[Event "London Casual Games"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "1826.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Evans, William Davies"]
[Black "McDonnell, Alexander"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C52"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[PlyCount "39"]
[EventDate "1826.??.??"]
[EventType "game"]
[EventRounds "1"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O d6 5. b4 Bxb4 6. c3 Ba5 7. d4 Bg4 8. Qb3
Qd7 9. Ng5 Nd8 10. dxe5 dxe5 11. Ba3 Nh6 12. f3 Bb6+ 13. Kh1 Bh5 14. Rd1 Qc8 {
[#]} 15. Rxd8+ Qxd8 16. Nxf7 Qh4 17. Qb5+ c6 18. Qxe5+ Kd7 19. Qe6+ Kc7 20.
Bd6# {British Chess Magazine 01/1928} 1-0

[Event "Moscow op 03rd"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "2007.02.04"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Lastin, Alexander"]
[Black "Kurenkov, Nikolai"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A54"]
[WhiteElo "2583"]
[BlackElo "2438"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[PlyCount "49"]
[EventDate "2007.01.27"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d6 3. Nc3 e5 4. Nf3 e4 5. Ng5 Bf5 {[#]} 6. g4 Bxg4 7. Bg2 Nc6
8. Ngxe4 Nxe4 9. Bxe4 Be7 10. Rg1 Qd7 11. Be3 f5 12. Bxc6 Qxc6 13. Nd5 Qxc4 14.
Nxe7 Qf7 (14... Kxe7 15. f3) 15. h3 f4 16. Bxf4 Be6 17. d5 Bd7 18. Qd4 Rf8 19.
Bg5 Bb5 20. Rg3 h6 21. Bd2 g5 22. Rf3 Qh5 23. Re3 Kf7 24. Qg4 Qxg4 25. hxg4 1-0

[Event "Candidates Tournament"]
[Site "Kazan"]
[Date "2011.05.21"]
[Round "3.3"]
[White "Grischuk, Alexander"]
[Black "Gelfand, Boris"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D53"]
[WhiteElo "2747"]
[BlackElo "2733"]
[PlyCount "27"]
[EventDate "2011.05.05"]
[EventType "k.o."]
[EventRounds "3"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 Bxf6 7. Qb3 dxc4 8.
Qxc4 O-O 9. g3 b5 10. Qxb5 Nd7 11. Bg2 c5 12. O-O Rb8 13. Qa4 a5 14. dxc5
1/2-1/2

[Event "Ilichevsk Sunny Pawn-A"]
[Site "Ilichevsk"]
[Date "2006.07.21"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Vovk, Yuri"]
[Black "Golubev, Mikhail"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B78"]
[WhiteElo "2441"]
[BlackElo "2467"]
[PlyCount "58"]
[EventDate "2006.07.20"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "UKR"]
[EventCategory "7"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 Nc6 8. Qd2
O-O 9. Bc4 Bd7 10. O-O-O b5 11. Bxb5 Nxd4 12. Bxd4 Bxb5 13. Nxb5 Rb8 14. c4 Qc8
15. Qc3 Qc6 16. Kb1 a6 17. Na3 Rfc8 18. Ka1 Qb7 19. Qd2 Nd7 20. Bxg7 Kxg7 21.
b3 f6 22. Nb1 a5 23. Nc3 Nc5 24. Nd5 e6 25. Nf4 g5 26. Nd3 Nxb3+ 27. axb3 Qxb3
28. Qa2 Qc3+ 29. Nb2 Rxc4 0-1

[Event "Mar del Plata International-19"]
[Site "Mar del Plata"]
[Date "1956.03.13"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Rossetto, Hector"]
[Black "Pelikan, Jorge"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B33"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[EventDate "1956.03.12"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "17"]
[EventCountry "ARG"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8.
Bxf6 gxf6 9. Na3 {[#]} d5 10. Nxd5 Bxa3 11. bxa3 Rg8 12. Qd2 Be6 13. g3 f5 14.
Bg2 fxe4 15. Bxe4 Nd4 16. Ne3 f5 17. Bxb7 Rb8 18. c3 Rxb7 19. cxd4 f4 20. O-O
fxe3 21. fxe3 Qd5 22. Rac1 exd4 23. exd4 Rg4 24. Qh6 Rbg7 25. Rf2 Rxg3+ 26.
hxg3 Rxg3+ 27. Kf1 Bh3+ 28. Ke1 Rg1+ 29. Ke2 Qe4+ 30. Qe3 Bg4+ 31. Kd2 Qxe3+
32. Kxe3 Rxc1 33. Kf4 h5 34. Rb2 Rf1+ 35. Kg5 Rf5+ 36. Kh4 Ra5 0-1

[Event "URS-ch27 Final"]
[Site "Leningrad"]
[Date "1960.02.20"]
[Round "16"]
[White "Averbakh, Yuri L"]
[Black "Petrosian, Tigran V"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E66"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "5Q2/3r3p/p2r2p1/2pP1pk1/5R2/1Pq3P1/P2R1P1P/6K1 w - - 0 41"]
[PlyCount "5"]
[EventDate "1960.01.26"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "19"]
[EventCountry "URS"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[#]} 41. h4+ Kh5 42. Rxf5+ Kg4 (42... gxf5 43. Qxf5+) 43. f3+ (43. f3+ Kxg3
44. Rg5+) 1-0

[Event "URS-ch18 Final"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "1950.11.20"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Averbakh, Yuri L"]
[Black "Sokolsky, Alexey Pavlovich"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B16"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "2k5/1p1rn3/1R1B1p2/2P2p1p/7P/6P1/4rP2/1R4K1 w - - 0 35"]
[PlyCount "3"]
[EventDate "1950.11.12"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "17"]
[EventCountry "URS"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[#]} 35. c6 Nxc6 36. Rxc6+ (36. Rxc6+ bxc6 37. Rb8#) 1-0

[Event "URS-ch19 Final"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "1951.11.15"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Novotelnov, Nikolay Alexandrovi"]
[Black "Averbakh, Yuri L"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E11"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "3qr1k1/p4pp1/1p3b2/3r4/P1Nn4/4B1Pp/1P3P1P/R2R1QK1 b - - 0 27"]
[PlyCount "3"]
[EventDate "1951.11.11"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "17"]
[EventCountry "URS"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[#]} 27... Nf3+ ({The game continuation was} 27... Qc8 28. Bxd4 Bxd4 29. Rd2
Qg4 30. Rad1 Bxf2+ 31. Qxf2 Qxd1+ {and White resigned.}) 28. Kh1 Qa8 $1 0-1

[Event "Gagra Training Tournament"]
[Site "Gagra"]
[Date "1953.05.??"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Averbakh, Yuri L"]
[Black "Tolush, Alexander V"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A76"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r1b2k2/1pq2n2/pn1p2Q1/2pP4/P4P2/2P4P/3N1BP1/4R1K1 w - - 0 24"]
[PlyCount "3"]
[EventDate "1953.05.??"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "URS"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[#]} 24. Re8+ Kxe8 25. Qg8+ (25. Qg8+ Ke7 (25... Kd7 26. Qxf7+ Kd8 27. Bh4+)
26. Bh4+) 1-0

[Event "Przepiorka Memorial-01"]
[Site "Szczawno Zdroj"]
[Date "1950.07.07"]
[Round "14"]
[White "Averbakh, Yuri L"]
[Black "Zita, Frantisek"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "5R2/pp1rq1kp/1r6/5Q1P/5R2/4p1P1/PPPp4/3K4 w - - 0 33"]
[PlyCount "7"]
[EventDate "1950.06.18"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "19"]
[EventCountry "POL"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[#]} 33. Rg4+ Rg6 34. h6+ Kxh6 35. Rxg6+ hxg6 36. Qh3+ (36. Qh3+ Kg7 (36...
Kg5 37. Qh4#) (36... Qh4 37. Qxh4+ Kg7 38. Qh8#) 37. Qh8#) 1-0

[Event "URS-ch26 Final"]
[Site "Tbilisi"]
[Date "1959.02.03"]
[Round "15"]
[White "Bronstein, David Ionovich"]
[Black "Averbakh, Yuri L"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B63"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r4bk1/1b3p1p/3p1Pp1/4p1P1/q3P3/Pp1Q2B1/1PrN3P/1K2R2R b - - 0 33"]
[PlyCount "9"]
[EventDate "1959.01.10"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "19"]
[EventCountry "URS"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[#]} 33... Rxb2+ 34. Kxb2 Qxa3+ 35. Kc3 Rc8+ 36. Nc4 d5 37. exd5 (37. Kd2 dxc4
38. Qb1 c3+) 37... Bb4# 0-1

[Event "FIDE Grand Swiss 2021"]
[Site "Riga LAT"]
[Date "2021.10.28"]
[Round "2.35"]
[White "2.1 Goryachkina, A."]
[Black "Oparin, G."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A30"]
[WhiteElo "2602"]
[BlackElo "2654"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "4rrk1/pq4p1/1p5p/4p1n1/7R/4QPP1/PP2PB2/5RK1 b - - 0 27"]
[PlyCount "9"]
[EventDate "2021.10.27"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "LAT"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[#]} 27... Rxf3 $1 28. Qc1 ({White cannot capture the rook because after} 28.
exf3 Nxf3+ {, White will run into a nasty discovered check when the knight
moves.}) 28... Ref8 29. Qc4+ ({Or} 29. b3 R8f7 30. Qd1 R3f6 31. Qc1 Qa6 {
and Black is winning.}) 29... Kh8 30. Rh5 R3f6 31. Rh4 Qd7 {and White resigned,
there was no good way for White to untangle from Black's pressure on the
f-file and numerous other threats such as} (31... Qd7 32. Kg2 (32. Qc3 Nh3+ {
wins material}) 32... Qf5 33. Qc1 {(Black threatened ...Qxf2+, checkmating
with the rooks on f1 and f2)} Ne4 34. Bg1 Qg6 {, threatening on f1 and g3.})
0-1

[Event "FIDE Grand Swiss 2021"]
[Site "Riga LAT"]
[Date "2021.11.01"]
[Round "6.31"]
[White "2.2 Jobava, Ba"]
[Black "Moussard, J."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C21"]
[WhiteElo "2582"]
[BlackElo "2632"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "rnb1r1k1/ppp1Bppp/1b6/7q/8/1NP5/PP2NPPP/R2QKB1R w KQ - 0 12"]
[PlyCount "5"]
[EventDate "2021.10.27"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "LAT"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[#]} 12. Qd2 $1 ({White prepares to get the queen out of the e-file while
preventing Black from capturing on e7 due to back rank mate. Note that if
White retreats to a3 with the bishop, he would be losing:} 12. Ba3 $4 Nc6 $1
13. Qd2 ({White will not survive after} 13. Nbd4 {either, e.g.} Bg4 $1 14. f3
$1 Nxd4 15. cxd4 Qh4+ 16. g3 Qf6 17. fxg4 Bxd4 18. Qd3 Qf2+ 19. Kd2 Rad8 20.
Kc2 Bxb2 21. Qxd8 Rxd8 22. Bxb2 Qf3 23. Rg1 Qd3+ 24. Kc1 Qd1# {; long
variation, strong variation}) 13... Bg4 14. O-O-O ({giving up the piece to get
the king to safety, whereas} 14. Nbc1 Rad8 {does not work for Black, e.g.,} 15.
Qc2 Bf5 16. Qa4 Qg5 17. f4 Qh4+ 18. g3 Qg4 19. Qb5 Qf3 {and Black breaks
decisively through}) 14... Bxe2 15. Bxe2 Rxe2 16. Qd3 h6 17. Rd2 Rae8 {with an
overwhelming advantage for Black.}) (12. a4 a5 13. Qd2 Be6) 12... h6 ({Part of
the point behind White's previous move is also revealed after} 12... Nc6 {
when White has} 13. Qg5 {, forcing a queen exchange, leaving White winning.})
13. O-O-O $1 Nc6 14. Nf4 {and Black resigned as he will likely have to
exchange queens to avoid further material losses, for instance,} (14. Nf4 Qg4
15. Be2 Qf5 16. Bd3 Qd7 17. Bc5 Ne5 18. Bc2 {and White is easily winning.}) 1-0

[Event "FIDE Grand Swiss 2021"]
[Site "Riga LAT"]
[Date "2021.10.28"]
[Round "2.23"]
[White "2.3 Van Foreest, Jorden"]
[Black "Hovhannisyan, R."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E07"]
[WhiteElo "2691"]
[BlackElo "2622"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "5bk1/p6p/6p1/1P1pP2P/2p2P2/3p2P1/1P5K/5R2 b - - 0 34"]
[PlyCount "11"]
[EventDate "2021.10.27"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "LAT"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,78,23,23,15,0,28,25,18,24,35,-18,-9,-7,-11,3,-5,-1,-6,-13,0,3,0,3,8,
-6,8,8,5,-3,-15,-15,-1,-9,23,31,31,41,45,-15,-24,-45,-42,-43,-35,-12,-24,-58,0,
-45,-12,-64,59,47,21,46,37,1,53,0,0,53,51,27,58,58,70,74,79,79,193,14,-81,-163,
-244,-269,-302,-380,-450,-480,-499] [#]} 34... Ba3 $1 {This sacrifice draws
parrallels to the classic endgame pearl Topalov-Shirov, Linares 1998.The point
behind the move is to remove the b2-pawn to clear the path for the c- and
d-pawn to move forward together.} 35. Kg2 ({White wants to use the king to
help stop the pawns. If White captures the bishop,} 35. bxa3 {then} c3 {
leaves White in a position where the pawns cannot be stopped.}) ({Also} 35. Rb1
Bxb2 36. Rxb2 c3) ({and} 35. Ra1 Bxb2 36. Rxa7 d2 37. b6 Bd4 {win for Black.})
35... Bxb2 36. hxg6 hxg6 37. Kf3 Bd4 $1 {Black stops the White's king approach
of the pawns.} ({If Black does not use this measure, White gets away with a
draw, for instance,} 37... c3 38. Ke3 c2 39. Kxd3 c1=Q 40. Rxc1 Bxc1 41. Kd4
Kf7 42. Kxd5 Ke7 43. Ke4 Bb2 44. g4 Ba1 45. f5 g5 46. Kd5 Bb2 47. e6 {and
neither side can win.}) 38. Rd1 c3 39. Rxd3 c2 {and White resigned.} 0-1

[Event "FIDE Grand Swiss Women"]
[Site "Riga LAT"]
[Date "2021.10.27"]
[Round "1.14"]
[White "2.4 Gunina, V."]
[Black "Hoang Thanh Trang"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C14"]
[WhiteElo "2462"]
[BlackElo "2380"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "3r1r1k/1b1n1p2/1q5p/pp1p4/3N3P/PP5B/2PQ4/R4R1K w - - 0 26"]
[PlyCount "13"]
[EventDate "2021.10.27"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "LAT"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,63,24,16,45,30,32,37,70,33,49,44,45,44,43,33,25,26,25,17,6,6,2,-24,5,
0,5,-29,-8,-14,-1,-6,12,-28,7,13,33,-46,-46,-4,-11,20,15,11,27,2,36,35,78,78,
105,143,115,123,200,310,181,311,740,740,841,843,836,904,888,877] [#]} 26. Be6
$1 {Blocking the path of the defender on b6, forcing Black's king to fend for
himself.} Kh7 ({Moving the king to g8 does not help either:} 26... Kg8 27. Rg1+
({or} 27. Qxh6 fxe6 28. Rg1+ Kf7 29. Rg7+ Ke8 30. Qg6+ Rf7 31. Qxf7#) 27... Kh7
28. Rg7+ Kxg7 29. Nf5+ Kf6 30. Qxh6+ Ke5 31. Re1+ {with mate.}) 27. Bf5+ ({Or} 
27. Rf6 Nxf6 28. Bf5+ Kg7 29. Rg1+ {and game over.}) 27... Kh8 28. Ne6 $1 {
The second piece goes to e6 and Black no longer has ...Kh7 available.} d4+ {
With the knight on d4 gone, this advance is now possible.} 29. Kh2 Qd6+ 30. Kh3
$1 {The only square that works for White} Bg2+ {Desperate but necessary.} 31.
Qxg2 fxe6 32. Qg6 $1 ({Black resigned. A possible continuation was} 32. Qg6
Rxf5 33. Rxf5 Qe7 34. Rh5 Nf6 35. Rxh6+ Nh7 36. Rxh7+ Qxh7 37. Qf6+ {, winning
the rook on d8.}) 1-0

[Event "FIDE Grand Swiss 2021"]
[Site "Riga LAT"]
[Date "2021.10.29"]
[Round "3.25"]
[White "2.5 Navara, D."]
[Black "Sethuraman, S."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C78"]
[WhiteElo "2691"]
[BlackElo "2620"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "2r3k1/4rppp/pq1p1n2/npb5/4P2Q/2N2N1P/1PB2PP1/3RR1K1 w - - 0 24"]
[PlyCount "23"]
[EventDate "2021.10.27"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "LAT"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,69,22,13,13,13,13,5,23,2,8,2,21,21,10,15,42,22,67,55,58,30,65,-10,7,1,
16,21,0,-6,-15,-22,31,31,34,38,28,19,14,7,4,-18,-18,-29,-12,-7,-38,68,129,141,
141,150,146,78,128,128,137,139,139,132,156,151,142,183,208,188,280,281,353,353,
427,435] [#]} 24. e5 $1 {Opening the path of the bishop on c2 to hit h7.
However, before it can play a role some additional precise moves need to be
played.} dxe5 25. Bf5 $1 ({This is the precision I was talking about in the
previous comment. If White plays} 25. Nd5 $4 {right away, Black has the
devastatingly strong} Bxf2+ $1 26. Qxf2 Qxf2+ 27. Kxf2 Rxc2+ {and Black is
winning.}) 25... Rce8 ({Or} 25... Rc6 26. Nd5 $1 {and White is winning.}) 26.
Nd5 $1 {Black loses material because 26...Nxd5 is met with 27.Qxh7+ with mate
to follow.} Bxf2+ 27. Qxf2 Nxd5 28. Rxd5 Qxf2+ 29. Kxf2 {Black has three pawns
for the piece but the knight is poorly placed, making it really difficult for
Black to stay in the game.} Nc4 $6 ({Or} 29... f6 30. Be4 Rc7 31. h4 {and
White has a decisive advantage.}) 30. b3 Na5 ({Or} 30... Nb6 31. Rd6 {and
Black loses one of his pawns.}) 31. Bd7 Rd8 32. Nxe5 Nxb3 33. Red1 Rf8 ({Or} 
33... Na5 34. Bxb5 Rxd5 35. Rxd5 g6 36. Bxa6 {and White is winning rather
easily.}) 34. Nc6 Re4 35. Rb1 {The knight is trapped and Black resigned.} 1-0

