[Event "Monte Carlo"]
[Site "Monte Carlo MNC"]
[Date "1902.02.07"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Frank James Marshall"]
[Black "Mikhail Chigorin"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D07"]
[Annotator "Soltis, Andy"]
[PlyCount "39"]
[EventDate "1902.??.??"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nc6 3. Nc3 dxc4 4. d5 Na5 5. Bf4 Bd7 6. e4 e6 7. dxe6 fxe6 (7...
Bxe6 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 (8... Rxd8 9. Bxc7) 9. O-O-O+ Kc8 10. Nb5) 8. Qh5+ g6 9.
Qxa5 Nf6 10. Qxc7 Qe7 11. Qxb7 Rc8 12. Rd1 Rc6 13. Nf3 Rb6 14. Qa8+ Kf7 15.
Qxa7 Qb4 16. Ne5+ Kg7 17. Rxd7+ Nxd7 18. Qxd7+ Be7 19. Qd4 Bc5 20. Bh6+ 1-0

[Event "Simul, 50b"]
[Site "San Francisco, CA USA"]
[Date "1964.04.13"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Robert James Fischer"]
[Black "Robert Eugene Burger"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C57"]
[Annotator "Soltis, Andy"]
[PlyCount "30"]
[EventDate "1964.04.13"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Nd4 6. c3 b5 7. Bf1 Nxd5 8.
cxd4 Qxg5 9. Bxb5+ Kd8 10. Qf3 Bb7 11. O-O exd4 12. Qxf7 (12. d3) 12... Nf6 13.
g3 Bd5 14. d3 Qf5 15. Bd7 Qf3 0-1

[Event "Ch Spain (team) (a)"]
[Site "Oropesa (Spain)"]
[Date "1996.??.??"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Alfredo Brito Garcia"]
[Black "Juan Chacon Jerez"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A84"]
[Annotator "Soltis, Andy"]
[PlyCount "17"]
[EventDate "1996.??.??"]

1. d4 e6 2. c4 f5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qb3 c5 5. a3 Qa5 6. Bd2 Nc6 7. Qd1 (7. d5 Nd4
8. Qd1) 7... Bxc3 8. Bxc3 Qc7 9. d5 1-0

[Event "WchT U26 fin-A 16th"]
[Site "Dresden GDR"]
[Date "1969.08.01"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Gregory S DeFotis"]
[Black "Daniel Wright"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A21"]
[Annotator "Soltis, Andy"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[EventDate "1969.??.??"]

1. c4 g6 2. Nc3 Bg7 3. g3 e5 4. Bg2 d6 5. Rb1 a5 6. a3 Nh6 7. d3 O-O 8. Nf3 Nc6
9. b4 axb4 10. axb4 Nd4 11. Nxd4 exd4 12. Ne4 Nf5 13. O-O h5 14. Bb2 h4 15. Ra1
Rb8 16. b5 hxg3 17. hxg3 Nh6 18. Qd2 Ng4 19. Qg5 Qe8 20. Bf3 (20. b6) 20... Qe5
21. Qh4 Nh6 22. Bc1 Nf5 23. Qh1 Qe7 24. Bg2 {[#]} (24. g4 Nh4 25. Bg5 Nxf3+)
24... Be5 25. Ng5 Rd8 26. Qh7+ Kf8 27. g4 Ne3 28. fxe3 Be6 29. Nxe6+ Qxe6 30.
Bd5 Qxg4+ 31. Kh1 Qh5+ 32. Qxh5 gxh5 33. Rxf7+ Ke8 34. e4 c6 35. Be6 Ra8 36.
Rxa8 Rxa8 37. Bg5 1-0

[Event "USSR Zonal"]
[Site "Moscow URS"]
[Date "1964.03.07"]
[Round "13"]
[White "Boris Spassky"]
[Black "Viktor Korchnoi"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E18"]
[Annotator "Soltis, Andy"]
[PlyCount "47"]
[EventDate "1964.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Nc3 d5 8. cxd5
exd5 9. Ne5 Qc8 10. Bg5 Qe6 11. Rc1 c5 12. Nd3 (12. dxc5 Qxe5) (12. e3 Rd8 13.
f4 Nc6) 12... cxd4 (12... Nbd7 13. Nf4 Qf5 14. Bxf6 Bxf6 (14... Nxf6 15. dxc5)
15. Bh3) 13. Bxf6 Bxf6 14. Nxd5 Bxd5 15. Nf4 Qd6 16. Nxd5 (16. Bxd5 Nd7 17.
Bxa8 Rxa8) 16... Bg5 17. f4 Bd8 (17... Bh6 18. Nc7) 18. Nc3 Na6 (18... Nc6 19.
Nb5) (18... Qb4 19. Bxa8 (19. Na4 Nd7 20. Bxa8 b5) (19. Nb1) 19... dxc3) 19.
Bxa8 Qb8 20. Nd5 Qxa8 21. Qxd4 Nc5 22. b4 Ne6 23. Qd3 Re8 24. e4 1-0

[Event "Champions Showdown: Carlsen-Ding (Blitz"]
[Site "St. Louis, MO USA"]
[Date "2017.11.13"]
[Round "2.1"]
[White "Ding Liren"]
[Black "Magnus Carlsen"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D78"]
[WhiteElo "2772"]
[BlackElo "2826"]
[Annotator "Soltis, Andy"]
[PlyCount "74"]
[EventDate "2017.10.21"]
[EventType "blitz"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. d4 c6 5. O-O Nf6 6. b3 O-O 7. Bb2 Bf5 8. c4
Nbd7 9. e3 Ne4 10. Nfd2 Ndf6 11. Nxe4 Bxe4 12. Bh3 Qb6 13. f3 Bxb1 14. Rxb1 e6
15. Qd3 Rfe8 16. c5 Qc7 17. e4 b6 18. e5 Nd7 19. b4 a5 20. a3 Reb8 21. Bc3 Bf8
22. Rfc1 axb4 23. axb4 bxc5 24. bxc5 Ra3 25. Bf1 Nxc5 26. dxc5 Bxc5+ 27. Kh1 d4
28. Rxb8+ Qxb8 29. Qc4 Rxc3 30. Rxc3 dxc3 31. Qxc5 Qb1 32. Kg2 c2 33. Qd6 Qd1
34. Bd3 {[#]} Qd2+ (34... c1=Q 35. Qd8+ Kg7 36. Qf6+) 35. Kh3 Qh6+ 36. Kg2 c1=Q
37. Qd8+ Qf8 0-1

[Event "Champions Showdown: Carlsen-Ding (Rapid"]
[Site "St Louis, MO USA"]
[Date "2017.11.12"]
[Round "4.1"]
[White "Ding Liren"]
[Black "Magnus Carlsen"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A28"]
[WhiteElo "2772"]
[BlackElo "2826"]
[Annotator "Soltis, Andy"]
[PlyCount "56"]
[EventDate "2017.10.21"]
[EventType "rapid"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. e3 Bb4 5. Qc2 d6 6. Nd5 Ba5 7. a3 Nxd5 8.
cxd5 Ne7 9. b4 Bb6 10. Bc4 O-O 11. Bb2 Bf5 12. d3 Ng6 13. h4 h6 14. h5 Ne7 15.
Nd2 Rc8 16. e4 Bg4 17. d4 exd4 18. f3 Bd7 19. Qd3 c6 20. dxc6 Bxc6 21. b5 Bd7
22. O-O d5 23. exd5 Bf5 24. Ne4 Nxd5 25. Bxd5 Qxd5 26. Rad1 Rfd8 27. Rfe1 {[#]}
Rc3 28. Bxc3 dxc3+ 0-1

[Event "Champions Showdown in Saint Louis (Blit"]
[Site "St. Louis, MO USA"]
[Date "2017.11.11"]
[Round "2.1"]
[White "Hikaru Nakamura"]
[Black "Veselin Topalov"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D31"]
[WhiteElo "2774"]
[BlackElo "2749"]
[Annotator "Soltis, Andy"]
[PlyCount "54"]
[EventDate "2017.10.21"]
[EventType "blitz"]

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 O-O 13. e4 Nd7 14. Rfe1 Rfe8
15. Rac1 dxe4 16. Nxe4 Qd5 17. Nc3 Qd6 18. Qc4 Nf6 19. Ne5 Rf8 20. g4 Rac8 21.
h3 Nfd5 22. Ne4 Qh6 23. Qb3 Nf4 24. Kh2 Ned5 25. Qg3 f6 26. Rxc6 {[#]} Rxc6 27.
Nxc6 f5 0-1

[Event "Champions Showdown in Saint Louis (Blit"]
[Site "St Louis, MO USA"]
[Date "2017.11.12"]
[Round "3.2"]
[White "Fabiano Caruana"]
[Black "Alexander Grischuk"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B25"]
[WhiteElo "2794"]
[BlackElo "2785"]
[Annotator "Soltis, Andy"]
[PlyCount "53"]
[EventDate "2017.10.21"]
[EventType "blitz"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 d6 3. Nge2 Nf6 4. g3 g6 5. Bg2 Bg7 6. d3 Nc6 7. O-O Rb8 8. a3
O-O 9. Rb1 Ne8 10. b4 Nc7 11. Be3 Nd4 12. Qd2 e5 13. bxc5 dxc5 14. Nd5 Nxd5 15.
exd5 Bg4 16. Nxd4 cxd4 17. Bg5 Bf6 18. Bxf6 Qxf6 19. f4 Rfc8 20. Rbe1 e4 21.
dxe4 Rc3 22. f5 Rbc8 23. e5 Qb6 24. f6 Kh8 {[#]} 25. Qh6 Rg8 26. e6 fxe6 27. f7
1-0

[Event "Champions Showdown: Carlsen-Ding (Blitz"]
[Site "St Louis, MO USA"]
[Date "2017.11.14"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Ding Liren"]
[Black "Magnus Carlsen"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E91"]
[WhiteElo "2774"]
[BlackElo "2837"]
[Annotator "Soltis, Andy"]
[PlyCount "86"]
[EventDate "2017.11.14"]
[EventType "blitz"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 g6 4. Nc3 Bg7 5. e4 d6 6. Nf3 O-O 7. Be2 e6 8. Nd2 Re8
9. O-O Na6 10. f3 Nc7 11. a4 Na6 12. Ndb1 Nh5 13. Be3 e5 14. Na3 f5 15. Nc2 Nf4
16. exf5 gxf5 17. Qd2 Nb4 18. Bd1 Nbd3 19. Ne1 Nb4 20. Nc2 Bd7 21. Nxb4 cxb4
22. Ne2 Rc8 23. b3 a5 24. Nxf4 exf4 25. Bd4 Qg5 26. Bxg7 Qxg7 27. Bc2 Re3 28.
Rae1 Rce8 29. Rxe3 fxe3 30. Qe2 f4 31. Rd1 b6 32. Kf1 Qh6 33. Kg1 Qf6 34. g4 h5
35. gxh5 Re5 36. Kh1 Rxh5 37. Rg1+ Rg5 38. Rxg5+ Qxg5 39. Qd3 Kf8 40. Qd4 e2
41. Qf2 {[#]} Qe5 42. Qe1 Bh3 43. Bb1 (43. Bd3 Qg7 44. Qxe2 Qa1+) 43... Qc3 0-1

[Event "Champions Showdown in Saint Louis (Blit"]
[Site "St Louis, MO USA"]
[Date "2017.11.12"]
[Round "8.3"]
[White "Leinier Dominguez Perez"]
[Black "Wesley So"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C42"]
[WhiteElo "2739"]
[BlackElo "2788"]
[Annotator "Soltis, Andy"]
[PlyCount "48"]
[EventDate "2017.10.21"]
[EventType "blitz"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. d4 Be7 7. Bg5 O-O 8.
Qd2 Bf5 9. O-O-O Nbd7 10. Qf4 Bg6 11. h4 Re8 12. g4 h6 13. Bxf6 Nxf6 14. h5 Bh7
15. g5 hxg5 16. Nxg5 d5 17. Kb1 c6 18. Nxh7 Nxh7 19. Bd3 Nf6 20. Rdg1 Bd6 21.
Qg5 Bf8 {[#]} 22. h6 Ne4 (22... g6 23. Bxg6 fxg6 24. h7+ Kh8 25. Qxg6) 23. Nxe4
dxe4 24. Qf5 Re6 1-0

[Event "Chess.com"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.01.13"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Azlane"]
[Black "Julieta23"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D02"]
[WhiteElo "1200"]
[BlackElo "1514"]
[Annotator "Alburt, Lev"]
[PlyCount "31"]
[EventDate "2018.03.11"]

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 {[#]} e6 (2... Nf6 3. e3 e6 (3... Bf5 4. c4 e6 5. Qb3) 4. Bd3
c5 {[#]} 5. b3 Bd6 6. Bb2 Nc6 7. a3 O-O 8. Nbd2 b6 9. Ne5 {[#]} Bb7 10. f4 Rc8
11. O-O {[#]}) (2... Bf5 3. c4 e6 4. Qb3 {[#]} Nc6) 3. e3 c5 4. Bd3 Nc6 5. a3 {
Diagram [#]} (5. b3 Nb4 6. Bb5+) 5... cxd4 (5... c4 6. Be2 Bd6 7. b3 cxb3) 6.
exd4 Nf6 7. Nbd2 {Diagram [#]} Bd6 8. b4 a6 (8... e5) 9. Bb2 O-O 10. O-O Re8
11. Ne5 Qc7 (11... Qb6 12. Ndf3 Qc7) 12. f4 {Diagram [#]} Nd7 (12... b5) 13.
Bxh7+ {Diagram [#]} Kxh7 (13... Kf8 14. Qh5 (14. Bd3) 14... Nf6) 14. Qh5+ Kg8
15. Qxf7+ Kh8 16. Rf3 1-0

[Event "World Championship Candidates"]
[Site "Berlin GER"]
[Date "2018.03.27"]
[Round "14"]
[White "Alexander Grischuk"]
[Black "Fabiano Caruana"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C43"]
[WhiteElo "2767"]
[BlackElo "2784"]
[Annotator "Hess, Robert"]
[PlyCount "138"]
[EventDate "2018.03.10"]

{Fabiano Caruana will challenge Magnus Carlsen for the World Chess
Championship! American chess fans have spent months celebrating this
tremendous achievement. The psychological roller coaster that Fabi went
through - in addition to the challenges he faced over the board - could only
be handled by a player with nerves of steel. A half point ahead entering the
final round, Caruana was guaranteed qualification only by winning his own game;
a draw and either Sergey Karjakin (head-to-head record) or Shakhriyar
Mamedyarov (superior tiebreaks) could overtake him by winning their game. So
with that in mind, what is the best way to play against an extremely strong
opponent? Do you try to neutralize White's initial advantage and settle for a
draw while praying the other two fail to win? Or do you play ambitiously,
venturing into dangerous waters? The answer to this question can be found by
Fabiano's near-perfect play.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 {Caruana's Petrov Defense
was tested repeatedly at the Berlin Candidates Tournament. Grischuk, who was
no longer in contention for first, avoided the main lines in which Caruana is
extremely well versed.} 3. d4 Nxe4 4. dxe5 ({More frequently played is} 4. Bd3
d5 5. Nxe5 Nd7 6. Nxd7 Bxd7 7. O-O Bd6 8. c4 {though the position remains
extremely solid. Hikaru Nakamura failed to get an advantage against Yaroslav
Zherebukh at the 2018 U.S. Championship in this line after} O-O 9. c5 Be7 10.
Qc2 Bf6) 4... d5 5. Nbd2 Nxd2 ({Amusingly, the continuation} 5... Nc5 6. Nb3
Ne6 7. Nbd4 Nxd4 {is most popular at this point. Granted, this isn't a
particularly common line to begin with, but the knights' tango is comedic.}) 6.
Bxd2 ({Recapturing with the queen is interesting and ambitious. The plan is to
maneuver her majesty to the kingside:} 6. Qxd2 Be7 7. Qf4 {and White aims to
apply pressure with Qg3.}) 6... Be7 7. Bd3 c5 8. c3 Nc6 9. O-O ({Stopping ...
Bg4 with} 9. h3 {is a tad slow. Black can develop naturally and has little to
fear.}) 9... Bg4 10. Re1 Qd7 11. h3 Bh5 {A novelty in a rare position.} ({
Spanish SuperGM Francisco Vallejo Pons achieved an advantage after} 11... Bf5
12. Qc2 Bxd3 13. Qxd3 O-O 14. Rad1 Qe6 15. a3 a6 16. Be3 Rad8 17. b4 cxb4 18.
axb4 {1-0 (47) Vallejo Pons,F (2696)-Perez Garcia,R (2426) Lugo 2009}) 12. Bf4
Qe6 13. a3 ({The retreat} 13. Be2 {opens up some serious discoveries on the
bishop on h5. Black can in turn change his bishop's diagonal, though White's
initiative quickly grows after} Bg6 (13... O-O 14. Qd2 {renews the threat of
Nd4, whereas 14...Bg6 merely transposes to this variation.} Bg6) 14. Qd2 O-O
15. Rad1 {with 16. Ng5 to follow. To my eyes this appears to be an improvement
over the game.}) 13... O-O 14. b4 {[#]} h6 $1 {Caruana makes an essential
prophylactic move. The luft for the king is an added benefit to permanently
preventing Ng5 ideas.} ({For instance, extremely problematic for Black is} 
14... Bg6 15. bxc5 Bxc5 16. Ng5 {with the intention of Bxg6 and e6.}) 15. Bg3
b6 16. Nd4 {Already in time trouble, Grischuk greatly changes the dynamics of
the game by forcing an exchange of queens. Unfortunately for him, the
middlegame with a two bishops "advantage" is unfavorable for White, whose pawn
on e5 is overextended.} ({Possible was} 16. Qc2 Bg6 ({Compromising White's
kingside pawn structure only helps him initiate a quick assault:} 16... Bxf3
17. gxf3 (17. Bf5 {fails to trap the queen and loses because of} Be4) 17... g6
18. f4 Qxh3 19. Bxg6 fxg6 20. Qxg6+ Kh8 21. Qxc6) (16... Rad8 {is really smart,
intending to meet the queen trapping move} 17. Bf5 {with the pin} Bg6 {Note
that starting with 16. Qb1 would prevent this response, but would make 16...
Bg6 17. Bxg6 fxg6 more effective for Black, since White would have to spend an
additional tempo connecting his rooks.}) 17. Bxg6 fxg6 {is a capture away from
the center, yet the semi-open f-file gives Black serious activity.}) (16. Qb1
Bg6 17. Bxg6 fxg6) 16... Bxd1 17. Nxe6 fxe6 18. Raxd1 c4 19. Bc2 b5 {[#]} 20.
a4 {There was hardly a choice for Grischuk since Caruana would have played ...
a5, blasting open the file. The downside of this push is that Black can soon
undermine the protecting of the b-pawn with ...d4.} a6 ({If it was not the
final round of the Candidates Tournament, Caruana could have considered} 20...
a5 21. axb5 Nxb4 22. cxb4 axb4 {though the risk of complete liquidation is
completely unnecessary. In the game, Caruana kept firm control of the winning
chances.}) 21. f3 ({Defending the e5 pawn with} 21. f4 {keeps the bishop stuck
on g3.} Rac8 {and ...d4 can't be stopped without losing the pawn on f4.}) 21...
Bg5 (21... Nxb4 22. cxb4 Bxb4 {is a better version of the prior piece
sacrifice line, since Black snags the second pawn immediately. Even if
objectively the move is strong, it simply is not the right decision given the
event standings. It is quite conceivable that White plants his bishop on g6
and threatens f4-f5.}) 22. Bf2 Bf4 23. Bc5 Rfd8 24. Bd6 Bg3 25. Re2 g5 26. Kf1
Kf7 {[#]} 27. Bc7 ({With such a poorly placed light-squared bishop, White can
never seriously fight for the a-file.} 27. Ra1 {is simply met by} Rac8 {
which prepares ...d4. White is not in time to infiltrate:} 28. axb5 axb5 29.
Ra6 Ra8 30. Rxc6 Ra1+ 31. Re1 Rxe1#) 27... Re8 28. Bd6 Rac8 29. Ra1 Red8 {
This is the same position as in the note after move 27. Grischuk is out of
useful moves.} 30. Bb1 {[#]} Rd7 ({Patience is a virtue that the best players
in the world truly comprehend. Hastiness would have made Black's life so much
more difficult here} 30... d4 31. axb5 axb5 32. cxd4 Nxd4 33. Ra7+ Kg8 34. Rea2
) 31. Ra3 $2 {Grischuk fails to find his last opportunity to seize counter
play. A defensive task is much more difficult with material equality and no
plan, as compared to being down a pawn with activity.} (31. axb5 axb5 32. Ra6
Ra7 (32... d4 33. Be4 {is always the problem.}) 33. Rxa7+ Nxa7 34. Ra2 Nc6 35.
Ra6 d4 $1 ({The greedy} 35... Nxe5 36. Ra7+ Kg8 37. Bh7+ {looks suspicious for
Black. The king is forced into the corner and a true passed pawn will be hard
to orchestrate.}) 36. cxd4 Nxd4 37. Ra7+ Kg8 38. Bh7+ Kh8 39. Be4 c3 40. Rh7+
Kg8 41. Rxh6 {with the threat of perpetual check via h6-g6-f6.} Nf5 $1 {
and White will be fortunate to survive; the loss of a piece for several pawns
appears unavoidable.}) 31... d4 32. axb5 axb5 33. cxd4 Nxd4 34. Rea2 Nc6 35.
Be4 Bxe5 ({Now is not the time for imprecision.} 35... Nxe5 36. Ra7 Rcd8 37.
Bxe5 Bxe5 38. Bc6 Rxa7 39. Rxa7+ Kf6 40. Bxb5 c3 41. Ra2 {the ending is not
easy to win without the second pair of rooks.}) 36. Bxc6 Rxd6 37. Bxb5 Rd1+ 38.
Ke2 Rg1 39. Ke3 Rb1 40. Ra7+ Kf6 41. Bd7 {[#]} Bf4+ ({Caruana could have gone
up a bishop for two pawns, though he evidently wanted to keep more pieces on
the board in order to maximize his winning chances. At this point, Karjakin
had long drawn and Mamedyarov's draw was winding down, meaning Caruana needed
just a draw of his own, but why not just secure the full point he earned?} 
41... Rd8 42. R2a6 Bf4+ 43. Ke2 Rb2+ 44. Kf1 Rxd7 45. Rxd7 c3 46. Rd1 c2 47.
Re1 c1=Q 48. Raxe6+ Kg7 ({Not} 48... Kf5 $4 49. g4#) 49. Rxc1 Bxc1 {This
ending must be winning, though the h1 square not matching the color of the
dark-squared bishop is worrisome.}) 42. Ke2 Rd8 43. Rc2 (43. R2a6 {transposes
to the above line.}) 43... Rxb4 ({A pawn is a pawn, but Caruana had even more:
} 43... Rg1 44. Kf2 Rd1 45. Bb5 (45. Ba4 R8d2+ 46. Rxd2 Rxd2+ 47. Kf1 Ra2)
45... R8d2+ 46. Rxd2 Rxd2+ 47. Kf1 c3 48. Ra1 c2 49. Ba4 Be3 50. Rc1 Rf2+ 51.
Ke1 Bxc1 52. Kxf2 Be3+) 44. Bc6 c3 45. Rd7 Rc8 46. Be4 h5 {Fixing the weakness
on g2, Caruana ensures that Grischuk will never wiggle out of his bind. The
rest is easy.} 47. Kd3 Rb2 48. Ke2 h4 49. Rd1 Ke5 50. Ra1 Rd8 51. Rd1 Rdb8 52.
Ra1 Bd2 53. Ra6 Rd8 54. Rc6 Rb1 55. Kf2 Ra1 56. Rc4 Rd4 57. Rc8 Rb4 58. Ke2 {
[#]} Kf4 ({It wasn't too late to be careless.} 58... Rbb1 $2 59. R2xc3 {
and the game is immediately drawn.}) ({There was a gorgeous mating net in
place here.} 58... Re1+ 59. Kf2 Rbb1 60. R2xc3 Bf4 $3) 59. Kf2 Rbb1 60. Rf8+ (
60. R2xc3 {no longer works because the king does not attack the bishop on d2.}
Bxc3 (60... Rf1+ 61. Ke2 Bxc3 {is also sufficient for a swift victory.}) 61.
Bxb1 Bd4+ 62. Ke2 Rxb1) 60... Ke5 61. Bd3 Rb2 62. Ke2 Re1+ 63. Kf2 Rc1 64. Rxb2
cxb2 65. Rb8 Bc3 66. Be4 Bd4+ 67. Ke2 Kf4 68. Rb4 e5 69. Rb7 Kg3 {Caruana won
by playing practically flawless chess in the game's critical moments. He
accepted a harsh reality: with the Black pieces it is hard to defeat a player
of Grischuk's caliber, so he put the onus on Karjakin and Mamedyarov to win
their games.The strategy worked to perfection: Grischuk was up for a fight,
but Fabiano was simply the better player that day - and throughout the entire
tournament.} 0-1

[Event "Grand Slam Final 1st"]
[Site "Bilbao"]
[Date "2008.09.08"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Aronian, Levon"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D47"]
[WhiteElo "2775"]
[BlackElo "2737"]
[Annotator "Hartmann, John"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[EventDate "2008.09.02"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "ESP"]
[EventCategory "21"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 126"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2008.10.01"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 b5 8. Bd3
Bb7 9. a3 b4 10. Ne4 Nxe4 11. Bxe4 bxa3 12. O-O Nf6 13. Bd3 axb2 14. Bxb2 a5 {
Diagram [#]} 15. d5 $3 Nxd5 (15... cxd5 $2 16. Bb5+ Nd7 17. Ne5 Bc8 18. Qh5 g6
19. Qf3 $18) (15... exd5 16. Nd4 $44 {with ideas of Qa4 and Nf5}) (15... Qxd5
16. Ne5 Bb4 (16... Bd6 17. e4 Qc5 18. Rc1 $36) 17. Qa4 O-O 18. Rfd1 $36) 16.
Ne5 Nf6 (16... Be7 17. Qh5 g6 18. Qh6 Bf6 19. e4 Nb6 20. Rab1 $36) 17. Qa4 Bb4
18. Nxc6 Bxc6 19. Qxc6+ Ke7 20. Rfd1 $44 Rc8 21. Qf3 Qb6 22. Bd4 Qb8 23. Ba6
Rcd8 24. Bb7 h5 25. h3 h4 26. Rab1 e5 27. Rxb4 axb4 28. Bc5+ Ke6 29. Ra1 Rd6
30. Bxd6 Kxd6 31. Qc6+ Ke7 32. Ra8 Qd6 33. Qxd6+ Kxd6 34. Rxh8 b3 35. Ba6 Nd7
36. Rxh4 Nc5 1-0

[Event "Bundesliga 0809"]
[Site "Germany"]
[Date "2008.12.13"]
[Round "8.1"]
[White "Polzin, Rainer"]
[Black "Motylev, Alexander"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2500"]
[BlackElo "2672"]
[Annotator "Ramesh, RB"]
[PlyCount "90"]
[EventDate "2008.10.03"]
[EventType "team-tourn"]
[EventRounds "15"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[WhiteTeam "Berlin SF"]
[BlackTeam "Katernberg"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "GER"]
[BlackTeamCountry "GER"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nd2 e6 5. Nb3 a5 6. a4 Ne7 7. Nf3 Nc8 8. Be2
Bb4+ 9. c3 Be7 10. O-O Nb6 11. Ne1 N8d7 12. Bd3 Bg6 13. Bxg6 hxg6 14. Nd3 {
Diagram [#]} Nc4 {Both sides have dark-squared bishops, so they should try to
put their other pieces on light squares.} 15. Qe2 b5 {White at some point
could kick the c4-knight with b2-b3, so Black aims to put his pawn on a4 to
stabilize the c4-square for his knight. Moreover, if Black castles on the
kingside, where he does not have as many defenders, it is possible that White
could launch a direct attack with f2-f4, g2-g4 and f4-f5. Hence Black wants to
secure adequate counterplay on the queenside before he makes the decision to
castle short. If things get too hot on the kingside, then he could consider
keeping his king in the center or even sending it to the queenside if
necessary.} 16. axb5 cxb5 17. f4 Qb6 18. Nd2 ({If White tried to launch an
attack immediately with} 18. g4 {then Black would have adquate resources:} a4
19. Nd2 Qc6 20. f5 gxf5 21. gxf5 exf5 $17 {and} 22. Rxf5 {is impossible in
view of} Qg6+) 18... Qc6 19. Nf3 a4 $15 {With a small advantage, Black went on
to win from here. In this example, Black not only used his pieces but also his
pawns to gain control over the light squares on the queenside.} 20. g4 Na5 21.
Be3 Nb3 22. Rad1 Nb6 23. Bf2 a3 24. Qc2 Qc4 25. bxa3 Rxa3 26. f5 gxf5 27. gxf5
exf5 28. Nf4 g5 29. e6 gxf4 30. exf7+ Kd8 31. Ne5 Qc8 32. Qe2 Qe6 33. Qxb5 Kc7
34. Rfe1 Qh6 35. h4 Ra2 36. Ng4 Qd6 37. Qxb3 Rxf2 38. Nxf2 Bxh4 39. Re8 f3 40.
Kf1 Qg6 41. Ng4 Qxg4 42. Rd2 Qh3+ 43. Kg1 Rh6 44. Rg8 Qh1+ 45. Kxh1 Bf2# 0-1

[Event "Berlin Candidates"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.03.27"]
[Round "14"]
[White "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Black "Ding, Liren"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C84"]
[WhiteElo "2763"]
[BlackElo "2769"]
[Annotator "Rogers, Ian"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "3b1rk1/5q2/pN1p1r2/P1p1p1pp/1p1pP3/1P1P1PP1/2P1Q1KP/R4R2 b - - 0 26"]
[PlyCount "39"]
[EventDate "2018.03.??"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "14"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[EventCategory "22"]

{[#] Karjakin was feeling quite content here, envisaging a line such as 25...
Bxb6 26.axb6 Qb7 27.f4! with advantage, but Ding finds a far stronger idea.} 
26... h4 $1 27. Nd5 {"A blunder," said Karjakin, though blocking the position
with} (27. g4 {would again leave White having to work for the draw after} Bxb6
28. axb6 Qb7 {.}) 27... h3+ $1 28. Kg1 {"I had forgotten about} (28. Kxh3 $2
g4+ $1 {, [winning]," admitted Karjakin. "At first I thought it was almost
over, but then I found an interesting chance."}) 28... Rxf3 29. g4 $1 {"If I
play directly} (29. Qxf3 Qxf3 30. Rxf3 Rxf3 31. Rf1 (31. g4 Kf7) 31... Rxf1+
32. Kxf1 {Black has time for} Kf7 $1 {when I think Black is winning. After} 33.
g4 Bxa5 {Black plays ...Bd8, his king to b5 and then ...a4 and ... c4."}) 29...
Kg7 {"If} (29... Qe6 30. Qxf3 Rxf3 31. Rxf3 Qxg4+ 32. Rg3 Qe2 33. Rf1 {and I
think White is OK," said Karjakin," for example} g4 34. Rf2 {with a draw."})
30. Rxf3 Qxf3 31. Qxf3 Rxf3 32. Rf1 Rxf1+ 33. Kxf1 Bxa5 {"After} (33... Kf7 34.
Kf2 Bxa5 35. Kg3 Bd8 36. Kxh3 {Black is not in time to break through on the
queenside, e.g.} a5 37. Kg2 a4 $6 38. bxa4 Ba5 39. Kf3 c4 40. Ke2 b3 41. cxb3
cxb3 42. Kd1 {and the White king returns on time," explained Karjakin.}) 34.
Ne7 $1 {"The only move - it is a miracle but White is escaping," admitted
Karjakin. "With the knight [coming to f2], it is a draw. "} Kf6 35. Nf5 Ke6 36.
Ng3 Bd8 37. Nh1 $1 a5 38. Ke2 d5 39. Nf2 Kd6 40. exd5 Kxd5 41. Ne4 $1 {White
is not interested in the h3 pawn - he has a perfect blockade.} Kc6 42. Kd2 Be7
43. Kc1 Kb5 44. Kb2 a4 45. Ka2 a3 1/2-1/2

