[Event "Gibraltar Masters 17th"]
[Site "Caleta"]
[Date "2019.01.27"]
[Round "6"]
[White "So, Wesley"]
[Black "Grandelius, Nils"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B84"]
[WhiteElo "2765"]
[BlackElo "2682"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[EventDate "2019.01.22"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "GGB"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 188 Extra"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2019.02.26"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2019.02.26"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e6 7. f4 Be7 8. Be3
O-O 9. g4 Nc6 10. g5 Nd7 11. Rg1 Re8 12. h4 Nxd4 13. Qxd4 b5 14. a3 Rb8 15. h5
Bf8 16. O-O-O Qa5 17. g6 fxg6 18. hxg6 h6 19. Rh1 b4 20. Rh5 Nc5 21. axb4 Rxb4
22. Bc4 Qa1+ 23. Nb1 Nxe4 24. Rd3 d5 25. Ra3 Bc5 26. Rxa1 Bxd4 27. Bxd4 Rxc4
28. c3 Rf8 29. Rh4 Ng3 30. b3 Nf5 31. bxc4 Nxh4 32. cxd5 exd5 33. Ra5 Nxg6 34.
Rxd5 Nxf4 35. Ra5 h5 36. Kd2 h4 0-1

[Event "WchT 12th"]
[Site "Astana"]
[Date "2019.03.08"]
[Round "4.17"]
[White "Grandelius, Nils"]
[Black "Naiditsch, Arkadij"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C84"]
[WhiteElo "2694"]
[BlackElo "2710"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2019.03.05"]
[EventType "team-tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "KAZ"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 189"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2019.04.29"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2019.04.29"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Sweden"]
[BlackTeam "Azerbaijan"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "SWE"]
[BlackTeamCountry "AZE"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 d6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 O-O 7. c3 a6 8. Ba4
Re8 9. h3 Bf8 10. c4 Bd7 11. Be3 Nb8 12. Nc3 Bxa4 13. Qxa4 Nbd7 14. a3 Nc5 15.
Qc2 c6 16. Rad1 Qc7 17. b4 Ne6 18. d4 exd4 19. Nxd4 Nd7 20. Nce2 Nxd4 21. Bxd4
b5 22. Ng3 c5 23. bxc5 dxc5 24. Ba1 Nb6 25. cxb5 axb5 26. Nf5 Nc4 27. Rd3 Rxa3
28. Rxa3 Nxa3 29. Qb2 c4 30. Nxg7 Rc8 31. Nf5 c3 32. Qc1 Kh8 33. Qg5 Qe5 34.
Re3 b4 35. Rg3 Bc5 36. Nh6 Bxf2+ 37. Kxf2 Qd4+ 38. Kf3 Qd1+ 39. Kf4 Qd2+ 40.
Kf3 Qd1+ 41. Kf2 Qd4+ 42. Qe3 Qxe3+ 43. Kxe3 Rf8 44. Kd4 f6 45. Kd5 1-0

[Event "Tata Steel 83rd"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee"]
[Date "2021.01.17"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Duda, Jan Krzysztof"]
[Black "Grandelius, Nils"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A30"]
[WhiteElo "2743"]
[BlackElo "2663"]
[Annotator "Grandelius, Nils"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "2021.01.16"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "NED"]
[EventCategory "19"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 200"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,80,26,-33,49,39,27,-1,13,-46,13,-5,18,-9,2,-18,16,13,28,24,33,6,13,
-11,4,20,25,1,1,-17,45,-41,1,-32,-32,-32,-38,-33,-27,-68,-72,-59,-58,-13,-18,
-10,-15,-15,122,-4,-19,-8,7,-119,-137,-137,-134,-149,-160,-161,-161,-176,-149,
-149,-128,-128,-110,-130,-145,-150,-141,-175,-170,-200,-166,-246,-208,-244,
-247,-229,-241,-258,-275] Preparing for the first games in Tata Steel Masters
was of course pretty weird. Duda had played in Norway Chess 3 months earlier,
whereas I had only played a few games in the Spanish League even longer before.
This meant that it was very difficult to predict how the opening phase would
turn out. I had a feeling Duda wanted to get out of theory as soon as possible,
and therefore his first move didn't really surprise despite being a rare first
move for him.} 1. c4 $5 c5 {This had been my choice in the previous few games
with 1.c4. Later in the tournament I switched to 1...g6 against David Anton
Guijjaro.} 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. b3 $5 {In some sense an 'expected surprise', meaning
that it was very likely he would play something rare like this, though of
course this specific move was hard to predict.} (3. Nc3 e5 {would likely lead
to the Botvinnik setup, in which I have quite a bit of experience. However, 3.
