Tbilisi Rd7: Crucial Mistakes

[Event "Tbilisi FIDE Grand Prix"] [Site "Tbilisi GEO"] [Date "2015.02.22"] [Round "7"] [White "Andreikin, D."] [Black "Vachier Lagrave, M."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B53"] [WhiteElo "2737"] [BlackElo "2775"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "2rq1rk1/1p2p2p/p2p2p1/5b2/1PPBn3/5P1P/P5P1/1QRR2K1 w - - 0 21"] [PlyCount "39"] [EventDate "2015.02.14"] [SourceDate "2015.02.07"] 21. fxe4 Bxh3 $5 22. c5 $1 (22. gxh3 e5 23. Ba7 (23. Bf2 Qg5+ 24. Kf1 Rxf2+ $19 ) 23... Rf3 {with a very strong initiative.}) 22... Bg4 23. Qb3+ e6 24. Rf1 Rxf1+ 25. Rxf1 dxc5 26. Bxc5 Qd2 $6 {Too ambitious.} (26... Qd7 {is probably holdable. Even though Black is up a pawn his king is weaker than his opponent's, and with the bishops of opposite color that is usually the most important factor of a position.}) 27. Qg3 h5 {forced} (27... Bh5 28. Qe5 $18) 28. Qe5 Qh6 {Black is barely holding on} 29. Bd4 (29. Rf6 $1 b6 $1 {Isn't clear cut, but White should be better}) 29... h4 $1 {MVL understands how important it is to create counterplay!} 30. Rf6 h3 31. Rxg6+ Qxg6 32. Qh8+ Kf7 33. Qxc8 Qxe4 {Black is threatening checkmate, so White has to force the perpetual.} 34. Qd7+ Kg6 35. Qg7+ Kh5 36. Qh8+ Kg6 37. Qf6+ Kh5 38. Qh8+ Kg6 39. Qg7+ Kh5 40. Qh8+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "Tbilisi FIDE Grand Prix"] [Site "Tbilisi GEO"] [Date "2015.02.22"] [Round "7"] [White "Jobava, Ba"] [Black "Dominguez Perez, L."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C44"] [WhiteElo "2696"] [BlackElo "2726"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "r3n1k1/5pp1/P1p1q2p/1rN1p3/2N1P3/6PP/2Q2PK1/R2R4 b - - 0 38"] [PlyCount "56"] [EventDate "2015.02.14"] [SourceDate "2015.02.07"] 38... Rxc5 39. Ra4 {A complicated position. White has a powerful passed pawn on the a-file, but at the same time he has to be careful since his knight on c4 is pinned and the a-pawn might fall.} Nc7 $2 {Time trouble costs the Cuban player half a point, at least.} (39... Nd6 40. Qb3 (40. Rxd6 {Looks somewhat dangerous at first, but a quick calculation reveals that White has no way of pushing his pawn past a7, where it will perish.} Qxd6 41. Nxd6 Rxc2 42. a7 (42. Nc4 Rxa6 $15) 42... Rd2 43. Nc4 Rd7 $17) 40... Nxc4 41. a7 Rb5 42. Qxc4 Qxc4 43. Rxc4 Rxa7 44. Rxc6 {with a dead draw.}) 40. a7 Nb5 41. Qd3 Rxa7 42. Rxa7 Rxc4 (42... Nxa7 {must have been Dominguez's original intention, but it does not work:} 43. Qd8+ Kh7 44. Ne3 {and Black is too uncoordinated. The main threat is Qf8 followed by Nf5 or Rd8, wich a mating attack.}) 43. Qd8+ Kh7 44. Re7 Qf6 45. Qd7 {If black could hold his f7 pawn he might have a chance of holding the position, but it is not possible and the rest is trivial for Jobava.} Rd4 (45... Rc2 46. Qf5+ Qxf5 47. exf5 {still leaves the f7 pawn hanging.}) 46. Rxd4 Nxd4 47. Rxf7 Qg6 48. f3 c5 49. h4 h5 50. Kh3 Qh6 51. g4 hxg4+ 52. Qxg4 Kg8 53. Rc7 Ne6 54. Rc8+ Kf7 55. Qf5+ Ke7 56. Qxe5 Kd7 57. Ra8 Nf4+ 58. Kg4 Qxh4+ 59. Kxh4 Ng6+ 60. Kg3 Nxe5 61. Kf4 Kd6 62. Rd8+ Nd7 63. Rg8 c4 64. Rxg7 Ne5 65. Ke3 c3 66. f4 1-0

