[Event "Round 4: Ian Nepomniachtchi - Alireza Fi"]
[Site "lichess.org"]
[Date "2022.06.18"]
[White "Ian Nepomniachtchi"]
[Black "Alireza Firouzja"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Abasov"]
[Variant "Standard"]
[ECO "B90"]
[Opening "Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation"]
[Source "https://lichess.org/study/450dtcgH/pEzntpOi"]
[Orientation "white"]
1. e4 c5 { Alireza is a well-known Sicilian player. It's already the second
time he goes for the most ambitious first move with Black. } 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 { Ambitious Najdorf! One of the main repertoires of
Firouzja. } 6. f3 { Perhaps this is the reachest position on move 6. I believe
GMs played 20 different moves here in this position with White! That's why not
many players dare to play Najdorf, cause it's somewhat huge! 6.f3 quite often
transposes to 6.Be3 but it avoids some lines such as 6...-Ng4 } (6. Be3 Ng4 { which is another big line }) 6... e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8. Be3 Be7 (8... h5 { is another
big line which's main idea is to prevent potential g2-g4 by White. }) 9. Qd2 O-O 10. O-O-O Nbd7 11. g4 b5 12. g5 b4 13. Ne2 (13. gxf6 { doesn't win a piece as
after } 13... bxc3 { Black is attacking the d2-Queen. } 14. Qxc3 Nxf6 15. Na5 Rc8 16. Nc6 Qc7 17. Nxe7+ Qxe7 { is how the line goes, and Black's rather doing good
here. }) 13... Ne8 (13... Nh5 { isn't being played mostly because of the } 14. Ng3 { White offers the Knight trades after what the h-file will open up for the
h1-Rook and White's attack gain extra power on the kingside. }) 14. f4 a5 15. f5 { So far the sides entered one of the principled variations in Najdorf. I have
over 6000 games in my database in this position, but the next move of the
youngest player of the event surprised me a lot. } 15... Bc4!? { Is move have been
played in less than 100 games - and all those were Corr games! } (15... a4 { is the main move after what the lines goes: } 16. fxe6 (16. Nbd4!? exd4 17. Nxd4 b3 (17... Bxa2?? 18. Nc6 $18) 18. Kb1 bxc2+ 19. Nxc2 Bb3 20. axb3 axb3 21. Na3 Ne5 $132) 16... axb3 17. cxb3 fxe6 18. Bh3 Rxa2 19. Bxe6+ Kh8 20. Ng3 { and with over 500 games in this position Black proved to be doing fine here. }) (15... Bxb3 { is another option for Black, which has been played over thousand
times. But the current reputation of the variation is not so great. } 16. cxb3 a4 17. Kb1! axb3 18. Nc1!! bxa2+ 19. Ka1 { and White has a huge advantage.
Black's attack on the queenside is no longer dangerous, as the a2-pawn is
covering White's King. White's attack on the kingside, however, hasn't even
started firing up yet! }) 16. Kb1!? { Very natural move - White frees the
c1-square for the b3-Knight in case of ... -a4 } (16. Ng3 { is the top engine's
move but after } 16... Bxf1 17. Rhxf1 a4 { placing the Knight on a1 is something you
don't really want to do... } 18. Na1 { and after } 18... a3 { not only you've just
brought your Knight to a1, but you block the b3-square yourself so the Knight
doesn't get out anytime... } 19. b3 { According to the engine, White's slightly
better, but how natural were the moves of White in this line? I guess not so
much... }) 16... a4 17. Nbc1 d5! { Firouzja continues showing the prep and
plays dynamically. } (17... b3 { is being met by simple } 18. cxb3 axb3 19. axb3 $18 { and the open a-file is not enough to cause trouble to White King }) (17... a3 { is always met by } 18. b3 $18) 18. f6 { White wants to open up the files on
the kingside, Where the Black King is located! } (18. exd5 { is not really great
in a view of } 18... Nd6 { the extra d5-pawn is more like a shield for Black pieces
that they can use to activate their pieces than a 'strong' passed pawn of
White. } 19. f6 gxf6 20. gxf6 Nxf6 21. Bh6 Kh8 { and even the exchange sac is
