Generational Intelligence

Magnus Carlsen – 熊奕韬 (Jeffery Xióng)
4th Isle of Man International Chess Tournament; Douglas, September 25, 2017
Torre Attack D02

The World Chess Champion against the World Junior Chess Champion. After all, only in an open can happen! 1. Nf3 c5 2. c3 Nf6 3. d4 e6 4. Bg5 d5 5. e3 h6 6. Bh4 Nc6 7. Nbd2 a6!? The alternative was 7. ... Bd6 8. Bd3 0-0 9. 0-0 e5 10. dxc5 Bxc5 11. e4 Be7 12. Qe2 dxe4 13. Nxe4 Nh5 with a comfortable game for Black, Freiman – Breyer, Kölner Schachkongreß, Cologne 1911. 8. Bd3 Be7 9. 0-0 Nd7 10. Bxe7 Nxe7 11. Ne5 cxd4 12. exd4 Nxe5 13. dxe5 Bd7 14. Re1 Rc8 15. Nf3 b5 16. h4 a5 17. a3 Qb6 18. Qd2. In spite of his unpretentious opening, Carlsen obtained a certain advantage in position. Then, his young opponent decides – quite questionably – to sacrifice a Pawn, in a nervous attempt of not being hard-boiled into the shark’s jaws. 18. ... b4 19. cxb4 axb4 20. a4. It’s not clear why White didn’t take the Pawn. 20. ... Ra8 21. b3 0-0 22. Rac1 Rfc8 23. h5. 23. Bb5 Bxb5 24. Qxb4 Rab8 25. axb5 (25. Qxe7 Bd3 looks good for Black) 25. ... Nc6 doesn’t seem to lead anywhere. 23. ... Kf8. This seems unnecessary and wrong. Black should have infiltrated the Rook to c3 at once: 23. ... Rc3! 24. Rxc3 bxc3 25. Qxc3 Rc8 winning back the Pawn with good play. 24. g4. Now 24. Bb5! seems much stronger than before, as after 24. ... Bxb5 25. Qxb4 the Black Knight is pinned. 24. ... Rc3 25. g5. Carlsen has 35 minutes and Xióng only 9. 25. ... hxg5 26. Rxc3 bxc3 27. Qxg5 Nf5! What a coolness! With a few minutes left, Black realizes that the tempting 27. ... Ng8? would be annihilated by 28. Kh1! with the deadly threat of Re1-g1. 28. Bxf5 exf5 29. e6! Carlsen slyly adds fuel on fire, speculating on his opponent’s time panic. 29. ... Bxe6 30. h6! gxh6 31. Qf6

31. ... Kg8? Xióng, much anguished by time pressure, literally falls apart. Instead, Black had a hidden defence: 31. ... Qd8! (Stockfish) 32. Rxe6 Qxf6 33. Rxf6 Rc8 winning back the Knight and liquidating into a drawish-looking endgame. So, maybe Carlsen would have preferred 32. Qxc3, not because it is better than 32. Rxe6, but just to put his opponent more dilemmas. 32. Qxh6 Qb4 33. Kh1! 1 : 0. Other opportunities will come Jeffery’s way.