Mekitsa

Veselin Aleksandrov Topalov – Fabiano Caruana
3rd Norway Chess; Stavanger, June 23, 2015
Grünfeld Defence D79

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 c6 4. Bg2 d5 5. cxd5 cxd5 6. Nf3 Bg7 7. Nc3 0-0 8. Ne5 e6 9. 0-0 Nfd7 10. Nf3 Nf6 11. Bf4 Nc6 12. Ne5. For 12. Rc1 h6 13. Ne5 Nxe5 14. Bxe5 Bd7 see Giri – Lê Quang Liêm, Dortmund 2011. 12. ... Nxe4 13. Bxe5 Bd7. “Here it’s quite equal”, then Caruana said. 14. Qd2. If 14. Qb3 might follow 14. ... Bc6 15. Rfc1 Bh6 as in the game Kurnosov – Frolyanov, FIDE World Blitz Chess Championship, Khanty-Mansiysk 2013. 14. ... Qe7 15. Rac1 Bc6 16. Rc2 Rfd8 17. Rfc1 Ne8 18. Bxg7 Kxg7 19. e3. This modest move is apparently a novelty. The institutional framework was 19. Qf4 Nd6 20. b3 Qf6 21. Qxf6+ Kxf6 22. e3 Rac8 23. f3 Ke7 24. Kf2 f6 25. Bf1 Be8 26. Bd3 Bf7 27. Ne2 Rxc2 28. Rxc2 Rc8 29. Rxc8 Nxc8 30. h4 Nd6 ½ : ½ Jussupow – Svidler, 10th Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival, Catalan Bay 2012. 19. ... Nd6 20. Ne2 Bb5. “I felt I was under some slight pressure”, Caruana said. 21. Nf4 Rac8 22. h4 Rxc2 23. Rxc2 Rc8 24. Rxc8 Nxc8 25. Qa5 Qd7 26. b3 b6 27. Qc3 Qc6 28. Qa1 Qc7 29. Bh3. Somewhat committal (White is threatening Bh3xe6). After 29. a4 Ba6 30. b4 Nd6 the game seems equal.

29. ... Qc2! A Queen infiltration which appears to have been overlooked by Topalov. 30. a4 Ba6 31. Qa3 Qd1+ 32. Kh2 Qd2 33. Bg2! h6! On 33. ... Qxf2 34. Qc1 followed, sooner or later, by Qc1-c7. 34. a5! Qxa5 35. Qc1 Qb4 36. e4 Qxd4. If 36. ... dxe4 then 37. d5 e5 38. Qa1 Qd4 39. Ne6+ fxe6 40. Qxa6 Nd6 41. Qxa7+ Kf6 with fairly even chances. 37. exd5 e5 38. Ne6+! The only move to keep the balance. 38. ... fxe6 39. Qc7+ Kf6 40. Qd8+ Kf7 41. Qd7+ Kf8 42. Qd8+ Kf7 43. Qd7+ Kf8 44. Qd8+ ½ : ½.

Fabiano Caruana (Warsaw, 2013)
Photo: Przemysław Jahr