[Event "Chennai Chess Olympiad | Open"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.07.29"] [Round "1.1"] [White "Silva, David"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B51"] [WhiteElo "2315"] [BlackElo "2775"] [PlyCount "82"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Angola"] [BlackTeam "United States"] [WhiteTeamCountry "ANG"] [BlackTeamCountry "USA"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 4. c3 Ngf6 5. Bd3 Ne5 6. Nxe5 dxe5 7. Bc2 g6 8. d3 Bg7 9. Be3 b6 10. O-O O-O 11. h3 Ba6 12. Re1 Qd6 13. Na3 Rad8 14. Qf3 Nh5 15. Rad1 Bb7 16. Bb3 Kh8 17. Qg4 Qc6 $6 {It is difficult to understand the motive behind this move, apart from terming it as being quite provocative. Aronian looked to be all set to sacrifice his exchange.} 18. Bd5 Rxd5 {As expected.} 19. exd5 Qxd5 20. f3 Qc6 $6 {[%c_effect c6;square;c6;type; Inaccuracy;persistent;true] Once again, the queen moves to the same square, as if awaiting the opponent to make his own moves rather than indulging in any active measures.} (20... f5 21. Qa4 Qe6 $5 {could have been interesting, with the hidden point that} 22. Qxa7 $2 {[%c_effect a7;square;a7;type;Mistake; persistent;true] could be met with} Bxf3 $1 {[%c_effect f3;square;f3;type; GreatFind;persistent;true]} 23. gxf3 f4 {and Black has a raging attack on the kingside.}) 21. Qc4 Qd6 $6 {Once again, Aronian invites White to \"make his own bones.\"} 22. Qa4 Qb8 23. b4 cxb4 24. Qxb4 {Having removed the pawn on c5 and thus eliminating a limiting factor on his center, White enjoys an advantage here.} Re8 25. c4 Nf6 26. Nb5 Nd7 27. a4 a5 28. Qb1 Kg8 29. Bf2 Bc6 30. Qb3 Nc5 31. Bxc5 bxc5 {With a solidly planted knight on b5, it seems to be a position with two results for White here.} 32. Qc2 Bd7 33. Rb1 Rc8 34. Qd2 Qb6 35. Rb3 Qd8 36. Reb1 Rb8 37. Qe3 e4 $5 {Black activates his dark bishop here, but he may still not be able to achieve anything tangible anymore.} 38. Qxe4 e6 39. Qf4 Be8 40. Kh1 h5 41. Qd6 Bf8 $16 {and a practical Aronian offered a draw here, saving himself from a defeat.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Chennai Chess Olympiad | Open"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.07.29"] [Round "1.4"] [White "Shankland, Sam"] [Black "Junior, Domingos"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E17"] [WhiteElo "2720"] [BlackElo "2107"] [PlyCount "105"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackTeam "Angola"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "ANG"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Re1 d5 8. cxd5 exd5 9. Nc3 Nbd7 10. Bf4 Ne4 11. Rc1 c5 12. dxc5 Ndxc5 13. Be5 Nxc3 14. Bxc3 Ne4 15. Bd4 Bb4 16. Rf1 Qe7 17. Qa4 Bc5 18. e3 Rfd8 19. Rfd1 a6 20. Ne1 Rac8 21. Nd3 b5 22. Bxc5 Rxc5 23. Qa3 Rc7 24. Qxe7 Rxe7 25. Nb4 g6 26. Rd4 Red7 27. Nd3 f5 28. b4 Kg7 29. h4 Kf6 30. Nc5 Nxc5 31. Rxc5 Ke5 32. Kf1 Rd6 33. Ke2 Bc6 34. Rd2 R8d7 35. Rdc2 Bb7 36. Kd3 Rb6 37. Rc7 Rbd6 38. R2c5 Ba8 39. Rc8 Bb7 40. Rb8 Re7 41. Bf3 Rdd7 42. g4 Rc7 43. Re8 Kd6 44. Rd8+ Red7 45. Rxc7 Kxc7 46. Rxd7+ Kxd7 47. g5 Kd6 48. Kd4 Ba8 49. h5 Bb7 50. h6 Ke6 51. Bg2 Kd6 52. f4 Bc6 53. Bf3 {Beautiful $1 Having patiently manouvered patiently throughout the game, Shankland sets up a beautiful copybook zugzwang. Black has no defense against the threat of 54.Bh5 $1} 1-0 [Event "FIDE Chess Olympiad 2022"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.07.29"] [Round "1"] [White "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"] [Black "Makoto, Rodwell"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E97"] [WhiteElo "2714"] [BlackElo "2346"] [PlyCount "97"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [TimeControl "5400+30"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. d4 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O Nc6 8. d5 Ne7 9. b4 a5 10. bxa5 Rxa5 11. a4 Nd7 12. Nd2 Nc5 13. Nb3 Nxb3 14. Qxb3 f5 15. f3 Kh8 16. Ba3 c5 17. dxc6 Nxc6 18. Bd3 Bh6 19. Kh1 Be3 20. Nb5 Bc5 21. Rad1 Nd4 22. Nxd4 exd4 23. Bc2 fxe4 24. Bxe4 Qe8 25. Bb2 Qxa4 26. Qd3 Qe8 27. Rfe1 Qf7 28. Bxd4+ Bxd4 29. Qxd4+ Qf6 30. Qxd6 Qxd6 31. Rxd6 Rc5 32. Bd3 Kg7 33. Kg1 Rf6 34. Re7+ Rf7 35. Rxf7+ Kxf7 36. Rb6 Rc7 37. Kf2 Bd7 38. Ke3 Bc6 39. h4 Kf6 40. Be4 g5 41. h5 Ke5 42. Bxc6 bxc6 43. Ra6 $1 {[%c_effect a6;square;a6;type; GreatFind;persistent;true] A quiet move of great power. Black is virtually in a near-zugzwang here.} c5 (43... Kf6 44. g4 Ke5 45. Ra5+ c5 (45... Kf6 46. Rf5+ ) 46. Ra8 {would transpose back to the game.}) 44. Ra5 Kf5 45. g4+ Ke5 46. Ra8 Re7 47. Rd8 Kf6+ 48. Kd3 Re1 49. Rf8+ {White will follow up with Rf5 now, after which Black will lose either of his pawns on the fifth rank. Black resigned.} 1-0 [Event "FIDE Chess Olympiad 2022"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.07.29"] [Round "1"] [White "Shirov, Alexei"] [Black "Toczek, Grzegorz"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C41"] [WhiteElo "2704"] [BlackElo "2287"] [Annotator "Rafael"] [PlyCount "53"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [TimeControl "5400+30"] {Shirov's games are famous for their entertainment value and this one is no different. We have a brave opening idea, a very complicated middlegame with chances for both sides, some inaccuracies, combinations, and a beautiful final touch. This legendary player never ceases to amaze us.} 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 e5 4. Nf3 Nbd7 5. g4 $5 {Shirov is fond of playing the g4-move in the opening. White can consider this idea without sacrificing the pawn, playing 5. Rg1 first.} (5. Bc4 {is the classical move.}) (5. Rg1 $5) 5... Nxg4 $1 { Accepting the gift.} 6. Rg1 Ngf6 7. Bc4 {The g-file is opened and Black has to lose time before finishing the development. The position looks good for White, but it's actually not easy to break Black's defense.} h6 8. dxe5 dxe5 9. Be3 c6 10. Qd3 b5 11. Bb3 (11. Bxf7+ $2 {This move finds a neat refutation.} Kxf7 12. Nxe5+ Nxe5 $1 13. Qxd8 Nf3+ 14. Kd1 (14. Kf1 Bh3+) 14... Nxg1 {with a big advantage for Black.}) 11... Qa5 12. O-O-O Ba6 13. Nd2 $1 {A difficult but necessary move. White defends against the …b5-b4 advance and prepares to break with f2-f4.} Rd8 (13... O-O-O {This is an important alternative.} 14. Bxf7 Nc5 (14... b4 $6 15. Nb3 $1 Bxd3 16. Nxa5 Ba6 17. Nb1 {with advantage for White. Todorovic-Solak, Cetinje 2010.}) 15. Qf1 b4 16. Ne2 Kb8 {with a roughly equal position.}) 14. Qf1 $1 c5 $2 {A new move.} (14... g6 {is possible since White can't advance the f-pawn yet.} 15. f4 $6 b4 16. Nc4 Bc5 $3 {A fantastic resource $1} 17. Bxc5 Qxc5 18. Nd6+ Qxd6 19. Qxa6 Qc5 {and Black was much better in Cmor-Kodric, Ptuj 2014.}) (14... b4 15. Nc4 $1 bxc3 16. Nxa5 cxb2+ 17. Kxb2 Bxf1 18. Rdxf1 {with good compensation for the pawn.}) (14... Nc5 15. Bxc5 Bxc5 16. Rxg7 b4 17. Nc4 Qc7 $1 (17... bxc3 $2 18. Nxa5 cxb2+ 19. Kxb2 Bxf1 20. Rxd8+ Kxd8 21. Nb7+ Ke8 22. Nxc5 {with a clear advantage for White in Kuybokarov-Vakhidov, Penang 2016.}) 18. Rxd8+ Qxd8 {with a complicated game.}) 15. Nd5 $2 {Shirov doesn't resist a sacrifice, but this is not the best. He had two better moves.} (15. f4 $1 {is the most brutal. After} c4 16. fxe5 Nxe5 17. Qf5 $1 {White is winning in all the lines.} Nc6 (17... Bd6 18. Rxg7 cxb3 19. Qxf6 bxa2 20. Nxa2 Qxa2 21. Nb3 {with a decisive attack.}) 18. Nd5 $1 Nxd5 19. exd5 Ne7 20. Qe5 $1 cxb3 21. Nxb3 Qxa2 22. d6 {winning.}) (15. a4 $5 { is more positional, but also good.} bxa4 (15... b4 16. Nb5 $18) (15... c4 16. axb5 $18) 16. Bc4 $16 {with a clear advantage.}) 15... c4 16. Nxc4 bxc4 17. Bxc4 Bb7 $6 (17... Bxc4 {is better.} 18. Qxc4 Bd6 $1 {The only move to keep Black's position together.} (18... Nxd5 $2 19. Rxd5 Qb4 20. Qc7 {with a strong initiative.}) 19. Rxg7 Nxd5 20. Rxd5 Qc7 21. Qxc7 Bxc7 22. Bxa7 {White has three pawns for the piece, but objectively Black has the advantage in this endgame.}) 18. Bd2 (18. Nxf6+ $1 Nxf6 19. Bb5+ Nd7 20. Qc4 {with a dangerous initiative.}) 18... Qc5 19. Bb4 Qc8 20. Ba5 (20. Nxf6+ {leads to a draw, but Shirov, naturally, wants more.} Nxf6 21. Bb5+ Bc6 22. Rxd8+ Kxd8 23. Ba5+ Ke7 24. Bb4+ Kd8 $11) 20... Nxd5 $2 {White's compensation for the piece is too strong after this mistake} (20... Bxd5 $1 21. Bxd5 Be7 22. Bxd8 Bxd8 {and Black is holding. The computer evaluates this as 0.00, as always.}) 21. Bxd5 Ba6 22. Qh3 Nb6 23. Qh5 $1 {Shirov conducts the initiative with his typical flair.} Rd7 (23... Nxd5 24. Qxe5+ Qe6 25. Qd4 $1 Bb7 26. exd5 Rxd5 27. Qxa7 { with a decisive attack.}) 24. Qxe5+ Re7 25. Qd4 (25. Qf4 $18) (25. Qd6 $18) 25... Nxd5 26. Qa4+ $1 (26. Qxd5 $6 {is not so clear.} Rd7 27. Qe5+ Be7) 26... Qd7 $2 (26... Rd7 {was necessary, but White has a winning initiative after} 27. exd5) 27. Rxd5 $1 {Beautiful $1} (27. Rxd5 Qxa4 28. Rd8#) 1-0 [Event "FIDE Women's Chess Olympiad 2022"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.07.29"] [Round "1"] [White "Antonova, Nadezhda"] [Black "Koneru, Humpy"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "1832"] [BlackElo "2586"] [PlyCount "82"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [TimeControl "5400+30"] 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. Ne4 Bd6 11. Bb3 Kh8 12. Ng3 Qf6 13. Re3 Qg6 14. Nh4 Qg5 15. Nf3 Qd8 16. h3 Be6 17. Bc2 f5 18. Re1 h6 19. b4 Qf6 20. b5 e4 21. Nh5 Qf7 22. bxc6 exf3 23. cxb7 Rae8 24. c4 $2 {[%c_effect c4;square;c4;type;Mistake; persistent;true]} (24. Nf4 Bxf4 25. Bxf4 Bd5 {with a complex position.}) 24... Qxh5 25. Qxf3 Bd5 $3 {The move which made Svidler go gaga $1} 26. Qd1 Rxe1+ 27. Qxe1 Bxb7 {and Black achieves a winning position.} 28. Bd2 Qg6 29. Qf1 f4 30. f3 Bc5+ 31. Kh1 Nxc4 32. dxc4 Qxc2 33. Ba5 Bd4 34. Rc1 Qxa2 35. Bxc7 Qf2 36. Qxf2 Bxf2 37. Bd6 Rf7 38. c5 Bc6 39. Ra1 Rb7 40. Rf1 Be3 41. h4 a5 {0- 0-} 0-1 [Event "Chennai Women's Chess Olympiad"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.07.29"] [Round "1.3"] [White "Saidova, Rukhshona"] [Black "Tania, Sachdev"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C93"] [WhiteElo "1624"] [BlackElo "2399"] [PlyCount "206"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Tajikistan"] [BlackTeam "India"] [WhiteTeamCountry "TJK"] [BlackTeamCountry "IND"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 h6 10. d4 Re8 11. Nbd2 Bf8 12. Nf1 Bd7 13. Ng3 Na5 14. Bc2 c5 15. a4 Nc6 16. axb5 axb5 17. Rxa8 Qxa8 18. dxc5 dxc5 19. Nh4 g6 20. Qf3 Nh7 21. Nf1 Nd8 22. Qg3 Kh8 23. Ne3 Bg7 24. Nd5 Qb7 25. Rd1 Bc6 26. Nf3 Kg8 27. Nh2 h5 28. Be3 Ne6 29. Nf3 Qb8 30. Ng5 Nhxg5 31. Bxg5 Nxg5 32. Qxg5 Qb7 33. f3 Re6 34. Qd8+ Kh7 35. Qh4 Bh6 36. g4 hxg4 37. hxg4 g5 38. Qh5 Rd6 39. Ne3 Rxd1+ 40. Bxd1 Qd7 41. Be2 Qe6 42. Nf5 Qg6 43. Qxg6+ fxg6 44. Ne7 Bd7 45. Nd5 Kg7 46. Nc7 c4 47. Kf2 Kf7 48. Ke3 Bf8 49. Nd5 Ke6 50. Kd2 Bc5 51. Ne3 Kd6 52. Bd1 Be6 53. Be2 Kc6 54. Nf1 Bf2 55. Kc2 Kc5 56. Nd2 Be3 57. Nb1 Bf4 58. Nd2 b4 59. Nb1 Bd7 60. b3 cxb3+ 61. Kxb3 Be6+ 62. Kb2 Be3 63. cxb4+ Kxb4 {This is the point where Svidler came up with his memorable quip. Tania proceeds to do a Magnus Carlsen here:} 64. Kc2 Bb3+ 65. Kd3 Bd4 66. Nd2 Ba4 67. Nb1 Bd7 68. Kd2 Kb3 69. Bd3 Kb2 70. Ke2 Kc1 71. Nd2 Ba4 {The proverbial equal position where a commentator will go for the cliche: Black has the better side of equality.} 72. Nc4 Bd1+ 73. Ke1 Bxf3 74. Nd6 Be3 75. Be2 Bh1 76. Bd3 Bf3 77. Be2 Bg2 78. Bd3 Bh3 79. Be2 Kc2 80. Nf7 Bf4 81. Bf3 Kd3 82. Kf2 Kd2 83. Nh8 Be3+ 84. Kg3 Bf1 85. Nxg6 Ke1 86. Bg2 Bc4 87. Kh3 Bf4 88. Ne7 Ke2 89. Nd5 Kf2 {Zugzwang $1 The white knight has to move away, which will enable Black to move his king to e3 and ultimately win the e4 pawn.} 90. Nc3 (90. Nxf4 exf4 {and the f-pawn will prove to be decisive.}) 90... Ke3 91. Nd1+ Kd2 92. Nf2 Ke2 93. Nh1 Bd3 94. Ng3+ Bxg3 95. Kxg3 Ke3 96. Bf3 Bxe4 97. Bd1 Bd3 98. Bf3 Kd2 99. Kf2 e4 100. Bxe4 Bxe4 101. Kg3 Ke3 102. Kh2 Kf4 103. Kh3 Bd5 {0-} 0-1 [Event "Chennai Women's Chess Olympiad"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.07.30"] [Round "2.1"] [White "Mouradian, Knarik"] [Black "Cramling, Pia"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B26"] [WhiteElo "2121"] [BlackElo "2459"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "18"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Lebanon"] [BlackTeam "Sweden"] [WhiteTeamCountry "LBN"] [BlackTeamCountry "SWE"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. d3 d6 6. Be3 e5 7. Nh3 h5 8. Qd2 Nd4 9. f3 $4 Bxh3 {and White resigned. 0-} 0-1 [Event "Chennai Women's Chess Olympiad"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.07.30"] [Round "2.1"] [White "Atalik, Ekaterina"] [Black "Muzychuk, Mariya"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A11"] [WhiteElo "2422"] [BlackElo "2540"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "87"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Turkey"] [BlackTeam "Ukraine"] [WhiteTeamCountry "TUR"] [BlackTeamCountry "UKR"] {[%evp 0,87,19,-12,34,40,33,46,43,42,29,28,24,27,14,21,73,66,51,50,50,22,26,-2, 12,19,7,20,55,-4,81,-8,63,55,43,35,61,44,73,40,135,111,115,80,75,65,84,113,151, 189,212,74,150,130,147,145,150,128,134,137,142,85,90,79,92,95,115,72,109,98, 144,135,148,115,129,129,138,150,149,119,203,189,229,325,453,527,573,549,594, 594]} 1. c4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. e3 Nf6 4. Nf3 e6 5. b3 Bd6 6. Bb2 O-O 7. d4 Ne4 8. Nxe4 dxe4 9. Nd2 f5 10. Qc2 Nd7 11. O-O-O Qe7 12. f3 $1 {This central break proves to be effective for White, as she then develops her pieces harmoniously. } exf3 13. gxf3 {[%cal Gh1g1,Rg1g7]} e5 $6 {[%mdl 128] Premature.} ({Black could have developed her pieces first with} 13... Nf6 14. Bd3 {[%cal Rd3f5, Rd3h7,Gd3e4,Ge3e4][%mdl 416]} (14. e4 fxe4 15. Nxe4 (15. fxe4 e5) 15... Nxe4 16. fxe4 Bf4+ 17. Kb1 e5 $14 {[%cal Gd4d5]}) 14... b5 $5 {[%cal Rb5c4,Rb3c4, Rb8b1]}) 14. Bd3 Nf6 15. Rde1 $5 {Discouraging Black from opening up the e-file.} (15. Bxf5 $6 Bxf5 16. Qxf5 exd4 17. exd4 Rae8 $44 {[%csl Ge3,Gf3,Gf5] [%cal Re8e1,Rf8f5] might give Black some compensation for the pawn.}) 15... a5 {[%cal Ra8a1]} 16. Bxf5 Bxf5 17. Qxf5 exd4 18. exd4 Qc7 19. Rhg1 $16 Rf7 20. d5 $1 Raf8 21. Qe6 Kh8 22. Ne4 Nxe4 23. Rxe4 {[%cal Ge4g4]} Bf4+ 24. Kb1 cxd5 25. Qxd5 ({Even better is} 25. cxd5 {[%cal Gd5d6,Gd6d7,Gd7d8]}) 25... Bh6 $6 26. Be5 Qc8 27. Bd6 Rf5 28. Qe6 Qxe6 29. Rxe6 Rd8 30. Be5 $2 ({White could have won the game with} 30. Bc7 Rc8 31. Rge1 $1 {[%cal Re6e8]}) 30... Kg8 31. f4 g6 32. Rg4 Rd7 33. Kc2 Rf8 34. h4 Rfd8 35. Rg2 Bg7 36. h5 gxh5 37. f5 Kf8 38. f6 Bh6 39. Bc3 {White once again enjoys a clear advantage.} Kf7 40. Re5 Bf4 41. Rg7+ Kf8 42. Ree7 Rd1 43. Rxh7 Rg1 44. Reg7 1-0 [Event "Chennai Women's Chess Olympiad"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.07.30"] [Round "2.1"] [White "Koneru, Humpy"] [Black "Zuriel, Marisa"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A57"] [WhiteElo "2586"] [BlackElo "2174"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "87"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "India"] [BlackTeam "Argentina"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IND"] [BlackTeamCountry "ARG"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. Qc2 b4 5. e4 d6 6. Bd3 g6 7. Ne2 Bg7 8. O-O O-O 9. Nd2 Nbd7 10. f4 a5 11. a4 e6 12. Nf3 exd5 13. exd5 Re8 14. h3 Rb8 15. Bd2 Ba6 16. Rae1 Qb6 17. Kh2 Re7 ({Black misses a complicated way to play for an advantage with} 17... Nxd5 18. cxd5 c4 19. Be4 (19. Bxc4 b3 20. Qxb3 (20. Qc1 Rec8) 20... Qxb3) 19... Nf6 20. Ng3 c3 $1 21. bxc3 Bxf1 22. Rxf1 bxc3 $17) 18. Ng3 Rbe8 19. Rxe7 Rxe7 20. b3 Qd8 21. f5 $16 {White has a clear advantage here, due to an advantage in Black's position.} Qe8 22. Bg5 Bc8 23. Qd2 {White seemed to have difficulty in finding a way to continue here.} Qf8 24. Bf4 Re8 25. Kh1 Qe7 26. Qc2 Qf8 27. Qd2 Qe7 28. Bc2 Qf8 29. Ng5 (29. Bg5 {followed by Qd2-f4 and Nf3-h4 seems to give White a decisive initiative.}) 29... Ne5 30. fxg6 hxg6 31. N3e4 $6 {This relieves Black from his cramped positions.} Nxe4 32. Bxe4 f5 33. Bc2 Qe7 34. Qf2 Bf6 35. Qh4 Qg7 {White doesn't seem to have an advantage anymore.} 36. Qg3 Bd7 37. Bd1 Bc8 38. Bf3 Bd7 39. Re1 Re7 40. Ne6 $2 ({Better is} 40. h4) 40... Bxe6 41. dxe6 g5 $1 {Black suddenly develops an initiative.} 42. Bxe5 Bxe5 43. Qf2 g4 $1 44. Bd5 (44. Bd5 gxh3 45. Rf1 (45. gxh3 Bg3 46. Re5 {wins an exchange for Black.}) 45... hxg2+ 46. Qxg2 Bg3 { followed by ...f5-f4 would have given a Black a simple advantage.}) 1/2-1/2 [Event "Chennai Chess Olympiad | Open"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.07.30"] [Round "2.1"] [White "Schitco, Ivan"] [Black "Harikrishna, Pentala"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A28"] [WhiteElo "2490"] [BlackElo "2720"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "76"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Moldova"] [BlackTeam "India"] [WhiteTeamCountry "MDA"] [BlackTeamCountry "IND"] 1. c4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Bb4 6. g3 d6 7. Nxc6 Bxc3+ 8. bxc3 bxc6 9. Bg2 Bd7 10. c5 d5 11. Qd4 O-O 12. O-O Re8 13. Re1 Rb8 14. f3 Qe7 15. a4 Bc8 16. e4 dxe4 17. Bg5 Qe5 18. Qxe5 Rxe5 19. Be3 Bf5 20. Bd4 Ree8 21. Bxf6 exf3 22. Bxf3 gxf6 23. Bxc6 Re5 {Undoubling his own pawns.} 24. Rxe5 fxe5 25. Bd5 Kg7 {Getting ready to improve the king's position.} 26. Ra3 Rd8 27. c4 Rb8 {The rook returns to the open file, having made White's bishop on d5 a little less active.} 28. a5 h5 {Making the opponent a little worried about the kingside.} 29. h4 e4 $1 {Paving the way for the black king to march to the center.} 30. Kf2 ({Taking advantage of the tactic.} 30. Re3 Kf6 31. Bxe4 $2 Re8 $19) 30... Kf6 31. Ke3 Ke5 {Not bothering about giving up the f7-pawn and keeping faith in the activity of his pieces and the passer on e4.} 32. Bxf7 Bg4 33. Bd5 (33. Kd2 Kd4 $19) 33... Rb2 $19 34. Bxe4 Re2+ 35. Kd3 Rxe4 36. Rb3 Be2+ 37. Kd2 Kd4 38. Rb7 Bf3 {0-} 0-1 [Event "Chennai Chess Olympiad | Open"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.07.30"] [Round "2.4"] [White "Zacarias, M Ruben D"] [Black "Shankland, Sam"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B51"] [WhiteElo "2175"] [BlackElo "2720"] [PlyCount "64"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Paraguay"] [BlackTeam "United States"] [WhiteTeamCountry "PAR"] [BlackTeamCountry "USA"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 4. a4 Ngf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 b6 7. d4 cxd4 8. Qxd4 Bb7 9. Bg5 h6 10. Bxf6 Nxf6 11. Nd2 e5 12. Qe3 Be7 13. O-O O-O 14. Rfd1 Qc7 15. Nc4 Nd7 16. Nxd6 Bxd6 17. Qd3 Bb4 18. Qxd7 Rac8 19. Na2 Bc5 20. Qxc7 Rxc7 21. Bd3 g6 22. Nc3 f5 23. exf5 gxf5 24. Bc4+ Kg7 25. Bd5 Bd4 26. Bxb7 Rxb7 27. Ra3 $6 (27. Ne2 Bxb2 28. Ra2 Bd4 29. Nxd4 exd4 30. Rxd4 {would have been a difficult ending for Black.