[Event "GRENKE Chess Classic"]
[Site "Karlsruhe/Baden Baden GER"]
[Date "2018.04.06"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Magnus Carlsen"]
[Black "Levon Aronian"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A18"]
[WhiteElo "2843"]
[BlackElo "2794"]
[Annotator "Soltis, Andy"]
[PlyCount "104"]
[EventDate "2018.03.31"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e6 3. e4 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. e5 Ne4 6. Nf3 Bf5 7. d3 Nxc3 8.
bxc3 c5 9. d4 c4 10. g3 Be7 11. Bg2 Bd3 12. Ng1 Qa5 13. Bd2 Nc6 14. Ne2 Ba3 15.
O-O O-O 16. Re1 Rad8 17. Bg5 Bb2 18. Bxd8 Rxd8 19. Rc1 Bxe2 20. Qxe2 Bxc1 21.
Rxc1 Qa3 22. Qe3 b5 23. e6 f6 24. h4 Ne7 25. Rb1 a6 26. Qd2 Qd6 27. a4 bxa4 28.
Qa2 a3 29. Rb4 h5 30. Qxa3 {[#]} Nc6 (30... a5 31. Qxa5 Nc6 32. Qxd5 Qxd5 (
32... Nxb4 33. Qxc4) 33. Bxd5 Rxd5 34. Rb6) 31. Ra4 Qxa3 32. Rxa3 a5 33. e7
Nxe7 34. Rxa5 Rb8 35. Bxd5+ Nxd5 36. Rxd5 Rb3 37. Rxh5 Rxc3 38. Rc5 Rc1+ 39.
Kg2 c3 40. Kf3 c2 41. Kf4 Rd1 42. Rxc2 Rxd4+ 43. Kf5 Kh7 44. f4 Ra4 45. Rc5 Kh6
46. Rd5 Ra6 47. g4 g6+ 48. Ke4 Ra4+ 49. Rd4 Ra5 50. Rd5 Ra4+ 51. Ke3 Ra3+ 52.
Rd3 Ra6 1/2-1/2

[Event "Linares"]
[Site "Linares ESP"]
[Date "1992.03.05"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Garry Kasparov"]
[Black "Nigel Short"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C45"]
[Annotator "Soltis, Andy"]
[PlyCount "95"]
[EventDate "1992.??.??"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Be3 Qf6 6. c3 Nge7 7. Bc4 O-O 8.
O-O Bb6 9. Nc2 d6 10. Bxb6 axb6 11. f4 g5 12. f5 Ne5 13. Be2 Bd7 14. c4 g4 15.
Nc3 h5 16. Qd2 Kh8 17. Qf4 Bc6 18. Ne3 {[#]} Nd7 19. Bxg4 hxg4 20. Nxg4 Qh4 21.
Rf3 Ng6 22. Qe3 Qxg4 23. Qh6+ Kg8 24. Rh3 Qxh3 25. gxh3 Nge5 26. f6 Nxf6 27.
Qxf6 Rae8 28. Kh1 Ng6 29. h4 Re6 30. Qg5 Rfe8 31. h5 Re5 32. Qh6 Rxe4 33. Nxe4
Rxe4 34. Kg1 Ne5 35. Qg5+ Kh7 36. Qf5+ Kh6 37. Rf1 Re2 38. Qf6+ Kh7 39. Qg5 Be4
40. h6 Bg6 41. h4 Re4 42. h5 Rg4+ 43. Qxg4 Nxg4 44. hxg6+ fxg6 45. Rf7+ Kxh6
46. Rxc7 Ne5 47. Rxb7 Nxc4 48. b3 1-0

[Event "Sinquefield Cup"]
[Site "Saint Louis, MO USA"]
[Date "2017.08.02"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Fabiano Caruana"]
[Black "Magnus Carlsen"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C88"]
[WhiteElo "2808"]
[BlackElo "2853"]
[Annotator "Soltis, Andy"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "2017.08.02"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a4 b4
9. a5 O-O 10. Nbd2 Rb8 11. Re1 Be6 12. Bxe6 fxe6 13. Nb3 Qc8 14. Qe2 Nd8 15. d4
exd4 16. Nbxd4 c5 17. Nb3 e5 18. Nbd2 Ne6 19. Nc4 Nd4 20. Nxd4 cxd4 21. Nb6 Qc6
22. Bg5 Bd8 {[#]} 23. Bxf6 Bxb6 24. axb6 (24. Be7 d3 25. Qxd3 Bxf2+) 24... Rxf6
25. Rxa6 h6 26. Qd3 Rxb6 27. Rea1 Rxa6 28. Rxa6 Qc5 29. Ra8+ Kh7 30. h3 b3 31.
Qxb3 d3 32. cxd3 Qxf2+ 33. Kh2 Qf4+ 34. Kh1 Qc1+ 35. Kh2 Qf4+ 36. Kh1 Qg3 37.
Qg8+ Kg6 38. Rf8 Qxd3 39. Rxf6+ Kxf6 40. Qf8+ Ke6 41. Qe8+ Kf6 42. Qf8+ Ke6 43.
Qe8+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "US Championship (Women)"]
[Site "St Louis, MO USA"]
[Date "2018.04.18"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Annie Wang"]
[Black "Maggie Feng"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E11"]
[WhiteElo "2321"]
[BlackElo "2243"]
[Annotator "Soltis, Andy"]
[PlyCount "139"]
[EventDate "2018.04.18"]

1. d4 e6 2. c4 Bb4+ 3. Bd2 a5 4. g3 d6 5. Nf3 Nd7 6. Bg2 Ngf6 7. O-O e5 8. Be3
O-O 9. dxe5 dxe5 10. Qc2 Qe7 11. Nc3 c6 12. Rad1 Bc5 13. Bc1 h6 14. Nd2 Nb6 15.
Nb3 Bb4 16. c5 a4 17. cxb6 axb3 18. axb3 Ra6 19. Na4 Be6 20. Bd2 Rfa8 21. Bxb4
Qxb4 22. Nc5 Rxb6 23. Nxe6 fxe6 24. Rd3 e4 25. Re3 Rd8 26. Rd1 Rd5 27. Ra1 Rd2
28. Qc1 Qd4 29. Bxe4 Nxe4 30. Rxe4 Qxb2 31. Ra8+ Kh7 32. Qxb2 Rxb2 33. Rxe6
R2xb3 34. Rc8 R6b5 35. Rc7 Rg5 36. Ree7 b5 37. Rxc6 b4 38. Rb6 Rb1+ 39. Kg2 b3
40. Re3 Rd5 41. Rbxb3 Re1 42. Re7 Rd2 43. Kf3 Rd6 44. Rbb7 Rg6 45. Kg2 Rc1 46.
f4 Rcc6 47. Kf3 h5 48. Re5 Rh6 49. Rg5 Rcg6 50. Rxg6 Rxg6 51. Rb5 Rh6 52. h3
Kg8 53. g4 hxg4+ 54. hxg4 Kf7 55. Rb7+ Kf8 56. f5 Rh1 57. e4 Rf1+ 58. Kg3 Re1
59. Kf4 Rf1+ 60. Kg5 Re1 61. Kg6 Rxe4 62. g5 Rf4 63. Rf7+ Ke8 64. Rxg7 Kf8 65.
Ra7 Rb4 66. f6 Rb8 {[#]} 67. Rh7 Kg8 68. f7+ Kf8 69. Rh8+ Ke7 70. Rxb8 1-0

[Event "US Championship (Women)"]
[Site "St Louis, MO USA"]
[Date "2018.04.20"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Tatev Abrahamyan"]
[Black "Maggie Feng"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C06"]
[WhiteElo "2366"]
[BlackElo "2243"]
[Annotator "Soltis, Andy"]
[PlyCount "76"]
[EventDate "2018.04.18"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Be7 4. Bd3 c5 5. Ngf3 Nf6 6. e5 Nfd7 7. c3 Nc6 8. O-O
a5 9. Re1 cxd4 10. cxd4 Qb6 11. Nb1 Nxd4 12. Nxd4 Qxd4 13. Nc3 Qb6 14. Qg4 Kf8
15. Nb5 Nc5 16. Be3 Bd7 17. a4 Qd8 18. Bc2 Rc8 19. Rad1 Bxb5 20. axb5 Nd7 21.
Bb3 Nxe5 22. Qg3 Nc4 23. Bd4 Bf6 24. Bxf6 gxf6 25. Qh4 Ke7 26. Qh5 Rc5 27. Bxc4
Rxc4 28. Rxd5 Qc7 29. Rdd1 Rc5 30. Qh6 Rxb5 31. Rd3 Rd8 32. Rc3 Rc5 33. Rf3 Qe5
34. Rfe3 Qf5 35. h3 Rg8 36. Rb3 {[#]} Qd5 37. Rg3 Rxg3 38. fxg3 Rc2 0-1

[Event "US Championship (Women)"]
[Site "St Louis, MO USA"]
[Date "2018.04.21"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Nazi Paikidze"]
[Black "Anna Sharevich"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B11"]
[WhiteElo "2352"]
[BlackElo "2281"]
[Annotator "Soltis, Andy"]
[PlyCount "55"]
[EventDate "2018.04.18"]

1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 Bg4 4. h3 Bxf3 5. Qxf3 d4 6. Ne2 e6 7. d3 Nf6 8. g4
Na6 9. Bg2 Qa5+ 10. c3 Rd8 11. O-O dxc3 12. bxc3 Nc5 13. d4 Ncxe4 14. c4 Nd2
15. Bxd2 Qxd2 16. Rfd1 Qg5 17. Qb3 Rd7 18. d5 cxd5 19. cxd5 e5 20. Rac1 Be7 21.
Rc8+ Bd8 22. Qa3 h5 23. f4 exf4 24. Nd4 Qe5 25. Nf5 Nxd5 26. Bxd5 Rxd5 {[#]}
27. Qa4+ Kf8 (27... b5 28. Qxb5+ Rxb5 29. Rdxd8#) 28. Rxd8+ 1-0

[Event "US Championship (Women)"]
[Site "St Louis, MO USA"]
[Date "2018.04.18"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Akshita Gorti"]
[Black "Irina Krush"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A13"]
[WhiteElo "2252"]
[BlackElo "2422"]
[Annotator "Soltis, Andy"]
[PlyCount "140"]
[EventDate "2018.04.18"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. e3 d5 3. c4 e6 4. b3 c5 5. Bb2 Nc6 6. cxd5 exd5 7. Bb5 Bd6 8. O-O
O-O 9. d4 Bg4 10. dxc5 Bxc5 11. Bxc6 bxc6 12. Nbd2 Bd6 13. Qc2 Bd7 14. e4 Be7
15. Rad1 h6 16. Rfe1 Rc8 17. h3 Re8 18. Ne5 Bb4 19. Re3 Bf8 20. Ndf3 Qb6 21.
Nxd7 Nxd7 22. Re2 Qa6 23. Rde1 Bb4 24. Bc3 Bxc3 25. Qxc3 Nf6 26. e5 Ne4 27. Qc2
Qb6 28. Rc1 a5 29. Qd3 Red8 30. Rec2 c5 31. Qe3 Re8 32. Qd3 Rcd8 33. h4 a4 34.
Nd2 Nxf2 35. Qe3 {[#]} Ng4 (35... Nd3 36. Qxd3 (36. Rb1 Nxe5) 36... c4+) 36.
Qxc5 Qxc5+ 37. Rxc5 axb3 38. axb3 Nxe5 39. Ra5 Nd3 40. Rc3 Re1+ 41. Kh2 Nf4 42.
Rf3 g5 43. Rf2 Rde8 44. hxg5 hxg5 45. Nf3 R1e2 46. Ra2 f6 47. Nd4 R2e7 48. Rf1
Kf7 49. g3 Ne6 50. Nf5 Rd7 51. Raf2 Kg6 52. Ne3 Nf4 53. gxf4 Rxe3 54. fxg5 fxg5
55. b4 Rb3 56. Rf6+ Kh5 57. Rb6 d4 58. b5 Rd5 59. Rd1 Re5 60. Rd2 d3 61. Kg2
Kg4 62. Rb8 Rc5 63. Rd8 Rc2 64. R8xd3 Rxd2+ 65. Rxd2 Rxb5 66. Rd4+ Kf5 67. Kf2
g4 68. Kg3 Rb3+ 69. Kg2 Kg5 70. Rd8 Rb2+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "US Championship (Women)"]
[Site "St Louis, MO USA"]
[Date "2018.04.18"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Jennifer R Yu"]
[Black "Nazi Paikidze"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B08"]
[WhiteElo "2367"]
[BlackElo "2352"]
[Annotator "Soltis, Andy"]
[PlyCount "60"]
[EventDate "2018.04.18"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d6 3. e4 g6 4. Be2 Bg7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. Nf3 Nbd7 7. h3 c5 8. d5
b5 9. Nxb5 Nxe4 10. c3 Nb6 11. Qc2 Bf5 12. g4 Nxf2 13. gxf5 Nxh1 14. c4 a6 15.
Nc3 e6 16. dxe6 fxe6 17. Ne4 exf5 18. Nxd6 Qe7 19. Kf1 {[#]} g5 20. Nxg5 (20.
Bxg5 Qxd6) 20... Ng3+ (20... Be5) 21. Bxg3 Qxg5 22. Bh2 Rad8 23. Bf3 f4 24. Ne4
Qg6 25. h4 Qf5 26. Kg2 Nd7 27. Rg1 Ne5 28. Qf2 Rd3 29. Ng5 Nxf3 30. Nxf3 Qg4+
0-1

[Event "US Championship (Women)"]
[Site "St Louis, MO USA"]
[Date "2018.04.20"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Anna Sharevich"]
[Black "Irina Krush"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A47"]
[WhiteElo "2281"]
[BlackElo "2422"]
[Annotator "Soltis, Andy"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "2018.04.18"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. Bf4 b6 4. e3 Bb7 5. Nbd2 c5 6. Nc4 d5 7. Nce5 Bd6 8.
Bb5+ Ke7 9. c3 Qc7 10. Ng5 Rf8 11. Qc2 h6 12. Ngf3 c4 13. Qe2 Nc6 14. Bxc6 Bxc6
15. g4 Be8 16. Nd2 Ng8 17. Bg3 f6 18. Nef3 Bg6 19. e4 Bxg3 20. hxg3 Kf7 21. Nh4
Bxe4 22. Nxe4 dxe4 23. Qxe4 Ne7 24. O-O Qc6 25. Qe2 b5 26. Rae1 Nd5 27. Qe4 Ne7
28. Qc2 Rfd8 29. Re3 Rd6 30. Rfe1 Nd5 31. R3e2 a5 32. Qg6+ Kf8 33. f4 Ne7 34.
Qh7 Re8 35. g5 hxg5 36. fxg5 Qd5 37. gxf6 gxf6 {[#]} 38. Re5 Qc6 (38... fxe5
39. Rf1+) 39. Rh5 (39. Rg5) 39... Rd5 40. Qh8+ Ng8 41. Ng6+ Kf7 42. Qh7# 1-0

[Event "chess.com"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Jackson, Roy"]
[Black "cibelio"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A83"]
[WhiteElo "1728"]
[BlackElo "1762"]
[Annotator "Alburt, Lev"]
[PlyCount "31"]
[EventDate "2018.08.08"]

1. d4 f5 {[#]} 2. e4 fxe4 {Diagram [#]} 3. Nc3 (3. f3) 3... Nf6 4. Bg5 d5 {
Diagram [#]} (4... e6) (4... c6) (4... g6) (4... Nc6) 5. Bxf6 exf6 6. Qh5+ g6
7. Qxd5 {Diagram [#]} Qxd5 (7... Bf5 8. Qe5+) (7... Qe7 8. Qxe4 Nc6 9. O-O-O
Bh6+ 10. Kb1 Qxe4 11. Nxe4 {Diagram [#]} O-O 12. Bc4+ Kh8 13. Ne2 Bf5 14. N2g3
Bxe4 15. Nxe4 Rae8 16. Rhe1 {Diagram [#]} Nxd4) (7... f5 8. Qe5+) (7... Nc6) (
7... Bb4) 8. Nxd5 {Diagram [#]} Bd6 (8... Kd8 9. Nxf6 Bg7 (9... Bf5) 10. Nxe4
Re8 11. f3 Nc6 12. O-O-O Bd7 13. Bb5 a6 14. Bxc6 Bxc6 15. Nc5 Bh6+ 16. Kb1 b6
17. d5 Bb5 18. Ne6+ Kc8 19. b3) 9. Nxf6+ {Diagram [#]} Kf7 10. Nxe4 Re8 11. f3
Bf5 12. Bc4+ {Diagram [#]} (12. O-O-O Be6 13. c4) 12... Kg7 (12... Be6 13. Ng5+
) 13. O-O-O Bxe4 14. fxe4 {Diagram [#]} Rxe4 15. Bd5 Bf4+ 16. Kb1 {Diagram [#]}
1-0

[Event "Sinquefield Cup"]
[Site "Saint Louis"]
[Date "2018.08.21"]
[Round "4.3"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E06"]
[WhiteElo "2812"]
[BlackElo "2777"]
[Annotator "Hess, Robert"]
[PlyCount "97"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]

{There's hardly a month that goes by that Fabiano Caruana does not impress. At
the 2018 Sinquefield Cup he topped the field along with Levon Aronian and
Magnus Carlsen. On top of his success in the classical format, Caruana
defeated compatriot Wesley So in a playoff match to earn the Grand Chess
Tour's final qualification spot. A critical game was this victory over Hikaru
Nakamura.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. g3 dxc4 6. Bg2 O-O 7. Ne5
Nc6 8. Bxc6 ({It goes against standard chess principles to exchange your
fianchettoed bishop for a knight, but capturing the other way scores very
poorly.} 8. Nxc6 bxc6 9. Bxc6 Rb8 10. O-O Bb7 {is completely fine for Black,
who has completed his development and can apply some queenside pressure.}) 8...
bxc6 9. Nxc6 Qe8 10. Nxe7+ Qxe7 11. Qa4 c5 12. dxc5 ({In his 1978 world
championship match against Korchnoi, Karpov easily held the black side of the
"old main line"} 12. Qxc4 cxd4 13. Qxd4 e5 {White has a nearly impossible task
of retaining the extra pawn, and Black's activity is sufficient for full
compensation.}) 12... Qxc5 13. Be3 Qc7 {[#]} 14. O-O-O $146 {Caruana clearly
has done his homework. He said he found this novelty several months prior to
the game, and it leads to similar positions as castling kingside except with
the king on c1, giving White attacking chances if Black does not go for the
bishop. He actually referred to this as a "throwaway novelty" and that Black
should be able to equalize with proper play, so he figured he'd get to use
this in a rapid game. Little did he know he'd play it in an important
classical event!} ({Nakamura was able to hold a pawn-down (theoretical) draw
against Svidler at the 2017 Palma Grand Prix:} 14. O-O Nd5 15. Bd4 Bd7 16. Qa3
a5 17. Rad1 Nb4 18. Bc5 Qxc5 19. Rxd7 Rab8 20. Rfd1 h6 21. Qa4 Nd5 22. Nxd5
exd5 23. R7xd5 Qb4 24. Qc2 Qxb2 25. Qxc4 Rb4 26. Qc5 Qxa2 27. Qxa5 Rb2 28. Qxa2
Rxa2) 14... Ng4 {Extremely logical, shattering White's pawn structure.} ({
Double-edged is} 14... Bb7 15. f3 Nd5 16. Bd4 {White's pawn structure and
bishop are superior, but Black lacks true weaknesses and can launch a
queenside initiative.}) 15. Rd2 Nxe3 (15... a5 16. Rhd1 {changes nothing, as
capturing on h2 would be a terrible decision.} Nxh2 17. Qb5 Ng4 (17... f5 18.
Qc5 Qf7 19. f3 {traps the knight.}) 18. Bb6 Qb7 19. Rd8 {with a decisive
attack, since Black's rooks are not connected.}) 16. fxe3 Rb8 17. Rhd1 {
[#] A hard position to understand without having seen it before. Caruana felt
that Nakamura handled the position quite well having walked into a novel idea.}
a5 18. Kb1 (18. Rd4 {invites} e5 (18... Rb4 {keeps the pawn defended.}) 19.
Qxc4 (19. Rxc4 Qb6 {with a double attack.}) 19... Qb7 20. R4d2 Be6 21. Qd3 Qg2
{and Black has the better pawn structure and can play on both sides of the
board.}) 18... h6 19. Ka1 {Caruana runs his king to the corner, out of the way
of any potential checks. A big issue for Nakamura is that he can't develop his
bishop without allowing Caruana's rooks to infiltrate the d-file. Of utmost
importance to this position is that the knight can't be dislodged from c3,
whereas the bishop does not have a particularly stable square to operate from.}
({The rook can move forward, but it is in some danger of venturing too far.} 
19. Rd6 Bb7 20. Ka1 Bd5 $1 21. Qa3 Rfd8 22. Nxd5 exd5 (22... Qxd6 $2 23. Nf6+)
(22... Rxd6 23. Qxd6 Qxd6 24. Nf6+ gxf6 25. Rxd6 {is about level.}) 23. R6xd5
Rxd5 24. Rxd5 Qb7 25. Rd1 a4 {is an "extra pawn" for White, who actually
stands worse. There is no luft for the king and Black can start going after
the kingside pawns.}) 19... Rb4 20. Qc2 Rb8 ({Problematic is} 20... Bb7 21. Rd7
Qb6 22. Qd2 Bc6 23. Rd8 {Black can't afford to swap queens with the weaker
pair of queenside pawns. The knight outclasses the bishop in such an endgame,
since White does not have pawns fixed on light squares.}) 21. Qe4 Bb7 22. Qd4
Ba8 ({Even if the f7 pawn didn't immediately fall, the rooks are more powerful
than the queen in this position} 22... Rfd8 $2 23. Qxd8+ Rxd8 24. Rxd8+) 23. e4
Rfc8 24. Qf2 ({Caruana mentioned} 24. e3 {as a possible continuation, aiming
to pawn storm the kingside. In response Black can force a queen trade with 24..
.e5 and look to hold the ending, or play 24...a4 or Bc6, with aggressive
intentions on the queenside.} e5 (24... a4) (24... Bc6)) 24... Bc6 ({Nakamura
could have competed for the d-file now that Caruana removed his queen from d4.
} 24... Rd8 25. Qf4 Qb6 {and Black keeps up the fight on the open file.} 26.
Na4 {does not work out, since the queen is not actually en prise after} Rxd2)
25. Qc5 Be8 (25... Qb7 26. Qxc4 {was referred to as "real compensation, but
not 100% compensation for the pawn" by Caruana. Black's bishop is limited in
scope and no useful diagonal exists. White is tied down so the advantage is
hard to consolidate.}) 26. Qxc7 Rxc7 {[#] The queenless ending is clearly
better for Caruana. By no means was Nakamura lost at this stage, but the
bishop never finds a stable square. The knight, on other hand, need not move
from its great spot on c3. It's always worth noting that a knight can attack
pieces on both colors, whereas the bishop is inherently limited in this regard.
} 27. Rd6 ({It would have been imprecise to swap a pair of rooks here. Black's
rooks are limited, whereas White's have control the board's lone open file.} 
27. Rd8 Rcc8 28. Rxc8 Rxc8 29. Rd6 Bc6 {cuts the rook off from an attack on
the a-pawn. Black will rush Kf8-e7 and it's unclear how White makes any
progress.}) 27... Kf8 28. Ra6 {Black is forever tied down to the pawn on a5.}
Rc5 29. Ra7 Rbc8 ({Black wants to expand on the kingside with} 29... g5 {
The idea is to play g5-g4 and then swing the rook to h5. However, White can
immediately prevent this with} 30. g4 {himself.}) 30. Kb1 Rh5 {Nakamura
absolutely had to force Caruana's h-pawn forward or else be left with no
counterplay.} 31. h4 Re5 32. Kc2 g5 33. Rf1 Kg7 34. Rb7 Kg6 35. Kd2 f5 {
Considered a very risky move by Caruana.} (35... Kh5 {was mentioned in the
post-mortem, but after} 36. Rf6 {the king might not be able to safely continue
its journey.} (36. Ke3 {also looks good.})) 36. hxg5 {[#]} fxe4 {Nakamura had
an unattractive choice to make. Of course Black would prefer to recapture on
g5, but the open h-file can only help White's chances.} (36... hxg5 37. Rh1 Bc6
(37... Bf7 {leaves Black completely stuck.}) 38. Rbh7 fxe4 39. Ke3 Kf5 40. g4+
$1 Kxg4 41. R7h6 {Black currently sits two pawns up, but with the king so
vulnerable several pawns will have to be returned. Black's pieces are not well
coordinated, and White stands significantly better.}) (36... Bc6 37. Re7 Rd8+
$1 {to push the king back.} (37... hxg5 $2 38. exf5+ {is decisive as White
goes up no less than a pawn.}) 38. Ke3 ({Although it might still be strong, it
is hard to advocate for the king's retreat} 38. Kc1 $6 {does give White the
benefit of preventing the Black pawn from reaching g5.} Kxg5 39. exf5 Rxf5 40.
Rg7+ Kf6 41. Rxf5+ Kxf5 {it's unclear if in practice this is closer to a win
or draw; the rook will swing around the seventh rank and attack all of the
remaining pawns.}) 38... hxg5 39. Rxf5 Rxe4+ 40. Nxe4 Kxf5 41. Nc3 {is better
for White because the bishop lacks stability. White needs to be careful to
avoid dropping the g3 pawn, but even then that passer would be slow to advance.
}) 37. Ke3 ({Caruana shows restraint and impressive understanding, knowing
that an additional pawn is not as important as centralizing his king.} 37. gxh6
e3+ {pushes the king back, which is important for Black's defensive chances.
White of course is better, but after say} 38. Kc1 Kxh6 39. Rf8 Rf5 {Black is
still very much in the game.}) 37... Bc6 ({A mating net ensues after} 37...
hxg5 38. g4 {Black's king is completely paralyzed, while White has many
possible continuations involving Re7 and Rf8}) 38. Re7 Rxg5 39. Rxe6+ Kg7 40.
Re7+ Kg6 41. Rd1 Kf6 ({There's no chance to survive by snagging the pawn:} 
41... Rxg3+ 42. Kf4 Rg5 43. Rd6+ Kh5 44. Ree6 Rf8+ 45. Ke3 Ba8 46. Rxh6+ Kg4)
42. Ra7 Ke6 ({The pawn is poisoned here, since} 42... Rxg3+ 43. Kf4 {loses
Black a rook with Rd6 mate threatened.}) 43. Rh1 h5 {[#]} ({Possible now was} 
43... Rxg3+ {though White is still well ahead after} 44. Kd4 Rg6 {when White
can choose between the equally pleasant options of 45. e3, Rh5, or Rxa5.} 45.
e3 (45. Rh5) (45. Rxa5)) 44. g4 $1 {The final piece swoops into the action,
leaving Black lost.} Be8 ({A better try, but hardly more hopeful, is} 44... Rh8
45. gxh5 Rgxh5 46. Rxh5 Rxh5 47. a4) 45. gxh5 Bxh5 46. Nxe4 Rf5 47. Ra6+ Ke7
48. Nd6 Re5+ 49. Kd4 1-0

[Event "Bundesliga 0607"]
[Site "Germany"]
[Date "2007.03.31"]
[Round "14.4"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Hracek, Zbynek"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D58"]
[WhiteElo "2698"]
[BlackElo "2614"]
[Annotator "Karolyi, Tibor/Hartmann, John"]
[PlyCount "135"]
[EventDate "2006.10.28"]
[EventType "team-tourn"]
[EventRounds "15"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 118"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2007.05.31"]
[WhiteTeam "Baden-Baden"]
[BlackTeam "Werder Bremen"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "GER"]
[BlackTeamCountry "GER"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3 h6 7. Bh4 b6 8. Bd3
Bb7 9. O-O dxc4 10. Bxc4 Ne4 11. Nxe4 Bxe4 12. Bg3 Nd7 13. Qe2 Bd6 14. Rfd1 Qe7
15. Bb5 Rad8 16. Rac1 Bxg3 17. hxg3 c5 18. Nd2 Bd5 19. e4 Ba8 20. Bxd7 Qxd7 21.
dxc5 bxc5 22. Nb3 Qa4 23. Rxd8 Rxd8 24. Nxc5 Qxa2 25. Qb5 Kh7 26. f3 Rd2 27.
Na4 Rd4 28. Nc3 Qc4 29. Qxc4 Rxc4 30. Ra1 Rc7 31. Nb5 Rb7 32. Nd6 Rd7 {[#]} 33.
Ra6 $1 Bb7 34. Rxa7 Rxd6 35. Rxb7 Rd1+ 36. Kf2 Rd2+ 37. Kf1 Kg6 38. g4 Kf6 (
38... f5 $1 {should be enough to hold.} 39. gxf5+ (39. exf5+ exf5 40. gxf5+
Kxf5 41. Rxg7 (41. b4 g5 42. b5 g4 43. fxg4+ Kxg4 $11) (41. Kg1 g5 42. Kh2 h5)
41... Rxb2) 39... exf5 40. Rb6+ Kg5 41. Rb5 g6) (38... e5 {Meyer}) 39. b4 Rb2
40. b5 Rb1+ 41. Kf2 Rb2+ 42. Kg3 e5 43. b6 g6 (43... Ke6 44. Rb8 Kf6 45. b7 Ke7
(45... Kg6 $145 46. Re8 (46. Kh2 Kg5 47. Re8 Rxb7 48. Rxe5+ Kf6) 46... Rxb7 47.
Rxe5) 46. Kh2 {and the White king will eventually get to the queenside and win.
} (46. Rg8 Rxb7 47. Rxg7 Kf6 {Black should hold.})) 44. Rb8 Kg7 45. Kh2 Kf6 (
45... Rb1 46. b7 Kh7 47. g3 Kg7 (47... Rb2+ $145 48. Kh3 (48. Kg1 $145 g5 {
and how does White break through?} 49. Kf1 Kg7 50. Ke1 Kf6 51. Kd1 Ke7 52. Kc1
Rb5 53. Kc2 Kd6 $8 54. Rd8+ Kc7 55. Rf8 Kxb7 56. Rxf7+ Kc6) 48... g5 $11) 48.
Kg2 $18) 46. Kg1 Ke6 (46... Rb1+ $145 $8 {Meyer} 47. Kf2 Rb2+ 48. Kf1 Rb1+ 49.
Ke2 Rb2+ (49... Kg5 $2 50. g3) 50. Kd3 Rxg2 51. Rc8 (51. Ra8 Rb2 52. Ra6 Kg5
53. Kc4 h5 $11) (51. Kc4 h5 52. gxh5 gxh5 53. Rh8 Rb2 (53... Rc2+ $4 54. Kd5
$18) 54. Kc5 (54. Rxh5 Kg6 55. Rxe5 Rxb6 $11) 54... Kg5 55. Kc6 Rc2+ 56. Kd7
Rd2+ 57. Kc8 Rc2+ 58. Kb8 f6 59. b7 Kf4 60. Rc8 Rb2 61. Kc7 Kxf3 62. b8=Q Rxb8
63. Kxb8 Kxe4 $11) 51... Rb2 52. Rc6+ Kg5 53. Kc4 h5 $11) 47. b7 $1 Kf6 48. g3
(48. Kf1 Ke7 49. g3 g5 50. f4 {transposes to the 49. ...Ke7 note}) 48... g5 49.
Kf1 Rb1+ (49... Ke7 50. f4 $1 Kd6 (50... exf4 51. gxf4 gxf4 52. e5 $1 {"White
wins by breaking open the black king's fragile shelter with e5-e6" (87)}) 51.
Rd8+ Kc7 52. b8=Q+ Rxb8 53. Rxb8 Kxb8 54. fxe5 $18 Kc7 55. Ke2 Kc6 56. Kd3 Kc5
57. Kc3 Kb6 58. Kb4 Kc6 59. Kc4 Kc7 60. Kd5 Kd7 61. e6+ $8 fxe6+ 62. Kc5 $1 Kc7
63. e5 Kd7 64. Kb6 {and White gets in}) (49... Kg7 $145 {appears to draw} 50.
f4 $2 (50. Ke1 Kf6 51. Kd1 Ke7 52. f4 (52. Kc1 Rb5 53. Kd2 Kd6 54. Kc3 Kc6 55.
Rh8 (55. Kc4 Rb6 (55... Rxb7 $4 56. Rxb7 Kxb7 57. Kd5 $18) 56. Re8 Rxb7 57.
Rxe5 Kd6 58. Rd5+ Ke7 $14 {holdable}) 55... Rxb7 56. Rxh6+ Kd7 57. Rh5 f6 58.
Rh7+ Kc8 59. Rxb7 Kxb7 $11) 52... exf4 53. gxf4 gxf4 54. e5 f3 $132 {Black
should hold}) 50... gxf4 51. gxf4 exf4 52. e5 f3 $11) 50. Ke2 {"The King
continues its journey towards Black's position. To spot its final destination
and see the threat it will create requires imagination and the touch of a
specially talented player." (87)} Rb2+ 51. Kd3 Rb3+ 52. Kc4 Rb1 53. Kc5 Rc1+
54. Kd6 Rd1+ 55. Kc6 Rc1+ 56. Kd7 Rb1 57. Ke8 Kg7 (57... Rb2 58. Kf8 Rb3 (58...
Kg6 59. Ke7 {transposes to the game}) 59. Rc8 $3 {threatening mate!}) 58. Ke7
Rb2 59. Kd6 Kf6 60. f4 $3 exf4 61. gxf4 gxf4 62. Rg8 $3 {"It is hard to find
words to describe this! It would be a great thing if Magnus had found this
tremendous idea somewhere around here, but I think he likely spotted it at
move 47 (if not earlier at move 38). It would have been fabulous for him to
find this in an adjourned game, but he did it over the board. It is simply a
pleasure for the author to show you ideas like this." (88)} Rb6+ (62... Rxb7 $4
63. e5#) 63. Kc7 Rxb7+ (63... Rb1 64. b8=Q Rxb8 65. Rxb8 Ke5 (65... Kg5 66.
Rg8+ Kh4 67. Rf8 $18) 66. Re8+ Kd4 67. Re7 f3 68. Rxf7 Kxe4 69. Rf6 Ke3 70.
Rxh6 Ke4 71. Rg6 $18) 64. Kxb7 f3 65. Kc6 Ke5 66. Re8+ Kf4 67. Kd5 f6 68. Rf8 {
"...this is the first game in the book that Carlsen played at the level of an
all-time great player." (88)} 1-0

