Baku 1.TB - One Armageddon, One big Surprise

[Event "FIDE World Chess Cup 2015"] [Site "Baku"] [Date "2015.09.13"] [Round "1.4"] [White "Gelfand, Boris"] [Black "Henriquez Villagra, Cristobal"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D11"] [WhiteElo "2741"] [BlackElo "2511"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "r4rk1/ppq2ppp/1n3n2/3p4/3Pp3/PQP1P2P/3BBPP1/RR4K1 b - - 0 17"] [PlyCount "53"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [EventCountry "AZE"] 17... Rab8 18. a4 {An interesting situation. Black has the "pair of knights" against the pair of bishops, but he has decent chances because of the weakness on c4 and c3. If The game opens up, somehow, White will be better beyond doubt. } Nc4 19. Be1 Rfc8 20. Qa2 b6 21. Rb4 Qc6 22. Rab1 (22. Bxc4 dxc4 {doesn't help White as there would be a good anchor spot for the knight on d5.}) 22... Ne8 23. Bxc4 dxc4 24. f3 $6 {Perhaps feeling the pressure. This pawn sacrifice is dubious, with the idea of opening the bishop.} exf3 25. Bg3 Rb7 26. Be5 Re7 27. a5 bxa5 {Black simply takes all the pawns that come his way! White has some compensation, but two pawns are two pawns.} 28. Rb5 (28. Qxa5 fxg2 $17) 28... Qg6 29. Rxa5 Qd3 $1 {Making the queen very active and causing real headaches.} 30. Ra3 $6 (30. Bf4 $17) 30... f6 31. Bf4 g5 {Now it is simply over.} 32. Bg3 Rxe3 {Black has a decisive attack and is up two pawns.} 33. Re1 Re2 34. Rxe2 fxe2 35. Bf2 Qd1+ 36. Kh2 Qf1 37. Bg3 e1=Q 38. Bxe1 Qxe1 {Simple, Black is now up a piece and White has nothing to show for it.} 39. Rxa7 Qe6 40. Qb1 Rc7 41. Ra8 Re7 42. Qb4 Kg7 43. Rd8 Qe3 0-1

[Event "FIDE World Chess Cup 2015"] [Site "Baku"] [Date "2015.09.13"] [Round "1.3"] [White "Bruzon Batista, Lazaro"] [Black "Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi Vid"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A33"] [WhiteElo "2659"] [BlackElo "2651"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "2r5/5p2/p1r1p2p/4k1p1/2p1P3/3n1P1P/PP1R2P1/1R1N1K2 w - - 0 38"] [PlyCount "3"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [EventCountry "AZE"] 38. Ne3 {The position is almost equal. White is solid and in the long run can attack c4, but he is very passive. Black is quite active but he doesn't have any immediate threats. After, for example, 38...h5 or 38...Rb8 the position is =.} Nf4 $4 {Running into mate in one! When was the last time you saw a 2650 GM do that? Well, actually it was Vidit himself who ran into a mate in one in the Lake Sevian tournament a couple of months ago.} 39. Ng4# { An abrupt ending. The Indian player did not recover psychologically and also lost the next game.} 1-0

[Event "FIDE World Chess Cup 2015"] [Site "Baku"] [Date "2015.09.13"] [Round "1.4"] [White "Leitao, Rafael"] [Black "Hou, Yifan"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E46"] [WhiteElo "2632"] [BlackElo "2671"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "76"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [EventCountry "AZE"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Nge2 d5 6. a3 Be7 7. cxd5 exd5 8. Nf4 c6 9. Bd3 Na6 10. O-O Nc7 11. f3 b6 12. Bd2 c5 13. Be1 Bb7 14. Qd2 c4 15. Bc2 b5 16. e4 a5 17. e5 Nd7 18. Nce2 {After winning the first game, Hou Yifan has to hold on the second to advance. However, her next move is risky to say the very least.} f6 19. e6 Nb6 20. Bf5 $1 {Leitao's hold in the position is very real. Qc2 is a huge threat. The commentators thought Yifan was done for, but never count out anyone in this tournament!} g6 {A practical chance...} 21. Nxg6 $6 (21. Bxg6 $1 hxg6 22. Nxg6 Kg7 23. Nef4 $1 $16 {and it's hard to find moves for Black, even though there isn't anything immediate. A possible follow up is Qe3 and Bd2, with strong threats.}) 21... hxg6 22. Qh6 gxf5 23. Qg6+ {A double piece sacrifice, but Leitao needs to win. Can he bring over his pieces?} Kh8 24. f4 {It seems that Rf3 is unstoppable and lethal, but the Chinese does not give up.} Qe8 $1 25. Qh6+ Kg8 26. Rf3 Nxe6 $1 {Somehow the knight comes to g5 to defend!} 27. Rg3+ Ng5 28. fxg5 fxg5 29. Bd2 Qc6 30. Qh5 g4 {Out of nowhere White's attack is starting to evaporate. Black only needs a draw so she allows several perpetuals, though with careful play Black might even be winning.} 31. Rf1 Qe8 32. Qh6 Rf6 33. Rxg4+ fxg4 34. Rxf6 Bxf6 35. Qxf6 Qxe2 36. Qg6+ Kh8 37. Qh6+ Kg8 38. Qg6+ Kh8 1/2-1/2

