... axb5 18. Nxd4 bxa4 (18... Bxd4 19. Bxd4 bxa4 20. Bxf6 gxf6 21. Bxa4 Bc6 {"How fun can this be?" Svidler said with sarcasm before admitting that "groveling" here would have still been a better try than the game. He gave his chances one out of five or one out of ten.}) 19. Bxa4 c6 20. Nf5 Re6 {"And now White has a number of options," Svidler said. "You know, I play the Spanish with both colors. And if I see this position as White, I'm close to winning here."}) 18. Bxd3 Nf4 19. Bf1 Nxe4 20. Nxe4 Bxe4 21. bxa6 Qf5 22. Ra3 {Svidler said he'd given up so much on the queenside that every ending is lost, and he is absolutely forced to try to give mate.} c5 23. Nh4 Qe6 24. b5 c4 25. Bd4 Bxd4 26. Qxd4 d5 27. Rg3 g5 28. f3 Nh5 29. Rg4 Nf6 30. Rgxe4 Nxe4 31. fxe4 gxh4 32. Rd1 Qxe4 33. Qxe4 Rxe4 34. Rxd5 c3 35. Rc5 Rxa4 36. b6 Kg7 37. b7 Re8 38. Rxc3 Ra1 39. a7 1-0 [Event "Saint Louis USA"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2017.08.02"] [Round "1"] [White "Levon Aronian"] [Black "Ian Nepomniachtchi"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A34"] [WhiteElo "2799"] [BlackElo "2751"] [Annotator "Hess, R"] [PlyCount "57"] [EventDate "2017.07.31"] {With the exception of the FIDE Grand Prix in Geneva, Levon Aronian has been on a tear. He saw his rating soar over 2800 for the first time in years, and picked up a fine tournament victory in Norway, including a gorgeous win over Magnus Carlsen. While Levon always heaps praise on the city of Saint Louis, today he let his chess moves do the talking.} 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e3 {Not the most popular move, but common enough. Instead of playing 5. g3 to fianchetto the bishop, Aronian instead opts to support his center.} Nxc3 (5... g6 {can be played here, and funnily enough White most often replies with} 6. e4) 6. bxc3 g6 7. h4 $1 {Aronian makes his intentions clear. He has no desire to play a peaceful game. In the recent New Yorker article about him, Aronian stated "You can play anything as long as you are determined to fight for the ideas you put in your moves." Here he puts his money where his mouth is!} ({The Spaniard David Anton managed to outplay former world championship challenger Boris Gelfand, though Black was doing fine:} 7. Bb5+ Bd7 8. Rb1 Bg7 9. O-O O-O 10. d4 Qc7 11. Bxd7 Nxd7 12. e4 Rfd8 13. Qe2 Rac8 14. Bg5 Nb6 15. Rfc1 h6 16. Be3 Qd7 17. d5 f5 18. exf5 Qxf5 19. c4 e6 20. dxe6 Qxe6 21. Kf1 Rf8 22. Rb5 Rf5 23. h3 Qc6 24. Qd3 Nd7 25. Rd1 Nf8 26. Rb3 b6 27. Ra3 Rc7 28. Qc2 Rcf7 29. Rad3 Kh7 30. Rd6 Qb7 31. Nh4 R5f6 32. R6d5 Rd7 33. Nf3 Rxd5 34. Rxd5 Rf7 35. Ne5 Bxe5 36. Rxe5 Qd7 37. Ke2 Ne6 38. Qe4 Nd4+ 39. Bxd4 cxd4 40. Qd5 d3+ 41. Kxd3 Qc7 42. Ke2 Rf4 43. Re8 Qxc4+ 44. Qxc4 Rxc4 45. Re7+ Kg8 46. Rxa7 Rc2+ 47. Ke3 b5 48. a3 Rb2 49. g3 b4 50. a4 b3 51. Kd3 Rxf2 52. Kc3 Rf3+ 53. Kb2 Rxg3 54. Rb7 Rg2+ 55. Kxb3 Rg1 56. Kb2 Rg2+ 57. Ka3 Rg1 58. Rb2 Kf7 59. a5 Re1 60. a6 Re6 61. Rb7+ Kf6 62. a7 Ra6+ 63. Kb4 Ra1 64. Rc7 h5 65. Kb5 Rb1+ 66. Kc6 Ra1 67. Kb7 Rb1+ 68. Kc8 Ra1 69. Kb8 Kg5 70. Rc4 Rb1+ 71. Kc7 Ra1 72. Kb6 {Anton Guijarro,D (2650)-Gelfand,B (2721) Caleta 2017 1-0 (72)}) 7... Bg7 8. h5 Nc6 9. Ba3 $146 {A very natural novelty once you discover White's next move. The pawn on c5 is not easy to defend.} ({ Mayhem that favored Black ensued after} 9. Rb1 Qc7 10. hxg6 hxg6 11. Rxh8+ Bxh8 12. Qb3 b6 13. Ng5 e6 14. d4 Na5 15. Bb5+ Kf8 16. Qd1 Bb7 17. Qg4 Qh2 18. e4 cxd4 19. Qf3 f5 20. cxd4 Kg8 21. Ke2 Rc8 22. Bf4 fxe4 23. Nxe4 Qh5 24. Qxh5 gxh5 25. Nd6 Rc2+ 26. Kd3 Rxf2 27. Be3 Rxa2 28. Nxb7 Nxb7 29. Bc4 Ra3+ 30. Kd2 Nd8 31. Rb5 Ra5 32. Rxa5 bxa5 33. d5 exd5 {1/2-1/2 (33) Bauer,C (2632)-Howell, D (2655) Reading 2017}) 9... Qa5 10. Rh4 $3 {How often do you get to see a rook lift so early in the game? This is the real point of the opening, for the bishop on a3 is indirectly defended because the queen gets trapped if it captures.} Bd7 (10... Qxa3 11. Ra4 Qb2 12. Rb1 Bxc3 13. Rxb2 Bxb2 {and White has a huge advantage, picking off the c-pawn with} 14. Rc4) 11. Qb3 O-O (11... Qb6 {was mentioned by Nepomniachtchi as a way to defend b7, but the c5 pawn is not easily defended.} 12. Qd5 Bf6 13. hxg6 (13. Rh1 Nb4 14. Bxb4 cxb4 15. Rb1 a5 {is very complicated. The engines may favor White, but with both kings stuck in the center anything can happen.}) 13... Be6 14. gxf7+ Bxf7 15. Qxc5 Bxh4 16. Nxh4 Qxc5 17. Bxc5 {is very pleasant for White, whose bishop and two pawns are ample compensation for a rook.}) 12. hxg6 hxg6 13. Qxb7 {Clearly overlooked - or forgotten about - by Nepo. In the post-mortem, the Russian player revealed that he had underestimated White's resources. Aronian goes up a healthy pawn and converts without much difficulty.} Rfd8 (13... Bxc3 { looks to restore material equality, but Black's king lacks safety.} 14. Bb2 ( 14. dxc3 $4 Qxc3+ {is winning for Black.}) 14... Bxb2 (14... Rab8 {would equalize if not for} 15. Qxb8 $1 {when White goes up a full rook, since mate is threatened on h8.} Rxb8 16. Bxc3 Qxc3 17. dxc3) 15. Qxb2 f6 {presented Aronian with a far greater challenge than the game continuation did. White has a lot to prove, as if his attack does not crash through Black has decent chances to hold. For example,} 16. Ng5 Ne5 17. Qb3+ e6 18. Nxe6 Rab8 19. Qd5 Bxe6 20. Qxe6+ Kg7 {and Black fights on. Despite his exposed king, Nepomniachtchi would have chances here thanks to White's lack of coordination. Optically, Black seems to have good counterplay.}) ({Also insufficient is} 13... Qxa3 14. Qxd7 Nb4 (14... Bxc3 15. Rd1 {at the very least wins a pawn for White, as e7 will fall.}) 15. Bc4 Nc2+ 16. Ke2 Nxa1 17. Ng5 {because White launches a mating attack.}) 14. Qa6 Bxc3 15. Qxa5 Bxa5 16. Bxc5 {White enters the endgame up a full pawn. Nepomniachtchi was mentally out of the game already, but the position is nearly indefensible.} Be6 {Essentially a resignation. Nepo is praying rather than playing.} ({Black could have put up some more resistance with a line such as} 16... Kg7 17. Bc4 f6) 17. Bb5 Ne5 18. Nd4 (18. Nxe5 $2 {is still better for White, but most certainly does not result in a free knight.} Bxd2+ 19. Kf1 Bc3 {and Black's advantage is not as bad as it once was after} 20. Nxf7 Bxf7 21. Rc1 Bf6 22. Ra4) 18... Rd5 19. Bxe7 Kg7 20. f4 Nd7 21. f5 Bxf5 22. Bc6 Re5 23. Nxf5+ gxf5 24. Bg5 {Very precise. Aronian has no interest in giving up any material, seeing that Black has no way to defend all his hanging pieces.} (24. Bxa8 Rxe3+ 25. Kd1 Rxe7 {provides Black undeserved hope.}) 24... Kg6 25. Bf4 Rd8 26. Bxd7 Rc5 27. Rh6+ (27. Ba4 { is good enough, but why give your opponent a pawn when you can be greedy and keep everything!?}) 27... Kg7 28. Rd6 Bc7 29. Rc6 {Nepo throws in the towel, a bishop and pawn down with no compensation.} 1-0 [Event "Saint Louis USA"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2017.08.02"] [Round "1.2"] [White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "2791"] [BlackElo "2810"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2017.08.02"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 O-O 6. a4 d6 7. c3 a6 8. h3 h6 9. Nbd2 Ba7 10. Re1 Ne7 11. Bb3 Ng6 12. d4 Re8 13. Bc2 Bd7 14. a5 c6 15. dxe5 dxe5 16. Nc4 Qe7 17. Qd6 Qxd6 18. Nxd6 Re6 19. Rd1 Rb8 20. Kf1 Re7 21. Nc4 Rbe8 22. b3 Be6 23. Nb6 Bxb6 24. axb6 Rd7 25. Be3 Rc8 26. c4 Rxd1+ 27. Rxd1 c5 28. Ne1 Nd7 29. Nd3 f6 30. Ra1 Ne7 31. Ke2 Kf7 32. Kd2 f5 (32... g5 {So said afterward that keeping the position closed was a better alternative. "Wesley decided not to suffer too much," was Vachier-Lagrave's take.}) 33. f4 $1 { Opening lines for the diagonal-movers.} (33. f3 {was a considering by the Frenchman, but he said he wasn't sure what was going on after} f4 34. Bf2 g5) 33... exf4 34. Nxf4 g5 35. Nxe6 Kxe6 36. exf5+ Nxf5 37. Bg1 Nd4 38. Re1+ Kf6 39. Rf1+ Ke7 40. Re1+ Kd8 41. Be4 Nxb3+ 42. Kc3 Nd4 43. Bh2 1-0 [Event "Saint Louis"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2017.08.02"] [Round "1"] [White "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2783"] [BlackElo "2792"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "56"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bh4 Re8 8. Nbd2 Be7 9. Bg3 d6 10. h3 a6 11. Ba4 b5 12. Bc2 Bb7 13. O-O Bf8 14. Nh2 d5 15. exd5 Qxd5 16. Nhf3 Qd7 17. Re1 Bd6 18. Re2 Rad8 19. Qf1 Nh5 20. Bh2 Re7 21. Rae1 Rde8 22. g4 {[A committal push, and it's difficult to justify the subsequent weakening of white's kingside]} Nf6 23. Ne4 $2 {[But this clearly hands away the iniative to black]} ({White could have continued energetically with} 23. Nh4) 23... Nxe4 24. dxe4 Qe6 25. Bb3 Qf6 26. Qg2 Na5 27. Bc2 Nc4 28. Bb3 Na5 1/2-1/2 [Event "Saint Louis"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2017.08.02"] [Round "1"] [White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "2789"] [BlackElo "2810"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 O-O 6. a4 d6 7. c3 a6 8. h3 h6 9. Nbd2 Ba7 10. Re1 Ne7 11. Bb3 Ng6 12. d4 Re8 13. Bc2 Bd7 14. a5 c6 15. dxe5 dxe5 16. Nc4 Qe7 17. Qd6 Qxd6 18. Nxd6 Re6 19. Rd1 Rb8 20. Kf1 Re7 21. Nc4 Rbe8 22. b3 Be6 23. Nb6 Bxb6 24. axb6 Rd7 25. Be3 Rc8 26. c4 Rxd1+ 27. Rxd1 c5 28. Ne1 Nd7 29. Nd3 f6 30. Ra1 Ne7 31. Ke2 Kf7 32. Kd2 f5 33. f4 exf4 34. Nxf4 g5 35. Nxe6 Kxe6 36. exf5+ Nxf5 37. Bg1 Nd4 38. Re1+ {[#][White has gained a seizable advantage, and he probably just wanted to check the black king twice to get nearer to the time control, but here unfolded a tragedy for So]} Kf6 39. Rf1+ (39. Be4 Nxb3+ 40. Kc3 Nd4 41. Bxb7 Rb8 42. Bd5 Nxb6 43. Bxd4+ cxd4+ 44. Kxd4 Nxd5 45. cxd5 {with an ending where White can still press on}) 39... Ke7 40. Re1+ Kd8 $4 {[Was black tempted to play to pocket an extra pawn himself? Instead of looking to defend long in a difficult ending, he ends up losing the game quickly]} ({Better choice was} 40... Kf6 41. Be4 Nxb3+ 42. Kc3 Nd4 43. Bxb7 Rb8 44. Be4 Nxb6 45. Bxd4+ cxd4+ 46. Kxd4 {and White still has a nagging advantage in the endgame}) 41. Be4 Nxb3+ 42. Kc3 Nd4 43. Bh2 (43. Bh2 Nxb6 ( 43... Nc6 44. Bc7+) 44. Bxb7 {[%csl Rc8] and Black loses the exchange}) 1-0 [Event "Saint Louis"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2017.08.03"] [Round "2"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D27"] [WhiteElo "2799"] [BlackElo "2807"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "220"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 dxc4 4. e3 e6 5. Bxc4 c5 6. O-O a6 7. Be2 {[Hardly a move which can pose any opening challenges for Black]} cxd4 8. exd4 Nc6 9. Nc3 Be7 10. Be3 {[White sets himself very modest aims from the opening, and has entered a variation of the Alapin Sicilian with a move less!]} Ng4 11. Bf4 Nf6 12. Rc1 O-O 13. Na4 Nd5 14. Bg3 Bd6 15. Bd3 Nce7 16. Qb3 b6 17. Be4 Rb8 18. Rfe1 Bb7 19. Nc3 (19. Ne5 {[White could simply play in a typical way with an isolated pawn here]}) 19... Nxc3 20. Bxb7 Nxa2 $1 {[A nice intermezzo]} 21. Qxa2 Rxb7 22. Qxa6 Rc7 {[Slowly and surely, Black has built a steady position and has a slight edge here due to White's isolted d4-pawn]} 23. b3 Nf5 (23... Bxg3 24. hxg3 Qc8 {was expected}) 24. Rxc7 Qxc7 25. Qb5 h6 26. d5 {[White should have been happy to get rid of his isolated pawn, and his defensive chances get a little better now]} exd5 27. Qxd5 Nxg3 28. hxg3 Rd8 {[Black has a niggling edge here, mainly by having a Bishop against Knight in an open position, but due to very less material being present on the board, he can be optimistic about holding his own here]} 29. Qb5 g6 30. Ne5 $6 (30. Re8+ Rxe8 31. Qxe8+ Kg7 32. Qe3 {was obviously seemed a preferred way to defend}) 30... Qc5 31. Qxc5 Bxc5 {[A classic case of a Rook and Bishop against a Rook and Knight, and Black could look forward to invading the White camp]} 32. Kf1 Kg7 33. Ke2 $4 {[%cal Gf1e2] [But this is inexplicable - a clear blunder by Aronian, who hardly took any time for this move and thus paid the price for the momentary loss of concentration]} (33. f4 f6 34. Nc6 Rd3 35. b4 {and White still has to solve his problems}) 33... Bb4 34. Rc1 Re8 35. f4 f6 36. Rc7+ Kh8 37. Rc6 fxe5 38. Rxb6 exf4+ 39. Kf3 Re3+ 40. Kxf4 Bd2 {[Funnily, starting from here, Caruana misses ways to end the game quickly hereon]} (40... g5+ $1 41. Kxe3 Bc5+ 42. Ke4 Bxb6 $19) 41. Rxg6 Kh7 42. Kf5 Rxb3 (42... Re5+ 43. Kxe5 Kxg6 {was a way to win too, thanks to White's pawn structure offering a study-like win in this position}) 43. Rd6 Bg5 {[White's position cannot be called as a fortress but Black nevertheless has a win in the long run]} 44. Rd7+ Kg8 45. Kg4 Bf6 46. Kf5 Bg7 47. g4 Rb2 48. g3 Rb5+ 49. Ke4 Bf6 50. Rd3 Rb4+ 51. Kf3 Bg5 52. Rd5 Rb3+ 53. Kg2 Kf7 54. Rd6 Ke7 55. Rc6 Rd3 56. Ra6 Rd6 {[The point - exchange of the rooks brings about a study-like win]} 57. Ra3 (57. Rxd6 Kxd6 58. Kf3 Ke5 59. Kg2 Ke4 60. Kf2 Kd3 61. Kf3 Be3 62. Kg2 Ke2 63. Kh2 Kf1 64. Kh1 Bg1 $1 {and Black wins}) 57... Ke6 58. Kf3 Ke5 59. Ra5+ Rd5 60. Ra3 Kd4 61. Ra4+ Kd3 62. Ra3+ Kd2 63. Ra1 Rc5 64. Kf2 Rc2 65. Rb1 Bf6 66. Kg2 Ke3+ 67. Kh3 Kf2 68. Rb5 Re2 69. Rb6 (69. g5 {[There were some questions about the resultant position being a win, but a similar story developed in the game too]} ) 69... Bg5 70. Rb5 Bd2 71. Kh2 Kf1+ 72. Kh1 Re4 73. Rf5+ Ke2 74. Kg2 Rxg4 { [In the resultant endgame, Black should only be careful not to exchange his Rook]} 75. Rf2+ Kd3 76. Rf6 Rd4 77. Rf1 Ke4 78. Rf8 Bg5 79. Rf1 Be3 80. Rf8 Rd2+ 81. Kh3 Bg1 82. Kg4 Ke5 83. Rf5+ Ke6 84. Rf1 Bd4 85. Rh1 Bg7 86. Kf3 Kf5 87. Rh5+ Kg6 88. Rb5 Rd3+ 89. Kf4 Bf8 90. Rb6+ Bd6+ 91. Ke4 Rd1 92. Kf3 Kf5 93. Rb5+ Be5 94. Rb6 h5 95. Rh6 Kg5 96. Re6 Bd6 97. Re8 Rc1 98. Re6 Rd1 99. Re8 Rg1 100. Kf2 Rc1 101. Kf3 Kf5 {[Finally, Black creates a clever web here and White cannot escape]} 102. Re3 Bc5 103. Rd3 Ke5 104. Rd2 (104. Rb3 Rc2 {[The point - White King is in a serious mating net} 105. g4 h4) 104... Rc3+ 105. Kg2 Ke6 106. Kh3 Bd6 107. Kh4 Bxg3+ 108. Kxh5 Kf5 $3 {[The importance of knowing your basics! This particular Rook+Bishop vs Rook is a simple win here]} 109. Rd5+ Be5 110. Kh4 Rc4+ (110... Rc4+ 111. Kh3 (111. Kh5 Rc2 $19) 111... Rc2 $19) 0-1 [Event "Sinquefield Cup"] [Site "St. Louis MO USA"] [Date "2017.08.03"] [Round "2"] [White "Magnus Carlsen"] [Black "Sergey Karjakin"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A04"] [WhiteElo "2822"] [BlackElo "2773"] [Annotator "Hess, R"] [PlyCount "83"] [EventDate "2017.08.02"] {Whenever Carlsen matches up against Karjakin, there's no doubt in my mind that he comes to the board with extra motivation. Sure, he successfully defended his title against the Russian player in their world championship match. Yet his play did not convince many of the critics, who left New York unimpressed with his performance. Thus, I believe Carlsen relishes the two victories he's scored against Karjakin in their two classical games since the match.} 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 c5 3. Bg2 Nc6 4. O-O e5 5. e4 d6 ({White can only hope that Black will accept the temporary pawn sacrifice. Doing so allows White quick activity, which is unfortunate for the underdeveloped side.} 5... Nxe4 6. Re1 Nf6 (6... d5 7. c4 {explodes the center.} Be6 8. Qa4 (8. cxd5 Bxd5 9. Nxe5 Nxe5 10. d4 {might be even stronger}) 8... Qd7 9. cxd5 Bxd5 10. Rxe4 Bxe4 11. Qxe4 {A rook and pawn is insufficient compensation for the two minors in this position. White stands much better.})) 6. d3 g6 7. a3 Bg7 8. c3 O-O 9. b4 {Carlsen poses the first structural challenge of the game. Karjakin has to consider what concession he wants to make: does he defend the pawn on c5 with the standard b6 or does he prevent White from playing b4-b5, as in the game?} a6 (9... b6) (9... c4 $5 {deserves serious attention. Black needs to accurately assess how this exchange of pawns harms his backwards d6 pawn. A sample line:} 10. Bg5 Be6 11. dxc4 Bxc4 12. Re1 Be6 (12... d5 {is premature, as } 13. Nbd2 {secures White an advantage.}) 13. Nbd2 a5 {Black has prevented c3-c4, while White remains very solid. This position has similarities to a Sicilian: a liability on d6 that can turn into an asset if d6-d5 becomes possible, the potential to see White part with his bishop in order to remove a defender of the d5 square, and mutual chances.}) 10. Nbd2 b5 {Karjakin doesn't hold back, and why should he? He gains important space and does not compromise his position in the slightest.} 11. Rb1 $146 Nd7 {The knight heads to the other side of the board, which is natural considering this is where the tension is. Yet Karjakin would have been better served to develop before moving this piece a second time.} ({Why not the simple} 11... Be6 {I do not know. Black hardly has any reason to fear} 12. Ng5 {in this position or any other. The bishop can always retreat immediately or after making a pit stop on g4.}) 12. Nb3 cxb4 (12... a5 $6 {was a more active try. Instead of accepting a slightly worse passive position, here Black fights for the initiative. Unfortunately, White seems to come out ahead:} 13. Bg5 f6 14. Be3 cxb4 15. d4 $1 {with tactics on the light squares making Black's life tricky.}) 13. axb4 Nb6 14. Be3 {Carlsen has completed his development, and he can claim an advantage thanks to his extra space. Black's position is perfectly solid, yet Karjakin does a harder time initiating a pawn break.} Be6 15. Qd2 Rc8 16. Rfc1 Re8 17. h4 ({The multipurpose move} 17. Qa2 $1 {is counterintuitive, but very strong. Rarely is it recommended to pin yourself, but the queen threatens the undefended pawn on a6 and can create threats on the diagonal.} Na4 18. Ng5 { At the very least this knight jump forces Black to make a critical decision. The bishop has to be moved, lest White seize uncontested control over the light squares. Yet moving the bishop exposes f7 to discoveries, none of which appear fatal but all of which must be calculated at length. If Black decides to be fearless and sacrifice the pawn on f7, the tactics all seem to favor White.} Bd7 ({Just to throw in the other bishop move, which is an inferior option because it is unprotected and thus allows White's 22nd move.} 18... Bg4 19. Na5 Nxa5 20. Qxf7+ Kh8 21. bxa5 h6 22. Bh3 Bxh3 23. Nxh3 Nxc3 24. Rxc3 Rxc3 25. Qxg6 Re7 26. Bxh6 Bxh6 27. Qxh6+ Rh7 28. Qd2) 19. Na5 Nxa5 (19... Qe7 20. Nxc6 Bxc6 21. c4 {is very pleasant for White, though proving the advantage will be difficult. This Black's safe option.}) 20. Qxf7+ (20. Nxf7 Qf6 21. Nxd6+ Be6 22. Nxe8 Rxe8 {is double-edged. A rook and two pawns is sufficient material for two minors, but a clear plan is not readily apparent for White. Which pawn break - c4 or d4 - will need to be determined at an opportune moment.}) 20... Kh8 21. bxa5 h6 22. Qxg6 hxg5 23. Bxg5 Qxa5 24. Bf6 Bxf6 25. Qxf6+ Kg8 26. Qg6+ Kh8 27. Qxd6 Qd8 {is no worse than a draw for White. Without firepower, it is unlikely that the attacking side will find anything decisive.}) 17... Na4 (17... f6 {Why not opt for this safe move that maintains the status quo?}) 18. c4 h5 19. Kh2 Bg4 (19... Qe7 {looks more precise than the game continuation. The bishop aims at empty squares on g4, whereas here the queen improves its placement.} 20. cxb5 axb5 21. Na5 Bd7 (21... Nd4 22. Bxd4 exd4 23. Nc6 {picks up a pawn. The two bishops give Black compensation, but there are tactical issues to resolve:} Qb7 24. Nfxd4 Bd7 25. e5 Qb6 26. e6 $1 fxe6 27. Qf4 {puts Black in danger.})) 20. cxb5 axb5 21. Na5 Nd4 {Karjakin goes for the only active plan in the position, but the resourceful Russian might have been better suited to continue with passive defense.} (21... Nxa5 { is an inadvisable capture that simply hands White an outside passed pawn.