[Event "Shamkir Gashimov Memorial"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.04.19"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A90"]
[WhiteElo "2802"]
[BlackElo "2863"]
[Annotator "Rogers, Ian"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r4rk1/1R4pp/2p1p3/4Pp2/2P1p3/2n1P1P1/5PBP/5RK1 w - - 0 25"]
[PlyCount "56"]
[EventDate "2015.04.??"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "AUS"]
[Source "Mark Crowther"]
[SourceDate "2002.05.27"]

{[#] After a series of exchanges the players have reached an equal endgame and
one might have expected a draw to result soon. Certainly Caruana thought so;
"I was thinking the position was a draw no matter what I do and I just drifted.
"} 25. Re7 Rfe8 26. Rxe8+ {"He could just repeat with} (26. Rc7 Rec8 27. Re7 {
and there is nothing I can do," admitted Carlsen.}) 26... Rxe8 27. Ra1 {"Here}
(27. f3 {is a draw immediately," said Carlsen.}) 27... Rd8 28. Bf1 c5 29. Ra3
$6 {"I should just go after the c5 pawn," said Caruana. "I was worried about ..
.Nd1 and ...Rd2 but it should still be a draw." The players analysed} (29. Ra5
$1 Nd1 ({"I was intending} 29... Rd1 30. Rxc5 Nb1 {," said Carlsen, "but of
course after} 31. Rc6 Nd2 32. Rd6 Rxf1+ 33. Kg2 Rd1 34. c5 Rc1 35. Rxd2 Rxc5 {
, this rook ending is still a dead draw."}) 30. Rxc5 Rd2 31. Rc8+ Kf7 32. Rc7+
Kf8 33. Rc8+ Ke7 34. Rc7+ Kd8 35. Rxg7 Nxf2 36. c5 Ng4 37. Bb5 {"and I can't
believe this can be anything for Black," said Carlsen.}) 29... Nb1 $1 {[#]} 30.
Ra1 $6 {"I started to see ghosts," admitted Caruana. "It’s a bit hard to
explain why I was so worried in this endgame. It’s a fairly elementary draw."
} (30. Ra5 {again leads to a drawable rook endgame after} Rd1 31. Kg2 Nd2 32.
Ra8+ Kf7 33. Rd8 Ke7 34. Rd6 Rxf1 35. Rxd2 Rc1 36. Rb2 $1 {followed by
multiple checks.}) 30... Nd2 31. Be2 $6 {"[Now I get] a rook ending which I
knew would offer me chances," said Carlsen.} (31. Ra6 $1 Nf3+ 32. Kg2 {looks
scary but again the weak e and c pawns should give White enough counterplay to
hold.}) 31... Nf3+ 32. Bxf3 exf3 33. h3 {[#]} h5 $1 34. g4 fxg4 35. hxg4 h4 $1
{Keeping White's king in a box.} 36. Kh2 (36. g5 {is too slow, e.g.} Kh7 37.
Kh2 Kg6 38. Kh3 Kh5 {, with 39...Rd2 to follow.}) 36... Rd2 37. Kh3 g5 38. e4
$1 {[#]} Rd4 $1 {Avoiding} (38... Rxf2 39. Ra8+ Kf7 40. Ra7+ Kg6 41. Rg7+ $1 {
with stalemate. "It is amazing that I even had this idea," admitted Caruana.})
39. Ra8+ Kf7 40. Ra3 {"I would have had more chances with} (40. Ra7+ Ke8 41.
Ra8+ Kd7 42. Ra7+ {," said Caruana, but Carlsen showed} Kc8 $1 43. Re7 Rd1 $1
44. Kh2 Rf1 45. Rxe6 Rxf2+ 46. Kh3 Rf1 47. Kh2 Re1 {"and it should still be
winning," said the Norwegian.}) 40... Rxc4 {"Now it is just over," said
Carlsen.} 41. Rxf3+ Ke7 42. Re3 Rd4 43. f3 c4 44. Ra3 Rd3 45. Ra7+ Kd8 46. Kg2
c3 47. Ra4 c2 48. Rc4 Rd2+ 49. Kh3 Kd7 50. Rc5 Rf2 51. f4 {There are not even
any Rxc2 stalemate tricks because of this pawn.} Rf3+ 52. Kh2 Rxf4 0-1

[Event "Saint Louis Sinquefield Cup"]
[Site "Saint Louis USA"]
[Date "2014.08.29"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C24"]
[WhiteElo "2877"]
[BlackElo "2801"]
[Annotator "Rogers, Ian"]
[PlyCount "68"]
[EventDate "2014.08.??"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[Source "Mark Crowther"]
[SourceDate "2002.05.27"]

1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d3 (3. Nc3 {is not a viable option for White nowadays
at the highest levels because} Nxe4 4. Qh5 Nd6 5. Bb3 Be7 {is too close to
dead equal.}) 3... c6 4. Nf3 d5 5. Bb3 Bb4+ {This takes the c3 square away
from the White knight.} (5... Bd6 6. Nc3 dxe4 7. Ng5 O-O {is not bad for Black
but offers few winning chances.}) 6. c3 Bd6 7. Bg5 {"I thought this was too
early," said Caruana.} dxe4 8. dxe4 h6 9. Bh4 Qe7 10. Nbd2 Nbd7 11. Bg3 {
"This looks a little strange, but he didn't want me to play ...Nf8-g6,"
explained Caruana.} Bc7 12. O-O Nh5 $1 13. h3 $5 {"Magnus probably thought
that he could play} (13. Nxe5 $2 Nxe5 14. Qxh5 {and missed} Bg4 $1 {," said
Caruana. "Now if he loses the g3 bishop it will just be a symmetrical
structure with no prospects for White. So I expected something like}) (13. Nh4
Nxg3 14. fxg3 $5 {, but not the idea he played."}) 13... Nxg3 14. fxg3 Nc5 {
[#] "} (14... Nf6 {is much safer," said Caruana.}) 15. Bxf7+ $1 {"I played 14..
.Nc5 very quickly, which was a bit careless" said Caruana, "because after this
sacrifice I soon realised that things weren't so simple."} Kxf7 $1 (15... Qxf7
$2 {loses to} 16. Nxe5 {followed by 17.Qh5+.}) 16. Nxe5+ Kg8 17. Ng6 {[#]} Qg5
$1 (17... Qd6 18. Rf8+ Qxf8 19. Nxf8 Kxf8 {gives Black plenty of material for
the queen but after} 20. Qh5 {the Black king remains in trouble.}) 18. Rf8+ Kh7
19. Nxh8 {"This was a big shock for me - he abandons his king to take my rook,
" explained Caruana. "I was sure some idea like ...Bg4 or ...Bxh3 would lead
to mate, but it turns out it was the best move. I was expecting} (19. Rxh8+
Kxg6 20. Nf3 {which at first seemed unclear but the more I looked at the
position, the better it was for Black, with ideas like} Qxg3 21. Qc2 Bg4 $1 {"}
) 19... Bg4 $1 {Played after 28 minutes thought, and it was time well spent.} (
19... Qxg3 {is well met by} 20. Nf1 {while the other idea Caruana had expected
to crash though -}) (19... Bxh3 $5 20. Rxa8 Qe3+ {only leads to a draw after}
21. Kh1 Bxg2+ 22. Kxg2 Qxg3+ 23. Kf1 {"I even looked at} Qh3+ 24. Ke2 Bf4 {
," said Caruana, "but it is a bit too much - I might just finish two rooks
down!"}) 20. Qf1 $1 (20. Qxg4 Qxg4 21. hxg4 Rxf8 {will leave Black a piece
ahead.}) 20... Nd3 $1 {[#]} 21. Qxd3 $1 {Forced, as Carlsen realised during a
13 minute think.} (21. hxg4 {loses beautifully to a long, long, line which
looks like a composed puzzle;} Qe3+ 22. Kh1 Rxf8 23. Qxf8 Nf2+ 24. Kg1 (24. Kh2
{loses to} Qxg3+ $1 25. Kg1 Nh3+ 26. Kf1 Nf4 $1 {and now as soon as the checks
run out, Whites loses, i.e.} 27. Qf5+ Kxh8 28. Qf8+ Kh7 29. Qf5+ Kg8 30. Qc8+
Bd8 $3 31. Qxd8+ Kh7 {and mate follows.}) {and now comes a remarkable series
of discovered checks which ultimately result in the loss of the queen on f8!}
24... Nxg4+ 25. Kh1 Nf2+ 26. Kg1 Nxe4+ 27. Kh1 Nxg3+ 28. Kh2 Nf5+ $1 29. Kh1
Qf4 $1 {with mate or win of the queen.}) (21. Rxa8 Qe3+ 22. Kh1 Nf2+ 23. Qxf2
Qxf2 24. hxg4 Qxd2) 21... Rxf8 22. hxg4 Qxg4 23. Nf3 Qxg3 $6 {[#] On} (23...
Kxh8 {Caruana was concerned by} 24. Nh4 Bxg3 25. Nf5 {but after} Bc7 {"Black
is still well on top," he admitted.}) 24. e5+ $2 {"I thought what I had played
was the most accurate but when I saw} (24. Nf7 $1 {I realised I probably
should have taken on h8 earlier," said Caruana. "The problem is that after}
Rxf7 25. e5+ Kh8 (25... Qg6) 26. e6 {he gains a tempo on the rook. I was
worried that the e pawn would then be too strong so I was going to play 25...
Qg6, but I am fairly sure he would have held the endgame."}) 24... Kxh8 25. e6
$6 {At first sight} (25. Rf1 {loses immediately to} Rf4 {but then} (25... Bb6+
26. Kh1 Qg4) 26. Qd7 $1 {hangs on, so Black would be forced to proceed with 25.
..Bb6+ 26.Kh1 Qg4, as in the game, though here White has more defensive
options.}) 25... Bb6+ 26. Kh1 Qg4 $1 27. Qd6 Rd8 $1 {Black's last big decision
of the game cost 12 minutes and leads by force to the win of the e pawn.} 28.
Qe5 Rd5 $1 29. Qb8+ Kh7 30. e7 Qh5+ {[#]} 31. Nh2 $2 {"Of course this is a
terrible blunder, but I can understand how it happened," said Caruana. "He
probably saw 31...Rd1 when he analysed the position earlier but when he got
there he looked at} (31. Qh2 {and didn't like it [because of} Qe8 $1 32. Re1
Bf2 $1 {IR] so he decided he 'must' play 31.Nh2. Then he forgot about 31...Rd1
and believed that Black had to reply 31...Re5, after which he saw 32.g4! which
looked good for White - though actually I have a draw after 32...Qg5! 33.Nf3
Qf4! and Black will get a perpetual check. "When he played 31.Nh2 I was
shocked - I thought 'Did I miss something?' but luckily it was hard to miss
something here since he only has one legal move each time!"}) 31... Rd1+ (31...
Re5 32. g4 Qg5 33. Nf3 Qf4) 32. Rxd1 Qxd1+ 33. Nf1 Qxf1+ 34. Kh2 Qg1+ {"I
thought about checking whether there was a mate with 34...Bg1+ [There is. IR]
but then thought he would just resign after 34...Qg1+," said Caruana.} (34...
Bg1+) 0-1

