Games
[Event "Riga FIDE Grand Prix 2019"]
[Site "Riga LAT"]
[Date "2019.07.12"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Svidler, Peter"]
[Black "Duda, Jan-Krzysztof"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C24"]
[WhiteElo "2737"]
[BlackElo "2729"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "2019.07.12"]
1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d3 c6 4. Nf3 d5 5. Bb3 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Bxd2+ 7. Qxd2 Qd6 8.
Qg5 Nbd7 9. exd5 cxd5 10. d4 e4 11. Nh4 Nb6 $5 12. Qxg7 Qf4 13. Qxh8+ Ke7 {
What a rich position!} 14. Nc3 (14. g3 $4 Qc1+ $1) 14... Qxh4 15. Qg7 Bg4 16.
Bxd5 Nbxd5 17. Nxd5+ Nxd5 18. Qe5+ Be6 19. c4 f6 20. Qg3 Nf4 $1 {A classy
tactic which makes the queen trade on Black's terms.} 21. d5 (21. Qxh4 $2 Nxg2+
22. Ke2 Nxh4) 21... Nd3+ 22. Kd2 Qxg3 23. hxg3 Bf5 24. f3 exf3 25. gxf3 Nxb2
26. Rae1+ Kd7 27. g4 Bg6 28. Kc3 Nd3 29. Re6 Rf8 30. g5 fxg5 31. Rxg6 hxg6 32.
Rh7+ Kd6 33. Kxd3 Rxf3+ 34. Ke2 Rc3 35. Rxb7 Rxc4 36. Rxa7 Kxd5 37. Ra5+ Rc5
38. Rxc5+ Kxc5 39. Kf3 Kb4 40. Kg4 Ka3 41. Kxg5 Kxa2 42. Kxg6 1/2-1/2
[Event "Riga FIDE Grand Prix 2019"]
[Site "Riga LAT"]
[Date "2019.07.12"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "So, Wesley"]
[Black "Harikrishna, Pentala"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C53"]
[WhiteElo "2763"]
[BlackElo "2734"]
[PlyCount "90"]
[EventDate "2019.07.12"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. O-O a6 7. Re1 Ba7 8. a4
O-O 9. h3 h6 10. Nbd2 Re8 11. b4 Be6 12. Bxe6 Rxe6 13. Qc2 Qd7 14. Nf1 d5 15.
Be3 Bxe3 16. Nxe3 Rd8 17. b5 Ne7 18. c4 d4 19. Nd5 Ng6 20. Rab1 axb5 21. Rxb5
c6 22. Nb6 Qe7 23. Rbb1 Nh5 24. g3 Rf6 25. Qd1 Ngf4 $6 {There is probably more
pressure on Black to justify the sacrifice than on White to defend.} 26. gxf4
Nxf4 27. Kh2 Rg6 28. Rg1 Rxg1 29. Nxg1 Rd6 {Now Stockfish sees that White will
give up the queen for the rook and knight and should be winning.} 30. Nc8 Qh4
31. Qf3 Rg6 32. Rxb7 Rg2+ 33. Qxg2 Nxg2 34. Kxg2 Qg5+ 35. Kh1 Qd2 36. a5 Qxa5
37. Ne7+ $2 {Now White's pieces cannot organize and contain Black's
counterplay from the queen.} (37. Nf3 $1 {White is still on the path to
victory here.}) 37... Kh7 38. Nxc6 (38. Nf3 Qa3 {It's too late to consolidate
with a Nf3 and Qg2 setup. Black goes after the pawn on d3, and when it falls,
White's king is still exposed, and the pieces are disorganized.}) 38... Qa6 39.
Nd8 Qa3 40. Nxf7 Qxd3 41. Nd6 Qc2 42. Rd7 Qa4 43. Re7 d3 44. Nf3 d2 45. Nxd2
Qd1+ 1/2-1/2
[Event "Riga FIDE Grand Prix 2019"]
[Site "Riga LAT"]
[Date "2019.07.12"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Vitiugov, Nikita"]
[Black "Grischuk, Alexander"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C58"]
[WhiteElo "2727"]
[BlackElo "2766"]
[PlyCount "90"]
[EventDate "2019.07.12"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 8.
Bd3 Ng4 9. Ne4 f5 10. Be2 h5 11. h3 fxe4 12. hxg4 Bc5 13. Nc3 Qd4 14. O-O Rf8
15. Qe1 hxg4 16. g3 Bf5 17. d3 Rh8 18. Be3 Qd6 19. Kg2 O-O-O 20. Rh1 (20. Nxe4
{The engine is eager to take this, but Grischuk sees further!} Qg6 $1 21. Nxc5
(21. Bxc5 Rh2+ $3) 21... Rh2+ $3 {and Black mates!}) 20... Bxe3 21. fxe3 Rxh1
22. Qxh1 exd3 23. cxd3 Bxd3 24. Bxg4+ Kb8 25. Qh4 Nc4 26. Re1 Rf8 27. Bf3 Bf1+
$2 {This attractive move actually costs Grischuk. It looks forcing and strong,
but after...} (27... Qb4 $1) 28. Kg1 $3 {By NOT taking the bishop, Vitiugov
avoids ...Nxe3+!, and now he has much better holding chances.} Rxf3 29. Rxf1
Rxf1+ 30. Kxf1 Qd3+ 31. Kg1 Qxe3+ 32. Kh2 Qh6 33. Qxh6 gxh6 34. Kh3 Nxb2 35.
Kg4 Kc7 36. Kh5 Nc4 37. Kxh6 Ne3 38. Kh5 Kd6 39. g4 Ke6 40. g5 Nf5 41. g6 c5
42. Kg5 c4 43. Ne4 Ne7 44. g7 Kf7 45. Nd6+ Kxg7 1/2-1/2
[Event "Riga FIDE Grand Prix 2019"]
[Site "Riga LAT"]
[Date "2019.07.12"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "So, Wesley"]
[Black "Harikrishna, Pentala"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C53"]
[WhiteElo "2763"]
[BlackElo "2734"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "90"]
[EventDate "2019.07.12"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. O-O a6 7. Re1 Ba7 8. a4
O-O 9. h3 h6 10. Nbd2 Re8 11. b4 Be6 12. Bxe6 Rxe6 13. Qc2 Qd7 14. Nf1 d5 15.
Be3 Bxe3 16. Nxe3 Rd8 17. b5 {Funnily the players have followed the game Anand
vs So. Wesley learnt this position from the black side and decided to go for
it with white!} Ne7 (17... axb5 18. axb5 Ne7 19. c4 dxe4 20. dxe4 Ng6 21. Ra7
c6 22. Rd1 Qc8 23. Rxd8+ Qxd8 24. Rxb7 Qc8 25. Rb6 cxb5 26. Rxb5 Nd7 27. Nd5
Rc6 28. Nd2 Nc5 29. Qb2 Kh7 30. Rb8 Qe6 31. Qb5 Nf4 32. Ra8 Qg6 33. Nxf4 exf4
34. Qb8 Qf6 35. Nf3 Nd7 36. Qe8 Rd6 37. e5 Rd1+ 38. Kh2 Qe6 39. Qh8+ Kg6 40.
Rg8 Kf5 41. Qxg7 {1-0 (41) Anand,V (2786)-So,W (2812) Leuven 2017}) 18. c4 d4
19. Nd5 Ng6 20. Rab1 axb5 21. Rxb5 {A risky strategy and an ambitious way to
play by Wesley. He could have taken on b5 with the pawn but when you take with
the rook then you have better queenside play. But at the same time after c6,
his pieces are slightly misplaced and Black has excellent attacking chances.}
c6 22. Nb6 Qe7 23. Rbb1 {White has won the battle on the queenside. He has a
weakness to attack on b7, there are ideas like a5-a6 in the air. And so
Harikrishna has to begin with an attack on the kingside. And he has four of
his pieces in that zone, so it shouldn't be too hard.} Nh5 24. g3 {Wesley
restricts Hari's knights from coming to f4. But isn't this creating some kind
of a weakness around the king?} Rf6 $1 25. Qd1 {At this point I am sure that
Harikrishna felt that he should sacrifice something.} Ngf4 26. gxf4 Nxf4 27.
Kh2 Rg6 $6 (27... Qe6 {was a better move.} 28. Ng1 Rf8 $1 {A very difficult
move for humans to make. But it is prophylactic in nature and prevents White's
most natural defence with Qf3. Now with the rook on f6, the queen cannot
easily come to f3 and Rf8 in general is a very useful move because after Rg6,
f5 becomes possible.} (28... Rg6 29. Qf3 Rg5 30. c5) 29. Qf3 (29. Qg4 Nxd3 $44)
29... Nxd3 $1 30. Qxd3 Rxf2+ 31. Kg3 (31. Kh1 Qg6 $19) 31... f5 $1 $19) 28. Rg1
$1 Rxg1 (28... Qe6 29. Qf1 $1 $16) 29. Nxg1 Rd6 {Now White is winning here.}
30. Nc8 Qh4 31. Qf3 Rg6 {Black has three pieces in the attack, but they are
not doing much. White is simply winning.} 32. Rxb7 Rg2+ 33. Qxg2 $1 (33. Kh1 {
is also possible.} Rxf2 34. Ne7+ Kh7 35. Nf5 Rxf3 36. Nxh4 Rxd3 $16 {This
position might not be so simple.}) 33... Nxg2 34. Kxg2 Qg5+ 35. Kh1 {Here
White is winning, but with less time it is always difficult to coordinate
three pieces. While for Black it is quite easy to move around his queen.} Qd2
36. a5 Qxa5 37. Ne7+ $6 (37. Nf3 Qa3 (37... Qa6 38. Nd6 $18) 38. Kg2 Qxd3 39.
Nd6 $18 {White has coordinated himself.} f6 40. Nh4 Qe2 41. Ng6 d3 42. Rb8+ Kh7
43. Nf8+ Kg8 44. Ne6+ Kh7 45. Rb7 d2 46. Rxg7+ Kh8 47. Nf7# {is just an
illustrative variation of how the mate can take place.}) 37... Kh7 38. Nxc6 Qa6
$1 {The point now is that the knight on g1 is too far away from action and
Black can win the d3 pawn and White cannot just create a mating attack with a
rook and knight.} 39. Nd8 Qa3 $1 {Now losing the d3 pawn is quite bad.} 40.
