[Event "3rd Du Te Cup 2019"] [Site "Shenzhen CHN"] [Date "2019.04.17"] [Round "1.3"] [White "Jakovenko, Dmitry"] [Black "Harikrishna, Pentala"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B48"] [WhiteElo "2719"] [BlackElo "2723"] [Annotator "Sagar,Shah"] [PlyCount "69"] [EventDate "2019.04.17"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be3 a6 7. Bd3 Nf6 8. O-O Nxd4 9. Bxd4 Bc5 10. Bxc5 Qxc5 11. Na4 Qc7 12. c4 d6 13. Nc3 O-O 14. Be2 { The first new move of the game. But already the players are not looking at concrete theory. We have a well known Maroczy bind position. The fact that two pairs of pieces have been exchanged are both an advantage and disadvantage for Black. He has more space for his pieces, but in such hedgehog structures Black likes to keep more pieces in play. With just two minor pieces, it seems difficult that Harikrishna would be able to create play in such a position.} Rd8 15. Qd4 e5 $5 {A committal decision. But with the bishop coming to e6, the d5 square would not longer be so weak.} 16. Qe3 Be6 17. b3 Qc5 18. Qd3 Rac8 19. Rac1 Rc6 20. a4 h6 21. Rfd1 Rdc8 22. h3 Qb4 23. Rb1 Qc5 24. Ra1 Qb6 25. Qd2 Qa5 (25... Qxb3 26. Rdb1 $19) 26. Rdb1 (26. Nd5 $5 Qxd2 27. Nxf6+ gxf6 28. Rxd2 Rb6 (28... Kf8 29. a5 $16) 29. Bd1 a5 30. Bc2 Kf8 31. Rad1 Ke7 32. Kh2 $14 { Black is holding on, but somehow this seems like a position where White can press endlessly.}) 26... Qd8 27. Qd1 Rc5 28. Rb2 b5 $6 {Harikrishna goes into desperation mode.} 29. axb5 axb5 30. Nxb5 Nxe4 {This exchange is not favourable for Black. The disappearance of the e4 pawn activates the white light squared bishop, at the same time d6 pawn is in trouble.} 31. Bf3 d5 ( 31... Nf6 32. Nxd6 $18) 32. Bxe4 dxe4 33. Nd6 $6 (33. Qe1 f5 34. Qe3 $16 { White is clearly better here.}) 33... Rb8 34. Qd2 Rc6 35. Nxe4 (35. Nb5 { White can still play on.}) (35. Nxe4 $6 Qxd2 36. Nxd2 Bxc4 $11) 1/2-1/2 [Event "Shenzhen CHN"] [Site "Shenzhen CHN"] [Date "2019.04.18"] [Round "2.2"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Harikrishna, Pentala"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C53"] [WhiteElo "2797"] [BlackElo "2723"] [Annotator "Sagar,Shah"] [PlyCount "79"] [EventDate "2019.04.17"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 O-O 6. O-O d5 7. exd5 Nxd5 8. Re1 Bg4 9. Nbd2 Nb6 10. h3 Bh5 (10... Bxf3 11. Qxf3 $14) 11. Bb3 Qxd3 12. Nxe5 Bxd1 (12... Qf5 13. Nef3 {was seen recently in Raghunandan vs Sanal which was analyzed on ChessBase India. Hari chooses to simplify. As the game progressed, this decision does seem dubious.}) 13. Nxd3 Bxb3 14. axb3 (14. Nxc5 {is also a move that has to be considered.} Bd5 15. Nxb7 $5 $16) 14... Be7 15. b4 a6 16. Ne4 {White has his pieces better centralized looking at the c5 square and Black has to be very careful not to land into a passive position.} Nd7 17. Bf4 Rac8 18. Rad1 {Beautiful centralization!} Rfd8 19. g4 {The king is the last piece that needs to be improved!} Bf8 20. Kg2 $1 {The sign of a classy player.} Re8 21. Bg3 f6 22. f4 Re7 23. f5 Rce8 24. Nf4 Nd8 {Hari blunders tactically, but his position was already very difficult.} (24... Rxe4 25. Rxe4 Rxe4 26. Rxd7 Re7 27. Rd2 $18 {The knight lands on e6 with great effect.}) 25. Rxd7 Rxd7 26. Nxf6+ gxf6 27. Rxe8 {The rest is just a matter of technique for a player of Anish's calibre.} Kf7 28. Re3 Rd2+ 29. Re2 Rd1 30. Ne6 Nxe6 31. fxe6+ Ke8 32. Bxc7 Rd3 33. Bf4 Rd5 34. Kf3 Ke7 35. Re4 Bg7 36. Be3 f5 37. Bg5+ Bf6 38. Bxf6+ Kxf6 39. g5+ Kxg5 40. Re3 1-0 [Event "Shenzhen CHN"] [Site "Shenzhen CHN"] [Date "2019.04.19"] [Round "3.2"] [White "Harikrishna, Pentala"] [Black "Rapport, Richard"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C15"] [WhiteElo "2723"] [BlackElo "2726"] [Annotator "Sagar,Shah"] [PlyCount "109"] [EventDate "2019.04.17"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. exd5 $5 {This variation of the exchange French with bishop on b4 and knight on c3 is not as harmless as the normal exchange French.