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The Best of 2016
January 11, 2017
ChessBase has conducted surveys in various categories for the Best of 2016
http://en.chessbase.com/post/best-of-2016-results
These are the results:
1. Player of the Year – Wesley So - with 43% of the vote, ahead of Magnus Carlsen 23% and Sergey Karjakin 13%
2. Female Player of the Year – Hou Yifan – with 33% of the vote, second and third were Ju Wenjun and Anna Muzychuk, with 17% and 16% respectively
.
3. Game of the Year – Carlsen vs Tomashevsky, Tata Steel 2016 with 36%, Caruana-Nakamura with 22% and Carlsen-So, Bilbao 2016 with 9%.
4. Endgame of the Year – Carlsen vs Kramnik – Norway Chess 2016. This had 54% of the vote, second was Nakamura-Kramnik, London 2016 and Shirazi-Battaglini, Paris 2016.
5. Move of the Year – 50.Qh6!! Carlsen vs Karjakin, WCC Match, New York City 2016. Second was 12..Rxe2, Raykhman-Heinemann and 17.Be7 Kramnik-Vocaturo.
Games
Best Game
Tata Steel 2016
Round 6, Jan. 22, 2106
Carlsen, Magnus – Tomashevsky, Evgeny
D02 Queen’s Pawn, London System
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bf4 b6 4.e3 Bb7 5.h3 Be7 6.Bd3 O-O 7.O-O c5 8.c3 Nc6 9.Nbd2 d5 10.Qe2 Bd6 11.Rfe1 Ne7 12.Rad1 Ng6 13.Bxg6 hxg6 14.Bxd6 Qxd6 15.Ne5 g5 16.f4 gxf4 17.Rf1 Nd7 18.Qh5 Nf6 19.Qh4 Qd8 20.Rxf4 Ne4 21.Nxe4 Qxh4 22.Rxh4 dxe4 23.dxc5 bxc5 24.Rd7 Rab8 25.b3 a5 26.Rc7 a4 27.bxa4 Ba8 28.a5 Rb7 29.Rxc5 Ra7 30.Nc4 1-0
London Classic 2016
Round 6, Dec. 15, 2016
Caruana, Fabiano – Nakamura, Hikaru
B96 Sicilian, Najdorf
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 h6 8.Bh4 Qb6 9.a3 Be7 10.Bf2 Qc7 11.Qf3 Nbd7 12.O-O-O b5 13.g4 g5 14.h4 gxf4 15.Be2 b4 16.axb4 Ne5 17.Qxf4 Nexg4 18.Bxg4 e5 19.Qxf6 Bxf6 20.Nd5 Qd8 21.Nf5 Rb8 22.Nxf6+ Qxf6 23.Rxd6 Be6 24.Rhd1 O-O 25.h5 Qg5+ 26.Be3 Qf6 27.Nxh6+ Kh8 28.Bf5 Qe7 29.b5 Qe8 30.Nxf7+ Rxf7 31.Rxe6 Qxb5 32.Rh6+ 1-0
Bilbao 2016
Round 4, Jul. 16, 2016
Carlsen, Magnus – So, Wesley
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.Qe2 Qe7 7.Nbd2 Bg4 8.h3 Bh5 9.a3 Nd7 10.b4 Bd6 11.Nc4 f6 12.Ne3 a5 13.Nf5 Qf8 14.bxa5 Rxa5 15.O-O Qf7 16.a4 Nc5 17.Qe1 b6 18.Nd2 Rxa4 19.Nc4 Bf8 20.Be3 Kd7 21.Qc3 Nxe4 22.Nxb6+ cxb6 23.dxe4 Qc4 24.Qd2+ Kc7 25.g4 Bg6 26.Rfd1 1-0
