A French Kiss in London

Magnus Carlsen – Ian Aleksandrovich Nepomniachtchi
9th London Chess Classic; London, December 10, 2017
Nimzo-Indian Defence E54

1. Nf3 c5 2. c3 d5 3. d4 cxd4 4. cxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. Bf4 Nh5 7. Bd2 Nf6 8. e3 e6 9. Bd3 Bd6 10. e4 dxe4 11. Nxe4 Be7 12. 0-0 0-0. After 12. ... Nxd4 13. Nxd4 Qxd4 14. Bc3 Qd8 15. Qf3 White would have powerful compensation for the Pawn, Mellado Triviño – Rowson, 3rd International Open, Palma de Mallorca 2008. 13. Qc2 h6 14. Rad1 Bd7 15. a3 Rc8 16. Nc3!? Carlsen tries something new. The old “score” was 15. Qb1 Qb6 16. b4 Nxe4 17. Bxe4 Bf6 18. Be3 Qc7 19. Qc1 Rfd8 20. d5 exd5 21. Bxd5 Bf5 22. b5 Nd4 23. Qxc7 Rxc7 24. Bxd4 Rxd5 25. Bxf6 Rxd1 26. Rxd1 gxf6 with dull equality, Safarli – Mammadov, International Chess Festival “Baku Open”, Baku 2012. 16. ... a6 17. Qc1 Re8 18. Rfe1 Bf8 19. Bf4 b5 20. Qd2 b4 21. axb4 Nxb4 22. Ne5. Very energetic. 22. Bb1 Nbd5 would have led nowhere. 22. ... Nxd3 23. Qxd3 a5 24. Qf3 Bb4. Actually, it could even be a mistake, but, curiously, it serves the purpose of distracting White from playing g2-g4 (before or after h2-h4).

25. Re3. There’s nothing wrong with this, of course, except for the fact that almost all players from the nineteenth century would have played 25. Bxh6! without thinking twice. I ask the oracle: 25. Bxh6! Bxc3 26. bxc3 gxh6 27. Qg3+ Kh7 (if 27. ... Kf8 then 28. Rd3! followed by Qg3-f4 and/or Rd3-f3) 28. Nxf7 Qe7 29. Qd3+ Kg8 30. Qg6+ Kf8 31. Nd6 Qg7 32. Qd3 Bc6 33. f3 with great play for White (Stockfish’s analysis). 25. ... Bxc3 26. bxc3 Ba4 27. Ra1 Bc2 28. h3 Bf5 29. g4! Oh, no! Yes, it’s an excellent move, but... 29. ... Bh7 30. c4 Nd7 31. Nc6? 31. c5! Nxe5 (otherwise Ne5-c4 would follow) 32. Bxe5 followed by Re3-a3 (or also Re3-b3) would have given White a safe and definite advantage, but, strangely, now Carlsen seems in a mood to complicate. 31. ... Qf6 32. Nxa5 Nb6 33. c5!? Spectacularly complacent, but White had to give back the Pawn anyway; for instance: 33. Rea3 Nxc4 34. Nxc4 Rxc4 35. Ra8 Rcc8 36. Qc6 Qd8 37. Rxc8 Qxc8 38. Bc7 Rd8 39. Ra7 Bg6 with rough equality (Stockfish’s analysis). 33. ... Rxc5! 34. dxc5!? Qxa1+ 35. Kh2 Qxa5 36. Qc6? Another mysterious blind spot. After 36. cxb6 I guess it would not have been too hard for Carlsen to achieve a draw. 36. ... Qa4! 37. Qxa4 Nxa4 38. c6 Nb6 39. c7 f6 40. Rb3 Nc8 0 : 1. Don’t think it’s all nonfiction. Tomorrow Magnus Carlsen will be awarded the Grand Chess Tour trophy. He can always give it away in exchange for a kiss.