Entremêt doux

Fabiano Caruana – Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
77th Tata Steel Chess Tournament; Wijk aan Zee, January 25, 2015
Sicilian Defence B90

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 e5 7. Nde2 h5 8. g3 Be6 9. Bg2 Nbd7 10. a4 Be7. For 10. ... Rc8 11. Be3 Nb6 12. Bg5 Be7 13. b3 h4 see J. Polgár – Vachier-Lagrave, 15th Unive (Crown Group), Hoogeveen 2011. 11. 0-0 Rc8 12. Be3. For 12. a5 h4 see Motylev – Wojtaszek, Schachbundesliga 2014/2015, Solingen 2014. 12. ... Nb6. Vachier-Lagrave prepares a very interesting Pawn sacrifice. 13. b3 d5 14. Bxb6 Qxb6 15. Nxd5 Nxd5 16. exd5 Bd7 17. c4 Qd6. “Really impressed with MVL’s concept against Caruana, especially that calm move 17. ... Qd6. The Black K-side Pawns are coming!”, Grandmaster Matthew Sadler tweeted. 18. a5 f5 19. Qd3. “I guess Caruana’s 19.Qd3 (covering c4) is looking to break open the Q-side with b3-b4, ... Qd6xb4, Rf1-b1 hitting b7”, Sadler writes. 19. ... h4 20. g4 0-0 21. Nc3. “This is going to go wrong for Caruana. Too difficult to play this with White in a practical game”, Sadler writes. 21. ... e4 22. Qe3 Bd8! With the deadly threat of ... Bd8-c7. 23. Bxe4. Feeling on the edge of disaster, White tries a speculative sacrifice. 23. ... fxe4. 23. ... Bc7 24. f4 fxe4 25. Nxe4 Rce8 was the top recommendation of all chess engines. Vachier-Lagrave doesn’t need it. 24. Nxe4 Qf4 25. Qxf4 Rxf4 26. f3 Be7 27. Kf2. At the moment, White has three Pawns for the sacrificed Bishop, but also several weaknesses and – most importantly – only 6 minutes on the clock against opponent’s 43. 27. ... Rcf8 28. Ke3 Be8 29. c5 Bb5! White is busted. 30. b4 Also 30. Rf2 Rxe4+ 31. Kxe4 Bxc5 draws White’s King into a mating net.

30. ... Rxe4+! 31. Kxe4 Re8! 32. Kf4 g5+! 33. Kf5 Kf7! 34. Rfe1. This loses outright, but neither 34. Rad1 Bd7+ 35. Ke4 Bxc5+ could save the day. 34. ... Bd3+! 35. Re4 Bf6! 0 : 1. Black mates next move. Maxime conducted the whole attack in magnificent style. “I chose the right moment to start winning in a last round, and in good fashion! Fairly happy with my play and result!”, then Vachier-Lagrave said.

Kaja Marie Snare (@kajasnare)

Jonathan Rowson (@Jonathan_Rowson)

Fabiano Caruana vs. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
Photo: Alina l’Ami