Sunday Matters

Vladislav Mikhailovich Artemiev – Fabiano Caruana
82nd Tata Steel Chess Tournament; Wijk aan Zee, January 26, 2020
English Opening A13

In spite of having already won first prize yesterday, Caruana gave the best of himself also in his last round game against Artemiev. 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Nd7 3. c4 dxc4 4. Qa4 a6 5. Qxc4 b5 6. Qc2 Bb7 7. Bg2 Ngf6 8. 0-0 e6 9. d3 Be7 10. a4 c5 11. Nc3 Qb6 12. axb5 axb5 13. Rxa8+ Bxa8 14. Bg5 0-0 15. Ra1 h6 16. Bxf6 Bxf6 17. Nd2!?TN (17. Qb3 c4 18. dxc4 bxc4 19. Qxb6 Nxb6 20. Nd2 Rd8 21. Nxc4 Nxc4 22. Rxa8 Rxa8 23. Bxa8 Nxb2 ½ : ½ Matsenko – Nyzhnyk, College Final Four 2017, New York 2017) 17. ... Bxg2 18. Kxg2 Rc8 19. Qb3 Rb8 20. Nce4 Be7 21. Kg1 f5 22. Nc3 Ne5 23. h3 h5 24. Nf3 Nxf3+ 25. exf3 Bf6 26. Re1 Kf7 27. Ne2 g5 28. g4 hxg4 29. hxg4 fxg4 30. fxg4 Qd6 31. Ng3 Qd5 32. Qc2 Bd4 33. Qe2 Rh8 34. Ne4 Qe5 35. Qf3+ Kg7 36. b3? Instead of this move, Artemiev should have forced the exchange of Queens with 36. Qg3, as after 36. ... Qxg3+ 37. Nxg3 Rf8 38. Ne4 Rf4 39. Kg2 Rxg4+ 40. Kh3 Rh4+ 41. Kg3 White regains his Pawn with a very drawish ending. 36. ... Rf8! 37. Qe2 Qd5 38. Rf1 Kg6. Obviously 38. ... Qxb3? 39. Nxc5!= leads nowhere. 39. Qd1 c4! 40. bxc4 bxc4 41. Kg2 Ba7. Caruana prefers to cash in the Pawn rather than invest on his dynamic advantage with 41. ... Rf4! 42. f3 c3∓ (which is what the engines give priority). 42. f3 cxd3 43. Qa1 Be3

44. Rd1? Maybe due to Caruana’s 41th move, White could now discourage Black from making any use of his extra Pawn with 44. Qe1! (and if 44. ... Qd4 then again 45. Qa1). The text dramatically fails to a pyrotechnic refutation. 44. ... Qc4 45. Qc3 Qa2+ 46. Nd2 Qc2!−+ 47. Qe5! A clever trick, but Caruana has calculated everything out. 47. ... Bxd2! Instead Artemiev was hoping for 47. ... Qxd1?? 48. Qxe6+ Kg7 49. Qxe3 Qe2+ 50. Qxe2 dxe2 51. Kf2 followed by the capture of the e-Pawn with a book draw. Now, despite any appearances to the contrary, there’s no perpetual check, but only the triumphant “long march” of Black’s King. 48. Qxe6+ Kg7 49. Qe7+ Rf7 50. Qe5+ Kf8 51. Qb8+ Ke7 52. Qe5+ Kd8 53. Qb8+ Kd7 54. Qb7+ Kd6 55. Qb6+ Ke5 56. Qb5+ Kd4 57. Qb6+ Kc4 58. Qe6+ Kc3 59. Qe5+ Kb3 60. Qd5+ Kb2 61. Qb5+ Bb4+ 62. Kg3 Qxd1 63. Qxb4+ Qb3 64. Qd2+ Kb1 65. Qe1+ Kc2 66. Qf2+ d2 0 : 1.

Things which don’t happen every day: Fabiano Caruana won the “Wimbledon of Chess” by 2 points! Photo: Alina l’Ami/Tata Steel Chess.

Take Two and Pass

Fabiano Caruana – Alireza Firouzja
82nd Tata Steel Chess Tournament; Wijk aan Zee, January 22, 2020
King’s Indian Defence E71

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. h3 0-0 6. Be3 Nc6 7. d5 Ne5 8. f4 Ned7 9. g4 c6 10. Nf3 cxd5 11. cxd5 b6!? A good novelty by Firouzja instead of 11. ... Nc5 which after 12. Bxc5 bxc5 13. e5 Nd7 14. Qc2 Qa5 15. Nd2 Nb6 16. a3 Nd7 17. 0-0-0 left White with a powerful Kingside initiative, Jones – Pavlidis, 21st European Team Chess Championship, Hersonissos 2017. 12. Nd4 Nc5 13. Qf3 Bb7 14. g5 Nfxe4!? Crazy complications arise after Firouzja’s bold Knight sacrifice. 15. Nxe4 Bxd5 16. Nf6+ exf6 17. Qxd5 Re8 18. Nc2 fxg5 19. 0-0-0 gxf4. Black secures a fourth Pawn for the Knight, as now 20. Bxf4?? Qf6−+ is obviously unplayable. 20. Bd4 Bxd4 21. Qxd4 Ne6 22. Qd2. With 22. Qxd6 Qf6 White wins back a Pawn, but gives Black a little too much compensation. 22. ... Qf6 23. Kb1 Rac8 24. Bb5 Red8 25. Nb4 d5! 26. Rhf1 (26. Nxd5?? Qf5+ 27. Ka1 Rxd5 28. Qxd5 Rc1+−+) 26. ... Rc5 27. a4 d4 28. Nd3 Rf5 29. Rf3 g5

