[Event "2019 Croatia Grand Chess Tour"] [Site "Zagreb, Croatia"] [Date "2019.06.26"] [Round "1.4"] [White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C67"] [WhiteElo "2779"] [BlackElo "2752"] [PlyCount "99"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 {Aronian playing black goes for the Berlin.} 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 {The Berlin Endgame. How can a top event not have this opening!} 9. h3 Ne7 10. Rd1+ Ke8 11. Nc3 Ng6 12. b3 Be7 13. Ne4 h5 {N} (13... a5 14. Re1 a4 15. Bb2 Be6 16. Nd4 Nf4 17. Rad1 h5 18. h4 {1/2-1/2 (42) Vachier-Lagrave,M (2773) -Naiditsch,A (2695) Karlsrhue GER 2019}) 14. Re1 Kf8 15. Bb2 c5 16. Rad1 Bf5 17. c4 Nf4 18. Bc1 Ne6 19. Neg5 Rh6 20. Ne4 Rh8 21. Neg5 Rh6 22. Nxe6+ {MVL understandably avoids the reptition with Ne4.} Rxe6 23. Bg5 Re8 24. Rd5 b6 25. Kh2 a5 26. Kg3 a4 27. Kf4 {White has managed to activate his king but Black just doesn't have enough weaknesses.} Bc2 28. Bxe7+ Kxe7 29. Re3 axb3 30. axb3 f6 31. h4 Ra8 32. b4 Ra4 33. Rc3 c6 34. Rd2 Bg6 35. bxc5 bxc5 36. Rb2 Kf8 37. Rb8+ Re8 38. Rb6 Re6 39. Kg3 Bf7 40. exf6 gxf6 41. Nd2 Re2 42. Rb8+ Kg7 43. Rd8 Ra2 44. Rcd3 Be6 45. Re3 Rexd2 {The following series of exchanges results into a drawn 2 vs. 2 rook and pawn endgame.} 46. Rxd2 Rxd2 47. Rxe6 Rd4 48. Rxc6 Rxc4 49. Kf3 Rxh4 50. Rxc5 1/2-1/2 [Event "Croatia Grand Chess Tour"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.06.26"] [Round "1.3"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Ding, Liren"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A23"] [WhiteElo "2754"] [BlackElo "2805"] [Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"] [PlyCount "99"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 Bc5 4. Nc3 c6 {"He surprised with this move, which I was not very familiar with." (So) What is interesting is that the American GM knew that Ding has used this opening against Carlsen in Stavanger, in one of the blitz games. He also remembered that Black did great there too.} 5. e3 O-O 6. Nge2 d5 7. cxd5 Nxd5 ({Black avoids the creation of an isolated pawn after: } 7... cxd5 8. d4) 8. d4 exd4 9. Nxd5 cxd5 10. exd4 ({The above-mentioned game of Ding saw:} 10. Nxd4 Nc6 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. O-O Be6 13. Qc2 Qb6 14. b3 d4 { and Black held his own against the world champion, Carlsen,M (2843)-Ding,L (2791) Stavanger 2018}) 10... Bb6 11. Nc3 Nc6 12. Be3 Be6 13. O-O Qd7 {N A novelty, and in my opinion, an inaccuracy.} ({White also did not get much in a predecessor:} 13... Rc8 14. Qd3 Qd7 15. Rfd1 Rfe8 16. Qb5 Red8 {with approximate equality, Tozer,P (2141)-Holton,J (1918) Llandudno 2017}) ({ However, a good alternative was:} 13... Qf6 $1 {With the idea to clear the d-pawns from the board. For example:} 14. Nxd5 (14. Bxd5 Rad8 {looks good for Black.}) 14... Bxd5 15. Bxd5 {Now Black has three interesting moves:} Bxd4 ( 15... Nxd4 $5 {also looks OK for the second player.}) ({Or} 15... Rad8 $5 16. Bxc6 bxc6 {when White cannot hold on to his extra pawn:} 17. Rc1 Bxd4 {and it should be approximately equal.}) 16. Bxc6 Bxe3 17. Bxb7 {Temporary White is a pawn ahead but the activity of the black pieces allow him a chance to maintain the balance.} Rad8 18. Qf3 Bd4 19. Qxf6 Bxf6 20. Rab1 Rd2 {with a draw.}) 14. Na4 Rfd8 (14... Bc7 {allows} 15. Nc5) 15. Nxb6 axb6 16. Qb3 {White got something out of the opening. He has the bishop pair and the better pawn structure which puts the pressure on his opponent.} Ra6 17. Rfc1 {The threat is Bg2-f1 to wipe out the queenside pawns.} Bh3 18. Bf3 Bg4 19. Bg2 Bh3 20. Bf3 Bg4 {Ding is apparently OK with splitting the point, but the first round happened to be very, very fighting.} 21. Bh1 h5 {Overly optimistic. Black would regret later that this pawn ended there.} ({It is not easy to spoil White's co-ordination:} 21... Na5 22. Qb4 Nc6 23. Qb5) ({However:} 21... Qf5 $5 {deserved attention with the obvious idea to get rid of the enemy light-squared bishop. Most likely Ding disliked:} 22. f3 Bh3 23. Bf2 {and was afraid that his bishop will be left out of game, but he can always bring it back with something like:} Qf6) 22. h4 Be2 ({It was not too late for:} 22... Qf5) 23. Kh2 Qf5 24. Bg2 Na5 {"A bad move which allows me to consolidate with the bishop pair." (So)} ({Instead he suggested that Ding should have grabbed the pawn with:} 24... Bc4 25. Qd1 {Now both captures seem possible, but in either case Black cannot be certain he will have his piece out:} Rxa2 ({ In case of:} 25... Bxa2 26. b3 Rda8 27. Bf1 {Black can never win a pawn with:} Bxb3 $2 {Due to:} ({Therefore:} 27... Ra5 28. Rc3 {should be played but then again:} Bxb3 $2 {loses to} 29. Rxa5 {With the bishop cut out of the game Black's position seems delicate, to say at least.}) 28. Rxa6 Bxd1 29. Rxa8+) 26. Rxa2 Bxa2 27. Bh3 ({Better than:} 27. b3 Na5 28. b4) 27... Qg6 28. b3 { Also blocks the bishop out. Then a typical line runs:} Na5 29. Qf3 $1 Nxb3 30. Bf5 {gaining initiative on the kingside where White is practically two pieces up as both the black minor ones remained stuck on the opposite wing.}) 25. Qc3 {Infiltration along the open file is White's main threat.} Nc6 26. b3 {However, Black has other problems to deal with- both his light pieces lack stable squares.} b5 ({In case of:} 26... Rda8 27. a4 b5 {White would have most likely reacted with:} 28. axb5 Bxb5 29. Rxa6 Bxa6 (29... Rxa6 30. Qc5 {drops a pawn for Black.}) 30. Ra1 {essentially tieing the black pieces up. Next the d5 pawn will suffer...}) 27. Qd2 Bf3 ({The bishop problems do not end after:} 27... Bd3 28. Rc3 Be4 29. f3) 28. Bf1 Rb6 {Puts the rook in an awkward position.} ({ Perhaps the last chance to put strong resistance was the pawn sacrifice after: } 28... Ra3 {Then Black can search for compensation on the light squares in the lines:} 29. Bxb5 Rda8 30. Bxc6 ({Or} 30. Ba4 Be4 31. Qb2 Qf3 32. Rg1 R3xa4 33. bxa4 Ra7) 30... bxc6 {With the idea:} 31. Rxc6 Rxb3) 29. Bf4 $1 {Simple and strong. The threat of a bishop fork cannot be stopped without material losses.} Rc8 ({After:} 29... Qd7 30. Qc3 Be4 31. f3 Bf5 32. Qc5 {the b5 pawn drops.}) 30. Rc3 Bg4 ({Otr a skewer in case of:} 30... Be4 $2 31. Bh3) 31. f3 { The bishop is trapped. It is not yet over as Ding saw a combination from afar:} b4 32. Rd3 Bxf3 33. Rxf3 Ne5 $1 {Black wins chunk of the material back.} 34. dxe5 Rc2 35. Rf2 Rxd2 36. Rxd2 {But it is not enough.;So managed to keep more material. Next he once again consolidates.} Rc6 37. Bh3 Qg6 38. Rad1 Ra6 ({ Nothing changes:} 38... Rc2 39. Bg2) 39. Bg2 {Now it is over as the white pieces can coordinate their attacking aims.} d4 40. Bxb7 Ra5 41. Rxd4 Rxa2+ 42. R1d2 Qb6 43. Rxa2 Qxd4 44. Rd2 Qc3 45. Bd5 Kf8 46. Bc4 Ke7 47. Bg5+ f6 48. exf6+ gxf6 49. Re2+ Kd7 50. Bd2 1-0 [Event "2019 Croatia Grand Chess Tour"] [Site "Zagreb, Croatia"] [Date "2019.06.26"] [Round "1.5"] [White "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C55"] [WhiteElo "2767"] [BlackElo "2775"] [PlyCount "64"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 h6 5. c3 d6 6. Nbd2 g5 7. h3 Bg7 8. Bb3 O-O 9. Nf1 Ne7 10. h4 $5 (10. g4 $1 {is the computer's suggestion. Now White's h4 can't be met with g4 by black.}) 10... g4 11. N3h2 d5 12. f3 Ng6 $2 (12... gxf3 13. Qxf3 Ng6 {was Black's best option.}) 13. fxg4 Nxh4 14. g3 (14. Qe2 $1) 14... Ng6 15. Qe2 a5 16. Bc2 d4 17. g5 hxg5 18. Bxg5 a4 19. c4 Qd6 20. Nd2 $2 ( 20. a3 {was important to stop Black's queen from coming to b4}) 20... Ra6 $6 ( 20... Qb4 {was much better for Black.}) 21. Rb1 $6 {White as slowly lost his initiative.} (21. a3 {was once again the top choice.}) 21... Nh7 22. Qh5 Nxg5 23. Qxg5 Qe7 {Pretty much forces the queen trade.} 24. Qxe7 Nxe7 25. Nhf3 f5 26. Bd1 Bd7 27. Nh4 Bh6 28. exf5 (28. Nhf3 {was better} Bg7) 28... Nxf5 29. Ne4 Be3 30. Be2 $4 {The decisive mistake.} (30. Nxf5 Bxf5 31. Bf3 a3 32. Rh2 Bg6 33. Bh1 {A very difficult line to find but White is still hanging on.}) 30... Rh6 31. Rh2 Bc6 32. Rg2 Nd6 {A A very nice win by Nepo with the black pieces.} 0-1 [Event "2019 Croatia Grand Chess Tour"] [Site "Zagreb, Croatia"] [Date "2019.06.26"] [Round "1.2"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D37"] [WhiteElo "2819"] [BlackElo "2754"] [PlyCount "79"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. a3 Nc6 9. Qc2 Qa5 10. Rd1 Re8 11. Nd2 e5 12. Bg5 Nd4 13. Qb1 Bf5 14. Bd3 Bxd3 15. Qxd3 Ne4 16. Nxd5 Nxg5 17. b4 {N Fabiano comes up with a novelty and improves over Humpy's move.} (17. exd4 Bxd4 18. b4 Qd8 19. Qb3 {1-0 (35) Koneru,H (2557) -Zatonskih,A (2431) Batumi 2018}) 17... Qd8 18. bxc5 Nde6 19. Qf5 Nxc5 20. h4 Nge6 21. Nf3 {White is okay to lose his castling rights as he has plans to launch and attack with Ng5 and feels his king is safe in the center.} Qa5+ 22. Ke2 f6 23. h5 e4 24. Nd2 Qxa3 $2 (24... Ng5 25. f4 exf3+ 26. gxf3 Re5 {Black holds the game as he gets all his pieces active with Rae8 coming next.}) 25. Rh4 Rad8 $2 {Probably the decisive mistake.} (25... Rf8 26. Nxe4 Qb2+ 27. Rd2 Qe5 {and Black would still be fighting.}) 26. Nxe4 Qa2+ 27. Ke1 Qa5+ 28. Kf1 Nxe4 29. Rxe4 Qa4 30. Rb1 Ng5 31. Rd4 Nf7 32. Rxb7 {In the last eight moves, White has managed to get his pieces on active squares while the black pieces have remained on the same squares.} Qa6 33. Qb1 Rf8 34. Kg1 $1 {White is a pawn up and is completely winning. He safeguards his king first and then launches a decisive attack.} Kh8 35. c5 Rc8 36. Nf4 Ne5 37. h6 g6 38. Rd6 Qc4 39. Re6 Rxc5 40. Ree7 {Nakamura resigns with the imminent mate looming over the black king.} 1-0 [Event "2019 Croatia Grand Chess Tour"] [Site "Zagreb, Croatia"] [Date "2019.06.26"] [Round "1.1"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B30"] [WhiteElo "2779"] [BlackElo "2875"] [PlyCount "46"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 e6 4. Bxc6 bxc6 5. d3 Ne7 6. h4 h5 7. e5 d6 $6 { a dubious move that puts Giri out of his preparation. In his defence, only one game existed in the database with 7)..d6, before today.} (7... f6 {Giri exclaimed that he bluffed a little bit before but he didn't expect this. 7... d6 is a normal move but 7...f6 is the main reply. I didn't recall the details after d6. But, I think in general it is very double edged and also very promising for white.}) 8. exd6 Ng6 (8... Nf5 {was played in the other game} 9. Nbd2 Bxd6 {0-1 (70) Motylev,A (2669)-Fedorov,A (2559) Batumi 2018}) 9. Nfd2 Bxd6 10. Nc4 Be7 11. Nc3 Ba6 {Completely missed by Giri. He said, after this it's huge. "After this I have to allow something I didn't want."} 12. Qf3 Bxc4 13. Qxc6+ Kf8 14. dxc4 Nxh4 15. O-O $6 (15. Qe4 {and the computer still prefers White.}) 15... Nf5 16. Ne2 $6 (16. Rd1 Nd4 17. Qe4 {and White should be okay if not worse.