[Event "Cap d'Agde KO"]
[Site "Cap d'Agde"]
[Date "2006.11.02"]
[Round "3.2"]
[White "Radjabov, Teimour"]
[Black "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B97"]
[WhiteElo "2729"]
[BlackElo "2672"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "2006.10.30"]
[EventType "k.o. (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "3"]
[EventCountry "FRA"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qb6 8. Qd2
Qxb2 9. Rb1 Qa3 10. e5 dxe5 11. fxe5 Nfd7 12. Ne4 h6 13. Bh4 Qxa2 14. Rd1 Qb2
15. Qe3 Bc5 16. Be2 Nc6 17. c3 Qa3 18. O-O O-O 19. Nf6+ Nxf6 20. Bxf6 Nxd4 21.
Rxd4 Bxd4 22. Qxd4 gxf6 23. exf6 Qa5 {[#]} 24. h4 Kh7 25. Bd3+ Qf5 26. Re1 Rg8
27. Kh2 a5 28. g4 Qxd3 29. Qxd3+ Kh8 30. Re5 Rxg4 31. Rh5 Rg6 32. Qd8+ Kh7 33.
Qe7 1-0

[Event "London Man-Machine"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2005.06.23"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Comp Hydra"]
[Black "Adams, Michael"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C91"]
[BlackElo "2737"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[PlyCount "55"]
[EventDate "2005.06.21"]
[EventType "match"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3
O-O 9. d4 Bg4 10. d5 Na5 11. Bc2 c6 12. h3 Bc8 13. dxc6 Qc7 14. Nbd2 Qxc6 15.
Nf1 Be6 16. Ng5 Bd8 17. Ne3 Bd7 18. a4 h6 19. Nf3 Rc8 20. axb5 axb5 21. Nh4 Nc4
22. Nxc4 bxc4 23. Ba4 Qc7 24. Bxd7 Qxd7 25. Nf5 d5 26. Ra6 {[#]} Qb7 27. Rd6
Be7 28. Bxh6 1-0

[Event "Vienna"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1922.11.30"]
[Round "14"]
[White "Tarrasch, Siegbert"]
[Black "Grünfeld, Ernst"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C42"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[PlyCount "43"]
[EventDate "1922.11.13"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "15"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]

1. e4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Bb4 4. Nxe5 O-O 5. Be2 Re8 6. Nd3 Bxc3 7. dxc3 Nxe4
8. O-O d6 9. Nf4 Nd7 10. Be3 Ne5 11. f3 Nf6 12. Bf2 h6 13. Qd2 Bf5 14. Rfe1 Qd7
15. b3 Qc6 16. c4 a6 17. Rac1 Nfd7 18. Nd5 Nc5 19. Bd4 Ne6 {[#]} 20. Nb4 Qd7
21. Bxe5 a5 22. Nd5 1-0

[Event "Vienna"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1922.11.15"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Alekhine, Alexander"]
[Black "Sämisch, Friedrich"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B37"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[PlyCount "39"]
[EventDate "1922.11.13"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "15"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. c4 Bg7 6. Nb3 Nf6 7. Nc3 d6 8. Be2
Be6 9. O-O h5 10. c5 dxc5 11. Nxc5 Bc8 12. Qxd8+ Kxd8 13. Rd1+ Nd7 14. Bc4 Bxc3
15. Bxf7 Kc7 16. Ne6+ Kb8 17. bxc3 Nde5 {[#]} 18. Bf4 Bxe6 19. Bxe6 Rf8 20. Bg3
1-0

[Event "Vienna"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1922.11.25"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Vukovic, Vladimir"]
[Black "Spielmann, Rudolf"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E10"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[PlyCount "62"]
[EventDate "1922.11.13"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "15"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 c5 3. d5 e6 4. c4 b5 5. e4 bxc4 6. Nc3 exd5 7. e5 d4 8. exf6
d5 9. Qe2+ Be6 10. Ng5 Qd7 11. g3 d3 12. Qe5 Bd6 13. Qe3 d4 14. fxg7 Rg8 15.
Qe4 dxc3 16. bxc3 Nc6 17. Bg2 Rc8 18. f4 Ne7 19. Nxh7 f5 20. Qe3 Kf7 21. Nf8
Rgxf8 22. gxf8=Q+ Kxf8 23. Bd2 Nd5 24. Qf3 Nf6 25. O-O Ne4 26. Qd1 Bd5 27. Rb1
Be7 28. Rb2 Bf6 29. Bxe4 Bxe4 30. Qb1 {[#]} Bc6 31. Rb8 Rxb8 (31... Rxb8 32.
Qxb8+ Kg7 33. h4 Qd5 34. Qc7+ Kg6) 0-1

[Event "Vienna"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1922.11.15"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Wolf, Heinrich"]
[Black "Kmoch, Hans"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C90"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[PlyCount "41"]
[EventDate "1922.11.13"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "15"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3
Na5 9. Bc2 c5 10. d3 O-O 11. Nbd2 Nc6 12. Nf1 Nh5 13. h3 g6 14. Bh6 Ng7 15. Ne3
f5 16. Nd5 Ra7 17. d4 exd4 18. cxd4 fxe4 19. Bxe4 cxd4 {[#]} 20. Nxe7+ Nxe7 21.
Bxg7 1-0

[Event "Vienna"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1922.11.15"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Rubinstein, Akiba"]
[Black "Bogoljubow, Efim"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D94"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "1922.11.13"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "15"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. e3 Nf6 4. Nc3 g6 5. Nf3 Bg7 6. Be2 O-O 7. O-O Nbd7 8. cxd5
Nxd5 9. Nxd5 cxd5 10. Qb3 Nf6 11. Bd2 Ne4 12. Rfd1 Nxd2 13. Rxd2 Qd6 14. Rc1 b6
15. Rdc2 Bb7 16. Qa4 a6 17. Rc7 b5 18. Qa5 Rab8 19. R1c5 Rfd8 20. Ne5 Bf6 21.
Nc6 e6 22. g3 Rdc8 23. Nxb8 Rxb8 24. Bxb5 Bd8 25. Be8 Qf8 {[#]} 26. Rxb7 Bxa5
27. Rxb8 Qd6 28. Rb7 Bb6 29. Rc6 Qb4 30. Bxf7+ 1-0

[Event "Vienna"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1922.11.22"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Grünfeld, Ernst"]
[Black "Reti, Richard"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A46"]
[Annotator "Soltis"]
[PlyCount "54"]
[EventDate "1922.11.13"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "15"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. g3 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Bg2 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. c4 d5 8. cxd5
Nxd5 9. dxc5 Bxc5 10. Nbd2 a5 11. Nb3 Bb6 12. Nbd4 Nxd4 13. Nxd4 Qf6 14. Nf3
Qe7 15. Bd2 Rd8 16. Qc2 f6 17. Rfd1 e5 18. Qe4 Be6 19. Be1 Nb4 20. a3 Nc6 21.
Qa4 Qf7 22. Qb5 Ba7 23. Rxd8+ Rxd8 24. Rc1 {[#]} e4 25. Nd2 Nd4 26. Qxa5 Nxe2+
27. Kf1 b6 0-1

[Event "TCh-NOR Elite 2021-22"]
[Site "Norway NOR"]
[Date "2022.02.05"]
[Round "5.4"]
[White "Carlsen, M."]
[Black "Ostmoe, G."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B10"]
[WhiteElo "2865"]
[BlackElo "2466"]
[Annotator "Hartmann"]
[PlyCount "168"]
[EventDate "2021.10.29"]
[EventType "team"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "NOR"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]
[WhiteTeam "Offerspill"]
[BlackTeam "SOSS"]

1. e4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. d3 dxe4 4. dxe4 Qxd1+ 5. Kxd1 Nd7 6. Nbd2 e5 7. Nc4 f6 8.
Nfd2 Nc5 9. a4 Be6 10. b4 Nd7 11. c3 Nh6 12. Kc2 Nf7 13. Nb3 Nd6 14. Nxd6+ Bxd6
15. Na5 O-O-O 16. Bc4 Bxc4 17. Nxc4 Be7 18. Be3 b6 19. Rhd1 Kc7 20. a5 b5 21.
Nb6 $5 Nb8 ({It looks risky to take the knight after} 21... axb6 22. axb6+ Nxb6
23. Ra7+ Kb8 24. Rxe7 {but Black had} Rxd1 25. Kxd1 Rd8+ 26. Kc2 Rd7 {when the
position is fully equal. Exchanging rooks should be easily drawn, and if} 27.
Re8+ Kc7 28. Bxb6+ Kxb6 {it's similarly drawish.}) 22. Rxd8 Bxd8 23. a6 Nxa6
24. Nc4 bxc4 25. Rxa6 Kd7 26. Rxa7+ Bc7 27. f4 Kc8 28. fxe5 fxe5 29. Ra8+ ({
Here Carlsen missed a trick: he should have played} 29. Bb6 $1 Bd8 ({of course
} 29... Bxb6 {loses to} 30. Ra8+ Kd7 31. Rxh8) 30. Bxd8 Rxd8 31. Rxg7 {and
White is winning.}) 29... Bb8 30. Ra5 ({Note that the idea from the previous
move no longer works. After} 30. Ba7 Kb7 $1 {the pawn endgame should be drawn.}
) 30... Kb7 31. b5 Rc8 32. b6 Rf8 33. Ra1 Rf6 34. g3 h5 35. Kd2 Rd6+ 36. Kc2
Rf6 37. Bc5 h4 38. Rd1 hxg3 39. hxg3 Rg6 40. Rd7+ Ka6 41. Rd8 Kb7 42. Bf2 Rf6
43. Be1 g6 44. Bd2 Bd6 45. Be3 c5 46. g4 Kxb6 47. Re8 Kc6 48. g5 Kd7 49. Ra8
Rf3 50. Kd2 Ke6 51. Ra6 Ke7 52. Ra7+ Kf8 53. Ra4 Be7 54. Rxc4 Rg3 55. Bxc5 Rxg5
56. Bb4 Rg2+ 57. Kd3 Rg3+ 58. Kc2 Bxb4 59. cxb4 Ke7 60. b5 Rf3 61. Rc5 Kd6 62.
Rd5+ Ke6 63. Rd8 Ke7 64. Rg8 Kd6 65. Rxg6+ Kc5 66. b6 Rf7 67. Re6 Kd4 68. Kb3
Rf1 69. Ka4 Kxe4 70. Rd6 Rb1 71. Ka5 Kf3 72. Rf6+ Kg3 73. Rf5 e4 74. Rb5 Ra1+
75. Kb4 Ra8 76. Kc3 e3 77. Kd3 Kf4 78. b7 Rd8+ 79. Ke2 Rb8 80. Rb4+ Ke5 81.
Kxe3 Kd5 82. Kd3 Kc6 83. Kc4 Rxb7 84. Rxb7 Kxb7 1/2-1/2

[Event "Facebook"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Ostmoe=G Minski=M"]
[Black "(+4010.10f5h7) TW"]
[Result "1-0"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/6Pk/8/5K2/7q/3B4/8/3Q4 w - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "5"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]

1. Qh5+ $1 (1. Qh1 $2 Qxh1 2. Kf6+ Kh6 3. g8=N+ Kh5) (1. Ke6+ $2 Kg8 $1) 1...
Qxh5+ 2. Kf6+ Kh6 3. g8=N# 1-0

[Event "58th ch-IND 2022"]
[Site "Kanpur IND"]
[Date "2022.02.26"]
[Round "4.1"]
[White "Erigaisi, Arjun"]
[Black "Ravi, TeS"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2633"]
[BlackElo "2469"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "2022.02.25"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. h4 Qb6 5. Ne2 Bg4 6. h5 h6 7. Rh4 Bd7 8. c4 e6
9. Nbc3 dxc4 10. Ng3 Qd8 11. Rf4 b5 12. Nge4 f5 13. exf6 Nxf6 14. Qf3 Na6 15.
Rxf6 gxf6 16. Nxf6+ Ke7 17. Bf4 Be8 18. Be5 Bg7 19. Nfd5+ cxd5 20. Bxg7 Qa5 21.
Bxh8 b4 22. Bf6+ Kd7 23. Nd1 b3+ 24. Qc3 Nb4 25. Ne3 Bxh5 26. a3 Rb8 27. Rc1
Nc2+ 28. Kd2 Qxc3+ 29. Kxc3 Rf8 30. Be5 Nxa3 31. bxa3 Rxf2 32. Nxc4 dxc4 33.
Bxc4 b2 34. Rb1 Rxg2 35. Rxb2 Rxb2 36. Kxb2 Bf3 37. Kc3 h5 38. Bg3 Ke7 39. Kd2
Kd7 40. Bb5+ Kc8 41. Ke3 Bg4 42. Bc6 Bf5 43. Bf3 1-0

[Event "58th ch-IND 2022"]
[Site "Kanpur IND"]
[Date "2022.03.01"]
[Round "9.1"]
[White "Pranav, V."]
[Black "Erigaisi, Arjun"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B30"]
[WhiteElo "2486"]
[BlackElo "2633"]
[Annotator "Hartmann"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "2k4r/2qnb1pb/2p1p2p/p1p1PP2/2PpN1P1/Pr1P1RNQ/1P2R3/2B4K b - - 0 39"]
[PlyCount "43"]
[EventDate "2022.02.25"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]

{[#]} 39... Nxe5 $5 40. Bf4 Nxf3 41. Bxc7 Kxc7 42. Nf1 Rxd3 43. Qg3+ Kb6 44.
Nfd2 $2 h5 $1 45. gxh5 exf5 $2 46. Nxf3 $2 fxe4 47. Qxg7 Bd6 48. Ng5 Rg8 49.
Qf6 Rd1+ 50. Kg2 d3 51. Re3 Bc7 52. b4 d2 53. bxa5+ Ka7 54. Qe7 Rg1+ 55. Kf2
Rf1+ 56. Kg2 Rxg5+ 57. Qxg5 d1=Q 58. Qxc5+ Kb8 59. Rb3+ Qxb3 60. Qxc6 Qf3# 0-1