}) 27... Rc8 28. Rb3 Bxc3 29. bxc3 Rc4 30. a5 b5 31. Rd6 Ra7 32. Rb4 Rxc3 1/2-1/2 [Event "Chennai Chess Olympiad | Open"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.07.30"] [Round "2.2"] [White "Delgado Ramirez, Neuris"] [Black "So, Wesley"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C49"] [WhiteElo "2614"] [BlackElo "2773"] [PlyCount "98"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Paraguay"] [BlackTeam "United States"] [WhiteTeamCountry "PAR"] [BlackTeamCountry "USA"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Bb4 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. d3 Qe7 7. h3 h6 8. Bd2 Bd6 9. Ne2 Be6 10. Ng3 O-O-O 11. Qe2 g6 12. a3 Nd7 13. Bc3 f6 14. h4 h5 15. Nf1 c5 16. Ne3 Nb8 17. Bd2 Nc6 18. c4 Qf7 19. Bc3 a5 20. Qc2 b6 21. Nd5 Kb7 22. Rb1 Ra8 23. O-O a4 24. b4 axb3 25. Rxb3 Ra6 26. Nd2 Rha8 27. Rfb1 Kc8 28. Bb2 Qf8 29. f4 exf4 30. Bxf6 Bxd5 31. cxd5 Qxf6 32. dxc6 Rxa3 33. Nf3 Be7 34. Rxa3 Rxa3 35. Qc1 Ra8 36. d4 Qxc6 37. d5 Qd6 38. Qc3 Ra4 39. Re1 c4 40. Rd1 b5 41. Qh8+ Qd8 42. Qg7 Ra6 43. e5 Bc5+ 44. Kh2 Qf8 45. Qh7 Qe7 46. Qg8+ Qd8 47. Qf7 Qf8 48. Qh7 Qe7 ({Wesley So probably didn't want to risk complications after} 48... Qe8 49. Qg7 b4 50. d6 cxd6 51. Qf6 Ra2 52. Rxd6 (52. exd6 Rxg2+ $1 53. Kxg2 Qe2+) 52... Bxd6 53. Qxd6 Ra7 54. Qxb4 Rc7 {should be a winning ending.}) 49. Qg8+ Qf8 {Draw $6} 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE Chess Olympiad 2022"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.07.30"] [Round "2"] [White "Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter"] [Black "Sipila, Vilka"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E56"] [WhiteElo "2642"] [BlackElo "2416"] [Annotator "Rafael Leitão"] [PlyCount "57"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [TimeControl "5400+30"] {Nisipeanu is a great player, and his games are full of creative ideas. I once faced him in a dramatic match in the world championship in Las Vegas, 1999, when he eliminated me in the rapid tiebreaker.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nf3 {The old main move. 6.cxd5 and 6.a3 are very popular now.} dxc4 {This move-order prevents White from capturing on d5 first.} (6... c5 7. cxd5 $1 {The critical move.} exd5 8. dxc5 {with chances for both sides.}) 7. Bxc4 c5 8. O-O Nc6 (8... cxd4 {is a reliable choice and leads to a very important position, not only to learn opening theory, but also to understand how to play positions with an isolated queen's pawn.} 9. exd4 b6) 9. a3 Ba5 10. Bd3 $5 (10. Qd3 {is the main move.}) 10... h6 {Black plays a useful waiting move before deciding whether to take on d4.} (10... cxd4 11. exd4 { and now it's necessary to play 1...h6 anyway in order to avoid a pin with Bg5.} ) 11. h3 {White decides to play a useful waiting move.} Re8 {A new move.} ( 11... Qe7 12. Qe2 Rd8 13. Rd1 e5 $1 14. dxe5 Nxe5 15. Nxe5 Qxe5 16. Bd2 Be6 { gave Black a good game in Meskovs-Banikas, Athens 2021.}) (11... cxd4 {is also possible.} 12. exd4 Bc7 {with equal chances.}) 12. dxc5 {Nisipeanu decides to force matters. He could keep the central tension with a move like} (12. Bc2) 12... Bxc3 13. bxc3 Qa5 {This is not the best, but the position is still fine.} (13... e5 $6 {seems logical to open the diagonal for the c8-bishop and to give some work for the e8-rook, but it's not enough to solve the problems after} 14. e4 {, for instance:} Nd7 15. Be3 Qe7 16. Bb5 $1 Nxc5 17. Qd5 {with advantage for White.}) (13... Nd7 $1 {is the best move. Black will take on c5 with the knight and has excellent chances to equalize.}) 14. Qc2 Qxc5 15. a4 {A typical move, preparing to play Ba3.} Na5 $2 {The first real mistake. Black is in trouble after this move. Let's remember again that \"a knight on the rim is dim.\"} (15... b6 $1 16. Ba3 Qh5 {and Black is ok.}) 16. Ba3 Qc7 17. Rfd1 { Now White has the bishop's pair and better development.} Nc4 $2 (17... Bd7 $2 18. Bd6 $1 {is very unpleasant.}) (17... Rd8 {is the best chance, avoiding the Bd6 trick.}) 18. Bxc4 Qxc4 19. Rd4 $1 Qa6 20. Ne5 {Now the c8-bishop is completely out of play. The presence of opposite colored bishops increases the strength of the attack.} b6 21. Rad1 Bb7 {This loses after a pretty combination, but it's hard to suggest good moves for Black.} 22. Nxf7 $1 { Demolishing the king's position. The absence of the queen, far away from the kingside, is now felt.} Kxf7 23. Rd7+ Nxd7 24. Rxd7+ Kf6 (24... Kg8 25. Qg6 { and mate is unavoidable.}) 25. Qh7 $1 {I really enjoy long-range attacking moves.} Rg8 26. Be7+ Kf7 (26... Ke5 27. f4#) 27. Bh4+ {Sipila decides to play until checkmate is delivered, and we are grateful for his sportsmanship.} Kf8 28. Qg6 Qxa4 29. Be7# {A more “accurate” checkmate than 29.Qf7, since in the game all the pieces are engaged and this is more aesthetically pleasing.} 1-0 [Event "Chennai Chess Olympiad | Open"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.07.30"] [Round "2.1"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Meier, Georg"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C10"] [WhiteElo "2864"] [BlackElo "2613"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "159"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Norway"] [BlackTeam "Uruguay"] [WhiteTeamCountry "NOR"] [BlackTeamCountry "URU"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 {Meier sticks to his favorite Rubinstein Variation of the French Defense.} 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. c3 {Carlsen prefers one of his characteristic approaches to openings: preferring a little-known but sound continuation that hopefully steers the game toward little known territories.} Ngf6 6. Bd3 Nxe4 7. Bxe4 Nf6 8. Bc2 c5 9. Nf3 cxd4 10. Nxd4 Bc5 11. O-O Bxd4 12. cxd4 b6 13. Qd3 Bb7 14. Ba4+ Kf8 15. Bd2 h5 16. Rac1 h4 17. h3 Qd6 18. Bd1 Rd8 19. Re1 Kg8 20. Be3 Nd5 21. Qd2 Nxe3 22. fxe3 Rh6 23. Rf1 Rg6 24. Bg4 f5 25. Bf3 Bxf3 26. Rxf3 {A familiar theme from Carlsen games: the position is relatively simple and ventures into simple positions but with a promise of an upcoming complex endgame.} Rg3 27. Qf2 e5 $2 {Eager to simplify to a draw, Meier makes the mistake of allowing Carlsen to gain an upper hand in the oncoming endgame.} 28. Rxf5 exd4 29. exd4 Qxd4 30. Rf8+ Kh7 31. Rxd8 Qxd8 32. Qf5+ g6 33. Qf4 $16 {A Carlsen specialty: forcing Black to make accurate decisions in an endgame that can easily go wrong.} Rd3 34. Rc7+ Rd7 35. Rxd7+ Qxd7 36. Qxh4+ {Gaining material and setting up a game where Black will be forced to defend a difficult ending. A tough task when you don't have a chess engine with you to do it effectively $1} Kg7 37. Qf4 $1 {Once again, continuing the same theme: forcing Black to act and make critical decisions.} Qd5 38. a3 b5 39. Qc7+ Kh6 40. Qxa7 Qd1+ 41. Kh2 Qd6+ 42. Kh1 Qd2 43. b4 Qc1+ 44. Qg1 Qxa3 45. Qe1 {The game has simplified further, but the pressure on Black to defend an unpleasant position is undeniably present.} Qd3 46. Qh4+ Kg7 47. Qe7+ Kh6 48. Kh2 {Once again a \"pause,\" demanding Black to come up with correct decisions.} Qd4 49. h4 {Another familiar Carlsen theme: slowly improving his position, putting Black under psychological pressure.} Qf4+ 50. Kh3 Qf5+ 51. Kg3 Qd5 52. Qc5 $6 {An error, making Black's defense a little easier.} (52. Kf2 Qc4 53. Ke3 {might have been more dangerous for Black, as the white king suddenly develops wings.}) 52... Qd3+ 53. Kh2 Qe4 {The centralized black queen and the difficulty to improve the position make White's task more difficult.} 54. Qg5+ Kh7 55. h5 Qxb4 56. Qxg6+ {Engines denote an equal position here, but this is Carlsen territory: his opponent has to defend a technical ending and there may be a series of \"only moves\" that have to be found.} Kh8 57. Qf6+ Kh7 58. Qf5+ Kg8 59. Qe6+ Kh7 60. Qf7+ Kh8 61. Qf6+ Kh7 62. Kh3 Qe4 63. g4 {White's army is moving slowly toward a crescendo.} Qe3+ 64. Kg2 Qe2+ 65. Kg3 Qe1+ 66. Qf2 Qc3+ 67. Kh4 b4 68. Qf7+ Kh8 69. Qe8+ Kg7 70. Qe7+ Kh8 71. h6 b3 72. Kh5 {White moves purposefully toward setting up a finale where Black's ability to withstand pressure and find the most accurate moves will be tested even more heavily.} b2 73. Qe8+ Kh7 74. Qe4+ Kh8 $4 {And here comes the blunder. When choosing between two squares that looking equally good, Black makes the slip.} (74... Kg8 75. Kg6 b1=Q $1 76. Qxb1 Qg7+ $3 {The point. This resource is what Meier must have overlooked, which is not available in the game.} 77. Kh5 Qf7+ 78. Kg5 Qe7+ 79. Kf4 Qc7+ 80. Kf3 Qc3+ { and White will be forced to part with one of the pawns, which will make Black's task of achieving the draw easier.}) 75. Kg6 b1=B {The rarest of rarities, an underpromotion $1 Yasser Seirawan wondered in the Chess.com live stream: \"Did we see a smile on Carlsen's face here $6\"} 76. Qxb1 Qc6+ (76... Qg7+ {is not possible here, the difference between the black king being on g8 or h8.}) 77. Kg5 Qc5+ 78. Qf5 Qe3+ 79. Qf4 Qc5+ 80. Kg6 1-0 [Event "Chennai Women's Chess Olympiad"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.07.31"] [Round "3.4"] [White "Abrahamyan, Tatev"] [Black "Mungunzul, Bat-Erdene"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2291"] [BlackElo "2163"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "116"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackTeam "Mongolia"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "MGL"] {0-} 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nc6 3. Nf3 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 h6 6. c3 d6 7. Nbd2 O-O 8. h3 a6 9. Bb3 Re8 10. Re1 Be6 11. Bc2 d5 12. exd5 Bxd5 13. Ne4 Nxe4 14. dxe4 Be6 15. Qe2 Qf6 16. b4 Ba7 17. Be3 Ne7 18. Nh2 Bxe3 19. Qxe3 Ng6 20. Ng4 Qh4 21. Qf3 Rad8 22. Ne3 Rd2 23. Rad1 Red8 24. Bb3 Bxb3 25. axb3 R2d3 26. Qg4 Qxg4 27. hxg4 Nf4 28. Kf1 c6 29. g3 Ne6 30. Rxd3 Rxd3 31. Rc1 Rd2 32. Nc4 Ra2 33. Nxe5 Ng5 34. Re1 f6 35. Nc4 Nf3 36. Rd1 Nh2+ 37. Kg2 Nxg4 38. Rd2 Rxd2 39. Nxd2 { The ending is quite equal.} Kf8 40. f4 Ke7 41. Kf3 h5 42. Ke2 Ke6 43. Nf3 g6 44. Nd4+ Kd6 45. Nf3 Ke6 {Black is obviously fine with a draw.} 46. Ne1 Kd6 47. Nd3 b6 48. Nb2 c5 49. Nd3 $6 {White gives Black a ray of hope.} cxb4 50. Nxb4 $6 (50. cxb4 Kc6 51. Kf3 Kb5 52. e5 fxe5 53. fxe5 g5 54. Ke4 h4 55. gxh4 gxh4 56. Kf4 Nxe5 57. Nxe5 Kxb4 58. Nd7 b5 59. Nb8 a5 60. Nc6+ Kxb3 61. Nxa5+ { is just a draw.}) 50... a5 51. Nd5 $4 (51. Nc2 Kc5 52. c4 Nh6 53. Kd3 Nf7 54. Kc3 Nd6 55. Kd3 f5 $5 56. e5 Ne4 {is a better ending for Black, though it is a question if she would have been able to win.}) 51... b5 52. Kd3 g5 $1 { Creating a crucial passer on the kingside.} 53. Ke2 h4 54. gxh4 gxh4 55. Kf3 h3 $1 56. Nb6 h2 57. Kg2 Ne3+ 58. Kxh2 Kc7 (58... Kc7 59. Nd5+ Nxd5 60. exd5 a4 { is one pawn too far away.}) 0-1 [Event "Chennai Women's Chess Olympiad"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.07.31"] [Round "3.3"] [White "Munkhzul, Turmunkh"] [Black "Yip, Carissa"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C68"] [WhiteElo "2277"] [BlackElo "2416"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "115"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Mongolia"] [BlackTeam "United States"] [WhiteTeamCountry "MGL"] [BlackTeamCountry "USA"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. d4 exd4 6. Qxd4 Qxd4 7. Nxd4 c5 8. Ne2 Bd7 9. Nbc3 O-O-O 10. Be3 Bc6 11. f3 Bd6 12. Rd1 Ne7 13. Bf4 Ng6 14. Bxd6 cxd6 15. Kf2 Rhf8 16. g4 Ne5 17. Nd5 Bxd5 18. Rxd5 Nc4 19. b3 Nb6 20. Rh5 h6 21. Nc3 Rfe8 22. Rd1 f6 23. a4 Re6 24. Ne2 Kc7 25. Nf4 Ree8 26. h4 Kc6 27. g5 fxg5 28. hxg5 hxg5 29. Rxg5 Rd7 30. Rdg1 Rf7 31. R1g4 Ref8 32. Kg3 Nd7 33. Rxg7 Ne5 34. Rxf7 Rxf7 35. Rg8 b5 36. axb5+ axb5 37. Rc8+ Kd7 38. Ra8 b4 39. Ra7+ Ke8 40. Rxf7 Kxf7 41. Nd5 $2 (41. Kf2 Nc6 42. Ne2 Ke6 43. Ke3 Kf6 44. Nf4 Kf7 (44... Nd4 45. Nd5+ Ke6 46. Nxb4 $1) 45. Nd5 Ke6 46. f4 {is the correct way to proceed.}) 41... Nc6 42. f4 Nd4 43. Ne3 Kf6 44. Kg4 Kg6 45. Kg3 Kf6 $2 ( {The correct defense is the illogical( $1)} 45... Kh5 $3 46. Kf2 Kh4 {creating counterplay with the king sortie.}) 46. Kf2 {Now the white king makes inroads into the black queenside. White is winning.} Kf7 47. Ke1 Ne6 48. Nd5 Nd4 49. Kd2 Ke6 50. Kd3 {White is threatening 51.Nxb4.} Nb5 51. Ne3 Nc3 52. f5+ Kf7 53. Kc4 Kg7 54. e5 $18 dxe5 55. Kxc5 Na2 56. Nd5 e4 57. Kd4 Kf7 58. Kxe4 1-0 [Event "Chennai Women's Chess Olympiad"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.07.31"] [Round "3.2"] [White "Vaishali R"] [Black "Toma, Katarzyna"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B31"] [WhiteElo "2442"] [BlackElo "2303"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "129"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "India"] [BlackTeam "England"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IND"] [BlackTeamCountry "ENG"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. O-O Bg7 5. c3 e5 6. d4 exd4 7. cxd4 cxd4 8. Bf4 d6 9. Nxd4 Nge7 10. Bxd6 O-O 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. Bxe7 Qxe7 13. Bxc6 Bb7 14. Bxb7 Qxb7 15. Qb3 Qxe4 16. Nc3 Qh4 17. g3 Qf6 18. Rad1 Rab8 19. Qc2 h5 20. h4 Rfc8 21. Rfe1 Qb6 22. Re2 Qa5 23. Rd3 Qf5 24. Qd1 Re8 25. Nd5 Rxe2 26. Qxe2 Rxb2 27. Ne7+ Kh7 28. Qxb2 Qxd3 29. Qb8 Qf3 30. Qxa7 Be5 31. a4 Qd1+ 32. Kg2 Qd2 33. Qa8 Kg7 34. Qf3 Bd4 35. Nc6 Bb6 36. Ne5 Qa2 37. Qf4 Qd5+ 38. Nf3 f6 39. Qb4 Bc5 40. Qc3 Bb6 41. Qb4 Bc5 42. Qd2 Qb7 43. Qd3 Bb6 44. Qb5 Qa7 45. Qe2 Bc5 46. Qc2 Bb6 47. Ne1 Qe7 48. Kf1 Ba5 49. Ng2 Qb7 50. Qd3 Qc6 51. Qd1 Bb6 52. Kg1 Qc3 {Vaishali finishes the game with forced play, showing good technique.} 53. Qd7+ Kh6 54. Qe8 f5 55. Ne3 Bd4 56. Kg2 Qd2 57. Qe6 Kh7 58. Qd7+ Kh8 59. a5 Qb2 (59... Bxe3 60. Qxd2 Bxd2 61. a6 {is the point.}) 60. a6 Qb6 61. Qc8+ Kg7 62. Qb7+ Kf8 63. Qxb6 Bxb6 64. Nd5 Bc5 65. Nb4 1-0 [Event "Chennai Chess Olympiad | Open"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.07.31"] [Round "3.4"] [White "Warmerdam, Max"] [Black "Berg, Emanuel"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B53"] [WhiteElo "2610"] [BlackElo "2533"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Netherlands"] [BlackTeam "Sweden"] [WhiteTeamCountry "NED"] [BlackTeamCountry "SWE"] 1. Nf3 c5 2. e4 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Qxd4 a6 5. h3 Nc6 6. Qe3 Nf6 7. Be2 e6 8. O-O Be7 9. Rd1 Qc7 10. c4 O-O 11. Nc3 Rd8 12. b3 Bd7 13. Ba3 Be8 14. Rac1 Qa5 15. Bb2 Ne5 16. Nd4 Ng6 17. a3 h6 18. Bf1 Qg5 19. Qe1 h5 20. Nf3 Qh6 {A misadventure. Though Black's queen maneuver is not objectively bad, Warmerdam latches on to the poor placement of the queen to increase his advantage.} 21. Rc2 h4 (21... Ne5 22. Nd4 g5 {is incredibly the better way to find counterplay. }) 22. Bc1 Nf4 $2 {[%c_effect f4;square;f4;type;Mistake;persistent;true]} ( 22... Qh5 23. Be2 Qa5 {could have been a better way to conduct the game.}) 23. Kh1 e5 24. c5 $1 {Correctly opening up the center and seizing the initiative.} dxc5 25. Nxe5 g5 $6 {[%c_effect g5;square;g5;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true]} (25... Rxd1 26. Qxd1 Rd8 27. Qe1 g5 {could have relieved some pressure.}) 26. Nd5 $1 {A sound pawn sacrifice. Warmerdam correctly judged that initiative is on his side.} N6xd5 27. exd5 Nxd5 (27... Bd6 28. Ng4 Qg6 {is a better fight.}) 28. Bc4 Nb6 29. Ng4 Qf8 30. Rxd8 Bxd8 31. Bd3 Bc6 32. Bb2 {All the white pieces are \"looking\" at the black king.} Nd5 33. Qe4 Nf6 (33... Qe8 34. Qh7+ Kf8 35. Qh8+ Ke7 36. Re2+ {is curtains as well.}) 34. Nxf6+ 1-0 [Event "FIDE Chess Olympiad 2022"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.07.31"] [Round "3"] [White "Harikrishna, Pentala"] [Black "Mastrovasilis, Dimitrios"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E07"] [WhiteElo "2720"] [BlackElo "2599"] [Annotator "Rafael Leitão"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [TimeControl "5400+30"] {I enjoy watching the games of GM Harikrishna very much. He has a very subtle positional style and excellent endgame technique. In this game he also shows his tactical vision, but the genuine beauty is how he first paralyzes Black's counterplay completely. It reminds me of Karpov's best games.} 1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. d4 c6 {An attempt to avoid the main line of the Catalan that arises after 6...dxc4. I have tried this move a few times, but it doesn't promise full equality.} 7. Nc3 Nbd7 8. Qd3 b6 9. b3 a5 {The point of this move is to develop the bishop on a6.} (9... Bb7 {Mastrovasilis had tried this move in 2019 game against GM Cheparinov.}) 10. e4 Ba6 {This is typical of this variation. Black waits after White plays e4, accepting a somewhat cramped position after the inevitable advance of e4-e5. He pins his hopes on queenside play with Ne8-c5 and then either c6-c5 or b6-b5. The problem is that he might get mated while doing all that, since White can try to exploit his space advantage and start an attack.} 11. e5 Ne8 12. a4 $1 { Prophylaxis. Harikrishna restricts the b6-b5 advance and also secures the b5-square for his knight in case Black tries c6-c5.} Nc7 13. Rd1 h6 {A new move, but this is usually necessary sooner or later.} (13... Rc8 14. h4 { was better for White in: Andreikin-Maghsoodloo, Chess.com INT 2022.}) (13... Rb8 {Sachdev-Andreikin, Reykjavik 2016.} 14. h4 h6 {Transposes to the game. 14. ..h6 is necessary to avoid Ng5.}) 14. h4 $1 {This is a useful move in many ways and a good plan in this pawn structure. Here we can also point out the similarity with positions from the King's Indian Attack, where White's plan is usually h4-Nh2-Ng4 and then a sacrifice on h6.} Rb8 {Black has to move on the queenside before it's too late. He prepares b6-b5.} 15. Bf4 {Natural, but maybe it's possible to improve here.} (15. Nh2 $1 {is also possible. Now Black must play} c5 $1 {,since the b5-break is not so good.} (15... b5 $6 16. axb5 dxc4 (16... cxb5 17. Nxd5 $3 {This is the point.} exd5 18. cxd5 {and White's central pawns decide the game.}) 17. bxc4 cxb5 18. Qe2 bxc4 {and now there are many tempting moves, but} 19. Ng4 $1 {preparing to sacrifice on h6 is the best. White has an overwhelming advantage.}) 16. Nf3 {it looks odd to go back and forth with the knight, but it's necessary to bring this piece back after the center is opened. White has the advantage.} (16. Nb5 Bb7 {with a slight advantage for White.})) 15... b5 $1 {Black is able to realize his plan, but now Harikrishna plays some fine moves to control the opponent's counterplay.} 16. cxb5 cxb5 17. Qc2 Rc8 $6 (17... Qc8 $1 {is better with the idea of playing Qb7 and Rfc8.}) 18. Rdc1 $1 {Not only bringing the rook to the open file, but also preparing Qd1, and the queen can support the attack on the kingside after Nh2. I love games where we see a clear logic behind every move.} Bb4 $6 { After this move, Black is left with no counterplay.} (18... bxa4 {is better. Black may sacrifice a pawn after} 19. Nxa4 Nb5 20. Qd1 Rxc1 21. Rxc1 Qb8 22. Bd2 Rc8 23. Rxc8+ Qxc8 24. Bxa5 Qb7 {with drawing chances due to the activity on the queenside.}) 19. Qd1 $1 Nb6 20. Nh2 $1 {Harmony: one move leads to the other. We can already sense the sacrifice on h6, followed by a queen and knight invasion. As is well known, a queen and a knight are a powerful combination when attacking a lonely king.} bxa4 21. Nxa4 Nxa4 22. bxa4 Qe7 23. Ng4 {Just as we see in the games of Karpov, it's barely possible to say where mistakes were made, but the position is already lost. I call the reader's attention to the helpless situation of the black king. Remember this rule: if you have castled and there are no minor pieces around your king, then he is in deep trouble.