Tag: United States

  • US vs. Norway in Chess Championship!

    US vs. Norway in Chess Championship!

    GM Fabiano Caruana, who is currently ranked #3 in the world, won the 2018 Candidates Tournament in Berlin against GM Alexander Grischuk in the 14th round. Caruana held the lead for most of the tournament but found himself fighting back against victories by GMs Sergey Karjakin and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. Fortunately, the young American held off and emerged victorious in the final round. Caruana will go on to face GM Magnus Carlsen in November in London for the World Chess Championship title.

    #### 2018 Candidates Tournament Games

    [pgn]
    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.10”]
    [Round “1”]
    [White “Caruana, Fabiano”]
    [Black “So, Wesley”]
    [Result “1-0”]
    [ECO “E00”]
    [WhiteElo “2784”]
    [BlackElo “2799”]
    [Annotator “Bojkov, Dejan”]
    [PlyCount “71”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. d4 {The first move came a surprise to So as “Fabiano played only 1.e4 at
    the previous Candidates.”} Nf6 ({The two relevant game to the game opening are
    Caruana-Short (played five years ago) and Ding-So (from 2011) with the
    following move order:} 1… e6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 Bb4+ {They both saw} 4. Nbd2 {
    Caruana,F (2782)-Short,N (2683) London 2013: Ding,L (2654)-So,W (2658)
    Khanty-Mansiysk 2011}) 2. c4 e6 3. g3 Bb4+ {A surprise for the surprise. So
    usually chooses the QGD with 3…d5 or the Queen’s Indian with 3…b6.} 4. Bd2
    {This is a completely new position for both players, at least according to the
    Megabase.} Be7 5. Bg2 {Back into the Catalan type of positions.} d5 6. Nf3 O-O
    7. O-O c6 8. Qb3 Nbd7 9. Bf4 a5 10. Rd1 ({Another option was} 10. Rc1 Ne4 11.
    Nc3 g5 12. Be3 Nd6 13. c5 Nc4 {as in Matsenko,S (2546)-Swiercz,D (2649)
    Columbus 2017}) 10… Nh5 $146 {A novelty in comparison to:} (10… b5 11. c5
    Ba6 12. Qc2 b4 13. Bf1 Ne4 14. Nbd2 f5 15. Ne5 Nxe5 16. Bxe5 Nxd2 17. Qxd2 Bg5
    {which Black held comfortably in Mamedyarov,S (2775) -Kovalenko,I (2644) Riga
    2013}) 11. Bc1 Nhf6 {The idea itself is very standard. Black kicks the bishop
    away from the active position under the threat of a threefold repetition.} 12.
    Nbd2 ({The more natural} 12. Nc3 {would be strongly met with} a4 13. Qc2 (13.
    Nxa4 dxc4 14. Qc2 b5 {leads to the same.}) 13… dxc4 14. Nxa4 b5 {with
    comfortable position for Black. leads to the same.}) {However now there is:}
    12… b5 {When Black gets some space to operate on the queenside.} 13. c5 ({
    The pawn is not worth it:} 13. cxb5 cxb5 14. Qxb5 Ba6 {as the central one on
    e2 will suffer in return.}) 13… b4 {Frees the bishop.} 14. Qc2 {Caruana was
    not happy with his play at this stage of the game.} ({He suggested instead} 14.
    a3 {and this may lead to wild complications after} Ba6 15. e3 e5 $5 16. axb4 ({
    Or} 16. dxe5 Nxc5 17. exf6 Nxb3 18. fxe7 Qxe7 19. Nxb3) 16… axb4 17. Qxb4 e4
    {with compensation for a pawn.}) (14. e4 $5 {might have been an option too. Say
    } dxe4 15. Ne5 (15. Ng5 e3 $1 16. fxe3 Nd5) 15… a4 16. Qc2 Qc7 17. Nxe4 {
    and White seems better.}) 14… a4 {So is consistently looking for queenside
    action.} 15. Re1 {Preparing e2-e4.} ({Both} 15. b3 $5) ({And} 15. e3 $5 {
    were interesting alternatives according to Caruana.}) 15… e5 $1 {“Maybe this
    is not the best” So. Black went wrong later.The move in the game frees his
    pieces and even fights for the initiative.} ({A slow move like} 15… Qc7 {
    would have allowed} 16. e4 {with all the conveniences after} dxe4 17. Nxe4 Nxe4
    18. Qxe4 Nf6 19. Bf4 {with advantage for White.}) 16. Nxe5 Nxe5 17. dxe5 Nd7
    18. Nf3 Bxc5 19. Ng5 {Played after ong thought. The position requires rapid
    action.} ({Slow moves like} 19. Bf4 Qb6) ({or} 19. e4 Qb6 {are good for Black.}
    ) 19… g6 20. Bf4 Qb6 21. e4 {The most energetic move.} ({Both players
    considered} 21. e3 {Now} h6 {is wrong to} ({Where Caruana was afraid of} 21…
    b3 $1 22. axb3 ({Or} 22. Qb1 Bb4 23. Rf1 Nc5 {“followed by Bc8-f5 and can get
    quickly into strategically lost position” (Caruana)}) 22… axb3 23. Qe2 Ra2 {
    Let’s continue the line a bit with} 24. Bh3 h6 25. Nxf7 Rxf7 26. e6 Rxf4 27.
    exd7 Bxd7 28. exf4 Bxh3 29. Qe8+ Kg7 30. Re7+ Bxe7 31. Qxe7+ Kg8 32. Qe8+ {
    and it all ends with perpetual check.}) 22. Nxf7 $1 Kxf7 (22… Rxf7 23. e6)
    23. e6+ Kxe6 24. Qxg6+ Ke7 25. Qxh6 {with crushing attack.}) 21… b3 {So is
    also in a hurry to open up the queenside and deflect the opponent’s pieces fom
    his king.} 22. axb3 axb3 23. Qe2 {The critical moment of the game.} Ba6 $2 {
    After this White’s attack continues unhindered.} ({Correct was:} 23… Ra2 $1 {
    (Caruana) when White intended} 24. Rab1 ({Or} 24. exd5 Ba6 25. Qf3 Rxb2 26. Ne4
    cxd5 27. Nxc5 Nxc5 28. Be3 Bc4 29. Bd4 {“with a mess. The b-pawn might be very,
    very dangerous” (Caruana)}) 24… Ba6 25. Qf3 {At the very last moment Caruana
    saw the resource} Bd3 $5 26. Qxd3 Bxf2+ 27. Kh1 Bxe1 28. Rxe1 Rxb2 {and did
    not like it too much for White. Then indeed} 29. exd5 Qf2 30. Qf1 Nc5 $5 {
    should be OK for Black.} (30… Qxf1+ 31. Rxf1 Ra2 32. dxc6 b2 33. Be4 Ra1) (
    30… cxd5)) 24. Qf3 Bc4 25. Rxa8 Rxa8 {Black managed to trade a pair of rooks,
    but had to abandon the kingside. The punishment is swift:} 26. e6 $1 dxe4 ({
    Since} 26… fxe6 27. Bc7 $1 {loses on the spot.}) 27. exf7+ Bxf7 28. Nxe4 Bd4
    {Makes things even worse, although Black’s position is obviously suspicious,
    to say the least.} (28… Re8 {“was still putting up a good fight”(Caruana).
    The thing is that the light-squared bishop does enormous defensive work after}
    29. Rd1 Bd5 30. Qg4 Be6 31. Qe2 Bd5) 29. Nd6 Bd5 30. Qe2 {Without the
    light-squared bishop Black cannot hold the kingside.} Nf8 ({Or mate after}
    30… Bxg2 31. Qe6+ Kh8 32. Nf7+ Kg8 33. Nd8+ Kg7 34. Qxd7+) 31. Bxd5+ cxd5 32.
    Qf3 Qa5 {There is no defense against the mating attack. For example} 33. Re7
    Qc5 34. Bh6 Qxd6 35. Qf7+ Kh8 36. Bg7+ 1-0

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.10”]
    [Round “1”]
    [White “Aronian, Levon”]
    [Black “Ding, Liren”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “A18”]
    [WhiteElo “2794”]
    [BlackElo “2769”]
    [PlyCount “43”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e6 3. e4 d5 4. e5 d4 5. exf6 dxc3 6. bxc3 Qxf6 7. d4 b6 8. h4
    (8. Be2 Bb7 9. Bf3 Bxf3 10. Nxf3 Bd6 11. Qa4+ c6 12. O-O O-O 13. Rb1 Bc7 14.
    Re1 Rc8 15. Kh1 Qf5 {Svidler,P (2763)-Ding,L (2774) Palma de Mallorca 2017})
    8… Bb7 9. Bg5 Qf5 10. Bd3 $146 (10. Rh3 h6 11. Bd3 Qa5 12. Bd2 Nd7 13. Nf3
    O-O-O 14. Kf1 Be7 15. h5 Nc5 16. Ne5 Nxd3 17. Rxd3 Rhf8 {Budczies,J-Vogt,L
    (2500) Bochum 1990}) 10… Qa5 11. Kf1 Nc6 12. Rb1 f6 13. Bd2 O-O-O 14. a4 e5
    15. c5 ({Aronian also looked at} 15. Rh3 {but wasn’t sure about} exd4 16. cxd4
    Bb4) 15… Bxc5 16. Rb5 Qa6 17. Rh3 (17. Bf5+ Kb8 18. dxc5 Ne7 19. Bc2 c6 20.
    c4 cxb5 21. cxb5 Qa5 22. Bxa5 Rxd1+ 23. Bxd1 bxa5 {with a decent position for
    Black (Aronian).}) 17… Bxd4 $1 {“Somehow I felt this shouldn’t be a good
    move. I don’t know why.” (Aronian)} (17… exd4 18. Rxc5 bxc5 19. Qg4+ Rd7 20.
    Bxa6 Bxa6+ 21. Ke1 Re8+ 22. Kd1 Ne5 {looked unclear to Aronian. “I would say I
    was a bit worried about this.”}) 18. Be2 Rd6 $1 (18… Kb8 19. Rg3 $5 {Aronian}
    ) 19. Rb1 (19. Rb2 Qa5 20. cxd4 Qd5 21. dxe5 Nxe5 {Aronian wasn’t sure about
    this. “Then I felt, short of time, if something goes wrong it goes really
    wrong.”} 22. Nf3 $5 Rhd8 {looked dangerous to him, but engines like it for
    White.}) 19… Qa5 20. Rb5 (20. cxd4 Qd5 21. Nf3 (21. Rb5 Qa2) 21… Nxd4)
    20… Qa6 (20… Bxc3 21. Rd3 Rxd3 22. Bxd3 Ba6 23. Bxc3 Qxc3 24. Ne2 Qa3 25.
    Rb3 Qxa4 26. Bf5+ Kb8 27. Rxb6+ cxb6 28. Qxa4 Bxe2+ 29. Kxe2 Nd4+ 30. Kd3 Nxf5
    31. Qd7) 21. Rb1 Qa5 22. Rb5 (22. c4 $2 Bc5 {is asking for trouble.}) 1/2-1/2

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.10”]
    [Round “1”]
    [White “Kramnik, Vladimir”]
    [Black “Grischuk, Alexander”]
    [Result “1-0”]
    [ECO “A48”]
    [WhiteElo “2800”]
    [BlackElo “2767”]
    [PlyCount “95”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. b3 $5 {A rare move that has been played by the likes of
    Smyslov, Kortchnoi and Portisch. “Just another way to reach the normal setup.”
    (Kramnik)} c5 $5 {Played after six moves.} (3… Bg7) 4. dxc5 Qa5+ 5. Nbd2 Qxc5
    6. Bb2 Bg7 7. e3 O-O 8. c4 b6 $146 (8… d6 9. Be2 Nbd7 10. O-O b6 11. Rc1 Bb7
    12. Nb1 Ne4 13. Bd4 Qf5 14. Bxg7 Kxg7 15. Nbd2 Ndf6 {Grachev,B (2655)
    -Chatalbashev,B (2552) Astana 2017}) 9. Be2 Bb7 10. O-O Qc7 11. Rc1 d6 12. Nb1
    Nbd7 13. Nc3 Rac8 14. Rc2 Qb8 15. Qa1 a6 16. Rd2 Rfe8 17. Rfd1 Ba8 (17… Nc5)
    18. Ng5 $5 (18. h3) 18… Rc5 (18… b5 19. cxb5 Rc5 20. Nf3 (20. Nxf7 Kxf7 21.
    bxa6 {Grischuk}) 20… axb5 21. b4 Rh5 22. h3 {Kramnik}) 19. Nh3 (19. Nd5 b5)
    19… b5 20. Nf4 (20. cxb5 axb5 21. b4 Rf5) 20… bxc4 21. Bxc4 (21. bxc4)
    21… Rg5 (21… Ne5 22. Be2 (22. Bxa6 $2 Bxg2 $1 23. Kxg2 Qa8+)) 22. Ncd5 Ne5
    23. Be2 Ne4 $6 {Kramnik didn’t like this move.} (23… e6 24. Nxf6+ Bxf6 25. h4
    Rf5 (25… Rxg2+ 26. Nxg2 Qb7 27. f3) 26. Rxd6) (23… Ned7) 24. Rd4 ({
    Grischuk had seen} 24. Rc2 e6 25. Nc7 Rc8 26. Nxa6 Rxc2 27. Nxb8 Rxe2 28. Nxe2
    Nf3+ 29. Kf1 Nxh2+ 30. Ke1 Rxg2) 24… Nc5 25. h4 Rf5 26. e4 ({Kramnik also
    considered} 26. g4 {which might be better.}) 26… Rxf4 27. Nxf4 Nxe4 28. Nd5
    Nc5 29. Rb4 Qa7 30. Ne3 {Setting a trap in his opponent’s time trouble…} a5 {
    …which Grischuk falls for.} 31. Rb5 Ne6 ({The point was} 31… Bc6 32. Rxc5
    Qxc5 33. Bd4 Qb4 34. f4 {Kramnik}) 32. Rxe5 dxe5 33. Bxe5 Qc5 34. Bxg7 Nxg7 35.
    Qd4 Qxd4 36. Rxd4 Bc6 37. Rd2 Rb8 $6 ({After} 37… Ne6 {White’s advantage is
    not so big.}) 38. Rc2 Be8 39. Rc7 Kf8 40. Ra7 a4 41. bxa4 Rb1+ 42. Kh2 Rb4 ({
    Kramnik suggested} 42… Rb2 43. Bc4 Rxf2 44. a5 Rf4 {but it’s still pretty
    bad for Black after} 45. Rc7 $1 Rxh4+ 46. Kg1) 43. a5 Rxh4+ 44. Kg1 $1 {
    Grischuk had missed this.} Ra4 45. Bc4 Bc6 46. Rc7 Be8 47. a6 Nh5 48. Nd5 1-0

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.10”]
    [Round “1”]
    [White “Karjakin, Sergey”]
    [Black “Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar”]
    [Result “0-1”]
    [ECO “C60”]
    [WhiteElo “2763”]
    [BlackElo “2809”]
    [PlyCount “142”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. c3 a6 (4… d6 5. d4 Bd7 6. O-O Bg7 7. Be3 Nf6
    8. dxe5 dxe5 9. Nbd2 O-O 10. Re1 Re8 11. h3 h6 {Tari,A (2597)-Kamsky,G (2677)
    Moscow 2018}) 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. d4 exd4 7. cxd4 Bg4 8. Qb3 Bxf3 9. gxf3 Bg7 10.
    Be3 $146 (10. Nc3 Ne7 11. Ne2 O-O 12. h4 c5 13. dxc5 a5 14. a4 Nc6 15. Bg5 Bf6
    16. Rd1 Qe7 {Tobler,P (2154)-Egner,M (2188) corr. 2016}) 10… Ne7 11. Nc3 Bxd4
    12. Bxd4 (12. O-O-O $5 c5 13. Ne2 Nc6 14. Qxb7 Na5 15. Qd5 Qxd5 16. exd5 Bxe3+
    17. fxe3 O-O-O) 12… Qxd4 13. Qxb7 O-O 14. Qxc7 Rab8 {[Here] “I can play for
    some advantage.” *Mamedyarov} ({Interesting was} 14… Nd5 15. Nxd5 (15. exd5
    Qd3 16. Nd1 Rfe8+) 15… cxd5 16. Qc3 {Mamedyarov}) 15. O-O Rxb2 16. Qxe7 Qxc3
    17. Kg2 Rc2 18. Rad1 Rxa2 19. Rc1 Rc2 20. Rxc2 Qxc2 21. Ra1 Qc4 22. Qb7 Qb5 23.
    Qxa6 Qg5+ 24. Kf1 Qf6 25. Kg2 Rb8 26. Ra5 $6 {An unfortunate square.} (26. Qa3
    Rb5 27. Rd1) 26… Rb3 27. Qc8+ $6 {Also not the best.} (27. Qe2) 27… Kg7 28.
    Qg4 Rb5 $1 {Now White has to take and Black gets a passer.} 29. Rxb5 cxb5 30.
    Qd7 Qg5+ 31. Kf1 Qe5 32. h4 b4 33. Qb7 Qc3 34. e5 b3 35. Kg2 Qc4 36. Qb6 h6 37.
    Kg3 Qd5 38. f4 Kh7 39. Qb8 Qc4 40. f3 Qc3 41. Qf8 Qc4 42. Qb8 Kg7 43. Qb6 Qd5
    44. Qb8 Qd1 45. Qb7 Qg1+ 46. Kh3 Qe3 47. Kg2 Qe2+ 48. Kg3 Qe1+ 49. Kg2 Qe3 50.
    Qb4 g5 51. hxg5 hxg5 52. fxg5 Qe2+ 53. Kg3 Qxe5+ $2 ({Winning was} 53… b2 54.
    e6 Qe5+ 55. Kg2 fxe6) 54. Kf2 Qh2+ 55. Ke3 Qg1+ 56. Kf4 Qc1+ 57. Kg4 Qe3 58.
    Kg3 $2 {Karjakin saw ghosts here.} (58. f4 Qg1+ 59. Kh4 Qf2+ 60. Kg4 Qe2+ 61.
    Kg3 b2 62. Qc3+ Kh7 63. Qb3 $1 {is a draw.}) 58… Qxg5+ 59. Kf2 Qd5 60. Ke3
    Kg6 61. Ke2 Kf6 62. Ke3 Ke6 63. Qb6+ Kd7 64. Qa7+ Kc6 65. Qa6+ Kc5 66. Qa4 Qc4
    67. Qa5+ Kc6 68. Qa1 Kb5 69. Qb2 Kb4 70. Kd2 Qf4+ 71. Ke1 Qh4+ 0-1

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.11”]
    [Round “2”]
    [White “Grischuk, Alexander”]
    [Black “So, Wesley”]
    [Result “1-0”]
    [ECO “C84”]
    [WhiteElo “2767”]
    [BlackElo “2799”]
    [Annotator “Bojkov, Dejan”]
    [PlyCount “91”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 {More and more
    people are choosing this modest move in order to avoid, above all, the
    Marshall Attack.} b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 ({The other way to play it is:}
    9. Re1 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. Nbd2 Re8 12. Nf1 Nc6 13. Ne3 Bf8 14. a4 b4 15. Nd5 h6
    {Here Carlsen went for an interesting pawn sacrifice} 16. a5 Nxd5 17. exd5 Nxa5
    18. Ba4 {Carlsen,M (2837)-Ding,L (2774) Saint Louis 2017}) 9… Bb7 10. Nbd2
    Re8 11. Ng5 {Often this is preparation for the f2-f4 advance, but in this case
    it is Grischuk getting closer to move forty.} Rf8 12. Re1 (12. f4 {is not good
    due to} h6 13. Ngf3 exf4) 12… d5 $146 {Most likely, an over-the-board
    novelty. “This looks strange as he is losing lots of tempos.” (Grischuk)} ({
    There is nothing wrong with chasing the knight back at once:} 12… h6 13. Ngf3
    Re8 {as in the predecessor, which saw further} 14. Nf1 Bf8 15. Ng3 g6 16. Nh4
    d5 {Vu,P (2090)-Nguyen,V (2195) Hue 2012}) 13. exd5 Nxd5 14. Ndf3 {Grischuk
    criticized this move as he felt he did not get much out of the situation.
    “Tactics did not work after this.”} Qd7 {For the time being So ignores the
    annoying knight.} (14… h6 15. Ne4 {would have transposed to the line from
    above.} Qd7 16. a4 {although Black seems quite solid after say} Rfe8) 15. d4 {
    White needs to hurry before his opponent consolidates.} ({The pawn is poisoned
    } 15. Nxe5 $2 Nxe5 16. Rxe5 f6) 15… exd4 (15… h6 $2 {fails to} 16. dxe5 $1)
    16. cxd4 (16. Nxd4 {avoids the isolani, but yields White nothing after} Nxd4
    17. Qxd4 h6) 16… h6 17. Ne4 {So far everything was more or less normal and
    both sides have something to play for. White is hoping that his extra space
    and more active pieces will help him launch a successful kingside attack.
    Black, on his turn, hopes to trade as many pieces as possible and get to the
    isolated d-pawn in the endgame.} Rfe8 $2 {If there is a move to critice So for,
    this is the one. The rook occupies the open file, but weakens the f7 spot, on
    a moment at which the Spanish bishop is viciously looking at it.} ({Good was}
    17… Rad8 $5 18. Bd2 Nf6 {with decent play for Black.}) ({But if he wanted to
    occupy the open file no matter what, So should have used the other rook:} 17…
    Rae8 $5) 18. Bd2 Nf6 ({Now} 18… Rad8 {comes a bit late and White seizes the
    initiative with} 19. Rc1 Bf8 20. Nc5 Bxc5 21. Rxc5 Rxe1+ 22. Qxe1 Nf6 23. d5)
    19. Rc1 (19. d5 {“was tempting, but after”} Nxd5 20. Bxh6 gxh6 21. Bxd5 Rad8 {
    “Black trades the queens and has nothing to worry about.” (Grischuk)}) 19…
    Nxe4 ({The central pawn is poisoned:} 19… Nxd4 20. Bxf7+ (20. Ne5 {at once
    would also do}) 20… Kxf7 21. Ne5+ {(Grischuk)}) 20. Rxe4 Bf6 21. Rg4 $1 {
    Apparently, So underestimated the rook lift. Black’s position becomes critical
    at once.} Kh8 ({After} 21… h5 {White planned} 22. Rf4 Rad8 23. Ng5 {
    (Grischuk)}) ({The obvious capture} 21… Nxd4 {is bad due to} 22. Nxd4 Bxd4
    23. Bc3 c5 24. Bxd4 cxd4 25. Rxd4 Qe7 (25… Re1+ 26. Qxe1 Qxd4 27. Rc7 {
    is large advantage for White as well. The f7 pawn is too vulnerable.}) 26. Rd7
    Rad8 27. Rcc7 {(Grischuk)} ({In the post mortem both GMs missed the immediate
    finish with} 27. Bxf7+ $1)) 22. Rc5 {“Here I did’t really calculate anything.
    I said to myself, OK, I have all pieces in attack, and Black defends with one
    bishop. If there is no mate, I just quit chess.”} Rad8 23. Qc1 {Just bringing
    more and more pieces into the attack. Bd2xh6 cannot be stopped.} ({White also
    considered the direct} 23. Bxh6 gxh6 24. Rh5 Bg7 25. Qc1 {but decided it does
    not work after (or more likely decided it is not worth the risk)} Qd6 {As a
    matter of fact White’s attack is crushing after} 26. Ng5 Rd7 27. Nxf7+ Rxf7 28.
    Bxf7 Rf8 29. Rg6 {and the queen should be sacrificed in order to avoid mate:}
    Qxd4 30. Qxh6+ Bxh6 31. Rhxh6#) 23… Nxd4 ({Or} 23… Kh7 24. Bxh6 gxh6 25.
    Bc2+) 24. Nxd4 Re4 {The last desperate try.} ({In case of} 24… Bxd4 {
    Grischuk planned the following} 25. Bxh6 Re2 (25… Bxc5 26. Bxg7+ Kg8 27. Qh6
    {is also inevitable mate.}) 26. Bxg7+ Bxg7 27. Rh5+ Kg8 28. Rxg7+ Kxg7 29. Qh6+
    Kg8 30. Qh8#) 25. Rxc7 Qxd4 26. Be3 (26. Bc3 {would also do. For example} Rxg4
    27. hxg4 Qe4 28. f3 Bd4+ 29. Kh1 {(Grischuk, So)}) 26… Rxg4 27. hxg4 Qe4 28.
    f3 {The long diagonal is too short for the black pieces.} Qb4 29. Rxb7 {
    The rest would most likely not have been played if Grischuk had some extra
    time on the clock. But as usual, he was playing on increment and So tried some
    swindles.} Bxb2 30. Qf1 (30. Qxb2 $2 Qe1+ 31. Kh2 Qh4+ {is perpetual instead.})
    30… f6 31. Qf2 Be5 32. f4 Bd6 33. g5 Qe4 34. Qf3 {Safe play in the time
    trouble.} (34. gxf6 Qxb7 35. fxg7+ Kxg7 36. Qg3+ {would have been mate.}) 34…
    Qb1+ 35. Qf1 Qe4 36. Qf3 Qb1+ 37. Kf2 Bb4 {White missed this, but likely for
    him it was not important.} 38. Qe2 Qe4 39. Qf3 Qb1 40. Kg3 fxg5 41. Kh2 ({
    Avoiding any king weakening} 41. fxg5) 41… Qf5 ({“The last beautiful line
    was”} 41… Bd6 42. Rd7 Rxd7 43. Qa8+ Kh7 44. Bg8+ Kg6 45. Qe8+ Kf5 46. Qe6# {
    (Grischuk)}) 42. Rf7 Qg6 43. fxg5 Bd6+ {Black resigned because of} 44. Kh3 hxg5
    45. Bxg5 Qxg5 46. Rf5 1-0

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.11”]
    [Round “2”]
    [White “Ding, Liren”]
    [Black “Caruana, Fabiano”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “E05”]
    [WhiteElo “2769”]
    [BlackElo “2784”]
    [PlyCount “91”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 b6 ({
    Normal is} 7… a6 {e.g.} 8. a4 Bd7 9. Qxc4 Bc6 10. Bg5 h6 11. Bxf6 Bxf6 12.
    Nc3 Bxf3 13. Bxf3 Qxd4 14. Qxc7 Nc6 15. Qxb7 Na5 16. Qc7 Qd8 17. Qf4 Rb8 {
    Mamedyarov,S (2804)-Wei,Y (2743) Wijk aan Zee 2018}) 8. Ne5 Qxd4 9. Bxa8 Qxe5
    10. Bf3 Nd5 11. Qxc4 Ba6 12. Qb3 $146 ({The normal move is} 12. Qa4 {e.g.} c5
    13. Re1 b5 14. Qe4 Nc6 15. Nc3 Rd8 16. Rd1 Qxe4 17. Bxe4 Nd4 {Aronian,L (2799)
    -Hou,Y (2652) Tbilisi 2017}) 12… Nc6 {Caruana remembered this was the move
    to play, but said he “didn’t remember the details.”} 13. Qa4 Bb7 14. Nc3 Nd4
    15. Bxd5 exd5 16. Bf4 (16. Qxa7 Ba8 17. Bf4 Qh5 18. Qxc7 Nf3+ 19. exf3 d4 {
    “and it becomes a mess.” (Caruana)}) 16… Qf6 17. Rad1 (17. Qxa7 Qc6 $1 {
    Caruana}) 17… c5 18. Be3 Nf3+ (18… Nxe2+ 19. Nxe2 d4 20. Bf4 (20. Nf4 dxe3
    (20… g5 21. Qd7 Bc8 22. Qxa7 gxf4 23. Bxf4 Bh3 24. Rfe1 Qc6 25. f3 Qxf3 26.
    Rd2 {Ding}) 21. Nd5 {Ding}) 20… g5 21. f3 gxf4 22. Nxf4 Bd6 23. Qxa7 {Caruana
    }) 19. exf3 d4 20. f4 ({Caruana expected} 20. Bf4 dxc3 21. Rfe1 cxb2 22. Qd7
    Bxf3 23. Rb1 g5 24. Qxe7 Qxe7 25. Rxe7 gxf4 26. Rxb2 Rd8 27. Rb1) 20… dxc3 (
    20… Bf3 21. Bxd4 Qf5 {doesn’t work because of} 22. Nd5 $1 Qxd5 23. Bc3 Bxd1
    24. Rxd1 {Caruana}) 21. bxc3 Bf3 ({Ding was afraid of} 21… Qe6 22. Bc1 {
    but now Caruana’s} c4 (22… Qe2 $6) {can be replied by} 23. Rde1 $1 Qd5 24. f3
    {and White is better.}) 22. Rd3 Bc6 23. Qb3 Qf5 24. c4 Be4 25. Rd2 Qh5 (25…
    Qg4 26. Bd4 $1 cxd4 27. f3 {Caruana}) 26. f3 Bxf3 27. f5 $6 {“This gives me a
    chance to consolidate.” (Caruana)} (27. Bd4 $5) 27… Bc6 28. Qd1 Qh3 29. Rff2
    h6 30. Qf1 Qg4 31. Rf4 Qg5 32. Rd3 Qf6 33. Bd2 Ba8 34. h4 Qc6 35. Kh2 {“I
    started to feel I was getting outplayed.” (Caruana)} Bd6 36. Rf2 Be5 37. Bc3
    Bxc3 38. Rxc3 Re8 39. f6 g6 40. Rcc2 (40. Rd3) 40… Re4 41. Rfe2 Qe6 42. Rxe4
    Bxe4 43. Rf2 (43. Rd2 $5 Bf5 44. Qf4 Qxf6 45. Qxh6 Be6 46. h5 Bxc4 47. hxg6
    fxg6 {Caruana}) 43… Bf5 44. Qc1 Kh7 45. Qc3 h5 46. a3 1/2-1/2

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.11”]
    [Round “2”]
    [White “Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar”]
    [Black “Aronian, Levon”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “E32”]
    [WhiteElo “2809”]
    [BlackElo “2794”]
    [PlyCount “48”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 O-O 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 d5 7. Bg5 h6 8.
    Bxf6 Qxf6 9. Nf3 c6 10. g3 $146 (10. e3 Nd7 11. Be2 dxc4 12. Qxc4 e5 13. O-O
    exd4 14. Qxd4 Qxd4 15. Nxd4 Nf6 {Yu,Y (2751)-Ding,L (2777) Riadh 2017}) 10…
    Nd7 11. Bh3 {“It is for me a new idea. It is just to play.” (Mamedyarov)} b6 {
    Afterward Aronian felt this was perhaps a bit risky.} (11… Qd8 12. O-O b6 {
    Aronian}) 12. cxd5 cxd5 13. Qc6 Rb8 {The critical moment of the game.} 14. O-O
    ({“I need to play} 14. Rc1 {and it must be not so easy for Black.” (Mamedyarov)
    } Rd8 (14… g5 $5 15. O-O (15. Qd6 $5) 15… Qg7 {“It it works, it will work
    wonderfully!” (Aronian)}) 15. Qa4 a5 16. Rc7 Rb7 (16… Qe7 17. Ne5 Nc5 18. Qc6
    Bd7 19. dxc5) 17. Qc6) 14… Rd8 15. Rfc1 Ba6 16. Bf1 Bc4 $1 {Mamedyarov had
    missed this.} 17. Qa4 (17. Rc3 a5 {Aronian}) 17… a5 18. b3 b5 19. Qxa5 Bxb3
    20. Rc7 ({After} 20. Rc6 Bc4 21. Qc7 {Black is absolutely fine with e.g.} g5)
    20… Bc4 21. Qa7 Ra8 22. Qb7 Rab8 23. Qa7 Ra8 24. Qb7 Rab8 1/2-1/2

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.11”]
    [Round “2”]
    [White “Kramnik, Vladimir”]
    [Black “Karjakin, Sergey”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “C67”]
    [WhiteElo “2800”]
    [BlackElo “2763”]
    [PlyCount “109”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5
    8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. h3 (9. Nc3 a5 (9… h6 10. Rd1+ Ke8 11. h3 Ne7 12. Be3 Ng6 13.
    a3 Be7 14. Rd2 a6 15. Re1 Nh4 16. Nxh4 Bxh4 17. Ne2 Be7 18. Nf4 h5 19. e6 Bd6
    20. e7 Kxe7 21. c4 Bxf4 22. Bxf4+ Be6 23. Bg5+ Kf8 24. b3 Kg8 {½-½ Kramnik,V
    (2754)-Anand,V (2786) Monte Carlo MNC 2005}) (9… Ne7 10. h3 Ng6 11. Ne4 Be7
    12. b3 h5 13. Re1 Bf5 14. Nd4 Bd7 15. Ng5 Bxg5 16. Bxg5+ Ke8 17. e6 fxe6 18.
    Nxe6 Bc8 {1-0 (18) Kramnik,V (2729)-Aleksandrov,A (2634) Turin ITA 2006}) 10.
    h3 a4 11. Rd1+ Ke8 12. a3 h6 13. Bf4 Be6 14. Ne4 Ra5 15. g4 Bd5 16. Re1 Ne7 17.
    e6 Bxe4 18. exf7+ Kxf7 19. Rxe4 Ng6 20. Bxc7 Rb5 21. Ne5+ Nxe5 22. Bxe5 Bc5 23.
    Bc3 Ra8 24. Rd1 Bf8 25. Rd7+ Kg8 26. Kg2 {1-0 Kramnik,V (2777)-Ivanchuk,V
    (2716) Monte Carlo MNC 2004}) 9… Ke8 10. Nc3 h5 11. Bf4 (11. Rd1 Be7 12. Ne2
    Be6 13. Nf4 Bc8 14. Ne2 Be6 15. b3 a5 16. a4 Rd8 {Vachier Lagrave,M (2793)
    -Nakamura,H (2781) Caleta 2018}) (11. Ne2 b6 12. Rd1 Ba6 13. Nf4 Bb7 14. a4 Be7
    15. e6 Bd6 16. exf7+ Kxf7 17. Ng5+ Kf6 18. Ne4+ Kf7 19. a5 c5 {Kramnik,V (2811)
    -Malakhov,V (2712) Sochi RUS 2017}) 11… Be7 12. Rad1 Be6 13. Ng5 Rh6 14. Rfe1
    Bb4 15. a3 ({The main move is} 15. g4 {played six times by Vachier-Lagrave and
    also once by Karjakin.}) 15… Bxc3 16. bxc3 Ne7 17. Nf3 Rh8 18. Bg5 $146 (18.
    Nd4 a6 19. Bg5 c5 20. Nxe6 fxe6 21. c4 Rd8 22. Rxd8+ Kxd8 23. a4 b6 {Yu,Y
    (2724)-Malakhov,V (2706) China 2015}) 18… c5 19. Nd2 {Kramnik’s preparation
    was roughly until here.} Kf8 20. Nf1 Nf5 (20… Nd5 21. f4 {is dangerous
    (Karjakin).}) 21. g3 {With the idea f3, Kg2 and push the pawns but…} (21. Re4
    $5) 21… Ne7 $1 {Kramnik missed that Black can just go back.} 22. Kg2 {
    “Black is holding by tempi. If I manage my knight on e3 here it’s almost over.
    ” (Kramnik)} (22. Ne3 Bxh3 23. Bxe7+ Kxe7 24. Nd5+ Kf8 25. Nxc7 Rc8 26. e6 fxe6
    27. Nxe6+ Bxe6 28. Rxe6 Re8 {should be a draw (Kramnik).}) 22… Nd5 23. c4 Nb6
    24. Ne3 Nxc4 25. Nxc4 (25. Nd5 Nb2 26. Nxc7 Nxd1 27. Nxa8 Nb2 ({After} 27…
    Nc3 28. Nc7 {Kramnik mentioned} Kg8 {but that doesn’t seem to work tactically:}
    29. Nxe6 fxe6 30. Re3 Nd5 31. Rb3 b6 32. c4 Nc7 33. Rd3) 28. Nc7) 25… Bxc4
    26. g4 hxg4 27. hxg4 Bb5 28. Kg3 Re8 29. f4 {Here Kramnik thought his position
    was close to winning.} b6 (29… Ba4 {Karjakin}) 30. f5 ({Karjakin was a bit
    worried about} 30. Bd8) 30… Ba4 31. Rc1 (31. Rh1 Rxh1 32. Rxh1 Kg8 33. Kf4
    Bxc2 34. f6 Rd8 {Karjakin/Kramnik}) (31. Kf4 Kg8) 31… Kg8 32. c4 Bc6 33. Rcd1
    Ba4 34. Rc1 Bc6 35. Bh4 Ba4 36. Rc3 Bc6 37. Rce3 Rh6 38. Bg5 (38. Rd3 f6 39. e6
    g5 $1 {Kramnik} 40. fxg6 Kg7) 38… Rh7 ({One journalist suggested} 38… Rh1
    39. Rxh1 Bxh1 {but that’s very dangerous:} 40. Kf4 Bc6 41. Rh3 $1 {followed by
    42.f6.}) 39. R3e2 (39. Bf4 Rd8 40. e6 fxe6 41. fxe6 {Kramnik} Rd2 $1 42. R1e2
    Rd1) 39… Ba4 40. Re3 Rh8 41. Bh4 (41. e6 fxe6 42. Rxe6 Rxe6 43. Rxe6 Rh1 {
    Kramnik}) (41. Rd3 f6 42. Bf4 fxe5 43. Bxe5 Kf7) 41… Rh6 42. e6 fxe6 43. g5
    Rh8 44. Rxe6 (44. g6 Rh5) 44… Rf8 $1 45. R6e5 $6 ({It looks like Kramnik
    missed a big chance here. He had seen} 45. Kg4 $1 Bd7 46. g6 $3 Bxe6 47. fxe6
    Rh6 48. Kg5 Rf6 {“Here I stopped [calculating], but maybe I shouldn’t have
    stopped.” (Kramnik)} 49. e7 Rhxg6+ 50. Kh5 Re6 51. e8=Q+ Rxe8 52. Rxe8+ Kh7 53.
    Re7 {with winning chances.}) 45… Bc2 46. f6 gxf6 47. gxf6 Rh7 48. Rg5+ Kh8
    49. Re7 Rg8 50. Rxh7+ Kxh7 51. Rxg8 Kxg8 52. Kf2 Bb3 53. Bg3 Bxc4 54. Bxc7 Bd5
    55. Bb8 1/2-1/2

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.12”]
    [Round “3.4”]
    [White “Aronian, Levon”]
    [Black “Kramnik, Vladimir”]
    [Result “0-1”]
    [ECO “C65”]
    [WhiteElo “2794”]
    [BlackElo “2800”]
    [Annotator “Bojkov,Dejan”]
    [PlyCount “54”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. e4 {If Aronian only knew what this surprise would lead to….} e5 2. Nf3 Nc6
    3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. O-O ({The other way to develop is} 6. Nbd2
    Bg4 7. h3 Bh5 8. Nf1 Nd7 9. Ng3 Bxf3 10. Qxf3 g6 11. Be3 Qe7 12. O-O (12. O-O-O
    O-O-O 13. Ne2 Rhe8 14. Kb1 b6 15. h4 Kb7 {½-½ Anand,V (2775)-Carlsen,M (2870)
    Chennai IND 2013}) 12… Bd6 13. a4 c5 14. c3 O-O-O 15. Rfb1 Kb8 16. a5 a6 17.
    Nf1 Qe6 18. Qd1 f5 19. f3 Be7 20. Qa4 Nf6 {1/2-1/2 Jakovenko,D (2710)-Almasi,Z
    (2707) Germany 2018}) 6… Qe7 7. h3 {Kramnik: “The thing is, Black wants …
    Bg4 after Nbd2. I always considered 7.h3 as a very serious move and I actually
    spent a lot of time analyzing it, and it was not so easy. But then, a couple
    of years ago, I found this very strong resource:} Rg8 $1 {“g7-g5-g4 is a big
    threat” (Kramnik). Apparently, White is not capable of opening the center,
    otherwise this whole concept will fail. Ironically, it is the pawn on h3 which
    makes this idea so strong. The weakened kingside and the fast long-ranged
    black pieces put White in a huge danger.} 8. Kh1 {Both players could not find
    anything better. Here are some lines to convince that Black’s attack is not a
    joke:} ({The attempt to get a better version of the game continuation with} 8.
    c3 {would be met with} g5 9. d4 ({The pawn is immune due to} 9. Bxg5 Bxh3 {
    this is a frequently occurring theme in the attack.}) 9… exd4 $1 ({If now
    Black continues as in the game} 9… Bd6 10. dxe5 Bxe5 11. Nxe5 Qxe5 12. Qd4 {
    White would be indeed OK.}) 10. cxd4 Bb6 {when the white center is about to
    crumble at any moment and the captures on g5 are always bad.} 11. Bxg5 ({Or}
    11. Nxg5 h6 12. Nf3 Bxh3) 11… Bxh3 $1 {with huge advantage for Black.}) (8.
    Be3 {trades the good bishop but doe snot slow down the attack-} Bxe3 9. fxe3 g5
    ) ({If} 8. Nc3 g5 9. Bxg5 Bxh3 $1 10. gxh3 h6 {is similar to the first line
    above and excellent for Black.}) 8… Nh5 $146 {Technically speaking this is
    the novelty.} ({As this all has been seen previously in a correspondence game,
    which Black won after:} 8… h6 9. Nbd2 g5 10. Nc4 Bd6 11. d4 Nxe4 12. dxe5 Bc5
    13. Qe2 f5 {etc., Kazoks,A (2345)-Calio,M (2334) corr. 2015}) 9. c3 {Obviously
    White needs to do something and do it fast. This move is aiming for a quick
    central counter-blow.} ({Aronian “Maybe I should have gone for”} 9. Nc3 {
    “It will be like the game” said Kramnik and suggested} g5 10. Nxe5 g4 11. d4
    Bd6 ({The other suggestion of the former world champion is not as good-} 11…
    gxh3 12. g3 ({Or even} 12. g4 $1) 12… Nf6 13. dxc5 Qxe5 14. Bf4 Qxc5 15. Bxc7
    {and here it might be White who is better.})) 9… g5 10. Nxe5 ({If} 10. d4 {
    Black can always go for} exd4 ({Or even} 10… g4 11. dxc5 gxf3 12. Qxf3 Qh4 {
    “with dangerous threats” (Kramnik)}) 11. cxd4 Bb6 12. Nh2 Nf6 13. e5 Nd5 {
    with clear advantage as the kingside attack proceeds without any problems
    after Bc8-e6 and 0-0-0.}) 10… g4 ({Of course not:} 10… Qxe5 11. d4 Qe7 12.
    Qxh5) 11. d4 ({The captures on g4 lead to mate after} 11. Nxg4 Bxg4 12. hxg4
    Qh4+ 13. Kg1 Ng3) 11… Bd6 ({Wrong is} 11… gxh3 12. g3 $1) 12. g3 ({Another
    mating picture occurs after} 12. Nxg4 Bxg4 13. hxg4 Qh4+ 14. Kg1 Qh2#) 12…
    Bxe5 13. dxe5 Qxe5 14. Qd4 Qe7 $1 {Kramnik wants mate!} ({Aronian was hoping
    for a slightly worse endgame after} 14… Qxd4 15. cxd4 gxh3) 15. h4 c5 16. Qc4
    {“A terrible blunder; I forgot that Black is threatening …f5.” (Aronian)} ({
    The best chance according to Kramnik was} 16. Qd3 Bd7 17. c4 O-O-O 18. Nc3 Bc6
    19. Nd5 Qe5 {when Black is better but the game goes on.}) 16… Be6 17. Qb5+ c6
    18. Qa4 (18. Qe2 {will be met as well with} f5 $1) ({White’s best was still}
    18. Qd3 Rd8 19. Qe3 {although Black is clearly better here after}) 18… f5 $1
    19. Bg5 ({“The main point was”} 19. exf5 Nxg3+ $1 {which lead to mate after}
    20. fxg3 Bd5+ 21. Kg1 Qe2 22. Rf2 Qe1+ 23. Rf1 Qxg3# {(Kramnik)}) 19… Rxg5 $1
    {Not slowing down at all. White’s position is in ruins, Kramnik accurately
    finishes the game.} 20. hxg5 f4 21. Qd1 ({Or} 21. gxf4 Nxf4 22. Qc2 Qxg5) ({And
    } 21. Kg2 Qxg5 {with decisive attack in both cases.}) 21… Rd8 22. Qc1 fxg3
    23. Na3 Rd3 24. Rd1 Bd5 25. f3 ({Or mate after} 25. Rxd3 Qxe4+) 25… gxf3 26.
    exd5 ({“The main idea was to win with”} 26. Rxd3 Qxe4 27. Re3 f2+ 28. Rxe4+
    Bxe4# {(Kramnik)}) 26… Qe2 27. Re1 g2+ ({Aronian resigned because of} 27…
    g2+ 28. Kh2 g1=Q+ 29. Kxg1 f2+ 30. Kg2 fxe1=Q#) 0-1

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.12”]
    [Round “3.1”]
    [White “Caruana, Fabiano”]
    [Black “Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “B90”]
    [WhiteElo “2784”]
    [BlackElo “2809”]
    [PlyCount “98”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. f3 e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8. Be3
    Be7 9. Qd2 Nbd7 10. g4 O-O 11. g5 Nh5 12. O-O-O b5 13. Nd5 Bxd5 14. exd5 f6 15.
    gxf6 Bxf6 16. Kb1 (16. Na5 Qc7 17. Nc6 Nf4 18. c4 bxc4 19. Bxc4 a5 20. a3 Nb6 {
    Hracek,Z (2613)-Dziuba,M (2584) Czech Republic 2017}) 16… Nf4 17. Rg1 Kh8 18.
    Bd3 Bg5 19. Na5 Bh6 20. Nc6 $146 (20. Be4 Qh4 21. Nb7 Qe7 22. Rge1 Nf6 23. Na5
    Qe8 24. Bxf4 Nxe4 25. fxe4 Rxf4 26. Qb4 Qd7 {Karg,H (2183)-Kuosa,N (2568) corr.
    2009}) 20… Qh4 21. Qb4 Rf6 22. a4 Qxh2 23. Be4 Qe2 24. Bxf4 Bxf4 25. Qa5 Nc5
    26. Qc7 Bh6 27. Nd8 Nxe4 ({Initially Mamedyarov was planning} 27… bxa4 28.
    Nf7+ Rxf7 29. Qxf7 Qb5 {with a possibly winning attack, but then he suddenly
    noticed}) (27… bxa4 28. Qe7 $1 Qb5 29. Qxf6 $1 {and Black can resign.}) ({
    Besides,} 27… Rf8 28. Nf7+ Rxf7 29. Qxf7 Nxe4 {wasn’t a good move order
    because of} 30. Qb7 $1 {preventing …Rc8.}) 28. fxe4 Rf8 29. Nf7+ ({Strong was
    } 29. Rde1 $1 Qh5 (29… Qc4 30. Nf7+ {is the same as in the game but with an
    extra pawn for White}) {but somehow both players misevaluated} 30. Ne6 {
    which according to engines is close to winning.}) 29… Rxf7 30. Qxf7 Rc8 31.
    Rc1 Qxe4 32. Rgf1 ({Engines don’t agree with Caruana that Black is better, and
    go} 32. Rg3 $5 {e.g.} bxa4 33. Qe6) 32… Bf4 33. Rg1 Bh6 34. Rgf1 Rg8 35. Rcd1
    bxa4 36. Qe7 Qg6 37. Rf8 Bg5 38. Rxg8+ Kxg8 39. Qd7 h5 40. Rg1 e4 41. Qxa4 e3
    42. Qxa6 Qf5 43. Qa8+ Kh7 44. Qe8 Bf4 45. Qe6 g6 ({The players had seen that}
    45… Qxe6 46. dxe6 Kg8 47. e7 Kf7 48. Rxg7+ Ke8 49. Rg1 h4 50. c3 Bg3 51. Kc2
    e2 52. Kd2 e1=Q+ 53. Rxe1 Bxe1+ 54. Kxe1 Kxe7 55. Ke2 {is a draw.}) 46. Rf1 Kg7
    $6 ({Caruana was worried about} 46… Kh6 {when he has to play} 47. b4 {
    which is also risky in timetrouble.}) {But now White has} 47. Qxf5 $1 gxf5 48.
    c4 Bg3 (48… h4 $2 49. Kc2) 49. Rg1 h4 ({The players agreed to a draw due to
    the following line:} 49… h4 50. Kc2 e2 51. Kd2 e1=Q+ 52. Rxe1 Bxe1+ 53. Kxe1
    h3 54. Kf2 f4 55. b4 Kf6 56. c5 dxc5 57. bxc5 Ke5 58. d6 Ke6 59. Kf3 Kd7 60.
    Kf2) 1/2-1/2

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.12”]
    [Round “3.2”]
    [White “So, Wesley”]
    [Black “Ding, Liren”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “C89”]
    [WhiteElo “2799”]
    [BlackElo “2769”]
    [PlyCount “73”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. c3
    d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Nxe5 Nxe5 11. Rxe5 c6 12. Re1 Bd6 13. d3 Bf5 14. Qf3 Qh4
    15. g3 Qh3 16. Be3 Bxd3 17. Nd2 Qf5 18. Bd4 Rfd8 $5 (18… Rfe8 19. a4 h6 20.
    Qxf5 (20. h4 Rxe1+ 21. Rxe1 Rd8 22. Qxf5 Bxf5 23. axb5 axb5 24. Bxd5 cxd5 {
    Saric,I (2662)-Aronian,L (2801) Hersonissos GRE 2017}) 20… Bxf5 21. Nf3 Be6
    22. Be5 Bc5 {Caruana,F (2811) -Svidler,P (2768) Wijk aan Zee 2018}) 19. a4 h6
    20. h4 $146 (20. Kg2 Bf8 21. Re5 Qxf3+ 22. Kxf3 b4 23. Rd1 bxc3 24. bxc3 Rab8 {
    Alekseenko,K (2609)-Matlakov,M (2709) Moscow 2018}) 20… Rac8 ({Ding didn’t
    like} 20… Bf8 21. Re5 Qxf3 22. Nxf3) 21. axb5 axb5 22. Bxd5 (22. Qxf5 Bxf5
    23. Ne4 c5 $5 24. Nxd6 (24. Bxg7 Bxe4 25. Rxe4 c4) 24… Rxd6 25. Be5 Rd7 {Ding
    }) (22. Ra7 Ra8 23. Rea1 Rxa7 24. Rxa7 Re8 25. Qxf5 Bxf5 26. Ra6 Ne7) 22…
    cxd5 23. Qxf5 Bxf5 24. Ra5 b4 25. Rxd5 Be6 26. Ra5 (26. Rb5 Ra8 {So}) 26…
    bxc3 27. Bxc3 Rb8 28. Nf1 Bb4 29. Raa1 Bc5 (29… Bxc3 30. bxc3 Rb2 {is
    another way to draw. “I was not sure about my calculation so I decided to play
    it simple.” (Ding)}) 30. Ne3 Rd3 31. Red1 Rbd8 32. Rxd3 Rxd3 33. Rd1 Rxd1+ 34.
    Nxd1 Bb3 35. Ne3 Bxe3 36. fxe3 Kf8 37. Kf2 1/2-1/2

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.12”]
    [Round “3.3”]
    [White “Karjakin, Sergey”]
    [Black “Grischuk, Alexander”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “C50”]
    [WhiteElo “2763”]
    [BlackElo “2767”]
    [PlyCount “60”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. Nc3 h6 6. h3 d6 7. Na4 Bb6 8. a3
    Ne7 (8… O-O 9. O-O Be6 10. Re1 Bxc4 11. dxc4 Nd4 12. Nh4 Nd7 13. g3 Qf6 {
    Artemiev,V (2691)-Mamedyarov,S (2799) Huaian 2017}) 9. b4 $146 (9. Nxb6 axb6
    10. O-O O-O 11. Nh4 g5 12. Qf3 Kg7 13. Nf5+ Bxf5 14. exf5 Qd7 15. g4 Qc6 {
    Neiksans,A (2503)-Ivanchuk,V (2764) Warsaw 2010}) 9… Ng6 10. O-O O-O 11. c3
    c6 12. Nxb6 axb6 13. Bb3 Re8 14. Re1 Be6 15. Bc2 d5 16. exd5 ({“I could have
    played} 16. Be3 {but I felt it is also dangerous for White. I didn’t like my
    position very much.” (Karjakin)}) 16… Nxd5 17. Bd2 Bf5 18. d4 Bxc2 (18… e4
    $6 19. Nh2 Nf6 20. Nf1 {Grischuk/Karjakin}) 19. Qxc2 exd4 20. Rxe8+ Qxe8 21.
    Nxd4 b5 22. a4 bxa4 23. Rxa4 Rxa4 24. Qxa4 Ngf4 25. Qd1 (25. c4 Qe4 26. Qa8+
    Kh7 27. Nf3 {is also OK for White.}) 25… Qe4 26. Qf1 Ne6 (26… Nxb4 $2 {
    fails to} 27. Bxf4 Qxf4 28. Ne2) 27. f3 Qg6 28. Nxe6 Qxe6 29. Qd3 b5 30. c4
    bxc4 1/2-1/2

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.14”]
    [Round “4”]
    [White “Karjakin, Sergey”]
    [Black “Aronian, Levon”]
    [Result “0-1”]
    [ECO “D39”]
    [WhiteElo “2763”]
    [BlackElo “2794”]
    [PlyCount “136”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Bg5 dxc4 6. e4 c5 7. Bxc4 cxd4 8.
    Nxd4 Bxc3+ 9. bxc3 Qa5 10. Bb5+ Nbd7 11. Bxf6 Qxc3+ 12. Kf1 gxf6 13. h4 Qb4 14.
    Rb1 $6 ({Karjakin mixed up the line. White should play} 14. Rh3 {first:} a6 15.
    Be2 Ne5 16. Rb1 Qd6 17. Rc3 O-O 18. h5 Rd8 19. Qb3 Bd7 {Giri,A (2769)
    -Harikrishna,P (2758) Shenzhen 2017}) 14… Qd6 15. Rh3 a6 16. Be2 Nc5 $1 $146
    {This moves makes things different. Black threatens 17…e5 and is much better.
    } (16… Ne5 17. h5 b5 18. Rc3 Bd7 19. Nb3 Qxd1+ 20. Rxd1 Ke7 21. f4 Nc4 22.
    Nc5 Bc6 23. Bxc4 bxc4 24. a4 Rhc8 25. Rd4 {½-½ Lalith,B (2502)-Bindrich,F
    (2522) Chotowa 2010}) 17. Rc3 Nxe4 18. Rd3 O-O 19. Qc1 Qe5 20. Bf3 f5 21. Qh6
    Qf6 22. Qxf6 Nxf6 23. Bxb7 Bxb7 24. Rxb7 Rac8 25. Rg3+ Kh8 26. Rgb3 Ne4 27. Rb2
    Rfd8 28. Nb3 Rd1+ 29. Ke2 Nc3+ 30. Ke3 Kg7 31. g3 Kf6 32. Ra7 Rc6 33. Kf3 Nb5
    34. Ra8 e5 35. Kg2 e4 36. a4 Na3 37. Rd2 Rxd2 38. Nxd2 e3 39. Nf3 Rc2 40. Rxa6+
    Kg7 41. Nd4 Rxf2+ 42. Kg1 Nc2 43. Nxc2 Rxc2 44. Kf1 Rf2+ 45. Ke1 Rg2 46. Rb6
    Rxg3 47. Rb4 Rg2 48. Rf4 Kg6 49. Rf3 Rg4 50. Rxe3 Rxa4 51. Kf2 Rxh4 52. Re8 Rg4
    53. Kf3 Kg7 54. Re5 Kf6 55. Re8 h5 56. Rh8 Kg6 57. Kf2 Rg5 58. Kf3 Kg7 59. Ra8
    h4 60. Kf2 h3 61. Ra3 Rh5 62. Kg1 Kg6 63. Kh2 f4 64. Ra7 f3 65. Ra1 f2 66. Rf1
    Rf5 67. Kxh3 Kg5 68. Kg3 Rf4 0-1

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.14”]
    [Round “4”]
    [White “Grischuk, Alexander”]
    [Black “Ding, Liren”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “D43”]
    [WhiteElo “2767”]
    [BlackElo “2769”]
    [PlyCount “102”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 dxc4 7. e4 g5 8. Bg3 b5
    9. Be2 Bb7 10. O-O Nbd7 11. Ne5 Bg7 (11… a6 12. f4 gxf4 13. Bxf4 Bg7 14. Nxf7
    Kxf7 15. e5 Rf8 16. exf6 Nxf6 {Grischuk,A (2737)-Korobov,A (2692) Doha 2016})
    12. Nxf7 Kxf7 13. e5 Nd5 14. Ne4 Qb6 15. Nd6+ Ke7 16. a4 $146 (16. Bg4 h5 (
    16… Raf8 17. Qc2 Qxd4 18. Qg6 Qxg4 19. Qxg7+ Kd8 20. Nxb7+ Kc8 21. a4 b4 {
    Topalov,V (2780)-Kramnik,V (2799) Wijk aan Zee NED 2008}) 17. Bxh5 Raf8 18. Qg4
    Bh6 19. h4 Rhg8 20. hxg5 Bxg5 21. Ne4 Ne3 22. Qxg5+ Rxg5 23. Bh4 Kd8 {Shirov,A
    (2740)-Karjakin,S (2732) Foros 2008}) 16… Raf8 17. Bf3 a6 18. Bxd5 cxd5 19.
    axb5 axb5 20. Kh1 Bc6 ({“Black should play} 20… Ba6 21. f4 b4 {and in fact
    White doesn’t have threats.} 22. Qc2 gxf4 23. Bh4+ Bf6 {and Black is OK.”
    (Grischuk)}) 21. f4 gxf4 22. Rxf4 ({Winning was} 22. Bh4+ $1 Bf6 23. Qg4 $1
    Rhg8 24. exf6+ Kxd6 25. Qxf4+ e5 26. dxe5+) 22… Rxf4 23. Bxf4 Kd8 (23… Ra8
    24. Rxa8 Bxa8 25. Nc8+ {Grischuk}) 24. Qg4 Rf8 25. Bd2 (25. h3 Qxd4 26. Bg5+
    hxg5 27. Qxd4 Bxe5 {Grischuk} 28. Qg4 Bxd6 29. Qxe6 Rf6 {and “probably Black
    is winning even.” (Grischuk)}) 25… Kc7 26. h3 (26. Ne8+ Rxe8 27. Ba5 Qxa5 28.
    Rxa5 Kb6 {is highly unclear.}) 26… b4 27. Qxg7 Qxd4 28. Bxb4 Qxb2 29. Ba5+
    Kb8 30. Rg1 c3 {“I was just not too afraid of this pawn somehow. I thought I
    will block it.” (Grischuk)} ({After} 30… d4 {(Grischuk) White has to find}
    31. Qe7 $1 (31. Nxc4 Qb3) (31. Qg4 Qa2 $1 32. Be1 c3)) 31. Qe7 c2 32. Bd2 Qxe5
    33. Bxh6 Rg8 34. Nf7 Qc3 35. Qd6+ Kb7 36. Qxe6 d4 37. Nd6+ Kb6 38. Ne4 (38. Bd2
    c1=Q 39. Rxc1 Bxg2+ 40. Kg1 Bd5+ 41. Qxg8 Qxc1+ 42. Bxc1 Bxg8 {“and draw”
    (Grischuk)}) 38… Nc5 39. Qxg8 ({Grischuk said he was “very stupid” that he
    didn’t go for} 39. Qxc6+ Kxc6 40. Nxc3 dxc3 41. Rc1 {“but I just misjudged
    [the game continuation]. I think I barely survived.”}) 39… Nxe4 40. Kh2 d3
    41. Be3+ Kb5 42. Qb8+ Kc4 43. Qc7 Qf6 44. Rf1 Qd6+ 45. Qxd6 Nxd6 46. Rf6 Kd5
    47. Rxd6+ Kxd6 48. Kg3 Kd5 49. Kf2 Kc4 50. Bd2 Kb3 51. Ke3 Bxg2 1/2-1/2

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.14”]
    [Round “4”]
    [White “Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar”]
    [Black “So, Wesley”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “E37”]
    [WhiteElo “2809”]
    [BlackElo “2799”]
    [PlyCount “62”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 Ne4 7. Qc2 c5 8.
    dxc5 Nc6 9. cxd5 exd5 10. Nf3 (10. e3 Qf6 11. f3 Qh4+ 12. g3 Nxg3 13. Qf2 Nf5
    14. Qxh4 Nxh4 15. b4 a5 {Morozevich,A (2675)-Harikrishna,P (2737) Biel 2017})
    10… Qf6 11. e3 Bg4 12. Be2 O-O 13. O-O Rfe8 14. Bd2 d4 15. Rad1 Nxd2 16. Rxd2
    $146 (16. Qxd2 Rad8 17. Qc1 d3 18. Rxd3 Rxd3 19. Bxd3 Bxf3 20. gxf3 Ne5 21. Be4
    Nxf3+ 22. Bxf3 Qxf3 23. Qd1 Qf5 {Bareev,E (2683)-Ivanchuk,V (2741) Havana 2006}
    ) 16… dxe3 17. Rd6 Re6 18. fxe3 Rxd6 19. cxd6 Bxf3 20. Bxf3 Qxd6 21. Qb3 Qe7
    22. Bd5 Nd8 23. Rc1 Qd7 24. Qc4 Ne6 25. Bxe6 fxe6 26. Qd4 Qxd4 27. exd4 Rf8 28.
    Rc7 Rf7 29. Rc8+ Rf8 30. Rc7 Rf7 31. Rc8+ Rf8 1/2-1/2

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.14”]
    [Round “4”]
    [White “Kramnik, Vladimir”]
    [Black “Caruana, Fabiano”]
    [Result “0-1”]
    [ECO “C42”]
    [WhiteElo “2800”]
    [BlackElo “2784”]
    [Annotator “Bojkov, Dejan”]
    [PlyCount “132”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Qe2 {A pet line of Boris Spassky.
    He tried it twice against Tigran Petrosian in their second world championship
    match in 1969. Both games were easily held by Black.} Qe7 6. Nc3 ({Carlsen
    opted for the more conventional} 6. d3 Nf6 7. Nc3 Qxe2+ 8. Bxe2 g6 9. Nd4 a6
    10. Bf4 Bg7 11. h3 Bd7 12. Bf3 Nc6 {but did not get much in Carlsen,M (2834)
    -Caruana,F (2811) Wijk aan Zee 2018}) 6… Nxc3 7. dxc3 Qxe2+ 8. Bxe2 Nc6 9.
    Be3 Be7 10. O-O-O O-O 11. Rhe1 ({Another recent top game saw} 11. Rhg1 a6 12.
    g4 Re8 13. h4 Be6 14. Ng5 Bd7 15. Kb1 Ne5 {with an eventual draw, Artemiev,V
    (2697)-Khalifman,A (2614) Moscow 2018}) 11… Bf6 $146 {A logical novelty in
    comparison to an earlier correspondence game.} ({The predecessor saw:} 11…
    Bd7 12. Nd4 Bf6 13. f4 Rfe8 14. Bf3 a6 15. Bf2 g6 16. g4 {with some pressure
    for White, Lehtinen,P (2180)-Halme,O (2316) corr. 2005}) 12. Nd2 {At first
    sight it seems that Black should not worry at all. The position is symmetrical
    and not much is going on.} Re8 13. Bf3 Ne5 14. Bf4 {However, the slight lead
    in the development for White forces Caruana to play carefully. 15.Nd2-c4 is a
    threat now.} Kf8 15. Bd5 ({The timid} 15. Be2 Ng6 16. Bg3 Bd7 {is already a
    bit more equal for Black.}) 15… c6 16. Bb3 Bf5 ({Black cannot close the
    bishop with} 16… d5 17. c4 d4 $2 {due to} 18. Ne4) 17. h3 g5 {Energetic play
    by Black. He intends to find counter-play on the kingside.} 18. Bh2 Kg7 19. c4
    (19. f4 {was safer, with approximate equality.}) 19… g4 $1 20. Ne4 $1 {
    Kramnik is ready to enter the huge complications which materialize seemingly
    out of thin air.} ({After} 20. hxg4 Nxg4 21. Bg3 Bg5 {Black’s active pieces
    compensate him for the slight structural weaknesses.}) 20… Bxe4 21. Rxe4 Bg5+
    22. Kb1 gxh3 23. c5 $1 {Another exclam, for the courage. “I’ve noticed this,
    but I thought it was very risky for White.” (Caruana) Kramnik undermines the
    central knight but at a very high price. Not only is he losing a couple of is
    kingside pawns, but the survivor on g2 is just a step closer to becoming a
    queen.} ({The American GM expected instead something like} 23. gxh3 f5 24. Re2
    ({Or} 24. Ree1 Nf3 25. Rxe8 Rxe8 26. Bxd6 Nd2+ 27. Ka1 Ne4 28. Bb4 (28. Bg3 $2
    f4) 28… Nxf2 {when Black is better.}) 24… Nf3 25. Rxe8 Rxe8 26. Bxd6 Re2 {
    where indeed Black is doing great.}) 23… f5 ({Also good for Black was} 23…
    hxg2 24. cxd6 Nf3 25. Rg4 Re2 26. Rxg2 h6 {but apparently Caruana wants more.})
    24. Rb4 hxg2 25. Rxb7+ Kh8 {Best.} (25… Kf8 $2 {gets on the road of the
    white pieces and White is clearly better after} 26. Bxe5 Rxe5 27. cxd6 ({
    Or the preliminary check} 27. Rf7+ Ke8 28. cxd6)) ({“Perhaps I can just go”}
    25… Re7 {suggested Caruana after the game. Then the most likely outcome is a
    draw after} 26. Rxe7+ Bxe7 27. Rg1 {although it is White who needs to prove it.
    }) 26. cxd6 Nf3 27. Ba4 ({Kramnik’s original plan} 27. Bg1 {fails to} Re2 {
    For example} 28. d7 Rd2 29. Rxd2 (29. Rc1 Rd6 {traps the rook.}) 29… Nxd2+
    30. Ka1 Nf3) 27… Nxh2 28. Bxc6 {For a moment it seems as Kramnik outsmarted
    his opponent. The g2 pawn is stopped and the one on d6 has everyone around it
    for support.} Rad8 $3 {A fantastic resource. All black pieces are now into the
    game and help each other.} ({Indeed, bad was} 28… Red8 29. Bxg2 {when White
    has all the fun.}) ({However, besides the text move the where a couple of very
    interesting alternatives. Caruana spent his last three minutes trying to make
    the move:} 28… Re4 {work. It does indeed in case of:} 29. Bxe4 ({But he
    could not find anything after} 29. Rg1 $1 Rae8 ({Maybe the simple} 29… Re6 {
    when Black is much better is a good idea though.}) 30. Bxe4) 29… fxe4 30. Rg1
    e3 31. fxe3 Rf8 {(Caruana)}) (28… Nf1 $5 {was the other idea, with advantage
    for Black after} 29. Bxg2 Nd2+ 30. Ka1 Rad8) 29. d7 {The only move, as tactics
    works well for Black.} ({After both} 29. Bxg2 Rxd6 $1) ({and} 29. Bxe8 Rxd6 $1
    30. Rd7 Rxd1+ 31. Rxd1 Nf1 {and Black wins.}) 29… Re2 30. Bxg2 Rxf2 31. Bc6 {
    Caruana preserved the extra piece and even kept two dangerous passers on the
    kingside. But it ain’t over yet, moreover because Black is in serious time
    trouble.} Ng4 ({Another idea was to send the knight to the queenside after}
    31… Nf1 32. Rxa7 Nd2+ 33. Ka1 Nc4 {with serious winning chances for Black.})
    ({Both players considered the forcing} 31… f4 32. Rxa7 f3 33. Ra3 Rd2 34.
    Rxd2 Bxd2 35. Bxf3 Nxf3 36. Rxf3 Rxd7 {when Black is better, but Kramnik
    believed he should hold.}) 32. Rxa7 Ne3 {“A nice knight, but it cost me a lot
    of time to get there.” (Caruana)} 33. Rg1 h6 {In order to bring the king into
    the play. But as Kramnik summarized it, Black has no time to waste.} ({Caruana
    was not sure what to do after} 33… Rxc2 $1 34. Rc7 (34. Ba4 {is better
    although Black is once again close to winning after} Rf2) {and apparently both
    missed the strong} 34… Bf6 $1 {which wins for Black.}) 34. Rc7 Kg7 35. a4 {
    All of a sudden the white pawns started to run too fast and it is not clear
    who is better at all.} Kf7 ({Instead} 35… Rxc2 {could have led to a curious
    draw after} 36. Rc8 Rxc6 37. Rxd8 Rd6 38. Re8 Ng4 (38… Rxd7 $2 39. Rxe3) 39.
    Rf1 Ne3 (39… Kg6 40. Rg8+ Kh7 41. Re8) 40. Rg1) 36. Bb5 Ke7 37. a5 Rf4 38. c3
    $1 ({Correctly avoiding the counterplay after} 38. a6 Rb4 39. Rb7 ({Or} 39. Bc6
    Bf6) 39… Bf6) 38… Kd6 39. Rb7 ({Kramnik thought that} 39. Rc6+ Ke7 40. Rb6
    {leads to a win, but this might not be the case after} ({However} 40. a6 $1 {
    is clear edge for White.}) 40… Re4 41. a6 Nc4) 39… Rg4 40. Re1 (40. Rh1 {
    “finishes it immediately” (Kramnik)}) 40… f4 41. a6 {Finally, the time
    trouble is over. However, the position remains enormously complicated with
    loads of nuances and this determined the following drama.} h5 42. a7 Ra8 43. b4
    {A first step in the wrong direction. Once again Kramnik decides to deprive
    his opponent of any counterplay, but this time it turns out to be wrong.} ({
    Correct was:} 43. c4 $1 {with the idea:} h4 ({Caruana was planning the
    desperate} 43… Kc5 44. b4+ Kd4 {although here too, White should win after}
    45. Bc6 Bd8 (45… Kc3 46. Rc7) 46. Rc7 $1 Bxc7 47. Bxa8 Rg8 48. Bb7) 44. c5+
    Kxc5 45. Rc1+ Kd6 46. Rc8 {and White wins.}) ({The straightforward} 43. Rb8
    Rxa7 44. d8=Q+ Bxd8 45. Rxd8+ Ke5 {leads only to a draw.}) 43… h4 44. c4 {
    Going for another forcing line. Things are not that clear anymore.} ({For
    example} 44. Re2 h3 {(Caruana)}) ({Or} 44. Be2 Rg3 45. b5 h3 46. b6 h2 47. Rb8
    Rg1 {and here Kramnik mentioned only} 48. Bf3 $3 {which leads to an utterly
    fantastic position after} Rxe1+ 49. Ka2 Ng2 $1 {Then} 50. Bxg2 Re2+ 51. Kb3
    Rxg2 52. d8=Q+ ({Not} 52. Rxa8 Bd8 $3 53. Rxd8 h1=Q 54. a8=Q Qb1+ {and Black
    mates….}) 52… Bxd8 53. Rxa8 Rg8 $1 (53… Bxb6 {is a draw after} 54. Rd8+
    $1 Bxd8 55. a8=Q h1=Q 56. Qxd8+ {with perpetual…}) 54. b7 h1=Q 55. b8=Q+ Ke6
    {leads to a position where Black fights for the win.}) ({Therefore, for
    practical purposes most likely best was to (somewhat) clarify matters with} 44.
    d8=Q+ Bxd8 (44… Rxd8 $2 45. Rb8) 45. Rd7+ Ke6 46. Bc6 Rxa7 47. Rxa7 {with
    winning chances for White.}) 44… h3 45. c5+ Ke5 46. Rb8 (46. c6 h2 47. c7 Rg1
    {is a draw according to the computer. Say} 48. Bc6 Rxe1+ 49. Ka2 Re2+ 50. Kb3
    Nd5 51. Bxd5 Kxd5 52. c8=Q Re3+ 53. Kc2 (53. Ka4 h1=Q 54. Qc5+ Ke6 55. Rb6+
    Kxd7 56. Qd6+ {and perpetual.}) 53… Re2+ 54. Kd3 Re3+) ({Nothing is clear
    after} 46. Bc6 h2) 46… Rxa7 47. Rg8 {“And I thought it just finishes the
    game” (Kramnik). However…} Bf6 $3 {A second shocker for the former world
    champion.} 48. d8=Q {The only move.} ({It transpires that the rook is
    invinsible due to the sudden discovery} 48. Rxg4 $2 Kf5 {and the threat of Ra1
    mate wins for Black.}) (48. Rxe3+ $2 {is bad as well after} fxe3 49. Rxg4 h2)
    48… Bxd8 49. Rxg4 Bf6 50. Rg6 Rb7 {Caruana became ambitious. It was Kramnik
    who was low on time now.} ({The American GM rejected the possible draw after}
    50… Kf5 51. Bd3+ Ke6 52. Rxf6+ Kxf6 53. b5) 51. Be2 Rxb4+ 52. Ka2 {“All of a
    sudden I am better again.” (Kramnik) “I completely underestimated how fast is
    the c-pawn” (Caruana)} Nc2 ({Actually, it is still most likely a draw after}
    52… Be7 {say} 53. c6 Ra4+ 54. Kb3 Rb4+ 55. Kc3 Nd5+ 56. Kd2 Bh4 57. Rc1 Rd4+
    58. Bd3 h2) 53. Rc1 (53. Rb1 Re4 $1 {holds for Black (Caruana)}) 53… Nd4 54.
    Bd3 (54. Bg4 $5) 54… Ra4+ 55. Kb1 {In time trouble Kramnik decided to repeat
    the moves.} ({His original intention} 55. Kb2 {would have probably led to a
    draw after} Ke6 56. c6 (56. Rh1 Rb4+ 57. Kc3 Nc6+ 58. Rxf6+ Kxf6 59. Rxh3 Kg5 {
    (Caruana, Kramnik)}) 56… Nxc6+ 57. Rxf6+ Kxf6 58. Rxc6+ Kg5 {(Caruana,
    Kramnik)}) 55… Nb3 $1 {Black is taking his chance! The king hunt creates a
    myriad of tactical opportunities, even in the endgame.} 56. Re1+ ({Like the
    one after} 56. Rd1 $2 Ra1+ 57. Kc2 Nd4+ $1 {An important maneuver.} 58. Kd2
    Nf3+ 59. Ke2 Rxd1 60. Kxd1 h2 61. Rh6 Nh4 {and all of a sudden the h-pawn
    queens!}) ({Safe was} 56. Rc2 Ke6 57. Rh2 Ra1+ 58. Kc2 Ra2+ 59. Kxb3 Rxh2 60.
    c6 {with a draw.}) 56… Kd5 57. Kc2 ({Kramnik suggested another “draw line”}
    57. Rxf6 Ra1+ 58. Kb2 Rxe1 59. Kxb3 h2 60. Bb5 $2 {but there is a nasty little
    spoiler} (60. Bc4+ Kxc5 61. Rf5+ {instead is a draw.}) 60… f3 $3 {
    interference theme that wins for Black!}) 57… Nd4+ 58. Kb1 (58. Kc1 $1 {
    would have still shared the point.}) 58… Nf3 59. Rd1 $4 {With two seconds
    left on his clock Kramnik blunders!} ({He could have still saved the game with
    } 59. Rxf6 Nxe1 60. Bf1 h2 61. Rh6 Kxc5 62. Rxh2) ({At the very last moment
    the former world champion saw} 59. Rf1 Nd2+ 60. Kc2 Ra2+ $1 {which wins for
    Black.} (60… Nxf1 61. Bxf1 Ra2+)) 59… Ra1+ 60. Kc2 Rxd1 {An echo from the
    line from above (see the line on move 56). Now Caruana wins this hugely
    dramatic game.} 61. Ba6 ({Since} 61. Kxd1 h2 62. Rh6 Bh4 {promotes the pawn.})
    61… Rd2+ 62. Kc1 Bb2+ 63. Kb1 Kxc5 64. Bb7 Ne5 65. Rf6 f3 66. Rf5 f2 0-1

