Superstition

Magnus Carlsen – Fabiano Caruana
6th Sinquefield Cup; Saint Louis, August 25, 2018
Russian Defence C42

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Be3 Nc6 8. Bc4!? 0-0 9. Qd2 Bf5!? 10. 0-0-0 Qd7 11. Kb1 Rfe8 12. h4!? Carlsen plays the opening with fresh originality as usual. 12. ... Bf8 13. h5 h6 14. Be2! Bg4 15. Nh2! Bxe2 16. Qxe2 Ne5 17. Bc1. White’s planning a Pawn storm on the Kingside, so Caruana has to take immediate countermeasures. 17. ... Qc6 18. f4 Nc4 19. Qd3 Qe4 20. g4! Ne3 21. Rde1 Qxd3 22. cxd3 Nd5 23. Reg1! White succeeded in keeping the initiative even without Queens, and Black therefore must defend very carefully. 23. ... Re6 24. g5 Ne7. All’s well that ends well, as Black’s Knight will eventually head to g8, from where it will cooperate with the Rook in defending the third (sixth) rank, if only with a little help from his opponent. Probably best was 24. ... Kh7 though after 25. Ng4! White should keep the initiative. 25. gxh6 Rxh6 26. f5! Rh7. Of course, 26. ... Rxh5?? loses on the spot to 27. Ng4! (27. ... Rxh1 28. Nf6+ Kh8 29. Rxh1 mate).

27. Ng4. “Instructive explanation from Maurice Ashley: Carlsen played 27. Ng4 Kh8 28. f6, when 28. ... Ng8! looked ugly, but successfully defended against White’s threats. Instead, the opposite order was better: 27. f6! Nd5 28. Ng4 and the Knight does not reach g8”, Geir Sune Tallaksen Østmoe tweeted. 27. ... Kh8 28. f6 Ng8 29. fxg7+ Rxg7 30. Be3 c5. White’s advantage just vanishes very quickly. 31. Bf4 Re8 32. Ne3 Rxg1+ 33. Rxg1 Re6 34. Nd5 Nf6 35. Nc7 Re2 36. Nb5 Re6 37. Rf1 Kg8 38. Nc7 Re2 39. Nb5 Re6 40. Nc7 Re2 41. Nb5 Re6 ½ : ½. Carlsen has lost the chance to win an useless game, and maybe that will bring him good luck for his next World Chess Championship match.

Magnus Carlsen in confessional mode. Screengrab from Grand Chess Tour (@GrandChessTour).