Best Endgame
Norway Chess 2016
Round 6, Apr. 18, 2016
Carlsen, Magnus – Kramnik, Vladimir
D35 QGD, Exchange Variation
1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 Nf6 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 c5 7.Nf3 cxd4 8.cxd4 Bb4+ 9.Bd2 Bxd2+ 10.Qxd2 O-O 11.Bc4 Nd7 12.O-O b6 13.a4 Bb7 14.Bd3 Rb8 15.Rfe1 h6 16.a5 b5 17.Rac1 a6 18.Qb4 Rc8 19.Nd2 Rxc1 20.Rxc1 Ne5 21.Bxb5 axb5 22.dxe5 Qd3 23.h3 Rd8 24.Rc7 Ba8 25.Qe7 Rf8 26.Qd6 Qe2 27.f3 Qe3+ 28.Kh2 Qf4+ 29.Kh1 b4 30.a6 h5 31.a7 h4 32.Qxb4 Qxe5 33.Qc5 Qxc5 34.Rxc5 Rd8 35.Nc4 Kh7 1-0
London Classic 2016
Round 2, Dec. 11, 2016
Kramnik, Vladimir – Nakamura, Hikaru
E92 King’s Indian, Petrofina System
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 O-O 6.Nf3 e5 7.d5 a5 8.Bg5 h6 9.Be3 Ng4 10.Bd2 f5 11.h3 Nf6 12.exf5 gxf5 13.Qc1 f4 14.g3 e4 15.Nh4 e3 16.fxe3 fxg3 17.Ng6 Rf7 18.Qc2 Nfd7 19.O-O-O Ne5 20.Rhf1 Rxf1 21.Rxf1 Bxh3 22.Rg1 Qf6 23.Rxg3 Nxg6 24.Rxg6 Qf7 25.Rg3 Bf5 26.e4 Bg6 27.Bg4 Qf1+ 28.Nd1 Be5 29.Bh3 Qf6 30.Rg1 Kh7 31.Bf5 Bxf5 32.exf5 Nd7 33.Rg6 Qf7 34.Rxh6+ Kg8 35.Rg6+ Kf8 36.Nf2 b5 37.Ng4 bxc4 38.Qxc4 Qxf5 39.Rg8+ Ke7 40.Bg5+ Bf6 41.Qe2+ 1-0
91st Championship of Paris 2016
Round 3, July 11, 2016
Shirazi, Kamran – Battaglini, Gabriel
C15 French, Winawer, Alekhine Gambit
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Ne2 Nf6 5.e5 Nfd7 6.a3 Be7 7.Be3 c5 8.f4 Nc6 9.Qd2 O-O 10.dxc5 Nxc5 11.Nd4 Bd7 12.Qf2 Nxd4 13.Bxd4 Qc7 14.f5 Rfc8 15.f6 Bf8 16.Be2 gxf6 17.exf6 Kh8 18.Rd1 Bd6 19.Qh4 Rg8 20.O-O Ne4 21.Kh1 Bc6 22.Rd3 Ng5 23.Rh3 Nxh3 24.Qxh3 e5 25.Bd3 e4 26.Bb5 Rg6 27.Rf5 h6 28.Nxd5 Bxd5 29.Rxd5 Qxc2 30.g3 Bc7 31.Qf1 Bb6 32.Bc3 Rd8 33.Bc4 Rxd5 34.Bxd5 e3 35.Bxb7 e2 36.Qe1 Rg5 37.Bf3 Rf5 38.Qxe2 Qxe2 39.Bxe2 Rf2 40.Bc4 Kg8 41.b3 Rc2 42.Be5 a5 43.a4 Bc5 44.g4 Bb4 45.h3 Ba3 46.Bc7 Bb4 47.Kg1 Rd2 48.Bf4 Bc5+ 49.Kh1 Rf2 50.Bxh6 Rxf6 51.Bd2 Bb6 52.Be1 Rf4 53.Kg2 Kf8 54.Bg3 Re4 55.g5 Bc5 56.Kf3 Re8 57.h4 Bb4 58.h5 Bd2 59.Kg4 Rd8 60.Be5 Be3 61.Kf5 Bd4 62.Bc7 Rc8 63.Bd6+ Ke8 64.g6 fxg6+ 65.hxg6 Kd7 66.Ke4 Bf6 67.Be5 Ke7 68.g7 Bxg7 69.Bxg7 Kd6 70.Bc3 Kc5 71.Kf5 Ra8 72.Ke6 Ra7 73.Be1 Ra8 74.Kd7 Kb6 75.Bf2+ Kb7 76.Bd5+ Ka6 77.b4 Rb8 78.b5+ Rxb5 79.Bc4 1-0
