[Event "Sinquefield Cup"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.08.17"] [Round "1.5"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A21"] [WhiteElo "2774"] [BlackElo "2756"] [Annotator "Bojkov,Dejan"] [PlyCount "154"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Bb4 3. Nd5 Be7 4. Nf3 d6 5. d4 Nf6 ({A somewhat more universal approach is:} 5... e4 6. Nd2 f5 7. Nb1 c6 8. Nxe7 Nxe7 9. Nc3 O-O 10. e3 Be6 11. Be2 {as in Inarkiev,E (2727)-Bologan,V (2640) Poikovsky 2017}) 6. Nc3 $5 { N White has more space and is unwilling to trade. This move is highly appreciated by the former world champion. Nepomniachtchi is deviating from a recent game.} ({This predecessor went:} 6. Nxe7 Qxe7 7. e3 e4 8. Nd2 O-O 9. Be2 c5 10. d5 Bf5 11. g4 Bg6 12. h4 {Aleksandrov,A (2582)-Ameir,M (2309) Chennai 2019}) 6... exd4 ({White is OK to play a theoretical position down a tempo after:} 6... Nbd7 7. e4 {"as his space advantage is so big" (Anand).}) 7. Nxd4 d5 8. Bf4 O-O 9. e3 a6 10. Nf3 $5 {Another mysterious knight retreat, which is heading for a QGD-type of position.} c6 {After a lengthy thought Black decided to go for a seemingly slightly inferior endgame. Now Anand has some extra tempos in comparison to the usual QGD positions, but they do not count for much.} ({The point is that if Black puts something on e6:} 10... Be6 {there is the unpleasant:} 11. Ng5 {(Anand)}) 11. cxd5 {Played without hesitation.} ({ There are other options like:} 11. Qc2 $5) ({Or:} 11. Qb3 $5 {(Anand)}) 11... Nxd5 12. Nxd5 Qxd5 13. Qxd5 cxd5 14. O-O-O {White looks slightly better as the isolated pawn as a rule is a liability in the endgame. However, Anand manages to keep the balance thanks to his active pieces.} Nc6 15. Bg5 ({Of course not: } 15. Rxd5 $6 Be6 16. Rd1 Bxa2) ({But it made sense to stabilize the situation with:} 15. Kb1 Be6 16. a3 Rac8 17. Bd3) 15... f6 {It is important to preserve the dark-squared bishop.} 16. Bf4 Be6 ({There is also the active possibility:} 16... g5 17. Bg3 Bf5 18. Bd3 Bxd3 19. Rxd3 Nb4 {that seems good for Black.}) 17. Kb1 Rac8 18. a3 {In the following phase of the game both sides try to place their pieces optimally.} Rfd8 19. Bd3 Bc5 20. Rhe1 Kf7 21. Bg3 Bb6 22. Bc2 h5 23. h3 {Another provocative move by Nepomniachtchi.} ({Black can react to:} 23. Bb3 {with:} Na5 24. Ba2 Nc4) 23... Ne7 24. Bb3 g5 {Anand goes for a forcing line.} 25. h4 g4 26. Nd4 Bxd4 27. Rxd4 ({Instead:} 27. exd4 $2 Bf5+ 28. Ka2 Bc2 $1 {is much better for Black.}) 27... Nc6 28. Rf4 d4 {The point behind Black's play. He is getting rid of the isolani.} 29. Bxe6+ Kxe6 30. exd4+ Kf7 31. f3 ({The strong blockading position of the black pieces promises ample compensation for a pawn in the lines:} 31. Rd1 Rd5 32. f3 gxf3 33. Rxf3 ({Or:} 33. gxf3 Rg8 34. Bf2 Rg2 35. Be3 Re2) 33... Rg8 {In fact, Black is often regaining the pawn in the arising lines.}) 31... gxf3 32. Rxf3 Nxd4 33. Rf4 Ne6 34. Rf3 Nd4 35. Rf4 Nb3 {After repeating twice, Anand decided to give the position a try, despite the time deficit on his clock. The main reason is the fixed white pawn on h4 (on the color of his bishop). Further, the g-pawn might follow and soon land on a dark square as well.} 36. Bf2 Rc4 $1 {A pair of rooks should be traded to secure a passage for the king.} 37. Rxc4 Nd2+ 38. Kc2 Nxc4 39. Re2 Ne5 40. Be1 Ke6 41. a4 $1 {Nepomniachtchi is seeing in the future is well and prepares queenside counterplay.} Rd6 42. g3 {It made sense that White avoid this move, at least for the time being.} ({More to the point is:} 42. Bc3 Kf5 43. b4 {When White doesn't need to fear:} Kg4 44. Re4+ Kg3 $2 45. Rxe5) 42... Kf5 43. Rf2+ Kg4 44. Rf4+ Kh3 {Now there are some more problems to solve for White who may easily end up two pawns down on the kingside.} 45. Rf1 Rc6+ 46. Kb1 Re6 47. Rf5 Ng6 48. Bf2 Kg4 49. Rd5 Ne5 50. Rd4+ Kh3 ({A interesting plan is:} 50... Kf3 $1 51. Rf4+ Kg2 52. Rf5 Nc6 {The idea is to swap the rooks. This makes White's task very hard, for example:} 53. Bc5 ({Or: } 53. Rf4 Ne7 54. Kc1 Nd5 55. Rf5 Re5) 53... Re5 $1) 51. Rd5 Re7 52. Kc2 Ng4 53. Bb6 Rh7 54. Rd3 Ne5 55. Rb3 Rd7 56. Be3 Nf3 57. Rb6 Kxg3 {Anand regretted this move which in his opinion leads to only a draw.} ({Instead, he suggests a try based on the win of both pawns with:} 57... Rf7 58. Bf4 Nd4+ 59. Kd3 Nf5 60. Ke4 Nxg3+ ({The other suggestion of the former world champion:} 60... Kg4 61. Rb3 ({can be instead met with active defense:} 61. Kd5 $1 Nxg3 62. Ke6 Rf8 63. Bxg3 Kxg3 64. Kf5 {which should be a draw.}) 61... Rd7 {Intending mate.}) 61. Bxg3 Kxg3 {However here White can most likely hold in the rook endgame thanks to his active pieces:} 62. Kf5 Kxh4 63. Kg6 Rc7 64. Rb4+ $1 Kg3 65. Kxh5 ) 58. Rxf6 Nxh4 (58... Ne1+ $5 59. Kb1 Kxh4) 59. b4 $1 {Black will soon pick up the bishop, but in the process he will have to send his knight far away. This will leave the queenside vulnerable for Nepomniachtchi to swap the remaining pawns, thus reaching a draw R vs R+N endgame.} Ng2 60. Ba7 h4 61. Kc3 h3 62. Bb8+ Kg4 63. Rg6+ Kh5 64. Rg8 Ne3 65. Rg3 Nd5+ 66. Kb3 Kh4 67. Rg8 Nf6 68. Rg6 Ng4 69. Rg8 Rh7 70. Kc4 h2 71. Bxh2 Nxh2 72. b5 {Everything goes by the above-mentioned schedule until something inexplicable happens.} Ng4 73. Ra8 axb5+ 74. Kxb5 Nf6 75. a5 Nd5 76. Ra7 (76. Rd8 Nc7+ 77. Kb6 Na6 78. Ra8 { should also be a draw.}) 76... Kg5 77. Kc4 $4 {Nepomniachtchi might have lost focus for a moment. This cost him deerly.} ({Instead, after the correct:} 77. Kc5 {Is still equal, and Anand told Chess.com that he would have played} Nc3 ( 77... Rd7 {and hoped for Kc4 on the next move! But} 78. Ra8 Kf5 79. a6 { is still a draw.}) 78. Kb4 Nd5+ 79. Kc5 Rd7 80. Ra8 {Intending to advance the pawn. Black cannot win:} Nc7 ({Or:} 80... Kf5 81. a6 b6+ 82. Kc6 Ke6 83. Re8+ Ne7+ 84. Kxb6) 81. Ra7) 77... b5+ {It only took Nepo a few moments to resign since he saw right away that 78. axb6 e.p. is answered by the zwischenzug 78... Nxb6+.} 0-1 [Event "7th Sinquefield Cup 2019"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2019.08.17"] [Round "1"] [White "Ding Liren"] [Black "So, W."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A14"] [WhiteElo "2805"] [BlackElo "2776"] [PlyCount "79"] [EventDate "2019.08.17"] 1. c4 Nf6 2. g3 e6 3. Bg2 d5 4. Nf3 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. d4 dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. a4 c5 9. dxc5 Bxc5 10. Qxc4 b6 11. Ne5 Ra7 12. Nd3 Be7 13. Bf4 Bb7 14. Bxb7 Rxb7 15. Rc1 Nd5 16. Be5 Bd6 17. Nd2 Bxe5 18. Nxe5 b5 19. Qd4 bxa4 20. Rxa4 Qb6 21. Nd3 Rd8 22. Ne4 Nd7 23. Nec5 Nxc5 24. Rxc5 Nf4 $5 {So said this was practically forced by him because the Nd3 is too strong.} 25. Qxf4 Rxd3 26. Rc8+ $2 (26. exd3 {may not be winning, but it gives the best chance after} Qxc5 27. Rxa6 g6 (27... h6 $2 28. Ra8+ Kh7 29. Qe4+ g6 30. Qxb7) 28. Qf6 Rb8 (28... Qc8 29. Rd6 {is Ding's analysis, at least after the game ended, but not seen fully in the game.}) 29. Ra1 {"And White has some play, but I thought I should hold without much problems if I play accurately" (So).}) 26... Rd8 27. Rac4 h6 {missed by Ding. He had planned:} (27... Rbd7 28. R4c7 $1 Rxc8 29. Rxc8+ Rd8 30. Qc4 $1 {and now if} a5 {to save the pawn, then} 31. Qc6 $1 Qd4 32. Qe8+ Rxe8 33. Rxe8#) 28. R4c6 Rxc8 29. Rxc8+ Kh7 30. Qe4+ f5 31. Qc4 Qb3 32. Qxb3 Rxb3 33. Rc6 Rxb2 34. Rxe6 a5 35. Ra6 Rxe2 36. Rxa5 Kg6 37. Ra6+ Kh7 38. Ra5 Kg6 39. Ra6+ Kh7 40. Ra5 1/2-1/2 [Event "7th Sinquefield Cup 2019"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2019.08.17"] [Round "1"] [White "Nakamura, Hi"] [Black "Caruana, F."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C80"] [WhiteElo "2743"] [BlackElo "2818"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2019.08.17"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 Be7 7. Re1 b5 8. Rxe4 d5 9. Nxe5 Nxe5 10. Rxe5 bxa4 11. b3 (11. Nc3 O-O 12. Re1 Bd6 13. Qh5 a3 14. Nxd5 axb2 15. Bxb2 Rb8 16. Rab1 Re8 17. Ne3 Bf4 18. d5 Rb4 19. c4 Bxe3 20. Rxe3 Rxe3 21. fxe3 Rxc4 {and drawn in 68 in Caruana-Carlsen Zagreb 2019.}) 11... Be6 12. Ba3 Bxa3 13. Nxa3 O-O 14. Nb1 Qd6 15. Nc3 axb3 16. axb3 c5 17. Ne2 f6 18. Re3 c4 19. Ng3 (19. bxc4 dxc4 {is the way to keep things spicy, but White clearly wants to keep the weak d-pawn and not give Black any chances with an outside passer.}) 19... cxb3 20. cxb3 g6 21. Qf3 Bf7 22. h3 Rfe8 23. Rxe8+ Rxe8 24. Qd3 Re6 25. Nf1 Qb6 26. Ne3 Rc6 27. h4 Kg7 28. h5 Qb4 29. Ng4 Be6 30. h6+ {Nakamura said he didn't think Black should allow the pawn to run this far and that it is the kind of a small tweak that someone like Magnus would use to press for the win.} Kf7 31. Ne3 a5 32. Qd1 Rc3 33. Ra4 (33. Rc1 { seems to really dovetail well with the pawn on h6 after lines like} Qxb3 34. Qxb3 Rxb3 35. Rc7+ {and if Black holds the pawn with} Kg8 36. Rg7+ Kh8 37. Re7 Rb6 38. Re8+ Bg8 39. Nxd5 {but the problem with all of these lines is that Black will not take the b-pawn with either piece and White won't get to have the seventh-rank fun.}) 33... Qxb3 34. Qxb3 Rxb3 35. Rxa5 g5 36. Ra7+ Kg6 37. Ra6 Kf7 38. g4 Rb4 39. Ra7+ Kg6 40. Ra6 Kf7 41. Ra7+ Kg6 42. Ra6 Kf7 43. Ra7+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "7th Sinquefield Cup 2019"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2019.08.17"] [Round "1"] [White "Carlsen, M."] [Black "Giri, A."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A28"] [WhiteElo "2882"] [BlackElo "2779"] [PlyCount "72"] [EventDate "2019.08.17"] 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. e4 Bb4 5. d3 d6 6. Be2 Bg4 7. a3 Bc5 8. b4 Bb6 9. Be3 Bxf3 10. Bxf3 Nd4 11. Na4 Nxf3+ 12. Qxf3 Bxe3 13. Qxe3 O-O 14. O-O Re8 15. Nc3 a5 16. b5 c6 17. Rab1 d5 18. Na4 Qe7 19. bxc6 bxc6 20. cxd5 cxd5 21. Nb6 Rad8 22. Rb5 Qxa3 23. exd5 e4 24. dxe4 Qxe3 25. fxe3 Rxe4 26. Rxa5 Rb4 27. Ra8 Rxa8 (27... Rf8 28. Nc8 Nxd5 29. Rd1 Rc4 30. Ne7+ $1 Nxe7 31. Rxf8+ Kxf8 32. Rd8#) 28. Nxa8 Nxd5 29. Rd1 Rb8 30. Rxd5 Rxa8 31. Kf2 Kf8 32. Kf3 h6 33. Kf2 Ra2+ 34. Kf3 Ra8 35. Kf2 Ra2+ 36. Kf3 Ra8 1/2-1/2 [Event "7th Sinquefield Cup GCT 2019"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2019.08.17"] [Round "1.5"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A21"] [WhiteElo "2774"] [BlackElo "2756"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "154"] [EventDate "2019.08.17"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Bb4 3. Nd5 Be7 4. Nf3 d6 5. d4 Nf6 {This has been played only once in a relatively insignificant game. Anand remarked about the move,"Yes, I guess we had both looked it, as he played 6.Nc3 more or less immediately. (And) rather embarrassingly, I was out of my preparation immediate at that!"} 6. Nc3 (6. dxe5 dxe5 7. Nxe5 O-O 8. e3 Nxd5 9. Qxd5 (9. cxd5 Bf6) 9... Na6 $5) 6... exd4 (6... Nbd7 {"(and) you are a tempo up in an Old Indian (Defence), but what am I going to do with (an extra) tempo in this passive opening!?” Anand} ) 7. Nxd4 d5 8. Bf4 O-O 9. e3 a6 10. Nf3 c6 11. cxd5 Nxd5 12. Nxd5 Qxd5 13. Qxd5 cxd5 14. O-O-O Nc6 15. Bg5 f6 16. Bf4 Be6 17. Kb1 Rac8 18. a3 Rfd8 19. Bd3 Bc5 20. Rhe1 {[#] This was point when Anand showed his deep understanding of the position, expanding on the kingside rather than playing to equalise in the centre with the typical push ...d5-d4} Kf7 21. Bg3 Bb6 22. Bc2 h5 23. h3 Ne7 24. Bb3 g5 {Suddenly black is gaining on the kingside consistently! Anand remarked, “On one hand, I am trying to equalise with ...d5-d4. On the other hand, I realised that there is very little he can do, his Knight (on f3) and Bishop (on g3) are horrible. And I can continue with (my expansion on the kingside) as it happened in the game. In theory, there are pleasant endgames waiting in the wings. I may get them or I may not, but that's what I was aiming for”. Was it the exact point where he realised that he could push for an advantage? “I tried to keep in mind that my only aim here is not just to equalise! Even if I (just) keep making moves it is not easy for white. As you can see, at some point (white) runs out (of moves). (White) can play Bd3-c2, but the other bishop has no useful moves”} 25. h4 $6 {Unable to withstand the pressure of facing black gradually improving his position, white errs} g4 26. Nd4 Bxd4 27. Rxd4 Nc6 28. Rf4 d4 29. Bxe6+ Kxe6 30. exd4+ Kf7 31. f3 gxf3 32. Rxf3 Nxd4 33. Rf4 Ne6 34. Rf3 Nd4 35. Rf4 Nb3 36. Bf2 Rc4 37. Rxc4 Nd2+ 38. Kc2 Nxc4 39. Re2 Ne5 40. Be1 Ke6 41. a4 Rd6 42. g3 Kf5 43. Rf2+ Kg4 44. Rf4+ Kh3 {From hereon, the endgame was very complicated. Having only 5 minutes on his clock, it was impossible for Anand to conduct the game accurately} 45. Rf1 (45. Rf5 Rc6+ 46. Kd1 (46. Kb1 Nd3 47. Bc3 Kg4 48. Rxf6 Rxf6 49. Bxf6 Kxg3) 46... Nc4 47. Rxh5 Nxb2+ 48. Ke2 Nxa4 49. Rh7 b5 50. Kf3 $13) 45... Rc6+ 46. Kb1 (46. Kd2 Kg2 47. Rf2+ Kxg3 48. Rxf6+ Kg4 49. Rxc6 bxc6) 46... Re6 47. Rf5 Ng6 (47... Nd7 $1 48. Bf2 (48. Bc3 Kg4 49. Rf4+ Kxg3) 48... Re5 (48... Kg2) 49. Rf4 Kg2 $19) 48. Bf2 Kg4 49. Rd5 Ne5 (49... Re2 50. Bd4) 50. Rd4+ $6 (50. Kc2 $17) 50... Kh3 51. Rd5 Re7 (51... Rc6 $1 {This was probably the most strategically clear-cut win Anand missed over the board. The win is found – of course, with the help of an engine, analysing without any time pressure – by applying the logic that in any ending with a rook, the win is achieved by activating the rook!} 52. Ka2 Kg2 53. Be1 Rc4 54. Kb3 Re4 55. Rd1 f5 {and white is bound hand and foot}) 52. Kc2 Ng4 53. Bb6 Rh7 $2 (53... Ne5 $1) 54. Rd3 Ne5 55. Rb3 (55. Rc3 Rg7 56. Bd8) 55... Rd7 56. Be3 Nf3 $1 57. Rb6 Kxg3 58. Rxf6 Nxh4 (58... Ne1+ 59. Kc1 Kxh4) 59. b4 Ng2 60. Ba7 h4 61. Kc3 h3 62. Bb8+ Kg4 63. Rg6+ Kh5 64. Rg8 (64. Rg3 Kh4) 64... Ne3 65. Rg3 Nd5+ 66. Kb3 (66. Kc4 Kh4 67. Rg6 Rd8 68. Be5 Ne3+ 69. Kc3 Ng4) 66... Kh4 67. Rg8 Nf6 68. Rg6 Ng4 69. Rg8 Rh7 70. Kc4 h2 71. Bxh2 Nxh2 {Even though black is a piece up, white will achieve a draw if he liquidates all the pawns on the queenside} 72. b5 Ng4 73. Ra8 axb5+ 74. Kxb5 Nf6 75. a5 Nd5 76. Ra7 Kg5 {[#]Now, white had to simply play 77.Kc5 Rd7 78.Ra8 followed by 79.a6 with the inevitable draw. But Nepo - in a combination of being exhausted himself into the 5th hour of play and having the relaxed feeling of reached a draw already - blundered with} 77. Kc4 $4 (77. Kc5 Rd7 78. Ra8 Kf5 79. a6 b6+ 80. Kc6 Ke6 81. Re8+ $11) 77... b5+ ( 77... b5+ 78. axb6 Nxb6+ {is a check!}) 0-1 [Event "Saint Louis"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2019.08.17"] [Round "1.5"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "*"] [ECO "A21"] [WhiteElo "2774"] [BlackElo "2756"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "rnbqk1nr/ppp1bppp/3p4/3Np3/2PP4/5N2/PP2PPPP/R1BQKB1R b KQkq - 0 5"] [PlyCount "5"] [EventDate "2019.08.17"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceQuality "1"] 5... Nf6 $5 {[This has been played only once in a relatively insignificant game]} 6. Nc3 (6. dxe5 dxe5 7. Nxe5 O-O 8. e3 Nxd5 9. Qxd5 (9. cxd5 Bf6) 9... Na6 $5) 6... exd4 (6... Nbd7 {"(and) you are a tempo up in an Old Indian (Defence), but what am I going to do with (an extra) tempo in this passive opening!?” Anand}) 7. Nxd4 d5 {...} * [Event "Saint Louis USA"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2019.08.18"] [Round "2"] [White "Giri, A..."] [Black "Aronian, L..."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "2779"] [BlackElo "2765"] [Annotator "Yermolinsky"] [PlyCount "105"] [EventDate "2019.08.17"] {In the recently concluded Grand Chess Tour Rapid & Blitz in St. Louis, this game's contestants ended on the opposite sides of the standings. Another tournament always brings new energy to players. In this Game of the Day we see how determined Anish Giri was to reverse his fortunes.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. O-O d6 6. c3 a6 7. a4 O-O {[#]} 8. Nbd2 {White enters a quieter line.} (8. Bg5 {certainly remains an option. One example is Duda-Kramnik, Tata Steel 2019, that saw} h6 9. Bh4 g5 10. Bg3 Ba7 11. Nbd2 Nh7 $5 {The author of this unusual concept is another GCT contender, Ding Liren, who tried it a few times, although Ding prefers his pawn on a5.} 12. h3 h5 13. d4 $1 h4 14. Bh2 g4 15. hxg4 Bxg4 16. dxe5 dxe5 17. b4 {In the end of this pitched battle, the youth prevailed. I also recall five years ago, while commenting on a Carlsen-Caruana game from the 2nd Sinquefield Cup, how Giri stated that placing the bishop on g5 in Ruy Lopez structures is often wrong.}) 8... Ba7 9. h3 h6 10. Re1 Re8 (10... Be6 11. Bxe6 fxe6 12. b4 Qe8 13. Ra2 Nh5 { is a different scenario, seen in Vachier Lagrave-Nakamura, Chess.com Speed Championship 2018.}) 11. b4 Be6 12. Bxe6 Rxe6 13. Qc2 Qd7 14. Nf1 d5 15. Be3 { [#]} (15. Ng3 Rd8 16. exd5 Qxd5 17. Be3 {was played in Carlsen-Kramnik, Tata Steel 2018. Despite its harmless appearence, White's plan is quite poisonous. Kramnik took the pawn:} Qxd3 18. Qxd3 Rxd3 {but after} 19. Bxa7 Nxa7 20. Nxe5 { it became clear that the c3-pawn was taboo:} Rxc3 21. Ne2 {traps the rook.