Mille-feuille

Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin – Fabiano Caruana
Candidates Tournament; Moscow, March 28, 2016
Sicilian Defence B67

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 a6 8. 0-0-0 Bd7 9. f4 h6 10. Bh4 b5 11. Bxf6 gxf6 12. f5 Qb6!? It formally appears to be a novelty. For 12. ... h5 13. Kb1 Qb6 14. Nxc6 Bxc6 15. fxe6 fxe6 16. Bd3 0-0-0 17. Rhf1 Be7 18. Ne2 see Ivanchuk – Piket, 5th Amber Amber Blindfold Chess Tournament, Monte Carlo 1996. 13. fxe6 fxe6 14. Nxc6 Qxc6 15. Bd3 h5 16. Kb1 b4 17. Ne2 Qc5. “Pretty good choice from Fabi[an]o in this situation. Unbalanced, no early liquidation, big latent activity with the two Bishops if White drifts”, Grandmaster Matthew Sadler said. “... but I do like White though!”. 18. Rhf1. Possibly sharper is 18. e5! which, in fact, after 18. ... Qxe5? (this looks very dubious) 19. Rhe1 Bh6 20. Qxb4 Ke7 21. Nd4±/+- transposes into the game Prandstetter – Kožul, Tbilisi 1988. But Sergey Alexandrovich’s female fans put it another way: “I don’t think Karjakin ‘missed’ 18. e5, it’s an unclear Pawn sacrifice that’s not necessary for White, he’s playing ‘safe’”, Woman Grandmaster Nazí Paikidze said. 18. ... Bh6. “Caruana’s choice is particularly good because all the endgames are full of chances due to the unbalanced Pawn structure”, Sadler said. 19. Qe1 a5 20. b3. Karjakin doesn’t dare to play 20. Rxf6 for not giving Black, after 20. ... Bg7, such a wonderful Bishop on the long diagonal. 20. ... Rg8 21. g3. “Actually, I am not sure that Sergey is playing this game for a draw. He might be playing for a win. So... it’s not only about Caruana”, Grandmaster Teimour Radjabov said. 21. ... Ke7 22. Bc4 Be3! Caruana finally decides to light his volcanic fire! 23. Rf3 Rg4. “So tense [...]. Can go wrong quickly for either side. Feels like the flow is with Caruana...”, Sadler said. “Online engines slightly favour White, but I can’t think of a GM who wouldn’t prefer Black here”, Grandmaster Jonathan Rowson agreed. 24. Qf1. After long thought. 24. ... Rf8 25. Nf4. “The big question: when will e4-e5 happen in the position, and how dangerous will it be when it arrives?”, Sadler wondered. 25. ... Bxf4. Black would problably have liked to play 25. ... Bd4, but “With the inclusion of 24. Qf1 Rf8 before 25. Nf4, Karjakin make 25. ... Bd4 less attractive since the Rook is missing on a8”, argues Grandmaster Erwin l’Ami. 26. Rxf4 a4 27. bxa4!? “27. bxa4!? is the sign of a strong player. Superficially it weakens King, but avoids enduring mating threats with a Pawn on a3”, Rowson said. 27. ... Bxa4 28. Qd3 Bc6 29. Bb3. Meanwhile Svidler and Anand drew their game. That’s means that Karjakin needs only a draw to win the lottery, while Caruana must win at any cost. 29. ... Rg5. “Caruana’s problem? It’s a difficult position to win. Karjakin’s problem? It’s a difficult position to draw”, Rowson said. 30. e5! Nobody can blame Karjakin for playing for a draw! White sacrifices a Pawn for adding fuel to the fire. 30. ... Rxe5 31. Rc4 Rd5 32. Qe2 Qb6 33. Rh4 Re5 34. Qd3 Bg2 35. Rd4 d5 36. Qd2

36. ... Re4? Caruana badly crashes into his inability to give back his extra Pawn by 36. ... Be4(!), because in that case a draw would have been the most likely outcome and, alas, he needed only to win! 37. Rxd5!! The only saving move and, very unluckily for Fabiano, also the only winning move for White! 37. ... exd5 38. Qxd5 Qc7 39. Qf5! A pretty final touch! 39. ... Rf7 40. Bxf7 Qe5 41. Rd7+ Kf8 42. Rd8+ 1 : 0. Congratulations to Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin for becoming Magnus Carlsen’s challenger!

Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin vs. Fabiano Caruana
Photo: Amruta Mokal (@amrutamoka)

Fabiano Caruana (@FabianoCaruana)