Almost Like They Wanted It

Magnus Carlsen – Anish Giri
2nd Qatar Masters Open; Doha, December 27, 2015
Sicilian Defence B92

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 cxd4 5. Nxd4 a6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. Bg5. It is worth remembering the following, exemplary game: 8. 0-0 0-0 9. Bg5 Be6 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. Nd5 Nd7 12. Qd3 Rc8 13. c3 Bg5 14. Rad1 Kh8 15. Bf3 g6 16. Ne3 Rc6 17. Rfe1 Nf6 18. Qe2 b5 19. Ra1 Qb6 20. Nd2 a5 21. Ndf1 Rfc8 22. a3 b4 23. cxb4 axb4 24. a4 Qa7 25. Red1 Ra6 26. Rd3 b3 27. a5 Rcc6 28. Qd1 Qc7 29. Nd5 Bxd5 30. exd5 Rc5 31. Rxb3 Raxa5 32. Rxa5 Rxa5 33. Rc3 Qb6 34. Rb3 Qa7 35. Rb4 Kg7 36. h4 Bh6 37. b3 Ra2 38. Qe1 Qa5 39. Qb1 Ra1 40. Rb5 Qc3 0 : 1 Averbakh – T. V. Petrossiàn, 26th USSR Chess Championship, Tbilisi 1959. 8. ... Be6 9. Bxf6 Bxf6 10. Qd3 Be7 11. Nd5 Nd7 12. Rd1 Bxd5 13. Qxd5 Qc7 14. Nd2. Theoretical novelty. The Knight starts one of the typical Karpovian routes to d5. For 14. Qc4 Qxc4 15. Bxc4 Nf6 see Vachier-Lagrave – Wojtaszek, 47th International Chess Festival, Biel/Bienne 2014. 14. ... 0-0. After 14. ... Qxc2 15. Nc4 White stands better. 15. 0-0 b5 16. c3 g6 17. a3 Rab8 18. Rfe1. Intending Nd2-f1-e3. 18. ... Rfd8 19. Qa2. It prevents ... Nd7-f6 followed by ... d6-d5. 19. ... Nc5 20. Bf1 Bg5 21. Nb3 Qc6 24. Rd5 Nd7. If, instead, 22. ... Nxe4 then 23. Na5 Qc7 24. Rxe4 Qxa5 25. a4 with the prospect of a volatile initiative. 25. Rd3 Nc5 26. Rf3. Magnus is obviously not interested in a draw. 26. ... Rd7 27. Na5 Qa8 28. Qd5. “After this move, very interesting endgame appears on the board. Black will have a massive Pawn centre after ... f7-f5, on the other hand White will have a wonderful c6-square for the Knight and Pawn majority on the Queenside after b2-b4 and c3-c4”, Grandmaster Petar G. Arnaudov said. 28. ... Qxd5 29. exd5 e4 30. Rh3 f5 31. Nc6 Rb6 32. b4 Na4 33. c4 Rc7 34. Rb3 Bd2 35. Rd1 Bg5 36. g3 Bf6. “Now Rd1-d2-c2 looks like a good idea”, suggests Arnaudov. Instead... 37. Rc1

37. ... Rbxc6! 38. dxc6 Rxc6. Black’s extra Pawn and initiative more than compensate for the sacrificed Exchange. 39. Rbb1 Bg5 40. Rc2 d5 41. c5 d4 42. Rd1 Bf6. Not 42. ... d3? on account of 43. Bxd3! exd3 44. Rxd3 with advantage to White. 42. ... Bf6 43. Rcd2. Carlsen decides to give back the Exchange just for saving the day. 43. ... Nc3 44. Rxd4 Nxd1 45. Rxd1 Bb2 46. Rd8+ Kf7 47. Ra8 Bxa3 48. Bxb5 Rc7 49. Rxa6 Bxb4 50. c6 Ke7 51. Rb6 Bd6 52. Rb7 ½ : ½. Well, it’s not so easy to play like Karpov.

Magnus Carlsen
Photo: Francesco Guidicini/The Sunday Times