Tata Steel R10: Wesley So sigue arrasando

[Event "79th Tata Steel Chess 2017-Masters"] [Site "Haarlem"] [Date "2017.01.25"] [Round "10"] [White "So, Wesley"] [Black "Wojtaszek, Radoslaw"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E06"] [WhiteElo "2808"] [BlackElo "2750"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. g3 d5 4. d4 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. Qc2 c5 7. O-O Nc6 8. dxc5 d4 9. a3 a5 10. Rd1 e5 11. Nc3 Bxc5 12. Nd5 h6 13. Bd2 {My database shows this move as a novelty, but it seems the players were prepared well beyond this.} a4 14. Bb4 Nxb4 15. axb4 Nxd5 16. bxc5 Nb4 17. Qd2 Nc6 18. b4 {a sequence of relatively forced moves following Bb4 has led us to this position. It seems that Wesley, according to the post-mortem interview, considers 18...Be6 as equalizing, but the move played in the game gives White chances.} Qe7 (18... Be6 19. b5 Na5 20. Nxe5 $5 Nb3 21. Qf4 Nxc5 $1 22. Rxd4 Qa5 {leaves Black down a pawn, but between the powerful a-pawn and the nice knight on c5, it should be sufficient compensation.}) (18... Qc7 {is Stockfish 8's suggestion after a long think, as you can check yourself on the livebook.}) 19. Qb2 $1 {Black's main issue will be the powerful passed pawns on the queenside. He would like to simply block them, but that isn't easy to do, and pushing his own pawns in the center is also very difficult as they are rather weak.} Bg4 20. Re1 $1 { A beautiful, machine-like move. The mysterious rook move discourages Black from taking the knight as White would recapture with the e-pawn, putting pressure on the center.} Rfd8 $6 (20... f5 21. Nh4 $1 (21. Nd2 e4 $13) 21... Kh7 $14 {keeps the game going, but White is to be slightly preferred.}) 21. Nd2 {With the activation of the light squared bishop, things go south for Wojtaszek really quickly.} Be6 22. b5 Nb8 23. Qb4 $1 f5 24. Nb3 {Using the pin to activate the knight, which was the last remaining problem in White's position.} Nd7 25. Bxb7 {Simple tactics give Wesley a winning advantage, the rest requires no commentary.} Rab8 26. Rxa4 Rxb7 27. c6 Qxb4 28. Rxb4 Rc7 29. cxd7 Rxc4 30. Rxc4 Bxc4 31. Rc1 Be6 32. Rc8 Rxc8 33. dxc8=Q+ Bxc8 34. b6 1-0

[Event "79th Tata Steel GpA"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2017.01.25"] [Round "10.3"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Rapport, Richard"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E18"] [WhiteElo "2780"] [BlackElo "2702"] [Annotator "Alex Yermolinsky"] [PlyCount "55"] [EventDate "2017.01.14"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 {Aside of the first round game against Eljanov Rapport has been very solid with his opening choices for Black in this tournament.} 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Be7 ({In the previous game Richard went for} 5... Bb4+ {and held Anish Giri to a draw!}) 6. O-O O-O 7. Nc3 Ne4 8. Bd2 Bf6 9. Be1 $5 {A very interesting choice. Aronian decides to avoid closed formations characteristic for this line, and, instead, invites a more typical QID play even gifting Black a tempo in some lines.} ({Obviously Levon studied So-Rapport from Round 3, the game that could have been Richard's great victory if it wasn't for a few errors toward the end. It went} 9. Rc1 Nxd2 10. Qxd2 d6 11. d5 e5 {In the resulting closed position Wesley claimed his spatial advantage, but, remarkably, Rapport didn't seem to mind his "bad" DSB. In fact he used it to invade the c1-square not once but twice!