Nc3 is certainly a much more flexible move than 3.b3 in this setup.} ({However,
although I haven't played it myself} 3... Nf6 {is the mainline with a very
solid reputation, and likely the reason for Duda's choice of 3.b3.})) 3... e5 {
Not a difficult choice for me. My overall strategy for the tournament was to
go for as rich and complicated chess as possible, rather than limiting the
playing field by trying to equalise concretely. For this purpose, the
Botvinnik setup is a logical choice where all pieces are kept on the board for
a long time and the possible plans for both sides are numerous.} ({In the
Spanish league I had replied with} 3... Nf6 4. Bb2 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 {which
leads to more forcing play, but therefore also something that is easier to
prepare concretely as White.}) 4. Bb2 d6 (4... e4 {was technically possible,
leading to very weird play after} 5. Ng1 d5 $1 (5... Nf6 6. Bxf6 $1 {would be
reminicent of the famous Karpov-Browne game and a positional disaster for
Black.}) 6. cxd5 Qxd5 7. Nc3 Qf5 $13 {with a very weird position which I
decided not to spend energy evaluating during the game.}) 5. Nc3 g6 6. g3 {
As White has already committed to b3, Bb2 it doesn't really make sense to go
for a central push with e3 and d4, therefore fianchettoing the light squared
bishop is the only thing that really makes sense.} Bg7 7. Bg2 Nge7 (7... e4 $2
{Whereas on move 4 this would be risky, here it's just outright bad. After the
simple} 8. Ng1 {followed by Nh3-f4-d5 White is dominating fully.}) 8. O-O O-O {
Never an automatic move in these positions.} (8... h5 {is something that
should always be considered, but here with White's knight still on f3 it's
difficult to get an attack going.}) 9. d3 {This is a major tabyia of this line
and Black now has an important choice. To be honest, I did not remember any
concrete theory whatsoever, but having played the same pawn structure a few
times before I felt familiar with the plans.} Rb8 {A multi-purpose move. It
mainly prepares a6,b5 but also steps out of the long diagonal.} (9... h6 {
has been the most common move in practice, but in my opinion it's a bit
superficial. The setup with Be6, Qd7 is logical, but not very flexible. One of
the main downsides is that after a subsquent Nd5 Black can't play Nxd5 as
after cxd5 the bishop would be hanging on e6. Therefore delaying Be6 often
makes sense for Black.} 10. Nd2 Be6 11. Nd5 {Is a very interesting move, the
idea being} (11. a3 $5 {is also interesting and has been tried a few times by
Kramnik, and if Black now executes the typical break} d5 {then after the simple
} 12. cxd5 Nxd5 13. Rc1 {I still find Black's position a bit unpleasant, with
both the c- and e-pawns a bit vulnerable.}) 11... Bxd5 $6 (11... Qd7 {is
better.}) 12. cxd5 Nb4 13. e4 $1 {sacrificing a pawn for positional
compensation.} Nxd3 14. Bc3 Nb4 15. Nc4 $44 {with excellent compensation. Both
Black knights are clumsily placed, and White can choose between pushing on the
kingside with f4, or increasing the pressure on the queenside with a3,b4.} (15.
