Notes by Grandmaster Einar Gausel
Fabiano Caruana – Magnus Carlsen
41st Chess Olympiad; Tromsø, August 8, 2014
Scandinavian Defence B01
41st Chess Olympiad; Tromsø, August 8, 2014
Scandinavian Defence B01
1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qd8. Carlsen faced this slightly unusual move in round 3 against Montenegro’s GM Nikola Djukic. I expect 3. ... Qd8 will be getting some serious attention after the present game. 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. h3
Bxf3 7. Qxf3 c6 8. Ne2!? Ed. Note: Four days earlier, as White, Carlsen had preferred 8. Qd3 e6 9. g3 – see Carlsen – Djukic, Tromsø, August 4, 2014. 8. ... e6 9. g4 Qd5 10. Bg2 Nbd7 11. Qg3 Qc4
12. Qb3 Qxb3 13. axb3 Bd6 14. c4 a6 15. Be3 0-0-0 16. 0-0-0. White’s Bishops must give him a slight plus here. 16. ... Rhe8 17. Ng3 Nf8 18. Bf3. Grabbing more space with 18. g5 Ng8 19. h4 also looked tempting. 18. ... Ng6 19. h4 Bf4 20. h5 Bxe3+ 21. fxe3
Ne7 22. e4?! White can probably still claim a small edge after either 22. h6 or 22. g5 Nd7 23. Bg4. 22. ... h6. Securing a future outpost on g5 for one of Black’s Knights. 23. e5 Nh7 24. Ne4 Rf8 25. Nd6+. This Knight might look impressive, but it’s actually not doing a whole lot once Black manages to break with f7-f6. 25. ... Kc7 26. Bg2 Ng5
27. Rhf1?! In retrospect 27. Ne4 looked like a better idea. Black now slowly, but surely takes control over the proceedings. 27. ... f6 28. Kc2 fxe5 29. dxe5 Nc8 30. c5 Ne7
31. b4? 31. Kd3 Nd5 32. Bh1 looked like a better try for White. 31. ... Nd5
32. Bxd5. 32. Kb3 Ne3 33. Rxf8 Rxf8 34. Rd2 Nxg4 and White has no compensation for the missing Pawn. 32. ... cxd5. Now Black’s simple idea is Ng5-f3 followed by Nf3xe5. 33. b5 axb5 34. Nxb5+ Kc6 35. Nd6 Nf3. Carlsen converts his advantage to a full point with trademark precision. 36. b4 Ra8
37. Ra1 Rxa1 38. Rxa1 Nxe5 39. Ra7 Rb8 40. Ra3 b6 41. Ra7 bxc5!
42. Ra6+ Kc7 43. bxc5 Nd7 44. Ra7+ Kc6 45. g5 Nxc5 46. Nf7 d4
47. Ne5+ Kd5 48. Nd7 d3+! 49. Kc1 Nxd7 50. Rxd7+ Ke4 0 : 1.
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