[Event "42nd Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.04"]
[Round "3.1"]
[White "Adams, Michael"]
[Black "Bareev, Evgeny"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C06"]
[WhiteElo "2738"]
[BlackElo "2675"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "63"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteTeam "England"]
[BlackTeam "Canada"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "ENG"]
[BlackTeamCountry "CAN"]
[WhiteClock "0:05:21"]
[BlackClock "0:00:40"]

1. e4 e6 {A strange game. White offers to play a gambit, Black declines with a
dubious side-line, and White (should) have a winning position by move 15.
Adams plays less incisively, missing several opportunities for a winning
attack, but he is always clearly better and wins by dominating the light
squares.} 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. Ngf3 Nf6 5. e5 Nfd7 6. c3 Nc6 7. Bd3 {Diagram 
[#] The game has transposed to the Universal System of the French Tarrasch.
The critical test used to be ...Qb6, when White is prepared to give up the
d4-pawn for rapid development. However, White clearly has enough comp for the
pawn, so Black has looked for ways to avoid it:} f6 (7... h6 $5 {transposes to
positions more often arising from 3...h6.}) (7... g5 $5 8. h3 h5 {when Black's
results have been OK.}) (7... g6 8. h4 h6 {is recommended by Berg in his "GM
Repertoire: The French Vol.3" (Quality, 2015).}) (7... Qb6 8. O-O cxd4 9. cxd4
Nxd4 10. Nxd4 Qxd4 11. Nf3 {[#] Analysis Diagram This is the main line of the
Korchnoi gambit, with a position which is very similar to the Milner-Barry
gambit against the Advance French, but here Black's N is on d7 rather than his
B; that difference is bad for Black, who cannot comfortably complete
development with ...Ng8-e7-c6 as in the MBG. The following game shows just how
unpleasant Black's position can become:} Qb6 12. Qa4 Qb4 13. Qc2 h6 (13... Nc5
{is the modern try,} 14. Bd2 Qa4 {and White scores well after either b3 or
Bxh7.}) 14. Bd2 Qb6 15. Rac1 Be7 16. Qa4 Qd8 17. Rc2 Kf8 (17... O-O 18. Qg4 {
with a huge initiative.}) 18. Rfc1 Nb6 19. Qg4 Bd7 20. Ba5 Rc8 21. Rxc8 Bxc8
22. Bb4 g6 23. Qh4 g5 24. Nxg5 Ke8 25. Bb5+ (25. Bxe7 $1 Qxe7 26. f4 $1 $18)
25... Bd7 26. Nxe6 $1 fxe6 (26... Bxh4 27. Ng7#) 27. Qh5+ Kf8 28. Rc3 Rh7 29.
Qg6 Rg7 30. Qxh6 $1 Bxb4 31. Rg3 {1-0 Kortschnoi,V-Udovcic,M Leningrad, 1967.})
8. exf6 (8. Ng5 {was tried by Tal, who bluffed Bronstein into avoiding the
critical (and hugely advantageous for Black) ...fxg5.} fxg5 $1 (8... Ndxe5 $6
9. dxe5 fxg5 10. Qh5+ Kd7 11. Nf3 g6 12. Bxg6 g4 13. Ng5 Nxe5 14. Nxh7 Nxg6 15.
Qxg6 Be7 $14 {(½-½, 34) Tal,M-Bronstein,D Moscow, 1966.}) 9. Qh5+ g6 {
[#]Analysis Diagram} 10. Bxg6+ hxg6 11. Qxg6+ (11. Qxh8 cxd4 $19) 11... Ke7 $19
{with the critical line going:} 12. Ne4 Ndxe5 $8 13. Bxg5+ Kd7 14. Nf6+ Kc7 15.
Ne8+ Qxe8 (15... Kb8 $4 16. Bxd8 Nxg6 17. Bc7#) 16. Qxe8 Bg7 {trapping the Q!}
17. Bd8+ Kb8 $19 {(0-1, 34) Rjabzev,K (2406)-Kosyrev,V (2537) St Petersburg,
2006.}) 8... Nxf6 9. O-O Bd6 $6 (9... cxd4 $142 {avoids the space gaining pawn
pushes and breaks which tear apart Black's center in this game.} 10. cxd4 Bd6
11. Re1 $14 (11. b3 $14)) 10. dxc5 $1 Bxc5 11. b4 $1 Bd6 12. b5 $1 Ne7 13. c4
$1 {Diagram [#] Black's position is already difficult.} e5 $2 (13... O-O $142)
14. cxd5 $1 Nexd5 $6 15. Ne4 $16 {Good enough for a clear advantage, but White
is winning if he switches to an attack on the a2-g8 diagonal:} (15. Bc4 $142 $1
{looks like a nearly forced win; e.g.} Be6 16. Ng5 (16. Qb3 $18 {is also very
strong.}) 16... Bg8 17. Bb2 $18 {I don't think Black can survive long enough
to get his K out of the firing lines.}) 15... Nxe4 16. Bxe4 Nf6 (16... Nc3 17.
Qd3 Nxe4 18. Qxe4 Qf6 (18... O-O $2 19. Ng5 g6 20. Qd5+ Kg7 21. Bb2 $18) 19.
Bb2 $16) 17. Bg5 O-O 18. Rc1 Qe7 {[#]} 19. Bxf6 (19. Qc2 Kh8 (19... h6 $2 20.
Bh7+ Kh8 21. Nh4 $18) 20. Bxh7 e4 $1 21. Bxf6 Qxf6 22. Bxe4 Bg4 {looks like
Black might get some counterplay, though computers rate White as nearly
winning with accurate defence; e.g.} 23. Qb3 Qf4 24. Rc4 $8 Bxf3 (24... Be6
$142 $1 25. Bd5 Bxd5 26. Rxf4 Bxb3 27. Rh4+ $16) 25. g3 $8 $18 {White gets the
piece back because of the mate threat:} Qf7 26. Bxf3 Qxf3 27. Rh4+ {mates})
19... gxf6 20. Nh4 Bb4 {[#]} 21. Rc4 (21. Rxc8 $1 {is more brutal, and a
surprising move for a player of Adams' class to miss:} Rfxc8 22. Nf5 $18 {
and the Q is overloaded, so Black has to give up the B to Qb3+ or an exchange
and a pawn to Bxb7.}) 21... Ba5 22. Nf5 Bxf5 23. Bxf5 Rad8 24. Qh5 $16 Kh8 25.
Qh3 Rd4 26. Rfc1 Rfd8 27. g3 Qf7 28. Rxd4 exd4 29. Rd1 {[#]Material is equal,
and Black has a passed pawn, but White is clearly better because Black's pawn
can't advance and Black is very weak on the light squares. Adams activates his
R and the game is over.} b6 $6 (29... Bc3 30. Rd3 {is similar to the game.})
30. Rd3 (30. Qh4 $1 Bc3 31. Bxh7 $18) 30... Bb4 31. Rf3 Rf8 32. Rf4 {There's
no defence to Rh4 or Rxd4.} 1-0

[Event "42nd Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.04"]
[Round "3.2"]
[White "Kovalyov, Anton"]
[Black "Howell, David W L"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D90"]
[WhiteElo "2617"]
[BlackElo "2665"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "107"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteTeam "Canada"]
[BlackTeam "England"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "CAN"]
[BlackTeamCountry "ENG"]
[WhiteClock "0:13:10"]
[BlackClock "0:00:40"]

1. c4 Nf6 {A very lucky escape: White mishandles the early middlegame in an
anti-Grunfeld and is clearly worse. Black trades down to a winning Rook ending,
but Howell grossly misplays it (in his habitual time trouble) and White scores
the win.} 2. Nf3 g6 3. Nc3 {a popular anti-Grunfeld line,} d5 {but Black
insists on playing Gruenfeld-style.} 4. cxd5 Nxd5 {[#]} 5. Qb3 {White has more
savage options:} (5. Qa4+ Bd7 6. Qh4 Nxc3 7. bxc3 Nc6 {1/2-1/2 (38) Vitiugov,N
(2709)-Svidler,P (2722) Moscow 2010}) (5. h4 Bg7 6. h5 Nc6 7. g3 Bg4 $13 {
1-0 (39) Ding,L (2782)-Wei,Y (2734) Baku 2015}) 5... Nb6 6. d4 Bg7 7. Bf4 Be6
8. Qa3 c5 $5 {A good pawn sac for piece activity. ...Nc6 is also played, but
it doesn't pose the same challenge for White.} (8... Nc6 9. e3 $14) 9. Qxc5 (9.
dxc5 Nc4 10. Qa4+ Nd7 {and Black has too much activity while White is too far
behind in development.}) 9... Nc6 10. e4 {[#]} Rc8 (10... Nd7 11. Qa3 Nxd4 12.
Nxd4 Bxd4 13. Bb5 $14 {1-0 (31) Xiong,J (2641)-Troff,K (2543) Saint Louis US
U20, 2016}) (10... Nxd4 11. Nxd4 Bxd4 12. Bb5+ Kf8 13. Qa3 a6 14. Be2 Qc8 15.
O-O Qc5 16. Bh6+ Ke8 17. Qxc5 Bxc5 18. Rac1 $14 {½-½ (67) Radjabov,T (2738)
-Sevian,S (2556) Baku, 2015.}) 11. Bb5 (11. Qa3 {as in the Xiong game above
and Radjabov game below.}) 11... O-O 12. Bxc6 Rxc6 13. Qb4 {[#]} f5 $146 (13...
Rc4 14. Qa3 Bxd4 15. Nxd4 Rxd4 16. O-O a6 17. b3 Re8 18. Rfd1 Rxd1+ 19. Rxd1
$14 {½-½ (78) Radjabov,T (2738)-Vachier Lagrave,M (2758) Berlin (blitz),
2015.}) 14. Be5 $6 (14. Ne5 $13) (14. d5 $2 Rc4 $19 {followed by ...Bxc3+ and .
..Rxe4.}) 14... fxe4 15. Ng5 $6 (15. Nxe4) 15... Bc4 16. Bxg7 Kxg7 {Diagram [#]
White can't hold the pawn and get his King to safety, so he returns it to try
to uncoordinate Black a little.} 17. d5 (17. O-O-O $4 Bd3 $1 (17... Rxf2 $1)) (
17. Rd1 e3 $1 18. fxe3 e6 19. h4 Qc7 $19) 17... Nxd5 18. Nxd5 (18. Qxc4 Rxc4
19. Ne6+ Kf6 20. Nxd8 Rxd8 $17) 18... Bxd5 19. Rd1 Kg8 (19... Rf5 $1 20. Nxe4
Qc7 $17 {threatening ...Rc4, Black has a huge lead in development and that
ought to turn into a few extra pawns.} (20... Re5 $2 21. Qd4 $14)) 20. O-O e6
21. Nxe4 Qb6 22. Rd4 Qxb4 23. Rxb4 a5 24. Rd4 Rc2 25. Nc3 Rxb2 26. Nxd5 exd5 {
Diagram [#]} 27. a4 (27. Rxd5 Rxa2 28. Rb5 Rf7 $19 {pressure on f2 (and along
the 2nd rank after ...Rc7) prevents White from going after the b-pawn.}) 27...
Rd8 28. Re1 Rd7 29. h3 Kf7 30. Re5 b6 31. Rexd5 Rxd5 32. Rxd5 {[#]} Ke6 (32...
Rb4 {also looks good enough to win, but it can result in some tempi-sensitive
races which it's prudent for a player in time trouble to avoid.} 33. Rd7+ (33.
Rb5 $2 Rxb5 34. axb5 a4 $19) 33... Ke6 34. Rb7 (34. Rxh7 Rxa4 {looks winning.})
34... Kd5 35. g4 Kc5 (35... b5 $2 36. axb5 Kc5 37. Rxh7 Rxb5 38. Ra7 Kb6 39.
Ra8 Kb7 40. Rd8 a4 {White has enough play for a draw.}) 36. Rc7+ Kd4 37. Rb7
Kc3 $19) 33. Rd3 Rb4 34. Ra3 Kd5 35. g4 g5 36. Kg2 {[#]} Kc4 (36... b5 $5 37.
axb5 a4 $1 $17 (37... Rxb5 $2 38. h4 $1 $11)) 37. h4 $1 h6 38. h5 $2 (38. hxg5
$1 hxg5 39. f4 $11) 38... Kc5 39. Kg3 Rc4 $2 (39... b5 $1 40. axb5 a4 $19) 40.
Rf3 $1 Rxa4 41. Rf5+ $1 Kd4 42. Rf6 b5 43. Rxh6 Ra1 44. Rd6+ Kc3 45. Rc6+ Kd4
46. Kg2 {[#] Preventing ...Rh1. Computers rate this as equal, but Black may
already be lost.} Re1 47. h6 Re8 (47... Re4 48. f3 Re2+ 49. Kg3 Re7 (49... b4
50. Rd6+ Kc4 51. Rd8 Re7 52. f4 $18) 50. Rd6+ $1 Kc3 (50... Ke5 51. Rg6 $1 $18)
(50... Kc5 51. Rg6 $18) 51. f4 Re3+ 52. Kf2 gxf4 53. g5 Rh3 54. Rd7 a4 55. h7
a3 56. g6 a2 57. Ra7 $18) 48. f4 $1 $18 gxf4 49. g5 Ke3 50. g6 f3+ 51. Kf1 Rd8
52. Re6+ Kf4 53. g7 Rd1+ 54. Re1 1-0

[Event "42nd Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.04"]
[Round "3.3"]
[White "Jones, Gawain C B"]
[Black "Lesiege, Alexandre"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B13"]
[WhiteElo "2635"]
[BlackElo "2497"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "57"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteTeam "England"]
[BlackTeam "Canada"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "ENG"]
[BlackTeamCountry "CAN"]
[WhiteClock "0:24:36"]
[BlackClock "0:02:23"]

1. c4 c5 {This is Alex's one bad game of the Olympiad... and it's due pretty
much to one bad move.} 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 g6 4. e3 Nf6 5. d4 cxd4 6. exd4 d5 7.
Bg5 Be6 8. Bxf6 exf6 9. c5 Bg7 10. Bb5 O-O 11. h3 {Diagram [#]} g5 $5 {Not as
crazy as it looks. Black has a choice of which of his Bs he will bury behind
his pawns. Le Siege burries the Bg7 and (maybe?) hopes for activity with ...g4
or (long term) ...Bf8 over to c7. In the game below, Bolgan played ...f5 and
turned the Be6 into a big pawn and had no play.} (11... Bf5 12. O-O Be4 13. Nh2
a6 14. Bxc6 bxc6 15. Qa4 Qc7 {(1-0, 45) Jones,G (2642)-Idani,P (2496)
Reykjavik, 2015.}) (11... Ne7 12. O-O f5 13. Re1 h6 14. Qd2 a6 15. Ba4 b5 16.
cxb6 Qxb6 17. Bb3 Qb4 18. Rad1 a5 19. Na4 Rfb8 20. Qe3 Qd6 21. Nc5 f4 $1 {
and although White kept pressure he wasn't able to turn it into anything.} 22.
Qe2 {Vachier Lagrave,M (2710)-Bologan,V (2665) Melilla, 2011.}) 12. O-O Ne7 13.
Bd3 Qd7 14. Re1 h5 $4 {[#]} (14... Ng6 {or}) (14... Nc6) 15. Nh2 $1 {Black
must have overlooked this not-too-uncommon defence against ...g4, because he's
already almost lost: Black's kingside is all targets and White has an attack
for free.} h4 (15... g4 {bad, but maybe best;} 16. hxg4 hxg4 17. Nxg4 Bxg4 18.
Rxe7 Qxe7 19. Qxg4 $16 {White will win another pawn and have excellent light
square play.}) 16. Qh5 $1 Rfe8 17. Nb5 $1 Bf5 (17... Nc8 {defending d6 and f7}
18. f4 gxf4 19. Nf3 $18) 18. Nd6 $1 Bxd3 (18... Rf8 19. Rxe7 $18) 19. Qxf7+ Kh8
20. Nxe8 Rxe8 21. Ng4 {[#] Material is almost equal (Rp vs BB) but Black can
hardly move while White starts chopping.} Qd8 (21... Bg6 22. Rxe7 $8 Qxe7 23.
Qxg6 {is a slower way to lose:} Qe4 24. Qh5+ Kg8 25. Ne3 Re7 26. Rd1 $18 {
White's up a pawn with a safer K and better minor piece.}) (21... f5 22. Ne5
Bxe5 23. Rxe5 $18 {with threat of Re6-h6 or doubling on the e-file.}) 22. Nxf6
$8 $18 Bxf6 23. Qxf6+ Kg8 24. Qxg5+ Ng6 25. Rxe8+ Qxe8 26. Qxd5+ Kh8 27. Qxb7
Bb5 28. Qf3 Qe7 29. a4 1-0

[Event "42nd Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.04"]
[Round "3.4"]
[White "Hansen, Eric"]
[Black "Short, Nigel D"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C73"]
[WhiteElo "2582"]
[BlackElo "2666"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "129"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteTeam "Canada"]
[BlackTeam "England"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "CAN"]
[BlackTeamCountry "ENG"]
[WhiteClock "0:00:41"]
[BlackClock "0:05:47"]

1. e4 e5 {English veteran Nigel Short -- about whom it seems obligatory to
note that he is the oldest player in the FIDE top 100 -- had a good Olympiad:
he scored 6.5/9 including wins as Black against opponents from China and
Azerbaijan, losing only one game, to Indian GM Sethuraman.  A tough game.
Short plays a 4...d6 Lopez, White gets pressure but Short's Nf7 holds him
together in the center and kingside. Eric has chances to convert in a Q and R
position, but can't find it in time pressure and the game ends in a draw.} 2.
Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. Bxc6+ bxc6 6. d4 {[#]} f6 (6... exd4 7. Qxd4 Nf6
8. O-O Be7 9. e5 c5 $1 10. Qd3 dxe5 $1 $11 {½-½ (26) Kasparov,G (2805)-Short,
N (2655) WCh (g19) London, 1993.}) 7. c4 g6 (7... Ne7 8. Nc3 c5 9. dxc5 dxc5
10. Qxd8+ Kxd8 11. b3 Nc6 12. O-O Nd4 13. Ne1 Bd6 14. Nd3 Bd7 15. Rb1 a5 16.
Ba3 Ne6 17. Rfd1 Ke7 $11 {0-1 (59) Trott,A-Euwe,M Beverwijk, 1953.}) 8. Nc3 Bg7
(8... Nh6 9. Qa4 Bd7 10. c5 $1 Nf7 11. O-O dxc5 12. dxe5 fxe5 13. Be3 $16 Bd6
14. Qc4 Qe7 15. Na4 Be6 16. Qc2 c4 17. Nd2 O-O 18. Nxc4 {led to an win at the
Olympiad for Canadian champion Frank Anderson: 1-0 (43) Anderson,F-De Greif,B 
(2370) Amsterdam Ol, 1954.}) 9. h3 Nh6 10. Be3 O-O 11. Qd2 Nf7 12. O-O Qe7 13.
dxe5 fxe5 14. c5 h6 {[#] Unlike the Anderson game above, Short is unwilling to
be saddled with three weak pawns on the c-file.} (14... a5) 15. Rfd1 Be6 16.
Qc2 Kh7 17. Rd2 Rfb8 18. Rad1 a5 19. b3 Bf8 20. cxd6 cxd6 21. Na4 Qe8 22. Ne1
g5 23. Nd3 Be7 24. Ndb2 Kg7 25. Nc4 Bxc4 26. Qxc4 Rb4 27. Qc2 Ra6 28. f3 $16 {
Diagram [#]A strange position: White looks better (and computers rate this as
around +1.3) but Black seems to have some kind of hanging pawns fortress. Even
if White transfers his B to a3, capturing the d6 pawn would still cost an
exchange. Bringing the N to c4 would allow counterplay with ...a4. White could
pile up on c6, but ...Nd8 holds there. White has as much d-file pressure as he
can get, but doesn't see a way to make progress... so he starts shuffling.} Qc8
29. Nc3 Qe6 30. Rd3 Kg8 31. Na4 Rb5 32. Nc3 Rb4 33. Qe2 Ra8 34. Rc1 Bf8 35. Qc2
Ra6 36. Rcd1 Rb8 37. Bc1 Rc8 38. Qe2 Raa8 39. Na4 $6 {[#]} (39. Be3 $142) 39...
d5 $1 {Breaks the bind.} 40. Qc2 (40. Nb6 $2 Bc5+ 41. Be3 Bxb6 42. Bxb6 c5 $1 {
traps the Bb6.}) (40. exd5 $5 cxd5 41. Bb2 Rd8 $14) 40... Rab8 41. Bd2 Rb5 42.
exd5 cxd5 43. Rc3 Rbb8 44. Rc1 Rxc3 45. Qxc3 Ba3 46. Qc6 Qf5 47. Re1 d4 48. Nb6
Bb4 49. g4 Qd3 50. Bxb4 axb4 {[#]} 51. Nd7 (51. Nd5 $1 Qd2 52. Rf1 d3 53. Qc7
Rf8 54. Ne7+ Kh7 55. Qc6 $18 {with a winning attack.}) 51... Rd8 $1 52. Nxe5 (
52. Nf6+ $5 Kg7 53. Ne4 {keeps more attacking uinits around Black's K.} Qxf3 $2
54. Rf1 $18) 52... Nxe5 53. Rxe5 Rf8 $1 {Diagram [#]At this point all the
other games had been decided, and England led 2-1, so Eric needed to win the
game to draw the match.} 54. Kf2 (54. Qd5+ Kh8 55. Re6 Qd1+ 56. Kf2 Qd2+ 57.
Re2 Qf4 58. Kg2 Rf7 {and how does White make progress?}) 54... Rf7 55. Qe4 Qd2+
56. Qe2 {[#]} Qf4 (56... Qxe2+ 57. Kxe2 (57. Rxe2 Rd7 58. Rd2 Kf7 {and how
does White make any progress?}) 57... Ra7 58. Kd3 Rxa2 59. Kxd4 Rc2 $14) 57.
Re8+ $138 (57. Kg2 $142 {threatens Re4 and if ...Qd6 then Re6 wins the h-pawn.}
Rd7 58. Rxg5+ $1 hxg5 59. Qe8+ Kh7 60. Qxd7+ {again, White is clearly better,
but Black's b4 and g5 pawns are both blocking two White pawns.}) 57... Kg7 58.
Qe5+ $6 Qxe5 59. Rxe5 Ra7 60. Rb5 (60. Re2 Kf6 61. Rd2 (61. Rc2 Ke5 62. Ke2 Kf4
$11) 61... Ke5 $11) 60... Rxa2+ 61. Kg3 Rb2 62. Rxb4 d3 63. Rb5 Kf6 64. h4 Rb1
65. Rd5 {Frustratingly good defence from the English old-timer.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "42nd Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.05"]
[Round "4.17"]
[White "Bareev, Evgeny"]
[Black "Ali, Muhammad Lutfi"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A41"]
[WhiteElo "2675"]
[BlackElo "2411"]
[Annotator "Evgeny Bareev"]
[PlyCount "87"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteTeam "Canada"]
[BlackTeam "Indonesia"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "CAN"]
[BlackTeamCountry "INA"]

{Before the game the captain of our team admonished us about the importance of
winning every game in this match. An advantage in individual points should
have given us easier parings in the last rounds.} 1. d4 d6 2. Nf3 {Cowardly
nevertheless; in my prime, I played 2.e4.} g6 3. Bf4 Nf6 4. e3 Bg7 5. h3 O-O 6.
Be2 c5 {Diagram [#]} 7. Na3 {White should have played:} (7. O-O {I was
intimidated by} Qb6 {but after} 8. Na3 Qxb2 $6 (8... Be6 $1 9. c4 $11) 9. Nc4
Qc3 $2 10. Rb1 $18 {the Queen is trapped.}) 7... b6 8. O-O Bb7 9. Bh2 Nbd7 10.
Rc1 a6 (10... Rc8 11. c4 Ne4 {emphisizes the clumsy position of the knight on
a3.}) 11. c4 Rc8 12. d5 b5 {Diagram [#]Critical Position} 13. Nd2 $6 {Too
optimistic. The reason for it was that there was now only 30 minutes on the
clock of my contemplative opponent.} (13. Qc2 Re8 14. e4 b4 15. Nb1 e5 16. Ne1
a5 17. Nd2 Bh6 $11 {was correct.}) 13... Nxd5 $1 $17 {At this moment I noticed
our captain turn pale. His plan did not seem to be working properly. Black
could force a draw after:} (13... Qa5 14. e4 (14. Nb3 Qa4 15. Nd2 Qxd1 (15...
Qa5 $11) 16. Rfxd1 Nb6 $11) (14. Qc2 b4 15. Nb3 Qc7 16. Nb1 $15) 14... b4 15.
Nc2 Qxa2 16. Ra1 (16. b3 Qa5 $15) 16... Qxb2 17. Rb1 $11) 14. cxd5 Bxb2 15.
Nab1 Bxc1 16. Qxc1 Bxd5 17. Nc3 {Diagram [#]} Be6 {Black has a material
advantage and 3 connected passed pawns. White has only his belief in the
endless resources of the game.} (17... Bc6 18. e4 c4 (18... e5 19. f4 c4 $15)
19. Bf4 Nc5 20. Bh6 Re8 $15) 18. e4 Nb6 {Wrong plan. Instead, the primitive
and straightforward:} (18... c4 19. Nf3 (19. a3 f6 20. Nf3 Nc5 21. Nd4 Bd7 22.
Rd1 $17) 19... b4 20. Nd5 Bxd5 21. exd5 Qa5 {left White with few chances to
survive.}) 19. Bf3 c4 (19... b4 20. Nd5 Bxd5 21. exd5 c4 22. Bf4 a5 23. Re1 a4
24. Bh6 Re8 25. Qd1 $44) 20. Bf4 {Diagram [#]} d5 $2 {It was not too late to
change the plan and consider pushing his queenside pawns:} (20... b4 21. Nd5 a5
22. Bh6 Re8 23. Re1 c3 24. Nb3 Nc4 25. Nd4 Ne5 26. Be2 Bxd5 27. exd5 Rc5 $17)
21. exd5 {I could breath freely now. White has full compensation due to his
minor piece activity and threats on the king side.} Nxd5 22. Bh6 {Diagram [#]}
Nxc3 $2 {Luring my Queen to the long diagonal was not the best idea. A bit
strange, but rather balanced position would arise after:} (22... Nb4 23. Nxb5 (
23. Bxf8 $11) 23... Nxa2 24. Qe1 Qb6 25. Nc3 Nxc3 26. Qe5 f6 27. Qxc3 Rfd8 $11
{I would prefer Black here.}) 23. Qxc3 f6 24. Ne4 (24. Bxf8 Kxf8 25. Ne4 Bf5
26. Re1 $14) 24... Bf5 25. Qe3 {Diagram [#]} Qd3 $1 (25... Re8 26. Rd1 Qc7 27.
Bf4 Qa5 28. Ng3 Bd3 (28... e5 29. Bg5 $3 $14) 29. Qe6+ Kg7 30. Bd5 $16) 26. Qa7
Qd7 $1 (26... Bxe4 27. Rd1 Qa3 28. Bxf8 Ra8 29. Qd7 Rxf8 30. Bxe4 $16) 27. Qxa6
Rfd8 {White could still have kept some initiative after:} (27... Bxe4 $5 28.
Bxe4 Rfd8 29. Re1 c3 30. Bc2 $14) 28. Nc3 {Diagram [#]} b4 $2 {A natural move,
but wrong. The less natural} (28... Kf7 $1 29. g4 (29. Nxb5 c3 $132) 29... Bd3
30. Re1 g5 31. h4 {would have made our pulses race.}) 29. Nd5 b3 30. axb3 cxb3
31. Qa3 Kf7 32. Nb6 Qb5 33. Nxc8 Rxc8 34. Re1 {Diagram [#]} Be6 {More
tenacious was:} (34... Re8 $1 35. Bd1 (35. Be2 Bd3 36. Bxd3 Qxd3 37. Bc1 e5 38.
Re3 Qd1+ 39. Kh2 $18) 35... Be6 36. Rxe6 $1 b2 37. Rxf6+ $1 Kxf6 38. Qf3+ $8
Ke6 39. Bb3+ $8 Kd6 40. Qd1+ Kc6 (40... Ke5 $4 41. Bg7+ {#1}) 41. Qc2+ Kb7 42.
Qxb2 $18) 35. Bg4 $18 f5 36. Qb2 fxg4 37. Qg7+ Ke8 38. Rxe6 Qc5 39. Be3 Qb4 40.
Rb6 Qe1+ 41. Kh2 g3+ 42. Kxg3 Qc3 43. Qg8+ Kd7 44. Qe6+ {Black resigned, and
our 4-0 score became reality.} 1-0

[Event "42nd Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.05"]
[Round "4.25"]
[White "Bareev, Evgeny"]
[Black "Ali, Muhammad Lutfi"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A48"]
[WhiteElo "2675"]
[BlackElo "2411"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "87"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteClock "0:34:20"]
[BlackClock "0:21:38"]

1. d4 d6 {White plays carelessly in the opening and falls into a terrible
position by move 13; but Black wastes his queenside pawns to allow White to
turn the tables.} 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bf4 Nf6 4. e3 Bg7 5. h3 O-O 6. Be2 {Diagram [#]}
(6. Bd3 {can leave the B exposed to ...e5-e4.}) 6... c5 (6... Nfd7 7. Bh2 e5 8.
Nc3 Nc6 {is the usual recipe for equalizing, when Black's dark-square pawns
blunt the Bh2 (...for now).} 9. O-O Re8 10. Re1 a6 11. a4 b6 12. Bc4 Bb7 13.
Bd5 Rb8 14. dxe5 dxe5 15. Qe2 Qe7 16. Rad1 Nc5 17. Qc4 a5 $11 {1-0 (70)
Carlsen,M (2850)-Radjabov,T (2738) Berlin 2015}) 7. Na3 $6 $146 {An
unsuccessful Novelty, as the Na3 will have nowhere to go.} (7. c3 Qb6 8. Qb3
Be6 9. Qxb6 axb6 10. a3 Bd5 11. O-O Bc6 12. Nbd2 Nbd7 13. Rfe1 Rfd8 14. Bh2 b5
$11 {0-1 (54) Morozevich,A (2722)-Grischuk,A (2777) Loo 2014}) 7... b6 $1 {
Now the Na3 won't be able to stop ...b5 for long, and it can't get to e5 since
on dxc5 Black will recapture with the b-pawn.} 8. O-O Bb7 9. Bh2 Nbd7 10. Rc1
a6 11. c4 Rc8 12. d5 b5 $11 (12... Nxd5 $5) 13. Nd2 $2 (13. Qc2 $11) 13... Nxd5
$1 $17 14. cxd5 Bxb2 15. Nab1 Bxc1 16. Qxc1 Bxd5 $17 {Diagram [#]} 17. Nc3 Be6
18. e4 Nb6 (18... c4 19. a3 Nc5) 19. Bf3 c4 (19... b4 20. Nd5 Bxd5 21. exd5 c4
$17) 20. Bf4 {Diagram [#]} d5 $2 {Breaking in the center when the opponent has
the B-pair??} (20... b4 $142 $1 21. Nd5 a5 $17) (20... Nd7 $142 $15) 21. exd5
Nxd5 22. Bh6 $13 Nxc3 23. Qxc3 f6 24. Ne4 Bf5 25. Qe3 Qd3 (25... Re8 26. Rd1
Qc7 $13) 26. Qa7 $1 (26. Qxd3 cxd3 27. Bxf8 Kxf8 28. Rd1 $14) 26... Qd7 27.
Qxa6 Rfd8 28. Nc3 {[#]} b4 $6 (28... Kf7 29. Nxb5 c3 30. Rc1 c2 31. Be3 Bd3 32.
a4 e5 $13) 29. Nd5 $16 b3 $6 (29... Kf7 30. Nxb4 c3) (29... c3 30. Re1 $18) 30.
axb3 cxb3 31. Qa3 Kf7 32. Nb6 $18 Qb5 33. Nxc8 Rxc8 34. Re1 Be6 35. Bg4 $1 f5
36. Qb2 $1 fxg4 37. Qg7+ Ke8 38. Rxe6 Qc5 39. Be3 Qb4 40. Rb6 Qe1+ 41. Kh2 g3+
42. Kxg3 Qc3 43. Qg8+ Kd7 44. Qe6+ 1-0

[Event "42nd Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.05"]
[Round "4.26"]
[White "Taher, Yoseph Theolifus"]
[Black "Kovalyov, Anton"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B52"]
[WhiteElo "2321"]
[BlackElo "2617"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "124"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteClock "0:23:34"]
[BlackClock "1:03:09"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Bxd7+ Qxd7 5. c4 Nf6 6. Nc3 e6 {[#]} 7. d4 (
7. O-O Be7 8. d4 cxd4 9. Nxd4 O-O 10. Qe2 Nc6 11. Rd1 (11. Nxc6 $5) 11... a6
12. b3 Rac8 13. Bb2 Rfd8 14. Nc2 Qc7 15. Ne3 Qa5 16. f3 Nd7 17. Kh1 Nc5 18.
Ncd5 exd5 19. Nxd5 Bg5 (19... Bf8 20. b4 Nxb4 21. Bc3 {gets the piece back
with a plus.}) 20. Bc3 Qa3 21. Bb2 Qa5 22. b4 (22. Bc3 Qa3 $11) 22... Nxb4 23.
Bc3 Qa4 24. Bxb4 Ne6 25. Rab1 (25. Qe1 $1 Rxc4 26. Ba5 {and White gets an
exchange for the pawn.}) 25... Nf4 26. Nxf4 Bxf4 {½-½ (59) Bruzon Batista,L 
(2682)-Ivanchuk,V (2753) Havana, 2014.}) 7... cxd4 8. Nxd4 Be7 9. Be3 O-O 10.
O-O a6 11. Qe2 Qc7 12. Rac1 Nbd7 13. Rfd1 Rfe8 14. b3 Rac8 {[#]} 15. Nf3 (15.
f3 Bf8 16. Qd2 Qa5 17. h3 Rc7 18. f4 Rec8 19. Nf3 (19. f5 $1) 19... b5 20. e5
Ne8 (20... dxe5 21. fxe5 Ne8 22. Ne4 Qxd2 23. Nexd2 $11) 21. Ne4 Qxd2 22. Bxd2
(22. Nexd2 d5 $1) 22... dxe5 23. Ba5 Rb7 24. c5 Ndf6 (24... Nxc5 {looks safe.})
25. c6 Ra7 26. Nxf6+ Nxf6 27. Rd8 $16 {1-0 (59) Anton Guijarro,D (2627)
-Gabuzyan,H (2607) Martuni, 2016.}) 15... Nf8 16. Bd4 Ng6 17. Qd3 Qa5 18. Qd2
Qh5 19. Qg5 Qxg5 20. Nxg5 {Diagram [#]A Hedgehog where White plays for a draw
is a great test of Black's ability to get the most out of a Sicilian pawn
structure.} Rc6 21. Nf3 Rec8 22. a4 Nd7 23. g3 Bd8 24. Kf1 Ba5 25. Ke2 f6 26.
Be3 Nc5 27. Bxc5 dxc5 28. Kd3 Kf8 29. Kc2 Ke8 30. Rd3 Nh8 31. Rcd1 Nf7 32. Rd7
R6c7 33. Rxc7 Bxc7 34. Ne2 Ke7 35. Ne1 g5 36. Nd3 Bd6 37. f4 h5 38. Rf1 {[#]}
Rh8 {Black gets to choose which file opens on the kingside.} 39. h4 gxh4 40.
gxh4 Rg8 41. Rg1 Rg4 42. Rxg4 hxg4 43. Kd2 b6 44. Ke3 f5 45. Ng3 Nh6 46. e5 Bc7
{Diagram [#]Is this a Critical Position?} 47. Ke2 $6 (47. b4 $1 {gives White's
Ns something to do, and looks like a draw.} cxb4 48. Nxb4 a5 49. Nd3 Kd7 50. c5
$11) 47... a5 {Now White has three pawns to target: b3, f4, and h4.} 48. Nf2 (
48. Ne1 Kf7 49. Ng2 {can Black break through if White keeps the N on g2?})
48... Kf7 49. Nfh1 Bd8 50. h5 Ng8 51. Nf1 Ne7 52. Nhg3 Nc6 53. Kd3 Nd4 54. Kc3
Kg7 55. Kb2 Bh4 56. Kc3 Kh6 57. Kb2 Nf3 58. Kc3 Ne1 {[#]} 59. Ne2 (59. Kd2 Ng2
{wins f4, when there will still be three weak pawns to attack.}) 59... Kxh5 60.
Nfg3+ Kg6 61. Nf1 Ng2 62. Kd3 Bf2 0-1

