The Ninth Gate

Magnus Carlsen – Vincent Keymer

9th GRENKE Chess Festival; Freestyle Open; time control: 90 minutes plus 30 seconds per move; Karlsruhe, April 21, 2025

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Position #140

1. d4 d5 2. Nb3 f6 3. Nc5 Nd6 4. h4 a5 5. Bh2 b6 6. Ncd3 c5 7. c3 c4 8. Nf4 b5 9. f3 e5 10. dxe5 fxe5 11. Nxd5 Qxh4 12. g4 Ba7

Mutatis mutandis, Black is threatening scholar’s mate.
13. e3! Qh6! 14. Kg2 Qe6 15. e4 Nc7 16. Nc2 0-0-0 17. Nce3

With his last move Carlsen has offered a Queen sacrifice, but it is best for Keymer to decline it: 17. ... Bxe3 18. Nxe3 Nxe4? 19. Bxe4! Rxd1 20. Rcxd1 g6 21. Nf5! eventually followed by the Rook’s invasion at d6.
17. ... Qe8 18. Qe2 Nxd5 19. Nxd5 h5 20. Bg3 Be6 21. g5 Rd7 22. Rcd1

22. ... h4!? With almost no time left Black opts for a brilliant active defence — implying a Pawn sacrifice — which, in practical terms, cannot but be doomed to failure.
23. Bxh4 Qd8. The corollary of his previous move. Now the threat is ... Rh8xh4.
24. Qe1 Rh5 25. Qg3 Nf5?? Inevitably, with a few seconds on the clock, here comes the blunder of blunders.
26. exf5 Rxd5 27. Rxd5 Bxd5 28. Qg4 Bf7 29. g6 Qd2+ 30. Kh3 Rxh4+ 31. Qxh4 Bd5 32. Be4 Bxe4 33. Qxe4 Qh6+ 34. Kg2 Qg5+ 35. Qg4 Qd2+ 36. Kg3 Kc7 37. f6 Bf2+ 38. Kh3 Bc5 39. fxg7 Qh6+ 40. Kg2 Qd2+ 41. Kg3 1–0.

In the Cage

Étienne Bacrot – Magnus Carlsen

9th GRENKE Chess Festival; Freestyle Open; time control: 90 minutes plus 30 seconds per move; Karlsruhe, April 19, 2025

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Position #302

1. d4 d5 2. Ng3 0-0-0 3. 0-0-0 f6 4. e4 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Ng6 6. Nbc3 e5 7. dxe5 Rxd1+ 8. Rxd1 Nxe5 9. f4 Nc4. More prudent was to retreat to d7.

10. a4. Much stronger appears to be 10. Be2! (threatening the check at g4), for after 10. ... f5 11. Bc5! fxe4 12. Bxf8 Black cannot safely retake on account of the Bishop checking at g4.
10. ... b6 11. g3 f5 12. Bh3 Rxe4 13. Bxf5+ Re6 14. Qa2 Qc6 15. Nb5 Kb7 16. Nd4 Qd5 17. Bxe6 Bxe6

18. b3?? A sucidal move, which literally buries the White Queen behind its own Pawns. Simply 18. Nxe6 Qxe6 20. Qb3 would leave White with a not too comfortable but sufficiently tenable position.
18. ... Ba3+! 19. Kb1 Qh5! 20. Rd3

20. ... Qh3! 21. Rd1 Nd2+ 22. Ka1 Bb4 23. Qb2 Bg4 24. Rc1 Nf3 25. Nxf3 Bxf3 26. Qxg7 Nc6 27. Kb2 Bd2 28. Ra1 Qg2 29. Bd4 Be4 30. Bc3 Be3 0–1.

The End of the Beginning

Magnus Carlsen – Hikaru Nakamura

1st Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour; second leg; Stage 2: Knockout; Final match game 1; time control: 90 minutes plus 30 seconds per move; Paris, April 13, 2025

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Position #103

1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Nf3 e5 4. b4!? Contemporary Romanticism.

