Sunday Matters

Vladislav Mikhailovich Artemiev – Fabiano Caruana
82nd Tata Steel Chess Tournament; Wijk aan Zee, January 26, 2020
English Opening A13

In spite of having already won first prize yesterday, Caruana gave the best of himself also in his last round game against Artemiev. 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Nd7 3. c4 dxc4 4. Qa4 a6 5. Qxc4 b5 6. Qc2 Bb7 7. Bg2 Ngf6 8. 0-0 e6 9. d3 Be7 10. a4 c5 11. Nc3 Qb6 12. axb5 axb5 13. Rxa8+ Bxa8 14. Bg5 0-0 15. Ra1 h6 16. Bxf6 Bxf6 17. Nd2!?TN (17. Qb3 c4 18. dxc4 bxc4 19. Qxb6 Nxb6 20. Nd2 Rd8 21. Nxc4 Nxc4 22. Rxa8 Rxa8 23. Bxa8 Nxb2 ½ : ½ Matsenko – Nyzhnyk, College Final Four 2017, New York 2017) 17. ... Bxg2 18. Kxg2 Rc8 19. Qb3 Rb8 20. Nce4 Be7 21. Kg1 f5 22. Nc3 Ne5 23. h3 h5 24. Nf3 Nxf3+ 25. exf3 Bf6 26. Re1 Kf7 27. Ne2 g5 28. g4 hxg4 29. hxg4 fxg4 30. fxg4 Qd6 31. Ng3 Qd5 32. Qc2 Bd4 33. Qe2 Rh8 34. Ne4 Qe5 35. Qf3+ Kg7 36. b3? Instead of this move, Artemiev should have forced the exchange of Queens with 36. Qg3, as after 36. ... Qxg3+ 37. Nxg3 Rf8 38. Ne4 Rf4 39. Kg2 Rxg4+ 40. Kh3 Rh4+ 41. Kg3 White regains his Pawn with a very drawish ending. 36. ... Rf8! 37. Qe2 Qd5 38. Rf1 Kg6. Obviously 38. ... Qxb3? 39. Nxc5!= leads nowhere. 39. Qd1 c4! 40. bxc4 bxc4 41. Kg2 Ba7. Caruana prefers to cash in the Pawn rather than invest on his dynamic advantage with 41. ... Rf4! 42. f3 c3∓ (which is what the engines give priority). 42. f3 cxd3 43. Qa1 Be3

44. Rd1? Maybe due to Caruana’s 41th move, White could now discourage Black from making any use of his extra Pawn with 44. Qe1! (and if 44. ... Qd4 then again 45. Qa1). The text dramatically fails to a pyrotechnic refutation. 44. ... Qc4 45. Qc3 Qa2+ 46. Nd2 Qc2!−+ 47. Qe5! A clever trick, but Caruana has calculated everything out. 47. ... Bxd2! Instead Artemiev was hoping for 47. ... Qxd1?? 48. Qxe6+ Kg7 49. Qxe3 Qe2+ 50. Qxe2 dxe2 51. Kf2 followed by the capture of the e-Pawn with a book draw. Now, despite any appearances to the contrary, there’s no perpetual check, but only the triumphant “long march” of Black’s King. 48. Qxe6+ Kg7 49. Qe7+ Rf7 50. Qe5+ Kf8 51. Qb8+ Ke7 52. Qe5+ Kd8 53. Qb8+ Kd7 54. Qb7+ Kd6 55. Qb6+ Ke5 56. Qb5+ Kd4 57. Qb6+ Kc4 58. Qe6+ Kc3 59. Qe5+ Kb3 60. Qd5+ Kb2 61. Qb5+ Bb4+ 62. Kg3 Qxd1 63. Qxb4+ Qb3 64. Qd2+ Kb1 65. Qe1+ Kc2 66. Qf2+ d2 0 : 1.

Things which don’t happen every day: Fabiano Caruana won the “Wimbledon of Chess” by 2 points! Photo: Alina l’Ami/Tata Steel Chess.