good for Black } 22. Bxf8? Bxf8 { White's pieces are too passive. } 23. Ng3? { offering the Bishop trades leaves the c3-square defenseless } 23... a3 24. b3 Nfe4 $19 { and the Knight is heading to c3. }) 18... gxf6 19. gxf6 (19. Ng3!? { was also
a possibility for White } 19... Bxf1 (19... Nd6 { Black covers the f5-square. } 20. gxf6 Nxf6 21. Bh6 Kh8 $44 { and again the thematic exchange sac that we have seen
earlier already. }) 20. Rhxf1 d4 21. gxf6 dxe3 22. Qxd7 Qxd7 23. Rxd7 Bxf6 24. Nf5 { and White's slightly better }) 19... Ndxf6 (19... Nexf6!? { could have
also been an option for Black, but Firouzja wanted to place his e8-Knight to
d6. } 20. Ng3 Kh8 21. Bxc4 (21. Nf5 Bxf1 22. Rhxf1 d4 23. Bh6 Rg8 $132) 21... dxc4 22. Nf5 c3 $132 { with lots of counterplay! }) 20. Ng3 { honestly speaking,
watching the game live, I thought big game expects us here. The position
looked very unclear to me and without seeing the engine evaluation I couldn't
understand what was happening on the board. However, I believed it's somehow
easier to make moves with White rather than for Black. I believe Firouzja's
preparation ended around here, and no surprise he started spending a lot of
time. After half another of thinking, he went for } 20... Bxf1?! { Which was the
first inaccuracy in the game. } (20... Nd6 { would transpose to 19.Ng3-Nd6 lines
that we mentioned above }) (20... Kh8 { was another decent possibility for Black } 21. Bxc4 (21. exd5 Bxd5 22. Bg2 Ra5 $36 { is okay for Black too. }) 21... dxc4 22. Qxd8 Rxd8 23. Nf5 Bd6!? { and with e4-pawn hanging Black is doing okay. }) 21. Rhxf1 { Normally, after
long thought, once you play a capture move and your opponent replies with a
recapture, you expect the next move to come quickly too. Here Alireza spent
another half an hour over his next move which somehow was the first sign that
he starts losing control over the situation } 21... a3 { is always met by } 22. b3 { The problem for Black is that their King is weaker than Whites, as well as
their pieces are placed not perfectly. On top of that, the d5-pawn is hanging.
How to handle this position? } 22... Kh8 23. exd5 Nd6?? { this simply loses the
b4-pawn and the game... } (23... Rg8 24. Bg5! { and now White's threatening
the deadly d6. } 24... Ra6 25. Bxf6+ Nxf6 26. Qe2 { with a double attack on a6-Rook and
the e5-pawn. Black is in trouble here. }) (23... Qc7 { looked best for Black but
most likely Alireza didn't like it due to } 24. Rxf6! Bxf6 { and now both 25.
d6 and 25.Nd3 are good for White. } (24... Nxf6 { loses to } 25. d6 $18) 25. d6 (25. Nd3!? Nd6 26. Bc5 $36) 25... Qc6 26. Qxb4 { it looks really unpleasant for
Black, but most likely Black already had nothing better! } 26... Bg7! { preparing ...
-f5 } 27. Qc5!? { Offering the Queen trades. For Black, it's essential to keep
the Queens on the board. } 27... Qd7 (27... Qxc5 28. Bxc5 Nf6 29. c4 { and White's
passed pawns are too strong. }) 28. Qd5 Rd8 29. Bc5 f5 30. Nh5 Nf6 31. Nxf6 Rxf6 32. Bxa3 $132 { this position is still better for White, but the game is far
from over yet as Black also has powerful pawns in the center. }) 24. Qxb4 Rc8 (24... Rb8 25. Qe1 (25. Qxa3?? Nc4 $17) 25... Qc7 26. Bg5 $18) 25. Bb6! { Nepo immediately takes the advantage of Firou's mistakes and converts the
advantage with extreme precision. } 25... Qd7 26. Qe1! { Now Black gets into trouble with
protecting the e5-pawn too. The position is absolutely losing for them. } 26... Rb8 (26... e4 27. Bd4 $18) 27. Ba5 Nc4 28. d6! { another nice move after which the
d1-Rook also joins the attack. } 28... Bd8 29. Bc3 Qe6 30. Nd3 { The Knight is getting
into the game too. } 30... Nd5 31. Nf4 (31. Ba1 { was another nice possibility for
Nepo. }) 31... Nxf4 32. Rxf4 f6 33. Qe2 { Attacking the c4-Knight. } (33. Rxc4 { is a blunder in a view of } 33... Qxc4 { White's still better, but much less. }) 33... Nb2 34. Rdf1 Re8 35. Rh4 f5 36. Rxh7+! { With 3 pieces in the attack vs lone
King, it's impossible to defend for Black. } 36... Kxh7 37. Qh5+ Kg8 38. Nxf5 Bf6 39. Rg1+ { Black resigned in a view of } 1-0