}) 16... Rc8 17. Qa4 $2 {The queen is very inactive from a4 and it would take White three moves to centralize it with c3-Qc2-Qe4} (17. Qe4 {The queen stays active and helps with the defense}) 17... Rc7 18. Bf4 Rd7 19. c3 $2 {Giri's play just goes downhill from here. The upcoming onslaught from black is fast and very strong} g5 $1 {Carlsen always grabs every opportunity with both hands...} 20. Rad1 $4 {The decisive mistake.} Rxd1 21. Rxd1 Qa8 $1 {The queen moves only once in the game but with deadly effect. White's king is doomed.} 22. Bc7 h4 23. f3 h3 {Giri resigns as his king is left with no protection. The open h file and the queen coming in leaves White's monarch defenceless.} 0-1 [Event "2019 Croatia Grand Chess Tour"] [Site "Zagreb, Croatia"] [Date "2019.06.26"] [Round "1.6"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E20"] [WhiteElo "2774"] [BlackElo "2748"] [PlyCount "53"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 {One of the most attacking lines against the Nimzo.} c5 5. d5 O-O 6. e4 b5 7. e5 exd5 $5 {Karjakin deviates from his earlier game against Mamedyarov himself.} (7... Ne8 8. f4 exd5 9. cxd5 d6 10. Nf3 c4 {1/2-1/2 (60) Mamedyarov,S (2757) -Karjakin,S (2766) Khanty-Mansiysk 2014}) 8. exf6 d4 9. a3 Ba5 10. b4 dxc3 11. bxa5 Qxf6 (11... Re8+ 12. Ne2 Qxf6 13. Qd5 Nc6 14. Qg5 Qe6 15. Kf2 {1/2-1/2 (58) Aronian,L (2803)-Karjakin,S (2756) Beijing 2013}) 12. Qd5 Re8+ 13. Kf2 c2 14. Ra2 Bb7 15. Qd2 (15. Qxb7 Qd4+ 16. Kg3 Qe5+ 17. Kh3 (17. f4 Qe1+ {and White is in trouble.}) 17... Qh5+ 18. Kg3 Qe5+ {is also a draw}) 15... bxc4 16. Rxc2 d5 17. Bb2 Qh4+ 18. g3 Qe7 ( 18... Qh5 $6 19. Bg2 d4 20. Rxc4 {Volkov won a nice game against Pavlov in Moscow Open A, 2013}) 19. Ne2 Nc6 20. a6 Bxa6 21. Qxd5 Bb7 22. Qe4 $2 (22. Qd2 Rad8 23. Qc1 {This is White's best option but black has good compensation for the sacrificed piece.}) 22... Nb4 $3 23. Qxe7 Nd3+ 24. Kg2 (24. Kg1 Rxe7 25. h4 Ne1 {and Black is better.}) 24... Ne1+ 25. Kf2 Nd3+ 26. Kg2 Ne1+ 27. Kf2 { a spectacular repetition} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Croatia GCT 2019"] [Site "Zagreb CRO"] [Date "2019.06.26"] [Round "1.1"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B30"] [WhiteElo "2779"] [BlackElo "2875"] [Annotator "Sagar,Shah"] [PlyCount "46"] [EventDate "2019.06.26"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 e6 4. Bxc6 bxc6 5. d3 Ne7 6. h4 h5 7. e5 d6 $5 { How can a move like this be good? You are just weakening everything in your position! The doubled c-pawns will be weak and isolated. But Magnus realizes that when you have the bishop pair, it is much more important to open the position. Also this is a psychological move, because Magnus was trying to take Giri out of his preparation.} (7... f6 {is a possibility}) (7... Ng6 {as well looks fine}) 8. exd6 Ng6 9. Nfd2 $6 {This move is positionally good, but it seems a bit too slow. The knight is coming to c4 and the queen's route to f3 is also opened up, but you are moving the same piece in the opening more than once and this can always be a recipe for disaster.} Bxd6 10. Nc4 Be7 11. Nc3 ( 11. g3 {Defending the h4 pawn could have been an idea, but Giri did not like the fact that he was weakening his kingside.} e5 $5) 11... Ba6 $1 {This bishop is always a problem piece in the opening and Magnus does his best to simply get rid of it.} 12. Qf3 Bxc4 13. Qxc6+ Kf8 14. dxc4 {White has won a pawn and Black also has had to give up his bishop pair, but in return, now the queen is exposed on c6 and the white king starts to feel uncomfortable.} Nxh4 15. O-O Nf5 $1 {The knight is looking at the juicy d4 square.} 16. Ne2 $2 (16. Rd1 Nd4 17. Qe4 $13) 16... Rc8 17. Qa4 Rc7 {Getting the rook to d7 is a good idea.} 18. Bf4 Rd7 19. c3 g5 $1 20. Rad1 Rxd1 21. Rxd1 Qa8 22. Bc7 h4 {All of Black's pieces are working beautifully. It may seem like the rook on h8 is undeveloped, but it is also contributing in a perfect way and so is the knight on f5 and the queen on a8.} 23. f3 h3 $1 {There is just no way to stop the attack. The pawn is also coming to g4 and hence Giri resigned. A thumping victory for Magnus Carlsen.} 0-1 [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.06.27"] [Round "2.2"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B33"] [WhiteElo "2775"] [BlackElo "2819"] [Annotator "Bojkov,Dejan"] [PlyCount "99"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 {Yep. If you cannot beat it, use it. This might have been Caruana's thought when chosing Carlsen's own weapon from their London match.} 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Nd5 Nxd5 8. exd5 Nb8 9. a4 Be7 10. Bd2 {N A tricky novelty according to Nepomniachtchi. If Black plays well he will end up with a normal theoretical position, but otherwise he may land in trouble.} ({A recent game of the world champion saw:} 10. Be2 O-O 11. O-O Nd7 12. Kh1 a6 13. Na3 Nc5 14. Nc4 a5 15. f4 exf4 16. Bxf4 f5 {and it eventually ended in a draw, Vachier Lagrave,M (2779)-Carlsen,M (2875) Stavanger 2019}) 10... O-O 11. a5 a6 12. Na3 Nd7 (12... Bf5 $5 {might have been an improvement.}) 13. Nc4 f5 14. Bb4 Rf6 {Apparently, this is what White was hoping for with the tricky move order.} ({One point behind White's play is revealed after the natural:} 14... Nf6 {Then the small tactics:} 15. Nxe5 ({ Therefore} 15. Be2 {might be more accurate.}) 15... dxe5 ({But there is a curious counterblow:} 15... Be6 $3 {with the idea:} 16. dxe6 dxe5 17. Qxd8 Bxb4+ 18. Qd2 Bxd2+ 19. Kxd2 Rfd8+ {when Black is fine.}) 16. d6 {looks excellent for White.}) 15. Qd2 Rg6 16. g3 e4 17. h4 {"The rook on g6 is misplaced. Here I am just somewhat better." (Nepomniachtchi)} b5 {The only way to create counterplay.} 18. axb6 Nxb6 19. Na5 Bd7 20. O-O-O {Nepomniachtchi regretted later that he allowed the black bishop easy access to the long diagonal. Indeed it seems as the move in the game is an inaccuracy. The most logical thing is to try and hide the king, but it was not safe on the queenside.} ({Interesting was:} 20. Be2 {postponing the castling for the time being. After a possible:} Bf6 21. h5 Rh6 22. c4 Be5 23. Ra3 $5 {White would first try to consolidate and think later on which side to hide his Majesty. It could be that he still uses the queenside and castle by hand, or it could be that he castles short. Or even by hand on the kingside. In either case White should be better.}) 20... Bf6 21. Nc6 {White occupied some important squares with his pieces but his position is not yet stable enough.} ({Here and on the next few move the d6 pawn is invincible:} 21. Bxd6 Bxb2+) 21... Qe8 (21... Qc7 $5) 22. Kb1 Kh8 23. h5 (23. Bxd6 Bxb2) ({Perhaps White simply needed to retreat:} 23. Na5) 23... Rh6 24. Qe3 Na4 {Suddenly, Caruana creates all sort of threats.} 25. c3 Rxh5 26. Rxh5 Qxh5 27. Be2 Qe8 (27... Qf7 {"was the precise one to threaten Bd7xc6 followed by Qf7-b3" (Nepomniachtchi)}) 28. Kc2 ( {Objectively better was:} 28. Bc4 Bxc6 29. dxc6 {"and protect slightly worse position" (Nepomniachtchi)}) 28... h6 29. Qf4 {"A blunder." (Nepomniachtchi)} a5 $1 {Apparently missed by White.} ({It is not clear what did the Russian player intend to do after:} 29... Bxc6 30. dxc6 a5 31. Bxd6 Qxc6 32. Be5 Qb6) 30. Nxa5 (30. Bxa5 {drops a piece after} Bxc6) ({Whereas} 30. Bxd6 Bxc6 31. dxc6 Qxc6 32. Be5 Qb6 {transposes to the line from above when White is in trouble.}) 30... Nxc3 {Flashy, but not optimal. Caruana opens the road for his pieces, but there was an easier way.} ({The simple:} 30... Bb5 $1 {as recommended by White might have been even better. For example:} 31. Qe3 Nc5 32. Bxc5 dxc5 33. Nc6 (33. Ra1 Ba4+) 33... Ba4+ $1 34. b3 Bxc6 {and White is helpless.}) 31. bxc3 Ba4+ 32. Kb1 Bxd1 33. Bxd1 Qb5 ({Apparently both players saw the forcing line:} 33... Rxa5 34. Bxa5 Qb5+ 35. Bb4 Bxc3 36. Qxd6 Bxb4 37. Qc6 Qd3+ 38. Bc2 Qf1+ 39. Kb2 Qxf2 {and evaluated it as good drawing chances for White. Both the immediate:} 40. g4 ({And the preliminary:} 40. Qc8+ Kh7 41. g4 {seem as White should be able to hold.})) 34. Nb3 Bg5 $2 {In the approaching time-trouble Caruana starts to err.} ({After the simple:} 34... Qxd5 35. Bc2 Rc8 36. Qxd6 Qxd6 37. Bxd6 Bxc3 {Black does not risk to loses. Although he does not risk to win much either.}) 35. Qxf5 {Now all the three results are possible.} Qf1 36. Qg4 Rf8 37. Kb2 Rxf2+ 38. Bc2 Qc4 $2 {Rejecting the draw once more, and this time for the bad.} ({Nepomniachtchi saw the perpetual check after:} 38... Bc1+ 39. Nxc1 Qg2 40. Qc8+ Kh7 41. Kb1 Rxc2 42. Qf5+ {and felt relieved for not losing anymore. This is what Caruana should have chosen though.}) 39. Qe6 {"This should be practically winning for White." (Nepomniachtchi)} Bf6 40. Qxd6 Rxc2+ {Desperation.} ({Most likely in the time-trouble Caruana missed the weird-lloking defense:} 40... Qe2 41. Na1 $1 { Then the white passer moves with ease, whereas Black can never advance his e-pawn under the threat of a back-rank checkmate.}) 41. Kxc2 Qd3+ 42. Kb2 e3 43. Qe6 e2 44. Ka3 $1 {Unpinning the c-pawn and thus stopping the e-passer. It is over.} Bg5 (44... Qd1 45. Qe8+ Kh7 46. Qe4+ g6 47. c4) 45. d6 Qa6+ 46. Kb2 Qd3 47. d7 Kh7 ({Or} 47... Qd1 48. c4 Bf6+ 49. Ka3) 48. c4 Bf6+ 49. Ka3 Qc2 50. Qxf6 $1 1-0 [Event "2019 Croatia Grand Chess Tour"] [Site "Zagreb, Croatia"] [Date "2019.06.27"] [Round "2.1"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D39"] [WhiteElo "2875"] [BlackElo "2767"] [PlyCount "155"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. e4 Bb4 6. Bg5 c5 7. Bxc4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Bxc3+ 9. bxc3 Qa5 10. Bb5+ {Carlsen is the first one to deviate from their game they played last month in Norway.} (10. Nb5 Nxe4 11. Qd4 O-O 12. Qxe4 a6 13. O-O axb5 14. Bd3 f5 {1/2-1/2 (58) Carlsen,M (2875)-Anand,V (2767) Stavanger NOR 2019}) 10... Bd7 11. Bxf6 gxf6 12. Bxd7+ Nxd7 13. O-O Qxc3 14. Qa4 O-O 15. Nxe6 Nb6 16. Qd4 Rfc8 {Vishy seemed to be still confident and was playing quickly. He might have remembered the games of his former second GM Radek Wojtaszek of Poland.} 17. Qxc3 (17. Rac1 Qxc1 18. Qxf6 fxe6 19. Qxe6+ Kg7 20. Qe7+ Kg8 21. Qe6+ Kf8 22. Qf6+ Kg8 23. Qe6+ {1/2-1/2 (23) Ipatov,A (2619) -Wojtaszek,R (2723) Doha QAT 2015}) 17... Rxc3 18. Nf4 (18. Nd4 {Was played by Anand's current Polish second GM Gajewski against his former second.} Rc4 19. Rfd1 Na4 {1/2-1/2 (30) Gajewski,G (2616)-Wojtaszek,R (2706) Warsaw 2012}) 18... Rc5 19. Rfd1 {N Carlsen's novelty.