Unfinished

Fabiano Caruana – Garry Kimovich Kasparov

2019 Champions Showdown: Chess 9LX; match game 2 (30+10); Saint Louis, September 2, 2019

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Position 366

After a very nervous first game, which 13th World Chess Champion wasn’t able to turn into something more like a happy ending due to his injudicious time management, in the second game Kasparov just looked for a sharper play, as in his youthful days. 1. Nb3 d5 2. e4 d4!? 3. f4 e5!? 4. fxe5 Qxe5? At first sight Black has hardly anything better than 4. ... c5 (in which case there might follow 5. Qg3 with a somewhat better game for White), but the facts will prove Kasparov right. 5. Ng3? Caruana’s calculations are usually very careful, so maybe he had a very good reason not to play 5. Be2! (with the threat of Be2-g4+), which was given by the engines as a winning move. 5. ... f6 6. d3 c5 7. c3 Nc7 8. Kc2!? Rd7. They both want to castle on the a-side, White by hand, Black by “Rook-move-only”. It’s quite obvious that Black’s position is already much more comfortable. 9. Nf5 0-0-0 10. Bf2 Ng6 11. cxd4 cxd4 12. Rbc1? After this “planned semi-castling” White will soon end up with a shattered King’s castle. Better seems to be 12. Nfxd4 Rxd4 13. Nxd4 Rxd4 14. Bxd4 Qxd4 with an unbalanced but not too unclear game (as Black’s light pieces definitely inspire more trust). 12. ... Kb8! Karpovian prophylaxis. 13. Kb1 Bxb3! 14. axb3 Qb5 15. Rc4 Ne6! 16. b4 Ne5 17. Bg3 g6 18. Nh4 Bd6 19. Bxe5 fxe5 20. Nf3 Rc7 21. g3. This gives Black’s Rooks too much plenty of scope on the f-file, but 21. Rdc1 Qa4∓/−+ was likewise quite bad for White, so no regret in the end. 21. ... Rf8 22. Be2 Rcf7 23. Rdc1 a5! Black opportunely makes a hole for his own King, so as to actually threaten ... Rf7xf3. 24. Qd1 Bxb4 25. Qb3 Rxf3! 26. Bxf3 Rxf3. Kasparov has literally destroyed his young opponent (who after all is world No. 2 in classical chess), by virtue of his formidable talent which could express itself freely in the improvised “contemporaneity” of chess960. 27. Rc8+ Ka7 28. Qxe6 Bc3 29. Qa2. 29. R1xc3 dxc3 30. Rxc3 Rxd3−+ is just a little tougher. 29. ... Rxd3 30. Rc4

30. ... Bxb2?? What a blunder! Apparently, both in classical and Fischerandom chess it may take only one move to make a difference between winning (30. ... Re3!−+) and losing (30. ... Bxb2??+−) a game. 31. Rc5+− Qb4 32. Rxa5+ Kb6 33. Ra4 Qb3 34. Qxb2 1 : 0. A beautiful, if unfortunate, game by Kasparov.

Today Kasparov made great play of his sense for the initiative, but age and time told him that it was not yet enough. Photo © Lennart Ootes/Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis.