[Event "ch-ISL 2021"]
[Site "Kopavogur ISL"]
[Date "2021.04.30"]
[Round "9.1"]
[White "Stefansson, H."]
[Black "Hjartarson, J."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C02"]
[WhiteElo "2532"]
[BlackElo "2523"]
[Annotator "Hartmann"]
[PlyCount "96"]
[EventDate "2021.04.22"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "ISL"]
[EventCategory "7"]
[SourceTitle "The Week in Chess 1382"]
[Source "Mark Crowther"]
[SourceDate "2021.05.03"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.05.03"]
[SourceQuality "2"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. dxc5 e6 5. c3 {Transposing into an Advance
French.} (5. Be3) ({or} 5. a3 {are the independent paths forward.}) 5... Nc6 6.
Nf3 Bxc5 7. b4 $5 (7. Bd3 {is more usual.}) 7... Bb6 8. b5 Nce7 9. Bd3 Qc7 10.
O-O Bd7 11. Re1 Nh6 $5 {Where else to put the knight?} 12. h3 ({As French
players know, allowing} 12. Bxh6 gxh6 {is not as hopeless as it looks. The
king will be safe in the center for now, and the half-open g-file may come in
handy.}) 12... O-O 13. a4 ({Now} 13. Bxh6 gxh6 {is, counterintiutively, just
fine for Black with ...Ne7-g6 and possibly ...Kg8-g7 to hold everything
together.}) 13... f6 14. exf6 Rxf6 15. Bg5 Rf7 16. a5 (16. Bxh6 gxh6 17. a5 Bc5
18. Nbd2 Qg3 $1 $132) 16... Bc5 17. Nbd2 Raf8 18. Be3 $6 {Giving up some
control of the dark squares on the kingside.} (18. c4 $5 {is logical, and
after Ra1-c1 White has pressure.}) 18... Bxe3 19. Rxe3 Nhf5 20. Re1 Rf6 21. Ne5
Nh4 22. Qh5 ({After} 22. Ndf3 Nxf3+ (22... Neg6 $5) 23. Nxf3 Rxf3 24. gxf3 Rf6
{Black has compensation for the Exchange.}) 22... Neg6 23. Nxg6 Nxg6 24. Nf3
Qc5 {[#]} ({The Exchange sac with} 24... Rxf3 25. gxf3 Qxc3 26. Bxg6 hxg6 27.
Qxg6 Rxf3 {must have been very tempting.}) 25. Ng5 $5 {Stefansson enters a
long forced calculation where White wins an Exchange, but Black ends up with
plenty of play for the material.} (25. c4 $5 {stills seems a good idea.}) 25...
Qxf2+ 26. Kh1 Qxg2+ 27. Kxg2 Nf4+ 28. Kg1 Nxh5 29. Nxh7 Rc8 30. Nxf6+ gxf6 31.
Bf1 e5 $1 {Mobile central pawns... every French player's dream!} 32. Re3 Nf4
33. Rb1 Rc5 34. Kf2 Kf7 35. Rb4 b6 36. axb6 axb6 37. Ke1 e4 38. Rg3 Nh5 39. Re3
f5 40. c4 d4 41. Ra3 f4 42. Ra6 $6 ({White had to win a tempo with} 42. Ra7 Ke6
43. Ra6 {and now} f3 44. Rxb6+ Ke5 45. Rg6 $1 {gives White just enough
activity to counterbalance those monstrous pawns.}) 42... f3 $1 43. Rxb6 e3 44.
Rd6 f2+ 45. Kd1 Bxh3 $4 ({Black wins after} 45... Ng3 $1 46. Rxd7+ Ke6 47. Rxd4
Nxf1 {and after ...Rc5-e5 Black rams home the pawn.}) 46. Bxh3 Nf4 47. Bf1 Rg5
{[#]} 48. Rd5 $4 ({What did Stefansson miss? Perhaps after} 48. Rxd4 e2+ 49.
Bxe2 Rg1+ {he only looked at king moves, all of which lose. But after} 50. Bf1
$3 Rxf1+ 51. Kd2 $1 Rd1+ 52. Ke3 Rxd4 (52... f1=Q $4 {loses to} 53. Rxf4+) 53.
Kxf2 Nd3+ 54. Ke3 Nxb4 55. Kxd4 {it's a draw. Tough to see, but very pretty!})
({White could also have used mate threats to secure the draw:} 48. Ra4 Rg1 49.
Ra7+ Ke8 50. Rh6 e2+ 51. Kc2 d3+ 52. Kb3 Kf8 $1 53. Rh8+ Rg8 54. Rhh7 {but
again, this is very difficult to analyze over the board. Note that Black loses
if they push too hard with} e1=Q (54... Rg7 55. Rh8+ Rg8 56. Rhh7 {is a
repetition}) 55. Ra8+ Qe8 56. Rxe8+ Kxe8 57. Rh2 {and White will win.}) 48...
d3 0-1

[Event "Third Sat Mix 201 2021"]
[Site "Novi Sad SRB"]
[Date "2021.04.15"]
[Round "2.2"]
[White "Gharibyan, Mamikon"]
[Black "Niemann, Hans Moke"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E17"]
[WhiteElo "2455"]
[BlackElo "2508"]
[PlyCount "100"]
[EventDate "2021.04.15"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "SRB"]
[SourceTitle "The Week in Chess 1380"]
[Source "Mark Crowther"]
[SourceDate "2021.04.19"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.04.19"]
[SourceQuality "2"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Re1 Na6 8. a3
Qc8 9. Nc3 Ne4 10. Nxe4 Bxe4 11. Bf4 Qb7 12. b4 d6 13. b5 Nb8 14. Bh3 Qc8 15.
Nd2 Bb7 16. d5 Bf6 17. Rb1 Qe8 18. Ne4 Be7 19. Bg2 f5 20. Nc3 Bf6 21. Bd2 e5
22. Qc2 Bc8 23. a4 Qh5 24. a5 Nd7 25. Ra1 e4 26. Ra3 Ne5 27. axb6 cxb6 28. Na2
a5 29. Nb4 Bd7 30. Nc6 Rae8 31. Qc1 Bc8 32. f3 g5 33. f4 Ng4 34. h3 e3 35. Bxe3
Bb2 36. Qd2 Bxa3 37. hxg4 Qxg4 38. Bf2 gxf4 39. Bf3 Qg6 40. Qxf4 Bb2 41. Kg2
Be5 42. Qh4 Bf6 43. Qh5 Qg7 44. Bxb6 a4 45. Rc1 a3 46. Nb4 f4 47. Bf2 Re5 48.
Qh1 fxg3 49. Bd4 Rxe2+ 50. Bxe2 Bxd4 0-1

[Event "CCFC Club Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2021.05.01"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Adewumi, Tanitoluwa"]
[Black "Levin, Anthony"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B90"]
[WhiteElo "2162"]
[BlackElo "2110"]
[Annotator "Hartmann"]
[PlyCount "61"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 d6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 a6 6. h3 e5 7. Nde2 h5 8. Bg5
Be7 9. Ng3 g6 10. Bc4 Nbd7 11. Qf3 b5 12. Bb3 Bb7 13. O-O-O Rc8 14. Kb1 {[#]}
O-O $5 15. Bh6 b4 16. Nd5 Bxd5 17. Bxd5 Nxd5 (17... Nb6 $5 18. Bxf8 $140 $2
Bxf8 19. Bb7 Rc7 20. Bxa6 Qa8 $44) 18. Rxd5 Nb6 19. Rd3 Qc7 {Black has to keep
the pressure up - there's no time to save the rook with} (19... Re8 20. Nxh5 {
followed by Nh5-g7. If} gxh5 $2 21. Qg3+ {Black has to shed a lot of material
just to avoid mate.}) 20. Rc1 Nc4 21. Nxh5 $1 ({Not} 21. Bxf8 Bg5 $1 {when
Black has all the fun.}) 21... Kh7 22. Bxf8 {Now it's safe to grab the rook.
White finishes things off nicely.} Bxf8 23. Nf6+ Kh8 24. Nd5 Qb7 25. Qf6+ Bg7
26. Qh4+ Kg8 27. Ne7+ Kf8 28. Nxc8 Qxc8 29. c3 Kg8 30. cxb4 Nd2+ 31. Rxd2 1-0

[Event "Russian Team Championship Premier Leagu"]
[Site "chess24.com"]
[Date "2021.05.01"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Matlakov, Maxim"]
[Black "Truskavetsky, Alexandr"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B30"]
[WhiteElo "2688"]
[BlackElo "2387"]
[Annotator "Hartmann"]
[PlyCount "57"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Russia"]
[BlackTeam "Russia"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "RUS"]
[BlackTeamCountry "RUS"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 e6 4. O-O Nge7 5. d4 cxd4 6. Nxd4 Qb6 7. Nxc6 bxc6
8. Bd3 Ng6 9. c4 Be7 10. Nc3 O-O 11. Na4 Qc7 12. c5 e5 13. Be3 Nf4 14. Bc4 Rd8
15. Qf3 Ne6 16. Rfd1 Rb8 17. b3 Bf6 18. Qg3 Nf4 {[#] If Black manages to play
the ...d7-d5 break, he may survive this rough position. Matlakov takes
decisive measures to prevent this.} 19. Rd6 $1 Be7 20. Rad1 $1 {Offering the
Exchange to keep Black bottled up.} Bxd6 21. cxd6 Qb7 22. Qg5 Re8 23. Qe7 $3 {
Brilliant, if not terribly difficult for a player of Matlakov's caliber.} Rf8 (
{Black avoids} 23... Rxe7 $2 24. dxe7 {when both promotion and mate are
imminent.}) 24. Qxe5 Ne6 25. f4 Kh8 26. f5 f6 ({The knight lacks squares, i.e.
} 26... Nd8 27. f6 g6 28. Qe7 {. So the game continuation is the only logical
move... although it allows White another bite at the sacrificial apple.}) 27.
fxe6 $1 ({The engine prefers the prosaic} 27. Qg3 Ng5 28. e5 $1 Ne4 29. Qh4 c5
30. Bd5 {but why would you just collect material when you can offer it in
sacrifice?}) 27... fxe5 ({After} 27... dxe6 {White can calmly remove the queen
with something like} 28. Qg3 {and stand ready to push through the d-pawn,
perhaps with the tempo gaining Na4-c5.}) 28. e7 Re8 29. Rf1 ({Black threw in
the towel in light of} 29. Rf1 h6 30. Rf8+ Kh7 31. Bg8+ Kg6 32. Bf7+ $1 ({
White still wins after} 32. Rxe8 Qb4 {but at least Black has a hint of
counterplay.}) 32... Kh7 33. Rxe8 {and mate is coming with Re8-h8+ and e7-e8=Q.
}) 1-0

[Event "Russian Women's Team Championship"]
[Site "chess24.com"]
[Date "2021.05.03"]
[Round "3.1"]
[White "Lagno, Kateryna"]
[Black "Gunina, Valentina"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B11"]
[WhiteElo "2546"]
[BlackElo "2421"]
[Annotator "Hartmann"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Russia"]
[BlackTeam "Russia"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "RUS"]
[BlackTeamCountry "RUS"]

1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Qe2 $5 {The latest trend. (But
why?)} Nxe4 6. Qxe4 Qd5 7. Qh4 Qe6+ 8. Be2 Qg6 9. O-O Qxc2 $5 {Universally
played in this position, but to me this looks like a miniature waiting to
happen. This is Black's fourth consecutive queen move, and White now has a
tremendous lead in development. Is the pawn worth it?} 10. Re1 e6 11. d4 Nd7
12. Bg5 h6 13. Rad1 {Already White has some serious threats, the most notable
being} Bd6 $2 {[#]} (13... Z0 14. Bd3 {with the idea of} Qxb2 15. Rxe6+ $1 fxe6
16. Bg6#) ({This is why Black had to extract the queen with something like} 
13... Qf5 {but even here, White has the crushing} 14. Bd3 Qd5 {(trying to
guard the e6-square)} 15. Be4 Qd6 16. d5 $1 {and White is crashing through.})
14. d5 $1 cxd5 15. Rxd5 Qc6 ({Of course not} 15... exd5 {, here or on the
previous move, due to} 16. Bd3+ {.}) 16. Rd4 Qb6 {Played to avoid problems
after Re1-c1. White switches gears now that the queen has lost touch with the
e6-square and continues the hunt.} 17. Bc4 e5 $6 ({After the perhaps best} 
17... Bc5 18. Rxe6+ fxe6 19. Qh5+ Kf8 20. Rf4+ Nf6 {White has to find} 21. Bh4
$1 {with the idea of Nf3-e5. Black won't last long.}) 18. Qh5 g6 19. Qh4 Kf8
20. Bxh6+ Ke8 21. Qf4 $1 {From here, it's one hammer blow after another.} f6
22. Bg7 Rh5 23. Qe4 Rf5 24. Qd5 Kd8 25. Rd3 Bc5 26. Red1 Kc7 27. Qf7 Bxf2+ 28.
Kh1 Qc6 29. Be6 ({Clearing the c-file with} 29. Bd5 $5 Qb6 30. Rc1+ Bc5 31.
Rxc5+ Qxc5 32. Rc3 {is another option.}) 29... Rxf3 30. gxf3 Bd4 31. Bxf6 Kb6
32. Bd8+ Kb5 33. a4+ 1-0

[Event "83rd Tata Steel Masters"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2021.01.16"]
[Round "1.5"]
[White "Grandelius, N."]
[Black "Donchenko, Alexa"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2663"]
[BlackElo "2668"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[PlyCount "93"]
[EventDate "2021.01.16"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "NED"]
[EventCategory "19"]
[SourceTitle "The Week in Chess 1367"]
[Source "Mark Crowther"]
[SourceDate "2021.01.18"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.01.18"]
[SourceQuality "2"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. O-O d6 6. c3 a6 7. Re1 Ba7 8. Nbd2
O-O 9. Nf1 Na5 10. Bb3 Nxb3 11. axb3 c6 12. Ng3 h6 13. h3 Be6 14. d4 Re8 15.
Be3 d5 16. exd5 exd4 17. Bxd4 Qxd5 18. Bxf6 Qxd1 19. Raxd1 gxf6 20. b4 Red8 21.
Ne4 Kg7 22. Nc5 Bxc5 23. bxc5 f5 24. Nd4 Kf6 25. Ra1 a5 26. Ra4 Rd5 27. b4 Ra6
28. Nxe6 fxe6 29. Rea1 Ke5 30. Re1+ Kf6 31. Rea1 Ke5 32. Rxa5 Rxa5 33. Rxa5 Ke4
34. Ra7 Rd1+ 35. Kh2 Rd7 36. Ra1 Rd2 37. Re1+ Kd3 38. Re3+ Kc4 39. f4 h5 40.
Kg3 Rd3 41. Rxd3 Kxd3 42. Kh4 Ke3 43. g3 Kf2 44. g4 hxg4 45. hxg4 fxg4 46. Kxg4
Ke3 47. Kg5 (47. Kg5 Kd3 48. Kf6 Kxc3 49. Kxe6) 1-0

[Event "ol (men)"]
[Site "Elista RUS"]
[Date "1998.10.05"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Svidler, P."]
[Black "Topalov, V."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B81"]
[WhiteElo "2710"]
[BlackElo "2700"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[PlyCount "44"]
[EventDate "1998.??.??"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e6 7. g4 h6 8. f4 e5
9. Nf5 h5 10. Nd5 Nxd5 11. Qxd5 g6 12. O-O-O gxf5 13. exf5 Nc6 14. Bc4 Qf6 15.
fxe5 Nxe5 16. g5 Qxf5 17. Bb3 {[#]} Qf3 18. Qd2 Qc6 19. Rhf1 Be6 20. Bxe6 fxe6
21. Rf6 O-O-O 22. Rxe6 Bg7 0-1