[Event "Berlin Candidates"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.03.12"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Aronian, Levon"]
[Black "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C65"]
[WhiteElo "2794"]
[BlackElo "2800"]
[Annotator "Rogers, Ian"]
[PlyCount "58"]
[EventDate "2018.03.??"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "14"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[EventCategory "22"]
[SourceTitle "The Week in Chess 1218"]
[Source "Mark Crowther"]
[SourceDate "2018.03.12"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 {The first Berlin Defence in the Berlin
Candidates.} 4. d3 Bc5 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. O-O {"After 6.0-0 I already had a good
feeling," said Kramnik, "since if he doesn't follow with 7.h3, I simply play 7.
..Bg4." Carlsen, who has taken the white side of this line against many of the
world's best players, has tried} (6. h3 {,}) (6. Nbd2 {,}) (6. Nc3 {and}) (6.
Qe2 {- but never 6.0-0.}) 6... Qe7 7. h3 {[#]" I always considered 7.h3 as a
very serious move and I actually spent a lot of time analysing it," explained
Kramnik. "But then, a couple of years ago, I found this very strong resource: .
.."} Rg8 $3 {"I had this prepared and was waiting for my moment to use it."
said Kramnik. "I was looking for something here and had been analysing} (7...
h6 {, with the idea, 8...g5, when it is very, very sharp. And at some point I
realised that I had to save a tempi with 7...Rg8!. Then when you analyse it
with a computer, everything is clear. Of course I never thought I would have a
chance to play it against Levon in the Candidates -there are so many [regular]
1e4 players who also play 4.d3. For Levon it's quite bad luck, to meet a
strong novelty with White - it's happened to me a few times." In fact 7...Rg8
has been played in a few correspondence games, dating back as far as 2012 but
seems that even Kramnik did not know about them..}) 8. Kh1 {"Almost the only
move," said Kramnik, "since 8...g5 was already a big threat." The immediate} (
8. c3 {walks into} g5 $1 9. d4 exd4 10. cxd4 Bb6 {, and 11.Bxg5 - here or
earlier - can always be met by 11...Bxh3!.} 11. Bxg5 Bxh3) 8... Nh5 {Played
after 13 minutes and the first new move. All the correspondence games had seen
8...h6, which rather defeats the tempo saving purpose of 7...Rg8. "I couldn't
really remember my analysis. I didn't analyse 7...Rg8 for long because it is
obviously so good. I knew Black has a few good moves here, and I remembered
that 8...Nh5 (and 9...g5) was one of the very interesting moves. That's it."} (
8... h6) 9. c3 $6 {"Maybe I should play} (9. Nc3 {," said Aronian. The players
then analysed} g5 10. Nxe5 g4 11. d4 gxh3 ({"} 11... Bd6 $1 {is also possible,
but it is already a better version of the game for White."}) 12. g3 Nf6 {
when Kramnik commented, "I remember analysing these positions with a computer
and White was more or less holding, but for a human it is really difficult
because White's king is very weak." In fact after Aronian's counter} 13. dxc5
$1 Qxe5 14. Bf4 Qxc5 15. Bxc7 {, White already has an edge, so 11...Bd6! was
the way to go for Black.}) 9... g5 10. Nxe5 {"} (10. d4 {is an option," said
Kramnik, "when} g4 11. dxc5 gxf3 12. Qxf3 Qh4 {looks very dangerous for White
as my pieces are entering the kingside."}) 10... g4 {"This can be played by
hand," said Kramnik.} 11. d4 (11. Nxg4 $2 Bxg4 12. hxg4 Qh4+ 13. Kg1 Ng3 {
and mate is typical of the dangers already surrounding Black's king.}) 11...
Bd6 12. g3 Bxe5 13. dxe5 Qxe5 14. Qd4 Qe7 $5 {"The most difficult decision in
the game," said Kramnik,"If I play} (14... Qxd4 $1 15. cxd4 gxh3 16. Kh2 f5 {
Black has a very nice position - there is no risk and Black is just better.
But then I realised that 14...Qe7 was much more critical - I just want to mate
him. Soon I realised that White [could be] in terrible trouble [along the
h1-a8] diagonal. Still it was a difficult decision, as I like better
endgames!" "Missing 14...Qe7] was an oversight on my part," added Aronian. "I
didn't realise that Black doesn't have to exchange queens. I was hoping to get
a slightly worse position after exchanging on d4 and then fight for a draw,
but 14...Qe7 is very strong."}) 15. h4 c5 16. Qc4 $2 {"A terrible blunder,"
said Aronian. "I didn't realise how bad my position was and forgot that Black 
[would be] threatenong ...f5." Kramnik responded "During the game I thought
that White should play} (16. Qd3 $1 Bd7 17. c4 {and 18.Nc3. Of course Black is
better but it is kind of holdable."}) 16... Be6 17. Qb5+ c6 18. Qa4 $2 {
[#] White's last chance was to grovel with} (18. Qd3 Rd8 19. Qe3 {but Kramnik
dismissed this line as unplayable with the wave of a hand.}) 18... f5 $1 {
"He missed this idea," explained Kramnik. "I saw this when I played 16...Be6."}
19. Bg5 {"While Levon was taking his time I was walking around [thinking] and
I couldn't find the slightest chance for White," said Kramnik. "My point is
that after} (19. exf5 {Black has} Nxg3+ $1 20. fxg3 Bd5+ 21. Kg1 Qe2 {[and
it's mate]."}) 19... Rxg5 $1 20. hxg5 f4 21. Qd1 {After the more obvious} (21.
Kh2 {, the simple} Qxg5 22. Qc2 O-O-O 23. Rd1 Rxd1 24. Qxd1 Qh6 $1 {leaves
White defenceless.}) 21... Rd8 22. Qc1 fxg3 23. Na3 Rd3 $1 24. Rd1 {[#]} Bd5 $3
{"Flashy but not very difficult - by the end I was just trying to make it
beautiful. Of course it is not very professional since any move wins and I was
[a little] afraid that I would miscalculate."} 25. f3 {"My main idea was} (25.
Rxd3 Qxe4+ 26. f3 gxf3 $1 27. Re3 f2+ 28. Rxe4+ Bxe4# $1 {," said.Kramnik with
a smile "But just to be sure I was calculating this line 10 times - it would
be really stupid to miss something when any [normal] move wins."}) 25... gxf3
26. exd5 Qe2 $1 27. Re1 g2+ {[#] After} (27... g2+ 28. Kh2 g1=Q+ $1 29. Kxg1
f2+ {it is game over.}) 28. Kh2 g1=Q+ 29. Kxg1 f2+ 0-1

[Event "Berlin Candidates"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.03.14"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C42"]
[WhiteElo "2800"]
[BlackElo "2784"]
[Annotator "Rogers, Ian"]
[PlyCount "132"]
[EventDate "2018.03.??"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "14"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[EventCategory "22"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Qe2 Qe7 6. Nc3 {[#] By now some
pundits were concluding that the players, both already well placed in the
tournament, had decided to take a day off. They couldn't have been more wrong..
.} Nxc3 7. dxc3 Qxe2+ 8. Bxe2 Nc6 9. Be3 Be7 10. O-O-O O-O 11. Rhe1 Bf6 (11...
Bd7 {is simple and safe, but Caruana, having spent 25 minutes on this and the
previous move, calculates that his bishop is safe on f6.}) 12. Nd2 $5 Re8 13.
Bf3 Ne5 14. Bf4 {Played after Kramnik's first long think, 21 minutes. Kramnik
may have intended} (14. Ne4 {but then} Bh4 $1 {is annoying for White.}) 14...
Kf8 15. Bd5 c6 16. Bb3 Bf5 17. h3 g5 18. Bh2 Kg7 {[#]} 19. c4 {Seemingly
locking in the bishop on b3, but} (19. Ne4 $6 Bxe4 20. Rxe4 d5 21. Ree1 b5 $1 {
would be much worse, after which White is effectively a piece down and Black
should win on the kingside.}) 19... g4 $1 20. Ne4 Bxe4 21. Rxe4 Bg5+ 22. Kb1
gxh3 {Having burned time on every move since 10...0-0, Caruana was down to
less than than 10 minutes on the clock, provoking Kramnik to push for
complications which neither player is able to control.} 23. c5 $6 {[#] "I had
noticed this but thought it looked very risky," said Caruana. "I was more
expecting} (23. gxh3 {and now after} f5 $1 24. Re2 Nf3 25. Rxe8 Rxe8 26. Bxd6
Re2 {Black at least stands very decently."}) 23... f5 $1 24. Rb4 hxg2 25. Rxb7+
Kh8 $1 {"Maybe I also had} (25... Re7 {," said Caruana, "but I thought the way
I played was very good."}) 26. cxd6 Nf3 27. Ba4 $1 {"The only way to keep
fighting," said Caruana. "Well, White also has} (27. Bg1 {," responded Kramnik.
However when Caruana instantly replied} Re2 $1 {Kramnik conceded that 27.Bg1
was unplayable.}) 27... Nxh2 28. Bxc6 {[#]} Rad8 $1 {"This was the move I had
missed," admitted Kramnik. "If not 28...Rad8 then White is better." "I spent
my last 3 minutes trying to make} (28... Re4 $1 {work," said Caruana. Kramnik
looked puzzled, mentioning} 29. Bxe4 (29. Rg1 Re6) 29... fxe4 30. Rg1 {before
Caruana pointed out} e3 $3 31. fxe3 Rf8 $1 {and Black wins. Caruana did not
play 28...Re4 because of the immediate 29.Rg1 but he had not noticed that then
the paradoxical 29...Re6! keeps Black on top.}) 29. d7 Re2 30. Bxg2 Rxf2 31.
Bc6 {"Of course Black is better," said Kramnik, "but in time trouble things
start to go wrong [for Black]."} Ng4 {"Putting my knight on e3 takes too much
time," said Caruana. "I considered} (31... f4 32. Rxa7 f3 {but couldn't break
down} 33. Ra3 {. Caruana gave the line} Rd2 (33... Nf1) 34. Rxd2 Bxd2 35. Bxf3
Nxf3 36. Rxf3 Rxd7 37. c3 {which the players agreed should probably be a draw,
but he missed 33...Nf1!, headed for d2 with a large advantage for Black.}) 32.
Rxa7 Ne3 33. Rg1 {[#]} h6 $6 {"I wanted to get my king to the centre,"
explained Caruana. "I thought that} (33... Rxc2 {was a chance," said Kramnik,
but after} 34. Rc7 {the two players were not sure how Black should continue,
not noticing} Bf6 $1 35. Rc8 Rxb2+ 36. Kc1 Rxa2 $1 {and suddenly White can
resign.}) 34. Rc7 Kg7 35. a4 Kf7 36. Bb5 Ke7 $6 {"Black needs to be fast,"
said Kramnik, and indeed} (36... f4 {was the last hope for Black to stay on
top in the queening race.}) 37. a5 Rf4 {[#]} 38. c3 $1 {"If} (38. a6 $6 Rb4 $1
{followed by 39...Bf6, and Black has counterplay," explained Caruana.}) 38...
Kd6 {The immediate} (38... Rg4 39. Rh1 Bf4 40. Rb7 Rg6 $1 {, intending ...
Bd6-c5, would keep the game in drawing bounds, but ionly a computer could find
this in time trouble.}) 39. Rb7 {"} (39. Rc6+ $1 {just wins," declared Kramnik,
giving the variation} Ke7 40. Rb6 $6 {when in fact Black can turn the tables
after} (40. a6 Rxd7 41. Rc8 Ra7 42. Re8+) 40... Re4 $1 (40... Nc4 $6 41. Re1+
$1 Kf7 42. Re8 $1) 41. a6 Nc4 $1 {. However Kramnik's intuition was correct.
Instead of 40.Rb6, 40.a6! is very strong for White, since 40...Rxd7 allows 41.
Rc8! Ra7 42.Re8+, winning the knight.}) 39... Rg4 40. Re1 f4 41. a6 h5 {
"Now I just relaxed," said Kramnik. "I thought everything wins."} 42. a7 Ra8 {
[#]} 43. b4 {"Now it is already not so easy," said Caruana. "I thought White
should play} (43. c4 $5 {when I think} Kc5 {is forced because if} (43... h4 44.
c5+ $1 {wins. Then after}) 44. b4+ {I probably have to play} Kd4 {." "Yes, I
didn't want to give this counterplay," said Karmnik, although after} 45. Bc6 $1
{White prevents 45...Rg2, cutting out the counterplay and winning.}) 43... h4
44. c4 {"White could also win with} (44. Be2 {," opined Kramnik, but Caruana
was not so sure. "Who wins the race after} Rg3 45. b5 h3 {," the American
queried, with the players analysing} 46. b6 h2 (46... Nd5 47. Rb8 Nxb6) 47. Rb8
(47. Bf3) 47... Rg1 48. Bf3 $5 {before Kramnim threw his hands in the air as
if to say, "This is too ridiculous!" In fact had Kramnik played 47.Bf3!! in
this line, he might well have triumphed, but ofcourse Caruana could and should
pull out of the race via 46...Nd5 47.Rb8 Nxb6! with a likely draw.}) 44... h3
45. c5+ Ke5 46. Rb8 {"I thought this just finishes the game," admitted Kramnik
yet, despite falling into a brilliant Caruana trap, the move is probably
White's best try as other Kramnik ideas such as 46.c6 h2 prove too slow.} (46.
c6 h2) 46... Rxa7 47. Rg8 {[#]} Bf6 $3 48. d8=Q {A chastened Kramnik took nine
minutes before accepting that he had nothing better. His intended} (48. Rxg4 {
actually loses after} Kf5 $1 {with the threat of mate on a1.}) 48... Bxd8 49.
Rxg4 Bf6 50. Rg6 Rb7 {"Probably I should just make a draw with} (50... Kf5 51.
Bd3+ Ke6 52. Bc4+ (52. Rxf6+ Kxf6 53. b5) 52... Kf5 {," said Caruana. "I could
try 52.Rxf6+!? Kxf6 53.b5," said Kramnik. "Of course it is still a draw but
White is the one playing."}) 51. Be2 Rxb4+ 52. Ka2 {"Suddenly I am better
again," said Kramnik. "Yes, I completely underestimated how strong the c pawn
is here," agreed Caruana. "It is running very quickly."} Nc2 53. Rc1 {"I
wanted to play} (53. Rb1 {," explained Kramnik, "but} Re4 $1 {confused me."})
53... Nd4 54. Bd3 Ra4+ {[#]} 55. Kb1 $6 {"This was stupid," said Kramnik. "I
just decided to repeat moves first[ but I missed 55...Nb3]. After} (55. Kb2 Ke6
{and now you don't threaten anything, so} 56. Rh1 {." "Now I have} Rb4+ 57. Kc3
Nc6+ {," responded Caruana, and after Kramnik's desperate final try} 58. Rxf6+
Kxf6 59. Rxh3 {"I should be able to deal with it," said Caruana with a laugh,
since} Kg5 {is an immediate draw.}) 55... Nb3 $1 {"Now White has to be careful
already," said Caruana.} 56. Re1+ Kd5 57. Kc2 {"I was still searching for a
win," admitted Kramnik, " but the position is becoming too tricky to play in
time trouble." "} (57. Rxf6 {should just be a draw," added Carauna. "I just
didn't have time to calculate everything," Kramnik responded, the players
examining the line} Ra1+ 58. Kb2 Rxe1 59. Kxb3 (59. Rxf4 h2 60. Rh4 {is also
good enough.}) 59... h2 {and now Kramnik's intended 60.Bb5 loses to 60...Ke5,
but} 60. Bc4+ $1 (60. Bb5 Ke5) 60... Kxc5 61. Rf5+ {enables the White bishop
to reach d5 with a draw.}) 57... Nd4+ 58. Kb1 Nf3 {[#]} 59. Rd1 $2 {"I [ran
myself down to two seconds and just panicked," confessed Kramnik. "White can
still make a draw here with} (59. Rxf6 $1 Nxe1 60. Bf1 $1 h2 61. Rh6 {. The
problem is that I wanted to play}) (59. Rf1 $2 {but I missed} Nd2+ 60. Kc2 Ra2+
$1 {and when I saw that check I panicked and played the first move that came
to my mind."}) 59... Ra1+ 60. Kc2 Rxd1 {Here, after Caruana had left his seat,
Kramnik slumped over the board in despair. Too late he realised that 61.Kxd1
allows the h pawn to queen after 61...h2.} 61. Ba6 (61. Kxd1 h2) 61... Rd2+ 62.
Kc1 Bb2+ 63. Kb1 Kxc5 64. Bb7 Ne5 65. Rf6 f3 66. Rf5 f2 0-1