Best Move
World Championship 2016
New York City
Round 13, Nov. 30, 2016
Carlsen, Magnus – Karjakin, Sergey
B55 Sicilian, Prins Variation
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.f3 e5 6.Nb3 Be7 7.c4 a5 8.Be3 a4 9.Nc1 O-O 10.Nc3 Qa5 11.Qd2 Na6 12.Be2 Nc5 13.O-O Bd7 14.Rb1 Rfc8 15.b4 axb3 16.axb3 Qd8 17.Nd3 Ne6 18.Nb4 Bc6 19.Rfd1 h5 20.Bf1 h4 21.Qf2 Nd7 22.g3 Ra3 23.Bh3 Rca8 24.Nc2 R3a6 25.Nb4 Ra5 26.Nc2 b6 27.Rd2 Qc7 28.Rbd1 Bf8 29.gxh4 Nf4 30.Bxf4 exf4 31.Bxd7 Qxd7 32.Nb4 Ra3 33.Nxc6 Qxc6 34.Nb5 Rxb3 35.Nd4 Qxc4 36.Nxb3 Qxb3 37.Qe2 Be7 38.Kg2 Qe6 39.h5 Ra3 40.Rd3 Ra2 41.R3d2 Ra3 42.Rd3 Ra7 43.Rd5 Rc7 44.Qd2 Qf6 45.Rf5 Qh4 46.Rc1 Ra7 47.Qxf4 Ra2+ 48.Kh1 Qf2 49.Rc8+ Kh7 50.Qh6+ 1-0
Bundesliga 2015/6
Norderstedt, Germany
Round 11, March 13, 2016
Raykhman, Alexander – Heinemann, Thies
E15 Queen’s Indian, Nimzowitsch variation
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Nbd2 Bb4 6.Qa4 c5 7.a3 Bxd2+ 8.Bxd2 O-O 9.Bg2 d5 10.cxd5 exd5 11.b4 Re8 12.b5 Rxe2+ 13.Kf1 Qe8 14.Rb1 Ne4 15.Be1 Rxe1+ 16.Nxe1 Nd2+ 17.Kg1 Nxb1 18.Bxd5 Nc3 19.Qb3 Nxd5 20.Qxd5 Bxb5 0-1
Chess Olympiad 2016
Baku
Round 11, Sept. 13, 2016
Kramnik, Vladimir – Vocaturo, Daniele
A49 King’s Indian, Fianchetto
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 O-O 5.O-O d6 6.b3 e5 7.dxe5 dxe5 8.Ba3 Qxd1 9.Rxd1 Re8 10.c4 e4 11.Nd4 c6 12.Nc3 Na6 13.e3 Bg4 14.Rd2 Rad8 15.h3 Bc8 16.Rad1 h5 17.Be7 Rxd4 18.Rxd4 Rxe7 19.Rd8+ Ne8 20.Nxe4 Be6 21.Ra8 Be5 22.Rdd8 Kf8 23.Rxa7 Bc7 24.Rda8 Bb6 25.Rxa6 bxa6 26.Nf6 Bd7 27.b4 c5 28.Nd5 Bc6 29.Rxa6 Bxd5 30.Bxd5 Bd8 31.b5 Rd7 32.b6 Ke7 33.b7 Bc7 34.Ra8 Nf6 35.Rc8 Bd6 36.Bc6 Rd8 37.a4 Nd7 38.a5 Bb8 39.a6 Ne5 40.Rxb8 Rxb8 41.Bd5 1-0
January 11, 2017
ChessBase has conducted surveys in various categories for the Best of 2016
http://en.chessbase.com/post/best-of-2016-results
These are the results:
1. Player of the Year – Wesley So - with 43% of the vote, ahead of Magnus Carlsen 23% and Sergey Karjakin 13%
2. Female Player of the Year – Hou Yifan – with 33% of the vote, second and third were Ju Wenjun and Anna Muzychuk, with 17% and 16% respectively
.
