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Главная страница Справка Коды ЭШД C50

Коды ЭШД

C47 C48 C49

C50

C51 C52 C53

C50

Код энциклопедии шахматных дебютов (ЭШД)

Описание

RU: Итальянская партия
EN: Hungarian Defence and Giuoco Pianissimo

Ходы

1. e4 e5 2. Кf3 Кc6 3. Сc4

Дебюты

Дебют королевского коня , Итальянская партия , Венгерская партия , Гамбит Блэкберна , Гамбит Руссо , Гамбит Джерома

[Event "DSB Kongress-19 Meisterturnier-18"]
[Site "Mannheim"]
[Date "1914.07.31"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Mieses, Jacques"]
[Black "Alekhine, Alexander"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C50"]
[Annotator "Alekhine,Alexander"]
[PlyCount "100"]
[EventDate "1914.07.20"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "17"]
[EventCountry "GE2"]
[SourceTitle "EXT 2017"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2016.10.25"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2016.10.25"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Nc3 d6 5. d3 Be6 6. Nd5 (6. Bxe6 fxe6 7. Be3
Bb6 8. d4 exd4 9. Nxd4 Qf6 $6 10. Nxc6 Bxe3 11. fxe3 bxc6 12. Rf1 Qg5 $6 13.
Qf3 Ne7 14. O-O-O Kd7 15. Qe2 Raf8 16. Rf3 Ng6 17. Rg3 Qe5 18. Rh3 h6 19. Rh5
Qf6 20. e5 Qf2 21. Qd3 Rf5 22. Ne4 Nxe5 23. Qb3 Qxg2 24. Nc5+ {1-0 Napolitano,
M-Viaud,A/corr-1 WCH 1950} (24. Nc5+ Kd8 (24... Ke8 25. Qb8+ Kf7 26. Qxc7+ Kg6
27. Rxf5 exf5 28. Rxd6+ $18) (24... Ke7 25. Qxe6+ $18) 25. Qb8+ Ke7 26. Qxc7+
Kf8 27. Nxe6+ $18)) 6... Na5 $1 (6... Nce7) 7. Be3 (7. Bb3 Nxb3 8. axb3 c6 $17
{Alekhine}) 7... Nxc4 8. dxc4 (8. Bxc5 Nxb2 {Alekhine}) 8... Bxe3 9. Nxe3 (9.
fxe3 $2 c6 $17 {Alekhine}) 9... Nf6 10. Qd3 (10. Nd2 $142 {Alekhine}) 10... Nd7
$1 11. b4 a5 $1 12. c3 O-O 13. O-O g6 14. Nd2 f5 15. f3 f4 16. Nd1 (16. Nd5 $4
c6 {Alekhine}) 16... g5 17. Nf2 h5 18. h3 Nf6 19. Rfd1 Qe7 (19... b6 {Alekhine}
) (19... Qe7 20. Z0 $140 {[%cal Rg5g4]} Kh8 21. Z0 Rg8 22. Z0 Rg6 23. Z0 Qg7
24. Z0 Rg8 25. Z0 g4 $40 {-+ Alekhine}) 20. c5 axb4 (20... dxc5 $143 21. Nc4
Bf7 (21... Rfd8 $145 22. Qe2 Rxd1+ 23. Rxd1 axb4 $17) 22. Nxa5 (22. bxa5 Qe6)
22... cxb4 $17 {Alekhine}) 21. cxd6 Qxd6 22. cxb4 Rxa2 23. Rxa2 Qxd3 $1 24.
Nxd3 Bxa2 25. Ra1 (25. Kf2 $145 Rd8 26. Ke2) (25. Nxe5 $2 Rd8 {[%cal Ra2b3,
Yd1b1,Rb3c2]} 26. Z0 $140 Bb3 27. Rb1 Bc2 $19 {Alekhine}) 25... Rd8 26. Rxa2
Rxd3 27. Nc4 Rd4 28. Rc2 Ne8 $1 (28... c6 29. b5 cxb5 30. Nxe5 $11 {Alekhine})
(28... Nd7 29. Na5 b6 30. Nc6 $15 {[%csl Gc6] Alekhine}) 29. b5 {[%cal Yb5b6,
Rc4e5] /\30.b6, 31.Se5} b6 30. Nxe5 (30. Kf2 g4 $1 {Alekhine} 31. hxg4 $145
hxg4 32. Nxe5 $13) 30... Rb4 31. Rc6 Rxb5 32. Rg6+ Ng7 33. Rxg5 h4 $1 $19 {
Die weiЯen Figuren stehen Patt.} 34. Kf2 (34. Nf7 $2 Rb1+ 35. Kf2 Kxf7 $19 {
Alekhine}) 34... Rc5 35. Ke2 Kh7 $1 {In Aljechins Buch "Meine besten Partien
1908-1923" gibt WeiЯ nach diesem Zug auf. Die "Deutschen Schachblдtter
verzeichnen noch die nachfolgenden Zьge.} (35... b5 36. Nf7 $1 Rxg5 37. Nxg5 {
Alekhine}) 36. Rg4 (36. Nf7 Rxg5 37. Nxg5+ Kg6 $19) 36... Rxe5 37. Rxf4 Rh5 38.
Rf7 Rc5 39. Rf4 Rc2+ 40. Kd3 Rxg2 41. Rxh4+ Kg6 42. f4 Kf6 43. Rh6+ Rg6 44. Rh8
Ne6 45. f5 Rg3+ 46. Kc4 Ng5 47. Kd4 Rxh3 48. Rf8+ Ke7 49. Rg8 Rg3 50. Kd5 Nxe4
0-1

[Event "TUR-ch"]
[Site "Istanbul"]
[Date "2006.03.18"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Haznedaroglu, Kivanc"]
[Black "Atalik, Suat"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2438"]
[BlackElo "2618"]
[Annotator "Atalik,S"]
[PlyCount "88"]
[EventDate "2006.03.11"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "TUR"]
[EventCategory "4"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 111 Extra"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2006.05.09"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2006.05.09"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 d6 $5 {I had enough with common lines in Giuccio
Piano.Recently I have seen a game Graf has beaten the Berlin Neukoln captain
with the text!} 4. O-O {Well Kivanc improved a lot but he plays too positional
sometimes.} (4. d4 $142 $1 {is the real test of black's opening strategy.} Bg4
(4... Be7 $16) 5. c3 Qd7 $13 (5... Qf6 6. Qb3 Nge7 7. Ng5 (7. Qxb7 $2 Rb8 8.
Qxc7 Rc8 9. Qb7 Rb8 $11) 7... Nd8 $14)) (4. c3 Be7 5. Qb3 (5. d4 Nf6) 5... Nh6
6. d4 O-O 7. Bxh6 gxh6 $13) 4... g6 5. d4 (5. c3 Bg7 6. d4 Qe7 $13 (6... exd4
$6 7. cxd4 Nge7 8. Nc3 O-O 9. h3 $16)) 5... exd4 6. Bg5 (6. Nxd4 Bg7) 6... Qd7
$5 (6... Be7 7. Bxe7 Ngxe7 8. Nxd4 O-O 9. Nc3 Nxd4 10. Qxd4 Nc6 11. Qe3 Be6 $11
) 7. Nxd4 Bg7 8. c3 $1 (8. Nxc6 bxc6) 8... Nf6 9. Nxc6 {I have thought that
his idea} ({is} 9. Bb5 a6 (9... O-O 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. Qa4 Rb8 12. Nxc6 bxc6 13.
Bxc6 Qg4 14. Qc2) 10. Qa4 axb5 11. Qxa8 Nxd4 12. cxd4 Nxe4 13. Be3 (13. Re1 O-O
14. Rxe4 Qf5 15. Nc3 Qxg5 $44) 13... O-O 14. Nc3 Nxc3 15. bxc3 Qc6 16. Qa5 Be6
$44) 9... bxc6 10. Qd4 Nh5 (10... c5 11. Qd2 (11. Bxf6 $2 {is too good to be
true.} cxd4 12. Bxg7 Rg8 13. Bxd4 Bb7 14. Nd2 O-O-O $17) 11... O-O 12. f3 $14)
11. Qd2 O-O 12. Na3 Bb7 13. Rad1 Rae8 14. f3 Qc8 15. Qf2 c5 16. Qh4 h6 17. Bc1
Bf6 (17... Qd8 $2 18. Qxd8 Rxd8 19. Nb5 Rd7 (19... Ba6 20. a4) 20. Nxa7 c6 21.
Be3 Rfd8 22. b4 Ba8 23. bxc5 $16) 18. Qf2 Kh7 (18... Bg7 $5 {is not in my
style.}) 19. Nc2 Ba6 20. Qe2 Bb7 ({Neither} 20... Bxc4 21. Qxc4 Bg7 22. Ne3 Nf4
$14) 21. Qf2 Bg7 22. Ne3 Nf6 23. Qh4 Re5 24. Rfe1 Rh5 25. Qf2 Re5 26. Bb3 Re7
27. Nc4 Nd7 28. Qh4 Ree8 29. Qh3 $2 (29. Ba4 Re6 $14 {and white would have
kept his edge.}) 29... Nb6 30. Qxc8 Bxc8 31. Ne3 (31. Nxb6 axb6 $11) 31... Be6
32. Nd5 $6 {I have thought that he loses a pawn with that but in deed the game
immediately ends as a draw.} c4 33. Bc2 Bxd5 (33... Nxd5 34. exd5 Bxd5 35. Rxe8
Rxe8 36. Ba4 Re6 37. Rxd5 Re1+ 38. Kf2 Rxc1 39. Rd1 Rxd1 40. Bxd1 $11) 34. exd5
Nxd5 (34... Rxe1+ 35. Rxe1 Nxd5 36. Re4 (36. Ba4 $2 Bf6 37. Bb5 Nb6 38. Be3 Rb8
$17) 36... Nb6 37. Re7 Nd5 $11) 35. Rxe8 Rxe8 36. Ba4 Re5 37. f4 Re7 38. Rxd5
Re1+ 39. Kf2 Rxc1 40. Rd1 $11 {Black can not keep the rooks so the game is
practically finished here.} Rxd1 41. Bxd1 d5 42. Ke3 c5 43. Bf3 d4+ 44. Kd2
dxc3+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "RUS-ch51"]
[Site "St Petersburg"]
[Date "1998.08.03"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Karpatchev, Aleksandr"]
[Black "Grischuk, Alexander"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2515"]
[BlackElo "2490"]
[Annotator "Atlas,V"]
[PlyCount "54"]
[EventDate "1998.07.28"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 067"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1998.11.30"]
[SourceVersion "2"]
[SourceVersionDate "1998.11.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 {[%mdl 512]} e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d4 Bxd4 6. Nxd4 Nxd4
7. Bg5 d6 8. f4 Be6 9. Na3 Qe7 10. f5 (10. c3 Bxc4 11. Nxc4 Ne6 12. fxe5 dxe5
13. Bxf6 Qc5+ 14. Rf2 Qxc4 15. Qd5 Qxd5 16. exd5 gxf6 17. dxe6 fxe6 18. Rxf6
O-O-O 19. Re1 Rd2 20. Rf2 Rxf2 21. Kxf2 Rf8+ 22. Ke3 Kd7 23. Re2 h5 24. Ke4 Rf5
25. g3 Ke7 26. Rd2 {1/2-1/2 Mestel,A-Szmetan,J/Buenos Aires 1978/MCD-ol (26)})
10... Bxc4 11. Nxc4 O-O-O $1 {An improvement against the game Zelcic,
R-Barkhagen,J/Geneve 1995.} (11... d5 12. exd5 Qc5 13. Ne3 Ne4 14. Bh4 Nxf5 15.
Rxf5 Qxe3+ 16. Kh1 Nd6 17. Rg5 O-O 18. Qg4 g6 19. Re1 Qf4 20. Qxf4 exf4 21.
Rge5 $44 {1-0 Zelcic,R-Barkhagen,J/Geneve 1995/EXP 46 (50)}) 12. Ne3 (12. c3 d5
(12... Nc6 13. Ne3 {xd5}) 13. exd5 (13. Ne3 dxe4 14. cxd4 exd4 $44) (13. cxd4
dxc4 14. d5 Qc5+ 15. Kh1 c6 (15... Nxe4 16. Bxd8 Rxd8 $44) 16. Bxf6 gxf6 $15))
12... c6 $1 13. a4 (13. c3 Nb5 14. a4 Nc7 {and White does not have a
sufficient compensation for a pawn.}) 13... d5 $1 14. c3 dxe4 15. cxd4 exd4 $17
16. Nc4 Qb4 17. b3 Rd5 {[%cal Gd4d3,Ge4e3]} 18. a5 Re8 19. a6 b5 20. Na5 Kd7 {
White forces are discoordinated and he can't oppose anything to Black's
central pawns.} 21. Bd2 Qe7 22. Bf4 e3 {[%cal Ge3e2]} 23. Qc2 Rc5 24. Qd3 Qe4
$1 25. Rad1 e2 26. Qxd4+ Qxd4+ 27. Rxd4+ Rd5 0-1

[Event "Moscow"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "1981.04.??"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Balashov, Yuri S"]
[Black "Smejkal, Jan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2600"]
[BlackElo "2535"]
[Annotator "Belov,I"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "1981.04.08"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "URS"]
[EventCategory "15"]
[SourceTitle "MCL"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1999.07.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "1999.07.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 (4... Na5 5. Nge2 Nxc4 6. dxc4 Bc5 7.
O-O d6 8. Qd3 c6 9. b3 Be6 10. Na4 $14 {Short,N-Karpov,An/Tilburg/1991/0,5 (47)
Inf 53/288/}) (4... Bb4 5. Nf3 d6 6. O-O Bxc3 7. bxc3 Bg4 8. h3 Bh5 9. Bb3 Nd7
10. Be3 $14 {Larsen,B-Davies,N/London/1989/1:0 (40) Inf 47/386/}) 5. Nf3 (5.
Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 (6. Be3 Bb6 7. Bxb6 axb6 8. Nge2 Na5 9. O-O O-O 10. a4 Nxc4 11.
dxc4 d6 $10 {Larsen,B-Plaskett,J/Copenhagen/1985/0,5 (41) Inf 39/380/}) 6... d6
7. Na4 Bb6 8. Nxb6 axb6 9. f3 Na5 (9... Be6 $142 $10) 10. Ne2 Nxc4 11. dxc4 Be6
12. b3 $14 {Rogers,I-Davies,N/London/1991/1:0 (32) Inf 52/297/}) 5... d6 6. Bg5
h6 7. Bxf6 $1 Qxf6 8. Nd5 Qd8 9. c3 a6 (9... Ne7 10. d4 Nxd5 11. dxc5 Nf4 12.
g3 Nh3 13. Bb5+ Bd7 14. Bxd7+ Qxd7 15. cxd6 Qxd6 16. Qxd6 cxd6 17. Rd1 Ke7 18.
Ke2 $14 {Ivanovic,B-Smejkal,J/Novi Sad(ol)/1990/}) (9... O-O $5 10. b4 Bb6 11.
a4 a5 12. Nxb6 cxb6 13. bxa5 Nxa5 14. Bd5 Qc7 15. c4 Bg4 $10 {Ivanovic,B-Anand,
V/Manila(izt)/1990/Inf 50/(340)/}) 10. d4 exd4 $6 (10... Ba7 11. dxe5 (11. h3
O-O 12. O-O Be6 13. Bb3 Qd7 14. Re1 Rae8 15. dxe5 Nxe5 $10 {Ivanovic,
B-Hjartarson,J/Novi Sad(ol)/1990/}) 11... dxe5 12. Qe2 Bc5 13. O-O-O Bd6 14.
Rd2 O-O 15. Rhd1 $14 {Kholmov,R-Tseilin,Mi/Voskresensk/1990/1:0 (38) Inf 50/
340/}) 11. cxd4 Ba7 12. h3 $1 O-O 13. O-O Be6 $6 (13... Ne7 $142 14. Nxe7+ Qxe7
15. Re1 Be6 $14) 14. Rc1 $1 $16 Rc8 (14... Ne7 15. Nxc7 $1 Qxc7 16. Bxe6 $16) (
14... Bxd5 15. Bxd5 Na5 16. a3 c6 17. Ba2 $16) (14... Bd7 $5) 15. Bxa6 bxa6 (
15... Nxd4 16. Nxd4 Bxd4 17. Bxb7 $16) 16. Rxc6 Bxd5 17. exd5 Bb6 18. Qd3 a5
19. Re1 a4 $6 (19... Qd7 $5) 20. Re3 Ra8 21. Qc2 {>< a4/} (21. Nd2 $5 Qf6 22.
Nc4 $16) 21... Ra5 22. Ra3 Re8 23. Rxa4 Rxd5 24. Rc3 c5 25. dxc5 dxc5 (25...
Bxc5 26. b4 Bb6 27. Ra6 $18) 26. Re4 Rd1+ 27. Kh2 Rxe4 28. Qxe4 g6 29. g3 Qf6
30. Kg2 Kg7 31. Qe2 Ra1 32. a3 Qc6 $2 33. b4 $1 $18 Qa8 34. Qb2 1-0

[Event "Plovdiv"]
[Site "Plovdiv"]
[Date "1986.??.??"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Ivanovic, Bozidar"]
[Black "Inkiov, Ventzislav"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2490"]
[BlackElo "2465"]
[Annotator "Bulletin"]
[PlyCount "75"]
[EventDate "1986.06.24"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "BUL"]
[EventCategory "10"]
[SourceTitle "EXT 2000"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1999.11.16"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "1999.11.16"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Nc3 d6 5. d3 Nf6 6. Bg5 Na5 7. Nd5 Nxc4 8.
dxc4 c6 9. Nxf6+ gxf6 10. Bh4 Rg8 11. O-O Bh3 12. Bg3 Be6 13. Qe2 Qe7 14. Nh4 (
14. c3 $5 f5 15. exf5 Bxf5 16. b4 Bb6 17. c5) 14... O-O-O 15. Kh1 d5 16. cxd5
cxd5 17. f4 dxe4 18. Qxe4 Rd4 19. Qxh7 Qd8 20. c3 Rd2 21. fxe5 Rh8 22. Qe4 (22.
Qg7 Rxh4 23. Bxh4 Bh3 24. Bf2 $18) 22... f5 23. Qf4 Qd3 24. Rf3 Qc2 25. b4 Bb6
26. Raf1 Re2 27. Rc1 (27. Nxf5 $5 $16) 27... Qxa2 28. Rd1 $2 Re4 $15 29. Qg5
Qe2 30. Rff1 $2 (30. Rfd3) 30... Rg4 $19 31. Qe7 Rgxh4 (31... f4 $142) 32. Bxh4
Rg8 $6 (32... Bd5 $5) 33. Rg1 f4 34. Qf6 $4 (34. Rde1 Qh5 35. Ref1 Bxg1 $11)
34... Qe4 $4 (34... Bh3 $1 $19) 35. Bg5 Bd5 36. c4 Bd8 37. Qd6 Qxc4 38. Rxd5
1-0

[Event "SUI-chT"]
[Site "Switzerland"]
[Date "1996.??.??"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Godena, Michele"]
[Black "Vezzosi, Paolo"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2550"]
[BlackElo "2310"]
[Annotator "Bulletin"]
[PlyCount "87"]
[EventDate "1996.??.??"]
[EventType "team-tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "SUI"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 055 Extra"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1997.01.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "1997.01.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8.
Nd5 Qd8 9. c3 a6 10. d4 Ba7 11. dxe5 dxe5 12. Qe2 Be6 13. O-O-O Qc8 14. Rd2 b5
15. Bb3 Qb7 16. Rhd1 Bc5 17. Ne3 Bxb3 18. axb3 Bxe3 19. Qxe3 O-O 20. Rd5 f6 21.
Nh4 Ne7 22. Rd7 Rf7 23. Qf3 Qc6 24. Qg4 Re8 25. b4 Ref8 {[#]} 26. Rxe7 $1 Rxe7
27. Nf5 Rfe8 28. Rd8 $1 Kh7 29. Nxe7 Rxe7 30. Qf5+ g6 31. Qc8 g5 32. Rh8+ Kg6
33. Qf5+ Kg7 34. Rh7+ Kf8 35. Rh8+ Kf7 36. Rh7+ Kf8 37. Rxh6 Rf7 38. Rh8+ Ke7
39. Qc8 Qd7 40. Qa8 g4 41. Qg8 Kd6 42. h3 gxh3 43. Rxh3 Kc6 44. Qa8+ (44. Qa8+
Kb6 45. Rh8) 1-0

[Event "Batumi FIDE GP (Women)"]
[Site "Batumi"]
[Date "2016.05.01"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Kosteniuk, Alexandra"]
[Black "Dzagnidze, Nana"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2557"]
[BlackElo "2535"]
[Annotator "CB"]
[PlyCount "87"]
[EventDate "2016.04.20"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "GEO"]
[EventCategory "10"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 172"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2016.05.12"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2016.05.12"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 d6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. d4 exd4 6. Nxd4 Nxd4 7. Qxd4 Bf6 {
Diagramm [#] Die Eröffnungsbehandlung von Schwarz ist ungewöhnlich, aber
nicht schlecht. Es gibt zwar einen gewissen Raummangel, aber beide Läufer
sind frei und auch den anderen Figuren der Nachziehenden stehen
Entwicklungsfelder zur Verfügung.} 8. Qd3 Ne7 9. f4 O-O 10. O-O Be6 11. Bxe6
fxe6 12. Ne2 b6 {Es drohte Db3.} 13. Qb3 Qd7 14. Be3 Kh8 15. Rad1 Ng8 $6 (15...
Nc6 {war möglich.}) 16. e5 Be7 $2 (16... Bd8 {war besser, denn es würde
nicht nur c7 gedeckt werden, sondern e7 stünde auch für den Sg8 zur
Verfügung.}) 17. Nd4 d5 {Diagramm [#]} 18. Qb5 ({Den Computern gefällt} 18.
f5 exf5 19. e6 {am besten.}) 18... Qxb5 19. Nxb5 Rfc8 20. f5 exf5 21. Rxf5 (21.
Rxd5 $1 c6 22. Nd6 g6 23. Rd3 {war stärker.}) 21... c6 22. Nd4 c5 $5 (22...
Bc5 $1) 23. Nb5 d4 24. Bf4 Rf8 25. Rxf8 Rxf8 26. g3 g5 27. Bc1 a6 28. Nc7 h6
29. Rf1 Rc8 $2 (29... Rxf1+ $1 30. Kxf1 a5 31. Nd5 Bd8 $14) 30. Nd5 Rc6 {
Diagramm [#]} 31. Kg2 {Startet einen Königsmarsch, dem Schwarz letztlich
nichts entgegenzusetzen hat.} Kg7 32. Kf3 Re6 33. Ke4 Bd6 34. Rf5 Bb8 35. h4
gxh4 36. gxh4 Rg6 37. Rf2 Rg1 38. Bd2 Rg4+ 39. Kf5 h5 40. Nxb6 Ne7+ 41. Ke6 Ng6
42. Nd7 Bxe5 43. Nxe5 Re4 44. Rf7+ 1-0

[Event "Biel Suri Memorial"]
[Site "Biel"]
[Date "2014.07.15"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Harikrishna, Pentala"]
[Black "Giri, Anish"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2726"]
[BlackElo "2750"]
[Annotator "CB"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2014.07.14"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "SUI"]
[EventCategory "19"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 162"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2014.09.17"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2014.09.17"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{The Indian player Pentala Harikrishna seemed to overextend a little out of
the opening against Anish Giri. The Dutch player however seemed to be content
with a draw and offered a repetition... but Harikrishna would have none of
that! He refused a draw in a position that really held no advantage to him,
but was still very complex. Giri gradually fell under time pressure and in a
critical decision he moved his rook in the wrong direction which resulted in
catastrophe for his undefended king. Harikrishna came in and swept the full
point with a powerful attack.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. d3
d6 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8. Nd5 Qd8 9. c3 a6 10. d4 exd4 11. cxd4 Ba7 12. Rc1
O-O 13. Bxa6 Re8 14. O-O Rxe4 15. Bd3 Re8 16. Bb5 Be6 17. Ne3 Bd7 18. Nd5 Be6
19. Ne3 Bd7 20. Bc4 (20. Nd5 $11) 20... Rf8 21. Re1 Ne7 22. Qd3 c6 23. Bb3 b5
24. h3 Bb6 25. Bc2 f5 26. g4 g6 27. gxf5 Nxf5 28. Nxf5 gxf5 29. Bb3+ Kh7 30.
Be6 Rf6 31. d5 cxd5 32. Bxd5 Rg6+ 33. Kh1 Rc8 34. Rxc8 Qxc8 35. Nd4 Qf8 36. Ne6
Qf6 37. Qf3 Rg8 38. Nf4 Rc8 $2 (38... Rg5 {kept Giri alive.}) 39. Qh5 Bd8 40.
Rg1 Be7 41. Rg6 1-0

[Event "Young Reshevsky"]
[Site "Polen"]
[Date "1917.02.25"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Reshevsky, Samuel Herman"]
[Black "Rubinstein, Akiba"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C50"]
[Annotator "ChessBase"]
[PlyCount "48"]
[EventDate "1917.??.??"]
[EventType "game"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[SourceTitle "EXT 2017"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2016.10.25"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2016.10.25"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 {1)DSZ 1917,S.142. Warschau (12).25.Februar: Rubinstein [,der ohne
Ansicht des Brettes spielt,] gewinnt nach zwei Stunden eine freie Partie gegen
den fünfjährigen Dzmulik Rzeszewski. 2)Gordon:Reshevsky. p.3,game1.} e5 2.
Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. h3 h6 7. d3 g5 8. Nd5 g4 9. Ng5 Nxd5
10. exd5 hxg5 11. dxc6 bxc6 12. hxg4 d5 13. Qe2 Qf6 14. Bb3 Qh6 15. Qxe5+ Be6
16. Qxh8+ Qxh8 17. Bxg5 Kd7 18. c3 Rg8 19. Be3 Bxg4 20. Bd1 Bh3 21. g3 Rxg3+
22. fxg3 Bxe3+ 23. Rf2 Qg7 24. Bg4+ Qxg4 0-1

[Event "DSB Kongress-12 Meisterturnier plof"]
[Site "Munich"]
[Date "1900.08.12"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Maroczy, Geza"]
[Black "Pillsbury, Harry Nelson"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C50"]
[Annotator "ChessBase"]
[PlyCount "50"]
[EventDate "1900.08.12"]
[EventType "match"]
[EventRounds "4"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[SourceTitle "HCL"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1999.07.01"]
[SourceVersion "2"]
[SourceVersionDate "1999.07.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 {Turnierbuch S.14: "Auf dringlichen ärtzlichen Rat mußte Maroczy schon
nach der ersten Partie des Stichkampfes zurücktreten. Nunmehr wurde bestimmt,
daß die Herren Pillsbury und Schlechter noch 4 Partien zu spielen hatten.
Davon gewann Schlechter die erste, Pillsbury die zweite, während die 3. und 4.
unentschieden blieben. Sonach war auch der Stichkampf unentschieden, und die
beiden Herren einigten sich in der Weise, daß Schlechter den von Sr. kgl.
Hoheit dem Prinzregenten Luitpold gestifteten Ehrenpreis und 800 M., Pillsbury
aber 1000 M erhielt."} e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bg5 h6
7. Be3 Bb6 8. Qd2 Be6 9. Bb3 Qe7 10. Bxe6 Qxe6 11. O-O Ne7 12. Bxb6 axb6 13. d4
Ng6 14. dxe5 dxe5 15. Rad1 O-O 16. Kh1 Kh7 17. Ng1 Qc4 18. f3 Nf4 19. Rfe1 Qb4
20. Qc1 Rfd8 21. a3 Qc5 22. Nge2 N6h5 23. Nxf4 Nxf4 24. g3 Rxd1 {[#]} 25. Nxd1
$4 (25. Rxd1 $11) 25... Nd3 0-1

[Event "Europa-Meisterschaft"]
[Site "Munich"]
[Date "1942.09.16"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Bogoljubow, Efim"]
[Black "Keres, Paul"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C50"]
[Annotator "ChessBase"]
[PlyCount "117"]
[EventDate "1942.09.15"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[SourceTitle "EXT 1999"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1998.11.16"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "1998.11.16"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be3 O-O 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bh4
Be6 9. O-O Nd4 10. Nxd4 Bxd4 11. Bb3 c6 12. Kh1 a5 13. Rb1 $1 g5 14. Bg3 b5 15.
Ne2 Bb6 16. c3 Nh5 17. d4 Qf6 18. d5 cxd5 19. Bxd5 Rab8 20. f3 Rfc8 21. Qd3 b4
22. Be1 Bc5 23. b3 Bd7 24. c4 Qd8 25. Bf2 Nf6 26. Bxc5 $1 Rxc5 27. g4 Nh7 28.
Qe3 Nf8 29. Nc1 Ng6 30. Nd3 Rcc8 31. Rbc1 Kg7 32. Rf2 (32. c5 Bb5 $1) 32... Nf4
33. Nxf4 gxf4 34. Qa7 Qc7 $1 35. Qxc7 Rxc7 36. Rfc2 Rc5 37. Rb2 Kf6 38. h4 Ke7
39. Rg1 Rh8 $1 40. Kg2 h5 41. g5 Rb8 42. Kh2 Be8 43. Ra1 Kd8 44. Rd1 Kc7 45.
Rd3 Kb6 46. Rbd2 Rc7 47. Kg1 Kc5 48. Kf2 Rd8 49. Ke1 Ra7 50. Kf2 a4 51. Rb2 Rb8
52. Kg1 axb3 53. Rdxb3 $1 Rb6 54. Kf2 Ra4 55. Ke2 Rba6 56. Kf2 Ra7 57. Ke2 Bc6
58. Kf2 Ba8 59. Ke2 1/2-1/2

[Event "Interzonal-15"]
[Site "Manila"]
[Date "1990.??.??"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Ivanovic, Bozidar"]
[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2520"]
[BlackElo "2610"]
[Annotator "ChessBase"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "1990.06.29"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "PHI"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 019"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1990.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "1990.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d3 Nc6 4. Nf3 Bc5 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8.
Nd5 Qd8 9. c3 O-O $5 10. b4 Bb6 11. a4 a5 12. Nxb6 cxb6 13. bxa5 (13. b5 Ne7
$10) 13... Nxa5 14. Bd5 Qc7 15. c4 Bg4 $10 16. O-O Kh8 17. h3 Bxf3 18. Qxf3 Nb3
19. Ra2 Nc5 20. Qd1 Qd7 21. f4 f6 22. d4 exd4 23. Qxd4 Rxa4 24. Rxa4 Qxa4 25.
Kh2 b5 26. Rb1 bxc4 27. Bxc4 Rc8 28. Qd5 Qc2 29. Re1 Na4 30. Bd3 Qd2 31. Qf5
Rc3 32. e5 Rxd3 33. Qc8+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "URS-ch19 Final"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "1951.11.29"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Lipnitsky, Isaak"]
[Black "Petrosian, Tigran V"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C50"]
[Annotator "ChessBase"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "1951.11.11"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "17"]
[EventCountry "URS"]
[SourceTitle "URS-ch"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1999.07.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "1999.07.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Be7 4. d4 d6 5. Nc3 (5. d5) 5... Nf6 6. h3 O-O 7.
O-O a6 {(/\ ...b5)} (7... Nxe4 $6 8. Nxe4 d5 9. Bxd5 Qxd5 10. Nc3 Qa5 11. Nxe5
Nxe5 12. dxe5 Qxe5 13. Re1 Qd6 14. Qf3 $16) 8. a4 exd4 9. Nxd4 Nb4 {(/\ ...d5=)
} 10. Nd5 Nbxd5 11. exd5 {()} Nd7 {[#] (/\ ...a5, Nd7-c5/e5)} 12. a5 Bf6 13. c3
(13. Ne6 fxe6 14. dxe6 Kh8 15. exd7 Bxd7 16. Bd3 Qc8 $10) 13... Ne5 14. Bb3 Re8
15. Bc2 Bd7 16. f4 Ng6 17. Qd3 {(/\ Bd2, |^>>)} c5 18. dxc6 bxc6 19. Nf5 Bxf5
$8 (19... d5 20. Nd6 {21.Nb7+/-}) 20. Qxf5 d5 21. Bd2 Nf8 22. Qd3 c5 {/\ ...c4}
23. Rfe1 (23. Ba4 Re6 24. f5 c4 25. Qf3 Re4 26. Be3 Nd7 $1) 23... Rxe1+ 24.
Bxe1 c4 25. Qe2 (25. Qf3 d4) 25... Qc7 26. Qf3 Rd8 27. Bf2 d4 28. Qe4 {[#] ><
Pc4, Pd4} g6 $2 (28... d3 $2 29. Bb6 $18) (28... dxc3 29. Bb6 cxb2 30. Re1 Qc8
31. Bxd8 Qxd8 (31... Bxd8 $1) 32. Qxc4 Qxa5 33. Re8 Qb6+ $1 (33... Qa1+ $2 34.
Kh2 b1=Q 35. Bxb1 Qxb1 36. Qc5 $18) 34. Kh2 Bd4 $1 {=/=/+}) 29. cxd4 (29. Bxd4
Bxd4+ 30. cxd4 Ne6) 29... Rb8 30. d5 $2 (30. Ra2 $5 $14) 30... Rxb2 31. Rd1 c3
32. d6 $6 (32. Bb6 $142) 32... Qxa5 33. d7 Qc7 34. Qe8 Bd8 (34... Rxc2 $2 35.
d8=Q Bxd8 36. Rxd8 Rc1+ 37. Kh2 Qxf4+ 38. Bg3 Qb4 39. Bd6 $18) 35. Qe4 Bf6 36.
Qe8 Rb8 37. Kh1 (37. Bb3 $142 Rxb3 38. d8=Q Bxd8 39. Rxd8 Qxd8 40. Qxd8 c2 41.
Be3 Rxe3 42. Qd2 Re2 $1 $17) 37... Rd8 38. Ba4 c2 39. Rc1 Qxf4 40. Be3 Qxa4 0-1

[Event "Khanty-Mansiysk FIDE GP (Women)"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk"]
[Date "2014.04.16"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Muzychuk, Anna"]
[Black "Zhao, Xue"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2560"]
[BlackElo "2552"]
[Annotator "ChessBase Website"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "2014.04.09"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[EventCategory "10"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 160"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2014.05.15"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2014.05.15"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[TimeControl "40/5400+30:1800+30"]
[WhiteClock "1:30:00"]
[BlackClock "1:30:00"]