}) 15... d4 {Novelty. The rationale behind this decision can be seen from studying the alternatives.} (15... Bxe3 16. Nxe3 Rd8 17. b5 axb5 18. axb5 Ne7 19. c4 {turned out to be good for White in Anand-So, GCT Leuven 2017.}) ({while } 15... dxe4 16. dxe4 Bxe3 17. Nxe3 Ne7 18. Rad1 {leaves Black with an awkward Re6.}) 16. cxd4 Nxd4 17. Bxd4 Bxd4 18. Nxd4 Qxd4 $1 ({The structure arising from} 18... exd4 {is highly favorable for White.}) 19. Qxc7 Qxd3 20. Qxb7 Qd8 $1 {[#] The point of Levon's idea. White is unable to keep his extra pawn because of the threat to his queen.} 21. Red1 (21. Rab1 $4 Rb6) 21... Qb8 22. Qxb8+ Rxb8 23. f3 Rxb4 {The position appears equal, but Anish was determined to play on.} 24. Ne3 g6 (24... a5 25. Rdc1) ({Probably,} 24... Nh5 {is a better try.}) 25. a5 $1 Rb5 26. Rdb1 Rc5 (26... Rxb1+ 27. Rxb1 Nd7 28. Rc1 { is also quite unpleasant to face.}) 27. Rb6 $1 {[#]This is what White is playing for: in case of the trade on b6, his pawn will turn into a powerful passer, while Black's a6 pawn will be nothing but a weakness.} Kf8 {Naturally, Aronian resisted such a development.} 28. Ra2 h5 29. h4 Nd7 30. Rb7 $1 ({ Giri correctly judged that in case of} 30. Rxe6 fxe6 {the weakness of Black's double pawns would largely be of a symbolic significance.}) 30... Rc1+ 31. Kh2 Nc5 32. Rb8+ Re8 33. Rb6 Re6 34. Nd5 Rxb6 $6 35. axb6 {White has won a battle. Can he win the war?} Rb1 36. Ra5 Nd7 ({The knight ending after} 36... Rb5 37. Rxb5 axb5 38. g4 {would be Black's nightmare because he cannot approach the b-pawn:} Ke8 39. Nc7+ Kd7 40. Nxb5 Kc6 41. Nc3 Kxb6 42. gxh5 gxh5 43. Nd5+ Kc6 44. Nf6) 37. Rxa6 Rb2 {[#] A clean extra pawn for White, but such endgames are notoriously difficult to play because of the highly tactical nature of the pieces present.} 38. Kg1 Kg7 39. Kh2 (39. Ra7 Nxb6 40. Rb7 {doesn't work on account of} Nc4) ({The critical line that Aronian's defenses have been built on is} 39. Kf1 Kf8 40. Ke1 Kg7 41. Kd1 Rxg2 42. Ra7 Nxb6 $1 43. Nxb6 g5 $1 { and the unfortunate position of the white king makes winning problematic, e.g.} 44. Ke1 gxh4 45. Kf1 h3 46. Nd5 Rg3 47. Kf2 Rg2+) 39... Kf8 40. Kg3 Kg7 41. Kh3 Kf8 42. g4 hxg4+ 43. fxg4 {Opening the second front is standard, but here it's going to cost White his e4-pawn.} ({Perhaps,} 43. Kxg4 Rg2+ 44. Kh3 Rb2 45. h5 gxh5 46. Kh4 {is a better plan. By trading some kingside pawns, White reduces Black's counterplay possibilities. It still remains to be seen if he's can bring his king to help the b-pawn, but the chances are certainly his.}) 43... Nc5 44. Ra8+ Kg7 45. g5 {Clearly, Anish counted on weaving a mating net.} Nxe4 {No fear.} 46. Rd8 ({No luck for White in} 46. Ra4 Nf2+ 47. Kg3 Nd3 48. Nf6 Rxb6 49. Ra8 {as} Rxf6 {saves the day.}) 46... Kh7 47. Rb8 Rb5 48. b7 Rb2 {[#]} 49. Ne7 ({I suppose the winning plan Giri had in mind is to trade knights:} 49. Nf6+ Nxf6 50. gxf6 e4 {and then stop the black pawn with the king.} 51. Kg3 { However, the miracle move} Rb6 $3 {prevents the white king from crossing the f-file:} (51... e3 $2 52. Kf3 e2 53. Kf2 {would indeed be a deadly zugzwang that forces Black to give up his e-pawn for nothing and hopelessly watch the white king march to the f7-pawn.}) 52. Kf4 Rxf6+ 53. Kxe4 Rb6 {=}) 49... Nd6 50. Ng8 Ne4 51. Ne7 Nd6 52. Nd5 Ne4 53. Ne7 {Kudos to both players for their great effort. I'm sure the wins will come as the tournament rolls along.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "2019 Grand Chess Tour Sinquefield Cup"] [Site "St Louis"] [Date "8.??.??"] [Round "2"] [White "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B31"] [WhiteElo "2756"] [BlackElo "2882"] [PlyCount "89"] [EventDate "2019.08.17"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "11"] [EventCountry "USA"] [WhiteClock "0:39:11"] [BlackClock "0:38:13"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 {Vishy opts for the Rossolimo against Carlsen's current favorite Sveshnikov.} g6 4. Bxc6 bxc6 $5 {is a rather infrequently played recapture. Even the world champion generally recaptures with dxc6.} 5. d4 {Anand thought for a while before playing this move but pretty much blitzed out his next few moves after this. GM Hammer remarked that Anand must have been rechecking his lines or thinking the setup to take against Black's idea.} Bg7 6. dxc5 Qa5+ 7. Nbd2 (7. Bd2 Qxc5 8. Bc3 {is another plausible line suggested by the commentators on ChessTV.}) 7... Qxc5 (7... Ba6) 8. O-O d6 9. Re1 f6 10. a3 Nh6 11. b4 Qh5 12. c4 O-O 13. Qa4 Bd7 14. Nf1 {Anand tries to safeguard his kingside first before opening lines on the queenside.} Nf7 15. Ng3 Qg4 16. c5 (16. h3 Qe6 17. Qc2 {is a clever idea to highlight Black's awkward queen placement.}) 16... e5 17. cxd6 c5 18. Qb3 cxb4 19. axb4 Qe6 20. Qxe6 Bxe6 21. Be3 {The queens are traded, and Carlsen has the bishop pair. But the bishop on g7 is extremely passive and allows White to play on for two results.} a6 22. Rec1 Rfd8 23. Nd2 Bf8 24. Nc4 Rac8 25. Bc5 Bxc4 26. Rxc4 Nxd6 27. Rcc1 Rc6 28. f3 Nb5 29. Bxf8 Rxc1+ 30. Rxc1 Kxf8 31. Nf1 Nd4 32. Rc4 Ke7 { Interestingly, in the two longest games of the round, a similar endgame of rook and knight with five pawns for each player occurred in Anand-Carlsen and Giri-Aronian. Giri had the best winning chances as he had an passed b-pawn.} 33. Ne3 Kd6 34. Rc5 Nc6 35. Rd5+ Ke7 36. b5 axb5 37. Rxb5 Rb8 38. Rxb8 Nxb8 39. Kf2 Ke6 40. g3 Nd7 41. Nc4 Nc5 42. Ke3 Nd7 43. Kf2 Nc5 44. Ke3 Nd7 45. Kf2 1/2-1/2 [Event "2019 Grand Chess Tour Sinquefield Cup"] [Site "St. Louis"] [Date "2019.08.19"] [Round "2"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2818"] [BlackElo "2774"] [PlyCount "70"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:25:32"] [BlackClock "1:09:48"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. g4 b5 {N A brand new position because Generally Black goes for h5.} 9. g5 Nfd7 10. h4 Nb6 11. Be3 Be6 12. Bxb6 Qxb6 13. Qf3 b4 14. Nd5 Bxd5 15. exd5 Nd7 16. O-O-O a5 17. Kb1 a4 18. Nd2 Nc5 19. Bd3 b3 $5 {Nepomniatchchi goes for it. In typical Najdorf style, Black has gone all-out on the queenside while keeping his king in the center! Black aims to open the lines against the white king.} 20. cxb3 axb3 21. a3 Ra4 22. Ne4 Nxe4 23. Bxe4 O-O 24. Rhg1 $6 {It is important to take control of the open c-file with Rc1.} Qa7 25. h5 g6 26. Rd3 Rb8 27. hxg6 hxg6 28. Qg2 $4 {A blunder by Caruana but it's really hard to spot Black's answer.} Bf8 $4 {Black misses his only chance. It is a golden opportunity to put the ball in the back of the net with Rxa3.} (28... Rxa3 29. bxa3 Qxa3 30. f3 Qa7 $3 {This is the brilliant idea shown by the computer. Black retreats his queen to threaten b2 and attack the rook on g1.}) 29. f3 Rc4 30. Rh1 Qc7 31. Qh2 Bg7 32. Qe2 Bf8 33. Qh2 Bg7 34. Qe2 Bf8 35. Qh2 Bg7 1/2-1/2 [Event "2019 Grand Chess Tour Sinquefield Cup"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2019.08.18"] [Round "2"] [White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2778"] [BlackElo "2776"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [WhiteClock "1:01:00"] [BlackClock "0:52:55"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 {The closed Italian occurs in several top-level games.} d6 6. O-O a6 7. a4 {The correct move-order.} (7. Nbd2 {runs into} Na5) 7... Ba7 8. Re1 O-O 9. h3 Kh8 10. d4 Ng8 11. b4 {An interesting pawn sacrifice.} exd4 12. cxd4 Nxb4 13. Nc3 a5 14. Bf4 f6 15. Qb3 Ne7 16. Rad1 c6 17. Bc1 d5 18. exd5 Bf5 19. dxc6 {Vachier-Lagrave gives up an exchange for a pawn and more active pieces.} Bc2 20. cxb7 Rb8 21. Qa3 Bxd1 22. Rxd1 Nf5 23. Nb5 Nd6 24. Bf1 Nxb5 25. axb5 Rxb7 26. Bd2 Nc2 27. Qa4 Nxd4 28. Nxd4 Qxd4 29. Qxd4 Bxd4 30. Bxa5 Bb6 31. Bxb6 Rxb6 32. g3 g6 33. Rd7 Rfb8 34. Bc4 R8b7 35. Rd8+ Kg7 36. Bd5 Rxb5 37. Bxb7 Rxb7 38. Kg2 h5 39. h4 Ra7 40. Rc8 Rb7 41. Rd8 Ra7 42. Rc8 Rb7 43. Rd8 1/2-1/2 [Event "2019 Grand Chess Tour Sinquefield Cup"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2019.08.18"] [Round "2"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D37"] [WhiteElo "2764"] [BlackElo "2743"] [PlyCount "88"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:57:42"] [BlackClock "0:33:38"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. Qc2 Nc6 9. a3 Qa5 10. O-O-O $5 {True to his style, Mamedyarov makes his intention clear.} Be7 11. Rg1 {Mamedyarov's pet idea. He simply loves to play Rg1 and launch a pawn-storm on the opponent's king.} a6 12. g4 dxc4 13. Bxc4 b5 14. g5 Nh5 15. Bd3 b4 {Nakamura hits Mamedyarov on the counter!} 16. Bxh7+ Kh8 17. Be4 bxc3 18. Bxc6 cxb2+ 19. Kb1 Qxa3 20. Qxb2 Qxb2+ 21. Kxb2 Ra7 22. Bd6 Bxd6 23. Rxd6 Bb7 24. Ne5 Bxc6 25. Rxc6 Rb8+ 26. Kc2 a5 27. Rb1 Rd8 28. Rbb6 Kh7 29. f4 Rda8 (29... a4 30. Ra6 Rda8 31. Rxa7 Rxa7 32. Rc8 a3 33. Kb1 a2+ 34. Ka1 { is also equal.}) 30. Kb3 a4+ 31. Ka3 f6 32. Nf3 Rd7 33. Rd6 Rxd6 34. Rxd6 Rc8 35. gxf6 gxf6 36. Rxe6 Nxf4 37. exf4 Rc3+ 38. Kxa4 Rxf3 39. Rxf6 Kg7 40. Rb6 Rxf4+ 41. Rb4 Rxb4+ 42. Kxb4 Kg6 43. h3 Kh5 44. h4 Kxh4 1/2-1/2 [Event "7th Sinquefield Cup GCT 2019"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2019.08.18"] [Round "2.1"] [White "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B00"] [WhiteElo "2756"] [BlackElo "2882"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "52"] [EventDate "2019.08.17"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. Bxc6 bxc6 5. d4 {Anand explained after the game, "Today morning, I was telling my second, 'We should check all the sidelines in the Rossolimo'. I said 4...bxc6 is a possibility, though (Carlsen) had never played before he had always been taking (on c6) with the d-pawn... And then I got absorbed in all the other things I had to check, and I forgot to check this! (Now) I (felt) slightly exposed (when he played 4...bxc6 on the board) because he is targeting my game with Shakh (Mamedyarov) from Norway (2019) and Boris (Gelfand) in Amsterdam (2019). I had not really revised (that variation), so the question is should I go in for something and basically ask him what he prepared today morning?! And then I realised that there is this idea 5.d4, which is quite interesting, (following) with taking on c5 and continuing with a2-a3 & b2-b4"} (5. O-O Bg7 6. Re1 Nh6 7. c3 O-O 8. h3 f5 9. e5 Nf7 10. d3 (10. d4 cxd4 11. cxd4 Bb7 {was Anand - Gelfand Amsterdam 2019}) 10... Rb8 11. b3 d6 12. Bf4 h6 13. h4 e6 14. exd6 g5 15. Be5 {was Anand - Mamedyarov Stavanger 2019}) 5... Bg7 6. dxc5 Qa5+ 7. Nbd2 Qxc5 8. O-O d6 9. Re1 f6 {Count for yourself the number of positional principles thus violated!} 10. a3 Nh6 11. b4 Qh5 12. c4 O-O 13. Qa4 {It wasn't clear what White wanted to achieve with this move} (13. Rb1 Be6 14. Qc2 {and White can prepare for Nd2-f1-f3. The white queen looks better placed on c2 rather than a4}) 13... Bd7 14. Nf1 Nf7 15. Ng3 Qg4 {[#]} 16. c5 $6 {This is where White lost his natural advantage} (16. h3 Qe6 17. Qc2 {was near equality for black}) 16... e5 $1 17. cxd6 c5 18. Qb3 cxb4 19. axb4 Qe6 20. Qxe6 Bxe6 21. Be3 {and the game was moving towards a draw} a6 22. Rec1 Rfd8 23. Nd2 Bf8 24. Nc4 Rac8 25. Bc5 Bxc4 26. Rxc4 Nxd6 1/2-1/2 [Event "Saint Louis"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2019.08.18"] [Round "2.5"] [White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "2778"] [BlackElo "2776"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "84"] [EventDate "2019.08.17"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceQuality "1"] 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 Kh8 10. d4 Ng8 11. b4 $5 {A prepared pawn sacrifice by MVL} exd4 12. cxd4 Nxb4 13. Nc3 (13. a5 {pointed out by So after the game, was worth considering}) 13... a5 14. Bf4 $6 {Doesn't look like an ideal position for the bishop, it doesn't have a role here anyway. This was the position apparently trolled by Magnus Carlsen in the Confession Booth!} (14. Na2 {could have been considered}) 14... f6 15. Qb3 Ne7 16. Rad1 c6 17. Bc1 d5 18. exd5 Bf5 19. dxc6 Bc2 20. cxb7 {Offering the queen!} Rb8 {Declining the queen!} (20... Bxb3 21. bxa8=Q Qxa8 22. Bxb3 {and white has adequate play for the queen, but there is plenty of play left}) 21. Qa3 Bxd1 22. Rxd1 Nf5 (22... Rxb7 23. Nb5 Ned5 24. Nd2 {with definite compensation for the exchange}) 23. Nb5 Nd6 24. Bf1 Nxb5 25. axb5 Rxb7 26. Bd2 Nc2 27. Qa4 {Though black has a token advantage here, the game petered out into a draw} Nxd4 28. Nxd4 Qxd4 29. Qxd4 Bxd4 30. Bxa5 Bb6 31. Bxb6 Rxb6 32. g3 g6 33. Rd7 Rfb8 34. Bc4 R8b7 35. Rd8+ Kg7 36. Bd5 Rxb5 37. Bxb7 Rxb7 38. Kg2 h5 39. h4 Ra7 40. Rc8 Rb7 41. Rd8 Ra7 42. Rc8 Rb7 1/2-1/2 [Event "Saint Louis"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2019.08.18"] [Round "2.2"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2818"] [BlackElo "2774"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "70"] [EventDate "2019.08.17"] [EventType "tourn"] [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. Nb3 Be7 8. g4 b5 9. g5 Nfd7 10. h4 Nb6 11. Be3 Be6 12. Bxb6 Qxb6 13. Qf3 b4 14. Nd5 Bxd5 15. exd5 Nd7 16. O-O-O a5 17. Kb1 a4 18. Nd2 Nc5 19. Bd3 b3 20. cxb3 axb3 21. a3 Ra4 22. Ne4 Nxe4 23. Bxe4 O-O 24. Rhg1 Qa7 25. h5 g6 26. Rd3 Rb8 27. hxg6 hxg6 {[#]} 28. Qg2 $4 {For a moment white allows a tactical blow, but it was overlooked by both the players} (28. Rxb3 $4 Rxb3 29. Qxb3 Rxe4) (28. Rg4 { Supporting the Bishop on e4 and threatening Rxb3} Qa6 29. Rxb3 Rxb3 30. Qxb3 Rd4 {with compensation}) 28... Bf8 $4 {Black misses his opportunity} (28... Rxa3 $1 {Curiously, shown the position after his own game, Wesley So immediatley came up with this sacrifice! So, the spectators may not necessarily be wrong in following chess with engines after all!} 29. bxa3 Qxa3 30. f4 Qa7 $1 {The point - black actually doesn't have a quick win here, but the black pawn at b3 makes sure that he has a winning advantage} 31. fxe5 (31. Rf1 exf4 (31... b2 32. Qxb2 Rxb2+ 33. Kxb2 Qa4 34. Bh1 (34. Re3 Qd4+) (34. Re1 Qb4+) 34... exf4 {with a winning position}) 32. Rxf4 Bf8) 31... b2 32. Rdd1 Qa1+) 29. f3 Rc4 30. Rh1 Qc7 (30... Rc2 31. Rd2) 31. Qh2 Bg7 32. Qe2 Bf8 33. Qh2 Bg7 34. Qe2 Bf8 35. Qh2 Bg7 1/2-1/2 [Event "Saint Louis"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2019.08.19"] [Round "3.6"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C78"] [WhiteElo "2774"] [BlackElo "2764"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "105"] [EventDate "2019.08.17"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Bc5 6. c3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a4 Bb7 9. d4 Bb6 10. Bg5 h6 11. Bxf6 Qxf6 12. Bd5 O-O 13. dxe5 dxe5 14. Qe2 bxa4 15. Nbd2 Rad8 16. Nc4 Bc8 17. Rxa4 ({MVL had referred to the following game in his confession:} 17. Nxb6 cxb6 18. Bxc6 Qxc6 19. Nxe5 Qc5 {Vachier Lagrave - Tkachiev, Le Port Marly 2009}) 17... Ne7 {There was no need for this re-routing } (17... a5 {with the idea of 18...Ba6 seemd to be the best alternative for black}) 18. Nxb6 cxb6 19. c4 a5 20. Qe3 {[#]} Ba6 $2 21. Rc1 Rc8 22. Raa1 Qd6 23. h3 Nxd5 24. cxd5 f5 25. Rxc8 Bxc8 26. Rd1 fxe4 27. Qxe4 Re8 28. Nd2 b5 29. Qd3 Qb4 30. Ne4 Kh8 {[#]White is firmly in the driver's seat, and he just needs to find that decisive continuation which will increase his advantage} 31. d6 $2 (31. Qe3 $1 {Covering the b6-square} Qxb2 32. Kh2 $1 {and there is no stopping the d6 passer anymore}) 31... Bf5 32. f3 Rd8 33. Qc2 {[#]} Rxd6 $1 34. Rxd6 Qxd6 35. Nxd6 Bxc2 36. Nxb5 $11 Kg8 37. Nd6 Bd3 38. Kf2 Kf8 39. Nb7 a4 40. Ke3 Bf1 41. Nc5 Bxg2 42. h4 g5 43. hxg5 hxg5 44. Nxa4 Bh3 45. Nc5 Bc8 46. b4 g4 47. fxg4 Bxg4 48. Ke4 Ke7 49. Kxe5 Be2 50. Ne4 Kd7 51. Nc3 Bf1 52. b5 Bxb5 53. Nxb5 1/2-1/2 [Event "Saint Louis USA"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2019.08.19"] [Round "3.5"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E10"] [WhiteElo "2743"] [BlackElo "2750"] [PlyCount "208"] [EventDate "2019.08.17"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Be7 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O Nbd7 8. a4 a5 9. Qc2 c6 10. Na3 Ne4 11. Bf4 g5 12. Be3 f5 13. Rad1 Qe8 14. Qc1 h6 15. Ne5 Kh7 16. f3 Nef6 17. b3 Bd6 18. f4 g4 19. Nc2 h5 20. Ne1 Rh8 21. N1d3 Kg7 22. Bf2 Rh6 23. Qe3 Nf8 24. Rb1 Ng6 25. Nxg6 (25. Rfc1 {Nakamura thought this was "technically winning"}) (25. Be1 {ditto for this move, with the idea of b4 and not closing down the a3-f8 diagonal as in the game.}) 25... Qxg6 26. c5 { Nakamura said exchanging knights and expanding on the queenside looks "very nice optically and the position is completely dominating but Black is probably too solid."} Bc7 27. b4 axb4 28. Rxb4 Rh7 29. Ne5 Qe8 30. Ra1 Ba5 31. Rb3 Qd8 { Nakamura said he missed this setup with Qd8 and Ba5.} 32. Qc1 Ra7 33. Be1 Rh8 34. Bxa5 Qxa5 35. Qc3 Qxc3 36. Rxc3 Ra5 37. Rb3 Rh7 38. Rb4 Kf8 39. h4 Ke8 40. e3 Kd8 41. Nd3 Kc7 42. Nc1 Rh8 43. Nb3 Ra7 44. Kf1 Bd7 45. Ke1 Rha8 46. Kd2 Be8 47. Kc3 Bd7 48. a5 Be8 49. Rb6 Bd7 50. Kb4 Be8 51. Rg1 Nd7 52. Bf1 Bf7 53. Bd3 Be8 54. Ra1 Bf7 55. Kc3 Be8 56. Rb4 Nb8 57. Rba4 Bd7 58. Nc1 Be8 59. Bc2 Bd7 60. R4a3 Be8 61. Bd3 Bd7 62. Ne2 Be8 63. Kb4 Na6+ 64. Kb3 Nb8 65. Nc3 Bd7 66. Kb2 Kd8 (66... Be8 67. Na4 {as Nakamura's hope. The knight can land there since } Rxa5 68. Nb6 Rxa3 69. Nxa8+ {is a check! But Nakamura conceded even here there's work left to win.