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Fabiano Caruana – Magnus Carlsen
World Chess Championship match game 5; London, November 15, 2018
Sicilian Defence B31

Carlsen and Caruana are both holding their own so far. That means that the next few games will inevitably witness a split, with one winner and one loser. The outcome is anything but certain. 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5. Caruana insists on the Rossolimo Variation. 3. ... g6 4. 0-0 Bg7 5. Re1 e5 6. b4!? A gambit, but hardly a surprise to Carlsen. 6. ... Nxb4. 6. ... cxb4 7. a3 Nge7 8. axb4 0-0! 9. Bxc6 bxc6 10. Bb2 d6 11. d4 gives White a “symbolic” initiative, Stellwagen – Carlsen, 67th Corus Chess Tournament (B-Group), Wijk aan Zee 2005. 7. Bb2 a6 8. a3 axb5 9. axb4 Rxa1 10. Bxa1 d6 11. bxc5 Ne7 12. Qe2!? This is the actual novelty produced by the “Caruana lab”, and, objectively speaking, it doesn’t appear to be any better than 12. cxd6 Qxd6 13. d4! which does at least give White a volatile initiative, Polschikov – Anoshkin, 18th Czech Open, Pardubice 2007. 12. ... b4! 13. Qc4 Qa5 14. cxd6 Be6! 15. Qc7 Qxc7 16. dxc7 Nc6! After only 16 moves, Black can already claim full equality, with more than enough compensation for the Pawn. 17. c3 Kd7 18. cxb4 Ra8 19. Bc3 Kxc7 20. d3

20. ... Kb6 21. Bd2! Rd8 22. Be3+ Kb5 23. Nc3+ Kxb4 24. Nd5+ Bxd5 25. exd5 Rxd5 26. Rb1+ Kc3 27. Rxb7 Nd8 28. Rc7+ Kxd3 29. Kf1 h5 30. h3 Ke4 31. Ng5+ Kf5 32. Nxf7 Nxf7 33. Rxf7+ Bf6 ½ : ½.

Magnus Carlsen (right) and Fabiano Caruana (left) played to a fifth straight draw in their World Chess Championship match on Wednesday in London, United Kingdom. Photo: Facundo Arrizabalaga/EPA.