Three Men in a Boat

Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin – Fabiano Caruana
Candidates Tournament; Berlin, March 24, 2018
Russian Defence C42

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Nc6 7. Be3 Be7 8. Qd2 Be6 9. 0-0-0 Qd7 10. a3 h6 11. Nd4!? Curiously enough, so far they had been walking in Uzbek Grandmaster Rustam Mashrukovich Kasimdzhanov’s shoes: 11. Kb1 Rg8 12. Bd3 0-0-0 13. Qe2 Bf6 14. Bb5 Kb8 15. Rhe1 g5 16. Nd2 with an edge for White, Kasimdzhanov – 李荻 (Lǐ Dí), 16th Asian Continental Chess Championship, 成都 (Chéngdū) 2017. Incidentally, Kasimdzhanov is Caruana’s second. 11. ... Nxd4 12. Bxd4 Rg8 13. Be2 c5 14. Be3 d5 15. f4 0-0-0 16. Bf3 Bg4

17. Bxd5! A powerful positional Exchange sacrifice, which must have taken Caruana by surprise. I guess that it was not improvisation at all. 17. ... Bxd1 18. Rxd1 Qc7 19. c4 Rge8 20. Qf2 b6. Perhaps 20. ... f5 21. h3 b6 might have been a bit better, though quite similar to the game. 21. g4 Bf6 22. Kb1 Rd7? Caruana’s deployment appears to be particularly cumbersome and jumbled. I think it was time to repay Sergey Alexandrovich with his own coin: 22. ... Qe7! 23. Bc1 (23. Rd3 b5! is also good for Black) 23. ... Qe2 24. Qg1 Bd4 25. Qh1 Rxd5! 26. cxd5 Qxg4 with good equalising chances. 23. Rd3! g5 24. Ka2! Now White can proceed undisturbed in his domino game, with very sad consequences for Fabi. 24. ... Ree7 25. Qf3 Kd8 26. Bd2 Kc8 27. Qf1 Rd6 28. fxg5 Bxg5 29. Bxg5 hxg5 30. Qf5+ Rdd7 31. Qxg5 Qe5 32. Qh6 Kd8. 32. ... f6 33. h4 Rd6 was probably Black’s last hope for a more tenacious resistance, but after 34. Bf3 one would find it difficult to foresee a different outcome. 33. g5 Qd6 34. Qh8+ Re8 35. Qh4 Qg6 36. Qg4 Re5 37. h4. Of course, Karjakin is not one to stumble over a banana peel: 37. Qxd7+?? Kxd7 38. Bxf7+ Qxd3! turning the tables. 37. ... Ke7 38. Rd2! b5 39. Bxf7! Qf5 40. Rxd7+ Kxd7 41. Qxf5+ Rxf5 42. g6 Ke7 43. cxb5 Rh5 44. c4 Rxh4 45. a4 Rg4 46. a5 Kd6 47. a6 Kc7 48. Kb3 1 : 0.