} 22. bxa5) ({There's no clear breaking point, so} 21... Bd7 {would have been a hard move to punish, despite the lovely current position. Note that this exact scenario could have happened, except with the queen better situated on e7.}) 22. Rxc8 Qxc8 23. Rc1 Qd7 24. Nxd4 exd4 25. Bh6 Bh8 (25... Bxh6 26. Qxh6 Nc3 { keeps the rook boxed in but does not solve Black's problems. As in the game, White can just go for the straightforward f2-f3-f4-f5.}) 26. Rc6 Nc3 ({While the game continuation was logical, Black would have successfully staved off White's progress with the move} 26... Ra8 $1 {which threatens to undermine the rook's protection on c6. In fact, Carlsen would not be in time to launch his kingside assault. In fact, if White isn't careful it is he who will find himself in trouble. In the following variation, even winning Black's queen is not enough to claim an edge.} 27. Qc1 Nc3 28. e5 d5 29. f4 Rxa5 30. Rd6 Ra2 31. Rxd7 Bxd7 {is level.}) 27. f3 Be6 28. Bf4 Be5 29. Bxe5 dxe5 30. f4 Qe7 ({After } 30... Rc8 31. Rxc8+ Qxc8 32. f5 {the breakthrough is still powerful, but Black has some resources:} Bd7 33. Qh6 Qf8 34. Qg5 Nd1 $1 35. fxg6 Nf2 { and despite how winning the position looks like it should be for White, Black is still kicking.}) 31. Rc5 Rc8 (31... exf4 32. Qxf4 Nd1 {is not the easiest idea to spot, considering it is rare to have a knight reach the eighth rank with so many pieces on the board. In such a messy position, quality of pieces is more important than the quantity. Even if Black loses a pawn, having the knight make its way to the kingside provides legitimate counterplay.}) 32. Rxc8+ Bxc8 33. Nc6 {The major difference - and problem - of playing Rc8 a move later.} Qd6 34. Nxe5 Qxb4 {Material equality is restored, but...} ({A human does not have the cool patience to play} 34... Be6 {but Black has better practical chances here. Mainly, it gives White more opportunity to go awry.}) 35. f5 $1 {is devastating. White's attack is easy to execute.} Qd6 36. Nf3 gxf5 (36... b4 37. Qg5 b3 38. e5) 37. Qg5+ Kh7 (37... Qg6 38. Qd8+) 38. e5 (38. exf5 {was more decisive, but less aesthetically pleasing.}) 38... Qg6 39. Qd8 Be6 40. Ng5+ Kg7 41. Qxd4 Na4 42. Nh3 {The resignation may seem premature (material is even!), but Black has no hope. Black's pieces are stuck and White's way forward is very obvious.} 1-0 [Event "5th Sinquefield Cup 2017"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2017.08.03"] [Round "2"] [White "Aronian, L."] [Black "Caruana, F."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D27"] [WhiteElo "2809"] [BlackElo "2807"] [PlyCount "220"] [EventDate "2017.07.31"] 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 dxc4 4. e3 e6 5. Bxc4 c5 6. O-O a6 7. Be2 cxd4 8. exd4 Nc6 9. Nc3 Be7 10. Be3 Ng4 11. Bf4 Nf6 12. Rc1 O-O 13. Na4 Nd5 14. Bg3 Bd6 15. Bd3 Nce7 16. Qb3 b6 17. Be4 Rb8 18. Rfe1 Bb7 19. Nc3 Nxc3 20. Bxb7 Nxa2 21. Qxa2 Rxb7 22. Qxa6 Rc7 23. b3 Nf5 24. Rxc7 Qxc7 25. Qb5 h6 26. d5 exd5 27. Qxd5 Nxg3 28. hxg3 Rd8 29. Qb5 g6 30. Ne5 Qc5 31. Qxc5 Bxc5 32. Kf1 Kg7 33. Ke2 Bb4 34. Rc1 Re8 35. f4 f6 36. Rc7+ Kh8 37. Rc6 fxe5 38. Rxb6 exf4+ 39. Kf3 Re3+ 40. Kxf4 Bd2 (40... g5+ {Right on the time control Caruana misses perhaps the easiest of all of his would-be earlier wins. He said afterward that he was afraid his king wouldn't get out of the corner, but an eventual zugzwang would have done the trick:} 41. Kxe3 Bc5+ 42. Ke4 Bxb6 43. Kf5 Kg7 44. b4 Kf7 45. b5 Bc7 46. g4 Bb6 47. Ke5 Ba5 48. Kf5 Bc7 {and now the black king wiggles his way in.}) 41. Rxg6 Kh7 (41... Re6+ {and one move later, now with ample time, Caruana also missed that this, too, was a win!} 42. Kf5 Rxg6 43. Kxg6 Kg8 { and the black king is just in time to catch the b-pawn. The resulting ending is a reasonably well-known win since White has two[!] g-pawns. GM Teimour Radjabov, commenting on Twitter, said he studied it when he was 11 years old. Here's the long line that should be studied, as it impacts all of the future play since White can never trade rooks in the next 60 moves:} 44. b4 Kf8 45. b5 Ke8 46. b6 Kd7 47. b7 Kc7 48. b8=Q+ Kxb8 {White was going to lose that pawn anyway, so we will get rid of it quickly to get to the meat of the meal.} 49. Kh5 Kc7 50. Kg4 Kd6 51. Kh4 Ke5 52. Kh5 Ke4 53. Kh4 Ke3 54. Kh3 Kf2 55. Kh2 Kf1 56. Kh1 {The white king dare not venture UP the h-file, lest the black king come behind him and White lose contact with the defensive corner.} (56. g4 { This advance does Black a little more fits, but can still be parried.} Be3 57. Kh1 Bg1 58. g3 Be3 59. Kh2 Bf2 60. Kh1 Bg1 61. g5 hxg5 {And here we see the importance of the second white g-pawn, otherwise this would be stalemate.}) 56... Be3 57. Kh2 Bd4 58. Kh1 Bg1 {The first of many zugzwangs!} 59. g4 Be3 60. Kh2 Bd4 61. Kh1 Bg1 62. g3 Bd4 63. Kh2 Bf2 64. Kh1 Bg1 65. g5 hxg5) 42. Kf5 Rxb3 43. Rd6 Bg5 44. Rd7+ Kg8 45. Kg4 Bf6 46. Kf5 Bg7 47. g4 Rb2 48. g3 Rb5+ 49. Ke4 Bf6 50. Rd3 Rb4+ 51. Kf3 Bg5 52. Rd5 Rb3+ 53. Kg2 Kf7 54. Rd6 Ke7 55. Rc6 Rd3 56. Ra6 Rd6 {You can see that Caruana is well aware that the rook trade wins, as in the previous analysis. That makes it all the more strange that he didn't head for the line after Black's 41st move.} 57. Ra3 Ke6 58. Kf3 Ke5 59. Ra5+ Rd5 60. Ra3 Kd4 61. Ra4+ Kd3 62. Ra3+ Kd2 63. Ra1 Rc5 64. Kf2 Rc2 65. Rb1 Bf6 66. Kg2 Ke3+ 67. Kh3 Kf2 68. Rb5 Re2 69. Rb6 Bg5 70. Rb5 Bd2 71. Kh2 Kf1+ 72. Kh1 Re4 {Caruana said he just couldn't figure out how to improve his position and win without capturing what seems like a vital pawn to keep on the board. Weak computers are horrendous at this position since they famously can't "see" many bishop and rook pawn positions as drawn.} 73. Rf5+ Ke2 74. Kg2 Rxg4 75. Rf2+ Kd3 76. Rf6 Rd4 77. Rf1 Ke4 78. Rf8 Bg5 79. Rf1 Be3 80. Rf8 Rd2+ 81. Kh3 {Caruana said he was perturbed this was as difficult as it was since he's up an entire piece.} Bg1 82. Kg4 Ke5 83. Rf5+ Ke6 84. Rf1 Bd4 85. Rh1 Bg7 86. Kf3 Kf5 87. Rh5+ Kg6 88. Rb5 Rd3+ 89. Kf4 Bf8 90. Rb6+ Bd6+ 91. Ke4 Rd1 92. Kf3 Kf5 93. Rb5+ Be5 94. Rb6 h5 95. Rh6 Kg5 96. Re6 Bd6 97. Re8 Rc1 98. Re6 Rd1 99. Re8 Rg1 100. Kf2 Rc1 101. Kf3 Kf5 102. Re3 Bc5 103. Rd3 Ke5 104. Rd2 Rc3+ 105. Kg2 Ke6 106. Kh3 Bd6 107. Kh4 Bxg3+ {Caruana said he was absolutely sure Black is winning (he is) but he thought it he didn't take the pawn now, that Aronian may shuffle around for a while and get close to the 50-move rule} 108. Kxh5 Kf5 109. Rd5+ Be5 110. Kh4 Rc4+ {whether White moves 101. Kh5 or 111. Kh3, then 111...Rc2 forces mate.} 0-1 [Event "5th Sinquefield Cup 2017"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2017.08.04"] [Round "3"] [White "Anand, V."] [Black "Carlsen, M."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C78"] [WhiteElo "2783"] [BlackElo "2822"] [PlyCount "131"] [EventDate "2017.07.31"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 7. Nc3 O-O 8. d3 d6 9. Nd5 h6 10. c3 Rb8 11. Re1 Ba7 12. Be3 Bxe3 13. Nxe3 Re8 14. a4 b4 15. a5 bxc3 16. bxc3 Be6 17. Bxe6 Rxe6 18. Nd5 Ne7 19. Nxf6+ Rxf6 20. d4 Ng6 21. g3 Qc8 22. Re3 Rb5 23. Nd2 h5 24. h4 Qh3 25. Qf1 Qg4 26. Qe2 Qxe2 27. Rxe2 Re6 28. Nf1 Nf8 29. Rc2 exd4 30. cxd4 c5 31. dxc5 dxc5 32. Nd2 Rd6 33. Nc4 Rd4 34. Kg2 Ne6 35. Ra3 g6 36. Nd2 Kg7 37. Rac3 Rdb4 38. Ra2 Rd4 39. Rac2 Ra4 {Everything is proceeding normally. Sure, Carlsen is going to press some, but White's "hold" shouldn't be too difficult, until...} 40. Nb3 $2 {Maybe not losing per se, but not a move to go in a great game collection either.} Rxb3 $1 41. Rxb3 Nd4 42. Rcb2 Nxb3 43. Rxb3 Rxe4 (43... Rxa5 {was another way, but not better. Carlsen could rationalize that if he doesn't get the e4-pawn now, he'll never get it, but he could try to leave a5 on the board for later lunching.}) 44. Rb6 Re6 45. Rb7 c4 46. Rc7 Re5 47. Rxc4 Rxa5 {A "textbook" draw, but not without some chances for Black. White's pawn chain is already the "correct" one to have in such defenses. He cannot let Black create additional play on the kingside.} 48. Rc6 Ra2 49. Kf3 a5 50. Ra6 a4 51. Ke3 a3 52. Kf3 f6 {Black keeps his pawn on a3, as one of the main winning tries is to run the king to a2 for shelter, then try to advance it. Of course, the plan is not without risks, namely the abandonment of all the remaining pawns.} 53. Ra7+ Kf8 54. Kg2 Ra1 55. Kf3 Ke8 56. Ra6 Ke7 57. Kg2 Kf7 58. Kf3 Ra2 59. Kg2 g5 {Now White should not allow the g-pawns to ust trade, otherwise another weakness on h4 opens up.} 60. g4 {Not the only move to hold the balance, but certainly one of them.} gxh4 (60... hxg4 61. hxg5 fxg5 {doesn't change anything}) 61. gxh5 Ra1 62. Ra7+ Kg8 63. h6 Kh8 64. Kh2 f5 65. f4 a2 66. Kg2 {drawn, since both kings are stuck sliding back and forth from here on out.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Saint Louis USA"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2017.08.04"] [Round "3"] [White "Caruana, F."] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, I."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B25"] [WhiteElo "2807"] [BlackElo "2751"] [Annotator "Hess, R"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2017.07.31"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 {As someone who exclusively played the Closed Sicilian for an extended period of my adolescent chess career, I must say that I was pleasantly surprised to see Caruana essay the opening.} d6 3. Nge2 Nf6 4. g3 g6 5. Bg2 Nc6 6. d3 Bg7 7. h3 Rb8 8. a4 ({The following game is an excellent example of how the Closed Sicilian can cause Black problems:} 8. Be3 O-O 9. Qd2 b5 10. O-O b4 11. Nd1 Nd7 12. Bh6 Bxh6 13. Qxh6 Nd4 14. Qd2 a5 15. Ne3 Nb6 16. f4 f5 17. exf5 Nxe2+ 18. Qxe2 gxf5 19. a3 Qd7 20. axb4 axb4 21. g4 e6 22. gxf5 exf5 23. Kh2 Kh8 24. Rg1 Qe7 25. Qf3 Be6 26. Qh5 Qf7 27. Qh6 Qf6 28. Qxf6+ Rxf6 29. Ra7 Bf7 30. Re1 d5 31. b3 Bg8 32. Nf1 c4 33. Nd2 cxd3 34. cxd3 d4 35. Re5 Rc8 36. Nc4 Nxc4 37. dxc4 Rd8 {Rublevsky,S (2678)-Areshchenko,A (2687) Olginka 2011 1-0}) 8... a6 9. f4 Bd7 10. Be3 $146 {This move technically is a novelty, though I'm pretty positive I've played this in blitz games on Chess.com. There is nothing particularly novel about this move - White simply follows the opening guidelines.} b5 11. axb5 axb5 12. Qd2 b4 13. Nd1 ({Typically it is preferable to advance rather than retreat. Here, however, this knight jump opens up the bishop on the long diagonal. Furthermore, the knight is in danger of being trapped.} 13. Nd5 O-O 14. O-O Ne8 {and with e6 threatened while b2 is en prise, White is not doing well here. At best} 15. f5 {will offer some compensation.}) 13... O-O 14. O-O Qc7 15. g4 Ra8 16. Rb1 Ra2 {A quintessential Closed Sicilian has arisen. Black dominates the play on the queenside, while White launches his pawns on the kingside. If the attack fails to take off then Black is better. Yet even winning a pawn or two is sometimes not enough when your opponent sends all of his pawns down the board to assault your king.} 17. f5 Ne5 18. Bh6 Qa7 19. Kh1 Bb5 20. Bxg7 Kxg7 21. Nf4 {Caruana spent a lot of time on this move, deliberating between this and 21. Ne3 and 21. Ng3.} (21. Ne3 g5 {shuts down the attack, which means that White stands worse.}) 21... c4 ( 21... g5 $3 {is a seemingly ridiculous option that actually equalizes. I'm not sure many humans are finding this resource over the board (though Caruana saw it), but the essential point is to undermine the defense of the queenside. The pawn sacrifice reveals the importance of piece placement, and how often coordination is worth more than a pawn.} 22. Nh5+ Kh8 23. Qxg5 Rg8 24. Qe3 (24. Qh6 Nxh5 25. Qxh5 c4 {is certainly more dangerous for White than for Black. The extra pawn provides compensation for the poorly placed pieces.}) 24... Nxh5 25. gxh5 f6 26. Nf2 {was a line discussed by Caruana in the postmortem, and he considered Black's position to be completely fine. In fact, Nepomniachtchi would stand better here since Black can initiate pawn breaks on the queenside. The surplus pawn is meaningless.}) 22. g5 Nfd7 ({I don't believe in this variation. I mean, it can't be good, right? Perhaps looks are deceiving, but the remaining pawn structure after} 22... Nh5 23. f6+ Kg8 24. Nxh5 gxh5 25. fxe7 Qxe7 {seems to greatly favor White. Yet Black is actually incredibly solid, thanks to the centralized knight and the big pawn sitting on g2. Piece activity is more vital in dynamic positions than the number of pawns, so even if White picks off b4, there is serious compensation.}) 23. Ne3 b3 ({Black would like to spring his second knight into action, but he can't afford to desert his kingside.} 23... cxd3 24. cxd3 Nc5 25. Ned5 Nexd3 26. Nxe7 {drops a very important protector. An engine may feel comfortable defending here, but hardly anyone will prefer to fight from the Black side.}) (23... c3 {was addressed by Nepomniachtchi, but it seems dubious.} 24. bxc3 bxc3 25. Qe1 { and the attack rages on while c3 is now a target. Black is significantly worse. } (25. Qxc3 {allows the intermezzo} Bxd3)) 24. d4 bxc2 (24... c3 25. Qxc3 { and Black picks up a temporary exchange, but then his knight on e5 is trapped.} ) 25. Nxc2 Nd3 26. Nd5 e5 $1 {Nepomniachtchi was proud of this move. He said he was happy to offer the exchange on a2 if it meant getting the dormant d7 knight to a favorable square.} 27. Nc3 ({For the next few moves} 27. Qe3 { had to be calculated. The queen would love to get to h4 and the only way to do so is via g3. White needs to be careful as well, for the center can come under fire on any turn.} Bc6 28. Ncb4 (28. Ndb4 Ba4) 28... Bxd5 29. Nxa2 exd4 30. Qg3 Bc6 31. Qxd6 Qc5 {and despite the extra material, White is a bit worse.}) 27... Qa5 28. dxe5 {Played to avoid any potential pins once the queen goes to e3.} ( 28. Qe3 Ba4 {was mentioned by both players, but White seems to come out ahead in this line.} (28... Rxb2 29. Rxb2 Qxc3 (29... Nxb2 30. Rb1 {picks up a piece on the b-file.}) 30. Rxb5 Qxc2 {provides compensation for the exchange, but not equality. If Black can consolidate he escapes, though in the meantime he stands worse.}) 29. Nxa2 Bxc2 30. Ra1 Qb6 {is what Caruana discussed with Maurice Ashley. But here the advantage is very clear:} 31. Qd2 Qxb2 32. dxe5 N7xe5 33. Nc3 Bb3 {is a straightforward win for White, as the queens are swapped.} 34. Qxb2 Nxb2 35. f6+ Kg8 36. Ra6 Rd8 37. Rfa1 h6 38. Ra8 Rxa8 39. Rxa8+ Kh7 40. h4 Nbd3 41. Ra6) 28... N7xe5 29. Nd4 (29. Qe3 {again was strong.} Ba4 (29... Rxb2 30. Rxb2 Nxb2 (30... Qxc3 31. Rxb5 Qxc2 {Caruana did not initially think White is better here. He is, but that c-pawn does look worrisome.}) 31. Rb1 {again does unpreventable damage along the b-file.}) 30. Nxa2 Bxc2 31. Ra1 {with an extra exchange.}) 29... Bd7 30. Rfd1 {Caruana doesn't go for broke. In a position somewhat similar to Carlsen's yesterday, White could have abandoned the queenside and pinned all his hopes on a mate. The computer suggest it was the preferred path.} (30. Qe3 $1 {This was even possible, and perhaps better, a move before.} Rxb2 31. Rxb2 Nxb2 32. Nd5 Nbd3 33. Qg3 {and the forces are mounting. White should have compensation at the least. Caruana admitted that he did not realize how quickly he could launch an attack. It's looking very uncomfortable for Black, as his king is under fire.}) (30. Qc2 {would exit the pin and win the exchange, except that} Ba4 $1 { leaves Black in front. The bishop on g2 is just so bad and the pawn on b2 is an easy target.}) 30... Qc5 31. Nxa2 Qxd4 32. Rf1 Bc6 33. Nc3 Rb8 34. Qe2 Rb3 35. Nd1 Nc5 36. Nc3 Ncd3 ({A losing attempt would be} 36... Nxe4 {hoping for the horrendous blunder} 37. Nxe4 $4 ({Nepomniachtchi noted that if his king had luft, the second exchange sacrifice would play out in his favor. However, without that air, Black just gets mated on the back rank.} 37. Bxe4 Rxc3 38. f6+ Kg8 39. bxc3 Bxe4+ 40. Kh2 {if the pawn was on h6 rather than h7, Black could comfortably play Qd5 and have an ongoing attack. Here, Black is totally lost.}) 37... Bxe4 {would turn the tables.}) 37. Nd1 Nc5 (37... Qb6 38. Qe3 Qxe3 39. Nxe3 Nxb2 {had both players perplexed about who stands better, but after} 40. Nc2 {I have to think that White has the superior chances. There are many ideas on the back rank that will be difficult for Black to resolve.}) 38. Nc3 {The players wisely force a draw by repetition, keeping Caruana in a tie for first and getting Nepo on the scoreboard.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Saint Louis USA"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2017.08.04"] [Round "3"] [White "So, W."] [Black "Nakamura, Hi"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "2810"] [BlackElo "2792"] [PlyCount "137"] [EventDate "2017.07.31"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. a4 a6 7. c3 O-O 8. Re1 Ba7 9. h3 b5 10. Bb3 h6 11. axb5 axb5 12. Be3 Bd7 13. Bxa7 Rxa7 14. Nbd2 Rxa1 15. Qxa1 Nh5 16. Nf1 Qf6 17. Qd1 b4 18. d4 bxc3 19. bxc3 Nf4 20. Ne3 Qg6 21. Kh2 Re8 22. Ba4 Qf6 {She sheepishly retreats.} (22... Qh5 {was Nakamura's intent, with three pieces barreling down on h3. Except he forgot} 23. Nf5 { and you can't even get rid of that knight since} Bxf5 24. exf5 {and the Nc6 is not happy.}) 23. Ng4 Qe7 24. Ne3 Qf6 25. Bb5 exd4 26. cxd4 Nb8 27. Bf1 Ng6 28. Nd5 Qd8 29. Qc2 c6 30. Nc3 c5 31. Rd1 Nc6 32. dxc5 dxc5 33. Nb5 Qb8+ {Nakamura preferred} (33... Qe7 34. Nd6 Nd4 35. Rxd4 cxd4 36. Nxe8 Qxe8 {[The choice of capture matters!]} (36... Bxe8 37. Kg1 Qd6 {to get the bishop to c6 fails to} 38. Qc8) 37. Kg1 (37. Nxd4 Qe5+) 37... Bc6 {And without the queen on e8, the pressure on e4 would not be as great. Nakamura said White can still push though.} 38. Bd3 Qd7 39. Qc4) 34. Kg1 Nb4 35. Qxc5 Bxb5 36. Qxb4 Bc6 37. Qxb8 Rxb8 {Nakamura said he could not afford to trade rooks. His studying had taught him the four vs. three would be likely losing.} 38. Bd3 Rb4 39. Rb1 Ra4 {No trade!} 40. Bc2 Rc4 41. Rb8+ Kh7 42. Bb3 Rc1+ 43. Kh2 Bxe4 44. Bxf7 { Now Nakamura would happily trade rooks. The winning chances go from favorable to nearly non-existent.} Ne7 45. Re8 Rc7 46. Ne5 Bd5 47. Bh5 g6 48. Be2 Nc6 49. Ng4 Kg7 50. Ne3 Bf7 51. Re4 Rb7 52. Bf3 Rb4 53. Rxb4 Nxb4 54. Be4 Na6 55. f4 Nc5 56. Bb1 Nd7 57. g4 Nf6 58. Kg3 Nd5 59. Nd1 Be8 60. Be4 Ba4 61. Nb2 Nc3 62. Kf3 Bb5 63. Bb7 g5 64. fxg5 hxg5 65. Be4 Nxe4 66. Kxe4 Bf1 67. Kf5 Bxh3 68. Kxg5 Bxg4 69. Kxg4 1/2-1/2 [Event "Saint Louis USA"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2017.08.04"] [Round "3"] [White "Vachier Lagrave, M."] [Black "Svidler, P."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C84"] [WhiteElo "2791"] [BlackElo "2749"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2017.07.31"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a3 Na5 9. Ba2 c5 10. Nc3 Be6 11. Nh4 O-O 12. Nf5 Nc6 13. Nd5 Bxf5 14. exf5 Nxd5 15. Bxd5 Rc8 16. a4 Bf6 17. axb5 axb5 18. c4 bxc4 19. dxc4 Bg5 20. Be3 Kh8 $2 { "One of the worst moves in the position," according to the man who played it. It also ate up a lot of time. The reason for the move comes from Svidler seeing the variation} (20... Qf6 21. Ra6 Nb4 (21... Nd4 22. Bxd4 cxd4 (22... exd4 23. f4) 23. b4 {"That was scaring me a great deal...But later in the game I would have given my first born for this position!" -- Svidler}) 22. Rxd6 $1 Qxf5 (22... Qxd6 23. Bxf7+ {shows why Svidler wanted his king tucked away}) 23. g4 {and Black loses the Bg5}) 21. Qh5 h6 {his "change of scenery" move} (21... Bxe3 22. fxe3 Qf6 {was Svidler's original intent, but he then saw no defense to } ({Svilder said} 22... f6 {was "too ugly to contemplate" but it may have been the best. He was worried about Rf1-f3-g3}) 23. g4 h6 24. h4 {and g5 is coming.