Next Fall

Fabiano Caruana – Magnus Carlsen
6th GRENKE Chess Classic; Karlsruhe, April 23, 2019
Sicilian Defence B33

Finally Carlsen and Caruana meet again after their autumnal World Chess Championship match in London, United Kingdom which was won “only” at the tie-break by the Norwegian star. Of course Germany cannot be considered a much more neutral field than England (Caruana being the diamond pointe of the OSG Baden-Baden), but this time — at least officially — the board’s affair shouldn’t be conditioned and shaped by sponsors and gamblers. As for chess, Carlsen is in wonderful form and won everything and more than he’d been playing for since his World Championship match. On the other hand, Caruana just took some time off to regenerate himself, and, in fact, he let Caïssa sleep while he appeared on the stages of the 63rd U.S. Open Chess Championship and the German Schach Bundesliga. So far no one came forward to claim the role of co-star, but it is guessable that pretty soon the newly European Chess Champion Vladislav Mikhailovich Artemiev will knock at the door of Caïssa’s heart, so this game might even have a precise meaning with regard to the next World Chess Championship cycle. 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Nd5 Nxd5 8. exd5 Ne7 9. c4 Ng6 10. Qa4 Bd7 11. Qb4 Bf5 12. h4 h5 13. Bg5!? Caruana picks up from where he left off before the tie-breaks. Indeed, the last classical game of the London match continued with: 13. Qa4 Bd7 14. Qb4 Bf5 15. Be3 (that’s the difference) 15. ... a6 16. Nc3 Qc7 17. g3 Be7 18. f3 Nf8 19. Ne4 Nd7 20. Bd3 0-0 21. Rh2 Rac8 22. 0-0-0 Bg6 23. Rc2 f5 24. Nf2 Nc5 25. f4 a5 26. Qd2 e4 27. Be2 Be8 28. Kb1 Bf6 29. Re1 a4 (Carlsen was harshly criticised for not trying to win in the “regular times” by 29. ... Ba4 30. Rcc1 b5! 31. cxb5 Qb6, but facts proved that he was right, as he easily crushed Caruana in the tie-breaks) 30. Qb4 g6 31. Rd1 Ra8 ½ : ½ Caruana – Carlsen, London 2018, World Chess Championship match game 12. 13. ... Qb8 14. Qa4!? Caruana varies from his great predecessor, Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin, who (after the interpolation of 13. Qa4 Bd7 14. Qb4 Bf5 15. Bg5 Qb8) continued 16. Be2 a6 17. Nc3 Qc7 18. g3 Be7 19. Be3 e4 20. 0-0 just to fall into Carlsen’s monstrous theoretical promptness after 20. ... 0-0! 21. Bxh5 Ne5 22. Be2 Qd7 23. Qa4 Qc8 24. c5 dxc5 25. Nxe4 c4! 26. Nc3? (26. Qc2!?) 26. ... b5 27. Qd1 b4 28. Na4 Be4 29. Qd4 Qf5 30. f4 Qg6 31. Bf2 Nd3 32. h5 Qf5 33. Bg4? Qxg4 34. Qxe4 Bd6 35. Qg2 Rae8 36. Bd4 Qxh5 37. Qf3 Qg6 38. Kh1 Re4 39. Bf2 Rfe8 0 : 1 Karjakin – Carlsen, 6th Gashimov Memorial, Şəmkir 2019. 14. ... Bd7 15. Qc2 Bxb5 16. cxb5 Be7 17. Bd3 Nf8 18. b6 Nd7 19. bxa7 Qxa7 20. 0-0 Bxg5 21. hxg5 0-0 22. Bf5 Rad8 23. b4 Qd4 24. Qc7 Nb6 25. Rad1 Qf4 26. Bh3 Na4

27. g6 fxg6 28. Qc2 b5 29. Qxg6 Rf6 30. Qxh5 g6 31. Qg4 Qxg4 32. Bxg4 Rf4 33. Be6+ Kg7 34. Rc1 Rxb4 35. Rc7+ Kh6 36. g3 Nc5 37. f4 exf4 38. Rxf4 Rxf4 39. gxf4 Ra8 40. Rc6 Ne4 41. Bh3 Rxa2 42. Bg2 Ng3 43. Rxd6 Ne2+ 44. Kf1 Nxf4 45. Be4 Ra4 46. Bxg6. And that’s the pointe of a deeply analysed reality game, soon producing a book draw which still requires a certain deal of emotional suspence. 46. ... Nxg6 47. Rb6 Rf4+ 48. Ke1 b4 49. d6 Rd4 50. d7 Rxd7 51. Rxb4 Kg5 52. Ke2 Re7+ 53. Kd2 Kf5 54. Rb5+ Ne5 55. Rb4 Rd7+ 56. Ke2 Nd3 57. Ra4 Nf4+ 58. Ke1 Kg4 59. Ra3 Rd8 60. Rc3 Rh8 61. Ra3 Rh2 62. Kd1 Kf5 63. Re3 Nd5 64. Re8 Kf4 65. Kc1 Nc3 66. Re7 Ne4 67. Re8 Ke3 68. Re7 Rh6 69. Rc7 Kd3 70. Rd7+ Rd6 71. Rxd6+ Nxd6 ½ : ½. And just like the Leela Chess Zero-and-Stockfish romance, the story will continue endlessly as a loop counter with no countdown — at least until next fall.

Magnus Carlsen (left) and Fabiano Caruana (right) starring in the remake of their 2018 hit show. Photo © Georgios Souleidis.