[Event "Saint Louis Rapid 2018"]
[Site "Saint Louis USA"]
[Date "2018.08.12"]
[Round "5.3"]
[White "Anand, V."]
[Black "Aronian, L."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C67"]
[WhiteElo "2768"]
[BlackElo "2767"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[PlyCount "78"]
[EventDate "2018.08.11"]
[EventType "tourn (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[EventCategory "22"]
[SourceTitle "The Week in Chess 1240"]
[Source "Mark Crowther"]
[SourceDate "2018.08.13"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2018.08.13"]
[SourceQuality "2"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6. Nxe5 Be7 7. Bf1 Nxe5
8. Rxe5 O-O 9. Nc3 Ne8 10. Nd5 Bd6 11. Re1 c6 12. Ne3 Bc7 13. Nf5 d5 14. Ne7+
Kh8 15. Nxc8 Rxc8 16. d3 Qf6 17. Qg4 Bb6 18. Qf4 Qd8 19. c3 Nc7 20. d4 Ne6 21.
Qf3 Ng5 22. Bxg5 Qxg5 23. Re5 Qd8 24. Rae1 Kg8 25. g3 Rc7 26. h4 f6 27. Re6 f5
28. Bd3 Rcf7 29. h5 Qg5 30. Kg2 Bc7 31. c4 g6 32. hxg6 hxg6 33. cxd5 cxd5 34.
Bb5 f4 35. g4 Rh7 36. Bd3 Qh4 {[#]} 37. Rxg6+ Kh8 38. g5 Qh2+ 39. Kf1 Qh1+ 0-1

[Event "World-ch27 Fischer-Spassky +7-3=11"]
[Site "Reykjavik"]
[Date "1972.07.11"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Spassky, Boris Vasilievich"]
[Black "Fischer, Robert James"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E56"]
[BlackElo "2785"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[PlyCount "111"]
[EventDate "1972.07.11"]
[EventType "match"]
[EventRounds "21"]
[EventCountry "ISL"]
[SourceTitle "MainBase"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1999.07.01"]
[SourceVersion "2"]
[SourceVersionDate "1999.07.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. e3 O-O 6. Bd3 c5 7. O-O Nc6 8. a3
Ba5 9. Ne2 dxc4 10. Bxc4 Bb6 11. dxc5 Qxd1 12. Rxd1 Bxc5 13. b4 Be7 14. Bb2 Bd7
15. Rac1 Rfd8 16. Ned4 Nxd4 17. Nxd4 Ba4 18. Bb3 Bxb3 19. Nxb3 Rxd1+ 20. Rxd1
Rc8 21. Kf1 Kf8 22. Ke2 Ne4 23. Rc1 Rxc1 24. Bxc1 f6 25. Na5 Nd6 26. Kd3 Bd8
27. Nc4 Bc7 28. Nxd6 Bxd6 {[#]} 29. b5 Bxh2 30. g3 h5 31. Ke2 h4 32. Kf3 Ke7
33. Kg2 hxg3 34. fxg3 Bxg3 35. Kxg3 Kd6 36. a4 Kd5 37. Ba3 Ke4 38. Bc5 a6 39.
b6 f5 40. Kh4 f4 41. exf4 Kxf4 42. Kh5 Kf5 43. Be3 Ke4 44. Bf2 Kf5 45. Bh4 e5
46. Bg5 e4 47. Be3 Kf6 48. Kg4 Ke5 49. Kg5 Kd5 50. Kf5 a5 51. Bf2 g5 52. Kxg5
Kc4 53. Kf5 Kb4 54. Kxe4 Kxa4 55. Kd5 Kb5 56. Kd6 1-0

[Event "Legends of Chess Prelim"]
[Site "chess24.com INT"]
[Date "2020.07.22"]
[Round "2.4"]
[White "Leko, Peter"]
[Black "Svidler, Peter"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C54"]
[WhiteElo "2663"]
[BlackElo "2723"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[PlyCount "70"]
[EventDate "2020.07.21"]
[EventType "tourn (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[EventCategory "20"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 197"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2020.07.27"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2020.07.27"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3 O-O 7. Re1 h6 8. h3 a5
9. Nbd2 a4 10. Bb5 Bd7 11. Nf1 Nb8 12. Bxd7 Nbxd7 13. Ng3 Re8 14. d4 Bb6 15.
Bd2 c5 16. dxe5 Nxe5 17. Nxe5 dxe5 18. c4 Ba5 19. Re2 Bxd2 20. Rxd2 Qa5 21. Nf5
Rad8 22. Ne7+ Kf8 23. Rxd8 Rxd8 24. Nd5 Nxe4 25. Qc2 Nf6 26. Nc3 a3 27. bxa3
Qxa3 28. Rb1 Rd7 29. Rb6 Qa5 30. Rb5 Qc7 31. Na4 {[#]} Qd8 32. Nxc5 Rd1+ 33.
Kh2 Ng4+ 34. Kg3 Qg5 35. Nd7+ Kg8 0-1

[Event "Legends of Chess Prelim"]
[Site "chess24.com INT"]
[Date "2020.07.23"]
[Round "3.1"]
[White "Giri, Anish"]
[Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D85"]
[WhiteElo "2764"]
[BlackElo "2784"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[PlyCount "122"]
[EventDate "2020.07.21"]
[EventType "tourn (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[EventCategory "20"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 197"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2020.07.27"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2020.07.27"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Bd2 Bg7 6. e4 Nxc3 7. Bxc3 O-O 8.
Qd2 Nc6 9. Nf3 Bg4 10. d5 Bxf3 11. Bxg7 Kxg7 12. gxf3 Ne5 13. O-O-O c6 14. Qc3
f6 15. f4 Nf7 16. d6 exd6 17. h4 Qb6 18. Qg3 d5 19. exd5 Rad8 20. h5 Qc5+ 21.
Kb1 Rxd5 22. Rc1 Qd4 23. Bc4 Rc5 24. hxg6 hxg6 25. Rhd1 Rxc4 26. Rxd4 Rxd4 27.
Rg1 Nh8 28. f5 g5 29. f4 Nf7 30. fxg5 fxg5 31. Qc7 g4 32. Qxb7 Rfd8 33. Qxc6
R8d6 34. Qf3 Ne5 35. Qe3 Kf6 36. Qh6+ Kxf5 37. Qf8+ Kg5 38. Qe7+ Kf4 39. Qf8+
Kg5 40. Qg8+ Kf4 41. Qb3 Rd3 42. Qb4+ R3d4 43. Qb3 Nf3 44. Rf1 Kg3 45. Qe3 Rd3
46. Qf2+ Kf4 47. Qxa7 Rd1+ 48. Rxd1 Rxd1+ 49. Kc2 Rd2+ 50. Kc3 {[#]} g3 51.
Qf7+ Ke3 52. Qe7+ Kf2 53. Qc5+ Rd4 54. Qf5 g2 55. Qc2+ Rd2 56. Qg6 g1=Q 57.
Qxg1+ Kxg1 58. a4 Rd8 59. a5 Ne5 60. b4 Nc6 61. a6 Rb8 0-1

[Event "USA-02 Congress Grand Tournament"]
[Site "Cleveland"]
[Date "1871.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Harding, Henry"]
[Black "Mackenzie, George Henry"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A20"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[PlyCount "68"]
[EventDate "1871.12.04"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "18"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceTitle "EXT 2002"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2001.11.25"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2001.11.25"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. a3 e5 2. c4 f5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 c5 5. d3 Nc6 6. Be2 b6 7. f4 exf4 8. exf4
Bd6 9. Nh3 O-O 10. O-O Nd4 11. Bf3 Nxf3+ 12. Rxf3 Bb7 13. Rf2 Ng4 14. Rf1 Qf6
15. Nf2 Nxf2 16. Rxf2 Rae8 17. Bd2 Qd4 18. Nb5 Qxd3 19. Bc3 Qxd1+ 20. Rxd1 Bb8
21. Rxd7 Rf7 22. Rfd2 Bxf4 23. Rxf7 Kxf7 24. Rd7+ Re7 25. Rxe7+ Kxe7 26. Nxa7
g5 27. Nb5 Be3+ 28. Kf1 f4 29. Be5 Kd7 30. Bf6 g4 31. Bg5 Bxg2+ 32. Kxg2 f3+
33. Kg3 Bxg5 34. Nc3 {[#]} Bh4+ 0-1

[Event "USA-02 Congress Grand Tournament"]
[Site "Cleveland"]
[Date "1871.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Mackenzie, George Henry"]
[Black "Hosmer, Henry"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C84"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[PlyCount "29"]
[EventDate "1871.12.04"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "18"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceTitle "EXT 2002"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2001.11.25"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2001.11.25"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. O-O Be7 7. e5 Ne4 8.
Nxd4 Nxd4 9. Qxd4 Nc5 10. Bb3 Nxb3 11. axb3 d6 12. exd6 Qxd6 13. Qxg7 Bf6 14.
Re1+ Kd8 {[#]} 15. Bg5 1-0

[Event "USA-02 Congress Grand Tournament"]
[Site "Cleveland"]
[Date "1871.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Hosmer, Henry"]
[Black "Elder, Frederic"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C67"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[EventDate "1871.12.04"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "18"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceTitle "EXT 2002"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2001.11.25"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2001.11.25"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Be7 6. d5 Nb8 7. Nxe5 O-O 8.
Bd3 Nf6 9. c4 d6 10. Nf3 Bg4 11. h3 Bh5 12. g4 Bg6 13. Nd4 c5 14. Nf5 Bxf5 15.
Bxf5 Nbd7 16. f4 g6 17. Bc2 Ne8 18. Nc3 Ng7 19. Be3 Nb6 20. Qd3 f5 21. g5 Qd7
22. Ne2 Nh5 23. Rf3 Rae8 24. Raf1 Rf7 25. b3 Bf8 26. Ng3 Nxg3 27. Rxg3 Bg7 28.
h4 Rxe3 29. Rxe3 Bd4 30. Rfe1 Re7 {[#]} 31. Qxd4 1-0

[Event "USA-02 Congress Grand Tournament"]
[Site "Cleveland"]
[Date "1871.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Mackenzie, George Henry"]
[Black "Johnston, A1."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C25"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[PlyCount "45"]
[EventDate "1871.12.04"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "18"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceTitle "EXT 2002"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2001.11.25"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2001.11.25"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 f6 3. f4 exf4 4. Bc4 Ne7 5. d4 Ng6 6. Nge2 f3 7. gxf3 d6 8. O-O
Nc6 9. f4 Bh3 10. Rf2 Na5 11. Qd3 Nxc4 12. Qxc4 Qd7 13. f5 Ne7 14. Nf4 Bg4 15.
Ne6 c6 16. Bf4 g5 17. Be3 d5 18. Qd3 Bh5 19. exd5 cxd5 20. Re1 h6 {[#]} 21. Bd2
Kf7 22. Qh3 Bg6 23. fxg6+ 1-0

[Event "USA-02 Congress Grand Tournament"]
[Site "Cleveland"]
[Date "1871.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Mackenzie, George Henry"]
[Black "Judd, Max"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C84"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[PlyCount "125"]
[EventDate "1871.12.04"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "18"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceTitle "EXT 2002"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2001.11.25"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2001.11.25"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d4 Nxe4 6. O-O Be7 7. Qe2 d5 8.
Nxe5 Bd7 9. Nxd7 Qxd7 10. Bxc6 bxc6 11. f3 Nd6 12. Re1 Nf5 13. Be3 O-O 14. Bf2
Bf6 15. Qd2 c5 16. c3 cxd4 17. cxd4 h6 18. Nc3 c6 19. Re2 Rfe8 20. Rae1 Rxe2
21. Rxe2 Re8 22. Rxe8+ Qxe8 23. Qd3 Qe6 24. Ne2 a5 25. Nf4 Qc8 26. Qc3 Qc7 27.
Nxd5 Qd6 28. Nxf6+ Qxf6 29. a4 h5 30. Kf1 h4 31. Qxa5 h3 32. Qe5 hxg2+ 33. Kxg2
Qg5+ 34. Kh1 Qc1+ 35. Bg1 Nh4 36. Qe8+ Kh7 37. Qe4+ Ng6 38. b3 Qc3 39. Qe3 Qb2
40. Bf2 f5 41. f4 Qa1+ 42. Kg2 Qb1 43. a5 Qa1 44. b4 Qb1 45. Qd2 Ne7 46. Be1
Nd5 47. Kg3 Qe4 48. h4 Nxf4 49. Qxf4 Qxe1+ 50. Qf2 f4+ 51. Kf3 Qxb4 52. Qc2+
Kh8 53. Qc5 Qe1 54. Qh5+ Kg8 55. Kxf4 Qc1+ 56. Kf5 Qf1+ 57. Ke6 Qc4+ 58. d5
cxd5 59. Qxd5 Qxh4 60. a6 Qa4 {[#]} 61. Ke7+ Kh7 62. Qh5+ Kg8 63. Qe8+ 1-0

[Event "USA-02 Congress Grand Tournament"]
[Site "Cleveland"]
[Date "1871.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Johnston, A1."]
[Black "Judd, Max"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B21"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[PlyCount "48"]
[EventDate "1871.12.04"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "18"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceTitle "EXT 2002"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2001.11.25"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2001.11.25"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c5 2. f4 e6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. c3 Be7 5. Bd3 d5 6. e5 Qb6 7. Bc2 Nh6 8. a3 O-O
9. d4 c4 10. h4 f6 11. exf6 Bxf6 12. Ng5 e5 13. dxe5 Bxe5 14. Qxd5+ Kh8 15. Qe4
Bf5 16. Qe3 Qxe3+ 17. Bxe3 Bxc2 18. fxe5 Nxe5 19. Kd2 Bd3 20. Bd4 Rf5 21. Re1
Nc6 22. Nf3 {[#]} Na5 23. Ke3 Nb3 24. Ra2 Ng4# 0-1

[Event "2020-21 College Final Four"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2021.04.04"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Belous, Vladimir"]
[Black "Cordova, Emilio"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A31"]
[WhiteElo "2620"]
[BlackElo "2655"]
[Annotator "Lawrence"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "UT-RGV"]
[BlackTeam "Webster"]
[TimeControl "1500+5"]

1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 b6 3. Nc3 Bb7 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Nf6 6. f3 e6 7. e4 d6 8. Be3
Be7 9. Be2 O-O 10. O-O Nbd7 11. Qd2 a6 12. a4 Rc8 13. a5 Re8 14. Nb3 bxa5 15.
Nxa5 Ba8 16. b4 Qc7 17. Rfc1 d5 18. c5 dxe4 19. Bxa6 exf3 20. Bxc8 Ng4 21. Bf4
Qxc8 22. c6 Nde5 23. h3 Rd8 24. Qc2 Bxb4 25. hxg4 Bc5+ 26. Kh1 {[#]} fxg2+ (
26... Nd3 27. gxf3 (27. Ne4 fxg2+ 28. Qxg2 Nxf4 29. Qf3 Bd4 30. Qxf4 Bxa1 31.
Rxa1) 27... Nxf4 28. Ne4 Bb6 29. Ng5 Ng6 30. c7 Rf8 31. Nb3 Bd5 32. Nd2 f6 33.
Nxe6 Bxe6 34. Qc6 Bd4) 27. Qxg2 Nd3 28. Nb7 Nxf4 29. Qf3 Rd3 (29... Ng6 30.
Nxd8 Qxd8 31. Ne4 Bxc6) 30. Rxa8 Qxa8 31. Qxf4 Bb6 32. Ne4 h6 33. c7 Bxc7 34.
Rxc7 Rd1+ 35. Kg2 Qa2+ 36. Nf2 e5 37. Rc8+ Kh7 38. Qf5+ g6 39. Qf6 {Black
resigns} 1-0

[Event "2020-21 College Final Four"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2021.04.04"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Ali Marandi, Cemil Can"]
[Black "Lenderman, Aleksandr"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C41"]
[WhiteElo "2617"]
[BlackElo "2704"]
[Annotator "Lawrence"]
[PlyCount "129"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "SLU"]
[BlackTeam "Webster"]
[TimeControl "1500+5"]

1. d4 d6 2. e4 Nf6 3. Nc3 e5 4. Nf3 Nbd7 5. g4 $5 Nxg4 6. Rg1 Ngf6 7. Be3 c6 8.
Qd2 b5 9. O-O-O Qa5 10. dxe5 dxe5 11. Kb1 b4 12. Na4 $1 {[#]} Ba6 (12... Qxa4
$2 13. Nxe5 $1 $18) 13. Bh3 Rd8 14. b3 Qc7 15. Qe1 Bb5 16. Nb2 c5 17. Nd2 Nb6
18. Bf1 Bd7 $16 (18... Bxf1 19. Qxf1 $11) 19. f3 g6 20. Ndc4 Nh5 21. Rg5 f6 22.
Rxh5 $1 gxh5 23. Qh4 Be6 (23... Rg8 24. Qxh5+ Ke7 25. Nxe5 $1 Be8 (25... fxe5
26. Bg5+) (25... Qxe5 26. Bxc5+) 26. Nc6+ Qxc6 27. Bxc5+ Qxc5 28. Qxc5+ $18)
24. Qxf6 Rxd1+ 25. Nxd1 Qd7 26. Qxh8 $2 (26. Nxe5 $1 $18 {Now Black is back in
the game.}) 26... Qxd1+ 27. Kb2 Qxf1 28. Nd6+ Kd7 29. Qxf8 c4 30. Nxc4 Nxc4+
31. bxc4 Qxc4 32. Qg7+ Bf7 33. Qxe5 Qxa2+ 34. Kc1 Bc4 $2 $18 35. Qd4+ Ke8 36.
Qh8+ Kd7 37. Qxh7+ Kc6 38. Qg6+ Kb7 39. Qg7+ Bf7 40. Qd4 Qa4 41. f4 Be8 42. f5
Qa3+ 43. Kd2 Qa5 44. Ke2 Bb5+ 45. Kf2 Qa2 46. Qc5 a6 47. e5 b3 48. Qd5+ Bc6 49.
Qf7+ Kc8 50. Qe6+ Kb7 51. Qxb3+ Qxb3 52. cxb3 Be4 53. f6 Bd5 54. Kg3 $1 {
[#] The idea that justifies the queen trade.} Bxb3 55. Kh4 Bf7 56. e6 $1 {
Another best move on the way to the quickest win.} Bxe6 57. Kxh5 Bf7+ 58. Kh6
Kc6 59. Kg7 Bh5 60. f7 Bxf7 61. Kxf7 Kd5 62. h4 Ke4 63. Bc1 Kf5 64. h5 a5 65.
h6 {Black resigns} 1-0

[Event "World Team East"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2021.02.13"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Lu, Jason"]
[Black "Liao, Connor"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B68"]
[WhiteElo "2145"]
[BlackElo "1508"]
[Annotator "Molner"]
[PlyCount "103"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[TimeControl "3600+10"]

{This game is from the first round of the tournament. It was a good
performance from my student NM, Jason Lu. Jason won a smooth game in nice
fashion which help set the pace and standard for the tournament.} 1. e4 c5 2.
Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 Bd7 {Not Black's most common
choice.} ({Normal is} 6... e6) 7. Qd2 e6 8. O-O-O a6 9. f4 Be7 10. Nf3 $5 {
[#] A strong retreat. Black's cramped position is not easy to handle, and he
needs to find a solution to the threat of e4-e5.} Ng4 $2 {A costly mistake.
Black most likely feared the e4-e5 pawn push, but trading the dark-squared
bishops was too big a price to pay. Better was} (10... b5 $1 {Black has to try
to soften up White's center before it completely steamrolls the black position.
Plan could continue} 11. Bxf6 ({Worse is} 11. e5 b4 12. exf6 bxc3 13. Qxc3 gxf6
) 11... gxf6 {with a complex position and a big fight.}) 11. Bxe7 Qxe7 {
Now the d6-pawn has softened up significantly. White needs to be careful not
to rush in too quickly to capture the pawn.} 12. h3 $1 {Pushing the knight
back so that White can capture the pawn on d6.} ({Of course not} 12. Qxd6 $4
Nf2 $2) 12... Nf6 13. g4 $1 {Jason is mindful of his opponent's potential
counterplay. If he captures immediately Black may have some play involving ...
Nf6-h5.} ({After} 13. Qxd6 Qxd6 14. Rxd6 Nh5 15. Ne2 Nf6 {the White pieces are
a little awkward but he still has the advanage after} 16. Ng3 h5) 13... O-O-O {
Now ... Bd7-e8 is a threat so White should capture the pawn.} 14. Qxd6 Be8 ({
Black could get clever with} 14... Nd5 15. Qxe7 Ndxe7 {but it doesn't make a
big difference.}) 15. Qxe7 Rxd1+ 16. Kxd1 Nxe7 17. Bd3 Bc6 18. Ne5 Rf8 19. Kd2
Nd7 20. Nxc6 Nxc6 21. e5 h6 22. Be4 ({Perhaps more precise is} 22. Ne4 $1 {
heading towards the outpost on d6 with good play.}) 22... Rd8 23. Ke3 Nc5 {[#]}
({It looks like} 23... Kc7 {, preventing White from damaging the queenside
pawn structure, would be ideal for Black, but it ends up being a bit slow:} 24.
Bxc6 Kxc6 25. Rd1 {and here, in order to untangle the d7-knight, Black has to
guard the d8-rook. This gives White time to bring his knight to d6.} Kc7 26.
Ne4 $18) 24. Bxc6 $1 {Perfect timing. Jason damages Black's pawn structure and
gives himself some targets on the queenside to eventually attack.} bxc6 25. b4
({Gaining space on the kingside would also be a good plan:} 25. h4 Kc7 26. h5 {
and White can open another front on the kingside by playing g4-g5 and giving
the rook targets.}) 25... Nd7 26. Rd1 Nb6 $2 27. Rxd8+ Kxd8 28. Kd4 $1 Kd7 29.
Ne2 ({A common idea in endgames with an advantage is to fix a weakness on a
square where it will be a permanent target. When White plays} 29. a4 $1 {
, with the idea of a4-a5 in the near future, it will create a weakness on a6.
White can then play Nc3-e4-c5 with a winning advantage, i.e.} Kc7 30. a5 Nd7
31. Ne4 {.}) 29... Nd5 30. a3 Nc7 31. c4 Na8 32. Nc3 Nb6 33. Ne4 Na4 {[#]} 34.
g5 ({Trading immediately leads to a winning position:} 34. Nc5+ {Trading
immediately leads to a winning position.} Nxc5 35. Kxc5 Kc7 36. h4 {.}) 34...
h5 35. Nc5+ Nxc5 36. Kxc5 {Jason shows off some simple but effective winning
technique to bring home the full point.} Kc7 37. h4 g6 38. a4 a5 39. bxa5 Kd7
40. a6 Kc8 41. Kxc6 Kb8 42. c5 Ka7 43. Kd7 Kxa6 44. c6 Ka5 45. c7 Kxa4 46. c8=Q
Ka3 47. Qb7 Ka4 48. Kc6 Ka3 49. Kc5 f5 50. Kc4 Ka2 51. Kc3 Ka1 52. Qb2# {
A smooth game from Jason that helped set the stage for our team throughout the
tournament.} 1-0

[Event "World Team East"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2021.02.14"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Molner, Mackenzie"]
[Black "Mundayat, Abinav"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B31"]
[WhiteElo "2483"]
[BlackElo "2130"]
[Annotator "Molner"]
[PlyCount "29"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[TimeControl "3600+10"]

{My 4th round game was one of my most memorable of the tournament. It was a
quick game but felt impactful because of the team studying we did on the
Sicilian Defense before the tournament began. My opponent walked into a line
of the Rossolimo variation that we all studied in great detail. It only took
one mistake for my opponent to end up in a dire situation. To me the game was
representative of the hard work and progress we made leading up to the
tournament. Hopefully the reader will get some enjoyment out of it as well.} 1.
e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 {This move is the so-called Rossolimo variation. It is
named after Nicolas Rossolimo, an American grandmaster who played some very
nice games with it. It looks like it should lead to less aggressive and
combative games compared to the Open Sicilian but there are lines which can
lead to quick confrontation.} g6 ({The most popular alternative to the game
continuation is} 3... e6 {with one idea being that Black wants to play ...
Ng8-e7 to defend the c6-knight and avoid doubled pawns on the c-file. This
line is out of fashion in elite chess, but is certainly playable.}) ({Another
move, tried by GMs Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana, is} 3... e5 $5 {It
doesn't have the same level of respectability but does have a decent bit of
surprise value.}) 4. O-O {One benefit of the Rossolimo for White is that it is
easy to quickly castle and grab a lead in development. Part of Black's
strategy involves minimizing the impact of this while still fighting for
control of the center.} ({A serious alternative is} 4. Bxc6 {.}) 4... Bg7 5. c3
{I like this move, aiming to play d2-d4 while Black is taking some time to get
their pieces out.} ({Caruana tested} 5. Re1 e5 6. b4 {in his World
Championship match against Carlsen, getting to positions with very interesting
play.}) ({And} 5. Bxc6 {is still a serious move to consider.}) 5... e5 {
Black fights for control of the d4-square with as much force as he can muster.
This is one the main ways of handling the position for Black, along with 5...
Nf6.} 6. d4 $1 {Despite Black's strong control of this square, White needs to
strike here anyway in order to open up the position to make use of the lead in
development.} cxd4 7. cxd4 Nxd4 $6 ({White's initiative is kept at bay with} 
7... exd4 $1 {.}) 8. Nxd4 exd4 9. Bf4 {The bishop is heading to d6 where it
will be very inconveniently placed for Black, obstructing the d-pawn and
inhibititng queenside development. My opponent's next move is certainly
designed to prevent this move, but there is a major tactical flaw.} Qb6 $4 {[#]
} 10. Na3 $1 Qf6 {My opponent tries to gain a tempo, but this is yet another
queen move. Black is falling desperately behind in development, and if action
isn't taken to quickly castle it is likely Black's king will be stuck in the
center.} ({The most natural move would be} 10... a6 $2 {but here we see the
point of 10. Na3. White plays} 11. Nc4 $1 Qxb5 $4 12. Nd6+ {winning Black's
queen and, soon, the game.}) 11. Qd2 a6 12. Bg5 ({I also considered} 12. Nc4 {
during the game. It looks like the threat of Bf4-e5 could be potentially
powerful but it doesn't work out after} axb5 13. Be5 bxc4 14. Bxf6 Nxf6 {
. Black has rightly exchanged the queen for three minor pieces. White has lost
all initiative, while Black has improved their development and stands better.})
12... Qe6 13. Bc4 Qd6 14. e5 Qb6 {The fifth queen move, and the last lost
tempo Black can afford.} 15. Qf4 {[#] The f7-pawn cannot be defended without
incurring heavy material losses, so my opponent resigned.} 1-0

[Event "World Team East"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2021.02.14"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Zhu, Jenny"]
[Black "Finn, Sean"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E83"]
[WhiteElo "2002"]
[BlackElo "2121"]
[Annotator "Molner"]
[PlyCount "78"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[TimeControl "3600+10"]

{In this game our board three player, Sean Finn, won a vital game in our push
towards victory as a team. After a loss on board four we needed a resounding
performance on the remaining boards to get the win. Sean came through with
flying colors in an opening that he has a lifetime of experience in.} 1. d4 Nf6
2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nge2 O-O 6. f3 Nc6 7. Be3 a6 8. Rc1 e5 $6 {
Most likely this is not the best move here.} ({Black's most common plan in
this variation is to play} 8... Bd7 $1 {with the idea of protecting the
c6-knight, and playing ...b7-b5 at a later time.}) ({Another way to achieve
the same idea is} 8... Rb8 9. Qd2 Bd7 {.}) 9. d5 $1 {White closes the center
and gains time against the knight on c6.} Ne7 10. Qd2 Nh5 {[#]} ({Here the
best option for Black is} 10... Ne8 $1 {In the King's Indian, Black needs some
kind of pawn strike against the white center. The most common way to achieve
this is playing ...f7-f5, focusing attention on the kingside where he has a
space advantage. Sean's move in the game aims to accomplish the same thing,
but unfortuntely allows White a nice response.}) 11. Bh6 $2 ({Samisch players
should play the thematic} 11. g4 $1 {as White entertains the idea of a
kingside attack, and here there is no tactical reason not to play it. For
example, if} Nf4 {(the typical reply to g2-g4)} 12. Nxf4 exf4 13. Bxf4 f5 14.
h3 $1 {White has a complete grip on the position. Black lacks counterplay in
return for the pawn.}) 11... f5 ({Black should insert} 11... Bxh6 12. Qxh6 {
and only then push} f5 {.}) 12. Bxg7 Kxg7 {This exchange significantly helps
Black. It removes Black's worst piece and leaves White weak on the dark
squares.} 13. Ng3 $1 Nf4 ({Not} 13... Nxg3 $2 14. hxg3 {when White would be
poised for a dangerous attack.}) 14. h4 h6 ({Another good option was} 14... Ng8
{.}) 15. Nce2 fxe4 $2 ({Black gets an overwhelming space advantage after the
superior} 15... Nxe2 $1 16. Bxe2 f4 $1 17. Nf1 c5 $1 {.}) 16. fxe4 $2 ({
White absolutely has to get the knight back into the center with} 16. Nxe4 $1 {
so that it has a purpose. On g3 it is dominated by the g6-pawn.}) 16... c5 {
A nice idea by Sean, limiting counterplay while also getting ready to open up
a second front with the move ...b7-b5.} 17. Nxf4 Rxf4 18. Be2 Ng8 $1 {Another
strong manuever, bringing the knight back to the center where it exerts
pressure on e4 and helps cover other important kingside squares.} 19. h5 g5 {
A position like this illustrates why it is in Black's interest to trade off
his dark-squared bishops -- it would be completely shut in were it still on
the board. Instead White has the same problem for his bishop.} ({Also good was
} 19... Qg5 {.}) 20. Rf1 b5 $2 ({Preparing the pawn push with} 20... Bd7 $1 {
was more prudent.}) 21. Kd1 $2 ({Here White missed a surprising resource with} 
21. b4 $1 {when White is right back in the game. The center becomes very
unstable and the white pieces get active. After} cxb4 22. c5 {the game becomes
very complicated. Black's pieces on the back rank are seriously misplaced.})
21... Nf6 22. Qd3 $2 ({The last chance to continue the fight was} 22. b4 $1 {.}
) 22... bxc4 23. Qxc4 Rb8 $1 {Now Sean is total control. White's pawns are
overextended and Black has tremendous counterplay on the dark-squares.} 24. Kc2
Rb4 $1 {White's position collapses.} 25. Qd3 Rd4 26. Qc3 Nxe4 27. Nxe4 Rdxe4
28. Bd3 Rd4 29. Kb1 Qf6 $1 {I remember watching the game while playing mine
and thinking that Sean is setting a trap for his opponent. Although it looks
like Black is simply making a developing move there is a hidden threat behind
it.} ({Sean avoided} 29... Rxd3 $4 30. Qxd3 Bf5 31. Qxf5 Rxf5 32. Rxf5 {
which would be an absolute disaster for him. The white rooks are going to be
very active and presenting problems for the black king.}) 30. g3 $2 {[#] White
doesn't notice Black's idea. I like to remind students to always be alert to
your opponent's active moves. Instead of moving the f4-rook, Black has a
better option.} Rxd3 $1 31. gxf4 ({The main idea was} 31. Qxd3 Bf5 $1 {when
the f5-bishop defended by the queen as well as the rook. After} 32. Qxf5 Qxf5+
{it's mate in five!}) 31... Rxc3 {Black's advantage here is completely
unstoppable. Sean advances his kingside pawns and White soon resigns.} 32. Rxc3
exf4 33. Ka1 g4 34. Rc2 f3 35. Rcf2 Bf5 36. Rg1 Qg5 37. a4 Be4 38. a5 g3 39.
Rff1 f2 {White resigns} 0-1

[Event "World Team East"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2021.02.14"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Evans, Serena"]
[Black "Knesevitch, Ed"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B33"]
[WhiteElo "1960"]
[BlackElo "1616"]
[Annotator "Molner"]
[PlyCount "124"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[TimeControl "3600+10"]

{Heading into the final round, our team was 5-0 and we were paired against
another New Jersey team that we were very familiar with. Eventually the match
was tied 2-2 and this was our team's only win. Our entire team had been
studying the Sicilian in preparation for the tournament, and our fourth board,
Ed Knesevitch, was able to put some of that practice to use in this game.} 1.
e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 {Serena
opts to go into the mainline of the Sveshnikov Sicilian. The biggest upside to
White's position is the fantastic outpost on d5. Black will often gain the
bishop pair and have counterplay against the center using pawn strikes like ...
f7-f5.} a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Nd5 Be7 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 {All standard theory thus far.}
11. Nxf6+ $2 {[#] Serena veers off the beaten path. The d5-knight is a more
valuable piece than the f6-bishop. White should play to maintain her powerful
grip on the light squares while bringing the a3-knight back into the game. The
two key moves here are 11.c3 and 11.c4.} gxf6 $2 {There are many positions in
the Sveshnikov where Black wants to capture back towards the center, but this
is an exception.} ({After} 11... Qxf6 $1 {Black's activity will lead to a
better game. He will have no issues with castling and will quickly be able to
complete his development, while White still needs more time to bring the
a3-knight back into the game.}) 12. c4 Qa5+ ({Black can occupy the juicy
d4-square immediately with} 12... Nd4 $1 13. cxb5 Qa5+ 14. Qd2 axb5 {and Black
has an advantage.}) 13. Qd2 Qxd2+ 14. Kxd2 b4 15. Nc2 f5 16. exf5 Bxf5 17. Ne3
({Serena should trade the bishops if allowed. After} 17. Bd3 Bxd3 18. Kxd3 f5
19. a3 {she would even be pushing for an advantage if she can soften up the
queenside a bit.}) 17... Be6 18. g3 ({Creating a grip on f5 with} 18. Bd3 $1 {
would be very valuable.}) 18... Nd4 $1 19. Bg2 Ra7 20. Rac1 Rc7 21. Nd5 Bxd5
22. Bxd5 ({The position is equal after} 22. cxd5 Rxc1 23. Rxc1 Kd8 {. White's
control of the c-file is counterbalanced by their bishop lacking scope, and
Black has a strong knight on d4.}) 22... Ke7 23. Rhe1 f6 24. Rcd1 Rc5 25. Kc1
Kd7 26. Kb1 b3 $2 ({Connecting the queenside pawns with} 26... a5 {is a strong
idea, and}) ({exchanging the h-pawn with} 26... h5 {would be an ideal plan,
opening up the h8-rook and getting rid of an isolated pawn.}) 27. a3 $2 ({After
} 27. axb3 $1 Nxb3 28. Re3 Nd4 29. g4 {the rook's access along the third rank
will give White the chance to attack Black's isolated pawns.}) 27... a5 28. Re4
h5 $1 29. Re3 h4 30. g4 Rh7 {Around here it looked like either team could win
the match, so we really needed Ed to press for a win, and he delivered!} 31. h3
a4 $1 32. Rf1 (32. f4 {would help restrict Black's kingside advances. The
e5-pawn is tied to the knight and the f6-pawn needs to guard the e5-pawn. If
White can play f4-f5 next, the position will be completely locked up.}) 32...
Ne6 33. Bxe6+ Kxe6 34. Rc1 Rhc7 35. Rec3 e4 $2 ({Much cleaner is} 35... f5 $1 {
with a huge advantage.}) 36. Re1 Rxc4 37. Rxe4+ Rxe4 38. Rxc7 Re1+ 39. Rc1 {[#]
} Re2 ({Everyone knows that trading when ahead in material usually leads to
victory. After} 39... Rxc1+ {Black may not lead in material but the difference
in king activity is key:} 40. Kxc1 Ke5 41. Kd2 Kf4 42. Ke2 d5 43. Kd3 Kf3 44.
Kd4 Kxf2 45. Kxd5 Kg3 46. Ke6 Kxh3 47. Kxf6 Kxg4 {with a trivial win.}) 40. Rf1
f5 ({Why not just push the d-pawn down the board with} 40... d5 {?}) 41. g5 Kf7
42. Kc1 Kg6 43. f4 Rc2+ 44. Kb1 d5 45. Rc1 Rf2 46. Rc6+ Kf7 47. Rc7+ Ke6 48. g6
Rxf4 49. g7 Rf1+ 50. Rc1 Rxc1+ 51. Kxc1 Kf7 52. Kd2 Kxg7 53. Ke3 Kf6 54. Kf4 d4
55. Kf3 Ke5 56. Ke2 Ke4 57. Kf2 f4 58. Ke2 f3+ 59. Kf2 d3 60. Ke1 Ke3 61. Kd1
f2 62. Kc1 f1=Q# {A crucial and much needed victory for our team. At this
point in the match I was still playing my own game against International
Master Dean Ippolito. I was pushing for a win but eventually the game leveled
out to a three-fold repitition, landing us in a massive tie for first with 5½/
6. We were very fortunate to come out ahead on tiebreaks.} 0-1

[Event "2021 Amateur Team South"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2021.02.28"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Venkat, Raghav"]
[Black "Stevens, Matthew"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D02"]
[WhiteElo "2318"]
[BlackElo "2358"]
[Annotator "Hartmann"]
[PlyCount "106"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[TimeControl "3600+10"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 d5 3. Bf4 e6 4. e3 Bd6 5. Bg3 b6 6. Bd3 Bb7 7. Nbd2 O-O 8. Ne5
c5 9. c3 Nc6 10. f4 Ne7 11. Qf3 Nf5 12. Bf2 Be7 13. g4 Nd6 14. g5 Nfe4 15. Qe2
{A new move.} ({Previously seen:} 15. O-O-O $6 c4 16. Bc2 b5 17. Qh3 b4 18.
Nxe4 dxe4 19. Be1 {with an advantage to Black in Karjakin - Adams, Wijk aan
Zee 2016.}) ({and} 15. h4 cxd4 16. exd4 Nxd2 $6 (16... f6 $5) 17. Kxd2 Ne4+ 18.
Kc2 {with a complex position in Golovankov - Nikolaev, St Petersburg 2008.})
15... b5 $6 {Giving up a pawn for no good reason...} 16. Bxe4 Nxe4 17. Nxe4
dxe4 18. Qxb5 Qc7 19. dxc5 Bxc5 20. O-O-O $6 {... until White justifies
Black's pawn sacrifice by castling into a firezone!} Bd5 21. c4 Rab8 $1 22. Qa4
Bd6 23. Qc2 $2 ({For better or worse White had to try} 23. b3 Rfc8 24. Kd2 a5
25. Ke1 Bxe5 26. fxe5 (26. cxd5 $6 Rb4 27. Qc6 Qd8 28. Qa6 Bc3+ {and Black has
all the fun}) 26... Bc6 27. Qa3 Qxe5 {with advantage to Black.}) 23... Rfc8 $1
{Piling up on the pinned pawn. It might have been more precise to take on e5
first, but probably it doesn't make a difference.} 24. Rd4 Bxe5 25. fxe5 Bxc4
26. Be1 ({White had to try something other than} 26. Rxc4 Qxc4 27. Qxc4 Rxc4+
28. Kb1 Rbc8 {but the game continuation is no better.}) 26... Qxe5 $2 ({
Stevens missed the paralyzing shot} 26... Qb6 $1 {with the idea of ...Bc4-d3
to follow.}) 27. Bg3 $1 {Now White has a punchers chance, although objectively
the ensuing endgame is lost.} Bd3 28. Rd8+ Rxd8 29. Bxe5 Bxc2 30. Bxb8 Rxb8 31.
Kxc2 f5 32. gxf6 gxf6 33. Rd1 Rc8+ 34. Kb3 Rc7 35. a4 f5 36. Rd4 (36. a5 $1 {
causes the most trouble, with the idea of Kb3-a4 and then b2-b4.}) 36... Kf7
37. a5 e5 38. Rb4 Ke6 39. a6 Rc6 40. Rb7 Rxa6 41. Rxh7 Kd5 42. Rd7+ Rd6 43.
Rxa7 f4 44. exf4 exf4 45. Kc3 Ke5 46. Re7+ Kf5 47. b4 f3 48. Rf7+ Kg4 49. Rg7+
Kh3 50. Rh7+ Kg2 51. h4 f2 52. Rg7+ Kf3 53. Rf7+ Ke2 {White resigns} 0-1

[Event "2021 Amateur Team South"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2021.02.28"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Kalghatgi, Nikhil"]
[Black "de la Colina, Nicolas Alejandro"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A80"]
[WhiteElo "2245"]
[BlackElo "2176"]
[Annotator "Hartmann"]
[PlyCount "118"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[TimeControl "3600+10"]

1. d4 f5 2. Bg5 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. h4 h6 5. Bf4 Nf6 6. Qd2 d6 7. O-O-O e6 8. f3
Nh5 9. e3 Bd7 10. g4 Nxf4 11. exf4 Nc6 12. d5 Ne7 13. dxe6 Bxe6 14. Re1 Qd7 15.
Qe3 Kf7 16. Bb5 c6 17. Ba4 Rae8 18. h5 fxg4 19. Nge2 Nf5 20. hxg6+ Kxg6 21. Qg1
g3 22. Ne4 Kf7 23. N2xg3 Rhg8 24. Qh2 Nxg3 25. Nxg3 b5 26. Bb3 Bxb3 27. axb3
Rxe1+ 28. Rxe1 Re8 29. Rg1 Qe6 30. Ne4 d5 31. Qh5+ Kf8 32. Rxg7 Kxg7 33. f5 Qf7
34. f6+ Kg8 35. Qg4+ Kf8 36. Nc5 Rd8 37. Ne6+ Ke8 38. Nxd8 Kxd8 39. Qh4 Kd7 40.
Qxh6 Ke6 41. Kd2 Qxf6 42. Qxf6+ Kxf6 43. b4 Kf5 44. Ke3 Ke5 45. f4+ Kf5 {[#]}
46. c3 $2 ({Taking the opposition with} 46. Kf3 $1 Ke6 47. Kg4 {gives White
the win.}) 46... Kg4 47. Kd4 Kxf4 48. Kc5 Ke4 49. Kxc6 d4 ({Here} 49... Kd3 {
also draws:} 50. Kxd5 (50. Kxb5 d4 51. cxd4 Kxd4 52. Ka6 Kc4) 50... Kc2 51. Kd4
Kxb2 52. Kd3 Kb3 53. Kd4 Kb2 {with a drawn position.}) 50. cxd4 Kxd4 51. Kxb5
Kd3 52. b3 Kc3 53. Ka4 a6 54. Ka3 Kc2 55. Ka2 Kc3 56. Ka3 Kc2 57. Ka4 Kc3 58.
Ka5 Kxb3 59. Kxa6 Kxb4 {Game drawn because neither player has mating material}
1/2-1/2

[Event "2021 Amateur Team South"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2021.02.27"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Pealer, Shawn"]
[Black "Alam, Zaeem"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D51"]
[WhiteElo "2110"]
[BlackElo "1811"]
[Annotator "Hartmann"]
[PlyCount "75"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[TimeControl "3600+10"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Nbd7 5. e3 c6 6. cxd5 exd5 7. Bd3 Bd6 8.
Nge2 O-O 9. Qc2 h6 10. Bf4 Bxf4 11. Nxf4 Re8 12. O-O a5 13. Rae1 Nf8 14. Qd1
Qc7 15. Qd2 Ne6 16. Nfe2 Bd7 17. f3 b5 18. Ng3 Reb8 19. Nce2 c5 20. Nf5 c4 21.
Bb1 Bc6 22. Neg3 b4 23. e4 c3 24. bxc3 Bb5 25. c4 dxc4 26. d5 Qc5+ 27. Kh1 Nf8
$2 {[#]} 28. Nxg7 $1 Ng6 {Black can't accept the gifted knight.} ({If} 28...
Kxg7 {White breaks through with} 29. Nf5+ Kg8 30. Nxh6+ Kg7 31. Nf5+ Kg8 32. e5
{.}) 29. e5 $1 Nxd5 30. Qxh6 Qf8 31. N3h5 c3 32. Be4 $1 {Eliminating the
defender of f6 is more important than defending the rook.} Bxf1 33. Bxd5 Ra6
34. e6 $1 fxe6 35. Rxe6 Ne7 36. Rxe7+ Qf7 37. Bxf7+ Kf8 38. Re6 {Black resigns}
1-0

