Numbers and Games

Fabiano Caruana – David Antón Guijarro
1st FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament 2019; Santon, October 20, 2019
English Opening A27

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Nf3 g6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Bg7 6. Nxc6 dxc6 7. Qxd8+ Kxd8 8. Bg5+ Ke8 9. 0-0-0 Be6 10. e4 Bh6!? A novelty instead of 10. ... Nf6, after which there can follow, for instance, 11. h3 Nd7 12. Nd5 Be5 13. Be3 f6 14. f4 Bd6 15. Nc3 Bc5 16. Bxc5 Nxc5 17. Be2 a5 18. b3 Ke7 19. Bg4 Bf7 20. h4 Rhd8 ½ : ½ Janssen – Brandenburg, 64th Dutch Chess Championship, Hilversum 2008. 11. Bxh6 Nxh6 12. Be2 Ke7 13. b3 f6 14. h4 Nf7 15. f4 h5 16. Bf3 a5 17. Rhe1 Bg4 18. Bxg4 hxg4 19. g3 Rad8 20. Rxd8 Kxd8 21. Rh1 Ke7 22. Kd2 b6 23. Nd1 a4!? The opening of the a-file can hardly be blamed as a further cause of trouble, but the more circumspect 23. ... Nd6 24. Nf2 f5 appears to be near equal. 24. Nf2 axb3 25. axb3 Ra8 26. h5. Of course 26. Nxg4 Ra2+ doesn’t go much far. 26. ... Ra2+ 27. Ke3 gxh5 28. Rxh5 Rb2 29. Nxg4 Rxb3+ 30. Kf2 Rb2+ 31. Kf1 Rb1+ 32. Ke2 Rb2+ 33. Kf3 Rb3+ 34. Kg2 Rb2+ 35. Kh3 Rb1 36. Rf5 Nd6 37. Rxf6 Nxe4 38. Rg6. After 38. Rxc6 Rg1 Black should draw without much difficulty. 38. ... Rh1+? Here Antón Guijarro misses his last chance to hold his own by 38. ... b5! for if 39. Rxc6 then 39. ... b4 40. Rxc7+ Kd8 41. Rb7 Nd6 42. Rb6 Kc7 43. c5 Nc4 44. Rb5 Kc6 45. Rb8 Kc7 with a draw. Now Caruana gives proof of his calculation skills, working his way to an elegant conclusion: 39. Kg2 Rc1 40. Ne5! (40. Rxc6?? Rc3 41. Rxc7+ Kd6=) 40. ... Rc2+ 41. Kh3 c5 42. Kg4 Nd6 43. f5! Nxc4 44. Re6+ Kd8 45. Nxc4 Rxc4+ 46. Kg5 Rc3 47. g4 c4 48. Kf6 Rg3 49. g5 c3 50. g6 b5 51. g7 b4

52. Kf7! The only winning move! 52. ... Rxg7+ 53. Kxg7 c2 54. Re1 b3 55. f6 b2 56. f7 c1=Q 57. f8=Q+ Kd7 58. Qf5+ 1 : 0. For mate in three follows.

By virtue of his win over Antón Guijarro, Caruana took the sole lead of the Grand Swiss Tournament with one round to go. Photo: John Saunders.