}) 9... Re8 $6 {The purpose of this move remains unclear to me.} ({Since White doesn't have his rook to support c3 the most logical reply appears to be} 9... c5 {Indeed, it was played in Sokolov-Salov, 1996 and even earlier in Timoschenko-Naumkin, 1988. Neither game showed White getting anything out of the opening. I wonder if Levon in that case planned to take a strategic risk and continue} 10. d5 $5 Bxc3 11. Bxc3 exd5 12. cxd5) ({Another type of play may arise after} 9... d5 10. Qc2 c5 {which is similar to the game continuation, but offers Black a tempo for counterplay.}) 10. Qc2 d5 $2 {Black practically begs White to play the most natural moves and take over the game.} (10... Nxc3 11. Bxc3 d6 12. e4 e5 13. d5 {Is Rapport's favorite formation, so why didn't he go for it?}) 11. Nxe4 $1 dxe4 12. Nd2 Bxd4 ({Understandably Rapport didn't trust} 12... Qxd4 { because after} 13. Nxe4 {he'd have to play the unsightly move} Bc6 {Indeed, White gets big play with simple means:} 14. Bc3 ({Also possible is} 14. Rb1 a5 15. b3 {preparing Bc3.}) 14... Qxc4 15. Nxf6+ gxf6 16. b3 Qc5 17. e4 Nd7 18. Rfc1) 13. Rd1 Qc8 ({Let's see if Black could keep his queen a little closer to the K-side.} 13... Qe7 14. Nxe4 Nc6 15. e3 Bf6 (15... Be5 16. f4 Bd6 {is very awkward for Black, and White would go on with} 17. Ng5) 16. Nxf6+ Qxf6 17. Bc3 Qg6 18. Qa4 Na5 {This means giving up a pawn for no compensation at all, just some practical chances to escape to a draw in some rook endgame. Computers don't like this strategy, but best human players relied on it for for decades and it worked in some percentage of cases. Today it's called "suffering", but the only alternative to it is to lose the game quickly, which is pretty much what happened in this game. From a certain philisophical point cutting one's losses and hitting the restart button tomorrow is the right approach, but there are others who take the path of maximum resistance however hopeless it seems.}) 14. Nxe4 Bc5 15. Ng5 $5 {Every good player welcomes a chance to attack the king rather than deal with a routine technical task. OK, maybe Magnus is an exception, but he's rumored to be from another planet anyway.} ({ It is remarkable how Aronian rejects a safe advantage promised by} 15. Nxc5 bxc5 16. Be4 h6 17. f3 {etc.}) 15... f5 16. Bxb7 Qxb7 17. Bc3 Bf8 (17... h6 18. Nxe6 Rxe6 19. Rd8+ Bf8 20. Qxf5 {is not so difficult to see.}) 18. e4 $1 h6 19. exf5 $1 {This one is quite a bit harder, as White wopuild need to bring up to speed the rest of his pieces. Levon correctly judged he'd have the time for it. } hxg5 (19... exf5 20. Rfe1 $1 {Every move just brings another white piece into action, and Black is always on his back foot.} Rxe1+ (20... Na6 21. Ne6 { requires no calculation.}) 21. Rxe1 hxg5 22. Qxf5 c6 (22... c5 23. Re8 Qf7 24. Qe4 {is easier.}) 23. Re8 Qf7 24. Qc8 {The back rank pin will keep Black paralyzed until White is ready with the mop-up plan of Bd2xg5-e7 etc.}) 20. f6 c5 ({In this case as well as in the previous note} 20... c6 {appears slightly more resilient. Still,} 21. f4 g4 22. fxg7 Bc5+ (22... Bxg7 23. Qg6 Qf7 24. Qxg4) 23. Kh1 Bb4 24. f5 {should bring the point home.}) 21. f4 $1 g4 22. f5 { Blowing it wide open. The game is truly over.} gxf6 23. fxe6 Qh7 24. Qg2 Na6 25. Rd7 Qh5 26. Rxf6 Rad8 27. Rxf8+ Kxf8 28. Qf1+ {One of those game the young player has to lose once and only once and never again!} 1-0