1. e4 {[%emt 0:00:00]} e5 {[%emt 0:00:00]} 2. Nf3 {[%emt 0:00:00]} Nc6 {
[%emt 0:00:00]} 3. Bc4 {[%emt 0:00:00]} Bc5 {[%emt 0:00:05]} 4. O-O {[%emt 0:
00:00]} Nf6 {[%emt 0:00:26]} 5. d3 {[%emt 0:00:14]} O-O {[%emt 0:03:36]} 6.
Nbd2 {[%emt 0:00:46]} (6. h3 d6 7. c3 a6 8. Bb3 h6 9. Be3 Bxe3 10. fxe3 Na5 11.
Bc2 c5 12. Nbd2 b5 13. Qe1 Rb8 14. Qg3 Nh5 15. Qf2 Nf6 16. Qg3 Nh5 17. Qh2 Qe7
18. Rf2 Bd7 19. g4 Nf6 20. Raf1 Nh7 21. Qg3 g6 22. Nh4 c4 23. d4 b4 24. Ndf3 b3
25. axb3 cxb3 26. Bd3 Bb5 27. Bxb5 axb5 28. dxe5 Nc4 29. exd6 Nxd6 30. Qe5 Qxe5
31. Nxe5 Ng5 32. Rh2 Rb7 33. Nc6 Nc4 34. Nd4 b4 35. Rc1 Ra8 {Harikrishna,P 
(2706)-Giri,A (2734) Wijk aan Zee 2014 0-1 (71)}) 6... a6 {[%emt 0:01:08]} 7.
c3 {[%emt 0:00:52]} Ba7 {[%emt 0:01:44]} 8. h3 {[%emt 0:02:53]} d5 {[%emt 0:10:
28]} 9. exd5 {[%emt 0:02:36]} Nxd5 {[%emt 0:00:04]} 10. Ne4 {[%emt 0:05:14]}
Bf5 {[%emt 0:11:26]} 11. Re1 {[%emt 0:05:56]} b5 $146 {[%emt 0:10:40]} (11...
Re8 12. Bg5 Qd7 13. Qd2 Be6 14. Rad1 f6 15. Bh4 Rad8 16. Qc1 Rf8 17. d4 exd4
18. cxd4 Bf7 19. Bg3 Qc8 20. Bxa6 Ndb4 21. Bc4 Nxd4 22. Nxd4 Bxd4 23. Bd6 cxd6
24. Bxf7+ Rxf7 25. Rxd4 Nc2 26. Nxd6 Qc6 27. Rc4 Qxd6 28. Rxc2 h6 29. Rce2 Rc7
30. Qb1 Qd5 31. Qg6 Rf8 32. Re8 Rcf7 33. a4 Qd4 34. Qc2 Qd7 35. R8e3 Kh8 36. b4
Qd6 37. b5 Rc7 38. Qg6 Qb4 39. Re8 Rc8 40. R8e7 Rg8 41. Qe4 {Rodriguez Vila,A 
(2504)-Roselli Mailhe,B (2428) Mar del Plata 2001 1/2-1/2 (62)}) 12. Bb3 {
[%emt 0:01:29]} Bg6 {[%emt 0:01:06]} 13. Bg5 {[%emt 0:09:26]} f6 {[%emt 0:04:
45]} 14. Be3 {[%emt 0:16:42]} Kh8 {[%emt 0:05:10]} 15. Bxa7 {[%emt 0:00:57]}
Rxa7 {[%emt 0:00:36]} 16. d4 $14 {[%emt 0:02:54][%csl Ra7] Zhao Xue certainly
did not equalize from the opening, and once Muzychuk broke the center open
with d4 it was clear that too many of the Chinese player's pieces were
misplaced. the game.} Nf4 {[%emt 0:00:38]} 17. dxe5 {[%emt 0:10:07]} Nd3 {
[%emt 0:01:02]} 18. exf6 {[%emt 0:05:38] An obvious and simple exchange
sacrifice, which on top of that gave the Slovenian player two pawns, ripped
apart Black's king shelter and from then on it was easy for Muzycuhk to win}
Nxe1 {[%emt 0:01:25]} 19. fxg7+ {[%emt 0:00:29]} Kxg7 {[%emt 0:00:05]} 20. Qxe1
{[%emt 0:01:13]} Qe7 {[%emt 0:17:58]} 21. Nfg5 {[%emt 0:04:38]} Rf5 $2 {
[%emt 0:01:35]} 22. f4 {[%emt 0:10:25]} Kh8 {[%emt 0:08:52]} 23. Qh4 {[%emt 0:
06:42]} Rf8 {[%emt 0:06:54]} 24. Re1 {[%emt 0:03:54]} Nd8 {[%emt 0:05:21]} 25.
Qf2 {[%emt 0:05:16]} Ra8 {[%emt 0:00:15]} 26. Nc5 {[%emt 0:01:07]} Qd6 {
[%emt 0:00:30]} 27. g3 {[%emt 0:00:20]} h6 {[%emt 0:01:42]} 28. Nge6 {[%emt 0:
01:55]} Rf6 {[%emt 0:02:12]} 29. Rd1 {[%emt 0:00:21]} Qxd1+ {[%emt 0:00:14]}
30. Bxd1 {[%emt 0:00:05]} Nxe6 {[%emt 0:00:03]} 31. Nxe6 {[%emt 0:00:31]} Re8 {
[%emt 0:00:12]} 32. Nc5 {[%emt 0:01:12]} Rd6 {[%emt 0:00:23]} 33. Bc2 {[%emt 0:
01:12]} Red8 {[%emt 0:01:20]} 34. f5 {[%emt 0:01:00]} Rd2 {[%emt 0:00:11]} 35.
Qf4 {[%emt 0:00:40]} 1-0

[Event "Tbilisi 4teams friendly"]
[Site "Tbilisi"]
[Date "1980.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Yudasin, Leonid"]
[Black "Sturua, Zurab"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2340"]
[BlackElo "2410"]
[Annotator "Gufeld,E/Nesis,G"]
[PlyCount "58"]
[EventDate "1980.??.??"]
[EventType "team"]
[EventRounds "1"]
[EventCountry "URS"]
[SourceTitle "EXT 2014"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2013.11.20"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2013.11.20"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{(Leningrad-Georgia)} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Be7 4. d4 d6 5. O-O Bg4 6. h3
Bh5 7. c3 Nf6 8. d5 Nb8 9. Bd3 Nbd7 10. Be3 $5 Bg6 11. Qc2 O-O 12. c4 Nxe4 $1
13. Bxe4 f5 14. Bd3 e4 15. Bxe4 fxe4 16. Nd4 Nc5 17. b4 Nd3 18. Ne6 Qd7 19.
Nxf8 Rxf8 20. a3 Rf3 $1 21. Nc3 (21. Qe2 Bh5 22. Nd2 Qf5 {[%cal Gf3h3]}) (21.
Nd2 Rxh3 22. gxh3 Qxh3) 21... Rxh3 22. gxh3 Qxh3 23. f3 exf3 $1 $19 24. Rf2 $19
(24. Qh2 Qg4+ 25. Kh1 Bf6 $1 26. Rg1 Qf5 $17) 24... Bh4 25. Rh2 Qg4+ 26. Kh1 (
26. Kf1 Ne5 {[%cal Gg6d3]} (26... Nxb4 $145 27. Rxh4 Bd3+ 28. Qxd3 Qg2+ 29. Ke1
Nxd3+ 30. Kd1 f2) 27. Rxh4 Qxh4 28. Qf2 Qh3+ 29. Kg1 Ng4) 26... f2 27. Qd1 Be4+
28. Nxe4 Qxe4+ 29. Rg2 Ne1 0-1

[Event "Stuttgart-ch op"]
[Site "Ditzingen"]
[Date "2009.05.22"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Luther, Thomas"]
[Black "Ovsejevitsch, Sergei"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2537"]
[BlackElo "2580"]
[Annotator "Gutman,L"]
[PlyCount "82"]
[EventDate "2009.05.21"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[SourceTitle "EXT 2010"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2010.11.25"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2010.11.25"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d4 {"Diese Spielart wurde zuerst
von Max Lange (Schazeitung 1853 und 1859) erцrtert", Bilguer.} Bxd4 {Michail
Marin, Beating the Open Games, Quality Chess 2007, folgt Wilhelm Steinitz, The
Modern Chess Instructor, 1895, und empfehlt als weniger riskant} (5... exd4 6.
e5 d5 7. exf6 dxc4 {mit Ьbergang zum Max Lange Angriff. Sowohl der
Max-Lange-Angriff, als auch das Max-Lange-Gambit wurden von mir in Kaissiber
22 und 23, 2006, ausfьhrlich analysiert, und dieses Material hat John Emms in
"Dangerous Weapons: 1.e4 e5" fьr seine Arbeit genutzt.}) 6. Nxd4 Nxd4 7. f4 d6
8. fxe5 dxe5 9. Bg5 Be6 10. Na3 $5 {"Ist nach Anderssen zu empfehlen",
Savielly Tartakower, die Hypermoderne Schachpartie, 1925. "Der Springer soll
nach Abtausch des Lдufers c4 ьber e3 nach d5 oder f5 gefьhrt werden. WeiЯ will
auf diese Art unter Verzicht auf den Rьckgewinn des Bauern die schwarze
Stellung eingeengt halten", Hermann von Gottschal, Adolf Anderssen, Der
Altmeister deutscher Schachkunst.} Qe7 11. c3 Bxc4 ({In Movsesian-Adams, Wijk
aan Zee 2009, folgte} 11... Nc6) 12. Bxf6 $1 ({Falsch wдre} 12. Nxc4 Ne6 13.
Bxf6 {wegen} Qc5+ 14. Kh1 Qxc4 15. Bxe5 O-O {mit gutem Spiel fьr Schwarz,
Jones-Rey, Canberra 2009.}) 12... gxf6 13. Nxc4 Qc5 ({Als Hauptfortsetzung gilt
} 13... Ne6) 14. cxd4 Qxc4 15. Rc1 $1 {Eine Empfehlung von Karoly Honfi.
Weniger leistet} (15. dxe5 Rd8 $1 ({Dies ist stдrker als} 15... fxe5 16. Rc1 {
, Emms,} Qe6 17. Qh5 O-O 18. Rf3 c6 19. Rh3 h6 20. Rf1 $14 {mit Plus fьr WeiЯ})
16. Qg4 Qd4+ 17. Rf2 Qxe5 18. Raf1 Qg5 19. Qh3 (19. Qxg5 fxg5 20. Rxf7 Rd7 21.
Rxd7 Kxd7 22. Rf7+ Kd6 23. Kf2 {, Andrei Kovaliov,} Re8 24. Ke3 Re7 $11) 19...
Qc5 20. Qg4 (20. Qg3 Rd6 21. Qg7 Rf8) 20... Qg5 $11 {Tigran-Petrosian- Chadaev,
Moscow Aeroflot Open 2009}) 15... Qxd4+ 16. Qxd4 exd4 17. Rxc7 O-O 18. Rxf6
Rae8 ({In Chenicek-Bayer, Klatovy 1995, folgte} 18... d3 {, wonach} 19. Kf2
Rad8 20. Ke1 Rde8 21. Kd2 Rxe4 22. Kxd3 Rb4 23. b3 $16 {Vorteil versprach.})
19. Rf4 b6 20. Rxa7 Rc8 21. h3 ({Dies ist nicht ьbel, doch direkter erscheint} 
21. e5 Rc2 22. Rg4+ Kh8 23. Rxd4 Rxb2 24. Rdd7 Re2 25. Re7 Kg8 26. h3 $16 {
mit Vorteil.}) 21... Rc2 22. Rf2 Rxf2 23. Kxf2 Rc8 24. b3 Rc2+ 25. Kf3 Rc3+ 26.
Kf4 ({Und hier} 26. Ke2 $5 Re3+ 27. Kd2 Rg3 28. Ra6 Rxg2+ 29. Kd3 b5 30. Kxd4
$16) 26... Rc2 27. g4 Rf2+ 28. Ke5 d3 29. Rd7 d2 30. Rd3 Kg7 31. Kd4 Rh2 32. b4
Kf6 33. a4 Ke6 34. Kc3 ({Stark war} 34. g5 $1 $16) 34... Rxh3 35. Kxd2 Rh4 36.
Rg3 $2 ({Der letzte Fehler, wobei nach} 36. Rd5 Rxg4 37. Rb5 Rxe4 38. Rxb6+ Kd7
39. Kc3 $16 {WeiЯ immer noch gute Gewinnchancen hatte}) 36... Ke5 37. Kd3 h5
38. gxh5 f5 39. h6 fxe4+ 40. Ke3 Rxh6 41. Rg5+ Kd6 1/2-1/2

[Event "DEN-ch"]
[Site "Esbjerg"]
[Date "1997.03.22"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Larsen, Bent"]
[Black "Ochsner, Thomas"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2520"]
[BlackElo "2300"]
[Annotator "Hecht,H"]
[PlyCount "107"]
[EventDate "1997.03.22"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "DEN"]
[EventCategory "10"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 060"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1997.09.29"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "1997.09.29"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. Bc4 Bc5 5. d3 d6 6. Bg5 Na5 7. Bb3 c6 (7...
h6 {Fritz 5.00 (100s)} 8. Be3 Bb4 9. Ba4+ c6 10. Bd2 O-O 11. O-O b5 12. Bb3 Bg4
13. h3 Nxb3 14. axb3 Bxc3 15. bxc3 Bh5 16. b4 d5 17. Be3 a5 18. bxa5 Rxa5 19.
Rxa5 Qxa5 20. Qa1 Qc7 21. Nd2 Bg6 22. f3 {1/2-1/2 Appleberry,M-Lukacs,P/
Budapest FS06 GM 1996/EXP 52}) 8. O-O (8. d4 {Fritz 5.00 (100s)} Nxb3 9. axb3
exd4 10. Nxd4 h6 11. Bh4 O-O 12. O-O g5 13. Bg3 Re8 14. Re1 d5 15. e5 Ne4 16.
Qd3 Nxg3 17. hxg3 Bxd4 {Morozevich,A-Georgiev,K/Tilburg 1994/CBM 44/1/2-1/2 
(96)}) 8... O-O (8... Nxb3 {Fritz 5.00 (100s)} 9. axb3 Bb6 10. Nd2 O-O 11. Nc4
Bc7 12. f4 exf4 13. Bxf4 Ng4 14. Qf3 Ne5 15. Qg3 f6 16. d4 Nxc4 17. bxc4 Rf7
18. Rad1 {Schlindwein,R-Bittner,T/Ladenburg MA 1992/GER 04/1-0 (56)}) 9. Ne2
Nxb3 10. axb3 h6 11. Be3 Bb6 12. Ng3 Be6 13. Qd2 Kh7 14. Bxb6 Qxb6 15. d4 exd4
16. Nxd4 Rfe8 17. Rfe1 g6 18. Rad1 Kg7 19. h4 Re7 20. Ndf5+ Bxf5 (20... gxf5 {
Fritz 5.00 (100s)} 21. Qc3 Qd8 22. Nh5+ Kf8 23. Qxf6 $18) 21. exf5 Rae8 22.
Rxe7 Rxe7 23. fxg6 fxg6 24. h5 Nxh5 $2 (24... d5 $142) 25. Qc3+ Kh7 26. Nxh5
gxh5 27. Rxd6 Qb5 28. Rxh6+ Kxh6 29. Qf6+ Kh7 30. Qxe7+ {[#] Hecht Nach
kleiner Kombi Gewinn eines Bauern, der WeiЯ nach der Abseitsstellung der
schwarzen Dame nach a1 leicht gemacht wird. Technik.} Kg6 31. Qe3 Qa5 32. Kh2
Qa1 $2 33. Qe6+ Kg7 34. Qd7+ Kf8 35. Qc8+ Ke7 36. Qxb7+ Kd6 37. Qb4+ Kd5 38.
Qc4+ Kd6 39. Qd4+ Kc7 40. b4 Kb7 41. c4 Qc1 42. b5 cxb5 43. Qd7+ Kb6 44. Qxb5+
Kc7 45. Qc5+ Kb7 46. b4 Qf4+ 47. g3 Qg4 48. b5 Qe2 49. Qd5+ Kb8 50. Kg2 Qe8 51.
Qd3 Kc7 52. Qe3 Qa8+ 53. f3 a6 54. bxa6 1-0

[Event "Elgoibar 08th"]
[Site "Elgoibar"]
[Date "1998.11.22"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Vallejo Pons, Francisco"]
[Black "Korneev, Oleg"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2450"]
[BlackElo "2600"]
[Annotator "Hecht,H"]
[PlyCount "90"]
[EventDate "1998.11.11"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "ESP"]
[EventCategory "10"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 069"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1999.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "1999.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. Nc3 h6 6. Bb3 d6 7. h3 a6 8. Be3
Be6 9. d4 Bxb3 10. axb3 Bb4 11. d5 Ne7 12. Qd3 Nd7 13. O-O-O O-O 14. g4 Ng6 15.
g5 Nc5 16. Qc4 Bxc3 17. Bxc5 dxc5 18. Qxc3 hxg5 19. Qxc5 a5 20. c3 a4 21. b4 a3
22. b3 Qf6 23. Qe3 Nf4 24. Kc2 c6 25. d6 Rfd8 26. d7 a2 27. Kb2 a1=Q+ 28. Rxa1
Rxa1 29. Rxa1 Rxd7 30. Ne1 g6 31. Kc2 Kg7 32. Rd1 Rxd1 33. Kxd1 Qe6 34. c4 Nxh3
35. Nd3 Nf4 36. Nxf4 gxf4 37. Qc5 Qd7+ 38. Ke2 Qd4 39. Qxd4 exd4 {[#]
Gewinnmerkmale fьr Schwarz: Entwertete weiЯe Bauernmajoritдt am Damenflьgel.
Ideeller schwarzer Mehrbauer nach Fall des Bd4. Entfernter schwarzer Freibauer.
} 40. Kd3 (40. f3 g5 41. Kd3 g4 42. Kxd4 g3 $19) 40... g5 41. Kxd4 (41. f3 g4
42. fxg4 f3 $19) 41... g4 {[%cal Yg7f6,Yf6e6,Yf7f5]} 42. e5 Kg6 43. Ke4 Kg5 44.
b5 cxb5 45. cxb5 b6 (45... b6 46. b4 f3 $19) 0-1

[Event "Reykjavik Olafsson"]
[Site "Reykjavik"]
[Date "1995.??.??"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Larsen, Bent"]
[Black "Gretarsson, Helgi Ass"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2515"]
[BlackElo "2440"]
[Annotator "Hecht,H"]
[PlyCount "91"]
[EventDate "1995.09.??"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "ISL"]
[EventCategory "11"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 049"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1995.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "1995.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. Bc4 Bc5 5. d3 d6 6. Bg5 h6 7. Be3 Bb6 8. O-O
Be6 9. Bxe6 fxe6 10. Bxb6 axb6 11. d4 exd4 12. Nxd4 Qd7 13. Nxc6 Qxc6 14. Qe2
O-O 15. a4 d5 16. e5 Ne4 17. Nb5 Nc5 18. b3 Rf4 19. f3 Qd7 20. Rad1 Qe7 21. Qe3
Rf7 22. Rd4 Kh7 23. h4 h5 24. g3 g6 25. Kg2 Na6 26. Rf4 Rxf4 27. Qxf4 Rf8 28.
Qg5 Qxg5 29. hxg5 Kg7 30. Kf2 Rf7 31. Ke3 Nb4 32. Nd4 Re7 33. c3 Na6 34. Ra1 c6
35. b4 c5 36. bxc5 bxc5 37. Nb5 Nb8 38. Nd6 Nc6 39. Rb1 Nxe5 40. Rxb7 Nc4+ 41.
Ke2 Rxb7 42. Nxb7 {S-S mit entferntem weiЯen Freibauer, schwarze
Bauernschwдchen, einfach} Kf7 43. a5 Ke7 44. a6 Nb6 45. Nxc5 Kd6 46. Nd3 {xg6}
(46. Nd3 e5 47. a7 Ke6 48. f4 exf4 49. Nxf4+ Kf5 50. Nxd5 Na8 51. c4 Kxg5 52.
c5 Kf5 53. Nb6 $18) 1-0

[Event "WchT 12th"]
[Site "Astana"]
[Date "2019.03.05"]
[Round "1.20"]
[White "Kostenko, Petr"]
[Black "Jones, Gawain C B"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2466"]
[BlackElo "2681"]
[Annotator "Jones,G"]
[PlyCount "126"]
[EventDate "2019.03.05"]
[EventType "team-tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "KAZ"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 189"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2019.04.29"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2019.04.29"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Kazakhstan"]
[BlackTeam "England"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "KAZ"]
[BlackTeamCountry "ENG"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 {Kostenko was spending time very early so I guessed
he hadn't prepared very deeply.} Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. a4 a6 7. c3 Ba7 {
As he didn't seem to be in preparation I decided to follow my previous game.}
8. Be3 {Unfortunately preventing quite a lot of my tricks but it makes some
sense as I have already moved my bishop twice.} ({My previous game had
continued} 8. Re1 Ng4 $5 {A fairly topical idea tried a couple of times by
Adhiban. It looks naive but it's not so easy for White.} 9. Re2 Qf6 10. Na3 Qg6
11. Nc2 O-O 12. Ne3 {Rose,M (2250)-Jones,G (2691) Daventry 2019. Here I should
have followed by instinct and played} Kh8 $1 {[%cal Gf7f5] when White is in
trouble. I didn't want to allow the complications after} 13. Nd5 f5 $1 {
but this is simply very good for Black, my attack is too fast.}) 8... Bxe3 9.
fxe3 O-O (9... Ne7 {was Aronian's choice, and probably the simplest for Black.}
10. Nbd2 (10. Nh4 {doesn't look as critical before Black has castled. Here
Black can play} d5 $11 {when White has to take as the e4-pawn is undefended.})
10... Ng6 11. a5 O-O $11 {1/2-1/2 (40) Jobava,B (2710)-Aronian,L (2783)
Khanty-Mansiysk 2010}) 10. Nbd2 {Here I had quite a long think. It's not so
easy to come up with a plan.} h6 (10... Ne7 {would be the most logical but I
was concerned by} 11. Nh4 d5 {This must be critical.} (11... Ng6 12. Nxg6 $5 (
12. Nf5 c6 13. Qf3 d5 14. Ba2 Be6 $11 {1-0 (59) Nozdrachev,V (2485)
-Fakhrutdinov,T (2429) Serpukhov 2018}) 12... hxg6 13. Nf3 $14 {[%cal Gd1e1,
Ge1h4]}) 12. exd5 (12. Bb3 $5 {looks interesting.}) 12... Nexd5 13. Qf3 c6 14.
e4 {White starts giving up a lot of squares.} (14. a5 $11 {looks more
circumspect.}) 14... Nf4 15. g3 $6 Qb6+ 16. d4 $2 exd4 17. gxf4 dxc3+ $19 {
0-1 (29) Jackova,J (2345)-Stefanova,A (2538) Plovdiv 2008}) 11. d4 {I
underestimated this idea. Now I think White has some definite pressure.} Bg4 {
An unusual move in Italian structures but my idea was to reroute the bishop to
the b1-h7 diagonal to put pressure on the e4-pawn.} 12. Qc2 {Not the best
square.} ({A couple of Correspondence games have reached this position. They
both went} 12. Qe1 $1 {and the White players were successful in both cases.}
Na5 (12... Bxf3 13. Rxf3 (13. gxf3 $5) 13... Na5 14. Ba2 c5 15. Qg3 Kh7 16.
Raf1 b5 17. Rxf6 $1 gxf6 18. Bd5 Ra7 19. Qh4 Kg7 20. Rf5 $18 {and Black was
helpless. 1-0 (35) Wharrier,J (2364)-Vetter,G (2309) ICCF email 2014}) 13. Ba2
Nc6 14. b4 Qd7 15. Nh4 Kh7 16. h3 Bh5 17. a5 Bg6 18. Qe2 Ne7 19. Bb3 Kh8 20.
Rad1 Rae8 21. dxe5 dxe5 22. Nxg6+ Nxg6 (22... fxg6 23. Nf3 $16) 23. Rxf6 $1 {
Again this theme.} gxf6 24. Nf1 Qc6 25. Qh5 Kg7 26. Ng3 Ne7 27. Rd3 $18 {
1-0 (67) Bucsa,I (2177)-Kazmierczuk,Z (2186) ICCF email 2015}) 12... Bh5 13.
Rae1 Nd7 ({It was probably better to start with} 13... Bg6 {I didn't want to
allow} 14. Nh4 {but} Bh7 {isn't the end of the world, although it does look a
little passive. Here Black is very solid.}) (13... a5 {would stop White taking
space on the queenside but gives up the b5-square and allows White's plan of}
14. Nh4 $14 {[%csl Rh5] when my bishop looks very odd on h5.}) 14. b4 {I still
couldn't really assess this position. White's grabbing a lot of space but I
hoped that would create weaknesses in his position.} Qe7 (14... Ne7 {would
again allow White's plan with} 15. Nh4 {although here I can start generating
counterplay with} a5 16. b5 c6) 15. g3 {White's continuing to play for the
maximum. The knight is now coming round to f5 but generating another weakness
on the light squares in front of his king.} a5 $5 {Fighting for counterplay on
the queenside but leaving my bishop hanging in mid-air on h5.} (15... Bg6 16.
Nh4 Bh7 17. Nf5 {is pleasant for White.}) 16. b5 Nd8 17. Nh4 Ne6 ({I should
have started with} 17... Nb6 $1 {My knight is offside here but it would have
prevented White's next. However White would still have been for preference
after something like} 18. Nf5 Qd7 19. h3 Ne6 20. g4 Bg6 21. Bd5 Rab8 22. Nc4
Nxc4 23. Bxc4 c6 24. h4 $14) 18. Bd5 $1 {I'd overlooked this idea.} Ra7 {
My rook looks very artificial here but I hoped to coordinate within the next
few moves.} (18... Rab8 19. Nc4 {and there's no good way to defend the a5-pawn.
} b6 {giving away the c6-square looked so ugly to me.}) 19. Nf5 {It appears it
was more accurate to delay this natural knight jump as I now get to use my
bishop again.} (19. Nc4 $16 {Here it's very hard to find counterplay.}) 19...
Qd8 20. h3 (20. Nc4 {can now be met with} Bg4 $11) 20... Nf6 $6 21. Bc4 (21. b6
$1 {I noticed this strong pawn sacrifice next move but it was already very
powerful.} cxb6 22. Qb3 $16 {[%csl Ra7,Gb5,Rb6,Rd6]}) 21... c6 {Starting my
fight back.} 22. Bd3 Bg6 23. Nc4 Bxf5 $1 {Now White's pieces get pushed
backwards and I get to take over the initiative.} 24. Rxf5 ({After} 24. exf5
Ng5 25. h4 {I can choose either a murky position with} e4 ({or more likely the
retreat} 25... Ngh7 {when White can't grab the e5-pawn as g3 is too weak.}) 26.
hxg5 exd3 27. Qxd3 hxg5 $13) 24... g6 {It makes sense to push the rook back so
that I keep e5 securely defended but now my king has been weakened. It'll be
harder to keep my knight on f6 and consequently f7 is more vulnerable.} ({
The engine offers an approach I hadn't considered:} 24... cxb5 $1 25. axb5 b6 {
Now Black will have a wonderful outpost on c5 if White moves the d4-pawn and
otherwise I can try to put pressure on the e4-pawn with ...Ng5 and doubling on
the e-file.}) 25. Rff1 Qe7 26. Kg2 Nd7 27. Qa2 Raa8 {Finally I have
coordination again.} 28. Qa3 c5 29. d5 Ng7 30. b6 $5 {This move really
surprised me but maybe it's a good move. I thought the b6-pawn was now very
exposed but he's getting counterplay against a5. Otherwise I'd take control of
the b6-square and then try breaking on the kingside.} f5 {Suddenly the
position resembles a King's Indian.} 31. Qc1 Nf6 $2 {The wrong plan.} 32. Qc2
$6 {Short on time he believes me.} (32. exf5 $1 {was actually very strong. My
intention was} e4 {followed by recapturing on f5 with the knight with a good
position but White has the strong piece sacrifice} 33. fxg6 $1 exd3 (33... Nfh5
{is the better practical try but there shouldn't be anything like sufficient
compensation after} 34. Be2 Qg5 35. Bg4 $16) 34. e4 $1 Nd7 35. Qxh6 Ne8 $16 {
Material is rougly level but White has a very powerful initiative. The d3-pawn
is probably also dropping when White will have four pawns for the piece.})
32... Rad8 $5 {Provoking him to open the a-file and potentially freeing my
queen from guarding the f6-pawn.} 33. Kh2 h5 {[%csl Rg3][%cal Gh5h4] In mutual
time trouble I ask White some more questions about his king's safety.} 34. Nxa5
{Trying to distract from what's going on over on the kingside but now I get a
second front.} Ra8 35. Nb3 $2 ({During the game I wondered if} 35. Nc6 $1 {
were legal, and in fact it was a much better option} Qe8 (35... bxc6 36. dxc6 {
looks extremely dangerous. White has three advanced connected passed pawns.})
36. Na7 {The a-file is blocked and} c4 37. Bxc4 Nxe4 38. a5 {is a much better
version of the game for White. However, it being a King's Indian style
position, things are still very unclear.}) 35... h4 $1 {I thought it useful to
jettison another pawn to open up the lines on the kingside while I can.} 36.
gxh4 c4 $1 37. Bxc4 Nxe4 {White is temporarily two pawns up but the h4-pawn is
definitely dropping and I'll get counterplay down the a or c-files. White's
king has been opened up and his structure is terrible.} 38. Rg1 $6 {From his
body language it's clear Kostenko missed that my next indirectly defends the
g6-pawn.} ({However matters are now very difficult for White.} 38. a5 Rac8 {
and I crash through on the c-file.}) ({My engine initially offers} 38. Bd3 {
as White's best but} Rxa4 39. Bxe4 Rxe4 {doesn't seem to hold much hope for
White.}) ({Perhaps the most tenacious was} 38. Bb5 {but it's clear Black's now
doing very well. One hypothetical line runs:} Qxh4 39. Qg2 Nxc3 40. Qxg6 Nxb5
41. Rg1 {This has some similarities to the game.} Rf7 42. Rc1 $1 (42. axb5 Ra2+
43. Rg2 Rxg2+ 44. Qxg2 Qxe1 $19) 42... f4 $1 $17) 38... Qxh4 39. Ref1 Ng5 $2 {
Short on time I decided to cash in and win the piece but this actually throws
away the win.} (39... g5 $19 {was the most straightforward. White simply
cannot deal with all the weaknesses in his position.}) 40. Qg2 Qxc4 41. Qxg5
Qxb3 42. Qxg6 Rf7 {I thought converting the extra piece should just be a
matter of technique here as the White pawns should drop one by one but in fact
White should have enoguh activity.} 43. Qxd6 (43. Qe6 $1 {should have been
played immediately. Compared to the game I can't force his king back to h1:}
Qc2+ 44. Kh1 Qe4+ 45. Kh2 Qxe3 46. Rxg7+ $1 Kxg7 47. Rg1+ $11 {and White is
active enough to hold the balance.}) 43... Qxc3 44. Qe6 $2 {The final mistake}
(44. Rg2 $1 {And it's surprisingly difficult for Black.} e4 (44... Qxe3 45. Qe6
$1 {can now be played.}) 45. a5 $1 Qf6 (45... Qxa5 $2 46. Qe6 $18) (45... Rxa5
46. Rfg1 $11) 46. Qxf6 Rxf6 47. Rc1 $1 {It seems White is active enough to
hold the draw without too many problems.}) 44... Qd2+ $1 {An important check.}
(44... Qxe3 $2 {would again allow} 45. Rxg7+ Kxg7 46. Rg1+) 45. Kh1 (45. Rg2
Qxg2+ 46. Kxg2 Nxe6 {is the important point.}) 45... Qxe3 46. Rg6 ({Now} 46.
Rxg7+ Kxg7 47. Rg1+ {fails to} Kh8 48. Qxf7 Qxh3# {An extremely important
difference.}) 46... Qxh3+ {Now I'm a full piece up. Black still needs to be on
his guard but I decided pushing my passed pawns was the easiest conversion.}
47. Kg1 Qe3+ 48. Kh2 Qe2+ 49. Kg1 f4 50. Rf2 Qe1+ 51. Rf1 Qe3+ 52. Kh2 Qe2+ 53.
Kg1 f3 54. a5 f2+ 55. Kg2 Qf3+ 56. Kh2 Qf4+ 57. Kg2 Raf8 58. d6 Qf3+ 59. Kh2
Qh5+ 60. Kg2 Kh7 61. Qg4 $5 {An enterprising last try} Qxg6 62. Rh1+ Nh5 $1 63.
Rxh5+ Kg7 {Not a perfect game by any means but some interesting positions and
a true battle. With this win we managed to squeeze past the hosts 2.5-1.5, a
good start to the competition.} 0-1

[Event "Moscow op"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "1995.??.??"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Kudrin, Sergey"]
[Black "Vorotnikov, Vladislav V"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2540"]
[BlackElo "2460"]
[Annotator "Kudrin,S"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "1995.??.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[SourceTitle "EXT 2000"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1999.11.16"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "1999.11.16"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 d6 4. c3 Qe7 $5 5. O-O g6 6. Re1 Bg7 7. h3 Nf6 8. d4
O-O 9. Nbd2 Bd7 10. Nf1 Rae8 11. Ng3 Kh8 12. Be3 (12. Bd2 $14) 12... exd4 $5
13. cxd4 Nxe4 14. Bg5 Nxg5 15. Rxe7 Nxf3+ 16. Qxf3 Rxe7 17. Ne2 (17. Rd1 $5)
17... Rfe8 18. Rd1 a6 19. a3 d5 $6 20. Bd3 Nxd4 21. Nxd4 Bxd4 22. Bxa6 $1 Re1+
23. Bf1 Rxd1 24. Qxd1 c5 25. a4 (25. b4 $5 $16) 25... Re6 26. Kh2 Bxf2 $2 (
26... Bc6 27. Bb5 $14) 27. Qf3 $18 Bd4 28. Qxf7 Rf6 29. Qxd7 Rxf1 30. Qc8+ Kg7
31. Qxb7+ Kh6 32. Qxd5 Rf5 33. Qc4 Bxb2 34. a5 Be5+ 35. Kg1 Bd4+ 36. Kh1 Re5
37. a6 Re1+ 38. Kh2 Re4 39. Qd5 Re5 40. Qd6 Re1 41. Qf8+ Bg7 42. Qf4+ 1-0

[Event "St Petersburg Chigorin Memorial"]
[Site "St Petersburg"]
[Date "1909.02.28"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Duras, Oldrich"]
[Black "Spielmann, Rudolf"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C50"]
[Annotator "Lasker,Emanuel"]
[PlyCount "66"]
[EventDate "1909.02.15"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "19"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[SourceTitle "EXT 2017"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2016.10.25"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2016.10.25"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 {1) Lasker:The international congress St.Petersburg 1909. Translation by
R.Teichmann. (2) Lasker: Der internationale Schachkongreß zu St.Petersburg.
1909. Berlin.1909. (Nachdruck Olms.1989.)} e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5
5. Nc3 d6 6. Be3 Bb6 7. h3 Be6 8. O-O {A mistake. The idea to retake at c4
with the Pawn is good enough in itself. After the exchange at c4, White's
doubled pawn, even though isolated, would do no harm, on account of its
central position; it would hamper Black's pieces and could not be easily
attacked.} ({But it was a condition, sine quo non, to secure the Queen Knight
against Ba5 by say,} 8. a3 $142 {for the trebled Pawn on the c-file has no
mobility whatever.}) 8... Bxc4 9. dxc4 Ba5 10. Nd5 ({After} 10. Qd3 Bxc3 11.
bxc3 b6 {the c-pawns would be fixed, and White's game should be lost in
consequence. Hence White plays va banque for attack.}) 10... Nxe4 11. Qd3 f5
12. c3 (12. b4 Nxb4 ({or} 12... Bxb4 13. Rab1) 13. Nxb4 Bxb4 14. Qd5 {was more
in the nature of a va banque attack.} Nc3 $145 $1 15. Qe6+ (15. Qxb7 Rb8 16.
Qxa7 O-O $17) 15... Qe7 16. Qxf5 Qf6 17. Qh5+ g6 18. Qh6 O-O-O $17) 12... O-O
13. Rad1 Bb6 14. b4 Bxe3 15. Nxe3 Qf6 16. Rfe1 Ng5 17. Nxg5 Qxg5 18. b5 Na5 19.
Nd5 e4 20. Qe2 Rf7 21. Rd4 c6 22. Nb4 Rd8 {22...c5 23.Rxd6 cxb4 24.cxb4.} 23.
Nc2 Qf6 24. Ne3 Qe5 25. Red1 Rf6 26. Qc2 h5 27. Qa4 (27. Nf1 {first was
imperative.}) 27... f4 28. Qxa5 b6 29. Qa3 fxe3 30. fxe3 Qg3 {/\Rf2/
Threatening Rf2.} 31. Kh1 Rdf8 32. Qc1 Rf2 33. Rg1 R8f3 {Black threatens Qxh3+.
} (33... R8f3 34. Qb1 Qxh3+ 35. gxh3 Rxh3#) 0-1

