Knockdown

Fabiano Caruana – Magnus Carlsen
3rd Norway Chess; Stavanger, June 17, 2015
Spanish C67

“None of the last 7 games between Caruana and Carlsen have been won for White. 4 wins for Black, 3 draws”, Tarjei J. Svensen said. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. 0-0 Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. h3 h6 10. Rd1+ Ke8 11. Nc3 Ne7 12. b3 Bf5 13. Nd4 Bh7 14. Bb2 Rd8 15. Nce2. Possibly sharper is 15. e6 Nc8 16. Nce2 Bd6 17. c4 Ne7 18. Rac1 b6 19. g4 f6 20. f4 as in the game J. Polgár – Howell, 19th European Team Chess Championship, Warsaw 2013. 15. ... Nd5 16. c4. For 16. e6 Bc5 17. a3 Nf6 18. b4 Bb6 19. c4 see Motylev – Sutovsky, 4th Aeroflot Open, Moscow 2005. 16. ... Nb4 17. Nf4 Rg8!? “I think [it] was a mistake”, then said Caruana. Maybe a little bit exaggerated... A reasonable continuation, however, was 17. ... Be7 18. g4 Rg8 19. Nf5 Bg5 20. Rxd8+ Kxd8 21. Ng2 g6 22. Ng3 Kc8 23. f4 Be7 as in the game Hatzl – Hauser, ICCF email 2011. 18. g4! Na6?! Magnus is playing with fire! 18. ... Nc2 19. Nxc2 Rxd1+ 20. Rxd1 Bxc2 21. Rd2 Bh7 “might be playable but it looks unpleasant”, Caruana said. 19. Nf5. “19. Nf5 looks like it gives Caruana some serious initiative, not to mention being 40 minutes up on the clock”, International Master Lawrence Adam Trent said. 19. ... Nc5 20. Rxd8+ Kxd8 21. Rd1+ Kc8

22. Ba3 Ne6. If 22. ... b6 23. Kg2 Ne6 24. Nxe6 fxe6 there follows 25. Be7! exf5 26. Rd8+ Kb7 27. Bxf8 (Caruana’s analysis). But 22. ... Bxf5 23. gxf5 g6 24. fxg6 fxg6 25. Kg2 Ne6 would have been sounder play, as originally pointed out by Dennis Monokroussos. 23. Nxe6 Bxa3. Obvioulsly not 23. ... fxe6?? because of 24. Be7! and White wins. 24. Nexg7 Bf8 25. e6! “Carlsen is a Pawn down and in trouble. Agdestein: ‘I am becoming worried now’”, Svensen said. 25. ... Bxf5 26. Nxf5 fxe6 27. Ng3. “Carlsen’s position looks holdable but unpleasant against high class grinder Caruana – could be lose his first two games of the tournament?”, Grandmaster Danny Gormally asked. 27. ... Be7 28. Kg2 Rf8 29. Rd3! “Magnus Carlsen is in trouble, ladies and gentlemen!”, Grandmaster Jan Gustafsson said. 29. ... Rf7 30. Nh5 Bd6 31. Rf3 Rh7 32. Re3 Re7 33. f4. “Magnus is completely busted...”, Trent said. 33. ... Ba3 34. Kf3 Bb2 35. Re2! Bc3 36. g5! Kd7 37. Kg4 Re8 38. Ng3 Rh8 39. h4 b6 40. h5 c5 41. g6 Re8 42. f5 exf5+ 43. Kf4 Rh8 44. Nxf5 Bf6 45. Rg2 1 : 0.

Magnus, quo vadis?
Photo: Tarjei J. Svensen (@TarjeiJS)