4. ... Nxb4 (4. ... cxb4 5. Nd5 d6 6. d4!↑)
5. Nxe5 g6 6. d4 0-0. On 6. ... cxd4 7. Bh6+ would be annoying.
7. Ng4! Bg7. Black has not an easy time as White’s initiative can easily take the lead after either 7. ... h5 8. Nh6+ Kh7 9. g4! or 7. ... cxd4 8. Nh6+ Kg7 9. Nb5 or 7. ... Bxd4 8. Rxd4! cxd4 9. Nb5 (9. Nd5).
8. dxc5 d5! 9. Nh6+ Kh8 10. g4 Be6 11. cxd5 Nxd5 12. Bxd5 Bxd5 13. Bb2 Be6 14. g5 Rxd1+ 15. Qxd1 Qc8 16. Rg3 Qxc5 17. Ne4 Qd5 18. Qxd5 Bxd5 19. Nf6 (19. Nc3!? Bxa2 20. Ba3)
19. ... Bxa2 20. Ra3 Be6 21. Rxa7 Nd6 22. f3 Rc8 23. Be5 Nf5 24. Nxf5 Bxf5 25. Rxb7 Be6 26. Rb4 Bxf6 27. Bxf6+ Kg8 28. Kf2 Rc5 29. Kg3 h6 30. gxh6 Kh7 31. Bg7 g5

32. e4? Carlsen has kept all power in his own hands so far, but his last move was a bit too impulsive and could cost him dearly. More consistent was 32. Re4! Rc4 33. Re5 Kg6 34. e4 with a crushing advantage.
32. ... f5! 33. Rb7 f4+ 34. Kf2 Rc2+ 35. Ke1

35. ... Ba2?? A tragic oversight that loses at once. Simply 35. ... Rxh2! 37. Bf8+ Kg8 would leave White empty-handed.
36. Bf8+ 1–0. What a difference can one tempo make! Idem to say: 36. ... Kg8 37. h7+ Kh8 38. Bd6 or 36. ... Kg6 37. Rg7+ Kf6 38. h4! or 36. ... Kh8 37. Be7 Rxh2 38. Bxg5 winning in all cases.

The Last First Time

Magnus Carlsen – Fabiano Caruana

1st Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour; second leg; Stage 2: Knockout; Semifinal match game 2; time control: 90 minutes plus 30 seconds per move; Paris, April 12, 2025

qbbnnrkr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/QBBNNRKR w HFhf - 0 1

Position #4

1. c4 c5 2. b3 b6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Qxd4 Ne6 5. Qd2 Nf6 6. Ne3 Re8 7. Bb2 Bb7 8. f3 Bf4?! The Black dark-squared Bishop goes from the a-side to the h-side looking for something to target, but the whole journey takes a little too much time. 8. ... d5! seems a more direct way to equilibrium.
9. g3 Bh6 10. N1g2 g6. Finally, fianchettoing the Bishop.

11. h4! Qb8 12. g4 Bg7 13. h5 Bh6. Otherwise there follows h5-h6.
14. 0-0-0 Bg5 15. Bc2 Nf4 16. Nxf4 Qxf4 17. Nf1 Qxd2+ 18. Nxd2 e5 19. Kb1 Re6

20. h6! Keeping Black bottled up.
20. ... 0-0 21. e4 d6 22. b4 Nd7 23. Ka1 Rc8 24. Bb3 Rf6

It’s finally time to break through:
25. c5! Ba6. Both 26. ... bxc5 and 26. ... dxc5 would be met by 27. Nc4 with prompt invasion by the Knight.
26. Bc4 Nb8? Black was already very short of time, and inevitably committed mistakes. Here 26. ... Bb7! was called for, so as to reply to 27. Bb3 with 27. ... Ba6, offering to repeat moves.
27. b5! Rxc5 28. bxa6 Bxd2 29. Rxd2 Rxc4 30. Bxe5! Re6. The Bishop is obviously taboo because of the back rank mate at d8.
31. Bxd6 Nxa6

32. Bb8!? The simple doubling of the Rooks, with 32. Rhd1, should suffice, but Carlsen is irresistibly tempted by the tricky text move, which fell like a thundernbolt on Caruana.
32. ... Re8? The cool 32. ... Kf8!! would hold everything together, for if 33. Bxa7 Black can reply with 33. ... Rc7 without fear of being checkmated.
33. Bxa7 b5 34. Bd4 Nc7 35. Bf6 Ne6 36. Rhd1 Ra4 37. Rd3 g5 38. R1d2 b4 39. Kb1 Rea8 40. Be7 Re8 41. Bf6 Rea8 42. Rb2 R4a6 43. Rdb3 Nf8 44. Bxg5 1–0.

Channel Tunnel

Fabiano Caruana – Maxime Vachier-Lagrave

1st Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour; second leg; Stage 2: Knockout; Quarterfinal match game 2; time control: 90 minutes plus 30 seconds per move; Paris, April 10, 2025

nnrbbkqr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/NNRBBKQR w HChc - 0 1

Position #73

1. c4 c5 2. f4 d6 3. d3 f5 4. Nc3 e6 5. Nc2 Qf7 6. Qf2 0-0 7. 0-0 Nc6 8. e3 Nc7 9. d4

9. ... g5!? A hasty, wild advance, lacking the background of a sound development. It brings to mind an evocative hologram of the ghost of Morphy in Paris: 1. a3 e5 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e3 Be6 6. Nf3 Bd6 7. Be2 0-0 8. d4 Nxc3 9. bxc3 e4 10. Nd2 f5 11. f4 g5!? (Anderssen – P. C. Morphy, Paris 1858, match game 6).
10. Bd2 Qg7 11. Nb5 Nxb5 12. cxb5 Ne7 13. dxc5 dxc5 14. Bc3 Qg6 15. a4 Nd5 16. Be5 a6 17. bxa6 bxa6 18. Na3

18. ... Nf6? Finally, Black gets wrapped up in his own developmental scheme. Here 18. ... Bc6 19. Nc4 Be7 was to be preferred, although 20. b3!⩲ would have given Black reason enough to regret his 9th move.
19. Nc4 Be7 20. Bf3 gxf4. 20. ... g4 21. Bb7 Rd8 22. Bc7 would be a triumph of White’s Bishop pair.
21. exf4 Rd8 22. b3 Ne4 23. Qe2 Bc6 24. Bc7

24. ... Bf6. A desperate Exchange sacrifice, trying to delay the inevitable. If 24. ... Rd4 then 25. Ne5 Qe8 26. Nxc6 Qxc6 27. Be5 Rb4 28. Rc4! Rxc4 (28. ... Rxb3? 29. Rxe4!+−) 29. bxc4 with an imposing position for White.
25. Bxe4 Bxe4 26. Bxd8 Rxd8 27. Ne5 Bxe5 28. fxe5 Kh8 29. Rxc5 Qg5 30. Rc3 Qg7 31. Rfc1 Qb7 32. Qf2 1–0. An iron fist in a velvet glove.

Caruana showed a deep understanding of how Fischerandom chess works. Photo: Stev Bonhage/Freestyle Chess.

The Raft of the Medusa

Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa – Fabiano Caruana

1st Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour; second leg; Stage 1: Rapid Round Robin; time control: 10 minutes plus 5 seconds per move; Paris, April 8, 2025

rnkrbnqb/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNKRBNQB w DAda - 0 1

Position #667

1. f4 d5 2. g4 g5 3. f5 d4 4. a4 a5 5. Na3 Bc6. If 5. ... Bxa4 then 6. Nc4 recovering the Pawn with a good game.
6. Bg3 Nfd7 7. Nb5 Be5! 8. Ra3 Qg7 9. c3

9. ... d3! Enterprising play. If, instead, 9. ... dxc3 then White can play 10. Rxc3! offering the Exchange for the initiative.
10. exd3 Bxh1 11. Qxh1 c6 12. d4! An interesting positional sacrifice. The alternative was 12. Nd4 Bxd4 13. cxd4 Qxd4 14. Qe4 Qxe4 15. dxe4 Nf6 with at least equality for Black.
12. ... Bxg3 13. Nxg3 cxb5 14. axb5 Nf6 15. Re1 Nbd7

16. Qf3. After 16. c4 a picturesque variation would be 16. ... Nxg4 17. Rxe7 Qxd4 18. Re4 Qh8 19. Rxg4 Nf6 20. Rxg5 h6 (the White Rook is trapped, but...) 21. Qg1! hxg5 22. Qc5+ Kb8 23. Qe5+ with a draw by perpetual check.
16. ... 0-0 17. Rxe7 b6 18. Qc6 Rac8 19. Qd6 Rcd8

20. Kc2? (20. Nh5! Nxh5 21. Rxd7⩲)
20. ... Rfe8 21. Rxe8+ Nxe8 22. Qc6 (22. Qe7 Qf6)
22. ... Nef6 23. Ra4 (23. h3 Qf8)
23. ... Qf8 24. Rc4 Qe7 (24. ... Nxg4! 25. Ne4 Qe7∓)
25. Qf3? White’s last chance was 25. Nh5! Nxh5 (25. ... Nxg4 26. Qg2!) 26. gxh5 h6 with a near balanced situation.
25. ... Qd6 26. Rc6? 26. h3 Qf4 wasn’t pleasant at all, but better than the text.
26. ... Qf4 27. Qd3?! The attempt to complicate matters by not exchanging Queens ends in disaster for White, but also after 27. Qxf4 gxf4 28. Nf1 Nxg4 Black should not have too much trouble converting.
27. ... Qxg4 28. Qc4 h5 29. Kb3 h4 30. Nf1 Qf4 31. Qe2 Re8 32. Ne3 g4 33. Qc4 g3 34. hxg3 hxg3 35. Rc7 Nc5+ 36. dxc5 Qxc7 37. Qh4 Qe5 38. Qg5+ Kf8 39. Qh6+ Ke7 40. d4 Qe4 41. c6 g2 42. Nxg2 Qxg2 43. Qf4 Kf8 44. c4 Qe4 45. Qxe4 Nxe4 46. c5 bxc5 47. dxc5 Nxc5+ 48. Kc4 Na4 49. b3 Ke7 50. bxa4 Kd6 0–1.

Unfinished

Magnus Carlsen – Fabiano Caruana

1st Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour; second leg; Stage 1: Rapid Round Robin; time control: 10 minutes plus 5 seconds per move; Paris, April 7, 2025

rknnqrbb/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RKNNQRBB w FAfa - 0 1

Position #751

1. f4 f5 2. g3 g6 3. a4 a5 4. Nc3 Nd6 5. d4 Nc6 6. e3 Bc4 7. Rf2 Nb4 8. b3 Be6 9. Rd2 Qf7. The opening turned out well for Caruana, who is going to castle a-side with fine play.
10. Nd3 Nxd3 11. Rxd3 c6 12. e4 fxe4 13. Nxe4 Nxe4 14. Bxe4 0-0! 15. 0-0-0! Of course, the heterogeneous castling is strategically sound and tactically challenging!
15. ... Bg4 16. R1d2 e6 17. Rc3 Qe7 18. Kb2 Rab8 19. Bg2 Bf5 20. h3

20. ... g5!? Black does not hesitate to give up a Pawn in order to keep the Bishop in the diagonal.
21. g4 Bg6 22. fxg5? A very hot Pawn. Within a couple of moves, Black’s attack unleashes all its potential. 22. f5! was called for.
22. ... b5! 23. Bh2

23. ... bxa4!! 24. Bxb8 Rxb8 25. h4? And Carlsen continues to play with fire. 25. Rc4! axb3 26. c3! was now the only way to survive.
25. ... Qb4! With the manifest threat of ... a4-a3+.
26. Qg3

26. ... c5? A spontaneous mistake! The right break was 26. ... e5! (27. dxe5 Re8), in fact preventing White’s next move.
27. Rc4! Qb6. Not 27. ... Qxd2 by reason of 28. Qxb8+ Kg7 29. Qe5+ Kg8 30. Qxc5 with overwhelming advantage.
28. h5 axb3 29. cxb3 Bf7? And, finally, Caruana comes to his cupio dissolvi. Correct was 29. ... Be8! 30. Rxc5 Bxd4+ 31. Rxd4 Qxc5 still holding everything together.
30. Rxc5 e5. Now the line as above does not work because of Black’s Rook en prise with check.
31. Bd5 Bxd5 32. Rxd5 exd4 33. Qd3 a4 34. b4 Qxb4+ 35. Ka2 Bg7 36. Rxd7 Qb3+ 37. Qxb3+ axb3+ 38. Kb1 Re8 39. Kb2 Re5 40. Rf2 d3 41. Kxb3 1–0.

However, it wasn’t the chance that brought together two archrivals in a highly creative chess challenge. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Freestyle Chess.

King Ludwig’s Castle

Among the Lesser Gods

Magnus Carlsen – Javokhir Sindarov

1st Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour; first leg; Stage 2: Knockout; Third-place Final match game 2; time control: 90 minutes plus 30 seconds per move; Wangels, February 14, 2025

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Position #909

1. d4 d6 2. e4 e5 3. d5 f5 4. f3 f4 5. c4 c5 (5. ... c6 6. Nf2 Nd7 7. Nd2⩲)
6. Nf2 Ba5 7. Nd2 Nd7 8. Nd3 Qc7 9. a3 Bxd2 10. Qxd2 Bf7 11. g3 g5 12. b4 b6 13. Ba4