[Event "Norway Chess 5th"]
[Site "Stavanger"]
[Date "2017.06.14"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Black "Aronian, Levon"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2781"]
[BlackElo "2793"]
[Annotator "Lenderman,A"]
[PlyCount "82"]
[EventDate "2017.06.06"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "NOR"]
[EventCategory "22"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 179"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2017.07.12"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2017.07.12"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{I chose this game as the game of the day since it was not only a decisive
game but also a very high quality game by Levon who is in excellent form in
this tournament.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 {These days the Italian Game has
probably taken over in popularity from the Ruy Lopez, mostly because of the
Berlin and the Marshall.} Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 O-O 6. a4 a5 {The Aronian
speciality. Aronian has already played this move in several games, despite it
not being the most common move. According to my database the most common move
is the less committal 6...a6} (6... a6) (6... d6) (6... h6 {have also been
played.}) 7. Bg5 (7. c3 {was also played a few times against Aronian without
great opening success.} d5 8. exd5 Nxd5 9. Re1 Bg4 10. Nbd2 Nb6 11. Bb5 Bd6 12.
h3 Bh5 13. Ne4 (13. Bxc6 bxc6 14. Ne4 f5 15. Ng3 Bxf3 16. Qxf3 Qd7 $15 {
1/2 (80) Nepomniachtchi,I (2767)-Aronian,L (2785) Doha QAT 2016; was already
very comfortable for Black.}) 13... f5 14. Ng3 Bxf3 15. Qxf3 Ne7 16. Bg5 c6 $17
{1-0 (41) Vachier Lagrave,M (2804)-Aronian,L (2785) London ENG 2016; and Black
got an excellent opening even though in the end Black lost the game.}) 7... h6
8. Bh4 Be7 9. Bg3 d6 10. h3 Kh8 $5 {This move is already a foray into rare
territory, and according to my database is a novelty. Aronian is attempting to
improve on his own play. Before, two times against the same opponent, Fabiano
Caruana, including in the prelimiarly blitz event before the main tournament
in Norway, Aronian played 10...Nd7!?} (10... Nd7 11. Nc3 {White was a tiny bit
better here but Black can probably hold this.} (11. Re1 Kh8 12. c3 Nb6 13. Bb3
f5 14. exf5 Bxf5 15. d4 (15. Na3 $5 {might've been an improvement for White.})
15... e4 16. Nfd2 d5 17. f3 Bh4 $17 {1/2 (25) Caruana,F (2808)-Aronian,L (2793)
Stavanger NOR 2017, was very good for Black....}) 11... Nb6 12. Bb3 Kh8 13. d4
Nxd4 14. Nxd4 exd4 15. Qxd4 Bf6 16. e5 (16. Qd2) (16. Qe3) 16... dxe5 17. Qxd8
Rxd8 18. Rfe1 Be6 19. Bxe6 fxe6 20. Ne4 (20. Bxe5) 20... Kg8 21. Nc5 Rd5 {
1/2 (61) Caruana,F (2817) -Aronian,L (2774) Karlsruhe GER 2017; was already
good for Black.}) 11. c3 Nh7 {This is the point of ...Kh8. Now Black tries to
play for the kingside initiative.} 12. Qb3 f5 $1 {According to Playchess,
Black spent 12 minutes here. This is a pawn sacrifice though.} (12... Qe8 {
Maybe Black also considered something like this but of course this is an
awkward move and a concession.} 13. Nbd2 $14) 13. exf5 Bf6 $5 (13... Bxf5 {
was also probably possible.} 14. Nbd2 (14. Qxb7 {This is a bit dangerous for
White.} Bd7 15. Bd5 (15. Qb3 Rxf3 $1 16. gxf3 Rb8 17. Qc2 Bxh3 18. Re1 Bh4 $36
(18... Qf8 $36 {Black has a strong initiative.})) 15... Rb8 16. Qa6 Rb6 17. Qc4
Nf6 {Here Black is fine.} 18. Nbd2 (18. b3 $2 Nb8 $1) 18... Nxd5 19. Qxd5 Rxb2
$11) 14... Rb8 15. Rae1 {with a playable position for both.}) 14. Be6 {The
principled move.} (14. Nbd2 $5 {was also possible.}) 14... Ne7 15. Nh4 Qe8 16.
Bxc8 Rxc8 17. Ng6+ Nxg6 18. fxg6 Qxg6 19. Qxb7 Ng5 $5 {Black continues to play
ambitiously, down a pawn for long-term compensation in the form of piece
activity and the initiative. It worked great in this game. Very brave play by
Aronian!} (19... Qxd3 20. Qb5 e4 (20... Qxb5 21. axb5 Ra8 22. Nd2 $16 {is of
course not great for Black since White simply has the better game without
facing much counterplay.} Rfb8 23. c4 Ng5 24. Ra2 $14 {and Black's pawn on a5
is weak as well as his bishop on f6. This can be a problem with all Black's
pawns on the dark squares.}) 21. Qxa5 (21. Qxd3 exd3 22. Na3 {Here only White
can be better.}) 21... e3) 20. h4 Ne6 21. Qe4 Qh5 22. Nd2 Nf4 $1 {Of course
Black has to play energetically here to try to prove he has compensation for
his pawn.} 23. Bxf4 exf4 24. Qf3 $6 {This move seems to be the first
inaccuracy by White since eventually the queen on f3 might not be ideally
placed and Black will take on h4 eventually anyway.} (24. d4 $5 g5 $1 {seems
like Black's best reply.} (24... Bxh4 25. b4 $1 $14 {The point of d4. Now
White wants to create quick counterplay thanks to a passed a-pawn and White
seems to be doing well now.}) (24... Qxh4 25. Nf3 $16) 25. Rfe1 (25. hxg5 hxg5
26. Qd5 Kg7 $36 {is a bit dangerous for White.}) 25... Qxh4 26. f3 {with a
complex game but White seems fine, if not still better.}) 24... Qxh4 25. Rfe1
Rb8 (25... g5 {This move right away was also interesting.}) 26. Nc4 (26. Rab1
g5 27. Qc6 g4 28. Qxc7 Be5 29. Rxe5 dxe5 30. Qxe5+ Kg8 {is also very unclear
and as such is unlikely to be an improvement for White.}) 26... g5 $1 {Now
Black starts his initiative. Objectively the position is roughly equal but
probably Black has the edge here since he has the initiative.} 27. Re6 Bg7 28.
Rg6 $6 {Now this is probably already a serious practical inaccuracy since now
the e-file goes to Black and Black at the very least will have a serious
initiative if not already an advantage.} (28. Qh3 $11 {This was the simplest
route to clean equality.} Qxh3 29. gxh3 d5 30. Nxa5 Rxb2 31. d4 $11) (28. Rae1
g4 29. Qe4 f3 30. g3 Qh3 31. Ne3 Rxb2 32. Re8 {is also level.}) (28. Nxa5 $4 {
On the other hand is just a blunder because of} g4 29. Qd5 (29. Qe4 d5 30. Qxd5
g3 $19) 29... g3) 28... Rbe8 $1 29. d4 Kh7 $1 30. Qd3 Kg8 {After this nice
sequence of moves White is already in some trouble. However White's next move
doesn't make it easier for him.} 31. d5 $6 (31. Qf3 $1 {Here White should've
stalled Black's initiative at least for now.} Kf7 32. Qd3 Qh5 33. Qf5+ Kg8 34.
Qd5+ Kh8 35. Re6 Rxe6 36. Qxe6 g4 37. Re1 g3 38. Qh3 Qg6 $15 {Black is a bit
better but White can still fight.} 39. Na3 f3 40. Rf1 $1 {and White is still
defending succesfully although Black has the edge.}) 31... f3 {This move is
good enough for an advantage and it's very difficult for White to play, but I
wanted to mention that Black seemed to have another interesting viable
alternative here.} (31... g4 $5 {would also be quite hard to meet.} 32. Rd1 $1
{seems like practically the only move.} (32. g3 $2 Qh5 33. Re6 Rxe6 34. dxe6
fxg3 35. Qxg3 Rf3 $19) (32. Nxa5 $2 Re5 $19) (32. Rf1 Re7 33. Re6 Ref7 $1) (32.
Rb1 Qh5 33. Re6 g3 34. Qf3 Qh2+ 35. Kf1 Qh1+ {Because of this line, it's
really important for White to play Rd1.}) 32... Kh8 $3 {This move was very
hard to find though, and after it Black would still be much better.} (32... Qh5
{is less effective.} 33. Re6 g3 34. Qf3 gxf2+ 35. Kxf2) (32... Re7 33. Re6 Rxe6
(33... Ref7 34. Nxa5 g3 35. Qf3 {Here also White defends succesfully.}) 34.
dxe6 $15) 33. Re6 (33. g3 fxg3 34. Qxg3 (34. fxg3 $2 Qh3 $19) 34... Qxg3+ 35.
fxg3 Re4 36. Nxa5 Rf3 $17) 33... Rxe6 34. dxe6 g3 35. Qf3 Re8 36. Re1 Qh2+ 37.
Kf1 Qh1+ 38. Ke2 Rxe6+ 39. Ne3 Qh4 40. fxg3 fxg3 41. Qa8+ Kh7 42. Qxa5 Qe4 43.
Kd2 d5 $17 {and Black is much better thanks to his long-lasting initiative
against White's weak king.}) 32. gxf3 $6 {This makes matters worse for White.}
(32. g3 Qh3 33. Qf1 Qf5 34. Qb1 $2 (34. Re6 Qxd5 35. Re3 $1 $15 {White is
still almost ok, only slightly worse.} (35. Rxe8 Rxe8 36. Ne3 Qd2)) 34... Qxd5)
32... Rf4 33. Kg2 $6 {Likely following a faulty plan. At this point Sergey was
already in serious time pressure and this position is very unpleasant to play.
Sergey probably missed some of Levon's ideas.} (33. Nd2 {After this more
resilient move White can still fight on, although honestly speaking probably
not for that long.} Qh3 $1 {This is probably why Sergey played Kg2.} 34. Qf1
Qh5 35. Re6 Rb8 $19 {and Black is winning but at least White doesn't have to
resign right away. He's not losing by force yet.}) 33... Ref8 $1 {The only
winning move. Which means probably Levon had to see it when he played 31... f3}
(33... g4 $2 34. Rxg4 Rxg4+ 35. fxg4 Qxg4+ 36. Kf1 $11) 34. Nd2 ({It is
important of course that} 34. Rh1 {doesn't work because of} Rg4+ 35. fxg4 Qxf2+
36. Kh3 Rf3+ 37. Qxf3 Qxf3+ 38. Kh2 Qf2+ 39. Kh3 Qh4+ 40. Kg2 Qxg4+ 41. Kh2
Qh4+ 42. Kg2 Qe4+ $19) 34... g4 {Now it's completely over.} 35. Kg1 R8f5 $1 36.
Ne4 Rxf3 37. Qd4 Re5 $1 38. Ng3 Rxg3+ $1 39. fxg3 Qxg3+ 40. Kf1 Kh7 41. Rxg7+ (
41. Rxg4 Rf5+) (41. Qxg4 Qd3+) 41... Kxg7 {And White resigned since After ...
Kg6, the only way to stop a mating attack would be to give up the queen. A
brilliant game by Levon and now he's in prime position to win such a super
tournament!} 0-1

[Event "Elgoibar 08th"]
[Site "Elgoibar"]
[Date "1998.11.24"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Vallejo Pons, Francisco"]
[Black "Izeta Txabarri, Felix"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2450"]
[BlackElo "2445"]
[Annotator "Lukacs,P"]
[PlyCount "55"]
[EventDate "1998.11.11"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "ESP"]
[EventCategory "10"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 069"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1999.04.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "1999.04.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bg5 {The Canal Variation
is a rare guest on strong tournaments these days.} h6 (6... Na5 {is the other
line giving Black sufficient counterplay.}) 7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8. Nd5 Qd8 9. c3 O-O (
9... a6 $5) (9... Ne7 $142 {is the best continuation here according to
contemporary theory.}) 10. d4 (10. b4 Bb6 11. a4 a6 $5 (11... a5 {In these
types of positions Black is not afraid of being corrupted on the << .} 12. Nxb6
(12. b5 {Closing the << is not advisable for White, because in this case he
cannot make use of the weaknesses in Black's P structure.} Ne7 (12... Nb8 13.
Nxb6 cxb6 14. O-O Qe7 15. Re1 Bg4 16. h3 Bxf3 17. Qxf3 Nd7 18. d4 Rac8 $11 {
and White has also weaknesses on the <-> c, Womacka-Kuczynski, BL2-T 1996.})
13. Nxb6 cxb6 14. O-O Kh8 {/\ f5} 15. d4 Bg4 16. dxe5 {If White has to give up
the tension in the [+], he can't be better.} Bxf3 17. Qxf3 dxe5 18. Qh5 Ng6 19.
Bd5 Qc7 $11 {Macieyevski-Macieja, Warsawa op 1992}) 12... cxb6 13. bxa5 $1 Nxa5
14. Bd5 Qc7 15. c4 {Now the weaknesses on the <-> b begin to tell.} Bg4 16. O-O
Kh8 17. h3 Bxf3 18. Qxf3 Nb3 19. Ra2 Nc5 20. Qd1 Qd7 21. f4 f6 $14 {with space
advantage and chances for an |^ on the >>, Ivanovic-Anand, Manila izt 1990.})
12. Nxb6 (12. b5 {is again not that impressive:} Ne7 $5 ({Or} 12... axb5 13.
axb5 Rxa1 14. Qxa1 Ne7 15. Nxb6 cxb6 16. O-O (16. Qa2 Bg4 17. Nd2 Qd7 18. O-O
Be6 $13) 16... Ng6 $13) 13. Nxb6 (13. bxa6 bxa6 14. O-O Ng6) 13... cxb6 14.
bxa6 bxa6 15. O-O Ng6 16. Kh1 Kh8 {/\ f5} 17. Bd5 Rb8 18. Qd2 Nf4 19. c4 f5 $15
{and Black grabs the |^ on the >> due to his mighty N on f4, Nimzovich-Kostic,
Goteborg 1920.}) 12... cxb6 13. O-O (13. b5 Ne7 {- 12.b5}) (13. Qb3 {is not a
real threat:} Ne7 14. O-O Ng6 $132) 13... Ne7 ({Certainly not} 13... g5 $6 14.
Nd2 Kg7 15. Qb3 Ne7 16. Rfd1 f5 {because of} 17. Be6 $1 f4 18. d4 $16 {and
White gets the control in the [+], while Black's >> |^ is only a fata morgana,
Barle-Hansson, Reykjavik op 1988.}) 14. Ne1 (14. d4 Qc7) (14. Nh4 $6 {leaves
the [+] unattended:} d5 15. Bb3 Be6) (14. Qd2 Ng6 15. Ne1 Kh8 {/\ f5}) 14... d5
$13 {and Black immediately fights back in the [+].} (14... Ng6 $6 15. Nc2 Be6
16. Ne3 {/\ g3+/-})) 10... Bb6 $2 {This allows White to grab the |^.} (10...
exd4 {was the correct reply in order to put heavy pressure on White's [+].} 11.
cxd4 Bb6 12. O-O (12. h3 {against Bg4.} Ne7 $11 ({Or} 12... Ba5+ $5 13. Nc3 Ne7
)) 12... Bg4 13. Nxb6 axb6 14. Qd3 Bxf3 15. gxf3 {White still controls the [+],
but the price was high, his >> is completely disorganized.} Qf6 $5 (15... Na5
$5 16. Bb5 $5 (16. Bd5 c6 17. Bb3 Nxb3 18. Qxb3 b5 $15) (16. Bb3 Nxb3 17. Qxb3
Qf6) 16... c6 17. Ba4 b5 18. Bc2 Nc4 19. Qc3 (19. e5 g6) 19... Qg5+ 20. Kh1 Qd2
) (15... Ne7 $11) 16. Rad1 Ra5 $1 {Black brings his R immediately against the
weakened >>.} 17. Qe3 Rh5 18. f4 Rh4 19. f5 Re8 20. f3 $2 Qxf5 $19 {
Shinkevich-Yagupov, St.Petersburg 1996}) 11. dxe5 Nxe5 (11... dxe5 12. Qe2 Bc5
13. O-O-O Bd6 {Black has lost a lot of tempi in order to solve the problem of
his B.} 14. Rd2 Be6 15. Ne3 Qf6 16. Bxe6 Qxe6 17. Kb1 Rfd8 18. Rhd1 Bc5 19. Nd5
$14 {and due to his excellent N on d5 White holds the edge, Minasian-Sharif,
Ovieda rapid 1993.}) 12. Nxe5 dxe5 13. Qh5 Qd6 $2 {This Q manoeuvre cannot be
recommended.} (13... c6 14. Nxb6 Qxb6 15. Qxe5 (15. O-O-O Be6 $1 (15... Qxf2
16. Qxe5) 16. Bxe6 fxe6 17. f3 $14 {with a better P structure because of the
doubled pawns on the <-> e.}) 15... Qxb2 16. O-O $14) (13... Qg5 $142 {was the
persistant defence.}) 14. O-O-O $16 Qc5 (14... Bxf2 $4 15. Rhf1 Bc5 16. Nf6+ $1
$18) 15. Bb3 a5 {[]} (15... Qxf2 $2 {opens up the <-> f for the white R :} 16.
Rhf1 Qc5 17. Rxf7 $1 Rxf7 18. Nf6+ Kh8 19. Qxf7 $18) (15... Be6 $2 {founders on
} 16. Nf6+ $1 gxf6 (16... Kh8 17. Bxe6 fxe6 18. Nd7 $18) 17. Bxe6 fxe6 18. Qg6+
Kh8 19. Qxh6+ Kg8 20. Qg6+ Kh8 21. Rd3 $18) 16. g4 $3 {This brilliant
agressive move is the logical continuation of White's ->.} ({Immediately} 16.
Nf6+ {is parried by} Kh8 $1 17. Bxf7 Qe7 $1) 16... a4 17. Nf6+ $1 $18 Kh8 (
17... gxf6 18. Qg6+) 18. Bxf7 Qxf2 ({Now} 18... Qe7 {is no escape from trouble
because of} 19. g5 $1 $18 Rxf7 20. Qxf7 $1) 19. Rhf1 Qe3+ 20. Kb1 Qg5 21. Qxg5
hxg5 22. Nd7 Bxd7 23. Rxd7 {The black K is still in danger.} Rad8 (23... g6 24.
Rf3) 24. Rf3 $1 g6 25. Re7 Rd2 26. Rh3+ Kg7 27. Bc4+ Kf6 28. Rhh7 1-0

[Event "GER-ch 77th"]
[Site "Osterburg"]
[Date "2006.02.05"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Tischbierek, Raj"]
[Black "Gustafsson, Jan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2466"]
[BlackElo "2614"]
[Annotator "Lukacs,P"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[EventDate "2006.02.03"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 112"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2006.06.07"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2006.06.07"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d3 Bc5 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bg5 {This is the
so-called Canal Variation.} h6 (6... Na5 {is the alternative here.}) 7. Bxf6
Qxf6 8. Nd5 Qd8 9. c3 Ne7 10. d4 exd4 (10... Nxd5 $5 11. dxc5 Nf4 (11... Ne7
12. cxd6 cxd6 {Black's backward P is not the end of the world.} 13. Qa4+ Nc6
14. Bd5 Qc7 $11 {Sozin}) 12. g3 (12. O-O Qf6 13. cxd6 cxd6 14. Bb5+ Ke7 {
The K in the middle is safe in this case, Black has a strong pressure on the
dark squares.} 15. Re1 h5 16. Re3 h4 17. Qd2 Rh6 18. c4 Bg4 19. c5 dxc5 20. Qc3
Bxf3 $15 {Tisdall-Hjartarson, Iceland 1988}) (12. Bb5+ Bd7 13. Bxd7+ Qxd7 14.
g3 Ne6 $11 {Tartakower-Fine, Hastings 1935/36}) 12... Nh3 $1 (12... Ne6 13.
cxd6 Qxd6 14. Qxd6 cxd6 15. O-O-O {Here the backward P is a strategical
weakness in the _|_.} Ke7 16. Nh4 g6 17. f3 Nc7 18. Ng2 h5 19. Ne3 $14 {
Diaz-Moldobaev, Frunze 1989}) 13. Bb5+ ({The premature} 13. cxd6 {helps only
for Black.} cxd6 14. Bb5+ Kf8 15. Qe2 Qb6 16. Nh4 Bg4 17. f3 Ng1 $1 $15 {
is the unexpected blow, Diaz-Garcia, Las Palmas 1989.}) 13... Bd7 {is the
simplest way for Black.} (13... Ke7 14. Qe2 Bg4 15. Qe3 Qc8 16. Be2 Qe6 17. Nh4
$14 {Ivanovic-Salov, Beograd 1987}) (13... Kf8 14. Be2 Qf6 15. cxd6 cxd6 16.
Qd3 g6 (16... Ng5 $5) 17. Rd1 Ke7 18. Qe3 Be6 19. c4 b6 20. Rd2 $14 {
Ivanovic-Ki.Georgiev, Vrsac 1987}) (13... c6 14. Be2 $14 {>< e5}) 14. Bxd7+
Qxd7 15. cxd6 Qxd6 (15... cxd6 16. Qe2 $11) 16. Qxd6 cxd6 17. Rd1 Ke7 18. Ke2
Rac8 19. Rd5 Ng5 20. Nd2 Rc5 21. Rxc5 dxc5 $11 {Ivanovic-Smejkal, Novi Sad 1990
}) 11. cxd4 (11. Nxd4 {cannot be taken seriously.} Nxd5 12. Bxd5 O-O {Black's
^^ can even be dangerous in the _|_.} 13. Qd3 Qf6 $11 {Canal-Johner, Karlsbad
1929} (13... Bxd4 14. cxd4 c6 15. Bb3 Qa5+ 16. Qd2 Qxd2+ 17. Kxd2 Be6 18. d5
cxd5 19. Bxd5 {1/2:1/2 Tartakower-Rubinstein, Budapest 1929})) 11... Bb6 (11...
Nxd5 12. dxc5 Nf4 13. O-O (13. g3 Nh3 14. cxd6 O-O) 13... dxc5 (13... Qf6 14.
cxd6 Bh3 {looks frightening, but White has enough defensive resources.} 15. Ne1
cxd6 16. Qb3 Qg5 17. Rd1 $36 (17. g3 O-O (17... Bxf1 $2 18. Bxf7+ Kf8 19. Qxb7
Bh3 20. Bc4 Ne2+ 21. Kh1 {1-0 Diaz-Lugo, Cuba-ch 1987}) 18. Nf3 Qh5 19. Rfe1 b5
20. Bd5 Nxd5 21. exd5 Rfe8 $13)) 14. Qa4+ (14. Qxd8+ Kxd8 15. Bxf7 Ke7 16. Bc4
Be6 $13) 14... c6 15. Qa3 Qe7 $13) 12. Nxb6 (12. O-O Nxd5 13. Bxd5 O-O {
White has a nice [+], but the ^^ is also strong.} 14. h3 c6 15. Bb3 Qf6 16. Qd3
Be6 17. Bc2 g6 $13 {Golombek-Michell, Hastings 1935}) 12... axb6 13. O-O O-O (
13... d5 $5 14. exd5 Nxd5 {Black has created an isolated P, but has not
completed his development in an open position.} 15. Qc2 $142 (15. Re1+ Be6 16.
Bxd5 (16. Ne5 O-O 17. Qf3 c6 {Now Black has everything in order.} 18. Rad1 Re8
19. a3 Qg5 20. h3 Rad8 21. Nd3 Nc7 22. Bxe6 Rxe6 $11 {Ad.Horvath-Aleksandrov,
Izmir 2004}) 16... Qxd5 17. Re5 Qd6 18. d5 $5 O-O-O 19. Qa4 Bxd5 20. Rd1 c6 21.
Rexd5 cxd5 22. Nd4 $44 {Timman-Nunn, Amsterdam 1985}) 15... Be6 (15... O-O $2 {
loses a P after} 16. Bxd5 $16) (15... c6 $2 {founders on} 16. Rfe1+ Be6 17.
Rxe6+ $1 $18) 16. Bxd5 Bxd5 17. Rfe1+ Kf8 18. Re3 (18. Ne5 g6 {/\ Kg7}) 18...
g6 {/\ Kg7}) 14. h3 $6 {This allows the freeing move in the [+].} (14. Qb3 Bg4
(14... Nc6 15. Qc3) 15. h3) (14. Re1 d5 (14... Bg4 15. h3) 15. exd5 Nxd5 16.
Qb3 Be6 17. a4 c6 $11) 14... d5 $15 15. exd5 Nxd5 {Here the h3 move is rather
useless.} 16. Ne5 (16. Re1 Be6) 16... Be6 17. Qf3 c6 18. Rad1 Re8 19. Rfe1 Nf6
20. Bxe6 Rxe6 21. a3 Qd5 22. Qxd5 Nxd5 {The _|_ is a bit better for Black,
rooks and knight work well against the isolated P.} 23. Kf1 Rd8 24. Nc4 Rxe1+
25. Kxe1 b5 26. Ne3 f6 $6 (26... Nb6 $15 {it is important to keep the N if
Black wants to win.}) 27. Nxd5 Rxd5 $11 {The R _|_ is drawish, as a rule, the
white K comes quickly towards the [+] .} 28. Ke2 Kf7 29. Kd3 g5 30. g4 Rd8 31.
Rc1 Re8 32. Rf1 Rd8 33. Rc1 Re8 34. Rf1 Ra8 35. f4 Rd8 36. Ke4 Re8+ 37. Kd3 Rd8
38. Ke4 Re8+ 39. Kd3 1/2-1/2

[Event "EU-Cup 20th"]
[Site "Izmir"]
[Date "2004.10.05"]
[Round "3.2"]
[White "Short, Nigel D"]
[Black "Aleksandrov, Aleksej"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2687"]
[BlackElo "2659"]
[Annotator "Lukacs,P"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "2004.10.03"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "TUR"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 104"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2005.01.27"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2005.01.27"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Sarajevo Bosna"]
[BlackTeam "Ekaterinburg Max Ven"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "BIH"]
[BlackTeamCountry "RUS"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. Bg5 h6 (6... Na5 {
is the other alternative against the Canal Variation.}) 7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8. Nd5 Qd8
9. c3 a6 10. d4 Ba7 11. dxe5 Nxe5 (11... dxe5 12. Qe2 {Black has a strong ^^,
but White's pieces are excellent, especially the centralized d5 N.} Bc5 (12...
Bg4 13. Rd1 Qc8 (13... Qb8 $6 {looks too sophysticated.} 14. b4 $1 O-O 15. h3
Be6 (15... Bxf3 16. Qxf3 $16 {and the ^- helps for White's |^.}) 16. O-O Re8
17. Nh4 $1 $16 {storming the light squares, Inkiov-Schussler, Haifa 1989.}))
13. O-O-O Bd6 {The B has left the nice /^, where he didn't do much.} 14. Rd2 b5
(14... O-O 15. Rhd1 Qe8 16. Nh4 b5 17. Bb3 Na5 18. Nb6 $1 Nxb3+ 19. axb3 cxb6
20. Rxd6 {Now the d <-> secures White the edge.} Qe7 21. Qh5 $16 {Kholmov-Mi.
Tseitlin, Voskresenk 1990}) 15. Bb3 Na5 16. Nb6 $1 {The well-known motif again!
} Nxb3+ 17. axb3 Rb8 18. Nxc8 Qxc8 19. Rd5 $14 {Kotronias-Arnason, Reykjavik
1988}) 12. Nxe5 dxe5 13. Qh5 O-O {'!' Development first!} 14. Qxe5 Re8 15. Qf4
Qd6 (15... Be6 16. O-O-O Qg5 17. Qxg5 hxg5 18. Bb3 Rac8 19. f3 $16 {and White
is a healthy P up, Kotronias-Skembris, Athens 1987.}) 16. Qxd6 (16. Qf3 Be6 17.
O-O-O Qe5 $1 (17... Qc5 18. Bb3 Kh8 19. Rd2 b5 20. g4 Rad8 21. Rhd1 Bxd5 22.
Bxd5 {White has an extra P and the ^- works also for him.} b4 23. Rc2 Re7 24.
cxb4 Qxb4 25. a3 $16 {A.Sokolov-Conquest, Ostrava 1994}) 18. Bb3 (18. Be2 Rad8
19. Nb4 {If White has to give up his stronghold on d5, Black can get enough
counterplay in view of his strong ^^.} Rxd1+ 20. Bxd1 Bc4 21. Bc2 Re6 22. Qf5
a5 23. Bd3 Bxd3 24. Nxd3 Qxe4 25. Qxe4 Rxe4 26. Kd2 c6 27. f3 {1/2-1/2
Morozevich-Korneev, Elista 1997}) (18. Bd3 c6 19. Qf4 Qxf4+ {1/2-1/2
Minasian-Bezgodov, Kstovo 1994}) 18... c6 (18... Qg5+ 19. Rd2 c6 {
(Schroll-Kummer, Hartberg 2003)} 20. Nf4 $11) 19. Ne3 Bxb3 20. axb3 Qxe4 $11 {
A.Sokolov}) 16... Rxe4+ 17. Ne3 (17. Kd2 cxd6 {Black has a backward P on d6,
but his ^^ can give him good drawing chances.} 18. Bb3 Bd7 19. Rae1 (19. f3 Re5
20. f4 Re4 21. Rhe1 (21. Bc2 Rc4 22. Bb3 Re4 23. Bc2 Ree8 (23... Rc4 24. Rhe1)
24. Nc7 (24. Rhe1 Bc6 25. Bb3 Kf8 26. Nc7 Rxe1 27. Rxe1 Rc8 $11) 24... Be3+ 25.
Ke2 Bb6+ 26. Nxe8 Rxe8+ 27. Kd2 Be3+ {'=' and the white K cannot run away from
the checks. Sermek-Zhang Zhong, Beijing 1997} 28. Ke2 Bb6+ 29. Kd2 Be3+ $11 {
Sermek-Zhang Zhong, Beijing 1997}) 21... Rae8 22. Rxe4 Rxe4 23. Re1 Rxe1 24.
Kxe1 {Without rooks White advantage is only microscopical.} Kf8 25. Kd2 Bg1 26.
h3 h5 $11 {Ivanovic-Spassky, Bugojno 1984}) 19... Rae8 20. Rxe4 Rxe4 21. Re1
Re5 22. f4 Rxe1 23. Kxe1 Kf8 24. Bc2 Bc6 25. Be4 f5 26. Bf3 Kf7 27. h4 a5 28.
b3 Ke6 29. c4 Bd4 30. h5 Kd7 {1/2-1/2 Nadyrhanov-Fedorchuk, St Petersburg 2000}
) 17... cxd6 18. Bd5 (18. Bb3 Bd7 $11) 18... Re5 19. O-O-O Bxe3+ 20. fxe3 Rxe3
{'?!' There was no need to take that weak P.} (20... Rb8 21. Bf3 (21. Rhe1 Be6
$11) 21... Be6 22. Rxd6 Bxa2 $11 {was safer.} (22... Rxe3 23. Rb6)) 21. Rhf1
Be6 {'!?'} (21... Re7 22. Rxf7 Rxf7 23. Rf1 $14) 22. Bxb7 Ra7 23. Bd5 {'+/='
Now Black's pawns are in three islands and >< a6 and d6 are vulnerable.
Besides White can create a remote o^ on the <<.} a5 24. Bxe6 Rxe6 25. Rd2 {
R endings are rather drawish, but only if the defender can find some
counterplay.} a4 (25... Kf8 $14 {/\ Ke7}) 26. Kc2 g5 {weakening >< f5.} 27. Rf5
Kg7 28. Rfd5 Ra6 29. Kd3 (29. c4 $5 {looked logical improving the P structure
and bring the K as well.} Kf6 30. Kc3 $14) 29... f6 30. Kc4 Rb6 (30... Kf7 31.
Kb5 Ra8 32. Kb4) 31. Ra5 (31. b4 $5 {was a logical follow-up, but White wants
make profit from the weakness of a5.} axb3 32. axb3 $16) 31... Re4+ 32. Kd3 Rg4
33. Rf2 Kg6 34. h3 {This allows more counterplay.} (34. g3 $142 h5 35. Raf5 Rf4
(35... d5 36. Rxd5 h4 37. gxh4 Rxh4 38. c4 $16) 36. R5xf4 gxf4 37. gxf4 Kf5 38.
Kd4 h4 39. c4 $16 {was much better than in the game.}) 34... Rh4 35. Raf5 Rf4 (
35... Rxb2 $2 36. Rxf6+ Kg7 37. Rf7+ Kg8 38. Rxb2 Kxf7 39. Rb4 $18) 36. R5xf4
gxf4 37. Ke4 Kg5 38. Rd2 f5+ {'?'} (38... h5 $1 {was required, for example:}
39. c4 (39. Rd5+ Kg6) 39... f5+ 40. Kf3 (40. Kd5 Kh4 41. Ke6 f3 42. gxf3 f4 43.
Kf5 Rb4 $11) 40... Rb4 41. Rc2 h4 42. Ke2 Rb8 43. Kd3 f3 $1 $132 {followed by
Kf4.}) 39. Kf3 Rc6 (39... h5 40. h4+ $1) 40. a3 Rb6 41. h4+ Kxh4 (41... Kf6 42.
Kxf4 Ke6 43. Re2+ (43. g3 Rb7 $16) 43... Kf6 44. g3 Rb7 $16 {was the
persistant defence.}) 42. Kxf4 d5 (42... Rb5 43. g4 $1 $18 {and suddenly the
big threat is mate.} (43. Rd3 Kh5)) 43. Rd3 {'!'} 1-0

