Alone Together

Wesley So – Fabiano Caruana
Candidates Tournament; Berlin, March 19, 2018
Russian Defence C42

Quite understandably, Wesley So and Fabiano Caruana decided today not to make war each other. On the other hand, they succeeded in playing quite a pretty game too. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Qe2 Qe7 6. d3 Nf6 7. Nc3 Qxe2+. The historic reference is 7. ... Be6 8. Bg5 h6? (8. ... Nbd7 9. 0-0-0 h6) 9. Bxf6 Qxf6 10. d4 c6 11. 0-0-0? (11. d5! cxd5 12. 0-0-0) 11. ... d5 12. Ne5 Bb4? (12. ... Nd7 13. Nxd7 Kxd7) 13. Nxd5! Bxd5 14. Ng6+ with White on top, P. C. Morphy – Löwenthal, New Orleans 1850. 8. Bxe2 g6 9. Bg5. If 9. Nd4 there might follow 9. ... a6 10. Bf4 Bg7 11. h3 Bd7 12. Bf3 Nc6 13. Nxc6 Bxc6 14. Bxc6+ bxc6 15. 0-0-0 Kd7 16. Rhe1 Rhe8 17. Ne4 Nd5 18. Bd2 f5 19. Ng5 h6 20. Nf3 g5 21. c3 c5 22. Kc2 Bf6 23. Rxe8 Rxe8 24. Re1 Rf8 25. Rh1 Re8 26. g3 g4 27. Ng1 Bg5 28. Kd1 a5 29. Ne2 a4 30. Bxg5 hxg5 31. hxg4 fxg4 32. Rh5 Re5 33. Rh7+ Ke6 34. a3 Rf5 35. c4 Nf6 36. Rh2 Rf3 37. Kc2 Nd7 38. d4 Nb6 39. dxc5 dxc5 40. Nc3 Ke5 41. Nd1 ½ : ½ Carlsen – Caruana, 80th Tata Steel Chess Tournament, Wijk aan Zee 2018. 9. ... Bg7 10. 0-0-0 0-0. The mother-daughter theory: 10. ... h6 11. Bd2 Bd7 12. Rde1 0-0 13. Bd1 a6 14. Ne4 Nxe4 15. Rxe4 Nc6 16. h3 Rae8 17. Rhe1 Rxe4 18. Rxe4 Re8 19. c3 Rxe4 20. dxe4 Ne5 21. Nxe5 dxe5 22. Bb3 Bf8 23. Be3 Kg7 24. Kd2 f5 25. exf5 gxf5 26. f4 Bd6 27. g3 Bc6 28. fxe5 Bxe5 29. Bd4 Kf6 30. Ke3 Bg2 31. h4 Bc6 32. Bd1 Ke6 33. Bxe5 Kxe5 34. Bf3 ½ : ½ C. A. Foișor – M.-V. Foișor, 1st Krystyny Hołuj-Radzikowskiej Memorial, Warsaw 2011. 11. Rhe1 h6 12. Bh4 Nc6 13. d4 a6 14. a3 Bd7 15. d5!? This is a bit committal, but 15. Bxf6 Bxf6 16. Nd5 Bd8 does not yield White any significant advantage either. 15. ... Na7! 16. Nd4 Nc8 17. Nb3 g5! 18. Bg3 Re8 19. Na5 b5! 20. f3 Nh5! 21. Bf2 Nf4 22. Bf1 Nb6. As Black has quite a comfortable game, So cannot but be consistent pressing on with his siege of the d6-Pawn, which, however, he will take over at a dear price. 23. Rxe8+ Rxe8 24. Bxb6 cxb6 25. Nb7 Be5 26. Ne4 Rb8

27. Nexd6 Ng6. The White Knight on d6 is virtually trapped, but, luckily for him, So can save it by giving up something less valuable. 28. g3 Ne7 29. a4 Nf5 30. Nxf5 Bxf5 31. Re1! f6 32. Rxe5! fxe5 33. Nd6 Bd7 34. axb5 axb5 35. Bxb5 Bxb5 36. Nxb5 Rf8 37. Kd2 Rxf3 38. Ke2. White has only a Pawn for the Exchange, but the passed d-Pawn and the powerful Knight more than compensate for his material deficit. Objectively speaking, White does not run any risk of losing such an endgame. 38. ... g4 39. Nd6 h5 40. Nc4 b5 41. Nxe5 Rf5 42. Ng6 Kf7 43. Nf4 h4. Threatening ... h4-h3 followed by ... Rf5xf4 and ... g4-g3. 44. Ng2! hxg3 45. hxg3 Rf3 46. Ne3 Rxg3 47. c4! bxc4 48. d6! Ke6 49. Nxc4 Rf3 50. d7! Rf8 51. Ne3 g3 52. d8=Q! Rxd8 53. Kf3. Now it’s a book draw. 53. ... Rd3 54. Kf4 Rb3 55. Ng2 Kd5 56. Nh4 Kc4 57. Kg4 Rd3 58. b4 Rb3 59. b5 Kd5 60. b6 Ke4 61. b7 Rxb7 62. Kxg3 Rg7+ 63. Kf2 Rg4 64. Ng2 Rxg2+ 65. Kxg2 ½ : ½.