五分鐘短劇 (Five-Minute Plays)

Magnus Carlsen – 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén)
7th Sinquefield Cup; tie-break game 4 (5+3); Saint Louis, August 29, 2019
Spanish Game C84

After two draws in the first two rapid tie-break games, 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) has neatly won both the two blitz games — at a time cadence in which Carlsen is generally considered unbeatable — thus becoming the first Chinese player to ever win the élite super-rich Sinquefield Cup, and also mooting his challenge to the Norwegian king for a World Chess Championship match. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 Na5 9. Bc2 c5 10. d4 cxd4 11. cxd4 0-0 12. h3 Re8 13. d5 Bd7 14. Nc3 Qb8 15. Bd3 Rc8 16. Ne2 Nb7 17. g4!? Nc5 18. Ng3 Nxd3 19. Qxd3 b4 20. Re1 Qb5 21. Qd1 Rc7 22. Be3 Rac8 23. Nd2 g6 24. b3 Qb7 25. Nc4 Bb5 26. Na5 Qb8 27. Qd2 Rc3 28. a3 bxa3 29. Nc6 Bxc6 30. Qxc3 Bxd5 31. Qa5 Bxe4

After losing the 3rd blitz game, Carlsen, in a “must-win” situation, flings himself against the wall: 32. g5? This could lead to a draw by force, which for Carlsen is equivalent to a defeat. Hence White had to prefer something like 32. Nxe4 Nxe4 33. Qxa3 just to “keep on playing”. 32. ... Ba8! 33. Qxa6? In his understandable desperation Carlsen cannot afford to content himself with 33. gxf6 that after 33. ... Qb7 34. Kf1 Qg2+ 35. Ke2 Qf3+ allows Black perpetual check. 33. ... Nd5 34. Ba7 Qc7 35. Rec1 Qxc1+ 36. Rxc1 Rxc1+ 37. Kh2 Bc6 38. Qxa3 Bxg5 39. Qxd6? Bf4 40. Bc5 Ne7! 0 : 1. “Yesterday I was playing a tournament. Today I played a match” 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) eventually said.

“I gotta say, he was a lot better than I was today”, Carlsen finally said. Photo © Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour.