[Event "Carlsen Inv Final 4"]
[Site "chess24.com INT"]
[Date "2020.05.01"]
[Round "1.3"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C54"]
[WhiteElo "2835"]
[BlackElo "2736"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[PlyCount "82"]
[EventDate "2020.05.01"]
[EventType "k.o. (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "2"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3 h6 7. Re1 O-O 8. h3 a5
9. Nbd2 Bb6 10. Bb3 Be6 11. Ba4 Nd7 12. Nf1 f5 13. exf5 Bxf5 14. d4 exd4 15.
cxd4 Nf6 16. Ng3 Bh7 17. Bb3+ Kh8 18. a3 Ne7 19. Be6 c6 20. Bd2 Nfd5 21. a4 Nb4
22. Bxb4 axb4 23. Qb3 Ba5 24. Re3 Ng6 25. Bf5 Bg8 26. Qc2 Nh4 27. Nxh4 Qxh4 28.
Qd3 Bb6 29. Re4 Qf6 30. Rg4 Ra5 31. Bg6 Be6 32. Ne4 Qxd4 33. Qxd4 Bxd4 34. Rd1
Bxb2 35. Rg3 Be5 36. Re3 Bd5 37. g3 Rxa4 38. f4 Ra1 39. Red3 Rxd1+ 40. Rxd1 Bc3
{[#]} 41. Nxd6 Rf6 0-1

[Event "URS U20 Team-ch"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "1977.07.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Zaid, Leonid D"]
[Black "Kasparov, Garry"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A75"]
[WhiteElo "2400"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[PlyCount "165"]
[EventDate "1977.07.??"]
[EventType "team-tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "URS"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Ukraine"]
[BlackTeam "Azerbaijan"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "UKR"]
[BlackTeamCountry "AZE"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nf3 g6 7. e4 Bg7 8. Be2
O-O 9. O-O a6 10. a4 Bg4 11. Bf4 Nh5 12. Bg5 Qb6 13. Qd2 Nd7 14. a5 Qc7 15. h3
Bxf3 16. Bxf3 Nhf6 17. Qf4 b5 18. axb6 Qxb6 19. Ra2 Rfb8 20. Rfa1 Ne8 21. Be2
Ne5 22. Qd2 Nc7 23. f4 Nd7 24. e5 dxe5 25. d6 Ne6 26. Nd5 Qb3 27. Bd1 Qc4 28.
Ra4 Qb5 29. Nc7 Nxc7 30. dxc7 Re8 31. Ra5 Qc6 32. Ba4 Qxc7 33. Bxd7 Rad8 34.
Bxd8 Rxd8 35. Rxa6 Rxd7 36. Ra8+ Bf8 37. Qe3 exf4 38. Qe8 Qd6 39. R1a6 Qe7 40.
Qxe7 Rxe7 41. Rc6 f5 42. Rcc8 Rf7 43. Rxc5 Kg7 44. Rc2 Rb7 45. Kf1 Be7 46. Rac8
Bd6 47. Re2 Kh6 48. Rc6 Bf8 49. Rc4 Kg5 50. Re8 Bd6 51. Rd8 Be7 52. Rd2 Bf8 53.
Rcd4 h5 54. Rc4 Rb6 55. Rf2 Bd6 56. Rfc2 Rb7 57. Re2 Rb3 58. Rc3 Rb5 59. Rc6
Be5 60. b4 Bd4 {[#]} 61. Rc4 Ba7 (61... Be3 62. h4+ Kxh4 (62... Kh6 63. g3) 63.
Rxe3) 62. Re6 Rd5 63. h4+ Kxh4 64. Rxg6 Be3 65. g3+ Kh3 66. gxf4 Rd3 67. Ke2
Rb3 68. Rg5 h4 69. Rxf5 Bb6 70. Rf6 Ba7 71. f5 Re3+ 72. Kd2 Re5 73. Rd6 Bf2 74.
Rd3+ Bg3 75. Rc5 Re4 76. b5 Kg2 77. Rc2 Re5 78. b6 Rxf5 79. Ke3+ Bf2+ 80. Ke4
Rf7 81. Rc7 Rf6 82. b7 Rb6 83. Rd2 1-0

[Event "Carlsen Inv Prelim"]
[Site "chess24.com INT"]
[Date "2020.04.19"]
[Round "1.2"]
[White "Giri, Anish"]
[Black "Vachier Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D43"]
[WhiteElo "2764"]
[BlackElo "2778"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[PlyCount "52"]
[EventDate "2020.04.18"]
[EventType "tourn (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[EventCategory "22"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 Qxf6 7. e3 g6 8. Ne5
Bg7 9. f4 O-O 10. Qc2 c5 11. dxc5 Nc6 12. Nxc6 bxc6 13. Bd3 Qe7 14. Na4 e5 15.
fxe5 Qxe5 16. O-O Qxe3+ 17. Kh1 Be6 18. cxd5 Bxd5 19. Bc4 Rad8 20. Rae1 Qg5 21.
Re2 Bxc4 22. Qxc4 Rd4 23. Qa6 Be5 24. g3 Qh5 25. Rg2 {[#]} Rd1 $1 26. Qc4 Qf3
$1 (26... Qf3 27. Rxd1 Qxd1+ 28. Rg1 Qf3+ 29. Rg2 Rd8) 0-1

[Event "Match/Nation ENG-URS"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "1947.09.21"]
[Round "2.9"]
[White "Abrahams, Gerald"]
[Black "Bronstein, David Ionovich"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E90"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[PlyCount "64"]
[EventDate "1947.09.20"]
[EventType "team-match"]
[EventRounds "2"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. d4 O-O 6. Be2 Nbd7 7. O-O e5 8. Bg5
h6 9. Be3 c6 10. h3 Re8 11. d5 c5 12. Qd2 Kh7 13. g4 Ng8 14. Kh2 Nf8 15. Bd3
Kh8 16. Rg1 Nh7 17. Rg2 Bd7 18. Ne2 Qf6 19. Kg3 Rf8 20. h4 Qe7 21. Qc2 Nhf6 {
[#]} 22. Nh2 (22. g5 hxg5 23. Nxg5 Ng4 24. Bd2 N8f6) 22... Nxg4 23. Nxg4 f5 24.
Nxe5 dxe5 25. f4 Nf6 26. Rh1 fxe4 27. Bxe4 Nxe4+ 28. Qxe4 exf4+ 29. Kf3 Qxe4+
30. Kxe4 Rae8+ 31. Kd3 Bf5+ 32. Kd2 fxe3+ 0-1

[Event "Budapest Invitation Masters"]
[Site "Budapest"]
[Date "1921.09.05"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Tartakower, Saviely"]
[Black "Steiner, Endre"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C56"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "k3r2r/p2q2b1/2p5/4N2p/4Q1p1/1R4B1/PP3PPP/6K1 w - - 0 26"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[EventDate "1921.09.05"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "HUN"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[#]} 26. Rb8+ (26. Rb8+ Rxb8 27. Nxd7) 1-0

[Event "Budapest Invitation Masters"]
[Site "Budapest"]
[Date "1921.09.05"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Alekhine, Alexander"]
[Black "Bogoljubow, Efim"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E11"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "2rq2k1/p4p2/1p4p1/3N3p/2pQPPn1/8/PPB3K1/7R w - - 0 30"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[EventDate "1921.09.05"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "HUN"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[#]} 30. Bd1 (30. Bd1 $1 Nh6 (30... Z0 31. Bxg4 hxg4 32. Qh8#) 31. Bxh5 gxh5
32. Rxh5 Rc6 33. Rg5+) 1-0

[Event "Budapest Invitation Masters"]
[Site "Budapest"]
[Date "1921.09.14"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Kostic, Boris"]
[Black "Steiner, Endre"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A50"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r2q2k1/pb1nrp1p/1pp2bp1/4p3/2P1P3/2N2NPB/PPQ2P1P/R2R2K1 w - - 0 15"]
[PlyCount "7"]
[EventDate "1921.09.05"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "HUN"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[#]} 15. Rd6 (15. Rd6 {with the idea 16. Rad1 and 17. Rxf6 or 17. Rxd7}) 15...
Qc7 16. Rad1 Rd8 17. Qd2 Bc8 18. Rxf6 1-0

[Event "Budapest Invitation Masters"]
[Site "Budapest"]
[Date "1921.09.09"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Alekhine, Alexander"]
[Black "Sterk, Karoly"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D37"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r1r3k1/p4ppp/qp2pB2/b7/n1R5/5N2/PP2QPPP/1R4K1 w - - 0 24"]
[PlyCount "13"]
[EventDate "1921.09.05"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "HUN"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[#]} 24. Qe5 $1 (24. Qe5 Z0 25. Qg5 g6 26. Qh6 $18) 24... Rc5 25. Qg3 (25.
Rxc5 bxc5 26. Qg3) 25... g6 26. Rxa4 Qd3 27. Rf1 Rac8 28. Rd4 Qf5 29. Qf4 Qc2
30. Qh6 1-0

[Event "Budapest Invitation Masters"]
[Site "Budapest"]
[Date "1921.09.17"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Kostic, Boris"]
[Black "Grünfeld, Ernst"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D64"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r2r1k2/pb2qp1n/4p1pN/1B1P4/1Q6/3R4/P4PPP/4R1K1 w - - 0 31"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[EventDate "1921.09.05"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "HUN"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[#]} 31. Qc3 (31. Qc3 Qf6 32. Rf3 $1 Qxc3 33. Rxf7#) 1-0

[Event "Budapest Invitation Masters"]
[Site "Budapest"]
[Date "1921.09.17"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Alekhine, Alexander"]
[Black "Balla, Zoltan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D02"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r3k2r/p4p1p/1p2p3/q3P3/b5p1/2nBB3/P4PPP/1QR2RK1 w kq - 0 19"]
[PlyCount "9"]
[EventDate "1921.09.05"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "HUN"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[#]} 19. Rxc3 Qxc3 20. Bb5+ Bxb5 21. Qxb5+ Kf8 22. Bh6+ Kg8 23. Qd7 (23. Qd7
Qc8 24. Qd4) 1-0

[Event "73rd ch-RUS 2020"]
[Site "Moscow RUS"]
[Date "2020.12.14"]
[Round "9.2"]
[White "Dubov, Daniil"]
[Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D85"]
[WhiteElo "2702"]
[BlackElo "2784"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "79"]
[EventDate "2020.12.05"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[EventCategory "18"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bb5+ c6 8.
Ba4 b5 9. Bb3 a5 10. Nf3 O-O 11. O-O a4 12. Bc2 c5 13. Rb1 Nc6 14. d5 $5 ({
Improving on} 14. Be3 cxd4 15. cxd4 Bg4 16. Rxb5 Bxf3 17. gxf3 Bxd4 18. Rd5
Bxe3 19. Rxd8 Rfxd8 {GM Nakamura-GM Nepomniachtchi (Paris 2019).}) 14... Ne5
15. Nxe5 Bxe5 16. Bh6 Ba6 $5 {Offering an exchange in the style of Petrosian!}
({It's not clear that Nepomniachtchi had to give up the exchange when} 16...
Re8 {was possible, especially as the c3-pawn remains a real target. Play might
continue} 17. Qe1 $5 (17. Rxb5 Ba6 {is unclear}) 17... Qa5 (17... e6 18. f4 Bh8
19. e5 exd5 20. Qf2 $5 {is an alternative}) 18. Bd2 e6 19. f4 Bg7 20. d6 e5 21.
f5 {and things are quite messy.}) 17. Bxf8 Kxf8 18. f4 ({White tries to hold
the pawn with} 18. Qf3 {but now Black's queenside play seems justified after}
Qa5 19. Rfc1 b4 {.}) 18... Bxc3 19. Rf3 Qa5 20. e5 $1 Kg8 $6 ({Right file,
wrong square, for reasons that become quite clear. Black had to play} 20... Kg7
$1 {when he's holding on.}) 21. Kh1 Rd8 {[#]} ({No better is} 21... Bb7 {
because of} 22. e6 $1 fxe6 23. Rg3 $1 {with a serious attack.}) 22. e6 $1 {
Exposing the flaw in Black's 20th move - the point is that now 23. exf7 comes
with check, drawing the black king back into the kill zone, and the g6-pawn is
underdefended. (This could have been played on move 21 as well.)} fxe6 23. Bxg6
$1 hxg6 24. Qc2 {Total carnage.} Bg7 25. Rg3 g5 26. Qg6 $1 Qd2 27. Rxg5 Qc3 28.
Qxe6+ Kf8 29. Re1 {Now Black must give up material to keep the game alive.}
Qxe1+ 30. Qxe1 Bf6 31. Qh4 $1 Rd6 ({Note that Black can't take the rook:} 31...
Bxg5 32. Qh8+ Kf7 33. Qxd8 {and it's time to resign.}) 32. Qh7 Ke8 33. Qg8+ Kd7
34. Qa8 Bxg5 35. fxg5 c4 36. h4 b4 37. Qa7+ Ke8 38. Qb8+ Kf7 39. Qxb4 Rxd5 40.
Qxa4 1-0

[Event "73rd ch-RUS 2020"]
[Site "Moscow RUS"]
[Date "2020.12.16"]
[Round "11.1"]
[White "Dubov, Daniil"]
[Black "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C53"]
[WhiteElo "2702"]
[BlackElo "2752"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "75"]
[EventDate "2020.12.05"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[EventCategory "18"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. b4 $5 {What's old is
new again, as this rare move - first played in an 1873 inter-city game between
Barmen and Berlin - proves.} ({The hoary old} 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Nc3 (7. Bd2) 7...
Nxe4 8. O-O Bxc3 9. d5 {has been analyzed nearly to death, while}) (6. e5 d5 7.
Bb5 (7. Be2 $5) 7... Ne4 8. cxd4 Bb6 9. Nc3 {has grown in popularity as
players look to avoid the mainlines of the Berlin Defense and the Italian Game.
}) 6... Bb6 7. e5 Ne4 ({The alternative} 7... d5 8. exf6 dxc4 9. Qe2+ Be6 10.
b5 {has been tried a few times, most famously in a offhand game with GM
Viswanathan Anand:} Nb4 11. fxg7 Rg8 12. cxb4 Qf6 13. O-O Qxg7 14. g3 O-O-O 15.
a4 d3 16. Qb2 Qxg3+ $3 17. hxg3 Rxg3+ 18. Kh2 Rxf3 19. Bg5 Bd4 20. Qd2 Rg8 21.
Ra3 h6 22. Rg1 Rh3+ 23. Kg2 Rxg5+ 24. Kf1 Rxg1+ 25. Kxg1 Bd5 {and White
resigned in Skvortsov-GM Anand (Zurich 2017). After the text play gets very
concrete.}) 8. Bd5 Nxc3 9. Nxc3 dxc3 10. Bg5 Ne7 ({It's hard to imagine that
any GM would weaken the kingside with} 10... f6 11. Bh4 $1) 11. O-O h6 12. Bh4
O-O (12... g5 $5 {is an interesting alternative: if White tries} 13. Nxg5 {
there is} ({White has attacking chances after} 13. Bg3 Nxd5 14. Qxd5) 13...
hxg5 (13... Nxd5 $5 14. Nf3 Ne7 15. Bf6 {with compensation}) 14. Bxg5 d6 15.
Qf3) 13. Re1 Qe8 14. Bb3 a5 15. Bf6 $1 a4 ({The bishop is immune from capture:
} 15... gxf6 16. exf6 {and the pin suffocates Black.}) (15... Nf5 $5 {is met
with} 16. g4 {and White's initiative rages on.}) 16. Bc4 Ng6 17. Qd3 d5 ({
Taking the bishop is still forbidden: if} 17... gxf6 18. Qxg6+ {and mate to
follow.}) 18. exd6 Be6 {[#]} 19. Qxg6 $3 {After the game Dubov said (in the
Russian language commentary) that "I saw the idea of 19. Qxg6 and, first of
all, it seemed to me that I wasn't worse. Second, I decided that since I was
already out of contention, why shouldn't I make a gift for myself and the
spectators by playing an interesting game?" What a gift it was!} ({Note that
the mundane} 19. Bxe6 {leaves Black with the advantage after} Nf4 {.}) 19...
fxg6 20. Rxe6 Qf7 ({The computer proposes} 20... Qc6 {and after} 21. Re7+ Qxc4
22. Rxg7+ Kh8 23. Rxc7+ Rxf6 24. Rxc4 {White can only claim a minimal edge.
Karjakin decides to take the bull by the horns and keep the extra material.})
21. Bxc3 Kh8 22. Re4 Qf5 23. Re7 Rg8 ({Karjakin could have tried for
counterplay with} 23... Bxf2+ {but after} 24. Kh1 $1 (24. Kxf2 $2 Qc2+) 24...
Rg8 {play resembles the game continuation.}) 24. Bxg8 Rxg8 25. dxc7 Qc2 26. Be5
{White has enough material for the queen, and more than enough positional
compensation with the c7-pawn nearing the goal line.} Bxf2+ 27. Kh1 Bb6 28. h3
$1 Kh7 29. Re1 a3 30. Kh2 g5 31. Nd4 Qc4 32. Nf5 $1 Qxb4 33. Rc1 Kg6 34. Rxg7+
$1 Kxf5 35. Rxg8 Bxc7 36. Bxc7 Qb2 37. Rc5+ Ke4 38. Rd8 1-0

[Event "70th ch-RUS w TB 2020"]
[Site "Moscow RUS"]
[Date "2020.12.16"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Goryachkina, A."]
[Black "Shuvalova, Polina"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A45"]
[WhiteElo "2593"]
[BlackElo "2456"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "53"]
[EventDate "2020.12.16"]
[EventType "match (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "3"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bf4 e6 4. Nb5 Na6 5. e3 Be7 6. Nf3 O-O 7. Be2 c6 8. Nc3
c5 9. O-O Bd7 10. Ne5 Rc8 11. a3 Nc7 $6 12. dxc5 Bxc5 13. Bd3 a6 14. Qf3 {
Already it looks like White is drumming up initiative on the kingside.} Nb5 15.
Bg5 $6 ({Imprecise. White could have gained a big edge with} 15. Nxd7 Qxd7 16.
Nxb5 axb5 17. c3 $1 {and the weaknesses in Black's queenside will tell.}) 15...
Nxc3 16. Bxf6 {[#]} ({Mixing it up. Black consolidates after} 16. bxc3 Be7 {.})
16... Qxf6 $4 {Just dropping material.} ({Black had to play} 16... gxf6 17.
Nxd7 Qxd7 18. bxc3 {.}) 17. Nxd7 Qxf3 18. gxf3 Rfd8 $2 ({Relatively better was
} 18... Na4 19. Nxf8 Kxf8) 19. Nxc5 Rxc5 20. bxc3 Rxc3 21. a4 Rd7 22. Rfb1 g6
23. Rb6 Kg7 24. f4 Kf6 25. Rab1 Rcc7 26. Kg2 h5 27. Kf3 1-0

