[Event "FIDE Candidates Tournament"] [Site "chess24.com"] [Date "2022.06.30"] [Round "11.4"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Ding, Liren"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2783"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackElo "2806"] [BlackTeam "China"] [Annotator "Aagaard"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "C88"] [Opening "Ruy Lopez: Closed, Anti-Marshall"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/fhBzjnqz/9Jywn35g"] [Orientation "white"] { Caruana got nothing in the opening against Ding's Ruy Lopez. At some point he was even a bit worse. But after a terrible positional error, Black was under desperate attack on the dark squares. For a long time, Caruana had all the chances, but he missed many ways to exploit his advantage, until he overpressed and failed to understand that the moment had passed. Losing a pawn and ending up defending a difficult endgame was not what Caruana was emotionally ready for, which is why he sank like a stone. Ding is now in second place, half a point ahead of Nakamura. I think 2nd place will be decided on traditional tie-breaks, which would not help Ding, as he lost to Nepomniachtchi in the first round. Nakamura will play Ding in the last round. It is likely to be a major game. Tomorrow, Ding is White against Firouzja, which is a good chance, while Nakamura is Black against Nepomniachtchi, which smells like another Four Knights Scotch... } 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 Bb7 9. d3 d6 10. Bd2 Qd7 11. Nc3 Na5 12. Ba2 b4 13. Ne2 c5 14. Ng3 Rab8 15. Nh4 g6 16. Bh6 Rfe8 17. Nhf5 { This knight maneuver is looks odd and does not give White anything if Black plays natural moves. } 17... Bd8 (17... gxf5? { does not work. After } 18. Nxf5 { , the attack will come. A key point is that } 18... Kh8 19. Bg7+ Kg8 20. Bxf6 Bxf6 21. Qh5 b3 22. Re3 $18 { is hopeless. }) 18. Ng7 Rf8 19. h3 b3!? 20. Bxb3 Nxb3 21. cxb3 Bc6 22. Rc1? (22. a5 { is a reasonable move. After } 22... Rb5! (22... Bc7 23. N7f5 Rfc8 24. Ne3 $14 { gives White a little something to play for. }) 23. Re3 Kh8! 24. Ne6 Qxe6 25. Bxf8 Qe8 26. Bxd6 (26. Bh6? Ng8 $19 { would see the bishop trapped. }) 26... Qe6 { A draw by repetition is approaching. }) (22. Re2!? { is a Stockfish suggestion. After } 22... Bc7 23. N7f5 Rfc8 { Black is OK. }) 22... Kh8!! 23. Ne6 Qxe6 (23... fxe6 24. Bxf8 Ng8 25. Qd2 $16 { would not trap the bishop. }) 24. Bxf8 Ba5 25. Bh6 Bxe1 26. Qxe1 Rxb3 (26... Qxb3! { was a bit stronger. }) 27. Qa5 Ng8 28. Be3 Bb7 29. Qd2 { I like the white position, but objectively, this is not much. } 29... f6 30. f4 exf4? { This creates a lot of weaknesses on the dark squares, which Black will suffer with for a long time. } (30... Rb4 { was better. }) 31. Bxf4 g5 32. Be3 Qe5 33. Nf5 Ne7 34. Nxe7 Qxe7 35. Qc2 Rb6 36. Rf1 { Stockfish gives a winning line that is really hard to understand. } (36. b4!! Rxb4 37. Bd2 Rb6 38. a5 Rb5 { So far, so good. Analyzing with a friend, we presumed that now White could play 39.Rc1-f1 and be winning. But actually, it is far deeper than that. } 39. Re1!! (39. Rf1?! d5! 