[Event "Sinquefield Cup"]
[Site "Saint Louis USA"]
[Date "2016.08.05"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Wesley So"]
[Black "Hikaru Nakamura"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E05"]
[WhiteElo "2771"]
[BlackElo "2791"]
[Annotator "Hess, Robert"]
[PlyCount "75"]
[EventDate "2016.08.04"]

{At the 2015 Sinquefield Cup, Nakamura crushed Wesley in a King's Indian. A
lot has changed in a year, including Hikaru's opening choice against his
compatriot.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7.
Ne5 (7. Qa4 a6 8. Qxc4 b5 9. Qc2 Bb7 {is a main line that has been played
countless times.}) 7... Nc6 8. Nxc6 (8. Bxc6 bxc6 9. Nxc6 Qe8 10. Nxe7+ Qxe7
11. Qa4 e5 12. dxe5 Qxe5 {is a well-known line. The engine slightly prefers
White, but the opposite-colored bishops and airy kingside allows Black great
equalizing opportunities.}) 8... bxc6 9. Na3 Bxa3 10. bxa3 {A hilarious pawn
structure arises: Black has triple, isolated c-pawns and an isolated a-pawn.
White is down a little one and has double, isolated a-pawns. A truly hideous
position.} Ba6 11. Qd2 Rb8 (11... c3 12. Qxc3 (12. Qe3 Nd5) 12... Bxe2 13. Re1
(13. Qxc6 Bxf1 14. Qxa8 Qxa8 15. Bxa8 Rxa8 16. Kxf1 Rb8 17. Bd2 Nd5) 13... Bb5
14. Bxc6 (14. a4 Bxa4 15. Qb4 Bb5 16. a4 Ba6 17. Ba3 Re8 (17... Qd7 18. Qa5)
18. Bxc6) 14... Bxc6 15. Qxc6 Qxd4 16. Be3 Qd6) 12. Qa5 Qc8 13. a4 Rd8 14. Ba3
{Sacrificing a second pawn to increase the iniative. The d4 pawn is quite
irrelevant. Sure, it would be a nice pawn to keep, but White needs to remain
active to justify the sacrificed material.} (14. Rd1 c3 (14... e5 15. Qxe5 Nd5
{is double-edged. White has the two bishops and more central pawns, but is
also underdeveloped. Black is very active, which is necessary given that the
structure in the long term certainly favors White.}) 15. Qxc3 Bxe2 16. Re1 Qa6
17. Bg5 Qc4 {is equal.} (17... Rd6 {trying to keep the pawn might not be worth
the trouble. Why give White control of the b-file?} 18. Rab1)) 14... Rxd4 15.
Rfb1 $146 {The first new move, and a smart one. In the event of an exchange
sacrifice, White's second rook is better placed on a1 rather than f1. This
seems to oppose typical chess logic, but the reason is that White will try to
play a5 and then a4.} (15. Rab1 Rb6 16. Bc5 Rd5 17. Bxd5 cxd5 18. Bxb6 axb6 19.
Qb4 Nd7 (19... d4 {is also tempting, opening the long diagonal and freeing d5
for the knight.}) 20. a5 b5 21. Qe7 c5 22. f4 d4 23. f5 e5 24. f6 gxf6 25. g4
h6 26. Rf5 {1/2-1/2 (26) Efimenko,Z (2689)-Sakaev,K (2607) Vrnjacka Banja 2010}
) 15... Rb6 16. Bc5 Rd7 (16... Rd5 {was the move I was hoping to see. It's
rare to see the material imbalance of two minors and two pawns for two rooks.}
17. Bxd5 cxd5 (17... Rxb1+ 18. Rxb1 cxd5 19. Qxa6 {is the main problem for
Black: the back rank is left unguarded.}) 18. Bxb6 cxb6 19. Qc3 {is just too
good for White, though. The queenside will be chiseled at, and when all is
said and done the rooks will be stronger than the minors.}) 17. Rd1 h6 {
A patient move, but perhaps reinforcements were necessary:} (17... Nd5 18. e4
Nf6 {is level, but Black has benefited from the pawn thrust. Now his knight
has the d3 square to eventually reroute to.}) 18. Rxd7 Nxd7 19. Bxb6 cxb6 20.
Qd2 c5 (20... Nc5 21. Qd6 {Will be somewhat similar to the game continuation,
where White stands better.} Nxa4 22. Qxc6 Qxc6 23. Bxc6 Nc5 {The main
difference here is that the players have traded one their respective doubled
pawns. This is important for Black, as it frees up the c5 square for his
knight.}) 21. Rd1 Nf6 22. Kf1 Kh7 23. Qc2+ Kg8 ({In retrospect, Hikaru likely
regrets not playing} 23... g6 {to keep the queens on the board.} 24. Qc3 Kg7 {
and it is unclear how White makes progress. Any attempt forward will include a
concession.} 25. h4 Qc7 26. Kg1 e5 {and the fight continues, though White of
course stands better.}) 24. Qd2 Kh7 25. Qd8 {Wesley is playing for two results
now that the queens are coming off the board. The a7 pawn is a glaring
weakness, and despite the approximately equal material, White is much better.
A rook often dominates minor pieces in the endgame.} Qxd8 (25... e5 26. Qxc8
Bxc8 27. Rd8 Be6 28. Ra8 c3 29. Ke1 {is an even worse version of the game for
Black, since the push e6-e5 has loosened control of the light squares.}) 26.
Rxd8 c3 27. Ke1 Bc4 (27... c2 28. Kd2 Bxe2 29. Kxc2 Kg6 30. Rb8 {is too quick.
Black has no time to go pawn hunting.} Ng4 31. Rb7 Nxf2 32. Rxa7 {and b6 falls
next.}) 28. Kd1 Bxa2 29. Kc2 Bc4 30. e3 b5 31. Kxc3 a6 32. Ra8 (32. a5 {
probably was more precise.} Bd5 33. Bxd5 Nxd5+ {and the only move that wins is}
34. Kb3 (34. Kd2 c4 35. Rd6 Nb4 {the knight miraculously can't be kicked from
its defense of the a6 pawn. If the king comes to c3, the knight checks from a2.
If the king comes to a3, the knight checks from c2. An amazing fortress.}))
32... Nd5+ 33. Bxd5 exd5 (33... Bxd5 34. Rxa6 bxa4 35. Rxa4 f5 36. Ra5 c4 37.
Kd4 {is winning for White. Black's king does not enter the action in time, as
the White king gallivants around the dark squares.}) 34. a5 (34. Rc8 bxa4 35.
Rxc5 {is also winning, but more difficult. Here White will have to be precise,
whereas in the game continuation the a-pawn ended things quickly.}) (34. axb5
axb5 35. Rc8 {would be met by} d4+ 36. exd4 cxd4+ 37. Kxd4 {with very good
drawing chances.}) 34... b4+ 35. Kd2 Bf1 (35... Bb5 36. Rc8 c4 {looks like
everything is covered, except} 37. Rb8 {threatens to play Rxb5. This means the
bishop must move, which results in the loss of the b-pawn, and ultimately the
game.}) 36. Rc8 c4 37. Rb8 b3 38. Kc3 {Nakamura throws in the towel,
understanding that his bishop can't fend off the a-pawn.} 1-0

[Event "Rice Memorial"]
[Site "New York, NY USA"]
[Date "1916.01.17"]
[Round "1"]
[White "David Janowski"]
[Black "Edward Tennenwurzel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D60"]
[Annotator "Soltis, Andy"]
[PlyCount "115"]
[EventDate "1916.01.17"]

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. Bg5 Nbd7 5. e3 Be7 6. Nc3 O-O 7. Bd3 a6 8. Qe2
c5 9. O-O dxc4 10. Bxc4 b5 11. Bd3 Bb7 12. Rfd1 Qb6 13. a4 c4 14. Bb1 Rfe8 15.
a5 Qc6 16. Bc2 Rad8 17. Re1 Qc7 18. e4 e5 19. d5 Nc5 20. h3 Qd6 21. Nd1 Nfd7
22. Bd2 Nf8 23. Ne3 Bc8 24. Bc3 Bf6 25. Ng4 Nb7 26. Qd2 Bxg4 27. hxg4 Ng6 28.
g3 Be7 29. Qe2 Qc7 30. Qd2 Qd6 31. b4 cxb3 32. Bxb3 Rc8 33. Rec1 Nc5 34. Bc2 f6
35. Nh2 Qd7 36. Bb4 Bd6 37. Qe2 Nb7 38. Bd2 Bc5 39. Bb3 Nd6 40. Nf1 Nf8 41. Rc2
Nb7 42. Rac1 Qd6 43. Ne3 g6 44. Kg2 Kg7 45. Nd1 Rc7 46. f4 Rec8 47. g5 Bd4 48.
gxf6+ Kxf6 49. fxe5+ Bxe5 50. Rc6 Rxc6 51. dxc6 Nd8 52. Ne3 h5 53. Bb4 Qd4 54.
Qf3+ Kg5 55. Be7+ Kh6 56. Qxf8+ Bg7 {Diagram [#]} 57. Bg5+ (57. Ng4+ hxg4 (
57... Kh7 58. Qg8#) 58. Rh1#) 57... Kxg5 (57... Kh7 58. Qg8#) 58. Qf4# 1-0

[Event "Tashkent (analysis)"]
[Site "Tashkent UZB"]
[Date "2014.10.21"]
[Round "1.6"]
[White "Radjabov, T."]
[Black "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "C26"]
[WhiteElo "2726"]
[BlackElo "2767"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "1r1q1rk1/ppp2pp1/2bb3p/5N1Q/5P2/2PP4/P1P4P/1RB2RK1 w - - 0 17"]
[PlyCount "5"]
[EventDate "2014.10.21"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "UZB"]
[EventCategory "21"]
[Source "Mark Crowther"]
[SourceDate "2014.10.27"]

{Problem #17 in Edouard. Your task is to "find the winning move."} 17. Kf2 $1 {
with the idea of Rg1} (17. Be3 Qf6 18. Bd4 Qg6+ 19. Qxg6 fxg6 20. Nxd6 cxd6 21.
Rbe1 $11 {1/2 (29)-1/2 (45) Radjabov,T (2726)-Karjakin,S (2767) Tashkent 2014})
17... Bd7 (17... Bc5+ 18. d4 $1) (17... Qf6 18. Rg1 Bc5+ (18... Kh8 19. Be3 $5
{with the idea Bd4} (19. Rxg7 Rg8 20. Rxf7 Qg6 21. Qxg6 Rxg6 $16) 19... Qxc3 $2
20. Rbd1 Qxc2+ 21. Rd2 Qc3 22. Nxh6 $18) 19. d4 $18) (17... Kh8 18. Nxh6 g6 19.
Nxf7+ Kg7 20. Nxd8 gxh5 21. Ne6+ $18) 18. Nxh6+ gxh6 19. Qxh6 $18 *

[Event "Grand Chess Tour Paris Blitz"]
[Site "Paris FRA"]
[Date "2016.06.11"]
[Round "6.2"]
[White "Hikaru Nakamura"]
[Black "Veselin Topalov"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E46"]
[WhiteElo "2787"]
[BlackElo "2761"]
[Annotator "Soltis, Andy"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "2016.06.11"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Nge2 d5 6. a3 Bd6 7. cxd5 exd5 8.
Ng3 Re8 9. Bd3 c5 10. dxc5 Bxc5 11. O-O Nc6 12. b4 Bb6 13. Nce2 d4 14. e4 Ne5
15. Bf4 Nfg4 16. h3 Nxd3 17. Qxd3 Ne5 18. Bxe5 Rxe5 19. f4 Re8 20. f5 Bd7 21.
Kh1 Rc8 22. Rf4 Qg5 23. Rg4 Qe3 24. Qxe3 dxe3 25. Nh5 Bb5 26. Rxg7+ Kh8 27.
Rxf7 Bxe2 28. Nf6 Rc7 29. Rxc7 Bxc7 30. Nxe8 Bg3 31. e5 Bb5 32. Nd6 Bd3 33.
Nxb7 e2 34. e6 Bxf5 35. e7 Bg6 36. b5 Kg8 37. a4 Kf7 38. a5 Bc2 39. Nc5 Kxe7
40. b6 axb6 41. axb6 Kd6 42. Rc1 {Diagram [#]} 1-0

[Event "Ultimate Blitz Challenge"]
[Site "St. Louis, MO USA"]
[Date "2016.04.28"]
[Round "2.2"]
[White "Hikaru Nakamura"]
[Black "Garry Kasparov"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E99"]
[Annotator "Soltis, Andy"]
[PlyCount "94"]
[EventDate "2016.04.28"]

1. c4 g6 2. e4 Bg7 3. d4 d6 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O Nc6 8. d5
Ne7 9. Ne1 Nd7 10. Nd3 f5 11. Bd2 Nf6 12. f3 Kh8 13. Rc1 c5 14. dxc6 bxc6 15.
Be3 Be6 16. b3 c5 17. b4 Bxc4 18. bxc5 Rc8 19. cxd6 Qxd6 20. Nc5 Qxd1 21. Rfxd1
Bxe2 22. Nxe2 fxe4 23. Nxe4 Rxc1 24. Rxc1 Ned5 25. Bf2 Nxe4 26. fxe4 {Diagram 
[#]} Nf4 (26... Nb4) 27. Nxf4 exf4 28. Kf1 h5 29. Bxa7 Ra8 30. Rc7 Re8 31. Rc4
Ra8 32. Rc7 Re8 33. Rc6 Rxe4 34. Rxg6 Ra4 35. Bf2 Kh7 36. Rg5 Kh6 37. h4 Rxa2
38. Rf5 Ra4 39. Ke2 Kg6 40. Rg5+ Kh6 41. Rb5 Bf6 42. Kf3 Kg6 43. Rd5 Rb4 44.
Ra5 Rc4 45. Be1 Rc1 46. Bd2 Rc4 47. Ra6 Kf5 1/2-1/2