}) 67. Nd1 Kc7 68. Nf2 Be8 69. Bc2 Bd7 70. Nd3 Be8 71. Bd1 Kc8 72. Be2 Kc7 73. Nb4 Bd7 74. Kc2 Be8 75. Nd3 Bd7 76. Nc1 Be8 77. Nb3 Bd7 78. Ra4 Be8 79. Rb4 Bf7 80. Rb6 Nd7 81. Bd3 Be8 {Black can never take the rook. Even without the fork, White is still happy with the trade as his king will walk to b4 and Nakamura thought it was winning.} 82. Kc3 Bf7 83. Rb1 Rb8 84. Rb4 Be8 85. Kd2 Bf7 86. Ke1 Be8 87. Kf1 Bf7 88. Kf2 Be8 89. Kg2 Bf7 90. a6 { White has to try something -- Not just to break through, but also because he was only eight moves from the 50-move rule!} bxa6 91. Rxb8 Nxb8 92. Na5 { This is the problem with Nakamura's position: All of his pieces are better but there's just not enough good squares for them. It's like his N, K, and R all want to be on a5.} Be8 93. Rb6 Bd7 94. Bc2 Be8 95. Ba4 {It's best not to believe weaker engines that rate this as +2. Sure, the space advantage is worth something in most positions, but that doesn't mean there's a useful breakthrough.} Bd7 96. Kf2 Be8 97. Ke1 Bd7 98. Kd2 Be8 99. Kc3 Bd7 100. Kb4 Be8 101. Bc2 Bd7 102. Ba4 Be8 103. Bc2 Bd7 104. Ba4 Be8 1/2-1/2 [Event "7th Sinquefield Cup 2019"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2019.08.19"] [Round "3"] [White "Ding Liren"] [Black "Vachier Lagrave, M.."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D85"] [WhiteElo "2805"] [BlackElo "2778"] [Annotator "yermo"] [PlyCount "99"] [EventDate "2019.08.17"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 {It was fairly easy to predict the opening of this game, as Ding Liren is a steady 1.d4 player, while Maxime is a long-time Grunfeld devotee. The Grunfeld Defense happens to be my favorite opening as well, hence the choice for the GOTD.} 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Bd2 {I haven't been able to find any Ding games in this line. Perhaps, he counted on an element of surprise.} Bg7 (5... Nb6 {is another option, often chosen by top players. One topical line runs} 6. e3 Bg7 7. f4 $5) 6. e4 Nb6 7. Be3 {In essence, White has sacrificed a tempo to avoid the usual ..Nxc3 bxc3 Grunfeld scenario. It remains to be seen if Black can put that extra move into good use.} O-O {[#]} 8. Be2 ({Ideally, White would prefer to play} 8. h3 {where Black's lead in development calls for active responses} e5 {is favored by Artemiev, Grischuk and Svidler,} ({while Mamedyarov and Nepo tried} 8... f5)) 8... Nc6 9. Nf3 Bg4 {As it often happens in the Grunfeld, White must now move the d-pawn forward.} 10. d5 Na5 $5 {Garry Kasparov's choice. Putting the knight on the edge of the board is often frowned upon, but in the Grunfeld anything goes, as long as Black stays active.} (10... Bxf3 11. gxf3 Ne5 12. Qb3 c6 13. f4 Ned7 14. dxc6 bxc6 15. Rd1 {is what White expects. His plan is to keep the king in the center where it's relatively safe, and attack witht he h-pawn.}) 11. Bd4 Bxf3 { [#]} 12. gxf3 $5 {White wants to keep his bishop trained on the c4-square.} ({ In case of the standard recapture,} 12. Bxf3 {Black can play} c6 {because his Na5 is safe.}) 12... Qd6 $1 ({Not anymore:} 12... c6 $4 13. Bxg7 Kxg7 14. b4 Nac4 15. Bxc4 Nxc4 16. Qd4+) 13. Bxg7 Kxg7 14. Qd2 ({The stem game Korchnoi-Kasparov, Corus 2000 featured an ambitious attempt} 14. f4 {which backfired on White because of Black's energetic play} Qf6 $1 (14... Qxf4 $2 15. Qd4+ f6 16. Qb4) 15. Qd2 c6 16. dxc6 Rfd8 $1 17. Qe3 Nac4 18. Qc5 Rac8 $1 { Garry Kasparov certainly had a way of handling his Grunfelds.}) 14... Qf6 { [#] Despite the absence of MVL's games against the 5.Bd2 line in databases, I suppose Ding had to count with a possibility of reaching this position.} 15. h4 {So, this has to be his prep.} Nac4 {The most energetic reply, and it had to be well calculated,} ({In case of} 15... h5 {White could think that the inclusion of the h-pawn moves makes the Korchnoi line playable:} 16. f4 c6 17. e5 Qf5 18. Bd3 Qg4 {although I fail to see how he gets more than repetition of moves.} 19. Be2 Qf5 20. Bd3 Qg4 {etc.}) 16. Qc1 c6 ({On} 16... h5 {now} 17. f4 {is much stronger.}) 17. h5 Kg8 18. a4 a5 19. dxc6 bxc6 {[#]} 20. Nd1 {The knight is headed for the K-side.} ({Perhaps, better was to seek favorable endgame with} 20. b3 Nd6 21. f4 Qd4 22. Qe3 {but clearly, Ding dreamed of checkmating his opponent.}) 20... Nd6 21. Ne3 Qd4 22. Ng4 {[#]} f5 $1 {One has to have a lot of nerve to play moves like this in the face of the opponent's offensive. MVL's got guts to do that, we all know that.} (22... Nbc4 {looked supremely strong, but a careful look spots a surprising retreat for the white queen:} 23. hxg6 fxg6 24. Qh6 Rf7 25. Rd1 Qxb2 26. Qc1 $3 Kg7 27. e5 {and White wins material.}) 23. Nh6+ (23. hxg6 fxg4 24. Qh6 Qg7) 23... Kg7 24. hxg6 hxg6 25. Nxf5+ Nxf5 ({Of course not} 25... gxf5 26. Qg5+ Kf7 27. Rh7+ Ke8 28. Qxe7#) 26. exf5 Rxf5 27. Qh6+ Kf6 {Suprisingly White has nothing to throw at the exposed black king, and soon the game fizzles out into an equal ending} 28. Rd1 Qf4 29. Qh4+ Qxh4 30. Rxh4 Nd5 {=} 31. Rc4 Nb4 32. f4 g5 33. fxg5+ Rxg5 34. Bf3 Rg1+ 35. Ke2 Rxd1 36. Kxd1 Ra6 37. Kd2 Ke5 38. Re4+ Kd6 39. Rd4+ Nd5 40. Rh4 Ra8 41. Rh6+ Kc5 42. Re6 Rf8 43. Bxd5 Rxf2+ 44. Kc3 cxd5 45. Rxe7 d4+ 46. Kd3 Rf3+ 47. Kc2 Rf2+ 48. Kd3 Rf3+ 49. Kc2 Rf2+ 50. Kd3 1/2-1/2 [Event "Saint Louis"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2019.08.20"] [Round "4.3"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2818"] [BlackElo "2765"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "105"] [EventDate "2019.08.17"] [EventType "tourn"] [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. O-O Re8 7. d4 {7.Nbd2 and 7.Bg5 are the common moves here. Caruana surprises Aronian with an unusual contination} Bb6 8. d5 Ne7 9. Nxe5 Nxe4 10. Qf3 Nf6 11. d6 $5 {Though the position did not give any kind of advantage, it was probably difficult to withstand the aesthetic nausea playing with black pieces. It was precisely at this point that Anish Giri went into the confession booth – more of that later - and started with 'a moment of silence for Levon's c8-Bishop'!} cxd6 12. Nc4 d5 13. Nd6 Rf8 14. Bg5 Ne4 15. Nxe4 dxe4 16. Qxe4 f6 17. Be3 d5 18. Qf3 { White has a slight pull due to black's isolated queen pawn} Ng6 19. Na3 Bc7 20. Rad1 Ne5 21. Qe2 a6 22. Ba4 Bg4 23. f3 Be6 24. Bb3 Re8 25. f4 Nc6 $2 (25... Ng4 26. Bd4 $14) 26. Qf3 Bb6 27. Nc2 Na5 28. Bxd5 Bxd5 29. Rxd5 Bxe3+ 30. Nxe3 Qb6 31. Rd3 Nc4 32. Qd5+ Kf8 33. Qxc4 Rxe3 34. Rxe3 Qxe3+ 35. Kh1 $16 Rd8 36. h3 b5 37. Qc6 Qe2 38. Rf3 Qxb2 39. Qxa6 {[#]} h5 {When Aronian played this move, he barely made it with 1 second left in the clock, which means that he had 31 seconds after the move was made. He played the entire game in the same state} 40. Kh2 h4 41. Qa7 $6 (41. Qb6) 41... Kg8 42. Qe7 Qd2 43. Re3 Qd6 {Caruana pointed this as the move which he missed} 44. Qe4 Qd5 45. Qb4 Rc8 $2 (45... Qf5 $11) 46. a4 Qc5 $4 (46... bxa4 47. Qxa4 Ra8 $16) 47. Re8+ Kh7 48. Rxc8 Qxc8 49. axb5 Qf5 50. b6 Qd3 51. c4 Qg3+ 52. Kh1 Qd3 53. c5 1-0 [Event "Saint Louis"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2019.08.20"] [Round "4.1"] [White "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C42"] [WhiteElo "2756"] [BlackElo "2776"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "76"] [EventDate "2019.08.17"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Bf5 7. O-O Be7 8. Re1 O-O 9. c4 Nc6 10. cxd5 Qxd5 11. Nc3 Nxc3 12. bxc3 Bxd3 13. Qxd3 Rae8 14. Rb1 {A new move by Anand} (14. Bf4 {was the usual continuation}) 14... b6 15. Bf4 Bd6 16. Ng5 f5 17. Rxe8 Rxe8 18. c4 Qa5 19. Bd2 Nb4 {This position presents a unique forced win but Anand admitted after the game that he couldn't find it clearly in this position, laying out his calculation over the board} 20. Qf3 $2 (20. Qf1 $3 {Remember - Retreating moves are the most difficult moves to find in tactics} Qxa2 {Vishy had seen until this} (20... Bf8 21. c5 Qxa2 22. Bxb4) (20... h6 21. c5 $1 {Anand missed the point behind this too} bxc5 22. dxc5 Bxc5 23. Qc4+ Kh8 24. Qf7 Rf8 25. Qg6 $1 hxg5 26. Bc3) 21. Re1 $3 {Missed by Anand} (21. Bxb4 Bxb4 22. Rxb4 Qd2) 21... Rf8 (21... Re7 22. Rxe7 Bxe7 23. Qe1 $1) 22. Qe2 $3) (20. Qh3 h6 21. a3 hxg5 22. Qb3) 20... h6 21. Bxb4 $2 (21. a3 hxg5 (21... Qa4 22. Bxb4 hxg5 23. Qd5+ Kh8 24. c5 bxc5 25. dxc5 Be5 (25... a5 26. cxd6 axb4 27. dxc7) 26. Qf7 Bd4 27. Qxf5 $16) 22. Qb3 $1 { Missed by Anand} (22. axb4 Qa2)) 21... Qxb4 22. Qd5+ Kh8 23. Nf7+ Kh7 24. Rf1 Re1 (24... g6 25. Nxd6) 25. Qxf5+ Kg8 (25... g6 26. Qd3) 26. Nxd6 cxd6 $2 ( 26... Qd2 27. Qd5+ (27. g3 Rxf1+ 28. Kxf1 cxd6 $11) 27... Kh7 28. g3 Rxf1+ 29. Kxf1 cxd6) 27. Qd3 Rxf1+ 28. Kxf1 Qb2 29. a3 d5 30. cxd5 Qa1+ 31. Ke2 Qa2+ 32. Ke3 Qxd5 33. g3 b5 34. Qc3 Qe6+ 35. Kd3 (35. Kf3 Qd5+ 36. Ke2 Qe6+ 37. Kf1 Qe4 38. Kg1 Qb1+ 39. Kg2 Qe4+ 40. Qf3 Qxd4 41. Qb3+ Kh7 42. Qxb5 Qe4+ 43. Kg1 Qe1+ 44. Qf1 Qe4 45. Qd1) 35... a5 {[#]} 36. Qxa5 $2 (36. Qc5 Qb3+ 37. Ke2 b4 38. axb4 axb4 39. d5) 36... Qc4+ 37. Ke3 Qe6+ 38. Kd2 Qa2+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "St Louis, MO USA"] [Site "St Louis, MO USA"] [Date "2019.08.20"] [Round "4.3"] [White "Fabiano Caruana"] [Black "Levon Aronian"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2818"] [BlackElo "2765"] [Annotator "Hess, R"] [PlyCount "105"] [EventDate "2019.08.17"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. O-O Re8 (6... d6 { is topical and prevents the idea played in the game. Look this up in the database and you'll find many recent games from players with ratings that begin with 27, including Caruana with both colors.}) 7. d4 {Now we're in rare territory. Caruana goes for the direct approach, stunning Aronian.} ({In the style of the Giuoco Piano,} 7. Nbd2 {is most common here.}) 7... Bb6 ({Black could have transitioned into a bad version of the following Italian: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 cxd4 6. e5 d5 7. Bb5 Ne4 8. cxd4 Bb6 -- here White has spent two moves to get the bishop to b5 and White has to be ready to face Bg4 ideas.} 7... exd4 8. cxd4 Bb6 9. e5 Ne4 {with 10...d5 is slow.}) 8. d5 Ne7 9. Nxe5 Nxe4 10. Qf3 {The novelty, though the real punch was the follow-up. This opening was a remnant of Caruana's world championship preparation.} Nf6 (10... Nd6 11. Bd3 {is so awkward for Black. The bishop on c8 is trapped and there's not even a pawn to show for the trouble. Black's king might find itself vulnerable to an attack as well.}) 11. d6 $1 {The point of Caruana's opening. It's not that Black is in any objective trouble, but humans have emotions. Aronian had to spend quite a deal of time to work through all of his possibilities.} cxd6 12. Nc4 d5 {Levon ultimately makes a good call to return the pawn in an active manner and finish his development.} ( {To illustrate just how difficult the position is, let's look at the logical continuation} 12... a6 13. Ba4 Ng6 14. Bg5 Ne5 15. Nxe5 Rxe5 (15... dxe5 16. Nd2 {heading straight to e4 to pile up on the pinned knight will not be fun for Black.}) 16. Bxf6 Qxf6 17. Qxf6 gxf6 {which might be totally fine for Black, but when you analyze this position in your head, there's no way to be happy about it. The pawn structure is absolutely hideous.}) 13. Nd6 Rf8 14. Bg5 Ne4 15. Nxe4 dxe4 16. Qxe4 f6 {A completely necessary move, but one that Black would prefer to avoid playing. The ensuing positions would be much more stable for Black if the pawn was placed on f7.} 17. Be3 d5 18. Qf3 Ng6 19. Na3 { We have a pawn structure reminiscent of the French Defense. The isolated queen pawn will be a target that needs constant defense.} Bc7 {Considering the plan that Aronian opted for, it seems unnecessary to retreat the bishop at this moment.} (19... Be6 {for instance has no clear drawback. It's not as if Black is afraid of the swap.}) 20. Rad1 Ne5 21. Qe2 ({Greed is not good:} 21. Qxd5+ Qxd5 22. Rxd5 Be6 {and a2 hangs while Ng4 is a threat.}) 21... a6 22. Ba4 Bg4 23. f3 Be6 (23... Bh5 24. Rxd5 (24. Bb3 {it might even be better to keep more material on the board and maintain the pressure on Black's center.}) 24... Qxd5 25. Bb3 {wins the queen and a pawn for a rook and bishop. Black's pieces do come alive here, so it's not actually clear just how much better White is.}) 24. Bb3 Re8 25. f4 Nc6 (25... Ng4 26. Bd4 {and there are no good discoveries. Black does appear to be more active than in the game, though with such a fragile position and limited time on the clock there likely is fear of erring. Black can try to reroute the knight to f5, though White will aim his forces at the d5 pawn.} Nh6 27. Qf3 Kh8 (27... Bg4 {does not win an exchange since d5 falls with check.} 28. Qxd5+) 28. h3 {creates some vulnerable dark squares in White's position.}) 26. Qf3 Bb6 27. Nc2 {It's important to make it as difficult as possible for Black to push d4, which is a worthy move even if it costs a pawn. A defensive strategy to keep in mind is that sometimes it is better to jettison the isolated queen pawn if in return you obtain activity for your pieces.} (27. Nc4 {is too fancy and fails to} Nd4 $1 28. Bxd4 dxc4 { when Black's worries have greatly diminished.}) 27... Na5 28. Bxd5 {Fabi is forced to capture, so he does.} Bxd5 29. Rxd5 Bxe3+ 30. Nxe3 Qb6 31. Rd3 Nc4 ( 31... Qxb2 32. Qd5+ {at first glance seems to blunder a knight, but a tactic saves Black.} Kh8 33. Qxa5 (33. Nf5 {is strong and gets scary for Black, since the knight applies pressure on the kingside in multiple ways - not only is g7 feeling vulnerable, but Nd6-f7 ideas are coming.}) 33... Qe2 {and Black wins back the knight.}) 32. Qd5+ Kf8 {A brave move to play, but Levon assesses the position as an ending.} (32... Kh8 33. Qxc4 Rxe3 34. Qd4 Qxd4 35. Rxd4 Re2 36. Rfd1 {saves White's second rank, thanks to the back rank checkmate threat.} h6 37. R1d2 {White is simply up a pawn.}) 33. Qxc4 Rxe3 34. Rxe3 (34. Qd4 { no longer works.} Qxd4 35. Rxd4 Re2 36. Rf2 (36. Rb4 Rd8 37. Rxb7 Rdd2 { can only be good for Black.}) 36... Re1+ 37. Rf1 Re2 38. Rf2 {is a draw by repetition.}) 34... Qxe3+ 35. Kh1 Rd8 36. h3 b5 $1 {A brave move by Aronian considering his predicament on the clock. This is a really smart move, switching his base pawn from the b- to a-file. When the White queen scoops up said pawn, it will be out of the picture.} 37. Qc6 Qe2 38. Rf3 Qxb2 ({The quantity of pawns was less important than the quality of the pieces. Hardly anyone is playing this move in time trouble, but} 38... h5 $1 39. Qb6 (39. Qc5+ Kg8 40. Qxh5 Rd2 41. Qg4 Rxb2 {equalizes.}) 39... Rd2 40. Qb8+ (40. Rg3 h4 41. Qb8+ Qe8 42. Qxe8+ Kxe8 43. Rxg7 Rxb2 44. Rg4 Rxa2 45. Rxh4 {is a drawn rook ending.}) 40... Qe8 41. Qa7 Qg6 42. Qa8+ Qe8 43. Qxa6 Qe1+ 44. Kh2 h4 {and the threat of Rd1 forces White to swap queens and have the game fizzle out into a drawn rook ending.} 45. Qa8+ Kf7 46. Qa7+ Kg6 47. f5+ Kh6 48. Qe3+ Qxe3 49. Rxe3 Rxb2 50. Re4 Kg5) 39. Qxa6 h5 {Played now as there is no check on c5 to pick off the pawn.} 40. Kh2 h4 {Important both to set up a mating net for the White king and to prevent the rook from sliding to g3, where it could put serious pressure on the Black king.} 41. Qa7 $2 {An inaccuracy caused by an oversight. The queen on a7 does not tie Black down.} ({During our commentary, GM Aman Hambleton much preferred} 41. Qb6 {I have to agree with him, as the rook on d8 is under attack and must stay on the back rank.} Qd2 (41... Rd2 42. Qb8+ Kf7 43. Qb7+ Kg8 44. Re3 {is a problem for Black. The queen on b7 is perfectly situated as an attacker (g7) and defender (g2).}) 42. Qxb5 Qxa2 { is a nightmare to defend while relying on the 30-second delay. Now White has a passed pawn, so psychologically each move becomes trickier for Black. The frantic thought process has to add a layer of "can this pawn just roam up the board?"}) 41... Kg8 $1 {A very useful move to get the king out of reach of checks. Aronian played this with just a single second remaining!} 42. Qe7 Qd2 43. Re3 Qd6 {Missed by Caruana. He thought he was on the verge of winning until Aronian offered this queen trade.} 44. Qe4 (44. Qxd6 Rxd6 45. Re8+ Kf7 46. Rb8 Rd2 47. Rxb5 Rxa2 {will at best result in rook and three pawns versus rook on two on the kingside, a theoretical draw that these elite players know inside and out.}) 44... Qd5 45. Qb4 (45. Qg6 Qd2 46. Re8+ (46. Re4 Qxc3 47. Re7 Qg3+ 48. Qxg3 hxg3+ 49. Kxg3 Rd2 50. Ra7 b4 {Black can play Rb2 and b3 to force an exchange of the pawns. Once again we'll see rook and three versus rook and two, which is a relatively straightforward draw with precise play.}) 46... Rxe8 47. Qxe8+ Kh7 48. Qh5+ Kg8 49. Qxh4 {should still hold but it can be more difficult than the rook ending, since queens can offer trades in much more useful ways.}) 45... Rc8 ({If you put even two minutes on Aronian's clock, I'm sure he would have played} 45... Qf5 {which keeps b5 defended while attacking the pawn on f4. Importantly, it helps shelter the Black king's path to h7, after which the rook can join in on the action.} 46. a4 bxa4 47. Qxa4 Kh7 48. Qe4 Qxe4 49. Rxe4 Kg6 {holds without much issue, thanks to the superior king.}) (45... Qc4 {forces a queen trade, but this particular rook ending looks less friendly.} 46. Qxc4+ bxc4 47. Re4 Ra8 48. f5 Rxa2 49. Rxh4 { when Black must go after the f-pawn, since} Ra4 {is too passive and White will play Re4, g4, and then march the king to corral the c4 pawn.}) 46. a4 Qc5 $4 { Oh no, a terrible blunder. Levon tried to force the queens off but misses Fabi's shot.} (46... bxa4 47. Qxa4 {was discussed by Caruana in the postmortem. With Black relying on just the delay, there's no clear path to equality or liquidation and the position is a struggle.}) 47. Re8+ Kh7 48. Rxc8 Qxc8 49. axb5 Qf5 50. b6 Qd3 51. c4 Qg3+ 52. Kh1 Qd3 53. c5 1-0 [Event "7th Sinquefield Cup 2019"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2019.08.20"] [Round "4.1"] [White "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C42"] [WhiteElo "2756"] [BlackElo "2776"] [PlyCount "84"] [EventDate "2019.08.17"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Bf5 7. O-O Be7 8. Re1 O-O 9. c4 Nc6 10. cxd5 Qxd5 11. Nc3 Nxc3 12. bxc3 Bxd3 13. Qxd3 Rae8 14. Rb1 b6 15. Bf4 Bd6 16. Ng5 {Things seems placid enough until Anand goes for an unlikely attack. It turns out the Black queen and king are both in danger!} f5 (16... g6 17. Ne4 {and White can claim advantage since he will swap knight for bishop} Bxf4 $2 18. Nf6+) 17. Rxe8 Rxe8 18. c4 $1 {This is the idea and Anand revealed that he had prepped this. The black queen is surprisingly short on moves. So likely was taken off guard as he spent 26 minutes in his next two moves.} Qa5 {not best, but Black was rightfully worried. Anand's prep mostly ended here, as he had spent time focusing on the capture on d4.} (18... Qxd4 19. Qxf5 Qxf4 20. Qd5+ Kf8 (20... Kh8 21. Nf7+ Kg8 22. Nxd6+ {wins the house}) 21. g3 $3 {a diabolical move that is hard to see several moves in advance. The queen has no good moves to continue guarding the mate on f7 since} Qf6 (21... Nb4 {is the only way to fight on, but White replies} 22. Rxb4 c6 $1 23. Qxc6 Qxg5 24. Qxd6+ {and we will get a close facsimile to Caruana-Aronian, with Black suffering for a while}) 22. Nxh7+) 19. Bd2 Nb4 20. Qf3 $2 {One of the harshest question marks to offer. Yes, this is a mistake, but the correct move is quite hard to see. In fact, White needs to see several "only" moves to grab the point.} (20. Qf1 $3 {and if Black doesn't act, the idea is to keep the queen primed on c4 so that c4-c5 comes next. Black can try} Qxa2 (20... h6 { was the main concern for Anand, but then there is} 21. c5 bxc5 22. dxc5 Bxc5 23. Qc4+ Kh8 24. Qf7 Rf8 25. Qg6 hxg5 26. Bc3 {which is nearly impossible to see, and indeed Anand said, "this I missed of course." Black will have to give up the entire kingside to avoid mate since} Rg8 27. Qh6#) 21. Re1 $1 Rf8 (21... Rxe1 22. Qxe1 Qxc4 23. Qe8+ Bf8 24. Ne6) 22. Qe2 {And Black's pieces are ill-equipped to deal with queen invasions on e6 and h5. For example:} Kh8 23. Qh5 h6 24. Nf7+ Kh7 25. Bxh6 gxh6 26. Qxh6+ Kg8 27. Qg6#) 20... h6 21. Bxb4 ( 21. a3 hxg5 22. Qb3 {± "Overwhelming" according to Anand, once it was shown to him post-mortem.} (22. axb4 Qa2 {was Anand's analysis, and he didn't seem keen on this for White.})) 21... Qxb4 $1 22. Qd5+ {Now White even has to play carefully to hold equality.} (22. Rxb4 Re1#) 22... Kh8 23. Nf7+ Kh7 24. Rf1 Re1 25. Qxf5+ Kg8 26. Nxd6 cxd6 27. Qd3 Rxf1+ 28. Kxf1 Qb2 29. a3 {The storm is over, and Black's active queen ensures that White's chances are minimal.} d5 30. cxd5 Qa1+ 31. Ke2 Qa2+ 32. Ke3 Qxd5 33. g3 b5 34. Qc3 Qe6+ 35. Kd3 a5 36. Qxa5 Qc4+ 37. Ke3 Qe6+ 38. Kd2 Qa2+ 39. Ke1 Qb1+ 40. Kd2 Qa2+ 41. Ke3 Qe6+ 42. Kd2 Qa2+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "7th Sinquefield Cup 2019"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2019.08.21"] [Round "5.4"] [White "Ding, Liren"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D38"] [WhiteElo "2805"] [BlackElo "2779"] [PlyCount "93"] [EventDate "2019.08.17"] 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. Rc1 Rd8 10. Be2 dxc4 11. Bxc4 Bxc3+ 12. bxc3 Bd7 13. Be2 e5 14. Qc2 Bf5 15. Qb2 e4 16. Nd2 Na5 17. O-O c5 18. Rfd1 Rac8 19. Nf1 Bg6 20. Ng3 Qg5 21. Qb1 f5 22. dxc5 {It's clear from this point forward that White is not likely to keep his isolated c-pawn.} Rxc5 23. Rd4 Bf7 24. Rcd1 Rdc8 25. Bb5 g6 (25... Rxc3 {is not a good time to take it since} 26. Bd7 {recovers the more important pawn on f5.}) 26. Ne2 Qf6 27. Ba4 Qe5 28. Bb3 Nxb3 29. axb3 R5c7 { slightly passive. The computer prefers some kingside expansion with ...g5 ideas.} 30. c4 a6 (30... b5 {right away might be more testing}) 31. Nf4 b5 32. Nd5 Rc6 33. c5 $1 {offering the pawn again!} a5 (33... Rxc5 34. Nb6 R8c7 35. Nd7 {+-}) 34. b4 axb4 35. Qxb4 Rb8 {Now Black is completely passive. He must guard the b-pawn, blockade White's c-pawn, and be on the lookout for any knight maneuver that targets the Rc6 to get the pawn going again.} 36. Nb6 Be6 37. Nd7 $1 {Finally "forcing" the capture of the c-pawn, but then all of White's heavies find heir happy place.} Bxd7 38. Rd5 Qe7 39. Rxd7 Qxc5 40. Qb3+ (40. Qb2 {right away is the same}) 40... Qc4 41. Qb2 Qc3 42. Qa2+ Rc4 (42... Qc4 43. Qa7 Re8 44. Rg7+ Kf8 45. Rh7 {+-}) 43. g3 {Highlighting how defenseless Black is. The b-pawn is way to slow to get going; Black will be mated long before it gets a touchdown.} Rbc8 44. R1d6 (44. Qa6 R4c6 45. Qb7 R8c7 (45... R6c7 46. Qd5+) 46. Qb8+ Rc8 47. Rd8+ {is another way to form a winning attack from the side.}) 44... Kf8 45. Rxg6 b4 46. Rxh6 (46. Qa5 { would be fun, with White moving laterally across the 5th-7th ranks.}) 46... f4 47. gxf4 1-0 [Event "7th Sinquefield Cup 2019"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2019.08.21"] [Round "5.5"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D37"] [WhiteElo "2774"] [BlackElo "2743"] [PlyCount "137"] [EventDate "2019.08.17"] 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 Qb6 14. Qc2 Nb4 15. Bxh7+ Kh8 16. Qc7 Qxc7 17. Rxc7 Bd8 18. Bd6 Bxc7 19. Bxf8 a5 20. Bb1 Be5 21. b3 Bg4 22. Bc5 Rc8 23. Bb6 Nxa2 24. Bxa2 Rc2 25. Nf3 Bxf3 26. gxf3 Rxa2 27. Rd1 Ra1 28. Rxa1 Bxa1 29. Bxa5 f5 30. Kf1 Kg8 31. Ke2 Kf7 32. Kd3 Be5 33. Bc3 Bd6 34. e4 dxe4+ 35. fxe4 Ke6 36. Bxg7 Bxh2 37. Bd4 b5 38. Bb6 Be5 39. Ke3 Bb2 40. Bd4 Bc1+ 41. Kd3 Ba3 42. Bb6 Bb2 43. Bc7 Bf6 44. Ba5 Be5 45. Bb4 Bf6 46. Bc5 Be5 47. Ba7 Bf6 48. Bd4 Be7 49. Ke3 Bg5+ 50. f4 Be7 51. Bb6 (51. exf5+ Kxf5 {is a draw according to endgame tablebases. Of course, there's no reason White wants to give Black's king a father advanced light square to sit on anyway.}) 51... Ba3 (51... fxe4 {Similarly, Black doesn't want White's king to get to his own advanced light square, and then be able to play f5.} 52. Kxe4 { this is actually a win according to tablebases. White will play f5+ and route his bishop to the long diagonal to guard f6, then his king is far enough up the board to walk to the 5th rank and eye the remaining black pawn.}) 52. Kd3 Bc1 53. Bc7 Bb2 54. Bb8 Bf6 55. Ke3 Bb2 56. Be5 {After lots of wandering around White asks Black a "question" but the answer is an easy "no" since} Bc1+ (56... Bxe5 57. fxe5 Kxe5 58. exf5 Kxf5 59. Kd4 Ke6 60. Kc5 {+-}) 57. Kd3 b4 $2 {This may have been the fatal error. Normally one doesn't want the pawn on the same color as the bishops. Firstly it can be targeted by the enemy bishop, but it also no longer "works" with one's own bishop to wall out the king.} (57... Ba3 {was the way to keep the White king at bay.} 58. exf5+ Kxf5 59. Kd4 { was likely the worrisome variation for Nakamura, but there is a hold with} Bb4 60. Kd5 Be1 61. Kc5 b4 {is still drawn since in all lines where White routes his bishop to win the b4-pawn, Black will get the f4-pawn and will be able to offer his bishop for the remaining pawn.}) 58. Bb8 Kf6 59. Bd6 Ke6 60. Be5 Ba3 61. Bd4 Bc1 62. Be3 Bb2 63. Bd2 {Essentially this is the problem -- White can reroute his bishop to a much better square (from d2 it both guards f4 and targets b4; it didn't have access to d6 to do the same)} fxe4+ 64. Kxe4 { and as explained earlier, it is bad news if Black allows White's king this far up the board.} Ba3 65. Kd4 Kf5 66. Kd5 Kf6 67. Kc5 Kf5 68. Kb5 (68. Bxb4 $2 Bc1 {=}) 68... Ke4 69. Bxb4 {Now taking the pawn wins since 69...Bc1 70. Be6. A terribly complicated ending! Where's John Nunn when you need him?} 1-0 [Event "7th Sinquefield Cup GCT 2019"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2019.08.21"] [Round "5.1"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A20"] [WhiteElo "2776"] [BlackElo "2818"] [Annotator "yermo"] [PlyCount "72"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 c6 {Caruana had played it before, thus the choice was not entirely surprising,} 4. Nf3 ({The other popular move is} 4. d4 { but recently top players began to answer it with} e4 {Anand, Carlsen, Ding Liren.}) 4... e4 5. Nd4 Qb6 {This move has always been Caruana's preference.} ( 5... d5 6. d3 (6. cxd5 Qxd5 7. e3 Qe5 8. d3 exd3 9. Nd2 Bc5 {Shankland-Xiong, St. Louis Summer 2019}) 6... Bc5 7. Nb3 Bb6 8. cxd5 Qxd5 9. O-O Qf5 10. Nc3 exd3 11. e4 Qh5 {Ding Liren-Anand, Lindores Abbey Stars, 2019.}) 6. Nb3 a5 7. d3 a4 8. N3d2 {[#]} Bc5 $5 {Not a novelty, but Caruana's attempt to improve on his previously played} (8... d5 {which he played three times in 2017, and most recently against Ding Liren in Chess.com PRO League this year. That game went} 9. cxd5 exd3 10. O-O cxd5 11. exd3 Nc6 12. Nc3 Qa5 {Basically, Black's opening strategy is to disrupt White's attempts to blow the center open. This particulr structure at least gives him time to complete development and evacuate the king.}) 9. O-O $5 {A real novelty in reply.} ({The three games I was able to find all featured} 9. e3 exd3 10. Nc3 Qa6 11. b3 a3 12. Nde4 Be7 { was Meier-Baklan, 2016. I'm a bit reluctant to offer evaluations to such complex position before doing a kind of research work I don't have time for today,}) 9... e3 $1 {The most principled reply.} (9... Bxf2+ 10. Rxf2 e3 { doesn't win a piece on account of} 11. Rxf6 $1 exd2+ 12. Rf2 dxc1=Q 13. Qxc1 { In the resulting position Black has traded away his active pieces without getting anything tangible in return.}) ({while} 9... d5 10. cxd5 e3 11. fxe3 Bxe3+ 12. Kh1 cxd5 13. Nc3 {leaves Black no time for Nf6-g4.}) 10. fxe3 Bxe3+ 11. Kh1 {[#]} Ng4 ({Another, very interesting move was} 11... h5 $5) 12. Ne4 O-O (12... d5 13. Nd6+ Ke7 14. Nxc8+ Rxc8 {and now White can parry the Nf2+ threat with the pin,} 15. Bh3) 13. Nbc3 d5 14. cxd5 Bxc1 15. Qxc1 Ne3 16. Rf3 { [#]} Nxg2 (16... Nxd5 {was certainly safer, but at the same time it would hand over the initiative to White.}) 17. Kxg2 Qd8 18. Qg5 $1 {A very powerful reply, putting Black's entire concept into question.} ({Caruana must have thought the position after} 18. dxc6 Nxc6 {would offer him enough compensation,}) 18... f6 (18... f5 19. Qxd8 Rxd8 20. Nc5 cxd5 21. N3xa4 {±}) 19. Nxf6+ Rxf6 20. Ne4 Nd7 $1 {Fabiano finds the only reply,} ({as} 20... Rf8 {was simply unsatisfactory due to} 21. Raf1 Nd7 22. Rxf8+ Nxf8 23. Qxd8 Bh3+ 24. Kxh3 Rxd8 25. dxc6 bxc6 26. Nc5) 21. Raf1 Kh8 {Another good one from Caruana.} (21... h6 22. Nxf6+ Nxf6 23. Qg6 Qxd5 24. e4 Qh5 25. Qxh5 (25. Rxf6 Bh3+ {is OK for Black according to Caruana}) 25... Nxh5 26. Rf8+ Kh7 27. e5 {wins for White according to Caruana since his knight is "dead" and unable to return to f6.} Nf6 28. R1xf6 $3 gxf6 29. e6 Kg7 30. Rd8 $1) 22. Nxf6 Nxf6 23. e4 Bd7 24. Rxf6 $5 {Wesley So prefers an attack} ({to a favorable endgame, which was likely appear in case of} 24. Qe5 Qe8 25. Qd4 {White has rook and 2 pawns for bishop and knight, so he isn't really behind in material, so he can play on without the hurry,}) 24... gxf6 25. Rxf6 Qe7 26. Qf4 Kg8 27. d6 Qg7 28. e5 {The position appears to be about equal. White has three pawns for a piece, but no real attacking chances.} Re8 ( 28... Rf8 29. Rxf8+ Qxf8 30. Qxa4 {and White has enough pawns for the piece and equality, so instead Caruana opts for a drawing line, and So obliges.}) 29. Qc4+ Kh8 30. Rf7 {White doesn't have to go into this line and can instead improve his position with "little" moves like 30. h4 but Black's grip on the light squares means it is still equal.} Qxe5 31. Rxd7 Qe2+ 32. Kh3 Qf1+ 33. Kh4 Qf6+ 34. Kh3 Qf1+ 35. Kh4 Qf6+ 36. Kh3 Qf1+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "7th Sinquefield Cup 2019"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2019.08.21"] [Round "5.3"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D37"] [WhiteElo "2882"] [BlackElo "2750"] [PlyCount "93"] [EventDate "2019.08.17"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 b6 7. Bd3 dxc4 8. Bxc4 Ba6 9. Qe2 Bxc4 10. Qxc4 c5 11. dxc5 Bxc5 12. O-O Qc8 13. Rfd1 Nbd7 14. Qe2 Re8 15. Nd2 Qb7 16. Qf3 Qxf3 17. gxf3 Rec8 18. Nde4 Bf8 19. Nd6 Rc6 20. Bg3 a6 21. Rac1 Bxd6 22. Rxd6 Rxd6 23. Bxd6 Rc8 24. Rd1 h6 25. f4 b5 26. Be7 Rc6 27. Kg2 Nb6 28. e4 Nc4 29. Rd8+ Kh7 30. Bxf6 gxf6 31. Nd1 Kg6 32. b3 Rd6 33. Rxd6 Nxd6 34. f3 Kh5 35. Kg3 b4 36. Ne3 f5 37. exf5 Nxf5+ 38. Nxf5 exf5 39. Kf2 {In yet another example where the "no draws" rule has made the event more entertaining, here the players decided not to repeat moves with, for example, 39...Kg6 40. Kg3 Kh5 but instead went for a different kind of draw:} Kh4 40. Kg2 a5 41. Kf2 Kh3 42. Kg1 h5 {You might be wondering why on earth would Black want to barricade his own king? But that would mean you didn't read the opening to this report!} 43. Kh1 h4 44. Kg1 f6 45. Kh1 {There's no way to avoid Black's idea since White had no other move that didn't lose.} a4 46. bxa4 b3 47. axb3 { Stalemate, and who doesn't prefer this cute draw to a mutual agreement?} 1/2-1/2 [Event "7th Sinquefield Cup GCT 2019"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2019.08.21"] [Round "5.1"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A20"] [WhiteElo "2776"] [BlackElo "2818"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "72"] [EventDate "2019.08.17"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 c6 4. Nf3 e4 5. Nd4 Qb6 6. Nb3 a5 7. d3 a4 8. N3d2 Bc5 9. O-O e3 10. fxe3 Bxe3+ 11. Kh1 Ng4 12. Ne4 O-O 13. Nbc3 d5 14. cxd5 Bxc1 15. Qxc1 Ne3 16. Rf3 Nxg2 17. Kxg2 Qd8 {'Having returned his only developed piece, Black pretends everything is fine!'} 18. Qg5 f6 19. Nxf6+ Rxf6 20. Ne4 Nd7 21. Raf1 Kh8 22. Nxf6 Nxf6 23. e4 Bd7 24. Rxf6 $5 (24. d6 Qg8 25. e5 h6 26. Qe3 Nh7 27. Rf7 Bh3+ 28. Kxh3 Ng5+ 29. Qxg5 hxg5 30. Kg2 $11) 24... gxf6 25. Rxf6 Qe7 (25... Qc7 26. d6 Qb6) (25... Qb6 26. Qe5 Kg8) 26. Qf4 Kg8 27. d6 Qg7 28. e5 Re8 29. Qc4+ Kh8 30. Rf7 Qxe5 31. Rxd7 Qe2+ 32. Kh3 Qf1+ 33. Kh4 Qf6+ 34. Kh3 Qf1+ 35. Kh4 Qf6+ 36. Kh3 Qf1+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "Saint Louis"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2019.08.21"] [Round "5.2"] [White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2778"] [BlackElo "2756"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "49"] [EventDate "2019.08.17"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. O-O a6 7. a4 h6 8. Re1 a5 {A novelty} 9. d4 {After 11 minutes of thinking} Ba7 10. h3 {[#]} g5 $5 { Vishy seemed to have caught MVL in a bit of opening prep} 11. dxe5 Nxe5 12. Nxe5 dxe5 13. Qxd8+ Kxd8 14. Bxf7 g4 (14... Rf8 15. Bc4) 15. hxg4 $2 Nxg4 ( 15... Ke7 16. Bd5 c6 17. Bc4 Nxg4 18. Be3 Nxe3 (18... Bxe3 19. fxe3) 19. fxe3 Bg4) 16. Be3 Bxe3 17. fxe3 h5 $6 {What's the point behind this move?} (17... Ke7 18. Bd5 (18. Bh5 Nf6 19. Bf3 Rd8 20. Na3 Be6 21. Red1 Rxd1+ 22. Rxd1 Bb3) 18... c6 19. Bc4 Be6 20. Nd2 Rad8 (20... Rhd8 21. Bxe6 Kxe6 22. Nc4 Nf6 23. Red1 Rxd1+ 24. Rxd1 b5 25. axb5 cxb5 26. Na3 Rb8) 21. Bxe6 Kxe6 22. Nc4) 18. Bc4 h4 19. Nd2 h3 20. gxh3 Rxh3 21. Rf1 Rg3+ 22. Kh1 Rh3+ 23. Kg1 Rg3+ 24. Kh1 Rh3+ 25. Kg1 1/2-1/2 [Event "Saint Louis"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2019.08.21"] [Round "5.4"] [White "Ding, Liren"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D38"] [WhiteElo "2805"] [BlackElo "2779"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "93"] [EventDate "2019.08.17"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceQuality "1"] 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. Rc1 Rd8 10. Be2 dxc4 11. Bxc4 Bxc3+ 12. bxc3 Bd7 13. Be2 e5 14. Qc2 Bf5 15. Qb2 e4 16. Nd2 Na5 17. O-O c5 18. Rfd1 Rac8 19. Nf1 Bg6 20. Ng3 Qg5 21. Qb1 f5 22. dxc5 Rxc5 23. Rd4 Bf7 $6 24. Rcd1 Rdc8 25. Bb5 $1 g6 {weakening the kingside pawn structure but probably black didn't have a choice} 26. Ne2 Qf6 27. Ba4 Qe5 28. Bb3 Nxb3 29. axb3 R5c7 $16 30. c4 a6 31. Nf4 (31. Qa1 $5 Kh7) 31... b5 $2 (31... g5 $5) 32. Nd5 Rc6 {[#]} 33. c5 $1 a5 ({The reply} 33... b4 {is met with a nice piece of knight sortie:} 34. Nb6 R8c7 35. Nd7 Qe7 36. Nb8 Re6 37. Qa1) 34. b4 axb4 35. Qxb4 Rb8 36. Nb6 Be6 37. Nd7 Bxd7 38. Rd5 Qe7 39. Rxd7 Qxc5 40. Qb3+ Qc4 41. Qb2 Qc3 42. Qa2+ Rc4 43. g3 Rbc8 44. R1d6 Kf8 45. Rxg6 b4 46. Rxh6 f4 47. gxf4 1-0 [Event "Saint Louis"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2019.08.23"] [Round "6.1"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Vachier Lagrave, Maxime"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2818"] [BlackElo "2778"] [Annotator "Yermolinsky"] [PlyCount "106"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 {One of those anti-Najdorf moves White seems to rely on these days. When Fischer played it 50 years ago, it was considered a joke. Go figure.