One Hundred Years of Solitude

Magnus Carlsen – Maxim Sergeevich Matlakov
1st FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament 2019; Santon, October 20, 2019
Semi-Slav Defence D44

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 dxc4 7. e4 g5 8. Bg3 b5 9. h4 g4 10. Ne5 Nbd7 11. Be2 Bb7 12. Nxd7 Qxd7 13. Be5 Qe7 14. b3 Rg8. A famous game continued: 14. ... cxb3 15. axb3 a6 16. Qc1! Rg8 17. 0-0 Nh5 18. d5! Qxh4? 19. g3 Qg5 20. dxc6! Qxe5 (20. ... Qxc1? 21. cxb7!+−) 21. cxb7 Rb8 22. Nd5!! exd5 23. Qc8+ Ke7 24. Rxa6 Nxg3 25. Bxb5 Ne2+ 26. Bxe2 f6 27. Re6+ Qxe6 28. Qxb8 1 : 0 Nakamura – 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén), 4th Sinquefield Cup 2016, Saint Louis 2016. 15. Qc2. After 15. bxc4 b4 16. Na4 Nxe4 Black — who is a Pawn up — is a little too much comfortable, Krush – Stefanova, 2nd Trophée Universitaire, La Roche-sur-Yon 2007. 15. ... b4 16. Na4 c3 17 a3. Postcards from nowhere: 17. 0-0 Nd7 18. Bg3 h5 19. a3 a5 20. e5 Rg7 21. Rfd1 Qd8 22. Nc5 Qb6 23. axb4 axb4 24. Rxa8+ Bxa8 25. Ra1 Bb7 26. Nxb7 Qxb7 27. Bd3 Rg8 28. Bf4 Be7 29. g3 Rh8 30. Ra6 Nb8 31. Ra4 Kf8 32. Qc1 Nd7 33. Qa1 c5 34. Ra7 Qc6 35. Bf1 cxd4 36. Bg2 Qb5 37. Rb7 Qxb7 38. Bxb7 d3 39. Be4 Nc5 40. Qf1 Nxe4 41. Qxd3 Nc5 42. Qc4 Kg7 43. Qxb4 c2 44. Qc3 Rd8 45. Qxc2 Rd5 46. Be3 Nd3 47. Qc3 Nxe5 48. Bd4 Bd6 49. Kg2 Kh7 50. Qc2+ Kh6 51. Qd2+ Kh7 52. Qf4 Kg8 53. Ba1 Nf3 54. Qh6 Be5 55. Qxh5 Nxh4+ 56. Qxh4 Bxa1 57. Qxg4+ Bg7 58. Qb4 Bf6 59. Qb8+ Rd8 60. Qf4 Kg7 61. b4 Rd5 62. Qc4 Rd4 63. Qc5 Rd5 64. Qc6 Rd2 65. b5 Bd4 66. Kh3 Rxf2 67. b6 1 : 0 Binas – Zajšek, 11th European Team Chess Championship, Semifinal 3, by correspondence, 2017. 17. ... Nd7 18. Bg3 Bg7. Maybe a new move, but certainly not a “rewriting” of the old book: 18. ... a5 19. 0-0 h5 20. e5 Rg7 21. Rfd1 Qd8 22. Nc5 Qb6 23. axb4 axb4 24. Rxa8+ Bxa8 25. Ra1 Bb7 26. Nxb7 Qxb7 27. Ba6 Qb6 28. Qe4 Be7 29. Bd3 Qb7 30. Qe3 Kf8 31. Bf4 Ke8 32. Bh6 Rg8 33. Qe4 Rg6 34. Be3 Nb6 35. d5 Nxd5 36. Ra7 Qc8 37. g3 Rg8 38. Qh7 Rf8 39. Bh6 Qb8 40. Ra2 Kd7 41. Bxf8 Qxf8 42. Qxh5 Qg7 43. Re2 Bc5 44. Kf1 Bb6 45. Qh7 Qxh7 46. Bxh7 c5 47. Bd3 Ne7 48. h5 Ng8 49. Re4 Nh6 50. Be2 Ke7 51. Ke1 1 : 0 Galavics – Sazon, Preliminaries of the 42nd World Correspondence Chess Championship, by correspondence, 2018. 19. Rd1 a5 20. 0-0 Bf6 21. Nc5!? (21. Bc7 Bxh4 22. e5 Qg5!?∞) 21. ... Nxc5 22. dxc5 e5 23. Rd6 Bxh4 24. Bc4 Bg5 25. Qd3!? The position is very complex and even more difficult to assess. Interesting variations could arise after 25. Rfd1!? Ba6!?∞ with an unbalanced, dynamic struggle. 25. ... Rg6 26. f4 exf4? So easy, so wrong. 26. ... gxf3! was called for.

27. Bxf4!? The engines give here 27. e5!!+− winning in all variations, but Carlsen does not dare so much as that. 27. ... Bxf4 28. Rxf4 c2 29. Qxc2 Rxd6 30. cxd6 Qxd6 31. e5 Qc5+ 32. Kh1 Qe3? 32. ... Qe7 33. Qd1! was now Black’s best worst defence, whilst the text should lose almost instantly. 33. Qf5 Kd8 34. Qxf7 Kc8 35. axb4. Even simpler was 35. Qe8+ Kc7 36. Qe7+ Kb6 37. Rf7+− when Black could resign. 35. ... Qxe5 36. Qf8+. 36. b5! (Δ b5-b6) 36. ... cxb5 37. Rxg4 was still a way to deliver a final attack on the Black King. 36. ... Kc7 37. Rf7+ Kb6 38. bxa5+ Qxa5 39. Qe7 Qh5+ 40. Kg1 Ra1+ 41. Bf1 Qxf7! This ingenious resource is the only chance for Black to make Carlsen’s win as difficult as possible. Unfortunately for Matlakov, though, there’s no fortress! 42. Qxf7 Ba6 43. Qf2+ Kb7 44. Qd4 Rxf1+ 45. Kh2 h5 46. Qc5 Rb1 47. Qxh5 Kb6 48. Qxg4 Rxb3 49. Qg8 Rd3 50. g4 Rd5 51. g5 Bd3 52. g6 Bxg6 53. Qxg6 Kc7 54. Qf7+ Kb8 55. Kg3 Rg5+ 56. Kf4 Rd5 57. Qf8+ Kb7 58. Qb4+ Kc7 59. Ke4 Kc8 60. Qb6 Kd7 61. Qb7+ Kd6 62. Qc8 Kc5 63. Qb8 Rh5 64. Kf4 Rd5 65. Kg4 Kc4 66. Qb6 Rd4+ 67. Kf5 c5 67. Kf5 c5 68. Qa5 Rd5+ 69. Ke6 Rd4 70. Qa4+ Kc3 71. Qa3+ Kc4 72. Qa5 Rd3 73. Qa4+ Kc3 74. Qa3+ Kc4 75. Qc1+ Kb4 76. Qb2+ Kc4 77. Qc2+ Kd4 78. Kd6 c4 79. Qf2+ Re3 80. Qd2+ Ke4 1 : 0.

Thanks to today’s win over Matlakov, Carlsen tied 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén)’s record unbeaten streak of 100 classical games. Photo: John Saunders.