} (19. g4 {The other game continued} Kf8 20. Nh5 Ke7 21. Ng3 Rd8 22. Rfc1 Na4 {½-½ (27) Ponomariov,R (2758) -Morozevich,A (2737) Saratov 2011}) 19... f5 20. exf5 Rac8 21. f6 Rf5 22. g3 Rxf6 23. Rd3 Rfc6 24. Ra3 Rc1+ 25. Rxc1 Rxc1+ 26. Kg2 Nc8 {This position looks quite drawish but not for Carlsen. He doesn't have much going for him apart from Black's bad pawn structure on the kingside} 27. Rd3 Rc7 $6 ({The computer suggests} 27... Kg7 28. Rd7 b5) 28. Rd8+ Kg7 29. h4 Ne7 30. Nh5+ Kh6 31. Nf6 Kg6 32. Ne8 {Carlsen has managed to get something out of nothing yet again. His pieces are much active while Black has some to be careful here} Rc6 33. Rd7 Re6 34. h5+ Kh6 35. Nd6 f5 36. Nxb7 {Carlsen wins a pawn now but Anand is counting on the fact that both Rook or Knight endgames have greater drawing tendencies. He will try to swap a pair of pieces} Ng8 37. Nd6 Nf6 38. Nxf5+ { Anand gives up a second pawn to enter into the aforementioned knight ending} Kg5 39. Nd4 Nxd7 40. Nxe6+ Kxh5 41. Kf3 Kg6 42. Kf4 Kf6 43. Ng5 h6 44. Ne4+ Ke6 45. Kg4 $2 {A rare mistake by Carlsen. This move allows Black's king to enter and create counterplay of his own.} (45. Nc3 {Sesse - The Super computer from Norway suggested this line. This engine believes after the text (Kg4) the game is drawn.} Kf6 46. Nd5+ Kg6 47. f3) 45... Ke5 46. f3 Kd4 47. Kf5 Ke3 48. f4 h5 49. Ng5 Nc5 50. Kg6 Kf2 51. f5 Kxg3 52. Ne6 Nd7 53. Kxh5 Kf3 {Black plans to capture the 'a' pawn with his king and sacrifice the knight for the 'f' pawn} 54. Kg5 Ke4 55. Nc7 a5 56. Nb5 Kd3 57. Kg6 a4 58. Kf7 Ne5+ 59. Kf6 Nf3 60. Ke7 Kc2 {Anand has to be careful here.} 61. f6 Ng5 {Now we enter a long and forced sequence of moves which just about ends in Black's favour} 62. Nd4+ Kb2 63. Ne6 Nh7 64. f7 Kxa2 65. Ng5 a3 {Queening the pawn is more important than the knight } 66. Nxh7 Kb1 67. f8=Q a2 {What a defence by Anand! He is a Queen and a knight down and will survive this technically drawn position.} 68. Qf5+ Kb2 69. Qe5+ Kb1 70. Qe4+ Kb2 71. Qe2+ Kb1 72. Nf6 a1=Q 73. Nd5 (73. Qd3+ Kb2 74. Ke6 { Can be tried but Black should hold this.}) 73... Qg7+ 74. Kd6 Qf8+ 75. Ke5 Qe8+ 76. Kd4 Qxe2 77. Nc3+ Ka1 78. Nxe2 {A great fight between two great champions!} 1/2-1/2 [Event "2019 Croatia Grand Chess Tour"] [Site "Zagreb, Croatia"] [Date "2019.06.27"] [Round "2.3"] [White "Ding, Liren"] [Black "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E11"] [WhiteElo "2805"] [BlackElo "2748"] [PlyCount "102"] [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. Rc1 Re8 10. a3 $5 {N A novelty by Ding. He improved over his compatriot Wei Yi's idea.} (10. Bf4 Nh5 11. Be3 Nhf6 12. Nc3 dxc4 13. Bg5 h6 14. Bxf6 Bxf6 15. Rd1 {1/2-1/2 (46) Dubov,D (2696)-Khismatullin,D (2632) Sochi RUS 2018}) (10. b3 {was played in a game featuring a Chinese vs Russia match.} Ne4 11. Nc3 Nxd2 12. Nxd2 g6 13. Rab1 Qa5 14. e4 {1/2-1/2 (46) Wei Yi (2729) -Fedoseev,V (2707) Danzhou CHN 2018}) 10... a5 11. Bf4 Ne4 12. Nc3 (12. h4 $5 { An interesting option to stop g5 and securing the bishop on f4 was a better alternative.}) 12... g5 13. Be3 Nd6 14. b3 Nf5 15. Qd3 g4 16. Nd2 Nxe3 17. Qxe3 Bg5 18. Qd3 dxc4 19. Nxc4 {An interesting idea by Ding to give up an exchange. White does have compensation thanks to the lack of development for Black and Black's weakened kingside.} (19. bxc4 {Ding avoids the long forcing variation.} Nc5 20. dxc5 Qxd3 21. exd3 Bxd2) 19... Bxc1 20. Rxc1 Nb6 21. Ne5 f5 (21... Qg5 22. e3 Qg7 {Maintains Black's pawn structure and the better chances.}) 22. e4 Qg5 23. Ne2 Nd7 24. Nf4 Nxe5 25. dxe5 {White's initiative and compensation are pretty evident here. Black's pieces are stuck and he has no real ideas or counterplay.} Rd8 26. Qe3 Bd7 27. h4 gxh3 28. Bxh3 Be8 29. Qc5 Bh5 $1 { Minister of defence, Karjakin comes up with a ncie plan to trade rooks here.} 30. exf5 exf5 31. e6 Rd1+ 32. Rxd1 Bxd1 33. Bxf5 Qf6 34. Bd3 Bf3 35. Qe3 Bd5 $6 {Karjakin slips up but Ding misses his chance!} (35... Qa1+ {Black's best defence was} 36. Bf1 Bg4 37. Kg2) 36. Nh5 $2 {Ding misses his main chance. He had to take on d5.} (36. Nxd5 cxd5 37. Bb5 Qe7 38. Qe5 {White's chances look great.}) 36... Qe7 37. Qe5 Rf8 38. g4 {This hasty move in time pressure practically deprives Ding of his winning chances.} (38. Bc4 {Was needed for White.}) 38... h6 39. f4 b5 40. b4 axb4 41. axb4 Bxe6 42. f5 Qa7+ 43. Kf1 Qf7 44. Kf2 Qa7+ 45. Kf1 Qf7 46. Kf2 Qa7+ 47. Kg2 Bd5+ 48. Kh3 Qf7 49. Kh4 Qa7 50. Kh3 Qf7 51. Kh4 (51. Qd6 $5 {White still had some chances here.}) 51... Qa7 1/2-1/2 [Event "2019 Croatia Grand Chess Tour"] [Site "Zagreb, Croatia"] [Date "2019.06.27"] [Round "2.4"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E05"] [WhiteElo "2752"] [BlackElo "2779"] [PlyCount "110"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. c4 Nf6 2. g3 e6 3. Bg2 d5 4. Nf3 Be7 5. d4 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. a4 Bd7 9. Qxc4 Bc6 10. Bf4 Bd6 11. Bg5 Nbd7 12. Nbd2 {N} (12. Nc3 {The main move in the position. Interesting, these players played the same variation with the colors reversed!} h6 13. Bxf6 Nxf6 14. a5 Qe7 15. Nd2 {1/2-1/2 (48) Giri,A (2734)-Aronian,L (2812) Wijk aan Zee NED 2014}) 12... h6 13. Bxf6 Nxf6 14. Rfd1 Qe7 15. Ne1 Bd5 16. Qc2 Bxg2 17. Kxg2 c5 {Giri has neutralized and he holds comfortably.} 18. dxc5 Bxc5 19. Rac1 Bb4 20. Qc7 Qe8 21. Qxb7 Bxd2 22. Rxd2 Qxa4 23. Nd3 Nd5 24. Qc6 Qa5 25. Rdd1 Rfb8 26. Qc4 Ra7 27. Qc5 Qxc5 28. Rxc5 g5 29. Rdc1 Kg7 30. R1c4 Rab7 31. h4 Rb3 32. hxg5 hxg5 33. Ra5 Nb4 34. Ne5 (34. Rxg5+ Kf6 35. Ra5 Nxd3 36. exd3) 34... Rb7 35. Nf3 f6 36. Nd4 Rxb2 37. Nxe6+ Kg6 38. Nd4 Rd2 39. Rac5 a5 {Giri finds the quickest way to draw with a ncie tactic.} 40. Rxa5 Rxd4 41. Rxd4 Nc6 42. Raa4 Nxd4 43. Rxd4 Rb2 44. Kf3 { White is a pawn up but Giri shows the position is just drawn.} Kf7 45. e4 Ke6 46. Ke3 f5 47. Rd5 Rb3+ 48. Rd3 Rb2 49. f3 Rg2 50. exf5+ Kxf5 51. g4+ Kg6 52. Rd6+ Kg7 53. Ke4 Rf2 54. Kf5 Rxf3+ 55. Kxg5 Ra3 {Aronian offers the draw not waiting to see Giri's drawing technique in the Philidor position.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "2019 Croatia Grand Chess Tour"] [Site "Zagreb, Croatia"] [Date "2019.06.27"] [Round "2.6"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D85"] [WhiteElo "2754"] [BlackElo "2774"] [PlyCount "50"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bb5+ c6 8. Ba4 O-O 9. Nf3 c5 10. O-O cxd4 11. cxd4 Bg4 12. Rb1 Nc6 13. d5 Na5 {N} (13... Nd4 {This was unsuccessfully tried by Kovhcan back in 2005.} 14. Bb2 Bxf3 15. gxf3 e5 16. f4 {1-0 (38) Graf,A (2632)-Kovchan,A (2488) Warsaw 2005}) 14. h3 Bxf3 15. Qxf3 a6 16. Bf4 b5 17. Bc2 (17. Bb3 {Engines suggest this for White.} Rc8 18. e5 Nxb3 19. axb3) 17... Rc8 18. Qe2 Nc4 {Black's strong knight on c4 nullifies White's bishop pair.} 19. Rbd1 Qb6 20. h4 Rfd8 21. h5 {Nakamura tries to force things with 'h' pawn} Be5 22. Bc1 Bb2 23. Bf4 Be5 24. Bc1 Bb2 25. Bf4 Be5 {Trading the bishops at any juncture would have left Black with the better chances, so Nakamura takes the draw.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Croatia Grand Chess Tour"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.06.28"] [Round "3.2"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E61"] [WhiteElo "2774"] [BlackElo "2775"] [Annotator "Bojkov,Dejan"] [PlyCount "64"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2014.12.06"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. e3 O-O 5. Be2 d6 6. Nc3 (6. O-O Nbd7 {1/2-1/2 (32) Mamedyarov,S (2817)-Nepomniachtchi,I (2763) Wijk aan Zee 2019}) 6... Nbd7 7. O-O e5 8. b3 {A somewhat slow move. Since the center will be closed soon and both sides will have clear plans of playing on separate flanks, it made sense for White to push this pawn on b4 at once.} ({At the beginning of the year, the two of them played a similar line after:} 8. Qc2 c6 9. b3 Re8 10. Ba3 exd4 11. Nxd4 Nc5 12. Rad1 Qe7 13. b4 Nce4 14. Bb2 Nxc3 15. Qxc3 d5 16. Nb3 Nh5 {with comfortable position for Black, Mamedyarov,S (2817) -Nepomniachtchi,I (2763) Wijk aan Zee 2019}) 8... Re8 9. h3 {Another questionable decision. This pawn can well become a weakness very soon. Why should one voluntarily advance pawns on the side where one is weaker?} ({White has to be careful when playing on the queenside as the following game showed:} 9. Bb2 e4 10. Nd2 Nf8 11. Nd5 $2 Nxd5 12. cxd5 Qg5 {Already winning material thanks to the double threat.} 13. Re1 (13. Bc4 Bh3 {wins the exchange.}) 13... Qxd5 {with an extra pawn for Black in Bindrich,F (2606)-Teterev,V (2486) St Petersburg 2018}) (9. Qc2 { would have transposed to their game from Wijk an Zee.}) 9... e4 {The center is closed. Next Black will play on the kingside. His play is very typical and simple: push the h-pawn as far as possible and transfer the knight from d7 to g5 in a clear attempt to checkmate the enemy king. White on his turn will try to shatter the enemy queenside as quick as possible, thus keeping the opponent busy. Ideally, he wants to defend the opposite wing with as few pieces as possible.} 10. Nd2 {N} ({Black did not have any problems either in the predecessor:} 10. Nh2 c6 11. Bd2 d5 12. c5 Nf8 13. b4 h5 14. a4 N6h7 15. b5 Ng5 {Mbatha,C-Sischy,M (1980) Khanty-Mansiysk 2010}) 10... h5 11. b4 {It is evident that Mamedyarov lost a tempo on the queenside.} ({Nepomniachtchi is right to claim that White's only attempt to justify the h2-h3 idea is to go for:} 11. f3 {Although there too, Black has excellent play after:} exf3 12. Nxf3 Ne4 $5 13. Nxe4 Rxe4 14. Bd3 Re8 15. Qc2 Qe7 {With the point that:} 16. e4 {is answered:} (16. Bd2 c5 $1) 16... Nc5) 11... Nf8 12. Re1 Bf5 13. Bb2 Qd7 { The threat of a bishop sacrifice is already in the air.} 14. Nd5 $6 {Although White played carelessly up to now, it is only this move that can be named a mistake.} ({As mentioned before, Mamedyarov would be happy to defend his kingside with as few pieces as possible, therefore:} 14. Bf1 $1 {stopping any sacrifices was called for. After:} N8h7 {he can regroup in the center with:} 15. d5 {followed by Nd2-b3-d4 when it is anyone's game.}) 14... Nxd5 15. cxd5 Qe7 $1 {Now Black manages to regroup nicely. The queen goes on a striking position at g5, whereas as Nepomniachtchi explained the rook can defend the c7-pawn sideways, from e7. Thus the queenside is stable and Black can concentrate on his kingside play.} 16. Rc1 Nh7 17. Qc2 Qg5 18. Qxc7 { Mamedyarov ventures into complications, but they favor his opponent instead as he is the one attacking the king.} ({Two other moves to slow Black down were mentioned by Nepomniachtchi:} 18. h4 {to which Black will keep the initiative with:} Qxh4 19. Qxc7 Nf6 (19... Bf8 $5 {also looks good.}) 20. Qxb7 ({Not:} 20. Qxd6 $2 Bf8 21. Qh2 (21. Qc7 Bxb4) 21... Qxh2+ 22. Kxh2 Bxb4 23. Red1 Nxd5 { with a solid extra pawn for Black.}) 20... Reb8 (20... Bf8 $5) 21. Qc6 Bf8 { Next Black will keep building initiaive on the kingside.}) ({The other idea was:} 18. Kh1 {Although there too, Black has pleasant advantage after:} Qh4 19. Kg1 ({White should be always aware of the possible sacrifices:} 19. Rf1 $2 Bxh3 $1 20. gxh3 Ng5 {with crushing attack.}) 19... Re7 {The game is pretty one-sided.}) 18... Bxh3 19. Bf1 Bf8 20. Qxb7 Nf6 {The pawn that Black sacrificed is a negligible price for the kingside attack he gained.