Drawing Attention

Vincent Keymer – Magnus Carlsen
10th Chess World Cup; round of 32 match game 1; Baku, August 9, 2023
Queen’s Gambit Declined D35

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 Bb4 6. e3 h6 7. Bf4 Bf5 8. Bd3 Bxd3 9. Qxd3 c6 10. Nge2 Nh5 11. Be5 Nd7 12. h3 Nhf6 13. Bh2 0-0 14. a3 Ba5 15. 0-0 Re8 16. Rac1 Qe7 17. b4 Bd8 18. Ng3 Bc7 19. Nf5 Bxh2+ 20. Kxh2 Qe6 21. Ng3 Qd6 22. Kg1 a5 23. Qb1 Nb6 24. bxa5 Nc4 25. Qb4 Rxa5 26. Nxd5 Nxd5 27. Qxc4 Rxa3 28. Qc5 Qxc5 29. Rxc5 Rea8 30. Nf5 h5 31. g4 hxg4 32. hxg4 Ra2 33. Rb1 Ra1 34. Rxa1 Rxa1+ 35. Kg2 Kf8 36. g5

36. ... Nc7? Here Carlsen makes a mistake — in fact, his only one — which costs him a Pawn and the game. He should rather have played 36. ... Ne7 in order to reply to 37. Nd6 with 37. ... b6, more or less equalising. Moreover, 36. ... g6 37. Nd6 Rb1 is also even.
37. Nd6 g6. Now if 37. ... Rb1 then 38. Rf5 and the f7-Pawn falls.
38. Nxb7 Rb1 39. Nd8 Rb5

40. Rxb5! Naturally, Keymer is well aware of the assertion of Soviet Grandmaster Viacheslav Vasilyevich Ragozin — and of 6th World Chess Champion Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik after him — that Knight endings are substantially like Pawn endings.
40. ... cxb5 41. Nc6 Ke8 42. Nb4 Ke7 43. f4 Kd6 44. Kf3 Ne6 45. Ke2 Ng7 46. e4 Nh5 47. Kf3 Ng7 48. Nd3 Nh5 49. Ke3 Ng3 50. d5 Kc7 51. Kd4 Kb6

52. Ne5! All is perfectly simple: White goes for the second Pawn.
52. ... b4 53. Nxf7 b3 54. Ne5! Just in time to stop the b-Pawn.
52. ... Ne2+ 55. Ke3 Kb5!? A last desperate trick, but of course Keymer doesn’t take the bait.
56. Nd3 Nc3 57. d6 Kc6 58. e5 1 : 0.

As Keymer said afterwards, “It was a more or less equal game until I got the chance and I think I used it”. Photo: Stev Bonhage/FIDE.