[Event "58th ch-IND 2022"]
[Site "Kanpur IND"]
[Date "2022.02.26"]
[Round "3.6"]
[White "Gukesh, D."]
[Black "Sammed Jaykumar, Shete"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E28"]
[WhiteElo "2614"]
[BlackElo "2408"]
[PlyCount "91"]
[EventDate "2022.02.25"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. a3 Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 O-O 6. e3 d6 7. Bd3 e5 8. Ne2
Re8 9. O-O Nc6 10. f3 b6 11. e4 h6 12. Be3 Na5 13. Ng3 Ba6 14. Qe2 Qd7 15. Nf5
Kh7 16. f4 Ng8 17. fxe5 dxe5 18. Rf3 Re6 19. Raf1 Rf8 20. d5 Rg6 21. Nh4 Rg4
22. g3 c5 23. h3 Rxh4 24. gxh4 f6 25. Rg3 Qf7 26. Kh2 Ne7 27. Rfg1 Rg8 28. h5
Nb7 29. a4 Nd6 30. a5 Qf8 31. Qa2 Bc8 32. axb6 axb6 33. Qa7 Qd8 34. Rb1 f5 35.
Qxb6 f4 36. Rg6 Nb7 37. Bxf4 exf4 38. e5 Bf5 39. Bxf5 Nxf5 40. Qxb7 Qh4 41. d6
Qxh5 42. Rg4 Kh8 43. Qe4 Ne3 44. Rxf4 Qe2+ 45. Kg1 Qd2 46. Rf2 1-0

[Event "58th ch-IND 2022"]
[Site "Kanpur IND"]
[Date "2022.02.27"]
[Round "5.1"]
[White "Gukesh, D."]
[Black "Erigaisi, Arjun"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D44"]
[WhiteElo "2614"]
[BlackElo "2633"]
[Annotator "Hartmann"]
[PlyCount "92"]
[EventDate "2022.02.25"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c6 5. Bg5 dxc4 6. e4 b5 7. e5 h6 8. Bh4 g5
9. Nxg5 hxg5 10. Bxg5 Be7 11. exf6 Bxf6 12. Bxf6 Qxf6 13. g3 Bb7 14. Bg2 Na6
15. Ne4 Qe7 16. O-O O-O-O 17. a4 f5 18. axb5 cxb5 19. Rxa6 Bxa6 20. Nc5 Qxc5
21. dxc5 Rxd1 22. Rxd1 b4 23. Ra1 b3 24. Bf1 (24. Rxa6 $2 c3 $1) 24... Rd8 25.
h4 Bb5 26. h5 a5 27. Rxa5 c3 28. bxc3 Bxf1 29. Ra8+ Kc7 30. Rxd8 Kxd8 31. h6 b2
32. h7 b1=Q 33. h8=Q+ Kc7 34. Qe5+ Kb7 35. c6+ Kxc6 36. Qxe6+ Kb5 37. Qd5+ Ka4
38. Kh2 Be2 39. Qa8+ Kb3 40. Qb7+ Kc2 41. Qxb1+ Kxb1 42. Kh3 Kc2 43. Kh4 Kd3
44. Kg5 Ke4 45. c4 Bxc4 46. f3+ Ke5 1/2-1/2

[Event "47th ch-IND w 2022"]
[Site "Bhubaneswar IND"]
[Date "2022.03.01"]
[Round "8.1"]
[White "Vaishali, R."]
[Black "Divya, Deshmukh"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C42"]
[WhiteElo "2403"]
[BlackElo "2301"]
[Annotator "Hartmann"]
[PlyCount "74"]
[EventDate "2022.02.25"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "IND"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. c4 Nc6 6. d4 d5 7. Nc3 Bb4 8. Qc2
Qe7 9. Be3 Bf5 10. a3 Ng3 11. Qa4 Bxc3+ 12. bxc3 Nxf1 $1 13. Rxf1 O-O-O 14.
cxd5 Rxd5 15. c4 Ra5 16. Qb3 Nb4 17. Kd2 Nc2 18. Ra2 Rxa3 19. Rxa3 Qxa3 20.
Qxa3 Nxa3 21. Kc3 b5 22. cxb5 Nxb5+ 23. Kb4 Nd6 24. Ne5 Kb7 25. d5 a5+ 26. Kc5
a4 27. g4 Bc2 28. Rc1 Bb3 29. Nc6 Ra8 30. f3 Kc8 31. Bd4 f6 32. Bc3 a3 33. Re1
Ra4 34. Na5 a2 35. Kc6 Ra3 36. Bb4 Ba4+ 37. Kc5 a1=Q 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Main Line with 9.Bg5 cxd4"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "D33"]
[Annotator "King"]
[PlyCount "82"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]

{Welcome back to my series on the Tarrasch Defense for club players! In Part 1
last month I introduced the main ideas of this opening and presented several
examples from the practice of the great Siegbert Tarrasch himself. This month
we will jump right into the theory of the main line.} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3
c5 4. cxd5 {The most common and logical move, trading a side pawn for Black's
center pawn.} exd5 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. g3 {[#] With this move White enters the
theoretical main line of the Tarrasch, developing the light-squared bishop on
the long diagonal where it will exert pressure on the center squares and on
Black's d5-pawn. (White's alternative setups, including 6.e3 and 6.dxc5, will
be covered in Parts 3-5 of this series.)} Nf6 7. Bg2 Be7 {The bishop is
developed to this modest square (rather than to d6) so that if White plays Bg5
then Black's f6-knight will not be pinned.} ({The interesting gambit} 7... cxd4
8. Nxd4 Bc5 $5 9. Nb3 Bb6 {has been recently trendy thanks to the efforts of
Russian GM Daniil Dubov, but we will stick to the traditional main line.}) 8.
O-O O-O 9. Bg5 {The "main main line". White threatens to win a pawn with 10.
Bxf6 Bxf6 11.dxc5.} (9. dxc5 {is a major alternative which will be covered in
Part 3 next month.}) (9. b3 $5 {is also possible, fianchettoing both of
White's bishops. This setup can also arise through various 1.Nf3 and 1.c4 move
orders, and will be covered in Part 5.}) {[#]} 9... cxd4 {An important
decision - with this move Black enters the IQP structure we studied in Part 1.
There are no examples of Siegbert Tarrasch himself playing this move, but GM
Boris Spassky used it five times in his 1969 World Championship match against
GM Tigran Petrosian (scoring one win and four draws), and GM Garry Kasparov
used it extensively in the early 1980s, including his 1982-84 Candidates
matches and 1984-85 World Championship match against Karpov.} (9... c4 $5 {
is a completely different approach, avoiding the IQP. This has a good
theoretical reputation, but White has various move orders which sidestep it,
whereas the IQP approach can be used more universally against a wide range of
move orders.}) ({Tarrasch himself only reached this exact position once,
opting for} 9... Be6 $5 {1-0 (45) Rubinstein,A-Tarrasch,S Karlovy Vary 1923 -
which is also playable but will not be covered in our repertoire.}) 10. Nxd4 h6
$1 {A useful move to throw in, forcing White's bishop to a slightly less
active square.} 11. Be3 {[#] This position is "base camp" for our Tarrasch
repertoire; I have reached it over 100 times in online and OTB games with both
colors. Depending on your level (or rather the level of your opponents), you
may reach it less often if your opponents tend to deviate into sidelines
before this point.} ({Note that} 11. Bxf6 {does not win the d5-pawn, since
after} Bxf6 {White's d4-knight is also hanging.} 12. Nb3 d4 13. Ne4 Be7 14. Rc1
Qb6 15. Nec5 Rd8 {gave Black comfortable equality in 0-1 (54) Seirawan,Y (2600)
-Kasparov,G (2690) Niksic 1983}) (11. Bf4 {is less popular than 11.Be3, but
natural enough. Black can continue as in the main line:} Bg4 12. h3 Be6 13. Rc1
Qd7 14. Nxe6 fxe6 {and now if White tries breaking open the center with} 15. e4
$5 {it is not clear that this achieves anything more than simplification:} d4
16. e5 dxc3 17. exf6 Qxd1 18. Rfxd1 Bxf6 19. bxc3 {and the endgame was
eventually drawn in ½-½ (64) Christiansen,L (2595)-Piket,J (2615) Cannes 1992
}) {[#] This position is "base camp" for our Tarrasch repertoire; I have
reached it over 100 times in online and OTB games with both colors. Depending
on your strength (or rather the strength of your opponents), you may reach it
less often if your opponents tend to deviate into sidelines before this point.}
11... Bg4 {The most common move is 11...Re8, but it feels slightly more
natural to develop all the minor pieces first, and in many cases the two moves
simply transpose. The following examples feature both moves, and if you do
reach this position frequently, you may wish to mix and match the two moves,
to keep your opponents guessing.} (11... Re8 {retains the option of developing
the light-squared bishop to other squares:} 12. Rc1 (12. Qa4 Bd7 $1 13. Rad1
Nb4 14. Qb3 a5 15. Rd2 a4 {with counterplay on the queenside - 0-1 (38)
Beliavsky,A (2570)-Kasparov,G (2690) Moscow 1983 Candidates}) (12. Qb3 Na5 $1
13. Qc2 Bg4 14. Nf5 {was Kasparov's most famous Tarrasch loss - 1-0 (70)
Karpov,A (2700)-Kasparov,G (2710) Moscow 1984 World Championship - but
subsequently an improvement was found:} Bb4 $1 15. Bd4 Bxc3 16. Bxc3 Rxe2 {
and Black is fine - ½-½ (65) Ehlvest,J (2627)-Grischuk,A (2606) New Delhi/
Teheran 2000}) 12... Bf8 $5 {Still remaining flexible with the light-squared
bishop.} (12... Bg4 {is essentially the same as 11...Bg4.}) 13. Nb3 (13. Na4
Bd7 {A modest but solid way to develop.} 14. Nc5 Bxc5 15. Rxc5 Qe7 {As in
other lines below, the time that White has spent acquiring the bishop pair has
lessened the pressure on the d5-pawn and allowed Black to complete development
and maintain his slight space advantage.}) ({**} 13. a3 $5 {can also be met
with} Be6 14. Nxe6 fxe6 {reaching the same structure as Fishbein-King below. **
}) ({**} 13. Qb3 $5 Na5 14. Qb5 a6 15. Qd3 {is a somewhat overly subtle
triangulation; Black can again continue with the simple} Be6 {**}) ({**} 13.
Nxc6 bxc6 14. Na4 {is by far White's most common continuation in practice, but
after} Bd7 15. Bc5 Bxc5 16. Nxc5 Bg4 {Black has not lost any more time than
White has, and has healthy piece activity. **}) 13... Be6 {defends the d5-pawn,
after which Black has a solid position and went on to make a comfortable draw
in Petrosian,T-Spassky,B Moscow 1969 World Championship}) {[#] [#]} 12. h3 {
White includes the same useful "tickle" to Black's bishop that Black did
earlier.} ({You should remember to meet} 12. Qa4 {with} Na5 $1 ({** Rather than
} 12... Qd7 13. Bxd5 $1 {winning a pawn, although even here Black can end up
with some compensation. **}) 13. Rad1 Nc4 {and now} {After the more restrained}
14. Bc1 {½-½ (49) Petrosian,T-Spassky,B Moscow 1969 World Championship} (14.
Qb3 $5 {again prepares to steal a pawn on d5 or b7.} Rc8 15. Qxb7 Rb8 16. Qxa7
Ra8 17. Qb7 Rb8 18. Qa6 Nxe3 19. fxe3 Rxb2 {Black has compensation due to his
bishop pair and White's shattered structure.}) 14... Nb6 {Black has reinforced
the d5-pawn and will continue to complete development normally.}) ({and **} 12.
Nb3 Be6 13. Rc1 Re8 {was tried twice by Petrosian against Spassky.} 14. Re1 (
14. Nb5 Qd7 15. N5d4 Bh3 16. Nxc6 bxc6 {and Black is fully equal - 1/2-1/2 (61)
Petrosian,T-Spassky,B Moscow 1969. Note that White cannot win a pawn with} 17.
Bxh3 $2 Qxh3 18. Rxc6 $4 {due to} Ng4 {forcing mate. **}) 14... Qd7 {was also
comfortable for Black and led to Spassky's most successful Tarrasch result of
the match - 0-1 (41) Petrosian,T-Spassky,B Moscow 1969 World Championship}) ({
If White does without this move, e.g.} 12. Rc1 Qd7 {then Black's light-squared
bishop has more options, e.g. a later ...Bh3 trading off White's strong
light-squared bishop.}) 12... Be6 {Generally the most reliable retreat for the
bishop, even though White can trade it off. Generally the most reliable
retreat for the bishop, even though White can trade it off.} 13. Rc1 ({After} 
13. Nxe6 fxe6 {a somewhat Tarrasch-specific pawn structure is reached, which I
think of as "central hanging pawns" since it has similarities to the normal
hanging pawns structure resulting from Nxc6/...bxc6 - in both cases Black's
d-pawn is strengthened but its supporting pawn is somewhat more vulnerable. A
recent game of mine continued} 14. Qb3 Na5 15. Qc2 Nc4 16. Bf4 Rc8 {and the
position is about equal, although my GM opponent eventually beat me in a tough
fight - 1-0 (51) Fishbein,A (2544)-King,A (2383) Jackson TN 2021}) ({**} 13.
Qa4 $5 Qd7 14. Kh2 a6 15. Rad1 b5 16. Qc2 {is another queen maneuver in order
to provoke the loosening of Black's queenside, but again this is a bit of an
abstract achievement compared to Black's comfortable development. **}) 13...
Qd7 {Not the only move, but the most common square for Black's queen. And if
your opponent isn't paying attention, you can snap off the h3-pawn for free! 
(This sounds like a joke, but you would not believe how many times this has
actually happened for me.)} 14. Kh2 Rfe8 {[#] The opening has essentially
concluded, with Black's last rook ready to develop onto c8 or d8. The engine
gives White a slight edge here (around half a pawn), but I hope you will not
be offended if I say that fractions of a pawn are above your pay grade - I'm
an NM and they're above my pay grade too! Both sides will spend the middlegame
trying to maximize their own advantages (White's better pawn structure,
Black's better space and active pieces), and the winner will be the player who
does the better job of this - or more likely the player who makes the fewest
tactical mistakes along the way.  To wash down all of this detailed theory,
here is a final sparkling treat by the great Kasparov, from a clock simul
against the Swiss national team (!):} 15. Nxc6 bxc6 16. Na4 {transposing to
Zueger-Kasparov below. **} Bf5 17. Bc5 Bd8 18. Bd4 Ne4 19. f3 Ng5 20. Nc5 Qe7
21. e4 dxe4 22. fxe4 Bg6 23. e5 Bb6 $2 {Preparing the following flurry of
sacrifices, but objectively safer was 23...Bc7. Preparing the following flurry
of sacrifices, but objectively safer was 23...Bc7.} 24. h4 Rad8 $5 25. hxg5
Qxg5 26. Qa4 Qh5+ 27. Kg1 Rxe5 $5 28. Bxe5 Qxe5 29. Qb4 $2 {29.Qc4! would
consolidate with the extra material. 29.Qc4! would consolidate with the extra
material.} Rd3 $1 30. Rf2 Rxg3 31. Qf4 Rxg2+ $3 32. Kxg2 Qd5+ 33. Kg3 Bxc5 34.
Rd2 Qh5 35. Qg4 $2 {White is still okay after 35.Rh2!?.} Qe5+ 36. Qf4 Qe7 $1
37. Rc3 Bb6 38. Kg2 Qe1 39. Rc1 Qe6 40. Qg3 Be4+ 41. Kh2 Qf5 {and White could
no longer find a way to defend - 0-1 (41) Zueger,B (2400)-Kasparov,G (2735)
Switzerland 1987. (Who says rooks are better than bishops?)  In Part 3 next
month we will examine the other main line 9.dxc5, as well as various lines
where White plays dxc5 earlier.} *

[Event "Banff Open"]
[Site "Banff CAN"]
[Date "2021.11.12"]
[Round "1.2"]
[White "Lin, Leo"]
[Black "Plotkin, Mark"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C47"]
[WhiteElo "1947"]
[BlackElo "2549"]
[Annotator "Benjamin"]
[PlyCount "138"]
[EventDate "2021.11.12"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]

{[%evp 0,138,23,9,25,25,25,4,4,-2,-2,7,7,-7,33,23,51,37,37,34,34,-12,10,0,34,
34,39,-17,-29,-29,22,22,27,8,0,0,-10,-13,-24,-24,0,-35,8,1,41,-8,-6,-23,-21,
-23,-23,-51,-23,-48,-1,-1,36,35,145,152,225,235,213,209,213,155,161,150,150,
157,163,163,163,163,156,157,211,211,204,204,204,204,204,207,207,207,207,207,
207,211,206,207,302,306,321,185,171,150,203,15,14,16,16,16,16,13,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,
0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6
3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nxc6 bxc6 6. Bd3 d6 7. Nc3 g6 8. Bg5 Bg7 9. O-O O-O
10. f4 h6 11. Bh4 g5 12. fxg5 Ng4 13. Be2 Ne3 14. Qd2 hxg5 15. Qxe3 gxh4 16.
Kh1 Be6 17. Rad1 Qe7 18. Bd3 Rab8 19. Rb1 Be5 20. Ne2 c5 21. b3 Kh7 22. Nf4 Qg5
23. Qf2 Rg8 24. Nxe6 fxe6 25. Qe2 Rg7 26. Bc4 Qg6 27. Rf3 Rbg8 28. Rh3 Qh6 {[#]
} 29. Bxe6 Rxg2 (29... Qxe6 30. Rxh4+ Kg6 31. Rf1 Rh7 32. Rg4+) 30. Bxg8+ Rxg8
31. Qf2 Rg4 32. Qf5+ Qg6 33. Qxg6+ Kxg6 34. Rg1 Kh5 35. Rxg4 Kxg4 36. Kg2 a5
37. a4 Bf4 38. Rd3 Be5 39. Rf3 Bxh2 40. Rf7 Be5 41. Rxc7 h3+ 42. Kh1 Kf4 43.
Ra7 (43. Rc6 Kxe4 44. Ra6 Bc3 45. Rxd6) 43... Bc3 44. Ra6 Ke5 45. Kh2 Bb4 46.
Kxh3 c4 47. Rc6 cxb3 48. cxb3 Kxe4 49. Kg4 (49. Rc4+ $1 Ke5 (49... Ke3 50. Rxb4
axb4 51. a5)) 49... d5 50. Re6+ Kd3 51. Kf4 d4 52. Rc6 Ke2 53. Rc2+ Kd1 54. Rc4
d3 55. Ke3 d2 56. Kd3 Bd6 57. Rd4 Be7 58. Rd7 Bb4 59. Rd5 Kc1 60. Ke2 Kc2 61.
Rd3 Bc3 62. Rd5 Kxb3 63. Rxd2 Bxd2 64. Kxd2 Kxa4 65. Kc2 Ka3 66. Kb1 Kb3 67.
Ka1 a4 68. Kb1 a3 69. Ka1 a2 1/2-1/2

[Event "Banff Open"]
[Site "Banff CAN"]
[Date "2021.11.12"]
[Round "2.1"]
[White "Dorn, Paris"]
[Black "Benjamin, Joel"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A50"]
[WhiteElo "2141"]
[BlackElo "2640"]
[Annotator "Benjamin"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "2021.11.12"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]

{[%evp 0,83,23,19,28,14,30,21,43,42,45,50,49,43,56,31,71,71,73,56,112,125,120,
64,130,110,110,94,111,85,88,66,100,64,67,60,68,47,60,41,43,48,48,48,56,74,58,
48,138,130,162,153,157,132,125,138,158,164,168,169,168,25,44,32,97,97,134,0,0,
0,0,0,50,-157,-122,-124,192,192,192,192,297,297,297,297,297,297]} 1. d4 Nf6 2.
c4 Nc6 3. Nc3 e5 4. d5 Ne7 5. Nf3 Ng6 6. h4 h5 7. Bg5 Bc5 8. e3 d6 9. Nd2 Ne7
10. Bxf6 gxf6 11. Nce4 Nf5 12. Nxc5 dxc5 13. Ne4 Qe7 14. Qf3 Bd7 15. Bd3 O-O-O
16. g3 Rh6 17. O-O-O Ng7 18. Qe2 Bf5 19. Qd2 Bxe4 20. Bxe4 f5 21. Bg2 Ra6 22.
Kb1 Ne8 23. Qe2 Nd6 24. Qxh5 e4 25. Qe2 Rb6 26. a3 Qe5 27. Rc1 Rb3 28. Ka2 Rd3
29. Qc2 b5 30. cxb5 Qxd5+ 31. Kb1 c4 32. Bf1 Qxb5 33. Bxd3 exd3 34. Qc3 Ne4 35.
Qb4 {[#]} Qa6 (35... Qd5 36. f3 (36. Rhd1 Nxf2 37. Rd2 Ne4 38. Rdd1) 36... Nf2
37. Rhg1 d2 38. Rxc4 d1=Q+ 39. Rxd1 Qxd1+ 40. Ka2) 36. Ka2 d2 37. Rxc4 (37.
Rcd1 c5) 37... d1=Q $4 (37... Nxf2) (37... Qe6 38. Rd1 Nxf2 39. Qc5 c6 40.
Qxc6+ Qxc6 41. Rxc6+ Kb8 42. Rxd2 Rxd2 43. Rf6 Nd1) 38. Rxd1 Rxd1 39. Qf8+ Rd8
40. Qxf7 Qa5 41. Qe6+ Rd7 42. Qe8+ (42. Rd4 Nd6 43. h5 $18) 1/2-1/2

[Event "Banff Open"]
[Site "Banff CAN"]
[Date "2021.11.12"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Wang, Paul"]
[Black "Ginsburg, Mark"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2147"]
[BlackElo "2414"]
[Annotator "Benjamin"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/8/8/8/8/4rkpp/8/2R4K b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "3"]
[EventDate "2021.11.12"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]

{[#]} 1... h2 2. Rc3 (2. Rf1+ Kg4 3. Rf4+ Kh3 4. Rh4+ Kxh4) 2... g2+ 0-1

[Event "Banff Open"]
[Site "Banff CAN"]
[Date "2021.11.13"]
[Round "4.4"]
[White "Plotkin, Mark"]
[Black "Jung, Hans"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D30"]
[WhiteElo "2549"]
[BlackElo "2210"]
[Annotator "Benjamin"]
[PlyCount "51"]
[EventDate "2021.11.12"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. e3 d5 4. d4 c6 5. Bd3 Nbd7 6. b3 b6 7. O-O Bb7 8. Bb2
dxc4 9. bxc4 c5 10. d5 exd5 11. cxd5 Bxd5 12. e4 Bc6 13. e5 (13. Re1 Qe7 14.
Nc3 O-O-O 15. Nd5 Qe8 16. a4 Bd6 17. Ba6+ Kb8 18. Qb3 Nxe4 19. a5 Bc7 20. axb6
axb6 21. Bb5 Bb7 22. Qa4 Qe6 23. Bc6 Bxh2+ 24. Nxh2 Qxc6 25. Qa7+ Kc8 26. Ne7+
Kc7 27. Nxc6 Ra8 28. Rxe4 Rxa7 29. Rxa7 Kxc6 30. Re7 Rd8 31. Nf3 b5 32. Rxf7 b4
33. Rxg7 Kb6 34. Ra1 Bxf3 35. gxf3 Nf8 36. Rg8 c4 37. Bg7 Ne6 38. Rxd8 Nxd8 39.
Rc1 Kb5 40. f4 Ne6 41. Be5 Nc5 42. Kf1 Nd3 43. Rd1 Kc5 44. Ke2 Kd5 45. Rh1 Nc5
46. Rxh7 c3 47. Bxc3 bxc3 48. Rc7 c2 49. Kd2 Ne4+ 50. Kxc2 Nxf2 51. Kd2 Ke4 52.
Ke2 Ng4 53. Rc4+ Kf5 54. Kf3 Nh2+ 55. Kg2 Ng4 56. Kg3 Ne3 57. Rc5+ Kf6 58. Kf3
Nf5 59. Ra5 Kg6 60. Ra6+ {1-0 (60) Grischuk,A (2764)-Duda,J (2748) Hamburg 2019
}) 13... Ne4 14. Qe2 Ng5 15. Nxg5 Qxg5 16. f4 Qe7 17. Nc3 O-O-O 18. Ne4 Qe8 19.
Rad1 Be7 20. Bc4 f6 21. Nd6+ Bxd6 22. Rxd6 Nb8 23. Qg4+ Bd7 24. Qxg7 fxe5 25.
Bxe5 Qf8 {[#]} 26. Rc6+ (26. Rc6+ Bxc6 (26... Nxc6 27. Ba6#) (26... Kb7 27.
Rc7+ Ka8 28. Bd5+) 27. Qc7#) 1-0

[Event "Banff Open"]
[Site "Banff CAN"]
[Date "2021.11.14"]
[Round "6.1"]
[White "Plotkin, Mark"]
[Black "Plotkin, Victor"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D05"]
[WhiteElo "2549"]
[BlackElo "2428"]
[Annotator "Benjamin"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "2021.11.12"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. e3 d5 4. b3 Be7 5. Bb2 O-O 6. d4 b6 7. Nbd2 Bb7 8. Bd3
Nbd7 9. O-O Ne4 10. Rc1 c5 11. cxd5 exd5 12. dxc5 Ndxc5 13. Be2 Rc8 14. Nd4
Nxd2 15. Qxd2 Ne4 16. Qd3 Qd7 17. h3 Rxc1 18. Rxc1 Rc8 19. Rd1 Bh4 20. Rf1 Qd8
21. Bf3 Rc5 22. Nf5 Bf6 23. Bxf6 Nxf6 24. Rd1 g6 25. Nd4 Qc8 26. Qd2 Ba6 27.
Qb2 Rc3 28. b4 Ne4 $2 (28... Rc7) 29. b5 Bb7 30. Bxe4 dxe4 31. Nc6 Rxc6 32.
bxc6 Bxc6 33. Qf6 1-0

[Event "Banff Open"]
[Site "Banff CAN"]
[Date "2021.11.14"]
[Round "6.2"]
[White "Miller, David"]
[Black "Benjamin, Joel"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C79"]
[WhiteElo "2224"]
[BlackElo "2640"]
[Annotator "Benjamin"]
[PlyCount "118"]
[EventDate "2021.11.12"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]

1. e4 Nc6 2. Nf3 e5 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. c3 Nf6 6. d4 Bd7 7. O-O g6 8. Re1
Bg7 9. dxe5 Nxe5 10. Nxe5 dxe5 11. Bxd7+ Qxd7 12. Qxd7+ Nxd7 13. Nd2 (13. Be3)
13... Nc5 14. Nb3 Nd3 15. Rd1 (15. Re2) 15... O-O-O 16. Kf1 f5 17. exf5 gxf5
18. Bg5 Rd7 ({I wanted to play} 18... Rd6 {but noticed the trick} 19. Be7 Rd7 (
19... Nxb2 $1 20. Bxd6 Nxd1 {with an endgame advantage in all cases}) 20. Nc5
$1 {more or less equalizing. I didn't consider}) 19. Rd2 {Now it's basically
game over if I canmaintain the knight on d3.} h6 20. Bh4 e4 $2 ({The right
move order is} 20... c5 21. Rad1 (21. Na5 b5 22. a4 e4 23. axb5 axb5 24. c4
Nxb2 25. Rxd7 Kxd7 26. cxb5 Rb8) 21... c4 22. Nc1 e4) 21. Rad1 Rd6 (21... c5
22. Rxd3 $1 Rxd3 23. Rxd3 exd3 24. Nxc5) 22. Nc1 Nxb2 $2 (22... Nxc1 23. Rxd6
cxd6 24. Rxc1 Kd7 {Black's position is a lot easier to play.}) 23. Rxd6 cxd6
24. Rxd6 Be5 25. Rd5 {I expected this move, which is certainly okay, but} (25.
Re6 Bxc3 $6 (25... Nc4) 26. Ne2 Bg7 27. Re7 {gives White the initiative}) 25...
Re8 26. Nb3 (26. Ne2 f4 27. f3 exf3 28. gxf3 Kc7 29. Bf2 {equalizes}) 26... Na4
{[#]} 27. Na5 {I thought this quite resourceful, especially in comparison with}
({But it turns out that the knight is not actually threatening to take the
c3-pawn!} 27. Ra5 Nxc3 28. Rxe5 Rxe5 29. Bf6) (27. c4 Nc3 $2 (27... Nb6) 28.
Rxe5) (27. Nd4 Nxc3 28. Rc5+ Kd7 29. Nxf5 b6 30. Rc4 b5 31. Rc5 Nxa2) 27...
Nxc3 28. Rc5+ Kd7 (28... Kb8 29. Rxe5 Rxe5 30. Bg3 {This skewer I saw!}) 29.
Nc4 Bd4 30. Rxf5 b5 31. Nd2 Ke6 (31... a5 $1) 32. Rh5 (32. g4 $1) 32... Bg7 33.
Nb3 a5 34. Nxa5 Ra8 35. Nc6 Rxa2 {After being dominated by that stealthy
h4-bishop for so many moves, it felt great to get my rook out of the box!} 36.
g3 $2 (36. g4) 36... Kd7 37. Nb4 Rb2 38. Nd5 Nxd5 ({I almost played} 38... b4
39. Bf6 {which is much less convincing}) 39. Rxd5+ Ke6 40. Rd8 b4 41. Re8+ Kd5
42. Re7 Bc3 43. Rd7+ Kc4 44. Re7 Kd3 45. Rd7+ Kc2 (45... Bd4 46. Rxd4+ Kxd4 47.
Bf6+) 46. Rc7 Rb1+ 47. Kg2 Rd1 48. Be7 b3 49. Bb4 Rd3 50. Ba3 b2 $6 {[#] I had
a feeling this was not the best, but I was anxious about blundering intime
pressure} (50... Rd4 {should have been preferred; in the worst case is I will
just winhis bishop for the pawn later}) 51. Bxb2 Kxb2 52. Re7 Rd4 53. Re6 Bd2 (
53... h5) 54. h4 (54. Kf1 $1 {coming to e2 to block out my king, and there is
still work to be done!}) 54... Kc2 55. g4 Kd3 56. Re5 Rd8 57. Kh3 Rf8 58. Rd5+
Ke2 59. Re5 Rf3+ 0-1

