[Event "WCh 2024"] [Site "Singapore SIN"] [Date "2024.11.29"] [Round "4.1"] [White "Ding, Liren"] [Black "Gukesh, D.."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2728"] [BlackElo "2783"] [Annotator "Crowther,Mark"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "A06"] [Opening "Zukertort Opening"] [StudyName "MUNDIAL FIDE 2024 - GAME 1"] [ChapterName "MUNDIAL FIDE 2024 - GAME 4-twic"] [ChapterURL "https://lichess.org/study/Y7cJ9Dbr/3Oft2P9L"] [Orientation "white"] 1. Nf3 { [%eval 0.14] } 1... d5 { [%eval 0.18] } 2. e3 { [%eval 0.03] } 2... Nf6 { [%eval 0.01] } 3. b3 { [%eval 0.0] } 3... Bf5 { [%eval 0.0] } (3... Bg4 { is the most played move in this position but really because white hasn't played sharply almost any sensible move is playable. }) (3... e6 4. Bb2 Be7 5. c4 O-O 6. g3 b6 7. Bg2 Bb7 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. O-O c5 10. d3 Nb4 11. Ne1 Bxg2 12. Kxg2 Qd5+ 13. e4 Qd7 14. a3 N4c6 15. Qe2 Nd4 16. Bxd4 Qxd4 17. Ra2 Nc6 18. Nf3 Qd7 19. Nc3 Rad8 20. Rd1 Bf6 21. Nb1 Bd4 22. Rc2 e5 23. Nbd2 Qe6 24. h4 h6 25. h5 f5 26. Nh4 fxe4 27. Nxe4 Qxb3 28. Rdd2 Qd5 29. Qg4 Qd7 30. Qxd7 Rxd7 31. Ng6 Rfd8 32. Re2 Ne7 33. f4 { ½-½ Nakamura,H (2802)-Firouzja,A (2744) Chess.com SpeedChess blitz 2024 (3.19) }) 4. Be2 { [%eval 0.0] } 4... h6 { [%eval 0.17] } 5. Ba3 { [%eval 0.13] } { This is the top choice in the position. There are 12 games, all at a high or reasonably high level. } 5... Nbd7 { [%eval 0.1] } (5... c6) 6. O-O { [%eval 0.09] } (6. c4 { So, Niemann and Eljanov all played this in rapid games. White lost a couple of these, again probably nothing too critical here. }) 6... e6 { [%eval 0.09] } 7. Bxf8 { [%eval 0.14] } 7... Nxf8 { [%eval 0.13] } 8. c4 { [%eval 0.11] } 8... N8d7 { [%eval 0.16] } 9. Nc3 { [%eval 0.14] } (9. Qc1) 9... O-O { [%eval 0.19] } 10. cxd5 { [%eval 0.14] } (10. d4 a5 11. a3 Qe7 12. Qc1 c6 13. Qb2 Bg4 14. h3 Bxf3 15. Bxf3 Rfd8 16. Rfd1 Nb6 17. Be2 Nc8 18. c5 b5 19. b4 a4 20. f4 Ne4 21. Nxe4 dxe4 22. Kh2 g5 23. Rf1 f5 24. g4 Qf6 { 0-1 So,W (2778)-Giri,A (2777) Meltwater Tour Final rapid 2021 (5.1) }) 10... exd5 { [%eval 0.12] } 11. b4 { [%eval 0.15] } 11... c6 { [%eval 0.09] } 12. Nd4 $146 { [%eval -0.01] } (12. Qb3 Bg4 (12... Ne4 13. d3 Nxc3 14. Qxc3 Qe7 15. Rfc1 Bg6 16. Qd4 Qd6 17. g3 Rfe8 18. Qf4 Qe7 19. a4 Nf8 20. Rab1 Ne6 21. Qe5 f6 22. Qc3 Bh5 23. Qb2 Rad8 24. Nh4 Bxe2 25. Qxe2 Qf7 26. Qg4 Kh7 { ½-½ Martinez Duany,L (2472)-Yao,L (2370) 44th San Sebastian Open 2024 (6.4) }) 13. d4 Ne4 14. Rfd1 b5 15. h3 Bh5 16. a4 a6 17. axb5 axb5 18. Rxa8 Qxa8 19. Ne5 Nxc3 20. Bxh5 Nxe5 21. Qxc3 Nc4 22. Ra1 Qb7 23. Ra2 Ra8 24. Qa1 Rxa2 25. Qxa2 g6 26. Bf3 Kg7 { ½-½ Kiremitciyan,A (2281)-Karaoglan,K (2274) TCh-TUR 1st League 2024 (7.56) }) 12... Bh7 { [%eval 0.04] [#] The position is still equal but black will