Jammin’

Vladimir Vasilyevich Fedoseev – Magnus Carlsen
9th Chess World Cup; match game 1; Krasnaya Polyana, August 4, 2021
King’s Indian Defence E60

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. h4!? An anti-Grünfeld move disguised as a bayonet attack. 3. ... Bg7 4. Nc3 d6 5. e4 Nc6 6. d5 Ne5 7. Be2 h5 8. Bf4TN 0-0 9. Nf3 Nxf3+ 10. gxf3 c6 11. Qd2 cxd5 12. cxd5 Kh7 13. a4 Nd7 14. a5

14. ... f5! 15. Ra3 Ne5 16. Be3 f4! Carlsen offers a Pawn to open the f-file leaving his opponent entangled in it. 17. Bxf4 Bd7 18. Nd1

18. ... Rxf4! A purely positional Exchange sacrifice which gives Black great play on dark squares. 19. Qxf4 Bh6 20. Qg3 Qf8 21. Ne3 Bf4 22. Qg2 Rc8 23. Rc3 Rxc3 24. bxc3 Qc8 25. c4 b5! Playing on the whole board. 26. axb6 axb6

27. Qg1? Losing a crucial tempo as the Black Queen penetrates the Queenside in two moves. If Fedoseev was reluctant to give back both the Exchange and a Pawn with 27. 0-0 Bh3, at least he should have hurried to escape the bind with 27. Kf1! b5 (now 27. ... Qa8 is simply answered by 28. Kg1 Qa2 29. Qf1) 28. Kg1 bxc4 29. Kg2 Qc5 — Black has excellent compensation for the Exchange but yet no easy way to win. 27. ... Qa8! 27. ... Qa6! was a “dual”. 28. Kf1 Qa2! 29. Ng2 Qa1+. 29. ... Qb1+ 30. Ne1 b5 might have been even stronger. 30. Ne1 Qb2 31. Ng2? ⌓ 31. Nd3 was more tenacious, but then 31. ... Nxd3 32. Bxd3 Qc3! 33. Be2 Qd2 also maintains the upper hand. 31. ... Qc1+ 32. Ne1 Qd2! Now White is completely paralysed.

33. Qg2 Kg7 34. Rg1 Kf8 35. Qh1 e6! 36. Rg3. Desperation. 36. ... exd5 37. exd5 Bf5 38. Rg1 Kf7 39. Rg3 Nd7 40. Rg5 Bxg5 41. hxg5 Ne5 0 : 1.

“It’s very rare that you get to play games where your opponent just cannot move any pieces, so in that sense it was very pleasing”, Carlsen finally said. Photo: Eteri Kublashvili.