Nxf7 Qxd3 41. Nd6 Qc2 42. Rd7 Qa4 (42... Qxf2 {was also fine.}) 43. Re7 d3 44.
Nf3 d2 45. Nxd2 Qd1+ {and the players agreed to a draw.} (45... Qd1+ 46. Kg2
Qxd2 47. Nf5 Qg5+ 48. Kf1 Qc1+ $11) 1/2-1/2
[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.07.14"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Yu, Yangyi"]
[Black "Aronian, Levon"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E32"]
[WhiteElo "2736"]
[BlackElo "2756"]
[Annotator "Bojkov,Dejan"]
[PlyCount "87"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 {A must-win situation for Yu. He needs to
choose as complex lines as possible.} O-O 5. e4 d5 6. e5 Ne4 7. a3 ({The two
players recently discussed another version of this line:} 7. Bd3 c5 8. Nf3 cxd4
9. Nxd4 Nd7 10. Bf4 Qh4 11. g3 Qh5 {Yu,Y (2738)-Aronian,L (2752) Stavanger 2019
}) 7... Bxc3+ 8. bxc3 c5 9. Bb2 ({Another recent top GM-encounter went} 9. Bd3
Qa5 10. Ne2 cxd4 11. cxd5 exd5 12. f3 Nxc3 13. Nxd4 Ne4+ 14. Ke2 {with
super-sharp play. The problem with this approach however is that the forcing
lines are usually polished by the strong computers until complete dryness.
Therefore, an eventual draw did not surprise much after} f5 15. e6 Nc6 16. Nxc6
bxc6 17. e7 {Wang,H (2737)-Wei,Y (2741) Danzhou 2019}) 9... Nc6 10. Bd3 f5 11.
Ne2 {N A novelty. White continues completing his development, but at the
expense of a pawn.} ({A predecessor saw White winning after:} 11. exf6 Nxf6 12.
Nf3 b6 13. O-O Ba6 14. Ng5 dxc4 15. Bxh7+ Kh8 16. Nxe6 {but one must be too
naive to expect Aronian to follow this line, Schlick,S (2017)-Struck,L (1770)
Willingen 2019}) 11... dxc4 12. Bxe4 fxe4 13. O-O ({Black has no problems
after:} 13. Qxe4 Qd5 14. Qxd5 exd5 15. f3 Bf5) 13... b5 {Aronian decided to
give back the pawn at once.} ({The other way to play was connected with the
move} 13... Qd5 {For example:} 14. Rad1 cxd4 15. cxd4 b5) 14. Qxe4 Bb7 ({Here}
14... Qd5 {does not force the queen swap and only helps the first player:} 15.
Qg4) 15. Qg4 Qd5 16. f3 a5 $1 {An excellent idea to generate queenside play,
even at expense of some material.} ({There was also the idea of blocking the
position with} 16... cxd4 17. cxd4 Qd7 18. Ng3 (18. Nf4 Nxd4) 18... Ne7 {
which also seems fine for Black.}) 17. Nf4 Rxf4 $1 {The point behind Aronian's
play. There are so many similarities of this sacrifice to the one that
Aronian's great compatriot Petrosian used in his game against Reshevsky in
Zurich 1953. Again we have a blockade, again the rook is sacrificed for an
anti-blocker, and once more there is a poor bishop on b2.} 18. Qxf4 cxd4 19.
cxd4 b4 20. axb4 axb4 21. Rxa8+ Bxa8 22. Rc1 {A sad necessity. Yu needs to
part with his light piece.} ({The rook achieves next to nothing on the open
file:} 22. Ra1 Bb7) 22... Bb7 {Black knows that his opponent has no way of
saving the bishop and improves the position of his own.} ({There was nothing
wrong with the immediate:} 22... c3 23. Bxc3 (23. Ba1 $2 Nxd4) 23... bxc3 24.
Rxc3 Bb7) 23. Kf2 c3 24. Bxc3 $1 {The only move. Otherwise d4 drops and the
position collapses.} bxc3 25. Rxc3 h6 {The end of the positional combination
that Aronian started on move sixteen. He is out of danger, but Yu keeps posing
problems to his opponent.} 26. h4 Ba6 {Active play. Black hopes to use the
bishop in the attack against the white king, but the bishop was close to
perfect where it stood and this was not needed.} ({One plan was to pressurize
the white pieces with constant threats:} 26... Qa2+ 27. Kg3 Qb2 28. Rc4 Ne7 29.
Rc7 Nf5+ 30. Kh2 Qb6 {thus not letting them unite their efforts.}) ({The
endgame should be defendable as well:} 26... Qxd4+ 27. Qxd4 Nxd4) ({And even
the computer suggestion} 26... Nxd4 27. Rd3 Qa2+ 28. Rd2 Nc2 {is OK for Black,
although no human being (hopefully) would like to self-pin like this,
especially in a blitz game.}) 27. Ra3 Qb5 28. Kg3 {Moving the king away from
the annoying checks.} Ne7 29. Kh2 Qb6 (29... Bb7 $5) 30. h5 Bb7 31. Rd3 Bd5 {
Black is rock solid. Yu tries to activate his rook.} 32. Rc3 {And this
suddenly works as Aronian does not like to defend passively.} Nf5 $6 ({He
would have been safe had he had taken control of the back ranks. Say:} 32...
Qb8 33. Qc1 {Now} Qe8 $1 {weakens White's back rank and he has to think twice
when attacking:} 34. g4 Nc6 35. Qd2 Qb8 {For example:} 36. f4 {leads to
trouble after:} Qb1 $1) 33. Rc8+ Kh7 34. Qg4 {The major pieces got into
contact and the mating threats are looming.} Ne7 35. Re8 $1 {A semi-attacking,
semi-waiting move which allowed Aronian another chance to play actively.} ({
After the immediate} 35. Rf8 {there was} Qc6 $1 36. Rf7 Nf5 37. Qg6+ Kg8 38.
Ra7 ({The important point in this line is that White cannot win with} 38. g4 {
due to} Qc4 ({Or} 38... Qc2+ $1) 39. gxf5 Qe2+ 40. Kg3 Qxf3+ {when his pieces
cooperate well to force a perpetual.}) 38... Qc1 {with counter-threats of
perpetual.} (38... Qc8 {should suffice too.})) 35... Qc7 36. Rf8 Qc1 37. Re8
Qc7 38. Qg3 $1 {One more nasty move, especially in time trouble. It seems as
Black is in zugzwang.} Bb3 $2 {True to himself, Aronian makes an active move
and loses control of the long diagonal. This time it is fatal.} ({The computer
suggestion} 38... g5 $3 39. hxg6+ Nxg6 {should solve the mating-net problems
for Black.}) ({But there was also the human way of defending it:} 38... Qa7 $1
39. Qg4 ({The queen on a7 is placed well enough in the line} 39. Rf8 Qxd4 40.
Rf7 Nf5 41. Qg6+ Kg8 42. Rc7 Qh4+ {with perpetual.}) 39... Qc7) 39. Rf8 $1 {
Now the attack is decisive.} Qc1 ({As usual Black needs to defend the g6
square:} 39... Nf5 40. Qg6#) ({The damage that the bishop move caused Black is
revealed in the line:} 39... Qc3 40. Rf7 Nf5 41. Qg6+ Kg8 42. Rd7 Qc8 43. Qf7+
Kh8 44. g4 $1 {There is no more perpetual after} Qc2+ 45. Kh3) 40. Rf7 Nf5 41.
Qg6+ Kg8 42. Rb7 {One more problem with the bishop: it allows a double attack.}
Qf4+ 43. g3 Qd2+ ({Black is naturally lost after} 43... Qxg3+ 44. Qxg3 Nxg3 45.
Kxg3) 44. Kh3 1-0
[Event "Riga FIDE Grand Prix"]
[Site "Riga"]
[Date "2019.07.14"]
[Round "1.4"]
[White "Topalov, Veselin"]
[Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2740"]
[BlackElo "2754"]
[PlyCount "93"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Bulgaria"]
[BlackTeam "United States"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "BUL"]
[BlackTeamCountry "USA"]
[WhiteClock "0:02:26"]
[BlackClock "0:09:51"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. Bg5 (6. O-O d6 7. Nbd2
Ne7 8. d4 exd4 9. cxd4 Bb6 10. Re1 Bg4 11. Qb3 d5 12. e5 Nd7 13. h3 Bh5 14. Qd1
f6 {Vachier Lagrave,M (2780)-So,W (2754) Abidjan 2019}) 6... h6 7. Bh4 Be7 8.
O-O d6 9. Bg3 a6 10. Ba4 b5 {N} (10... Re8 11. Re1 Bf8 12. h3 b5 13. Bc2 Bb7
14. Nbd2 Qd7 15. d4 exd4 16. cxd4 Nb4 17. Bb1 c5 18. d5 a5 {Borisek,J (2565)
-Dobrovoljc,V (2293) Slovenia 2017}) 11. Bc2 Re8 12. Nbd2 Bf8 13. Re1 Nh5 14.
Nf1 Nxg3 15. hxg3 g6 16. Ne3 Bg7 17. a4 Rb8 18. axb5 axb5 19. Bb3 Rf8 20. d4 b4
21. Bd5 Bd7 22. Ra6 Ne7 23. dxe5 dxe5 24. Bc4 bxc3 25. bxc3 Bc6 26. Qc2 Ra8 27.
Rea1 Rxa6 28. Rxa6 Kh7 29. Ra5 f6 30. Nd2 Qd7 31. Nb3 Ra8 32. Nc5 Qd6 33. Rxa8
Bxa8 34. Ne6 h5 35. Qb1 Qb6 (35... Bc6) 36. Qxb6 cxb6 37. Bd5 $1 {Black cannot
take because White's passer will be too strong.} Bc6 38. Bxc6 Nxc6 39. Nd5 b5
40. Kf1 f5 (40... Kg8 41. Ke2 Kf7) 41. Ke2 Bh6 (41... fxe4 42. Ke3) 42. Nec7
Na7 43. exf5 gxf5 44. Ne7 f4 45. gxf4 exf4 46. Kf3 Nc6 47. Nxc6 1-0
[Event "Riga Grandprix"]
[Site "Riga"]
[Date "2019.07.15"]
[Round "10.4"]
[White "Topalov, Veselin"]
[Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B80"]
[WhiteElo "2740"]
[BlackElo "2775"]
[Annotator "Bojkov,Dejan"]
[PlyCount "114"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]
[EventCountry "LAT"]
[WhiteTeam "Bulgaria"]
[BlackTeam "France"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "BUL"]
[BlackTeamCountry "FRA"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. f3 e6 7. Be3 {An
interesting fact. The Najdorf was Topalov's bread and butter on the road of
the world championship title before switching to more quite lines, whereas
Vachier-Lagrave constantly uses the sharp Sicilian.} b5 8. Qd2 Nbd7 9. g4 b4
10. Nce2 ({Instead:} 10. Nd1 h6 11. c4 bxc3 12. Nxc3 Bb7 {Was already
comfortable for Black and the complications that White initiated:} 13. h4 $6 d5
14. Rg1 dxe4 15. g5 hxg5 16. hxg5 Nd5 17. g6 Nxe3 18. gxf7+ Kxf7 19. Qxe3 Qh4+
{led him nowhere, Aronian,L (2767)-Grischuk,A (2766) Saint Louis 2018}) 10...
h6 11. Nf4 $1 {With this strange-looking move Topalov clearly indicates his
intentions. What else can the knight do on f4, if not sacrifice itself on e6?!}
Bb7 $5 {Tempting the queen to snatch a free pawn, with a tempo.} ({After:}
11... e5 $2 {The knight will land close to the black king regardless if it
wins a pawn or not:} 12. Nde6 fxe6 13. Nxe6 Qa5 14. Nxf8 Rxf8 15. Qxd6 {
with strong attack for White.}) 12. Qxb4 {In the brief after-game interview
Topalov said he studied the position before and believed it to be promsing for
him, but could not remember the correct way.} ({Black was clearly not afraid
of the most logical continuation:} 12. Nfxe6 fxe6 13. Nxe6 Qa5 14. Nxf8 (14.
Bf4 $5) (14. Rd1 $5) 14... Rxf8 15. Qxd6 O-O-O {"should be at least some sort
of fight" (MVL)}) 12... Qc8 {N Besides the fork threat e6-e5 Black wants to
strike in the center with d6-d5. The b4 pawn was not sacrificed in vain.} ({
An email predecessor saw:} 12... Rb8 13. Nfxe6 fxe6 14. Nxe6 Qe7 15. Nc7+ Kf7
16. O-O-O Bxe4 17. Qa5 Bxf3 18. Bc4+ d5 19. Nxd5 Nxd5 20. Bxd5+ Kg6 21. Qxa6+ {
and eventually the game was drawn in Pegg,R (2467)-Vasilev,V (2320) ICCF email
2012}) 13. Qd2 {Probably not he best square for the queen. There are many
options for both sides.} (13. Qa5 $5 {is one of them.}) ({Perhaps the best one
is:} 13. O-O-O {To whcih Black intended:} d5 ({Rather than:} 13... e5 $6 14.
Nf5 exf4 15. Bxf4 {which seems great for White.}) 14. Qa5 Bc5 {with
compensation for a pawn thank to his active pieces.} ({But not:} 14... dxe4 15.
Ndxe6 fxe6 16. Nxe6 {when White is again having a nice attacking position.}))
13... e5 14. Nf5 exf4 15. Bxf4 Ne5 16. Be2 Qc7 17. O-O-O O-O-O {The forced
sequence of moves is over. White practically sacrificed a pawn, but enoys the
better pawn structure and the more active pieces in return.} 18. Kb1 g6 19. Ne3
Be7 20. c4 (20. h4 $5 {to prevent the future Be7-g5 ideas deserved attention.})
20... Kb8 21. Rc1 {Forced according to Vachier-Lagrave.} ({Instead:} 21. Nd5
Nxd5 22. cxd5 Bg5 23. Bxg5 hxg5 24. Qxg5 Rc8 25. Rc1 Qb6 {Leads to a position
where:"I don't think there is enough compensation for the piece." (MVL) Mainly
because:} 26. f4 $2 {fails to:} Qe3 $1 (26... Rxc1+ $1 27. Rxc1 Rxh2 {is not
bad neither.})) (21. Ka1 {to avoid Black's next idea was suggested by the
official tournament commentators. Although Black also seems more than fine
after:} g5 22. Bg3 h5) 21... Nxe4 $1 {The trades should favor Black who
receives more squares for his rooks. Furtheron MVL was afraid of the possible
queenside expansion.} 22. fxe4 Bxe4+ 23. Ka1 Bxh1 24. Rxh1 Bg5 {If it was not
for this move Black's whole idea would be plain wrong and White would have
launched huge attack on the diagonals.} 25. Nd5 (25. Bg3 $2 Qc5 $1) 25... Bxf4
({The French GM was afraid of the initiative White could build after:} 25...
Qc5 26. b4 Qf2 27. Bxg5 hxg5 28. Rf1 Qa7 {(MVL)} (28... Nxc4 $2 29. Qd3) (28...
Qxh2 $2 29. Qd4 {although this is not quite clear after} Nd7) 29. b5 $5 (29. c5
$5)) 26. Qxf4 Qa7 27. Rc1 {Technically speaking Black increased his material
advantage but now White's compensation is even more obvious- the black king
does not have enough bodyguards.} (27. Rd1 $5) 27... Rhe8 28. a3 ({After:} 28.
Qxh6 Qf2 29. Qd2 Nc6 $1 {is good for Black.}) 28... Nc6 {"A sign that (my
position) is not so great. "(MVL)} 29. Bf3 g5 30. Qg3 $6 {Topalov misses a
good chance.} (30. Qd2 $1 {"I thought this was very dangerous." (MVL)} Qd4 ({Or
} 30... Qc5 31. Rc3 {shifting teh rook along the third rank for the attack.})
31. Qc2 $1 {Indeed, the black king is very exposed.}) 30... Qc5 31. Bh1 Re2 32.
Nc3 ({Here:} 32. Nb4 $1 {was strong. Without the knight White would have
powerful attack along the major diagonal after:} Nxb4 33. Qf3 Nc2+ 34. Rxc2
Re1+ 35. Ka2) 32... Re3 33. Qg2 Rc8 {Now Black consolidates.} 34. Nd5 Rb3 $1 {
And finds an anamiznge defensive maneuver!} 35. Ka2 Rb7 36. b3 a5 ({MVL did
not want to give the b4 pawna chance to move forward:} 36... Ka7 37. b4) 37.
Nc3 Qe3 38. Rc2 (38. Qb2 $5) 38... Qd3 {The black queen is too strong and
Topalov decided to trade it:} 39. Qd2 Qxd2 40. Rxd2 Re7 $1 {Another excellent
decision. Black was happy to trade the queens and he will be even happier to
trade the last major piece by his opponent.} 41. Rxd6 {"At least a practical
mistake." (MVL)} ({Instead:} 41. Be4 {is bad due to:} a4 $1 {(MVL)} 42. b4
Nxb4+ $1) ({After:} 41. Rd5 {Black planned:} Re5 {(MVL)}) ({On:} 41. Nb5 {
Black intended:} Na7 $1 42. Nxd6 ({But maybe White's best chance now is:} 42.
Nd4 $1 {keeping the poor black knight on the board, with good chances for a
draw after:} Rce8 43. Bd5) 42... Rd8 {"I should manage to exchange some pieces
as otherwise my pawns are very weak and I don't have way to activate my
kingside pawns." (MVL)}) 41... Rd8 42. Rxd8+ (42. c5 Rxd6 43. cxd6 Re3 $1 {
"is forced but good (for Black)."(MVL)}) 42... Nxd8 {"I thought it is
completely OK for me but then I collapsed." (Topalov)} 43. Be4 h5 $1 (43... Nb7
44. b4 Nd6 45. Bd5 Re3 46. Kb2 h5 47. gxh5 Rh3 48. c5) 44. gxh5 f5 {"I missed
everything." (Topalov)} 45. Bxf5 Rf7 46. Bg6 (46. Bg4 Rf2+ 47. Ne2 Nf7 $1 {
"followed by Nf7-g6 wins." (MVL)}) 46... Rf2+ 47. Kb1 Rxh2 48. Ne4 g4 49. Kc1 (
{After:} 49. Bf5 {the winning line is:} Rg2 ({But Vachier-Lagrave admitted
that he did not see it during he game and intended to play instead:} 49... Rxh5
50. Bxg4 Rh2 {which however should be a draw with correct play by White.}) 50.
h6 Nf7 51. h7 g3 52. Ng5 Nh8 53. Be4 Rh2 ({Or} 53... Re2)) 49... Nc6 50. Kd1
Nd4 {The centralization wins.} 51. Ke1 Nxb3 52. Kf1 Nd4 ({Or:} 52... Nd2+ 53.
Nxd2 Rxd2 54. h6 Rh2 55. h7 Kc7 {It is important not to let the set-up c4-c5
with Bh7-e4 happen, as explained by MVL.}) 53. Ng3 Kc7 54. Be4 Nf3 ({But not:}
54... Kd6 55. Kg1 Rh3 56. Kf2 Ke5 57. Bg2 Rh4 58. c5 $1 {When:} Nf5 59. c6 Nxg3
$2 60. c7 {(MVL) even loses for Black.}) 55. c5 ({After:} 55. Bf5 {The French
GM calculated the following win:} Ne5 56. Kg1 Rh4 57. Be6 Nd3 $1 58. Bf5 Rh3
59. Kg2 Nf4+ 60. Kf2 Nxh5 61. Nxh5 Rf3+ $1 {It is important to get rid of the
bishop rather than the knight!}) 55... Nd2+ 56. Kg1 Rh3 57. Kg2 Nxe4 $1 {
The last accurate move.} ({It was not too late to let the win slip away with:}
57... Rxg3+ 58. Kxg3 Nxe4+ 59. Kxg4 Nf6+ 60. Kg5 Nxh5 61. Kxh5 Kc6 62. Kg4 Kxc5
63. Kf3 Kc4 64. Ke2 {when White is in time to sneak into the corner to block
the black king.}) 0-1
[Event "Riga FIDE Grand Prix 2019"]
[Site "Riga"]
[Date "2019.07.15"]
[Round "2.1"]
[White "Grischuk, Alexander"]
[Black "Yangyi, Yu"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D16"]
[WhiteElo "2766"]
[BlackElo "2736"]
[PlyCount "78"]
[EventDate "2019.06.07"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "LAT"]
[SourceVersionDate "2019.07.16"]
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 {Grischuk goes for the main
line in the Slav.} e6 6. e3 c5 7. Bxc4 cxd4 8. exd4 Be7 9. Bg5 Nc6 10. Qe2 O-O
(10... Nxd4 11. Nxd4 Qxd4 12. O-O O-O 13. Rfd1 {White has good compensation
for the sacrificed pawn.}) 11. Rd1 Nd5 12. h4 $5 {White pushes his 'h'pawn up
the board to spice up the game.} Bd7 13. O-O h6 14. Bc1 Ncb4 15. Ne5 $5 {
Grischuk gives up the 'h' pawn to bring his queen over to the kingside for an
attack.} Bxh4 16. Qg4 f5 17. Qg6 Qe7 18. Nxd7 Qxd7 19. Rfe1 Rae8 20. Bxh6 Qf7 {
Black gives up his extra pawn to force a queen trade and enter into an equal
endgame.} 21. Qxf7+ Kxf7 22. Bd2 Rd8 23. Nxd5 Nxd5 24. Rc1 Rfe8 25. g3 Bf6 26.
Be3 Re7 27. Bb3 Rd6 28. a5 b6 29. Bxd5 Rxd5 30. axb6 axb6 31. Rc6 Rb5 32. Re2
Rd7 33. Kg2 Rb3 34. Rc3 Rb4 35. Rc6 b5 36. Rb6 Rb3 37. Rd2 Rb4 38. Re2 Rb3 39.
Rd2 Rb4 1/2-1/2
[Event "Riga FIDE Grand Prix 2019"]
[Site "Riga"]
[Date "2019.07.15"]
[Round "2.1"]
[White "Duda, Jan-Krzysztof"]
[Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D78"]
[WhiteElo "2729"]
[BlackElo "2765"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2019.06.07"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "LAT"]
[SourceVersionDate "2019.07.16"]
1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. d4 Nf6 5. O-O O-O 6. c4 c6 7. Nbd2 Bf5 8. b3
a5 9. Re1 Nbd7 10. Bb2 a4 11. Nh4 Be6 12. Qc2 b5 13. c5 Ne8 14. b4 {Duda has
won the opening battle as he has more space, the better control over the
centre and activity on the kingside.} f5 {Black goes for a counterattack and
will try to roll his 'f' pawn down the board.} 15. Ndf3 Kh8 16. Ne5 Nxe5 17.
dxe5 f4 18. Nf3 Nc7 19. Nd4 {White has a great position with strong control of
the centre and more activity.} Qd7 20. e3 g5 $5 {Mamedyarov goes for the risky
g5 very true to his style.} 21. exf4 gxf4 22. Qe2 Rf7 23. Qh5 Raf8 24. Nxe6 $2
(24. Qh4 $1 fxg3 25. fxg3 {White retains his advantage.}) 24... Qxe6 25. Bh3
Qg6 26. Qxg6 hxg6 27. Bd4 e6 28. Bg4 Bh6 29. Rad1 Rh7 30. Kg2 Kg7 31. Rd3 Kf7
32. a3 Na6 33. h4 Nb8 34. Bb2 {Black is very passive but there is absolutely
no way for white to breakthrough here. Duda takes the draw to focus on
tomorrow's game.} 1/2-1/2
[Event "FIDE Grand Prix Riga 2019 G2"]
[Site "Riga"]
[Date "2019.07.16"]
[Round "2.4"]
[White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Black "Topalov, Veselin"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B51"]
[WhiteElo "2775"]
[BlackElo "2740"]
[PlyCount "24"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "1:16:44"]
[BlackClock "1:06:02"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 4. Ba4 $5 (4. c3 Ngf6 5. Bd3 g6 6. Bc2 Bg7 7. d4
O-O 8. O-O b5 {Nepomniachtchi,I (2775)-Giri,A (2779) Zagreb 2019}) 4... Ngf6 5.
O-O e5 {Going for a Ruy Lopez structure might not be the best choice in a
must-win situation.} (5... Nxe4 6. Re1 Nef6 7. d4 {gives lovely compensation.})
({Normal is} 5... a6 6. c4 g6 7. Nc3 Bg7 8. d3 (8. h3 O-O 9. Re1 b6 10. d4 cxd4
11. Nxd4 Bb7 {Vachier Lagrave,M (2780)-Saric,I (2689) Batumi GEO 2018}) 8...
O-O 9. h3 Ne8 10. d4 Nc7 11. Bxd7 cxd4 12. Bxc8 dxc3 13. Bxb7 Rb8 14. bxc3 Rxb7
{Nakamura,H (2754)-Vachier Lagrave,M (2779) Zagreb CRO 2019}) 6. c3 {N} (6. d3
Be7 7. c4 O-O 8. h3 Nb6 9. Bc2 h6 10. Nc3 Nh7 11. a3 f5 12. b4 f4 13. Bb2 Nd7
14. bxc5 dxc5 {Dragun,K (2594)-Iniyan,P (2451) Biel 2018}) 6... Be7 (6... Nxe4
7. d4 {again looks too dangerous for Black.}) 7. Re1 O-O 8. d4 Qc7 9. dxe5 ({
In other situations MVL might have played} 9. d5) 9... Nxe5 10. Nxe5 dxe5 11.
c4 $1 {Ultra-solid.} Be6 12. Qe2 h6 1/2-1/2
[Event "Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting"]
[Site "Dortmund, Germany"]
[Date "2019.07.16"]
[Round "3.3"]
[White "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"]
[Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2760"]
[BlackElo "2775"]
[Annotator "Bojkov,Dejan"]
[PlyCount "49"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. dxc5 e6 5. Bd3 ({A typical French position arose
in another top game recently:} 5. Nf3 Bxc5 6. Bd3 Ne7 7. O-O Nbc6 8. Nbd2 Ng6
9. Nb3 Bb6 10. Re1 {Yu,Y (2738)-Mamedyarov,S (2774) Stavanger 2019}) 5... Bxc5
6. Qg4 Ne7 7. b4 h5 {N A novely, which intends to spoil the optimal set-up of
the white pieces with a queen on g3 and a bishop opened to attack on the c1-h6
diagonal.} ({Nepomniachtchi was watching the predecessor just some meters away:
} 7... Bb6 8. Nf3 a5 9. b5 Ng6 10. h4 f5 11. Qg3 O-O 12. h5 Nh8 13. Bh6 {
and the Russian GM eventualy won in Vitiugov,N (2726)-O'Donnell,C (2360)
Batumi 2018}) 8. Qf4 Bb6 {Once more, from the Caro-Kann both players emerged a
position typical for the French defense.} 9. Nf3 Nbc6 10. Nbd2 {If White
manages to consolidate and establish firm control of the d4 and e5 squares he
will be clearly better. Therefore Nepomniachtchi hurries with his counterplay.}
({Another way to play it was:} 10. O-O a5 11. b5 Nb4 12. Nc3) 10... a5 11. b5
Nb4 12. Ba3 {In return Dominguez seizes control of the beautiful a3-f8
diagonal. Black's castling became close to impossible with the advance of the
h-pawn, but the king would not be safe in the middle neither.} Nxd3+ 13. cxd3
Bd7 14. Qa4 Nf5 $6 (14... Rc8 $5 {might have been more ccurate with the idea
to meet:} 15. Ke2 {With:} ({Black is also ready for the opponent's castling:}
15. O-O Nf5 {followed by g7-g5 is his plan.}) 15... g5 16. Rac1 Ng6 $1) 15. Rc1
g5 ({Again:} 15... Rc8 {seems more accurate, trying to safe the tempo for
g7-g5 in the lines:} 16. O-O ({Or} 16. Ke2 Rxc1 17. Rxc1 Qb8) 16... g5 17. Rxc8
Qxc8 18. Rc1 Qb8 {in both cases with sufficient counter-play for Black.}) 16.
h3 Rc8 17. Rxc8 Qxc8 18. Ke2 $3 {This was why Dominguez postponed the castling.
The rook on h1 is preventing any play related to the g5-g4 break, while it is
ready to shift to the queenside at once. Black might still be OK, but the
correct path became very narrow and he erred at once.} Qb8 $2 {In the search
of counterplay Nepomniachtchi sends the queen on a seemingly better working
place. Unfortunately for him his threats are not as strong as he thought.} ({
Instead the Russian GM could have still generated enough play with another
idea:} 18... Qd8 $3 19. Nb3 Rg8 {With the point that:} 20. Rc1 {is met with:} (
{Therefore White should opt for:} 20. g4 Nh4 21. Bc5 {but then Black has
enough attacking objects after:} Bc7) 20... g4 21. hxg4 Rxg4 {which suddenly
embarrass the queen.}) 19. Nb3 Qa7 {The queen switches on the attack of the f2
pawn.} ({Since:} 19... Bc7 20. Nc5 Bxe5 {Is refuted by:} 21. Nxd7 Kxd7 22. b6+
Kd8 23. Nxg5 {with winning attack.}) 20. Rc1 g4 {A desperate try.} ({It was
perhaps here that Nepomniachtchi discovered the nasty refutation of his idea:}
20... Bxf2 21. Rc8+ $3 {And the b-pawn suddenly queens in the line:} Bxc8 22.
b6+ Bd7 23. bxa7 Bxa4 24. a8=Q+) 21. hxg4 hxg4 22. Qxg4 Bxf2 23. Nc5 $1 {
Brilliant play. The black pieces remain discoordinated and it is quickly
curtains after:} Bg3 24. Rh1 $1 Rf8 ({Or} 24... Rxh1 25. Qg8+ Ke7 26. Nxb7+)
25. Rh5 {There are too many threats, Black resigned.} 1-0
[Event "Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting"]
[Site "Dortmund, Germany"]
[Date "2019.07.13"]
[Round "1.2"]
[White "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"]
[Black "Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B46"]
[WhiteElo "2760"]
[BlackElo "2667"]
[Annotator "IM Kostya Kavutskiy"]
[PlyCount "75"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "United States"]
[BlackTeam "Germany"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "USA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "GER"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Qf3 Bb4 8.
Nxc6 bxc6 9. Bd3 e5 10. Qg3 d6 11. O-O Nh5 12. Qf3 Nf6 13. Qg3 Nh5 14. Qf3 Nf6
15. Na4 Ba5 16. h3 O-O 17. Rad1 h6 18. Qg3 Nh5 19. Qf3 Nf6 20. Bc4 Bc7 21. Bc5
Re8 22. Rfe1 Rb8 $6 {Allowing White to add more pressure against the pawn on
d6.} (22... Qe7 $1 {would have kept White's advantage to a minimum, as the
bishop on c5 would be forced to move.}) 23. Qa3 $1 d5 $6 {Nisipeanu tries to
break free with this move, but it ends up falling short:} (23... Be6 $1 {
was best according to the engine, giving up the a6-pawn:} 24. Bxa6 {in order
to play} d5 {under better circumstances, where Black gets some compensation
thanks to his strong center.}) 24. exd5 cxd5 25. Bxd5 $1 {Accurately
calculated by Dominguez, White wins a clear pawn.} Nxd5 26. c4 {The point,
White wins back the piece thanks to the pin along the d-file.} ({Also strong
was first including} 26. Nc3 Be6 27. Nxd5 Bxd5 28. c4 {+-}) 26... Ba5 (26...
Be6 27. cxd5 Bxd5 28. Nc3 {+- and Black loses a piece.}) 27. Rxd5 Qh4 28. Be7
$5 {An unusual way to trade bishops.} Rxe7 29. Rxa5 Re6 30. Raxe5 Qxc4 31. Nc5
Rg6 32. Qf3 Qxa2 $6 (32... Kh7 33. b3 Qc2 {±}) 33. Re8+ Kh7 34. b3 $1 {
Sealing off Black's queen, with the threat Qxf7.} Qd2 35. Qxf7 Rf6 36. Qg8+ Kg6
37. R8e2 Qf4 38. Nd3 {Black resigned here. White is a pawn up and will soon
win much more.} 1-0
[Event "Riga FIDE Grand Prix"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.07.18"]
[Round "19.1"]
[White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"]
[Black "So, Wesley"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E05"]
[WhiteElo "2765"]
[BlackElo "2763"]
[Annotator "Bojkov,Dejan"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Ne5 Nc6 8.
Nxc6 bxc6 9. Na3 Bxa3 10. bxa3 Ba6 11. Qd2 ({Another top game went:} 11. Qa4
Bb5 12. Qc2 Qxd4 13. Bb2 Qc5 14. Rfd1 Rfd8 15. a4 Ba6 16. Qc3 {Nakamura,H
(2777)-So,W (2780) chess.com INT 2018}) 11... Rb8 12. Qa5 Rb6 13. a4 Qd6 14. a3
{N "A good move. At least for one game." (Mamedyarov) The idea is to prevent
the d6-b4 maneuver which trades the queens.} ({In the predecessor White also
managed to post some problems for his opponent after:} 14. e4 Qb4 15. Qxb4 Rxb4
16. Ba3 Rxa4 17. Bxf8 Kxf8 18. Rfc1 Ra3 {Lenderman,A (2637) -Safarli,E (2681)
chess.com INT 2019}) 14... Rfb8 {Black believed that this is a mistake and
that White should be better after his next obvious move.} 15. e4 c3 {So played
the only move that his opponent did not analyze at home but it turned out to
be a mistake.} ({"The first line of the engine runs":} 15... Qd8 16. Rd1 Qc8
17. Bg5 {"but I do not like this position for Black." (Mamedyarov) "It looks
very dangerous for him after:"} Rb3 18. Bxf6 gxf6 19. e5 f5 20. Bxc6 {
"followed by d4-d5." (Mamedyarov)}) ({"The problem with this line is the move:
"} 15... Nxe4 $3 16. Bxe4 Qxd4 17. Be3 Qxe4 18. Bxb6 Rxb6 19. Rfe1 {"Now Black
has to find (know) the only move that leads to a draw":} Qg6 (19... Qf3 $2 {
loses to} 20. Rab1 $1) (19... Qd5 $4 {is game over after} 20. Rad1 Qxa5 21.
Rd8#) 20. Qe5 Rb7 21. Qa5 Rb6 22. Qe5 {with a draw. All lines provided by
Mamedyarov.}) 16. e5 Qd8 ({Against:} 16... Qxd4 {White planned at least:} 17.
Be3 Qd3 18. exf6 Rb1 (18... c2 19. Rfc1 Rb1 20. Qg5 {also wins for White.}) 19.
Raxb1 (19. Qg5 {is even easier.}) 19... Rxb1 20. Qxa6 $1 Qxa6 21. Rxb1 {
with won position.}) 17. exf6 Bxf1 18. Bxf1 c2 (18... Qxd4 19. Be3 Qxf6 20.
Qxa7 {would not save Black neither.}) 19. Ra2 $1 {Missed by the American GM.} (
{Instead:} 19. Qg5 Qxf6 20. Qxf6 gxf6 21. Ra2 Rb1 22. Rxc2 Ra1 23. Rb2 Rxb2 24.
Bxb2 Ra2 25. Bc1 Ra1 {is not clear at all.}) 19... Qd5 (19... Qxf6 20. Rxc2
Qxd4 21. Be3) 20. Qxd5 cxd5 21. Rxc2 {In comparison from the line from above
White kept the active rook alive and this is enough for the win.} gxf6 22. Rxc7
R8b7 23. Rc5 $1 {It is important not to swap the rooks off as the white one
cements the position.} Kg7 24. Kg2 Rb1 {Next Mamedyarov consolidated his
material advantage and won:} 25. Bb5 Ra1 26. Rc3 Rb6 27. Bf4 Rb7 28. Kf3 $1 {
Intending Kf3-g4-h5 with mating threats.} Rd1 29. Be3 Rb1 30. Kg4 Rh1 31. h4
Kg6 32. Bd3+ f5+ ({Or:} 32... Kg7 33. Kh5 $1) 33. Kf3 Rd1 34. g4 1-0
[Event "Riga FIDE Grand Prix"]
[Site "Riga, Latvia"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "3.1"]
[White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Black "Grischuk, Alexander"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C67"]
[WhiteElo "2775"]
[BlackElo "2766"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[WhiteClock "0:18:18"]
[BlackClock "0:05:42"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5
8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. h3 (9. Nc3 Be7 {0-1 (62) Liepold,S (2168)-Londyn,R (2426)
Germany GER 2017}) 9... Be7 10. Nc3 Nh4 11. Nxh4 Bxh4 12. Re1 $5 {A relatively
lesser played idea.} ({MVL's favorite setup against the Berlin is with} 12. Be3
h5 (12... Bd7 13. Rad1 Kc8 14. Rd2 b6 15. Rfd1 Rd8 {1/2-1/2 (29) Vachier
Lagrave,M (2779) -Grischuk,A (2766) Saint Louis 2018}) 13. Ne2 Be7 14. f4 f5
15. exf6 gxf6 {1/2-1/2 (32) Vachier Lagrave,M (2780)-Karjakin,S (2760) Batumi
2018}) 12... a5 $5 {N} (12... b6 13. g4 Be7 14. Be3 Bd7 15. Rad1 {1-0 (49)
Vachier Lagrave,M (2781)-Aronian,L (2765) London ENG 2018}) (12... h6 13. b3
Bf5 14. Bb2 Bxc2 {Didn't look too great for White. 0-1 (62) Liepold,S (2168)
-Londyn,R (2426) Germany GER 2017}) 13. Ne2 Bd7 14. Bd2 Kc8 15. Bc3 Re8 16.
Rad1 g6 17. Nf4 {White has brought all his pieces to the best squares. Soon,
he will strike.} Bg5 (17... Bf5 {is a much better move and equalizes.}) 18. e6
$5 {An interesting attempt but sadly for Vachier-Lagrave it won't be enough.
Black is just in time with his counterplay.} Bxe6 19. Nxe6 Rxe6 20. Rxe6 fxe6 {
The massive trades have resulted in Black gaining a pawn at the cost of
White's rook getting very active.} 21. Rd3 $1 {A strong move that poses
tremendous problems to Black.} b5 {Grischuk thought for almost 30 minutes
before he came up with Black's best defensive try and starts rolling his pawns
down the board for counterplay.} 22. Rf3 b4 23. Be5 a4 {Grischuk's rook on a8
hasn't moved at all in this game but is perfectly placed to push the pawns.
His novelty with 13...a5 doesn't totally helped him here.} 24. Rf8+ Bd8 (24...
Kb7 $2 25. Rxa8 Kxa8 26. Bxc7 {Black loses a pawn for no reason.}) 25. Bf6 (25.
c4 {is the computer's top choice.} Kb7 26. Kf1 {White had better chances than
the game.}) 25... Kd7 26. Rh8 {White is threatening to take on h7 with check
but sadly he never really can take on h7 as seen in the game.} b3 27. cxb3 (27.
Rxh7+ $4 Kd6 {Black is winning now and White's bishop on f6 hangs because of
the queenside pawn threat.}) 27... axb3 28. a4 (28. axb3 $4 Ra1+ {The whole
point of Black's idea.} 29. Kh2 Bxf6) 28... c5 29. a5 (29. Rxh7+ Kd6 30. Bxd8
Rxd8 {Black is winning again thanks to his strong queenside pawns.}) 29... c4
30. a6 c3 {Forcing White to capture on c3 and end the annoying pin on the
backrank.} 31. Rxh7+ Kd6 32. Bxc3 Rxa6 33. Kf1 {Vachier-Lagrave offers a draw
in a pretty equal position. Everything to play for in tomorrow's second
classical game.} 1/2-1/2
[Event "Riga FIDE Grand Prix"]
[Site "Riga, Latvia"]
[Date "2019.07.19"]
[Round "20.2"]
[White "Grischuk, Alexander"]
[Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E60"]
[WhiteElo "2766"]
[BlackElo "2775"]
[Annotator "Bojkov,Dejan"]
[PlyCount "94"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Russia"]
[BlackTeam "France"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "RUS"]
[BlackTeamCountry "FRA"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. h4 {"Just an interesting line for White." (Grischuk)} ({
The world champion chose the main lines instead:} 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. cxd5
Nxd5 6. e4 Nxc3 7. bxc3 c5 8. Be3 Qa5 9. Qd2 Nc6 10. Rb1 {Carlsen,M (2875)
-Vachier Lagrave,M (2779) Zagreb 2019}) 3... c5 {"The most principles line"
(MVL)} ({Although the Frenchman also considered:} 3... d5 4. cxd5 c6 5. dxc6
Nxc6 6. Nf3 Bg4 ({He also thought that:} 6... Bg7 7. Nc3 O-O {is unclear.}) 7.
