In the City

Luke James McShane – Fabiano Caruana
1st FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament 2019; Santon, October 14, 2019
Four Knights Game C48

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Bd6 5. d3 0-0 6. 0-0 h6 7. Kh1. A recent game continued: 7. a3 Re8 8. Be3 Bf8 9. Bc4 d6 10. h3 Be6 11. Bxe6 Rxe6 (11. ... fxe6!? is probably sounder) 12. Nd5 Ne7 13. c4 c6 14. Nxf6+ Rxf6 15. d4!⩲ Nepomniachtchi – Tomashevsky, 8th Chess World Cup, Khanty-Mansiysk 2019, tie-break game 5 (time control: 5 minutes plus 3 seconds per move). 7. ... Re8 8. Bxc6 bxc6 9. Ng1 Bf8 10. f4 exf4 11. Bxf4 d5 12. e5 Bg4 13. Qd2 Nh5 14. Rae1 Rb8 15. h3 Nxf4 16. Qxf4 Bh5 17. Nd1 Rb4 18. Qf2 c5 19. b3 Rb6 20. Nf3 Rbe6 21. Ne3 Qd7 22. g4 Bg6 23. Ng2 c4 24. Nf4 cxd3 25. cxd3 Bb4 26. Rd1 R6e7? Caruana sacrifices a Pawn for the sake of nothing. 26. ... Ra6 27. e6!? Rexe6! was a creative defence — much in Petrosian’s style. 27. Qxa7 Bh7 28. Qd4 c5 29. Qxd5 Qa7 30. Qc4 Qxa2 31. g5 hxg5 32. Nxg5 Qa8+ 33. Kg1 Qc6 34. d4 Bf5 35. Nd5 Rd7 36. Ne3. Such an overwhelming position of McShane was hardly imaginable prior to the game. 36. ... Bg6 37. d5 Qc7 38. Ng4 Qd8 39. e6? (39. h4+−) 39. ... fxe6? On the verge of time control both missed their way, and now it is Caruana’s turn to let his chance slip by, as 39. ... Qxg5! 40. exd7 Re4! here would lead to a pyrotechnic draw. 40. Nxe6 Qb8 41. d6! Rxd6 42. Nc7+ Rde6 43. Rd7 Kh8 44. Qf4 Qb6 45. Nxe6 Qxe6 46. Rd6 Qe4 47. Qg5 Kh7 48. Qh4+ Kg8 49. Qg3 Kh7 50. Nf2 Qc2 51. Nd3! Be4 52. Qg5 Qe2 53. Nxb4 cxb4 54. Rd2 Qa6 55. Qh5+ Qh6 56. Qxh6+ Kxh6 57. Re1 Re5

58. Kh2? Probably there are other ways to win, but 58. Rg2!! Bxg2 (otherwise Rg2-g4 would follow) 59. Rxe5 Bxh3 60. Rb5+− must be an exemplary one! 58. ... Rd5! That is a bad surprise to McShane. Not sure if there still exists a way to win. 59. Rxd5 Bxd5 60. Re3 g5 61. Kg3 Kg6 62. Kf2 Kf5 63. Rg3 Be6 64. Ke2 Bd5 65. Kd2 Be6 66. Rf3+ Ke5 67. Re3+ Kf6 68. Kc2 Bf5+ 69. Kc1 Be6 70. Kd2 Bd5 71. Kc2 Be6 72. Kb2 Bf5 73. Rg3 Be6 74. Rd3 Ke5 75. Re3+ Kf6 76. Re4 Bxh3 77. Rxb4 g4 78. Re4 g3 79. Kc3 Kf5 80. Re1 Kf4 81. b4 Kf3 82. b5 Kf2 83. Kd2 g2 84. b6 Bc8 85. Re2+ ½ : ½.

Certain things can only happen when a challenger to the World Chess Championship meets a chess amateur. Photo credit: John Saunders.