} exd5 5. Bd3 Ne7 6. Nf3 O-O 7. O-O Nbc6 (7... Bg4 8. Bxh7+ $1 $16 Kxh7 9. Ng5+) 8. Ne2 Bf5 9. Ng3 Bg6 10. Nh4 Bxd3 11. Qxd3 Qd7 12. h3 Ng6 (12... Rae8 $5) 13. Nhf5 Nce7 14. c3 Nxf5 15. Nxf5 Bd6 {Although the position looks close to equal, White has a small edge becuase of his menacing knight on f5. Also such positions are not Rapport's forte.} 16. h4 Ne7 17. Nxd6 $1 {An interesting decision by Hari who clearly understands that in this position his bishop will prove to be superior than Rapport's knight.} Qxd6 18. Qf3 c6 19. h5 $1 {Gaining more space on the kingside.} Rfe8 20. Bg5 h6 21. Bd2 Rad8 22. Rae1 Qd7 23. Bf4 Nf5 24. Qg4 Re7 25. Rxe7 Nxe7 26. Qe2 Re8 27. Re1 Kf8 28. Qd3 Nf5 29. Rxe8+ Kxe8 30. g4 $1 {You can see how the pawns not only take up a lot of space in the position, but also are placed on the opposite colour of the bishop. So they control a lot of squares!} Ne7 31. f3 Qe6 32. Kf2 f6 33. b3 Kf7 34. a4 Kg8 35. a5 {Gaining space everywhere!} a6 36. Qd2 Kf7 37. Bc7 Nc8 38. Qf4 Qe7 39. Bb6 Nxb6 (39... Nd6 40. Bc5 $18) (39... Qd6 {might have been a better way to continue.} 40. Qxd6 (40. Kg3 Qxf4+ 41. Kxf4 Nxb6 42. axb6 $11) 40... Nxd6 41. Ke3 {White can still try endlessly here especially because the kingside pawns are fixed. But it does seem the position has good drawing chances for Black.}) 40. axb6 c5 41. c4 $3 {What a brilliant solution by Harikrishna! He clearly sees that he needs his c-pawn to go down the board to c6 in order to make sure that the pawn on b6 queens. Once this is clear in your head then the move c4 becomes quite an obvious one. Otherwise it is not so easy to spot.} (41. Qc7 cxd4 42. cxd4 Ke6 {Black is holding on.}) 41... dxc4 (41... cxd4 42. Qxd4 dxc4 43. Qd5+ Kf8 44. bxc4 {It's difficult to do something against c5 c4.}) 42. bxc4 cxd4 43. Qxd4 Qe6 44. Qd8 f5 (44... Qxc4 45. Qc7+ $18) 45. Qc7+ Kf6 46. gxf5 Qxf5 47. c5 Qc2+ 48. Kg3 Qd1 49. Qf4+ Ke7 50. Qe5+ Kf7 51. c6 $1 {Calculating everything to perfection.} bxc6 (51... Qg1+ 52. Kf4 Qxb6 53. c7 $18) 52. b7 Qg1+ 53. Kh3 Qf1+ 54. Kg4 Qg1+ 55. Qg3 (55. Qg3 Qd4+ 56. Qf4+ {The queens are exchanged and game over!}) 1-0 [Event "Shenzhen CHN"] [Site "Shenzhen CHN"] [Date "2019.04.20"] [Round "4.2"] [White "Harikrishna, Pentala"] [Black "Ding, Liren"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C88"] [WhiteElo "2723"] [BlackElo "2809"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "157"] [EventDate "2019.04.17"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. d3 {Harikrishna takes measures against Ding's Marshall.} d6 9. Bd2 $5 {This move has been played before and Ganguly has done so against Anand and Karjakin at Tata Steel event in India. White wants to stop Na5. But isn't the bishop coming in the way of the knight developing on d2? Well, according to white players, the fact that Black cannot move his knight from c6 immediately and play c5, means that he has to find some other move to play and it is not so easy to do something without committing a piece.} Bg4 (9... Bb7 {is another way to play and White's idea here is} 10. a4) 10. c3 {White did play this move and now Black can go Na5 and c3, but White can argue that he forced Black to play Bg4, which he wouldn't have done if he hadn't played Bd2.} Na5 11. Bc2 c5 12. h3 Bh5 {Placing the bishop on h5 is always a risky strategy. On one hand you are keeping up the pin, but on the other the bishop may become irrelevant to the action on the queenside and centre once it is pushed back to g6.} (12... Be6 {was the game Ganguly vs Anand.} 13. d4 Qc7 14. b3 Rac8 15. d5 Bd7 16. Bg5 h6 17. Be3 c4 18. b4 Nb7 19. a4 Ra8 20. axb5 axb5 21. Ba7 Rfc8 22. Nbd2 Nd8 23. Be3 Rxa1 24. Qxa1 Qb7 25. Qb2 Ra8 26. Ra1 Ne8 27. Ra5 Rxa5 28. bxa5 Qa6 29. Qb4 f6 30. Nxc4 bxc4 31. Qb6 Bb5 32. Ba4 Qxb6 33. Bxb6 Bxa4 34. a6 Nc6 35. Nd2 Na7 36. Nxc4 Bb5 {0-1 (36) Ganguly,S (2615)-Anand,V (2773) Kolkata 2018}) 13. Bc1 $5 {The knight is going to move from d2, f1 to g3 and the bishop on h5 is not going to feel very comfortable.} Nc6 14. Nbd2 d5 {Ding Liren understands that White has a simple plan of playing his knight to f1-g3 and tries to stir up some play in the centre.} 15. Nf1 dxe4 16. dxe4 Qxd1 17. Bxd1 {It seems as if Black should be better here. Mainly because he is so well developed and his rooks will be the first ones to reach the open d-file. However, this is not a position where activity will trump static factors. Black has to do something concrete otherwise, White will regroup and from a long term basis have a small edge because his position has no real weaknesses, while there is a gaping hole on d5 for Black and also White always has the ability to play a4 to open up the queenside.} Rfd8 18. Ng3 Bg6 (18... Bxf3 19. Bxf3 {is not much for White but is something. The bishop pair will definitely give White something to play for.}) 19. Nh4 $5 {When it come to finding tactical solutions in placid positions, Hari is right up there with the best.} Nd7 (19... Bxe4 20. Nxe4 Nxe4 {The knight on e4 cannot be taken as the bishop on d1 is hanging, but} 21. Nf5 $1 {I have a feeling that Hari would have gone for this move. The threat now is Bf3.} (21. Bf3 $1 {is also possible.} Bxh4 22. Bxe4 Rac8 23. Be3 {To even make a correct assessment of this position, shows great understanding of chess. Harikrishna felt that his bishop pair gives him excellent compensation and he is 100% correct.} Na5 24. b3 $44) 21... Nf6 (21... Nd6 22. Nxe7+ Nxe7 23. Rxe5 $14) (21... Bf8 $2 22. Bf3 $18) 22. Bg5 {For one pawn, White has excellent pressure on the position. One line could go} (22. Bf3 e4 $1) 22... Ra7 23. Bf3 e4 (23... Nd5 24. Bxe7 Ndxe7 25. Nxe7+ Nxe7 26. Rxe5 $14 {When White is slightly better.}) 24. Bxe4 (24. Nxe7+ Rxe7 25. Bxf6 gxf6 26. Rxe4 Ne5 $13) 24... Nxe4 25. Nxe7+ Nxe7 26. Rxe4 $14) (19... Nxe4 $2 20. Nxg6 hxg6 21. Nxe4 $18) 20. Ngf5 (20. Nhf5 {looks more natural, but Hari wanted to keep the option of taking on g6 open all the time.}) 20... Bf8 21. b3 {Hari prevents the plan of c4 followed by Nc5 and Nd3. But Ding finds another interesting idea.} b4 $5 (21... c4 22. bxc4 bxc4 23. Be2 $14 {The c4 pawn is extremely weak.} Na5 24. Nxg6 hxg6 25. Ne3 $14) 22. Bb2 {Here Ding finds an exciting way to imbalance the position and activate his pieces.} (22. cxb4 Nxb4 {Black is pretty active here.} (22... cxb4 {is possible.})) 22... c4 $1 {An excellent move to free up the c5 square for the knight.} 23. bxc4 Nc5 24. Bc2 {White is a pawn up and he needs only one more move to consolidate, but that's the move that Ding Liren is not going to give Hari easily.} Rd2 $1 25. Rac1 Bxf5 26. Nxf5 Rad8 27. Kf1 $1 (27. Ne3 Nd3 28. Bxd3 R8xd3 {Now imagine that in this position White had his king on f1, then he could just defend everything with Re2!}) 27... a5 (27... g6 28. Ne3 Bh6 {This should have been considered.} 29. Nd5 Nd3 30. Bxd3 Rxb2 31. Rc2 Rxc2 32. Bxc2 bxc3 {Black should be perfectly fine.} 33. Ke2 (33. Nxc3 $6 Bd2 $1 $17) 33... Bd2 $11) 28. Ne3 {Now the knight is coming to d5, so Black must do something quickly.} Nd3 29. Bxd3 Rxb2 30. Re2 $1 {A nice move to get rid of Black's active rook.} Rxe2 31. Bxe2 Rd2 {Ding continues to play actively and naturally, but by now White pieces have regrouped well and Hari is now ready for activity of his own.} 32. cxb4 Bxb4 ( 32... axb4 {was a better move but after} 33. Rc2 {Black anyway has a long defensive task ahead as he is a pawn down.}) 33. c5 $1 Ba3 (33... Rxa2 34. Bc4 Rb2 35. Bd5 $1 {The knight will be evicted and the pawn on c5 would be extremely strong.