Homœopathy

Samuel L. Shankland – Fabiano Caruana
62th U.S. Chess Championship; Saint Louis, April 22, 2018
Queen’s Gambit Accepted D27

1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Bxc4 c5 6. 0-0 a6 7. a4 cxd4 8. exd4 g6?! A new but not particularly impressive idea. For 8. ... Nc6 9. Nc3 Be7 10. Re1 0-0 11. h4 Nb4 12. Ne5 Nc6 13. Be3 Qc7 take a look at Jobava – Ivanchuk, 38th Chess Olympiad, Dresden 2008. Just crazy stuff. 9. Nc3 Bg7

10. d5! exd5 11. Re1+ Be6 12. Nxd5 Nxd5 13. Bxd5 0-0 14. Bxe6 fxe6 15. Qe2. Thus White wins a Pawn. Therefore, the most Caruana can hope to obtain from his theoretical novelty is hopefully to be a 2 vs. 3 Pawns on the same side Rook and Knight or Rook endgame. After his endgame technique display in the previous round’s game against Zviad Izoria, maybe he thought this was the best way to raise his own mood. 15. ... Qd5 16. Rd1 Qf5 17. Ng5 Nc6 18. Qxe6+ Kh8 19. Qxf5 Rxf5 20. Ne6 Be5 21. Be3 Re8 22. Nc5 Bf4 23. Bxf4 Rxf4 24. f3 Rb4 25. Rd2 Re7 26. Kf1 a5 27. Re1 Rxe1+ 28. Kxe1 Kg8 29. b3 b6 30. Rd6 Ne7 31. Nd7 Rxb3 32. Rxb6 Ra3 33. Nc5 Ra2 34. Re6 Nd5 35. Re2 Ra1+ 36. Kf2 Nc3 37. Re8+ Kf7 38. Ra8 Ra2+ 39. Kg3 g5 40. Kg4. 40. Kh3 Ne2 41. Kg4 (41. Rxa5 h5!=) 41. ... Nd4 42. g3 Rxh2 43. Rxa5 h5+ 44. Kxg5 Nxf3+. 45. Kf4 Nd4 should hold for Black anyway. 40. ... Rxg2+ 41. Kf5 Rxh2. 41. ... Nd5! 42. Ra7+ Ne7+ 43. Ke5 Rd2! is another drawing line spotted by computer analysis. 42. Ra7+ Ke8 43. Rxa5 Rf2 44. Kxg5 ½ : ½.

Samuel L. Shankland (right) vs. Fabiano Caruana (left). Photo: Lennart Ootes/Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis (@STLChessClub).

Live Another Day

Samuel L. Shankland – Wesley So
61th U.S. Chess Championship; Saint Louis, March 30, 2017
Spanish Game C67

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. 0-0 Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6. Nxe5 Be7 7. Bf1 Nf5 8. Nf3 0-0 9. d4 d5 10. c3 Bd6 11. Bd3 Re8 12. Rxe8+ Qxe8 13. Qc2 Nce7 14. Nbd2 f6. Similar consequences arise from 14. ... c6 15. Nf1 f6 16. Ng3 g6 17. Bd2 Qf7 18. Re1 Ng7 19. h3 Bxg3 20. fxg3 Bf5 21. Bxf5 Nexf5 22. g4 Nd6 23. g5 Re8 24. gxf6 Rxe1+ 25. Bxe1 Qxf6 26. Bg3 Ngf5 27. Be5 Qe7 28. Qe2 Ng3 29. Qc2 Ngf5 30. Qe2 Ng3 ½ : ½ Robson – Nakamura, 60th U.S. Chess Championship, Saint Louis 2016. 15. Nf1 g6 16. Bd2 Be6!? A new half move. For 16. ... b6 17. Re1 c5 see Shomoev – Pridorozhni, 38th Nezhmetdinov Memorial, Kazan 2016. 17. Re1 Qd7 18. Ng3 Ng7 19. Nh4 c6 20. Bh6 Re8 21. Re3 Kf7 22. Kf1 Bxg3 23. hxg3 Ngf5 24. Nxf5 Nxf5. 24. ... Bxf5 might be better from a strategic viewpoint, but hardly implementable. 25. Bxf5 Bxf5 26. Qe2 Rg8 27. f3 g5 28. g4 Bb1