a3 {1-0 (33) Hillarp Persson,T (2563)-Thorhallsson,S (2184) Akureyri 2019}))
10. Ne1 $6 {This knight manoeuvre is in some sense similar to the typical Nbd2,
Nf1, Ng3 manoeuvre in the Ruy Lopez in the sense that it's often but far from
always a worthwhile thing to do. The aim of getting the knight via c2-e3 to d5
is of course logical, but it does cost quite a bit of time and combined with
b3, Bb2 it does not work out very well.} (10. a3 {would be the most common
plan for White with the bishop still on c1.} a6 11. b4 $6 cxb4 12. axb4 b5 $5
$13 {is nice for Black as the bishop on b2 makes it harder to defend the
b4-pawn.}) (10. Nd2 $5 {Would in my opinion be a better square for the knight,
although I still find Black's position easy to play after something like} Be6
11. Nd5 b5 12. a3 h5 $5 {with potential play on the kingside with h4 next.})
10... Be6 $5 {Making use of the fact that the white knight can no longer go to
g5. Here it's clear that Rb8 is a much more useful move than h6. Additionally,
seeing the white knight moving towards c2 and the queenside, it makes a lot of
sense trying to initiate play on the kingside with Qd7,Bh3 followed by either
h5-h4 or f5-f4.} (10... a6 11. Nc2 b5 {was of course also perfectly sensible.})
11. Nd5 (11. Nc2 {was the obvious alternative.} Qd7 $5 (11... d5 12. e4 $1 {
looks very unclear}) 12. Ne3 {lets White achieve his goal of getting his
knight to d5, but the position after something like} Bh3 13. Ned5 Bxg2 14. Kxg2
f5 {is still quite pleasant for Black in my opinion. Still, compared to the
game this is a much better version for White with the knight on d5 rather than
c2.}) 11... Qd7 12. Nc2 $6 {Continuing the knight manoeuvre, but again I don't
think it's the most urgent thing for White to do.} (12. f4 $5 {was the move I
expected during the game and a logical way of making use of the bishop on b2.}
{I would probably have continued with} Bh3 {but now the knight on e1 can at
least recapture on g2!} ({The engine instead prefers} 12... b5 $5 {which in
hindsight makes a lot of sense. Simply trying to get a queenside initiative
with a5-a4 next is a bit unpleasant for White to handle.})) 12... Bh3 13. Qd2
$6 {Surprised me as I considered improving the c2-knight to be White's main
task here.} (13. Bxh3 Qxh3 14. Nce3 {seemed more logical to me, although I
believe Black's position is easier to play, for instance} f5 15. f4 g5 $5 {
with some initiative.}) 13... Bxg2 14. Kxg2 f5 $5 {With the bishop on b2 and
knight on c2 it makes a lot of sense for Black to generate play against the
white king. Pushing the pawn to f4 might look antipositional, but it is very
hard for White to make use of the e4-square, and the space gained makes it
easier for Black to get more pieces over to the kingside.} (14... Nxd5 15. cxd5
Nd4 {was a solid alternative.}) 15. b4 {Surprised me a great deal.} (15. e4 $5
{was the move I expected. It's a bit sad for White having to play this, but it
is very important to realize that Black is already the one pushing for an edge
so White should try to minimize the losses.} Nd4 $2 {was my intention during
the game, but it's actually a positional mistake!} (15... f4 16. f3 {is
initially loved by the engines for Black, but it is very hard to break through
on the kingside and I think White is doing OK here.}) (15... Nxd5 $5 {is
problably the best move.} 16. cxd5 Nd4 $1 17. Nxd4 exd4 $1 $15 {is a good
change of structure for Black, as White's pawn majority is not really moving
whereas for Black it's easy to push all queenside pawns.}) 16. Nxe7+ $1 Qxe7
17. Bxd4 $1 {and I either have to open the e-file for White's rooks or allow
the knight into the game} exd4 (17... cxd4 18. Nb4 $1 $14) 18. exf5 $1 Rxf5 19.
Rae1 {actually better for White!}) (15. Nxe7+ Qxe7 16. Ne3 {would solve the
problem of the c2-knight, but costs some time and leaves Black with a very
pleasant position after} f4 17. Nd5 Qf7 $15) 15... f4 $1 {Now I started to
really like my position. With the pawn on f4 the c2-knight can't get to d5,
and I am threatening to trade on d5 and round up White's d5-pawn.} 16. bxc5 (
16. b5 $2 Nxd5 17. bxc6 bxc6 $1 {does not work for White.}) 16... dxc5 17. e4 {
Allowing f3+ is very risky, but also understandable as White now at least
keeps his strong d5-knight.} (17. Nc3 $2 {would be good if there was time for
Ne4 next, but} e4 $1 {just breaks through immediately}) (17. Nxe7+ Nxe7 18. f3
{is probably the best White has, but understandably Duda did not enjoy trying
to hold this very ugly-looking position.}) 17... f3+ 18. Kh1 {With the pawn on
