Escapade

In his column on The Guardian, the dean of chess journalists, Leonard Barden, noted how five-time World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen, in his last Titled Tuesday, wanted to emphasize what appears to be the negative aspect (or side effects) of contemporary (classical) chess theory:

What of Carlsen? Just a few days ago, the world No 1 completed a rare double by winning the early and late versions of chess.com’s Titled Tuesday. The Norwegian lost only one game out of 22, but the most remarkable feature was his choice of openings. His two King’s Gambits began 1. e4 e5 2. f4 Bc5 3. Qh5!? and 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nc3!? Qh4+ 4. Ke2, while he also used 1. h4?! d5 2. d4. Finally, his key game against Firouzja opened 1. h4?! a6!? only the third time that this sequence has been played between two masters.

Magnus Carlsen – Venkatesh Pranav

November 7 Titled Tuesday | Early; time control: 3 minutes plus 1 second per move; chess.com, November 7, 2023

Kings’s Gambit C30

1. e4 e5 2. f4 Bc5 3. Qh5!? An old move, rediscovered in the twentieth-one century by Romanian Grandmaster Mihail Marin.

3. ... d6 4. fxe5 Nc6!? New skins for old wine: 4. ... g6 5. Qf3 dxe5 6. Bc4 Qh4+ 7. g3 Qf6 8. Nc3 Bxg1 9. Qxf6 Nxf6 10. Rxg1 Bh3 11. d4 (11. d3 c6 12. Bd2 Nbd7 13. Nd1 Ng4 14. Rh1 0-0 15. Nc3) 11. ... Nc6 12. Bg5 Ng4 13. Nd5 Nxd4 14. 0-0-0 0-0 15. Bf1 Nf2 16. Bf6 Nc6 17. Rd2 Bxf1 18. Rxf2 Bc4 19. b3 Bxd5 20. exd5 Nb4 21. Be7 Nxd5 22. Bxf8 Kxf8 23. Rd1 Nb6 24. c4 c6 25. a4 a5 26. g4 Ke7 27. g5 Rf8 28. Rfd2 Rh8 29. Rd3 h6 30. Rh3 h5 31. Re3 Nd7 32. h4 Rf8 33. Rf1 Ke6 34. Kc2 f5 35. gxf6 Rxf6 36. Rxf6+ Nxf6 37. Kd3 c5 38. Rg3 Ng4 39. Ke4 Nf6+ 40. Ke3 Ng4+ ½ : ½ Perlis – Marco, King’s Gambit Declined Tournament Vienna 1904/5, Vienna 1904.

5. exd6? Carlsen seems to ignore much of the research carried on by Marin, who condemned the text move as disadvantageous on account of Black’s reply. The best seems to be 5. Bb5 whereupon there can follow 5. ... Ne7 (strangely, in his copious analysis Marin does not consider this move) 6. c3 Bxg1 7. Rxg1 a6 with at least equality for Black.
5. ... Qxd6∓ 6. c3? Again, 6. Bb5, however unpleasant, was quite advisable if not necessary.
6. ... Nf6 7. Qh4 0-0

8. Nf3?! White could avoid what will inevitably come by 8. d3 Re8 yet leaving Black an overwhelming preponderance.
8. ... Re8 9. d3 Ng4 10. Na3 Bf2+ 11. Qxf2 Nxf2 12. Kxf2. White is heavily down in material and Pranav will somehow manage to capitalise on it.
12. ... Bg4 13. Nc4 Qd7 14. Bf4 Rad8 15. a4 f5 16. e5 a6 17. a5 Ne7 18. Be2 Nd5 19. Bg5 Rb8 20. h3 Bh5 21. g3 f4 22. g4 Bg6 23. d4 h6 24. Bh4 Rf8 25. Rhe1 Rbe8 26. e6 Qxe6 27. Nfe5 Ne3 28. Nxe3 fxe3+ 29. Kg1 Be4 30. Bc4 Bd5 31. Bd3 Rf3 32. Nxf3 Bxf3 33. Rf1 Bc6 34. Rf5 e2 35. Re5 Qf7 36. Rxe8+ Qxe8 37. Kf2 Qf7+ 38. Kxe2 Qf3+ 39. Kd2 Qg2+ 40. Be2 g5 41. Be1 Bf3 0 : 1. White exceeded time limit.