[Event "42nd Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.05"]
[Round "4.27"]
[White "Hansen, Eric"]
[Black "Irwanto, Sadikin"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C93"]
[WhiteElo "2582"]
[BlackElo "2327"]
[Annotator "Eric Hansen"]
[PlyCount "147"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteTeam "Canada"]
[BlackTeam "Indonesia"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "CAN"]
[BlackTeamCountry "INA"]

{Indonesia was no pushover. My opponent had just come off a win against Luke
McShane of England while the three other boards were handled by underrated
Indonesian teenagers.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6.
Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 Bb7 10. d4 {Diagram [#]} h6 $5 (10... Re8 {
Is much more common in the Smyslov.}) 11. Nbd2 Re8 12. a3 {I had a specific
game I wanted to follow in my preparation and this was an attempt to transpose
to it. Standard would be Nf1-g3 here.} ({A possible continuation would be:} 12.
Nf1 Bf8 13. Ng3 Na5 14. Bc2 Nc4 {with many high-level games b3 or a4.}) 12...
Bf8 13. d5 Nb8 (13... Na5) (13... Ne7) 14. Nh2 Nbd7 {Diagram [#]} 15. Ng4 (15.
Qf3 a5 16. Ndf1 Nc5 17. Ba2 $11 {Van Kampen,R (2636)-Ghaem Maghami,E (2586)
Montreal, 2014 (1-0, 63).}) 15... Nc5 (15... Nxg4 16. hxg4 Nc5 (16... c6 17.
dxc6 Bxc6 18. Nf1 Nc5 19. Bd5 {With a strategic advantage.}) 17. Bc2 c6 18. Nf1
cxd5 19. exd5 g6 20. Ng3 Bg7 21. Be3 $14) 16. Bc2 c6 17. Nxf6+ Qxf6 18. b4 Nd7
19. Nb3 $5 {Diagram [#] We both had spent no time on our clocks at this point.
I was following a game of Adams while I wasn't sure if my opponent was in
theory or just playing fast.} cxd5 20. Na5 Rab8 21. Nxb7 Rxb7 22. Qxd5 Rc7 {
Diagram [#]} 23. Bd2 ({The game in question which I wanted to blindly follow.
I assumed it was a clean win by Adams but it turns out I should have checked
the details..} 23. Qd3 Rec8 24. Bd2 Nb6 25. a4 Nc4 26. axb5 axb5 27. Bb3 Nxd2
28. Qxd2 Rxc3 29. Re3 Rxe3 30. fxe3 $1 Rc7 31. Bd5 $14 g6 32. Qd3 Qg5 33. Rf1
h5 34. Rf3 Qh4 35. Kh2 $16 Bh6 36. Qxb5 Kh7 37. Qe8 Bg7 38. Bxf7 Re7 39. Qd8 {
1-0 Adams,M (2742)-Matlakov,M (2689) Skopje, 2015  I challenge the readers to
find an energetic improvement that could have been played before White
achieved the squeeze.}) 23... Nb6 24. Qd3 Nc4 ({I was hoping for a clean
transposition into my prep :)} 24... Rec8 25. a4 Nc4 26. axb5 axb5 27. Bb3 Nxd2
28. Qxd2 Rxc3 29. Re3 Rxe3 30. fxe3 {and we're back to Adams-Matlakov (above).}
) 25. a4 g6 26. axb5 axb5 {Diagram [#]} 27. Bb3 $2 {Carelessly played without
thinking..} ({Better is} 27. Be3 Qe6 (27... d5 $2 28. Qxd5 Nxe3 29. Rxe3 Rec8
30. Rf3 Qc6 31. Bb3 $16) 28. Bb3 Rec8 29. f3 Qe8 30. Bf2 $14) 27... d5 $1 {
This obvious move shook me on a few different levels. First of all, I had just
made a poor move to allow this. Secondly, it came to my realization that if my
opponent had entered 'my prep' that this resource was probably fully playable
and equalizing.} (27... Rec8 28. Bxc4 bxc4 29. Qd5 $16) 28. Be3 (28. Qxd5 $4
Rd8 $19) (28. exd5 e4 29. Qc2 Nxd2 30. Qxd2 Qxc3 31. Qxc3 Rxc3 32. Re3 Rec8 $17
) (28. Bxc4 dxc4 (28... bxc4 $5 29. Qc2 d4 $13) 29. Qe2 Rd7 30. Ra5 Qc6 31.
Rea1 Red8 32. Be3 Rd3 33. Qe1 {is barely equal.}) 28... dxe4 ({Precise was} 
28... d4 29. cxd4 Bxb4 30. Red1 Nxe3 (30... exd4) 31. fxe3 Qb6 $1 32. Bd5 Bc3
$11) (28... Nxe3 29. fxe3 dxe4 30. Qxb5 Rec8 31. Rf1 Qg5 32. Rxf7) 29. Qxe4 {
Diagram [#] The hope for a slightly better opposite bishops endgame lives on.}
Nd6 $6 {Black had far easier ways to liquidate with equality} (29... Rec8 $11 {
is fine.}) (29... Nxe3 30. Rxe3 Qf5 $1 31. Qxf5 (31. Qd5 e4) 31... gxf5 32. Rf3
f4 $11) 30. Qd5 {I'm happy to give up a pawn in order to activate my rooks and
bishops.} Rxc3 31. Ra6 Qe6 (31... Rd8 32. Bb6 Re8 33. Bc5 Qe6 34. Qxe6 fxe6 35.
Re3 Rxe3 36. Bxe3 Kf7 37. Rb6 Ra8 $11 {Black should hold here without a lot of
problems, but it isn't pretty.}) (31... Qe7 32. Rxd6 Rxb3 33. Bc5 $18) 32. Qxe6
fxe6 {Diagram [#] Despite being a pawn down I think only White can be
preferred here based on the pawn structure. Now the key is to keep pieces on
the board and make life as hard as possible for Black.} 33. Rb1 (33. Bc5 {
would be a quick way to draw.}) 33... Nc4 $6 (33... Kg7 {and try to get ...Kf6
and ...Nf5 with active counterplay.}) 34. Bxc4 {Diagram [#]} Rxc4 {Draw offer
by Black. I got up from my chair and consulted our captain Victor Plotkin
about it, but I knew already what he was going to say...} ({If you don't like
the game variation then 34.bxc4 needs to be seriously analyzed} 34... bxc4 35.
b5 Rb3 36. Raa1 $1 (36. Rxb3 $2 cxb3 37. Ra1 b2 38. Rb1 Ba3 39. Kf1 Kf7 40. Ke2
Rc8 41. b6 g5 $17) 36... Ra8 $5 (36... Rb8 $6 37. b6 $16) 37. b6 (37. Rxa8
Rxb1+ 38. Kh2 Kf7 39. b6 Be7 40. Rc8 Bg5 $1 $11) 37... Rxa1 38. Rxa1 c3 {
[#]Analysis Diagram} 39. Kf1 (39. Ra7 Bc5 $1 40. Bxc5 c2 41. Be3 Rxe3 42. fxe3
c1=Q+ 43. Kh2 Qxe3 44. Ra8+ Kf7 45. b7 Qf4+ 46. Kg1 Qc1+ $11) 39... Rb2 40. Ke1
(40. Ra7 c2 41. Rc7 Bd6 42. Rc6 Bf8 {looks nice for White, but I don't see a
breakthrough.}) 40... c2 41. Rc1 Bb4+ 42. Ke2 Kg7 43. Kd3 Ba5 $11) 35. Rb6 Bxb4
$6 ({At this point it's clear that Black is going to suffer a little either
way, so he might as well trade pieces and make life a little easier:} 35...
Rxb4 36. Rxb4 Bxb4 37. Bxh6 Bc3 38. Rxb5 Ra8 39. Kh2 (39. Rb7 e4 40. Re7 Ra6
$14) 39... Bd4 40. f3 Ra2 41. Rb7 e4 $1 $11) 36. Bxh6 (36. Rxb5 Bf8 37. Rxe5
Bg7 38. Ra5 Re7 $11) 36... Bc5 37. R6xb5 Rc2 {Diagram [#]} 38. Rb7 $1 {I'm
happy with this move as an attempt to complicate things.} (38. Be3 Bxe3 39.
fxe3 Rf8 40. Rxe5 Rff2 41. Rg5 Kg7 42. Rb4 Rf5 43. Rgg4 g5 {I've analyzed this
endgame a bit more and I just don't see anything. Of course, I can always push
forever.}) 38... Rxf2 (38... Bxf2+ 39. Kh2 e4 (39... Bd4 40. Rg7+ Kh8 41. Rd7
Bb2 42. Rb7 Bd4 43. Bg7+ Kg8 44. Bf6 Rf2 45. Rg7+ Kf8 46. Rxg6 Kf7 47. Rh6 $16)
40. Rg7+ Kh8 41. Rd7 {Analysis Diagram [#]} Bh4 $8 {This move escaped me
during the game. Black is lost otherwise} 42. Rbb7 (42. Bg7+ Kg8 43. Be5 Be7
44. Rbb7 Rc5 $1 45. Bb2 Bf8 46. Rh7 Rh5 $11) 42... Bf6 43. Bg7+ Bxg7 44. Rxg7
e3 45. Rxg6 e2 46. Rb1 (46. Rh6+ {and White can force a draw.}) 46... e5 47.
Rg3 Kh7 48. Re1 Kh6 49. Re3 Kg5 50. g3 e4 51. R3xe2 Rxe2+ 52. Rxe2 Kf6 53. g4
Ke5 54. Kg2 $11 {Black's king and pawn are too fast.}) 39. Rg7+ (39. Kh2 $6 Rf7
$11) 39... Kh8 40. Kh2 Bf8 41. Rxg6 Kh7 42. Be3 Kxg6 43. Bxf2 {Diagram [#]
After a more-or-less forced sequence, I was quite happy to achieve this, since
the connected passers guarantee some winning chances. I was also looking
forward to redeeming myself after spoiling a winning endgame against Short.}
Bh6 $6 {From this point on my opponent starts to falter badly. The endgame
should be a draw with precise play, which starts by activating the R:} (43...
Rc8 $1 44. Rb2 (44. Re1 Rc4 $1 45. Bg3 e4 46. Re2 Bc5 $11) 44... e4 {[%cal
Gf8d6]} 45. g4 Rc4 46. Kg2 Be7 47. Re2 (47. Be3 Bh4 $11) 47... Bd6 48. h4 e3
49. h5+ Kh7 $11) 44. Re1 Bd2 (44... Rf8 45. Kg1 (45. Bg3 Bf4 46. Bxf4 exf4 47.
Rxe6+ Kf5 {is yet another endgame that he can hold.}) 45... Kf5 (45... Bg7 46.
g4 Ra8 47. Re2 Ra3 48. Kg2 Ra4 49. Bg3 e4 50. h4 $14) 46. g4+ Kf6 47. Bh4+ Kf7
48. Rxe5 $14) 45. Re2 Bc3 (45... Bf4+ 46. g3 $16) 46. g4 Rd8 47. Bg3 Rd5 48.
Kg2 Bd4 49. h4 Rb5 50. Be1 {Diagram [#] Ideally, I want to trade off the rooks
and bring my king to e4. There is no real way to force that, so White's goal
is to carefully nurture the two passers while avoiding any tricks.} Rb3 51. Bd2
{Transferring the bishop to a better diagonal} Rd3 52. h5+ Kf6 (52... Kg7 53.
g5 e4 54. Bc1 {A textbook-like defence would be} Rd1 (54... e3 $6 55. Kf3 $16)
55. Rxe4 e5 $1 56. Be3 Re1 57. Kf2 (57. Kf3 Rf1+ 58. Kg4 Re1 59. Rxd4 exd4 60.
Bxd4+ Kh7 $11) 57... Rh1 58. Bxd4 exd4 59. h6+ Kg6 $11 {and it looks good, but
there's way to progress.}) {[#]} 53. Bh6 $1 {Cutting the king off slowly but
surely.} ({During the game I thought 53.g5 was hasty:} 53. g5+ Kf5 54. g6 e4
55. Bh6 ({But here I totally missed...} 55. Be3 $3 Ba1 (55... Bxe3 56. g7 $18)
56. Rf2+ Kg4 57. h6 $18) 55... Kg4 56. g7 Rg3+ 57. Kh2 Rh3+ 58. Kg2 Rg3+ $11)
53... Rd1 ({editor -} 53... Rc3 $5 54. Re1 Rc2+ 55. Kf3 Rc3+ 56. Ke4 Rg3 57.
g5+ Rxg5 58. Bxg5+ Kxg5 59. Rh1 Kh6 $18 {The white K goes to g4 and the R
flushes out the blockader. If the pawn was on h6 and the Black K on h7 it
would be a Lomonosov tablebase draw.}) 54. Kh2 ({I decided against} 54. g5+ Kf5
55. g6 Rg1+ (55... e4 56. Be3 $18) 56. Kh2 e4 57. Rd2 $8 $18 {I once again
missed this move.  Nothing else is enough:} (57. Rg2 Rxg2+ 58. Kxg2 Kg4 $11) (
57. g7 Rg4 58. Kh3 Rg1 59. Rg2 Rh1+ 60. Kg3 Be5+ 61. Kf2 Bxg7 62. Bxg7 Rxh5 $11
)) (54. Kf3 {Deserved a lot of attention as well.}) 54... Bg1+ (54... Rg1 55.
Rg2 $16) 55. Kg3 Bd4 56. Kh2 (56. g5+ Kf5 57. g6 e4) 56... Bg1+ 57. Kh3 {
Diagram [#]} Rd3+ $2 {Black forgot he was supposed to repeat.} ({This time,
after} 57... Bd4 {I was going to march to e4} 58. Kg2 Rg1+ 59. Kf3 $14) 58. Kg2
Bd4 (58... Rd1 59. Rd2 Rb1 60. g5+ Kf5 61. g6 Kf6 62. Rd7 $18) 59. Re1 $18 {
Getting rid of Black's back-rank counterplay. The other main benefit is now my
rook gets access to f1, and with that my pawns roll way too fast.} Ke7 60. Bg5+
Kf7 61. Rf1+ Kg8 62. Rf6 e4 63. Rxe6 Be3 64. Bxe3 Rxe3 65. Kf2 Rf3+ 66. Ke2 {
Diagram [#]} Rg3 (66... Rf4 67. Rg6+ Kh7 68. Ke3 Rf1 69. Kxe4 $18) 67. Rxe4 Kf7
68. Kf2 Ra3 69. Re3 Ra4 70. Kg3 Kf6 71. Rf3+ Kg7 72. Kh4 Ra5 73. Rb3 Ra7 74.
Rb6 {It doesn't feel good to blitz out 25 moves of preparation and get an
uncomfortable position with White. Yet my opponent relaxed far too much after
the opening and I was satisfied with the pressure I put on in the later stages
of the game.} (74. Rb6 Ra1 75. Rb7+ Kg8 76. h6 Kh8 77. g5 Kg8 78. g6 Ra4+ 79.
Kg5 Ra5+ 80. Kf4 Ra4+ 81. Ke3 Ra3+ 82. Kd4 Ra8 83. Rd7 Re8 84. Kd5 Kh8 85. Kd6
Ra8 86. Ke7 $18) 1-0

[Event "42nd Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.05"]
[Round "4.27"]
[White "Hansen, Eric"]
[Black "Irwanto, Sadikin"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C93"]
[WhiteElo "2582"]
[BlackElo "2327"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "147"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteClock "0:07:50"]
[BlackClock "0:01:27"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3
O-O 9. h3 Bb7 10. d4 h6 11. Nbd2 Re8 12. a3 Bf8 13. d5 Nb8 14. Nh2 Nbd7 15. Ng4
(15. Qf3 a5 16. Ndf1 Nc5 17. Ba2 b4 18. cxb4 axb4 19. Ng3 bxa3 20. b4 Ncd7 21.
Bb3 c6 22. dxc6 Bxc6 23. Bxa3 Ba4 24. Ba2 g6 25. Bc1 Qe7 26. Ng4 Nxg4 27. Qxg4
Kh7 28. Qf3 $14 {1-0 (63) Van Kampen,R (2636)-Ghaem Maghami,E (2586) Montreal
2014}) 15... Nc5 16. Bc2 c6 17. Nxf6+ Qxf6 18. b4 Nd7 19. Nb3 cxd5 20. Na5 Rab8
21. Nxb7 Rxb7 22. Qxd5 Rc7 23. Bd2 (23. Qd3 Rec8 24. Bd2 Nb6 25. a4 Nc4 26.
axb5 axb5 27. Bb3 Nxd2 28. Qxd2 Rxc3 29. Re3 Rxe3 30. fxe3 $3 {activates the R
and the B.} Rc7 31. Bd5 g6 32. Qd3 Qg5 33. Rf1 h5 34. Rf3 $16 Qh4 $2 35. Kh2
Bh6 36. Qxb5 Kh7 37. Qe8 Bg7 38. Bxf7 Re7 39. Qd8 {1-0 (39) Adams,M (2742)
-Matlakov,M (2689) Skopje 2015}) 23... Nb6 24. Qd3 Nc4 25. a4 g6 26. axb5 axb5
27. Bb3 d5 28. Be3 dxe4 29. Qxe4 Nd6 30. Qd5 Rxc3 31. Ra6 Qe6 $1 $11 32. Qxe6
fxe6 33. Rb1 Nc4 34. Bxc4 Rxc4 35. Rb6 Bxb4 36. Bxh6 Bc5 37. R6xb5 Rc2 {
Diagram [#]} 38. Rb7 $5 (38. Be3 Bxe3 39. fxe3 Rf8 40. Rxe5 Rff2 41. Rg5 Kg7
$14 {White is nominally better, but it might be unwinnable. Certainly, the RB
v RB endgame that results from Eric's move gives White better winning chances,
even if it too is objectively drawn.}) (38. Rf1 Ra8 $11) 38... Rxf2 39. Rg7+
Kh8 40. Kh2 Bf8 41. Rxg6 Kh7 42. Be3 Kxg6 43. Bxf2 $11 {Black should draw this,
but only White has winning chances.} Bh6 44. Re1 Bd2 45. Re2 Bc3 46. g4 Rd8 47.
Bg3 Rd5 (47... Rd2 $2 48. Rxd2 Bxd2 49. Bxe5 $18 {it's not opposite Bs}) 48.
Kg2 Bd4 49. h4 Rb5 50. Be1 Rb3 51. Bd2 Rd3 52. h5+ Kf6 53. Bh6 Rd1 (53... Rc3
$5 54. Re1 Rc2+ 55. Kf3 Rc3+ 56. Ke4 Rg3 57. g5+ Rxg5 58. Bxg5+ Kxg5 59. Rh1
Kh6 $18 {The white K goes to g4 and the R flushes out the blockader. If the
pawn was on h6 and the Black K on h7 it would be a Lomonosov tablebase draw.})
54. Kh2 Bg1+ 55. Kg3 Bd4 56. Kh2 Bg1+ 57. Kh3 Rd3+ (57... Bd4 $142 $14 58. Kg2
(58. Kh4 Rh1+ $11)) 58. Kg2 Bd4 59. Re1 Ke7 60. Bg5+ Kf7 61. Rf1+ Kg8 62. Rf6
e4 63. Rxe6 Be3 64. Bxe3 Rxe3 65. Kf2 Rf3+ 66. Ke2 Rg3 67. Rxe4 Kf7 68. Kf2 Ra3
69. Re3 Ra4 70. Kg3 Kf6 71. Rf3+ Kg7 72. Kh4 Ra5 73. Rb3 Ra7 74. Rb6 1-0

[Event "42nd Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.05"]
[Round "4.28"]
[White "Pasaribu, IMP."]
[Black "Krnan, Tomas"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C55"]
[WhiteElo "1860"]
[BlackElo "2430"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "60"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteClock "0:00:53"]
[BlackClock "0:03:17"]

1. e4 e5 {For the first 25 moves Black gets nothing against his U1900 opponent.
.. who blunders into a back-rank mate on move 30.} 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3
Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. O-O d5 7. exd5 Nxd5 8. Re1 Bg4 9. Nbd2 Nb6 10. Bb5 Bd6 11. h3
Bh5 12. Ne4 f5 13. Ng3 Bxf3 14. Qxf3 Qd7 {[#]} 15. Nf1 (15. d4 exd4 16. Bxc6 {
½-½ (16) Smirin,I (2676)-Melkumyan,H (2640) Warsaw, 2016.}) (15. a4 a6 16.
Bxc6 bxc6 17. c4 Rab8 18. a5 Nc8 19. c5 Bxc5 20. Rxe5 Bd4 21. Re1 Nd6 {(0-1,
34) Wei,Y (2714)-Vidit,S (2648) Abu Dhabi 20,16.}) 15... a6 16. Bxc6 bxc6 17.
Be3 c5 18. Rad1 Qa4 19. b4 Qa3 20. bxc5 Bxc5 21. Bxc5 Qxc5 22. d4 exd4 23. cxd4
Qd5 {[#]} 24. Qxd5+ (24. Qe2 $14 {when Black's pawns are a teeny bit loose.})
24... Nxd5 25. Re5 Rad8 26. Rc1 Rd7 27. Rc4 g6 28. Ne3 Nf4 29. Kf1 Rb8 $11 {[#]
} 30. g3 $4 Rb1+ 0-1

[Event "42nd Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.06"]
[Round "5.37"]
[White "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"]
[Black "Bareev, Evgeny"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C11"]
[WhiteElo "2720"]
[BlackElo "2675"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "115"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteClock "0:03:54"]
[BlackClock "0:04:17"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 Be7 8. Qd2
O-O {[#]} 9. Be2 (9. dxc5 Nxc5 10. O-O-O a6 11. Qf2 b6 12. Nd4 Qc7 13. Kb1 Bb7
14. Nxc6 Bxc6 15. Bd4 Bb7 16. Bd3 b5 17. Ne2 b4 18. Ng3 Rac8 19. f5 f6 $13 20.
exf6 Bxf6 21. Bxc5 {(½-½, 36) So,W (2773)-Nakamura,H (2787) US Ch., 2016.})
9... b6 10. Nd1 {Preparing c2-c3, which would leave Black struggling to create
queenside or central play. Black now trades on d4 since the Nd1 is a long way
from being able to occupy d4.} cxd4 11. Nxd4 Nxd4 12. Bxd4 {[#]} Nc5 (12... Nb8
$1 {prepares both ...Ba6 and ...Nc6.} 13. Ne3 Nc6 14. c3 b5 $5 15. O-O (15.
Bxb5 $4 Nxd4 16. Qxd4 $8 Rb8 $17) 15... b4 16. Bd3 bxc3 17. bxc3 Bd7 18. Ng4
Nxd4 19. cxd4 g6 20. Rab1 Rb8 21. h3 {½-½ Quesada Perez,Y (2634)-Chandra,A 
(2489) Greensboro, 2016.}) 13. Nf2 a5 14. O-O-O (14. O-O Ba6 15. Bxa6 Rxa6 16.
Qe2 Ra8 17. Rad1 Qc7 18. c3 Qc6 19. Ng4 Ne4 20. f5 exf5 21. Rxf5 Rae8 22. Rdf1
$13 {White's pieces look menacing, but the Ne4 is a good defender; Quesada
Perez,Y (2645)-Matamoros Franco,C (2525) Montevideo, 2015 (1-0, 39).}) 14...
Ba6 15. Bg4 Rc8 16. Kb1 Rc6 17. Rhe1 Qd7 18. Qe3 Qc7 19. Qh3 Bc8 20. Be2 Ba6
21. Bg4 Bc8 22. Be2 Ba6 23. Bxa6 Nxa6 {[#]Critical Position The pawn structure
is typical for opposite side caslting attacks in the Frenc (and Scheveningen
Sicilian), but the piece exchanges, particularly the light-square Bs, should
favour Black.  What should White do about the attack on c2?} 24. Ng4 $5 {
White ignores the attack on c2 and launches his own.} (24. Bc3 $6 {gives Black
a nice choice between ...b5 and ...Bb4, with the initiative in either case.} b5
) (24. f5 $5 exf5 25. Qxf5 Qc8 $1 26. Qf3 Rxc2 $5 27. Bc3 Nb4 {defending the R
and threatening ....Qc4,} 28. a3 Bc5 $1 {with a complex position.}) (24. c3 $5
{this unnecessarily gives Black a lever with ....b5-b4, though White does not
seem to be worse in the complications:} Nc5 (24... b5 25. Rd3 b4 26. Rg3 $40)
25. g4 b5 26. f5 Rb8 27. f6 Bf8 $8 28. fxg7 Bxg7 29. g5 $36 b4 30. c4 $1 {
a pseudo-pawn sac to close the c-file.} Ne4 (30... dxc4 $4 31. Ng4 $18) 31. Ng4
Rxc4 32. Nf6+ Kf8 $8 33. Qxh7 Nc3+ $8 34. bxc3 $8 bxc3+ $13) 24... Rc8 (24...
Rxc2 $6 25. Nf6+ $1 Bxf6 $8 (25... gxf6 26. Qg4+ Kh8 27. exf6 {is mating.}) 26.
exf6 Rc8 27. f5 $40) 25. c3 Nc5 26. f5 {[#]} exf5 $6 (26... Bf8 $1 27. f6 (27.
fxe6 fxe6 $11) 27... g6 {looks scary, but how does White break through?}) 27.
Ne3 $1 Rd8 28. Nxf5 Bf8 29. Qf3 Ne6 30. Bf2 Ng5 31. Qd3 Rd7 32. h4 Ne6 33. Qf3
Rc4 34. g3 Re4 35. Rxd5 Rxe1+ 36. Bxe1 {[#]} g6 (36... Qc6 37. c4 $8 g6 38. Qd1
$1 Rxd5 39. cxd5 Qc4 (39... Qd7 $2 40. Ne3 $18) 40. dxe6 Qe4+ 41. Ka1 gxf5 $1
$14) 37. Ne3 Bg7 (37... Rxd5 38. Qxd5 Bg7 39. Nc4 $16) 38. Rxd7 Qxd7 39. Qd5
Nc5 40. c4 {[#]} Qxd5 $6 (40... Qe8 41. Bc3 Nd7 $14 42. Ng4 $140 h5 43. Nf6+
Nxf6 44. exf6 Bxf6 $1 45. Bxf6 Qe1+ 46. Kc2 Qf2+ $11) 41. Nxd5 Bxe5 42. Nxb6
Nd3 {[#]} 43. Nd7 (43. Bxa5 {seems to win for White, but it's sensible not to
go into a race when you can keep your one pawn advantage.} Nxb2 (43... Bxg3 44.
Kc2 Nc5 45. b4 Ne6 46. Nd5 Bxh4 47. c5 $18) 44. Kc2 f5 45. Bc3 Bxc3 46. Kxc3
Nd1+ 47. Kd4 $18) 43... Bc7 44. Nf6+ Kf8 45. Nd5 Nxe1 46. Nxc7 Ke7 47. Kc1 Nd3+
48. Kc2 Nf2 49. Nd5+ {[#]} Ke6 (49... Kd6 50. Kb3 $16) 50. Nc3 (50. Kb3 $1)
50... Ke5 51. c5 f5 52. a3 a4 53. b4 axb3+ 54. Kxb3 Ke6 55. Kc4 h6 56. Kb5 g5
57. hxg5 hxg5 58. c6 (58. c6 Nd3 59. c7 Kd7 60. Kb6 Kc8 61. Nb5 $18) 1-0

[Event "42nd Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.06"]
[Round "5.38"]
[White "Kovalyov, Anton"]
[Black "Bruzon, Lazaro"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A20"]
[WhiteElo "2617"]
[BlackElo "2623"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "143"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteClock "0:24:17"]
[BlackClock "0:00:47"]

1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 h6 {[#] Does 3 ...h6 look ridiculous?  This not a
fast 1.e4 e5 opening where Black can get blown off the board. In fact, all of
White's moves so far have been about attacking the light squares on the queen
side, so slightly weakening the kingside light squares is hardly a problem. 
Carlsen has played this against Kramnik. It's a semi-useful waiting move helps
Black decide where to put his f8-Bishop.} 4. b3 Bc5 5. Nc3 $146 (5. e3 O-O 6.
Bb2 Re8 7. Ne2 d5 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. O-O Nc6 10. a3 Bf8 11. d3 Be6 12. Nd2 Qd7 13.
Qc2 Bh3 14. Rfd1 Rad8 15. Nf3 Qg4 16. Qc4 Nb6 17. Qxg4 Bxg4 {(½- ½, 70)
Gurevich,M (2634)-Anand,V (2755) Bastia, 2002.}) 5... Nc6 6. e3 d5 7. Nxd5 Nxd5
8. cxd5 Nb4 9. d3 Nxd5 10. Nf3 Bb4+ 11. Bd2 Bd6 12. d4 e4 13. Ne5 Nf6 14. Qc2
O-O 15. Bc3 Be6 16. Rd1 c6 17. O-O {[#]} Re8 $2 {An unnecessary pawn sac.} (
17... Bf5 $142 {and if} 18. f3 exf3 19. Qxf5 fxg2 20. Kxg2 Qc8 21. Qxc8 Raxc8 {
with equality, and possibly some play against White's center;} 22. Rxf6 $6 gxf6
23. Nd7 Rfd8 24. Nxf6+ Kg7 25. Rf1 Be7 $15) 18. Bxe4 $1 Nxe4 19. Qxe4 f6 20.
Qc2 $1 Qe7 (20... fxe5 $2 21. dxe5 {did Black sac the pawn because he missed
this? I doubt it, since it is a common enough tactic.} Bd5 22. exd6 Qxd6 23. e4
Qg6 24. f3 $16) 21. Nc4 Bd5 22. Rde1 $1 Bc7 23. f3 {Diagram [#] Here come the
pawns. Compare this position with those at moves 30, 37, and 42.} Qe6 24. Nb2
f5 25. Nd3 Qg6 26. Ne5 Qh5 27. Qg2 Rad8 28. g4 fxg4 29. Nxg4 (29. Qxg4 Qxg4+
30. Nxg4 c5 31. dxc5 (31. Ne5 cxd4 32. exd4 Rc8) 31... Bc6 $44) 29... Rd6 30.
e4 Bf7 31. f4 $1 Rg6 32. h3 Qh4 33. Re2 (33. f5 {is good too.}) 33... Bb6 ({
There's no way to capitalize on the pinned Ng4:} 33... h5 34. f5 Rg5 35. Be1
$18) 34. f5 Rg5 35. Rf4 Kh8 36. Kh2 Bc7 37. e5 {[#]} Rh5 (37... Bd5 38. Qf2 Qh5
39. Bb4 $18 {to play Bd6 and start pushing the e-pawn.}) 38. Qg3 Qd8 39. Rg2
Rg8 40. Ne3 Rg5 41. Rg4 Rxg4 42. hxg4 $18 {Diagram [#] White is completely
winning as there's no way to undermine his pawn mass.} Qg5 (42... c5 $2 43. d5
Bxd5 44. Rd2 $18 {gets another piece.}) 43. Bd2 Qd8 44. Bc3 Qg5 45. Nc2 Bd5 46.
Bd2 Qd8 47. Re2 Rf8 48. Bf4 Kg8 49. Kh3 h5 50. e6 hxg4+ {Now White gets to
attack on the g-file too.} 51. Qxg4 Bxf4 {[#]} 52. e7 Qd6 53. Qg6 (53. e8=Q {
also wins.}) 53... Bf7 (53... Qxg6 54. exf8=Q+ Kxf8 55. fxg6 $18) 54. Qxd6 Bxd6
55. exf8=Q+ Kxf8 56. Kg4 Bc7 57. Ne3 Bb6 58. Nc4 Bxc4 59. bxc4 Bxd4 60. Rd2 {
[#] White lets the fish wriggle on the line before reeling him in.} c5 61. Re2
Kf7 62. Kf4 Bf6 63. Re1 Bc3 64. Rb1 b6 65. Rb3 Bb4 66. Ke5 Be1 67. Ra3 Ba5 68.
Rxa5 $1 bxa5 69. Kd5 Kf6 70. Kxc5 Ke5 71. a4 Kxf5 72. Kd6 {Calm and sound play
from White to convert an unwise pawn sac by Black. With the win, Anton goes to
4/4!} 1-0

[Event "42nd Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.06"]
[Round "5.10"]
[White "Hansen, Eric"]
[Black "Gonzalez Vidal, Y."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2582"]
[BlackElo "2553"]
[Annotator "Eric Hansen"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteTeam "Canada"]
[BlackTeam "Cuba"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "CAN"]
[BlackTeamCountry "CUB"]