    [Event “FIDE Berlin Candidates”]
    [Site “?”]
    [Date “2018.03.15”]
    [Round “5.1”]
    [White “Aronian, Levon”]
    [Black “Grischuk, Alexander”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “A65”]
    [WhiteElo “2794”]
    [BlackElo “2767”]
    [Annotator “Bojkov, Dejan”]
    [PlyCount “83”]
    [EventDate “2018.??.??”]
    [WhiteClock “1:11:37”]
    [BlackClock “0:09:25”]

    1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. f3 c5 4. d5 d6 5. e4 e6 6. Nc3 exd5 7. cxd5 Bg7 8. Nge2 {
    Let’s quickly skip the opening phase, the interesting is still to come.
    Apparently both players were happy with sharp and complex opening.} Nbd7 ({
    Aronian had also tried the alternative} 8… a6 9. a4 Nbd7 10. Ng3 Nh5 11. Nxh5
    gxh5 12. Bd3 O-O 13. O-O f5 14. exf5 Ne5 15. Bc2 Bxf5 16. Bxf5 Rxf5 17. Ne4 {
    and Black held the draw in Aronian,L (2801)-Svidler,P (2763) Palma de Mallorca
    2017}) 9. Ng3 h5 10. Be2 Nh7 11. Bf4 $146 ({Aronian improves on a game of his
    own:} 11. Be3 h4 12. Nf1 O-O 13. Qd2 Re8 14. Bh6 {which later ended in a draw,
    Aronian,L (2809)-Li,C (2735) Geneva 2017}) 11… Qe7 (11… h4 12. Nf1 Qe7 13.
    Qd2 {would transpose into the game.}) 12. Qd2 (12. O-O Bd4+ 13. Kh1 Bxc3 $1 (
    13… h4 14. Nb5 {is less clear.}) 14. bxc3 h4 {would be embarrasing for the
    knight.}) 12… h4 {Otherwise White will castle and transfer the g3-knight to
    the optimal f2 square.} 13. Nf1 g5 {In order to cause confusion into White’s
    camp.} (13… O-O {would allow the regroupment} 14. Ne3 {As} (14. Bh6 $5 {also
    looks good for White.}) 14… g5 $2 {comes short to} 15. Nf5) 14. Be3 Ne5 {
    However now White has a chance to expand on the kingside, which he takes at
    once.} 15. g3 Bd7 ({Grischuk disliked} 15… f5 {due to} 16. f4 $1 ({Aronian’s
    line} 16. gxh4 {is not convincing due to} f4 $1 ({Rather than} 16… gxh4 17.
    f4) ({Nor} 16… g4 17. f4) 17. Bf2 gxh4) 16… Ng4 17. e5 {with strong
    initiative for White.}) ({Instead of the text move, Aronian considered} 15…
    Bh3 {to be best, with the idea} 16. gxh4 g4 17. f4 Nf3+ 18. Bxf3 gxf3 {where
    Black looks OK.}) ({One more option was} 15… Ng6 {in order to keep the
    blockade as much as possible.}) 16. gxh4 gxh4 $6 ({It was not too late for}
    16… g4 17. f4 Nf3+ 18. Bxf3 gxf3 19. Rg1 {and now say} f5 $5 {with unclear
    play.}) ({At the post mortem both players analyzed} 16… Qf6 17. hxg5 ({
    However here} 17. O-O-O {looks strong with the idea} Nxf3 18. Bxf3 Qxf3 19. Ng3
    gxh4 (19… Bh3 20. hxg5 Be5 {looks like Black’s best chance although White
    should be better here too.}) 20. Rdf1 Qg4 21. Rhg1 $1 {with big advantage for
    White.}) 17… Nxf3+ 18. Bxf3 Qxf3) 17. Rg1 f5 ({Here} 17… Rg8 {is not
    convincing due to} 18. f4 Ng6 19. e5 $1 {and “this is worse than in the game”
    (Grischuk)}) 18. f4 Ng4 19. e5 $1 {You do not need to ask Aronian twice to
    start an attack. Nor Grischuk.} dxe5 (19… Nxe3 {simply brings more white
    pieces into the game} 20. Nxe3) 20. d6 Qe6 $5 {“Setting a trap” (Aronian)} ({Or
    } 20… Qf7 21. Nd5 {with large advantage for White.}) 21. Nb5 ({Black’s idea
    is revealed in the line} 21. h3 exf4 22. Bxf4 Bd4 {“when Black is back in
    business” (Aronian)}) 21… Rc8 ({After} 21… Bxb5 22. Bxb5+ Kf7 23. Rc1 {
    “the black king has no good square” (Aronian)}) 22. Nc7+ Rxc7 23. dxc7 exf4 {
    At this point Grischuk was already very low on time, while his opponent had
    almost an hour on his clock.} 24. Rd1 {It is hard to call this a mistake, but
    according to the computer it is.} (24. Bxf4 {allows Black time to cement the
    position with} Bd4) ({However, the computer suggestion:} 24. O-O-O {would most
    likely have won after} fxe3 25. Nxe3 $3 ({Rather than} 25. Qxd7+ $2 Qxd7 26.
    Bb5 Bxb2+ 27. Kc2 Qxb5 28. c8=Q+ Ke7 29. Qc7+ Kf6 30. Rd6+ Kg5 {where it is
    even Black who wins and which was seen by both the opponents.}) 25… Bh6 ({
    Aronian was not sure about} 25… Bd4 26. Nxg4 ({Apparently he missed the
    killing blow} 26. Nxf5 $1 {and Black’s position collapses} Bxg1 27. Ng7+) 26…
    Qxa2 {this is indeed unclear, but there was a win before that.}) ({The
    captures lose quickly} 25… Qxe3 26. Qxe3+ Nxe3 27. Rxg7) ({Or} 25… Nxe3 26.
    c8=Q+ Bxc8 27. Qd8+ Kf7 28. Bh5+ {and mate.}) 26. Bb5 $1 Bxe3 27. c8=Q+ Kf7 28.
    Qxh8 {and White wins.}) 24… Ng5 $1 {With seconds on the clock Grischuk finds
    the best defense.} ({Instead} 24… fxe3 {loses to} 25. c8=Q+ Bxc8 26. Qd8+ Kf7
    27. Qc7+ Kg6 28. Rd6 {(Aronian)}) ({Similar is} 24… b6 25. c8=Q+ Bxc8 26.
    Qd8+ Kf7 27. Qc7+ Kg6 28. Rd6) 25. c8=Q+ Bxc8 26. Qd8+ Kf7 27. Qc7+ (27. Qxg5 {
    leads only to a draw after say this peculiar line} fxe3 28. Rxg4 fxg4 29. Qf4+
    Qf6 30. Bc4+ Ke8 31. Bb5+ Kf7 32. Qc7+ Kg6 33. Rd6 Be6 34. Bd3+ Kh6 35. Rxe6
    Qxe6 36. Qf4+ Kh5 37. Bf5 Qf6 38. Ng3+ hxg3 39. Qxg4+ Kh6 40. Qh3+ Kg5 41. Qg4+
    ) 27… Kg8 {Now Black loses.} ({Both players missed the resource} 27… Qe7
    28. Bc4+ Kf6 29. Qxf4 (29. Qxe7+ Kxe7 30. Bxc5+ {would most likely be a draw.})
    29… Nh3 30. Rd6+ Be6 31. Bd4+ ({White should likely survive after} 31. Qxg4
    fxg4 32. Rxe6+ Qxe6 33. Bxe6 Kxe6 34. Rxg4 Bxb2 35. Bxc5) 31… cxd4 32. Qxd4+
    Kf7 33. Bxe6+ Qxe6+ 34. Rxe6 Bxd4 {and it is Black who wins here.}) 28. Rd6 ({
    Aronian saw a similar winning line} 28. Rxg4 $1 fxg4 29. Rd6 {with the main
    idea} Qf5 (29… Qf7 30. Qxc8+ {“and the g4 pawn is hanging” (Aronian) is also
    curtains.}) 30. Bd3 Ne4 31. Rd8+ Kh7 32. Qe7 (32. Qxc8 {wins as well.}) 32…
    Be6 33. Nd2 fxe3 34. Nxe4 $1 {and it is over. Apparently, the nerves played
    huge role in this game!}) 28… Qf7 {Now comes the strangest move of the event
    so far.} 29. Qd8+ {Aronian refuses to capture the bishop with a check and to
    win! Unbelievable…} ({The explanation lies in the line:} 29. Qxc8+ Kh7 30.
    Qxc5 ({Also winning for White is the line that Grischuk calculated-} 30. Qd7
    Qxd7 ({Or} 30… fxe3 31. Rxg4 fxg4 32. Bd3+ Kg8 33. Qc8+ Bf8 34. Rg6+ {and
    Black has to part with his queen.}) 31. Rxd7 fxe3 32. Nxe3 $1 {(Grischuk)})
    30… Ne4 {It seems as Black is even taking over the initiative, but} 31. Rxg4
    $3 {clarifies matters. White wins almost the whole chess-set after} Nxc5 32.
    Rxh4+ Kg8 33. Rd8+ Bf8 34. Rxh8+ Kxh8 35. Bxc5) 29… Qf8 30. Bxf4 Ne6 31. Bc4
    Qxd8 32. Rxd8+ Kh7 33. Rxh8+ Bxh8 {Now the worst is over for Grischuk and he
    is the only one to play for the win. One can only imagine the enormous
    pressure that all the candidates are facing. Yesterday Grischuk missed a
    relatively simple tactical win, today Aronian. Huge attacking players like
    them will never allow such “clicks” in usual tournaments, but here it is
    different.} 34. Bd6 {In Grischuk’s time-trouble both players place their
    pieces optimally.} Ng5 35. Rg2 Ne4 36. Bb8 Bd4 37. h3 (37. Bxa7 Ne5 $1) 37…
    Ne5 38. Bd5 Nd3+ {The position is still extremely complicated.} ({Check this
    line for example} 38… Bxb2 $5 39. Nd2 Bc3 40. Bxe4 fxe4 41. Kd1 Bxh3 42. Rh2
    Ng4 43. Rxh3 Nf2+ 44. Kc2 Nxh3 45. Kxc3 {when it should be a draw somehow…})
    39. Ke2 Nc1+ ({Or} 39… Nxb2 40. Ne3 Nc3+ 41. Kd2 Nxd5 42. Nxd5 Be6 43. Nf4
    Nc4+ 44. Ke1 Bf7 45. Re2 {when again, nothing is clear but Black is playing
    for a win.}) 40. Kd1 Nd3 41. Nd2 Nf6 ({Grischuk spent a lot of time checking
    the line} 41… Nef2+ 42. Ke2 Nc1+ 43. Kf3 Nfd3 44. Rg8 Ne1+ 45. Kf4 Ncd3+ 46.
    Kg5 Be3+ 47. Kf6 {but realized in time that it will not end well for him.}) 42.
    Bf3 {They agreed to a draw due to the line:} (42. Bf3 Nf2+ ({Instead} 42…
    Nxb2+ 43. Kc2 f4 44. Rg5 Bxh3 {is risky for Black after} 45. Bxf4 ({Or} 45. Nb3
    $5)) 43. Kc1 (43. Ke1) 43… Nxh3 44. Rh2 Ng5 45. Rxh4+) 1/2-1/2

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.15”]
    [Round “5.2”]
    [White “Caruana, Fabiano”]
    [Black “Karjakin, Sergey”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “D30”]
    [WhiteElo “2784”]
    [BlackElo “2763”]
    [PlyCount “61”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Qb3 c6 7. O-O dxc4 {
    Karjakin played this since he knew the position would be the same as in lines
    with Qc2.} 8. Qxc4 b5 9. Qc2 Bb7 {Generally Black’s big goal is to get in …
    c5 to remove both his backward pawn and the outpost on c5.} 10. Nbd2 (10. Rd1 {
    at least hopes to prevent the freeing move}) 10… c5 $1 {Well, that was easy!
    Caruana wanted to get a “grip on the position by piling up on c5 with moves
    like Nb3, but Black couldn’t let that happen. Black will recover the pawn
    without issue.} 11. dxc5 Na6 12. Nb3 Be4 13. Qc3 Rc8 14. Be3 Nd5 15. Qd2 Bxf3
    16. Bxf3 Nxe3 17. Qxe3 Nxc5 {All of this was known exactly to Karjakin.} 18.
    Nxc5 (18. Nd4 Bg5 {–Karjakin}) 18… Bxc5 19. Qb3 Qb6 20. e3 Be7 21. Rfd1 Rc7
    22. Rac1 Rfc8 23. Rxc7 Rxc7 24. Kg2 g6 25. Rd2 Kg7 26. Rc2 Rxc2 27. Qxc2 Qc5
    28. Qxc5 Bxc5 29. b3 f5 30. a4 bxa4 31. bxa4 1/2-1/2

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.15”]
    [Round “5.3”]
    [White “So, Wesley”]
    [Black “Kramnik, Vladimir”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “D41”]
    [WhiteElo “2799”]
    [BlackElo “2800”]
    [PlyCount “114”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 c5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4 Nxc3 7. bxc3 cxd4 8.
    cxd4 Bb4+ 9. Bd2 Bxd2+ 10. Qxd2 O-O 11. Bc4 Nd7 12. O-O b6 13. Rad1 Bb7 14.
    Rfe1 Rc8 15. Bb3 Re8 16. h3 (16. Re3 Nf6 17. Qd3 b5 18. d5 exd5 19. e5 Ne4 20.
    Qxb5 Qb6 21. Qxb6 axb6 {So,W (2788)-Dominguez Perez,L (2739) Saint Louis 2017})
    16… Nf6 17. Qf4 Nh5 $146 (17… Qc7 18. Qh4 h6 19. Re3 b5 20. Ne5 a5 21. a4
    bxa4 22. Bxa4 Red8 23. f3 Ba8 {Epishin,V (2574)-Del Rio de Angelis,S (2489)
    Calvia 2005}) 18. Qe5 Nf6 19. Qf4 Nh5 20. Qh2 {Kramnik was still in his
    preparation here.} h6 21. d5 exd5 22. exd5 (22. e5 g6 23. Nd4 Qd7 {Kramnik})
    22… Rxe1+ 23. Nxe1 Qf6 24. Nd3 Ba6 {“The pawn looks dangerous but I’m in
    time.” (Kramnik)} 25. Qe5 {“The best try.” (Kramnik)} (25. Nb4 Be2) (25. d6
    Bxd3 26. d7 Rd8 27. Rxd3 Nf4 {Kramnik}) 25… Bxd3 26. Qxh5 Bc2 27. Rc1 Bf5 28.
    Rxc8+ Bxc8 29. d6 {“Important.” (Kramnik)} (29. Qd1 Qd6) 29… g5 {Stopping
    Qd5.} 30. Qd1 (30. h4 gxh4) (30. Qe2 Qxd6 31. Qe8+ Qf8 32. Bxf7+ Kg7 {Kramnik})
    30… Bd7 31. Qd5 Kg7 ({Kramnik wanted both …a5 and …Kg7 “and at least I
    can try.”} 31… a5 32. Bd1 Qa1 33. Kh2 Qc1 34. Bg4 Qf4+ 35. Kg1 Qc1+ {Kramnik}
    ) 32. Qb7 Qa1+ 33. Kh2 Qe5+ 34. Kg1 Qxd6 35. Qxa7 h5 36. Qb7 h4 37. Qf3 Qe7 38.
    Qc3+ f6 39. Qc4 Qe8 40. Qb4 b5 41. a3 Qe5 42. Bd1 Bc6 43. Bf3 Be8 44. Kf1 Bf7
    45. Be2 Be8 46. Bf3 f5 47. Kg1 Bf7 48. Qd2 Kg6 49. Qc1 Be6 50. Qc6 Kf6 51. Qe8
    Qa1+ 52. Kh2 Qxa3 53. Qd8+ Qe7 54. Qh8+ Qg7 55. Qd8+ Kg6 56. Qe8+ Qf7 57. Qxb5
    Qc7+ 1/2-1/2

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.15”]
    [Round “5.4”]
    [White “Ding, Liren”]
    [Black “Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “E05”]
    [WhiteElo “2769”]
    [BlackElo “2809”]
    [PlyCount “61”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. a4
    Bd7 9. Qxc4 Bc6 10. Bf4 Bd6 11. Bg5 Nbd7 12. Nc3 h6 13. Bc1 {An uncommon move,
    as you might expect. The idea is to spend the extra tempos to reroute the
    bishop to b3 rather than have it get in the way on, say, d2.} a5 (13… e5 14.
    e4 {Was Ding’s idea. “I didn’t expect [Mamedyarov] to play this line.”}) 14. b3
    Qe7 15. Bb2 Rfd8 16. Rac1 {Mildly criticized by Mamedyarov as passive, as it
    also allows Black, who is a little short on space, to exchange bishops despite
    weakening c7.} Ba3 17. Bxa3 Qxa3 18. Nb5 Qe7 $1 19. Qc2 (19. Nxc7 Nb6 20. Qc2
    Rac8 {was the line that Black thought White has missed, but in face Ding
    admitted that he didn’t see the …Ba3 idea at all.}) 19… Bxf3 20. Bxf3 c6
    21. Nc3 Nb6 22. e3 e5 23. dxe5 Qxe5 24. Rfd1 g6 25. Rd2 Rd7 26. Rxd7 Nbxd7 27.
    Rd1 h5 28. Rd4 (28. h4 {was Ding’s preference after the game, as you’ll
    understand below.}) 28… Nc5 29. h4 (29. Nd5 $2 Ne6 $1 30. Nxf6+ Qxf6 {and
    Black wins due to the twin threats [Mamedyarov]. Ding again admitted that he
    didn’t see this, otherwise he would have played 28. h4 instead.}) 29… Kg7 30.
    Kg2 Ne6 31. Rd1 {Mamedyarov joked that if the game continued he would have
    played 31…Rh8 and “fake” playing …g5. But an homage to Kramnik this was
    not; he would have simply toggled the rook on the next move! Why not trading
    rooks with 31…Rd8? Mamedyarov thought White would swap, then play the exotic
    maneuver Nc3-b1-d2-c4, targeting the weak queenside pawns.} 1/2-1/2

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.16”]
    [Round “6”]
    [White “So, Wesley”]
    [Black “Aronian, Levon”]
    [Result “1-0”]
    [ECO “C88”]
    [WhiteElo “2799”]
    [BlackElo “2794”]
    [PlyCount “155”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. a4
    b4 9. a5 d6 10. d3 Be6 11. Bxe6 fxe6 12. Nbd2 Rb8 {This line was heavily
    discussed last year in St. Louis.} 13. Nb3 ({Carlsen chose instead} 13. c3 Qe8
    14. Nc4 Qg6 15. h3 Nd7 16. Be3 d5 17. Ncd2 bxc3 18. bxc3 Nc5 19. Bxc5 Bxc5 20.
    Qa4 {and went on to win later, Carlsen,M (2822)-Aronian,L (2809) Saint Louis
    2017. However, there remained a lot of questions about White’s chances in this
    game.}) 13… Qc8 14. h3 $146 {So improves on another St. Louis game.} ({In
    that one the world champion defended the black color after} 14. Qe2 Nd8 15. d4
    exd4 16. Nbxd4 c5 17. Nb3 e5 18. Nbd2 Ne6 {Caruana,F (2807) -Carlsen,M (2822)
    Saint Louis 2017}) 14… Nd8 15. Be3 c5 16. Nbd2 Nc6 17. c3 Rb5 18. d4 ({White
    can of course keep the pawn with either} 18. Nc4) ({Or} 18. Nb3 {but Black
    would have no problems at all in these lines.}) 18… exd4 {An ambitious move.}
    ({Aronian saw that he can equalize with:} 18… bxc3 19. bxc3 exd4 20. cxd4 c4
    ({Probably also good is} 20… cxd4 21. Nxd4 Nxd4 22. Bxd4 Nd7) ({Maybe even}
    20… Nxa5 21. dxc5 dxc5 22. Qa4 {is a better version of the game continuation
    for Black. Although with so many weaknesses White still has decent
    compensation for a pawn.}) 21. Nxc4 Nxe4 {“should be around equal” (Aronian)})
    (18… Nxa5 $2 {should be avoided though as it drops a piece after} 19. dxe5
    dxe5 (19… bxc3 20. bxc3 dxe5 21. c4) 20. c4) 19. cxd4 Nxa5 20. dxc5 dxc5 {In
    return for the pawn White has active pieces and can exploit the many
    weaknesses in the opponent’s camp.} 21. Ra2 {“I kind of prepared this line”
    (So). He later revealed that he considered the position equal.} Qb7 ({Here and
    on the next moves Aronian avoids} 21… Nc6 {in order to keep the c4 square
    under control and not to let the white queen there.}) ({The American GM
    expected} 21… Nd7 {with the idea Nd7-b8-c6.}) 22. b3 ({If} 22. Qa1 Bd8) 22…
    Kh8 {“I was a little surprised by this, but it is probably a good move.” (So)}
    ({Aronian disliked the position after:} 22… Nxe4 23. Nxe4 Qxe4 24. Bg5 Qb7
    25. Qe2 Bxg5 26. Nxg5 {“maybe it holds somehow but it was not the position I
    wanted to get” (Aronian)} Qd5 27. Nxe6) ({Black also disliked} 22… Nd7 23.
    Qe2 {as he felt he should keep the knight on f6.}) 23. Qc2 {So is combining
    threats against the weaknesses on the queenside with threats on the opposite
    wing. Now e4-e5 followed by Nf3-g5 is always a threat.} Nd7 ({If} 23… Nc6 {
    to centralize this knight, then either} 24. Nc4 ({Or} 24. Ng5)) 24. Rea1 Bd8
    25. Nc4 ({Aronian saw the excellent reply to} 25. e5 c4 26. Nxc4 Nxc4 27. Qxc4
    Rxf3 $1 {with a fantastic counter-attack.}) 25… Nxc4 26. Qxc4 Bf6 ({After}
    26… a5 27. Rd1 $1 {is strong.} ({Rather than} 27. Qxe6 Rb6 28. Qc4 Rd6 {
    although here too, White is better.})) 27. Rd1 Qc6 28. Rad2 {Little by little
    the white pieces occupied commanding positions.} Nb6 (28… Ne5 {is unpleasant
    for Black after} 29. Nxe5 Bxe5 30. Rd8 {(Aronian, So)}) 29. Qc2 Qc7 {After
    this move Black’s position becomes too loose.} ({Black rejected} 29… Qc8 $1 {
    on the account of} 30. e5 Bd8 31. Bg5 {But this seems way better than the game
    continuation after} (31. Bxc5 $2 Rxc5 32. Rxd8 Rxc2 {wins for Black.}) 31…
    Nd5 $1 {This was probably Black’s best chance.}) ({After} 29… e5 30. Bg5 $1 {
    is strong for White (Aronian)}) 30. e5 $1 {So breaks open the position for his
    active pieces. The rook on b5 and the knight on b6 are out of the game and So
    attacks practically with an extra rook.} ({Also quite unpleasant for the
    second player was the resource} 30. Bg5 $5 {(Aronian) with the threat e4-e5
    and if} c4 31. Bxf6 gxf6 32. Nd4 Re5 33. f4 {wins material for White.}) 30…
    Be7 (30… Bxe5 $2 {drops material heavily after} 31. Ng5 g6 32. Nxe6) ({Here}
    30… Bd8 {does not work (see the line from the previous comment) due to} 31.
    Bxc5 $1 Rxc5 32. Rxd8 Rxc2 33. Rxf8#) 31. Nd4 Rc8 ({Perhaps the last chance
    was the eventual endgame after} 31… Qxe5 32. Nxb5 axb5 33. Re2 Qc3) 32. Nxe6
    $1 {White keeps playing for the attack.} ({“It does not make any sense to take
    the exchange”} 32. Nxb5 axb5 33. f4 Nd5 {“as Black is at least equal” (Aronian,
    So). The black connected passers are perfectly supported by all his pieces.})
    32… Qxe5 33. Nf4 {Aronian did not expect this and “relaxed too soon” after
    seeing it. He later called the move “excellent practical chance.”} ({Aronian
    spend almost all his remaining time on the sharp and beautiful lines:} 33. Rd6
    $1 {with the threat Be3-f4! (So did not see this) If} Kg8 ({The main tactical
    point of the move is that} 33… Bxd6 $1 34. Ng5 {is a nasty double attack.}) (
    {Probably} 33… Re8 {leaves defensive chances to Black.}) 34. Bf4 Qf6 35. Ng5
    {wins for White.}) ({Black was also afraid of} 33. Nd8 {when after} Kg8 34. Rd7
    c4 ({Aronian intended} 34… Qf6 {but this loses to} 35. Bg5 $3 Qxg5 36. Qe2 $1
    ) (34… h6) 35. Bd4 Qf5 $2 ({However} 35… Nxd7 $1 36. Bxe5 Nxe5 {provides
    Black drawing chances.}) 36. Rxe7 Rxd8 (36… Qxc2 37. Re8#) 37. Rxg7+ {and
    White should win.}) 33… Rf8 {This is “bad” (So); “a terrible move.” (Aronian)
    } (33… Kg8 $1 {was mandatory} 34. Re2 Bf8 {when Black can cement his
    position.}) 34. Re2 $1 {Now the black pieces are once again loose.} Qc3 ({Last
    chance was} 34… Bf6 $5) ({Aronian’s initial plan was} 34… Qf5 35. Qxf5 Rxf5
    {but then he spotted} 36. Bc1 $1 {“and Black can resign”(Aronian). For example}
    Bf8 37. Rd8 Kg8 38. Ree8 c4 39. g4 Rf6 40. Ne6) 35. Qb1 $1 (35. Qa2 {with the
    same idea was also very strong as indicated by the Armenian GM.}) 35… Qf6 ({
    Or} 35… Nc8 36. Bd2 Qf6 37. Ne6 Rg8 38. Bg5 Qf7 39. Bxe7 Nxe7 (39… Qxe7 40.
    Nd4) 40. Ng5 Qg6 41. Qxg6 Nxg6 42. Nf7#) 36. Bc1 $1 {“Here the game is already
    finished. It is just (white) pieces coming.” (Aronian)} c4 ({A curious line is
    } 36… Qf7 37. Bb2 Bf6 38. Bxf6 Qxf6 39. Ne6 Rg8 40. Nc7 Ra5 41. Ne8 Qg5 42.
    Nd6) 37. bxc4 Nxc4 ({Alas,} 37… Rg5 {does not work due to} 38. Re6 $1 {
    (Aronian)} ({But not} 38. Ne6 $2 Rxg2+ $1 39. Kxg2 Qf3+)) 38. Re6 Qg5 {
    Sacrifices the queen in the vain hope of a fortress.} ({Or else Black will
    lose material on the pin} 38… Qf7 39. Rd7 Re8 40. Qe4) 39. Ng6+ ({There was
    an alternative win} 39. Rd7 Bf6 40. Rf7 $1 Rbb8 (40… Rg8 41. Rexf6) 41. Rxf8+
    Rxf8 42. Qxb4 Rc8 43. Qxc4 $1) 39… Qxg6 40. Rxg6 hxg6 41. Qe4 {This is the
    problem. More material is lost.} Bf6 42. Qxc4 b3 43. Ba3 Rfb8 ({If} 43… b2
    44. Bxf8 b1=Q 45. Rxb1 Rxb1+ 46. Kh2) 44. Rb1 b2 45. h4 {The rest is good
    technique by So.} (45. Qa4 $5 a5 46. h4) 45… Ra5 (45… a5 46. Bd6 R8b7 47.
    g4 Rb3 48. Kg2 {(Aronian, So)}) 46. Qd3 Rd8 (46… Bxh4 47. Rxb2) 47. Qb3 Rc8
    48. Qb7 Rd8 49. Qb3 Rc8 50. Qb4 Rb5 51. Qg4 Rc3 (51… Rcb8 52. Qxg6) 52. Bxb2
    Rxb2 53. Rxb2 Rc1+ 54. Kh2 Bxb2 55. Qxg6 Ra1 56. g4 a5 57. Qh5+ Kg8 58. Qb5 Ba3
    ({The utility of the kingside pawns is revealed after} 58… Bf6 59. Qe8+ Kh7
    60. g5 Bc3 (60… Bb2 61. Qe4+ Kg8 62. g6 Kf8 63. Qe6) 61. Qh5+ Kg8 62. g6 Kf8
    63. Qc5+) 59. Qe5 Rd1 60. Qe6+ Kh7 61. Qe4+ Kh8 62. Qa8+ Kh7 63. Qxa5 Bd6+ 64.
    Kg2 Rd4 65. Qf5+ Kh8 66. Qh5+ Kg8 67. g5 Kf8 68. Qg6 Be7 69. Qf5+ Ke8 70. Kh3
    Rd6 71. Qh7 Kf7 72. f4 Rd4 73. Qf5+ Ke8 74. Qe5 Rb4 75. Kg4 Kf8 76. Qf5+ Ke8
    77. Qe6 Rd4 (77… Kf8 78. Qc8+ Kf7 79. g6+ Kxg6 80. Qf5+ Kh6 81. Qh5#) 78. Qe5
    1-0

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.16”]
    [Round “6”]
    [White “Ding, Liren”]
    [Black “Karjakin, Sergey”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “D73”]
    [WhiteElo “2769”]
    [BlackElo “2763”]
    [PlyCount “35”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 g6 3. d4 Bg7 4. Bg2 Nf6 5. c4 dxc4 6. O-O O-O 7. Na3 c5 8. dxc5
    c3 9. Nb5 Na6 10. Nxc3 Nxc5 11. Nd4 $146 {“White is not objectively better but
    at least the game gets more complicated than in the main line.” (Karjakin)} ({
    Karjakin wasn’t afraid of} 11. Be3 Nfe4 12. Nxe4 Nxe4 13. Bd4 Bxd4 14. Qxd4
    Qxd4 15. Nxd4 Nd6 {Kramnik,V (2787)-Wei,Y (2743) Wijk aan Zee 2018}) 11… Qb6
    12. Be3 Qxb2 {“A typical manever.” (Karjakin)} 13. Ncb5 (13. Ndb5 Nce4) 13…
    Ne6 ({Karjakin wasn’t sure about} 13… Ng4 14. Rb1 Nxe3 15. fxe3 Qxa2 16. Qc1)
    14. Rb1 Qxa2 15. Ra1 Qb2 (15… Qc4 16. Ra4) 16. Rb1 (16. Qd3 Bd7 {Karjakin})
    16… Qa2 17. Ra1 Qb2 18. Rb1 1/2-1/2

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.16”]
    [Round “6”]
    [White “Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar”]
    [Black “Kramnik, Vladimir”]
    [Result “1-0”]
    [ECO “D35”]
    [WhiteElo “2809”]
    [BlackElo “2800”]
    [PlyCount “127”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 c5 7. Rb1 Be7 8.
    Bb5+ (8. Nf3 O-O 9. Bc4 Qc7 10. Qe2 a6 11. O-O b5 12. Bd3 Bb7 13. a4 bxa4 14.
    Bf4 Qc8 {Carlsen,M (2832)-So,W (2815) Chess.com Speed Chess Ch 2017}) 8… Bd7
    9. Bd3 cxd4 10. cxd4 Nc6 11. Be2 $146 (11. Nf3 Nb4 12. O-O Bc6 13. Bc4 b5 14.
    Ne5 bxc4 15. Rxb4 Bxe4 16. Qa4+ Kf8 {Naroditsky,D (2626)-Shimanov,A (2646)
    Saint Louis 2017}) 11… Rc8 12. Nf3 Qa5+ 13. Bd2 Bb4 14. Rb2 Bxd2+ 15. Qxd2
    Qxd2+ 16. Kxd2 Na5 {Kramnik considered the endgame equal.} 17. Rbb1 Ke7 18.
    Rhc1 f6 19. h4 Rhd8 20. Bd3 a6 21. Ke3 b5 22. g4 Be8 23. Ng1 Nc6 24. Ne2 Rd6 {
    And here Kramnik thought he was better.} 25. Rd1 (25. a4 bxa4 26. Bxa6 Ra8 27.
    Bb7 Ra7) 25… Rcd8 26. Bc2 Na5 27. Bd3 Nc6 28. Bc2 h5 29. g5 fxg5 30. e5 R6d7
    31. hxg5 h4 32. g6 Na5 (32… h3 33. f4 Na5) 33. Rbc1 Rc7 34. Bd3 Rdc8 $2 {A
    blunder based on a strange oversight. As Kramnik pointed out, he had many
    alternatives.} (34… Bc6 35. Nf4 Rdc8) (34… Rxc1 35. Rxc1 Bc6 (35… h3 $5)
    36. Nf4 Rh8 37. Bf1 Nc4+) (34… Nc4+ 35. Bxc4 Rxc4 36. Rxc4 bxc4 37. Rh1 Bxg6
    38. Rxh4 {Mamedyarov}) 35. Rxc7+ Rxc7 36. Rh1 Nc4+ 37. Kf4 {In his earlier
    calculations, Kramnik “had a hallicunation,” thinking his rook was on c8
    instead of c7. Therefore he had planned 37…Bc6 38.Rxh4 Rf8+ here, winning
    back the pawn.} Nb2 38. Be4 b4 39. Rxh4 Nd1 40. f3 (40. Rh7 $1) 40… Nc3 41.
    Nxc3 bxc3 42. Rh2 (42. Rh7 Kd8 43. Bc2 Rb7 44. Rh8 Ke7 45. Ke3 Rb2 46. Be4 Rg2)
    42… Rc8 43. Ke3 Bb5 44. f4 Bc4 45. Rh7 Rg8 46. a3 a5 (46… Bb3 47. Kd3) 47.
    Bc2 (47. d5 $1 exd5 48. Bc2 Ke6 49. Kd4 Rf8 50. f5+ Rxf5 51. Bxf5+ Kxf5 52.
    Kxc3 Kxg6 53. Rh2) 47… Kd7 48. d5 Bxd5 49. Kd4 Ba2 (49… Kc6 50. f5) (49…
    Bf3 50. Kxc3 Bg4 51. Kd4 Bf5 52. Bxf5 exf5 53. Kd5) 50. Kxc3 Kc6 51. Rh2 Kc5
    52. Rd2 Rh8 (52… Rf8 53. Rd7 Rxf4 54. Rxg7 Rg4 55. Rd7) 53. Rd7 Rh3+ 54. Kb2
    Bd5 55. Rxg7 Kd4 (55… Rg3 56. Ra7) 56. Rh7 Rg3 57. Rh5 Rg2 58. Rg5 Rf2 59. g7
    Be4 60. g8=Q Rxc2+ 61. Kb3 Rc3+ 62. Ka4 Rc5 63. Rg2 $1 ({More aaccurate than}
    63. Rg3 Bc2+ 64. Rb3 Rc4+ 65. Kxa5 Bxb3 66. f5) 63… Bf3 64. Qd8+ 1-0