}) 34. Rd1 (34. Rb1 {was also possible as after} Bxc5 35. Rc1 Bxe3 36. Rxc6 Bg5 37. Rc8+ Bd8 38. Bc4 {White is going to torture Black in this endgame.}) 34... Rxd1+ 35. Bxd1 Bxc5 36. Nc4 {Hari has seen that he will be able to win another pawn here.} Bd4 $6 {The bishop had to be kept on c5.} ( 36... g5 {Computers prefer this move here.} 37. Ba4 Nb4 38. a3 Nd3 39. Nxa5 Bxa3 {And Black shouldn't have too much difficulty in holding the draw here.} ( 39... Nxf2 {is also possible.})) 37. Ba4 Nb4 38. a3 Nd3 39. Nxa5 Nc5 (39... Nxf2 40. Bc2 {Already it feels as if Black is in big trouble.}) 40. Bc6 { White is now a pawn up and Hari doesn't go wrong from here.} Kf8 41. Nc4 Ke7 42. f3 Kd8 43. Ke2 Kc7 44. Bd5 f6 45. Bg8 h6 46. h4 Nb7 47. a4 Nd6 48. Nd2 Kb6 49. Nb3 Bc3 50. Bd5 Bb4 51. h5 Bc3 52. Kd3 {White has improved his position. He has clamped the kingside pawns, the minor pieces are actively posted and now the king joins in.} Be1 53. Kc2 Bf2 54. Nc1 f5 55. Nd3 Bg3 56. Kb3 fxe4 57. Bxe4 Ne8 58. Kb4 Nf6 59. a5+ Ka7 60. Bg6 Nd5+ 61. Kb5 Nc7+ 62. Ka4 Nd5 63. Be4 Nf6 64. Nb4 {The h5 pawn is given up, but White gets the e5 pawn in return.} Nxh5 65. Nc6+ Ka8 (65... Ka6 66. Bf5 Kb7 67. Kb5 $18) 66. Nxe5+ Kb8 67. Nc6+ Kc7 68. Kb5 Nf6 69. Nd4 Ne8 70. a6 Nd6+ 71. Kc5 Bf2 72. Kd5 Nc8 73. Nf5 Nb6+ 74. Ke6 Nd7 75. Kf7 (75. Nxg7 Nc5+) 75... g5 76. Nxh6 Kb6 77. Bb7 Be3 78. Ke6 Nc5+ 79. Kf5 {A clinical effort by Harikrishna. To beat a solid player like Ding Liren in such style is never easy.} 1-0 [Event "Shenzhen CHN"] [Site "Shenzhen CHN"] [Date "2019.04.21"] [Round "5.1"] [White "Yu, Yangyi"] [Black "Harikrishna, Pentala"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "2751"] [BlackElo "2723"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "152"] [EventDate "2019.04.17"] {After two wins against Rapport and Ding Liren, it seemed as if Harikrishna would have a quiet day at the office, but it turned out to be just the opposite! With the black pieces he ground out a tremendous win! Let's have a look and learn from the man in form.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3 a6 7. a4 h6 8. Nbd2 O-O 9. Re1 Re8 10. Nf1 Ba7 11. Ng3 Be6 12. Bxe6 Rxe6 {All of this is pretty standard and has been seen in numerous games.} 13. b4 d5 14. Qb3 (14. Qc2 {has been played before. But Yu Yangyi chooses the more active option with Qb3.}) 14... Qd7 15. h3 {It is useful to prevent idea like Ng4 which will hit the f2 point.} Rd8 16. Bb2 dxe4 17. dxe4 Rd6 $1 { This move deserves an exclamation because Hari saw that the move b4-b5 doesn't work.} 18. Qc2 (18. b5 {It was important to make sure that this move doesn't work because the e5 pawn is hanging.} Na5 $1 19. Qb4 {It seems as if Black is losing a pawn, but here Black has} (19. Qa2 Qe6 $1 20. Ba3 Qxa2 21. Rxa2 Rd1 { Black has the c4 square to play with.}) 19... c5 $3 {Not an easy move to spot.} 20. Qxa5 (20. bxc6 Nxc6 $17) 20... Bb6 $19 {The queen is trapped.}) 18... Qe6 19. Red1 Rxd1+ 20. Rxd1 Rxd1+ 21. Qxd1 Qc4 {Black has this small nagging edge which Harikrishna is just so good at milking.} 22. Qb1 a5 $1 {I would call this a typical Harikrishna move. He is looking for small tactics in a relatively sterile position to unsettle his opponent.} 23. Nd2 (23. b5 Ne7 24. Nxe5 Qxa4 $13) 23... Qe6 24. Ba3 $6 {This cedes the all important d4 square.} ( 24. b5 {might have been a better choice.} Nb8 25. c4 Nbd7 {Black still has squares to play with but the position is much better than the game for White.}) 24... axb4 25. cxb4 Nd4 26. b5 Qb6 27. Kh2 Ne6 28. Nh1 $5 {A very awkward move to make, but Yu Yangyi didn't want to play f2 and weaken his position.} (28. f3 Qf2 $17) 28... Qd4 29. Qc2 Qa1 30. Bb2 Qa2 31. Qb3 Qxb3 32. Nxb3 Nxe4 33. Bxe5 f6 (33... Nxf2 34. Nxf2 Bxf2 35. a5 {is what Hari didn't want to allow.