} Na8 {This loses by force.} (23... Ne8 {is the only move according to the computer, but who would play like this $2}) 24. Bxh6 $1 { The natural conclusion to Harikrishna's deep previous play.} gxh6 25. Nf6+ Kg7 (25... Kh8 26. Rxc8 Rxc8 27. Qb1 $1 {and mate is unavoidable.}) 26. Qg4+ Kh8 27. Qf4 Kg7 28. Bxd5 $1 {A second bishop sacrifice $1} Bd3 (28... exd5 29. Qg4+ Kh8 30. Qf5 $1 {This is the point.}) 29. Nh5+ Kh7 30. Be4+ {A very nice game, but I want to clarify that the most beautiful and impressive part is not the sacrifice starting with 24.Bxh6. Any competent tactician can find this move. What is really impressive in this game is the way White hinders the opponent's play and prepares a kingside attack at the same time. This is the reason this game is outstanding.} (30. Be4+ Bxe4 31. Qxe4+ Kh8 32. Nf6 $18) 1-0 [Event "Chennai Chess Olympiad | Open"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.07.31"] [Round "3.4"] [White "Shankland, Sam"] [Black "Gelashvili, Tamaz"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B60"] [WhiteElo "2720"] [BlackElo "2549"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "143"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackTeam "Georgia"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "GEO"] [WhiteClock "0:05:44"] [BlackClock "0:00:05"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 Bd7 7. Nxc6 bxc6 8. Bc4 e6 9. Qe2 Be7 10. e5 Nd5 11. Bxe7 Qxe7 12. exd6 Qxd6 13. Ne4 Qe7 14. O-O O-O 15. Rad1 a5 16. c3 a4 17. a3 Rab8 18. Qc2 c5 19. Be2 f5 20. Nd2 Nf4 21. Rfe1 Bc6 22. Bf3 Qb7 23. Re3 Rfd8 24. h4 Bxf3 25. Nxf3 Rxd1+ 26. Qxd1 Qc6 27. c4 h6 28. g3 Ng6 29. Qe2 Nf8 30. Ne5 Qd6 31. h5 Rb6 32. Rd3 Qc7 33. f4 Qb8 34. Rd2 Rb3 35. Kh2 Qe8 36. Qd1 Rb8 37. Kh3 Nh7 38. Nd7 Rc8 39. Kg2 Kh8 40. Rd6 Rd8 41. Ne5 Rxd6 42. Qxd6 Kg8 43. Qd7 Qa8+ 44. Kg1 Nf8 45. Qf7+ Kh8 46. Kf2 { Shankland misses a win, but without this slip we might not have got another kind of beauty $1} (46. Ng6+ $1 {[%c_effect g6;square;g6;type;GreatFind; persistent;true]} Nxg6 47. hxg6 Qc8 48. Kh2 {Zugzwang $1} Qg8 49. Qd7 {would have netted the e6-pawn.}) 46... Qb8 47. Ke1 $1 {Watch that king. Watch out for a Tigran Petrosian maneuver.} Qa8 48. Kd2 $1 Kh7 49. Nd3 Qd8 50. Kc2 { The white king reaches the relatively safer queenside.} Qd6 51. Ne5 Qb8 52. Kc1 $1 {Getting away from a check on b3 and keeping Black in a \"spot.\"} Qa8 53. Nd3 Qd8 (53... Qc8 54. Kc2 Kh8 55. Ne5 {White is threatening 56.Qxf8 and 57. Ng6+ with a won-pawn ending.} Kh7 56. Ng6 Nxg6 57. hxg6+ Kh8 58. Kc1 {is a zugzwang, as the e6-pawn falls.}) 54. Nxc5 $18 Qd6 55. Nxa4 Nd7 56. Qg6+ Kh8 57. Qe8+ Kh7 58. Qd8 {White could have handled this part of the game better, but the ultimate outcome of the game is never in doubt.} Qd3 59. Nc3 Qf1+ 60. Kc2 Qf2+ 61. Kb3 Nc5+ 62. Ka2 Qxg3 63. Qd4 Nd3 64. a4 Nxf4 65. a5 Nd3 66. Ka3 Ne5 67. a6 Nc6 68. Qc5 Qc7 69. b4 f4 70. b5 Qa5+ 71. Kb3 Nd8 72. Qa3 1-0 [Event "Chennai Chess Olympiad | Open"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.07.31"] [Round "3.2"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Mchedlishvili, Mikheil"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A11"] [WhiteElo "2775"] [BlackElo "2593"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "119"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackTeam "Georgia"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "GEO"] 1. c4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. O-O Nbd7 6. Qc2 Nb6 7. Na3 Be6 8. Ne5 h5 9. Naxc4 Nxc4 10. Nxc4 h4 11. Ne5 hxg3 12. hxg3 Qd4 13. Qc3 Rd8 14. Qxd4 Rxd4 15. d3 a6 16. Bd2 Bh3 17. Rfc1 Bxg2 18. Kxg2 g6 19. Rc4 Rd5 20. Bc3 Rh5 21. f4 Nd7 22. Nf3 e6 23. g4 Rh7 24. g5 Bd6 25. a4 Kd8 26. b3 e5 27. fxe5 Nxe5 28. Bxe5 Bxe5 29. d4 {White is on the \"better side of equality,\" and it is noteworthy to see Aronian spin a web around the mildly passive black pieces, unperturbed by Black's possession of a rooks and bishop combination over rooks and a knight.} Bc7 30. e4 Rd7 31. b4 {Keeping up the pressure.} Rh8 32. Rac1 Re8 33. e5 $1 {[%c_effect e5;square;e5;type;GreatFind;persistent;true] Seeds of dominating the black bishop in the long run.} Bb6 34. Rh1 Rd5 35. Kg3 $1 { Activating her majesty's power.} Ke7 36. Kf4 Rdd8 37. Ke4 Rh8 38. Rcc1 Rxh1 39. Rxh1 Rd5 40. Rh8 Rd8 41. Rh7 Ke6 $2 {[%c_effect e6;square;e6;type;Mistake; persistent;true]} ({Black misses his last chance to play} 41... a5) 42. a5 Ba7 {Watch that bishop $1} 43. Rh1 Ke7 44. Kd3 Ke6 45. Rh4 {White's rook gets ready to make inroads $1} Ke7 46. Nd2 {Seemingly allowing ...c6-c5, but Aronian has seen deeper.} c5 47. bxc5 Bxc5 48. Kc3 {Important to keep the white king on the queenside to keep the black bishop fromachieving freedom in that area.} Ba7 49. Nc4 $16 {The position almost resembles a legendary Genrikh Kasparyan composition -- the theme of domination} Bb8 50. Kd3 $1 {Having achieved his objective of watching the black bishop wander off to freedom on the queenside, the white king returns to the center. The king always belongs in the center in an endgame.} Rd5 (50... Ba7 51. Nd6 Bb8 52. Nxb7 $18) 51. Ke4 Rb5 52. Rh8 Bc7 53. Ne3 {White gives up the a5-pawn, but focuses on what is the more important: the f7-pawn.} Bxa5 54. Nd5+ Kd7 55. Rf8 Bd8 56. Nf6+ Kc8 ({ Black can't support the f7-pawn:} 56... Bxf6 57. gxf6 Ke6 $4 {[%c_effect e6; square;e6;type;Blunder;persistent;true]} 58. Rd8 {will checkmate the black king.}) 57. Rxf7 a5 58. e6 a4 59. e7 Bxe7 60. Rxe7 1-0 [Event "Chennai Women's Chess Olympiad"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.08.01"] [Round "4.2"] [White "Heinemann, Josefine"] [Black "Sandu, Mihaela"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2321"] [BlackElo "2297"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "112"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Germany"] [BlackTeam "Romania"] [WhiteTeamCountry "GER"] [BlackTeamCountry "ROU"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 d6 6. O-O O-O 7. Re1 a6 8. a4 h6 9. h3 Ba7 10. Nbd2 Ne7 11. Nf1 Ng6 12. Bb3 Be6 13. Bxe6 fxe6 14. Be3 Bxe3 15. Rxe3 Nf4 16. d4 exd4 17. cxd4 Qe8 18. Kh2 Qh5 19. N3d2 Qh4 20. Kg1 N6h5 21. Nf3 Qf6 22. Kh2 Ng6 23. g3 e5 24. d5 c5 25. a5 Qd8 26. N1d2 b5 27. axb6 Qxb6 28. Nc4 Qd8 29. Rea3 Qf6 30. Kg2 Nh8 31. Rxa6 Rxa6 32. Rxa6 Nf7 33. Qe2 Qg6 34. Kh2 Nf6 35. Nfd2 Rd8 36. h4 Ne8 37. Ne3 Qf6 38. Nf5 g6 39. Ne3 Rb8 40. Ndc4 h5 41. Ra7 Ng7 42. Kg2 g5 43. hxg5 Qg6 44. Qc2 Qxg5 45. Rd7 Qf6 46. Nf1 Rf8 47. Qe2 Qg6 48. Nh2 Ne8 49. Nf3 Qg4 50. Ra7 Ng5 51. Ncd2 Nf6 52. Qe3 Nfxe4 53. Nxe4 $4 (53. Ra4 Qh3+ 54. Kg1 Nxf3+ 55. Nxf3 Qf5 $11) 53... Qh3+ 54. Kg1 Nxf3+ 55. Qxf3 Rxf3 56. Ng5 Rxg3+ {0-} 0-1 [Event "Chennai Women's Chess Olympiad"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.08.01"] [Round "4.3"] [White "Krasteva, Beloslava"] [Black "Ushenina, Anna"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D02"] [WhiteElo "2249"] [BlackElo "2423"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "158"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Bulgaria"] [BlackTeam "Ukraine"] [WhiteTeamCountry "BUL"] [BlackTeamCountry "UKR"] [WhiteClock "0:02:14"] [BlackClock "0:01:48"] 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 c5 4. e3 Nc6 5. Nbd2 cxd4 6. exd4 Bf5 7. Bb5 Bd7 8. Nb3 g6 9. O-O Bg7 10. Re1 a6 11. Bd3 O-O 12. c3 Nh5 13. Bd2 Qc7 14. Nc5 Bc8 15. Bf1 b6 16. Nd3 Na5 17. b3 Nc6 18. Rc1 Rd8 19. Nfe5 Nxe5 20. Nxe5 b5 21. Qf3 Be6 22. Nd3 Nf6 23. Bf4 Qa7 24. Nc5 Bf5 25. Qe3 Re8 26. f3 Nd7 27. g4 Nxc5 28. gxf5 Nd7 29. fxg6 hxg6 30. Bg3 Rac8 31. Kh1 e6 32. Bf2 Nf6 33. c4 bxc4 34. bxc4 dxc4 35. Bxc4 Qa8 36. Bg3 Rc6 37. Bb3 Rec8 38. Rxc6 Qxc6 39. Be5 Nd5 40. Qe4 Bxe5 41. dxe5 Qc3 42. Bxd5 exd5 43. Qe2 Rc6 44. Rd1 Rb6 45. Qd3 Qxe5 46. Qxd5 Qxd5 47. Rxd5 Rb1+ 48. Kg2 Rb2+ 49. Kg3 Rxa2 50. h4 Rb2 51. h5 gxh5 52. Rxh5 Rb5 53. Rh6 a5 54. Ra6 Kf8 55. Kf4 f5 56. Ke3 (56. Ra7 Ke8 57. Kg5 Kd8 58. f4 Kc8 59. Rh7 Kb8 60. Rh8+ Ka7 61. Rh7+ Ka6 62. Rh6+ Rb6 63. Rh3 {should be a simple draw.}) 56... Rd5 57. Kf4 Ke7 58. Kg5 Kd7 59. f4 Kc7 60. Re6 Kb7 61. Re5 $4 { A blunder, which enables Black to win the game easily.} ({An easy drawing method is} 61. Re1 Kb6 62. Rb1+ Ka6 63. Ra1 Kb5 64. Rb1+ Kc4 65. Ra1 Kb3 66. Rb1+ Ka2 67. Rb8) 61... Kc6 62. Re8 a4 63. Ra8 Kb5 64. Kf6 Kb4 65. Ke6 Rb5 $19 {The point is tht Whiate can't stop the a-pawn's march.} 66. Rh8 a3 67. Rh3 a2 68. Rh1 Ka3 69. Rd1 Kb2 70. Rd2+ Kb1 71. Rd1+ Kc2 72. Rh1 Rc5 73. Kd6 Ra5 74. Ke6 Kd3 75. Ra1 Ke4 76. Kd6 Kxf4 77. Kc6 Ke3 78. Kb6 Ra8 79. Kc5 f4 {0-} 0-1 [Event "Chennai Women's Chess Olympiad"] [Site "chess24.com"] [Date "2022.08.01"] [Round "4.4"] [White "Gaal, Zsoka"] [Black "Tania, Sachdev"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A46"] [WhiteElo "2313"] [BlackElo "2399"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "104"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Hungary"] [BlackTeam "India"] [WhiteTeamCountry "HUN"] [BlackTeamCountry "IND"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 e6 4. Nf3 b5 5. O-O Bb7 6. a4 b4 7. a5 Be7 8. c3 bxc3 9. bxc3 O-O 10. c4 $2 (10. Ne5 Nfd7 11. Nxd7 Qxd7 12. c4 {is the routine continuation.}) 10... dxc4 11. Qc2 c5 12. dxc5 Bxc5 13. Bb2 Nbd7 14. Qxc4 Rb8 15. Qc1 Qe7 16. Nc3 Rfc8 17. Ra4 $6 {The start of the misadventure that costs White a lot in the long run.} Bc6 18. Rh4 Nf8 19. Qa1 Ng6 20. Rh3 {Rook on the edge $2} e5 21. Na2 Bd7 {...and it dies there $1} 22. Nxe5 Bxh3 $2 (22... Rxb2 $1 23. Nxd7 Bxf2+ $1 24. Rxf2 Ng4 25. Rh5 (25. Qxb2 Qe3) 25... Rcc2 {would have been a deadly attack.}) 23. Bxh3 Rc7 24. Nc1 Nxe5 $2 (24... Rxb2 $1 25. Nxg6 Bxf2+ $1 26. Rxf2 Qb4 27. Nf4 Rb1 {with an easy win.}) 25. Bxe5 Bd6 26. Bd4 Rb5 27. e3 Be5 28. Ne2 Bxd4 29. Nxd4 Rbc5 30. Rd1 g6 31. a6 Qe5 32. Rb1 Qe4 33. Rd1 Kg7 34. Nb3 Rb5 35. Nd4 Rbc5 36. Nb3 Rc3 37. Nd4 Rd3 38. Re1 Qe7 39. Bf5 $2 (39. Qb2 Qc5 40. Bf1 Rc3 {and Black is better, but she still has to win the game.}) 39... Ra3 40. Qb2 Rxa6 41. g4 Rb6 42. Qa1 Kg8 43. Rd1 Rd6 44. Re1 gxf5 45. Nxf5 Qd7 46. Rb1 Rc8 47. Nh6+ Kf8 48. g5 Ng8 49. Qh8 {Black has to survive some anxious moments here.} Rd1+ 50. Kg2 (50. Rxd1 Qxd1+ 51. Kg2 Qd5+ 52. f3 Qxg5+ {wins.}) 50... Qd5+ 51. e4 Qxg5+ 52. Kf3 Rxb1 {0-} 0-1 [Event "Chennai Chess Olympiad | Open"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.08.01"] [Round "4.2"] [White "Moroni, Luca Jr"] [Black "Nihal Sarin"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A48"] [WhiteElo "2584"] [BlackElo "2651"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "102"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Italy"] [BlackTeam "India"] [WhiteTeamCountry "ITA"] [BlackTeamCountry "IND"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bf4 Bg7 4. e3 O-O 5. Nbd2 d6 6. h3 c5 7. c3 cxd4 8. cxd4 Nc6 9. Bc4 Qb6 10. b3 e5 $1 {A well-known device in the London System that takes advantage of the x-ray attack of Ra1 by Black's dark-square bishop.} 11. dxe5 dxe5 12. Bh2 (12. Nxe5 Nh5 13. Nxc6 Qxc6 14. Rc1 Nxf4 15. exf4 Qxg2 $19) 12... e4 13. Ne5 Qa5 14. Nxc6 bxc6 15. a3 Rd8 16. b4 $2 {[%c_effect b4;square; b4;type;Mistake;persistent;true]} ({Better is} 16. Qc1 Nd5 (16... Qg5 17. Bf4 Qxg2 18. Rh2 Qg1+ 19. Bf1 {would have been equal.}) 17. Ra2 {with a slight advantage for Black.}) 16... Qg5 17. Qb3 Nd5 18. O-O Bxh3 19. Bg3 Bxa1 20. Nxe4 Qe7 21. gxh3 Be5 {Black is winning.} 22. Rc1 Bxg3 23. Nxg3 Nf6 24. Be2 Rac8 25. Bf3 c5 26. b5 c4 27. Rxc4 Rxc4 28. Qxc4 Qxa3 29. Ne2 Rd2 30. Qf4 Qd6 31. Qa4 Qc5 32. Qf4 Kg7 33. Nd4 Rb2 34. Bc6 h6 35. h4 Nh5 36. Qe4 Qc1+ 37. Kg2 Rb1 38. Kh3 Qf1+ 39. Qg2 Qxg2+ 40. Kxg2 Nf6 41. Bf3 Rb2 42. Kg3 Ne8 43. h5 Nd6 44. Bc6 Nf5+ 45. Nxf5+ gxf5 46. f3 Kf6 47. Kf4 Rh2 48. Kg3 Rc2 49. Kf4 Rc4+ 50. e4 fxe4 51. fxe4 Rc5 {0-} 0-1 [Event "Chennai Chess Olympiad | Open"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.08.01"] [Round "4.1"] [White "Gukesh D"] [Black "Vocaturo, Daniele"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D50"] [WhiteElo "2684"] [BlackElo "2616"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "India"] [BlackTeam "Italy"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IND"] [BlackTeamCountry "ITA"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c5 5. cxd5 cxd4 {A familiar gambit in the Semi-Tarrasch Defense.} 6. Qxd4 exd5 7. Bg5 Be7 8. e3 O-O 9. Rd1 Be6 10. Qa4 h6 11. Bxf6 Bxf6 12. Nxd5 Bxd5 13. Qb5 Bxb2 14. Rxd5 $6 {Opening preparation $2 Gukesh was playing his moves fluently here, indicating that he had come to the board well-armed.} (14. Qxb2 Nc6 15. Qb5 Ne7 16. Be2 {should be just equal.}) 14... Bc3+ 15. Kd1 Qe7 16. Bc4 Na6 17. Ke2 Rac8 18. Qb3 Nb4 19. Rf5 Bf6 $2 { Played after a 30-minute thought, and a mistake as it happens often.} (19... Qd7 20. g4 Qc7 21. Qxc3 Qxc4+ 22. Qxc4 Rxc4 {with a level position.}) 20. Rb5 a5 21. Rxa5 Nc6 $2 (21... Rc7 22. Rc1 {with equality.}) 22. Rb5 b6 (22... Rc7 23. Bd5 {and White is looking for Rh1-b1 with some initiative.}) 23. Bd5 Na7 $2 (23... Na5 24. Qa4 Rfd8 25. Rd1 $16) 24. Rxb6 {Black has no compensation for the pawn now.} Rc3 25. Qb1 Qc5 26. Rd1 Rc2+ 27. Kf1 Rd8 28. Ne1 Rc3 29. Bxf7+ $1 Kf8 (29... Kxf7 30. Rxf6+ $1) 30. Bh5 $18 Nc6 31. Rxd8+ Bxd8 32. Qg6 Qc4+ 33. Kg1 Ke7 34. Rb7+ 1-0 [Event "WCO"] [Site "Chennai, India"] [Date "2022.08.01"] [Round "4.13"] [White "Carlsen Magnus"] [Black "Batsuren Dambasuren"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D38"] [WhiteElo "2864"] [BlackElo "2518"] [Annotator "Kuljasevic, Davorin"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] {The world's number one played a perfect and instructive attacking game against Mongolian GM Dambasuren Batsuren. Let's hope Carlsen is just getting started and has more such performances in store for the remainder of the Olympiad $1} 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. d4 d5 4. Nc3 {The players reached a popular Queen's Gambit tabiya by a less common move order. The Mongolian first board opts for the Ragozin Defense out of many reasonable possibilities.} Bb4 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 $5 {A clever choice by Carlsen. It was safe to assume that his young opponent was booked up in the main lines after 6.Bxf6 Qxf6, so the Norwegian deviates early. With this move, he tries to steer the game into less explored territories.} O-O {Judging by the time spent on this move, it seems Batsuren was surprised by the world champion's move and decided to play it safe instead of going for the critical continuation.} ({The principled reply is } 6... dxc4 {since White cannot play 7.e4 (due to 7...g5). Carlsen would probably continue} 7. a3 Bxc3+ 8. bxc3 {as he did in a similar position against Aronian in the Aimchess Rapid last year. White can undoubtedly show compensation for the pawn in the arising positions, although Black should be fine with correct play, as demonstrated by the following super-GM game:} c5 9. e3 cxd4 10. cxd4 Qa5+ 11. Nd2 Ne4 12. Bxc4 Bd7 13. Bd3 Bc6 14. Bxe4 Bxe4 15. O-O Bc6 16. Rc1 O-O 17. Nc4 Qd5 18. f3 Bb5 19. e4 Qh5 20. Bf2 Nc6 {1/2-1/2 (30) Ding,L (2805)-Karjakin,S (2750) Saint Louis 2019}) 7. e3 Nbd7 {Black continues developing in a relatively passive fashion.} ({It would have been more in the spirit of the chosen opening to play} 7... c5 {instead, preparing counterplay against the c3-knight with ...Qa5 and ...Ne4. For example:} 8. cxd5 exd5 9. dxc5 Nbd7 10. Rc1 Qa5 {with interesting play.}) 8. cxd5 {This is a good moment to make this exchange for two reasons: (1) White doesn't want to lose a tempo developing his light-squared bishop to d3, so he eliminates the dxc4 possibility. (2) Having put his knight on d7, Black has blunted the c8-h3 diagonal for his light-squared bishop, so we don't have to worry about moves like ...Bg4 anymore.} exd5 9. Bd3 c6 {Black is going for the classical QGD setup with the Carlsbad structure, although that means his bishop on b4 is misplaced.} (9... c5 {is the last opportunity to play in the spirit of the Ragozin Defense. However, after the standard} 10. O-O Bxc3 11. bxc3 c4 { White would have an important extra option compared to a similar Ragozin line,} 12. Bb1 $1 {and with Qc2 to follow, he would have a pleasant attacking position.}) 10. O-O Bd6 11. Qc2 Re8 {Interestingly, we have reached a position from the 4.Qc2 Nimzo-Indian Defense by transposition. White wins over 70\% in the Mega database, so it's not something I'd recommend for Black. It is instructive to see how Carlsen increased the advantage in the game.} 12. Rfe1 { With this move, he indicates that the e4-break is in the cards. This idea makes sense considering the pin on the f6-knight.} ({The other typical plan is } 12. Rab1 {preparing the minority attack with b2-b4, etc.}) 12... Be7 { It's not a good idea to play so often with the same piece in the opening, but Black can almost get away with it here since the position is relatively closed. Still, he is facing problems with his development.} 13. Bg3 {A strong prophylactic move that avoids 13...Ne4.} ({If White had played anything else, such as} 13. h3 {Black would have had an opportunity to alleviate his development woes by exchanging some pieces after} Ne4) 13... Nf8 ({It is important to note that Black cannot win the bishop pair with} 13... Nh5 $2 { due to one of the oldest tricks in the book} 14. Nxd5 $1 Nxg3 15. Nxe7+ { and White emerges with an extra pawn.}) 14. h3 b6 $6 {Batsuren's previous play wasn't particularly inspiring, but this is where his real troubles start. This move weakens the c6-pawn, and Carlsen will exploit it to the fullest.} ({ It would have been more prudent to complete his development with} 14... Be6 { followed by ...Rc8. Black would have a very passive yet quite solid position where Carlsen would have to put his positional skills to display. Then again, he's beaten Mamedyarov in a similar position once, so it probably wouldn't be too difficult for him :)}) 15. e4 $1 {A move that yells, \"Play me $1\" Carlsen doesn't miss his chance to open the center at the right moment.} dxe4 { It is difficult to criticize this natural reply, but it's probably already a decisive mistake.} ({Black had to keep the position closed at all costs and, thus,} 15... Be6 {is required. His position doesn't look great after} 16. e5 Nh5 17. Bh2 g5 {but he's still holding on.}) 16. Nxe4 Bb7 17. Ne5 $1 {The side with the isolated queen's pawn should strive to attack the king, and this knight sortie is the first step toward this goal. The f7-pawn is an immediate target.} Ne6 ({Interestingly, this exact position was reached more than 20 years ago in the game Thorsteins,K (2493)-Kristjansson,O (2245) Reykjavik 1999, 1-0 (31). Black played} 17... Rc8 $6 {which allowed his opponent to carry out a decisive combination:} 18. Nxf6+ Bxf6 19. Nxf7 $1 Kxf7 20. Bc4+ Ne6 21. Rxe6 Rxe6 22. Re1 Qd5 23. Rxe6 {and White won shortly after.}) ({I should also note that the greedy} 17... Qxd4 $2 {is refuted, among other things, by} 18. Nxf7 $1 Kxf7 19. Bc4+ Nd5 20. Rad1 {and the black queen meets its fate by getting trapped in the center of the board.