[Event "FIDE World Cup"] [Site "chess24.com"] [Date "2021.07.14"] [Round "1.3"] [White "Hesham, Abdelrahman"] [Black "Adly, Ahmed"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2397"] [BlackElo "2625"] [Annotator "Beukes, Dante"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "E11"] [Opening "Bogo-Indian Defense: Grünfeld Variation"] [StudyName "Africans at the World Cup 2021 Round 1 tiebreaks"] [ChapterName "Hesham, Abdelrahman - Adly, Ahmed"] [ChapterURL "https://lichess.org/study/WicUTFjZ/bDVH0tpw"] [Orientation "white"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Nbd2 O-O 5. a3 Be7 6. e4 d6 { Adly decides to repeat the line from the second classical game, which he lost. } 7. b4 { Hesham is the first to deviate from that game. } (7. Be2 { was played in the aforementioned game. }) 7... e5 8. Bb2 exd4 9. Nxd4 Re8 10. Be2 Bf8 11. f3 Nh5 12. O-O Nf4 13. g3 Nxe2+ 14. Qxe2 c5 15. Nc2 { [#] Adly interestingly decided to continue with the Bogo-Indian line that Hesham beat him in on day two. He justifies his decision with the move 15...d5!. This is a typical idea in a lot of different openings, and after this Black does not have any problems. } 15... d5! 16. cxd5 Qxd5 17. Ne3 Qd8 18. b5 a6 19. a4 Bd7 20. Rfd1 axb5 21. axb5 Rxa1 22. Bxa1 Qa5 23. Rb1 { [#] This was a very critical moment in this game. Black can equalise by force in this postion, but it is not that easy to find. Adly did not manage to see it, but since we have the privilege of hindsight, can you spot what Adly missed? } 23... Qa2 (23... Bxb5! { equalised for Black } 24. Qxb5 Qxd2 25. Qxe8 Qxe3+ 26. Kg2 Qe2+ 27. Kh3 Qxf3) 24. Bc3 f6 25. Qc4+ Qxc4 26. Ndxc4 Be6 27. Na5 b6 28. Nac4 Nd7 29. Ra1 Rd8 30. Kf2 Ne5 31. Bxe5 fxe5 { [#] White is clearly better in this position. Black might have the bishop pair, but the problem is that they are hopelessly placed. White soon picked up some of Black's pawns. } 32. Ke2 Rd4 33. Rc1 (33. Nxe5 { was also possible } 33... Rb4 34. Ra8 Rxb5 35. Nd5 $18) 33... Be7 34. Nxb6 Bg5 35. Rxc5 Rb4 36. Nbd5 Rb2+ 37. Kd3 Rb3+ 38. Rc3?! (38. Nc3 $18 { would have kept the b-pawn and this is clearly winning }) 38... Rxb5 39. Nc7 Rb6 40. Nxe6 Rxe6 41. Rc8+ Kf7 42. Nc4 { [#] We reached this position after inaccurate play from White. A few moves ago White had a passed b-pawn, but Adly managed to put some pressure on White's position and won the pawn back. The current position is still winning for White and in the next couple of moves, Hesham makes a lot of progress. } 42... Re7 43. Rc6 Rd7+ 44. Rd6 Re7 (44... Rxd6+ 45. Nxd6+ Ke6 $16) 45. Nb6 Re8 46. Rd7+ Kg6 47. Nc4 h5 48. Rd6+ Kh7 49. Rd5 Bf6 50. f4 exf4 51. gxf4 Kg6 52. Rd6 Kf7 53. Rd7+ Kg6 54. e5 Bh4 55. Ke4 Rc8 56. f5+ Kh6 57. Nd6 Rc1 { [#] White is now completely winning, however, caution is still required. How would you continue in this position? } 58. f6? { In his book "Small Steps to Giant Improvement", Sam Shankland makes an interesting observation about advancing pawns in the endgame. He recommended that before one makes a commital decision like what Hesham did here, you should consider whether the king needs to be in front of the passed pawn or not. In this case, it turns out that the king is needed in front of the pawn. } (58. Kd5 { putting the king on e6 was the correct winning plan. }) 58... Re1+ 59. Kf5 gxf6 60. Nf7+ Kg7 61. Ng5+ Kf8 62. exf6 Bxg5 63. Kxg5 Rg1+ 64. Kxh5 Rf1 65. Kg5 Rg1+ 66. Kh5 Rf1 67. Rd6 Kf7 68. h4 Rxf6 69. Rd7+ Kg8 70. Kg5 Ra6 71. h5 Ra5+ 72. Kg6 Ra6+ 73. Kg5 { 1/2-1/2 The game is a draw. } 1/2-1/2