[Event "Berlin Candidates"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.03.18"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Black "So, Wesley"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E51"]
[WhiteElo "2763"]
[BlackElo "2799"]
[Annotator "Rogers, Ian"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "2r2k2/6pp/2N1p3/1K2P3/6P1/5n2/R6P/8 b - - 0 35"]
[PlyCount "11"]
[EventDate "2018.03.??"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "14"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[EventCategory "22"]

{[#] So has been under pressure since the endgame began soon after the opening
and here could finally equalise with 35...Rc7. However here, with just over
five minutes on the clock to reach move 40, So used two of them and chose a
move which created a devastating new threat for White.} 35... Ke8 $2 (35... Rc7
) 36. Kb6 $1 {Suddenly 37.Kb7 becomes a deadly threat, and the Black king
cannot return to f8 without losing the knight after 37.Rf2.} g5 $5 {Hoping to
meet 37.Kb7 with 37...Rxc6, whereas the immediate} (36... Rxc6+ 37. Kxc6 Nxe5+
{allows} 38. Kd6 $1 Nxg4 39. Kxe6 Kd8 40. h3 $1 {and Black's kingside pawns
are doomed.}) 37. h3 $1 (37. Kb7 Rxc6) 37... Nxe5 {Desperation, but there is
now no defence against 38.Kb7.} 38. Nxe5 (38. Kb7) 38... Rc3 39. Rh2 Ke7 40.
Kb5 Re3 1-0

[Event "Berlin Candidates"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.03.24"]
[Round "12"]
[White "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C42"]
[WhiteElo "2763"]
[BlackElo "2784"]
[Annotator "Rogers, Ian"]
[PlyCount "95"]
[EventDate "2018.03.??"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "14"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[EventCategory "22"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Nc6 7. Be3 Be7
8. Qd2 Be6 9. O-O-O Qd7 {[#]} 10. a3 $5 {"I don't think this was a surprise
for Fabiano as it had been played by [his second] Rustam Kasimdzhanov," said
Karjakin.} h6 $5 {"I was expecting} (10... a6 {," said Karjakin.}) 11. Nd4 Nxd4
12. Bxd4 Rg8 13. Be2 {"My first intention was} (13. c4 {but then Black has} c5
{and 14...0-0-0," explained Karjakin.}) 13... c5 $5 {"I wasn't sure this was
best," said Karjakin. "Yes, perhaps just} (13... a6 {responded Caruana. "Or}) (
13... Qa4 {," added Karjakin, "with ...0-0-0 later.}) 14. Be3 d5 15. f4 O-O-O
16. Bf3 {[#]} Bg4 $6 {"When I first played 16.Bf3, I thought 16...Bg4 was very
natural and I expected this," explained Karjakin. "It wasn't an easy [decision
to sacrifice], but if I don’t sacrifice in this tournament situation, then
when? If I don't sacrifice it will be very drawish, so it was a perfect moment
for sacrificing!" "I shouldn't have allowed this," admitted Caruana. "Probably
I should just play} (16... f5 17. Qf2 Qc7 {but I thought I would be OK after
17.Bxd5 but it becomes very difficult to play. I should have had a feeling
that 17.Bxd5 would be unpleasant for me. I don't know why but that feeling [of
danger] was absent." "In Fabiano's line after} 18. Rd3 Rd7 19. Rhd1 Rgd8 {
White can try} 20. h3 {and 21.g4 when I feel that White should be better, "
responded Karjakin.}) 17. Bxd5 $3 Bxd1 18. Rxd1 Qc7 19. c4 {"Once I went to
the rest area and I looked at the monitors and saw it from the White side I
started to regret what I’d done because it looked so beautiful for White!"
confessed Caruana.} Rge8 20. Qf2 {[#]} b6 $2 {A critical moment which passed
uncommented by the two players. After 20...b6 White is given the opportunity
to increase his space advantage so the pawn sacrifice} (20... f5 $1 {needed to
be considered. Since Black threatens to consolidate with ...Kb8, ...b6 and ...
Bf6, White is obliged to grab the f5 pawn, but after} 21. Be6+ Kb8 22. Rxd8+
Qxd8 23. Bxf5 Bf6 $1 {White struggles to return the light squared bishop to d5
and should White incautiously go for another pawn with} 24. Bxc5 $6 {then
Black can respond} b6 25. Be3 Qe7 $1 {after which White must grovel for a draw
via} 26. Bd4 (26. Bd2 $6 Qe2) 26... Bxd4 27. Qxd4 Qe1+ 28. Qd1 Qxd1+ 29. Kxd1
Rf8 30. g4 g6 31. Bxg6 Rxf4 32. h3 {.}) 21. g4 Bf6 {[#]} 22. Kb1 {"It was only
a few moves after [the sacrifice] that I realised that I really can’t do
anything," explained Caruana. "I was under this illusion that I would have
some counterplay, or some way to trade bishops, or some way to get my king
safe, but I just couldn’t find a way. White just plays these prophylactic
moves, Kb1, Ka2, and the king is very safe. Maybe it’s not so bad, but
practically I just thought it was so unpleasant and with each move it became
more unpleasant.} Rd7 23. Rd3 g5 24. Ka2 Ree7 25. Qf3 Kd8 26. Bd2 Kc8 {[#]} 27.
Qf1 $1 {"I was very proud when I found the idea of 27.Qf1 and 28.Rh3,"
confessed Karjakin. "Otherwise Black's position is very hard to break down."}
Rd6 {"I just couldn't see a way to counter 28.Rh3," admitted Caruana. "I
thought that [after losing the g5 pawn] I might have easier play."} 28. fxg5
Bxg5 29. Bxg5 hxg5 30. Qf5+ Rdd7 {"I could try} (30... Qd7 31. Qxg5 Rg6 {
," said Caruana, "but after} 32. Qh4 $1 {I didn't see my next move."}) 31. Qxg5
Qe5 32. Qh6 Kd8 $6 {"If} (32... f6 {then} 33. g5 {is winning," claimed Caruana,
but after Karjakin indicated} (33. h4) 33... fxg5 34. Qc6+ Qc7 $1 {, Caruana
agreed "This is nothing." "I was just going to play 33.h4! after 32...f6,"
said Karjakin. "White is better but it was a better try for Black."}) 33. g5 $1
{"Now I felt it should be very bad for Black," said Karjakin, "and I didn't
manage to mess it up!"} Qd6 34. Qh8+ Re8 35. Qh4 {"I wanted to play} (35. Qh3 {
but then I saw} Qf4 {, the only move," said Karjakin, showing the variation} (
35... Qg6 $2 36. Qxd7+ $1 Kxd7 37. Bxf7+ Qxd3 38. Bxe8+ $1 {and White wins.
"After 35...Qf4, White just plays}) 36. Rf3 $1 {," responded Caruana. "It was
already dead lost for Black."}) 35... Qg6 36. Qg4 Re5 37. h4 Ke7 38. Rd2 {[#]}
b5 {Desperation. "If I play} (38... Rd8 {then} 39. Rf2 {is winning, so
everything is hopeless," conceded Caruana.}) 39. Bxf7 $1 Qf5 40. Rxd7+ Kxd7 41.
Qxf5+ Rxf5 42. g6 Ke7 43. cxb5 Rh5 44. c4 Rxh4 45. a4 Rg4 46. a5 Kd6 47. a6 Kc7
48. Kb3 1-0