[Event "FIDE Grand Swiss 2021"]
[Site "Riga LAT"]
[Date "2021.10.29"]
[Round "3.34"]
[White "2.6 Ganguly, S."]
[Black "Swiercz, D."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B90"]
[WhiteElo "2617"]
[BlackElo "2647"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r5k1/3R4/p1N3p1/8/4p1P1/2b5/P1P4r/1K3R2 b - - 0 27"]
[PlyCount "17"]
[EventDate "2021.10.27"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "LAT"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[#]} 27... Kh8 $3 ({I remember watching this game live on the internet and
was trying to figure out how to make progress against White's exposed king.
White's threat is Ne7+ and that is also the answer to 27...Rc8, when it wins
the rook, and to} 27... Re8) ({and} 27... e3 {when it allows a perpetual check
after} 28. Ne7+ Kh8 29. Nxg6+ {. But with the text move, Black prepares to
play these moves without allowing the check.}) 28. Re7 ({White cannot simply
play} 28. Ne7 {because it relinquishes control over the b8-square:} Rb8+ 29.
Kc1 Bb2+ 30. Kd1 Bf6 31. Nxg6+ Kg8 32. Kc1 Bb2+ 33. Kd1 Ba3 {and Black wins,
in fact, White gets mated by force from here.}) 28... Rc8 $1 {The point behind
the previous move: the knight is forced away, allowing Black access to the
b-file.} 29. g5 $5 e3 $1 ({Of course, Black cannot capture the knight right
away:} 29... Rxc6 30. Rf8# {.}) 30. Rxe3 {Black threatened to play ...e2,
winning a rook, so White had no choice.} Rxc6 31. Re8+ Kh7 32. Rf7+ Bg7 33. c3
({Or} 33. Ree7 Rh1+ {with mate to follow.}) 33... Rb6+ $1 34. Kc1 Rbb2 35. Ree7
Rbg2 $1 {and White resigned.} 0-1

[Event "FIDE Grand Swiss 2021"]
[Site "Riga LAT"]
[Date "2021.11.01"]
[Round "6.44"]
[White "2.7 Movsesian, S."]
[Black "Van Foreest, Lucas"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C42"]
[WhiteElo "2627"]
[BlackElo "2543"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "rn1q1rk1/4bppp/2p5/3p4/1p1P1BN1/6QP/PP3PP1/R3R1K1 w - - 0 23"]
[PlyCount "13"]
[EventDate "2021.10.27"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "LAT"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,57,24,16,16,27,24,20,28,28,28,-2,4,-19,-14,-12,14,18,23,-24,-8,-24,-3,
5,43,32,28,12,24,17,29,31,66,59,44,41,60,46,29,29,80,85,68,92,402,365,393,679,
696,715,722,736,736,778,1930,2443,29973,29974,29999,-30000] [#]} 23. Rxe7 ({
White can also choose a different move order to start with:} 23. Nh6+ Kh8 24.
Rxe7 {, however, it is what follows that matters.}) 23... Qxe7 24. Nh6+ Kh8 25.
Nf5 {The dual threat to the queen and the mate on g7 dictates Black's answer.}
Qf6 26. Be5 Qg6 27. Bxg7+ Kg8 {Has Black survived?} 28. Bf6 ({Nope!} 28. Ne7+
Kxg7 29. Nxg6 hxg6 {or more convincingly}) ({which threatens mate on e7, also
both win for White.} 28. Qe5) 28... Qxg3 29. Nh6# {Or 29.Ne7#. A beautiful
mate.} 1-0

[Event "FIDE Grand Swiss 2021"]
[Site "Riga LAT"]
[Date "2021.10.27"]
[Round "1.31"]
[White "2.8 Ponkratov, P."]
[Black "Zvjaginsev, V."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C11"]
[WhiteElo "2659"]
[BlackElo "2609"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "2r2r1k/4Qp2/4p1pP/p1npq3/1p1N2R1/8/PPP3P1/2K2R2 w - - 0 29"]
[PlyCount "19"]
[EventDate "2021.10.27"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "LAT"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,75,23,13,43,32,36,32,62,63,55,12,20,10,10,29,35,39,19,25,33,9,13,12,2,
3,0,10,13,-29,11,25,13,-24,-6,-59,-14,-62,-11,-20,5,-13,0,0,0,-21,0,-14,-4,-39,
-27,-46,-49,-66,-100,-100,-100,0,0,0,0,188,338,-336,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,428,569,569,
569,591,1353,1281] [#]} 29. Nc6 $3 {White threatens the queen on e5 which has
to stay ton the diagonal to prevent White playing Qf6+ followed by Qg7#. Black
cannot capture the knight because of Qxf8+ with mate. But Black has a nasty
looking check available:} Nd3+ 30. Kd2 ({If} 30. cxd3 {then} Rxc6+ 31. Kb1 Rfc8
{is okay for Black, e.g.,} 32. Qxf7 Rc1+ 33. Rxc1 Rxc1+ 34. Kxc1 Qe1+ 35. Kc2
Qe2+ 36. Kc1 ({but not} 36. Kb3 $4 Qd1#) 36... Qe1+ {with a draw by perpetual
check.}) 30... Qxb2 31. Rd4 ({White can also win with} 31. Nd4 Rxc2+ ({or} 
31... Qc3+ 32. Ke2 Rg8 33. Qf6+ Kh7 34. Qxf7+ Kh8 35. Qf6+ Kh7 36. Qe7+ Kh8 37.
h7 {and Black can resign}) 32. Ke3 Re2+ 33. Nxe2 {and Black has no counterplay
left.}) 31... Rg8 32. Qf6+ Kh7 33. Qxf7+ Kh8 34. Qf6+ Kh7 35. Qe7+ Kh8 36. h7 {
Just like in the previous note, Black is now lost.} Qc3+ 37. Ke2 Qxc2+ 38. Ke3
{and Black resigned.} 1-0

[Event "FIDE Grand Swiss 2021"]
[Site "Riga LAT"]
[Date "2021.11.01"]
[Round "6.24"]
[White "2.9 Sarana, A."]
[Black "Praggnanandhaa, R."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D41"]
[WhiteElo "2649"]
[BlackElo "2618"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "2r3k1/p1qn1pp1/1pb4p/4r3/3N4/4R2P/P1B2PP1/3RQ1K1 w - - 0 24"]
[PlyCount "15"]
[EventDate "2021.10.27"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "LAT"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,61,23,26,29,6,6,6,6,6,37,44,71,63,60,60,60,68,91,51,45,60,73,52,46,42,
59,40,29,20,16,9,18,7,16,-2,7,-14,-9,-15,-15,2,2,-33,-25,-75,-24,-24,40,57,95,
109,44,151,94,86,326,315,406,505,612,733,819,748] [#]} 24. Nf5 $1 Rce8 ({
The natural response. It seems difficult to expect the level of trouble that
Black is already in, for instance,} 24... Rxe3 25. Qxe3 {(threatening Ne7+)}
Rf8 26. Nxh6+ $1 gxh6 27. Qxh6 f5 28. Bb3+ {and Black will get mated rather
quickly.}) ({Black's best try apparently is} 24... Bb5 $5 {when} 25. Rd2 $1
Rxe3 26. Qxe3 {(White again threatens to play Ne7+ as well as Nxh6+)} Ne5 27.
Rd5 $1 g6 ({or} 27... Qxc2 28. Qxe5 f6 29. Qg3 {and Black can resign}) 28.
Nxh6+ Kg7 29. Nf5+ $1 gxf5 30. Rxb5 Qc3 31. Qxc3 Rxc3 32. Bxf5 {and White has
an extra pawn and clearly better chances in the endgame.}) 25. Qc3 $1 {White
pins the rook on e5, because of the mate on g7, and the bishop on c6 because
of the unprotected queen on c7.} Nf6 ({If} 25... Nc5 {then White has} 26. Rg3
$1 Ne6 27. Rd6 $1 Rxf5 28. Rxc6 {and White is winning.}) 26. Rg3 $1 Nh5 ({Or} 
26... g6 27. Nxh6+ Kg7 28. Nxf7 $1 Kxf7 29. Bxg6+ Kf8 30. Bxe8 Nxe8 31. Rc1 {
and White is winning.}) 27. Rg4 $1 Kf8 ({Black has no good options, e.g.,} 
27... Kh8 28. Rc4 Rc5 29. Rxc5 bxc5 30. Qxc5 {, when White threatens Nd4,
hitting simultaneously on c6 and h5.}) 28. Rc4 $1 {Attacking the pinned bishop.
} Rc8 ({Or} 28... R5e6 29. Nd4 {.}) 29. Rd6 $1 {White's pieces work
wonderfully together to exploit Black's problems.} Re6 30. Rxe6 fxe6 31. Qa3+ {
and Black resigned because White will deliver a nasty check on either d6 or e7,
depending on where Black's king goes.} 1-0

[Event "U.S. Masters"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2021.11.24"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Park, Evan"]
[Black "Checa, Nicolas D"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C16"]
[WhiteElo "2168"]
[BlackElo "2545"]
[Annotator "Fishbein"]
[PlyCount "25"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{The 2021 US Masters. The US Masters holds a special place in the tournament
circuit. The name evokes images of a high-class event. I remember the first US
Masters at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado in 1984, the site of
future US Championships. But after that the tournament was held sporadically
until Walter High revived the tradition. With his friendly and unassuming
nature, Dr. Walter High adds a personal touch to the US Masters. Walter has
organized the US Masters every year since 2012, except for last year. Now he
has teamed up with the Charlotte Chess Center and Scholastic Academy. Under
the leadership of Peter Giannatos and Grant Oen, CCCSA has made a major
contribution to American chess. No fewer than 10 Americans have achieved their
third and final GM norms in Charlotte -- all in the last four years! The
organization was exceptional. All the rounds started on time, all clocks and
sets were provided, pairings were announced at least 45 minutes before each
round, and the top 24 boards were streamed. Each player had a name tag with
the country, flag, and state if US. Everyone is made to feel equal, and even
the name "US Masters" gives the sense that everyone has a chance to win. And
these days, it is truer than ever before. Here in the US Masters, we did not
have to wait long to see upsets:} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 b6 5. a3
Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Qd7 7. h4 Ba6 8. Bxa6 Nxa6 9. a4 Ne7 {GM Nicholas Checa wants no
part of a theoretical battle here. However, his even younger opponent
demonstrates good strategical knowledge here. 10.h5 was played previously, but
Evan holds his h-pawn back for now. We soon see why.} 10. Ne2 $1 Nb8 11. Nf4
Nbc6 $2 {Already a fatal error! Diagram [#]} 12. Nh5 $1 Rg8 ({Hiding on the
kingside with} 12... Kf8 13. Qg4 Rg8 14. Rh3 {is not on the black king's
calendar.}) 13. Bh6 $1 {Black cannot recapture because of the fork and loses
the exchange. Evan Park duly converted his advantage (1-0 on move 57). He
continued his great form and finished in a tie for third with 6.5 points,
easily good enough for an IM norm and close to a GM norm.} 1-0

[Event "U.S. Masters"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2021.11.25"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Fishbein, Alexander"]
[Black "Burke, John M"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C54"]
[WhiteElo "2431"]
[BlackElo "2569"]
[Annotator "Fishbein"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "3r4/p4kp1/1p2b2p/8/1P2B3/P7/5PPP/2R3K1 b - - 0 27"]
[PlyCount "34"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]

{The tournament featured three participants in this year's US Championship:
Aleksandr Lenderman, Daniel Naroditsky, and John Michael Burke. All of them
suffered defeats in the early rounds. Diagram [#] After running into
difficulties in the opening in round 3 against me, John tried an interesting
pawn sacrifice and could have achieved counterplay here when he erred with:} 
27... Bc4 $2 ({Black's plan to block my rook and maintain the only open file
fails for tactical reasons. Correct is} 27... Kf6 28. f3 g5 $1 29. Rc7 Rd1+ 30.
Kf2 Rd2+ 31. Kg3 h5 32. h4 gxh4+ 33. Kxh4 Rxg2 34. Rxa7 {, and with his active
pieces, Black is very much in the game.}) 28. f4 $1 b5 ({Critically weakening
the dark squares, but} 28... Rd4 $2 {loses to} 29. Rxc4 Rxc4 30. Bd5+) 29. Kf2
$1 Rd6 ({After} 29... Rd2+ 30. Ke3 Ra2 31. Rc3 Kf6 32. Kd4 $1 {the white king
has a clear path.}) 30. Ke3 Kf6 31. a4 $1 a6 32. a5 Ke6 33. h4 Rd8 34. g4 Rd6
35. Rg1 g5 36. hxg5 hxg5 37. Rh1 gxf4+ 38. Kxf4 Rd2 39. Rh6+ Kd7 40. Rxa6 Rb2
41. Ke5 Rxb4 42. Ra7+ Ke8 43. Bc6+ Kf8 44. Kf6 1-0

[Event "U.S. Masters"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2021.11.27"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Theodorou, Nikolas"]
[Black "Rahul, Srivatshav Peddi"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D43"]
[WhiteElo "2576"]
[BlackElo "2449"]
[Annotator "Fishbein"]
[PlyCount "76"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{The sensation of the tournament was Rahul Srivatshav Peddi. A recent arrival
and a student at UTD, he is unknown to American audiences. But he came in with
3 GM norms already (and needs to hit FIDE 2500 to become a grandmaster). After
a slow start, he defeated 3 GMs, showing brilliant tactics along the way.} 1.
d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 dxc4 7. e4 g5 8. Bg3 b5 9.
Be2 Bb7 10. Qc2 {We are in a sharp and theoretical line of the semi-Slav. 10.
0-0 and 10.h4 are more common here.} Nbd7 11. Rd1 Nh5 $5 12. d5 Nxg3 13. hxg3
exd5 14. exd5 cxd5 15. Nxd5 Bg7 16. Ne3 {aiming for the weak f5-square.} Qa5+
17. Kf1 Rd8 18. Nf5 Kf8 19. Rd6 {We are still in theory, but Theodorou was
walking into a minefield. The most recent grandmaster game here was Adhiban -
Erigaisi from the Indian Team Championship in 2020. Black lost quickly after
20...Nb8? 21.Qd1! Peddi saw that game, as he was on the same team with GM
Erigaisi! He knew the improvement:} Nc5 $1 20. b4 $5 {Diagram [#]} Rxd6 $1 21.
Nxd6 $1 (21. bxa5 Be4 $1 22. Qc1 Bxf5 {is clearly better for Black, with
enough material for the queen and powerful bishops and passed pawn.}) 21...
Qxb4 22. Qf5 Ke7 23. Nxb7 $2 ({This loses. The position is very complicated,
but balanced after} 23. Qxf7+ Kxd6 24. Qxg7 Qb1+ 25. Ne1) 23... Nxb7 24. Ne5
Nd6 $1 {Now Peddi was out of theory, and he met the challenge.} 25. Qd7+ Kf6
26. Bd1 $5 h5 (26... Qd2 27. Ng4+ Kg6 28. Bc2+ Qxc2 29. Qxd6+ f6 {wins easily.
After the text, White can survive. But I am not attaching question marks
because people cannot be expected to play flawlessly in a position like this.})
27. Rxh5 ({Correct is} 27. f4 $1 {, for example:} gxf4 28. gxf4 Qd2 29. Bf3 c3
30. g4 $1 hxg4 31. Nxg4+ Kg6 32. Ne5+ Kf6 $11) 27... Rxh5 28. Qd8+ Ke6 $1 ({Not
} 28... Kxe5 $2 29. Qe7+ Kd4 (29... Kf5 $2 30. Bc2+ Ne4 31. Bxe4+ Kg4 32. Qd7+
f5 33. Qxf5#) (29... Kd5 $2 30. Bf3+ Kc5 31. Qxa7#) 30. Qe3+ Kd5 31. Bf3+ Ne4
32. Qxe4+ Kd6 33. Qc6+ {and a draw is unavoidable}) 29. Qd7+ Kd5 30. Bf3+ Kxe5
$1 {but now, with the bishop on f3, the knight can be taken.} 31. Qe7+ Kf5 32.
Be4+ {Diagram [#] White wins the queen but loses the game.} Nxe4 33. g4+ Kf4 $1
34. Qxb4 Rh1+ 35. Ke2 Bc3 36. g3+ Kxg4 37. f3+ Kxg3 38. fxe4 Re1# {Peddi
finished with 7 points out of 9, in a first-place tie with Peruvian GM Jose
Martinez Alcantara, who had quite a different path to that score:} 0-1

[Event "U.S. Masters"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2021.11.25"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Hilby, Craig"]
[Black "Martinez Alcantara, Jose Eduardo"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B90"]
[WhiteElo "2441"]
[BlackElo "2608"]
[Annotator "Fishbein"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "2n4k/3q4/2Np4/1PbPp2p/4Pp2/r4PpP/1Q4P1/1R2BK2 w - - 0 45"]
[PlyCount "26"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{Diagram [#]} 45. Ra1 $2 ({Black was in trouble for much of this game, and here
} 45. Rc1 {with threats of Rxc5 and Nxe5 would be devastating. The text move
gives him a reprieve.}) 45... Re3 46. Ra8 Kh7 47. Ba5 h4 48. Rb8 Ba7 $1 49.
Nxa7 $2 ({The position was already hard to navigate.} 49. Ra8 Qb7 50. Rxa7 Nxa7
51. Bd2 $1 Rd3 52. Ke2 Rxd2+ 53. Kxd2 {should lead to a draw.}) 49... Qxa7 50.
Rxc8 Qxa5 {now Black is the one attacking.} 51. Rc1 Ra3 52. b6 Qa6+ 53. Qe2
Qxb6 54. Qd2 Qa6+ 55. Qe2 Qa7 56. Qb2 Kg6 $1 57. Rb1 Rb3 $1 {Fortune favors
the brave. Being able to turn the tables like this is a sign of a strong
tournament player, and Alcantara pulled off another miraculous win in round 8
against the top seed:} 0-1