3. Game of the Year – Carlsen vs Tomashevsky, Tata Steel 2016 with 36%, Caruana-Nakamura with 22% and Carlsen-So, Bilbao 2016 with 9%.
4. Endgame of the Year – Carlsen vs Kramnik – Norway Chess 2016. This had 54% of the vote, second was Nakamura-Kramnik, London 2016 and Shirazi-Battaglini, Paris 2016.
5. Move of the Year – 50.Qh6!! Carlsen vs Karjakin, WCC Match, New York City 2016. Second was 12..Rxe2, Raykhman-Heinemann and 17.Be7 Kramnik-Vocaturo.
Games
Best Game
Tata Steel 2016
Round 6, Jan. 22, 2106
Carlsen, Magnus – Tomashevsky, Evgeny
D02 Queen’s Pawn, London System
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bf4 b6 4.e3 Bb7 5.h3 Be7 6.Bd3 O-O 7.O-O c5 8.c3 Nc6 9.Nbd2 d5 10.Qe2 Bd6 11.Rfe1 Ne7 12.Rad1 Ng6 13.Bxg6 hxg6 14.Bxd6 Qxd6 15.Ne5 g5 16.f4 gxf4 17.Rf1 Nd7 18.Qh5 Nf6 19.Qh4 Qd8 20.Rxf4 Ne4 21.Nxe4 Qxh4 22.Rxh4 dxe4 23.dxc5 bxc5 24.Rd7 Rab8 25.b3 a5 26.Rc7 a4 27.bxa4 Ba8 28.a5 Rb7 29.Rxc5 Ra7 30.Nc4 1-0
London Classic 2016
Round 6, Dec. 15, 2016
Caruana, Fabiano – Nakamura, Hikaru
B96 Sicilian, Najdorf
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 h6 8.Bh4 Qb6 9.a3 Be7 10.Bf2 Qc7 11.Qf3 Nbd7 12.O-O-O b5 13.g4 g5 14.h4 gxf4 15.Be2 b4 16.axb4 Ne5 17.Qxf4 Nexg4 18.Bxg4 e5 19.Qxf6 Bxf6 20.Nd5 Qd8 21.Nf5 Rb8 22.Nxf6+ Qxf6 23.Rxd6 Be6 24.Rhd1 O-O 25.h5 Qg5+ 26.Be3 Qf6 27.Nxh6+ Kh8 28.Bf5 Qe7 29.b5 Qe8 30.Nxf7+ Rxf7 31.Rxe6 Qxb5 32.Rh6+ 1-0
Bilbao 2016
Round 4, Jul. 16, 2016
Carlsen, Magnus – So, Wesley
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.Qe2 Qe7 7.Nbd2 Bg4 8.h3 Bh5 9.a3 Nd7 10.b4 Bd6 11.Nc4 f6 12.Ne3 a5 13.Nf5 Qf8 14.bxa5 Rxa5 15.O-O Qf7 16.a4 Nc5 17.Qe1 b6 18.Nd2 Rxa4 19.Nc4 Bf8 20.Be3 Kd7 21.Qc3 Nxe4 22.Nxb6+ cxb6 23.dxe4 Qc4 24.Qd2+ Kc7 25.g4 Bg6 26.Rfd1 1-0
Best Endgame
Norway Chess 2016
Round 6, Apr. 18, 2016
Carlsen, Magnus – Kramnik, Vladimir
D35 QGD, Exchange Variation
1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 Nf6 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 c5 7.Nf3 cxd4 8.cxd4 Bb4+ 9.Bd2 Bxd2+ 10.Qxd2 O-O 11.Bc4 Nd7 12.O-O b6 13.a4 Bb7 14.Bd3 Rb8 15.Rfe1 h6 16.a5 b5 17.Rac1 a6 18.Qb4 Rc8 19.Nd2 Rxc1 20.Rxc1 Ne5 21.Bxb5 axb5 22.dxe5 Qd3 23.h3 Rd8 24.Rc7 Ba8 25.Qe7 Rf8 26.Qd6 Qe2 27.f3 Qe3+ 28.Kh2 Qf4+ 29.Kh1 b4 30.a6 h5 31.a7 h4 32.Qxb4 Qxe5 33.Qc5 Qxc5 34.Rxc5 Rd8 35.Nc4 Kh7 1-0
London Classic 2016
Round 2, Dec. 11, 2016
Kramnik, Vladimir – Nakamura, Hikaru
E92 King’s Indian, Petrofina System
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 O-O 6.Nf3 e5 7.d5 a5 8.Bg5 h6 9.Be3 Ng4 10.Bd2 f5 11.h3 Nf6 12.exf5 gxf5 13.Qc1 f4 14.g3 e4 15.Nh4 e3 16.fxe3 fxg3 17.Ng6 Rf7 18.Qc2 Nfd7 19.O-O-O Ne5 20.Rhf1 Rxf1 21.Rxf1 Bxh3 22.Rg1 Qf6 23.Rxg3 Nxg6 24.Rxg6 Qf7 25.Rg3 Bf5 26.e4 Bg6 27.Bg4 Qf1+ 28.Nd1 Be5 29.Bh3 Qf6 30.Rg1 Kh7 31.Bf5 Bxf5 32.exf5 Nd7 33.Rg6 Qf7 34.Rxh6+ Kg8 35.Rg6+ Kf8 36.Nf2 b5 37.Ng4 bxc4 38.Qxc4 Qxf5 39.Rg8+ Ke7 40.Bg5+ Bf6 41.Qe2+ 1-0
91st Championship of Paris 2016
Round 3, July 11, 2016
Shirazi, Kamran – Battaglini, Gabriel
C15 French, Winawer, Alekhine Gambit
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Ne2 Nf6 5.e5 Nfd7 6.a3 Be7 7.Be3 c5 8.f4 Nc6 9.Qd2 O-O 10.dxc5 Nxc5 11.Nd4 Bd7 12.Qf2 Nxd4 13.Bxd4 Qc7 14.f5 Rfc8 15.f6 Bf8 16.Be2 gxf6 17.exf6 Kh8 18.Rd1 Bd6 19.Qh4 Rg8 20.O-O Ne4 21.Kh1 Bc6 22.Rd3 Ng5 23.Rh3 Nxh3 24.Qxh3 e5 25.Bd3 e4 26.Bb5 Rg6 27.Rf5 h6 28.Nxd5 Bxd5 29.Rxd5 Qxc2 30.g3 Bc7 31.Qf1 Bb6 32.Bc3 Rd8 33.Bc4 Rxd5 34.Bxd5 e3 35.Bxb7 e2 36.Qe1 Rg5 37.Bf3 Rf5 38.Qxe2 Qxe2 39.Bxe2 Rf2 40.Bc4 Kg8 41.b3 Rc2 42.Be5 a5 43.a4 Bc5 44.g4 Bb4 45.h3 Ba3 46.Bc7 Bb4 47.Kg1 Rd2 48.Bf4 Bc5+ 49.Kh1 Rf2 50.Bxh6 Rxf6 51.Bd2 Bb6 52.Be1 Rf4 53.Kg2 Kf8 54.Bg3 Re4 55.g5 Bc5 56.Kf3 Re8 57.h4 Bb4 58.h5 Bd2 59.Kg4 Rd8 60.Be5 Be3 61.Kf5 Bd4 62.Bc7 Rc8 63.Bd6+ Ke8 64.g6 fxg6+ 65.hxg6 Kd7 66.Ke4 Bf6 67.Be5 Ke7 68.g7 Bxg7 69.Bxg7 Kd6 70.Bc3 Kc5 71.Kf5 Ra8 72.Ke6 Ra7 73.Be1 Ra8 74.Kd7 Kb6 75.Bf2+ Kb7 76.Bd5+ Ka6 77.b4 Rb8 78.b5+ Rxb5 79.Bc4 1-0
Best Move
World Championship 2016
New York City
Round 13, Nov. 30, 2016
Carlsen, Magnus – Karjakin, Sergey
B55 Sicilian, Prins Variation
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.f3 e5 6.Nb3 Be7 7.c4 a5 8.Be3 a4 9.Nc1 O-O 10.Nc3 Qa5 11.Qd2 Na6 12.Be2 Nc5 13.O-O Bd7 14.Rb1 Rfc8 15.b4 axb3 16.axb3 Qd8 17.Nd3 Ne6 18.Nb4 Bc6 19.Rfd1 h5 20.Bf1 h4 21.Qf2 Nd7 22.g3 Ra3 23.Bh3 Rca8 24.Nc2 R3a6 25.Nb4 Ra5 26.Nc2 b6 27.Rd2 Qc7 28.Rbd1 Bf8 29.gxh4 Nf4 30.Bxf4 exf4 31.Bxd7 Qxd7 32.Nb4 Ra3 33.Nxc6 Qxc6 34.Nb5 Rxb3 35.Nd4 Qxc4 36.Nxb3 Qxb3 37.Qe2 Be7 38.Kg2 Qe6 39.h5 Ra3 40.Rd3 Ra2 41.R3d2 Ra3 42.Rd3 Ra7 43.Rd5 Rc7 44.Qd2 Qf6 45.Rf5 Qh4 46.Rc1 Ra7 47.Qxf4 Ra2+ 48.Kh1 Qf2 49.Rc8+ Kh7 50.Qh6+ 1-0
Bundesliga 2015/6
Norderstedt, Germany
Round 11, March 13, 2016
Raykhman, Alexander – Heinemann, Thies
E15 Queen’s Indian, Nimzowitsch variation
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Nbd2 Bb4 6.Qa4 c5 7.a3 Bxd2+ 8.Bxd2 O-O 9.Bg2 d5 10.cxd5 exd5 11.b4 Re8 12.b5 Rxe2+ 13.Kf1 Qe8 14.Rb1 Ne4 15.Be1 Rxe1+ 16.Nxe1 Nd2+ 17.Kg1 Nxb1 18.Bxd5 Nc3 19.Qb3 Nxd5 20.Qxd5 Bxb5 0-1
Chess Olympiad 2016
Baku
Round 11, Sept. 13, 2016
Kramnik, Vladimir – Vocaturo, Daniele
A49 King’s Indian, Fianchetto
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 O-O 5.O-O d6 6.b3 e5 7.dxe5 dxe5 8.Ba3 Qxd1 9.Rxd1 Re8 10.c4 e4 11.Nd4 c6 12.Nc3 Na6 13.e3 Bg4 14.Rd2 Rad8 15.h3 Bc8 16.Rad1 h5 17.Be7 Rxd4 18.Rxd4 Rxe7 19.Rd8+ Ne8 20.Nxe4 Be6 21.Ra8 Be5 22.Rdd8 Kf8 23.Rxa7 Bc7 24.Rda8 Bb6 25.Rxa6 bxa6 26.Nf6 Bd7 27.b4 c5 28.Nd5 Bc6 29.Rxa6 Bxd5 30.Bxd5 Bd8 31.b5 Rd7 32.b6 Ke7 33.b7 Bc7 34.Ra8 Nf6 35.Rc8 Bd6 36.Bc6 Rd8 37.a4 Nd7 38.a5 Bb8 39.a6 Ne5 40.Rxb8 Rxb8 41.Bd5 1-0