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.16”]
    [Round “6”]
    [White “Caruana, Fabiano”]
    [Black “Grischuk, Alexander”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “E60”]
    [WhiteElo “2784”]
    [BlackElo “2767”]
    [PlyCount “71”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. e3 O-O 5. Be2 c5 (5… d5 6. cxd5 Nxd5 7. e4
    Nb6 8. O-O Bg4 9. Nbd2 $1 {was one of Grischuk’s ideas when he played this
    system as White.}) 6. d5 e6 7. Nc3 exd5 (7… b6 8. O-O exd5 9. cxd5 Re8 10.
    Nd2 Ba6 11. Re1 d6 12. e4 Qc8 13. a4 c4 {Nakamura,H (2787)-Nepomniachtchi,I
    (2751) Moscow 2018}) 8. cxd5 d6 9. Nd2 Na6 10. O-O Nc7 11. e4 Re8 12. a4 Rb8
    13. f3 a6 14. a5 Bd7 15. Nc4 Bb5 16. Bg5 {“A very nice move” (Grischuk) which
    prevents …Nd7.} Bxc4 17. Bxc4 b5 18. axb6 Rxb6 19. Na4 $146 (19. Qc2 h6 20.
    Bh4 g5 21. Bf2 Nd7 22. Ra2 Qf6 23. Be2 Reb8 24. Be3 Ne5 {Hamitevici,V (2430)
    -Jumabayev,R (2599) London 2015}) ({Also interesting was} 19. f4 Rxb2 20. e5
    dxe5 21. f5 e4 (21… Rb4 $5) 22. d6 Nb5 23. fxg6 hxg6 24. Nd5 Re6 25. Nxf6+
    Rxf6 {and here the players missed the killer move} 26. Bxf7+ $1 Kxf7 27. Qd5+
    Kf8 28. Rxf6+ Bxf6 29. Bh6+ Ke8 30. Qe6+ Be7 31. d7+ Qxd7 32. Qg8+) 19… Rb4 (
    {Grischuk didn’t like} 19… Rb7 20. Qd3 Qb8 21. Rae1) 20. b3 Qc8 (20… Qb8
    21. Bf4) 21. Bf4 ({Grischuk also suggested} 21. Nxc5 dxc5 22. d6 Nb5 (22… Rd8
    23. e5) 23. Bxf6 Bxf6 24. d7 Bd4+ 25. Qxd4 Nxd4 26. dxc8=Q Rxc8 27. Ra3 Rcb8 (
    27… Rd8) (27… Nc2) 28. Rxa6 Nxb3 29. Bd5 {Grischuk}) (21. Ra2 Nd7 22. Nb2
    Ne5 23. Nd3 Nxc4 24. Nxb4 Nb2 25. Rxb2 Bxb2 26. Nc6 Qd7 {Caruana}) 21… Qd7 (
    21… Nh5 $5 22. Bxd6 Nb5 23. Nb6 Qb7 24. Bxc5 Nc3 25. Qd2 Rxb6 26. Kh1 {
    Caruana}) 22. Ra2 Nh5 23. Be3 Rbb8 24. Qd2 Nb5 25. g4 ({Also here Grischuk
    seriously considered} 25. Nxc5 dxc5 26. Bxc5 {(“This looks so desparate.” –
    Caruana)}) 25… Nf6 26. Nb2 Qc8 (26… Nxe4 27. fxe4 Nc3 {“and the computer
    is showing zeros,” said FIDE’s Nastja Karlovich. Caruana: “If the computer is
    showing zeros it’s probably winning for Back.”}) 27. Bf4 Nd7 (27… Rb6 28. Bd3
    (28. Na4)) 28. Bxb5 axb5 29. Bxd6 Rb6 30. Bg3 c4 31. bxc4 (31. Qc2 $5 Ra6 32.
    Rxa6 Qxa6 33. bxc4 bxc4 {Grischuk: “I thought at least practically it’s very
    nice. Against computer you are going to lose any position so it also doesn’t
    matter.”}) 31… bxc4 {Grischuk thought he had great compensation here but he
    had missed…} 32. Qe2 $1 {when…} Rb4 {was the only move, he thought.} (32…
    c3 33. Nc4 Rb4 {Caruana}) 33. Bd6 ({If White wants to continue (which he
    should, according to engines) it’s with} 33. Rc1 c3 34. Nd3 (34. Nd1 f5 {
    didn’t look appealing to Caruana in time trouble}) 34… Rc4 {when Caruana
    didn’t see a move.}) 33… Rb6 34. Bg3 Rb4 35. Bd6 Rb6 36. Bg3 1/2-1/2

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.18”]
    [Round “7.3”]
    [White “Grischuk, Alexander”]
    [Black “Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “D38”]
    [WhiteElo “2767”]
    [BlackElo “2809”]
    [PlyCount “31”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Bg5 h6 {Mamedyarov said he played
    this for the first time.} 6. Bh4 g5 7. Bg3 Ne4 8. Qc2 h5 9. h3 Nc6 (9… c6 10.
    e3 Qa5 11. Nd2 Nxg3 12. fxg3 Qc7 13. O-O-O Qxg3 14. e4 Nd7 {Matlakov,M (2691)
    -Yu,Y (2737) Moscow 2016}) 10. e3 Bxc3+ 11. bxc3 Nxg3 12. fxg3 Qd6 13. Qf2 $146
    (13. Kf2 h4 14. g4 Bd7 15. Bd3 Qg3+ 16. Kf1 dxc4 17. Bxc4 Rg8 {Azmaiparashvili,
    Z (2650)-Nikolaidis,I (2565) Pula 1997}) 13… Qa3 14. Qc2 Qd6 15. Qf2 Qa3 16.
    Qc2 1/2-1/2

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.18”]
    [Round “7.1”]
    [White “Karjakin, Sergey”]
    [Black “So, Wesley”]
    [Result “1-0”]
    [ECO “E51”]
    [WhiteElo “2763”]
    [BlackElo “2799”]
    [PlyCount “80”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Nf3 d5 6. Bd2 c5 7. a3 cxd4 {
    Karjakin was surprised by this.} (7… Bxc3 8. Bxc3 Ne4 9. Rc1 Nxc3 10. Rxc3
    cxd4 11. Nxd4 dxc4 12. Bxc4 Bd7 13. O-O Nc6 {Riazantsev,A (2671)-Inarkiev,E
    (2709) Doha 2016}) 8. axb4 dxc3 9. Bxc3 dxc4 10. Bxc4 Qxd1+ 11. Kxd1 $146 (11.
    Rxd1 Bd7 12. Ne5 Rc8 13. Be2 Ba4 14. Ra1 Be8 15. Nc4 Nbd7 16. Nd6 Rcb8 {
    Sandipan,C (2569)-Visakh,N (2389) Kolkata 2015}) 11… Bd7 12. Ke2 Rc8 13. Bd3
    Nd5 14. Ne5 Be8 {“I realized I don’t have anything.” (Karjakin)} 15. Bd2 f6 16.
    Nc4 Rd8 17. Rhc1 Nc6 18. Be4 Ndxb4 (18… a6 19. b5 $5 {Karjakin}) 19. Bxb4
    Nxb4 20. Bxb7 Rab8 21. Rxa7 Rd7 22. Na5 Nd3 23. Rd1 Nxb2 24. Rxd7 Bxd7 25. Bc6
    Bxc6 26. Nxc6 Re8 (26… Rb6 27. Nd4 Nc4 {seemed easier to Karjakin.}) 27. e4
    Nc4 28. Kd3 Nd6 29. f4 Kf8 30. e5 fxe5 31. fxe5 Nf5 (31… Nf7 32. Kc4 Nd8 33.
    Nd4 Nf7 {Karjakin}) 32. g4 Nh4 33. Kc4 Nf3 34. Ra2 Rc8 35. Kb5 Ke8 $4 ({As
    Karjakin pointed out, the way to draw was} 35… Rc7 $1 36. Kb6 (36. Rf2 Rf7)
    36… Rd7 37. Rf2 Rd3) 36. Kb6 $1 g5 37. h3 Nxe5 38. Nxe5 Rc3 39. Rh2 Ke7 40.
    Kb5 Re3 {So lost on time here but according to Karjakin it was a technical win
    for White.} 1-0

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.18”]
    [Round “7.2”]
    [White “Aronian, Levon”]
    [Black “Caruana, Fabiano”]
    [Result “0-1”]
    [ECO “D37”]
    [WhiteElo “2794”]
    [BlackElo “2784”]
    [PlyCount “74”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. e4 Bb4 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bxf6 Qxf6 8.
    Bxc4 c5 9. O-O cxd4 10. e5 Qd8 11. Ne4 O-O 12. Qe2 Be7 13. Rad1 ({White can
    also place the other rook on d1, as in this fascinating game:} 13. Rfd1 Qa5 14.
    Ng3 Rd8 15. Qe4 Nd7 16. Bd3 Nf8 17. Nh5 Bd7 18. Qg4 g6 19. Nf4 Bc6 20. Bxg6
    fxg6 21. Nxg6 Bxf3 22. Nxe7+ Kf7 23. Qxf3+ Kxe7 24. Qf6+ Ke8 25. Rd3 Rd7 26.
    Rf3 Qc5 27. Qxh6 Rc8 28. Qh5+ Kd8 29. Qg5+ Ke8 30. Qh5+ Kd8 31. Qg5+ {1/2-1/2
    (31) Grandelius,N (2653)-Bluebaum,M (2643) Germany 2018}) 13… Qc7 14. Bd3
    $146 {A novelty, which is backed up by deep opening preparation.} ({White did
    not get much in this game:} 14. Ng3 Rd8 15. Nh5 g6 16. Nf4 Nc6 17. Qe4 Bf8 18.
    h4 Bg7 19. Rfe1 Bd7 20. Bd3 Be8 {Moiseenko,A (2671)-Meier,G (2644) Jerusalem
    2017}) 14… Nd7 15. Rc1 Qa5 16. g4 {“A complete surprise” (Caruana). Albeit
    typical, Aronian’s idea is nevertheless very impressive. It is very obvious
    that White needs to attack on the kingside. But as we have seen in the games
    from above the pure piece attack with the heavy pieces lifts leads White
    nowhere. Aronian wants to clear the road for them. This is risky for two
    reasons: it gives Caruana time to finish his development and opens the white
    king as well. And of course, it drops another pawn.} Nxe5 17. Nxe5 Qxe5 18. f4
    Qa5 $1 {The best square for the queen.} (18… Qd5 {“does not work” (Caruana,
    Aronian) due to the beautiful idea} 19. g5 Bd7 20. gxh6 gxh6 21. Rc5 $1 {
    “always an annoying resource” (Caruana)} Bxc5 22. Nf6+) 19. g5 Qd8 ({Both
    players agreed that the other defensive set up} 19… g6 20. h4 h5 {is not
    good for Black after} 21. Ng3 {with the f4-f5 ideas in the air as well as the
    knight sacrifice on h5.}) 20. h4 ({Later on Aronian regretted that he did not
    lift the rook:} 20. Rf3 {[%cal Gf3g3]} Bd7 21. Rg3 Bc6 22. gxh6 g6 {which
    would have helped him to establish a strong attacking knight on g5.} 23. Ng5 {
    “I wanted to place the knight like that later” (Aronian)} Qd5 24. Kf2 {[%cal
    Gh2h4,Gh4h5] Intending h2-h4-h5. It is not clear how strong White’s attack is
    but it is definitely dangerous.}) 20… Bd7 21. gxh6 g6 {Missed by White.} ({
    He expected} 21… f5 {instead when after} 22. Ng5 Bxg5 23. hxg7 {both} Kxg7 ({
    As well as the exchange sacrifice} 23… Bh6 24. gxf8=Q+ Kxf8 25. Rf3 {which
    is also unclear.}) 24. hxg5 Qb8 25. Bb5 {lead to unclear game which Aronian
    considered favorable for him.}) 22. h5 {The most straightforward way to
    continue the attack.} ({Although} 22. Ng5 $5 {deserved attention as well, to
    which Caruana intended the prophylactic move} Kh8) 22… Kh8 {Another useful
    prophylactic move.} 23. Kh2 {Aronian did not like his choice right after the
    game. The move clears the road for the heavy pieces on the g-file, but is slow.
    } ({The obvious continuation} 23. hxg6 fxg6 24. Qg4 ({Instead} 24. Nc5 Bxc5 25.
    Rxc5 Bc6 26. Rg5 {is approximately equal.}) {was not to Aronian’s liking as
    his opponent can start bugging him on the other side with} 24… Rc8) 23… Bc6
    24. Rf3 {Perhaps this is the real mistake.} ({Caruana expected the following:}
    24. hxg6 fxg6 25. Qg4 Qd5 (25… Bxe4 26. Bxe4 Bd6 {might be interesting as
    well, albeit risky.}) 26. Rc5 $1 ({Here they both saw the brilliancy} 26. Rxc6
    bxc6 27. Qxg6 Rg8 28. Qf7 Raf8 29. Ng5 $1 {seems like mate-} Rxf7 ({Until one
    discovers the counter-brilliancy} 29… Qg2+ $3 30. Kxg2 Rxf7 {and the king is
    pinned (Aronian, Caruana)}) 30. Nxf7#) 26… Bxc5 27. Qxg6 Qd7 28. Nxc5 Qe7 29.
    Qg7+ $1 Qxg7 30. hxg7+ Kxg7 31. Nxe6+ {with a draw. Objectively, this was the
    best that White could do.}) 24… Bd6 ({Caruana discarded} 24… Qd5 {since
    after} 25. Rg3 Qxh5+ 26. Qxh5 gxh5 27. Rg7 {“White has enough for the pawn.”
    Still} f5 $1 {seems promising for the second player. For example} 28. Rxe7 fxe4
    29. Rxc6 bxc6 30. Bxe4 Rxf4 {when the compensation should not be enough.}) 25.
    Qf2 Bc7 $1 {Caruana liked the bishop here.} 26. Kh3 Qe7 {A strong resource,
    missed by Aronian.} (26… Qd5 27. Rc5 $1) 27. Ng5 {Finally, the knight lands
    on g5, but it is a bit late.} ({Maybe} 27. Rg1 Rg8 28. Rfg3 {was White’s best
    hope.}) 27… e5 $1 {Central powerplay.} ({But not} 27… Bxf3 28. Qxf3 Bd6 29.
    Qe4 {when White gets all then light squares.}) 28. Rxc6 $1 {Not even thinking
    about a retreat.} bxc6 29. Nxf7+ Rxf7 30. hxg6 {White is down a rook but his
    pawns look scary!} Rf6 {Surprisingly, this should have led to a draw.} ({
    Aronian felt too pessimistic at this stage of the game and believed that Black
    is winning after} 30… Rxf4 $1 31. Rxf4 exf4 {but things are not that simple
    and White can escape after} 32. Qxd4+ (32. Qc2 Qe6+ {wins for Black after} 33.
    Kg2 f3+ $1 34. Kxf3 Rf8+ {and mate.}) 32… Qe5 33. g7+ Kg8 {and now} 34. Bc4+
    ({Not} 34. Qd7 Qh5+ 35. Kg2 Qd5+ {(Aronian)}) 34… Kh7 35. Qd3+ Kxh6 36. g8=Q
    Rxg8 37. Bxg8 {with likely draw.}) 31. g7+ Kg8 32. Bc4+ ({The drawing line was
    } 32. Qh4 $1 e4 33. h7+ ({Not} 33. Bxe4 $2 Qxe4) 33… Kxg7 34. Rg3+ Kh8 35.
    Rg8+ $1 Rxg8 36. hxg8=Q+ Kxg8 37. Bc4+ Kg7 38. Qg5+ {when Black cannot escape
    the perpetual-} Kh7 (38… Kf8 $4 39. Qg8#) 39. Qg8+ Kh6 40. Qg5+) 32… Kh7 {
    Now Black wins.} 33. Qh4 e4 34. Rg3 Bxf4 35. g8=Q+ (35. Rb3 {loses to} Rxh6)
    35… Rxg8 36. Bxg8+ Kh8 37. Rg7 Qf8 $1 ({Avoiding the last trap:} 37… Qd6
    38. Rh7+ Kxg8 39. Qg4+ Rg6 40. Rg7+ $1 {and Black gets checkmated.}) 0-1

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.18”]
    [Round “7.4”]
    [White “Kramnik, Vladimir”]
    [Black “Ding, Liren”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “A28”]
    [WhiteElo “2800”]
    [BlackElo “2769”]
    [PlyCount “147”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. d3 g6 5. g3 Bg7 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O d6 8. b3 (
    8. Rb1 a5 9. a3 Re8 10. Nd2 Be6 11. Nd5 Qd7 12. Nxf6+ Bxf6 13. Ne4 Bg7 14. Bh6
    Bh3 {Iturrizaga Bonelli,E (2650)-Mamedyarov,S (2804) chess.com INT 2018}) 8…
    Nd4 9. Nd2 c6 10. e3 Ne6 11. Bb2 $146 ({Voorganger (4):} 11. Ba3 Re8 12. Nde4
    Nxe4 13. dxe4 Qa5 14. Bb2 Qc7 15. Qd2 Nc5 {Malakhov,V (2694)-Ding,L (2710)
    China 2014}) 11… Nc5 12. Qc2 a5 13. Rae1 Re8 14. h3 Bf5 15. e4 Bd7 16. Ne2 b5
    17. d4 exd4 18. Nxd4 (18. Bxd4 bxc4 19. Bxc5 cxb3 20. Nxb3 dxc5 21. Nxc5 Bc8)
    18… Rc8 19. N4f3 $2 {“A blunder.” (Kramnik)} ({Kramnik though he had a good
    version of a King’s Indian but Ding wasn’t so sure after e.g.} 19. Re3 d5)
    19… d5 $1 {Missed by Kramnik.} 20. exd5 Rxe1 21. Rxe1 cxd5 (21… Bf5 22. Qd1
    Nd3 {was also interesting.}) 22. cxb5 Bf5 23. Qd1 Nd3 24. Bd4 Rc1 (24… Nxe1)
    (24… Ne4 $5) 25. Qxc1 Nxc1 26. Rxc1 Ne4 27. Nf1 {A move Ding missed. Also
    here Kramnik thought he was better and Ding did not agree.} Bxd4 28. Nxd4 Qb6 (
    28… Bd7 $5 {Ding} 29. Bxe4 dxe4 30. Ne3 Qb6 31. Rc4) 29. Bxe4 dxe4 (29…
    Bxh3 $5 30. Bxd5 Qxd4) ({Kramnik was also very optimistic after} 29… Bxe4 30.
    Rd1 {but Ding played like the computer does:} a4 31. bxa4 (31. b4 a3 32. Ne3
    Qd6) 31… Qa7) 30. Nxf5 gxf5 31. a4 Qe6 32. Ne3 $6 (32. Rc3 h5 33. h4 {Kramnik
    }) 32… Qxb3 33. Rc4 (33. Nxf5 h5 34. Rc7 Kh7) 33… h5 34. h4 Kh7 35. Kg2 f6
    36. Rd4 Kg6 37. Rc4 Kf7 38. Kh2 Kg6 39. Kg1 Qb1+ 40. Kg2 Qb3 41. Rd4 Kf7 42.
    Rd5 Qxa4 43. Rxf5 Kg6 44. b6 (44. g4 hxg4 45. h5+ Kh7 46. Rc5 (46. Nxg4 e3)
    46… Qb3) 44… Qb3 45. Rxa5 Qxb6 46. Rd5 Qb2 47. Rf5 Qa2 48. Rc5 Qe2 49. Rc4
    Qa2 50. Rb4 Qa5 51. Rb8 Qa2 52. Rd8 Qa5 53. Rd5 Qa2 54. Rf5 Qe6 55. Rd5 Qa6 56.
    g4 hxg4 57. h5+ Kf7 58. Rd7+ Ke6 59. Rg7 Qe2 60. h6 Qf3+ 61. Kg1 g3 62. Rxg3
    Qh5 63. Rg7 f5 64. h7 f4 65. Ng4 Qh3 66. Rg6+ Kf5 67. Rg7 Ke6 68. Rg6+ Kf5 69.
    Nh6+ Kxg6 70. h8=Q Qxh6 71. Qe8+ Kf5 72. Qb5+ Kg4 73. Qe2+ Kf5 74. Qb5+ 1/2-1/2

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.19”]
    [Round “8”]
    [White “Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar”]
    [Black “Karjakin, Sergey”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “E06”]
    [WhiteElo “2809”]
    [BlackElo “2763”]
    [PlyCount “60”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 c6 {Here
    Mamedyarov’s prep ended.} (7… a6 8. a4 Bd7 9. Qxc4 Bc6 10. Bg5 h6 11. Bxf6
    Bxf6 12. Nc3 Bxf3 13. Bxf3 Qxd4 14. Qxc7 Nc6 {Mamedyarov,S (2804)-Wei,Y (2743)
    Wijk aan Zee 2018}) 8. a4 b6 9. Nbd2 Bb7 10. Nxc4 c5 $146 (10… Nbd7 11. Rd1
    Rc8 12. Nfe5 Nd5 13. Qb3 Ba6 14. e4 N5f6 15. Bg5 h6 16. Bxf6 Nxf6 17. Rac1 Qc7
    {Poulopoulos,I (2212)-Erenberg,A (2359) Pardubice 2016}) 11. Rd1 Nbd7 12. b3 {
    The first small surprise for Karjakin.} Rc8 (12… Be4 13. Qb2 cxd4 14. Nxd4
    Bxg2 15. Kxg2) 13. dxc5 ({Karjakin expected} 13. Bf4 cxd4 14. Qb2 (14. Nxd4 $2
    Bxg2 15. Kxg2 e5)) 13… Bxc5 14. Nfe5 Bxg2 15. Kxg2 Qc7 16. Nxd7 Nxd7 (16…
    Qb7+ 17. f3 Nxd7 18. e4) 17. Qe4 Nf6 18. Qf3 Qc6 19. Qxc6 Rxc6 20. f3 (20. Rd3
    $5 Rfc8 21. Bb2 Kf8 22. Rad1 {Mamedyarov}) 20… Rfc8 21. e4 Kf8 22. Bf4 Be7
    23. Rd3 Rd8 24. Rxd8+ Bxd8 25. Rd1 Be7 26. Ne5 Rc2+ 27. Rd2 Rc3 28. Rd3 Rc2+
    29. Rd2 Rc3 30. Rd3 Rc2+ 1/2-1/2

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.19”]
    [Round “8”]
    [White “Ding, Liren”]
    [Black “Aronian, Levon”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “A13”]
    [WhiteElo “2769”]
    [BlackElo “2794”]
    [PlyCount “81”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. c4 Nf6 2. g3 e6 3. Bg2 d5 4. Nf3 dxc4 5. Qa4+ Bd7 6. Qxc4 c5 7. d4 Bc6 8.
    dxc5 Nbd7 9. Be3 Bd5 10. Qc2 Be4 11. Qc1 Ng4 $146 (11… Bxc5 12. Bxc5 Rc8 13.
    b4 b6 14. Nc3 bxc5 15. Nxe4 Nxe4 16. Qc4 Nef6 {Zhou,J (2566)-Adams,M (2729)
    Khanty-Mansiysk 2007}) 12. b4 {“This came as a surprise. I thought this
    shouldn’t work.” (Aronian)} (12. O-O Bxf3 (12… Nxe3 13. Qxe3 Bxb1 14. c6) 13.
    Bg5 Bxg2 14. Bxd8 Bxf1 15. Ba5) 12… a5 13. Bg5 {“Good move.” (Aronian)} f6
    14. Bd2 (14. Nbd2 $5 Bc6 (14… Bxf3 15. Bxf3 Nge5 16. Bxb7 fxg5 17. c6) 15.
    Qc4 Nxf2 16. O-O) (14. Qc4 Nxf2 15. Kxf2 Bd5 {Ding}) 14… axb4 15. Bxb4 Nxc5
    16. Bxc5 Rc8 {“I felt this position should be good for Black.” (Aronian)} ({
    Aronian wasn’t sure about} 16… Qa5+ 17. Nbd2 Bxc5 18. O-O Nxf2 19. Rxf2) 17.
    Qc4 (17. Qf4 Bxc5 18. Qxg4 f5 19. Qxg7 Bf8 20. Qb2 Bg7 {Aronian}) 17… Bxc5
    18. Qxe6+ Kf8 {Aronian thought this was OK for Black. “I promised my team to
    play solid today!”} 19. Qxg4 Bb4+ 20. Nbd2 Bxd2+ 21. Nxd2 Bxg2 22. Rg1 Bd5 (
    22… Bc6 {Aronian}) 23. Rd1 Qc7 24. Ne4 $1 {Missed by Aronian.} Rd8 (24…
    Bxa2 $5) 25. f3 Qe5 (25… Kf7 $6 26. Ng5+ $1) 26. Qf4 Qxf4 27. gxf4 Kf7 28.
    Nc3 Bc4 29. a4 (29. Rb1 b5 30. Nxb5 Rhe8 31. Nc3 Re3 32. Rc1 Rde8) 29… Rxd1+
    30. Kxd1 Rd8+ 31. Kc2 Rc8 32. Kd2 Ba6 33. Ne4 Kf8 34. f5 Rd8+ 35. Ke3 Rd5 36.
    Rc1 (36. Ng3 Ra5 37. Rc1 Rxa4 38. Rc8+ Kf7 39. Rc7+ Kf8 40. Nh5 Ra2 41. Nf4 Kg8
    {“If I don’t get mated I will make a draw.” (Aronian)}) 36… Rxf5 37. Rc8+ Ke7
    38. Rc7+ Kf8 39. Rc8+ Ke7 40. Rc7+ Kf8 41. Rc8+ 1/2-1/2

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.19”]
    [Round “8”]
    [White “So, Wesley”]
    [Black “Caruana, Fabiano”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “C42”]
    [WhiteElo “2799”]
    [BlackElo “2784”]
    [PlyCount “129”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Qe2 Qe7 6. d3 (6. Nc3 Nxc3 7.
    dxc3 Qxe2+ 8. Bxe2 Nc6 9. Be3 Be7 10. O-O-O O-O 11. Rhe1 Bf6 12. Nd2 Re8 {
    Kramnik,V (2800)-Caruana,F (2784) Berlin GER 2018}) 6… Nf6 7. Nc3 Qxe2+ 8.
    Bxe2 g6 9. Bg5 (9. Nd4 a6 10. Bf4 Bg7 11. h3 Bd7 12. Bf3 Nc6 13. Nxc6 Bxc6 14.
    Bxc6+ bxc6 {Carlsen,M (2834)-Caruana,F (2811) Wijk aan Zee 2018}) 9… Bg7 10.
    O-O-O O-O $146 (10… h6 11. Bd2 Bd7 12. Rde1 O-O 13. Bd1 a6 14. Ne4 Nxe4 15.
    Rxe4 Nc6 {Foisor,C (2427)-Foisor,M (2217) Warsaw 2011}) 11. Rhe1 h6 12. Bh4 {
    So regretted this as the bishop will be badly placed. “I should play better
    earlier on.”} (12. Be3 Ng4) 12… Nc6 {Caruana Black was aleady more
    comfortable here.} 13. d4 a6 14. a3 Bd7 15. d5 Na7 (15… Ne7 16. Bxa6) 16. Nd4
    Nc8 17. Nb3 (17. f3 Re8 18. Bf2) 17… g5 (17… Re8 18. f3) 18. Bg3 Re8 19.
    Na5 (19. f3 Nh5 20. Bf2 Nf4 21. Bf1 Nb6) 19… b5 {“Principled.” (Caruana)} ({
    Caruana was surprised about Na5 until he saw} 19… b6 20. Nc4 Ne7 21. Ne3 {
    and the knight is well placed on e3.}) 20. f3 Nh5 21. Bf2 Nf4 22. Bf1 Nb6 (
    22… Rxe1 23. Bxe1 Nb6 24. g3 Bxc3 25. Bxc3 Nfxd5 26. Bd4 {with enough
    compesation.}) 23. Rxe8+ Rxe8 24. Bxb6 cxb6 25. Nb7 {“Very critical but also
    risky for White.” (Caruana)} Be5 (25… Bxc3 $5 26. bxc3 Re5 27. Nxd6 (27. c4
    bxc4 28. Bxc4 Nxg2 29. Nxd6) 27… Nxd5 28. Ne4 Bc6 29. c4) 26. Ne4 Rb8 27.
    Nexd6 Ng6 28. g3 Ne7 29. a4 Nf5 (29… Nc8 30. Nxc8 Rxc8 31. axb5 axb5 32. d6
    Rb8 33. Bg2 {Caruana}) 30. Nxf5 Bxf5 31. Re1 f6 32. Rxe5 fxe5 33. Nd6 Bd7 34.
    axb5 axb5 (34… a5 $5 35. Bd3 Kg7 36. Kd2 Kf6 {is also OK for White.}) 35.
    Bxb5 Bxb5 36. Nxb5 Rf8 37. Kd2 Rxf3 38. Ke2 g4 39. Nd6 h5 40. Nc4 b5 41. Nxe5
    Rf5 42. Ng6 Kf7 43. Nf4 h4 {This knight move, which reminds of Karpov’s famous
    Ng2 against Kasparov, “completely shocked” Caruana.} 44. Ng2 $5 (44. Ke3 Re5+ (
    44… h3 $5) 45. Kd4 (45. Kd2) 45… Re1 46. gxh4 Rh1 {Caruana}) 44… hxg3 45.
    hxg3 Rf3 (45… Rxd5 46. Ne3) 46. Ne3 Rxg3 47. c4 bxc4 48. d6 (48. Nxc4 Kf6 49.
    d6 Rh3 50. d7 Rh8 {Caruana}) 48… Ke6 49. Nxc4 Rf3 50. d7 {With some accurate
    moves So is going for a rather clear draw.} Rf8 51. Ne3 g3 52. d8=Q Rxd8 53.
    Kf3 Rd3 54. Kf4 Rb3 55. Ng2 Kd5 56. Nh4 Kc4 57. Kg4 Rd3 58. b4 Rb3 59. b5 Kd5
    60. b6 Ke4 61. b7 Rxb7 62. Kxg3 Rg7+ 63. Kf2 Rg4 64. Ng2 Rxg2+ 65. Kxg2 1/2-1/2

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.19”]
    [Round “8.2”]
    [White “Grischuk, Alexander”]
    [Black “Kramnik, Vladimir”]
    [Result “1-0”]
    [ECO “D40”]
    [WhiteElo “2767”]
    [BlackElo “2800”]
    [PlyCount “181”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nf3 c5 5. e3 dxc4 6. Bxc4 a6 7. Bb3 ({Instead,
    the world champion chose:} 7. O-O b5 8. Be2 Bb7 9. dxc5 Bxc5 10. Qxd8+ Kxd8 11.
    Nd2 {against Wesley So and later won, Carlsen,M (2832)-So,W (2815) chess.com
    INT 2017}) 7… b5 8. e4 cxd4 9. Nxd4 Bb7 {The opening that Kramnik chose is
    somewhat provocative as he is lagging in development. Grischuk has every right
    to play aggressively.} 10. e5 $146 ({Therapeutic measures do not yield White
    anything:} 10. O-O Nc6 11. Be3 Bd6 12. Nxc6 Bxc6 13. Bd4 Qc7 14. Bxf6 gxf6 15.
    Qh5 O-O {with equality in the predecessor Maljush,A (2344)-Kupreichik, V (2464)
    Minsk 2004}) 10… Ne4 {The alternatives were:} (10… Bxg2 $2 {which drops a
    piece after} 11. Rg1) (10… Nd5 {which gives full control to White after} 11.
    Nxd5 Bxd5 12. O-O Bxb3 13. axb3) ({And} 10… Nfd7 {which allows the dangerous
    sacrifice} 11. Bxe6 fxe6 12. Nxe6 Qc8 13. O-O) 11. O-O ({Safer and easier seems
    } 11. Nxe4 Bxe4 12. O-O {with the idea to exploit the position of the black
    bishop for further tempo-gainers, such as Qd1-g4 at the proper moment. If} Nc6
    13. Nxc6 Bxc6 ({Better is} 13… Qxd1 14. Rxd1 Bxc6 15. Be3 {although White is
    a bit better in the endgame as well.}) 14. Qg4 {with advantage for White.})
    11… Nxc3 12. bxc3 Nc6 13. a4 ({Also interesting is} 13. Qf3 Rc8 {with the
    idea} 14. Nxc6 Bxc6 ({The cunning} 14… Qh4 $5 {to deprive White of the
    Qf3-g3 maneuver is answered by the even more cunning} 15. Bd5 $5 exd5 16. Nd4 {
    when White is better.}) 15. Qg3) 13… Bc5 $1 {Kramnik catches up with the
    development as quickly as he can.} 14. axb5 axb5 ({Weaker is} 14… Nxd4 15.
    cxd4 Bxd4 16. Ra4 Bxe5 17. Qh5 {when White gets everything that he wants.}) 15.
    Rxa8 Bxa8 16. Nxb5 O-O {Just sacking the pawn.} ({White wins a pawn after}
    16… Qxd1 17. Rxd1 Nxe5 18. Nc7+ Ke7 19. Bg5+ f6 20. Nxe6 fxg5 21. Nxc5 Rc8
    22. Na4) ({However} 16… Nxe5 {looks solid enough. For example:} 17. Qe2 ({
    White has nothing in case of:} 17. Qxd8+ Kxd8 18. Rd1+ (18. Bg5+ f6) 18… Ke7)
    17… Nd7 18. Rd1 O-O) 17. Qxd8 Rxd8 18. Bf4 h6 19. h4 Ne7 {For the pawn Black
    has more active pieces and the c3 pawn is far from dangerous.} 20. Rd1 Rb8 $1 {
    The black rook is more valuable than his counterpart.} ({Surely not} 20…
    Rxd1+ 21. Bxd1) 21. Bc4 ({After} 21. c4 Bc6 22. Ba4 Nf5 {Black gets strong
    counter-play on the kingside. Say:} 23. h5 Nh4 24. g3 Nf3+ 25. Kf1 Nh2+ 26. Kg1
    Ng4 $1) 21… Bc6 22. Nd4 Be4 (22… Bxd4 23. cxd4 Nf5 {should be easy to draw
    for Black (Svidler).}) 23. h5 (23. Re1 $5 Bg6 24. Be3 {might be better.}) 23…
    Nd5 24. Bxd5 ({In the coming time-trouble Grischuk wants to keep the black
    rook away from the second rank:} 24. Bd2 Rb2 25. Bxd5 Bxd5 26. Be3) 24… Bxd5
    {With the gain of the bishop pair Black’s compensation became more obvious.
    Experienced players know that the power of the pair often compensates for a
    pawn.} 25. Be3 Rc8 ({If} 25… Rb2 26. Ra1 $1) 26. Re1 Bc4 27. Nf3 Ba3 28. Bd4
    Bd3 29. Nd2 Bb2 30. Nf1 Rc4 ({Or} 30… Kf8 31. Re3 Bh7) 31. Re3 Bf5 ({Kramnik
    rejected} 31… Bxc3 32. Bxc3 Rxc3 {because he could not see a way to break
    the pin after} 33. f3 {However, there is no progress either as White cannot
    win without the king but whenever he tries to activate it , say like this-} g6
    34. hxg6 fxg6 35. Kh2 {then the rook escapes-} Rc1 {with a draw.}) 32. Ng3 Bh7
    33. Kh2 $1 {Now the king enters the battle in a slightly unusual way and Black
    has to fight for his life.} Bc1 34. Re2 Bf4 35. Kh3 Ra4 (35… Bg5 $5 {was
    interesting with the idea to generate counterplay after} 36. Kg4 Bd3 37. Ra2 f6
    ) 36. Kg4 Bc1 37. Kf3 Bd3 38. Re1 Bb2 39. Ke3 Bc2 40. Kd2 Bb3 $6 {Kramnik
    believed this was wrong and suggested to keep the bishop on the b1-h7 diagonal.
    } (40… Bh7 41. Ne4) 41. Rb1 {The first time control is finally reached and
    Grischuk starts improving everything that he can.} Ra2 42. Kd3 Ba4 43. Ne4 Ba3
    44. Ke3 Bc2 45. Re1 Bb3 46. g4 Bd5 47. Kd3 Be7 48. Rb1 Ra8 49. f4 Bh4 50. Rh1
    Bd8 51. Rb1 Bc7 52. Ke3 Kh7 53. Nd6 Kg8 ({The opposite-colored bishop endgame
    after} 53… Bxd6 $2 54. exd6 Rd8 55. Rb6 {is lost for Black.}) 54. Rb5 Bc6 55.
    Rb4 Bd8 56. Bb6 Bh4 57. Bd4 Bg2 58. Rb2 Bc6 59. Rb6 Bg2 60. Rb2 Bc6 61. Rb3 Bg3
    {So far so good, but here White hurried to push the pawn.} 62. c4 $6 ({Instead
    he should have prepared it for one more move-} 62. Ne4 Bh4 ({Here} 62… Bh2 {
    is just bad due to} 63. Rb2 Bg1+ 64. Kd3 Bxd4 65. Kxd4) 63. c4 {with decent
    winning chances.}) 62… Bh2 $1 {Now Black is back in business.} 63. f5 ({
    White has nothing more than repetition in the line} 63. c5 Bd5 64. Rc3 Bc6)
    63… exf5 64. Nxf5 ({According to Kramnik, Grischuk should have gone for} 64.
    gxf5 f6 65. Rb6) 64… Kh7 65. Bb2 {Once again the players entered the
    low-time phase.} Re8 (65… Ra2 $5) 66. Nd6 Re7 67. Rb8 f6 68. Rc8 Bh1 $6 {
    Getting overly ambitious again.} ({Instead} 68… Bxe5 69. Bxe5 Rxe5+ 70. Kf4
    Bd7 {“should be a draw” (Kramnik) although it is evident that Black needs to
    suffer for it.}) ({However Kramnik’s second idea} 68… Bd7 $1 {was strong
    when after} 69. Rc7 fxe5 70. c5 e4 $1 {would be the correct move order. Here
    Black is perfectly fine.} ({Rather than} 70… Bf4+ {which allows the
    interesting resource:} 71. Ke4 (71. Kf2 e4) 71… Bf5+ 72. gxf5 Rxc7 73. Kd5))
    69. Nf5 Rb7 70. exf6 ({Even stronger was:} 70. e6 $1 Rb3+ 71. Bc3) 70… Rb3+ {
    This was the position that Black evaluated in his favor, but..} 71. Bc3 $1 {
    Kramnik completely missed this study-like idea.} ({Instead} 71. Kd4 Bg1+ 72.
    Ke5 {is perpetual after} gxf6+ 73. Kxf6 Rxb2 74. Rc7+) ({While} 71. Kf2 {drops
    the bishop} Rxb2+) 71… gxf6 (71… Rxc3+ 72. Kd4 {wins for White.}) 72. Kd2
    Bf4+ 73. Kc2 {Grischuk kept the extra pawn but what’s more important has nasty
    threats in the time-trouble.} Rb8 74. Rxb8 Bxb8 75. Ne7 $1 {“Very strong
    practical chance.” (Kramnik)} (75. Bxf6 {is a draw after} Bf3 76. Ne3 Ba7 77.
    Kd3 Bxe3 78. Kxe3 Bxg4) 75… Be4+ ({Kramnik’s suggestion} 75… Ba7 {does not
    seem convincing here:} 76. Kd3 Bf3 77. Nd5) ({Best seems to be} 75… Bf3 76.
    Nd5 Be5 77. Bxe5 fxe5 78. Ne3 Kg7 {when Black has chances to hold.}) 76. Kd2
    Bf4+ {White soon won second pawn and the game.} 77. Ke2 Kg7 (77… Bg5 78. c5)
    78. Nf5+ Kf7 79. Bd2 Be5 80. Bxh6 Ke6 81. Be3 Bxf5 82. gxf5+ Kxf5 83. h6 Kg6 ({
    Or} 83… Ke4 84. h7 f5 85. c5 Kd5 86. Kd3) 84. c5 f5 85. Kf3 Kf7 86. Bf4 Bd4
    87. c6 Ke7 88. c7 Kd7 89. h7 Kc8 90. Ke2 Kd7 91. Kd3 1-0

