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Anish Giri vs Ian Nepomniachtchi
Sinquefield Cup (2019), St Louis, MO USA, rd 11, Aug-28
Gruenfeld Defense: Brinckmann Attack. Grünfeld Gambit Capablanca Variation (D83)  ·  1-0

8
7
6
5
4
3
2
a
1
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
White to move.
ANALYSIS [x]
1-0

rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1
FEN COPIED

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Kibitzer's Corner
Aug-29-19
Premium Chessgames Member
  An Englishman: Good Evening: 4 v. 3 Rook endgames where all the pawns sit on one side of the board are allegedly drawn most of the time, but the stronger side tends to win in practice. This game will go into the manuals because White won with a bad pawn structure which should have made this impossible.
Aug-29-19  spazzky: I think Nepo failed to keep the White king out
Aug-29-19  spazzky: 72... Rg3 drives the engine mad
Aug-29-19  Ulhumbrus: If Giri thought that he might win this ending he succeeded.
Aug-29-19  goodevans: <spazzky: 72... Rg3 drives the engine mad>

Of course it does. 72...Rg3 is a dreadful move.

I'm no expert on R and P endings and it took me a while to work out why it's such a bad move but once you see it it's clear. The clue is in Giri's previous move, <72.Ra4>.

Black's backward g-pawn is doomed but black can gobble up one of the white pawns in return. Giri realises his only chance of winning is with the connected e- and f-pawns so he's happy to give up the h-pawn and drops the R back to defend the all-important f-pawn.

A player of Nepo's caliber should have realised the same thing but with <72...Rg3?> he relinquishes his attack of the f-pawn. This frees white's R to do it's worst.

<72...Kf7> would have saved the game.


click for larger view

White can win the g-pawn by force but only if he gives up his f-pawn and with it any chance of winning.

Aug-29-19
Premium Chessgames Member
  woldsmandriffield:


click for larger view

In recent tournaments, aspects of Nepo's play are the chess equivalent of Nick Kyrgios.

Here Black played 58..Re1. Its not a losing move but its still a shocking move. With the Black Rook on g1 there is nothing doing in the position. Nepo can move his King to any square and there's simply nothing doing at all.

In the game he lets the White King march up to h6. After that there is some work to do and care is needed. But Nepo didn't calculate anything and didn't take care.

Returning to Kyrgios, he is capable of unbelievable tennis and has incredible gifts. Nepo is the same: a special talent. Both both players share a tendency to self-destruct and do crass things.

Aug-29-19
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: Let us hope Nepo is easier to deal with on a personal level than Kyrgios.

As to Nepo and criticisms I have recently read of his rapid play, Anand came under fire for that trait early in his career at elite level before turning into the monster he became.

Aug-29-19  OrangeTulip: Great game by Giri!
Aug-29-19  csmath: Great game my foot.

First Giri avoids the most open lines of Grunfeld opting for safety reaching completely even position out of opening. After 26th white move:


click for larger view

Of course, it was Nepo that deviates and wants to play more with a dubious temporary pawn sacrifice (?)

26. ...Bd3?! (truly strange and totally unprovoked move.) which after inaccurate move

29. ...Bf6? [Qxa2 of course]
30. Be5 Qxa2
31. Ra1

becomes true pawn sacrifice without compensation!


click for larger view

Gir continued in totally expected way and of course, couldn't find the way to win.

After 30 move fiddle without any progress Nepo makes another one of his howlers:

72. ...Rg3??

which allows white to get connected passers and elementarily won endgame.

Giri won a game with no "guilt" of his own.


click for larger view

[both h-pawn and f-pawn are doomed]

There were plenty of opportunity that Black could have made a draw cemented, for example here:

After 64th move of white:


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64. ...Rg2
and then Rg1-Rg2-Rg1 etc. White can do nothing. If white decides to push pawns then exchange one and Re2 (Re1) - Re3 closing the white king again. Black king would just go g7-h6 not allowing white king any way to h6.

But of course one needs to think a while for all this and Nepo could not bear a thought that he needs to play slower and think, apparently.

Aug-30-19  csmath: Yup, most rook endgames are drawn but that does not mean they are trivial so that one can play them with 10 seconds per move all the way.
Aug-30-19  sfm: So many odd black moves in the endgame.

Many has been commented on. Most mysterious to me is that Black also missed the simple 65.-,Kg7

Instead he played 65.-,Kf7(??)
Having White's king walking to h6 is obviously dangerous, even though I read it would still have been a draw.

65.-,Kg7 is an easy draw:


click for larger view

66.Kg5,Rg2+ and White got no further.

White can play 66.Re6 (which 65.-,Kf7 prevented) (or 66.Ra3, makes no difference)

After -,Rf1 67.Kg3,h4+ White must choose:

68.Kxh4,Rxf3
White to move:


click for larger view

Nothing to do.

or

68.Kg2,Ra1

White to move:


click for larger view

Black will check, and to even try to win, White must abandon his h-pawn which clearly will not work.

Easy to calculate (if I didn't miss something). Much easier than having the white king walking into Black's position.

But chess is filled with our mysterious decisions.

Ian Nepomniachtchi - the most winning and losing player of Sinquefield Cup 2019.

The kind of people we need more of in tournaments.

Sep-01-19
Premium Chessgames Member
  MissScarlett: <Face-plant> https://twitter.com/olimpiuurcan/st...
Apr-15-21  nummerzwei: Another way to hold the draw was 63...Kg7!? 64. Kh4 Kh6.

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