No Work on Sunday

Vladislav Vladimirovich Kovalev – Fabiano Caruana
82nd Tata Steel Chess Tournament; Wijk aan Zee, January 24, 2020
Spanish Opening C78

Today — Saturday — Fabiano Caruana inscribed his name for the first time in the palmarès of the Wijk Aan Zee Chess Tournament, thus making tomorrow’s final round a feast in his honour. On the other hand, already on Friday he gave a telling proof of his state of grace. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 7. c3 d6 8. a4 Rb8 9. d4 Bb6 10. axb5 axb5 11. Na3 0-0 12. Nxb5 Bg4 13. Re1 Bxf3 14. gxf3 Nh5 15. f4. This “giving back” of the Pawn is regarded by theoreticians as rather dubious and counterproductive, so Kovalev would have done better to search for improvements in 15. Kh1 Qf6 16. Rg1 Nf4 (16. ... exd4 17. Bg5 Qe5 18. Bd5 dxc3 19. Bxc6 cxb2 20. Rb1 Bxf2 21. Rg2 Rb6 22. Rxf2 Qxg5 23. Rc2± Lékó – Caruana, 72nd Tata Steel Chess Tournament, Wijk aan Zee 2010) 17. Bxf4 Qxf4 18. Ba4 Ra8 19. Na3 Nd8 20. Nc4 Ne6 21. d5 Ng5 22. Rg4 Qf6 23. Nxb6 cxb6 24. Rg3 Qf4 25. Rg4 Nh3 26. Kg2 Qh6 27. Bd7 Nf4+ 28. Kh1 Nd3 29. Kg2 Rxa1 30. Qxa1 Qd2 31. Qf1 h5 32. Rg3 Ra8 33. Bb5 Nf4+ 34. Kh1 Qxb2 35. Rg1 Qxc3 36. Be2 Ra2 37. Bd1 Qd4 0 : 1 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Caruana, 1st Airports Authority of India (AAI) Chess Tournament, New Delhi 2011. 15. ... Nxf4 16. Bxf4 exf4 17. Kh1. Here is the new idea, instead of 17. Ba4 Ne7⩱ (which, however, was not satisfactory either), Hansen – Jones, 79th Tata Steel Challengers Tournament, Wijk aan Zee 2017. 17. ... Ne7 18. Bc2 Ng6 19. b4 c6 20. Na3 c5 21. bxc5? Not unsurprisingly, the opening of the d-file will much favour Black’s prospects for initiative. 21. Nb5 was certainly better — and still rather hard to crack. 21. ... dxc5 22. Nc4 cxd4 23. Nxb6 Rxb6 24. cxd4 Rd6 25. Ra4

25. ... Ne5! Threatening a mating attack with ... Qd8-h4 followed by ... Rd6-h6. 26. f3 Nc6 27. e5. Sheer desperation, but also 27. d5 Ne5 would soon be a catastrophe. 27. ... Rxd4 28. Rxd4 Nxd4 29. Be4 Qh4! Very Morphy-like. 30. Rg1 Rd8 31. Qf1 g6 32. Rg4 Qe7 33. Rxf4 Qxe5 34. Rh4 Ne6 35. Rh3 Nf4 36. Rg3 Rd2 0 : 1.

Magnus Carlsen stands and stares at the game of his most recent challenger. Photo: Alina l’Ami/Tata Steel Chess.