} 21. Qa6 Bc8 $1 22. Qa4 ({After:} 22. Qe2 {Black intended to provoke further weakenings with:} Ng4 {The threat is Qg5-h4-h2 mate, thus:} 23. f3 {is forced.}) 22... Bd7 23. Qd1 Bg4 {One more provocation.} 24. f3 ({If} 24. Be2 Bh3 25. Bf1 h4 $1 { is strong, intending Bh3xg2 and h4-h3.} ({Although Nepomniachtchi said he could also go for the simple:} 25... Nxd5)) ({After} 24. Qa4 h4 {continues the attack.}) 24... exf3 25. Nxf3 Qh6 $1 {The simplest.} ({There is no need to allow any active play after:} 25... Qxd5 26. Rc7 Qxa2 ({Or} 26... Rac8)) 26. Qb3 h4 27. Ne5 {The last attempt to muddy the waters, but Black is super-cool.} ({Objectively better was:} 27. Nh2 {although Black remains in control after:} Bf5) 27... h3 ({Of course:} 27... dxe5 28. dxe5 Nh5 {was possible, but Black made a move which he wanted to do anyway.}) 28. Nxg4 ({After:} 28. e4 {Black intended:} hxg2 29. Bxg2 dxe5 30. dxe5 Nd7 {when White's position falls apart.} ) (28. gxh3 Bxh3 {would also see White getting checkmated quick.}) 28... Nxg4 29. gxh3 Nxe3 {The wide king is wide open and once Nepomniachtchi consolidated Mamedyarov found nothing to play for:} 30. Rc3 Nf5 31. Rd1 Qh5 32. Rf3 Bh6 0-1 [Event "Croatia GCT 2019"] [Site "Zagreb CRO"] [Date "2019.06.27"] [Round "2.1"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D39"] [WhiteElo "2875"] [BlackElo "2767"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "155"] [EventDate "2019.06.26"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. e4 Bb4 6. Bg5 c5 7. Bxc4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Bxc3+ 9. bxc3 Qa5 10. Bb5+ Bd7 11. Bxf6 gxf6 12. Bxd7+ Nxd7 13. O-O Qxc3 14. Qa4 O-O 15. Nxe6 Nb6 16. Qd4 Rfc8 17. Qxc3 Rxc3 18. Nf4 Rc5 19. Rfd1 f5 20. exf5 Rac8 21. f6 Rf5 22. g3 Rxf6 23. Rd3 Rfc6 24. Ra3 Rc1+ 25. Rxc1 Rxc1+ 26. Kg2 Nc8 27. Rd3 Rc7 28. Rd8+ Kg7 29. h4 Ne7 30. Nh5+ Kh6 31. Nf6 Kg6 32. Ne8 Rc6 33. Rd7 Re6 34. h5+ Kh6 35. Nd6 f5 36. Nxb7 Ng8 37. Nd6 Nf6 38. Nxf5+ Kg5 39. Nd4 Nxd7 40. Nxe6+ Kxh5 {White is a pawn up, white is Magnus Carlsen and it is a knight endgame. As Botvinnik had famously mentioned, "Knight endgames are like pawn endgames!"} 41. Kf3 {Carlsen logically activates his king.} Kg6 42. Kf4 (42. Ke4 {is also possible, but then it allows Black to activate his knight with Nf6+ and hence Carlsen keeps it simple.}) 42... Kf6 43. Ng5 h6 44. Ne4+ Ke6 45. Kg4 Ke5 46. f3 Kd4 {Anand realizes that the only way for him to fight this endgame is to activate his king.} 47. Kf5 (47. Kf4 {was more precise, but Carlsen doesn't feel that allowing Ke3 is a big deal.} Ne5 48. Nc5 Nc4 49. Na6 $16 {White's position has improved greatly.}) 47... Ke3 48. f4 h5 $1 {It is important to stop White from going g4.} 49. Ng5 (49. Nf6 $2 Nxf6 50. Kxf6 Kf3 51. Kg5 Kxg3 52. f5 h4 53. f6 h3 54. f7 h2 55. f8=Q h1=Q 56. Qf4+ Kg2 57. Qe4+ Kg1 58. Qxh1+ Kxh1 59. Kf5 Kg2 60. Ke5 Kf3 61. Kd5 Kf4 62. Kc6 Ke5 63. Kb7 a5 64. a4 Kd6 65. Kb6 Kd7 66. Kxa5 Kc8 $11) 49... Nc5 (49... Kf2 $1 { was the best move and would have given Black a draw.} 50. g4 (50. Ne4+ Kf3 $11) 50... h4 $2 {This is a mistake by Black, but the variation is very beautiful.} (50... hxg4 $1 51. Kxg4 Ke3 $11 {This should end in a draw.}) 51. Nh3+ $1 (51. Kg6 Kg3 $11) 51... Kg3 52. g5 $1 Nf8 53. Ng1 $1 {This is a beautiful position. It is a position of mutual zugzwang. Black to move loses the game and if it were White to move, he cannot win this position!} h3 ({A null move to show that if it is White to move here, he cannot win.} 53... Z0 54. g6 (54. Ke5 Ng6+ $11) (54. Kf6 Kxf4 $11) (54. a4 a5 $11) 54... Nxg6 55. Kxg6 Kxf4 $11) (53... Kf2 54. Kg4 Kxg1 55. f5 Kg2 56. Kxh4) 54. Nxh3 Kxh3 55. g6 Nxg6 56. Kxg6 $18) 50. Kg6 $2 {The critical mistake that allows Black to hold.} (50. Kf6 $1 { The point is that you want to place your king on e7 so that the knight cannot come to d7 and stop the pawn.} Kf2 51. Ke7 Kxg3 52. f5 Nd3 53. f6 Ne5 54. Ke6 Kf4 (54... Ng6 55. f7 h4 56. Kf6 Nf8 57. Ne6 $2 (57. Kg7 Nd7 58. Ne4+ Kg2 59. Nf6 $18) 57... Nd7+ 58. Ke7 Ne5 $11) 55. Nh3+ Ke4 56. Nf2+ Kd4 57. Nd3 $1 $18) 50... Kf2 51. f5 (51. Kxh5 Kxg3 52. f5 Kf4 53. f6 Nd7 54. f7 Kf5 {is a draw.}) 51... Kxg3 52. Ne6 (52. f6 Nd7 53. f7 h4 $11) (52. Kxh5 Kf4 $11) 52... Nd7 53. Kxh5 Kf3 54. Kg5 Ke4 55. Nc7 (55. f6 Nxf6 56. Kxf6 Kd5 $1 (56... Kd3 $2 57. Ke5 Kc3 58. Nd4 Kb2 59. a4 Ka3 60. a5 Kb4 61. Nc6+ Kb5 (61... Kc5 62. Nxa7 Kb4 63. Nc6+ Kc5 64. Nd4 $18) 62. Kd5 $18) 57. Ke7 Kc4 58. Kd6 Kb4 59. Nd4 Ka3 $11) 55... a5 $1 (55... Kd3 {is also a plausible move.}) (55... Ke5 {also seems to hold the balance.}) 56. Nb5 Kd3 57. Kg6 a4 58. Kf7 Ne5+ 59. Kf6 (59. Ke6 Ng4 $11) 59... Nf3 (59... Ng4+ 60. Kg5 Ne5 61. f6 Kc4 62. Kf5 Nf7 63. Na7 a3 64. Nc6 Kc3 65. Ne5 Nd6+ 66. Ke6 Ne4 67. f7 Ng5+ $11) 60. Ke7 Kc2 (60... Nh2 $5 61. f6 Ng4 62. f7 Ne5 $11) 61. f6 Ng5 62. Nd4+ (62. f7 Nxf7 63. Kxf7 Kb2 64. a3 Kb3 65. Ke6 Kc4 66. Nd6+ Kb3 $11) 62... Kb2 63. Ne6 Nh7 (63... Nxe6 64. Kxe6 Kxa2 65. f7 a3 66. f8=Q Kb2 67. Qb4+ $18) 64. f7 Kxa2 65. Ng5 a3 $3 {Black just gives up his knight on h7 and also allows White to queen.} 66. Nxh7 Kb1 67. f8=Q a2 {What a position! If you remove the knight from the board, then this will be a well known theoretically drawn position. But even with the knight on the board, it doesn't make a difference because the knight is just too far. Anand was smart enough to lure the white knight to h7!} 68. Qf5+ Kb2 69. Qe5+ Kb1 70. Qe4+ Kb2 71. Qe2+ Kb1 72. Nf6 a1=Q 73. Nd5 Qg7+ 74. Kd6 Qf8+ 75. Ke5 { Anand was quite grateful when Magnus made this move. He was already very tired and with this move, the game ends immediately.} Qe8+ 76. Kd4 Qxe2 77. Nc3+ Ka1 78. Nxe2 {A great defensive effort by Anand.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.06.29"] [Round "4.2"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A16"] [WhiteElo "2875"] [BlackElo "2774"] [Annotator "Bojkov,Dejan"] [PlyCount "117"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. h4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 ({Another choice is} 6... h6 7. e4 Bg7 8. d4 c5 9. Rb1 O-O 10. Be2 b6 11. Be3 Bb7 12. d5 e6 13. c4 {as in Mareco,S (2649)-Ivanchuk,V (2710) Batumi 2018.}) 7. h5 c5 8. Rb1 {"I forgot some things here" (Mamedyarov). And born out of necessity came the next novelty.} b6 {N} ({A predecessor saw:} 8... Nc6 9. e3 b6 10. d4 cxd4 11. cxd4 Bf5 12. Rb2 Rc8 13. Bb5 O-O 14. hxg6 hxg6 15. Nh4 {Podzielny,K (2451) -Gutman,L (2415) Senden 2014.}) 9. e4 O-O 10. hxg6 hxg6 11. d4 Bb7 {Apparently determined to punish his opponent for the challenging play, the world champion sank into deep thought and decided not only to win, but to tear his opponent into small pieces.} ({Most likely White expected} 11... Bg4) 12. Ng5 ({The world champion felt as if Black is completely lost after something simple like } 12. Bd3 {As} Nc6 {is always met with} 13. d5 {and White's kingside attack is going unhindered.(Carlsen). Mamedyarov agreed with the assessment and, in fact, was very surprised that his opponent did not follow his usual style.}) 12... cxd4 13. Qg4 {As it turned out, this was the right idea but the wrong way.} ({ The correct path lies in the transfer of the queen along the third rank with} 13. Bc4 $1 {Then} Nd7 ({Carlsen also calculated this option as he mentioned after the game that he saw} 13... Qc7 14. Qg4 $1 (14. Qb3 {as in the main line is also good.}) 14... Qxc4 15. Rh8+ $3 Bxh8 16. Qh4 Kg7 (16... Rc8 17. Qh7+ Kf8 18. Qxh8#) 17. e5 {with mate. This beautiful idea occurs often later.}) 14. Qb3 ({Also good and most likely strategically winning for White is the simple} 14. cxd4) 14... e6 ({Now} 14... Ne5 {is met with} 15. cxd4 Qxd4 ({If} 15... Nxc4 { then the same old from before:} 16. Rh8+ $1 Bxh8 17. Qh3 Kg7 18. e5 $1) 16. Qh3 Rfd8 17. Bxf7+ Nxf7 18. Qh7+ Kf8 19. Ne6+ {winning the queen and the game. (Ramirez)}) 15. cxd4 {The queen is ready to land on h3 with unstoppable attack. It can be nicely supported by the dark-square bishop along the a3-f8 diagonal. The best thing is that White did not even have to sacrifice a pawn for it.}) 13... Nd7 14. Qh3 ({Carlsen calculated the beautiful line} 14. Bc4 Nf6 ({ However, here he saw the defense} 14... Qc7 $1 {and had to search for something else.}) 15. Nxf7 $3 Nxg4 16. Nh6+ $1 Kh7 17. Nxg4+ Bh6 18. Bxh6 { with mate to come.}) ({It should be added that in case of} 14. e5 {, Mamedyarov had in mind the fantastic resource} Nf6 $3 15. exf6 exf6 16. Qh3 Re8+ 17. Be2 {And now Black should not get too greedy with} fxg5 ({but instead should proceed with the attack} 17... Qe7 $1 18. Qh7+ Kf8 19. O-O fxg5 { when Black has a clear edge.}) 18. Qh7+ Kf8 19. Ba3+ Re7 {when it is unclear who plays for the win.}) 14... Nf6 15. e5 ({If} 15. Nh7 {the same defense-} Nh5 $1) 15... Nh5 16. e6 Qd5 $1 {I've completely missed this move" (Carlsen). Now tables are turned. It is the world champion who needs to seek salvation.} ({ However,} 16... f6 $1 {might have been even better. Black repels the attack after} 17. Bd3 fxg5 18. Bxg6 Rf6 {and has every chance to win.}) 17. exf7+ Rxf7 18. Bd3 ({According to the computer, it was better to throw in the active move } 18. Rb5 Qxa2 19. Nxf7 Qxf7 20. Qd7 {with unclear play.}) ({Whereas} 18. Nxf7 {gives Black too wide a choice. All the three possibilities are interesting:} Qxf7 (18... dxc3) (18... Kxf7)) 18... Qe5+ {Also missed by the world champion.} 19. Kd1 dxc3 ({"I was lucky that} 19... Rxf2 20. Rb5 $1 {does not work for him" (Carlsen). In fact, White is calling the shots after} Qd6 21. Bc4+ Kf8 22. Ne6+) 20. Nxf7 Kxf7 21. Re1 $1 {Short of time and frustrated, Carlsen now proves why he is the best player in the world, demonstrating epic defensive skills and nonhuman stamina against Mamedyarov, one of the world's finest attackers!} ({There is no time for:} 21. Kc2 Nf4 22. Bxf4 Qxf4) 21... c2+ $1 { Opening every single line and diagonal against the white king. Survival does not seem possible.} ({Otherwise White consolidates much easier. For example:} 21... Qd6 22. Kc2 Bd5 23. Qg4 Bxa2 24. Rb5 $1) ({Or} 21... Qf6 22. Kc2 $1 Qxf2+ 23. Re2 {Hidden behind the c3 pawn, White can start thinking about counterattack.}) 22. Bxc2 Rd8+ 23. Bd2 Qd6 24. Qe3 {The only move.} (24. Re2 $2 Nf4) 24... Nf4 {Then Nf4-g2 happens no matter what and Black wins, right?} 25. Kc1 $3 {No, there is another fantastic resource in this game.} Bh6 ({White's idea is revealed in the line:} 25... Nxg2 26. Bb4 $3 Nxe3 (26... Qf6 $2 27. Qxe7+) 27. Bxd6 Rxd6 28. fxe3 {although this is what Black should have played, according to Carlsen. Black has slight advantage in the endgame.}) 26. Kb2 Rc8 ({There is a curious draw in case of:} 26... Bg7+ 27. Bc3 Nxg2 28. Bb3+ Ke8 29. Ba4+) 27. Rbc1 e6 {Mamedyrov keeps playing for the win!