[Event "U.S. Masters"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2021.11.28"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Martinez Alcantara, Jose Eduardo"]
[Black "Lenderman, Aleksandr"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C11"]
[WhiteElo "2608"]
[BlackElo "2624"]
[Annotator "Fishbein"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "4qr1k/p3b2p/1p2p3/3rPp2/3B1P2/8/PP4QP/3R1R1K w - - 0 24"]
[PlyCount "53"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{Diagram [#]} 24. Rg1 Rf7 ({Not} 24... Rg8 $4 25. Qxd5 $1 {, with mate coming.}
) 25. Rd3 Rd8 26. Rg3 {White has a scary-looking gun on the g-file, but
Black's defense is solid.} Bh4 27. Rh3 $6 Rxd4 28. Rxh4 Qd8 $1 29. Rh6 $2 Rd1
$1 30. Rh3 ({If} 30. Rxe6 $2 Rxg1+ 31. Qxg1 Qd5+) 30... Rfd7 31. Rf3 Rxg1+ 32.
Kxg1 Rd1+ $2 (32... Rg7 {would lead to a winning pawn ending after} 33. Rg3
Qd1+ 34. Qf1 Qxf1+ 35. Kxf1 Rxg3 36. hxg3 Kg7 37. Kf2 Kg6 38. Kg2 Kh5 39. Kh3
b5 40. b4 a6 41. a3 h6 42. Kg2 Kg4) 33. Rf1 Qd4+ 34. Qf2 Rxf1+ 35. Kxf1 {
But now the pawn ending is drawn, as Black cannot penetrate on the kingside. A
half-point behind here in round 8, Alex still chases the ghost of a missed win.
} Qc4+ 36. Kg2 Qd5+ 37. Kg3 Qxa2 $6 38. Qc2 $1 Qd5 39. Qc8+ Kg7 40. Qe8 {
Diagram [#]} Qc5 $4 {Now looking to force a draw, he forgets that White can
capture the e6-pawn with check.} 41. Qd7+ $1 Kf8 42. Qd8+ Kf7 43. Qf6+ Ke8 44.
Qxe6+ Kd8 45. Qg8+ Kc7 46. Qxh7+ Kb8 47. Qxf5 Qg1+ 48. Kh3 Qf1+ 49. Kh4 Qf2+
50. Kg5 {Alcantara defeated Peddi in the playoff and is the 2021 US Masters
champion. Tied for third, in tiebreak order, were: your reporter, IM
Christopher Yoo, GM Brian Smith, FM Evan Park, GM Ehsan Ghaemmaghami, GM
Brandon Jacobson, GM Nikolas Theodorou, GM Daniel Naroditsky, GM Aran Hakobyan,
GM John Michael Burke, GM Varuzhan Akobian, GM Gabriel Flom Battaglini and GM
Akshat Chandra.} 1-0

[Event "U.S. Masters"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2021.11.28"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Yoo, Christopher Woojin"]
[Black "Marek, Matyas"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D27"]
[WhiteElo "2499"]
[BlackElo "2372"]
[Annotator "Fishbein"]
[PlyCount "58"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{Christopher Yoo earned his third and final GM norm here, always a memorable
moment. He made all his norms in Charlotte! He needed to win in the last round
here:} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e3 Nf6 4. Bxc4 e6 5. Nf3 a6 6. O-O c5 7. Be2 Nc6
8. dxc5 Bxc5 9. Qxd8+ Kxd8 {Christopher is not afraid of trading queens. The
black king will not be safe in the center.} 10. b3 Ke7 11. Bb2 Bd7 12. Nbd2 b5
13. Rfc1 Bd6 14. a4 $1 Rab8 15. axb5 axb5 16. Nb1 Rb6 17. Nc3 Rhb8 18. Nd2 Bb4
19. Nce4 Nxe4 20. Nxe4 f6 21. Nc5 $1 Bxc5 22. Rxc5 b4 23. f4 R8b7 24. Kf2 Be8
25. e4 Kd6 {Diagram [#]} 26. e5+ $1 fxe5 ({This is not yet an endgame!} 26...
Kxc5 {leads to mate after} 27. Rc1+ Kd5 28. Bf3#) 27. fxe5+ Kc7 28. Bf3 Kb8 29.
Rac1 Rc7 {Black is completely tied up here. Christopher, perhaps nervous here
in this critical game, later simplified too soon into a rook ending, which,
while winning, was not trivial in time trouble. After some mutual errors, he
prevailed, however, on move 65. The return of the US Masters after a one-year
break was a special one, indeed. I am looking forward to more great
tournaments in Charlotte in 2022.} 1-0

[Event "SPICE Cup"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2021.10.18"]
[Round "3.4"]
[White "Martinez, Jose"]
[Black "Rozman, Levy"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2620"]
[BlackElo "2362"]
[Annotator "Gledura"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{This battle of two famous streamers was definitely one of the hottest games
at the 2021 SPICE Cup. If you want to know what Levy Rozman thought about this
game, then check out his video on his YouTube channel. Here's my take on it!} 
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. h4 h6 $5 {This is a bit out of fashion.} ({
The main line today begins with} 4... h5 {.}) 5. g4 Be4 6. f3 Bh7 7. e6 $1 {
White sacrifices a pawn to stunt Black's development.} ({After the alternative
} 7. Bd3 Bxd3 8. Qxd3 e6 {Black is completly fine, and both ...c6-c5 and ...
Nb8-c6 come naturally.}) 7... Qd6 {This is Black's idea in this move order -
the queen is eying the g3-square.} ({Worse is} 7... fxe6 8. Bd3 Bxd3 9. Qxd3 {
when Black is in trouble.}) 8. exf7+ Kxf7 9. f4 $5 {A double-edged move. It
covers the soft g3-square and frees the f3-square for the knight. But it also
it weakens the e4-square. Grandmasters try to always consider which squares
are left undefended when making a move. Here Black will try to gain some
traction on the position via e4.} Nf6 {[#]} ({Surely not} 9... Be4 $2 10. Nf3
Bxf3 11. Qxf3 {with a huge White advantage.}) 10. Nf3 $1 {A smart pawn
sacrifice that gives White tremendous compensation.} Nxg4 11. Bh3 ({The most
common move in the database is} 11. h5 {when White has solid compensation,
planning Nf3-e5. Here is a great example that shows how White can make use of
his better development.} Qe6+ 12. Ne5+ Nxe5 13. fxe5 Ke8 14. Nc3 g5 15. hxg6
Qxg6 16. Bf4 Qxc2 17. Qxc2 Bxc2 18. Bh3 Na6 19. Kd2 Bh7 20. Rag1 Kd8 21. e6 Nc7
22. Be5 Rg8 23. Rxg8 Bxg8 24. Rf1 Bxe6 25. Rxf8+ {and White went on to win in
Najer - Bures, Czech Republic 2015.}) 11... h5 ({Worse is} 11... Nf6 $6 12.
Ne5+ Ke8 13. c4 e6 14. Nc3 {with a solid White edge.}) 12. Ne5+ Ke8 $1 {
Black has to give the pawn back, otherwise White would have a crushing
position.} 13. Bxg4 hxg4 14. Qxg4 Be4 $1 ({Not} 14... Nd7 $6 15. Qh5+ $1 g6 16.
Qg4 Nf6 17. Qh3 {burying the bishop on h7.}) 15. Qc8+ Qd8 {A critical position.
Outrating his opponent by 250 points, White does not want to make a repetition.
How can he keep the game going?} 16. Qe6 ({Both players thought that Black
would be fine if White went fishing for a pawn with} 16. Qxb7 {. I probably
would have thought the same. Some analysis:} Bxh1 ({White has an edge after} 
16... Nd7 17. Rh2 Rc8 18. Nc3) 17. Qxa8 Rxh4 18. Nc3 $1 ({Black has a crushing
advantage after} 18. Nxc6 $2 Nxc6 19. Qxc6+ Kf7 {with better piece development
and a safer king.}) 18... Bg2 19. Kf2 $1 Qc8 $1 {This doesn't look promising
for White, but there's a nice advantage after playing some precise (albeit
slightly inhuman) moves.} 20. Bd2 $1 ({The excitement peters out after} 20.
Nxc6 Qxc6 (20... Kf7 $5) 21. Qxc6+ Nxc6 22. Kxg2 Nxd4 23. Nxd5 Nxc2 {.}) 20...
Rh2 21. Rg1 $1 Be4+ 22. Ke1 Bxc2 23. Nd1 $1 {and White is for choice.}) ({
Trading queens with} 16. Qxd8+ Kxd8 17. Rh2 Ke8 {would only help Black.}) 16...
Qd6 17. Qf7+ $1 Kd8 18. Rh2 Nd7 19. Nc3 {[#] We have reached another critical
position. Black has a couple of choices here.} Nxe5 $6 {Not best.} ({Another
idea is} 19... Qb4 $5 {but Black has to play precisely here:} 20. Bd2 Bxc2 ({
not} 20... Qxb2 $2 21. Rb1 Qxc2 22. Rxb7) ({or} 20... Qxd4 $2 21. O-O-O) 21.
Nxd5 Nxe5 22. fxe5 Qxb2 23. Rc1 Qxa2 24. Rxc2 Qxd5 25. Qxd5+ cxd5 26. e6 {
and things are very complicated!}) ({Black's best option was} 19... Bh7 {
with a murky position:} 20. Qh5 Kc7 ({or} 20... Nxe5 21. fxe5 Qg6) 21. Be3 Qf6
22. O-O-O e6 {and all is to play for.}) 20. fxe5 Qg6 21. Qf2 e6 22. Be3 ({
After the correct} 22. h5 $1 Qf5 23. Nxe4 $1 Qxe4+ 24. Qe3 {White will go for
the endgame, with hopes for an advantage thanks to his edge in space.}) 22...
Be7 $6 ({In his post-game analysis on YouTube, Levy Rozman analyzed} 22... Bb4
23. O-O-O Bxc3 24. bxc3 {and said that he was (understandably) afraid of this
during the game. But Black has control over the light squares, so if he could
solve his only problem -- his lack of development -- then he would be fine.}
Qe8 25. Rg1 Rh7 26. h5 Kc7 27. h6 Qd7 $11) 23. O-O-O Rf8 ({Perhaps stronger was
} 23... Kd7 24. Rg1 Raf8 25. Qe1 {when White has a slight but stable advantage.
}) 24. Qg1 $1 Rf3 $2 {A blunder, but one that went unnoticed!} 25. Nxe4 $2 ({
After} 25. Rg2 $1 Qf5 26. Rxg7 Bxc2 27. Rg8+ Bf8 28. Rxf8+ ({or} 28. Qg7) 28...
Qxf8 29. Kxc2 {the game would have ended more quickly.}) 25... Qxe4 {White
plays nearly perfectly from this point forward.} 26. Bg5 $1 Rf7 27. Rf2 $1 Rxf2
28. Qxf2 Bxg5+ 29. hxg5 Ke7 30. Rf1 $1 Qg6 31. Qe3 {White is totally winning,
in no small part due to his safer king. Martinez's technique is instructive.}
Kd7 32. Kb1 Rh8 33. a4 $1 {Giving the king luft, and also gaining space on the
queenside.} Rh2 34. Qc3 b6 35. a5 $1 Kc7 36. b4 Kb7 37. b5 $1 cxb5 38. axb6
axb6 39. Rf8 {A great fight from both players, but White played better in the
critical moments.} 1-0

[Event "SPICE Cup"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2021.10.22"]
[Round "9.1"]
[White "Nyzhnyk, Illia"]
[Black "Williams, Justus"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D30"]
[WhiteElo "2670"]
[BlackElo "2420"]
[Annotator "Gledura"]
[PlyCount "51"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{Illia Nyzhnyk was leading the field by a half-point entering the final round,
and he knew that a win guaranteed him clear first place. Let's see how he
handled this crucial game.} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. g3 a6 $5 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. Nc3 {
Slightly unusual - usually White does not respond to ...d5xc4 with Nb1-c3 in
the Catalan.} Nf6 6. Qa4+ Bd7 $6 ({Black would have had a better setup after} 
6... Nbd7 7. Qxc4 (7. Nf3 c5) 7... c5 {.}) 7. Qxc4 b5 8. Qd3 Bc6 9. Bxc6+ ({
White could have kept the bishops on the board with} 9. Nf3 b4 10. Nb1 Be4 11.
Qd1 c5 12. Be3 $1 {and White has an edge in a complex position.}) 9... Nxc6 10.
Nf3 Nb4 $1 {A typical plan to open up the position.} 11. Qb1 c5 $1 12. dxc5
Bxc5 13. O-O {A key moment: Black needs to play precisely to equalize,
including the completion of his development.} Rc8 ({A safer choice would have
been} 13... O-O 14. Bg5 Be7 15. Rd1 Qc7 $1 ({worse is} 15... Qb6 16. a3 Nc6 17.
Ne4 Nd5 18. Bxe7 Ncxe7 19. Ne5 Rad8 20. b4 {when White is slightly better}) 16.
a3 ({or} 16. a4 bxa4 $1 17. Rxa4 Rfd8 18. Bxf6 gxf6 {with equality}) 16... Nc6
17. Ne4 Nd5 {and Black's position seems stable. Sometimes simple chess is best!
}) 14. Bg5 $1 {Trying to cause some problems in Black's position.} h6 $6 ({
Black has to be careful after} 14... Be7 $6 15. Rd1 Qb6 16. Bxf6 $1 Bxf6 17.
Qe4 {and if} Nc6 $2 18. Nd5 $1 {wins!}) ({I still think Black had to finish
his development with} 14... O-O 15. a4 (15. Ne4 Be7 16. Rd1 Nfd5 $1) {and now}
15... Nbd5 $1 {is the most precise way to equalize.}) 15. Bxf6 ({Better to win
the tempo immediately with} 15. Rd1 Qb6 16. Bxf6 gxf6 {transposing to the game.
}) 15... gxf6 $6 {White can now make use of Black's bad pawn structure.} ({
Better was} 15... Qxf6 16. a3 Nc6 17. Ne4 {which is a bit unpleasant, but
holdable for Black.}) 16. Rd1 {White seizes the opportunity to start his
attack, and from here, Nyzhnyk does not fail at his task.} Qb6 {[#]} 17. a3 $1
{Disregarding the f2-pawn.} Bxf2+ ({Or} 17... Nc6 18. Ne4 Be7 19. b4 {and
White has a big advantage, with Qb1-b2 to follow.}) 18. Kg2 Nd5 ({Not} 18...
Nc6 $2 19. Ne4 {.}) 19. Nxd5 exd5 20. e4 $1 {Opening the position, and leaving
the Black king stranded in the center.} dxe4 $2 {Hastening the end.} ({Black's
best,} 20... O-O {, would not save him after} 21. exd5 {.}) 21. Qxe4+ Kf8 22.
Rd7 $1 Re8 23. Qd5 Re6 24. Rc1 $1 {Bringing the last piece into the attack.}
Kg7 25. Rcc7 Rf8 26. Qh5 1-0