[Event "US Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.08.02"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Ipatov, Alexander"]
[Black "Tarjan, James"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E16"]
[WhiteElo "2650"]
[BlackElo "2406"]
[Annotator "Ipatov"]
[PlyCount "109"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Nbd2 {This is an interesting
alternative to 5.Bd2. If Black accepts the pawn sacrifice on c4, it may lead
to fairly imbalanced positions.} (5. Bd2) 5... O-O (5... dxc4 6. Bg2 b5 7. O-O
Bb7 8. Nxc4 bxc4 9. Qa4+ Nc6 10. Ne5 Nd5 11. Nxc6 Qd7 12. Bxd5 exd5 13. Qxb4
Bxc6 14. b3 $36 {Miroshnichenko,E (2634)-Hoffmann,M (2443) Bad Wiessee 2005})
6. Bg2 b6 {Perhaps, the most solid variation against 5.Nbd2. Black aims to
simply complete his development.} ({GM Darwin Yang opted for} 6... dxc4 {
against me in December 2017} 7. O-O b5 8. a4 c6 9. Ne1 $5 Nd5 (9... Ba6 10. Nc2
Be7 11. axb5 Bxb5 12. Nb1 $1 Nbd7 13. Bd2 a5 14. Qe1 a4 15. Bb4 Nd5 16. Bxe7
Qxe7 17. Nc3 N7f6 18. e4 $44 {Dubov,D (2666)-Yu,Y (2737) Moscow 2016}) 10. Nc2
Be7 11. e4 $44 {Ipatov,A (2659)-Yang,D (2495) Columbus 2017}) 7. O-O Bb7 8. Ne5
{Following my analyses.} ({As a side note, I was aware of the Wei Yi - Le
Quang Liem game that had been played just one day before. The Chinese
grandmaster chose} 8. b3 {and obtained slight advantage out of the opening}
Nbd7 9. Bb2 c5 10. a3 Bxd2 11. Nxd2 Rc8 12. b4 cxd4 13. Bxd4 e5 14. Bb2 $14 {
White has the bishop pair. Wei,Y (2729)-Le,Q (2728) Danzhou 2018}) 8... Nbd7 9.
Qa4 {[#] I had played this move at the Turkish Championship couple of years
ago.} Bd6 $5 (9... Bxd2 10. Bxd2 Nxe5 11. dxe5 Nd7 12. Bc3 Nc5 13. Qc2 dxc4 14.
Bxb7 Nxb7 15. Rfd1 Qe7 16. Qe4 c5 17. Qxc4 $14 {Black's main problem is his
b7-knight. Ipatov,A (2624)-Yelken,M (2107) Adana 2015}) 10. cxd5 (10. Nxd7 {
was an interesting alternative as Black can no longer capture on e5. However,
the game is likely to be drawn if Black plays couple of precise moves in a row.
} Qxd7 11. Qxd7 Nxd7 12. cxd5 Bxd5 (12... exd5 13. Nc4 Be7 14. Bf4 c6 (14...
Rfe8 $142 $5 {might have offered more chances to achieve equality.} 15. Ne3 c6
16. Nf5 Bf8 17. Rfe1 Re6 18. e4 dxe4 19. Rxe4 Rxe4 20. Bxe4 Nf6 21. Bg2 Nd5 $11
) 15. Nd6 Bxd6 16. Bxd6 Rfe8 17. Rfe1 Nf8 18. Rac1 $14 {White is better thanks
to the bishop pair. Vallejo Pons,F (2717)-Karthikeyan,M (2579) Tbilisi 2017})
13. e4 Bb7 14. Rd1 Be7 15. Nc4 Nf6 16. f3 c5 17. Be3 (17. dxc5 Bxc5+ 18. Be3
Bxe3+ 19. Nxe3 Rfd8 $11 {Bluebaum,M (2632)-Yu,Y (2738) Moscow 2017}) 17... cxd4
18. Bxd4 Rfd8 19. Be3 Ne8 20. a4 Nd6 21. Bf1 Nxc4 22. Bxc4 Rxd1+ 23. Rxd1 Rd8
24. Rxd8+ Bxd8 $11 {Lenderman,A (2565)-Anand,V (2794) Douglas 2017}) 10... Bxe5
(10... exd5 11. Ndc4 (11. Nxd7 $11 {would likely transpose into 10. Nxd7
examined above.}) 11... Bxe5 12. Nxe5 Nxe5 13. dxe5 Nd7 14. f4 $13 {with
mutual chances.}) 11. dxe5 Nxd5 12. Nf3 c5 (12... Nc5 13. Qc2 h6 14. Bd2 a5 15.
Rad1 {I think that White's position is more pleasant due to the bishop pair
and unstable position of the c5-knight. Yilmaz,M (2603)-Nikcevic,N (2416)
Sarajevo 2016}) 13. Qg4 {[#]} Qe7 $146 (13... Ne7 $5 {had been played just one
month earlier in Spain. I think, it is better than continuation in the game.}
14. Rd1 (14. Bg5 Qe8 15. Bxe7 Qxe7 16. Rfd1 Rfd8 $11 {followed by Nd7-f8-g6.})
14... Qc7 15. Bf4 Ng6 16. Qh5 Rfd8 $132 {Akash Pc,I (2435)-Peralta,F (2567)
Montcada 2018}) 14. Bg5 f6 15. exf6 N7xf6 {From the human standpoint, White
should be better thanks to the bishop pair and better pawn structure.} 16. Qh4
h6 {[#]} 17. e4 $5 {If White wants to fight for an advantage, this move has to
be played.} (17. Bd2 $143 {was inferior as Black pushes his e-pawn} e5 $1 $132
{followed by e5-e4 where it feels that White's bishop pair is not doing much.})
17... Nb4 18. e5 hxg5 19. Nxg5 Bxg2 20. Kxg2 Nc2 21. Rad1 Nd4 22. Rfe1 Qb7+ {
[#]} 23. f3 (23. Kg1 $2 Rad8 $17) 23... Nxf3 ({It is not clear what White can
do if Black just brings in the rook} 23... Rad8 24. exf6 gxf6 25. Ne4 Qg7 $11)
24. Nxf3 Nd5 $2 {Making Black's life more difficult. The b7-queen no longer
points at the f3-knight.} (24... Nh7 $1 {was forcing multiple exchanges that
could have likely led to a draw.} 25. Qe4 Qxe4 26. Rxe4 Rxf3 27. Kxf3 Ng5+ 28.
Ke3 Nxe4 29. Kxe4 Rf8 30. Rd2 Rf1 $11) 25. Qg4 $2 (25. Qe4 $142 $1 Rf5 26. Nh4
Rf7 27. Ng6 $16) 25... Rf5 26. Kg1 {[#]} Raf8 $4 (26... Qf7 $142 27. Ng5 (27.
Nh4 Qh5 $1 $11 (27... Rf2 $2 {[#]} 28. Rxd5 $1 exd5 29. e6 Qf6 30. e7 Re8 31.
Qd7 Qf7 (31... Rxe7 32. Rxe7 Rf1+ 33. Kg2 Qf2+ 34. Kh3 $18) 32. Qxe8+ Qxe8 33.
Kxf2 $18)) 27... Qg6 28. h4 Raf8 $11) 27. Nh4 {White wins the exchange.} b5 $1
{Having accepted the fact that the blunder has taken place, my opponent begins
to play very well from now on. Black's idea is to create counterplay on the
queenside.} (27... R5f7 {was even less resistant.} 28. Qxe6 $18) 28. Nxf5 Rxf5
29. Qe4 ({White could have fallen into a very nice trap:} 29. Qg6 Qb6 30. Rxd5
$4 c4+ 31. Kh1 Qc6 $1 32. Red1 Rxe5 $17) ({The black rook had to be traded off
right away.} 29. Rf1 $1 Rxe5 30. Qg6 Qe7 31. Rde1 Rxe1 32. Rxe1 $18) 29... c4
30. Rf1 {[#]} Qb6+ 31. Qd4 $2 {Being in a heavy time trouble at this point, I
got afraid and decided to give the exchange back.} ({I didn't see what to do
after} 31. Kh1 Rf2 {where Black does have some human counterplay, although the
comp claims that White is winning.}) 31... Rxf1+ 32. Kxf1 Ne3+ 33. Ke2 Nxd1 34.
Qxb6 axb6 35. Kxd1 $11 {[#] The objective evaluation of this endgame is draw.
However, by this time we were both in time trouble so miracles started to
happen.} b4 $1 (35... Kf7 $4 {would have given White time to set up his
kingside pawns on g4 and h4 or invade on the queenside via the b4-square.} 36.
h4 g5 (36... Ke7 37. g4 $18 b4 {is too late as White has achieved his
objective on the kingside and can now slowly break through on the queenside.}
38. h5 Kf7 39. g5 Ke7 40. a3 bxa3 41. bxa3 b5 42. Kd2 Kf7 43. Kc3 Ke7 44. a4
bxa4 45. Kxc4 $18) 37. h5 g4 38. a3 $1 (38. Kd2 $4 {pawn endgames are tricky
as one wrong move can change evaluation by 180 degrees.} b4 $19 39. a3 bxa3 40.
bxa3 b5 41. Kc3 Kg7 42. a4 bxa4 43. Kxc4 Kh6 44. Kb4 Kxh5 45. Kxa4 Kg5 46. Kb5
Kf5 $19) 38... Kg7 39. Kd2 Kh6 40. Kc3 Kxh5 41. Kb4 Kg5 42. Kxb5 Kf5 43. Kxb6
Kxe5 44. a4 $18) 36. Kd2 $4 {I had about two minutes left at this point and
didn't see any other plan except breaking Black's pawn chain on the queenside
with a2-a3 followed by Kd2-c3 and a3-a4.} (36. a3 $11 bxa3 37. bxa3 b5 38. h4
g5 $1 {not letting g3-g4.} (38... Kf7 $4 39. g4 $18) 39. hxg5 (39. h5 $4 g4 $19
{and the black king picks up the h5-pawn first and then goes towards the
e5-pawn.}) 39... Kg7 40. Ke2 Kg6 41. g4 Kxg5 42. Kf3 c3 43. Ke3 Kxg4 44. Kd3
Kf5 45. Kxc3 Kxe5 46. Kb4 Kd4 47. Kxb5 e5 48. a4 $11) 36... Kf7 $19 {Suddenly,
Black is winning.} 37. a3 {[#]} c3+ $4 {My experienced opponent returns me a
favor in time trouble.} (37... bxa3 {was winning fairly easily for Black.} 38.
bxa3 b5 $1 $19 {and it takes White too long to break up the black pawn chain
on the queenside.} 39. Kc3 (39. h4 g5 $1 {the only move to win and not to lose
at the same time.} 40. h5 g4 $1 $19) 39... Kg6 40. a4 bxa4 41. Kxc4 Kf5 42. Kb4
Kxe5 43. Kxa4 Kd4 $19) 38. Kc2 $1 $18 {The margin of error is very high in
pawn endgames. Now White is winning.} ({Of course, not} 38. bxc3 $4 bxa3 39.
Kc2 Kg6 40. Kb3 Kf5 41. Kxa3 Kxe5 $19) 38... cxb2 39. axb4 Kg6 40. Kxb2 Kf5 41.
Kc3 Kxe5 42. Kd3 {[#] This endgame is winning for White thanks to 1). an
outside passed pawn on the kingside and 2). that the queenside pawns are on
the b-file and not on the a-file. We played this endgame for about one hour
and a half and finished around 1 am.} b5 43. h3 {White's plan is to use his
kingside pawns as a decoy to deflect the black king.} Kf5 44. Ke3 Ke5 (44... e5
45. Kf3 e4+ 46. Ke3 Ke5 47. h4 Kf5 {[#]} 48. h5 $3 {The decoy!} Kg4 49. Kxe4
Kxg3 (49... Kxh5 50. Kf5 g5 (50... Kh6 51. g4 Kh7 52. g5 Kg8 53. g6 Kf8 54. Ke6
Ke8 55. Kd6 $18) 51. Kf6 $1 Kg4 52. Kg6 Kxg3 53. Kxg5 $18 Kf3 54. Kf5 Ke3 55.
Ke5 Kd3 56. Kd5 Kc3 57. Kc5 $18) 50. Kf5 Kh4 51. Kg6 $18 Kg4 52. Kxg7 Kxh5 53.
Kf6 $18) 45. h4 Kf5 46. Kf3 e5 (46... Ke5 47. g4 Kd4 48. h5 Kd3 (48... Ke5 49.
g5 Kf5 50. h6 gxh6 51. gxh6 Kg6 52. Kf4 Kxh6 53. Ke5 Kg7 54. Kxe6 Kf8 55. Kd7
$18 {It would have been a draw if the pawns were on a4 and a5 respectively,
but not here.}) 49. Kf4 Kd4 50. g5 e5+ 51. Kg3 $18) 47. g4+ Kf6 {[#]} 48. Kg2
$1 {The triangulation. The corresponding squares are f3/f6 and g3/g6.} Kf7 49.
Kf2 $22 {If the black king goes to f6, I play Kf3; if Kg6 then Kg3!} Ke7 (49...
Kg6 50. Kg3 Kf7 (50... Kf6 51. Kf3 $18 {see below}) (50... Kh6 51. Kf3 Kg6 52.
Ke4 $18) 51. h5 Kf6 52. Kh4 {winning as in the game.}) 50. Kg3 {The black king
should have been on g6 to prevent White's idea.} Ke6 (50... Kf6 51. Kf3 $1 {
The same position as on move 47 but with Black to move.} Kf7 (51... Ke6 52. Ke4
g6 53. h5 $18) 52. g5 $1 g6 53. Kg4 Ke6 54. h5 $18) 51. h5 Kf6 52. Kh4 e4 53.
g5+ Kf5 54. h6 e3 55. Kg3 1-0

[Event "US Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.06.29"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Liang"]
[Black "Gareyev"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B04"]
[Annotator "Gareyev, Timur / Lawrence, Al"]
[PlyCount "114"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]