[Event "ch-CHN 2020"]
[Site "Xinghua CHN"]
[Date "2020.12.25"]
[Round "7.6"]
[White "Zhang, Rui"]
[Black "Ju Wenjun"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C45"]
[WhiteElo "1658"]
[BlackElo "2560"]
[PlyCount "105"]
[EventDate "2020.12.19"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "CHN"]
[EventCategory "11"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

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. Kh1 d6 10. Na3 Qg6 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. Re1 Be6 13. f4 Bxe3 14. Rxe3
Bxc4 15. Nxc4 f5 16. Qb3 Qf7 17. Na5 c5 18. Rae1 Qxb3 19. axb3 Rab8 20. g3 h5
21. exf5 Nxf5 22. Re4 Rb6 23. Kg2 Ra6 24. Ra4 Rb6 25. Rae4 g6 26. h3 Ra6 27.
Ra4 Rb8 28. g4 hxg4 29. hxg4 Nh6 30. Kg3 Rxb3 31. Re8+ Kg7 32. Nxb3 Rxa4 33.
Re7+ Nf7 34. Rxc7 g5 35. fxg5 Kg6 36. Nd2 Nxg5 37. Rc6 Nf7 38. b4 cxb4 39. cxb4
Rxb4 40. Nc4 Rb3+ 41. Kf4 Rd3 42. Ke4 Rd1 43. Ra6 Kg5 44. Rxa7 d5+ 45. Ke3 Nh6
46. Ke2 Rd4 47. Ne3 Nxg4 48. Rg7+ Kh5 49. Rxg4 Rxg4 50. Nxg4 Kxg4 51. Kd3 Kf5
52. Kd4 Ke6 53. Kd3 1/2-1/2

[Event "ch-CHN 2020"]
[Site "Xinghua CHN"]
[Date "2020.12.23"]
[Round "5.2"]
[White "Lu Shanglei"]
[Black "Bai, Jinshi"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C24"]
[WhiteElo "2615"]
[BlackElo "2618"]
[Annotator "Hartmann,John"]
[PlyCount "55"]
[EventDate "2020.12.19"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "CHN"]
[EventCategory "11"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d3 c6 4. Nf3 d5 5. Bb3 a5 6. a4 Bb4+ 7. c3 Bd6 8. exd5
Nxd5 9. O-O O-O 10. Bg5 f6 11. Bh4 Kh8 12. Re1 Bg4 13. d4 exd4 14. Qxd4 Bxf3
15. gxf3 Na6 16. Nd2 Bc5 17. Qc4 Nxc3 18. bxc3 Qxd2 19. Rad1 Qh6 20. Bg3 f5 {
[#] Black is up a pawn, but White has compensation in his active pieces. Now
watch how Lu Shanglei uses that activity to conjure a fine victory.} 21. Re6
Qh5 $2 ({Black keeps control with} 21... Rf6 22. Rde1 Rxe6 23. Rxe6 Qg5 {.})
22. Be5 $1 {The threat is 23. Bxg7+ Kxg7 24. Qf4! with the idea of 25. Qe5+
and mate to follow.} Qg5+ 23. Kh1 Bxf2 24. Qf1 Bc5 25. f4 $1 Qh4 26. Rd3 $1 {
White brings his last piece into the attack.} Qh5 27. Rh3 Qf7 28. Reh6 $1 {
[#] Mate is unavoidable.} 1-0

[Event "Online Oly for People with Disabilities"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2020.11.21"]
[Round "4.15"]
[White "Lauser, Jessica T"]
[Black "Arsova, Marija"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A36"]
[WhiteElo "1566"]
[Annotator "Lapid,Lior"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[EventDate "2020.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. c4 c5 2. g3 g6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. e3 f5 6. Nge2 e6 7. O-O Nge7 8. d4
d6 9. d5 $1 {Lauser has a lot of experience playing this system with White, so
she has a good feel for the pawn structure and strategic ideas behind it. This
advance sets up her plan of playing Nf4-e6 to dominate the light squares.} exd5
10. cxd5 Nb4 (10... Ne5 {can be met the same way as Lauser played in the game:}
11. Nf4 O-O 12. Ne6 Bxe6 13. dxe6 N5c6 14. Rb1 $1 {with the idea of e4 next.
If Black responds by exchanging on e4 and playing ... Nd4, White follows up
the central break with a breakthrough on the queenside after b4!}) 11. a3 Na6
12. Nf4 {White has already achieved a strategically winning position} O-O 13.
Ne6 (13. e4 {was also very strong, e.g.} fxe4 14. Nxe4 Nc7 15. Re1 {with
Ng5-e6 or h4-h5 coming}) 13... Bxe6 14. dxe6 Qc8 $2 (14... Nc7 {was much
better, but} 15. Bxb7 Rb8 16. Bg2 Nxe6 17. Qd3 {leaves White with an
overwhelming advantage thanks to her control of the light squares and Black's
weak backward pawn}) 15. Qxd6 Qc7 16. Qd1 Rad8 17. Qc2 Rf6 {[#]} 18. e4 $1 {
Lauser has carefully prepared this break, and with it Black's position
crumbles very quickly} Rxe6 19. exf5 Nxf5 20. Bd5 {an understandable decision,
but this bishop's impressive offensive and defensive capabilities made it
worth even more than a rook in this position} (20. Bg5 {is winning, as all of
White's pieces will soon be better than their counterparts. A sample line is}
Rd7 {(to keep the idea of ...Rxd5 after Bd5)} 21. Nb5 $1 Qb6 22. Qc4 Kh8 23.
Rfe1 Rxe1+ 24. Rxe1 $18) 20... Rxd5 21. Nxd5 {as often happens when rapid
games turn tactical, a sequence of mistakes briefly follows but White
fortunately retains her advantage when the smoke clears. When the Olympiad
started, I dubbed Lauser "The Queen of Chaos" for her extraordinary ability to
enter wild complications and emerge unscathed} Qd6 $2 ({having eliminated
White's powerful light-squared bishop,} 21... Qc6 $1 {would have given Black a
dangerous attack with idea like ... Nd4-f3+}) 22. Rd1 $2 {It is natural to
bring the rook into the game, but the knight should have retreated first} (22.
Nf4 $18 {was winning, e.g.} Nd4 23. Qd1 Re8 24. Be3 {when White's bishop is
ready to snap off the strong knight immediately or as soon as Black eyes the
f3 square with a move like ...Qc6}) 22... Bd4 $2 {The final mistake.} (22...
Nd4 {was much stronger, as} 23. Qc4 b5 24. Bf4 ({or} 24. Qa2 c4 25. Nc3 Qc6 $19
{when it's suddenly Black who dominates the light squares}) 24... bxc4 25. Bxd6
Rxd6 {reaches a winning endgame for Black}) {From this point on, Lauser
converts her advantage precisely and does not allow her opponent any chances
to get back into the game.} 23. Nf4 Rf6 24. Qe2 Ne7 25. Be3 g5 26. Nh5 Rh6 27.
Bxg5 Re6 28. Qf3 Qd7 29. Nf6+ Rxf6 30. Bxf6 Qe8 31. Bxd4 cxd4 32. Rxd4 Nc5 33.
Re1 Qf7 34. Rd8+ Kg7 35. Qc3+ Qf6 36. Qxc5 Nc6 37. Rd7+ Kg8 38. Re8+ Qf8 39.
Qxf8# {With this impressive victory, Lauser bounced back from a rough start
and helped our team secure a 3.5-0.5 victory over the #10 ranked team in the
world.} 1-0

[Event "Online Oly for People with Disabilities"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2020.11.27"]
[Round "7.12"]
[White "Shankar, Pranav"]
[Black "Moyses, Sobrinho Elias"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A57"]
[WhiteElo "1499"]
[BlackElo "1884"]
[Annotator "Shankar,Pranav"]
[PlyCount "57"]
[EventDate "2020.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. e3 axb5 6. Bxb5 Qa5+ 7. Nc3 Ne4 $2 (
7... Bb7 8. Bd2 e6 9. Nf3 {White is still better, but Black has active pieces
and some pressure on the white center.}) 8. Qd3 Nxc3 9. bxc3 {White is solidly
up a pawn.} g6 10. Bd2 Bg7 11. Nf3 O-O 12. O-O d6 13. a4 {I was thinking about
c4 followed by Bc3, but rejected it because of a tactic.} (13. c4 Qa3 {!
Winning the a2 pawn by force, with an active position.}) 13... Na6 14. Rfe1 {
I still didn't go for c4 because his knight has an outpost of b4. Therefore, I
decided to start preparing for a central pawn advance.} Bb7 15. e4 Nc7 {
[#] Now that the knight is no longer controlling the b4 square, White goes for
it.} 16. c4 $1 {White's bishop on b5, although locked, will be an excellent
piece in the rest of the game because it stops all Black counterplay on the
queenside by closing it off.} Qa7 17. Bc3 Bxc3 18. Qxc3 Na6 19. e5 Bc8 20. Re3
{White optimizes his position on the e-file before trading pawns on e5.} Bg4
21. Rae1 Bxf3 22. Rxf3 Nb4 23. Rfe3 $1 {White is not annoyed by the Black
knight on b4. Instead, he keeps on going for 7th-rank domination.} Rac8 24.
exd6 {Finally!} exd6 25. Re7 Rc7 26. Qf6 Rxe7 27. Rxe7 Qb6 28. Be8 $1 {A nice
finish to a beautiful technical game. The locked bishop, which served very
well as a stopper, now serves as the clincher by attacking f7, which is now
indefensible because of White's domination of the 7th and 8th ranks.} Nxd5 29.
Bxf7+ 1-0

[Event "Online Oly for People with Disabilities"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2020.11.21"]
[Round "4.15"]
[White "McConnell, Griffin"]
[Black "Trkaljanov, Vladimir"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C45"]
[WhiteElo "1823"]
[BlackElo "2096"]
[Annotator "Lapid,Lior"]
[PlyCount "87"]
[EventDate "2020.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 $1 {McConnell had never played the Scotch in his
life before this game, but he agreed that it was wise to use it just this once.
We noticed that Trkaljanov always plays the 4...Qh4 variation, perhaps
expecting this move’s surprise value to compensate for its dubious
reputation, and his entire opening repertoire with Black consists of risky
attacking variations. With a carefully prepared pawn sacrifice on move 6,
McConnell was able to turn the tables by learning and willingly entering his
opponent’s pet line.} exd4 4. Nxd4 Qh4 5. Nc3 Bb4 6. Be2 $1 {According to
the database, Trkaljanov had never faced this move before, presumably because
his previous opponents were caught by off guard by his surprising fourth move.
McConnell was very relieved to reach this position, as we had worked on deep
preparation for all of the most important sub-variations from here.} Qxe4 7.
Ndb5 Kd8 8. O-O Bxc3 9. bxc3 $5 ({Stockfish slightly prefers} 9. Nxc3 {and
McConnell was aware of that. From a human perspective, however, facing an
opponent whose who appeared more skilled as an attacker than a defender (based
on his hyperaggressive opening repertoire and several of his games that we had
studied), we felt that this antipositional but highly dangerous move would
cause Trkaljanov serious problems in a rapid game.}) 9... Nge7 {This was
unexpected. In our preparation the day before, McConnell and I had only
examined 9...Nf6 and 9...a6. Fortunately, the position is already very
difficult for Black.} 10. Re1 Qd5 $2 {White is objectively winning now, and
McConnell finds the best refutation of Black's unprincipled opening play.} (
10... a6 11. Bf3 Qg6 {is called for, though after} 12. Nd4 {White has more
than enough compensation and excellent attacking prospects}) 11. Bd3 a6 12. c4
Qc5 13. Be3 Qe5 ({or} 13... Qb4 14. Rb1 Qa5 15. Bd2 Qa4 16. Nc3 Qa3 17. Qh5 {
when Black's lack of development after eight queen moves leaves him in an
utterly hopeless position}) 14. Bb6 axb5 {The best try; trying to save the
queen would only lose more quickly} 15. Rxe5 Nxe5 16. Bd4 Nxd3 17. Qxd3 bxc4
18. Qxc4 d5 19. Qb3 f6 20. Re1 {[#] McConnell has played 20 perfect moves
without committing even a single inaccuracy, and he maintains his relentless
pressure throughout the entire game. Black has a rook, knight and pawn for the
queen, but his king is too vulnerable and his lack of coordination ensures
that White's initiative remains powerful.} Ra5 (20... Re8 {may have been a bit
better, but} 21. Bc5 $1 {leaves Black tied in knots}) 21. Rxe7 $1 Kxe7 22. Qb4+
c5 23. Bxc5+ Rxc5 24. Qxc5+ Ke6 25. Qc7 Bd7 26. Qxb7 Rc8 27. Qb3 Rc4 28. c3 Bc6
29. f3 h5 30. Kf2 Kf7 {Black offered a draw here and twice more over the next
few moves, but McConnell convincingly demonstrates that there is no fortress.}
31. Ke3 Kg6 32. g3 Ba4 33. Qb1+ Kh6 34. Kd3 Bc6 35. Qc1+ Kg6 36. h4 $1 Bb5 37.
Kd2 Bc6 38. Qb1+ Kh6 39. Qb6 Kg6 40. g4 $1 Kh6 41. gxh5 Kxh5 42. Qc7 Kg6 43.
h5+ Kh7 44. Qc8 {Black lost on time in this lost position. An outstanding
rapid game by McConnell, who was fully in control from beginning to end
against a much higher rated opponent who was in top form: Trkaljanov won all
his other games and is currently the frontrunner for FIDE's Gazprom Brilliancy
Prize for this Olympiad.} 1-0

[Event "Online Oly for People with Disabilities"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2020.11.26"]
[Round "6.1"]
[White "Amato, Leonel"]
[Black "Aigner, Michael"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D00"]
[WhiteElo "2100"]
[BlackElo "2006"]
[Annotator "Aigner"]
[PlyCount "116"]
[EventDate "2020.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Argentina"]
[BlackTeam "United States"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "ARG"]
[BlackTeamCountry "USA"]

1. d4 d5 2. Bg5 {The pseudo Trompowsky is rare.} c6 3. e3 Qb6 {White faces an
early choice: weaken the dark squares with b3 or waste time with the queen.} 4.
Qc1 (4. b3 {Black seemed content in this blitz game between Kramnik and
Karjakin in 2008.} h6 5. Bh4 e5 6. Nf3 ({Not} 6. dxe5 Qb4+ {winning a bishop.})
6... exd4 7. Nxd4 Be7 8. Bg3 Nf6 9. Nd2 O-O 10. Bd3 Na6 11. O-O Nc5 12. Bf5 Re8
13. c4 Bf8 $11) 4... Bf5 5. Nf3 h6 {Creating luft for the bishop in case of
Nh4, mimicking the London System with colors reversed.} 6. Bh4 Nd7 7. Be2 Ngf6
8. O-O e6 9. c4 Be7 10. Nc3 Qd8 ({After} 10... O-O 11. c5 Qd8 {Andreikin
quickly gained space on the queenside against Zierk in a recent online blitz
game.} 12. b4 Re8 (12... g5 13. Bg3 Nh5) 13. b5 e5 14. bxc6 bxc6 15. Bg3 e4 16.
Nd2 $16) 11. a3 a5 12. c5 $6 {This prematurely releases tension in the center
without the b4 resource from Andreikin's game.} Ne4 {[#]} (12... g5 13. Bg3 Nh5
{Black gains the bishop pair with accurate play.} 14. Be5 Nxe5 15. Nxe5 Ng7)
13. Bg3 $2 {A critical mistake.} (13. Bxe7 Qxe7) 13... Nxg3 14. hxg3 O-O ({
Caissa rewards the bold.} 14... h5 $5 15. Nd2 g5 16. e4 dxe4 17. Ncxe4 g4 18.
Rd1 h4 19. Qc3 hxg3 20. Nxg3 Nf6 {Black's pieces stand better post pawn storm.}
) 15. Qd2 Qc7 16. Bd3 Bxd3 17. Qxd3 e5 $1 {Black seizes the center thanks to
white's dubious twelth move.} 18. Qf5 $6 (18. dxe5 Nxe5 19. Nxe5 Qxe5 {The
bishop controls more squares than the knight.}) 18... g6 19. Qh3 Kg7 20. g4 e4
21. Nd2 Bg5 $1 {This discourages counterplay on the f-file by targeting the e3
pawn.} 22. Qh2 ({For example} 22. f4 exf3 23. Rxf3 Rae8) 22... Qxh2+ $2 (22...
Qc8 $1 {Black should exploit the weak kingside pawns.} 23. Rae1 Nf6 24. f3 exf3
25. gxf3 Re8 26. Nd1 (26. e4 {The g-pawn falls after all the trades.} Bxd2 27.
Qxd2 dxe4 28. Nxe4 Nxe4 29. Rxe4 Rxe4 30. fxe4 Qxg4+) 26... h5 27. gxh5 Rh8 {
Woe betide the white monarch.}) 23. Kxh2 h5 ({Alternatively} 23... Nf6 24. Kh3
({Avoiding} 24. Kg3 h5 25. gxh5 Nxh5+) 24... h5 25. gxh5 Rh8 26. g3 Rxh5+) 24.
gxh5 Rh8 25. g3 Rxh5+ 26. Kg2 Rah8 27. Rh1 Rxh1 28. Rxh1 Rxh1 (28... Ra8 {
Best not to simplify into a drawn minor pice endgame.} 29. Rb1 a4 30. b4 axb3
31. Rxb3 Ra7) 29. Kxh1 b6 30. b4 (30. Nxd5 {This flashy piece sacrifice leads
to nowhere.} cxd5 31. c6 b5 32. cxd7 (32. c7 Nb6) 32... Kf8 33. Nb1 b4) 30...
axb4 31. axb4 bxc5 32. bxc5 Bd8 {[#] While the endgame is objectively drawn,
black's good bishop offers practical chances in time pressure.} 33. Nb3 Nb8 34.
Kg2 Kf6 35. Kf1 Na6 36. Ke2 Nb4 37. f3 (37. Na4 Ke6 38. Nc3 {It becomes
difficult for either side to make progress.}) 37... exf3+ 38. Kxf3 Ke6 39. Ne2
Nd3 40. Nf4+ Nxf4 41. exf4 {White in zeitnot and the match score dictates he
must fight to win.} Bc7 42. Nc1 Ba5 43. g4 f6 44. Nd3 Bd8 45. Ke3 Ba5 46. g5
fxg5 47. fxg5 Bd8 48. Kf4 (48. Ne5 {Alas, too few pawns remain to win.} Bxg5+
49. Kf3 Bf6 50. Nxc6 Kd7 51. Ne5+ Ke6 52. Nc6) 48... Bc7+ 49. Kg4 Bh2 50. Ne1
Bg1 51. Nf3 Be3 {Despite the active bishop, the position remains equal.} 52.
Ne5 Bxd4 53. Nxc6 $2 {White captures the wrong pawn.} (53. Nxg6 Bxc5 54. Nf4+
Kf7 ({Beware the trap!} 54... Ke5 $2 55. Nd3+ Kd6 56. Nxc5 Kxc5 57. g6 {
The g-pawn queens first.}) 55. Kf5 Ba3 56. g6+ Kg8 57. Ke5 Bb2+ 58. Kd6 {
This is drawn. Black's extra pawn proves useless.}) 53... Bxc5 54. Nd8+ Ke5 55.
Nb7 (55. Nf7+ Ke4 $1 56. Nh8 d4 57. Nxg6 d3 {The d-pawn cannot be stopped.})
55... Bb6 {The cleric ensnares the cavalry to secure the victory.} 56. Kg3 d4
57. Kf3 Kd5 58. Kf4 Kc6 0-1