[Event "31st NATO Chess 2021"]
[Site "Blankenberge BEL"]
[Date "2021.10.14"]
[Round "5.8"]
[White "Wang, E."]
[Black "Pavlidou, E."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E11"]
[WhiteElo "2216"]
[BlackElo "2161"]
[Annotator "Hartmann"]
[PlyCount "113"]
[EventDate "2021.10.11"]
[EventType "team"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "BEL"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]
[WhiteTeam "United States of America"]
[BlackTeam "Greece"]
[BlackTeamCountry "GRE"]

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 e4 19. g4 Bg6 20. Kh1 Qb6 21. Qg3 Nc5
22. Bc3 Nfd7 23. f5 {Wang's brute force approach is paying off. Soon the
attack becomes irresistable.} 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 $1 Qxe3 (
{Here} 32... Rxf6 {is met with} 33. Qxf6 {due to the pin on the g-file.}) 33.
Bxg7 $1 Qxg1+ ({No salvation is found in} 33... Qxh6 34. Bxh6+ Kh8 35. Bg5 $1)
34. Kxg1 Rxg7+ 35. Kf1 {White's material advantage, coupled with Black's
chronically weak king, ensures the win, but it's not easy. Wang grinds out the
full point well.} 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

[Event "31st NATO Chess 2021"]
[Site "Blankenberge BEL"]
[Date "2021.10.14"]
[Round "6.4"]
[White "Sypien, M."]
[Black "Wang, E."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A15"]
[WhiteElo "2243"]
[BlackElo "2216"]
[Annotator "Hartmann"]
[PlyCount "51"]
[EventDate "2021.10.11"]
[EventType "team"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "BEL"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]
[WhiteTeam "Poland"]
[BlackTeam "United States of America"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "POL"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 b6 3. g3 Bb7 4. Bg2 g6 5. O-O Bg7 6. Nc3 O-O 7. d4 Ne4 8. Nxe4
Bxe4 9. Ne1 Bxg2 10. Nxg2 d5 11. cxd5 Qxd5 12. e3 e5 13. dxe5 Qxe5 14. Qa4 Rd8
15. Rb1 Nd7 16. b4 Qe4 $1 {The light squares around the king are weak, and
Wang goes for the attack.} 17. Bb2 Bxb2 18. Rxb2 Ne5 $1 19. Qc2 Nf3+ 20. Kh1
Qb7 21. Rd1 {[#]} Rxd1+ $5 {Sufficient to win, but the follow-up is tricky.} ({
Here Wang missed the stunning} 21... Rd7 $3 {with the idea that if} 22. Rxd7
Ne1 {wins immediately. And if White does not exchange rooks, Black doubles on
the d-file.}) 22. Qxd1 Re8 $2 ({The only move to keep the attack going was} 
22... g5 $3 {, denying the g2-knight any safe haven.}) 23. Rc2 Re5 24. Rc4 Qa6
({Now} 24... Rh5 {is met with} 25. h4 {and there's no breakthrough.}) 25. Rc1
Qb7 26. Qd8+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "31st NATO Chess 2021"]
[Site "Blankenberge BEL"]
[Date "2021.10.15"]
[Round "7.5"]
[White "Wang, E."]
[Black "Pietruszewski, M."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B41"]
[WhiteElo "2216"]
[BlackElo "2197"]
[Annotator "Hartmann"]
[PlyCount "70"]
[EventDate "2021.10.11"]
[EventType "team"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "BEL"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]
[WhiteTeam "United States of America"]
[BlackTeam "Poland"]
[BlackTeamCountry "POL"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. c4 Nf6 6. Nc3 Bb4 7. Qd3 Qc7 8. a3
Be7 9. Be2 O-O 10. O-O b6 11. f4 d6 12. Be3 Nbd7 13. b4 Bb7 14. Rac1 Rfe8 {
White's space gives him a solid advantage. Now Wang begins to advance on the
kingside as well.} 15. g4 h6 16. h4 h5 {Already it's hard to suggest good
moves for Black!} ({If} 16... e5 17. Nf5 $1) ({and if} 16... g6 17. g5 hxg5 18.
hxg5 Nh7 19. Kg2 $5 {with play on the open h-file.}) 17. g5 Ng4 18. Bd2 $6 {
The beginning of a slow piece redevelopment.} ({White could grab a pawn with} 
18. Bxg4 hxg4 19. Qe2 Rac8 20. Qxg4 {; after} Qxc4 21. Rfd1 {the h-pawn will
continue to advance and pressure the black king.}) 18... Bf8 19. Nc2 g6 20. Ne3
f5 $2 ({Black is only slightly worse after} 20... Nxe3 21. Bxe3 Rac8) 21. exf5
gxf5 22. Bf3 ({Here} 22. Ncd5 $1 exd5 (22... Qd8 23. Bxg4 hxg4 24. Bc3 {
is no salvation}) 23. cxd5 Qd8 24. Bxg4 hxg4 25. Nxf5 {would have been very
difficult to meet.}) ({or} 22. Bxg4 hxg4 23. Ncd5) 22... Bxf3 23. Rxf3 Bg7 24.
Ne2 $2 {[#]} ({After} 24. Nxg4 hxg4 25. Rf2 {White can still advance the
kingside pawn mass, with the rook going to h2 for support.}) 24... Nde5 $1 {
A "reloader" tactic. Black wins material and swarms the white king.} 25. fxe5
Nxe5 26. Qc2 Nxf3+ 27. Kf2 Qb7 28. Ng2 Rac8 29. Nef4 Ne5 $1 30. Qd1 Ng4+ 31.
Kg3 Be5 $1 32. Qe2 Qe4 33. Qxe4 fxe4 34. Kh3 Rf8 35. Nxh5 Nf2# 0-1

[Event "31st NATO Chess 2021"]
[Site "Blankenberge BEL"]
[Date "2021.10.12"]
[Round "2.9"]
[White "Sypien, M."]
[Black "Loving, Jason"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B24"]
[WhiteElo "2243"]
[BlackElo "2021"]
[Annotator "Loving"]
[PlyCount "70"]
[EventDate "2021.10.11"]
[EventType "team"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "BEL"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]
[WhiteTeam "Poland"]
[BlackTeam "United States of America"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "POL"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 {Black wants to control the d4-square.}
5. d3 e6 {A double-edged move, hoping for quick equality. This prepares ...
Ne7-d5, but it leaves the dark squares a bit weak.} 6. Be3 Nd4 $6 {Computer 
prefers 6...d6 as 6...Nd4 can be met with Nce2 and then c3, d4.} ({The
computer prefers} 6... d6 {. White can meet 6. ...Nd4 with 7.Nce2 and then
c2-c3 and d3-d4.}) 7. Qd2 Ne7 8. Nd1 $6 {Slow, compared to the plan outlined
above.} b6 {It's important to defend the c5-pawn once the knight is removed.}
9. c3 Ndc6 10. f4 $2 {Taking his foot off the gas.} ({Instead} 10. Bh6 O-O 11.
Nf3 d5 {is what I had expected during the game, when White is doing his best
to make use of the main imbalance - the weakness of Black's dark squares.
After the text, the position is equal.}) 10... d5 11. e5 d4 12. Bf2 Bb7 13. c4
$2 {Draining more tension from the game, and making it very hard for the
knight to re-enter the field of battle.} Qc7 {The computer prefers immediate
pawn breaks with ...f7-f6 and ...g6-g5, but I prefer to continue to develop
before taking action.} 14. Nf3 h5 {Again, the computer argues that I should
break open the position with something like 14. ... g4 before White can untie
his pieces.} 15. O-O Nf5 16. h3 Bh6 17. Qe2 {The  immediate 17.g4 is met with:
17... hxg4 18. hxg4 f6 with play similar to the  game.} ({The immediate} 17. g4
{is met by} hxg4 18. hxg4 f6 {with play similar to the game.}) 17... O-O-O 18.
a3 $2 {[#] Trying to launch a queenside attack, but this misses my immediate
threat.} h4 $1 {Finally breaking through.} 19. g4 Bxf4 {The point. Black
sacrifices a piece for two pawns. The white king will be exposed, and the
white pieces have a tough time getting involved. I was confident this would be
sufficient compensation.} 20. gxf5 gxf5 21. Bxh4 Rdg8 22. Bf6 Rxh3 23. Rf2 {
White finds the best moves, but it is still a very difficult position to hold.}
Rhg3 24. Kf1 {Better (but still nearly hopeless) was either 24. Ra2 or 24.b3
with the idea of bringing the rook into the game.} Be3 {Reclaiming material.}
25. Nxe3 dxe3 26. Bh4 ({No better is} 26. Qxe3 Nd4 {.}) 26... exf2 27. Bxg3
Rxg3 28. Qxf2 Rg4 {With an extra pawn, more active pieces, and an exposed
white king, I was able to bring the game to a quick finish.} 29. Re1 Qd8 30.
Rd1 Nd4 31. Ne1 Bxg2+ 32. Nxg2 Qh8 33. b4 Qh3 34. bxc5 bxc5 35. Kg1 f4 0-1

[Event "31st NATO Chess 2021"]
[Site "Blankenberge BEL"]
[Date "2021.10.13"]
[Round "4.30"]
[White "Bublys, Vaidotas"]
[Black "Randall, Gordon"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A61"]
[WhiteElo "1838"]
[BlackElo "1949"]
[Annotator "Hartmann"]
[PlyCount "68"]
[EventDate "2021.10.11"]
[EventType "team"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "BEL"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]
[WhiteTeam "Lithuania"]
[BlackTeam "United States of America"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "LTU"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nf3 g6 7. Bg5 Bg7 8. Nd2
h6 9. Bh4 g5 10. Bg3 Nh5 11. Qa4+ Kf8 12. Qc2 f5 13. h4 Nxg3 14. fxg3 Na6 15.
a3 Nc7 16. e3 Qe7 17. Kf2 f4 18. gxf4 gxf4 19. e4 Bd4+ 20. Ke2 b5 21. Nf3 Bg4
22. Ke1 Bf6 23. Bxb5 Bxc3+ 24. Qxc3 Qxe4+ 25. Be2 Kf7 26. Qc4 Rhe8 $1 27. Qxe4
Rxe4 28. Kf2 Rb8 29. Rab1 Kf6 30. Bd3 Re3 31. Bc4 Bf5 32. a4 Bxb1 33. Rxb1 {
[#] Here, in a winning position, our author finds a pleasing way to finish out
the game.} Rc3 $1 34. Bb5 ({Naturally} 34. bxc3 Rxb1 {is a winning
simplification.}) 34... Rc2+ ({After} 34... Rc2+ 35. Kg1 Nxb5 36. axb5 Rxb5 {
Black wins in short order.}) 0-1

[Event "31st NATO Chess 2021"]
[Site "Blankenberge"]
[Date "2021.10.12"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Wang, Eigen"]
[Black "Tommasini, Enzo"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B07"]
[Annotator "Wang"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "2021.10.11"]
[EventType "team"]
[EventCountry "BEL"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 c6 4. Nf3 Bg4 5. Be2 e6 {White has the center, but
Black has no weaknesses. If White does nothing, Black will play d5 with a
comfortable grip on the light squares.} 6. d5 {White alters the pawn structure,
aiming to expose d6 as a weakness and obstruct the dark-square bishop.} e5 7.
O-O Be7 8. Be3 Bxf3 $6 {This seems unnecessary. The bishop can be useful later,
while the knight on f3 was not doing much given the pawn structure.} 9. Bxf3 a5
{Now Black controls the dark squares on the queenside, but the light squares
are weak, and Black's light-squared bishop is gone.} 10. Qd2 Na6 11. Be2 Nd7
12. Rad1 $6 {This move accomplishes little, since White does not have any
means toward winning the d6-pawn.} (12. a3 {was more useful, preparing b4
after Black plays Nac5.}) 12... Nac5 13. b3 O-O 14. a3 $6 {White tries to
prepare b4, but now Black has an opportunity to take advantage of the weakness
on e4.} (14. f3 {protecting e4 was more accurate, preventing Black's
counterplay.}) 14... cxd5 15. Bxc5 (15. Qxd5 {was possible, keeping the bishop
pair.} Nf6 16. Qc4 Rc8 17. Nd5 $1 Nxd5 (17... Ncxe4 $4 18. Qxc8 $1) (17...
Nfxe4 $2 18. Bxc5 Nxc5 19. b4 $18) 18. Qxd5 $16) 15... Nxc5 16. Qxd5 Rc8 17.
Bc4 Rc6 {In the battle of opposite color bishops, White has the superior
bishop and pawn structure. Black, however, has a solid position, so breaking
through is not easy.} 18. Qd2 Ne6 19. Nd5 Bg5 20. Qd3 Nf4 21. Nxf4 exf4 {
This is an interesting idea, planning to transfer the bishop to e5.} 22. Qf3 $1
{With this move, White prevents Bf6, moves out of the rook's way on the d-file,
and hints at potential Qh5 ideas.} Qe7 23. Rd5 Rc5 24. Rfd1 Rxd5 25. Rxd5 b6 {
Almost all of Black's pawns are on dark squares. White has full control, but
accuracy is still required. Black's concrete weaknesses are b6, d6, and f7.
White's queen must attack at least two of these weaknesses to reap possible
rewards.} 26. Qd3 Rd8 27. Rf5 Bf6 28. Qd5 (28. Rxf4 {was good too.} Qe5 (28...
d5 29. Bxd5 Qxa3 30. g3) 29. g3 Qa1+ 30. Kg2 Qxa3 31. Rf5) 28... g5 {This
creates additional weaknesses, after which White should win easily.} 29. Qc6 $2
{I overlooked the back rank and gave Black a chance.} (29. h4 $1 h6 30. Qc6 $18
) 29... d5 $1 {Black rids himself of the pawn that obstructed his own
counterplay.} 30. Rxd5 (30. Bxd5 Qxe4 31. g4 Qe2 $11) 30... Bd4 $2 {This
mistake ruins the opportunities gained by the d5-break.} (30... Rxd5 {was
necessary.} 31. Qxd5 Kg7 {White is still better, but pushing for a win is not
so simple here.}) 31. h4 $1 $18 {fixing the earlier mistake. Black cannot
support the g5 pawn with h6, so the kingside structure is ruined.} Rxd5 32.
Qxd5 Bf6 33. hxg5 Bxg5 34. e5 {White gains control of the dark squares, not
giving Black any ground and hampering the defense of the kingside. Now Black
is helpless against the future passed pawn on the queenside.} Kg7 35. b4 axb4
36. axb4 Qxb4 {An attempt to escape from passive defense, but White's pressure
against the king is too powerful.} 37. Qxf7+ Kh6 38. Bd3 Qe7 39. Qf5 {Black
now loses at least a piece.} Kh5 40. Qh3+ Bh4 41. g3 fxg3 42. fxg3 Qc5+ 43. Kf1
1-0