29. Qd1! Bxa2 30. Kf2! After b2-b3 both Bishops would be trapped, and very likely that was another way to draw. However, Shankland did it much more neatly (and prettily as well). 30. ... Rg6 31. Qh1! Intending Bh6xg5 followed by Qh1xh7+ with a perpetual check. 31. ... Qd6. Alternatively, 31. ... Kg8 32. Qe1! Rxh6 33. Re7 Qd6 34. Re6 Qd7 35. Re7 draws by repetition. 32. g3 Qd7. Now Black cannot avoid perpetual check: 33. Bxg5 Rxg5 34. Qxh7+ Rg7 35. Qh5+ Rg6 36. Qh7+ Rg7 37. Qh5+ ½ : ½. Wesley lived another day, thus compiling a 58-game unbeaten streak.

Samuel L. Shankland vs. Wesley So
Photo: Lennart Ootes (Flickr)

Moonstruck

Fabiano Caruana – Samuel Shankland
60th U.S. Chess Championship; Saint Louis, April 15, 2016
French Defence C18

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 Ne7 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 c5 7. Qg4 0-0 8. Bd3 Nbc6 9. Qh5 Ng6 10. Nh3 Qc7 11. Be3 c4 12. Bxg6 fxg6 13. Qg4. Fabi’s New Deal. The old try was 13. Qh4 b5 14. 0-0 Bd7 15. f3 a5 16. Bd2 Qb6 17. Kh1 b4 18. Rfb1 b3 19. a4 Rfb8 20. cxb3 cxb3 21. Rb2 Qa6 22. Ng5 h6 23. Nh3 g5 24. Qg4 Rb7 25. f4 Rf8 26. Kg1 Qc4 27. fxg5 Nxe5 28. Qg3 Nd3 29. gxh6 Bxa4 30. Rbb1 Bb5 31. Qd6 Qc6 32. h7+ 1 : 0 Stefánsson – Psakhis, 3rd International Tournament, Torshavn 2000. 13. ... Qf7 14. Nf4 Ne7 15. h4 h6 16. Qe2 Bd7 17. g4 b5 18. f3 a5 19. Kf2 Rab8 20. Kg3 Be8 21. Bd2 b4? “A terrible positional blunder by Shankland. He should have stayed put and wait for Caruana to make a statement on the Kingside before opening on the Queenside. Now White gets the best out of both worlds, a comfortable space advantage on the Kingside and an avenue to infiltrate on the Queenside. Black is starting to have serious problems. 21. ... Bd7 22. Rab1 Rfc8 no side can make significant advances and the game should end in a draw”, Grandmaster Cristian Chirila wrote. 22. axb4 axb4 23. Rhb1 Nc6 24. Qe3 b3 25. Bc1! Bd7 26. Ba3 bxc2 27. Rc1 Rfc8 28. Rxc2 Ra8 29. Rca2 Be8 30. Bd6. Black must survive in cramped spaces, and furthemore his Queenside position appears very vulnerable. 30. ... Rxa2 31. Rxa2 Qd7 32. Qc1 Bf7 33. Qb1 Qe8 34. Qb7 Kh7 35. Ra6 Kg8 36. Bc7 Ne7 37. Bd6 Nc6 38. Kg2 Kh7 39. Kh3 Kg8 40. Kg3 Kh7 41. Nh3 Kg8 42. g5 h5

43. Nf4! Fabiano finds the way. Sam is completely helpless against White Knight’s long march Nf4-g2-e3-c3-a3-b5-c7. 43. ... Kh7 44. Ng2 Bg8 45. Ne3 Bf7 46. Nc2 Bg8 47. Na3 Bf7 48. Kf2 Bg8 49. Ke3? The only flaw in an otherwise unimpeachable game. 49. ... Bf7? “49. ... Qf7!! 50. Qxc8 (50. Qxf7 Bxf7 51. Nb5 Be8 52. Nc7) 50. ... Qf5 with a perpetual”, recommends Chirila. 50. Kd2 Bg8 51. Kc2 Bf7 52. Kc1 Kg8 53. Nb5 Ne7 54. Na7 1 : 0. Great show by Caruana!

Fabiano Caruana
Photo by Spectrum Studios