} ) 22. Bxf7 Nd4 23. h4 {After the game, MVL said lines where his queen gets to g6 would have been preferable to what he played.} Bxe3 ({Vachier-Lagrave showed the pretty trap/countertrap} 23... Rxf7 24. Qxf7 Ne2+ 25. Kh2 Bxe3 ( 25... Bf4+ 26. Kh3 {and White is fine}) 26. g3 (26. fxe3 Qxh4#) 26... Bd4 27. Ra7 {and Re1 traps the wayward knight}) 24. fxe3 Qf6 25. Ra7 Ne2+ 26. Qxe2 Rxf7 27. Rxf7 Qxf7 28. Qg4 Rb8 29. Ra1 Qf6 30. Qe4 Kh7 31. Ra2 h5 32. Kh2 $2 d5 $1 33. Qxd5 (33. cxd5 Rb4) 33... Qxh4+ 34. Kg1 Qe1+ 35. Kh2 Qh4+ 36. Kg1 Qe1+ 37. Kh2 Qxe3 38. Qf7 {There's a few tries for both sides, but with best play it would still end in a draw. Svidler showed some line where his own king walks to e3 with the heavies still on the board. He thought he's better not lose the game a second time, so...} Qf4+ 39. Kh1 Qh4+ 40. Kg1 Qe1+ 41. Kh2 Qh4+ 42. Kg1 Qd4+ 43. Kh1 1/2-1/2 [Event "Saint Louis"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2017.08.04"] [Round "3"] [White "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C78"] [WhiteElo "2783"] [BlackElo "2822"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "131"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 7. Nc3 O-O 8. d3 d6 9. Nd5 h6 10. c3 Rb8 11. Re1 Ba7 12. Be3 Bxe3 13. Nxe3 Re8 14. a4 b4 15. a5 bxc3 16. bxc3 Be6 17. Bxe6 ({Avoiding the Bishop exchange was moderately better with} 17. Ba4 Bd7 18. Qc2 Na7 19. Bb3 {in Abramovic - Kupreichik, Belgrade 1988}) 17... Rxe6 18. Nd5 Ne7 19. Nxf6+ Rxf6 20. d4 Ng6 {Black has equalised, and now he begins to get his active and start 'probing'} 21. g3 Qc8 22. Re3 Rb5 {[%cal Gb7b5] Eyeing the pawn at a5, improving his piece acivity, and getting ready to slowly apply pressure} 23. Nd2 h5 24. h4 Qh3 25. Qf1 Qg4 26. Qe2 Qxe2 27. Rxe2 Re6 28. Nf1 Nf8 {Getting ready to reroute the Knight to d7, from where he can ultimately jump around to attack the centre pawns or the a5-pawn} 29. Rc2 $1 {Nice! White indicates that, instead of holding on to defend e4, he too can indicate a hidden weakness in black's positon: the c7-pawn} exd4 (29... Nd7 30. Ne3 {and the white knight threatens to jump around, too}) 30. cxd4 c5 ({Black cannot afford to give up c7 and allow the white rook to get active:} 30... Rxe4 31. Rxc7 Rxd4 32. Rc6 {picking up a6}) 31. dxc5 dxc5 32. Nd2 Rd6 33. Nc4 Rd4 34. Kg2 Ne6 35. Ra3 g6 36. Nd2 Kg7 37. Rac3 Rdb4 38. Ra2 ({A stouter defence was} 38. Nc4 Nd4 39. Ra2 {probably forcing exchange of a pair of rooks and arriving at an easier defence}) 38... Rd4 39. Rac2 Ra4 40. Nb3 $2 {White drops a pawn, at the proverbial 40th move!} (40. Nc4 Nd4 41. Rd2 {with an edge for Black}) 40... Rxb3 41. Rxb3 Nd4 42. Rcb2 Nxb3 43. Rxb3 Rxe4 44. Rb6 Re6 45. Rb7 c4 (45... Rc6 46. Rb6 Rf6 (46... Rc7 47. Rxa6 c4 48. Rb6 c3 49. Rb1 {should hold for white}) 47. Rb7 c4 {transposes into the game}) 46. Rc7 Re5 47. Rxc4 Rxa5 48. Rc6 {Ultimately, Anand finds a way to head for a theoretically drawn rook ending} Ra2 49. Kf3 a5 50. Ra6 a4 51. Ke3 a3 52. Kf3 f6 53. Ra7+ Kf8 54. Kg2 Ra1 55. Kf3 Ke8 56. Ra6 Ke7 57. Kg2 Kf7 58. Kf3 Ra2 59. Kg2 g5 60. g4 gxh4 61. gxh5 Ra1 62. Ra7+ Kg8 63. h6 Kh8 64. Kh2 f5 65. f4 a2 66. Kg2 1/2-1/2 [Event "Saint Louis"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2017.08.04"] [Round "3"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B23"] [WhiteElo "2807"] [BlackElo "2751"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 d6 3. Nge2 Nf6 4. g3 g6 5. Bg2 Nc6 6. d3 Bg7 {An off-beat line which has surprisingly been employed a lot at the top levels} 7. h3 Rb8 8. a4 a6 9. f4 Bd7 10. Be3 b5 11. axb5 axb5 12. Qd2 b4 13. Nd1 O-O 14. O-O Qc7 15. g4 Ra8 16. Rb1 Ra2 17. f5 Ne5 18. Bh6 Qa7 19. Kh1 Bb5 20. Bxg7 Kxg7 21. Nf4 c4 ( 21... g5 $5 22. Nh5+ Kh8 23. Qxg5 Rg8 24. Qh6 (24. Qe3 Nxh5 25. gxh5 {and black turns out fine here}) 24... Nxh5 25. Qxh5 f6 {with a complicated fight}) 22. g5 Nfd7 23. Ne3 $2 (23. Qxb4 cxd3 24. cxd3 {with a balanced position}) 23... b3 24. d4 bxc2 25. Nxc2 Nd3 26. Nd5 e5 {Came as a surprise for Caruana but black had to create complications here} 27. Nc3 Qa5 28. dxe5 N7xe5 29. Nd4 $6 {Caruana admitted later that this was a mistake - he could have won the exchange easier} ({Better was} 29. Rfd1 {and white wins the exchange in a simpler way, giving himself fair chances to win the game}) (29. Qe3 Rxb2 30. Rxb2 Qxc3 31. Rxb5 Qxc2 {'with a complete mess, which I wasn't sure about' - Caruana}) 29... Bd7 30. Rfd1 Qc5 $1 {Black has enough complications to compensate for the exchange} 31. Nxa2 Qxd4 32. Rf1 Bc6 33. Nc3 Rb8 {Black has excellent compensation for the exchange here} 34. Qe2 Rb3 35. Nd1 Nc5 36. Nc3 Ncd3 37. Nd1 Nc5 38. Nc3 1/2-1/2 [Event "Saint Louis"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2017.08.04"] [Round "3"] [White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Black "Svidler, Peter"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C84"] [WhiteElo "2789"] [BlackElo "2751"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a3 Na5 9. Ba2 c5 10. Nc3 Be6 11. Nh4 O-O 12. Nf5 Nc6 13. Nd5 Bxf5 14. exf5 Nxd5 15. Bxd5 Rc8 16. a4 Bf6 17. axb5 axb5 18. c4 bxc4 19. dxc4 Bg5 20. Be3 Kh8 $6 { Svidler singled out this moment as the starting point of his troubles, even calling it a 'blunder'} ({Svidler's intended} 20... Qf6 {didn't look pleasant to him:} 21. Ra6 Nd4 (21... Nb4 22. Rxd6 $1) 22. Bxd4 (22. b4 $5 cxb4 23. Bxd4 exd4 24. f4 Bh6 25. g4 g5 26. h4 $5 {with a mess which seems to favour white ultimately}) 22... cxd4 23. b4 {which was 'scaring me a great deal' (Svidler)}) 21. Qh5 h6 {Svidler felt 'the game was effectively over'} ({Originally intended was} 21... Bxe3 22. fxe3 Qf6 23. g4 {and 'it is mate!' (Svidler)}) ( 21... Bxe3 22. fxe3 f6 {was the way engines wanted to go,} 23. Rf3 {followed by Rg3, and 'I should eventually get mated!' (Svidler) A curious but familiar case of a player's intuition vs the machine's dogmatism?}) 22. Bxf7 Nd4 23. h4 Bxe3 ({Vachier-Lagrave came up with a beautiful variation here:} 23... Rxf7 24. Qxf7 Ne2+ 25. Kh2 Bxe3 26. g3 Bd4 27. Ra7 {and Ne2 will fall}) 24. fxe3 Qf6 25. Ra7 ({Later on, Vachier-Lagrave felt that his best practical chance was:} 25. exd4 Rxf7 26. dxe5 dxe5 {and white is better}) 25... Ne2+ 26. Qxe2 (26. Kf2 e4 $1 27. Kxe2 $4 Qxb2+ 28. Ke1 Rb8 $1 {with a good attack for black}) 26... Rxf7 27. Rxf7 Qxf7 {Vachier-Lagrave felt that this position was about finding a way to consolidate, but 'Peter found resourcesful defences'} 28. Qg4 Rb8 29. Ra1 Qf6 30. Qe4 $6 (30. Qg6 {was called for}) 30... Kh7 31. Ra2 h5 32. Kh2 d5 $1 33. Qxd5 (33. cxd5 Rb4) 33... Qxh4+ 34. Kg1 Qe1+ 35. Kh2 Qh4+ 36. Kg1 Qe1+ 37. Kh2 Qxe3 38. Qf7 Qf4+ 39. Kh1 Qh4+ 40. Kg1 Qe1+ 41. Kh2 Qh4+ 42. Kg1 Qd4+ 43. Kh1 (43. Kh1 Rb6 44. Ra8 e4 45. Qe8 Kh6 46. Rd8 {and 'losing this becomes a possibility' (Svidler)}) 1/2-1/2 [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2017.08.05"] [Round "4"] [White "Magnus Carlsen"] [Black "Maxime Vachier-Lagrave"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A34"] [WhiteElo "2822"] [BlackElo "2789"] [Annotator "Hess, R"] [PlyCount "142"] [EventDate "2017.08.02"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e3 {This line is seeing new life in Saint Louis. Levon Aronian won a convincing game against Ian Nepomniachtchi using this relatively obscure variation in the Sinquefield Cup's opening round. Carlsen himself played this back in 2014 against Anish Giri. I'd be surprised if MVL was familiar with all the variations, but I have no doubt he came into the game armed with improvements.} Nxc3 6. dxc3 (6. bxc3 g6 7. h4 Bg7 8. h5 Nc6 9. Ba3 $146 Qa5 10. Rh4 $1 {was the brilliancy Aronian uncorked against Nepo.}) 6... Qxd1+ 7. Kxd1 {Ok, let's pause and take stock. Carlsen clearly wanted to avoid any and all theory, but has he left himself with a good position? White would very much prefer to have his pawn on e4 rather than e3. Moreover, White has to waste some time because his king is stuck in the center. It's not all bad: the pawn structure is solid and the king being close to the queenside can have its benefits in an ending.} Bf5 8. Nd2 (8. Ne5 Nd7 9. Bb5 {trades off the minors, with total equality.}) 8... Nc6 9. e4 Bg6 10. Bb5 Rc8 {MVL has no interest in allowing his pawn structure to be ruined.} 11. h4 h5 12. Re1 (12. f3 {is a tame move that requires Black to respond with} a6 (12... f6 13. Nb3 { is pleasant for White.}) (12... e5 13. Nc4 f6 14. Kc2 {causes Black serious concerns. White is quick to control many of the weaker squares, particularly d5.}) 13. Bxc6+ Rxc6 14. Nc4 f6 15. Kc2 {with a fight. I prefer White since the d-file is for the taking, but Black has little reason to be overly concerned.}) 12... e6 13. a4 Be7 14. g3 O-O 15. a5 Rfd8 16. a6 b6 {The pawn structure on the queenside is now fixed, with White weakening the enemy light squares. Black has superior development, but no clear strategy to improve his pieces. It's important to envision the perfect squares for your pieces. White's control over many vital squares makes that image murky.} 17. Kc2 (17. Ke2 {is definitely an odd move considering the series of moves that came before. However, from e2 the king covers the kingside and is perfectly sheltered. It may just be a matter of taste.}) 17... Ne5 18. f4 Ng4 19. Kb3 f6 ({Vacating the c5 square for the bishop has to be considered. With such vulnerable pawns and underdevelopment, White is very fortunate to not be signifcantly worse here.} 19... c4+ 20. Nxc4 (20. Bxc4 Bc5) 20... Bc5) 20. Nc4 Nf2 21. e5 (21. f5 $5 Be8 (21... Bf7 22. fxe6 Bxe6 23. e5 {is messy. Both sides have to be careful to avoid ruining their position with an oversight.}) 22. Bxe8 Rxe8 23. Re2 Ng4 24. Na3 Bd6 25. Bf4 Bxf4 26. gxf4 e5 27. fxe5 Nxe5 28. Nb5 Re7 {gives mutual chances. The position is level but it is easy to overpress.}) 21... Ne4 22. Be3 Bf5 (22... Nxg3 $2 23. Rg1 {wins a piece.}) 23. Rg1 Rd5 24. Rae1 Kf7 25. Bc1 Bh7 26. Re3 Rcd8 $1 {An exclamation mark given for understanding that giving up the exchange is hardly a sacrifice. Rather, Black obtains tremendous activity and the White king will not find safety.} 27. Bc6 Nf2 28. Re2 ({Accepting the sacrifice is too dangerous. Carlsen was wise to avoid it, lest Black become the side pushing for a win. Important to note is that the pawn on a6 is often immune to capture, for Nxa7 in many lines is met by Ra8. Among the many interesting variations,} 28. Bxd5 exd5 29. Na3 Nd3 30. Nb5 (30. Re2 b5 $1) (30. e6+ Kf8 31. Nb5 Bf5 32. Ka4 (32. Rd1 Nf2 33. Rf1 Nd3 {might just be a draw by repetition.}) 32... d4 {is starting to get scary for White. Black's activity has steadily grown.}) 30... c4+ 31. Ka2 Bc5 32. Bd2 ) 28... Nd3 29. exf6 gxf6 30. Bb5 $6 {It's amusing that Carlsen picks up the bishop and does not capture the rook. Doing so had considerable consequences, as mentioned in the analysis on move 28. However, there was no reason to move this bishop at all - it was time to develop the other.} (30. Be3 Bf5 (30... Rb8 31. Bb5) 31. Rd2 Rc8 32. Bb5 {with a tense game.}) 30... Rg8 31. Bd2 (31. Be3) 31... Rgd8 ({MVL offers a repetition, but he would have been better off retreating his rook. As White's motives on the queenside will not play out for many moves, Black can attempt to apply additional pressure on the kingside.} 31... Rdd8) 32. Be3 Be4 33. Rd2 Rg8 34. Ka4 (34. Bc6 {once again is an empty threat. Capturing on d5 helps Black more than White. If White tries too hard to win, it can backfire. For instance:} Rb8 35. Bb7 (35. Bb5 {is just equal.}) 35... b5 36. Nb6 (36. Na5) 36... axb6 37. a7 c4+ 38. Ka2 Rxb7 39. a8=Q b4 { is completely winning for Black.}) 34... Rgd8 35. Kb3 Rg8 36. Ka2 f5 {This pawn push is good here, but now Black has to be very cautious. The bishop's stronghold over the center is solidified, though now the e5 square is somewhat vulnerable.} 37. Rh2 Rc8 38. Rd2 Rg8 39. Re2 Bf3 (39... Bxh4 {is not a move to make right before the time control. Carlsen was happy to offer a pawn if it insured his rook would gain access into the enemy camp. This is where the pawn on a6 is especially important: White can afford to sacrifice a bunch of material if it means he can go after the a7 pawn.} 40. Rh2 Bxg3 41. Rxh5 Rg7 42. Rh8 Bxf4 43. Ra8 {might hold up to engine analysis, but it's too close for comfort.} Rd7 {does hold, but this is not an easy line to calculate under the duress of making the second time control.}) 40. Rh2 Bf6 (40... Rc8 {was discussed by fans commenting on the game, presumably with the assistance of engines. Yet I do not see how Black ably responds to} 41. Nd2 {which seems to lock up the bishop pair.} Be4 (41... Bg4 42. Rf1 {keeps the bishop off the long diaganol. This is essential to White's new advantage, which is due to more harmonious minor pieces}) 42. Nxe4 fxe4 43. Kb3 {according to all chess principles, White should be better here. Two bishops, an uncompromised pawn structure, etc. and yet Black's activity keeps the balance. Practically speaking White seems to have all the chances, but progress is not at all evident.}) 41. Nd2 Bg4 (41... Be4 42. Nxe4 fxe4 43. Bc6 {is the difference from the previous comment. Without the rook on c8 the bishop has free entry to c6. Black is by no means lost but it starting to get uncomfortable. White not only threatens the rook on d5 but is really aiming to play c3-c4 (once the king moves to avoid a Nb4+ fiasco) and pick off the pawn on e4. Priorities!} Rg4 44. Kb1) 42. Rf1 {A huge success for Carlsen. Black's pieces are no longer optimally placed and the bishop on g4 looks like a big pawn.} Rgd8 43. Nc4 e5 { With Bc6 threatened, MVL gets desperate.} 44. fxe5 (44. Bc6 e4 {is a tough central mass to crack. White can go up material, but the aftermath looks like the makings of a fortress for Black.}) 44... Bxe5 (44... Nxe5 45. Bf4) 45. Bg5 Bxg3 46. Rg2 $2 {Throwing away the hard-earned win.} (46. Rd2 {is lights out. Now only is White attacking the rook on d8, he can also move his king away from knight checks to threaten Ne3. It's shocking that Carlsen blundered at this juncture.} Kg6 47. Kb1 f4) 46... Bh3 47. Rxg3 Bxf1 48. Rf3 $4 {And this gives away another half point.} (48. Bxd8 Rxd8 49. Rf3 Be2 50. Rxf5+ Kg6 51. Rg5+ Kf6 {is equal.}) 48... Be2 49. Bxd8 (49. Re3 f4 {surely is what Magnus missed. The bishop can't be captured because the knight will deliver a fork from c1.} 50. Rxe2 (50. Re7+ Kg6 51. Rxa7 {is too slow.} Rxg5 $1 52. hxg5 f3 { and Black's two kingside passers are impossible to stop.}) 50... Nc1+) 49... Bxf3 50. Bxb6 axb6 51. Bc6 Be4 52. a7 Rd8 53. Nd6+ Rxd6 ({When you have a winning position in hand, there's no reason to make things difficult.} 53... Ke6 $2 54. Nxe4 fxe4 55. Bxe4 {allows White to enter the bishop versus knight ending without the second Black kingside pawn. That's a huge difference, between a win and a draw.}) 54. Bxe4 (54. a8=Q Rxc6 {is an easy win for Black. A queen is no match for a rook and two minors.}) 54... Rd8 55. a8=Q Rxa8+ 56. Bxa8 Ne5 57. Kb3 f4 58. Kc2 Kg7 (58... Ng6 {would have been careless because of } 59. Bf3) 59. Kd2 Ng6 60. Kd3 Nxh4 61. Ke4 f3 62. Ke3 Kf6 63. b4 (63. Bxf3 Nxf3 64. Kxf3 Ke5) 63... c4 $1 {Very precise play by MVL. Other moves do not win.} (63... Kg5 64. bxc5 bxc5 65. Bd5 Kg4 66. Kf2 Kf4 67. Bf7 Ke4 68. c4 Kd4 69. Bg8 {and Black can't make progress because he is unable to move his knight from the egde of the board without losing a pawn.}) 64. Bd5 Kf5 65. Bxc4 Kg4 66. Kf2 Ng6 67. Be6+ Kf4 68. Bf7 Ne5 69. Bxh5 Nd3+ 70. Kf1 Kg3 71. Bf7 Nf2 0-1 [Event "5th Sinquefield Cup 2017"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2017.08.05"] [Round "4.3"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A35"] [WhiteElo "2809"] [BlackElo "2783"] [PlyCount "54"] [EventDate "2017.08.02"] 1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. g3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 g6 7. h4 Bg7 8. h5 Bf5 9. Ng5 {"h6 and Ng5 wasn't the most impressive thing I could think of. After that, I started to feel very comfortable with my position." - Anand} e6 10. h6 {The pawn on h6 is a "weakness and a strength. I realized during the game that the only strength it has is that it guarantees that White will have the g4-square for the queen. Otherwise it doesn't have any purpose in the position." - Aronian} Bf6 11. Nge4 {"It looks like tactical idea, but in fact it's strategical idea, trying to get the two bishops." - Aronian} Be7 12. d3 Bxe4 13. Bxe4 O-O 14. Bd2 Qd7 15. Rc1 Rfd8 16. Bg2 b6 17. Qa4 Rab8 18. O-O Nd4 19. Qxd7 Rxd7 20. Rfe1 Rbd8 21. g4 Nb4 {My moves "looked tempting, but after .. .Nb4 I couldn't see a good move for me." - Aronian | I was very happy when I got in ...Nb4. If Levon had played ...Nb4, he would have been grinning so much. " - Anand} 22. a3 Nd5 23. Nxd5 exd5 24. Rc3 Nb5 (24... b5 {"I was very excited by ...b5 for a second." - Anand} 25. Be3 {"It's either e3 or Be3, but I would go Be3." - Anand} Ne6 {"was worth trying." - Anand} (25... b4 26. axb4 cxb4 27. Rcc1 Nb3 28. Rc6 a5 29. g5 {"Bf4 and e3 was an idea. I wasn't sure I was better anymore." - Anand})) (24... f6 {"...f6 escaped my attention."} 25. e3 Ne6 26. Rc2 {"Even if I get that pawn (on h6), I wasn't sure it would be easy because White will drum up something on the queenside with b4 let's say." - Anand}) 25. Rc2 Nd4 26. Rc3 Nb5 27. Rc2 Nd4 {"I think I'm slightly worse in the last position." - Aronian} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Saint Louis USA"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2017.08.05"] [Round "4.2"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2807"] [BlackElo "2773"] [PlyCount "62"] [EventDate "2017.08.02"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 d5 6. exd5 Qxd5 7. Bc4 Qd6 8. Nbd2 O-O 9. b4 Bb6 10. a4 e4 {"I had definitely analyzed ...e4, but I couldn't remember anything." - Caruana} 11. dxe4 (11. Nxe4 {"At first I wanted to play Nxe4, I think that's the most natural way to play." - Caruana} Nxe4 12. dxe4 Qf6 {Forced according to Caruana.} 13. Qc2 Bg4 {After this, Carurana "wasn't entirely happy."} 14. a5 {"I'm trapping the bishop, but I'm also losing on f3. " - Caruana} Bxf3 15. gxf3 Qxf3 16. Rf1 Bd4 {"Some extremely messy lines, but I wasn't sure, and I didn't think I could go for this without seeing everything to the end. I thought it was too risky, but maybe objectively this was the way I should have played." - Caruana} (16... Rae8 {Also possible as noted by Caruana.})) 11... Ne5 12. Qe2 a5 $1 {"...a5 came, and I just realized I'm not better at all." - Caruana} 13. O-O Bg4 14. bxa5 Rxa5 (14... Bc5 { "Maybe it was much more principled to play ...Bc5." - Karjakin who noted this as a possibility to fight for something with Black.}) 15. Ba3 Bc5 16. Bb4 Bxb4 17. cxb4 Qxb4 18. Rfb1 Qd6 19. h3 Bxf3 20. Nxf3 b6 21. Bb5 Raa8 22. Re1 Rad8 23. Rac1 c5 24. Rc3 g6 25. Rb3 Nxf3+ 26. Qxf3 Qe5 27. Bc4 Rd6 28. Rb5 Rd4 29. Rxb6 Rxc4 30. Qxf6 Qxf6 31. Rxf6 Rxa4 1/2-1/2 [Event "Saint Louis USA"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2017.08.05"] [Round "4.5"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D37"] [WhiteElo "2742"] [BlackElo "2792"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "2017.08.02"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Nxd5 exd5 10. Bd3 Bb4+ 11. Nd2 Nc6 12. O-O Be6 13. Nf3 Be7 14. Rc1 Bf6 15. a3 Qe7 16. b4 a6 17. h3 Rac8 18. Rc5 a5 19. Qb1 axb4 20. axb4 b6 $2 ( 20... g6 21. Rfc1 {seems fine for Nakamura. White has "some slight pressure" as Nepo put it, but the position is close to equality.}) 21. Rcc1 g6 $2 (21... Nxb4 {seems best.} 22. Bxh7+ Kh8 23. Bf5 {is very good positionally for White thanks to the superior pawn structure.}) (21... Qxb4 22. Bxh7+ Kh8 23. Bd3 { is similar to ...Nxb4. Again White is much better structurally.}) 22. Ba6 $1 { The flaw in ...b6 is revealed. The knight on c6 lacks support, and the a6-c8 diagonal has been opened for this bishop. Nakamura must surrender the exchange, and the game is effectively already over.} Nxb4 23. Bxc8 Rxc8 24. Rxc8+ Bxc8 25. Rc1 Bf5 26. Qb3 Nd3 27. Rc7 Qd8 28. Bg3 h5 29. Qxb6 h4 30. Bd6 Be4 31. Qc6 Kg7 32. Rc8 d4 33. Qxe4 1-0 [Event "Saint Louis USA"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2017.08.05"] [Round "4.4"] [White "Svidler, Peter"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C53"] [WhiteElo "2749"] [BlackElo "2810"] [PlyCount "58"] [EventDate "2017.08.02"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. e5 d5 7. Bb5 Ne4 8. cxd4 Bb6 9. Nc3 O-O 10. Be3 Bg4 11. h3 Bh5 12. Qc2 Bg6 13. Qb3 Ne7 14. O-O c6 15. Bd3 Nf5 16. Rae1 Nxd4 17. Bxd4 Bxd4 18. Nxe4 dxe4 19. Bxe4 Bxe4 20. Rxe4 Bb6 21. e6 Qe7 {"Wesley spent zero seconds on ...Qe7." - Svidler} 22. exf7+ Qxf7 23. Re6 Kh8 24. Ne5 Bxf2+ 25. Kh1 Qg8 $1 {"I'm sory of lucky to even have that repetition because ...Qg8 kind of covers everything." - Svidler | "...Qg8 was a really cool move, but unfortunately, I couldn't really reject the draw repetition." - So} (25... Qc7 {"Very nice variations and very promising for me variations for me kind of stayed in our head." - Svidler} 26. Qb4 a5 27. Qe4 Bc5 28. Nf7+ $1 {"That was a very beautiful shot which I was very happy to find." - Svidler} Kg8 (28... Rxf7 29. Re8+ Bf8 30. Rxf7 Qxf7 31. Rxa8) 29. Rh6 $3 {"I was getting so excited about all these things." - Svidler} Rxf7 (29... gxh6 $4 30. Qg4#) 30. Qxh7+ Kf8 31. Qh8+ Ke7 32. Re1+ Kd7 33. Qxa8 Rf8 $1 { "I thought this works. Now I look at the position, ...Rf8 looks kind of scary. I might lose here." - Svidler} 34. Rg6 {This is a very funny alternate draw.} ( 34. Rd1+ {"It might be a draw (computer confirms). Everything in chess ends up being a draw." - Svidler} Ke7 35. Re1+) 34... Rxa8 35. Rxg7+ Kd8 36. Rg8+ Kd7 37. Rg7+ Kd6 38. Rd1+) 26. Nd7 Rf7 27. Ne5 Rff8 28. Nd7 Rf7 29. Ne5 Rff8 1/2-1/2 [Event "Saint Louis"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2017.08.05"] [Round "4"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A35"] [WhiteElo "2799"] [BlackElo "2783"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "54"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. g3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 g6 7. h4 {[Back to the past! Aronian once again goes back to his ally from the first round, the h-pawn]} Bg7 8. h5 Bf5 9. Ng5 e6 10. h6 Bf6 11. Nge4 Be7 12. d3 Bxe4 { Favourite operation for Anand - giving up the bishop for the knight} 13. Bxe4 O-O 14. Bd2 Qd7 15. Rc1 Rfd8 16. Bg2 b6 17. Qa4 Rab8 18. O-O Nd4 19. Qxd7 Rxd7 20. Rfe1 Rbd8 {Black is more than fine here} 21. g4 Nb4 22. a3 (22. e3 $2 Ndc2 23. Re2 Rxd3 24. Nb1 Na1 $1 {showed by Anand - a cute little move which guarantees him a clear advantage}) 22... Nd5 ({It was probably worth trying} 22... Nb3 23. axb4 (23. Rcd1 Nc2 24. Rf1 c4) 23... Nxd2 24. bxc5 Bxc5 25. Rc2 Nb3 26. Ne4 Be7 27. Rc3 Nc5 28. Nxc5 Bxc5 {and black still keeps an edge - remember the pawn on h6?!}) 23. Nxd5 exd5 24. Rc3 Nb5 25. Rc2 Nd4 26. Rc3 Nb5 27. Rc2 Nd4 1/2-1/2 [Event "Saint Louis"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2017.08.05"] [Round "4"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A34"] [WhiteElo "2822"] [BlackElo "2789"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "142"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 {Sometimes typical of Carlsen, he aims for a relatively unexplored position, not bothering about 'fundamental correctness'} Qxd1+ 7. Kxd1 Bf5 8. Nd2 Nc6 9. e4 Bg6 10. Bb5 Rc8 11. h4 h5 12. Re1 e6 13. a4 Be7 14. g3 O-O 15. a5 Rfd8 16. a6 b6 17. Kc2 Ne5 {Black’s pieces look more harmoniously placed towards the centre while white looks to have an uncoordinated army. But as described by Anatoly Karpov, it seems to be one of those typical minus positions where white could improve his pieces whereas it is difficult for black to chalk out a path of play, when you are not sitting with an engine next to you} 18. f4 Ng4 19. Kb3 f6 20. Nc4 Nf2 21. e5 Ne4 22. Be3 Bf5 23. Rg1 Rd5 24. Rae1 Kf7 25. Bc1 Bh7 26. Re3 Rcd8 27. Bc6 Nf2 28. Re2 Nd3 29. exf6 gxf6 30. Bb5 Rg8 {As the dust settles, it is clear that the position has achieved dynamic equality, ready for Carlsen to start pressurising the opponent with 'little schemes'} 31. Bd2 Rgd8 32. Be3 Be4 33. Rd2 Rg8 34. Ka4 Rgd8 35. Kb3 Rg8 36. Ka2 f5 37. Rh2 Rc8 38. Rd2 Rg8 39. Re2 Bf3 40. Rh2 Bf6 41. Nd2 Bg4 42. Rf1 Rgd8 43. Nc4 e5 44. fxe5 Bxe5 45. Bg5 Bxg3 $6 ({After the forced} 45... Bf6 46. Bc6 {and black loses exchange}) 46. Rg2 $4 {A rare tactical blunder by Carlsen. Later, MVL would explain the fundamentals of the flaw which happened in Carlsen's calculation} (46. Rd2 Rb8 (46... Rg8 47. Nxb6 $3 axb6 48. Bc4 {wins for white}) 47. Ka3 $1 {and Nd3 is in trouble}) 46... Bh3 47. Rxg3 Bxf1 48. Rf3 $4 { Blunder number 2! But this was follow-up of the flawed calculation which started off with 46.Rg2} (48. Bxd8 Rxd8 49. Rf3 Be2 50. Rxf5+ {would have still led to equality}) 48... Be2 49. Bxd8 ({As Vachier-Lagrave explained after the game, Carlsen missed a simple tactic here, the reason for his misery: } 49. Re3 f4 50. Rxe2 Nc1+ {and this knight fork nets the rook, which Carlsen seems to have overlooked initially}) 49... Bxf3 50. Bxb6 axb6 51. Bc6 Be4 { MVL handled the technical conversion of the endgame without letups} 52. a7 Rd8 53. Nd6+ Rxd6 54. Bxe4 Rd8 55. a8=Q Rxa8+ 56. Bxa8 Ne5 57. Kb3 f4 58. Kc2 Kg7 59. Kd2 Ng6 60. Kd3 Nxh4 61. Ke4 f3 62. Ke3 Kf6 63. b4 c4 64. Bd5 Kf5 65. Bxc4 Kg4 66. Kf2 Ng6 67. Be6+ Kf4 68. Bf7 Ne5 69. Bxh5 Nd3+ 70. Kf1 Kg3 71. Bf7 Nf2 0-1 [Event "Saint Louis"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2017.08.05"] [Round "4"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D37"] [WhiteElo "2751"] [BlackElo "2792"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Nxd5 exd5 10. Bd3 Bb4+ 11. Nd2 Nc6 12. O-O Be6 13. Nf3 {Nepo goes differently from an earlier Nakamura game} (13. Nb3 Qf6 14. a3 Be7 15. Qd2 Rfd8 16. Nd4 Nxd4 17. exd4 Bf5 {and black achieved equality in Yu Yangyi - Nakamura, Gibraltar 2017}) 13... Be7 14. Rc1 Bf6 15. a3 Qe7 16. b4 a6 17. h3 Rac8 18. Rc5 a5 19. Qb1 axb4 20. axb4 b6 $2 {The start of Nakamura's problems. Now, Nepomniachtchi conducts the game accurately to come up ahead in tactics} (20... h6 {and black should be able to defend the position}) 21. Rcc1 g6 22. Ba6 Nxb4 ({The most logical move wasn't working due to a nasty tactical detail:} 22... Ra8 23. Rxc6 Rxa6 24. Bd6 Qb7 25. Bxf8 Qxc6 26. b5 $1 {The point!}) 23. Bxc8 Rxc8 24. Rxc8+ Bxc8 $18 {Nepo wraps the game flawlessly now} 25. Rc1 Bf5 26. Qb3 Nd3 27. Rc7 Qd8 28. Bg3 h5 29. Qxb6 h4 30. Bd6 Be4 31. Qc6 Kg7 32. Rc8 d4 33. Qxe4 1-0 [Event "Saint Louis"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2017.08.05"] [Round "4"] [White "Svidler, Peter"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2751"] [BlackElo "2810"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "58"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. e5 d5 7. Bb5 Ne4 8. cxd4 Bb6 9. Nc3 O-O 10. Be3 Bg4 11. h3 Bh5 12. Qc2 Bg6 13. Qb3 Ne7 14. O-O c6 15. Bd3 Nf5 16. Rae1 Nxd4 17. Bxd4 Bxd4 18. Nxe4 dxe4 19. Bxe4 Bxe4 20. Rxe4 Bb6 21. e6 {Tension seemed to be building up} Qe7 22. exf7+ Qxf7 23. Re6 Kh8 24. Ne5 Bxf2+ 25. Kh1 {White's position looks quite impressive here, but So diffuses the danger with a calm retreat} Qg8 {White has nothing here} ({ Attractive variations include} 25... Qc7 26. Qb4 a5 27. Qe4 Bc5 28. Nf7+ $1 Kg8 (28... Rxf7 29. Re8+ Bf8 30. Rxf7 Qxf7 31. Rxa8) 29. Rh6 $1 {Beautiful!} Rxf7 ( 29... gxh6 30. Qg4#) 30. Qxh7+ Kf8 31. Qh8+ Ke7 32. Re1+ Kd7 33. Qxa8 Rf8 { and the queen is trapped at a8, forcing white to pursue the perpetual check} 34. Rd1+ Ke7 35. Re1+ Kd7 $11) 26. Nd7 Rf7 27. Ne5 Rff8 28. Nd7 Rf7 29. Ne5 Rff8 1/2-1/2 [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B09"] [PlyCount "120"] 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. f4 Bg7 5. Bd3 O-O 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be2 $5 { "My friend, a big opening expert, he recommended me this move. It was very serious, but I just couldn't remember the point." - Karjakin} Bg4 8. Be3 (8. e5 {"Probably I should go e5 after Bg4." - Karjakin}) 8... Bxf3 9. Bxf3 (9. gxf3 $5) 9... e5 10. fxe5 dxe5 11. d5 Nd4 12. O-O (12. Bxd4 exd4 13. Qxd4 Nxe4 $1 { is a tale as old as time, or at least as old as the KID.}) 12... c6 13. dxc6 bxc6 14. Ne2 (14. Na4 $5) 14... Qc7 15. c3 Nxf3+ 16. gxf3 Nh5 17. Qd3 Rfd8 { "I should not have allowed him to get the d-file. Then basically I was probably completely losing. Somehow I managed to make a draw." - Karjakin} 18. Qc4 Rd7 19. Rad1 Rad8 20. Rxd7 Rxd7 21. b4 Qd6 22. Qa6 Qc7 23. a4 Bf6 24. a5 Kg7 25. Qc4 h6 26. a6 Bg5 27. Bxg5 hxg5 28. Qc5 Kg8 (28... Kf6 $5 { Nepomniachtchi suggested this move, and the engine agrees. Crazy! The idea is to stop b5 because the endgames are better for Black than before because the king defends the pawns.}) 29. b5 cxb5 30. Qxc7 Rxc7 31. Rb1 Rc5 32. Rd1 Nf4 33. Nxf4 gxf4 34. Rd7 Rxc3 35. Kg2 Rc2+ 36. Kg1 Ra2 37. Rxa7 Kg7 38. Rb7 Rxa6 39. Rxb5 {Nepomniachtchi has made no clear mistakes according to the engine, but the resulting simplifications have produced an endgame that Karjakin seemed to have little trouble drawing. Preferable according to both Nepomniachtchi and Karjakin would have been staying in a -1 middlegame which offers more chances than this -1 endgame.} Kf6 40. h4 Ke6 41. Rb7 f5 42. exf5+ gxf5 43. h5 e4 44. h6 e3 45. h7 Ra8 46. Kf1 Kf6 47. Ra7 Rh8 48. Ke2 Kg6 49. Ra4 Rxh7 50. Rxf4 Kg5 51. Ra4 Re7 52. f4+ Kg4 53. Rb4 Kg3 54. Ra4 Rb7 55. Kxe3 Re7+ 56. Kd2 Kf3 57. Kd1 Re8 58. Rb4 Rh8 59. Rb5 Rh5 60. Ke1 Kxf4 1/2-1/2 [Event "Saint Louis USA"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2017.08.06"] [Round "5.5"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Svidler, Peter"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C88"] [WhiteElo "2792"] [BlackElo "2749"] [PlyCount "106"] [EventDate "2017.08.02"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. a4 b4 9. d4 d6 10. dxe5 Nxe5 11. Nbd2 Ned7 $5 {The novelty: "He was so happily and so confidently doing this, and he doesn't really play this line all that much, and I thought at least I will get him to think, which I did" - Svidler} 12. Nd4 Bb7 13. c3 bxc3 14. bxc3 Nc5 15. Bc2 Re8 16. f3 Nfd7 17. a5 d5 $6 { "The game revolved around whether I will be able to push d6-d5 or not." - Svidler} 18. exd5 Bxd5 19. Nf1 Ne6 20. Be3 Bc5 21. Nxe6 Bxe6 22. Be4 $5 { "I was very close to equality and then I missed this double attack. Be4 is a weird move to miss, but I still managed somehow, and I had to defend this endgame a pawn down." - Svidler} Rb8 23. Qd3 Bxe3+ (23... Qg5 $5 {This scintillating move would have been quite a nice find for Svidler, but it's not clear that it's the best in the position.} 24. Qxa6 (24. Bxh7+ Kh8 25. Be4 f5 26. Bd5 Rb2 27. f4 Bxd5 28. Qxd5 Rxe3 29. Nxe3 Qxf4 30. Kh1 Bxe3 31. Qxd7 Qe4 { is long, complicated, crazy, and equal according to the engines.}) 24... Rb2 25. f4 Bxe3+ 26. Nxe3 Qxf4 {is quite complicated. Black has an amazing rook. White has an amazing a-pawn. Unclear?}) 24. Nxe3 Nc5 25. Bxh7+ Kf8 26. Qxd8 Rexd8 27. Bc2 Rd2 28. Rad1 Rxd1 29. Rxd1 Rb2 30. Rd8+ {"Hikaru found this dangerous idea Rd8 and Rg8, and with three minutes, I had to solve some very concrete problems." - Svidler.} Ke7 31. Rg8 g6 32. f4 {"Somewhere around here I was quite optimistic." - Nakamura} Ra2 33. h4 {"The h-pawn moves very fast. He wants to go g4-h5." - Svidler.} Nd7 34. Rc8 Rxa5 35. Rxc7 Kd6 36. Ra7 Ra3 37. f5 gxf5 38. Bxf5 Ne5 39. h5 $2 {Now it's very hard to prevent simplification and a draw.} (39. Bxe6 $5 Kxe6 40. Ra8 Kf6 41. Rg8 {is promising according to the engines.}) 39... Bxf5 40. Nxf5+ Ke6 41. Ne3 Kf6 42. h6 Kg6 43. Re7 Ra5 44. Kh2 Rc5 45. Kg3 Nc6 46. Rc7 Rxc3 47. Kf2 Rc5 48. h7 Kxh7 49. Rxf7+ Kg6 50. Rc7 Ne5 51. Rxc5 Nd3+ 52. Ke2 Nxc5 53. Kd2 Kg5 1/2-1/2 [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C45"] [PlyCount "58"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 {"He surprised me with the Scotch, and I thought let's play something and see how it goes, and then my position wasn't very good." - Carlsen} exd4 4. Nxd4 Bb4+ 5. c3 Be7 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bd3 d6 8. O-O Nf6 9. Re1 {In the author's database, this natural move is the novelty.} O-O 10. Nd2 Re8 11. Nf3 Nd7 {Interestingly, Svidler played a similar maneuver against Nakamura today.} 12. Bf4 Nc5 13. Bc2 Bg4 14. h3 Bh5 15. Be3 $1 {"I missed this Be3 followed by Ba4. Perhaps it's not quite as bad as it looks. It's not easy for White to get anything substantial. He can win a pawn in many ways, but I always get some kind of counterplay." - Carlsen} Nd7 16. Ba4 c5 17. g4 Bg6 18. e5 Rb8 19. Bf4 $2 {"I was shocked that he played Bf4 so quickly. I sat there thinking for a while wondering what I had missed, and then I decided I can't live my life like this. I take on b2 and hope for the best. Probably there wasn't anything there. Afterwards he didn't really put up much resistance." - Carlsen} (19. b3 {is still quite good for So.}) 19... Rxb2 20. exd6 Bxd6 21. Rxe8+ Qxe8 22. Bxd6 cxd6 23. Qxd6 Qe2 $1 {One can't believe that So missed this, but what did he miss? This line seems nigh forced after Bf4, and it's clearly good for Carlsen.} 24. Qg3 (24. Qxd7 $4 Qxf2+ 25. Kh1 Qg2#) 24... Nf8 25. Re1 Rb1 26. Rxb1 Bxb1 27. Bc6 Bxa2 28. Qd6 Qc4 29. Ne5 $2 (29. Qe5 { Defending c3 was necessary, but So is down a simply pawn, and the a-pawn advances.}) 29... Qxc3 {"It was of course early to resign, but he's not mating or anything." - Carlsen} 0-1 [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C50"] [PlyCount "90"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 O-O 6. a4 a6 7. c3 Ba7 8. Re1 d6 9. h3 b5 10. Bb3 b4 11. a5 Rb8 12. Nbd2 Be6 13. Bc2 {"Nowadays people exchange the bishops." - Aronian} h6 14. Nf1 d5 15. exd5 Nxd5 16. Bd2 {"I was very pleased with myself for playing Bd2 in the opening." - MVL} (16. d4 bxc3 ( 16... b3 {is the engine preference.}) 17. bxc3 e4 18. Rxe4 $1 Nxc3 19. Qd3 Nxe4 20. Qxe4 {is a humorous line given by MVL.}) 16... b3 17. Bb1 Qd6 18. Qe2 Rbe8 19. Ra3 $1 {"I was optimistic about my chances, but I thought Ra3 was a good move, and it's some sort of zugzwang. It's a mutual zugzwang situation when it's not clear what I should do." - Aronian | I was running into some big danger, but I was happy to find Ra3. That helped me to keep the balance. None of us could make a move. It was some sort of reciprocal zugzwang I guess." - MVL} f5 {"Here I think ...f5 was not a good move." - Aronian} 20. Nxe5 Bd7 { "I thought I'm slightly worse after ...Bd7 ... but it shouldn't be that bad for Black. Maybe I went wrong somewhere later. Hard to tell." - Aronian} (20... Bf7 $5 21. d4 Nxd4 $5 (21... Nxc3 $6 {"I was really tempted... At first I thought it works from a distance, but then..."} 22. Bxc3 Nxd4 (22... Bxd4 $5) 23. Qe3 $1 {...and I couldn't find a way." - Aronian} Nb5 {"At first I was very optimistic, but then ..."} 24. Nxf7 $1 {Aronian}) 22. cxd4 Bxd4 23. Nxf7 Rxe2 24. Nxd6 Bxf2+ 25. Kh1 Bxe1 26. Nc4 Bxd2 27. Ncxd2 {"I thought about this. I kind of didn't believe in it." - Aronian}) 21. d4 Nxd4 $1 {Otherwise Black has nothing for e5.} 22. cxd4 Bxd4 23. Rxb3 Rxe5 (23... Bxe5 $1 {is balanced according to the engines.}) 24. Qc4 Rxe1 25. Bxe1 Re8 26. Bb4 Qe5 27. Rd3 Bb5 28. Qxd4 Bxd3 29. Qxd3 Nxb4 30. Qc4+ Nd5 31. Ba2 Kh7 32. Qxd5 Qxd5 33. Bxd5 Re5 {"Should be a draw." - Aronian | It looks like the position favors White, and the engine agrees, but both Aronian and MVL thought the position was fairly drawn.} 34. Bc4 Rxa5 35. f4 Ra1 36. Kf2 a5 37. Nd2 Kg6 38. Bd3 Kf6 39. Nc4 a4 40. g4 fxg4 41. hxg4 Ke6 42. Be4 Rc1 43. Ne3 Ra1 44. Nc4 Rc1 45. Ne3 Ra1 1/2-1/2 [Event "Saint Louis"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2017.08.05"] [Round "5"] [White "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A29"] [WhiteElo "2783"] [BlackElo "2807"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "57"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 Bc5 7. O-O O-O 8. d3 Bb6 9. Bd2 Bg4 10. Rc1 Nxc3 11. Bxc3 Re8 12. b4 Qd6 13. Nd2 Qh6 14. Nc4 Qh5 15. Rc2 Rad8 {Black has a fine position here. Anand thought for a long time on how he could wriggle out of the pressure without making positional concessions. Not finding any way out, he took the bishop on b6 and played f3. While it looks ugly, it also means that White doesn't have to many things to worry about.} 16. Nxb6 (16. Re1 {is what Anand wanted to play.} Re6 17. b5 Bxf2+ $1 { This move casts a doubt on White's entire play.} (17... Rh6 18. h4 g5 19. bxc6 gxh4 20. Bxe5 $18 {White wins as he gets the bishop to protect all the squares around his king.}) 18. Kxf2 Qxh2 {And even though White king can run to the queenside it all looks really bad.} 19. Rg1 Rf6+ 20. Ke3 Qh6+ $1 $19 {Game over.}) 16... cxb6 17. f3 {Anand wasn't too happy to make this move, but with this he no longer has to worry about the pressure on the e2 pawn.} Be6 18. Qd2 b5 (18... Nd4 19. Bxd4 exd4 $15 {would have been the best way for Caruana to play.}) 19. f4 Bg4 $2 {[%cal Ge6g4] This is the start of Anand's combination. He had seen many times that Bg4 was not possible, but still Fabiano had played it. Rather than doubting himself, Anand went ahead with what he had calculated. } 20. Bxc6 $1 bxc6 21. fxe5 {So White is a pawn up. What did Black under his sleeve? Well Fabiano once again surprised Anand with the move that the latter had thought was impossible.} f6 $2 {[%cal Gf7f6] This is a clear mistake, but when you have said A (Bg4), you must say B.} 22. exf6 $1 Rxe2 {[%cal Ge8e2] It looks like mate, just that it isn't.} 23. f7+ Kf8 {[%cal Gc3g7]} 24. Bxg7+ Kxg7 25. Qc3+ Re5 {[%cal Ge2e5] Fabi went ahead with this move as he had not seen Anand's next move.} (25... Qe5 {was the best defense for Black.} 26. Rxe2 Qxc3 27. Re8 Qd4+ (27... Qxb4 $2 28. Rxd8 $18) 28. Rf2 $1 Qxb4 29. f8=Q+ (29. Rxd8 Qe1+ 30. Rf1 (30. Kg2 $2 Bh3+ $1 31. Kxh3 Qxf2 $19) 30... Qe3+ $11) 29... Qxf8 30. Rfxf8 Rxd3 31. Rg8+ Kf7 32. Ref8+ (32. Rd8 Bd7 $1 {This is the move that Caruana had missed and the reason why he didn't play this variation.}) 32... Ke7 33. Ra8 h5 34. Rxa7+ Ke6 $16 {And according to Anand, he was not even sure if he was winning here. The technical task is just too huge, said Vishy. If the bishop gets to d5, Black would not even be worse. Objectively speaking White is better here, but the win is not so clear.}) 26. Qd4 $3 {[%cal Gc3d4] A brilliant move. As Anand said, this is easy to miss. It changes nothing as the rook on e5 is still pinned. The main idea is to vacate the c5 square for the rook.} (26. h3 {was what Fabiano had calculated} Bd1 {was the American player's idea. It's atleast a mess was what Fabi thought.} (26... Bxh3 27. Rh2 {White is winning here.})) 26... Qg5 27. Rc5 $1 {[%cal Gc2c5]} Rxd4 {Fabiano allows White to queen. By now he had realized that it was all over.