Youth Gets a Break

Magnus Carlsen – Alexander Igorevich Grischuk
3rd Sinquefield Cup; Saint Louis, August 30, 2015
Sicilian Defence B92

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. Be3 Be6 9. Qd3 Nbd7 10. Nd5 0-0 11. 0-0 Bxd5 12. exd5 Rc8. More convincing than 12. ... Nc5 13. Nxc5 dxc5 14. Bf3 Qc7 15. c4 as occurred in the game Nakamura – Topalov, FIDE Grand Prix, Thessaloniki 2013. 13. c4 Ne8 14. Qd2 b6 15. Rac1 a5

16. Na1. “16. Na1 by Carlsen. I have to admit that is not the first move that came into my mind. Not that it matters!”, Tarjei J. Svensen said, but as argued by Grandmaster Nigel David Short, “It is a pretty standard idea”. 17. ... g6 17. b4!? “17.b4!? by Magnus Carlsen. That surprised me as it looks so antipositional. I try to learn from these great players”, Short said. 17. ... Ng7 18. bxa5 bxa5 19. Bd3 Nc5 20. Bc2. “I’d prefer Black here. Nice Knight on c5, ... f7-f5 coming with advance on Kingside. Black better?”, Svensen wondered. 20. ... a4. “If Magnus had been Black here, I would declare this game over!”, Grandmaster Jon Ludvig Nilssen Hammer said. 21. Rb1 e4. “Very peculiar decision by Grischuk. He needed his advanced e-Pawn as a battering ram to obtain counterplay”, Short said. 22. Bxc5 Rxc5 23. Bxa4 Rxc4 24. Bc6. “a2-a4-a5-a6-a7-a8=Q and Magnus is home and dry”, Short joked. 24. ... Nf5 25. Qe2 Rc3 26. Qxe4 Ra3 27. Qe2 Bf6 28. Nb3 Qe7! “I am guessing that Carlsen has overlooked that 28. ... Qe7! is a good response to 28. Nb3”, Short said. 30. Nd2 Rxa2 31. Nc4 Rd8 32. g4!? “Carlsen sees that Aronian is winning, then goes 32. g4!?. Brilliant, brave, foolish or just stupid?”, Svensen wondered. 32. ... Bd4 33. Rbd1? As a matter of fact, the text implies the loss of a Pawn. 33. ... Bc5 34. Rd2 Rxd2 35. Nxd2 Nxc6 36. dxc6 Rc8 37. Ne4 Rxc6 38. Rd1 h6 39. h4 Kf8 40. Kg2 Ke7. Time control is reached. “Carlsen is going to suffer for another two hours at least. Grischuk is going to take all his time to figure out this”, Svensen said. 41. Rc1 Rc8 42. Kf3 Ke6 43. Rc2 Rc7 44. h5. “44. h5 is a curious decision, but serves to remind Black, even here, that his h-Pawn is ‘the wrong colour’”, Grandmaster Jonathan Rowson said. 44. ... gxh5 45. gxh5 Bb6 46. Re2. “Magnus thought taking on c7 was lost – bad news for his defensive prospects. 46. ... Bd4 now, leaves no good discovered check”, Rowson said. 46. ... Bd4 47. Kg3 d5 48. Nd2+ Kf5 49. Kg2 Be5 50. Nf3 Bf6 51. Ra2 Rd7 52. Ne1 Rc7 53. Kf3 Bg5 54. Ra5 Ke5 55. Ke2 Ke4 56. Ra4+ d4 57. f3+ Kd5 58. Ra5+ Kc4 59. Nd3!? Re7+ 60. Re5 Re6? Here 60. ... Kc3! 61. Rxe7 Bxe7 is much more promising, although after 62. Nf2 f5 63. Nd3 Bf6 “it doesn’t seem that Black can break through here. White just maintains the status quo, shuttling his Knight to a safe square and then back to d3”, writes Dennis Monokroussos. It will require further investigation and analysis to prove if White survives. 61. f4! Bf6 62. Rxe6 fxe6 63. Nf2? After a long and difficult struggle, and with a draw finally in sight, White goes astray. The right way was 63. Kd2! (Deviatkin) and Black can’t break the blockade. 63. ... Be7! White will be soon forced into Zugzwang. 64. Ng4. Now it’s too late for 64. Kd2 Bd6 65. Nd3 Kd5 winning easily. 64. ... Kc3 65. f5. 65. Kd1 Bf8 was equally hopeless. 65. ... exf5 66. Nxh6 Kc2 0 : 1. “The way I lost it is really shameful... To lose so many games with the White pieces is ridiculous”, then Magnus said.

Magnus Carlsen
Photo: Lennart Ootes (@LennartOotes)