[Event "Budapest"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1991.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "IM Sergey Kishnev"]
[Black "IM Philipp Schlosser"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E14"]
[Annotator "Soltis, Andy"]
[PlyCount "38"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. e3 Bb7 5. Bd3 c5 6. O-O Be7 7. Nc3 cxd4 8. exd4
d5 9. cxd5 Nxd5 10. Ne5 O-O 11. Qh5 {Diagram [#]} Nf6 12. Qh4 Ne4 13. Qh5 Nf6
14. Qh4 Ne4 15. Qh5 Nf6 16. Qh4 Ne4 17. Qh5 Nf6 18. Qh4 Ne4 19. Qh3 Qxd4 0-1

[Event "Steinitz - Chigorin World Championship "]
[Site "Havana CUB"]
[Date "1892.02.25"]
[Round "22"]
[White "Wilhelm Steinitz"]
[Black "Mikhail Chigorin"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D55"]
[Annotator "Soltis, Andy"]
[PlyCount "97"]
[EventDate "1892.??.??"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 e6 3. c4 Nf6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3 b6 7. Rc1 Bb7 8. Be2
Nbd7 9. cxd5 Nxd5 10. Nxd5 Bxd5 11. Bxe7 Qxe7 12. Rxc7 Qd6 13. Rc3 Bxa2 14. e4
Qb4 15. Qa1 Bb3 16. Nd2 Bc2 17. Rc4 Qd6 18. Rxc2 Qxd4 19. O-O Nc5 20. Bf3 e5
21. Rd1 Qb4 22. Qa3 Qb5 23. Nc4 Ne6 24. Rd5 Qc6 25. Rc3 Nf4 26. Rd6 Qe8 27. g3
Nh3+ 28. Kg2 Ng5 29. h4 Ne6 30. Nxe5 Nc5 31. Rd5 f6 32. b4 Na4 33. Rc7 fxe5 34.
Rdd7 Qg6 {Diagram [#]} 35. Rxg7+ Qxg7 (35... Kh8 36. Rxg6) 36. Rxg7+ Kxg7 37.
Qxa4 Rf7 38. Bg4 Rd8 39. Qb5 Re7 40. Qc6 Rf8 41. Bf5 Rf6 42. Qd5 h5 43. Qd8
Ref7 44. Qe8 Rxf5 45. exf5 Rxf5 46. Qe7+ Rf7 47. Qxe5+ Kg6 48. Qg5+ Kh7 49.
Qxh5+ 1-0

[Event "Grand Chess Tour Paris Blitz"]
[Site "Paris FRA"]
[Date "2016.06.12"]
[Round "17"]
[White "Laurent Fressinet"]
[Black "Magnus Carlsen"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A40"]
[WhiteElo "2687"]
[BlackElo "2855"]
[Annotator "Soltis, Andy"]
[PlyCount "116"]
[EventDate "2016.06.08"]

1. d4 Nc6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. d5 Nb8 4. Nc3 d6 5. e4 g6 6. Be3 Bg4 7. h3 Bxf3 8. Qxf3
Bg7 9. O-O-O Nbd7 10. g4 c6 11. Qe2 Rc8 12. Bd4 c5 13. Be3 Qa5 14. Qb5 Qxb5 15.
Bxb5 a6 16. Be2 b5 17. g5 Nh5 18. a4 b4 19. Nb1 c4 20. Nd2 c3 21. Nb3 cxb2+ 22.
Kb1 Rc3 23. Bd4 O-O 24. Bxa6 Nc5 25. Bxc3 bxc3 26. Nxc5 dxc5 27. d6 exd6 28.
Rxd6 Nf4 29. Rhd1 Bd4 30. Bb7 Nxh3 31. a5 Nxf2 32. R1xd4 cxd4 33. Rxd4 Re8 34.
a6 Nh3 35. Rd3 Nxg5 36. Rxc3 Kg7 37. a7 Ne6 {Diagram [#]} 38. Rc8 (38. a8=Q) (
38. Bc8) 38... Rxc8 39. Bxc8 Nc7 40. Bb7 Kf6 41. e5+ Kxe5 42. Kxb2 h5 43. Kb3
g5 44. a8=Q Nxa8 45. Bxa8 g4 46. Kc3 h4 47. Kd3 h3 48. Ke3 f5 49. c4 f4+ 50.
Kf2 Kd4 51. Bd5 Kc5 52. Kg1 g3 53. Kh1 Kd4 54. Kg1 Ke3 55. c5 f3 56. c6 f2+ 57.
Kf1 g2+ 58. Bxg2 hxg2+ 0-1

[Event "Grand Chess Tour Paris Rapid"]
[Site "Paris FRA"]
[Date "2016.06.10"]
[Round "9.1"]
[White "Fabiano Caruana"]
[Black "Hikaru Nakamura"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A14"]
[WhiteElo "2804"]
[BlackElo "2787"]
[Annotator "Soltis, Andy"]
[PlyCount "110"]
[EventDate "2016.06.09"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 e6 4. O-O Be7 5. c4 O-O 6. b3 c5 7. e3 d4 8. exd4
cxd4 9. d3 Nc6 10. Qe2 Nd7 11. Nbd2 e5 12. Ne4 Re8 13. a3 a5 14. Rb1 h6 15. g4
Nf8 16. g5 hxg5 17. Nexg5 Bf5 18. c5 Ng6 19. b4 axb4 20. axb4 Qd7 21. Re1 Bf8
22. Qc2 b5 23. Qb3 Ra6 24. h4 Bg4 25. Re4 Bf5 26. Re1 Bg4 27. Re4 Nd8 28. Bd2
Kh8 29. h5 Bxh5 30. Bh3 f5 31. Kg2 Nf4+ 32. Bxf4 exf4 33. Rxf4 g6 34. Rxd4 Qb7
35. Qd5 Qxd5 36. Rxd5 Nc6 37. Nd4 Nxd4 38. Rxd4 Kg7 39. Rc1 Re7 40. c6 Kf6 41.
f4 Rc7 42. Nh7+ Kg7 43. Rd7+ Rxd7 44. cxd7 Be7 45. Re1 Kf7 46. Ng5+ Bxg5 47.
fxg5 Rd6 48. Re5 Rxd7 49. Rxb5 Rxd3 50. Rb6 Bf3+ 51. Kh2 Be4 52. Bf1 Rd1 53.
Bc4+ Kg7 54. b5 {Diagram [#]} f4 55. Kh3 Bf3 0-1

[Event "YourNextMove Rapid"]
[Site "Leuven BEL"]
[Date "2016.06.18"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Fabiano Caruana"]
[Black "Levon Aronian"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C65"]
[WhiteElo "2804"]
[BlackElo "2792"]
[Annotator "Soltis, Andy"]
[PlyCount "136"]
[EventDate "2016.06.17"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. Nbd2 Be6 7. Qe2 Bd6 8.
Ng5 Bg4 9. f3 Bh5 10. Nc4 Nd7 11. h4 h6 12. Nh3 Qe7 13. g4 Bg6 14. h5 Bh7 15.
Bd2 f6 16. Ne3 Qf7 17. f4 O-O-O 18. Nf5 Nc5 19. Be3 Ne6 20. Nxd6+ cxd6 21. f5
Nc5 22. a4 Qc7 23. O-O a5 24. Rfb1 Na6 25. c3 Bg8 26. b4 c5 27. bxa5 Qxa5 28.
Qc2 d5 29. Nf2 Bf7 30. Rb5 Qc7 31. Rab1 d4 32. Bd2 Be8 33. R5b2 dxc3 34. Rxb7
Qxb7 35. Rxb7 Kxb7 36. Bxc3 Ka7 37. Bd2 Bf7 38. Nd1 Rd7 39. Nc3 Rc8 40. Qb1 Bc4
41. dxc4 Rxd2 42. Qb5 Rd6 43. Kf2 Rb8 44. Ke2 Ka8 45. Qa5 Rb2+ 46. Ke1 Kb7 47.
Nd5 Ka7 48. Kd1 Rb4 49. Ke2 Rb2+ 50. Kd1 Rb4 51. Kc2 Rxc4+ 52. Nc3 Rb6 53. Kd3
Rd4+ 54. Kc2 Rc4 55. Kd3 Rcb4 56. Nd5 Rd4+ 57. Kc2 Rc4+ 58. Kd3 Rd4+ 59. Kc3
Rb7 60. Qd8 Nc7 61. Qd6 Na6 62. a5 c4 63. Qc6 {Diagram [#]} Rb3+ 64. Kc2 Rxd5
65. Qxc4 Rdb5 66. g5 Rc5 67. Kxb3 Rxc4 68. Kxc4 hxg5 0-1

[Event "YourNextMove Rapid"]
[Site "Leuven BEL"]
[Date "2016.06.18"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Fabiano Caruana"]
[Black "Vladimir Kramnik"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C65"]
[WhiteElo "2804"]
[BlackElo "2812"]
[Annotator "Soltis, Andy"]
[PlyCount "79"]
[EventDate "2016.06.17"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. O-O d6 7. Nbd2 Ne7 8. d4
exd4 9. cxd4 Bb6 10. Re1 Bg4 11. h3 Bh5 12. a4 a6 13. Bf1 Nc6 14. a5 Ba7 15.
Ra4 h6 16. Qc2 Re8 17. Bd3 Bg6 18. b3 Qd7 19. Bb2 Nh5 20. d5 Ne5 21. Nxe5 dxe5
22. Nf3 Nf4 23. Nxe5 Qd6 24. Ng4 Nxd5 25. Rd1 Nf4 26. Qc3 Ne6 27. Bc2 Qc5 28.
Rc4 Qg5 29. Rd5 Qh4 30. Kh2 c6 31. g3 Qe7 32. Nxh6+ Kh7 33. Nf5 cxd5 34. exd5
Qf6 35. Rh4+ Kg8 36. Nh6+ Kf8 37. Ba3+ Nc5 {Diagram [#]} 38. Bxc5+ Bxc5 39.
Qxc5+ Qe7 (39... Re7) 40. Nf5 1-0

[Event "YourNextMove Rapid"]
[Site "Leuven BEL"]
[Date "2016.06.17"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Maxime Vachier-Lagrave"]
[Black "Viswanathan Anand"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C65"]
[WhiteElo "2789"]
[BlackElo "2770"]
[Annotator "Soltis, Andy"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[EventDate "2016.06.17"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. O-O d6 7. Nbd2 Ne7 8. d4
exd4 9. cxd4 Bb6 10. Re1 Bg4 11. h3 Bh5 12. Qb3 d5 13. e5 Nd7 14. Qd1 Re8 15.
g4 Bg6 16. Nf1 c6 17. Bd3 f6 18. exf6 Nxf6 19. Ng3 Bxd3 20. Qxd3 Ng6 21. Rxe8+
Qxe8 22. Bg5 Qf7 23. Re1 Rf8 24. Nf5 Ne4 25. Bh6 Qc7 26. Nxg7 Nxf2 27. Kxf2
Qh2+ 28. Ke3 Qg2 29. Qe2 {Diagram [#]} Rxf3+ 30. Qxf3 Bxd4+ 31. Kxd4 Qxf3 32.
Nf5 Qf2+ 33. Re3 Qxb2+ 34. Kc5 Qb6+ 35. Kd6 Qd8+ 36. Kc5 d4 0-1

[Event "Grand Chess Tour Paris Blitz"]
[Site "Paris FRA"]
[Date "2016.06.12"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Wesley So"]
[Black "Magnus Carlsen"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A29"]
[WhiteElo "2770"]
[BlackElo "2855"]
[Annotator "Soltis, Andy"]
[PlyCount "62"]
[EventDate "2016.06.08"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 Nb6 7. O-O Be7 8.
d3 O-O 9. a3 Re8 10. b4 Bf8 11. Bb2 Bg4 12. Nd2 Qc8 13. Re1 a5 14. b5 Nd4 15.
Nb3 a4 16. Nxd4 exd4 17. Ne4 Qd7 18. Qc2 Rad8 19. Nc5 Bxc5 20. Qxc5 Rxe2 21.
Rxe2 Bxe2 22. Bxb7 Bxd3 23. Rd1 Qxb5 24. Qxc7 Rf8 25. Bxd4 Nc4 26. Bf3 Qb3 27.
Bc5 Re8 28. Qd7 {Diagram [#]} Qxd1+ 29. Bxd1 Re1+ 30. Kg2 Bf1+ 31. Kf3 (31. Kg1
Bh3#) 31... Ne5+ 0-1

[Event "chess.com"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Jackson, Roy"]
[Black "nedzedol"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D05"]
[WhiteElo "1695"]
[BlackElo "1669"]
[Annotator "Alburt, Lev"]
[PlyCount "126"]
[EventDate "2016.10.08"]

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3 {Diagram [#]} e6 (3... Bf5 4. c4 e6 5. Qb3 Nc6) 4.
Bd3 Bd6 (4... c5) 5. Nbd2 b6 6. O-O c5 7. c3 {Diagram [#]} c4 (7... Bb7) 8. Bc2
Bd7 (8... Bb7 9. Qe2) 9. e4 dxe4 10. Nxe4 Nxe4 11. Bxe4 Bc6 {Diagram [#]} 12.
Qe2 (12. d5 exd5 13. Bxd5 Qe7) (12. Bxc6+ Nxc6 13. Qa4) 12... b5 13. Re1 (13.
a4) 13... O-O {Diagram [#]} (13... Be7) 14. Bxh7+ Kxh7 15. Ng5+ Kg6 {Diagram 
[#]} (15... Kh6) (15... Kg8 16. Qh5 Re8 {Diagram [#]} 17. Qxf7+ Kh8 18. Qh5+
Kg8 19. Qh7+ Kf8 20. Qh8+ Ke7 21. Qxg7#) 16. Qc2+ (16. Qg4 f5 (16... Qf6 17.
Rxe6) (16... Kf6 17. Rxe6+) 17. Qh4 (17. Re2 Rf6) (17. Rxe6+ Rf6) 17... Re8 (
17... Bd5) 18. Qh8 (18. Qh7+ Kf6 19. Nxe6 Rxe6 20. Bg5+ Kxg5 21. Rxe6) 18...
Kf6 19. Nxe6 Rxe6 20. Bg5+ Kxg5 21. Rxe6) 16... Kf6 {Diagram [#]} 17. Nh7+ Ke7
18. Bg5+ f6 19. Nxf8 (19. Qf5) 19... Qxf8 20. Bh4 {Diagram [#]} Nd7 (20... Bd5)
21. Rad1 (21. Qf5) 21... Bd5 22. Qf5 Kd8 23. Qg4 Kc7 24. Bg3 g5 25. Re3 Qf7 26.
Bxd6+ Kxd6 27. Rh3 Rg8 28. Re1 f5 {Diagram [#]} 29. Qh5 Qe7 30. Ree3 f4 31. Re1
Nf6 32. Qe2 g4 33. Rh6 {Diagram [#]} Qg7 (33... Ne4) 34. Qe5+ Ke7 35. Rxf6 Qxf6
36. Qxd5 Kf7 37. Qd7+ (37. Qxb5) 37... Qe7 (37... Kf8 38. Rxe6 Qf7 39. Qd6+)
38. Qxb5 (38. Qxe7+ Kxe7 39. d5 (39. Re4 f3 40. g3) 39... Rg5 40. dxe6 Rd5)
38... f3 39. Qxc4 fxg2 {Diagram [#]} 40. Kxg2 (40. d5) 40... Qb7+ 41. Kg1 Rg6
42. d5 exd5 43. Qf4+ Kg7 44. Qd4+ Kh7 45. Re8 Rg7 46. Qe5 Qf7 47. Qe6 (47. Rd8)
47... Qf3 48. Qe2 Qf5 49. Re5 Qd7 50. Rh5+ (50. Qd3+) 50... Kg6 51. Rh4 Kg5 52.
Rh8 Qf5 53. Re8 Kf6 54. Rf8+ Rf7 55. Rxf7+ Kxf7 {Diagram [#]} 56. Qe3 Qb1+ 57.
Kg2 Qxa2 58. b4 a5 59. Qa7+ Ke6 60. bxa5 Qc4 61. a6 (61. Qd4) 61... Qe4+ 62.
Kf1 (62. Kg3 Qf3+ 63. Kh4 Qf6+) 62... Qd3+ 63. Kg2 Qf3+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "Chess Olympiad 2016"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.09.13"]
[Round "11"]
[White "So, Wesley"]
[Black "Lesiege, Alexander"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B13"]
[WhiteElo "2782"]
[BlackElo "2512"]
[Annotator "So, Wesley"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2008.01.09"]

{This was my game in the last round (11) and we played the 25th seeded
Canadians. During the game I was thinking that Canada has stood in the way of
United States Chess for long time (2-2 tie during the 2014 Olympiad) and that
enough was enough.     Our team had traveled a long hard journey to get this
far and I didn't want to let these last opponents stand in the way of a
potential gold medal! Nothing personal against the very nice Alex Lesiege, but
so much was at stake, he was the enemy today!     Canada came with a revamped
and inspired team this year: Evgeny Bareev (rated 2675), Anton Kovalyov (final
rating performance of 2852) and Eric Hansen (final rating performance of
2738-though they did give him nine Whites). They were performing above their
own expectations, so I knew this match was going to be tough.} 1. c4 c5 2. Nf3
Nc6 3. Nc3 g6 4. e3 Nf6 5. d4 cxd4 6. exd4 d5 {This is a very solid line and I
play it with both colors. Lesiege had also used it in round 3 so it wasn't a
big surprise that he played it again.} 7. Bg5 Be6 8. Bxf6 exf6 9. h3 $146 ({
The idea of the novelty 9.h3 came to me after some logical thinking two years
ago. The main idea is to prevent Bg4, but at the cost of precious time.} 9. c5
Bg4 $1 {is supposed to be fine as Black eliminates the main defender of the
d4-pawn.} (9... Bg7 10. h3 (10. Bb5 Bg4 $1 11. Qe2+ Kf8 $15) 10... a6 (10...
O-O 11. Bb5 {was how the game Gawain-Lesiege went from Olympiad Round 3.}) 11.
Bd3) 10. Be2 Bg7 11. h3 Bxf3 12. Bxf3 f5 13. O-O O-O 14. Ne2 Qh4 15. Bxd5 {
And now even} Nxd4 ({Or} 15... Rad8 16. Bxc6 bxc6 $44) 16. Bxb7 (16. Nxd4 Bxd4
17. Bxb7 Rab8 18. c6 Bxb2 19. Rb1 Be5) 16... Rad8 17. Nxd4 Rxd4 18. Qf3 Rc4 {
the appearance of the opposite-colored bishops should relieve Black of any
problems.}) ({But maybe for the future} 9. Be2 {might be an interesting try,
simply aiming to finish development.} Bb4 10. c5) 9... Bb4 10. c5 O-O $6 (10...
Qa5 $1 11. Qd2 O-O 12. Be2 b6 13. cxb6 axb6 {is completely fine for Black.}) (
10... Bxc3+ 11. bxc3 O-O $11) 11. Rc1 {His 10th move was a slight inaccuracy
as now I am able to avoid defects on my queenside pawn structure.} b6 12. Bb5 {
Now I was quite happy with the outcome of the opening. I will regain the
bishop pair with a3, and I am basically playing a pawn up as his doubled
f-pawns are particularly ineffective.} Na5 $1 13. a3 Bxc3+ 14. Rxc3 Nc4 15. b4
$1 a5 $6 {Here is where my opponent started to go wrong.} ({Better is} 15... a6
16. Bxc4 dxc4 17. O-O b5 18. Re1 Bd5 19. Nd2 {where personally I prefer White,
but apparently the position is just balanced as it will take a lot of time to
bring my knight to the ideal square c3 or e3.}) 16. O-O axb4 17. axb4 Qb8 $2 {
Mistakes usually come in a sequence. Hooray! After this I have a clear
advantage.} 18. Bxc4 dxc4 {Alexander had a good position out of the opening
but has now misplayed it and given me a chance to increase my initiative.} 19.
Nd2 $1 bxc5 (19... b5 20. Ne4 f5 21. Nd6 Bd5 22. Qe2 {is clearly bad for Black
as my knight would be very powerful on d6.}) 20. bxc5 Qb4 $6 (20... Qb2 21. Ne4
Bf5 $1 {was Black's best defense. The idea is that it prevents White from
consolidating.}) 21. Qf3 Bd5 22. Qxd5 $6 {Sacrificing the exchange was not
necessary at all.} ({White has a clear advantage after the simple} 22. Qg3 $142
Ra2 (22... Ra4 23. Rb1 Qa5 24. Rbc1 Qa6 25. Nf1) 23. Rb1 Qa4 24. Nf1 Rd8 25.
Ne3 Ra1 26. Rbc1 Kg7 27. Nf5+) 22... Qxc3 23. Ne4 Qd3 24. Nxf6+ Kh8 (24... Kg7
25. Qe5) 25. Nd7 Rfe8 26. Ne5 (26. Qxf7 $2 Qxf1+ $19 {was what I missed when I
decided to sacrifice the exchange on move 22!}) 26... Qf5 ({According to the
engine Black would have held with} 26... Qe2 $1 $11 {I think the reason is
that his passed c-pawn would have more support. Also White has to be careful
if he removes his knight from the e-file then Qxf1+ would be boom!}) 27. Qxc4
$2 {I played too quickly! Use your time! Double check! Triple check!} ({
White can win easily after} 27. Nxf7+ $1 Kg7 28. Ne5 {by just grabbing pawns
whenever he wants! The Black king is also very vulnerable now that f7 is gone.}
c3 (28... Qe6 29. Qb7+ Kg8 30. Rc1) 29. Qb7+ Kg8 30. Qb3+ $18) 27... Kg7 {
Here my opponent had only one to two minutes and I was playing to put pressure
on him!} 28. Qc3 $6 {A mistake, as I allow his a-rook to be activated.} (28.
Ng4 $1 h5 (28... Ra3 29. d5 Rd3 30. d6) 29. Ne3 Qf4 30. Nd5 $16) 28... Ra2 29.
Nd3 Qf6 ({With two connected passed pawns I thought I wasn't risking much but} 
29... Ree2 $1 30. d5+ f6 31. c6 Red2 32. c7 Rac2 $17 {is apparently better for
Black!}) 30. Nb4 Rae2 (30... Ra4 $11) 31. Nd5 Qg5 32. Nc7 R8e3 $2 33. Qc1 h6
34. d5 Qe5 $2 {Yes! The long-awaited blunder finally comes! Hooray! But really,
it is not easy to defend having only half a minute to make each move.} (34...
Rd3 {is apparently just equal as he always has counterplay on the 2nd rank.}
35. c6 Qxc1 36. Rxc1 Rdd2 $11 {I read once that a famous player said a rook on
the seventh rank is a pig, but two rooks on the seventh rank are even greedier,
eating anything that comes near.}) 35. fxe3 Qg3 (35... Qxc7 36. Qc4) 36. Qa1+ {
Not a perfect game, but it was the last round and a gold is gold!! Yaaaayyy!!}
(36. Qa1+ Kg8 37. Qa8+ Kg7 38. Ne8+ (38. Ne6+ fxe6 39. Qf8+) 38... Kf8 39. Nf6+
Kg7 40. Qg8#) 1-0

[Event "Baku ol (Men) 42nd"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.08"]
[Round "6.1"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Eljanov, Pavel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B31"]
[WhiteElo "2808"]
[BlackElo "2739"]
[Annotator "Hess, Robert"]
[PlyCount "105"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[Source "Chessbase"]
[SourceDate "2016.09.18"]
[WhiteTeam "US of America"]
[BlackTeam "Ukraine"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "USA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "UKR"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 {The Rossolimo is a staple of Caruana's opening
repertoire, so Eljanov must have been thought his chances in this variation
were good. The choice was a good one, as the Ukrainian actually obtained a
very solid position.} g6 4. Bxc6 bxc6 (4... dxc6 {Magnus Carlsen used this
recapture to defeat Caruana in the 2015 Tata Steel tournament, though the
opening was not where the world champion made his mark in that game.
Additionally, the American board one scored a strong victory over Teimour
Radjabov only a few months earlier in this line, perhaps an indication to
Eljanov that he should recapture towards the center.}) 5. O-O Bg7 6. Re1 Nh6 {
This is by far the most common continuation, though it admittedly looks quite
strange. The point is that 6...Nf6 invites the e4-e5 push, whereas now Black
can challenge the center with f7-f5, as in the game.} 7. c3 O-O 8. h3 (8. d4 {
is most common. Though it undoubles the c-pawns, this move helps take control
of the center. The change in structure provides mutual chances.} cxd4 9. cxd4
d5 {leaves black with a very respectable position.} (9... f6 {is also
perfectly acceptable, although a bit more cramped.})) 8... f5 ({Boris Gelfand
is a renowned Rossolimo theoretician and has been a big proponent of} 8... d5 {
though Anand's victory over the Israeli super GM at the 2016 Tal Memorial
might cause Gelfand to rethink. It must be noted that that game occurred weeks
after this one, so Caruana and Eljanov were not privy to that analysis.}) 9. e5
Nf7 10. d3 Rb8 ({Giri and Gelfand have both tried} 10... Ba6 {and split the
point against Adams and Inarkiev, respectfully.}) 11. Na3 {A new move in a
rare position, this novelty does not appear to have any theoretical
significance. It merely develops the knight without obstructing the bishop.}
Ba6 12. Nc4 Bxc4 13. dxc4 {An interesting pawn transformaton has appeared on
the board. Caruana actively avoided undoubling Eljanov's pawns, but received a
pair of doubled c-pawns himself. The rook on b8 currently serves as the sole
active black piece, so Eljanov now makes the necessary decision to gain some
space and activity.} d6 14. e6 Ne5 15. Nxe5 Bxe5 (15... dxe5 {is a
surprisingly interesting possibility. It generally is not recommended to
isolate your existing doubled pawns while simultaneously creating new ones,
but now the e6 pawn can be corralled and the kingside pawns can start moving.
For example, a normal-looking line such as} 16. Qa4 Qd6 17. Qxa7 Qxe6 18. Qxc5
e4 19. a4 (19. f4 g5 $5 {opening more lines is important, even if it costs
another pawn.}) 19... f4 {results in a double-edged position, where it's
unclear if a successful attack or a new queen appears first.}) 16. Bh6 Bg7 ({
When our bishops are fianchettoed, we often avoid trading to keep the squares
around the king well defended. Here, however} 16... Re8 {makes little sense,
since the bishop on h6 will eventually need to be removed before it is too
late.}) 17. Bxg7 Kxg7 18. Rb1 Qa5 19. a4 {White is now tied down to the
defense of the vulnerable queenside pawns, whereas Eljanov has a semi-open
file to work with and endgames can be problematic for Caruana, whose e6 pawn
will become a liability. That being said, the position is level, as Caruana
can always calmly protect his queenside and threaten an attack on the kingside
if Eljanov moves all his pieces to the b-file.} Rf6 (19... Rb6 20. Qc2 Rfb8 21.
b3 Qa6 {naturally aiming to triple the artillery actually allows a nice shot:}
22. a5 $1 (22. Rb2 Qb7 23. Reb1 Qc8 24. Qe2 a5 {is equal, if not a smidgen
better for Eljanov.}) 22... R6b7 (22... Qxa5 $4 23. Ra1 {and the queen is
trapped.}) 23. Qa2 {and now it is the black pieces that are a bit stuck,
though the position still remains roughly equal.}) 20. Re3 Qa6 21. b3 Qc8 22.
Qe1 {This is an intelligent multi-purpose move. For starters, e6 is now
defended. But the queen also helps Caruana with a b3-b4, giving his pieces
some life.} (22. Qe2 f4 23. Re4 f3 {would not have been a welcome pawn
sacrifice for Caruana, whose kingside now is in shambles.} 24. gxf3 Qf8 25. Kg2
Rf5 {and despite the material count, it is now very clear who is better.})
22... a5 $6 {To an extent, this is a natural move. It clamps down on the b4
square, but this plan would be much better if the second rook was on b7 rather
than f6. Now Eljanov has invited Caruana to create a passed pawn.} 23. b4 axb4
24. cxb4 cxb4 25. Rxb4 Ra8 ({Black can safely liquify and hold a draw with} 
25... Rxb4 26. Qxb4 Rxe6 27. Rxe6 Qxe6 28. Qc3+ (28. a5 Qe5 {secures an easy
draw. Black is a pawn to the good, but the a-pawn proves more than enough
compensation. In fact, it is Eljanov who would be forced to bail out:} 29. Qb6
Qa1+ 30. Kh2 Qe5+ 31. g3 f4 32. a6 fxg3+ 33. fxg3 Qe2+ {and perpetual check
ensues.}) 28... Kf7 29. a5 Qc8 30. Qb3 Qa6 31. c5+ (31. Qb6 Qxc4 32. a6 c5 {
cuts the queen off from its defense of f2, meaning the game will result in
perpetual.}) 31... d5 32. Qb6 Qc4 33. Qxc6 Qc1+ 34. Kh2 Qf4+ 35. Kg1 Qc1+ {
with a draw.}) 26. Qa1 (26. c5 $1 dxc5 27. Rc4 {gives a slight edge with no
risk whatsoever. However, I can understand Caruana's reluctance to simplify,
as his team needed his full point to defeat the Ukrainians.}) 26... f4 (26...
Kg8 {Starting with this move should be an improvement. The black pawn on f5 is
well defended, while on f3 it is a liability.}) 27. Re4 f3 28. g4 Kg8 29. Qd1
Rxe6 (29... c5 30. Rb5 {feels incorrect for Eljanov. The rook is happily
stationed on b5, where it can help support the outside passer. Meanwhile, e6
remains untouchable due to Qd5. However, after} Qf8 {Black seems to get enough
counterplay to hold.}) 30. Qxf3 Rxe4 $2 {This is a tremendous inaccuracy,
after which Eljanov is in deep trouble.} (30... d5 {was necessary, as it
allows some air to breathe. The game continuation forces Eljanov into passive
defense.}) 31. Qxe4 Qc7 32. c5 $1 {Very strong, ruining the black pawn
structure.} dxc5 (32... d5 33. Qe6+ Kf8 34. Rb6 {spells huge trouble for
Eljanov, who can hardly defend his pawns and his exposed king.}) 33. Qc4+ Kg7
34. Qc3+ Kg8 35. Qc4+ Kg7 36. Qxc5 {The repetition was played to gain time, as
the players approached move 40. Now Caruana has a large advantage thanks to
his superior pawn structure, safer king, and outsided passed pawn.} Qd6 (36...
Ra5 37. Qe3 Qd6 38. Re4 (38. Rd4 Rd5 39. Rxd5 cxd5 40. a5 d4 41. Qd3 e5 42. a6
e4 43. Qxe4 Qxa6 44. Qxd4+ {is not an enjoyable position to defend, but there
are legitimate practical chances to hold.}) 38... e5 {and at least here
Eljanov's pieces are active.}) 37. Qc3+ Qf6 38. Qe3 Rf8 39. Re4 Rf7 40. Re5 {
The rook and queen are coordinated very well. The pawns on c6 and e7 are both
very weak, and the a-pawn can be used as a distraction. White's queen and rook
harmoniously attack and defend simultaneously, whereas their counterparts are
stuck defending.} Qd6 ({Attempting to trade queens with} 40... Qf4 {fails
tactically to the forced variation} 41. Rxe7 Qxa4 (41... Qxe3 42. Rxf7+ Kxf7
43. fxe3 {with a winning pawn ending.}) 42. Qe5+ Kg8 43. Re8+ Rf8 44. Qe6+ Kg7
45. Re7+ Kh6 46. Qd7 {and Eljanov's king is successfully hunted.} Rh8 47. Qd2+
g5 48. Qd6#) 41. a5 Qd1+ 42. Kg2 Qa1 43. Qe2 (43. Rxe7 Qxa5 44. Qd4+ Kg8 45.
Re8+ Rf8 {isn't quite as nice for Caruana as the previous note, because the
king isn't getting mated. White goes up a pawn nonetheless:} 46. Rxf8+ Kxf8 47.
Qh8+ Kf7 48. Qxh7+ Kf6 {Black still retains drawing chances thanks to the
passed c-pawn, so it was wise for Caruana to avoid this continuation.}) 43...
e6 44. a6 Qd4 (44... Ra7 {does not actually corral the a-pawn, since} 45. Rxe6
Qxa6 46. Qe5+ {leads to a swift mate.} Kh6 47. Qf4+ Kg7 48. Qf6+ Kh6 49. Qf8+
Rg7 50. Qf4#) 45. Rxe6 {Now it's over. Not because of the gained material, but
because Eljanov is unable to stop the passed pawn and save his king.} c5 46.
Re7 Qd5+ 47. f3 c4 48. Rxf7+ Qxf7 49. Qe5+ Kh6 (49... Kg8 50. Qb8+ Kg7 51. a7
Qd5 52. a8=Q Qd2+ 53. Kg3 Qe1+ 54. Kf4 Qd2+ 55. Ke5 {does not result in a
perpetual, as the king escapes and the queens come to the rescue.}) 50. Qe3+
Kg7 51. Qd4+ Kh6 52. a7 Qb7 53. h4 {The a-pawn is frozen, but so is the black
king. Mate is unstoppable, causing Eljanov to tip his king. A fine showing by
Caruana, who nursed positional advantages into a full point.} 1-0