} (27... Qe3+ 28. Qxe3 Rxe3 29. Rg5+ Kh6 30. Rg8 $18) 28. f8=Q+ Kg6 29. Qf7+ {A great win by Anand which will surely make it to his best games collection in the future.} 1-0 [Event "Saint Louis"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2017.08.05"] [Round "5"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C45"] [WhiteElo "2810"] [BlackElo "2822"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "58"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 {The Scotch gambit came as a surprise for the World Champion.} exd4 4. Nxd4 Bb4+ 5. c3 Be7 $5 {I just decided that I must play something over the board and I went for Be7 is how Magnus explains his decision.} 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bd3 d6 (7... Nf6 8. e5 Nd5 9. O-O $16) 8. O-O Nf6 9. Re1 O-O 10. Nd2 Re8 11. Nf3 {White has played the opening well and can claim a small edge.} Nd7 (11... Bg4 $5 {Finising development could have been a good way to continue.}) 12. Bf4 Nc5 (12... Rb8 {seems better than what Magnus chose. }) 13. Bc2 Bg4 14. h3 Bh5 15. Be3 Nd7 16. Ba4 {White already has a very tangible advantage.} c5 (16... Ne5 17. g4 $18) 17. g4 Bg6 18. e5 (18. Bc6 Rb8 19. Qa4 Nb6 20. Qxa7 $14) 18... Rb8 19. Bf4 $2 {This was the critical mistake of the game. An inexplicable error by Wesley. Carlsen calculated again and again to check what he had missed. But it turned out that he had missed nothing. And boldly took the pawn on b2.} (19. b3 $14 {And Black is the only one suffering here.}) 19... Rxb2 $1 20. exd6 Bxd6 21. Rxe8+ Qxe8 22. Bxd6 cxd6 23. Qxd6 {And after a forced sequence of moves we have reached this position where Black's knight on d7 is in trouble. Is it all over for Magnus. Of course not!} Qe2 $1 {This is the move that Carlsen had seen in advance. Getting out of the pin and threatening the f2 pawn.} 24. Qg3 (24. Rf1 Qxf3 25. Qxd7 h5 $17) 24... Nf8 25. Re1 Rb1 26. Rxb1 Bxb1 27. Bc6 Bxa2 {Black has won a pawn and is clearly pushing.} 28. Qd6 Qc4 29. Ne5 Qxc3 {Losing the second pawn. Perhaps it was a tad early to resign, but Wesley was pretty disgusted with his position. In just a matter of few moves he had allowed a better position to turn into a lost one.} 0-1 [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A29"] [Annotator "mycomputer"] [PlyCount "57"] 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 (4. e3 {is another main continuation.}) 4... d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 Bc5 (6... Nb6 7. O-O Be7 8. a3 a5 9. d3 O-O 10. Be3 Be6 11. Rc1 a4 12. Nd2 {was seen in the tactical-out-of-nowhere game between fellow Sinquefield Cup competitors Nepomniachtchi and Aronian at the recently concluded Geneva Grand Prix event. Nepo came out on top, but it was a topsy-turvy battle.}) 7. O-O (7. Nxe5 $5 {is thematic when a pawn is on e5 and a bishop on c5. Yet it doesn't yield much in the way of an advantage.} Nxc3 8. Bxc6+ (8. bxc3 Nxe5 9. d4 Bd6 10. dxe5 Bxe5 {is perfectly fine for Black.}) 8... bxc6 9. bxc3 Qd5 10. Nf3 Bh3 {is very risky for White. An extra pawn is not worth the hassle of not being able to castle or develop with ease.}) 7... O-O 8. d3 Bb6 9. Bd2 ({While it may be tempting,} 9. Nxe5 {loses material:} Nxc3 10. Nxc6 Nxd1 11. Nxd8 Nxf2) 9... Bg4 {Apparently this is a new move, but it's not particularly novel. It's merely a developing move with the hopes of piling onto the e2 pawn in the future.} (9... Nxc3 10. Bxc3 f6 {is very solid for Black. Typically Black refrains from playing f6 if it can be met by d4. With the bishop on b6, White does not have the ability to break in the center.} ) 10. Rc1 (10. Nxe5 {still does not work out well:} Nxc3 11. Bxc3 Nxe5 12. Bxe5 Re8) 10... Nxc3 11. Bxc3 Re8 12. b4 (12. h3 {always deserves consideration when a bishop is being a nuisance on g4. Generally speaking, this pawn push has to be considered in depth, for it can become a target and also makes the g3 square more vulnerable. This would be properly illustrated if Black is able to get in f7-f5-f4}) 12... Qd6 13. Nd2 (13. h3 $4 {now would be a blunder because of} Bxf3 14. Bxf3 e4 $1 {exploiting the pinned f2 pawn.}) 13... Qh6 14. Nc4 (14. a4 Qh5 15. Re1 Qf5 {might encourage a repetition with} 16. Rf1 (16. Ne4 a5 17. b5 Nb4 {is double-edged.}) 16... Qh5 17. Re1) 14... Qh5 15. Rc2 { "I spent a lot of time trying to work something out here." - Anand} (15. Re1 { had to be correct, but Anand feared potential sacrifices on f2: "Maybe I saw some ghosts. Instead of Rc2, if I go Re1, which is more desirable from some points of view..." - Anand} Re6 {"is there. Suddenly he's threatening ...Bxf2+ and ...Qxh2." - Anand. But White can always capture on b6 to remove the threat. } 16. Nxb6 axb6 17. h4 {is craziness that is easier to suggest as an annotator than a player. The threat is to play f3/g4 and win the bishop.}) 15... Rad8 { "There's so many choices. I think I got it wrong. Because after Rad8, suddenly I couldn't see a way." - Anand. The threat is now e5-e4.} 16. Nxb6 (16. Re1 Re6 17. b5 Bxf2+ $1 (17... Rh6 18. h4 g5 19. bxc6 gxh4 20. Bxe5 $18) 18. Kxf2 Qxh2 19. Rg1 Rf6+ 20. Ke3 Qh6+ $1 $19) 16... cxb6 17. f3 {"was kind of embarrassing. " - Anand} Be6 18. Qd2 b5 {"[Black's] position should be ok, but I probably shouldn't have played ...b5. I should have played something like ...h6. It prepares for f4 a bit better. Or I could have played ...Nd4, also not a bad move." - Caruana. I concur with Caruana's analysis. His move is a waste of time since it does not meet Anand's ideas as well as the other main options.} ( 18... Nd4 {"I'm not better anymore, but I couldn't see a way to stop all his threats." - Anand. Since White has committed his pawn to f3, capturing on d4 is bad. White gets left with an ugly backwards e-pawn and a giant hole on e3. Once the rook moves, Black has a number of reasonable follow-ups including Bd5. }) (18... h6 {as Caruana suggested, this is a good waiting move. Anand does not want to play b5 himself for the pawn will just become a target upon Nd4.}) 19. f4 Bg4 {This is an error based on an oversight 8 moves down the line. The game position became tense and with so many variations to consider, Caruana makes a tragic oversight. He had done well to stabilize his position but I believe the true "losing" move was Black's 18th. He simply was not ready to meet all of the nuances and tactics behind the forceful f4. "When I played ... Bg4 I missed Re8." - Caruana | | "I spent ages on this, and I thought it wasn't possible, but then he does it anyway." - Anand} (19... exf4 20. Rxf4 Bd5 {"I guess he can play this, and he should be alright. Maybe I'm slightly better, but I don't think very much." - Anand, Once again I think Vishy underestimated how annoying this position is to defend for Black.} (20... f6 { is less provocative and provides the queen a nice regrouping square on f7. This would be a tough shell to crack.}) 21. e4 Bc4 22. d4 {the massive center is not easy to contain.}) (19... Bh3 20. Bxh3 Qxh3 21. fxe5 Nxe5 22. Bxe5 Rxe5 23. Rc7 {is a problem. Not only does Black have a worse pawn structure, but he has a seventh-rank issue. If the pawn was on h6 rather than h7 (as noted was possible on move 18), then Black would have Rd7 as a resource. Instead that currently walks into a back rank checkmate.}) 20. Bxc6 bxc6 21. fxe5 f6 { "I was counting on ...f6." - Caruana | "It hit me he must have missed something, but I couldn't tell what." - Anand} 22. exf6 (22. Bb2 fxe5 23. Qe3 { would be an alternative if the game continuation was not so strong. Because of the bishops of opposite color, there is a lot of play left in this position.}) 22... Rxe2 {"By this time, I was feeling pretty annoyed that having got the chance to play exf6, I'm going to run into this boring endgame with Qxc3, Qd4, Qb4 [see note to 25...Qe5], and I was kicking myself because it was very bad luck." - Anand. If only bad luck for all of us means that we get an endgame up a full exchange against the world's second highest rated player :)} 23. f7+ Kf8 24. Bxg7+ $1 Kxg7 25. Qc3+ Re5 {"I was sure that Fabi would not play ...Re5." "It's conceivable that he misses Qd4. It's not conceivable that he misses both Qd4 and h3. Luckily for me, Fabi had seen 26. h3 Bd1." - Anand} (25... Qe5 { "I saw everything up to ...Qe5, and I thought it should be ok. Well, if White doesn't have Re2, Black just wins. So I thought he would have to give back the pawn on e5, and we would have a game."} 26. Rxe2 Qxc3 27. Re8 Qd4+ 28. Rf2 Qxb4 29. f8=Q+ Qxf8 30. Rfxf8 Rxd3 31. Rg8+ Kf7 32. Ref8+ Ke7 33. Ra8 {"This technical task is not enviable. I might not be even better." - Anand. The former world champion is being modest: he surely is much better. White goes up a full exchange, though there is a lot of work to be done to push for a win.}) 26. Qd4 $3 {A brilliancy! Caruana acknowledged that he had missed this move which "ended the game." "I thought he had another probably winning move. I thought he could play h3, and that's what I spent all my time looking at." - Caruana | "As soon as we got here, I know it was over." - Anand} (26. h3 Bd1 { "It's probably still losing, but it looked like a mess at least, and I thought this would be a better practical chance."} (26... Qxh3 {is impossible because the rook hangs on e5.}) (26... Bxh3 27. Rh2 {and Caruana's queen is overloaded. })) 26... Qg5 (26... Rxd4 27. f8=Q+ Kg6 28. Qf6#) 27. Rc5 Rxd4 28. f8=Q+ Kg6 29. Qf7+ 1-0 [Event "5th Sinquefield Cup 2017"] [Site "St. Louis"] [Date "2017.08.08"] [Round "6.4"] [White "Aronian, L."] [Black "So, W."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D38"] [WhiteElo "2799"] [BlackElo "2810"] [Annotator "Hess, R"] [PlyCount "63"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:41:44"] [BlackClock "0:21:24"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 Qxf6 7. Qa4+ (7. e3 O-O 8. Rc1 dxc4 9. Bxc4 c5 {has been played - and drawn - many times by elite players. The guiding principle is that White gets rapid development and harmonious pieces while Black holds the two bishops but is a bit more cramped yet incredibly solid.}) 7... Nc6 8. e3 O-O 9. Be2 (9. Rc1 Rd8 10. Be2 dxc4 11. Bxc4 Bd7 12. Qc2 Bd6 13. O-O a6 14. Rfd1 Qe7 15. a3 Rac8 {Navara,D (2737)-Leko, P (2678) Biel 2017}) 9... dxc4 10. O-O Bxc3 ({As Aronian himself stated, he has a history with this variation. In fact, he lost a cramped ending to an inspired Topalov two years ago. Chess players can have very long memories!} 10... Bd7 11. Bxc4 Bxc3 12. bxc3 Rfd8 13. Be2 Be8 14. Qa3 Qe7 15. Qb2 Na5 16. Qb4 Qxb4 17. cxb4 Nc6 18. Rab1 a5 19. bxa5 Nxa5 20. Rfc1 Rdc8 21. Ne1 Ra7 22. Nd3 {Topalov, V (2771) - Aronian, L (2815) Norway 2015}) 11. bxc3 Bd7 {"An idea I invented myself." (Aronian) "But I'm not a great fan of it, it's a bit passive." As I've noted, see the variation after Black's tenth. Especially for a dynamic player like Aronian this line can be quite onerous to defend. It, simply put, is not his style. I'd argue that So similarly does not enjoy passivity - frankly most players hate it - though he is a dogged defender and has proven resourceful when facing an uphill battle.} 12. Qxc4 (12. Bxc4 { transposes to the Topalov-Aronian game above, and also Vachier-Lagrave versus Aronian from the 2015 Sinquefield Cup. Levon must have thought recapturing with the queen gave him the better chances to hold, and it's hard to question the man with extensive experience in the line.}) 12... Rac8 $146 (12... Rfd8 13. Nd2 Rac8 14. Nb3 Qe7 15. a4 a5 (15... b6 {is an improvement, though Black is uncomfortably cramped.}) 16. Bf3 Qe8 17. Nc5 Rb8 18. Rab1 b5 19. axb5 { was a full extra pawn that was converted into a win by White in Ushenina,A (2438) -Milliet,S (2356) Reykjavik 2015}) 13. Rad1 Rfd8 14. Nd2 $1 {I really like this concept, taking advantage of the black queen's lack of mobility.} ({ Provoking queenside weaknesses with} 14. Qb3 {was another plausible continuation. Without considering the other pieces (which you should never do), the knight would ideally plant itself on e5 rather than go to e4 as in the game. Black can try to break free, though it isn't easy.} Na5 15. Qa3 b6 16. Ba6 Rb8 17. Ne5 Bc8 18. Be2 Bb7 19. f4) 14... Na5 15. Qb4 b6 16. Ba6 Rb8 (16... c5 {is impossible now because of the fork} 17. dxc5 Rxc5 (17... Rb8 18. cxb6 axb6 {forces Black to fight for a draw down a pawn.}) 18. Ne4) 17. Ne4 Qf5 18. Bd3 Bc6 (18... e5 {seems like a crazy move because the bishop is staring down the enemy queen. Yet the knight does not have an overwhelmingly powerful square to hop to. A question to consider: does Black actually want to play exd4 cxd4? The answer appears to be no, since the pawn on c7 comes under direct fire. However, if Black doesn't capture what does he do? White can force the action with} 19. Nc5 {leads to simplifications, but not a simple defensive task for Black} (19. f4 $5 {is more aggressive but also can become more double-edged.}) 19... bxc5 20. Qxa5 e4 21. Bc4 cxd4 22. Qxf5 Bxf5 23. cxd4 {with a nagging advantage for White in what should be a salvageable ending.}) 19. f3 Bxe4 $2 {Aronian thought this was a strange decision. I find it odd as well, for it makes White's task much easier than Black's. Black has a new concern on the f-file to worry about and the bishop on d3 is a much better piece than the knight on a5.} (19... Nb7 {keeps the onus on Aronian to find the breakthrough. So's pieces are oddly placed, but the overall structure looks impenetrable. If White is not quick, he loses any hope of an initiative and advantage.}) 20. fxe4 Qg5 21. Rf3 c5 {Perhaps So felt that getting in c5 was a huge success - and it is! Unfortunately for him, White's central mass is indestructable and even if the typical setup against a light-squared bishop is achieved (c5/e5 pawns), there are many issues on the kingside.} 22. Qb2 { Absolutely the correct square, further protecting the d4 pawn and possibly swinging over to the kingside.} e5 23. Rdf1 cxd4 ({According to Aronian better was} 23... Rb7 24. Ba6 (24. Qf2 {is the precise reply} Qe7 (24... exd4 25. exd4 Qe7 26. e5 {is awful for Black since the bishop is free.}) 25. Rf5 {and if Black has to play} f6 {I must shield my eyes from the shine of all those free light squares.} 26. Qg3 {and I have no doubt Aronian would cruise from here.}) 24... Rc7 25. d5 {What's interesting is that the rook seems silly on c7 with a pawn blocking its file, so why would one not capture first? The essential difference: Aronian's queen gains access to e5 without a pawn on c3 blunting the diagonal.}) 24. cxd4 (24. exd4 {seems smart in that it undoubles the pawns, but the c-pawn actually is a liability. White is much better off clearing the file, since So has no means of using it for the moment.}) 24... Rb7 25. d5 Rc7 26. h4 $1 {Already the third time that Levon moves Harry in this tournament. "You have to play h4 whenever you can!"} (26. Ba6 Nb7 27. Bxb7 Rxb7 28. Qc3 { is better for White, but Black has a hard-to-crack setup.}) 26... Qxh4 (26... Qh5 27. Rf5 Qxh4 28. Qxe5 {is similar.}) 27. Qxe5 Qe7 28. Qg3 Qc5 $2 {Like Caruana against Anand, So doesn't go for an ending an exchange down, but goes down in flames quickly. "People are just understanding that their opponents are very good players and they don't want to suffer!" (Aronian)} ({The last chance was} 28... Qd6 29. e5 Qxd5 30. e6 Qd6 31. Bh7+ (31. exf7+ $2 {leaves White with no other option but to force a fancy draw with} Kf8 32. Rf4 Qxd3 33. Rd4 Rxd4 34. Qxg7+ Kxg7 35. f8=Q+ Kh7 36. Rf7+) 31... Kxh7 32. Qxd6 Rxd6 33. exf7 Rc8 34. f8=Q Rxf8 35. Rxf8 Nc4 {This should certainly be winning, but Aronian's task is not trivial.}) 29. Rf6 $1 {"Just crushing." (Aronian)} h5 ( 29... Kf8 30. Rg6 {exploiting the pinned pawns, all ways to defend g7 fail tactically:} Qc3 (30... f6 31. Rfxf6+ gxf6 (31... Kg8 32. Rxh6) 32. Rg8+ Ke7 33. Qg7+ Kd6 34. Rxd8+ Ke5 35. Qg3#) 31. Rxg7 Qxg7 32. Qxc7 Ra8 33. d6 { is straightforward.}) 30. Rh6 Qc3 31. Rxh5 g6 (31... Qxd3 {hangs c7, but} 32. Qh4 {is more direct. Mate is unstoppable.}) 32. e5 (32. e5 {After} Qxd3 { "I can even play} 33. Rh3 {if I'm a big sadist, and Qh4 next move. (Aronian)} ( 33. Qh4 {does the trick, but Rh3 is actually best!})) 1-0 [Event "St. Louis"] [Site "St. Louis"] [Date "2017.08.08"] [Round "6.2"] [White "Carlsen, M."] [Black "Nakamura, H."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D37"] [WhiteElo "2822"] [BlackElo "2792"] [PlyCount "188"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:59:38"] [BlackClock "0:50:08"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Nxd5 exd5 10. Bd3 Bb4+ 11. Nd2 Nc6 12. O-O Be7 ({Deviating from} 12... Be6 13. Nf3 Be7 14. Rc1 Bf6 15. a3 Qe7 16. b4 a6 17. h3 Rac8 18. Rc5 a5 { Nepomniachtchi,I (2742)-Nakamura,H (2792) Saint Louis USA 2017}) 13. Rc1 (13. a3 Bf6 14. Nf3 Qe7 15. h3 g6 16. Qd2 Be6 17. Rac1 Rfd8 18. b4 a6 19. Rc2 Qd7 20. Rfc1 Bf5 {Giri,A (2771)-Karjakin,S (2781) Stavanger 2017}) 13... Bf6 14. Nf3 $146 (14. Qb3 Qb6 15. Qxd5 Nb4 16. Qe4 Nxd3 17. Qxd3 Rd8 18. Qc2 Qxb2 19. Ne4 Qxc2 20. Nxf6+ gxf6 21. Rxc2 Be6 22. Rfc1 {½-½ Nyback,T (2639) -Solozhenkin,E (2511) Finland 2009}) 14... Qe7 15. h3 g6 16. Bb5 {"Clearly he must have underestimated this idea with Bb5. I guess he found a decent solution there; he gave up a pawn." (Carlsen)} Bd7 17. Qxd5 Be6 18. Qe4 Bxb2 19. Bxc6 f5 {Dangerous, but hard to refute.} 20. Bg5 ({Also interesting was} 20. Qb1 Bxc1 21. Ba4 $5 (21. Qxb7 Ba3 22. Qxe7 Bxe7 23. Bxa8 Rxa8) 21... Ba3 22. Bb3 {playing a middlegame where Black's king is much weaker than White's. "I'm not surprised there is a solution," said Carlsen when he was told about this line.}) 20... fxe4 21. Bxe7 Bxc1 22. Bxb7 Bxe3 23. Bxf8 Rxf8 24. fxe3 exf3 25. Bxf3 {This pawn up position might still be objectively drawn, but Carlsen gets very far.} Rb8 26. a4 Rb4 27. Bc6 Rc4 28. Bb5 Re4 29. Rd1 a6 30. Bxa6 Rxa4 31. Bb7 Kf7 32. Kf2 Kf6 33. Bd5 Bf5 34. g4 Be6 35. Kf3 Ra5 36. Bxe6 Kxe6 37. h4 Ra2 38. Rb1 Ra7 39. Kf4 Ra4+ ({Perhaps this was the moment to play} 39... h6 { to prevent any Kg5.}) 40. e4 Ra7 ({Now} 40... h6 {fails to} 41. Rb6+ Kf7 42. h5 ) 41. Rb6+ ({Winning was} 41. Kg5 $1 {when a long computer line provided by http://analysis.sesse.net/ goes} Ra4 (41... Ke5 42. Kh6 Kxe4 43. Rf1 $1 Rb7 44. g5 Rc7 45. Rf8 Rd7 46. Rh8 Kf5 47. Rxh7) 42. Rb7 h5 43. gxh5 gxh5 44. Kf4 Ra1 45. Rb6+ Kf7 46. Kf5 Kg7 47. Rg6+ Kf7 48. Rd6 Rg1 49. Rd7+ Kg8 50. Kf6 Rg4 51. Rd8+ Kh7 52. e5 Rg6+ 53. Kf5 Rg1 54. e6 Rf1+ 55. Ke5 Re1+ 56. Kf6 Rf1+ 57. Ke7 Re1 58. Rd5 Kg6 59. Rg5+ Kh6 60. Kf6 Rf1+ 61. Rf5 Rc1 62. Kf7 Rc4 63. e7 Rc7 64. Kf8 Rc8+ 65. e8=Q {(Here analysis.sesse.net for some reason gave 65...Kh7 allowing mate one, so its initial "mate in 26" for 41.Kg5 was inaccurate.)} Rxe8+ 66. Kxe8 Kg7 67. Ke7 Kg8 68. Rg5+ Kh7 69. Ke6 Kh8 70. Kf7 Kh7 71. Rxh5#) 41... Kf7 42. Rc6 Rd7 {Even without access to a super computer, several grandmasters kibitzing online felt that this was at least highly impractical. The plan of entering the king is out of the books now.} ({Again it was too late for} 42... h6 {because of} 43. h5) 43. g5 $2 ({Here} 43. h5 $1 {was winning according to the same website:} gxh5 44. gxh5 Rd1 45. Ke5 Kg8 46. Rf6 Rc1 47. h6 Re1 48. Kf5 Rf1+ 49. Ke6 Re1 50. e5 Ra1 51. Kd5 Ra5+ 52. Ke4 Ra3 53. e6 Ra4+ 54. Kd5 Ra5+ 55. Kc6 Ra6+ 56. Kb7 Rd6 57. Kc7 Ra6 58. e7 Ra7+ 59. Kd6 Ra6+ 60. Kd5 Ra5+ 61. Kc6 Ra8 62. Rf3 Rb8 63. Rd3 {et cetera.