[Event "Champions Chess Tour Airthings Masters"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2023.02.09"] [Round "53"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Erigaisi, Arjun"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2766"] [BlackElo "2701"] [Annotator "Lang,JJ"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "C88"] [Opening "Ruy Lopez: Closed, Anti-Marshall"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/f5OBDjty/6dzFQTvF"] [Orientation "white"] { [%evp 16,121,52,35,39,15,26,25,22,11,30,-23,14,14,18,0,12,12,19,10,33,-12,16, 8,13,0,1,-30,0,-1,-9,10,29,47,134,80,84,62,75,43,66,34,65,66,78,65,82,17,26,33, 100,23,69,59,82,75,124,141,147,114,511,484,465,216,204,212,200,217,230,218,198, 212,549,221,233,212,390,29,87,97,101,106,186,157,206,208,209,64,62,62,66,44,77, 51,53,79,73,68,700,670,641,622,581,557,726,725,735,675] A fantastically dramatic game in three parts. So puts on a masterclass in coordination, allowing Arjun to execute his plan of winning a weak a-pawn but face an absolutely hopeless position once he does. From there, So lets him off the hook by trading queens into an ending with drawn chances. Finally, one fatal error allowed So to slowly grind out the win. } 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 Qe8 13. Nb3 Rb8 14. d4 Nd7 15. Qe2 Nxd4 16. Nbxd4 exd4 17. Nxd4 Nc5 18. Qc4 Bf6 19. Be3 Bxd4 20. Qxd4 Rb5 21. b3 e5 22. Qc4+ Qf7 23. Red1 Ra8 24. f3 Nb7 25. Rd5! { An artful suffocating move. Once Black pushes the c-pawn, the knight loses its potency attacking the weak a5-pawn, as it is now pulling a double shift as a defender of the weak d6-pawn. But if Black does not push the c-pawn, there is no attack on the a5-pawn. } 25... c5 26. Qd3 Re8 27. h3 h6 28. Qd2 Qf6 29. Kh2 Kh7 30. Qd3 Qg6 31. Qd2 Re6 32. Qd3 Nxa5 33. Ra4 { Black has won the pawn, but still faces a major coordination problem. } 33... Qf6 34. Bc1 Kg8 35. Be3 Qe7 36. f4! { Opening the board highlights Black's misplaced knight and rooks. } 36... exf4 37. Bxf4 Rxe4 38. Bxd6 Qe6 39. Bg3?! (39. c4!) 39... Rd4 40. Rd8+ Kf7 41. Rxd4 cxd4 42. Qxd4 Nc6 43. Qf4+ Qf6 44. Qc4+! Qe6 45. Qf4+ Qf6? 46. Qxf6+? (46. Qc7+! { White should have kept queens on, given how vulnerable Black's king is. } 46... Ne7 47. Bd6 Rd5 48. Rxa6 $18) 46... gxf6 47. Rxa6 Rc5 48. Ra2 f5 49. Bf2 Rc3 50. Be1 Re3 51. Bd2 Re2 52. Bxh6 Nd4 53. Kg3 Kg6 54. Bf4 Rxc2 55. Rxc2 Nxc2 56. Be5 Ne3?? (56... Ne1 $14) 57. Kf3 Nd5 58. Bd4 Ne7 59. Kf4 Nd5+ 60. Ke5 Nc3 61. Bc5 Ne2 62. Bxb4 Nc1 63. Kd4 Nxb3+ 64. Ke3 Kg5 65. g3 Kh5 66. Kd3 Kg5 67. Kc3 Nc1 68. Kd2 Nb3+ 69. Ke3 Kh5 70. Kd3 Kg5 71. Kc4 f4 72. Be7+ Kg6 73. gxf4 Nc1 74. Kd4 Ne2+ 75. Ke5 Ng3 76. Bh4 Nf5 77. Bf2 Ng7 78. h4 Nh5 79. f5+ Kf7 80. Be1 Ke7 81. Bd2 Kf7 82. Bc1 Ke7 83. Be3 Kf7 84. Bg5 Ng7 85. Kf4 Kg8 86. Kg4 Ne8 87. Bf4 Nf6+ 88. Kg5 Kf7 89. Be5 Nh7+ 90. Kh6 Nf8 91. h5 Nd7 92. Bd4 Nf8 93. Kg5 Nh7+ 94. Kf4 Kg8 95. Bc3 Kf8 96. h6 Kf7 97. Bg7 Kg8 98. Kg4 Kf7 99. Kh5 Kg8 100. Kg6 Nf6 101. Bxf6 { 1-0 White wins. } 1-0