Sine ira et studio

Péter Lékó – Fabiano Caruana
41st Sparkassen Chess Meeting; Dortmund, July 16, 2012
French Defence C18

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Qg4 cxd4 8. Qxg7 Rg8 9. Qxh7 Qc7 10. Ne2 Nbc6 11. f4 dxc3 12. Qd3 d4 13. Nxd4 Nxd4 14. Qxd4 Bd7 15. Rg1 Nf5 16. Qf2 Qc6 17. Bd3 Qd5 18. Rb1 Bc6 19. Rb3 0-0-0 20. Rxc3 Kb8. An unbalanced situation: White is two Pawns up, but Black has plenty of compensation. 21. g4. The alternative is 21. Rc5 Qa2 22. Rxc6 bxc6 23. Qc5 Rxd3 24. cxd3 Rxg2 25. Rxg2 Qxg2 26. Be3 Nxe3 27. Qxe3 Qh1+ 28. Ke2 Qxh2+ 29. Qf2 Qh1 30. Qd4 Qg2+ 31. Ke1 Kb7 32. a4 a5 33. Kd1 Qf1+ 34. Kd2 Qg2+ 35. Kc3 Qf1 36. Qd7+ Kb6 37. Qd8+ Kb7 38. Qd7+ Kb6 39. Qd8+ Kb7 40. Qd7+ ½ : ½ Ganguly – Shulman, World Chess Team Championship, 宁波市 (Níngbō) 2011. Shall we play Fischerandom chess? 21. ... Nd4 22. Rg3 Qh1+ 23. Bf1 b6. International Master John Watson writes: “After 23 moves, several of which Lékó says he needed to find over-the-board, White played the innovation”: 24. Bb2! “This led to a brutal slugfest, with White defending successfully in several improbable lines. The correct result seems to be a draw, but Caruana played a dreadful move and should have lost. In the end, Lékó himself missed an easy consolidation and it’s unclear whether he had any good further chances to win. I’ve inserted an interesting game Shyam – Papasimakopoulos [World Junior Championship, Athens 2012] in the notes”. (Watson). 24. ... Be4 25. a4 Rd5 26. Ba3 Rc8 27. Bd6+ Kb7 28. Rxc8

28. ... Nf3+? Caruana is playing with fire! The proper move was 28. ... Kxc8; for example: 29. c4 Nc2+ 30. Ke2 Rd4 31. a5 Kd7 32. f5 Bxf5 33. Qg2 Qxg2+ 34. Bxg2 Bxg4+ 35. Bf3 Bf5 36. axb6 axb6 with roughly equal chances. 29. Ke2! Rd2+ 30. Ke3 Kxc8. A rude awakening, since Her Majesty is taboo: 30. ... Rxf2 31. Rb8+ Kc6 32. Bb5+ Kd5 33. c4 mate. 31. Rg1? White should have played 31. Ba6+! Kd8 32. Qf1, as after the forced exchange of Queens 32. ... Qxf1 33. Bxf1 Rxh2 34. Rxf3 Bxf3 35. Kxf3 the endgame looks hopeless for Black. 31. ... Nxg1 32. Kxd2 Nf3+ 33. Kc3 Nxh2 34. Be2 Qa1+ 35. Kd2 Qh1 36. Qg3? Lifeless. The sharp 36. a5! was more promising; for example: 36. ... Kb7 37. f5 exf5 38. a6+ Kc8 39. e6 Nf3+ 40. Bxf3 Bxf3 41. exf7 Qh6+ 42. Kc3 Qf6+ 43. Be5! Qxe5+ 44. Qd4 Qa5+ 45. Kb2 Qb5+ 46. Kc1 Qf1+ 47. Kd2 Qd1+ 48. Ke3 Qg1+ 49. Kxf3 Qxd4 50. f8=Q+ Kc7 51. Qe7+ Kc6 52. Qe6+ Kc7 53. gxf5+- – obviously anything but a forced variation! 36. ... Nf1+ 37. Bxf1 Qxf1 38. Qe3 Qg2+ 39. Qe2 Qxe2+ 40. Kxe2 Bxc2 41. a5 bxa5 42. Kd2 Bg6 ½ : ½.