[Event "SPICE Cup"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2021.10.22"]
[Round "9.2"]
[White "Gledura, Benjamin"]
[Black "Jacobson, Brandon"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E11"]
[WhiteElo "2628"]
[BlackElo "2492"]
[Annotator "Gledura"]
[PlyCount "47"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{A last very important game. I was half a point behind the tournament leader,
and I had to win this game to have a chance to win the tournament. I played
Brandon a few days earlier at the Washington chess congress tournament with
opposite colors, and that ended in a draw. So, I was prepared for a big fight.
} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. g3 {Heading for the Catalan. As I had played
3.Nc3 and fought against the Nimzo-Indian earlier in this event, it may have
surprised my opponent.} Bb4+ 5. Bd2 a5 6. Bg2 O-O $5 {I had to think a little
bit here, because there are nuances in the position. For example: 7...dxc4 8.
a3 Bd6 there is no Qa4 with a check.} 7. O-O dxc4 8. a3 ({Deviating from a
game played two rounds earlier:} 8. Qc2 Bxd2 9. Nbxd2 b5 10. a4 $5 c6 11. b3
cxb3 12. Nxb3 Ba6 13. Nc5 b4 14. Rfd1 Nfd7 ({after} 14... Nd5 {Black should be
fine}) 15. Ne5 {and White had the initiative in Nyzhnyk - B. Jacobson, Clayton
2021.}) 8... Bxd2 $6 {Already a slight misstep.} ({After} 8... Bd6 $5 {Black
equalizes with} 9. Qa4 Nc6 10. Qxc4 e5 $1 {.}) ({I considered} 8... Be7 $1 {
when I played my seventh move, and wasn't sure how to evaluate it. The a2-a3
and ...a7-a5 moves definitely favor Black in these positions. My intention
over the board was to play} 9. Qa4 {, but I missed a nice idea:} b6 $1 10. Ne5
Ra7 $1 {Kind of unusual for black, but it works out.} 11. Qxc4 (11. Rd1 Ba6 $1)
11... Ba6 12. Qa4 Bxe2 13. Re1 Ba6 14. Nc3 c5 15. Be3 $1 {and the position
remains unclear.}) 9. Nbxd2 b5 10. b3 cxb3 11. Qxb3 c6 {After some
transpositions, I was back in book -- I was familiar with the position and I
knew where to put my pieces.} 12. Rfc1 Bb7 13. Qb2 $1 {This gives the knight
space on the b3-square, and it defends the d4-pawn. Now Nf3-e1-d3 is possible
to gain total control over the c5-square.} Nbd7 14. Ne1 {[#]} Qb8 $6 {This was
a slight surprise at the board, but I soon understood my opponent's idea. The .
..c6-c5 break is available in many positions.} ({The always creative GM Danil
Dubov tried} 14... e5 $6 {against me in a key game at the Online Olympiad:} 15.
Bxc6 ({better was} 15. Nd3 exd4 16. Bxc6 Bxc6 17. Rxc6 {with a nice plus for
White}) 15... Bxc6 16. Rxc6 exd4 (16... Rb8 $1 17. dxe5 Nxe5 $11) 17. Ndf3 Rb8
18. Nd3 Qe8 19. Nxd4 {with a White advantage in Gledura - Dubov, Online
Olympiad (rapid), 2020.}) 15. Nd3 ({Grabbing the pawn with} 15. Bxc6 {would
have helped Black, as his play would have been much easier:} Bxc6 16. Rxc6 Qb7
17. Rac1 Rac8 18. Rxc8 Rxc8 19. Rxc8+ Qxc8 20. Qxb5 Qc1 {and the position is
equal.}) 15... Rc8 16. Rab1 {Played to prevent Black's ...c6-c5 idea; then I
was intending to play Nb3-Nc5 with a very pleasant position.} ({My first
instinct was to go for the simple plan with Nb3-Nc5, gaining control over the
positon, but then I was bothered by} 16. Nb3 c5 $5 17. Bxb7 (17. dxc5 $1 {
was a key idea I should have considered, i.e.,} Bxg2 18. Kxg2 Qb7+ 19. f3 Qd5 {
and now} 20. e4 $5 {is a nice tactical resource, but after} ({the simple} 20.
Qc3 {gives White an advantage}) 20... Qxd3 21. Rc3 Qc4 $1 22. Rxc4 bxc4 23. Nd4
Nxc5 {Black should be fine.}) 17... Qxb7 18. Nbxc5 Nxc5 19. Nxc5 Qd5 {.}) 16...
c5 {Thematic, but another surprise at the board.} 17. dxc5 Bxg2 18. Kxg2 Qb7+
19. f3 $1 Rab8 20. e4 $5 ({Better was} 20. Nb3 Qa8 21. Nd4 {.}) 20... Qa8 21.
Qc3 {Here I think my opponent realized that his position is very hard to play,
and perhaps even already lost.} a4 {He tried to defend against my plan with
Nb3-Nd4.} ({One of the points of my previous move was} 21... Rc7 22. Nb3 Rbc8
23. Qxa5 Qxa5 24. Nxa5 Nxc5 25. Rxb5 $1 {and White should win.}) 22. Rc2 Qa7
23. c6 $1 {Here I knew I was winning, but I still had to bring home the full
point!} Rc7 $2 {[#] A blunder in a very hard position.} 24. Rxb5 $1 {While I
was very happy with how the game ended, I do feel that I was a bit lucky with
the result.} ({The idea is} 24. Rxb5 Rxb5 25. cxd7 Rxd7 ({if} 25... Rxc3 {
it's mate in two with} 26. d8=Q+) 26. Qc8+ {and mate is imminent.}) 1-0

[Event "FIDE Grand Swiss"]
[Site "Riga"]
[Date "2021.11.03"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Sevian, Samuel"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E20"]
[WhiteElo "2800"]
[BlackElo "2654"]
[Annotator "Sevian"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 c5 5. d5 O-O 6. e4 d6 7. Nge2 b5 8. Nf4
exd5 $5 {After spending some time I opted for a very interesting pawn sacrifice
} 9. Nfxd5 Nxd5 10. Qxd5 Qb6 $1 {[#] The rook is taboo since the queen will be
trapped after Bb7} 11. cxb5 {From here I was out of book, but with his king
stuck in the center I found a good way to continue} (11. Bf4 Be6 12. Qxd6 (12.
Qxa8 $2 Nc6 13. Qxf8+ Kxf8 {and here the queen (plus development) is more than
a match for the rooks}) 12... Qa5 {[%cal Ra5e1,Rf8d8,Rd8d1] is the main line.
Black has pressure on the c3-knight and along the d-file for the pawn.}) 11...
Bb7 12. Qd2 {A strange move, putting the queen in a pin, but there is an idea
behind it.} d5 $1 {Black has to play energetically to justify the material
investment.} 13. a3 ({Grabbing the pawn with} 13. exd5 $2 {is not advisable:}
Re8+ 14. Be2 c4 $1 {[%cal Rb6g1,Re8e1] keeps the king trapped in the center.})
13... Bxc3 ({The point of White's 12th move is seen after} 13... Ba5 14. b4 $1
cxb4 15. Nxd5 Bxd5 ({worse is} 15... bxa3 16. Nxb6 Bxd2+ 17. Bxd2 axb6 18. Bb4
$1) 16. axb4 $1 {eliminating the dark-squared bishop.}) 14. Qxc3 d4 $1 {
Here Fabiano paused for the first time in the game, perhaps trying to recall
his preparation.} ({The inferior} 14... dxe4 $2 15. Be3 Nd7 16. O-O-O $1 {
gives White quick development with threats.}) 15. Qc2 $6 {Inaccurate, as we
shall soon see.} ({The right way to proceed was} 15. Qb3 {, but Black is fine
here, either keeping Benko-esque play with ...a7-a6, or playing for quick
development with ...Nd7-e5.}) 15... a6 $1 {[#]} ({After} 15... Nd7 16. Bf4 a6
17. a4 $1 Rfc8 18. Bc4 axb5 19. Bxb5 Bc6 20. Bc4 {White consolidates his pawn.}
) 16. bxa6 $6 {Continuing on the wrong path} ({Correct was} 16. a4 {as he
needs to control the b5-square to block the a6-f1 diagonal later on.} axb5 17.
Bxb5 Ba6 18. Bxa6 Qxa6 19. b3 $1 {(Stopping c4)} Nc6 (19... Nd7 20. Kf2 Rac8
21. Rd1 $11) 20. Qxc5 Na5 21. Qb5 $1 {and now we see the point of 16.a4! White
manages to either trade queens or get his king to safety.}) 16... Bxa6 17. Bxa6
Qxa6 $1 {I think this is what Fabiano missed when he played 15.Qc2. I keep
feeding him material to prevent him from castling.} 18. Qxc5 {After thinking
for over 40 minutes, Fabiano decides to accept the sacrifice.} ({Trying to
castle artificially with} 18. Kf2 c4 19. Rd1 {won't work as after} Nc6 {
[%csl Gc4,Gd4][%cal Gf8d8] my central pawns are monstrous.}) 18... Rc8 19. Qd5
$1 {[#] The best defense, controlling many squares from the center. Here I
spent some time thinking. 19...Rc2 hangs mate, so I felt I had two choices:
either bringing the a8-rook out, hopefully to c2, or adding the b8-knight to
the attack.} ({After} 19. Qxd4 Nc6 $1 {White has no good squares for the queen.
}) 19... Ra7 $6 ({Though neither move was objectively winning, he had to be
more careful after} 19... Nc6 $1 {[%cal Rc6b4] and now the analysis is both
deep and beautiful:} 20. Bd2 Rab8 21. Rc1 $1 {Is the only defence, but I'm not
sure he would find it given we were both under 25 minutes at this point} ({
I was most concerned with} 21. b3 {during the game, but as Fabiano pointed out
during our post-game analyses, Black has a brilliant geometric idea available:}
Rb5 22. Qc4 Ne5 $1 (22... Nb4 {gives White the neat shot} 23. axb4 $1 Qxa1+ 24.
Kf2 Qa6 25. Ra1 $1 Qb7 26. Ra7 $1 {and White is fine}) 23. Qxd4 (23. Qe2 d3 24.
Qf2 Rxb3 25. O-O Rb2 {[%cal Rc8c2] followed by ...Rc8-c2, and Black is
crashing through}) (23. Qa4 Qxa4 24. bxa4 Rb2 {and the bishop will eventually
fall}) 23... Qf6 $3 {[%cal Rf6a1,Rc8d8,Ge1e2,Gf6a6,Ga6f1,Re5f3] [#] What an
amazing idea, Black threatens a discovery with ...Ne5xf3+, there's ...Rc8-d8
looming, and if White puts the king on e2, the black queen can always go back
to a6!} (23... Rbc5 {was my idea during the game, but I could not find a way
to break through after} 24. Kf2) 24. Bc3 ({after} 24. Be3 Rd8 $1 {Either the
queen is lost or white is mated}) ({while if} 24. Ke2 Rxb3 $1 25. Rhc1 Rd8 {
[%cal Rf6a6] ...Qf6-a6 is coming next with deadly effect}) 24... Rbc5 25. Bb2
Nd3+ 26. Qxd3 Qxb2 27. Rd1 g6 $1 {and now ...Rc5-c2 is decisive.}) 21... Rxb2
22. Rf1 $1 ({We discussed} 22. Qc4 {after the game, but it loses to} Qxa3 23.
Qxd4 Rd8 $1 24. Rxc6 Rxd4 25. Rc8+ Qf8 26. Rxf8+ Kxf8 27. Bc3 Rxe4+ 28. fxe4
Rb1+ {.}) 22... Qd3 23. Rf2 Rc2 ({after} 23... Rxd2 24. Rxd2 Qe3+ 25. Kf1 $1 (
25. Kd1 $2 Qg1+) 25... Qxd2 26. Rxc6 Rb8 27. Qb3 $1 {White survives due to
Black's weak back-rank!}) 24. Rxc2 Qxc2 25. Kf1 Rd8 $15 {And even after all
these brilliant defensive moves, White still has to be very careful.}) 20. Bd2
Rac7 21. Rd1 Rc2 22. Qxd4 {Here we were already both low on time, so mistakes
began to creep in.} (22. Rf1 $1 {The earlier he brings his rook to defend the
2nd rank, the better} Nc6 23. Rf2 Rxb2 24. Bf4 Rb5 25. Qc4 $1 {And white is
practically out of danger}) 22... Nc6 23. Qe3 Rxb2 24. Bc3 Rc2 $1 {The best
attempt to keep playing for a win, this moves keeps tension and forces white
to come up with a defensive plan} (24... Rxg2 {Is basically agreeing to a draw
in light of} 25. Rg1 $1 {[%cal Rg1g7,Rc3g7]}) 25. Rf1 $2 {[#] With us both
under 10 minutes, I had to act fast and choose between a number of fascinating
possibilities.} (25. Qd3 $2 Qxd3 26. Rxd3 Rc1+ {[%cal Rc1h1,Rc1c3] And white
can't block without losing the bishop on c3}) ({I expected} 25. Rd3 $1 {
[%cal Ge1g1] with the idea of castling short. This is a forced draw according
to the computer, but White has to be careful.} Ne5 26. Bxe5 Rc1+ 27. Rd1 Rxd1+
28. Kxd1 Qa4+ 29. Ke1 Qa5+ 30. Kf2 Rc2+ 31. Kg3 Qxe5+ 32. f4 Qb2 (32... Qd6 33.
Qf3 $1 Qg6+ 34. Kh3 Qh6+ {is a draw}) 33. Rd1 $1 Rxg2+ 34. Kf3 h6 35. Rb1 $1
Qc2 36. Rc1 Qa2 37. Ra1 $1 {and this time the perpetual is 'on' the queen!})
25... Qxa3 $6 {Objectively this is fine, but I burned too much time deciding.}
({I spent a lot of time looking at} 25... Qc4 26. Ba1 Rd8 $1 {and at first I
thought this won, but amazingly White holds on with} 27. Rf2 $1 Rxd1+ ({after} 
27... Rxf2 28. Qxf2 $1 {I have to settle for a draw} ({and not} 28. Rxd8+ $2
Nxd8 29. Kxf2 Qa2+)) 28. Kxd1 {(forcing me to give up my c2-rook)} Rxf2 29.
Qxf2 Qd3+ 30. Kc1 {with equality.}) 26. Bd2 Qxe3+ {Basically a draw offer.} (
26... Qa2 $1 27. Rf2 Rd8 $1 {was the last try to play for a win. Again, the
computer manages to hold the position, but it would be very difficult for a
human player}) ({After} 26... Qa6 27. Kf2 $1 Rd8 28. Kg1 Rd3 29. Qe1 Nd4 30.
Rf2 {White holds the position together.}) 27. Bxe3 Rxg2 28. Rd2 Rxd2 29. Kxd2
Ne5 30. Bf4 f6 31. Bg3 Kf7 32. f4 Nc4+ 33. Kd3 Nb2+ 34. Ke3 Nc4+ 35. Kd3 Nb2+
36. Ke3 Nc4+ {And so a very complicated middlegame, with a number of
non-standard ideas, ends peacefully.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "FIDE Grand Swiss"]
[Site "Riga"]
[Date "2021.10.28"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Predke, Alexandr"]
[Black "Yakubboev, Nodirbek"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E71"]
[WhiteElo "2666"]
[BlackElo "2621"]
[Annotator "Sevian"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. h3 O-O 6. Bg5 {An interesting
sideline. White's idea is to provoke ...h7-h6 and at some point play Qd1-d2
with tempo. Otherwise the bishop stands well on g5.} Nc6 7. Nf3 h6 8. Be3 e5 9.
d5 Nd4 $5 {An interesting pawn sacrifice, but very logical after 6...Nc6.} 10.
Nxd4 exd4 11. Qxd4 ({One of Black's ideas is seen after} 11. Bxd4 Nxe4 $1 12.
Nxe4 (12. Bxg7 Re8 $1 {is a nice idea, as the threat of discovery on the
e-file means that White can't save the piece}) 12... Qh4 $1 {and now the black
queen threatens the e4-knight and also the d4-bishop via x-ray, i.e.,} 13. g4 (
{if} 13. Bxg7 Qxe4+ {and ...Kg8xg7}) 13... Re8 14. Bg2 Bf5 $3 {[%cal Rh4d4,
Re8e1] [#] and White can't save his extra piece due to all the cross-pins!})
11... Ng4 $1 {The second idea behind 9...Nd4. If White retreats the queen,
Black takes the e3-bishop and has a powerful bishop on g7. This is more than
enough compensation for the pawn.} ({The idea} 11... Re8 {threatening ...
Nf6xe4 doesn't work now:} 12. Qd3 $1 Nxe4 13. Nxe4 Bf5 14. f3 $1 {and White is
just up a piece.}) 12. hxg4 $3 {A brilliant long term queen sacrifice. White
gets a knight and the all-important KID g7-bishop for the queen. The dark
squares will be very weak, and the weak h6-pawn, which was provoked by 6.Bg5,
is incredibly important!} ({Black has great compensation after} 12. Qd2 Nxe3
13. Qxe3 f5 $1 {.}) 12... Bxd4 13. Bxd4 {[%cal Rh1h6,Gf1e2,Gh1h2,Ge1c1,Gd1h1] 
[#] In his notes to this game for ChessBase Magazine, Predke says that his
analysis ended around here, but he only remembered that White had an advantage
after the queen sacrifice. He had to work out the details on his own;
fortunately, the plan is fairly clear: all-out attack on the h-file. A
possible plan is to play Bf1-e2, protecting the g4-pawn on g4, followed by
Rh1-h2, 0-0-0, and Rd1-h1. For his part, Black has to try creating counterplay
on the queenside.} Kh7 $2 {I think 80% of players would automatically play
this move, which protects the pawn. But as we'll see in the game, this is too
slow. Nodirbek had to either block white's dangerous bishop on d4 with f6! Or
immediately start counterplay with c5!} ({I think Black should have considered
} 13... f6 $1 {(or 13...c5! 14.dxc6 bxc6 15.Rxh6 f6! transposing)} 14. Rxh6 Kg7
15. g5 c5 $1 16. dxc6 bxc6 17. O-O-O Qa5 $44 {which attacks the g5-pawn and
creates counterchances on the queenside, with ideas like ...Ra8-b8 (or ...
Rf8-f7-b7) to hit the b2-pawn.}) 14. Be2 $1 {Now White has an additional idea:
he could try f2-f4, preparing g4-g5!} f5 $6 {Panic. This allows Be2-d3,
x-raying the black king.} ({Here} 14... c5 {was the last chance to muddy the
waters, although Black's position is still bad after} 15. dxc6 bxc6 16. f4 f6
17. O-O-O h5 18. Bc5 $1 {converting into a winning endgame.}) 15. exf5 gxf5 16.
Rh5 $1 {Very nice. The idea is to meet 16...fxg4 with 17.Bd3+, as Black can't
block with 17...Bf5.} Kg6 17. Kd2 $1 {[%cal Ga1h1] Now the last attacker can
join the party.} fxg4 18. Rah1 Bf5 19. Rxh6+ ({Most precise was} 19. Bd3 $1
Bxd3 20. Rxh6+ Kf7 21. Kxd3 {when the white knight gets into the game with
Nc3-e4. Here's a sample continuation:} Ke8 22. Ne4 Kd7 23. Rh7+ Kc8 24. Bf6 $1
Qe8 ({or} 24... Rxf6 25. Nxf6 Qxf6 26. Rh8+ Kd7 27. R1h7+) 25. Be7 $1 Rf7 (
25... Rg8 26. Bxd6 $1) 26. Rh8 Rxe7 27. Nf6 $1 {[#] avoiding the inferior 27.
Rxe8. Now black either loses the queen, or gets mated after 27...Qxh8 28.Rxh8+.
}) 19... Kf7 20. R1h5 Ke7 21. Nd1 {A good multi-purpose move. The idea is to
bring the knight to e3 with tempo, while also having a retreat square for the
d4-bishop in case Black plays ...c7-c5.} c5 22. Bc3 Kd7 23. Ne3 Bb1 24. Bxg4+
Kc7 25. f3 $6 {In time trouble Predke gives his opponent a small chance.} ({
The brute force} 25. Kc1 $1 {was winning, with the idea that after} Bxa2 {
the f5-square is available, i.e.,} 26. Nf5 Bxc4 27. Rxd6 Qxd6 28. Nxd6 Kxd6 29.
Be6 {[%cal Rc3e5] and now Bc3-e5+ is coming with deadly effect.}) 25... Qe8 {
Play gets a little messy for the next few moves, but with both players short
of time, who can blame them?} ({Here} 25... a5 $1 {[%cal Ga8a6] would keep the
game going for awhile. Now ...Ra8-a6 protects the d6-pawn, and allows the king
to shelter on b8! White is still winning but mate is off the table.}) 26. Rh1
Bg6 27. Re1 ({Crushing was} 27. Be6 $1 {with the idea of invading with
Ne3-g4-f6.}) 27... Rg8 28. Be6 Qf8 {Too passive.} ({Yakubboev missed a good
fighting chance with} 28... Qa4 $1 {followed by opening up the queenside with .
..b7-b5!}) 29. Reh1 Re8 {Hoping White grabs the exchange, but there's no
reason to give up such a powerful bishop. Now Predke finds a nice way to
finish the game} 30. R1h4 $1 {[%cal Gh4g4] [#] Threatening Rh4-g4.} Rxe6 ({If} 
30... Bb1 31. Rf6 $1 {wins the queen, because} Qg7 {(or 31...Qe7) is met with}
32. Rf7+) 31. dxe6 Qe8 32. Nd5+ Kc6 33. Nf6 Qe7 34. Rg4 {Now Black will lose
his bishop, his rook, and _then_ suffer the indignity of checkmate. Instead
Yajubboev resigned. What a game!} 1-0

