[Event "FIDE Candidates Tournament"]
[Site "https://lichess.org/study/fhBzjnqz/TwJ2hftp"]
[Date "2022.07.04"]
[Round "14.2"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Firouzja, Alireza"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2783"]
[WhiteTeam "United States"]
[BlackElo "2793"]
[BlackTeam "France"]
[Annotator "Aagaard"]
[Variant "Standard"]
[ECO "C65"]
[Opening "Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense"]
[Source "https://lichess.org/study/fhBzjnqz/TwJ2hftp"]
[Orientation "white"]
{ [%evp 0,126,23,23,23,23,14,8,19,20,6,-4,17,7,22,26,8,18,18,-17,15,-22,-2,-27,
-2,-15,-23,-14,15,24,15,24,0,-24,-19,-26,-19,-34,-33,-42,22,38,33,32,35,35,29,
30,31,37,41,39,64,47,45,45,45,27,27,36,23,-23,-15,-7,0,-45,-92,-92,-97,-120,
-96,-99,-71,-128,-143,-155,-119,-129,-125,-124,-122,-124,-110,-110,-126,-123,
-128,-127,-123,-128,-114,-116,-125,-120,-118,-107,-104,-112,-109,-117,-105,
-106,-105,-129,-101,-104,-98,-110,-88,-127,-87,-154,-156,-147,-141,-149,-147,
-144,-119,-169,-165,-295,-294,-370,-279,-301,-293,-468,-483] A common
criticism of the Candidates tournament format is that towards the end, some of
the players are no longer playing for the chance to qualify. Still, we see all
these fighting games, proving that the players that when prepare for a
tournament with the intention to fight, they will fight -- no matter the
scoreboard. Matches, on the other hand, are preferred by the risk-averse, who
play with the intention of not losing any games. Risk is not rewarded. Those
who wish for the return of the "old style" Candidate Matches forget that the
Candidates Tournament is the original format. The modern turn towards match
play was introduced after a dirty peace deal between three players in 1962, is
not repeated in the modern tournaments.That there is a match for the title is
an even older artifact, one that people started missing after perfectly good
World Championship tournaments in 2005 and 2007. Personally I would like to
get the World Champion into the cycle earlier and have the match closer to the
Candidates Tournament (or Tournaments). The one on one finish is good for
chess promotion, but six months of deep computer preparation, looking for the
cleanest draws are not. As for this game: Caruana got nothing out of the
opening, but then Firouzja made a basic positional mistake, which is hard to
explain. But it turns out that the game was far from over at that point... }
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. Nbd2 Nd7 7. O-O O-O 8. Nc4 f6 9. Kh1 Rf7 10. Nh4 Bf8 11. Nf5 Nc5 12. Qh5 Be6 13. b3 Qd7 14. Be3 Kh8 15. Nh4 Kg8 16. Qe2 Re8 17. a4 b6 18. Rg1!? (18. g3 a5 19. f3) 18... a5 19. Nd2 f5? { It is hard to explain what is happening for Firouzja here. With
basic means White gets a big advantage. Other options were: } (19... g5!? 20. Nf5!? (20. Nhf3 Nb7!) 20... Bxf5 21. exf5 Qxf5 22. Bxc5 Bxc5 23. Ne4 Be7 24. g4 $44 { or }) (19... g6!? { . }) 20. exf5 Bxf5 21. Nxf5 Qxf5 22. Bxc5 Bxc5 23. Ne4 { Strong knight, stupid bishop. } 23... Bb4 24. Rgf1 Qg6 25. Rad1 h5 { I think
we need to imagine how tired Caruana is at this moment. Certainly he is no
longer driven by passion for the game. Here he spends two minutes on a
controversial decision, followed by less than five on a really poor one. } 26. g3?! $14 { This makes little sense in my world view. The f3-square is
permanently weakened and the pawn on h5 actually makes sense now, as ...h5-h4
would put some pressure on the kingside, as we shall soon see. If White was to
play a pawn move, it should have been 26.f3. But in reality it is not
desirable for White to rush it. In this structure he has a permanent advantage.
Black has no active play and almost all imaginable endgames are bad for him.