Nc3 Bxf3 8. exf3 Nxd4 9. Be3 {but believed that White is better thanks to the
bishop pair.}) 4. d5 b5 5. cxb5 a6 6. e3 {N} ({The predecessor saw:} 6. bxa6
Bg7 7. Nc3 O-O 8. e4 d6 9. Nf3 Qa5 10. Bd2 Bxa6 11. Qc2 Nbd7 12. Ne2 Qb6 13.
Bc3 {with sharp, interesting battle ahead inTopalov,V (2780)-Giri,A (2793)
Moscow 2016}) 6... Bg7 7. Nc3 O-O 8. Nf3 d6 9. a4 Bg4 {"This cannot be so bad
for me as the bishop is quite annoying." (MVL) This is the main reason why
Black chose to switch to the Benko gambit.} 10. Ra3 {"Unexpected, but probably
good." (MVL)} ({Instead Black expected:} 10. Be2 axb5 11. Nxb5 Na6) 10... axb5
11. Bxb5 Na6 12. e4 Nb4 13. Be2 ({After} 13. O-O Bxf3 14. Qxf3 Nc2 15. Ra2 Nd4
16. Qd3 Ng4 {"looks shaky for White." (MVL)}) 13... Nd7 14. O-O Qb6 ({Here and
on the next moves Black would be happy to advance on the kingside with:} 14...
f5 {But this is not good at once due to:} 15. Ng5 $1) 15. Re1 {"Quite a stupid
move." (Grischuk)} ({Instead the Russian GM believed he would be better after:
} 15. Nb5 Qb7 16. Bg5 Bxb2 ({Black on the other hand considered either:} 16...
Bxf3 17. Bxf3 Ne5 18. Be2 f5) ({Or the immediate:} 16... Nb6 {and blieved he
has enough play in both cases. In this second line White has however:} 17. a5
Bxf3 18. gxf3 $1) 17. Bxe7 {(Grischuk) As his rook is defended. But even this
is not clear after:} Bxa3 18. Bxf8 Nxf8 19. Nxa3 Qe7) ({Vachier-Lagrave
expected instead:} 15. Nd2 Bxe2 16. Qxe2 Nc2 (16... Qa6 17. Nc4 Ne5 18. Nb5 {
"does not look so convincing." (MVL)}) 17. Nc4 Qa6 18. Qxc2 Qxc4 {with
compensation for a pawn.}) 15... Qb7 {A typical Benko position arose. Black
has compensation for the pawn thanks to his active pieces and is ready to open
the play on the kingside with f7-f5.} 16. Bg5 Bxf3 17. gxf3 {A suprise for
Black.} ({But he qquite liked his position after:} 17. Bxf3 Ne5 18. Be2 c4 19.
Qd2 Ned3 ({Or} 19... Nbd3) 20. Rb1 Bd4 21. Bxd3 Nxd3 22. Be3 {"and I can play
pretty much everything." (MVL)}) 17... Ne5 18. Rf1 c4 $1 ({Apparently both
players spent a lot of time calculating the mess after:} 18... f5 19. exf5 ({Or
} 19. f4 h6 20. fxe5 hxg5 21. exd6) 19... Rxf5 20. f4 {and due to the resource
Be2-g4 Vachier-Lagrave voted for the game continuation.}) 19. b3 {Missed by
Black but he now plays simply brilliantly:} Rfc8 20. Bd2 Nbd3 21. f4 ({Against:
} 21. bxc4 {Black planned:} Nxc4 (21... Qd7 $5 {also looks strong.}) 22. Rb3
Qxb3 $3 23. Qxb3 Nxd2 24. Qd1 Nxf1 {winning.}) 21... Qb4 ({Another mess arises
after:} 21... Nb2 22. Qb1 Ned3 23. Nb5 (23. bxc4 Qb4 {was good for Black
according to (MVL)}) 23... c3 24. Bxd3 cxd2 25. Be2 Qd7 {bu this also looks
good for Black.}) 22. Nb1 c3 23. fxe5 Nb2 $3 {Fantastic concept. Mind that
Black should have foreseen this and the remaining well in advance. This was
missed by Grischuk who thought he is winning at this stage of the game.} ({
Black saw that in the line:} 23... Nxe5 24. Be1 Qxe4 25. Nxc3 Qxh4 26. f4 $1 {
is a crucial defensive resource.}) 24. Qc2 cxd2 25. Qxb2 Qxe4 26. Qxd2 (26.
Nxd2 $2 Qxe2) 26... Rc2 27. Qd3 ({What a great calculator Vachier-Lagrave is
is revealed by this lenghty line he had also foreseen in advance:} 27. Bf3 Qxf3
28. Qxc2 Qg4+ 29. Kh1 Qxh4+ 30. Kg2 Qg4+ 31. Kh1 Qh3+ 32. Kg1 Bxe5 33. Rc1 ({
More complex is the win after:} 33. Re1 Rc8 34. Qa2 Qf5 $3 {and the threat of
Rc8-c2 decides. Say:} 35. Qe2 Rc2 36. Nd2 Bd4 $3 ({Avoiding the obvious:} 36...
Qg5+ 37. Kf1 Rxd2 38. Qe3 $1 Bf4 39. Qf3) 37. Rd1 Bxf2+ 38. Qxf2 Qg4+ {Crazy
computer line....}) 33... Bh2+ 34. Kh1 Bf4+ 35. Kg1 Qh2+ 36. Kf1 Bxc1 {with a
win.}) ({After:} 27. f3 {Black saw:} Qxe5 28. Qxc2 Qg3+ 29. Kh1 Qh3+ 30. Kg1
Bd4+ {crushing.}) ({And:} 27. Nc3 Qxh4 28. Qxc2 Bxe5 {is unstoppable mate, say:
} 29. Kg2 Qh2+ 30. Kf3 Qh3+ 31. Ke4 f5# {(MVL)}) 27... Rxe2 ({Not} 27... Qxh4
28. f4 $1 {(MVL)}) 28. Qxe4 Rxe4 29. exd6 exd6 30. Nd2 Rg4+ {In the forcing
line Black wins the pawn back and is much better thank to his better minor
piece and more active pieces.} 31. Kh1 Rxh4+ 32. Kg2 Rd4 33. Nf3 ({The only
chance for White according to MVL was:} 33. Nc4 $1) 33... Rg4+ 34. Kh3 Rb4 35.
Rb1 Rc8 36. Kg2 ({One more fabulous concept by the French GM is revealed in
the line:} 36. a5 Rc3 $1 37. a6 Rxf3+ 38. Kg2 Rbf4 $3 39. a7 Rxf2+ 40. Kg1 Bd4
$3 41. a8=Q+ Kg7 {White is lost wins despite the extra queen:} 42. Rd1 ({Or}
42. Ra4 Rf1+ 43. Kh2 R4f2+ 44. Kg3 Be5+ 45. Kh3 Rh2+ 46. Kg4 h5+) ({Best is to
sacrifice the queen at once, but it is also hopeless after:} 42. Qa7 Rg4+ 43.
Kh1 Bxa7) 42... Rd2+ 43. Kh1 Rh4#) 36... Rc3 {The white pawns are too
dangerous, therefore Black needs to play extremely energetically to prove the
win. Vachier-Lagrave is up to this difficult task as well} 37. Ng1 Rc2 38. Nf3
Rg4+ 39. Kf1 Rf4 40. Kg2 Rg4+ (40... Rc3 41. Ne1 {Did not seem too clear for
MVL.}) 41. Kf1 ({If:} 41. Kh3 h5 $3 {was planned, with another
study-like-queen-promotion-allowing-line after:} 42. a5 Rxf2 43. b4 Bh6 44. a6
Bf4 $3 45. a7 g5 46. a8=Q+ Kg7 {With inevitable mate:} 47. Rg1 Rh4+ 48. Nxh4
Rh2#) 41... Rf4 (41... Bd4 {"should be close to a draw after"} 42. Nxd4 Rxd4
43. b4 Rf4 44. b5 {(MVL)}) 42. Kg2 g5 43. Rf1 ({Or else a prosaical win with:}
43. b4 g4 44. Kg3 Rxf3+ 45. Rxf3 gxf3 46. Kxf3 {(MVL)}) 43... Rg4+ $1 ({Not:}
43... g4 44. Ne1 Rd2 45. a5 Bd4 46. Ra4 $1 {(MVL)}) 44. Kh1 ({There is a cute
knight-trap in the line:} 44. Kh3 Rb4 45. Nxg5 h6) ({As well as after:} 44. Kh2
Rc3 45. Rg1 Rf4 46. Nxg5 Rxf2+ 47. Kh1 ({Or} 47. Rg2 Be5+ 48. Kh1 Rxg2 49. Kxg2
Rg3+) 47... h6 {(MVL)}) 44... Rc3 45. Rg1 Rf4 46. Nh2 Rxf2 47. Rxg5 Rcc2 {
I totally agree with Grischuk- fantastic game by Vachier-Lagrave!} 0-1
[Event "Riga FIDE Grand Prix"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.07.22"]
[Round "28.1"]
[White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"]
[Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D85"]
[WhiteElo "2765"]
[BlackElo "2775"]
[Annotator "Bojkov,Dejan"]
[PlyCount "55"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]
[SourceVersionDate "2014.12.06"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Qa4+ Qd7 ({
Recently Black did spectacularly well in the following game:} 7... Nd7 8. Nf3
O-O 9. Be2 e5 10. Ba3 Re8 11. dxe5 Nxe5 12. Rd1 Bd7 13. Qb3 Nxf3+ 14. gxf3 Qc8
{Vidit,S (2711)-Shankland,S (2731) Prague 2019}) 8. Qa3 b6 9. Nf3 Bb7 10. Bd3
O-O 11. O-O c5 12. Bf4 {N "My seconds offered me this move." (Mamedyarov)} ({
Mamedyarov deviates from a game of his opponent:} 12. Rd1 cxd4 13. cxd4 Nc6 14.
