Pranesh M vs Anish Giri: game review

20…Qh7! The only good move here: every alternative is clearly worse.

• Moves the attacked queen to safety.
• Shores up the h2 pawn, which was under as much attack as it had defence (2 against 1).
• The next best move, 20…Qg6, would drop Black's winning chances from 53% to 12% (+5.36).
• 20…Qh7 gets the queen out of the way of gxf5.
• White was threatening gxf5, winning the queen and a pawn. The queen steps away.
• White answers 21.Rf3.

21…e5! The only good move here: every alternative is clearly worse.

• Attacks the bishop on d4, which is undefended.
• Creates a passed pawn on e5: no enemy pawn can stop it any more.
• The next best move, 21…Be7, would drop Black's winning chances from 58% to 29% (+2.37).
• 21…e5 stops fxe6 and threatens …O-O-O, winning a bishop for a pawn, picking it up with 23…exd4.
• White was threatening fxe6, winning a pawn. e5 takes care of it.
• It threatens …O-O-O, winning a bishop for a pawn, picking it up with 23…exd4, so White has to spend the next move on it.

22…fxe5 is a blunder: Black's winning chances go from 58% to 16%.

• White answers 23.Qxe5+, which takes the pawn on e5.
• After Qxe5+, White wins 2 points of material within 4 moves.
• Better was 22…O-O-O (−0.88), which castles: the king gets out of the centre and the rook joins the game.

Better: 22…O-O-O stops Bxf6+. After 23.Bd4 Qh3 24.Qf3 Qxf3+ 25.Rxf3 Rh4, the queens come off (−0.88).

26.Rxd7!! A real sacrifice: White gives up material and the engine still rates it best.

• Puts the rook on d7 where it can be taken.
• Black can take, but after 26…Qxd7 27.Qxh8 Qc6+ 28.Kxh2 the engine rates it +5.48.
• Takes the bishop on d7.
• The rook reaches the seventh rank, where 2 pawns sit and the king is cut off on the back rank.
• 26.Rxd7 wins a bishop.
• Takes the bishop on d7 and wins a bishop once the captures settle.

• The idea: 26.Rxd7!! offers the rook on d7. Taking it gives White the material back and more.
• What White gives up: 26.Rxd7 puts the rook on d7 where it can be taken by the queen on h7 and the king. That's a whole rook on offer.
• What it does instead: It takes the bishop on d7.
• If Black takes the rook: 26…Qxd7 is met by 27.Qxh8, taking the rook on h8 and threatening Qxf8+, winning a bishop. Then 28.Kxh2 takes the h2 pawn, and 30.Qf6 attacks the g5 pawn, which is undefended. White ends up a piece ahead: White is winning (+5.22). This is Black's best try.
• Without the sacrifice: The best move without the sacrifice, 26.f6, is clearly weaker (0.00 against +5.48). Black answers 26…Bc6, pinning the rook on d5 to the king. That would leave White level.

• Both sides followed opening theory up to 7…Ng6: 14 moves in all, 7 by White and 7 by Black.
• Theory runs out after 7…Ng6: too few games between strong players reached this position to go further.