[Event "US Championship"]
[Site "lichess.org INT"]
[Date "2020.10.27"]
[Round "5.4"]
[White "Wesley So"]
[Black "Dariusz Swiercz"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D85"]
[WhiteElo "2770"]
[BlackElo "2649"]
[Annotator "Shlyakhtenko,Robert"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "2020.10.26"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,69,18,32,24,0,32,23,46,51,51,41,41,47,47,39,30,19,22,23,21,30,29,20,
76,-2,8,7,9,15,43,43,49,54,61,52,61,53,61,61,173,184,219,244,244,204,256,236,
251,251,251,266,267,254,356,323,351,367,178,415,415,413,413,413,420,420,586,
352,459,965,1010,1340]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6.
bxc3 Bg7 7. Be3 c5 8. Rc1 {Currently one of the most popular ways of fighting
the Grunfeld at the top level.} O-O 9. Nf3 Qa5 10. Qd2 Bg4 {The latest attempt.
} (10... Rd8 {is still the main line; Now 11.d5 e6 leads to lots of theory,
but white has also experimented with 11. h4!? and 11. Be2!?.}) (10... cxd4 11.
cxd4 Qxd2+ 12. Nxd2 {is a typical Grunfeld endgame, where white is pressing
for two results.}) 11. d5 b5 12. Bd3 $5 {This is probably no better than other
moves, but it has the advantage of leaving established theory.} (12. Bxc5 Rc8
13. Bb4 Qc7 14. Nd4 a5 15. Ba3 b4 16. Bb2 Qb6 17. Bb5 e5 18. dxe6 Bxe6 19. Nxe6
fxe6 20. c4 {was played twice by Vidit. White has a lot of tricks, but black
should be fine if he knows what he's doing.}) 12... Nd7 (12... c4 {is probably
what So wanted to provoke.} 13. Bb1 {White is about to put a knight on d4, so
black's best is to take on f3.} Bxf3 (13... Nd7 $2 14. Nd4 $1 $16) 14. gxf3 Nd7
{With a fighting position. Having the bishop on b1 rather than on e2 is
advantageous in some lines, since it holds the queenside and the e4-pawn.
White will probably start by placing the king on g2 and then advancing f3-f4
or h2-h4. Black's position is objectively fine, but I would take white.}) 13.
c4 b4 14. O-O {[#] White's next two moves are clear: he will move the knight
on f3 and play f4. As we will see in the game, his kingside play is much
faster than black's counterattack on the queenside. Thus, this is a very
important moment: black must decide exactly how to act against white's plan. A
difficult decision to make in a rapid game.} Qc7 $2 {After this black is
simply not in time. With such a short time control, perhaps Swiercz just
didn't realize how critical the position was becoming.} (14... Bxf3 15. gxf3 {
is somewhat better for white, mainly because black's plan is not quite clear.
Without the light-squared bishop, playing e6 or f5 will always be
strategically dangerous, whereas pushing the queenside pawn majority is just
too slow. The computer suggests the exchange of dark-squared bishops with} Bc3
16. Qe2 Bd4 17. f4 Bxe3 18. fxe3 e5 {, but after} 19. dxe6 fxe6 20. e5 $14 {
White is simply better. He has the superior minor piece, an entry square on
the d-file, and multiple ways to put pressure on black's king (for example
with h4-h5).}) (14... e6 {is a better attempt.} 15. Ng5 $5 {By no means the
only move, but a natural one.} ({After} 15. Kh1 $5 {black's best is just to
wait with something like} Rfe8 $11 (15... exd5 $6 {allows} 16. cxd5 $1 Bc3 17.
Qc2 $14 {; the difference here is that black cannot play Ne5 and c4.})) 15...
exd5 16. exd5 {The bishop on g4 is awkward for the moment, but concretely
black holds things together:} (16. cxd5 Bc3 17. Qc2 Ne5 18. Be2 Bxe2 19. Qxe2
c4 20. f4 Nd3 {is quite good for black.}) 16... Bc3 17. Qc2 Ne5 18. Ne4 Nxd3
19. Qxd3 Bf5 {and black is fine.}) 15. Ne1 $1 Nb6 (15... f5 $5 {is a hard move
to make. The simple} 16. exf5 Bxf5 17. Bxf5 Rxf5 18. Nd3 {avoids all tricks
and leaves white much better.}) 16. f4 $16 Bd7 17. f5 $1 {The correct way to
continue the attack. If black's knight could occupy the e5 square, this would
be a bad move, but here this is clearly not happening. After Nf3 and Bh6 white
will take control of e5 and crash through.} Na4 18. Nf3 Nc3 (18... e6 $5 {
does not help.} 19. Bh6 exf5 20. Bxg7 Kxg7 21. exf5 {White is winning. Once
again, black cannot mount an effective blockade on the dark squares. For
example:} Qd6 22. Ng5 Qf6 23. Kh1 {Moving out of Qd4+. Now fxg6 is a huge
threat.} gxf5 24. Rf3 h6 25. Ne4 $1 $18) 19. Bh6 a5 20. e5 {The point of this
move is not to win the rook on f8, but to exchange black's dark-squared bishop
for a knight. After this black's position will simply come apart.} Bxe5 (20...
Bxf5 21. Bxf5 Ne2+ 22. Qxe2 Bxh6 23. Be4 Bxc1 24. Rxc1 $18) 21. Nxe5 Qxe5 22.
Rce1 ({The materialistic} 22. Bxf8 $2 {is still winning for white, but also
completely misguided. The attack is much more important!}) 22... Qd4+ 23. Be3
Qg7 24. Bh6 {So repeats the position twice in order to gain time on the clock.}
Qd4+ 25. Be3 Qg7 26. Bxc5 $18 Rfc8 27. Bxe7 Qd4+ 28. Kh1 Bxf5 29. Rxf5 $1 {
When all the pieces are playing, such sacrifices do not even have to be
calculated.} gxf5 30. Qg5+ Qg7 31. Qxf5 Re8 32. d6 Rad8 33. c5 {The most
accurate; there is no need to allow any tricks based on ...Rxd6.} a4 34. Re3
Ne2 35. Bxe2 {There is no backrank mate after 35...Qa1+ 36. Bf1, so black
resigned. A very convincing and instructive game. It seems that after 14. ..
Qc7 black is already much worse. As improvements, I would suggest either 14.. .
e6, or earlier, 12...c4.} 1-0

[Event "Clutch Champions Showdown"]
[Site "lichess.org INT"]
[Date "2020.05.27"]
[Round "1.7"]
[White "Wesley So"]
[Black "Hikaru Nakamura"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D55"]
[WhiteElo "2741"]
[BlackElo "2829"]
[Annotator "Shlyakhtenko,Robert"]
[PlyCount "48"]
[EventDate "2020.05.26"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,48,25,26,18,-17,3,6,18,18,21,28,25,-4,3,7,28,35,29,34,21,17,30,26,32,
-24,-24,-5,57,49,57,81,78,68,140,108,130,86,115,147,394,394,408,444,516,552,
587,587,657,653,655]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 ({For
comparison to the game, see the line} 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. a3
Nc6 9. Qc2 Qa5 10. O-O-O Be7 11. g4 dxc4 12. Bxc4) 5... h6 6. Bf4 $5 {Playing
Bf4 on move 5 is a well-known theoretical line, which white now achieves with
a slight difference -- black has the extra move h7-h6. Provoking h6 seems to
be the latest trend in the QGD and related openings, the main argument being
that white now has a "hook" to attack the black kingside. In particular, g2-g4
options become much more viable, since a pawn on g5 will immediately come into
contact with the h6 pawn and thus open lines on the kingside. Obviously, this
is an over-simplification, but in this game the inclusion of the move ...h6
certainly did help white. By the way, throughout this game, we will
continually compare the positions with the pawns on h7 and on h6. I apologize
if this is somewhat confusing, but I think that more can be learned from the
game when thinking in this way.} O-O 7. e3 c5 8. dxc5 Bxc5 9. a3 Nc6 10. Qc2
Qa5 11. O-O-O Be7 {With the pawn on h7, this position has been seen more than
650 times (according to my database). There the most common move is 11.g4. So
White's next move is not totally unexpected.} 12. g4 $1 dxc4 13. Bxc4 {[#] A
critical moment. Let's again refer back to the position with the pawn still on
h7: Black's main options there are 12...e5 (180 games), 12...Nxg4 (27 games),
and 12...a6 (19 games). All of these are still playable here -- but the pawn
on h6 makes a big difference!} Rd8 $6 {Black tries to trade pieces in order to
ward off the attack. But since white will now seize the open d-file with tempo,
I think black should have looked for other options.} (13... e5 {After this
move the variations get quite complicated.} 14. Bxh6 $5 {The extra option!}
Bxa3 $1 (14... gxh6 $2 {is suicidal:} 15. Qg6+ Kh8 16. Qxh6+ Nh7 17. Bd3 f5 18.
g5 Bxa3 19. Nb5 $1 $18) 15. Ng5 $5 {The most direct; the main threat is Nd5.}
Ne7 $1 16. Nd5 Nexd5 17. Rxd5 Bxb2+ $1 18. Kxb2 Qb4+ 19. Ka1 Bf5 $1 {Black has
to complete development, and sacrificing the bishop is the most expedient way
of doing so. At the same time, black blocks the b1-h7 diagonal, meaning that
he will actually threaten to take the d5-rook.} 20. gxf5 Rfc8 {And despite
being down two pieces, black appears to be holding no matter what white plays.
I cannot resist showing one more line:} 21. Rc5 $5 ({or} 21. Rb5 Qxb5 22. Bxb5
Rxc2 23. Rg1 gxh6 24. Ne4+ Kf8 25. Nxf6 Rd8 26. Ne4 a6 27. Kb1 Rc7 28. Ba4 Rc4
29. Bc2 Rb4+ 30. Ka2 Rc8 31. Bd3 Rd8 {and black's activity prevents white from
consolidating.}) 21... Rxc5 22. Bxf7+ Kh8 23. Qxc5 Qxc5 24. Bxg7+ Kxg7 25. Ne6+
Kxf7 26. Nxc5 Rc8 $1 27. Nxb7 Rc2 {and, once again, black is active enough to
hold the ending.}) (13... Nxg4 {would not be my first choice as black; for a
human player, it seems quite dangerous to open the g-file. With the computer
leading the way, however, everything is of course equal:} 14. Rdg1 Qh5 15. Be2
$5 e5 $5 16. Nxe5 Ncxe5 17. h3 Bf5 18. e4 Bg5 $1 19. exf5 Bxf4+ 20. Kb1 Qh4 21.
hxg4 Qxf2 {, with a roughly balanced position.}) (13... a6 $5 {is quite
forcing:} 14. Rdg1 b5 15. g5 $1 Nh5 16. Bd3 b4 17. gxh6 bxa3 $1 {with an
unclear position.} (17... bxc3 $2 {In this position, open lines are more
important than pieces.} 18. hxg7 cxb2+ 19. Kb1 Nxg7 20. Bh6 Bf6 21. Rxg7+ $1
Bxg7 22. Rg1 $18)) ({In this specific position, black also has the extra
option of} 13... Qc5 $5 {In the 5. Bf4 line, this is not so strong, since 14.
Bd3 would eye the h7 pawn.} 14. Be2 ({Alternatives are no better.} 14. Bd3 $2 {
now runs into} e5 $1 {; with the pawn on h7, 15.g5! would be a strong response.
}) ({After} 14. Na4 Qa5 {white has nothing better than a repetition.}) ({
and finally, after} 14. Ba2 Nxg4 {is an improved version for black over 13...
Nxg4 -- having the bishop on c4 is clearly better than having the bishop on a2.
}) 14... e5 {Black can now play this without fear of Bxh6, since white's
bishop is passively placed on e2.} 15. b4 Qb6 16. Na4 {And now black has two
choices: he can sacrifice a knight, or his queen!} exf4 $3 (16... Nxb4 $5 17.
axb4 Qxb4 18. Bxe5 b5 19. Nc3 Bb7 {also offers black excellent compensation.
White simply cannot afford such a weak king.}) 17. Nxb6 axb6 {Black has only
two pieces for the queen -- but such compensation! Every open file or diagonal
seems to lead directly to white's king. In a practical game, I would play
black any day of the week.}) 14. Rxd8+ Qxd8 $6 (14... Nxd8 $5 {Is an
improvement -- white doesn't get the d-file with tempo.} 15. Rd1 (15. g5 $6
hxg5 16. Nxg5 Bd7 17. Rd1 Be8 {allows black to coordinate his pieces -- Rc8
and b5-b4 is next, with fully-fledged counterplay.}) 15... Nxg4 (15... Bd7 16.
h4 $1 Be8 17. g5 hxg5 18. hxg5 Nh5 19. Bd6 Bxd6 (19... Bxg5 $2 20. Bb4 $18) 20.
Rxd6 $16 {leads to a passive position for black.}) 16. Nb5 e5 $1 17. Nxe5 Nxe5
18. Bxe5 Be6 {and black is close to completing development. However, after} 19.
Bd3 Rc8 20. Bc3 Qb6 21. Qa4 $1 {, a la Petrosian - Smyslov, white still has
chances for an advantage. The idea is Qe4.}) 15. g5 $1 {From here on, it's
very impressive how swiftly So builds up the attack.} Nh5 (15... hxg5 16. Nxg5
Bd7 17. Rg1 $1 {is also very dangerous.}) 16. Rd1 Bd7 $6 ({The only chance was
} 16... Qa5 $1 17. g6 $1 (17. gxh6 {is what black is hoping for:} Nxf4 18. exf4
Qh5 $1 19. Qe4 Qxh6 {and now white, though still better, has something to
prove in view of his crippled structure.}) 17... Nxf4 18. exf4 Qh5 $1 19. gxf7+
Qxf7 20. Qe4 Kf8 {, but even here black's position is close to lost.}) 17. gxh6
(17. g6 $5 {was equally strong: if black takes with} fxg6 {, then white wins
with either the simple 18. Bxe6+ or the flashier} 18. Bxh6 $1) 17... Nxf4 18.
exf4 Qc7 19. Qe4 {All of white's pieces are centralized and function ideally.
Black's next move -- decentralizing his knight -- looks suspicious, and it's
no surprise that white has a direct win.} Na5 {Hastening the end.} 20. Ne5 $1
Be8 21. Rd7 $3 {A pretty tactical blow. Black cannot take in view of 22.h7+
and mate next move.} Qc5 22. b4 Qxf2 23. Rxe7 Qg1+ 24. Nd1 Qxh2 {...and
without waiting for white's reply, black resigned. A powerful demonstration of
white's attacking possibilities after the modernistic g2-g4.} 1-0