1. e4 c6 {Already a big surprise- one which I was absolutely not prepared for.
My opponent rarely plays the Caro and besides that I have quite a reasonable
score against the Caro. For someone whos job was presumably to hold with Black
this seemed like a riskier choice.} 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 Nd7 6.
O-O h6 {[#] The advance variation allows a lot of options for both sides which
makes for a pretty interesting struggle. A slow move such as 6.h6 is
completely playable. Usually it prepares g5 or makes room for the bishop to
retreat to h7} 7. Nbd2 Ne7 8. Nb3 g5 $5 {This aggressive line justified the
decision to enter this opening. I not only have zero experience in this
variation but I also could not remember a thing.} 9. Ne1 {Potentially
rerouting the knight to d3 and also opening up the possibility of f4.} (9. Bd2
Qc7) 9... Qc7 {Diagram [#]} 10. Bh5 {Played after a thirty minute think. The
alternatives didn't look great to me and I wanted to avoid preparation. The
only thing I could really understand was that if Black could queenside castle
then he can follow up with ...f6 and get great counterplay. My move tries to
to buy some time.} (10. Nd3 Ng6 11. Bd2 {Here is another example of Black's
decent chances in this line} (11. Bg4 Bxg4 12. Qxg4 c5 13. Nbxc5 Bxc5 14. dxc5
Nxc5 15. Nxc5 Qxc5 16. Be3 Qc7 $11 {Vachier Lagrave,M - Rodshtein,M Drancy FRA
2016}) 11... O-O-O 12. a4 f6 13. exf6 Bd6 $36 {Antipov,M-Rambaldi,F
Khanty-Mansiysk 2015}) (10. f4 O-O-O $1 (10... gxf4 $6 11. Bxf4 O-O-O 12. Nd3
Ng6 13. Bg3 $14) 11. fxg5 (11. Nd3 Ng6 12. fxg5 (12. Bg4 Bxd3 13. cxd3 gxf4 14.
Bxf4 Nxf4 15. Rxf4 f5 16. Bh5 Nf6 $15 {Black was comfortable in Nakamura,
H-Shankland,S Saint Louis 2015}) 12... hxg5 13. Bxg5 f6 $40) 11... hxg5 12.
Bxg5 f6 $40 {Too easy for Black..}) 10... c5 $1 {Energetic and correct.
Everything else leads to a comfortable space advantage for White.} (10... Ng6
$2 11. g4 $18) (10... Bg6 11. Nd3 O-O-O 12. f4 gxf4 13. Nxf4 $14) (10... Rh7 {
Looked wrong to me because of the natural continuation} 11. f4 O-O-O 12. fxg5
hxg5 13. Bxg5 f6 14. exf6 {and I thought this was good for White because I've
artificially stopped the tactics against h2. However, the computer thinks
Black has great compensation and counterplay after 14.Ng8!}) {[#]} 11. f4 {
At this point we were both already spending a lot of time on the clock in what
unfamiliar territory to us.} ({While 9.Bh5 is very rare, it turns out it has
still been played at the top level recently:} 11. c3 Bg7 ({The variation I was
worried about when contemplating 11.c3 was..} 11... c4 12. Nd2 Bg7 13. Nc2 O-O
14. Ne3 Bd3 15. Be2 Bg6 {my pieces looked too clumsy for my liking, though the
computer says White's a bit better.}) 12. f4 c4 13. Nd2 gxf4 14. Ndf3 Ng6 15.
Bxg6 fxg6 16. Nh4 O-O (16... Be4 17. Qg4 Nf8 18. Rxf4 $40) 17. Rxf4 $5 g5 18.
Nxf5 $1 gxf4 19. Nxg7 Kxg7 20. Qg4+ Kh7 21. Qxe6 Nb6 $13 {Anand,V (2791)-Giri,
A (2790) Shamkir, 2015 (½-½, 40).}) (11. Be3 $2 cxd4 12. Nxd4 Nxe5 13. f4 Nc4
$17) 11... c4 ({Imprecise is} 11... cxd4 12. Nxd4 gxf4 13. Bxf4 Bg7 (13... Nxe5
14. Qe2 Bg7 15. Nd3 Bxd3 16. cxd3 O-O 17. Kh1 $1 $18 {Pin to win} Qd6 18. Rae1
f6 19. Bg4 $1 f5 $1 20. Bh5) 14. Nxf5 Nxf5 15. Nd3 Nxe5 16. g4 Qb6+ 17. Kh1 Ne3
18. Qe2 Nxf1 19. Nxe5 $18) ({I spent serious time calculating the consequences
of} 11... Bg7 12. g4 $1 Bg6 13. Bxg6 fxg6 14. fxg5 cxd4 15. gxh6 Bxh6 16. Bxh6
Rxh6 17. Qd2 g5 18. Nf3 $14 {I was ready to go for this as White but some
caution is still required to handle the delicate position of the king.}) 12.
Nd2 {[#]} gxf4 (12... Bg7 13. g4 Bg6 14. Bxg6 Nxg6 (14... fxg6 15. fxg5 h5 16.
gxh5 Rxh5 17. Ndf3 O-O-O 18. Ng2 $16) 15. f5 Ngxe5 $5 16. fxe6 (16. dxe5 Nxe5
17. fxe6 Qb6+ $1 18. Kh1 Qxe6 $13) 16... fxe6 17. dxe5 Nxe5 18. Qe2 $14 {
Black has come comp, but I don't think it's enough.}) ({Last year, Sjugirov
played the correct sequence, which disallows what I managed to achieve during
this game:} 12... Qb6 $1 13. Ndf3 gxf4 14. Bxf4 Ng6 15. Bg3 Bg7 16. Kh1 O-O 17.
Qc1 f6 {Black comfortably took over with his active position in Nakar,
E-Sjugirov,S Jerusalem, 2015.}) 13. Rxf4 Bg7 14. Nf1 {Diagram [#] This knight
has two available squares while the other only has f3, so deciding how to
activate my knights seemed obvious. My opponent tanked a lot before playing
his next move after finding out what I had in mind. He wanted to castle
kingside and rush ...f6 before seeing...} Qb6 (14... O-O 15. Ne3 f6 16. Nxf5
Nxf5 17. Rxf5 exf5 18. e6 $18 {This is a better version of what was achieved
in the game as I retain the e-pawn.}) 15. Ne3 O-O 16. Nf3 f6 $2 {The logical
break in many of these positions, but also the losing one.} ({Superior is} 
16... Be4 17. c3 f6 $13) (16... Bg6 17. Rh4 $1 {with Ng4 coming up next.} f6 (
17... Nf5 18. Rh3 Nxe3 19. Bxe3 Qxb2 20. Bxg6 fxg6 21. Rb1 Qa3 22. Nh4 $18) 18.
Ng4 fxe5 19. Bxg6 Nxg6 20. Nxh6+ Bxh6 21. Rxh6 $18) 17. Nxf5 Nxf5 (17... exf5
18. e6 Qxe6 19. Nh4 $18) 18. Rxf5 $1 exf5 19. e6 $1 Qxe6 {Diagram [#] Here we
have a position where Black is up an exchange and a pawn. When I decided to go
for this position I assessed it as very good compensation. After we reached
the position I upgraded my evaluation to strategically winning. Some positive
factors that I considered before sacrificing:  1 - Safer king  2 - Superior
pieces and coordination  3 - No foreseeable trading of pieces  4 - Easier to
play.} 20. Bf4 {Necessary to stop Black's ideas of ...f4 and ...f5 activating
the bishop. The beautiful part about White's position is that there is no rush
to prove compensation: White's advantage is almost entirely positional and
will not go away unless there is a big change in the pawn structure or an
exchange of pieces, and Black can't force either of those... even though he
can try.} Ne5 {A desperate attempt to make life easier as we approached
zeitnot.} (20... Rae8 21. Nh4 Qe4 22. Qd2 $16) ({editor - GM Daniel King
thinks this is where Black went wrong. Instead he suggests Black try:} 20... c3
$5 {Analysis Diagram [#]} 21. b3 $6 {is tempting if White is playing for
complete control as in the game, but it would have been an error: after} ({If} 
21. bxc3 {then} Rfc8 {at least gives the rooks something to bite on;} ({or} 
21... Nb6 {and the knight has found a square. Objectively the position is
still better for White, but there is counterplay; and that might have driven
Hansen into closing the position.})) 21... Qe4 {, Black has counterplay
against the d-pawn. - Daniel King, BCM 2016 #11}) 21. Nh4 {From here until the
end I spent nearly no time- the position truly seemed to play itself. White
has the luxury of time, and with that, the ability to try to place all his
pieces on good squares.} ({For those wondering:} 21. dxe5 fxe5 22. Qe2 Qb6+ 23.
Be3 Qxb2 24. Rf1 $13) 21... Nc6 22. Qd2 Rae8 {Another attempt to exchange
pieces -- at the cost of an exchange this time -- but my light-square pressure
is worth more than an exchange, so...} 23. c3 {...offer declined.} Qe4 24. h3 {
Diagram [#] There are many acceptable ways to play this as White. I decide to
keep the queens on the board and slowly make my way towards Black's king. The
weak light squares and pawns near the king allow many points of penetration.}
Rf7 (24... Qd3 25. Qf2 {With Bf3 and Rd1 coming up to trap the Queen.}) 25. Qf2
Rfe7 26. Qg3 Rd7 (26... Qc2 27. Bxe8 Rxe8 28. Qg6 $18) 27. Bg6 Nd8 28. Nxf5 Qe6
29. Bxh6 Ree7 30. Bxg7 Rxg7 31. Re1 {My opponent threw in the towel before I
could play Re8 mate.  One of the best games in my career, especially if judged
with aesthetics in mind.   I did not include a lot of variations after 16.f6
because I consider the resulting position lost for Black, but I do invite the
reader to look for counterplay.   After my game ended we won on two other
boards to win the match 3-1 over Cuba. This upset result gave us a lot of
confidence heading into the second half of the tournament.} 1-0

[Event "42nd Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.06"]
[Round "5.40"]
[White "Hansen, Eric"]
[Black "Gonzalez Vidal, Y."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2582"]
[BlackElo "2553"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteClock "0:05:31"]
[BlackClock "0:00:38"]

1. e4 c6 {The Canadian game of the first 1/2 of the Olympiad (for me). Hansen
plays an exchange sac followed by a pawn sac to completely dominate Black's
minor pieces before going for mate.} 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 Nd7 6.
O-O h6 7. Nbd2 Ne7 8. Nb3 g5 {Diagram [#] An ambitious and double-edged move:
Black grabs kingside space before attacking White's center with ...c5 and ...
f6.} 9. Ne1 Qc7 10. Bh5 $1 c5 11. f4 (11. c3 Bg7 12. f4 c4 13. Nd2 gxf4 14.
Ndf3 Ng6 15. Bxg6 fxg6 16. Nh4 O-O 17. Rxf4 g5 18. Nxf5 gxf4 19. Nxg7 Kxg7 20.
Qg4+ Kh7 21. Qxe6 Nb6 22. Qh3 Qf7 {½-½ (40) Anand,V (2791)-Giri,A (2790)
Shamkir, 2015.}) 11... c4 12. Nd2 gxf4 (12... Qb6 13. Ndf3 gxf4 14. Bxf4 Ng6
15. Bg3 Bg7 16. Kh1 O-O 17. Qc1 f6 18. exf6 Nxf6 19. Bxg6 Bxg6 20. Be5 $2 (20.
Ne5 $11) 20... Ne4 21. Bxg7 Kxg7 22. c3 Rf6 23. Nc2 Raf8 $17 24. Ne3 Bh5 25.
Qc2 Qd8 (25... Bxf3 $11) 26. Nxc4 $4 Bg6 $1 {0-1 (26) Nakar,E (2435)-Sjugirov,
S (2678) Jerusalem 2015}) 13. Rxf4 Bg7 14. Nf1 Qb6 15. Ne3 O-O {Maybe Black
should be aiming to castle queenside?} 16. Nf3 f6 {Thematic, but White's
energetic and accurate response refutes it.} (16... Bg6 {is safer, but White
has lots of choices about how to arrange his kinside pieces.} 17. Nh4 $5 (17.
Rh4 $5)) 17. Nxf5 Nxf5 {Diagram [#]} 18. Rxf5 $1 exf5 19. e6 $1 {The pawn sac
shows the real point of the exchange sac: Black's B and N are now totally
without squares, while White gets outposts on the f and g-files.} Qxe6 20. Bf4
Ne5 $1 {Diagram [#] Nice try...} 21. Nh4 $1 {... but obviously, no thanks.} Nc6
(21... Nf7 22. Bg6 (22. Qd2 Ng5 23. Re1 Ne4 24. Qd1 $18) 22... Ng5 23. Nxf5 Ne4
24. Qg4 $18) 22. Qd2 Rae8 23. c3 {Black would be happy to give back an
exchange, but White keeps the pieces that own the light squares.} Qe4 24. h3
Rf7 25. Qf2 Rfe7 26. Qg3 Rd7 27. Bg6 {Diagram [#]} Nd8 (27... Ne7 {just to
show how bad Black's position is, after ...Ne7, White is winning even if he
doesn't bother to take the free Re8; e.g.} 28. Re1 Qc2 29. Bxf5 Qxb2 30. Bxh6
$18) 28. Nxf5 Qe6 29. Bxh6 Ree7 30. Bxg7 Rxg7 31. Re1 1-0

[Event "42nd Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.06"]
[Round "5.39"]
[White "Ortiz Suarez , Isan Reynaldo"]
[Black "Lesiege, Alexandre"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C54"]
[WhiteElo "2581"]
[BlackElo "2512"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "184"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteClock "0:00:44"]
[BlackClock "0:01:50"]

1. e4 e5 {A closed maneuvering game with the first pawn exchange on move 34 (!)
turns into an equal 4-rook ending... which White misplays while hoping for
winning chances.} 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3 a6 7. a4 Ba7
8. Na3 {[#]} O-O (8... Ne7 9. Nc2 O-O 10. Be3 Bxe3 11. Nxe3 Ng6 12. a5 Ng4 13.
h3 Nxe3 14. fxe3 Qe7 15. Qb3 c6 16. d4 Be6 17. Bxe6 fxe6 18. Rad1 Rae8 19. Qb4
exd4 20. cxd4 e5 21. dxe5 $1 dxe5 22. Qxe7 Rxe7 23. Rd6 $14 {1-0 (38) Carlsen,
M (2855)-Anand,V (2770) Leuven, 2016.}) 9. Bg5 Qe7 (9... h6 10. Bh4 g5 11. Bg3
Bg4 12. Nc2 d5 13. exd5 Nxd5 14. d4 exd4 15. cxd4 Bh5 (15... Nf4 $5) 16. Ra3
Kh8 17. Qd2 f5 $2 18. Be5+ (18. Bxd5 $1 Qxd5 19. Nxg5 $3 f4 20. Nh3 $1 $18)
18... Nxe5 19. Nxe5 {(½-½, 45) Dragun,K (2594)-Gajewski,G (2633) Poznan,
2016.}) 10. Bb3 h6 11. Bh4 Be6 12. Nc4 Nb8 13. Ne3 Bxe3 14. fxe3 Nbd7 15. Bc2
a5 16. Qe2 Qe8 17. Nd2 Nh7 18. d4 f6 19. Bb3 {[#]After the exchange of light
square Bs Black's position will be solid but inflexible. White has problems
finding something for his B to do.} Bxb3 20. Nxb3 Nb6 21. Nd2 Kh8 (21... Nxa4
$4 22. Qc4+ $18) 22. b3 Qg6 23. Rae1 Rfe8 24. h3 Nf8 25. Kh2 Nfd7 26. Bg3 {[#]}
c6 {This gives White a way to activate his dark-square B with an eventual
c4-c5; in return, that will concede the e5 square to a Black N.} 27. Qf3 Re7
28. c4 Nf8 29. Qd1 Nbd7 30. Qa1 Nh7 31. h4 Qg4 32. Qd1 Qxd1 33. Rxd1 $11 Nhf8
34. Nb1 {[#] The first pawn capture of the game!} exd4 (34... Ne6 35. dxe5 $4
dxe5 $19 {and a Nc5 will pick White's pawns apart.}) 35. Rxd4 (35. exd4 Rxe4
36. Nc3 Re3 37. Rf3 $11) 35... Ne5 36. Kh3 $6 (36. Rxd6 Ng4+ 37. Kg1 Nxe3 38.
Re1 Rxe4 39. Nd2 Ree8 40. Rd3 Nf5 41. Rxe8 Rxe8 42. Bf2 $15) 36... Ne6 37. Rxd6
{Diagram [#]} Nc5 $2 {Missing a chance to win a pawn.} (37... Nf7 $1 38. Rdd1 (
38. Rd3 Nc5 {also wins a pawn.}) 38... Nc5 39. Nd2 Rd8 $17 {will win the
b3-pawn as White can't allow Black to double on the d-file.}) 38. Nd2 $11 Rae8
(38... Nf7 39. Rd4) 39. Rf5 Kg8 40. Rd4 Kf7 41. Rf1 h5 42. Bf4 Kg6 43. Kg3 Kh7
44. Rd1 Nf7 45. Kf2 Ne5 (45... g5 $5) 46. Ke2 {Diagram [#]Black's minor pieces
are more active than White's, but there's no way to increase that advantage or
turn it into material... and although it can't go anywhere, White is still up
a pawn.} Rg8 47. Rh1 Rge8 48. Rb1 Nf7 49. Rd1 Ne5 50. Rf1 Kg6 51. Bg3 Ra8 52.
Rd1 Rae8 53. Bh2 Kh7 54. Bf4 Kg6 55. Rb1 Nf7 56. Rg1 Ne5 57. Rd1 Nf7 58. Rb1
Ne5 59. Rg1 Kh7 60. Bg3 Kg6 61. Rb1 Nf7 62. Bh2 Ne5 63. Nf3 Nf7 64. Nd2 Ne5 65.
Rf1 Ra8 66. Bg3 Nf7 67. Bd6 Nxd6 68. Rxd6 Nxe4 69. Nxe4 Rxe4 70. Rf4 Re7 71.
Rfd4 Rae8 72. Rd3 {Diagram [#] A "dead drawn" rook ending? Yes... if both
players know how to play it.} Kf5 73. Kf3 g5 74. g3 Re5 75. Rd7 b5 76. cxb5
cxb5 77. R7d5 bxa4 78. bxa4 (78. e4+ $1 Kg6 79. Rxe5 Rxe5 80. bxa4 $11) 78...
g4+ 79. Ke2 Rb8 {Diagram [#]} 80. Rxe5+ $4 {Not the sort of mistake you'd
expect from a 2580 GM, but at this point White knew he had to play for a win
to draw the match. Every other reasonable move draws.} fxe5 $1 {Suddenly it's
a fairly simple technical win: Black now has the more active K, and more
active R, and targets on e3 and g3, and (sitting on g4) the furthest advanced
pawn.} 81. Rd5 (81. Rc3 Ke4 $1 82. Rc4+ Kd5 83. Kd3 (83. Rc2 Rb4 $19) 83...
Rb3+ 84. Rc3 Rxc3+ 85. Kxc3 Ke4 $19) 81... Ke4 82. Rxa5 Rb2+ 83. Kd1 Rg2 84.
Rb5 Rxg3 85. Rb4+ Kf3 86. Rb5 {[#]} Rh3 (86... e4 87. Rxh5 Kxe3 {also wins.})
87. Rxe5 Rxh4 88. Kd2 g3 89. Rf5+ Kg4 90. Rf8 Kh3 91. Rg8 g2 92. Ke2 Rg4 0-1

[Event "42nd Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.08"]
[Round "6.5"]
[White "Hansen, Eric"]
[Black "Zhigalko, Andrey"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B81"]
[WhiteElo "2582"]
[BlackElo "2591"]
[Annotator "Eric Hansen"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteTeam "Canada"]
[BlackTeam "Belarus"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "CAN"]
[BlackTeamCountry "BLR"]

{Belarus was a similar team to us in terms of ranking. They were also
relatively young and well-prepared. Anything could happen} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6
3. d4 {Already a risky for me, since Zhigalko is a Najdorf specialist, whereas
I normally play 3.Bb5+.} cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 {Diagram [#] 6.h3 is
very fashionable these days, which makes it easier to prepare.} e6 (6... e5 7.
Nde2 (7. Nb3)) 7. g4 Be7 8. g5 Nfd7 9. Be3 b5 (9... Bxg5 10. Nxe6 fxe6 11. Qh5+
g6 12. Qxg5 $16) 10. a3 Bb7 11. h4 Nb6 {Diagram [#]} 12. Qd2 ({More aggressive
would have been} 12. f4 Na4 13. Nxa4 Bxe4 14. Nxb5 O-O 15. Rg1 axb5 16. Nc3 Bc6
17. h5 Nd7 $13 {Oparin,G-Zhigalko,S Jerusalem, 2015.}) 12... N8d7 13. O-O-O Rc8
14. Rh3 (14. Kb1 Qc7 15. Qe1 {The setup I wanted to achieve was: Rh3, Bc1 and
then start to push on the kingside without worrying about Black's queenside
play. Unfortunately, I'm just not in time to achieve it.} Nc4 (15... Ne5 16.
Rh3 Nec4 17. Bc1 O-O 18. h5 {Looks nice for White}) 16. Bc1 $2 Nxa3+ $19) {
Diagram[#]} 14... Qc7 {Black has utilized a flexible move order quite
successfully. I was not comfortable at all here and as a result soon found
myself in serious time trouble.} ({I'd expected something like:} 14... Ne5 15.
Qe1 Nec4 16. Kb1 Nxe3 17. Rxe3 O-O 18. f4 {This was a position I had actuallly
prepared before the game. I never came close to achieving it since Black
didn't help me out by playing ...Ne5 and ...0-0.}) 15. h5 {Just drifting here
as I didn't see anything else.} (15. Kb1 Nc4 16. Bxc4 Qxc4 17. Nb3 b4 18. axb4
Qxb4 {Black should be preferred with the two bishops, although in retrospect
maybe I should have bailed out and gone for it; e.g.} 19. Qd4 Qxd4 20. Rxd4 f6
{White has nothing to complain about.}) 15... Nc4 16. Bxc4 Qxc4 {Diagram [#]
It is fair to say Black has won the opening phase decisively. By withholding
castling Black has left me without a constructive way to attack, and therefore
my developmental advantage is insignificant. Black can enjoy the two bishops
and natural queenside play.} 17. Rdh1 $6 {A poor and unnatural move which
shows my discomfort. It was one of those cases where I found myself wishing I
was playing Black in this position rather than working hard at the board to
fight it out.} ({Pefectly playable was} 17. Rg3 {[%cal Gg5g6]} b4 (17... g6 18.
Nb3 (18. Rh3 $5) 18... b4 19. axb4 Qxb4 20. Qe2 $13) 18. axb4 Qxb4 19. g6 hxg6
20. hxg6 Bf6 (20... Ne5 21. gxf7+ Kxf7 22. Bg5 Nc4 23. Qf4+ Ke8 (23... Bf6 $2
24. Nb3 $18) 24. Nb3 $16) 21. gxf7+ Kxf7 22. Bg5 Qxd4 23. Qxd4 Bxd4 24. Rxd4
Rh1+ 25. Kd2 Rc6 26. Rb4 Bc8 27. Be3 {I'd give a slight preference to White
here.}) 17... b4 $15 {Don't think anybody is going to castle after I've
preemptively doubled my rooks on the h-file.} 18. axb4 Qxb4 19. g6 {Diagram [#]
} h6 $5 {An inaccuracy. Unfortunately I was already in extreme time trouble at
this point.} ({I wasn't happy to play 19.g6 because I didn't think it
threatened anything. I spent the bulk of my time worrying about the more
direct...} 19... Ne5 $5 20. gxf7+ ({Black may have been worried about} 20. h6 {
but} {Black maintains a comfortable edge with the cool} fxg6 (20... Nc4 $4 21.
hxg7 Rg8 22. gxh7 Qxb2+ 23. Kd1 $18) 21. hxg7 Rg8 22. Nb3 (22. Rxh7 Nc4 $19)
22... Bxe4 23. Nxe4 Qxe4 24. Rxh7 Bf6 $15) 20... Kxf7 21. Qe2 Bf6 $15 (21...
Rxc3 $5)) 20. gxf7+ Kxf7 {Diagram [#]} 21. Rf3+ $2 ({Better is} 21. Rg1 Ne5 22.
Nb3 Bxe4 (22... Nc4 23. Qd4 Bf6 24. Rf3 {Threatening Rxg7} e5 25. Qd3 Nxe3 26.
Qxe3 $14 {A role reversal here as White ends up with an easier attack}) 23.
Rhg3 Rhg8 24. Bd4 Bf5 25. f4 Nc6 26. Rxg7+ Rxg7 27. Rxg7+ Ke8 28. Rg8+ Bf8 (
28... Kd7 $2 29. Nc5+ $1) 29. Bg7 Kf7 30. Rxf8+ Rxf8 31. Bxf8 Kxf8 $15 {
The endgame is better for Black, but with the king positions as they are I
think White retains excellent chances to hold if queens stay on the board.})
21... Bf6 $17 {Now I can't stop ...Ne5-c4 while my pieces also look sloppy. In
truth, this was all based on a miscalculation.} 22. Rg1 Ne5 {Diagram [#]
Honestly, I was about to resign here. The threats of ...Nc4 and ...Nxf3, plus
the utter disgust I had with myself for failing to generate any play had built
up to a climax. Everything I calculated seemed to fail. However, with 3
seconds on my clock I changed my mind...} 23. Qe2 ({My original intention was} 
23. Rxg7+ Kxg7 24. Rxf6 Kxf6 25. Nd5+ exd5 26. Qxb4 {which would be totally
winning, except I'd missed} Nd3+ $8 $19 {Oops.}) ({My second, and better, try
was} 23. Rxf6+ gxf6 24. f4 Nc4 25. Rg7+ {Analysis Diagram [#]} {But I
overlooked this:} Ke8 ({During the game I had hoped for this:} 25... Kxg7 26.
Qg2+ Kf8 (26... Kf7 27. Qg6+ Ke7 28. Qg7+ Ke8 29. Qxh8+ Ke7 30. Qh7+ Ke8 $11)
27. Nxe6+ Ke8 ({Not} 27... Ke7 $4 28. Qg7+ Kxe6 29. f5+ Ke5 30. Qe7#) 28. Qg6+
Kd7 29. Qf7+ Kc6 $19 {Turns out Black is winning here, but it certainly looked
appealing to my thin calculation.}) {I missed this move until I thought about
the position a few moves later. White is desperately trying to get Black's
king in range of the knight on c3} 26. Re7+ (26. Qg2 $2 Qxb2+ 27. Kd1 Nxe3+ $19
) 26... Kf8 $1 (26... Kxe7 $2 27. Nd5+ $8 Bxd5 28. Qxb4 Bxe4 29. Bf2 Rhg8 30.
b3 e5 $13) 27. Nxe6+ Kxe7 28. Nd5+ Bxd5 29. Qxb4 a5 $3 $19 {and Black gets an
extra piece out of the trades compared to the ....Kxe7 line.}) 23... Nxf3 24.
Qxf3 {[#] It was a team game after all, so this was not the time to feel sorry
for myself. I managed to reset my brain and made it my goal to make this
conversion as dificult as possible for Black.} Ke7 ({I realized my position
was not without chances when I saw the following variation} 24... Rxc3 $2 25.
bxc3 Qa3+ (25... Qxc3 26. Rxg7+ Kxg7 27. Bxh6+ Rxh6 28. Qxc3 $18) 26. Kd2 Rc8
$2 27. Rxg7+ $1 Kxg7 28. Nxe6+ Kf7 29. Bd4 $1 Kxe6 30. Qf5+ $1 $18) 25. Nce2 {
Black's technical task isn't too easy because until his king is safe he needs
to keep his bishop on f6 to hold the g7-pawn. That means Black doesn't have
any clear way of trading off White's more active minor pieces.} Rhe8 26. Qg4
Kd7 {At this point Zhigalko was getting low on time himself, but he was on the
right path to victory...} 27. Kb1 {Diagram [#]} Kc7 $4 ({A simple plan would be
} 27... a5 {followed by moves such as ...a4 and ...Rb8, and I don't see how
White can hold. I have no threats.}) 28. e5 $18 {I had seen this shot a few
moves back when I was desperately looking for tricks to get myself mentally
back in the game. White threatens exf6 and Nxe6+ with an attack on the
undefended Qb4, so White wins a piece.} ({Andrey had calculated} 28. Nxe6+ Kb8
29. N2d4 {Where Black's king is safe and White's position overextended for the
cost of a pawn. Now ...a5-a4 would be a very natural and strong attack.}) 28...
Kd7 29. exf6 gxf6 30. Qg7+ Re7 31. Qxf6 Bd5 32. Nf4 Rb8 33. Qxe7+ Kxe7 34.
Nxd5+ {What can I say -- I got very lucky. I only woke up and got into a
healthy frame of mind after I got a losing position.  This game ended up being
the tie-breaker: we drew on the other three boards and so won the match 2.5 -
1.5.} 1-0

[Event "42nd Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.09"]
[Round "7.1"]
[White "Eljanov, Pavel"]
[Black "Bareev, Evgeny"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D11"]
[WhiteElo "2739"]
[BlackElo "2675"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "102"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteTeam "Ukraine"]
[BlackTeam "Canada"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "UKR"]
[BlackTeamCountry "CAN"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 Bg4 5. Nc3 e6 6. h3 Bxf3 7. Qxf3 Nbd7 8. Bd3
Bb4 9. O-O O-O {[#]In his 2008 Everyman book "Play the Slav", James Vigus
called this line the "Errot", since Black is playing a Torre reversed.} 10. a3
{23 minutes on this move. That's long for a theoretically known position, but
White has a choice of very different middlegames here:} (10. e4 $2 dxc4 {
and White loses one of his center pawns; e.g.} 11. Bxc4 Nb6 12. Qd3 Bxc3 13.
bxc3 Nxc4 14. Qxc4 Nxe4 $17) (10. Qd1 dxc4 11. Bxc4 c5 12. Qb3 cxd4 13. exd4
Qa5 14. Rd1 Rac8 {with an IQP middlegame in Anand,V (2788)-Aronian,L (2768)
Mainz, 2009.}) (10. Bd2 Re8 11. Qd1 Qe7 12. Qb3 dxc4 13. Bxc4 Nb6 14. Be2 Rad8
15. Rad1 Bd6 16. a4 e5 17. a5 Nbd5 $11 {White has the B pair, but couldn't
find anything to do with it:} 18. Bc4 a6 19. Nxd5 cxd5 20. Bxd5 Nxd5 21. Qxd5
exd4 22. Qb3 Bc5 23. exd4 Bxd4 24. Bc3 Bxc3 {½-½ Vallejo Pons,F (2708)-Wang,
H (2713) Pattaya, 2015.}) 10... Ba5 ({Vigus reccomended:} 10... Bxc3 11. bxc3
Qa5 $1 12. Bd2 e5 13. cxd5 cxd5 14. Qd1 Qc7 15. Qb3 e4 16. Be2 Nb6 17. Rfb1
Rab8 $11 {(0-1,43) Gelfand,B (2741)-Henriquez Villagra,C (2511) Baku World Cup,
2015.}) 11. Rd1 {[#]} e5 {29 minutes on this move.} (11... Bxc3 $146 12. bxc3
e5 {it looks foolish to give White the two Bs and then open the center, but
it's the same plan as in the Gelfand game above, and it seems to head to
equality here too:} 13. cxd5 cxd5 14. dxe5 (14. Qg3 e4 15. Bf1 Rc8 $13) 14...
Nxe5 15. Qf5 Nxd3 16. Rxd3 Qb6 $11) 12. cxd5 $1 Bxc3 13. dxc6 $1 {White gives
up a piece for four pawns.} e4 $1 14. Bxe4 Nxe4 15. cxd7 (15. Qxe4 $2 Nf6 16.
Qf3 Ba5 17. cxb7 Rb8 {the b-pawn will drop before White can finish developing.}
) 15... Ng5 16. Qxb7 Ba5 {[#]} 17. Bd2 $6 {Here and at move 19 White might
have been better off avoiding the piece exchanges, since Black's extra pieces
will find themselves cramped as White's pawns move up the board.} (17. f4 $5)
17... Bxd2 18. Rxd2 Qb6 19. Qxb6 (19. Qd5 h6 20. Rc1 $13 {again, keeps more
pieces on.}) 19... axb6 20. Rc2 Ne4 21. Rac1 Nf6 22. Rc7 Rab8 {[#]White has
four pawns for the N, though the d7-pawn can't be saved.} 23. a4 (23. f3 Rfd8
24. e4 Rxd7 25. Rxd7 Nxd7 26. Rc7 $44) 23... Rfd8 24. b4 Kf8 (24... Rxd7 25.
Rxd7 Nxd7) 25. a5 {[#]} Ke7 ({Black can avoid giving White the protected
passer by trading on a5 now; but that trade would also reduce the number of
targets that the Black pieces can attack:} 25... bxa5 26. bxa5 Ke7 27. Ra7 Rxd7
28. Rcc7 {Black is nominally better, but it's hard to imagine White losing
this so long as he keeps one R active.}) 26. a6 Nd5 27. Rc8 (27. R7c4 b5 $1 28.
Rc8 Kxd7 29. R8c5 $13) 27... Kxd7 $8 28. Rxb8 $2 $17 (28. R8c6 $142 $11) 28...
Rxb8 29. b5 {[#]A position Black had to correctly assess at move 25.} Rc8 30.
Rb1 (30. Rxc8 Kxc8 $19 {and the N wins the b-pawn.}) 30... Rc4 $1 31. Rb3 (31.
e4 Nc7 32. Ra1 Rxd4) 31... Nc7 32. Ra3 Rb4 33. a7 Na8 $19 {[#]} 34. d5 Rb1+ 35.
Kh2 Rxb5 36. e4 Ra5 37. Rf3 Ke8 38. Rc3 Kd8 39. d6 Rxa7 40. e5 b5 41. f4 b4 42.
Rc5 Rb7 43. Ra5 {[#]Critical Position} Nc7 $8 $19 (43... Nb6 $6 44. Rb5 $8 $17
Kd7 45. Rxb4 f6 $17 {this is probably winning, but not as clearly as the R
ending in the game.}) (43... Rb8 $2 44. Ra7 b3 45. Rxf7 Rb6 $8 (45... b2 $4 46.
Rf8+ $18) 46. Ra7 (46. Rf8+ Kd7 47. Rxa8 b2 48. Ra7+ Kc8 49. Rc7+ Kd8 (49...
Kb8 $4 50. Rc3 b1=Q 51. d7 $18) 50. e6 Rxd6 $8 51. Rb7 $11) 46... b2 47. Rxa8+
Kd7 48. Ra7+ Ke6 49. Re7+ $8 (49. d7 Ke7 $19) 49... Kf5 50. d7 Rb8 $8 51. Rf7+
Ke6 52. d8=Q (52. d8=N+ $4 Kd5 53. e6 b1=Q 54. e7 Qe4 $19) 52... Rxd8 53. Rb7
Rd2 $11) 44. dxc7+ Kxc7 45. Kg3 b3 46. Ra1 Kc6 47. f5 b2 48. Rb1 Kd5 49. f6 (
49. Kf4 Rb4+ {and Black takes the pawns.}) 49... gxf6 50. exf6 Ke4 51. Kh4 Rb5
$1 {Cutting off the K stops White from even dreaming about a race.} 0-1