[Event "FIDE Grand Swiss"]
[Site "Riga"]
[Date "2021.11.03"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Firouzja, Alireza"]
[Black "Najer, Evgenij"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2770"]
[BlackElo "2654"]
[Annotator "Sevian"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/5pkp/PR6/6p1/8/5PKP/r5P1/8 w - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "33"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[#] An interesting endgame arose in a critical seventh round encounter
between Firouzja and Najer. White is up a pawn, but can't progess without the
king coming to the queenside to help. But in that case, Black is able to snag
a pawn or two on the kingside. What to do?} 1. f4 $1 {Firouzja sacrifices the
g2-pawn in order to expedite the king to b8. If he had waited, Black would
have play ...h7-h5 followed by ...h5-h4+, forcing the white king back to h2.}
gxf4+ 2. Kxf4 Rxg2 3. Ke5 {[%cal Re5b8] The white king now makes a beeline for
b8. Black must try to create counterplay with his f-pawn.} Ra2 {Cutting the
king with Rd2 wouldn't help, white plays a7 Ra2 Rb7, then continues the kings
path to b8.} ({Cutting the king off with} 3... Rd2 {wouldn't help: after} 4.
Rb7 Ra2 5. a7 Ra6 6. Kd5 $1 {the idea is Kd5-c5-b5, followed by Kb5-b6-c7-b8.
Black can not play the king up followed by ...f7-f5 because of Rb7-b6+!
distracting the black rook from control of the a8-square.}) 4. Kd6 f5 {The
f-pawn starts to move down the board!} 5. Kc7 f4 6. Kb8 f3 7. a7 f2 8. Rb1 {
[#] The critical position. White has stopped Black's pawn from promoting and
threatens to queen himself. How should Black defend?} f1=Q $2 {Najer decides
to force white's king into the corner, but he underestimated White's
Lucena-like idea of bringing the rook to b7.} ({One idea was to allow White to
promote, bring the king down, take the h3-pawn, and then try and promote the
black h-pawn. While this feels slow, it becomes clear after analysis that the
white king is far enough away from the promotion square on h1. A sample line
would be} 8... Kg6 $1 {(or any other king move up, i.e., 8...Kf6 or 8...Kh6)}
9. a8=Q Rxa8+ 10. Kxa8 Kg5 11. Rf1 {as White must get rid of this passer. After
} Kh4 12. Rxf2 Kxh3 {Black gains a crucial tempo with ...Kh3-g3, which helps
him win the race.} 13. Kb7 ({Cutting the king with} 13. Rf7 h5 14. Rg7 {
is generally a good idea in rook versus pawn endings, but here White is just
one tempo short:} h4 15. Kb7 Kh2 16. Kc6 h3 17. Kd5 Kh1 18. Ke4 h2 19. Kf3 {
Stalemate!}) 13... h5 14. Kc6 Kg3 15. Ra2 h4 16. Kd5 h3 17. Ke4 h2 {and the
pawn is too fast.} 18. Ra1 Kg2 $11) (8... Rb2+ $1 {requires more calculation
than does 8...Kg6. Here both sides promote, but Black has a perpetual:} 9. Rxb2
f1=Q 10. Rb7+ Kg6 11. Rb6+ $1 {Giving some extra cushion for the king, and
forcing Black to give accurate checks.} ({or} 11. a8=Q Qf8+ 12. Ka7 Qa3+ {
with a draw}) 11... Kh5 12. a8=Q Qf8+ 13. Ka7 Qa3+ $1 14. Ra6 Qc5+ 15. Kb7 Qb4+
{and with accurate checks Black can always force White to move either the rook
or king, which will keep the queen stuck on a8 forever.}) 9. Rxf1 Rb2+ 10. Ka8
Rb3 11. Rc1 $1 {The key point; otherwise, White can't make any progress. The
idea is Rc1-c7-b7 followed by evacuating the king from the corner.} Kg6 12. Rc7
h5 13. Rb7 Rxh3 14. Rb6+ $1 {Precise -- not even giving Black the chance to
sacrifice the rook.} Kg5 15. Kb7 Ra3 16. Ra6 Rb3+ 17. Kc7 {After all the
lateral checks on the third rank, White's king hides on g7.} 1-0

[Event "FIDE World Championship"]
[Site "Dubai UAE"]
[Date "2021.11.27"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E05"]
[WhiteElo "2855"]
[BlackElo "2782"]
[Annotator "Yermo"]
[PlyCount "116"]
[EventDate "2021.11.26"]
[EventType "match"]
[EventRounds "14"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 b5 $5 {
[#] A good choice from Ian. While not a novelty (this move has been known for
10 years), it still has the element of surprise, and the resulting positions
may suit the challenger's style better than the dry technical stuff in the
main lines.} 8. Ne5 $5 {A rare move, which indicates the depth of Carlsen's
preparation.} ({What's up with} 8. a4 {the reader might ask? The thing is.
Black can disregard material losses because he solves the major problem of the
Catalan: how to develop the c8-bishop and how to offset the pressure from
White's excellent g2-bishop. Here} Bb7 {is the newest attempt. Now the
emerging theory runs as follows:} ({Naturally,} 8... c6 $2 9. axb5 cxb5 10. Ng5
{is to be avoided.}) ({The standard reply is} 8... b4 {where White has tried a
number of things, including} 9. Nfd2 ({The early games mostly followed} 9. Ne5
Qxd4 10. Bxa8 Qxe5 {and I recall Shankland-Shabalov, US Championship 2011,
among them. Black obtained an excellent position after} 11. Bf3 ({modern
research is focused on} 11. Bf4 Qh5 12. Bf3 Ng4 13. Bxg4 Qxg4 14. Nd2 {but
it's far from clear.}) 11... Ba6 12. Bf4 Qa5 {and went on to win the game.})
9... Nd5 10. Nxc4 {. This was considered good for White until the sharp idea}
c5 11. dxc5 Ba6 $1 12. Ne3 Nd7 13. Nxd5 exd5 14. c6 Rc8 {was found. I can
understand why Magnus wanted no part of all this.}) 9. axb5 a6 10. bxa6 (10.
Qxc4 $4 axb5 {costs a rook.}) 10... Nxa6 11. Qxc4 Bd5 12. Qd3 Nb4 13. Rxa8 Qxa8
14. Qd1 {. At first sight it seems that White has come away with a free pawn.
He only needs to play his knight to c3 to consolidate his gains, but there
comes the completely counter-intuitive} Na2 $1 15. Nc3 Nxc3 16. bxc3 h6 $1 17.
Bf4 c5 {and, surprisingly, Black has plenty of play. The game Berkes-Grischuk,
European Club Championship 2021 was drawn after} 18. dxc5 Bxc5 19. c4 Bxc4 20.
Ne5 Bd5 {etc.}) 8... c6 {This position can be reached via move transposition
from the 4...dc4 lines, but White doesn't always put his queen on c2. The
amount of factual material - games to study - is surprisingly scarce.} ({
One thing I noticed is that} 8... Qxd4 {can be answered with} 9. Qc3 {, a move
that is unavailable when the moves a2-a4 and ...b5-b4 are included. Now we
have a queen trade, which Magnus almost always welcomes.} (9. Nxf7 {is an
unlikely choice for the champion}) 9... Qxc3 10. Nxc3 Nd5 ({Compensation for
the exchange is questionable in case of} 10... Nbd7 11. Bxa8 Nxe5 12. Bf4) {
and here White has a choice between captures on b5 or d5, or the attractive}
11. a4 {.}) 9. a4 ({Obviously, White isn't interested in helping Black's
development with something like} 9. Nxc6 Nxc6 10. Bxc6 Rb8 11. a4 a6) 9... Nd5
10. Nc3 ({In the spirit of gambit play one may contemplate} 10. b3 $5) 10... f6
$1 {Driving the white knight from its active position is Black's first
accomplishment, if you don't count taking the gambited pawn.} 11. Nf3 Qd7 $5 {
Nepo continues with a non-standard queen placement.} (11... Bb7 $2 {falls
victim to the same tactical shot:} 12. axb5 Nxc3 13. bxc3 cxb5 14. Ng5) ({
The expected} 11... b4 12. Ne4 Ba6 {would reach a position from the old
classic Gelfand-Shirov, Paris Immopar 1992. There play continued} 13. Bh3 (13.
Nc5 Bxc5 14. dxc5 Nd7 15. e4 b3 16. Qd2 c3 17. bxc3 Bxf1 18. Bxf1 Nc7 19. Qd6
Ne5) 13... f5 14. Neg5 b3 15. Qd1 Rf6 $2 {Boris should have won this game
after Alexey's error. At first he was on the right path.} 16. e4 Nb4 17. exf5
exf5 18. Re1 $3 Nc2 $2 {[#]} (18... Nd3 {doesn't change anything, White still
goes} 19. Nxh7 $1) 19. Nxh7 $1 Kxh7 20. Ng5+ Kg6 21. Ne6 Qh8 22. Bxf5+ $1 Kxf5
{but just a step away from victory he missed} 23. Nxg7+ $1 ({The game saw} 23.
Qf3+ Kg6 24. Qe4+ Kf7 25. Ng5+ Kg8 26. Qxe7 Qh5 {with decisive advantage to
Black.}) 23... Kg6 24. Rxe7 Bc8 25. Qd2 {as indicated by GM Ftacnik.}) 12. e4 {
The obvious drawback of this move is surrendering the d3-square.} ({Again, I'd
be interested in} 12. b3 {but here Black has} b4 $1 13. Nxd5 cxd5 14. bxc4 {
. White got his pawn back and seems to be in good shape, but the development
of the black pieces puts this evaluation in doubt. Actually, there are two
good moves here.} {After} dxc4 ({The alternative} 14... Ba6 15. c5 Nc6 16. Re1
Rab8 {isn't bad either.}) 15. Qxc4 Ba6 16. Qc2 Rc8 17. Qd1 Bb7 (17... Nc6 18.
Re1 b3 19. Qxb3 Rab8 20. Qd1 Bb4 21. Bd2 Nxd4 {leads to a draw.}) 18. Re1 Be4 {
the strong b-pawn gives Black the advantage.}) 12... Nb4 13. Qe2 Nd3 14. e5 $1
({Looking at} 14. axb5 cxb5 15. b3 {one more time, I discovered a tactical
idea.} b4 16. Na4 Nxc1 (16... Ba6 17. bxc4 Bxc4 18. Rd1 Ne5) 17. Rfxc1 c3 18.
Nb6 $1 {There it is! Of course, the outcome is not so clear:} axb6 19. Rxa8 Bb7
20. Ra2 Nc6 21. Qb5 Qc7 22. d5 Na5 {[#] Who stands better here and why? I'd
like to apologize to my dear readers for clogging my notes up with complex
variations that did not happen in the actual game. The thing is, this type of
position is an excellent playgroud for creative chess, soemthing I cannot say
about the boring (to me) 1.e4 e5 structures that took an inordinate amount of
attention in the games where Ian had the white pieces. Perhaps that was the
challenger's downfall. One has to stay with his natural style and game, no
matter what the coaches (computers?) say.}) 14... Bb7 ({Ian likes to keep the
tension, so his decision was correct, despite the engines preference for} 14...
f5 {. Perhaps Nepo was concerned with} 15. axb5 cxb5 (15... Bb7 $5) 16. Bg5 $5
{but then} Nc6 $1 17. Nxb5 Bxg5 18. Nxg5 Rb8 19. Nd6 Nxd4 {appears to be fully
playable, e.g.} 20. Qe3 Nc2 21. Qxa7 Qxa7 22. Rxa7 Nxe5 23. Nxc8 Rfxc8 24. Nxe6
Rxb2 {and White will probably get a perpetual check out of his attack on the
seventh rank, but hardly more than that.}) 15. exf6 Bxf6 16. Ne4 Na6 17. Ne5 $2
{If there's one area of chess where Magnus Carlsen can err, it's in his
handling of complex, irrational positions containing multiple options that go
beyond his considerable calculating horizon. The text move is designed to
create a great outpost on d6 to offset the impact of the equally great
d3-knight, but the champion missed one pesky detail.} ({Instead,} 17. Nxf6+
gxf6 18. Bh6 Rf7 19. Ne1 Nab4 20. Nxd3 Nxd3 21. b3 {would continue posing
problems without further material investment.}) 17... Bxe5 18. dxe5 Nac5 $1 {
[#] That's the move Magnus overlooked. To give the champion full credit he
didn't back down.} 19. Nd6 $1 Nb3 ({Hard to blame Ian for going after the
exchange, although I think} 19... Nxa4 20. b3 Nc3 21. Qd2 b4 {may have been
equally good.}) 20. Rb1 Nbxc1 21. Rbxc1 Nxc1 22. Rxc1 {Carlsen is down quite a
bit of material, but he has the kind of positional compensation he can put his
finger on. The d6-knight is great, and there are some kingside attack
prospects present. But after Nepo confidently (and quickly!) played his next
two moves I though he was going to win this game.} Rab8 23. Rd1 Ba8 24. Be4 $1
{White's play is very consistent.} ({Magnus fully realized that half-measures
like} 24. Nxb5 Qe7 25. Nd6 {would come up short after} Rb4 26. a5 c5 {.}) 24...
c3 $5 {There's a bit of mystery about this move.} ({Ian must have looked at} 
24... Qe7 25. Qh5 g5 ({the alternative} 25... g6 26. Bxg6 c5 27. Be4 {offers
White good compensation based on the long-term weakness of the black king.})
26. Bg2 bxa4 27. Ne4 {and was unhappy about the need to switch to defense.
Still, after a couple of cool moves,} Kh8 $1 28. Nf6 Qf7 $1 29. Qxg5 Rbd8 30.
Rc1 Rd4 {Black would beat off the attack and get on the path to victory.}) 25.
Qc2 $1 (25. bxc3 bxa4 26. Qh5 g6 27. Bxg6 hxg6 28. Qxg6+ Qg7 29. Qxe6+ Kh8 30.
Rd4 Rb1+ 31. Kg2 c5+ {was the point of Black's previous move. A great idea,
indeed, but Carlsen saw it too!}) 25... g6 26. bxc3 {[#]} bxa4 $2 {Finally, a
real error that throws away Black's advantage. It seems like Ian was too
focused on the need to open the b-file to stop the sac on g6.} ({After the
game Nepo lamented missing} 26... Qg7 27. f4 g5 $1 {. Had he seen and played
it, the likely continuation would have been} 28. Qb3 gxf4 29. Qxe6+ Kh8 30. Nf5
Qg6 31. Qxg6 hxg6 32. Ne7 Rfd8 33. Nxg6+ Kg7 34. Rf1 fxg3 35. Nf4 Kg8 36. e6
bxa4 {with only marginal chances for survival for White. This is how close the
challenger was to lighting up the scoreboard early in the match.}) 27. Qxa4
Rfd8 28. Ra1 c5 29. Qc4 $1 {Carlsen is in his element. In his view there's no
rush to take the a7-pawn, it's more important to maintain the strong points of
the position.} Bxe4 30. Nxe4 Kh8 31. Nd6 Rb6 32. Qxc5 Rdb8 33. Kg2 a6 34. Kh3
Rc6 $6 {Ian was drifting a bit around these parts.} ({Practically speaking,
the best choice was to force a draw with} 34... Qc6 35. Nf7+ Kg8 36. Qe7 Qf3 $1
37. Nh6+ Kh8 38. Nf7+ {etc.}) 35. Qd4 Kg8 36. c4 Qc7 {Fortunately for the
challenger he was still up the exchange, so he had enough wiggle room to
escape the worst.} 37. Qg4 Rxd6 {About time.} 38. exd6 Qxd6 39. c5 ({Or} 39.
Qe4 Rc8 40. Kg2 Qc6 {.}) 39... Qxc5 40. Qxe6+ Kg7 41. Rxa6 {If White could
only keep the queens on the board.. .} Rf8 42. f4 Qf5+ 43. Qxf5 Rxf5 {Reaching
a theoretically drawn rook endgame. Fans of the trademark Magnus squeeze would
have to wait about a week for their favorite show.} 44. Ra7+ Kg8 45. Kg4 Rb5
46. Re7 Ra5 47. Re5 Ra7 48. h4 Kg7 49. h5 Kh6 50. Kh4 Ra1 51. g4 Rh1+ 52. Kg3
gxh5 53. Re6+ Kg7 54. g5 Rg1+ 55. Kf2 Ra1 56. Rh6 Ra4 57. Kf3 Ra3+ 58. Kf2 Ra4
1/2-1/2