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.20”]
    [Round “9”]
    [White “So, Wesley”]
    [Black “Grischuk, Alexander”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “C67”]
    [WhiteElo “2799”]
    [BlackElo “2767”]
    [PlyCount “68”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6. Nxe5 Be7 7. Bf1 Nxe5
    8. Rxe5 O-O 9. d4 Bf6 10. Re1 Re8 11. Bf4 (11. Rxe8+ Nxe8 12. c3 d5 13. Bf4 c6
    14. Nd2 g6 15. Bd3 Ng7 16. h3 Bf5 {Anand,V (2776)-Grischuk,A (2767) Moscow 2018
    }) 11… Rxe1 12. Qxe1 Ne8 13. c3 d5 14. Bd3 g6 15. Qe2 c6 16. Nd2 Ng7 17. Re1
    Bf5 18. Bxf5 Nxf5 19. Nf3 Ng7 20. Be5 Ne6 (20… Bxe5 21. Nxe5 Qd6) 21. Bxf6
    Qxf6 22. Ne5 Re8 23. g3 $146 (23. Ng4 Qd8 24. Qe5 Ng7 25. Qxe8+ Nxe8 26. Rxe8+
    Qxe8 27. Nf6+ Kf8 28. Nxe8 Kxe8 29. Kf1 (29. f4 f5 30. Kf2 b5 31. b4 Kf7 32. h3
    (32. g3 Kf6 33. Kf3 Ke6 34. Ke3 Kf6 35. Kf3 Ke6 {1/2-1/2 (35) Carlsen,M (2872)
    -Anand,V (2773) Zurich SUI 2014}) 32… h6 33. h4 h5 {1/2-1/2 (33) Carlsen,M
    (2870)-Anand,V (2775) Chennai IND 2013}) 29… Ke7 30. Ke2 Ke6 31. Ke3 Kf5 {
    ½-½ Motylev,A (2658)-Potkin,V (2594) Fufeng 2017}) 23… Ng7 24. Kg2 Re6 25.
    Qd1 Qe7 26. Nd3 Rxe1 27. Qxe1 Qxe1 28. Nxe1 Nf5 29. Nd3 Kf8 30. g4 Nd6 31. h4
    h6 32. f3 Ke7 33. Kf2 g5 34. hxg5 hxg5 1/2-1/2

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.20”]
    [Round “9”]
    [White “Aronian, Levon”]
    [Black “Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “E06”]
    [WhiteElo “2794”]
    [BlackElo “2809”]
    [PlyCount “82”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 b6 {
    Aronian got surprised by this.} 8. Qxc4 Bb7 9. Nc3 c5 10. Rd1 Nbd7 (10… cxd4
    11. Bf4 Qc8 12. Qxc8 Rxc8 13. Nb5 {Mamedyarov}) 11. Ne5 (11. dxc5 Bxc5 12. b4
    Bxf2+ 13. Kxf2 Rc8 14. Qf4 Rxc3 15. Bb2 Rc7 {Bu,X (2710)-Bacrot,E (2715)
    Tbilisi 2017}) 11… Bxg2 12. Kxg2 Qc8 13. Nxd7 Qxd7 14. dxc5 Qc6+ 15. f3 $146
    (15. e4 a6 16. Qe2 Bxc5 17. Bg5 Be7 18. Rac1 Qb7 19. Qf3 h6 20. Bf4 Rfd8 {
    Fridman,D (2607)-Rambaldi,F (2544) Bergamo 2016}) 15… Qxc5 16. Qxc5 Bxc5 17.
    Bf4 Rfd8 18. e4 Ne8 19. Kf1 Kf8 20. Ke2 Ke7 $6 (20… f6 {Mamedyarov}) 21. Nb5
    Rdc8 22. Rac1 a6 23. Nc3 b5 24. a4 (24. e5 $5 {(Dreev)} Bb6 $1 25. Ne4 Rxc1 26.
    Rxc1 Bd4) 24… Bd6 25. Be3 Rab8 (25… Be5 26. axb5 axb5 27. Nxb5 Bxb2 28.
    Bc5+ Kf6) 26. axb5 axb5 27. Ba7 Rb7 28. Bd4 Rc4 29. e5 Bc5 30. Nd5+ exd5 31.
    Bxc5+ Ke6 32. b3 $2 {“Crazy blunder.” (Aronian)} (32. Bd4 Rbc7 33. Ra1 Ra4)
    32… Rxc1 33. Rxc1 Kxe5 34. Kd3 Ke6 35. Bb4 Kd7 36. Kd4 (36. Re1 Nc7 37. Re7+
    Kc6 38. Rxf7 Na6 39. Rf4 (39. Be7 Nc5+) 39… Nxb4+ 40. Rxb4 Rf7) 36… Nc7 37.
    Ba5 Ne6+ 38. Kxd5 Ra7 39. b4 Ra6 40. f4 Rd6+ 41. Ke4 Rd4+ 1/2-1/2

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.20”]
    [Round “9”]
    [White “Karjakin, Sergey”]
    [Black “Kramnik, Vladimir”]
    [Result “1-0”]
    [ECO “D35”]
    [WhiteElo “2763”]
    [BlackElo “2800”]
    [PlyCount “81”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 Nf6 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 c5 7. Rb1 Be7 8.
    Nf3 (8. Bb5+ Bd7 9. Bd3 cxd4 10. cxd4 Nc6 11. Be2 Rc8 12. Nf3 Qa5+ 13. Bd2 Bb4
    {Mamedyarov,S (2809)-Kramnik,V (2800) Berlin GER 2018}) 8… O-O 9. h4 $146 {
    “Our preparation. An idea of my second Alexander Riazantsev. It’s also
    important that the computer doesnt really show it.”} (9. Bc4 Qc7 10. Qe2 a6 11.
    O-O b5 12. Bd3 Bb7 13. a4 bxa4 14. Bf4 Qc8 {Carlsen,M (2832)-So,W (2815) chess.
    com INT 2017}) 9… cxd4 10. cxd4 Nc6 11. h5 f5 $5 {“Very hard to expect but I
    don’t really believe it.” (Karjakin)} ({“Of course we expected} 11… h6 {
    to prevent h6.” (Karjakin)}) 12. exf5 ({“I could have played} 12. e5 {as I
    discussed with Alexei Shirov [who visited the tournament today – PD], but I
    didn’t like that he will play} b6 {and gradually block d5, put the bishop on
    b7…” (Karjakin)}) 12… Qa5+ 13. Bd2 Qxf5 14. Bc3 $1 {An important move. Now
    d4 is protected, and Bd3 is threatened.} h6 (14… Qg4 15. Be2 Qxg2 16. Rg1 Qh3
    17. d5 $1 {Karjakin}) (14… b6) 15. Bd3 Qg4 16. Kf1 e5 {“Interesting, but too
    sharp and I think bad, but practically interesting.” (Karjakin)} 17. d5 e4 (
    17… Nd4 18. Nxe5 Qf4 19. Bxd4 Qxd4 20. Bh7+) 18. dxc6 exf3 19. gxf3 Rxf3 ({
    Relatively better was} 19… Qxf3 20. Qxf3 Rxf3 21. Ke2 Rxd3 22. Kxd3 Bf5+ 23.
    Ke2 bxc6 {Karjakin}) 20. Be2 ({“To play} 20. cxb7 Bxb7 21. Qb3+ Kh8 22. Qxb7
    Raf8 23. Qe4 Rxf2+ 24. Ke1 {over the board was a bit too much.” (Karjakin)})
    20… Rxf2+ (20… Rh3 21. Rg1 Qf4 22. Qd5+) 21. Kxf2 Bc5+ 22. Kf1 Qf4+ (22…
    Qg3 23. Qd5+ Be6 24. Qxe6+ Kh8 25. Qxh6+) 23. Bf3 bxc6 {“Somehow it wasn’t so
    easy.” (Karjakin)} 24. Be1 $1 {Good defense.} Be6 25. Bh4 Rf8 26. Kg2 Kh8 {
    “A brilliant move.” (Karjakin)} 27. Rc1 ({Karjakin didn’t like} 27. Bg3 Qg5 {
    because Black threatens to take on f3 but there is the move} 28. Re1 $1 {
    with the idea} Rxf3 29. Qxf3 Bd5 30. Re4) 27… Rf5 $1 {In time trouble
    Kramnik finds another good try.} 28. Rc3 Rd5 (28… Bd4 29. Rxc6 Rg5+ 30. Bxg5
    Qxg5+ 31. Kf1 Bh3+ 32. Ke1 Qg3+ 33. Kd2 Qf4+ 34. Kc2 Bf5+ 35. Kb3 Qe3+ 36. Ka4
    {Karjakin}) (28… Bb6 $5) 29. Bxd5 Bxd5+ 30. Rf3 Qg4+ 31. Bg3 Bd6 32. Rh3 Be7
    33. Qe2 Be4 34. Qf2 a5 35. a4 ({Karjakin played this move because he calculated
    } 35. Rh1 Bc5 36. Rh4 Qxh4 37. Bxh4 Bxf2 38. Kxf2 Bxf3 39. Kxf3 g6 40. Ke4 gxh5
    41. Kd4 Kg7 (41… a4 $5) 42. Kc5 Kg6 (42… a4 $5) 43. Kxc6 Kf5 (43… a4 $5)
    44. Kb5 Kg4 45. Bd8 h4 46. Kxa5 h3 47. Bc7 {and he imaged it would be nice to
    have his pawn on a4!}) (35. Rh1) 35… c5 36. Rh1 Bf6 37. Re1 Bc6 38. Ree3 c4
    39. Qe2 Qxh5 40. Qxc4 Bd7 41. Rd3 {“I didn’t see any draw for him so maybe I
    didn’t play perfectly but I never lost an advantage.” (Karjakin)} 1-0

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.20”]
    [Round “9”]
    [White “Caruana, Fabiano”]
    [Black “Ding, Liren”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “E00”]
    [WhiteElo “2784”]
    [BlackElo “2769”]
    [PlyCount “133”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Be7 5. Bg2 d5 6. Nf3 O-O 7. O-O c6 8. Qb3
    b6 9. Nc3 Ba6 10. cxd5 cxd5 11. Ne5 Bb7 12. Rfc1 ({The alternative is:} 12. Qa4
    a6 13. Qb3 Nfd7 14. Nxd7 Nxd7 15. Rfc1 {Ortega,M (2443)-Jakubowski,K (2529)
    Figueira da Foz 2017}) 12… Nc6 {Allows a forcing continuation.} ({Ding
    disliked the line:} 12… Nfd7 13. Nd3 {which Caruana considered “playable,
    but probably equal.”}) 13. Nxd5 Nxd4 14. Nxe7+ Qxe7 15. Qc4 Bxg2 16. Qxd4 Rfd8
    17. Qf4 $146 ({Both players calculated the line:} 17. Qb4 Qxb4 18. Bxb4 Bb7 19.
    Rc7 Ba6 {which would lead to “the same” (Ding) after:} 20. Rac1 (20. Nxf7 Nd5
    21. Nxd8 Nxc7 22. Nc6 {1/2-1/2 (22) Gleizerov,E (2545)-Farago,I (2515)
    Oberwart 1996}) 20… Nd5 21. Rxf7 $1 Bxe2 $1 ({But not} 21… Nxb4 $4 22. Rcc7
    {with quick mate.})) 17… Bb7 18. Bb4 Qe8 19. Rc7 Nd5 20. Qxf7+ Qxf7 21. Rxf7
    Ba6 22. Ba3 Bxe2 23. Rc1 {Straight from the opening White entered a promising
    endgame where he can play for a win without any risk. A dream situation for
    Caruana and his tournament position!} Bh5 24. Rb7 Be8 25. Kg2 a5 26. h4 Rdb8
    27. Rxb8 Rxb8 28. g4 b5 ({Here strong was} 28… h5 $1 29. g5 b5 30. b3 b4 31.
    Bb2 Ne7 {“followed by Ne7-f5” (Caruana)}) 29. b3 b4 (29… h5 $1) 30. Bb2 a4 {
    Ding: “I played this move too quickly. I did not realize the danger after…}
    31. h5 $1 {…when it is very unpleasant for Black to defend.” “Black cannot
    really clarify the situation and lacks any counterplay” (Caruana)} Ra8 32. Kg3
    {This endgame somehow reminded the experts of the classic Kasparov-Petrosian,
    Niksic 1983. The future world champion managed to win even without the
    queenside pawns, with the same pieces left on the board. Another difference
    was that the e6 pawn stands on d5, which probably favors White. But in any
    case the presence of the opposite-colored bishops is not necessary helping
    Black, but quite the opposite. It provides White extra attacking chances.} Kf8
    33. Nf3 Bd7 34. Rc4 Kg8 35. Ne5 Bb5 36. Rc5 Be8 37. Nc4 Bd7 38. Ne5 Be8 39. Bd4
    Kf8 40. f3 Ke7 41. Kh4 $1 ({At first White wanted to play:} 41. Nd3 g6 (41…
    Kf8 {might be better.}) 42. h6 {but he disliked} g5 43. Nf2 Bg6 {Still, White
    is better after} 44. Ne4 axb3 45. axb3 Ra3 46. Nxg5 Rxb3 47. Rc6) 41… Kf8 42.
    Kg5 {Provoking a weakening.} h6+ 43. Kh4 Kg8 44. Kg3 Kh7 {Here Caruana
    regretted about his provocation as he thought the king is safer on h7. But it
    turned out it is not.} 45. Nd3 Kg8 46. Rc1 axb3 47. axb3 Kh7 48. Nc5 Bf7 49.
    Re1 Ne7 $1 50. Bb2 ({Black’s idea is revealed in the line:} 50. Nxe6 Nc6 51.
    Bc5 Re8 52. Nf8+ Kg8 {with a draw (Caruana)}) 50… Nc6 51. f4 Ra2 52. Nd3 e5
    $1 {Correctly trading pawns.} 53. fxe5 {Ding is within a reach of the draw,
    but now starts to slowly slip.} Bxb3 ({Safer was} 53… Nd8 54. Re4 Bxb3 55.
    Rxb4 Bf7 {(Caruana)}) 54. e6 Ra7 ({White saw the correct defense} 54… Bc4 $1
    55. e7 Nxe7 56. Rxe7 Bxd3 57. Rxg7+ Kh8 58. Bd4 b3 {There are many discovered
    checks, but none of them is lethal:} 59. Rb7+ Kg8 60. Rxb3 Be2 {(Caruana)}) 55.
    Nc5 Bc4 {This loses.} ({Bad was} 55… Bd5 56. Nd7 Ne7 57. Rf1 $1) ({Strangely,
    the only defense was:} 55… Ba2 56. Nd7 Ra8 57. Rf1 Nd8 58. e7 Nf7) 56. Nd7
    Bb5 {“Very good defense” (Caruana). But Black might be lost already.} ({
    They both saw the beautiful line} 56… Ra2 57. e7 Bf7 58. Rf1 $1 ({Not} 58.
    e8=Q Bxe8 59. Rxe8 Rxb2 60. Nf8+ {when the king escapes} Kg8) 58… Kg8 59.
    e8=Q+ Bxe8 60. Rf8+ Kh7 61. Nf6+ $1 gxf6 62. Bxf6 {with study-like mate.}) ({
    Black also loses after} 56… Ne7 57. Re4 Bb5 (57… Bd5 58. Rf4) 58. Rf4 Bxd7
    59. Rf7 $1 {(Caruana)}) (56… Bxe6 $2 57. Nf8+) 57. Nf8+ ({Caruana misses the
    strong idea} 57. Re3 Bc4 58. Rf3 $1 {with unstoppable Rf3-f7!} Bxe6 59. Nf8+)
    57… Kg8 58. Ng6 Ne7 {An oversight, just very close to the draw.} ({Both}
    58… Ra8 $1) ({Or} 58… Bd3 $1 {should have held.}) 59. Ra1 $1 {“I missed
    this move, but I was very lucky that I have…} Nc6 {…and I did not lose
    immediately.” (Ding)} (59… Rxa1 {drops a piece after} 60. Nxe7+ Kf8 61. Ng6+)
    60. Rd1 {Going for the king once more.} (60. e7 {does not even win a pawn but
    definitely draws due to the opposite-colored bishops after} Kf7 61. e8=Q+ Kxe8
    62. Rxa7 Nxa7 63. Bxg7 b3) 60… Kh7 $1 {The most tenacious defense, which
    prevents the maneuver Rd1-d5-f5-f8 (with a check). (Caruana)} 61. Rd5 Ba4 (
    61… Bc4 {loses to} 62. Rc5) ({And} 61… Rb7 {to} 62. Rf5 Bd3 63. Rf7 {
    (Caruana)}) 62. Kf4 ({Caruana missed the study-like win after} 62. Rd2 $3 {
    This takes away the c2 square and preserves the knight on g6. Both players saw
    the move, but not the follow-up:} Bb5 (62… Bb3 63. Rf2 {with the threat
    Rf2-f8-h8 is decisive since} Ra8 {weakens the seventh rank and is equaly bad
    after} 64. Rf7) 63. Rf2 Bd3 64. Nf8+ $1 Kg8 65. Nd7 $3 {This is extremely
    difficult to find. White ruins the mating net, in order to create another one.
    After} Bc4 66. Rf8+ Kh7 67. Re8 $1 {the return of the Jedi to g6 (sorry, the
    knight) will finish the game.}) 62… Bc2 63. Rc5 ({Caruana thought he should
    have tried the endgame after} 63. Ne5 Nxe5 64. Kxe5 {although he considered it
    drawish, but unplesant.}) 63… Ba4 64. g5 hxg5+ ({Correct was the preliminary
    } 64… Ra8 65. Rf5 hxg5+ 66. Kxg5 Nd8 67. e7 Ne6+ 68. Kg4 Kg8 {when Black
    should hold.}) 65. Rxg5 Nd8 {Now a second chance is given to Caruana.} 66. Re5
    {And he misses it!} ({They both got extremely tired and missed the final move
    in the line} 66. Nf8+ Kg8 67. h6 Kxf8 68. h7 $1) 66… Be8 67. e7 1/2-1/2

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.22”]
    [Round “10”]
    [White “Kramnik, Vladimir”]
    [Black “Aronian, Levon”]
    [Result “1-0”]
    [ECO “C50”]
    [WhiteElo “2800”]
    [BlackElo “2794”]
    [PlyCount “73”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. d3 a6 6. Nd5 ({The move:} 6. a3 {
    led to surprisingly sharp game after} h6 7. h3 Qe7 8. Ne2 d6 9. c3 Ba7 10. Ng3
    Bd7 11. b4 O-O-O 12. a4 {Godena,M (2513)-Carlstedt,J (2442) Berlin 2015}) 6…
    Nxd5 7. Bxd5 d6 $146 {This logical move is a novelty.} ({Previously:} 7… O-O
    8. Bg5 Be7 9. h4 d6 10. Qd2 Bg4 11. c3 Qd7 12. O-O-O {has been tested in Benda,
    H (2274)-Kilgus,G (2354) Austria 2007}) 8. Be3 Bxe3 9. fxe3 O-O {Now an
    approximately equal game emerges. White’s plan is clear: to castle, then bring
    the queen on g3, knight on h4 and eventually f5, double the rooks on the
    f-file and eventually mate. Black on his turn has many ways to try and prevent
    this.} 10. O-O Nb8 $5 {A nice maneuver.} ({Safer looks} 10… Ne7 11. Bb3 Ng6
    12. Qe1 Be6 {although then the knight on g6 does not do much.}) 11. b4 {
    An agressive try, which however makes it easier for Black to find counterplay
    on the queenside.} ({After} 11. a3 Nd7 12. Qe1 Nf6 13. Ba2 Be6 {the position
    will be equal.}) 11… Nd7 12. Qd2 (12. Qe1 c6 13. Bb3 a5 14. a3) 12… c6 13.
    Bb3 a5 14. a3 Nf6 15. h3 h6 16. Rab1 b5 17. Qc3 Bd7 {Aronian wants to play for
    more than a draw.} ({Safe was to get rid of the light squared bishops as soon
    as possible with:} 17… Qb6 18. Rbe1 (18. Kh2 Be6 ({Or} 18… Bd7 $5)) 18…
    Be6 {with equality.} ({While} 18… Ra7 $5 {would lead to a sharp game as well
    after} 19. Nh4)) 18. Rf2 {From here on Kramnik is consistently preparing the
    exchange sacrifice on f6.} Qb6 19. Re1 Rfe8 {Preparing c6-c5.} (19… c5 $6 20.
    bxc5 {leaves the central pawn hanging.}) 20. Nh4 c5 21. Ref1 {More preparation
    is needed.} ({This was the first moment in which the exchange sacrifice was a
    serious option:} 21. Rxf6 gxf6 22. Bd5 {would be well met with:} cxb4 $1 ({
    This is better than} 22… Ra7 23. Rf1 cxb4 24. Qe1) 23. axb4 Ra7 {and Black
    should repel the attack.}) 21… cxb4 {“I thought this is awfully dangerous.”
    (Kramnik)} ({Kramnik spent all his time on the idea:} 21… c4 {either at once,
    }) ({or the preliminary} 21… axb4 22. axb4 c4 {For example:} 23. dxc4 bxc4 (
    23… Nxe4 $2 {is bad due} 24. c5 {(Kramnik)}) 24. Qxc4 Be6 25. Qe2 (25. Qd3
    Qxb4 {“is equal” (Kramnik)}) 25… Nxe4 26. Rxf7 $5 {Then the former world
    champion continued with his interesting calculations:} Ng3 $2 {(This actually
    loses)} ({However} 26… d5 $1 {is very strong when Black takes over.}) {Here}
    27. Qf3 $1 {was rejected by Kramnik on the account of} (27. Qd3 e4 (27… Nxf1
    28. Rxg7+ Kf8 $1 {save Black indeed.} ({Rather than} 28… Kxg7 $2 29. Qg6+ Kf8
    30. Qf6+ Kg8 31. Nf5 Ra7 32. Bxe6+ Rxe6 33. Qxe6+ Kh7 34. Qxh6+ Kg8 35. Qg6+
    Kf8 36. Kxf1 {with clear advantage for White.})) 28. Bxe6 exd3 29. Rf8+ Kh7 30.
    Bg8+ Kh8 31. Ng6# {(Kramnik)}) 27… Nxf1 {but there is a mate after} 28. Rf8+
    $1 Rxf8 29. Bxe6+ Kh7 (29… Kh8 30. Ng6+ {loses for Black as well.}) 30. Qe4+
    Kh8 31. Ng6+ Kh7 32. Nxf8+ Kh8 33. Qh7#) 22. Qe1 d5 $1 {It is mandatory to
    bring the queen into the defense.} (22… bxa3 $2 {loses after the forcing:}
    23. Rxf6 gxf6 24. Qg3+ Kh7 ({Or} 24… Kf8 25. Ng6+ $1 fxg6 26. Qxg6 Qxe3+ 27.
    Kh2 Be6 28. Qxf6+ Kg8 29. Bxe6+ Rxe6 30. Qxe6+ {and Black will be mated soon.})
    25. Rxf6 Re7 26. Rxf7+ Rxf7 27. Qg6+ Kh8 28. Qxh6+ Kg8 29. Ng6 {with mate on
    h8 coming.}) 23. axb4 ({After} 23. Bxd5 {Black can sacrifice the exchange with}
    bxa3 ({Or simply take the dangerous bishopat once} 23… Nxd5 24. exd5 f6) 24.
    Bxa8 Rxa8 {with compensation in either case.}) ({Once more} 23. Rxf6 {deserves
    serious investigation, and once more it appears a bit too early for it-} gxf6
    24. Bxd5 bxa3 $1 {(Kramnik)} ({Or} 24… Ra6 25. axb4 a4 {as Aronian intended
    to play.} (25… axb4 $5))) 23… dxe4 24. bxa5 Rxa5 ({On} 24… Qxa5 {Kramnik
    intended} 25. Qd1 $1 {which creates the threat of finally capturing on f6
    followed by Qd1-h5.} ({While Aronian did not like the possibility:} 25. Qxa5
    Rxa5 26. Rxf6 {“with probable draw” (Kramnik, Aronian)})) 25. Ng6 $1 {Both
    sides are walking into a minefield and whoever steps wrong first…} ({Here}
    25. Rxf6 {is plain wrong as the king escapes after} gxf6 26. Qg3+ Kf8 27. Ng6+
    fxg6 28. Qxg6 Ke7) ({Kramnik also considered} 25. d4 {but the line that he
    suggested seems suspect to say at least-} exd4 26. Rxf6 gxf6 27. Ng6 dxe3 28.
    Kh1 {Now} b4 $1 {brings the black rook on the kingside and there is no attack
    whatsoever.}) 25… Be6 {Instinctively, Aronian tries to neutralize the
    pressure on the diagonal.} ({None of the players mentioned the move} 25… exd3
    {which could have led to massive complications after} 26. Rxf6 gxf6 27. Qg3 Be6
    {Here is a possible line:} 28. Rxf6 d2 29. Ne7+ Kf8 30. Nf5 $3 (30. Ng6+ Kg7)
    30… d1=Q+ 31. Kh2 Re7 $1 {The only move.} ({If the rook goes to any other
    square, say} 31… Rd8 {then} 32. Rxf7+ $1 {mates} Bxf7 33. Qg7+ Ke8 34. Qxf7#)
    32. Qg7+ Ke8 33. Bxe6 $1 Qxe6 (33… Kd8 34. Nxe7) 34. Rxe6 Rxe6 35. Qg8+ Kd7
    36. Qxf7+ Kd8 37. Qxe6 {when White can play for a win.}) 26. Nxe5 ({White’s
    initial idea:} 26. Rxf6 {deserves serious attention:} gxf6 27. Bxe6 ({Both
    players thought that} 27. Qg3 $1 {loses to} Bxb3 28. cxb3 ({However here White
    has the fantastic} 28. Nxe5+ $3 Kh8 29. Nd7 Qa7 30. Nxf6 Ra8 31. Qf4 {with
    huge attack.}) 28… Kh7 $1 {(Kramnik, Aronian)}) 27… Rxe6 28. Nh4 Qd8 29.
    Nf5 Kh7 30. Qh4 (30. Qg3 Qf8) 30… Qf8 31. Qxe4 {when it is anyone’s game.})
    26… exd3 ({Not} 26… Bxb3 27. Rxf6 gxf6 28. Nd7 $1 {(Kramnik)}) 27. Rxf6 $1
    {Finally! If this was boxing I do not really want to imagine how they would
    look like at the end…} gxf6 28. Rxf6 d2 $1 ({There is no need to bring the
    white bishop in after} 28… dxc2 $2 29. Qg3+ Kf8 30. Bxc2) 29. Qg3+ ({Not} 29.
    Qxd2 Ra1+ 30. Kf2 (30. Kh2 $2 {loses to} Qc7 31. Qd4 Bxb3 32. Qxa1 Bd5) 30…
    Qa5 {when White’s attack peters out.}) 29… Kf8 (29… Kh7 {is bad due} 30. c4
    $1 {(Kramnik)}) 30. Rf1 $3 {“I thought this just finishes the game.” (Kramnik)}
    ({Instead} 30. Nd7+ Ke7 31. Nxb6 {would see Black playing for a win after} Ra1+
    $1 ({But not the instant:} 31… d1=Q+ 32. Rf1 Qd2 33. Bxe6 fxe6 (33… Kxe6
    34. Qf4) 34. Qc7+) 32. Kh2 Rh1+ $3 33. Kxh1 d1=Q+ 34. Kh2 Kxf6) (30. c4 $5 {
    “might be very interesting here” (Kramnik)} Qd8 (30… Ra1+ 31. Kh2 d1=Q 32.
    Bxd1 Rxd1 33. Rxh6 {(Kramnik) White felt he should be mating here, but it
    seems the king slips away after} Ke7) ({The Russian GM missed the defense}
    30… Ke7 $1 {when Black is doing more than fine.}) 31. Qf4 d1=Q+ 32. Bxd1
    Qxd1+ 33. Kh2 {(Kramnik) This is indeed a win for White.}) 30… Ra7 $1 {
    The only fighting defense.} ({Black loses after} 30… d1=Q 31. Rxd1) ({
    Neither good is} 30… Qd6 31. Ng6+ $1) (30… Rd8 $5 {is harder to refute. In
    fact after} 31. Qf4 d1=Q 32. Qxh6+ Kg8 33. Qg5+ {The draw seems the right
    result, as if Black tries to play for a win with-} Kf8 34. Qh6+ Ke8 35. Qh8+
    Ke7 36. Ng6+ $1 fxg6 37. Qf6+ Ke8 38. Qf8+ Kd7 39. Rxd1+ Bd5 $1 (39… Kc8 40.
    Bxe6+) 40. Rxd5+ Kc8 41. Rc5+ Kb7 42. Qe7+ {he may end up losing.}) 31. Ng6+
    Kg7 32. Nf4+ ({No repetition even considered:} 32. Ne7+ $2 Kh7) 32… Kh8 (
    32… Kf8 $2 {drops the rook after} 33. Nxe6+ Rxe6 34. Bxe6 Qxe6 35. Qb8+) 33.
    Nh5 f6 ({Again the only move as} 33… Rg8 34. Qe5+ Kh7 35. Nf6+ Kh8 36. Nd5+ {
    wins loads of material for White.}) 34. Nxf6 Rf8 (34… Bxb3 $2 35. Nxe8) (
    34… Ree7 {was suggested by Aronian and now rather than} 35. Bxe6 (35. Qg6 $2
    Qxe3+ 36. Kh1 Bxb3 {wins for Black.}) ({White should do} 35. Qf4 $1 Bg8 36.
    Qxh6+ Rh7 37. Qf4 $3 {with strong attack for the exchange.}) 35… Qxe6 36.
    Qb8+ Kg7 37. Nh5+ Kh7 {(Kramnik)}) (34… Rd8 $1 {was also a resource with the
    devilish idea} 35. Qf4 Bf5 $3 36. Nd5 Qg6) 35. Qf4 Rh7 36. Qe5 {The
    culmination of the game.} Qc7 $2 {A blunder which puts an abrupt end of a
    great game.} (36… Rg7 $1 {was the only move. Then after} 37. Bxe6 Qc6 {
    The game should have objectively ended in a draw:} (37… Rg5 {is also OK as
    long as Black goes for} 38. Nd7+ Rxe5 39. Rxf8+ Kh7 40. Rf7+ Kh8 $1 ({And not}
    40… Kg6 41. Nxe5+ Kh5 42. Rf5+ Kh4 43. Ng6+ Kg3 44. Rf3#)) (37… Qc7 38. Qd4
    {is advantage for Black.}) 38. Bg4 (38. Bd5 Rxf6 $1 39. Bxc6 Rxf1+ 40. Kxf1 ({
    But White still has a draw after} 40. Kh2 $1 d1=Q 41. Qe8+ Rg8 42. Qe5+) 40…
    d1=Q+ {wins for Black.}) 38… d1=Q (38… Rxf6 39. Qxf6) 39. Rxd1 Qxf6 40.
    Qxf6 Rxf6 {“should be a draw” (Kramnik, Aronian)}) 37. Ne8+ $1 {Black resigned
    due to:} (37. Ne8+ Qxe5 38. Rxf8+ Bg8 39. Rxg8#) (37. Nh5+ $1 {would also do.})
    1-0

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.22”]
    [Round “10”]
    [White “Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar”]
    [Black “Caruana, Fabiano”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “E04”]
    [WhiteElo “2809”]
    [BlackElo “2784”]
    [PlyCount “115”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 Nc6 6. O-O Rb8 7. e3 Be7 (7…
    b5 8. b3 cxb3 9. axb3 Be7 10. Qe2 O-O 11. Bd2 Bb7 12. Rc1 a6 {Radjabov,T (2722)
    -Cheparinov,I (2677) Monzon 2016}) 8. Nfd2 e5 9. Bxc6+ bxc6 10. dxe5 Ng4 11.
    Nxc4 Be6 12. Nbd2 $146 (12. Qxd8+ Rxd8 13. Nbd2 Bb4 14. e4 Bxd2 15. Nxd2 Nxe5
    16. f4 Nd3 17. f5 Nxc1 18. Raxc1 Bxf5 19. exf5 Rxd2 20. Rxc6 Kd7 21. Rfc1 {
    ½-½ Van der Stricht,G (2424)-Hausrath,D (2507) Belgium 2008}) 12… h5 (12…
    Rb4 13. b3 h5 14. f3 $6 (14. h3) 14… Nxe3 $1 15. Nxe3 Qd4 {Mamedyarov}) 13.
    f3 (13. h3 Qd3 14. b3 h4 15. hxg4 hxg3 16. Qf3 Qh7 17. Qg2 Bd5 18. e4 Bc5 {
    Caruana}) 13… Qd3 14. fxg4 Bxc4 15. Nxc4 Qxc4 16. gxh5 Qe6 17. Qf3 (17. b3
    Qxe5 18. Qc2 Qxa1 19. Bb2 Qxa2 20. Qxc6+ Kd8 (20… Kf8 21. Rxf7+ $1) 21. Rd1+
    {Mamedyarov}) 17… Rb5 18. Qf5 (18. Bd2 Rxb2 19. Bc3 Rc2 20. Rfc1 {Mamedyarov}
    Rxc1+ 21. Rxc1 O-O 22. Bd4 c5 23. Bxc5 Bxc5 24. Rxc5 Qxa2) 18… Rxe5 19. Qxe6
    Rxe6 (19… fxe6 20. Bd2 Rhxh5 21. Kg2) 20. Rf5 (20. g4 $6 g6 $1) 20… Rd6 (
    20… Rf6 $5) 21. Kg2 Rd1 22. b3 g6 $6 {Mamedyarov thought he had a winning
    position after this.} 23. Re5 (23. hxg6 fxg6 24. Rf2 Rf8) 23… c5 24. hxg6
    fxg6 25. e4 Rh7 26. h4 {Missed by Caruana.} (26. Rd5 Re1 27. Rd2 Bf6 {Caruana/
    Mamedyarov}) 26… Rf7 (26… c6 27. Re6 {Caruana/Mamedyarov}) 27. Kh3 Rff1 (
    27… c6 28. Re6 Kd7 29. Rxg6 Rff1 30. Bg5 Rxa1 31. Rg7 {Caruana/Mamedyarov})
    28. Bg5 Rxa1 29. Rxe7+ Kf8 30. Rxc7 Rxa2 31. Be7+ (31. e5 Re2 32. Bf4 Rf3 33.
    Kg4 Rxb3 34. Kg5 Rb6 35. Rxc5 a6 36. g4 Kf7 {Caruana/Mamedyarov}) 31… Kg8 32.
    Rc8+ (32. e5 Rb2 {Caruana/Mamedyarov}) 32… Kg7 33. Bxc5 Re2 34. e5 (34. Re8
    a5 35. e5 Rc1 $1 36. Bd6 Rc3 {Caruana/Mamedyarov}) 34… Rd1 35. Re8 Rd5 36.
    Bd6 (36. b4 a5 37. e6 g5 $1 38. e7 axb4 39. Rc8 b3 {Caruana/Mamedyarov}) 36…
    Re3 37. Re7+ Kg8 38. Re8+ Kf7 39. Re7+ Kg8 40. b4 Rdd3 41. Kg4 Rxg3+ 42. Kf4
    Rgf3+ 43. Ke4 Rfe3+ 44. Kf4 Rf3+ 45. Kg5 Rf7 46. e6 Rd5+ 47. Kxg6 Rxd6 48. Rxf7
    Rxe6+ 49. Rf6 Re4 50. b5 Rxh4 51. Ra6 Rh7 52. b6 Rg7+ 53. Kh6 Rh7+ 54. Kg5 Rg7+
    55. Kf5 axb6 56. Rxb6 Rf7+ 57. Rf6 Rxf6+ 58. Kxf6 1/2-1/2

