Socrates, too, quoted himself quoting himself

Vassily Mykhaylovych Ivanchuk – Magnus Carlsen
3rd Grand Chess Tour; Blitz YourNextMove; Leuven, July 2, 2017
Alapin’s Opening C20

1. e4 e5 2. Ne2 d5 3. exd5 Nf6! Strange that nobody thought about it before. 4. d4 exd4 5. Qxd4 Qxd5 6. Nbc3 Qxd4 7. Nxd4 Bc5 8. Ndb5 Na6 9. Bf4 0-0 10. f3 Re8+ 11. Be2 Be6 12. 0-0-0 Bxa2 13. Rhe1 Nh5 14. Bd2 Be6 15. Ne4 Be7 16. Nd4 Bd7 17. Bxa6 bxa6 18. Bg5 Bxg5+ 19. Nxg5 Nf6 20. Nb3 h6 21. Ne4 Nxe4 22. Rxd7 Nf6 23. Rdd1. 23. Rxe8+ Rxe8 24. Rxc7 Nd5 25. Rxa7 Re1+ 26. Kd2 Rg1 also leads to substantial equality. 23. ... Kf8 24. Nc5 Rxe1 25. Rxe1 Re8 26. Rxe8+ Kxe8 27. Nxa6 Kd7 28. Nc5+ Kd6 29. Nd3 c5! 30. Kd2 c4 31. Nf4 Kc5 32. h4 a5! The ending is drawable, but Carlsen succeeded in seizing the initiative, as a virtuoso endgame player is expected to do. 33. g4 Nd5 34. Ne2? The Pawn ending after the exchange of Knights would have been drawn, but not so easily as engines think, so I understand the “old guy”’s decision, because I would have done the same (unlucky) thing. 34. ... g6! 35. c3? 35. h5 was called for. 35. ... Kd6 36. f4? 36. Nd4 is engines’ first thought, but I feel that 36. ... h5! must have very much the same effect, so maybe 36. h5 was again best. 36. ... h5! 37. g5

37. ... a4! “Carlsen playing like a genius! 37. ... a4 zugzwang 🔥🔥”, Norwegian International Master Johan Salomon tweeted. 38. Ke1 Ne3 39. Ng3 Ng2+ 0 : 1. 13th World Chess Champion Garry Kimovich Kasparov — who usually succeeds in quoting himself quoting himself within a very short phrase — felt like he was literally on heaven: “Phenomenal performance by Magnus. As I said during the round, it looked like everyone else was playing blitz while he was playing chess!”, he said.

Magnus Carlsen. Photo © Lennart Ootes.

Vassily Mykhaylovych Ivanchuk. Photo © Lennart Ootes,