[Event "42nd Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.09"]
[Round "7.4"]
[White "Hansen, Eric"]
[Black "Volokitin, Andrei"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B51"]
[WhiteElo "2582"]
[BlackElo "2647"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "104"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteTeam "Canada"]
[BlackTeam "Ukraine"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "CAN"]
[BlackTeamCountry "UKR"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 4. c3 Ngf6 5. Qe2 a6 6. Ba4 b5 7. Bc2 Bb7 8. O-O
g6 9. d4 Bg7 {[#]} 10. Rd1 ({A third round game in Baku continued:} 10. Re1 e5
11. a4 O-O 12. dxe5 Nxe5 13. Nxe5 dxe5 14. axb5 axb5 15. Rxa8 Qxa8 16. Na3 $14
{(0-1, 46) Svetushkin,D (2543)-Nepomniachtchi,I (2740) Baku, 2016.}) 10... O-O
11. Nbd2 Rc8 12. d5 c4 13. Nf1 Nc5 14. Ng3 e6 15. dxe6 Nxe6 16. a4 Re8 17. axb5
axb5 18. Ng5 Ra8 19. Rxa8 Bxa8 20. f3 d5 21. e5 Nxg5 22. Bxg5 Qc7 23. f4 Nd7
24. Qf2 Nc5 25. Ne2 Rb8 26. Nd4 {[#] A Bb5-Sicilian has turned into a very
unbalanced middlegame, where White has kingside chances and Black can create
pawn weakness then a passer by attacking c3.} b4 27. Qh4 bxc3 28. bxc3 Ne6 (
28... Ne4 {makes sense, hoping to activate the Ba7.} 29. Bxe4 dxe4 30. Bf6 $11)
29. Bf6 Bxf6 30. Qxf6 Nxd4 31. Rxd4 Rb6 32. Qg5 Rb2 33. Bd1 Bc6 34. h4 {
[#] Critical Position What should Black play: ...Qa5, ...Rb8, or ...Bd7.} Qa5
$4 (34... Rb1 {isn't bad, but it doesn't change much after the calm} 35. Kh2) (
34... Bd7 {is tricky. Black is hoping for counterplay against the white K, and
he'd get it if White takes on d5} 35. Rxd5 $2 h6 $1 36. Qxh6 (36. Qe7 $4 Qa7+
$1 37. Qc5 (37. Kh1 Qf2 38. Bf3 Qf1+ 39. Kh2 Qxf3 $19) 37... Qxc5+ 38. Rxc5 Rb1
39. Rd5 Ba4 $19) 36... Bc6 37. Rd4 Rxg2+ $11) ({But after} 34... Bd7 {so long
as White keeps cool with} 35. Bf3 $1 {Black's position is even more desperate
than before.}) (34... Rb8 $142 {guards the back rank so the black Q can go
after c3 (or defend the dark squares with ...Qd8).} 35. h5 $1 $36 Qd8 36. Qg3
$36 {and White is ready to peel open the black kingside with hxg and f4-f5 or
e5-e6.}) 35. h5 $1 $18 {Obviously the right pawn; f4-f5 threatens f6, which
also creates mating threats on g7, but it also blocks the Q's route to the
back rank.} Bd7 {As good as any; stopping e5-e6, and possibly hoping for ...
Qb6+ forking f6... or maybe encouraging the game blunder.} (35... Qxc3 $2 36.
Qd8+ Kg7 37. h6+ Kxh6 38. Qf8# {Is it possible that Black overlooked this
simple line when playing his previous move?}) 36. Rxd5 $4 {A major move-order
error. White had two winning moves, but this isn't either of them.} (36. h6 $18
Kf8 37. Rxd5 $8 Qc7 (37... Qxd5 $140 38. Qd8+ $18 {winning the Qd5.}) 38. Qf6
$18 {it's not mate, but White can win the h-pawn or continue the attack with
e5-e6.}) (36. Qe7 $1 Rb7 (36... Qc7 37. e6 $1 $18) 37. e6 $18 ({or} 37. Rxd5
$18 Qc7 38. h6)) 36... h6 $8 $13 {Attacks the Q when it has no checks and
creates an escape square on h7.} (36... Rxg2+ 37. Qxg2 $8 $18) (36... Qxd5 {
fails to a mate we saw before.} 37. Qd8+ Kg7 38. h6+ Kxh6 39. Qf8#) 37. Rxa5 (
37. Qxg6+ $143 fxg6 38. Rxa5 Rb1 39. hxg6 $15) 37... hxg5 {[#]} 38. Bf3 $2 (38.
Rd5 $142 $11 {e.g.} Be6 39. Rd8+ Kg7 40. fxg5 gxh5 41. Bxh5 Rc2 42. Rd6 Rxc3
43. g6 $11) 38... g4 $1 39. Bd5 g3 {Instead of White having a coffin nail on
h6, Black has one on g3.} 40. Kf1 (40. Bxc4 Rb1+ 41. Bf1 Bg4 $19 (41... gxh5 $4
42. e6 $8 $11)) 40... Bg4 41. Bf3 Rf2+ 42. Kg1 Rc2 43. Ra8+ Kg7 {[#]} 44. Ra1 (
44. h6+ $1 {prevents Black from getting a useful h-pawn, but the result
shouldn't be any different after} Kxh6 45. Ra1 Kh5 $19) 44... gxh5 45. Bxg4
hxg4 46. f5 Re2 47. e6 fxe6 48. fxe6 Kf6 49. Kf1 Rf2+ 50. Kg1 Kxe6 51. Re1+ Kf5
52. Rf1 Ke4 $8 $19 0-1

[Event "42nd Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.10"]
[Round "8.3"]
[White "Lesiege, Alexandre"]
[Black "Nguyen, Huynh Minh Huy"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D10"]
[WhiteElo "2512"]
[BlackElo "2435"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteTeam "Canada"]
[BlackTeam "Vietnam"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "CAN"]
[BlackTeamCountry "VIE"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. cxd5 cxd5 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. Bf4 Nc6 6. e3 Bf5 7. Qb3 Na5 8.
Qa4+ Bd7 9. Qc2 e6 10. Nf3 Nh5 11. Be5 f6 12. Bg3 Nc6 13. a3 Be7 14. Bd3 f5 15.
Be5 {[#] The exchange Slav is not a recipe for excitement, but the middlegames
are something any 1.d4 or 1...d5 player should understand. White is a bit
better here because the Bd7 is not a model citizen. A typical way to activate
that B is for Black to play ...Nf6, ...00, and ...Be8-g6/h5. White's attack
with h3 and g4 crosses this plan while improving his own Bd3. Black usually
has to play ...Nf6-e4 to shut down this diagonal, and exchanges on e4 create
an asymetrical pawn structure where Black has to play actively to have chances;
e.g. Sokolov -Navara (below).} Nf6 (15... O-O 16. h3 Nf6 17. g4 (17. Bf4 Ne4
18. O-O Rc8 19. Rfc1 Bf6 20. Qb3 Na5 21. Qa2 Nxc3 22. bxc3 b5 $11 {0-1 (50)
Adams,M (2740)-Eljanov,P (2723) Biel, 2015.}) 17... Ne4 18. gxf5 Rxf5 (18...
Nxc3 $5 $11) 19. Bxe4 dxe4 20. Qxe4 Qb6 $11 {Black is down a pawn, but has the
B pair and with no white pawns in the center Black's LSB will be very strong.}
21. b4 (21. O-O-O $2 Bxa3 $1 $17) (21. d5 $2 Rxf3 $19) 21... Raf8 22. Rg1 R8f7
23. Bf4 Nxb4 $132 {getting the pawn back by threatening ...Bc6; Sokolov,I 
(2650)-Navara,D (2708) Saint-Quentin, 2014 (½-½, 35).}) 16. h3 Rc8 $146 17.
g4 Nxe5 18. Nxe5 Ne4 19. gxf5 exf5 20. Qb3 Bc6 {[#]} 21. Bxe4 $1 fxe4 22. Nxe4
O-O 23. f4 $1 $14 Kh8 24. Nc3 Bh4+ 25. Kd2 {[#] White has won a pawn and has a
strong Ne5 but his K is a little loose. Black has the two Bs his next aims to
loosen the Ne5 and open lines to attack White's K.} g5 26. Ne2 Qe8 27. Rac1 a6
28. Rhf1 Qe6 29. Rf3 gxf4 30. Nxf4 Qg8 31. Qd3 $18 {[#] White has kept his
pawn, stabilized the center, and has two dangerously placed Ns. If his K was
on a1 it would be a fairly simple win.} Bb5 32. Rxc8 Rxc8 (32... Bxd3 33. Nfg6+
Bxg6 34. Rfxf8 $18) 33. Qf5 Be1+ 34. Kd1 {[#]Critical Position What happens
after ...Ba4+} Ba4+ 35. Ke2 $4 (35. b3 $8 $18 {deflects the B so there is no
safe check from the a6-f1 diagonal.} Bxb3+ 36. Ke2 $1 (36. Kxe1 $2 Qg1+ $8 $11
37. Ke2 $8 Rc2+ $8 38. Qxc2 $8 Bxc2 39. Ne6 {White's pieces keep the Black K
boxed in; the most amusing draw is:} Bd1+ 40. Kd3 Bxf3 41. Nf7+ Kg8 42. Nh6+
Kh8 43. Nf7+ $11) 36... Rc2+ 37. Kf1 $1 $18 (37. Kxe1 $4 Qg1+ 38. Rf1 Qxe3+ $19
) (37. Kd1 $4 Ra2+ $19) 37... Qg7 38. Nf7+ Kg8 39. Ng5 $18 {White has a deadly
attack and Black's Be1 is now hanging.}) 35... Rc2+ 36. Kf1 Bb5+ 37. Ned3 Bh4 (
37... Bxd3+ $2 38. Qxd3 $18) 38. Qe5+ (38. Ne2 $5 Bxd3 $4 39. Qe5+ $18) 38...
Qg7 39. Qb8+ Qg8 40. Qe5+ Qg7 41. Qb8+ Qg8 42. Qe5+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "42nd Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.11"]
[Round "9.10"]
[White "Bareev, Evgeny"]
[Black "Hansen, Sune Berg"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D37"]
[WhiteElo "2675"]
[BlackElo "2595"]
[Annotator "Evgeny Bareev"]
[PlyCount "109"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteTeam "Canada"]
[BlackTeam "Denmark"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "CAN"]
[BlackTeamCountry "DEN"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. d4 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O {[#]} 6. Qc2 {In the
previous round, playing against the former Blitz World Champion, I almost
equalized in the modern line:} (6. e3 Nbd7 7. c5 Ne4 $1 {In a manuevering
battle, I truely almost outplayed him.} 8. Bd3 f5 9. Ne2 c6 10. O-O g5 11. Bg3
Nxg3 12. Nxg3 a5 13. Qa4 b5 14. cxb6 Bb7 15. Rac1 Nxb6 16. Qd1 Nd7 17. Rc3 Bb4
18. Rc2 Bd6 19. Qe2 Qe7 20. Rfc1 Rfc8 21. a3 h6 22. Rc3 c5 23. dxc5 Rxc5 24.
Nd4 Rac8 {[#]Analysis} 25. Ba6 ({But here my old desease - poor tactical
vision - raised its head and I did not find} 25. Qh5 $1 Qf6 26. Nxe6 $3 $16 {
I only considered 26.Nf5.}) 25... Rxc3 26. Rxc3 Rxc3 27. bxc3 Nc5 28. Bxb7 Qxb7
29. Qh5 Bf8 30. Qg6+ $11 Qg7 31. Qe8 Qf7 32. Qa8 a4 33. h3 Qb7 34. Qe8 Qe7 35.
Qa8 Qb7 36. Qe8 Qd7 37. Qa8 Qb7 {½-½ (37) Bareev,E (2675)-Le,Q (2723) Baku,
2016.}) 6... c5 {Also good are:} (6... Nbd7) (6... Nc6) 7. dxc5 Qa5 8. Nd2 Qxc5
9. e3 {[#]} Bd7 {A bit too clever. Simpler was,} (9... Nc6 $1 {would have been
more threatening.} 10. a3 e5 11. b4 Qb6 12. Bg3 d4 13. c5 (13. Na4 Qd8 14. Be2
Bg4 $15) 13... Qd8 14. Nd1 {and Black looks better.}) 10. a3 Rc8 11. b4 Qb6 (
11... Qc6 12. Be2 dxc4 13. b5 Qc5 14. Bf3 Nd5 15. Nde4 $44) 12. Be2 Nc6 13. O-O
Qd8 (13... d4 14. Nce4 Nxe4 15. Qxe4 e5 16. b5 exf4 17. bxc6 Bxc6 18. Qxe7 dxe3
19. Rab1 $16) {[#]} 14. Rad1 $6 {The problem was that I could not guess even a
single move of my colleague and had little time (I think approximately 30
minutes left) at that moment. So I made a "Capablanca" move. Or so it seemed
to me...} (14. Bg3 d4 15. Nce4 Nxe4 16. Nxe4 e5 17. Nd2 $14) (14. Rfd1 d4 15.
exd4 Nxd4 16. Qd3 Nxe2+ 17. Qxe2 Qe8 18. Be5 b6 19. b5 a6 20. a4) 14... Qf8 $2
{Even worse. A simple} (14... d4 15. Nce4 Nxe4 16. Nxe4 e5 17. Bg3 f5 18. b5
fxe4 19. Qxe4 Bf6 ({editor -} 19... Na5 $2 20. Bxe5 {and the tactics on the
d-file leave Black worse,}) 20. bxc6 Bxc6 21. Qb1 Qb6 {equalized.}) 15. Bg3 d4
16. Nce4 Nxe4 17. Nxe4 f5 18. Nd2 dxe3 19. fxe3 Be8 {[#]} 20. c5 (20. Ne4 Rd8 (
20... a5 21. b5) 21. c5 $16) 20... Rd8 21. Nc4 Rxd1 22. Rxd1 a6 23. Bf3 (23.
Nd6 Bxd6 24. cxd6 Bd7 25. Qc5 Qf6 26. Qb6 $16) 23... Qf6 24. Qb3 {An
unnessesary move. Simpler was:} (24. Nd6 Bxd6 25. cxd6 Bd7 26. h3 $16) 24...
Rd8 25. Rxd8 Nxd8 26. Be5 Qh6 27. Nd6 {[#]} Bxd6 {Black also had not much time,
and did not even try to find} (27... Ba4 $5 {The complications are in White's
favour nevertheless:} 28. Qxa4 Qxe3+ 29. Kf1 b5 (29... Qxe5 30. Qe8+ Bf8 31.
Qxd8 $18) 30. cxb6 Qxe5 31. Qe8+ Bf8 32. Qxd8 $16) 28. cxd6 Nc6 29. Qc3 Bd7 30.
h3 Kf7 31. Kh2 Qg5 32. Bg3 Qf6 33. Qc5 $16 {[#]} Qd8 34. a4 $1 b6 35. Qc4 Qc8
36. Qh4 (36. Be2 $1 a5 37. b5 Nb4 38. Qh4 $18) 36... Kg8 37. b5 axb5 38. axb5
Nd8 {[#]} 39. e4 $1 Nf7 40. exf5 exf5 41. Be2 (41. Qe7 $5 Bxb5 42. Bd5 Qe8 43.
Qxe8+ Bxe8 44. Be6 $18) 41... g5 42. Qd4 Be6 43. Qxb6 Qd7 {[#]} 44. Bh5 (44.
Qb8+ Kg7 45. b6 f4 46. Bf2 Qxd6 47. Qa7 f3+ 48. Bg3 fxe2 49. Bxd6 e1=Q 50. b7
$18) 44... f4 45. Bxf7+ $4 {It could have been a good hunt but Akela missed
the shot. Move} (45. Bf2 $1 {fell out of my sight completely. After} f3 46.
Qb8+ Kg7 47. Bd4+ Kh6 48. Bxf3 Qxd6+ 49. Qxd6 Nxd6 50. b6 $18 {White wins.})
45... Kxf7 46. Bf2 {I think even} (46. Be1 {does not give any chances} Bd5 47.
Bb4 Kg6 $11) 46... Bd5 47. Qc5 Ke6 $11 {[#]} 48. b6 Qxd6 49. Qc8+ Qd7 50. Qh8
Bb7 51. Qg8+ Kf5 52. Qf8+ Kg6 53. Qg8+ Kf5 54. h4 h6 55. hxg5 {A great
dissapointnent from an advantageous QGD.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "42nd Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.11"]
[Round "9.4"]
[White "Schandorff, Lars"]
[Black "Krnan, Tomas"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E63"]
[WhiteElo "2515"]
[BlackElo "2430"]
[Annotator "Tomas Krnan"]
[PlyCount "100"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteTeam "Denmark"]
[BlackTeam "Canada"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. c4 d6 6. O-O Nc6 7. Nc3 a6 8. b3
Rb8 9. d5 {Diagram [#] I have played many games in the Panno variation of the
King's Indian Defense over the past two years, but I was unfamiliar with this
specific move order. The d4-d5 advance is one of the main alternatives for
White on move 8 (along with 8.b3), but after 8.b3 Rb8, the two most popular
continuations are by far 9.Nd5 and 9.Bb2. (I have annotated a game with 9.Bb2
earlier - see Buscar-Krnan from Canadian Closed 2015 in Chess Canada 2015.8).
However, my opponent was a very experienced grandmaster and playing the
opening quickly, so I knew this sideline must have been prepared...} Na5 10.
Bg5 {It's not clear if prompting ...h7-h6 benefits White or Black. 10.Bd2 at
once was another alternative.} h6 11. Bd2 c5 12. dxc6 Nxc6 13. Rc1 {Diagram [#]
} Be6 $6 {The first of a series of doubtful moves from me. By threatening
d6-d5 and solving all opening problems, I wanted to encourage White to play 14.
e2-e4, after which Black can continue 14....Qd7 followed by ...Bh3 with good
position. However, White is not obliged to play this way.} ({Better was} 13...
Bf5 14. Ne1 Qd7 15. Nd5 Ne4 16. Be3 h5 {with complex position.}) 14. Ne1 $1 {
A logical and strong multi-purpose move. It prevents d6-d5 and supports Nc3-d5,
while the other knight transfers to d3 where it will support the c4-c5 advance.
} Bd7 {Allowing Nc3-d5 with bishop being on e6 would be unpleasant, so
admitting mistake on the previous move was necessary.} (14... Bf5 {was also an
option, but Black isn't fully equalizing anymore after} 15. Nd3 Qd7 (15... e5
16. e4 Bg4 17. f3 Be6 18. Be3 $14) 16. Nd5 Ne4 17. Be3 $14) 15. Nd3 e6 $2 {
Protecting the d5 square and planning to solidify with ...Qe7, but again
underestimating the strength of White's next move.} (15... Rc8 {was better,
for example} 16. h3 (16. c5 Bf5 17. e4 Bg4 18. f3 Be6 $11) 16... Re8 17. Be3 h5
18. Qd2 Bf5 {and Black is only slightly worse.}) 16. c5 {Diagram [#]} Ne5 $5 {
In a tough position I chose a move that is objectively not the strongest, but
it turned out to be a good practical bluff.} (16... dxc5 17. Nxc5 $1 (17. Bf4
$6 b6 $1 18. Bxb8 Qxb8 {followed by Rd8 and Black has almost sufficient
positional compensation for the exchange.}) 17... Qe7 18. Nxd7 Nxd7 (18... Qxd7
19. Bf4 Rbc8 20. Na4 Rfd8 21. Qxd7 Nxd7 22. Rfd1 $16) 19. Bxc6 $1 bxc6 20. Qc2
{and long suffering lies ahead for Black.}) (16... d5 17. Bf4 Ra8 18. Qd2 Kh7
19. Bd6 {followed by e2-e4 and Black is againsuffering greatly without any
counterplay.}) 17. Nxe5 $2 {And the bluff was successful. White makes an
incorrect positional asessment that his pawn majority on the queenside and
Black's doubled 'e' pawns will secure him lasting advantage, which optically
might look like the case. As a result, he probably only briefly looked at 17.
cxd6 Nxd3 18.exd3, where it appears that Black will easily get the d6 pawn
back and White will also be left with a weakness on d3. However, White's d6
pawn is actually impossible to recover in a convenient way for Black, making
it a very strong pawn instead.} (17. cxd6 $1 Nxd3 18. exd3 Ne8 (18... Qb6 19.
Qe1 $1 $16) 19. Ne4 Bc6 (19... f5 20. Nc5 Nxd6 21. Re1 Re8 22. d4 $1 $16 {
and Black's position seems almost unplayable.}) 20. d7 $1 {followed by Bb4.})
17... dxe5 18. e4 Bc6 19. Be3 Qa5 $1 {Diagram [#] And suddenly Black's pieces
begin to occupy excellent squares. Without the bishop on b2, White's queenside
is actually very vulnerable. Pawns on c5 and a2, as well as the knight on c3,
all have to be protected. White was hoping to create a passer by advancing his
pawns to a4 and b5, but the queen on a5 prevents all of it. Meanwhile, the
doubled 'e' pawns are strong as they control the very important squares d4 and
d5.} 20. Qe2 Rbd8 {Clearing the 'b8' square for a knight manouver.} (20... Rfd8
{was also interesting, for example} 21. f3 Bf8 (21... Rd4 $5 $13) 22. Qc4 Nd5
$1 23. exd5 exd5 24. b4 Qa3 25. Qb3 Qxb3 26. axb3 d4 27. Bd2 dxc3 28. Bxc3 $11)
21. f3 Nd7 22. Qc4 Bb5 $1 {Diagram [#] Excellent reply. Black clears path for
his knight to transfer to d4, while at the same time preventing the advance of
White's queenside pawns. Despite two doubled pawns and White's bishop pair,
Black is not worse at all.} 23. Nxb5 axb5 24. Qc3 b4 25. Qc4 Nb8 $1 26. Rf2 Nc6
27. Bf1 Nd4 28. Kg2 Rc8 29. Bd2 $1 {Diagram [#] White uses a nice tactical
resource to force a liquidation into an unbalanced but equal endgame. Any
other move would result in Black getting the upper hand, as ...Rfd8 followed
by ...b6 or even ...b5! was threatened.} Qxa2 30. Bxb4 Qxb3 31. Qxb3 Nxb3 32.
Rc3 Nd4 33. c6 bxc6 34. Bxf8 Bxf8 {Diagram [#] A forced sequence resulted in
an endgame that is objecively equal and should result in a fairly easy draw.
But my opponent perhaps thought he was still somewhat better and tried to play
actively, losing his own sense of danger...} 35. Rb2 Rc7 36. Ba6 Ra7 37. Rb6 $6
(37. Ra2 $11 {giving up the `b` file, but not giving Black`s rook an open file
either.}) 37... Bd6 38. Kf2 $6 (38. Bc4 {was more advisable.}) 38... Bc7 $1 {
Diagram [#]} 39. Rb7 {Perhaps White thought that the exchange of the bishops
benefits him? It should be noted, however, that 39.Rbxc6 is not a dead draw:} (
39. Rbxc6 Ba5 $1 40. Rc8+ Kg7 41. R3c6 Nxc6 42. Rxc6 Rd7 43. Rc2 Bb6+ 44. Kg2
Rd1 $15 {and Black can still try without any risk.}) 39... Rxa6 40. Rxc7 Ra2+ {
Diagram [#]} 41. Ke3 $2 {A mistake after which White is more or less lost.} (
41. Kf1 $1 {was necessary, preventing Black's rook from getting to the 'f3'
pawn, after which White is able to create counterplay against the 'f7' pawn:}
Rxh2 42. Ra3 {Analysis Diagram [#]} h5 (42... Nb5 43. Ra8+ Kg7 44. Rd7 (44.
Rxc6 Nd4 45. Rc3 h5 46. Re3 Kf6 47. Ra5 g5 {and Black still retains winning
chances.}) 44... h5 45. Re8 Nd4 46. Ree7 Kh6 47. Rxf7 Ne2 48. g4 ({editor -} 
48. f4 {threatens mate and looks like it might leave Black's pieces hanging,
but the tactics are actually good for Black:} Nxg3+ 49. Kg1 Rh1+ 50. Kg2 exf4
51. Rxf4 Ne2 $1 $15 (51... h4 $5)) 48... h4 49. Rh7+ Kg5 50. Rd2 $1 Ng3+ 51.
Ke1 Rh1+ 52. Kf2 c5 53. Kg2 $11 {seems to hold for White.}) 43. Raa7 (43. Ra8+
Kg7 44. Raa7 Kh6 45. Rxf7 Ne2 46. g4 h4 47. Ra5 Nf4 $1 48. Rd7 h3 49. Rxe5 g5
$1 50. Rd6 Rc2 51. Kg1 Kg7 $1 {and White needs study-like precision to force a
draw:} 52. Rxg5+ Kf6 53. Rf5+ $1 (53. Ra5 $2 Rg2+ 54. Kh1 Ne2) 53... Ke7 54.
Rxf4 Kxd6 55. Rf8 $1 Rg2+ (55... Ke5 56. Rh8 Kf4 57. Rxh3 c5 58. Rh6 $11) 56.
Kh1 c5 57. Rh8 c4 58. Rxh3 Re2 59. f4 $1 Rxe4 60. g5 Rxf4 61. Rg3 Ke7 62. g6
Kf8 63. g7+ Kg8 64. Kg2 Rf7 65. Re3 Rxg7+ 66. Kf3 $11) 43... Nb5 {Analysis
Diagram [#]} 44. Rc8+ (44. Ra8+ Kg7 45. Rxc6 Nd4 46. Rc3 Ne2 47. Rc7 Nxg3+ 48.
Kg1 Rd2 49. Raa7 Kf6 50. Rxf7+ Kg5 {and Black retains good practical winning
chances.}) 44... Kg7 45. Rd7 Nd4 $1 46. Rcc7 Ne2 47. Rxf7+ Kh6 48. Rxc6 Nxg3+
49. Kg1 Ra2 50. Rxe6 Kg5 $1 51. Rg7 (51. Rxe5+ $4 Kh4 {followed by Kh3 -+.})
51... Ne2+ 52. Kf1 Nf4 53. Rxe5+ Kh4 $15 {followed by ...Kg3 and despite the
temporary material deficit it is still Black who is pushing.  From the above
variations it is clear that Black has the upper hand even after 41.Kf1 and
White seems to hold only with very precise play.}) 41... Re2+ $1 42. Kd3 Rxh2
43. f4 {There is nothing better.} Nb5 44. Rc8+ Kg7 {Diagram [#]} 45. Rc5 (45.
Rc2 Rh3 $19) (45. R3xc6 Rg2 46. Rb6 Rxg3+ 47. Kd2 Nd4 48. fxe5 Nf3+ 49. Ke3 Rh3
$19 {is a technical win.}) 45... Rg2 46. Rxe5 (46. fxe5 {would have taken
longer to convert, but after} Rxg3+ 47. Kc4 h5 {Black is also winning. The
text move allows a beautiful example of chess geometry.}) 46... Rxg3+ 47. Ke2
Nd4+ {Diagram [#]} 48. Ke1 (48. Kf2 Rf3+ 49. Kg2 Rxf4 $19 {is hopeless.}) 48...
Re3+ $1 49. Kd1 Rh3 $1 {Threatening 50....Rh1+, after which Black forks the
rook everywhere on the 5th rank: Kd2 Nf3+ when the rook stays on e5, or Nb3+
when the rook moves to either c5 or a5! Therefore White's next move is forced..
.} 50. Kc1 f6 $1 {Diagram [#] Very aesthetic final position. All of Black's
pawns are on 6th rank, covering all 5th rank squares except two. And Black's
knight takes care of the rook on either of those two squares with ...Nb3+.
White only has a few checks available, therefore...} 0-1

[Event "42nd Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.12"]
[Round "10.1"]
[White "Shirov, Alexei"]
[Black "Bareev, Evgeny"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2673"]
[BlackElo "2675"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteTeam "Latvia"]
[BlackTeam "Canada"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "LAT"]
[BlackTeamCountry "CAN"]

1. e4 {This is a deceptively deep game. Shirov is known and loved for his
attacking play. But you don't get oppportunities to attack unless you can
exploit small advantages well enough that opponents avoid such positions and
risk playing double-edged postions against you. In this game, Shirov shows
that he can create a small positional plus, and turn it into a very
smooth-looking win.... and so gives future opponents reason to pause before
adopting a solid-but-passive opening against him. You might never be able to
learn to play combinations like Shirov, but I think you can learn a lot from
this game.} c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 Ne7 6. O-O {[#] Since 2010,
Shirov has scored 8.5/9 from this position, conceding only one draw: to Anand
in a rapid game. This might explain Black's next strange-looking move, which
Shirov had never before faced.} Nc8 {GM Vladimir Burmakin has played this many
times. The idea is to play ...Nb6 to discourage c2-c4, then finish developing
with ...Be7 before deciding to break with ...c5 or ...f6} 7. Bd3 $5 {Shirov
spent 18:49 on this Novelty.} (7. b3 {is a principled move, planning to attack
d5 without allowing Black to create an outpost there.} Be7 8. c4 O-O 9. Nc3 Nd7
10. Bd3 Bxd3 11. Qxd3 $14 {White has more space and easier development, and
the c4-pawn gives extra options if Black tries to break with ...f6 or ...c5;
see: Maze,S (2628)-Burmakin,V (2549) Helsingor, 2016 (1-0, 53).}) 7... Bxd3 8.
Qxd3 Nb6 9. a4 a5 10. Nc3 Be7 11. Ne2 {[#]} N6d7 {Black prepares French-style
counterplay with ...c5 and Ns on d7 and c6.} (11... O-O {and ...c5 are both
reasonable too.}) 12. h4 $5 {(13:41) Computers don't like this, but it's a
pretty standard idea, creating the positional threat of Bg5, trading White's
bad B and preparing to go after Black's weakened dark squares.} c5 13. c3 cxd4
14. cxd4 Bxh4 15. Nxh4 Qxh4 16. Qb5 {[#]} Ra7 {Perhaps not a good sign that
Black spent 7 minutes on this move after taking only 1:31 on ...Bxh4.} (16...
b6 {is possible, but makes it hard to develop the queenside and doesn't allow
Black to block the c-file on c6.}) 17. Ra3 O-O 18. Rg3 Kh8 19. Bg5 Qe4 20. Nc3
Qf5 (20... Qxd4 $4 21. Be3 {skewers the Ra7.}) 21. Qe2 {[#] The position
resembles an Alekhine-Chatard attack in the French, where White gives up his
h-pawn to trade dark-square Bs and get a lead in development. One big
difference is that here White still has his own DSB. So Black reasonably tries
to fight for some dark squares with...} f6 (21... Ra6 22. Be7 Re8 (22... Rc8
23. Nb5 $14) 23. Ba3 Nc6 24. Nb5 $16) 22. Nb5 $6 ({White gets a bigger
advantage with the direct} 22. exf6 Nxf6 (22... gxf6 $2 23. Bh6 Rg8 24. Rxg8+
Kxg8 25. g4 $18 {wins the e6-pawn and Black collapses.}) 23. Bxf6 Qxf6 (23...
Rxf6 $2 24. Rf3 $18 Qg6 (24... Qg4 25. Rxf6 $18) 25. Qxe6 $18) 24. Rf3 Qd8 25.
Rxf8+ Qxf8 26. Qxe6 $16) 22... Ra6 23. exf6 Nxf6 24. Bxf6 {[#]} Rxf6 {All
three recaptures are equally good, and White keeps a plus due to his pressure
on the e-file.} 25. Rf3 Qg6 26. Qe5 $1 Nd7 27. Rxf6 $1 (27. Rc3 Rc6 28. Rxc6
bxc6 29. Qc7 Nf8 $11) 27... Nxf6 28. Qb8+ $1 (28. Qc7 $143 {also wins the
b-pawn, but after} Ra8 29. Qxb7 Rf8 $13 {and Black gets some play with ...
Nh5-f4}) 28... Qe8 $8 29. Qxb7 Rc6 30. Nc7 $1 {A nice little two-step maneuver,
after which...} Qd7 31. Qa8+ Ng8 32. Nb5 {...White wins the a-pawn and has
deactivated Black's N.} Rc2 33. Qxa5 Rxb2 34. Qc3 $1 {[#]} Re2 {Material is
equal, but White's outside passer and much better N give him a large advantage.
} (34... Ra2 35. Qb3 Re2 36. a5 $18) 35. Re1 {Safety first?} (35. Ra1 $1 {
leaves the Black rook looking more dangerous than it is:} Qf7 (35... Nf6 $140
36. Qb3 Ne4 37. Nc3 $1 $18 {threatening mate and the R.}) 36. Qf3 $1 $18 {
Black would be fine if his N was on a5, but with the N on g8 he's just lost:}
Qxf3 37. gxf3 Rb2 38. Nd6 {Threatening mate!} Ne7 39. a5 Rb8 40. a6 Ra8 41. a7
Nc6 42. Ra6 Nxa7 43. Nb5 $18) 35... Rxe1+ 36. Qxe1 Ne7 37. Qb4 Kg8 38. Qc5 Qd8
39. Nd6 Qa8 40. Qc7 {[#]} Nf5 (40... Kf8 41. Qd7 {wins e6 with huge threats.})
(40... Nf5 41. Qf7+ Kh8 42. Ne8 h6 43. Qf8+ Kh7 44. Nf6+ {wins the Qa8.}) 1-0

[Event "42nd Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.12"]
[Round "10.18"]
[White "Kovalyov, Anton"]
[Black "Kovalenko, Igor"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A20"]
[WhiteElo "2617"]
[BlackElo "2651"]
[Annotator "Oussedik, Elias"]
[PlyCount "63"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteTeam "Canada"]
[BlackTeam "Latvia"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "CAN"]
[BlackTeamCountry "LAT"]

