Alexandr Fier, Campeón de Brasil

[Event "84th BRA-ch 2017"] [Site "Rio de Janeiro"] [Date "2018.02.14"] [Round "4.3"] [White "Mekhitarian, Krikor Sevag"] [Black "Fier, Alexandr"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A30"] [WhiteElo "2529"] [BlackElo "2557"] [Annotator "Albert Silver"] [PlyCount "211"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [EventType "k.o."] [EventCountry "BRA"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. Nc3 e6 4. g3 b6 5. Bg2 Bb7 6. O-O Be7 7. Re1 d6 8. e4 a6 9. d4 cxd4 10. Nxd4 Qc7 11. Be3 Nbd7 12. Rc1 Ne5 {Play has resulted in a classic hedgehog.} (12... Rc8 13. f4 Qb8 14. g4 h5 15. g5 Ng4 16. g6 Rxc4 17. gxf7+ Kxf7 18. Bf1 Nxe3 19. Rxe3 Rxd4 20. Qxd4 b5 21. Rg3 Bf6 22. e5 Bd8 23. Ne4 Bb6 {0-1 (23) Ding,L (2774)-Carlsen, M (2837) Saint Louis 2017}) 13. Bf4 $146 ({Naiditsch once played the hyper-aggressive} 13. Nd5 exd5 14. cxd5 Qd7 15. Nf5 O-O 16. f4 Ng6 17. h4 Nxd5 18. Bd4 Nf6 19. h5 Rfe8 20. hxg6 hxg6 21. Nxe7+ Rxe7 22. Bxf6 gxf6 {1/2-1/2 (53) Naiditsch,A (2700)-Meier,G (2644) Dortmund 2012}) 13... Ng6 14. Bd2 Ne5 {White is slightly better.} 15. Bf1 Rc8 16. b3 O-O 17. h3 Qb8 18. Qe2 Rfe8 19. Bg2 Ned7 20. g4 g6 21. Bh6 e5 22. Nc2 Bf8 23. Bd2 Nc5 24. Qf3 Nfd7 25. Nd5 Ne6 26. Be3 Bg7 27. Qd1 b5 28. cxb5 axb5 29. Bf1 Ndc5 30. f3 {While nothing is decided, the imbalanced position is exactly what White wants in order to be able to leave the chair with a full point on the board.} (30. Bxc5 {keeps more tension.} Rxc5 31. b4 Rxc2 32. Rxc2 Nd4 33. Rc3) 30... Bxd5 31. Qxd5 Nd4 $1 {Krikor's fans watching with the help of an engine probably had minor heart attacks here. Not only is this move very strong, but Black might even have taken the advantage.} 32. Nxd4 exd4 33. Bxd4 Bxd4+ 34. Qxd4 Ne6 $2 {Missing his chance!} ({Black missed a prime chance to really hit back with} 34... d5 $5 {not only would it attack White's stronghold in the center, but it threatens alll manner of nastiness with Qg3+. In fact White would lose a rook by taking d5 here with} 35. exd5 Qg3+ 36. Bg2 Rxe1+) 35. Qf2 Nf4 36. Red1 g5 37. Qd4 Ne6 38. Qe3 Nf4 39. Kh1 Rxc1 40. Rxc1 d5 41. Qc5 $36 {White smells blood} Qe5 42. exd5 $1 Ne2 {[#]} 43. d6 $1 {This nice little tactic will yield a strong endgame for White.} Nxc1 44. d7 ({And not} 44. Qxc1 Rd8 $17) 44... Qxc5 45. dxe8=Q+ Kg7 46. Qxb5 Qe3 {Avoiding the exchange of queens while keeping an eye on the g5 pawn and the knight on c1.} 47. Qd5 {[#]} Nxa2 48. Bc4 Qf4 49. Qe4 Qf6 50. Kg2 h6 51. Qf5 ({Better is} 51. f4 $16 {with a significant edge for White.}) 51... Qxf5 $14 52. gxf5 {White has finally gotten his exchanges.} Kf6 53. Kg3 Kxf5 54. Bxf7 Nb4 55. Bg8 Kg6 56. Bc4 Kf5 57. Bb5 Nd5 58. Bc6 Nb4 59. Be4+ Ke5 60. Kg4 Kf6 61. Kh5 Kg7 62. h4 Kf6 63. Kg4 Na6 64. Bd3 Nb4 65. Be4 Na6 $1 66. f4 gxf4 $2 (66... gxh4 $16 { is a better defense.} 67. Bb1 (67. Kxh4 Nc5 $16) 67... Nc7) 67. Kxf4 {As promising as it might seem, this endgame is a tablebase draw. One of the key aspects is the matter of the bishop and h-pawn. If the b-pawn is removed, White cannot win even if black lost all his material since the bishop is the wrong color and does not control the h8-square.} Nb4 68. Bf3 Nc2 $2 {This is a tremendous blunder that gives White a winning position.} 69. Bd1 Nb4 70. Ke4 Na6 71. Kd5 Nb4+ 72. Kc4 Nc6 73. Kc5 Ne5 74. Bc2 Nf3 75. h5 Ke5 76. b4 Nd4 77. Bg6 $2 {This is the blunder that now allows Black to save the game.} ({The only move that still won for White is} 77. Bd3 {which wins still according to 7-piece tablebases. However, as to explaining it over other moves, that would take considerable analysis.}) 77... Ne6+ 78. Kc4 Kd6 79. Bf7 Nf4 80. b5 Ne2 81. Bd5 Nf4 82. Bf3 Kc7 83. Kc5 Ne6+ 84. Kd5 Ng7 {White was still in shock as it dawned on him the win had slipped away, and the next 20 odd moves were a reflection of this rather than renewed attempts at a swindle. Mekhitarian was clearly upset at the board, and playing more to calm his nerves than anything. Fier was playing all his moves almost instantly.} 85. Kc5 Ne6+ 86. Kd5 Ng7 $1 87. Kc4 Kb6 88. Bg4 Ne8 89. Kb4 Nf6 90. Bf3 Ne8 91. Bd5 Nf6 92. Bf7 Ne4 93. Bg6 Ng3 94. Kc4 Ne2 95. Be8 Nf4 96. Bg6 Ne2 97. Bf7 Nf4 98. Be8 Ne2 99. Bd7 Ng3 100. Bg4 Ne4 101. Be2 Nf6 102. Bf3 Ne8 103. Be2 Nf6 104. Kd4 Nxh5 105. Bxh5 Kxb5 106. Ke4 1/2-1/2