[Event "Berlin Candidates"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.03.26"]
[Round "13"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Aronian, Levon"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C88"]
[WhiteElo "2784"]
[BlackElo "2794"]
[Annotator "Rogers, Ian"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[EventDate "2018.03.??"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "14"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[EventCategory "22"]
[SourceTitle "The Week in Chess 1220"]
[Source "Mark Crowther"]
[SourceDate "2018.03.26"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. d3
d6 {[#]} 9. Bd2 $5 {"Grischuk came up with this [against Aronian] the round
before," said Caruana. "It's not exactly a novelty but it is a brilliant
opening invention. It opens a new chapter in the Anti-Marshall. It was kind of
fun to look at a totally fresh position on the rest day."} Bg4 {"Levon played
in the most critical way," said Caruana. Against Grischuk Aronian had tried} (
9... Kh8 10. h3 Nd7 {looking for a quick ...f5 advance.}) 10. c3 d5 $5 {
A typical Aronian choice.} (10... Na5 11. Bc2 c5 {was also completely playable.
}) 11. h3 Bh5 {Not usually a good square in lines where White has played d3,
but now any retreat of the bishop would lose the e5 pawn and} (11... Bxf3 12.
Qxf3 {should almost always be better for White in the long term.}) 12. Qe2 Rb8
$6 {A computer suggestion, but it turns out just to waste time.} 13. Bg5 {
The point behind Black's last move is that the attempt to grab material with} (
13. exd5 Nxd5 14. Qe4 {walks into} Nf6 15. Qxc6 $6 Rb6 16. Nxe5 $1 Bd6 $1 {
and the White queen has no escape.}) 13... dxe4 14. dxe4 h6 15. Bc1 $1 {
"I was lucky enough to get my preparation up to this point," said Caruana.
"This is what I wanted; a game where the position doesn't simplify immediately.
"} Bg6 16. Nbd2 Nh5 17. Nf1 Bc5 18. g3 {The start of a remarkably slow plan,
possible because the g6 bishop slows down any Black counterplay.} Kh7 19. Kg2
Qe7 20. Bc2 Rfd8 21. b4 Bb6 22. a4 Nf6 23. Nh4 {"I saw the option} (23. axb5
axb5 24. Qxb5 Bxf2 25. Qxc6 Bxe1 26. Nxe1 {," said Caruana, "but I didn't want
the game to get too out of control - which it did anyway!"}) 23... Qe6 24. Bd3
$6 {[#] "After} (24. Nxg6 fxg6 25. Bd3 {I was worried about} Rf8 {" said
Caruana. "But 25.Bd3 gave a lot of counterplay, which I perhaps should not
have allowed."}) 24... Bh5 $1 {"} (24... Ne7 {with the idea} 25. Nxg6 Nxg6 26.
axb5 axb5 27. Bxb5 Bxf2 $5 {doesn't work because of} 28. Bc4 $1 {," explained
Caruana.}) 25. g4 Bxg4 $1 26. hxg4 Nxg4 {"There was also the possibility} (
26... Qxg4+ 27. Qxg4 Nxg4 28. Be2 Bxf2 {," said Caruana, "but after} 29. Rd1
Bxh4 30. Bxg4 {, although Black has three pawns for the piece, the pawns are
not moving and I thought White should be technically winning here."}) 27. Nf5
Nxf2 28. Bc2 g6 29. N1e3 $5 {"} (29. N5e3 $1 Nh3 30. Nd5 Ng1 $1 {is very
unclear, unfortunately," said Caruana. On} 31. Qd3 {Aronian suggested} Ne7 {
whereupon Caruana noticed that} (31... Nxb4 32. cxb4 c6 33. Nc7) 32. Nfe3 {
would allow} (32. Qg3) 32... Qh3+ $1 33. Kxg1 Qg3+ {with perpetual check
because of the pin on the e3 knight. "My knight on d5 is simply unstable,"
sighed Caruana. However in this line 32.Qg3! should be good enough for White,
while Black's attempted improvement 31...Nxb4!? 32.cxb4 c6 fails to the
amazing computer move 33.Nc7!!.}) 29... gxf5 30. exf5 Qf6 31. Qxf2 {[#]} e4 $2
{"I spent a long time here - 10 minutes [on 30...Qf6 and 31...e4] - but I
didn't see} (31... Nxb4 $3 32. cxb4 Rd4 $1 {," said Aronian. "I was looking at
31...Nd4, but even then I didn't look at recapturing with the rook. I am not
upset that I missed 31...Nxb4. It's just that it didn't even come to my mind
that I could play a slow move [32...Rd4 or 32...Rxd4]." "After 31...Nd4 I can
play 32.Be4 but [31...Nxb4 32.cxb4 Rd4] is incredibly strong," replied Caruana,
"with ...Rf4 and ...Rg8 coming." Aronian, who had been told some variations
before coming to the press conference, showed Caruana the line} 33. Kh3 Rg8 {
[#] and now the only good move,} 34. Nd5 $3 Rxd5 35. Qf3 {followed by 36.Be4.
"It's not so easy just to give up a piece," admitted Caruana. "...Nxb4 and ...
Rd4 is very beautiful."}) (31... Nd4 32. Be4) 32. Rh1 Rd6 {"Here I don't have
any ideas," admitted Aronian.} 33. Bxe4 Rg8+ 34. Kf1 Ne5 35. Qf4 c6 {[#]} 36.
axb5 {"Here} (36. Rxh6+ $1 Qxh6 37. f6+ Rg6 38. Qxh6+ Kxh6 39. Nc4+ $1 {
wins on the spot," pointed out Aronian. "Right, that would have been the
easiest," agreed Caruana. "I was trying to make}) (36. Nd5 {work but then
Black has} Rg1+ $1 {so I decided just to exchange on b5 because I had run my
time down and it couldn't hurt."}) 36... Rg5 {Preventing 37.Rxh6+ but now
Black is losing on the queenside as well!} 37. bxa6 Qd8 38. f6+ Ng6 39. Rxh6+
$1 1-0

[Event "US Chess Final Four 2018"]
[Site "Marshall Chess Club"]
[Date "2018.04.01"]
[Round "3.2"]
[White "Robson, GM Ray"]
[Black "Swiercz, GM Dariusz"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C65"]
[WhiteElo "2734"]
[BlackElo "2757"]
[Annotator "Lawrence, Al"]
[PlyCount "195"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Webster"]
[BlackTeam "StL"]
[TimeControl "6000+1985"]
[WhiteClock "0:04:33"]
[BlackClock "0:05:44"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. Nbd2 Bg4 7. h3 Bh5 8.
Nb3 Bd6 9. Bd2 b6 10. g4 Bg6 11. Nh4 a5 12. Qf3 Qd7 13. Nf5 Bxf5 14. gxf5 a4
15. Nc1 O-O-O 16. Ne2 Kb7 17. O-O-O Qe7 18. h4 Bb4 19. Bxb4 Qxb4 20. h5 Qe7 21.
Kb1 a3 22. b3 g5 23. hxg6 hxg6 24. fxg6 fxg6 25. Qg3 Qc5 26. Rhf1 Nh5 27. Qe3
Qxe3 28. fxe3 Rdf8 29. Kc1 Nf6 30. Rg1 Rh2 31. Nc3 Nh5 (31... Nd7 32. Nb1 Rff2
33. Nxa3 Nc5 34. Kb1 $11 (34. Rh1 Rhg2 35. Rhg1 $11)) 32. Nb1 {This move gives
White a meaningful advantage. Black has put a knight on the edge and then
passes up a chance to double on the "7th" rank! The grreat 19th-century German
chessplayer and writer Siegbert Tarrasch would be verklempt. American Fred
Reinfeld, in the 1950s and 1960s must have written a hundred books preaching
both tenets.} Rf3 {This move gives White a meaningful advantage. Black has put
a knight on the edge and then passes up a chance to double on the "7th" rank!
The grreat 19th-century German chessplayer and writer Siegbert Tarrasch would
be verklempt. American Fred Reinfeld, in the 1950s and 1960s must have written
a hundred books preaching both tenets.} (32... Rff2 33. Nxa3 (33. Rd2) 33... b5
) 33. Nxa3 Rxe3 34. Rd2 Rxd2 35. Kxd2 Rh3 36. Nc4 Rh2+ 37. Kd1 Nf4 38. Nxe5 c5
39. Ng4 Rh8 40. a4 Ne6 41. Kd2 Nd4 42. Rg2 g5 43. Ne5 Re8 44. Nc4 Rh8 45. Ne3
Rh3 46. Nf5 Ne6 47. Kc3 Rh1 48. Ne3 Kc6 49. Kd2 (49. Kc4 {seems the right
direction, when White is on the verge of winning.} Nd4 50. Rf2) 49... Kd7 50.
Nf5 Rh3 51. Kc3 Rh1 52. Ng3 Rh3 53. Ne2 Rh1 54. Kd2 (54. Ng3) 54... Rh3 55. Ng1
Rh8 56. Nf3 Ke7 57. Rh2 Rg8 58. Ke3 Rg7 59. c3 g4 60. Nh4 Rg8 61. Nf5+ {
Diagram [#] White's position was now very encouraging to Webster fans.} Kf6 62.
Rg2 (62. Rh6+ Kf7 63. e5 g3 (63... Ng5 64. Rc6) 64. Rf6+) 62... Rg6 63. Nh4 Rg8
64. d4 cxd4+ 65. cxd4 c6 66. Nf3 (66. Nf5 {followed by 67. Rc2 also looks
winning.}) 66... g3 67. b4 (67. Ng1 Rg4 68. Ne2 c5 69. e5+ Ke7 70. Kf3 $18)
67... Ra8 68. Ra2 (68. e5+ $1 Ke7 69. b5 $18 cxb5 70. axb5 Ra5 71. Rxg3 Rxb5
72. Rh3) 68... g2 69. Kf2 {Instead, 69. a5 kept some advantage. Now both
Houdini and StockFish show the game as a dead even "00.0." Many spectators
upstairs at the Marshall, eyes glued to computer evaluations, grinned or
grimaced.} (69. a5) 69... Rg8 {The right defense. So now Robson must stir the
pot. A draw is useless.} 70. Ra1 Nf4 71. a5 bxa5 72. bxa5 Nh3+ 73. Ke3 g1=Q+
74. Nxg1 Nxg1 {The engines still call this completely equal. But Robson's play
is cunning, going for imbalanced material. He's the one with winning chances.
He will win a third pawn for the piece. And Black's cavalry is in a stall far
from the action.} 75. Rc1 Ke7 76. Rxc6 Nh3 ({Giving the piece back is the
clear way to a draw.} 76... Rg3+ 77. Kf2 Rd3 78. Kxg1 Rxd4 79. e5 Rd5 $11) 77.
d5 Rg3+ 78. Kd4 Nf4 $2 {Diagram [#]} (78... Ra3) 79. a6 $1 {The star move the
engines "wanted." Here Webster-boosters following the game on computer engines
erupt in such a whoop that Hoffpauir dashes upstairs from the playing room
below with stern instructions to be quiet. Now, with best play, White could
win.} Ra3 80. Rh6 Kd8 81. e5 Ra5 {[#] Choosing a defense that allows only one
winning response.} 82. a7 $3 {The only clearly winning move.} Kc7 {Diagram [#]}
(82... Rxa7 83. Rh8+ Kc7 84. Rh7+ Kb6 85. Rxa7 Kxa7 86. e6 $1 Ng6 87. d6 {
and White queens and mates.}) (82... Ne2+ 83. Ke3 Nc3 84. a8=Q+ Rxa8 85. Rh8+
Kd7 86. Rxa8 Nxd5+ 87. Ke4 {And White wins.} Nc7 (87... Ne7 88. Ra7+ (88. Ra6
Ke8 89. e6 Kd8 90. Rd6+ Ke8 91. Rd7 Nc6 92. Rc7 Ne7 93. Ke5 Kd8 94. Rb7 Nc6+ (
94... Nc8 95. Kf6)) 88... Ke6 89. Ra2 Nc8 90. Ra6+ Ke7 91. Kf5)) 83. Rh8 $11 (
83. Rh7+ $1 Kb6 84. e6 $1 {The one move that wins.} (84. d6 $11) 84... Ng6 85.
Ke4 Ra1 86. Kf5 {is hopeless for Black.}) 83... Ra4+ $1 {WIth an increment
only, Black finds the only drawing move!} (83... Rxa7 84. Rh7+ Kb6 85. Rxa7
Kxa7 86. e6 $1 (86. d6 $11)) 84. Kc5 Ra5+ 85. Kd4 Ra4+ 86. Kc5 Ra5+ 87. Kb4
Rxa7 88. Rh7+ Kb6 89. Rxa7 Kxa7 90. Kc5 Kb7 91. Kd6 Kc8 92. e6 Kd8 $11 {
The black king gets into its best defensive position and the game is "0.00."}
93. Ke5 Nxd5 94. Kxd5 Ke7 95. Ke5 Ke8 96. Kd6 Kd8 97. e7+ Ke8 98. Ke6 {Diagram
[#] Stalemate gives UT-RGV the half-point it needs to be the champ! Robson was
creative and aggressive. Swiercz played the last 15 moves precisely, despite
being under great pressure and sometimes in earshot of crowd outbursts. The
game is a credit to both players..} 1/2-1/2