[Event "St. Louis Rapid & Blitz"]
[Site "lichess.org INT"]
[Date "2020.09.16"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Wesley So"]
[Black "Leinier Dominguez Perez"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C80"]
[WhiteElo "2770"]
[BlackElo "2758"]
[Annotator "Shlyakhtenko,Robert"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[EventDate "2020.09.15"]
[EventType "blitz"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,71,25,5,34,26,28,18,29,3,0,1,26,1,-1,12,17,15,15,-40,-21,-8,49,36,46,
39,35,16,32,23,27,32,32,29,3,7,69,55,69,67,75,27,2,-10,-5,-182,-52,-45,-24,-62,
-62,-61,0,128,174,145,242,242,211,211,196,256,248,269,259,259,273,284,777,814,
822,831,836,843]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5
7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. Nbd2 Nc5 10. c3 d4 11. Bxe6 Nxe6 12. cxd4 Ncxd4 13. a4
Bb4 {So far, this is all well-known theory. Here So plays a logical but rare
move.} 14. Ne4 $5 (14. axb5 Nxb5 (14... axb5 $2 {loses to} 15. Rxa8 Qxa8 16.
Nxd4 Nxd4 17. Qg4 $1 $18) 15. Qa4 {is the most common continuation, where a
recent game went} c5 16. Nc4 O-O 17. Rd1 Nbd4 18. Nxd4 Nxd4 19. Be3 a5 {
with approximate equality, ½-½ (42) Le,Q (2709)-Vidit,S (2726) chess24.com
INT 2020}) 14... O-O ({I wonder what white had in mind after} 14... Qd5 {
, immediately asking where the knight is going. It seems that} 15. Nxd4 {
is more or less forced, but after} Nxd4 16. Qd3 ({or} 16. Be3 $6 Qxe4 17. Qxd4
Qxd4 18. Bxd4 O-O-O $15) 16... O-O (16... Qc4 $5) (16... O-O-O $5) 17. Rd1 c5 {
Black is doing well. For example:} 18. Be3 Qxe5 19. Bxd4 cxd4 20. Qxd4 Qe7 $11)
15. Be3 Nf5 (15... c5 {is possible, of course, but black was understandably
wary of allowing} 16. Nd6) 16. Qc2 $5 Nxe3 17. fxe3 {This is So's idea. Yes,
white temporarily has the worse structure. But he will soon play Nd4, and in
view of the weak c6-square, black has to trade. Then the resulting position 
(with white pawns on d4 and e5) offers many dynamic possibilities.} Qe7 18. Nd4
Nxd4 19. exd4 Rad8 20. Rad1 c5 $1 {So far, black has reacted well. White's
center is under attack, and simplification seems unavoidable. But white has a
clever idea in mind.} 21. axb5 ({Black's point is that} 21. Nxc5 $2 {loses to}
Rxd4 22. Rxd4 Bxc5 23. Qf2 Qxe5 24. Rfd1 bxa4 {and white cannot escape the pin.
}) ({Likewise,} 21. dxc5 Qxe5 {gives white nothing.}) 21... axb5 ({If black
wanted a draw, he could have played} 21... cxd4 $5 22. bxa6 Qxe5 {, which
seems fine for black. After} 23. Qc4 ({or} 23. Nf2 Bd6 24. g3 Ra8 25. Ra1 Rfd8
$11) 23... Qxe4 24. Qxb4 Qc6 25. a7 d3 {the position is completely equal. But
objectively, black had nothing to fear in the game either.}) 22. Qd3 $1 cxd4 (
22... Rxd4 $2 {allows} 23. Nf6+ $1 gxf6 24. Qg3+ Kh8 25. exf6 {and black has
to give up the queen:} Qxf6 26. Rxf6 Rxd1+ 27. Rf1 Rxf1+ 28. Kxf1 $16 {Whether
this is holdable for black or not is completely irrelevant; any reasonable
player would stop calculating after 25. exf6 and start searching for other
options.}) 23. Rf5 {[#] White has sacrificed a pawn for the solidity of his
center. Black's "extra" d4-pawn potentially does more harm than good: it is
firmly blockaded and limits the activity of black's pieces. This is an
important point: if white's queen were on c2, for example, black could always
consider sacrificing the pawn back with ...d3, and white would in fact be the
one with the weaker king.} g6 (23... Qh4 $5 {is also an interesting defense,
trying to get into the way of white's pieces. White should continue with} 24.
Rf3 (24. Rdf1 Qh6 $1 {aiming for Qe3+.} 25. R5f3 Be7 26. Rh3 Qg6 $11) 24...
Rfe8 $1 25. Rh3 Qf4 26. Nd6 Bxd6 27. Qxh7+ Kf8 28. Qh8+ Ke7 29. exd6+ Rxd6 30.
Qxg7 {and after} Rc8 $1 {Black's centralized pieces form a shield for his king.
} 31. Rf1 {is met simply with} Rc1) 24. Rdf1 $1 {An imaginative move. It's not
difficult to see that the rook is untouchable, and meanwhile, white brings
another piece into the attack.} Kg7 $2 {This is simply a blunder: next move
black will have to move his king back to g8 anyway.} (24... gxf5 $2 25. Nf6+
Kg7 26. Qxf5 Rh8 27. Qg5+ Kf8 28. Qh6# {was not an option.}) (24... h6 $5 {
would hold on, preventing Ng5. White has many attacking tries, but no
breakthrough.} 25. Nf6+ (25. Rh5 $5 Kg7 26. Ng3 Rg8 $1 27. Rhf5 $1 Kh8 $1 28.
Rxf7 Qxe5 {is better for black}) (25. h3 $5 {is interesting, but after} Kg7 {
white has nothing better than} 26. Nf6 {anyway.}) 25... Kg7 26. Qg3 Bd2 $1 {
and white already has to be careful not to be worse.}) 25. Ng5 $1 {It's
possible that Dominguez simply missed that this was possible (I doubt he would
ever have allowed this in a classical time control). Black still cannot take
the rook, so the only move is} Kg8 {, going back. Now white has gained a
crucial tempo for the attack.} (25... gxf5 26. Qxf5 Rh8 27. Nxf7 {wins.} (27.
Qg4 Kf8 28. Qh5 $1 {is also strong.}) {After} 27... h5 {(forced, in view of
the threat of Qg4+).} 28. Rf3 $1 Be1 29. e6 $1 {black has no defense.}) 26. Qh3
$1 h5 27. Qg3 $1 {Black cannot prevent Nxf7.} d3 28. Nxf7 Bc5+ 29. Kh1 Rxf7 ({
or} 29... Kg7 30. e6 $1 $18 Qxe6 31. Nxd8 Qxf5 32. Rxf5 Rxf5 33. Qxd3) 30. Rxf7
Qxf7 31. Rxf7 Kxf7 32. Qf3+ Kg8 33. e6 $1 {White threatens Qf7+ followed by
Qf6+, so black has no time to advance the d-pawn.} Kh7 34. Qf7+ Kh6 35. Qf4+
Kg7 36. Qc7+ 1-0

[Event "St. Louis Rapid & Blitz"]
[Site "lichess.org INT"]
[Date "2020.09.19"]
[Round "16.3"]
[White "Ian Nepomniachtchi"]
[Black "Wesley So"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C26"]
[WhiteElo "2784"]
[BlackElo "2770"]
[Annotator "Shlyakhtenko,Robert"]
[PlyCount "58"]
[EventDate "2020.09.18"]
[EventType "blitz"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,58,26,8,25,11,11,-15,-28,-26,-17,-10,-34,-13,-40,-50,-13,-48,-34,-25,
-3,-18,-18,-23,-18,-21,-7,-42,-43,-47,-37,-49,-28,-6,-22,-19,2,-47,-36,-51,
-107,-93,-80,-89,-92,-92,-128,-124,-128,-143,-131,-190,-199,-199,-199,-188,
-167,-250,-175,-175,-186]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. d4 exd4 4. Qxd4 {This
variation is a rare guest in top-level events, but in a rapid game, anything
is playable. White has a very simple plan, which makes this line highly
attractive for fast time controls.} Nc6 5. Qd3 Bc5 6. Bf4 O-O (6... d6 $5 {
has its points, since after} 7. O-O-O {Black can indeed play} Bxf2 {, as in
Dubov - Nakamura -- e4-e5 is not effective here.}) 7. O-O-O (7. e5 $2 Re8 8.
Nf3 Ng4 {simply loses the e5 pawn.}) 7... Re8 {Classical development. In
general, this is the best way to play against such sidelines -- usually white
has some tactical idea in mind, but gets nothing if black develops simply and
solidly.} ({White doesn't fear the greedy} 7... Bxf2 $6 {, and I doubt that So
seriously considered it.} 8. e5 $1 Nh5 9. Bd2 {and black's pieces are very
loose. For example:} Bxg1 10. Rxg1 Nxe5 11. Qf5 d6 12. Qxh5 Bg4 13. Qg5 Qxg5
14. Bxg5 Bxd1 15. Kxd1 {with a better endgame for white, though accidents
could happen in view of the material imbalance.}) 8. f3 d6 9. Qd2 Be6 10. Kb1
a6 11. Nge2 ({It is important to complete development before starting an
attack with} 11. g4 $5 {. Here black's central counterplay is very strong:} d5
$1 (11... b5 12. Qg2 $1 {is the point of keeping the knight on g1.} b4 13. Na4
Ba7 14. Bc1 $1 {is better for white, who will follow up with g5, and, at a
later stage, f3-f4. The queenside can be secured by b2-b3.}) 12. g5 (12. exd5
$2 Nxd5 13. Nxd5 Bxd5 14. Qxd5 Qxd5 15. Rxd5 Re1+ 16. Bc1 Rxf1 17. Rxc5 Re8 {
is the point. White loses with most of his pieces still on the back rank.})
12... d4 13. Na4 Bb4 14. c3 dxc3 15. Qc2 Nd7 16. Nxc3 Bd6 $1 17. Bxd6 cxd6 {
With a complicated position in which black has decent chances. For the time
being, white needs to defend the g5-pawn, after which Black can follow up with
Qa5, or with Nb6 and d5.}) 11... b5 12. Nc1 Ne5 13. Bg5 $6 {This is an
interesting idea. White wants to provoke ...h6, after which g2-g4 at a later
stage gains power. The main problem with this plan is simply the time
investment: black will already be fully mobilized by the time white can play
g2-g4 and can play...well, you'll just have to see the rest of the game to
find out!} (13. h4 {would have been more standard. There is a lot of play
ahead.}) 13... h6 14. Be3 Bxe3 15. Qxe3 b4 (15... c5 $1 {would have been even
stronger. There is no problem with "weakening" the d5 square, since white has
no way to take advantage of it. In fact, black is the one who will be aiming
for ...d6-d5.} 16. h4 (16. g4 $2 {allows an immediate} d5 $1 17. Qxc5 Rc8 18.
Qf2 Rxc3 19. bxc3 Qc7 {, which looks like a dream Sicilian Dragon.}) 16... h5
$1 {White has little counterplay, whereas ...b4 and d5! is coming.}) 16. N3e2
a5 17. Nf4 a4 18. h4 Qe7 {So has calmly developed his pieces, and his
queenside initiative is beginning to look threatening. Therefore it seems
natural for white to play} 19. g4 {[#] , which would give him excellent
counterplay if he were able to enforce g4-g5. But black has a brilliant retort:
} a3 $1 20. b3 Bxg4 $1 {Again, there are similarities to a Dragon, where such
sacrifices are bread-and-butter. Black gets enough material compensation for
the piece, but more importantly, the dark squares around white's king are
extremely weak.} 21. fxg4 Nexg4 22. Qd4 ({or} 22. Qg1 Nxe4 23. Nd5 Qe5 24. Qd4
c6 $1) 22... c5 $1 (22... Nxe4 $2 {allows} 23. Nd5 {, and black is unable to
exploit the c3 square.}) 23. Qxd6 Qxd6 24. Rxd6 Nxe4 $19 {White has no safe
place for his rook.} 25. Rd7 (25. Rc6 Nc3+ 26. Ka1 Nf2 {wins similarly to the
game.}) 25... Ngf2 (25... Nc3+ 26. Ka1 Re1 $2 {Would still allow white to
defend with} 27. Nfd3 {. This is why black needed to play Ngf2 first.}) 26. Bc4
({After} 26. Rg1 Nc3+ 27. Ka1 Re1 28. Nfe2 Re8 29. Bh3 Rxg1 30. Nxg1 Re1 {
mate can be delayed, but not prevented.}) 26... Nxh1 27. Bxf7+ Kh7 28. Nce2
Nhg3 29. Bg6+ Kh8 {Black is up material, and crucially, white's king still
cannot find any shelter. So took advantage of white's slow opening play
impressively and handled the initiative very precisely.} 0-1

[Event "Skilling Open Prelim"]
[Site "chess24.com INT"]
[Date "2020.11.22"]
[Round "2.4"]
[White "Firouzja, Alireza"]
[Black "So, Wesley"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D04"]
[WhiteElo "2749"]
[BlackElo "2770"]
[Annotator "Yermolinsky"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "2020.11.22"]
[EventType "tourn (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "15"]
[EventCategory "21"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,69,14,20,14,20,27,9,46,13,-4,-23,-6,-25,-13,-24,-17,-41,-46,-45,-48,
-47,-41,-48,-57,-57,-57,-46,-32,-48,-58,-9,2,9,-18,-18,-4,-6,-6,-10,7,-35,-56,
-37,-101,-100,-112,-66,-43,-95,-85,-105,-146,-157,68,-157,-74,-74,-32,-85,-17,
142,260,279,282,334,529,680,29993,29994,29995,29996]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. e3
c5 4. dxc5 $5 e6 5. b4 {The Noteboom Variation with colors reversed is a
reasonable choice if White is seeking a double-edged game.} a5 6. c3 axb4 7.
cxb4 b6 8. Bb5+ Bd7 9. Bxd7+ Nbxd7 10. a4 bxc5 11. b5 Bd6 12. Bb2 O-O 13. O-O
Qc7 {Aside of an extra tempo for White, there's one more substantual
difference compared with a standard Noteboom: instead of a bishop on b7 Black
has a knight on d7. Seeing that Wesley decided to occupy the d3-square with
his knight.} ({Alternatively,} 13... Bc7 14. Nbd2 Ba5 $5 {slows White down on
the queenside, but at the cost losing control over the e5-square. After} 15.
Qc2 Re8 16. Ne5 Nxe5 17. Bxe5 Nd7 18. Bb2 {chances are about even.}) ({It's
worth mentioning that the immediate} 13... e5 $6 {can be strongly answered with
} 14. e4 $1) 14. Nbd2 c4 15. Bc3 {[#] Alireza leaves to doubt about his true
intentions to move the passed pawns forward.} e5 ({Wesley must have looked at} 
15... Rfb8 16. Qb1 Nc5 17. a5 Nfe4 {but after} 18. b6 {Black has to sacrifice
the exchange,} Nxc3 19. bxc7 Rxb1 20. Nxb1 Nb5 {While the resulting position
may be OK for Black, he must have deemed such extreme measures unnecessary.})
16. a5 $3 {White sacrifices not just a pawn, the safety of his king is at
stake, but Firouzja knows no fear.} ({The absolute majority of chessplayers,
dead or alive, would automatically play} 16. h3) 16... e4 17. b6 Qb8 18. Nd4
Bxh2+ 19. Kh1 Be5 20. Nc6 Qd6 21. Nxe5 Nxe5 22. g3 Nfg4 23. Kg2 {It feels like
Black should be better here, but perhaps he's not.} Qe6 ({I'm not sure Wesley
looked at} 23... f5 {but the possible reply} 24. Bd4 Nc6 25. a6 Nxd4 26. Nxc4
$1 dxc4 27. Qxd4 {well illustrates the complexity of the task Black is facing.}
) 24. Rb1 Rfb8 25. Qe2 Nd3 26. Rb5 {[#] Alireza's play is very consistent. His
pieces are working around Black's formidable Nd3, seeking better squares to
hit the d5-pawn and support the passers. In this sitiation Wesley had to be
very precise.} Ra6 $2 ({Necessary was} 26... f5 {again, the move Wesley was
reluctant to consider. Now} 27. Bd4 {runs into} Qh6 $1 28. Rh1 Qc6 {with twin
threats to Rb5 and pawn on f2.}) 27. Nb1 h5 $2 {The final error by Wesley So
in this very difficult game.} ({It was the last call for} 27... f5 $1 {
anticipating} 28. Bd4 Qh6 29. Rh1 Qg6 $1 ({Ineffective is} 29... Qc6 30. Nc3 {
as the d5-pawn is about to fall.}) 30. Nc3 $2 ({Truth to tell, White has} 30.
f4 $1 {stopping all threats to his king.}) 30... f4 31. exf4 Nxf4+ 32. gxf4
Ne3+ {mating.}) 28. Bd4 h4 29. Rh1 {Black's main problem is terrible placement
of his rooks, which effectively deprives him of any meaningful counterplay.}
hxg3 30. fxg3 Nh6 31. Nc3 Qd6 32. Rxd5 Qa3 33. Rxh6 $1 {Now a pretty finish.}
gxh6 34. Qg4+ Kf8 35. Bg7+ 1-0

[Event "Skilling Open Prelim"]
[Site "chess24.com INT"]
[Date "2020.11.23"]
[Round "8.3"]
[White "Duda, Jan-Krzysztof"]
[Black "Radjabov, Teimour"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A38"]
[WhiteElo "2743"]
[BlackElo "2765"]
[Annotator "Yermolinsky"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[EventDate "2020.11.22"]
[EventType "tourn (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "15"]
[EventCategory "21"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,72,23,27,24,1,24,-32,-22,-32,-24,-24,6,-7,19,23,21,21,23,37,45,54,51,
35,50,24,38,21,30,9,37,6,9,15,9,-44,-31,-35,-29,-33,-30,-18,-9,-7,-29,-23,-21,
-55,-61,-47,-37,-9,71,16,0,0,18,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,-664,-29986,-29987,-1709,
-29995,-922,-897,-897,-897,-695]} 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. b3 Bg7 4. Bb2 c5 5.
Bg2 d6 6. O-O ({Main line is} 6. d4 cxd4 7. Nxd4 d5 8. O-O O-O 9. c4 {where
Black chooses between} dxc4 {which gives White a slight advantage} ({and the
more challenging} 9... e5 $5)) 6... e5 {Now the game falls into a typical
pattern of an English Opening.} 7. c4 O-O 8. Nc3 Nc6 9. d3 h6 10. Nd2 Be6 11.
Rc1 Qd7 12. a3 Rac8 13. Nd5 b6 14. Bc3 $6 {This feels too slow, as White
doesn't have the time to make anything meaningful out of the b3-b4 advance.} ({
Given the position of Bb2, a standard plan would begin with} 14. e3 {then if
Black continues with} Bg4 (14... Ne7 {is more prudent}) 15. f3 Bh3 {White will
get a chance to strike in the center,} 16. Nxf6+ Bxf6 17. Ne4 Be7 18. Bxh3 Qxh3
19. d4 $1) 14... Bg4 $1 {Such a classy move.} 15. Nxf6+ ({Perhaps, Duda had to
settle for} 15. b4 Nxd5 16. cxd5 Nd4 17. f3 Bh3 18. e4 {albeit it's hard to
talk about White's advantage after} Bxg2 19. Kxg2 b5) 15... Bxf6 16. Ne4 Bg7
17. Bd2 {More time is spent on the bishop's little shuffle.} ({Black stands
better in case of} 17. f4 $6 exf4 18. Bxg7 Kxg7 19. gxf4 Nd4) 17... f5 18. Nc3
f4 $1 {[#] Black enjoys a perfect Closed Sicilian attacking setup.} 19. Bd5+ $1
{Duda is not backing out of a fight.} Kh8 20. f3 Bh3 21. Rf2 Ne7 22. Be4 Nf5 $5
{Teimour follows with an inspired pawn sacrifice, designed to open up his
dark-squared bishop.} 23. gxf4 exf4 24. Bxf4 Bd4 25. Nd5 Qg7 $6 ({The immediate
} 25... g5 26. Bd2 g4 {looked strong. After} 27. e3 gxf3 28. Kh1 Bg2+ 29. Rxg2
fxg2+ 30. Bxg2 Be5 {both sides have their chances, but I'd go with Black.}) 26.
Bd2 g5 27. e3 g4 $5 28. fxg4 ({Both players missed the computer defense} 28.
Kh1 g3 29. Re2 {The best line goes} gxh2 30. exd4 Ng3+ 31. Kxh2 Nxe4 32. Qg1 {
and White gets some edge in the endgame.}) 28... Bxg4 {[#]} 29. Qe1 $2 {
For the whole tournament Jan-Krzysztof Duda was not in his best form.} (29. Qf1
{would defend against mate and likely lead to an unclear endgame after} Bf3+
30. Rg2 Bxg2 31. Qxg2 Qxg2+ 32. Kxg2 Be5) 29... Bf3+ 30. Kf1 Nh4 $1 {Despite
terrible shortage of time, Teimour was clinical to the end.} 31. exd4 Bg2+ 32.
Ke2 Qg4+ 33. Ke3 Bxe4 34. Bc3 (34. dxe4 Rf3+ 35. Ke2 Rg3+ 36. Kf1 Rg1#) 34...
Ng2+ (34... Qh3+ 35. Kxe4 Qe6#) 35. Kd2 Nxe1 36. dxc5+ Kg8 0-1