[Event "FIDE World Chess Cup 2015"] [Site "Baku"] [Date "2015.09.13"] [Round "1.3"] [White "Onischuk, Alexander"] [Black "Volokitin, Andrei"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D73"] [WhiteElo "2662"] [BlackElo "2639"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "115"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [EventCountry "AZE"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 c6 5. Bg2 d5 6. cxd5 cxd5 7. Nc3 Ne4 8. Qa4+ Nc6 9. Ne5 Nxc3 10. bxc3 Bd7 11. Nxd7 Qxd7 12. Rb1 Rd8 13. Qb5 b6 14. e3 { Everything has gone right for White in this opening. He has the pair of bishops, is threatening c4, and Black's only resource drops the d5 pawn.} Na5 ( 14... O-O 15. c4 Na5 16. Qxd7 Rxd7 17. cxd5 $16) 15. Bxd5 $1 Qxb5 16. Rxb5 a6 17. Rxa5 $1 {White "sacrifices" the exchange, but his compensation is huge: Black will not be able to castle, White has practically two pawns for the exchange, and his pair of bishops will dominate.} bxa5 18. Bc6+ Kf8 19. Kd2 Rc8 20. Bb7 Rb8 21. Bxa6 h5 22. h4 e5 23. a4 exd4 24. exd4 Bh6+ 25. f4 $1 Kg7 26. Bb5 Rhd8 27. Kd3 Kg8 28. c4 {Black's rooks are completely dominated. This is basically over.} Bf8 29. Bd2 Bc5 30. d5 Ra8 31. Be3 Bb4 32. Bb6 Rdb8 33. Bd4 Rd8 34. Rb1 Rac8 35. Bc3 $4 {What a blunder! To do such a thing at the World Cup... but the game is not over!} (35. Rxb4 axb4 36. Bf6 $18 {is a computer solution.}) (35. Rb2 $18 {seems human to me, to follow up with Rc2.}) 35... Bxc3 36. Kxc3 Rxd5 {Now White is down the exchange. He still has a pawn, but winning chances are gone... or so one would think.} 37. Ba6 Rc7 38. Rb5 Rdc5 ( 38... Rd1 39. Rxa5 Rc1+ {should be a drawn endgame.}) 39. Rxc5 Rxc5 40. Kd4 Rc7 41. c5 Kf8 42. Kd5 Ke7 {White is very active, and should not be in danger, but Black is up the exchange after all.} 43. c6 Kd8 44. Kd6 Re7 (44... f5 $1 $11 { was important to give the rook more room} 45. Bc4 Ra7 46. Be6 Rc7 47. Bd7 Ra7 { and the bishop cannot attack the pawns.}) 45. Bc4 Rc7 (45... f5 $1) 46. f5 $1 { Now White is the one winning!} gxf5 47. Bd3 f4 48. gxf4 Re7 49. Bf5 Rc7 50. Bd7 $1 (50. Be4 $1 {was also good.}) 50... Ra7 51. f5 $1 Rc7 52. Kc5 Ke7 53. f6+ $1 Kd8 54. Kb6 Rxd7 55. cxd7 Kxd7 56. Kxa5 {The pawn endgame is easily winning.} Kc6 57. Kb4 Kb6 58. a5+ 1-0

[Event "FIDE World Chess Cup 2015"] [Site "Baku"] [Date "2015.09.13"] [Round "1.6"] [White "Jakovenko, Dmitry"] [Black "Iljiushenok, Ilia"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D10"] [WhiteElo "2748"] [BlackElo "2491"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "8/1k1q2p1/2p4p/1pPp4/1N1PpQn1/1PK1P1P1/6P1/8 w - - 0 48"] [PlyCount "48"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [EventCountry "AZE"] 48. Qf1 {After a lot of maneuvering, the position on the board should be roughly equal. White has a subtle threat, and Iljiushenko misses it!} Qc7 ( 48... Kc7 49. Qa1 Qc8 $11) 49. Qa1 $1 {Now Black's position cannot be held. Qa6 is too strong.} Kc8 50. Qa8+ Kd7 51. Nxd5 $2 (51. Qf8 $1 Qxg3 52. Qf7+ Kc8 53. Qe8+ {takes all the pawns with check.}) 51... cxd5 52. Qxd5+ Kc8 53. Qe6+ Qd7 54. Qxe4 Kd8 (54... Nf6 55. Qa8+ Kc7 {should be a drawn endgame.}) 55. Qa8+ Ke7 56. e4 Nf2 $5 (56... Nf6 $1) 57. Qd5 Qxd5 58. exd5 {A bizarre endgame. A computer can usually navigate the complications, but humans living only on increment? not so much!} g5 $2 (58... Ne4+ 59. Kb4 Nd2 $1 60. Kxb5 Nxb3 $11) 59. Kb4 g4 60. Kxb5 Ne4 61. Kc6 Kd8 62. d6 (62. b4 $1 Nxg3 63. b5 Nf5 64. b6 $18) 62... Nxg3 63. Kd5 $2 (63. b4 Nf5 64. Kd5 Ne3+ (64... h5 65. b5 {is faster for White.})) 63... h5 64. b4 Ne2 $1 65. Ke4 h4 $1 66. Ke3 Nxd4 $1 {Now Black draws!} 67. Kf4 h3 68. gxh3 gxh3 69. Kg3 Kd7 70. Kxh3 Nf5 71. Kg4 Nxd6 { What a save!} 1/2-1/2