[Event "USA-chT College final"]
[Site "New York"]
[Date "2018.03.31"]
[Round "1.2"]
[White "Ipatov, Alexander"]
[Black "Belous, Vladimir"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D27"]
[WhiteElo "2665"]
[BlackElo "2575"]
[Annotator "Belous, Vladimir"]
[PlyCount "84"]
[EventDate "2018.03.31"]
[EventRounds "3"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[WhiteTeam "St Louis Univ"]
[BlackTeam "Texas Rio Grande Valley Univ"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "USA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "USA"]

{I know Alexander for a long time. He is a very solid player. I played on the
first board, so my plan was to try to equalize and to play safely.} 1. d4 Nf6
2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 d5 4. Nc3 dxc4 {I decided to surprise my opponent in the
opening.} 5. e3 {I completely forgot to review how to react after that move.
Fortunately, I had experience as White, so I kind of knew how to develop the
pieces.} a6 6. a4 c5 7. Bxc4 Nc6 8. O-O cxd4 (8... Be7 {is more flexible, not
allowing White to develop his dark-square bishop.}) 9. exd4 Be7 10. Re1 O-O 11.
Bg5 Bd7 12. Qe2 (12. Ne5 Rc8 13. Bb3 h6 {Black should be okay.}) 12... h6 13.
Bxf6 $6 {Probably it is not a bad move, but I would not give up my bishop, if
I was White. The dark-square bishop is so important in this type of positions.}
(13. Bh4 {was an alternative, though I didn't expect my opponent to play it,
as during my preparataions I had observed his tendency to keep the bisop on
the other diagonal with an intention to sacrifice it on h6.} Nh5 14. Bxe7 Nxe7
15. Ne5 Nf6 {Perhaps White is slightly better, but not more than that.}) 13...
Bxf6 14. Rad1 (14. d5 Nd4 $1 15. Nxd4 $6 (15. Qd3 Nxf3+ 16. Qxf3 Qb6 $11 {
Black is completely all right.}) 15... Bxd4 16. dxe6 (16. Rad1 e5 $17) 16...
fxe6 $15 {In this case, I would have a worse pawn structure, but it would be
fully compensated by my two amazing bishops. Also, my rook on f8 would get
opened.}) 14... Re8 15. Ne5 $6 {After the game Alexander concluded the plan he
had chosen was wrong.} (15. Ne4 $1 Be7 (15... Qe7 16. d5 exd5 17. Bxd5 Rad8 18.
Qc4 Be6 19. Bxe6 Rxd1 20. Nxf6+ Qxf6 21. Bxf7+ Qxf7 22. Qxf7+ Kxf7 23. Rxd1 $16
) 16. d5 exd5 17. Bxd5 Qc8 18. Qc4 Be6 19. Bxe6 Qxe6 20. Qxe6 fxe6 {White is a
little bit better here, because of the pawn structure.}) 15... Qc7 16. Qh5 $6 {
Diagram [#] Now Black can get a long lasting positional advantage.} (16. Qg4 $5
) (16. Ne4 $5 Bxe5 17. dxe5 Nxe5 18. Nd6 Nxc4 19. Nxe8 Bxe8 20. Rc1 Rc8 21. b3
b5 22. axb5 axb5 23. bxc4 bxc4 $11) 16... Nxe5 $6 {I love to play with two
bishops, but in this position it wasn't the best decision.} (16... Bxe5 $1 {
I should have kept the knight in order to be able to defend my king easier, if
it gets under attack.} 17. dxe5 Red8 $15 {White has weak pawns on e5 , b2 and
a4.}) 17. dxe5 Be7 18. Bd3 $2 (18. Rd3 $1 {It is difficult to find such moves
while in time trouble. My opponent spent too much time for his previous moves.}
Qxc4 19. Rxd7 b5 20. axb5 axb5 21. Qf3 $11) 18... Red8 $15 {With a pawn on a2 ,
it would not be so obvious that Black was better.} 19. Qf3 Qb6 20. Qe4 g6 21.
Qe2 Kg7 {Now my king is safe.} 22. g3 Rac8 23. h4 h5 24. Be4 Qb4 25. Kg2 Be8 {
My plan was to keep improving my position slowly. I did not want to rush, in
order to avoid a mistake. Plus, Alexander was already playing with a few
minutes remaining on his clock.} ({After} 25... Bxa4 $6 26. Rxd8 Rxd8 27. Nxa4
Qxa4 28. Bxb7 a5 29. Qf3 Rb8 {it wouldn't be so simple to win.}) 26. Bf3 Bc5
27. Ne4 Rxd1 28. Rxd1 Bxa4 29. Rc1 Bb5 30. Qd1 b6 $1 $17 {A rock solid move,
defending against all possible threats. Now Black is a pawn up.} 31. Nd6 Rc7 ({
It is important not to lose concentration even for a moment and to keep an eye
for little tactics like} 31... Rd8 $4 32. Nf5+) 32. Nxb5 Qxb5 33. Qe2 Qb4 {
It is more difficult for White to defend with queens alive. There are three
weaknesses: b2, e5, and f2. Moreover, the opponent is in a time trouble!} 34.
Rd1 a5 35. Rd8 Be7 36. Ra8 Rd7 37. Qe4 Qxb2 38. Qc6 {Diagram [#] Looking for a
counter-play.} Qd4 (38... Bc5 $4 {looks so tempting, but it is wrong, as White
is not obliged to capture the rook:} 39. Qc8 $1 $18 {with checkmate threats.})
39. Rb8 a4 40. Kh3 a3 41. Ra8 Qxf2 42. Ra4 (42. Qxd7 Qxf3 $19) 42... Rd2 {
That game gave me a lot of confidence for the rest of the tournament.} 0-1

[Event "College Final Four 2018"]
[Site "New York USA"]
[Date "2018.03.31"]
[Round "2.2"]
[White "Vorontsov, P."]
[Black "Zherebukh, Y."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D35"]
[WhiteElo "2562"]
[BlackElo "2633"]
[Annotator "Voronsov, Pavlo"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "2018.03.31"]
[EventRounds "3"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[WhiteTeam "TTU"]
[BlackTeam "SLU"]

1. d4 {After a tough loss to Ray Robson in the first round, which cost our
team the match, I was determined to bounce back against the former Red Raider,
GM Yaro Zherebukh.} Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 c5
7. Rb1 {One of the many moves. The main idea is to prevent black from
exchanging the dark-squared bishop after c5xd4 and Bb4+.} Be7 8. Bb5+ Bd7 (8...
Nd7 $5) 9. Bxd7+ Qxd7 (9... Nxd7 {is possible too, since after} 10. Rxb7 cxd4
11. cxd4 Nb6 {the rook gets trapped.}) 10. Nf3 O-O 11. d5 $5 {Immediately
challenging black in the centre. If white manages to play c3-c4, the passed
pawn on d5 will become extremely dangerous. Hence, Yaro decides to blow the
position up with} f5 $1 12. Ne5 Qd6 13. Nc4 (13. Rxb7 $5 {seemed critical to
me, but I was not able to evaluate the position and therefore opted for 13.Nc4.
} Bf6 (13... Qxe5 $5 14. Rxe7 Qxe4+ 15. Qe2 Qxe2+ 16. Kxe2 exd5 17. Rd1 $36 {
with some initiative.}) 14. Nc4 Qa6 15. Qb3 Nd7 $13) 13... Qa6 14. Qb3 fxe4 15.
O-O exd5 16. Ne3 Rf7 17. Qxd5 Nc6 18. Qxe4 Bf6 $6 {Innacuracy. The bishop on
f6 becomes a target for white's knight.} (18... Bf8 $142 19. Nd5 Rd8 20. Bg5
Rdd7 $11) 19. Nd5 Qxa2 {Diagram [#]} (19... Ne5 $5 20. Bf4 Qd3 21. Rfe1 Qxe4
22. Rxe4 Nd3 23. Be3 Rd7 24. c4 $14) 20. Rxb7 $1 Rxb7 21. Qe6+ Kh8 22. Qxc6 Qb3
23. Nxf6 gxf6 24. Qxf6+ Kg8 25. c4 {The bishop is getting ready to support the
attack. From a practical point of view, it is almost impossible to defend such
position with black, as the king on g8 will remain exceptionally weak for the
rest of the game.} (25. Qg5+ Rg7 26. Qxc5 {was less clear to me.}) 25... Qxc4 (
25... Re8 $5 26. Qg5+ Rg7 27. Qd5+ Rf7 28. Qxc5 $40) 26. Bb2 Rxb2 {The only
move.} 27. Qxb2 a5 28. Rd1 Re8 29. h3 Qb4 30. Qc1 {Diagram [#]} c4 $2 (30... h6
$142 {still offered some hope.} 31. Kh2 $40) 31. Qg5+ Kh8 32. Qf6+ Kg8 33. Rd5
1-0

[Event "Kaschau"]
[Site "Kassa (Kosice) AUH"]
[Date "1893.04.09"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Rudolf Rezso Charousek"]
[Black "Jakob Wollner"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C21"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini, Bruce"]
[PlyCount "37"]
[EventDate "1893.??.??"]