13. ... 0-0 (13. ... 0-0-0? 14. Bb5! Δ a3-a4-a5→)
14. h4 Bg6 15. gxf4 gxf4 16. Qg2 Nf6 17. Bc6 Rab8 18. Ka2 Nf7 19. Rab1 Kh8 20. Rb3 Nd8 21. Bb5 Bh5 22. Qb2 cxb4? (22. ... Bxf3 23. Nxe5 dxe5 24. Rxf3 Ng4 25. h5⩲)

23. Nxf4! a6 (23. ... exf4 24. Bd4+−)
24. Bxa6 Ra8 25. Bb5 Rxa3+ 26. Rxa3 bxa3 27. Qc3 Be8 28. Bxe8 Nxe8 29. Ne2 Nf6 30. Rb1 Nd7 31. f4 Nb7

32. Nd4! Ndc5 (32. ... exd4 33. Bxd4+ Kg8 34. e5+−)
33. fxe5 dxe5 34. Ne6 Nxe6 35. Bxb6 Qd6 36. dxe6 Nc5 37. Bxc5 Qxc5 38. Rb5 Rf2+ 39. Ka1 Rf1+ 40. Rb1 Rf8 (40... Rxb1+ 41. Kxb1 Kg7 42. Qd2 Qb6+ 43. Ka2 Qxe6 44. Qd5+−)
41. h5 Kg7 42. Rb7+ 1–0.

Meaningful Coincidences

Bollywood Express

Why and Because

A Day Without a Yesterday

Vincent Keymer – Fabiano Caruana

1st Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour; first leg; Stage 2: Knockout; Final match game 1; time control: 90 minutes plus 30 seconds per move; Wangels, February 13, 2025

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Position #866

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3. “Keymer has the option 2. e4 e5 3. f4!? now, idea 3. ... exf4 4. e5 Ng4 5. Qf5 Nh6 6. Qg5+ Re7 7 Nh3”, Magnus Carlsen’s alter ego, Peter Heine Nielsen, noted.
2. ... b6 3. b4 c5 4. Be5 d6 5. Bxf6 exf6 6. Qxh7 Ng6 7. e3 cxb4 8. Be2

8. ... Rc5?! A very artificial manoeuvre, which will not give the desired fruits. 8. ... Ne5 9. d4 Nxf3 10. gxf3 Qb7 11. d5 g6∞ was a much better way of making the day’s pay.
9. Ng3 Qc7 10. d4 Ra5 11. Rc2 Bc6 12. 0-0

12. ... Ra3? Should be the losing move. Black had to hurry with 12. ... f5! so as to reply to 13. h4 with 13. ... f4.
13. h4! Ba4. It is late now for 13. ... f5 on account of 14. Ng5! with overwhelming effect.
14. Rcc1 a5 15. h5 Ne7 16. d5 Rxa2 17. Nd4 Qd7 18. Ra1 Rd2

19. h6! gxh6 20. Bh5 Rxd4!? A desperate attempt, for if 20. ... Nc8 then 21. Nge2 with a dominating position.
21. exd4 Bb3 22. Qd3 a4 23. Rfb1 Nc8 24. Nf1 b5 25. cxb5 Qc7 26. Ne3 Nb6 27. Rc1 Qb7 28. Bf3 f5 29. Qxf5 Bg7 30. Qf4 Bf8 31. Rc6 a3 32. Rxd6+ Nd7 33. Ra6 1–0.

Any speculation about how Caruana and Keymer will spend Valentine’s Day is academic. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Freestyle Chess.

The Long Afternoon

Javokhir Sindarov – Fabiano Caruana

1st Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour; first leg; Stage 2: Knockout; Semifinal tie-break game 5 (Armageddon); time control: 5 minutes; Wangels, February 12, 2025

rbbqnknr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RBBQNKNR w HAha - 0 1

Position #500

1. c4 d5 2. cxd5 Qxd5 3. Ngf3 c5 4. Nc2 Ngf6 5. Ne3 Qd8 6. 0-0 0-0 7. b3 b6 8. Bb2 Bb7 9. d4 cxd4 10. Qxd4 Qxd4 11. Nxd4 Nd6 12. Bd3 Nde4 13. Nef5 e6 14. Ne7+ Kh8 15. Rac1 Nc5 16. Bc2 Bd6 17. Nec6 Rfc8

18. Nb4? In an Armageddon White can afford no other outcome than victory, which may justify Sindarov’s off-the-rails conduct. From a purely objective position, however, he should have played 18. b4! Bxc6 19. bxc5 with a possible balance.
18. ... Nxb3! 19. Bxb3 Bxb4 20. Nb5 Bc5 21. Be5 Rd8 22. e3 a6

