Fingers & Thumbs

Magnus Carlsen – Dambasürengiin Batsüren
44th Chess Olympiad; Mamallapuram, August 1, 2022
Queen’s Gambit Declined D38

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. d4 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 0-0 7. e3 Nbd7 8. cxd5 exd5 9. Bd3 c6 10. 0-0 Bd6 11. Qc2 Re8 12. Rfe1. In his annotations for Chess Informant (issue No. 7/1969) to the game mentioned in the next note, Russian Grandmaster Anatoly Stepanovich Lutikov recommended here 12. Rab1! Qe7 13. Rfe1 — and one cannot but say with Cicero, o tempora, o mores! It is, indeed, a fact that the game has transposed, with little satisfaction for Black, from a Ragozin Variation into a sort of Exchange Variation. 12. ... Be7. It is questionable that Black can afford so many “rethinkings” (4. ... Bb4, 10. ... Bd6 and 12. ... Be7). A more interesting object of study is: 12. ... Nf8 13. e4 g5 14. Bg3 Bxg3 15. hxg3 dxe4 16. Nxe4 Nxe4 17. Bxe4 Be6 18. Re3 Bd5 19. Rae1 (19. Ne5 is more promising for White) 19. ... Bxe4 20. Rxe4 Rxe4 21. Qxe4 Ne6 22. Ne5 Qd5 (22. ... Qxd4? 23. Nxf7!) 23. Qg4 Re8 24. Re3 Kg7 25. Rf3 Nd8 26. Qh5 Re7 27. Ng4 Re6 28. Ne3 (Geller pushes hard for a win until he’s way past the point of no return) 28. ... Qxa2 29. Nf5+ Kh7 30. Kh2 Rf6 31. g4? (31. b3!?) 31. ... Ne6 32. Qh3 Qd5 33. Rb3 Nxd4 34. Rxb7 Nxf5 35. gxf5 Rxf5 36. Qe3 a5 37. g3 Qf3? (37. ... g4!−+ Δ ... Rf5-h5+) 38. Qxf3 Rxf3 39. Kg2 Rf5 40. Rc7 Rc5 41. Rxf7+ Kg6 42. Rd7 g4 43. Rd4 h5 44. b4 axb4 45. Rxb4 Kf5 46. Rb8? (46. f3! Rc2+ 47. Kf1 gxf3 48. Rf4+ Ke6 49. Rxf3 c5 50. Rf4! is a tablebase draw) 46. ... Ke4 (46. ... Rd5−+) 47. Rc8 Kd4 48. Rc7 Kd5 49. Rh7 Kd6? (49. ... Kc4−+) 50. Rh6+ Kc7 51. f4 gxf3 52. Kxf3 Kb6 53. Ke4 Rg5 54. Kf4 Rd5 55. Ke4 Kb5 56. Rg6 Kc5 57. Rh6 ½ : ½ E. P. Geller – Hernández Onna, 6th Allied Armies Team Chess Championship, Warsaw 1969. 13. Bg3 Nf8 14. h3 b6 15. e4 dxe4 16. Nxe4 Bb7 17. Ne5 Ne6. It is unlikely that the Mongolian Grandmaster was aware of having followed so far a poor theoretical model, but so it is. His last move is, probably, a novelty, but no substantial improvement over 17. ... Rc8 18. Nxf6+ Bxf6 19. Nxf7! Kxf7 20. Bc4+ Ne6 21. Rxe6! Rxe6 22. Re1 Qd5 23. Rxe6 Qxe6 24. Bxe6+ Kxe6 25. Qc4+ Ke7 26. Be5 c5 27. Bxf6+ Kxf6 28. dxc5 Rxc5 29. Qd4+ Kg6 30. Qd7 Bd5 31. Qxa7 1 : 0 Thorsteins – Kristjánsson, 15th ECC Group 2, Reykjavík 1999.

The rest is very easy for Carlsen, who carries on and finishes his attack with marvelous elegance. 18. Nxf6+ Bxf6 19. Bh7+ Kf8. In his notes for El País, Leontxo García makes a comical observation: “The game will show that the King does not stand well on f8”, but, of course, there wasn’t anything else for Black to do, for if 19. ... Kh8?? then 20. Nxf7#. 20. Rad1 Bxe5 21. dxe5 Qe7 22. f4! c5

23. f5! Nd4 24. Qf2 Qd7 25. e6! Qc6 26. Be5 Rad8 27. Qg3 Ne2+ 28. Rxe2 Rxd1+ 29. Kh2 Ke7

30. Bf6+! 1 : 0.

Carlsen’s crushing win on first board was not enough for Norway as 45th seed Mongolia eventually drew the match. Photo © Madelene Belinki.