Red prawn

Fabiano Caruana – Evgeny Yurievich Tomashevsky
Grand Prix 2014–2015; 4th stage; Khanty-Mansiysk, May 16, 2015
Queen’s Gambit Declined D15

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 a6 5. a4 e6 6. Bf4 a5 7. e3 Be7 8. g4! “I have not looked at this variation for a long time and such an aggressive idea came as a surprise, of course. In such a situation, it is not easy to find the right decision...”, then Tomashevsky said. A popular line is 8. Bd3 Nh5 9. 0-0 Nxf4 10. exf4 Na6 as played in the game Nakamura – Tomashevsky, 12th World Blitz Championship, Dubai 2014.

8. ... Na6 9. g5 Nd7 10. h4 Nb4 11. Be2 b6 12. h5 Bb7 13. cxd5 exd5 14. Qd2! “I missed this idea. I calculated more direct variations, where I had some sort of counterplay. But after this move, the position is very dangerous strategically”, Tomashevsky said. 14. ... f5. Black’s reply is virtually forced. 15. gxf6 Bxf6 16. h6 g6 17. e4!? It is time to open up the position! 17. ... dxe4 18. Nxe4 0-0 19. 0-0-0!? Caruana keeps on playing very aggressively. 19. ... Nd5? Very probably, 19. ... b5! was Black’s best hope of counterplay. 20. Bg3 Ba6? 21. Bxa6 Rxa6 22. Rhe1 Ra8. “It’s not terrible for Black but very unpleasant to hold in time trouble”, Tomashevsky said. 23. Kb1 Be7 24. Qd3 Rf5 25. Ne5 Qc8 26. Nc3 Nxc3+ 27. Qxc3 Nxe5 28. Qb3+ Rf7 29. dxe5 Qf5+ 30. Ka2. “I think the Pawn is just running”, then Caruana said. 30. ... Bb4?! A little better is 30. ... Qg4 (intending ... Qg4-b4), although after 31. e6 Rf3 32. Qc2 White retains more than significant winning chances. 31. e6! Re7 32. Bh4 Ree8 33. e7+ Qf7 34. Re6 b5 35. Rd8. A more elegant solution was 35. Rd7 bxa4 36. Rxg6+! hxg6 37. h7+ Kg7 38. h8=Q+! Rxh8 39. e8=N+! and mate in four moves. 35. ... bxa4 36. Qe3 Bxe7 37. Rxa8 Rxa8 38. Bxe7 Re8 39. Ka1 a3 40. bxa3 Qf5 41. Qc3! 1 : 0. A masterly game on the part of Caruana.

Fabiano Caruana (right) vs. Evgeny Yurievich Tomashevsky (left). Photo: Kirill Merkurev