1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 {[#]} 3. c3 (3. Qxd4) 3... dxc3 4. Bc4 (4. Nxc3) 4... Nf6 (
4... cxb2) (4... d5) 5. Nf3 (5. Nxc3) 5... Bc5 6. Nxc3 d6 7. O-O O-O 8. Ng5 (8.
Bg5) 8... h6 (8... Nc6) 9. Nxf7 Rxf7 10. e5 (10. Bxf7+ Kxf7) 10... Ng4 11. e6 (
11. Bxf7+) 11... Qh4 (11... Rxf2 12. e7+ Rf7+) 12. exf7+ Kf8 13. Bf4 Nxf2 14.
Qe2 (14. Rxf2) 14... Ng4+ 15. Kh1 Bd7 16. Rae1 Nc6 17. Qe8+ Rxe8 (17... Bxe8)
18. fxe8=Q+ Bxe8 19. Bxd6# 1-0

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.05.08"]
[Round "?"]
[White "#1"]
[Black "Mating Net"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini, Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "5r1k/b3Q3/8/5b2/8/1R6/6P1/4BK2 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]

{[#]}  0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "#2"]
[Black "Mating Net"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini, Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "4r1k1/2Q5/7r/4B2q/8/8/6PP/4R2K b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "3"]

{[#]} 1... Qxh2+ 2. Bxh2 Rxe1# 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "#3"]
[Black "Mating Net"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini, Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "k7/p2Q4/1b6/8/8/7P/5pPK/7N b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "1"]

{[#]} 1... f1=N# 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "#4"]
[Black "Mating Net"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini, Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/8/8/8/3b2k1/4p3/6PP/5RKR b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "3"]

{[#]} 1... e2+ 2. Rf2 e1=Q# (2... e1=R#) 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "#5"]
[Black "Mating Net"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini, Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/1k6/8/8/8/7n/5qPP/2Q1R2K b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]

{[#]}  0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "#6"]
[Black "Mating Net"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini, Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "4r3/1b5k/8/8/4q3/2R5/6PP/5Q1K b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "3"]

{[#]} 1... Qxg2+ 2. Qxg2 Re1# 0-1

[Event "GRENKE Chess Classic"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.04.04"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Naiditsch, Arkadij"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C66"]
[WhiteElo "2784"]
[BlackElo "2701"]
[Annotator "Naroditsky, Daniel"]
[PlyCount "87"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 d6 5. O-O Bd7 6. Re1 Be7 7. c3 O-O 8. h3
Re8 9. a4 Bf8 10. Bg5 h6 11. Bh4 g5 12. Bg3 Ne7 13. Bxd7 Qxd7 14. Nbd2 Ng6 15.
Nc4 Rad8 16. Ne3 d5 17. exd5 Bg7 18. d4 exd4 19. cxd4 Nxd5 20. Nxd5 Rxe1+ 21.
Qxe1 Qxd5 22. Bxc7 Rc8 23. Rc1 Bxd4 24. Qd2 Qd7 25. Nxd4 Rxc7 26. Rxc7 Qxc7 27.
Nf5 Kh7 28. g3 Ne5 29. Qe3 {[#]} Nc4 (29... f6 30. Qe4 (30. f4 gxf4 31. Qxf4 (
31. gxf4 Ng6) 31... Qb6+ 32. Kf1 Qa6+ 33. Ke1) 30... Qc6 31. Qb4 Qc1+) 30. Qc3
(30. Qe8 Nd2 31. Ne7 (31. Kh2 b6 32. Ne7 Nf3+ 33. Kg2 Ne1+ 34. Kf1 (34. Kh1
Qb7+ 35. Nc6 Nd3 36. Kg1 Kg7) 34... Qc4+ 35. Kxe1 Qe4+) 31... Qc1+ 32. Kh2 (32.
Kg2 Qf1+ 33. Kh2 Nf3#) 32... Nf3+ 33. Kg2 Ne1+) (30. Qd4 Qe5) 30... Qe5 {[#]}
31. Qd3 Nxb2 (31... Na5 32. Ne3+ Kg7 33. b3 Nc6 34. Qd7) 32. Qc2 Qe1+ 33. Kg2 (
33. Kh2 Nxa4 34. Ne3+ Kg7 35. Qxa4 Qxf2+ 36. Ng2 Qc5) 33... Qd1 34. Qe4 (34.
Qxb2 Qd5+) 34... Qxa4 (34... Qd7 35. Qe5 (35. Kh2 Nxa4 36. Qe5 Kg6 37. h4)
35... Qc6+ 36. Kg1 Qg6) 35. Qxb7 Qa2 36. Ne3 Kg7 (36... Nc4 37. Qe4+) 37. Qb4
Qb1 38. g4 {[#]} Kg8 39. Nf5 Qc2 40. Qb8+ Kh7 41. Qb7 Kh8 (41... Kg6 42. Qa6+
f6 43. Qb7) 42. Qe7 Qc6+ 43. Kh2 Qg6 44. Qe5+ 1-0

[Event "World Championship 34th-KK4"]
[Site "Seville"]
[Date "1987.12.16"]
[Round "23"]
[White "Karpov, Anatoly"]
[Black "Kasparov, Garry"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A34"]
[WhiteElo "2700"]
[BlackElo "2740"]
[Annotator "Naroditsky, Daniel"]
[PlyCount "115"]
[EventDate "1987.10.12"]
[EventType "match"]
[EventRounds "24"]
[EventCountry "ESP"]
[SourceTitle "MainBase"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1999.07.01"]

1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. d4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 g6 7. e3 Bg7 8.
Bd3 O-O 9. O-O Qc7 10. Rb1 b6 11. Qe2 Rd8 12. Be4 Ba6 13. c4 Nc6 14. d5 f5 15.
Bd3 e5 16. e4 Nd4 17. Nxd4 cxd4 18. Bg5 Rf8 19. Rfc1 Rac8 20. Bd2 Rf7 21. a4
fxe4 22. Qxe4 Rcf8 23. f3 Bc8 24. a5 Bf5 25. Qe2 Re8 26. Be4 Bf8 27. Qd3 Bc5
28. Ra1 Qd7 29. Re1 Qc8 30. Kh1 Rc7 31. Rab1 Kg7 32. Rec1 Bxe4 33. fxe4 Rf7 34.
Qg3 bxa5 35. Bxa5 Rf4 36. Re1 Qa6 37. Bd2 Rf7 38. Qd3 Ref8 39. h3 Rf2 40. Ra1
Qf6 41. Rg1 h5 42. Ra5 Qe7 43. Rb1 h4 44. Ra6 R8f7 45. Rc6 Qf8 46. Rg1 Be7 47.
Re6 Kh7 48. Be1 Rf1 49. Bd2 Bc5 50. Rc6 R7f3 51. gxf3 Rxf3 52. Rc7+ Kh8 {[#]}
53. Bh6 (53. Qxf3) 53... Rxd3 (53... Qf6 54. Bg7+) 54. Bxf8 Rxh3+ 55. Kg2 Rg3+
56. Kh2 Rxg1 57. Bxc5 d3 58. Bb4 (58. Be3) 1-0

[Event "Berlin Candidates"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.03.26"]
[Round "13"]
[White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"]
[Black "Grischuk, Alexander"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D77"]
[WhiteElo "2809"]
[BlackElo "2767"]
[Annotator "Naroditsky, Daniel"]
[PlyCount "77"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. O-O d5 6. c4 dxc4 7. Na3 c3 8. bxc3
c5 9. Re1 Nc6 10. Bb2 Nd5 11. Qc2 cxd4 12. Nxd4 Nf6 13. Nxc6 bxc6 14. c4 Bf5
15. Qc1 Qc7 16. Nc2 Rab8 17. Bc3 Bxc2 18. Qxc2 Ne8 19. h4 c5 20. Red1 Bxc3 21.
Qxc3 Nf6 22. Bf3 h5 23. Rab1 Rxb1 24. Rxb1 Rb8 25. Rb5 Ne8 26. Qe3 Rxb5 27.
cxb5 Nd6 28. a4 c4 29. Kg2 c3 30. Bc6 Qa5 31. Qc5 a6 32. e4 axb5 33. axb5 Kh7
34. e5 Nxb5 {[#]} 35. e6 (35. Bxb5 c2) 35... Qa3 (35... fxe6 36. Qxe7+ Kh6 37.
Qf8+ Kh7 38. Qf7+ Kh6 (38... Kh8 39. Qf6+ Kh7 40. Be4) 39. Be4) 36. Qxb5 c2 37.
exf7 Kg7 38. Be4 c1=Q 39. Qe8 1-0

[Event "Manhattan Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1967.??.??"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Fred Wilson"]
[Black "Walter Shipman"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E31"]
[Annotator "Wilson, Fred"]
[PlyCount "101"]
[EventDate "2018.03.11"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Bg5 h6 5. Bh4 c5 6. d5 exd5 7. cxd5 d6 8. e3
Nbd7 9. Bb5 a6 10. Bxd7+ Bxd7 11. Nge2 O-O 12. O-O Re8 13. Qc2 g5 14. Bg3 Qe7
15. a3 Ba5 16. Rab1 Rac8 17. b4 cxb4 18. axb4 Bb6 19. Qd3 Ne4 20. Nxe4 Bb5 {[#]
} 21. Qxb5 axb5 22. Nxd6 Rc2 23. Nxe8 Qxe8 24. Rfe1 f5 (24... Rc8) 25. Kf1 Qe4
26. Rbd1 h5 27. Bd6 Qc4 28. Bc5 Bxc5 29. bxc5 Qxc5 30. d6 Qc8 31. d7 Qd8 32.
Nd4 Rxf2+ 33. Kxf2 Qxd7 34. Nf3 Qe7 35. Rd5 g4 36. Red1 Qa3 37. Rd8+ Kf7 38.
R8d7+ Ke8 39. Ng5 Qb2+ 40. R1d2 Qf6 41. Rd8+ Qxd8 42. Rxd8+ Kxd8 43. Ne6+ Kd7
44. Nd4 b4 45. Ke2 Kd6 46. Nxf5+ Ke5 47. Nd4 Ke4 48. Nb3 h4 49. Nd2+ Ke5 50. g3
h3 51. Kd3 1-0