23. Nc7? Jumping straight into a dead end. If anything, after 23. Rxc5! bxc5 24. Nd6 Rd7 25. Ba4 White regains the Exchange with still a way to go and impossible hopes.
23. ... Rac8 24. Bc4 Nd7 25. Bg3 b5 26. Nxe6!? A desperate gamble.
26. ... fxe6 27. Bxe6 Bb6 28. Rxc8 Bxc8 29. Rd1

30. ... Re8! 30. Rd6. Or 30. Bxd7 Rd8 winning.
30. ... Nf8 31. Bxc8 Rxc8 32. Kf1 Bc5 33. Rxa6 Kg8 34. Ke2 b4 35. Be5 Be7 36. Kd3 Nd7 0–1.

Deep Blues

Vincent Keymer – Magnus Carlsen

1st Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour; first leg; Stage 2: Knockout; Semifinal match game 1; time control: 90 minutes plus 30 seconds per move; Wangels, February 11, 2025

nbrkbrqn/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/NBRKBRQN w FCfc - 0 1

Position #360

1. g4 Ng6 2. Nb3 e5 3. Ng3 f6 4. c4 0-0-0. Carlsen took to the confession booth to critique his own development strategy, complaining that it had turned Black’s game into a struggle for survival.
5. d4 Nb6 (5. ... exd4 6. f4⩲/±)
6. d5 d6 7. Bf5+ Bd7 8. f3 a6 9. e4 Nf4 10. Bxd7+ Rxd7 11. Kc2!? White offers a Pawn and the Exchange (11. ... Nxc4 12. Kc1 Nh3 13. Qh1 Ne3 14. Bd2) for the sake of the initiative.
11. ... Ba7 12. Bd2 Kb8 13. Be3 Nh3 14. Qg2 Nf4 15. Qf2 h5 16. Rfd1 hxg4 17. fxg4 Nc8 18. c5 dxc5 19. Bxc5 g6 20. Bxa7+ Nxa7 21. Kb1 Qh7 22. Nc5 Rd6 23. Ne2 Nxe2 24. Qxe2 Nb5 25. Qc4 Rc8 26. a4 Nd4

27. g5! Keymer throws fuel on the fire, compelling Carlsen to think long and hard about each move.
27. ... Rcd8 (27. ... fxg5!? 28. Rxd4! exd4 29. e5 Ka8!! 30. Qxd4 Rdd8 31. Qb4 Rb8∞)
28. gxf6 Rxf6 29. Rf1 Rb6 30. Rf2 g5 31. Ka2 Ka7 32. Rcf1

Carlsen defended well so far, but now the clock tells its own story.
32. ... g4? (32. ... Rc8 33. Rf7 Qxh2 34. R1f2 Qh3∞)
33. Qc3? (33. Rf7! Qxh2 34. R1f2 Qh6 35. Rxc7+−)
33. ... Nf3 34. Rg2 Rg8 35. Rff2 Rd6 36. Qe3 Ka8 37. Ne6 c6? An oversight in time trouble.

38. Qa3! Rxe6. 38. ... Rd7 39. Nf8 loses material by a Knight fork.
39. dxe6 Rc8? 1–0. The g4-Pawn also falls and Carlsen has had enough of it.

A Castle for Dragons

Fabiano Caruana – Dommaraju Gukesh

1st Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour; first leg; Stage 2: Knockout; Quarterfinal match game 2; time control: 90 minutes plus 30 seconds per move; Wangels, February 10, 2025

nrknqbbr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/NRKNQBBR w HBhb - 0 1

Position #270

1. Nb3 Nb6 2. e4 e5 3. f3 Nc6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4

5. ... f5!? 6. Nxf5 g6? A definite mistake, which loses a Pawn. Black should play at once 6. ... Bxa2, for after 7. Ra1 Be6 8. Nd4 a6 9. Nxc6 dxc6 his game would be tenable.
7. Nd4 Bxa2 8. Ra1 Be6 9. Nxc6 dxc6 10. Rxa7 Qe7 11. Qa5 Bh6+ 12. Be3 Bxe3+ 13. Nxe3 0-0 14. Qc3 Ra8 15. Rxa8 Rxa8 16. b3 Qg5 17. Be2 c5

Black is desperately searching for an opening for counterattack, but the White King cruelly jumps onto the other side of the board!
18. 0-0! 1–0. Black has a Pawn less and a disconsolate position — that’s enough for Gukesh to resign.