40. exd5 Bxd5 41. Bc3 Qe3+ 42. Kh2 Kg8 43. Rxf6 Rb4!! $14 { and there is a lot to play for still. }) 39... c4 { , on account of } 40. d4 Bc8 41. Bc3 $16 { , when White has an overwhelming attack coming after both d4-d5 and e4-e5, defending on what Black plays. }) 36... Kg7 37. a5 Rc6 38. Bd2 (38. b4! $16 { was strong. Stockfish is saying 38...Rc6-c7 or 38...h7-h6 are the best moves. Who would play this? } 38... cxb4?! { loses to } 39. Qd2! $18 { and there is no defense against Be3-d4 and Qd2xg5+ that does not hurt just as much. }) 38... Rc8 39. Bc3 Rf8 40. Qf2 h6 41. h4 Bc8 42. b4 Bd7 43. bxc5 dxc5 44. Rb1 (44. hxg5 hxg5 45. Qf3! { with the threat of Qf3-h5 was very strong. } 45... Qd6 { The best move according to Stockfish. } (45... Kg6?! { would allow } 46. Rb1! $18 { , as after } 46... Bb5 { White has } 47. Qf5+! Kf7 48. Rf1 { , winning at least a pawn. }) 46. e5! Qe6 (46... fxe5 47. Bxe5+!) 47. Qh5 f5 48. Qxg5+ $16 { White has won a pawn. Black is maybe down, but he is not out. But it is a few major steps in the right direction. }) 44... Bb5 45. hxg5?! { Releasing the tension needlessly. Later on, White will regret having opened the h-file. It is not obvious why he did so now. } (45. Re1! Kg8 46. Qg3 Rd8 47. Re3 $16) 45... hxg5 46. Qf5 Kg8 47. d4 (47. Rd1 { was a bit stronger. } 47... Qd7 $14) 47... Bd3! 48. Re1 cxd4 49. Bxd4 Qh7?! (49... Qf7! { was more solid. }) 50. Qf3 (50. Qe6+! Qf7 51. Qb6 $14 { and White would keep the pressure going. }) 50... Bb5 51. e5 Qd7! 52. Bc5 Rc8 53. Qb3+ Qf7 54. e6 Qc7 55. e7+ Kg7 56. Bd4 Qf4 57. Be3? { Caruana is falling apart. It can be difficult to notice the point where the tide is turning until it is too late. } (57. Qe3! { was the sane way to make the draw. }) 57... Qg3! 58. Qb4 Rh8 59. e8=Q! Qh2+ (59... Bxe8! { was more accurate. } 60. Bd4 Qh2+ 61. Kf2 Qf4+ 62. Kg1 Bb5 63. Bc3 Qxb4 64. Bxb4 Rh4 { and the endgame is dangerous for White. }) 60. Kf2 Rxe8 61. Qg4?! { Caruana is drifting. This was his last chance to force a draw. } (61. Bxg5! fxg5 62. Rxe8 Bxe8 63. Qe7+ Bf7 64. Qxg5+ { and Black cannot win. The key point is that White can draw both by taking the a-pawn and by exchanging queens as a part of a perpetual threat. }) 61... Qe5! $17 62. Qd4 Qf5+ 63. Kg1 Kg6 (63... Re4 $17 { was stronger. }) 64. Qd2 Bc6 65. Bf2 (65. Bd4! { to seek the exchange of rooks was better. After } 65... Rf8 66. Qf2 $15 { White should be holding without too much trouble. }) 65... Qg4 66. Qd3+ Be4 67. Qg3 Qxg3 68. Bxg3 f5 69. Bc7 Kh5 70. Kf2 Kg4 71. Rc1 { The best defence was } (71. g3! Rh8 72. Ke3 $15 { , to not get the king in trouble. }) 71... Re7 72. Rc3? { The last chance to stay in the game was } (72. Rc5!! Bd3 73. Be5 $17 { . }) 72... Rd7? (72... Bd3!! { would have won as the game, as the rook endgame is not working for White. } 73. Rxd3 Rxc7 74. Rd2 Rc5 75. Ra2 f4 76. Ra3 Rc2+ 77. Kf1 Kf5 78. Ra4 g4 79. Ra3 Rc1+ 80. Kf2 g3+ 81. Ke2 Rg1 { and Black wins. }) 73. g3 Bd3 74. Bb8 Bb5 75. Bc7? (75. Rc8 Re7 76. Rc2 $17 { and the game is still hanging in the balance. }) 75... Re7! 76. Bd8 { Or... } (76. Rc2 Bd3 { and Black wins. }) 76... Re2+ 77. Kg1 Rd2 78. Be7 Bd3 { 0-1 Black wins. } 0-1