}) 18. Nxf6+ Bxf6 19. Bh7+ $1 {An essential check that uses the poorly defended f7-pawn to force the black king to move to f8. The point is that it will be much more exposed here than on h8. I'd like to point out that Carlsen carried out a similar attack against GM Granda Zuniga in the Isle of Man, 2017, where Bh7+ $1 was equally instrumental.} Kf8 20. Rad1 {You have to admire the elegancy with which Carlsen solves minor problems, such as the hanging isolani on d4. Black cannot take it for tactical reasons, meaning he has no real counterplay left.} Bxe5 {This seems like a sad necessity.} (20... Nxd4 {fails to} 21. Qe4 {and Black loses material.}) 21. dxe5 {The most natural recapture. White creates a powerful kingside majority with a tempo.} Qe7 22. f4 c5 {Black was approaching time trouble, so he tried at least to create some semblance of counterplay with ...Nd4. However, it's all too little too late.} ({Unfortunately for him, the endgame after} 22... Qc5+ 23. Qxc5+ Nxc5 24. f5 {is just as gloomy as the game since White is simply going to push e5-e6 next to threaten the decisive Bd6+.}) 23. f5 Nd4 24. Qf2 Qd7 {This move invites white pawns to continue advancing, though it's difficult to suggest anything better for Black.} 25. e6 Qc6 26. Be5 {There are many ways to prepare for the final blow. Magnus, as usual, chooses the most aesthetic one, hitting Black's strongest (d4) and weakest point (g7) simultaneously. He also clears a square for his next move.} ({Another way to secure the victory is} 26. exf7 Rxe1+ 27. Rxe1 Kxf7 28. Bh4 {when the black king would be defenseless against the concentrated attacking effort of white pieces.}) 26... Rad8 27. Qg3 $1 {The most clinical. Carlsen gives away the exchange to finalize the attack.} Ne2+ 28. Rxe2 Rxd1+ 29. Kh2 Ke7 (29... f6 { wouldn't save Black in the view of} 30. Bxf6) 30. Bf6+ $1 {Among many winning continuations, Carlsen delivers this pretty check and forces his opponent's immediate resignation. Let's consider the possible variations:} gxf6 (30... Kxf6 31. Qe5+ Ke7 32. exf7+ Kxf7 33. Bg6+ {with mate on e8 to follow.}) 31. exf7+ {and Black either loses a decisive amount of material or gets checkmated after} Kxf7 32. Qg6+ Kf8 33. Qg8# 1-0 [Event "Chennai Chess Olympiad | Open"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.08.01"] [Round "4.3"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Sindarov, Javokhir"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E60"] [WhiteElo "2773"] [BlackElo "2629"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "55"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackTeam "Uzbekistan"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "UZB"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. h4 $5 {In hindsight, the device which enabled the U.S. to hold on to dear life $1} c5 4. d5 b5 5. cxb5 a6 6. e3 axb5 7. Bxb5 Qa5+ 8. Nc3 Ba6 9. Bxa6 Qxa6 10. Nge2 Bg7 11. O-O O-O 12. a4 Qc4 13. g3 e6 14. b3 Qg4 15. Ba3 Na6 16. Rc1 $16 {White seems to have survived the Benko threat and emerges a pawn up.} exd5 $2 (16... e5 17. Kg2 (17. f3 Qh3) 17... d6 18. f3 { might have been a better try.}) 17. Nf4 $1 Rfb8 18. Nb5 Qxd1 19. Rfxd1 d6 20. Bb2 {So conducts the game flawlessly. Black almost never succeeds in a typical Benko counterplay on the queenside.} Rb7 21. Bxf6 $1 {It doesn't matter which pieces you exchange; what matters is what remains on the board.} Bxf6 22. Nxd5 Bg7 23. Rd3 {White calmly targets the d6-pawn now.} Rab8 24. g4 $1 {Excellent play. Even though the position is clearly better for So, you have to credit him for his calm demeanor. White calmly proceeds to fix up with g4-g5 and a clamper on the kingside.} c4 {A mark of desperation.} 25. Rxc4 Nc5 26. Rd1 Nxb3 27. Nxd6 Ra7 28. Nc8 1-0 [Event "Chennai Chess Olympiad | Open"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.08.01"] [Round "4.4"] [White "Vakhidov, Jakhongir"] [Black "Shankland, Sam"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D35"] [WhiteElo "2564"] [BlackElo "2720"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "119"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Uzbekistan"] [BlackTeam "United States"] [WhiteTeamCountry "UZB"] [BlackTeamCountry "USA"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 Bb4 6. Qb3 c5 7. dxc5 Nc6 8. O-O-O Qa5 9. Bxf6 gxf6 10. e3 Be6 11. Kb1 O-O-O 12. Nxd5 Bxc5 13. Nf3 Bxe3 14. fxe3 Bxd5 15. Bc4 Bxc4 16. Qxc4 Qf5+ 17. Ka1 Qe6 18. Qf4 Rhg8 19. Nd4 Nxd4 20. exd4 {White has emerged from the opening with a sizable advantage.} Qd6 21. Qf5+ Kb8 22. g3 h6 23. Rhf1 Rg6 24. a3 Qd5 25. Qf4+ Qd6 26. Rde1 Qxf4 27. Rxf4 {White's passed pawn in the center and Black's fractured pawn structure on the kingside mean it is going to be a difficult task for Black to survive the ending.} Kc7 28. Kb1 Kd6 29. Kc2 h5 30. Kd3 Rh8 31. Ree4 a6 32. Rf5 Rhh6 33. Ref4 Ke6 34. Kc4 {Black's position looks dangerously close to a loss here.} b6 35. Rd5 Rg4 36. Rf2 Re4 37. Rd8 Ke7 38. Rb8 b5+ 39. Kd5 {White is winning; his king in the center of the board is a treat to watch.} Re6 40. Rc2 f5 41. Rc7+ Kf6 42. Rf8 $2 (42. Kc5 {and a march of the d-pawn would have been disastrous for Black here.}) 42... Rh7 (42... Re7 43. Rc6+ Kg7 44. Rxh6 Kxh6 45. Kc6 { would have been difficult for Black as well.}) 43. Rc6 Rxc6 (43... Ke7 44. Rxf7+ $3 Kxf7 45. Rxe6 $18) 44. Kxc6 h4 45. d5 hxg3 46. hxg3 Rh2 47. d6 Rc2+ 48. Kd7 Rxb2 49. Kd8 (49. Ra8 a5 50. Kc7 Rc2+ 51. Kd8 {would have been a simple win.}) 49... a5 50. d7 Rc2 51. Rh8 b4 52. a4 $4 {The blunder of the day. White misses out on a certain win that would give his team the glory of beating the U.S.} (52. axb4 a4 53. Rh6+ Kg7 54. Ra6 {is a simple win.}) 52... b3 53. Rh6+ Kg7 54. Rb6 b2 {The point is that the white rook is stuck on b6 and the white king cannot get out of his shadow at d8 to promote the passed pawn.} 55. Rb5 Kg6 56. Ke7 Re2+ 57. Kd6 Rd2+ 58. Kc6 Rc2+ 59. Kb7 Rd2 60. Kc7 1/2-1/2 [Event "Chennai Chess Olympiad | Open"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.08.01"] [Round "4.1"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Abdusattorov, Nodirbek"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D02"] [WhiteElo "2783"] [BlackElo "2688"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "122"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackTeam "Uzbekistan"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "UZB"] {0-} 1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 Nf6 3. e3 c5 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Nbd2 cxd4 6. exd4 Bf5 7. Bb5 Qb6 8. c4 dxc4 9. a4 Bd3 10. Ne5 e6 11. Qf3 $2 {Peter Svidler marked this as the moment that Caruana mishandled the opening and terming it as the pivotal moment. He attributed the probable reason for the misstep to the fact that Caruana was playing this setup of the London system for the first time.} (11. Ndxc4 Bb4+ 12. Bd2 Bxc4 13. Nxc4 Bxd2+ 14. Qxd2 {is probably the best way to continue.}) 11... Rc8 12. Nxd3 cxd3 13. Qxd3 a6 14. Nc4 Bb4+ 15. Bd2 Bxd2+ 16. Qxd2 Qc7 17. Bxc6+ Qxc6 {Black has a long-term advantage here, due to White's isolated pawn on the d-file.} 18. Ne3 O-O 19. O-O Ne4 20. Qb4 Rfd8 21. a5 Nd6 22. Rfd1 Nb5 23. d5 exd5 24. Nf5 Qc5 25. Qh4 f6 26. Qg4 g6 27. Nd4 Nxd4 28. Rxd4 Kf7 (28... Kg7 29. h4 h5 30. Qf4 Rd7 {could have been a better way to go, daring White to open up the kingside and weakening his own monarch too.}) 29. h4 Qb5 (29... h5 30. Qf4 Kg7 31. b4 {and White creates some counterplay attacking the d-pawn.}) (29... Rc7 $1 30. h5 Re7 31. hxg6+ hxg6 {and Black holds the initiative in the major-pieces ending.}) 30. Re1 Re8 (30... Qxa5 31. Qe6+) 31. Red1 Rc4 32. Rxc4 dxc4 {White has equalized. It looked like the former challenger would survive the ending after all.} 33. h5 $2 {But this proves to be a misadventure now, as the extra pawn will haunt Caruana later.} ( 33. Qd4 Re7 34. Qd8 {with enough counterplay for the pawn deficit.}) 33... gxh5 34. Qf4 Kg6 35. Qc7 (35. Qg3+ Kf7 36. Qf4 {looked like a better defense, challenging Black to show his cards.}) 35... Re4 (35... h4 $1 {Scare them on the kingside $1} 36. Rc1 Re4 37. Qd8 Qc5 {The crucial square for the queen, watching over the f8-square.} 38. Qg8+ Kh6) 36. Qc8 Re8 37. Qc7 Re4 38. Qc8 { Showing his willingness for a draw.} Qb4 $2 (38... Re7 39. Qg8+ Rg7 {would have kept the advantage.}) 39. Kh2 $2 {Another misstep, missing a chance for counterplay.} (39. Qg8+ Kh6 40. Qh8 $1 Rf4 41. Rd4 $3 {The resource that Caruana probably missed $2} Qe1+ 42. Kh2 Qe5 43. Qf8+ Kg6 44. Qg8+ $11) 39... Qe7 40. g3 h4 41. Qg8+ Kh6 {White doesn't have the counterplay he could have obtained earlier.} 42. Kg2 f5 $2 (42... Qe8 $1 43. Qxe8 Rxe8 44. Rh1 Re5 45. Rxh4+ Kg6 46. Rxc4 Rxa5 $17) 43. Qc8 hxg3 44. Qxf5 $2 (44. Rd7 $1 {An important intermezzo.} Qe8 45. Qxb7 {Very important to create an attack on the opponent's king in a major-pieces endgame $1} Qg6 46. Qc7 $1 gxf2+ 47. Kxf2 { and though the position looks scary for both the sides, White gets counterplay because of the weak black king.}) 44... Rh4 45. Kxg3 Rh5 46. Qf4+ Qg5+ 47. Qg4 Qxg4+ 48. Kxg4 Rg5+ 49. Kf4 Rxa5 $19 {Black has a clear advantage here.} 50. Rd6+ Kh5 51. Rd7 Rb5 52. Rxh7+ Kg6 53. Rc7 Rxb2 54. Ke5 b5 55. Rc6+ Kh5 56. f4 a5 57. f5 a4 58. Rc8 a3 59. Rh8+ Kg5 60. Rg8+ Kh6 61. f6 Rf2 (61... Rf2 62. Ra8 b4 {and Black's pawns roll on effortlessly.}) 0-1 [Event "Chennai Women's Chess Olympiad"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.08.02"] [Round "5.2"] [White "Sandu, Mihaela"] [Black "Socko, Monika"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C42"] [WhiteElo "2297"] [BlackElo "2416"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Romania"] [BlackTeam "Poland"] [WhiteTeamCountry "ROU"] [BlackTeamCountry "POL"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Bf5 7. O-O Be7 8. c4 dxc4 9. Bxc4 Nd6 10. Bb3 O-O 11. Ne5 Nd7 12. Nc3 Nf6 13. Qf3 c6 14. d5 c5 15. Re1 Rc8 16. Bg5 h6 17. Bh4 Bh7 18. Ba4 Rc7 19. Rad1 a6 20. Rd2 Qc8 21. g4 Qd8 22. Bg3 Nfe8 23. Rde2 Bf6 24. Bxe8 Nxe8 25. d6 Nxd6 26. Nd5 Bxe5 27. Bxe5 Rd7 28. Bf6 $1 {[%c_effect f6;square;f6;type;GreatFind;persistent;true]} Qa5 $4 { [%c_effect a5;square;a5;type;Blunder;persistent;true]} ({The only way to defend was the dangerous-looking} 28... gxf6 29. Nxf6+ Kg7 30. Nxd7 Qxd7 31. Re7 Qa4 {Only move, keeping an eye on the g4-pawn.} 32. R1e6 Nc8 33. Rxb7 { with a wild position with mutual chances.}) 29. Bxg7 Kxg7 30. Qf6+ Kg8 31. Qxh6 $18 f6 32. Re7 Rf7 33. Nxf6+ Kh8 34. Re8+ 1-0 [Event "Chennai Women's Chess Olympiad"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.08.02"] [Round "5.3"] [White "Savina, Anastasia"] [Black "Vaishali R"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E46"] [WhiteElo "2377"] [BlackElo "2442"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "107"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "France"] [BlackTeam "India"] [WhiteTeamCountry "FRA"] [BlackTeamCountry "IND"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd2 c5 6. d5 exd5 7. cxd5 d6 8. Nge2 Na6 9. a3 Ba5 10. Nf4 Nc7 11. Bd3 b5 12. O-O c4 13. Bc2 Bb7 14. e4 Bb6 15. Nh5 Nxh5 16. Qxh5 g6 17. Qg4 a5 18. Bg5 f6 19. Bh6 Rf7 20. Ne2 Qd7 21. Qg3 Re8 22. Nc3 Re5 23. Kh1 b4 24. axb4 axb4 25. Na4 Ba7 26. Bd2 Na6 27. f4 Re8 28. b3 c3 29. Be3 Bxe3 30. Qxe3 f5 31. Qd4 fxe4 32. Bxe4 Nc5 33. Nxc5 dxc5 34. Qc4 Rxe4 35. Qxe4 Qxd5 36. Qc2 c4 37. bxc4 Qxc4 38. Rac1 Be4 39. Qa4 Kg7 40. Qe8 Qd5 ({ Black could have simply won with} 40... c2 41. Rfe1 Bc6 {followed by pushing the b-pawn too.}) 41. Rcd1 {In the press conference, Vaishali claimed this move as \"tricky,\" and lost her nerve at this point.} Rxf4 $4 {[%c_effect f4; square;f4;type;Blunder;persistent;true]} (41... Bxg2+ 42. Kg1 Qe4 {would have still won easily.}) 42. Qd7+ $1 {[%c_effect d7;square;d7;type;GreatFind; persistent;true]} Qxd7 43. Rxd7+ Kh6 44. Rxf4 c2 45. Rc7 b3 46. Rh4+ Kg5 47. Rxe4 b2 48. h4+ Kh6 49. Rec4 b1=Q+ 50. Kh2 Qe1 51. Rc3 c1=R 52. Rxc1 Qxh4+ 53. Kg1 Qd4+ 54. Kh2 1/2-1/2 [Event "Chennai Women's Chess Olympiad"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.08.02"] [Round "5.4"] [White "Tania, Sachdev"] [Black "Navrotescu, Andreea"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D52"] [WhiteElo "2399"] [BlackElo "2373"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "India"] [BlackTeam "France"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IND"] [BlackTeamCountry "FRA"] 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. e3 Qa5 7. Nd2 Bb4 8. Qc1 dxc4 9. Bxf6 Nxf6 10. Nxc4 Qc7 11. Be2 O-O 12. O-O Rd8 13. a3 Bf8 14. b4 b6 15. Qc2 Bb7 16. Rfd1 c5 17. dxc5 bxc5 18. b5 g6 19. Rac1 Rac8 20. Qa4 Nd5 21. Nxd5 exd5 22. Na5 Ba8 23. Bg4 Rb8 $2 {[%c_effect b8;square;b8;type;Mistake; persistent;true]} ({Black should have boldly gone for} 23... f5 24. Bf3 Kh8 $1 {Deftly sidestepping White's threat of Na5-c6 $1} (24... Qb6 25. Nc6 Rxc6 $5 { [%c_effect c6;square;c6;type;Interesting;persistent;true] Black is forced to sacrifice an exchange now.} (25... Bxc6 $4 {[%c_effect c6;square;c6;type; Blunder;persistent;true]} 26. bxc6 $18) 26. bxc6 Bxc6 27. Qc2 {and though chess engines claim compensation, it is a different question to handle the position over the board with the black pieces.}) 25. Nc6 Bxc6 26. bxc6 Qxc6 27. Qxc6 Rxc6 28. Rxd5 Rxd5 29. Bxd5 Ra6) 24. Nc6 Bxc6 25. bxc6 Bd6 26. g3 h5 27. Bd7 $16 {White enjoys a healthy advantage now.} d4 28. exd4 cxd4 29. Qxd4 Bxa3 30. Ra1 {and White went on to win:} Bb2 31. Qxa7 Be5 32. Qxc7 Bxc7 33. Ra7 Bb6 34. Rb7 Rxb7 35. cxb7 Bc7 36. Rc1 Bd6 37. Rc8 Rf8 38. Be8 1-0 [Event "Chennai Chess Olympiad | Open"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.08.02"] [Round "5.4"] [White "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"] [Black "Rodshtein, Maxim"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C00"] [WhiteElo "2754"] [BlackElo "2596"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "107"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackTeam "Israel"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "ISR"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. O-O d5 7. Nbd2 dxe4 8. dxe4 Qe7 9. h3 a5 10. a4 Rd8 11. Qc2 Nb8 12. Re1 Ne8 13. Rb1 Nd6 14. Bd3 Nc6 15. Nf1 f6 16. Be3 Bxe3 17. Nxe3 Be6 18. b4 b6 19. b5 Nb8 20. Nd5 Qf7 21. c4 Nb7 22. Nh4 Nc5 23. Be2 Kh8 24. Bg4 Bxd5 $2 {[%c_effect d5;square;d5;type; Mistake;persistent;true] This gives White a long-term advantage.} ({Black's best counterplay was the creative} 24... Ra7 $1 {Black is aiming to play the unusual looking ...Ra7-b7 followed by ...c7-c6 creating counterplay for himself.} 25. Red1 Qf8 (25... Rb7 26. Nxb6) 26. Nf5 Rb7) 25. cxd5 Nbd7 26. Re3 g6 27. Rc3 Nf8 28. Rc1 Rd6 29. g3 Rad8 30. Rxc5 {An excellent positional sacrifice by Dominguez. He conducts the remainder of the game near-flawlessly.} bxc5 31. Qxc5 f5 32. Bf3 Rf6 33. Rc2 Nd7 34. Qxc7 Rf8 35. Qa7 Nb6 36. Rc7 Qg8 37. Rc6 Nxa4 38. Qxa5 fxe4 39. Bxe4 Rxf2 40. Qxa4 Qf7 41. Rc1 Qf6 42. Qa3 Rf1+ 43. Rxf1 Qxf1+ 44. Kh2 Rf2+ 45. Ng2 Qxb5 46. Qe7 Qe2 47. Qxe5+ Kg8 48. Qe8+ Kg7 49. Qe7+ Rf7 50. Qe5+ Rf6 51. d6 Qa6 52. d7 Qd6 53. Qe8 Rf8 54. Nf4 1-0 [Event "Chennai Chess Olympiad | Open"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.08.02"] [Round "5.2"] [White "Albornoz Cabrera, Carlos Daniel"] [Black "Mamedov, Rauf"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B33"] [WhiteElo "2566"] [BlackElo "2656"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Cuba"] [BlackTeam "Azerbaijan"] [WhiteTeamCountry "CUB"] [BlackTeamCountry "AZE"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Nd5 Nxd5 8. exd5 Nb8 9. a4 Be7 10. Be2 O-O 11. Bd2 a6 12. Na3 a5 13. Bb5 f5 14. Qe2 Nd7 15. Nc4 Nc5 16. Be3 Qc7 17. f4 e4 18. O-O-O Bd7 19. Bxd7 Nxd7 20. Na3 Rac8 21. Kb1 Nc5 22. Nb5 Qd7 23. b3 {White has a good hold over the queenside here.} Bf6 24. h3 {White is ready to roll his pawns on the kingside. Black has no choice but to search for counterplay.} Na6 25. g4 Nc7 26. Nxc7 Qxc7 27. c4 {White shuts the door on the queenside.} b5 $2 {[%c_effect b5;square;b5;type;Mistake; persistent;true] Desperation. Though Black's counterplay looks creative, White comes up with equally creative defense.} (27... Bc3 {followed by ...Bc3-b4-c5 might have been worth the try.}) 28. axb5 a4 29. b6 Qb7 30. b4 $1 {[%c_effect b4;square;b4;type;GreatFind;persistent;true] White sets his pawns rolling for a massive buildup on the queenside.} Qa6 31. Rc1 a3 32. Ka2 Rb8 33. Rc2 Rfc8 ( 33... Rxb6 {was the final try, though White is clearly better after accepting the exchange sacrifice.} 34. Bxb6 Qxb6 35. c5 $1 Qxb4 36. c6 Rb8 37. Qc4 { should win for White.}) 34. c5 {White's pawns are too strong now.} Qa4 (34... Qxe2 35. Rxe2) 35. c6 Qxb4 36. Rb1 Bb2 37. Qa6 Rf8 38. b7 1-0 [Event "Chennai Chess Olympiad | Open"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.08.02"] [Round "5.2"] [White "Melkumyan, Hrant"] [Black "McShane, Luke J"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E19"] [WhiteElo "2634"] [BlackElo "2649"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "113"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Armenia"] [BlackTeam "England"] [WhiteTeamCountry "ARM"] [BlackTeamCountry "ENG"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Nc3 Ne4 8. Qc2 Nxc3 9. Qxc3 a5 10. Rd1 Na6 11. Ne5 Bxg2 12. Kxg2 d6 13. Nf3 c6 14. h4 d5 15. Bg5 f6 16. Bf4 Qd7 17. a3 Rfd8 18. Rac1 Rac8 19. Qd3 dxc4 20. Qxc4 b5 21. Qa2 Bf8 22. e4 a4 23. Rd2 h6 24. Rcd1 Qf7 25. b4 axb3 26. Qxb3 {White can claim a slight edge here due to his central pawns, but there is no easy breakthrough in the position, and Black should be able to hold the game with passive defense.} e5 $2 {[%c_effect e5;square;e5;type;Mistake;persistent;true] In his eagerness to simplify the position, McShane misses a tactical detail.} ({ Black should set his eyes on White's weak a-pawn with} 26... Ra8 27. Rc1 Rdc8 { and Black should be able to hold with a passive defense.}) 27. Qxf7+ Kxf7 28. dxe5 Rxd2 29. Bxd2 {The point $1 Black can't touch the a3-pawn now.} Nc5 (29... Bxa3 30. Ra1 b4 31. Bxb4 $1 {[%c_effect b4;square;b4;type;GreatFind;persistent; true] The point $1 White still emerges a pawn up with a winning position.} Nxb4 32. Rxa3 {and White remains a healthy pawn up.}) 30. exf6 Kxf6 31. e5+ Kf7 32. Bb4 $16 {White emerges with a clear pawn up.} Ne6 33. Bxf8 Kxf8 34. Nd4 $6 { [%c_effect d4;square;d4;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true] An error in conversion. White need not rush into exchanging the knights off.} (34. Rd6 $1 { [%c_effect d6;square;d6;type;GreatFind;persistent;true]} Ke7 35. Nd2 c5 36. Ne4 {and White has a considerable advantage.}) 34... Nxd4 35. Rxd4 c5 36. Rd5 Ke7 37. Kf3 b4 38. axb4 cxb4 39. Rb5 Ke6 $4 {[%c_effect e6;square;e6;type;Blunder; persistent;true] The decisive mistake in the rook ending.} (39... Rc4 {More than supporting the b4-pawn, the black rook stops the white king from getting active.} 40. Ke3 Ke6 {and it is difficult win the rook ending:} 41. h5 (41. Kd3 Rg4 42. h5 (42. f4 Kf5 $1 {[%c_effect f5;square;f5;type;GreatFind;persistent; true]}) 42... Kf5) 41... Kf5 42. Kd3 Rg4) 40. Kg4 b3 41. f4 $18 {White is winning now.