Baku 1.2: Many tiebreaks

[Event "FIDE World Chess Cup 2015"] [Site "Baku"] [Date "2015.09.12"] [Round "1.2"] [White "Ni, Hua"] [Black "Mareco, Sandro"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C77"] [WhiteElo "2704"] [BlackElo "2599"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "2r2n1k/4bqp1/2b4p/4B3/4NP2/3Q3P/2B3P1/3R3K b - - 0 34"] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [EventCountry "AZE"] 34... Bd5 {Ni Hua must win against Mareco to force a tiebreak, and things are looking sharp. He is up a pawn and Black's king feels very unsafe. He has to be careful not to allow certain drawn endgames, but if he keeps enough pieces on the board Black's defenses should collapse with time.} 35. Kh2 $2 { Overlooking or underestimating the following move} (35. Ra1 $16) 35... Rxc2 $1 36. Qxc2 Bb3 37. Qd3 Bxd1 38. Qxd1 {Now with no danger to the Black king the winning task became far more difficult.} Ng6 39. Qg4 Nxe5 40. fxe5 Qd5 41. Qf5 Kg8 42. Kg3 Ba3 43. Kg4 Qd1+ 44. Qf3 Qd7+ 45. Kg3 Qd4 46. Qf4 Qd3+ 47. Kh2 Qd5 48. Nc3 Qd3 49. Na4 {White has managed to make no progress, but Mareco goes crazy} g5 $4 {Perhaps the Argentinean forgot about the simple queen retreat} 50. Qg3 $1 Qxg3+ {Forced, or the bishop on a3 is lost.} (50... Qe4 51. Qxa3 Qf4+ 52. Kg1 {is not a perpetual: the queen controls c1.}) 51. Kxg3 Kf7 52. Kf3 Ke7 53. Nb6 $4 (53. Ke4 Ke6 54. g4 {should be, without a doubt, winning. The knight hops around to d4 without letting the bishop attack e5.}) 53... Ke6 54. Kg4 (54. Ke4 Bb2 55. Nc4 Ba1 {keeps the knight stuck on defensive duty, with a draw.}) 54... Bc5 55. Nc4 Kd5 56. Nb2 Ba3 57. Nd3 Ke4 58. Nf2+ Kxe5 {The rest is easy. White has no hope of winning.} 59. Kh5 Kf4 60. Kxh6 Be7 61. g4 Kg3 62. Ne4+ Kh4 63. Kg6 Kxh3 64. Kh5 Kg2 65. Kg6 Kh3 66. Kh5 Kg2 67. Nxg5 Kg3 68. Ne6 Kf3 69. Nd4+ Kf4 70. Nf5 Bd8 1/2-1/2

[Event "FIDE World Chess Cup 2015"] [Site "Baku"] [Date "2015.09.12"] [Round "1.2"] [White "Perunovic, Milos"] [Black "Wang, Hao"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2614"] [BlackElo "2712"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "3r4/pp3pkp/5pb1/8/Q2n3P/6N1/PP3PP1/2r2BK1 w - - 0 28"] [PlyCount "31"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [EventCountry "AZE"] 28. Qxa7 {Perunovic, with white, finds himself in a difficult situation. His position is still ok but he has to somehow win this position. Wang Hao's two powerful rooks should force White to give a perpetual at some point, but even if he doesn't he just needs to not do naything and White can't really cause problems.} Ne2+ (28... Bd3 $1 29. Qxb7 Bxf1 30. Nh5+ Kg8 31. Nxf6+ Kg7 32. Nh5+ $11) 29. Nxe2 Rxf1+ 30. Kh2 Rd2 $6 31. Qe3 $1 Rxb2 32. h5 $1 {The Chinese player severely underestimates the weakness of his own king. Perunovic wastes no time.} Bxh5 (32... Bb1 33. h6+ Kg6 34. Nf4+ {and the attack is too strong.}) 33. Ng3 {A nasty fork!} Rfxf2 34. Nxh5+ Kg6 35. Nf4+ Kg7 36. a3 {The queen and knight are too strong here. They combine easily to finish the game.} b5 37. Kh3 Rxf4 38. Qg3+ Kh8 39. Qxf4 Rb3+ 40. g3 Rxa3 41. Qxf6+ Kg8 42. Qg5+ Kh8 43. Qe7 {Black will soon get mated, White just has to bring up the king.} 1-0