1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. Nf3 g6 5. exd6 (5. Bc4 Nb6) 5... cxd6 6. c4 Nb6
7. Be2 Bg7 8. h3 O-O 9. O-O Bf5 (9... Nc6 10. d5 Na5 11. Na3 Bd7 12. Rb1 Na4
13. Qd2 b6 14. Nd4 e5 15. dxe6 fxe6 16. b3 Nc5 17. Bf3 Rc8 18. b4 Qh4 19. Ndc2
Rxf3 20. gxf3 Qxh3 21. Qxd6 Nd3 22. Qxd7 Be5 (22... Ne5) 23. Qxc8+ Kf7 24. Qd7+
$11 Kf6 25. Qd8+ Kf5) (9... Be6 10. d5 Bd7 11. Nc3 Qc7 12. Re1 Re8 13. Qb3 Na6
14. Be3 Nc5 15. Qc2 Nba4 16. Bd4 Bf5 17. Qd2 Nxc3 (17... e5) 18. Qxc3 Bh6 19.
b4 e5 20. bxc5 exd4 21. Nxd4 Bg7 22. cxd6 Qc5 23. Rad1 Re4 24. Nb3 Qxd6) 10.
Nc3 Nc6 11. Be3 d5 12. c5 Nc4 13. Bc1 (13. Bxc4 dxc4 14. Qa4 e5 (14... Bd3 15.
Rfd1 Nxd4 16. Nxd4 Bxd4 17. Rxd3 $17) 15. d5 Nd4 16. Qxc4 Nxf3+ 17. gxf3 Bxh3
18. Rfd1 Qf6 19. Qe4 Bf5) 13... b6 (13... e5 14. dxe5 (14. Bg5 Nxb2 15. Qb3 f6
16. Be3 Nd3 17. Rad1 Ndb4 18. Rd2) 14... N4xe5 15. Nxd5 Re8 16. Bf4 Rc8 17. Ne3
Nxf3+ 18. Bxf3 Bd3 19. Re1 Bxb2 20. Bd6 Qf6 21. Qxd3 Bxa1) 14. cxb6 {[#] This
is the moment when the emergency was called as one of the participants fell
off his seat and passed out on the floor after what turned out to be a heart
attack. As all the clocks were stopped nobody was sure how critical the
situation would be and we spent several hours waiting to resume. The round
continued as we heard the sad news of the man passing away.} (14. b3 bxc5 15.
bxc4 cxd4 16. cxd5 dxc3 17. dxc6 Qxd1 18. Rxd1 (18. Bxd1 c2) 18... c2 19. Rd4
Rab8) 14... axb6 {I considered another option} (14... Nb4 $5 {however the
sudden attack does not reap substantial rewards.} 15. b7 Rb8 16. b3 Bc2 17. Qe1
Nd6 18. Ba3 a5 19. Bxb4 axb4 20. Nxd5 Rxb7 21. Nxb4 Be4 $44) (14... e5 15. dxe5
N4xe5 16. Be3 $14) 15. Qb3 {Not the move I expected. Upon resuming the game I
had a substantial lead on the clock with 90 minutes vs one hour for my
opponent. Despite liking my position a lot, I was taking my time to decide on
the continuation which eventually brought the clocks to around even.} (15. b3)
15... e6 (15... Qd6 16. Bxc4 dxc4 (16... Na5 17. Qb5 dxc4 18. Rd1 Bc2 19. Re1
Nb3 20. Bg5 Nxd4 21. Bxe7 (21. Nxd4 Qxd4) 21... Nxb5) 17. Qxc4 Nxd4 18. Nxd4
Qxd4 19. Qxd4 Bxd4 20. Be3 e5 $15) 16. Bxc4 Na5 (16... Nxd4 17. Nxd4 dxc4 18.
Qxc4 Qxd4 19. Qxd4 Bxd4 20. Be3 Rfd8 21. Bxd4 Rxd4 22. Rfd1 e5 23. Kf1 Bd3+ 24.
Ke1 b5) 17. Qd1 {[#]} Nxc4 {I went with the positional consideration to
improve the position of my knight as it may be potentially transferred over to
e4 via d6.} (17... dxc4 18. Bg5 Qd7 19. Re1 h6 20. Be3 Rfd8 21. Ne5 Qb7 22. Qe2
b5 23. Rad1 g5 $15) 18. Qe2 h5 19. Bg5 {this helps me gain space as I cover
the essential squares and expand.} f6 (19... Qd6) 20. Bf4 (20. Bc1 g5 21. Nd2)
20... g5 (20... e5 21. Bh2 Re8 22. dxe5 Nxe5) 21. Bh2 Qd7 22. b3 Na3 {I end up
deciding in favor of the adventurous route.} 23. Rfc1 (23. Na4 Rxa4 24. bxa4
Nc2 25. Rac1 (25. Rab1 g4) 25... Qxa4 $44) 23... b5 (23... Bh6 $1) (23... Rfc8
24. Ne1 Nb1 25. Rcxb1 Rxc3) 24. Ne1 e5 $5 25. Qd2 (25. Qxh5 exd4 26. Ne2 d3 27.
Nd4 (27. Rc7 Qe8 $15) 27... d2 28. Rc7 Rfe8 29. Nef3 Nb1 30. Rxb1 Bxb1 31. Nxd2
Re1+ 32. Nf1 Bd3 33. Be5 Rxf1+ 34. Kh2 Qe8 $19) 25... Rfc8 (25... e4) 26. dxe5
{[#]} d4 {going forward no matter what!} 27. Nd1 (27. e6 Bxe6 28. Ne2 d3 29.
Nxd3 Bf5 30. Rxc8+ Rxc8 31. Rd1 Rc2 32. Qe3 Bg6 33. Nd4 Rc3 34. Ne5 Qc8 35.
Ndc6 Rxe3 36. Ne7+ Kh7 37. Nxc8 Rxe5 38. Bxe5 fxe5) 27... fxe5 28. Qxg5 Qe6 29.
Nf3 Nc2 30. Bxe5 Qg6 31. Qxg6 Bxg6 32. Bxg7 Kxg7 33. Rab1 Rxa2 34. Rb2 (34. Ne5
) 34... Raa8 (34... Rxb2 35. Nxb2 Rc3 $1 36. Ne5 Nb4 37. Ra1 Rxb3 $17) 35. Ne5
Bh7 (35... d3 36. Nxg6 Kxg6 37. f4 Nb4 38. Rxc8 Rxc8 39. Kf2 Rc2+ 40. Ke3 h4)
36. f4 d3 37. Nf2 d2 38. Rd1 Ne3 39. Rbxd2 (39. Rdxd2 Rc1+ 40. Kh2 Nf1+ $19)
39... Nxd1 {[#]} 40. Rxd1 ({A classic Zwischenzug may be White's best here:} 
40. Rd7+ Kg8 (40... Kh6 41. g4 $18) 41. Nxd1 Rd8 42. Nc3 b4 43. Nd5 Rxd7 {
, and if} 44. Nxd7 Rd8 45. N7b6 {--A.L.}) 40... Rd8 {Up to now we battled with
seconds left on the clock to complete the time control.} 41. Rc1 Rac8 42. Ra1
Ra8 43. Rc1 Rac8 44. Ra1 Rd2 (44... Rd4 $1 45. Ra7+ (45. g3 Rc7 $1 $17) 45...
Kg8 46. g3 Rd2 $1) 45. g4 Rcc2 (45... hxg4 46. hxg4 Rcc2 47. Ra7+ Kf8 48. Nd7+
Ke8 49. Nf6+ Kd8 $19 {black's king gets away from checks and the pair of rooks
dominate white's backranks.}) 46. Rf1 (46. Ra7+ Kh8 47. Ra8+ Bg8 48. Ned3 Rc3
49. Rd8 Rxb3 50. f5 $44) 46... Re2 (46... hxg4 47. hxg4 Be4 48. f5 Re2 $19) 47.
gxh5 Rb2 48. h6+ Kxh6 49. Nfg4+ Kg7 50. f5 Kf8 $1 51. Nd3 Rxb3 52. Nf4 Reb2 (
52... Rg3+ 53. Kh1 Rb2) 53. Ne6+ Ke8 54. Ng5 Bg8 (54... Rg3+ 55. Kh1 Bg8) 55.
Re1+ Kf8 56. Re5 Rg3+ 57. Kh1 Rd3 {[#]} (57... Rc3) (57... Rd3 58. Ne3 Rxe3 59.
Rxe3 Bd5+ 60. Ne4 Rb4) 0-1

[Event "National Girls Tournament of Champions"]
[Site "Earth"]
[Date "2018.07.30"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Veronika Zilajeva"]
[Black "Marissa Li"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D70"]
[WhiteElo "2013"]
[BlackElo "2066"]
[Annotator "Zilajeva, Veronika / Lawrence, Al"]
[PlyCount "51"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. f3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nb6 6. Nc3 Bg7 7. Be3 O-O 8. Qd2
Nc6 9. O-O-O f5 (9... Qd6) 10. e5 Nb4 11. Nh3 Be6 12. Kb1 Qd7 13. a3 {[#]} (13.
Nf4) 13... N4d5 (13... a5 14. axb4) 14. Nf4 Nxf4 15. Bxf4 Rad8 16. Qc2 Nd5 17.
Nxd5 Qxd5 18. Kc1 Rc8 (18... Rd7 19. Be2 Qa2 20. Qb1 Qxb1+ 21. Kxb1 Bb3 22. Rd3
Bc4) 19. Qc5 Qa2 20. d5 Bd7 21. Bc4 Qa1+ 22. Kc2 Ba4+ 23. Bb3 c6 24. d6+ Bxb3+
25. Kxb3 exd6 26. Qxd6 {[#]} 1-0

[Event "U.S. Open"]
[Site "Earth"]
[Date "2018.08.02"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Timur Gareyev"]
[Black "John Fedorowicz"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A13"]
[Annotator "Gareyev, Timur / Lawrence, Al"]
[PlyCount "63"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 e6 3. g4 c5 4. Bg2 Nc6 5. h3 d4 6. e3 e5 7. exd4 cxd4 8. O-O
Bd6 9. b4 Nge7 (9... h5 10. Re1 (10. g5 Nxb4 11. c5 Bc7 12. g6 fxg6 13. d3)
10... hxg4 11. hxg4 Nf6 (11... Bxg4 12. c5 Bc7 13. b5 Nce7 14. Qa4 Kf8) 12. b5
Ne7 13. c5 Bb8 14. Nxe5 Bxe5 15. Rxe5 Qc7 16. Qe1 Nxg4 17. Rxe7+ Qxe7 18. Qxe7+
Kxe7 19. Ba3) (9... e4 10. Re1 Nge7 11. Rxe4 f5 12. Re1 fxg4 13. hxg4 (13. c5
Bf4 14. hxg4 O-O) 13... Bxg4) 10. c5 Bc7 11. b5 Na5 12. Re1 f6 13. d3 O-O 14.
Nbd2 a6 (14... Ng6) 15. a4 Be6 16. Rb1 {[#]} Nd5 (16... Qd7 17. Ne4 axb5 18.
axb5 Ng6 19. c6) (16... axb5 17. axb5 b6 18. c6 (18. cxb6 Bxb6 19. Nxe5 fxe5
20. Bxa8 Qxa8 21. Rxe5 Bc7 22. Re4 Nd5 23. b6 Nc3) 18... Ng6 19. Ne4 Qe7) 17.
b6 Bb8 18. Nxd4 Bf7 (18... exd4 19. Rxe6 Nc3 20. Qe1 (20. Qc2) 20... Be5 21.
Ne4) 19. Ne2 Nc6 20. Ne4 Ndb4 21. d4 (21. Rb2 Nxd3 (21... Qxd3 22. Rd2 Qc4 23.
Rd7) 22. Rd2 Ncb4 23. Ba3) 21... Bc4 (21... exd4 22. Nxd4 Qxd4 23. Qxd4 Nxd4
24. Rxb4 Nc2 25. Bd2 Nxe1 26. Bxe1 Be5 27. f4) 22. Be3 a5 23. dxe5 Bxe5 24. Nd6
Bxd6 25. cxd6 Qd7 26. Nd4 Ne5 27. Nb3 Qxa4 28. Bxb7 Rad8 29. Nc5 Qb5 30. Ba6 {
[#]} Qxb6 31. Bxc4+ Nxc4 32. Qb3 1-0

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.08.06"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Tang, Andrew"]
[Black "Ipatov, Alexander"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A40"]
[WhiteElo "2507"]
[BlackElo "2650"]
[Annotator "Lawrence, Al"]
[PlyCount "57"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[TimeControl "7200+5"]
[WhiteClock "0:03:59"]
[BlackClock "0:05:16"]

1. d4 {[%emt 0:00:05]} g6 {[%emt 0:00:05]} 2. c4 {[%emt 0:00:21]} Bg7 {[%emt 0:
00:48]} 3. Nc3 {[%emt 0:00:13]} e6 {[%emt 0:00:14]} 4. Nf3 {[%emt 0:06:25]} Ne7
{[%emt 0:00:05]} 5. h4 {[%emt 0:03:30] Tang, a half point behind the leaders
and playing to join the winners, goes to battle stations on Move 5..} h6 {
[%emt 0:00:29]} 6. Bf4 {[%emt 0:01:30]} d6 {[%emt 0:04:50]} 7. Qd2 {[%emt 0:02:
21]} Nd7 {[%emt 0:01:25]} 8. O-O-O {[%emt 0:07:22]} Nc6 {[%emt 0:05:28]} 9. e4
{[%emt 0:08:07]} e5 {[%emt 0:05:39]} 10. dxe5 {[%emt 0:06:30]} Ndxe5 {[%emt 0:
08:33]} 11. c5 {[%emt 0:20:18]} Bg4 {[%emt 0:19:51]} (11... Be6) 12. Qe3 {
[%emt 0:04:06]} h5 {[%emt 0:31:58]} 13. Nxe5 {[%emt 0:07:08]} Nxe5 {[%emt 0:00:
32] [#]} 14. Bb5+ $1 {[%emt 0:07:02]} c6 {[%emt 0:09:17]} (14... Kf8 {is
better, when White has a less overwhelming winning advantage.}) 15. Rxd6 {
[%emt 0:02:09]} Qa5 {[%emt 0:00:29]} 16. Qd4 {[%emt 0:04:56]} f6 {[%emt 0:01:
36] White could keep keep pieces hanging with 17. f3 +-.} (16... cxb5 17. Bxe5)
17. Ba4 {[%emt 0:07:14]} (17. f3) 17... O-O {[%emt 0:01:20]} 18. f3 {[%emt 0:
02:21]} Bc8 {[%emt 0:00:05]} 19. Rd1 {[%emt 0:03:37]} Kh7 {[%emt 0:00:11]} 20.
Bb3 {[%emt 0:03:41]} Qc7 {[%emt 0:03:01]} 21. Qf2 {[%emt 0:03:41]} Qe7 {
[%emt 0:01:32]} 22. Kb1 {[%emt 0:02:30]} Re8 {[%emt 0:04:08]} 23. Qg3 {[%emt 0:
03:22]} Nf7 {[%emt 0:00:10]} 24. R6d2 {[%emt 0:01:34]} f5 {[%emt 0:09:48] [#]}
(24... Ne5 {appears to make a breakthrough harder for White, but Black is
still worse.}) 25. Rd6 $1 {[%emt 0:06:18]} Nxd6 {[%emt 0:02:01] Opens the
diagonal for Black's bishop but weakens the critical e-5 square.} 26. Rxd6 {
[%emt 0:00:21] Unfortunately for Black, White's d6-rook has a clone.} Bf6 {
[%emt 0:03:19]} 27. e5 {[%emt 0:00:31] White's b3-bishop is the long-range
trebuchet and his e5-pawn is the battering ram. The invading hordes are soon
over the moat and crashing through the gate.} Rf8 {[%emt 0:00:05]} 28. exf6 {
[%emt 0:00:30]} Rxf6 {[%emt 0:00:05]} 29. Qg5 {[%emt 0:00:43] [#] A mercifully
accurate coup de grace.} 1-0

[Event "US Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.08.02"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Ipatov, Alexander"]
[Black "Tarjan, James"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E16"]
[WhiteElo "2650"]
[BlackElo "2406"]
[Annotator "Ipatov, Alexander"]
[PlyCount "109"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Nbd2 {This is an interesting
alternative to 5.Bd2. If Black accepts the pawn sacrifice on c4, it may lead
to fairly imbalanced positions.} (5. Bd2) 5... O-O (5... dxc4 6. Bg2 b5 7. O-O
Bb7 8. Nxc4 bxc4 9. Qa4+ Nc6 10. Ne5 Nd5 11. Nxc6 Qd7 12. Bxd5 exd5 13. Qxb4
Bxc6 14. b3 $36 {Miroshnichenko,E (2634)-Hoffmann,M (2443) Bad Wiessee 2005})
6. Bg2 b6 {Perhaps, the most solid variation against 5.Nbd2. Black aims to
simply complete his development.} ({GM Darwin Yang opted for} 6... dxc4 {
against me in December 2017} 7. O-O b5 8. a4 c6 9. Ne1 $5 Nd5 (9... Ba6 10. Nc2
Be7 11. axb5 Bxb5 12. Nb1 $1 Nbd7 13. Bd2 a5 14. Qe1 a4 15. Bb4 Nd5 16. Bxe7
Qxe7 17. Nc3 N7f6 18. e4 $44 {Dubov,D (2666)-Yu,Y (2737) Moscow 2016}) 10. Nc2
Be7 11. e4 $44 {Ipatov,A (2659)-Yang,D (2495) Columbus 2017}) 7. O-O Bb7 8. Ne5
{Following my analyses.} ({As a side note, I was aware of the Wei Yi - Le
Quang Liem game that had been played just one day before. The Chinese
grandmaster chose} 8. b3 {and obtained slight advantage out of the opening}
Nbd7 9. Bb2 c5 10. a3 Bxd2 11. Nxd2 Rc8 12. b4 cxd4 13. Bxd4 e5 14. Bb2 $14 {
White has the bishop pair. Wei,Y (2729)-Le,Q (2728) Danzhou 2018}) 8... Nbd7 9.
Qa4 {[#] I had played this move at the Turkish Championship couple of years
ago.} Bd6 $5 (9... Bxd2 10. Bxd2 Nxe5 11. dxe5 Nd7 12. Bc3 Nc5 13. Qc2 dxc4 14.
Bxb7 Nxb7 15. Rfd1 Qe7 16. Qe4 c5 17. Qxc4 $14 {Black's main problem is his
b7-knight. Ipatov,A (2624)-Yelken,M (2107) Adana 2015}) 10. cxd5 (10. Nxd7 {
was an interesting alternative as Black can no longer capture on e5. However,
the game is likely to be drawn if Black plays couple of precise moves in a row.
} Qxd7 11. Qxd7 Nxd7 12. cxd5 Bxd5 (12... exd5 13. Nc4 Be7 14. Bf4 c6 (14...
Rfe8 $142 $5 {might have offered more chances to achieve equality.} 15. Ne3 c6
16. Nf5 Bf8 17. Rfe1 Re6 18. e4 dxe4 19. Rxe4 Rxe4 20. Bxe4 Nf6 21. Bg2 Nd5 $11
) 15. Nd6 Bxd6 16. Bxd6 Rfe8 17. Rfe1 Nf8 18. Rac1 $14 {White is better thanks
to the bishop pair. Vallejo Pons,F (2717)-Karthikeyan,M (2579) Tbilisi 2017})
13. e4 Bb7 14. Rd1 Be7 15. Nc4 Nf6 16. f3 c5 17. Be3 (17. dxc5 Bxc5+ 18. Be3
Bxe3+ 19. Nxe3 Rfd8 $11 {Bluebaum,M (2632)-Yu,Y (2738) Moscow 2017}) 17... cxd4
18. Bxd4 Rfd8 19. Be3 Ne8 20. a4 Nd6 21. Bf1 Nxc4 22. Bxc4 Rxd1+ 23. Rxd1 Rd8
24. Rxd8+ Bxd8 $11 {Lenderman,A (2565)-Anand,V (2794) Douglas 2017}) 10... Bxe5
(10... exd5 11. Ndc4 (11. Nxd7 $11 {would likely transpose into 10. Nxd7
examined above.}) 11... Bxe5 12. Nxe5 Nxe5 13. dxe5 Nd7 14. f4 $13 {with
mutual chances.}) 11. dxe5 Nxd5 12. Nf3 c5 (12... Nc5 13. Qc2 h6 14. Bd2 a5 15.
Rad1 {I think that White's position is more pleasant due to the bishop pair
and unstable position of the c5-knight. Yilmaz,M (2603)-Nikcevic,N (2416)
Sarajevo 2016}) 13. Qg4 Qe7 $146 (13... Ne7 $5 {had been played just one month
earlier in Spain. I think, it is better than continuation in the game.} 14. Rd1
(14. Bg5 Qe8 15. Bxe7 Qxe7 16. Rfd1 Rfd8 $11 {followed by Nd7-f8-g6.}) 14...
Qc7 15. Bf4 Ng6 16. Qh5 Rfd8 $132 {Akash Pc,I (2435)-Peralta,F (2567) Montcada
2018}) 14. Bg5 f6 15. exf6 N7xf6 {From the human standpoint, White should be
better thanks to the bishop pair and better pawn structure.} 16. Qh4 h6 {[#]}
17. e4 $5 {If White wants to fight for an advantage, this move has to be
played.} (17. Bd2 $143 {was inferior as Black pushes his e-pawn} e5 $1 $132 {
followed by e5-e4 where it feels that White's bishop pair is not doing much.})
17... Nb4 18. e5 hxg5 19. Nxg5 Bxg2 20. Kxg2 Nc2 21. Rad1 Nd4 22. Rfe1 Qb7+ 23.
f3 (23. Kg1 $2 Rad8 $17) 23... Nxf3 ({It is not clear what White can do if
Black just brings in the rook} 23... Rad8 24. exf6 gxf6 25. Ne4 Qg7 $11) 24.
Nxf3 Nd5 $2 {Making Black's life more difficult. The b7-queen no longer points
at the f3-knight.} (24... Nh7 $1 {was forcing multiple exchanges that could
have likely led to a draw.} 25. Qe4 Qxe4 26. Rxe4 Rxf3 27. Kxf3 Ng5+ 28. Ke3
Nxe4 29. Kxe4 Rf8 30. Rd2 Rf1 $11) 25. Qg4 $2 (25. Qe4 $142 $1 Rf5 26. Nh4 Rf7
27. Ng6 $16) 25... Rf5 26. Kg1 Raf8 $4 (26... Qf7 $142 27. Ng5 (27. Nh4 Qh5 $1
$11 (27... Rf2 $2 28. Rxd5 $1 exd5 29. e6 Qf6 30. e7 Re8 31. Qd7 Qf7 (31...
Rxe7 32. Rxe7 Rf1+ 33. Kg2 Qf2+ 34. Kh3 $18) 32. Qxe8+ Qxe8 33. Kxf2 $18))
27... Qg6 28. h4 Raf8 $11) 27. Nh4 {White wins the exchange.} b5 $1 {Having
accepted the fact that the blunder has taken place, my opponent begins to play
very well from now on. Black's idea is to create counterplay on the queenside.}
(27... R5f7 {was even less resistant.} 28. Qxe6 $18) 28. Nxf5 Rxf5 29. Qe4 ({
White could have fallen into a very nice trap:} 29. Qg6 Qb6 30. Rxd5 $4 c4+ 31.
Kh1 Qc6 $1 32. Red1 Rxe5 $17) ({The black rook had to be traded off right away.
} 29. Rf1 $1 Rxe5 30. Qg6 Qe7 31. Rde1 Rxe1 32. Rxe1 $18) 29... c4 30. Rf1 {[#]
} Qb6+ 31. Qd4 $2 {Being in a heavy time trouble at this point, I got afraid
and decided to give the exchange back.} ({I didn't see what to do after} 31.
Kh1 Rf2 {where Black does have some human counterplay, although the comp
claims that White is winning.}) 31... Rxf1+ 32. Kxf1 Ne3+ 33. Ke2 Nxd1 34. Qxb6
axb6 35. Kxd1 $11 {[#] The objective evaluation of this endgame is draw.
However, by this time we were both in time trouble so miracles started to
happen.} b4 $1 (35... Kf7 $4 {would have given White time to set up his
kingside pawns on g4 and h4 or invade on the queenside via the b4-square.} 36.
h4 g5 (36... Ke7 37. g4 $18 b4 {is too late as White has achieved his
objective on the kingside and can now slowly break through on the queenside.}
38. h5 Kf7 39. g5 Ke7 40. a3 bxa3 41. bxa3 b5 42. Kd2 Kf7 43. Kc3 Ke7 44. a4
bxa4 45. Kxc4 $18) 37. h5 g4 38. a3 $1 (38. Kd2 $4 {pawn endgames are tricky
as one wrong move can change evaluation by 180 degrees.} b4 $19 39. a3 bxa3 40.
bxa3 b5 41. Kc3 Kg7 42. a4 bxa4 43. Kxc4 Kh6 44. Kb4 Kxh5 45. Kxa4 Kg5 46. Kb5
Kf5 $19) 38... Kg7 39. Kd2 Kh6 40. Kc3 Kxh5 41. Kb4 Kg5 42. Kxb5 Kf5 43. Kxb6
Kxe5 44. a4 $18) 36. Kd2 $4 {I had about two minutes left at this point and
didn't see any other plan except breaking Black's pawn chain on the queenside
with a2-a3 followed by Kd2-c3 and a3-a4.} (36. a3 $11 bxa3 37. bxa3 b5 38. h4
g5 $1 {not letting g3-g4.} (38... Kf7 $4 39. g4 $18) 39. hxg5 (39. h5 $4 g4 $19
{and the black king picks up the h5-pawn first and then goes towards the
e5-pawn.}) 39... Kg7 40. Ke2 Kg6 41. g4 Kxg5 42. Kf3 c3 43. Ke3 Kxg4 44. Kd3
Kf5 45. Kxc3 Kxe5 46. Kb4 Kd4 47. Kxb5 e5 48. a4 $11) 36... Kf7 $19 {Suddenly,
Black is winning.} 37. a3 {[#]} c3+ $4 {My experienced opponent returns me a
favor in time trouble.} (37... bxa3 {was winning fairly easily for Black.} 38.
bxa3 b5 $1 $19 {and it takes White too long to break up the black pawn chain
on the queenside.} 39. Kc3 (39. h4 g5 $1 {the only move to win and not to lose
at the same time.} 40. h5 g4 $1 $19) 39... Kg6 40. a4 bxa4 41. Kxc4 Kf5 42. Kb4
Kxe5 43. Kxa4 Kd4 $19) 38. Kc2 $1 $18 {The margin of error is very high in
pawn endgames. Now White is winning.} ({Of course, not} 38. bxc3 $4 bxa3 39.
Kc2 Kg6 40. Kb3 Kf5 41. Kxa3 Kxe5 $19) 38... cxb2 39. axb4 Kg6 40. Kxb2 Kf5 41.
Kc3 Kxe5 42. Kd3 {[#] This endgame is winning for White thanks to 1). an
outside passed pawn on the kingside and 2). that the queenside pawns are on
the b-file and not on the a-file. We played this endgame for about one hour
and a half and finished around 1 am.} b5 43. h3 {White's plan is to use his
kingside pawns as a decoy to deflect the black king.} Kf5 44. Ke3 Ke5 (44... e5
45. Kf3 e4+ 46. Ke3 Ke5 47. h4 Kf5 {[#]} 48. h5 $3 {The decoy!} Kg4 49. Kxe4
Kxg3 (49... Kxh5 50. Kf5 g5 (50... Kh6 51. g4 Kh7 52. g5 Kg8 53. g6 Kf8 54. Ke6
Ke8 55. Kd6 $18) 51. Kf6 $1 Kg4 52. Kg6 Kxg3 53. Kxg5 $18 Kf3 54. Kf5 Ke3 55.
Ke5 Kd3 56. Kd5 Kc3 57. Kc5 $18) 50. Kf5 Kh4 51. Kg6 $18 Kg4 52. Kxg7 Kxh5 53.
Kf6 $18) 45. h4 Kf5 46. Kf3 e5 (46... Ke5 47. g4 Kd4 48. h5 Kd3 (48... Ke5 49.
g5 Kf5 50. h6 gxh6 51. gxh6 Kg6 52. Kf4 Kxh6 53. Ke5 Kg7 54. Kxe6 Kf8 55. Kd7
$18 {It would have been a draw if the pawns were on a4 and a5 respectively,
but not here.}) 49. Kf4 Kd4 50. g5 e5+ 51. Kg3 $18) 47. g4+ Kf6 {[#]} 48. Kg2
$1 {The triangulation. The corresponding squares are f3/f6 and g3/g6.} Kf7 49.
Kf2 $22 {If the black king goes to f6, I play Kf3; if Kg6 then Kg3!} Ke7 (49...
Kg6 50. Kg3 Kf7 (50... Kf6 51. Kf3 $18 {see below}) (50... Kh6 51. Kf3 Kg6 52.
Ke4 $18) 51. h5 Kf6 52. Kh4 {winning as in the game.}) 50. Kg3 {The black king
should have been on g6 to prevent White's idea.} Ke6 (50... Kf6 51. Kf3 $1 {
The same position as on move 47 but with Black to move.} Kf7 (51... Ke6 52. Ke4
g6 53. h5 $18) 52. g5 $1 g6 53. Kg4 Ke6 54. h5 $18) 51. h5 Kf6 52. Kh4 e4 53.
g5+ Kf5 54. h6 e3 55. Kg3 1-0

[Event "Kenneth Clayton simultaneous exhibition"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1986.12.03"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Kenneth Clayton"]
[Black "Jeffrey Thompson"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "A29"]
[Annotator "Thompson, Jeffrey"]
[PlyCount "92"]
[SourceDate "2018.10.05"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 Bc5 5. Bg2 d6 6. O-O O-O 7. e3 Bg4 8. h3
Bh5 9. g4 Bg6 10. d4 exd4 11. exd4 Bb6 12. Be3 Re8 13. a3 a6 14. b4 Ne7 15. Re1
(15. c5) 15... c6 16. Nh4 (16. d5 Bxe3 17. Rxe3 cxd5 18. cxd5) 16... d5 17. c5
Bc7 18. f4 Be4 19. Nxe4 Nxe4 20. Qc2 Ng6 21. Nxg6 hxg6 22. Rad1 Qf6 23. Qc1 Qh4
24. Qb2 f5 25. gxf5 (25. g5 Bxf4) 25... gxf5 26. Rf1 Re6 27. Rde1 Rg6 28. Kh2
Qg3+ 29. Kh1 Kf7 30. Qe2 Rh8 31. Rf3 Qh4 32. Kh2 Re8 33. Rg1 Ng5 34. Rff1 (34.
Rg3) 34... Rh6 35. Qf2 Qh5 36. Qg3 Reh8 37. Rh1 Nxh3 38. Bxh3 Qe2+ 39. Kg1 Rg6
40. Qxg6+ Kxg6 41. Bc1 Rh6 42. Rf2 Qc4 43. Be3 Kf6 44. Rhh2 Qd3 45. Rf3 Rg6+
46. Bg2 Qe2 *

[Event "Sinquefield Cup"]
[Site "St. Louis"]
[Date "2018.08.18"]
[Round "1.5"]
[White "Aronian, Levon"]
[Black "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C67"]
[WhiteElo "2767"]
[BlackElo "2773"]
[Annotator "Hess, Robert"]
[PlyCount "137"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Armenia"]
[BlackTeam "Russia"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "ARM"]
[BlackTeamCountry "RUS"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5
8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. Nc3 Ke8 10. h3 h5 11. Bg5 Be6 12. Rfd1 Be7 13. Rd2 Rd8 14.
Rxd8+ Kxd8 15. Rd1+ Ke8 16. b3 h4 17. Bc1 a5 18. Ne2 Bd5 19. Ne1 Be6 20. Nf4
Bc8 21. Nf3 Rh6 22. Nh2 Rh8 23. Ng4 Nh6 24. Ne3 Nf5 25. Nc4 g5 26. Ne2 b6 27.
Nd2 Ng7 28. Ne4 Ne6 29. Nf6+ Bxf6 30. exf6 Rg8 31. f3 Rg6 32. Bb2 Bd7 33. Nc1
c5 34. Be5 Kd8 35. Nd3 Kc8 36. Bb2 Be8 37. Re1 Rg8 38. Re4 Kd8 39. Kf2 Nf8 40.
Ne5 Nh7 41. f4 Rh8 42. Nf3 gxf4 43. Rxf4 Nf8 44. Rxh4 Rxh4 45. Nxh4 Bc6 46. Ke3
Kd7 47. g4 Ng6 {[#] STARTING POSITION AFTER THIS MOVE} 48. Nxg6 $6 {This still
wins, but Aronian would be chastising himself later for the extra effort. In
fact, his pace slowed so much that some of that inward tongue-lashing likely
took place at the board.} (48. Nf5 {and running with the h-pawn was likely
easier, as you don't have to worry about any fortress-type positions.}) 48...
fxg6 49. Be5 b5 50. Bxc7 a4 51. Bb6 axb3 52. cxb3 g5 $1 {This drops a pawn,
but it's all about making a fortress, not total number of pawns. White's
kingside pawns are now on the "wrong" color and must be babysat.} 53. Bxc5 {
Played after 40 minutes of thought.} (53. f7 Ke7 54. Bd8+ $1 Kxf7 55. Bxg5 {
also wins though}) 53... Ke6 54. Bd4 Bg2 55. h4 $1 {Keeping connected passers
is of the utmost priority.} gxh4 56. Kf4 Kf7 57. g5 h3 58. Kg3 Kg6 59. Be3 Kf7
60. Bd2 Kg6 61. a4 bxa4 62. bxa4 Kf7 63. a5 Bf1 64. Bf4 Kg6 65. Kg4 Kf7 66. Kf5
Bd3+ 67. Ke5 Be2 68. Kd6 Bd3 69. Kc5 {Black resigned since White's king will
shepherd the a-pawn, then come all the way back to help out the other pawns.}
1-0

[Event "Sinquefield Cup"]
[Site "Saint Louis"]
[Date "2018.08.19"]
[Round "2.3"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A17"]
[WhiteElo "2842"]
[BlackElo "2773"]
[Annotator "Hess, Robert"]
[PlyCount "175"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]

1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 Bb4 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 O-O 5. Nf3 d5 6. a3 Be7 7. d4 dxc4 8. Ne5
Nc6 9. Bxc6 bxc6 10. Nxc6 Qe8 11. Nxe7+ Qxe7 12. Qa4 c5 13. dxc5 Qxc5 14. Be3
Qc7 15. Rd1 Nd5 {Karjakin successfully forces the the knights off the board,
leaving the players with bishops of opposite colors. Karjakin must have been
satisfied with the opening - his position looks totally fine.} 16. Bd4 Rd8 17.
Nxd5 exd5 18. Qc2 Qe7 19. O-O Bh3 20. Rfe1 Rd7 21. Bc3 Re8 22. Rd4 Qg5 {
creatively preventing Rh4 without committing to a pawn move.} 23. Qd2 Qxd2 24.
Rxd2 {In this queenless ending with bishops of opposite color, White is the
easier side to play. In order to defend d5, Black must place the bishop on e6,
which in turn blocks the rook's access to the file. Moreover, White controls
the pawn break (e4) and can expand more easily.} Be6 25. Red1 Rde7 26. f3 h5
27. Kf2 f6 28. Rd4 Kh7 29. R1d2 Bf7 30. h3 (30. Bb4 Re3 {is annoying to deal
with.}) 30... a6 31. Rf4 Kg8 32. Bd4 Kh7 33. Bc3 Kg8 {Karjakin moves his king
back and forth, unafraid of Carlsen's shuffling.} 34. g4 hxg4 35. hxg4 Kh7 36.
Rf5 Rb7 {[#] STARTING POSITION HERE} 37. Rfxd5 $1 (37. Rd1 {with the idea of a
Rg1 and g5 breakthrough was also possible, eyeing the g7 pawn.} Rbe7 38. Re1 {
and White can attempt to creep with small moves like e3, Bd4, etc. This time
Black might beed to offer the exchange, on b2.}) 37... Bxd5 38. Rxd5 Kg6 $6 {
Giving up one more pawn to centralize the king.} (38... Rc7 {with the idea of
heading to c6 keeps Black's queenside solid. However, it also leaves Black
stymied, which Karjakin's experience might tell him not to do against Carlsen.}
39. Rd6 Rce7 40. e4 Re6 41. Rd5 Rc6 {and if White does not play g5, Black will
do so.}) 39. Rc5 Rh8 40. Kg3 Rb6 41. Rxc4 Rh1 42. Rc7 Rc1 {Threatening ...Rxb2.
} 43. Rd7 Rc6 {Can the "Minister of Defense" hold this?} 44. a4 {You could say
this move has three purposes. First, having it farther down the board makes it
more of a concern for Black. Also, White may engineer either a trade on b6 one
day, or play plant his bishop there to make a6 helpless.} (44. Rb7 $2 {would
have ended winning chances since Black is looking for a way to give back the
material to break the bind.} R1xc3 45. bxc3 Rxc3 {and the point is that the
a-pawn is gong down} 46. a4 Rc4 47. a5 Rc5) 44... Rg1+ 45. Kf2 Ra1 46. a5 Ra4 (
46... Rxc3 {isn't as good now} 47. bxc3 Rxa5 {because White's king runs to
couple with the c-pawn} 48. Ke3) 47. Kg3 Rac4 48. Ra7 Re6 49. e4 Rc8 50. Rd7
Rec6 51. f4 R8c7 52. f5+ Kh7 53. Rd8 Rc8 54. Rd3 Re8 55. Rd4 {Typical Carlsen.
Minute improvements, while also milking the clock. He can make moves without
thinking but Black is on pins and needles every move.} Rc7 56. Kf4 Rce7 57. Rc4
Kh6 58. Kf3 Rd7 59. Bd4 Kh7 60. b4 Rd6 61. Ke3 Kh6 62. Rc1 Kh7 63. Bb6 Rd7 64.
Bc5 Red8 (64... Rd5 {is fancy -- if White's rook or king move, Black gains an
important entry square on the d-file.} 65. Ba7 {is best.}) 65. Rh1+ Kg8 66. Kf4
(66. g5 fxg5 (66... Rd3+ 67. Kf4 Rd1 68. Rxd1 Rxd1 69. g6 Re1 {likely holds
the draw, though a misstep would give White a win.}) 67. e5 g6 $1) 66... Re8
67. Re1 g5+ $1 68. fxg6 Kg7 {[#]} (68... Re5 {would be a nice way to cut off
White's progress, except that now} 69. Rh1 $1 {prevents Black from playing
Kg7xg6.}) 69. g5 Kxg6 70. gxf6 Kxf6 71. Rh1 Rf7 {Shielding Black's king's run
to the queenside.} 72. Ke3 (72. e5+ Rxe5 73. Rh6+ Kg7+ 74. Kxe5 Kxh6 {Despite
the Black king's wayward positioning, White needs more pawns to win. His
bishop is also the "wrong color" of the rook pawn.} 75. Kd6 Kg6 76. Kc6 Rf6+
77. Kb7 Re6 78. Bb6 Re4) 72... Ke6 73. Rh4 Rf6 74. Rh7 Rf7 75. Rh5 Kd7 76. e5
Rf1 (76... Kc6 77. Ke4 (77. Rh6+ Kd5) 77... Re6 78. Rh8 Rg6 79. Rc8+ Kb7 80.
Re8 Kc6 {holds. The king has nowhere to run after} 81. e6 Rg4+ {with
continuous checks. If White tries to block with the bishop} 82. Kd3 Rg3+ 83.
Kc4 Rf4+ 84. Bd4 Rgg4 85. Rd8 Re4 {e6 falls.}) 77. Ke4 Kc6 $2 {A fatal mistake
in time trouble. Karjakin had defended precisely for many moves, but this one
did him in.} (77... Re1+ 78. Kd5 Rd1+ 79. Kc4 Rc1+ 80. Kb3 Re6 {holds. Keeping
the opposing rook off the sixth rank should do the trick to obtain a draw.})
78. Rh6+ Kb5 79. Rb6+ Kc4 80. e6 $1 {Karjakin might have not had time to see
this idea. Everything else appears to be a draw.} (80. Rxa6 Re1+ 81. Be3 (81.
Kf4 R1xe5) 81... Kxb4 82. Ra7 Rxe3+ 83. Kxe3 Rxe5+ 84. Kd4 Rxa5) 80... Re1+ 81.
Kf5 Rf1+ 82. Ke5 Re1+ 83. Kf6 Rf1+ 84. Kg7 {The checks are officially over as
Carlsen's pieces materfully control the board.} Ra8 85. e7 Re1 86. Kf7 Re4 87.
Rd6 Rh8 88. Rxa6 1-0

[Event "Sinquefield Cup"]
[Site "Saint Louis"]
[Date "2018.08.20"]
[Round "3.4"]
[White "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Black "Grischuk, Alexander"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C55"]
[WhiteElo "2777"]
[BlackElo "2766"]
[Annotator "Hess, Robert"]
[PlyCount "178"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. O-O O-O 6. c3 d5 7. exd5 Nxd5 8.
Re1 Bg4 9. Nbd2 Nb6 10. Bb5 Bd6 11. h3 Bh5 12. Ne4 Re8 13. Bg5 f6 14. Be3 a6
15. Bxc6 bxc6 16. Ng3 Bf7 17. c4 $146 Bb4 18. Re2 Bf8 {Of course the bishop
could have retreated in one move, but Grischuk first puts Nakamura's rook on
an awkward square.} 19. b3 c5 {A very good move, shutting down the queenside
and permanently preventing d4.} (19... a5 20. d4 e4 {looks pleasant for Black
as well, but White does seem to have more to work with than in the game.}) 20.
Qe1 (20. Ne4 {aims to win the c5 pawn, but} f5 {protects the pawn tactically.}
21. Nxc5 (21. Nc3 Bh5) 21... f4) (20. Rd2 a5 21. a4 {closes down the queenside
in Black's favor. The pawns on b3 and d3 are targets, whereas Black's pawns
are harder to attack. The knights are restricted; it's only a matter of time
before Black reroutes a knight to say c6 (via c8 and a7) and tries to play ...
f5.}) 20... a5 (20... Qxd3 $4 {would lose the queen} 21. Rd1 Qg6 22. Nh4) 21.
Rd1 (21. a4 {attempts to close the position, but now d3 is truly hanging with
b3 en prise.} Qxd3 22. Rd1 Qxb3) 21... a4 22. Nd2 (22. Ne4 f5 23. Bg5 (23. Nxc5
f4) (23. Nc3 Bh5) 23... fxe4 24. Bxd8 exf3 25. Rxe5 Rexd8 {gives Black a large
edge. Three minor pieces outclass an enemy queen.}) 22... Qd7 23. Nb1 axb3 24.
axb3 Bg6 25. f3 {Nakamura tries to solidify his position, but Grischuk has
much more room to operate with. At this point it is clear that Black is
calling the shots.} Rad8 (25... f5 26. Bf2 Qd6 27. Nc3 Nd7 {Black remains
better, but now he'd have to take care of his e5 pawn.} (27... c6 28. b4 $1))
26. Qf2 Qc6 27. Red2 Nd7 (27... f5 28. f4 {hardly resolves all of White's many
issues, but Nakamura would obtain more activity for his pieces. It's easier to
pursure counter play than it is to sit idly.}) 28. Nc3 (28. h4 {at any moment
is a worthy try. If Black plays ...h5 himself, the f6 pawn can't move without
ceding control of the g5 square. Black can ignore and allow White to play
h4-h5, hardly a devastating threat but also a spatial grab.}) 28... h6 29. Kh1
(29. Ra2 {is very logical here. There's an open file for the taking, so why
not go for it? The d3 pawn is forever a target, and it may be worth giving up
in exchange for activity down the a-file.}) 29... Kh8 30. Nb5 Bh7 31. Ra2 f5
32. Bc1 ({Considering that Nakamura was ground down, in retrospect he likely
wishes he tested Grischuk with the chaotic} 32. f4 g5 $1 33. fxg5 f4 34. Ne4
fxe3 35. Qxe3 {White gets two pawns for the piece, and the remaining pawns are
not particularly healthy.}) (32. Bd2 {is also a decent option, with the intent
of heading to a5 and allowing the second rook access to the a-file if Black
challenges the open file.}) 32... Nf6 33. Nc3 Qb7 34. Rb2 g5 35. Rb1 Qc6 36.
Bb2 Kg8 {Wisely stepping off the long diagonal.} 37. Nf1 (37. Ra1 {and sitting
the queen on c2 seems like an improvement. Black will have a tough time
breaking down White's stubborn defenses, and the rook can protect b3 via a3.})
37... Nh5 {Taking advantage of Nakamura's retreat.} 38. Nd5 Qd6 39. Ng3 c6 $1 {
Forcing an exchange of knights on favorable terms for Black. Grischuk either
is able to undouble his pawns and initiate a pawn trade, or he pushes Nakamura
back before planting his knight on f4.4} (39... Nxg3+ 40. Qxg3 c6 41. Nc3 {
is still good for Black, but the full point will not be easy to get with the
kingside potentially vulnerable and the pawn on c5 an accessible target.}) 40.
Nc3 (40. Nxh5 cxd5 41. cxd5 f4 (41... Bg6 42. Ng3 Qxd5 43. Qc2 {is a fight.})
42. Rbc1 Bg6 43. g4 Bxh5 44. gxh5 Qxd5) 40... Nf4 {Grischuk has a winning
position, but he started to spend a lot of time. Nakamura moved quickly in an
attempt to usher Grischuk into further time trouble.} 41. Qf1 Nxd3 42. Nce2 Qe6
43. Bc3 Rd6 (43... Bg6 {keeps the h5 square off limits, allowing ...e4 to come
next.}) (43... e4 $2 {is too soon, oblivious to White's kingside opportunities.
} 44. fxe4 fxe4 45. Nh5 {with very legitimate compensation.}) 44. Rd2 Red8 45.
Rbd1 Bg6 46. Nc1 Nxc1 47. Rxd6 Bxd6 48. Rxc1 Rb8 (48... e4 49. Qe1 e3 {
establishes an advanced passed pawn that White will be tied down to.}) 49. Ra1
Rxb3 50. Ra8+ Rb8 51. Ra6 Bf8 52. Qe2 Bg7 (52... e4 {again was strong.} 53.
fxe4 f4) 53. Ra7 Re8 {[#] STARTING POSITION HERE} 54. h4 {It's always tough to
decide when to sit tight and when to play with activity, and here Nakamura
goes for the wrong choice.} gxh4 55. Nf1 f4 56. Nd2 Re7 (56... h3 57. Ne4 hxg2+
58. Kxg2 {makes it three extra pawns, but still not a clear win just yet since
they aren't going anywhere.}) 57. Rxe7 Qxe7 58. Ne4 Bf7 59. Kh2 h3 60. gxh3 ({
Taking with the king would have kept White's pawns more solid.} 60. Kxh3 Qe6+
61. Kh2 Qxc4 62. Qb2 Qb3 63. Qa1 (63. Qxb3 Bxb3 64. Nxc5 Bc2 {and again Black
has to figure out how to free his pawns, although of course he is for choice.})
63... Qa2 64. Qe1 {and Black still has some work left.}) 60... Qe6 61. Qg2 Kh7
62. Qc2 Kh8 63. Qb2 Kh7 64. Qc2 $2 (64. Nxc5 {was necessary. Nakamura needed
to snag the pawn, since after} Qxc4 (64... Qe7 65. Ne4) 65. Nd7 {the e5 pawn
falls. Black is still pressing for a win, but it's not clear if just one extra
pawn will do the trick.} (65. Bxe5 Qxc5 66. Bxg7 Qg5 {and Black wins at least
one of the remaining two pawns after Qg3+})) 64... Qg6 65. Qe2 Be6 66. Qf1 Bf5
67. Qe2 Qh5 (67... Bxe4 $2 68. Qxe4 Qxe4 69. fxe4 {is the game continuation,
but with a pawn on h3 for White. This is vital, since White can rush the king
to f3 and set up a fortress. Grischuk said afterward he's simply not winning
until he collects the third pawn.}) 68. Nf2 Qh4 (68... e4 $2 {is net but wrong:
} 69. Bxg7 Kxg7 70. Qb2+ {and here come the checks.}) 69. Ne4 Qxh3+ {If "three
pieces is mate" then "three pawns" is a promotion, it just takes a little
while:} 70. Kg1 Qh5 71. Be1 Bxe4 72. Qxe4+ Qg6+ 73. Kh2 Qxe4 74. fxe4 Kg6 75.
Kh3 Kh5 76. Bh4 f3 77. Bf2 (77. Be7 f2 78. Kg2 Kg4 79. Bxc5 Kf4 {is an easy
win.}) 77... Bf6 78. Be1 Bg5 79. Bf2 Be7 80. Be1 Bd8 81. Bg3 Kg5 82. Bxe5 Bf6
83. Bd6 f2 84. Kg2 Bd4 85. Kf1 Kg4 86. Ke2 h5 87. Kf1 h4 88. Bh2 h3 89. Ke2 Be3
{There's many problems in White's position, but ...Bf4 is the most critical,
so it was time to resign.} 0-1