} e5 {MVL's exclusive choice. } ({Some people, Grischuk and Topalov included, swear by the Scheveningen structure after} 6... e6) 7. Nb3 Be6 {Considered the most accurate move.} 8. f4 ({The idea is to meet} 8. g4 {with} d5 {Andreikin-Svidler, FIDE Candidates 2014.}) 8... g6 {Modern move.} (8... exf4 9. Bxf4 Nc6 10. Qe2 Be7 11. O-O-O Qc7 12. g4 {brought White success in J. Van Foreest-Nepo, Tata Steel 2019.}) ({ Previously Maxime tried} 8... Nbd7 9. g4 Rc8 10. f5 Bxb3 11. axb3 d5 12. exd5 Bb4 13. Bg2 Qb6 {against Anand in 2016 but could only obtain marginal compensation and eventually lost the game.} 14. Bd2) 9. Be2 (9. Qf3 Nc6 10. Be3 exf4 11. Bxf4 Nh5 {Karjakin-Gelfand 2014 and the more recent Pichot-Le Quang Liem.}) 9... Nbd7 {This is a more Najdorfy place for that knight.} ({Inferior is} 9... Nc6 10. O-O exf4 11. Bxf4 {An attempt to strike in the center.} d5 { was made once but with no success.}) 10. g4 {[#] All hands-on deck, a great battle is about to begin.} Rc8 11. f5 Bxb3 12. axb3 Rxc3 $1 ({Insufficient is} 12... d5 13. exd5 Bb4 14. O-O Bxc3 15. bxc3 Rxc3 16. Kh2) 13. bxc3 Nxe4 14. O-O Qh4 15. Bf3 gxf5 16. Bxe4 fxe4 17. Kh2 {Until this point this all had been known from Forcen Esteban-Riff, Andorra Open 2017.The question is, who is going to come up with a novelty first?} Rg8 $5 {MVL is.} ({The above-mentioned game went:} 17... Be7 18. Rf5 Rg8 19. Be3 Nf6 20. g5 h5 21. Bf2 Ng4+ 22. Qxg4 { leading to White's advantage in the endgame.}) 18. Ra4 Nf6 19. g5 Rxg5 $5 { A second exchange sacrifice is a rare guest in tournament practice.} ({Perhaps, } 19... Be7 20. Qe2 d5 {is fully playable, but Black had to see a reply to the dangerous move.} 21. Rg1 {which is} Qh5 $1) 20. Bxg5 Qxg5 21. c4 {Now White's Ra4 looks out of position.} Qh4 22. Qe1 Qxe1 23. Rxe1 Bh6 24. Rd1 Kd7 25. c5 { This may not have been White's best choice, but it's understandable what Fabiano wanted to do -- open the files for his rooks!} d5 {No, sir. Now White has only one followup, but it will cost him 50% of his material advantage.} 26. Rb4 Kc7 27. Rb6 Bf4+ 28. Kg2 Nd7 29. Rxd5 (29. Rd6 d4 30. b4 b6 31. Rb1 a5 { might as well favor Black.}) 29... Nxb6 30. cxb6+ Kxb6 31. Rd7 a5 32. Rxf7 h6 $1 {Of course, keeping this pawn is crucial to Black's successful defense.} 33. Kf2 Kc6 34. Ke2 b5 {Since the white king cannot yet approach the e-pawns, Maxime times his counterplay well.} 35. Rf6+ Kc5 36. c3 a4 37. bxa4 bxa4 38. Ra6 Kb5 39. Ra7 Bg5 40. Ra8 ({There isn't a win in sight.} 40. Rb7+ Kc4 41. Rb4+ Kxc3 42. Rxa4 e3) (40. c4+ Kxc4 41. Rxa4+ Kd5) 40... Be7 $1 {The most direct plan, well-suited to Maxime's style.} (40... Bf4 {would, in all probability, also be enough to hold a draw.}) 41. Kd2 a3 42. Ke3 Kc4 43. Kxe4 Kxc3 44. Kxe5 Kb3 {In such positions a bishop is as good as a rook when it comes to supporting its passed pawn and forcing the opponent to sacrifice. This is how draws are often made, but when it comes to winning, then the true nature of a bishop comes through. It is just not good enough to win the game alone. In this case, the h-pawn isn't contributing either.} 45. Ke4 a2 46. Rxa2 Kxa2 47. Kf3 {That's it: he found a safe corner, and the rest is just a formality.} Kb3 48. h4 Kc4 49. h5 Kd3 50. Kg2 Ke2 51. Kh1 Kf2 52. Kh2 Bd6+ 53. Kh1 Be5 1/2-1/2 [Event "7th Sinquefield Cup 2019"] [Site "Saint Louis, USA"] [Date "2019.08.23"] [Round "6"] [White "Viswanathan Anand"] [Black "Anish Giri"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B45"] [WhiteElo "2756"] [BlackElo "2779"] [PlyCount "108"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. a3 Be7 7. f4 d6 8. Nf3 O-O 9. Bd3 a6 10. O-O b5 11. b4 a5 $6 (11... Nd7 {is better than the text.}) 12. Rb1 axb4 13. axb4 d5 (13... Qb6+ 14. Kh1 d5 {is the computer's way to challenge the centre.}) 14. e5 Ne8 15. Nxb5 Ba6 16. Nbd4 Nxb4 17. Bxa6 Rxa6 18. f5 exf5 19. Nxf5 Nc7 $2 ({The engine recommends:} 19... Qd7 20. Ng5 Bxg5 21. Bxg5 Nc6 22. Rb3 {White is still the one who has the better chances.}) 20. c3 Nc6 21. Qd3 Ra4 ({Better is} 21... Bc5+ 22. Kh1 Ne7) 22. Be3 Re4 23. Bb6 Qd7 $2 (23... g6 {is important.} 24. Nh6+ Kg7 25. Qd2) 24. Bxc7 Qxc7 25. Qxd5 { Anand now wins a pawn and clearly has a better position.} Rf4 26. N5d4 Nxd4 27. cxd4 Rd8 28. Qb7 Qxb7 29. Rxb7 Kf8 30. g3 ({It is advisable to play} 30. Rc1 { This move activates the rook and threatens to occupy the seventh rank.}) 30... Rf5 31. Kg2 f6 32. Re1 fxe5 33. dxe5 h5 34. e6 g5 35. Re2 Rd6 $4 {The wrong square for the rook. Anand had a chance to force matters here.} (35... Rdd5 36. Rb8+ Kg7 37. Re8 Kf6 38. h4 g4 39. Ng5 Rde5 {Black holds on.}) 36. h3 $2 { Anand misses his one and only big chance to close the game. He could have had a decisive advantage with:} (36. Rb8+ Kg7 37. Re8 Kf6 38. h4 g4 39. Ng5 { Since there is no way to stop Nh7+, White is winning. Note that in the line with Rdd5, Black can intervene with Rde5.}) 36... g4 37. hxg4 hxg4 38. Nh4 Rg5 39. Ra7 Ke8 40. Ra4 {Even though White is a pawn up, there is no real way to progress for White.} Rd3 41. Ra8+ Rd8 42. Ra1 Rdd5 43. Rf2 Bd8 44. Ra8 Ke7 45. Re2 Rc5 46. Ra6 Ra5 47. Rc6 Rad5 48. Rf2 Rd6 49. Rxd6 Kxd6 50. Rd2+ Rd5 51. Rxd5+ Kxd5 52. Nf5 Kxe6 53. Ne3 Bc7 54. Nxg4 Bxg3 {Giri was lucky to survive while Anand misses out on sole ledaership.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "7th Sinquefield Cup 2019"] [Site "Saint Louis, USA"] [Date "2019.08.23"] [Round "6"] [White "Ian Nepomniachtchi"] [Black "Ding Liren"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "2774"] [BlackElo "2805"] [PlyCount "86"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3 O-O {The trendy Italian has another visit at the elite level.} 7. h3 a5 8. Re1 h6 9. Nbd2 Be6 10. Bb5 Qb8 11. Nh4 a4 12. Nf5 Re8 13. Nc4 Bxf5 14. exf5 Qa7 15. Qf3 e4 $5 { A nice pawn sacrifice by Ding.} 16. dxe4 Ne5 17. Nxe5 Rxe5 18. Bd3 d5 19. Bf4 dxe4 20. Bxe4 Rxe4 21. Rxe4 Nxe4 22. Qxe4 Bxf2+ 23. Kh2 Qb6 24. Rd1 Qxb2 25. f6 Qxc3 (25... g5 26. Qe7 Qxc3 27. Be5 Qc2 28. Rd7 Qc4 29. Rxc7 Qxa2 30. Rxb7 Qc4 31. Rc7 {White has enough counterplay to force a draw.}) 26. fxg7 Qc6 27. Qf5 Re8 28. Bxh6 Qxh6 29. Qxf2 Qg5 30. Kh1 (30. Rd3 {With the idea of Rg3 is more advisable than the text.}) 30... Re4 31. Rf1 $2 (31. Rd7 {Active defense is White's best bet here.}) 31... Qe7 $2 (31... Qd5 $1 {Centralizing the Queen gives Black more than decent chances to win.} 32. Qf6 Re5 33. Rf2 Re1+ 34. Kh2 Qe5+ 35. Qxe5 Rxe5 {Black will now pick up the g7 pawn and press to win on the queenside with his 3-1 pawn majority.}) 32. Qd2 Kxg7 33. Qb2+ Qe5 34. Qxb7 Re1 35. Qf3 Rxf1+ 36. Qxf1 c5 37. Qc4 Qe1+ 38. Kh2 Qb4 39. Qd3 a3 40. Qg3+ Kh7 41. Qd3+ Kg7 42. Qg3+ Kh7 43. Qd3+ Kg7 1/2-1/2 [Event "7th Sinquefield Cup GCT 2019"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2019.08.24"] [Round "7.3"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2882"] [BlackElo "2774"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Qa4+ Nd7 8. Nf3 c5 (8... O-O 9. Be3 c5 10. Rc1 Nb6 11. Qd1 Bg4 12. Be2 Bxf3 13. gxf3 cxd4 14. cxd4 {with an unclear position in Carlsen - Caruana, Tal Memorial 2012}) 9. Be2 O-O 10. O-O Nb6 (10... a6 11. Qa3 Qc7 12. e5 b6 13. Bg5 Re8 14. h4 Bb7 { with a wild position in Riazantsev - Nepomniachtchi, Berlin World Rapid 2015}) 11. Qa3 cxd4 12. cxd4 Bg4 13. Rd1 Bxf3 14. Bxf3 {A novelty} (14. gxf3 {has been played before}) 14... Bxd4 15. e5 {From the speed with which he played it, Carlsen seems to have come well armed for the game} Nc4 16. Qb4 Rc8 17. Bh6 Bxa1 18. Rxd8 Rfxd8 19. e6 Ne5 20. exf7+ Nxf7 21. Be3 Bd4 22. Qxe7 Re8 23. Qa3 b6 24. Bd5 Rc5 25. Bxf7+ Kxf7 26. Qxa7+ Re7 27. Qa6 (27. Qa3 Bxe3 28. fxe3 Rce5 ) 27... b5 28. h3 Bxe3 29. fxe3 Rce5 30. Qb6 R7e6 31. Qb7+ Re7 32. Qb6 R7e6 33. Qb7+ Re7 34. Qb6 1/2-1/2 [Event "7th Sinquefield Cup GCT 2019"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2019.08.24"] [Round "7.1"] [White "Ding, Liren"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2805"] [BlackElo "2756"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "119"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Be7 5. Bg2 d5 6. Nf3 O-O 7. O-O Nbd7 8. Qc2 c6 9. a4 a5 10. Na3 Bd6 11. Ne1 Re8 12. Nd3 e5 13. cxd5 e4 14. Nf4 cxd5 15. Nb5 Bb8 16. Rac1 Ra6 17. Bh3 $2 (17. Nc7 Rc6 18. Nxe8 Rxc2 19. Nxf6+ Nxf6 20. Rxc2 Bd7 21. b3 g5 22. Nh3 h6 $15) 17... Rc6 (17... g5 $5 18. Nxd5 Nxd5 19. Qxc8 Qxc8 20. Rxc8 Rxc8 21. Bxd7 {with a wild position}) 18. Qb3 Nb6 {Svidler - "Ding is in significant amount of trouble here"} 19. Bxa5 $4 (19. Bxc8 Nc4 $1 20. Bxb7 Nxd2 21. Qa3 Rxc1 22. Rxc1 Bxf4 23. gxf4 e3 $1) 19... Bxh3 20. Nxh3 ( 20. Rxc6 bxc6 21. Bxb6 Qxb6) 20... Qc8 (20... Qd7 21. Rxc6 (21. Kg2 Nc4 22. Bb4 Ng4) 21... bxc6 $19) 21. Kg2 Rxc1 (21... Nc4 $3 22. Rxc4 (22. Bc7 Nd2) (22. Bb4 Ng4 23. Rxc4 dxc4 24. Qc3 Rh6) 22... dxc4 23. Qa3 e3 $19 24. f3 (24. f4 Ng4) 24... Nd5) 22. Rxc1 Qxc1 23. Bxb6 e3 24. f3 h5 $1 $19 25. Ba5 h4 26. gxh4 Qc6 ( 26... Ne4 $3 27. fxe4 (27. Qxd5 Nd2 28. Bxd2 exd2) 27... Rxe4 28. Qxd5 Rg4+) 27. Be1 (27. Qd3 Nh5) 27... Nh5 $4 (27... Qc1 $1 28. Qc3 (28. Bg3 Bxg3 29. hxg3 Qe1) 28... Qd1 29. Kf1 Bxh2) 28. Bg3 Qc4 (28... Qg6 29. Ng5 Bxg3 30. hxg3 f6 31. Qxd5+) (28... Bxg3 29. hxg3 Qc1 30. Qb4 (30. Qc3 Qd1) 30... Rc8 (30... Qd1 31. Nc3) 31. Nc3 Qe1) 29. Qxc4 dxc4 30. Ng5 Nf6 $2 (30... Nf4+ 31. Bxf4 Bxf4 $17) 31. Na3 Bxg3 32. hxg3 Ra8 33. Nxc4 Rxa4 34. Nxe3 {and though black is slightly better, he never achieves anything significant} Rxd4 35. Kf2 Nd5 36. Nf5 Rb4 37. h5 Rxb2 38. h6 f6 39. Ne4 gxh6 40. Nxh6+ Kf8 41. Nf5 b5 42. Ne3 Nb6 43. Ke1 b4 44. Kd1 Na4 45. Nd5 f5 46. Nd2 b3 47. e4 fxe4 48. fxe4 Kf7 49. g4 Nc5 50. Nb4 Ke6 51. Kc1 Na4 52. g5 Ke7 53. Nc6+ Kf7 54. Nd4 Kg6 55. N4xb3 Ra2 56. Nf3 Nc3 57. Nbd2 Rxd2 58. Kxd2 Nxe4+ 59. Ke3 Nxg5 60. Nxg5 1/2-1/2 [Event "7th Sinquefield Cup GCT 2019"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2019.08.23"] [Round "7.6"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2765"] [BlackElo "2743"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 g6 {An opening surprise - Nakamura has never played this before and has almost always played 6...e5 here} 7. O-O Bg7 8. Re1 O-O 9. Bf1 Nc6 10. Nb3 b5 11. Bg5 h6 12. Bh4 g5 {Black looks like taking liberties with his pawn structure on the kingside. Nakamura was playing the opening tentatively all through, indicating that his decisions were taken over the board rather than being home preparation} 13. Bg3 Bg4 14. f3 Be6 15. Bf2 d5 16. exd5 Nxd5 17. Nxd5 Qxd5 18. c3 b4 19. Nc5 Qxd1 20. Rexd1 bxc3 21. bxc3 Bf5 22. Bxa6 (22. Rac1 Ne5 23. Nxa6 Rfc8) 22... Bxc3 23. Bb7 Nb4 24. Bxa8 Rxa8 25. a4 Bxa1 26. Rxa1 f6 27. a5 Bc8 28. h3 Kf7 29. Rb1 Na6 30. Ne4 Rb8 31. Rc1 Bd7 32. Bd4 h5 33. Bb6 Rc8 34. Rxc8 Bxc8 35. Nc5 Nxc5 36. Bxc5 h4 37. Bb4 Ba6 38. Bc5 Bc8 39. Bb4 Ba6 40. Bc5 Bc8 1/2-1/2 [Event "7th Sinquefield Cup GCT 2019"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2019.08.23"] [Round "7.5"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2776"] [BlackElo "2750"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "84"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 b6 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. Nxd5 Qxd5 9. Be2 Qa5+ 10. Nd2 Ba6 11. O-O c5 12. Nc4 Bxc4 13. Bxc4 cxd4 14. exd4 Nc6 15. d5 exd5 16. Qxd5 Qxd5 17. Bxd5 Rac8 18. Rfd1 Bf6 19. Rab1 Nd4 20. Kf1 Rfe8 21. g3 Rc5 22. Bg2 Ne6 23. Be3 Rc2 24. Rd7 Re7 25. Rxe7 Bxe7 26. Be4 Rc7 27. Rc1 Bc5 28. Bd2 Rd7 29. Be1 a5 30. a3 g6 31. b4 axb4 32. axb4 Be7 33. Rc8+ Kg7 34. Rc6 {[#]} Rd1 $1 35. Ke2 (35. Rxb6 Nd4 36. Rb7 Kf8 37. f4 f5 38. Rb8+ Kg7 (38... Kf7 $2 39. Bd5+ Kf6 40. Kf2) 39. Rb7 $11) 35... Rd4 36. Rxe6 fxe6 37. Bc3 Bf6 38. Bxd4 Bxd4 39. Bc2 Kf6 40. Be4 Kg7 41. Bd3 Kf6 42. Be4 Kg7 1/2-1/2 [Event "7th Sinquefield Cup GCT 2019"] [Site "Saint Louis, USA"] [Date "2019.08.24"] [Round "7.1"] [White "Ding, Liren"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E11"] [WhiteElo "2805"] [BlackElo "2756"] [Annotator "Yermolinsky"] [PlyCount "119"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] {The game between two leaders is a natural choice for Game of the Day. With the tournament heading for a final stretch, while King Magnus is still asleep, it was a high time for both contestants to make a push.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Be7 5. Bg2 d5 6. Nf3 O-O 7. O-O Nbd7 8. Qc2 (8. Nc3 dxc4 { is the point of Vishy's accurate move order.}) 8... c6 9. a4 {This move has greatly gained in popularity recently because of White's lack of definite success in other tries. One has to play something.} a5 10. Na3 (10. Rc1 { is a trend-setting game. Carlsen-Eljanov, Norway Chess 2016. It went} Ne4 11. Be1 {Sidenote: This bishop is valuable!} f5 12. Nbd2 Bd6 {Black has switched to a Stonewall formation and seemingly obtained a decent game. The problem was having a world champion for an opponent. Subsequently Eljanov was outplayed and lost.}) 10... Bd6 11. Ne1 {This knight maneuver, which is a trademark of Ding's style, is designed to combat the Stonewall. It's instructive to observe Anand's reaction.} Re8 {Techically speaking, it's a novelty, albeit the line beginning with 10.Na3 is rather obscure and non-theoretical.} 12. Nd3 e5 $1 13. cxd5 (13. dxe5 Nxe5 14. Nxe5 Bxe5 {is about equal, and White cannot be happy wasting all that time on the knight's moves.}) 13... e4 14. Nf4 cxd5 {What we have here is a vaguely French structure, something Anand has a lot of experience with as White.} 15. Nb5 Bb8 16. Rac1 {It may seem that Black has a problem with his Ra8, but watch this:} Ra6 $1 {You might recall a Women's World Championship match game between Tan Zhongyi and Ju Wenjun, where the future world champion used the same idea to achiecve a critical victory.} 17. Bh3 $6 {There must have been a miscalculation.} ({After a logical} 17. Qb3 Nb6 {it's anyone's game, particularly if White finds} 18. Rfd1 {setting up} Nc4 $2 19. Nxd5 {+-}) ({Also interesting is} 17. Qc3 {to keep Ra6 where it is.}) 17... Rc6 18. Qb3 Nb6 {The key moment of the game.} 19. Bxa5 $2 {Blunder as it is, one can understand Ding's desire to follow through on his ideas.} ({Otherwise, } 19. Rxc6 bxc6 20. Bxc8 Nc4 (20... Qxc8 21. Nc3 Nc4 {is quite good good for Black.})) 19... Bxh3 20. Nxh3 Qc8 21. Kg2 {Sad necessity.} (21. Rxc6 bxc6 22. Bxb6 (22. Kg2 Nc4 {-+}) 22... Qxh3 23. Nc3 Ng4 {-+}) 21... Rxc1 22. Rxc1 Qxc1 23. Bxb6 e3 $1 {As Anand found the most direct path, it seemed the game was about over.} 24. f3 h5 25. Ba5 h4 26. gxh4 ({Obviously, if Ding had played} 26. g4 {Vishy would have found the killer blow} Nxg4 27. fxg4 Re4 {in a split second.}) 26... Qc6 $2 ({It is, however, a bit harder to put a piece en prise on an empty square.} 26... Ne4 $1 {With the same idea.} 27. fxe4 Rxe4 {-+}) 27. Be1 $1 Nh5 28. Bg3 {Key moment #2.} Qc4 {Clearly, a forced change of direction, from attack to endgame.} ({Suddenly Black discovers that his planned} 28... Qg6 {will be met with} 29. Ng5 {and now} f6 $2 {is a bit too much:} 30. Qxd5+) 29. Qxc4 dxc4 30. Ng5 Nf6 {Up the exchange Black is still better. If his rook gets out, the advantage may quickly become decisive.} 31. Na3 {Perhaps not the best. } (31. Ne4 Nxe4 32. fxe4 Bxg3 33. hxg3 Rxe4 34. Kf3 f5 35. d5 Kf8 36. Nd6 { ⩱ could be more confusing for the opponent.}) 31... Bxg3 $1 {Good, straightforward play by Anand.} 32. hxg3 Ra8 33. Nxc4 Rxa4 34. Nxe3 Rxd4 { Now if Black can only get to the b-pawn...} 35. Kf2 Nd5 $1 {As usual, in the endgame the advantage of the exchange is most visible in its pure form.} 36. Nf5 {Naturally, Ding resists.} Rb4 37. h5 Rxb2 38. h6 f6 39. Ne4 gxh6 40. Nxh6+ Kf8 41. Nf5 b5 42. Ne3 (42. Nd4 b4 43. Nc5 {seems more resilient.}) 42... Nb6 $6 {A surprising decision.} ({In light of what is discussed above,} 42... Nxe3 43. Kxe3 Rc2 44. Kd3 Rc6 {seems logical, but would there be a win if White just holds his ground?} 45. g4 b4 46. Nd2 Kf7 47. Ke4 Ke6 48. e3 {Vishy apparently wasn't sure about that.}) 43. Ke1 $3 {Ding comes up with a fantastic defensive idea.} ({Why not take a pawn? you might ask.