[Event "Skilling Open Prelim"]
[Site "chess24.com INT"]
[Date "2020.11.24"]
[Round "14.4"]
[White "Nakamura, Hi"]
[Black "Firouzja, Alireza"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B19"]
[WhiteElo "2736"]
[BlackElo "2749"]
[Annotator "Yermolinsky"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "2020.11.22"]
[EventType "tourn (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "15"]
[EventCategory "21"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7. Nf3 Nd7 8. h5
Bh7 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 e6 11. Bf4 Qa5+ 12. Bd2 Bb4 13. c3 Be7 14. c4 Qb6 15.
Bc3 Ngf6 16. Ne5 Rd8 17. Qe2 Bb4 18. O-O Bxc3 19. bxc3 O-O 20. Rab1 Qc7 21. f4
c5 22. Qf3 Nb6 23. Rfd1 Nfd7 24. Ne4 cxd4 25. cxd4 {[#] A critical position
was reached after 25 moves of play.} f5 $6 {While this move helps Black to
figure out the immediate tactics revolving around a possible capture on c4, in
the long run it is risky because it weakens the kingside.} ({Neither} 25...
Nxc4) ({nor} 25... Nxe5 26. fxe5 Qxc4 {can be refuted outright, but in both
cases White would retain enough counterplay not to get significantly worse.})
26. Nc5 $1 {Excellent judgement from Hikaru Nakamura. The powerful Ne5 must be
preserved, never mind a loss of a pawn.} Nxc5 27. dxc5 Qxc5+ 28. Kh2 Qc7 29. a4
Rxd1 ({Rapid games have interesting dynamics. The value of the initiative is
greater, compared with slower games, where the defender has a better chance of
figuring things out. Here it is more about the flow of the game. From that
perspective, a surprising exchange sacrifice,} 29... Nd7 30. Ng6 Nc5 31. Nxf8
Rxf8 32. Rd4 b6 {might have been a good idea.}) 30. Rxd1 Rd8 $2 ({The only
move to hold things together was} 30... a5) 31. Qxb7 $3 {Bolt from the blue!}
Qxb7 32. Rxd8+ Kh7 33. Ng6 {The threat of mate forces Black to part with his
queen and head for a gloomy knight ending.} Qc8 (33... Qa8 {would hardly be
any better:} 34. Rxa8 Nxa8 35. a5 $1 {restricting the knight takes prioroty
over material gains.} (35. Nf8+ Kg8 36. Nxe6 Nb6 {with counterplay.}) 35... Kg8
36. Kg3 Kf7 37. Kf3 Nc7 38. Ke3 Ne8 39. Kd4 {with decisive advantage to White.}
) 34. Rxc8 Nxc8 35. c5 $1 {No moves left for the black knight, and all pawn
endings are lost. Game over.} Kg8 36. Kg3 Kf7 37. Kf3 Ke8 38. Ke3 Kd7 39. Kd4
a6 40. Ke5 Kc6 41. Kxe6 Kxc5 42. Kf7 Kb4 43. Kxg7 1-0

[Event "Skilling Open KO 2020"]
[Site "chess24.com INT"]
[Date "2020.11.25"]
[Round "1.13"]
[White "So, Wesley"]
[Black "Radjabov, Teimour"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A28"]
[WhiteElo "2770"]
[BlackElo "2765"]
[Annotator "Yermolinsky"]
[PlyCount "62"]
[EventDate "2020.11.25"]
[EventType "k.o. (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "3"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,62,25,-9,-9,-34,-18,-24,-31,-21,-22,-32,-24,-32,-29,-44,-57,-54,-22,
-26,-11,-17,-7,-8,-13,-5,13,-43,-17,-7,7,19,18,14,2,-12,21,-12,-2,-63,-31,-38,
-19,8,-13,-22,-39,-2,146,-23,-27,-53,-30,-30,-22,-42,0,0,0,0,0,-218,-169,
-29999,-30000]} 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. e3 Bb4 5. Qc2 O-O 6. Nd5 Re8
7. Qf5 d6 8. Nxf6+ Qxf6 9. Qxf6 gxf6 10. a3 Bc5 11. b4 Bb6 12. Bb2 {This
endgame had occured multiple time in tournament practice in the last two
decades. The consensus was that White stood better, but it may have had a lot
to do with Black's next move.} a6 $5 {This move, only played just once before
in an obscure game, can be a game-changer.} ({Up to this point everyone's
attention was focused on} 12... a5 13. b5 Ne7 14. d4 a4) 13. O-O-O Bf5 14. Rg1
Ne7 15. d4 ({Perhaps, a more restrained approach,} 15. g4 Be4 16. Be2 {
preparing d2-d3, was in order.}) 15... Be4 16. Nd2 Bg6 17. Nf3 (17. g4 $5)
17... a5 18. b5 c6 19. a4 cxb5 20. axb5 a4 21. Ba3 {[#] A critical point in
the game. At first sight White's position looks overwhelming, but Radjabov'
sharp eye spots a great tactical idea.} exd4 $1 22. exd4 ({In retrospect,
White'd better be content with} 22. Nxd4 Bc5 23. Kb2) 22... Nd5 $3 {[#]
Absolutely brilliant! Black's active rooks and the criss-crossing bishops
represent a clear danger to the white king.} 23. Kb2 (23. cxd5 $2 {loses to}
Rac8+ 24. Kb2 Rc2+ 25. Ka1 Ba5 26. Bb2 a3) {What now? Teimour finds a
follow-up.} 23... Ba5 $3 24. Bxd6 ({Again,} 24. cxd5 {is met by} Rac8 {and the
best defense} 25. Rd3 Rc4 26. Bxd6 b6 $3 27. Nd2 (27. Ba3 Rec8 {with a
decisive infiltration of the black rook.}) 27... Rcc8 28. Nf3 {barely holds a
draw for White. It is easy to show engine-generated lines while analyzing at
home, but in the actual game situation Wesley faced a very tough task.}) 24...
Nc3 25. Rc1 (25. Re1 {is busted by} a3+ $1 26. Kxa3 Nxb5+) 25... Ne4 26. Bg3
a3+ 27. Ka2 {[#]} Nc3+ {Radjabov was low on time, and he missed the strongest
continuation of his attack.} (27... Bb4 $1 28. Kb3 a2 29. Kxb4 Nxg3 {would
require White to find the only move} 30. Ra1 $1 {to keep the game going.}) 28.
Kxa3 Bb4+ 29. Kxb4 Na2+ 30. Kc5 $4 {In the end Wesley blunders into a
checkmate.} ({The best line,} 30. Kb3 Nxc1+ 31. Kb2 Ne2 32. Bxe2 Rxe2+ 33. Kb3
{could still save the game for White.}) 30... Re6 $1 31. b6 Ra5# 0-1

[Event "Skilling Open KO 2020"]
[Site "chess24.com INT"]
[Date "2020.11.25"]
[Round "1.11"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Giri, Anish"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D38"]
[WhiteElo "2862"]
[BlackElo "2764"]
[Annotator "Yermolinsky"]
[PlyCount "100"]
[EventDate "2020.11.25"]
[EventType "k.o. (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "3"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,100,19,31,25,-16,-12,4,4,0,33,-2,9,-21,5,-6,-14,-16,-28,-31,-25,-79,
-41,-41,1,3,-39,-3,18,4,21,26,26,-8,14,13,-10,-6,1,-30,16,16,20,-67,-67,-62,
-103,-126,-86,-61,-99,-70,-94,-185,-192,-195,-47,-25,-42,-39,-10,-1,-50,-40,
-49,-62,-70,-67,-70,-78,-79,-70,-80,-92,-60,-74,-60,-84,-84,-85,-85,-87,-86,
-88,-2,-81,-81,-80,-80,-80,-80,-80,-80,-80,-80,-80,-80,-80,-80,-80,-80,-80,-80]
} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bf4 Ne4 7. Rc1 Nc6 $5
{Giri transposes to the Black Knights Tango (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 Nc6!?). I analyzed
and played these lines some 25 years ago, and suddenly they're popular again!}
({It's too soon for} 7... g5 $6 {on account of} 8. Bd2 $1) ({while the line} 
7... c5 8. g3 $1 Qa5 9. Bg2 Nxc3 10. bxc3 Bxc3+ 11. Bd2 Bxd2+ 12. Qxd2 Qxd2+
13. Kxd2 c4 14. Ne5 f6 15. Nd3 {exposes the unprotected position of Bc8,
enabling White to win the d5-pawn.}) 8. e3 (8. Nd2 g5 9. Be3 Nxc3 10. bxc3 Ba3
11. Rb1 f5 {was seen in Carlsen-Giri and Carlsen-Grischuk, played earlier this
year.}) 8... g5 9. Bg3 h5 10. h4 Nxg3 11. fxg3 gxh4 $6 ({It's not obvious to
me why Black should deviate from the obvious continuation} 11... g4 12. Ng1 Bd6
13. Nge2 Ne7 $15) 12. Bb5 $1 {As they say, developing moves are correct 90% of
the time.} Qd6 13. gxh4 $2 (13. O-O $1 {would be a worthy follow-up to White's
previous move.}) 13... Qg3+ 14. Kf1 Rg8 15. Rg1 $2 (15. Qe2 {recommended by
many online commentators, indeed looked a better choice.}) 15... Bxc3 16. Rxc3
Bd7 17. Rc5 a6 18. Ba4 Qd6 {It is Anish Giri commanding the black pieces, so
safe choices are no be expected.} ({Much more enterprising would be} 18...
O-O-O $5 19. Rxd5 Be6 {White pieces are really awkward placed, and Carlsen
would have work hard to survive.}) 19. Bxc6 Bxc6 20. Ne5 Bb5+ 21. Ke1 (21. Kf2
$5) 21... O-O-O 22. Kd2 Rde8 23. Qxh5 f6 24. Nf3 Qg3 25. Qf5+ Kb8 26. Qf4 Qf2+
27. Kc1 {[#]} Qxe3+ $4 {I dare say, it's very disheartening to see a top
player jumping on the first chance to trade queens, when attacking options are
present.} ({The best of them,} 27... Be2 {threatens Nf3, and by extension Rg1,
so White's position collapses immediately. A possible loss of the c7-pawn is
irrelevant.}) 28. Qxe3 Rxe3 29. Re1 Rxe1+ 30. Nxe1 Rg4 31. Rxd5 Rxh4 32. Rf5
Rxd4 33. Rxf6 Rg4 34. Rf2 Bc6 {Who knows, maybe Giri can score a lot of wins
in such positions against lesser players, but he wasn't goiing to beat Magnus
Carlsen here.} 35. Nf3 Bd5 36. a3 b5 37. Kd2 Kb7 38. Ne5 Rxg2 39. Rxg2 Bxg2 40.
b4 a5 41. Kc3 axb4+ 42. axb4 Kb6 43. Kd4 Bh3 44. Nd3 Kc6 45. Ke5 Bg4 46. Nc5
Bh3 47. Nb3 Kb6 48. Nc5 Kc6 49. Nb3 Kb6 50. Nc5 Kc6 1/2-1/2

[Event "Skilling Open KO 2020"]
[Site "chess24.com INT"]
[Date "2020.11.26"]
[Round "1.32"]
[White "Nakamura, Hi"]
[Black "Vachier Lagrave, M....."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D00"]
[WhiteElo "2736"]
[BlackElo "2784"]
[Annotator "Yermolinsky"]
[PlyCount "107"]
[EventDate "2020.11.25"]
[EventType "k.o. (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "3"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,107,28,28,30,-1,-6,4,49,-20,-3,-31,-27,-43,-20,-18,-18,-11,-3,-37,-17,
-25,-25,-26,-21,-37,-34,-33,-38,-19,-22,-40,-44,-46,-52,-65,-45,-44,-33,-34,
-36,-130,-116,-116,-123,-194,-187,-184,-176,-176,-184,-184,-144,-139,-118,-114,
-92,-110,-6,-55,28,56,75,0,20,-57,-49,-57,31,14,12,63,71,96,89,90,104,74,77,79,
89,66,77,31,58,75,61,80,92,69,69,38,60,59,65,76,79,98,124,137,163,109,173,162,
170,168,168,178,625,651]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 d5 3. e3 c5 4. c3 Qb6 5. Qc1 Bf5 6.
Nd2 Nbd7 7. Ngf3 e6 8. Nh4 Be4 9. a4 a6 10. Be2 h6 11. Bxf6 Nxf6 12. Nxe4 dxe4
13. g3 Be7 14. O-O O-O 15. Qc2 Rac8 16. Rfd1 Rfd8 17. Rac1 cxd4 18. exd4 Nd5
19. Ng2 f5 20. Qb1 $2 (20. Ra1) 20... Bg5 21. Rc2 Qb3 22. a5 Nb4 23. Rcc1 {[#]}
Bxc1 (23... Na2 $5 {recommended by Alexander Morozevich during a live
broadcast on some Russian-language website, would put Hikaru in an impossible
situation. Should he repeat the moves and concede the match or continue the
game after the objectively losing} 24. Ne3 Bxe3 25. fxe3 Nxc1 26. Qxc1) 24.
Rxc1 Nd5 {Suddenly the momentum began to shift. Maxime's play became tentative,
as he was looking to make a draw out of a winning position, which is an
extremely unnatural thing to do and can really mess with your head.} ({Under
normal circumstances in an MVL game we would see the resolute} 24... Nd3 $1 {
with something like} 25. Bxd3 (25. Rd1 e5 $1) 25... exd3 26. Qxd3 Qxb2 27. Qe3
e5 $1 28. dxe5 Rd3 {and a quick win to follow.}) 25. f3 exf3 26. Bxf3 Qb5 (
26... b6 $1 {to open the b-file to attack the b2-pawn.}) 27. Re1 Re8 28. Qa2
Kh8 29. Bh5 $1 Re7 30. Nh4 Kh7 {[#]} 31. Ng6 ({Possible was} 31. Bg6+ Kh8 32.
Bxf5 exf5 33. Ng6+ Kh7 34. Nxe7 Re8 35. Re5 {Hikaru might have missed the last
move that helps White to save a piece and retain advantage after} Rxe7 36. Qxd5
Rxe5 37. Qxe5) 31... Rec7 32. Ne5 Kg8 33. Ng6 Kh7 $2 {Blunder.} 34. Rxe6 {
Nakamura is back in the match!} Nf6 35. Be2 Qd5 36. Qxd5 Nxd5 37. Bd3 Rf7 38.
Ne5 Rff8 39. Rd6 Ne3 40. Rd7 Rb8 41. Rd6 Rbc8 42. Rb6 Rc7 43. Kf2 Nd5 44. Rd6
Ne7 45. Nd7 Rf7 46. Nc5 Nc6 47. b4 g6 48. h4 Ne7 49. Bc4 Rg7 50. Bb3 Rc6 51.
Rd7 Nc8 52. Rxg7+ Kxg7 53. Bd5 Rc7 54. Ne6+ 1-0

[Event "Skilling Open KO 2020"]
[Site "chess24.com INT"]
[Date "2020.11.27"]
[Round "2.12"]
[White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B72"]
[WhiteElo "2784"]
[BlackElo "2862"]
[Annotator "Yermolinsky"]
[PlyCount "106"]
[EventDate "2020.11.25"]
[EventType "k.o. (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "3"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,106,34,35,48,51,33,51,82,87,96,75,66,55,87,40,29,20,22,28,21,7,7,11,1,
0,-3,-33,-30,-35,-25,-21,-43,-34,-28,-28,-28,-50,-45,-45,-44,-73,-52,-51,0,-7,
-7,-63,-38,-38,-33,-41,-25,-52,-28,-32,-8,-8,0,-11,0,-3,0,44,53,49,57,53,56,48,
77,77,89,98,85,100,98,96,111,105,114,114,128,115,112,119,136,136,132,154,132,
132,156,132,232,247,250,226,218,222,229,231,188,102,51,40,27,0,0]} 1. e4 c5 2.
Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 g6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Bc4 O-O 8. Bb3 d6 9. h3
Na5 10. O-O b6 11. Qd2 Bb7 12. f3 Rc8 13. Bh6 Bxh6 14. Qxh6 e5 $1 15. Nde2 b5
16. a3 Nxb3 17. cxb3 d5 $15 18. exd5 Nxd5 19. Kh1 Qb6 20. Ne4 f6 21. Rfc1 Ne7
22. Rxc8 Rxc8 23. Rc1 Bxe4 $6 24. fxe4 Rxc1+ 25. Qxc1 a6 26. Qd1 Kf7 27. b4 Qe6
28. Nc3 Nc6 29. Nd5 Qd6 30. Qc1 $11 Ne7 $2 31. Qc7 $1 Qxc7 32. Nxc7 Nc8 33.
Nxa6 $16 Nd6 34. Nc7 Ke7 35. Nd5+ Ke6 36. Nc3 f5 37. Kg1 f4 38. b3 Kd7 39. a4
g5 40. Kf2 h5 41. Kf3 Kc6 42. Nd5 g4+ 43. hxg4 hxg4+ 44. Kxg4 Nxe4 45. Ne7+ Kd6
46. Ng6 Nf6+ 47. Kf5 Nd5 48. Nxe5 bxa4 49. bxa4 Nxb4 {[#]} 50. Ng6 $2 {At the
end of this difficult game Ian simply didn't have enough time to calculate a
win.} (50. a5 {would make a good use of the a-pawn as decoy.} Kc5 (50... Nd5
51. Ke4 $1 Ne3 52. g3 fxg3 53. Kxe3 Kc5 54. Nc4 $1) 51. Kxf4 Kb5 52. Ke4 {
and the g-pawn should queen, while the black king is helplessly watching from
the parking lot.}) 50... Nd5 51. Nxf4 (51. Ke4 Nc3+) 51... Ne3+ 52. Ke4 Nxg2 $1
{Slippery as an eel!} 53. Nxg2 Kc5 1/2-1/2

