1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 Ne4 7. Qc2 Nc6 8. e3 e5 9. cxd5 Qxd5 10. Bc4 Qa5+ 11. b4 Nxb4!?

The start of a fascinating sequence

12. Qxe4!? Nc2+ 13. Ke2 Qe1+ 14. Kf3 Nxa1 15. Bb2

A fascinating position: Black is the exchange ahead, but his knight is cornered. White's king is uncomfortable, but not in immediate danger, and developing the Ng1 and Rh1 will be a challenge. My helpful assessment: unclear!

15... O-O 16. Kg3 h6

Probably intended against Ng1-f3!?-g5, which could be very dangerous, notwithstanding the Adolph Anderssen-style double rook sacrifice.

16... Bd7 17. Nf3!? Qxh1 18. Ng5 g6 19. Qxe5!? Rae8 20. Qf6 and black seems powerless against d5 preparing Qg7 mate

17. h4!?

Qxe5 also looks reasonable

17... Re8 18. Kh2 Qxf2! 19. Bxa1 Bf5! 20. Qxb7 exd4! 21. Nf3 Be4! 22. Qxc7 Bxf3 23. Qxf7+ Kh8 24. Qxf3 Qxh4+

24... Qxf3 25. gxf3 dxe3 is also interesting

25. Kg1 Qe1+ 26. Bf1 Qxa1 27. Rxh6+!! gxh6 28. Qf6+

with perpetual check. A great fight!

1/2-1/2

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 c6 3. c4 Nf6 4. cxd5 cxd5 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bf4 Bf5 7. e3 e6 8. Bb5 Nd7 9. Qa4 Rc8 10. Bxc6 Rxc6 11. Qxa7

Taking the bait

11... Qc8!

Threatening ...Rxc3! and ...Ra6, winning the queen

12. Qa5 Bd3!

Prevents castling

12... b6!? 13. Qa4 Rxc3! 14. bxc3 Qxc3+ 15. Ke2 Bd3+ 16. Kd1 Qxa1+ 17. Kd2 Qxh1 18. Ne5! b5 19. Qa8+ Ke7 20. Nc6+ Kf6 21. Qd8+ Kf5 22. Qg5+ Ke4 23. f3# show that black needs to be careful!

13. Kd2 b6! 14. Qa7 Bb4! 15. Rhc1

15. Kxd3 Rxc3+!! 16. bxc3 Qxc3+ 17. Ke2 Qc4+! 18. Kd1 Qd3+ 19. Kc1 Ba3+ 20. Qxa3 Qxa3+

15... Bb5 16. Kd1 Bxc3 17. bxc3 Ba6 18. a4 O-O 19. a5 b5 20. Ne1 g5!

Black prevents any back-rank mates by making an escape square, with tempo

21. Bg3 f5

Threatening to round up the Qa7 with ...Rf7

22. Nd3 f4! 23. exf4 Rc7! 24. Qxc7 Qxc7 25. fxg5 Qc4 26. Nb4 e5!

If the Ba6 moved, a5-a6 gives some chances

27. Nxa6 exd4 28. Nc7 dxc3 29. a6 Nc5 30. a7 Qf1+

30... Qf1+ 31. Kc2 Qd3#

0-1

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 d6 7. Be3 Nf6 8. Qd2 Bd7 9. f4 b5 10. Bf3 Rc8 11. O-O-O Na5 12. b3 Qc7 13. Nb1!? e5 14. Nf5 Bxf5 15. exf5 e4 16. Be2 Nd5 17. Bd4 Nc6 18. Nc3 Ndb4 19. Kb2 d5 20. a3 Nxd4 21. Qxd4 Nc6 22. Nxd5!?