{I am honored to have the opportunity to annote this game for the CFC Newsfeed.
This was Canada's best showing at the Olympiad, ever. This was Canada's 10th
round match vs Latvia. Kovalyov, playing on board 2, was playing Kovalenko, a
former 2700 player. Kovalenko is known as a streaky player while Kovalyov is
as solid as they get.} 1. c4 {Kovalyov rarely changes his openings. He usually
opts for his 1.c4 English.} e5 {A reversed Sicilian.} 2. g3 {1.c4 and 2.g3,
Kovalyov's pet line.} Nf6 3. Bg2 {Diagram [#]} c6 {An interesting nuance.
Normally, Black continues 3...d5 transposing to a true reversed Sicilian. 3...
c6 is logical. Black intends to continue with 4...d5 and build an impressive
pawn mass.} (3... d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Nc3 Nb6 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. O-O Be7 8. d3 O-O 9.
Be3 Be6 10. Rc1 f6 11. a3 $14 {A main tabiya of sorts. Numerous move-orders
have been essayed.}) 4. d4 {Kovalyov is known as a speedster at the board.
Many players are impressed by the speed at which he makes his moves. 4.d4 took
him 28 seconds, an eternity for Kovalyov's standards!} exd4 5. Qxd4 d5 6. Nf3
Be6 7. cxd5 cxd5 8. O-O Nc6 {Diagram [#] All natural and sensible. Personally,
I prefer White's position. He has a clear target in the d5-pawn. This position
vaguely resembles a Tarrasch. White intends to develop his pieces naturally
and plant a piece on d4 to blockade Black's d5 pawn. Meanwhile, Black intends
to utilize his active pieces and either manage to push the d5-pawn to d4 or to
utilize the e and c files to his advantage.} 9. Qd3 {A novelty! Prepared
novelty, or an at-the-board novelty? Looking at the time it took Kovalyov to
make the move, it would seem like a prepared novelty. It took him all but a
cool 14 seconds to gently retreat his queen to the d3-square.} (9. Qa4 Bc5 10.
Bg5 h6 11. Bxf6 Qxf6 12. Nc3 O-O $11 {This is the mainline. Kovalenko has
numerous games on the black side. This further purports the fact that
Kovalyov's 9.Qd3 was indeed a novely prepared at home prior to the game.  I
personally feel that Black's position here is completely acceptable and that
he has equalized. His active pieces fully compensate for his weak d5 pawn.})
9... h6 {Preventing the possibility of a White bishop installing himself on g5
and exchanging himself for the f6 knight, the guardian of the d5 pawn.} 10. a3
{Preventing any possible ...Nb4 tricks.} Be7 11. Nc3 {White intends to play a
Nb5-d4 maneuver and slowly activate his rooks to the c1 and d1 squares.} O-O
12. Rd1 {[#] Kovalyov is playing bully. He is "ganging-up" on the weak d5 pawn.
} Rc8 13. Bf4 Re8 {As mentioned before, Black's idea in this opening is to use
the c and e files to his advantage.} 14. Rac1 Qb6 (14... a6 {This move would
have been normal. It accomplished two goals:  1) Prevents a white knight from
using the b5 square to maneuver to d4 and,  2) Prevents the ensuing Qb5 that
occurs after Black's 14...Qb6.}) 15. Qb5 $1 {[#] A well known idea in these
positions. The dynamic potential of the isolated queen pawn (IQP) is greatly
diminished once pieces are exchanged. With queens exchanged, White's advantage
only grows.} Na5 $2 {Black is trying to utilize the c4 square for his knight.
A mistake considering after White takes on b6, Black is left with "nasty"
pawns on b6 and b7. Not only the pawns, but the squares. A permanent outpost
for a White knight is secured on b5.} (15... Qxb5 {This would have been a more
prudent approach.} 16. Nxb5 Ne4 17. Nfd4 Nxd4 18. Nxd4 {White is slightly
better here. This is a typical IQP position. White will try to exchange pieces
while keeping rooks on the board and attempt to create a "second weakness".
With one weakness, the d5 pawn, it is not enough to win. With the creation of
a second weakness, which can be accomplished by pushing his kingside pawns and
creating a passed pawn, White would have clear winning chances.}) 16. Qxb6 axb6
17. Nb5 $16 {After 17 moves, White is better. No doubt about it: a beautiful
knight on b5 coupled with Black's weak pawns.} g5 {Kovalenko realized he was
in trouble and spent 20 minutes coming up with this move. The idea is not
clear. White will continue with his plan of exchanging pieces and will
continue 18.Bd6.} 18. Bd6 Rxc1 19. Rxc1 Bd7 20. Bxe7 Rxe7 {Logical chess.
Exchange pieces to negate all of Black's potential dynamic play.} 21. Nc3 $1
$16 {[#] Exclamation mark for the counter-intuitive nature of the move. I had
previously mentioned that typically in such positions, the knight should
reroute itself to d4 to blockade the d-pawn. However, in this case, the d-pawn
is such a weakness that White intends to attack and win it! He intends to
bring his f3-knight to d4 and thus be attacking the d5 pawn with two pieces,
notably the g2-bishop which has just been unleashed.} Nc4 22. Nd4 Nxb2 23. Nxd5
Nxd5 24. Bxd5 Re5 25. e4 {Note Black's weak pawns.. yuck! White's rook will
soon invade on the 7th.} Na4 26. Rc7 Nc5 27. Nb3 {Diagram [#] Critical
Position Removing the defender of the d7-bishop. Fischer first introduced us
to the Rook+Bishop vs Rook+Knight domination and this is precisely what
Kovalyov is aiming for.} Bc6 $2 {A blunder. Not an easy solution. Take a
second and try to find how White can win the exchange.} (27... Nxb3 28. Rxd7
Nc5 29. Rc7 Nxe4 30. Bxf7+ Kf8 31. Bg6 Nc5 $16 {Would have offered better
resistance although White still is better with his better pawn structure and
better pieces.}) 28. Nxc5 $1 {It took Kovalyov a mere 35 seconds to play this
move.} bxc5 (28... Bxd5 29. Nd7 Rxe4 30. Nf6+ $18) 29. f4 {Where does the rook
go?} Bxd5 (29... Re8 30. Bxf7+ $18) 30. fxe5 Bxe4 31. Kf2 Bc6 32. Rxc6 $1 {
A cute way to finish the game. The a-pawn will queen. A logical and frankly
speaking, easy game for Kovalyov. Coupled with a Hansen and Le Siege win,
Canada won the match 3-1 vs Latvia, and impressive showing. This led for quite
the thrilling finale - Canada vs USA BOARD 1!} 1-0

[Event "42nd Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.14"]
[Round "11.3"]
[White "So, Wesley"]
[Black "Le Siège, Alexandre"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B13"]
[WhiteElo "2782"]
[BlackElo "2512"]
[Annotator "Alexandre Le Siège"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]

{This was the 11th and final round of the Olympiad and Canada was playing
board 1 against the United States. The stakes were pretty high: a win by the
United States would mean a gold medal for them, and a win for Canada would
give us 4th place. As it turned out a draw would also have secured 4th place,
because of other teams' results, since our tie-break was through the roof. The
second tie-break (after matches won) is calculated by multiplying the number
of points scored against a country by the number of games they won. Since we
beat a lot of teams 4-0 and lost by the smallest margins in our defeats, we
would be ahead of most of the teams at the finish line.   My task wasn't easy:
I was playing Black against the in-form Wesley So, rated 7th in the world who
just achieved a smooth victory in the Sinquefield cup 2016, arguably one of
the strongest tournaments in the world.   We didn't have much time to prepare
since the last round was being played at 11 am instead of the usual 3pm. I
just did a quick preparation trying to find any obvious holes in my repertoire.
The task was complicated by the fact that So has a very balanced repertoire,
alternating between 1.e4, 1.d4, and 1.c4/Nf3. I was going to face the
strongest player I ever played. Prior to this, I held Topalov to a draw some
15 years ago at the Olympiad. Obviously I was a little nervous and was
realistically afraid of getting smashed out in the opening. I was joking with
Tomas Krnan the night before that I would be live on stream in time trouble by
move 12th in a completely hopeless position. Fortunately, things turned out
much better for me than that, as you will soon see.} 1. c4 {A pleasant
surprise, I feel it's easier to solve ones problem vs a 2700 players against
this move than 1. d4 or 1.e4. Everybody has been playing 1. c4 against me in
this olympiad presumably because I've had some terrible theoretical gap in my
games 15 years ago; in fact I did! (see for example my game against Ftacnik).
On the other hand, it's a little presumptuous to think I wouldn't have worked
on this part of my repertoire. Actually, I equalize pretty comfortably against
1. c4 in all my games and whatever defeat I got were due to my poor play in
the middlegame.} c5 {I think it was Bologan who said: against 1.e4 the best
move is 1.e5, against 1.d4 d5 and against 1.c4 c5. There is some truth to that
statement, the classical openings gives you the best chance to neutralize the
advantage of the first move.} 2. Nf3 Nc6 {You have to blame Anton Kovalyov for
this choice.... at least indirectly. I'd decided to have a close look at this
system one week before the Olympiad when I saw one of his White games in Abu
Dhabi where he was lost against a weaker opponent after only 20 moves.} 3. Nc3
g6 {Before playing ...g6, on board 2 Kovalyov vs Nakamura had the following
position:} (3... Nf6 4. g3 d5 5. d4 e6 6. cxd5 Nxd5 7. Bg2 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Nxc3 9.
bxc3 Nxd4 10. Qxd4 Qxd4 11. cxd4 Bd6 {(½-½, 38) Kovalyov,A (2617)-Nakamura,H
(2789) Baku 2016. I thought about playing this line too which is the preferred
way to defend the black side of this variation by the likes of Caruanna. It
would have been funny to see the exact position on board 2-3 and see who would
dare to deviate first.}) 4. e3 {[#] This is the so-called "refutation" of this
system that has been recommended for many years. But things are not so clear,
and computers have rehabilitated the whole variation. I've seen commentators
on this game say 3... g6 is dubious, but nobody has yet to come out with a
refutation to back up their claim.} Nf6 5. d4 cxd4 {Otherwise White plays
d4-d5 with a space advantage.} 6. exd4 d5 7. Bg5 {The other main line goes} (7.
cxd5 Nxd5 8. Qb3 Nxc3 9. Bc4 Nd5 10. Bxd5 e6 11. Bxc6+ bxc6 {where Black has
the bishop pair and a nice d5 square for his queen. But there is also a real
positional danger to end up worse with the weak pawn on c6, and especially if
White succeeds in trading the dark-square bishop.}) 7... Be6 {There is no
other decent way to protect the d5 pawn. Incidentally, this opening can also
come from a Panov Caro-Kann.} 8. Bxf6 exf6 {So far we've been following my
game against Gawain Jones from England from a previous round. I did lose very
badly in that game, but it wasn't the opening's fault. I was curious to see
what kind of preparation Wesley had in store for me. I hadn't found anything
clearly promising for White, so I wasn't that worried.} 9. h3 $6 {Jones
prefered:} (9. c5 Bg7 10. Bb5 O-O 11. h3 {with a balanced position. Honestly,
I don't understand So's preparation, Black can obtain a comfortable position
with the correct sequence of moves.}) 9... Bb4 $1 {Stronger than ...Bg7.} 10.
c5 O-O $6 {I played this obvious move pretty quickly, but Black has a clear
way to reach a nice position with:} (10... Bxc3+ $1 11. bxc3 O-O 12. Bd3 b6 13.
cxb6 axb6 14. O-O Na5 {follow by ...Qc7, ...Rfc8 and ...Nc4; Black's position
plays itself.}) 11. Rc1 {[#] As mentioned by Anton Kovalyov after the game,
even though Black was OK, in practice the position is not so simple to play
for Black. The situation is strategically unbalanced and the queenside pawn
majority of White could prove a factor in the future. Obviously the computer
gives many ways for Black to play, but over the board after having missed the
strategically simple ...Bxc3+ I was left in an uncomfortable situation.   I
thought for a long time here and should probably just have played the obvious .
..b6 and just hope for the best. There is no point in trying to work out the
complications before they happened. My indecision on obvious moves in this
game will result in an uncomfortable zeitnot later in the game.} b6 ({I was
attracted by:} 11... Qe7 12. Be2 Rfe8 13. a3 (13. O-O $2 Bxc3 14. Rxc3 Bxh3 $1
$15) 13... Bxc3+ 14. Rxc3 Bf5 {but wasn't sure how good it was. I also took
some time deciding if I should throw out ...Qe7 or ...Re8 before playing ...b6.
Anyway, like I said, it's pretty pointless spending time on such subtleties,
since the complications are to hard to work for a human.}) 12. Bb5 Na5 13. a3
Bxc3+ 14. Rxc3 Nc4 15. b4 {[#] We've reached a position more-or-less forced
after ...b6 that is strategically balanced. White has a nice trump with his
passed c-pawn, but Black has a superb knight on c4, plus he is slightly ahead
in development. I still needed to make something happen quickly because in the
long term the c5-pawn will guarantee White a positional advantage.} a5 $6 {
Kovalyov was critical of this move after the game. For him it appears that
opening up the queenside made no sense. He was actually right, exchanging a
couple of pawns doesn't really help my cause. It happens that I am still OK,
but a simpler solution existed:} (15... a6 $1 16. Bxc4 dxc4 17. O-O b5 {
gives Black a confortable position. The plan is simple: blockade the d-pawn
with ...Bd5, then double my rooks on the d-file to exert pressure on the d4
pawn. I obviously saw this line and thought it would be fine, but didn't like
giving my opponent two connected passed pawns.}) 16. O-O axb4 17. axb4 Qb8 $6 {
[#] Esthetically this move looks wrong, but it also introduces some concreted
tactical threats against the bishop on c4, and I couldn't see a refutation so
I went for it. As it turned out, like in most cases, the intuitive and
harmonious move ...Rb8 was best.} 18. Bxc4 $1 {After a prolonged thought So
finds the right solution. It appears at first sight that Black gets a lot of
pressure on the white pawn center, but the displacement of my queen to b8 has
created a nice tactical opportunity on the f6-pawn.} dxc4 19. Nd2 {The logical
follow up: the knight is ready to jump on e4 at the first opportunity.} bxc5
20. bxc5 Qb4 (20... Rd8 {is simply answered by} 21. Nxc4 {and White keep both
of his pawns alive.}) 21. Qf3 $1 {[#] As soon as So played this move I
realised I was in trouble. I was counting on the simple ...Bd5 to meet Qf3,
but unfortunately hadn't analysed any further. With the confidence So exuded
when playing Qf3 I immediately saw Ne4 look deadly once my queen take on c3.}
Bd5 $1 {Unwillingly I played this move realising the alternatives are even
worse. A good decision from my part, since the unbalanced nature of the
resulting position will give me more chances than simply getting ground down
in a simply worse position.} 22. Qxd5 $6 {Qg3 was stronger, but I think most
grandmasters would take on d5. It's really hard to see the computer-like
defense that Black has on move 26.} Qxc3 23. Ne4 Qd3 24. Nxf6+ Kh8 (24... Kg7
25. Qe5 $1 {is deadly}) 25. Nd7 Rfe8 {[#] Preventing Qe5+ and praying that my
opponent may miss the treat of ...Qxf1+ followed by ...Ra1 mate!} 26. Ne5 Qf5
$2 {The silicion beasts are quick to point out that ...Qe2! would save Black.}
(26... Qe2 $1 27. Nxf7+ Kg7 28. Ne5 c3 {and the c-pawn gives enough
counterplay according to the computers. But honestly, it looks incredibly
scary to play this way in a game with such an exposed king.}) 27. Qxc4 $2 (27.
Nxf7+ $1 Kg7 28. Ne5 $18 {and Black can't really hold to his c-pawn because
its king is too weak.}) 27... Kg7 {Now I am back in the game, White is
obviously better, but it's not so easy to tell what's the best way to proceed..
.} 28. Qc3 $2 {Here, So began playing very fast -- and very badly -- trying to
exploit my time trouble. This was really not warranted, since he has a clearly
better position. Maybe he was feeling the pressure of the occasion and was
hoping for a mistake and a quick victory!?} (28. Ng4 $1 $16 {follow by Ne3 is
a nice way to reorganize the pieces and stop any counterplay, after which
White can start pushing his pawns.}) 28... Ra2 $1 {Suddenly Black has serious
counterplay!} 29. Nd3 $2 {Diagram [#] A historic position: I now had the
chance to help Canada change the fate of the whole Olympiad. This is how the
situation looked on the other board: Barrev was dead lost, Kovalyov was
slightly worse, but a draw was the likely result, and Hansen was close to
winning. I just needed a draw to stop the Americans from winning the gold
medal and propel Canada to 4th place. I was down to 3 minutes (+30 second
increment) to make 12 moves. At the time I didn't realise that the position
had changed dramatically from much worse to winning for Black. I guess I was
too pessimistic, just one move away and I couldn't reassess correctly the
position in time trouble. I unfortunately played a practical, fast move to
give me more time for the rest of the game and forgot to calculate lines
properly. There was quite an obvious move that simply wins for Black:} Qf6 $2 (
29... Ree2 $1 {Simple and strong. I would probably play this way even in
bullet chess. The rooks suddenly acquire incredible power by targeting f2 and
by stopping the passed pawns from behind. The threat is simply ...Red2 to kick
the knight and then take on f2. White has no choice but to go on a suicidal
mission just to stay alive:} 30. d5+ f6 31. c6 $1 (31. d6 $2 Rad2 $19) 31...
Red2 32. c7 Rac2 $1 33. c8=Q $1 Qxc8 {After this forced sequence, Black will
eventually win the d-pawn and get an easily winning position. This miss is
really heartbreaking, since everything is more or less forced after ...Ree2
and the extra 30s would have given me ample time to make the time control
confortably.}) 30. Nb4 Rae2 31. Nd5 Qg5 32. Nc7 R8e3 33. Qc1 h6 34. d5 {[#]}
Qe5 $4 {Very low on time I missed a second chance to change the fate of the
Olympiad. This mistake is really bad since White has three different ways to
win after it.} (34... Rd3 $1 {which I saw was a clear draw, but I wasn't
completely sure of that in the game. For example:} 35. Qxg5 hxg5 36. Rc1 Rdd2
$1 {and the classic repetition on the second rank saves Black. Every line goes
more or less like this. If White tries to prevent the perpetual he risks
losing his pawns.}) 35. fxe3 $18 Qg3 36. Qa1+ {I saw this move but missed the
simple Qa8+ on ...Kg8. Nevertheless 36.Ne6+ and 36.Rf7+ also win. 
Unfortunately, I didn't make use of my chance handed to me on a gold platter
by So. I guess it's just the learning curve of adapting to 2700+ opponent and
also a reminder.. . to play faster!} 1-0

[Event "42nd Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.13"]
[Round "11.4"]
[White "Hansen, Eric"]
[Black "Shankland, Samuel L"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C65"]
[WhiteElo "2582"]
[BlackElo "2679"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteTeam "Canada"]
[BlackTeam "United States"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "CAN"]
[BlackTeamCountry "USA"]

1. e4 {(00:00) A key game for the Canadian team, and the last one of their
Olympiad. Black blitzes out a line he had prepared up to move 24 --
sacrificing a a pawn which he should be able to recover -- but gets outplayed
as soon as he gets out of his home prep. The numbers in parenthises indicate
the time per move, and help convey some of the tension of the final round.} e5
{(00:00)} 2. Nf3 {(00:00)} Nc6 {(00:00)} 3. Bb5 {(00:00)} Nf6 {(00:00)} 4. d3 {
[#] An increasingly popular anti-Berlin line. It doesn't give White any
advantage, but it keeps more pieces on the board.} Bc5 {(00:29)} 5. c3 {(00:47)
} O-O {(00:09)} 6. O-O {(00:41)} d6 {(00:03)} 7. h3 {(00:26)} Ne7 {(00:28)} 8.
d4 {(02:07)} Bb6 {(00:04)} 9. Bd3 {(00:11)} Ng6 {(00:08)} 10. Re1 {(01:04) [#]
Shankland might well have expected Eric to play this line, as he had done so
before:} Re8 {(00:10)} (10... c5 {Fressinet,L (2687)-Kramnik,V (2812) Paris 
(rapid), 2016.}) (10... Nh5 11. Be3 Nhf4 12. Bf1 exd4 13. Bxd4 (13. cxd4 $1 $11
) 13... f5 $5 14. e5 dxe5 15. Nxe5 Nxe5 16. Bxe5 Ng6 17. Bd4 (17. Na3 $14)
17... c5 $1 18. Be3 f4 $132 {(0-1, 56) Hansen,E (2567)-McShane,L (2697)
Bundesliga, 2014.}) 11. Nbd2 {(02:22)} c6 {(00:32)} 12. Nf1 {(00:58)} d5 {
(00:23]} 13. Bg5 {(01:13)} dxe4 {(00:05)} 14. Rxe4 {(00:27)} h6 {(00:05)} 15.
Bxf6 {(01:21)} Qxf6 {[#] (00:04)} 16. Re1 {(04:37)} (16. Re3 Bf5 17. Bxf5 Qxf5
18. Ng3 Qd7 19. Nxe5 Nxe5 20. Rxe5 Rxe5 21. dxe5 Qe7 22. Qh5 g6 23. Qe2 (23.
Qxh6 Qxe5 $11) 23... Qg5 24. Kf1 Kf8 25. Re1 Re8 $11 {Karjakin,S (2773)-So,W 
(2770) Bilbao, 2016.}) 16... Bf5 {(00:05)} 17. Bxf5 {(00:28)} Qxf5 {( 00:05)}
18. Ng3 {(00:06)} Qf6 {(00:04)} 19. Nh5 {(02:00)} Qf5 {(00:04)} 20. Ng3 {
(26:47) Eric spent almost 27 minutes on this move, clearly deciding whether or
not to force a draw.} Qf6 {(00:08)} 21. Nh5 {(00:16)} Qf5 {(00:06)} 22. g4 $1 {
(01:33)  [#] Of course, this is an obvious move, avoiding a repetition and
wins a pawn. The problem for White is that the GM playing Black had been
moving almost instantaneously so far, and that pretty much guarantees that
White would be playing into Black's home preparation. So the question isn't
whether Eric thinks the position is better for him or just equal, but whether
his position and his nerves are good enough that he can risk playing it
against Sam Shankland's computers.} Qc8 {(00:16)} 23. Nxe5 {(03:48)} Nxe5 {
(00:05)} 24. dxe5 {(00:07)} Qc7 {(00:21)} 25. Qe2 {(02:24)} Rad8 {[#] (08:51)
Black took almost 9 minutes for this move, the first move of the game where he
had spent more than half a minute. Black spends nearly an hour on his next
four moves, a clear indication that he was now out of his home preparation...
and that he wasn't enjoying his position.} 26. Nf4 {(05:50)} Rd7 {16 minutes
17 seconds, and not the computer's top choice. Stockfish and Houdini both
prefer ...Qe7 and rate it equal: Black threatens to continue with ...Bc7 and ..
.f6.} (26... f6 $2 27. Qc4+ $16) (26... Qe7 27. a4 Qc5 $5 (27... Bc7 $11) 28.
Nd3 Qc4 29. a5 (29. Nb4 $4 Qf4 $19 {threatening ...Qg3+ and ...Rd2.}) 29... Bc7
$11) 27. Kg2 {(01:24)} Kh8 {[#] (22:40)} 28. Rac1 $1 {(09:37) A "mysterious
rook move"? Not really: it improves the rook and prepares to defend the second
rank. Remember: White has an extra pawn; he doesn't have to do anything active,
he just has to finish developing, hold onto the pawn, and not fall for any
tactics on the dark squares.} a6 {(06:47)} 29. Rc2 {(03:19)} Qd8 {(00:58)} (
29... Rde7 30. Nd3 {White is ready to play f4 with an extra pawn and the
initiative, and Black's only try to break up the pawns doesn't work:} f6 $2 (
30... g5 $5 {stops f4, but after} 31. h4 $1 {and White can attack along the
h-file.}) 31. Nf4 $1 Kg8 (31... Kh7 32. Qd3+ {transposes}) 32. Qc4+ Kh7 33. e6
$18 g5 $140 34. Qe4+ $18) 30. Qf3 {(03:38)} Bc7 {(01:02)} 31. Rce2 $16 {
(00:07) White has coordinated his pieces and kept the pawn.} Rd2 {(05:43)} 32.
Rxd2 {(05:06)} Qxd2 {( 00:01)} 33. Re2 {[#] (02:06)} Qd7 $6 {(01:01)} (33...
Qd8 $16 {avoids White's next.}) 34. e6 $1 {(03:00) Changing gears! White has
spent the last 15 moves defending this pawn, and a weaker player would get
stuck with that as his goal; but as soon as he can trade it for a different
advantage Eric takes his chance. A few elementary tactics allow White to
establish a N outpost on e6 while retaining his extra pawn.} fxe6 {(02:53)} 35.
Nxe6 {(01:47)} Bd6 {(00:18)} (35... Rxe6 $2 36. Qf8+ Kh7 37. Qf5+ $18) 36. Qf5
$1 {(01:13)} Re7 {(02:43)} 37. f4 {(04:55)} Qe8 {(02:06) Threatening ...Bxf4.}
38. Kf3 {(03:36)} Kg8 {[#] (01:18)} 39. Qd3 {(01:12)} Bb8 {(01:24)} ({Again,
tactics keep the N alive:} 39... Rxe6 $2 40. Qc4 Kf7 41. f5 $18) 40. f5 {
(00:00) Time control and White is in full control.} Rd7 {(00:00)} 41. Qe4 {
17:24 for this... possibly most of it spent trying to relax.} Qe7 $6 {(03:22)}
42. Nc5 $1 {(00:34) White wins another pawn and Black resigns.} 1-0

[Event "Women's Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.02"]
[Round "1.39"]
[White "Joshi, Sindira"]
[Black "Zhou, Qiyu"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C54"]
[WhiteElo "1574"]
[BlackElo "2367"]
[Annotator "Qiyu Zhou"]
[PlyCount "76"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteTeam "Nepal"]
[BlackTeam "Canada"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 Bc5 5. c3 Nf6 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Bd2 {
Diagram [#]} Nxe4 ({editor -} 7... Bxd2+ {is playable, but doesn't give Black
much chance to fight for a win:} 8. Nbxd2 d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Qb3 Na5 {is a
very common GM draw:} 11. Qa4+ Nc6 12. Qb3 Na5 13. Qa4+ Nc6 {½-½ (13) Short,
N (2684)-Korneev,O (2581) Bunratty, 2016.}) 8. Bxb4 Nxb4 9. Bxf7+ Kxf7 10. Qb3+
d5 {Diagram [#]editor - a position with a very long and lively history:} 11.
Qxb4 ({editor -} 11. Ne5+ Ke6 (11... Kg8 12. Qxb4 Qf6 13. O-O c5 14. Qb5 b6 $2
15. Qe8+ Qf8 16. Qc6 Ba6 17. Qxd5+ Qf7 18. Qxf7# {1-0 Greco,G-NN 1620.}) 12.
Qxb4 Qf8 13. Qxf8 Rxf8 14. f3 Ng5 15. Nc3 c6 16. h4 Nf7 17. Nd3 Kd6 18. Kf2 Nd8
19. g3 Ne6 20. Ne2 $11 {(½-½, 55) Hou,Y (2673)-Aronian,L (2797) Wijk aan Zee,
2015.}) 11... Rf8 12. Nc3 {Diagram [#]} Nxc3 $2 ({Much better was} 12... Kg8
13. Nxe4 dxe4 14. Ne5 Qd5 $13) 13. bxc3 $6 {editor - Natural, but the wrong
recapture. After Qxc3! the Q defends the third rank with protects against
kingside attacks with ...Rxf3 or ...Qg5 and ...Bh3.} (13. Ne5+ Kg8 14. Qxc3 $1
$14 {Now Black would have an extremely tough time playing this position, with
White's knight dominating on e5.}) 13... Kg8 14. Ne5 {At first I was a bit
confused as to why White played this after a long think instead of 0-0, but
then I realized White can't castle because of ...Rxf3 and upcoming mate.} (14.
O-O $4 Rxf3 15. gxf3 Bh3 16. Kh1 Qf6 $19) 14... Qg5 {White's king is looking
extremely weak.} 15. g3 $2 {Diagram [#]} (15. O-O $8 Bh3 16. g3 $8 $15) 15...
Rxf2 $1 {I spent a bit more than 20 minutes on this move.} ({The other move I
looked at was} 15... Bh3 16. Qxb7 (16. f4 Qh5 17. Qxb7 Bg2 $19) (16. Qb2 Qh6
17. Rg1 Rae8 {and it becomes very tough for White to play.}) 16... Bg2 17. Rg1
Rab8 {Analysis Diagram [#]} 18. Qc6 (18. f4 Qf5 19. Qa6 Rb2 20. Qd3 Qh3 21.
O-O-O Be4 $19) (18. Qxc7 Rb2 19. f4 Qf5 $19 {with mate in a few moves}) (18.
Qxa7 Rb2 $19) 18... Qf5 (18... Rxf2 {also works} 19. Qe6+ Kh8 20. Nf7+ Rxf7 21.
Qxf7 Qe3+ $19) (18... Rb2 $4 {doesn't work now} 19. Qe6+ Kh8 20. Nf7+ Kg8 21.
Nh6+ Kh8 22. Qg8+ Rxg8 23. Nf7#) 19. Rxg2 Qe4+ 20. Kf1 Rxf2+ 21. Kxf2 Rb2+ 22.
Kf1 Qxg2+ 23. Ke1 Qe2#) 16. Kxf2 Qd2+ 17. Kf3 {Diagram [#]} Bh3 (17... Bf5 {
looked extremely strong too} 18. Rad1 (18. Rhf1 Rf8 19. g4 Be4+ {#3.}) 18...
Be4+ 19. Kg4 Qe2+ 20. Kh4 h6 $19) 18. Rad1 (18. Rhd1 Bg2+ 19. Kg4 Qe2+ 20. Kh4
Qe4+ 21. Ng4 Kh8 {White gets mated:} 22. Qb1 Qe7+ 23. Kh5 Qf7+ 24. Kh4 g5+ {#4.
}) 18... Bg2+ 19. Kg4 Qe2+ 20. Kh4 Bxh1 21. Rxh1 Qe4+ 22. Kh3 Qxh1 {Diagram [#]
} 23. Qe7 (23. Qxb7 Rf8 24. Qxc7 Qf1+ 25. Kh4 Qf6+ 26. Kh3 Qf5+ 27. Kg2 (27. g4
Qf1+ $19) 27... Qf1#) 23... Qf1+ 24. Kh4 Qf6+ 25. Qxf6 gxf6 26. Nd7 Kf7 27. Nc5
b6 28. Nd3 Re8 29. Nf4 c6 30. Kg4 Re3 31. Kf5 Rxc3 32. Nh5 Rc2 33. h4 Rxa2 34.
Kf4 a5 35. Ke3 b5 36. Nf4 a4 37. Nd3 a3 38. Nb4 Rb2 0-1

[Event "Women's Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.04"]
[Round "3.1"]
[White "Vazquez Maccarini, Danitza"]
[Black "Zhou, Qiyu"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C90"]
[WhiteElo "2142"]
[BlackElo "2367"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "86"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteTeam "Puerto Rico"]
[BlackTeam "Canada"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "PUR"]
[BlackTeamCountry "CAN"]
[WhiteClock "0:30:19"]
[BlackClock "0:11:57"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d3 b5 6. Bb3 Be7 7. O-O d6 8. c3
O-O 9. h3 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. Re1 Nc6 12. Nbd2 Re8 13. Nf1 h6 14. Ng3 Be6 15. a4
Rc8 16. Nh2 d5 17. exd5 Qxd5 18. Ne4 b4 19. Qf3 Qd8 20. Be3 b3 21. Bd1 {
Diagram [#]} Nxe4 (21... Qxd3 22. Nxc5 Bxc5 23. Bxc5 e4 $13) 22. dxe4 Na5 23.
Be2 Nc4 24. Bxc4 Bxc4 25. Ng4 Bd6 (25... Qc7 $142) 26. Rad1 Re6 {Diagram [#]}
27. Bxh6 $3 {An excellent find!} gxh6 28. Ne3 {trapping the Bc4} Rf6 {gaining
a tempo to free the B...} 29. Qg4+ {gaining a tempo to save the Q...} Rg6 30.
Rxd6 $1 {Only move to keep the advantage, taking advantage of the fact that
the Rc8 hangs on ...Qxd6.} Rxg4 31. Rxd8+ Rxd8 32. hxg4 Be6 33. Kf1 a5 34. f3
Rd2 35. Re2 Rd3 36. Nd5 Bxd5 37. exd5 Rxd5 38. Ke1 c4 39. Re4 Rc5 40. Re2 Kf8
41. Rd2 $14 Ke7 (41... e4 $5 {attempts to activate the R to avoid the
variations at move 43.} 42. fxe4 Rg5) 42. Ke2 Ke6 43. Ke3 $2 (43. Rd8 $1 $16 {
threatening Rh8.} f5 44. gxf5+ Kxf5 45. g4+ (45. Ke3 h5 46. Rh8 Kg5 47. Ke4 h4
48. Rg8+ Kf6 49. Rg4 $18 {and wins the h-pawn.}) 45... Kf4 46. Kf2 e4 47. Rd4
Re5 48. Rxc4 $18) 43... Rd5 $1 1/2-1/2

