[Event "FIDE Candidates Tournament"] [Site "https://lichess.org/study/fhBzjnqz/Grn3Txk7"] [Date "2022.06.23"] [Round "6.2"] [White "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2793"] [WhiteTeam "France"] [BlackElo "2783"] [BlackTeam "United States"] [Annotator "Aagaard"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "E06"] [Opening "Catalan Opening: Closed"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/fhBzjnqz/Grn3Txk7"] [Orientation "white"] { [%evp 0,83,28,34,32,-16,12,-17,-23,-17,11,14,18,-20,-23,-19,-6,-43,13,-13,0, 12,26,25,17,24,1,-14,-19,15,-14,-9,-20,-5,-10,-16,-15,-3,-13,-24,-15,-39,-74, -74,-66,-110,-104,-93,-85,-83,-94,-131,-97,-115,-137,-121,-131,-136,-91,-99, -120,-121,-121,-136,-136,-163,-162,-172,-174,-240,-177,-199,-186,-167,-171, -171,-209,-212,-219,-226,-280,-391,-247,-247,-285,-572] Firouzja came up with yet another original interpretation of the opening, but was soon worse and facing problems he could not manage to solve. Caruana took his chance and took the full point. } 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Qd3!? c5 7. O-O cxd4 8. Nxd4 Nc6!? { Caruana is out of preparation and develops the pieces normally. It is likely Firouzja had prepared most for } (8... e5 9. Nf5 d4 10. Nxe7+ Qxe7 11. b4! $13 { with vibrant dynamic play. }) 9. cxd5! Nxd4 10. Qxd4 Nxd5 11. Rd1?! { Firouzja is jumping between openings with new ideas everywhere. This is creative, but it lacks the foundation to exploit them. Here a seasoned Catalan-QID player, would have found } (11. Nc3! { , with the idea to sacrifice a pawn: } 11... Bf6 12. Qc4 Nxc3 (12... Bxc3!? 13. bxc3 Bd7! { , but after } 14. Qb3 $14 { , White is still trying to push. }) 13. bxc3 Qa5 14. Be3 Qxc3 15. Qa4! $14 { White has clear compensation. It is hard for Black to get the pieces out. White hopes to win the b7-pawn and later the a7-pawn and queen the a-pawn. Notice that } 15... Qxa1? 16. Rxa1 Bxa1 { does not work out for Black, as he cannot develop the pieces. White is better in a lot of ways. For example: } 17. Be4 $16) 11... Bf6 12. Qg4 Bd7 13. Nd2 Qe7!? (13... Qc7! { turns out to be a bit more accurate. The queen is heading for c2 and White is already balancing on the edge of being worse. }) 14. Nf3 Rac8 15. e4?! { After this White drifts into practical problems. } (15. Bg5!? { seems so natural, but after } 15... Bxg5 16. Qxg5 Qxg5 17. Nxg5 Rc2 18. e4 Nb6 19. b3 f6 20. Nf3 e5 $15 { the endgame is a bit unpleasant. The computer suggests... }) (15. h4! Rfe8 (15... Rc2 16. Ne1! { is fine. }) 16. Rb1!? { as a path to equality. These moves are incredibly strange and only cheaters would play them. There are other ways, but they are equality difficult to actually play. }) 15... e5 16. Qh5 Nb4 $15 17. Bg5 Bxg5 18. Nxg5 h6 19. Nf3 Nc6! { White is in great difficulties. Black is threatening a very slow maneuver of ...Rc8-d8, ...Kg8-h7, ...g7-g6 (White plays Qh5-h4), ...g6-g5 (White plays ...Qh4-h5), ...Bd7-e8 and ...h6-h5, leading the queen to be trapped or forcing White to otherwise losing material. Firouzja did not manage to find a solution to this, as it is indeed very difficult. The main problem is that the knight is stuck on f3. It is in the way of a queen retreat. } 20. Rxd7? (20. a3!? Rcd8!? 21. b4 { is tempting, to force the black knight to d4, where it will be exchanged and White can solve all his problems. But after } 21... a6! { White is arriving a bit late in all lines. } 22. Nh4! (22. Bh3 Be8 23. Qh4 f6 $17) 22... Qg5! 23. Qxg5 hxg5 24. Nf5 Be6 $15 { The black knight will end up as a towering menace on d4. However, the endgame after... }) (20. b4!! Nxb4 21. Qxe5 Qxe5 22. Nxe5 { is the best chance. } 22... Ba4! (22... Be6 23. a4 { and White holds. }) 23. Rd2 Rfd8 24. Rxd8+ Rxd8 25. Bf1! { Activating the bishop in a strange way. } 25... Nc6!? (25... Rd2 26. Bc4) (25... Re8 26. f4! f6 27. Rb1) 26. Nxc6 Bxc6 27. e5 Rd2 28. Bg2! { and the rook ending should hold without difficulties. }) 20... Qxd7 21. Bh3 f5! { Black keeps the exchange. } 22. exf5 { The tactical point was } (22. Bxf5 Qe8 $19) 22... Rce8 23. Nh4 e4 { Black is completely winning. Caruana did nothing to change that course of events. } 24. Rd1 Qf7 25. Qe2 Qxa2 26. Ng6 Rf7 27. Nf4 Qb3 28. Bg4 e3 29. Kg2 Rd8 30. Rxd8+ Nxd8 31. fxe3 Rc7 32. Kh3 Nf7 33. Bf3 Rc2 34. Qd1 Ng5+ 35. Kg4 Nxf3 36. Qd8+ Kh7 37. Kxf3 Qxb2 38. Qe8 Qf6 39. e4 Rxh2 40. Qd7 Qc3+ 41. Kg4 Qd2 42. Qa4 { 0-1 Black wins. } 0-1