}) 43... Ra7 44. Ke5 Re7+ 45. Kd5 Rd7+ 46. Rd6 Ra7 47. Rf6+ Ke7 48. Rc6 Rd7+ 49. Ke5 Ra7 50. Rc5 Rd7 51. Ra5 Kf7 52. Ra1 Re7+ 53. Kf4 Rb7 54. Ra6 Rc7 55. Kg4 Re7 56. Rf6+ Ke8 57. Kf4 Ra7 58. Rb6 Kf7 59. Ke5 Re7+ 60. Kd5 Rd7+ 61. Rd6 Ra7 62. Rd8 Ra5+ 63. Kd4 Ra4+ 64. Ke5 Ra5+ 65. Kf4 Ra7 66. Rd4 Ke6 67. Rb4 Rf7+ 68. Ke3 Ra7 69. Rb8 Re7 70. Rh8 Ra7 71. Re8+ Kf7 72. Rb8 Ke6 73. Rb6+ Kf7 ({Seirawan was very surprised that} 73... Ke5 {wasn't played here.}) 74. Kf4 Re7 75. Rf6+ Ke8 76. h5 gxh5 77. e5 Rf7 $1 {A very nice way to force the draw.} 78. Ke4 ({Another point was} 78. Kf5 Rf8 $1 79. Ke6 Rg8) 78... Rg7 79. Kf5 {Here Nakamura suddenly started to have doubts. "I was quite surprised, I didn't realize it was not that simple." Only after ten and a half minutes he played...} Rf7 ( 79... Rg6 $2 80. Rxg6 hxg6+ 81. Kxg6 h4 82. Kf6 h3 83. g6 h2 84. g7 h1=Q 85. g8=Q+ Kd7 86. e6+ {is a winning queen endgame.}) 80. Kf4 h4 81. Kg4 Re7 82. e6 Ra7 83. Rh6 Kf8 84. Kxh4 Ra4+ 85. Kh5 Re4 86. Rf6+ Kg7 87. Rf7+ Kg8 88. Re7 ( 88. Kh6 $4 Rh4# {would be rather unfortunate.}) 88... Kf8 89. Rxh7 Rxe6 90. Rh6 Re1 91. Ra6 Kg7 92. Ra7+ Kg8 93. Kh6 Re6+ 94. g6 Re8 1/2-1/2 [Event "St. Louis"] [Site "St. Louis"] [Date "2017.08.08"] [Round "6.1"] [White "Caruana, F."] [Black "Vachier-Lagrave, M."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B96"] [WhiteElo "2807"] [BlackElo "2789"] [PlyCount "60"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackTeam "France"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "FRA"] [WhiteClock "1:01:57"] [BlackClock "0:42:34"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 h6 8. Bh4 Qb6 9. a3 (9. Qd3) 9... Be7 10. Qd3 $146 ({In all 74 earlier games, White had played} 10. Bf2 {here, e.g.} Qc7 11. Qf3 Nbd7 12. O-O-O b5 13. g4 Bb7 14. h4 d5 15. e5 Ne4 {Caruana,F (2817)-Vachier Lagrave,M (2803) Karlsruhe 2017}) 10... Nbd7 ({After 21 minutes of thinking MVL decided against} 10... Qxb2 11. Nb3 Nxe4 12. Nxe4 Bxh4+ 13. Kd2 {which might be playable after} Nc6 14. Nxd6+ Kf8 { but MVL wanted to play more solid.}) ({MVL had also seen} 10... Nxe4 11. Bxe7 Qxb2 12. Nxe4 Qxa1+ 13. Kf2 Kxe7 14. Nf5+ exf5 15. Qxd6+ Ke8 16. Bc4 Qxh1 17. Qc7 fxe4 18. Bxf7+ Kf8 19. Bg6 {but he missed that after the only move} e3+ $1 {it's Black who's winning.}) 11. O-O-O g5 {Played after 11 minutes. "A bit of a surprise. It doesn't look very good to me." (Caruana)} 12. fxg5 Ne5 ({ Caruana thought} 12... Ng4 13. Be2 hxg5 14. Bg3 Nge5 {was a better version but White still has an edge.}) 13. Qd2 Nh7 14. Nf3 hxg5 15. Bf2 (15. Bg3 $5) 15... Qc7 16. Be2 Bd7 17. h4 {"I was very happy." (Caruana)} Rg8 18. h5 {The positionally desirable choice.} (18. hxg5 $5 Nxg5 19. Rh5 $5 Ngxf3 20. gxf3 O-O-O 21. f4 Ng4 22. Bd4 {Caruana}) 18... g4 19. Nxe5 dxe5 20. Bh4 Bc6 21. Qe3 Bxh4 22. Rxh4 Qe7 23. Rxg4 ({After} 23. Qg3 Qg5+ 24. Kb1 Nf6 {Caruana stopped calculating but after} 25. Rf1 {White might still have good chances.}) 23... Rxg4 24. Bxg4 Qg5 25. Qxg5 Nxg5 26. Bf3 Ke7 27. Kd2 Rh8 28. Rh1 f5 29. Ke3 Kf6 30. b4 b5 1/2-1/2 [Event "St. Louis"] [Site "St. Louis"] [Date "2017.08.08"] [Round "6.3"] [White "Karjakin, S."] [Black "Anand, V."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D02"] [WhiteElo "2773"] [BlackElo "2783"] [PlyCount "60"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Russia"] [BlackTeam "India"] [WhiteTeamCountry "RUS"] [BlackTeamCountry "IND"] [WhiteClock "0:46:58"] [BlackClock "1:03:22"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 d5 3. e3 e6 4. Nf3 Bd6 5. Nbd2 c5 (5... O-O 6. Bxd6 Qxd6 7. c4 c5 8. dxc5 Qxc5 9. cxd5 Qxd5 10. Bc4 Qd6 11. O-O Bd7 12. Be2 Bc6 13. Nc4 Qe7 { Carlsen,M (2832)-Anand,V (2786) Leuven (blitz) 2017}) 6. Bb5+ Nc6 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. c4 $146 (8. O-O O-O 9. Nb3 Bb6 10. c4 Qe7 11. Rc1 e5 12. Bg3 dxc4 13. Nbd2 e4 14. Bxc6 bxc6 15. Ne5 Ba6 {1-0 (36) Laczay,I (2257)-Berch,N corr. 1999}) 8... Bd7 9. O-O O-O 10. cxd5 ({"I should have played} 10. Rc1 Be7 11. cxd5 Nxd5 12. Bg3 {because now} Ne5 {is not so good." (Karjakin)} 13. Bxd7 Nxf3+ 14. Nxf3 Qxd7 15. e4 Nf6 16. Qxd7 Nxd7 17. Rc7) 10... Nxd5 11. Bg3 Ne5 $1 {This move more or less equalizes instantly, said Karjakin. He thought he would still get some initiative, but it wasn't the case.} 12. Bxd7 Nxf3+ 13. Nxf3 Qxd7 14. Qb3 Nb6 15. Rfd1 Qa4 16. Qxa4 Nxa4 17. Be5 f6 18. b3 Nb6 19. Bd4 Rac8 20. e4 e5 21. Bxc5 Rxc5 22. Rac1 Rxc1 23. Rxc1 Rc8 24. Rxc8+ Nxc8 25. Nd2 Kf7 26. f3 Ke6 27. Kf2 Kd6 28. Ke3 Kc5 29. a3 Nd6 30. Kd3 a5 1/2-1/2 [Event "Saint Louis"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2017.08.08"] [Round "6"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2799"] [BlackElo "2810"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "63"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 Qxf6 7. Qa4+ Nc6 8. e3 O-O 9. Be2 dxc4 10. O-O Bxc3 11. bxc3 Bd7 12. Qxc4 Rac8 13. Rad1 Rfd8 14. Nd2 Na5 15. Qb4 b6 16. Ba6 Rb8 17. Ne4 {[#]Two aspects of the position stand out: White’s potential to grab the centre, and Black’s knight on a5 - rim, grim, dim and all that} Qf5 {Not bad in itself, but not strictly conforming to the basics} (17... Qh4 18. f3 (18. f4 Nc6 19. Qb2 Ne7) 18... Nc6 19. Qb2 (19. Qa3 Qe7) 19... Ne7 $1 {The knight is aiming to centralise itself, and Black's pieces look much better now thanks just to this single aspect of his position}) 18. Bd3 Bc6 {Black is forced to follow-up with this} ({No more viable was} 18... Nc6 19. Qb2 Ne7 20. Qa3 Bc6 (20... Nc6 21. Nc5 Qd5 22. Nxd7 {and now the initial judgement tells: White's pawns in the centre can become a positive factor for him}) 21. Qxe7 Bxe4 22. Bxe4 Qxe4 23. Qxc7) 19. f3 Bxe4 $2 { Shocking, almost. This extreme example of 'doing' at the cost of being sees Black's position going rapidly down the hill} (19... Nb7 {and Black could have still have tried to rearrange his pieces harmoniously}) 20. fxe4 Qg5 21. Rf3 { and without doing much, White has gained an advantage, thanks to the kingside getting opened up for invasion} c5 22. Qb2 e5 23. Rdf1 cxd4 24. cxd4 Rb7 25. d5 $1 {Shutting Na5 out of the game, and not giving Black any targets in the centre} Rc7 26. h4 $5 Qxh4 27. Qxe5 Qe7 $2 (27... Re7 28. Qc3 {was better, but White's advantage is real}) 28. Qg3 Qc5 $4 (28... Qd6) (28... Nb7 {Black cannot play this natural move here because of} 29. Rxf7 Qxf7 30. Rxf7 Rxf7 31. e5 $18) 29. Rf6 $18 h5 30. Rh6 Qc3 31. Rxh5 g6 32. e5 1-0 [Event "5th Sinquefield Cup 2017 GCT"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2017.08.08"] [Round "6"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2822"] [BlackElo "2792"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "188"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Nxd5 exd5 10. Bd3 Bb4+ 11. Nd2 Nc6 12. O-O Be7 13. Rc1 Bf6 14. Nf3 Qe7 15. h3 g6 $6 (15... Be6 $142 {would have led to a typical position with an Isolated Queen Pawn}) 16. Bb5 Bd7 {Hikaru decides to give away the pawn, but probably it was difficult to decide on the best defendable position} (16... Bxb2 17. Bxc6 $1 Bxc1 (17... bxc6 18. Rxc6 {and White holds the initiative}) 18. Bxd5 Ba3 19. Bh6 Be6 (19... Rd8 20. Qd4 $18) 20. Qd4 f6 21. Bxf8 Kxf8 22. Bxe6 Qxe6 23. Rd1 {and White is slightly better but this was probably the position Black should have aimed to defend, rather than the text}) 17. Qxd5 Be6 (17... Bxb2 18. Rb1 {with the thread of Bf4-d6}) 18. Qe4 (18. Qc5 $142 $16) 18... Bxb2 19. Bxc6 f5 20. Bg5 fxe4 21. Bxe7 Bxc1 22. Bxb7 Bxe3 23. Bxf8 Rxf8 24. fxe3 exf3 25. Bxf3 Rb8 26. a4 Rb4 27. Bc6 Rc4 28. Bb5 Re4 29. Rd1 a6 30. Bxa6 Rxa4 31. Bb7 Kf7 32. Kf2 Kf6 33. Bd5 Bf5 {Carlsen's material advantage of a pawn isn't clear enough to decide on a win. But he plays and exchanges off the Bishop, reaching a very favourable Rook endgame.} 34. g4 $5 Be6 35. Kf3 Ra5 36. Bxe6 Kxe6 {A conventional judgement could be 'White has a clear advantage here, but it is not clear if he has chance of a win', but Carlsen's makes use of his chances admirably here} 37. h4 Ra2 38. Rb1 Ra7 39. Kf4 Ra4+ 40. e4 Ra7 41. Rb6+ (41. Kg5 {Aiming for the h7 pawn, while keeping his own kingside pawns intact} Ke5 (41... Ra2 42. Rb7 h5 43. Kxg6 hxg4 44. Kg5 (44. h5 g3) 44... g3 45. Kf4 g2 46. Rg7 {wins}) 42. Kh6 Kf4 {Also possible is} (42... Kxe4 43. Rf1 {wins}) 43. Rg1 Ra2 (43... Kxe4 44. Rf1 Ke5 45. g5 Ra4 46. Kxh7 Rxh4+ 47. Kxg6) 44. g5 Ra7 45. e5 Kf5 46. Re1 Re7 47. e6 Kg4 48. Re4+ Kf5 49. Rb4 $18) 41... Kf7 42. Rc6 Rd7 43. g5 $2 {Effectively drawing the game} (43. h5 gxh5 44. gxh5 {was the win Carlsen missed, pointed out by engines later on}) 43... Ra7 44. Ke5 Re7+ 45. Kd5 Rd7+ 46. Rd6 Ra7 47. Rf6+ Ke7 48. Rc6 Rd7+ 49. Ke5 Ra7 50. Rc5 Rd7 51. Ra5 Kf7 52. Ra1 Re7+ 53. Kf4 Rb7 54. Ra6 Rc7 55. Kg4 Re7 56. Rf6+ Ke8 57. Kf4 Ra7 58. Rb6 Kf7 59. Ke5 Re7+ 60. Kd5 Rd7+ 61. Rd6 Ra7 62. Rd8 Ra5+ 63. Kd4 Ra4+ 64. Ke5 Ra5+ 65. Kf4 Ra7 66. Rd4 Ke6 67. Rb4 Rf7+ 68. Ke3 Ra7 69. Rb8 Re7 70. Rh8 Ra7 71. Re8+ Kf7 72. Rb8 Ke6 73. Rb6+ Kf7 74. Kf4 Re7 75. Rf6+ Ke8 76. h5 gxh5 77. e5 Rf7 78. Ke4 Rg7 79. Kf5 Rf7 80. Kf4 h4 81. Kg4 Re7 82. e6 Ra7 83. Rh6 Kf8 84. Kxh4 Ra4+ 85. Kh5 Re4 86. Rf6+ Kg7 87. Rf7+ Kg8 88. Re7 Kf8 89. Rxh7 Rxe6 90. Rh6 Re1 91. Ra6 Kg7 92. Ra7+ Kg8 93. Kh6 Re6+ 94. g6 Re8 1/2-1/2 [Event "5th Sinquefield Cup 2017"] [Site "St. Louis"] [Date "2017.08.09"] [Round "7.4"] [White "Anand, V."] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, I."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2783"] [BlackElo "2751"] [PlyCount "79"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [WhiteClock "1:24:07"] [BlackClock "1:32:58"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 {Anand's preferred choice these days.} e5 7. Nde2 h5 8. Bg5 Be6 9. Bxf6 Qxf6 10. Nd5 Qd8 11. Qd3 Nd7 12. O-O-O g6 (12... b5 13. Kb1 Rb8 14. a3 Bxd5 15. Qxd5 Be7 16. Nc3 O-O 17. Qd2 Nf6 {Anand,V (2786)-Nepomniachtchi,I (2751) Zurich SUI 2017}) 13. Kb1 Nc5 ( 13... Rc8 14. Nec3 Bh6 15. h4 Nc5 16. Qe2 Bd7 17. f3 Ne6 18. Qf2 Rc5 {Anand,V (2775) -Vachier Lagrave,M (2783) Leuven 2017}) 14. Qf3 Bg7 15. Nec3 b5 16. Ne3 O-O 17. Rg1 $146 (17. g4 h4 18. Rg1 Qg5 19. Rxd6 Rfd8 20. Rc6 Rac8 21. Rxc8 Bxc8 22. Bg2 Rd4 {Eljanov,P (2757)-Oparin,G (2621) Novi Sad 2016}) 17... Bh6 18. Ncd5 ({Kasparov suggested} 18. Nf5 {when Anand gave the line} Bg5 ({ Kasparov also provided White's answer:} 18... gxf5 19. exf5 b4 $1) 19. Rxd6 Qc7 ) 18... Bxe3 19. Qxe3 Rc8 20. Be2 Kg7 21. f4 Bxd5 22. Rxd5 exf4 23. Qxf4 Re8 24. Rxd6 Qe7 25. e5 Qxe5 26. Qxe5+ Rxe5 27. Bf3 Ne4 $6 ({After} 27... a5 { it's about equal.}) 28. Bxe4 Rxe4 29. Rxa6 $1 ({Of course White can play} 29. Rd2 {but Anand noticed that in the line with 30...b4 below, Black doesn't have a perpetual. "I though let him at least work a little but because I am not running any risk whatsoever, and we'll see where this takes us."}) 29... Re2 30. c3 h4 {"An attempt to get the pawn one step furter while nothing much is happening." (Anand)} (30... b4 31. cxb4 Rcc2 32. b3) 31. Ra5 b4 $2 {"This doesn't work out the way he had hoped. (...) He just seemed to fall apart at this point." (Anand) The strange thing was that Nepomniachtchi had an hour on the clock.} (31... Rc5 32. a4 {Anand}) (31... Rb8 {still draws here.} 32. Ra3 ( 32. a3 $5 {Anand}) 32... Rd8 33. Rb3 Rd5) 32. cxb4 Rcc2 33. b3 Rb2+ 34. Ka1 Rxg2 35. Rxg2 Rxg2 36. b5 {Black is simply too late now.} Re2 ({After} 36... Rg4 {White has many moves to win, as long as he doesn't take on g4. :-)}) 37. b6 Re8 38. b7 Rb8 39. Rb5 f5 40. Kb2 1-0 [Event "St. Louis"] [Site "St. Louis"] [Date "2017.08.09"] [Round "7.3"] [White "Nakamura, H."] [Black "Aronian, L."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A29"] [WhiteElo "2792"] [BlackElo "2799"] [Annotator "Hess, R"] [PlyCount "108"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [WhiteClock "1:29:02"] [BlackClock "1:29:15"] 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 Bb4 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O e4 7. Ng5 Bxc3 8. bxc3 Re8 9. f3 e3 10. d3 d5 11. Qa4 {11. Qb3 is the more common reply according to the database, but that just means it has been studied in greater depth by the players. From a pragmatic perspective, in certain positions playing a rarer (yet still good) move is stronger than playing the main line.} ({Because of the names of the participants, a game from three decades ago must be shown:} 11. Qb3 Na5 12. Qa3 c6 13. cxd5 cxd5 14. f4 Nc6 15. Rb1 Qc7 16. Bb2 Bg4 17. c4 dxc4 18. Bxf6 gxf6 19. Ne4 Kg7 20. dxc4 Rad8 21. Rb3 Nd4 22. Rxe3 Qxc4 23. Kh1 Nf5 24. Rd3 Bxe2 25. Rxd8 Rxd8 26. Re1 Re8 27. Qa5 b5 28. Nd2 Qd3 29. Nb3 Bf3 30. Bxf3 Qxf3+ 31. Kg1 Rxe1+ 32. Qxe1 Ne3 {0-1 (32) Kasparov,G (2740)-Karpov,A (2700) Seville 1987}) 11... h6 (11... d4 {is a weaker alternative. White is handed the opportunity to develop naturally and now can comfortably retreat his knight to e4, offering a favorable trade.}) 12. cxd5 Nxd5 13. Ne4 f5 14. Nc5 f4 {Before pushing a pawn, we must always be certain that the pros of moving it forward outweigh the cons of permanently freeing the squares it was previously covering (in this case, e4). Aronian understands that Nakamura's knight will immediately jump to the central outpost, but he does not care. Black's pressure on the kingside is not easy to handle.} (14... Nxc3 $2 15. Qb3+ Nd5 16. f4 Nce7 17. Nxb7 {is terrible for Black. White restores material equality and the two bishops dominate the open board.}) 15. Ne4 $146 {Nakamura plays the game's first new move, an extremely logical knight retreat that defends both sides of the board.} (15. Bb2 Rb8 16. c4 Nde7 17. g4 b6 18. Ne4 Be6 19. g5 h5 20. Rfd1 Nd4 {Svidler,P (2757)-Karjakin,S (2760) Moscow 2016}) 15... Rb8 {The move threatens b5, which in turn threatens b4. It also preemptively defends the pawn a second time, in case the bishop develops.} 16. Qa3 (16. Rb1 {seems like a smart response to me. White prevents b5 and proposes the question to Black how he shall proceed. For instance,} a6 ( {As in the game,} 16... Re6 {is a good idea. The position is immensely complicated, as Black heads for an attack on the kingside while White aims to break free his stifled pieces. White will claim a long-term advantage if he survives long enough to push his opponent's pieces back and activate his own.}) 17. Qxc6 $1 (17. Qa3 {also is a good option.}) 17... bxc6 18. Rxb8 {and I'd much prefer to have White here. The rook and minor feel very powerful in a position where the queen is limited in scope and the dynamics of the pawn structure favor the queenless side. Black's pawns are isolated on the queenside and being undermined in the center.}) 16... Re6 17. c4 {A very committal move, for the d4 square is now prone to knight infiltration. A huge issue for White is that he needs to make a decision with respect to his dark-squared bishop. Either Nakamura moves it to b2, which takes pressure off of the f4-e3 pawn chain, or he leaves it on c1 in which case it's staring into a brick wall. I don't think there was any rush to play c4 - Aronian did not have an impending deadly threat - so Nakamura would have been better off playing more cautiously.} (17. Kh1 fxg3 18. hxg3 h5 19. f4 h4 20. g4) 17... Nde7 18. Bb2 (18. gxf4 Nf5 {is uncomfortable for White. He is up a pawn, but his pieces simply lack space to operate.}) 18... Nf5 19. d4 {Initiating a series of trades that favors Aronian, but already Nakamura's position was very unpleasant.} Ncxd4 20. Bxd4 Nxd4 21. Qxa7 Nc6 $1 {A wise decision, exercising the necessary restraint to win such a position. Aronian now has the superior pawn structure and the better pieces, resulting in an advantage.} (21... Nxe2+ {is tempting, but gets the knight in trouble.} 22. Kh1 Bd7 23. Rfe1 {and Black will almost certainly go down some material, but with tremendous compensation.} ) 22. Qa3 Qf8 23. Qxf8+ Kxf8 {The endgame is great for Aronian, but with precise play Nakamura should remain in the game. The main concern for Nakamura is his entombed bishop on g2.} 24. Rfd1 g5 25. Nc3 ({The immediate} 25. h4 { chipped away at the pawn chain, but even here Black remains better after} Re5 ( 25... Rg6 26. h5 Rg7 27. Kh2 {has gained White some much-needed space, and increased the chances of earning half a point.})) 25... Re7 {Nakamura had forgotten about this move and "was in a bad mood" from this point.} 26. Nd5 ({ Better was the immediate according to Nakamura.} 26. h4 gxh4 (26... Ra8 { is certainly better than capturing on h4; the tension remains, and White's split queenside pawns make his position inferior.}) 27. gxh4 ({Here is where I will have to disagree with Nakamura, for I see no refutation for the good-looking move} 27. gxf4) 27... Ra8 28. Kh2) 26... Rf7 27. h4 {opening files on the kingside is not what Nakamura wants, but it is the only way for him to activate his king and attempt to swap bishops.} Ra8 28. a4 Na5 29. gxf4 gxf4 30. Kh2 {Nakamura ditches his c-pawn in the hopes of opening a file for his rook. Unfortunately for him, he missed a tactic that refutes this line.} ( 30. Rac1 Nb3 31. Rc3 Nd2 32. Ra1 Be6 {is sad for White.}) 30... Nxc4 31. Rac1 Nd2 32. Nxc7 Rxa4 33. Bh3 (33. Nb5 Be6 34. Ra1 Rb4 {leaves White down a pawn and frustrated, since the knight on d2 covers the b1 square.}) 33... Nxf3+ $1 { Before Aronian played it Svidler spotted this combination during his interview with Maurice Ashley.} 34. exf3 Ra2+ 35. Bg2 Rg7 36. Rg1 Rg3 {The point! Mate in one is threatened and Aronian wins back his sacrificed minor.} 37. Kh1 Bh3 38. Bf1 e2 39. Bxe2 Rxe2 40. Nd5 Rxf3 ({Simpler was} 40... Bg2+ {as Nakamura pointed out but Aronian thought that the text move was a technical win and he didn't want to calculate} 41. Rxg2 Rgxg2 (41... Rexg2 $5) 42. Rc8+ Kf7 43. Rc7+ Kg8 44. Nxf4 Rc2 45. Rxb7 Rgf2 {Black is up an exchange, but perhaps the win is not as straightforward as Aronian had hoped.}) 41. Rg6 Re6 42. Rcg1 Rxg6 43. Rxg6 Bd7 44. Kg2 Rg3+ 45. Rxg3 fxg3 46. Kxg3 {This is an elementary win because h1 is a light square.} Kf7 47. Kf4 Ke6 48. Nb4 (48. Nb6 Kd6 {and Black wins without too much difficulty. White's king is cut off from the h6 pawn, while his knight is completely outclassed by the Black bishop. Such an endgame demonstrates the limitations of knights compared to the scope of a bishop.}) 48... Be8 49. Nd3 Kd5 50. Nf2 Bd7 51. Ke3 Ke5 52. Ne4 Bc6 53. Ng3 Bd5 54. Kd3 Kf4 {Nakamura calls it a day before he goes down a second pawn.} 0-1 [Event "St. Louis"] [Site "St. Louis"] [Date "2017.08.09"] [Round "7.5"] [White "So, W."] [Black "Caruana, F."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D27"] [WhiteElo "2810"] [BlackElo "2807"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [WhiteClock "1:27:24"] [BlackClock "1:28:01"] 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 dxc4 4. e3 e6 5. Bxc4 c5 6. O-O a6 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. Be2 Ke7 10. Nbd2 (10. Ne5 Nbd7 11. Nd3 Bd6 12. Nd2 b5 13. Nb3 Bb7 14. Na5 Bd5 15. Bd2 Rhc8 16. Rfc1 Ne5 {So,W (2812)-Caruana,F (2808) Stavanger NOR 2017}) 10... Nc6 (10... Bd7 11. b3 Bb5 12. Nc4 Nc6 13. Bb2 Rhd8 14. Rac1 Kf8 15. a4 Bxc4 16. Bxc4 Be7 {Bindrich,F (2590)-Dominguez Perez,L (2739) Doha 2016}) 11. b3 Rd8 12. Bb2 b6 13. a3 a5 14. Rfc1 Bb7 {So said he couldn't find anything better than what he played here, but Black is equalising easily now.} 15. Bxf6+ gxf6 16. Ne4 Bd6 17. Nxd6 Rxd6 18. Kf1 $146 {Only this is new actually.} (18. Rc3 f5 19. Rac1 Kf6 20. Ne1 Ne7 21. Kf1 Rad8 22. Rc7 Bd5 23. b4 axb4 24. axb4 e5 {Karpov,A (2679)-Shirov,A (2718) Linares 2001}) 18... Rad8 19. g3 f5 20. Ke1 Kf6 21. Rd1 Rxd1+ 22. Rxd1 Rxd1+ 23. Kxd1 Ne5 24. Nxe5 Kxe5 25. Kd2 Kd6 26. Kc3 Bc6 27. b4 axb4+ 28. Kxb4 h6 29. Bb5 Bf3 30. Be8 Ke7 31. Ba4 Kd6 32. Be8 Ke7 33. Ba4 1/2-1/2 [Event "St. Louis"] [Site "St. Louis"] [Date "2017.08.09"] [Round "7.2"] [White "Svidler, P."] [Black "Carlsen, M."