[Event "FIDE World Championship"]
[Site "Dubai UAE"]
[Date "2021.12.05"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C43"]
[WhiteElo "2855"]
[BlackElo "2782"]
[Annotator "Yermo"]
[PlyCount "91"]
[EventDate "2021.11.26"]
[EventType "match"]
[EventRounds "14"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 {Before the game I was wondering what Nepo's strategy would be after he
found himself one game down halfway through the match. There were certain
reasons to abandon caution in favor of randomizing his opening choices. Was he
going to go 1...g6?} e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 {The Petroff?!?!} 3. d4 Nxe4 4. Bd3 d5 5.
Nxe5 Nd7 6. Nxd7 Bxd7 7. Nd2 {If this rare move indicates anything, it would
be that Carlsen didn't really mind a draw.} ({The difference between the text
and the common move} 7. O-O {is that after} Bd6 {the same idea} 8. Nd2 ({
better and more popular is} 8. Nc3) ({and, of course, there is always} 8. c4) {
becomes ineffective, as Black can simply answer it with} 8... O-O {based on} 9.
Nxe4 dxe4 10. Bxe4 Bxh2+ 11. Kxh2 Qh4+ {.}) 7... Nxd2 8. Bxd2 Bd6 $6 {It's
remarkable that Ian barely spent seconds on this obviously inferior move.} ({
White hasn't castled yet, so} 8... Qe7+ {suggests itself. In a handful of
games that saw this position, the outcome was always the same - draw agreed
before move 20.}) 9. O-O {[#] Suddenly Black is uncomfortable, and the 15
minutes Ian spent on his reply reflected that.} h5 $5 {Credit goes to the
challenger for choosing the most combative reply.} ({On} 9... O-O 10. Qh5 {
forces the unwanted} f5 {where there follows} 11. Bg5 Qe8 12. Qf3 Qg6 13. Bf4
c6 {. It's not a catastrophe yet, but White can milk his advantage for a long
time, and who is better at that than the World Champion?}) ({On the other hand,
} 9... Qh4 10. g3 Qxd4 11. Bc3 Qg4 12. Qxg4 Bxg4 13. Bxg7 Rg8 14. Bf6 {forces
Black to part with the h7-pawn in fear of losing the exchange.}) 10. Qe1+ {
Magnus is staying the course. He planned to finish the three game stretch
while maintaining the lead, and nothing could tempt him to change his mind.} ({
Seeing Black move his h-pawn brings to mind the possibility of} 10. c4 {
but then a line similar to the previous note,} Qh4 11. g3 Qxd4 12. Bc3 Qg4 13.
Qxg4 Bxg4 14. Bxg7 Rg8 15. Bf6 dxc4 $1 16. Bh7 {is a different kettle of fish.
Black can sac the exchange because of his massive pawn advantage on the
queenside.}) 10... Kf8 $6 {Nepo tried to rationalize this decision on his
post-match interview; to me, his explanations were not at all convincing. All
I can see here is White having a slight initiative with zero risk, thanks to
the undeveloped h8-rook.} ({Again,} 10... Qe7 {had to be played.}) 11. Bb4 Qe7
12. Bxd6 Qxd6 13. Qd2 Re8 14. Rae1 Rh6 $6 {A natural, but awkward, attempt to
justify his previous play.} ({It was easy for commentators to cite the
computer suggestion} 14... Rxe1 15. Rxe1 g6 16. Re5 Kg7 {as perfectly good for
Black. What is missing from this account is how Ian (or anyone else) would
think of his own play in the opening, regardless of the "objective" evaluation
of the given position. No one can be happy with having to repair
self-inflicted damage, however minor it may be in the eyes of computers.}) 15.
Qg5 c6 16. Rxe8+ Bxe8 17. Re1 Qf6 18. Qe3 Bd7 19. h3 h4 ({It was already
impossible to get the game back to normal tracks. In case of} 19... Qd6 20. Qg5
Qf6 21. Qg3 Qd6 {White avoids the queen trade with} 22. Re5 $1 {leaving the
black h-pawn sticking out like a sore thumb, e.g.} h4 23. Qf4 Re6 $2 24. Qxh4
Rxe5 25. dxe5 Qxe5 26. Qb4+ {winning the b7-pawn.}) 20. c4 {White cranks up
the pressure, but I bet Magnus didn't expect a quick return on his efforts.}
dxc4 ({At least,} 20... g5 {would have been consistent with Black's previous
play.}) 21. Bxc4 {[#]} b5 $4 {Taken out of context of the game thus far, this
just looks like a terrible, unforced blunder. However, as discussed above, it
did not come from nowhere.} ({Even this far into the game there was a defense.
} 21... Kg8 {would keep the game going, because in reply to} 22. Qe7 {Black has
} Be6 {.}) 22. Qa3+ Kg8 23. Qxa7 Qd8 ({The endgame after} 23... Bxh3 24. Qxf7+
Qxf7 25. Re8+ Kh7 26. Bxf7 {would be tough to hold, particularly against
Magnus Carlsen.}) 24. Bb3 Rd6 25. Re4 Be6 26. Bxe6 Rxe6 27. Rxe6 fxe6 28. Qc5
Qa5 29. Qxc6 Qe1+ 30. Kh2 Qxf2 {All Black's attempts to conjure a perpetual
are going to be brushed away by the centralized white queen.} 31. Qxe6+ Kh7 32.
Qe4+ Kg8 33. b3 Qxa2 34. Qe8+ Kh7 35. Qxb5 Qf2 36. Qe5 Qb2 37. Qe4+ Kg8 38. Qd3
Qf2 39. Qc3 Qf4+ 40. Kg1 Kh7 41. Qd3+ g6 42. Qd1 Qe3+ 43. Kh1 g5 44. d5 g4 45.
hxg4 h3 46. Qf3 1-0

[Event "FIDE World Championship"]
[Site "Dubai UAE"]
[Date "2021.12.07"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A13"]
[WhiteElo "2782"]
[BlackElo "2855"]
[Annotator "Yermo"]
[PlyCount "78"]
[EventDate "2021.11.26"]
[EventType "match"]
[EventRounds "14"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. c4 {With his back against the wall, Nepo finally turns away from 1.e4.} e6
2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 d4 $5 {This move must have been part of Carlsen's general
preparation. Playing it in a very favorable match situation shows Magnus'
confidence.} 4. Nf3 Nc6 $5 {This is a specific setup that takes into account
the issue of White's extra tempo, compared with straight-up Benoni or Benko
lines.} ({Black can also ignore it, if he feels particularly ambitious, but} 
4... c5 {carries a considerable risk. White can go} 5. b4 {The Reversed Benko}
({or} 5. e3 {The Reversed Benoni} Nc6 6. exd4 cxd4 7. O-O Bd6 8. d3 Nf6 9. Bg5
h6 10. Bxf6 Qxf6 11. Nbd2 Qd8 12. Rc1 {gearing toward c4-c5.}) 5... cxb4 6. a3
Nc6 7. O-O a5 8. e3 {. This variant of the Blumenfeld Gambit differs from the
standard version because of the position of the white's light-squared bishop.
The fianchetto is more geared toward queenside play, rather than the classic
placement on d3.}) 5. O-O Bc5 6. d3 Nf6 7. Nbd2 {Attacking the center requires
some preparation.} ({The immediate} 7. e3 O-O 8. exd4 Nxd4 9. Nc3 {hardly
poses big problems for Black, who can neutralize the g2-bishop with a timely ..
.c7-c6. Even the pawn sac} e5 $5 {is playable here.}) 7... a5 {Played in
anticipation of White's next.} 8. Nb3 Be7 9. e3 dxe3 {Both this and the
following move are practically forced in order to counter White's central play.
} ({In comparison,} 9... e5 10. exd4 exd4 11. Re1 O-O 12. a4 Re8 13. Bd2 {
leaves the d4- and a5-pawns vulnerable in the face of the upcoming Nf3-e5.})
10. Bxe3 Ng4 $1 {Magnus admitted he remembered his lines up to and including
this move.} 11. Bc5 O-O {Here we arrive at the first major crossroads for
White.} 12. d4 ({The alternative was} 12. Bxe7 Qxe7 13. Nfd4 {. In this
situation Magnus most likely would think of} Nxd4 ({The unbalanced position
arising from} 13... Nge5 14. Nxc6 Nxc6 15. Bxc6 bxc6 16. d4 Qd6 17. Re1 a4 18.
Nc5 {would be a bit out of his style, and it did not match the match situation
either.}) 14. Nxd4 e5 $1 {. This is the only way to solve the problem of
developing the c8-bishop.} 15. Qe2 Nh6 16. Rfe1 f6 {[#] If the game got this
far, then Ian would have to find something quickly before his backward d3-pawn
became a problem. Obviously, I cannot offer solutions to the question how to
beat Magnus Carlsen. If I knew them, I wouldn't be wasting my time on writing!
Besides, those solutions would have been noticed before me, if not by the
players themselves, then by the army of YouTubers commentating on the match.
All I'm doing here is indicating alternative scenarios.}) 12... a4 13. Bxe7
Qxe7 14. Nc5 a3 $6 {[#] Judging by the time spent on this move Magnus was out
there on his own.} ({Some commentators quoted a computer game, which went} 
14... e5 15. Re1 Rd8 16. b4 $1 (16. Nxa4 Qb4 17. b3 exd4 {is clearly safe and
sound for Black.}) {I don't have it in my database, so I can only suggest}
16... axb3 17. Nxb3 e4 18. Nfd2 f5 19. f3 Nf6 20. fxe4 Nxd4 21. exf5 {as a
reasonable continuation for both sides. In any event, this whole thing seems
more up Ian's alley than what he wasted his white games on earlier in the
match.}) 15. bxa3 $2 {There is no cogent explanation to this meek choice,
except to admit that the challenger's spirit was already broken.} ({The
energetic move} 15. b4 $1 {had to be played. One has to go forward if one
wants to win games. Here} Nxb4 16. Rb1 b6 17. Rxb4 bxc5 18. Rb5 {was the line
given by the commentators. While I'm not stating White is winning here -- in
fact his advantage is going to be rather small after he takes on c5 on the
next move -- it was the only way to continue.}) 15... Rd8 16. Nb3 Nf6 17. Re1
Qxa3 {Black's play on the a-file effectively makes the development of
c8-bishop a minor issue.} 18. Qe2 {We all saw a video of Magnus' famous
"j'adoube," which happened in this position. I'm certain that he wasn't
thinking of playing a move with his f6-knight, because there was nowhere to go
with it.} h6 19. h4 Bd7 $1 20. Ne5 Be8 {Even the potential doubling up of the
c-pawns doesn't bother Black because White's a2-pawn is not much of a passer.
The position is equal.} 21. Qe3 Qb4 22. Reb1 Nxe5 ({Carlsen said he thought he
was winning a pawn; otherwise, I bet his choice would have been} 22... Ra3 23.
Nxc6 Bxc6 24. Bxc6 bxc6 25. Qe2 Rda8 {.}) 23. dxe5 Ng4 24. Qe1 $1 {Black's
g4-knight is in a spot of bother, to borrow a British idiom.} Qxe1+ ({Not} 
24... Qxc4 $2 25. f3 {.}) 25. Rxe1 h5 26. Bxb7 Ra4 {[#] Luckily for the champ,
his pieces were active enough to make holding his position easy, but nobody
expected the game to be decided in just one move.} 27. c5 $4 {This, and after
a four-minute think??} ({Naturally} 27. f3 Nh6 28. Be4 Nf5 29. Kf2 Rxc4 30.
Rec1 Bb5 {is equal.}) 27... c6 {The bishop is trapped. It's game over, and
with a three game lead, the rest of the match had become a formality.} 28. f3
Nh6 29. Re4 Ra7 30. Rb4 Rb8 31. a4 Raxb7 32. Rb6 Rxb6 33. cxb6 Rxb6 34. Nc5 Nf5
35. a5 Rb8 36. a6 Nxg3 37. Na4 c5 38. a7 Rd8 39. Nxc5 Ra8 0-1

