The CANdidates Tournament

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Nc3 Qc7 {Black, having neglected development to take away squares from the White knights, can safely put the queen here.} 6. Bd3 {White puts the bishop on an active diagonal and overprotects e4.} Nf6
7. O-O Bc5 8. Nb3 {The knight retreats to gain a tempo on the bishop and assist a possible f5-push.} Ba7 {The bishop moves to avoid capture.} 9. Kh1 {To get off the a7-g1 diagonal, and so prepare f2-f4.} Nc6 10. Bg5 h5 {Black begins the attack.} 11. Bxf6 gxf6
12. f4 {Gaining a hand in the center.} d6 13. Be2 Bd7 {! Sacrificing the pawn to open lines. If 14. Bxh5, 14…Nb4, with the idea of 15…Nxc2, is balanced.} 14. Qd2 O-O-O {The Black king, with the massive center, is nearly impregnable. Now White looks exposed.} 15. Rad1 Be8 16. Rf3 h4 17. h3 {White stops a quick demolition with 17…h4-h3.} Rg8 18. Qe1 Ne7 19. f5 {! If 19. Qxh4 f5! is good for Black. Either a capture or an advance plays into Black’s hands. If 20. exf5 Nxf5!. If 20. e5 Bc6!.} Bc6 {Black pressures the center.} 20. Nd4 {White puts the knight in play.} Bxd4 {Black trades it off to unbalance the White rook.} 21. Rxd4 d5 {! Blowing White’s center to shreds.} 22. exd5 Nxd5 23. Rc4 Rxg2 {! If White takes, Ne3+ follows. Fogarasi resigned.} 0-1

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 {A standard Sicilian.} 5. Nc3 a6 {Black prevents Nb5 incursions.} 6. Bc4 e6 {The bishop’s most natural plan of attack is blunted.} 7. Bb3 {Shabalov retreats prematurely, so as to lose a tempo now, but have a free hand next move.} b5 {A natural queenside expansion.} 8. Bg5 {So that if 8…b4, the knight can retreat without dropping the e-pawn.} Be7 9. Qf3 {White pressures the knight, as well as prepares a possible e5.} Qb6 {Black fortifies the queenside and prepares to swing the a-rook over.} 10. Rd1 {White realizes that castling queenside is too ambitious, as Black would then have a strong attack.} O-O 11. O-O Nbd7 {We have reached a solid middlegame with chances for both sides.}
12. Qg3 Nh5 {!? Black spots a way to trade bishops.} 13. Qh4 Bxg5 14. Qxg5 Nhf6 {Nakamura retreats the now dim knight.} 15. Rfe1 {Centralization.} Bb7 16. Re3
Ne5 17. Rg3 Ng6 {Black has pressure on the center. White, a strong attack.} 18. Nf5 {If 18…exf5 19. exf5, then White regains the piece due to the pressure on g7.} b4 {19…Bxe4, undermining the White knight, was better.} 19. Rxd6 {?? A blunder. White has too many pieces hanging.} Qc7 {Hikaru finds the flaw. Shabalov has been outplayed and lashes out, but only makes things worse.} 20. e5 exf5 21. h4 bxc3 22. Rxf6 Qxe5 23. Rxf5 Qe1+ 24. Kh2 cxb2 {And White’s attack is not worth a queen. 0-1.} 0-1

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7
7. f3 {White essays a Yugoslav Attack. The move f3 is useful for fortifying e4 and a possible g4, as well as preventing a black Ng4.} O-O 8. Qd2 {With a possible Bh6, trading off the bishops.} Nc6 9. O-O-O Bd7 10. h4 {Not wasting any time. Black, however, starts to play too slowly.} Qa5 11. g4 Rfc8 {Black needed to prepare a pawn push with something active.} 12. Nb3 Qe5 {The Black queen is now extremely uncomfortable.} 13. g5 Nb4 {?? After a knight move, then 14. f4 Qe6 15. Bh3 Qxh3, taking off Black’s queen, but this is a mistake, and it just loses the knight.} 14. Bd4 Qe6 15. gxf6 exf6 16. Kb1 {A calm move, invalidating any possibility of Rxc3.} a5 {Black’s only hope is to attack.} 17. Bh3 Qe8 18. Bxd7 Qxd7 {White has traded off attacking material for Black.} 19. a3 Nc6 20. Nd5 Nxd4 21. Nxd4 {White’s knights now dominate.} Qd8 22. h5 b5 23. hxg6 hxg6 {And now to the reason I showed this game. Always look for sac-back tricks.} 24. Nf5 {!!} gxf5 25. Rdg1 {Mate in seven. Apicella resigned here. The longest mate is} Kf8 26.Rxg7 Ke8 27.Rh8+ Kd7 28.Rxf7+ Ke6
29.Rhh7 fxe4 30.Nf4+ Ke5 31.Rh5+ f5 32.Rhxf5# 1-0