Brief notes by King Lear
Fabiano Caruana – Veselin Topalov
2rd Sinquefield Cup; Saint Louis, September 2, 2014
Sicilian Defence B46
2rd Sinquefield Cup; Saint Louis, September 2, 2014
Sicilian Defence B46
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bd3 d5 8. 0-0 Nf6 9. Re1 Be7 10. e5 Nd7 11. Qg4 Kf8. The alternative is 11. ... g6 12. Bh6 Rb8 13. Nd1!? Rb4 14. c4 as in Caruana – Svidler, World Rapid Championship, Dubai 2014. 12. Na4. For 12. Qe2 c5 13. b3 Bb7 14. Bb2 g6 15. Nd1 Qb6 16. c4 d4 17. Bc1 see Solak – Caruana, 41st World Olympiad, Tromsø 2014. 12. ... Qa5!? A theoretical novelty, but not for Caruana. 13. Re2!? Another idea due to Caruana’s distingued coach, Grandmaster Vladimir Chuchelov. “How else to get the Bishop to d2?” – he asked rhetorically. The idea is simple, but not too exciting. 13. ... h5. Another try is 13. ... c5 14. b3 c4 15. Bd2 Qb5 and the position is not easy to evaluate. 14. Qf4 g5 15. Bd2 Qc7. As noted by Dennis Monokroussos: “15. ... gxf4 16. Bxa5 h4 looks strange and even a little ugly, but may actually be best”. 16. Qg3 h4 17. Qg4 Rg8? A bit too passive. 17. ... h3 is worth considering. Suppose 18. Bxg5 Bxg5 19. Qxg5 c5 20. c4 and White retains a slight edge. 18. Rae1. As a result Black stands cramped and without counterplay. 18. ... c5 19. c4 dxc4 20. Bxc4 Bb7 21. h3 Rd8. Intending to reroute the Knight to b8, c6 and d4, but Caruana will not be watching... 22. Bc3 Nb8 23. Re3! Nc6? Oblivious to the danger! Nolens volens, Black should have played 23. ... Bd5.
24. Bxe6! A beautiful break-up sacrifice. 24. ... fxe6 25. Rf3+ Ke8. No better is 25. ... Kg7 26. Qh5 Rdf8 27. Rf6! with an overwhelming attack. If, firstly, 27. ... Bxf6 then 28. exf6+ Rxf6 29. Rxe6 finis. And if, secondly, 27. ... Rxf6 then 28. exf6+ Bxf6 29. Nxc5 Bxc3 30. Nxe6+ Kf6 31. Nxc7 Bxe1 32. Qh6+ Rg6 (else 32. ... Kf7 33. Qe6+ Kg7 34. Qxe1
+-) 33. Ne8+ Kf7 34. Qh7+ winning easily. 26. Qxe6 Rg7. Or, for the worst, 26. ... Rf8 27. Nxc5 Rxf3 28. Qg6+ Rf7 (28. ... Kf8 29. Ne6 mate) 29. e6+-. Equally hopeless is 26. ... Nd4 27. Qxg8+ Kd7 28. Qf7 Nxf3+ 29. gxf3 Kc8 30. e6+-. 27. Qh6! The way is cleared for the e-Pawn, with a gain of tempo. 27. ... Nd4 28. e6! The terminating moves on the part of Caruana are singularly beautiful!
As noted by the former World Chess Champion Garry Kimovich Kasparov: “Caruana not happy only with the winner’s trophy. He also wanted the brilliancy prize! Topalov the fighter always a good opponent for those!”. 28. ... Nxf3+. 28. ... Bxf3 would also have been no better than the text move. Suppose 29. Qxg7 Nxe6 30. Qg6+ and White must win immediately. 29. gxf3 Bf8. Of course, after 29. ... Rg8 30. Qh5+ White mates next move. 30. Qh5+ Ke7 31. Bxg7 1 : 0. For after 31. ... Bxg7 32. Qf7+ Kd6 33. e7! Black is busted.
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