Goat in a Cage

Magnus Carlsen – Alireza Firouzja

Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge; Quarterfinal match game 2; time control: 90 minutes per 40 moves plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game plus 30 seconds per move starting on move 41; Wangels, February 12, 2024

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Position #607

1. e4 e5 2. g3 c6 3. c3 g6 4. Ne3 Ne6 5. Ne2 Ne7 6. Rf1 Rf8 7. f4 f5 8. fxe5 fxe4 9. Rxf8+. Finally breaking the symmetry!
9. ... Nxf8 10. Qxe4 Qxe5 11. Qb4

11. ... b6? Very bad. 11. ... a5! was a much more enterprising line of play: 12. Qxb7 Rb8 13. Qa6 Rxb2 14. Kc1 (14. 0-0-0?? Qb8!−+) 14. ... Qb5 with a fairly balanced game.
12. d4! Qa5. If this was Firouzja’s idea of playing for a draw, it was not a success.
13. Qxa5 bxa5

14. d5! cxd5 15. 0-0-0! Whether believe or not, the rest is only a matter of technique.
15. ... Rc8 16. Nxd5 Nc6 17. Be3 Ne6 18. Bg2 Ke8 19. a3 Bf7 20. Nef4 g5 21. Nh3 h6 22. Nf2 d6 23. Ne4 Be5 24. Nef6+ Kf8 25. Nd7+ Kg7 26. Nxe5 dxe5 27. b4 axb4 28. axb4 g4 29. Kb2 Rb8

30. Nc7! Nxc7 31. Bxc6 Nb5 32. Rd7 Kf6 33. Bxa7 Nxa7 34. Rxa7 Bg6 35. Ra6 Kg5 36. Ra8 Rb6 37. b5 Bd3 38. Ra5 e4 39. Kb3 e3 40. c4 Kf5 41. Ra8 1 : 0.

Not surprisingly, Carlsen did not betray the expectations of the sponsor. Photo: Amruta Mokal/ChessBase India.