[Event "FIDE Candidates Tournament"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2021.04.19"]
[Round "8.1"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B97"]
[WhiteElo "2820"]
[BlackElo "2758"]
[Annotator "Aagaard"]
[PlyCount "147"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "United States"]
[BlackTeam "France"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "USA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "FRA"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qb6 8. Qd2
Qxb2 9. Rb1 Qa3 {Caruana has had success outpreparing MVL in the Poisoned Pawn,
so it was a reasonable idea to do it again.} 10. e5 ({The last time the two
played the Najdorf was in Wijk Aan Zee. After} 10. Be2 $5 Nc6 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12.
e5 Nd5 13. Nxd5 {MVL chose the wrong recapture.} exd5 $2 14. e6 $3 {White
already had a winning attack.} f6 (14... Bxe6 15. f5 Bxf5 16. O-O {was the key
point. White has a winning attack.}) 15. Bh5+ Kd8 16. Bh4 {White had a winning
position and won the game in Caruana – Vachier Lagrave, Wijk aan Zee 2021.})
10... h6 11. Bh4 dxe5 12. fxe5 Nfd7 13. Ne4 Qxa2 14. Rd1 Qd5 15. Qe3 Qxe5 16.
c3 Bc5 (16... Be7 {is the other possibility here, and to me it looks quite
solid. But there is nothing wrong with the game line either. MVL spent 18
minutes trying to remember his analysis.}) 17. Bg3 Qd5 {[#]} 18. Bc4 $3 {
This is a new idea found by Caruana's second GM Rustam Kazimdzanov some time
ago, and one that was saved for an occasion like this. Objectively it's not a
good move, but it's very effective. There are so many traps and pitfalls for
Black that the chances of him doing something stupid are high!} Qxc4 {Black
has to accept the sacrifice.} (18... Qh5 $2 19. Bd6 {with a winning attack was
not really in the cards.}) 19. Bd6 {At this point Black has a lot of options
and MVL spent a lot of time wading through them.} Nf6 {This is objectively the
best move. But it does not mean that there is an easy ride ahead.} (19... Bxd4
20. Rxd4 Qa2 21. O-O {looks very dangerous for Black to a human eye. Using an
engine, we can find a path through the labyrinth that leads to a slightly
better endgame for White, one that Black will find hard to hold in practice.})
({The most practical solution is also the most imaginative. Black could play} 
19... f5 $1 20. Nxc5 Kf7 $3 {Black has returned the piece and is ready to
bring the pieces into the game. White does not have anything better than} 21.
Nxf5 $5 (21. Nd3 Nc6 22. O-O Re8 {Black is absolutely safe.}) 21... exf5 22.
Rd4 Qa2 23. Rd2 Qc4 {with a draw.}) 20. Nxc5 Nd5 ({It must have been rather
confusing to calculate variations like} 20... b6 $5 {-- even analysing it with
an engine is not straightforward. A sample line runs} 21. Nf5 Nd5 22. Nxg7+ Kd8
23. Rxd5 $5 Qxd5 24. Ncxe6+ Kd7 $1 25. Nc7 Qxd6 26. Nxa8 Qc5 27. Nxb6+ Kc6 {
with a drawn ending approaching.}) 21. Qe5 Rg8 $1 ({The intermediate move} 
21... Qxc3+ $2 22. Kf2 {is a disaster. After} Rg8 $6 (22... Nf6 {is better,
but after} 23. Qe2 $1 {Black is still in grave danger. He is not managing to
get the pieces into the game.}) 23. Rhe1 Nf6 24. Qf5 $1 {is a scary
proposition. White is about to sacrifice on e6, and the black king is stuck in
the center.}) 22. Ndxe6 $1 {White has to go all in. Caruana was obviously
still in preparation.} fxe6 23. Nxe6 {[#]} Qxc3+ $5 {It is very hard to fault
MVL for this decision. If you were under combined attack from Stockfish and
Caruana, you would also be desperately attracted to chopping the queens off at
the first possibility.} ({Black would have been closer to solve his problems
if he had played} 23... Nf6 $1 {, when after the knight retracts, for example
to} 24. Nf8+ {, Black will play} Be6 $3 {White cannot play 25.Nxe6 Kf7, and
Black wins. So instead he has to exchange queens, but this time on Black's
terms.} 25. Qxe6+ Qxe6+ 26. Nxe6 Kf7 27. Nc7 Ra7 {and White has to play a few
accurate moves not to be worse. Certainly Caruana knew of this and was
prepared for it, so he would have shown a straight path to a draw, for sure.})
24. Qxc3 Nxc3 25. Nc7+ Kf7 26. Rd3 {The situation is fairly settled, and MVL
has been successful in navigating the complications. But such extensive
analysis is exhausting, and Black still has to deal with some practical
problems. Here things went wrong for Vachier-Lagrave. He is, by nature, a
dynamic player who tends to prefer piece activity over long-term trends. This
can be dangerous in the endgame, where activity is less relevant.} Ne4 $2 {
Played after two minutes.} ({Obviously MVL had decided in advance to give up
the exchange, but still it was the right time to look seriously at} 26... Ra7
$1 {when after} 27. Rxc3 {there are all kinds of tricks with 0-0+ and Nd5-e7
which can be solved with} Kg6 $1 {. White should castle with near equality, as
he may find himself in trouble after} 28. Nd5 (28. O-O Kh7) 28... Nc6 $1 29.
Bc5 Re8+ 30. Kf2 b6 $1 {when the rook can land on f7 and White will have to
defend a pawn down endgame.}) 27. O-O+ Kg6 $6 ({It turns out that the king is
not better off on the queenside after the exchange sacrifice.} 27... Nf6 28.
Nxa8 Be6 {with a small edge for White was a better go.}) 28. Nxa8 Nc6 29. Nb6 {
[#] This is a good moment to talk about the endgame. At first glance, Black is
equal in material, but if you look a little deeper, you'll quickly discover
that it will be very difficult to defend the pawns on the queenside. The
knights will need to find shelter on the kingside, where they will not be lost.
Opposite-colored bishops are often a drawing factor, or a source of
compensation for the Exchange, but not here when the major long-term weakness
in the position is on a dark square (g7). It therefore makes sense to head for
an endgame where both sides have two pawns on the kingside, but White is up an
Exchange. And since virtually all the rook versus knights endings are wins for
White, it's easy to see which pieces Black should keep on the board.} Rd8 $6 ({
On the basis of the reasoning above, it made a lot of sense to keep the bishop.
} 29... Bg4 {with a very dangerous position was thus better.}) 30. Nxc8 $1 Rxc8
{[#] Everything has gone wrong for Black. At this point Caruana had to slow
down and work out the best way to convert the advantage.} 31. Ba3 $5 {This is
still winning, but it was worth looking for simplicity.} (31. Re1 $1 {would
have been a strong intermediate move. Play continues} Re8 (31... Nxd6 32. Rxd6+
Kh7 33. Rd7 {will soon mean the end of the black queenside, as he will have to
defend the second weakness on g7.}) 32. Ba3 $1 {Threatening Rd3-e3, winning a
piece.} Nf6 33. Rxe8 Nxe8 34. Rd7 b5 35. Rb7 {and White wins the queenside
pawns and, later, the game.}) 31... Rc7 32. Rf4 Nf6 33. Bb2 $1 {White creates
more weaknesses in Black's position.} Ne7 ({White is also winning after} 33...
Na5 34. Bxf6 gxf6 35. Rd6 Rf7 36. Rg4+ Kf5 37. Rh4 {and either 37...Kg6 38.
Rd3! or} Kg5 38. Rhd4 {with 39.Rd7. Black cannot hold the queenside and the
split pawns on the kingside are easy targets.}) 34. Bxf6 gxf6 {[#] Everything
has worked as it should for Caruana. The position is winning and has over 50
minutes on the clock to take him to move 40 and beyond. So what does the World
no. 2 do? He makes a committal move after 29 seconds.} 35. h4 $4 {Quick,
confident and bad. Steinitz said not to make unneccessary pawn moves in the
endgame. It is clear that Caruana is dreaming of playing h4-h5 and that he
believes that the tactics are in his favour.} ({The strongest move is} 35. Rd6
$1 {, where 35...Rc1+ is met with 36.Rf1! and after} Nf5 36. Rb6 {the
queenside is doomed. White will still have to play accurately, as he picks off
the pawns, but the result is 90% certain. For example:} h5 37. h3 a5 38. Kh2 $1
Rc2 39. Rf3 {White is in control.}) 35... h5 $1 {MVL must have found it hard
to believe his own luck. A moment before his pawns were scattered and weak,
now they work beautifully together with the knight, which can be well placed
on either f5 or g4.} 36. Rg3+ Kf7 37. Rg5 Rc1+ $1 {Caruana had by now
understood that this was coming.} ({After} 37... Ng6 $2 38. Rxh5 $1 {White
wins immediately.}) 38. Kh2 Ng6 39. Rf2 Nxh4 {While MVL expected this to be
leading to an easy draw, Caruana was expecting a more dynamic approach from
the Frenchman:} (39... Kg7 40. Rxh5 Ne5 {hoping to advance the queenside. This
is a misunderstanding of the position entirely. Caruana wanted to play 41. Kf3,
but even stronger is} 41. Rf4 $1 {and Rh5-f5, after which the pawns will
advance on the kingside and Black will be unable to do anything on the
queenside.}) 40. Rxh5 Ng6 41. Rh7+ Ke6 42. Rxb7 Ne5 $1 43. Rb6+ Rc6 44. Rxc6+
Nxc6 45. Kg3 {[#]} Kf7 $1 {It is important to keep the king out.} (45... Ne5 $2
{would lose as the white king penetrates and cannot be kicked out:} 46. Kh4 $1
Kf7 47. Kh5 $1 Kg7 48. Ra2 Nf7 ({Trying to go for the g2-pawn also fails. After
} 48... Nd3 49. Rxa6 Nf4+ 50. Kg4 Nxg2 51. Re6 {the knight is trapped.}) 49.
Rxa6 Ne5 50. Ra7+ Nf7 51. g4 Kf8 52. Kg6 Ne5+ 53. Kf5 {and White wins quickly.}
) 46. Rc2 Nb4 47. Rd2 Nc6 48. Kf4 Kg6 49. Rd6 Ne5 50. Rxa6 Nf7 {Caruana was
unsure about the correct evaluation of this endgame, but could not see a way
to make progress. This endgame is a draw, but it is by no means easy to play,
as was apparent from how the players played. What Black needed to work out was
how to organise the pieces. The key point is that the the game is drawn if
Black is able to keep out the white king. The f6-pawn keeps control of e5 and
g5, so the knight must control h5, f5, e6, and e7. The king can't do that as
it can be chased away, but putting the knight on g7 achieves all these goals.
The only way for White to get around the fortress is to bring the king to f7,
but parked so far from the action, Black is able to launch a counterattack
against the g-pawn.} 51. Ke4 Nh6 52. Ra5 ({It is key to understand that the
king cannot penetrate from the back. After} 52. Kd5 Nf5 53. Ke6 Ng7+ 54. Ke7
Nf5+ 55. Kf8 {almost any knight move will hold the fortress, while Black can
even go for counterplay with} Kg5 $6 {, which is entirely unnecessary, but
after} 56. Kf7 Kg4 57. Kxf6 Nh4 {Black holds none the less.}) 52... Nf7 53. Ra3
Nd6+ 54. Kf4 Nf5 55. Rd3 Nh6 $2 (55... Ng7 $1 {[%csl Ge6,Gf5,Gh5] was a draw
as described. In the press conference, MVL said that he expected this move to
lose, but Caruana assumed, correctly, that it would be a draw.}) 56. Rg3+ Kf7
57. Ke4 Ng8 58. Kf5 Ne7+ {[#]} 59. Kf4 $6 (59. Kg4 $2 Kg6 $1 {would be a draw.}
) ({But the accurate} 59. Ke4 $1 {was the thing to play.}) 59... Nd5+ 60. Kg4
$2 ({A small misstep. As we shall see, the right path was:} 60. Kf5 Ne7+ 61.
Ke4 $1 {.}) 60... Kg6 61. Kf3+ Kf7 62. Ke4 {[#]} Ne7 $2 ({Knowing where the
knight belongs make this position easy. If you do not know where it belongs,
you would find} 62... Nc7 $1 {as the only move to be an act of digital
wizardry. But actually,} 63. Kf4 Ne6+ 64. Kg4 Ng7 $1 {with a fortress, is not
so difficult to understand.}) 63. Kf4 Nd5+ 64. Kf5 $1 Ne7+ {[#]} 65. Ke4 $1 {
This time Caruana finds the winning line.} Ng8 (65... Ke6 66. Ra3 Kf7 67. Ra7
Ke6 68. Kf3 $1 {The right path to the kingside is avoiding checks.} Nd5 69. Ra5
Ne7 70. Kg4 {and the king enters via the h5-square.}) 66. Rh3 Kg6 67. Ra3 Kf7 {
There are other variations here. They all show White's dominance.} 68. Kf4 Nh6
69. Rg3 $1 Ng8 70. Kg4 Ne7 (70... Kg6 71. Kh4+) 71. Kh5 Nd5 72. Rf3 Ke6 73. g4
Ke5 74. Kg6 ({After} 74. Kg6 Ke6 75. Rf1 Ne7+ 76. Kg7 Nd5 77. Re1+ {White wins}
) 1-0

[Event "FIDE Candidates Tournament"]
[Site "chess24.com"]
[Date "2021.04.21"]
[Round "10.3"]
[White "Wang, Hao"]
[Black "Grischuk, Alexander"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C11"]
[WhiteElo "2763"]
[BlackElo "2777"]
[Annotator "Aagaard"]
[PlyCount "82"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "China"]
[BlackTeam "Russia"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "CHN"]
[BlackTeamCountry "RUS"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. Nce2 c5 6. c3 Nc6 7. f4 Be7 8. Nf3
f6 9. Be3 O-O 10. g3 Qb6 11. Qd2 {Forgetting the details of his preparation,
Grischuk spent an hour trying to decide how to respond here.} cxd4 12. Nfxd4 ({
In the post-game interview Grischuk spat out line after line from his deep
think. Here's a sample:} 12. Nexd4 Ncxe5 (12... fxe5 13. Nxe6 d4 14. Nxf8 $6 (
14. Bf2 $1 {is unclear}) 14... dxe3 15. Bc4+ (15. Qd5+ Kh8 {with the idea that
Black wins after} 16. Nxd7 $2 Qxb2) 15... Kh8 $1 16. Qd5 Nf6 {and Black is
winning.}) 13. fxe5 fxe5 14. Nf5 Bc5 15. Bxc5 Qxc5 ({Wang Hao was visibly
amused as Grischuk gave the fantastic variation} 15... Nxc5 16. Ne7+ Kh8 17.
Nxe5 Ne4 18. Qd4 Qxb2 19. Rd1 Qf2+ $2 20. Qxf2 Nxf2 21. Rd4 $1 Nxh1 22. N5g6+
$1 hxg6 23. Rh4#) 16. b4 (16. N5h4 $5) 16... Qb6 17. Ne7+ Kh8 18. Be2 {with a
solid edge for White}) 12... Nc5 ({Another gem from the post-game interview:
after} 12... Bc5 13. b4 Nxb4 $1 ({White is ahead after} 13... Bxd4 14. Nxd4 $1
fxe5 15. Nxe6) 14. Rb1 $6 (14. cxb4 Bxb4 15. Nc3 fxe5 {is good for Black})
14... fxe5 15. fxe5 $2 Nxe5 16. cxb4 Nf3+ $1 {is just crushing.}) 13. exf6 Bxf6
14. Nb3 Ne4 15. Qd3 Qc7 {Black has come out of the opening just fine.} 16. Bg2
Nd6 ({Strong, but ultimately equalish, was} 16... b6 $1 {Black is ready to
play ...a7-a5 and ...Bc8-a6, but also ...Ne4-c5 and perhaps sacrificing the
d5-pawn if White will be so kind as to give up the light squares for it.}) 17.
Bf2 Nc4 18. Qc2 Ne7 19. O-O e5 20. fxe5 Bf5 {[#] Analyzing on the chess.com
stream, IM Danny Rensch suddenly got the idea to sacrifice the white queen for
three pieces. As he and GM Robert Hess looked into the concept, Wang Hao made
the move on the board!} 21. exf6 $5 {Knowing that he would be retiring from
active play at the end of the tournament, Wang Hao did not hold back.
Grischuk's customary time trouble was perhaps also a contributing factor in
deciding to complicate.} ({White could have had a slight advantage after} 21.
Qd1 Bxe5 22. Ned4 {. The tactical point is that} Nxb2 $2 23. Qe2 Nc4 {is met
with} 24. Nc5 $3 {and Black's position collapses. For instance,} Qxc5 $6 25.
Nxf5 Qc7 26. Nxe7+ Qxe7 27. Bxd5+ {and White wins a piece.}) 21... Bxc2 22.
fxe7 Rfe8 23. Nf4 Nb6 24. Nxd5 $2 {A misjudgment.} ({After} 24. Bxb6 $1 Qxb6+
25. Nd4 Qxb2 (25... Be4 {is sharp. After} 26. Nxd5 Bxd5 27. Bxd5+ Kh8 {the
players thought that Black was better, but it turns out that White holds with}
28. Rf7 $1 {with the idea of doubling rooks and playing Rf7-f8+.}) 26. Nxc2
Qxc2 27. Nxd5 {White would have full compensation for the queen.}) 24... Nxd5
25. Bxd5+ Kh8 26. Nd4 Qd7 27. c4 Bg6 $5 ({Black could have won more easily with
} 27... Bd3 $1 28. Rfd1 Bg6 {, when White would regret not having the rook on
the f-file.}) 28. Ne6 Rxe7 29. Rae1 Bf7 30. Nxg7 $1 {[#]} Bxd5 $2 ({Grischuk
passes up} 30... Rxe1 $1 31. Bxe1 Kxg7 32. Rxf7+ (32. Bc3+ {can be inserted,
but makes no difference}) 32... Qxf7 33. Bxf7 Kxf7 34. Kf2 Rc8 35. b3 Rd8 36.
Ke2 Kf6 37. Bd2 Kf5 38. Ke3 Rd6 $1 {when the black rook will be able to attack
pawns on both flanks and secure the win.}) 31. Rxe7 ({Wang Hao gave the
amusing variation} 31. Nf5 $5 {hoping for} Rxe1 $4 {which loses to} ({but} 
31... Qxf5 32. Bd4+ Kg8 33. Rxf5 Rxe1+ 34. Kf2 {is just equal.}) 32. Bd4+ Kg8
33. Nh6#) 31... Qxe7 32. Nf5 Qf8 33. Bd4+ Kg8 34. cxd5 {With the threat of
d5-d6 and Nf5-e7+, Black suddenly has to play accurately.} h5 (34... Rd8 $2 35.
d6 Rxd6 36. Bc5 $1 {would be an unfortunate turn of events.}) 35. d6 Kh7 36.
Ne7 Qe8 37. Rf6 Rd8 38. Bc3 Rxd6 39. Rxd6 Qxe7 40. Rd4 Kg6 41. a3 Qe3+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "FIDE Candidates Tournament"]
[Site "chess24.com"]
[Date "2021.04.23"]
[Round "11.3"]
[White "Grischuk, Alexander"]
[Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B23"]
[WhiteElo "2777"]
[BlackElo "2758"]
[Annotator "Aagaard"]
[PlyCount "97"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Russia"]
[BlackTeam "France"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "RUS"]
[BlackTeamCountry "FRA"]