f3 I am obviously doing very well, but it's still far from checkmate. Now I
failed to find the most convincing way forward.} Nd4 $6 (18... Nxd5 $5 {
was a tempting alternative, but I failed to evaluate it properly.} 19. cxd5 (
19. exd5 $6 {is too dangerous as Black gets Rf5-h5 possibilities.}) 19... Nd4
20. Rae1 {and here I only considered the immediate attack} Qh3 ({Instead,
something like} 20... b5 {is very strong, as it turns out that White is in
fact not threatening to break out in any way, so I have all the time in the
world to improve slowly!}) 21. Rg1 Ne2 {and I win the exchange, but White does
get a pawn and some freedom of movement making it a dubious practical choice
for Black.} 22. Rxe2 fxe2 23. Qxe2 $15) 19. Nxe7+ Qxe7 20. Ne3 $6 (20. h3 $1 {
is the problem with my move order. With h3/Kh2 White gets some kind of
stability. I am still doing well with the backward d-pawn, but at least White
is never getting mated anymore.}) 20... Qd7 21. Bxd4 exd4 22. Nd5 {A critical
position. Quite naturally I looked for ways to deliver mate, but in fact my
initiative is very long term and I should have focused more on stopping
White's counterplay.} Rbe8 (22... Rf7 $1 {would have been very strong, as Qa5
can now always be met by b6!}) 23. Rg1 {The only chance for White is trying to
get g4 in.} Qg4 $4 {surprisingly this allows White to equalise!} (23... Qh3 {
was the obvious alternative, but I did not see what to do after} 24. Qg5 $1 (
24. Nf4 Qh6 {is just winning for Black, as I will push g5 and then play Qh3
and Re6-h6.}) 24... Re5 25. Qh4 Qd7 26. g4 {I saw this far and thought White
has managed to stabilize, but the computer points out that} g5 $1 {is very
strong, with the idea} 27. Qg3 b5 $1 {and it turns out that Black is breaking
through on the queenside instead. Very difficult!}) 24. Qd1 $4 {Now I am
winning again.} (24. Qa5 $1 {was absolutely the only move. During the game I
saw the move, but by instinct simply didn't believe it could work. The engines
thinks otherwise though and gives an evaluation of 0.00... One of the main
points is} Re5 25. Nf4 g5 {and now} 26. Qc7 $1 {and by playing h3 next White
is surviving.}) 24... Re5 {Now there's no defence.} 25. Nf4 (25. Qf1 Rh5 {
just wins, as Rh3 Qh5 can't be stopped} 26. Nf4 Rxf4 27. gxf4 Qh4 {is mate
immediately.}) 25... g5 26. h3 (26. Nd5 Re6 {also wins immediately.}) 26... Qd7
27. Qxf3 {The best practical try, but of course still completely lost for
White.} Re7 $5 {trying to win the f4-knight for free.} 28. Rg2 (28. h4 $1 {
was the last practical try, but apart from slower methods, the concrete} gxf4
29. gxf4 b5 $1 {would be the most convincing. The point being} 30. cxb5 c4 $1
31. dxc4 Rxe4 $19 {and White is left without any practical chances.}) 28... Qc7
$1 {Now I am winning the knight for free and the game is over. Understandably
Duda played on until the time control, but the result was never in doubt.} 29.
Qh5 gxf4 30. gxf4 Qxf4 31. Qxc5 Qh4 32. Rg3 Kh8 33. Rag1 b6 34. Qd5 Qf4 35. c5
bxc5 36. Qxc5 Qe5 37. Qc6 Ref7 38. Rg5 Qf4 39. e5 $5 {the last trick before
move 40.} Qxf2 (39... Bxe5 $4 40. Qg2 {would actually be a draw!}) 40. Qe4 Re7
{Having reached move 40 without any more tricks available, Duda resigned.} 0-1

[Event "Tata Steel 83rd"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee"]
[Date "2021.01.21"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Grandelius, Nils"]
[Black "Vachier Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B97"]
[WhiteElo "2663"]
[BlackElo "2784"]
[Annotator "Grandelius, Nils"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "2021.01.16"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "NED"]
[EventCategory "19"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 200"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,69,58,31,100,90,82,111,93,36,65,64,94,68,112,50,42,41,43,43,43,22,52,
44,222,152,112,113,160,47,82,-29,35,47,51,51,51,29,30,32,179,167,127,139,150,
136,139,106,100,93,101,92,115,119,157,135,155,143,204,165,170,120,154,188,368,
265,325,542,497,453,453,416]} 1. e4 {Preparing for MVL is always an
interesting task, as he is so predictable, meaning that one's level of
preparation will always be put to the test. For the tournament in general I
had decided to play as aggressively as possible with White, and therefore the
choice of going into a mainline Najdorf came very naturally to me.} c5 2. Nf3
d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 $5 {Somewhat of a trend recently.
