Passionately Ever After

Fabiano Caruana – 熊奕韬 (Jeffery Xióng)
4th Isle of Man International Chess Tournament; Douglas, September 25, 2017
Semi-Tarrasch Defence D41

In the meantime, strange things keep happening on the Isle of Man, but don’t think too seriously about it. Who wins and who loses, who gives and who takes, who is teased and who the joker, in the end they are all friends of those who pay them. 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. d4 c5 5. cxd5 Nxd5. It takes much courage to play this against Caruana! 6. e4 Nxc3 7. bxc3 cxd4 8. cxd4 Bb4+ 9. Bd2 Bxd2+ 10. Qxd2 0-0 11. Bc4 b6 12. d5!? Caruana adopts an old idea of Viktor Lvovich Kortschnoi. 12. ... Ba6 13. Bxa6 Nxa6 14. d6!? Nc5 15. e5 Qd7!? Forty-five years ago Brazilian superstar Henrique da Costa Mecking – a legendary defender – preferred 15. ... f6 after which followed 16. 0-0 Rf7 17. Rad1 Rc8 18. Qe3 Rd7 19. exf6 gxf6 20. Nd4! Qe8 (20. ... Rxd6? 21. Nxe6!) 21. Rfe1 Qf7 22. h4 with a slight initiative for White, Kortschnoi – Mecking, 47th Hastings International Chess Congress, Hastings 1971/1972. 16. 0-0 Rad8 17. Rad1 Qa4 18. Rfe1 f6 19. Qe2 fxe5!? It seems a very risky affair, but maybe it is not so bad. 20. Nxe5 Rf4? This, instead, is a big mistake which loses the game almost immediately. Best was 20. ... Nd7! although after 21. Nf3! White stands much better.

21. d7! The End. 21. ... h6. 21. ... Re4 is useless because of 22. Qf3 (or also 22. Qh5) and the Black Rook must immediately return to f4. 22. g3! Rf5 23. Rd6! Rxe5. Black has nothing better than giving up the Exchange, just for the satisfaction of playing some more moves. 24. Qxe5 Rxd7 25. Rxd7 Qxd7 26. Qe2 Qd4 27. Rd1 Qf6 28. h4 Kh8 29. h5 Qg5 30. Qf3 Kh7 31. Rd4 Qe5 32. Rd8 (Δ Qf3-f7) 1 : 0.