[Event "Olympiad-36"]
[Site "Mallorca"]
[Date "2004.10.25"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Sermek, Drazen"]
[Black "Sargissian, Gabriel"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2547"]
[BlackElo "2611"]
[Annotator "Lukacs,P"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "2004.10.15"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "14"]
[EventCountry "ESP"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 104"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2005.01.27"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2005.01.27"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Slovenia"]
[BlackTeam "Armenia"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "SLO"]
[BlackTeamCountry "ARM"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. Nc3 h6 {against Bg5.} (5... d6 6.
Bg5 {is the main line of the Canal Variation.}) 6. Nd5 $5 (6. O-O a6 $142 {
In some cases Black can keep his K in the middle and begin an -> by g5 on the
>>.} (6... O-O 7. h3 a6 {/\ d6 avoiding Na4.} (7... d6 {This allows White to
exchange the important dark-squared B.} 8. Na4 Bb6 9. c3 Re8 (9... Be6 $5 {
Malaniuk, Legky}) 10. Bb3 Be6 11. Bc2 $14 {keeping the ^^, Malaniuk-Short,
Yerevan 1984.})) 7. Be3 (7. a3 d6 8. h3 O-O $11 {Battin-Coleby, Dubai (ol) 1986
} (8... g5 $5)) (7. a4 d6 8. h3 $11 {Lorum-Van der Linden, Kleve 1999}) (7. h3
d6 $11) 7... d6 8. Bxc5 dxc5 {Black has some pressure on d <->.} 9. Bd5 Nb4 10.
Nxe5 Nfxd5 11. exd5 O-O 12. Re1 Nxd5 {(Ivanovic-Pandovas, Nea Makri 1990)} 13.
Ne4 b6 14. d4 $11 {Andrianov}) (6. Be3 Bb6 7. h3 d6 8. Qd2 Be6 9. Bb3 Qd7 $11 {
M.Kovacic-Rogulj, Slovenia 1991}) 6... d6 (6... O-O 7. c3 a6 8. b4 Ba7 9. O-O
d6 10. h3 Nxd5 11. Bxd5 Ne7 12. Bb3 Ng6 13. d4 Qf6 {1/2-1/2 K.Honfi-S.Farago,
Budapest 1995}) 7. c3 a6 $5 (7... Nxd5 $142 {looks good and simple.} 8. Bxd5
Ne7 (8... O-O 9. O-O Bb6 10. a4 Ne7 11. Bb3 c6 12. Nh4 Kh7 13. d4 {
(Sturua-Lobzhanidze, Tbilisi 2000)} exd4 $1 {It is time to do something in the
[+].} 14. cxd4 d5 15. e5 Ng6 16. Nxg6 fxg6 {Black has to blockade the vital e6
and f5 squares.} 17. Be3 a5 $11) (8... Qf6 9. Bxc6+ (9. d4 Bb6 10. a4 a5 $13)
9... bxc6 10. Qe2 (10. d4 Bb6) 10... O-O 11. O-O Qe7 (11... Bb6 $13) 12. Be3
Bb6 13. a4 a5 14. Bxb6 cxb6 $11 {Golubev-Mitkov, Skopje 1991}) 9. Bb3 Ng6 10.
d4 Bb6 11. dxe5 (11. O-O O-O) 11... Nxe5 12. Nxe5 dxe5 13. Qxd8+ {(1/2-1/2
Belozerov-Smikovski, Omsk 2001)} Kxd8 14. Ke2 (14. Bxf7 $6 Rf8 $15) 14... Ke7
$11 {and the _|_ is totally equal.}) 8. d4 exd4 (8... Ba7 {keeping the tension
in the [+] was also playable.} 9. O-O (9. dxe5 Nxe5 10. Nxe5 dxe5 11. Qf3 Be6
12. O-O (12. Nxf6+ Qxf6 {leads only to mass exchanges.}) 12... c6 13. Nxf6+
Qxf6 $11) 9... O-O 10. Re1 (10. dxe5 Nxe5) 10... exd4 (10... Bg4 11. h3 $14)
11. cxd4 {- 8...exd4} (11. Nxd4 Ne5 $13)) 9. cxd4 Ba7 10. Nxf6+ (10. O-O O-O
11. Re1 Bg4 $132 {with a strong pressure on >< d4.}) 10... Qxf6 11. d5 Nd4 (
11... Ne5 $5 $13) 12. Nxd4 Bxd4 13. Qc2 Qg6 14. g3 O-O 15. O-O f5 16. Be3 Bxe3
17. fxe3 {White's P structure is not beautiful and his small lead of
development can easily vanish.} Bd7 (17... fxe4 18. Rxf8+ Kxf8 19. Rf1+ Kg8 20.
Be2 Bh3 (20... b5 21. Qc6 $1 (21. Qxc7 Bh3) 21... Ra7 $14) 21. Rf4 (21. Rf2 Rc8
) 21... Re8 $11) 18. Bd3 fxe4 19. Bxe4 Qg5 20. Rf4 Qe7 (20... Rxf4 21. exf4 {
improves White's P structure, but the black pieces become active after} Qf6 22.
Kh1 (22. Qxc7 $4 Qd4+ $19) 22... Re8 23. Rc1 Bh3 $132) 21. Raf1 g5 $5 {Black
wants more than simple equalization.} (21... Rxf4 $11) 22. Bh7+ (22. R4f2)
22... Kh8 (22... Qxh7 $4 23. Rxf8+ Rxf8 24. Rxf8+ $18) 23. Rxf8+ Rxf8 24. Rxf8+
Qxf8 25. Qxc7 $6 (25. Be4 Bh3 (25... Qe7 26. Kg2 $11) 26. Qe2 Qf6 $11 {and
White can hold the _|_.}) 25... Qe7 $1 26. Be4 $2 (26. Bd3 $1 Qxe3+ 27. Kg2
Qd2+ 28. Kg1 $11 {was better, because White has good drawing chances with a
perpetual check.}) 26... Qxe4 27. Qxd7 Qxe3+ 28. Kg2 Qd2+ 29. Kh3 Qxd5 {
Black has won a P, but his K is vulnerable.} 30. Kg4 $1 {White activates his K,
but in Q _|_ one has to do it carefully because of the mating threats.} Kg8 31.
b3 (31. Kh5 $2 {allows Black to liquidate to a winning P _|_.} Qf7+ $1 32.
Qxf7+ Kxf7 33. Kxh6 Kf6 $1 $19) 31... a5 32. Qe8+ $6 {This allows the black K
to come out of passivity.} (32. Qe7 $11) 32... Kg7 33. Qe7+ Kg6 34. Qe8+ Qf7 $1
35. Qe4+ Kg7 36. Qd4+ Qf6 {Black has significantly improved his position.} 37.
Qd5 (37. Qe4 b6) 37... Qe7 (37... b6 38. Qb7+ Kg6 39. Qe4+ Kf7 40. Kh5 $1 $11 {
and Black has difficulties making any progress.}) 38. Qxa5 $4 {[%mdl 8192]
Leaving the [+] in Q endings is a serious mistake.} (38. Kf5 $1 {keeping the Q
in the [+] was the persistant defence.} Qf6+ (38... Qf7+ 39. Ke4 $1) 39. Ke4 b6
40. a4 $15) 38... Qe4+ $1 {Now Black takes over the [+].} 39. Kh3 Qe6+ $4 {
This allows the white K to leave the dangerous territory.} (39... Kg6 $1 {
and the white K is a mating nest!} 40. Qa4 (40. Qd2 Kh5 $1 $19) (40. Qd8 Kh5 $1
$19) (40. Qc7 Qf3 41. Qc4 (41. Qxd6+ Kh5 $19) 41... d5 42. Qc2+ Kh5 $19 {
and the mate is inevitable!}) 40... g4+ 41. Kh4 Qxa4 42. bxa4 h5 43. h3 Kf5 $19
) 40. Kg2 Qe2+ 41. Kg1 Qe3+ 42. Kg2 Qe2+ 43. Kg1 1/2-1/2

[Event "GER-ch 70th"]
[Site "Bremen"]
[Date "1998.11.08"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Schmaltz, Roland"]
[Black "Huebner, Robert"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2520"]
[BlackElo "2575"]
[Annotator "Lukacs,P"]
[PlyCount "60"]
[EventDate "1998.11.06"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 068"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1999.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "1999.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. Bb3 (5. O-O {can avoid the text
move.}) 5... d5 {Black wants to grab immediately the |^ in the [+].} 6. Nbd2 ({
If White wants to punish Black, he has to put pressure on Black's [+],
especially on the e5 P.} 6. exd5 Nxd5 7. O-O O-O (7... Bg4 8. h3) (7... Bb6 8.
Re1 O-O 9. Nxe5 Nxe5 10. Rxe5 Bxf2+ 11. Kxf2 (11. Kh1 $2 Be6) 11... Qf6+ 12.
Qf3 Qxe5 13. Bxd5 $16) 8. Nxe5 $1 Nxe5 (8... Bxf2+ 9. Rxf2 Nxe5 10. h3 $14) 9.
d4 Bg4 10. f3 Bb6 11. fxg4 Nf6 12. c3 $14) (6. Qe2 {The idea is to leave the K
in the [+] and grab the |^ on the >> by h3 and g4. White has to keep the [+]
as closed as possible.} O-O 7. c3 Be6 $5 (7... h6 8. h3 a5 9. Ba4 Re8 10. Nbd2
Bd7 11. g4 Rb8 12. Nf1 b5 13. Bc2 b4 14. Ng3 bxc3 15. bxc3 d4 $15 {
Jackova-Mendoza, Elista (ol) 1998}) 8. Bc2 $6 (8. Ng5 Bg4 9. f3 Bc8) (8. h3
$142 dxe4 9. dxe4 Bxb3 10. axb3 a5 $11) 8... a5 9. Nbd2 Ng4 $5 10. O-O d4 11.
h3 Nf6 12. Nb3 (12. Ba4 $2 Nh5 $1 13. Nb3 Bxb3 14. Bxb3 dxc3 15. Nxe5 Ng3 $1
16. Qf3 Nd4 17. Bxf7+ Kh8 18. Qg4 Nde2+ $19 {Kofidis-B.Lengyel, Balatonbereny
1992}) 12... Bb6 13. a4 $13) 6... dxe4 7. dxe4 {Now the symmetrical P
structure in the [+] doesn't give enough possibilities to disturb the equality.
} (7. Ng5 $2 Bxf2+ $1) 7... O-O 8. c3 a5 9. a4 $5 (9. O-O Qe7 10. Qe2 (10. Nc4
Rd8 11. Qc2 (11. Qe2 a4) 11... Nh5 $13) 10... Nh5 11. g3 Bh3 12. Re1 Nf6 $13)
9... b6 (9... Qe7 10. O-O Nh5 $13 (10... Bg4 $143 11. h3 Bh5 12. Re1 $14)) 10.
Qe2 (10. O-O $2 Ba6 11. Re1 Ng4 $19) 10... Ba6 $6 (10... Nh5 $1 {looks more
agressive here.} 11. g3 $1 {White has to defend against the penetrating Nf4,
although this way his white squares are a little bit weakened.} (11. O-O $2 Nf4
$17) (11. Nc4 Qf6 12. Bg5 (12. O-O Nf4 $15) 12... Qg6 $36) 11... Nf6 (11... Bh3
12. Nc4 {/\ Ng5}) 12. Nc4 (12. O-O Bg4) 12... Ba6) 11. Bc4 $1 Bxc4 12. Nxc4 Qe7
13. Bg5 h6 14. Bh4 (14. Bxf6 Qxf6 15. O-O $11 {/\ Ne3}) 14... Qe6 15. O-O Nh5
16. Bg3 f6 (16... Nxg3 17. hxg3 $11) (16... Nf4 17. Bxf4 exf4 18. e5 $1) 17.
Rfd1 Rad8 18. Nh4 $1 Nxg3 19. hxg3 Rf7 20. Rxd8+ ({More problems would pose
for Black} 20. Nf5 $1 Rfd7 (20... Rxd1+ 21. Rxd1 Bf8 (21... Rd7 22. Rxd7 Qxd7
23. Qg4 $1) 22. Qg4 Kh7 (22... Qxc4 $2 23. Nxh6+ Kh8 24. Nxf7+ Qxf7 25. Rd7)
23. Nxh6 $1 $16) 21. Rxd7 Qxd7 (21... Rxd7 22. Qg4 Kh7 $2 23. Nxh6 $1) 22. Qg4
Kh7 {and White's |^ has been repelled.}) 20... Nxd8 21. Rd1 Rd7 22. b3 Nb7 23.
Nf5 Kh7 24. Rxd7 Qxd7 25. Qg4 Qf7 {[#]} 26. Nxg7 $5 {This move finishes the
game with perpetual checks. Anyway White has no advantage at all, for example:}
(26. Kf1 g6 27. Nh4 (27. Nfe3 $2 Bxe3) 27... h5) (26. Qd1 g6) (26. Qh3 Bf8 {
/\ Nc5}) 26... Qxg7 27. Qf5+ Qg6 28. Qd7+ Qg7 29. Qf5+ Qg6 30. Qd7+ Qg7 1/2-1/2

[Event "Reggio Emilia 0001 43th"]
[Site "Reggio Emilia"]
[Date "2000.12.31"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Bellini, Fabio"]
[Black "Efimov, Igor"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2484"]
[BlackElo "2520"]
[Annotator "Lukacs,P"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[EventDate "2000.12.30"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "ITA"]
[EventCategory "8"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 081"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2001.03.20"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2001.03.20"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nc6 3. d3 Nf6 4. Nf3 Bc5 5. Nc3 {The Canal Variation is a rare
guest in modern tournament practice.} (5. c3 {is the main line since ages.})
5... O-O (5... d6 6. Bg5 Na5 {and} (6... h6 {are the main lines with good
chances for equalization.})) 6. a3 {keeping the B on the a2-g8 /^, and
threatening to exchange the black one.} (6. Bg5 {is usually the punishment in
the Italian Game, if Black castles too early.}) 6... h6 $6 (6... d6 7. Na4 {
exchanges the important B.}) (6... a6 $142 {securing his B as well.} 7. h3 (7.
Bg5 h6 8. Bh4 Be7 {Now the B is not very well placed on h7, it will be
exchanged, or forced to a passive square, g3.} 9. h3 d6 (9... Nxe4 $6 {is not
well-prepared:} 10. Bxe7 Nxc3 11. Bxd8 Nxd1 12. Bxc7 Nxb2 13. Bb3 $14 {
Kallio-C.Balogh, Budapest 2000}) 10. O-O b5 11. Bb3 Bb7 $13) 7... d6 (7... Re8
8. O-O h6 9. Be3 Bf8 (9... Bxe3 10. fxe3 d6 {/\ Be6 is also playable.}) 10. Nd2
d6 {Now Black's dark-squared B is doomed to passivity.} 11. f4 Be6 12. f5 {
This secures the space advantage on the >>.} Bxc4 13. dxc4 b5 14. Bf2 Nd4 15.
Nd5 $14 {Minasian-Galdunts, Kherson 1991}) (7... b5 $6 8. Ba2 Rb8 9. Bg5 Be7
10. O-O d6 11. Be3 {White doesn't want to exchange his dark-squared B.} Bb7 12.
Nd5 Qd7 13. Nxf6+ Bxf6 14. Nh2 Qe7 {/\ Bg5} 15. Qd2 Bc8 16. Ng4 Nd8 17. Nxf6+
Qxf6 18. Bg5 Qg6 19. Bxd8 Rxd8 20. f4 $14 {>< f7, <-> f, Ivanovic-Skembris,
Bar 1997.}) 8. O-O Be6 $11) 7. h3 $1 {White is waiting with castles, because
sometimes he can attack by g4.} (7. O-O d6 8. h3 Be6 $11) 7... Re8 $2 {This is
too sophysticated, Black wants to decide later, where to put the B, but he
also weakens >< f7.} (7... d6 {was good and simple.} 8. Na4 Bd4 9. c3 Bb6 10.
Nxb6 axb6 11. O-O (11. g4 Be6) 11... Be6 $11) (7... a6 {is also met by the
typical aggression} 8. g4 $1) 8. g4 $1 $16 {White wants to attack the weakened
>> opening up the g <->. Black cannot find a counterattack in the [+] on this
flank operation.} (8. Na4 Bf8 {was the main idea of 7...Re8}) (8. O-O a6 {
is rather symmetrical again.}) 8... Nh7 (8... d6 9. Na4 Nd4 10. Nxc5 dxc5 11.
g5 $16) {Anyway, there is no defence against} 9. g5 $1 hxg5 (9... Nxg5 {
is no escape from trouble either:} 10. Bxg5 (10. Nxg5 hxg5 11. Rg1 $1 (11. Nd5
Nd4 $1 12. Rg1 Ne6) (11. Qh5 Qf6 $1) 11... Qf6 $1 12. Rg2 Nd4 13. Nd5 Qf3 14.
Qxf3 Nxf3+ 15. Kd1 Bb6 16. Rg3 Nd4 17. Bxg5 $16) 10... hxg5 11. h4 $1 (11. Rg1
g4 $1 12. hxg4 d6 13. g5 Be6) 11... g4 $1 (11... gxh4 12. Nxh4 Qg5 (12... Qf6
13. Nf5 g6 14. Nd5 Qg5 15. Qg4 $1 $18) 13. Qf3 Rf8 14. Nf5 $18) 12. Ng5 Rf8 13.
Qxg4 Qf6 14. O-O-O $1 d5 15. Qh5 Qh6 16. Qxh6 gxh6 17. exd5 Nd4 18. Nge4 $16)
10. Rg1 g4 ({Black cannot defend his g5 P for long:} 10... Be7 11. Nd5 d6 12.
Nxe7+ Nxe7 13. Nxg5 Nxg5 14. Bxg5 $18) 11. hxg4 (11. Rxg4 $6 {is met by the
double-attack} d5) 11... d6 12. g5 Be6 (12... Nf8 13. g6 $16) 13. Nd5 (13. g6
$5 fxg6 14. Rxg6 Bxc4 15. dxc4 Nd4) 13... Ne7 $2 {overlooking (?)} 14. Nf6+ $1
Nxf6 (14... gxf6 15. Bxe6 Ng6 16. Bb3 $16) 15. Bxe6 $6 {This throws away the
advantage.} ({The simple} 15. gxf6 Ng6 16. Bxe6 Rxe6 17. fxg7 Kxg7 18. Rh1 c6
19. Bh6+ Kg8 20. Qd2 d5 21. O-O-O $16 {gave White good attacking chances.})
15... Nh7 $2 {This is too passive.} ({missing the counterattack by} 15... Nxe4
$1 16. Bxf7+ (16. dxe4 fxe6 17. g6 Rf8) 16... Kxf7 17. dxe4 Rh8 (17... Rf8 18.
g6+ Ke8 19. Bg5 Qd7) 18. g6+ $1 Ke8 19. Bg5 Qd7 $1 $13 (19... c6 20. b4 $1 (20.
Nh4 Qb6) 20... Bb6 21. Nh4 $1 $16)) 16. Bb3 $16 {Now White's light-squared B
is extremely strong.} g6 (16... Nf8 17. Rh1 (17. g6 $6 {is premature because of
} Nexg6 18. Ng5 Re7 19. Qh5 c6) 17... c6 18. Nh4 d5 19. Qh5 Neg6 (19... g6 20.
Qh6) 20. Bd2 Qd7 21. O-O-O $16 {with nasty threats on the h <->.}) 17. Rh1 d5
$6 {It is not easy to give a good advice here, but this would have lost by
force.} (17... c6 $2 18. Bxf7+ $18) (17... Rf8 {is ugly, but persistant.} 18.
Nh2 (18. Nh4 Kg7 19. Nf5+ Nxf5 (19... gxf5 $2 20. Qh5 $18) 20. exf5 Nxg5 21.
Qg4 $16) 18... Kg7 19. Qg4 Rh8 20. Qf3 $16) 18. Nxe5 Qd6 19. d4 (19. Nxf7 $1 {
was as good as winning!} Kxf7 (19... Qb6 20. Nh6+ Kg7 21. Qe2 dxe4 22. dxe4 Nc6
23. Nf5+ Kh8 (23... gxf5 $2 24. Rxh7+ $18) 24. Qf3 Bxf2+ 25. Kf1 $18) 20. Rxh7+
Kg8 21. Rh1 Nf5 (21... Rf8 22. d4) 22. Qg4 Kg7 23. Bf4 Qe6 24. O-O-O $18) 19...
Bxd4 $1 20. Nxf7 $2 ({Still White had excellent chances after} 20. Qxd4 {
for example:} Nc6 (20... c5 $2 21. Nxf7 cxd4 22. Nxd6 $18) 21. Qxd5 $1 (21.
Nxc6 Rxe4+ 22. Qxe4 dxe4 23. Nb4 c5 24. Nd5 Qe5 $16) 21... Qxd5 (21... Nxe5 22.
Qxd6 cxd6 23. f4 Nc6 24. Kf2 Rxe4 25. Bxf7+ Kxf7 26. Rxh7+ $18) 22. Bxd5 Nxe5
23. f4 $18) 20... Qc5 21. Nh6+ Kg7 22. f4 Ng8 $6 {Now it's Black's turn in the
comedy of errors.} (22... dxe4 23. Qe2 e3 $13) 23. Nxg8 $2 {After this
inferior move the position is already won by Black, and he will not let it to
slip again.} (23. e5 $1 {was the best answer with following lines:} Bxe5 $1 (
23... Nxg5 24. Qg4 $1 Nxh6 25. Qxg5 Ng8 26. Qh4 $18) 24. Kf1 $1 (24. fxe5 $2
Rxe5+ $19) 24... Rf8 $1 {The R has to follow the enemy K.} (24... Ne7 25. Qe2
Bd6 26. f5 $1 gxf5 (26... Nxf5 27. Nxf5+ gxf5 28. Qh5 Qb5+ 29. c4 $18) 27. Be3
d4 28. Qh5 dxe3 29. Qf7+ Kh8 30. Ng4 e2+ 31. Kxe2 Ng6+ (31... Nd5+ 32. Kf1) 32.
Kf1 $18) 25. Qxd5 $1 (25. Qg4 Rxf4+ $1 (25... Ne7 26. Kg2 Qd4) 26. Bxf4 Rf8 27.
Nf5+ Rxf5 28. Qxf5 gxf5 29. Bxe5+ Kg6 30. Rd1 Qe3 $11) (25. Nxg8 Bxf4 26. Rxh7+
Kxg8 $44) 25... Qxd5 26. Bxd5 Bxf4 27. Bxf4 Rxf4+ 28. Kg2 {and the _|_ is
still better for White:} Ne7 (28... Nxh6 29. gxh6+ Kf6 30. Raf1 $16) 29. Bxb7
Re8 30. Rae1 $16) 23... Rxe4+ $19 {Now suddenly White is terribly behind in
development.} 24. Kf1 Rxg8 {Black has a forceful centralization.} 25. c3 (25.
Kg2 Rge8 $17) 25... Qb5+ $1 (25... Be3 $2 26. Qxd5 Rxf4+ 27. Ke2 Qxd5 28. Bxd5
Bxc1 29. Bxg8 $16) 26. Kg2 Re2+ 27. Kf3 {[#]} (27. Kg3 Bf2+ 28. Kf3 Nxg5+ $1
29. fxg5 Rf8+ 30. Bf4 Re4 $19) 27... Nxg5+ $1 {opening the f <-> against the
white K.} 28. fxg5 Rf8+ 29. Bf4 Re3+ (29... Rf2+ {was also winning.} 30. Kg3
R8xf4 31. cxd4 R4f3+ 32. Qxf3 (32. Kh4 Re3 $19) 32... Rxf3+ 33. Kxf3 Qxb3+ $19)
30. Kg2 Rxf4 31. cxd4 Rxb3 32. Rc1 Rf7 33. Rc3 Rxb2+ 34. Kg3 Qd7 35. Rf3 Qd6+
36. Kh3 Qd7+ 37. Kg3 Qd6+ 38. Kh3 Rxf3+ 39. Qxf3 0-1

[Event "RUS-Cup03 Geller Memorial"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "1999.02.09"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Odeev, Handszar"]
[Black "Vorotnikov, Vladislav V"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2400"]
[BlackElo "2460"]
[Annotator "Lukacs,P"]
[PlyCount "105"]
[EventDate "1999.02.10"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 070"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1999.06.08"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "1999.06.08"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 d6 {This is a somewhat passive defence.} ({Both} 
3... Nf6) ({and} 3... Bc5 {have much higher reputation.}) 4. O-O (4. d4 $1 {
looks more energetic.}) 4... g6 {This fianchetto idea is Black's main plan
here.} 5. d4 exd4 6. Nxd4 Bg7 7. Nxc6 $142 (7. c3 $143 {is not a forceful
reply.} Nge7 8. Bg5 O-O 9. Na3 Nxd4 10. cxd4 h6 11. Bh4 Kh8 12. f4 f6 13. Bb3
d5 14. e5 fxe5 15. fxe5 Rxf1+ 16. Qxf1 g5 17. Bf2 Bf5 $11 {Sakharov-Lutikov,
SU-chT Moscow 1959}) (7. Be3 {allows again Black to finish development without
any problems.} Nf6 8. f3 (8. Nc3 Ng4 $5) 8... O-O (8... d5) 9. Nc3 Re8 $13)
7... bxc6 8. f4 (8. Nc3 Nf6 (8... Rb8 {It is advisable to finish the
development of the >> first.} 9. Bb3 Ne7 10. Be3 {provoking Black's reply.} c5
11. Bg5 h6 12. Bh4 O-O 13. f4 Qe8 14. f5 $1 {This is the signal of a real ->!}
gxf5 15. Qh5 Ng6 16. Qxg6 Rxb3 17. Qg3 {/\ Bf6} Rxc3 18. bxc3 Qxe4 19. Bf6 Qg4
20. Bxg7 Qxg3 21. hxg3 Kxg7 22. Rab1 $16 {Tischbierek-Ch.Gabriel, Baden Weiler
op 1990}) 9. Bg5 h6 $142 (9... O-O {gives White free hand on the /^ c1-h6.} 10.
Qd2 Be6 11. Bxe6 (11. Bb3 {is not so agressive:} Qb8 12. Bh6 Re8 13. Bxg7 Kxg7
14. Rae1 Qb4 15. f3 a5 16. Kh1 Bxb3 17. axb3 Re6 $11 {Tonchev-Jasnikowski,
Wroclaw 1980}) 11... fxe6 12. e5 dxe5 13. Qxd8 Raxd8 14. Rfe1 $14 {corrupting
Black's P structure completely.})) 8... Nf6 (8... Be6 {runs into the -> after}
9. Bxe6 fxe6 10. f5 $1 $16) (8... Nh6 $6 {is again met by the standard} 9. f5
$1 Qh4 10. g3 Qf6 11. e5 $1 {This is crushing!} Qxe5 12. Re1 Nxf5 13. Bf4 Qxe1+
14. Qxe1+ Kf8 15. c3 Rb8 16. Qf2 c5 17. g4 $18 {Mestel-Large, Lloyds Bank op
1982}) (8... Ne7 9. f5 $5 {comes into consideration.}) 9. e5 ({Here} 9. f5 $6 {
doesn't bring White any further.} O-O 10. fxg6 hxg6 11. Bg5 Qe7 12. Nc3 Qe5 $1
{escaping from the pin} 13. Bxf6 Bxf6 14. Qf3 Kg7 {Now Black has an excellent
dark-squared B.} 15. Kh1 Rb8 16. Nd1 Qg5 17. c3 Be5 18. Qf2 f6 $1 19. Kg1 Rh8
$17 {Darnstaedt-Dreev, Berliner Sommer 1991}) 9... Ne4 (9... dxe5 $2 10. Qxd8+
Kxd8 11. fxe5 $18) 10. Qf3 d5 11. Bd3 Nc5 $6 (11... f5 {Black had to fight for
the [+] by all means.} 12. exf6 {At least White had to give up his e5 P.} Qxf6
(12... Nxf6 13. Re1+ Kf7 14. Nc3 $14) 13. Bxe4 Qd4+ 14. Be3 Qxe4 15. Qxe4+ dxe4
16. Nd2 Bf5 (16... Bxb2 17. Rab1 $16) 17. Nc4 $14 {keeping White's edge
limited.}) 12. Be3 Nxd3 (12... Qe7 13. Nc3 $16) (12... Ne6 13. f5 gxf5 14. Qxf5
$16) 13. cxd3 {Now the weakness on the <-> c is more vulnerable.} O-O (13...
Qe7 $6 14. Rc1 $16) 14. Bc5 Re8 15. d4 $6 {This was a place for another piece!}
(15. Nd2 $142 {/\ Nb3}) 15... h5 {blockading the important squares on the /^
h3-c8.} 16. Nd2 Bf5 17. Rac1 Rb8 $6 {Now Black has to worry because of his
weak a7 P.} (17... a5 $14) 18. b3 {Black has serious problems because of his
bad P structure. The ^^ has no future here.} Re6 19. h3 (19. Bxa7 $2 Ra8 20.
Bc5 Rxa2 $11) 19... Qh4 20. Rc3 Bh6 21. Rf2 $1 {/\ Nf1} Kh7 22. Nf1 $1 Be4 (
22... a6 23. Ng3) 23. Qg3 {White is happy to play the _|_.} Qd8 {Hobson's
choice.} ({If} 23... Qxg3 $6 24. Nxg3 a6 25. Nxe4 (25. f5) 25... dxe4 26. Re3
f5 {then} 27. exf6 $18) 24. Bxa7 $16 {Soon or later the weakness of the a7 P
will be decisive, as it was mentioned before.} Ra8 25. Bc5 h4 26. Qe3 f5 27. a4
(27. exf6 Qxf6) 27... g5 {Black has to create some counterplay on the >>.} 28.
fxg5 Bxg5 29. Qe2 Qg8 30. Ba3 Qg6 $2 (30... Rg6 {/\ Qg7,Rg8 /\ Qg7 Rg8} 31. Bc1
Bxc1 (31... Be7 32. Nd2) 32. Rxc1 Qg7 {was the last practical chance.}) 31. Bc1
$1 Be7 32. Nd2 c5 $2 (32... Bb4 {was the persistant defence, although after}
33. Nxe4 $1 (33. Re3 Bxd2 $14) 33... dxe4 (33... fxe4 34. Rc2 $16) 34. Rc4 {
White has the upper hand.}) 33. Nf3 $1 Rc6 (33... cxd4 34. Nxd4 Rxe5 35. Rxc7
$18) (33... Bxf3 34. Qxf3 cxd4 35. Rxc7 $18) 34. Ba3 $18 Rd8 35. Qd2 $1 {
avoiding} (35. Bxc5 Bxc5 36. Rxc5 Rxc5 37. dxc5 d4) 35... Qg7 36. Bxc5 Bxc5 37.
Rxc5 Rg6 (37... Rxc5 38. dxc5 d4 39. Nxh4 Qxe5 40. Qg5) 38. Qf4 Rg8 39. Nxh4 {
This means, that Black's dreams of the <-> g cannot be realized.} Rg5 40. e6 $1
Qxd4 41. Rxc7+ R8g7 42. Rxg7+ Qxg7 43. Nf3 Rg6 44. Qh4+ Kg8 45. Qd8+ Kh7 46.
Qd7 Qxd7 47. exd7 Rd6 48. Nd4 Rxd7 49. Nxf5 Kg6 50. Nd4 Rb7 51. Kf1 Bd3+ 52.
Ke1 Rb4 53. Kd2 (53. Kd2 Rxd4 54. Kc3) 1-0

[Event "DEN-ch"]
[Site "Aarhus"]
[Date "1999.04.01"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Larsen, Bent"]
[Black "Hansen, Lars Bo"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2530"]
[BlackElo "2565"]
[Annotator "Lukacs,P"]
[PlyCount "70"]
[EventDate "1999.03.??"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "DEN"]
[EventCategory "10"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 071"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1999.08.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "1999.08.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. Bc4 Bc5 (4... Nxe4 $1 {is supposed to be the
best reaction here.}) 5. d3 {Transposing to the Canal Variation of the Italian
Game.} O-O (5... d6 {is more flexible.} 6. Bg5 {can be met by either} Na5 ({or
} 6... h6)) 6. O-O (6. Bg5 {is more dangerous, when the black K has already
castled kingside.}) 6... h6 {defending against the pin after Bg5.} (6... d6 7.
Bg5) 7. Be3 (7. h3 d6 (7... a6 {is against Na4 exchanging the B, but it
doesn't help for development.} 8. Be3 d6 9. d4 $14 {and White grabs the |^ in
the [+].}) 8. Na4 Bb6 9. c3 Re8 (9... Be6 $5) 10. Bb3 {White wants to keep
this B.} Be6 11. Bc2 d5 {At first sight it looks like Black has come first in
the [+], but after} 12. d4 $1 {it becomes clear, that White has fought back
hard.} (12. Qe2 d4 $13) (12. exd5 Qxd5 $11) 12... Nxe4 (12... exd4 13. e5 Ne4
14. cxd4 $14) 13. Nxb6 axb6 14. dxe5 {The position resembles to a Ruy Lopez
Open variation.} f6 $1 15. exf6 Qxf6 16. Be3 Bf7 17. Nd2 Nxd2 (17... Rad8 $6
18. Nxe4 dxe4 19. Qg4 $16 {Malaniuk-Short, Yerevan 1984}) 18. Qxd2 Ne5 $14 {
Malaniuk,Legki}) 7... d6 8. Bxc5 ({Now} 8. d4 $2 {is less effective:} exd4 9.
Nxd4 Ng4 $1 10. Nxc6 Qh4 $1 {This is the real surprise!} (10... Nxe3 {leads
only to equality.} 11. Nxd8 Nxd1 12. Raxd1 $11 (12. Nxf7 $2 Nxc3 $1 13. Nxd6+ (
13. bxc3 Rxf7) 13... Kh8 14. Nf7+ (14. Nxc8 $2 Nxe4) 14... Rxf7 15. Bxf7 Nxe4
16. Bd5 Nf6 $15)) 11. Ne7+ Kh8 $1 $17 (11... Qxe7 $2 12. Bxc5 $16)) (8. h3 Bxe3
9. fxe3 Be6 $11) 8... dxc5 {In this structure the pressure on the d <->
usually compensates the double P.} 9. h3 {defending against Bg4 with a strong
pressure on >< d4.} (9. Nd5 Bg4) 9... a6 $1 {/\ Qd6} 10. a3 Qd6 11. Nh4 $5 (11.
Nd5 Nxd5 12. Bxd5 Ne7 13. Bb3 Ng6) 11... Be6 (11... Nd4 12. Ng6 $1 (12. Nd5 $2
Nxd5 13. Bxd5 Qf6 $17) 12... Re8 13. f4 exf4 14. Nxf4 $14 (14. e5 $6 Rxe5 $1
15. Nxe5 Qxe5 16. Re1 Qg5 $44)) 12. Nf5 $6 {White clearly overestimates his
chances.} (12. Bxe6 Qxe6 13. Nf5 Nd4 $11 {was on the other hand only equal.})
12... Bxf5 13. exf5 Nd4 14. Ne4 (14. g4 b5 15. Ba2 e4 $1 {The is an important
motif here exploiting the weaknesses on the >> caused by g4.} 16. Nxe4 (16.
dxe4 Qf4 $1 {and the Q is excellent on f4.}) 16... Nxe4 17. dxe4 Qf4 $44) 14...
Qc6 15. Nxf6+ Qxf6 16. g4 b5 (16... Qc6 17. f3 b5 18. Ba2 Qd6 19. c3 (19. Kg2
Rad8) 19... Nc6) 17. Bd5 Rad8 18. Be4 {[#]} c4 $1 19. a4 (19. dxc4 $6 {opening
up the d <-> is a suicide attempt:} Qh4 $1 $44 (19... Nxf5 20. Qf3 Nd6 21. cxb5
$11) (19... Nb3 20. cxb3 $1 Rxd1 21. Raxd1 $11)) 19... b4 {[#]} (19... cxd3 $1
{looked much better.} 20. cxd3 (20. Bxd3 $2 Nb3 21. cxb3 e4 $17) (20. Qxd3 $6
Nxf5 (20... Ne6 $5 {/\ Nf4}) 21. Qf3 Nd6 22. Qxf6 gxf6 23. Bc6 $15) 20... c5
$15 {keeping the |^.}) 20. dxc4 $1 {[%mdl 256] Suddenly White sacrifices his Q
in order to reach a fortress.} Nb3 {After losing the the Q White has nothing
to fear!} (20... Nxf5 21. Qf3) (20... Qh4 $5 21. Bg2 (21. Kg2 Nxf5 (21... Ne6
$5 22. Qf3 Nf4+ 23. Kh2 Rd2)) (21. Qd3 Nxf5 (21... Ne6 $2 22. Qg3)) 21... e4 $1
$44) 21. cxb3 Rxd1 22. Raxd1 Rd8 23. Rxd8+ Qxd8 24. Re1 $1 $11 Qd2 25. Re3 a5
26. Kg2 Qd4 27. h4 Kf8 28. g5 hxg5 29. hxg5 Ke7 30. g6 f6 31. Bf3 Qf4 32. Be4
Qg4+ 33. Kf1 Qd1+ 34. Kg2 Qg4+ 35. Kf1 Qd1+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "Porto Mannu op"]
[Site "Porto Mannu"]
[Date "2009.05.23"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Tiviakov, Sergei"]
[Black "Marin, Mihail"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2695"]
[BlackElo "2564"]
[Annotator "Marin,M"]
[PlyCount "95"]
[EventDate "2009.05.16"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "ITA"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 130 Extra"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2009.07.02"]
[SourceVersion "2"]
[SourceVersionDate "2009.07.15"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 {Frankly speaking, I did not quite expect this move.
Only a win of either player in this last round game would guarantee the first
place (be it shared) and the Italian game is anything but thrilling. Besides,
I had won our previous game (Reggio Emilia 2007/08) in which the same opening
was played. Be it as it may, my preparation against the Worrall Attack proved
useless for the second time.} d6 $5 ({In the previous game I preferred the
classical} 3... Bc5 {. In the meanwhile, I had written an article (CBM 127) on
the text move and wanted to prove it in practice. Black avoids symmetry and
plans to get some sort of improved Pirc by developing his bishop to g7.}) 4. d4
({From the strategic point of view,} 4. c3 {may be more consistent.}) 4... exd4
({The more passive} 4... Be7 {would transpose to the Hungarian Defence.}) 5.
Nxd4 g6 6. Nc3 Bg7 7. Be3 Nf6 8. f3 ({In my article I evaluated that the sharp
position resulting after} 8. Qd2 O-O 9. O-O-O Re8 10. f3 Ne5 11. Bb3 a6 {
offers Black good counterplay.}) 8... O-O 9. Nxc6 {Tiviakov aims for a simple
position. After the game, somebody told me that he had read an interview of my
opponent in which he confessed that generally he does not aim to get an
advantage from the opening. Instead, he constantly tries to outplay his
opponent in the middlegame. The present game more or less confirms this
scenario. It should be said that this move had never been tried in serious
games.} (9. O-O Re8 (9... Ne5 10. Bb3 a6) 10. Qd2 Ne5 11. Bb3 a6 {does not
confront Black with problems, as shown in my article.}) 9... bxc6 10. O-O Re8
11. Re1 (11. Qd2 d5 $132) 11... Be6 $5 {I did not hesitate too much before
playing this move, which more or less completes Black's development and
neutralizes White's pressure along the c4-f7 diagonal.} ({When checking my
article, I was slightly surprised to find out that I had recommended} 11... Nd7
12. Qd2 Ne5 13. Bb3 Be6 {. Generally speaking, this looks acceptable for Black,
but during the game I was not keen to spend two tempi on placing the knight on
a relatively unstable square.}) 12. Bb3 {White has to maintain the tension if
he wants to fight for an advantage.} (12. Bxe6 Rxe6 13. Qd2 Qb8 14. b3 Qb4 {
[%cal Ga7a5,Ga8e8]}) 12... Qb8 $1 {[%cal Ga7a5,Gb8b4] The regroupment
initiated by this move is more or less knwon from the classic games of Lasker
and Capablanca in the Steinitz variation of the Spanish Opening. Black has a
solid position, but has little space, which requires from him a very rational
positioning of his forces. Black plans ...a5 and ...Qb4, aiming to force the
exchange on e6 by a further advance of the a-pawn to a4.} (12... Bxb3 13. axb3
$14 {[%cal Ga1a7]}) 13. Qd2 Qb4 $6 {But this is the wrong move order.
Immediately after pressing my clock, I understood that this was the kind of
micro-mistake that my opponent was waiting for.} (13... a5 $1 14. Rad1 (14. Ba4
Qb7 {wins a tempo compared to the game.}) 14... Qb4 {[%cal Ga5a4]} 15. Ba4 Ra6)
14. Ba4 $1 {There is no easy way to defend the c6-pawn.} Qb7 (14... Bd7 {
looks a bit passive and takes the d7-square away from the knight.}) 15. Ne2 a5
16. Bd4 Bd7 {Somehow, Black still is OK, which speaks volumes about the
unpretentious character of White's play in the opening.} 17. c4 {A double
edged move. White gains some space, but weakens the dark squares.} (17. Qc3 Qb4
18. Bxf6 Bxf6 19. Qxf6 Qxa4 20. b3 Qb4 $11) 17... Qb4 18. Qc2 (18. Qxb4 axb4
19. b3 Rxa4 (19... Nh5 $11) 20. bxa4 c5 21. Bb2 Bxa4 $44) 18... Nh5 $1 {
[%cal Gh5g7,Gg7e6,Ge6c5]} 19. Bxg7 Nxg7 20. c5 $1 {This is the only way to
prevent Black from stabilizing on the dark squares.} Ne6 21. cxd6 cxd6 $13 {
White maintains his space advantage, but his position is far from perfect. The
second rank is weak and the a4-bishop is slightly misplaced. If Black manages
to play ...d5 under favourable circumstances, his position would become very
pleasant.} 22. Rad1 ({I was slightly surprised by this move and expected} 22.
Red1 {[%cal Ga1c1] , which removes the e1-rook from the vulnerable position.})
22... Rad8 {This looks safest, but the line examined in the comments to the
next move also speaks in favour of placing the other rook on d8.} (22... Red8 {
[%cal Ga8b8]} 23. f4 ({After} 23. Nc3 {Black can play} d5 {already.} 24. exd5
cxd5 {[%cal Gb4e1]}) 23... Nc5 24. Nc3 d5 {[%csl Ga8,Gg8] Frankly speaking, I
was afraid that my kingside would remain vulnerable.}) 23. Nc3 Nc5 ({It took
me some time to convince myself that} 23... d5 $6 {does not work out well
because of the exposed position of the e8-rook.} 24. exd5 cxd5 25. Nxd5 Qxa4 (
25... Bxa4 26. Nxb4 Bxc2 27. Nxc2 $16) 26. Nf6+ Kh8 (26... Kf8 27. Nxd7+) (
26... Kg7 27. Qc3) 27. Qc3 Rc8 28. Qd2 Nf8 29. Nxe8 $14) 24. Kh1 Re6 $6 {
Mutual time trouble was approaching and I started playing without a clear plan.
} ({This was the right moment for} 24... d5 $1 25. a3 (25. exd5 $2 Bf5 $1 $17)
25... Qb6 26. exd5 Rxe1+ 27. Rxe1 cxd5 28. Bxd7 (28. Nxd5 $2 Bxa4 29. Qxa4 Nxa4
) 28... Rxd7 $11 {[%cal Gd5d4] /=/+}) 25. Re2 Be8 26. Red2 $14 d5 27. Rd4 Qb7
28. Qd2 (28. Nxd5 cxd5 29. Qxc5 Bxa4 30. Rxa4 Qxb2 31. h3 $5 $16 (31. exd5 Re2
$132)) 28... Re5 29. exd5 Nxa4 30. Rxa4 (30. Nxa4 Rexd5 31. Qc3 Qb4 $11) 30...
cxd5 31. Rxa5 {White has managed to win a pawn and has an advantage, but this
loses relevance because of the acute mutual time trouble. In such cases, the
immediate threats (be they real or imaginary) dictate the course of events.}
Qb4 32. Ne2 Rb8 33. Qxb4 (33. b3 $4 Rxe2 $1 $19) 33... Rxb4 34. Rd2 Bb5 35. Ng1
$6 (35. Ra8+ $1 Kg7 36. Rb8 Rc4 37. Kg1 Rxe2 38. Rxe2 Rc1+ 39. Kf2 Bxe2 40.
Kxe2 Rc2+ 41. Ke3 Rxg2 42. a4 $16) 35... Re1 36. Ra8+ Kg7 37. Rb8 d4 38. h3 d3
39. b3 (39. Rxd3 Rxb2) 39... Rc1 40. a4 (40. Rxd3 Bxd3 41. Rxb4 Rc2 42. a4 Bf1
43. g4 Bg2+ 44. Kh2 Bf1+ 45. Kh1 (45. Kg3 $2 Rg2+) 45... Bg2+ $11) 40... Rxb3
41. Rxb5 Ra3 42. Kh2 Raa1 43. Rxd3 Rxg1 44. Rd7 {The position has calmed down.
White maintains the extra-pawn, but everything depends on who will manage to
attack the vulnerable point in the opponent's structure (f7 and g2)} Rgb1 $1 {
Given the drawish tendency of the single rook ending, Black manages to prevent
his opponent from doubling rooks on the seventh rank.} 45. Kg3 (45. Ra5 Rd1 $1)
45... h5 46. h4 Kf8 47. Rd6 $6 {Slightly careless.} ({I had nothing against
defending the ending arising after} 47. Rxb1 Rxb1 48. a5 Ra1 49. Rd5 Ra4 $14 {
, especially that I had much more time than my opponent already.}) 47... Rg1 $1
{[%cal Ga1a2]} 48. Rdb6 1/2-1/2

