Thunderman

Fabiano Caruana – Magnus Carlsen
4th Isle of Man International Chess Tournament; Douglas, September 30, 2017
Spanish Game C78

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 7. c3 d6 8. a4 Rb8 9. d4 Bb6 10. a5 Ba7 11. h3 0-0 12. Be3 Ra8 13. Re1 h6 14. Nbd2 Re8. Just yesterday, Caruana had ridiculed Jones after 14. ... exd4 15. cxd4 Nb4 16. e5! Nfd5 17. Ne4 with an overwhelming initiative, Caruana – Jones, 4th Isle of Man International Chess Tournament, Douglas 2017. Magnus’s reply, however, shows he is not afraid of anything. 15. g4!? Strangely, this seems to be a novelty. Carlsen’s clan appeared quite shaken, but not too clear why. It is not the same story, but Caruana’s 15. g4!? only reminds me of how easily Tigran Vartanovich Petrossiàn neutralised Garry Kimovich Kasparov’s 15. g4 at Banja Luka’s International Grandmaster Tournament in 1979.

15. ... Qe7 16. Nf1 Nd8! 17. Ng3 c5 18. Qd2 c4 19. Bc2 Nh7 20. b4 cxb3 21. Bxb3 Be6 22. Bc2? Caruana apparently didn’t achieve what he hoped for, and, almost panicked, calls his troops back to the Queenside. He would probably have done better to consistently play for the initiative on the other flank by 22. Nf5, and even if the attack is not what he aimed at, it would yet have been a hard fight. 22. ... Rc8 23. Bd3 Nb7 24. Rec1 Qd8 25. Qb2 Nxa5. “It’s fair to say Caruana didn’t get the most out of his opening: the attack is gone, his Kingside weakened and Magnus just took a Pawn on a5”, Grandmaster Jon Ludvig Nilssen Hammer tweeted. 26. Nd2 d5! Carlsen’s demolition of his opponent’s camp is impressive. 27. Re1 Bb8 28. exd5 Bxd5 29. Bf5 Rc6 30. Qa3 Nb7 31. Rad1 exd4 32. Bxd4 Ng5 33. c4 Rxe1+ 34. Rxe1 Be6 35. Qe3? Bf4! 0 : 1. “If you ever want to write an article about what ‘coordination’ means in chess, Magnus just gave the masterclass”, Grandmaster Jonathan Rowson said.