[Event "FIDE Candidates Tournament"] [Site "https://lichess.org/study/fhBzjnqz/0znsbS5t"] [Date "2022.06.23"] [Round "6.4"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Duda, Jan-Krzysztof"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2766"] [WhiteTeam "FID"] [BlackElo "2750"] [BlackTeam "Poland"] [Annotator "Aagaard"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "A07"] [Opening "King's Indian Attack: Keres Variation"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/fhBzjnqz/0znsbS5t"] [Orientation "white"] { [%evp 0,69,32,32,32,-4,16,-1,5,1,10,12,21,26,16,26,31,30,8,-55,-31,-29,21,-15, 2,2,-14,5,2,18,15,-25,23,12,21,-4,-6,-9,-16,-18,-24,-35,-37,-13,-25,-33,-29, -81,37,70,57,72,80,62,80,80,110,66,88,99,99,99,141,74,156,152,302,301,329,579, 766,814] } 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Bg4 3. Bg2 e6 4. O-O Nd7 5. h3 Bh5 6. d4 Ngf6 7. c4 c6 8. cxd5 exd5 9. Ne5!? { Duda was entirely unprepared for this move and spent nearly 20 minutes dealing with it. He has many weaknesses and not the least a shallow knowledge of the opening that often leads to him being surprised and facing problems others have already solving with their computer, on his own. } (9. Qb3 Qb6 10. Qe3+ Be7 11. Nh4 Bg6 { has been played in a lot of games. }) 9... Nxe5? { If you do not know what you should play, you easily end up in trouble, as could be seen by practice. } (9... Ne4!? { This is probably the correct way to play, although equality is not guaranteed. } 10. Bxe4!? (10. Nd2 { is less dangerous. } 10... f5!? (10... Nxd2 11. Bxd2 Be7 $14 { Hakobyan - Quesada Perez, Chesterfield 2020. })) 10... dxe4 11. Nc3 Be7 (11... f5? { is very bad. } 12. Qb3 $18 Nxe5 13. dxe5 Qe7 { Malikentzos - Navara, Porto Carras 2018. } 14. Bg5!! Qxg5 15. Qxb7 Rd8 16. Qxc6+ Kf7 17. Qc4+ Ke8 18. Nb5 { and we have reached the part of the game where Black should think about resigning. }) 12. Bf4 (12. g4 Nxe5!? 13. dxe5 Bg6 { Svane - Kollars, Magdeburg 2021. }) 12... Nxe5 13. dxe5 Bg6 14. Qb3 $14 { Grandelius - Keymer, Wijk aan Zee 2020. }) 10. dxe5 Ne4 11. Nd2! Nxd2 { White also looks good after } (11... f5 12. Nxe4 fxe4 13. Be3 Be7 14. f4 exf3 15. exf3 O-O 16. Qb3 $16 { . }) 12. Bxd2 Bc5 13. Rc1 (13. Qb3? { was played in Rakshitta - Cabrilo, Arandjelovac 2021. After } 13... Bxe2 14. Qxb7 Bb5! { White would have to find } 15. Ba5! { (or g5) } 15... Rb8 16. Qxb5! { to avoid being worse. }) 13... Qe7 14. Kh2?! (14. Kh1! { is more accurate, as the e-pawn will never be taken with check, when White later goes f2-f4-f5. But Nepomniachtchi seems to remember a game where his good friend Sergey Karjakin was Black. (It is harder to believe that Nepo's anti-war speeches are deeply felt, when you remember the bromance that he and Karjakin experienced in Abu Dhabi last year). }) 14... O-O 15. g4 (15. a3!? { was a Stockfish suggestion, but the game looks quite logical. }) 15... Bg6 16. f4 h6! $146 { A new move, but far away from preparation. Actually, this is the opposite of preparation, but rather an indication of } (16... f5? 17. Qb3 Rad8 { White's advantage was overwhelming in Svidler - Karjakin, Wijk aan Zee 2018. Stockfish 15 comes with } 18. a3! { with the threat 19.Qc2 Bb6 20. Bb4. And after } 18... Rf7 19. g5!? { Black is paralyzed and White slowly advances on the queenside. Later ideas with Bg2-f3 and h4-h5 also exist. There is an interesting trick associated with White's last move. If } 19... Bh5 { , White wins with } 20. e6!! Rff8 { The f6-square is no longer available. } 21. Rxc5 Qxc5 22. Bb4 Qb6 23. e7 a5 { Winning back the piece, but... } 24. Bxd5+! cxd5 25. Qxd5+ Bf7 26. Qxa5 Qxa5 27. Bxa5 $18) 17. Qe1 (17. Qa4!? Rad8 18. f5 Bh7 19. Bf4 $14 { is the opinion of Stockfish. }) 17... Rfe8 18. Qg3 Bh7 19. h4 { Having somehow survived the opening with a decent position, Duda now spends six minutes, and then four more, on two of the worst moves possible. } 19... Rad8?? { It is really difficult to explain this move. What is the function? Did Duda not anticipate the idea behind Nepomniachtchi's last three moves? Or did he not expect it to be dangerous? I have nothing against Duda, but this is not good advertisement for the World Cup (decided by rapid often) getting spots in the Candidates... There were many better ways to play. For example: } (19... Bd4! 