[Event "FIDE World Chess Cup 2015"] [Site "Baku"] [Date "2015.09.12"] [Round "1.2"] [White "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"] [Black "Perez Ponsa, Federico"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C78"] [WhiteElo "2732"] [BlackElo "2563"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "5rk1/5ppp/3p4/5P2/2B3P1/8/4RK1P/3b4 w - - 0 33"] [PlyCount "173"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [EventCountry "AZE"] 33. Re4 {Black only needs a draw in this position. What more can you ask from life?} Rd8 (33... h5 34. h3 Rc8 $15) 34. Bd5 Kf8 35. Rb4 {Setting up a trap. Black is completely oblivious.} Ke7 {It's quite unclear what Perez Ponsa missed, he must have only been worried about his seventh rank!} (35... Rc8 36. Rb7 Rc5 37. Rxf7+ Ke8 38. Be6 Bxg4 $11) 36. Ke1 {Suddenly the bishop is trapped.} Bxg4 37. Rxg4 Kf6 38. Ra4 Re8+ 39. Kf2 Re5 {Luckily for the Argentinean this endgame seems very drawish.} 40. Be4 g6 41. Rd4 Ra5 42. fxg6 hxg6 43. Bf3 Ke5 44. Re4+ Kf6 45. Rb4 Ke6 46. Kg3 Rc5 47. Bg4+ Kf6 48. Rb7 Rc3+ 49. Bf3 Rc5 50. h4 Ra5 51. Bd1 Re5 52. Bb3 Re7 53. Rb6 Rd7 $6 (53... Re3+ $1 54. Kf2 Rh3 $11) 54. Kf4 Kg7 55. Bd5 Ra7 56. Rb4 Kf6 57. Kg4 Kg7 58. Rf4 Rc7 59. Rd4 Re7 60. Bf3 Re6 61. Ra4 Re7 62. Kf4 Rc7 63. Rd4 Rd7 64. Kg5 Rd8 65. Rd5 Rd7 66. Rd3 Rd8 67. Rd4 Rd7 68. Rd5 Rd8 69. Bg4 Ra8 70. Bd1 Rb8 {It's not clear why he decided to give up d6, but it's not an important pawn anyway.} 71. Rxd6 Rb5+ 72. Kg4 Rb4+ 73. Kg3 Rb7 74. Bf3 Ra7 75. Rb6 Rc7 76. Rb4 Ra7 77. Kf4 Re7 78. Bd5 Kf6 (78... g5+ $1 79. hxg5 f6 $11 {but this might also be unnecessary.}) 79. Rb6+ Kg7 80. Ra6 Kh6 81. Be4 Kg7 82. Bf3 Rc7 83. Be4 Re7 84. Rb6 Kf8 85. Rb8+ Kg7 86. Ra8 Rc7 87. Ra5 Re7 88. Rb5 Kh6 89. Rb1 Kg7 90. Rg1 Kf6 91. Ra1 Kg7 92. Bf3 Rc7 93. Ke5 Re7+ 94. Kd4 Rd7+ 95. Bd5 Re7 96. Rf1 Ra7 97. Ke5 Re7+ 98. Kd6 Ra7 99. Bc4 Rb7 100. Bd5 Ra7 101. Rf4 Ra6+ 102. Ke7 Ra7+ 103. Ke8 f6 {White finally forces this move, but Black is fine.} 104. Rb4 Kh6 105. Kf8 Ra5 106. Bf7 Re5 $2 {This move is hard to understand.} (106... Ra7 107. Rg4 g5 (107... Kh5 108. Rf4 f5 109. Kg7 Rb7 $11) 108. h5 f5 109. Rb4 Ra6 $11) 107. Rg4 g5 108. h5 Ra5 (108... f5 109. Ra4 {now loses because Black can't cover the sixth rank.}) 109. Rb4 Ra6 110. Rb5 g4 $1 111. Rf5 Rb6 112. Bg6 Ra6 (112... Rb3 $1) 113. Kf7 Rb6 114. Ra5 Rb3 115. Kxf6 g3 $2 (115... Rf3+ 116. Ke5 g3 {keeps the game going}) 116. Ra7 {Now it is forced mate} Rb6+ 117. Kf5 Rb5+ 118. Kf4 Rb4+ 119. Be4 {A devastating loss for Perez Ponsa} 1-0

[Event "FIDE World Chess Cup 2015"] [Site "Baku"] [Date "2015.09.12"] [Round "1.2"] [White "Hou, Yifan"] [Black "Leitao, Rafael"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B12"] [WhiteElo "2671"] [BlackElo "2632"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "r1q3k1/3nbppb/2r1p2p/1R1pP3/3P1P2/p1N5/3BBKPP/Q1R5 w - - 0 35"] [PlyCount "18"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [EventCountry "AZE"] 35. Rb3 {After playing pretty bad chess Hou Yifan finds herself down a passed pawn on a3, with cramped pieces and a relatively unsafe king. Leitao is winning, but in the World Cup, especially with time pressure, anything can happen.} Nb6 36. Nb5 Rxc1 37. Bxc1 a2 {Qxc1 is already a threat.} 38. Ba3 Bxa3 (38... Qd7 $1) 39. Nxa3 Nc4 40. Qxa2 {White has recovered her pawn, but she has clear issues with the pin. Just applying some pressure collapses her position.} Nxa3 $4 (40... Qd8 $1 {with Qa5 next move}) (40... Qf8 41. Bxc4 dxc4 42. Rc3 Bd3 {with a crushing position.}) ({Black's position is so good that passing a move with} 40... Kh8 {still kept a big avantage...}) 41. Rxa3 Rb8 42. Qd2 Be4 43. Bf3 Bxf3 {Even in this final position Black is better due to White's king weakness.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "FIDE World Chess Cup 2015"] [Site "Baku"] [Date "2015.09.12"] [Round "1.2"] [White "Durarbayli, Vasif"] [Black "Le, Quang Liem"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C54"] [WhiteElo "2618"] [BlackElo "2697"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "8/2p2qpk/1b3p1p/1p2nP2/8/2PQ3P/2B3PK/r1B2R2 w - - 0 37"] [PlyCount "14"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [EventCountry "AZE"] 37. Qxb5 {The first game was drawn but things are good for Le Quang Liem. His powerful knight on e5 and active pieces make White's king much more vulnerable than Black's. The following maneuver, however, is just beautiful:} Qh5 38. Bd1 Qh4 39. Qb2 Qc4 $1 {Attacking the f1 rook, white Doesn't have a choice but} 40. Be2 (40. Rf4 Qd3 $1 41. Qxa1 Qxd1 42. Bb2 Qe2 $1 {And the attack is simply too strong. Nd3 is coming, for example.}) 40... Qa4 $1 41. Bb5 Qa8 $1 {The queen is powerful on a8 as Ra2 is a real threat.} 42. Qb3 Qb8 $1 {Very precise! Now the king on h2 is very uncomfortable!} 43. Kh1 $2 (43. Bc4 {was the only move to continue the fight, but Black is still better.}) 43... Be3 $1 {All of White's pieces are pinned, Durarbayli resigned.} 0-1