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C45"] [WhiteElo "2751"] [BlackElo "2822"] [PlyCount "93"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [WhiteClock "1:27:52"] [BlackClock "1:39:38"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 {Before this game Svidler had played the Scotch 19 times in his career. He had scored +9 =10 -1 and won his last four, in 2000, 2001, 2011 and 2012. Carlsen only faced it in six classical games, one of them being his win in the fifth round of this tournament vs So.} exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 ( 4... Bb4+ 5. c3 Be7 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bd3 d6 8. O-O Nf6 9. Re1 O-O 10. Nd2 Re8 { So,W (2810)-Carlsen,M (2822) Saint Louis USA 2017}) 5. Nxc6 bxc6 6. e5 Qe7 7. Qe2 Nd5 8. c4 Ba6 9. b3 {Interestingly, Svidler spent eight minutes on this normal move. Afterward he explained he was working out move orders.} g6 { Carlsen keeps following the most popular treatment of the Scotch.} 10. f4 d6 11. Qf2 Nf6 12. Ba3 {After 20 minutes of thinking Svidler played a moe that had been played only once before.} Qe6 {After 19 minutes.} 13. Be2 dxe5 14. Bxf8 $146 (14. fxe5 Bxa3 15. Nxa3 Nd7 16. O-O O-O 17. Nc2 Nxe5 18. Rae1 Qe7 19. Bf3 Bb7 {Mueller,M (2410) -Gustafsson,J (2622) Baden Baden GER 2009}) 14... Kxf8 15. O-O exf4 16. Qxf4 {Kasparov agreed with Svidler that White has compensation for the pawn. It's not more than that.} Kg7 17. Nc3 Rae8 18. Bf3 Qe3+ 19. Qxe3 Rxe3 20. Na4 Bc8 21. Bxc6 Rd8 22. Rae1 Rxe1 23. Rxe1 Rd2 24. Nc3 Rc2 25. Nb5 Rxa2 26. Nxc7 Rb2 27. Ne8+ Nxe8 28. Rxe8 Be6 29. Bd5 Bxd5 30. cxd5 Rxb3 31. d6 Rd3 32. Ra8 Rxd6 33. Rxa7 Rd2 34. Ra6 g5 35. h3 h5 36. Ra5 Kg6 37. Rb5 Ra2 38. Kf1 Ra6 39. Kf2 f5 40. Rb8 Ra2+ 41. Kf3 Ra3+ 42. Kf2 g4 43. hxg4 hxg4 44. g3 Ra2+ 45. Kf1 Ra1+ 46. Kf2 Ra2+ 47. Kf1 1/2-1/2 [Event "St. Louis"] [Site "St. Louis"] [Date "2017.08.09"] [Round "7.1"] [White "Vachier-Lagrave, M."] [Black "Karjakin, S."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C67"] [WhiteElo "2789"] [BlackElo "2773"] [PlyCount "90"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [WhiteClock "1:38:42"] [BlackClock "1:32:16"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. h3 Ke8 10. Nc3 h5 11. Bf4 Be7 12. Rad1 Be6 13. Ng5 Rh6 14. Rfe1 Bb4 15. g4 hxg4 16. hxg4 Ne7 17. Nxe6 (17. f3 Bxc3 18. bxc3 Bxa2 19. Ne4 Rh8 20. e6 Nd5 21. exf7+ Kxf7 22. Bxc7 Nxc7 23. Rd7+ Kg6 24. Rxc7 Bd5 {Vachier Lagrave,M (2796)-Giri,A (2771) Leuven 2017}) 17... Rxe6 18. Kg2 Bxc3 19. bxc3 Rd8 20. Rxd8+ Kxd8 21. Rh1 Nd5 22. Bg3 Rh6 $146 {The first new move, but according to Caruana all ten players in the Sinquefield Cup must have deep analysis on their laptops here.} (22... g5 23. Rh8+ Kd7 24. c4 Nb6 25. Rf8 Ke7 26. Rb8 Nxc4 27. Rxb7 Kd7 28. Rxa7 Nxe5 29. Ra4 Ng6 30. Ra7 Ne5 31. f3 f6 32. Kf2 Rd6 33. Bxe5 fxe5 34. Ke3 Rd4 35. Ra8 {½-½ Wei,Y (2718) -Wang,H (2710) Xinghua 2015}) 23. Rxh6 gxh6 24. Kh3 Nxc3 25. Kh4 Nxa2 (25... Ne4 $2 26. Kh5 Nxg3+ 27. fxg3 {actually wins for White. The line includes a beautiful point:} Ke7 28. Kxh6 b5 29. g5 c5 30. g4 a5 {and now the key move} 31. e6 $3 Kxe6 32. g6 fxg6 33. Kxg6 b4 34. g5 c4 35. Kh7 a4 36. g6 {and White is queening with check.}) 26. Kh5 Nc3 27. Kxh6 a5 28. f4 a4 29. f5 Ke8 $1 {Again an important move. "It's an endgame where the value of each move is immense," said Kasparov in the commentary. Karjakin was down to ten minutes here.} (29... a3 $2 { would be a mistake because of} 30. e6 f6 31. Kg7 Nd5 32. c4 a2 33. cxd5 a1=Q 34. Kf7 Qa8 35. Bh4 Kc8 36. Bxf6 {and Black cannot defend against the pawns.}) 30. g5 (30. e6 f6) 30... a3 31. e6 (31. Kg7 $2 Ne4 32. g6 fxg6 33. f6 Nc5 $1 34. f7+ Kd7 35. f8=Q Ne6+ {and wins.}) 31... a2 32. Kg7 fxe6 33. f6 a1=Q 34. f7+ Kd7 35. Be5 $1 {This time it's White who only has one move.} Qa5 $1 { Again excellent defense.} 36. Bf6 Qc5 37. f8=Q Qxf8+ 38. Kxf8 Ne4 39. Kf7 Nxg5+ 40. Bxg5 Kd6 41. Kf6 e5 42. Kf5 Kd5 43. Bd8 Kd4 44. Bxc7 Kc3 45. Kxe5 Kxc2 1/2-1/2 [Event "Saint Louis"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2017.08.09"] [Round "7"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A29"] [WhiteElo "2792"] [BlackElo "2799"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "106"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 Bb4 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O e4 7. Ng5 Bxc3 8. bxc3 Re8 9. f3 e3 10. d3 d5 11. Qa4 $5 {[%cal Gd1a4]} h6 {was seen in Svidler - Karjakin Candidates 2016.} 12. cxd5 Nxd5 13. Ne4 f5 14. Nc5 f4 15. Ne4 { [Nakamura's improvement]} (15. Bb2 Rb8 16. c4 Nde7 17. g4 b6 18. Ne4 {with a complex position in Svidler -Karjakin, Candidates 2016}) 15... Rb8 16. Qa3 Re6 17. c4 Nde7 18. Bb2 Nf5 {Standalone, White's moves were all fine when they are played, but together as a strategy they haven’t made his position any better. And here started Aronian’s counterplay, focusing on the white king} 19. d4 { A mark of desparation? Nakamura decides to part back with the pawn to free up his position a little} (19. gxf4 Ncd4 20. Bxd4 Nxd4 21. Nc3 {was an alternate way to defend here, but White's positon is hardly inspiring}) 19... Ncxd4 20. Bxd4 Nxd4 21. Qxa7 Nc6 22. Qa3 Qf8 23. Qxf8+ Kxf8 24. Rfd1 g5 25. Nc3 Re7 $1 { Nakamura was very annoyed to see this move being played. He thought that his knight on d5 will inconvenience Black greatly, but here the rook stands very well on f7 and defends everything.} 26. Nd5 Rf7 27. h4 Ra8 28. a4 Na5 29. gxf4 gxf4 30. Kh2 (30. Rac1 Nb3) 30... Nxc4 31. Rac1 Nd2 32. Nxc7 Rxa4 33. Bh3 { A slip, allowing a beauty!} ({Even if White tries to defend the 2nd rank, he still gets into difficulties:} 33. Rc2 Bf5 34. Rc3 (34. Rc5 Ra2 35. Nd5 Nb3) 34... Ra2 35. Nd5 Be6 36. Nb4 Ra4 37. Nd3 Bc4 38. Bh3 b5 $1 {and Black dominates the whole board}) 33... Nxf3+ $3 34. exf3 Ra2+ 35. Bg2 Rg7 36. Rg1 Rg3 $1 {Brilliant! Black’s attack is even more aesthetic as he conducts it without queens, and with very less material on the board - he is threatening .. .Rg3-h3 checkmate here!} 37. Kh1 Bh3 38. Bf1 e2 39. Bxe2 Rxe2 {and Black achieves a winning position, which he converts easily} 40. Nd5 Rxf3 $4 { Incredible! After playng such chess for most of the game, Aronian slips!} ( 40... Bg2+ {won on the spot!!}) 41. Rg6 Re6 42. Rcg1 Rxg6 43. Rxg6 Bd7 44. Kg2 Rg3+ 45. Rxg3 fxg3 46. Kxg3 Kf7 {[Black has a huge advantage, which he converts]} 47. Kf4 Ke6 48. Nb4 Be8 49. Nd3 Kd5 50. Nf2 Bd7 51. Ke3 Ke5 52. Ne4 Bc6 53. Ng3 Bd5 0-1 [Event "Saint Louis"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2017.08.09"] [Round "7"] [White "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2783"] [BlackElo "2751"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "79"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 e5 7. Nde2 h5 8. Bg5 Be6 9. Bxf6 Qxf6 10. Nd5 Qd8 11. Qd3 Nd7 12. O-O-O g6 (12... b5 13. Nec3 Rb8 14. Nb4 Qg5+ 15. Kb1 Nc5 16. Qf3 Be7 17. Ncd5 Bd8 18. Be2 Rb7 19. Ne3 Qf4 20. Qxf4 exf4 21. Nf5 {and White went on to win in Anand -Nepomniachtchi, Leuven Rapid 2017}) 13. Kb1 Nc5 (13... Rc8 14. Nec3 Bh6 15. h4 Nc5 16. Qe2 Bd7 17. f3 Ne6 18. Qf2 Rc5 19. g4 hxg4 20. fxg4 Bg5 21. Bb5 $1 {and White was clearly better in Anand - Vachier Lagrave, Leuven Rapid 2017}) 14. Qf3 Bg7 15. Nec3 b5 16. Ne3 O-O 17. Rg1 {[Anand's improvement]} (17. g4 h4 {and Black controlled the light squares in Eljanov - Oparin, Novi Sad 2016}) 17... Bh6 18. Ncd5 ({ Kasparov suggested an interesting possibility here:} 18. Nf5 gxf5 19. exf5 b4 20. fxe6 fxe6 (20... bxc3 21. exf7+ Kh8 {is messy}) 21. Qxh5 Qg5 {and Black emerges better}) 18... Bxe3 {There was nothing wrong with this, but Black could have simply played non-forcing moves too, waiting to see how the position would develop} (18... Rc8 19. g4 Bxd5 20. Nxd5 h4 {is a probable continuation too}) 19. Qxe3 Rc8 20. Be2 Kg7 21. f4 (21. g4 Bxd5 22. Rxd5 hxg4 23. Bxg4 (23. hxg4 Ne6 {dominating the dark squares}) 23... Rc6 24. Rgd1 Re8 { with a level position}) 21... Bxd5 22. Rxd5 exf4 23. Qxf4 Re8 24. Rxd6 { Allowing equality} (24. Rf1 Qe7 25. Bxh5 $5 Nxe4 (25... gxh5 26. Qg3+ {will see the black king checkmated}) 26. Bf3 Rc4 {and though Black is not worse here, this is a much more pleasant position for White to obtain compared to the game, as White has the Bishop in an open position, and Black's weakness on d6 is a minor factor}) 24... Qe7 25. e5 Qxe5 26. Qxe5+ Rxe5 27. Bf3 {The ending is level, but not lifeless} Ne4 $2 {An inexplicable move. Having solved his opening problems and achieving near equality, Black immediately allows a questionable ending, giving up a pawn instantly} (27... b4 {followed by ...a5 and Black could have simply waited to see how things unfold. The position is quite balanced}) 28. Bxe4 Rxe4 29. Rxa6 {Anand felt 'quite safe', and he played a position which was risk-free for him but where he can 'probe around a bit'} Re2 30. c3 h4 31. Ra5 {I already felt slightly confident here - Anand} b4 $2 {'There was no need for this kamikaze move - he kind of went nuts!' remarked Anand after the game. Very impulsively, Black throws away a pawn hoping that planting his Rooks on the 7th rank would give him enough counterplay. And the most remarkable point was that, Nepo had lots of time here - an hour on the clock! - when he decided on this suicidal sacrifice of the second pawn} (31... Rc5 32. a4) ({Best move was} 31... Rb8 {Anand admitted that after this, White's technical task is quite big} 32. Ra7 ({Anand had intended} 32. Ra3 Rd8 33. Rb3 {but after} Rd5 {it is not clear how White could improve his position easily, as Black simply can role his pawns on the kingside }) 32... Rbe8 33. Rb7 Re1+ 34. Rxe1 Rxe1+ 35. Kc2 Re2+ 36. Kd3 (36. Kb3 Rxg2 37. Rxb5 Rg3 {and suddenly it may be Black who might emerge fast in case of a pawn race to the queening square}) 36... Rxb2 37. a4 Rxg2 38. a5 {with a complicated ending which may still hold for Black}) 32. cxb4 Rcc2 33. b3 { A simple refutation of Black's strategy} Rb2+ 34. Ka1 Rxg2 35. Rxg2 Rxg2 36. b5 Re2 (36... Rg4 {In the analysis, Kasparov burst out laughing when this move was shown to be a computer choice} 37. Ra4 f5 {Anand threw this move in for fun } 38. b6) 37. b6 Re8 38. b7 Rb8 39. Rb5 f5 40. Kb2 {White simply brings brings the King over to sto Black's pawns on the kingside, whereas his a-pawn will march forward to win the game} 1-0 [Event "Saint Louis"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2017.08.10"] [Round "8"] [White "Caruana, F."] [Black "Nakamura, H."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E71"] [WhiteElo "2807"] [BlackElo "2792"] [PlyCount "96"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:05:48"] [BlackClock "0:33:24"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. h3 O-O 6. Bg5 c6 7. Nf3 d5 (7... a6 8. a4 a5 9. Be2 Na6 10. O-O e5 11. Re1 exd4 12. Nxd4 Nc5 13. Qc2 Re8 14. Bf3 Qb6 {Aronian,L (2815)-Ivanchuk,V (2766) Beijing 2012}) 8. cxd5 cxd5 9. Bxf6 exf6 10. exd5 b6 $146 (10... Nd7 11. Qb3 Nb6 12. a4 Re8+ 13. Be2 Bf5 14. a5 Nc8 15. Qxb7 Nd6 16. Qa6 Rb8 {Srokowski,J (2200)-Ufimtsev,A Soviet Union 1986}) 11. Be2 Na6 12. O-O Nc7 13. Qb3 Bb7 14. Bc4 Rb8 15. a4 a6 16. Rfe1 b5 17. axb5 axb5 18. Bd3 b4 19. Ne4 f5 20. Ned2 Nxd5 21. Bc4 Nb6 22. Qxb4 Nxc4 23. Qxc4 Bd5 24. Qc3 Qb6 25. b3 Rfd8 26. Rac1 Bh6 27. Rc2 Qb7 28. Qd3 Qa8 29. Qf1 Qb7 30. Rc5 Qb4 31. Rc2 Ra8 32. Rd1 Qb7 33. Re1 Rd6 34. Rc5 ({Doing nothing with e.g.} 34. Rd1 {was probably about equal. (Nakamura)}) 34... Ra2 ({Nakamura called it "idiotic" that he didn't play} 34... Kg7 {first.}) 35. Re8+ Kg7 36. Qe1 Bf4 ( 36... Rd7 $1 {was very good for Black. "Amazing," said Nakamura. "That's why the computers are so good."}) 37. g3 Bxf3 38. gxf4 Be4 $6 (38... Bh1 $2 39. f3 $1 Bxf3 40. Rcc8 {wins.}) (38... Rd7 $1 {is more than fine for Black though.}) 39. Nxe4 fxe4 40. Qc3 Qa6 41. d5+ Kh6 42. Rg8 $2 {Allowing a perpetual.} ({Here } 42. Rxe4 {would have Black suffering:} Ra1+ 43. Re1 Rxe1+ 44. Qxe1 Qd3 45. Qe3 Rxd5 46. Rxd5 Qxd5 47. b4) 42... Ra1+ 43. Kh2 Rh1+ $1 44. Kxh1 Qf1+ 45. Kh2 Qxf2+ 46. Kh1 Qf1+ 47. Kh2 Qf2+ 48. Kh1 Qf1+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "Saint Louis"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2017.08.10"] [Round "8"] [White "Anand, V."] [Black "Vachier-Lagrave, M."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A31"] [WhiteElo "2783"] [BlackElo "2789"] [PlyCount "60"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:41:57"] [BlackClock "0:17:38"] 1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nf6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 d5 $5 {This was always considered to be dubious, but perhaps it's not so bad.} ({The critical continuation is} 4... e5 5. Nb5 d5) 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4 Nb4 ({Though he was surprised by 4...d5, Anand said he was aware of} 6... Nf6 7. Bb5+ Bd7 8. Qe2 e5 9. Nf3 Bb4+ 10. Bd2 Bxd2+ 11. Nbxd2 Qb6 12. a4 a6 13. Nc4 Qc5 {Giri,A (2769)-Svidler,P (2741) Shenzhen CHN 2017}) 7. Bb5+ (7. Be3 N8c6 8. Nb5 Bg4 9. f3 Qxd1+ 10. Kxd1 O-O-O+ 11. Nd2 Be6 12. Nxa7+ Nxa7 13. Bxa7 Nxa2 {Salgado Lopez, I (2635)-Starostits,I (2494) Helsingor 2012}) 7... Bd7 8. Bc4 N8c6 9. Nxc6 Nxc6 10. O-O e6 11. Nc3 $146 (11. Be3 Be7 12. Nc3 O-O 13. f4 Rc8 14. Rf2 Be8 15. Rd2 Qa5 16. Qe2 Bb4 {Silva,M (2268)-Sande,O (2254) corr. 2008}) 11... Be7 12. Bf4 O-O 13. Qd2 Be8 14. Rfd1 ( 14. Qe2 $5 {MVL} Qa5 {Anand}) 14... Qxd2 15. Rxd2 Rc8 16. Nb5 e5 17. Bg3 Na5 ( 17... Nd4 18. Nxd4 Rxc4 19. Bxe5 {MVL}) 18. Bf1 Bxb5 (18... Nc4 19. Nxa7 Nxd2 20. Nxc8 Bc5 21. Rc1 Nxe4 22. Bd3 Bd7 23. Ne7+ $1 Bxe7 24. Bxe4 {"and I'm losing a pawn I think." (MVL)}) 19. Bxb5 f6 20. Rad1 $6 {"Maybe not the most precise." (MVL)} (20. Bd7 $5 Rc7 (20... Rfd8 $2 {fails to} 21. Rd5 $1 {with a double threat.}) 21. Be6+ Kh8 22. Bd5 Rfc8 {is only slightly better for White. Anand didn't see how to make progress.}) 20... Kf7 21. f3 (21. f4 Bc5+ 22. Kh1 Bd4 {Anand}) 21... a6 22. Bf1 (22. Bd7 $5 Rc7 23. Bh3) 22... Nc4 23. Bxc4+ Rxc4 24. Rd7 Rb8 25. Kf1 Ke8 26. Be1 Rd8 27. Rxd8+ Bxd8 28. Ke2 Rc2+ 29. Rd2 Rxd2+ 30. Bxd2 Kd7 1/2-1/2 [Event "Saint Louis"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2017.08.10"] [Round "8"] [White "Aronian, L."] [Black "Svidler, P."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A34"] [WhiteElo "2799"] [BlackElo "2751"] [PlyCount "37"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:40:59"] [BlackClock "0:33:30"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e3 Nxc3 6. bxc3 g6 7. h4 (7. Bb5+ Bd7 8. Rb1 Bg7 9. O-O O-O 10. d4 Qc7 11. Bxd7 Nxd7 12. e4 Rfd8 13. Qe2 Rac8 { Anton Guijarro,D (2650)-Gelfand,B (2721) Gibraltar 2017}) 7... Bg7 8. h5 Nc6 9. Be2 $146 (9. Rb1 Qc7 10. hxg6 hxg6 11. Rxh8+ Bxh8 12. Qb3 b6 13. Ng5 e6 14. d4 Na5 15. Bb5+ Kf8 {Bauer,C (2632)-Howell,D (2655) Reading 2017}) 9... Bf5 ({ A surprise for Aronian, who mainly looked at} 9... b6) 10. Qb3 b6 11. Ng5 e6 12. f4 $5 ({More promising was} 12. Qa4 Rc8 13. Bb5 {but here Aronian was still planning to take with the knight on f7 on move 14.}) 12... h6 13. Qa4 Rc8 (13... hxg5 $2 14. Qxc6+ Kf8 15. e4 Rc8 16. Qa4 b5 17. Qc2 {Svidler}) 14. Ne4 ( {Also interesting was} 14. Nxf7 Kxf7 15. e4 {(Svidler). In fact Aronian was planning this until he noticed} b5 $1 16. Bxb5 (16. Qc2 Nb4 {Aronian}) 16... Bg4 17. Bxc6 Qd3) 14... g5 15. Bb5 Qd5 16. Nf2 Qd6 ({Initially Svidler planned } 16... Bh7 {but then he didn't like} 17. fxg5 (17. e4 Qd6 18. fxg5 $5 (18. Qxa7 $2 Qxf4 $1 {Aronian})) 17... hxg5 18. h6 Be5 19. e4 Qd6 20. d4 cxd4 21. Ba3 {and Black is in huge trouble.}) ({The players thought} 16... Qxg2 $1 { doesn't work but it does:} 17. e4 ({Aronian was planning} 17. Bf1 Qg3 18. Bb5 O-O {is a mess.}) 17... O-O 18. Bxc6 {and now the wonderful move} Rxc6 $3 { "It's not impossible to find but it's not easy to find either." (Svidler)} ( 18... Bg4) 19. Qxc6 {with the beautiful point} g4 $1 {with e4 pinned and 20... g3 coming - Black is winning here.}) ({In fact after} 16... Qxg2 {Aronian was planning} 17. Bf1 Qg3 18. Bb5 {and expected a move repetition here because} O-O 19. Bxc6 gxf4 {is murky, e.g.} 20. Be4 fxe3 21. dxe3 Bxc3+ 22. Kf1 Bg4 23. Rb1 (23. Nxg4 $2 f5 {is killing because the f-file will always be opened}) 23... f5 24. Bd3) 17. Ne4 Qd5 18. Nf2 Qd6 19. Ne4 1/2-1/2 [Event "Saint Louis"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2017.08.10"] [Round "8"] [White "Karjakin, S."] [Black "So, W."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "2773"] [BlackElo "2810"] [PlyCount "125"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:05:23"] [BlackClock "0:40:14"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 O-O 6. h3 d6 7. c3 a6 8. a4 Ba7 9. Re1 h6 (9... Ne7 10. Nbd2 Ng6 11. Nf1 c6 12. Bb3 d5 13. Ng3 Be6 14. exd5 Nxd5 {Harikrishna,P (2737)-Bacrot,E (2715) Biel 2017}) (9... b5 {as recommended by Aronian must be considered here. Of course this is not a pawn sacrifice because} 10. axb5 axb5 11. Bxb5 {runs into} Bxf2+ 12. Kxf2 Rxa1) 10. Nbd2 Be6 11. Bxe6 fxe6 12. b4 ({Ding Liren lost a game with the White pieces against Anish Giri in this line earlier this week:} 12. Nf1 Nh5 13. Be3 a5 14. Bxa7 Rxa7 15. d4 Qf6 16. Re3 Nf4 17. h4 Qg6 18. g3 Raa8 19. dxe5 Nxe5 20. Nxe5 dxe5 21. f3 Rad8 22. Qc2 Nh5 23. Kh2 Rf6 24. Rd1 Rdf8 25. Rdd3 Qf7 26. Qd1 Rg6 27. Qe1 Qe7 28. Kh3 Rxg3+ $1 29. Nxg3 Nf4+ 30. Kh2 Qxh4+ 31. Kg1 Rf6 32. Rd8+ Kh7 33. Rd2 Rg6 34. Rg2 h5 35. Rh2 Rxg3+ 36. Kh1 Qg5 37. Qf1 h4 38. Re1 h3 39. Rd1 Qh5 40. Rd7 Qxf3+ 41. Qxf3 Rxf3 42. Rhd2 Kh6 43. Rd8 Kh5 44. Rh8+ Kg4 45. Rd1 Ne2) 12... Qe8 $146 (12... Nh5 13. Ra2 Qf6 14. Nc4 b5 15. Ne3 Bb6 16. Ng4 Qe7 17. Be3 Bxe3 18. fxe3 Rab8 {Anand,V (2786)-Carlsen,M (2832) Stavanger 2017} ) 13. Nf1 Nh5 14. Be3 Bxe3 15. Rxe3 Nf4 16. Rb1 b5 {This prevents further queenside expansion for Karjakin, but it also weakens So's queenside as well.} 17. Ra1 {With the b-file closed, Karjakin smartly returns his rook to the a-file, which at any moment can be opened.} Qg6 (17... d5 {immediately has the same drawbacks it does at any point in the future, but at present Black even threatens to push d4 and try to undermine White's queenside.}) 18. Ng3 Qf6 19. Ne2 Ng6 20. Qb3 Kh8 21. Rf1 Rab8 22. g3 Qf7 ({Both players overlooked the relatively obvious} 22... Nf4 $1 {which is very strong considering that White's rook on e3 has been restricted by his own knights.} 23. gxf4 (23. axb5 axb5 (23... Nxe2+ 24. Rxe2 Qxf3 25. Re3 {and White captures on c6, restoring the material balance. in an advantageous way. If} Qh5 26. g4 {can be thrown in, just to keep the pawn on h3.}) 24. Nxf4 exf4 25. Ree1 {and Black is happy with his position, though White has kept everything under control.}) (23. Nxf4 exf4 24. Ree1 bxa4 {can be included here, which distracts the queen} 25. Qxa4 (25. Qa3 Ne5 26. Nxe5 Qxe5 27. g4 Qb5) 25... fxg3 26. fxg3 Qxc3) 23... Qg6+ { is an important check to throw in, because it keeps e6 defended.} (23... exf4 24. Nxf4 Qxf4 25. axb5 axb5 26. Qxe6) 24. Kh1 exf4 {with an advantage for Black. White must return some material, leaving Black better because White's king is exposed.}) 23. Nh2 d5 {After maneuvering for both sides, So decides it is time to expand in the center. This choice requires a proper analysis of the long-term consequences: for the space that he gains, So leaves behind a permanent weakness in the form of the c5 square. If and when a white knight makes its way to the queenside, Karjakin will have an outpost.