For a while White players started playing weirder and weirder 6th moves
against the Najdorf, but lately switching back to the old mainline has got
more popular. The downside is clear - it is very, very, well studied from both
sides, and the risk of ending up in a forced draw is much higher than if you
play a "random" 6th move. But the advantages are also clear - black is
generally walking a tightrope where a single mistake can be very costly.
Additionally, as theory evolves, it gets harder and harder to remember
everything and it is in fact quite rare that games are being drawn with both
players remembering everything.} e6 ({With Black, I have always played} 6...
Nbd7 {which is a bit less concrete than the Poisoned Pawn, but also gives
White more options to get "interesting play" if not an edge.}) 7. f4 Qb6 {
The poisoned pawn really is the main defence for Black against 6.Bg5, but my
feeling is that it will become less and less popular, as there are simply too
many options for White to keep track of. It is a very telling sign that Anish
Giri in his famous Chessable series does not recommend the Poisoned Pawn. Not
at all because it doesn't equalise, but just because it simply isn't practical!
} 8. Qd2 Qxb2 9. Rb1 Qa3 10. f5 $5 ({Later in the tournament, Caruana played
the rare} 10. Be2 {against MVL. Also here there are a few different ways to
equalise, but if you don't remember them, as MVL didn't, then you can very
quickly end up in a lost position!}) (10. e5 {is the main move in
correspondence chess, but the positions arising after for instance} dxe5 11.
fxe5 Nfd7 12. Ne4 h6 13. Bh4 Qxa2 14. Rd1 Qd5 {are very computerish and simply
too complex for me to understand!}) 10... Be7 $5 {The modern mainline, and in
a higher sense an attempt to limit the amount of theory needed to be
remembered.} (10... Nc6 {was traditionally the mainline and Kasparov's way of
playing. It is still considered to equalize, but there are so so many lines to
remember in order to survive.}) 11. fxe6 Bxe6 12. Nxe6 fxe6 13. Bc4 Nbd7 14.
Bxe6 Nc5 15. Bb3 $5 {A small surprise. Less common than 15.Bf5, but still very
much a main move.} (15. Bf5 {is the most popular move, with theory stretching
deep into the endgame.}) 15... Rc8 {MVL spent a few minutes here and there,
which gave me some hope that he did not remember all the details clearly, and
certainly hadn't revised the line earlier that day.} 16. O-O Nxb3 17. Rxb3 Qc5+
18. Be3 Qc4 {Still following the path of a few correspondence games.} (18...
Qc6 $2 {would allow} 19. Nd5 $1 {which gives White a nice initiative}) 19. Rf4
Qe6 $4 {A very surprising decision which I struggled to understand during the
game and is impossible to understand from the outside, but also one that I
think is quite typical for modern chess. The point was that MVL of course saw
the move Nh5, but considered it way too dangerous on general grounds to move
the knight again while the king is stuck in the centre. Therefore he concluded
that he had already mixed something up and that his position was very bad.
With me playing everything á tempo and him looking for practical chances he
decided to get his king into safety at the cost of a pawn, instead of risking
getting mated without counterplay. Had he instead been sure that the position
was still theory, he would have concluded that Nh5 is the only reasonable move.
} ({After the correspondence move} 19... Nh5 {White can continue the game in
various ways and Black still has quite a bit of defending to do, but as so
often in the Poisoned Pawn, it all likely ends up getting liquidated if Black
knows (and remembers!) everything. All correspondence games have been drawn,
but it's quite a different story with the clock ticking over the board!}) 20.