[Event "Tata Steel-A 80th"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee"]
[Date "2018.01.20"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2767"]
[BlackElo "2787"]
[Annotator "Marin,M"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[EventDate "2018.01.13"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "NED"]
[EventCategory "20"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 183"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2018.03.14"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2018.03.14"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. a4 d6 6. c3 a6 7. Bg5 {When I
started playing 1...e5 some 30 years ago these lines with an early a2-a4 did
not exist at all. But one of the first things I learned was that with Black's
king still in the centre Bg5 is not recommendable, as after ...h7-h6 and ...
g7-g5 the knight sacrfice on g5 is not viable.} h6 8. Bh4 Ba7 9. Nbd2 Qe7 ({
Still preparing the kingside attack. But} 9... g5 10. Bg3 O-O ({If} 10... Nh5 {
White has} 11. Nxe5 Nxg3 12. Bxf7+ Ke7 13. Ng6+ Kxf7 14. Nxh8+ Qxh8 15. hxg3 {
White is not worse from material point of view but Black's king is exposed and
Black's main pride, the a7-bishop, will turn into a mere spectator after d3-d4.
True, 10...Qe7 would probably transpose, but abstractly it is better to keep
the inevitable ...g7-g5 in reserve.}) 11. O-O Nh7 12. h3 h5 {is playable, as
in Topalov,V (2760)-So,W (2794) London 2016 CBM 176 [Stohl,I] (0-1, 27)}) 10.
h3 ({A rare and mysterious move. Since the later bishop retreat to h2 will
prove a waste of time, it means Anand wanted to control g4. His plan for this
game was based on Qe2, so it is worth checking what could have happened after} 
10. Qe2 g5 ({The more solid} 10... Be6 {is entirely playable, but not
essential for the question raised above.} 11. b4 O-O 12. O-O Rfe8 13. Rfb1 Rab8
14. a5 Bxc4 15. Nxc4 Qe6 16. Bxf6 Qxf6 17. b5 axb5 18. Rxb5 Nd8 19. Rab1 Ra8
20. g3 Qe6 21. Kg2 c6 22. R5b2 Bb8 23. Ra1 Bc7 {Najer,E (2707)-Aleksandrov,A 
(2580) Tbilisi 2017 (1-0, 51) and Black can be content with his position.}) 11.
Bg3 h5 $5 ({A romantic plan.} 11... g4 {is hardly a problem due to} 12. Bh4 $5)
(11... Bg4 12. h3 Bh5 {may be another reason, as the queen would look strange
on e2.}) 12. h4 (12. Nxg5 h4 {may explain why Anand needed the h2-square, but
even this is not entirely clear:} 13. Bxf7+ Kf8 14. O-O-O Kg7 15. Bb3 hxg3 16.
hxg3 Bd7 17. f4 {with reasonable play for the sacrificed piece.}) 12... g4 13.
Ng5 Rf8 14. f4 gxf3 15. gxf3 {This position does not look like a reason to
waste time and weaken the kingside with h2-h3, as White is more active.
Kramnik opined that his opponent had mixed up something in the opening. I
suppose this could be one of the moments he had in mind.}) (10. b4 Bd7 11. Rb1
g5 12. Bg3 Nh5 {Salem,A (2638)-Giri,A (2775) Geneva 2017 CBM 180 [Szabo,Kr] 
(0-1, 43)}) 10... g5 11. Bg3 Nh5 12. Qe2 (12. Nxe5 $2 Nxg3 13. Bxf7+ Kd8 $1 14.
Ng6 {(wthout check!)} Qxf7 {winning the knight due to the threat ...Qxf2#.}) ({
The following game is an illustration about what could have happened had Anand
not played g2-g4 later.} 12. Bh2 Nf4 13. Bxf4 gxf4 14. b4 Rg8 15. Rg1 Be6 16.
a5 Nd8 17. b5 axb5 18. Bxb5+ c6 19. Ba4 f5 $17 {Voigt,R (2381)-Karpatchev,A 
(2461) Leipzig 2004 (0-1, 36)}) (12. Nf1 Nf4 13. Rg1 {is awfully passive.} Be6
14. Bxe6 fxe6 15. Ne3 O-O-O 16. b4 d5 17. exd5 exd5 18. b5 e4 19. bxc6 exf3 20.
Qxf3 Rhf8 $17 {Berenyi,G (2230)-Timoshenko,G (2475) Budapest 1991 (0-1, 27)
with a huge attack.}) 12... Qf6 13. Bh2 ({On the previous move Black refrained
from opening the f-file, but now the exchange on g3 may be a real threat. For
instance if} 13. Kd1 Nxg3 14. fxg3 h5 15. Rf1 {Black is in time to regroup with
} Qg7) 13... Nf4 14. Bxf4 gxf4 15. g4 {Trying to stabilise the kingside. We
already know that playing with a backward pawn on g2 is passive.} Ne7 16. b4 {
Anand seems to have been convinced that Kramnik would castle long. But since
this did not happen, his queenside plan only creates weaknesses.} ({He should
have carried on his regrouping with} 16. Kd1 Ng6 17. Kc2 {One important point
is that} h5 {can be met with} 18. gxh5 $1 Rxh5 19. h4 Nxh4 $6 20. Rag1 $14 {
We can understand now why saving the tempo b2-b4 was useful.}) 16... Ng6 17.
Kd1 h5 18. g5 {Under the given circumstances it is Black already who benefits
from stabilising the kingside.} ({But} 18. gxh5 {does not work anymore:} Rxh5
19. h4 (19. Qf1 Bd7 20. Kc2 Ke7 $17 {followed by ...Rah8 i awfully passive for
White.}) 19... Nxh4 20. Kc2 Ke7 21. Rag1 Bd7 $17 {[%cal Ga8h8]}) 18... Qe7 19.
b5 (19. Kc2 $15 {was better, inviting Black to find a way of opening the
queenside.}) 19... Kf8 20. bxa6 {Continuing the global suicidal plan of
opening the queenside.} ({But by now Black can more or less force the opening
of the queenside anyway:} 20. d4 $5 Kg7 21. Kc2 c6 $5) 20... bxa6 21. d4 Kg7
22. d5 {An obvious positional concession, clearing the path for the bishop on
a7 and restricting his own bishop.} (22. Kc2 exd4 23. cxd4 a5 $36 {[%cal Gc7c6,
Gd6d5]}) 22... Bd7 23. Kc2 Rhb8 ({One more doubt about why did Anand play his
last move is raised by} 23... c6 $17 {opening the c-file.}) 24. Bxa6 {Trying
to build up a fortress on the light squares.} (24. h4 {[%cal Gh1b1]} Qe8 (24...
Bg4 $17 {[%csl Gh4]}) 25. a5 c6 $17) 24... Bxf2 25. Bb5 (25. Qxf2 Rxa6 {
retrieves the a-pawn soon, with a decisive attack along the newly opened files.
.}) 25... Be3 26. h4 (26. Nc4 Bxb5 27. axb5 Rxa1 28. Rxa1 Qd7 29. Nxe3 fxe3 30.
c4 Qxh3 {The h-pawn and the g6-knight (especially after ...Nf4) are very
annoying.}) (26. c4 Rc8 {followed by ...c7-c6 is even stronger than with the
pawn on c3.}) 26... Ra5 {Black has a pleasant choices on each move, but
Kramnik's play is logical and effective.} 27. c4 Rba8 28. Kb3 (28. Nb3 Bxb5 $5
(28... R5a7 29. a5 Bg4 {is also strong.}) 29. Nxa5 Bd7 30. Nb3 (30. Nc6 Bxc6
31. dxc6 Qe6 {followed by either ...Ne7xc6 or ...Ra6.}) 30... Bxa4 31. Kc3 Qd7
32. Rhb1 c6 $19 {[%csl Ga4,Rc3,Ge3]}) 28... Nf8 {[%cal Gf8d7,Gd7c5] The start
of the final and decisive regrouping.} 29. Rhc1 Bg4 30. Kc2 Bxd2 31. Kxd2 Nd7
32. Ra3 Nc5 33. Bc6 Rb8 34. Ke1 Qd8 $1 35. Qc2 Bxf3 36. Rxf3 Qc8 {After ...Qg4
White will soon collapse on both wings.} 0-1

[Event "EU-ch 19th"]
[Site "Batumi"]
[Date "2018.03.24"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Navara, David"]
[Black "Bok, Benjamin"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2737"]
[BlackElo "2622"]
[Annotator "Mekhitarian,K"]
[PlyCount "113"]
[EventDate "2018.03.17"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "GEO"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 184"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2018.05.16"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2018.05.16"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 O-O 6. a4 a5 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bh4
g5 {a principled decision. Black weakens his king in the long-term, but at the
same time, he may hope for a pawn advance with h5 later if White plays
passively.} (8... Be7 {is a more solid response when White goes for the Bg5
pin early in the Italian opening.} 9. Bg3 d6 10. h3 Kh8 11. c3 Nh7 12. Qb3 f5
$1 13. exf5 Bf6 14. Be6 Ne7 $44 {0-1 (41) Karjakin,S (2781)-Aronian,L (2793)
Stavanger 2017}) 9. Bg3 (9. Nxg5 $5 {doesn't look brilliant, but Black always
has to be careful.} hxg5 10. Bxg5 Be7 {followed by d6 and slowly the pieces
should come out.} 11. Nc3 d6 12. Bh6 $44) 9... d6 10. c3 Ba7 (10... Ne7 {
bringing the knight over to the kingside is typical, but here d4 gets there
quickly} 11. Nbd2 Ng6 12. d4 exd4 13. cxd4 Bb4 14. e5 Nh5 15. exd6 (15. Ne4 $2
g4 $1 $17 {0-1 (27) Baramidze,D (2610)-Shirov,A (2630) Germany 2018}) 15...
cxd6 16. Ne1 $13) (10... Kg7 $5 {was played in the notable Hou - Ding game
from the Moscow FIDE GP in 2017.} 11. Re1 g4 12. Bh4 $5 Ne7 $5 13. Bxf6+ Kxf6
14. d4 Bb6 15. Nh4 Kg7 {Hou,Y (2652)-Ding,L (2773) Moscow FIDE GP 2017 (3) 0-1
and slowly Black scored a nice win. You can check analysis from Michael Roiz
on this game.}) 11. Re1 (11. Na3 {[%cal Ga3c2,Gc2e3,Ge3f5] was seen in a
recent game, played one month after this one.} Bg4 12. Kh1 Kg7 13. Nc2 d5 14.
exd5 Nxd5 15. d4 exd4 16. cxd4 Nce7 17. Ne3 Nxe3 18. fxe3 {with a superb
position for White, the a7-bishop is out of play and the weakness of the black
king can be felt already} Nf5 19. Qb3 f6 20. Ne5 $1 (20. Rae1 $2 Nxg3+ 21. hxg3
Bb6 $13 {0-1 (37) Xiong,J (2665)-Robson,R (2660) Saint Louis 2018, with
balanced play.}) 20... fxe5 (20... Nxg3+ 21. hxg3 fxe5 22. Rxf8 Qxf8 23. Rf1
$18) 21. Bxe5+ Kh7 22. h3 $18) 11... Ne7 {Whenever the knight goes away, White
has to be looking to open up the centre.} 12. d4 $1 Ng6 13. Na3 {[%csl Gf5]
[%cal Ga3c2,Gc2e3,Ge3f5] The knight has a perfect destination on f5!} exd4 14.
Nxd4 h5 15. e5 dxe5 (15... h4 $5 {was another option} 16. exf6 hxg3 17. fxg3 {
[%cal Gf1f8]} Qxf6 18. Rf1 Qg7 19. Kh1 $40 {but anyway, It looks very scary
for Black.}) 16. Qd3 $1 Nd5 (16... e4 $5 17. Qe3 Ng4 18. Qxe4 Kg7 $132 {
[%cal Gh5h4] also deserved attention.}) 17. Bxe5 c6 18. h3 Ndf4 (18... Nxe5 $1
{taking this bishop in such an open position is always very important,
specially to guarantee a safe square on g7 for the black king.} 19. Rxe5 Bb8
20. Ree1 Qd6 {[%cal Gd6h2]} 21. g3 h4 $132) 19. Qc2 Nxe5 20. Rxe5 Bb8 21. Re3
Qf6 {Bok is doing fine here. His king remains open, but the critical f5-square
is well controlled, he has the bishop pair and a strong knight on f4, and
White has a useless knight on a3 for now.} 22. Rae1 Bd6 $6 (22... g4 $5) (22...
Kg7 $5 {preparing either ...g4 or the simple ...Qg6.}) 23. Ba2 $1 {Preparing
Nc4.} Bxa3 24. Bb1 {[%cal Gc2h7]} Qg6 25. Qb3 Qf6 26. bxa3 $1 {This move is
nothing special, but I find it very instructive. In this position, dynamics
are more important than strategy - White wants to keep the queen on a more
active square, and he is not worried about the long-term consequences of the
weak pawns.} Be6 27. Qc2 $6 (27. Nxe6 $5 Nxe6 28. Qxb7 $16 {was good enough,
but Navara is faithful to his plan of keeping the biggest tension always.})
27... Rfe8 28. Nf3 Kf8 $1 29. Ne5 Rad8 {Suddenly Black is doing fine again.}
30. c4 Bc8 $2 (30... c5 $1 {now the a5-pawn pickup does not work:} 31. Qc3 Kg7
32. Qxa5 Bxh3 $1 33. gxh3 Rxe5 $1 $19 {in the other variation, the a5-queen
would keep contact with e5. Now White is suddenly lost, since ...Nxh3+
followed by ...Qxf2+ happens if White takes the knight back.} 34. Rxe5 Nxh3+
35. Kh2 Qxf2+ 36. Kxh3 (36. Kh1 Rd2 $1 {Guess which king ended up worse now?})
36... g4#) 31. Qc3 $1 Kg8 32. Qxa5 Re6 33. Bf5 $1 {[%cal Ga5d8]} Red6 34. Bxc8
Rxc8 35. Nf3 Ne6 36. Nxg5 $1 {Simplifying into a winning position.} Nxg5 37.
Rg3 Kf8 38. Qxg5 $18 Qxg5 39. Rxg5 {The endgame is hopeless for Black. Navara
plays precisely until the end.} Ra8 40. a5 h4 41. Rh5 Ra7 42. Re4 Rd3 43. Rf4
Rxa3 44. Rh7 Ke7 45. Rfxf7+ Kd6 46. Rxb7 Rxb7 47. Rxb7 Kc5 48. Rh7 Kxc4 49.
Rxh4+ Kd3 50. Rh5 Kd4 51. g4 c5 52. g5 c4 53. g6 c3 54. Rh4+ Kd3 55. g7 c2 56.
g8=Q c1=Q+ 57. Kh2 1-0

[Event "Metz op 31th"]
[Site "Metz"]
[Date "2013.04.25"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Crut, Aurelien"]
[Black "Hilverda, Alexander"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2367"]
[BlackElo "2329"]
[Annotator "Metz Alekhine/Primel,D"]
[PlyCount "45"]
[EventDate "2013.04.20"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "FRA"]
[SourceTitle "EXT 2016"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2015.10.08"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2015.10.08"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[TimeControl "40/5400:1800+30"]
[WhiteClock "1:30:00"]
[BlackClock "1:30:00"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8.
Nd5 Qd8 9. c3 Ba7 (9... d6 {La grande ligne} 10. d4 Ba7) 10. d4 exd4 {Les
Noirs risquent de manquer de contre-jeu après l'abandon du centre} (10... O-O
11. Nxe5 Nxe5 12. dxe5 Qg5 13. Qf3 Qxe5 14. O-O d6 15. Bb3 c6 16. Ne3 Be6 17.
Rad1 Rad8 18. Rfe1 Rfe8 19. Nf5 Bc5 20. h3 Rd7 21. Qg3 Qf6 22. Bxe6 Rxe6 23.
Nd4 Re5 24. Qf3 Qg6 25. Qg4 Qxg4 26. hxg4 Rg5 27. f3 d5 28. Kf1 dxe4 29. Rxe4
Rgd5 30. Ke2 g6 31. Rd3 Kg7 32. Rde3 Bxd4 33. Rxd4 Rxd4 34. cxd4 Rxd4 35. Re7
b5 36. Rc7 Ra4 37. a3 b4 38. axb4 Rxb4 39. Rxc6 Rxb2+ 40. Kf1 {Crut,A (2336)
-Le Roux,J (2559) Pau 2012 0-1 (69)}) 11. cxd4 O-O 12. O-O d6 13. h3 Kh8 $146 {
Trop lent} (13... Ne7 $142 {[%cal Gc8e6] ;Crut,A (2302)-Pap,M (2521) Metz op
28th 2010 (2) 0-1}) (13... b5 14. Bb3 Na5 {Nevednichy,V (2572)-Navara,D (2708)
EU-ch 11th Rijeka 2010 (2) 0-1}) 14. Rc1 f5 (14... Be6) (14... Ne7) 15. Nf4 $1
fxe4 16. Ng6+ Kh7 17. Nxf8+ Qxf8 18. Ng5+ $1 Kh8 19. Qh5 $40 Ne7 20. Bb3 d5 $2
(20... Bb6 {[%csl Rc7]}) 21. Rxc7 Bb6 22. Qf7 $1 Bf5 23. Rxe7 1-0

[Event "Chengdu FIDE GP (Women)"]
[Site "Chengdu"]
[Date "2016.07.09"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Harika, Dronavalli"]
[Black "Koneru, Humpy"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2526"]
[BlackElo "2575"]
[Annotator "Mikhalchishin,A"]
[PlyCount "147"]
[EventDate "2016.07.02"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "CHN"]
[EventCategory "11"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 174"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2016.09.13"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2016.09.13"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteClock "0:00:10"]
[BlackClock "0:00:02"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 O-O 6. h3 Re8 7. a4 h6 8. Re1
a6 9. c3 d6 10. Nbd2 Be6 11. Bxe6 ({Here was tried} 11. a5 Qd7 12. Nh2 Rad8 13.
Qf3 d5 14. Bb3 dxe4 15. dxe4 Bxb3 16. Nxb3 Bf8 17. Ng4 Nxg4 18. Qxg4 Qd3 19.
Bxh6 Qb5 {with good counterplay in Shchukin,D (2344)-Aleksandrov,A (2628)/
Voronezh 2011.}) 11... Rxe6 12. b4 Ba7 13. Qc2 Re8 ({The natural central
counterplay} 13... d5 14. Nb3 dxe4 15. dxe4 Qe8 16. Ba3 {would lead to a
slight edge for White.}) 14. Nf1 b5 ({Possibly slightly preferable was} 14...
d5 15. Ng3 Qd7 16. Bb2 b5) 15. Ng3 Ne7 16. d4 Nd7 ({It was not useful to allow
the white knight coming to f5:} 16... Ng6 17. Be3 Qb8 18. Nf5 exd4 19. Bxh6
gxh6 20. Nxh6+ Kg7 21. Nf5+ Kg8 22. cxd4) 17. Be3 Ng6 18. Nf5 Ne7 19. Ng3 ({
More useful would be to keep the knight on f5 after} 19. N3h4) 19... Ng6 20.
Nf5 Ne7 21. dxe5 Bxe3 ({Black would get some weaknesses after total exchanges:
} 21... Nxf5 22. exf5 Bxe3 23. Rxe3 Nxe5 24. Nxe5 Rxe5 25. Rxe5 dxe5 26. Qe2)
22. Nxe3 Nxe5 23. Nxe5 dxe5 24. Red1 Qc8 25. c4 $1 {Harika gets a serious
space advantage now.} bxa4 ({Not so easy was the try for counterattack with} 
25... Nc6 26. axb5 Nd4 27. Qd3 axb5 28. Rxa8 Qxa8 29. cxb5 Qa4 30. Qc4 Rb8 31.
Qxc7 Rxb5 32. Qc8+ Kh7 33. Qc4 Rb7 34. Rb1) 26. Qxa4 Qb7 ({White keeps strong
pressure after} 26... c5 27. Nd5 Rb8 28. Rdb1) 27. Nd5 ({Possibly more direct
was} 27. Rd7 Rad8 28. Nd5 Nxd5 29. cxd5 Rxd7 30. Qxd7 Rb8 31. Rc1) 27... c6 ({
No great joy was} 27... Nxd5 28. exd5 Reb8 29. Rab1) 28. Nxe7+ (28. Ne3 $5)
28... Qxe7 29. c5 Qb7 30. Rd6 Rec8 31. Qa5 Rab8 32. Ra4 Qb5 ({It was possible
to wait a bit with} 32... h5) 33. Qxb5 Rxb5 34. f3 {The rook ending is very
difficult for Black with White's activity and Black's pawn weaknesses.} a5 {
Desperation, it was necessary to continue suffering:} (34... h5 35. h4 Rc7) 35.
bxa5 Rxc5 36. a6 Kf8 37. Rd7 Ke8 38. Rb7 Rb5 39. h4 g6 40. Kh2 h5 41. Ra2 Kf8
42. Kg3 Kg7 43. Rd7 c5 ({Does not help} 43... Rb6 44. a7 Ra8 45. Rc7 Kf6 46.
Rc2 Kg7 47. Rd2) 44. a7 Ra8 45. Rc7 Rb4 46. Kf2 c4 47. Ke2 Rb3 48. Rd2 Ra3 49.
Rdd7 Rf8 50. Rxc4 {White won a pawn and winning is just a question of simple
technique.} Ra2+ 51. Ke3 Ra3+ ({A not so easy win White must demonstrate after
} 51... Rxg2 52. Ra4 Ra8 53. Ra5 (53. Rb7 $2 Rc8 $1) 53... Kf6 54. Rb7 Rc8 55.
Rb6+ Kg7 56. Rb3 Rcc2 57. Rxe5 Ra2 58. Re7 g5 59. hxg5 Rxg5 60. Rbb7) 52. Kd2
Ra2+ 53. Rc2 Ra6 54. Kc1 g5 55. hxg5 Kg6 56. Rb7 Ra8 57. Rcc7 Kxg5 58. Rxf7 Kh4
59. Kb1 ({Or immediately} 59. Rg7) 59... Kg3 60. Rg7+ Kf2 61. Kb2 h4 62. Kb3 h3
63. gxh3 Kxf3 64. h4 {Now White got another passed pawn.} Kxe4 65. h5 Kd3 66.
Rgd7+ Ke3 67. Kb4 e4 68. Kb5 Rh6 ({A more stubborn defence was} 68... Ra1 69.
h6 Ke2 70. h7 e3 71. Rg7 Rh1 72. Kc4 Rc8+ 73. Kd4 Rh4+ 74. Ke5 Rh5+ 75. Kf4 Kf2
76. Kg4 Rh6 77. Rb8) 69. Rh7 Re6 70. Rb8 Rxa7 71. Rxa7 Re5+ 72. Kc4 Rxh5 73.
Ra3+ Kf4 74. Rf8+ 1-0