} ({Objectively better is to force a draw with} 27... Nd3+ 28. Qxd3 Bxd2 29. Rxe7+ Kxe7 30. Qxd6+ Kxd6 31. Rd1 Bxg2 32. Rxd2+ Bd5 33. Bxg6) 28. Kb1 Bxg2 29. Bb3 ({White could have tried the nice tactical shot instead:} 29. Bxg6+ $1 Nxg6 (29... Kxg6 $2 30. Rxc8) 30. Qxh6 Be4+ 31. Kb2 Qd4+ 32. Bc3 Rxc3 33. Rxe4 $1 {This is the point.} ({I assume that they both saw from afar only the line of} 33. Rxc3 Qxf2+ { when Black wins.}) 33... Qxe4 34. Rxc3 Qe2+ {White preserves the material advantage, although his win is questionable due to the exposed king.}) 29... Rxc1+ 30. Bxc1 {Carlsen stabilized the situation and might even start thinking about something more than a draw.} Bh3 $1 {Mamedyarov's turn to regroup his troops.} 31. Bb2 Bf5+ 32. Ka1 Bg7 $1 {It is important to weaken the long diagonal.} 33. Bxg7 Kxg7 34. Rd1 (34. Qc3+ $5 {as pointed, Mamedyarov might have given some winning chances to White.}) 34... Nd3 35. Bc4 Qe5+ 36. Qxe5+ Nxe5 37. Be2 g5 38. Rc1 Kf6 39. Rc7 Bd3 40. Bxd3 ({If} 40. Bd1 {then Black can keep his queenside pawns with} a5 41. Rb7 b5) 40... Nxd3 41. Rxa7 Nxf2 { The time trouble is over. The sharp middlegame battle led to a sharp endgame position. It turned out to be dynamically balanced, and both opponents proved equal to each other.} 42. Rb7 g4 43. Rxb6 g3 44. a4 ({Another way to force the draw is} 44. Rb1 Kf5 45. a4 Ne4 46. a5 Nd2 47. Rb8 g2 48. Rg8 Nb3+) 44... Ne4 45. Rb1 Nc5 46. a5 Ke5 47. Kb2 Kf4 48. Kc3 g2 49. Kc4 Na6 50. Kb5 Nb8 51. Kc4 Na6 {Mamedyarov offers repetition.} ({Or} 51... Kf3 52. Rb3+) 52. Kb5 Nb8 53. Kc4 Na6 54. Rg1 {But Carlsen wants to fix the draw his way.} Kg3 55. Kd4 Kf2 56. Rxg2+ Kxg2 57. Ke5 Nc5 58. a6 Nxa6 59. Kxe6 {Epic!} 1/2-1/2 [Event "2019 Croatia Grand Chess Tour"] [Site "Zagreb, Croatia"] [Date "2019.06.29"] [Round "4.1"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2775"] [BlackElo "2748"] [PlyCount "70"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. O-O a6 7. Bb3 Ba7 8. h3 h6 9. Re1 g5 10. Nh2 Rg8 11. Be3 g4 12. hxg4 (12. Bxa7 {The former women's world champion Hou Yifan had unsuccessfully tried this against Magnus Carlsen's current second Peter Heine Nielsen} gxh3 13. g3 Nxa7 14. Nd2 {0-1 (50) Hou,Y (2584)-Nielsen,P (2680) Amsterdam 2009}) 12... Nxg4 13. Qf3 Rg7 14. Bxa7 Nxh2 { N} (14... Rxa7 15. Nd2 Nxh2 16. Kxh2 Qh4+ 17. Kg1 {0-1 (59) Miroshnichenko,P (2294)-Skawinski,A (2386) Warsaw POL 2017}) 15. Kxh2 Qh4+ 16. Kg1 Bg4 17. Qe3 Nxa7 18. Nd2 Nc6 {Black has no problems whatsoever and is slightly better if not equal.} 19. g3 Qh3 20. Bd1 Bxd1 21. Raxd1 O-O-O 22. Qf3 Rh8 23. Nf1 h5 24. Ne3 {Hoping to trade queens with Qf5+} h4 $2 (24... Rg5 25. Nf5 h4 {Black has some chances.}) 25. Qf5+ Qxf5 26. Nxf5 Rg5 27. Re3 {Now the position is just very equal.} Kd7 28. Kg2 hxg3 29. Rxg3 Rxg3+ 30. Kxg3 Ne7 31. Nxe7 Kxe7 32. Kf3 Rh3+ 33. Kg2 Rh8 34. Kf3 Rh3+ 35. Kg2 Rh8 1/2-1/2 [Event "2019 Croatia Grand Chess Tour"] [Site "Zagreb, Croatia"] [Date "2019.06.29"] [Round "4.5"] [White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C83"] [WhiteElo "2779"] [BlackElo "2779"] [PlyCount "91"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. c3 Be7 10. Bc2 Bg4 11. Qe1 Nc5 12. Nd4 Nxd4 13. cxd4 Ne6 {This knight on e6 is a beast. It controls key squares and will also help Black to take crucial pawn breaks like c5 and g5 later.} 14. Qd2 O-O 15. Nc3 f5 16. Qd3 { N MVL plays the first new move of the game.} (16. f4 Kh8 17. h3 Bh5 18. Kh2 c6 19. Qf2 {1/2-1/2 (48) Sutovsky,E (2673)-Vocaturo,D (2609) Caleta 2018.}) 16... Kh8 17. Bb3 c6 18. h3 Bh5 19. f4 g5 (19... c5 $1 {Giri later admitted that he saw c5 and that it was a good move and working for him. But he somehow wanted to attack and play g5.}) 20. Kh2 gxf4 21. Bd1 Bxd1 22. Qxd1 Bg5 23. Ne2 Ra7 24. Bxf4 Rg7 25. Qd2 Rfg8 26. Bxg5 Rxg5 27. Rf2 c5 28. b4 $6 (28. Nf4 Nxd4 29. b4 { Was much better for White.}) 28... cxb4 29. Qxb4 R5g6 30. Qc3 Qh4 31. Raf1 f4 { Giri later admitted that it was around here that he realized he should be lost as he saw the tactic. He had been trying to calculate this position from afar but failed to notice White's defensive resource.} 32. Qf3 Rg3 33. Qxd5 Ng5 $4 { Black has gone all in with his attack.} (33... R8g6 34. Qa8+ {seems good for white but had to be tried by Giri.}) 34. Nxf4 $4 (34. Rxf4 $1 {The winning line which MVL missed.} Rxh3+ 35. gxh3 Qxh3+ 36. Kg1 {White's king is completely safe and the impending double-check can't seem to trouble White at all.} Nf3+ (36... Ne4+ 37. Qxg8+ Kxg8 38. Rxe4 {+-}) 37. Kf2 Rg2+ 38. Ke3 Ne1+ 39. R1f3 $1 {The move missed by MVL, White was just completely winning after this.} (39. Kd2 Qd3+ 40. Kc1 Qc2#)) 34... Nxh3 35. Qxg8+ Rxg8 36. Nxh3 Qxd4 37. e6 Qd6+ 38. Nf4 Rf8 39. g3 Rxf4 40. gxf4 Qxe6 41. f5 Qh6+ 42. Kg3 Qg5+ 43. Kh3 Qh5+ 44. Kg3 Qg5+ 45. Kh3 Qh5+ 46. Kg3 1/2-1/2 [Event "2019 Croatia Grand Chess Tour"] [Site "Zagreb, Croatia"] [Date "2019.06.29"] [Round "4.3"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A20"] [WhiteElo "2754"] [BlackElo "2767"] [PlyCount "53"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 c6 4. d4 e4 5. Bg5 d5 6. Bxf6 {A relatively new move in an unexplored position.} (6. cxd5 cxd5 7. Nc3 Bb4 8. e3 Bxc3+ 9. bxc3 O-O { 0-1 (37) Haessler,C (2139)-Zherebukh,Y (2617) chess.com INT 2017}) 6... Qxf6 7. Nc3 (7. cxd5 cxd5 8. Nc3 Bb4 9. e3 Bxc3+ 10. bxc3 Nc6 {1/2-1/2 (62) Ventura Bolet,M (1987)-Perez Barreto,A (1934) Padron 2011}) 7... Bb4 8. e3 O-O 9. Nge2 Be6 10. O-O Qe7 11. Nf4 Bxc3 12. bxc3 Nd7 13. Qb3 (13. cxd5 Bxd5 14. Qa4 Nb6) 13... Nb6 14. cxd5 cxd5 15. Rfb1 (15. Qb4 {It was better to play} Qxb4 16. cxb4 g5 17. Nxe6 fxe6) 15... g5 $5 16. Nxe6 fxe6 17. a4 Rab8 $6 (17... Rf7 {Is the computer's suggestion to preserve Black's minute edge.}) 18. Ra2 Qc7 19. Bf1 Rfc8 20. Qb4 Nc4 21. Bxc4 Qxc4 22. Qe7 {So gives up his rook on a2 and takes the perpetual} Qxa2 23. Qxe6+ Kg7 24. Qe7+ Kg6 25. Qe6+ Kg7 (25... Kh5 26. Qh3+ Kg6 27. Qe6+) 26. Qe7+ Kg6 27. Qe6+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "2019 Croatia Grand Chess Tour"] [Site "Zagreb, Croatia"] [Date "2019.06.29"] [Round "4.4"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D04"] [WhiteElo "2752"] [BlackElo "2819"] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. e3 c5 4. Nbd2 cxd4 5. exd4 {We transpose to a pawn structure featuring a Caro-Kann Exchange variation.} Bf5 6. Ne5 Nbd7 7. Ndf3 ( 7. g4 Nxe5 8. gxf5 Nc6 9. c3 g6 10. Bd3 {0-1 (43) Kovacevic,V (2545)-Cabrilo,G (2480) Yugoslavia 1989}) 7... e6 8. c3 Be7 9. Bf4 O-O 10. Qb3 (10. Bd3 Be4 11. O-O Nxe5 12. Nxe5) 10... Nxe5 11. Bxe5 Ne4 12. Be2 f6 13. Bf4 g5 $5 {Caruana plays the move that was also played on four other boards today.} 14. Be3 b5 15. a4 $2 {The wrong rook pawn.} (15. h4 {It was important to play h4 and play in the spirit of the position.} g4 16. Nd2 g3 17. Nxe4 Bxe4 18. Bf3 gxf2+ 19. Kxf2 f5) 15... bxa4 16. Qxa4 Bd6 17. Ra2 a5 18. O-O Qb8 19. Kh1 $6 (19. h3 {Is the computer's top choice.}) 19... h5 20. c4 h4 21. h3 Bb4 $6 (21... dxc4 22. Bxc4 Rc8 {And Black retains his edge.}) 22. Raa1 $2 (22. c5 $1 {This move cuts the bishop out, and White could try in this position.}) 22... Ra7 {Caruana comes up with a nice idea and improves his worst-placed piece. He plans to play Ra7-Rg7 where the rook is very useful.} 23. Rac1 Rg7 24. cxd5 $6 (24. c5 { Aronian misses his second chance to cut off the bishop.}) 24... exd5 25. Qb5 Qd6 26. Qa6 Qe7 {Caruana avoids the queen sacrifice to enhance his chances for a kingside attack, but even the endgame after Qxa6 was better for Black.} ( 26... Qxa6 27. Bxa6 Rb8 {Black can play for two results here.}) 27. Bd3 Kh8 28. Ng1 $2 {Aronian's last mistake.} (28. Nh2 {was necessary.}) 28... Bh7 $2 (28... g4 $1 {A difficult idea to find. Black gives up an exchange to open up White's kingside, and the weak king with the bishop pair gives Black great chances to convert.} 29. Bxe4 Qxe4 30. Bh6 gxh3 31. Bxg7+ Kxg7 32. f3 hxg2+ 33. Kxg2 Qf4) 29. Bxe4 Qxe4 30. Rc8 Rxc8 31. Qxc8+ Rg8 32. Qa6 Be7 33. Re1 Bd8 34. Qd6 Be7 35. Qa6 Bd8 36. Qd6 Be7 37. Qa6 {A weird repetition to end the game.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "2019 Croatia Grand Chess Tour"] [Site "Zagreb, Croatia"] [Date "2019.06.29"] [Round "4.6"] [White "Ding, Liren"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D27"] [WhiteElo "2805"] [BlackElo "2754"] [PlyCount "89"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Bxc4 a6 6. O-O c5 7. b3 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Be7 9. Bb2 O-O 10. Nd2 b5 11. Be2 Bb7 12. Bf3 Ra7 13. Rc1 Qd7 14. Qe2 (14. Bxb7 Rxb7 15. N2f3 Rc7 16. Rxc7 Qxc7 17. Qb1 Qb7 18. Rc1 {1/2-1/2 (30) Lenderman,A (2637)-Nakamura,H (2746) Saint Louis USA 2019}) 14... Bxf3 15. N2xf3 Rc8 16. Ne5 Qe8 17. Rxc8 Qxc8 18. Rc1 Rc7 19. Rxc7 Qxc7 {Nakamura has comfortably equalized with Black showing that Ding's new move might not be a big improvement.} 20. Nd3 Qa5 21. Ba1 Qc7 22. Qc2 {An indirect draw offer. The players keep trading pieces, and the draw is reached without any incidents.} Qxc2 23. Nxc2 Nfd7 24. Kf1 Nc6 25. Nd4 Nxd4 26. Bxd4 f5 27. Ke2 Bd6 28. f4 Kf7 29. h3 g6 30. Kd2 Ke7 31. Kc3 Kd8 32. Be5 Be7 33. Kd4 Kc8 34. e4 fxe4 35. Kxe4 Nc5+ 36. Nxc5 Bxc5 37. g4 Kd7 38. f5 gxf5+ 39. gxf5 Ke7 40. a4 bxa4 41. bxa4 Ba3 42. Bd4 Bb4 43. Be5 Ba3 44. Bd4 Bb4 45. Be5 1/2-1/2 [Event "2019 Croatia Grand Chess Tour"] [Site "Zagreb, Croatia"] [Date "2019.06.30"] [Round "5.1"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D85"] [WhiteElo "2754"] [BlackElo "2775"] [PlyCount "129"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Na4 $5 {An interesting side line by Nakamura.} Bf5 $6 (5... e5 {Black's main reply is to sacrifice a pawn in the centre with} 6. dxe5 Nc6) 6. f3 Nb6 7. e4 Nxa4 (7... Bc8 8. Be3 Bg7 9. Nc5 {1-0 (43) Turov,M (2593)-Bok,B (2590) Fagernes 2014}) 8. Qxa4+ {N The first new move of the game.} (8. Bb5+ Bd7 9. Bxa4 Bg7 10. Ne2 c5 11. Bxd7+ Qxd7 12. d5 {1/2-1/2 (50) Li,D (2434)-Schreiner,P (2472) Zadar 2016}) 8... Bd7 9. Qb3 Bg7 10. Be3 O-O 11. d5 b6 12. Rd1 Qe8 {Preparing the pawn break with c6.} 13. Rd2 c6 14. Ne2 e6 15. dxc6 Nxc6 16. Qa3 Ne5 17. Nc3 b5 18. Qa6 b4 19. Nd1 Qe7 20. Be2 Rfd8 21. O-O Bc8 22. Rxd8+ Qxd8 23. Qa4 a5 24. Nf2 Bd7 25. Qd1 Nc6 26. b3 Be8 27. Qxd8 Rxd8 28. Rd1 Bd4 29. Bxd4 Nxd4 30. Kf1 Kf8 31. e5 Bc6 32. Ng4 Ke7 33. Nf6 h5 34. Rc1 Kf8 35. Kf2 a4 36. bxa4 Bxa4 37. Rc7 b3 38. axb3 Bxb3 39. Ke3 Ba4 (39... Kg7 {is better.}) 40. Bd3 Nc6 41. Nd7+ Ke8 42. Nf6+ Kf8 43. Bc2 Bb5 44. Kf4 Ne7 45. Nh7+ Ke8 46. Nf6+ Kf8 47. Be4 Rc8 48. Ra7 Bc6 49. Kg5 { White's monarch is threatening to enter with Kh6.} Bxe4 50. Nxe4 Nc6 51. Rb7 Kg7 52. Nd6 Rf8 53. f4 Nd4 54. Rd7 Nf5 {Black gives up a pawn to enter into a drawn rook-and-pawn endgame.