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.22”]
    [Round “10”]
    [White “Ding, Liren”]
    [Black “So, Wesley”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “D37”]
    [WhiteElo “2769”]
    [BlackElo “2799”]
    [PlyCount “61”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Be7 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 b6 7. cxd5 (7. Bd3)
    7… Nxd5 8. Nxd5 Qxd5 (8… exd5 9. Bd3 c5 10. O-O c4 11. Bb1 Nc6 12. b3 Be6
    13. bxc4 dxc4 14. Qa4 Qd7 {Fedoseev,V (2724)-Friedel,J (2562) chess.com INT
    2018}) 9. Be2 $5 {This confused So.} (9. Bxc7 Bb4+ 10. Nd2 Ba6 11. f3 Bxf1 12.
    Rxf1 Nc6 13. a3 Rac8 {Jorczik,J (2405)-Baramidze,D (2613) Eppingen GER 2014})
    9… Bb7 (9… Bb4+ 10. Nd2 Bxd2+ (10… Qxg2 11. Bf3 Bxd2+ 12. Kxd2 Qxf2+ 13.
    Kc3 {Ding}) 11. Qxd2 Qxg2 12. O-O-O Ba6 13. Rhg1 Qc6+ 14. Kb1) 10. Bxc7 (10.
    O-O Rc8) 10… Qa5+ $146 (10… Bb4+ 11. Kf1 Nc6 12. Qa4 Rfc8 13. Bg3 a6 14. h3
    b5 15. Qd1 Na5 {Injac,T (2277)-Goczo,M (2176) Novi Sad 2017}) 11. Kf1 Nd7 12.
    h4 Rac8 13. Bf4 (13. Bg3 $5 {So} Nf6 14. Ne5 Ne4 {Ding}) 13… Rfd8 (13… Bf6
    14. Bd3 {So}) 14. Kg1 (14. a3 $5 {So}) 14… Bxf3 (14… Bf6 15. a3) 15. Bxf3
    e5 16. Bg5 (16. Bg3 exd4 17. Bb7 Rc4 18. e4 Nf6 19. e5 Nd5) 16… Bxg5 (16…
    f6 17. Qb3+ Kh8 18. Qf7 Qb4 19. Be4 {might be too dangerous (So).}) 17. hxg5
    exd4 18. Qxd4 (18. g6 fxg6 19. Qxd4 Ne5) 18… Qxg5 19. Rh5 Qf6 20. Rd5 Qxd4
    21. Rxd4 Ne5 22. Bd5 (22. Bb7 Rxd4 23. exd4 Rc7 24. Ba6 Ng4 25. d5 Nf6 26. d6 (
    26. Rd1 Ne8) 26… Rd7 27. Rc1 g5 28. Rc7 Rxd6 29. Rxa7 Rd2) 22… Nc6 23. Rdd1
    Kf8 24. Bxc6 (24. Rac1 Ke7) 24… Rxd1+ 25. Rxd1 Rxc6 26. Rd7 Rc2 27. Rxa7 Rxb2
    28. a4 Ra2 29. Rb7 Ra1+ 30. Kh2 Rxa4 31. Rxb6 1/2-1/2

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.22”]
    [Round “10”]
    [White “Grischuk, Alexander”]
    [Black “Karjakin, Sergey”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “E00”]
    [WhiteElo “2767”]
    [BlackElo “2763”]
    [PlyCount “56”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Be7 5. Bg2 d5 6. Nf3 O-O 7. O-O Nbd7 8.
    Qc2 c6 9. Rc1 (9. a4 a5 10. Rc1) 9… b6 10. a4 (10. cxd5 cxd5 11. Bf4 Bb7 12.
    Qb3 Rc8 13. Rxc8 Qxc8 14. Nc3 Nh5 {Karjakin,S (2753)-Wei,Y (2743) Wijk aan Zee
    2018}) 10… Ne4 $146 (10… Ba6 11. b3 c5 12. a5 Bb7 13. a6 Bc6 14. Ne5 Nxe5
    15. dxe5 Nd7 {Pustovoitova,D (2382)-Gunina,V (2507) Moscow 2018}) 11. Be1 a5
    12. Nbd2 Nxd2 13. Nxd2 Bf6 14. cxd5 (14. Qd3 Ba6) 14… cxd5 15. e4 Bxd4 16.
    Nb3 (16. exd5 Nc5 17. Nb3 Nxb3 18. Qxb3 Ra7) 16… Bf6 17. exd5 exd5 18. Bxd5
    Ra7 19. Bg2 (19. Bc3 Bxc3 20. Qxc3 Nf6 21. Bf3 Rd7 22. Rd1 Nd5) 19… h6 (19…
    Ba6 20. Bc3 Rc7 (20… Ne5) 21. Bxf6 Rxc2 22. Bxd8 Rxc1+ 23. Rxc1 Rxd8 24. Bf1)
    20. Bc3 Rc7 21. Bxf6 Rxc2 22. Bxd8 Rxc1+ 23. Rxc1 Rxd8 24. Rd1 Kf8 25. f4 Ke7
    26. Re1+ Kf8 27. Rd1 Ke7 28. Re1+ Kf8 1/2-1/2

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.23”]
    [Round “11.1”]
    [White “Ding, Liren”]
    [Black “Grischuk, Alexander”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [WhiteElo “2769”]
    [BlackElo “2767”]
    [Annotator “Bojkov, Dejan”]
    [PlyCount “194”]
    [EventDate “2018.??.??”]
    [WhiteTeam “China”]
    [BlackTeam “Russia”]
    [WhiteTeamCountry “CHN”]
    [BlackTeamCountry “RUS”]
    [WhiteClock “0:01:24”]
    [BlackClock “0:06:07”]

    1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. e3 e6 5. d4 d5 6. a3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 a6 8. O-O
    b5 9. Ba2 Bb7 10. Qe2 Qc7 11. Bd2 Be7 $146 {A novelty in comparison to a very
    fresh game.} ({There Black comfortably held after} 11… Rd8 12. Rfc1 cxd4 13.
    exd4 Be7 14. d5 exd5 15. Bg5 O-O 16. Bxf6 Bxf6 17. Nxd5 Qd6 18. Re1 Nd4 19.
    Nxf6+ Qxf6 20. Nxd4 Rxd4 {Nepomniachtchi,I (2751)-Gelfand,B (2695) Moscow 2018}
    ) 12. Rac1 c4 13. e4 Rd8 14. Be3 Ng4 15. e5 Na5 {Perhaps it is here where
    Grischuk messed up with his preparation.} ({The move that he mentioned later
    was possible at once:} 15… f5 $5 {since} 16. exf6 {does not work anyway due
    to} Nxd4 $1 17. Bxd4 Bxf3 {and Black wins.}) 16. Bf4 {“This is supposedly good
    for Black, but I do not know (remember) how.” (Grischuk) See the previous note.
    } ({“I think I had this in preparation. If”} 16. Bb1 f5 $1 {“is good for Black
    as”} 17. exf6 Bxf3 18. Qxf3 Qxh2# {(Grischuk)}) 16… Qb6 17. Rcd1 h5 {The
    idea is to secure a square for the black knight, but it “is obviously bad.”
    (Grischuk)} 18. h3 Nh6 19. Bb1 {Now the black king may never castle and White
    is eager to open the center files.} Nb3 (19… Kd7 $2 20. d5 $1) 20. Be3 Qc7 {
    Black saw what will happen next but he thought he may “get lucky.”} ({In
    desperation Grischuk even considered a la Petrosian sacrifices like} 20… Bd5
    21. Nxd5 Rxd5 22. Be4 Nf5 23. Bxd5 exd5 {but realized that “he will slowly
    lose.” Indeed he cannot keep the position blocked forever.}) 21. Rfe1 Kf8 (
    21… O-O 22. Bxh6 gxh6 23. Qe3 Kg7 24. Ne4 {is a crushing attack for White.})
    22. d5 $1 {Thematic and very strong.} exd5 (22… Bxd5 23. Nxd5 exd5 24. e6 {
    would not change anything.}) 23. e6 fxe6 24. Ng5 $1 Qd7 ({From afar Grischuk
    intended to try:} 24… Bc8 {but then realized that} 25. Nxd5 $1 {would be
    nasty enough. For example:} ({Ding saw a safer win:} 25. Qf3+ $1 Kg8 26. Bf4 {
    and if} Qb7 27. Nxe6 Bxe6 28. Rxe6 {where Black is completely hopeless.}) 25…
    exd5 ({However} 25… Rxd5 $1 26. Rxd5 exd5 27. Qf3+ Bf6 28. Qxd5 g6 $1 {
    is not that clear.}) 26. Bb6 {this indeed wins for White.}) ({And if} 24…
    Bxg5 25. Bxg5 Re8 26. Nxd5 $1 {is decisive.}) 25. Bg6 $1 {Both players agreed
    that this was a very strong move.} Bf6 (25… Kg8 26. Bb6 {“and then I
    immediately resign” (Grischuk) Say} Rf8 27. Nxe6 Rf6 28. Nf4 $1 Rxf4 29. Qxe7
    Qxe7 30. Rxe7 {and Black has hardly any moves.}) 26. Bb6 Rc8 {“This move
    totally surprised me” (Ding)} ({The alternative was losing on the spot:} 26…
    Bxg5 27. Bxd8 Bxd8 28. Qxe6 Qxe6 29. Rxe6 Nf7 (29… Be7 30. Nxd5 Bxd5 31. Rxd5
    Nf7 32. Rd7 Nc5 33. Rexe7 Nxd7 34. Rxf7+ {(Ding)}) 30. Rde1 {(Grischuk)}) 27.
    Nxe6+ Kg8 28. Nxd5 ({Missing the beautiful win} 28. Nd8 $1 Bc6 (28… Rxd8 29.
    Bxd8 Qxd8 30. Qe8+ Qxe8 31. Rxe8#) 29. Rxd5 $1 {and Black can resign.}) 28…
    Bxd5 29. Nf4 {This is also winning but it does complicate matters.} ({Once
    again:} 29. Nd8 $1 {“was not only winning, but winning brilliantly.” (Grischuk)
    }) ({Also nice was:} 29. Rxd5 Qxd5 30. Nd8 $1 {with mate.}) 29… Nc1 $3 {
    An excellent practical chance. Now both players levelled on the clock and
    played the next 11 moves practically on increment.} 30. Qxh5 ({“If takes”} 30.
    Rxc1 {“then”} Bf7 {“and there is suddenly no mate” (Grischuk)} 31. Rcd1 Qc6 {
    “this is not so clear” (Ding) However simple move like} 32. Ba5 {leaves Black
    absolutely hopeless as he has no reasonable moves. For example} Bxg6 33. Nxg6
    Rh7 34. Qxh5) 30… Nd3 31. Nxd5 Nf7 32. Qe2 ({Grischuk’s suggestion} 32. Re7
    Bxe7 33. Bxf7+ Kf8 34. Qxh8+ Kxf7 {wins if we continue the line:} 35. Qh5+ g6
    36. Qh7+ Ke6 37. Nf4+ Ke5 38. Nxd3+ cxd3 39. Qg7+ Ke6 40. Re1+ Kd5 41. Qd4+ Kc6
    42. Rc1+ {and it is over.}) ({Also winning is} 32. Nxf6+ gxf6 33. Bxf7+ Qxf7
    34. Qg4+ Kh7 35. Qf5+ Kg7 36. Re4 {with mating threats and healthy extra pawn.}
    ) 32… Nfe5 33. Be4 Rh4 {Now, in timetrouble, more miracles happen.} 34. f4 (
    34. Qe3 $1) 34… Rxf4 $1 35. Nxf4 Nxf4 36. Bh7+ {“This of course shocked me.”
    (Grischuk)} Kh8 (36… Kxh7 {drops the queen after the in-between check} 37.
    Qe4+) 37. Qe4 Qc6 38. Bd4 (38. Be3 $1 Qxe4 39. Bxe4 Ned3 40. Bxf4 Nxf4 41. Rf1
    {would have kept solid advantage for White.}) 38… Nxh3+ {Getting overly
    excited with a few seconds left on his clock.} ({Correct was} 38… Ned3 {
    when Black is not worse at all. Of course} 39. Qxc6 $2 {fails to} Bxd4+) 39.
    Kh2 ({Even} 39. gxh3 Nf3+ 40. Kh1 $1 Nxd4 41. Bg6 {is advantageous for White.})
    39… Ng5 40. Qxc6 Rxc6 41. Bc2 Ngf7 42. Bxe5 $2 {“I do not understand this.”
    (Grischuk) Indeed, why was this trade needed? White can take on e5 in any
    given moment.} (42. Bc3 {“I thought there is almost no hope. White will just
    win slowly.” (Grischuk)}) 42… Nxe5 43. Rd5 Re6 44. Kh3 Kg8 45. b3 ({Black
    was more afraid of} 45. Bf5 Re8 46. Bd7 Re7 47. Bc8 g6 48. g3 {when the pin
    might be indeed more than unpleasant for him.}) 45… Kf7 46. bxc4 Nxc4 47.
    Rd7+ Be7 48. Rxe6 Kxe6 49. Ra7 Nxa3 50. Rxa6+ Kd5 {“This is like my dream.
    Everything is exchanged and I have very good drawing chances.” (Grischuk)} 51.
    Bh7 Nc4 52. Kg4 Bf6 53. Ra7 {As Grischuk explained White will be winning if he
    manages to take away all the pawns from the board. However, this will never
    happen as the b-pawn is too strong.} Kd4 54. Bg8 Nd6 55. Kf3 Kc5 56. Ra8 {
    In the remainder, Ding tried everyhting that he could but the win had slipped
    away.} b4 57. Ke2 Bc3 58. Kd3 Kb6 59. Ke3 Kc6 60. Kf4 Nb7 61. Kf5 Nc5 62. g4
    Kb5 63. g5 b3 64. Kg6 Kb4 65. Bd5 Bd4 66. Kh7 Kc3 67. g6 b2 68. Ba2 Kc2 69. Rb8
    Ne4 70. Rb4 Nc3 71. Be6 Kc1 72. Bf5 Be5 73. Rb7 b1=Q ({Shuffling the bishop
    left and right was the easiest draw as White cannot make progress.} 73… Bf6)
    74. Bxb1 Nxb1 75. Rxg7 Nc3 76. Re7 Bd4 {This is also a draw as the bishop will
    always have enough squares on the diagonals as Grischuk explained.} 77. Rd7 Be5
    78. Kh6 Kc2 79. Kg5 Kb3 80. Kf5 Bh8 81. Rb7+ ({Or} 81. Rh7 Bd4 82. Re7 Bh8)
    81… Kc2 82. Rh7 Bd4 83. Ke6 Kb3 84. Rd7 Bh8 85. Rd8 Bg7 86. Kf7 Be5 87. Re8 (
    87. Rd3 Kc2) 87… Bd4 88. Rb8+ Kc2 89. Rb7 Be5 90. Rb6 Bd4 91. Rf6 Bxf6 92.
    Kxf6 Nd5+ 93. Kf7 Ne3 94. Kf6 Nd5+ 95. Kf7 Ne3 96. g7 Nf5 97. g8=Q Nh6+ 1/2-1/2

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.23”]
    [Round “11.2”]
    [White “So, Wesley”]
    [Black “Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [WhiteElo “2799”]
    [BlackElo “2809”]
    [PlyCount “81”]
    [EventDate “2018.??.??”]
    [WhiteTeam “United States”]
    [BlackTeam “Azerbaijan”]
    [WhiteTeamCountry “USA”]
    [BlackTeamCountry “AZE”]
    [WhiteClock “1:50:10”]
    [BlackClock “1:33:28”]

    1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 c6 8. Qxc4
    b5 9. Qc2 Bb7 10. Nc3 (10. Bg5 Nbd7 11. Nbd2 c5 12. Bxf6 gxf6 13. Rac1 Qb6 {
    Vitiugov,N (2722)-Riazantsev,A (2650) St Petersburg 2017}) 10… Nbd7 11. Rd1
    Qb6 {Mamedyarov: “I prepared this line for white for my game with Karjakin.
    “It was time to play it with black!”} 12. Ne5 (12. e4 c5 13. d5 exd5 (13… c4)
    14. e5 d4 15. exf6 Nxf6 16. Ne2 Be4) 12… Rfd8 13. Be3 $146 (13. Nxd7 Rxd7 14.
    a4 a5 15. e4 b4 16. Ne2 c5 17. d5 exd5 18. e5 Ne8 19. Bh3 Rdd8 {Bazeev,G (2285)
    -Koryakin,E (2369) Peterhof 2009}) (13. Bg5 Nxe5 14. dxe5 Ng4 15. Bxe7 Qxf2+
    16. Kh1 c5 17. Rxd8+ Rxd8 18. Ne4 Qxg2+ 19. Kxg2 Ne3+ 20. Kf2 Nxc2 21. Rc1)
    13… Nd5 {“Black is OK.”} 14. Nxd5 cxd5 15. Rac1 Rac8 16. Qd3 b4 17. Rxc8 Bxc8
    18. Qc2 Nxe5 19. dxe5 d4 20. Bxd4 Rxd4 21. Qxc8+ Rd8 22. Rxd8+ Qxd8 23. Qxd8+
    Bxd8 24. b3 Bc7 25. f4 Bb6+ 26. Kf1 Be3 27. h4 h5 28. Bh3 Kf8 29. Kg2 Ke7 30.
    Kf3 Bd2 31. e3 Be1 {Here Mamedyarov offered a draw. “But spectators might
    wonder why draw, White is up a pawn.” (So)} 32. f5 exf5 33. Bxf5 g6 34. Bd3 Bc3
    35. Kf4 Be1 36. Bc4 Bf2 37. Bd5 Be1 38. g4 hxg4 39. Kxg4 Bc3 40. Kf4 Be1 41.
    Kg4 1/2-1/2

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.23”]
    [Round “11.3”]
    [White “Caruana, Fabiano”]
    [Black “Kramnik, Vladimir”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [WhiteElo “2784”]
    [BlackElo “2800”]
    [PlyCount “79”]
    [EventDate “2018.??.??”]
    [WhiteTeam “United States”]
    [BlackTeam “Russia”]
    [WhiteTeamCountry “USA”]
    [BlackTeamCountry “RUS”]
    [WhiteClock “0:51:56”]
    [BlackClock “0:04:42”]

    1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 c6 4. e4 dxe4 5. Nxe4 c5 $5 {Virtually a novelty, as
    early as move five.} (5… Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Qxd4 7. Bxb4 Qxe4+ 8. Be2 Na6 9. Bd6 b6
    10. Nf3 Bb7 {Jobava,B (2702)-Lu,S (2627) Doha 2016}) 6. Nxc5 Nc6 $146 (6…
    Bxc5 7. dxc5 Qxd1+ 8. Kxd1 Nf6 9. Be2 Bd7 10. b4 O-O 11. Be3 Rd8 {Hutt,A (2122)
    -Moas,H Villa Carlos Paz 2003}) 7. Nf3 ({Caruana didn’t like} 7. Be3 e5 8. dxe5
    Qa5+ 9. Qd2) (7. Ne2 Nxd4 8. Nxb7 (8. Ne4 $5) 8… Nf3+ 9. gxf3 Qxd1+ 10. Kxd1
    Bxb7 11. Bg2 Ne7 {Kramnik}) 7… Nxd4 8. Qxd4 Qxd4 9. Nxd4 Bxc5 10. Nb5 Ke7 11.
    Bd2 ({Since everyone is using computers these days, Kramnik didn’t see a
    reason to keep it a secret that} 11. Nc7 {gives White an advantage.}) 11… Bd7
    {Here the players agreed that Black is not worse.} 12. b4 Bxb5 13. cxb5 Bd6 ({
    Kramnik didn’t like} 13… Bd4 14. Rc1 Rd8 15. Rc7+ Rd7 16. Rc8 (16. Rxd7+ Kxd7
    17. Be2 Ne7 18. Bf3 Rc8)) 14. g3 Rc8 (14… Nf6 15. Bg2 Nd5 {is equal.}) 15.
    Bg2 b6 16. Ke2 Nh6 (16… h5 17. Rhc1 Rxc1 18. Rxc1 Nf6 19. Bg5 {Kramnik} (19.
    a4 h4 20. a5 hxg3 21. hxg3 Rh5 22. Bc6 {Caruana})) 17. Rac1 Nf5 (17… Rxc1 18.
    Rxc1 Nf5 19. a4 h5 20. Rc4 Be5 (20… Rd8) 21. f4 Bb8 22. Bc3) 18. Bc3 f6 19.
    f4 $6 {Caruana wasn’t happy with this.} (19. Be4 h5 20. h4 Rc7 21. a4 Rhc8 22.
    Bc6 Be5 $5 {Kramnik}) 19… h5 20. Bc6 Rcd8 (20… Rcg8 21. Rcd1 g5 22. fxg5
    Rxg5 23. Rhf1 Rf8 24. Rf4 $5) 21. a4 h4 22. Kf3 (22. g4 Nh6 23. Kf3 Nf7 24.
    Rhe1 (24. a5 g5 25. axb6 axb6 26. Ra1 Bb8) 24… g5 25. Bd5 Bxf4 26. Rxe6+ Kf8)
    22… hxg3 (22… Bb8 23. g4 Nd4+ 24. Ke3 e5 25. f5 h3) 23. hxg3 Rxh1 24. Rxh1
    Bb8 ({Kramnik almost played} 24… Be5 {but then he didn’t like} 25. fxe5 Rd3+
    26. Kf2 Rxc3 27. Rd1) 25. Be4 Kf7 (25… Rc8 26. Bc6 Kf7 27. Rd1 {Caruana}) 26.
    Rc1 Ne7 (26… g5 27. fxg5 fxg5 28. Be1 Rd4 29. g4 Nd6 {(Kramnik) and now} 30.
    Bg3 $1 {is equal too.}) 27. Be1 f5 28. Bb1 Rd4 (28… g5 $5 29. fxg5 Rd4 30. a5
    Bd6 {Kramnik}) 29. Bc3 Rc4 30. Ba2 Rc8 31. Bb2 Rd8 32. Bc4 Rc8 33. Bb3 Rxc1 34.
    Bxc1 Bd6 35. Bd2 Nd5 36. Bxd5 exd5 37. Bc3 Be7 38. a5 Bf6 39. Bxf6 Kxf6 40. Ke3
    1/2-1/2

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.23”]
    [Round “11.4”]
    [White “Aronian, Levon”]
    [Black “Karjakin, Sergey”]
    [Result “0-1”]
    [WhiteElo “2794”]
    [BlackElo “2763”]
    [PlyCount “148”]
    [EventDate “2018.??.??”]
    [WhiteTeam “Armenia”]
    [BlackTeam “Russia”]
    [WhiteTeamCountry “ARM”]
    [BlackTeamCountry “RUS”]
    [WhiteClock “0:29:32”]
    [BlackClock “0:22:12”]

    1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. Qa4+ c6 6. Qxc4 b5 7. Qb3 (7. Qc2
    Bb7 8. a4 a6 9. Nc3 Nbd7 10. O-O Be7 11. d3 O-O 12. e4 h6 {Sargissian,G (2677)
    -Xu,Y (2538) Moscow 2018}) 7… Bb7 8. O-O Be7 9. d4 O-O 10. Rd1 Nbd7 11. Ne5
    Nxe5 12. dxe5 Nd7 13. Bf4 $146 (13. Nc3 Qc7 14. Bf4 Rfd8 15. Qc2 Qb6 16. Ne4 c5
    17. Bg5 Bxg5 18. Nxg5 Nf8 {Sargissian,G (2679)-Houska,J (2372) Douglas 2015})
    13… Qc7 14. Nd2 Rfd8 15. Rac1 a6 16. Qe3 c5 17. Bxb7 Qxb7 18. Ne4 c4 19. h4
    h6 20. Rd4 Nf8 ({Karjakin mentioned} 20… Nb6 {as an option.}) 21. b3 Rxd4 22.
    Qxd4 Rd8 23. Nd6 Bxd6 24. exd6 f6 {“A totally equal position.” (Karjakin)} 25.
    Be3 e5 26. Qb2 (26. Qg4 $11) 26… Qc6 27. bxc4 bxc4 28. Qb4 (28. Qc2 Rc8 29.
    Rd1) 28… Rc8 $1 {“I already felt Black can play a bit,” said Karjakin.} (
    28… Rxd6 29. Bc5 Rd8 30. Bxf8 Rxf8 31. Rxc4 {is a draw.}) 29. f3 h5 30. Kf2
    Kf7 31. Rd1 Nd7 32. Qb1 g6 33. g4 {Karjakin didn’t like this as the resulting
    structure change is favorable for Black.} Rh8 34. g5 f5 35. Qc2 Rc8 36. Qc3 Ke6
    37. Kg2 Qa4 38. Qd2 Qb5 39. a4 Qc6 40. Qc2 Rb8 41. Bd2 Rb3 42. Bc3 $2 ({
    White didn’t need to give up the a-pawn. Karjakin expected} 42. a5 {but didn’t
    consider} Kxd6 {when} 43. Bb4+ Kc7 44. Be7 {is unclear.}) 42… Qxa4 43. Ra1
    Qc6 44. Ra5 Rb5 45. Qa4 Nb6 46. Qa1 Rxa5 47. Qxa5 Qb5 48. d7 Kxd7 49. Qa3 Nd5
    50. Bxe5 Qc6 {“I realised it’s not easy at all, but I think I didn’t spoil
    anything.” (Karjakin)} 51. Qf8 Qe6 52. Qb8 c3 53. Qb7+ Ke8 54. Qb8+ Kf7 55.
    Qb7+ Ne7 56. Bxc3 Qxe2+ 57. Kh3 Qb5 58. Qc7 Qc6 59. Qe5 Qxf3+ 60. Kh2 Qf2+ 61.
    Kh1 Qxh4+ 62. Kg1 Qxg5+ 63. Kh2 Qh4+ 64. Kg1 Qe4 65. Qg7+ Ke6 66. Bf6 Nd5 67.
    Bb2 f4 68. Kh2 Kf5 69. Qf8+ Kg5 70. Qd8+ Kg4 71. Qc8+ Kh4 72. Bg7 Qe2+ 73. Kh1
    Qf3+ 74. Kh2 Qg3+ 0-1

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.24”]
    [Round “12”]
    [White “Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar”]
    [Black “Ding, Liren”]
    [Result “0-1”]
    [ECO “D41”]
    [WhiteElo “2809”]
    [BlackElo “2769”]
    [PlyCount “86”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4 Nxc3 7. bxc3 cxd4 8.
    cxd4 Bb4+ 9. Bd2 Bxd2+ 10. Qxd2 O-O 11. Bc4 Nd7 12. O-O b6 13. Rad1 Bb7 14.
    Rfe1 Rc8 15. Bb3 Re8 16. h3 (16. Re3 Nf6 17. Qd3 b5 18. d5 exd5 19. e5 Ne4 20.
    Qxb5 Qb6 21. Qxb6 axb6 {So,W (2788)-Dominguez Perez,L (2739) Saint Louis 2017})
    16… Nf6 17. Qf4 Nh5 $146 (17… Qc7 18. Qh4 h6 19. Re3 b5 20. Ne5 a5 21. a4
    bxa4 22. Bxa4 Red8 {Epishin,V (2574)-Del Rio de Angelis,S (2489) Calvia 2005})
    18. Qh2 h6 19. Ne5 (19. d5 exd5 20. exd5 Rxe1+ 21. Nxe1 Qf6 22. Nd3 Ba6 23. Qe5
    Bxd3 24. Qxh5 Bc2 {So,W (2799)-Kramnik,V (2800) Berlin GER 2018}) 19… Nf6 20.
    Qf4 b5 21. Re3 (21. Nxf7 Kxf7 22. e5 a5 23. exf6 Qxf6 {is just equal.}) 21…
    Rc7 22. Nd3 Rc3 23. Nc5 Rxe3 24. Qxe3 {After this trade Ding felt quite
    comfortable.} (24. fxe3 Bc6 25. d5 e5 {Ding}) 24… Bc6 25. Rc1 Qb6 26. f3 Rd8
    27. Kf2 a5 28. g4 a4 29. Bc2 (29. Bd1 $5 Qb8 30. Kg2 Qd6 {Mamedyarov} 31. Be2
    $1 Qxd4 32. Qxd4 Rxd4 33. Nxe6) 29… Nd7 {Here Ding thought Black is already
    better.} 30. Bd3 Nxc5 31. Rxc5 b4 32. Bc4 Bd7 33. g5 hxg5 34. Qxg5 Be8 35. Qe7
    b3 $1 36. axb3 a3 $1 {Missed by Mamedyarov.} 37. b4 Ra8 38. d5 {Ding had
    missed this, and said he was lucky he had 43…Qa7+.} a2 39. dxe6 a1=Q 40.
    exf7+ Bxf7 41. Bxf7+ Kh7 42. Qh4+ Qh6 43. Rh5 Qa7+ $1 (43… Qd4+ $2 44. Kg2 {
    is a draw in fact.}) 0-1

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.24”]
    [Round “12”]
    [White “Grischuk, Alexander”]
    [Black “Aronian, Levon”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “C88”]
    [WhiteElo “2767”]
    [BlackElo “2794”]
    [PlyCount “108”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. d3
    d6 9. Bd2 (9. c3 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. h3 Re8 12. d4 Nd7 13. d5 Bf8 {Alekseev,E
    (2616)-Kovalev,V (2639) Tallinn 2018}) 9… Kh8 $146 (9… Bg4 10. h3 Bxf3 11.
    Qxf3 Nd4 12. Qd1 a5 13. c3 Nxb3 14. axb3 Nd7 {Calzetta Ruiz,M (2317)-Atalik,E
    (2393) Turin 2006}) 10. h3 Nd7 11. Nc3 Na5 12. Nd5 Nxb3 13. axb3 Bb7 14. c4 f5
    15. Ba5 Rc8 16. Rc1 bxc4 17. bxc4 fxe4 18. dxe4 Nc5 {Aronian thought this
    should be “sufficient for equality.”} 19. Bc3 {Grischuk thought this was the
    critical moment, and he felt White is better here.} (19. b4 $5) ({He spent a
    lot of time on} 19. Bb4 $5 Ne6 20. Nxe5 c5 21. Ba5 Qxa5 22. Ng6+ hxg6 23. Nxe7
    Qc7 24. Nxg6+ Kg8 25. Nxf8 Rxf8 {but didn’t like it.}) 19… Qe8 20. b4 Ne6 21.
    Bd2 c6 22. Nxe7 Qxe7 23. Be3 ({After} 23. c5 dxc5 24. bxc5 Rcd8 {Grischuk
    “couldn’t find a way” to continue, which might be} 25. Re3 Nxc5 26. Qe2 Ne6 27.
    Ba5) 23… c5 24. bxc5 Nxc5 25. Bxc5 Rxc5 26. Nd2 Bc8 27. Nf1 Be6 28. Ne3 Rc6
    29. Qa4 Rfc8 30. Rb1 h6 31. Rb8 Rxc4 32. Rxc8+ Rxc8 33. Qxa6 Qc7 34. Rd1 Rd8
    35. Qd3 Qc5 36. Kh2 Qc7 37. Kg1 Qc5 38. Rd2 Qc7 39. Qa3 Qe7 40. Rd1 Kh7 41. Qb4
    Qc7 42. Rd3 Kg8 43. Qd2 Qe7 44. Kh2 Qf8 45. Kg1 Qe7 46. Qd1 Kh7 47. Rd2 Qf8 48.
    Rd3 Qe7 49. Rd2 Qf8 50. Nf1 Rd7 51. Ng3 Qb8 52. Kh2 Qf8 53. Kg1 Qb8 54. Kh2 Qf8
    1/2-1/2

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.24”]
    [Round “12”]
    [White “Karjakin, Sergey”]
    [Black “Caruana, Fabiano”]
    [Result “1-0”]
    [ECO “C42”]
    [WhiteElo “2763”]
    [BlackElo “2784”]
    [PlyCount “95”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Nc6 7. Be3 Be7
    8. Qd2 Be6 9. O-O-O Qd7 ({In another top game Black decided to castle short
    recently:} 9… a6 10. b3 h6 11. Be2 Qd7 12. Kb1 Bf6 13. Nd4 Nxd4 14. Bxd4 Bxd4
    15. Qxd4 O-O 16. c4 Rfe8 17. Bf3 {but Black could not equalize in full, Anand,
    V (2776)-Mamedyarov,S (2809) Moscow 2018}) 10. a3 h6 {A surprise for the first
    player.} ({Karjakin expected} 10… a6) 11. Nd4 $146 {Technically speaking, a
    novelty, although this is the most common move in the line.} ({Notably, the
    predecessor is a game of Caruana’s coach:} 11. Kb1 Rg8 12. Bd3 O-O-O 13. Qe2
    Bf6 14. Bb5 Kb8 15. Rhe1 g5 16. Nd2 {with advantage for White in Kasimdzhanov,
    R (2698)-Li,D (2488) Chengdu 2017}) 11… Nxd4 12. Bxd4 Rg8 ({With the pawn on
    h6 it is not advisable to castle short at all.} 12… O-O {White will quickly
    start pushing the g-pawn and the hook on h6 will give him a chance to quickly
    open files against the opponent’s king. [Karjakin’s second Alexander
    Riazantsev thought this might still have been better than the next move. – PD]}
    ) 13. Be2 ({White did not like} 13. c4 c5 14. Bc3 O-O-O {followed by d6-d5
    with equality.}) 13… c5 {“I am not sure if this is best in this position.”
    (Karjakin)} ({“Maybe I can just play”} 13… a6 {(Caruana)}) ({Or} 13… Qa4 $5
    {(Karjakin)}) 14. Be3 d5 15. f4 O-O-O 16. Bf3 Bg4 {The most obvious and
    logical move, but it has a flaw.} ({Instead Caruana suggested} 16… f5 17. Qf2
    Qc7 18. Rd3 Rd7 19. Rhd1 Rgd8 20. h3 {which both players considered slightly
    better for White.}) 17. Bxd5 $1 {“I think this is very interesting at least
    from a practical point of view.” (Karjakin) “Yeah, I should not have allowed
    this. It becomes very difficult to play.” (Caruana)} ({It is also practically
    forced as if White allows the trade of the bishops with} 17. Qe2 Bxf3 18. Qxf3
    {Black will easily level the chances after say} Qc6) 17… Bxd1 18. Rxd1 Qc7
    19. c4 {For the exchange White has a pawn and the bishop pair. Especially
    valuable is his light-squared bishop. It blocks the black rooks’ way out while
    at he same time exerts strong pressure on the opponent’s position. Furthermore,
    White has the obvious plan of advancing his kingside pawns and improving on
    that part of the board.} Rge8 20. Qf2 b6 21. g4 Bf6 22. Kb1 {A useful,
    prophylactic move which avoids any problems along the c1-h6 diagonal.} Rd7 23.
    Rd3 {Not only defending the bishop in advance but also preparing further
    improvement of the rook itself. It can be both useful for the kingside assault
    or queenside attack after Rd3-b3 and a3-a4-a5.} g5 24. Ka2 $1 {Just in case,
    avoiding the back-rank checks. Karjakin makes the most unpleasant moves for
    his opponent, slowly but steadily improving everything. At the same time,
    Caruana can clearly see he has nothing to do against this slow play.} Ree7 (
    24… Rde7 {drops a pawn after} 25. fxg5 Bxg5 26. Bxg5 hxg5 27. Qf5+ Kb8 28.
    Qxg5 {since} Qxh2 {fails tactically after} 29. Bxf7 $1 Rxf7 30. Rd8+ Rxd8 31.
    Qxd8+ Kb7 32. Qd5+) 25. Qf3 Kd8 26. Bd2 Kc8 27. Qf1 $1 {With the threat Rd3-h3.
    “I was very proud of this idea.” (Karjakin)} Rd6 {Caruana decided to sacrifice
    a second pawn in order to get some air for his pieces.} 28. fxg5 Bxg5 29. Bxg5
    hxg5 30. Qf5+ Rdd7 (30… Qd7 31. Qxg5) 31. Qxg5 Qe5 ({Once more} 31… Qxh2 {
    fails tactically after} 32. Qg8+ Kc7 (32… Rd8 33. Be6+ $1) 33. Qa8 $1 {
    for example} Qxc2 34. Qxa7+ Kc8 35. Qa8+ Kc7 36. Qc6+ Kb8 37. Rh3 {and mate
    follows.}) 32. Qh6 Kd8 ({On} 32… f6 {White intended to mount pressure with
    the simple} 33. h4 {when “it is probably just lost.” (Caruana)}) ({There is a
    constant problem with the black king:} 32… Kc7 33. Qc6+ Kd8 34. Qa8+) 33. g5
    Qd6 34. Qh8+ Re8 35. Qh4 ({Avoiding} 35. Qh3 Qf4 $1 ({Rather than} 35… Qg6 $2
    36. Qxd7+ $1 Kxd7 37. Bxf7+ Qd6 38. Bxe8+) {But} 36. Rf3 {(Caruana) should be
    winning as well.} (36. Bc6 Qxc4+ {(Karjakin)})) 35… Qg6 36. Qg4 {White can
    combine the advance of the kingside pawns with threats against the opponent’s
    king. Caruana’s rooks had a terrible destiny today; it was basically
    outperformed by the gorgeous bishop on d5.} Re5 37. h4 Ke7 38. Rd2 (38. Qg3 Re2
    39. Qb8 {would had won as well.}) 38… b5 {The last try in timetrouble, but
    Karjakin calculated everything till the end.} 39. Bxf7 $1 Qf5 40. Rxd7+ Kxd7 ({
    After} 40… Qxd7 {White has a choice between} 41. Qxd7+ ({And} 41. Qg3)) 41.
    Qxf5+ Rxf5 42. g6 Ke7 43. cxb5 Rh5 44. c4 Rxh4 45. a4 Rg4 46. a5 Kd6 47. a6 {
    With the threat b5-b6.} Kc7 48. Kb3 {Black resigned as the white king’s march
    towards his g-pawn cannot be stopped.} 1-0