[Event "Skilling Open KO 2020"]
[Site "chess24.com INT"]
[Date "2020.11.27"]
[Round "2.13"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D85"]
[WhiteElo "2862"]
[BlackElo "2784"]
[Annotator "Yermolinsky"]
[PlyCount "151"]
[EventDate "2020.11.25"]
[EventType "k.o. (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "3"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,151,28,30,29,5,37,50,68,51,43,47,54,54,54,51,51,22,32,19,21,23,3,33,
42,4,37,26,32,48,38,32,60,-1,0,0,0,8,2,-19,-1,-11,1,-24,-26,-68,-47,-47,-47,
-41,-40,-49,-49,-87,-70,-143,-166,-163,-170,-189,-154,-145,-145,-145,-141,-136,
-146,-145,-146,-143,-143,-143,-146,-141,-157,-165,-158,-166,-128,-150,-68,-72,
-74,-146,-136,-139,-142,-139,-144,-144,-144,-144,-144,-144,-144,-144,-85,-108,
-106,-117,-119,-122,-119,-133,-129,-136,-129,-140,-104,-105,-62,-62,-78,-78,
-78,-78,-78,-101,-89,-84,-111,-95,-111,-73,-63,-61,-60,-65,-63,-105,-100,-103,
-110,-85,-78,-68,-57,-23,-21,-21,-5,-50,-21,-33,-21,-21,-2,-4,-4,-4,0,-4,-4,0]
} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Nf3 c5 8.
h3 O-O 9. Be2 Nc6 10. Be3 cxd4 11. cxd4 Qa5+ 12. Bd2 Qa3 13. Be3 Qa5+ 14. Bd2
Qa3 15. Be3 Qc3+ 16. Bd2 Qb2 17. Rb1 Qxa2 18. d5 Ne5 19. O-O Nxf3+ 20. Bxf3 a5
{[#] In this rather standard Grunfeld position White should always have enough
compensation.} 21. Bf4 $6 {By his own admission Carlsen got his ideas all
mixed up.} ({The right idea was to go for a queen hunt} 21. Qc1 $1 a4 $1 22.
Be2 {forcing} b5 23. Bxb5 Ba6 24. Bxa6 Rxa6 25. Bg5 {with good chances for
White.}) 21... a4 22. e5 Qc4 $1 23. Qd2 a3 24. Rfc1 Qa4 25. Ra1 Bf5 26. Ra2
Rfc8 $17 27. Rca1 Qb3 28. Bd1 Qc3 29. Qxc3 Rxc3 30. Bd2 Rd3 31. f4 g5 32. Bb4
gxf4 33. Bc2 Rd4 34. Bxe7 Bxc2 35. Rxc2 {[#]} Bxe5 ({A better technical
solution was} 35... Bf8 36. d6 b5 {keeping the connected passers.}) 36. Rxa3
Rxa3 37. Bxa3 Rxd5 38. Kf2 Kg7 39. Bb2 $1 b5 40. Bxe5+ Rxe5 41. Rb2 {Wat5ching
this game live I already had a feeling Magnus would find a way to escape,
despite being down two pawns on the board and some minutes on the clock. He's
just that good.} Kg6 42. Kf3 Kg5 43. Rb4 f6 44. Kf2 Rd5 45. Kf3 Rc5 46. Kf2 Kf5
47. Kf3 Ke6 48. Re4+ Re5 49. Rb4 {[#]} Rf5 $2 {A step in the wrong direction.}
({Best was to part with the front f-pawn,} 49... Kd6 50. Rxf4 Re6 {to get the
b-pawn going.} 51. Rh4 (51. Kg4 Kc5 52. Kf5 Ra6) 51... Re7 52. Rh6 b4 53. Rxf6+
Kc5 54. Rf8 b3 55. Rb8 Kc4 56. g4 Re5 {etc.}) 50. Rb1 h5 51. Ke4 h4 52. Ra1 Rd5
({Again, the resolute} 52... Re5+ 53. Kxf4 b4 54. Ra6+ Kd5 55. Rxf6 Re6 $1 56.
Rf5+ Kc4 57. Kg5 Re4 {was missed by Ian.}) 53. Ra8 Rd2 $2 54. Rb8 Rxg2 55. Rb6+
Kf7 56. Rxb5 $11 Kg6 57. Kxf4 Rg3 58. Rb8 Rxh3 59. Kg4 Rh1 60. Rg8+ Kf7 61. Ra8
Kg7 62. Rb8 h3 63. Kg3 Kg6 64. Rb6 Kg5 65. Rb5+ f5 66. Ra5 Rb1 67. Kxh3 Rb3+
68. Kg2 Kg4 69. Ra8 Rb2+ 70. Kg1 Rb3 71. Kg2 Kf4 72. Ra4+ Ke3 73. Kg3 Rd3 74.
Rf4 Ke2+ 75. Kg2 Rd5 76. Kg3 1/2-1/2

[Event "Skilling Open KO 2020"]
[Site "chess24.com INT"]
[Date "2020.11.28"]
[Round "2.22"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B22"]
[WhiteElo "2862"]
[BlackElo "2784"]
[Annotator "Yermolinsky"]
[PlyCount "105"]
[EventDate "2020.11.25"]
[EventType "k.o. (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "3"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,105,13,42,52,-3,17,15,17,21,5,-8,-2,-4,-15,-17,28,-2,31,18,16,2,-2,-5,
-8,-12,3,-16,-16,-21,-12,-32,-27,-6,-3,-5,29,13,38,22,31,22,20,-3,44,5,6,4,9,9,
6,-11,16,33,18,18,31,-24,-7,-41,-41,-23,-18,-21,0,9,69,73,194,96,86,96,80,43,
45,45,45,63,53,55,67,67,156,153,164,173,173,154,207,201,208,230,243,268,365,
342,321,336,317,336,351,379,489,500,500,599,861,1000]} 1. e4 c5 2. c3 Nf6 3. e5
Nd5 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Bc4 Nb6 6. Bb3 d5 7. exd6 Qxd6 8. O-O Be6 9. Bxe6 Qxe6 10. a4
Qd7 11. a5 Nd5 12. a6 b6 13. d4 cxd4 14. Nxd4 e6 15. Nxc6 Qxc6 16. Qg4 h5 17.
Qe2 b5 18. Na3 Bxa3 19. Rxa3 f6 20. Rb3 Nc7 21. Rb4 Qxa6 22. Rh4 Kf7 23. Rxh5
Nd5 24. Re1 Qc6 25. h4 a5 26. Rxh8 Rxh8 27. h5 a4 28. Bd2 Ne7 29. h6 gxh6 30.
Qh5+ Ng6 31. Bxh6 Qd6 32. Rd1 {[#]} Qc6 $6 {A terribly risky decision,
considering the match situation.} (32... Rxh6 33. Qxg6+ Rxg6 34. Rxd6 Rg5 $11 {
would preserve Nepo's lead in the second set with two more games to go.}) 33.
Rd4 f5 34. Rd3 Rg8 35. Bg5 Rh8 36. Qe2 Qc7 37. Rh3 Rxh3 38. gxh3 Qe5 39. Qd1
Nf8 40. h4 Kg6 41. Qd8 Qg7 $2 {Decentralizing the queen just feels wrong.} ({
Instead,} 41... Kf7 42. Kf1 Qd5 43. Qf6+ Kg8 44. Bh6 Qh1+ 45. Ke2 Qe4+ 46. Kd2
Qd5+ 47. Qd4 Ng6 {may still save Black.}) 42. Qe8+ Kh7 43. Qxb5 Ng6 44. Qxa4
Ne5 45. Qf4 Qh8 46. b4 Kg6 47. Qe3 Kf7 48. b5 Qb8 49. Bf4 Qg8+ 50. Kf1 Ng4 51.
Qa7+ Kg6 52. Qe7 Nf6 53. h5+ 1-0

[Event "Skilling Open KO 2020"]
[Site "chess24.com INT"]
[Date "2020.11.28"]
[Round "2.24"]
[White "Nakamura, Hi"]
[Black "So, Wesley"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A07"]
[WhiteElo "2736"]
[BlackElo "2770"]
[Annotator "Yermolinsky"]
[PlyCount "78"]
[EventDate "2020.11.25"]
[EventType "k.o. (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "3"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,78,34,21,15,-10,12,21,21,21,13,13,14,15,0,10,3,10,21,-8,-9,-7,0,4,5,
-1,9,9,26,22,22,-30,-16,-23,10,-25,11,12,-2,-16,-16,-32,-20,22,19,18,9,9,6,6,
62,72,75,21,57,-29,-16,-80,-75,-76,-76,-53,-88,-155,-162,-170,-173,-177,-176,
-202,-205,-202,-216,-220,-216,-218,-218,-219,-210,-219,-219]} 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3
g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. O-O e5 5. d3 Ne7 6. c4 dxc4 7. dxc4 O-O 8. Nc3 Nbc6 9. Rb1 Nd4
10. b3 Bg4 11. Nd2 c6 12. h3 Bf5 13. Nde4 Qc7 14. e3 Ne6 15. b4 a5 16. a3 Rad8
17. Qb3 axb4 18. axb4 Bxe4 19. Bxe4 f5 20. c5 Qc8 21. Na4 Nd5 22. Bxd5 cxd5 23.
Nb6 Qc6 24. Rd1 Ng5 25. h4 Ne4 {[#]} 26. b5 {In this tense situation we
anticipated yet another Nakamura comeback.} ({The expected} 26. Ba3 {would
connect the rooks and give the c5-pawn the necessary protection in view of the
upcoming b4-b5 push. Hikaru must have been concerned with a counterattacking
possibility of} Qe6 27. Nxd5 Kh8 $5 28. Qc4 g5 $5 {Otherwise, Black will go
down with a whimper. Here White's best is} 29. h5 $1 {but he has to see one
more difficult to find move after the desperate} Nxf2 $5 30. Kxf2 f4 {and that
is} 31. h6 $1 {Still, the resulting positions are very much unclear.}) 26...
Qe6 27. Rxd5 Rxd5 28. Qxd5 {Nakamura gambled} ({seeing no advantage for White
in case} 28. Nxd5 Nxc5 29. Qc4 Rd8 30. Ne7+ Kf7 31. Qxc5 Qxe7) 28... Qxd5 29.
Nxd5 Rd8 {but it was not going to work this time.} 30. c6 Rxd5 31. cxb7 Rd8 32.
Ra1 Nc5 33. Ra7 Nxb7 34. Rxb7 Rd1+ 35. Kg2 Rxc1 36. Rb8+ Kf7 {A draw would put
the match in the bag, so} ({there was no need for Wesley to seek winning
chances after} 36... Bf8) 37. Rb7+ Kg8 38. Rb8+ Kf7 39. Rb7+ Kg8 1/2-1/2

[Event "Skilling Open KO 2020"]
[Site "chess24.com INT"]
[Date "2020.11.29"]
[Round "3.11"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "So, Wesley"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D41"]
[WhiteElo "2862"]
[BlackElo "2770"]
[Annotator "Yermolinsky"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "2020.11.25"]
[EventType "k.o. (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "3"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,85,34,30,15,0,0,-3,6,17,37,44,17,31,34,47,73,82,83,68,59,58,58,42,43,
34,39,49,71,26,73,79,70,46,56,48,51,51,44,37,53,32,46,30,30,-20,-17,-43,20,35,
16,18,42,22,48,53,66,52,63,72,53,49,49,60,60,36,38,42,416,457,488,506,881,1099,
1099,1323,28769,28770,29959,29960,29961,29962,29963,29964,29965,29966,29967,
29968]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c5 5. cxd5 cxd4 6. Qxd4 exd5 7. e4
dxe4 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. Ng5 Be6 10. Nxe6+ fxe6 11. Bc4 Ke7 12. O-O Nbd7 13. Be3
Rc8 14. Bb3 Nc5 15. Bxc5+ Rxc5 16. Rfe1 g6 17. Nxe4 Nxe4 18. Rxe4 e5 19. f4 Bg7
20. Rae1 Rf8 21. fxe5 Rf5 22. e6 Bxb2 23. Rd1 Rc7 24. g4 Rf8 25. Kg2 b5 26. Re2
Bc3 27. Re3 Bb4 28. Red3 a5 29. Rd7+ Rxd7 30. Rxd7+ Kf6 31. Rb7 a4 {[#]} 32.
g5+ ({Magnus ignored} 32. Bxa4 bxa4 33. Rxb4 Rc8 {as a likely draw.}) 32...
Kxg5 33. Rxb5+ Rf5 {Wesley So must have thought he had a draw in hand. It was
next to impossible to anticipate Carlsen's magic.} ({Otherwise,} 33... Kf6 34.
Bxa4 Bd6 35. Bb3 Rb8 36. Ra5 Rb4 {would retain drawing chances thanks to a
counterattack against the h2-pawn.}) {Now Magnus once again shows why he's the
king of chess.} 34. Rxb4 axb3 35. e7 $1 bxa2 (35... Re5 36. Rb5) 36. e8=Q a1=Q
37. Qe7+ Kh6 (37... Qf6 38. Qe3+ Rf4 39. h4+) 38. Rh4+ $1 Rh5 39. Qf8+ Qg7 40.
Qf4+ g5 41. Qd6+ Qg6 42. Qf8+ Qg7 43. Rxh5+ {Truly a study-like finish, all
found in waning seconds of a rapid game. Bravo!} 1-0

[Event "Skilling Open KO 2020"]
[Site "chess24.com INT"]
[Date "2020.11.29"]
[Round "3.12"]
[White "So, Wesley"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C54"]
[WhiteElo "2770"]
[BlackElo "2862"]
[Annotator "Yermolinsky"]
[PlyCount "185"]
[EventDate "2020.11.25"]
[EventType "k.o. (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "3"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,185,34,22,34,13,13,13,21,2,2,9,7,24,25,1,6,-13,-17,-14,-14,-15,-14,-2,
11,1,4,18,12,20,22,20,24,11,21,-6,52,45,34,20,23,37,65,78,78,79,86,88,90,89,
102,102,131,114,160,68,86,86,86,85,80,135,159,160,150,154,82,455,508,488,508,
507,518,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,
0,-53,0,0,0,-35,-30,-50,0,-51,0,0,-17,0,0,0,-23,-19,-19,-19,18,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,
0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,-6,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,-10,-10,0,0,-24,-24,-24,-29,-44,-61,-67,-64,
-12,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,-28,29991,29992,29993,29994,29995,29996,29997,
29998]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3 h6 7. Re1 O-O
8. Nbd2 a5 9. Nf1 Be6 10. Bb5 Ne7 11. d4 Ba7 12. Ng3 Ng6 13. h3 c6 14. Bd3 a4
15. Be3 Re8 16. Qc2 b5 17. b4 axb3 18. axb3 Qc7 19. Ra6 Qb7 20. Rea1 {[#]
Black is under serious pressure here.} Bb6 (20... exd4 21. cxd4 Bb6 22. Rxa8
Rxa8 23. Rxa8+ Qxa8 24. d5 Bxe3 25. dxe6 Bb6 26. exf7+ Kxf7 27. Nf5 $16) 21.
Rxa8 Rxa8 22. Rxa8+ Qxa8 23. dxe5 $1 Qa1+ 24. Bf1 Bxe3 25. exf6 Bb6 26. fxg7
Ne5 27. Qd2 Nxf3+ 28. gxf3 Kxg7 29. Kg2 b4 30. Nh5+ Kg6 31. Nf4+ Kh7 32. Nxe6
bxc3 33. Qf4 fxe6 34. Qf7+ Kh8 35. Qf8+ Kh7 {[#]} 36. e5 {It's a shame that in
this well-played game So went wrong with just one move.} (36. Bd3 $1 Qd1 37.
Qxd6 {would win the game without any fireworks.}) 36... Qd1 {What follows is a
typical time scramble with multiple checks delivered to teh exposed black king.
} 37. Qf7+ Kh8 38. Qe8+ Kh7 39. Qd7+ Kh8 40. Qc8+ Kg7 41. Qd7+ Kh8 42. Qe8+ Kg7
43. Qe7+ Kh8 44. Qxe6 Qd4 45. Qe8+ Kg7 46. Qe7+ Kg8 47. Qe6+ Kg7 48. Qf6+ Kh7
49. Qe7+ Kg8 50. Qe6+ Kg7 51. Qd7+ Kf8 52. Qf5+ Ke8 53. Qc8+ Ke7 54. exd6+ Qxd6
55. Qf5 $11 Qd4 56. Qc2 Qg7+ 57. Kh1 Qe5 58. Bd3 Bc7 59. Kg2 Qh2+ 60. Kf1 Qxh3+
61. Ke2 Qe6+ 62. Be4 Be5 63. Qa2 Qd6 64. Qa7+ Kf6 65. Qh7 Qd2+ 66. Kf1 Bd4 67.
Qg6+ Ke7 68. Qg3 Bf6 69. Qc7+ Qd7 70. Qf4 h5 71. Qe3 Qd4 72. Qf4 Qd6 73. Qe3 c5
74. Bg6+ Kd8 75. Qe8+ Kc7 76. Be4 h4 77. Kg2 Qd7 78. Qh5 Kb6 79. f4 Qe6 80. Qg6
Ka5 81. Bf5 Qd6 (81... Qa6 $1 {would ensure the king penetration via b4-a3,
giving winning chances to Black.}) 82. Qe8 Kb6 83. Be4 Kc7 84. Qa8 Qxf4 85.
Qc6+ Kd8 86. Qd5+ Ke8 87. Bg6+ Ke7 88. Qxc5+ Qd6 89. Qe3+ {Suddenly Magnus
walks into a mating net.} Kf8 $4 90. Qe8+ Kg7 91. Qf7+ Kh6 92. Qh7+ Kg5 93.
Qh5+ 1-0