} 55. Nxf5+ gxf5 56. Rd3 Ra8 57. Rg3 f6+ 58. Kxh5+ Kf7 59. Rg6 fxe5 60. fxe5 Ra5 61. Kh6 Rxe5 62. Rg7+ Kf6 63. Rg6+ Kf7 64. Rg7+ Kf6 65. Rg6+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "2019 Croatia Grand Chess Tour"] [Site "Zagreb, Croatia"] [Date "2019.06.30"] [Round "5.2"] [White "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D31"] [WhiteElo "2748"] [BlackElo "2875"] [PlyCount "84"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 a6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Nc3 h6 6. Bf4 Nf6 7. e3 (7. Qb3 Bd6 8. Bxd6 Qxd6 9. e3 O-O 10. Bd3 b6 11. O-O Nbd7 12. Rfd1 Bb7 13. Rac1 Rfd8 14. Qc2 c5 {0-1 (65) Melkumyan,H (2670)-Carlsen,M (2835) St Petersburg RUS 2018}) 7... Bd6 8. Be5 (8. h3 {was played against Grandelius, one of Carlsen's seconds.} Bxf4 9. exf4 O-O 10. Bd3 Re8+ 11. Ne2 c5 {1/2-1/2 (28) Salgado Lopez, I (2624)-Grandelius,N (2678) Berlin GER 2019}) (8. Bxd6 Qxd6 9. Qc2 O-O 10. Bd3 Re8 11. h3 Be6 12. O-O Nbd7 13. a4 Rac8 14. Rfc1 c5 {1/2-1/2 (40) Shankland,S (2725)-Carlsen,M (2835) Wijk aan Zee NED 2019}) 8... Be6 {N} (8... c6 {was played less than two weeks ago.} 9. Qc2 {1-0 (20) Simantsev,M (2371)-Benk,T (1849) Ankara TUR 2019}) 9. Qb3 Ra7 10. Bd3 Bxe5 11. Nxe5 O-O 12. O-O Nbd7 13. f4 c5 14. f5 $6 {Hasty.} (14. Qc2 cxd4 15. exd4 {White maintains an edge thanks to awkward placement of the rook on a7.}) 14... c4 15. Qa3 cxd3 16. fxe6 fxe6 17. Nxd3 Ra8 18. Qd6 Qb6 19. Qxb6 Nxb6 {Black has equalized and held comfortably.} 20. Nc5 Rf7 21. b3 Re8 22. Rac1 e5 23. h3 Nc8 24. Nd3 exd4 25. exd4 Na7 26. Nf4 Nc6 27. Nfxd5 Nxd5 28. Nxd5 Rd7 29. Rc5 Nxd4 30. Rd1 Ne6 31. Rc4 Red8 32. Re1 Rxd5 33. Rxe6 R8d6 34. Rxd6 Rxd6 35. a4 b6 36. b4 Rd1+ 37. Kf2 Ra1 38. Rc6 Ra2+ 39. Kf3 Ra3+ 40. Kf2 Ra2+ 41. Kf3 Ra3+ 42. Kf2 Ra2+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "2019 Croatia Grand Chess Tour"] [Site "Zagreb, Croatia"] [Date "2019.06.30"] [Round "5.5"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Ding, Liren"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D45"] [WhiteElo "2779"] [BlackElo "2805"] [PlyCount "128"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 {Both players play the Semi-Slav very frequently. Kasparov and Anand also present in Zagreb are the known experts of this line.} 7. b3 O-O 8. Be2 b6 9. O-O Bb7 10. Bb2 Rc8 (10... Qe7 {This is more well-known and has almost triple the amount of games than Rc8 in the database.} 11. Rad1 Rad8 {1/2-1/2 (21) Radjabov,T (2741)-Giri, A (2762) Palma de Mallorca 2017}) 11. Rad1 c5 12. dxc5 Nxc5 13. cxd5 Nxd5 14. Bc4 Nb4 15. Qe2 Qe7 16. a3 Nc6 17. b4 Nd7 18. Ne4 Be5 (18... Bb8 19. Ba6 Bxa6 20. Qxa6 Nde5 {1/2-1/2 (43) Hammer,J (2651)-Adhiban,B (2671) Baku 2016}) 19. Bd3 Bxb2 20. Qxb2 Rcd8 21. Rd2 f6 22. Bb1 Nde5 23. Nxe5 Nxe5 24. Rc1 Rxd2 25. Qxd2 Rd8 26. Qe2 Qd7 {Black takes control of the open file and now has a very tiny advantage.} 27. Nc3 Rc8 28. Rd1 Qe7 29. Ne4 Bd5 30. f4 Nf7 31. Qd2 Qc7 32. Nf2 $6 (32. Ng3 Qc3 {Black maintains a tiny edge.}) 32... Nd6 33. e4 Bb3 34. e5 Nf5 35. Re1 fxe5 36. fxe5 Qc3 37. Qxc3 Rxc3 38. Ne4 Rc7 39. Kf2 Bd5 40. Rd1 h6 41. Nd6 $2 {Giri gives up a pawn for no reason and pays for it at the end.} ({ Either of the two moves are advised for White.} 41. b5) (41. Bd3) 41... Nxd6 42. exd6 Rc6 43. Be4 Rxd6 44. Ke3 Kf7 45. Rc1 Ke7 46. Rc8 Rd7 47. Bxd5 Rxd5 48. a4 Kd6 49. h4 Re5+ 50. Kd3 Rh5 51. Rd8+ Ke7 52. Rg8 Kf7 53. Ra8 a5 54. Ra6 axb4 55. Rxb6 Rxh4 56. a5 Rg4 57. a6 $2 (57. Kc2 {For a better defense, the engines prefer to bring the king over.} Rxg2+ 58. Kb3) 57... Rxg2 58. Kc4 Ra2 59. Kxb4 h5 60. Kb5 h4 61. Rc6 h3 62. Rc3 h2 63. Rf3+ Ke7 64. Rh3 g5 0-1 [Event "Croatia Grand Chess Tour"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.06.30"] [Round "5.6"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D39"] [WhiteElo "2774"] [BlackElo "2752"] [Annotator "Bojkov,Dejan"] [PlyCount "78"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 d5 5. Qa4+ Nc6 6. Bg5 {Mamedyarov likes to sacrifice pawns in the opening, but this time it seems as he felt victim of Aronian's famous opening laboratiry.} dxc4 7. a3 Bxc3+ 8. bxc3 Qd5 {"I thought I remember everything about this move, but I obviously did not. Or maybe this was just a bad position (for me)?" (Mamedyarov).} 9. Bxf6 gxf6 10. g3 ({Perhaps } 10. Nd2 {intending e2-e4 is the only way to create enough play.}) 10... Bd7 ( {Instead} 10... b5 11. Qc2 Bb7 12. e4 Qd7 13. Bg2 Na5 14. O-O Nb3 {is the course of the game Dragun,K (2597)-Swiercz,D (2654) New York 2018.}) 11. Qc2 Na5 12. e4 Qd6 13. Bg2 Nb3 {N A novelty in comparison to a very old game.} ({ That predecessor went} 13... O-O-O 14. e5 fxe5 15. Nxe5 Be8 16. Rb1 (16. O-O $5 f6 17. Ng4 {provides compensation for the pawn.}) 16... f6 17. Qb2 fxe5 18. Bxb7+ Nxb7 19. Qxb7+ Kd7 20. O-O {White obviously does not have enough attack for the piece here either, Budo,A-Ragozin,V Leningrad 1936 HCL [ChessBase].}) 14. Rd1 {"One pawn or two pawns, it is not a big difference" (Mamedyarov).} ({ In case of} 14. Rb1 {White is afraid of:} e5) 14... Qxa3 15. O-O O-O-O 16. Qe2 {"It is already very bad position (for me)" (Mamedyarov). The knight on b3 is a monster that does not allow White a chance to use the open files. But this is not its only advantage.} Bb5 17. Rb1 ({Maybe} 17. e5 f5 18. Ng5 Rd7 19. d5 { is worth a try.}) 17... c6 18. Rfd1 a5 {Aronian makes progress on the queenside while Mamedyarov simply waited in the past few moves. With his next move he tries to get rid of the black knight and open files on the queenside.} 19. Nd2 {However, now comes a piece of magic:} Nxd4 $3 {Obviously foreseen by Aronian in advance.} ({The dull} 19... Nxd2 20. Qxd2 Qe7 (20... a4 21. Rb4) 21. d5 {promises White good attacking possibilities.}) 20. cxd4 Rxd4 {The pawns get into motion.} 21. Ra1 Qb2 22. Rab1 c3 $1 {The point behind Black's sacrifice.} ({It was even better to execute this move after the preliminary} 22... Qc2 23. Rbc1 {And now} c3 24. Qf3 Qxc1 25. Rxc1 cxd2 26. Rd1 Ba4 { clearing the road for the pawns and winning the game.}) 23. Qf3 ({Practically nothing is changed after} 23. Qh5 Rxd2 24. Rxb2 cxb2 25. Rb1 Rhd8) 23... Rxd2 24. Rxb2 cxb2 {The sacrifice works spectacularly well. Nominally speaking, the queen is stronger than the rook and the three pawns. But this pawn on b2, is it just a pawn? It is almost nine pawns right now!} 25. Bf1 {Allows a beautiful finish.} ({After} 25. Rb1 Rhd8 26. Bf1 {Black would have won with} Bd3 27. Bxd3 R8xd3 28. Qh5 Rc3 {supporting the pawn to its promotional square.} ) 25... Rhd8 {Not a bad move, but...very uncharacteristic for Aronian. He misses beautiful tactics.} ({The study-like} 25... Be2 $3 {"is winning easily" (Mamedyarov). For example,} 26. Bxe2 ({or} 26. Qxe2 Rxe2 27. Bxe2 a4 {and the pawns are unstoppable.}) 26... Rxd1+ 27. Bxd1 b1=Q {and Black wins.}) 26. Rb1 Bxf1 27. Kxf1 Rc2 {A second slip in a row.} ({It was not too late to wrap up the game with} 27... R8d3 $1 28. Qh5 (28. Qg4 a4) 28... a4 {The pawns are unstoppable. If the queen tries to go for perpetual, no defenders are left at all:} 29. Qxf7 Rd1+ 30. Rxd1 Rxd1+ 31. Kg2 b1=Q) 28. Kg2 Rdd2 29. Qxf6 $1 { Not just winning a pawn, but setting free his king.} ({Perhaps Aronian only calculated lines such as} 29. Qa3 Rxf2+ 30. Kh3 h5 $1 {when White is getting checkmated.}) 29... a4 {The threat is Rxf2+ followed by massive trades and a4-a3.} 30. Kh3 Rxf2 31. Qh8+ (31. Qe7 $1 {might have been even more careful, preparing for the perpetual.}) 31... Kc7 32. Qd4 f6 {Misses the last chance. Without the support of the a4 pawn, the b2 passer is no longer a monster.} ( 32... b5 $1 {"should be also winning for Black as there are no checks" (Mamedyarov). This is not that certain. After:} 33. Qa7+ Kd6 34. Kg4 $1 { The black king is exposed and even measures such as} Ke5 $1 35. Rd1 h5+ $5 36. Kxh5 Rfd2 37. Rf1 Kxe4 {would not necessarily save it from the annoying white pieces after} 38. Qxf7 {Most likely White should be able to find a perpetual here.}) 33. Qxa4 Rxh2+ ({After:} 33... h5 34. Qa5+ b6 35. Qa7+ Kd6 {Both} 36. e5+ {(Aronian)} ({and} 36. Rd1+ {(Mamedyarov) should lead to a draw:} Ke5 37. Qc7+ Kxe4 38. Re1+ Kd5 39. Rd1+ Kc5 40. Qd6+ Kb5 41. Qd3+ Kb4 42. Qd6+) 36... Kxe5 37. Re1+ Rfe2 38. Rxe2+ Rxe2 39. Qxb6) 34. Kg4 h5+ 35. Kf4 Rhf2+ {Aronian decided it is time to force a draw.} 36. Ke3 Rfe2+ 37. Kf3 Rf2+ 38. Ke3 Rfe2+ 39. Kf3 Rf2+ {A miraculous escape for Mamedyarov!} 1/2-1/2 [Event "2019 Croatia Grand Chess Tour"] [Site "Zagreb, Croatia"] [Date "2019.06.30"] [Round "5.3"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2819"] [BlackElo "2754"] [PlyCount "82"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. O-O O-O {Another outing for the evergreen Italian opening.} 7. h3 a6 8. a4 h6 9. Re1 Ba7 10. Nbd2 Re8 11. b4 Be6 12. Bxe6 Rxe6 13. Nb3 Ne7 14. Nh4 d5 15. Qe2 {The first new move in the position.} (15. Be3 dxe4 16. Bxa7 Rxa7 17. dxe4 Qxd1 18. Raxd1 Rd6 { 1/2-1/2 (41) Alekseev, E (2638)-Goryachkina,A (2452) Khanty-Mansiysk RUS 2016}) 15... Rd6 16. Nc5 $6 {A highly questionable decision by Caruana. He could have continued his queenside play with:} (16. b5 Nd7 17. Ba3) 16... Bxc5 17. bxc5 Re6 18. Qf3 dxe4 19. dxe4 Qd7 20. a5 Rd8 21. Rb1 Qc6 22. Qe3 Kh7 23. Rb4 Ng6 24. Nxg6 fxg6 25. f3 Nh5 26. Qf2 g5 27. Kh2 Nf4 28. Bxf4 gxf4 29. Reb1 Rd3 30. Rxb7 Rxc3 31. Rb8 Qxc5 32. Qh4 Qe7 33. Qg4 Rc2 34. Qf5+ g6 35. Qf8 Qxf8 36. Rxf8 Kg7 37. Rbb8 Rd6 38. Rg8+ Kh7 39. Rh8+ Kg7 40. Rhg8+ Kh7 41. Rh8+ Kg7 1/2-1/2 [Event "2019 Croatia Grand Chess Tour"] [Site "Zagreb, Croatia"] [Date "2019.06.30"] [Round "5.4"] [White "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B52"] [WhiteElo "2767"] [BlackElo "2779"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Bxd7+ Nxd7 5. O-O Ngf6 6. Qe2 Rc8 7. b3 g6 8. Bb2 e5 9. d3 $5 {N} (9. c4 {Anand had used this successfully against Nakamura.} Bg7 10. d3 O-O 11. Nc3 Nh5 12. Nd5 Nb8 13. a3 Nc6 14. b4 {1-0 (62) Anand,V (2797)-Nakamura,H (2776) Zuerich 2015.}) 9... Bg7 10. Nc3 Nf8 11. Nd2 Ne6 12. Nc4 a6 13. a4 O-O 14. g3 $6 (14. a5 {is the engine's top suggesstion as White continues with his plans. The text also cements the knight on c4 as Black doesn't have b5 after this.}) 14... Nd4 15. Qd1 Qd7 16. Ne3 Rce8 17. Rb1 h5 18. Ncd5 Nxd5 19. Nxd5 Nc6 20. Bc1 f5 21. f3 Ne7 22. Nxe7+ Rxe7 23. Bg5 Ref7 24. Qe2 Kh7 25. Kg2 Bh6 26. Bxh6 Kxh6 27. exf5 Rxf5 28. b4 cxb4 29. Rxb4 R8f7 30. d4 Qc6 31. dxe5 Rxe5 32. Qc4 Rc7 {A number to trades follow as the players liquidate to a rook-and-pawn endgame with three pawns apiece.