{[%evp 0,97,19,19,66,37,76,45,50,50,49,23,16,-10,0,-21,-22,-31,-3,-38,2,-56,
-20,-21,42,-53,1,-43,-24,-40,-17,-76,-40,-75,-61,-61,-59,-43,0,0,29,70,87,25,
26,-44,-12,82,78,78,78,-24,23,-69,-69,-72,-67,-67,-23,-34,-29,-104,0,0,0,0,0,0,
47,43,32,43,43,43,102,102,111,121,136,146,150,141,146,146,145,132,159,159,176,
176,176,184,184,196,220,225,225,225,992,1012]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4.
Qxd4 Nc6 5. Qd2 g6 6. b3 Bh6 7. f4 Nf6 8. Bb2 e5 9. Nge2 $5 {A new idea, but
not a revolutionary one.} (9. g3 O-O 10. O-O-O Re8 {is the standard
continuation in this line.}) 9... O-O 10. O-O-O Be6 ({Black initiates
complications with} 10... Ng4 $5 11. Re1 Nf2 12. Rg1 b5 $5 {and I suspect we
may this at the top levels soon.}) 11. Kb1 a5 12. a4 Qb6 13. h4 Rac8 14. h5 $1
{Grischuk doesn't miss his chance to launch an attack.} Nxh5 15. g3 Nb4 {
The typical move.} ({Interesting would have been} 15... Qf2 $1 {when the white
pieces have trouble coordinating, since the black queen is a bit like a big
mosquito in the tent, creating havok! A possible continuation could be} 16. Bh3
Bxh3 17. Rxh3 Nb4 18. Rdh1 Bg7 19. g4 Nf6 20. g5 Rxc3 $1 21. Qxc3 Nxe4 22. Qe3
Qxe3 23. Rxe3 Nf2 24. Re1 f5 $5 25. gxf6 Bxf6 26. fxe5 dxe5 {with about even
chances.}) 16. Bh3 $1 Bxh3 17. Rxh3 Bg7 $2 (17... Qf2 $1 {would transpose to
the note to move 15.}) 18. g4 $1 Nf6 ({White also gets a strong attack after} 
18... Nxf4 19. Nxf4 exf4 20. Qxf4 $1 {.}) 19. g5 Nh5 $4 {A terrible move.} ({
Black's only chance to stay in the game was} 19... Ng4 $1 20. Rf1 Nf2 21. Rf3
Ng4 {when there are many sharp continuations. White is probably better, but
he'll have to prove it.}) 20. f5 $1 Rfd8 21. f6 $5 ({White could have won
faster with} 21. Qe1 $1 Qc5 (21... d5 22. Nxd5 $1) 22. f6 Bf8 23. Qh1 $1 d5 24.
Rxh5 gxh5 25. Qxh5 d4 26. Rh1 h6 27. g6 {and Black is close to mated.}) 21...
Bf8 22. Ng3 $1 (22. Qe1 {was still strong, but not quite as strong as before,
since after} d5 $5 23. Nxd5 $2 {Black has} Qe6 $1 {when much of White's
advantage has evaporated.}) 22... d5 23. exd5 Nxg3 24. Rxg3 h5 25. Qe2 $2 ({
White will have several ways to win in what follows. Here} 25. gxh6 $1 {
would have been a simple path to victory. But with the clock ticking, it's
difficult to choose between a number of promising options, so Grischuk went
for direct mate instead of trying to win safely and slowly.}) 25... Rc5 26. Rh3
Nxd5 27. Nxd5 Rcxd5 28. Rdh1 Qd6 $5 29. Ka2 Rd1 30. Rxh5 gxh5 31. Rxh5 $2 (31.
Rh3 $1 {would have won the game. Black can do nothing but give back material
with} Ra1+ 32. Bxa1 Qd1 33. Qxd1 Rxd1 34. Bxe5 Rd5 35. Bf4 {. White has two
extra pawns and wins easily.}) 31... Rd4 $3 {MVL finds a fantastic resource.}
32. Rh1 {Suddenly, nothing works for White!} ({Mate is threatened after} 32.
Bxd4 Qa3+ 33. Kb1 Rxd4 34. Rh1 {but Black has} Rxa4 $1 35. bxa4 Qb4+ 36. Kc1
Qa3+ {and White has to acquiese to the perpetual check.}) (32. Qh2 Rxa4+ $1 {
might be what Grischuk missed:} 33. bxa4 (33. Kb1 $2 Qd1+ 34. Bc1 Ra1+ $1 {
quickly leads to mate}) 33... Qe6+ 34. Kb1 Rd1+ 35. Bc1 Qb6+ 36. Ka2 Qe6+ {
with perpetual check.}) 32... Rxa4+ 33. Kb1 Qd5 $6 {Trying to play for the win.
} ({MVL saw that} 33... Rh4 $1 34. Rxh4 Qd1+ 35. Qxd1 Rxd1+ 36. Ka2 Rd2 37. Kb1
Rd1+ {was a clear draw, but he couldn't give up the dream of winning the
Candidates.}) 34. Qh5 Qxh1+ 35. Qxh1 Rg4 36. Bxe5 Rxg5 $2 ({After} 36... Re8 $1
37. Bc3 b6 {the position would be rougly equal.}) 37. Qxb7 Rd2 $6 (37... Bb4 {
gave more resistance.}) 38. Bc3 $5 ({White had a faster win with} 38. Bf4 $1
Rg1+ 39. Kb2 Re2 40. Qa8 Rgg2 41. Kc3 $1 {followed by Bf4-h6 or Bh4-d6.}) 38...
Re2 39. Qc8 Rg1+ 40. Kb2 Rgg2 41. Bxa5 Rxc2+ 42. Qxc2 {Here the computers at
Chess24 and ChessBomb (wrongly) said that Black was only slightly worse if he
played an intermediate move, and the commentators relayed this to a devastated
MVL in the post-game press conference} Rxc2+ {But everything loses.} ({The
online engines proposed} 42... Ba3+ 43. Kc3 Rxc2+ 44. Kxc2 Kf8 {but this is
not a difficult position to understand. If White is able to get the pawn to b7,
he wins. The battle therefore revolves around control of the b5- and
b7-squares. If Black brings the king to these squares in time, he draws. White
wins by getting the king to the a6- or c6-squares. The winning procedure is:}
45. Kc3 $1 Ke8 46. Bb4 Bc1 47. Kc4 Kd7 48. Kb5 $1 {(again, control of the
b7-square is the key)} Bb2 49. Be7 Bc3 50. b4 Ke6 (50... Bb2 51. Ka6 $1) 51.
Kc5 $1 Bxf6 52. Bxf6 Kxf6 53. Kd6 $1 {and White's pawn promotes with tempi to
spare.}) 43. Kxc2 Kh7 44. Kd3 Kg6 45. Bc3 Kf5 46. Kc4 Ke6 47. b4 Bd6 48. b5 Kd7
49. Kd5 {Here White doesn't need to get the king to the c6-square. After
Bc3-e5, the pawn will advance without support.} 1-0

[Event "FIDE Candidates Tournament"]
[Site "chess24.com"]
[Date "2021.04.24"]
[Round "12.4"]
[White "Wang, Hao"]
[Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C01"]
[WhiteElo "2763"]
[BlackElo "2789"]
[Annotator "Aagaard"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/3R1pk1/2rn2p1/3p3p/P7/5PP1/6KP/5N2 w - - 0 39"]
[PlyCount "42"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "China"]
[BlackTeam "Russia"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "CHN"]
[BlackTeamCountry "RUS"]

{[%evp 0,51,-36,-121,-123,-126,-120,-114,-129,-129,-136,-118,-129,-129,-147,
-132,-108,-108,-88,-110,-94,-101,-101,-95,-79,-82,-82,-82,-82,-93,-97,-99,-61,
-129,-128,-139,-151,-145,-151,-155,-143,-144,-147,-187,-171,-166,-135,-169,
-140,-142,-138,-157,-182,-197]} 39. Re7 $2 {An oversight. Better was} (39. Kf2
$1 {and White stands only minimally worse.}) 39... Rc2+ $1 40. Kg1 ({Also
uncomfortable would have been} 40. Kh3 Rf2 41. Re1 g5 {.}) 40... d4 ({Even
stronger was} 40... Rc1 $1 {with a trappy idea:} 41. Kf2 Ra1 42. Rd7 Nc4 43.
Rxd5 ({But after} 43. Ke2 {White still has reasonable chances to draw.}) 43...
Rxf1+ $1) 41. Rd7 Nf5 42. a5 $1 Ra2 43. Ra7 $2 ({It's difficult to give up the
pawn, but after} 43. a6 $1 Rxa6 44. Nd2 {the knight would come to life, and
White would have counterplay.}) 43... Kf6 $5 ({Even stronger was} 43... h4 $1
44. g4 Nd6 45. Rd7 Nb5 {when White is completely dominated.}) 44. a6 h4 $6 {
So natural, but mistimed!} ({Nepomniachtchi could have kept most of his
advantage with} 44... Nd6 $1 45. Ra8 Nc4 46. f4 Nd6 47. a7 Nb5 {and the poor
knight on f1 is dominated.}) 45. Ra8 h3 46. a7 Ke7 47. g4 ({Wang misses his
chance to activate his pieces. After} 47. Nd2 $1 Nd6 48. Kf1 Nb5 49. Ke2 Nxa7
50. Kd3 {White holds the draw easily. The game move should also lead to a draw,
but in practice the task is not so simple.}) 47... Nd6 48. Rb8 Rxa7 49. Rb4 d3
50. Rb3 Ra2 51. Rxd3 Nc4 52. Ng3 Rg2+ 53. Kh1 Kf8 54. Rc3 $2 ({A check with} 
54. Rd8+ {and then moving back again was the right way to wait. Now White is
getting into trouble.}) 54... Nb2 $1 {On the way to the f2-square.} 55. Rc8+
Kg7 56. Rd8 Rf2 {The pawn falls.} 57. Kg1 Rxf3 58. Ne4 Re3 59. Ng3 $6 Ra3 ({
White resigned. After} 59... Ra3 60. Re8 Nd3 61. Re3 Ra1+ 62. Nf1 Nf4 63. Rf3
g5 64. Rb3 {certainly it's reasonable to believe that Black will win. But Wang
should have made him prove it over the board.}) 0-1

[Event "Chelyabinskiy Variant GpA"]
[Site "Chelyabinsk RUS"]
[Date "2021.03.27"]
[Round "5.6"]
[White "06.01 Fedorov, Alex"]
[Black "Simantsev, M."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2529"]
[BlackElo "2389"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[PlyCount "49"]
[EventDate "2021.03.23"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[SourceTitle "The Week in Chess 1377"]
[Source "Mark Crowther"]
[SourceDate "2021.03.29"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.03.29"]
[SourceQuality "2"]

{[%evp 0,49,23,16,57,65,57,57,76,15,35,36,36,34,61,-26,-16,6,21,39,31,31,34,6,
14,-42,-21,-87,-57,-57,-41,-52,-44,-47,-26,-21,-23,-37,-17,-12,31,20,31,33,70,
71,112,84,84,87,435,434]} 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nd2 e6 5. Nb3 Nd7 6.
Nf3 c5 7. Be2 c4 8. Nbd2 b5 9. Nf1 h6 10. Ne3 Bh7 11. g3 Ne7 12. Nh4 Nc6 13. f4
Be7 14. Nhg2 Qa5+ 15. c3 b4 16. Bd2 bxc3 17. Bxc3 Bb4 18. Qd2 O-O 19. O-O Rab8
20. f5 Bxc3 21. bxc3 Qa3 22. Bg4 exf5 23. Bxf5 Bxf5 24. Nxf5 Ne7 {[#]} 25. Qc1
$1 {The black queen is overburdened and Black loses a piece after 25...Qxc1 26.
Nxe7+ Kh8 27.Rfxc1. Black resigned.} 1-0

[Event "European Online CC Final"]
[Site "Tornelo INT"]
[Date "2021.03.30"]
[Round "4.5"]
[White "06.02 Matlakov, M."]
[Black "Cramling, P."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D00"]
[WhiteElo "2688"]
[BlackElo "2459"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[PlyCount "47"]
[EventDate "2021.03.30"]
[EventType "team (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[SourceTitle "The Week in Chess 1378"]
[Source "Mark Crowther"]
[SourceDate "2021.04.05"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.04.05"]
[SourceQuality "2"]
[WhiteTeam "Mednyi Vsadnik"]
[BlackTeam "Cercle d'Echecs de Monte-Carlo"]