[Event "Bilbao Masters 9th"]
[Site "Bilbao"]
[Date "2016.07.21"]
[Round "8"]
[White "So, Wesley"]
[Black "Giri, Anish"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2770"]
[BlackElo "2785"]
[Annotator "Mokal,P"]
[PlyCount "113"]
[EventDate "2016.07.13"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "ESP"]
[EventCategory "22"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 174"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2016.09.13"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2016.09.13"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 O-O 6. Re1 {It is interesting
that the players repeat the opening which they played with the reversed
colours in round 3 of the same tournament. Re1 is a comparitively rare move,
tried by Caruana and Anand in blitz games previously but now it is being used
by the young guns in longer versions of the game. The most common move here is
6.c3 while 6.Bg5, 6.Nc3, 6.Nbd2 etc. are also quite popular.} Ng4 ({Black's
main response here has been} 6... d6 {Now after} 7. c3 a6 (7... Bb6 {was
played in the blitz game between Anand and Giri in June 2016. It went} 8. Bb3
Ne7 9. Nbd2 c6 10. Nf1 Ng6 11. Ng3 h6 {and here Anand sharpened the play with
a pawn sacrifice with} 12. d4 $5 Bg4 13. h3 Bxf3 14. Qxf3 exd4 15. Nf5 dxc3 16.
bxc3 $13 {1/2-1/2 Anand,V (2770)-Giri,A (2782)/Leuven 2016 (27)}) 8. a4 Ba7 {
So Wesley vs Mamedyarov at Wijk Aan Zee 2016 saw} 9. Na3 ({while another blitz
game, Caruana vs So Wesley went} 9. h3 Ne7 10. Nbd2 Ng6 11. Nf1 c6 12. Bb3 d5
13. exd5 Nxd5 14. d4 exd4 15. Nxd4 Be6 $13 {1/2-1/2 Caruana,F (2795)-So,W 
(2773)/Saint Louis USA 2016 (42)} (15... Ndf4 $5) (15... Ngf4 $5)) 9... h6 10.
Nc2 Re8 11. Be3 Be6 12. Bxe6 Rxe6 13. Bxa7 Rxa7 14. d4 exd4 15. Nfxd4 Nxd4 16.
Qxd4 Ra8 17. f3 {1/2-1/2 So,W (2773)-Mamedyarov,S (2747)/Wijk aan Zee 2016/CBM
171 (38), with a very slight pull for White due to space.}) ({The
aforementioned round 3 game between the two players went} 6... a6 7. a4 Ng4 8.
Rf1 h6 9. c3 d6 10. Nbd2 Ba7 11. h3 Nf6 12. Re1 $5 Nh5 13. Nf1 Qf6 $132 {
1/2-1/2 Giri,A (2785)-So,W (2770)/Bilbao ESP 2016 (56)}) 7. Re2 (7. Be3 {
is hardly a challenge} Nxe3 8. fxe3 Be7 (8... d6 $5) 9. Nc3 d6 10. a3 Be6 11.
Bd5 Qd7 $11 {1-0 Dgebuadze,A (2562)-Campelo Bermudez,J (1870)/Ortigueira 2008 
(46)}) 7... Kh8 ({A different plan was tried in a couple of games..} 7... Nd4
$5 8. Nxd4 Bxd4 9. h3 Nf6 10. Nd2 (10. c3 Bb6 11. Bg5 h6 12. Bh4 g5 13. Bg3 d6
14. Re1 h5 15. d4 $5 h4 16. Bh2 Qe7 17. Nd2 g4 $13 {1-0 Saric,I (2500)-Sakaev,
K (2649)/Plovdiv 2008 (38)}) 10... d6 11. Nf3 Bb6 12. Be3 Be6 13. Bb3 $11 {
0-1 Brkic,A (2606)-Filippov,A (2606)/Sibenik 2011 (51)}) 8. h3 f5 $1 9. Nc3
$146 {Played quickly.} (9. hxg4 $2 fxg4 10. Ng5 (10. Ne1 Qf6 $19) 10... Qf6 (
10... g3 $5 $40) 11. Qf1 (11. c3 Bxf2+ $19) (11. Nf7+ Rxf7 12. Bxf7 g3 $17 {
[%cal Gf6h4]}) 11... Nd4 12. Be3 (12. Rd2 $2 Qxg5 $19) (12. Nf7+ Rxf7 13. Bxf7
Nxe2+ 14. Qxe2 Qxf7 $17 {[%csl Rf2]}) 12... Nxe2+ 13. Qxe2 Bxe3 14. Qxe3 h6 15.
Nf7+ Rxf7 16. Bxf7 Qxf7 $17) (9. c3 fxe4 (9... Nxf2 10. Rxf2) 10. dxe4 Rxf3 $5
11. hxg4 (11. gxf3 $142) 11... Rg3 $1 12. g5 d6 13. b4 Bb6 14. Rc2 Rg4 15. Bd3
Be6 $17 {0-1 Jandourek,L (2192)-Londyn,R (2380)/Czech Republic 2015 (37)}) (9.
exf5 Nxf2 10. Rxf2 d5 11. Bg5 (11. Bb3 Rxf5 $132) 11... Qd6 $15 {1-0 Tapia
Fuentes,J (2183)-Abarca Gonzalez,N (2267)/Santiago CHI 2014 (64)} (11... Bxf2+
12. Kxf2 Qd7 $17)) 9... Nf6 (9... d6 10. exf5 Bxf5 11. hxg4 Bxg4 $13) 10. Be3 (
{Principled is} 10. Bg5 $5 {although Black seems to be doing fine...} fxe4 (
10... h6 11. Bxf6 Qxf6 12. Nd5 $14) (10... d6 11. Nd5 $14) 11. Nxe4 (11. dxe4
h6 12. Be3 Bxe3 13. Rxe3 (13. fxe3 {could be similar to the game}) 13... d6 14.
a3 Nh5 $13) (11. Rxe4 $5) 11... Be7 12. Nc3 (12. Ng3) 12... d6 $13) (10. Ng5
Nd4 $132) 10... Bxe3 11. fxe3 (11. Rxe3 d6 {seems like giving Black good
prospects on the >>} ({or} 11... f4 $5 12. Re1 d6)) 11... fxe4 12. dxe4 (12.
Nxe4 d5 13. Nxf6 dxc4 $15 14. Ne4 cxd3 15. cxd3 Bxh3) 12... d6 {[%csl Ge3,Ge4]
The doubled pawns have their plusses and minuses. They control important
squares but they can also become targets. The advantage for Black though,
seems to be a possiblility of taking initiative on the >> quickly.} 13. a3 {
[%cal Gc4a2]} (13. Qd3 Na5 $36) 13... Qe8 14. Qd3 Nd8 $5 {Giri aims for a B
exchange with ...Be6 which allows White to consolidate.} ({A sharper and
ambitious approach would be} 14... Qg6 $142 $5 {[%cal Gc8h3]} 15. Kh1 Nh5 ({or
} 15... Nd8 {/\Ne6-g5}) ({or} 15... Qh6 {[%cal Gg7g5]})) 15. Rf2 Be6 16. Raf1
a6 (16... Bxc4 17. Qxc4 Ne6 $11 (17... c6 $11)) 17. Nd2 {[%csl Ge4][%cal Gd2e4,
Gc3d5]} ({Worth considering was the use of f5-d5 squares with} 17. Nh4 $5 {
but then Black could target the e4-pawn, for example} b5 (17... Qd7 18. Nd5)
18. Bxe6 Nxe6 19. Nf5 $5 (19. Nd5 Nc5 20. Qe2 Ncxe4 $11 {[%csl Rc7,Rf2]}) 19...
Nc5 20. Qe2 Rd8 $11 (20... Ncxe4 $2 21. Nxe4 Nxe4 22. Nxd6 $1 $18)) 17... b5
18. Bxe6 Nxe6 19. Nd5 Nd7 20. Rxf8+ Ndxf8 21. c4 c6 {Black chooses to play
with a P-weakness on d6 rather than bear the strong N on d5. The position
remains objectively equal, though White keeps better practical chances of
creating the play.} 22. Nc3 Qe7 23. b4 Nd7 24. Nb3 Nf6 (24... Nb6 25. Na5 Qc7 (
25... Qd7 26. Rd1 Rd8 27. a4 $1 bxa4 $6 28. c5 $36) 26. Rc1 $14) 25. Na5 Qc7 (
25... Qd7 $5) 26. Rc1 Qd7 ({A nice idea was} 26... Nc5 $5 {[%cal Gc7a5]} 27.
Qc2 (27. bxc5 Qxa5 28. Qxd6 (28. cxd6 Qxa3 {[%csl Rc1]}) 28... Qxa3 29. Rf1 $8
Qxc3 30. Rxf6 $11) 27... Nb7 (27... Qb6 28. bxc5 Qxa5 29. cxd6 Rd8 $11) 28.
Nxb7 Qxb7 $11 {with solid defense.}) 27. cxb5 axb5 28. a4 bxa4 $6 ({Black
should have kept a solid position with} 28... Rc8 $142 29. axb5 (29. Rd1 {
[%csl Rb5,Rd6]} Ng5 $11 30. Qxd6 Qxd6 31. Rxd6 Ngxe4 32. Nxe4 Nxe4) 29... cxb5
30. Rf1 Ng5 $11) ({Also interesting was the imaginary and counterattacking} 
28... Ng5 $5 {[%csl Re4,Rh3] gaining a very important tempo} 29. Kh2 (29. axb5
Nxh3+ 30. gxh3 Qxh3 $11 31. Rc2 (31. Kf2 d5) 31... Qg3+ 32. Rg2 (32. Kh1 $2
Qh4+ 33. Kg1 Ng4 $19) 32... Qe1+ 33. Kh2 Qh4+ $11) (29. h4 $6 Nh3+ $1 30. gxh3
Qxh3 $40 {[%cal Gf6g4,Gh3g3]}) 29... bxa4 30. Nxa4 Rf8 $11 {[%csl Gg5][%cal
Ge6g5,Rg1h2] Compared to the game, Black has already inserted his desired move,
giving him a decent position.}) 29. Nxa4 Rf8 (29... Qa7 $5 30. Kh2 $14 (30.
Nxc6 $2 Qxa4) (30. Rxc6 Nf4)) 30. Nb6 Qf7 31. Nxc6 $2 ({White had to go for
the d6-pawn with} 31. Nbc4 $1 {although further accuracy would be demanded,
for example after} Ng5 (31... Ng4 32. Rf1 $18) (31... Ne8 32. Nxd6 (32. Nd2 $16
) 32... Nxd6 (32... Qf2+ 33. Kh1 $16) 33. Qxd6 Ng5 34. Qd2 Nxe4 35. Qc2 $16 {
[%csl Rc6]}) 32. Nxd6 Qg6 33. Kh2 (33. Kh1 $6 Qh6 $1 $132) 33... Nfxe4 34. Nxe4
Nxe4 (34... Qxe4 35. Qxe4 Nxe4 36. Rxc6 $18) {The key move would be the
prophylactic} 35. Kg1 $1 $16 {[%csl Re4] stopping Black from playing ...Qg3.} (
35. Rxc6 $2 Qg3+ 36. Kg1 Qe1+ 37. Kh2 Nd2 $19) ({While} 35. Nxc6 $6 Qg3+ 36.
Kg1 Ng5 $132)) (31. Qxd6 $2 Nxe4 $19) 31... Ng5 32. Rf1 Qc7 $1 ({We see the
prophylactic move again after} 32... Qg6 33. Kh2 Ngxe4 34. Kg1 $1 $14 Qg3 $2
35. Qxe4 {[%cal Gf1f8]}) 33. Qb5 Ngxe4 $2 (33... Qb7 $142 $1 {[%csl Rb6,Rc6]
[%cal Gb7b5] pinning the b6-knight} 34. Kh2 (34. Ra1 Nd7 35. Ra6 Ne6 {[%cal
Ge6c7]} 36. Na5 Qxe4 37. Nxd7 Qxe3+ 38. Kh2 Qf4+ $11) 34... Ngxe4 35. Na5 Qf7
$11) 34. Nd5 $1 $14 {[%csl Gb4,Rd6]} Qd7 (34... Qf7 $142 35. Nce7 $1 (35. Nxf6
gxf6 {[%csl Rd5]}) 35... Qe8 (35... Nc3 $5 36. Qd3 Ncxd5 37. Nxd5 Qe6 38. b5
Rb8 39. Nxf6 gxf6 40. Rc1 $36) 36. Qa6 $14) 35. Nxf6 gxf6 $5 {[%cal Gf8g8,
Gg8g1] Looking for kingside counterplay, which is probably Black's best
practical chance. But...} ({Objectively better was} 35... Nxf6 {but after} 36.
Qa6 $16 {[%cal Gb4b8] White is clearly better.}) (35... Rxf6 $4 36. Qb8+ $18)
36. Qd5 $1 {[%csl Re4] White gives no time.} Nc3 (36... f5 37. Nxe5 $18) 37.
Qc4 Na4 38. b5 Nb6 39. Qd3 Rg8 (39... d5 40. Nxe5 $18 {[%cal Gf1f8]}) (39... f5
40. g4 $18) 40. e4 $1 {[%csl Rd6,Ge4,Rf6]} Qe6 41. Rd1 Nd7 42. Kh2 (42. Qxd6
Qxh3) 42... Nc5 43. Qxd6 Qxd6 44. Rxd6 Nxe4 45. Re6 Nc5 (45... Kg7 46. b6 Nc5
47. Re7+ $18) 46. Rxf6 e4 47. Rf5 Nb7 (47... Nd3 $5 48. Rf7 (48. b6 e3 49. Nd4
Rb8 (49... Re8 50. b7) 50. Rb5 Nf2 (50... Nf4 51. Kg3 e2 52. Kf2 $18) 51. Nf5
$1 e2 52. Re5 {[%csl Rh8]} h5 53. Rxe2 $18 {[%csl Rf2]}) 48... Re8 49. b6 e3
50. Re7 Rxe7 51. Nxe7 e2 52. b7 e1=Q 53. b8=Q+ Kg7 54. Qg8+ Kf6 55. Qf8+ Ke5
56. Qf5+ Kd4 57. Nc6+ Ke3 58. Qxh7 $18) 48. Re5 Nd6 49. Nd4 Rb8 50. g4 Kg8 51.
Kg3 Kf7 52. Nf5 Kf6 (52... Nxb5 53. Rxb5 Rxb5 54. Nd6+ $18) (52... Nxf5+ 53.
Rxf5+ Ke6 54. Kf4 $18) 53. Kf4 Nxb5 (53... Rxb5 54. g5+ $18) 54. g5+ Kg6 (54...
Kf7 55. Rxb5 Rxb5 56. Nd6+ $18) 55. Re7 Rh8 (55... Rg8 56. Nh4+ Kh5 57. Rxh7#)
56. Kg4 $1 h5+ 57. Kf4 (57. Kf4 h4 (57... Rg8 58. Nh4#) 58. Kg4 $18 {[%cal
Ge7g7]} Rh7 59. Re6+ Kf7 60. g6+ $18) 1-0

[Event "FIDE World Cup"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk"]
[Date "2011.09.04"]
[Round "3.2"]
[White "Radjabov, Teimour"]
[Black "Bacrot, Etienne"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2744"]
[BlackElo "2710"]
[Annotator "Moradiabadi,E"]
[PlyCount "95"]
[EventDate "2011.08.28"]
[EventType "k.o."]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 145"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2011.11.11"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2011.11.11"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 {Radjabov uses the Italian from time to time.} Bc5
4. d3 {White delays a direct attack, in order to prepare his pieces for that.
In general, this plan is not considered as a problematic one for Black.} Nf6 5.
O-O O-O 6. Nbd2 d5 {An odd choice by Bacrot. He tries to solve all his
problems drastically} (6... d6 7. c3 Bb6 8. Bb3 Ne7 9. h3 c6 10. Re1 Ng6 11. d4
h6 12. Bc2 Be6 13. Nf1 Qc7 14. Be3 Rad8 15. Qc1 Rfe8 16. Ng3 Qd7 17. a4 $1 $14
{1-0 Radjabov,T (2744)-Harikrishna,P (2669)/Ningbo 2011/CB29_2011 (38)}) 7.
exd5 Nxd5 8. Re1 Nf6 $5 {This is considered the best according to engines. It
must be the move for which Bacrot decided to enter this position.} 9. h3 Bd6 $6
{An unfortunate choice. Not long after this game, Bacrot improved his play:} (
9... a6 10. a3 (10. Nxe5 $2 Qd4 11. Qe2 Nxe5 12. Nb3 Qxf2+ 13. Qxf2 Bxf2+ 14.
Kxf2 Nxc4 15. dxc4 Bf5 $15) 10... b5 11. Ba2 Bb7 {e5 is still untouchable} 12.
Nf1 e4 13. dxe4 Qxd1 14. Rxd1 Nxe4 {the position is roughly equal} 15. Be3 Bd6
16. N1d2 Ne5 17. Nxe4 Bxe4 18. Nxe5 Bxe5 19. c3 Rfd8 20. Bg5 Rxd1+ 21. Rxd1 Bc6
22. Kf1 {1/2-1/2 Movsesian,S (2715)-Bacrot,E (2705)/Rogaska Slatina 2011/
CB39_2011}) 10. a3 $1 {This is the point! White has not weakened his pawn
structure yet, therefore, he frees a2 for his bishop and prepared a queenside
assault with b4.} a6 11. Ba2 Bf5 12. b4 Re8 13. Bb2 h6 14. Ne4 (14. Nc4 e4 {
This is the only move that might have stopped Radjabov from playing his move.
Otherwise, it is evident that after ...Nd7 White is clearly better.} 15. Nxd6
Qxd6 16. Nh4 Bh7 17. dxe4 Qxd1 18. Raxd1 Nxe4 {White is clearly better thanks
to his pair of bishops, on the other hand, it is not evident how White would
increase his pressure. Radjabov prefers to keep the queens on the board.})
14... Be6 15. Bxe6 Rxe6 16. c4 Nxe4 17. dxe4 a5 18. c5 Bf8 19. Qb3 axb4 20.
axb4 {Black has no evident weakness, nevertheless a plan!} Rxa1 21. Rxa1 b6 22.
b5 Nd4 23. Nxd4 exd4 24. Qd5 {The critical moment.} Qxd5 $4 {A horrible
miscalculation by Bacrot.} (24... Qg5 $1 {would have kept things in place for
Bacrot.} 25. c6 (25. cxb6 $2 Qxd5 26. exd5 Rxb6 $15 {White loses a pawn}) (25.
Bxd4 bxc5 26. Qxg5 hxg5 27. Bc3 Rxe4 28. Ra8 f6 29. Rc8 Ra4 $1 30. Rxc7 Ra3 31.
Be1 (31. Bd2 $4 Ra1+ 32. Kh2 Bd6+) 31... Rb3 32. Rb7 Bd6 33. Kf1 $11) 25... Bc5
26. Bxd4 Bxd4 27. Qxd4 Qxb5 28. Qd8+ Kh7 29. Qxc7 Qxc6 30. Qxf7 Qxe4 $11) 25.
exd5 Re5 26. d6 $1 Rxc5 27. Bxd4 {Black loses an exchange.} Bxd6 (27... Rc4 28.
dxc7 Rxc7 29. Bxb6 Rb7 30. Ra6 f6 31. g4 Kf7 32. Kg2 Ke6 33. Bc5+ Kf7 34. Bxf8
Kxf8 35. b6 Rb8 36. h4 {The endgame is just hopeless for Black.}) 28. Bxc5 Bxc5
29. Ra8+ Kh7 30. Kf1 Kg6 31. Re8 h5 32. Ke2 Kf5 33. g3 g6 34. Kf3 g5 35. g4+
hxg4+ 36. hxg4+ {White wins by creating a second weakness.} Kf6 37. Rg8 Be7 38.
Ke4 Ke6 39. Rh8 Bc5 40. Rh6+ f6 41. f4 $1 {FThe final and beautiful
breakthrough.} gxf4 42. g5 Be7 43. Kxf4 Bd6+ 44. Kg4 Be5 45. Kh5 Bd4 46. g6 f5
47. Rh7 f4 48. Rf7 {A neat game demonstrating good technique by Radjabov.} 1-0

[Event "Grenke Chess Classic 4th"]
[Site "Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden"]
[Date "2017.04.22"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Aronian, Levon"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2817"]
[BlackElo "2774"]
[Annotator "Moradiabadi,E"]
[PlyCount "121"]
[EventDate "2017.04.15"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[EventCategory "20"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 178"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2017.05.14"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2017.05.14"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 {Not surprised at all! It is no fun playing against
the Berlin!} Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. O-O O-O 6. a4 $5 {A line that is becoming
fashionable thanks to Anand. In general Aronian plays actively against the
Italian, setting up immediate castling, and preparing d5. Had he gone for a6,
planning ...Ba7, instead of a5, he would have ended up in one of those 'timid'
positions, though the line is losing popularity in light of recent theoretical
developments.} a5 (6... a6 {leads to the main lines but Aronian is not
interested in a mainline theoretical battle today!} 7. c3 d6 8. Nbd2 (8. h3 h6
9. Re1 Ba7 10. Na3 (10. Nbd2)) (8. Bg5 h6 9. Bh4 g5 10. Bg3 {with complicated
play.}) 8... Ba7 9. Re1 Ng4 10. Re2 Kh8 11. h3 Nh6 (11... f5 $5) 12. Nf1) 7.
Bg5 $146 {A novelty according to the Online Database!} h6 8. Bh4 Be7 $1 {
I like this manoeuvre! Black loses a tempo but unpins his knight and plans to
exchange his then soon to be bad bishop!} 9. Bg3 d6 10. h3 {...Nh5 was a
threat.} Nd7 11. Nc3 Nb6 12. Bb3 Kh8 $5 {Aronian opts for ...f5. This setup is
risky. I am sure he would not have played like this if he hadn't already won
the tournament.} 13. d4 {A natural reaction.} Nxd4 14. Nxd4 exd4 15. Qxd4 Bf6
16. e5 $1 {The best reaction!} (16. Qe3 Be6 17. Bxe6 fxe6 18. b3 (18. e5 $2 {
runs into} Nc4) 18... Nd7 {should be ok for Black.}) 16... dxe5 (16... Bxe5 $2
17. Bxe5 dxe5 18. Qxe5 {is extremely dangerous. White is way ahead in
development and Black's pieces are awkwardly placed!}) 17. Qxd8 Rxd8 18. Rfe1 (
18. Bxf7 Bf5 19. Bb3 c5 {is not advantageous for White at all!}) 18... Be6 19.
Bxe6 fxe6 20. Ne4 (20. Bxe5 Bxe5 21. Rxe5 Rd2 22. Rc1 Nc4 23. Rc5 Nxb2 24. Rxc7
Rb8 25. Ne4 Rd4 26. Ng3 (26. Nc5 Rc4 27. Rxb7 Rxb7 28. Nxb7 Rxa4 29. Kf1 Kg8 {
and this endgame should be a draw.}) 26... Nxa4 27. Re1 Nb6 28. Rxe6 Nd5 29.
Rd7 Rd1+ 30. Kh2 Ne3 31. Rf7 Nf1+ 32. Nxf1 Rxf1 33. Ree7 a4 $1 34. Rxg7 a3 {
and White does not have more than a perpetual.}) 20... Kg8 21. Nc5 Rd5 {
Ok, draw?} 22. Nxe6 $2 {Isn't this knight going to feel uncomfortable?} Rc8 23.
b3 $4 {And trapped?} c5 $1 {Black wants to win the knight with either ...Kf7, .
..Rd6 or ...Rc6!} 24. c4 Rd6 25. Nxg7 {The best practical chance!} Kxg7 26.
Bxe5 Rd3 27. Bxf6+ Kxf6 {Black is a piece up! In an endgame!} 28. Re4 $1 {
Fabiano does not defend the pawn on b3. He realises that his only chance is to
create some play and pray for a blunder from Levon's side.} Rc7 29. Rae1 Rxb3
30. Rf4+ Kg7 31. Re6 Nxa4 {Suddenly, the two extra pawns are gone! The problem
now is that the rook and knight are a bit distant from the king.} 32. Rg4+ Kf8
(32... Kh7 {would have been my choice probably. White needs to spend some
tempi winning the h6-pawn.} 33. Rgg6 Nc3 34. Rxh6+ Kg8 35. Reg6+ Rg7 36. Rd6
Re7 (36... a4 $4 37. Rd8+ Kf7 38. Rd7+ Kg8 39. Rd8+ $11) 37. Rd8+ Kg7 38. Rhh8
a4 39. h4 a3 40. h5 a2 41. h6+ Kf6 {This is winning but it is impossible to
check every possible line to this point. I just love it when the rooks control
a rank in vain, and for that reason alone I would have opted for this line!})
33. Rxh6 Rf7 (33... Rg7 34. Rh8+ Kf7 35. Rf4+ Ke7 36. h4 Nc3 37. Kh2 a4 38. h5
a3 39. h6 Rg6 $19) 34. Rh8+ Ke7 35. h4 Nc3 36. h5 a4 37. h6 a3 38. h7 a2 39.
Re8+ Kxe8 40. h8=Q+ Kd7 41. Kh2 a1=Q 42. Rg8 {Aronian might have given up too
much counterplay but Black is winning anyway!} Qa5 $4 {After 50 minutes of
thinking Aronian plays this unfortunate move to let go of the win! It was not
easy to see the win especially when it involves giving up your queen!} (42...
Qe1 $1 43. Qh3+ Qe6 44. Rd8+ Kxd8 45. Qxe6 Rh7+ 46. Kg3 Nd5+ 47. f3 Rg7+ 48.
Kh4 Ne7 {and Komodo claims a win on depth 40!} 49. Kh3 (49. Qd6+ Ke8 50. Qxc5
Rxg2) 49... Rg6 50. Qe5 Rh6+ 51. Kg3 b6 {and material advantage is enough to
win!}) 43. Qh3+ $1 {Now it is Black who needs to play accurately to ensure the
draw!} Kc7 44. Qg3+ Kd7 45. Qd3+ Ke7 46. Qe3+ Kd6 47. Rg6+ Kc7 48. Qe5+ Kc8 49.
Rg8+ Qd8 50. Qxc5+ Rc7 51. Rxd8+ Kxd8 52. Qf8+ Kd7 53. g4 {This is very
different from what we saw in the analysis of move 42.} Rb2 54. Qf3 Ke8 $1 {
Well played by Aronian, and ensures the draw.} 55. Qxc3 Rxf2+ 56. Kg3 Rff7 {
This position is a fortress!} 57. g5 Rg7 58. Kg4 Kf8 59. Qf6+ Kg8 60. g6 Rxg6+
61. Qxg6+ {An exciting draw!} (61. Qxg6+ Rg7 62. Kg5 Rxg6+ 63. Kxg6 Kf8 64. Kf6
Ke8 65. Ke6 Kd8 66. Kd6 Kc8 $11) 1/2-1/2

[Event "Corus"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee"]
[Date "2009.01.18"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Movsesian, Sergei"]
[Black "Adams, Michael"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2751"]
[BlackElo "2712"]
[Annotator "Movsesian,S"]
[PlyCount "75"]
[EventDate "2009.01.17"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "NED"]
[EventCategory "19"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 129"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2009.03.25"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2009.03.25"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d4 $5 {This move is very old and
has almost disappeared from modern tournament praxis. I decided to give it a
try as a surprise weapon.} Bxd4 ({Another option, leading to very sharp play is
} 5... exd4 6. e5 d5 7. exf6 dxc4 8. Re1+ Be6 9. Ng5 Qd5 10. Nc3 Qf5 11. g4 $5
{with extremely complicated game.}) 6. Nxd4 Nxd4 7. f4 d6 8. fxe5 dxe5 9. Bg5
Qe7 10. c3 Be6 11. Na3 {This can be considered as the "main line" in this rare
variation.} Nc6 $6 {Michael was spending quite a lot of time in the opening
and decided to keep the white-squared bishops on the board.} (11... Bxc4 {
is considered to be best here:} 12. Bxf6 gxf6 13. Nxc4 Ne6 {e.g} 14. Qa4+ (14.
Kh1 Qc5 15. Na3 Rg8 16. Rxf6 Nf4 $36 {Anderssen-Fleissig,Vienna 1873}) 14... c6
15. Ne3 Rg8 16. Kh1 Nc5 17. Qc2 O-O-O 18. Rad1 $11 {Minckwitz-Anderssen,Vienna
1878}) 12. Kh1 Rd8 13. Qe2 h6 14. Bxf6 gxf6 15. Rf2 Rg8 16. Raf1 Rg6 17. Nc2 $1
{The white knight is heading to e3, from where it can move to both d5 and f5.}
Kf8 18. Ne3 Nb8 $1 {Black has to re-group the pieces in order to defend his
kingside.} 19. Qh5 Kg7 20. Qf3 Kh7 21. Nd5 ({Interesting was also the
"materialistic"} 21. Nf5 $5 Bxf5 22. exf5 Rg7 23. Qxb7 Qc5 24. Qe4 {winning
back the pawn with a slight advantage.}) 21... Bxd5 22. exd5 e4 23. Qf4 Rd6 $6
({The computer has an interesting suggestion:} 23... b5 $5 24. Bb3 Na6 25. Bc2
Nc5 26. Re2 Rxd5 27. b4 {and here Black is forced to sac a piece} f5 $5 28.
bxc5 Kg7 29. Ref2 {and White's chances are still to be favoured.}) 24. Re2 Nd7
25. Rxe4 Ne5 26. Bb3 Kg8 27. c4 b6 28. Bc2 Qf8 29. Re3 Rg5 (29... Rg4 30. Qf5 {
and here} Qg7 $2 {loses due to} 31. Rxe5 $1 fxe5 32. Qc8+) 30. Bf5 Kh8 31. Rfe1
a5 32. b3 c6 {Black's position is already very difficult and the opening of
the position is not going to help much...} 33. dxc6 Rxc6 34. h4 Rg8 35. Rd1 a4
$2 {Giving White a chance to finish the game with a nice blow.} 36. Rd8 $1 Qg7
37. Rxg8+ Kxg8 38. Rg3 1-0

[Event "EU-Cup 21st"]
[Site "Saint Vincent"]
[Date "2005.09.23"]
[Round "6.1"]
[White "Middelburg, Tom"]
[Black "Seitaj, Ilir"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2416"]
[BlackElo "2385"]
[Annotator "Mueller,Karsten"]
[PlyCount "151"]
[EventDate "2005.09.18"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "ITA"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 110"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2006.01.31"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2006.01.31"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Leerdams"]
[BlackTeam "Pristina"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "NED"]
[BlackTeamCountry "YUG"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Bb4 5. O-O d6 6. d3 Bxc3 7. bxc3 O-O 8.
Bg5 Qe7 9. Re1 Bg4 10. h3 Bd7 11. d4 Rad8 12. Rb1 b6 13. Qc1 h6 14. Bh4 Na5 15.
Bd3 Bc8 16. Kh2 c5 17. d5 c4 18. Bf1 Kh7 19. g4 Rh8 20. Kg2 Kg8 21. Qe3 Kf8 22.
Nd2 g5 23. Bg3 Ba6 24. Be2 Nd7 25. Rh1 Kg7 26. h4 f6 27. Rb4 Rc8 28. Qf3 Nf8
29. Nf1 Ng6 30. Ne3 Qd8 31. Nf5+ Kg8 32. Rbb1 Rc7 33. hxg5 hxg5 34. Rxh8+ Kxh8
35. Rh1+ Rh7 36. Rxh7+ Kxh7 37. Kg1 Bc8 38. Qh1+ Kg8 39. Qh6 Bxf5 40. gxf5 Nf8
41. Bh5 Nb7 42. f3 Nc5 43. Bf2 Ncd7 44. Be3 b5 45. Bg6 a6 46. Qh5 Nxg6 47.
Qxg6+ Kf8 48. Qh6+ Ke8 49. Qg6+ Kf8 50. Qh7 Ke8 51. Kg2 Qe7 52. Qg6+ Qf7 53.
Kg3 Nf8 54. Qxf7+ Kxf7 55. Kg4 Nd7 56. Kh5 Nc5 $4 {[%mdl 8192] Schwarz schдtzt
das entstehende Bauernendspiel falsch ein. Nach} (56... Kg7 {wдre seine
Stellung unverlierbar.}) 57. Bxc5 dxc5 58. d6 a5 59. d7 Ke7 60. Kg6 b4 61.
d8=Q+ Kxd8 62. Kxf6 a4 63. cxb4 cxb4 64. Kg7 b3 65. cxb3 cxb3 66. axb3 a3 (
66... axb3 67. f6 b2 68. f7 b1=Q 69. f8=Q+ Kd7 70. Qf5+ $18) 67. f6 a2 68. f7
a1=Q 69. f8=Q+ Kd7 70. Qf5+ Kc6 71. Qxg5 Qc3 72. Qf6+ Kc5 73. Qf7 Kd6 74. b4
Qb2 75. Kf6 Qh2 76. Qd5+ 1-0

[Event "Norway Chess 5th"]
[Site "Stavanger"]
[Date "2017.06.06"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Black "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2808"]
[BlackElo "2781"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,A"]
[PlyCount "88"]
[EventDate "2017.06.06"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "NOR"]
[EventCategory "22"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 179"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2017.07.12"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2017.07.12"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 O-O 6. a4 a6 7. c3 d5 8. exd5
Nxd5 9. Nbd2 Kh8 10. Re1 f6 11. d4 Ba7 (11... exd4 12. Nb3 Ba7 13. Nbxd4 Nxd4
14. Nxd4 {Giri-Tomashevsky, September 2016 where White had the better of it.
White's pressure stems from the space advantage on the queenside and the
weakness on e6. It isn't very serious, and probably Black can hold with
precise play, but it's much more comfortable to play White.}) 12. dxe5 Nxe5 13.
Nxe5 fxe5 14. Nf3 (14. Ne4 {seems natural, but it releases the pressure on e5.
Nf3 is a bit more ambitious but it clearly has a couple of problems, mainly
the weakness on f2.}) 14... c6 (14... Bxf2+ {was already possible, but not
entirely clear} 15. Kxf2 Qh4+ 16. Kg1 Qxc4 17. Rxe5 {and after a forced
sequence White's position is still slightly more comfortable. His pieces are a
bit more active, even though again, Black should be ok.}) 15. Bg5 {Choices
aren't easy in chess, and Kramnik presents his opponent with three distinct
ones:} (15. Bxd5 $5 cxd5 16. Rxe5 Bg4 {looks a bit dodgy. White will retain
extra material (at least one pawn, more if he wants) but his structure on the
kingside will be shattered and his king permanently exposed. These kinds of
positions sometimes boil down to style, and Kramnik here prefers the
initiative.}) 15... Qb6 $6 {Not the most precise. Kramnik ditches the f2-pawn
for piece activity and central control.} (15... Bxf2+ 16. Kxf2 (16. Kh1 Qd6 17.
Re2 Be6 $1 18. Rxf2 e4 {is also wildly unclear}) 16... Qxg5 17. Kg1 Qd8 18.
Nxe5 $14 {seems to be a bit better for White.}) (15... Qd6 $5 {Keeping up the
defence of the e5-pawn; now for example:} 16. Bh4 $5 (16. Re4 Qg6 $1 17. Bxd5
cxd5 18. Rxe5 Bg4 19. Kh1 $1 {with a huge mess}) 16... Bg4 17. Bg3 Bxf3 18.
gxf3 Rf5 $13) 16. Bxd5 cxd5 (16... Qxf2+ 17. Kh1 cxd5 18. Qxd5 {with e5
falling next, White's king is much safer than Black's.}) 17. Be3 $1 Qxb2 18.
Bxa7 Rxa7 19. Qxd5 {Kramnik is a cunning trickster.} b6 (19... Qxc3 $2 20. Qd6
$1 Rg8 21. Qb8 {and the rook cannot be saved!}) 20. Rab1 $6 (20. Qc4 {the pawn
deserved to live. This move also threatens Ra2, winning on the spot} e4 $1 21.
Ra2 Rc7 22. Qxc7 Qxa2 23. Rxe4 $16) 20... Qxc3 21. Rxb6 Raf7 22. Qxe5 Qxe5 23.
Rxe5 {White is up a pawn in the resulting endgame, but because of the pressure
on f2, the superiority of a bishop over a knight, and the reduced amount of
pawns, winning is tough.} Bg4 24. Re3 Kg8 25. Ne5 (25. Rxa6 Bxf3 26. Rxf3 Rxf3
27. gxf3 Rxf3 {is a draw as the rook gets in behind the pawn.}) 25... Rxf2 26.
h3 Bc8 27. Nc6 Rf1+ 28. Kh2 R1f6 29. a5 h6 30. Ne7+ Kf7 31. Nc6 Kg8 32. Rc3 {
White retains some pressure, but now Black can neutralise it and Karjakin has
no problems doing so.} Kh7 33. Ne7 Bd7 34. Nd5 Rf5 35. Rd6 Bb5 36. Nc7 Bf1 37.
Rd7 Rf2 38. Rg3 R8f7 39. Rxf7 Rxf7 40. Rc3 Rf5 41. Rc1 Bd3 42. Rc3 Bf1 43. Rc1
Bd3 44. Rc3 Bf1 1/2-1/2

[Event "London Classic 8th"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2016.12.15"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Vachier Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Black "Aronian, Levon"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2804"]
[BlackElo "2785"]
[Annotator "Roiz,M"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2016.12.09"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[EventCategory "22"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 176"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2017.01.17"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2017.01.17"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 {This time Maxime deviates from his main weapon the
Ruy Lopez and goes for another fashionable opening.} Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 O-O
6. a4 ({I guess, the more popular} 6. c3 {would be met by} d5 {which is the
most aggressive and suits Levon's style.}) 6... a5 7. c3 d5 {Still, the same
approach!} ({The more modest} 7... d6 8. Bg5 h6 9. Bh4 g5 10. Bg3 {also leads
to a very complex struggle. In the following recent game White got a better
position after} Bg4 11. h3 Bh5 12. Nbd2 Bg6 13. Bb3 Nh5 14. Bh2 Qf6 15. Nc4 Nf4
16. Ne3 $14 {Cornette,M (2597)-Hector,J (2488) London ENG 2016}) 8. exd5 Nxd5 {
The e5-pawn is a cause of problems, so Black should be careful now.} 9. Re1 Bg4
10. Nbd2 (10. h3 {hardly has any independent significance, since} Bh5 11. Nbd2
Nb6 12. Bb5 Bd6 {might transpose to the text.}) 10... Nb6 11. Bb5 Bd6 12. h3 ({
In his previous encounter in this line Levon didn't manage to fully solve his
problems after} 12. Ne4 Na7 13. h3 Bh5 14. d4 Nxb5 15. axb5 exd4 16. Nxd6 Bxf3
17. Qxf3 Qxd6 18. Rd1 Rfe8 19. Bf4 Qc5 20. Qxb7 dxc3 21. bxc3 $14 {Giri,A 
(2782)-Aronian,L (2792) Leuven BEL 2016}) 12... Bh5 13. Ne4 f5 $1 $146 {
This ambitious advance is an important novelty.} (13... Ne7 {is too passive:}
14. d4 exd4 15. g4 Bg6 16. Nxd6 Qxd6 17. Qxd4 $14 {Anand,V (2770)-So,W (2770)
Leuven BEL 2016}) (13... Na7 {would transpose to a position from the
above-mentioned note.}) 14. Ng3 (14. Bg5 {was interesting, but hardly after}
Qe8 15. Qb3+ Kh8 16. Nxd6 cxd6 17. Nd2 Bf7 18. Nc4 Nxc4 19. dxc4 Qe6 $132 {
White can be better wish such a weird placement of pieces.}) 14... Bxf3 15.
Qxf3 {Exchanging the powerful bishop and avoiding the pin of the f3-knight is
White's indisputable achievement, but...} Ne7 $1 {It turns out, that the
b5-bishop is misplaced.} 16. Bg5 $2 ({Grabbing the pawn -} 16. Qxb7 $1 {
looks scary for a human eye, but it is what Maxime should have played. The
resulting complex lines are spectacular:} Rb8 17. Qf3 c6 $1 18. Bxc6 e4 19.
dxe4 Nxc6 20. exf5 (20. Nxf5 Qf6 $132) 20... Ne5 21. Qe2 Qc7 $132) 16... c6 17.
Bc4+ Nxc4 18. dxc4 e4 {Now Black has a clear advantage due to a better pawn
structure.} 19. Nxe4 {A desperate attempt to complicate matters.} ({After} 19.
Qh5 Qd7 20. Rad1 Qe6 21. Be3 Rae8 $17 {Black would be firmly in control.})
19... fxe4 20. Qxe4 Rf7 $2 {Luckily for Maxime, his opponent doesn't manage to
handle this complex position properly.} ({Possibly, Levon had rejected} 20...
Qd7 $1 {in view of} 21. c5 (21. Bxe7 Rfe8 $19) 21... Bxc5 22. Bxe7 Bxf2+ 23.
Kh2 Bxe1 24. Bxf8 {, but in this line Black still can gain the pawn:} Bxc3 $1
25. Qc4+ Qf7 26. Qxc3 Qc7+ 27. Kh1 Rxf8 $17) 21. Rad1 Qc7 22. Rxd6 Qxd6 23.
Bxe7 Qd2 {It looks like GM Aronian was still in an aggressive mood.} (23... Qf4
{was quieter, liquidating into an equal endgame:} 24. Bc5 Qxe4 25. Rxe4 Rd7 26.
g4 $11) 24. Bc5 h6 ({After} 24... Qxb2 {White can force a draw by means of:}
25. Qe8+ Rf8 26. Qe6+ Rf7 27. Qe8+ $11) 25. Qe2 Rd8 26. Bd4 Qg5 27. Qg4 (27.
Qe6 $5) 27... Re7 28. Rxe7 Qxe7 {The resulting position is equal, but it
contains definite danger for both players.} 29. Qf5 Re8 {Levon is ready to
give up another pawn in order to activate the rook.} (29... Qc7 $11) 30. Qxa5
Qf7 31. Kh2 Qf4+ 32. g3 Qf7 33. Kg2 Re1 (33... Qxc4 {was safer:} 34. Be3 Qe4+
35. Kh2 $11) 34. g4 Rd1 $2 {Alas, this inaccurate move leads to disaster.} (
34... Kh7 35. b4 Ra1 36. Qe5 Rxa4 $11) 35. Qe5 $1 {White's pieces are
dominating over the board now, so the passers should decide the game.} Qg6 36.
b4 b6 {Desperation.} ({The most stubborn was} 36... h5 37. g5 h4 38. a5 Ra1 39.
Qb8+ Kh7 40. Qf4 {, but even then White should be able to convert the material
advantage into a full point.}) 37. Bxb6 c5 38. Bxc5 Qc6+ 39. f3 Rd3 40. Qb8+
Kh7 41. Qf4 1-0