Bb2 e6 15. Rac1 Na5 16. Ne5 Qd8 17. Bc3 Re8 18. Bb5 Re7 19. Bxa5 bxa5 20. Bc6 {
where Black also had problems, Bogner,S (2599)-Vachier Lagrave,M (2757)
Germany 2015}) 12... cxd4 13. cxd4 Nc6 {This and the next move by Black were
disliked by both players.} ({White suggested:} 13... e6 {as an alternative.}) (
{Apparently both players think that White has much better position in case of:
} 13... Bxd4 14. Nxd4 (14. Rad1 $5) 14... Qxd4 15. Qxe7 Qxd3 16. Qxb7 Na6 17.
Rad1) 14. d5 Na5 {Decentralizing the knight.} ({But Vachier-Lagrave did not
like the position after:} 14... Nd4 15. Nxd4 $1 ({Mamedyarov added that Black
should not be afraid of the line:} 15. Ne5 Qd6 16. Qxd6 exd6 17. Nc4 f5 $1)
15... Bxd4 16. Rac1 Rfc8 17. Qb4 {"White is better as Bd3-b5 is coming."
(Mamedyarov)}) 15. Rac1 Rfc8 16. h3 $1 {"A very good move." (Mamedyarov) Black
has very few ideas and the Azeri GM waits to see which one will he execute. In
the meanwhile he opens air for his king, just in case.} ({The immediate:} 16.
Bd2 {is not as good due to} e6 {(Mamedyarov)}) 16... e6 {Desperately trying to
destroy the center. However, White is in control.} ({After:} 16... f5 17. Ng5
fxe4 18. Bxe4 {Black weakens his kingside badly and the white knight will land
on e6 soon.}) ({Also bad for the second player is the line:} 16... Rxc1 17.
Rxc1 Rc8 18. Rxc8+ Bxc8 19. Ne5 Qd8 20. Qc1 {when Ne5-c6 will follow soon.
(Mamedyarov)}) 17. d6 f6 18. e5 $1 Bxf3 19. exf6 $1 {Missed by Vachier-Lagrave.
"It is probably just lost (now)."} Bxf6 ({If} 19... Bxg2 20. Kxg2 Bxf6 21. Ba6
Rxc1 22. Rxc1 {followed by Rc1-c7.}) 20. gxf3 e5 21. Bd2 {White's pawn
structure is a mess, but it is much more important that the black pieces
cannot coordinate themselves.} Rxc1 (21... Nc6 22. Ba6 {(Mamedyarov)} (22. Be4
{might be even better.})) ({White would defend the important central pawn
tactically in the line:} 21... Rd8 22. Rfd1 Qxd6 23. Qxd6 Rxd6 24. Bxa5 bxa5
25. Bc4+) ({Whereas the other pawn is not important at all:} 21... Qxh3 22. Be4
Rxc1 23. Rxc1 Rd8 24. Rc7 {since the centralized white army will soon reach
the black king.}) 22. Rxc1 Rc8 23. Rxc8+ Qxc8 24. Kg2 {Solid. There is nothing
Black can do against the plan of a bishop maneuver to e4.} Bd8 25. Be4 Qe6 ({
Nothing changes:} 25... Qc4 26. d7 Qf7 27. Bh6 Nc4 28. Qd3 {(Mamedyarov)}) 26.
Qd3 Kg7 27. Bc3 Qf6 28. Kf1 (28. Kf1 {And Black resigned as there is no way to
stop the queen centralization to d5, say:} Qg5 29. Ke2) 1-0
[Event "Riga Grand Prix"]
[Site "Riga"]
[Date "2019.07.23"]
[Round "21"]
[White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2775"]
[BlackElo "2765"]
[PlyCount "63"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:44:45"]
[BlackClock "0:23:11"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. O-O h6 ({MVL had been
inspired by this game:} 6... O-O 7. Re1 a5 8. Nbd2 Be6 9. Bb5 Qb8 10. Nf1 Qa7
11. Be3 Bxe3 12. Nxe3 Ne7 13. a4 Ng6 14. Bc4 Bxc4 15. Nxc4 Qa6 {So,W (2792)
-Ding Liren (2771) Tbilisi GEO 2017}) 7. Re1 O-O 8. h3 a5 9. Nbd2 Be6 10. Bb5
Qb8 11. Nf1 Qa7 12. Be3 (12. d4 exd4 13. Bxc6 dxc3 14. Ba4 Bxf2+ 15. Kh2 d5 16.
e5 Ne4 17. Be3 c5 18. Bxf2 Nxf2 19. Qc2 cxb2 20. Rab1 c4 {Anand,V (2767)-Ding,
L (2805) Stavanger 2019}) 12... Bxe3 13. Nxe3 Ne7 14. a4 Rad8 {N} (14... Ng6
15. Bc4 Bxc4 16. Nxc4 Rfe8 17. Qb3 Qc5 18. Ne3 Qc6 19. Qb5 Qxb5 20. axb5 Nf4
21. Red1 b6 22. Kh2 Rad8 {Karjakin,S (2753)-Svidler,P (2737) St Petersburg 2018
}) 15. Bc4 Bxc4 16. Nxc4 Nd7 $6 17. d4 Qa6 18. Ne3 Rfe8 19. Qc2 exd4 20. Nxd4
c6 21. Ndf5 Nf6 22. Rad1 Nc8 23. f3 d5 24. Qf2 Re6 25. Qg3 Ne8 26. exd5 cxd5
27. Nxd5 Kf8 28. Qh4 Rd7 29. Nde3 Ncd6 30. Nd4 Re5 31. Ng4 Rd5 32. Ne5 1-0
[Event "Riga FIDE Grand Prix"]
[Site "Riga"]
[Date "2019.07.24"]
[Round "31.1"]
[White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2775"]
[BlackElo "2765"]
[PlyCount "91"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "France"]
[BlackTeam "Azerbaijan"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "FRA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "AZE"]
[WhiteClock "0:04:47"]
[BlackClock "0:00:28"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. O-O h6 7. Re1 O-O 8. Nbd2
({MVL had won the classical game with} 8. h3 a5 9. Nbd2 Be6 10. Bb5 Qb8 11. Nf1
Qa7 12. Be3 Bxe3 13. Nxe3 Ne7 14. a4 Rad8 15. Bc4 Bxc4 16. Nxc4 {Surely
Mamedyarov wouldn't have repeated} Nd7 {here.}) 8... Ne7 9. Nf1 Ng6 10. Ng3 c6
11. d4 exd4 12. Nxd4 Re8 13. h3 d5 14. exd5 Rxe1+ 15. Qxe1 Bxd4 16. cxd4 Nxd5
17. Bd3 Ndf4 18. Bc2 Be6 19. Bxf4 Nxf4 20. Qe4 Ng6 21. Qe3 Nf8 22. Re1 Qa5 23.
Qe5 Qxe5 24. dxe5 Rd8 25. b3 g5 26. Ne4 Rd4 $6 {A strange move that doesn't do
much.} 27. h4 $1 gxh4 28. f4 {In return for the pawn, White has some
initiative now.} Bd5 $6 (28... Nd7) 29. Nf6+ Kh8 (29... Kg7 30. f5 Rd2 31. Be4)
30. f5 Nd7 $2 ({The only, but sufficient, defense is} 30... Nh7 31. Nxh7 Rd2 $1
32. Nf6 (32. Be4) 32... Rxg2+ 33. Kf1 Rxc2 34. e6 h3 35. e7 h2 36. e8=Q+ Kg7 {
White needs to give perpetual.}) 31. Nxd7 Rd2 32. e6 {White could also just
move the bishop as Black's h-pawn is not dangerous yet.} fxe6 33. f6 Kg8 34.
Bd3 {Also a tricky move but this is only enough for draw.} (34. Bf5 $1 {
is a nice move:} exf5 (34... Rxg2+ 35. Kf1 {doesn't change anything.}) 35. Re8+
Kh7 36. Re7+ Kh8 (36... Kg8 37. Rg7+ Kh8 38. Ne5) 37. f7 Bxf7 38. Rxf7 Kg8 39.
Ne5 {with good winning chances.}) 34... Rxg2+ 35. Kf1 h3 36. Be4 Bxe4 (36...
Rg5 $1) 37. Rxe4 Kf7 38. Rh4 Rd2 39. Nc5 h2 40. Ne4 Rxa2 41. Rxh6 h1=Q+ 42.
Rxh1 Ra1+ 43. Kg2 Rxh1 44. Kxh1 a5 45. Nd6+ Kxf6 46. Nxb7 1/2-1/2
[Event "Riga FIDE Grand Prix"]
[Site "Riga"]
[Date "2019.07.24"]
[Round "33.1"]
[White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2775"]
[BlackElo "2765"]
[PlyCount "48"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "France"]
[BlackTeam "Azerbaijan"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "FRA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "AZE"]
[WhiteClock "0:11:11"]
[BlackClock "0:11:03"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. O-O h6 7. Re1 O-O 8. Nbd2
({The classical game went} 8. h3) 8... Ne7 9. Bb3 (9. Nf1 Ng6 10. Ng3 c6 11. d4
exd4 12. Nxd4 Re8 13. h3 d5 {is the second 10+10 game.}) 9... Ng6 10. d4 Bb6
11. Nc4 Be6 12. d5 {N} (12. h3 c6 13. dxe5 dxe5 14. Ncxe5 Nxe5 15. Nxe5 Re8 16.
Qxd8 Raxd8 17. Bc2 g5 {Anand,V (2779)-Adams,M (2748) London 2016}) 12... Bd7
13. Nxb6 axb6 14. h3 Nh7 15. Bc2 Qc8 16. g4 $2 Qd8 17. Be3 Ng5 18. Kh2 Qf6 19.
Kg3 Nf4 20. Rh1 Bb5 (20... h5 $5) 21. Ng1 Ne2+ 22. Kg2 (22. Nxe2 $2 Qf3+ 23.