{[%evp 0,47,38,32,17,20,20,12,33,17,23,4,55,56,42,54,53,70,59,64,70,72,73,74,
79,83,93,88,102,88,105,81,96,109,119,118,133,111,132,138,138,132,137,140,130,
124,211,29990,29991,29992]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bf4 a6 4. e3 Bf5 5. Bd3 e6
6. Bxf5 exf5 7. Qf3 Bb4 8. Bg5 Nbd7 9. Qxf5 O-O 10. Nge2 c6 11. O-O Qb6 12.
Rab1 Rfe8 13. a3 Bf8 14. Rfe1 a5 15. Qd3 a4 16. Ng3 Qa5 17. Bf4 Rac8 18. h3 Nb6
19. e4 dxe4 20. Ncxe4 Nxe4 21. Nxe4 Qd5 22. Be5 c5 {[#]} 23. Nf6+ $1 {The most
straight-forward path to the goal. The black king shelter is forced open.} gxf6
24. Qg3+ {Black resigned. After 24...Bg7 25.Bxf6, it is quickly over for Black.
} 1-0

[Event "European Online CC GpG"]
[Site "Tornelo INT"]
[Date "2021.03.28"]
[Round "8.3"]
[White "06.03 Jobava, Ba"]
[Black "Sevdimaliev, U."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B32"]
[WhiteElo "2603"]
[BlackElo "2369"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[PlyCount "49"]
[EventDate "2021.03.27"]
[EventType "team (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[SourceTitle "The Week in Chess 1377"]
[Source "Mark Crowther"]
[SourceDate "2021.03.29"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.03.29"]
[SourceQuality "2"]
[WhiteTeam "Tremblay"]
[BlackTeam "Nakhchivan - Noah's Land"]

{[%evp 0,49,23,22,46,41,41,-9,1,21,14,14,11,-29,-4,-41,-14,-13,11,20,32,48,69,
58,58,46,56,74,45,59,58,38,65,69,65,68,60,60,56,64,74,56,70,74,76,72,218,215,
282,304,323,326]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e5 5. Nb5 d6 6. c4 Be7
7. Bd3 a6 8. N5c3 Be6 9. O-O Rc8 10. Be3 Bg5 11. Nd5 Bxe3 12. fxe3 Qg5 13. Nbc3
Nge7 14. Rf3 O-O 15. Rg3 Qh6 16. Qb3 Rb8 17. Rf1 Ng6 18. Qb6 Qh4 19. b4 Qd8 20.
a3 Qxb6 21. Nxb6 Nge7 22. Ncd5 Nc8 {[#]} 23. Nd7 $1 ({White also wins after} 
23. Nf6+ Kh8 24. Nbd7 {.}) 23... Bxd7 24. Nf6+ Kh8 25. Nxd7 {White wins the
exchange and Black chose to resign.} 1-0

[Event "European Online CC GpG"]
[Site "Tornelo INT"]
[Date "2021.03.28"]
[Round "6.4"]
[White "06.04 Derakhshani, Borna"]
[Black "Flom, Gabriel"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D02"]
[WhiteElo "2373"]
[BlackElo "2474"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[PlyCount "58"]
[EventDate "2021.03.27"]
[EventType "team (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[SourceTitle "The Week in Chess 1377"]
[Source "Mark Crowther"]
[SourceDate "2021.03.29"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.03.29"]
[SourceQuality "2"]
[WhiteTeam "Wood Green"]
[BlackTeam "Tremblay"]

{[%evp 0,58,20,15,26,26,18,19,19,17,88,28,31,33,36,19,45,29,28,19,41,35,24,24,
24,1,1,7,2,-3,-4,1,-11,-60,-60,-3,-7,-73,-85,-65,-65,-134,-103,-81,-90,-53,-53,
-100,-48,-48,-30,-24,-31,-18,-25,-32,24,9,27,-29995,-29996]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4
d5 3. Nf3 e6 4. e3 c5 5. c3 Qb6 6. Qb3 c4 7. Qc2 Nh5 8. Bg3 Nxg3 9. hxg3 g6 10.
Nbd2 Bg7 11. Be2 Nc6 12. b3 cxb3 13. axb3 O-O 14. e4 Bd7 15. e5 Rac8 16. Qb2 f6
17. exf6 Bxf6 18. O-O e5 19. dxe5 Nxe5 20. Rac1 Ng4 21. b4 Bb5 22. Bxb5 Qxb5
23. Qb3 Qd3 24. Nb1 Qf5 25. Rcd1 Rfd8 26. Rfe1 Kh8 27. Re2 Re8 28. Rxe8+ Rxe8
29. Rxd5 {[#]} Re1+ $1 {White resigned as he will get mated after} (29... Re1+
30. Nxe1 Qxf2+ 31. Kh1 Qf1#) 0-1

[Event "European Online CC GpI"]
[Site "Tornelo INT"]
[Date "2021.03.28"]
[Round "8.2"]
[White "06.05 Bulockin, Martin"]
[Black "Tomczak, J."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A43"]
[WhiteElo "2315"]
[BlackElo "2610"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[PlyCount "37"]
[EventDate "2021.03.27"]
[EventType "team (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[SourceTitle "The Week in Chess 1377"]
[Source "Mark Crowther"]
[SourceDate "2021.03.29"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.03.29"]
[SourceQuality "2"]
[WhiteTeam "Bohemian Fire A"]
[BlackTeam "Poland Hussars"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 c5 3. d5 b5 4. a4 b4 5. Bg5 Qb6 6. e3 h6 7. a5 Qd6 8. Bf4 Qxd5
9. Nbd2 d6 10. Bc4 Qb7 11. O-O e5 12. Bxe5 dxe5 13. Nxe5 Be6 14. Bxe6 fxe6 15.
Ndc4 Nbd7 {[#]} 16. Qd3 $1 ({In the game, White went wrong with} 16. Ng6 Rg8
17. Nxf8 Kxf8 18. Qd6+ Kf7 19. Rad1 Rgd8 {and Black had consolidated his
material advantage and soon won the game.}) 16... Qe4 ({After} 16... O-O-O 17.
Nf7 {, White doesn't just fork the rooks, he also threatens Nfd6+ with another
fork, but this time on the king and queen.}) 17. Nxd7 {Now the knight on f6 is
overburdened.} Qxd3 18. Nxf6+ gxf6 19. cxd3 {White has an extra pawn as well
as an overwhelming positional advantage.} 0-1

[Event "European Online CC Final"]
[Site "Tornelo INT"]
[Date "2021.03.30"]
[Round "4.4"]
[White "06.06 Donchenko, Alexa"]
[Black "Maghsoodloo, Parham"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D31"]
[WhiteElo "2659"]
[BlackElo "2676"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "2021.03.30"]
[EventType "team (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[SourceTitle "The Week in Chess 1378"]
[Source "Mark Crowther"]
[SourceDate "2021.04.05"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.04.05"]
[SourceQuality "2"]
[WhiteTeam "SF Deizisau e.V."]
[BlackTeam "Clichy Echecs 92"]

{[%evp 0,59,24,0,0,0,0,0,-18,6,26,16,20,29,36,51,28,6,19,-9,4,3,3,8,8,-1,-3,
-22,-20,-51,-2,-83,-26,-56,-54,-60,-1,-8,25,28,16,0,-14,0,34,-18,-8,0,2,-21,
-21,-17,246,372,650,922,1599,2301,1599,29986,29987,29988]} 1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 d5
3. d4 Bb4 4. e3 Ne7 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 b6 7. cxd5 exd5 8. Bd3 Bf5 9. Be2 c5
10. Nf3 Nbc6 11. O-O O-O 12. a4 Na5 13. Ne5 Qc7 14. f3 Rfd8 15. Kh1 c4 16. Ba3
f6 17. Ng4 Bxg4 18. fxg4 Ng6 {[#]} 19. g5 fxg5 20. Bg4 Re8 21. Qf3 Rad8 22.
Rae1 Nb3 23. Rf2 Kh8 24. Qf5 Qc6 25. Ref1 Qxa4 {[#]} 26. Bf8 $1 {White
threatens both Qf7 and Bxg7+, and the bishop, of course, cannot be captured
because of the back rank mate.} Nf4 {A desperate attempt at stopping the
inevitable.} ({Or} 26... Nd2 27. Qf7 {and Black cannot prevent getting mated.})
27. Bxg7+ Kxg7 28. Qxg5+ Kh8 29. Qf6+ Kg8 30. Rxf4 {and Black resigned.} 1-0

[Event "European Online CC PlayA"]
[Site "Tornelo INT"]
[Date "2021.03.29"]
[Round "3.2"]
[White "06.07 Bartel, Mat"]
[Black "Artemiev, V."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C77"]
[WhiteElo "2635"]
[BlackElo "2709"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[PlyCount "54"]
[EventDate "2021.03.29"]
[EventType "team (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[SourceTitle "The Week in Chess 1377"]
[Source "Mark Crowther"]
[SourceDate "2021.03.29"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.03.29"]
[SourceQuality "2"]
[WhiteTeam "Klub Szachowy Polonia Wroclaw"]
[BlackTeam "Ladya Kazan"]

{[%evp 0,54,38,38,38,38,38,27,19,2,2,2,8,16,16,4,20,11,1,3,4,-1,26,29,55,30,53,
32,25,6,22,26,16,41,36,30,55,42,34,25,35,33,16,43,938,258,13,-116,-154,-392,
-394,-514,-566,-612,-588,-616,-620]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6
5. Nc3 Bc5 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. d3 Qe7 8. h3 h6 9. Be3 Bd6 10. O-O c5 11. Nd2 g5 12.
Nc4 Be6 13. Nxd6+ cxd6 14. Ne2 g4 15. h4 Nh5 16. g3 f5 17. exf5 Bd5 18. Nc3 Bf3
19. Qd2 Ng7 20. Bxh6 Nxf5 21. Bg5 {[#]} Nxh4 $3 {A beautiful breakthrough.} 22.
Bxe7 Nf5 {Threatens mate on h1, the point behind the previous move.} 23. Bh4 {
The only way to attempt to cork the hole.} Nxh4 24. Qg5 Nf5 {Renewing the
threat of ...Rh1.} 25. Qg6+ Kd8 26. Qf6+ Kc7 27. Nd5+ Kc6 {White is almost out
of checks and the mate on h1 will soon become a reality, and therefore, White
resigned.} 0-1

[Event "European Online CC GpD"]
[Site "Tornelo INT"]
[Date "2021.03.27"]
[Round "1.5"]
[White "06.08 Gadimbayli, Abdulla"]
[Black "Straka, V."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B31"]
[WhiteElo "2470"]
[BlackElo "2417"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[PlyCount "45"]
[EventDate "2021.03.27"]
[EventType "team (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[SourceTitle "The Week in Chess 1377"]
[Source "Mark Crowther"]
[SourceDate "2021.03.29"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.03.29"]
[SourceQuality "2"]
[WhiteTeam "Ganclik"]
[BlackTeam "Moravska Slavia Brno B"]

{[%evp 0,45,33,33,51,40,47,22,56,29,28,1,87,24,80,26,14,-67,3,-20,14,32,3,-9,
-6,-37,23,47,-4,-39,-39,113,91,44,223,210,210,186,212,201,231,197,189,189,189,
189,786,875]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. Bxc6 bxc6 5. d4 d5 6. dxc5 Qa5+
7. Bd2 Qxc5 8. Bc3 f6 9. exd5 cxd5 10. O-O Bg7 11. Re1 e5 12. a3 Ne7 13. Bb4
Qc6 14. Nc3 Be6 {[#]} 15. Nd4 $1 {Forcing the e-file open.} exd4 ({If} 15...
Qd7 {, then} 16. Nxe6 Qxe6 17. Bxe7 Qxe7 18. Nxd5 {leaves White with a winning
position.}) 16. Ne2 $1 {The point behind the file opening. The immediate
threat is Nxd4, winning the piece back.} Nf5 17. Nf4 {The bishop now drops
anyway and the entire Black position is left in tatters.} O-O-O 18. Nxe6 Rde8
19. Nxg7 Rxe1+ 20. Bxe1 Nxg7 21. Qxd4 {White is a pawn up but the collapse of
Black's position is imminent.} Kb7 22. Bc3 Rf8 $4 {One last mistake.} 23. Qb4+
{Black resigned.} 1-0

[Event "94th ch-St Petersburg"]
[Site "St Petersburg RUS"]
[Date "2021.03.25"]
[Round "1.2"]
[White "06.09 Goganov, A."]
[Black "Palchun, G."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E11"]
[WhiteElo "2575"]
[BlackElo "2359"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[PlyCount "55"]
[EventDate "2021.03.25"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[SourceTitle "The Week in Chess 1377"]
[Source "Mark Crowther"]
[SourceDate "2021.03.29"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.03.29"]
[SourceQuality "2"]

{[%evp 0,55,38,18,19,10,6,10,28,8,32,31,37,18,59,63,48,15,18,-23,-15,-7,68,56,
68,29,50,22,53,51,30,27,72,47,19,6,12,-118,-106,-106,-103,-138,-161,-56,-30,
-104,-146,-131,-131,-162,0,0,45,-27,31,29,479,29990]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3
Bb4+ 4. Nbd2 O-O 5. a3 Be7 6. e4 d5 7. e5 Nfd7 8. Bd3 c5 9. O-O Nc6 10. Re1 Qc7
11. Qc2 h6 12. cxd5 exd5 13. Nf1 Rd8 14. Ng3 Nf8 15. h3 a5 16. dxc5 Ne6 17. Nh5
Nxc5 {[#]} 18. Bxh6 $1 {Ripping Black's king shelter open.} gxh6 ({Nothing
works for Black, for instance,} 18... Nxd3 19. Bxg7 Nxe1 ({or} 19... Qd7 20. e6
Nxe1 21. Rxe1 fxe6 22. Bf6 {, threatening Ng5 and Black is defenseless}) 20.
Rxe1 Qd7 21. g4 Qe6 22. Bf6 {and once more Ng5 is looming without Black's
pieces being able to assist in the defense.}) 19. Qd2 {White threatens Qxh6,
so Black's answer is forced.} Bf8 20. Nf6+ ({The immediate} 20. Rac1 {was more
or less equally good.}) 20... Kh8 21. Rac1 $1 {Threatening Rxc5, winning the
piece back while keeping the attack going.} Ne6 ({Or} 21... b6 22. Bb1 {
(threatening b2-b4)} a4 23. Qc2 Ne4 24. Rxe4 {and it is curtains for Black.})
22. Ng4 $1 ({This "slow" approach keeps the attack going. In the game, White
continued} 22. Nh4 $4 Ng5 23. f4 Qb6+ 24. Kh1 Ne4 $4 (24... Qd4 $1 {would have
left Black with a large advantage}) 25. Bxe4 dxe4 26. Qe2 Bg7 27. Qh5 Be6 28.
Qg6 {and Black resigned.}) 22... Bg7 23. Nxh6 Rd7 24. Nf5 Qd8 25. Re3 Bf8 26.
Bb1 Ra6 27. Rce1 Rc7 28. Rd3 {threatening Nd6 and Black will not be able to
defend for long.} 1-0

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2021.03.18"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Concept"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Moradiabadi"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "5k2/pp3ppp/4p3/4n3/4P3/8/PP2BPPP/5K2 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "9"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]

{[#] A quasi-outpost is a square that a minor piece can occupy and use
advantageously for multiple moves, despite the fact that it could be
potentially be attacked by a pawn. In this position, Black has no tangible
advantage and his knight is only symbolically better but he still should go
for:} 1... g5 {[%csl Ye2,Ge5]} 2. g3 Ke7 3. Ke1 ({If White plays directly to
remove the knight with} 3. f4 $2 gxf4 4. gxf4 Ng6 5. f5 exf5 6. exf5 Nh4 {
and Black wins the pawn, although the position is still probably objectively
drawn.}) 3... Kd6 4. Kd2 Kc5 5. Kc3 f6 $11 {and the position is equal. If,
however, we replace the knight with a bishop, the piece could work some magic
in this type of position.} *