22. Qxd5 Bxa3+ 23. Kxa3 b4+ 24. Ka2 Ne7 25. Qxe4 Qxc3

22... Bxa3+! 23. Kb1

23. Kxa3?? Qa5+ 24. Kb2 Nxd4

23... Nxd4 24. Nxc7+ Rxc7 25. Rxd4 Bc5 26. Rxe4+ Re7 27. Bf3 Rxe4 28. Bxe4

This ending is now very drawish

28... Ke7 29. Re1 Bb4 30. Re2 Rd8 31. Bd3+

31. Bb7+ Kf6 32. Bxa6 Ra8 33. Bxb5 Bc3!

31... Kf8 32. Kb2 Re8 33. Be4 Rc8 34. Bd3 Bc3+ 35. Ka3 Re8 36. b4 Rxe2 37. Bxe2 a5 38. bxa5 Bxa5 39. Bxb5 Bc7 40. g3 Bb6 41. Kb4 Bg1 42. h3 Bh2 43. g4 Bxf4 44. Kc5 f6 1/2-1/2

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Be3 Bg7 5. Qd2 Nc6 6. f3 e5 7. Nge2 O-O 8. d5 Ne7 9. O-O-O Ne8 10. g4 c6 11. Ng3 cxd5 12. Nxd5 Be6 13. h4 Nc6 14. c3 Nc7 15. h5 Bxd5 16. exd5 Ne7 17. Qh2! Ne8 18. hxg6 fxg6 19. Qxh7+ Kf7 20. Ne4 Rh8 21. Ng5+ Kf6 22. Qxh8!! Bxh8 23. Rxh8!

Threatening Rf8+ and Ne6+

23... Qd7 24. Bb5!! Qxb5 25. Rf8+

25. Rf8+ Kg7 26. Ne6+ Kh7 27. Rh1#

1-0

1. d4 g6 2. c4 Bg7 3. e4 d6 4. Nc3 e5 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. Bg5 f6 7. Be3 Bh6 8. Qd2 Bxe3 9. Qxe3 Bg4 10. dxe5 Bxf3 11. gxf3 fxe5 12. c5! Nd4 13. O-O-O dxc5 14. f4! exf4 15. Qxf4 Qd6 16. Bb5+! Kd8 17. e5 Qe7 18. Ne2 c6 19. Nxd4 cxd4 20. Rxd4+ Kc7 21. Rhd1! Rf8

21... cxb5 22. e6+ Kc8 (22... Kb6 23. Rd6+ Ka5 24. a3) 23. Rd8+! Qxd8 24. Rxd8+ Kxd8 25. Qf8+ Kc7 26. Qxa8

22. Rd7+! Kb6 23. Qa4! Qc5+

23... Qxe5 24. Bxc6 Qf4+ 25. Qxf4 Rxf4 26. Bxb7 Rxf2 27. R1d6+ Kb5 28. Ba6+

24. Bc4 Rf4 25. Qb3+ Ka5 26. R1d5!! cxd5 27. Rxd5 1-0

Nothing too flashy in this game, but it's a nice example of harassing your opponent to death

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 Nc6 5. Nf3 d6 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bd2 Qe7 8. a3 Bxc3 9. Bxc3 a5 10. e4 e5 11. d5 Nb8 12. b4 axb4 13. axb4 Rxa1+ 14. Bxa1 O-O 15. Be2 Nh7 16. g3 Na6 17. Bc3 Bh3 18. Nh4 g6 19. Bf1 Bxf1 20. Kxf1 Nf6 21. Kg2 Nh5 22. Re1 Kh7 23. Bd2 Ng7 24. Rc1 g5 25. Nf5 Nxf5 26. exf5 f6 27. c5! dxc5 28. b5! Nb8 29. Qxc5 Qxc5 30. Rxc5 Rf7

Now it's hard to activate the Nb8

31. Kf3 Kg7 32. Ke4 Rd7 33. Be3 Kf7 34. Rc1!

Threatening Ba7

34... b6

Now ...c6 is impossible and c7 is very weak

35. Ra1 Ke7 36. h4!

Opening a second front

36... Kd6 37. hxg5 hxg5 38. Rc1 Rh7 39. Bd2 Rh2 40. Bb4+ Kd7 41. Ke3 Rh8 42. Ra1 Kc8 43. Ra7

Now d6 is unstoppable

43... Rh1 44. d6 cxd6 45. Bxd6 Nd7 46. Ra8+ Kb7 47. Rd8! Nc5 48. Rb8+! Ka7 49. Rf8 Re1+

