Charlemagne

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Magnus Carlsen
75th Tata Steel Chess Tournament; Wijk aan Zee, January 22, 2013
Ponziani Opening C44

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3. “Well, it was a surprise that someone played the Ponziani against me. I thought I got a nice position and then an extra Pawn. I tried to simplify a bit, but perhaps I made it more difficult because I think I lost some of my advantage; fortunately I never really let it go and managed to get a win”, Carlsen said afterwards. 3. ... Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. e5 Nd5 6. Bc4 Nb6 7. Bb3 d5 8. cxd4 Bg4 9. Be3 f6!?TN 10. 0-0 Qd7 11. h3 Bh5

12. e6!? Qd6 (12. ... Qxe6 13. Ng5 fxg5 14. Qxh5+ g6 15. Qxg5 Be7 16. Qg3 0-0-0=) 13. Nc3 0-0-0 14. a4 a5 15. Nb5 Qxe6 16. Bf4 Rd7 17. Re1 Qf7 18. Rc1 Bb4 19. Re3 g5 20. Bh2 Nc4 21. Bxc4 dxc4 22. Qc2 Bxf3 23. Rxf3 Nxd4 24. Nxd4 Rxd4 25. Be5 Rd2 26. Qf5+ Qd7 27. Qxf6 Re8 28. Bg3 Rd4 29. Rf1. If 29. b3 the 29. ... h5! (Carlsen). 29. ... g4 30. hxg4 Rxg4 31. Rf4 h5 32. Rxg4 hxg4 33. Rc1

33. ... c3!! 34. bxc3 Bc5 35. Qg5 b6 36. c4 Re4 37. Qg6 Re2 38. Kf1 Qd2 39. Qxg4+ Kb8 40. Qxe2 Qxc1+ 41. Qe1 Qxc4+ 42. Qe2 Qxa4 43. Be5 Bd4 44. Bxd4 Qxd4 45. g4 Qd5 46. Qe8+ Kb7 47. Qa4 b5 48. Qxa5 Qd1+ 49. Qe1 Qxg4 50. Qe5 Qc4+ 51. Kg2 Qc6+ 52. Kf1 b4 53. f4 b3 54. f5 Ka6 55. Qa1+ Kb6 56. Qh8 Qc1+ 57. Kg2 Qc2+ 58. Kh1 b2 59. Qb8+ Ka5 60. Qa7+ Kb4 61. Qb7+ Ka3 62. Qf3+ Qb3 63. Qa8+ Qa4 64. Qf3+ Ka2 65. Qd5+ Ka1 66. Qe5 c5 0 : 1.

Beauty and the Beast. Photo: Tata Steel Chess.