[Event "Moscow International-02"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "1935.02.18"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Chekhover, Vitaly A"]
[Black "Lasker, Emanuel"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D39"]
[Annotator "Moradiabadi"]
[PlyCount "76"]
[EventDate "1935.02.15"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "19"]
[EventCountry "URS"]
[SourceTitle "HCL"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1999.07.01"]
[SourceVersion "2"]
[SourceVersionDate "1999.07.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,76,28,-6,3,-16,26,16,10,10,55,60,50,32,58,-1,-8,4,-5,3,40,32,32,21,13,
11,8,7,0,-48,-11,-23,-23,-41,-20,-30,-30,-40,-40,-55,-48,-48,-40,-40,-39,-30,7,
8,-28,-27,-27,-29,-33,-72,-75,-75,-85,-84,-84,-74,-108,-108,-111,-97,-86,-144,
-119,-123,-129,-232,-234,-271,-333,-371,-374,-374,-290,-310,-310]} 1. c4 Nf6 2.
Nc3 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. d4 dxc4 5. e4 Bb4 6. Bg5 c5 7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8. Bxc4 cxd4 9.
Qxd4 Nc6 10. Qxf6 gxf6 11. Rc1 Bd7 12. O-O Rc8 13. a3 {[#]} Bd6 $1 {Ever the
wily strategist, Lasker masterfully sees the value of the e5-square for his
bishop.} 14. Ne2 Ne5 15. Nxe5 Bxe5 16. Bb5 $6 {This only exacerbates White's
problems.} Rxc1 17. Bxd7+ Kxd7 18. Rxc1 Rc8 $1 19. Rxc8 Kxc8 {[#]} 20. b3 Kc7
21. Kf1 b5 $1 {Probing the queenside, according to the well-known "principle
of two weaknesses."} 22. Ke1 Bb2 $1 {A weakening maneuver that paves the way
for the black king. The rest is relatively simple.} 23. a4 bxa4 24. bxa4 Kc6
25. Kd2 Kc5 26. Nc3 Kb4 27. Nb5 a6 28. Nd6 Kxa4 29. Kc2 Be5 ({More accurate was
} 29... Bd4 30. f3 Kb4 {.}) 30. Nxf7 Bxh2 31. Nd8 e5 $2 {This gives Checkhover
a way back into the game.} 32. Nc6 $2 ({He had to try} 32. Ne6 $1 Bg1 (32...
Bf4 33. Nc7 a5 34. Kc3 {should also let White hold}) 33. Nc5+ $1 Kb5 34. Nd7
Bxf2 35. Nxf6 a5 (35... h6 36. Ng4) 36. Nxh7 a4 37. Kb2 {and White hangs on by
the skin of his teeth. Now Lasker makes no more mistakes.}) 32... Bg1 33. f3
Bc5 34. Nb8 Kb5 35. g4 Be7 36. g5 fxg5 37. Nd7 Bd6 38. Nf6 Kc4 0-1

[Event "Bad Kissingen"]
[Site "Bad Kissingen"]
[Date "1981.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Seirawan, Yasser"]
[Black "Sosonko, Gennadi"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A25"]
[WhiteElo "2555"]
[BlackElo "2595"]
[Annotator "Moradiabadi"]
[PlyCount "125"]
[EventDate "1981.04.??"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[EventCategory "12"]
[SourceTitle "MCL"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1999.07.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "1999.07.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,125,30,-18,-15,-15,-17,-17,11,9,26,24,51,25,50,66,73,73,61,56,72,68,
48,75,77,70,70,84,73,32,53,68,77,46,102,99,92,70,78,64,58,63,63,59,90,95,91,89,
96,90,88,88,88,91,91,69,69,81,84,87,90,79,90,58,56,87,82,90,90,79,90,103,108,
46,100,112,107,117,117,117,108,117,120,120,120,124,262,262,273,278,294,298,302,
306,308,317,323,297,328,375,380,381,381,393,409,404,421,453,472,238,308,346,
416,440,432,235,312,363,385,404,396,467,495,517,527,240,527,372]} 1. c4 e5 2.
Nc3 Nf6 3. e3 d6 4. d4 Nc6 5. Nf3 g6 6. Be2 Bg7 7. dxe5 Nxe5 8. Nxe5 dxe5 9.
Qxd8+ Kxd8 10. b3 c6 11. Ba3 Bf5 12. O-O-O+ Kc8 13. h3 $1 {[%cal Gg2g4] [#]
Seirawan wants to play g4-g5 and place his knight on e4. Engines, which aren't
"burdened" with knowledge of patterns like humans, prefer Ba3-d6 instead. Why?}
({The idea is} 13. Bd6 Re8 {and only now} 14. h3 h5 15. g4 $1 {with a better
version of the game continuation.}) 13... h5 $2 {An oversight by Sosonko.} ({
Better is} 13... Be6 14. g4 h6 {and in the long-run White's advantage fizzles
out.}) 14. g4 $5 (14. Bd6 {would have transposed to} Re8 15. g4 hxg4 16. hxg4
Nxg4 17. Rh7 $16 {and White has a big advantage.}) 14... hxg4 15. hxg4 Bxg4 ({
Note that} 15... Nxg4 {runs into} 16. Rxh8+ Bxh8 17. Rh1 Kd7 18. Rh7 {and now
if} Nxf2 19. Rxf7+ Ke6 20. Rxb7 {with advantage to White.}) 16. Rxh8+ Bxh8 17.
Be7 $1 {The only move to keep White's initiative.} Bd7 18. Rh1 Bg7 19. Bxf6 $1
Bxf6 20. Ne4 {White finally places his knight on the quasi-outpost!} Bd8 21.
Rh7 Be8 $4 {A losing blunder in a difficult position.} ({After} 21... Bf5 $1
22. Nd6+ Kd7 23. Nxf7 Be7 24. Nxe5+ Ke6 25. Nf3 Kf6 {engines correctly assess
this position as almost equal. The black bishops are very active and it is
clear than ... Be7-a3+ followed by ... Ra8-d8 is quite annoying for White.})
22. Bg4+ Kc7 23. Be6 $1 {A small nuance!} Be7 24. Bxf7 Bxf7 25. Rxf7 {[%csl
Ge4,Re7] [#] Now White has a typical good knight vs bad bishop advantage.
Yasser's technique is not flawless, but it is superbly polished. As the
remainder of the game has little to do with our article, I leave it to you to
replay and enjoy!} Kd7 26. Rg7 Ke6 27. Kd1 Rf8 28. Ke2 Rf7 29. Rg8 Kf5 30. Ng3+
Kf6 31. Rb8 Bf8 32. Ne4+ Kf5 33. f3 g5 34. Nf2 Bd6 35. Rg8 Rh7 36. a4 a6 37.
Ne4 Be7 38. Rb8 b5 39. cxb5 cxb5 40. Ng3+ Ke6 41. Rb6+ Kd5 42. Rxa6 b4 43. Nf5
e4 44. Nxe7+ Rxe7 45. Ra5+ Kd6 46. Rxg5 Rc7 47. Rg6+ Ke5 48. f4+ Kd5 49. Rg5+
Kd6 50. Rb5 Rc2+ 51. Kd1 Rc3 52. Rxb4 Rxe3 53. a5 Kc5 54. Rb8 Rh3 55. a6 Rh1+
56. Ke2 Ra1 57. Ke3 Re1+ 58. Kf2 Ra1 59. b4+ Kd4 60. b5 e3+ 61. Kf3 Rf1+ 62.
Kg2 Ra1 63. Re8 1-0

[Event "Hoogovens"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee"]
[Date "1968.01.13"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Ree, Hans"]
[Black "Portisch, Lajos"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B40"]
[Annotator "Moradiabadi"]
[PlyCount "54"]
[EventDate "1968.01.10"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "15"]
[EventCountry "NED"]
[SourceTitle "MCL"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1999.07.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "1999.07.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d3 d5 4. g3 $6 Nc6 5. Bg2 dxe4 6. dxe4 Qxd1+ 7. Kxd1 {
[#] Look familiar? One way to learn to associate ideas from typical games --
classic or otherwise -- is through pawn structures.} b6 $1 8. c3 Ba6 $1 {
Very precise play from the 'Hungarian Botvinnik'. Portisch correctly addresses
the weakness of the d3-square.} 9. Bf1 O-O-O+ 10. Nbd2 Bb7 11. Kc2 Nf6 $6 ({
The always-tricky engine gives} 11... Bd6 $1 12. Ng5 Rf8 {with advantage to
Black.}) 12. Bd3 {[#]} ({After} 12. Ng5 Rd7 13. f3 {the engine reckons that
the black advantage is muted after} h6 14. Nh3 g5 15. Nf2 {.}) 12... h6 $1 {
You have seen this before, right?} 13. Re1 g5 $1 ({Our metal friend thinks that
} 13... Ng4 14. Re2 g5 {is slightly more precise, but who cares? A pioneer's
work is never flawless, but the practical strength of Portisch's approach is
not in question here.}) 14. h3 g4 $1 15. hxg4 Nxg4 {Now the knight lands on g4
and...} 16. Rf1 h5 17. a4 Nce5 {The e5-square is secured - a fine
quasi-outpost for the knight. Well, for one of them!} 18. Nxe5 Nxe5 19. Be2 h4
{Portisch increases his assault's momentum.} 20. g4 $2 {This loses on the spot.
} ({If White tries to kick the knight with} 20. f4 {, Black will tie down
White's pieces with} Ng6 21. gxh4 Rxh4 22. f5 exf5 23. exf5 Ne5 {and the
difference in piece activiity is palpable.}) 20... h3 {The rest is relatively
trivial.} 21. f3 h2 22. Rh1 Rh3 23. Kb3 Nd3 24. Bxd3 Rxd3 25. Nf1 Rdxf3 26.
Rxh2 Rxh2 27. Nxh2 Rf2 0-1

[Event "Chicago Open"]
[Site "Chicago"]
[Date "2016.05.28"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Gurevich, Daniel"]
[Black "Moradiabadi, Elshan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D63"]
[WhiteElo "2464"]
[Annotator "Moradiabadi"]
[PlyCount "70"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[EventType "simul"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

{[%evp 0,70,25,26,18,-17,3,6,18,18,42,11,28,-10,27,22,30,31,25,20,18,0,-1,2,2,
-5,-4,-29,-13,-14,-6,-83,-30,-46,-35,-31,-55,-53,-48,-36,-18,-118,-113,-158,
-92,-145,-120,-120,-107,-135,-134,-136,-93,-233,-246,-325,-312,-312,-334,-336,
-261,-263,-303,-303,-266,-303,-308,-309,-301,-426,-331,-348,-354]} 1. d4 Nf6 2.
c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Nbd7 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 Be7 7. e3 O-O 8. Rc1 dxc4 9. Bxc4
a6 10. O-O b5 11. Bd3 Bb7 12. Qe2 c5 13. Rfd1 cxd4 14. Nxd4 (14. exd4 {1-0 (52)
Yandarbiev,R (2356)-Zvjaginsev,V (2678) St Petersburg 2012} Rc8) 14... Rc8 15.
Bb1 Qb6 {[#]} 16. e4 $6 Ne5 $1 17. Bg3 (17. f4 $4 {immediately fails to} Bc5 $1
) 17... Nfd7 18. Kh1 Rfd8 19. f4 Nc4 20. e5 $2 {It looks like Black is now
banished from the e5-square... but sometimes the tactics work in your favor!}
Ndxe5 $1 21. Nxe6 $5 ({Not} 21. fxe5 Rxd4 22. b3 Rd2 23. Rxd2 Nxd2 24. Qxd2 Bg5
$1) 21... Rxd1+ 22. Nxd1 Qxe6 23. fxe5 Rd8 24. Bd3 Bg5 25. Rc3 Nb6 26. h4 Nd5
27. Rb3 Nf4 28. Bxf4 Bxf4 29. Nf2 Qc6 30. Ng4 h5 31. Nh2 Bxe5 32. Nf3 Qc1+ 33.
Qf1 Bxb2 34. a4 Bd5 35. Qxc1 Bxc1 0-1

[Event "Uncommon Opening"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2021.04.12"]
[Round "?"]
[White "R. Fine vs. J. Rappaport"]
[Black "Intercollegiate Champ. 1931"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B01"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini"]
[PlyCount "55"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]

1. f3 d5 2. e4 e5 3. Nc3 c6 4. d4 dxe4 5. dxe5 Qxd1+ 6. Nxd1 exf3 7. gxf3 Be6
8. Bh3 Bd5 9. Ne3 Bc5 {[#]} 10. c4 Bxe3 11. cxd5 Bxc1 12. Rxc1 Nd7 13. f4 cxd5
14. Rc7 Nb6 15. Rxb7 Ne7 16. Ne2 Nc6 17. Rg1 g6 18. Kf2 Ne7 19. Rc1 Nc4 20. b3
Na5 21. Rxe7+ Kxe7 22. Rc5 Nxb3 23. axb3 a5 24. Rc7+ Ke8 25. Nc3 Rb8 26. Nxd5
Kf8 27. e6 f5 28. Nf6 {[#]} 1-0

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2021.04.12"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 1"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/8/8/8/8/1kn5/7r/2K1R2R b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]

 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2021.04.12"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 2"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/8/5k2/8/8/3np3/7r/5KQ1 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]

 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2021.04.12"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 3"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "4k3/8/8/8/8/8/3r3r/1KR4R b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]

 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2021.04.12"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 4"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/6k1/bR6/4n3/8/8/r7/1R1KB3 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]

 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2021.04.12"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 5"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/8/7r/b2k4/3Pp3/6P1/5K2/5RN1 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]

 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2021.04.12"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 6"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/8/R7/1P6/8/8/r1n4k/4NK2 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]

 0-1

[Event "Internet blitz"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2021.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Sherman, David"]
[Black "NN"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B08"]
[Annotator "Sherman"]
[PlyCount "53"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. Nc3 g6 3. e4 d6 4. d4 Bg7 5. Be2 O-O 6. O-O c6 7. a4 a5 8. h3
Nbd7 9. Bf4 h6 10. Qd2 Kh7 {Black has put no pressure on White's center.} 11.
Rfe1 Ne8 12. e5 {White controls the whole board.} c5 13. dxc5 dxc5 14. Bb5 Nc7
15. Rad1 Nxb5 16. Nxb5 Qb6 17. e6 fxe6 18. Nc7 Ra7 19. Rxe6 Qxb2 20. Rxe7 Qf6
21. Nd5 Qb2 22. Bxh6 Rg8 23. Ng5+ Kxh6 ({If} 23... Kh8 24. Bxg7+ Rxg7 ({or} 
24... Qxg7 25. Qf4 $1 {with Qf4-h4 coming} ({and of course} 25. Rxg7 {works too
})) 25. Re8+ Rg8 26. Nf7+ Kg7 (26... Kh7 27. Qh6#) 27. Qh6+ Kxf7 28. Re7#) 24.
Nf7+ Kh7 {[#]} ({Not} 24... Kh5 25. Qg5#) 25. Qh6+ $3 {This is MY BEST MOVE!
There's double check on the diagonal, double check on the rank, and smothered
mate on the file. And all the while White captures nothing!} Bxh6 26. Ng5+ Kh8
27. Rh7# 1-0