} Rc3 42. f5+ Ke7 43. Rb7+ Kf8 44. Rb4 h5+ 45. Kf4 Ke7 46. g4 hxg4 47. Kxg4 Re3 48. Rb7+ Kf8 49. e6 Re4+ 50. Kg5 Re3 51. h5 Rg3+ 52. Kf4 Rh3 53. Kg4 Re3 54. h6 gxh6 55. Kf4 Re1 56. Rxb3 Rf1+ 57. Ke5 1-0 [Event "Chennai Chess Olympiad | Open"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.08.02"] [Round "5.4"] [White "Adhiban, B..."] [Black "Iturrizaga Bonelli, Eduardo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E49"] [WhiteElo "2598"] [BlackElo "2619"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "89"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "India"] [BlackTeam "Spain"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IND"] [BlackTeamCountry "ESP"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 c5 7. Bd3 d5 8. cxd5 Qxd5 9. Nf3 b6 10. c4 Qc6 11. Qe2 Bb7 12. O-O Nbd7 13. Bb2 Rfd8 14. a4 Rac8 15. a5 Qc7 16. axb6 axb6 17. Nd2 Ra8 18. Rfd1 Rxa1 19. Rxa1 Ra8 20. Rxa8+ Bxa8 21. h3 h6 22. Qe1 Bc6 23. Bf1 cxd4 24. exd4 Qb7 25. Nb3 Qa8 26. Qb4 Be4 27. Nd2 Bc6 28. Nb1 Be4 29. Nc3 Bc6 30. Nd1 Qb8 31. Ne3 Qf4 32. Qe1 Bb7 33. d5 exd5 34. cxd5 Qe4 35. f3 Qf4 36. Qc3 Nc5 37. Bb5 Qg5 38. Bc6 Bxc6 $2 { [%c_effect c6;square;c6;type;Mistake;persistent;true]} ({It is already a difficult position for Black, and his best chance for a fight was} 38... Ba6 39. Qe5 Qxe5 40. Bxe5 Nfd7 41. Bc7 f6 {followed by bringing the black king to the center.}) 39. dxc6 Ne6 40. Qe5 Nc7 $6 {[%c_effect c7;square;c7;type; Inaccuracy;persistent;true] A mistake, but Black faced an uphill task anyway.} (40... b5 41. h4 $1 {[%c_effect h4;square;h4;type;GreatFind;persistent;true]} Qxh4 42. Qb8+ Kh7 43. c7 Qe1+ 44. Nf1 Nxc7 45. Qxc7 {and the resultant position should be a win for White too.}) 41. Qxc7 Qxe3+ 42. Kh2 {Now the c-passer proves to be lethal.} Qe8 43. Qd6 Qc8 44. Bxf6 gxf6 45. Qd7 1-0 [Event "WCO"] [Site "Chennai, India"] [Date "2022.08.02"] [Round "5.2"] [White "Shirov Alexei"] [Black "Gukesh D."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B30"] [WhiteElo "2704"] [BlackElo "2684"] [Annotator "Kuljasevic, Davorin"] [PlyCount "88"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] {Dommaraju Gukesh is currently one of the most exciting young players in the world of chess. The third-youngest grandmaster in history has recently crossed the super-GM 2700 barrier. Thanks to his excellent performances in the Olympiad, he currently stands at 2714 (#27) on the live rating list. Today, he showed his positional prowess and strong endgame technique to beat the legendary Alexey Shirov, who was already featured in GOTD with his flashy first-round win.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 {Shirov uses a well-known move order designed to avoid the infamous Sveshnikov Sicilian. This variation of the Sicilian is one of Gukesh's favorite weapons with the black pieces; his recent, brilliant win over Nodirbek Abdusattorov in Biel is the best example.} e5 {This is the most principled reply, ensuring that White can no longer get the open Sicilian.} 4. Bc4 d6 5. d3 h6 $5 {Some decades ago, this would have been considered a second-rate move. However, almost everything Magnus Carlsen touches turns to gold, so this approach recently gained traction among the strong players.} (5... Be7 {is the main line, when White typically has two directions: the positional one with} 6. Nd2 ({or a sharper one with} 6. O-O Nf6 7. Ng5 $5 O-O 8. f4) 6... Nf6 7. Nf1 {The idea behind Gukesh's useful pawn move is to remain flexible and send the ball into White's court. Black can still choose how to continue developing, depending on what his opponent does.}) 6. Nd5 {A rare but reasonable continuation.} ({Let's understand what happens if White follows the two most common plans. Firstly, in the event of the positional maneuver} 6. Nd2 {Black could develop more flexibly with} g6 $5 7. Nf1 Bg7 {when his knight could go to e7 instead of f6. This is the plan that Carlsen popularized back in 2018.}) ({On the other hand, if White goes for} 6. O-O {then after} Nf6 {he would not have the dangerous Ng5 sortie, as in the main line.}) 6... Nf6 7. c3 Be7 8. a3 {Shirov's play is logical—he is preparing to seize space on the queenside with b2-b4. Gukesh decides to stop this plan in its tracks with} a5 {This is a novelty.} ({Previously,} 8... O-O { was played and White was for preference after} 9. b4 Be6 10. O-O {in the game Gruenfeld,Y (2505)-Grivas,E (2425) Tel Aviv 1991, 0-1 (63)}) 9. Rg1 $5 { Shirov's trademark approach $1 He plans to exchange the f6-knight and push g2-g4, which usually gains in strength with the presence of the h6-hook.} ({ However, a more classical response} 9. a4 $1 {would have been objectively better, fixing the queenside structure and planning to exploit the b5/d5 weaknesses in the long run. This way, White could claim a slight edge.}) 9... Nxd5 10. Bxd5 Be6 {While it is vital to deal with the strong d5-bishop, this move could wait.} (10... a4 $1 {was more urgent as Black could fix the queenside in his favor.}) 11. Bxe6 $6 {There are instances when this exchange works well for White (the game Santos Latasa-Praggnanandhaa from the same match is a case in point), but this is not one of them.} ({It would have been better to play} 11. a4 {again, when} Bxd5 12. exd5 Nb8 13. Nd2 {would lead to a position where, in the long run, Black still might have some issues with his weak light squares and pawns on the dark squares.}) 11... fxe6 {As a result of the exchange, Black gets an open f-file and stabilizes the center, but what does White get in return $2 Shirov tries to take the initiative with} 12. g4 Qd7 {Gukesh opts for the most pragmatic move, preparing queenside castling.} ( 12... g5 $5 {was an interesting alternative. White would have to look for a different plan.}) 13. g5 hxg5 14. Bxg5 Bxg5 15. Rxg5 O-O-O {Shirov got what he wanted—he opened the g-file. However, this whole plan seems doubtful in hindsight since his opponent obtained semi-open h- and f-files, and two is more than one $1} 16. Qe2 Rdf8 17. O-O-O Rf7 {Gukesh plays logically—not only does he overprotect the g7-pawn, but he also threatens to double his rooks on the f-file to put pressure on white pieces. This virtually forces Shirov to play} 18. Rg2 {to cover these weaknesses on the second rank. So far, the game has been more or less balanced. Here comes the turning point as Gukesh plays} a4 $1 {With this move, he indicates that he is ready to fight for the initiative on both fronts.} 19. Rdg1 b5 $5 {The young Indian player continues with the plan but also sets up a small psychological trap for his legendary opponent.} ({It would have been “safer” to start with} 19... Na5 20. Nd2 {and play} b5 {only when the pawn is protected. That said, Gukesh's choice turned out to be even stronger.}) 20. Ng5 Re7 21. d4 $6 {True to his style, Shirov tries to create fire on the board, using the fact that the b5-pawn is hanging. Unfortunately for him, this double-edged idea will be neutralized, and I have a feeling that Gukesh saw this in advance.} ({It is no fun to sit and wait with something like} 21. Kb1 {but that's probably what White has to do at this point.}) 21... exd4 22. Qxb5 Ne5 $1 {That's the key move that kills White's ambitions. Shirov won't be able to avoid the queen trade, and the resulting endgame will be in Black's favor because of his big pawn center.} 23. Qa6+ ({Alternatively,} 23. Qe2 d3 {looks pretty miserable for White.}) 23... Qb7 24. Qxb7+ (24. Qxd6 {fails to} Nd3+ 25. Kc2 Rd8) 24... Kxb7 25. cxd4 cxd4 {Black has a protected passer in the center, whereas White's pawn structure holds much less potential. Not everything is lost for White, but he needs to play precisely to keep chances in this endgame.} 26. Rd1 ({The trouble is that} 26. f4 {is not possible due to} Nd3+) 26... Nc6 27. f4 e5 (27... Rf8 $1 {would have been even more accurate since after} 28. Nf3 e5 { White could not capture on e5 and he would be forced to play} 29. f5 Na5 { which would be similar to the game.}) 28. f5 $2 {A decisive mistake. Searching for counter-chances, Shirov underestimated the strength of the black pawn center.} ({Instead, he would have kept realistic drawing chances with} 28. fxe5 dxe5 29. Nf3 Na5 30. Rdg1) 28... Na5 29. Ne6 Nb3+ 30. Kb1 Kb6 $5 {Gukesh is in no hurry. It makes sense to activate the king.} ({Many other moves were winning, including directly attacking the e4-weakling with} 30... Rh4) 31. Rc2 {This move is equivalent to strategic resignation. Shirov probably realized too late that his plan to capture the g7-pawn was conceptually flawed.} ({ We can see this in the following two lines where Black blocks the kingside pawns first and then pushes his central passers.} 31. Nxg7 Rg8 32. f6 Rf7 33. Rg6 Nc5 34. Re1 d3) (31. Rxg7 Rxg7 32. Nxg7 d5 $1 33. exd5 Kc5 34. f6 Kxd5 { Black has a winning endgame in both cases.}) 31... Rh4 {The e4-pawn is beyond salvation. Shirov captures the a4-pawn as a consolation, but it is clear that this is not a fair exchange.} 32. Rc4 Rxe4 33. Rxa4 Nc5 {The simplest. By exchanging the e6-knight, Gukesh eliminates his opponent's last-minute tricks and ensures that his central pawns have smooth sailing toward the first rank.} 34. Rb4+ Kc6 35. Rc1 Re2 36. h4 Kd5 $1 {Of course $1 We should play actively with our king in the endgame when we have a chance.} 37. Rb5 Ke4 38. Nxc5+ dxc5 39. Rcxc5 d3 40. Kc1 Kf3 $1 {The king joins to support the connected passers; there is nothing White can do anymore to save the game.} 41. Rc3 e4 42. Rd5 Ke3 43. b4 {Shirov's connected passed pawns are miles away from their destination while Gukesh is just about to promote his.} Re1+ 44. Kb2 Ke2 {and there is no good defense against 45...d2, so Shirov resigned. 0-} 0-1 [Event "Chennai Women's Chess Olympiad"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.08.03"] [Round "6.4"] [White "Osmak, Yuliia"] [Black "Lehaci, Miruna-Daria"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A61"] [WhiteElo "2420"] [BlackElo "2193"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "142"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Ukraine"] [BlackTeam "Romania"] [WhiteTeamCountry "UKR"] [BlackTeamCountry "ROU"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4. d5 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nc3 g6 7. Bf4 Bg7 8. h3 O-O 9. e3 Na6 10. Bxa6 bxa6 11. Rc1 Rb8 12. b3 h6 13. Bh2 Rb7 14. Nd2 Ne8 15. O-O f5 16. Nc4 g5 17. Re1 Rbf7 18. Qd3 a5 19. Ne2 f4 20. exf4 gxf4 21. Qf3 Nc7 22. Rcd1 Nb5 23. a4 Nd4 24. Nxd4 cxd4 25. Re4 Bb7 26. Re6 Rf5 27. Rxd6 Qg5 28. Qg4 Bxd5 29. Bxf4 Qxg4 30. hxg4 Rxf4 31. Rxd5 Rxf2 32. Rxa5 Re2 33. Rf5 Rb8 34. Rd3 Rbe8 35. g5 h5 36. Rf4 Rc2 37. Rd2 Rc3 38. Rf3 Rb8 39. Na5 Rc5 40. Nc4 Rxg5 41. Nd6 Rc5 42. Nf5 Be5 43. Kf2 Rb4 44. Re2 Rb7 45. Re4 Rd7 46. b4 Rcd5 47. Ke2 d3+ 48. Kd2 Bc3+ 49. Kd1 Kh7 50. g4 h4 51. g5 Re5 52. Rxe5 Bxe5 53. Nxh4 Bc3 54. b5 Kg7 55. Rg3 $5 Rd5 56. g6 Bb4 57. Ng2 d2 58. Rg4 Ba5 59. Ne3 Rh5 60. Rg1 Rc5 61. Ke2 Rc1 62. Nd1 Rc4 63. Ne3 Rf4 64. Rg4 Rf6 65. Rd4 Kxg6 66. Nc4 Re6+ 67. Kd1 $4 {A simple blunder resulting in loss of a piece.} (67. Kf3 Rf6+ 68. Ke2 Re6+ {with a draw.}) 67... Re1+ 68. Kc2 Rc1+ 69. Kb3 Rc3+ 70. Kb2 Rxc4 71. Rxc4 d1=Q {0-} 0-1 [Event "Chennai Women's Chess Olympiad"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.08.03"] [Round "6.3"] [White "Vaishali R"] [Black "Javakhishvili, Lela"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C67"] [WhiteElo "2442"] [BlackElo "2476"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "71"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "India"] [BlackTeam "Georgia"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IND"] [BlackTeamCountry "GEO"] 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. d5 Rxe1 12. Qxe1 b6 13. a4 Bb7 14. c4 Ba6 15. Na3 c6 16. Bf4 Nb7 $2 (16... Nf5 17. Qd2 cxd5 18. cxd5 $11) 17. b4 $3 { Smothering the bishop on a6.} Bxa1 18. Qxa1 Qe7 19. b5 Nc5 20. bxa6 Nxa6 21. Be3 {White controls the board.} Nc5 22. Nc2 cxd5 23. cxd5 Qe4 24. Bxc5 bxc5 25. Ne3 Rb8 26. Qc3 Qxa4 $2 (26... d6 27. Qa5 Qe7 28. Bb5 g6 {and Black can put up a defense, though White remains clearly better here.}) 27. Nf5 Qg4 28. Qe5 Rf8 29. h3 f6 30. Ne7+ Kf7 31. Qc7 $1 Qa4 32. Nc6 $18 Kg8 33. Qxd7 Qe4 34. Ne7+ Kh8 35. Nf5 Rg8 36. Nd6 1-0 [Event "Chennai Women's Chess Olympiad"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.08.03"] [Round "6.1"] [White "Koneru, Humpy"] [Black "Dzagnidze, Nana"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A61"] [WhiteElo "2586"] [BlackElo "2531"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "83"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "India"] [BlackTeam "Georgia"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IND"] [BlackTeamCountry "GEO"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c5 4. d5 exd5 5. cxd5 g6 6. Nf3 d6 7. Bf4 a6 8. a4 Bg7 9. h3 O-O 10. e3 Ne8 11. Be2 Nd7 12. O-O b6 13. Nd2 Ne5 14. Qb3 Rb8 15. Rad1 b5 $1 16. Bh2 f5 17. axb5 axb5 18. Qc2 Nc7 $15 {Black seemed to be enjoying the initiative here, but Humpy put up a great fight.} 19. b4 c4 20. Nf3 Nf7 21. Nd4 Bd7 22. Nc6 Bxc6 23. dxc6 {The position is level again.} Be5 $2 (23... Qf6 24. Nd5 Nxd5 25. Rxd5 Rfc8 {might have preserved equality.}) 24. Bxe5 Nxe5 25. f4 Nf7 $2 (25... Nxc6 26. Nxb5 $1 $16) 26. Bf3 Qe7 27. Rfe1 Rfe8 28. Qd2 Rbd8 29. e4 fxe4 30. Rxe4 {White is winning now.} Qh4 31. Nd5 Rxe4 32. Bxe4 Nxd5 33. Bxd5 Qf6 34. Qe3 Rf8 35. Qe6 Qd8 36. Re1 Kg7 37. Qe7 Qb6+ 38. Qe3 Qxe3+ 39. Rxe3 Kf6 40. Re6+ Kf5 41. c7 c3 42. Re3 1-0 [Event "Chennai Chess Olympiad | Open"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.08.03"] [Round "6.1"] [White "Abdusattorov, Nodirbek"] [Black "Harikrishna, Pentala"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "2688"] [BlackElo "2720"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "68"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Uzbekistan"] [BlackTeam "India"] [WhiteTeamCountry "UZB"] [BlackTeamCountry "IND"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 d6 7. O-O a5 8. c3 Ba7 9. a4 g5 10. Bg3 Ne7 11. Qb3 O-O 12. Nbd2 {White seems to have mishandled the opening, and Hari begins the onslaught from here.} Ng6 13. d4 Nh5 14. dxe5 Nxg3 15. hxg3 dxe5 16. Rad1 g4 17. Nh2 Qg5 $17 {Black piles up on the kingside. } 18. Rfe1 Kg7 19. Re2 h5 20. Ndf1 h4 21. Rd3 $2 ({Better was} 21. Red2 Bb6 { Preparing ...f7-f5.} (21... f5 22. exf5 Bxf5 23. Qxb7) (21... hxg3 22. Nxg3 Nf4 23. Nhf1 {might have been a better defense.}) 22. gxh4 Nxh4 23. Ng3 f5 { with an initiative for Black.}) 21... hxg3 22. Rxg3 Nf4 $19 23. Nxg4 Bxg4 24. Ne3 Bxe3 25. Rexe3 Ng6 26. Be2 Be6 27. Qb5 Qf4 28. Qc5 Rh8 29. Qxc7 Rh6 30. Bf3 Rc8 31. Qxa5 Rch8 32. Kf1 Rh1+ 33. Ke2 Bc4+ 34. Kd2 Rf1 {0-} 0-1 [Event "Chennai Chess Olympiad | Open"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.08.03"] [Round "6.4"] [White "Hovhannisyan, Robert"] [Black "Sadhwani, Raunak"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C67"] [WhiteElo "2591"] [BlackElo "2611"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "101"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Armenia"] [BlackTeam "India"] [WhiteTeamCountry "ARM"] [BlackTeamCountry "IND"] 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. Nc3 Bd7 10. h3 h6 11. b3 c5 12. Bb2 Nd4 13. Nxd4 cxd4 14. Ne4 c5 15. c3 dxc3 16. Bxc3 a5 17. Rad1 Kc7 18. f4 a4 19. Nd6 Bxd6 20. exd6+ Kb6 21. b4 cxb4 22. Bxb4 Rhe8 {Sadhwani had played his moves in quick tempo upto this point, showed his preparedness for the game. However, Hovhannisyan conducts the remainder of the game with probing understanding.} 23. Rf2 Rac8 24. Rd4 Ka6 25. a3 b5 26. Rd5 f6 $2 {Black unnecessarily weakens his pawn structure.} (26... Re4 27. Re5 Rxe5 28. fxe5 Be6 {would have maintained equality.}) 27. Rd3 $1 {White shifts his attention to the weakened kingside.} Bf5 28. Rg3 g6 29. Rd2 Re4 30. Kh2 Rd8 31. Rc3 Rc4 32. Re3 Rxf4 33. Re7 { For the sacrificed pawn, the white rooks have enough dynamism.} Re4 $6 (33... Bd7 34. Rf7 Kb6 {was Black's best defense.}) 34. Rf7 Re6 $2 ({The only move was } 34... Rd7 35. Rxf6 h5 {with a passive defense.}) 35. Bc5 {The mating threat on a7 is decisive.} b4 {Only move.} 36. Ra7+ Kb5 37. Bxb4 Re5 38. Rb2 Kc6 39. Rc7+ Kd5 {Suddenly, the black king is being hunted down.} 40. Rd2+ Ke4 41. Rc4+ Ke3 42. Rc1 $18 Bd3 43. Bc3 Be2 44. Re1 Kf2 45. Rb1 Ke3 46. Rbb2 Bd3 47. Rd1 Bc4 48. Bd4+ Ke4 49. Bxe5 Kxe5 50. Re1+ Kd4 51. Rb4 1-0 [Event "Chennai Chess Olympiad | Open"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.08.03"] [Round "6.3"] [White "Adhiban, B..."] [Black "Ter-Sahakyan, Samvel"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E48"] [WhiteElo "2598"] [BlackElo "2625"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "India"] [BlackTeam "Armenia"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IND"] [BlackTeamCountry "ARM"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. cxd5 exd5 7. Nge2 Re8 8. Bd2 Bf8 9. Rc1 b6 10. O-O c5 11. Nf4 Bb7 12. Qf3 a6 13. dxc5 bxc5 14. Rfd1 Nbd7 15. Qh3 Ne5 16. Bb1 Ng6 17. Nce2 Qb6 18. Bc3 Rad8 {The position is almost level here, and Black conducts this phase of the game in an admirable manner.} 19. Qf5 Bc8 20. Qc2 $6 ({Better was} 20. Qd3 d4 21. exd4 Ne4 (21... Nxf4 22. Nxf4 cxd4 23. Nh5 $1 Ne4 24. Bxd4 {with a complex position.}) 22. Qf3 Nxc3 23. bxc3 {with some advantage for Black.}) 20... d4 $1 21. exd4 Nxf4 22. Nxf4 cxd4 23. Bd2 (23. Nh5 Ne4 $19 24. Be1 Bg4) 23... Bg4 24. Re1 Rc8 25. Qd3 $2 ({ Better was} 25. Qb3 Rxe1+ 26. Rxe1 Qxb3 27. axb3 Rb8 {with near equality.}) 25... Rxc1 26. Rxc1 Qxb2 {Black is a pawn-up, and went on to win the game.} 27. Qc2 Ba3 28. Qxb2 Bxb2 29. Re1 Rxe1+ 30. Bxe1 Bd7 31. Bd3 g5 32. Nh3 Bc3 33. Kf1 Bxe1 34. Kxe1 Bxh3 35. gxh3 a5 $19 36. Ke2 Nd7 37. Kf3 Nc5 38. Bc2 Kg7 39. Kg4 d3 40. Bd1 Ne4 {0-} 0-1 [Event "WCO"] [Site "Chennai, India"] [Date "2022.08.03"] [Round "6.1"] [White "Gukesh D."] [Black "Sargissian Gabriel"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D38"] [WhiteElo "2684"] [BlackElo "2698"] [Annotator "Kuljasevic, Davorin"] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] {The 16-year-old Gukesh is the man of the hour in the Olympiad $1 Today he scored his sixth consecutive win, which makes him the only player with a hundred percent score before the second half of the tournament. And what a win it was, as he demolished a super-solid GM Gabriel Sargissian with a powerful attack.} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 Bb4 {Sargissian is an expert in the Queen's gambit declined (4...Be7), but he has recently added the slightly more dynamic Ragozin defense to his repertoire.} 5. Qa4+ {This check forces Black to put his knight in front of the c-pawn, which could be considered a small opening achievement for White. Nevertheless, practice has shown that Black obtains good counterplay by focusing on …e6-e5 instead of the usual …c7-c5 break in this type of position.} Nc6 6. e3 O-O 7. Bd2 {White prepares to play 8.a3 when he could recapture with the bishop on c3 if Black goes 8... Bxc3.} (7. Qc2 {is the other extensive line when Black has several additional options, such as} b6 ({and} 7... Ne7 {The text narrows down Black's choices.