Foufou

Magnus Carlsen – Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
5th Grand Chess Tour; 1st stage; Côte d’Ivoire Rapid (25+10); Abidjan, May 9, 2019
Sicilian Defence B90

As expected, 16th World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen won the rapid round-robin of the Grand Chess Tour’s first stage with stunning ease, implicitly suggesting that his last challenger was to have the honour of not being here. 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 Ng4 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bh4 g5 9. Bg3 Bg7 10. Qd2 Nc6 11. Nb3 Be6 12. h4 gxh4 13. Bxh4 b5 14. f4 b4 15. Na4 Qc7 16. 0-0-0 Rb8 17. Kb1 Na5 18. Nxa5 Qxa5 19. b3 Qc7 20. Be2 h5 21. f5 Bd7 22. Bxg4 hxg4 23. Qg5. White forces a liquidation that will leave him a Pawn ahead, but in a very unstable “ending” of Queen and Rook vs. Queen and Rook. 23. ... Bf6 24. Qxg4 Bxa4 25. Bxf6 Rxh1 26. Rxh1 exf6 27. bxa4 Ke7 28. Qf3 Rc8 29. Qd3 a5 30. Rd1 Rg8 31. Qe2 Rg3! Maybe White could have done better somewhere earlier, but now Black gets an entry for his Rook to take over the third rank with a dynamic equality. 32. Qf2 Ra3! 33. g4

33. ... Rxa4? But this inconsistent move that cuts the Rook off the stage is a grave mistake which loses immediately. Correct seems 33. ... Qc5! 34. Qxc5 dxc5 35. Rd5 Rc3 with a likely draw. 34. g5!+− fxg5 35. f6+ Ke8 36. Qe2 b3 37. axb3 Rb4 38. e5! dxe5 39. Rd5 Kf8 40. Qh5 Rh4 41. Qxg5 Rh7 42. Qd2 1 : 0.

Magnus Carlsen vs. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Photo © Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour.

Alloco

Ian Alexandrovich Nepomniachtchi – Magnus Carlsen
5th Grand Chess Tour; 1st stage; Côte d’Ivoire Rapid (25+10); Abidjan, May 8, 2019
Sicilian Defence B32

Not too surprisingly, 16th World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen showed himself in great form even in the first African stage of the Grand Chess Tour, which has now come to its fifth edition. 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e5 5. Nb5 d6 6. N1c3 a6 7. Na3 Be7 8. g3. It’s very unlikely that such a sideline may cause Carlsen to worry about his theoretical conclusions. 8. ... Nf6 9. Bg2 b5 10. Nd5 Nxd5 11. exd5 Nb8 12. 0-0 Nd7 13. c4 0-0 14. cxb5 axb5 15. Nc2 f5 16. Nb4 Bf6 17. Nc6 Qe8 18. a4 Nc5 19. Be3 Nxa4 20. Qc2 Bd7 21. b3 f4 22. bxa4 fxe3 23. axb5 Rxa1 24. Rxa1 Bg5 25. b6 exf2+ 26. Kh1 Bc8 27. Rf1 Qf7 28. Qe2 e4

29. h4? Clearly not 29. Bxe4?? on account of 29. ... Bh3−+ winning heavy material. However, Nepomniachtchi misses his only chance to stay in the game with 29. Qxe4! Ba6! (not 29. ... Re8? because of 30. Rxf2! turning the tables) 30. Qe6 Bxf1 31. Bxf1 and White’s powerful Knight on c6 and the passed b-Pawn provide excellent compensation for the Exchange. 29. ... e3!−+ 30. hxg5 Re8! The elegant pointe. Black was perhaps hoping for 30. ... Ba6? 31. g6!∞ (but not 31. Qxa6?? because of 31. ... Qh5+ and mate next move). 31. Kh2 Bg4! As a last act of White’s drama, Black unblocks his e-Pawn just to queen in a few moves. 32. Qxg4 e2 33. b7 Qxb7 34. Rxf2 e1=Q 35. Qf5 Qe3 36. Rf3 Qe2 37. Nd4 Qe5 38. Qg4 Qbxd5 39. Nf5 Qde6 40. Qh5 Qg6 41. Qg4 h5 42. Qc4+ d5 43. Qb5 Qxg5 44. Qd7 h4 45. Rf1 hxg3+ 46. Kg1 g6 47. Bxd5+ Kh8 0 : 1.

Ian Alexandrovich Nepomniachtchi vs. Magnus Carlsen. Photo © Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour.

Neocolonialism

Magnus Carlsen (@MagnusCarlsen)