[Event "Baku ol (Men) 42nd"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.08"]
[Round "6.1"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Eljanov, Pavel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B31"]
[WhiteElo "2808"]
[BlackElo "2739"]
[Annotator "Hess, R"]
[PlyCount "105"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[Source "Chessbase"]
[SourceDate "2016.09.18"]
[WhiteTeam "US of America"]
[BlackTeam "Ukraine"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "USA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "UKR"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 {The Rossolimo is a staple of Caruana's opening
repertoire, so Eljanov must have been thought his chances in this variation
were good. The choice was a good one, as the Ukrainian actually obtained a
very solid position.} g6 4. Bxc6 bxc6 (4... dxc6 {Magnus Carlsen used this
recapture to defeat Caruana in the 2015 Tata Steel tournament, though the
opening was not where the world champion made his mark in that game.
Additionally, the American board one scored a strong victory over Teimour
Radjabov only a few months earlier in this line, perhaps an indication to
Eljanov that he should recapture towards the center.}) 5. O-O Bg7 6. Re1 Nh6 {
This is by far the most common continuation, though it admittedly looks quite
strange. The point is that 6...Nf6 invites the e4-e5 push, whereas now Black
can challenge the center with f7-f5, as in the game.} 7. c3 O-O 8. h3 (8. d4 {
is most common. Though it undoubles the c-pawns, this move helps take control
of the center. The change in structure provides mutual chances.} cxd4 9. cxd4
d5 {leaves black with a very respectable position.} (9... f6 {is also
perfectly acceptable, although a bit more cramped.})) 8... f5 ({Boris Gelfand
is a renowned Rossolimo theoretician and has been a big proponent of} 8... d5 {
though Anand's victory over the Israeli super GM at the 2016 Tal Memorial
might cause Gelfand to rethink. It must be noted that that game occurred weeks
after this one, so Caruana and Eljanov were not privy to that analysis.}) 9. e5
Nf7 10. d3 Rb8 ({Giri and Gelfand have both tried} 10... Ba6 {and split the
point against Adams and Inarkiev, respectfully.}) 11. Na3 {A new move in a
rare position, this novelty does not appear to have any theoretical
significance. It merely develops the knight without obstructing the bishop.}
Ba6 12. Nc4 Bxc4 13. dxc4 {An interesting pawn transformaton has appeared on
the board. Caruana actively avoided undoubling Eljanov's pawns, but received a
pair of doubled c-pawns himself. The rook on b8 currently serves as the sole
active black piece, so Eljanov now makes the necessary decision to gain some
space and activity.} d6 14. e6 Ne5 15. Nxe5 Bxe5 (15... dxe5 {is a
surprisingly interesting possibility. It generally is not recommended to
isolate your existing doubled pawns while simultaneously creating new ones,
but now the e6 pawn can be corralled and the kingside pawns can start moving.
For example, a normal-looking line such as} 16. Qa4 Qd6 17. Qxa7 Qxe6 18. Qxc5
e4 19. a4 (19. f4 g5 $5 {opening more lines is important, even if it costs
another pawn.}) 19... f4 {results in a double-edged position, where it's
unclear if a successful attack or a new queen appears first.}) 16. Bh6 Bg7 ({
When our bishops are fianchettoed, we often avoid trading to keep the squares
around the king well defended. Here, however} 16... Re8 {makes little sense,
since the bishop on h6 will eventually need to be removed before it is too
late.}) 17. Bxg7 Kxg7 18. Rb1 Qa5 19. a4 {White is now tied down to the
defense of the vulnerable queenside pawns, whereas Eljanov has a semi-open
file to work with and endgames can be problematic for Caruana, whose e6 pawn
will become a liability. That being said, the position is level, as Caruana
can always calmly protect his queenside and threaten an attack on the kingside
if Eljanov moves all his pieces to the b-file.} Rf6 (19... Rb6 20. Qc2 Rfb8 21.
b3 Qa6 {naturally aiming to triple the artillery actually allows a nice shot:}
22. a5 $1 (22. Rb2 Qb7 23. Reb1 Qc8 24. Qe2 a5 {is equal, if not a smidgen
better for Eljanov.}) 22... R6b7 (22... Qxa5 $4 23. Ra1 {and the queen is
trapped.}) 23. Qa2 {and now it is the black pieces that are a bit stuck,
though the position still remains roughly equal.}) 20. Re3 Qa6 21. b3 Qc8 22.
Qe1 {This is an intelligent multi-purpose move. For starters, e6 is now
defended. But the queen also helps Caruana with a b3-b4, giving his pieces
some life.} (22. Qe2 f4 23. Re4 f3 {would not have been a welcome pawn
sacrifice for Caruana, whose kingside now is in shambles.} 24. gxf3 Qf8 25. Kg2
Rf5 {and despite the material count, it is now very clear who is better.})
22... a5 $6 {To an extent, this is a natural move. It clamps down on the b4
square, but this plan would be much better if the second rook was on b7 rather
than f6. Now Eljanov has invited Caruana to create a passed pawn.} 23. b4 axb4
24. cxb4 cxb4 25. Rxb4 Ra8 ({Black can safely liquify and hold a draw with} 
25... Rxb4 26. Qxb4 Rxe6 27. Rxe6 Qxe6 28. Qc3+ (28. a5 Qe5 {secures an easy
draw. Black is a pawn to the good, but the a-pawn proves more than enough
compensation. In fact, it is Eljanov who would be forced to bail out:} 29. Qb6
Qa1+ 30. Kh2 Qe5+ 31. g3 f4 32. a6 fxg3+ 33. fxg3 Qe2+ {and perpetual check
ensues.}) 28... Kf7 29. a5 Qc8 30. Qb3 Qa6 31. c5+ (31. Qb6 Qxc4 32. a6 c5 {
cuts the queen off from its defense of f2, meaning the game will result in
perpetual.}) 31... d5 32. Qb6 Qc4 33. Qxc6 Qc1+ 34. Kh2 Qf4+ 35. Kg1 Qc1+ {
with a draw.}) 26. Qa1 (26. c5 $1 dxc5 27. Rc4 {gives a slight edge with no
risk whatsoever. However, I can understand Caruana's reluctance to simplify,
as his team needed his full point to defeat the Ukrainians.}) 26... f4 (26...
Kg8 {Starting with this move should be an improvement. The black pawn on f5 is
well defended, while on f3 it is a liability.}) 27. Re4 f3 28. g4 Kg8 29. Qd1
Rxe6 (29... c5 30. Rb5 {feels incorrect for Eljanov. The rook is happily
stationed on b5, where it can help support the outside passer. Meanwhile, e6
remains untouchable due to Qd5. However, after} Qf8 {Black seems to get enough
counterplay to hold.}) 30. Qxf3 Rxe4 $2 {This is a tremendous inaccuracy,
after which Eljanov is in deep trouble.} (30... d5 {was necessary, as it
allows some air to breathe. The game continuation forces Eljanov into passive
defense.}) 31. Qxe4 Qc7 32. c5 $1 {Very strong, ruining the black pawn
structure.} dxc5 (32... d5 33. Qe6+ Kf8 34. Rb6 {spells huge trouble for
Eljanov, who can hardly defend his pawns and his exposed king.}) 33. Qc4+ Kg7
34. Qc3+ Kg8 35. Qc4+ Kg7 36. Qxc5 {The repetition was played to gain time, as
the players approached move 40. Now Caruana has a large advantage thanks to
his superior pawn structure, safer king, and outsided passed pawn.} Qd6 (36...
Ra5 37. Qe3 Qd6 38. Re4 (38. Rd4 Rd5 39. Rxd5 cxd5 40. a5 d4 41. Qd3 e5 42. a6
e4 43. Qxe4 Qxa6 44. Qxd4+ {is not an enjoyable position to defend, but there
are legitimate practical chances to hold.}) 38... e5 {and at least here
Eljanov's pieces are active.}) 37. Qc3+ Qf6 38. Qe3 Rf8 39. Re4 Rf7 40. Re5 {
The rook and queen are coordinated very well. The pawns on c6 and e7 are both
very weak, and the a-pawn can be used as a distraction. White's queen and rook
harmoniously attack and defend simultaneously, whereas their counterparts are
stuck defending.} Qd6 ({Attempting to trade queens with} 40... Qf4 {fails
tactically to the forced variation} 41. Rxe7 Qxa4 (41... Qxe3 42. Rxf7+ Kxf7
43. fxe3 {with a winning pawn ending.}) 42. Qe5+ Kg8 43. Re8+ Rf8 44. Qe6+ Kg7
45. Re7+ Kh6 46. Qd7 {and Eljanov's king is successfully hunted.} Rh8 47. Qd2+
g5 48. Qd6#) 41. a5 Qd1+ 42. Kg2 Qa1 43. Qe2 (43. Rxe7 Qxa5 44. Qd4+ Kg8 45.
Re8+ Rf8 {isn't quite as nice for Caruana as the previous note, because the
king isn't getting mated. White goes up a pawn nonetheless:} 46. Rxf8+ Kxf8 47.
Qh8+ Kf7 48. Qxh7+ Kf6 {Black still retains drawing chances thanks to the
passed c-pawn, so it was wise for Caruana to avoid this continuation.}) 43...
e6 44. a6 Qd4 (44... Ra7 {does not actually corral the a-pawn, since} 45. Rxe6
Qxa6 46. Qe5+ {leads to a swift mate.} Kh6 47. Qf4+ Kg7 48. Qf6+ Kh6 49. Qf8+
Rg7 50. Qf4#) 45. Rxe6 {Now it's over. Not because of the gained material, but
because Eljanov is unable to stop the passed pawn and save his king.} c5 46.
Re7 Qd5+ 47. f3 c4 48. Rxf7+ Qxf7 49. Qe5+ Kh6 (49... Kg8 50. Qb8+ Kg7 51. a7
Qd5 52. a8=Q Qd2+ 53. Kg3 Qe1+ 54. Kf4 Qd2+ 55. Ke5 {does not result in a
perpetual, as the king escapes and the queens come to the rescue.}) 50. Qe3+
Kg7 51. Qd4+ Kh6 52. a7 Qb7 53. h4 {The a-pawn is frozen, but so is the black
king. Mate is unstoppable, causing Eljanov to tip his king. A fine showing by
Caruana, who nursed positional advantages into a full point.} 1-0

