Lonely But Not Alone

Alexander Igorevich Grischuk – Fabiano Caruana
Candidates Tournament 2020; Yekaterinburg, March 23, 2020
Spanish Game C78

It took a few days to realise that the Russian Odyssey is going to be all uphill for Fabiano Caruana — a man alone on the “One Belt, One Road” with no ticket back. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 7. a4 Rb8 8. c3 d6 9. d4 Bb6 10. a5 Ba7 11. h3 0-0 12. Be3 Re8. Varying from 12. ... exd4 as in his round 1 game: 13. cxd4 Nb4 14. Nc3 Bb7 15. Ng5 Qe7 16. e5 dxe5 17. Nxf7 e4 18. Nd6+ Kh8 19. Nxb7 Rxb7 20. Qe2 c6 21. Rad1 Rd7 22. f3 exf3 23. Rxf3 c5 24. dxc5 Rxd1+ 25. Nxd1 Bxc5 26. Qf2 Bd6 27. Nc3 Nd3 28. Qe2 Nc5 29. Ba2 Re8 30. Qd2 Nce4 31. Nxe4 Nxe4 32. Qd3 Ng5 33. Bxg5 Bc5+ 34. Kh1 Qxg5 35. Rf1 Qe5 36. Qd5 Qe2 37. Qf5 Qe5 38. Qxe5 Rxe5 39. Rd1 g6 40. Bd5 Re7 41. Bc6 Re2 42. Bb7 Rxb2 43. Bxa6 Ra2 44. Bxb5 Rxa5 ½ : ½ Vachier-Lagrave – Caruana, Candidates Tournament 2020, Yekaterinburg, March 17, 2020. 13. Ng5. Just to gain a little time on the clock. 13. ... Rf8 14. Nf3 Re8 15. Re1!? A new try instead of 15. dxe5 Bxe3 16. exf6 (Libiszewski – Guadalpi, 78th French Chess Championship Accession, Aix-les-Bains 2003) and now 16. ... Bf4!?∞ is unclear but playable for Black. 15. ... exd4. 15. ... Nxe4? 16. d5 is quite horrible enough. 16. cxd4 Nxe4 17. d5 Bxe3 18. Rxe3 Na7 19. Qd4 Bf5 20. Nbd2. 20. Qxa7 Nc5! 21. Rxe8+ Qxe8 22. Qxc7 Nxb3∞ seems quite satisfactory for Black. 20. ... Nc5 21. Rxe8+ Qxe8 22. Re1 Qf8 23. Bd1 b4 24. Be2 Qd8 25. Bf1 h6 26. Re3 b3!? Caruana plays dynamically. 27. Qf4 (27. Qc3!? Bc2!? 28. Nd4 Qf6∞) 27. ... Bd7 28. Nd4 Rb4!∞

29. Rg3 Qe7 30. Bc4 (30. Qxh6?? Qe5−+) 30. ... Nb5 31. N4xb3 Nxb3 32. Rxb3 Qe1+ 33. Kh2 Rxb3 34. Nxb3 Qb4 35. Qe4?! Grischuk is short of time as usual and goes to risk the game. 35. Qc1 was correct, with approximate equality. 35. ... c5! 36. Qd3. Not 36. dxc6?? on account of 36. ... Be6 winning material. 36. ... g6 37. g4 Kg7 38. Kg2

38. ... Nc7?! Probably Caruana is somewhat too hasty in allowing the exchange of Queens, as the resulting endgame does not offer any winning chances. Both 38. ... Bc8!? and 38. ... Be8!? would have maintained Black’s volatile upper hand. 39. Qc3+ Qxc3 40. bxc3 f5 41. Nd2 Kf6. 41. ... fxg4 42. hxg4 Bxg4? 43. Ne4 would be something of a turning of tables. 42. Kg3 Bb5 43. Bb3 Be2 44. gxf5 gxf5 45. f4 Nb5 46. c4 Nc3 47. Bc2 Bd1 48. Bd3 Na2 49. Kf2 Nb4 50. Ke3 Bc2 51. Be2 Na2 52. Nf1 Nc1 53. Kd2 Nxe2 54. Kxe2 Ba4 ½ : ½.

It feels like there’s nowhere to go but up! Photo © Lennart Ootes.