His 59 Unbeatable Games

Wesley So – Fabiano Caruana
61th U.S. Chess Championship; Saint Louis, March 31, 2017
Spanish Game C67

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. 0-0 Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. h3 Ke8 10. Nc3 h5 11. Bg5 Be6 12. Rad1. For 12. Rfd1 Be7 13. Rd2 Rd8 see So – 王玥 (Wáng Yuè), 16th Asian Games — All-Gender Team Standard, 广州 (Guǎngzhōu) 2010. 12. ... Be7 13. b3 h4 14. Rfe1 a5!? An interesting new idea. An older try was 14. ... Rd8 15. Rxd8+ Kxd8 16. Ne4 b6 17. Bf4 Kc8 18. Neg5 Bxg5 19. Bxg5 Bd5 20. Nh2 c5 21. Rd1 Bc6 22. c3 a5 23. Ng4 Bd7 24. f3 a4 25. Kf2 ½ : ½ Aronian – Kramnik, 1st Zürich Chess Challenge, Zürich 2012, match game 4. 15. Rd3 Rd8 16. Rxd8+ Kxd8 17. Ne2 Bd5 18. Bxe7+ Kxe7 19. Ned4 Nxd4 20. Nxd4 Be6 21. c4? This gives sense to Caruana’s novelty. After 21. f4 c5 22. Nf3 Bd5 23. Kf2 b6 (Stockfish) the game seems quite even. 21. ... a4! 22. c5 axb3 23. axb3 g6 24. Re4 Bd5 25. Rg4 Rh5! Wesley is in a critical situation, but I’m sure the Lord will forgive him for it. 26. f4 Rh8 27. f5 gxf5 28. Rf4 Kd7 29. Rxf5 Rg8 30. Rf2 Rg5 31. Kh2 Rxe5 32. Rf4 Rg5 33. Rg4 Rxg4 34. hxg4 Ke7 35. g3 Kf6! 36. gxh4 Ke5 37. Nf5

37. ... Bxb3? Caruana, pressed by time, is not able to resist taking the Pawn, but in fact he loses a precious tempo, giving Wesley the chance for a “miracle” escape. Apparently 38. ... Be6! would have seriously threatened So’s unbeaten streak, but, as International Master Marco Baldauf demonstrated in his analytical commentary for ChessBase.com, after 38. Kg3 Bxf5 39. gxf5 Kxf5 40. Kf3 f6 41. b4 b6 42. h5 Kg5 43. Ke4 b5! 44. h6 Kxh6 45. Kf5 Kg7 46. Ke6 Kg6 47. Kd7 f5 48. Kxc7 f4 49. Kxc6 f3 50. Kb7! f2 51. c6 f1=Q 52. c7 White would have saved the day anyway. 38. h5 Kf6 39. Kg3 Kg5 40. h6 Kg6 41. g5! Bc2 42. Nd4 Bb1 43. Kf4 f6 44. gxf6 Kxf6 45. Nb3 b6 46. Nd4 bxc5 47. Nxc6 Kg6 48. Ke5 Kxh6 49. Kd5 c4 ½ : ½. Let’s enjoy it till it lasts as nothing lasts forever.

Wesley So vs. Fabiano Caruana
Photo: Lennart Ootes (Flickr)