[Event "Tata Steel Masters"]
[Site "chess24.com"]
[Date "2022.01.25"]
[Round "9.1"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E04"]
[WhiteElo "2865"]
[BlackElo "2767"]
[Annotator "Moradiabadi"]
[PlyCount "53"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]
[WhiteTeam "Norway"]
[BlackTeam "Azerbaijan"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "NOR"]
[BlackTeamCountry "AZE"]

1. d4 {In a battle between the two leaders Carlsen prevailed in this gem of a
game. The world champion's performance was so impressive that Mamedyarov
considered this the game he enjoyed most in Wijk!} Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 e6 4. g3
{The Catalan was Carslen's main weapon for this tournament. As he must have
worked on it extensively for the match against Nepomniachtchi, it was not
unexpected that he uses the 'leftovers' here.} dxc4 5. Bg2 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 a5 {
As championed (fruitlessly!) by Topalov in his 2006 match against Kramnik and
in 2010 against Anand.} 7. O-O O-O 8. e3 $5 {Reinforcing the d4-pawn and
preparing Nf3-d5.} Ra6 {A rare choice.} ({More common is} 8... Nc6 9. Qe2 Qe7 (
9... e5 $6 10. Nxe5 $5 Nxe5 11. dxe5 Ng4 12. f4 (12. a3 $2 Bxd2 13. Nxd2 Nxe5
$11 {0-1 (39) Matlakov,M (2685)-Gelfand,B (2676) Chess.com INT 2020}) 12... Bf5
13. Bxb4 $5 $146 (13. e4 Qd4+ 14. Kh1 Bc8 $13 {1-0 (41) Shirov,A (2735)
-Kortschnoj, V (2610) Karlovy Vary 2007}) 13... axb4 14. Re1 Qd3 15. Qxd3 Bxd3
16. h3 Nh6 17. Bxb7 Rab8 18. Bf3 $16) 10. Qxc4 e5 11. d5 Nb8 12. e4 Bd6 {
resulting in an original position.}) 9. Qc2 b5 10. a4 c6 11. Nc3 Rb6 12. e4 Be7
$6 {This feels like a waste of time.} ({Instead I'd prefer} 12... h6 13. Rfd1
Nbd7 14. Bf4 Re8 {and now the bishop can drop back comfortably to f8, while
the d7-knight could be manuevered to g6 via the same square.}) 13. e5 $1 Nd5
14. axb5 cxb5 {[#]} 15. Nxd5 $1 {That Carlsen saw the limitations of this very
tempting exchange sacrifice is impossible without deep understanding of the
position. This is not a case where you can calculate your way to a clear
outcome!} exd5 16. Bxa5 Nc6 17. Bxb6 Qxb6 18. Ra8 $1 {Making sure that Black
cannot use the power of his rook to support his dangerous queenside majority.}
h6 $2 {Probably a decisive error.} ({After the correct} 18... Be6 19. Rxf8+
Bxf8 20. Qd2 h6 21. Ra1 b4 {White has the upper hand but it is not clear how
he can make progress. I suspect part of that progress will involve pushing the
kingside pawns.}) 19. Rfa1 Be6 20. Qd1 $1 {Everything falls into place - and
just in time!} b4 21. b3 c3 22. R8a6 Qc7 23. Ne1 $1 {The knight heads to the
c2-square, and Black has zero counter-play.} f6 24. Nd3 $1 {It turns out that
Carlsen can calculate too! This change of plans will send the knight to the
f4-square, prompted by the many weaknesses in Black's camp.} fxe5 (24... Nxd4
25. Rxe6 Nxe6 26. Bxd5 $18) (24... g5 25. exf6 Bxf6 26. Nc5 Bf7 27. Rxc6 $1
Qxc6 28. Ra6 {delicious skewer.}) 25. Nxe5 Nxe5 26. Rxe6 c2 27. Qe1 (27. Qe1
Nd3 28. Rxe7 c1=Q (28... Qc3 29. Bxd5+ Kh8 30. Re8 $1 {For the sake of
brevity! Black is down a rook!}) 29. Rxc1 Qxc1 30. Qxc1 Nxc1 31. Bxd5+ $18) 1-0

[Event "Tata Steel Masters"]
[Site "chess24.com"]
[Date "2022.01.15"]
[Round "1.5"]
[White "Duda, Jan-Krzysztof"]
[Black "Rapport, Richard"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D02"]
[WhiteElo "2760"]
[BlackElo "2763"]
[Annotator "Moradiabadi"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]
[WhiteTeam "Poland"]
[BlackTeam "Hungary"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "POL"]
[BlackTeamCountry "HUN"]

{While Duda won this game, he must have been disappointed with his performance,
especially after his stellar showing at the World Rapid and Blitz. Rapport, on
the other hand, had one of his best showings in recent years.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3
d5 3. Bf4 {The London system has evolved from being 'solid way to make a draw'
into a venomous system these days.} Bf5 4. c4 e6 5. e3 Nbd7 {Certainly not the
only move. Other options include} (5... Bd6 {This is my favorite move.}) (5...
Bxb1 6. Qxb1 (6. Rxb1 Bb4+ 7. Ke2 {is also possible.}) 6... Bb4+ {was tested
in Carlsen - So (Wijk aan Zee, 2018). It's playable for Black, but it requires
very accurate, concrete preparation rather simply 'playing by hand.'}) 6. Qb3
Bd6 7. Bg3 ({Engines initially prefer} 7. Bxd6 cxd6 8. Nc3 dxc4 9. Bxc4 Qb6 10.
Nd2 {. But at the highest levels this is almost nothing for White. Duda's plan
is quite tricky.}) 7... dxc4 ({Much easier was} 7... O-O 8. Nc3 Bxg3 9. hxg3 c6
{and now if} 10. Qxb7 $2 Rb8 11. Qxc6 Rxb2 {Black has not just compensation
but an attack!}) 8. Bxc4 Rb8 9. Nc3 b5 10. Be2 O-O 11. Rd1 Qe7 12. Ne5 $1 {
The engines don't care for this move, but they're wrong! With this we see
Duda's deep strategic concept, one that lured Rapport into a losing position.}
b4 13. Na4 Bxe5 14. dxe5 Ne4 15. f3 Nxg3 16. hxg3 Nc5 ({After} 16... Nxe5 17.
e4 Bg6 18. Qe3 {White has 'enough' compensation with the weak c5-square and
the bad bishop on g6.}) 17. Nxc5 Qxc5 18. Kf2 Qxe5 19. Rd7 $1 {Now White
occupies the d-file and plays to shut out the black bishop.} a5 20. Rhd1 h5 21.
e4 Bg6 22. R1d2 h4 $1 {Rapport correctly seeks activity.} 23. gxh4 Qh2 24. Bf1
Qxh4+ 25. g3 Qh5 26. Qe3 {[#]} c5 $2 {I think this is where Rapport really
spun out. It misses an opportunity to equalize where he could solve his two
problems at once - the passive rook and the passive bishop.} ({With} 26... f5
$1 27. exf5 ({and not} 27. Bc4 $4 Qh2+ $19) 27... Rxf5 $1 28. Qxe6+ Kh7 29. Bg2
Rbf8 30. f4 Qh2 31. Qe3 Re8 {Black is safe.}) 27. Kg2 a4 ({Now} 27... f5 $2 {
is worse in light of} 28. Bc4) 28. Bc4 a3 29. b3 Qe5 30. Qf4 $1 {White plays
for domination.} Qxf4 31. gxf4 {Engine evaluations (+1.5 or so) don't tell the
full story here - in over-the-board play, Black is dead in the water!} Bh5 32.
Kg3 g6 $2 {Rapport tries to build a fortress but this move loses by force.} (
32... Rbc8 33. R2d6 Rce8 34. Kf2 Kh7 35. Ke3 Kg8 36. Rc7 {also looks bad.}) 33.
R2d3 $1 {Prophylactics for the final march!} Rbe8 34. Kh4 Kg7 35. Kg5 Rh8 36.
Rc7 Rc8 37. Re7 Rce8 38. Red7 Rhf8 39. Rc7 Rh8 40. Rdd7 Rhf8 41. f5 {A neat
performance by Duda. He was doing well, until he lost to Mamedyarov.} 1-0

[Event "Tata Steel Masters"]
[Site "chess24.com"]
[Date "2022.01.15"]
[Round "1.6"]
[White "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"]
[Black "Shankland, Sam"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D35"]
[WhiteElo "2727"]
[BlackElo "2708"]
[Annotator "Moradiabadi"]
[PlyCount "145"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]
[WhiteTeam "India"]
[BlackTeam "United States"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "IND"]
[BlackTeamCountry "USA"]

{[%evp 0,145,26,18,20,-4,-10,-5,6,2,-4,0,5,8,37,39,40,44,59,57,56,63,53,59,48,
45,34,19,10,25,7,6,9,16,7,15,11,16,20,13,11,3,39,37,34,34,44,21,44,20,52,14,26,
0,54,19,5,0,7,3,30,42,45,43,44,55,43,51,88,90,95,93,89,97,91,98,103,96,95,94,
99,91,99,103,112,101,112,110,116,133,130,136,129,143,143,143,192,187,196,185,
184,183,208,204,201,201,195,179,192,193,192,157,137,150,236,232,370,370,368,
360,367,362,378,373,678,739,744,409,441,505,547,547,547,509,547,527,537,547,
547,547,774,784,784,804,804,804,804,804]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5
exd5 5. Bg5 c6 6. e3 Be7 7. Bd3 O-O 8. h3 Ne8 9. Bf4 Bd6 10. Qf3 Qf6 11. Nge2
Bxf4 12. Nxf4 Nd6 13. h4 Re8 14. O-O-O Bf5 15. Bxf5 Qxf5 16. g4 Qf6 17. g5 Qf5
18. Qh3 Qxh3 19. Rxh3 Nd7 20. b3 Ne4 21. Nxe4 Rxe4 22. Kd2 Rae8 23. Ne2 R4e6
24. Ng3 g6 25. h5 c5 26. Rdh1 R8e7 27. Rc1 cxd4 28. exd4 Nf8 29. Rc5 Rd6 30.
Rc8 Red7 31. Ne2 Rd8 32. Rxd8 Rxd8 33. Nf4 f6 34. gxf6 Kf7 35. hxg6+ hxg6 36.
Nd3 Kxf6 37. Rf3+ Ke7 38. Ne5 Ke6 {[#] We all want to be good at the technical
side of chess, but it takes a lifetime to master its nuances. This is all the
more true because "technique" is usually required around the first time
controls!} 39. a4 $2 ({Vidit could have sealed the deal after} 39. Rf7 $1 {
although I suspect he was afraid of} Nd7 {. But after} (39... Rb8 40. f4 a5 41.
a4 b6 (41... b5 42. axb5 $18) 42. Ke3 {and Black has no move}) 40. Rxd7 Rxd7
41. Nxd7 Kxd7 42. Ke3 g5 43. Kf3 Ke6 44. Kg4 Kf6 {[#]} 45. b4 $1 {Black is in
zugzwang - count the tempi!} a6 46. a4 b6 47. f4 gxf4 48. Kxf4 a5 49. b5 {
and White wins.}) 39... a5 40. Kd3 Rb8 41. Rf7 g5 42. Rg7 Kf5 43. Ke3 b6 44.
Kf3 g4+ 45. Nxg4 Ne6 46. Ne3+ Kf6 47. Rg4 b5 48. Nxd5+ Kf7 49. Ke4 bxa4 50.
bxa4 Rb2 51. f3 Rb3 52. f4 Ra3 53. Nb6 Rb3 54. Nd5 Ra3 55. Ke5 Rxa4 56. f5 Nf8
57. Kd6 Nh7 58. f6 Kf8 59. Ke5 Ra1 60. Nf4 Re1+ 61. Kf5 Ke8 62. Rg8+ Nf8 63. d5
Rf1 64. d6 Rd1 65. Ng6 Rf1+ 66. Ke5 Re1+ 67. Kd5 Rd1+ 68. Kc6 Rc1+ 69. Kb5 Kd7
70. Rxf8 Kxd6 71. f7 Rc5+ 72. Ka4 Ke6 73. Nh8 1-0

[Event "Tata Steel Masters"]
[Site "chess24.com"]
[Date "2022.01.16"]
[Round "2.4"]
[White "Rapport, Richard"]
[Black "Van Foreest, Jorden"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D11"]
[WhiteElo "2763"]
[BlackElo "2702"]
[Annotator "Moradiabadi"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/pp5p/3kpn2/5pN1/PP1KPP2/7P/8/8 b - - 0 35"]
[PlyCount "24"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]
[WhiteTeam "Hungary"]
[BlackTeam "Netherlands"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "HUN"]
[BlackTeamCountry "NED"]

{[#] After a tough opening round, Rapport made the most of what Caissa offered
him in his second game. Here, in this benign, equal ending, van Foreest went
astray and gave away a pawn.} {After a tough opening round, Rapport made the
most of what Caissa offered him in his second game. Here, in this benign,
equal ending, van Foreest went astray and gave away a pawn.} 35... Nd7 ({
However, he could have held with} 35... fxe4 36. Nxe4+ Ke7 $1 $11 ({and not} 
36... Nxe4 $4 37. Kxe4 Ke7 38. Ke5 h5 39. f5 $1 $18)) 36. Nxh7 e5+ 37. fxe5+
Nxe5 38. exf5 Nc6+ 39. Kc4 Ke5 40. f6 Ke6 41. b5 Ne5+ 42. Kd4 a6 43. Ng5+ Kxf6
44. Ne4+ Kf5 45. Nd6+ Kf4 46. b6 a5 47. Kc5 1-0

