Early Winter

Fabiano Caruana – Shakhriyar Hamid oglu Mamedyarov

7th Gashimov Memorial; Rapid stage; match game 1; time control: 15 minutes plus 10 seconds per move; Baku, December 21, 2021

English Opening A16

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 g6 3. e4 e5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Nxe5 0-0 6. Nf3 Re8 7. Bd3 (7. d3 d5 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Bd2 Bg4 10. Qb3 Nxc3 11. bxc3 Na6 12. Be2 Nc5 13. Qc2 Bxf3 14. gxf3 Qh4 15. d4 Ne6 16. Qc1 c6 17. a4 Qh3 18. Rb1 b6 19. Be3 Rac8 20. Qd2 f5 21. Qd3 Kh8 22. e5 c5 23. d5 f4 24. dxe6 Rcd8 25. Qe4 fxe3 26. fxe3 Rxe6 27. Rd1 Rde8 28. Bf1 Qh6 29. Qf4 g5 30. Qg4 Bxe5 31. Bb5 Rf8 32. Rd7 Bf4 33. Bd3 Rxe3+ 34. Kf2 Rfe8 35. h4 R3e7 36. Rxe7 Rxe7 ½ : ½ Giri – Dubov, FIDE Grand Prix 2019, Moscow 2019, match game 1) 7. ... Nxe4 8. Bxe4 Bxc3 9. dxc3 Rxe4+ 10. Be3 d6 11. h3 Nc6 12. 0-0 Qf6!? Formally a novelty. 12. ... Bf5 13. Nd2 Re6 14. Qf3 Qh4 gave Black good play in Jumabayev ̵ Paravyan, PNWCC Online Blitz — Jackpot XVI, lichess.org, June 20, 2020 (time control: 3 minutes plus 2 seconds per move). 13. Re1 Bf5 14. Bg5 Rxe1+ 15. Qxe1 Qe6

16. Qd2. Caruana offers a Pawn sacrifice for the sake of a volatile Kingside initiative. 16. ... f6. If 16. ... Qxc4?! at once then 17. Bf6 Qe6 18. Qg5 leaves White with the upper hand. 17. Re1 Qf7 18. Bh6 Qxc4 19. Nd4 Nxd4 20. cxd4 Qf7. Of course Black cannot allow White Rook to invade to e7. 21. Qe3 Bd7 22. Qe7 Re8. Forcing liquidation into an ending with Bishops of opposite colour in which Black’s extra Pawn sounds pretty meaningless. 23. Qxf7+ Kxf7 24. Rxe8 Bxe8 25. h4 Ke6 26. Bg7 g5 27. hxg5 fxg5 28. f3 h5 29. Kf2 a5 30. Ke3 h4 31. Bh6 Kf5 32. Bf8 Kf6 33. a3 Bc6 34. Kf2 Bd5 35. Bh6 Kf5 36. Bg7 b5 37. Bf8 Kf6 38. Kg1

38. ... b4 39. axb4 axb4 40. Kf2 b3 41. Bh6 Kf5 42. Bf8 g4 43. Be7 h3!? It is only a last trick, but on the other hand the dual 43. ... g3+ 44. Kg1 h3 45. gxh3 Bxf3 46. Bd8 c5 47. dxc5 dxc5 48. Bb6 c4 49. Bd4 also leads only to a draw.

44. fxg4+?? Playing on inertia, Caruana commits harakiri, thereby in fact losing material and the game. Obviously 44. gxh3 would ensure a draw. 44. ... Ke6−+ 45. Bxd6 Kxd6 46. gxh3 Be4 47. h4 Kd5 48. Ke3 Bc2 49. h5 Bd1 50. h6 Bc2 0 : 1.

The mini-match with Mamedyarov resulted in a heavy defeat for Caruana, which costed him the final first place in the Rapid stage. Photo: Vugar Gashimov Chess Memorial.