[Event "Women's Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.04"]
[Round "3.1"]
[White "Vazquez Maccarini, Danitza"]
[Black "Zhou, Qiyu"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C90"]
[WhiteElo "2142"]
[BlackElo "2367"]
[Annotator "Qiyu Zhou"]
[PlyCount "86"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteTeam "Puerto Rico"]
[BlackTeam "Canada"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "PUR"]
[BlackTeamCountry "CAN"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d3 b5 6. Bb3 Be7 7. O-O d6 8. c3
O-O 9. h3 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. Re1 Nc6 12. Nbd2 Re8 13. Nf1 h6 14. Ng3 Be6 {[#]}
15. a4 (15. d4 cxd4 16. cxd4 exd4 17. Nxd4 (17. Ne2 Nb4 18. Bb1 d3 19. Ned4 Bf8
20. a3 Nc2 21. Nxc2 dxc2 22. Bxc2 Bc8 23. Nd4 Bb7 24. Nf5 Rc8 25. Ng3 d5 26. e5
Ne4 $15 {(0-1, 38) Svidler,P (2728)-Leko,P (2749) Monte Carlo (rapid), 2007.})
17... Nxd4 18. Qxd4 Rc8 19. Bb3 d5 (19... Bxb3 20. axb3 d5 $11 {(1/2-1/2, 34)
Leko,P (2753)-Aronian,L (2739) Morelia/Linares, 2008.}) 20. e5 Nd7 21. Qd1 Nb6
$15 (21... Nc5 22. Be3 $11 {(½-½, 37) Lutz,C (2597)-Kramnik,V (2777)
Brissago, 2004.})) (15. Bb3 c4 16. Bc2 cxd3 17. Bxd3 Bf8 18. a4 b4 19. c4 Nd7
$11) 15... Rc8 ({I had played a game in this line last year at the World Youth,
which went:} 15... Bf8 16. Nh2 d5 17. exd5 Bxd5 18. Ng4 Nxg4 19. Qxg4 Be6 20.
Qe4 Bd5 21. Qg4 g6 $6 {0-1 Buiza Prieto,E (2057)-Zhou,Q (2328) Porto Carras,
2015.} (21... Be6 $142 $11)) 16. Nh2 (16. axb5 axb5 17. Nh2 Qd7 18. Nh5 Ra8 19.
Nxf6+ Bxf6 20. Be3 Rxa1 21. Qxa1 {0-1 Baumegger,S (2413)-Sokolov,I (2663)
Izmir, 2004.} Qb7 $15) 16... d5 {I got ...d5 in pretty comfortably, and I
would say I even had a slight plus here.} 17. exd5 Qxd5 18. Ne4 b4 19. Qf3 Qd8
20. Be3 {[#] This was a critical moment.} b3 $6 {For some reason I thought
this was a great move.} (20... Nd7 $15 {this is more typical for Spanish
positions. Black's knight protects both c5 and adds support for e5, while
threatening ...f5, after which the knight can return to f6. Black has more
space, and therefore I shouldn't want to trade pieces.} 21. Bd2 {just to step
out of any ...Nd4 tactics. Also, it's not that easy for White to make a move.}
(21. g4 Nd4 $1) 21... f5 (21... b3 22. Bd1 (22. Bb1 f5) 22... c4 23. dxc4 f5
24. Ng3 e4 $17) 22. Ng3 Rf8 $15) ({But even better is the untypical} 20... Nd4
$1 $15 {I missed this} 21. cxd4 (21. Bxd4 exd4 $15) 21... cxd4 22. Bxh6 Rxc2
23. Qg3 Bf8 24. Nxf6+ (24. Bc1 Nxe4) 24... Qxf6 25. Bg5 Qg6 26. Bc1 (26. Rxe5
f6 $19) 26... Qxg3 27. fxg3 Bd5 {White's pawn structure is in shambles.}) 21.
Bd1 $11 Nxe4 22. dxe4 Na5 $6 {[#] My plan was to get a knight onto c4, where
White would be practically forced to exchange the it for her bishop. I went
for this plan because I thought the pair bishops would be useful in this
position... however this was not the case as my light-squared bishop was a
liability on c4.} 23. Be2 Nc4 $6 (23... c4 24. Ng4 Nc6 25. Red1 Qc7 26. Qg3 Kh7
27. a5 {Black's position is extremely uncomfortable.}) 24. Bxc4 Bxc4 25. Ng4
$40 {[#] Black's kingside is just too weak without a knight on f6, and three
of white's pieces are already aimed there.} Bd6 $6 (25... Bf8 26. Qg3 h5 27.
Nxe5 h4 28. Qh2 (28. Qf4 Bd6 $17) 28... Bd6 29. f4 Bxe5 30. fxe5 Qc7) 26. Rad1
Re6 $2 {Honestly I think at this point everything is kind of bad, whether or
not I see the tactics} (26... h5 27. Nf6+ Qxf6 (27... gxf6 $2 28. Bh6 Kh7 29.
Qxh5 Rh8 30. Re3 $18) 28. Qxf6 gxf6 29. Rxd6 $14) 27. Bxh6 $1 $16 gxh6 28. Ne3
Rf6 29. Qg4+ Rg6 30. Rxd6 $1 Rxg4 31. Rxd8+ Rxd8 32. hxg4 Be6 33. Kf1 a5 34. f3
Rd2 35. Re2 Rd3 {[#]} 36. Nd5 $2 {She was happy with the draw.} (36. Ke1 $18 {
If I try} Rd7 (36... Kf8 37. Rd2 $18 {leads to the same as ...f6 and ...Kg7.})
(36... f6 37. Rd2 Rxd2 (37... Rxe3+ 38. Kf2 $18) 38. Kxd2 c4 39. Nf5 Kh7 40.
Nd6 {[%csl Ya5] Black's light-squared bishop is useless against White's knight,
which is about to win the a5-pawn.}) (36... Kg7 37. Rd2 Rxe3+ 38. Kf2 Rxc3 39.
bxc3 Bc4 40. Rd6 f6 41. Rb6 $18 {[%cal Yf2e3,Ye3c1,Yc1b2] White's king goes to
c1 leaving white's rook free to take all of Black's pawns.}) 37. Nf5 Bxf5 38.
exf5 f6 39. Rd2 Rc7 (39... Rxd2 40. Kxd2 $18 {and White's K will get to the
queenside pawns through c4 or d5.}) 40. Rd6 Kf7 41. Ra6 $18) 36... Bxd5 37.
exd5 Rxd5 38. Ke1 c4 39. Re4 Rc5 40. Re2 {[#]} Kf8 $2 {I'm not sure what I was
thinking.} (40... Rd5 41. Rd2 Rxd2 42. Kxd2 Kf8 (42... f6 $2 {For some reason
I was convinced I had to play ...f6 to make sure my king got to the center in
time, but it would result in me getting zugzwanged...} 43. Ke3 Kf7 44. Ke4 Ke6
45. f4 $8 $18) 43. Ke3 Ke7 44. Ke4 Ke6 $11 {this could have appearing in the
game, if we had played on.}) 41. Rd2 Ke7 42. Ke2 Ke6 {[#]Critical Position} 43.
Ke3 $2 (43. Rd8 {was necessary, after which White should be winning.} Kf6 {
[#] Analysis White has a choice of ways to win.} (43... f5 44. gxf5+ (44. Rh8
fxg4 45. Rxh6+ Kf5 46. Rh5+ Kf6 47. fxg4 Rc7 {could be unclear. White is most
likely still better, but it would be more difficult to score the full point.})
44... Kxf5 45. Ke3 h5 46. Rh8 Kg5 47. Ke4 Kg6 48. Re8 Kf6 49. g3 $18 {and
Black gets in zugzwang.}) (43... Ke7 44. Rh8 Rc6 (44... f6 45. Rh7+ Ke6 46.
Rxh6 $18 {pawn down... this should be impossible to hold.}) 45. Ke3 (45. Ra8
Rc5 46. Ra7+ Kf6 (46... Kf8 47. Ra6 Kg7 48. Rd6) 47. Rb7 Ke6 ({If anything
else, eg.} 47... Kg6 48. Rb5 $18) 48. Rb6+ Ke7 49. Rxh6 $18) 45... Rd6 $1 {
going for Rd1, in order to capture some of White's pawns.} (45... Re6 46. Ke4
Kd6 47. Ra8 $18 {I just have too many weaknesses.}) 46. Ke2 {is necessary,
which just transposes to Ra8 straightaway.} (46. Rc8 Rd1 47. Rxc4 Re1+ 48. Kd2
Rb1 49. Rc5 Rxb2+ 50. Kd3 Kd6 51. Rxa5 Rxg2 $11) 46... Rc6 (46... Kd7 47. Ra8
Rd5 48. Ra7+ Ke6 49. Ra6+ Rd6 50. Rxa5 $18) 47. Ra8 Rc5 48. Ra7+ Kf8 (48... Kf6
49. Rb7 {transposes.}) 49. Rb7 f6 (49... Kg7 50. Rb5 $18) 50. Rh7 Kg8 51. Rxh6
$18) 44. Ke3 (44. Rb8 {the idea is to play Rb6, followed by Rb5 if Black plays
...Kg7 to protect the h6 pawn.} e4 $5 $132 (44... Ke7 45. Rb7+ Ke8 46. Rb6 $18)
45. fxe4 Rg5 46. Kf3 h5 47. Rc8 (47. gxh5 Rxh5 48. Rc8 Rh1 49. Rxc4 Rb1 50. Rc5
Rxb2 51. Rxa5 Rc2 52. Rb5 Rxc3+ 53. Kf4 Rc4 54. a5 Ra4 55. g4 b2 56. Rxb2 Rxa5
$11) 47... hxg4+ 48. Kf4 Rh5 49. Rxc4 Rh2 50. Rc6+ (50. Kg3 Rh1) 50... Ke7 51.
Rb6 Rxg2 52. Rxb3 g3 53. Kf3 $18) (44. Rd6+ Kg5 45. Ke3 f6 46. Ke4 h5 (46...
Kg6 47. Rd5 $18) 47. Rd8 (47. gxh5 f5+ 48. Ke3 Kxh5 49. f4 $1 e4 50. g3 Kg4 51.
Rg6+ Kh3 52. Kf2 $18) 47... hxg4 48. Rg8+ Kh6 49. Rxg4 Kh7 50. Kf5 Rc6 $18)
44... Ke7 45. Rh8 Rd5 {As long as White doesn't let Black get any counterplay,
she should be winning.} 46. Rxh6 $2 $11 (46. Ke2 Rd6 47. Rc8 $18) 46... Rd1 $8
$132 47. Ra6 (47. Ke4 Rd2 48. Kxe5 Rxb2 $11) 47... Re1+ 48. Kd2 Rb1 49. Rxa5
Rxb2+ 50. Ke3 Kd6 51. Ra6+ Kc7 52. Ra5 $8 (52. Rf6 $4 Rc2 53. Rxf7+ Kb6 $19)
52... Rb1 53. Rb5 $8 (53. Rxe5 $4 Re1+ $19) 53... Re1+ 54. Kd2 Rg1 55. Ke3 Rxg2
56. Rb4 b2 57. a5 Kd6 58. a6 Rc2 59. Ke4 (59. a7 $2 Rxc3+ 60. Ke2 Ra3 61. Rxb2
$17) 59... f5+ 60. Kxf5 (60. gxf5 $4 Re2#) 60... Rxc3 61. Rxb2 (61. a7 Rxf3+
62. Kg5 Ra3 $17) 61... Rxf3+ 62. Ke4 $11) 43... Rd5 {Later one of my friends
told me that my opponent she was quite unhappy with the end result, as she
realized she was winning. Luckily for me, she didn't see 43.Rd8 during the
game.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "Women's Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.04"]
[Round "3.2"]
[White "Yuan, Yuanling"]
[Black "Morales Santos, Natasha"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C11"]
[WhiteElo "2205"]
[BlackElo "1908"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "113"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteTeam "Canada"]
[BlackTeam "Puerto Rico"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "CAN"]
[BlackTeamCountry "PUR"]
[WhiteClock "0:20:55"]
[BlackClock "0:33:08"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 Be7 8. Qd2
O-O 9. Be2 b6 10. O-O f5 11. exf6 Nxf6 12. Kh1 Bb7 {[#]} 13. Bd3 (13. Rad1 Rc8
14. Bb5 Bd6 15. g3 Na5 16. Be2 a6 17. Ne5 Qc7 18. Kg1 Rfd8 19. Qe1 b5 20. Bf3
cxd4 21. Bxd4 Bc5 $11 {(0-1, 44) Hjartarson,J (2547)-Short,N (2655) Nuuk, 2016.
}) (13. Rae1 Kh8 14. Bb5 a6 15. Bxc6 Bxc6 16. Ng5 Qd7 17. a3 (17. Bg1 Ne4 18.
Ngxe4 dxe4 19. Nxe4 cxd4 20. Qxd4 Qb7 $44) 17... Rad8 18. Rd1 Bd6 19. Qe2 Rde8
20. Rde1 Qc7 21. Qf2 h6 22. Qh4 Kg8 23. Nf3 Bb7 {½-½ Caruana,F (2700)
-Kazhgaleyev,M (2620) Khanty-Mansiysk, 2010.}) 13... Nb4 (13... c4 {Keeps the
center closed and Black is OK.} 14. Be2 Bb4 $5) (13... a6 14. a3 $6 {"A loss
of time. During the game, it seemed to me important to prevent the possibility
of a black piece jumping to b4, for example after c4 Be2; Bb4, but now White
does not manage to create pessure on the e6-pawn, which is more important."  -
T.Kosintseva, in ChessBase; game cited in Watson's "Play the French" (4th ed.).
} (14. Rae1 $5) 14... Qc7 15. Qe1 c4 $13 {(1-0,39) Kosintseva,T (2536)-Rajlich,
I (2465) Novi Sad, 2009.}) 14. Rae1 Nxd3 15. cxd3 Bd6 16. Nb5 Bb8 (16... c4 $1
17. dxc4 dxc4 $13) 17. dxc5 Qd7 {[#]} 18. Nc3 (18. c6 $1 {turns d4 into an
outpost after} Bxc6 19. Nbd4) 18... Nh5 19. cxb6 axb6 20. Nd4 Bd6 21. Ndb5 Bc5
22. d4 Bb4 23. a3 Ba6 24. axb4 Bxb5 25. Rf3 Nf6 26. Bg1 Bc6 27. b5 Bxb5 28.
Nxb5 Qxb5 29. Rxe6 Ne4 $11 30. Qc2 Rfc8 31. Qb1 Nd2 32. Qd3 {[#]Critical
Position} Qxd3 $2 (32... Qd7 $1 {leaves both Rs attacked and White will have
to give up an exchange:} 33. Rfe3 Ne4 34. R6xe4 $17 (34. Rxb6 $2 Ra1 $19 {
threatening ...Nf2+ and ...Rxg1.})) 33. Rxd3 Ne4 34. Rd1 $14 b5 35. Rb6 Ra5 $6
(35... Rcb8 $142) 36. b4 Ra2 37. Rxb5 Nc3 38. Rc1 {[#]} Nxb5 $2 (38... Rc4 {
gives Black much better chances to hold.}) 39. Rxc8+ Kf7 40. Rc5 $18 Nd6 41.
Rxd5 Ke6 42. Re5+ Kf6 43. d5 Nc4 44. Re4 Na3 45. g4 Nb5 46. Re6+ Kf7 47. Rb6
Nc3 48. Rb7+ Ke8 49. d6 Rd2 50. Re7+ Kf8 51. Bc5 Na4 52. Ra7 Nxc5 53. bxc5 Ke8
54. Rxg7 Rc2 55. Rc7 Rc4 56. c6 Rxf4 57. Rc8+ 1-0

[Event "Women's Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.04"]
[Round "3.3"]
[White "Comas Colon, Rinelly M"]
[Black "Botez, Alexandra"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A24"]
[WhiteElo "1773"]
[BlackElo "2092"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "93"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteTeam "Puerto Rico"]
[BlackTeam "Canada"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "PUR"]
[BlackTeamCountry "CAN"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. Nc3 O-O 5. d3 d6 6. Nf3 e5 7. O-O c6 (7... Nc6
{is much more popular, but the game line scores just as well for Black.}) 8.
Rb1 a5 9. a3 Re8 10. b4 axb4 11. axb4 d5 $11 12. cxd5 cxd5 {[#] Critical
Position After 13.Bg3 Be6, should White capture on e5?} 13. Nd2 (13. Bg5 Be6
14. Nxe5 $1 $146 {Ribli gives this a ?? in ChessBase, but chess analysis has
come a very long way since 1995, and there are some hard-to-imagine tactics
here...} (14. e4 $143 d4 15. Nd5 Nbd7 16. Nxf6+ Bxf6 $15 {0-1 (35) Vaganian,R 
(2640)-Kasparov,G (2805) Riga, 1995.}) 14... Qc7 {looks like it just wins a
piece, but:} 15. Bxf6 Bxf6 (15... Qxc3 16. Rb3 $16) 16. Nxd5 $3 Qxe5 (16...
Bxd5 17. Ng4 $18) 17. d4 $1 $14 {and the Black Q can't defend both f6 and c7.})
13... Be6 14. Nb3 b6 15. b5 Ra7 16. Bd2 (16. d4 $5 e4) 16... d4 17. Ne4 {[#]}
Nxe4 (17... Nd5 $1 {keeps the pieces on to enjoy the extra space; and if} 18.
Ng5 Bf5 $15 {followed by ...h6 and a nice position with more squares for
Black's minors.}) 18. Bxe4 Bd5 19. Qc2 Rc7 20. Qb2 Bxe4 21. dxe4 d3 22. exd3
Qxd3 23. Rfc1 Rxc1+ 24. Qxc1 {White is missing her Bg2, but with the Nb8 so
far away, there will be no time to take advantage of it.} Qxe4 25. Be3 Nd7 26.
Nd2 Qf5 27. Qc6 Rb8 {[#]} 28. Rd1 (28. Ne4 $5 Bf8 29. Rd1 Nc5 30. Bxc5 Bxc5 31.
Nxc5 bxc5 32. Qxc5 $14) 28... Qd3 $11 29. Qc4 Qxc4 30. Nxc4 Rb7 $11 31. Rd6 Bf8
32. Rc6 Bc5 33. Bxc5 Nxc5 34. Nxe5 Ne6 35. Rd6 Nc5 36. Nc4 Na4 37. Kg2 Nc3 38.
Rxb6 Rxb6 39. Nxb6 Nxb5 40. Nd7 Kg7 41. h3 Nd4 42. g4 f6 43. Nc5 Kf7 44. Kg3
Ne6 45. Ne4 Ke7 46. h4 Ng7 47. Kf4 1/2-1/2

[Event "Women's Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.04"]
[Round "3.4"]
[White "Ouellet, Maili-Jade"]
[Black "Vega Jimenez, Keyshla M"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D36"]
[WhiteElo "1992"]
[BlackElo "1641"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteTeam "Canada"]
[BlackTeam "Puerto Rico"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "CAN"]
[BlackTeamCountry "PUR"]
[WhiteClock "0:46:53"]
[BlackClock "0:00:40"]

1. d4 d5 {A smooth game by Ouellet: she builds a nice center in a QGD exchange
variation, her opponent sacs a pawn to relieve the pressure, and she nicely
converts to attack.} 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Qc2 c6 6. Bg5 Be7 7.
e3 O-O 8. Bd3 h6 9. Bh4 Nbd7 10. Nf3 Re8 11. O-O Ne4 12. Bxe7 Qxe7 {[#]} 13.
Rae1 {Although not unknown, this move is more common when White has developed .
..Nge2, preparing f2-f3 and eventually e3-e4. With the N already on f3,
playing the minority attack seems more natural.} (13. b4 Ndf6 14. b5 c5 15.
dxc5 Nxc5 16. Rac1 Nce4 17. Qb2 Bd7 18. h3 Rac8 19. Ne2 Nc5 20. Bc2 Nce4 21. a4
Ng5 22. Nfd4 Rc4 23. Nf4 $14 {(0-1, 62) Van Wely,L (2575)-Sokolov,I (2645)
Wijk aan Zee, 1995.}) 13... Ndf6 14. Ne5 Bd7 $6 (14... Bf5 15. f3 Nxc3 16. Qxc3
(16. Bxf5 Nxa2) 16... Bxd3 $11 {trades some pieces before White can start
squeezing with e4.}) 15. f3 Nd6 (15... Nc5 16. Nxd7 Ncxd7 17. e4 $14) (15...
Nxc3 {exchanging pieces when short of space, though White is still better
after either recapture.}) 16. e4 {[#]} dxe4 {This exchange means that if White
ever pushes e4-e5 then Black can put a piece on d5; but it also opens the
f-file.} (16... Rac8 $143 17. Nxd7 Nxd7 18. e5 $16) (16... Be6 $5 17. Qf2 Rad8
{challenges White to find a way through.}) 17. fxe4 Be6 18. Nf3 $16 {[#] White
has an ideal center and Black has no pressure on it, so she pitches a pawn to
unclog.} Nb5 (18... Nc8 $16 {doesn't give away any material, but is pretty sad.
}) 19. Nxb5 cxb5 20. Bxb5 Rec8 21. Qb1 (21. Qf2 Bxa2 22. e5 Nd5 23. Nh4 $16) (
21. Qf2) 21... Bc4 22. Bxc4 Rxc4 {[#]} 23. e5 {The first part of a strong
attack.} (23. Qd3 $1 {centralizing before defining the central structure.})
23... Nd5 24. Qe4 Qe6 25. Nd2 Rc7 26. Qf3 Rc2 27. Ne4 $1 {[#]} Rxb2 (27... b6
28. Nf6+ $1 {exploiting the pin to a8.} gxf6 29. exf6 $18) 28. Nc5 $18 {
Black can't defend both d5 and f7.} Qc6 29. Qxf7+ Kh8 30. Rf3 Re8 31. Rg3 Re7
32. Qf8+ Kh7 33. Qf5+ Kh8 34. Rg6 Nf6 35. Rf1 Qd5 36. exf6 Qxd4+ 37. Kh1 1-0

[Event "Women's Olympiad"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.09.05"]
[Round "4.1"]
[White "Zhou, Qiyu"]
[Black "Frayna, Janelle Mae"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C18"]
[WhiteElo "2367"]
[BlackElo "2281"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:02:47"]
[BlackClock "0:11:54"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Qa5 {A positionally
sound line which has the added advantage of reducing White's options (and
Black's homework) in the Winawer.} 7. Bd2 Qa4 {[#] Watson calls this the
"Portisch-Hook variation", and Moskalenko calls it "Black Queen Blues". The
Qa4 does more than blockade the a-pawn: it pressures a3, c2 and d4. Almost all
legal moves have been tried by White, a sign that there's no consensus on how
best to tackle this defence.} 8. h4 ({Negi's excellent 1.e4 repertoire book
for Quality Chess recommends:} 8. Qg4 g6 (8... Kf8 9. Qd1 Nc6 10. Qb1) 9. Nf3
Nc6 10. Be2 {and concludes, "The key to White's play here is to prevent Black
from carrying out long castling... involving Qh4 and Bg5, which poses Black
difficult problems."}) 8... Nc6 9. h5 h6 10. Nf3 Nge7 {[#]} 11. Rh4 (11. Rb1 c4
12. g3 b6 13. Bh3 Bd7 14. O-O O-O-O {and White spent the rest of the game
shuffling his pieces, unable to come up with a promising plan in Karjakin,S 
(2779)-Radjabov,T (2726) Shamkir, 2016 (½-½, 33).}) 11... Bd7 12. Rg4 (12.
Rf4 g5 13. hxg6 Nxg6 14. Rf6 cxd4 15. Bd3 Ngxe5 16. Nxe5 Nxe5 17. Qh5 Nxd3+ (
17... dxc3 $1) 18. cxd3 Rh7 {(½-½, 62) Zeng,C (2400)-Hoang,T (2435) Chennai,
2012.}) 12... g5 (12... Nf5 $5) 13. hxg6 fxg6 14. Qb1 c4 {[#]} 15. Rh4 (15.
Qxb7 $4 Rb8 16. Qc7 Qxc2 $19 (16... Rc8 {and Black can force a repetition.}))
15... h5 16. Ng5 Nf5 17. Rh3 Ke7 18. Be2 b5 19. g3 Raf8 20. Kf1 Kd8 21. Kg2 Kc7
22. Qb2 Qa5 23. Nf3 Rb8 24. Rah1 (24. Bg5) 24... Rhg8 25. Rb1 Qb6 26. Nh4 Nfe7
27. Bg5 a5 {[#]} 28. Nf3 (28. Qc1 $5 {heading for the kingside now that the
pressure is off c2 and c3.}) 28... Nf5 29. Nh4 Nfe7 30. Nf3 Nf5 31. Nh4 1/2-1/2

[Event "Women's Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.05"]
[Round "4.2"]
[White "Fronda, Jan Jodilyn"]
[Black "Yuan, Yuanling"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B52"]
[WhiteElo "2128"]
[BlackElo "2205"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "140"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteClock "0:02:07"]
[BlackClock "0:09:03"]

1. e4 c5 {White builds slowly to an attack in a b3 Sicilian, Black plays an
exchange sac then outmaneuvers her opponent in a QR v QB ending. Odd fact:
Black's Queen travels all over the board, but never once lands on or crosses
any of the four center squares.} 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Bxd7+ Nxd7 5. b3 Ngf6
6. Qe2 e6 7. Bb2 Be7 8. c4 O-O 9. O-O {[#]} e5 {Black could allow White to
play d4, but with the Bb2 it makes some sense to block the dark squares and
ask White if she can activate her own B.} (9... a6 10. d4 cxd4 11. Nxd4 Re8 12.
Nc3 Rc8 13. Rad1 Qa5 14. Kh1 Qh5 15. Qxh5 Nxh5 16. g3 Nhf6 {(½-½, 56) Anand,
V (2798)-Carlsen,M (2775) Mainz, 2008.}) 10. Nc3 Re8 (10... g6 11. a3 Nh5 12.
g3 Ng7 13. b4 b6 14. Nd5 f5 15. exf5 Nxf5 16. bxc5 (16. d4 $5) 16... bxc5 17.
Bc3 Nf6 18. Nxf6+ Bxf6 19. Qe4 Qd7 20. Rab1 Rab8 21. d3 Ne7 22. Bd2 Qf5 23. Kg2
$11 {(1-0, 43) Kamsky,G (2645)-Alterman,B (2585) Tilburg, 1993.}) 11. Ne1 {
A standard regrouping against c5 and e5: Nf3-e1-c2-e3-d5.} Nf8 12. f4 Ne6 13.
f5 Nd4 14. Qd1 a6 15. d3 b5 16. g4 h6 17. Ng2 bxc4 18. dxc4 Rb8 19. Ne3 Nh7 20.
Ncd5 Bg5 21. Ng2 a5 22. Bc3 Nf6 23. Nxf6+ Bxf6 24. Ne3 Bg5 25. Nd5 Rb7 26. Rb1
Ra7 27. Rb2 Qd7 28. Qe1 Qd8 29. f6 {[#]} Re6 (29... Bxf6 {looks bad, but Black
seems to be OK, as White's K is also exposed; e.g.} 30. Nxf6+ gxf6 31. Qh4 (31.
Bxd4 exd4 $1 32. Qh4 Rxe4 33. Rbf2 Qe7 34. Rxf6 a4 $132) 31... Re6 32. Rbf2 Qa8
$5) 30. Ne7+ (30. fxg7 $142) 30... Kh7 (30... Rexe7 $11) 31. Bxd4 exd4 32. Nc6
Qb6 33. Nxa7 Qxa7 {Diagram [#]} 34. Re2 (34. fxg7 $1 $13 {White might have
been worried about dropping the e-pawn, but the tactics work for her:} Be3+ 35.
Kh1 Rxe4 36. Qb1 Qb7 {and Black would just need to move her King to win, but
it's White's turn:} 37. Rxf7 $8 $18) 34... Bxf6 35. Rf3 Kg8 36. Kg2 Qa8 37. h4
Qd8 38. Kh3 Be5 $15 39. Ref2 Rf6 40. Rxf6 Bxf6 41. Rf5 Be5 42. Qf1 Qd7 43. Qe1
Qa7 44. Rf3 Qa8 45. Qe2 Qa7 46. Rd3 Bf4 47. Qf3 g5 48. hxg5 hxg5 49. Kg2 {
[#] Does Black have any weak pawns?} a4 $1 {Not any more.} 50. Qd1 axb3 51.
Qxb3 {White now has a passed a-pawn, but it won't go anywhere because her
pieces will be too tied up defending against threats from the black Q.} (51.
axb3 Qa2+ 52. Kf1 Qh2 53. Qf3 $15 {is an attempt to cover all the entry points.
}) 51... Qa8 52. Kf3 Kg7 53. Qb2 Qa5 54. Ke2 $2 {[#]Critical Position White
has four isolated pawns, but can attack them only with her Q. What should she
play?} (54. Qe2 $15) 54... Qa4 $8 {Forcing the Q up to b3 to defend c4.} 55.
Qb3 Qa8 $1 56. Kf3 Qh8 $1 {This is the point of 54...Qa4: if White's Q was
still on b2 White could play Qg2 to defend the h-file.} 57. Kg2 Qh2+ $1 (57...
Qh7 {looks good too, but it gives White a chance to muddy the watters:} 58. Rh3
$5 Qxe4+ 59. Kf2 Be3+ 60. Rxe3 dxe3+ 61. Qxe3 {and the computer says Black is
winning, but she definitely has a harder job ahead of her than with the game
line.}) 58. Kf1 Qh1+ {[#] Three corners in four moves and Black is winning.}
59. Kf2 Qh4+ (59... Qxe4 60. Rh3 {transposes to the previous variation.}) 60.
Kf1 Qxg4 61. Qc2 (61. Rh3 $5 d5 $3 62. exd5 (62. cxd5 c4 $19) 62... Be3 63.
Rxe3 dxe3 64. Qxe3 Qxc4+ $19) 61... Qe6 (61... Qh5 $1 {is more active, and the
Black Q goes back to the h-file soon.}) 62. Rf3 Be5 63. a4 g4 64. Rf5 Qh6 $1
65. Rf2 g3 66. Rf3 Qh1+ 67. Ke2 {The next few moves might be recording errors.}
g2 $5 68. Rg3+ Kh6 $5 69. Rxg2 Qxg2+ 70. Kd1 Qf1+ 0-1

[Event "Women's Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.05"]
[Round "4.4"]
[White "Mendoza, Shania Mae"]
[Black "Ouellet, Maili-Jade"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B43"]
[WhiteElo "1965"]
[BlackElo "1992"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "95"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteClock "0:24:57"]
[BlackClock "0:23:52"]

1. e4 c5 {A horror show for Black, who tries to play a ...d5 "break" in the
Sicilian... but times it to allow White to close the center with e4-e5,
leaving Black with no central or queenside play. White piles up on the
kingside and and blasts through with a piece sac.} 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4
a6 5. Nc3 b5 {[#]} 6. a3 (6. Bd3 {is by far the most common move.} Qb6 7. Nf3
Nc6 8. O-O Qb8 9. Bg5 Nge7 10. a4 b4 11. Ne2 Ng6 12. Ned4 Nxd4 13. Nxd4 Bd6 $13
{1-0 (53) Ponomariov,R (2706)-Svidler,P (2759) Almaty, 2016.}) 6... Bb7 7. g3
Nf6 8. Bg2 Qc7 9. O-O d6 {[#]} 10. Be3 (10. Re1 Be7 11. a4 b4 12. Na2 O-O 13.
Bg5 (13. Nxb4 $5 d5 14. Bf4 $146 (14. e5 Bxb4 15. exf6 Bxe1 $13 {0-1 (42)
Boidman,Y (2411)-Siebrecht,S (2453) Lausanne, 2008.}) 14... e5 $140 15. Nxd5
Nxd5 $8 16. Bxe5 $1 $36) 13... Nbd7 14. Qd2 a5 $11 {½-½ (43) Topalov,V (2745)
-Short,N (2660) Dortmund, 1997.}) 10... Nbd7 11. Re1 Be7 (11... Nb6 $2 12. e5
$1 dxe5 13. Ndxb5 $1 axb5 14. Nxb5 $16) 12. f4 O-O 13. g4 Nb6 14. g5 Nfd7 15.
Kh1 Nc4 16. Bc1 Rfd8 17. Qg4 Bf8 18. Rf1 Ndb6 19. Qg3 {[#]} d5 $2 {After this
Black will struggle to create meaningful queenside or central play.} 20. e5 $1
Rac8 21. Nce2 Nd7 22. b3 Ncb6 (22... Na5 {heading to c6 to pressure the center
would give the N something to do.}) 23. Bd2 g6 24. Qh4 Nc5 25. Rf3 Ne4 26. Rh3
{Diagram [#]The position resembles a horrible Steinitz French, where White's
Nd4 shuts down play on the c-file and on the a8-diagonal.} h5 {Black was
banking on this to stop the attack, but that was only the first wave.} (26...
h6 $5 {might be a good practical try to surprise White, who wouldn't want to
take on h6, but couldn't sac a piece on h5.}) 27. Ba5 (27. gxh6 $2 Be7 {
makes the White h-pawn an unbreakable defender.}) (27. Bf3 $5 {sacs a piece
for a strong attack, but White has no reason to hurry,} Nxd2 28. Bxh5 gxh5 29.
Qxh5 Bg7 30. Rg1 $13) 27... Rd7 $2 (27... Bg7 $5 {is a normal defensive move 
(guarding h8 and preparing to escape via f8) but it doesn't seem good enough
to stop White, who can build up with Rf1 and Bf3xh5 anyway.}) (27... Bc5 $1 {
indirectly helps defend the h-file.} 28. Bf3 Kg7 29. Bxh5 $140 $2 Rh8 $19) 28.
Bf3 $18 Ba8 29. Kg2 {Gets out of ...Nf2+ before taking on h5.} Rb8 30. Bxh5
gxh5 31. Qxh5 Bg7 {[#]Black's queenside pieces have nothing to do, so even
though White has "only" two pawns for the B, computers show mutiple ways to
win and rate this around +10.} 32. Qh7+ (32. Bb4 $1 Nc5 33. f5 exf5 34. Qh7+
Kf8 35. Nxf5 $18) 32... Kf8 33. Bb4+ Re7 34. g6 Qd7 35. gxf7 Kxf7 36. Qh5+ Kg8
37. Qh7+ (37. Qg6 {also wins.}) 37... Kf7 {[#]} 38. f5 (38. Rg1 $1 {also wins:}
Rh8 39. Qxg7+ $1 Kxg7 40. Kf3+ $18) 38... exf5 39. Bxe7 (39. Nxf5 $1 $18 {
also wins, but White gives the impression that she wants to win while never
giving the Ba8 even a hope at fresh air (via ...d4).}) 39... Rh8 40. Qxh8 {
Again, not the only win:} (40. e6+ Qxe6 41. Nxe6 Rxh7 42. Rxh7 Kxe7 43. N2d4
$18) 40... Bxh8 41. e6+ Qxe6 42. Rh7+ Kg6 43. Nf4+ Kxh7 44. Nfxe6 Nc8 45. Bh4
Ncd6 46. Rg1 Kg6 47. Kf3+ Kf7 48. Nd8+ {White will win the Bh8 too.} 1-0

[Event "Women's Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.06"]
[Round "5.25"]
[White "Ramirez, Maria Eugenia"]
[Black "Zhou, Qiyu"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C49"]
[WhiteElo "2104"]
[BlackElo "2367"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteClock "0:40:03"]
[BlackClock "0:02:15"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Bb4 {Diagram [#]} (4... Nd4 {is the
second most common move, and scores about as well.}) 5. Bxc6 {White can't
expect an advantage with this, but she's much lower-rated and Black's chances
are a long way off with the B-pair.} (5. O-O O-O 6. d3 d6 7. Ne2 (7. Bg5 Bxc3
8. bxc3 Qe7 9. Re1 Nd8 10. d4 Ne6 11. Bc1 c5 12. a4 Rd8 13. Bc4 $14 {1-0 (34)
Shirov,A (2740)-Lesiege,A (2460) North Bay 1994}) 7... Ne7 8. c3 Ba5 9. Ng3 Ng6
10. d4 Bb6 11. Re1 c6 12. Bd3 {1-0 (43) Anand,V (2791)-Mamedyarov,S (2756)
Shamkir 2015}) 5... dxc6 6. d3 (6. Nxe5 Qe7 7. Nd3 Bxc3 8. dxc3 Qxe4+ 9. Qe2
$11 O-O 10. Qxe4 Nxe4 11. Bf4 Nd6 12. O-O-O Bf5 {1/2-1/2 (12) Munoz Pantoja,M 
(2457)-Gonzalez Perez,A (2466) Cornella 2013}) 6... Qe7 7. h3 Bd7 (7... O-O 8.
Bg5 Qe6 9. Nd2 Ne8 10. a3 Bxc3 11. bxc3 Nd6 12. Be3 {1-0 (59) Hasangatin,R 
(2400)-Moizhess,I (2445) Moscow 1996}) 8. Be3 a6 $146 9. a3 Bd6 10. Ne2 c5 11.
Ng3 O-O-O {Diagram [#] Computers like this, but it's very risky, and not very
savvy, since it makes it easy for White to choose a plan.} 12. c3 h6 13. Qc2
Kb8 (13... g5 $142 14. b4 Kb8 (14... g4 15. Nh4 $1 Nxe4 $2 16. Nhf5 $18) 15.
bxc5 Bxc5 16. d4 (16. Bxc5 Qxc5) 16... exd4 17. cxd4 Bb6 18. O-O g4 {is the
opposite-side action Black was probably hoping for.}) (13... g6 $142) 14. b4 g6
{Changing gears?} (14... g5 $1 15. Rb1 (15. Nd2 $5) 15... cxb4 (15... g4 $13)
16. axb4) 15. O-O cxb4 $4 {Strategic suicide. Black opens the a-file and now
White gets a strong attack.} (15... Nh5 $5) 16. axb4 g5 {[#]} 17. b5 $1 $18 a5
$6 ({Had Black missed this:} 17... Bxb5 $2 18. c4 Bc6 19. c5 {trapping the Bd6}
) (17... g4 {is trickier, but White wins if she just piles up against the
black King:} 18. bxa6 b6 (18... gxf3 19. axb7 $18) 19. Nd2 gxh3 20. Nc4 hxg2
21. Rfb1 {and White crashes through first.}) 18. Rxa5 b6 19. Ra8+ $1 {The rest
is a slaughter.} Kb7 (19... Kxa8 20. Qa4+ Kb7 21. Qa6+ Kb8 22. Ra1 $18) 20.
Ra7+ Kb8 21. Rfa1 (21. Qa4 Bxb5 22. Qxb5 Kxa7 23. Ra1+ Kb7 24. Qa6+ Kc6 $18 25.
Qc4+ Kd7 26. Qb5+ Ke6 27. Nd4+ exd4 28. Qf5#) 21... Bxb5 22. c4 Bc6 23. Bxb6 $1
Qe6 24. Be3 Kc8 25. R1a6 $1 Bb7 26. c5 $1 Bxa6 27. Rxa6 (27. c6 {is #10}) 27...
Kd7 28. cxd6 cxd6 29. Nf5 Rc8 30. Qa4+ 1-0

