Khanty Rd6: Mistakes in Marathon Round

[Event "KM FIDE GP 2015"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2015.05.20"] [Round "6"] [White "Gelfand, B."] [Black "Dominguez Perez, L."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E11"] [WhiteElo "2744"] [BlackElo "2734"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "6k1/1b3p2/5bp1/4p3/p4Bqp/P5P1/1P1RBP1P/4R1K1 b - - 0 37"] [PlyCount "53"] [EventDate "2015.05.13"] 37... Qf5 38. Bd3 Qg4 (38... Qc8 {Dominguez pointed out during the press conference that this move was simply winning, and although he had considered it, he only had seconds on the clock and was unable to make a decision.} 39. Rc2 Qd7 $19) 39. Be2 Bf3 (39... Qc8 $1 {now was even stronger!} 40. Be3 hxg3 41. fxg3 Qc6 {is lethal.}) 40. Bxf3 Qxf3 41. Re3 Qc6 42. Bxe5 Qc1+ 43. Kg2 h3+ 44. Kxh3 Bxe5 45. Rd8+ Kg7 46. Rxe5 Qf1+ 47. Kg4 Qxf2 48. Rde8 {a weird endgame, but only Black can be better.} Qxb2 49. Re2 Qxa3 50. R8e3 $2 Qc1 $2 ( 50... Qc5 $1 {Would have given Black great winning chances.} 51. Kh3 a3 52. Rf3 Qh5+ 53. Kg2 Qd5 $1 {Perhaps White can find a fortress somewhere, but it's difficult.}) 51. Kf3 {And eventually White held the game.} a3 52. Kf2 Qa1 53. Kg2 Qd1 54. Kf2 Qa1 55. Kg2 f5 56. Rf3 Kh6 57. Ref2 Kg7 58. Re2 Kh6 59. Ref2 Kh7 60. Re2 Kg7 61. Ref2 Kh6 62. Re2 Kg7 63. Ref2 Kh6 1/2-1/2

[Event "KM FIDE GP 2015"] [Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"] [Date "2015.05.20"] [Round "6"] [White "Vachier Lagrave, M."] [Black "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2754"] [BlackElo "2753"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "76"] [EventDate "2015.05.13"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 {This is the move everyone is turning to in order to avoid the Berlin, but how successful it is, well, it's hard to say. } Bc5 {Not the only move to equalize, probably, but definitely the most popular at the moment.} 5. c3 O-O 6. O-O d6 {The game resembles the Italian Opening a little bit, but with the bishop on b5 there are a couple of subtle differences, but it is not much.} 7. Nbd2 Ne7 {re-routing the knight to g6 is most standard in these structures. It wants to go to f4!} 8. d4 exd4 9. cxd4 Bb6 10. Re1 Bg4 {Black has some counterplay against the pawn on d4. Interestingly enough, this position has also been seen in the Italian Game..} 11. h3 Bh5 12. a3 {Despite White's nice center, it is uncomfortable to do anything with it. The pawns cannot advance and they are both under attack at the moment.} (12. Nb3 d5 13. e5 Ne4 {seems rather good for Black, with plenty of pressure on d4 and a nice knight on e4.}) 12... a6 13. Bf1 Re8 14. e5 Nfd5 { The normal reaction to e5, though there is an argument to be made for taking on e5 first.} 15. Nc4 Ba7 16. g4 Bg6 17. Bg5 {White's play is very forward, but the more he pushes his pawns the weaker his position becomes: he has to be pretty careful now.} dxe5 18. dxe5 (18. Ncxe5 {playing with the isolated pawn isn't usually fun, but perhaps there was no good choice. After for example} f6 19. Nxg6 Nxg6 20. Rxe8+ Qxe8 21. Qb3 $1 c6 22. Bd2 (22. Qxb7 fxg5 {doesn't work since everything is defended.}) 22... Qd7 {chances would be about even. The pair of bishops and potential pressure on d5 make up for the isolated pawn. }) 18... h6 19. Bh4 b5 $1 20. Na5 Qc8 {White's position feels a little discoordinated. Black has a lot of weaknesses to latch on to, like f4, e5 and f2, while White's plan is not as clear.} 21. Rc1 $6 (21. Nc6 $1 Nxc6 22. Qxd5 $13 {was important, traidng an important knight on d5 for an awkward one on a5. }) 21... c5 22. b4 $6 c4 {Now it is very obvious that Black is better. He has the passed pawn on c4 and his piece activity is good.} 23. Nd4 (23. Nd2 {is the computer suggestion, trying to sacrifice a piece on c4. Black must be better if that is White's only plan.}) 23... Qc7 24. Nab3 Rad8 25. Qf3 {Losing a pawn, but there was already nothing better.} Nxb4 26. axb4 Bxd4 27. Nxd4 Rxd4 28. e6 f6 $19 {The pair of bishops aren't participating in this game very well. Black's up a pawn, has the better position and is just winning.} 29. Rcd1 Rxd1 30. Rxd1 c3 31. Bg3 Qc6 32. Qe2 c2 33. Rc1 Qc3 34. Bg2 Qxb4 35. Kh2 Rd8 36. Qf3 Qc4 37. Qb7 Qxe6 38. f4 Qe3 0-1