})) 7... dxc4 {This is the main line. Usually, Black waits with this capture until White moves his light-squared bishop, but here he wants to secure the d6-retreat for his bishop.} ({The other important line goes} 7... Re8 8. a3 Bf8 {etc.} ({However,} 8... Bd6 $6 {would be a mistake in view of} 9. c5 Bf8 10. Bb5 {when Black would find it extremely difficult to break with e6-e5. This is why it's crucial to exchange the white c-pawn.})) 8. Bxc4 Bd6 9. Qc2 {There is no way to prevent Black's central break, so Gukesh recentralizes his queen. All this is well-known opening theory, anyway.} e5 10. dxe5 Nxe5 11. Be2 $5 { A prudent, practical choice. This sideline surprised the Armenian grandmaster, who spent 20 minutes on his next move.} ({Sargissian was undoubtedly well-acquainted with the positions arising after} 11. Nxe5 Bxe5 {, particularly since his opponent played like this only a few weeks ago in Biel against Le Quang Liem.} 12. O-O b6 13. f4 Bd6 14. Be2 Bb7 15. Bf3 Bxf3 16. Rxf3 Qd7 17. e4 Rad8 18. Be1 Bb4 19. e5 Nd5 {Black equalized in ½-½ (65) Gukesh,D (2684)-Le,Q (2722) Biel 2022}) 11... Nxf3+ {A principled yet double-edged choice. Gukesh was probably looking forward to this move since it provides a dynamic game with attacking chances.} ({In my 2018 Ragozin course for Modern Chess, I recommended} 11... Qe7 {which still strikes me as a more reliable option than the text. After} 12. Nd4 c5 13. Nf5 Bxf5 14. Qxf5 {Kjartansson,G (2456)-Sebenik,M (2534) Heraklion 2017, 0-1 (29), Black gets good counterplay with} Rad8 $5 {etc.}) (11... c6 $5 {is another reasonable option.}) 12. gxf3 $1 {This is the point. Thanks to this ''anti-positional'' recapture, White gets action on the g-file, and the game suddenly becomes very sharp.} (12. Bxf3 { is too bland. Black has no problems after} Qe7 13. O-O c6) 12... a6 13. O-O-O b5 {Logically, Sargissian counter-attacks on the other flank.} 14. Rhg1 b4 { This is another move that took some time off the Armenian's clock. It's not wrong according to the engines, though it looks a bit loose.} ({It seemed more natural to complete development with} 14... Bb7 {White could continue} 15. e4 $1 Qe7 16. Bg5 {with a position where both sides would have their chances.}) 15. Ne4 {Gukesh decided to exchange the main defender of the opponent's kingside.} ({It's worth noting that he had another attractive option in} 15. Bd3 $5 bxc3 16. Bxc3 {This piece sacrifice leads to a scary position for Black. India 2's first board probably didn't want to take too many risks at such an early point of the game.}) 15... Nxe4 16. fxe4 $1 {Another recapture that might seem counter-intuitive at first. However, this structural transformation only increases the dynamic potential of white pawns.} ({Conversely, the ''normal'' recapture} 16. Qxe4 $6 {would be worse since after} Rb8 17. Bd3 g6 { the white queen is misplaced on e4.}) 16... Qe7 17. f4 {The pawns are rolling, and Black needs to start making some difficult decisions.} a5 $6 {Sargissian played this natural move relatively quickly, but it turns out to be an inaccuracy.} (17... f6 {is not the move you usually want to make when attacked since the general rule of thumb says that you should not advance the pawns around your king. However, in this particular position, weakening the kingside was a lesser evil than allowing White to push e4-e5. White would have two promising attacking continuations:} 18. Rg3 ({and} 18. e5 fxe5 19. Bd3 Kh8 20. Bxh7 exf4 21. exf4 Bxf4 {although it seems like Black should be able to fend off the attack eventually.}) 18... Kh8 19. Rdg1 g6 20. h4 Bb7 21. Bd3 {While the engines claim equality, I believe that everyone would take White here.}) 18. e5 Bc5 19. Rg5 $5 {This unexpected move took a big chunk of Gukesh's clock. } ({I happened to spend some time on this position during the live transmission and thought that} 19. Qe4 {was the simplest to win a tempo for f4-f5. Indeed, after} Ba6 20. Bxa6 Rxa6 21. f5 g6 22. Qf4 $1 {Black is facing difficulties.}) 19... Ba6 (19... h6 $2 {would be naive. After} 20. Rg3 { , Black could hardly defend with ...g7-g6 ever again.}) ({On the other hand,} 19... g6 {would have probably been a better defense than the game continuation since it is not clear who launches their attack faster after} 20. h4 a4 $1) 20. Rdg1 $1 {A stylish intermezzo. The bishop on e2 is taboo due to the mate in 2 threat.} g6 21. Bxa6 Rxa6 22. f5 {The critical position of the game. Both players were down to their last 30 minutes before the time control on move 40. This should be enough time to figure out the proper continuation. However, it is significantly more challenging to find accurate defensive than attacking moves, and, upon a 13-minute think, Sargissian errs with} Ba7 $2 {Presumably, he wanted to prepare the queen trade on c5 to take the sting out of White's attack.} (22... Rc6 $1 {was the only way to keep the balance, although it is not immediately obvious why this move works. Let's consider some logical continuations:} 23. Kb1 ({In the event of} 23. Qe4 {Black has an unexpectedly strong reply} Qd7 $1 {when} 24. Kb1 {loses to} Qxd2 25. Qxc6 Bxe3) 23... Rd8 $1 {and now if White goes} 24. e6 {Black can neutralize the attack with} fxe6 25. fxg6 h6 $1 {Well, good luck finding all these precise defensive moves in a game $1}) 23. e6 $6 {Surprisingly, this natural advance gives Black a lifeline. } ({Sometimes, when we attack, quiet prophylactic moves like} 23. Kb1 $1 { can be immensely powerful. In this case, Black would not have a good reply. For example:} Rd8 ({Black doesn't get far if he tries to chase the white queen around with} 23... Qc5 24. Qe4 Qc6 {because of} 25. Qh4 $1 {with a mating attack.}) ({and} 23... a4 {loses on the spot to} 24. Qc4 $1 Rb6 25. fxg6 hxg6 26. Rxg6+) 24. e6 $1 fxe6 25. fxg6 h6 26. Rh5 {Compared to a similar line that could happen in the game, White should win here since Black doesn't have the …Rf2 counterplay.}) 23... Kh8 $2 {Sargissian misses the last chance to try to save the game.} ({As already mentioned earlier, Black could at least partially neutralize the white attack with} 23... fxe6 24. fxg6 h6 $1 {when the opponent's g6-pawn would protect his king. White could still keep pressing with} 25. g7 $1 (25. Rh5 {would allow nasty counterplay with} Rf2 $1) 25... hxg5 26. gxf8=Q+ Kxf8 27. h4 $1 {but this is far from a foregone conclusion as Black would have resources to fight.}) 24. Kb1 $1 {Gukesh finally realizes the importance of this quiet move. With his king safe, the attack should unfold on its own.} ({A more reckless attacking move like} 24. h4 $6 {would be met by} f6 25. R5g3 gxf5 $1 26. Rg7 Qxe6 {with a complete turnaround $1}) 24... gxf5 { Gukesh finds a winning tactic:} ({However, Black could hardly resist even after the relatively most solid} 24... h6 25. R5g4 g5 {h2-h4 is coming sooner or later, but White is winning on the positional grounds, as well, after} 26. Rc4 $1) ({It is important to note that} 24... f6 25. R5g3 gxf5 {would not save Black because this time} 26. Rg7 {wins due to} Qxe6 27. Qxc7 {and thanks to 24. Kb1, Black does not have 27...Rc6+.}) 25. Bxb4 $3 {A beautiful clearance sacrifice. White prepares to swing his queen over to the g-file with a tempo, and Black has no defense against this threat.} Qxb4 ({In the event of} 25... axb4 {White forces a win with} 26. Qg2 Qd8 27. e7 Qd3+ 28. Qc2 $1 (28. Ka1 $2 { would allow Black to escape with a perpetual check after} Rxa2+ $1 29. Kxa2 b3+ 30. Ka1 Qa6+ 31. Kb1 Qd3+) 28... Qxc2+ 29. Kxc2 Re8 {and White wins thanks to the same tactic as in the game:} 30. Rg8+ $1 Rxg8 31. Rxg8+ Kxg8 32. e8=Q+) 26. Qg2 ({A wise man once said that mistakes are always there in chess, waiting to be made. In this position, the attractive combination} 26. Qxf5 $4 Rxe6 27. Qxf7 {fails to} Qe1+ $1 28. Rxe1 Rxf7 {and Black wins.}) 26... Qe4+ {The queen trade only postpones the inevitable.} ({Passive defense with} 26... Qb8 { would be easily refuted:} 27. exf7 Rg6 28. Rxg6 hxg6 29. Qxg6 {with checkmate to follow.}) 27. Qxe4 fxe4 {There is no checkmate in sight. Did Gukesh miss something $2 No, he had foreseen a promotion combination:} 28. e7 $1 (28. exf7 $4 {would be wrong because of} Rg6) 28... Re8 29. Rg8+ $1 Rxg8 30. Rxg8+ Kxg8 31. e8=Q+ {The queen was absent only for a couple of moves. It reappears at the right moment, while the remaining black pieces sit around, uncoordinated. In similar endgames, Black often tries to create a fortress with his rook and bishop, but here the black pawns are an easy pray for the dominant queen. Gukesh made the rest look easy.} Kg7 32. Qe5+ $1 {White doesn't care about the e4-pawn; he is rather after the c7-, a5-, and h7-pawns.} (32. Qxe4 $6 {would allow Black to consolidate somewhat with} Re6) 32... Rf6 (32... Kg8 {meets} 33. Qxc7) 33. Qg5+ Rg6 34. Qxa5 Rg1+ ({The board geometry works in White's favor, which is not surprising considering the lack of coordination among the black pieces. For example,} 34... Bxe3 35. Qc3+) 35. Kc2 Rg2+ 36. Kb3 Bb6 37. Qe5+ Kf8 38. Qh8+ Ke7 39. Qxh7 {Black pawns are falling one after another like dominoes.} Re2 40. Qxe4+ Kf8 41. Qb4+ {Black resigns, as he loses the rook or a bishop to a double attack.} 1-0 [Event "Chennai Women's Chess Olympiad"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.08.05"] [Round "7.2"] [White "Harika, Dronavalli"] [Black "Balajayeva, Khanim"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D27"] [WhiteElo "2517"] [BlackElo "2344"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "119"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "India"] [BlackTeam "Azerbaijan"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IND"] [BlackTeamCountry "AZE"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Bxc4 c5 6. O-O a6 7. Be2 Nbd7 8. b3 b6 9. Ne5 Bb7 10. Bf3 Nd5 11. Nxd7 Qxd7 12. Bb2 Rd8 13. Nd2 cxd4 14. Bxd4 Bb4 15. Nc4 b5 16. Nb6 Nxb6 17. Bxb6 Bxf3 18. Qxf3 Rc8 19. Bd4 Bc3 20. Rad1 Bxd4 21. Rxd4 Qc6 22. Rfd1 O-O 23. Qxc6 Rxc6 24. Rd6 Rxd6 25. Rxd6 Ra8 26. Rb6 Kf8 27. Kf1 Ke7 28. Ke2 Ra7 29. a4 bxa4 30. bxa4 h5 31. h4 g6 32. Kf3 Kf6 33. Kf4 Rc7 34. Rxa6 Rc2 35. Kg3 Ra2 36. Ra7 Kg7 37. a5 Kf6 38. a6 Kg7 39. Kf3 Kf6 40. Ra8 Kg7 41. e4 e5 42. g3 Kf6 43. Ke3 Ra3+ 44. Kd2 Ra2+ 45. Kc3 Rxf2 46. Rc8 $4 (46. Kb3 Rf1 47. Kb4 {with good chances of a win.}) 46... Ra2 47. Rc6+ Kg7 48. Kb3 Ra1 49. Kb4 f5 50. exf5 gxf5 51. Kb5 f4 52. gxf4 exf4 53. Rc4 f3 54. Rf4 Rb1+ 55. Kc6 Ra1 56. Kb7 Rb1+ 57. Kc7 Ra1 58. Kb7 Rb1+ 59. Kc7 Ra1 60. Kb7 1/2-1/2 [Event "Chennai Chess Olympiad | Open"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.08.05"] [Round "7.4"] [White "Puranik, Abhimanyu"] [Black "Narayanan.S.L"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C77"] [WhiteElo "2612"] [BlackElo "2659"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "76"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "India"] [BlackTeam "India"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IND"] [BlackTeamCountry "IND"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d3 b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bh4 d6 9. c3 g5 10. Bg3 O-O 11. O-O Bb6 12. a4 Rb8 13. axb5 axb5 14. h3 Ne7 15. Nbd2 Ng6 16. d4 Re8 17. Re1 c5 18. Bc2 $2 (18. dxe5 dxe5 19. c4 {would have given White even a slightly better position.}) 18... cxd4 19. cxd4 g4 20. hxg4 Bxg4 {White's center comes under pressure now.} 21. dxe5 $2 (21. Nf1 Bxd4 22. Ne3 Bxe3 (22... Bh5 23. Nf5) 23. Rxe3 $15 {is the lesser evil.}) 21... Nh5 $1 22. Nf1 Nxg3 23. Nxg3 Nxe5 {White's kingside crumbles now.} 24. Ra3 Qf6 25. Nf5 d5 26. Ng3 Kh8 $2 (26... Rbc8 27. Bb1 h5 {puts White under considerable pressure.}) 27. exd5 Bxf3 $2 ({Better is} 27... Nxf3+ 28. gxf3 Qf4 $1 29. Kh2 ( 29. Kg2 Bh3+ $3 30. Kxh3 Bxf2 31. Rxe8+ Rxe8 32. Nf5 Rg8 {and Black wins.}) 29... Bd7 $3 {with an irresistible attack on the kingside.}) 28. gxf3 Qh4 29. Kg2 Bxf2 30. Kxf2 Qh2+ 31. Kf1 Qh3+ 32. Kf2 Qh2+ 33. Kf1 Qxg3 34. Qd4 {The position is level now.} f6 35. Qd2 $4 (35. Qf2 Qh3+ 36. Qg2 Qxg2+ 37. Kxg2 Nc4 38. Rxe8+ Rxe8 39. Rc3 Nxb2 40. Rc5 Nc4 41. Kg3 {and White equalizes.}) 35... Qh4 {Threatening 36...Qh1.} 36. Be4 Rg8 37. f4 Nc4 38. Qc1 Qh2 {0-} 0-1 [Event "WCO"] [Site "Chennai, India"] [Date "2022.08.05"] [Round "7.2"] [White "So Wesley"] [Black "Melkumyan Hrant"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B11"] [WhiteElo "2773"] [BlackElo "2634"] [Annotator "Kuljasevic, Davorin"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] {Wesley So is renowned for his positional finesse and endgame technique, but he reminds us of his exceptional attacking and combinational talent every once in a while. His opponent's grave blunder marked today's game, but it was a spectacular game, nevertheless. As they say, it takes two to tango.} 1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 {Wesley goes for the flexible Two Knights variation against the Caro-Kann.} ({Recently So mostly played} 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nd2 $5 {, an interesting positional line that he suggested in his 1.e4 Lifetime Repertoire course.}) 2... d5 3. Nf3 Bg4 {Melkumyan goes for the classical line.} ({ In modern times,} 3... dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 $5 {has been a popular alternative for Black, inviting White to capture} 5. Nxf6+ {when} (5. Qe2 {is better.}) 5... exf6 {leads to a dynamic pawn structure where Black usually scores well.}) 4. h3 Bxf3 5. Qxf3 e6 {Having exchanged his problematic light-squared bishop, Black sets up a super-solid pyramidal structure in the center. It allows him to develop his pieces to their natural squares and complete the opening smoothly. On the other hand, White's bishop pair may prove to be an asset in the long run, but it isn't simple to open up the position to maximize its potential. Moreover, the knight is not placed ideally on c3, and White usually needs to reroute it to a better square in the future. In short, both sides have something to look forward to in the ensuing middlegame.} 6. Be2 {This simple developing move is probably the most popular among several reasonable options.} ({Bobby Fischer used to play} 6. d3 {, often in combination with g2-g3,}) ({while} 6. d4 {is a more direct approach.}) 6... Bc5 {Black takes control of the d4-square since White might want to go d2-d4 at some point.} 7. O-O Nd7 8. exd5 {Typically, White doesn't release the tension in the center so early, but Wesley wants to prepare the d4-break without worrying about his opponent pushing the pawn to d4 himself.} ({In the event of the immediate} 8. Rd1 {Black has a strong tactical retort:} d4 9. Nb1 Ne5 10. Qg3 d3 $1 11. Qxe5 ({If White takes the pawn} 11. Bxd3 Nxd3 12. cxd3 {Black has a typical positional compensation for the pawn after} Ne7 $1) 11... Bd4 $1 12. Qg3 dxc2 13. Re1 cxb1=Q 14. Rxb1 Nf6 {Black returned the sacrificed material and had a pleasant position in Sarana,A (2649)-Vachier Lagrave,M (2784) Chess.com INT 2021, 0-1 (48)}) ({I should mention another relevant alternative} 8. Qg3 $5 Bd4 9. exd5 exd5 {when White can carry out a cool regrouping maneuver:} 10. Bd1 $1 Ne7 11. Ne2 Be5 12. Qf3 O-O 13. d4 Bc7 14. c3 Nf6 15. Bc2 {and he appears to have a tiny edge in this symmetrical structure thanks to the bishop pair. Tomczak,J (2584)-Socko,B (2636) Kruszwica 2022, 1-0 (83)}) 8... cxd5 ({If Black recaptures with the e-pawn} 8... exd5 {, White can achieve something similar to the abovementioned line by playing} 9. Re1 Ne7 10. Na4 Bd6 11. d4 O-O 12. Bd3 {with a slight positional edge.}) 9. Rd1 Ngf6 10. d4 {We are about to enter the reversed Carlsbad structure, quite typical of the Caro-Kann Defense. Because both sides have some pieces on suboptimal squares, adjustments are needed; over the next few moves, Black will reroute his knight to c6, while White will bring the bishop to the b1-h7 diagonal and transfer the knight from c3 to e2.} Be7 ({Black wouldn't mind placing his bishop on a more active diagonal with} 10... Bd6 {in principle. However, in this position, it runs into} 11. Nb5 $1 Bb8 12. c4 {and White will open up the position for his bishops.}) 11. Bd3 O-O 12. Bf4 {A sensible novelty. With the bishop on f4, the position starts to resemble some lines of the London System.} ({A previous game in this position saw} 12. Ne2 Qb8 13. Nf4 b5 14. h4 {with double-edged play. Dragnev,V (2535)-Fridman,D (2626) Katowice 2021, ½-½ (64)}) 12... Nb8 13. Ne2 Nc6 14. c3 Re8 {Black slowly prepares the e5-break.} ({He had decent alternatives in} 14... Bd6 15. Bg5 h6 16. Bh4 Be7 {, trying to exchange the dark-squared bishops;}) ({and} 14... a6 15. Re1 Rc8 {, preparing queenside counterplay with ...Nc6-a5-c4, ...b7-b5, etc.}) 15. Re1 {Wesley slides his rook to the e-file, preparing for the upcoming kingside battle.} g6 {It is not uncommon for Black to set up a sort of a Stonewall on the light squares in this type of position. This way, he diminishes the attacking power of the light-squared bishop and covers some critical squares like f5 and h5. On the flip side, this move weakens the dark squares around the king. It also creates a hook for piece sacrifices on e6, f7, or g6.} 16. Ng3 Nd7 {A multi-purpose move, giving Black options like ...e6-e5 and ...Be7-f6/g5.} 17. Re3 {This is a controversial choice of a square for the rook. White should double the rooks on the e-file, but it feels more exposed here than on e2.} (17. Re2 Bf6 18. Rae1 {would have been simpler as Black will find it difficult to push ...e6-e5. }) 17... e5 $5 {Melkumyan takes the bull by the horns. Instead of waiting for White to pile up his pieces on the kingside and start the attack, he opens the center, hoping to obtain active counterplay. A quiet maneuvering struggle transforms into a double-edged affair in an instant $1} 18. Bh6 $6 {It is difficult to decide whether this move is a blunder or a perfect trap. It took Wesley 10 minutes to make it, so there was certainly a significant element of the latter.} ({Objectively speaking, it would have been better to respond with } 18. dxe5 {and after} Bc5 19. e6 $1 Rxe6 20. Rxe6 fxe6 {White could claim a slight plus thanks to a better pawn structure.}) 18... e4 $4 {It is difficult to say what Melkumyan thought when he played this move. Perhaps he analyzed only positions where White sacrifices a bishop or knight on e4, but he forgot about} ({So surely saw that 18. ...e4 doesn't work before making his 18th move, so he probably thought that his opponent would play} 18... exd4 19. cxd4 Nxd4 20. Qxd5 Nc5 {which leads to roughly balanced play.}) ({However, he missed an equally devilish intermezzo} 18... Bf8 $1 19. Bxf8 {which makes} e4 $1 { work since White cannot sacrifice on e4 anymore. After} 20. Qf4 Nxf8 {Black would have a clear advantage thanks to the space gained over the last few moves.}) 19. Rxe4 $3 {This may easily end up being the move of the Olympiad $1 The rook sacrifice is stunning, but its follow-up is even more brilliant.} Nf8 {It is difficult to recover from such a shock, but Melkumyan managed to pull himself together and continue the game. Unfortunately, without the pawn, his position is hopeless.