}) 34. f3 N4c5 35. Nxc5 Bxc5 36. Bg3 {At first glance this would look like a position which is around even. But there a few things that are going well for Black. His minor pieces are more active and his king can quickly come to the game. White, on the other hand, has the knight on h1 which is relatively passive and it is difficult for the king to join the game.} b6 37. Nf2 Kf7 38. Nd3 Ke7 39. Kh1 $2 (39. Nxc5 $1 Nxc5 40. Bxc7 Nxa4 41. Kg3 Kd7 42. Bf4 Nc3 43. Be3 Kc7 44. Kg4 Nxb5 45. Kf5 {And White should be able to hold this endgame with ease. Perhaps even start pushing.}) 39... Bd6 40. Bf2 Nd8 41. Be3 Nb7 42. Kg1 Ke6 43. Kf2 Kd5 44. Nf4+ Bxf4 45. Bxf4 Nd6 46. g4 (46. Kg3 {It was important to use the king to threaten infiltration on the kingside.} g6 $5 47. Kf2 (47. Bxh6 Nf5+) 47... h5 48. g4 {Somehow White is getting more play than what he did in the game.}) 46... Kc4 47. Bd2 Kb3 48. a5 bxa5 49. Bxa5 Nxb5 {This is still not trivial but Black is much better here.} 50. Ke3 Kc4 (50... c5 {Getting the pawn going was the best.} 51. Ke4 g5 52. Kf5 Nd4+ 53. Kxf6 c4 54. Kg6 c3 55. Bxc3 (55. Kxh6 Nxf3 56. Bb6 Kc2 57. Be3 Kd1 {Somehow the bishop is dominated and Nd2 followed by c2, c1 will win the game.}) 55... Kxc3 56. Kxh6 Nxf3 $19) 51. Kf4 Nd4 52. Ke4 (52. Bxc7 Ne6+ $19) 52... c5 53. f4 Kb5 54. Bc3 Ne2 55. Ba1 Kc4 56. g5 Ng3+ 57. Kf3 Nf5 $5 58. gxf6 gxf6 59. Kg4 (59. Bxf6 {This is not at all clear. I am not sure what Harikrishna had in mind here.} Kd3 (59... h5 60. Ke4 $14) 60. Kg4 Nd4 61. f5 c4 62. Bxd4 Kxd4 63. f6 $11) 59... Ne3+ 60. Kh5 Nd5 61. Kxh6 Kb3 {The bishop has been dominated on a1, but to win it will take time, so White should start pushing his pawns.} 62. Kg6 {This looks like a losing move, but the tablebases show that it is not!} (62. h4 Ka2 63. h5 Nxf4 ( 63... Kxa1 64. Kg7 Ne3 65. h6 Nf5+ 66. Kxf6 Nxh6 67. Ke5 $11) 64. Bxf6 $11) 62... Ka2 63. Bxf6 Nxf6 64. Kxf6 c4 65. f5 c3 66. Kg7 c2 67. f6 c1=Q 68. f7 Qg5+ 69. Kh7 Qf6 70. Kg8 Qg6+ 71. Kf8 Kb3 72. h4 Kc4 73. h5 $2 (73. Ke7 Qh7 74. Kf6 $1 Qh6+ (74... Qxh4+ 75. Kg7 {is a draw already.}) 75. Ke7 Qe3+ 76. Kd7 Qf4 77. Ke7 Qe5+ 78. Kd7 Qf6 79. Ke8 Qe6+ 80. Kf8 Kd5 81. Kg7 Qg4+ 82. Kh8 Qf5 83. Kg7 {And now imagine if Black had the g5 square he would have won the game, but he doesn't have it and it is just a draw.} Qg4+ (83... Qg5+ {White can just take the queen, but just for the sake of illustration, if he doesn't then Black is winning.} 84. Kh8 Qf6+ 85. Kg8 Qg6+ 86. Kf8 Ke6 $19) 84. Kh8 Qh5+ 85. Kg7 Qg4+ 86. Kh8 Qf5 87. Kg7 $11) 73... Qh7 74. Ke8 Kd5 $1 {Hari finds the key move.} 75. h6 (75. f8=Q Ke6 $19) 75... Qe4+ (75... Ke6 76. f8=N+ {You have to be careful!}) 76. Kd8 Ke6 (76... Ke6 77. f8=Q Qa8+ $19) 0-1 [Event "Shenzhen CHN"] [Site "Shenzhen CHN"] [Date "2019.04.26"] [Round "9"] [White "Harikrishna, P.."] [Black "Yu Yangyi"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C42"] [WhiteElo "2723"] [BlackElo "2751"] [Annotator "Sagar,Shah"] [PlyCount "113"] [EventDate "2019.04.16"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 {Somehow I find it curious that an attacking player and excellent calculator like Yu Yangyi plays the Petroff.} 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nd3 $5 { Harikrishna avoids the main line and uses a positional weapon that he has prepared.} Nxe4 5. Qe2 Qe7 6. Nc3 (6. Nf4 Nc6 7. Nd5 Nd4 {was played at the Carlsen Caruana World Championship Match.}) 6... Nf6 (6... Nxc3 {is definitely a playable alternative.} 7. dxc3 Qxe2+ 8. Bxe2 Nc6 9. Be3 {gives White a developmental edge.}) 7. Nf4 c6 8. d4 Qxe2+ 9. Bxe2 d5 10. O-O Bd6 (10... Bf5 { is a possible move, but after} 11. Re1 {The king on e8 already starts to feel uncomfortable.} Be7 12. Bd3 Bxd3 13. Nxd3 $14 {White's position is to be preferred.}) 11. Bd3 O-O 12. Nfe2 {The knight retreats to e2 to make the f4 square available for the bishop.