Before the Dawn

Magnus Carlsen – Nils Axel Grandelius
4th Altibox Norway Chess; Stavanger, April 21, 2016
Sicilian Defence B22

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e5 Nd5 4. Nc3 Nxc3 5. dxc3 Nc6 6. Bf4 Qb6!? “6. ... Qb6!? by Grandelius is one of those annoying little moves to impede White’s plan of effortless development”, Grandmaster Nigel David Short tweeted. 7. Qc1 f6!? With the understandable aim of improving on 7. ... h6 8. Bd3 d5 9. exd6 exd6 10. Qe3+ Be6 11. Bc4 Nd8 12. 0-0-0 Be7 13. Rhe1 0-0 14. Bxh6 d5 15. Bg5 Bxg5 16. Nxg5 dxc4 17. Qe4 g6 18. Qh4 Kg7 19. Qh7+ Kf6 20. Ne4+ Ke7 21. Qg7 Re8 22. Nf6 Qb5 23. a4 Qc6 24. Nd5+ 1 : 0 Bok – Reinderman, Dutch Chess Championship Qualifying Tournament, Amsterdam 2015. 8. Bc4 g5!? 9. Bg3 g4 10. exf6!! It’s a very difficult sacrifice, half positional and half tactical. 10. ... gxf3 11. Qf4 fxg2 12. Rg1 Na5 13. f7+! Kd8 14. Bd5

14. ... Bh6? Grandmaster Pyotr Veniaminovich Svidler called it “A weird bit of miscalculation”. And really it is so! The critical line appears to be 14. ... d6 15. 0-0-0! when White’s enormous advantage in development and mobility more than compensate for the sacrificed Knight. 15. Qe5. You cannot give Magnus such a look as to not send him an invitation to 李超 (Lǐ Chāo)’s wedding! 15. ... Rf8 16. Bh4 Rxf7. Sadly forced. 17. Bxf7 Nc6 18. Qg3 Qxb2 19. Rd1. “I love the way Carlsen keeps his pieces coordinated even in very messy positions”, Short said. 19. ... Qxc2 20. Bd5 Qf5 21. Rxg2 Bf4 22. Qf3 Kc7 23. Rg5 Qf8 24. Bg3 e5 25. Rh5 a5 26. Rxh7 Ra6 27. Rf7 Qe8 28. Kf1 Bxg3 29. hxg3 Qh8 30. Kg2 Nd8 31. Rf8 Qg7 32. Rh1 Rh6 33. Rxh6 Qxh6 34. Qf6 Qxf6 35. Rxf6 d6 36. Kf3 b5 37. g4 Kd7 38. Rh6 1 : 0. Black’s light-square Bishop never saw the light of sun. “Magnus played better than the computers today”, Grandmaster Jon Ludvig Nilssen Hammer said. No doubt Mr. Carlsen very often plays better than computers!

Magnus Carlsen vs. Nils Grandelius
Photo: 4th Altibox Norway Chess (@NorwayChess)