Randomnicity

Fabiano Caruana – Magnus Carlsen

1st Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour; first leg; Stage 1: Rapid Round Robin; time control: 10 minutes plus 10 seconds per move; Wangels, February 7, 2025

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Position #55

1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 b6 3. 0-0 0-0 4. Bf4 Ba6 5. g3 c6 6. Qd2 Nd7 7. Rfe1 e5? A catastrophic mistake which precipitates Black into an unsustainable situation. 7. ... f5! was almost called for.

8. e4! c5. On 8. ... exf4 9. exd5 White catches the Black Queen in a curious trap.
9. dxe5 d4 10. Nd5 Nxe5 11. b4! Nc4 12. Qe2 Rxd5. A desperate try for Black before he gives up.
13. exd5 Qxe2 14. Rxe2 Nb2. Black regains the Exchange, but the positional evaluation does not leave room for doubt: White is winning.
15. Rde1 Bxe2 16. Rxe2 d3

17. Re7 g5 (17. ... cxb4 18. d6+−)
18. Bxg5 cxb4 19. Rxa7 b5 20. d6 Nb6 21. d7 N2a4 22. Nb3 Nxd7 23. Rxd7 dxc2 24. Be4 Rc8 25. Rd8+ 1–0.

And so here they are again! Photo: Nils Rohde.