[Event "Baku ol (Men) 42nd"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.09"]
[Round "7.4"]
[White "Shankland, Samuel L"]
[Black "Sethuraman, SP."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D13"]
[WhiteElo "2679"]
[BlackElo "2640"]
[Annotator "Hess, Robert"]
[PlyCount "149"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[Source "Chessbase"]
[SourceDate "2016.09.18"]
[WhiteTeam "US of America"]
[BlackTeam "India"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "USA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "IND"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 Bg4 5. cxd5 cxd5 6. Nc3 e6 7. Qa4+ {This
move helps take advantage of the awkward placement of the bishop on g4.} Nbd7
8. Ne5 a6 9. f3 {A new move that deserves serious attention. White uses this
pawn thrust to expand on the kingside, as is evident by the next few moves.}
Bf5 10. g4 Bg6 (10... b5 {is the best move, but without proper analysis it is
understandable that Sethuraman refrained from playing it. A piece sacrifice is
not an on-the-spot decision one wants to make, particularly in a team event.}
11. Qd1 Nxe5 12. dxe5 Nxg4 13. fxg4 Qh4+ 14. Kd2 Bxg4 {Black has two pawns, an
initative, and a safer king for the sacrificed knight. That being said, the
position is incredibly unclear, though Shankland must have been ready for this.
} (14... d4 $5 15. gxf5 dxc3+ 16. Kc2 cxb2 17. Kxb2 {White's open king is
actually not as unsafe as immediately meets the eye. Black certainly has
compensation for the sacrificed material, but objectively it seems that White
is in the driver's seat.})) 11. h4 b5 12. Qd1 b4 13. h5 {An important move.
Any knight move would have invited 13...Qc7, which leaves the c2 square
available for the bishop.} Bxh5 14. Nxd7 (14. Ne2 $1 {The open h-file is more
valuable than the pawn given to open it.} Bg6 15. Nxg6 fxg6 16. Nf4 {hitting
both e6 and g6, Black is in trouble. For example:} Kf7 17. e4 {is not pretty.})
14... Nxd7 15. Rxh5 (15. Nxd5 {seems like a better choice, stealing an
important central pawn rather than the one on b4. Though} Bxg4 16. Nf4 g5 {
keeps the game better for White, the position is complex.}) 15... bxc3 16. bxc3
Qc7 {All of a sudden, the black side of the position is preferable. White,
despite claiming the two bishops, is the one with the unsafe king and a
vulnerable c-pawn.} 17. Bd2 Bd6 18. Bd3 Nb6 19. Ke2 h6 20. g5 Kd7 21. gxh6 gxh6
22. Rb1 Rag8 23. Bxa6 $2 {Over the past few moves, Shankland opened up the
position, which is what we're taught to do when we have bishops. But allowing
the rook to infiltrate on the g-file is just too much.} (23. Kf2 $5 {is an
engine move that somehow appears to result in no worse than a draw by
repetition.}) 23... Rg2+ 24. Kd3 (24. Kf1 Rhg8 25. Rh1 {keeps the game going,
but I'd hate to defend this position too.}) 24... Ra8 25. Bb5+ Kd8 26. Rxh6
Rxa2 27. Rh8+ Ke7 28. Re8+ Kf6 {After two checks, the black king has found
safety. Meanwhile, the white king can't really say the same...} 29. Be1 {
If the e4 square were under additional control, Qc4+ followed by dxc4 would
result in checkmate. Seeing this idea, Sethuraman now retreats his king to go
for it.} Kg7 30. f4 f5 (30... Nc4 {here or on the previous move was much less
complicated. White is toast.}) 31. Qb3 Qf7 {After a tremendous oversight,
Sethuraman loses the thread.} ({The Indian GM must have thought} 31... Ra3 {
was simply winning the queen because retreating to d1 falls victim to 32...
Qc4+ 33. Bxc4 dxc4 mate, only to realize he overlooked that} 32. Rb2 $3 Rxb3
33. Rxg2+ Kh7 ({Playing for a win is really playing for a loss} 33... Kf7 34.
Reg8 Bf8 35. Rh8 $1 {and suddenly the tides have completely turned, leaving
White with the superior position.}) 34. Rh2+ Kg7 35. Rg2+ {is a draw.}) (31...
Rh2 {this funny waiting move wins the game, because Rb2 will no longer
threaten to capture a rook on g2 with check! Amazing what a difference a
square makes.}) 32. Qd1 Nc4 33. Rd8 {A great move to play in your opponent's
time trouble. Black is still winning, but the most direct route requires
sacrifices that aren't the easiest to find in time trouble.} Be7 (33... Nxe3 $1
34. Kxe3 Bxf4+ $1 35. Kxf4 Rg4+ {and finally the king is ensnared.} 36. Ke5 (
36. Kf3 Qh5 {leads to mate in eight.}) (36. Qxg4+ fxg4+ 37. Ke5 Qf5+ 38. Kd6
Qxb1 {with so much extra material, the game is over.}) (36. Ke3 f4+ 37. Kf3
Rg3+ 38. Bxg3 Qh5+ 39. Kxf4 Qf5+ 40. Ke3 Qe4# {is a lovely forced mate.}) 36...
Qf6+ 37. Kd6 Qxd8+ 38. Kc6 Ra7 {requires a queen sacrifice simply to avoid
getting mated immediately.}) 34. Rd7 Rab2 (34... Nb2+ 35. Rxb2 Raxb2 {keeps
things complicated in Black's favor.}) 35. Bxc4 dxc4+ 36. Kxc4 {Shankland has
not only escaped checkmate, but can claim an advantage. The engines might find
some crazy draw, but mere mortals do not have silicon-powered brains.} Qe8 37.
Rxb2 Rxb2 38. Qa1 Rb8 (38... Re2 39. Kd3 Rxe3+ 40. Kxe3 Qxd7 {This was
Sethuraman's best chance to salvage half a point, but he was understandably
dejected at this point. Still, he forced Shankland to prove the win in a long
struggle.}) 39. Qa7 Kf8 40. Kd3 Ra8 41. Qb7 Rb8 42. Qh1 Qxd7 43. Qh8+ Kf7 44.
Qxb8 Qc6 45. Qb2 Qe4+ 46. Kd2 Qg2+ 47. Kc1 Qf1 48. Kd1 Qd3+ 49. Qd2 Qc4 50. Qe2
Qa4+ 51. Qc2 Qc4 52. Kd2 Qf1 53. Qd3 Qh1 54. Qe2 Qe4 55. Qh2 Qb7 56. Ke2 Qb2+
57. Bd2 Qb5+ 58. Kf2 Kg6 59. Qg2+ Kf7 60. Qf3 Bh4+ 61. Kg2 Qd3 62. Qh5+ Kf8 63.
Qd1 Kg7 64. Qg1 Qxd2+ 65. Kh3+ Kf8 (65... Bg5 $3 {belongs in endgame studies.
The queen is forced to leave g1, and White is forced to spend a critical tempo
retreating the queen, so the king is unable to infiltrate.} 66. Qxg5+ Kf7 67.
Qg3 Qxc3 68. Kh4 Qc1 {with a draw.}) 66. Kxh4 Qxc3 67. Kh5 {As opposed to the
variation on move 65, the white king is too fast here.} Qc6 68. Kh6 Qf3 69.
Qg7+ Ke8 70. Qe5 Kd7 71. Kg7 Qg4+ 72. Kf8 Qh4 73. Qg7+ Kd6 74. Ke8 Qh5+ 75. Qf7
1-0



[Event "Chess Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku AZE"]
[Date "2016.09.10"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Ian Nepomniachtchi"]
[Black "Wesley So"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C54"]
[Annotator "Klein, Mike"]
[PlyCount "100"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 O-O 6. a4 d6 7. c3 a6 8. h3 Ba7
9. Re1 Ne7 10. d4 Ng6 11. Bd3 c6 12. Be3 Nh5 13. Nbd2 Nhf4 14. Bf1 exd4 15.
Bxd4 Bxd4 16. cxd4 d5 17. e5 f6 18. Ra3 fxe5 19. dxe5 a5 20. Qc1 Qe7 21. Rb3
Bf5 22. Nd4 Ne6 23. Nxf5 Rxf5 24. Bd3 Rf4 25. Bxg6 hxg6 26. Qd1 Raf8 27. Rf3
Qb4 28. Rxf4 Rxf4 29. Nf3 Qxa4 30. Qd3 Rf5 31. Qb1 Qf4 32. Qc2 Kh7 33. Re3 Qc4
34. Qd1 Rf4 35. Rc3 Qb4 36. Qc1 a4 37. h4 Kg8 38. Qb1 Qe4 39. Qd1 {Diagram [#]}
Nd4 40. Re3 (40. Nxd4 Qxd4 41. Qxd4 (41. Qe2 Re4) (41. Qc2 Rxh4 42. Qxg6 Qd1#)
41... Rxd4) 40... Nxf3+ 41. gxf3 Qf5 42. e6 Rxh4 (42... Qh3 43. e7 Rxh4 44.
e8=Q+ Kh7 45. Qxg6+ Kxg6 46. Qd3+ Kh6) 43. Re4 (43. e7 Qh3) 43... Rxe4 (43...
dxe4 44. Qd8+ Kh7 45. Qxh4+ Kg8 46. Qd8+ Kh7 47. e7 Qg5+ 48. Kf1 exf3 49. e8=Q
Qc1+ 50. Qe1 Qc4+ 51. Kg1 Qg4+) 44. fxe4 Qxe4 45. Qd2 Qxe6 46. Qa5 Qg4+ 47. Kf1
b5 48. Qc7 g5 49. Qb8+ Kh7 50. Qd6 b4 0-1

[Event "Baku ol (Women) 42nd"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.10"]
[Round "8.4"]
[White "Nemcova, Katerina"]
[Black "Girya, Olga"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2365"]
[BlackElo "2452"]
[Annotator "Hess, Robert"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[Source "Chessbase"]
[SourceDate "2016.09.18"]
[WhiteTeam "US of America (W)"]
[BlackTeam "Russia (W)"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "USA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "RUS"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nd2 e6 5. Nb3 Ne7 6. Be2 Nd7 7. Nf3 h6 8. O-O
Qc7 9. Bd2 g5 10. h4 {This pawn sacrifice had actually been played against
Girya's teammate Valentina Gunina. Objectively, with totally accurate play,
Black can escape and even claim an advantage. But after a sleepless night
trying to find an opening that might give Girya some trouble, I stumbled upon
a variation that is immensely complicated. Admittedly, I didn't have ample
time to look at this as thoroughly as I wanted to, and most engines actually
don't initially see the deeper issues in the position.} Ng6 (10... g4 11. Ne1 {
was the variation I was hoping for. Black has really committed on the kingside,
and White can play on both sides of the board.}) (10... Bg7 11. hxg5 hxg5 12.
Nxg5 f6 {looks like it could spell trouble for White, whose kingside is very
airy. Yet tactically this fails:} 13. Bh5+ Kf8 14. exf6 Nxf6 15. Nc5 $1 {
an important move that forces the black queen away from mating threats on h2,
resulting in a won position for White.}) 11. hxg5 hxg5 12. Bxg5 f6 $1 {This
second pawn sacrifice is necessary to continue the attack.} 13. exf6 Bd6 14.
Re1 Kf7 {And I breathed a huge sigh of relief, since now Katerina has the
clear upper hand. This move is pretty natural because it connects the rooks
and keeps the queen spying on h2. However,} (14... Ndf8 $1 {clearing the way
to the h7 square was necessary here. But Girya would have had to be prepared
for this variation (no way she could have anticipated it considering Katerina
does not venture into these lines) or be a tactical wizard. Fortunately for
Team USA, with limited time she could not come up with this solution.} 15. Ne5
(15. Bd3 Qh7 16. Kf1 Bg4 {is just pleasant for the attacking side, since the
white king will soon find itself in the center of the board.}) 15... Bxe5 16.
dxe5 Qh7 (16... Qxe5 $2 17. Bh5) 17. f3 (17. f4 Qh2+ 18. Kf2 Nxf4 19. Bxf4
Qxf4+ 20. Bf3 Nd7 {with an attack being ample compensation considering the
sacrificed pawn should also be regained, perhaps with interest.}) 17... Qh2+
18. Kf2 Rh3 $1 19. Rg1 Qg3+ 20. Kf1 Rh2 21. Be3 Rxg2 22. Rxg2 Bh3 23. Bf2 Qxg2+
24. Ke1 Nd7 25. Qd4 Ndxe5 {is still complicated for sure, but Black is
dictating the action now. A very difficult sequence to find, particularly
because at the start of the variation you have to visualize your queen jumping
through your bishop and not just heading to h2 but to g3, all after ignoring
the pawn that lands on e5.}) 15. Bd3 Bg4 16. Bxg6+ {When up two pawns and your
opponent's king remains under fire, simplifying is not the worst of ideas.}
Kxg6 17. Qd3+ Kf7 (17... Bf5 18. Qe3 Nxf6 19. Nh4+ Rxh4 20. Bxh4 {does not
provide Girya enough compensation for the lost material.}) 18. Qe3 Bh2+ (18...
Rag8 19. Ne5+ Bxe5 20. dxe5 {is pretty ugly, because two pawns are still two
pawns. White can easily unravel with f4, Kf2, and so on.}) 19. Kf1 e5 (19...
Bd6 {It is hard to retreat when you're aiming to attack, but this move was
Girya's best hope. White is still a bit better, but progress is far from clear.
} 20. g3 {With the idea of shutting down counterplay with Bh4 should secure an
edge.}) 20. Nxh2 Rxh2 21. f3 {With the king safe, the rest of the game is easy.
} Be6 22. Bf4 {A pretty move, making use of the fact that the pawn on e5 is
pinned to the bishop behind it. Katerina played crisp chess, so there is
little need for more commentary.} Rh5 23. Bxe5 Qb6 24. Kf2 Re8 25. Rh1 Reh8 26.
Rxh5 Rxh5 27. Re1 Qd8 28. Nc5 Nxc5 29. dxc5 Qg8 30. Bd4 Qc8 31. Qf4 Qd7 32. Re5
Rxe5 33. Qxe5 Bf5 34. c3 Bg6 35. g4 Bd3 36. Kg3 Bg6 37. f4 1-0

