From the Earth to the Moon

Magnus Carlsen – Vladimir Vasilyevich Fedoseev

2nd World Fischerandom Chess Championship Group B; match game 1; time control: 25 minutes for the first 30 moves, plus 5 minutes for the rest of the game, plus 5 seconds per move starting from move 31; Reykjavík, October 25, 2022

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Position #629

1. d4 c5 2. d5 e6 3. e4 Qd6? In fact, here is a big mistake leading to immediate trouble. 3. ... exd5 4. exd5 Qe7+ seems playable.
4. Nc3 Ng6 5. f4 Ba5 6. Qf2! exd5

7. 0-0! d4? Of course, this only makes things worse. But Black had no particularly attractive options — for example: 7. ... Bxc3 8. bxc3 dxe4 9. f5 Ne5 10. Qg3! with great advantage to White.
8. e5 Qe7 9. Ne4 0-0 10. Nhg3 Bc7

11. Nf5 Qd8 12. Nfd6 Bxd6 13. Nxd6 Nc6 14. Be2 f6 15. Qg3 Qe7 16. Bc4+ Kh8

17. Rf3! With the fatal threat of Qg3xg6 followed by Rf3-h3#.
17. ... b5 18. Bd5. 18. Qxg6 bxc4 19. Rh3 wins as well, but by now it is a matter of taste.
18. ... fxe5 19. Qxg6 Rf6 20. Qe8+ Qxe8 21. Nxe8 e4 22. Nxf6 exf3 23. Ne4 c4 24. Bd2 Rb8 25. Re1 1 : 0.