Rxb7 O-O {Now I am simply a free pawn up. Nevertheless, Black has a safe king
and the pawn structures for both sides are broken. The most important thing
though, and what I believe MVL underestimated, is how much more active my
minor pieces are. With the bishop coming to d4 and the knight always hinting
at d5 I have an eternal initiative as well as an extra pawn.} 21. h3 $1 {
A good move, keeping everything flexible.} (21. Nd5 $2 {would be a typical
mistake} Nxd5 22. exd5 Qe5 {Here all of my initiative is gone, and Black is
very active. During the game I thought this would have been a step in the
wrong direction, but the engine actually thinks most of my advantage is gone!})
21... Rb8 {Trading off my most active piece.} (21... Rc4 {is an empty shot
after} 22. Bd4) 22. Ra7 $1 {A simple, but important move. By including Ra7 I
win a tempo as the Black rook is passive on a8.} Ra8 {Not a fun move to play,
but it's simply imperative to trade off the rook on the 7th rank.} 23. Rxa8
Rxa8 24. Nd5 $2 {A nervous decision. Looking for clarity I got tempted to
trade more pieces, but things haven't really change from a few moves ago, and
my knight is still better than his.} (24. Bd4 {would still be very, very good
for me.}) 24... Rb8 $1 (24... Nxd5 $6 {I actually thought this was a must
during the game.} 25. exd5 Qg6 26. Rg4 Qf5 {and now I wanted to trade the
bishops with} 27. Bd4 Bf6 28. Bxf6 $1 Qxf6 29. Qe3 {The position has
transformed into a technical one. After having analysed it a bit it is still
unclear to me if it's winning or not, but for practical purposes it does not
matter that much. The extra pawn in itself is probably not enough for a win,
but the activity on the e-file, and e6-square, gives me good chances of
creating play against the black king. Practically speaking I believe it's an
almost impossible task to defend here as Black.}) 25. c4 $2 {Played pretty
quickly, but I did not go into the details as much as I needed, and this
actually turns out to be a pretty big mistake.} (25. Qd4 $5 {is very strong,
but difficult to see. The point is that after} Nxd5 26. exd5 Qg6 {I now have}
27. Qe4 $1 Qxe4 28. Rxe4 {with good winning chances, but by no means a clear
win.}) (25. Nxe7+ Qxe7 {is also possible, but feels pretty weird and not
something I considered seriously during the game}) 25... Bd8 $2 {Missing his
chance. The knight simply can't be tolerated on d5.} (25... Nxd5 $1 {I thought
this was very similar to taking on the previous move, but in fact it's an
important improvement for Black.} 26. exd5 Qg6 {Now much more counterplay than
on the previous move} 27. Rf1 {Is necessary. Of course I keep my extra pawn,
but there is no doubt things have gone in the wrong direction.} (27. Rg4 {
now allows} Qb1+ $1 {which gives quite a bit of counterplay}) 27... Bf6 28. Bd4
Bxd4+ 29. Qxd4 Re8 {considerably less clear than if he takes immediately}) 26.
Qf2 $5 {14.} (26. Qd3 $1 {defending the e4-pawn was more precise.} Nd7 27. Bd4
{is similar to the game}) 26... Nd7 $2 (26... h6 {was the last chance. I
thought it did not work due to} 27. Bd4 {but it turn out that there is no
direct win after} Nxe4 $1 28. Rf8+ Kh7 {It looks incredibly scary and I have
many promising options, but there is no nothing that wins immediately. One of
the main points is} 29. Qc2 (29. Rh8+ {looks like a typical mating idea, but}
Kxh8 30. Qf8+ Qg8 $1 {would be a cold shower!}) 29... Bb6 $1 {which is very
difficult to see and especially calculate correctly. I certainly wasn't close
at all during the game.} 30. Rxb8 Bxd4+ 31. Kf1 Qf5+ 32. Ke1 Bf2+ $1 33. Kd1
Ba7 $1 {is the very deeply hidden point. Now White has to find} 34. Rf8 $1 Qxf8
35. Qxe4+ $16 {with a promising edge, but definitely not a clear win.}) 27. Bd4
{Now I am back in full control without any counterplay.} Bg5 28. Rf5 Bh6 {
Now Black is very passive and not really threatening anything, but there also
isn't a direct forced win.} (28... h6 29. h4 {is also winning}) 29. Kh2 $5 {
I liked this quiet move, just stepping out of checks on the 1st rank and
highlighting Black's problems. There are simply no moves left for him.} Rc8 (
29... Qxe4 30. Rf7 Qe8 31. Re7 {loses immediately.}) 30. Qg3 g6 {Allowing a
tactical finish, but by this point the position is dead lost for Black.} (30...
Rxc4 31. Qb3 {wins immediately}) 31. Qh4 $1 Bf8 (31... gxf5 32. exf5 $18 {
with way too many threats for Black to handle.}) 32. Rf6 $1 {The last tactical
finesse.} Qe8 (32... Nxf6 33. Nxf6+ Kf7 34. Qxh7+ Bg7 {And here many moves are
very good, but I had intended} 35. Ng4 {with the the point} Rg8 36. Nh6+ {
and everything falls.}) 33. Rxf8+ Qxf8 (33... Kxf8 34. Qh6+ {is mate in 2.})
34. Ne7+ Kf7 35. Nxc8 {Black loses both h7 and g6 with check, therefore MVL
resigned.} 1-0