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.24”]
    [Round “12”]
    [White “Kramnik, Vladimir”]
    [Black “So, Wesley”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [WhiteElo “2800”]
    [BlackElo “2799”]
    [PlyCount “84”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 Be7 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bf4 c6 6. e3 Bf5 7. g4 Be6 8. Qb3
    $146 (8. h4 Bxh4 9. Qb3 g5 10. Be5 f6 11. Bh2 Bxg4 12. Qxb7 Qe7 13. Qxe7+ Nxe7
    14. Be2 Bxe2 15. Kxe2 Nd7 {Giri,A (2785)-So,W (2815) chess.com INT 2017}) 8…
    Qb6 9. f3 g5 (9… Qxb3 10. axb3 Nd7 11. h4 {“and White has free play for
    nothing.” (Kramnik)} f5 12. g5) 10. Be5 f6 11. Bg3 Qxb3 12. axb3 h5 13. gxh5
    Rxh5 (13… Nh6 14. Bd3 Nf5) 14. Bd3 Kf7 $6 (14… f5 15. h4 Nd7 {Kramnik}) 15.
    h4 f5 16. Nh3 f4 (16… gxh4 17. Nf4 Rh6 18. Bf2) 17. exf4 Bxh3 (17… gxh4 18.
    Ng5+ Bxg5 19. fxg5) 18. fxg5 Bd7 19. Kf2 Na6 20. Bxa6 (20. Rae1 Nb4 21. Bb1)
    20… bxa6 21. Ne2 Bd8 22. Be5 (22. Nf4 Rh8 23. Nd3) 22… Ne7 23. Nf4 Rh7 24.
    h5 Kg8 25. Rag1 (25. g6 Rh6 26. Rxa6 Bc8) 25… Nf5 26. h6 Be8 27. g6 Rxh6 28.
    Rxh6 Nxh6 29. Rh1 Bg5 30. Ne6 Bxg6 31. Nxg5 Nf7 32. Ne6 (32. Nxf7 Kxf7 33. Ke3)
    32… Nxe5 33. dxe5 Re8 34. Nf4 {Kramnik thought this was practically winning..
    .} Bc2 $1 {…but had completely missed this move.} 35. Rg1+ (35. Rh5 Bxb3 36.
    Nd3 d4) 35… Kf7 36. e6+ Kf6 37. Nh5+ Ke5 38. f4+ Kd6 39. Ng7 Rf8 40. Ke3 d4+
    41. Kf3 Ke7 42. b4 Kf6 ({A possible line is} 42… Kf6 43. Ke2 Rh8 44. f5 Rh2+
    45. Kf3 Rh6 46. Ne8+ Ke7 47. Nc7 Kf6 48. Ne8+) 1/2-1/2

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.26”]
    [Round “13”]
    [White “Mamedyarov, S.”]
    [Black “Grischuk, A.”]
    [Result “1-0”]
    [ECO “D77”]
    [WhiteElo “2809”]
    [BlackElo “2767”]
    [PlyCount “77”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. O-O d5 6. c4 dxc4 7. Na3 c3 8. bxc3
    c5 9. Re1 Nc6 10. Bb2 Nd5 11. Qc2 (11. e4 Nb6 12. Rb1 Bg4 13. d5 Ne5 14. c4 e6
    15. Qb3 Bxf3 16. Bxf3 exd5 17. exd5 Re8 {Meier,G (2647)-Van Wely,L (2656)
    chess.com INT 2018}) 11… cxd4 $146 (11… Nb6 12. Rad1 Bf5 13. e4 Bg4 14. h3
    Bxf3 15. Bxf3 Qc8 16. Bg2 e6 {Dreev,A (2652)-Puranik,A (2509) Bastia 2017}) 12.
    Nxd4 Nf6 $1 {“After this Black is OK but I played a bit stupidly.” (Grischuk)}
    13. Nxc6 bxc6 14. c4 Bf5 15. Qc1 Qc7 16. Nc2 Rab8 17. Bc3 {Grischuk had missed
    that White is threatening 18.Nb4 here.} Bxc2 18. Qxc2 Ne8 19. h4 c5 20. Red1
    Bxc3 21. Qxc3 Nf6 22. Bf3 h5 23. Rab1 Rxb1 24. Rxb1 Rb8 25. Rb5 Ne8 (25… a6
    26. Qa5 {Grischuk}) 26. Qe3 Rxb5 27. cxb5 Nd6 (27… c4 $5 {Grischuk}) 28. a4
    c4 29. Kg2 (29. Qc3 Qc5) 29… c3 30. Bc6 Qa5 (30… a6 31. Qxc3 axb5 32. axb5
    Nxb5 {is an immediate draw, but that was equally valuable as a loss for
    Grischuk.}) 31. Qc5 a6 32. e4 axb5 33. axb5 Kh7 34. e5 Nxb5 $2 (34… Nf5 {
    still draws.} 35. Be4 e6) 35. e6 $1 {Suddenly White is winning in all lines.}
    Qa3 36. Qxb5 c2 37. exf7 Kg7 38. Be4 c1=Q 39. Qe8 1-0

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.26”]
    [Round “13”]
    [White “Ding Liren”]
    [Black “Kramnik, V.”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “A13”]
    [WhiteElo “2769”]
    [BlackElo “2800”]
    [PlyCount “94”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 c5 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. g3 b6 5. e4 Bb7 6. d3 d6 7. Bg2 g6 8. O-O Bg7
    9. Re1 O-O (9… e5 10. d4 Nc6 11. dxe5 dxe5 12. Nd5 Nd7 13. Bh3 Nf8 14. Qa4
    Ne6 {Cordova,E (2606)-Terry,R (2492) Lima 2018}) 10. d4 cxd4 11. Nxd4 a6 12. b3
    Nbd7 13. Ba3 $146 (13. Bb2 Qc7 14. Re2 Rad8 15. Qe1 Qb8 16. Rd1 Nc5 17. f3 Rfe8
    18. Kh1 {½-½ Portisch,L (2655)-Spassky,B (2615) Mexico City 1980}) 13… Nc5
    14. b4 Ncd7 15. b5 {Kramnik seemed to suggest this was a positional mistake
    (“let’s put it this way, unusual”) He thought he was better here.} Ne8 (15…
    Ne5 16. Qb3 Rc8 {Kramnik} 17. Rad1 Nxc4 18. e5 {Ding}) 16. Rc1 Ne5 17. Qe2 axb5
    18. Ndxb5 g5 {“Totally came as a surprise.” (Ding) “A typical Hedgehog idea”
    (Kramnik) to cement the knight on e5 with g5-g4.} (18… Rc8 19. Red1 Nxc4 20.
    Bb4 {Ding}) 19. h3 $6 (19. Red1 {should give White at least a slight edge.})
    19… f5 {“I thought it was almost gone.” (Kramnik)} 20. exf5 Bxg2 21. Kxg2
    Rxa3 $1 {Ouch. From this point, Ding can only hope for a draw.} 22. Nxa3 Qa8+
    23. Qe4 Qxa3 24. fxe6 Nf6 25. Qe2 Qa8+ 26. f3 h5 27. e7 Re8 28. Ne4 g4 29. hxg4
    hxg4 30. fxg4 Nfxg4 $6 ({Black should won slowly with} 30… Rxe7 31. g5 {
    and now} Nfd7 $1 ({and not} 31… Nxe4 32. Qxe4 {as Kramnik suggested})) 31.
    Qd1 $1 Bh6 32. Rc3 Rxe7 $6 ({And here} 32… Kg7 33. Re2 Rxe7 34. Qd5 Qe8 {
    was stronger.}) 33. Qd5+ Qxd5 34. cxd5 {The worst is over for Ding, who
    manages to avoid any further danger now.} Ra7 35. Re2 Nf7 36. Kh3 Nge5 37. Nxd6
    Nxd6 38. Rxe5 Bg7 39. Rg5 Ne4 40. Rc8+ Kh7 41. Rh5+ Kg6 42. Rh4 Ng5+ 43. Kg2
    Rxa2+ 44. Kf1 Ra1+ 45. Ke2 Ra2+ 46. Kf1 Ra1+ 47. Ke2 Ra2+ 1/2-1/2

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.26”]
    [Round “13”]
    [White “So, W.”]
    [Black “Karjakin, Sergey”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “E37”]
    [WhiteElo “2799”]
    [BlackElo “2763”]
    [PlyCount “77”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]

    1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 Ne4 7. Qc2 c5 8.
    dxc5 Nc6 9. Nf3 Qa5+ 10. Bd2 Qxc5 11. e3 Nxd2 12. Nxd2 dxc4 13. b4 $146 (13.
    Bxc4 O-O 14. b4 Qe7 15. Bd3 h6 16. Qc3 a6 17. O-O Bd7 18. Nc4 Rab8 19. Nb6 Rfd8
    20. Rac1 Be8 21. Be4 Na7 22. a4 Qd6 23. Nc4 Qe7 24. Nb6 Qd6 25. Nc4 Qe7 26. Nb6
    Qd6 {1/2-1/2 (26) Giri,A (2784)-Adams,M (2737) London 2015}) 13… Qf5 14. Qxf5
    exf5 15. Bxc4 Ke7 16. Nf3 Be6 17. Bxe6 fxe6 18. Ke2 Rhc8 19. Rhc1 Nd8 20. Ne5
    Nf7 21. Nxf7 Kxf7 22. e4 Kf6 23. Ke3 g5 24. g3 h5 25. h3 g4 26. hxg4 hxg4 27.
    f3 gxf3 28. Kxf3 Ke5 29. exf5 exf5 30. Re1+ Kf6 31. Rac1 Rxc1 32. Rxc1 Rd8 33.
    Rc7 Rd3+ 34. Kf4 Rxa3 35. Rxb7 Ra4 36. Rb5 a5 37. Rxf5+ Kg7 38. Rg5+ Kf6 39.
    Rf5+ 1/2-1/2

    [Event “FIDE Candidates 2018”]
    [Site “Berlin GER”]
    [Date “2018.03.26”]
    [Round “13”]
    [White “Caruana,F”]
    [Black “Aronian,L”]
    [Result “1-0”]
    [WhiteElo “2784”]
    [BlackElo “2794”]
    [EventDate “2018.03.10”]
    [ECO “C88”]

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. d3
    {Of course, Anti-Marshall. No computers, please.} d6 9. Bd2 {Caruana borrowed
    this “brilliant” idea from Grischuk, who tried it in the previous round
    against Aronian himself.} ({Other options for White are:} 9. c3 Na5 10. Bc2 c5
    11. h3 Re8 12. d4 {Alekseev,E (2616)-Kovalev,V (2639) Tallinn 2018}) ({Or} 9.
    a4 Bd7 10. c3 Na5 11. Bc2 c5 12. Nbd2 Re8 13. d4 exd4 14. cxd4 Bg4 15. h3 {
    which was discussed by the two players six years back, Caruana,F (2773)
    -Aronian,L (2816) Sao Paulo/Bilbao 2012}) 9… Bg4 ({Black deviates from his
    early game at once. That game saw:} 9… Kh8 10. h3 Nd7 11. Nc3 Na5 12. Nd5
    Nxb3 13. axb3 Bb7 14. c4 f5 15. Ba5 {Grischuk,A (2767)-Aronian,L (2794), 2018})
    10. c3 d5 11. h3 Bh5 12. Qe2 $146 {A novelty.} ({Previously} 12. exd5 Nxd5 13.
    g4 {was tested, when White won a pawn, but Black had typical Marshall
    compensation:} Bg6 14. Nxe5 Nxe5 15. Rxe5 Nb6 16. d4 Bd6 {Jackson,S (2185)
    -Littlewood,P (2435) London 1984}) 12… Rb8 13. Bg5 dxe4 (13… d4 $5) 14.
    dxe4 h6 {Asking the bishop where is it going.} (14… Nd7 15. Be3 $5) 15. Bc1
    $1 {There is no better square for this bishop. Up to here Caruana was in his
    preparation.} (15. Bh4 Nd7 {looks good for Black here without the option
    Bg5-e3.}) ({Naturally, White is not happy with the trade of this bishop:} 15.
    Bxf6 Bxf6 16. Nbd2 Na5 {with comfortable play for Black.}) 15… Bg6 {The
    bishop leaves the road for the black knight.} ({Black cannot play in
    Chigorin-style} 15… Na5 16. Bc2 {as} c5 {drops the central pawn after} 17. g4
    ) ({But there was this interesting regroupment after} 15… Qc8 $5 16. Nbd2 Rd8
    17. Nf1 Na5 18. Bc2 Qe6) (15… Nh7 {with the idea Be7-g5 can be answered} 16.
    Bd5 {and there is a problem with the e5 pawn:} Na5 17. g4 Bg6 18. Nxe5) 16.
    Nbd2 Nh5 ({On} 16… Bc5 17. a4 {is unpleasant.}) 17. Nf1 Bc5 ({The immediate}
    17… Nf4 {leads to clear advantage for White after} 18. Bxf4 exf4 19. Rad1 Qc8
    20. Qd2) 18. g3 {Sensibly depriving Black of the Nh5-f4 option. The question
    is: can the second player exploit the weakening of the f-file?} (18. a4 $5)
    18… Kh7 19. Kg2 Qe7 ({So far} 19… f5 {does not work due to} 20. exf5 Rxf5
    21. Bc2) 20. Bc2 $1 {Now it is stopped for good.} Rfd8 21. b4 {Once that
    stability was achieved on the kingside Caruana shifts his attention to the
    opposite wing. In particular, towards the weak pair on a6 and b5.} Bb6 22. a4
    Nf6 {Aronian abandoned the ill pawns and decided to bet on the kingside attack.
    } (22… Qe6 {in order to defend the knight in the line} 23. axb5 axb5 {
    would be most likely met with} 24. Be3 $1 {with advantage for White.} (24. Qxb5
    Bxf2 $1)) 23. Nh4 {A very good move.} ({“I did not want to get the game too
    out of control after”} 23. axb5 axb5 24. Qxb5 Bxf2 25. Qxc6 Bxe1 26. Nxe1 {
    “which I managed to do anyway. But maybe it was good.” (Caruana) Indeed, the
    two pieces are more vaulable than the rook here as the endgame is not likely
    going to happen any time soon.}) 23… Qe6 24. Bd3 (24. axb5 axb5 25. Qxb5 $2 {
    is no longer an option as the black knight is defended and he can simply grab
    material} Bxf2) ({However Caruana mentioned the worthy alternative} 24. Nxg6
    fxg6 25. Bd3 Rf8 {and now, say,} 26. f3 {with advantage for White.}) 24… Bh5
    $1 {Now it gets messy.} ({“An important line is:”} 24… Ne7 25. Nxg6 Nxg6 26.
    axb5 axb5 27. Bxb5 Bxf2 28. Bc4 $1 {(Caruana)} ({Black’s idea is} 28. Kxf2 Qb6+
    {(Caruana)})) 25. g4 Bxg4 {This is what the bishop came for at h5.} (25… Bg6
    {“is the worst of the options as after”} 26. Ng3 {” (Black) is losing a pawn
    and I have consolidated my center” (Caruana)}) 26. hxg4 Nxg4 ({White would be
    happy with the endgame after} 26… Qxg4+ 27. Qxg4 Nxg4 28. Be2 Bxf2 29. Rd1
    Bxh4 30. Bxg4 {“the black pawns are not moving and the knight on c6 is still
    bad. White should be technically winning here” (Caruana)}) 27. Nf5 Nxf2 ({
    Caruana expected another attacking idea:} 27… Qg6 28. N1g3 Bxf2 29. Rf1 Bxg3
    30. Nxg3 {but once again the black pawns are not going anywhere, and the
    bishop is worth more than the pawns. Besides, b5 will drop later, explaned the
    winner of the game.}) 28. Bc2 g6 29. N1e3 ({Both players spoted a curious draw
    after} 29. N5e3 Nh3 30. Nd5 Ng1 31. Qd3 Ne7 32. Nfe3 Qh3+ 33. Kxg1 Qg3+) (29.
    Be3 {“would be the most desirable option, but it drops all the pawns”} Nxe4 30.
    Bxe4 gxf5 {(Caruana)}) 29… gxf5 30. exf5 Qf6 31. Qxf2 {All of this was
    basically forced and this position is the critical test of the sacrifice.} (31.
    Kxf2 {suprisingly loses after} Qh4+ 32. Kf1 Nd4 $3 33. cxd4 Rxd4 {with a
    decisive attack for Black.}) 31… e4 $2 {After this Black’s initiative
    quickly evaporates.} ({The critical idea was not spoted by the humans, but by
    the AI:} 31… Nxb4 $1 32. cxb4 Rd4 $3 {to insert the rook into the attack.
    Then anything can happen. For example:} 33. Kh3 ({I especially like this
    artificial line:} 33. Bb2 Qg5+ 34. Qg3 Rd2+ 35. Kf3 Qh5+ 36. Ke4 Rg8 37. Bd1
    Rxd1 38. Qxg8+ Kxg8 39. Raxd1 {Go figure what’s going on at the end…}) 33…
    Rg8 (33… Qg5 $5) 34. Nd5 Rxd5 35. Qf3 Rd4 {with compensation for the piece.})
    (31… Nd4 {might transpose into the same after} 32. cxd4 ({However White has
    extra choice} 32. Be4 $1 {and it is good enough for the advantage.}) 32… Rxd4
    ({Aronian was only considering} 32… exd4 {but it does not work due to} 33.
    Ng4 $1)) ({Also bad for Black is} 31… Rg8+ 32. Kf1 Nd4 33. cxd4 exd4 34. Nd5
    {(Aronian)}) 32. Rh1 {“I do not have any ideas here.” (Aronian) In fact it is
    White who is attacking.} Rd6 ({Maybe Black should have tried} 32… Nxb4 33.
    cxb4 Rg8+ 34. Kf1 Qxa1 35. Ke2) 33. Bxe4 Rg8+ 34. Kf1 Ne5 35. Qf4 {The white
    pices are clearly beter prepared than the opponent’s ones. The end is near.} c6
    36. axb5 ({Aronian suggested a “trivial” win instead:} 36. Rxh6+ $1 Qxh6 37.
    f6+ Rg6 38. Qxh6+ Kxh6 39. Nc4+ $1 ({Somewhat worse, but probably also winning
    is} 39. Nf5+ Kh5 40. Nxd6 Rxf6+ 41. Nf5)) ({The American GM spent some time to
    make this line work:} 36. Nd5 cxd5 ({However he could not find anything after}
    36… Rg1+ $1) 37. Rxh6+ Qxh6 38. f6+ $1) 36… Rg5 (36… axb5 {would have
    forced White to find} 37. Rxh6+ $1 ({Or} 37. Qxh6+)) 37. bxa6 Qd8 38. f6+ Ng6
    39. Rxh6+ $1 {A neat finish of a crucial game!} (39. Rxh6+ Kxh6 40. Qh2+ Rh5
    41. Nf5+ Kh7 42. Qxh5+ Kg8 43. Ne7+ Nxe7 44. Qh7+ Kf8 45. Qh8+ Ng8 46. Qg7+ Ke8
    47. Qxg8+ Kd7 48. Qxf7+ Kc8 49. Qb7#) 1-0
    [/pgn]

    For your reference, this is the first time that an American has played in the [World Chess Championship](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Chess_Championship) since Bobby Fischer beat Petrosian in 1971.

  • Magnus Carlsen Retains World Chess Title

    Magnus Carlsen Retains World Chess Title

    Magnus Carlsen put the final nail in the coffin for the 2016 World Chess Championship with a [spectacular finish](http://theweekinchess.com/chessnews/events/world-chess-championship-2016/magnus-carlsen-retains-world-championship-title-with-a-spectacular-final-move) in the 25 | 10 rapid tiebreaker. Carlsen had been frustrated throughout the event and fell behind before managing to equalize the standings in Game 10. He went on to win the last two games of the rapid event, which finally put an end to his challengers efforts and solidified his place as World Chess Champion for the next two years. As the main portion of the event drew to its conclusion, many in the chess world began taking note of the precarious position Sergey Karjakin could find himself in against one of the strongest rapid and blitz players in the world.

    The first two tiebreaker games were drawn with Karjakin narrowly escaping a loss in the second game but unable to stop the onslaught that ultimately allowed Carlsen to retain his title.


    Carlsen’s incredible finish to the rapid tiebreaker event.

    The position above is stunning and reaffirms why Magnus Carlsen is the best chess player in the world. With **Qh6+**, Magnus brought his opponent’s bid to become the next world champion to his stunning halt. There were moments throughout the event where it seemed that Sergey Karjakin was poised to overtake Carlsen, but never found a way to convert his opportunities into solid wins. Of course, there were moments throughout the event were Magnus seemed to struggle both with his chess abilities and his ability to keep his emotions in check (no pun intended). Magnus took a little bit of criticism on social media for his outburst following his loss in the classical round, but I have to say that him storming out of the press conference is the kind of stuff that chess needs if it wants to become a popular, respectable, and marketable activity in the United States.

    [pgn]
    [Event “WCh Rapid TB 2016”]
    [Site “New York USA”]
    [Date “2016.11.30”]
    [Round “1”]
    [White “Karjakin, Sergey”]
    [Black “Carlsen, Magnus”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “C84”]
    [WhiteElo “2772”]
    [BlackElo “2853”]
    [PlyCount “74”]
    [EventDate “2016.11.30”]
    [EventType “rapid”]

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a3
    O-O 9. Nc3 Nb8 10. Ne2 c5 11. Ng3 Nc6 12. c3 Rb8 13. h3 a5 14. a4 b4 15. Re1
    Be6 16. Bc4 h6 17. Be3 Qc8 18. Qe2 Rd8 19. Bxe6 fxe6 20. d4 bxc3 21. bxc3 cxd4
    22. cxd4 exd4 23. Nxd4 Nxd4 24. Bxd4 Rb4 25. Rec1 Qd7 26. Bc3 Rxa4 27. Bxa5
    Rxa1 28. Rxa1 Ra8 29. Bc3 Rxa1+ 30. Bxa1 Qc6 31. Kh2 Kf7 32. Bb2 Qc5 33. f4 Bd8
    34. e5 dxe5 35. Bxe5 Bb6 36. Qd1 Qd5 37. Qxd5 Nxd5 1/2-1/2

    [Event “WCh Rapid TB 2016”]
    [Site “New York USA”]
    [Date “2016.11.30”]
    [Round “2”]
    [White “Carlsen, Magnus”]
    [Black “Karjakin, Sergey”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “C50”]
    [WhiteElo “2853”]
    [BlackElo “2772”]
    [PlyCount “167”]
    [EventDate “2016.11.30”]
    [EventType “rapid”]

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 O-O 6. a4 a6 7. c3 d6 8. Re1
    Ba7 9. h3 Ne7 10. d4 Ng6 11. Nbd2 c6 12. Bf1 a5 13. dxe5 dxe5 14. Qc2 Be6 15.
    Nc4 Qc7 16. b4 axb4 17. cxb4 b5 18. Ne3 bxa4 19. Rxa4 Bxe3 20. Bxe3 Rxa4 21.
    Qxa4 Nxe4 22. Rc1 Bd5 23. b5 cxb5 24. Qxe4 Qxc1 25. Qxd5 Qc7 26. Qxb5 Rb8 27.
    Qd5 Rd8 28. Qb3 Rb8 29. Qa2 h6 30. Qd5 Qe7 31. Qe4 Qf6 32. g3 Rc8 33. Bd3 Qc6
    34. Qf5 Re8 35. Be4 Qe6 36. Qh5 Ne7 37. Qxe5 Qxe5 38. Nxe5 Ng6 39. Bxg6 Rxe5
    40. Bd3 f6 41. Kg2 Kh8 42. Kf3 Rd5 43. Bg6 Ra5 44. Ke4 Rb5 45. h4 Re5+ 46. Kd4
    Ra5 47. Kc4 Re5 48. Bd4 Ra5 49. Bc5 Kg8 50. Kd5 Rb5 51. Kd6 Ra5 52. Be3 Re5 53.
    Bf4 Ra5 54. Bd3 Ra7 55. Ke6 Rb7 56. Kf5 Rd7 57. Bc2 Rb7 58. Kg6 Rb2 59. Bf5
    Rxf2 60. Be6+ Kh8 61. Bd6 Re2 62. Bg4 Re8 63. Bf5 Kg8 64. Bc2 Re3 65. Bb1 Kh8
    66. Kf7 Rb3 67. Be4 Re3 68. Bf5 Rc3 69. g4 Rc6 70. Bf8 Rc7+ 71. Kg6 Kg8 72. Bb4
    Rb7 73. Bd6 Kh8 74. Bf8 Kg8 75. Ba3 Kh8 76. Be6 Rb6 77. Kf7 Rb7+ 78. Be7 h5 79.
    gxh5 f5 80. Bxf5 Rxe7+ 81. Kxe7 Kg8 82. Bd3 Kh8 83. Kf8 g5 84. hxg6 1/2-1/2

    [Event “WCh Rapid TB 2016”]
    [Site “New York USA”]
    [Date “2016.11.30”]
    [Round “3”]
    [White “Karjakin, Sergey”]
    [Black “Carlsen, Magnus”]
    [Result “0-1”]
    [ECO “C84”]
    [WhiteElo “2772”]
    [BlackElo “2853”]
    [PlyCount “76”]
    [EventDate “2016.11.30”]
    [EventType “rapid”]

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a3
    O-O 9. Nc3 Na5 10. Ba2 Be6 11. b4 Nc6 12. Nd5 Nd4 13. Ng5 Bxd5 14. exd5 Nd7 15.
    Ne4 f5 16. Nd2 f4 17. c3 Nf5 18. Ne4 Qe8 19. Bb3 Qg6 20. f3 Bh4 21. a4 Nf6 22.
    Qe2 a5 23. axb5 axb4 24. Bd2 bxc3 25. Bxc3 Ne3 26. Rfc1 Rxa1 27. Rxa1 Qe8 28.
    Bc4 Kh8 29. Nxf6 Bxf6 30. Ra3 e4 31. dxe4 Bxc3 32. Rxc3 Qe5 33. Rc1 Ra8 34. h3
    h6 35. Kh2 Qd4 36. Qe1 Qb2 37. Bf1 Ra2 38. Rxc7 Ra1 0-1

    [Event “WCh Rapid TB 2016”]
    [Site “New York USA”]
    [Date “2016.11.30”]
    [Round “4”]
    [White “Carlsen, Magnus”]
    [Black “Karjakin, Sergey”]
    [Result “1-0”]
    [ECO “B54”]
    [WhiteElo “2853”]
    [BlackElo “2772”]
    [PlyCount “99”]
    [EventDate “2016.11.30”]
    [EventType “rapid”]

    1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. f3 e5 6. Nb3 Be7 7. c4 a5 8. Be3
    a4 9. Nc1 O-O 10. Nc3 Qa5 11. Qd2 Na6 12. Be2 Nc5 13. O-O Bd7 14. Rb1 Rfc8 15.
    b4 axb3 16. axb3 Qd8 17. Nd3 Ne6 18. Nb4 Bc6 19. Rfd1 h5 20. Bf1 h4 21. Qf2 Nd7
    22. g3 Ra3 23. Bh3 Rca8 24. Nc2 R3a6 25. Nb4 Ra5 26. Nc2 b6 27. Rd2 Qc7 28.
    Rbd1 Bf8 29. gxh4 Nf4 30. Bxf4 exf4 31. Bxd7 Qxd7 32. Nb4 Ra3 33. Nxc6 Qxc6 34.
    Nb5 Rxb3 35. Nd4 Qxc4 36. Nxb3 Qxb3 37. Qe2 Be7 38. Kg2 Qe6 39. h5 Ra3 40. Rd3
    Ra2 41. R3d2 Ra3 42. Rd3 Ra7 43. Rd5 Rc7 44. Qd2 Qf6 45. Rf5 Qh4 46. Rc1 Ra7
    47. Qxf4 Ra2+ 48. Kh1 Qf2 49. Rc8+ Kh7 50. Qh6+ 1-0
    [/pgn]

    #### Viewership Review
    Agon, which has become a *four letter word* In the chess community has refused to release (at least for now) the exact number of people who purchased their premium package for viewing the event, but initial estimates project that less than 10,000 people paid for the premium streaming and commentary package. Personally, I was pleased to be able to follow the games as a premium member of [Chessbase](http://play.chessbase.com), on [ChessBomb](http://www.chessbomb.com), and to watch the exceptional commentary and analysis from some of my favorite people over on [chess24.com](http://www.chess24.com). Still, just a long way to go if it wants to build an American audience to the point where corporations like Pepsi, Red Bull, or other major corporations are willing to sponsor the events. As mentioned in an excellent news [article](http://sports.yahoo.com/news/norwegian-vies-russian-world-chess-championship-231509689–spt.html) published shortly after Carlsen’s victory, chess needs a series of dramatic stories in order to sell itself to the American people. Bobby Fischer made history as the lone genius who challenged the world’s greatest chess power, the Soviet Union, during the Cold War which allowed the American people to relate what was happening on the board to what was happening every day in their news. When professional chess can find a way to bring the drama and excitement of playing the game to people in a way that relates to their everyday struggles and experiences, then it will find itself at a buffet of sponsors and fans. Compelling drama and personal connection sells products, not frivolous litigation.

  • WCC2016: Too Early to Draw Any Conclusions

    WCC2016: Too Early to Draw Any Conclusions

    All eyes are on New York City as Magnus Carlsen defends his World Chess Champion title against Russian challenger Sergey Karjakin. Carlsen is the heavy favorite to win the tournament but if the first few games are any indication of what to expect from the whole tournament, we might be in for a long ride. As the name of the post suggests, its too early to *draw* any conclusions from these games, but there are many conclusions in these games that end in *draws*…

    #### Game 3: Bending Space and Time
    Hopes were high after the first two games that there would be some dramatics appearing in the third game and they came…in a sense. Reminding players, commentators, and fans alike that chess requires *mental* and *physical* resilience, the players battled it out in a 7-hour, 78-move nightmare that ended…you guessed it..in a draw.

    [pgn]
    [Event “WCh 2016”]
    [Site “New York USA”]
    [Date “2016.11.14”]
    [Round “3”]
    [White “Carlsen, Magnus”]
    [Black “Karjakin, Sergey”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “C67”]
    [WhiteElo “2857”]
    [BlackElo “2769”]
    [Annotator “Mark”]
    [PlyCount “156”]
    [EventDate “2016.11.11”]

    1. e4 {Carlsen switches to 1.e4. Maybe this is his white true weapon for the
    rest of the match.} e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 {The Berlin can hardly have come
    as a surprise.} 4. O-O Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6. Nxe5 Be7 7. Bf1 Nxe5 8. Rxe5 {
    White doesn’t have a lot here, what is Carlsen’s idea?} O-O 9. d4 Bf6 10. Re2
    $5 {There is nothing new under the sun. This has been played three times.} b6 {
    Karjakin had a big think here, he has a number of options.} (10… Nf5 11. d5
    d6 12. c3 c6 13. Bf4 Bg5 14. Bxg5 Qxg5 15. Nd2 Bd7 16. Nf3 Qf6 17. Qa4 Rfd8 18.
    Rae1 h6 19. Qb3 b5 20. h3 c5 21. Re4 Rdb8 22. Qd1 Kf8 23. g4 Nh4 24. Nxh4 Qxh4
    25. Qf3 Re8 26. b4 Rxe4 27. Rxe4 Rc8 28. a3 {1/2-1/2 (28) Vallejo Pons,F (2677)
    -Tabatabaei,M (2461) Karlsruhe GER 2016}) (10… Re8) 11. Re1 (11. Bf4 Nf5 12.
    c3 Ba6 13. Re1 Bxf1 14. Kxf1 d5 15. Nd2 Qd7 16. Nf3 Rfe8 17. Qb3 Nh4 18. Nxh4
    Bxh4 19. Bg3 Bxg3 20. hxg3 g6 21. Rxe8+ Rxe8 22. Re1 Rxe1+ 23. Kxe1 c5 24. dxc5
    bxc5 25. Kd2 Qf5 26. Qb8+ Kg7 27. Qf4 Qb1 28. Qe5+ Kg8 29. Qb8+ Kg7 30. Qe5+
    Kg8 31. Qb8+ Kg7 32. Qe5+ {1/2-1/2 (32) Matinian,N (2439)-Lysyj,I (2628) St
    Petersburg RUS 2012}) 11… Re8 (11… Nb7 12. Na3 d5 13. c3 Nd6 14. Nc2 a5 15.
    Ne3 Nf5 16. Ng4 Bg5 17. Bd3 Bxc1 18. Rxc1 Nd6 19. h3 Re8 20. Qf3 Bxg4 21. Qxg4
    g6 22. Re5 c6 23. Rce1 Qc7 24. R1e3 Kg7 25. h4 f6 26. Rxe8 Rxe8 27. Rxe8 Nxe8
    28. h5 f5 29. Qg5 Nd6 30. hxg6 {1/2-1/2 (30) Kasimdzhanov,R (2704)-Melkumyan,H
    (2622) Berlin GER 2016}) 12. Bf4 Rxe1 13. Qxe1 Qe7 {Up to here Carlsen was
    playing quickly but here he thought for around 20 minutes.} 14. Nc3 (14. Na3 $5
    ) 14… Bb7 15. Qxe7 Bxe7 16. a4 $5 (16. Re1 Kf8) 16… a6 17. g3 (17. g4) (17.
    Bd3) 17… g5 {The computer’s favourite move. Is Carlsen still in preparation
    here? The computer thinks this position is level but maybe this will somehow
    be a long term weakness.} (17… Re8) 18. Bxd6 {This seems the only way
    forward for white but he has little if any advantage.} Bxd6 19. Bg2 (19. Bh3
    Be7 {is good enough.}) 19… Bxg2 20. Kxg2 f5 {straightening out black’s pawn
    structure.} 21. Nd5 Kf7 22. Ne3 Kf6 (22… Ke6 23. Re1 {is also playable.}) 23.
    Nc4 Bf8 {It’s understandable but not forced to avoid the trade of minor pieces.
    } (23… Re8 24. Nxd6 cxd6 25. Ra3 Rc8 26. c3 d5) 24. Re1 Rd8 {This move came
    under criticism after the game. It’s not clearly bad I think.} (24… b5) 25.
    f4 {A key moment and Karjakin spent some time here.} gxf4 26. gxf4 b5 27. axb5
    axb5 28. Ne3 c6 29. Kf3 Ra8 30. Rg1 Ra2 {This move is the start of a wrong
    plan from Karjakin. He’s not yet losing.} (30… Bh6) 31. b3 c5 $2 {Now black
    is under extreme pressure.} (31… d5) 32. Rg8 $1 {The most testing move.} Kf7
    33. Rg2 cxd4 34. Nxf5 d3 35. cxd3 Ra1 {Staying active.} (35… Ra3) 36. Nd4 (
    36. Rc2 {computers slightly prefer this move.}) 36… b4 37. Rg5 (37. Ke4 {
    was the alternative.}) 37… Rb1 38. Rf5+ {Played quite quickly by Carlsen.}
    Ke8 39. Rb5 Rf1+ (39… Bd6) 40. Ke4 Re1+ 41. Kf5 Rd1 42. Re5+ (42. Rb8+ {
    was perhaps stronger.} Kf7 43. Nf3 Bd6 44. Rh8 Rxd3 45. Ng5+ Ke7 46. Rxh7+)
    42… Kf7 43. Rd5 Rxd3 44. Rxd7+ (44. Ke4 Rh3 45. Rxd7+ Ke8 46. Rb7 Rxh2 47.
    Nf3 Re2+) 44… Ke8 45. Rd5 Rh3 46. Re5+ Kf7 47. Re2 Bg7 48. Nc6 Rh5+ {With
    this move Karjakin moves closer to the draw and avoids the obvious Rxb3 which
    loses.} (48… Rxb3 $2 49. Nd8+ Kg8 50. Re8+ Bf8 51. Kf6 Rh3 52. f5 Rh6+ 53.
    Ke5 Kg7 54. Ne6+) 49. Kg4 Rc5 50. Nd8+ Kg6 51. Ne6 h5+ 52. Kf3 Rc3+ 53. Ke4 Bf6
    54. Re3 h4 55. h3 Rc1 56. Nf8+ Kf7 57. Nd7 Ke6 58. Nb6 Rd1 59. f5+ Kf7 60. Nc4
    Rd4+ 61. Kf3 Bg5 62. Re4 Rd3+ 63. Kg4 Rg3+ 64. Kh5 Be7 $2 {After a long and
    tiring defence Karjakin finally goes wrong.} (64… Kf8) 65. Ne5+ Kf6 66. Ng4+
    Kf7 67. Re6 Rxh3 68. Ne5+ Kg7 69. Rxe7+ Kf6 70. Nc6 $2 (70. Re8 Kxf5 71. Nc6
    Rh1 72. Re2) 70… Kxf5 $2 {Should be losing.} (70… Rc3 $1 {saves the game.})
    71. Na5 {Maybe not the easiest way.} (71. Re1 Kf4 72. Rf1+ Ke4 73. Na5 {
    was winning for Carlsen.}) (71. Re2) 71… Rh1 72. Rb7 $2 {A mistake, now the
    game will be drawn.} (72. Rf7+ Ke6 73. Rf2 {returns to the winning idea.})
    72… Ra1 $1 {The only saviing move.} 73. Rb5+ {Now the draw is comparitively
    easy for Karjakin to find..} Kf4 74. Rxb4+ Kg3 75. Rg4+ Kf2 76. Nc4 h3 77. Rh4
    Kg3 78. Rg4+ Kf2 1/2-1/2
    [/pgn]

    #### Game 4: Drawing Up A New Strategy?
    After the marathon of Game 3, I was very impressed that the players were able to squeeze out the next game, which went 94 moves before ending in another *draw*. It was apparent in this game, however, that Magnus was becoming frustrated with Karjakin and that a draw was certainly not on his list of game ideas for the day.