} 33. Qxc6 Rxc6 34. Rxb7 Re2+ 35. Rf2 Rxf2+ 36. Kxf2 Rxc2+ 37. Ke3 Rc4 38. Rb6 Rxa4 39. Rxd6 Ra3+ 40. Kf4 Ra4+ 41. Ke3 Ra3+ 42. Kf4 Ra4+ 43. Ke3 1/2-1/2 [Event "Croatia Grand Chess Tour"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.07.01"] [Round "6.2"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D37"] [WhiteElo "2875"] [BlackElo "2754"] [Annotator "Bojkov,Dejan"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2014.12.06"] {[%evp 0,85,19,31,14,-14,3,3,-17,6,16,1,7,13,51,45,54,27,39,21,44,-6,68,13,38, 31,41,41,21,29,75,81,35,23,29,2,31,31,81,56,101,96,99,-41,77,90,49,35,127,74, 61,18,44,51,51,61,87,95,123,167,167,190,204,161,166,135,148,145,141,134,135, 161,170,174,187,198,173,189,170,158,158,183,175,175,183,166,195,191]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 {In some sense a tribute to Kasparov, who mentored both Nakamura and Carlsen at phases of their chess development. The 13th world champion successfully implemented the QGD in his first matches against his great predecessor on the throne, A. Karpov.} 8. a3 Nc6 9. Qc2 Re8 10. Bg5 ({Three years ago two other world champions had another sharp opening dispute in the line:} 10. O-O-O e5 11. Bg5 d4 12. Nd5 b5 13. Bxf6 gxf6 14. cxb5 Na5 {Black's preparation proved superior later, Topalov,V (2760)-Anand,V (2779) London 2016 CBM 176.}) 10... Be7 11. Rd1 Qa5 12. Bd3 dxc4 {N A novelty that allows a deviation from the main line.} ({ Carlsen also defended the black color in a world championship match. There he did not allow the extra bishop retreat with this move order:} 12... h6 13. Bh4 ({Here} 13. Bf4 $6 {is not good due to} e5 $1) 13... dxc4 14. Bxc4 a6 15. O-O b5 16. Ba2 Bb7 17. Bb1 Rad8 {Anand,V (2792)-Carlsen,M (2863) Sochi 2014 CBM 164.}) 13. Bxc4 h6 14. Bf4 $5 {Carlen decided to go off the beaten track as early as he could. He clearly understood that in comparison to another line of the QGD, his opponent would have two extra tempi but saw no way for him to utilize on those.} (14. Bh4 {would lead the game back into the above-mentioned game Anand-Carlsen.}) 14... Bd7 ({The computer suggests this pawn sacrifice:} 14... Nd5 15. Bxd5 exd5 16. Rxd5 Qa6 17. Qd3 b6 {but it is questionable how much compensation White has for a pawn.}) 15. O-O Rac8 16. e4 e5 ({White is slightly better after:} 16... Red8 17. Qe2 {(Carlsen)}) 17. Be3 ({For a while the world champion tried to make the move} 17. Qb3 {work, and it does in case of} exf4 18. Bxf7+ Kf8 $2 ({However, there is no refutation of the other retreat:} 18... Kh8 $1 19. Bxe8 Rxe8 {when Black is perfectly fine.}) 19. Bg6 Nd8 20. e5) 17... Nd4 $1 {This was expected by White as he assumed that he would be better if his opponent does not force matters.} ({Against a normal move like} 17... Bf8 {White should refrain from} 18. Qb3 ({However,} 18. Qd3 $1 Rcd8 19. Nd5 Nxd5 20. Bxd5 {leads to White's edge.}) 18... Be6 19. Bxe6 Rxe6 20. Qxb7 $4 Rb8) 18. Bxd4 {Now the forcing sequence follows:} Rxc4 19. Bxe5 Ba4 ({After} 19... Bg4 {White would gain time to consolidate:} 20. Qd3 Bxf3 21. gxf3 Qxe5 22. Qxc4 {As:} Bd6 {is met with} 23. Rxd6 $1) 20. b3 Nxe4 $1 { Missed by the world champion.} 21. Rd3 ({There was an alternative line to play for the advantage:} 21. Qe2 Rxc3 22. bxa4 Rc5 {And now not} 23. Qxe4 ({but rather} 23. Bxg7 $1 Qxa4 24. Bd4 {with somewhat better chances thanks to the weakened position around the black king.}) 23... Bf6 {with equality.}) 21... Rec8 $2 {Up to here, Nakamura has defended with his usual aggressive attitude, but this move is connected with a blunder. Everything is hanging, but White's next move reveals the reality.} ({Instead, Black could have held his own in the line:} 21... Bf6 $1 22. Nd2 Nxd2 23. Qxd2 {And now a difficult move to foresee in advance:} Bg5 $1 {to stabilize the kingside.} ({Most likely both players calculated the consequences of forcing moves like:} 23... Bxb3 24. Bxf6 gxf6 25. Rb1 {which are indeed very pleasant for White.})) ({Also good is} 21... Bf8 $5) 22. Qb2 {The queen steps out of the pins and finds an excellent vantage point against the black king. At the same time, almost all black pieces remain hanging.} ({Black is obviously fine after} 22. bxa4 Nxc3) 22... Nc5 ({Nakamura explained later that he missed that in the line:} 22... Bxb3 23. Nd5 {"is just crushing him" (Carlsen).}) ({Also:} 22... Nxc3 23. bxc4 {is not good for Black.}) 23. Re3 Bxb3 24. Bxg7 Rg4 {"A nice try" (Carlsen).} ({ In case of} 24... Ne6 25. Be5 Qxa3 {the key move is once more} 26. Nd5 $1) 25. Bxh6 Bf6 {It seems as if Nakamura has managed to consolidate, but Carlsen has foreseen it all.} 26. Ne5 Bxe5 ({The rook does not have a good retreat square, say:} 26... Rh4 27. Rg3+ Kh7 28. Qb1+ Kxh6 29. Rg6+ $1 ({Or the simple:} 29. Qf5 $1)) 27. Rxe5 Qb6 ({In case of:} 27... Nd3 28. Rxa5 Nxb2 29. Nd5 $1 { Yet again this centralization, it will be more or less the same as in the game (Carlsen).}) 28. Qd2 Rg6 ({Maybe} 28... Qf6 {leaves Black more practical chances.}) 29. Be3 {Now a familiar centralization happens.} Qc6 30. Nd5 Bxd5 31. Qxd5 ({Avoiding all the tactical tricks, such as:} 31. Rxd5 Ne4 32. Rd8+ Kh7 33. Rxc8 Rxg2+ $1 {(Carlsen) with a draw after} 34. Kxg2 Qg6+ 35. Kh1 Nxd2 36. Bxd2 Qd3 37. Kg1 Qg6+) 31... b6 32. g3 {White is a clear pawn ahead and finishes the game confidently.} Nd7 33. Qxc6 Rgxc6 34. Rd5 Nf8 35. Rfd1 Ne6 36. a4 $1 Rc4 37. a5 Rb4 38. Rd7 bxa5 39. Rxa7 a4 40. Rdd7 Nd8 41. Rd5 Ne6 42. Rda5 Rcc4 43. Kg2 1-0 [Event "Grand Chess Tour Croatia"] [Site "Zagreb"] [Date "2019.07.01"] [Round "6"] [White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "0-1"] [PlyCount "74"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 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. d3 h6 10. axb5 axb5 11. Rxa8 Qxa8 12. Nh4 Bc8 13. Na3 Bg4 14. Qc2 Qb8 15. Kh1 g5 16. Nf5 Bxf5 17. exf5 O-O 18. Qd1 Na5 19. Bxf7+ Rxf7 20. b4 Bxb4 21. cxb4 Nc6 22. Nc2 Qc8 23. g4 Qa8 $1 {This recalls Carlsen's ...Qa8 against Giri, but whereas Carlsen won on move 23, Caruana still needs another 14 chaotic moves to win.} 24. f3 Qa2 25. d4 Re7 26. dxe5 dxe5 27. Qd3 (27. h4 $1) 27... e4 28. Qc3 Ne5 29. f4 Nd5 30. Qh3 $2 (30. Qd4 $1 {Centralizing is Stockfish-approved. The threat to h6 in the game can be met by counterplay in the center.}) 30... Nf3 31. Ne1 Nxe1 32. Rxe1 e3 {"Push 'em baby!" (Aron Nimzowitsch, paraphrased).} 33. fxg5 hxg5 34. Qg2 Qc4 35. Qf3 Re4 36. h3 Rf4 37. Qg3 Rf1+ 0-1 [Event "Croatia GCT 2019"] [Site "Zagreb CRO"] [Date "2019.07.03"] [Round "7.1"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B30"] [WhiteElo "2775"] [BlackElo "2875"] [Annotator "Hess, R"] [PlyCount "62"] [EventDate "2019.06.26"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 e5 {Carlsen shuts down the center, refusing to allow Nepo to transpose into an Open Sicilian.} ({For example, if Black plays} 3... e6 {White can go forward with} 4. d4) 4. Bc4 g6 {You have to give it to Magnus, he sure knows how to divert from his opponents' preparation. Rather than continue with topical lines, the world champion deviates into relatively unexplored territory. This decision has now paid dividends in multiple games, including round one against Giri. Sure, the immediate evaluation might jump to an advantage for White, but Magnus consistently shows superior understanding of the positions.} ({White scores well after} 4... Be7 5. d3 d6 6. O-O Nf6 7. Ng5 O-O 8. f4 {when the plan of action appears quite obvious: gain space, activate your pieces, and launch an initiative on the kingside.}) 5. d3 h6 { Another good Magnus move. White has no way of taking advantage of the delay in development; typically when your opponent's king is in the center you'd like to open files and get aggressive. There are no available pawn breaks or action moves, but Nepo sure did try.} 6. h4 d6 7. h5 {Forcing Black's hand. Sometimes it is better to delay such a push, but Nepo wanted to control the light squares.} ({If White simply develops, Black will fight for space} 7. Be3 f5 $5 (7... Bg4) (7... Nf6)) 7... g5 8. Nh2 Bg7 9. Ng4 Nge7 10. Ne3 O-O ({In anticipation of the position becoming closed, it might have been tempting to strike with} 10... f5 {Yet the mere placement of a pawn on a more advanced square does not solve Black's problems. In fact, here Nepo would have even greater control of the board because the light squares are more vulnerable and castling is off the table.} 11. exf5 (11. Bd2 {or 11. a4 are possibilities that keep the status quo. White has such beautiful control over the light squares.}) 11... Nxf5 12. O-O Rf8 13. Bd2) 11. Bd2 Kh8 12. g4 {Nepo makes certain that Carlsen is not going to break on the kingside. A natural plan, but one that he spent quite a lot of time orchestrating, both over the board and on the clock. A major drawback is that White, too, has no break on the kingside. Now the action will be concentrated on the queenside, where Black has the natural plan to play for ...b5.} Rb8 13. a4 Nd4 14. Ncd5 Nxd5 15. Nxd5 Ne6 16. f3 ({Heading to f5 is probably tempting, but a) the bishop on g7 isn't really a piece you want to take and b) Black might have the idea to play for .. .d5.} 16. Ne3 Nf4 17. Qf3 Be6) 16... Nf4 17. Qb1 (17. Bxf4 exf4 18. c3 b6 19. d4 {is a space grab, but where White goes from here is not an easily answerable question. Black can attack the knight and always threaten Bxd5 followed by pressuring the d4 pawn. I'm sure the position is level, but all these nuances pile up and Nepo was already far behind on the clock. Just one interesting idea is:} cxd4 20. cxd4 Be6 21. Rh2 b5 (21... a6) 22. axb5 Bxd5 23. Bxd5 Rxb5 {White should be doing fine here, but there are ripe targets on b2 and d4.}) 17... Be6 18. Qa2 Qd7 {Now Nepo had to keep an eye out on the g4 pawn. No sacrifice looks like a knockout blow - yet - but the threat loomed large and Nepo immediately took measures to prevent it.} 19. Rg1 (19. O-O-O { is far too accommodating, since Black already intends to break open the queenside. Placing the king directly in harm's way is not advisable.}) ({ Trying to evaluate the following position would have needlessly taken up important minutes, of which Nepo was beginning to run short. The game continuation was practical and strong, whereas the sacrifice on g4 and the ensuing pawn storm is troubling to meet over the board.} 19. Kd1 Bxg4 $5 20. fxg4 Qxg4+ 21. Kc1 Qf3 22. Re1 g4 (22... Qxh5) 23. Ne3 g3 {is anybody's game, but optically it looks promising for Black, since the pawns are making their presence felt.}) 19... b6 20. Bc3 {White is ready to take on f4, swap bishops on g7, and make a draw. Carlsen wanted the game to continue.} Bxd5 21. Bxd5 a6 22. Bd2 Qe7 {A useful, noncommittal move. Why open the a-file and give White additional resources earlier than necessary when White's bishop ensures that a black rook is not landing on a8?} (22... b5 23. axb5 axb5 24. Qa7 Qxa7 25. Rxa7 Nxd5 26. exd5 Ra8 27. Rxa8 Rxa8 28. Ke2 Ra2 29. Rb1 {is teetering somewhat close to danger for Black, who must figure out how to deal with the b4 push. Thus,} b4 {is best, and holding.}) 23. Rf1 b5 24. axb5 axb5 25. Kf2 (25. Kd1 { and running to c1 actually makes sense when you consider that White might want to take on f4. When Black captures back with the e-pawn, the b2 pawn will be defended so that the queen can roam free on the queenside.