Pa Iniyan vs Narayanan S L: game review

12.Bxc6! The only good move here: every alternative is clearly worse.

• Takes the knight on c6.
• Protects the queen on d4, which was hanging.
• The next best move, 12.Qa4, would drop White's winning chances from 54% to 31% (−2.19).
• 12.Bxc6 stops …Nxd4.
• Black was threatening …Nxd4, winning the queen. Bxc6 takes care of it.
• Trades bishop for knight.

17.Qxf6! The only good move here: every alternative is clearly worse.

• Takes the queen on f6.
• The next best move, 17.Rad1, would drop White's winning chances from 50% to 16% (−4.52).
• 17.Qxf6 trades off the attacked queen instead of losing it to …Qxd4+.
• Black was threatening …Qxd4+, winning the queen. The queen takes something with it instead.
• Trades queens.
• The queen on f6 can be taken by the g7 pawn.

25.Rd1! The only good move here: every alternative is clearly worse.

• The rook takes the half-open d-file, aiming at the bishop on d3.
• Attacks the bishop on d3, which is undefended.
• The next best move, 25.Ra1, would drop White's winning chances from 50% to 35% (−1.67).
• 25.Rd1 threatens Rxd3, winning a bishop for a pawn, and gets the rook out of the way of …Bxb1.
• It threatens Rxd3, winning a bishop for a pawn, so Black has to spend the next move on it.
• Black was threatening …Bxb1, winning a rook and a pawn. The rook steps away.

27.Rd1! The only good move here: every alternative is clearly worse.

• The rook takes the half-open d-file, aiming at the bishop on d3.
• Attacks the bishop on d3, which is undefended.
• The next best move, 27.Rc1, would drop White's winning chances from 50% to 36% (−1.52).
• 27.Rd1 threatens Rxd3, winning a bishop for a pawn, and gets the rook out of the way of …Bxb1.
• It threatens Rxd3, winning a bishop for a pawn, so Black has to spend the next move on it.
• Black was threatening …Bxb1, winning a rook. The rook steps away.

• Both sides followed opening theory up to 7…e5: 14 moves in all, 7 by White and 7 by Black.
• Theory runs out after 7…e5: too few games between strong players reached this position to go further.