    [pgn]
    [Event “WCh 2016”]
    [Site “New York USA”]
    [Date “2016.11.15”]
    [Round “4”]
    [White “Karjakin, Sergey”]
    [Black “Carlsen, Magnus”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “C88”]
    [WhiteElo “2772”]
    [BlackElo “2853”]
    [PlyCount “187”]
    [EventDate “2016.11.11”]

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. h3
    Bb7 9. d3 d6 10. a3 Qd7 ({Relevant:} 10… Nb8 11. Nbd2 Nbd7 12. Nf1 Re8 13.
    Ng3 Bf8 14. Ng5 d5 15. exd5 Nc5 16. c4 Nxb3 17. Qxb3 c6 18. dxc6 Bxc6 19. cxb5
    Bd5 20. Qd1 axb5 21. N5e4 h6 22. Qf3 Ra6 23. Bd2 Ba8 24. Bb4 Nd5 25. Bxf8 Rxf8
    26. d4 exd4 27. Nf5 Ne7 28. Rad1 Nxf5 29. Qxf5 Re6 30. f3 d3 31. Qxb5 Bxe4 32.
    Rxe4 Rxe4 33. fxe4 Qd4+ 34. Kh1 Rd8 35. Qb4 Qe3 36. Qa5 Rd4 37. Qd2 Qxe4 38.
    Re1 Qd5 39. Re3 Kh7 40. b4 {Zhigalko,S (2656)-Carlsen,M (2850) Berlin 2015 0-1}
    ) 11. Nbd2 Rfe8 12. c3 Bf8 13. Nf1 h6 14. N3h2 $146 ({Predecessor:} 14. Ng3 Ne7
    15. Nh2 d5 16. Qf3 c5 17. Bc2 Rad8 18. Bxh6 gxh6 19. Qxf6 Bg7 20. Qf3 Rf8 21.
    Nh5 Ng6 22. Nf6+ Bxf6 23. Qxf6 dxe4 24. dxe4 Qd6 25. Qf3 Kg7 26. Rad1 Qe7 27.
    Nf1 Rxd1 28. Rxd1 Rd8 29. Ne3 Rxd1+ 30. Qxd1 Bc8 31. a4 Qg5 32. Qf3 Nf4 33. Kf1
    c4 34. axb5 axb5 35. Nf5+ Bxf5 36. exf5 Nd3 37. Bxd3 cxd3 38. Qxd3 Qc1+ 39. Ke2
    Qxb2+ 40. Kf3 b4 41. cxb4 Qxb4 42. Qe4 Qb3+ 43. Qe3 Qd1+ {Zeytinoglu,N (1927)
    -Tokmak,H Konya 2010 1-0}) 14… d5 15. Qf3 Na5 16. Ba2 dxe4 17. dxe4 Nc4 18.
    Bxh6 Qc6 19. Bxc4 $2 bxc4 20. Be3 Nxe4 21. Ng3 Nd6 22. Rad1 Rab8 23. Bc1 f6 24.
    Qxc6 Bxc6 25. Ng4 Rb5 26. f3 f5 27. Nf2 Be7 28. f4 Bh4 29. fxe5 Bxg3 30. exd6
    Rxe1+ 31. Rxe1 cxd6 32. Rd1 Kf7 33. Rd4 Re5 34. Kf1 Rd5 35. Rxd5 Bxd5 36. Bg5
    Kg6 37. h4 Kh5 38. Nh3 Bf7 39. Be7 Bxh4 40. Bxd6 Bd8 41. Ke2 g5 42. Nf2 Kg6 43.
    g4 Bb6 44. Be5 a5 45. Nd1 f4 $2 {Carlsen thought this just won but Karjakin
    shows this is a fortress.} (45… Be6) (45… fxg4) 46. Bd4 Bc7 47. Nf2 Be6 48.
    Kf3 Bd5+ 49. Ke2 Bg2 50. Kd2 Kf7 51. Kc2 Bd5 52. Kd2 Bd8 53. Kc2 Ke6 54. Kd2
    Kd7 55. Kc2 Kc6 56. Kd2 Kb5 57. Kc1 Ka4 58. Kc2 Bf7 59. Kc1 Bg6 60. Kd2 Kb3 61.
    Kc1 Bd3 62. Nh3 Ka2 63. Bc5 Be2 64. Nf2 Bf3 65. Kc2 Bc6 66. Bd4 Bd7 67. Bc5 Bc7
    68. Bd4 Be6 69. Bc5 f3 70. Be3 Bd7 71. Kc1 Bc8 72. Kc2 Bd7 73. Kc1 Bf4 74. Bxf4
    gxf4 75. Kc2 Be6 76. Kc1 Bc8 77. Kc2 Be6 78. Kc1 Kb3 79. Kb1 Ka4 80. Kc2 Kb5
    81. Kd2 Kc6 82. Ke1 Kd5 83. Kf1 Ke5 84. Kg1 Kf6 85. Ne4+ Kg6 86. Kf2 Bxg4 87.
    Nd2 Be6 88. Kxf3 Kf5 89. a4 Bd5+ 90. Kf2 Kg4 91. Nf1 Kg5 92. Nd2 Kf5 93. Ke2
    Kg4 94. Kf2 1/2-1/2
    [/pgn]

    #### Game 5: Drawn of the Dead
    Game 5 was played earlier today and felt like a blitz game at times. The moves were fast in some areas deep into the position with Magnus finding himself in trouble against his challenger for the first time in the match. There were certain moments in the game when Karjakin had clear advantage on the board, but Magnus was able to bring these situations back into balance and force a draw on move 51.

    [pgn]
    [Event “WCh 2016”]
    [Site “New York USA”]
    [Date “2016.11.17”]
    [Round “5”]
    [White “Carlsen, Magnus”]
    [Black “Karjakin, Sergey”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “C50”]
    [WhiteElo “2853”]
    [BlackElo “2772”]
    [PlyCount “102”]
    [EventDate “2016.11.11”]

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 O-O 6. a4 d6 7. c3 a6 8. b4 ({
    Relevant:} 8. h3 Ba7 9. Re1 Ne7 10. d4 Ng6 11. Bd3 c6 12. Be3 Nh5 13. Nbd2 Nhf4
    14. Bf1 exd4 15. Bxd4 Bxd4 16. cxd4 d5 17. e5 f6 18. Ra3 fxe5 19. dxe5 a5 20.
    Qc1 Qe7 21. Rb3 Bf5 22. Nd4 Ne6 23. Nxf5 Rxf5 24. Bd3 Rf4 25. Bxg6 hxg6 26. Qd1
    Raf8 27. Rf3 Qb4 28. Rxf4 Rxf4 29. Nf3 Qxa4 30. Qd3 Rf5 31. Qb1 Qf4 32. Qc2 Kh7
    33. Re3 Qc4 34. Qd1 Rf4 35. Rc3 Qb4 36. Qc1 a4 37. h4 Kg8 {Nepomniachtchi,I
    (2740)-So,W (2782) Baku 2016 0-1}) 8… Ba7 9. Re1 Ne7 10. Nbd2 Ng6 11. d4 c6
    12. h3 exd4 $146 ({Predecessor:} 12… Re8 13. Bd3 Be6 14. b5 axb5 15. axb5 Nf4
    16. Bf1 cxb5 17. Nb1 Bc4 18. Bxf4 exf4 {1/2-1/2 (18) Serazeev,A (2490)
    -Szczepanski,Z (2541) ICCF email 2014}) 13. cxd4 Nxe4 14. Bxf7+ $5 (14. Nxe4 d5
    15. Bd3 dxe4 16. Bxe4) 14… Rxf7 15. Nxe4 d5 16. Nc5 h6 17. Ra3 Bf5 18. Ne5 (
    18. Rae3 $5) 18… Nxe5 19. dxe5 Qh4 {25 minute think for Karjakin. He has 30
    minutes plus 30 seconds a move to reach move 40. If the position remains
    complicated he could have problems later.} (19… a5 {was the alternative that
    Karjakin was probably looking at.} 20. Rf3 axb4 21. e6 Re7 22. Nxb7 Rxb7 23.
    Rxf5) 20. Rf3 (20. e6) 20… Bxc5 $6 {It seems Karjakin was unhappy with a
    calculation battle.} (20… Bg6 {was the more critical move.}) 21. bxc5 Re8 22.
    Rf4 Qe7 23. Qd4 Ref8 24. Rf3 Be4 25. Rxf7 Qxf7 26. f3 Bf5 27. Kh2 Be6 28. Re2
    Qg6 29. Be3 Rf7 30. Rf2 Qb1 31. Rb2 Qf5 32. a5 Kf8 {Karjakin takes his king to
    the queenside.} 33. Qc3 Ke8 34. Rb4 g5 35. Rb2 Kd8 36. Rf2 Kc8 37. Qd4 {
    The position is equal but Carlsen is starting to drift.} Qg6 38. g4 (38. Qd2)
    38… h5 39. Qd2 Rg7 40. Kg3 (40. Bxg5 hxg4 (40… Qxg5 41. Qxg5 Rxg5 42. f4
    Rg8 43. f5 hxg4 44. hxg4 Rxg4) 41. h4 gxf3 42. Rxf3) 40… Rg8 (40… Qh6) 41.
    Kg2 $2 {Now white is definitely worse.} hxg4 42. hxg4 d4 $5 {Played quickly.} (
    42… Qh6 {is the computer suggestion.}) 43. Qxd4 (43. Bxd4 Qh6 44. Kg1 Qh3 45.
    Qe2 Rf8) 43… Bd5 $2 (43… Rh8 44. Qe4 Qh6 45. Kf1 Rd8 {with dangerous
    attacking chances for black.}) 44. e6 $5 {Opening up the queen to cover h8.} (
    44. Kg3 {is completely equal as white can challenge the h-file.}) 44… Qxe6
    45. Kg3 Qe7 $6 {Now any advantage for black has really gone.} 46. Rh2 $1 Qf7 (
    46… Qc7+ 47. f4 Qxa5 48. fxg5 {is equal but white still has to show care.})
    47. f4 $1 gxf4+ 48. Qxf4 Qe7 49. Rh5 $1 {Now a draw is absolutely the
    favourite result.} Rf8 50. Rh7 Rxf4 51. Rxe7 Re4 1/2-1/2
    [/pgn]

  • America Shows Agon How an Open Market Works

    America Shows Agon How an Open Market Works

    Just prior to the start of the [2016 World Chess Championship](http://nyc2016.fide.com) (WCC) in New York City, [Agon](http://www.agonlimited.com) Limited [filed suit](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-chess-world-lawsuit-idUSKBN1322PE) in United States Federal Court against [Chess24](http://www.chess24.com), [Chessbomb](http://www.chessbomb.com), and [ChessGames.com](http://www.chessgames.com) to prevent them from broadcasting the moves just as they did (and lost) [in Moscow](http://www.campfirechess.com/posts/2777) earlier this year.

    > “These entities expend no time, effort, or money of their own in organizing, producing, or hosting the chess events for the World Championship and instead reap economic benefit from free-riding on the work and effort of World Chess.” – *Reuters*

    However, just as with their loss in Moscow, New York District Judge Victor Marrero [ruled in favor](http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/judge-refuses-block-chess-websites-showing-moves-43453622) of the defendants for most of the reasons that have been covered on this blog and in countless others in the chess community already. The most important of those? **CHESS IS FOR THE MASSES!**


    Chess is a game that transcends all boundaries. (Credit: [WikiMedia](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/ab/Union_Square_chess_with_spectators.jpg))

    #### RIAA of the Chess World
    Although they were readily handed defeat in two countries, Agon promises to [continue pursuit](https://www.chess.com/news/chess24-wins-court-case-agon-to-appeal-2210) of its business model despite widespread business and consumer disapproval. Despite obvious attempts to assist the company with its model, Agon refuses to acknowledge that its attempts to restrict access to tournament moves is misguided. As a direct result, it seeks to **force** consumers to engage its unreliable and third-rate content delivery system instead of offering a compelling service for fans of the game to watch and enjoy.

    Agon has quickly turned itself from an obscure entity into the modern chess equivalent of the [Recording Industry Association of America](https://www.eff.org/wp/riaa-v-people-five-years-later) which successfully sued a multitude of families in the early 2000s for downloading mp3 files from Napster and other file-sharing services. By suing grandmothers and teenagers for untold millions of dollars, the RIAA quickly became synonymous with corporate greed, censorship, and created a gap between recording artists and their fans from which some artists never recovered.

    Hope for an Agon awakening remains dim, but I am pleased to see that both the United States and Russia dealt a blow for freedom to its blatant attempts to monopolize public domain information.

  • Carlsen-Karjakin Tied After Second Round

    Carlsen-Karjakin Tied After Second Round

    The [showdown](http://nyc2016.fide.com) for the title of World Chess Champion between Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin is tied at 1 point each after rounds one and two ended in a draw. Carlsen drew white for Game One and opened with a homage to recently elected President of the United States Donald Trump with a [combination](https://www.chess.com/explorer?moveList=d4+Nc6+Bg5+d5&ply=4) called the *Trompowsky Attack*, which some have re-branded as the *Trump*owsky Attack (**1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5**). An unusual opening at this level of play, the response from Karjakin neutralized the attack and led to a draw between the two.

    [pgn]
    [Event “WCh 2016”]
    [Site “New York USA”]
    [Date “2016.11.11”]
    [Round “1”]
    [White “Carlsen, Magnus”]
    [Black “Karjakin, Sergey”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [WhiteTitle “GM”]
    [BlackTitle “GM”]
    [WhiteElo “2853”]
    [BlackElo “2772”]
    [ECO “A45”]
    [Opening “Trompovsky attack (Ruth, Opovcensky opening)”]
    [WhiteFideId “1503014”]
    [BlackFideId “14109603”]
    [EventDate “2016.11.11”]

    1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 d5 3. e3 c5 4. Bxf6 gxf6 5. dxc5 Nc6 6. Bb5 e6 7. c4 dxc4 8.
    Nd2 Bxc5 9. Ngf3 O-O 10. O-O Na5 11. Rc1 Be7 12. Qc2 Bd7 13. Bxd7 Qxd7 14. Qc3
    Qd5 15. Nxc4 Nxc4 16. Qxc4 Qxc4 17. Rxc4 Rfc8 18. Rfc1 Rxc4 19. Rxc4 Rd8 20. g3
    Rd7 21. Kf1 f5 22. Ke2 Bf6 23. b3 Kf8 24. h3 h6 25. Ne1 Ke7 26. Nd3 Kd8 27. f4
    h5 28. a4 Rd5 29. Nc5 b6 30. Na6 Be7 31. Nb8 a5 32. Nc6+ Ke8 33. Ne5 Bc5 34. Rc3
    Ke7 35. Rd3 Rxd3 36. Kxd3 f6 37. Nc6+ Kd6 38. Nd4 Kd5 39. Nb5 Kc6 40. Nd4+ Kd6
    41. Nb5+ Kd7 42. Nd4 Kd6 1/2-1/2
    [/pgn]

    Game One also had its share of American celebrities on hand as Actor Woody Harrelson made the ceremonial first move to begin the match.


    Woody Harrelson makes the first move in Game One! (Credit: [FIDE](http://nyc2016.fide.com))

    Game Two had some interesting twists and turns throughout, with [Chess24](http://www.chess24.com) demonstrating throughout why it is a revolutionary medium for watching high-level games. Guest commentary by various Grandmasters and assertions that Game Two was boring led to some interesting and entertaining social media exchanges.

    [pgn]
    [Event “WCh 2016”]
    [Site “New York USA”]
    [Date “2016.11.12”]
    [Round “2”]
    [White “Karjakin, Sergey”]
    [Black “Carlsen, Magnus”]
    [Result “1/2-1/2”]
    [ECO “C77”]
    [WhiteElo “2772”]
    [BlackElo “2853”]
    [EventDate “2016.11.11”]

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 {No Berlin Defence from Carlsen today.} 4. Ba4
    Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 {A quiet approach in the modern style.} b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a3
    O-O 9. Nc3 Na5 (9… Bg4) 10. Ba2 Be6 11. d4 {The fourth most common move in
    my database.} (11. b4) (11. Bxe6 fxe6 12. b4) (11. Bg5) 11… Bxa2 12. Rxa2 Re8
    {Carlsen finally diverges from his game against Topalov from the Grand Chess
    Tour Rapid event in Paris earlier in the year.} (12… Nc6 13. d5 Nb8 14. Qe2
    Nbd7 15. Rd1 Qc8 16. Nh4 g6 17. g3 Ne8 18. Ng2 Ng7 19. Bh6 Nf6 20. Ne3 Qh3 21.
    Bxg7 Kxg7 22. b4 h5 23. a4 a5 24. Rb1 axb4 25. Rxb4 bxa4 26. Raxa4 Ng4 27. Nf1
    h4 28. f3 hxg3 29. hxg3 Nf6 30. Qg2 Qh6 31. Qh2 Qg5 32. Qd2 Qh5 33. g4 Qh8 34.
    Nb5 Nh7 35. Qh2 Rfb8 36. c4 Qd8 37. Ne3 Bg5 38. Qe2 Bf4 39. Ng2 Bg3 40. Qe3 Ng5
    41. Kf1 Qh8 {0-1 (41) Topalov,V (2761)-Carlsen,M (2855) Paris FRA 2016}) 13.
    Ra1 {A novelty but perhaps Karjakin didn’t pay any attention to the only other
    game in this position.} (13. Qd3 exd4 14. Nxd4 Qd7 15. Bg5 g6 16. f4 c5 17. Nf3
    Rad8 18. a4 Nc6 19. Raa1 Nb4 20. Qd2 Qb7 21. axb5 axb5 22. Qe2 Nxe4 23. Qxe4 d5
    24. Nxd5 Nxd5 25. Bxe7 Rxe7 26. Qd3 Rde8 27. f5 Re2 28. Rae1 {1/2-1/2 (28)
    Paravyan,D (2506)-Harutyunian,T (2426) Moscow RUS 2016}) 13… Nc4 14. Re1 (14.
    h3 h6 15. Re1) 14… Rc8 $5 15. h3 (15. b3 Nb6 16. a4 b4 17. a5 Nbd7 {was a
    possible try.}) 15… h6 16. b3 Nb6 17. Bb2 Bf8 18. dxe5 dxe5 19. a4 $11 c6 (
    19… Qxd1 20. Rexd1 {might have been even easier for black.}) 20. Qxd8 Rcxd8
    21. axb5 axb5 22. Ne2 {A tacit draw offer.} Bb4 (22… Nxe4 23. Bxe5 Ng5 24.
    Nxg5 Rxe5 25. Nf3 Re4 {and a draw can be agreed.}) 23. Bc3 Bxc3 24. Nxc3 Nbd7
    25. Ra6 Rc8 26. b4 Re6 (26… c5 {requires a bit of calculation but is also
    just a draw.} 27. Nxb5 cxb4 28. Nd6 Re6 29. Nxc8 Rxa6 30. Rd1 g6 $11) 27. Rb1 (
    27. Rd1) 27… c5 28. Rxe6 fxe6 29. Nxb5 cxb4 30. Rxb4 Rxc2 31. Nd6 Rc1+ {
    Now they bring the game to an end.} 32. Kh2 Rc2 33. Kg1 1/2-1/2
    [/pgn]

    Game Three will be held at 1400 EST on Monday.

  • How to Watch the World Championship

    How to Watch the World Championship

    **Updated November 09, 2016**: Added additional viewing details and options. Campfire Chess will offer periodic reflection and post-game analysis throughout the event.

    Few chess fans will be as lucky as those living in New York City when the World Chess Championship kicks off later this week, but that doesn’t mean we are entirely removed from following the match and taking in some expert commentary from Grandmasters and fans around the world. The [recent victory](http://www.campfirechess.com/posts/2777) in Russia over Agon has probably lessened some of the push for more subversive broadcasts and the web will be teeming with opportunities for chess players and fans to follow and comment on the event.

    #### So, how can you view the match?
    * [Chess.com](http://www.chess.com) will be hosting the official [Agon widget]() on its site with access to chat functions with full video breakdowns scheduled after each round.
    * Chessbomb WCC2016 Arena: [https://www.chessbomb.com/arena/](https://www.chessbomb.com/arena/2016-carlsen-karjakin-world-chess-championship)
    * [Chess24.com](http://www.chess24.com) continues to establish itself as a bold new powerhouse in chess broadcasting and will cover the event with several big name commentators.
    * Chess24 WCC Broadcast Page: [https://chess24.com/en/wcc2016](https://chess24.com/en/wcc2016)
    * [Playchess](http://www.playchess.com) is the online chess play and broadcast service of [Chessbase](http://www.chessbase.com).
    * [Agon/FIDE](http://nyc2016.fide.com/), who is currently like the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in terms of its behavior against modern chess, also has an official website where users can view the moves for free, but pay a *premium* fee for additional analysis and special commentary.

    The live match itself will happen in the historic Seaport District with tickets available via [Ticketfly](http://www.ticketfly.com/venue/24715).

  • The Agon Widget from Hell

    The Agon Widget from Hell

    Remember back in March when Agon, the [FIDE](http://www.fide.com) puppet company responsible for organizing and managing the World Chess Championship cycle limited the live game broadcasts and [infuriated](http://www.campfirechess.com/posts/2310) pretty much everyone except their billionaire Russian investors and mafia henchmen? Well, run-on sentences aside, the Agon mafia has returned to show its ugly teeth in the run-up to the World Chess Championship in New York City this November with an [announcement](https://worldchess.com/2016/10/17/an-open-letter-to-the-chess-community-on-our-new-broadcast-policy/) that broadcast of the games will be limited to a *widget* designed to be embedded into an external website to broadcast the games. Peter Doggers at [Chess.com](https://www.chess.com/news/view/agon-launches-widget-for-carlsen-karjakin-world-championship-9422) breaks the announcement down a little more. When you have finished reading his excellent report, behold the new widget:

    Agon’s WCC broadcast widget. (Credit: Chess.com)

    According to the official statement,

    > First, and most importantly, the live moves of the World Chess Championship match will be made available for free to responsible chess websites and other media organizations that take our official broadcast widget.

    Although it is presented as the most important part of the broadcast announcement, the idea that the WCC moves should be free is buried in the typical Agon-FIDE hyperbole and legal threats to the chess community and its myriad of online portals. For example,

    > It is fair to say that the furor that followed divided the global chess community. We were asked, “Does Agon have the right to prohibit anyone from broadcasting the moves as they were made?” We believe that we do and that we have a strong legal position. **We also have the full support of the World Chess Federation and many others within the game.**

    Agon acknowledges that its actions divided a deep and thriving community, but it still fails to see that the divide is between Agon-FIDE and *everyone else*, not a divide among the chess community. In fact, I don’t believe that I’ve ever witnessed an online community come together en masse like the chess community did when Agon announced its monopoly. With its restrictive broadcasting *agreements* and tactics aimed at subverting the established ecosystem, Agon has alienated itself from countless people who care about chess and want to see it grow. Furthermore, to assert that its position is legitimized by a FIDE endorsement is no different than saying that its okay to restrict the games because the Kremlin says so. In addition, those *within the game* that are often quoted by Agon-FIDE couldn’t care less about broadcast rights for chess. Their names are solidified in the annals of chess history and their view is always from the front row…at the board!

    > What we are doing has never been attempted before in the chess world. It is a revolutionary approach and I am sure we will probably make some mistakes in its implementation before we are finished.

    Really? It hasn’t? Do they mean that nobody has ever created a chess widget before to cover broadcasted games? How interesting because [Chessbase](http://www.playchess.com) has one and [Chessbomb](http://www.chessbomb.com/embed/l3/) has one that regularly broadcasts live tournament games. This kind of drivel expounds on how little Agon-FIDE really knows about the depths of ingenuity, innovation, and connectedness that exist in the online chess world.

    #### Suspicious Widget
    As a veteran of nearly thirty years of computer and network development, I can say that *most* competent webmasters are reluctant to arbitrarily add external widgets to their platforms. Companies often gain the trust and respect of their customers by demonstrating commitment to that platform’s service before said platform allows their widget or code to be embedded within their framework. For me, I trust [Chessbase](http://www.chessbase.com) and [Chessbomb](http://www.chessbomb.com) because they have earned trust and respect as reputable companies with a legitimate interest in furthering the game of chess. Agon has done nothing but drive a wedge between the chess community and the organization that is *supposed* to be championing our game.

    Would you trust a Soviet JavaScript or PHP widget on your network or content platform? I sure as hell wouldn’t. Call me paranoid, but the truth is always buried in fine print and revealed in data breaches or midnight special forces raids.

  • Nazi Paikidze and Hijab Hubbub

    Nazi Paikidze and Hijab Hubbub

    **Editor’s Note**: I try to keep away from writing about politics, but sometimes the world of chess becomes intimately entangled in the affairs of the world. The battles on the board begin to mimic those of the world around us and something has to be said.

    US Women’s Chess Champion [Nazi Paikidze](http://nazipaikidze.com) rocketed into mainstream fame recently with her [vocal protest](http://www.infowars.com/i-will-not-wear-a-hijab-u-s-chess-star-refuses-to-attend-world-championships-in-iran/) of Iran hosting the 2017 Women’s World Chess Championship due to the country’s strict laws regarding female dress codes and specifically, compulsory wear of the Muslim hijab. Given that Nazi (pronounced *na-SEE*) is an immigrant to the United States herself and with the foundation of our country being that of individual liberty, one would *expect* rousing support for the champion. Yet, that is not the case in a world gone mad.

    Social Justice Warriors Weenies, who seem to insert themselves anywhere they can criticize, ridicule, or otherwise remind others of their professional victim status, [have lashed out](http://heatst.com/world/sjws-attack-white-savior-us-chess-champion-for-anti-iran-womens-rights-campaign/) at Nazi for her protest because she is too *white* to make a difference… As a man who has served with people of all races, genders, nationalities, and sexual orientations, I have reached my wit’s end with the incessant blame game on race, inequality, or *random social condition flavor of the week* used to marginalize the voices of people trying to make a legitimate difference for others. The voices on Twitter and on television crying racism, sexism, or whatever-ism simply do not represent the truth in much of our country.

    One need not look too far to see that Nazi is not alone. Chess champions Garry Kasparov, Nigel Short, and lesser entities like *Campfire Chess* along with thousands of others have voiced their support for the protest because silently accepting the Iranian venue demonstrates a remarkable contempt for women’s rights around the world. You can sign her protest petition [here](https://www.change.org/p/stop-women-s-oppression-at-the-world-chess-championship-by-challenging-fide-s-decision).

    Chess is a game that empowers men and women of all races and all backgrounds to break down the walls that typically restrict them. That is why I am proud of Nazi and her resolve. She represents the best of what our nation was founded on.

  • Celebrating National Chess Day!

    Celebrating National Chess Day!

    Today is National Chess Day in the United States. In my opinion, that’s not too shabby for a country only recently moving back into the chess spotlight. There are chess events happening all around the country and yours truly will be taking plenty of time today to indulge in our game. What are you doing to celebrate today?

  • Ad Victoriam Ad Valorem

    Ad Victoriam Ad Valorem

    Editor’s Note: I am pleased to welcome my good friend Howard Darkes as a guest author today on Campfire Chess. Howard is a longtime philosophy and literary mentor of mine. I hope that you enjoy his heartfelt reflection of Memorial Day. -Wesley Surber


    Hello, Campers! My name is Howard Darkes and I first want to thank my longtime friend Wesley for granting me control of the blog today to share reflections on the past and to address some troubling concerns for the future. Today is Memorial Day in the United States of America and I believe that this is something that needs to be said because there is much mourning going on across the globe today. As the professional chess world is knee-deep in the Shamkir Chess Gashimov Memorial tournament that commemorates one of the greatest players of our generation, my country takes time during the season to reflect and recognize the countless men and women who have sacrificed their lives to defend the sovereignty of our nation and to continue our way of life.  It is on this day that we recognize, remember, and honor the people whose lives were sacrificed in pursuit of this selfless service or whose lives have since expired upon returning from home to enjoy the freedoms they so valiantly fought for.

    Originally from Germany, my family has a long history of military service with the most recent generation being among those to continue that tradition. In memoriam, my paternal Grandfather served in the United States Army during World War II against the Axis Powers. It is today that our nation honors men like him, who has long departed this earth but his children, grandchildren, and now countless great grandchildren continue to enjoy freedoms that generations prior could only have dreamed of.

    Unfortunately, the memory of those sacrifices and the freedoms that came with them are being tainted by the very men and women who have sworn an oath to uphold and defend the laws of our nation and to promote the very way of life that sets us apart from the rest of the world. These days, it is popular to hate America. In fact, it is almost as though hating America is much more socially acceptable than to acknowledge America’s contributions to the rest of the world throughout history. That is why, when sitting US President Barrack Obama gave his speech at the Hiroshima Memorial on May 27, my blood boiled for a while but my patriotism and depth of knowledge about the sacrifices of military service and dedication to duty that comes with such service helped me to overcome those feelings.

    There were many moments in the Hiroshima Speech that betrayed the memory of fallen service US service members, but I want to take this Memorial Day to highlight a few of them.

    The world war that reached its brutal end in Hiroshima and Nagasaki was fought among the wealthiest and most powerful of nations. Their civilizations had given the world great cities and magnificent art. Their thinkers had advanced ideas of justice and harmony and truth. And yet the war grew out of the same base instinct for domination or conquest that had caused conflicts among the simplest tribes, an old pattern amplified by new capabilities and without new constraints.

    In his speech, Barrack Obama paints a picture of World War II as some kind of playground dispute among the rich kids. It was the wealth, power, and quest for domination that drove the United States to drop nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, not the carefully calculated decision to avoid millions of casualties assured by a US invasion of the Japanese mainland. Furthermore, he asserts that the players in the war had advanced ideas of justice, harmony, and truth. Yet, the philosophies of Nazi Germany resulted in the execution of countless Jews, Soviets, homosexuals, and other minority groups that President Obama has championed throughout his reign. Although it is often lost in the sensational history reports of Nazi atrocities in Europe, the Japanese Empire was no better. Japan’s notorious Unit 731 killed 3,000 people while conducting horrific medical experiments and approximately 300,000 people died as a result of biological weapons developed at the facility.

    ww2hitler

    Technological progress without an equivalent progress in human institutions can doom us. The scientific revolution that led to the splitting of an atom requires a moral revolution as well.

    This is the crux of his speech because, in his opinion, American morality has evolved past the need for nuclear weapons and for war. His statements imply that if the United States, Nazi Germany, and Japan were engaged in a worldwide conflict that the American Government (and the American people) would never support the use of nuclear weapons against another nation. His words imply that Japan was attacked by the US out of fear because its people were different. Yet, it was the Japanese Empire that forced the US into a conflict with the bombing of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on December 7, 1941. Before that moment, the US had not been engaged in a war with the island nation. However, the attack prompted a response by America that raged across the Pacific Ocean and its myriad of tiny islands until the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki put an end to the fighting and forged an alliance of peace between the two countries that brought about a technological revolution!

    While the devastation levied on the two cities is tragic in-itself, it cannot be said enough how those sacrifices most likely saved the lives of countless others whose lives would have been snuffed out when the US launched an invasion of Japan. The pending invasion, known as Operation Downfall, projected that 500,000 US service members would have lost their lives and the fanatical warrior culture of the Japanese Empire would have required hand-to-hand combat in almost every home on the island. Some estimates of the initial invasion suggested that around 100,000 soldiers would be killed in combat on the island per month, so at one point, 500,000 Purple Hearts were commissioned by the War Department to prepare for the losses. Yet, intelligence on the nature of the Japanese enemy caused the US Government to make its calculated decision to deliver the nukes in an attempt to stave off the need for such an invasion. Japan surrendered six days later, after around 130,000 people were killed in the blast.

    Why We Come Here

    President Obama ended his speech with this:

    Those who died, they are like us. Ordinary people understand this, I think. They do not want more war. They would rather that the wonders of science be focused on improving life and not eliminating it. When the choices made by nations, when the choices made by leaders, reflect this simple wisdom, then the lesson of Hiroshima is done.

    Taken out of the context of the rest of the speech, it is an accurate assessment of life and death. Ancient warfare philosophies have always taught that fighting should be done only as a last resort. When Hitler’s Germany and the Japanese Empire began systematically invading other countries and slaughtering innocents, the United States and its allies fulfilled their moral duty to intervene and to save those less fortunate. President Obama can speak all he wants to about the need for moral revolution, but a revolution is not the same as evolution. A moral revolution does need to occur in our society, but it needs to look to the heroes of World War II for the way ahead. The young men and women who laid down their lives for their brothers, sisters, and even for those who they did not know are the reason that I am able to sit here today and be critical of the man who stands up and claims to speak for the free world.

    ww2nuke

    The reality is that Barrack Obama speaks for no one but himself. Even a half-hearted apology for the devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is a betrayal of the worst kind to the memory of the soldiers who gave their lives fighting to defend their homes and families. If anything, the bombs prove the American resolve to preserve life and to defend the lives of others. If that were not the case, then Hiroshima and Nagasaki would have been just the first wave in a series of greater bombings and conquests that would not have ended with Germany and Japan’s surrender.

    The Man Who Speaks for No One

    Instead, I prefer to join the millions of people in the United States and around the world who disagree with President Obama’s self-loathing and anti-American sentiment. Those people in Europe whose families were rescued by the Allied powers continued to appreciate and respect those sacrifices. And I appreciate the sacrifices of every man and woman around the world who has decided to give his or her life for something greater than their own personal desires; to defend their homes, families, and the freedoms that they hold so dear. Today, we honor them all by reminding the world that the fallen Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Airmen gave their lives not to defend the personal philosophies of the United States Government or the opinions of its leaders. These people pledged to defend the foundations that make us different, which are rooted in the United States Constitution, by sworn oath ad victoriam ad valerum.