[Event "Tata Steel Masters"]
[Site "chess24.com"]
[Date "2022.01.28"]
[Round "11.5"]
[White "Praggnanandhaa R"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D45"]
[WhiteElo "2612"]
[BlackElo "2792"]
[Annotator "Moradiabadi"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "3q1nk1/1b3pp1/4p2p/p1p1P3/1bP5/2N1P3/1BQ2PPP/1B4K1 b - - 0 30"]
[PlyCount "33"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]
[WhiteTeam "India"]
[BlackTeam "United States"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "IND"]
[BlackTeamCountry "USA"]

{[#]} {The ability to liquidate into a winning position is one of the hardest
things to learn in chess. The skills required to obtain winning positions
without material superiority requires several examples and careful study. Here
Caruana puts on a master class.} 30... Bxc3 $1 {Back-rank threat number one!}
31. Bxc3 Be4 $1 {Back-rank threat number two!} 32. Qc1 Bxb1 33. Qxb1 a4 {
The a-pawn is unstoppable.} 34. h3 a3 35. Kh2 Qa8 36. Qb3 a2 37. Ba1 Qa5 38.
Kg3 g5 $1 {Now it is time for the principle of two weaknesses. White is tied
down, so Black opens up a second front.} 39. h4 gxh4+ 40. Kxh4 Ng6+ 41. Kg3 h5
42. Qb2 Qd8 43. f4 Qh4+ 44. Kf3 Qe1 45. Qxa2 Nh4+ 46. Ke4 Qf1 0-1

[Event "Tata Steel Masters"]
[Site "chess24.com"]
[Date "2022.01.30"]
[Round "13.5"]
[White "Van Foreest, Jorden"]
[Black "Shankland, Sam"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D02"]
[WhiteElo "2702"]
[BlackElo "2708"]
[Annotator "Moradiabadi"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/1p1b3R/3k4/3P2p1/6P1/r4B2/5PK1/8 w - - 0 51"]
[PlyCount "37"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]
[WhiteTeam "Netherlands"]
[BlackTeam "United States"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "NED"]
[BlackTeamCountry "USA"]

{[%evp 0,37,105,115,115,94,77,148,193,209,231,230,230,230,230,238,225,245,244,
266,273,254,282,231,229,225,285,282,360,293,1015,1015,1487,1014,1695,1769,1769,
1769,2217,2227]} 51. Rg7 {Here, in the final round of a very long tournament,
Sam Shankland is faced with the loss of a second pawn in a tricky endgame. His
b-pawn and active pieces may (should?) suffice to hold, but deducing the path
to safety after more than two weeks of intense struggle is not easy.} b5 52.
Rxg5 b4 53. Rg8 Ra5 $4 {Shankland goes for the obvious move, but I wonder
whether he thought that the position was already lost at this point. Sometimes
the ability to find 'only-moves' a few moves into analysis depends upon
believing in your chances to hold!} ({Sam had to find} 53... b3 $1 54. Rb8 Kc5
55. g5 {and now} Bf5 $3 {[#] This is very difficult to see in advance. After
all, Black was banking on the speedy b-pawn marching down the board, but all
of a sudden, he has to shift his attention to stop White's pieces from
progressing. Black's piece activity is just enough to achieve this goal.} 56.
Bd1 (56. Kg3 b2 57. Rxb2 Be4 {leads nowhere.}) (56. d6 Kxd6 57. g6 Ra7 $1 58.
Rxb3 (58. Kg3 Ke5) 58... Ke5 {All these 'only-moves' are easy enough to find
after the fog of battle has lifted, but mindset is key: it's not simple at all
to find them when you aren't sure that a draw exists!} 59. Rb6 Rg7 60. Bh5 Kf4
61. f3 Kg5 {and Black secures the g6-pawn.}) 56... Be4+ ({There's also a draw
after} 56... Bc2 57. Rc8+ Kxd5 58. Bxc2 bxc2 59. Rxc2 Ke5 {but the main line
is clearer}) 57. f3 Bxd5 58. Kg3 Kd4 59. Kf4 Kc3 60. Rc8+ Kd2 61. Rd8 (61. Bxb3
Rxb3) 61... Kxd1 62. Rxd5+ Kc2 63. g6 b2 64. Rc5+ Kd3 65. Rb5 {[#]} Ra4+ $3 66.
Kg3 (66. Kg5 Ra5) 66... Kc3 67. g7 Ra8 68. f4 Rg8 {And Black's rook saves the
day!}) 54. g5 b3 ({There's no salvation with} 54... Ke5 55. g6 Kf6 56. Be4 b3
57. Rf8+ $18) 55. g6 b2 56. Rb8 Rb5 57. Rxb5 Bxb5 58. g7 b1=Q 59. g8=Q Qf1+ 60.
Kg3 {White manages to parry all the checks and the extra two pawns ensures his
victory.} Qd3 61. Qe6+ Kc7 62. Qe5+ Kd7 63. Qe3 Qb1 64. Qe6+ Kd8 65. d6 Qh7 66.
Qf6+ Kd7 67. Bg4+ Ke8 68. Qe5+ Kd8 69. Qg5+ 1-0

[Event "Tata Steel Masters"]
[Site "chess24.com"]
[Date "2022.01.29"]
[Round "12.6"]
[White "Duda, Jan-Krzysztof"]
[Black "Van Foreest, Jorden"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D43"]
[WhiteElo "2760"]
[BlackElo "2702"]
[Annotator "Moradiabadi"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "3r1k2/1p4p1/2p1bp1p/pq6/4PQ2/P5PP/1P2RPBK/8 w - - 0 32"]
[PlyCount "25"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]
[WhiteTeam "Poland"]
[BlackTeam "Netherlands"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "POL"]
[BlackTeamCountry "NED"]

{[#]} {After the loss to Mamedyarov and then a loss to Caruana with the white
pieces, Duda finished at -1. It could have been worse. Here, the Polish number
one should have conceded a draw with 32. Rd2, but instead he chose an
adventurous line over safety.} 32. Qc7 $4 {Why is this move a blunder? After}
Rd7 33. Qb8+ Kf7 $2 {last year's winner threw away a win.} ({Had van Foreest
found} 33... Ke7 $1 34. Rc2 Qd3 35. Rc3 Qd2 {there would have been no easy way
to save the f2-pawn. Perhaps he rejected this line due to} 36. Rf3 Qxb2 {
when, from a distance, it might appear that White has enough compensation for
the pawn in the slightly exposed black king. But after ... Qb2-e5 and ...
Ke7-f7 Black consolidates and can begin marching his queenside pawns down the
board.}) 34. Bf3 Qd3 35. Qf4 g5 36. Bh5+ Kg7 37. Qb8 $1 {The queen saves the
day!} g4 ({If instead} 37... Bf7 {Duda might have found the surprising} 38. Bg4
$1 (38. Bxf7 $2 Rxf7 39. Re3 Qf1 40. Rf3 Qe2 {And the problem with f2-pawn
costs White a pawn again!}) 38... h5 39. Bxd7 $3 Qxe2 40. Qxb7 {(greedy but
necessary!)} Qxf2+ 41. Kh1 Qe1+ 42. Kh2 Qxe4 43. Bxc6 Qe2+ 44. Bg2 {and Black
only has a bit of pressure, nothing more.}) 38. Re1 Qd2 39. Rf1 Bc4 40. Qe8 $1
{Securing the perpetual.} Bxf1 41. Qg6+ Kh8 42. Qe8+ Kg7 43. Qg6+ Kh8 44. Qe8+
1/2-1/2

[Event "Tata Steel Masters"]
[Site "chess24.com"]
[Date "2022.01.29"]
[Round "12.5"]
[White "Shankland, Sam"]
[Black "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E20"]
[WhiteElo "2708"]
[BlackElo "2743"]
[Annotator "Moradiabadi"]
[PlyCount "51"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]
[WhiteTeam "United States"]
[BlackTeam "Russia"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "USA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "RUS"]

{Shankland's only win in this event was an instructive one.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6
3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 c5 5. d5 b5 6. e4 d6 7. Bd2 a6 8. a4 bxc4 9. Bxc4 Nbd7 $1 {
A sound pawn sacrifice. The ensuing play is very logical, even if it appears a
bit chaotic. Much turns on Black's ability (or non-ability) to play ...
Nd7-e5-d3.} 10. dxe6 fxe6 11. Bxe6 Ne5 12. Bxc8 {Eliminating the double
threats on d3 and e6.} Qxc8 13. Bf4 {Defending the d3-square.} c4 {Black, in
turn, frees the c5-square and prepares ...Ne5-d3 once more.} 14. Bxe5 dxe5 15.
Nh3 Bc5 $6 {Inaccurate per our silicon friends.} ({The machine argues for} 
15... Qc5 16. Nf2 (16. Qe2 O-O-O 17. Nf2 Rd4 18. O-O Rhd8 19. Rfd1 Bxc3 20.
bxc3 Rxd1+ 21. Rxd1 Rxd1+ 22. Qxd1 Qe3 {0-1 (67) Nechaeva,M (2359)
-Kashlinskaya,A (2494) Moscow 2020 and Black's compensation is more than
sufficient.}) 16... Bxc3+ 17. bxc3 Qe3+ 18. Kf1 Qxc3 19. Rc1 Qb4 (19... Qa3 $2
20. Rxc4 $1 (20. Qc2 Rc8 $13 {0-1 (42) Basso,P (2538)-Alsina Leal,D (2500)
Cattolica 2021}) 20... O-O 21. Qd3 $1 Qa2 22. Qc2 $16 {and queen trade is
forced and White is up a pawn in the ending.}) 20. Qc2 Rc8 $13) 16. Qe2 Rb8 17.
Nf2 {Another logical move, preparing castling.} Qb7 $2 {Karjakin stumbles.} ({
Better was} 17... Bd4 {Better is} 18. O-O Nh5 19. Kh1 Nf4 20. Qd2 O-O {when
Black's activity more than makes up for the pawn. Here we see the limits of
logic - Karjakin's move, while 'logical,' fails to address the more pressing
concern of his king safety!}) 18. O-O $6 ({Shankland should have gone for the
brave (and consistent)} 18. Qxc4 $1 {but he may have worried about} Bxf2+ {
. This looks scary, but it's not real trouble:} ({note that the more accurate} 
18... Qxb2 19. O-O Bxf2+ 20. Kh1 {transposes}) 19. Kxf2 Qxb2+ 20. Kg3 Nh5+ {[#]
} 21. Kh4 Nf4 22. Qc6+ Kf7 (22... Ke7 {loses to} 23. Nd5+ Nxd5 24. Qc5+ $1 {
an only move, controlling the f2-square!} Ke8 (24... Kf6 25. Qd6+) 25. Rhb1 {
and Black sheds material.}) 23. Qc7+ Kg6 (23... Kf8 24. Ra2 Qb6 25. Qxb6 Rxb6
26. g3 g5+ 27. Kg4 h5+ 28. Kf5 {and White starts to pick up pawns.}) 24. Qxe5 {
and White wins.}) 18... Qxb2 $2 {Karjakin misses his chance.} ({White would be
stuck with some technical difficulties after} 18... Qb4 {, none of which are
easy to address.}) 19. Qxc4 $1 Bxf2+ 20. Kh1 {Now the black king will suffer
an unstoppable attack.} Qb3 ({Karjakin wasn't in the mood for ongoing agony
after} 20... Qb4 21. Qxb4 Rxb4 22. Rxf2) 21. Qc7 $1 Qb6 ({There's no refuge in
} 21... O-O 22. Rab1 Qf7 23. Qxb8 Rxb8 24. Rxb8+ Ne8 25. Rxf2 {.}) 22. Qxe5+
Kf7 23. Nd5 {Adding fuel to the fire... and another logical move!} Nxd5 ({
If instead} 23... Rhe8 24. Qxe8+ Nxe8 25. Nxb6 Bxb6 26. Rab1 Nd6 27. a5 Bc7 28.
Rxb8 Bxb8 29. Rc1 {White grabs the a-pawn and wins with ease.}) 24. Qxd5+ Ke7
25. Qe5+ Kf7 26. Rac1 ({Karjakin doesn't wait to see the final denouement:} 26.
Rac1 Rbc8 (26... Bd4 27. Rc7+ $18) 27. Rxc8 Rxc8 28. Qf5+ $18) 1-0

[Event "Tata Steel Masters"]
[Site "chess24.com"]
[Date "2022.01.29"]
[Round "12.3"]
[White "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"]
[Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C54"]
[WhiteElo "2727"]
[BlackElo "2767"]
[Annotator "Moradiabadi"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r2qr1k1/pp4p1/1bp1bp1p/n2nN3/P1BPN3/1P3Q1P/1B3PP1/R3R1K1 w - - 0 19"]
[PlyCount "40"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]
[WhiteTeam "India"]
[BlackTeam "Azerbaijan"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "IND"]
[BlackTeamCountry "AZE"]

{[#]} {Vidit misses a shot in a complex position.} 19. Nd3 $2 (19. Ng4 $3 {
is difficult to see because after} Nxc4 20. bxc4 f5 21. Nxh6+ gxh6 {[#]} 22.
Nc5 $1 {has to be seen ahead of time. Now after} Nc7 23. Nxb7 Qh4 24. Nd6 Re7 {
[#]} 25. Rxe6 Rxe6 26. Nxf5 Qf6 27. a5 {White is winning. Well... yeah. Of
course! It's obvious! </sarcasm>}) 19... Bf7 20. Re2 Bc7 21. Rae1 b6 $6 {
Wasting time. I think ...a7-a6 and ...b7-b5 was more principled.} 22. Bc1 $1 {
Bringing the last dude to the attack!} Re6 $6 {Now Mamedyarov is in trouble
again.} 23. Bd2 Nxc4 24. bxc4 Ne7 25. Bxh6 $6 {Too hasty.} ({White's attack is
in full swing after} 25. Bf4 f5 26. Bxc7 Qxc7 27. Ne5 $1 Rxe5 28. Nf6+ gxf6 29.
dxe5 fxe5 30. Rxe5 Ng6 31. Rxf5 {.}) 25... Qxd4 $2 ({The position remains
complex afte} 25... Ng6 26. d5 cxd5 27. cxd5 Rxe4 {.}) 26. Qg4 $4 {Vidit makes
the last mistake.} ({He should have tried} 26. Bf4 Bxf4 27. Nxf4 Re5 28. Qg4
Kf8 29. Nxf6 $1 {and with the f4-knight jumping to e6 or g6, White stays a
pawn up with a winning attack, i.e.} Rxe2 30. Nh7+ Kg8 31. Rxe2 $16) 26... f5 {
Winning a piece, after which Mamedyarov duly converts.} 27. Bxg7 Qxg7 28. Qxg7+
Kxg7 29. Ng5 Rxe2 30. Rxe2 Ng6 31. Ne6+ Bxe6 32. Rxe6 Rd8 33. Rxc6 Bb8 34. Ne1
Ne5 35. Re6 Kf7 36. Rh6 Rd1 37. Kf1 Nxc4 38. Rh4 Ne3+ 0-1