[Event "Skilling Open KO 2020"]
[Site "chess24.com INT"]
[Date "2020.11.30"]
[Round "3.31"]
[White "So, Wesley"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2770"]
[BlackElo "2862"]
[Annotator "Yermolinsky"]
[PlyCount "87"]
[EventDate "2020.11.25"]
[EventType "k.o. (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "3"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,87,15,13,79,70,70,62,62,53,58,33,45,36,57,14,52,23,42,28,62,56,88,56,
75,52,34,31,36,21,21,7,136,49,49,49,122,134,121,122,130,85,44,40,61,39,93,86,
81,111,128,117,117,121,124,123,129,105,110,49,44,5,38,1,0,17,0,0,0,0,0,82,51,
41,31,25,26,-93,65,116,264,340,333,384,397,408,1012,1066,1095,1053]} 1. e4 c6
2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 h6 6. O-O Ne7 7. a4 a5 8. Nbd2 Nd7 9. Nb3
Bh7 10. Bd2 $5 Qb6 {Carlsen seeks a new path.} ({The idea of White's poisonous
little move is visible after} 10... Nc8 11. c4 dxc4 12. Bxc4 Bb4 ({no} 12...
Ndb6 13. Bxa5) 13. Bxb4 axb4 14. a5 $1 {depriving the black knight of the
vital b6-square, and preparing to hit the b4-pawn.}) 11. h3 Ng6 12. Qe1 Bb4 13.
Bxb4 Qxb4 14. Qxb4 axb4 15. Bd3 {The endgame turns out to be difficult for
Black.} c5 16. Nxc5 Nxc5 17. dxc5 Ra5 18. Bb5+ Ke7 19. Rfe1 Rc8 20. c3 $1 bxc3
21. b4 Raa8 22. Rac1 {[#]} Nf4 (22... c2 $5 {deserved consideration as a
practical chance, but White should be able to maintain control of the
proceedings with} 23. a5 Nf4 24. Nd4 {where the desperate} f6 {is well met by}
25. g3 $1 Nxh3+ 26. Kh2 $1 Nxf2 27. exf6+ gxf6 28. Rxe6+ Kf7 29. Rb6 {The
black rooks remain passive, and that is going to be the decisive factor.}) 23.
Rxc3 Be4 24. a5 {White is a more than healthy pawn up, and even Carlsen cannot
do much about it.} f6 25. h4 g5 26. g3 Ng6 27. exf6+ Kxf6 28. hxg5+ hxg5 29.
Nh2 $2 {Suddenly there's a ray of hope for Black.} (29. Rce3 Rh8 30. Rxe4 $5
dxe4 31. Nd2 Kf5 32. Nxe4 {would signify a brutal end of Black's counterplay.})
29... Ne5 30. Rce3 Rh8 31. f3 Rxh2 $1 32. Kxh2 Nxf3+ 33. Rxf3+ Bxf3 34. c6 {[#]
} d4 $2 {Instinctively, it feels like the right move, and the time trouble
hardly leaves any chance for deeper consideration. I'd say Carlsen got a bit
unlucky here.} (34... bxc6 35. Bxc6 Ra7 36. Kg1 Be4 37. Re3 Ke5 {would keep
him afloat.}) 35. Rf1 $1 {The resulting bishop ending was impeccably
calculated by Wesley So.} Rh8+ 36. Kg1 Rh1+ 37. Kf2 Rxf1+ 38. Bxf1 Bxc6 39. b5
Bd7 ({A piece down ending leaves no hope, as the pawns are easily blockaded:} 
39... Bxb5 40. Bxb5 Ke5 41. Kf3 Kd5 42. a6 bxa6 43. Bxa6 Ke5 44. Bd3 Kd5 45.
Kg4 e5 46. Kf5) 40. a6 bxa6 41. bxa6 d3 (41... Bc6 42. Bg2 $1 {is curtains} ({
Of course, not} 42. a7 $4 e5 43. Bg2 e4 {and it's Black who's winning.})) 42.
Bxd3 Ke5 (42... Bc6 43. a7 e5 44. Ke3) 43. a7 Bc6 44. Bf1 1-0

[Event "Moscow"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "1935.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Gerasimov, Kirill"]
[Black "Smyslov, Vassily V"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D05"]
[Annotator "Watson,John"]
[PlyCount "44"]
[EventDate "1935.??.??"]
[EventType "game"]
[EventRounds "1"]
[EventCountry "URS"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,44,30,32,20,20,27,12,8,8,13,-7,-10,-12,6,14,31,17,17,18,55,46,40,6,10,
20,35,0,68,-75,-41,-66,-62,-62,-32,-93,-101,-171,-118,-414,-439,-1408,-1241,
-1304,-1247,-1467,-1625]} 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3 e6 4. Bd3 c5 5. b3 Nc6 6.
Bb2 Bd6 7. O-O Qc7 8. a3 b6 9. c4 Bb7 10. Nc3 a6 11. Re1 cxd4 12. exd4 O-O 13.
Na4 Bf4 14. Ne5 dxc4 15. bxc4 Nxe5 $1 16. dxe5 Qc6 $5 ({Terekhov: "The quiet} 
16... Nd7 {was probably stronger, but in that case the game probably would
never have been published!"}) 17. Bf1 $2 (17. Qf3 {or}) (17. f3 {with the idea}
Ng4 18. Qc2 {was better}) 17... Rfd8 18. Qb3 $2 Ng4 $1 19. h3 {The key
position. [#]} Rd3 $3 {A beautiful decoy theme.} (19... Nxf2 20. Bc1) 20. Qxb6
({The point is} 20. Qxd3 Bh2+ 21. Kh1 Nxf2+ 22. Kxh2 Nxd3 {and wins.}) 20...
Rxh3 $1 {Terekhov: "The point. The annotators invariably point out the
similarity of this combination to “Rubinstein’s Immortal” 
(Rotlewi-Rubinstein, Łódź 1907), a game that Smyslov undoubtedly knew. It
is a great example of why it is important to study the classics. However, as
the next move shows, the decisive blow is based on a motif that Smyslov must
have learned from another classical game!"} 21. Bd4 {Covering f2.} ({There's
no time for} 21. Qxc6 Bh2+ 22. Kh1 Nxf2#) 21... Bh2+ 22. Kh1 Bxe5+ ({White
resigned, in view of} 22... Bxe5+ 23. Kg1 Bh2+ 24. Kh1 Bc7+ 25. Kg1 Bxb6 {
- a 'windmill' theme.}) 0-1

[Event "Moscow"]
[Site "The Hague/Moscow"]
[Date "1948.04.11"]
[Round "11"]
[White "Smyslov, Vassily V"]
[Black "Reshevsky, Samuel Herman"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C75"]
[Annotator "Watson,John"]
[PlyCount "103"]
[EventDate "1948.03.02"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "25"]
[EventCountry "URS"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. c3 Nge7 6. d4 Bd7 7. Bb3 h6 8. Nbd2
Ng6 9. Nc4 Be7 10. O-O O-O 11. Ne3 Bf6 12. Nd5 Re8 $6 13. dxe5 $1 Bxe5 (13...
Ngxe5 14. Nxe5 Bxe5 15. f4 Bf6 {is surprisingly bad after the remarkable
sequence} 16. e5 $1 (16. Bc2 Be7 17. Qd3 g6 18. Be3 $1 {is also strong}) 16...
Be7 17. Qh5 Be6 18. Be3 $1 Qd7 $1 (18... dxe5 19. Rad1 {with a terrific
initiative.}) 19. h3 Bf8 20. Rad1 Na5 21. f5 $1 Bxd5 22. e6 $1 fxe6 23. fxe6
Bxe6 24. Bc2 Bf7 25. Rxf7 $1 Qxf7 26. Bh7+ $1) 14. Nxe5 dxe5 15. Qf3 Be6 16.
Rd1 Bxd5 17. Rxd5 Qe7 18. Qf5 $1 Nf8 19. Be3 Ne6 20. Rad1 Red8 21. g3 Rd6 22.
Rxd6 cxd6 23. Qg4 Kh8 24. Bb6 $1 Nb8 25. Bxe6 $1 fxe6 {[#] [Diagram]} 26. Qh4
$1 {T: "An astounding solution. It is difficult for humans to even consider
such a counterintuitive move, and one also has to notice the unusual follow-up
idea that we will see next."} Qd7 (26... Qxh4 27. gxh4 {and after the pawn on
d6 falls White is winning.}) 27. Qd8+ $1 Qxd8 28. Bxd8 Nd7 29. Bc7 (29. Ba5 $1
{would win still more easily, by avoiding the loss of tempi that now follows:})
29... Nc5 30. Rxd6 Rc8 31. Bb6 Na4 32. Rxe6 Nxb2 33. Rxe5 Nc4 34. Re6 Nxb6 35.
Rxb6 Rxc3 36. Rxb7 Rc2 37. h4 ({Or} 37. a4 $1) 37... Rxa2 38. Kg2 a5 39. h5 $1
a4 40. Ra7 Kg8 41. g4 a3 42. Kg3 Re2 43. Kf3 Ra2 44. Ke3 Kf8 45. f3 Ra1 46. Kf4
a2 (46... Kg8 47. Kf5 $1 Kf8 48. Kg6) 47. e5 Kg8 (47... Ke8 48. Kf5 Rf1 49.
Rxa2 Rxf3+ 50. Ke6 Kd8 51. Ra7 {and White wins.}) 48. Kf5 Rf1 49. Rxa2 Rxf3+
50. Kg6 Kf8 51. Ra8+ Ke7 52. Ra7+ (52. Ra7+ Ke6 53. Rxg7 Kxe5 54. Kxh6 {
is easy.}) 1-0

[Event "USSR 1977"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2020.12.03"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Nigmadzianov"]
[Black "Leonid Kaplun"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini,Bruce"]
[PlyCount "41"]
[EventDate "2020.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 {[#]} 3. d4 d6 4. Nf3 Bg4 5. Be2 c6 6. c4 Nb6 7. Nbd2 N8d7
8. Ng5 Bxe2 9. e6 f6 10. Qxe2 fxg5 11. Ne4 Nf6 12. Nxg5 Qc7 13. Nf7 Rg8 14. g4
h6 15. h4 d5 16. c5 Nc8 17. g5 Ne4 18. gxh6 gxh6 19. Qh5 Nf6 20. Nd6+ Kd8 21.
Qe8+ {[#]} 1-0

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2020.12.03"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 1"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini,Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/8/8/8/1k5q/4p3/2Q1Pn2/4KB2 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2020.12.18"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2020.12.03"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 2"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini,Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/8/8/8/q7/3k4/2nP1Q2/2RK1R2 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2020.12.18"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2020.12.03"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 3"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini,Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "4k3/8/8/8/4n3/4p3/4PP2/3QKB2 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2020.12.18"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2020.12.03"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 4"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini,Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/7b/8/8/3n4/3q1k2/1QPP4/2BKR3 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2020.12.18"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2020.12.03"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 5"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini,Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "5rk1/4q3/8/8/8/4pN1b/2Q1P3/3RK3 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2020.12.18"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2020.12.03"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 6"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini,Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/6k1/8/8/8/3p4/r1nPP3/2QKN3 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2020.12.18"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2020.12.30"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 1"]
[Black "Santagati-Obad"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Hansen,Carsten"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "2kr3r/pp1nqpp1/2p2np1/2b5/Q4B2/2P3N1/PP2BPPP/R4RK1 w - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2020.12.30"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[#]}  *

[Event "Titled Tuesday 1st Dec"]
[Site "chess.com INT"]
[Date "2020.12.01"]
[Round "8"]
[White "02.01 Santagati, A.."]
[Black "Obad, Andrija"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B18"]
[WhiteElo "2304"]
[BlackElo "2221"]
[Annotator "Hansen,Carsten"]
[PlyCount "29"]
[EventDate "2020.12.01"]
[EventType "swiss (blitz)"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,29,22,22,59,71,63,59,44,33,65,41,41,11,11,11,2,20,9,9,17,12,13,-1,5,
-6,-38,-32,-32,-28,29997,29998]} 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5.
Ng3 Bg6 6. Nh3 Nf6 7. Nf4 e5 8. dxe5 Qa5+ 9. c3 Qxe5+ 10. Be2 Nbd7 11. O-O
O-O-O 12. Qa4 Bc5 13. Nxg6 hxg6 14. Bf4 Qe7 {[#]} 15. Qxc6+ {Black resigned.
He will get mated after 15...bxc6 16.Ba6#.} 1-0

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2020.12.30"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 2"]
[Black "Yilmaz-Pantsulaia"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Hansen,Carsten"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "3r1rk1/pR2Rpb1/1n1p2pp/q1pP4/2P2B1P/5N2/P1Q2PP1/6K1 w - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2020.12.30"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[#]}  *

[Event "Euro Online Blitz TOP16"]
[Site "Tornelo INT"]
[Date "2020.12.19"]
[Round "1.4"]
[White "02.02 Yilmaz, M.."]
[Black "Pantsulaia, L.."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E91"]
[WhiteElo "2630"]
[BlackElo "2553"]
[Annotator "Hansen,Carsten"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "2020.12.19"]
[EventType "blitz"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,59,16,28,29,-16,63,35,43,22,50,42,103,42,40,25,79,73,90,56,60,47,48,
48,39,39,36,59,76,57,53,69,69,46,98,98,118,105,116,84,104,32,125,76,65,87,138,
143,213,225,219,111,242,260,490,490,490,490,490,498,1091,1091]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4
g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 O-O 5. Be2 c5 6. d5 d6 7. Nf3 e6 8. O-O exd5 9. exd5 Re8
10. h3 Bf5 11. Bd3 Ne4 12. Nxe4 Bxe4 13. Bxe4 Rxe4 14. Qc2 Re8 15. Bf4 Qb6 16.
Qa4 Na6 17. Rae1 Rf8 18. Re3 h6 19. h4 Rad8 20. Rfe1 Qb4 21. Qc2 b5 22. b3 bxc4
23. bxc4 Nc7 24. Rb1 Qa5 25. Rb7 Na8 26. Ree7 Nb6 {[#]} 27. Qxg6 {Several
other moves win, but this is the most direct way to goal.} Rd7 ({This looks
like desperation, but because the white queen is hanging, Black does not loose
a rook. Obviously, Black cannot capture the queen:} 27... fxg6 28. Rxg7+ Kh8
29. Rh7+ Kg8 30. Rbg7# {.}) 28. Rexd7 Nxd7 29. Qg3 {Momentarily, White has
just won a pawn, but Black's position collapses quickly.} Nb6 30. Bxd6 {
Black resigned. If Black moves the rook, White plays Qf4, if he does not move
the rook, he will lose more material.} 1-0

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2020.12.30"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 3"]
[Black "Gunnarson-Ulfarsson"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Hansen,Carsten"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r3rbk1/1b1n1ppp/ppqppn2/8/P1PP1B2/3B1NNP/1P2QPP1/R3R1K1 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2020.12.30"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[#]}  *

[Event "ch-ISL Blitz 2020"]
[Site "Tornelo INT"]
[Date "2020.12.12"]
[Round "11.5"]
[White "02.03 Gunnarsson, J.."]
[Black "Ulfarsson, M.."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A47"]
[WhiteElo "2436"]
[BlackElo "2357"]
[Annotator "Hansen,Carsten"]
[PlyCount "48"]
[EventDate "2020.12.12"]
[EventType "tourn (blitz)"]
[EventRounds "15"]
[EventCategory "5"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,48,22,22,22,22,22,22,46,39,37,39,22,22,82,45,26,26,39,30,61,54,48,55,
63,47,36,33,40,28,49,38,58,21,81,85,57,-114,-114,-151,-151,-152,-152,-256,-262,
-610,-599,-681,-689,-748,-751]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 e6 3. e3 b6 4. Nd2 Bb7 5. Ngf3
Be7 6. Bd3 c5 7. c3 cxd4 8. exd4 d6 9. h3 a6 10. O-O Nbd7 11. a4 Qc7 12. Qe2
O-O 13. Rfe1 Rfe8 14. Nf1 Bf8 15. Ng3 Qc6 16. c4 {[#]} e5 $1 {Because of the
Qc6 + Bb7 battery pointing in the direction of g2, White cannot capture on e5
without losing material and therefore has to resort to other options.} 17. d5 (
{Blocking the dangerous diagonal. Also} 17. Bd2 e4 18. d5 Qc7 19. Nxe4 Nxe4 20.
Bxe4 f5 {loses material.}) 17... Qc7 18. Bg5 {Both Be3 and Bd2 are met with ...
e4, winning a piece.} e4 19. Nxe4 Nxe4 20. Bxe4 {White could have resigned at
this point, but since this game is a blitz game, he tries for a few more moves.
} f5 21. Nd4 Rxe4 22. Qf1 Rxd4 23. Qe2 Re4 24. Qc2 Qxc4 {and White finally had
enough.} 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2020.12.30"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 4"]
[Black "MVL-Aronian"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Hansen,Carsten"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "3rRnk1/6p1/5p1p/1p1q4/p2P2N1/r5PP/2Q2P2/3R2K1 w - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2020.12.30"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[#]}  *

[Event "chess.com Speed 2020"]
[Site "chess.com INT"]
[Date "2020.12.02"]
[Round "2.37"]
[White "02.04 Vachier Lagrave, M.."]
[Black "Aronian, L.."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C54"]
[WhiteElo "2784"]
[BlackElo "2781"]
[Annotator "Hansen,Carsten"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[EventDate "2020.11.01"]
[EventType "k.o. (blitz)"]
[EventRounds "4"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,71,31,31,55,55,26,24,7,3,0,6,6,-13,6,-54,-25,-33,-41,-60,-21,-41,-14,
-12,17,8,11,16,42,-7,-3,13,10,5,17,16,14,10,11,0,20,-1,-5,-3,-4,-2,-13,-9,4,
-11,-11,2,-2,-11,-11,3,3,3,-9,-21,38,-42,-64,-116,-143,-142,-86,-128,-88,-71,
1074,1027,1027,665]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3
O-O 7. Re1 a5 8. Nbd2 Be6 9. Bb5 Qb8 10. Nf1 Qa7 11. Be3 Bxe3 12. Nxe3 a4 13.
Qc2 Ne7 14. Bc4 Bxc4 15. Nxc4 b5 16. Ne3 c5 17. Rad1 Rac8 18. g3 Rfd8 19. Qe2
Ng6 20. h3 Qd7 21. Kh2 Qe6 22. a3 h6 23. Kg2 d5 24. exd5 Nxd5 25. Nxd5 Qxd5 26.
Kg1 f6 27. d4 exd4 28. cxd4 c4 29. Nh2 c3 30. bxc3 Rxc3 31. Ng4 Rxa3 32. Qc2
Nf8 33. Re7 Rd7 34. Re8 Rd8 {[#]} 35. Nxf6+ $1 ({Another winning move is} 35.
Nxh6+ $1 gxh6 ({or} 35... Kh8 36. Rxd8 Qxd8 37. Nf7+ {, winning Black's queen.}
) 36. Qg6+ Kh8 37. Qxh6+ {(now Black gets mated by force)} Kg8 38. Qxf8+ Kh7
39. Re7+ Kg6 40. Qg7+ Kh5 41. Qh7+ Kg5 42. f4# {or 42.Rg7#. A nice litle king
hunt.}) 35... Kf7 (35... gxf6 {transposes to 35.Nxh6+ gxh6 above.}) 36. Nxd5 {
and Black resigned.} 1-0

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2020.12.30"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 5"]
[Black "Giri-Topalov"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Hansen,Carsten"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r1bq1rk1/p2nb1pp/1pn1p3/3pPp1P/2pP1P2/2N1BN2/PPPQ2P1/2KR1B1R w - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2020.12.30"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[#]}  *

[Event "11th Hainan Danzhou GM"]
[Site "chess.com INT"]
[Date "2020.12.04"]
[Round "3.4"]
[White "02.05 Giri, A.."]
[Black "Topalov, V.."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C11"]
[WhiteElo "2764"]
[BlackElo "2735"]
[Annotator "Hansen,Carsten"]
[PlyCount "53"]
[EventDate "2020.12.03"]
[EventType "tourn (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "14"]
[EventCategory "21"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,53,5,23,36,20,37,30,70,49,49,-4,6,18,41,34,79,49,36,-1,7,16,51,29,113,
138,138,126,117,117,127,84,103,125,154,147,127,149,140,134,216,238,205,135,135,
229,207,258,294,281,281,247,247,233,233,276]} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4.
e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Be7 7. Be3 b6 8. Qd2 O-O 9. h4 Nc6 10. h5 f5 11. O-O-O
c4 {[#]} 12. Bxc4 $1 ({This is best, but White has several good alternatives,
for instance,} 12. Ng5 Bxg5 13. fxg5 Qe7 14. g4 ({or} 14. g6 h6 15. Bxh6 gxh6
16. Qxh6 {with a decisive attack.}) 14... fxg4 15. Bg2 {, threatening Nxd5})
12... dxc4 13. d5 ({Or} 13. h6 g6 {first, before continuing with} 14. d5 {
like in the game.}) 13... Ndxe5 ({If} 13... Ndb8 {, then} 14. d6 Bb7 15. h6 g6
16. dxe7 Qxd2+ 17. Rxd2 Nxe7 18. Nd4 Kf7 19. Ndb5 {with a positional disaster
for Black and it will not be long before White picks up material.}) 14. fxe5
exd5 15. Nxd5 Be6 16. Nxe7+ Qxe7 17. Bg5 {White has not won any material but
Black is struggling to keep his position afloat.} Qe8 ({Alternatively,} 17...
Qc5 18. h6 g6 ({or} 18... Rfe8 19. a3 Nxe5 20. Qc3 $1) 19. Qd6 {with a
decisive advantage for White. The dark-squared bishop is a beast.}) 18. h6 g6
19. Bf6 Rc8 20. Ng5 c3 21. Qd6 cxb2+ 22. Kxb2 ({White also wins with} 22. Kb1 {
.}) 22... Bf7 23. e6 $1 {Making room for the white piece to join in on the
attack on Black's cramped pieces and weak dark squares.} Bxe6 24. Bg7 ({Or} 24.
Bc3) 24... Bf7 25. Qxf8+ Qxf8 26. Bxf8 Rxf8 27. Rd7 {and Black resigned.} 1-0

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2020.12.30"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 6"]
[Black "Zhao Nan-Mitrabha"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Hansen,Carsten"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r1b2rk1/ppq2ppp/5n2/2bpn3/8/2PB1N1P/PP3PP1/RNBQ1RK1 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2020.12.30"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[#]}  *

[Event "RBI Open Qualifier 1 2020"]
[Site "lichess.org INT"]
[Date "2020.12.01"]
[Round "1"]
[White "02.06 Zhao Nan"]
[Black "Mitrabha, G.."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B13"]
[WhiteElo "2251"]
[BlackElo "2445"]
[Annotator "Hansen,Carsten"]
[PlyCount "30"]
[EventDate "2020.12.01"]
[EventType "swiss (blitz)"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,34,28,28,59,71,63,45,60,47,35,14,41,-35,20,-119,-53,-49,-42,-100,-90,
-147,-141,-118,154,-257,-281,-436,-451,-428,-501,-428,-197,-607,-598,-909,-927]
} 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. Bd3 Nc6 5. c3 Qc7 6. Qf3 Nf6 7. h3 e5 8.
dxe5 Nxe5 9. Qd1 Bc5 10. Nf3 O-O 11. O-O {[#]} Nxd3 $1 ({In the game, both
players managed to step wrong:} 11... Bxh3 $4 {(at first glance, it looks like
this is merely a transposition to our main line, but it is not...)} 12. gxh3 $4
({White returns the favor. However, with} 12. Bf4 $1 {, White would have been
winning!}) 12... Nxd3 13. Qxd3 Qg3+ 14. Kh1 Qxh3+ 15. Kg1 Ng4 (15... Ne4 {
is more accurate, but both moves win}) 16. Be3 Qxf3 17. Nd2 Qh3 {and White
resigned.}) 12. Qxd3 Bxh3 $1 13. Be3 (13. gxh3 {transposes to the game and is
even worse.}) 13... Bxe3 14. Qxe3 Rae8 15. Qd3 Bd7 {Black has won a pawn and
has a large advantage.} 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2020.12.30"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 7"]
[Black "Serikbay-Skatchkov"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Hansen,Carsten"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r1bqr1k1/ppp3pp/2n2b2/3n1p2/8/3PBNP1/PPPNQPBP/2KR3R b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2020.12.30"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[#]}  *

[Event "Titled Tuesday 1st Dec"]
[Site "chess.com INT"]
[Date "2020.12.01"]
[Round "5"]
[White "02.07 Serikbay, Assel"]
[Black "Skatchkov, Valery"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C40"]
[WhiteElo "2247"]
[BlackElo "2281"]
[Annotator "Hansen,Carsten"]
[PlyCount "48"]
[EventDate "2020.12.01"]
[EventType "swiss (blitz)"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,48,25,17,19,22,101,73,76,83,125,109,118,62,90,49,46,26,66,-5,6,-27,
-15,-6,-6,-22,-9,-31,-71,-13,-8,-8,-25,-25,-25,-74,-8,-42,18,-2,14,-22,70,43,
43,27,41,-329,-351,-29999,-30000]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d5 3. exd5 e4 4. Qe2 Nf6 5.
Nc3 Be7 6. Nxe4 Nxd5 7. d3 O-O 8. g3 Re8 9. Be3 f5 10. Ned2 Bf6 11. O-O-O Nc6
12. Bg2 {[#]} Ncb4 $3 ({The knights become quite the dynamic duo of threats.
In the game, the players continued less accurately:} 12... Be6 $2 13. Kb1 $2 ({
White had the surprising} 13. Ne4 $1 {available, but unless you're a computer,
you probably would not spot that!}) 13... f4 $2 ({Natural but not the best.
Black could once more have played} 13... Ncb4 $1 {but this line is a lot more
complicated than the main line in our solution:} 14. Nb3 Nxa2 $3 15. Kxa2 ({or
} 15. Qd2 a5 16. Bd4 a4 {and Black has a terrifying attack without having
sacrificed anything}) 15... a5 16. c4 a4 17. Nbd4 a3 18. Kb1 {, and here,
Black has a couple of options that lead to a win, for instance,} Bf7 ({and} 
18... Nxe3 19. fxe3 axb2 20. Qxb2 Bf7 21. Rhe1 c5 {and Black has a large
advantage thanks to White very vulnerable king.}) 19. Rhe1 Nxe3 20. fxe3 c5 {
, and Black's attack will crash through}) 14. gxf4 Nxf4 15. Qf1 Nxg2 (15... Qd5
$1 {was better according to the computer}) 16. Qxg2 Qd5 17. Nb3 $2 (17. b3 {
would even have been better for White; after the text move, White is once more
in trouble}) 17... a5 18. c4 Qf5 19. Nfd4 Qe5 20. Rhe1 a4 21. f4 Qh5 22. Nxe6
$2 Rxe6 23. Nc5 Rxe3 $1 24. Rxe3 Qxd1# {Certainly not a game without errors,
but that's blitz for you.}) 13. Kb1 Nc3+ $1 {A beautiful stroke; now White
king shelter will be torn wide open.} 14. bxc3 Nd5 $1 {The point behind the
previous two moves: the knight will find a home on c3, causing mayhem and
destruction.} 15. Qe1 Nxc3+ 16. Kc1 Nxa2+ 17. Kb1 Nc3+ 18. Kc1 {So far, so
good. The next wave in Black's attack is a bit more subtle.} Qd6 $1 19. Nb3 Bd7
$1 {White does not have the capacity to improve his position and is therefore
left waiting for Black to commit.} 20. Kd2 a5 $1 21. d4 Qb4 22. Ra1 Bb5 {
, threatening ...a5-a4. A possible continuation is} 23. Nc5 Ne2+ 24. Kd1 Qb2 {
and it is curtains for White.} 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2020.12.30"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 8"]
[Black "Lenderman-Berkovich"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Hansen,Carsten"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r3r1k1/pp2qppp/3p4/2p2b2/2P1n3/1P2P3/PB2BPPP/2RQK2R b K - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2020.12.30"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[#]}  *

[Event "RBI Open Qualifier 1 2020"]
[Site "lichess.org INT"]
[Date "2020.12.01"]
[Round "8"]
[White "02.08 Lenderman, A.."]
[Black "Berkovich, M.."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A01"]
[WhiteElo "2624"]
[BlackElo "2326"]
[Annotator "Hansen,Carsten"]
[PlyCount "44"]
[EventDate "2020.12.01"]
[EventType "swiss (blitz)"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,43,28,-20,-13,-10,-21,-38,-21,-24,-22,-15,-27,-28,-4,-28,-5,-26,-11,
-43,-15,8,6,38,30,-105,-93,-169,-56,-63,14,6,-9,-13,5,5,83,8,99,126,150,170,
215,243,234,231]} 1. b3 e5 2. Bb2 Nc6 3. e3 Nf6 4. Nf3 e4 5. Nd4 Nxd4 6. Bxd4
Be7 7. c4 d6 8. Nc3 Bf5 9. Rc1 O-O 10. d3 Re8 11. dxe4 Nxe4 12. Nd5 c6 13.
Nxe7+ Qxe7 14. Be2 {[#]} c5 15. Bb2 {[#]} Nxf2 $1 {Thematic.} 16. Kxf2 Qxe3+ $1
17. Kf1 {Until this point, everything is rather obvious., but now precision is
needed.} Be4 $3 ({A crucial move than prevents White from getting organized.
In the game, Black went wrong with} 17... Qf4+ $4 {and the attack soon ran out
of steam...} 18. Bf3 Re3 19. Rc3 Rae8 20. Bc1 Re1+ 21. Qxe1 Rxe1+ 22. Kxe1 {
Black resigned.}) 18. Rg1 ({The alternatives are similarly bad, for instance,} 
18. Rc3 Bxg2+ $1 19. Kxg2 Qxe2+ 20. Qxe2 Rxe2+ 21. Kf3 Rxb2 {and Black is
three pawns up in the endgame, or}) (18. Ba1 Qf4+ 19. Bf3 Re6 $1 20. Rc3 Rae8
$1 {(Black has time to build up his attack because White has difficulties
improving the position)} 21. h3 Bxf3 22. Rxf3 Re1+ 23. Qxe1 Rxe1+ 24. Kxe1 Qc1+
25. Kf2 Qxh1 {with a decisive material advantage for Black.}) 18... Qf4+ 19.
Bf3 Re6 $1 {Preparing to double the rooks on the e-file.} 20. Bc3 {Stopping
potential checks on e1.} g5 $1 21. Bd2 ({Or} 21. Be1 g4 22. Bg3 Qf5 23. Rc3 Kh8
{and Black wins the piece back with interest and the attack in hand.}) 21...
Bd3+ 22. Kf2 Qd4+ {and White gets mated by force.} 1-0

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2020.12.30"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 9"]
[Black "Dubov-Karjakin"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Hansen,Carsten"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r3qrk1/1pp2pp1/1b1PbBnp/8/pPB5/2pQ1N2/P4PPP/R3R1K1 w - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2020.12.30"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[#]}  *

[Event "73rd ch-RUS 2020"]
[Site "Moscow RUS"]
[Date "2020.12.16"]
[Round "11.1"]
[White "02.09 Dubov, Daniil"]
[Black "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C54"]
[WhiteElo "2702"]
[BlackElo "2752"]
[Annotator "Hansen,Carsten"]
[PlyCount "75"]
[EventDate "2020.12.05"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[EventCategory "18"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,75,58,6,60,43,43,25,14,-9,9,25,16,-55,-53,-20,-11,-49,-57,-57,-57,-57,
-60,-125,-94,-203,-133,-227,-109,-99,-79,-268,-167,-156,-64,-124,42,112,141,
-129,-112,-112,-56,-295,-218,-95,-149,-88,-7,17,73,26,44,55,57,57,62,55,58,61,
65,53,58,77,228,223,326,467,467,467,467,467,467,486,565,611,614,654]} 1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. b4 Bb6 7. e5 Ne4 8. Bd5 Nxc3 9.
Nxc3 dxc3 10. Bg5 Ne7 11. O-O h6 12. Bh4 O-O 13. Re1 Qe8 14. Bb3 a5 15. Bf6 a4
16. Bc4 Ng6 17. Qd3 d5 18. exd6 Be6 {[#]} 19. Qxg6 $3 {A stunning sacrifice
that does not win the game, but secures White a clear advantage.} fxg6 {
Black does not have a choice.} 20. Rxe6 $1 Qf7 $6 ({Not the best move. After} 
20... Qc6 $1 21. Re7+ Qxc4 22. Rxg7+ Kh8 23. Rxc7+ Rxf6 24. Rxc4 Rxd6 25. Rxc3
{, White would only have an extra pawn and Black could fight to safe the
endgame.}) 21. Bxc3 Kh8 $2 ({Black's best chance was} 21... Bxf2+ $1 22. Kxf2
Kh8 23. Rc1 cxd6 24. Rf6 ({My computer also likes} 24. Rxd6 {but this is far
more complicated, for instance,} Qf5 25. Bd3 Qf4 26. Rxg6 Rf7 27. Re1 {with an
ongoing attack and clearly better chances for White, but, admittedly, playing
with three minor pieces for a queen is not everybody's cup of tea}) 24... gxf6
25. Bxf7 Rxf7 26. Ke3 {and White has a clear advantage in the endgame.}) 22.
Re4 $1 Qf5 23. Re7 {The point behind the previous move, White can now attack
reasonably undisturbed on the seventh rank.} Rg8 ({A better chances was} 23...
Bxf2+ {, when White has to answer} 24. Kh1 Rfe8 25. Rf7 $1 ({the alternatives
allow Black to survive:} 25. Bxg7+ Kh7 26. Rf7 Qxf7 27. Bxf7 Kxg7 28. Bxe8 Rxe8
29. d7 Rd8 30. Rf1 Bb6 31. Ne5 {wiht an endgame that is about even or}) (25.
Rxg7 Re3 26. Rg8+ Kh7 27. Rg7+ {with a fascinating perpetual check.})) 24. Bxg8
Rxg8 25. dxc7 Qc2 26. Be5 Bxf2+ 27. Kh1 {White's dominating pieces and
advanced passed pawn ensures White a decisive advantage. The rest of the game
went as follows:} Bb6 28. h3 Kh7 29. Re1 a3 30. Kh2 g5 31. Nd4 Qc4 32. Nf5 Qxb4
33. Rc1 Kg6 34. Rxg7+ Kxf5 35. Rxg8 Bxc7 36. Bxc7 Qb2 37. Rc5+ Ke4 38. Rd8 1-0

[Event "Nassau Chess Club Championship"]
[Site "Mineola, NY"]
[Date "2002.11.18"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Mirabile, Tim"]
[Black "Novikov, Igor A"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B87"]
[Annotator "Mirabile"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Life Feb 2021"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bc4 e6 7. Bb3 b5 8. O-O
Be7 9. Qf3 Qb6 10. Be3 Qb7 11. Qg3 Nbd7 12. Nf5 exf5 13. Qxg7 Rf8 14. Nd5 fxe4
15. Nxe7 Kxe7 16. Rad1 Qc6 17. Bg5 Bb7 {[#]} 18. Rd4 d5 19. Bxd5 Qxd5 20. Rxd5
Bxd5 21. Qxh7 Rac8 22. Rd1 Rxc2 23. Qf5 Be6 24. Rxd7+ Kxd7 25. Qxf6 Kc6 26. h4
Rc5 27. Qe7 Rg8 28. Qa7 Rcxg5 29. hxg5 Rxg5 30. Qxa6+ Kc7 31. Qa7+ Kc6 32. Qe3
Rg4 33. b4 Kb7 34. Qc5 Bd7 35. Qd5+ Kc7 36. Qxf7 e3 37. fxe3 Rxb4 38. Kf2 Ra4
39. Kf3 Kd6 40. Qf8+ Ke6 41. e4 Bc6 42. Qf5+ Kd6 43. Kf4 Rc4 44. g4 b4 45. Qf8+
1-0