20. Bc3 (20. b3?! f6 $15 { only helps Black. }) 20... Bxc3 21. Rxc3 f6 { with rough equality. }) 20. g5! hxg5? { It is hard to understand what Duda was thinking, opening up his kingside like this. Every line I have looked at looks horrible for Black, no matter the depth. The open h-file is a huge improvement for White. } (20... h5? 21. f5 { is overwhelming. } 21... Bd4 22. e6 $18) (20... Kh8! $14 { would have solved a lot of problems for Black. Especially that after } 21. f5? Bd4! $19 22. e6 fxe6 23. g6 { Black has } 23... Bg8 { . }) 21. hxg5 Bb4 (21... Bf5 22. Bh3 { would further weaken the black king. }) 22. Bxb4 Qxb4 23. f5! Qxb2 24. e6? { The position is still lost after this very reasonable looking move. Nepomniachtchi has two main weaknesses. He is unfit, and he usually plays worse towards the end of tournaments. (He is also incredibly superficial, partly because of the lack of fitness.) This is not so much a matter of a bit of extra padding, which many of us are guilty of, but more about a lack of tenacity and determination. His obvious chess talents did manage to carry him through the last Candidates, although I think he was heavily helped by the one year break between rounds seven and eight. } (24. Rc3! { was stronger. White includes the last piece in the attack. However, the details are by no means elementary and Nepomniachtchi most likely saw something he did not like in them. } 24... d4 (24... Qxe2 25. Re3 Qc2 { is another reasonable try, although the path forward here is wider. } 26. g6! fxg6 27. f6! Rf8 (27... gxf6 28. exf6 Rxe3 29. Qc7! { is an important point. }) 28. f7+! Rxf7 29. Rxf7 Kxf7 30. e6+ Kg8 31. Qc7 { and White wins: } 31... Rf8 32. e7 Re8 33. Qd7 Kf7 34. Rf3+ $18) 25. e6!! { Not an easy move at all. } 25... fxe6 (25... Qxc3 26. exf7+ Kxf7 27. Qc7+ Kg8 28. f6 $18 { is quite similar. }) 26. f6!! Rd7!? (26... Qxc3 27. Qc7! $18) 27. g6 (27. Rcf3 Bf5 28. Qe5! { also wins, but is unnatural. } 28... Red8 29. e4!! { is the key point. }) 27... gxf6 (27... Bxg6 28. Qxg6 Rf8 29. fxg7 { quickly leads to mate. } 29... Rxf1 30. Qe8+ Kxg7 31. Rg3+ $18) 28. gxh7+ Kh8 29. Qg6! Rf8 (29... Rxh7+ 30. Rh3 Rxh3+ 31. Bxh3 Qxe2+ 32. Kh1 { with mate approaching. }) 30. Rxf6 Rxh7+ 31. Rh3 Rxh3+ 32. Kxh3 Rxf6 33. Qxf6+ Kg8 34. Qxe6+ Kf8 35. Bf3 { and White wins. }) 24... fxe6 25. g6? { This actually throws the win away. } (25. Rb1! Qxe2 26. g6 exf5 27. gxh7+ Kxh7 28. Rxb7 Qg4 (28... Qe5) 29. Rxf5 Qxg3+ 30. Kxg3 $18) 25... exf5 26. gxh7+ (26. Rb1 Qe5 27. gxh7+ Kxh7 { would be transposition to the next note. }) 26... Kh8?? { A horrible mistake. After } (26... Kxh7! 27. Rb1 Qe5 28. Rxb7 Qxg3+ 29. Kxg3 Rxe2 30. Bh3 $16 { is the only way for White to get an advantage according to the engines. Now } 30... Rxa2 { should objectively be a draw. The worst case scenario is that Black will have to hold a rook and bishop against rook endgame. }) 27. Rb1 { White is back on the winning track. } 27... Qf6 (27... Qe5 28. Rxb7 Qxg3+ 29. Kxg3 Rxe2 30. Rxf5 Rxa2 31. Rg5 $18 { White is winning. The line is long and would need to be played, not worked out. But the initial moves are so easy for White it would not be a problem to get this far. } 31... Kxh7 32. Rbxg7+ Kh8 33. R7g6 Kh7 34. Kh4 Rd7 35. Bh3 Rf7 36. Kh5 Kh8 37. Rh6+ Rh7 38. Rxh7+ Kxh7 39. Bf5+ Kh8 40. Kg6 Kg8 (40... Rh2 41. Kf7) 41. Kf6+ Kf8 42. Rh5 Rg2 43. Rh7 d4 44. Rf7+ Ke8 45. Rc7 { with mate. }) 28. Rxb7 Rxe2 29. Rxf5 Qh6+ 30. Kg1 Rxa2 (30... Rde8 31. Rff7 $18) 31. Rbf7! Ra1+ (31... Re2 32. Rg5 $18) 32. Bf1 d4 33. Rg5 Qd6 34. Qf2 Qa3 35. Rg3 { A poor performance by Duda. } 1-0