Timeless

Magnus Carlsen – Wesley So
3rd Sinquefield Cup; Saint Louis, August 27, 2015
Sicilian Defence B90

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8. f3 Nbd7 9. Qd2 b5 10. 0-0-0 Be7 11. g4 b4 12. Nd5 Bxd5 13. exd5 Nb6 14. Na5 Nbxd5. “Wesley So is playing an old line where I won a memorable game against Svidler with Black, back in 2007”, Grandmaster Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin said. 15. Nc4. The aforementioned game ran as follows: 15. Nc6 Qc7 16. Nxb4 Nxb4 17. Qxb4 0-0 18. g5 Rfc8 19. Qa4 Rab8 20. Bd3 Nd7 21. Qe4 g6 22. Bxa6 Rb4 23. Qd3 Rcb8 24. b3 Nc5 25. Bxc5 Qxc5 26. Qd5 Qa7 27. Bc4 Bxg5+ 28. Kb2 Ra4 29. a3 Ra5 30. Qe4 Be3 31. c3 Rxa3 32. Ra1 Ra8 0 : 1 Svidler – Karjakin, 69th Corus Chess Tournament, Wijk aan Zee 2007. 15. ... Nxe3 16. Nxe3 0-0 17. Bc4. White gets light-square play to compensate for the minus Pawn. 17. ... Nd7 18. h4 a5 19. g5 Rc8 20. Bd5 Nb6 21. Kb1 Qc7 22. Rhf1 Nxd5 23. Nxd5 Qb7 24. f4 f5 25. Qe3 e4 26. h5! The advance h2-h4-h5-h6 turns out to be the key to White’s successful strategy. 26. ... Rc5 27. h6 g6 28. Qb3 Rf7 29. a4 Bd8 30. Rd4 Kf8 31. Rfd1 Rc6 32. Ne3 Bb6

33. Nc4? Magnus afterwards described himself as “extremely lucky” for having missed the win here without consequences. The right way was 33. Rxd6 Rxd6 34. Rxd6 Bc7 35. Re6! Bxf4 36. Nd5 Bxg5 37. Rb6! Qa8 (else 37. ... Qc8 38. Qg3! and wins) 38. Qc4 and White’s attack soon becomes overwhelming. 33. ... Bxd4? Correct was 33. ... Rxc4 — “I missed that one”, then Carlsen admitted — 34. Qxc4 (not 34. Rxc4? Rd7! and Black, thanks to the threat of ... d6-d5, wins back the Exchange with interest) 34. ... Bxd4 35. Qxd4 Qc7 36. Qxd6+ Qxd6 37. Rxd6 Ra7 and Black should survive. 34. Nxa5 Qb6 35. Nxc6 Bc5 36. Qd5 e3 37. a5 Qb5. Bad moves appear in bad positions, but 37. ... Qc7 38. c3! b3 39. a7 is also hopeless for Black. 38. Nd8! Ra7 39. Ne6+ Ke8 40. Nd4. “Come on Magnus. Was ready to do my video praising a model game ending with 40. Nxc5. Need a new storyline now :(”, Jan Gustafsson said. 40. ... Qxa5 41. Qg8+ Kd7 42. Qxh7+ Kc8 43. Qg8+ Kb7 44. c3! “Now I think this is game over”, Jon Ludvig Nilssen Hammer said. 44. ... bxc3 45. Qb3+ Qb6 46. Qxb6+ Kxb6 47. bxc3 Bxd4 48. Rxd4 Kc6 49. Kc2 Ra2+ 50. Kd1 Rf2 51. Ke1 Kd7 52. Ra4 Ke6 53. Ra8 Rh2 54. c4 Kf7 55. Rb8 Ke6 56. Rg8 1 : 0. Black is in zugzwang. Carlsen’s masterly conduct of the endgame bears comparison with Rubinstein’s finest technical efforts.

Carlsen vs. So. Photo: chess24.com (@chess24com).