} Ne8 {The first time you see the move, it just seems wrong. Black is undeveloping the knight without any provocation. But when you delve deeper you understand the point of this move, not just in chess terms but also in psychological. In chess terms, Black wants to prepare against Bf4 by exchanging his bishops and getting the knight to d6. In psychological terms, Hari and Yu Yangyi had already played this position before where Yu Yangyi had played Nbd7 and would not have been comfortable with the resulting positions.} (12... Nbd7 13. Bf4 Bxf4 14. Nxf4 Re8 15. f3 Nf8 16. h4 h5 17. Rfe1 Bd7 18. Kf2 g6 19. b4 Rxe1 20. Rxe1 Re8 21. Rb1 Ne6 22. Nxe6 Bxe6 23. b5 Rc8 24. bxc6 Rxc6 25. Rb3 Kf8 26. Ne2 Rc7 27. Nf4 Bd7 28. Ke3 Ke7 29. Kd2 Kd6 30. Rb1 b6 31. Re1 Rc8 32. Ra1 Ba4 33. Nh3 Nh7 34. Nf4 Nf6 35. Ne2 Bd7 36. a4 Ne8 37. Nc3 a5 38. Nd1 Nc7 39. Ne3 Ne6 40. c3 f5 41. Bc2 f4 42. Nd1 g5 43. hxg5 Nxg5 44. Rb1 Rb8 45. Nf2 h4 46. Nd3 h3 47. gxh3 Nxf3+ 48. Ke2 Ng5 49. Nxf4 Nxh3 50. Nxh3 {1/2-1/2 (50) Harikrishna,P (2727)-Yu,Y (2760) China 2018}) 13. Re1 Nd7 14. Bf4 {Hari keeps it simple, he exchanges the bishops and doesn't try too hard to make the knight on e8 look funny.} Nb6 $6 {This move definitely seems wrong. After a move like b3 the knight on b6 won't be doing anything active.} (14... Bxf4 15. Nxf4 Ndf6 {The other knight will come to d6 and it looks fine for Black.}) 15. f3 $1 {A nice move taking the e4 square away, but more importantly preparing to activate the king to f2.} a5 16. a4 Bd7 17. b3 h6 $6 {This move in itself doesn't make much sense. Black wants to play g5 at some point to force White's hand. However, this same pawn will become a weakness and help White to open more lines with h4.} 18. Nd1 g5 19. Bxd6 Nxd6 20. Nb2 Rac8 21. Kf2 $1 {The king clears the last rank, gets closer to the game and prepares h4 followed by gxh4 and Rh1.} Na8 {As mentioned earlier, the knight on b6 was not at all useful and tries to look for better squares.} ( 21... c5 $6 22. dxc5 Rxc5 23. Nd4 $16) 22. h4 $1 f6 (22... gxh4 23. Rh1 h3 24. Rag1 $16 (24. g4 f5 $132)) 23. Rh1 Kg7 24. Ng3 {The knight is ideally placed looking at all the weaknesses.} Nc7 25. c4 $1 {Harikrishna is playing on both sides of the board. The idea is c5 pushing Black further behind.} b6 26. Rac1 ( 26. c5 bxc5 27. dxc5 Nb7 {makes the c5 pawn weak.}) 26... dxc4 $2 {A very bad positional error by Yu Yangyi.} (26... f5 {This was definitely better. It is possible to feel that the g5 pawn can become weak. But this was a situation for desperate measures and Black has to go for it.} 27. hxg5 hxg5 28. Rh5 Rh8 $1 (28... Kg6 29. Rch1 $16) 29. Rxg5+ Kf6 30. f4 Ne6 {Black pieces suddenly spring to action.} 31. Nxf5 Nxc4 $1 (31... Nxg5 32. fxg5+ Ke6 33. Re1+ Ne4+ 34. Bxe4 dxe4 35. g4 $16) 32. bxc4 Nxf4 33. Rg4 Nxd3+ 34. Nxd3 Bxf5 $13) 27. Nxc4 { The b6 pawn is falling now, so the knight has to be taken.} Nxc4 28. bxc4 { The net result of taking on c4 is that the b6 pawn is extremely weak and White has a central majority which is quite easy to get rolling.} Rcd8 (28... Na6 29. Bf5 $1 Rcd8 30. Bxd7 Rxd7 31. Nf5+ Kg6 32. g4 $18 {The knight on f5 is dominant.}) 29. Rb1 Be6 30. hxg5 (30. Bf5 {was a strong move.} Bxc4 (30... Rxd4 31. Bxe6 Nxe6 32. Nf5+ $18) 31. Rxb6 Bd5 32. Be4 $18) 30... fxg5 31. Rxb6 Rxd4 32. Ke3 Rfd8 33. Be2 {There is no good way to defend the c6 pawn.} R4d7 (33... R4d6 34. Ne4 $18) 34. Rxc6 Re7 35. Kf2 Rdd7 36. Rb1 {White is a pawn up and is much more active. For a player like Harikrishna, this is quite easy to convert. } Ne8 37. Rbb6 Kf7 38. Ne4 Rc7 39. Rxc7 Rxc7 40. c5 Ke7 41. Ra6 Ng7 42. Rxa5 Nf5 43. Ra8 Bd5 44. Rh8 Ke6 (44... Bxe4 45. fxe4 $18) 45. a5 (45. g4 Bxe4 46. fxe4 Nd4 47. Rxh6+ Ke5 {Black gets unnecessary counterplay.