War and Peace

Ian Alexandrovich Nepomniachtchi – Magnus Carlsen
World Chess Championship match game 9; Dubai, December 7, 2021
English Opening A13

1. c4 e6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 d4 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. 0-0 Bc5 6. d3 Nf6 7. Nbd2 a5 8. Nb3 Be7 9. e3 dxe3!?TN (9. ... e5 10. exd4 exd4 11. Re1⩲ Gabuzyan – Bellahcene, 9th Chess World Cup, Krasnaya Polyana 2021, match game 1) 10. Bxe3 Ng4. “Black’s moves 7. ... a5, 10. ... Ng4 are not natural moves. I get the feeling that Magnus knows the position and he could be recalling”, says Caruana. 11. Bc5 0-0 12. d4 a4 13. Bxe7 Qxe7 14. Nc5 a3. Grandmaster Matthew Sadler seeks and finds his way home through the silicon labyrinth: “Nepo and Magnus following... an engine game between Stockfish and Koivisto 7.9 I was running from move 6 😂 12. d4 a4 13. Bxe7 Qxe7 14. Nc5 e5 15. Re1 Rd8 16. b4 was the course of the game. OK for Black in principle, but lots of challenging decisions to make”.

15. bxa3. Four-time Women’s World Chess Champion 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), of course, did not fail to spot the critical importance of the moment: “To be honest, I also did not consider 15. bxa3. The decision is interesting. Due to the match situation, White probably wants to maintain tension”. According to engines, 15. b4! is the only way to play for an advantage; for instance: 15. ... Nxb4 16. Rb1 b6 17. Rxb4 bxc5 18. Rb5⩲ winning back the Pawn with the better game. 15. ... Rd8 (15. ... Rxa3!? 16. Nb3 Nf6) 16. Nb3 Nf6 17. Re1 Qxa3 18. Qe2 h6 19. h4

Caruana assesses the situation as follows: “It is still a challenging position for both of them, but less so for Black. He has more freedom in his decision and has one problem left — Bishop on c8. Black has to find a way to develop that piece”. 19. ... Bd7 20. Ne5 Be8 21. Qe3 Qb4 22. Reb1 Nxe5 23. dxe5 Ng4. 23. ... Nd7 24. Nd4 Qxc4?? 25. Bxb7 Ra4 26. Nc6+− (Caruana) is a sample variation which shows the potential of White’s 22nd move. 24. Qe1 Qxe1+. This is forced because if 24. ... Qxc4? then 25. f3 (Caruana). 25. Rxe1 h5 26. Bxb7 Ra4. White has finally won a Pawn, but as Carlsen noted afterwards, “the position is probably still fine for me. I’m going to make a draw quite easily”.

27. c5?? Perhaps Nepomniachtchi could not even imagine what making a blunder again might mean! To think that Carlsen would have allowed White to push with impunity up to c6 shows not only a lack of objectivity but also the sign of a nervous refusal to confront reality and gravity. Caruana offers his interpretation of it from the standpoint of a former Challenger: “I think that Ian pretty much never being at the board and making very fast decisions is a sign that he’s not fully concentrated”. Correct was 27. f3 Nh6 28. Be4 Nf5 with a dynamic balance. 27. ... c6! Trapping the Bishop. Carlsen will have to wait almost 20 minutes for his opponent to get back to the board. 28. f3 Nh6 29. Re4 Ra7 30. Rb4 Rb8 31. a4 Raxb7 32. Rb6 Rxb6 33. cxb6 Rxb6 34. Nc5 Nf5 35. a5 Rb8 36. a6 Nxg3 37. Na4 c5! 38. a7 Rd8 39. Nxc5 Ra8. Or 39. ... Bc6 40. Rb1 Rd2! 41. Nb7 Bxf3! 42. a8=Q+ Kh7 with mate in three moves (Caruana). 0 : 1.

“You don't expect to basically win a piece for nothing at this level”, Carlsen eventually said. Photo © Niki Riga.