have to show some accuracy to defuse white's plans. } 13. Qb3 $146 { [%eval 0.03] } (13. Nb3 Qe7 14. a3 Rfc8 15. d4 Bf5 16. Rc1 Ne8 17. Re1 Nd6 18. Bf1 Nf6 19. Qf3 Re8 20. h3 Nfe4 21. Na4 Ng5 22. Qf4 Rad8 23. Nac5 Bc8 24. a4 b6 25. Nd3 Nc4 26. e4 Ne6 27. Qg3 dxe4 28. Rxe4 Nd6 29. Ree1 Nf5 30. Qg4 Qg5 31. Qe4 Re7 32. f4 Qf6 33. Rxc6 Bb7 34. Ne5 Ng3 35. Qf3 Qxf4 36. Qxf4 Nxf4 37. Rc3 Nxf1 38. Rxf1 Ne2+ { 0-1 Salomon,J (2502)-Holm,K (2450) NOR-ch Oslo 2021 (8) }) 13... Ne5! { [%eval 0.09] } { Very concrete and black had to work out if f4 for white was bad for him. } 14. a4 { [%eval 0.07] } 14... Rc8 { [%eval 0.04] } 15. a5 { [%eval 0.07] } (15. f4 Ned7 16. a5 { was the first thing mentioned by Ding as an alternative. }) 15... b6 { [%eval 0.2] } 16. Nf3 { [%eval -0.07] } { This is giving up on the advantage. } (16. f4 Nc4 17. Bxc4 dxc4 18. Qxc4 c5 { is a key line talked about in commentary and volunteered by Ding after the game. }) (16. Ba6!? Rc7 17. f4 Ng6) (16. axb6 axb6 17. f4 Nc4 18. Ra2) 16... Nxf3+ { [%eval -0.01] } 17. Bxf3 { [%eval 0.02] } 17... d4 { [%eval -0.04] } 18. Ne2 { [%eval -0.04] } 18... dxe3 { [%eval 0.02] } 19. dxe3 { [%eval 0.01] } 19... Be4 { [%eval 0.04] } { Already a draw is the only conceivable result. } 20. Rfd1 { [%eval 0.03] } 20... Qe7 { [%eval 0.1] } 21. Bxe4 { [%eval 0.0] } 21... Nxe4 { [%eval 0.02] } 22. axb6 { [%eval -0.01] } 22... axb6 { [%eval -0.02] } 23. Nc3 { [%eval -0.03] } 23... Rfd8 { [%eval -0.07] } 24. Nxe4 { [%eval -0.04] } 24... Qxe4 { [%eval -0.05] } 25. h3 { [%eval -0.11] } 25... c5 { [%eval 0.0] } 26. Rxd8+ { [%eval 0.0] } 26... Rxd8 { [%eval 0.0] } 27. bxc5 { [%eval 0.0] } 27... bxc5 { [%eval 0.04] } 28. Rc1 { [%eval 0.0] } 28... Qe5 { [%eval 0.0] } 29. Qc2 { [%eval 0.0] } 29... Rd5 { [%eval 0.0] } { There's nothing risky about this but it's not the most straightforward. It seems Gukesh was very mildly suggesting he might push if white isn't accurate. } 30. g3 { [%eval 0.0] } 30... f5!? { [%eval 0.04] } 31. Kg2 { [%eval 0.06] } 31... Kh7 { [%eval 0.07] } 32. Qc4 { [%eval 0.03] } 32... Qd6 { [%eval 0.01] } 33. e4 { [%eval 0.0] } { Even the mildest of intrigue is now over. } 33... Re5 { [%eval 0.0] } 34. exf5 { [%eval 0.0] } 34... Rxf5 { [%eval 0.0] } 35. Qe4 { [%eval 0.0] } 35... Qd5 { [%eval 0.0] } 36. Qxd5 { [%eval 0.01] } 36... Rxd5 { [%eval 0.0] } 37. Kf3 { [%eval 0.0] } 37... Kg6 { [%eval 0.0] } 38. Ke4 { [%eval 0.0] } { and the players find a way to repeat. } 38... Rd4+ { [%eval 0.0] } 39. Ke3 { [%eval 0.0] } 39... Rd5 { [%eval 0.0] } 40. Ke4 { [%eval 0.0] } 40... Rd4+ { [%eval 0.0] } 41. Ke3 { [%eval 0.01] } 41... Rd5 { [%eval 0.0] } 42. Ke4 { [%eval 0.0] } 42... Rd4+ { [%eval 0.0] } { 1/2-1/2 wins. } { PRECISÃO ÇICHESS.ORG: BRANCAS 99% PRETAS 99% PRECISÃO CHESS.COM: BRANCAS 98.8 PRETAS 98.7 } 1/2-1/2