[Event "Tbilisi FIDE Grand Prix"] [Site "Tbilisi GEO"] [Date "2015.02.22"] [Round "7"] [White "Jakovenko, D."] [Black "Giri, A."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A88"] [WhiteElo "2733"] [BlackElo "2797"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "6k1/1p6/p5Pp/2p2Bn1/2P3R1/P1r5/6KP/8 b - - 0 45"] [PlyCount "24"] [EventDate "2015.02.14"] [SourceDate "2015.02.07"] 45... Rxa3 46. h4 Ra2+ $2 (46... Nf3 $1 47. g7 (47. Re4 $5 Kf8 $1) 47... Nxh4+ 48. Rxh4 Kxg7 {and White cannot avoid the b5 break, trading off White's last pawn.}) 47. Kg3 Ra3+ 48. Kg2 $2 Ra2+ $2 49. Kg3 Ra3+ 50. Kf4 $1 Nh3+ 51. Ke5 { The penetration with the king is decisive.} Kg7 52. Rg2 {Nice, the knight is controlled on h3 and the rook is swinging over to the d-file.} Rf3 (52... Re3+ 53. Be4 $18) 53. Rd2 Nf4 54. Rd7+ Kg8 55. Rxb7 {Black has no counterplay, his king is getting checkmated and he is not even up material any more.} Nh5 56. Be6+ Kf8 57. Ke4 1-0

[Event "Tbilisi FIDE Grand Prix"] [Site "Tbilisi GEO"] [Date "2015.02.22"] [Round "7"] [White "Grischuk, A."] [Black "Mamedyarov, S."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D52"] [WhiteElo "2810"] [BlackElo "2759"] [PlyCount "126"] [EventDate "2015.02.14"] [SourceDate "2015.02.07"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 c6 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. e3 Bb4 7. Rc1 Qa5 8. Nd2 Ne4 9. Ncxe4 dxe4 10. Bh4 {Sacrificing the pawn on a2 is a common idea in the Cambridge-Springs. The development advantage and central control gives White plenty of compensation.} Qxa2 11. Be2 Qa5 12. O-O $1 {What a nice move! The knight on d2 is hanging, but White will be able to recover it without problems and keep his compensation.} Bxd2 13. Ra1 Qb4 14. Qc2 c5 (14... Bxe3 15. fxe3 { opens up the f-file, which is very dangerous for Black.}) 15. Ra4 Qb6 16. Qxd2 {The minor piece is recovered and Black's development is sub-par. He is up a pawn, but clearly on the defensive side.} e5 17. Ra5 $2 {Overlooking or underestimating Black's next move!} Qh6 {An unusual tactic. The bishop is hanging on h4, but also important is that the e-pawn is now pinned.} 18. Bg3 exd4 19. Bf4 (19. f3 {was probably the only way to fight for compensation, but it should be insufficient.}) 19... g5 20. Bg3 d3 21. Bd1 {White is not dead, for his two missing pawns he has the pair of bishops and Black's king will always feel uncomfortable, but Black should win with good play. Mamedyarov made his life pretty hard at different junctures, but the win was never in question.} b6 22. Ra1 f5 23. Ba4 O-O 24. f3 Qe6 25. fxe4 fxe4 26. Bxd7 Rxf1+ 27. Rxf1 Bxd7 28. Qc3 Qe7 29. b3 Re8 30. Qa1 a5 31. Be1 Rd8 32. Rf2 h6 33. Bd2 Rf8 34. Rxf8+ Qxf8 35. Qe5 Qe8 36. Qf6 Qe6 37. Qd8+ Kf7 38. Bc3 Qd6 39. Bd2 Qe6 40. Bc3 a4 41. bxa4 Bxa4 42. Qc7+ Ke8 43. Bd2 Bd7 44. h3 Ke7 45. Qb8 h5 46. Qh8 Qxc4 47. Qe5+ Qe6 48. Qxg5+ Kd6 49. Qxh5 b5 50. Qh8 b4 51. h4 Qa2 52. Qf6+ Kc7 53. Qf2 b3 54. Bc3 Qxf2+ 55. Kxf2 Kc6 56. Ke1 Kb5 57. h5 Ka4 58. Bb2 Kb4 59. Kd2 c4 60. g3 Bg4 61. h6 Bf5 62. g4 Bg6 63. Bf6 Ka3 0-1