30. Rg1!↑ Kf8? It’s really bad timing for His Majesty. Here both 30. ... h5!? (Δ ... h5-h4) and 30. ... Kh8! would have been rather more recommendable. 31. h4. Now Caruana’s attack spreads its wings. 31. ... h6 32. hxg5 hxg5 33. Rh3 f3 34. Bc4 Ke7 35. Bxe6 Kxe6 36. Qh2! (Δ Rh3-h6) 36. ... f2 37. Rf1 Kd7 38. Rh6 Qe7 39. Rxf2 Rxf2 40. Qxf2 Kc8 41. a5! bxa5. Now Caruana goes for mate: 42. Qc2+ Kb8 43. Nc5 Rd6 44. Rh8+ Rd8 45. Qb3+ Kc7 46. Qb7+ Kd6 47. Rh6+ f6 48. Ne4+ 1 : 0.

Not too soon to tell who’s won and who’s lost today, but it’s not yet time to “guess” who will win in Wijk aan Zee! Photo: Alina l’Ami/Tata Steel Chess.

One Hundred and Eleven Shakespeare Monologues

Jorden van Foreest – Magnus Carlsen
82nd Tata Steel Chess Tournament; Wijk aan Zee, January 14, 2020
Two Knights Defence C58

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5. “Tarrasch branded this a ‘duffer’s move’ and Panov called it ‘primitive’. But there is no other way for White to try for an advantage”, Robert James “Bobby” Fischer wrote in “My 60 Memorable Games”, New York, Simon and Schuster, 1969, p. 280. 4. ... d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 8. Bd3!? Isidor Gunsberg’s move, which is as old as odd. 8. ... Nd5 9. Nf3. Not 9. Nxf7? on account of 9. ... Kxf7 10. Qh5+ g6 11. Bxg6+ hxg6 12. Qxh8 Qg5 with a crushing attack. Bad is also 9. Ne4?! after which, a long time ago, White ended up inexorably zugzwanged: 9. ... f5 10. Ng3 Nf4 11. Bf1 Bc5 12. c3 Bb6 13. d4 Ng6 14. Bd3 0-0 15. b4 Nb7 16. Bc4+ Kh8 17. d5? Nd6 18. Bb3 f4 19. Nf1 Ne4 0 : 1 Castaldi – Keres, 7th Olympiad, Stockholm 1937. 9. ... Bd6 10. Nc3 0-0 11. Be2 Nf4. Alternatively, 11. ... f5 is also quite interesting, Zelkind – Klovans, 19th World Senior Chess Championship, Condino 2009 12. 0-0 Bg4 13. d3 Nxe2+ 14. Qxe2 f5 15. h3 Bh5 16. g4! A powerful novelty instead of 16. Qe3 Qe7 17. Qg5 Qf7 18. Nd2 h6 19. Qh4 f4 20. f3 c5 21. Qf2 Rac8 22. Nde4 Be7 23. b3 Nc6 24. Ba3 Nd4 25. Na4 Rc6 26. Bxc5 Nf5 27. Kh2 Rfc8 28. b4 Bh4 29. Qd2 Rg6 30. Bf2 Qe7 31. Nac5 Bxf2 32. Rxf2 Nh4 33. Rg1 Rcc6 34. d4 Nf5 35. dxe5 Qh4 36. Nd3 Ne3 37. g3 fxg3+ 38. Nxg3 Nd5 39. Qe2 Rc4 40. Nf5 Qd8 41. Rfg2 Qc7 42. Nd6 Rxg2+ 43. Rxg2 Nf4 44. Nxf4 Rxf4 45. Qd2 Rf8 46. f4 Bf3 47. Rg1 Ba8 48. f5 Qe7 49. Qd4 Kh8 50. c4 a6 51. h4 Kh7 52. a4 Rb8 53. b5 axb5 54. axb5 Rd8 55. c5 Qa7 56. Ra1 Qe7 57. c6 Rxd6 58. exd6 Qe2+ 59. Kg3 1 : 0 Varga – Halkias, 8th Serbian Team Chess Championship 1st League, Palić 2014 — which would have certainly been improved by Carlsen. 16. ... fxg4 17. Ng5 Qd7 18. Nce4 Be7 19. Ng3 Bg6 20. Qxg4 Qxg4 21. hxg4 c5 22. N5e4 Nc6 23. Be3 Nd4 24. Rac1 Rac8 25. Kg2 c4. Now White is practically forced to take the Knight, thus leaving Black with all the powers of two Bishops, and indirectly a compensation for his minus Pawn. 26. Bxd4 exd4 27. f3 Rc6 28. b3 Ba3

29. Rce1. White is prudently content with a honourable draw, letting Carlsen set his world record of 111 games without a loss. “He played pretty well but he should have enacted the Exchange”, Carlsen said. “I would have been in huge, huge trouble”. Idem to say: 29. dxc4! Bxc1 30. Rxc1 with a Pawn preponderance on the Queenside. 29. ... cxd3 30. cxd3 a5 31. Rf2 Bc1 32. Nd2 Bxd3 33. Nc4 Bf4 34. Ne5 Rc3 35. Nxd3 Rxd3 36. Nf5 g6 37. Re4 Bg5 38. Ne7+ Kh8 39. Nc6 Be3 40. Re2 Rd1 41. Nxa5 Rg1+ 42. Kh2 Rc1 43. Kg2 Rg1+ 44. Kh2 Rc1 45. Kg2 ½ : ½.

“I was in definite trouble”, Carlsen said afterwards. “I was trying to bluff him a bit in the opening and I thought I’m getting these positions with Bishops and some initiative with a Pawn then he went g4 [...] and I realised I was lost”. Photo: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images.