}) 25... c4 26. Bxf4 exf4 27. Rad1 (27. dxc4 bxc4 28. c3 (28. Kg2) 28... f5 $1 {is similar to the game} 29. Rg1 (29. exf5 Qe3+ 30. Kg2 Qd2+ {picks up the bishop on d5.}) (29. gxf5 g4 30. Rh1 Rxf5 31. exf5 Qe3+ 32. Kg2 Qd2+ 33. Kg1 Qxd5 34. Rh2 (34. fxg4 Bd4+ 35. cxd4 Qxd4+ {actually leads to a mate by force.} 36. Kf1 Qd3+ 37. Kf2 Qe3+ 38. Kg2 Qe2+ 39. Kg1 Qxg4+ 40. Kf2 Qg3+ 41. Ke2 Qd3+ 42. Kf2 Qe3+ 43. Kf1 Qf3+ 44. Ke1 Re8+ 45. Kd2 Re2+ 46. Kd1 Rf2+ 47. Kc1 Qxh1#) 34... Be5 {is overwhelming for White.}) 29... fxe4 (29... Qc7 {is probably better than taking the pawn. Here White has so many issues still to deal with.} 30. gxf5 Qc5+ 31. Kg2 g4) 30. Rge1 {is the most appealing defense, though the position still looks far from easy. The benefit of bishops of opposite color is that you can blockade on the light squares here.}) (27. Kg2 cxd3 28. cxd3 Bd4 29. Qb3) 27... f5 $5 {A "bluff" in Carlsen's own words.} 28. gxf5 $4 (28. exf5 $1 { This looks quite dangerous, but White has everything covered.} Qe3+ 29. Kg2 Qe2+ 30. Kh3 {is one way to dance away.} cxd3 31. cxd3 Rbc8 {is one move too slow.} 32. Rde1 Qd2 33. Rd1 (33. Qa7 $5 {is a potential improvement, but it's simultaneously playing for a win and a loss, particularly when you're far behind on the clock.})) 28... g4 $1 29. d4 {Nepo tries to deny d4 to Black's bishop, but now the black pawns survive.} (29. fxg4 Qh4+ 30. Ke2 Bd4 {Carlsen is all over the dark squares, and White's bishop and queen are just bystanders. Black is winning.}) 29... Qh4+ 30. Ke2 Qh2+ 31. Rf2 (31. Ke1 g3 {and ...g2 will win.}) 31... gxf3+ {Nepo resigned as Ke1 Qg1+ and Kxf3 Qxh5+ both win white rooks, although different ones.} 0-1 [Event "Live Chess"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Ding, Liren"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [PlyCount "118"] [TimeControl "600"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 b5 8. a4 b4 9. Nfd2 {Until here this position appeared in a lot of high level games.} Nd5 {This is the first special move because everyone here would play c6.} 10. Nxc4 c5 11. dxc5 Ba6 $1 {This move gives a new life to the 9...Nd5 move.} 12. Ne3 Nd7 13. Nxd5 exd5 14. c6 Rc8 15. Bf4 $1 Nc5 16. c7 ({This was a better reaction.} 16. Rd1 d4 17. h4 $1 {With a lot of interesting play, I am sure in the future we will see a lot of this position in high-level games.}) 16... Qd7 17. Nd2 g5 18. Be5 f6 19. Bd4 Rxc7 {=} 20. Qd1 Ne6 21. Nb3 Bc4 22. Na5 (22. Be3 $1 {With the idea of Nd4 and after this, it's only White who can add a little pressure.} d4 $1 23. Nxd4 Nxd4 24. Qxd4 Qxd4 25. Bxd4 Rd8 26. Be3 Bxe2 27. Rfc1 {With exact play this should be a draw.}) 22... Nxd4 23. Qxd4 Kg7 24. Rfc1 Bxe2 25. Rxc7 Qxc7 26. Re1 $5 (26. Qxd5 {Maybe this was more precise.} Rd8 27. Qe4 Rd1+ 28. Rxd1 Bxd1 29. Nc6 Bc5 {=}) 26... Bc5 {A very ambitious move by Carlsen.} 27. Qxd5 Re8 28. Qb7 $6 {After this White will have a long day.} (28. Qc6 Qxc6 29. Nxc6 Bh5 30. Rc1 {White is having active play.}) 28... Qxb7 29. Nxb7 Bf8 {∓} 30. Bc6 Re7 31. f3 Bc4 32. Rxe7+ Bxe7 33. Kf2 f5 {With two bishops and an open game, this should be as close to the win in practical game. } 34. Ke3 Bg8 35. Kd3 g4 $1 {Now the pawn on h2 is a real target.} 36. Na5 Bc5 37. Nc4 Bg1 38. Ne3 Be6 39. fxg4 fxg4 40. Ke2 h5 41. Bd5 Bd7 42. Bb3 Bxh2 43. Kf2 h4 44. gxh4 Be5 {-+ After this, it's a easy technical win.} 45. Nc4 g3+ 46. Kg1 Bf4 47. Bd1 Bc6 48. b3 Kh6 49. a5 Be4 50. Kf1 Kg7 51. Kg1 Kf6 52. Kf1 Ke6 53. h5 Kd5 54. a6 Kd4 55. Bg4 Kc3 56. Be6 Bc2 57. Na5 Bc7 58. Nb7 Bd3+ 59. Kg1 Bxa6 0-1 [Event "Croatia GCT 2019"] [Site "Zagreb CRO"] [Date "2019.07.05"] [Round "9.5"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D37"] [WhiteElo "2774"] [BlackElo "2767"] [PlyCount "89"] [EventDate "2019.06.26"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. e4 Bb4 6. Bxc4 Nxe4 7. O-O Nf6 { Very popular choice this days. Yes, it's a little passive, but it is more solid than the other lines.} 8. Qa4+ Nc6 9. Bg5 Bxc3 10. bxc3 O-O 11. Rfe1 { Best try.} Ne7 $1 12. Bd3 Nf5 13. Rad1 h6 14. Bc1 $1 {Preparing to put the bishop on b2 where it will be a monster.} b6 15. c4 Re8 {A waiting move here.} (15... Bb7 16. d5 $1 {±}) 16. Bb2 Bb7 17. Ne5 (17. d5 Nd6 $1 {Now the pawn on e6 is well protected.}) 17... Ne7 $6 {Not a big fan of this move and you will see why later.} (17... Qc8 18. Qc2 c5 {This has become a common theme when seeking to find active play.}) 18. Bb1 {Again Shakh is finding a waiting move for the attack.} c5 19. Qc2 Qc7 20. dxc5 {Now we can see the knight on f5 was really necessary, but it took some time to become clear.} Rad8 21. cxb6 axb6 22. Ng4 {±} Ne4 23. f3 Qc5+ 24. Kh1 h5 25. Nh6+ gxh6 26. fxe4 e5 {Anand found the best way to keep the position, but unfortunately for him the position is still so bad that it's almost impossible to recover.} 27. Rd5 $5 {The engine doesn't like this move, but in a practical game this is a really difficult move to face.} Bxd5 28. exd5 Ng6 29. Rf1 {At this point, the bishops are the masters of the game!} Re7 30. Qc1 Ra7 31. h3 Rd6 32. Qxh6 {+-} Re7 33. Qc1 b5 34. Ba3 b4 35. Bb2 {No need to be in the hurry so this is used for positioning. } Ra6 36. Rf5 f6 37. Qh6 $2 (37. Qf1 $1 {I admit that it's a very hard move to find OTB, and it may be the best move of the game.} Rf7 38. Rf3 {+-}) 37... Nf4 $1 38. Bxe5 Rxe5 $4 {Anand missed his only chance in this game, and it's pretty much over from here.} (38... Qf2 $1 39. Qxf4 (39. Rxf4 Qe1+ 40. Kh2 Qxe5 {∞}) 39... Qe1+ 40. Kh2 Rxe5 {∞}) 39. Rxe5 fxe5 40. Qxa6 Qf2 41. Qc8+ Kf7 42. Qf5+ Kg8 43. Qg5+ Kf8 44. Kh2 h4 45. Bf5 {Some inaccuracies in the endgame but overall a very nice game by Shakh!} 1-0 [Event "Croatia GCT 2019"] [Site "Zagreb CRO"] [Date "2019.07.05"] [Round "9.3"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Ding, Liren"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C88"] [WhiteElo "2819"] [BlackElo "2805"] [PlyCount "115"] [EventDate "2019.06.26"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. a4 b4 9. a5 d6 10. c3 Rb8 11. Bc4 {Up to this point the database has many games that are played with this opening. However...} Bg4 $5 {This is interesting and very special, and perhaps it is what threw Caruana off on move 13.} 12. h3 Bh5 13. Qa4 {Caruana commented here that this is a shameful move. It turned out to be risk disguised as initiative.} Na7 14. g4 Bg6 15. d3 Nb5 16. Bg5 h5 17. Bxf6 Bxf6 18. Kg2 bxc3 19. Nxc3 c6 20. Bxb5 axb5 21. Qd1 b4 22. Ne2 hxg4 23. hxg4 Qd7 24. Kh3 Rb5 25. Ng3 Ra8 26. Qb3 Bd8 27. a6 Bb6 28. Rf1 Kf8 29. Nh4 Bh7 30. Qc2 Bd8 31. Nhf5 Bg5 32. Ra4 f6 33. Ne2 Rb6 34. a7 Rb7 {Here, a better sequence could have potentially led to a win:} (34... g6 35. Ne3 Bg8 {This gives good chances with a well-placed light-square bishop ready to come to e6 with many threats.}) 35. Ra6 Bxf5 {Instead, there was an exchange of light-square bishops here, and at this point the advantage was lost. It didn't have to be.} 36. gxf5 c5 37. Rfa1 Rbxa7 38. Qc4 Rxa6 39. Rxa6 Rxa6 40. Qxa6 g6 41. Kg2 gxf5 42. Ng3 fxe4 43. dxe4 d5 44. Qb6 dxe4 45. Qxc5+ Kg7 46. Qxb4 e3 47. fxe3 Bxe3 48. Qe4 Bf4 49. Nh5+ Kh6 50. Nxf4 Qg4+ 51. Kf2 exf4 52. Qh1+ Kg5 53. Qd5+ f5 54. Qg8+ Kf6 55. Qf8+ Ke6 56. Qe8+ Kf6 57. Qf8+ Ke6 58. Qe8+ { This is all more or less standard, and an equal position was had for practical purposes around move 37.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Croatia GCT 2019"] [Site "Zagreb CRO"] [Date "2019.07.05"] [Round "9.1"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D39"] [WhiteElo "2875"] [BlackElo "2752"] [PlyCount "97"] [EventDate "2019.06.26"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Bg5 dxc4 6. e4 c5 7. e5 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Bxc3+ 9. bxc3 Qa5 10. exf6 Qxg5 11. fxg7 Qxg7 12. Qd2 O-O 13. Bxc4 Rd8 14. Qe3 Bd7 15. O-O-O Nc6 16. Bb3 Be8 {A little bit of a surprise, but I'm not a big fan of this line for White. Engine suggestion is Bb3 and 0-0-0 that gives a very small advantage, but I believe Black can solve his problems in a lot of ways.} 17. Nxc6 Bxc6 18. h4 Qf6 19. Rh3 b5 {Aronian was fine until this point, but there's an easier way to make a draw:} (19... Rxd1+ 20. Bxd1 Rd8 21. Rg3+ Kf8 22. Qc5+ Ke8 23. Rg8+ Kd7 24. Rxd8+ Kxd8 25. g3 Kd7 {However, even after the initial b5, Carlsen is not able to apply a lot of pressure.}) 20. Rg3+ Kh8 21. Rg4 a5 22. Rf4 Qg7 23. Rxd8+ Rxd8 24. g4 b4 25. g5 bxc3 26. Bc2 Bd5 27. Rf6 Qf8 28. Qxc3 Rc8 29. Qd3 Qg7 30. f4 Kg8 31. Kd2 h6 32. a3 hxg5 33. fxg5 Rc4 34. Qg3 Be4 $1 {Black solves all his problems here, and this move is not the easiest one to find to halt the progress of White.} 35. Bb3 Rd4+ 36. Ke1 Bf5 37. h5 Rd3 38. Qb8+ Qf8 39. Qxf8+ Kxf8 40. Bc2 Rh3 41. Bxf5 exf5 42. h6 Kg8 43. a4 Rh4 44. Rxf5 Rxa4 45. Kf2 Rg4 46. Kf3 Rg1 47. Kf2 Rg4 48. Kf3 Rg1 49. Kf2 { Relatively straightforward draw here that has to be accepted.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Croatia GCT 2019"] [Site "Zagreb CRO"] [Date "2019.07.06"] [Round "10.2"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B01"] [WhiteElo "2819"] [BlackElo "2774"] [PlyCount "105"] [EventDate "2019.06.26"] 1. e4 d5 {Shakh is ready for a fight.} 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 Bf5 6. Bc4 e6 7. Bd2 Bb4 8. a3 Bxc3 9. Bxc3 Qb6 {Very normal for Scandinavian.} 10. O-O O-O 11. b3 Rd8 12. Re1 Nbd7 13. Bb2 {⩲ Caruana showed that's why the Scandinavian isn't being played any more at the top level: two bishops and control of the center.} c6 14. Qc1 h6 15. h3 Rac8 16. Bf1 Bh7 17. Nd2 Qc7 18. c4 b5 $1 {Very nice move! The bishop on b2 is suddenly a very stupidly placed piece.} 19. cxb5 cxb5 20. Qxc7 Rxc7 21. Rac1 (21. Bxb5 Rc2 22. Bc1 $1 {I think this is the move that Caruana missed.} Nb6 23. a4 Rxd4 24. a5 Nbd5 25. Nc4 (25. Nf3 Rb4 26. Bc4 {±})) 21... Rb7 {= Now it's completely equal.} 22. Bc3 Nf8 23. Bb4 g5 24. Rc5 a6 25. Rec1 Kg7 26. Rc6 Ra7 27. Ba5 Rdd7 28. a4 Ng6 $1 29. axb5 axb5 30. b4 Nf4 31. Nb3 Bd3 $1 {Suddenly it's Black who is searching for the win.} 32. Rd1 Bxf1 33. Kxf1 e5 34. Rc5 exd4 {Good enough for a draw, I guess.} (34... e4 $5 {It's a very risky move, but it also gives Black a lot of chances for win, e.g.,} 35. Rxb5 N6d5 {∞}) 35. Rxb5 Ne6 36. Re5 Kg6 37. g3 Nd5 38. Rd2 Rab7 39. Nc5 $6 {Strange move and an easy take for Black to allow a potential escape.} ({An easy draw was} 39. Nxd4 Nxb4 40. Nf3 Rxd2 41. Nxd2) 39... Nxc5 40. bxc5 Rb1+ 41. Re1 Rb5 {Shakh missed his chance to put pressure on White with the following:} (41... Rxe1+ 42. Kxe1 Ne7 {⩱}) 42. c6 Ra7 43. Bd8 Rb8 44. c7 Nxc7 45. Bxc7 Rxc7 46. Rxd4 {=} Rcb7 47. Rd2 Rb1 48. Rxb1 Rxb1+ 49. Kg2 Rb6 50. Kf1 Rb1+ 51. Kg2 Rb6 52. Kf1 Rb1+ 53. Kg2 {A disappointing ending but there were plenty of missed alternates and in general this was a bit sloppy.} 1/2-1/2