}) 45... Ke5 46. a6 Nd4 (46... Bxe4 47. fxe4 Kxe4 48. Bf3+ Ke5 49. Re8+ Kf6 50. Bb7 $18) 47. Re8+ Ne6 48. Bb5 Kd4 49. Nf6 Kxc5 50. Nxd5 Kxd5 51. Bd3 Nc5 52. Be4+ Nxe4+ (52... Kc4 53. Bb7 Nxb7 54. a7 $18) 53. Rxe4 Ra7 54. Ra4 {The rook is tethered to the a-pawn. The White king will go to the kingside and gobble things up.} Kc5 55. Kg3 Kb5 56. Ra2 h5 57. f4 {A fantastic effort by Harikrishna, who is choosing the right kind of positions that are the most uncomfortable for his opponents, and making them go wrong.} 1-0 [Event "Shenzhen CHN"] [Site "Shenzhen CHN"] [Date "2019.04.23"] [Round "6.2"] [White "Harikrishna, Pentala"] [Black "Jakovenko, Dmitry"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C67"] [WhiteElo "2723"] [BlackElo "2719"] [PlyCount "87"] [EventDate "2019.04.17"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6. Nxe5 Be7 7. Bf1 Nxe5 8. Rxe5 O-O 9. d4 Bf6 10. Re1 Re8 11. c3 Rxe1 12. Qxe1 Ne8 (12... Nf5 13. Bf4 d6 14. Nd2 Be6 15. Ne4 Be7 16. Qd2 c6 17. Bd3 Qd7 18. Ng5 Bxg5 19. Bxg5 h6 20. Bf4 g5 21. Bxf5 Bxf5 22. Bg3 d5 23. Re1 {1/2 Nepomniachtchi,I (2763)-Radjabov, T (2757) Wijk aan Zee 2019}) 13. d5 b6 14. c4 {N} (14. Bf4 Bb7 15. Qd2 h6 16. c4 c6 17. Nc3 cxd5 18. cxd5 d6 19. Re1 Nc7 20. Bc4 Bxc3 21. bxc3 Qf6 { Nepomniachtchi,I (2763)-Kramnik,V (2777) Wijk aan Zee 2019}) 14... Qe7 15. Qxe7 Bxe7 16. Nc3 Bf6 17. Bd2 c6 18. Re1 Bb7 19. dxc6 dxc6 20. c5 $1 {A thematic way to block the b7-bishop.} Nc7 (20... bxc5 $6 21. Na4) 21. b4 Ba6 22. Ne4 Be7 23. Nd6 Kf8 24. Nf5 Bxf1 ({Natural is} 24... Bf6 {but Jakovenko might have been afraid of} 25. Bxa6 Nxa6 26. b5 cxb5 27. c6) 25. Nxe7 Bc4 26. Nxc6 Bxa2 27. Bf4 Nd5 $6 ({White is much better but not yet winning after} 27... Ne6 28. Bd6+ Ke8 {and now either} 29. Ra1 ({or} 29. f4)) 28. Bd6+ Kg8 29. Nb8 $1 { A great move that shuts off the a8 rook and prepares c5-c6. Black has to give a piece for the pawn.} f6 30. c6 a5 31. bxa5 bxa5 32. c7 Nxc7 33. Bxc7 a4 34. Bd6 Bd5 35. Re3 Bb3 36. Re8+ Kf7 37. Rf8+ Ke6 38. Ba3 Kd5 39. Rc8 Ke4 40. Rd8 Bc4 41. h4 Bb5 42. Kh2 Ra7 43. f3+ Ke5 44. Rd6 1-0 [Event "3rd Du Te Cup 2019"] [Site "Shenzhen CHN"] [Date "2019.04.25"] [Round "8.3"] [White "Rapport, Richard"] [Black "Harikrishna, Pentala"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A05"] [WhiteElo "2726"] [BlackElo "2723"] [PlyCount "135"] [EventDate "2019.04.17"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 e6 4. O-O Be7 5. d3 O-O 6. Bf4 (6. Nbd2 Nc6 7. b3 a5 8. Bb2 a4 9. a3 axb3 10. cxb3 Nb8 11. e4 c5 12. exd5 exd5 13. d4 b6 {Vachier Lagrave,M (2778)-Kryvoruchko,Y (2698) Germany 2019}) 6... b6 7. e4 {N} (7. Nbd2 Bb7 8. a3 c5 9. c4 Nbd7 10. Rb1 Nh5 11. e3 Nxf4 12. gxf4 Nf6 13. cxd5 Nxd5 14. Ne4 Nf6 {Didier,J (1780)-Veillerette,P (1920) France 2006}) 7... dxe4 8. dxe4 Bb7 9. e5 Qxd1 10. Rxd1 Nfd7 11. Nc3 a6 12. h4 h6 13. a4 Rd8 14. h5 Nf8 15. Rxd8 Bxd8 16. Rd1 Be7 17. g4 Bb4 18. Na2 Be7 19. Nc3 Bb4 20. Ne2 Be7 21. Kh2 Ra7 22. Nd2 Bxg2 23. Kxg2 c5 24. Nc4 Rd7 25. Ra1 Bd8 26. Be3 Nc6 27. f4 Nb4 28. Rc1 Nd5 29. Bf2 Bc7 30. Kf3 f6 31. exf6 gxf6 32. Ne3 Nb4 33. Bh4 Kf7 34. Ng3 Rd4 35. Ne2 Rd7 36. g5 hxg5 37. fxg5 fxg5 38. Bxg5 Nh7 39. Bh4 Nd5 40. Rd1 Ndf6 41. Rxd7+ Nxd7 42. Ng4 Ne5+ 43. Nxe5+ Bxe5 44. b3 b5 45. c4 bxa4 46. bxa4 Nf8 47. Ng3 Nd7 $6 ({Relatively simple was} 47... Bxg3 48. Bxg3 Nd7 49. Bd6 Nb6) 48. Ne4 Nb6 49. Nxc5 Nxc4 50. Nxa6 Bd6 51. Bd8 Nb2 52. a5 Nc4 53. Kg4 Ne5+ 54. Kg5 Nf3+ 55. Kg4 Ne5+ 56. Kh4 Nc4 57. Kg5 Ba3 $2 {Harikrishna surely didn't want to make this move has he knew the bishop was keeping the knight on a6 under lock and key. He must have miscalculated in the other lines.