[Event "Baku ol (Women) 42nd"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.10"]
[Round "8.1"]
[White "Kosteniuk, Alexandra"]
[Black "Krush, Irina"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B42"]
[WhiteElo "2538"]
[BlackElo "2444"]
[Annotator "Hess, Robert"]
[PlyCount "134"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[Source "Chessbase"]
[SourceDate "2016.09.18"]
[WhiteTeam "Russia (W)"]
[BlackTeam "US of America (W)"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "RUS"]
[BlackTeamCountry "USA"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Bd3 Nf6 6. O-O Qc7 7. Qe2 d6 8. a4
(8. c4 {is the main line here, taking away the possibility of both b5 and d5.})
8... b6 9. f4 Nbd7 10. b4 $1 {A novelty in a rare position, this advance gives
Kosteniuk a tremendous space advantage. A really nice idea, particularly in a
team event where psychological pressure is already high.} d5 $6 {I refrain
from giving this a question mark, because it is a natural reaction given that
Kosteniuk has allowed this pawn thrust. The other central pawn push} (10... e5
{is more to the point. White has yet to develop her queenside, so an attack is
not imminent. Black should still be a bit worse, but the game continuation was
much more problematic.}) 11. e5 Ne4 {This is a thematic pawn sacrifice given
the structure, but here Kosteniuk wisely ignores it.} 12. Ba3 (12. Bxe4 dxe4
13. Qxe4 Bb7 14. Qe1 Qc4 15. c3 Bxb4 $1 {is simply good for black.}) 12... a5 (
12... Bb7 {was too slow, since} 13. c4 {undermines the knight on e4 and
initiates an onslaught.}) 13. Nb5 {This outpost is forever under white control.
} Qc6 14. bxa5 Bc5+ 15. Bxc5 Ndxc5 16. Na7 $1 {The knight can't be captured,
for} Qc7 ({The knight can't be captured, for} 16... Rxa7 $4 17. Bb5 {wins the
queen and the game.}) (16... Qb7 {was necessary, because axb6 no longer
attacks the queen. The next note explains the difference.}) 17. axb6 $2 ({
The move order may not seem to matter, but it was important here.} 17. Nxc8
Rxc8 18. Bxe4 $1 {this inclusion would have netted Kosteniuk a second pawn.}
Nxe4 (18... dxe4 19. Nc3 O-O 20. Nb5 {with the knight hopping to d6, the black
position is hopeless.}) 19. Qb5+ Qc6 20. axb6 {it would be a miracle to
survive such a position, down two passed pawns.}) 17... Qxb6 18. Nxc8 Rxc8 {
Upon seeing this position, I was actually quite relieved. As coach, I felt the
worst for Irina was over. Although Kosteniuk has an advantage here, it is not
a devastating one. The disconnected queenside pawns can become targets and it
is often hard to get them going. Practically speaking, there are good chances
to hold such a position.} 19. Bb5+ Nd7+ {It's not every day that you can block
a check with a check of your own. This response is much better than} (19... Ke7
{in a team event (and likely objectively as well). There is no reason to
invite an attack on the king.}) 20. Kh1 Qa7 21. Bd3 Ndc5 (21... O-O 22. Bxe4
dxe4 23. Qxe4 {was what I was anticipating. White is up two full pawns, but
they are easy to pressure. Moreover, the black pieces are wonderfully
coordinated.}) 22. Qe3 Rc7 $2 (22... Ra8 {was much better. Black still
controls most of the vital squares, and after} 23. Na3 {black can safely play}
O-O {with only a slight disadvantage.}) 23. Na3 Qa5 24. Nb5 Rc8 25. Nd4 {
Not active enough!} (25. Nd6+ Nxd6 26. exd6 {must have been tempting. White
receives a passed pawn and this transition makes her opponent's life difficult.
} Nxd3 27. cxd3 O-O 28. Rfc1 {Imagine if the pawn were on e5 instead of d6;
the position would be more comfortable for the defending side. That second
passed pawn is a real nuisance, though even here the game is not yet over.}) (
25. Bxe4 Nxe4 26. Qa3 {was probably the best option. Black's king is stuck in
the center and f5 threatens to rip open the position.}) 25... O-O 26. Bb5 Ra8
27. Rf3 {Perhaps Kosteniuk was concerned about Krush offering a queen trade
with ...Qc3, but the rook feels misplaced here.} (27. Rfe1 {with ideas to play
both c4 and f5 was a better option.}) 27... Qb4 28. Bc6 Ra6 {Removing the rook
from back rank defense seems risky, though the decision to keep the rook in
front of the passed pawn is quite understandable.} 29. f5 Rc8 30. Bb5 Raa8 31.
c3 (31. Rd1 $1 {was a much better way to prevent queen trades.}) 31... Qb2 32.
Raf1 Qd2 33. fxe6 fxe6 34. Nc6 Rc7 {Krush wisely keeps the tension.} (34...
Qxe3 35. Rxe3 Rc7 36. Nd4 {in mutual time trouble, there was no reason to
simplify into this position that clearly favors white.}) 35. Qd4 h6 36. Qb4 Qg5
(36... Rb7 {tying up all of white's pieces was a good decision.} 37. a5 Kh7 {
curiously is harder to play for white than it is for black.} 38. Nd4 Qa2 {
scoops up the a5 pawn, resulting in a black advantage.}) 37. g3 Qd2 38. Nd4 Qg5
39. Nc6 (39. Rf8+ $3 {is the move both players missed in immense time trouble.
After recovering from the shock, I'm sure Irina would have recognized that
life could be worse.} Rxf8 40. Rxf8+ Kh7 (40... Kxf8 $4 41. Nxe6+ {wins the
queen, since the knight is pinned.}) 41. Qa5 {and now} Nxg3+ 42. hxg3 Qxg3 43.
Ne2 Qxe5 {should provide excellent chances to hold, considering the white
kingside has been laid to waste.}) 39... Qd2 40. Nd4 Qg5 {There was some
controversy about whether or not a three-time repetition had appeared on the
board. Krush was the one trying to make the claim, but fortunately for Team
USA it was rightly rejected. The position has only occurred twice!} 41. Bc6 {
Again missing Rf8+, this move hands Krush the advantage. With the match score
at 1.5-1.5 and likely reflecting on the advantages she squandered, Kosteniuk
opted to play on. But objective reasoning would have told her that she should
stop the clocks and agree to a draw, both individually and for her team.} Rac8
42. c4 Qd2 $1 {The black queen has been yo-yoing from g5 to d2, and has
finally forced Kosteniuk into a trade. Black is no worse.} 43. Qxd2 (43. Rf8+ {
again was available} Kh7 {is the only move, and it can lead to a (comical, but
obviously unforced) draw after} (43... Rxf8 $4 {loses on the spot to} 44. Rxf8+
Kxf8 (44... Kh7 45. Qxd2 Nxd2 46. cxd5 {is crushing as well.}) 45. Qb8+ Ke7 46.
Qe8#) 44. Qxd2 Nxd2 45. Rxc8 Rxc8 46. Rf2 Nxc4 47. Bb5 Ne4 48. Rc2 Ne3 49. Rxc8
Nf2+ 50. Kg1 Nh3+ 51. Kh1 Nf2+ {with repetition.}) 43... Nxd2 44. cxd5 Nxf3 45.
Rxf3 exd5 46. Bxd5+ Kh7 {Two pawns and a bishop often offsets the cost of a
rook. But here, with the white pawns existing as potential targets for the
black rooks, Krush claims an edge. A huge relief for her nervous teammates and
coach watching the game.} 47. Rf4 {Not best. This move is too passive, its
only real purpose being that it protects the knight on d4.} (47. e6 {was
necessary here. White's drawing chances increase as the pawn threatens to
queen.} Rd8 48. Rf7 Nxe6 49. Nxe6 Rc1+ 50. Kg2 Rxd5 51. Rxg7+ Kh8 52. Ra7 {
promises an easy draw.}) 47... Rd7 48. Bc4 g5 $1 {Now Kosteniuk is forced to
trade rooks in an unfavorable manner.} 49. e6 gxf4 50. exd7 Nxd7 51. Bd3+ Kh8
52. Bf5 Rc1+ 53. Kg2 Nc5 54. gxf4 (54. Ne2 {does not pick up the pawn on f4
for free because} f3+ $1 55. Kxf3 Rf1+ 56. Kg4 Rf2 {wins h2.}) 54... Nxa4 {
In a normal game, White should have very good chances to survive this ending.
But with pressure and time trouble mounting, Kosteniuk collapsed.} 55. Kg3 Nc5
56. Ne6 Nd7 57. Nd4 Nf6 58. Nf3 Rc3 59. h3 Kg7 {White is quickly running out
of moves. The f4 pawn is falling.} 60. Bb1 Rc4 61. Ne5 (61. f5 Rb4 62. Bd3 Nh5+
63. Kf2 Kf6 {saves the pawn for the moment, but not for long. The rook and
knight coordinate together flawlessly.}) 61... Rb4 62. Bg6 Nd5 63. Bf5 (63. f5
Ne7 {spells trouble. The pawn is still lost.}) 63... Nxf4 {This is a technical
win for Krush, whose task is made much easier by a Kosteniuk blunder.} 64. Ng4
Ne2+ 65. Kh4 Nd4 66. Be4 Ne6 67. Bg2 $2 ({A move like} 67. Bf3 {only prolongs
the suffering, but should not save the game.} Ng5 68. Bg2 Rc4 69. Bf1 Rf4 70.
Bg2 Ne4 {White runs out of resources, and Kg6 is coming in the near future.
Capturing on e4 merely transposes into a lost rook versus knight ending.})
67... h5 $1 {68. Kxh5 runs right into Nf4+, forking bishop and king. And with
that, USA took down Russia!} 0-1

[Event "Millionaire Chess"]
[Site "Atlantic City USA"]
[Date "2016.10.07"]
[Round "4.8"]
[White "Alexander Shabalov"]
[Black "Gawain Jones"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A65"]
[WhiteElo "2550"]
[BlackElo "2647"]
[Annotator "Ashley, Maurice"]
[PlyCount "82"]
[EventDate "2016.10.06"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 O-O 5. Nge2 d6 6. f3 c5 7. d5 e6 8. Bg5 h6
9. Be3 exd5 10. cxd5 a6 11. a4 Nbd7 12. Qd2 Ne8 13. Nf4 Ne5 14. Be2 Nc7 15. O-O
Bd7 16. a5 Qe8 17. Rac1 Kh7 18. b4 {Diagram [#]} c4 (18... cxb4 19. Na4 Bxa4
20. Rxc7) 19. Nb1 f5 20. exf5 (20. Na3) 20... Bxf5 21. Na3 g5 22. Ne6 Nxe6 23.
dxe6 {Diagram [#]} d5 24. Bc5 (24. Qxd5 Bxe6 (24... Nd3 25. Bxd3) 25. Qxb7 Bf5)
24... Qxe6 25. Bxf8 Rxf8 26. Rfe1 Qf7 27. Kh1 Nd3 28. Bxd3 Bxd3 29. Re3 Bg6 30.
Qe1 Qf4 31. Rd1 d4 32. Re7 c3 33. Qe6 c2 34. Nxc2 Bxc2 35. Qd7 Rg8 36. Rde1 d3
37. R1e3 Kh8 38. h3 Qd4 39. Rxg7 Qxg7 40. Re7 Qxe7 41. Qxe7 d2 0-1

[Event "Millionaire Chess"]
[Site "Atlantic City USA"]
[Date "2016.10.08"]
[Round "5.1"]
[White "Aleksandr Shimanov"]
[Black "Baskaran Adhiban"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D11"]
[WhiteElo "2639"]
[BlackElo "2689"]
[Annotator "Ashley, Maurice"]
[PlyCount "66"]
[EventDate "2016.10.06"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. g3 Bf5 4. Bg2 e6 5. c4 c6 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Nc3 dxc4 8. a4
a5 9. Nh4 Bg4 10. h3 Bh5 11. f4 Nd5 12. Nf3 Bg6 13. Nh4 Bh5 14. Nf3 Bb4 15. Qc2
f5 16. e4 Bxf3 17. Bxf3 Ne7 18. Qe2 Nb6 19. Be3 O-O 20. Bf2 Qd7 21. Bg2 Bxc3
22. bxc3 fxe4 23. Bxe4 Nf5 24. Rfb1 Nd5 25. Bxf5 Rxf5 26. Qxc4 Rh5 27. h4 Rf8
28. Re1 Rh6 29. Rab1 (29. Re5) 29... Rg6 30. Kh2 {Diagram [#]} (30. h5 Rh6 31.
Re5) 30... Nxf4 31. gxf4 Rxf4 32. Re2 (32. Bg3 Qd6 33. Re3 (33. Kh3 Rf3) (33.
Re5 Qxe5) 33... Rxh4+ 34. Kg2 Rhg4 35. Qd3 Qd5+ 36. Kf2 (36. Kh2 Rh6+) (36. Kg1
h5) 36... Qa2+ 37. Re2 Rf6+ 38. Ke1 (38. Kg2 Qd5+ 39. Kg1 Rf3) 38... Rxg3)
32... Qe7 {Diagram [#]} 33. Bg3 Qxh4+ 0-1

[Event "Millionaire Chess"]
[Site "Atlantic City USA"]
[Date "2016.10.08"]
[Round "6.4"]
[White "Jeffery Xiong"]
[Black "Kaiqi Yang"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E97"]
[WhiteElo "2647"]
[BlackElo "2392"]
[Annotator "Ashley, Maurice"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2016.10.06"]