Therefore some maneuvering makes sense. } (26. Rg1!? Ref8 27. Rdf1 { could be
the starting point. Let's say Black makes a pass with } 27... Be7 { . Capablanca's
approach would be to shuffle the pieces, looking for an active approach --
maybe play on the queenside with c2-c3+b3-b4, or maybe on the kingside with
g2-g4-g5. Maybe even f2-f3 and then some regrouping. There is no rush. } 28. Qe3 Bb4 29. Qh3 Rf4 30. f3) 26... Ref8 27. d4? { I extensively dislike this move,
removing the foundations of support from the strong central knight. } 27... exd4 28. Rxd4 h4 { Black has lots of counterplay. White has to accept a pawn on h3 or
take. Neither is attractive. } 29. gxh4 Rf4 30. Qc4+ Kh8 31. Ng5 b5! { The
tide is turning. White has to be careful not to get worse. He is not, and
quickly he is in deep trouble. } 32. Qd3?! (32. Qe6! { was fine. After } 32... Qxc2!? 33. Rxf4 Rxf4 34. Nf7+ { we have a perpetual check. }) 32... Qxd3 33. Rxd3 bxa4 34. bxa4 Bd6 { Black has taken over the initiative. } 35. Rc3? { A serious
mistake. } (35. Ne6! Rxf2 36. Rxf2 Rxf2 37. Rc3 { would hold. After } 37... Rxh2+ 38. Kg1 Rxh4 39. Rxc6 Rh6 (39... Rxa4 40. Nxc7) 40. Nd8! { , followed by a king move to a light square. }) 35... Rxa4 36. Rxc6 Rxh4 37. f4? { Simply dropping more material. White should also lose
after } (37. Ra6 a4 $17 { , but there would be a lot to play for after } 38. h3 { . }) 37... Rhxf4 (37... Bxf4!? { was another interesting way to play. The point
is that after } 38. Rxc7 (38. Nf3 Rh6 { also wins. }) 38... Ra8 39. Nf3 Rxh2+ 40. Nxh2 Bxc7 $19 { and the a-pawn will make it to a3 quickly. }) 38. Rxf4 Bxf4 39. Ne4 Ra8! 40. Rc4 Be5 41. Ra4 { Black is still completely winning. It requires
exactly one more accurate move... } 41... Kg8 42. Kg2 Kf7 43. Nd2 Bc3?! (43... Bd6!! $19 { is the perfect prophylaxis move. It prepares ...Bb4 if the a-pawn is
attacked, and after } 44. Ne4 { , Black plays } 44... Ke6 { , winning easily. }) 44. Ne4 Bb4? $17 (44... Be5! { to repeat. }) 45. Kf3 Ke6 46. c3 Be7 47. Ke3 c6? (47... Kd5 48. Kd3 Kc6 49. Kc4 Kb6 { would have been the traditional approach,
freeing up the rook from the defensive duty. }) 48. h3 $15 { Suddenly it is not
easy for Black to improve his position. } 48... Bd8 49. Nc5+ Kf5 50. Nb3 Bb6+ 51. Kf3!? { Keeping the king central was also good. } (51. Kd3 Rh8 52. h4 { and White is
close to fine. }) 51... Ke5 52. h4?! Kd5 (52... Rf8+! { would have given
Black a chance to activate the rook. After } 53. Kg4 Ke6! $17 { The rook is
coming to f5. }) 53. h5! $15 { Fixing the g7-pawn. } 53... c5?! 54. Nd2?! (54. Rg4! { would have forced a draw. After } 54... a4 55. c4+ Ke5 56. Rg5+ { and 47...Rg6+,
White is not worse. }) 54... Bc7 55. Ke2 Rh8 56. Rg4 Rxh5 57. Rxg7 Kc6 (57... Be5 $15) 58. Kd3 Be5 59. Rf7 a4 { Black has an extra pawn, but not an advantage.
But of course, if Black was to blunder a pawn, it would be a draw. One the
other hand... } 60. Ne4?? { A final blunder. As a commentator I have grown
tired of this tournament. I can only marginally imagine how Caruana must be
feeling at this point... } 60... Rh3+ 61. Kd2 (61. Kc4 Rh4! { is probably what
Caruana missed. } 62. Kd3 c4+ 63. Ke3 Rh3+ 64. Kd2 a3) 61... Kd5 62. Nf2 Rxc3 63. Rf5 Rg3 { 0-1 Black wins. } 0-1