[Event "KM FIDE GP 2015"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"]
[Date "2015.05.20"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Grischuk, A."]
[Black "Caruana, F."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D37"]
[WhiteElo "2780"]
[BlackElo "2803"]
[Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/8/5P2/4B3/1R5p/1p5k/2br4/6K1 b - - 0 59"]
[PlyCount "33"]
[EventDate "2015.05.13"]

59... Rg2+ 60. Kf1 {The crucial 60th move. Caruana blunders with seconds left
on his clock} Rg5 $2 (60... Bd3+ 61. Ke1 Re2+ 62. Kd1 Rxe5 63. Rxb3 {Caruana
wrongly thought this was a draw, assuming Rf5 was forced. However Black can
delay this for some time.} Kg2 $1 (63... Rf5 64. Rxd3+ Kg2 65. Rd2+ $1 Kg1 66.
Rd8 $1 Rxf6 67. Rh8 $11) 64. Rxd3 h3 $1 65. Rd8 h2 66. Rg8+ Kf2 67. Rh8 Re1+ {
and Black wins due to White's bad king position.}) 61. Bd4 Kh2 62. Bb6 h3 {
Grischuk still has an uncomfortable defense ahead of him, but it is manageable.
} 63. Bc7+ Kh1 64. Rh4 $2 (64. Ke2 $1 {this move is extremely paradoxycal, as
it allows the Black king to escape its cage. However, it is strong - the idea
is that Rf5 is not check and there is no bd3 check. Further any promotion of
the b-pawn will not gain a tempo on the king.}) 64... Bd3+ 65. Kf2 Rg2+ 66. Ke3
b2 67. Rb4 Bg6 68. Be5 h2 69. f7 $1 {An important coup, destracting the bishop
from b1 momentarily.} (69. Bxb2 Kg1 70. Be5 h1=Q {is winning for Black.}) 69...
Bxf7 70. Bxb2 Rg5 (70... Kg1 71. Be5 $1 {is just a draw. The bishop covers h2
so h1=Q gets mated.} Ba2 $1 72. Rd4 Bb3 $1 73. Bxh2+ Rxh2 {and a long bishop +
rook vs. rook endgame would happen.}) 71. Kf2 Bd5 72. Bd4 (72. Be5 $1 {was a
lot easier. For example} Rf5+ 73. Bf4 {and that's it. Since Black's getting
mated he actually has to force the draw.} Be4 74. Rxe4 Rxf4+ 75. Rxf4) 72...
Rg2+ 73. Kf1 {As people have pointed out - this is not the losing move yet!} (
73. Ke1 Rc2 (73... Bf3 {stopping Be5} 74. Rb5 $1 {Insisting on Be5.} Re2+ 75.
Kf1 $11) 74. Be5 {Whtie is in time to give up his bishop.}) 73... Rc2 {Now
Bc4+ is unstoppable.} 74. Rb6 $4 {But this is.} (74. Ba7 $1 Bc4+ 75. Rxc4 Rxc4
{is a fortress! Kartsen Mueller will have the details for us later.}) 74...
Bc4+ 75. Ke1 Kg2 (75... Kg2 76. Rg6+ Kf3 77. Rh6 h1=Q+ 78. Rxh1 Rc1+) 0-1