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 Nh5 10. g3 f5 11. Ng5 Nf6 12. Bf3 c6 13. Qb3 h6 14. Ne6 Bxe6 15. dxe6
fxe4 16. Nxe4 Nf5 17. Bb2 Qe7 18. b5 Qxe6 19. bxc6 bxc6 20. Nxf6+ Qxf6 21. Bxc6
Rab8 22. Qa3 Kh7 23. Be4 Qd8 24. Rab1 Qc7 25. Qd3 Rb6 26. Ba3 {Diagram [#]} Rf6
27. Bb4 Qb8 28. Ba5 Rb2 29. Bc7 Qb4 30. Bd8 Rf8 31. Ba5 Qb8 32. Bc7 Qb4 33. a3
Qd2 34. Rxb2 Qxb2 35. Bxd6 Rf6 36. Bc5 Nd4 37. Bxa7 Bf8 38. c5 Qe2 39. Qxe2
Nxe2+ 40. Kg2 Ra6 41. Bb6 Rxa3 42. c6 Rc3 43. c7 Bd6 44. Ra1 Nd4 45. Ra7 1-0

[Event "Millionaire Chess"]
[Site "Atlantic City USA"]
[Date "2016.10.08"]
[Round "6.11"]
[White "Awonder Liang"]
[Black "Alejandro Ramirez Alvarez"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B43"]
[WhiteElo "2478"]
[BlackElo "2568"]
[Annotator "Ashley, Maurice"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "2016.10.06"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Bd3 Qc7 6. O-O Bc5 7. Nb3 Be7 8.
Nc3 d6 9. a4 b6 10. f4 Nd7 11. Qe2 Ngf6 12. Kh1 Bb7 13. Bd2 h5 14. Rf3 g6 15.
Raf1 Ng4 16. Nd1 Bf6 17. Rg3 Bh4 18. Rh3 Bf6 19. Rg3 Bh4 20. Rgf3 Bf6 21. h3
Bg7 22. Rg3 Ngf6 23. Bc3 h4 24. Rgf3 Nh5 25. Be1 e5 26. f5 Nf4 {Diagram [#]} (
26... g5) 27. Rxf4 exf4 28. Rxf4 g5 29. Rf1 Bf6 (29... Be5) 30. Ne3 Kf8 (30...
Be5) 31. Ng4 Re8 32. Qe3 Rg8 33. Bb4 Be5 34. Nd4 Ke7 35. Nh6 Rh8 36. f6+ {
Diagram [#]} Nxf6 37. Qxg5 Rxh6 38. Nf5+ Kd8 39. Nxh6 Qe7 40. Bxd6 Bxd6 41.
Rxf6 Kc8 42. Nf5 1-0

[Event "Millionaire Chess"]
[Site "Atlantic City USA"]
[Date "2016.10.08"]
[Round "6.7"]
[White "Dariusz Swiercz"]
[Black "Lazaro Bruzon Batista"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C67"]
[WhiteElo "2636"]
[BlackElo "2615"]
[Annotator "Ashley, Maurice"]
[PlyCount "91"]
[EventDate "2016.10.06"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5
8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. h3 h6 10. Rd1+ Ke8 11. Nc3 Ne7 12. Bf4 Ng6 13. Bh2 Bc5 14. Ne4
Bb6 15. c4 Bf5 16. Ng3 Be6 17. Rac1 c5 {Diagram [#]} 18. Nh5 Rg8 19. g4 Rd8 20.
Rxd8+ Kxd8 21. Nd2 Ne7 22. f4 g6 23. Nf6 Rh8 24. Nde4 Kc8 25. Kg2 Rd8 26. Bg1
Nc6 27. b3 Nb4 28. Rf1 {Diagram [#]} Nxa2 29. f5 gxf5 30. gxf5 Bd7 31. Nxd7
Kxd7 (31... Rxd7 32. f6) 32. Nf6+ Kc6 33. e6 fxe6 34. fxe6 Kd6 35. Re1 Ke7 36.
Nd5+ Ke8 37. Nf6+ Ke7 38. Nd5+ Ke8 39. Bf2 Nb4 40. Bh4 Nxd5 41. Bxd8 Ba5 42.
cxd5 Bxe1 43. Bxc7 Ke7 44. Kf3 b5 45. Ke4 Bb4 46. Ke5 1-0

[Event "Millionaire Chess (Knock-Out Final)"]
[Site "Atlantic City USA"]
[Date "2016.10.10"]
[Round "2.1"]
[White "Gawain Jones"]
[Black "Dariusz Swiercz"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B51"]
[WhiteElo "2647"]
[BlackElo "2636"]
[Annotator "Ashley, Maurice"]
[PlyCount "146"]
[EventDate "2016.10.10"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 4. O-O a6 5. Bd3 Ngf6 6. c3 b5 7. Bc2 Bb7 8. Qe2
e6 9. d4 Be7 10. Rd1 Qb6 11. a4 O-O 12. Bg5 Rfe8 13. Na3 cxd4 14. cxd4 Rab8 15.
axb5 axb5 16. Bd3 Bc6 17. Rac1 h6 18. Bf4 Nf8 19. Bg3 Nh5 20. Rxc6 Qxc6 21.
Bxb5 Rxb5 22. Nxb5 Rb8 23. Nc3 Qb6 24. Rd2 Ng6 25. Qd1 Qb4 26. Rc2 Nf6 27. h3
Nh5 28. Bh2 Nhf4 29. Qd2 Qb3 30. Rc1 Bg5 31. Nxg5 hxg5 32. Bxf4 Nxf4 33. Rb1
Qc4 34. Rd1 Qb3 35. h4 Qxb2 36. hxg5 Qxd2 37. Rxd2 Rb3 38. Nd1 Kh7 39. Kh2 e5
40. Ne3 Ne6 41. Nf5 Nxg5 42. Nxd6 exd4 43. Rxd4 g6 44. Rd5 Kh6 45. Ra5 Rd3 46.
e5 f6 47. Nc4 Rc3 48. Ne3 f5 49. Ra6 Kg7 50. Ra7+ Kh6 51. Nd5 Rc5 52. Nf6 Rc4
53. Ng8+ Kh5 54. Nf6+ Kh6 55. f3 Rb4 56. Kg3 Rc4 57. Ng8+ Kh5 58. Nf6+ Kh6 59.
Re7 Ra4 60. Ng8+ Kh5 61. Nf6+ Kh6 62. e6 Rd4 {Diagram [#]} 63. Ng8+ Kh5 64.
Nf6+ (64. Rh7+ Nxh7 65. e7) 64... Kh6 65. Ng8+ Kh5 66. Re8 (66. Rh7+) 66... f4+
67. Kf2 Rd2+ 68. Kg1 Kh4 69. e7 Kg3 70. Rd8 (70. Kf1 Rxg2 71. Nf6) 70... Rxg2+
71. Kf1 Nxf3 72. Rd2 Rxd2 73. e8=Q Rf2# 0-1

[Event "US Masters op"]
[Site "Greensboro"]
[Date "2016.08.27"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Kamsky, Gata"]
[Black "Sevian, Samuel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A03"]
[WhiteElo "2638"]
[BlackElo "2600"]
[Annotator "Ramirez, Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "99"]
[EventDate "2016.08.25"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[Source "Chessbase"]
[SourceDate "2016.09.10"]

1. g3 {In the battle of experience against youth, it is not uncommon for
experience to try a different path than the sharpest and latest in theory.
Kamsky opts for some kind of reverse Leningrad Dutch.} Nf6 2. Bg2 d5 3. f4 {
Well, you don't see this every day. Sevian swiftly punishes such a set up.} g6
4. Nf3 Bg7 5. d3 O-O 6. O-O Re8 7. Qe1 $6 Nc6 {The move c7-c5 is not all that
useful, and instead Sevian is focused on breaking on e5, trying to exploit
some of the obvious weaknesses down the e-file. Kamsky starts getting creative,
but it backfires.} 8. e4 dxe4 9. dxe4 e5 {Diagram [#]} 10. f5 {Does this work?
No, but what else?} (10. fxe5 Nxe5 11. Nxe5 Rxe5 {just looks miserable. White
has to defend his weak e4 pawn the rest of the game and he has no compensation
for it at all.}) 10... gxf5 11. Nh4 Nxe4 {To say that Sevian's play is
fearless would not be accurate. He is simply grabbing pawns as White has no
compensation.} 12. Nxf5 Bxf5 13. Rxf5 Nd6 14. Rf1 e4 15. c3 Ne5 16. Qe2 Nd3 {
White has clearly been driven back, Black's passed e-pawn, powerful knight on
d3 and central control give him a winning advantage. Alas, even 2600s make
mistakes converting such positions.} 17. Bf4 f5 18. Na3 Be5 19. Be3 Qd7 20.
Rad1 Qg7 $6 {The queen doesn't really belong here on g7.} 21. Nc2 (21. Nb5 $3
Nxb5 22. Rxf5 {would have been a surprising but powerful way of exploiting
Black's last move. The threats of Rg5 and Bxe4 are very annoying and hard to
deal with.}) 21... Rf8 22. Nb4 f4 $1 {Diagram [#] Sevian decides its time for
action.} 23. gxf4 Nxf4 24. Bxf4 Bxf4 25. Nd5 Be5 26. Qh5 Rfe8 27. Qh3 Kh8 28.
Kh1 Rf8 29. Qh5 Rxf1+ 30. Rxf1 Rg8 {Time pressure is looming, but Black
retains his extra pawn and the winning chances.} 31. Bh3 Nc4 $4 {A huge
blunder! Sevian surely never saw White's next move.} 32. Ne7 $1 {Kamsky is
always alert! This nice deflection basically wins the game.} Qxe7 (32... Qg5
33. Qf7 Rd8 34. Rg1 {is completely winning.}) (32... Rd8 33. Rf7 Rd1+ 34. Bf1 {
is hopeless as Black cannot move the queen without losing it or allowing
checkmate.}) 33. Rf7 {Diagram [#] The point of the deflection: Black must give
up his queen and in the resulting position the rook and minor piece are simply
outmatched by the queen.} Qxf7 34. Qxf7 Nd6 35. Qxc7 a6 36. Bf5 {Kamsky starts
plucking pawn after pawn. The game is over.} Rg7 37. Qd8+ Rg8 38. Qe7 Nxf5 39.
Qxe5+ Ng7 40. Qxe4 Rb8 41. Qe7 h5 42. Qc7 Re8 43. Qxb7 Re2 44. Kg1 Kh7 45. c4
h4 46. c5 h3 47. c6 Rg2+ 48. Kf1 Kg6 49. c7 Nf5 50. Qb6+ 1-0

[Event "US Masters"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Gareyev, T."]
[Black "Zherebukh, Y."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A67"]
[Annotator "Ramirez, Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "84"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2016.11.04"]

{Good news, everyone! You are about to enjoy the most complicated game of the
year. At one point, we had 4 queens on the board (!!!), which is partially
Timur's fault since we could've had 5 queens hadn't he underpromoted his
d-pawn to the Knight on move 41.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5.
cxd5 d6 6. e4 g6 7. f4 {Direct attempt to refute Benoni and put all Benoni
players like me into a depression for a month, until a new opening is learned.}
Bg7 8. Bb5+ Nfd7 9. a4 O-O 10. Nf3 Na6 11. O-O Nb4 12. h3 $5 {Diagram [#]
Completely incomperehensible move to me at the time the game was played. Now,
once I was forced to leave my shelter of comfort and laziness (and to complete
my monthly quota of chess related acivities), I managed to decipher what Timur
had in mind.} (12. Re1 a6 13. Bf1 Re8 {is the main line}) 12... a6 13. Bxd7
Bxd7 14. f5 $1 {The point. White is not wasting time on Re1 move (rook is more
useful on f1 in many lines), and proceeding with the typical plan under
clearly much better circumstances.} gxf5 (14... c4 $1 {My top choice after the
extensive consultations with Doctor Stockfish 7.} 15. Bg5 f6 16. Bf4 Nd3 17.
Nd4 Qb6 18. Be3 Qxb2 19. Nce2 Nc5 $1 {and my evaluation here is "quite a mess".
}) 15. Bg5 f6 16. Bf4 Re8 17. Nd2 b5 $1 {Diagram [#] All the best moves so far.
} 18. Bxd6 Qb6 $2 {Another reinforcement of the idea "there are no obvious
moves in chess". This move objectively gives White a huge advantage.} (18...
Nd3 $1 19. exf5 Bxf5 20. Bg3 Bg6 $13) 19. Bg3 (19. Bh2 $1 fxe4 20. Ndxe4 f5 21.
Nd6 $1 $16 {and here Black doesn't have the move f5-f4! attacking the bishop
on g3; that's the difference between Bg3 and Bh2.}) 19... Nd3 20. axb5 axb5 21.
Rxa8 Rxa8 22. exf5 c4+ 23. Kh2 Qd4 24. Nb3 Qb6 25. d6 Bc6 26. Nc1 b4 {Diagram 
[#]} 27. Nxd3 $4 {Great game up to this point by Timur, but for the next few
moves he decides to take a nap on a railway track.} (27. N3e2 Nxb2 28. Qc2 c3
29. Qb3+ Kh8 30. Nxc3 $1 {and White has a significant advantage and perfect
chances for a win.}) 27... bxc3 28. Nf4 cxb2 29. Ne6 Ra1 30. Qg4 Qb7 31. Nxg7
Rxf1 32. Ne6+ Kh8 33. Be5 $1 {Nice, yet insufficient attempt.} Rh1+ 34. Kxh1
b1=Q+ 35. Kh2 fxe5 36. Qg5 Qf7 37. Qd8+ Be8 38. d7 Qb5 $19 39. Nc5 c3 40. Qc8
c2 41. d8=N {Diagram [#]} (41. d8=Q c1=Q {Diagram [#] This position deserves a
diagram. How often do you see 5 queens on the booard in 2600+ practice?}) 41...
Qfc4 42. Nde6 c1=Q {Diagram [#] Theory says that it's hard to fight having one
queen against three. White admitted the defeat. Both players were happy to be
a part of something unique and enjoyed the process enormously.} 0-1