} 24. Rf3 Qd7 25. axb5 axb5 26. Kg2 Rxf3 27. Nxf3 Rf8 {Putting a rook on a semi-open file is never a poor idea, but here it also threatens a tactic if White does nothing.} 28. Neg1 (28. Nd2 $2 {is what Karjakin would rather play, except it runs directly into} dxe4) (28. Ra1 {is ill-advised not only because the rook is definitely needed to defend the kingside, but because White falls victim to an immediate tactic} dxe4 29. dxe4 Rxf3 30. Kxf3 Qd3+ 31. Kg2 Qxe2) 28... Ra8 29. Rc1 Qd6 30. Ne1 Nge7 31. Ngf3 Ng8 32. Nc2 Nf6 33. Re1 Rf8 34. Na3 Rb8 35. Nc2 Rf8 36. Na3 Rb8 37. Nb1 Nd7 38. Nbd2 d4 $6 {So was tired of dilly-dallying, but this move leaves him with additional weaknesses. Whereas Karjakin could always capture on d5, opening the e-file for the rook was unintimidating because the pawn on e5 is extremely well defended. Now Karjakin simply swings his rook to the c-file, taking aim at the pawn on c7.} 39. Rc1 dxc3 $6 ({ Better was} 39... Rb7 {to defend the pawn on c7 (Karjakin).}) 40. Qxc3 Rb6 41. Nb3 {White is clearly better. Finally Karjakin can place a knight on c5. Instead of suffering passively, So decides he must take some action with} Nxb4 42. Qxc7 Kh7 (42... Nxd3 43. Qd8+ Kh7 44. Rc8 {leads to a blistering attack.}) 43. d4 {Normally, White would hate to offer Black the opportunity to undouble his isolated pawns. Here, though, targeting the weakness on b5 is worth improving Black's structure.} Qxc7 (43... exd4) 44. Rxc7 Nf6 {Karjakin was happy that he found the following maneuver:} 45. Nc5 $1 Na6 (45... exd4 { feels completely necessary here.}) 46. Rc8 $1 Nxc5 ({The point is} 46... exd4 47. e5 Nxc5 (47... Nd5 48. Nd7 {and White's knight devastates with Nf8+}) 48. exf6 {and at best for Black, he is down a piece with no drawing chances.}) 47. dxc5 Ra6 48. Nxe5 Nxe4 49. c6 Ra2 50. Kf3 {The next move surprised Karjakin. "The knight on h3 will be out of play."} Ng5+ $2 (50... Nf6 51. Rb8 Ra3+ 52. Kg2 Rc3 53. Rxb5 {is obviously great for White, but a technical task is still required to convert.}) 51. Ke3 Nxh3 52. Rb8 Rc2 53. f4 h5 54. Rxb5 Nf2 55. Kd4 Rd2+ 56. Kc5 Ne4+ 57. Kb6 Rc2 58. c7 Nd6 59. Rb3 Ne8 60. Nc6 Nxc7 61. Kxc7 Rc4 62. Kd6 h4 63. Ne5 1-0 [Event "Saint Louis"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2017.08.10"] [Round "8"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, I."] [Black "Carlsen, M."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A29"] [WhiteElo "2751"] [BlackElo "2822"] [PlyCount "63"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:20:35"] [BlackClock "0:12:03"] 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. g3 g6 5. d4 exd4 6. Nxd4 Bg7 7. Bg2 O-O 8. Bf4 $5 {Preparation by Nepomniachtchi, who prevents Black from getting his normal setup with ...Ne5, and ...Re8 and ...d6.} (8. O-O Re8 9. e3 Rb8 10. b3 Nxd4 11. exd4 d6 12. Bf4 Bf5 13. Qd2 Ne4 14. Nxe4 Bxe4 15. Rae1 Bxg2 16. Kxg2 Qd7 {Delchev,A (2598)-Howell,D (2705) Skopje 2015}) 8... Nh5 {"Critical." (Nepomniachtchi)} 9. Nxc6 dxc6 $146 (9... bxc6 10. Be3 Qe7 11. Rc1 Bb7 12. O-O a5 13. c5 Bc8 14. Qa4 Bh8 15. b4 Bb7 16. bxa5 Ng7 {Boehme,S (2309)-Szabo,V (2333) corr. 2012}) 10. Qxd8 Rxd8 11. Bxc7 Rd4 12. c5 (12. Rd1 $5) 12... Rc4 13. O-O (13. O-O-O Bf5 {Nepomniachtchi}) 13... Rxc5 14. Rfc1 Nf6 15. Bd6 Rh5 16. Rd1 Be6 17. Bf3 (17. Rac1 {Nepomniachtchi}) 17... Ra5 18. Rd2 h6 {"Magnus started to panic a bit." (Nepomniachtchi)} 19. Rad1 Ra6 20. e4 (20. b4 Ra3 { Nepomniachtchi}) 20... Bg4 21. Bxg4 Nxg4 22. Kg2 Ne5 23. b3 Nc4 24. bxc4 Bxc3 25. Rc2 (25. Rd3 Bg7 26. Ra3 Rxa3 27. Bxa3 b5 {"It feels like there should be enough counterplay for Black." (Nepomniachtchi)}) 25... Bg7 26. c5 Re8 27. e5 b5 28. cxb6 axb6 29. Rxc6 Rxa2 30. Re1 b5 31. Rb6 Rd2 32. Rxb5 (32. Rxb5 { A draw was agreed in view of the line} Rxd6 33. exd6 Rxe1 34. Rb8+ Kh7 35. d7 Bf6 36. d8=Q Bxd8 37. Rxd8) 1/2-1/2 [Event "Saint Louis"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2017.08.10"] [Round "8"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Svidler, Peter"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A34"] [WhiteElo "2799"] [BlackElo "2751"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "37"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e3 Nxc3 6. bxc3 g6 7. h4 { Svidler - Once White plays h4, you don't expect the game to go back to normality!} Bg7 8. h5 Nc6 9. Be2 {[Aronian's improvement for this particular game, obviously. And from the speed with which Aronian played it, it was clear that he had come well-armed for this game]} ({The newly famous game from the first round went} 9. Ba3 Qa5 10. Rh4 $1 {and Aronian was well on his way to a imaginative beauty: Aronian -Nepomniachtchi, Sinquefield Cup 2017}) 9... Bf5 $5 {This was a surprise for Aronian} 10. Qb3 b6 11. Ng5 {[Svidler - I expected Ng5, trying to punish me for leaving so many pieces hanging]} e6 12. f4 h6 { Aronian had assumed this to be not possible} 13. Qa4 Rc8 ({Svidler: I actually missed that I cannot take on g5 here, (after which) I will be better:} 13... hxg5 14. Qxc6+ Kf8 15. e4 Rc8 16. Qa4 b5 17. Qc2 {and I still lose the Bishop}) 14. Ne4 ({Svidler expected Aronian to do} 14. Nxf7 Kxf7 15. e4 b5 $1 {[Svidler] } 16. Bxb5 (16. Qc2 Nb4) 16... Bg4 17. Bxc6 Qd3 {and Aronian didn't quite like his position}) 14... g5 15. Bb5 Qd5 16. Nf2 Qd6 ({Here is what Svidler missed, and it could have been the best of the event!} 16... Qxg2 17. Bf1 (17. e4 O-O $3 18. Bxc6 Rxc6 $3 19. Qxc6 g4 {and Black is close to winning! When shown the position, Svidler came up with the memorable quote: “This is very beautiful. This is not impossible to find, but it is not easy to find also!” But he also pointed out the other side: it was ‘very easy to give (pieces) away when they are not your pieces!’}) 17... Qg3 18. Bb5 O-O 19. Bxc6 gxf4 20. Kf1 (20. Ke2) 20... f3 21. Rg1 Bh3+) 17. Ne4 Qd5 18. Nf2 Qd6 19. Ne4 1/2-1/2 [Event "5th Sinquefield Cup 2017"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2017.08.11"] [Round "9"] [White "Vachier-Lagrave, M."] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, I."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B92"] [WhiteElo "2789"] [BlackElo "2751"] [PlyCount "103"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nf3 Be7 8. Bg5 Nbd7 9. a4 O-O (9... b6 10. Nd2 h6 11. Bxf6 Nxf6 12. Nc4 Bb7 13. a5 b5 14. Nb6 Nxe4 15. Nxe4 Bxe4 16. Bf3 Bxf3 17. Qxf3 Ra7 {Carlsen,M (2832)-Vachier Lagrave, M (2796) Paris 2017}) 10. Nd2 Nc5 (10... d5 {deserves serious attention. If Black can safely get rid of the backward d-pawn, he is doing well. I see no immediate issue with the move, leading me to believe it is quite strong.} 11. exd5 Nxd5 12. Bxe7 (12. Nxd5 Bxg5 13. Ne4 Nf6 $1 {forces a trade of knights. Without the pawn on d6, many of Black's difficulties are put behind him.}) 12... Nxe7 13. Nc4 Nc6 14. Qd6) 11. Bxf6 Bxf6 12. Nc4 Be7 13. a5 $146 {White secures control of the b6 square.} (13. O-O Be6 14. a5 Rc8 15. Nb6 Rc6 16. b4 Nd7 {eventually saw Carlsen outlast Nepomniachtchi in Leuven just a couple months ago. There's no doubt that MVL} (16... Nb3 {forces White to accept doubled pawns, which actually just helps to ensnare the rook.} 17. cxb3 Rxc3 18. Bc4)) 13... Rb8 14. Nb6 Nd7 (14... Be6 15. Bg4 {In such a position, White wants to liquidate so that the only minor pieces remaining are his knight against an enemy dark-squared bishop. The most favorable way this occurs is if White does not capture on e6, as a pawn there covers the vital d5 square.} (15. O-O Nd7 16. Ncd5 Bxd5 17. Nxd5 Nf6 18. Nxf6+ Bxf6 19. Bc4 {like a plausible continuation in the game, is much better for White. Bishops of opposite color are (too) frequently considered to lead to automatic draws, but here White's will sit on d5 and attack both sides of the board while Black's bishop is very passive, stuck behind his own pawns.})) 15. Ncd5 Nxb6 16. Nxb6 Be6 17. Bc4 Qc7 18. Qd3 (18. Bxe6 {is the wrong idea. Doubled pawns are not always bad, especially here where after} fxe6 {Nd5 will never happen.}) 18... Bd8 19. c3 { Considering the problems that arose in the game} Qc6 (19... Qe7 {likely was a better square for the queen. If Nepomniachtchi is going to be forced to enter an opposite-colored bishop middlegame, the least he can do is get some counterplay.} 20. Nd5 Bxd5 (20... Qd7 {or other queen moves keep the tension. White is much better, but Black is still very much in the game.}) 21. Bxd5 { Black can now either sit and shuffle and hope that he will survive, or try to strike back with} b6 $5 22. axb6 Bxb6 23. Qxa6 (23. Rxa6 Bxf2+ 24. Kxf2 Rxb2+ 25. Ke1 Qg5) (23. b4 a5 24. bxa5 Qa7) 23... Bxf2+ 24. Kxf2 Rxb2+ 25. Ke1 Qg5 26. Qd3 {White is better here, but} Qxg2 {is still very complicated. Black will have a couple pawns and the initiative for the price of a bishop. This gives very decent chances to hold.}) 20. Bd5 $1 Qe8 21. Bxe6 {And now, because his queen has been kicked, Nepomniachtchi's pawn on d6 is en prise. This prevents him from recapturing with the pawn and keeping the knight from d5.} Qxe6 (21... Bxb6 22. Bd5 {is so unpleasant for Black, but perhaps a superior alternative to the game continuation. It's really hard to pick between two options that both leave you significantly worse, but the presence of bishops of opposite colors is more promising than an amazing knight versus horrible bishop.}) 22. Nd5 f5 23. O-O Rc8 24. Rfd1 fxe4 25. Qxe4 {While Nepomniachtchi opens a file for his rook, he now has another structural weakness: Black has three pawn islands to White's two. This makes defending the pawns much more difficult, as a pawn's best friend is another pawn. The base of the pawn chain is easier to attack.} Qf5 {MVL now gets to choose between two excellent options. Swapping the queens leads to a much better ending, but keeping them on the board is the correct choice. The white queen supports the c4 square, but more importantly keeps alive the opportunity to swiftly play on both sides of the board. Sure, the queen on f5 is Black's only active piece, but it has nothing to attack or prod.} 26. Qe2 Kh8 27. c4 Bh4 28. g3 Bg5 29. Ra3 Rce8 30. h4 Bd8 (30... Bh6 31. g4 {wins the bishop.}) 31. b4 Qg6 32. h5 {A pawn move like this can be pushing too far, but here it is untouchable. There is no way for Black to attack it with a second piece. The huge benefit of this move is that it helps White transfer the knight to f5 (Black struggles to play g6) and apply additional pressure on the pawn on d6.} Qf5 33. Ne3 Qe6 34. Rad3 Be7 35. Nd5 Bd8 36. Rf3 {Black is out of useful moves. MVL removes Nepo's only active piece, and thus makes his life even easier.} Rxf3 37. Qxf3 Kg8 38. Kg2 e4 39. Qe2 Qe5 40. Ne3 Bg5 $2 {The fatal error on move 40.} (40... Qe6 {prolonged the battle. Black's position is horrible, but not lost on the spot.}) 41. Rd5 Qf6 42. Nf5 Re6 43. c5 $1 {Initiating the breakthrough needed to finish the game. In addition to having awkward pawns, Black's king is now under duress.} dxc5 44. Qc4 (44. Rxc5 g6 {allows Black back into the game. An uphill battle remains, but all of a sudden he's pushing his opponent back, and the fewer pawns that remain the better the chance of holding in a queenless ending.}) 44... Qf7 45. Rxc5 h6 (45... Re8 46. Qxf7+ Kxf7 47. Nd6+) 46. Rc8+ Kh7 47. g4 Re7 48. Qd4 (48. Nxe7 $4 {allows a draw} Qf3+ 49. Kf1 Qd1+ 50. Kg2 Qxg4+) 48... Re6 49. Qd5 g6 (49... Re7 50. Qd8 {gains picks up a rook or delivers an immediate checkmate}) 50. hxg6+ Kxg6 51. Rf8 Qxf8 52. Qxe6+ {As Black is about to lose all of his pawns, Nepo resigned, meaning MVL achieved his first elite tournament title. A well-deserved victory for the Frenchman with three names.} 1-0 [Event "Saint Louis"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2017.08.11"] [Round "9"] [White "Carlsen, M."] [Black "Aronian, L."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C88"] [WhiteElo "2822"] [BlackElo "2799"] [PlyCount "103"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:31:33"] [BlackClock "0:29:43"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. a4 b4 9. a5 d6 10. d3 Be6 11. Bxe6 fxe6 12. Nbd2 Rb8 13. c3 Qe8 (13... bxc3 14. bxc3 Rb5 15. Nf1 Qd7 16. Bg5 Rxa5 17. Rxa5 Nxa5 18. d4 exd4 19. cxd4 h6 20. Bh4 Nc6 {Vachier Lagrave,M (2791)-Wojtaszek,R (2736) Dortmund 2017}) 14. Nc4 $146 ( 14. d4 bxc3 15. bxc3 exd4 16. cxd4 Rb5 17. Nc4 Qg6 18. Qe2 Nd7 19. Bd2 Bf6 20. Bc3 Rb3 {Topalov,V (2741)-Adams,M (2761) Shamkir 2017}) 14... Qg6 15. h3 Nd7 16. Be3 d5 17. Ncd2 {During the next moves Aronian overestimated his chances a bit, according to Carlsen.} bxc3 18. bxc3 Nc5 {Carlsen nicely counters Black's play with...} 19. Bxc5 $1 Bxc5 20. Qa4 Rb2 21. Rf1 $1 {...and it turns out White is taking over the initiative.} Na7 ({is not really Aronian's style.} 21... Qe8) 22. Nxe5 Qh6 23. Ndf3 Nb5 24. Rae1 $1 Nxc3 25. Qc6 Bb4 26. Kh1 ({ Strong was} 26. Nd7) 26... dxe4 27. dxe4 Ne2 28. Rb1 Rxb1 29. Rxb1 Bd6 30. Qxa6 (30. Ng4 $5 Qg6 31. Nfe5 Qg5 32. Nd7 Rd8 33. e5) 30... Nf4 31. Qb5 c5 $2 (31... Bxe5 32. Nxe5 Qg5) 32. a6 Bxe5 33. Nxe5 Qg5 34. Ng4 h5 35. Ne3 Nxg2 36. Nxg2 Rxf2 37. Rg1 Kh7 38. Qd3 Qe5 39. Qe3 Ra2 40. Qf4 Qc3 41. Ne3 Qf6 42. Qxf6 gxf6 43. Rc1 Rxa6 44. Kg2 Ra2+ 45. Rc2 Ra5 46. Kf3 Kg6 47. h4 Rb5 48. Ra2 Rb1 49. Rc2 Rb5 50. Rc3 f5 51. exf5+ exf5 52. Rd3 1-0 [Event "Saint Louis"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2017.08.11"] [Round "9"] [White "Svidler, P."] [Black "Caruana, F."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A20"] [WhiteElo "2751"] [BlackElo "2807"] [PlyCount "87"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:52:08"] [BlackClock "0:52:32"] 1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 c6 4. Nf3 e4 5. Nd4 Qb6 6. Nb3 a5 7. d3 a4 8. N3d2 d5 9. cxd5 (9. dxe4 dxe4 10. e3 Bg4 11. Qc2 Nbd7 12. Nc3 Bb4 13. Ndxe4 Nxe4 14. Qxe4+ Be6 {Topalov,V (2749)-Caruana,F (2808) Paris 2017}) 9... exd3 10. O-O cxd5 11. exd3 Be7 $146 (11... Be6 12. Nc3 Qa5 13. Nf3 Nc6 14. Bd2 Be7 15. Ng5 Bg4 16. Bf3 Bxf3 17. Nxf3 O-O 18. Ne2 Qb6 {Lenderman,A (2593)-Karavade,E (2421) Douglas 2016}) 12. Nc3 Qa5 13. Re1 Nc6 14. b4 $3 axb3 15. Bb2 Qd8 16. Qxb3 Be6 $6 (16... Nd4 {Caruana} 17. Qd1 (17. Qb4 Nc2) 17... Bg4 {is more or less OK for Black.}) 17. Ne2 Bb4 18. Red1 ({"The fact that I couldn’t make} 18. Nf4 Bxd2 19. Nxe6 {is absolutely soul-destroying... Life is hard," said Svidler in the confession box. But it does work:} fxe6 20. Rxe6+ Kf7 21. Bxf6 gxf6 22. Bxd5 Kg6 23. Be4+ Kh6 24. Qxb7 {and White is winning.}) 18... O-O 19. Nf4 Bc5 20. Nf3 Bg4 21. Rac1 Bxf3 (21... Bd6 $5) 22. Bxf3 Nd4 23. Bxd4 Bxd4 24. Rc2 b6 25. Bxd5 Ra7 26. Bf3 Re8 27. Ne2 h5 28. Nxd4 Qxd4 29. Rc4 Qe5 30. a4 Qa5 31. Kg2 Rd8 32. d4 Nd5 33. Rdc1 g6 34. Rc8 Rad7 35. Qc4 Kg7 36. Rxd8 Rxd8 37. Rb1 Nf6 38. d5 Ra8 39. d6 Ra7 40. Rd1 Nd7 41. Bc6 Qc5 42. Qd4+ Qxd4 43. Rxd4 Kf6 44. Re4 1-0 [Event "Saint Louis"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2017.08.11"] [Round "9"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E32"] [WhiteElo "2810"] [BlackElo "2783"] [Annotator "ChessBase"] [PlyCount "66"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 O-O 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 d5 7. Nf3 dxc4 8. Qxc4 b6 9. Bg5 Ba6 10. Qa4 h6 11. Bh4 c5 12. dxc5 bxc5 13. Rc1 Qb6 ({Much common seemed to be} 13... Qe7 14. e4 Bxf1 15. Kxf1 {as in So - Topalov, Istanbul 2012}) 14. Bxf6 gxf6 15. Rc2 c4 16. e3 Bb5 17. Qb4 Rc8 18. Be2 Nd7 ( 18... Na6 19. Qc3 Ba4 (19... Nc5 20. Qxf6 Nd3+ {was an alternative}) 20. Rd2 Nc5 21. Qxc4 Nb3 22. Qg4+ Kf8 23. Qxa4 Nxd2 24. Nxd2 Qxb2 {might have been very interesting}) 19. O-O Rab8 20. Rfc1 a5 21. Qc3 (21. Qe1 $1 {White wishes to involve the Queen in attacking c4, and also has another idea in mind here} Rc5 (21... Ba6 22. Qf1 {keeps c4 on 'spot'}) 22. Nd4 Ba6 23. f4 $1 {and suddenly white queen can switch over to the kingside}) 21... Kg7 22. Qd4 Qxd4 23. Nxd4 Ba6 (23... c3 $3 24. Nxb5 $4 (24. Bxb5 cxb2) (24. bxc3 Bxe2 25. Nxe2 Ne5 {and Black has enough compensation to equalise the game}) 24... cxb2 {wins! }) 24. Kf1 Ne5 25. Ke1 f5 26. Nf3 Nxf3+ 27. gxf3 Rb3 28. Bxc4 Rxc4 29. Rxc4 Bxc4 30. Rxc4 Rxb2 31. Rc5 Rb1+ 32. Ke2 Rh1 33. Rxa5 Rxh2 1/2-1/2 [Event "Saint Louis"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2017.08.11"] [Round "9"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C88"] [WhiteElo "2822"] [BlackElo "2799"] [Annotator "ChessBase"] [PlyCount "103"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. a4 b4 9. a5 d6 10. d3 Be6 11. Bxe6 fxe6 12. Nbd2 Rb8 13. c3 Qe8 $5 {Aiming to go . ..Qe8-g6 to drum up an attack on the kingside, thus making all the followers of this crucial game very happy with his brevity} 14. Nc4 Qg6 15. h3 Nd7 16. Be3 d5 17. Ncd2 bxc3 {The exact point where Aronian crossed the threashold of 'brave' to 'rash', as Carlsen shows the weaknesses in Black's position} (17... Bc5 $1 18. Bxc5 (18. d4 Bd6) 18... Nxc5 19. Qe2 bxc3 20. bxc3 Rb2 {and Black has all the reasons to be optimistic about his position}) 18. bxc3 Nc5 19. Bxc5 $1 Bxc5 20. Qa4 $1 {White has an edge here - Carlsen judges accurately that Black's attack isn't dangerous} Rb2 21. Rf1 (21. Qxc6 Bxf2+ $1 {The point} 22. Kh1 (22. Kxf2 Rxd2+ $19) 22... Bxe1 23. Rxe1 Rxf3 $1 $19) 21... Na7 22. Nxe5 Qh6 23. Ndf3 Nb5 24. Rae1 Nxc3 25. Qc6 Bb4 26. Kh1 dxe4 27. dxe4 Ne2 28. Rb1 Rxb1 29. Rxb1 Bd6 30. Qxa6 Nf4 31. Qb5 c5 $2 ({Missing the opportunity to play } 31... c6 $5 {Now Magnus had to find out the accurate} 32. Qc4 $1 (32. Nxc6 Nxh3) (32. Qxc6 Bxe5 33. Nxe5 Qg5 34. Ng4 h5 35. Ne3 Qxa5 {and Black is still worse, but with fighting chances in a tense tournament situation}) 32... Bxe5 33. Nxe5 Qg5 34. Ng4 h5 35. Ne3 {with a clear advantage to White}) 32. a6 { Simple - Magnus wraps up rest of the game. Just about!} Bxe5 33. Nxe5 Qg5 34. Ng4 h5 35. Ne3 Nxg2 36. Nxg2 Rxf2 37. Rg1 Kh7 38. Qd3 Qe5 39. Qe3 Ra2 40. Qf4 Qc3 41. Ne3 Qf6 42. Qxf6 gxf6 43. Rc1 Rxa6 44. Kg2 Ra2+ 45. Rc2 Ra5 46. Kf3 Kg6 47. h4 Rb5 48. Ra2 Rb1 49. Rc2 Rb5 50. Rc3 f5 51. exf5+ exf5 52. Rd3 1-0 [Event "Saint Louis"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2017.08.11"] [Round "9"] [White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B92"] [WhiteElo "2789"] [BlackElo "2751"] [Annotator "ChessBase"] [PlyCount "103"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 {[A real surprise in the opening - MVL has played this variation only twice in his entire career] } e5 7. Nf3 Be7 8. Bg5 {[A surprise for Nepomniachtchi, who started pulling faces as soon as this was played]} Nbd7 9. a4 O-O 10. Nd2 Nc5 11. Bxf6 Bxf6 12. Nc4 Be7 13. a5 {[A mild improvement over an earlier Nepo game]} (13. O-O Be6 14. a5 Rc8 15. Nb6 Rc6 16. b4 Nd7 17. Nbd5 Bg5 {was Carlsen - Nepomniachtchi. Leuven 2017 played just a month ago}) 13... Rb8 14. Nb6 Nd7 15. Ncd5 Nxb6 16. Nxb6 Be6 17. Bc4 Qc7 18. Qd3 Bd8 19. c3 Qc6 20. Bd5 Qe8 21. Bxe6 Qxe6 22. Nd5 { Starting from this point, there was almost no analysis that could be done with the position, as Black’s position steadily seemed to go downhill} f5 23. O-O Rc8 24. Rfd1 fxe4 25. Qxe4 Qf5 26. Qe2 Kh8 27. c4 Bh4 28. g3 Bg5 29. Ra3 Rce8 30. h4 Bd8 31. b4 Qg6 32. h5 Qf5 33. Ne3 Qe6 34. Rad3 Be7 35. Nd5 Bd8 36. Rf3 Rxf3 37. Qxf3 Kg8 38. Kg2 e4 39. Qe2 Qe5 40. Ne3 Bg5 41. Rd5 Qf6 42. Nf5 { Finally MVL creates a simple winning position} Re6 (42... Re5 43. Nxd6 Rxd5 44. Nxe4 $1 {The point of the White's play} Qd4 45. cxd5 Qxd5 46. Qf3 {and Black is lost}) 43. c5 $1 {So, the weak pawn on d6 is never captured indeed!} dxc5 44. Qc4 Qf7 45. Rxc5 {White's advantage is near winning} h6 46. Rc8+ Kh7 47. g4 Re7 48. Qd4 Re6 49. Qd5 g6 50. hxg6+ Kxg6 51. Rf8 Qxf8 52. Qxe6+ 1-0