[Event "Women's Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.06"]
[Round "5.26"]
[White "Yuan, Yuanling"]
[Black "Monroy G., Nataly A."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B36"]
[WhiteElo "2205"]
[BlackElo "2105"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "114"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteClock "0:03:12"]
[BlackClock "0:12:01"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. c4 Nf6 6. Nc3 d6 7. Be2 Nxd4 8.
Qxd4 Bg7 9. Be3 O-O 10. Qd2 a5 11. Rd1 Be6 {Diagram [#] There is a ChessBase
DVD by Tiviakov on the Maroczy which covers these structures and middlegames.
It's not a very exciting DVD or system, but as Tiviakov keeps reminding
viewers, it's solid enough to help him draw against 2700 players.} 12. a4 {
This stops ...a4 and ...Qa5 (Tiviakov's favourite strategy); but making the
queenside static while Black has good control over c5 should leave Black
comfortably equal, and a Black Nc5 will constantly attack a4 and b3, and so
restrict White's freedom.} (12. O-O a4 13. f4 Qa5 14. Bd4 Rfe8 15. Qd3 Rad8 (
15... Rec8 16. b3 axb3 17. axb3 Qb4 18. f5 Bd7 19. Bxf6 $1 $16) 16. Kh1 Bd7 17.
Qe3 Rc8 18. h3 Bc6 19. e5 Nd7 20. exd6 (20. e6 $1) 20... exd6 21. Qf2 Nf6 22.
f5 g5 23. h4 g4 (23... Ne4 $1) 24. h5 Ne4 25. Nxe4 Bxd4 26. Rxd4 Rxe4 27. Rxe4
Bxe4 28. Bxg4 $16 {1-0 (42) Giri,A (2677)-Tiviakov,S (2637) Hoogeveen, 2010.})
12... Nd7 13. Nb5 Nc5 {With the Nc5 it is hard to see how White can make any
progress.} 14. Qc2 Qc8 15. Nd4 Bd7 16. b3 Qc7 17. O-O Bc6 18. Bd3 b6 19. f3
Rad8 20. Rd2 (20. Qf2 $5) 20... Rd7 21. Rfd1 Rfd8 22. Bf1 Qb7 23. Ne2 Ne6 24.
Nc3 Re8 25. Nd5 {[#]The double attack on b6 looks like it necessitates ...Bxd5,
but the computer shows that's not so:} Bxd5 (25... Rdd8 $5 26. Nxb6 (26. Bxb6
Rb8 (26... Bxd5 $5 $13)) 26... Rb8 27. Rd3 Nc5 28. Bxc5 dxc5 29. Nd5 e6 30. Ne3
f5 $5 $44 (30... Bd4 $44 {/\...f5.})) 26. cxd5 (26. exd5 Nc5 27. g3 (27. Bd4 $2
Bxd4+ 28. Rxd4 $15) 27... e5 28. dxe6 Nxe6 29. Rxd6 Rxd6 30. Rxd6 Bf8 31. Rd1
Qxf3 32. Bxb6 Ng5 $11 {threatening ...Re2 and ...Nh3.}) 26... Rc7 27. Qb1 (27.
dxe6 {is not so stupid, but} Rxc2 28. exf7+ Kxf7 29. Rxc2 {this doesn't give
White any realistic winning.}) 27... Nc5 28. Bb5 Rec8 29. Rc2 Qa7 30. Rdc1 Be5
31. Rc4 Rb8 32. Qc2 Rbc8 33. f4 Bg7 34. Qd1 Qb8 {Diagram [#]} 35. Bf2 $2 (35.
f5 $142) 35... Ra7 $2 (35... Nxe4 {Doesn't this just win a pawn? Maybe the
game score is wrong, and the actual sequence was 35.Qf3 then 36.Bf2.}) 36. Qf3
Qc7 {[#]} 37. Bd4 {This trades both the good Bs, and leaves White unable to
budge the gatekeeper on c5. That's not necessarily bad, but it might be better
to begin opening lines on the kingside first, as the absent Bg7 makes it
easier for Black to get defenders around her King.} (37. R4c2 $5 {preparing to
switch to the kingside with h2-h4-h5.}) 37... Bxd4+ 38. Rxd4 Qd8 39. Rdc4 Qf8
40. e5 Qg7 41. Re1 Rd8 42. Bc6 e6 $1 43. b4 axb4 44. Rxb4 dxe5 45. Rxe5 exd5
46. Bxd5 Rad7 47. Rxb6 Nxa4 48. Rb1 Qf8 49. Kh1 Rxd5 50. Rxd5 Rxd5 51. Qxd5 Nc3
52. Qd3 Nxb1 53. Qxb1 Qd6 54. Qc1 h5 55. h3 Kg7 56. Qc3+ Qf6 57. Qe3 Qa1+
1/2-1/2

[Event "Women's Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.06"]
[Round "5.27"]
[White "Cordero, Daniela"]
[Black "Botez, Alexandra"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E69"]
[WhiteElo "1954"]
[BlackElo "2092"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "123"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteClock "0:01:35"]
[BlackClock "0:02:00"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d6 6. O-O {[#]} c6 {This is the
Boleslavsky system against the g3-KID. It's less popular than the Yugoslav
system (with ...Nc6 and ...c5) but its fluid pawn center makes it
strategically more complex, and should give the better player decent chances
from either side.} (6... Nc6 7. Nc3 a6 8. d5 Na5 9. Nd2 c5 10. Qc2 Rb8 11. b3
b5 {is the Yugoslav system, with thousands of games.}) 7. Nc3 Nbd7 8. e4 e5 9.
h3 exd4 (9... Re8 10. Be3 a5 11. d5 Qc7 12. Nd2 b6 13. Qc2 Nc5 14. Rfc1 Bd7 15.
dxc6 Bxc6 16. Nb3 Ncd7 17. Nd2 h5 18. Nd5 Qb8 19. b3 Nc5 20. a3 {1/2-1/2 (42)
Melkumyan,H (2622)-Kamsky,G (2691) Baku 2015}) 10. Nxd4 Nc5 11. Re1 Re8 12. Rb1
a5 13. b3 h6 {[#]} 14. Bb2 (14. Kh2 Bd7 15. Bf4 Qc7 16. a3 Nh5 17. Be3 Nf6 18.
Bf4 Nh5 19. Be3 Nf6 20. Qc2 Re7 (20... h5 $5) 21. Rbd1 Rae8 22. Bf4 g5 23. Ndb5
cxb5 24. Bxd6 Qc8 25. Bxe7 Rxe7 26. Nxb5 $14 {1-0 (39) Pigusov,E (2575)
-Akopian,V (2615) Novosibirsk 1993}) 14... Bd7 15. a3 Qb6 16. Ba1 (16. Na4 $5
Nxa4 17. bxa4 Qc7 18. Bc3 {and White has another half-open file for pressure.})
16... Rad8 17. b4 axb4 18. axb4 Ne6 19. Nf3 Bc8 {[#] From a classical point of
view it looks like White is comfortably better, with significantly more space
and options for her Rooks. But Black's position is like the Hedgehog -- no
weaknesses and constantly pressuring White's pawns.} 20. Qc2 Qc7 21. Na4 d5 $6
(21... b5 $5 22. cxb5 (22. e5 dxe5 23. Bxe5 Nd4 $1 24. Bxd4 $1 (24. Nxd4 $2
Rxe5 25. Rxe5 Rxd4 $1 $17 {and White is hanging on a4 and e5.}) 24... Bf5 25.
Qb2 Bxb1 26. Rxb1 (26. Bxf6 Rxe1+ 27. Nxe1 Bxf6 28. Qxf6) 26... Rxd4 27. Nxd4
bxa4 $11) 22... cxb5 23. Qxc7 Nxc7 24. Nc3 {White still has better structure.})
22. Be5 Qe7 23. exd5 cxd5 24. c5 $14 Ne4 25. Bxg7 Kxg7 {[#]} 26. Rbd1 (26. Qb2+
{aiming to simplify and leave Black with weak pawns with no dynamic
compensation} Qf6 27. Qxf6+ Nxf6 28. Nb6 $14) 26... Qf6 27. Nb6 Nc3 28. Rc1 (
28. Rd3 $5 Nd4 29. Rxd4 $1 Rxe1+ 30. Kh2 $16) 28... d4 29. Nc4 $2 {[#]Critical
Position} (29. Qd2 $1) 29... Nb5 {Black misses a strong but very hard to see
combo:} (29... Ng5 $1 30. Nxg5 d3 $1 31. Qd2 Ne2+ 32. Rxe2 (32. Kh2 hxg5 $19 ({
or} 32... Qxf2 $19)) 32... Rxe2 33. Ne4 Rxd2 34. Nxf6 Rc2 $19 {White has two
pieces for the exchange, but is hanging on c1, c4 and f6.}) 30. Nfe5 d3 $5 {
A clearance sac to activate her pieces, making the game even more complicated.}
31. Nxd3 Nbd4 {[#]} 32. Qb2 $6 (32. Qc3 $142 Ng5 33. Rxe8 Rxe8 34. Nd6 $1 {
allowing the fork on e2 in return for one on e8} Ne2+ 35. Kh2 Qxc3 36. Nxe8+
Kf8 37. Rxc3 Nxc3 38. Nd6 $18 {Black loses b7 and White's queenside pawns win.}
) 32... Ng5 $1 $132 33. Nde5 (33. Nd6 $2 Ndf3+ $1 $19 34. Kf1 Qxb2 35. Nxe8+
Rxe8 36. Nxb2 Nd2+ $8 37. Kg1 Ngf3+ 38. Bxf3 Nxf3+ 39. Kf1 $2 {saves the Rook?}
Bxh3#) 33... Nxh3+ (33... Rxe5 34. Rxe5 Bxh3 35. Bxh3 Nxh3+ 36. Kg2 Ng5 $13)
34. Kf1 {[#]} Ng5 $2 (34... b5 $1 35. cxb6 $140 Ba6 $1 $13 36. f4 {Defending
e5 and hoping to trap the Nh3,} (36. Bxh3 Rxe5 $17) 36... Rxe5 $1 37. Rxe5
Bxc4+ 38. Rxc4 Nxf4 $8 $11) 35. Rcd1 (35. f4 $142 $1 $18) 35... Nf5 36. Kg1 Ne6
37. Nf3 (37. Rxd8 Rxd8 38. Nb6 $16 {threatening both Nd5 and Nxc8 then Bxb7.})
37... Qxb2 38. Nxb2 Nc7 39. Nc4 Rxe1+ 40. Rxe1 Na6 41. g4 Nd4 42. Nd6 Ne6 43.
Ne5 {[#]} Nac7 $4 (43... Nxb4 $142 44. Nexf7 Rf8 45. Nxc8 Kxf7 46. Nd6+ Ke7 47.
Nxb7 Nd3 {and Black has good chances to hold.}) 44. Nexf7 $1 $18 Rf8 45. Nxc8
Rxf7 46. Nd6 Rf4 47. b5 $1 {[#] Advancing the pawns with tactical threats
against the black Ns. White is winning.} Kf6 48. b6 Na6 49. Nxb7 Rb4 (49...
Naxc5 50. Nxc5 Nxc5 51. Rc1 $1 $18) 50. Rc1 Nf4 51. Bf1 Nxc5 52. Nxc5 Nd5 53.
b7 Ke7 54. Bg2 Nf4 55. Re1+ Kf7 56. Be4 Nh3+ 57. Kg2 Nf4+ 58. Kg3 g5 59. Na6
Rb3+ 60. Bf3 h5 61. b8=Q h4+ 62. Kh2 1-0

[Event "Women's Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.06"]
[Round "5.28"]
[White "Agbabishvili, Lali"]
[Black "Molina, Jessica"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D02"]
[WhiteElo "2064"]
[BlackElo "1883"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteClock "0:20:03"]
[BlackClock "0:00:33"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 c5 4. d4 e6 5. O-O Nc6 6. c3 {[#] A Schlechter Slav/
Grunfeld reversed, which is about as solid an opening as possible. But if you
can get a middle game which you know better than your opponent...} (6. c4 {
would be aiming for a Grunfeld reversed (aka: Catalan)}) 6... cxd4 (6... Be7 7.
Bg5 {White played this game when he needed a draw to advance to the next round
of the World Cup.} cxd4 8. cxd4 Qb6 9. b3 Bd7 10. Nc3 Ne4 11. Na4 Qa5 12. Bxe7
Kxe7 13. a3 b6 14. Qd3 Rac8 15. Rfc1 Nb8 16. Ne5 $2 {Natural, but very bad.
Black exploits White's weak back rank and offside Na4 to take control of the
c-file and the game:} Rxc1+ 17. Rxc1 Rc8 $1 $17 18. Rd1 (18. Rxc8 $2 Qe1+ {
is mating.}) 18... Bxa4 19. Bxe4 (19. bxa4 Qxa4 {Black is just up a pawn for
nothing.}) 19... dxe4 20. Qxe4 Bc6 $19 {(0-1, 71) Azmaiparashvili,Z (2673)
-Bareev,E (2702) Shenyang, 2000.}) 7. cxd4 Bd6 8. Nc3 a6 9. Bg5 O-O 10. Rc1 h6
11. Be3 Bd7 12. Kh1 Ng4 13. Bd2 f5 14. e3 g5 15. Ne1 Nf6 16. Nd3 Be8 $11 17.
Na4 Rf7 18. Nac5 Re7 19. Bc3 Ne4 {[#]} 20. Nxe4 dxe4 (20... fxe4 21. Nc5 b6 22.
Nb3 $11) 21. Nc5 Bxc5 22. dxc5 Rd7 23. Qb3 Bf7 24. Rfd1 g4 $6 (24... e5 $142
25. Rxd7 Qxd7 26. Rd1 Qe7 27. Qb6 (27. Qa3 Rd8 $11) 27... Bxa2 $14) 25. Rxd7
Qxd7 26. Rd1 Qe7 27. Rd6 Rd8 28. Qd1 $16 {[#] White has the only open file,
the Bishop pair, and a mobile queenside majority. Black collapses quickly.}
Rxd6 $6 (28... e5 $16) 29. cxd6 Qd7 30. Bxe4 $1 $18 {Making the best use of
the unopposed Bc3.} h5 (30... fxe4 31. Qxg4+ Kf8 32. Qg7+ Ke8 33. Qh8+ Bg8 34.
Qxg8#) 31. Bg2 Ne7 $2 32. Qd4 {Safetys the queen with tempo gain, winning the
N and the game.} Kf8 33. dxe7+ 1-0

[Event "Women's Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.09"]
[Round "7.24"]
[White "Yuan, Yuanling"]
[Black "Unuk, Laura"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C78"]
[WhiteElo "2205"]
[BlackElo "2332"]
[Annotator "Yuanling Yuan"]
[PlyCount "79"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]

{The Canadian women's team was paired against Slovenia in round 7 after
defeating Portgual in the previous round. Two years ago at the Norway Olympiad
we had lost to Slovenia but this time was different. We had a much stronger
team and we were all prepared to fight! I was paired against Laura Unuk, a
talented 17-year-old. She was my toughest opponent yet.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3.
Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 7. c3 d6 8. d4 Bb6 {[#]} 9. Be3 (9. a4
Bg4 10. h3 Bh5 11. Bg5 Rb8 12. Qd3 Bxf3 13. Bd5 Nxd4 $14 {(1-0, 40) Kosteniuk,
A (2525)-Stefanova,A (2548) Beijing (blitz), 2008.} (13... Bxe4 $5)) 9... O-O
10. h3 h6 11. Nbd2 Re8 12. Re1 {[#]} exd4 {Up until this point everything was
still in my prep book. After ...exd4, I was on my own!} 13. cxd4 Na5 14. Bc2
Bb7 15. d5 c6 16. b4 Nc4 17. Nxc4 bxc4 18. dxc6 {[#]} Bxc6 (18... Bxe3 $2 {
Looks good initially but is actually disatrous for Black after,} 19. cxb7 Bxf2+
20. Kxf2 Qb6+ 21. Qd4 Qxb7 22. Qxd6 Rad8 23. Qc5 Rc8 24. Qf5 $18 {White's up a
piece and my King is safe and I'm threatening e4-e5 next move.}) 19. Bxb6 Qxb6
20. Qxd6 Rad8 21. Qf4 Qxb4 22. e5 {[#] She spent a long time thinking here, as
if she just discovered what I've been scheming.} Nd5 (22... Bxf3 {is better}
23. Qxf3 Qb2 (23... Nd7 24. Rad1 Nf8 $11 {(0-1, 45) Mammadzada,G (2316)
-Durarbayli,V (2621) Doha, 2014.}) 24. Qf5 (24. exf6 Rxe1+ 25. Rxe1 Qxc2 $11)
24... Rd5 25. Rab1 Qd4 26. Rbd1 Qc3 27. f4 $11) 23. Qe4 g6 24. Nd4 ({I was
debating between Nd4 and Qh4 here, but eventually decided to go with Nd4 - the
knight looks too good on that square to turn it down!} 24. Qh4 Kg7 25. Rab1 Qc5
26. Nd4 Re7 27. e6 Be8 28. Re5 $14) 24... Ba4 25. Bxa4 Qxa4 {[#]} 26. e6 Kh7 $2
(26... f5 {the move I was expecting} 27. Qe5 $14) 27. Qf3 f6 {Black's queen is
totally stuck on the side and away from the action.} (27... f5 $4 28. Nxf5 $1
gxf5 29. Qxf5+ Kh8 30. Qg6 Re7 31. Qxh6+ Rh7 32. e7 $1 $18 {Black's Q is a
distant spectator, and} Re8 33. Qf8+ {is lights out.}) 28. Rad1 c3 {[#]} 29. e7
$2 {At this point I was already in time pressure. The formula is simple:
complex position + time trouble = e7 was not the best move.} (29. Ne2 {is the
best move, according to the computer. But seriously, who would've thought to
retreat the knight in an ATTACKING position? #counterintuitive} Qc4 30. Nxc3 $3
Qxc3 31. e7 $1 Qxf3 32. exd8=Q $18 {a brilliant tactic.}) 29... Rxe7 30. Rxe7+
Nxe7 31. Re1 {[#]} Nd5 $2 (31... Ng8 {is much better for Black} 32. Ne6 {
threatening Qb7} Rb8 (32... Re8 33. Qb7+ Re7 34. Nf8+ $18) 33. Qxc3 Rb7 34. Nc5
Qc6 $14 {Still slightly more pleasant for White, but I would've lost all of my
advantages.}) 32. Ne6 Rd6 33. Nf8+ {[#]Critical position} Kg7 $2 (33... Kg8 $8
34. Qg3 {(Nxg6 transposes)} Rd8 $8 35. Nxg6 Kf7 36. Nh4 Ne7 (36... Re8 37. Qg6+
$11) 37. Qe3 Rd7 38. g3 c2 39. Qxh6 Qb4 {editor - According to the computer,
it's unbalanced but equal after} 40. Qh5+ Kg7 41. Rxe7+ $8 Rxe7 42. Qg6+ $11)
34. Qg3 Nf4 35. Nxg6 Rd3 36. Re7+ (36. Qxf4 {also winning} Qxf4 37. Nxf4 Rd2
38. Kf1 Rxa2 39. Rc1 Ra3 40. Nd5) 36... Kg8 {[#]} 37. f3 $1 (37. Qg4 $4 {
editor -} Nxh3+ $19) 37... Qd1+ 38. Kh2 Nh5 39. Qg4 Rd5 40. Qe6# {Overall, I
was very happy with my play in this game. What an exciting one! The Canadian
team went on to win the match against Slovenia 2.5 - 1.5!} 1-0

[Event "Women's Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.09"]
[Round "7.4"]
[White "Leonardi, Caterina"]
[Black "Ouellet, Maili-Jade"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E17"]
[WhiteElo "2024"]
[BlackElo "1992"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "68"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteTeam "Slovenia (W)"]
[BlackTeam "Canada (W)"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "SLO"]
[BlackTeamCountry "CAN"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O {[#]} b6 (6... dxc4 7.
Qc2 a6 {is the start of the main-line in the open Catalan.}) 7. Qc2 {White
continues to play in Catalan style, ensuring the safety of the c4 pawn; but
now that Black has played ...b6 White doesn't have to worry about getting the
pawn back after ...dxc4 -- since Ne5 would be strong -- so here Nc3 is a more
testing move.} Bb7 8. b3 c5 9. Bb2 Qc7 10. Nbd2 Nbd7 11. Rac1 Rac8 12. cxd5
exd5 13. Ne5 {[#]} Nxe5 $5 {Not the safest move -- ...Rfe8 or ...Qd6 -- but
definitely the most interesting, as the resulting pawn structure is very
unbalanced. After the exchange on e5 the game follows its normal strategic
course: Black pushes her queenside majority to create a passed pawn while
White pushes her central majority to create attacking chances.} 14. dxe5 Nd7
15. f4 (15. Nf3 Qc6 {and ...Qe6 to attack e5.}) 15... b5 $1 {Black gets her
queenside majority started. White has more than one reasonable way to play,
and chooses to trade center pawns, giving her pieces the use of e4.} 16. e4 (
16. Bh3 $5 {hits d7 and c8, and gives White another way to undermine Black's
pawns; e.g. e5-e6.}) (16. e3 {and Nf3 to restrain Black's center pawns also
makes sense.}) 16... c4 $1 (16... d4 $2 17. Bxd4 $16) {[#]} 17. exd5 (17. Rfd1
$6 Nc5 $1 18. exd5 Nd3 19. Qxd3 (19. d6 $2 Qc5+ {and there's a smothered mate.}
) 19... Bc5+ 20. Bd4 $1 cxd3 21. Bxc5 Rfd8 22. d6 Qd7 23. Bxb7 Qxb7 24. b4 {
Black is better, but it would be an interesting challenge to find a way to
effectively open lines for her majors.}) 17... Bxd5 18. bxc4 (18. Bxd5 Qc5+ 19.
Rf2 Qxd5 20. bxc4 bxc4 21. Qe4 Nb6 $13 {It's hard to tell if Black's passed
pawn is strong or weak.}) 18... bxc4 19. Bd4 Bxg2 20. Kxg2 Nb6 21. Qe4 Rfd8 22.
Nf3 {[#]} Bc5 (22... Nd5 $5 23. f5 (23. Ng5 $5) 23... f6 $1 (23... Qc6 $5) 24.
e6 $140 c3 25. Rc2 Qa5 $15 {threatening ...Qa4 and ...Rc4.}) 23. Rfd1 h6 24. f5
Qc6 25. Qh4 $6 (25. Qxc6 $11) 25... Bxd4 26. Rxd4 Rxd4 27. Qxd4 c3 $15 28. f6
Qb5 {[#]} 29. Rc2 $2 (29. Rxc3 $4 Qb2+ $19) (29. Qe4 $142 $15) 29... Qb1 $1 30.
Qf2 (30. Qe4 Rc4 $1 31. Qd3 Nd5 $1 {is similar to the game.}) 30... Nd5 {
Setting up tactics with ...Ne3+.} 31. Nd4 {[#]Critical Position What's better:
...Rc4 or ...Nb4} Rc4 $1 (31... Nb4 $4 {This actually throws away all of
Black's advantage as now White's f6-pawn and Q give enough play to draw,
though the full line has to be seen to be believed:} 32. Qf5 $8 Rc7 $1 33. Qg4
$8 g6 34. Qf3 $11 Nxc2 35. Qa8+ Kh7 36. Qf8 Ne3+ $8 37. Kf3 Qf5+ $5 (37... Qf1+
38. Kxe3 Qg1+ $11) 38. Nxf5 $4 (38. Ke2 $8 Qf1+ 39. Kxe3 Qg1+ $8 $11 {Black
has to give a perpetual.}) (38. Kxe3 $4 Qxe5+ $19 {White loes her f6 pawn next
and the game soon after.}) 38... Nxf5 39. Qd8 Nd4+ $8 40. Ke3 (40. Qxd4 c2 $19)
40... Ne6 $19 {The N defends everything and White's Q will be stuck doing
blockade duty on c1.}) 32. e6 (32. Nf5 {defends e3,} gxf6 (32... g6 $2 33. Ne7+
$8 Nxe7 34. fxe7 Qb7+ 35. Qf3 Qxe7 36. Rxc3 $15) 33. exf6 Kh7 $1 $19 {and
White has no tactics and no defence to ...Rc6xf6 or ...Nb4.}) 32... Rxd4 $1 33.
exf7+ (33. fxg7 f6 $1 $19 {and White has no more tricks.}) 33... Kxf7 (33...
Kf8 $4 34. fxg7+ $18) 34. fxg7+ Nf4+ $1 (34... Nf4+ $1 35. gxf4 (35. Kf3 Qb7+ {
is mating.}) 35... Qxc2 36. Qxc2 Rd2+ $19) 0-1

[Event "Women's Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.13"]
[Round "11.2"]
[White "Botez, Alexandra"]
[Black "Laubscher, Anzel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D46"]
[WhiteElo "2092"]
[BlackElo "1814"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteTeam "Canada (W)"]
[BlackTeam "South Africa (W)"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "CAN"]
[BlackTeamCountry "RSA"]

1. d4 d5 {Black makes a couple of indifferent moves in an IQP position and
White finishes her off with a crisp combo.} 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. e3
Nbd7 6. Bd3 Bd6 7. O-O O-O 8. b3 e5 9. cxd5 cxd5 10. Nb5 Bb8 11. dxe5 Nxe5 {[#]
} 12. h3 $146 {White avoids a classic trap (which I've seen more often with
colours reversed).} (12. Be2 {is more common, keeping the B and getting ready
for a standard IQP middlegame.}) (12. Bb2 Nxf3+ 13. Qxf3 $4 (13. gxf3 $142 Bh3
14. Re1 Ne4 $1 $36 15. f4 Qh4 $1 16. Qf3 Nd2 $1 (16... Rd8 $143 17. Red1 Bg4
18. Qg2 Ng5 $13 {Polugaevsky,L (2605)-Kaidanov,G (2640) Groningen, 1993.}) 17.
Qe2 $140 Bxf4 $3 18. exf4 Rae8 19. Be5 Rxe5 $19) 13... Bg4 14. Bxf6 Qd7 $1 15.
Bf5 Bxf5 {The Bf6 is hanging, and Black threatens ...Bg4 (again) trapping the
Q.} 16. Rfd1 Bg4 17. Rxd5 Bxf3 18. Rxd7 Bc6 {0-1 Mikhalevski,V (2535)-Motylev,
A (2653) Minsk (rapid), 2015.}) 12... Ne4 13. Bb2 Qf6 $6 {The piece exchanges
and exposed Q don't help Black.} (13... Nxd3 14. Qxd3 Be6 $14) (13... Nxf3+ 14.
Qxf3 a6 (14... Nd2 $2 15. Qh5 $1 $40) 15. Nc3 $14) 14. Nxe5 Bxe5 15. Bxe5 Qxe5
16. Rc1 Bd7 $2 {[#]} 17. f4 $1 {There are no good squares for the black Q.} Qe7
(17... Qb8 $2 18. Nc7 $18) (17... Qb2 18. Nc7 Rad8 19. Nxd5 $16) (17... Qf5 18.
Nd6 $5 (18. Nc7 Rad8 19. g4 Qg6 20. Nxd5 Qe6 $14 {Black might get some play
against the White kingside.}) 18... Qg6 19. Bxe4 dxe4 20. f5 $16) 18. Nc7 Nc5
19. Nxd5 Qd6 {[#]Critical Position} 20. Rxc5 $3 {Alexandra took under 2
minutes for this move.} Qxc5 (20... Be6 21. Nf6+ gxf6 22. Bxh7+ {also wins the
Q.}) 21. Bxh7+ Kxh7 22. Qh5+ Kg8 23. Nf6+ gxf6 24. Qxc5 {[#] White is
completely winning, but it's a team event, so Black struggled on.} Bc6 25. Qf5
Kg7 26. Qg4+ Kh7 27. Qf5+ Kg7 28. e4 Rad8 29. Rf3 Rd1+ 30. Kh2 Rfd8 31. Rg3+
Kf8 32. Qc5+ Ke8 33. Rg8+ Kd7 34. Rxd8+ Kxd8 35. h4 Kc7 36. h5 Rd8 37. Qe7+ Rd7
38. Qxf6 Kc8 39. Qf5 1-0

[Event "42nd Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.13"]
[Round "11.3"]
[White "Torre, Eugenio"]
[Black "Ly, Moulthun"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B07"]
[WhiteElo "2447"]
[BlackElo "2513"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "179"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteTeam "Philippines"]
[BlackTeam "Australia"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "PHI"]
[BlackTeamCountry "AUS"]

1. d4 {This was not Torre's biggest win of the Olympiad. That was his round 7
win over Spanish GM Ivan Salgado Lopez (2662). It's complicated, but it's
hardly a fan-friendly attacking miniature. I picked this game because combines
all the things that made Torre's 2016 Olympiad so remarkable. This was the
last round of the Olympiad and it was Torre's eleventh game; Torre was 40
years older than his opponent, who was born in 1991; his opponent outrated him
by 76 points; the game is very sharp and long.} g6 2. e4 Bg7 3. Nf3 d6 {
Torre has had this position as White 15 times in his career, first in 1973,
but has never played the following move.} 4. Bd3 Nf6 5. O-O O-O 6. h3 Nc6 7. c3
e5 8. Re1 Nh5 9. Be3 {[#]} h6 (9... d5 $6 10. Bg5 f6 11. exd5 Qxd5 (11... fxg5
12. dxc6 exd4 13. Qb3+ Kh8 14. cxb7 Bxb7 15. Qxb7 dxc3 16. Nxc3 $1 Qxd3 17.
Rad1 $16 Qf5 18. Qxc7 g4 19. hxg4 Qxg4 20. Qd7 $16 {1-0 (79) Beliavsky,A (2710)
-Azmaiparashvili,Z (2645) Portoroz, 1997.}) 12. Nbd2 Kh8 13. Be3 exd4 14. Bc4
$16 {½-½ (74) Watanabe,A (2358)-Berry,J (2269) Carlos Torre Memorial, 2003.})
10. Na3 a6 (10... Bd7 11. Kh2 Nf4 12. Bf1 g5 13. Nc4 f5 14. Bxf4 exf4 15. exf5
d5 16. Nce5 Bxf5 17. Bd3 Qd6 18. Qb3 Bxd3 19. Nxd3 b6 20. Kg1 $14 {Black would
perfer to have his pawns on f7 and g6. Smirin,I (2640)-Nijboer,F (2555)
Tilburg, 1993 (1-0, 58).}) 11. Nc2 b6 12. a4 Qe8 13. b4 Kh8 14. b5 axb5 15.
axb5 Na5 16. Nb4 Be6 {[#] White has more space and Black's N's are not great.}
17. dxe5 ({Another way to play is to keep the position closed with:} 17. d5 Bd7
18. c4 Nf4 19. Na6 $14 (19. Bf1 $14)) 17... dxe5 18. Nd5 Bxd5 19. exd5 Qd7 20.
c4 Rae8 21. Bf1 {[#] White is threatening c4-c5 with queenside pressure and a
passed d-pawn. Pushing his kingside pawns looks like the only way to create
any counterplay for Black, but Torre exploits the weakened squares very
skillfully.} f5 (21... Nb7 22. Ra7 Nc5 23. Bxc5 bxc5 24. Nd2 {and Ne4 or Nb3
will leave Black straining to defend the c5-pawn.}) 22. Bc1 e4 $6 {Conceding
the d4-square isn't something Black wants to do, but it's hard to suggest what
to do. Regrouping the Na5 looks reasonable:} (22... Nb7 23. Ra7 Nc5 24. Nh4 {
Remakably, all of White's pieces are on the edge of the board, but they're all
doing somethig useful.} Kh7 25. Be3 $1 {Defends f3 and threatens Nxf5!.} Nf6 (
25... f4 $4 26. Bxc5 bxc5 27. Bd3 $18) 26. Bxc5 bxc5 27. b6 $14) 23. Nd4 Nb7
24. Ba3 Nc5 25. Bxc5 bxc5 26. Ne6 {[#]} Rxe6 $1 (26... Bxa1 {gives White the
option of regaining the exchange on f8 or sacing the exchange with Qxa1 then
Nxc5, with advantage either way.}) 27. dxe6 Qxe6 28. Ra6 $1 {[#]} Qe7 {Black
gives the g6-pawn for piece activity.} (28... Qe8 {saves the g6 pawn, but
White can target other weaknesses after} 29. Qc1 $1 {attacking the c1-h6
diagonal keeps Black's B off d4 and N off f4.} (29. Rc6 $2 {is too soon:} Bd4
$1 30. Qc1 f4 31. Bd3 Ng3 $1 $13) 29... g5 (29... f4 $2 30. Bd3 $1 $18) (29...
Kh7 30. Be2 Nf6 31. Rc6 $16) (29... Nf6 30. Qe3 Nd7 31. Rc6 $16) 30. Rc6 {
Black can hope for something with ...Bg4, but White can give back an exchange
to eliminate Black's B.}) 29. Rxg6 Nf4 30. Rc6 Qg5 31. h4 $5 (31. Re3 $1 {
protects the 3rd rank and kills Black's threats.}) 31... Qxh4 32. g3 Qg5 {
[#] The players were probably in time pressure here, but Torre plays the next
few tricky moves accurately.} 33. Qc1 $1 Be5 34. Qe3 $1 Rd8 (34... Rg8 35. Rxc5
$18) 35. Rb1 $1 {Preparing to create another open file for his extra R.} Rd2
36. b6 $1 (36. Qxd2 $4 Nh3+ 37. Bxh3 Qxd2 $15) 36... cxb6 37. Rbxb6 Rd1 38.
Rxh6+ Kg7 {[#]} 39. Rbg6+ $6 (39. Qxc5 $142 {and White wins with an attack}
Ne2+ (39... Bd4 40. Qc7+ $8 {is mating.}) 40. Kg2 Nf4+ 41. Kh2 $8 $18) 39...
Qxg6 $8 40. Rxg6+ Nxg6 41. Qxc5 f4 $1 {Trades a potential target pawn and
exposes both Ks.} 42. gxf4 Bxf4 43. Qa3 {[#]} Ne5 (43... Rc1 $2 {drops the
e-pawn:} 44. Qb2+ Ne5 (44... Kh6 45. Qe2 $18) 45. Qb7+ Kf6 46. Qxe4 $18) 44.
Kg2 {Natural, but this doesn't help.} (44. c5 $2 Nf3+ $8 45. Kg2 Rd5 $8 46. c6
$4 {loses to a long string of only moves:} (46. Qa7+ $11) 46... Rg5+ 47. Kh3
Rh5+ 48. Kg4 Rh4+ 49. Kf5 Nd4+ 50. Kxe4 Bd6+ 51. Kd5 Bxa3 52. c7 Nf5 $1 $19 (
52... Rh8 $4 53. Bh3 $11)) 44... Rd2 $1 {threatening ...e3.} 45. Qe7+ Kg6 46.
Qe8+ $1 Kg5 47. Qg8+ $1 Ng6 (47... Kf6 48. Qf8+ Kg5 49. Qg7+ Kf5 50. Qh7+ Ng6
51. Qh5+ Kf6 52. Kg1) 48. Kg1 e3 49. fxe3 Bxe3+ 50. Kh1 {[#] White is better,
but this is an exhausting nightmare of almost 100% calculation. And remember:
White is 65-years-old, and this is his 11th game of the Olympiad....} Bf4 $2 {
... but his 25-year-old opponent cracks first.} (50... Rc2 $4 51. Bd3 $18) (
50... Rd1 $1 51. Kg2 Rd2+ 52. Kf3 Bg1 {and the B does double duty, attacking
the K and controlling the c-pawn.}) 51. c5 Kf6 52. c6 Bc7 53. Qc8 Rh2+ 54. Kg1
Rh7 55. Bd3 {[#]} Bb6+ (55... Rg7 56. Qf5+ Ke7 57. Qg5+ Kf7 58. Bc4+ Ke8 59.
Kf1 $1 Be5 60. c7 $3 Bxc7 61. Qf6 Be5 62. Bb5+ $18) 56. Kf1 Rf7 {Now Qf5+
self-skewers after ...Kg7.} 57. Bc4 Rf8 58. Qe6+ Kg5+ 59. Ke1 $8 Rd8 60. Qf7
Ba5+ 61. Ke2 $8 (61. Kf2 $4 Rf8 $11) 61... Nf4+ 62. Kf3 Ng6 63. Ke4 Bb6 64.
Qf5+ Kh6 65. Bd5 Re8+ {[#] White has made a lot of progress: his pawn is only
one dark square from promotion and his K is out of the box and Black's pieces
are losing their coordination.} 66. Be6 $8 (66. Kd3 $2 Re5 $8 $11) 66... Bc7
67. Kd4 Rd8+ 68. Kc3 Rd6 69. Bd7 Ne5 70. Qf8+ Kg5 71. Qc8 Ba5+ 72. Kb3 Rd3+ 73.
Ka4 Bd2 74. Qe8 Kf4 75. Qe6 Rd4+ 76. Kb3 Nxd7 77. cxd7 Ba5 78. Qf6+ Ke4 79. Qa6
Rd5 80. Qxa5 $1 Rxd7 {[#] It's a book win, but it's harder to win than most
players think. One useful heuristic when the R is separated from the K: play
checks on squares adjacent to the diagonal leading to the R.} 81. Qa8+ Ke5 82.
Qe8+ Kd6 83. Kc4 Rb7 84. Qg6+ Kc7 85. Kc5 Kb8 86. Qe4 Kc7 87. Qf3 Rb1 (87...
Kb8 88. Kc6 Rc7+ 89. Kb6 $18) 88. Qf4+ Kd8 89. Qg5+ Kc7 90. Qe5+ (90. Qe5+ {
K to the 8th loses the R to Qh8+ and Qh7+.}) 1-0