[Event "US Masters op"]
[Site "Greensboro"]
[Date "2016.08.28"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Stukopin, Andrey"]
[Black "Kamsky, Gata"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B42"]
[WhiteElo "2586"]
[BlackElo "2638"]
[Annotator "Ramirez, Alejandro"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2016.08.25"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[Source "Chessbase"]
[SourceDate "2016.09.10"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Bd3 Bc5 6. Nb3 Ba7 {Kamsky has
relied on this variation of the Sicilian Kan before.} 7. O-O d6 8. Qg4 Nf6 (
8... Qf6 {was Kamsky's choice in the World Blitz championship against Leko. I
would be surprised if it doesn't lose by force.}) 9. Qxg7 Rg8 10. Qh6 Nc6 (
10... Rg6) 11. Bg5 Rg6 12. Qh4 Ne5 13. N1d2 Bd7 {Diagram [#] So far this has
followed the game Shaposhnikov-Kamsky, played in May earlier in the year.
Playing such a variation as a surprise weapon doesn't seem like a bad idea to
me, but repeating it when the game is in the database is probably suicidal.
The line itself cannot be sound: Black's compensation for the pawn, based on
some pressure on the kingside, is iffy at best, though it does hold practical
chances.} 14. Rae1 (14. Kh1 {was played in the Shaposhnikov game, but after} h6
15. Bxf6 Qxf6 16. Qxf6 Rxf6 {Black had compensation, as defending the
darksquares is not trivial.}) 14... Bb5 {It is unclear how removing the bishop
on d3 will help Black too much.} (14... h6 $6 15. Be3 {diffuses a lot of
threats.}) 15. Bxb5+ axb5 16. h3 Rc8 17. c3 Nd3 $2 {Diagram [#] Overlooking
White's reply.} 18. Re3 $1 {Not super hard to find, but devastating.} (18. Re2
{is also enough for a huge advantage, which just shows that Black's strategy
really isn't working.}) 18... Ne5 {This loss of tempo is now forced, but
clearly this isn't something Black could afford.} (18... Bxe3 19. fxe3 {
simply wins material.} Rxg5 20. Qxg5 {and the knight still can't move because
of Qg8+.}) 19. Rg3 {White now has, as they say, the pawn and the compensation.}
Kd7 {This move cannot be any better or any worse than the alternatives.} 20.
Nf3 Qg8 21. Nxe5+ dxe5 22. Rd3+ Nd5 {Some trickery, but it fails.} 23. exd5
Rxg5 24. dxe6+ Kxe6 25. Qe4 Qg6 26. Qxb7 $1 Qxd3 27. Qxc8+ Kf6 28. h4 $1 {
Diagram [#] The point of this move will be obvious soon.} (28. Qa6+ Kg7 29.
Qxa7 Qf3 {is just a draw!}) 28... Rg6 29. h5 $1 Rg5 30. Qa6+ {Diagram [#] Aha!
Now the king has no good squares to go to.} Kg7 31. h6+ Kf8 32. Qxa7 Qf3 33.
Qb8+ Ke7 34. Qxe5+ {The point. The deflection trades queens.} 1-0

[Event "Corus Group C"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2004.01.24"]
[Round "12"]
[White "Magnus Carlsen"]
[Black "Sipke Ernst"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B19"]
[WhiteElo "2484"]
[BlackElo "2474"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini, Bruce"]
[PlyCount "57"]
[EventDate "2004.01.10"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7. Nf3 Nd7 8. h5
Bh7 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 e6 {Diagram [#]} 11. Bf4 (11. Bd2) 11... Ngf6 12.
O-O-O Be7 13. Ne4 Qa5 (13... Nd5) 14. Kb1 O-O (14... Nxh5 15. Nd6+) 15. Nxf6+
Nxf6 16. Ne5 Rad8 17. Qe2 c5 18. Ng6 fxg6 (18... Rfe8) 19. Qxe6+ Kh8 (19... Rf7
20. hxg6) 20. hxg6 Ng8 21. Bxh6 gxh6 22. Rxh6+ Nxh6 (22... Kg7 23. Rh7#) 23.
Qxe7 Nf7 24. gxf7 Kg7 25. Rd3 Rd6 26. Rg3+ (26. Qxd6 Qe1+) 26... Rg6 27. Qe5+ (
27. Rxg6+ Kxg6 28. Qxf8 Qe1#) 27... Kxf7 (27... Kh6 28. Rh3#) (27... Kh7 28.
Qh5+) 28. Qf5+ Rf6 (28... Ke7) 29. Qd7# 1-0

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "#1"]
[Black "Mating Net"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini, Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/6k1/6rq/5Q2/8/5R1P/5K2/5R2 b - - 0 0"]
[PlyCount "1"]

{Diagram [#]} 1... Qd2# 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "#2"]
[Black "Mating Net"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini, Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "6k1/6r1/8/8/8/7R/4qp2/2Q2R1K b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "5"]

{Diagram [#]} 1... Qe4+ 2. Rf3 Qxf3+ 3. Kh2 Qg2# 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "#3"]
[Black "Mating Net"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini, Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/6kb/3Q4/7q/8/6pN/6P1/6BK b - - 0 0"]
[PlyCount "3"]

{Diagram [#]} 1... Qxh3+ 2. gxh3 Be4# 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "#4"]
[Black "Mating net"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini, Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/6k1/7r/5q2/3P4/2QPK1P1/8/2R5 b - - 0 0"]
[PlyCount "5"]

{Diagram [#]} 1... Re6+ 2. Kd2 Qf2+ 3. Kd1 Qe2# 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "#5"]
[Black "Mating net"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini, Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "1k6/ppp3Q1/8/3p4/2q5/4r3/PP1K2R1/8 b - - 0 0"]
[PlyCount "3"]

{Diagram [#]} 1... Qd3+ 2. Kc1 Re1# 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "#6"]
[Black "Mating net"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini, Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "5k2/Q7/6r1/8/4q3/6R1/5p1K/5R2 b - - 0 0"]
[PlyCount "7"]

{Diagram [#]} 1... Qh4+ 2. Rh3 Qf4+ 3. Kh1 Qe4+ 4. Rf3+ Qxf3+ 0-1

[Event "London Classic 7th"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2015.12.11"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D11"]
[WhiteElo "2850"]
[BlackElo "2793"]
[Annotator "Naroditsky, Daniel"]
[PlyCount "155"]
[EventDate "2015.12.03"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[EventCategory "22"]
[Source "Chessbase"]
[SourceDate "2015.12.18"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 Bg4 5. h3 Bh5 6. cxd5 cxd5 7. Nc3 e6 8. g4
Bg6 9. Ne5 Nfd7 10. Nxg6 hxg6 11. Bg2 Nc6 12. e4 dxe4 13. Nxe4 Bb4+ 14. Nc3 Nb6
15. O-O O-O 16. d5 exd5 17. Nxd5 Bc5 18. Nc3 Bd4 19. Qf3 Qf6 20. Qxf6 Bxf6 21.
Bf4 Rad8 22. Rad1 Bxc3 23. bxc3 Na4 24. c4 Nc3 25. Rd2 Rxd2 26. Bxd2 Ne2+ 27.
Kh2 Rd8 28. Be3 Nc3 29. a3 Rd3 30. Rc1 Nd1 31. Be4 Rd7 32. Bc5 Nb2 33. Rc2 Na4
34. Be3 Nb6 35. c5 Nd5 36. Rd2 Nf6 37. Rxd7 Nxd7 38. Kg3 Kf8 39. f4 Nf6 40. Bf3
Ke7 41. f5 gxf5 42. gxf5 Kd7 {Diagram [#]} 43. Kf4 Ne8 44. Kg5 Ke7 45. Bf4 a6
46. h4 Kf8 47. Bg3 (47. h5) 47... Nf6 48. Bd6+ Ke8 49. Kf4 Nd7 50. Bg2 Kd8 51.
Kg5 Ke8 52. h5 Nf6 53. h6 {Diagram [#]} Nh7+ 54. Kh5 Nf6+ 55. Kg5 Nh7+ 56. Kh4
gxh6 (56... g6 57. fxg6 fxg6 58. Bd5 Nd4 59. Bf4 (59. Bxb7 Nf5+)) 57. Kh5 Nf6+
58. Kxh6 Ng4+ (58... Kd7 59. Kg7 Ne8+ 60. Kxf7 Nxd6+ 61. cxd6 Nd8+) 59. Kg7 (
59. Kg5) 59... Nd4 60. Be4 Nf2 61. Bb1 Ng4 62. Bf4 f6 63. Be4 Nf2 64. Bb1 Ng4
65. Be4 Nf2 66. Bxb7 Nd3 {Diagram [#]} 67. Kxf6 (67. Bd6 Nxf5+ 68. Kxf6 Nxd6
69. cxd6 Kd7 70. Bxa6 Nc5) (67. c6 Nxf4 68. c7 Nxf5+ 69. Kxf6 Nd6 70. Ke5 Kd7)
67... Nxf4 68. Ke5 Nfe2 {Diagram [#]} 69. f6 (69. c6 Nxc6+ 70. Bxc6+ Ke7 71.
Bd5 Nc3 72. Bc4 a5 73. Kd4 Nd1 74. Bb3 Nf2 75. Kc5) 69... a5 70. a4 Kf7 71.
Bd5+ Kf8 (71... Kg6 72. c6 Nxc6+ 73. Bxc6 Kf7 74. Bd5+ Kf8) 72. Ke4 Nc2 (72...
Ke8 73. Bc4) 73. c6 Nc3+ 74. Ke5 Nxa4 75. Bb3 Nb6 76. Bxc2 a4 77. c7 Kf7 78.
Bxa4 1-0

[Event "Nanjing Pearl Spring 2nd"]
[Site "Nanjing"]
[Date "2009.10.09"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Jakovenko, Dmitrij"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D31"]
[WhiteElo "2772"]
[BlackElo "2742"]
[Annotator "Naroditsky, Daniel"]
[PlyCount "75"]
[EventDate "2009.09.28"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "CHN"]
[EventCategory "21"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2009.11.19"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Be7 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bf4 c6 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. Bxd6 Qxd6 8.
e3 Ne7 9. Bd3 b6 10. Nf3 Ba6 11. O-O Bxd3 12. Qxd3 Nd7 13. e4 O-O 14. e5 Qe6
15. Rae1 Rfe8 16. Nh4 Ng6 17. Nxg6 Qxg6 18. Qd2 Nf8 19. f4 Qf5 20. Nd1 f6 21.
Ne3 Qd7 22. Qd3 fxe5 23. dxe5 Ne6 24. f5 Nc5 25. Qd4 Ne4 {Diagram [#]} 26. Nxd5
Qxd5 (26... cxd5 27. Rxe4) 27. Qxe4 Rad8 28. e6 Qxe4 29. Rxe4 Rd6 30. g4 Kf8
31. g5 Ke7 32. Kg2 Rd5 33. Kg3 Kd6 34. h4 c5 35. f6 gxf6 36. gxf6 Rd3+ 37. Kh2
Rd2+ 38. Kh1 1-0

[Event "Norway Chess 4th"]
[Site "Stavanger"]
[Date "2016.04.27"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D35"]
[WhiteElo "2851"]
[BlackElo "2801"]
[Annotator "Naroditsky, Daniel"]
[PlyCount "99"]
[EventDate "2016.04.19"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "NOR"]
[EventCategory "21"]
[Source "Chessbase"]
[SourceDate "2016.05.05"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 c6 6. e3 Bf5 7. Qf3 Bg6 8.
Bxf6 Qxf6 9. Qxf6 gxf6 10. Nf3 Nd7 11. Nh4 Be7 12. Ne2 Nb6 13. Ng3 Bb4+ 14. Kd1
Na4 15. Ngf5 Kd7 16. Rb1 Ke6 17. Bd3 Rhc8 18. Ke2 Bf8 19. g4 c5 20. Ng2 cxd4
21. exd4 Bd6 22. h4 h5 23. Ng7+ Ke7 24. gxh5 Bxd3+ 25. Kxd3 Kd7 26. Ne3 Nb6 27.
Ng4 Rh8 28. Rhe1 Be7 29. Nf5 Bd8 30. h6 Rc8 31. b3 Rc6 32. Nge3 Bc7 33. Rbc1
Rxc1 34. Rxc1 Bf4 35. Rc5 Ke6 36. Ng7+ Kd6 37. Ng4 Nd7 38. Rc2 f5 39. Nxf5+ Ke6
40. Ng7+ Kd6 41. Re2 Kc6 42. Re8 Rxe8 43. Nxe8 Nf8 44. Ne5+ Bxe5 45. dxe5 Kd7
46. Nf6+ Ke6 {Diagram [#]} 47. h5 Kxe5 48. Nd7+ Nxd7 49. h7 Nc5+ 50. Ke2 1-0

[Event "WchT U26 19th fin-A"]
[Site "Graz"]
[Date "1972.07.15"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Kenneth S Rogoff"]
[Black "Vladimir Borisovich Tukmakov"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B23"]
[Annotator "Rogoff, Kenneth"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "1972.??.??"]

1. e4 c5 2. f4 Nc6 3. Nf3 e6 4. Nc3 d5 5. Bb5 Nge7 6. exd5 exd5 7. Qe2 Qd6 8.
Ne5 Bd7 9. Bxc6 Bxc6 10. Nb5 Qd8 11. O-O f6 12. Nxc6 bxc6 13. Nc3 Kf7 14. f5
Qd7 15. Qf3 c4 16. d4 cxd3 17. cxd3 Nc8 18. Qh5+ Kg8 19. Bd2 Bc5+ 20. Kh1 Ne7
21. Rae1 Rf8 22. Qh3 h6 23. Na4 Bd6 24. Be3 Bb4 25. Nc5 Qd6 26. Rc1 d4 27. Bf4
Qd5 28. Ne6 Rf7 29. a3 Bd6 30. Bxd6 Qxd6 31. Rc4 Kh7 32. Rxd4 Qe5 {Diagram [#]}
33. Qh5 Rhf8 (33... g6 34. Qxh6+ Kxh6 (34... Kg8 35. Rd8+) 35. Rh4#) 34. Re4
Qd6 35. Nxf8+ Rxf8 36. Rfe1 Nd5 37. Re6 Qd7 38. Qg4 Kg8 39. h3 Rb8 40. b4 a5
41. bxa5 1-0