[Event "FIDE World Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2021.12.03"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D02"]
[WhiteElo "2855"]
[BlackElo "2782"]
[Annotator "So,Wesley"]
[PlyCount "271"]
[EventDate "2021.09.27"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{After five fighting draws, everyone was very excited to see what would happen
in game six. Would Carlsen and Nepomniachtchi continue to play solidly, or
would we see a good fight with possibly some mistakes by one of the players?} 
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 {Ian has usually played the Grunfeld his entire career, but
for the world championship match he's clearly prepared new openings for his
black repertoire.} d5 {The Queen's Gambit Declined variations with 3.c4 e6 are
very solid, but retain a hint of dynamism for Black. But we can assume that
Magnus has something up his sleeve.} 3. g3 {[#] A big surprise. I would expect
the London or the Torre Attack more. This move seems like a desperate attempt
to lead Ian away from his opening preparation. I played this myself a couple
of years ago, but it was basically a last ditch attempt to get a playable
position out of the opening. The idea is to go for the Catalan, while avoiding
lines with an early ...dxc4.} ({In the 2018 World Championship match, Magnus
tried} 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 {against Fabiano, but wasn't able to convert any games
after 4...Be7. In addition here on move 4, Black has several good choices, and
I think Ian was planning to play} Bb4 {as he did a few times earlier this year.
}) 3... e6 {Black has many moves here. Ian decides to avoid any adventures. He
sticks to his preparation and invites Magnus to transpose back to the regular
Catalan main line.} ({The critical continuation is} 3... c5 4. Bg2 cxd4 5. O-O
{And here not 5...Nc6 6.Nxd4, when White gets a Grunfeld position a tempo up.
The main line instead is} e6 {just continuing the development. This seems to
be the simplest for Black.} (5... h6 {is another possibility, waiting for
White to take on d4. But this is a bit weird, as it does not force White to
take. Black has some problems after} 6. b3 (6. Bf4 e6 7. Nxd4 g5 8. Be5 Nbd7 9.
Bxf6 Nxf6 {is completely fine for Black, thanks to the bishop pair.}) (6. Nxd4
e5 7. Nb3 Nc6 8. c4 d4 {can only be better for Black.}) 6... e6 7. Bb2 Bc5 8.
Nxd4 {I slightly prefer White, for example after} e5 (8... O-O 9. c4) 9. Nf3 e4
10. Nd4 O-O 11. c4 Re8 12. cxd5 Nxd5 13. e3 Nd7 14. Nc3 {the d4-knight is very
well placed, and there is pressure on the long diagonals from White's two
bishops.}) 6. Nxd4 e5 $1 7. Nb3 (7. Nf3 Nc6 8. c4 d4 9. e3 Be7 10. exd4 exd4 {
Black's activity and passed d-pawn compensates for the isolani. I played this
with White before, but Black is completely fine. He just has to remember} 11.
Bf4 O-O 12. Ne5 Qb6 13. Qb3 Na5 14. Qxb6 axb6 15. Nd2 {and now the important
move} Nh5 {grabbing the bishop pair, with equality.}) 7... Be6 {Black has lost
a tempo moving the e-pawn twice, but the b3-knight is poorly placed. After
hundreds of games in this position, the position is just equal according to
theory. One of the critical lines is} 8. Nc3 Be7 9. f4 (9. Bg5 Nbd7) 9... exf4
10. gxf4 {and now the simple} g6 {to prevent f5 solves the problems.} 11. Nd4
Nc6 12. Nxe6 fxe6 13. Kh1 O-O {White has the bishop pair, and in return Black
finished his development very quickly.}) ({Besides 3...c5, there are other
logical moves.} 3... g6 {is a move here, transposing to the Neo Grunfeld after}
4. Bg2 Bg7 5. c4 c6) ({One of the critical setups against 3.g3 is} 3... Bf5 4.
c4 e6 5. Nc3 {when Black has developed his light-squared bishop outside the
pawn chain and has a solid position. Now} h6 {is a nice move, preventing him
from playing Nh4, grabbing the bishop pair.} (5... c6 {is recommended by Sam
Shankland I think, and he played this in our game.} 6. Nh4 dxc4 7. Nxf5 exf5 8.
e3 Nbd7 9. Bxc4 Nb6 10. Bb3 Qd7 {and Black equalized, but some people don't
want to just give up the bishop pair right away. So - Shankland, chess24, 2021.
}) 6. Bg2 (6. Qb3 Nc6 7. Bd2 Bb4 $11) 6... c6 7. O-O Be7 {Black has achieved
an ideal setup, and now just wants to finish his development.} 8. Qb3 (8. Nd2
Nbd7 9. e4 dxe4 10. Ndxe4 Nxe4 11. Nxe4 Nf6 $11) 8... Qb6 9. c5 Qa6 {followed
by ...b6 next move, with about equality.}) (3... c6 4. c4 {leads to some Slav
with a g3 setup.}) ({After} 3... Bg4 4. Bg2 e6 5. O-O c6 6. h3 Bh5 7. c4 Be7 8.
Nc3 {White gets a favorable Reti setup with the pawns on d4 and c4. White is
supposed to be slightly better because he can grab the bishop pair after} O-O
9. Qb3 Qb6 10. Ne5 {followed by g4.}) 4. Bg2 Be7 5. O-O O-O {This is actually
a nice move-order by Magnus, as he avoided ...d5xc4 and the early ...Bf8-b4+
lines. Now he could play 6.c4, which is what everyone expected. But instead he
came up with something else!} 6. b3 {This 6.b3 move can be quite venomous,
although Black should be okay. But it's easy to relax and think you're
equalizing comfortably, only to find that it's not the case. White has hidden
potential in the position, thanks in part to his well placed bishops on the
long diagonals.} ({The second game of the match went (via transposition)} 6. c4
dxc4 7. Qc2 b5 {. I assume Magnus did not want a theoretical discussion in a
line where both players would be well prepared.}) 6... c5 {The principled
reply, immediately fighting for control of the center.} ({After} 6... b6 7. c4
Bb7 8. Nc3 {White has better chances for an advantage, with more space.}) 7.
dxc5 ({Of course} 7. c4 {was all the rage a few years ago, as after} dxc4 8.
bxc4 cxd4 9. Nxd4 {this position could get quite tricky thanks to the passive
bishop on c8. Then Dominguez Perez came up with the new move} Qb6 {which
solves the problems. Here ...Rf8-d8 is a serious threat, softening the outpost
of the knight on d4. After} 10. Ba3 Bxa3 11. Nxa3 e5 12. Ndc2 Rd8 13. Qc1 Nc6 {
Black finishes up his development, and should have enough activity in this
position.}) 7... Bxc5 8. c4 {White has to break up the enemy central pawn
chain.} dxc4 ({Ian's move is more accurate than} 8... Nc6 9. cxd5 Nxd5 {
as the knight on d5 sometimes gets in the way of Black's coordination. Play
might continue} 10. a3 a5 11. Bb2 Qe7 12. Qc2 Rd8 13. Rc1 {with an edge for
White.}) 9. Qc2 Qe7 10. Nbd2 $1 {[#] This is clearly targeted preparation from
Magnus, as you usually don't just sacrifice a pawn in the opening without
reason. Most commentators were full of praise for this move. It is a
relatively unknown idea, and while objectively it's quite harmless, it poses
the opponent with practical problems to solve over the board. First Black has
to decide whether to take on b3.} ({Carlsen did not want to take with} 10. Qxc4
b6 {as White will have to waste time moving the queen once again:} (10... Bd7 {
followed by ...Rf8-c8 is completely fine too.}) 11. Bb2 Ba6 (11... Bb7 {
is equal}) 12. Qh4 Nc6 13. Ng5 h6 14. Bxc6 hxg5 15. Qxg5 Bxe2 16. Bxa8 Bxf1 {
and this is given by the machine as a pretty clear cut way to equality, but it
is by no means forced.}) 10... Nc6 {Black wants to avoid any nonsense and just
finishes up his queenside development.} ({Grabbing a pawn with} 10... cxb3 11.
Nxb3 {can get quite tricky, as first of all Black's bishop does not have a
safe place for itself.} Bd6 (11... Bb6 12. a4 $1 {with the threat of Bc1-a3 or
a4-a5 looks very good.}) 12. Nfd2 $1 {(I'm sure this is all in Magnus'
preparation!)} Nc6 13. Nc4 Rd8 14. Rd1 {and here White has compensation. At
the very least he can grab the bishop pair.}) 11. Nxc4 b5 {I like this move,
as it's the most logical and simple continuation.} ({The machine likes} 11...
e5 {gaining space, and making things very concrete. After} 12. Bb2 e4 13. Ng5
Bf5 14. Rad1 Rad8 {Black's active pieces compensate for his weak pawn on e4.})
(11... Bd7 {leaves Black slightly worse after} 12. Bb2 Rfd8 13. e3 {.}) 12.
Nce5 Nb4 $1 ({Black has to be careful not to blunder with} 12... Bb7 $2 13.
Nxc6 Bxc6 14. b4 {winning material thanks to the pin on the c-file.}) 13. Qb2
Bb7 {White has to act quickly, as now all of Black's pieces are well developed.
} 14. a3 ({Maybe more interesting is} 14. Bg5 {putting Black into an
unpleasant pin, but he is not really risking anything as long as he finds} h6
15. Bh4 {and now the important} g5 $1 (15... Bxf3 16. Bxf3 g5 {could be enough
for equality too.}) 16. a3 gxh4 17. axb4 Bxb4 18. Nxh4 Rfc8 {and Black is okay
as ...Nf6-d5 is coming and the bishop is well placed on b4.}) 14... Nc6 15. Nd3
{Magnus tries to keep the pieces on the board for the time being.} ({The
alternative} 15. Bg5 Nxe5 16. Qxe5 a5 {equalizes completely, but objectively
White has nothing better than equality.}) 15... Bb6 {The bishop is very well
placed on this diagonal, and it also facilitates ...Nc6-d4 later.} 16. Bg5 Rfd8
{Threatening ...Nc6-d4; therefore Magnus takes on f6 right away.} 17. Bxf6 {[#]
} gxf6 $5 {This is slightly confusing to me, and it also confused the
commentators. Was Ian already getting ambitious for more? It is generally
recommended to remove the queens if your king's position is weakened, but here,
Ian did not seem to care about general principles. He seems to have been
aiming for a dynamic position where anything could happen.} ({Black's king is
still very safe even with the queens on the board, but most people would
simply play} 17... Qxf6 18. Qxf6 gxf6 {with a completely equal endgame. After}
19. Rfc1 Rac8 20. b4 Kg7 {it's very hard to see how White can make progress -
he cannot underestimate the bishop pair. 17...Qxf6 is definitely a much safer
option.}) 18. Rac1 Nd4 ({In the interview Ian suggested the double-edged} 18...
e5 {as an improvement:} 19. Nh4 Nd4 {leaves the knight is very well placed
here in the center, and after} 20. b4 Rac8 {Black has very good activity,
although in return the light squares on the kingside become slightly (but
permanently) vulnerable.}) 19. Nxd4 Bxd4 20. Qa2 Bxg2 21. Kxg2 {White gets a
good knight versus bishop position, and Black's f-pawns are also doubled.
Normally White can be happy with this in the Catalan, but after the next two
moves it's clear that Black was absolutely fine.} Qb7+ 22. Kg1 ({If} 22. f3 Be3
{and the bishop is boss, controlling a lot of squares.} 23. Rc3 Rac8 $11) 22...
Qe4 $1 {A very strong move. Ian does not give his opponent time to consolidate.
The queen and the bishop are well placed in the center, controlling a lot of
squares, and it is hard to dislodge the active queen on e4. Of course White
can trade queens, but that kind of acquiesces to a draw.} 23. Qc2 a5 ({Another
possibility was} 23... Rac8 24. Qxc8 Rxc8 25. Rxc8+ Kg7 26. Nf4 e5 27. e3 {
with equality.}) 24. Rfd1 ({Of course if White wanted, he could have gone for} 
24. Nf4 f5 25. e3 Qxc2 26. Rxc2 Be5 {and I suspect the game would have been
quickly drawn.}) 24... Kg7 {[#] The king is safe here on g7. The f6 and
f7-pawns defend him well, and he can always play ...h7-h5 to gain space.} 25.
Rd2 ({After} 25. Qd2 Bb6 {White has no way to make progress.}) 25... Rac8 $5 {
A very brave and fighting decision. Ultimately this is partly the reason why
Ian ultimately lost, but I think he should be applauded him for his fighting
spirit. As they say, "to win without risk is to triumph without glory."} ({
The simplest way to equality is} 25... b4 26. axb4 axb4 27. Qc4 ({with} 27.
Nxb4 Bxf2+ 28. Kxf2 Qxb4 {Black has no risk whatsoever. In fact White has to
be slightly careful, as his king's position is open, and after} 29. Rxd8 Rxd8
30. Qc3 Qb6+ {if Black is allowed to bring his rook to b4, blocking the b-pawn,
things could get tricky.}) 27... Qf5 28. Rdc2 {and almost any move leads to
equality, for example} Bc3 29. Nxb4 Bd2 {.}) 26. Qxc8 $1 ({White can play} 26.
Qd1 {but as Magnus correctly realized, Black is risking more in this material
imbalance. Play might continue} Bc3 27. Rdc2 b4 {with equality.}) 26... Rxc8
27. Rxc8 Qd5 {White has to be a bit careful with his queenside pawns at the
moment.} 28. b4 ({If} 28. e3 Be5 {.}) 28... a4 ({I think} 28... axb4 29. axb4
Qb3 $11 {might have been a bit safer for Black, as he has to worry about fewer
pawns on the queenside.}) 29. e3 ({Of course} 29. Nf4 $2 {has to be avoided
because of} Bxf2+ {.}) ({The alternative is} 29. Rcc2 {defending the rook and
threatening to move the knight to f4. Black still equalizes after} Qb3 30. Nc1
Qb1 $1 {which is a key move, temporariliy neutralizing White's rooks, i.e.,}
31. Kg2 Bb2 32. Rxb2 Qxc1 {and Black easily holds the draw thanks to his queen
activity.}) 29... Be5 ({I think the simplest way for Black to hold the draw is
} 29... Bb2 $1 {and given the way the game went, this might be a critical miss
by Ian. After} 30. Rc5 Qd6 {Black forces the trade of minor pieces as ...
Bb2xa3 is an annoying threat. With} 31. Rxb2 Qxd3 32. Rbc2 Qxa3 33. Rxb5 {
Black has multiple ways to make the draw, for example} Qa1+ 34. Kg2 Qb1 35. Rc3
Qe4+ 36. Kg1 Qb1+ {and Black gives perpetual check as White's king lacks a
safe place to hide.}) 30. h4 {Typical Magnus. White gains some space on the
kingside with this useful move, and gets the h2-square to stash his king.} ({If
} 30. Rc5 Qb3 {.}) 30... h5 $6 {This gives White a long-term target on h5.} ({
I believe the simplest path to the draw still begins with} 30... Bb2) 31. Kh2
Bb2 $2 {But now this is a a blunder, and perhaps Ian felt it -- he seemed to
hesitate here for a moment. Both players were getting low on time at this
point, and a lot of things can happen before the time control!} ({The correct
path was} 31... Qb3 32. Nxe5 fxe5 33. Rc7 Qxa3 34. Rdd7 Kg6 35. Rxf7 {and now}
Qb2 $1 {is important, attacking the f2-pawn. Black threatens to quickly push
his a-pawn and White has no more than perpetual check here.}) 32. Rc5 Qd6 {[#]}
33. Rd1 $6 {Missing the win, but of course this move is very ambitious too, as
Magnus keeps the minor pieces on the board.} ({White actually starts a winning
attack after} 33. Rcc2 $1 Bxa3 34. Nf4 Qxb4 {and now very strong is} 35. Rd7 $1
(35. Nxh5+ Kh6 $1 {is far from clear, i.e.,} 36. Nxf6 Qb1 {and things get very
messy.}) 35... e5 36. Nxh5+ Kg6 {and both players missed the spectacular} 37.
Rc6 $3 {[#] White sacrifices a knight, but Black has no defense after} Kxh5 38.
Rxf7 {followed by Rc5xf6. Black's bishop cannot join the defense of his king
and he is just lost. Of course, I think it's fair to say that without an
engine, 37.Rc6 is almost impossible to find from afar.}) ({Again the two rooks
versus queen idea is just a draw:} 33. Rxb2 Qxd3 34. Rbc2 f5 {with equality.})
33... Bxa3 34. Rxb5 Qd7 $1 35. Rc5 {[#] The only move.} (35. Rb6 $2 {loses to}
Qc7 {followed by ...Qc2!}) 35... e5 $5 ({I'm not sure why Ian avoided the
obvious} 35... Bxb4 36. Rcc1 Be7 {when Black is not risking anything. His
pawns are compact and his king is safe. White should have little problem
holding the draw with 37.Ne5 followed by Rd1-d7, but still it would keep the
match score tied.}) 36. Rc2 Qd5 $2 {With little time on the clock, Ian missed
his last chance to play for a win.} ({Here again} 36... Bxb4 {looks simplest,
just grabbing the pawn.} 37. Rcc1 {and here if Ian wants he can just force a
draw by playing} Qf5 ({Even stronger is} 37... Ba3 38. Ra1 {and now} Qg4 $1 {
which you can't blame anyone for missing. Black attacks the rook on d1 and is
able to play ...Ba3-e7 next while keeping his extra a-pawn. Black has good
winning chances here.}) 38. Nxb4 Qxf2+ {with a perpetual.}) 37. Rdd2 Qb3 38.
Ra2 {Now White is able to consolidate his position and coordinate the rooks.
He is not risking anything anymore.} e4 $2 ({Black should have enough for a
draw after} 38... Bxb4 39. Rdb2 Qxd3 40. Rxb4 a3 41. Ra4 f5 42. R4xa3 Qf1 {
, but it's not that fun for the queen.}) 39. Nc5 Qxb4 {[#]} 40. Nxe4 $2 {
A typical move 40 mistake! Just when you make the time control and get extra
time, you relax and play the most obvious move.} ({Magnus probably did not
even consider} 40. Rdc2 $1 {-- if he had I'm sure he'd know it wins right away.
After} f5 41. Nxa4 $1 Qxa4 42. Rc3 {White wins the a-pawn and this position is
easily winning. Compared to the variation we saw with 38...Bxb4, here Black's
pawn is fixed on the e4-square, and he no longer has counterplay associated
with ...f5-f4.}) 40... Qb3 41. Rac2 {White is not risking anything anymore,
and it's a two result type of position. Black has to defend very accurately in
order to avoid any trouble.   Looking back now, it's difficult to believe that
the game would continue on for 90 more moves! It's clear to be best in chess
you need to have the best physical shape and stamina as well. Preparing
beforehand, and then sitting at the board for anywhere from three to eight
hours per game... this is very difficult even for strong competitors like the
world champion and the challenger.} Bf8 42. Nc5 {Bringing the knight over to
f4 to attack Black's weak pawn.} Qb5 43. Nd3 a3 44. Nf4 Qa5 45. Ra2 {The
machine insists that Black should have no problems holding here, but over the
board, it's very difficult to defend. The h5-pawn is falling and the Black
king is vulnerable. If the f6-pawn were on g6, I think things would be very
different.} Bb4 46. Rd3 ({Here} 46. Rd5 Qa4 {does not give White time to win
the h-pawn as} 47. Nxh5+ Kh6 {allows ...Qa4-b3 with counterplay.}) 46... Kh6
47. Rd1 Qa4 {For the time being, as was true for most the game, Ian defends
very well. He is trying to prevent White from consolidating by always
retaining ...Qa4-b3 as an option.} 48. Rda1 Bd6 49. Kg1 Qb3 50. Ne2 {White
wasn't able to grab the h-pawn; now the knight hurries back to the queenside
in order to help deal with the a-pawn.} Qd3 51. Nd4 {The good thing, from
White's perspective, is that all the two rooks versus queen positions are
winning for him, thanks to the doubled f-pawns. If he can trade off the minor
pieces or win the a3-pawn, the game is over. At this point, however, it's not
clear how to achieve that.} Kh7 52. Kh2 (52. Nc2 {is always met by} Be5 {
. White can go for} 53. Ne1 Qb5 54. Rxa3 Bxa1 55. Rxa1 {but I think Black
holds after} Qb2 56. Ra7 Qe2 57. Ng2 Qd1+ 58. Kh2 Qd2 59. Rxf7+ Kg6 {.}) 52...
Qe4 $2 {This looks fine, but in retrospect, it gave Magnus definite chances.
Probably Ian got a little impatient and decided to try for quick counterplay.}
({Black can just move his king back and forth with} 52... Kh6 {(or even 52...
Kg6) and it's not clear what Magnus can do to make progress. In fact I don't
see how progress is possible, because Black can play ...f6-f5 next, and
sometimes get counterplay with ...f5-f4.}) 53. Rxa3 $1 {Magnus takes up his
chance. From here the game is still within the boundaries of the draw, but
it's clear that Black made it much more difficult for himself to hold on.} (53.
Kg1 Bxg3 54. fxg3 Qxe3+ {leads to an immediate draw.}) 53... Qxh4+ ({
Completely lost for Black is} 53... Bxa3 54. Rxa3 {as Ra3-a5 is coming.}) 54.
Kg1 Qe4 ({If} 54... Qg4 55. Ra4 {and White controls the fourth rank while
preventing ...h5-h4. Black should now play} Be5 $1 {preparing ...h5-h4 again,
but after} 56. R1a2 Qd1+ 57. Kg2 h4 58. Nf5 hxg3 59. Nxg3 Qd5+ {I don't think
White can win this position, although of course defending this is not pleasant
for Black.}) 55. Ra4 {[#] Now Magnus gets in his typical squeeze, showcasing
one of his main strengths which he has earned so many wins with.} Be5 56. Ne2
Qc2 57. R1a2 $1 Qb3 58. Kg2 Qd5+ 59. f3 {White consolidates his position on
the kingside and now Black has to do some passive defending. All this
definitely plays to Magnus' style.} ({Perhaps} 59. Kh2 {followed by Ne2-f4 is
also worthy of attention.}) 59... Qd1 ({Black can just wait with} 59... Kg7 60.
Kf2 (60. Nf4 Bxf4 61. exf4 h4 $11) 60... Qb3 {and just sit at the moment.}) 60.
f4 Bc7 61. Kf2 Bb6 62. Ra1 {For the moment Black is still holding very well.
Now ...Qd1-d7 may be an option, with the idea to invade on the h3-square.} Qb3
63. Re4 Kg7 64. Re8 {Magnus probes for a weakness. Now Black has to watch out
for 65. Raa8.} f5 65. Raa8 Qb4 ({It might be more accurate to try} 65... Qd3 {
, keeping an eye on the e3-square. Now} 66. Rac8 Ba5 67. Rg8+ Kf6 {followed by
...Ba5-d2, maybe be sufficient to hold.}) 66. Rac8 Ba5 67. Rc1 {White had to
watch out for the tricky ...Qb4-e1 threat!} Bb6 68. Re5 Qb3 69. Re8 Qd5 70.
Rcc8 Qh1 71. Rc1 Qd5 {It may seem like Magnus is just going around in circles,
but he is actually making Ian lose a lot of time on the clock, and hoping for
the effect of small inaccuracies to accumulate.} 72. Rb1 {[#]} (72. Re5 Qd3 73.
Rc3 Qb1 {is equal.}) 72... Ba7 $6 {And finally an inaccuracy comes! This
allows White to infiltrate with his rooks.} ({Better is} 72... Bc7 {,
preventing Re8-e5 and the plan that was seen in the game. Here} 73. Re7 {
here is met by} Qd8 74. Nd4 Kg6 {when Black defends all of his weaknesses.})
73. Re7 Bc5 74. Re5 $1 {Now Magnus is making real progress.} Qd3 75. Rb7 {
Black has some very weak squares in his camp.} Qc2 76. Rb5 $1 {This wins some
material by force, thanks to the weak f5-pawn.} Ba7 77. Ra5 Bb6 78. Rab5 Ba7
79. Rxf5 Qd3 $1 {Very good defending by Black! White now has to give up his
rook in return for the bishop and pawns.} 80. Rxf7+ ({One key point: White
cannot hang on to the two rooks, since after} 80. Rg5+ Kf8 81. Rbe5 f6 {
Black wins some material back.}) 80... Kxf7 81. Rb7+ Kg6 82. Rxa7 {This
endgame is a theoretical draw, but things could get tricky in a practical game
with the pressure of a world championship and continued pressure via the clock.
Meanwhile, Magnus just keeps playing without any risk whatsoever and slowly
makes progress.} Qd5 {Watching this game live, I assumed that Ian would hold
this draw, but looking at it again, it's very hard to know what will happpen.
The machine with its tablebases says it's a draw, but practically speaking, I
think White's chances of converting this is close to 50-50. Sooner or later
White is going to be able to advance his pawns. The problem is Black's king is
quite vulnerable, and meanwhile, White's king can hide from the checks with
accurate play.} 83. Ra6+ $5 {[#] Maybe 83.Nd4 is more accurate, as this allows
Black to activate his king.} Kh7 ({Maybe Ian should just go on with} 83... Kf5
$5 {activating his king. Things are still tricky! For example,} 84. g4+ $1 (84.
Nd4+ Kg4 85. Rg6+ Kh3 86. Rg5 Qg2+ 87. Ke1 Qh1+ 88. Kd2 Kg2 $11 {this should
be a trivial draw since Black's king is very active, attacking the enemy pawns.
.}) 84... Kxg4 85. Rg6+ Kh4 86. Rg3 {traps the king on h4. Here Black has some
ways to make a draw thanks to the stalemate trick. A sample idea is} Qh1 (86...
Qf7 87. Nd4 Qa2+ 88. Kf3 Qf2+ $1 $11) 87. Nd4 (87. Ng1 Qg2+) 87... Qh2+ 88. Rg2
{and now} Qg3+ 89. Kf1 Qh3 {with a draw.}) 84. Ra1 Kg6 85. Nd4 Qb7 86. Ra2 Qh1
87. Ra6+ Kf7 88. Nf3 {Defending the king and threatening to advance the f-pawn.
The knight is a very good defender in preventing enemy checks.} Qb1 89. Rd6 Kg7
90. Rd5 Qa2+ 91. Rd2 Qb1 92. Re2 {I really like this setup by White. He puts
his rook and knight behind the pawns, supporting their advance.} Qb6 {Pinning
the e-pawn at the moment, so Magnus decides to activate his rook again. He has
all the time in the world to make progress. He only has to push one pawn every
50 moves to avoid this draw rule.} 93. Rc2 (93. Kg2 Qb5 {annoys the White rook
for the moment.}) 93... Qb1 94. Nd4 Qh1 95. Rc7+ Kf6 96. Rc6+ Kf7 97. Nf3 Qb1
98. Ng5+ Kg7 99. Ne6+ Kf7 100. Nd4 Qh1 101. Rc7+ Kf6 102. Nf3 {It seems we've
seen this position before? Fortunately Magnus recognizes this, and does not
fall for any threefold repetition.} Qb1 103. Rd7 Qb2+ 104. Rd2 Qb1 105. Ng1 Qb4
106. Rd1 Qb3 107. Rd6+ {Giving a check to avoid any threefold.} Kg7 108. Rd4
Qb2+ 109. Ne2 {Finally Magnus rerouts his knight to the e2-square, shielding
the king and preparing the advance of his e-pawn.} Qb1 110. e4 Qh1 111. Rd7+
Kg8 112. Rd4 Qh2+ 113. Ke3 {Again, the white knight is very good at shielding
the king from queen checks.} h4 ({Maybe} 113... Qh3 $5 {is an option here,
although White can play} 114. Rd5 {with the idea to meet ...h4 with Rh5.}) 114.
gxh4 Qh3+ 115. Kd2 Qxh4 {[#]} 116. Rd3 $1 {Magnus is very careful and does not
carelessly advance his pawns right away. Instead he first and foremost
improves the position of his pieces and makes sure that there is no perpetual
check.} Kf8 117. Rf3 $1 Qd8+ 118. Ke3 Qa5 119. Kf2 $1 {I like this rerouting
of the king, as it belongs on the short side of the pawns where there are less
checks.} Qa7+ 120. Re3 {White sets up a barricade to protect his king and is
now ready to advance his pawns.} Qd7 121. Ng3 Qd2+ 122. Kf3 Qd1+ 123. Re2 Qb3+
124. Kg2 {White's king is shielded from checks, his rook is well protected,
and the pawns are supported from behind. White has excellent practical chances
now.} Qb7 125. Rd2 Qb3 126. Rd5 Ke7 127. Re5+ Kf7 128. Rf5+ Ke8 129. e5 {
Slowly but surely White is pushing his pawns closer to the promotion square.}
Qa2+ 130. Kh3 {[#]} Qe6 $2 {The final mistake.} ({According to the tablebases,
} 130... Qb1 {holds the draw. Apparently the right plan is to put the queen
behind the pawns and pin the knight from the back:} 131. Kh4 Qe1 132. Rf6 Ke7
133. Kg4 Qg1 $1 {the queen just waits from behind, pinning the White forces.}
134. Rg6 Kf7 {and Black should hold the draw, but it's still quite tricky, i.e.
,} 135. Kf5 Qh2 $1 136. e6+ Kf8 137. Rf6+ Ke8 138. Ne4 Qh3+ 139. Ke5 Qh5+ 140.
Ng5 Qe2+ {Black holds, but the endgame is harder to draw than it looks at the
beginning.}) ({Also holding is} 130... Qc2 131. Kh4 Qf2 {, using the queen to
defend from behind. The tablebase holds the draw easily, but in a real game
between humans, things are so different. Just one mistake and that's it --
Black's fortress falls apart.}) 131. Kh4 Qh6+ ({Apparently it's too late for
the Black queen to go back, as after} 131... Qa2 132. Nh5 $1 Ke7 133. Kg5 Qg2+
134. Kh6 {White's king infiltrates the enemy position, and after Rf6 Black has
no more checks.}) 132. Nh5 $1 {The knight prevents any checks, and meanwhile
Rf5-f6 followed by the king invasion is crushing.} Qh7 ({Black no longer has
any defense. After} 132... Ke7 133. Rf6 Qh8 134. Kg5 {the White king invades
via the h6-square, after which the pawns advance. For example} Qg8+ 135. Kh6
Qh8+ 136. Kg6 Qg8+ 137. Ng7 {and White controls too many important squares.})
133. e6 Qg6 134. Rf7 Kd8 135. f5 Qg1 136. Ng7 {A historic game! It was
fascinating to watch, and credit to both sides for playing very well!} 1-0