} (19... dxe4 {would lead to a forced checkmate in six moves after the queen sacrifice} 20. Qxf7+ $1 {to lure the black king out in the open.} Kxf7 21. Bc4+ Kf6 22. Nxe4+ Kf5 23. g4+ Kxe4 24. Re1+ Kf3 {and White would have a tough choice between} 25. Re3# ({and} 25. Bd5# {Such king-chase combinations were much more common in romantic 19th-century chess than today, so it's always refreshing to see them in modern grandmaster games $1})) 20. Rf4 $1 {Some people would start retreating after winning material, hoping to trade into a winning endgame. But not Wesley. He wants to finish the game in style $1} f5 21. Nxf5 $1 {Of course, he did not put the rook on f4 to just stand there; this piece sacrifice was planned so that he could utilize his attacking momentum.} gxf5 22. Rxf5 Qd6 23. Qg4+ Ng6 {Forced,} ({since} 23... Qg6 {loses the queen to} 24. Rxf8+) 24. Rxd5 $3 {White king's rook is the star piece of the game. This is the second time it is sacrificing itself for the greater good. Just like in the first instance, Black shouldn't capture it.} Qf6 (24... Qxd5 {would lead to a checkmate or decisive loss of material after} 25. Bxg6 Kh8 26. Bxe8 {etc.}) 25. g3 {White is already winning on all possible grounds: attacking, positional, material, so he is in no rush.} ({ Wesley wanted to ensure that Black cannot exchange the queens after} 25. Rf5 Qh4) 25... Bf8 26. Rf5 {The lively rook returns to the f-file, where it can do the most damage.} Qe7 27. Bc4+ Kh8 28. Bg5 {Melkumyan resigned because he would be losing a lot of material soon. For example,} Qd6 29. Rf6 Qc7 30. Rf7 { and he would have to give up the queen to avoid the checkmate on h7.} 1-0 [Event "Chennai Chess Olympiad | Open"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.08.05"] [Round "7.1"] [White "Albornoz Cabrera, Carlos Daniel"] [Black "Gukesh D"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B22"] [WhiteElo "2566"] [BlackElo "2684"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "91"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Cuba"] [BlackTeam "India"] [WhiteTeamCountry "CUB"] [BlackTeamCountry "IND"] {0-} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 d5 4. exd5 Qxd5 5. d4 Nf6 6. dxc5 Qxd1+ 7. Kxd1 e6 8. b4 a5 9. b5 Ne7 10. Ne5 Ng6 11. Nxg6 hxg6 12. Be3 Ng4 13. c6 bxc6 14. bxc6 Nxe3+ 15. fxe3 Ba6 16. Nd2 Bxf1 17. Nxf1 Rh5 18. Ng3 Re5 19. Re1 Bd6 20. Rb1 Ra6 21. Kc2 Rxc6 $17 {All black's pieces occupy active positions.} 22. e4 Rc7 23. Re3 Ke7 24. Rd3 Rec5 25. Ne2 Be5 26. g3 Rc4 27. Re3 Bd6 {Threatening 28.... Bc5 removing the defender for the e4-pawn. Gukesh instructively converts his advantage.} 28. Kd3 Ra4 29. Nc1 g5 30. Rb5 f6 31. Kc2 Be5 32. Kb3 Rac4 33. Ne2 a4+ 34. Kc2 g4 35. Rb6 g5 36. Ra6 Bd6 37. Kd3 a3 38. e5 fxe5 39. Ra5 Kf6 40. Rb5 Kf5 41. Nd4+ Kf6 42. Ne2 Ra4 43. Nc1 e4+ 44. Kc2 Rac4 45. Kb3 Bf4 $3 {A beautiful finish $1} 46. gxf4 (46. gxf4 gxf4 47. Re1 Rxc3+ 48. Ka4 Rxc1 49. Rxc1 Rxc1 50. Kxa3 e3 {and Black's passers will decide the issue.}) 0-1 [Event "Chennai Chess Olympiad | Open"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.08.05"] [Round "7.3"] [White "Erigaisi Arjun"] [Black "Gupta, Abhijeet"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D02"] [WhiteElo "2689"] [BlackElo "2627"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "91"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "India"] [BlackTeam "India"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IND"] [BlackTeamCountry "IND"] 1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 Nf6 3. e3 c5 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Nbd2 Nh5 6. Be5 e6 7. Bb5 f6 8. Bg3 Nxg3 9. hxg3 cxd4 10. exd4 Bd6 11. c4 O-O 12. O-O Kh8 13. cxd5 exd5 14. Bxc6 bxc6 15. Qc2 Bd7 16. Nb3 Rb8 17. Nc5 Bxc5 18. dxc5 f5 19. Ne5 f4 20. g4 Kg8 21. Rfe1 Qc7 22. f3 a5 23. Qd2 Bc8 24. g5 $2 (24. Nd3 Ba6 25. Nf2 $1 {It is important for White to retain the knight, as it will prove to be a better piece than the black bishop in the long run.} Rbe8 26. Rxe8 Rxe8 27. Re1 { Aiming for a classical queen and knight vs. queen and bishop ending.} Rxe1+ 28. Qxe1 Kf7 29. b3 $16 {with a clear advantage for White.}) 24... Bf5 25. b3 Rbe8 26. Qd4 Re6 27. Nd3 Rxe1+ 28. Rxe1 Bxd3 29. Qxd3 Qd8 (29... Qa7 30. Qc2 Rd8 31. Re6 $16) 30. Re5 Re8 (30... Qb8 31. Re6 {with a slightly better ending for White.}) 31. Qd4 Rxe5 $4 (31... Re7 $1 32. Qxf4 Qc7 33. Rf5 Qxf4 34. Rxf4 Re1+ 35. Kf2 Rc1 {with a slightly better ending for White.}) 32. Qxe5 d4 33. Kf1 d3 34. Ke1 a4 35. b4 g6 36. Kd2 Qd7 37. Qxf4 Qd5 38. Qb8+ Kf7 39. Qa7+ Kf8 40. Qxa4 Qxg5+ 41. Kxd3 Qf5+ 42. Kd2 Qg5+ 43. Kd1 Qe3 44. Qa8+ Kg7 45. Qb7+ Kh6 46. Qd7 1-0 [Event "Chennai Women's Chess Olympiad"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.08.06"] [Round "8.1"] [White "Roebers, Eline"] [Black "Cori T., Deysi"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B12"] [WhiteElo "2344"] [BlackElo "2371"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "115"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Netherlands"] [BlackTeam "Peru"] [WhiteTeamCountry "NED"] [BlackTeamCountry "PER"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. g4 Bd7 5. Nc3 e6 6. Be3 Ne7 7. Be2 h5 8. gxh5 Nf5 9. Qd2 c5 10. Nf3 Nc6 11. dxc5 a6 12. O-O-O Nxe3 13. Qxe3 Rxh5 14. Rhg1 g6 15. Kb1 Bh6 16. Qd3 Qe7 17. Rde1 O-O-O 18. Na4 Nxe5 19. Nxe5 Rxe5 20. Qg3 Qg5 21. Qc3 Qf4 22. Rg4 d4 $2 (22... Qf6 $11) 23. Nb6+ $1 Kb8 24. Qxd4 Qxd4 $4 ( 24... Rxe2 25. Qxf4+ $1 Bxf4 26. Rxe2 $18) 25. Rxd4 Kc7 26. Rxd7+ $1 {The point.} Rxd7 27. Nxd7 {Black cannot recapture the knight on d7.} Rf5 (27... Kxd7 28. Bb5+) 28. Bd3 Rxf2 29. Ne5 $18 Bg7 30. Ng4 Rf4 31. Ne5 Rf2 32. h3 Kd8 33. a4 Ke7 34. c6 bxc6 35. Bxa6 Kd6 36. Nd3 Rh2 37. a5 Rxh3 38. Bc4 Rh4 39. b3 Rh5 40. a6 Bc3 41. Rd1 Kc7 42. Nb2 Ra5 43. Rh1 Kd6 44. Rh3 Be1 45. Rf3 Ke7 46. Na4 g5 47. Kb2 g4 48. Rf1 Bd2 49. Ra1 f5 50. c3 g3 51. b4 Rxa4 52. Rxa4 Bc1+ 53. Kc2 g2 54. a7 g1=Q 55. a8=Q Be3 56. Ra1 Qg2+ 57. Kb3 f4 58. Rd1 1-0 [Event "Chennai Women's Chess Olympiad"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.08.06"] [Round "8.2"] [White "Mkrtchian, Lilit"] [Black "Batsiashvili, Nino"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B30"] [WhiteElo "2362"] [BlackElo "2466"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "120"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Armenia"] [BlackTeam "Georgia"] [WhiteTeamCountry "ARM"] [BlackTeamCountry "GEO"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 e5 4. Bc4 Be7 5. d3 Nf6 6. O-O O-O 7. Re1 d6 8. c3 Na5 9. Bb5 a6 10. Ba4 b5 11. Bc2 Qc7 12. Nbd2 c4 13. d4 Bg4 14. h3 Bh5 15. Nf1 exd4 16. cxd4 Nc6 17. Ng3 Bxf3 18. gxf3 Rfe8 19. Be3 Bf8 20. Rc1 Rac8 21. Kh2 g6 22. Rg1 Bg7 23. d5 Ne5 24. f4 Ned7 25. Bd4 Kf8 26. f5 Bh6 27. Qf3 Qd8 28. Be3 Bxe3 29. Qxe3 Ng8 30. fxg6 hxg6 31. Ne2 Qf6 32. Nd4 Nc5 33. Rg3 Rc7 34. Rd1 Qh4 35. f3 Nf6 36. Qd2 Re5 37. Nc6 Rh5 38. Rdg1 Nfd7 39. Qe3 Qf6 40. Nd4 Rc8 41. f4 Re8 42. f5 Ne5 43. R1g2 Ned3 $4 (43... g5 $1 $17) 44. Bxd3 cxd3 45. Rg4 $4 (45. fxg6 $1 Rxe4 46. Qf3 Qxf3 47. Rxf3 $18) 45... Rxe4 46. Rxe4 Nxe4 47. Qxd3 (47. Qxe4 Rh4 48. Qxd3 (48. Rg4 d2 $1) 48... Rxd4 $19) 47... Qe5+ 48. Kg1 Ng5 $19 49. Rg3 Nxh3+ 50. Rxh3 Rxh3 51. Qxh3 Qxd4+ 52. Kf1 Qd1+ 53. Kf2 Qd2+ 54. Kf1 Qc1+ 55. Ke2 Qxb2+ 56. Kd1 Qb1+ 57. Kd2 Qxa2+ 58. Kc1 Qc4+ 59. Kb2 Qxd5 60. fxg6 fxg6 {0-} 0-1 [Event "Chennai Chess Olympiad | Open"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.08.06"] [Round "8.3"] [White "Idani, Pouya"] [Black "Cornette, Matthieu"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B30"] [WhiteElo "2641"] [BlackElo "2551"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Iran"] [BlackTeam "France"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IRI"] [BlackTeamCountry "FRA"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 e6 4. O-O Nf6 5. Re1 Nxe4 6. Rxe4 d5 7. Bxd5 Qxd5 8. Nc3 Qf5 9. d4 cxd4 10. Nxd4 Nxd4 11. Rxd4 Be7 12. Qe2 O-O 13. Be3 b6 14. Rad1 Re8 15. Rf4 Qg6 16. Rg4 Qf5 17. Bh6 Bf8 18. Ne4 Ba6 19. c4 Red8 20. Ng3 Rxd1+ 21. Qxd1 Qe5 22. Bxg7 Bxg7 23. Nh5 Kh8 $4 (23... Bxc4 24. Rxg7+ Kf8 25. h4 { with a slight advantage for White.}) 24. Rxg7 Bxc4 25. h4 $2 (25. Rxf7 $18) 25... Qe2 $4 26. Qd4 e5 27. Qd6 $18 Qe1+ 28. Kh2 Qxf2 29. Rg4 Qf5 30. Rxc4 Qxh5 31. Qf6+ Kg8 32. Kh3 $1 Re8 33. Rg4+ Kf8 34. Rg5 1-0 [Event "Chennai Chess Olympiad | Open"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.08.06"] [Round "8.4"] [White "Kantor, Gergely"] [Black "Warmerdam, Max"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D35"] [WhiteElo "2582"] [BlackElo "2610"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "56"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Hungary"] [BlackTeam "Netherlands"] [WhiteTeamCountry "HUN"] [BlackTeamCountry "NED"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 Bb4 6. e3 h6 7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8. Qa4+ Nc6 9. Nge2 O-O 10. Nf4 Rd8 11. Rc1 g5 12. Nd3 Bf8 13. Be2 Ne7 14. O-O c6 15. Ne5 Nf5 16. Bh5 Be6 17. Nd3 Bd6 18. Qd1 Kh8 19. b4 Rg8 20. h3 $4 (20. g3 { should be able to defend the position.}) 20... g4 $3 21. Bxg4 h5 $1 22. Bxh5 Qh4 23. Qf3 Nxd4 $3 24. exd4 Bxh3 25. Ne5 Bxe5 26. dxe5 Rxg2+ 27. Kh1 (27. Qxg2 Bxg2 28. Kxg2 Qxh5 $19) 27... Rg1+ $3 {Picteresque.} 28. Kxg1 Rg8+ {0-} 0-1 [Event "Chennai Chess Olympiad | Open"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.08.06"] [Round "8.4"] [White "Sadhwani, Raunak"] [Black "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2611"] [BlackElo "2754"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "89"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "India"] [BlackTeam "United States"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IND"] [BlackTeamCountry "USA"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8. f3 h5 9. Qd2 Nbd7 10. O-O-O Be7 11. Kb1 Rc8 12. Bd3 b5 13. h3 h4 14. Rhe1 O-O 15. Rg1 b4 16. Ne2 d5 17. g3 dxe4 18. fxe4 a5 19. gxh4 Kh8 20. Rg5 a4 21. Nbd4 exd4 22. Bxd4 Rg8 23. Rdg1 Nf8 24. Bxf6 Bxf6 25. Rh5+ Nh7 26. e5 g6 27. Qh6 Rg7 28. exf6 Qxf6 29. Rb5 b3 30. axb3 axb3 31. cxb3 Bd7 32. Rb4 Bf5 33. Qe3 Rgg8 34. Bxf5 Qxf5+ 35. Ka1 Rge8 36. Qd4+ Nf6 37. Nc3 Red8 38. Qe3 Kg7 39. Rf4 Qa5+ $2 ( 39... Ra8+ 40. Ra4 {with a level position.}) 40. Na4 (40. Kb1 $16) 40... Nd5 $4 (40... Rc6 {and White has only a small advantage.}) 41. Qe5+ Kg8 42. Rd4 { The knight on d5 is doomed.} Rc5 43. Rgd1 f6 44. Qe4 Kf8 45. Qxg6 1-0 [Event "44th FIDE Chess Olympiad 2022"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.08.06"] [Round "8"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Gukesh, D.."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B31"] [Annotator "Rafael Leitão"] [PlyCount "90"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [TimeControl "5400+30"] {0-} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 {The Rossolimo variation is nowadays nearly as important as the Open Sicilian.} g6 4. O-O Bg7 5. Bxc6 bxc6 {This is not the main move, but in general you are fine if you capture toward the center.} 6. Re1 Qc7 {A subtle idea and only the seventh most popular move. Black plays a useful move before developing the knight or playing d7-d6. The queen is always useful on c7.} (6... Nh6 {is played more often.}) 7. h3 {A smart idea. This move is useful in many ways: to give the king some air and to take the g4-square from the opponent's knight or bishop.} (7. Na3 {was played in a recent and important game, featuring another young star and hero of this Olympiad.} d6 8. Nc4 e5 9. c3 Be6 10. Qa4 Ne7 11. d4 cxd4 12. cxd4 exd4 13. Bf4 Bxc4 14. Qxc4 c5 15. Rac1 O-O {and here White could achieve an advantage with 16.Nxd4 $1 instead of} 16. e5 $6 {that was played in Naiditsch-Abdusattorov, Biel 2022.}) (7. c3 {is the most popular.}) 7... d6 8. e5 $5 {A typical positional sacrifice to disrupt Black's pawn structure.} dxe5 9. d3 c4 $1 { Gukesh gives the pawn back before Caruana can play Nbd2. Either the c5- or the e5-pawn will be lost in the long run. It's better to sacrifice one of them immediately to improve the pawn structure.} 10. Nc3 (10. dxc4 $2 {is a horrible move. After} f5 {the pawns start moving.}) 10... cxd3 (10... Be6 { was played in a recent email game:} 11. Qe2 cxd3 12. cxd3 Nf6 13. Nxe5 O-O 14. b3 Rac8 15. Bb2 c5 16. Rac1 Rfd8 {with a balanced position in Dmitriev-Borstnik,ICCF email 2020.}) 11. cxd3 Nh6 {This is a novelty, but not a successful one.} (11... Be6 {had been played before.}) 12. Nxe5 Nf5 13. Bf4 { Material equality is now restored. White has the better development and the initiative.} Qb7 14. Na4 f6 15. Nf3 O-O 16. d4 (16. Nc5 {This seems the most unpleasant move to face. Capturing on b2 is very dangerous.} Qb6 (16... Qxb2 17. Qa4 $1 Qb6 (17... Qb5 18. Qa3 Qb6 19. g4 {and White is much better.}) 18. d4 $16) 17. d4 {with a clear advantage.}) 16... g5 $5 {Gukesh plays very resourcefully in a difficult position. He advances the kingside pawns so that he can have the option of playing g5-g4. Of course, this is very dangerous; after all, these pawn moves weaken the king, but drastic measures are sometimes necessary.} 17. Bh2 h5 18. Re4 $6 {From now on, Caruana's play is marked by indecision. Little by little, Black starts improving the position.} ( 18. Nc5 $1 {is more accurate, since now the queen needs an extra move to reach d5.} Qb5 19. Re4 Qc4 20. Rc1 Qd5 21. Qe1 {with advantage for White.}) 18... Qd7 19. Qc2 Rf7 20. Rae1 Bf8 21. Qe2 {Those queen moves don't make a good impression.} Qd5 22. Nc3 Qd7 {The famous \"tacit draw offer.\" Black is not against move-repetition.} 23. Qc4 {Caruana decides to play on, but his plan is not very convincing.} (23. Nxg5 $5 {is a radical way of changing the character of the game. White has good compensation in a double-edged position after} fxg5 24. Qxh5 Ng7 25. Qxg5 Qf5 26. Qd2) 23... Qb7 24. b4 e6 25. Rb1 Qd7 26. Rbe1 Qb7 27. Rb1 Qd7 {Another silent draw offer.} 28. a3 $2 {Another refusal, but now Black gets the initiative and never looks back.} a5 $1 {Now the bishop’s pair shows its colors. The c8-bishop, in particular, has an important role from now on.} 29. Na4 (29. bxa5 Rxa5 30. a4 Ba6 $1 31. Qxe6 Bd3 {wins the exchange.}) (29. b5 cxb5 30. Nxb5 Bb7 {and the monster bishop decides the game. }) 29... Qd8 30. bxa5 Rxa5 31. Nc5 (31. Qc2 {is necessary, although Black is much better.}) 31... Qd5 $1 32. Qe2 (32. Qxd5 cxd5 33. Ree1 g4 {And White's position falls apart.}) 32... Rxa3 {The complete success of Gukesh's play. A pawn up, bishop pair, better pawn structure. He finishes the game without mercy.} 33. Rd1 Rfa7 34. g4 hxg4 35. hxg4 Nh6 36. Bg3 e5 $1 37. Nxe5 {A desperate sacrifice.} fxe5 38. Rxe5 Bxg4 $1 39. Qd2 Qf3 40. Rxg5+ Rg7 41. Re1 Bh3 42. Bd6 Bxd6 43. Rxg7+ Kxg7 44. Qg5+ Kh7 45. Ne4 Qxe4 $1 {The coup de grace, and White resigns. Another impressive display by the Indian prodigy.} ( 45... Qxe4 46. Rxe4 Ra1+ 47. Re1 Rxe1#) 0-1 [Event "Chennai Chess Olympiad | Open"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.08.06"] [Round "8.1"] [White "Sargissian, Gabriel"] [Black "Harikrishna, Pentala"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D12"] [WhiteElo "2698"] [BlackElo "2720"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "203"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Armenia"] [BlackTeam "India"] [WhiteTeamCountry "ARM"] [BlackTeamCountry "IND"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 Bf5 5. Nc3 e6 6. Nh4 Be4 7. f3 Bg6 8. Qb3 Qb6 9. Nxg6 hxg6 10. Bd2 Nbd7 11. O-O-O Qxb3 12. axb3 Bb4 13. Be2 O-O-O 14. Kb1 a6 15. Be1 Bd6 16. h4 g5 17. Rh3 gxh4 18. Bxh4 Rh6 19. Rdh1 Rdh8 20. Bf1 Nf8 21. g4 Ng6 22. Bf2 Rxh3 23. Rxh3 Rxh3 24. Bxh3 Kd8 25. Kc2 c5 26. Ne2 cxd4 27. Nxd4 dxc4 28. bxc4 Ne5 29. g5 Nfd7 30. Bf1 Nc6 31. Nxc6+ bxc6 32. Be1 c5 33. f4 g6 34. Bg2 Nb8 35. Kd3 Kd7 36. Bf3 Nc6 37. Bd1 Kc7 38. Ba4 Kb6 39. Ke4 Kc7 40. Bc3 Kb6 41. Kf3 Kc7 42. Bf6 Kb6 43. Bg7 Kc7 44. Kg4 e5 45. Bf6 exf4 46. exf4 Bf8 47. Kf3 Bd6 48. Ke4 Bf8 49. Bc3 Kd6 50. Bf6 Kc7 51. f5 gxf5+ 52. Kxf5 Kd6 53. Ke4 Na5 54. Be5+ Ke6 55. Bd1 Nc6 56. Bg4+ Ke7 57. Bc3 Nb4 58. Bf6+ Ke8 59. Bd1 Kd7 60. Kf5 Nc6 61. Bh5 Ke8 62. Ke4 Nb4 63. Bg4 Nc6 64. Bc8 Nb4 65. Kf5 Be7 66. Bc3 Kd8 67. Bb7 Kc7 68. Bf3 Kd7 69. Bh5 Ke8 70. Bd1 Kf8 71. Ba4 Bd6 72. Bf6 Kg8 73. Bd1 Kf8 74. Ba4 Kg8 75. g6 fxg6+ 76. Kxg6 Kf8 77. Kf5 Nd3 78. Ke6 Bg3 79. Be7+ Kg7 80. Bc2 Nb4 81. Be4 Bf2 82. b3 Bd4 83. Bd6 Be3 84. Be5+ Kf8 85. Kd7 Kf7 86. Bf5 Bf2 87. Kd6 Be3 88. Be4 Bf2 89. Kd7 Be3 90. Bd6 Kf6 91. Kc7 Ke6 92. Bh7 Na2 93. Be4 Bd4 94. Bf8 Nc3 95. Bc2 Na2 96. Kb6 Nb4 $4 ({The paradoxical way to draw the game was} 96... a5 $1 97. Kxa5 Kf7 98. Bd6 Nb4 99. Bb1 Ke6 100. Bf8 Kf7 {posting the black knight on b4 and getting the white bishop off the a3-f8 diagonal.} 101. Bh6 Ke6 102. Kb6 Ke7 {will still end in a draw, as White's dark bishop will not find it easy to attack the c5-pawn anymore.}) 97. Bb1 a5 98. Bxc5 Bxc5+ 99. Kxc5 Kd7 100. Kb6 Kc8 101. Kxa5 Nc6+ 102. Kb6 1-0 [Event "Chennai Women's Chess Olympiad"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.08.07"] [Round "9.3"] [White "Kiolbasa, Oliwia"] [Black "Vaishali R"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C70"] [WhiteElo "2376"] [BlackElo "2442"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "159"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Poland"] [BlackTeam "India"] [WhiteTeamCountry "POL"] [BlackTeamCountry "IND"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Bc5 5. c3 Nge7 6. d4 exd4 7. cxd4 Bb4+ 8. Nc3 d5 9. O-O dxe4 10. Nxe4 O-O 11. a3 Bd6 12. h3 Bf5 13. Re1 Bg6 14. Bg5 f6 15. Nxd6 Qxd6 16. Bh4 Bf7 17. Bg3 Qd7 18. Rc1 Rad8 19. b4 Nf5 20. Bf4 Kh8 21. Qd3 b5 22. Bc2 Bg6 23. Qc3 Ncxd4 24. Nxd4 Nxd4 25. Bxg6 hxg6 26. Qxc7 Rf7 27. Qxd7 Rfxd7 28. Be3 Nf5 29. Bb6 Rb8 30. Rc6 Rd3 $6 {Black gets ambitious, and allows White to develop an initiative.} (30... Ra8 $1 $11) 31. Ra1 Ne7 $2 ( 31... Ra8 32. a4 bxa4 33. Rxa4 $14) 32. Re6 Nd5 33. Bc5 Nc3 (33... Ra8 34. a4 $16) 34. Rxa6 Na4 35. Rd6 Nxc5 36. bxc5 Rc3 37. c6 Rc8 38. Rb1 $2 (38. Rd5 R3xc6 39. Rxb5 Rc1+ 40. Rxc1 Rxc1+ 41. Kh2 Rc2 42. f4 Kh7 $1 43. Rb3 Kh6 { with chances of a draw.}) 38... R3xc6 (38... Rxa3 $1 39. Rxb5 Rc3 40. Rb6 g5 { should be a draw.}) 39. Rxc6 Rxc6 40. Rxb5 Rc1+ 41. Kh2 Ra1 $2 (41... Rc2 { with chances of a draw, as described earlier.}) 42. Ra5 g5 43. Kg3 Ra2 44. Kf3 Kh7 45. Ke3 Kg6 46. Ra7 Kf5 47. g3 Ke5 48. Kf3 Kf5 49. a4 Ra3+ 50. Kg2 Kg6 51. a5 Kh6 52. a6 Kg6 53. Ra8 Kf5 54. Kf1 Ra2 55. a7 Kg6 56. Ke1 Kf7 57. h4 Kg6 58. h5+ Kf7 59. f4 gxf4 60. gxf4 f5 61. Kd1 Ra1+ 62. Ke2 Ra2+ 63. Kf3 Ra3+ 64. Kg2 Ra2+ 65. Kg3 Ra4 66. Kh3 Ra3+ 67. Kh4 Ra4 68. Kg5 Ra5 69. h6 gxh6+ 70. Kxh6 Ra6+ 71. Kg5 Kg7 (71... Ra5 72. Rh8) 72. Kxf5 $18 Ra1 73. Ke5 Re1+ 74. Kd4 Rd1+ 75. Ke3 Re1+ 76. Kd2 Ra1 77. f5 Ra2+ 78. Kc3 Ra3+ 79. Kb2 Ra6 80. f6+ 1-0 [Event "Chennai Women's Chess Olympiad"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.08.07"] [Round "9.2"] [White "Harika, Dronavalli"] [Black "Socko, Monika"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E12"] [WhiteElo "2517"] [BlackElo "2416"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "India"] [BlackTeam "Poland"] [WhiteTeamCountry "IND"] [BlackTeamCountry "POL"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 e6 3. c4 b6 4. a3 Ba6 5. Qc2 Be7 6. e4 d5 7. e5 Nfd7 8. cxd5 Bxf1 9. Kxf1 exd5 10. g3 Nf8 11. Nc3 Ne6 12. Kg2 O-O 13. Be3 c6 14. h4 Nd7 $2 15. Ng5 Bxg5 16. hxg5 g6 17. f4 Re8 18. Qe2 (18. f5 $1 Nxg5 (18... gxf5 19. Qxf5 Ndf8 20. Rh6 {with a winning attack.