[Event "FIDE Candidates Chess Tournaments 2024"] [Site "https://lichess.org/study/Mez4h4WA/Wo5hTqoG"] [Date "2024.04.09"] [Round "5"] [White "Praggnanandhaa R"] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2747"] [BlackElo "2758"] [Annotator "IM Robert Shlyakhtenko"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "C42"] [Opening "Russian Game: Classical Attack, Staunton Variation"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/Mez4h4WA/Wo5hTqoG"] [Orientation "white"] { Annotations by IM Robert Shlyakhtenko } 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Bd6 7. O-O O-O 8. c4 c6 9. Nc3 Nxc3 10. bxc3 dxc4 11. Bxc4 Bf5 12. Bg5 Qa5 13. Nh4 Be6 14. Bxe6 Qxg5 15. Nf3 Qa5 16. Bh3 { Up to this point, the players followed well-established theory. This retreat is rare, though not new to Nepomniachtchi, as he faced it in a rapid game against Mamedov last year. The point of this odd-looking move is to prevent ... Nb8-d7. } 16... Qxc3 { This time, Nepomniachtchi chooses the most principled continuation. In his previous game, he chose } (16... Qc7 { , which was met by } 17. c4! { , when White went on to win in Mamedov – Nepomniachtchi, Chess.com, 2023. White has no objective advantage here either, but Mamedov managed to bring home the full point. One point is that Black would normally (i.e., after 16. Bb3) meet c3-c4 by playing } 17... c5 { , but here this is less good in view of } 18. d5 Nd7 19. Bxd7! Qxd7 20. Qd3 $14 { and White has made the right exchanges for this structure. }) 17. Rb1 b6 18. Rb3 Qa5 19. d5! { Praggnanandhaa's idea for this game. Either Nepomniachtchi had missed this move in his preparation, or did not clearly remember his notes; in either case, he sank into thought for the first time here. } 19... cxd5 20. Ng5! { Threatening potential sacrifices on f7 and h7. All of a sudden, Black faces a thematic attack on the weak light squares, and his position looks very dangerous. In reality, Black can maintain the balance in several ways, but Nepomniachtchi slipped: } (20. Rd3 { gives nothing in view of } 20... Nc6 21. Rxd5 Bc5 $15) 20... h6!? (20... Nc6? { loses immediately to } 21. Qc2 $18) (20... g6!? { is playable. Here too, Black has to contend with many possibilities for his opponent, among them 21. Nxf7, 21. Ne6, 21. Qd3!? (with the idea of 22. Be6), and 21. Bg4!? (with the idea of 22. Rh3). }) (20... Be7!? 21. Nxh7 Rd8 { is the cold-blooded computer defense. Once again, White has many tries, but Black holds with accurate play. }) (20... Bf4 { was probably the simplest line to calculate. } 21. Nxf7 Kxf7 22. Rf3 Kg8 23. Be6+ Kh8 24. Bxd5 Nc6! 25. Bxc6 Rac8) 21. Nxf7 { Forced. } (21. Ne6?! fxe6 22. Bxe6+ Kh8 23. Bxd5 Na6 24. Bxa8 Qe5 25. g3 Rxa8 $15) 21... Kxf7 22. Rd3 (22. a4!? { I think this was a very interesting option, preparing Rb3-b5. Now the best defense is } 22... Bf4! (22... Qc5 { is the most natural line, but after } 23. Rb5 Qc4 24. Rxd5 Bc5 25. Rf5+ Kg8 26. Rxf8+ Bxf8 27. Re1 { White's initiative endures. }) 23. Rb5 (23. g3 Nc6 24. gxf4 Kg8) 23... Qd2 24. Qb3 Rd8 { and now Black holds only thanks to } 25. Rd1 Re8!) 22... Nd7 { Nepomniactchi plays the most human move. } (22... Kg8? 23. Be6+! $18) 23. Rxd5 Nc5? { But this is a mistake. It's very natural to want to get the king to safety as quickly as possible, but Black had the opportunity to be greedy without any repercussions. } (23... Bxh2+! 24. Kxh2 Nc5 { Black's king is stuck on f7 for one more move, but White has no way to exploit it. After } 25. Rd6!? Kg8 26. Qd5+ Kh8 { we get positions analogous to the game, but with an extra pawn for Black! }) 24. Rxd6 Kg8 25. Qd5+ Kh8 { The critical moment of the game. White has to make an extremely difficult choice between a complex, hard-to-evaluate middlegame, and a simple but slightly better endgame. Praggnanandhaa chose wrong: } 26. Bf5? (26. Qd4?! Kh7! (26... Qxa2? 27. Rxh6+ Kg8 28. Rh5 $18)) (26. Qe5! Qxa2 27. Rxh6+!? (27. Bf5!! Kg8 28. Bb1! Qf7 29. Qb2! Qf4 30. Qa2+! Rf7 (30... Qf7 31. Qc2!) 31. Rfd1 Rf8 32. f3 { and Black has no defense against Bb1-g6. But let's stick to lines that the players had a realistic chance of finding during the game... }) 27... Kg8 28. Rg6 (28. Rh4? { looks completely winning, but White is in for a little surprise: } 28... Rae8 29. Qh5? Qxf2+!) 28... Qf7 29. Bf5 Rae8 30. Qb2! { From a distance, this position seems very unclear. However, a closer investigation reveals that Black faces great difficulties: the queenside pawns are paralyzed, his pieces are passive, and White can easily regroup his forces for the attack. For instance, } (30. Qd4? Ne6!) (30. Qc3? Ne4!) 30... Qe7 { (the defense mentioned by Nepomniachtchi in the press conference) } (30... Ne4 31. g4! Nf6 32. h4! { and it's hard to come up with a defense against the simple-minded but effective rush of White's pawns. }) 31. Bb1 Rf6 32. Rg3 Rh6 33. h3 { does not help matters very much: White now wants to activate the other rook by playing Rf1-d1-d5. }) 26... Nb7! 27. Qxa5 Nxa5 { White plays with bishop against knight in a situation with pawns on both sides of the board, thus retaining some advantage, but Nepomniachtchi confidently steers the game towards a draw. } 28. g4 Nc4 29. Rd5 (29. Rd4!? b5 30. Re1 $14) 29... Rae8 { Now Black will be in time to blockade White's pawn majority on the kingside, and the draw becomes clear. } 30. h3 Ne5 31. Kg2 g6 32. Bc2 g5 33. Bf5 Re7 34. Rd6 Kg7 35. Re1 Rf6 36. Rd5 Ng6 37. Rxe7+ Nxe7 38. Rd7 Kf8 39. Be4 a5 40. Kg3 Ng6 41. Bxg6 Rxg6 42. h4 Rc6 43. hxg5 hxg5 44. Rb7 a4 { 1/2-1/2 The game is a draw. } 1/2-1/2