[Event "Ostend"]
[Site "Ostend"]
[Date "1906.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Rubinstein, Akiba"]
[Black "Burn, Amos"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D40"]
[PlyCount "45"]
[EventDate "1906.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Nbd7 {[#]} 5. e3 Be7 6. Bd3 O-O 7. O-O dxc4
8. Bxc4 c5 9. Qe2 Nb6 10. Bb3 cxd4 11. exd4 Bd7 12. Re1 Bc6 13. Ne5 Bd5 14.
Nxd5 Nbxd5 15. Bg5 Rc8 16. Bxf6 Bxf6 17. Nxf7 Rxf7 18. Qxe6 Bxd4 19. Bxd5 Bxf2+
20. Kh1 Qf8 21. Rf1 Rc2 22. Rac1 Rxc1 23. Rxc1 {[#]} 1-0

[Event "Ostend"]
[Site "Ostend"]
[Date "1906.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 1"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "4r3/7k/8/8/3b4/4q3/5RPP/3B1QK1 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "1906.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

 0-1

[Event "Ostend"]
[Site "Ostend"]
[Date "1906.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 2"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/6k1/6p1/8/5Q2/n7/PPq5/K1R5 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "1906.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

 0-1

[Event "Ostend"]
[Site "Ostend"]
[Date "1906.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 3"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "7k/6pp/q7/5rNQ/8/8/P3B1PP/7K b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "1906.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

 0-1

[Event "Ostend"]
[Site "Ostend"]
[Date "1906.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 4"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/4q3/8/2p2k2/8/3P1NP1/3RBKPn/4Q3 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "1906.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

 0-1

[Event "Ostend"]
[Site "Ostend"]
[Date "1906.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 5"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "5r2/1k6/7R/8/6p1/7P/4n1N1/7K b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "1906.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

 0-1

[Event "Ostend"]
[Site "Ostend"]
[Date "1906.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 6"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "k7/2P5/1Q1P4/7b/7q/6bP/4n1P1/7K b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "1906.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2021.12.17"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Liu Bomb Excerpt"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "C56"]
[Annotator "Liu and Watson"]
[PlyCount "57"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. e5 d5 6. Bb5 Ne4 7. Nxd4 Bd7 8.
Bxc6 bxc6 9. O-O Bc5 10. f3 Ng5 11. Be3 ({Jones pg 49:} 11. f4 Ne4 (11... Ne6
12. c3 f5 13. Na3 $5 Bxd4+ $5 (13... O-O 14. Nac2 Bb6 15. b4 a5 16. Be3 axb4
17. cxb4 Qe7 18. Kh1 $14 {(Jones)})) 12. Be3 Qb8 $5 (12... Bb6 {and}) (12...
O-O {transpose to main 11 Be3 lines})) 11... O-O ({[Important!:} 11... Qe7 12.
f4 Ne6 13. c3 O-O {is the note on 12...Ne6 below}) 12. f4 {[#]} f6 $3 13. exf6
Nh3+ $3 14. gxh3 Bxh3 15. b4 Bb6 16. Rf3 Bg4 17. fxg7 Re8 18. Bf2 Qf6 19. c3
Qg6 $1 20. Kh1 Bxd4 21. cxd4 Qh5 22. Nd2 Re4 {Jones' book. Aagaard suggestion:}
23. f5 (23. Kg2) 23... Rf4 24. Rxf4 {(forced)} Bxd1 25. f6 (25. Nf1 {Jones:
"would be another possible route to investigate"}) 25... Qe2 26. Nf3 (26. Be1
Qe3 $5 (26... Qxe1+ 27. Rf1 Qxd2 28. Raxd1 Qxb4 29. Rde1 Kf7 30. Re7+ Qxe7 31.
fxe7+ Kxe7 32. Re1+ Kf7 33. Rc1 Kxg7 34. Rxc6 Rc8 35. Kg2 $11) 27. f7+ Kxg7 28.
f8=Q+ Rxf8 29. Rxf8 Kxf8 30. Rxd1 $13) 26... Qf1+ 27. Ng1 Bf3+ (27... a5 $5 28.
Bg3 $1 Bf3+ 29. Rxf3 Qxa1 30. f7+ Kxg7 31. Be5+ Kf8 32. Bxc7 Ke7 33. Bb6 axb4
34. f8=Q+ Rxf8 35. Bc5+ Kd7 36. Rxf8 Qb2 $14) 28. Rxf3 Qxa1 $11 29. Kg2 $5 {
'=' , according to Jones, with the idea Nh3-f4 or Rf4 and Nf3.} (29. a3 {
"should also be level" (Jones)}) *

[Event "FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 2021"]
[Site "Riga"]
[Date "2021.11.01"]
[Round "6.3"]
[White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Black "Ponkratov, Pavel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C02"]
[WhiteElo "2763"]
[BlackElo "2659"]
[Annotator "Watson"]
[PlyCount "51"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. Bd3 cxd4 7. O-O Bd7 8. Re1
Nge7 9. h4 h6 ({For} 9... a6 {and alternatives, see this month's game
Ivanov-Ghimpu.}) 10. a3 (10. h5 {has been played in most games. See the notes
to the Archives game Jones-Erigaisi. An instructive recent example went} Rc8 (
10... a6) 11. Bc2 Nf5 (11... dxc3 {is complex but also seems fine for Black:}
12. Nxc3 d4 $6 (12... Na5 $1 $13) (12... Qb4 $5 $13) 13. Na4 $6 (13. Ne4 $1 {
with the idea} Nd5 14. Bb3 $1 $16) 13... Qc7 14. Be4 (14. Nc5 Nb4 15. Ne4 Nxc2
16. Nd6+ Kd8 17. Nxf7+ Ke8 18. Nd6+ $11) 14... Nd5 15. Bxd5 exd5 16. Nxd4 Nxd4
17. Qxd4 Qc4 18. Qxc4 Rxc4 $15 {Hector,J (2537)-Roiz,M (2680) Helsingor 2008})
12. Bxf5 exf5 13. cxd4 Be6 14. Nc3 Be7 (14... Bb4 $11 {, e.g.,} 15. Na4 (15. a3
$6 Bxc3 16. bxc3 Na5 $15) 15... Qa6 16. Rf1 O-O $11) 15. Qb3 $6 (15. Rb1) (15.
Na4) 15... Qxb3 16. axb3 g5 $5 (16... a6 17. Rd1 g5 $1) 17. hxg6 fxg6 18. Rd1 (
18. Nb5 $15) 18... g5 $1 19. Ne1 f4 {with the bishop pair and a large
positional advantage, Liang,A (2590)-Abdusattorov,N (2646) chess24.com INT 2021
}) 10... Rc8 {Logically developing while delaying ...dxc3. Other moves that
have been tried here:} ({a)} 10... dxc3 $6 11. Nxc3 Nc8 12. b4 (12. Be3 $1 Qd8
13. Rc1 Nb6 14. Ne2 Be7 15. Nf4 $1 {with strong pressure on the kingside})
12... Be7 13. Bf4 (13. Ne2 $1 a6 14. Nf4) 13... Qd8 14. h5 Nb6 15. Rc1 a6 {
and White had compensation in Kozak,A (2517)-Seo,J (2469) Chess.com INT 2021})
({b)} 10... g5 $5 11. b4 (11. hxg5 Bg7 12. b4 $14) 11... g4 (11... gxh4 $13)
12. Nxd4 Nxd4 13. Be3 Nf3+ 14. gxf3 Qc7 15. fxg4 Rg8 16. f4 $14 {Sousa,A (2428)
-Perez Candelario,M (2586) Toledo 2021}) 11. b4 a6 12. Bb2 g5 $5 (12... Nf5 $5
13. Bxf5 exf5 14. cxd4 Be6 $11) 13. Nh2 $1 {A clever move which confuses
matters.} (13. h5 g4 14. Nxd4 g3 $5 {is equal} ({or} 14... Qc7 $11)) 13... Bg7
({Or} 13... gxh4 {, e.g.,} 14. Qh5 Bg7 15. Nf3 dxc3 16. Nxc3 Nd4 $1 $13) 14.
Ng4 gxh4 $1 15. cxd4 $5 {A gamble which succeeds.} ({Objectively,} 15. Qf3 {
may be best, e.g.,} Qd8 16. cxd4 (16. Nf6+ Bxf6 17. exf6 Ng8 $15) 16... Nf5 17.
Bxf5 exf5 18. Ne3 O-O $13 {with the idea} 19. Nxf5 Qg5 $11) 15... h5 $2 (15...
Nxd4 $1 {leaves White searching for compensation, e.g.,} 16. Nd2 $1 (16. Nf6+
Bxf6 17. exf6 h3 $1 18. fxe7 Rg8 19. Bf1 (19. g3 $4 Rxg3+) 19... Nc2 $17) 16...
Bb5 (16... Ndf5 $15) 17. Ne4 $1 Bxd3 (17... Ne2+ 18. Rxe2 dxe4 19. Rxe4 Bxd3
20. Qxd3 O-O $13) 18. Nd6+ Kd7 19. Qxd3 Nc2 20. Nxf7 Nxe1 21. Rxe1 Rhf8 22. Nd6
Rf4 23. Nxc8 Kxc8 $15) 16. Nf6+ Bxf6 17. exf6 Ng8 18. Qf3 Rh6 $4 (18... Qd8 $1
{keeps Black in the game:} 19. Nc3 (19. Qxd5 Nxf6 20. Qf3 $14) 19... Kf8 20.
Nxd5 $1 exd5 21. Qxd5 Nxf6 22. Qd6+ Kg7 23. d5 Bf5 $1 24. Qxd8 Rcxd8 25. Bxf5
Rxd5 26. Be4 $14) 19. Qxd5 {With the ideas Qg5 and d5. Also Nd2-e4 looms.} Nxf6
20. Qg5 $18 Ng4 21. Nc3 Qd8 22. Qxd8+ Kxd8 23. Ne4 {Black's position is
hopeless: f3 is threatened as well as Nd6 or Nc5.} e5 $6 (23... Rg6 24. f3 Nh6
25. Nd6 $18) 24. f3 Nxd4 (24... Nf6 25. Nd6 $1 $18) (24... f5 25. Nc5 e4 26.
fxg4 exd3 27. g5 $1 Rg6 28. d5 $18) 25. fxg4 hxg4 26. Ng5 1-0

[Event "NATO-ch 31st"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2021.10.14"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Wang, Eigen"]
[Black "Pavlidou, Ekaterini"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E11"]
[Annotator "Wang"]
[PlyCount "113"]
[EventDate "2019.09.14"]
[SourceTitle "CL 02.2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Nbd2 c5 5. a3 Bxd2+ 6. Qxd2 b6 7. dxc5 bxc5
8. Qg5 O-O 9. Qxc5 d6 10. Qg5 Qc7 11. e3 e5 12. Be2 Be6 13. Qh4 Nbd7 14. O-O a5
15. Bd2 a4 16. Bb4 h6 17. Nd2 Bf5 {[#]} 18. f4 {My Best Move} e4 (18... exf4
19. Qxf4) 19. g4 Bg6 20. Kh1 Qb6 21. Qg3 Nc5 22. Bc3 Nfd7 23. f5 Bh7 24. g5
hxg5 25. Qxg5 f6 26. Qh5 Rf7 27. Rf4 Re8 28. Rh4 Nf8 29. Rg1 Ree7 30. Qh6 Nd3
31. Bxd3 exd3 32. Bxf6 Qxe3 33. Bxg7 Qxg1+ 34. Kxg1 Rxg7+ 35. Kf1 Ref7 36. Rh5
Rg6 37. Qe3 Rgf6 38. Rg5+ Rg6 39. Ke1 Rxg5 40. Qxg5+ Kh8 41. f6 Nd7 42. Qh5
Rxf6 43. Qe8+ Nf8 44. Qxa4 Re6+ 45. Kd1 Bg6 46. Nf1 Re2 47. Ng3 Rxb2 48. Qa8
Rf2 49. Qa7 Rf4 50. Qe3 Rxc4 51. Qe7 Kg8 52. Qxd6 Rc2 53. Qd5+ Kg7 54. h4 Rh2
55. h5 Bf7 56. Nf5+ Kf6 57. Qd6+ 1-0

