Enn kemst Nepo lítt áfram með hvítu – Magnús í forystu í hálfleik

   [Event "FIDE World Chess Championship 2021"]  [Site "?"]  [Date "2021.12.04"]  [Round "7"]  [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]  [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]  [Result "1/2-1/2"]  [ECO "C88"]  [WhiteElo "2782"]  [BlackElo "2855"]  [Annotator "samsh"]  [PlyCount "81"]  [EventDate "2021.??.??"]  [SourceVersionDate "2021.12.04"]   {The seventh game of the match was one of the quietest yet, and Magnus certainly  made his easiest draw so far with the black pieces.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5  a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. a4 Rb8 {Magnus repeats the same  line from game five. It shows a lot of confidence on his part to keep playing  the same black openings over and over again, even when he is often getting  somewhat uncomfortable positions.} 9. axb5 axb5 10. h3 d6 11. d3 (11. c3 {This  was Nepo's choice in game five, and he got a nice position. I'm a little  surprised he was the first to deviate.}) 11... h6 12. Nc3 Re8 {This is a very  typical Ruy Lopez regrouping.} 13. Nd5 Bf8 14. Nxf6+ Qxf6 15. c3 Ne7 16. Be3 Be6  {So far, both sides are following the first line of the machine pretty  consistently. Stockfish offers White a small advantage, but Black is very solid,  and all it takes is one slightly careless move for it to become totally equal.}  17. d4 $2 {This is a very natural idea, but a touch impatient, and just like  that, Black is fine.} (17. Bc2 {I would suggest this as a possible improvement.  Now, White is ready for d3-d4 next to take more central space without letting  Black take on b3. As a result, Black is not able to trade pieces, and White will  have no issue defending the e4-pawn. He looks a little better to me, though  after} 17... Ng6 18. d4 Ra8 {Black's position is still very solid.} (18... exd4  19. cxd4 c5 {This kind of thing is much less effective when the light-squared  bishops remain on the board. After} 20. Ra7 {White looks a bit better. c5-c4 is  a non-starter here, unlike the game.})) 17... exd4 $1 18. cxd4 Bxb3 19. Qxb3 Ng6  {Defending e4 turns out to be a bit annoying.} 20. Rec1 c5 $1 {Now, since the  bishops are off the board, White can't just protect the e4 pawn and hope for  some edge since c5-c4 is a real idea.} 21. e5 {This all but forces a draw, but  White has nothing better. I think it shows some maturity on Nepo's part. Right  after losing, it's hard to just admit you got nowhere with White and give your  opponent an easy draw, and then play Black again the next day, but it's a lot  better to do this than to get another bad position, which was the other option.  His best hope is to hold with Black tomorrow and then hope to get more chances  in his three remaining white games.} (21. Qc2 c4 $1 $15 {The same position where  Black still has a bishop on e6 and White has a bishop on e2, for example, would  be great for White thanks to some combination of d4-d5, Ra1-a7, Nf3-d4, b2-b3,  etc. But without the bishops, d4-d5 does not gain time and Ng6-e5 in response  sees Black quick to take over the initiative and pounce on the weakened  d3-square.}) 21... Qf5 22. dxc5 {Maybe someone more creative than me could find  something interesting to say about the rest of the game, but I certainly  cannot.} 22... dxc5 23. Bxc5 Bxc5 24. Rxc5 Nxe5 25. Nxe5 Rxe5 26. Rxe5 Qxe5 27.  Qc3 Qxc3 28. bxc3 Rc8 29. Ra5 Rxc3 30. Rxb5 Rc1+ 31. Kh2 Rc3 32. h4 g6 33. g3 h5  34. Kg2 Kg7 35. Ra5 Kf6 36. Rb5 Kg7 37. Ra5 Kf6 38. Rb5 Kg7 39. Ra5 Kf6 40. Ra6+  Kg7 41. Ra7 {I'll be interested to see if Magnus can make any trouble for Nepo  in the opening tomorrow. Yesterday's victory was certainly not due to superior  preparation.} 1/2-1/2