[Event "Tata Steel Masters"]
[Site "chess24.com"]
[Date "2022.01.29"]
[Round "12.1"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B31"]
[WhiteElo "2792"]
[BlackElo "2865"]
[Annotator "Moradiabadi"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "3rr1k1/1p2ppbp/2b3p1/2P1P3/p2P4/Q3BP2/3Nq1PP/1RR3K1 b - - 0 26"]
[PlyCount "47"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]
[WhiteTeam "United States"]
[BlackTeam "Norway"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "USA"]
[BlackTeamCountry "NOR"]

{[#]} {[#] Carlsen demonstrates his technical prowess with this small exchange
sacrifice.} 26... Rxd4 $1 27. Bxd4 Qxd2 28. Rd1 Qf4 ({Engines prefer} 28... Qc2
29. Rbc1 Qf5 {but, practically speaking, there's not much difference between
Carlsen's move and Stockfish's.}) 29. Qb4 e6 30. Bc3 $2 {Losing by force.} Qxb4
$1 31. Bxb4 ({My guess is that after} 31. Rxb4 {Caruana missed} Bf8 32. Bd4 Rd8
33. Rc4 a3 34. Kf2 a2 35. Ra1 Ra8 36. Rb4 Bd5) 31... Bxe5 32. Ba3 {Lacking
counterplay, White is ground down. Carlsen converts his advantage slowly but
surely.} Bf6 33. Kf2 Be7 34. Rb6 Rc8 35. Rd2 f6 36. f4 e5 37. fxe5 fxe5 38. Re2
Rf8+ 39. Ke1 Rf5 40. Rb1 e4 41. Rc1 Bh4+ 42. g3 Bg5 43. Rb1 Rf3 44. Bc1 Bf6 45.
Rb6 Rf5 46. Ba3 Kf7 47. Rf2 Rf3 48. Rxf3 exf3 49. Kf1 Bd4 0-1

[Event "Tata Steel Masters"]
[Site "chess24.com"]
[Date "2022.01.28"]
[Round "11.1"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2865"]
[BlackElo "2727"]
[Annotator "Moradiabadi"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "5rk1/6p1/pp5p/3n4/P1P1N3/7P/4K1P1/1R6 b - - 0 28"]
[PlyCount "47"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]
[WhiteTeam "Norway"]
[BlackTeam "India"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "NOR"]
[BlackTeamCountry "IND"]

{[#]} 28... Re8 $4 {It's hard to explain Vidit's move. Instead he had two
reasonable options.} ({After} 28... Nf4+ 29. Ke3 (29. Kf1 $2 Nxh3+) 29... Nxg2+
30. Kd4 Rd8+ 31. Kc3 Re8 32. Nd6 Re3+ {Black's active pieces and extra pawn
should suffice to counter White's pressure on the queenside and his active
king.}) ({The safest and easiest path to a draw begins with} 28... Nf6 $1 29.
Nd6 Nd7 {.}) 29. cxd5 Rxe4+ 30. Kd3 Rxa4 31. d6 $1 {In rook and pawn endings,
quality is more important than quantity. Carlsen doesn't even consider Rb1xb6.}
Kf7 32. Re1 $1 {The king is cut-off. Now, White has a form of Lucena, but that
it's not exactly Lucena (yet) means that Carlsen has work to do.} Ra5 33. Kd4
Ra2 34. Kd5 $1 {Quality.} Rd2+ 35. Kc6 b5 {[#]} 36. d7 $2 {After almost
squeezing water from the proverbial stone, Carlsen misses the win at the last
step.} ({Correct was} 36. Re7+ $1 Kf6 37. Re4 $3 {winning important tempi that
would deprive Black of the counterplay he obtained in the game. For instance:}
Kf7 (37... a5 38. d7 b4 39. Re8 b3 40. d8=Q+ Rxd8 41. Rxd8 a4 42. Rb8 Ke5 43.
Rb4 $18) (37... Rxg2 38. Rd4 $1 $18 {and now we see why the check on e7 was so
important - with the king on f6, Black can't bring his king to d8 via e8.}) 38.
d7 Rc2+ 39. Kb7 Rd2 40. Kc7 Rc2+ 41. Kd8 a5 42. Re7+ Kf8 43. Re5 a4 44. Rf5+
Kg8 45. Ke7 Rd2 46. d8=Q+ Rxd8 47. Kxd8 b4 48. Ra5 a3 49. Ra4 $18) ({Note that
after} 36. Re4 $2 Rxg2 37. d7 Rc2+ 38. Kb6 Rd2 39. Kc7 Rc2+ 40. Kd8 g5 {
Black draws with his kingside majority.}) 36... Rc2+ 37. Kb6 Rd2 38. Kc7 Rc2+
39. Kd8 b4 $1 {Now the black b-pawn is too advanced. The rest of the game is
fairly self-explanatory.} 40. Re7+ Kf8 41. Re3 Kf7 42. Re7+ Kf8 43. Re5 g6 44.
Re6 b3 45. Rf6+ Kg7 46. Ke7 Re2+ 47. Re6 Rxe6+ 48. Kxe6 b2 49. d8=Q b1=Q 50.
Qc7+ Kg8 51. Qd8+ Kg7 1/2-1/2

[Event "Tata Steel Challengers"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2022.01.30"]
[Round "13.5"]
[White "04.1 Warmerdam, Max"]
[Black "Dardha, Daniel"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C24"]
[WhiteElo "2607"]
[BlackElo "2532"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/pp5k/2p5/5r2/3Pn3/1P4N1/1PP5/2K3R1 b - - 0 32"]
[PlyCount "33"]
[EventDate "2022.01.15"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "NED"]
[EventCategory "13"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]

{[%evp 0,96,23,30,12,22,12,15,-4,9,4,4,40,42,47,53,42,29,30,43,12,25,21,4,-7,
-8,-18,-15,-8,0,-9,10,23,24,17,21,33,36,48,59,50,41,46,36,22,33,35,47,37,36,20,
22,18,39,39,-29,67,52,64,67,71,70,69,67,90,-123,-126,-123,-150,-135,-153,-151,
-82,-86,-55,-74,-22,-21,0,0,0,-99,-99,-92,-104,-87,-87,-180,-100,-100,-144,
-203,-301,-497,-497,-904,-1449,-1449,-1482] [#]} 32... Ra5 $1 {Black is
threatening mate on a1} ({Not} 32... Rg5 $4 33. Rh1+ {and White is winning.})
33. c4 (33. Kb1 $4 {runs into} Nd2+ 34. Kc1 Nxb3+ 35. cxb3 Ra1+ {and Black is
winning.}) 33... Ra1+ 34. Kc2 Rxg1 35. Nxe4 {This endgame is far from won for
Black, but White has a difficult defensive task ahead and eventually lost.} Kg6
$6 36. Nd6 b5 37. d5 cxd5 38. c5 Rg2+ 39. Kd3 Rxb2 40. Kc3 Rb1 41. Nxb5 $6 Kf6
42. Nxa7 Ke5 43. Nc6+ Ke4 44. b4 $4 (44. Kb4 {was necessary. Now Black wins.})
44... Rh1 45. Na5 d4+ 46. Kd2 Rh2+ 47. Kd1 Kd3 48. Ke1 Kc3 {White resigned.}
0-1

[Event "Tata Steel Challengers"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2022.01.28"]
[Round "11.7"]
[White "04.2 Maurizzi, Marc'Andria"]
[Black "Dardha, Daniel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D38"]
[WhiteElo "2502"]
[BlackElo "2532"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r1b1r1k1/p1qn1p2/5P1p/3p4/1ppP3p/2P2P2/P1BN2PP/R1Q2RK1 w - - 0 19"]
[PlyCount "15"]
[EventDate "2022.01.15"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "NED"]
[EventCategory "13"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]

{[%evp 0,51,23,23,23,13,13,20,33,25,33,11,29,-40,2,-5,23,31,19,36,57,47,46,46,
35,23,16,33,34,33,66,40,61,49,65,32,160,262,315,184,257,352,352,324,468,463,
588,588,643,697,1408,1743,29991,29992] [#]} 19. Ne4 $1 ({This is best, but also
} 19. Nxc4 $1 {is very strong, for instance,} Qxc4 20. Qxh6 Nxf6 21. Qg5+ Kf8
22. Qxf6 {and White is winning.}) 19... dxe4 20. fxe4 ({White wants the rook
to join in, but also} 20. Qxh6 Nxf6 21. Qg5+ Kf8 22. Qxf6 {wins for White.})
20... Nxf6 21. Rxf6 Re6 22. e5 {Now both White's queen and bishop will join
the attack and the defenders will not be there in time.} b3 23. axb3 cxb3 24.
Bxb3 Rxf6 25. exf6 Kh7 ({Or} 25... Kf8 26. Ba4 {, stopping the king from
escaping, followed by Qxh6 with mate to follow.}) 26. Bc2+ {and Black resigned.
} 1-0

[Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2022.01.26"]
[Round "10.7"]
[White "04.3 Dubov, Daniil"]
[Black "Grandelius, N."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B50"]
[WhiteElo "2720"]
[BlackElo "2672"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "5k2/4Rn2/5P1p/4P1r1/5K2/8/8/8 b - - 0 76"]
[PlyCount "13"]
[EventDate "2022.01.15"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "NED"]
[EventCategory "20"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]

{[%evp 0,164,23,23,46,46,89,54,53,38,44,4,-5,-26,0,-13,1,1,-5,8,34,25,26,28,35,
-8,-14,0,-3,-7,-6,-2,-6,-2,0,-7,-6,-16,-14,-3,7,-40,-40,-57,-54,-46,-48,-69,
-42,-92,-72,-66,-84,-96,-69,-114,-128,-83,-101,-92,-98,-96,-87,-87,-87,-87,-92,
-92,-96,-94,-114,-113,-110,-98,-71,-74,-77,-78,-80,-80,-80,-85,-85,-74,-70,-63,
-63,-77,-45,-103,-110,-102,-92,-152,-148,-176,-176,-175,-132,-171,-122,-148,
-162,-167,-169,-177,-177,-174,-56,-59,-98,-80,-78,-77,-69,-136,-102,-172,-174,
-156,-169,-155,-150,-148,-112,-142,-150,-172,-145,-193,-204,-213,-183,-188,
-123,-103,-30,-50,-99,-48,-27,-27,-27,-27,-27,-28,-28,-30,-30,-32,-29,-29,-32,
-289,-276,-315,-315,-322,-317,-366,-366,-367,-366,-385,-356,-532,-562] [#]} 
76... Nh8 $1 {Threatening to give a fork on g6, so either White's rook or king
has to move.} 77. Ke4 ({Or} 77. Rh7 Ng6+ {and Black wins the e-pawn with a
check, leaving him time to save the h-pawn he needs to win the game.}) 77...
Ng6 78. Rh7 ({Or} 78. Re6 Kf7 {and the rook will no longer be able to defend
the e-pawn.}) 78... Rxe5+ 79. Kd4 h5 80. Rg7 Rg5 81. Rh7 Ne5 82. Rg7 Nf7 {
and as the rooks come off the board, White chose to resign.} 0-1

[Event "Battle of the Sexes 2022"]
[Site "Gibraltar ENG"]
[Date "2022.01.28"]
[Round "5.9"]
[White "04.4 Mammadzada, G."]
[Black "Gallagher, Jo"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B90"]
[WhiteElo "2470"]
[BlackElo "2447"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "5r2/4k3/p2pp2p/1p1q2p1/8/2RB1rBP/P2Q1P2/6K1 b - - 0 29"]
[PlyCount "5"]
[EventDate "2022.01.24"]
[EventType "team-schev"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]
[WhiteTeam "PIA"]
[BlackTeam "SABINO"]

{[%evp 0,108,19,12,50,46,73,53,53,39,39,30,68,50,49,49,27,16,2,37,37,-9,9,-39,
-39,-26,-26,-47,-36,-36,-37,-37,2,10,12,-49,-64,-41,-41,-60,-38,-38,-34,-48,
-25,-8,0,0,21,-116,-4,-67,0,-89,-75,-163,-104,-125,-64,-66,-125,-125,-92,-401,
-47,-47,-53,-53,-52,-52,41,48,16,-45,-51,-50,-11,-3,-2,-44,-47,-3,-3,0,0,0,0,
-132,-102,-140,-134,-169,-169,-171,-207,-203,-203,-290,-300,-366,-496,-416,
-773,-816,-848,-650,-884,-1056,-1073,-1108,-882] [#]} 29... Rc8 $1 ({In the
game, Black played the much weaker} 29... Qd4 $4 {, allowing White back in the
game:} 30. Kg2 Qd5 31. Kg1 Rxg3+ 32. fxg3 Rf3 33. Kh2 Qe5 34. Qg2 Qe3 35. Be2
Qxc3 36. Qxf3 $4 (36. Bxf3 {should not lose for White.}) 36... Qxf3 37. Bxf3
Kf6 38. Kg2 Ke5 39. Bg4 b4 40. Kf2 a5 41. Ke3 d5 42. Kd3 Kd6 43. Kd4 e5+ 44.
Kd3 e4+ 45. Kd4 a4 46. Bd1 b3 47. a3 Kc6 48. Kc3 Kc5 49. Bh5 d4+ 50. Kb2 Kc4
51. Bf7+ Kd3 52. Bg6 Ke3 53. Bf5 Kf3 54. Kc1 b2+ {and White resigned.}) 30.
Rxc8 ({Or} 30. Rb3 e5 31. Kh2 e4 {and Black wins.}) 30... Rxd3 {The point:
Black is threatening ...Rd1+ followed by mate on h1.} 31. Rc7+ Kd8 {and White
could have resigned.} 0-1

[Event "Battle of the Sexes 2022"]
[Site "Gibraltar ENG"]
[Date "2022.01.28"]
[Round "5.8"]
[White "04.5 Muzychuk, M."]
[Black "Rosen, E."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B53"]
[WhiteElo "2539"]
[BlackElo "2356"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/R7/3k3P/8/5p1r/8/5PK1/8 w - - 0 43"]
[PlyCount "37"]
[EventDate "2022.01.24"]
[EventType "team-schev"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]
[WhiteTeam "PIA"]
[BlackTeam "SABINO"]

