A Day Out

Andrey Evgenyevich Esipenko – Magnus Carlsen
83rd Tata Steel Chess Tournament; Wijk aan Zee, January 24, 2021
Sicilian Defence B84

Esipenko, 18, made the headlines today by winning in style against Carlsen. 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e6 7. Be3 Be7 8. g4 b5 9. g5 Nfd7 10. a3 Bxg5 11. Qd2 Bxe3. The darkest omen of today dates back to 11 years ago: 11. ... Bf6 12. 0-0-0 Bb7 13. Rhg1 Nc5? 14. e5! Bxe5 15. Ndxb5! Nb3+ 16. cxb3 axb5 17. Bxb5+ Bc6 18. Bd4 Qc8 19. Bxe5 dxe5 20. Kb1 Rg8 21. Ne4 1 : 0 Ivanchuk – Negi, 38th Greek Team Chess Championship, Peristeri 2010. And — to add damage to injury — 11. ... Be7 also showed poorly in a subsequent rated game: 12. 0-0-0 Bb7 13. Rhg1 g6 14. Bh6 Nc6 15. Bg7 Rg8 16. Nxc6 Bxc6 17. Qh6 Qc7 18. Qxh7 0-0-0 19. Bd4 Ne5 20. Qh3 Qb7 21. Nd5 Kb8 22. Nxe7 Qxe7 23. Qe3 Qb7 24. f3 Rd7 25. b3 f5 26. exf5 exf5 27. Bxe5 dxe5 28. Rxd7 Qxd7 29. Qxe5+ Kb7 30. Rd1 Qe8 31. Qf6 Rf8 32. Qg7+ Qf7 33. Qxf7+ Rxf7 34. Rd4 Kc7 35. h4 Re7 36. Kd2 Re5 37. Rd3 Re8 38. Rd4 Re7 39. c4 bxc4 40. Rxc4 a5 41. Rd4 Re5 42. b4 axb4 43. axb4 Re7 44. b5 Be8 45. Rd3 Re5 46. f4 Re7 1 : 0 倪华 (Ní Huá) – 徐英伦 (Xú Yīnglún), 9th “弈诚杯” (“Yìchéng Cup”) Chinese Chess League, 无锡 (Wúxī) 2013. 12. Qxe3 Qh4? As the merits of the Queen’s sortie are anything but obvious, it can be definitely argued that it implies loss of time which will seriously affect Black’s position. Comparatively better would have been 12. ... Bb7 13. 0-0-0 Qe7 14. Nb3 Nc6 15. Qg3 Nc5 16. Nxc5 dxc5 17. Qxg7 Rf8 18. Bg4 Nd4 19. Ne2 0-0-0 20. Nxd4 cxd4 21. Rxd4 Rg8 22. Rxd8+ Qxd8 23. Qc3+ Qc7 24. Qxc7+ Kxc7 25. Bf3 f5 26. Re1 Kd7 27. Kd1 Rf8 28. Ke2 fxe4 29. Bh5 Rc8 30. Kd2 Rg8 31. Ke3 Bc6 32. Be2 ½ : ½ Frotscher – Gomila Martí, WS/MN/A/3, by correspondence, 2019. 13. Rg1 g6. If 13. ... 0-0 then 14. Rg4 followed by Queenside castling. 14. 0-0-0 Qe7 15. f4 Bb7 16. Kb1 Nc6? The losing mistake. 16. ... Nc5 17. b4! is relatively best, which perhaps Carlsen didn’t like too much either.

A crushing refutation now falls on Black: 17. Ncxb5!+− axb5 18. Nxc6 Bxc6 19. Qc3! 0-0 20. Qxc6 d5 21. exd5 Rfc8

22. d6! Qd8 23. Qxb5 Rcb8 24. Qc4 Rxa3

25. Qc7! Qe8. This is only a suffering, but neither 25. ... Qf6 26. Qxb8+! Nxb8 27. bxa3+− nor 25. ... Ra4 26. Bb5 Qf6 27. Qxb8+! Nxb8 28. Bxa4+− would change the outcome. 26. Rg5! Ra4 27. Ra5. Not 27. Bb5? on account of 27. ... Rxb5! 28. Rxb5 Qa8→ turning the tables.27. ... Rab4 28. b3 R4b7 29. Qc3 Qd8 30. Bf3 Rb4 31. Qc7 Qf6 32. Ra8. Avoiding a little trap: 32. Qd7?? Rxb3+! followed by mate in two. 32. ... Rxa8 33. Bxa8 Qf5 34. Kb2 (34. Qd7?? Rxb3+! 35. Kc1 Qxf4+ 36. Rd2 Ra3−+) 34. ... Rb5 35. Qxd7 Rc5 36. Rc1 Qxf4 37. Qe8+ Kg7 38. d7 1 : 0.

“Had a very unpleasant experience at the playing hall today, felt like a swab was being shoved into my nostril and all the way inside my brain, causing a lot of pain. Covid test after the game was not that bad though”, Carlsen tweeted afterwards. Photo © Jurriaan Hoefsmit/Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2021.