The Canterbury Puzzles

• Leonard Barden, Chess: White checkmates in three moves in this ancient Chinese puzzle, Financial Times, April 30, 2019

Magnus Carlsen, the world champion, has just won his third elite tournament in a row in zestful style and is close to breaking his own all-time records for exceptional performance. The Norwegian, 28, took first prize at this week’s Germany’s Grenke Classic with an unbeaten 7.5/9, following on from his victories at Tata Steel Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands, in January and at Shamkir, Azerbaijan, last month. Carlsen’s performance rating has surged to [2875], only seven points below his official monthly peak set in 2014 and 14 below his unofficial daily high. His next classical tournament will be Altibox Norway on home ground in Stavanger in June, and with a calculated target of 6.5/9 to break the record there he has excellent chances. [Read more].

Ancient Chinese Puzzle
Henry Ernest Dudeney, 1907
1k6/8/RKR5/8/8/8/8/8 w - - 1 1

White to play and mate in 3, moving each of his three pieces once, and once only. Click here for solution.

The Eights

Pyotr Veniaminovich Svidler – Magnus Carlsen
6th GRENKE Chess Classic; Baden-Baden, April 28, 2019
Sicilian Defence B30

Not surprisingly, Magnus Carlsen confirmed his supernatural status of invincibility even at the 6th GRENKE Chess Classic, so much that — I guess — the super-tournaments organisers will have to “revisit” their formats and lineups for an update, especially for the good of the one who always wins. 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 e5 4. Bc4 Be7 5. d3 d6 6. Nd2 Nf6 7. Nf1 Nd7 8. Nd5 Nb6 9. Nxb6 axb6 10. c3 0-0 11. Ne3 Bg5 12. 0-0 Kh8! More ambitious than 12. ... Bxe3 13. Bxe3 Qe7 14. f4 exf4 15. Bxf4 Be6 16. Bxe6 Qxe6 17. Qb3 Qxb3 18. axb3 Rad8 19. Bg3 Rd7 20. Rf5 Rfd8 21. b4 Ne7 ½ : ½ Lékó – Kramnik, 31st Sparkassen Chess Meeting, Dortmund 2003. 13. a3!? Svidler’s quasi-novelty represents no improvement on 13. Bd2 Bxe3 14. fxe3 Qe7 15. Bd5 Be6 16. Qb3 Na5 17. Qc2 (if 17. Qxb6?? then 17. ... Ra6 18. Qb5 Bd7 traps the Queen) 17. ... Qc7 18. h3 h6 19. c4 Nc6 20. Qd1 Bxd5 21. exd5 Ne7 22. a4 f5 23. Bc3 Rf7 24. Qb3 Ng6 25. Rf2 Raf8 26. Raf1 f4 27. Bd2 f3 28. Rxf3? (28. Qd1!) 28. ... Rxf3 29. gxf3 (29. Rxf3 Rxf3 30. gxf3 Nh4 31. Qd1 Qf7−+) 29. ... Qc8! 30. Kh2 (30. Kg2 Nh4+ 31. Kg3 Qf5!−+) 30. ... Rf5 31. f4 Rh5 32. f5 Rxf5 33. Qd1 Qf8 34. Rxf5 Qxf5 35. Qe2 e4! 36. Qg4 (if 36. dxe4 then 36. ... Qe5+ 37. Kg1 Qxb2 followed by ... Ng6-e5 winning heavy material) 36. ... Qxg4 37. hxg4 Ne5 38. Kg3 exd3 39. b3 g6 40. e4 h5 41. gxh5 gxh5 42. Kf2 h4 0 : 1 Anand – Ivanchuk, World Chess Championship Knockout Tournament 2001/2002, Moscow 2001, match game 4. Both there and here, differently but similary, the Kingside is Black’s dreamtheatre, so Carlsen does not need to ask Caïssa what to do: 13. ... f5! 14. Nxf5 Bxc1 15. Rxc1 Bxf5 16. exf5 d5! The game is still about even, but Black’s play already comes easier. 17. Ba2 Rxf5 18. Qg4 Rf6 19. f4!? Svidler becomes impatient defending and embarks himself in a precarious adventure, which perhaps deserved better luck. 19. ... exf4 20. Qg5 Qf8 21. Qxd5 Rd8 22. Qf3? 22. Qg5! Rxd3! leaves Back a Pawn ahead, but, as a compensation, White would get plenty of play on the light squares. After the text, instead, White is doomed to fall apart pretty soon. 22. ... Ne5! 23. Qe4

23. ... Ng4! 23. ... Nxd3?? 24. Rcd1! would throw any advantage out the board. 24. Rce1 Ne3 25. Rf2 Re8 26. Qxb7!? At least White consoles himself with a Pawn, because 26. Qf3 g5! 27. h3 Re7 would give no hope for a different outcome. 26. ... g5! White is helpless against the coming ... g5-g4, and very chivalrously Svidler allows Carlsen to deliver checkmate on the board: 27. Rfe2 (27. Qf3 g4 28. Qe2 f3!−+) 27. ... g4 28. Rf2 Qh6 29. Qc7 Ref8 30. h3 gxh3 31. g3 fxg3 32. Rxf6 h2+ 33. Kh1 g2 mate.

Pyotr Veniaminovich Svidler (left) vs. Magnus Carlsen (right). Photo © Georgios Souleidis.

Next Fall

Fabiano Caruana – Magnus Carlsen
6th GRENKE Chess Classic; Karlsruhe, April 23, 2019
Sicilian Defence B33

Finally Carlsen and Caruana meet again after their autumnal World Chess Championship match in London, United Kingdom which was won “only” at the tie-break by the Norwegian star. Of course Germany cannot be considered a much more neutral field than England (Caruana being the diamond pointe of the OSG Baden-Baden), but this time — at least officially — the board’s affair shouldn’t be conditioned and shaped by sponsors and gamblers. As for chess, Carlsen is in wonderful form and won everything and more than he’d been playing for since his World Championship match. On the other hand, Caruana just took some time off to regenerate himself, and, in fact, he let Caïssa sleep while he appeared on the stages of the 63rd U.S. Open Chess Championship and the German Schach Bundesliga. So far no one came forward to claim the role of co-star, but it is guessable that pretty soon the newly European Chess Champion Vladislav Mikhailovich Artemiev will knock at the door of Caïssa’s heart, so this game might even have a precise meaning with regard to the next World Chess Championship cycle. 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Nd5 Nxd5 8. exd5 Ne7 9. c4 Ng6 10. Qa4 Bd7 11. Qb4 Bf5 12. h4 h5 13. Bg5!? Caruana picks up from where he left off before the tie-breaks. Indeed, the last classical game of the London match continued with: 13. Qa4 Bd7 14. Qb4 Bf5 15. Be3 (that’s the difference) 15. ... a6 16. Nc3 Qc7 17. g3 Be7 18. f3 Nf8 19. Ne4 Nd7 20. Bd3 0-0 21. Rh2 Rac8 22. 0-0-0 Bg6 23. Rc2 f5 24. Nf2 Nc5 25. f4 a5 26. Qd2 e4 27. Be2 Be8 28. Kb1 Bf6 29. Re1 a4 (Carlsen was harshly criticised for not trying to win in the “regular times” by 29. ... Ba4 30. Rcc1 b5! 31. cxb5 Qb6, but facts proved that he was right, as he easily crushed Caruana in the tie-breaks) 30. Qb4 g6 31. Rd1 Ra8 ½ : ½ Caruana – Carlsen, London 2018, World Chess Championship match game 12. 13. ... Qb8 14. Qa4!? Caruana varies from his great predecessor, Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin, who (after the interpolation of 13. Qa4 Bd7 14. Qb4 Bf5 15. Bg5 Qb8) continued 16. Be2 a6 17. Nc3 Qc7 18. g3 Be7 19. Be3 e4 20. 0-0 just to fall into Carlsen’s monstrous theoretical promptness after 20. ... 0-0! 21. Bxh5 Ne5 22. Be2 Qd7 23. Qa4 Qc8 24. c5 dxc5 25. Nxe4 c4! 26. Nc3? (26. Qc2!?) 26. ... b5 27. Qd1 b4 28. Na4 Be4 29. Qd4 Qf5 30. f4 Qg6 31. Bf2 Nd3 32. h5 Qf5 33. Bg4? Qxg4 34. Qxe4 Bd6 35. Qg2 Rae8 36. Bd4 Qxh5 37. Qf3 Qg6 38. Kh1 Re4 39. Bf2 Rfe8 0 : 1 Karjakin – Carlsen, 6th Gashimov Memorial, Şəmkir 2019. 14. ... Bd7 15. Qc2 Bxb5 16. cxb5 Be7 17. Bd3 Nf8 18. b6 Nd7 19. bxa7 Qxa7 20. 0-0 Bxg5 21. hxg5 0-0 22. Bf5 Rad8 23. b4 Qd4 24. Qc7 Nb6 25. Rad1 Qf4 26. Bh3 Na4

27. g6 fxg6 28. Qc2 b5 29. Qxg6 Rf6 30. Qxh5 g6 31. Qg4 Qxg4 32. Bxg4 Rf4 33. Be6+ Kg7 34. Rc1 Rxb4 35. Rc7+ Kh6 36. g3 Nc5 37. f4 exf4 38. Rxf4 Rxf4 39. gxf4 Ra8 40. Rc6 Ne4 41. Bh3 Rxa2 42. Bg2 Ng3 43. Rxd6 Ne2+ 44. Kf1 Nxf4 45. Be4 Ra4 46. Bxg6. And that’s the pointe of a deeply analysed reality game, soon producing a book draw which still requires a certain deal of emotional suspence. 46. ... Nxg6 47. Rb6 Rf4+ 48. Ke1 b4 49. d6 Rd4 50. d7 Rxd7 51. Rxb4 Kg5 52. Ke2 Re7+ 53. Kd2 Kf5 54. Rb5+ Ne5 55. Rb4 Rd7+ 56. Ke2 Nd3 57. Ra4 Nf4+ 58. Ke1 Kg4 59. Ra3 Rd8 60. Rc3 Rh8 61. Ra3 Rh2 62. Kd1 Kf5 63. Re3 Nd5 64. Re8 Kf4 65. Kc1 Nc3 66. Re7 Ne4 67. Re8 Ke3 68. Re7 Rh6 69. Rc7 Kd3 70. Rd7+ Rd6 71. Rxd6+ Nxd6 ½ : ½. And just like the Leela Chess Zero-and-Stockfish romance, the story will continue endlessly as a loop counter with no countdown — at least until next fall.

Magnus Carlsen (left) and Fabiano Caruana (right) starring in the remake of their 2018 hit show. Photo © Georgios Souleidis.

The Reach Beyond Tomorrow

The 6th GRENKE Chess Classic, to be held in Karlsruhe and Baden-Baden, Germany from April 20–29, will feature the first classical game between World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana since their November title match in London, which was won by the Norwegian in the tie-break. Carlsen appeared in splendid form lately, and Caruana will have to do his best to renew his bid for another challenge. In a way or another, the thing is within his reach.