Kh4 (23. Kh2 Qxh3+ 24. Kg1 Nf3#) 23... Bxe2 {wins.}) 22... Nf4+ 23. Kg3 $2 ({
White has to play} 23. Bxf4 Qxf4 {but both players probably missed the trick:}
24. h4 $1 {when} Nh7 (24... Nxe4 $2 25. Nh3) 25. f3 {is only slightly better
for Black.}) 23... Ne2+ $2 ({Again missing the very strong} 23... h5) 24. Kg2
Nf4+ 1/2-1/2
[Event "Riga FIDE Grand Prix"]
[Site "Riga"]
[Date "2019.07.24"]
[Round "34.1"]
[White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2775"]
[BlackElo "2765"]
[PlyCount "86"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "France"]
[BlackTeam "Azerbaijan"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "FRA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "AZE"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. O-O h6 7. Re1 O-O 8. h3 {
Back to the move with which MVL won in the classical game.} a5 9. Nbd2 Be6 10.
Bb5 Qb8 11. Nf1 Qa7 12. Be3 Bxe3 13. Nxe3 a4 {N} (13... Ne7 14. a4 Rad8 15. Bc4
Bxc4 16. Nxc4 {was game one.}) 14. d4 Qa5 15. Bd3 Ne7 16. Nf5 Bxf5 17. exf5 Nc6
18. dxe5 Nxe5 19. Nxe5 dxe5 20. Qe2 Rfe8 21. Be4 c6 22. Rad1 Qc5 23. a3 Rad8
24. Rxd8 Rxd8 25. Bc2 b5 26. Kf1 Rd5 27. Be4 Nxe4 28. Qxe4 Qd6 29. g3 f6 30.
Re2 Rd1+ 31. Re1 Rd2 32. Re2 Rd1+ 33. Re1 Rd5 34. Re2 Kf7 $1 {Avoiding the
draw as White's position is rather uncomfortable.} 35. Re3 Qd7 36. h4 Ke7 37.
Qg4 Kd8 (37... Rd1+) 38. Re4 Kc7 39. c4 $2 Rd1+ 40. Kg2 Qd3 $1 41. Qxg7+ (41.
Qe2 Qxe2 42. Rxe2 bxc4 {is also hopeless.}) 41... Kb6 42. c5+ Ka6 43. Rb4 Qd5+
0-1
[Event "Riga FIDE Grand Prix"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.07.24"]
[Round "35.1"]
[White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"]
[Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E12"]
[WhiteElo "2765"]
[BlackElo "2775"]
[Annotator "Bojkov,Dejan"]
[PlyCount "146"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]
1. d4 e6 2. c4 b6 3. Nf3 Bb7 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. a3 g6 {In a must-win situation
Vachier-Lagrave makes an original opening choice.} 6. d5 ({It is worth
mentioning that Mamedyrov has played some excellent games as Black in this
line, such as:} 6. Qc2 Bg7 7. e4 O-O 8. Be2 d5 9. cxd5 exd5 10. e5 Ne4 11. Be3
Nd7 12. Rd1 c5 {Dreev,A (2670) -Mamedyarov,S (2817) chess.com INT 2019}) 6...
exd5 7. cxd5 Bg7 8. g3 O-O 9. Bg2 Re8 ({Black can also undermine the center at
once with:} 9... c6 10. O-O cxd5 11. Bg5 Na6 12. Rc1 Nc7 13. Qd2 Ne6 14. Bh6
Bxh6 15. Qxh6 Rc8 {as in Georgiev,K (2636)-Vallejo Pons,F (2706)
Khanty-Mansiysk 2013}) 10. O-O Na6 11. Bf4 {N} ({In a predecessor Black
managed to execute a famous exchange sacrifice after:} 11. Nd4 Nc5 12. Bf4 Nh5
13. Be3 Rxe3 14. fxe3 Qg5 {Paterek,M (2313)-Tkachiev,V (2629) London 2014})
11... c6 12. dxc6 dxc6 13. Qxd8 Raxd8 {Black equalizes easily, and thanks to
his queenside majority he enjoys a slight pull.} 14. Rfd1 $6 {This, however,
is a serious inaccuracy.} ({The other rook should have gone here:} 14. Rad1)
14... Nd5 $1 {An offer to self-isolate a pawn is rare in the middlegame, but
here Vachier-Lagrave spotted a concrete problem for White.} 15. Nxd5 cxd5 16.
Nd4 Nc5 $1 {That is it. One of the white pawns will be lost anyway, and Black
will not allow any compensation.} ({For example, White has compensation after:
} 16... Bxd4 17. Rxd4 Rxe2 18. b4 {thanks to his bishop pair and the poor
black knight.}) 17. Be3 ({Or} 17. Rab1 Bxd4 18. Rxd4 Rxe2 {White does not have
enough for the pawn.}) 17... Bxd4 18. Bxd4 Nb3 19. Rab1 Nxd4 20. Rxd4 Rxe2 {
Vachier-Lagrave wins a pawn, but the win is not yet in sight. If White manages
to swap the queenside pawns, he would be able to hold.} 21. Bf3 Rc2 22. Be4 Rc5
23. Rbd1 Kg7 24. R4d3 ({Perhaps it made sense to force the following endgame:}
24. b4 Rc3 25. a4 Ra3 26. Bxd5 Rxd5 27. Rxd5 Bxd5 28. Rxd5 Rxa4 29. b5 ({Or}
29. Rd7 Rxb4) 29... Ra5 30. Rd7 Rxb5 31. Rxa7 {As explained in many endgame
textbooks, the defender should be able to defend with accurate play. However,
there is a catch. The stronger side usually poses so many practical problems
that he often wins anyway.}) 24... a5 {Sooner or later a crisis will happen in
the center, and some pawns will disappear. For the time being both sides try
to improve their situations.} 25. Rd4 Bc6 26. b4 Rc3 27. Bxd5 Ba4 ({After}
27... Bxd5 28. Rxd5 Rxd5 29. Rxd5 Rxa3 30. bxa5 bxa5 31. Kg2 {A similar
endgame as above is reached but with an a-pawn. This is somewhat better for
the defender because the black king needs an extra move to help the passer.})
28. R1d2 Rxa3 29. bxa5 bxa5 30. h4 {All the white pawns are properly placed.}
Bb5 31. Rb2 Bc6 32. Rbd2 Ra4 33. Rxa4 ({Not:} 33. R4d3 Bb5 34. Re3 (34. Rf3 Bc4
) 34... Bc4 35. Re5 f6 {and Black wins.}) 33... Bxa4 34. Ra2 Bb5 35. Bb3 Ra8 {
Vachier-Lagrave managed to place his rook ideally behind the pawn and is now
ready for the rook endgame.} 36. Ba4 Bxa4 ({Black could have also played for
the win with the bishops on:} 36... Bc4 37. Ra3 Kf6) 37. Rxa4 Kf6 {With
reversed colors we have almost a perfect copy of the final game in the 1927
world championship between Alekhine and Capablanca. Alekhine went on to win
this game and became the fourth world champion.} 38. Kf1 Ke6 {Black's plan is
clear: the king needs to help the rook.} 39. Ke2 Kd5 40. Kd3 Ra7 41. g4 Kc5 42.
Kc3 Kb5 43. Re4 {In turn, White needs to block the passed pawn with his weaker
piece, the king, thus leaving the stronger one for the defense of the kingside.
} a4 44. Re5+ Kc6 45. Kb2 a3+ 46. Ka2 {Job done. The question is, can the rook
hold the flank on its own?} Kd6 47. Re4 Kd5 48. f3 Rc7 49. Re3 Ra7 50. Re4 f5 {
But this seems a mistake.} ({Vachier-Lagrave could have prepared himself
better on the kingside with} 50... h5 $1 {and then he can bring the king
closer to the white pawns:} 51. Rb4 ({Or} 51. gxh5 gxh5 52. Rf4 Ke5 53. Re4+
Kf5 54. Rb4 Ra5 55. Rd4 Re5 56. Kxa3 Re3+ 57. Kb2 Rxf3) 51... hxg4 52. Rxg4 Ke5
{This should be a win for Black.}) 51. Re8 Kd4 52. gxf5 gxf5 53. f4 Ra6 54. Re5
Rh6 {Now too many pawns are traded.} 55. Rxf5 Rxh4 56. Kxa3 {According to
tablebases, this is a draw.} Ke4 57. Rf7 ({For practical reasons,} 57. Rb5 {
seems better, for example:} Kxf4 ({Or} 57... Rxf4 58. Rh5 Rf7 59. Kb3 Kf4 60.
Rh1 Kg3 61. Kc4 {and a draw is inevitable.}) 58. Rb4+ Kg3 59. Rb3+ {Torturing
the black king that has no shelter.}) 57... h5 58. f5 Rf4 59. f6 $1 ({The
natural} 59. Kb3 {loses after} Rxf5 60. Rh7 Rc5 $1 61. Kb4 Kd4) 59... Kf5 60.
Kb3 Kg6 61. Ra7 $2 {So far Mamedyarov has defended perfectly, and only here
does he commit the decisive mistake.} ({He should have secured the d-file for
his king with:} 61. Rd7 $1 Rxf6 62. Kc3 {Once that the white king lands on d2,
Black can no longer use the winning plan he had in the game.}) ({According to
the tablebases, even a preliminary check of} 61. Rg7+ Kxf6 {followed by} 62.
Rd7 $1 {is sufficient for a draw.}) 61... Rxf6 62. Kc3 Rd6 $1 {The key move.
The white king is cut off far enough from the pawn. Next Vachier-Lagrave
pushes it all the way to the second rank.} 63. Ra8 h4 64. Rg8+ Kf5 65. Rh8 Kg4
66. Rg8+ Kf3 67. Rh8 Kg3 68. Rg8+ Kh2 69. Rg4 h3 70. Rg8 Kh1 71. Rg7 h2 72. Rg8
{Now it's easy to release the king.} ({Instead:} 72. Kc2 {would be more
resilient and would have forced Black to demonstrate the win with:} Rf6 73. Kd2
Rf1 74. Ke3 ({Or} 74. Ke2 Rg1 75. Rf7 Kg2 76. Rg7+ Kh3 77. Rh7+ Kg3) 74... Rg1
75. Rh7 Kg2 76. Rg7+ Kf1 77. Rf7+ Ke1 78. Ra7 Rg3+ 79. Kf4 Rf3+ $1 {and wins.})
72... Rd1 73. Kc2 Rg1 0-1