Forever Nineteen

Magnus Carlsen – Fabiano Caruana
8th Altibox Norway Chess; Stavanger, October 8, 2020
Nimzo-Indian Defence E36

Carlsen, at his best, won an easy game with his archrival Caruana, thus interrupting their streak of nineteen draws in a row. 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 0-0 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 d5 7. Bg5 dxc4 8. Qxc4 b6 9. Rd1 Ba6 10. Qa4 h6 11. Bh4 Qd7 12. Qc2 Qc6 13. Qxc6 Nxc6 14. Bxf6 gxf6 15. e3 Bxf1 16. Kxf1 Na5 17. Nf3 Nc4!? A novelty by Caruana. A recent virtual game continued instead 17. ... Rac8 18. Ke2 c5 19. dxc5 bxc5 20. Rd7 Nc4 21. Rc1 Nxb2 22. Rc2 Na4 23. Rxa7 Ra8 24. Rxa8 Rxa8 25. Nd2 Nb6 26. Rb2 Ra6 27. Ne4 Nd5 28. Ra2 c4 29. Kd2 f5 30. Nc3 Nxc3 31. Kxc3 Ra4 32. Kb2 Kf8 33. Ra1 Ke7 34. Rd1 Ra6 35. Rd2 c3+ 36. Kxc3 Rxa3+ 37. Kb2 ½ : ½ 王皓 (Wáng Hào) – Radjabov, 1st Online Nations Cup, chess.com, May 5, 2020 (time control: 25+10). 18. Rb1 c5 19. Ke2 Rfc8 20. Rhc1 Nd6 21. dxc5 bxc5 22. Rc2 Kf8 23. Nd2 c4 24. Rbc1 Rab8 25. Kf3

25. ... c3!? A Pawn sacrifice which, though perhaps playable, denotes some impatience at a feeling of crampedness on Caruana’s part. 25. ... Rc5 seems good enough to hold (26. b4 Rc6). 26. bxc3 Rc5 27. c4 f5 28. Ke2 Ke7 29. Kd3 Kd7 30. Rc3 Rc6? Black had to stall with 30. ... Ke7, leaving White the not easy task of exploiting his extra Pawn.

31. c5+− Ne8 32. Nf3 Ra6 33. Ne5+ Ke7 34. Ke2 Nf6 35. R1c2 Nd5 36. Rd3 Rc8 37. Rb3 Rc7 38. Rc4 Ra5 39. Nd3 e5 40. Nxe5 Raxc5 41. Rxc5 Rxc5 42. Rb7+ Ke6 43. Nxf7 $18 Ra5 44. Nd8+ Kd6 45. Rb3 Ra6 46. Nf7+ Kc5 47. Ne5 h5 48. Kd2 h4 49. Nd3+ Kc4 50. Kc2 Rd6 51. Nf4 1 : 0.

“Yes, it’s very nice to win”, Carlsen told TV2 afterwards. “Well, maybe today wasn’t his best day, and I would feel even more gratified if I had won with him at his best”. Photo © Lennart Ootes.