} 43. Nxf6 b4 44. Ne4 b3 45. Nc3 Rd2 46. Ke1 Rd4 47. Ned1 Nc4 48. Na4 {is still hard to break down, but Black may find a way.}) 43... b4 44. Kd1 Na4 45. Nd5 f5 46. Nd2 b3 47. e4 fxe4 48. fxe4 Kf7 49. g4 Nc5 50. Nb4 {This is the point of White's play. The black rook suddenly has no squares to go to.} Ke6 51. Kc1 Na4 52. g5 Ke7 53. Nc6+ Kf7 54. Nd4 Kg6 55. N4xb3 {Now it's an obvious draw.} Ra2 56. Nf3 Nc3 57. Nbd2 Rxd2 58. Kxd2 Nxe4+ 59. Ke3 Nxg5 60. Nxg5 {Despite its peaceful outcome, this game no one can complain about. In the meantime, the status quo has not been disturbed, as all games in round seven were drawn. The plot thickens.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "7th Sinquefield Cup GCT 2019"] [Site "Saint Louis, USA"] [Date "2019.08.24"] [Round "7"] [White "Magnus Carlsen"] [Black "Ian Nepomniachtchi"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D85"] [WhiteElo "2882"] [BlackElo "2774"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Qa4+ { Carlsen chooses a line with some sharp possibilities.} Nd7 8. Nf3 c5 9. Be2 O-O 10. O-O Nb6 11. Qa3 cxd4 12. cxd4 Bg4 13. Rd1 $5 {The fresh idea by Carlsen.} ( 13. Bg5 {This is considered the mainline, and it has been extensively analyzed. }) 13... Bxf3 14. Bxf3 Bxd4 {Carlsen gives up a pawn to create an initiative. He has the more active pieces, but Nepomniachtchi defends naturally and responds with rapid development.} 15. e5 Nc4 16. Qb4 Rc8 17. Bh6 Bxa1 18. Rxd8 Rfxd8 19. e6 $1 {The best move to keep Black on his toes.} Ne5 20. exf7+ Nxf7 21. Be3 Bd4 {GM Peter Svidler said on the official broadcast that Black has equalized around this time. It is strange that Carlsen chose this line as Ian had to make only moves to defend and now he has equalized without making any special moves.} 22. Qxe7 (22. Qxb7 Rb8 23. Qe4 Bxe3 24. fxe3 {White has a very minute edge.}) 22... Re8 23. Qa3 b6 24. Bd5 (24. Qxa7 $4 Rc1+ 25. Bxc1 Re1#) 24... Rc5 25. Bxf7+ Kxf7 26. Qxa7+ Re7 27. Qa6 (27. Qxb6 Rc1+ {Black mates next.}) 27... b5 28. h3 Bxe3 29. fxe3 Rce5 30. Qb6 R7e6 31. Qb7+ Re7 32. Qb6 R7e6 33. Qb7+ Re7 34. Qb6 1/2-1/2 [Event "7th Sinquefield Cup GCT 2019"] [Site "Saint Louis, USA"] [Date "2019.08.24"] [Round "7"] [White "Anish Giri"] [Black "Fabiano Caruana"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D37"] [WhiteElo "2779"] [BlackElo "2818"] [PlyCount "99"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 {Giri tries the fashionable Harrwitz Attack against the Queen's Gambit Declined. Karjakin tried this against Aronian yesterday!} O-O 6. e3 b6 {Aronian played Nbd7 yesterday.} 7. Bd3 dxc4 8. Bxc4 Ba6 {A typical idea in such structures to neutralize the light-squared bishop.} 9. Qe2 Qc8 10. O-O Bxc4 11. Qxc4 c5 12. dxc5 Qxc5 { Black looks absolutely fine.} 13. Qxc5 Bxc5 14. Rac1 Rd8 15. h3 h6 16. Bxb8 { Giri tries to create an imbalance.} Raxb8 17. Rc2 Nd5 18. Nxd5 Rxd5 19. Rfc1 a5 20. Kf1 f5 21. Ke2 Kf7 22. Rc4 Rbd8 23. g4 g6 24. h4 e5 25. e4 fxe4 26. Rxe4 { Black's e- pawn is now isolated, but sometimes a weakness near the king is easy to guard.} Ke6 27. a3 Rf8 28. Rc3 h5 29. Rc2 b5 30. b4 axb4 31. axb4 Bd6 32. Ng5+ Kd7 33. Nh7 Rf7 34. Ng5 Rf4 35. gxh5 gxh5 36. Rxf4 exf4 37. Ne4 Be7 38. Kf3 Bxh4 39. Nc3 Rf5 40. Ke4 Ke6 41. Ra2 Re5+ 42. Kxf4 Rf5+ 43. Ke4 Rxf2 44. Rxf2 Bxf2 45. Kf3 Bd4 46. Nxb5 Kd5 47. Nxd4 Kxd4 48. Kg3 Kc4 49. Kh4 Kxb4 50. Kxh5 1/2-1/2 [Event "7th Sinquefield Cup GCT 2019"] [Site "Saint Louis, USA"] [Date "2019.08.24"] [Round "7"] [White "Levon Aronian"] [Black "Hikaru Nakamura"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B92"] [WhiteElo "2765"] [BlackElo "2743"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 g6 7. O-O Bg7 8. Re1 O-O {Nakamura has employed the Opocensky Variation in the Sicilian after he avoided a more typical Najdorf.} 9. Bf1 Nc6 10. Nb3 b5 11. Bg5 h6 12. Bh4 g5 13. Bg3 Bg4 14. f3 Be6 15. Bf2 d5 $5 {Nakamura decides to strike in the center and has equalized.} 16. exd5 Nxd5 17. Nxd5 Qxd5 18. c3 b4 19. Nc5 Qxd1 20. Rexd1 bxc3 21. bxc3 Bf5 22. Bxa6 Bxc3 23. Bb7 Nb4 24. Bxa8 Rxa8 25. a4 (25. Rac1 {doesn't help White as Black has} Nxa2) 25... Bxa1 26. Rxa1 f6 27. a5 { Aronian has managed to push his pawn to the fifth rank, but thanks to the strong blockade on a6 and opposite-colored bishops, this game will soon fizzle to a draw.} Bc8 28. h3 Kf7 29. Rb1 Na6 30. Ne4 Rb8 31. Rc1 Bd7 32. Bd4 h5 33. Bb6 Rc8 34. Rxc8 Bxc8 35. Nc5 Nxc5 36. Bxc5 h4 {Notice the good technique shown by Nakamura. Because he has fixed his opponent's pawns on the squares of his own bishop, the white king can't leave the defense of the kingside pawns.} 37. Bb4 Ba6 38. Bc5 Bc8 39. Bb4 Ba6 40. Bc5 Bc8 1/2-1/2 [Event "7th Sinquefield Cup GCT 2019"] [Site "Saint Louis, USA"] [Date "2019.08.24"] [Round "7"] [White "Wesley So"] [Black "Sergey Karjakin"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D37"] [WhiteElo "2776"] [BlackElo "2750"] [PlyCount "84"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 {The Harrwitz Attack is chosen again to fight the Queen's Gambit Declined.} O-O 6. e3 b6 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. Nxd5 Qxd5 9. Be2 Qa5+ 10. Nd2 Ba6 11. O-O c5 12. Nc4 Bxc4 13. Bxc4 {White has won the bishop pair, but Black takes quick action in the centre.} cxd4 14. exd4 Nc6 15. d5 exd5 16. Qxd5 Qxd5 17. Bxd5 Rac8 {White retains a minute edge until the end of the game, but Karjakin holds with ease.} 18. Rfd1 Bf6 19. Rab1 Nd4 20. Kf1 Rfe8 21. g3 Rc5 22. Bg2 Ne6 23. Be3 Rc2 24. Rd7 Re7 25. Rxe7 Bxe7 26. Be4 Rc7 27. Rc1 Bc5 28. Bd2 Rd7 29. Be1 a5 30. a3 g6 31. b4 axb4 32. axb4 Be7 33. Rc8+ Kg7 34. Rc6 Rd1 35. Ke2 Rd4 36. Rxe6 fxe6 37. Bc3 Bf6 38. Bxd4 Bxd4 39. Bc2 Kf6 40. Be4 Kg7 41. Bd3 Kf6 42. Be4 Kg7 {An effortless draw by Karjakin with the black pieces.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "7th Sinquefield Cup GCT 2019"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2019.08.25"] [Round "8.2"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Ding, Liren"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E21"] [WhiteElo "2882"] [BlackElo "2805"] [Annotator "yermo"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 {The Nimzo is a versatile opening, which offers both sides a wide choice of options.} O-O {As recent as a couple of decades ago castling was considered somewhat dubious, because of the extra risks taken by breaking the pin by advancing kingside pawns. Nowadays people will play anything as long as it's approved by computers.} ({Here Black had three other moves, all of which are considered important.} 4... d5) (4... c5 { and}) (4... b6) 5. Bg5 c5 6. Rc1 ({One previous encounter between these two (at the 2017 Champions Showdown Rapid in St. Louis) took a different road:} 6. e3 cxd4 7. exd4 d5 8. Be2 dxc4 9. O-O h6 10. Bh4 b6 {Here Carlsen experimented with} 11. Ne5 $5 (11. Bxc4 {would have transposed to Karpov's favorite line in the Rubinstein Variation.}) 11... Bxc3 12. bxc3 Bb7 13. Nxc4 Nbd7 14. Nd6 { and obtained some intiative, although the game was eventually drawn.}) 6... h6 7. Bh4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 d5 {This is pretty much a forced line.} ({The old plan} 8... Nc6 9. e3 b6 {allowed White to obtain some edge thanks to a peculiar roundabout maneuver,} 10. Ndb5 a6 11. Nd6 Qe7 12. Nde4 g5 13. Nxf6+ Qxf6 14. Bg3 {Aronian-Caruana, 2016.}) 9. cxd5 g5 10. Bg3 Qxd5 11. e3 Qxa2 {On the face of it Black's play is ridiculous: first he weakens his king, then goes after a pawn with his queen. The justification is simple: it works.} 12. Qc2 (12. Bd3 { The stem game Topalov-Ding Liren(!), played in a match in China in 2018, saw} Qxb2 13. O-O Bxc3 14. Rc2 Qb4 15. Nb5 e5 16. Rxc3 Nc6 {with unclear consequences for both sides.}) 12... Nd5 13. h4 Nxc3 14. bxc3 $1 {Clearly, Carlsen was in his home prep. Otherwise, how do you sac a pawn and then trade queens?} ({Previously known was} 14. hxg5 Na4+ 15. Kd1 Qxb2 16. Qxb2 Nxb2+ 17. Kc2 {but after} hxg5 18. Kxb2 Be7 {White's attack fizzles out, and he has to accept a draw in} 19. Bd3 Bf6 20. Rh6 Kg7 21. Rh7+ Kg8 22. Rh6) 14... Qxc2 15. Rxc2 Be7 16. hxg5 hxg5 17. f4 $1 {Of course, White still must play energetically, but unlike in the note given above, his deficit is only one pawn.} Nc6 18. fxg5 Bxg5 19. Rh5 f6 20. Nf3 $5 {Carlsen must be tired of draws and willing to take crazy risks to avoid another one.} ({He had a safer option: } 20. Nxc6 bxc6 21. Bf4 Bxf4 22. exf4 {The tradeoff is that it does not give much winning chances for White either.}) 20... Bxe3 21. Re2 Bc1 22. Re4 e5 23. Bc4+ Kg7 24. Reh4 {Suddenly it looks threatening, as Black has difficulties in completing his development.} Kg6 $1 {Ding Liren isn't scared easily.} 25. Rh7 Bg4 $5 {An interesting move.} (25... e4 26. Bd6 Bf5 27. Nd2 Ne5 {was in all probability good enough to force a draw:} 28. R4h6+ Kg5 29. Rh5+ Kg6 {etc.}) 26. Bd3+ f5 27. Nxe5+ Nxe5 28. Bxe5 {Now checkmate in one is threatening, but Ding is a cool customer.} Kg5 $1 29. g3 Rg8 {Ding's good defense stopped all Carlsen's threats. It's high time White begins to look for a draw.} 30. Rxb7 { A practical decision.} Rae8 31. Rb5 Rg6 {It's no longer clear who's attacking who, but with reasonable play from both sides, another draw for Carlsen seems inevitable.} 32. Kf2 Rb6 33. Rxb6 axb6 34. Rh1 Rxe5 35. Rxc1 f4 36. gxf4+ Kxf4 37. Rb1 Rc5 38. Rb4+ Kg5 39. Rxb6 Rxc3 40. Ke3 Bf5 41. Rd6 Rxd3+ 42. Rxd3 Bxd3 43. Kxd3 1/2-1/2 [Event "7th Sinquefield Cup GCT 2019"] [Site "Saint Louis, USA"] [Date "2019.08.25"] [Round "8"] [White "Ian Nepomniachtchi"] [Black "Levon Aronian"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C55"] [WhiteElo "2774"] [BlackElo "2765"] [PlyCount "107"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. O-O d6 6. c3 a6 7. Re1 Ba7 8. Bb3 O-O 9. h3 Re8 10. Nbd2 Be6 11. Ba4 b5 12. Bc2 h6 13. Nf1 d5 14. exd5 Bxd5 15. Ng3 {Nepomniachtchi blitzed out every single move of his until this point.} Nh7 16. a4 Nf8 $6 (16... b4 {was plausible and recommended by the engines.}) 17. b4 Ng6 18. Be3 Bxe3 19. fxe3 Qd7 20. Nd2 Nce7 21. Nb3 Qc6 {Aronian starts to eyeball the white kingside now.} 22. Qd2 Nh4 23. e4 Qg6 $2 (23... Bxb3 24. Bxb3 Rad8 {is better than the text for Black.}) 24. Kh2 Bc6 25. Nc5 f5 26. exf5 Nexf5 27. Nge4 Bd5 28. Re2 Rad8 29. Rf1 Nd6 30. Qe1 $6 (30. d4 Kh8 31. Qe1 Ndf5 32. g4 exd4 33. gxf5 Nxf5 34. Bd3 {is extremely risky but close to winning for white.}) 30... Nhf5 $2 (30... Nxe4 {was highly recommended as it trades knights and also pushes White's knight back to e4 from the beautiful outpost on c5.} 31. Nxe4 Nf5 32. a5 Rf8 33. Ref2 Rf7) 31. a5 $1 {White grabs his chance to permanently fix the pawn on a6 and it was this pawn that decided the game later on.} Rf8 32. Ref2 Rf7 33. Rf3 h5 {Aronian tries his last bit on the kingside.} (33... Ra8 {Passive defence is just pointless as white's pieces are very powerful in the centre and the kingside.} 34. Qe2 h5 35. Bb3 Bxb3 36. Nxb3 h4 37. Nbc5) 34. Nxa6 h4 35. Nac5 Rdf8 36. Kg1 Qh6 37. Qc1 Ne3 38. Rxf7 Rxf7 39. Rxf7 Kxf7 {White has played well until now and has traded pieces at regular intervals.} 40. Qe1 $2 (40. Bb3 $1 {almost wins on the spot and the passed a pawn will tell and Black is forced to trade queens.} Bxb3 41. Nxb3) 40... Nxc2 41. Qf2+ Ke8 42. Qxc2 Bxe4 43. Nxe4 Nxe4 44. dxe4 {The transition into the queen endgame is bad for White. Black's only weakness is the passed 'a' pawn and the king can cover it while the queen can try to give perpetual checks.} Qe3+ 45. Kf1 Qf4+ $4 {The queen was ideally placed on e3 and controlling it's counterpart.} (45... Kd7 {The endgame rule had to be followed: Use your king as a piece!} 46. Qe2 Qc1+ 47. Qe1 Qf4+ 48. Ke2 Qxe4+ 49. Kd1 Qxg2 50. Qxh4 Qf1+ {White still holds the trumps but Black is much closer to a draw now.}) 46. Qf2 Qc1+ 47. Qe1 Qf4+ 48. Kg1 Kd8 49. Qf2 Qc1+ 50. Kh2 Qxc3 51. a6 Ke8 52. Qxh4 Qa3 53. Qh5+ Kf8 (53... Ke7 54. Qxe5+) (53... Kd8 54. Qh8+ Kd7 55. Qxg7+) (53... Kd7 54. Qf7+ Kd6 55. Qg6+ Kd7 56. Qxg7+) 54. Qf3+ {This trades queens and White's a pawn will promote!} 1-0 [Event "7th Sinquefield Cup GCT 2019"] [Site "Saint Louis, USA"] [Date "2019.08.25"] [Round "8"] [White "Sergey Karjakin"] [Black "Maxime Vachier-Lagrave"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D87"] [WhiteElo "2750"] [BlackElo "2778"] [PlyCount "101"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 {Vachier-Lagrave goes for his pet Gruenfeld which Karjakin has come well prepared for.} 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 c5 8. Ne2 Nc6 9. Be3 O-O 10. O-O b6 11. dxc5 Qc7 12. Nd4 Ne5 13. Nb5 Qb8 14. Bd5 Ng4 15. g3 Nxe3 16. fxe3 a6 17. Nd4 bxc5 $2 {Vachier-Lagrave said that he played this without thinking and he deserves to lose because of this.} ( 17... Bh3 {This was Black's preparation. But he played the text fast and without thinking.} 18. Bxa8 Bxf1 19. Kxf1 Qxa8 20. cxb6 Qxe4 21. Kf2 Rb8 22. Qb3 e5 23. Nf3 Qf5 {Black's has good compensation for the sacrificed pawn.}) 18. Rb1 Qa7 19. Nc6 Qc7 20. Nxe7+ Qxe7 21. Bxa8 Bh3 22. Bd5 Bxf1 23. Qxf1 Bxc3 24. Qxa6 Qg5 25. Qe2 {Karjakin has won a pawn. This outside passed pawn on the queenside will prove to be the difference in the game.} Kh8 26. Kg2 f5 27. Qd3 Be5 28. Rf1 Kg7 29. exf5 Rxf5 30. a4 Rxf1 31. Kxf1 Bd4 32. Bc4 Bxe3 $2 (32... Qf6+ 33. Kg2 Bc3 {is better than the text move as it stops the passed pawn in it's tracks.}) 33. Qd7+ Kh6 34. Qh3+ Kg7 35. Qe6 {Now White's advantage is decisive as he combines threats of the passed pawn and mating ideas on the black king} Bd4 36. Qf7+ Kh6 37. a5 Bf6 38. Kg2 Qd2+ 39. Kh3 Qg5 40. Qf8+ Bg7 41. Qf3 Bd4 42. a6 Qe7 43. Qa8 Bf6 44. a7 Qd7+ 45. g4 Qe7 46. Qf3 Qxa7 47. Qxf6 Qa3+ 48. Bd3 $1 {The whole point of the combination. Black has stalemating ideas but thanks to this bishop move, Black's c-pawn can advance now.} ({ A horrible blunder would have been} 48. Kh4 $4 Qg3+ 49. hxg3 {which is stalemate!}) 48... Qxd3+ 49. Kh4 Qd4 50. Qf8+ Qg7 {A rare sight of an elite player being checkmated by a pawn.} 51. g5# {Vachier-Lagrave was gracious enough to allow this mate in one!} 1-0 [Event "7th Sinquefield Cup GCT 2019"] [Site "Saint Louis, USA"] [Date "2019.08.25"] [Round "8"] [White "Fabiano Caruana"] [Black "Viswanathan Anand"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D37"] [WhiteElo "2818"] [BlackElo "2756"] [PlyCount "88"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 {The Harrwitz Attack again!} O-O 6. e3 b6 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. Nxd5 Qxd5 9. a3 Ba6 10. Bxa6 Nxa6 11. b4 Bd6 12. Bg3 Nb8 13. Qd3 b5 14. e4 Qb7 15. d5 $5 {Highly ambitious by Caruana.} (15. Bh4) ({ and} 15. O-O {were the normal possibilities.}) 15... exd5 16. e5 Be7 17. Nd4 a5 18. Nf5 Re8 19. Nxe7+ {White gets the bishop but thanks to his pawn on e5 White's bishop can't get too active.} Rxe7 20. O-O Nd7 21. Qc3 axb4 22. axb4 Rc8 23. Rfc1 c6 24. f4 f6 25. Bf2 Qc7 $6 ({Even simpler was} 25... Ra8 26. Rxa8+ Qxa8 27. Qxc6 Qxc6 28. Rxc6 fxe5 29. Bh4 Nf6 30. Bxf6 gxf6 31. Rxf6 exf4 32. Rb6) 26. Ra7 Qd8 27. Qh3 fxe5 28. fxe5 Rc7 29. Ra3 Nxe5 {Black gives up his exchange as he wins another pawn.} 30. Bb6 Qc8 31. Bxc7 Qxh3 32. Rxh3 Rxc7 33. Re1 Nc4 34. Rf3 h6 35. Re6 c5 36. bxc5 Rxc5 37. h4 Nd2 38. Rd3 Ne4 39. Rb6 Kh7 40. g4 Rc1+ 41. Kg2 Rc2+ 42. Kg1 Rc1+ 43. Kg2 Rc2+ 44. Kg1 Rc1+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "7th Sinquefield Cup GCT 2019"] [Site "Saint Louis, USA"] [Date "2019.08.25"] [Round "8"] [White "Shakhriyar Mamedyarov"] [Black "Anish Giri"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D43"] [WhiteElo "2764"] [BlackElo "2779"] [PlyCount "57"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 Qxf6 7. e3 g6 8. Ne5 Bg7 9. f4 Nd7 10. h4 {True to his style, Mamedyarov goes for the attack right away.} Qe7 11. Qc2 O-O 12. O-O-O {The Azeri star simply loves to castle on opposite wings and then blow up the opponent's king shelter.} Nxe5 13. fxe5 Bd7 14. g4 {The closed structure makes Giri's life more difficult as he can't trade pieces and neither can he create counterplay.} f6 $1 {18 minutes later, Giri finds the best defence which involves opening up his own king.} 15. Qxg6 fxe5 {Played after 35 minutes of thought.} 16. Bd3 e4 17. Nxe4 {Mamedyarov played this in a flash!} Be8 18. Nf6+ Rxf6 19. Qh7+ Kf8 20. g5 hxg5 21. hxg5 Rf7 22. Qh3 Rd8 $6 (22... dxc4 23. Bxc4 Rf5 24. e4 Rf4 25. Rhf1 Qxg5 26. Kb1 Bf7 27. Bxe6 Bxe6 28. Qxe6 Qf6 29. Rxf4 Qxf4 30. e5 {White's attack has gone down but it's still not so clear for Black.}) 23. g6 Rf6 24. Qh8+ $1 {If you're gonna take a draw, at least do it in style!} Bxh8 25. Rxh8+ Kg7 26. Rh7+ Kf8 27. Rh8+ Kg7 28. Rh7+ Kf8 29. Rh8+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "7th Sinquefield Cup 2019"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2019.08.26"] [Round "9.1"] [White "Ding, Liren"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D37"] [WhiteElo "2805"] [BlackElo "2818"] [PlyCount "113"] [EventDate "2019.08.17"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 b6 7. Bd3 dxc4 8. Bxc4 Ba6 9. Bxa6 Nxa6 10. Qe2 Qc8 11. O-O Qb7 12. a3 c5 13. Nb5 Rac8 {N} (13... Ne4 14. Rac1 Rac8 15. Ne5 Nd6 16. Nxd6 Bxd6 17. Qg4 cxd4 18. Rxc8 Rxc8 19. Nxf7 Bxf4 20. Qxe6 Nc5 21. Nh6+ Kh8 22. Nf7+ Kg8 23. Nh6+ Kh8 {1/2 (23) Carlsen,M (2835)-Nakamura,H (2746) St Petersburg 2018}) 14. b4 Nd5 15. bxc5 bxc5 16. Rab1 Rc6 17. Be5 Rb6 18. a4 Nac7 19. dxc5 Bxc5 20. Rbc1 Nxb5 21. Rxc5 Nd6 22. a5 Rc6 23. Bxd6 Rxd6 24. Rfc1 h6 25. h3 Rfd8 26. Ne5 Nf6 27. Nc6 R8d7 28. a6 Qb6 29. Ne5 Rd8 30. Rc8 Qa5 31. f4 Rd2 $6 (31... Rxc8 32. Rxc8+ Rd8) 32. Qf3 R2d5 33. R1c7 Kh7 34. Kh2 $1 {Now 35.Nc6 is threatened.} Rxc8 35. Rxc8 Qxa6 36. Ra8 $1 ( {The immediate} 36. Rf8 {allows} Nd7 $1 37. Nxd7 Rxd7 38. Qe4+ f5 39. Rxf5 exf5 40. Qxf5+ Qg6 41. Qxd7 a5 42. Qb5 Qe4 43. Qxa5 Qxe3) ({Ding had seen} 36. Rc7 Qa1 37. Rxf7 Rd1 ({he pointed out that} 37... Qb1 $1 {draws with} 38. Qg3 Nh5 39. Qg4 Rd1 40. Qxh5 Rh1+ 41. Kg3 Qe1+ 42. Kg4 Qe2+ 43. Kh4 Rxh3+ $1 44. gxh3 Qf2+ 45. Kg4 Qg2+) 38. Rxf6 gxf6 39. Qb7+ Kh8 40. Ng6+ Kg8 41. Qb8+ Kg7 42. Qf8+ Kxg6 43. Qg8+ Kf5 44. Qh7#) 36... Qb7 37. Rf8 Rb5 $6 ({The hard to find} 37... Qb4 $1 38. Rxf7 Qb1 $1 39. Rxa7 Rd1 {was good enough for a draw, e.g.} 40. Kg3 Rf1 $1 41. Qe2 Re1) 38. Qf1 $1 {Now f7 will drop and Black will suffer from the unsafety of his king.} Qd5 39. Nxf7 Nd7 40. Rd8 Rb8 41. Rxb8 Nxb8 42. Qb1+ Qf5 43. Qb7 $1 {Despite the trade of rooks the situation remains highly unpleasant for Black.} ({Of course not} 43. Qxb8 Qxf7) 43... Nc6 44. Nd6 Qc5 45. Ne4 {White is combining attacks on both of the enemy's royals.} Qc2 46. Nf6+ Kg6 47. Ne8 Qc3 48. e4 $1 {White is cutting off the f5 square and perhaps also closing the a1-h8 diagonal and win g7.} a5 49. Qd7 $1 {Black cannot defend everything.} (49. e5 Nd4 50. Qxg7+ Kf5 51. Qg4+ Ke4 52. f5+ Kxe5 { is more complicated.}) 49... a4 50. Qxe6+ Kh7 51. e5 Nd4 52. Qd7 Kg6 53. Qxg7+ Kf5 54. Nd6+ Kxf4 55. Qf6+ Ke3 56. e6 Kd3 57. e7 1-0 [Event "7th Sinquefield Cup 2019"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2019.08.26"] [Round "9.3"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A04"] [WhiteElo "2776"] [BlackElo "2774"] [PlyCount "264"] [EventDate "2019.08.17"] 1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nc6 3. Nc3 g6 4. e3 Nf6 5. d4 cxd4 6. exd4 d5 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. Qb3 e6 9. Bb5 Bg7 10. O-O O-O 11. Bxc6 bxc6 12. Na4 (12. Re1 Qc7 13. h3 a5 14. Bd2 Rb8 15. Nxd5 cxd5 16. Bxa5 Rxb3 17. Bxc7 Rxb2 18. a4 Ba6 19. Reb1 Rc2 { Malakhov,V (2660)-Van Wely,L (2600) Brest 2019}) 12... Qd6 13. Re1 Rb8 14. Qd1 Ne7 15. b3 Nf5 16. Bb2 Rd8 17. Qc2 Nxd4 18. Bxd4 Bxd4 19. Nxd4 Qxd4 20. Rad1 Qf6 21. Rxd8+ {N} (21. Qc3 Rxd1 22. Rxd1 e5 23. Qa5 Bf5 24. Qxa7 Rd8 25. Rxd8+ Qxd8 26. Nc3 Qd4 {Muradli,M (2451)-Safarli,E (2624) Nakhchivan 2019}) 21... Qxd8 22. Rd1 Qe8 23. h3 e5 24. Qc5 a6 25. Qa5 Kg7 26. Rd8 Qe7 27. Nb6 Qxd8 28. Qxe5+ Qf6 29. Qxb8 Be6 30. Qg3 h5 31. Na4 Qa1+ 32. Kh2 Qxa2 33. Nc5 Qe2 34. Qc3+ Kg8 35. Qd4 Bd5 36. Nd7 Qe6 37. Nf6+ Kf8 38. b4 Qd6+ 39. Kg1 Ke7 40. Ng8+ Ke6 41. Qf6+ Kd7 42. Qd4 Qb8 43. Nf6+ Ke6 44. Ne4 Bxe4 45. Qxe4+ Kd7 46. Qc4 Qe8 47. Qd4+ Kc8 48. Qb6 Qe1+ 49. Kh2 Qe5+ 50. g3 Qb5 51. Qa7 Qb7 52. Qc5 Qc7 53. h4 Kb7 54. Qf8 Qd7 55. Kg1 Qd5 56. Kh2 Kc7 57. Kg1 Kd7 58. Kh2 Qc4 59. Kg1 Qe6 60. Qc5 Qe2 61. Qd4+ Ke6 62. Qc5 Qb5 63. Qe3+ Kf6 64. Qc3+ Ke7 65. Qd4 Ke6 66. Qe3+ Kd7 67. Qa7+ Ke8 68. Qd4 Qd5 69. Qb6 Qc4 70. Qb8+ Ke7 71. Qe5+ Kd7 72. Qb8 Ke6 73. Qe8+ Kf5 74. Qe7 Qd5 75. Qe2 Qb5 76. Qe7 Qc4 77. Qe8 Qe6 78. Qd8 Ke4 79. Qd2 Qc4 80. Qe3+ Kf5 81. Qe7 {Here So claimed a draw based on a three-fold repetition. The same position also occurred after 74.Qe7 and after 76...Qc4, but there it was White to move so the claim was rejected!} Kg4 82. Qd7+ Kf3 83. Qd2 f6 84. Qe3+ Kg4 85. Kg2 Kf5 86. Kh2 g5 87. hxg5 fxg5 88. Qd2 Qd5 89. Qe2 Qd4 90. Kg1 $6 {Handing Black two passed pawns wasn't necessary.} ( {White could still protect both pawns with} 90. Qf3+ Ke5 91. Qf8) 90... Qxb4 91. Qf3+ Ke5 92. Qxh5 Qb1+ 93. Kg2 Qf5 94. Qd1 $6 ({The active} 94. Qh8+ Kd5 95. Qa8 Qd3 96. Kh3 {was better.}) 94... a5 {Each step of a pawn makes a big difference.} 95. Qd8 Ke4 96. Qd2 Qd5 $1 97. f3+ Kf5 98. g4+ Ke6 99. Qc2 Kd6 100. Kg3 Qe5+ 101. Kg2 Qf4 102. Qg6+ Kc7 103. Qh7+ Kb6 104. Qb1+ Qb4 105. Qc1 Qc5 106. Qb2+ Ka6 107. Qa2 Qb5 108. Qg8 a4 109. Qa8+ Kb6 110. Qd8+ Kb7 111. Qe7+ Ka6 112. Qf8 Qe2+ 113. Kh3 Qe3 114. Qa8+ Kb5 115. Qb7+ Qb6 116. Qg7 Qc5 117. Qb2+ Ka6 118. Qe2+ Ka7 119. Qd2 a3 120. f4 gxf4 121. Qxf4 Qc3+ 122. Kh4 Qh8+ 123. Kg5 Qg8+ 124. Kh5 Qd5+ 125. g5 a2 126. Qa4+ Kb6 127. Qb4+ Qb5 128. Qd4+ Ka6 129. Qd8 Qe2+ 130. Kh6 Qe6+ 131. g6 Qh3+ 132. Kg5 Qg2+ 0-1 [Event "7th Sinquefield Cup GCT 2019"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2019.08.26"] [Round "9.6"] [White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B11"] [WhiteElo "2778"] [BlackElo "2743"] [Annotator "yermo"] [PlyCount "117"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Nc3 {The Two Knights Variation of the Caro-Kann has always been an intriguing line. Some players like to use it as a Plan B option when their usual stuff is in repair shop. Nakamura himself played it a few times as White, so he must be well versed in its latest theory.} Nf6 {And he chooses a topical line.} ({Fischer was only 15 years old when he played in his first Candidates' tournament, held in former Yugoslavia. Bobby's opening repertoire hadn't quite settled yet, and he played the Two Knights every time he faced the Caro. Despite suffering some painful losses, Fischer stubbornly kept on repeating the same line in reply to Black's most common move} 3... Bg4 {Toward the end every Soviet player took his turn, even Paul Keres who NEVER played the Caro before. Of course, the theory has made some big strides ever since, and the bishop move is no longer considered safer than other lines. I learned it myself during a tough battle with Lu Shanglei (Danzhou 2016).}) 4. e5 Ne4 5. Ne2 {The attempt to trap the black knight in the middle represents the main line.} ({although against Ghosh in 2018 MVL played} 5. Be2) 5... Qb6 6. d4 e6 7. Ng3 {One would think that a trade of a pair of knights should be benifit Black who no longer has to deal with two of of his pieces competing for the e7-square. Things do not turn out so simple, thus White shows continuous interest in exploiting the 7.Ng3 file.} (7. Nfg1 {is the move it was all about. Eventually Black found a way to escape, but not before White racked up a number of nice victories}) 7... c5 8. Bd3 Nxg3 9. fxg3 $5 {A very surprising capture, but White plans on usung the f-file once he completes his development.} (9. hxg3 {just isn't fast enough with its idea of g4-g5}) 9... cxd4 10. O-O Nc6 11. Qe2 {Now Nf3-g5 is a real threat,} h6 12. a3 Bd7 13. g4 Be7 {Once the safety of the e5-pawn is ensured} 14. b4 {White executes a standard plan of winning back the d4-pawn.} a6 15. Rb1 Na7 {This idea seems a bit slow.} ({The position is very difficult to understand. Engines recommend} 15... Qc7 16. Bf4 b5 17. Qf2 g5 $5 18. Bg3 O-O 19. h4 a5 {where Black is playing on both sides of the board while totally disregarding the safety of his king. I don't think the humanity is quite ready for this.}) 16. Bb2 Nb5 17. Qf2 Qc7 18. Nxd4 O-O 19. Ne2 $1 {With this somewhat surprising retreat MVL showed his intention to transfer his knight to the kingside.} f6 $1 {A well-timed reaction by Hikaru!} 20. Qe3 (20. Qh4 Qd8) 20... fxe5 21. Bxe5 Bd6 22. Bxd6 Nxd6 23. g5 {White is still attacking, but soon more trades will totally defuse the situation, and we will get yet another plodding endgame. In defense of the contestants I must say that they obviously suffer from extreme fatique caused by the tightly packed schedule. They can still operate with good moves, but at critical moments when brilliancy is required the spark is all but gone.} Nf5 24. Bxf5 exf5 25. gxh6 Rae8 26. Qd2 {Case in point.} ({ The position screams for keeping the queens on, so} 26. Qf2 {is the move to look at:} Bb5 (26... Qxc2 27. Qg3 Rf7 28. Nf4) 27. hxg7 Qxg7 28. Rfe1) 26... Qb6+ 27. Nd4 Qxh6 28. Qxh6 gxh6 29. Rf3 {White is better, but it's hard to get excited watching technical work game in and game out.} Re4 30. c3 Kg7 31. h3 h5 32. Rbf1 Kg6 33. g3 Rc8 34. Kh2 b6 35. h4 f4 $5 {Instead of defending passively, Hikaru found a great pawn sacrifice to activate his bishop.} 36. gxf4 Bg4 37. Rd3 Kf6 38. Rf2 Re7 39. Nf3 Bf5 40. Rxd5 Rxc3 41. Ng5 (41. Rd6+ Re6) 41... Rc6 42. a4 Rec7 43. b5 axb5 44. axb5 Rc2 {White's extra pawn is largely meaningless.} 45. Kg2 Rxf2+ 46. Kxf2 Rc2+ 47. Ke3 Rc3+ 48. Kd2 Rc2+ 49. Kd1 Rc4 50. Rd6+ Ke7 51. Rxb6 Rxf4 52. Rb7+ Bd7 53. Kd2 Rxh4 54. Ke3 Rb4 55. Ne4 Rxb5 56. Rxb5 Bxb5 57. Ng3 h4 58. Nf5+ Kf6 59. Nxh4 1/2-1/2 [Event "7th Sinquefield Cup 2019"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2019.08.26"] [Round "9.5"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B31"] [WhiteElo "2765"] [BlackElo "2882"] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "2019.08.17"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. c3 Nf6 5. Qe2 Bg7 6. O-O O-O 7. d4 cxd4 8. cxd4 d6 9. h3 Nd7 {N} (9... a6 10. Bxc6 bxc6 11. Nc3 a5 12. Re1 Nd7 13. Bg5 h6 14. Be3 Kh7 15. Rac1 Ba6 16. Qd2 c5 {Kantans,T (2478)-Mamedov,R (2709) chess. com INT 2018}) 10. Rd1 a6 11. Bxc6 bxc6 12. Be3 a5 13. Qc2 c5 14. Nc3 cxd4 15. Bxd4 Bb7 16. Bxg7 Kxg7 17. Nd4 Rc8 18. Qd2 Re8 19. Qe3 Qb6 20. e5 $6 (20. Rab1) 20... dxe5 21. Nb3 Nc5 $6 ({Although he spent 30 minutes on his 20th move, Aronian immediately realized it was that because he saw the line} 21... Qxe3 22. fxe3 Nc5 23. Nxa5 Ba6 {"...with a very unpleasant position for White." Carlsen said he was "not even close to be seeing it." Aronian agreed that Black has 'Benko-style' compensation.}) 22. Qxe5+ Kg8 23. Qe3 Qc6 24. Nd5 Nxb3 25. axb3 Qc5 26. Rac1 Qxe3 27. Nxe3 Rxc1 28. Rxc1 Rb8 29. Rc5 Bc8 30. Nd5 Be6 31. Nxe7+ Kf8 32. Nc6 Rxb3 33. Nd4 Rxb2 34. Nxe6+ fxe6 35. Rxa5 h5 36. Ra6 Kf7 37. Ra5 Rb1+ 38. Kh2 Rb2 39. Kg1 Rb1+ 40. Kh2 Rb2 41. Kg1 1/2-1/2 [Event "2019 Sinquefield Cup"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2019.08.27"] [Round "10.2"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A34"] [WhiteElo "2775"] [BlackElo "2802"] [PlyCount "92"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [WhiteClock "1:03:01"] [BlackClock "0:49:24"] 1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nb4 6. Bb5+ N8c6 7. d4 cxd4 8. a3 dxc3 9. Qxd8+ Kxd8 10. axb4 cxb2 11. Bxb2 f6 (11... e6 12. O-O Bd7 13. Bxc6 Bxc6 14. Ne5 Ke8 15. Nxc6 bxc6 16. Ra6 Bxb4 17. Bxg7 Rg8 {Liu,Y (2516)-Xu,X (2588) Daqing 2018}) 12. e5 Bd7 13. Bc4 e6 {N} (13... Nxb4 14. O-O Rc8 15. Bf7 Nd3 16. Bd4 fxe5 17. Bxe5 Rc5 18. Bd4 e5 19. Be3 Kc7 {Savchenko,S (2461) -Tomczak,J (2633) Germany 2018}) 14. O-O (14. exf6 Bxb4+ 15. Ke2 gxf6 16. Bxf6+ Kc7 17. Bxh8 Rxh8 {"I actually think it's very likely I looked at this, like two years ago. There should be enough compensation for the exchange." (MVL)}) 14... Be7 15. b5 Nxe5 16. Bxe5 fxe5 17. Rfd1 Ke8 18. Nxe5 Bc8 19. b6 Bc5 20. Bb5+ Ke7 21. Nd7 $4 (21. Nc6+ $1 bxc6 22. Bxc6 Bb7 (22... Rb8 $6 23. bxa7) 23. Bxb7 Rad8 {=}) 21... Bd6 {Now the knight is almost trapped, and to save it White must permanently lose a pawn.} 22. Rac1 Rd8 23. Nc5 Bxc5 ({Afterward MVL felt} 23... axb6 24. Ne4 Bf4 25. Rxd8 Kxd8 26. Rd1+ Ke7 {was better.}) 24. Rxd8 Kxd8 25. Rxc5 axb6 26. Rc1 Ra5 27. Rb1 Bd7 28. Bd3 h6 29. Rxb6 Ra1+ 30. Bf1 Kc7 31. Rb2 b5 32. f3 Kb6 33. Kf2 Bc6 34. Bc4 e5 35. Bd3 Ra3 36. Bb1 Rc3 37. Ke2 Rc4 38. Kd2 b4 39. Ba2 Rd4+ 40. Kc1 e4 41. fxe4 Rxe4 42. g3 Bb5 43. Kd1 Kc5 44. Rf2 Bc4 45. Bb1 Re7 46. Kd2 Rf7 0-1 [Event "2019 Sinquefield Cup"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2019.08.27"] [Round "10.1"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Ding, Liren"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C58"] [WhiteElo "2778"] [BlackElo "2792"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:44:40"] [BlackClock "1:03:53"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 $5 (3... Bc5 {has been played virtually without exception by the top GMs lately.}) 4. Ng5 $5 {The Fried Liver!} (4. d3 { might have transposed into the Giuoco Pianissimo although a more aggressive option for Black is} h6 5. O-O d6 6. c3 g5 $5 {as in Gledura,B (2645)-Xiong,J (2679) chess.com INT 2019}) 4... d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 8. Bd3 ({The old main line goes} 8. Be2 h6 9. Nf3 ({while Steinitz and Fischer tried} 9. Nh3)) 8... Nd5 ({The stem game of 8.Bd3 went} 8... Bc5 9. O-O O-O 10. Nc3 Bb6 11. Be2 Nd5 12. d3 Nb7 13. Nf3 Bc7 {Gunsberg,I-Chigorin,M Havana 1890}) ({ In a recent game Lasker's} 8... Ng4 $5 {was played:} 9. Ne4 (9. Nf3 f5 10. h3 e4 11. hxg4 exd3 12. cxd3 fxg4 13. Qe2+ Be7 14. Ng5 O-O 15. Ne6 Bxe6 16. Qxe6+ Kh8 17. Nc3 Nb7 {Bird,H-Lasker,E Newcastle on Tyne 1892}) 9... f5 10. Be2 h5 11. h3 fxe4 12. hxg4 Bc5 13. Nc3 (13. b4 Qd4 14. bxc5 O-O 15. O-O Qxa1 16. Nc3 e3 {with wild complications in Stellwagen,D (2625)-L'Ami,E (2581) Maastricht 2008 - the game that put 8...Ng4 back on the map.}) 13... Qd4 14. O-O Rf8 15. Qe1 hxg4 16. g3 Bf5 {Vitiugov,N (2727)-Grischuk,A (2766) Riga 2019}) 9. Nf3 Bd6 10. O-O Nf4 {This seems to be the downside of White's eighth move, but...} 11. Nc3 $1 {...he doesn't mind playing with an atrocious pawn structure as Black's isn't great either and he has one more.} Nxd3 (11... O-O 12. Be2 c5 13. d3 Nxe2+ 14. Qxe2 Bb7 15. Ne4 Nc6 16. Be3 {and Black was struggling for compensation in Shankland,S (2652)-L'Ami,E (2613) Wijk aan Zee 2015}) 12. cxd3 O-O {Here several transpositions are possible.} (12... c5 13. Ne4 O-O 14. b3 Ba6 (14... Nc6 15. Ba3 Nb4 16. Bxb4 cxb4 17. Re1 Bb7 (17... f6 18. d4 exd4 19. Qc2 Bb7 20. Qc4+ Rf7 21. Nxd6 Qxd6 22. Nxd4 Qd5 {Van Foreest,J (2519)-Erwich,F (2358) Vlissingen 2015}) 18. Nxd6 Qxd6 19. Nxe5 Rfe8 20. Nc4 Qg6 21. Rxe8+ Rxe8 22. Qf1 h5 {Zhigalko,S (2656)-Inarkiev,E (2660) Berlin 2015}) 15. Re1 Nc6 16. Ba3 Bxd3 17. Nxd6 Qxd6 18. Rc1 Rfe8 19. Bxc5 Qd7 20. h3 Rad8 21. b4 e4 { Zhigalko,S (2671)-Tari,A (2584) Doha QAT 2016}) 13. b3 (13. Ne4 Ba6 14. Re1 Bc7 15. b4 (15. d4 exd4 16. d3 Nb7 {Shirov,A (2696)-L'Ami,E (2635) Rabat 2015}) 15... Nb7 16. Bb2 Qd5 17. d4 exd4 18. Bxd4 Bb6 {Wang Hao (2730)-Tari,A (2620) St Petersburg RUS 2018}) 13... c5 14. Ba3 Nc6 15. Ne4 Nb4 {Ding said he wasn't sure about this move, and that he had forgotten how to equalize.} 16. Bxb4 cxb4 17. Re1 Bb8 {N} (17... Bb7 18. Nxd6 Qxd6 19. Nxe5 Rfe8 20. Nc4 Qg6 21. Rxe8+ Rxe8 22. Qf1 h5 23. f3 Kh7 {Zhigalko,S (2656)-Inarkiev,E (2660) Berlin 2015}) 18. Ng3 Qxd3 19. Nxe5 Bxe5 20. Rxe5 Be6 21. Re3 Qd4 22. Ne2 Qd6 23. d4 a5 24. h4 Rfd8 25. Qd2 a4 26. Rd1 axb3 27. axb3 Ra5 28. Rg3 Rf5 29. Ra1 Bd5 30. Qe3 h6 31. Rg4 Rf6 32. Ng3 Qe6 33. Qxe6 Bxe6 34. Re4 Bxb3 35. d5 Rb6 36. Rb1 Bxd5 37. Rexb4 Rxb4 38. Rxb4 Be6 39. f3 Ra8 40. Kh1 Rd8 41. Kg1 Ra8 42. Kh1 Rd8 43. Kg1 1/2-1/2 [Event "Sinquefield Cup"] [Site "St Louis, MO USA"] [Date "2019.08.27"] [Round "10.4"] [White "Magnus Carlsen"] [Black "Wesley So"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2882"] [BlackElo "2776"] [Annotator "Hess, R"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2019.08.17"] {You never know what opening you're going to get from Magnus Carlsen. In his first five games with White in the Sinquefield Cup, he ventured into the English, the QGD twice, the Grunfeld, and a Nimzo-Indian. In his sixth he plays 1. e4. How to prepare for him, I can't tell you...} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 {Certainly not typical of Magnus' repertoire, but why not try it when there have been fresh ideas played by his competitors?} Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 O-O 6. c3 d6 7. h3 ({The more traditional approach, according to my upbringing, was} 7. Bb3 a6 8. Nbd2 Ba7 9. h3 h6 10. Re1 Nh5 11. Nf1 Qf6 12. Be3 Nf4 { but these days more action takes place on the queenside. Players like MVL are opening up new avenues in these Italian games.}) 7... h6 8. Re1 a6 9. a4 a5 10. Nbd2 Be6 11. Bb5 {Look this up in the database and the name you'll see most frequently is Maxime Vachier-Lagrave's.} Na7 12. d4 Nxb5 13. dxc5 (13. axb5 exd4 14. Nxd4 {has been played four times according to my database, and the average rating of those games is something like 2750.} Bd7 15. Nf1 Bxd4 16. cxd4 Bxb5 17. Ng3 {gives chances for both sides. On one hand, Black is up a pawn. On the other, White has an additional central pawn and an attack might be brewing. Missing the a-pawn can prove beneficial for White, whose rook can swing from a3 to the kingside.}) 13... Na7 14. b3 Re8 15. cxd6 Qxd6 16. Ba3 c5 ({Grischuk tried} 16... Qa6 {and complete chaos ensued after} 17. b4 (17. Nxe5 Bxh3 {restores material equality.}) 17... axb4 18. cxb4 b5 19. Bb2 Nc6 20. Nxe5 Nxb4 21. Re3 bxa4 22. Rg3 Red8 23. Qf3 Kh7 24. Ndc4 Nc2 25. Rxg7+ Kxg7 26. Nc6 Nd4 27. Nxd4 Bxc4 28. e5 Rg8 29. Nf5+ Kh7 30. Ne7 {eventually ended in a draw in Vachier-Lagrave - Grischuk, World Cup, 2017.}) 17. Nc4 {The first new move, and a good idea. Despite the unattractive queenside structure, Magnus secures play down the b-file. This evidences the main benefit of having an isolated pawn: by definition, the adjacent files are open for the rooks.} (17. Qe2 b6 18. Nc4 Bxc4 19. Qxc4 Rad8 20. Re3 Nc6 21. Rae1 Rd7 22. Bc1 Red8 23. g3 Ne7 24. Nd2 Nc8 25. Qf1 Qe6 26. Nc4 Ne8 27. f4 exf4 28. gxf4 Ned6 29. f5 Qe7 30. Rg3 Nxc4 31. f6 Qe5 32. Rxg7+ Kh8 33. bxc4 Rd3 34. Qf4 Qh5 35. Qxh6+ Qxh6 36. Bxh6 Rxh3 37. Bf4 Rh7 38. Rg5 Rh4 39. Bg3 Rh7 40. e5 Na7 41. e6 fxe6 42. Rxe6 Nc8 43. Be5 Rf7 44. Re7 Rdf8 45. Kg2 Kh7 46. Rg7+ Rxg7+ 47. Rxg7+ Kh6 48. Kg3 Re8 49. Kf4 {was MVL's 2018 Saint Louis Blitz defeat of Karjakin.}) 17... Qxd1 18. Raxd1 Bxc4 19. bxc4 {If White can place his knight on d5, Black is in trouble. Annoyingly, the pawn on c5 is undefended and Wesley had to spend a tempo to protect it.} b6 {Oddly this natural decision might have caused So's downfall.} ({Perhaps So's chances to hold would have improved had he jettisoned the pawn with} 19... Nc8 {intending to hop to b6, and to meet} 20. Bxc5 {with} Ra6 { when White will have a very hard time keeping the surplus pawn. Black intends to play Rc6 next.}) 20. Nh4 Rad8 {Black desperately needs to trade both pairs of rooks, since the lone targetable weakness sits on b6. Without rooks, that pawn feels much safer.} 21. f3 g6 22. g3 ({Strategically, an early} 22. g4 { makes White's life more difficult. Overextending might give Black opportunities revolving around the weakened dark squares. In the game, the knights were extremely limited.}) 22... Nh5 23. Kf2 Nc6 {From c6 the knight defends the d8 square, but White is never planning to swap both pairs of rooks. Thus, the knight lacks a clear purpose.} (23... Nc8 {seems necessary in hindsight.} 24. Bc1 (24. Ng2 {allows Black legitimate counterplay with} Nd6 25. Ne3 f5 {Even if White obtains the edge here too, at the very least Black's pieces are not sitting idly while White reroutes his minors.}) 24... Nd6 { and Black is happy to activate the knight.} (24... Kg7 25. Ng2 Nd6 26. Ne3 Nf6 {doesn't quite hold steady, since Black will have to cede ground when White plays g4, h4 and tries to punch g5 through.} (26... f5 {no longer works since} 27. exf5 gxf5 (27... Nxf5 28. Nd5 {is winning, and not just because b6 is under attack. White threatens g4, and snatching the pawn loses to a pretty knight fork:} Nhxg3 29. Nc7 Rxd1 30. Nxe8+ Kf8 31. Rxd1) 28. Rxd6 {wins a piece.} Rxd6 29. Nxf5+ Kg6 30. Nxd6)) 25. Bxh6 Nxc4 26. Bc1 b5 27. axb5 Rb8 { and Black's pieces now have air to breathe. Both sides have chances.}) 24. Bc1 Kg7 25. Be3 Rxd1 (25... Ne7 {would allow Black to protect his weakness from the sixth rank, but White will continue} 26. Ng2 Nf6 27. Bc1 Nc8 28. Ne3 Nd6 { transposes to the variation in the previous note. White can bide his time by playing g4, h4, and so on.} 29. g4) 26. Rxd1 Rd8 27. Rb1 Rb8 ({So's chances were slim regardless, but the active attempt} 27... Rd3 28. Rxb6 Nd8 29. Bxc5 Rxc3 30. Bd6 {would still challenge White to find a few accurate moves to put the game away.}) 28. Ng2 {Amazingly, Black is out of particularly useful moves. The bishop on e3 keeps the enemy rook and king frozen, as both are defending pawns.} Nf6 (28... Kh7 {only delays the inevitable.} 29. Bd2 Rd8 30. Be1 Rb8 31. Ne3) 29. Ke2 Ne8 30. Bf2 Nd6 31. Ne3 {With Kd3 coming next, there's no stopping Nd5. Black is in huge trouble.} Ne7 (31... Nc8 32. Nd5 f6 33. Kd3 { leaves Black without any piece moves, though White still needs to prove that he can break through. It's a sad state of affairs when you can't move anything without dropping a pawn.}) 32. Nd5 Nxd5 33. cxd5 Rb7 34. Kd3 f5 (34... c4+ { does not help. The pawn on b6 remains vulnerable, and Black can't push it:} 35. Kc2 Nc8 (35... b5 36. Bc5 {kicks the knight away from the pawn's defense.}) 36. f4 f6 37. Bc5 {The bishop dominates the knight and files will soon open in White's favor. The protected passed pawn on d5 is just the icing on the cake.}) 35. c4 fxe4+ ({Magnus showed a variation similar to this where none of Black's pieces can move:} 35... Kf6 36. Be1 g5 37. g4 f4 38. Bc3 {if the king moves, e5 falls. If the rook or knight move, down goes a5.}) 36. fxe4 Rf7 (36... Kf6 37. Be1 {when again Black's forces are frozen.}) 37. Rxb6 Rxf2 38. Rxd6 Rf3+ 39. Ke2 $2 {A bit careless by Magnus, but ultimately it didn't cost him anything.} (39. Kd2 {stops Rc3. This is important because now White can go after c5 and push pawns that are more distant from So's king.} Rxg3 40. Rc6 Rxh3 41. Rxc5) 39... Rc3 40. Re6 Rxc4 41. Rxe5 Rxa4 42. Re7+ Kf6 $2 {Wesley probably had already mentally thrown in the towel before he physically did so.} ({As Magnus pointed out in the post-mortem, Wesley had to try} 42... Kf8 43. Re6 ({Not the rushed} 43. d6 $2 Rd4 44. e5 a4 45. Ra7 (45. Ke3 Rd5 46. Ke4 Rd4+ 47. Ke3 Rd5) 45... Rd5 {with a draw, as the loose pawns all fall.}) 43... Kf7 { and the White king will march forward to help the pawns but Carlsen wasn't sure it was winning.}) 43. d6 1-0 [Event "2019 Sinquefield Cup"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2019.08.27"] [Round "10.3"] [White "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D37"] [WhiteElo "2767"] [BlackElo "2757"] [PlyCount "70"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:38:07"] [BlackClock "0:50:44"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 b6 7. Be2 (7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. Nxd5 Qxd5 9. Be2 (9. a3 Ba6 10. Bxa6 Nxa6 11. b4 Bd6 12. Bg3 Nb8 13. Qd3 b5 {Caruana,F (2818)-Anand,V (2756) Saint Louis USA 2019}) 9... Qa5+ 10. Nd2 Ba6 11. O-O c5 12. Nc4 Bxc4 13. Bxc4 cxd4 14. exd4 Nc6 {So,W (2776) -Karjakin,S (2750) Saint Louis USA 2019}) (7. Rc1 Bb7 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Nxd5 Qxd5 10. a3 c5 11. Bc4 Qd8 12. O-O Bf6 13. dxc5 Bxb2 {Nakamura,H (2743)-So,W (2776) Saint Louis USA 2019}) 7... Ba6 (7... dxc4 8. Bxc4 Ba6 9. Qe2 (9. Bxa6 Nxa6 10. Qe2 Qc8 11. O-O Qb7 12. a3 c5 13. Nb5 Rac8 14. b4 Nd5 15. bxc5 bxc5 16. Rab1 Rc6 {Ding,L (2805)-Caruana,F (2818) Saint Louis USA 2019}) 9... Bxc4 (9... Qc8 10. O-O Bxc4 11. Qxc4 c5 12. dxc5 Qxc5 13. Qxc5 Bxc5 14. Rac1 Rd8 15. h3 h6 { Giri,A (2779)-Caruana,F (2818) Saint Louis USA 2019}) 10. Qxc4 c5 11. dxc5 Bxc5 12. O-O Qc8 13. Rfd1 Nbd7 14. Qe2 Re8 15. Nd2 Qb7 {Carlsen,M (2882)-Karjakin,S (2750) Saint Louis USA 2019}) 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Nxd5 {N} (9. O-O c5 10. Bxa6 Nxa6 11. Qe2 Qc8 12. Nxd5 exd5 13. Rac1 Qb7 14. dxc5 bxc5 15. Rfd1 Rfd8 16. Ne5 Bf8 {Keymer,V (2466)-Matthiesen,M (2273) Helsingor 2018}) 9... Qxd5 10. Bxc7 Qa5+ 11. Kf1 (11. Nd2 $6 Bxe2 12. Qxe2 Rc8) 11... Bxe2+ 12. Qxe2 Nd7 13. h3 Rac8 14. Bg3 Rc6 15. Kg1 Rfc8 16. Kh2 Rc2 17. Qd3 {Anand had checked the following idea before the game.} g5 $5 18. Rhb1 h5 19. Kg1 g4 20. hxg4 hxg4 21. Ne1 $5 ({ Anand had analysed} 21. Ne5 Nxe5 22. Bxe5 Qd2 {=}) 21... Rd2 22. Qe4 Nf6 23. Qb7 Re8 24. Rc1 Qf5 {Preventing Rc2.} 25. Rc7 Bd6 $5 (25... Nd5 {was possible but} 26. Rc8 Rxc8 27. Qxc8+ Kg7 28. Qc1 Re2 29. Qb1 {isn't much for Black.}) 26. Rxf7 (26. Bxd6 Qxf2+ 27. Kh1 (27. Kh2 e5 $5) 27... Qh4+ 28. Kg1 (28. Bh2 $2 Rf2 $1 29. Kg1 g3) 28... Qf2+ 29. Kh1 {=}) 26... Bxg3 27. Rg7+ Kh8 28. fxg3 Rf2 29. Nd3 Qxd3 30. Kxf2 Ne4+ 31. Kg1 Qxe3+ 32. Kh1 Qh6+ 33. Kg1 Qe3+ 34. Kh1 Qh6+ 35. Kg1 Qe3+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "2019 Sinquefield Cup"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2019.08.27"] [Round "10.5"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E32"] [WhiteElo "2770"] [BlackElo "2794"] [PlyCount "74"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:27:42"] [BlackClock "0:48:43"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 O-O 5. e4 d5 6. e5 Ne4 7. Bd3 c5 8. Nf3 cxd4 9. Nxd4 Nd7 10. Bf4 Qh4 11. g3 Qh5 12. O-O (12. f3 Bxc3+ 13. bxc3 Nec5 14. g4 Nxd3+ 15. Qxd3 Qg6 16. Qxg6 hxg6 17. cxd5 exd5 18. Kf2 Nc5 {Yu,Y (2738) -Ding,L (2805) Stavanger 2019}) 12... g5 13. cxd5 Bxc3 14. bxc3 gxf4 15. dxe6 Nxe5 16. Bxe4 Ng4 {N} (16... Bxe6 17. Rfb1 Rae8 18. gxf4 Qg4+ 19. Kh1 Qxf4 20. Nxe6 Rxe6 21. Rb4 Kh8 22. Bd5 Qf6 {Nisipeanu,L (2683)-Kramnik,V (2812) Dortmund 2017}) 17. exf7+ ({Caruana suggested} 17. Nf3 {might be stronger.}) 17... Rxf7 18. h4 fxg3 19. fxg3 Ne3 20. Qb3 Nxf1 21. Rxf1 Kg7 22. Rxf7+ Qxf7 23. Qb4 Bh3 24. Bf5 a5 25. Qb5 Bxf5 26. Nxf5+ Kf6 27. Nh6 Qg6 28. Qb6+ Kg7 29. Nf5+ Qxf5 30. Qxb7+ Qf7 31. Qxa8 Qxa2 32. c4 Qb1+ 33. Kg2 Qc2+ 34. Kh3 Qf5+ 35. Kg2 Qc2+ 36. Kh3 Qf5+ 37. Kg2 Qc2+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "7th Sinquefield Cup GCT 2019"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2019.08.27"] [Round "10.1"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Ding, Liren"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C57"] [WhiteElo "2765"] [BlackElo "2805"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2019.08.17"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 { [#]} 8. Bd3 $5 {The text aims to solve the knight's problem in a simple way, to retreat with 10...h6 11.Ne4} ({The established way to play the position is} 8. Be2 h6 9. Nf3 e4 {and the knights gets hounded}) 8... Nd5 (8... h6 9. Ne4) ( {A recent game went} 8... Ng4 9. Ne4 f5 10. Be2 h5 11. h3 fxe4 12. hxg4 Bc5 13. Nc3 Qd4 14. O-O Rf8 {with an unclear position in Vitiugov - Grischuk, Riga 2019 }) 9. Nf3 Bd6 10. O-O Nf4 11. Nc3 Nxd3 12. cxd3 O-O 13. b3 c5 14. Ba3 Nc6 15. Ne4 {[#]} Nb4 {Ding confessed, “I knew (this to be) not a good move. May be I misplayed before, I (have forgotten) the correct line. So I went for this” Aronian enjoyed a slight advantage with} 16. Bxb4 cxb4 17. Re1 Bb8 18. Ng3 Qxd3 19. Nxe5 Bxe5 20. Rxe5 $14 Be6 21. Re3 Qd4 22. Ne2 Qd6 23. d4 a5 {[#]} 24. h4 { One of those 'creative' moves of contemporary chess which invariably gets praised for its ambiguity, but in this particular position it's not worth it} ( {White could have retained a token edge with the simple} 24. Ng3 Rfd8 25. Rd3 { and he has a reasonably important pawn on d4 to emphasize his advantage}) 24... Rfd8 25. Qd2 a4 26. Rd1 axb3 27. axb3 Ra5 $1 {taking care of the d5-square and the kingside in one go and nullifying White's advantage. Building on yesterday's praise for Ding's nuanced positional play against Caruana, such clarity of concepts is the strength of the Chinese ace} 28. Rg3 Rf5 29. Ra1 Bd5 30. Qe3 h6 31. Rg4 Rf6 32. Ng3 Qe6 33. Qxe6 Bxe6 34. Re4 Bxb3 35. d5 Rb6 36. Rb1 Bxd5 37. Rexb4 Rxb4 38. Rxb4 Be6 39. f3 Ra8 40. Kh1 Rd8 41. Kg1 Ra8 42. Kh1 Rd8 43. Kg1 1/2-1/2 [Event "Saint Louis"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2019.08.27"] [Round "10.5"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E32"] [WhiteElo "2764"] [BlackElo "2818"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "74"] [EventDate "2019.08.17"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 O-O 5. e4 d5 6. e5 Ne4 7. Bd3 c5 8. Nf3 cxd4 9. Nxd4 Nd7 10. Bf4 Qh4 11. g3 Qh5 12. O-O g5 13. cxd5 Bxc3 14. bxc3 {[#]} gxf4 $6 {Mamedyarov called this a mistake, but couldn't recollect the theory here despite consuming huge amounts of time. Caruana - "It was kind of silly that I forgot everything in the opening. I could not remember anything! It is a huge theoretical line known to be a forced draw. The one you play either to check your opponent's memory or you really don't feel like playing that day"} ( 14... exd5 $142) 15. dxe6 Nxe5 16. Bxe4 Ng4 {[#]} 17. exf7+ $2 {Mamedyarov mentioned that Caruana considered this to be a mistake, preferring 17.Nf3. Indeed, possibly also 17.h4. The problem with the text is that, although White is winning a pawn, it opens up White's kingside for attack} (17. Nf3 Bxe6 18. Rfe1) 17... Rxf7 18. h4 (18. Nf3 Be6) 18... fxg3 19. fxg3 Ne3 20. Qb3 Nxf1 21. Rxf1 Kg7 22. Rxf7+ Qxf7 23. Qb4 {[#]} Bh3 $2 {Black is an exchange up, but has to develop his queenside pieces. In his effort to be quick, Caruana hurried into a mistake with} (23... Kh8 $1) 24. Bf5 a5 ({The point behind the trick is that, on} 24... Bxf5 25. Nxf5+ Qxf5 26. Qxb7+ {winning the rook}) 25. Qb5 Bxf5 26. Nxf5+ Kf6 27. Nh6 Qg6 28. Qb6+ Kg7 29. Nf5+ Qxf5 30. Qxb7+ Qf7 31. Qxa8 Qxa2 32. c4 Qb1+ 33. Kg2 Qc2+ 34. Kh3 Qf5+ 35. Kg2 Qc2+ 36. Kh3 Qf5+ 37. Kg2 Qc2+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "Saint Louis"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2019.08.27"] [Round "10.4"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2882"] [BlackElo "2776"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2019.08.17"] [EventType "tourn"] [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. c3 d6 7. h3 h6 8. Re1 a6 9. a4 a5 10. Nbd2 Be6 11. Bb5 Na7 12. d4 Nxb5 13. dxc5 Na7 14. b3 Re8 15. cxd6 Qxd6 16. Ba3 c5 17. Nc4 Qxd1 18. Raxd1 Bxc4 19. bxc4 b6 20. Nh4 Rad8 21. f3 g6 22. g3 Nh5 23. Kf2 Nc6 {[#]The centre is quite a picture! White's fractured pawn-structure actually does him a lot of favours — keeping Black's knights from reaching b4 and g4 with the d5-square being the ultimate destination for the white knight. Carlsen's next few moves are simple and beautiful} 24. Bc1 $1 {Attacking h6. But beyond that, can you see where the bishop is headed? And why?!} Kg7 25. Be3 {A cosy square for the bishop, but can you see the point?} Rxd1 26. Rxd1 Rd8 {[#]} 27. Rb1 $1 Rb8 {and both the N-c6 and R-b8 are fixed, as they have to defend against threats of Bxc5 and Rxb6. Now White proceeded with} 28. Ng2 $1 {Can you now see where the knight is headed?} Nf6 (28... g5 29. Bc1 Nf6 30. Ne3 Ne7 31. Ba3 Nd7 32. Rd1 $16) 29. Ke2 {Making way for the bishop} Ne8 {[#]} 30. Bf2 $1 {The point — the White knight on g2 is headed to d5!} Nd6 31. Ne3 Ne7 32. Nd5 $1 $18 Nxd5 33. cxd5 Rb7 34. Kd3 f5 35. c4 {[#] } fxe4+ (35... Kf6 36. g4 f4 37. Be1 g5 {[#]} 38. Bc3 $1) 36. fxe4 {and the position is already lost for Black, as he has no defence against ♗f2-e1-c3 here} Rf7 (36... Kf6 37. Be1 h5 (37... Nc8 38. Bxa5 Ra7 39. Bxb6) 38. Bc3 $1 { Zugzwang! A beautiful example of why we all love chess!}) 37. Rxb6 Rxf2 38. Rxd6 Rf3+ 39. Ke2 Rc3 40. Re6 Rxc4 41. Rxe5 Rxa4 42. Re7+ Kf6 43. d6 1-0 [Event "Saint Louis"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2019.08.27"] [Round "10.3"] [White "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D37"] [WhiteElo "2750"] [BlackElo "2756"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "70"] [EventDate "2019.08.17"] [EventType "tourn"] [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 b6 7. Be2 {[#]} Ba6 { A rare continuation, but Anand played the opening fast, thus indicating that he had a specific idea here} 8. cxd5 Nxd5 $5 9. Nxd5 {Technically this was the new move} (9. O-O c5 {was an earlier game Keymer - Matthiesen, Helsingor 2018, deciding not to capture the offered pawn but play on the strength of the mildly better central control}) 9... Qxd5 10. Bxc7 {Karjakin captured this pawn after a five minutes of thought, probably indicating that he had not been anticipating the pawn sacrifice here, but admirably deciding to accept the challenge thrown at him} Qa5+ 11. Kf1 {The point for the sacrificed pawn, Black gains the initiative in view of the uncastled white king and a lead in development} Bxe2+ {Anand had an eight minute thought here. Was he remembering his analysis or having a fresh look at the position over the board?} 12. Qxe2 Nd7 13. h3 Rac8 14. Bg3 Rc6 15. Kg1 Rfc8 16. Kh2 Rc2 17. Qd3 {White has tucked away his king to safety, which means that Black should act fast:} g5 $5 { It was difficult to believe this, but Anand played the past few moves quite fast, which means that the former world champion had come to the board with everything worked out! Incredible preparation} (17... Rxb2 $2 18. Rhc1) 18. Rhb1 h5 $5 {True to his style, Anand throws his forces on the kingside on the white king, making his intention to have a full-fledged battle, in spite of the scar of missed moments in this tournament. Bravo!} 19. Kg1 g4 20. hxg4 hxg4 {[#]} 21. Ne1 $2 {Facing Anand's initiative right from the opening, Sergey 'The Minister of Defence' Karjakin finally slips up} (21. Ne5 Nxe5 22. dxe5 Qd2 {and though objectively white is better, black it isn't easy to face black's initiative over the board}) 21... Rd2 22. Qe4 Nf6 23. Qb7 Re8 {[#]} 24. Rc1 Qf5 25. Rc7 $2 Bd6 (25... Nd5 26. Rc8 Rxc8 27. Qxc8+ Kg7 28. Qc1 Re2 29. Qb1 (29. Rb1 $2 Bg5) 29... Bg5 30. Qxf5 exf5 {with a pull for white}) 26. Rxf7 (26. Bxd6 Qxf2+ 27. Kh1 Qh4+ {with a draw}) 26... Bxg3 27. Rg7+ (27. fxg3 Qg5) 27... Kh8 28. fxg3 {[#]} Rf2 29. Nd3 Qxd3 30. Kxf2 Ne4+ 31. Kg1 Qxe3+ 32. Kh1 Qh6+ 33. Kg1 Qe3+ 34. Kh1 Qh6+ 35. Kg1 Qe3+ 1/2-1/2