{[%evp 0,121,16,12,46,50,65,53,73,37,41,43,38,53,53,32,50,39,42,40,32,46,53,16,
14,-3,44,39,39,17,11,5,2,10,3,0,0,0,70,63,48,45,54,49,57,61,55,60,72,72,70,65,
38,39,45,33,42,35,28,47,55,43,42,42,29,33,30,30,49,27,53,53,75,39,78,59,54,55,
118,120,142,133,127,130,145,145,225,225,225,225,225,245,364,225,245,239,357,
233,332,332,412,499,503,680,680,837,880,837,951,1016,1016,1016,1016,1016,1016,
1016,1016,1016,1144,1042,1157,1016,1424,1459] [#]} 43. Ra3 $1 ({The only move
to win. If White plays the obvious} 43. h7 {, Black saves a draw with} Ke6 44.
Kf3 Kf5 45. Rf7+ Kg6 46. Ra7 {, and now not 46...Rxh7 which loses but} Kf5 $1 {
and White cannot make any progress.}) 43... f3+ $5 ({The h-pawn cannot be
captured:} 43... Rxh6 44. Ra6+ {, winning the rook with a skewer, whereas}) (
43... Ke5 {is met by} 44. Rh3 $1 f3+ 45. Kg3 Rxh3+ 46. Kxh3 Kf6 47. Kg3 {
with a won pawn ending for White.}) 44. Kg3 $3 Rh1 45. Ra4 $1 {White renews
the threat to play the rook to the h-file and the pawn on h6 is untouchable,
because of the skewer.} Rg1+ 46. Kxf3 Rh1 47. Kg3 $1 {Same trick as before.
Now White is up two pawns and winning easily.} Rg1+ 48. Kh2 Rg8 49. h7 Rh8 50.
Rh4 Ke6 51. Kg3 Kf5 52. Rh5+ Kg6 53. Kg4 Kf6 54. Rh6+ Kg7 55. Kg5 Kf7 56. Rh4
Kg7 57. Rh3 Kf7 58. Kh6 Ra8 59. Rf3+ Ke6 60. Kg7 Ra7+ 61. Kg8 {and Black
resigned.} 1-0

[Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2022.01.29"]
[Round "12.5"]
[White "04.6 Shankland, S."]
[Black "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E20"]
[WhiteElo "2708"]
[BlackElo "2743"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "1r2k2r/6pp/p4n2/2b1p3/P1p1P3/2N2P2/1q2QNPP/R4RK1 w k - 0 19"]
[PlyCount "15"]
[EventDate "2022.01.15"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "NED"]
[EventCategory "20"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]

{[%evp 0,51,23,23,28,6,6,6,-2,-58,7,-15,43,39,51,13,52,5,89,69,15,48,43,22,37,
22,9,18,6,9,-2,-4,-3,-13,1,-16,109,20,71,89,54,53,33,137,144,143,141,141,156,
160,255,250,291,341] [#]} 19. Qxc4 $1 {Exploiting Black's vulnerable king, not
allowing it to castle to safety.} Bxf2+ 20. Kh1 Qb3 ({Black should have opted
for} 20... Qb4 21. Qxb4 Rxb4 22. Rxf2 {and White has an extra pawn and the
better pawn structure which should be enough for White to win.}) 21. Qc7 $1 Qb6
(21... O-O {would have run into} 22. Rab1 {, winning material after} Qf7 23.
Qxb8 $1 Rxb8 24. Rxb8+ Ne8 25. Rxf2 Qc7 26. Rxe8+ Kf7 27. Rh8 Qxc3 28. Rf1 Qc4
29. Ra1 {with an easily won endgame for White.}) 22. Qxe5+ Kf7 23. Nd5 $1 Nxd5
({Or} 23... Qa7 24. Rxf2 Rhe8 25. Qg3 {when White has two extra pawns and is
winning.}) 24. Qxd5+ Ke7 25. Qe5+ Kf7 26. Rac1 {and Black resigned.} 1-0

[Event "84th Tata Steel Masters"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2022.01.28"]
[Round "11.5"]
[White "04.7 Praggnanandhaa, R."]
[Black "Caruana, F."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D45"]
[WhiteElo "2612"]
[BlackElo "2792"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "3q1nk1/1b3pp1/4p2p/p1p1P3/1bP5/2N1P3/1BQ2PPP/1B4K1 b - - 0 30"]
[PlyCount "33"]
[EventDate "2022.01.15"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "NED"]
[EventCategory "20"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]

{[%evp 0,92,28,23,23,0,-11,-11,6,6,39,46,45,21,18,18,8,13,14,13,13,11,18,1,-6,
-1,-2,-1,-5,-4,0,0,0,-6,0,-16,-6,0,0,-2,-23,-19,13,-33,10,8,13,-17,37,-32,-9,6,
10,-40,-19,-53,-5,-31,-34,-39,-40,-46,-94,-94,-94,-94,-115,-115,-115,-115,-125,
-127,-119,-185,-200,-196,-177,-158,-163,-169,-176,-176,-163,-163,-159,-249,
-265,-424,-422,-448,-448,-441,-441,-452,-548] [#]} 30... Bxc3 $3 31. Bxc3 Be4
$1 {The point behind the previous move. White cannot capture the bishop
because of ...Qd1+ with mate.} 32. Qc1 Bxb1 33. Qxb1 a4 $1 {This was Caruana's
second and most important point: Black has an irresistible passed pawn which
decides the game in Black's favor the bishop is prety useless whereas Black's
knight can enter at will.} 34. h3 a3 35. Kh2 Qa8 36. Qb3 a2 37. Ba1 {White
tries to create a blockade with the bishop, leaving the queen active in the
hope for a perpetual check... but that is not going to happen.} Qa5 38. Kg3 g5
{Black wants the knight t0 h4 but it needs to be protected first.} 39. h4 ({
If White plays passively, then Black will slowly but surely penetrate White's
defense, for instance,} 39. Qc2 Ng6 40. Kh2 Nh4 41. Qd3 Qa8 42. f3 Kg7 43. Qc2
Qa3 {and Black is winning.}) 39... gxh4+ 40. Kxh4 Ng6+ ({The computer gives
preference to} 40... Qe1 {e.g.,} 41. Qxa2 Qh1+ 42. Kg3 h5 43. f4 h4+ 44. Kg4
Qe1 45. Kf3 Ng6 46. Qb2 Ne7 47. Qf2 Qd1+ 48. Qe2 Qxa1 {but that line contains
too many uncertainties for Caruana to opt for that when he could see a clear
path to a win with the text move.}) 41. Kg3 h5 42. Qb2 Qd8 43. f4 Qh4+ 44. Kf3
Qe1 {Now we are getting the same position as in the previous line but without
too many options for White to deviate.} 45. Qxa2 Nh4+ 46. Ke4 Qf1 {and White
resigned. Black could also have played 46...Nf5 instead of ...Qf1. Abrilliant
combination by Caruana.} 0-1

[Event "Battle of the Sexes 2022"]
[Site "Gibraltar ENG"]
[Date "2022.01.25"]
[Round "2.7"]
[White "04.8 Aziz, Husain"]
[Black "Abdumalik, Z."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D02"]
[WhiteElo "2379"]
[BlackElo "2491"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "5k2/2R1p2p/4r1p1/N2p4/1p3PbP/1n6/RP6/5K2 b - - 0 35"]
[PlyCount "15"]
[EventDate "2022.01.24"]
[EventType "team-schev"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]
[WhiteTeam "SABINO"]
[BlackTeam "PIA"]

{[%evp 0,120,23,23,23,22,47,7,10,2,11,34,61,50,38,44,85,56,60,19,13,-1,17,13,
13,-17,-30,-30,-26,-31,-24,-47,-22,-86,-58,0,0,-43,-37,-99,-79,-91,-78,-86,-46,
-45,-12,-19,-14,-24,-13,-28,15,9,7,-15,-22,-46,-47,-46,-61,-120,-120,-137,-140,
-214,-214,-209,-143,-298,-133,-246,-200,-249,-282,-285,-177,-231,-247,-251,
-152,-171,-119,-100,-116,-137,-146,-141,-151,-218,-229,-225,-190,-185,-178,
-185,-197,-199,-202,-202,-201,-182,-205,-216,-174,-235,-203,-187,-153,-153,
-120,-229,-192,-254,-547,-29993,-29994,-29995,-29996,-29997,-29998,-29999,
-30000] [#]} 35... Nd2+ ({This check forces mate. In the game, Black opted for
the slow win:} 35... Ra6 $5 36. Ra4 Rxa5 37. Rxb4 Nc5 38. Rb8+ Kf7 39. Rh8 Bh3+
40. Kg1 Ne4 41. Rxh7+ Kf6 42. Rcxe7 Ra1+ 43. Kh2 Be6 44. f5 Kxf5 45. h5 gxh5
46. Rxh5+ Kf6 47. Re8 Bf7 48. Rf8 Rd1 49. Rh4 Rd2+ 50. Kg1 Ng5 51. Rb4 d4 52.
Rb7 Kg6 53. Kf1 d3 54. Rd7 Be6 55. Rd4 Nf7 56. Ke1 Re2+ 57. Kd1 Bb3+ 58. Kc1
d2+ 59. Rxd2 Re1+ 60. Rd1 Rxd1#) 36. Kg1 Re1+ 37. Kh2 Re2+ 38. Kg3 h5 {
Threatening ...Ne4#.} 39. f5 g5 $1 {Putting a cork in White's escape route.}
40. Rc8+ Kf7 41. hxg5 Nf1+ 42. Kf4 Re4# {Very elegant.} 0-1

[Event "Tata Steel Challengers"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2022.01.25"]
[Round "9.5"]
[White "04.9 Maurizzi, Marc'Andria"]
[Black "Van Foreest, Lucas"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D27"]
[WhiteElo "2502"]
[BlackElo "2539"]
[Annotator "Hansen"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r1r1k3/5p1p/p2Rpp2/nbP5/8/B3N3/P4PPP/1R4K1 w - - 0 22"]
[PlyCount "11"]
[EventDate "2022.01.15"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "NED"]
[EventCategory "13"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]

{[%evp 0,53,28,28,24,6,25,37,25,36,41,45,47,48,48,-18,-3,-42,-26,-21,-12,7,-18,
-18,-2,-13,-2,0,0,-8,0,0,21,37,37,24,13,0,9,12,29,32,34,37,58,50,153,148,144,
133,203,202,1374,1419,29999,-30000] [#]} 22. Rb4 $3 {A incredibly strong move.
The idea is to play Rg4, followed by c6 and Rg8, trapping Black's king.} Rxc5
$2 ({Not the best but Black aimed to answer Rg4 with ...Rg5. Black's best
option was} 22... Nb7 {when White still has to play a lot of precise moves to
secure an advantage:} 23. Rd1 Rd8 24. Re1 Rd2 25. Rh4 Rad8 26. Rxh7 R8d4 27. c6
Bxc6 28. Rc1 Rxa2 29. Rxc6 Rxa3 30. Rc7 {and White has excellent winning
chances.}) 23. Rg4 Rg5 24. h4 $1 {Just because the rook comes off the board
does not mean Black's king is safe.} Rxg4 25. Nxg4 Rc8 26. Rd1 $1 f5 27. Nf6# {
A beautiful attacking idea.} 1-0

[Event "Abbazia King's Gambit Accepted"]
[Site "Abbazia (Opatija)"]
[Date "1912.01.30"]
[Round "12"]
[White "Reti, Richard"]
[Black "Duras, Oldrich"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C36"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini"]
[PlyCount "45"]
[EventDate "1912.??.??"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]

1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 d5 4. exd5 Nf6 {[#]} 5. c4 c6 6. d4 cxd5 7. Bxf4
Bb4+ 8. Nc3 O-O 9. Bd3 Re8+ 10. Be5 Be6 11. c5 Ng4 12. O-O Bxc3 13. bxc3 Ne3
14. Bxh7+ Kh8 15. Qd2 Nxf1 16. Qh6 f6 17. Qh5 Bg4 18. Qxg4 Kxh7 19. Rxf1 Nd7
20. Qh5+ Kg8 21. Ng5 Nf8 22. Qf7+ Kh8 23. Rf4 {[#]} 1-0

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1912.01.30"]
[Round "12"]
[White "Problem 1"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "6k1/8/1B3r2/8/6n1/8/6P1/5NRK b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]

 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1912.01.30"]
[Round "12"]
[White "Problem 2"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r5k1/8/8/8/8/8/PPq5/KR2Q3 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]

 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1912.01.30"]
[Round "12"]
[White "Problem 3"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "4k3/3q4/8/2Q5/4b3/7P/6P1/4R2K b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]

 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1912.01.30"]
[Round "12"]
[White "Problem 4"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "1k6/1b3q2/8/8/1Q4n1/8/6P1/4R1K1 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]

 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1912.01.30"]
[Round "12"]
[White "Problem 5"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "2k5/8/8/8/1n1p4/3P4/qP6/2KRQ3 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]

 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1912.01.30"]
[Round "12"]
[White "Problem 6"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/8/8/8/2k3b1/4PBp1/6Pq/3QRK2 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]

 0-1

[Event "Plus-Score 33"]
[Site "Chicago"]
[Date "2019.03.02"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Lang, JJ."]
[Black "Pangan, Camilo"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B01"]
[WhiteElo "2075"]
[BlackElo "2200"]
[Annotator "Lang"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceTitle "CL April 2022"]
[Source "US Chess"]
[SourceDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "2"]

1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. d4 Bg7 5. Bf4 Nxd5 6. Nxd5 Qxd5 7. Nf3 c5 8.
Be3 cxd4 9. Bxd4 Qa5+ 10. Qd2 $2 {Here is a candidate for "My Worst Move"} ({
Instead I should have played} 10. b4 $3 Qxb4+ 11. c3 {, winning serious
material. I thought of this game because my dear friend and ChessFeels podcast
co-host Julia Rios missed a similar tempo-stealing b2-b4 tactic in a recent
classical game. When I showed it to her, she asked how I found the odd motif
so quickly. Well, missed opportunities have a way of sticking with you.}) 10...
Qxd2+ 11. Kxd2 Bh6+ 12. Ke1 O-O 13. Bd3 Nc6 14. Bc3 Be6 15. h4 f6 16. Nd2 Bd5
17. f3 e5 18. h5 Kg7 19. Kf2 Rae8 20. Rae1 Rh8 21. Ne4 Re7 22. hxg6 hxg6 23.
Rh3 Be6 24. Rhh1 {Played as a provocation. I could live with a draw. Could he
live with this diagonal opening up?} f5 25. Nd6 Rd8 $2 {[#]} 26. Rxe5 {MY BEST
MOVE. This is not the most complex combination or unexpected candidate move.
But there is something pleasing about the way this move retroactively makes
sense of my previous piece-shuffling and timidity.} Nxe5 27. Bxe5+ Kh7 28. Bf4
Kg7 29. Bxh6+ Kf6 30. f4 Rxd6 31. Bg5+ 1-0