[Event "Candidates Tournament"]
[Site "Berlin"]
[Date "2018.03.22"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Black "Aronian, Levon"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2800"]
[BlackElo "2794"]
[Annotator "Roiz,M"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[EventDate "2018.03.10"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "14"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[EventCategory "22"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 184"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2018.05.16"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2018.05.16"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 {Recently the Italian has been successfully
employed by Kramnik on the highest level. In particular, Carlsen, Anand and
Radjabov were defeated in great style.} Bc5 4. Nc3 {This time Vladimir takes
the game into relatively unexplored territory.} Nf6 5. d3 a6 {This natural
move is only Black's 4th choice according to statisctics. It is always vital
to secure the bishop's retreat.} ({All} 5... d6) (5... O-O) ({and} 5... h6 {
are equally good.}) 6. Nd5 Nxd5 {The centralised knight should be liquidated
sooner or later.} ({Black can also afford to waste another tempo for
prophylaxis:} 6... h6 7. O-O (7. Be3 d6 8. c3 Bxe3 9. fxe3 Nxd5 10. Bxd5 Ne7
11. Bb3 O-O 12. O-O Ng6 $11 {Nikitenko,M - Kovalev,V Minsk 2015}) 7... d6 8. c3
O-O 9. Be3 Bxe3 10. fxe3 Na5 11. Nxf6+ Qxf6 $11 {Fedoseev,V - Mamedyarov,S
Sochi RUS 2017}) 7. Bxd5 {White reasonably prefers not to lock in the
light-squared bishop} (7. exd5 Nd4 8. Nxd4 Bxd4 9. c3 Bc5 10. O-O O-O {is
absolutely fine for Black.}) 7... d6 $146 {This innovation doesn't change the
assessment of position - it's equal.} ({The previously played} 7... O-O {
might lead to sharper play:} 8. Bg5 Be7 9. Be3 (9. h4 d6 10. Qd2 Bg4 $132 {
Benda,H - Kilgus,G Austria 2007}) 9... d6 10. O-O Kh8 11. c3 f5 $132) 8. Be3 {
This move is aimed at opening up the f-file.} (8. c3 Qf6 9. O-O Ba7 10. h3 h6
11. Be3 O-O 12. Bxa7 Rxa7 $11) 8... Bxe3 9. fxe3 O-O 10. O-O Nb8 $1 {Levon
manages to find an excellent plan - the knight is heading to f6, where it
would neutralise White's pressure along the f-file.} ({Less precise was} 10...
Ne7 11. Bb3 Ng6 12. Qe1 Be6 13. Bxe6 fxe6 14. Qg3 $14 {and the Ng6 is
misplaced.}) 11. b4 {Quite a risky decision - now White's pawn structure is
getting somewhat shaky.} ({I guess, Vladimir rejected the most natural} 11. Qe1
{in view of} Nd7 12. a3 (12. Qg3 $6 c6 13. Bb3 Nc5 14. Rf2 a5 $15) 12... Nf6
13. Ba2 Be6 $11 {Now, when Black's knight is comfortably placed on f6, Black
has nothing to worry about.}) 11... Nd7 12. Qd2 (12. Qe1 c6 13. Bb3 a5 14. a3
Nf6 15. Qg3 b5 $11) 12... c6 13. Bb3 a5 $1 14. a3 {Now it is Black to decide
when to open up the a-file.} Nf6 15. h3 h6 16. Rab1 {A slight concession.} b5
$5 {This ambitious move keeps the positiion tense.} (16... Re8 17. Qf2 axb4 18.
axb4 Be6 $11) 17. Qc3 {The idea behing this somewhat awkward move is provoking
17...Qb6, after that the typical sac on f6 would be on the cards.} ({After} 17.
Rf2 Re8 18. Rbf1 axb4 19. axb4 Be6 20. Bxe6 Rxe6 $15 {White's kingside attack
is questionable, whereas Black has taken control over the open a-file.}) ({
Objectively, Vladimir should have simplified matters by means of} 17. a4 bxa4
18. Bxa4 Qc7 19. bxa5 Rxa5 20. Bb3 $11 {but such a decision wouldn't suit his
aggressive mood!}) 17... Bd7 {Levon isn't in a hurry. Indeed, the Qc3 is
misplaced anyway.} ({However, a more energetic move was} 17... Qb6 $1 18. Qe1
Be6 19. Nh4 a4 $1 20. Bxe6 fxe6 $15 {and the failure of White's approach is
obvious.}) 18. Rf2 $6 {Vladimir's brave play in the event made the Candidates
tournament much more attractive. However, this time it could have backfired.} (
{More to the point was} 18. Qe1 axb4 19. axb4 Be6 20. Bxe6 fxe6 21. Ra1 $11 {
maintaining the balance.}) 18... Qb6 19. Re1 {A sad necessity - there is no
better way of protecting the Pe3.} Rfe8 20. Nh4 c5 $6 {After losing few games
in the previous rounds, Levon feels like he has nothing to lose.} ({A safer
way was} 20... a4 $1 21. Ba2 Be6 22. Bxe6 Rxe6 23. Ref1 Kh7 24. Nf5 d5 $15 {
eliminating any danger and claiming superiority in the centre.}) 21. Ref1 $1 {
This move is connected with a pawn sacrifice.} ({Black's king would be safe in
the event of} 21. Rxf6 gxf6 22. Qd2 Kg7 23. Bd5 Ra7 24. Rf1 Qd8 $15 {though
converting the material advantage into a full point isn't an easy task here.})
21... cxb4 22. Qe1 {Now all White's forces are focused on attacking the
opponent's king.} ({Of course, not} 22. axb4 $2 a4 23. Ba2 Qxe3 $19) 22... d5 {
The play is extremely sharp now!} (22... a4 $5 {deserved serious attention} 23.
Rxf6 $1 ({Only not} 23. Ba2 $2 d5 $1 {and now White is in troubles:} 24. axb4 (
24. Rxf6 gxf6 25. Bxd5 bxa3 $19) 24... dxe4 25. c4 Be6 26. c5 Qd8 $17) 23...
axb3 24. Qg3 $1 ({The timid} 24. Rxf7 $2 {runs into} Qd8 $1 25. Qg3 Qg5 26.
Qxg5 hxg5 27. Rxd7 Rf8 $1 28. Rxf8+ Kxf8 29. Ng6+ Kg8 $19 {, and Black will
promote one of his q-side pawns.}) 24... Rf8 25. cxb3 bxa3 26. Rxh6 {and the
game should end in a draw:} a2 27. Ra1 Qc5 28. Rh5 Qc3 29. Rg5 Qxa1+ 30. Kh2
Qe1 31. Rxg7+ Kh8 32. Qg5 Qxh4 33. Qxh4+ Kxg7 34. Qg5+ $11) 23. axb4 dxe4 24.
bxa5 Rxa5 25. Ng6 $5 {Vladimir is continuing to complicate matters.} ({The
immediate} 25. Rxf6 gxf6 26. dxe4 Kf8 {would offer White sufficient
compensation for an exchange, but not more than that.}) 25... Be6 {Levon is
playing with fire!} (25... Ra6 26. Rxf6 gxf6 27. Qg3 {looks extremely scary
for a human eye, though the cool-blooded} Qd6 $1 28. dxe4 Kg7 29. Nh4+ Kf8 $13
{hardly gives White anything special.}) ({Another possible way of handling the
posiution would be} 25... exd3 $5 26. Rxf6 gxf6 27. Qg3 Ra7 $1 28. cxd3 f5 29.
Nxe5+ Kf8 $13) 26. Nxe5 ({It looks like} 26. Rxf6 $1 {would pose Black the
major practical problems:} gxf6 27. Qg3 {Now it would be very difficult for
Levon to find} b4 $1 ({The more natural} 27... exd3 28. Rxf6 d2 {runs into} 29.
Nh4+ Kf8 30. Nf5 d1=Q+ 31. Kh2 Re7 32. Qg7+ Ke8 33. Bxe6 Qxe6 34. Rxe6 Rxe6 35.
Qg8+ Kd7 36. Qxf7+ Kd8 37. Qxe6 $36 {and Black is in serious danger}) 28. Bxe6
Rxe6 29. Nf4+ (29. Nxe5+ Kh7 30. Nc4 Rg5 31. Qxg5 hxg5 32. Nxb6 Rxb6 $11) 29...
Kf8 30. Nxe6+ Qxe6 31. Qh4 Ra6 32. Qxe4 Qd6 $11 {and a draw seems the most
probable result.}) 26... exd3 27. Rxf6 gxf6 28. Rxf6 {The best practical try.}
(28. Qg3+ Kf8 29. Ng6+ Kg7 30. Nf4+ Kh8 31. Nxe6 Rxe6 32. Bxe6 Qxe6 33. cxd3 b4
$11) 28... d2 $1 {This move is aimed at depriving the Qe1 of the g3-spot.} (
28... dxc2 $2 {would yield White a decisive attack:} 29. Bxc2 Kg7 30. Qf2 $18)
29. Qg3+ ({Of course, not} 29. Qxd2 $2 Ra1+ 30. Kf2 Qa5 $1 31. Qxa5 Rxa5 $17)
29... Kf8 30. Rf1 {The d2-passer is very strong now.} Ra7 31. Ng6+ Kg7 32. Nf4+
Kh8 33. Nh5 f6 {After this move White has no risk at all.} ({The situation
would be double-edged in the event of} 33... Bg4 $5 34. Qxg4 Qxe3+ 35. Kh1 Rg8
36. Qh4 Ra6 $132) 34. Nxf6 Rf8 ({There was the equally good} 34... Rd8 35. Bxe6
(35. Qf4 {Or} Bf5 $1 36. Qxf5 d1=Q 37. Qf4 Kg7 38. Qg3+ Kh8 39. Qf4 $11) 35...
d1=Q 36. Qf4 Rh7 37. Nxh7 Qxe6 38. Nf6 Qxf1+ 39. Kxf1 Qc4+ 40. Qxc4 bxc4 $11 {
with a drawish endgame.}) 35. Qf4 Rh7 {The only, but sufficient defence!} 36.
Qe5 Qc7 $4 {Alas, Levon doesn't manage to withstand the time pressure...} ({
After} 36... Rg7 {this spectacular encounter should end in a draw. For
instance,} 37. Bxe6 Rg5 38. Nh5+ Rxe5 39. Rxf8+ Kh7 40. Rf7+ Kh8 (40... Kg6 $2
41. Rg7+ Kxh5 42. Bf7+ Kh4 43. Rg4#) 41. Rf8+ $11) 37. Ne8+ $1 {A very
dramatic end!} (37. Ne8+ Qxe5 38. Rxf8+ Bg8 39. Rxg8#) 1-0

[Event "EU-Cup 33rd"]
[Site "Antalya"]
[Date "2017.10.11"]
[Round "4.3"]
[White "Fedoseev, Vladimir1"]
[Black "Roiz, Michael"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2733"]
[BlackElo "2604"]
[Annotator "Roiz,M"]
[PlyCount "107"]
[EventDate "2017.10.08"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "TUR"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 181"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2017.11.10"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2017.11.10"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Mednyi Vsadnik"]
[BlackTeam "Beer Sheva"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "RUS"]
[BlackTeamCountry "ISR"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. Nc3 (5. O-O {is what Vladimir
successfully played vs GM Negi this year.}) 5... O-O ({The most common
continuation is} 5... d6 6. Na4 Bb6 7. O-O {A recent high-level game saw the
players entering into a sharp position after} Na5 $5 8. Bd5 c6 9. Nxb6 axb6 10.
Bxf7+ Kxf7 11. b4 Rf8 12. bxa5 Rxa5 13. Bd2 Ra6 $132 {Ragger,M - Laznicka,V
Novy Bor CZE 2017}) 6. O-O ({A long time ago, I didn't face any problems after
} 6. Bg5 Be7 7. a4 d6 8. O-O Kh8 9. h3 Be6 10. Re1 a6 11. Rb1 h6 12. Bxf6 Bxf6
$11 {Kogan,A - Roiz,M Helsingor 2008}) 6... h6 7. Na4 {This move was played
rapidly, as was it was still a part of GM Fedoseev's home preparation. However,
I was quite happy to see the opponent's knight moving away from the centre.} ({
During the game, I was mainly focused on} 7. Be3 {, but it looks rather
harmless:} Bxe3 ({But} 7... d6 $5 {might lead to a very unbalanced position:}
8. Bxc5 dxc5 9. Bb5 Nd4 10. Nxe5 Nxb5 11. Nxb5 Qe8 12. Nxc7 Qxe5 13. Nxa8 Ng4
14. g3 Bd7 15. h3 Nf6 16. f4 $132) 8. fxe3 d6 9. a3 (9. Qe1 Na5 $11) 9... Be6
10. Bxe6 fxe6 11. d4 exd4 12. exd4 e5 $11 {Sek,K - Smirnov,P Vladivostok RUS
2015}) 7... Be7 8. a3 {Securing the bishop on the a2-g8 diagonal.} d6 (8... d5
$6 {is premature:} 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Re1 {and the pressure on the Pe5 is rather
unpleasant.}) 9. h3 Be6 {This natural move is a novelty.} ({The previously
played} 9... a6 10. Nc3 Be6 {, Corlatescu,D-Ionescu,C Sovata 2002, seems
logical and can be well met by} 11. Nd5 Qd7 12. Be3 {, and White's position is
somewhat better.}) 10. Bxe6 ({Most probably,} 10. Re1 {would be met by} Nd4 ({
A more complex position might arise after} 10... a6 11. Nc3 Nxe4 12. Rxe4 d5
13. Nxe5 dxe4 14. Nxc6 bxc6 15. Bxe6 fxe6 16. Nxe4 $44 {White has full
compensation for an exchange.}) 11. Nc3 Nxf3+ 12. Qxf3 c6 $11) 10... fxe6 11.
Nc3 (11. c4 {looks more consistent, intending to seize some space on the
queenside. However, exposing the d4-spot isn't to everyone's taste. The play
might continue:} Nh5 ({Another possibility is} 11... Nd4 12. Nxd4 exd4 13. f4
e5 $132) 12. Nc3 Qe8 13. Be3 Qg6 $132 {, and Black's counterplay on the k-side
shouldn't be underestimated.}) 11... Qe8 {The queen is moving towards g6-spot
and supporting the potential transfer of the knight to f4} ({I didn't fully
trust the committal} 11... d5 $5 {, but it is deserving of serious attention
too:} 12. Re1 Bd6 13. b4 a6 $132) 12. d4 {This ambitious advance is the most
natural way of handling the position.} (12. Ne2 Nh5 13. c3 Qg6 14. Kh2 d5 $132
{offers Black lots of activity on the kingside.}) 12... Nxd4 13. Nxd4 exd4 14.
Qxd4 Qc6 ({Strangely enough, I didn't even consider the other natural option:} 
14... Qf7 $5 15. f4 (15. e5 Nd5 16. exd6 Bf6 17. Qd3 Nxc3 18. bxc3 cxd6 $11)
15... c5 16. Qd3 d5 17. e5 Nd7 $132) 15. e5 {This was almost forced.} ({
In the event of} 15. Be3 Nd7 16. Qd2 Bf6 17. Bd4 Ne5 18. b3 Ng6 {Black's
position looks more flexible.}) 15... dxe5 {Black's active piece play fully
compensates for some structural drawbacks,} ({but there was no reason for
rejecting} 15... Nd5 16. Nxd5 ({After} 16. Qg4 $6 Nxc3 17. Qxe6+ (17. Bxh6 Ne2+
18. Kh1 Rf7 $17) 17... Kh7 18. bxc3 Rae8 $36 {White's position is almost
ruined.}) 16... Qxd5 17. Qg4 Qxe5 18. Bxh6 Bf6 19. c3 Qf5 $11) 16. Qxe5 Nd5 (
16... Rae8 $5 17. Qb5 Qxb5 18. Nxb5 Nd5 19. c4 a6 20. cxd5 axb5 21. dxe6 Bc5
$11) 17. Nxd5 Qxd5 18. Qe2 {At this moment I was experiencing some time
problems, so keeping the queens on the board seems a correct decision.} (18.
Qxc7 {is harmless:} Bd6 19. Qc3 Rac8 20. Qb3 Qxb3 21. cxb3 Rc2 22. Be3 Rxb2 23.
Rfd1 Bf4 24. Bxa7 Rxb3 $11) 18... Bc5 {The pressure on the Pf2 isn't that
effective.} ({A simpler way of equalising was} 18... Rad8 19. Be3 Qe5 $1 20. c3
Bd6 21. g3 Bc5 $11 22. Qb5 $140 $4 Rxf2 $1 23. Bxf2 Bxf2+ 24. Rxf2 Qxb5 $19)
19. c3 $5 {This tricky move doesn't pose Black any serious problems, but it
was really unexpected.} (19. Bd2 Rf5 20. Rad1 Raf8 21. Bb4 Qe5 22. Qxe5 Rxe5
23. Rd7 Rf7 $11) 19... Rf6 ({I fully missed that after} 19... Rad8 20. b4 Bb6
21. c4 {the bishop is not gone:} Bxf2+ $1 22. Rxf2 Qd4 23. Qxe6+ (23. Rb1 $2
Qxf2+ 24. Qxf2 Rd1+ $19) 23... Kh8 24. Raa2 Qd1+ 25. Kh2 Qxc1 $11) 20. b4 ({
Once again, Vladimir is deviating from the major simplifications:} 20. Be3 Qe4
21. Rae1 Bxe3 22. Qxe3 Qxe3 23. Rxe3 Rd8 $11) 20... Bd6 ({Funnily} 20... Rg6
21. g4 {only leaves the Rg6 misplaced , though after} Bd6 22. c4 Qe5 23. Qxe5
Bxe5 24. Ra2 Bd4 25. Kg2 e5 $11 {the problem would be solved.}) 21. Rd1 Qe5 {
Liquidating into a very safe endgame.} (21... Qf5 $5 {was also good enough:}
22. c4 b6 23. Bb2 Rg6 24. Qd3 a5 $11) 22. Qxe5 Bxe5 23. Bb2 Rf7 $1 {Keeping
the bishop on the long diagonal is worth a pawn!} ({The passive strategy would
invite some troubles:} 23... Re8 $6 24. Re1 Bd6 25. c4 Rf7 26. c5 Bf8 27. Rad1
$14) 24. Re1 (24. Rd3 Bf6 25. Rad1 c5 {is absolutely fine for Black.}) 24...
Bf6 25. Rxe6 Rd8 26. Re2 Rfd7 27. c4 ({Nothing is achieved by} 27. Rae1 Rd2 28.
Kf1 Rxb2 29. Rxb2 Bxc3 $11) 27... Rd1+ 28. Rxd1 Rxd1+ 29. Kh2 Bxb2 30. Rxb2 b6
$11 {The activity of Black's rook fully compensates for a pawn.} 31. b5 (31. c5
Rd3 32. a4 Ra3 $11) 31... Rd3 32. Re2 (32. a4 Rc3 33. Rb4 Kf7 34. a5 Ke6 35.
axb6 axb6 36. Ra4 g5 {is absolutely safe for Black.}) 32... Rxa3 $6 {This
mistake allows White to keep the extra pawn.} ({The correct way was} 32... Kf7
33. Re3 Rd2 34. Kg3 Rc2 $11) 33. Re8+ Kh7 34. Rc8 $6 {This natural move is
actually a blunder.} ({Vladimir had to play} 34. Re7) 34... a6 $6 {Returning
the favour!} ({After} 34... c5 $1 35. bxc6 Rc3 $11 {the game would end in a
draw at once.}) 35. bxa6 Rxa6 36. Rxc7 Ra3 $1 {Luckily, this strong move
enables me to swap the last queenside pawns.} 37. f3 (37. f4 {wouldn't change
anything:} Rb3 38. f5 Kg8 39. g4 b5 40. c5 Rc3 41. h4 b4 42. g5 hxg5 43. hxg5
b3 44. g6 Kf8 $11) 37... Rb3 38. Kg3 Rb4 ({Of course, not} 38... b5 $2 39. c5
b4 40. Kf4 Rc3 41. Ke4 b3 42. Kd5 $18) 39. f4 b5 40. c5 Rc4 41. f5 Kg8 {
The remaaining few moves had little chess value.} 42. Kf3 b4 43. g4 b3 44. Rb7
Rxc5 45. Rxb3 Kf7 46. Rb7+ Kf6 47. Rb6+ Kf7 48. Kf4 Rc3 49. h4 Rc4+ 50. Kf3
Rc3+ 51. Ke2 Rc4 52. g5 hxg5 53. hxg5 Rc5 54. Rb7+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "Leon 31st"]
[Site "Leon"]
[Date "2018.07.07"]
[Round "1.4"]
[White "Praggnanandhaa, Rameshbabu"]
[Black "So, Wesley"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2529"]
[BlackElo "2780"]
[Annotator "Sagar Shah"]
[PlyCount "116"]
[EventDate "2018.07.06"]
[EventType "k.o."]
[EventRounds "2"]
[EventCountry "ESP"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 185"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2018.07.13"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2018.07.13"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{The final rapid game of the four-game match between Wesley So and
Praggnanandhaa. The score was tied at 1.5-1.5. A draw would mean that the
match would be taken to the blitz format. But Wesley was determined to end the
match in this game itself.} 1. e4 e5 {Much more solid than the Sicilian tried
in game two!} 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 O-O 6. a4 h6 7. h3 d6 8.
c3 a5 9. Re1 Be6 10. Bxe6 fxe6 {I somehow like this structure for Black. He
has a very natural plan with Nh5-f4. The rook has a half open file and there
are more chances to launch an attack. However, it doesn't mean that White is
worse, he should be completely fine.} 11. Be3 (11. Qb3 Qe7 12. Qxb7 Rab8 13.
Qa6 (13. Qxc6 Rb6 $17) 13... Nh5 $40) (11. d4 Bb6 12. dxe5 (12. Na3 $14) 12...
Nxe5 13. Nxe5 dxe5 $11 {Black is completely fine here.}) 11... Bxe3 12. Rxe3
Qe8 13. Nbd2 Nh5 14. g3 {This does look weakening, but Black has no real way
to exploit it.} Qf7 15. Qe2 Rad8 {This move really puzzled me. Why did Wesley
place his rook on d8. If he was looking to play the move d5, wouldn't the rook
be better placed on e8? I am not so sure, but I think Wesley just wanted to
confuse Pragg.} 16. Nh4 d5 17. Rf1 (17. Rf3 Nf6 $11) 17... Nf6 18. Qd1 d4 19.
cxd4 exd4 (19... Nxd4 20. Nhf3 $11) 20. Ree1 g5 $1 21. Ng2 Qh5 22. Qxh5 Nxh5 {
Now this position should be around equal. But the way Wesley outplayed Pragg
is worth learning from.} 23. Nc4 (23. Rc1 Rd7 24. Rc5 Nb4 $132) 23... Nf6 24.
Rc1 Nd7 25. Na3 $6 (25. f4 $13) 25... Nde5 $1 26. Rfd1 Rd7 27. Nc4 (27. f4 gxf4
28. gxf4 Ng6 $15) 27... Nf3+ 28. Kf1 Rdf7 29. Rc2 Kg7 {From an equal unclear
position, Wesley has been able to turn it around in just five moves and has a
clearly better position.} 30. Ne1 Nfe5 31. Nxe5 Nxe5 32. Rdc1 c5 $1 33. Ra1 b6
{This is the ideal setup for Black. His pawns cannot be attacked on the
queenside and now he goes quietly about attacking White's kingside pawns.} 34.
Kg1 h5 35. Kg2 Kf6 36. Ra3 Ke7 37. Rb3 Nd7 38. Re2 Kd6 39. Nc2 Kc6 {The king
defends the b6 pawn and the knight can return back to e5.} 40. Na3 Ne5 41. Nc4
{White is a tempo too slow for getting his knight on c4. Now it can be taken
and the d4 pawn becomes a protected passed pawn.} Nxc4 42. dxc4 g4 43. hxg4
hxg4 44. Rd3 Rh8 45. Rd1 Rfh7 46. Rg1 Rh2+ 47. Kf1 Rf8 48. e5 (48. f4 $1 {
was the final chance for Pragg.} Rh5 {Black remains better, but at least White
has done away with one of his weaknesses on f2.}) 48... Rf3 49. Rg2 Rh1+ 50.
Rg1 Rxg1+ 51. Kxg1 Rb3 52. Kg2 Rb4 53. f3 Rxc4 54. fxg4 d3 55. Rf2 Rc2 56. Kf3
d2 57. Rxd2 Rxd2 58. g5 Kd5 {A very nice positional game by Wesley where he
showed that strategically he was the superior player.} 0-1

[Event "Sochi-B"]
[Site "Sochi"]
[Date "1989.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Kallai, Gabor"]
[Black "Ivanov, Jordan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2405"]
[BlackElo "2300"]
[Annotator "Schussler,H"]
[PlyCount "20"]
[EventDate "1989.10.??"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "URS"]
[EventCategory "7"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 016"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1990.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "1990.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bc4 Bb4 (4... Nxe4 5. Nxe4 $1 d5 6. Bd3 dxe4
7. Bxe4 Bd6 $10) 5. O-O O-O 6. d3 Bxc3 7. bxc3 Qe7 8. Bg5 h6 9. Bxf6 Qxf6 10.
h3 d6 1/2-1/2

[Event "Voskresensk"]
[Site "Voskresensk"]
[Date "1990.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Kholmov, Ratmir D"]
[Black "Zeitlein, Michael"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2485"]
[BlackElo "2465"]
[Annotator "Schussler,H"]
[PlyCount "75"]
[EventDate "1990.07.??"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "URS"]
[EventCategory "9"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 019"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1990.12.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "1990.12.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8.
Nd5 Qd8 9. c3 a6 10. d4 Ba7 11. dxe5 dxe5 12. Qe2 Bc5 13. O-O-O Bd6 14. Rd2 O-O
(14... b5 15. Bb3 Na5 16. Nb6 $1 Nxb3+ 17. axb3 Rb8 18. Nxc8 Qxc8 $14 {
Kotronias-Arnason, Reykjavik 1988.}) 15. Rhd1 Qe8 16. Nh4 b5 17. Bb3 Na5 18.
Nb6 Nxb3+ 19. axb3 cxb6 20. Rxd6 Qe7 21. Qh5 Be6 22. Nf5 Bxf5 23. Qxf5 Rad8 24.
Rd7 Rxd7 25. Rxd7 Qh4 26. h3 g6 27. Qf3 a5 28. Kb1 a4 29. b4 Qg5 30. g3 f5 31.
Qd3 fxe4 32. Qxb5 a3 33. Qd5+ Kh8 34. Qxe4 axb2 35. f4 exf4 36. Qd4+ Qf6 37.
gxf4 Kg8 38. Kxb2 {Sure Black is lost, but even so he could have played some
more moves.} 1-0

[Event "EU-chT (Men) 09th"]
[Site "Haifa"]
[Date "1989.??.??"]
[Round "7.2"]
[White "Inkiov, Ventzislav"]
[Black "Schussler, Harry"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2475"]
[BlackElo "2540"]
[Annotator "Schussler,H"]
[PlyCount "57"]
[EventDate "1989.11.23"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "ISR"]
[SourceTitle "EU-chT"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1999.07.01"]
[SourceVersion "2"]
[SourceVersionDate "1999.07.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Bulgaria"]
[BlackTeam "Sweden"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "BUL"]
[BlackTeamCountry "SWE"]

1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d3 Nc6 4. Nf3 Bc5 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8.
Nd5 Qd8 9. c3 d6 10. d4 Ba7 (10... exd4 11. cxd4 Ba7 12. h3 O-O 13. O-O Be6 14.
Rc1 $14) 11. dxe5 dxe5 12. Qe2 Bg4 (12... Bc5 $5 13. Rd1 Bd6 14. O-O O-O 15.
Ne3 {/\ Bd5, Nc4+/=}) 13. Rd1 Qb8 (13... Qc8 $142) 14. b4 (14. Nb4 $6 O-O (
14... Nxb4 $2 15. Bxf7+ $1) 15. Nxc6 bxc6 16. Rd2 Bc5 17. O-O Bxf3 18. Qxf3 Bd6
$10) 14... O-O 15. h3 Be6 (15... Bxf3 16. Qxf3 $16) 16. O-O Re8 17. Nh4 b5 18.
Bb3 Ne7 (18... a5 19. a3 axb4 20. axb4 Bb6 21. Nf5 Bxf5 22. exf5 Ra3 $16) 19.
Nf6+ gxf6 20. Bxe6 fxe6 21. Qg4+ Kh8 (21... Kh7 22. Rd7 $18) (21... Kf7 22.
Qh5+ Kg7 23. Rd3 $18) (21... Kf8 22. Qh5 Rd8 (22... Ng8 23. Rd7 Re7 24. Ng6+
Ke8 25. Nxe5+ $18) 23. Qxh6+ Kf7 24. Qh7+ Kf8 25. Ng6+ Nxg6 26. Qxg6 Rd6 (26...
Rxd1 27. Qxf6+ Kg8 28. Qxe6+ Kf8 29. Rxd1 $18) 27. Qxf6+ Kg8 28. Rxd6 cxd6 29.
Qxe6+ Kf8 30. Rd1 $18) 22. Rd7 Rg8 (22... Qc8 23. Rxe7 Rxe7 24. Ng6+ Kh7 25.
Nxe7 Qf8 26. Qxe6 $18) 23. Qxe6 Qf8 24. Rxe7 Rd8 25. Nf5 Rg6 26. Rxc7 Bb8 27.
Rf7 Qe8 (27... Qg8 28. Nh4) 28. Qxe8+ Rxe8 29. Rd1 1-0

[Event "Brno Morava-B"]
[Site "Brno"]
[Date "1991.??.??"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Gipslis, Aivars P"]
[Black "Blatny, Pavel"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2475"]
[BlackElo "2480"]
[Annotator "Schussler,H"]
[PlyCount "106"]
[EventDate "1991.09.??"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "CZE"]
[EventCategory "10"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 026"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1992.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "1992.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 h6 $6 4. O-O {4.d4!} d6 5. c3 {5.d4.} Qf6 {5. - Qe7
would transpose to Campomanes` favourite line 1.e4 e5 2.Qf3 Qe7.} 6. d4 Nge7 7.
Be3 g5 8. Nbd2 Ng6 9. Bb5 $5 $14 Bd7 10. d5 Nb8 11. Bxd7+ Nxd7 12. Qb3 b6 13.
a4 Be7 14. Qb5 Bd8 15. a5 Rb8 16. axb6 axb6 17. Ra7 Qe7 18. Ne1 O-O 19. Nc2 Qe8
20. Nb4 Ne7 21. Nc4 Nf6 22. Qxe8 Rxe8 23. f3 $16 g4 24. Rfa1 Kh7 25. Kf1 Rg8
26. Na3 gxf3 27. gxf3 Ne8 28. Nb5 f5 29. Nd3 fxe4 30. fxe4 Nf6 31. Nf2 Rg7 32.
Ke2 Ng6 33. b4 Nh5 34. Ra8 Ngf4+ 35. Kd2 Rxa8 36. Rxa8 Bh4 37. Nd1 Rg2+ 38. Kc1
Nf6 39. Rc8 Nxe4 40. Rxc7+ Kg6 41. Rc6 Be7 42. c4 Nd3+ 43. Kb1 Nxb4 44. Rxb6
Rxh2 45. Ndc3 Nxc3+ 46. Nxc3 Rh3 47. Nd1 Rh1 48. Kc1 Nd3+ 49. Kc2 Kf5 50. Kxd3
Rxd1+ 51. Ke2 Rh1 52. c5 Rh2+ 53. Kf1 dxc5 1/2-1/2

