[Event "1000GM Las Vegas Super Swiss Playoff"] [Site "Las Vegas"] [Date "2023.06.13"] [White "Hans Niemann"] [Black "Mikhail Antipov"] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "Lang, JJ"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "C65"] [Opening "Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defense, Mortimer Variation"] [StudyName "Vegas June 2023"] [ChapterName "Hans Niemann - Mikhail Antipov"] [ChapterURL "https://lichess.org/study/nvFfMnzT/LoxFLGy3"] [Orientation "white"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Ne7 { A rare, but not unheard of, move in this position. Black's knight should be happy on the kingside. } 5. O-O (5. Nxe5?? c6 6. Bc4 Qa5+ { is a nice trap to try in your own blitz games sometime. }) 5... c6 6. Ba4 Ng6 7. Nc3 Be7 8. Bb3 O-O 9. d4 d6 10. h3 b5 $146 (10... h6 { had been tried before, when } 11. a4 a5 12. Re1 Re8 13. Be3 Bf8 14. Qd3 Nh5 15. dxe5 dxe5 16. Qxd8 Rxd8 17. Red1 { gave White a small edge, which he converted in Durarbayli – Csonka, Chess.com, 2022. }) 11. Re1 a5 12. a4 b4 13. Nb1 d5 14. Nbd2 dxe4 (14... exd4 { was more promising: } 15. Nxd4 Qb6! { was the key point. Now, } 16. c3 { is a serious weakness. } 16... Nxe4 17. Nxe4 dxe4 18. Be3 c5 19. Nb5 Bb7 $17) 15. Nxe5 Qxd4 16. Nxc6 Qc5 17. Nxe7+ Qxe7 18. Nc4?! (18. Qe2 Re8 19. Nf1) 18... Ba6? (18... Rd8 19. Qe2 Ba6 { is different, as now White's queen cannot come to d6 to break the pin with tempo. } 20. Qe3 Rac8 21. Nd2 Rc5 $17) 19. Qd6! Bxc4 20. Qxe7 Nxe7 21. Bxc4 Rac8 22. b3 { Without queens, the two bishops should be happy to see this position, as there is no kingside attack for Black to provide compensation for the material imbalance. } 22... Nf5 23. Bf4 Rfd8 24. Rad1 Nd4 25. Rd2 Ne6 26. Rxd8+ Rxd8 27. Bxe6 fxe6 28. Kf1 (28. Bc7 Rd5 (28... Rd2? 29. Bxa5 Rxc2 30. Bxb4 Rb2 31. Ra1 $16) 29. Kf1 Kf7 30. Rc1 { and White can try pushing here too. }) 28... Rd5 29. Ke2 Rc5 30. Rc1 Nd5 31. Be5 Kf7 32. Kd2 Ne7 33. Bb2 Rd5+ 34. Ke2 Rc5 (34... Rg5 { The computer suggests trying to create a weakness on the other flank to compensate for the horrible e-pawns. } 35. c3! (35. Kf1 Rd5 36. Ke2 Rg5 { just forces White to find the c2-c3 break. }) 35... bxc3 36. Rxc3 Rxg2 37. Rg3! { when White has the winning chances in the minor piece endgame. }) 35. c4 Nf5 { Now White is just winning: the knight will be kicked, the e-pawn will fall, and the c-pawn will run. } (35... Rg5 { While Black wanted to activate all his pieces, the knight did not get into play fast enough. As a result, it mostly just shut the rook out from activating against the weakened g-pawn. }) 36. Rd1 e5 37. g4 Nh4 38. Ke3 Ke6 39. Kxe4 Ng6 40. Rd8 Rc7 41. Re8+ Kd6 42. Ra8 Rc5 43. Ra6+ Ke7 44. h4 Nxh4 45. Bxe5 Kf7 46. Bd4 Rc8 47. Ra7+ Ke6 48. Rxa5 Ng6 49. Ra6+ Kd7 50. Bxg7 Re8+ 51. Kd4 Nf4 52. Be5 Ne2+ 53. Ke4 Nc1 54. Rb6 Nxb3 55. Kd5 Rc8 56. Rb7+ Ke8 57. Bd6 Na5 58. Rxb4 Nc6 59. Rb7 Na5 60. Re7+ Kd8 61. Rxh7 Rxc4 62. Ra7 Rxa4 63. Bc7+ Ke8 64. Rxa5 { 1-0 White wins. } 1-0