} ({The normal move was} 57... Kg8 {although it wasn't easy:} 58. Kg6 Ne5+ 59. Kf6 Nc6 60. Bb6 Be5+ 61. Kxe6 Bc3) 58. Nb8 Bc1+ 59. Kh4 Ke8 60. Bc7 Be3 61. a6 Na3 62. Kg4 Nb5 63. Bf4 Bc5 64. Nc6 Kd7 65. Ne5+ Ke8 66. h6 Bf8 67. h7 Bg7 68. Kh5 1-0 [Event "3rd Du Te Cup 2019"] [Site "Shenzhen CHN"] [Date "2019.04.27"] [Round "10.3"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Jakovenko, Dmitry"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E06"] [WhiteElo "2797"] [BlackElo "2719"] [PlyCount "193"] [EventDate "2019.04.17"] 1. c4 Nf6 2. g3 e6 3. Bg2 d5 4. Nf3 Be7 5. d4 O-O 6. Nc3 dxc4 7. Ne5 c5 8. dxc5 Qxd1+ 9. Nxd1 Bxc5 10. O-O Nc6 11. Bxc6 (11. Nxc4 Nd5 12. Bd2 Bd7 13. Rc1 Rfc8 14. Re1 f6 15. Nc3 Nxc3 16. Bxc3 e5 {Inarkiev,E (2693)-Karjakin,S (2753) St Petersburg 2018}) 11... bxc6 12. Be3 Bb6 13. Bxb6 {N} (13. Nxc4 Ba6 14. Rc1 Nd5 15. Re1 Rfd8 16. b3 Rac8 17. Bd2 c5 18. Ndb2 Nb4 {Malakhov,V (2693)-Leko,P (2709) Germany 2016}) 13... axb6 14. Nc3 Bd7 15. Rfd1 Rfd8 16. Nxc4 b5 17. Ne5 Be8 18. Rxd8 Rxd8 19. Nd3 Kf8 $6 (19... Ra8 {Giri}) 20. a4 bxa4 21. Rxa4 { Giri said that here he had a real advantage, "not a symbolic one."} Nd7 22. Ra7 Rc8 $6 {Missing a tactic.} 23. Ne4 c5 24. Nd6 Rb8 {A sad necessity.} ({ Jakovenko had missed} 24... Rc6 25. Nxf7 $1) 25. Rc7 Ke7 26. Nb7 Kf6 27. b3 g5 28. f3 h6 29. Kf2 Ra8 30. Nd6 Ke7 31. Rc8 Rxc8 32. Nxc8+ Kd8 33. Nd6 Ke7 34. Nb7 Nb6 35. Nbxc5 f6 36. f4 gxf4 37. gxf4 f5 38. Ke3 Bh5 39. Nb4 Kd6 40. Nb7+ Kc7 41. Nc5 Kd6 42. Ncd3 Nd7 43. h3 Nf6 44. Ne5 Ne4 45. Na2 Kd5 46. Nc4 Kc5 47. Nb2 Kd6 48. Nc4+ Kc5 49. Nb2 Kd6 50. Nd3 Kd5 51. Ne5 Kc5 52. Nc1 Nc3 53. Ned3+ Kd5 54. Nf2 Kc5 55. Kd2 Nd5 56. e3 Nf6 57. Ncd3+ Kd5 58. Ne5 Kc5 59. Nfd3+ Kd5 60. Nb4+ Kc5 61. Na2 Ne4+ 62. Kc2 Nd6 63. Nc3 Be8 64. Nd3+ Kb6 65. Kd2 Bc6 66. h4 Bg2 67. Ke2 Bb7 68. Na4+ Kb5 69. Nc3+ Kb6 70. Kd2 Bg2 71. Na4+ Kc6 72. Ne5+ Kb5 73. Kc2 Ne8 74. Nc3+ Kc5 75. Nd3+ Kd6 76. b4 Nf6 77. Ne5 Bf1 78. Kd2 h5 79. Nd3 Bg2 80. b5 Ng4 81. Na4 Nf6 82. Kc3 Ne4+ 83. Kd4 Nd2 84. Ne5 Nb3+ 85. Kc3 Nc1 86. Kb4 Kc7 87. b6+ Kb7 88. Kb5 Bf1+ 89. Kc5 Ne2 90. Kd6 Ng3 91. Nd7 Bg2 92. Nac5+ Kc8 93. Kxe6 Nf1 94. e4 Bxe4 95. Nxe4 fxe4 96. Nc5 Nd2 97. Kd5 1-0 [Event "3rd Du Te Cup 2019"] [Site "Shenzhen CHN"] [Date "2019.04.27"] [Round "10.1"] [White "Ding, Liren"] [Black "Harikrishna, Pentala"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A29"] [WhiteElo "2809"] [BlackElo "2723"] [Annotator "Sagar,Shah"] [PlyCount "144"] [EventDate "2019.04.17"] 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 Nb6 7. O-O Be7 8. d3 O-O 9. Be3 Re8 10. Rc1 Bf8 11. Bg5 f6 12. Be3 Be6 13. Nd2 Qd7 14. Nb3 Bh3 15. Bxh3 Qxh3 16. Bc5 (16. Ne4 Nd5 $13) 16... Bd6 $1 {If White takes on d6, then the c5 square is no longer weak.} 17. e3 Rad8 18. Qf3 Nd7 (18... Qd7 $11) 19. Bxd6 cxd6 {White has a small edge here, but Harikrishna manages to equalize quite easily.} 20. Nd5 Nb6 21. Nd2 $6 (21. Nxb6 axb6 22. Qd5+ Qe6 23. Qb5 $14 {would put Black under some serious pressure.}) 21... Nxd5 22. Qxd5+ Qe6 23. Qxe6+ Rxe6 {Black has no reason to be worse here.} 24. a3 Ree8 25. Rc2 d5 26. Nb3 Rd6 27. Rfc1 Kf7 28. Nc5 Nd8 29. b4 Re7 30. Kf1 Ne6 (30... g5 { followed by kingside space grab should give Black an equal position.}) 31. a4 Ng5 32. b5 e4 33. d4 Nf3 34. h3 f5 35. Nb3 b6 36. Nd2 Ng5 37. h4 Ne6 38. Nb1 h6 39. Nc3 g5 40. hxg5 hxg5 41. Na2 f4 42. Nb4 Kf6 43. Rc8 {Black has overextended his position and White has made his inroads with his rook. The knight is also looking at the juicy c6 square.} Kf5 44. Rh8 Rf7 45. Ke2 f3+ 46. Kd2 Nf8 47. Rc8 (47. Rc6 $1 $18) 47... Ng6 48. Rh6 Ne7 49. Rxd6 Nxc8 50. Rxd5+ Kg4 51. Nc6 (51. Rd8 $1 {Would have finished off the game.} Rc7 52. Nd5 Rc4 53. Nc3 $18) 51... Kh3 52. Ne5 Rf6 53. Rd8 Nd6 54. Kc3 Nf5 55. Rh8+ Kg2 56. Ng4 Rf7 57. Rh2+ Kg1 {The activity of the black king has magically saved the game for Hari.} 58. Kc4 Rd7 59. Rh5 Rd6 $6 (59... Nxe3+ $1 60. fxe3 f2 61. Nxf2 Kxf2 62. d5 (62. Rxg5 Kxe3 $19) 62... Kxe3 $11) 60. d5 Rg6 (60... Rd7 $11) 61. Rh7 Rd6 62. a5 bxa5 63. Rxa7 Nh6 64. Kc5 $1 Rd8 65. Nxh6 Kxf2 66. Nf5 Kg2 67. Rxa5 f2 68. Ra2 Kf3 69. Rxf2+ Kxf2 70. b6 Rb8 71. d6 Kf3 72. d7 Rf8 1-0