[Event "U.S. Championship"] [Site "https://lichess.org/study/iLDop9iy/4G99WoNa"] [Date "2021.10.12"] [Round "6.2"] [White "Sevian, Samuel"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2654"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackElo "2800"] [BlackTeam "United States"] [Annotator "GM Elshan Moradiabadi"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "C47"] [Opening "Four Knights Game: Scotch Variation Accepted"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/iLDop9iy/4G99WoNa"] [Orientation "white"] { On a day without that many decisive games, the second consecutive loss by the U.S. #1 is a strong candidate for our Game of the Day. } 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 { Sevian deviates from his usual 3.Bb5. I wonder how much this threw Caruana off? } 3... Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Bb4 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bd3 O-O 8. O-O d6?! { I am being generous with this assessment, but a 'very deep analysis' could show that Black is entering a real "world of pain" with this move. Surprisingly, this is not the first time Caruana has employed this move. Even Sevian himself has dabbled with in this move in the past. } (8... d5 { leads to a 'professional draw', after } 9. exd5 Bg4 10. f3 Bh5 { and either capture on c6 or Bg5 leads to a draw in many different ways. Here are some examples: } 11. Bg5 (11. dxc6 Qd4+ 12. Kh1 Bxc3 13. bxc3 Qxc3 14. Bf4 Qxc6 { 1/2 (42)-1/2 (42) Carlsen,M (2863)-Nakamura,H (2736) chess24.com INT 2020 }) 11... Qd6 (11... cxd5 { This is a bit less convenient } 12. Bxf6 Qxf6 13. Nxd5 Qxb2 14. Rb1 Bc5+ 15. Kh1 Qe5 { 1/2 (47)-1/2 (47) Yu,Y (2726)-So,W (2765) Wijk aan Zee 2020 }) 12. Qe1 Nxd5 13. Ne4 Bxe1 14. Nxd6 Bb4 15. Nc4 Rfe8 16. Rad1 { 1/2 (55)-1/2 (55) Nepomniachtchi,I (2792)-Caruana,F (2820) chess24. com INT 2021 }) 9. Bg5! { In accordance with chess principles. } (9. h3?! { In a blitz during a 'Titled Tuesday' tournament, Sevian managed to win this with Black but in an online blitz you can play about anything... } 9... Nd7 10. f4 Re8 11. Qf3 Nc5 12. Be3 Rb8 13. Ne2 Ba6? 14. a3! Nxd3 (14... Ba5 15. Bxa6 Nxa6 16. Nd4) 15. axb4 Nxb4 16. c3 Bxe2 17. Qxe2 Rxe4 18. cxb4 $18 { 0-1 (47) Meissner, F (2464)-Sevian,S (2930) Chess.com INT 2020 }) (9. a3?! { was seen in a Caruana game on chess.com: } 9... Bc5 10. Na4 Bb6 11. Nxb6 axb6 12. Re1 h6 13. Bf4 Ng4 14. e5 dxe5 15. Bxe5 Nxe5 16. Rxe5 { 0-1 (45) Degraeve,J (2570)-Caruana,F (2811) Chess.com INT 2018 }) 9... h6 10. Bh4 g5 { Otherwise the pin is deadly. } 11. Bg3 Qe7 12. Na4!? { A typical idea to get rid of Black's Bishop. } (12. Re1 Ng4 13. Qd2 a5 14. a3 Bc5 15. Kh1 Be6 16. Rf1 Ne5 17. f4 { is liked by the engines but it also entails the kind of complications that Caruana may have sought by playing ... d7-d6. }) 12... Ba5? { Caruana did not call Sevian's bluff. } (12... Nxe4! { Hey! A pawn is a pawn! } 13. c3 (13. Qe2? Re8 14. c3? Nxg3 $19) 13... Nxg3 { Could Caruana miss this inbetween move? } (13... Ba5 14. Re1 d5 15. b4 Bb6 16. Nxb6 axb6 17. f3 $18) 14. hxg3 (14. fxg3 Ba5 15. Qf3 Bg4! 16. Qxg4 Qe3+ 17. Rf2 Qxd3 18. Raf1 $44) 14... Ba5 15. Qf3 d5 16. Bc2 { White definitely has enough compensation but not more. } 16... Qd6 17. Qd3 Qg6) 13. c3 Bb6 14. Nxb6 axb6 15. Qe2 { Now White has a convincing advantage which is even harder to deal with OTB. } 15... Bg4 16. Qe3 (16. f3 Bd7 17. f4 { is also a tempting choice. }) 16... Nh5 17. f4 (17. a4 Rfe8 18. Qd2 Nxg3 19. hxg3 Qf6 20. b4 { is surprisingly another way White could capitalize by creating the passed a-pawn. this reminds me of the game Smyslov-Duckstein (Zagreb, 1955). I should go and check if my memory still works! }) 17... d5? { A losing move. Sevian starts to make a number of deep and accurate moves. } 18. fxg5! Nxg3 (18... Qxg5? 19. Qxg5+ hxg5 20. Bxc7 $18) 19. Qxg3 Qxg5 20. h4 (20. exd5 cxd5 21. Rae1 { bringing the dudes to the party! } 21... Rxa2 22. Re3!! { A very hard move to see! The follow up is like a miniature. } 22... Rxb2 23. h3 Be6 24. h4!! Qxg3 (24... Qg4 25. Rf4 { leads to the same finale... }) 25. Rxg3+ Kh8 26. Rf6! { and mate follows! }) 20... Qg7 21. Qxc7 d4 22. c4 Rfc8 23. Qd6 c5 24. Rf6 Bh3 25. Rf2 Kh8 26. Qxb6! { Sometimes greed is the way to go. } 26... Rg8 27. e5 Rae8 28. Re1 f5?! 29. Bf1! { Now Black is totally busted without any counter play. However, things were still to be played due to the time pressure. } 29... f4 30. Qxc5?! (30. Qc6 { controlling f3 was an easier choice. }) 30... f3 31. e6 fxg2 32. Bd3 Bxe6 33. Qe5? { White still maintains high winning chances but surprisingly, this natural move squanders a good portion of White's advantage. } (33. Rfe2! Ref8 34. Rxe6 Rf1+ 35. Rxf1 gxf1=Q+ 36. Kxf1 Qg1+ 37. Ke2 Rg2+ 38. Kf3 { and White runsaway but good luck playing this with the clock ticking near the time control! }) (33. a4 Bh3 34. Re4 { This is similar to the game with a bit of twist where the presence of queen takes away Black's counter play! A rather counter-intuitive fact. }) 33... Qxe5 34. Rxe5 Bh3 35. Re4 Rxe4 (35... Rgf8! { A hard move to see in time pressure. } 36. c5 Kg7 37. Rxf8 (37. c6?? Rxf2 $19) 37... Rxf8 38. Re1 Rf3 39. Rd1 Kf6 40. c6 Ke7 { And While White should be able to win this endgame, things are way more complicated than they were few moves earlier! }) 36. Bxe4 d3?? { Desperation. } 37. Bxd3 Re8 38. Be2 Kg7 39. a4 Re3 40. a5 Re5 41. b4 Re3 42. Rf3 { 1-0 Black resigns. } 1-0