[Event "Sinquefield Cup"]
[Site "St. Louis"]
[Date "2018.08.24"]
[Round "6.1"]
[White "Grischuk, Alexander"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E60"]
[WhiteElo "2766"]
[BlackElo "2842"]
[Annotator "Hess, Robert"]
[PlyCount "68"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Russia"]
[BlackTeam "Norway"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "RUS"]
[BlackTeamCountry "NOR"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. c4 O-O 5. d4 d6 6. O-O c5 7. d5 b5 8. cxb5 a6
9. bxa6 Bf5 10. Nfd2 Nxa6 11. Nc3 Nb4 12. Nc4 Nc2 (12... Bc2 13. Qd2 Bb3 {
wins back the d-pawn.}) 13. g4 Nxg4 14. e4 Nxa1 (14... Bxe4 {Was the move
Ashley was surprised Carlsen didn't labor over, and Grischuk also thought this
was the best way for Black.} 15. Nxe4 Nxa1 16. Qxg4 f5 {unclear (Grischuk)})
15. exf5 Bxc3 16. bxc3 Nf6 17. Qe2 Re8 {"shocked" Grischuk, as he was
expecting:} (17... Ra4 18. Bh6 Nc2 19. Bxf8 Kxf8 {but} 20. Nb2 {was what
Carlsen missed in his calculations, according to Grischuk}) 18. Bg5 Qd7 19.
fxg6 hxg6 20. Rxa1 $2 (20. Nb6 Qf5 21. Nxa8 Qxg5 22. Nc7 Rc8 23. Nb5 {was
winning, but Grischuk was fearful of ...Nxd5 and ...Nf4}) 20... Qf5 21. Bxf6 (
21. h4) 21... Qxf6 22. Qf3 Qh4 23. Qe4 Qf6 24. Qf3 Qh4 25. Qe4 Qf6 26. Qd3 Reb8
27. a3 Rb3 28. Rc1 Ra4 {In many variations, this is the problem: Black keeps
getting in the way of the a-pawn.} 29. Qc2 {Grischuk thought he was winning,
which is why he went for this line, except...} Qf4 $1 {[#] saves the day} 30.
Qxb3 Qxc1+ 31. Bf1 Qg5+ 32. Bg2 Qc1+ 33. Bf1 Qg5+ 34. Bg2 Qc1+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "Sinquefield Cup"]
[Site "chess24.com"]
[Date "2018.08.25"]
[Round "7.1"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C42"]
[WhiteElo "2842"]
[BlackElo "2822"]
[Annotator "Hess, Robert"]
[PlyCount "82"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Norway"]
[BlackTeam "United States"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "NOR"]
[BlackTeamCountry "USA"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 {Caruana's most reliable Black opening, the Petroff. It
will be interesting to see if he switches it up during the World Championship.}
3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Be3 Nc6 {The players have
followed theory thus far. Carlsen opts to stray first.} 8. Bc4 (8. Qd2 Be6 9.
O-O-O Qd7 10. Kb1 Bf6 {is standard.}) 8... O-O 9. Qd2 Bf5 (9... Ne5 10. Nxe5
dxe5 11. O-O-O Qxd2+ 12. Rxd2 {is a slightly better ending for White, though
this rare position needs more practical testing.}) 10. O-O-O Qd7 11. Kb1 Rfe8
$146 {An extremely natural move, planning to retreat the dark-squared bishop
and use the open e-file.} (11... Rae8 {has the same idea, except to put the
bishop on d8. This move runs more of a risk of abandoning the queenside,
though it's difficult to see how White can actually make any dents on that
side of the board.}) 12. h4 Bf8 (12... Bf6 13. Bg5 {doesn't work for Black.
Taking on g5 opens up the h-file, whereas there is no good means of protecting
the bishop and leaving it on f6 isn't an option.}) 13. h5 h6 14. Be2 (14. Rdg1
{deserves attention, as it prepares the kingside assault.}) 14... Bg4 15. Nh2
Bxe2 16. Qxe2 Ne5 17. Bc1 Qc6 18. f4 Nc4 (18... Nd7 19. Qf1 {Caruana
considered this a possible improvement for him over the game continuation, but
White still just plays g4.} Nf6 20. g4 Ne4 21. Rg1 {or 21. Qf3 with a
straightforward attack.} (21. g5 $2 Ng3)) 19. Qd3 Qe4 ({Considering how poor
his position became in the game, it might have been preferable to sacrifice a
pawn here and enter an ending (if Carlsen accepts it).} 19... d5 $5 20. Qxd5 (
20. g4 {ignoring all else and pushing forward on the kingside is definitely an
option, though Black counters quickly} Qb5 21. Ka1 (21. g5 Re3 22. Qxd5 Na3+
23. Ka1 Nxc2+ 24. Kb1 Na3+ 25. Ka1 Nc2+) 21... Re6 {with counterplay.}) 20...
Qxd5 21. Rxd5 Ne3 {Black's defensive task will be difficult, but there is
evident activity as compensation for the lost pawn.}) 20. g4 Ne3 21. Rde1 Qxd3
22. cxd3 Nd5 ({An absolutely ridiculous sequence was} 22... Ng2 23. Reg1 Re2
24. Nf1 (24. g5 hxg5 25. fxg5 Rae8 {would help Black coordinate.}) 24... Ne1
25. Ng3 Rg2 26. Rxg2 (26. Rxe1 Rxg3) 26... Nxg2 27. Rg1 Nh4 {and somehow that
knight is not getting trapped, though White is still better after} 28. g5) 23.
Reg1 Re6 {The move is so logical in conjunction with Ne7 next, but Caruana
overlooked a tactic. Instead, he should have banked on activity as the best
form of defense:} (23... Re2 24. g5 Kh7 25. Ng4 Rae8 26. gxh6 (26. f5 {is
scary to meet over the board, but Black looks to escape with} hxg5 27. h6 (27.
Bxg5 Be7) 27... f6) 26... f5 $1 {[#]}) 24. g5 Ne7 {"I blundered...I thought
that after this move he can't play f5." - Caruana} (24... hxg5 25. fxg5 Rae8
26. Ng4 {keeps Black stymied. "To defend this, you have to play perfectly
until the end of the game. " - Caruana}) 25. gxh6 Rxh6 (25... Kh7 26. hxg7 Bxg7
27. Nf3) 26. f5 Rh7 (26... Rxh5 {was why Caruana thought Carlsen could not
play like this, but} 27. Ng4 Rxh1 (27... Rxf5 28. Nh6+) 28. Nf6+ Kh8 29. Rxh1#)
27. Ng4 (27. f6 {was what Magnus's intuition told him to play. Carlsen stated
that he's having some trouble making up his mind and being practical. Thinking
can sometimes be bad for us, apparently!} Nd5 (27... Nf5 28. Rg5 (28. Nf3 {
heading to g5, capitalizing on the awkward placement of the h7 rook.}) 28... g6
29. Rhg1 Nh4 30. R1g4 Bh6) 28. Ng4 Kh8 29. Bg5 {is crushing. Black loses
material, since he can't capture on f6 without getting mated.} gxf6 (29... b5
30. c4 bxc4 31. dxc4 Nb6 32. fxg7+ Rxg7 33. Bf6 {nets an exchange.}) 30. Nxf6
Nb6 31. h6 {ignoring the rook (for now) with Be3 next is decisive.}) 27... Kh8
28. f6 Ng8 29. fxg7+ Rxg7 30. Be3 ({Unfortunately for Carlsen,} 30. b3 {
is too slow.} f5 31. Ne3 Rxg1 32. Rxg1 Ne7 {and the worst is behind Black.})
30... c5 31. Bf4 (31. Bd2 {with the idea of c4, Bc3 likely gave White
additional chances.} Kh7 (31... f5 32. Ne3 Rxg1+ 33. Rxg1 Ne7 34. Re1 {
followed by Ng2-f4 is really awful for Black.}) 32. Nf2 {heading to g5 with
the knight would have caused Caruana a bit of a headache.} Rxg1+ 33. Rxg1 d5
34. Nh3 Bh6 35. Ng5+ Bxg5 36. Rxg5 {with a very pleasant endgame for White.})
31... Re8 32. Ne3 Rxg1+ 33. Rxg1 Re6 34. Nd5 Nf6 35. Nc7 Re2 36. Nb5 Re6 37.
Rf1 Kg8 38. Nc7 Re2 39. Nb5 Re6 40. Nc7 (40. Nxa7 Nxh5 {caused Caruana no
concerns. He even said "the benefit of having had a dead lost position is that
you don't see ghosts in dead drawn positions."}) 40... Re2 41. Nb5 Re6 1/2-1/2

[Event "6th Sinquefield Cup"]
[Site "St Louis, MO USA"]
[Date "2018.08.27"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Levon Aronian"]
[Black "Alexander Grischuk"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A54"]
[WhiteElo "2767"]
[BlackElo "2766"]
[Annotator "Kantor,Alan"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2018.08.18"]
[SourceDate "2018.09.24"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d6 3. g3 Nbd7 4. Bg2 e5 5. c4 c6 6. Nc3 e4 7. Nh4 d5 8. O-O
Bb4 9. cxd5 cxd5 10. f3 Bxc3 11. bxc3 O-O 12. Ba3 Re8 13. Nf5 Nb6 14. Nd6 Nc4
15. Nxc4 dxc4 16. fxe4 Nxe4 17. Qc2 Qd5 18. Rxf7 Kxf7 19. Rf1+ Bf5 20. g4 g6
21. Qc1 Kg7 22. gxf5 gxf5 23. Bxe4 fxe4 24. Qf4 h6 25. Qc7+ {[#]} Kh8 26. Bd6
Rg8+ 27. Kf2 Rg6 28. Be5+ Kg8 29. Ke3 Rd8 30. Qe7 b5 31. h4 a5 32. h5 Rg5 33.
Rf6 Rxe5 34. Rg6+ 1-0

[Event "FIDE World Championship Tournament"]
[Site "The Hague NED"]
[Date "1948.03.25"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Mikhail Botvinnik"]
[Black "Paul Keres"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E28"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini, Bruce"]
[PlyCount "45"]
[EventDate "1948.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O {[#]} 5. a3 (5. Bd3) (5. Nf3) 5...
Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Re8 (6... d6) (6... d5) (6... Nc6) 7. Ne2 (7. Bd3) (7. Nf3) 7...
e5 8. Ng3 d6 (8... d5) 9. Be2 (9. Bd3 e4) 9... Nbd7 (9... c5) 10. O-O c5 (10...
b6) 11. f3 cxd4 (11... Qc7 12. d5) 12. cxd4 (12. exd4) 12... Nb6 (12... Qc7)
13. Bb2 exd4 14. e4 (14. exd4) 14... Be6 15. Rc1 Re7 (15... Rc8) 16. Qxd4 Qc7 (
16... Rc8) (16... Na4) 17. c5 dxc5 (17... Nc8 18. cxd6 Qxd6 19. Rxc8+) 18. Rxc5
Qf4 (18... Qd8 19. Qxd8+ Rxd8 20. Bxf6) 19. Bc1 Qb8 (19... Qh4 20. Bg5) 20. Rg5
Nbd7 21. Rxg7+ Kxg7 (21... Kh8 22. Bg5 Kxg7 23. Nh5+) (21... Kf8 22. Rxh7 Nxh7
23. Qh8#) 22. Nh5+ Kg6 (22... Kf8 23. Nxf6 Nxf6 24. Qxf6) 23. Qe3 1-0

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "PROBLEM I"]
[Black "Mating Net"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini, Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "k7/1b2Q3/8/8/n2q4/1KN5/B7/8 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "3"]

{[#]} 1... Qxc3+ 2. Kxa4 Bc6# 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "PROBLEM II"]
[Black "Mating Net"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini, Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/8/8/6k1/3q4/6K1/5Q1R/8 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "1"]

{[#]} 1... Qg4# 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "PROBLEM III"]
[Black "Mating Net"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini, Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "1r6/6k1/1b6/5R2/8/2n2N2/2P5/2K5 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "3"]

{[#]} 1... Be3+ 2. Nd2 Rb1# 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "PROBLEM IV"]
[Black "Mating Net"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini, Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/8/8/2q5/4PK1k/5Q2/8/8 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "1"]

{[#]} 1... Qg5# 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "PROBLEM V"]
[Black "Mating Net"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini, Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "1k6/3q4/Q7/8/4r3/3R1N2/5P1P/5K2 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "5"]

{[#]} 1... Qh3+ 2. Kg1 Rg4+ 3. Kh1 Qg2# 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "PROBLEM VI"]
[Black "Mating Net"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini, Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/6k1/8/5Q2/6PK/8/2q5/8 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "3"]

{[#]} 1... Qh2+ 2. Kg5 Qh6# 0-1

[Event "Simultaneous Exhibition"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1986.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Hort, Vlastimil"]
[Black "Deuker, Hans-Joachim"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Naroditsky, Daniel"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/1p2k3/1BbRp3/P3Pp2/6p1/8/2P2KPP/r7 w - f6 0 1"]
[PlyCount "26"]

{[#]} 1. exf6+ Kxd6 2. Bc5+ Kd7 {[#]} (2... Ke5 3. f7 Bb5 4. Kg3) 3. f7 Bb5 4.
Kg3 Rf1 5. f8=Q Rxf8 6. Bxf8 {[#]} Bc6 7. Kxg4 Bxg2 8. h4 {[#]} Be4 (8... Ke8
9. Bc5 Kf7 10. h5 Kg8 11. h6 Kh7 12. Kg5 Bd5 13. Be3 e5 14. Kf6 e4 15. Ke5 Bc6
16. Kd6 Bb5 17. Kc7 Ba6 18. c4) 9. c3 Kc6 10. h5 Kd5 11. h6 Kc4 12. Bb4 e5 13.
Kg5 Bh7 1-0

[Event "43rd World Chess Olympiad"]
[Site "Batumi"]
[Date "2018.09.24"]
[Round "1"]
[White "de la Riva Aguado, Oscar"]
[Black "Leitao, Rafael"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C00"]
[WhiteElo "2475"]
[BlackElo "2620"]
[Annotator "Naroditsky, Daniel"]
[PlyCount "54"]
[EventDate "1986.??.??"]
[EventCountry "GEO"]
[WhiteTeam "Spain"]
[BlackTeam "Portugal"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d3 Nc6 4. g3 d5 5. Qe2 Nf6 6. Bg2 Be7 7. O-O O-O 8. e5
Nd7 9. c4 Nb6 10. h4 f6 11. exf6 Bxf6 12. Nbd2 Qd6 13. Nb3 Bd7 14. Be3 Na4 15.
Bf4 e5 16. Bg5 dxc4 17. dxc4 Nd4 18. Nfxd4 exd4 19. Bxb7 Rae8 20. Qd2 Bxg5 21.
hxg5 Nb6 22. Na5 Bf5 23. Rfe1 Re6 24. Rxe6 Qxe6 25. Re1 Nxc4 26. Qc1 Ne5 {[#]}
27. Nc6 Nf3+ 0-1

[Event "Reykjavik Championship"]
[Site "Reykjavik"]
[Date "2018.09.23"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Ragnarsson, Dagur"]
[Black "Jonsson, Gauti Pall"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E11"]
[WhiteElo "2249"]
[BlackElo "2100"]
[Annotator "Naroditsky, Daniel"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "1986.??.??"]
[EventCountry "ISL"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Nbd2 d6 5. e3 O-O 6. Be2 Qe7 7. O-O Bxd2 8.
Nxd2 e5 9. d5 e4 10. Nb3 Nbd7 11. f4 exf3 12. gxf3 Ne5 13. Nd4 Bh3 14. Rf2 c5
15. Nb5 Ne4 16. fxe4 f5 17. Kh1 Ng4 18. Rf4 g5 19. exf5 h5 20. Bxg4 hxg4 21.
Nc3 gxf4 22. e4 Rae8 23. Bxf4 Qf6 24. Bg3 Qd4 25. Qxd4 cxd4 26. Nb5 Rxe4 27.
Nxd6 Re2 28. Rd1 Rf6 29. c5 Bg2+ 30. Kg1 Bxd5 31. Rxd4 Bf3 32. b4 Rxa2 33. Be5
Rh6 34. f6 Rg2+ 35. Kf1 Rhxh2 36. Bxh2 Rxh2 37. Rf4 Kf8 38. Nf5 Rb2 39. Ne7 Kf7
40. Ng6 Rb1+ 41. Kf2 Rb2+ 42. Kg3 {[#]} Rb3 43. Ne5+ Kf8 44. f7 Bd1+ 45. Kh4
1-0

[Event "Philadelphia"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.06.28"]
[Round "1"]
[White "King, Alexander B"]
[Black "Mikhalevski, Victor"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E54"]
[WhiteElo "2236"]
[BlackElo "2581"]
[Annotator "King, Alex"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "5rk1/pbr2p1p/1p2pp2/4N3/2P5/P3R3/1q3PPP/3R1QK1 w - - 0 22"]
[PlyCount "7"]
[SourceTitle "Norm"]
[SourceDate "2017.04.02"]

{[#]} 22. Qd3 $3 {I didn't even realize that this was completely winning –
although I saw the game continuation I assumed Black had some way to bail out
instead. But after about fifteen minutes of my opponent frowning at the board,
I realized that there was no escape!} fxe5 ({I was expecting} 22... Rcc8 {
but this also gets mated after} 23. Rh3 f5 24. Qg3+ Kh8 25. Qh4 $18) ({
Relatively best was} 22... Kh8 $5 {although after} 23. Re2 $1 $18 {Black's
queen is trapped.}) 23. Rg3+ Kh8 24. Qd8 $1 {and Black resigned, since 25.
Qxf8# and 25.Qf6# are threatened, and if 24...Rxd8 25.Rxd8#.} Rxd8 25. Rxd8#
1-0