49... Rh6 50. Rf7+ Ka8 51. Bxc5 bxc5 52. Rc7

50. Kd2 Rb1 51. Bxc5 bxc5 52. Rxf6 Rxb5 53. Re6 c4 54. f6

54. f6 Rb8 55. Rxe5

1-0

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Nf3 Ngf6 6. Nxf6+ Nxf6 7. c3 c5 8. Ne5 a6 9. Qa4+ Bd7 10. Nxd7 Qxd7 11. Qxd7+ Kxd7 12. dxc5 Bxc5 13. Be2 Rad8 14. Bf3 Kc8 15. Ke2 e5 16. g3 e4 17. Bg2 Ng4 18. Bh3 h5 19. Bf4 f5 20. Raf1 Rd7 21. Bg2 Rhd8 22. h3 e3!! 23. fxe3

23. hxg4 Rd2+ 24. Ke1 Rd1+ 25. Ke2 R8d2+ 26. Kf3 hxg4#

23... Rd2+ 24. Kf3 R8d3!! 25. b4 Bxe3 26. Bxe3 g5

26... g5!! 27. Re1 Rf2#

0-1

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 b6 3. d4 e6 4. g3 Ba6 5. b3 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Be7 7. Bg2 c6 8. Bc3 d5 9. Ne5 Nfd7 10. Nxd7 Nxd7 11. Nd2 O-O 12. O-O b5 13. c5 e5 14. b4 e4 15. e3 Qc7 16. Re1 Bg5 17. a4!? bxa4 18. Rxa4 Bb5 19. Ra3 Nf6 20. Bf1 a6 21. Qa1 Rab8 22. Bxb5 axb5 23. Ra7 Qc8 24. Qa6 Qe6 25. Ra1 h5!

White's all dressed up with nowhere to go on the queenside, whereas black plays a skillful kingside attack

26. Rc7 h4 27. Rxc6 Qf5!

Better than ...Qh3, since Nf1 adequately guards h2. By focusing on f2 instead, Hydra hopes to entice Rf1, then switch the attack to h2 when the critical Nf1 isn't available. Very sneaky these computers!

28. Qa2 Ng4 29. Nf1 Qf3 30. h3

Otherwise ...h3 and ...Qg2

30... Nxe3!! 31. fxe3 Bxe3+ 32. Kh2

32. Nxe3 Qxe3+ 33. Qf2 Qxc3 34. Re1 hxg3 35. Qe3 Qxb4

32... Bf2!! 33. gxh4 e3!!

There's no answer to ...e2. A nice attack.

0-1

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. O-O d6 6. c3 O-O 7. Nbd2 a6 8. Ba4 Ba7 9. h3 Ne7 10. Re1 Ng6 11. Nf1 Bd7 12. Bxd7 Qxd7 13. Bg5 Qd8 14. Nh4 Re8 15. Nxg6 hxg6 16. Nh2 Qd7 17. Qb3 Qb5 18. Qc2 Nh7 19. Nf3 Nxg5 20. Nxg5 Rad8 21. Rad1 d5 22. Nf3 Re6 23. c4 dxc4 24. dxc4 Qe8 25. c5! Re7 26. Rxd8 Qxd8 27. Rd1 Qe8 28. Rd3 c6?!

Now the Ba7 is very weak

29. Qd1 Qf8 30. b4 Bb8 31. Rd8 Re8 32. Rd7 Re7 33. Ng5 Bc7 34. Qg4! Qe8 35. Rxe7 Qxe7 36. Qh4 Qd8 37. Qh7+ Kf8 38. Qh8+ Ke7 39. Qxg7 Qf8 40. Qh7 a5 41. a3 axb4 42. axb4 Ke8 43. Ne6!! fxe6 44. Qxc7 Qf4 45. Qc8+ Ke7 46. Qxb7+ Kf6 47. g3!

