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Fabiano Caruana – Wesley So

11th Norway Chess; Armageddon game (time control: 10 minutes for White and 7 minutes for Black with a 1-second increment starting at move 41; Stavanger, June 8, 2023

Queen’s Gambit Declined D36

Just like with a counterspell, it took an Armageddon for Caruana to get the better of So and retain the lead going into tomorrow’s final round.
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 c6 6. Qc2 h6 7. Bh4 Be7 8. e3 0-0 9. Bd3 Re8 10. Nf3 Nbd7 11. 0-0 Ne4 12. Bxe7 Qxe7 13. Rae1 Ndf6 14. Ne5 Bf5 15. f3 Nxc3 16. bxc3 Bxd3 17. Nxd3 Qd6

18. Re2 (18. Kh1 Re7 19. Re2 b6 20. Rfe1 Rae8 21. c4 dxc4 22. Qxc4 Rd8 23. Rd1 c5= Zakhartsov – Kobalia, 74th Russian Chess Championship Higher League, Cheboksary 2021)
18. ... Re7 19. Rfe1 Rae8 20. c4 b6 21. c5 Qc7 22. a4 Re6 23. Qc3 g5 24. Nb4 Rc8 25. Rc1 Qe7 26. Qd2 Nd7 27. cxb6 Nxb6

28. e4 dxe4?? A blunder which loses material. Best was 28. ... c5! with a perfectly playable game.
29. a5! e3 30. Qe1 Qd7. So does not find anything better than to give up the Knight for insufficient compensation. On the other hand, after 30. ... Nd7 31. d5 Black’s whole position would fall apart.
31. axb6 axb6 32. d5 cxd5 33. Rxc8+ Qxc8 34. Nxd5 b5 35. Nxe3 Qc5 36. Kf1 b4 37. Nd1 Qb5 38. Qd2 b3 39. Ke1 Qb6 40. Rxe6 Qg1+ 41. Ke2 Qxg2+ 42. Nf2 fxe6

Caruana brings home the extra half point with irreproachable technique.
43. h3 Qg3 44. Qd8+ Kf7 45. Qd7+ Kf8 46. Qxe6 Qb8 47. Qf6+ Kg8 48. Qg6+ Kf8 49. Qxh6+ Kf7 50. Qh7+ Ke6 51. Qg6+ Kd7 52. Qf7+ Kc6 53. Qc4+ Kd7 54. Qd5+ Ke7 55. Qxg5+ Ke6 56. Qg6+ Kd5 57. Qe4+ Kc5 58. Nd3+ 1 : 0.