Lost and Found in Paris

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave – Magnus Carlsen
2nd Grand Chess Tour; Rapidplay; Paris, June 9, 2016
Spanish Game C78

Sincerely speaking, I don’t like neither the form of rapid and blitz chess nor the professional elitarism aimed by the Grand Chess Tour’s circuit. It looks to me like a club for few elects, even though its members are, indeed, the strongest players in the world. In spite of such a fleeting format, however, 16th World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen – not the winner of Paris’ stage, but only because of other Bulls’ sponsorship priorities – was able to play impressively, even if not everyday. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 b5 6. Bb3 Bb7 7. Nc3 Be7 8. d3 0-0 9. a3 Nd4 10. Nxd4. After 10. Ba2 Nxf3+ 11. Qxf3 d6 12. Bg5 Qd7 13. Ne2?? Nxe4! 14. Bxe7 Nc5! White is busted, Caruana – Carlsen, Grand Chess Tour, rapidplay, Paris 2016. 10. ... exd4 11. Nd5? Perhaps the punctuation is exaggerated, but the text is really colourless. For the more probing 11. Ne2 c5 12. Ng3 d5 13. e5 Nd7 14. f4 see Jaracz – Furhoff, 35th Rilton Cup, Stockholm, December 30, 2005. 11. ... Nxd5 12. exd5 c5 13. dxc6 dxc6. Black stands already quite better. Next White’s moves don’t help the cause. 14. Re1 c5 15. a4 Bd6 16. Qh5 Qc7 17. c3

17. ... c4! Doctor Siegbert Tarrasch would have been delighted to see such a preponderance of space, serving his scientific theories. 18. Bc2 g6 19. Qh3 dxc3 20. axb5. This leads to a back-rank disaster, but Vachier-Lagrave does not have to regret anything as White had no good move. 20. ... Rfe8! 21. Re3 cxb2 22. Bxb2 c3 23. Bc1 axb5 24. Rxa8 Rxa8 25. Bb3. The last mistake, but 24. Re1 Bd5 followed by ... b5-b4-b3 loses as well. 25. ... Bf4 26. Re1 Ra1 0 : 1.

Magnus Carlsen
Photo: Spectrum Studios