[Event "London Classic 9th"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2017.12.11"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "So, Wesley"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2782"]
[BlackElo "2788"]
[Annotator "So,Wesley"]
[PlyCount "66"]
[EventDate "2017.12.01"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[EventCategory "22"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 182"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2018.01.17"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2018.01.17"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{London was cold, snowy, sleety, rainy and windy. Although I fought hard in my
games I couldn't seem to create much heat. What to do? People seem to think
that strong players can and should win whenever they want. My guess is the
people who think that have never played the best chess players in the world in
a lengthy tournament. Everyone fights to the death and more often than not, a
win or loss can hang on one single move. Anyway, I had some great battles that
did not end decisively and now I was at the last game. My last chance and I'm
playing black against the great Anand. Hope dies hard and of course I had a
flickering hope that I might crack a win this time but hey ... I'm sure Vishy
did too.} 1. e4 (1. c4 {was a strong possibility too. From time to time Vishy
plays this, with good results.}) 1... e5 {I considered other options in move 1,
like Caro or French but since I'd prepared 1...e5 mostly for this tournament,
I decided to stick with it.} 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 {I was happy to see this move.
I'd prepared mostly for 3.Bb5, but before this tournament I'd prepared a DVD
for ChessBase in the Italian Game. In looking at the material for the work and
familiarizing myself with the typical ideas, plans, and setups, I also noticed
that it's not easy for White to claim a clear cut advantage when Black knows
what to do.} Bc5 4. O-O {The slow classical setup. For the time being, White
just wants to castle and develop his pieces.} ({Earlier this year Peter
Svidler tried the older variation against me, but in that game I equalized
well:} 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. e5 d5 7. Bb5 Ne4 8. cxd4 Bb6 9. Nc3 O-O 10. Be3
Bg4 11. h3 Bh5 12. Qc2 Bg6 13. Qb3 Ne7 14. O-O c6 15. Bd3 Nf5 16. Rae1 Nxd4 17.
Bxd4 Bxd4 18. Nxe4 dxe4 19. Bxe4 Bxe4 20. Rxe4 Bb6 21. e6 Qe7 22. exf7+ Qxf7
23. Re6 Kh8 $11 {1/2-1/2 (29) Svidler,P (2749)-So,W (2810) Saint Louis 2017})
4... Nf6 5. d3 O-O {Here Black already has a flexible choice, with ...a6,...a5,
...d6, or ...h6 all playable alternatives. I like 5...0-0, as I keep the
option of going d7-d5 in one move and I am not necessarily afraid of the pin
Bg5.} 6. a4 ({Just the previous day, I'd been very impressed by Vishy's game:} 
6. c3 d5 7. exd5 Nxd5 8. a4 (8. Re1 Bg4) 8... a6 {Both 8...a5 and 8...Nb6
looks good too.} 9. Re1 Bg4 10. h3 Bh5 11. Nbd2 f6 12. Ne4 Ba7 13. b4 Kh8 14.
Bd2 Nce7 15. b5 axb5 16. axb5 c6 $11 {with no problems. Black's play here
looks so convincing that in fact if Vishy went for this I wouldn't have minded
playing the exact same line starting with 8...a6 against him!} 17. Ng3 Be8 18.
Bxd5 cxd5 19. c4 Bc5 20. Rxa8 Qxa8 21. d4 exd4 22. Nxd4 Bxd4 23. Rxe7 Bc5 24.
Rc7 Bb6 25. Re7 Bc5 26. Rc7 Bb6 27. Re7 {1/2-1/2 (27) Vachier Lagrave,M (2789)
-Anand,V (2782) London 2017}) ({With both our kings castled short} 6. Bg5 {
does not look dangerous, after} h6 7. Bh4 {Black can just go} g5 8. Bg3 d6 9.
c3 {And here there are many possibilities, but I like} a6 {to reserve a safe
square for my bishop.}) (6. h3 {is possible too. Black can play} d5 7. exd5
Nxd5 {but it's not the best timing, as d3 is solidly protected. So I would
prefer 6...d6.} 8. Nbd2 $14) (6. Re1 Ng4 7. Re2 {gives Black the extra option
of} Nd4 $5 ({Or perhaps even better is} 7... Kh8 8. h3 f5 $1 {1-0 (57) So,W 
(2770)-Giri,A (2785) Bilbao 2016}) 8. Nxd4 Bxd4 9. h3 Nf6 {with
simplifications.}) (6. Nbd2 {is okay too, but it blocks the bishop from
developing. Black can play} d6 7. c3 a5 8. Re1 Be6) (6. Nc3 {is not scary,
Black plays} h6 {to prevent Bg5 then} 7. Nd5 d6 $11) 6... h6 {A slight
move-order subtlety.} (6... a5 {is natural, but I assume he would go} 7. Bg5 {
which gives White extra possibilities, as now the b5 square is weak. Levon
played 3 games in 2017 with} h6 8. Bh4 Be7 {but I'm not particularly convinced
and I haven't analysed it deeply enough either.}) ({If} 6... d6 7. c3 {
threatens to trap my bishop, so} a5 8. Bg5 {and again the b5 square is weak,
but the position does not look clear at all to me.} h6 9. Bh4 g5 10. Bg3 {
I have no idea what is going on here. The difference with the pawn on a5 is
that after} Ba7 11. Na3 {White always has the option to gain time by jumping
on b5, while if I leave my bishop on c5 then its vulnerable to d3-d4.}) (6...
a6 {is another very serious possibility, but for this game I wanted to put my
pawn on a5.}) 7. c3 (7. a5 {is worthy of interest. White threatens a5-a6 so} a6
8. c3 d6 {gives a slightly different pawn structure.}) 7... a5 {I like this ...
a5 setup. Black fights for every bit of space in the queenside and controls
the dark squares very well.} 8. Nbd2 (8. d4 {gives Black many possble options:}
exd4 (8... Bb6 9. dxe5 Nxe4) 9. cxd4 Bb6 10. e5 d5 ({Or} 10... Ne8 11. Nc3 d6 {
seems to hold out well.})) 8... d6 9. h3 Be6 {Trading pieces is welcome for
Black. Other options I considered were:} (9... Re8 {with the idea of Be6 while
avoiding the doubled-pawns.} 10. Re1 Be6 11. Bb5 {is the downside, as our
knight is pinned. Black can play 11...Nd7 or 11...Bd7 with some theory
involved.}) ({Or} 9... Ne7) 10. Re1 (10. Bxe6 fxe6 {looks a little worrying to
me because of the doubled-pawns. But Black controls enough space and should be
able to fight sucessfuly.} 11. Re1 d5 ({Or} 11... Qe8 12. Nf1 Nh5)) 10... Bxc4
11. Nxc4 Re8 12. Be3 {With g5 under my control he does not have really
anything better than to exchange dark-squared bishops.} Bxe3 13. Nxe3 Qd7 ({
The freeing break} 13... d5 {does not work yet} 14. Qb3 $1 dxe4 (14... d4 15.
cxd4 exd4 16. Nf5 $14) 15. dxe4 Nxe4 16. Qxb7 Re6 (16... Qd7 17. Rad1 Nd6 18.
Nc4 $16) 17. Rad1) ({But I considered} 13... Ne7 {which is fine.}) 14. Qb3 Ne7
{I was starting to get worried over my c4-b5 light squares though closer
analysis shows White is not fast enough to exploit it. Then I decided to
transfer my knight to a better square.} ({Funnily enough} 14... Nd8 {is a
serious alternative here, given by the computer. I did not seriously consider
it during the game, but I can't find any way for White to do anything. Once my
knight gets to e6 then to f4, or c5 I consolidate.} 15. Nc4 (15. Nd5 Nxd5 16.
exd5 f5) 15... Ne6 16. d4 exd4 17. cxd4 Nf4 18. e5 N6d5 $11) 15. Nc4 Ng6 16.
Rad1 {I thought this was too slow, but the position is so sterile anyway.} ({
I told Vishy after the game that I thought} 16. Re3 {might be a bit better for
White, as he is faster on the e-file.} b6 17. Rae1 Nh5 $1 18. Kh2 (18. d4 Nhf4)
18... Nhf4 {but the computer disagrees with me anyway and it turns out that he
has problems with my knight on f4.}) (16. d4 exd4 17. Nxd4 b6 $11) (16. Qb5 {
does not lead anywhere as ...b6 is sufficient, or} c6 17. Qb3 Qc7) 16... b6 17.
Qc2 {Again this looks slow. I thought his queen was just fine where it was but
it might be needed to protect the kingside from Nf4 sometimes.} (17. d4 exd4
18. Rxd4 Re6 {gives White problems along the e-file.}) (17. Qb5 Nf4 $11) 17...
d5 {I could play other moves, such as Qc6 or Nh5 but generally if d6-d5 works
I should just go for it.} 18. exd5 ({Slightly more precise is} 18. d4 {using
the fact that my queen is vulnerable. After} exd4 19. Rxd4 Qc6 20. exd5 Rxe1+
21. Nxe1 Nxd5 22. Qe4 Nde7 $11 {it is completely equal.}) 18... Qxd5 19. b3 {
I was a little surprised with this as now its clear that I have no problems
whatsoever.} ({I expected} 19. Ne3 Qc6 (19... Qb7 20. Nc4 {draw.}) 20. d4 $11)
19... Rad8 {Centralizing the rooks.} 20. d4 exd4 21. Rxd4 Rxe1+ 22. Nxe1 Qa8
23. Rxd8+ Qxd8 {By now I realize that Vishy is probably happy to force the
draw.} 24. Qd3 $6 {This is not the best way though as the queen can be kicked
by my knights with Nf4, Nd5 etc.} (24. Nd3 Nd5 {might be a bit uncomfortable
for White.}) (24. Qd2 Qxd2 25. Nxd2 Nf4) ({I thought} 24. b4 {is the simplest,
to trade pawns and weaken my queenside.}) 24... Qe7 $1 {It is wise for Black
to keep queens for now.} ({I calculated this long line:} 24... Qxd3 25. Nxd3
Nd5 26. b4 Ngf4 (26... Nxc3 27. bxa5 bxa5 28. Nc5) 27. bxa5 bxa5 28. Nc5 Ne6
29. Ne4 (29. Nxe6 fxe6 30. Nxa5 Nxc3 {leaves me a pawn up.}) 29... f5 30. Ng3
g6 31. Ne2 Nef4 32. Nxf4 Nxf4 {But then it turns out I am not even winning a
pawn:} 33. Ne5 $1 Ne2+ (33... Kg7 34. c4) 34. Kf1 Nxc3 35. Nxg6 Nxa4 36. Ne7+
Kf7 37. Nc6 $11) 25. Nc2 Nf4 26. Qd2 N6d5 27. Kf1 (27. Kh2 Qe2 28. g3 Qxd2 29.
Nxd2 Ne6 30. c4 Nb4 31. Nxb4 axb4 $15) 27... Nxc3 28. N4e3 $2 {The losing
mistake. He still had a lot of time here. Obviously on a good day he would
have surely spotted 28.Nxb6, but in London, Vishy and Michael Adams were a bit
out of form.} (28. Nxb6 $1 {might be enough for a draw.} cxb6 (28... Qg5 29.
Ne1) 29. Qxc3 Qe2+ 30. Kg1 Qd1+ 31. Kh2 Ne2 32. Qc8+ {The point of the knight
sacrifice.} Kh7 33. Qf5+ $11) 28... Ne4 29. Qd4 c5 30. Qd1 Qf6 {Being quite
low on time, I chose a logical looking move.} ({Black wins right away after} 
30... Qh4 $1 31. Ng4 Nxh3 $1 (31... f5 32. Qd7 Qh5 {wins too, albeit a more
complicated one.}) 32. gxh3 (32. g3 Qg5) 32... Qxh3+ 33. Kg1 Nc3 34. Qd8+ Kh7 {
and White's king has no defense. I spotted 31...Nxh3! but I just couldn't
believe that it wins on the spot! Maybe I need to have more belief in myself.}
35. Nh2 Ne2+ 36. Kh1 Qf5 $19) 31. Ng4 ({Resistance could've been much tougher
with} 31. Qd7 {threatening Qe8 check.} Kh7 32. f3 Ng3+ 33. Kf2 Qh4 34. Qg4 $17)
(31. f3 Ng3+ 32. Kf2 Qh4 {is a bit different as White has no Qg4.}) 31... Qc3
32. Nce3 h5 33. Nh2 Qb2 {Here Vishy had to resign, as he will inevitably lose
a second pawn. An unexpected win for me! It's quite difficult to win with the
Black pieces against players of this caliber. You need to be in really good
form, or your opponent in really bad form. As I missed chances against
Nepomniatchi and Aronian earlier in the tournament, this win was received with
a big sigh of relief!} 0-1

[Event "Gashimov Memorial 5th"]
[Site "Shamkir"]
[Date "2018.04.28"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Black "Topalov, Veselin"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2778"]
[BlackElo "2749"]
[Annotator "Szabo,Kr"]
[PlyCount "97"]
[EventDate "2018.04.19"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[EventCategory "21"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 184"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2018.05.16"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2018.05.16"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Na4 {White immediately
gains the dark-squared bishop.} Bb6 7. a3 {A typical move in this structure.
White frees the a2-square for his bishop.} (7. Nxb6 {is the most common
continuation.}) 7... O-O (7... h6 {was played by Mamedyarov in a blitz game,}
8. h3 O-O 9. O-O Be6 10. Re1 Bxc4 11. dxc4 Nd4 12. Nh4 Nd7 13. g3 Qf6 14. Nxb6
Nxb6 $11 {Artemiev-Mamedyarov, Huai'an blitz 2017, with a balanced middlegame.}
) 8. O-O Ne7 {A natural idea. Black goes to g6 with his knight, from where the
knight is more active.} (8... Be6) ({and} 8... h6 {are the other logical
options.}) 9. Nxb6 axb6 10. Bg5 $1 {The best reply, because the pin can be
unpleasant for Black.} Be6 ({In the event of} 10... Ng6 11. Nh4 $1 $14 {
and White prevents ...h6, moreover he frees the f3-square for his queen.}) 11.
Bxf6 gxf6 12. Nh4 {White opens the black king's position a bit. With the last
move he prepares for Qh5.} d5 (12... f5 $6 {could have been met by} 13. exf5
Nxf5 14. Nxf5 Bxf5 15. f4 $14 {and White has a promising position.}) ({Probably
} 12... Ng6 $5 {was still the most accurate, for example:} 13. Qh5 Kh8 14. Bxe6
Nf4 15. Qh6 fxe6 16. g3 Rg8 17. Kh1 Ng6 {and Black tries to hold his position.}
) 13. exd5 Nxd5 14. d4 {White tries to open the centre, but this is not the
most precise now.} (14. Qf3) ({or} 14. Bxd5 Qxd5 (14... Bxd5 15. f4 $36) 15.
Qh5 Qd4 16. Qh6 Ra4 17. g3 $36 {gives some initiative for White.}) 14... c6 $2
{Error in reply!} ({The smart} 14... Nc3 $1 {was the correct reaction,} 15.
bxc3 (15. Qd3 $2 Qxd4) 15... Bxc4 16. Nf5 Kh8 17. Re1 Be6 {and Black doesn't
have a real problem.}) 15. Re1 $1 {The best move, White continues the pressure
on e5.} b5 16. Bxd5 cxd5 $6 (16... Qxd5 {was more accurate, but} 17. dxe5 fxe5
18. Qxd5 Bxd5 19. Rxe5 b4 20. Nf5 $14 {and White is a pawn up.}) 17. Qh5 e4 18.
f3 $1 {White opens the position again, because the black king can be weak and
the e1-rook can come to the play.} b4 $1 {Still the best practical chance to
create counterplay.} ({After} 18... exf3 $6 19. Qxf3 $16 {and Black's pawn
structure is very bad.}) 19. fxe4 dxe4 20. Rxe4 Ra5 21. Qh6 Qd5 22. Rf4 bxa3
23. bxa3 Qg5 24. Qxf6 ({The careless} 24. Rxf6 $2 {could have been met by} Qxh6
25. Rxh6 Kg7 $17 {and suddenly the rook is trapped on h6.}) 24... Qxf6 25. Rxf6
Rc8 26. Rf2 {White is two pawns up, but Black can win back the a3-pawn. If
White consolidates his position, comes back with the N and activates his king,
he should be winning.} b5 27. Rd2 b4 28. a4 Bd7 ({In the event of} 28... Rca8
29. Rb1 Rxa4 30. d5 Bd7 31. Nf3 $16 {followed by Kf2 and White is clearly
better.}) 29. Kf2 Rxa4 30. Rb1 Rc4 31. Rb2 ({The immediate} 31. Nf3 {was also
fine.}) 31... Kf8 32. g3 (32. Nf3 {was also good, but White doesn't have to
hurry with anything.}) 32... Bh3 33. Nf3 f6 34. Ke3 (34. Ne1 {is similar to
the text move, First he activates his king.}) 34... Bg4 (34... Ra3+ $1 {
was tougher, as} 35. Kf4 Bd7 36. Ne1 Bc6 {and it is not so easy for White to
activate the knight.}) 35. Ne1 $1 {White starts to improve his knight.} Ke7 36.
Ng2 (36. Nd3 {was also fine.}) 36... Bh3 37. Nf4 Be6 {Black can't do anything,
just wait.} 38. d5 Bf5 39. d6+ Kd8 (39... Kd7 40. Nd5 $18 {is also hopeless
for Black.}) 40. Nd5 Ra3+ 41. Kf2 Be4 42. Nb6 $1 {Black can't save the b4-pawn.
} Rc5 43. Rxb4 Rh5 44. Ke1 (44. Rxe4 $4 {was Black's last trap, because of}
Rxh2+ 45. Ke1 Ra1+ 46. Rd1 Rh1+ $17 {and suddenly Black will be an exchange up.
}) 44... Bc6 (44... Ra1+ 45. Rd1 $18) 45. Re2 Ra6 46. c4 Ra1+ 47. Kd2 Rf5 48.
Re7 Ra2+ 49. Kc3 {A great victory by Karjakin!} 1-0

[Event "Wien International-02 25years WienerSK"]
[Site "Vienna"]
[Date "1882.06.13"]
[Round "27"]
[White "Mason, James"]
[Black "Winawer, Szymon"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C50"]
[Annotator "Tartakower/du Mont"]
[PlyCount "111"]
[EventDate "1882.05.10"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "34"]
[EventCountry "AUT"]
[SourceTitle "EXT 2018"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2017.10.13"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2017.10.13"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 9,111,0,8,4,26,-9,0,-23,-9,2,17,-10,-10,-16,12,0,-8,-45,-36,-42,-25,-35,
-6,-12,-4,-13,10,-7,-7,-7,-7,-7,-7,-5,16,14,47,52,73,60,112,111,111,112,124,72,
136,113,133,142,116,101,147,130,174,136,183,125,169,162,171,159,168,170,304,
198,191,116,131,156,432,397,2005,2069,1713,1818,2422,2025,2173,2142,1986,1884,
1844,1393,1393,1134,1287,1287,1272,1255,1206,1152,1264,1255,1393,1277,1206,
1201,29984,29980,29988,29989,29989,29990] C50: Hungarian Defence and Giuoco
Pianissimo Source: Tartakower & du Mont, 500 Master Games of Chess, pp. 21-22.
All comments are Tartakower's unless otherwise noted. How to penetrate into
the enemy camp? The manner in which White solves this problem in the following
famous game is worthy of a genius.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 d6 5.
Be3 Bb6 6. Nbd2 h6 7. Nf1 {Rather than to indicate by 7.0-0, the ultimate
location of his king, White does some useful regrouping behind the lines. 7....
} Nf6 8. h3 {The position is equal.} Ne7 9. Ng3 c6 10. Bb3 {A preventive
retreat. Black cannot now play the counter-thrust in the centre 10 .... d4,
because of 11.Nxe4. 10....} Bxe3 {Another plan to realise the above-named
thrust would be 10 .... Ng6, followed by 11 .... d5.} 11. fxe3 Qb6 12. Qd2 a5 {
[%cal Ba7a5,Ba5a4]} 13. c3 a4 14. Bd1 Be6 15. O-O Qc7 16. Nh4 b5 17. Bc2 ({If} 
17. d4 d5 {with the double threat 18 .... exd4 and 18 .... dxe4.}) 17... c5 18.
Ngf5 Bxf5 19. Nxf5 Nxf5 20. Rxf5 Nd7 21. Raf1 f6 {Closing the e-file, but at
the cost of weakening the King side. It is clear now that Black's 10....Bxe3,
by the opening of the f-file, has in the end benefited White only.} 22. Bd1 {
A mobile bishop. 22....} a3 23. Bh5+ Ke7 {Black's king is in only comparative
security in the middle of the board, in spite of a solid rampart of pawns.} 24.
b3 Rhf8 25. R5f3 Nb6 26. Rg3 Kd8 27. Bg4 Qe7 28. Be2 $16 {With the threat of
29.d4, and the subsequent action of the bishop (against b5) and of the queen 
(on the d file). 28....} Kc7 29. d4 c4 30. Rb1 {This change of front is
effected with surprising rapidity. 30....} g5 {To restore the Black queen's
mobility.} 31. bxc4 bxc4 32. Rb4 Qe6 33. d5 Qc8 34. Bxc4 Na4 {With the threat
of recovering the c pawn by 35 .... Kd7.} 35. Bb5 Nc5 36. Qe2 {Threatening
death and destruction in the enemy ranks by 37.Qh5. On the whole, White's pawn
majority does not amount to much. His advantage really lies in the fact that
the enemy forces lack cohesion: a travelling king, an inactive rook on a8, and
holes in the pawn formation. 36....} f5 37. exf5 e4 ({In order to make
possible 38 .... Qxf5, which at the moment would be a gross mistake on account
of} 37... Qxf5 38. Rf3 {, and wins.}) 38. Bc6 Rb8 $16 ({Or} 38... Ra7 39. Qb5 {
(threatening 40.Qb6#)} Qb8 40. Qxb8+ Rxb8 41. Rxb8 Kxb8 42. h4 {(breaking up
the hostile front)} Rg7 43. f6 Rf7 44. hxg5 hxg5 45. Rxg5 Rxf6 46. Rg8+ Kc7 47.
Ra8 {followed by 48.Rxa3, with the decisive gain of another pawn.}) 39. Qh5 Rf6
{Does this mean consolidation? White's master-stroke in reply answers the
question.} 40. Rxg5 {An irruptive sacrifice. 40....} hxg5 41. Qh7+ Nd7 42. Bxd7
Qg8 ({or} 42... Qxd7 43. Rc4+ Kd8 44. Qh8+ {recovering a rook and maintaining
a decisive attack.}) 43. Rb7+ {This additional point in the combination is one
of the finest conceptions in the literature of the game. Technically speaking,
the motifs of deflection (43....Rxb7 44.Qxg8), of disorganization (43 .... Kd8
44.Rxb8+), and disjunction by a double check (43.... Kxb7 44. Bc6 db. ch) form
part and parcel of the whole. 43....} Kxb7 44. Bc8+ {dbl.ch. 44....} Ka8 45.
Qxg8 Rxf5 46. Qd8 {[%cal Rd8a5]} Rxd5 47. Qd7 {Threatening mate with Qc6+.}
Rb1+ 48. Kh2 Rd2 49. Qc6+ Kb8 50. Qxe4 Rbb2 51. Be6 Kc7 52. Qc4+ Kb6 53. Bd5 g4
54. hxg4 Rf2 55. Qc6+ Ka7 56. Qc7+ {Black resigns} 1-0

[Event "Goteborg SSK 40th Anniversary Group A"]
[Site "Gothenburg"]
[Date "1920.08.16"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Bogoljubow, Efim"]
[Black "Reti, Richard"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C50"]
[Annotator "Tartakower/du Mont"]
[PlyCount "108"]
[EventDate "1920.08.02"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "SWE"]
[SourceTitle "EXT 2018"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2017.10.13"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2017.10.13"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 13,108,-27,13,0,0,-7,0,-41,-19,-29,-22,-32,15,28,38,21,56,38,36,0,0,0,0,
-37,-50,-32,-27,-39,-35,-158,-166,-157,-162,-144,-164,-137,-145,-148,-198,-157,
-169,-198,-193,-526,-559,-566,-597,-591,-587,-543,-553,-602,-603,-594,-599,
-589,-586,-667,-542,-535,-535,-553,-492,-486,-492,-492,-490,-485,-467,-448,
-413,-492,-492,-515,-507,-508,-505,-508,-501,-489,-472,-4927,-4918,-4914,-4910,
-2465,-1860,-5085,-4798,-29984,-29985,-29985,-29986,-29986,-29987,-29985,
-29986] C50: Hungarian Defence and Giuoco Pianissimo Source: Tartakower & du
Mont, 500 Master Games of Chess, pp. 25-26. All comments are Tartakower's
unless otherwise noted. It will be seen in the following game that Black, by
measures both wise and patient, throws off the hostile yoke (12 ....Kh8 ; and
14 ....Rg8), himself gains territory (13 ....Bc4 and 22 ....Bc4), and finally
takes up the offensive (27 ....f5). It is, therefore, the power of sound
manceuvring which we shall see illustrated.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4.
d3 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be3 Bb6 7. h3 {Instead of this waiting move, the most
effective plan here is 7.d2, in preparation for 0-0-0. 7....} Be6 8. Bb5 {
Leads to greater complications than 8.Bb3. 8....} O-O 9. Bxc6 {This exchange
makes the black centre more compact. White should have delayed it by first
playing 9.Bg5. 9....} bxc6 10. Bg5 Qe7 11. O-O h6 12. Bh4 Kh8 {Methodically
preparing the unpinning of the knight by ....Rg8 and then g5. At this stage 12
.... g5 would have been premature, because of 13.Nxg5.} 13. d4 Bc4 14. Re1 Rg8
15. dxe5 dxe5 16. Bg3 Rad8 17. Qc1 Nd7 18. Nd1 f6 19. Ne3 Bf7 ({A sound
manoeuvre. For after,} 19... Be6 20. Nf5 Bxf5 21. exf5 {the games would tend
to equalise, whereas now Black can rely on his bishops. (An old motto says:
"The future belongs to him who has the bishops.")}) 20. Nf5 {Although this
move maintains White's initiative for some time to come, certain strategic
weaknesses in his position will gradually make themselves felt, namely, the
restricted bishop, his weak f2 square, the queen forced back behind the lines,
and his adversary's control of the open d-file. 20....} Qf8 {The queen escapes
whilst parrying the threat 21.Nxh6.} 21. c3 {As this move—intending to
prepare a demonstration on the queen side—weakens the position in the centre
(d3),} ({it would have been preferable to play} 21. b4 c5 22. c3 {(preventing
21 ....Nc5), although even then Black would obtain the better game by 21....c5
(not 21....Qxb4, on account of 22.Nxh6); 22.c3 Kh6, followed by .... g6.} Kh7)
21... Nc5 {This threatens 22 ....Nd3, and at the same time ties the adverse R
at e1 to the protection of the pawn on e4.} 22. Qc2 ({White assumes the
defensive. The violent attempt} 22. Nxe5 fxe5 23. Bxe5 {(threatening 24.Qxh6#)
would fail because Black would reply, not 23....Kh7 24.Bxg7 Rxg7 25.Qxh6 Kg8
26.Qh4, etc. but 23....} Bg6 24. Qxh6+ Bh7 {etc., a sufficient defence.}) 22...
Bc4 23. Nd2 ({The only way of guarding the pawn, for if} 23. Red1 Rxd1+ {
, winning either the pawn on e4} 24. Qxd1 Nxe4 {or the pawn on a2, 24.Rxd1
Bxa2.}) 23... Bd3 24. Qc1 g6 {At the right moment the opponent's only active
piece is driven back.} 25. Nh4 Ba6 {A vacating manoeuvre: the knight is
enabled to settle on the dominant square at d3.} 26. Qc2 Nd3 27. Red1 {[#]} f5
{With the persuasive threat 28 ....f4.} 28. a4 ({A desperate attempt at
salvation, for if} 28. Rf1 {there follows} f4 29. Bh2 Nxf2 30. Rxf2 Bxf2+ 31.
Kxf2 Qc5+ 32. Ke1 Qe3+ 33. Kd1 Qf2 34. Nhf3 Be2+ 35. Kc1 Bxf3 36. gxf3 Qxh2 {
and wins}) 28... f4 29. a5 Bc5 30. Kh2 ({The loss of a piece cannot be avoided:
30 P-Kt4, B-K2.} 30. b4 Be7) 30... fxg3+ 31. fxg3 Qf2 {The threat is 32....Ne1;
33.Rxe1 Rxd3 34.Rxe1.} 32. Rf1 Ne1 {Embarras de richesses Black wins the
exchange as well: 33.Rxf2 Nxc2; and both the White rooks are attacked.} 33.
Raxe1 Bxf1 34. Rxf1 Qxd2 {And wins. (Editor's note: Tartakower ends his
comments here but the game went on for another 20 moves.)} 35. Qb3 Rdf8 36.
Rxf8 Bxf8 37. Qb7 Bc5 38. Qxc7 Qd6 39. Qf7 Rg7 40. Qc4 Be3 41. Nf3 Re7 42. h4
h5 43. b3 Kg7 44. Qe2 Bh6 45. b4 Rd7 46. Qc4 Rf7 47. Qa6 Qd1 48. Ng5 Bxg5 49.
hxg5 Qg4 50. Qxc6 Qxg5 51. b5 h4 52. gxh4 Qxh4+ 53. Kg1 Qf2+ 54. Kh2 Rf4 {
White resigns.} 0-1

[Event "Moscow International-03"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "1936.06.08"]
[Round "18"]
[White "Capablanca, Jose Raul"]
[Black "Eliskases, Erich Gottlieb"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C50"]
[Annotator "Tartakower/du Mont/Capablanca"]
[PlyCount "107"]
[EventDate "1936.05.14"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "18"]
[EventCountry "URS"]
[SourceTitle "EXT 2018"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2017.10.13"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2017.10.13"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 18,107,0,0,46,40,40,40,40,40,40,40,43,41,42,27,73,31,56,14,14,12,22,16,
41,27,34,14,18,16,25,22,26,23,22,0,30,30,38,29,37,37,44,44,65,17,17,17,18,18,
17,17,17,17,23,13,35,39,37,23,41,41,51,41,132,95,122,81,119,115,109,81,92,81,
378,358,351,338,349,351,236,219,362,370,1383,1381,1335,1271,1943,1492,29984,
29985] C50: Hungarian Defence and Giuoco Pianissimo Sources: Tartakower & du
Mont, 500 Master Games of Chess, pp.27-28; Capablanca, McFarland and Company,
pp. 274-275. All comments are Tartakower's unless otherwise noted. The secret
of successful liquidations is, In the last instance, one of pawn management.
The player who has succeeded in preserving dynamic resources in his pawn
structure (as, for example, the greater number of reserve moves or—as is the
case in the following game—the possibility of rupturing the enemy front as
White does by 48.f5) maintains the advantage to the end.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8. Nd5 Qd8 9. c3 {
As can be seen, White has by his preceding move vacated the square at c3
without any loss of time, and now he has in view a gain of territory in the
centre by 10.d4, or eventually by b4. 9....} Ne7 {Seeking at once to clear up
the question of the centre. Other playable replies are 9....a6 (or even 9....
a5) or 9.... Bb6 (a "preventive retreat") or 9....0-0, simplest of all.} 10.
Ne3 ({This retreat presages a quiet and patient struggle for position, instead
of bringing about, as in the preceding game, a restless and complicated
contest by} 10. d4 Nxd5 11. Bxd5 exd4 12. Nxd4 O-O {etc.}) 10... Be6 {Playing
for the greatest possible simplification, but more logical would have been 10..
..0-0.} 11. Bxe6 {He does not fear the phantom of simplifications, for there
will remain some small weaknesses for him to attack. 11....} fxe6 12. Qb3 {
Claiming the initiative. 12....} Qc8 13. d4 {A misconception would be 13.Nxe5,
for Black would reply, not with 13 ....dxe5; 14.Qb5+, followed by ... Qxc5,
but first with 13....Bxe3. 13....} exd4 $1 14. Nxd4 {Capablanca: The best move
since now Black is forced to exchange his strong bishop. On 14....25 the
follows 15.Ne6.} Bxd4 ({Black's last four moves were compulsory. If, for
example,} 14... e5 15. Ne6) 15. cxd4 O-O 16. O-O {By playing 16.Rc1, at once
White would have made it still more difficult for Black to free himself.} Qd7
17. Rac1 Rab8 {The alternative 17....c5 would weaken Black's pawn formation
for the end-game.} 18. Rc3 {He continues the concentration of his forces
rather than initiate a direct attack by 18.f4. 18....} d5 {Taking advantage of
the respite thus afforded by "starting something" in the centre. But there are
dangers in the alteration in the pawn formation which this attempt brings in
its wake. A non-committal manoeuvre would be 18 .... Kh8.} 19. Qc2 {Combining
attack (d4) with defence (e4).} ({Both} 19. e5 Nc6 {and}) (19. Ng4 Rf4 20. Rg3
Kh7 {would lack precision.}) 19... c6 20. e5 Rf4 {A false alarm, easily
overcome. But Black's queen side being thoroughly cramped, he wishes to
simulate some activity on the opposite wing.} 21. Qd1 Rbf8 22. f3 {
Methodically preparing g5 and f4. 22....} Qd8 23. g3 R4f7 24. f4 Nf5 25. Nxf5
Rxf5 26. h4 {In the "heavy artillery" ending, which now follows, it is clear
that White controls more territory, but to turn this into a win will
necessitate protracted manoeuvres.   The move in the text prevents 26....g5,
which now would be refuted by 27.hxg5 hxg5 28.Qg4, etc., with a winning game
for White. 26....} g6 27. Kg2 Qe7 28. a3 Qg7 29. Rcf3 {Again anticipating,
just in time, Black's counter-thrust 29....g5 (30.fxg5 Rxf3 31.Rxf3, etc.).
Black now resigns himself to purely passive strategy. 29....} Qe7 30. Qc2 Kg7
31. g4 {White, on the other hand, seeks to exploit his pawn majority on the
king side, that of Black on the queen side being practically blocked. 31....}
R5f7 32. Kh3 Qd7 33. b4 Rg8 34. Rg1 Kh8 $1 35. Qd2 Rh7 36. Qf2 h5 37. gxh5 Rxh5
38. Rg5 Qh7 39. Qg3 Qh6 40. Qg4 Rg7 41. Rg3 $16 Kh7 42. Rg2 Kh8 43. Kg3 Kh7 44.
Rh2 Re7 45. Rh3 {[#]} Kg7 ({Tartakower: This plausible-looking move allows
White to "liquidate" in a manner as elegant as it is decisive. Comparatively
best was 45....Re8. Capablanca: This makes the win easier for White. But
Black's position is hopeless; the only moves he has available are Re7-e8-e7.
There could have followed} 45... Re8 46. Kf3 Re7 47. Rg3 $1 Rxh4 48. Rxg6 Rxg4
49. Rxh6+ Kxh6 50. Rxg4 {, when the rook ending is won for White.}) 46. Rxh5
Qxh5 47. Qxh5 gxh5 48. f5 {The break-through. 48....} exf5 49. Kf4 Re6 50. Kxf5
Rg6 51. e6 Rg4 52. Ke5 Re4+ 53. Kd6 Rxd4 54. Re3 {Black resigns.} 1-0

[Event "Tata Steel-A 81st"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee"]
[Date "2019.01.25"]
[Round "11"]
[White "Giri, Anish"]
[Black "Shankland, Samuel L"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "2783"]
[BlackElo "2725"]
[Annotator "Yermolinsky,A"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2019.01.12"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "NED"]
[EventCategory "21"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 188"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2018.12.21"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2018.12.21"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,89,32,28,22,13,18,24,24,0,5,17,5,-8,30,5,0,1,-10,-24,-17,-17,-11,-19,
-12,-17,-2,-17,-16,-7,0,-3,0,-20,-24,0,5,7,12,17,26,23,26,35,44,37,41,35,52,52,
70,-10,-3,-11,-17,-5,-9,-17,18,21,24,17,22,53,43,37,30,39,33,40,37,37,40,48,50,
48,62,65,143,169,231,218,268,270,331,379,415,415,419,419,425,492]} 1. e4 e5 2.
Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Na4 {One possible idea in the Giuoco
Pianissimo.} Qe7 7. a3 Be6 (7... a6 8. Nxc5 dxc5 9. Be3) 8. Bxe6 Qxe6 9. b4 Bb6
10. O-O O-O 11. c4 Nd7 12. Bb2 Nd4 13. Nd2 f5 14. Rc1 c5 {Sam stays solid,} ({
He must have rejected} 14... f4 $5 {on account of} 15. c5 dxc5 16. Nxc5 Bxc5
17. bxc5 {and now} f3 {meets with} 18. Bxd4 fxg2 19. Kxg2 exd4 20. f4) 15. exf5
Nxf5 16. Ne4 $14 cxb4 $6 {This concession didn't seem forced at all.} 17. Nxb6
axb6 18. axb4 Qg6 {[#] Black has to generate some threats against the white
king.} 19. Ra1 {Perhaps Anish gave too much respect to the Ra2 idea.} (19. Re1
Nf6 (19... Nh4 20. Ng3 Ra2 21. Qb3) 20. Nxf6+ Rxf6 21. Re4 Raf8 22. f3 $14)
19... Rxa1 20. Bxa1 Nf6 21. Nxf6+ Rxf6 22. Qf3 Nh4 $1 23. Qd5+ Kh8 $5 {[#]
Moving the king away from the centre is risky because the queen can be traded
any moment.} (23... Qf7 24. Qxf7+ Kxf7 25. b5 Rg6) 24. f4 $1 {A beautiful
rejoinder.} h6 $1 (24... Rxf4 25. Rxf4 exf4 26. Qxb7) 25. Qe4 {White is taking
the game into a minor piece ending where he will be the one with winning
chances.} Qxe4 26. dxe4 Rxf4 27. Rxf4 exf4 28. e5 (28. Bd4 {is ineffective on
account of} b5 29. cxb5 Kg8) 28... dxe5 29. Bxe5 Ng6 30. Bc7 b5 31. cxb5 Kg8
32. Kf2 Kf7 33. Kf3 Nh4+ {This appears to have been played too soon. Why
invite the white king forward?} ({A long line,} 33... Ke6 34. Ke4 Nh4 35. Bxf4
Nxg2 36. Bg3 g5 37. Kf3 Nf4 38. Bxf4 gxf4 39. Kxf4 Kd5 {leads to a draw.}) 34.
Kxf4 Nxg2+ 35. Ke5 Ke7 36. Bd6+ Ke8 $1 {A couple of good ones from Sam.} 37.
Ke6 g5 38. Kf6 Kd7 {Shankland enter a line all of us thought would be drawn.} (
38... Nh4 39. Bb8 Kd7 40. Kg7 Nf5+ 41. Kg6 Ke6 42. Bg3 Ne3 43. Kxh6 Kf5 $11)
39. Bf8 Nh4 40. Bxh6 Nf3 41. h3 {A standard way of trapping the knight.} Ng1
42. Bxg5 Nxh3 43. Be3 {The job is done, but the peculiar position of the
queenside pawn prevents White from winning.} Kd6 44. Kf5 Kd5 45. b6 $5 {
A pretty smart choice from Giri.} ({He had no doubt Shakland would have found} 
45. Bc5 b6 $1 {a forced way to eliminate the rest of the pawns.} (45... Kc4 {
is also good enough.} 46. Kg4 Nf2+ 47. Bxf2 Kxb4 48. b6 Kc4 49. Kf5 Kd5 50. Bg3
Kc6 51. Bc7 Kd7) 46. Bxb6 Kc4 47. Bc5 Kxb5 48. Kg4 Nf2+) (45. b6 {In reply
Shankland shockingly resigned the game. Of course, in hindsight we all realize
it doesn't matter how many b-pawns are there, as long as the front one is on
b6.} Kd6 $11 {heading for c8.}) 1-0