47. Qxc6?? Qc1+ 48. Kh2 Qf4+ is perpetual check

47... Qxe4 48. Qc8 Kf7

48... Qb1+ 49. Kh2 Qxb4? 50. Qf8+ Kg5 51. h4+ Kg4 52. Kg2 with a mating net

49. Qd7+ Kf6 50. Qe8 g5 51. Qh5 Qxb4 52. Qf3+ Ke7 53. Qxc6 e4 54. Qd6+ Kf6 55. Qd8+ Kg6 56. Qg8+ Kf6 57. Qf8+ Kg6 58. Qe7 Qc4 59. h4 1-0

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e6 7. O-O Be7 8. f4 O-O 9. a4 Nc6 10. Be3 Bd7 11. Nb3 b6 12. Qd2 Qc7 13. Rf3 Ng4 14. Rd1 Nxe3 15. Rxe3 Rfd8 16. Rg3 Be8 17. f5 Bf6 18. Rf1 Qe7 19. Bd3 Ne5 20. Kh1 Rdc8 21. Nd4 Kh8 22. Rh3 Nc4 23. Qe2 Bxd4 24. Bxc4 Bxc3 25. bxc3 exf5 26. Rxf5 g6 27. Rf4 Rc5 28. Qf1 Ra7 29. Bd5 Kg7 30. c4! b5 31. Qc1 h5

31... bxa4?? 32. Rxf7+ Bxf7 33. Qh6+ Kg8 34. Qxh7+ Kf8 35. Qh8+ Bg8 36. Qxg8#

32. g4! f6 33. gxh5 g5 34. Rg3 Kh7 35. Rf2 bxc4 36. Qf1 Bf7 37. Rxf6 Bxd5 38. Qf5+ 1-0

A fantastic tactical stoush

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. f3 e6 7. Be3 b5 8. g4 h6 9. Qd2 Nbd7 10. O-O-O Bb7 11. h4 b4 12. Na4 Qa5 13. b3 Nc5 14. a3 Rc8 15. axb4 Nxb3+! 16. Nxb3 Qxa4 17. Kb2 d5 18. c3 dxe4 19. Na5! Bd5 20. Ra1 Qd7 21. Bxa6 exf3!? 22. Bxc8 Qxc8 23. g5 Ne4 24. Qd3 Qb8 25. Bf4! Bd6

25... Qxf4 26. Qb5+ Ke7 27. Nc6+ gives white a mating attack

26. Bxd6 Qxd6 27. Qxf3 Nxg5! 28. Qd3 Ne4 29. Rhe1 Qh2+ 30. Re2 Qxh4 31. Qb5+ Ke7 32. Nc6+ Kf6 33. Rg2 g5 34. Rf1+ Kg7 35. Ne5 Nf6 36. Qc5!? Qe4!

36... Bxg2 37. Qe7!! Rf8 38. Rxf6 Qh5 39. Rg6+! Kh7 40. Qxf8 Qe2+ 41. Ka3 Qa6+ 42. Kb3! Bd5+ 43. c4 Bxc4+ 44. Nxc4 fxg6

37. Rxf6!?

37. Rgf2? Qxe5 38. Rxf6 Qe2+ 39. Kc1 Ra8 40. Rxf7+ Kg6! 41. R1f6+ Kh5 and black's counter-attack prevails

37... Ra8!!

Sensational! Amazingly, black's counterattack is stronger than white's!

37... Qxg2+? 38. Rf2 Qe4 39. Rxf7+ Kg8 40. Qf8#

37... Kxf6 38. Rf2+! Kxe5 39. Qc7# is a picturesque checkmate!

38. Rg6+!!

38. Rxf7+ Kg8 ends white's attack, so Karjakin tries something else

38... Kh7!

38... fxg6?? 39. Qe7+ Kg8 40. Qf7+ Kh8 41. Nxg6+ Qxg6 42. Qxg6 Ra2+ 43. Kb1 Rxg2 44. Qxh6+ and white has at least perpetual and probably a win

39. Rxh6+!! Kxh6 40. Nxf7+ Kg6 41. Rxg5+ Kxf7 42. Qf2+

42. Qc7+ Kf8 43. Qg7+ Ke8 44. Qg8+ Ke7 45. Rg7+ Kd6

42... Qf3! 43. Qxf3+ Bxf3 44. c4 Rc8 45. Kc3 Be2! 46. c5 Bb5!

Now the pawns are firmly blockaded

47. Rg1 e5 48. Rd1 Re8 49. Re1 Kf6 50. Kd2 Rd8+ 0-1