Globally Speaking

Alireza Firouzja – Fabiano Caruana

5th Champions Showdown: Chess 9LX; tie-break game 1; time control: 10 minutes plus 2 seconds per move; Saint Louis, September 16, 2022

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Position #878

1. b4 Ng6 2. Nf3 f6 3. e4 e5 4. c4 a5

White’s last two moves were incongruent, to say the least, and Black didn’t miss his chance to seize the upper hand.
5. b5 Bc5 6. d4 exd4 7. Nxd4 Nd6 8. f3 Bf7 9. Qc3 0-0 10. Kb2 Ne5 11. Ka1. At least White managed to castle by hand in the far corner.
11. ... Bb4 12. Qc1 Nexc4 13. Bxc4 Nxc4 14. Nf5 d5 15. Bd4 Bg6 16. Nhg3 Rbe8 17. h4 Qc8

With his last move, Black showed his obliviousness or indifference to his opponent’s threats. In the specific, White’s pseudo-sacrifice of the Knight at g7 calls everything into question again.
18. Nxg7 Kxg7 19. h5 Ne5 20. hxg6 hxg6 21. f4 Ng4 22. e5 c5 23. bxc6 Qxc6 24. exf6+ Kf7 25. Qb2 Ne3 26. Rdc1 Nc4 27. Qf2 Rh8 28. Rh1 Na3 29. Rhc1 Nc4 30. Qf3 Rh4 31. Nf1 Qd7 32. g3 Rh3 33. Rd1 Rc8 34. Qg2 Rhh8

35. Nh2! Na3! 36. Nf3 Nc2+ 37. Kb2?? In the end, they both running utterly short of time, Firouzja very melodramatically falls into a self-mate. The only move was 37. Qxc2 Rxc2 38. Ne5+ Ke6 39. Nxd7 Kxd7 with roughly even chances.
37. Ba3+ 0 : 1. Mate follows after 38. Kb3 a4# (idem to say 38. ... Qb5#).

And thus, in his own words, Caruana “Was just crowned Global Chess 9LX Champion of St. Louis!” after winning a heartbreaking tiebreaker against Firouzja. Photo © Lennart Ootes.