Mankind and outer space

Magnus Carlsen – Fabiano Caruana
World Chess Championship match game 6; London, November 16, 2018
Russian Defence C42

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nd3!? Nxe4 5. Qe2 Qe7 6. Nf4 Nc6!?TN 7. Nd5 Nd4 8. Nxe7 Nxe2 9. Nd5 Nd4. It is not exaggerated to say that Black has already equalised. 10. Na3 Ne6 11. f3 N4c5 12. d4 Nd7 13. c3 c6 14. Nf4 Nb6 15. Bd3 d5 16. Nc2 Bd6 17. Nxe6 Bxe6 18. Kf2 h5 19. h4 Nc8 20. Ne3 Ne7 21. g3 c5! Psychologically speaking, Black now takes the initiative on the Queenside. 22. Bc2 0-0 23. Rd1 Rfd8 24. Ng2 cxd4 25. cxd4 Rac8 26. Bb3 Nc6 27. Bf4 Na5 28. Rdc1 Bb4 29. Bd1 Nc4 30. b3 Na3 31. Rxc8 Rxc8 32. Rc1 Nb5 33. Rxc8+ Bxc8 34. Ne3 Nc3 35. Bc2 Ba3 36. Bb8 a6 37. f4 Bd7

38. f5!? Feeling entangled in an uneasy rhythm, Carlsen goes for adventures. 38. ... Bc6 39. Bd1 Bb2! 40. Bxh5 Ne4+! 41. Kg2 Bxd4 42. Bf4 Bc5 43. Bf3 Nd2 44. Bxd5!? That’s the corollary of the previous policy: White sacrifices the Knight for three Pawns — which should be more than enough compensation — but alas for him one of them will fall pretty soon. “After that only some endgame magic saved half a point”, Leonard Barden writes in his The Guardian weekly chess column. 44. ... Bxe3 45. Bxc6 Bxf4 46. Bxb7 Bd6 47. Bxa6 Ne4 48. g4 Ba3! 49. Bc4 Kf8 50. g5 Nc3 51. b4! Bxb4 52. Kf3 Na4 53. Bb5 Nc5 54. a4 f6 55. Kg4 Ne4 56. Kh5 Be1 57. Bd3 Nd6 58. a5! Carlsen gives up another Pawn in order to bring his own King at g6 without losing the h-Pawn, which is imprescindible to make his corner a fortress. Quite paradoxically, White’s King had to get rid of both his Queenside passers to get asylum on the Kingside. 58. ... Bxa5 59. gxf6 gxf6 60. Kg6 Bd8 61. Kh7 Nf7 62. Bc4 Ne5 63. Bd5 Ba5 64. h5 Bd2 65. Ba2 Nf3 66. Bd5 Nd4 67. Kg6 Bg5 68. Bc4 Nf3. That’s where Norwegian supercomputer Sesse, running Stockfish, announced mate in about 30 moves or so. However, 13th World Chess Champion Garry Kimovich Kasparov well illustrates the potential sideline effects of such a perspicacity: “The computer shows Black wins with 68. ... Bh4 here. But had Caruana played the incredible 69. Bd5 Ne2 70. Bf3 Ng1!! they would request metal detectors immediately! No human can willingly trap his own Knight like that”. 69. Kh7 Ne5 70. Bb3 Ng4 71. Bc4 Ne3 72. Bd3 Ng4 73. Bc4 Nh6 74. Kg6 Ke7 75. Bb3 Kd6 76. Bc2 Ke5 77. Bd3 Kf4 78. Bc2 Ng4 79. Bb3 Ne3 80. h6 Bxh6 ½ : ½.

Magnus Carlsen (left) barely saved draw on Friday in the sixth game of his World Chess Championship match with Fabiano Caruana (right) in London, United Kingdom. Photo: Ivan Mudrov.