Hits and Misses

Magnus Carlsen – Wesley So
80th Tata Steel Chess Tournament; Groningen, January 24, 2018
Queen’s Pawn Game D02

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. Bf4 Bf5 4. e3 e6 5. c4 Bxb1 6. Qxb1 Bb4+ 7. Kd1 Bd6 8. Bg5 h6. Not 8. ... c5?! on account of 9. cxd5 exd5 10. Bb5+ Nc6 11. dxc5 Bxc5? 12. Bxc6+ bxc6 13. Qc2 with great advantage to White, Carlsen – Finegold, Professional Rapid Online (PRO) Chess League, Chess.com 2017. 9. Bxf6 Qxf6 10. cxd5. The alternative is 10. c5 Bf8 11. Qc2 c6 12. b4 a6 13. Bd3 Nd7 14. Ke2 g5 15. h3 Bg7 16. a4 Qe7 17. Rad1 0-0 18. g4 e5 19. Bh7+ Kh8 20. Bf5 exd4 21. h4 Ne5 22. Nxd4 gxh4 23. Bd3 Qg5 24. Rdg1 Nxd3 25. Qxd3 Bxd4 26. Qxd4+ Qg7 27. Qd2 Qf6 28. g5 hxg5 29. f4 Rg8 30. fxg5 Qe5 31. Rxh4+ Kg7 32. g6 Rh8 33. gxf7+ Kxf7 34. Qd4 Qxd4 35. Rxd4 Rag8 36. Rf1+ Ke7 37. Rdf4 Rf8 38. Rxf8 Rxf8 39. Rxf8 Kxf8 40. e4 dxe4 ½ : ½ So – Wojtaszek, 4th Gashimov Memorial, Şəmkir 2017. 10. ... exd5 11. e4 Be7 12. Bb5+ c6 13. e5 Qf4 14. Bd3 c5 15. dxc5 Nc6 16. Qc1 Qb4. Not 16. ... Qg4 17. h3! Qxg2?? because of 18. Ke2! and Her Majesty is in trouble. 17. a3 Qxc5 18. Ke2 Nd4+ 19. Nxd4 Qxd4 20. f4 0-0 21. Qd2 Qb6 22. Rhe1 f6 23. e6! A temporary Pawn sacrifice in order to seize the initiative on the light squares. 23. ... Qxe6+ 24. Kf3 Qd7 25. Rad1 Rad8 26. Qe3 Bd6 27. Bg6 f5 28. Qe6+ Qxe6 29. Rxe6 Bc5 30. Re5 30. Re5 Rf6 31. Bxf5 Bd6

32. Rdxd5! In the end it is White who has an extra Pawn! 32. ... Kf7 33. Re4 g6 34. Bg4 h5 35. Bh3 Re8 36. Red4 Be5 37. Rb4 g5 38. g3 b6. 38. ... g4+ 39. Bxg4 hxg4+ 40. Kxg4 is an even worse version of the same kind of ending. 39. Rd7+ Kf8 40. Rh7 g4+ 41. Bxg4 hxg4+ 42. Kxg4 Bd6 43. Rc4 a5 44. Rc6 Kg8 45. Rb7 Be5 46. Rcxb6 Rxb6 47. Rxb6 Bd4 48. Rb5 Re2 49. b3 Rxh2? Wouldn’t be so sure that White might have won, had So played first 49. ... a4(!) as, for instance, 50. Rb4(!) Bg1 51. Rxa4 Re3(!) would have put White facing some more technical difficulties (to say the least). 50. Rxa5. Grandmaster Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik said at this point that White’s ending “should be technically winning”. 50. ... Re2 51. Rd5 Bb2 52. a4 Bc3 53. Kf5 Re8 54. g4 Rf8+ 55. Ke4 Rb8 56. Rb5 Re8+ 57. Kd3 Be1 58. a5 Bf2 59. b4 Re3+ 60. Kc4 Re4+ 61. Kb3 Kf7 62. Re5 Rd4 63. b5 Rd3+ 64. Kc2 Rg3 65. g5 Bd4 66. Rd5 Be3 67. Rd3 Rg2+ 68. Kb3 Bc1 69. b6 Ke6 70. Rd4 Rb2+ 71. Ka4 Kf5 72. Rb4 Ra2+ 73. Kb5 Bxf4 74. Rxf4+ Kxf4 75. b7 1 : 0. An impressive display of will and technique.

Artwork © Willum Morsch

Magnus Carlsen and Wesley So playing at Academiegebouw of Groningen University. Photo © 2018 Jan Hendrik van der Veen/FocusGroningen.