}) 19. Raf1 Nf8 20. Qc1 $18) 18... Ndf8 19. Qf3 a5 20. Rh6 b5 21. Nd1 (21. Rah1 b4 22. Nd1 bxa3 23. bxa3 c5 24. Nf2 Nxd4 25. Bxd4 cxd4 26. Ng4 {with a winning attack.}) 21... b4 22. Nf2 bxa3 23. bxa3 Qb6 24. Rah1 (24. f5 $1 Nxd4 25. Qf4 c5 26. Bxd4 cxd4 27. Rf1 Qc7 28. Ng4 {with a winning attack.}) 24... Qb2 25. f5 $4 (25. g4 c5 26. f5 cxd4 (26... Nxd4 27. Qh3) 27. fxe6 fxe6 28. Bc1 Qc2 29. Qf4 d3 30. R6h3) 25... Nxd4 26. Bxd4 Qxd4 27. Ng4 Qd2+ 28. Qf2 (28. Kh3 Qxg5) 28... Qxf2+ 29. Kxf2 gxf5 30. Nf6+ Kg7 31. Nh5+ Kg8 32. Nf6+ Kg7 33. Nxe8+ Rxe8 34. Rxc6 Ne6 35. Rd1 (35. Ra6 Rb8 36. Rxa5 Rb2+ 37. Ke3 Rb3+ 38. Kd2 Rxg3 {with a complicated ending.}) 35... d4 36. Ra6 Rb8 37. Rxa5 Rb2+ 38. Kf1 Rb3 39. Kf2 Rb2+ 40. Kf1 Rb3 41. Kf2 1/2-1/2 [Event "Chennai Chess Olympiad | Open"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.08.07"] [Round "9.2"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Theodorou, Nikolas"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E73"] [WhiteElo "2775"] [BlackElo "2575"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "66"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackTeam "Greece"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "GRE"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2 O-O 6. Be3 e5 7. d5 Na6 8. h3 c6 9. Nf3 Nh5 10. g3 f5 11. exf5 gxf5 12. c5 f4 13. gxf4 Nxf4 14. Rg1 Nxc5 15. b4 Ncd3+ 16. Bxd3 Nxd3+ 17. Qxd3 Rxf3 18. dxc6 bxc6 19. O-O-O d5 20. Rxg7+ Kxg7 21. Rg1+ Kh8 22. Bd4 $5 exd4 23. Qxf3 Qd6 24. Rg5 $2 (24. Ne2 Bd7 25. Qf7 Qh6+ 26. Kd1 {with a complicated position.}) 24... h6 $2 (24... Bd7 25. Ne2 (25. Qf7 Qf8 $1 26. Qxd7 Qf4+) 25... Rf8 {with a winning position for Black.}) 25. Rg3 Ba6 26. Qf7 $2 (26. Ne2 Bxe2 27. Qxe2 {with an equal but complicated position.} ) 26... Qf8 27. Qc7 Qf6 28. Nd1 Be2 29. f4 Re8 30. Qd7 Rf8 31. Rg1 d3 32. Qxa7 Bxd1 33. Kxd1 Qb2 {0-} 0-1 [Event "WCO"] [Site "Chennai, India"] [Date "2022.08.07"] [Round "9.1"] [White "Praggnanandhaa R."] [Black "Durarbayli Vasif"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E15"] [WhiteElo "2648"] [BlackElo "2638"] [Annotator "Kuljasevic, Davorin"] [PlyCount "131"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] {The fate of the India 2-Azerbaijan match was decided in arguably the most dramatic game of the tournament. It was a rollercoaster of missed opportunities, beautiful chess, and emotions. It is everything a chess spectator can hope for.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 {Durarbayli decided to defend with the Queen's Indian Defense, a solid and flexible choice for this important match.} 4. g3 Ba6 {This is considered to be the main line of the 4. g3 variation. White has many ways to protect the c-pawn, and Pragg goes for the classical one.} 5. b3 (5. Qc2 {is another popular option. White is ready to sacrifice a pawn for a lead in development after} Bb7 6. Bg2 c5 7. d5 $5 exd5 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. O-O {etc.}) 5... Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Bxd2+ {A sideline.} (6... Be7 {is much more common. Black tries to prove that the white dark-squared bishop is placed awkwardly on d2.}) 7. Qxd2 c6 {Black wants to attack the c4-pawn with ...d7-d5, but first, he wants to ensure that he can meet cxd5 with ... cxd5.} ({In the case of the immediate} 7... d5 {White could force a slightly favorable pawn structure with} 8. cxd5 exd5) 8. Bg2 {Praggnanandhaa continues in the classical spirit.} ({He had a more aggressive approach at his disposal: } 8. Nc3 d5 9. e4 $1 Nxe4 10. Nxe4 dxe4 11. Ng5 {White will regain the pawn eventually, although he needs to know what to do after} c5 $5 12. Bg2 Nc6 13. dxc5 Qxd2+ 14. Kxd2 f5 {It is possible that the young Indian was not fully prepared to play this position, so he chose a less risky option. I would assume that his opponent was.}) 8... d5 9. O-O ({With the pawn on c6, Black can always meet} 9. cxd5 {with the symmetrical} cxd5) 9... Nbd7 10. Rc1 ({ The 13th world champion once chose a different plan} 10. Qb2 O-O 11. Nbd2 { although he did not succeed in creating problems for his opponent.} c5 { 1/2-1/2 (17) Kasparov,G (2640)-Huebner,R (2620) Bugojno 1982}) 10... O-O 11. a4 $1 {A principled pawn advance. The bishop can become vulnerable on a6 if the a-file opens up. Importantly, Black cannot respond in kind with ...a7-a5.} Bb7 12. Nc3 {A slightly confusing choice.} (12. a5 {seems virtually automatic, and if} c5 {then} 13. Ne5 {gives White a slight positional pressure. White can later opt for a5-a6 or axb6 depending on the circumstances.}) 12... Rb8 { This is as equally inaccurate as White's previous move. It seems like the players did not appreciate the importance of the a5-push.} (12... a5 {is more to the point. Perhaps Durarbayli disliked} 13. cxd5 cxd5 {when the white knight gets a nice outpost on} ({However, he would get a very reasonable Carlsbad-like position after} 13... exd5 {and, for example,} 14. Ne1 Re8 15. Nc2 h5 $1 16. Rab1 h4 {with Alpha-Zero-like counterplay.}) 14. Nb5) 13. Ne1 { I suppose that both players had given up on trying to make a5 ...a5 work. Pragg's move makes sense as it opens the diagonal for the Catalan bishop.} (13. a5 {is objectively stronger.}) 13... c5 {The Azerbaijani grandmaster wants to take advantage of white knight moving away from the center, so he strikes at the d4-pawn.} 14. cxd5 cxd4 15. Qxd4 Nc5 {Black activates the knight with a nice little intermezzo.} 16. Rab1 exd5 {The isolated queen's pawn middlegames are very common on the highest level. The side playing against it has good chances in the endgame. On the other hand, Black's task is to utilize the outposts around the pawn such as e4 to create dynamic counterplay in the middlegame. This following stage of the game is quite interesting from that point of view.} 17. Nf3 {The knight returns closer to the d4-square in order to block the isolani. It is well-known that the queen is not a good blocker.} Ne6 18. Qd1 Ne4 (18... d4 {would be too optimistic. After} 19. Nb5 Bxf3 20. Bxf3 {the white pieces look much more active than the opponent's.}) 19. Nb5 { Pragg decides to ignore the e4-knight and establishes an outpost on d4 instead. } ({Alternatively,} 19. Nd4 Qf6 20. Nxe4 {would probably not yield much to White after} dxe4 21. Nc6 Bxc6 22. Rxc6 Rbd8) 19... Qf6 20. Rc2 a5 $1 {A useful positional move, fixing white queenside pawns and securing c5 and b4 outposts for black pieces.} 21. e3 Rbc8 22. Rbc1 N6c5 {An interesting choice.} ({I would have played} 22... Rc5 {without giving it a second thought since c5 looks like such a natural outpost for the rook with Rfc8 and Ba6 coming next. However, Durarbayli had different ideas.}) 23. Nfd4 g6 24. Qf3 {A correct decision $1 White would like to exchange the queens since most endgames are slightly in his favor.} Qe7 {Naturally, Black does not oblige. He will look for his chances in the middlegame.} 25. Bf1 Ng5 26. Qd1 Qf6 27. Qg4 Nge4 28. Qf4 $1 {This move gives Karpov vibes. White doesn't mind compromising his pawn structure to reach the endgame.} Qe7 ({Black wouldn't be doing too badly after } 28... Qxf4 29. gxf4 Na6 {but this was probably too passive for Durarbayli's liking.}) 29. h4 $1 {A nice move. The g6-pawn provides a hook for the advance of the h-pawn. Overall, it feels like White has been improving his position over the last few moves, whereas Black hasn't. While the position remains complex, White can claim a slight edge thanks to a broader array of good options.} Ba6 30. h5 Bxb5 {Durarbayli's decision to swap his \"bad\" bishop seems sensible. On the flip side, his isolated pawn will become weaker now.} 31. axb5 {This is a thematic recapture with the idea to secure the c6-outpost for the knight.} ({There is nothing wrong with} 31. Bxb5 {, either. White keeps a stable advantage.}) 31... Rce8 32. Rd1 Qd7 33. Bg2 $6 {A somewhat abstract move. However, both players were down to their final five minutes before reaching the time control after move 40. This explains mutual inaccuracies and mistakes in the next stage of the game.} (33. Nc6 {is the most straightforward continuation. White could combine the initiative on both sides of the board, for example} Re6 34. h6 $1 Kh8 35. b4 $1 axb4 36. Nxb4 { and Black would be in serious trouble.}) 33... f5 $1 {Durarbayli takes advantage of Pragg's hesitation to launch his counterplay.} 34. Qf3 ({The alternative is} 34. Qh6 {but Black would get a decent version of the endgame after} Qg7 35. Qxg7+ Kxg7 {thanks to his activity and a vulnerable b3-pawn.}) 34... g5 35. Rb2 $6 {Praggnanandhaa completely loses the thread of the game in the time pressure. This is a wrong way to prepare the b4-break.} ({Once again, } 35. Nc6 {is the right way to do it. The position would remain dynamically balanced after} Kh8 36. b4 axb4 37. Nxb4 Qxb5 38. Nxd5) 35... Kh8 36. b4 $2 { Continuing with the wrong plan. This move could have been refuted.} axb4 $6 ({ Black could have obtained a nearly winning position by force with tempo-play:} 36... Na4 37. Rb3 Nac3 38. Rd3 axb4 39. Rxb4 f4 $1 {The key breakthrough.} 40. exf4 gxf4 41. gxf4 Ng5 $1 42. Qg3 Re1+ 43. Kh2 Nce4 {with a decisive attack. However, to find this variation, a player must possess a powerful attacking intuition and be in top form. It is virtually impossible to calculate all the details with only a few minutes on the clock.}) 37. Rxb4 Nc3 38. Rd2 N3e4 39. Rd1 Nc3 {It is natural to repeat the position to get closer to the time control.} 40. Rd2 N5e4 $2 {The notorious 40th move $1 Durarbayli does not want to repeat the position again with 40...N3e4 to avoid the three-fold repetition. However, this way, his knights get tangled up.} ({Instead,} 40... Ra8 {is strong, taking control of the a-file and keeping N3e4 as an option for later. Black would be clearly better.}) 41. Rc2 Ra8 42. Rb3 Ra1+ 43. Bf1 {Black's problem is that his knight is rather loose on c3, so he needs to spend two tempi retreating it to its natural square, c5. Meanwhile, White will be in time to consolidate.} Na4 44. Rd3 Re1 $2 {It is difficult to explain this move. } ({Durarbayli could have simply played} 44... Nac5 {and preserve his control over the crucial open file.}) 45. Ra3 $1 Nac5 46. Rca2 {Now it's White who takes control over the a-file and the initiative. Probably realizing the extent of his mistake on move 44, the Azerbaijani grandmaster decides to go all-in with} f4 $5 47. exf4 g4 {The best practical chance. White's queen is pushed back, and the g4-pawn can potentially play a role in the kingside attack.} (47... Qh3 {would not work due to} 48. Qg2 Qxg2+ 49. Kxg2 {White would have a winning endgame thanks to his rooks on the a-file.}) 48. Qh1 $1 { This is an awkward square for the queen, but strangely enough, it is more active here than on g2 as it can also join the game via h4 or h5 (after h5-h6). } Ne6 {The tension in the match is rising, and it doesn't help that the position is getting more complicated while the time is slipping away with each move. Right around this point, the players entered the second time trouble. Durarbayli made this move with less than four minutes on the clock, while Praggnanandhaa responded with less than three minutes. However, his reply} 49. Ra8 $2 {is quite impractical. It is a well-established guideline that when converting an advantage, it is better to avoid misbalancing the game as this favors the defender. However, Pragg does just that, and, as a result, we get a complete mess on the board.} ({Instead,} 49. Nxe6 Qxe6 50. Qh4 {(or 50.h6 $5) is much simpler. Black has no threats; with Ra8 coming next, White should win quite comfortably.}) 49... Nxd4 50. Rxf8+ Kg7 51. Rfa8 {A crazy position. Who is better $2 Which king is more vulnerable $2 Will White be able to coordinate his rooks or Black his knights $2 Will the white queen ever see the light of the day again $2 I am sure both players were stressed trying to figure all this out.} Nf3+ $2 {This natural check is supposed to be losing.} ({A prophylactic move} 51... Kh6 $1 {would apparently solve Black's problems. If White goes after the king with} 52. R2a7 (52. Kg2 $1 {in turn, is the best, according to the engine, with an approximate balance. Go figure $1}) 52... Qe6 53. Rh8 {then Black could execute a mating attack with} Rxf1+ $1 {and this is why Black should not have given a check on f3. Now everything unfolds by force: } 54. Kxf1 Nd2+ 55. Kg1 Qe1+ 56. Kg2 Qe4+ 57. Kh2 N2f3+ 58. Kg2 Nh4+ 59. Kh2 Ndf3+ {Black takes the queen first and checkmates later.}) 52. Kg2 Kh6 53. Rc2 $2 {Pragg wanted to continue the attack with Rc6+, but this idea is not the best.} (53. R2a7 $1 {is the right attacking continuation, cutting the king off the seventh rank.} Qe6 ({If} 53... Qf5 {then} 54. Rb8 $1 Nf6 55. Rxb6 {leads to a winning position.}) 54. Rh8 Nf6 {and now, the spectacular} 55. Bd3 $3 { seals the deal as} Rxh1 {is checkmate after} 56. Rhxh7+ Nxh7 57. Rxh7#) 53... Qe7 54. Rc6+ Nf6 {Black is holding on, but not only that. He clears the e-file for his queen, so White has to watch for 55...Qe4. With only three seconds remaining on the clock, the Indian star makes a shocking move} 55. Ra3 $2 { This looks like an outright blunder. I doubt he missed that his rook is hanging on a3 and prefer to believe that he left it en prise to lure the black queen away from e4.} ({However, he could have parried Black's threat with} 55. Rg8 $1 {taking away the g7-square from the king and threatening to capture the g4-pawn. After the best reply} Re6 $1 {this would still be anyone's game or, in the computer language, 0.00.}) 55... Qxa3 (55... Qe4 {does not work due to} 56. Rxf6+ Kg7 57. Rxb6 $1 {and the black king proves to be more exposed after} Nd2+ 58. Kh2 Nxf1+ 59. Qxf1 Rxf1 60. Ra7+ {A fascinating variation $1}) 56. Rxf6+ Kg7 57. Rxb6 h6 $1 {Durarbayli ensures that his opponent cannot activate his queen with 58.h6+ and Qh5 next. Even though he is down two pawns, his position is winning because all white pieces other than the rook are completely tied down. How in the world did White win this $2 Let's see.} 58. Rg6+ Kh7 $2 {This is a wrong square for the king because of the Bf1-d3 idea in some lines. With mere seconds on the clock, it is difficult to figure out such tactical details.} ({The right move is} 58... Kf7 {and Black would be winning a piece after} 59. Rxg4 Nd2 60. Kh3 Qc5 $1) 59. Rxg4 d4 $2 {Azerbaijan's third board probably realized too late that 59...Nd2 doesn't work, and he played this active move to prepare ...Qa3-a8 in some lines. However, it turns out to be a losing one.} (59... Nd2 {meets a refutation} 60. Bd3+ $1 Qxd3 61. Qxe1 Qf3+ 62. Kg1 Qxg4 63. Qxd2 {Nevertheless, Black could keep a delicate balance with 59... Qc3 or any other \"pass-move.\" Easy for an engine but extremely difficult for a human under all sorts of pressure.}) 60. Rg6 $1 {Pragg's calculation is razor-sharp. He realized he could obstruct the long diagonal by bringing the rook to c6 while also preparing to activate the queen via h3.} ({ In the event of} 60. Kh3 Qa8 $1 {would be totally unclear.}) 60... Qe7 { With his seconds ticking, Durarbayli decides to recycle the Qe4 threat. However, this move meets an elegant refutation.} (60... Qa8 {wouldn't work either because of} 61. Rc6 $1) ({but things would still not be that clear if he had played} 60... Nd2 {threatening both 61...Qf3+ and 61...Qa8. The following moves have study-like quality, and we can only marvel at the beauty of this variation.} 61. Kh3 $1 Ne4 62. Qg2 Qc5 63. Rg4 $1 {For the record, White is supposed to be winning.}) 61. Bd3 $1 {The killer move, preparing a discovered check on e6. Only now did the Azeri realize that it is all over.} Qa3 {White has many ways to win now. The Indian star choses the most ''praggmatic'' one :)} (61... Rxh1 {runs into} 62. Re6+) (61... Kh8 {avoids material losses, but White can simply release his queen with} 62. Qh3 {and} Rg1+ 63. Kxf3 {is curtains.}) 62. Re6+ Qxd3 63. Rxe1 Nxe1+ 64. Qxe1 Qxb5 65. Qe4+ Kg8 66. Qg6+ {Black loses all his pawns, so he resigns. A heartbreaking loss for Durarbayli, but he deserves praise for a valiant fight just as much as Praggnanandhaa, who got from a hopeless position to a winning one in just three moves. This game is a testament to the adage that we should never give up.} 1-0 [Event "Chennai Chess Olympiad | Open"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.08.07"] [Round "9.4"] [White "Abasov, Nijat"] [Black "Sadhwani, Raunak"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C67"] [WhiteElo "2633"] [BlackElo "2611"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "105"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Azerbaijan"] [BlackTeam "India"] [WhiteTeamCountry "AZE"] [BlackTeamCountry "IND"] 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. Nc3 Bf6 10. Re1 Re8 11. Nd5 Rxe1 12. Qxe1 b6 13. Nxf6+ Qxf6 14. d3 Bb7 15. Qe3 c5 16. Qf4 Qxf4 17. Bxf4 Nf5 18. a4 Nd4 19. c3 Ne6 20. Bd6 a5 21. Be2 f6 22. f4 g6 23. g4 Rc8 24. f5 gxf5 25. gxf5 Ng7 26. Rf1 Bd5 27. c4 Bc6 28. Bd1 Kf7 29. Bg3 d5 30. cxd5 Bxd5 31. Rf4 Re8 32. Kf2 Re5 33. Rh4 Rxf5+ 34. Ke1 Rg5 35. Rxh7 Kg6 36. Rh8 Nf5 37. Bf2 Nd4 $2 (37... Rg2 38. h4 Rh2 $11) 38. h4 Rf5 39. Bxd4 cxd4 40. Rb8 $16 Re5+ 41. Kd2 Rf5 42. Rd8 Bf7 43. Rxd4 b5 44. Ke3 Rf1 45. Bf3 b4 46. Rg4+ Kh6 47. Rf4 Kg7 48. Rf5 Rb1 49. Rxa5 $18 Rxb2 50. Rb5 (50. Ra7 $1 Kg8 51. Ra6 Kg7 52. Rb6 b3 53. a5 Ra2 54. a6 b2 55. Bb7 $18) 50... b3 51. Rb7 Kf8 52. Bd1 Ra2 $4 (52... Rb1 53. Kd2 Ra1 54. h5 Ra2+ 55. Kc3 Ra1 56. Bxb3 Bxb3 57. Rxb3 Rxa4 $11) 53. Rxf7+ 1-0 [Event "Chennai Chess Olympiad | Open"] [Site "chess.com"] [Date "2022.08.07"] [Round "9.2"] [White "Mamedov, Rauf"] [Black "Nihal Sarin"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C07"] [WhiteElo "2656"] [BlackElo "2651"] [Annotator "Saravanan,V"] [PlyCount "66"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Azerbaijan"] [BlackTeam "India"] [WhiteTeamCountry "AZE"] [BlackTeamCountry "IND"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. Ngf3 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Nc6 6. Bb5 Bd7 7. Nxc6 bxc6 8. Bd3 Bd6 9. Qe2 e5 10. c4 d4 11. f4 Nf6 12. h3 Qe7 13. O-O exf4 14. b4 O-O 15. c5 Be5 16. Nc4 g5 17. Bb2 Rad8 18. Rad1 Bc8 19. Qf2 Nd7 20. Bxd4 Bxd4 21. Qxd4 f6 22. Qd6 Qxd6 23. Nxd6 Ne5 24. Be2 Be6 25. a4 Rd7 26. b5 $5 Rb8 27. Rb1 Kf8 28. b6 $2 (28. Rfd1 Ke7 29. Kf2 $16) 28... axb6 29. Rxb6 Ra8 (29... Rxb6 $4 30. cxb6 Rxd6 31. b7 Nd7 32. a5 $18) 30. Ba6 (30. a5 $1 Rxa5 31. Rb8+ Kg7 32. Re8 $44) 30... Rc7 31. Ra1 $2 (31. Rfb1 Ke7 $15) 31... Nd7 $6 (31... Rca7 32. Bb7 Rxa4 33. Rxa4 Rxa4 34. Bxc6 Ra1+ 35. Kf2 (35. Kh2 $2 g4) 35... Ra2+ 36. Ke1 ( 36. Kf1 f3) 36... Rxg2 $17) 32. Rb7 (32. Bb7 Ra5 $11) 32... Rxb7 (32... Ra7 $1 33. Rxc7 Rxc7 $17) 33. Bxb7 Ra7 $11 1/2-1/2