[Event "42nd Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.10"]
[Round "8.1"]
[White "Jobava, Baadur"]
[Black "Ponomariov, Ruslan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B13"]
[WhiteElo "2665"]
[BlackElo "2709"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "41"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteTeam "Georgia"]
[BlackTeam "Ukraine"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "GEO"]
[BlackTeamCountry "UKR"]

1. d4 Nf6 {Georgia's Baadur Jobava won the gold medal on board 1, scoring 8/10
with a 2926 TPR. Here is his most spectacular win, coming from his
harmless-looking pet opening.} 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bf4 {[#] The Jobava System (?)
It's a Veresov with Bf4 instead of Bg5. One point is that the crude Nb5 can
leave Black's pieces misplaced after responding to the attack on c7.} c5 ({
Jobava's round 4 game at the Baku Olympiad against a former FIDE World
Champion continued:} 3... e6 4. Nb5 (4. e3 Bb4 5. Nge2 O-O 6. a3 Bd6 7. g3 b6
8. Bg2 Bb7 $11 {Jobava,B (2727)-Caruana,F (2820) Wijk aan Zee, 2015.}) 4... Na6
(4... Bb4+ 5. c3 Ba5 6. a4 a6 7. b4 $13 {(1-0, 48) Jobava,B (2669)-Gelfand,B 
(2734) Almaty, 2016.}) 5. a3 c6 6. Nc3 Bd6 7. e3 Nc7 8. Nf3 Bxf4 9. exf4 Qd6
10. Ne5 b6 11. Qf3 c5 12. Nb5 Nxb5 13. Bxb5+ Bd7 14. Nxd7 Nxd7 15. O-O-O O-O
16. Bxd7 Qxd7 17. f5 $1 $36 {White had some pressure on Black's center pawns,
and eventually won, Jobava,B (2665)-Topalov,V (2768) Baku, 2016 (1-0, 42).}) 4.
e3 cxd4 5. exd4 a6 (5... e6 $6 6. Nb5 $1 {Again, this move.} Na6 7. c3 Be7 8.
Nf3 O-O 9. Bd3 (9. h3 $14) 9... Bd7 10. a4 Bxb5 11. axb5 $1 Nc7 12. O-O Bd6 13.
Ne5 Ne4 14. f3 $16 {White has the Bishop pair and Black's Ns have nowhere to
go; (1-0, 61) Jobava,B (2669)-Kovalenko,I (2668) Almaty, 2016.}) 6. Bd3 Nc6 7.
Nge2 {[#]} e6 (7... Bg4 8. f3 Bh5 9. h4 e6 10. g4 Bg6 11. h5 Bxd3 12. Qxd3 {
[#] The position resembles a Caro-Kann. Jobava has had this position three
times against very strong GMs, though two of the games were blitz.} h6 (12...
Bd6 13. O-O-O Qc7 14. Qe3 h6 15. Kb1 O-O-O 16. Bxd6 Qxd6 $14 {White has more
space and it will take Black time to create play on the c-file.} 17. Nc1 Kb8
18. Nd3 Nd7 19. Ne2 Ka8 20. f4 f6 21. g5 Nb6 22. b3 Nd7 23. gxf6 Nxf6 24. Ne5
Rc8 25. Nf7 Qa3 $8 26. Nxh8 $4 Nb4 27. Nc3 Ne4 {0-1 Jobava,B (2669)
-Nepomniachtchi,I (2719) Almaty (blitz) 2016}) 13. O-O-O Rc8 14. Kb1 b5 (14...
Be7 15. Bc1 Qa5 16. Qe3 b5 $132 {Jobava,B (2669)-Grischuk,A (2747) Almaty 
(blitz), 2016.}) 15. Nc1 Na5 16. b3 $6 Nc6 (16... Qb6 $5 {/\...Nc4}) 17. Qe3
Nb4 18. Rd2 Be7 19. N3e2 Qb6 20. c3 Nc6 21. Nd3 $13 {Jobava,B (2669)
-Mchedlishvili,M (2604) Izmir, 2016 (½-½, 58).}) 8. Qd2 b5 9. O-O Be7 10. a3
Bd7 11. h3 O-O 12. Rfe1 Na5 13. Rad1 Qb6 14. Ng3 Rfc8 {[#] Natural and
ambitious, but Jobava's play refutes this.} (14... Rfe8 $142) 15. Nf5 $1 {
The beginning of a model attack.  White has four pieces which are ready to
attack the dark squares around Black's K (Nf5, Bf4, Q, and the R(s) which can
lift to the g-file). Black has only two pieces (Be7 and Pg7) defending the
dark squares around his K, so White sacrifices to eliminate both. A key point
in many lines is the poor placement of the Black Q, which not only doesn't
help defend along the sixth rank, but is actually exposed to attack across it.}
exf5 (15... Bf8 16. Nh6+ $3 gxh6 17. Bxh6 {Analysis Diagram[#] Black can't
defend his dark squares:} Qd8 (17... Ne4 $2 18. Nxe4 dxe4 19. Qg5+ Kh8 20. Bxf8
Rxf8 21. Qf6+ Kg8 22. Rxe4 $18) (17... Bxh6 18. Qxh6 Rxc3 19. Re5 $18) (17...
Nh5 18. Bxf8 $8 Kxf8 19. Qh6+ Ng7 20. Nxd5 $1 Qc6 21. Nf6 $18) 18. Qg5+ Kh8 19.
Bxf8 Qxf8 20. Qxf6+ $18 {White's up a pawn with an attack.}) 16. Rxe7 Be6 $6 {
[#] Black plays to trap the Re7.} (16... Qd8 $142 17. Re5 $14 {White might
have to give up the B pair, but Black will remain weak on the dark squares; e.
g.} Ne4 (17... Nc4 $2 18. Bxc4 dxc4 19. Bg5 $16) 18. Qe1 (18. Bxe4 dxe4 19. Rc5
$14) 18... Nxc3 19. bxc3 Be6 20. Rxe6 $1 $36) 17. Bh6 $3 {Just like Alekhine,
who frequently conjured attacks by putting pieces on squares where they could
be taken by pawns only at the cost of fatally weakening the squares around
them; e.g. 23.Bf6!! in Alekhine-Sterk (1921), which also exploited an
undefended black Q on the other side of the board.} gxh6 (17... Qd8 18. Bxg7 $8
Qxe7 19. Qg5 $18) (17... Ne8 18. Qg5 g6 19. Rxe8+ Rxe8 20. Qf6 $18 {Black
can't defend his dark squares.}) (17... Nh5 $1 18. Qg5 g6 $2 (18... Nc6 $1 19.
Rxe6 fxe6 20. Be2 $1 $40) 19. g4 fxg4 20. hxg4 f6 (20... Ng7 21. Qf6 $18 {
Black can't defend his dark squares.}) 21. Qh4 {and takes on h5 next.} (21.
Nxd5 $18 {also wins})) 18. Qxh6 Rxc3 19. Qg5+ Kf8 20. Qxf6 {[#]} Rxd3 (20...
Rc7 21. Bxf5 $1 Rxe7 22. Qh8#) 21. cxd3 (21. cxd3 Rb8 22. Re1 {there's no
defence to R1xe6.}) (21. cxd3 Qd8 22. Re1 $1 Qxe7 23. Qh8#) 1-0

[Event "42nd Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.13"]
[Round "11.1"]
[White "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Black "Vocaturo, Daniele"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A49"]
[WhiteElo "2808"]
[BlackElo "2583"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteTeam "Russia"]
[BlackTeam "Italy"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "RUS"]
[BlackTeamCountry "ITA"]

1. d4 Nf6 {This is a scary game for KID players. Kramnik plays a
non-theoretical line where Black is supposed to be OK. Black plays perfectly
natural moves, when Kramnik suddenly gives up two minors for a R and pawn! He
later gives an exchange for a pawn, and Black's pieces have so little space
that they can't stop White from promoting his queenside passers. It's almost
enough to make you think Black shouldn't concede so much space by playing the
KID.} 2. Nf3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. O-O d6 6. b3 e5 7. dxe5 {[#]} dxe5 (
7... Nfd7 $6 {Used to be considered good enough to equalize, but White gets an
advantage with precise play:} 8. Bg5 $1 Qe8 9. Nc3 h6 10. Nd5 hxg5 11. Nxc7 Qd8
12. Qxd6 $1 g4 13. e6 $8 Na6 14. Nxa8 gxf3 15. e7 $1 Qa5 16. exf8=Q+ Bxf8 17.
Qf4 fxg2 18. Kxg2 {"and Black is busted." - Dembo, "Fighting the Anti-King's
Indians" (Everyman, 2008).} (18. Rfd1 $142 $1 $16 {SF8})) 8. Ba3 (8. Bb2 e4 9.
Qxd8 Rxd8 10. Ng5 Bf5 $15 {(0-1, 58) Fuster,G-Gligoric,S Portoroz, 1958.}) (8.
Nxe5 $5 {looks nuts, but after} Ng4 9. Nxg4 Bxa1 10. Ne3 {Stockfish 8 rates
the position 0.00!? For example:} Qxd1 11. Rxd1 Bf6 12. Nd5 Bd8 13. Bg5 $1 $44)
8... Qxd1 9. Rxd1 Re8 10. c4 (10. Nc3 a6 11. e4 Nc6 12. Nd5 Nxd5 $1 13. exd5 e4
14. dxc6 Bxa1 15. Ng5 Bg7 16. Bxe4 bxc6 $2 (16... b5 $142 $13) 17. Bxc6 Bg4 18.
f3 Bf5 19. Bxa8 Rxa8 20. Ne4 $16 {(1-0, 31) Kramnik,V (2777)-Vovk,Y (2617)
Berlin (blitz), 2015.}) 10... e4 11. Nd4 c6 12. Nc3 Na6 13. e3 Bg4 14. Rd2 Rad8
15. h3 Bc8 16. Rad1 h5 {[#] White's pieces are as well placed as they're going
to get, but how can he turn that into something when Black is so solid?} 17.
Be7 $5 {Theatening the Rd8 and to take on f6 then on e4, so Black's next is
forced.} Rxd4 $1 (17... Rxe7 $2 18. Nxc6 $18 {with the intermediate check on
e7.}) 18. Rxd4 Rxe7 19. Rd8+ Ne8 ({It's hard to know if trading a pair of Rs
helps Black, but in the game, Black's R doesn't get a whiff of activity.} 19...
Re8 20. Rxe8+ Nxe8 21. Rd8 Kf8 22. Nxe4 Be6 23. Nd6 Ke7 24. Nxb7 {is also
better for White.}) 20. Nxe4 (20. Rxc8 $2 Bxc3 $15) 20... Be6 21. Ra8 Be5 22.
Rdd8 Kf8 {[#]} 23. Rxa7 ({One line, not forced, which shows Black's
difficulties:} 23. Ng5 Bc7 24. Nxe6+ fxe6 25. Rdc8 Bb6 26. Be4 Nac7 27. Bxg6
Nxa8 28. Rxa8 {and Black can't get out of the pin on the N.}) 23... Bc7 24.
Rda8 $1 (24. Rd2 Bb8 {and White will have to give the exchange when his second
R is less active on d2.}) 24... Bb6 25. Rxa6 bxa6 26. Nf6 {[#] White has given
back the exchange to win a pawn, and now has two pawns for the B, but he also
has a terrible bind on Black. Right now he threatens Bxc6, winning the Ne8.}
Bd7 27. b4 c5 28. Nd5 Bc6 (28... Re6 29. Rb8 Ba7 30. Rb7 $18) 29. Rxa6 $1 (29.
Nxb6 $2 Bxa8 30. Bxa8 cxb4 $19) 29... Bxd5 $8 30. Bxd5 (30. cxd5 $2 Ba7 31. b5
Bb8 {and Black might survive.}) 30... Bd8 31. b5 $1 {[#]Black's pieces are as
nimble as overfed Pandas.} Rd7 (31... Nc7 32. Rd6 $8 Re8 (32... Ke8 $2 33. Bc6+
$18) 33. Bc6 Be7 34. Rd7 Rc8 (34... Ne6 35. a4 $18) (34... Na8 35. Ra7 $18) 35.
Bb7 $18) 32. b6 Ke7 33. b7 Bc7 34. Ra8 Nf6 35. Rc8 $1 (35. b8=Q $4 Bxb8 36.
Rxb8 Nxd5 $14) 35... Bd6 36. Bc6 $1 Rd8 37. a4 Nd7 38. a5 Bb8 39. a6 Ne5 {[#]}
40. Rxb8 $1 Rxb8 41. Bd5 1-0

[Event "42nd Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.09"]
[Round "7.1"]
[White "Ragger, Markus"]
[Black "Maze, Sebastien"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E99"]
[WhiteElo "2697"]
[BlackElo "2617"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "97"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteTeam "Austria"]
[BlackTeam "France"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "AUT"]
[BlackTeamCountry "FRA"]

1. d4 {Markus Raggar shows off his skills in a KID, sacing material on the
queenside for piece activity in the center before winning with a double
promotion combo.} Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O
Nc6 8. d5 Ne7 9. Ne1 Nd7 10. Nd3 f5 11. f3 f4 12. Bd2 g5 13. Rc1 {[#] Raggar
is the highest-rated player to regularly go for this position as White.
Although the Bd2 is less actively placed for queenside pressure than it would
be on f2, White can play Nf2 and h3 to have 5 pieces placed to stop Black's
thematic ...g4. But, as we see in the main game and the examples embedded in
the notes, Raggar does not play this line to defend the kingside, but to
attack the queenside, often by sacrificing a pawn or a piece for two pawns.}
Ng6 (13... Rf7 {a standard KID move: defending the 7th rank and preparing ...
Bf8 and ...Rg7.} 14. c5 Nxc5 15. Nxc5 dxc5 16. Na4 b6 17. b4 $1 {A standard
KID sacrifice to accelerate White's queenside play.} cxb4 18. Bxb4 Kh8 19. Qb3
$44 {1-0 (30) Ragger,M (2687)-Savenkov,K (2325) Minsk, 2015.}) 14. c5 Nf6 (
14... dxc5 15. b4 $5 cxb4 16. Nb5 $36 {is a common KID sac for White to
accelerate queenside play.}) {[#]} 15. Nb5 (15. cxd6 cxd6 16. Nb5 Rf7 17. Qc2
Ne8 18. a4 h5 19. Nf2 {is a common line; see Ivanchuk,V (2740)-Cheparinov,I 
(2696) Sofia, 2008.}) 15... Rf7 ({In this game Raggar sacs a piece for two
passed centre pawns:} 15... a6 16. cxd6 axb5 17. dxc7 Qe8 18. Qb3 g4 19. Nc5
Nh4 20. fxg4 $16 Nxg4 $2 21. Be1 $16 (21. d6+ $142 $1 Kh8 22. Qh3 $18) 21...
Nxg2 22. Kxg2 b6 (22... Ne3+ 23. Kh1 Nxf1 24. d6+ Kh8 25. Bxf1 $18) 23. Ne6
Ne3+ 24. Kh1 Qg6 25. Rf2 $8 Re8 26. Bf3 $18 {1-0 (32) Ragger,M (2632)-Al Sayed,
M (2505) Dubai World Rapid Ch., 2014.}) 16. Ba5 b6 17. cxd6 {[#]} cxd6 (17...
bxa5 $6 18. dxc7 Qf8 19. Nc5 $1 a6 20. Ne6 $16 {with an exciting position that
is much more fun to play as White.}) 18. Be1 g4 (18... a6 19. Nc3 a5 {[#]
Analysis Diagram} 20. Bf2 (20. Nf2 Bf8 21. Nb5 h5 22. Nh3 $5 (22. h3 {looks
normal.}) 22... Ne8 23. Kh1 Rg7 24. Rc3 Bd7 25. a4 Nh8 {another typical
maneuver: rerouting the N to support ...g4.} 26. Nf2 Nf7 27. h3 Nh6 $13 {
0-1 (40) Ragger,M (2666)-Szabo,K (2545) Haguenau, 2013.}) 20... Rb8 21. a4 Bf8
22. Nb5 g4 23. Rc6 Rg7 24. Qc2 Bd7 25. fxg4 Nxg4 26. Bxg4 Bxg4 27. Ne1 Nh8 28.
Kh1 Nf7 29. h3 Bd7 30. Nf3 Ng5 31. Bh4 h6 {[#]Analysis Diagram} 32. Nxd6 Bxc6
33. Nf5 $8 Be8 {Asking White to prove it.} (33... Bxd5 $5) (33... Rc7 $11) 34.
Nxh6+ Kh8 35. Nf5 Rc8 36. Qd3 {White has only two pawns for the R, but can get
an exchange back on g5.} Rg8 37. Nxe5 Qf6 38. Nf3 (38. Bf2 $1 Bc5 39. Bd4 Bxd4
40. Ng4 $40) 38... Bd7 39. Qd2 $2 Bxf5 40. Qxf4 Bh6 41. exf5 Rcd8 $11 {0-1 (59)
Ragger,M (2698)-Grischuk,A (2774) Skopje, 2015.}) 19. fxg4 Nxe4 20. Nb4 a6 21.
Bf3 Ng3 $1 {[#]It would be easy to get boggled if you're just seeing a
position like this for the first time. For Raggar, it was the second time he
had this position OTB in 2016.} 22. Nc6 $146 (22. Nxd6 Qxd6 23. Rc6 Qf8 (23...
Qd8 24. hxg3 a5 25. Nd3 Bb7 $14) 24. hxg3 fxg3 25. d6 $1 e4 26. Be2 Rxf1+ 27.
Bxf1 Bxg4 28. Qd5+ (28. Qxg4 $4 Bd4+ $19) 28... Kh8 29. Rc7 Be6 30. Qxe4 Bf5
31. Qd5 Be4 32. Qd2 (32. Qxe4 $2 Re8 $17) 32... Be5 33. Rc4 Bb7 34. d7 Rd8 35.
Nc6 Bxc6 36. Rxc6 Qf5 37. Rc8 Rxc8 38. Qd3 $5 Qf8 39. dxc8=Q Qxc8 {½-½
Ragger,M (2689)-Nakamura,H (2787) Gibraltar, 2016.}) 22... Qf8 $11 (22... Qg5
$4 23. Nxd6 $18) 23. Nxd6 Nxf1 24. Nxf7 Ne3 25. Qb3 {[#]} Kxf7 $8 (25... Qxf7
26. Nd8 $18) 26. h4 e4 $6 {Totally reasonable -- giving up the pawn to
activate the minors -- but not necessary.} (26... Qe8 $142 $11) 27. Bxe4 Qe8
28. d6+ Be6 (28... Kf8 $4 29. d7 Bxd7 30. Bb4+ $18) 29. Qxb6 {[#]White has
three pawns for the piece, but the lack of structure and exposed Ks make this
all about tactics.} Rc8 (29... Bxa2 $2 30. Qb7+ Kg8 31. d7 Qxe4 {threatening
mate on g2} 32. Qxa8+ Bf8 (32... Kf7 33. d8=N+ $1 {and Black gets mated.}) 33.
Ne7+ $8 Qxe7 34. d8=Q $18) 30. h5 $36 (30. Qxa6 $2 Bd7 31. Qb7 Kf8 $15) 30...
Nf8 31. g5 $1 {[#]Black has three pieces controlling d7, so it's a bit
surprising that White's d-pawn will promote.} Nd7 (31... Bd7 $142 {attacking
e4 and c6 takes some pressure off h7.} 32. Qb3+ (32. Bf3 $5 $14) 32... Qe6 33.
g6+ hxg6 34. hxg6+ Ke8 $8 (34... Nxg6 $4 35. Bxg6+ Kxg6 36. Qxe6+ Bxe6 37. Ne7+
$18) 35. Bc3 $13) 32. Qb4 $16 Kf8 $2 (32... Bf5 33. Qb3+ Be6 (33... Qe6 $2 34.
g6+ $18) 34. Qd3) 33. h6 Bh8 34. Bc3 $1 {eliminating a defender of the
weakened dark squares around Black's K.} Bxc3 35. Qxc3 Qf7 36. Qd4 $18 Qg8 {[#]
} 37. Rc5 $1 {Defends g5 and prepares to consolidate with b2-b4.} (37. Rc3 $1
Qxg5 $140 38. Qh8+ Qg8 39. Ne7 $3 $18) 37... Nxc5 38. d7 $1 Qxg5 (38... Bxd7
39. Qd6+ Kf7 40. Qe7#) 39. Qh8+ $1 Kf7 (39... Qg8 40. Qf6+ Qf7 41. dxc8=Q+ Bxc8
42. Qd6+ $18) 40. Qxh7+ Kf8 41. Qh8+ Kf7 {[#]} 42. Bg6+ {Fancy.} ({White also
wins with the prosaic:} 42. Ne5+ Qxe5 43. dxc8=Q) 42... Kxg6 43. Qg7+ Kh5 44.
Qxg5+ Kxg5 45. dxc8=Q Bxc8 46. h7 {[#]} Bb7 47. Nd4 Bxg2 48. h8=Q Ne4 49. Qe5+
1-0

[Event "42nd Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.06"]
[Round "5.1"]
[White "Ivanisevic, Ivan"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A40"]
[WhiteElo "2650"]
[BlackElo "2808"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "147"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteTeam "Serbia"]
[BlackTeam "US of America"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "SRB"]
[BlackTeamCountry "USA"]

1. d4 e6 2. c4 Bb4+ 3. Bd2 a5 4. g3 Nc6 5. Bg2 d6 6. e3 e5 7. d5 Bxd2+ 8. Qxd2
Nb8 9. Nc3 Na6 10. Nge2 Nf6 11. h3 Nc5 12. g4 Ng8 13. Ng3 Qh4 14. O-O-O Bd7 15.
Nce4 Nxe4 16. Bxe4 g6 17. Bc2 Ne7 18. Rdg1 f5 19. f4 e4 20. Qc3 Rf8 21. Ne2 Qf6
22. Nd4 Kf7 23. g5 Qg7 24. h4 a4 25. h5 c5 26. dxc6 bxc6 27. Rd1 c5 28. Ne2 Ra6
29. Qxg7+ Kxg7 30. Nc3 Rb8 31. Rd2 Be6 32. h6+ Kf7 33. Rhd1 Nc8 34. Bxa4 Bxc4
35. Bd7 Ke7 36. Bxc8 Rxc8 37. b3 Bd3 38. Kb2 Ke6 39. Rxd3 exd3 40. Rxd3 c4 41.
Rd4 cxb3 42. axb3 Rca8 43. Rc4 Ra1 44. Rc7 R8a7 45. Rxh7 Rxh7 46. Kxa1 Rb7 47.
Kb2 Rb8 48. Kc2 Rb7 49. Nb1 Kd5 50. Nd2 Rc7+ 51. Kd3 Rb7 52. Kc3 {[#]Critical
Position What happens after 52...Rc7+ 53.Nc4?} Rc7+ 53. Nc4 Rb7 $4 (53... Ke4
$4 54. Kd2 $18 d5 (54... Rc6 55. h7 $18) 55. Nd6+ Kf3 56. Kd3 $18 (56. Nxf5 $18
)) (53... Rc8 $1 54. Kd3 Rb8 {and Black should hold the draw.}) 54. Nd2 $2 (54.
e4+ $3 $18 {wins. The point is to create two passers on th 6th:} fxe4 55. f5
gxf5 56. g6 $18) 54... Rc7+ 55. Kd3 Rc1 56. b4 Rd1 57. Ke2 Rh1 58. Nf1 Kc4 59.
Kf2 Kxb4 60. Kg2 Rh5 {[#]} 61. Nh2 $2 (61. Ng3 $1 Rh4 {and the R can't be
caught, but} 62. e4 $3 {wins again:} fxe4 63. f5 gxf5 64. Nxf5 $18) 61... Kc5
62. Nf3 Kd5 63. Kg3 Ke6 64. Nd4+ (64. Nh4 Kf7 {and the King gets back just in
time.}) 64... Kf7 65. Nb5 Ke7 66. Kg2 Rh4 67. Nc7 Kf7 68. Nd5 Rg4+ 69. Kf3 Rg1
70. Ke2 Ra1 71. Nc3 Ra5 72. Kd3 Rc5 73. Kd4 Ra5 74. Kc4 1/2-1/2

[Event "Women's Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.13"]
[Round "11.3"]
[White "Tan, Zhongyi"]
[Black "Goryachkina, Aleksandra"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E01"]
[WhiteElo "2475"]
[BlackElo "2475"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "101"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteTeam "China (W)"]
[BlackTeam "Russia (W)"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "CHN"]
[BlackTeamCountry "RUS"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 e6 5. g3 dxc4 6. Ne5 Nbd7 7. Nxc4 b5 8. Ne3
Bb7 9. Bg2 Qb6 10. O-O Be7 11. b3 O-O 12. Bb2 Rac8 13. a3 Nd5 14. b4 a5 15. Qb3
axb4 16. axb4 Ra8 17. Nc2 Nxc3 18. Bxc3 Rxa1 19. Rxa1 Bf6 20. Qb2 Re8 21. Rd1
Qa7 22. Na1 Nb6 23. Nb3 Na4 24. Qc2 Nxc3 25. Qxc3 Qb6 26. Nc5 Rd8 27. Rd3 Be7
28. e4 e5 29. dxe5 Bc8 30. Bf1 Rxd3 31. Bxd3 Qd8 32. Bc2 Bh3 33. Nd3 Qd7 34.
Nf4 Bg4 35. Bb3 g6 36. h3 Be6 37. Bxe6 fxe6 38. Kg2 Bf8 39. h4 Be7 40. Ne2 c5
41. bxc5 Qc6 42. Nd4 Qxe4+ 43. Kh2 Qxe5 44. c6 Bd6 45. Qe3 b4 {Diagram [#]
Critical Position Black has just pushed her passed pawn with ...b4. What
should White play?} 46. Nb5 $8 $18 (46. Qxe5 $2 Bxe5 47. Kg2 $1 {and White has
to play accurately to hold.}) 46... Qxb5 (46... Qxe3 47. fxe3 {Black is faster
in the pawn race, but White promotes with check:} b3 (47... Be5 48. c7 Bxc7 49.
Nxc7 Kf7 (49... b3 50. Nb5 $8 $18 {and Na3 stops the pawn.}) 50. Nb5 e5 51.
Nd6+ $1 Ke6 52. Nc4 Kd5 53. Nd2 $8 $18 {without Qxe3 and fxe3, the Black K
could now dislodge the blockading N with ...Kd4-d3.}) 48. Nxd6 b2 49. c7 b1=Q
50. c8=Q+ Kg7 51. Qc7+ $18 {Black gets mated.}) (46... Bb8 $1 {looks like it
might simply lose a tempo, but it sets up an amazing drawing idea which White
has to play very accurately to defeat.} 47. Qxe5 Bxe5 {[#] Analysis Diagram}
48. c7 $2 ({From the Analysis diagram, White wins with} 48. f4 $3 $18 {gaining
a tempo on the B and preventing Black from fencing in the horse with ...e5 as
in the variations above.}) 48... Bxc7 49. Nxc7 Kf7 50. Nb5 (50. Kg2 Ke7 51. Nb5
e5 $1 {now the N has no way back and Black threatens to win it.} 52. Kf3 Kd7
53. Ke4 Kc6 54. Na7+ Kb7 $11) 50... e5 51. Nc7 $3 b3 52. Nb5 Ke6 53. Nc3 Kd6 (
53... b2 $2 {makes it too easy,} 54. Kg2 e4 55. Kf1 Ke5 56. Ke2 Kd4 57. Nb1 $18
) 54. Kg2 Kc5 55. Kf3 Kc4 56. Ne4 $8 (56. Nb1 Kd3 $11) 56... b2 57. Ke3 $8 (57.
Nd2+ $2 Kd3 $11) 57... b1=N $5 {and White has more active pieces, but it's not
clear (to me) if it's a win. Maybe readers can find a solution?}) 47. Qxe6+ {
The Q ending is hopeless: White's passer is much further advanced and the
black K is exposed.} Kg7 48. Qxd6 Qb6 49. Kg2 b3 50. Qe7+ Kg8 51. Qb7 $1 1-0

[Event "42nd Olympiad"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "2016.09.13"]
[Round "11.3"]
[White "Bluebaum, Matthias"]
[Black "Seeman, Tarvo"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E90"]
[WhiteElo "2626"]
[BlackElo "2407"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "144"]
[EventDate "2016.09.02"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[SourceTitle "Chess Canada 2016Olympia"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.01"]
[WhiteTeam "Germany"]
[BlackTeam "Estonia"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "GER"]
[BlackTeamCountry "EST"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. h3 O-O 6. Be3 e5 7. d5 Na6 8. Nf3 Bd7
9. g4 c6 10. Nd2 cxd5 11. cxd5 Qb8 12. a3 Rc8 13. Be2 Nc5 14. a4 Rc7 15. Kf1
Qd8 16. Kg2 Ne8 17. Nb5 Rcc8 18. b4 Bxb5 19. axb5 $5 Nd7 20. Ra3 Bf6 21. Nf3
Be7 22. Bd3 Ng7 23. Qe2 h5 24. g5 h4 {It may not look like much, but this pawn
is key to the game ending tactics.} 25. Rha1 Nh5 26. Rxa7 Rab8 27. Qd2 Nf4+ 28.
Bxf4 exf4 29. Qxf4 Ne5 30. Nxe5 dxe5 31. Qxe5 Bxg5 32. R1a2 Bf6 33. Qf4 Qe7 34.
Rc2 Be5 35. Rxc8+ Rxc8 36. Rxb7 Qxb7 37. Qxe5 {[#]The unofficial Gold Medal
game. Because the Olympiad tie-breaks are not head-to-head matches, but
Sonnen-Berger, the gold and silver medals were undecided until the end of this
game.  If Black could draw, then Ukraine would take the gold on tie break; if
White won, then the USA would.} Qb6 $8 {Stopping d5-d6.} 38. Qb2 (38. d6 {
now drops the d-pawn to} Rd8 39. d7 Qe6) 38... Qd6 39. Qd4 Qf4 $2 {Black has
to stop e5, and tries it with piece activity.} (39... f6 $142 {buttressing the
dark squares.}) 40. b6 $1 Qg5+ {The players have reached the time control, but
this is the last of 11 rounds, and fatigue tells.} 41. Kf3 Qh5+ 42. Kg2 Qg5+
43. Kf3 Qh5+ 44. Ke3 $18 Qg5+ 45. Ke2 Qh5+ 46. f3 {[#]} Qg5 (46... Rb8 47. d6
$18) 47. b7 (47. d6 $2 Qg2+ $8 48. Qf2 $8 Qxh3 49. e5 $13) 47... Rb8 48. Qa7 $2
(48. Qc5 $142 Qd8 49. Ba6 $18) 48... Qg2+ 49. Ke1 Qg3+ 50. Kd2 Qf4+ 51. Ke2 Qc7
$1 52. Ba6 {Critical Position [#]} Qc2+ $1 53. Ke3 Qc1+ $2 (53... Qc3+ $1 $11
54. Kf2 (54. Bd3 $4 Qe1+ 55. Kf4 Qg3+ 56. Ke3 Qg1+ $19) (54. Kf4 $4 g5+ $8 $19
55. Kxg5 Qe5+ $8 56. Kxh4 Qf4+ 57. Kh5 Qxf3+ 58. Kh6 (58. Kg5 f6+ $8 $19) 58...
Qf4+ 59. Kh5 Kh7 $19) 54... Qb2+ $1 55. Kg1 (55. Be2 Qe5 56. Ke3 Qc3+ 57. Kf2 (
57. Bd3 $4 Qe1+ {and ...Qg1+ skewers the Q.})) 55... Qa1+ $1 {Checks from the
a-file prevent White from blocking checks with the Q or B.} 56. Kg2 Qa2+ $11)
54. Kf2 $2 (54. Kd3 $1 $18) (54. Kd4 $4 Qg1+ $19) 54... Qc2+ $1 (54... Qd2+ $6
55. Be2 Qf4 56. Qc5 {and White can still press for a win.}) 55. Kg1 (55. Be2
Qc7 $11) 55... Qc1+ 56. Kg2 Qd2+ {[#]} 57. Kf1 (57. Qf2 Qg5+ (57... Qxf2+ $4
58. Kxf2 Kf8 59. d6 $1 $18 {and the black K can't cross to the queenside
without allowing Bb5+ and Bc6, when the B and pawns dominate the R.}) 58. Kf1
Qc1+ 59. Qe1 Qa3 $11 {forking f3 and Ba6.}) 57... Qc1+ 58. Ke2 Qc2+ 59. Ke3
Qc1+ $4 ({As above,} 59... Qc3+ {draws.... and Ukraine wins 2016 Baku Olympiad
gold medalists.}) 60. Kd3 $1 $18 Qd1+ 61. Kc4 Qf1+ 62. Kb3 Qd1+ 63. Kb2 Qd2+
64. Ka3 Qc3+ 65. Ka4 Qc7 66. Qc5 $1 Qh2 67. Ka5 Kg7 68. Kb6 Qxh3 69. Qc7 Rxb7+
70. Bxb7 Qxf3 71. d6 h3 72. e5 {Now the B covers h1.} Qf4 {... and the USA
take the gold medal on tie break over Ukraine.} 1-0