Games
[Event "2018 World Championship"] [Site "London"] [Date "2018.11.09"] [Round "1"] [White "Fabiano Caruana"] [Black "Magnus Carlsen"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B31"] [Annotator "samsh"] [PlyCount "229"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2018.11.09"] {Greetings to all! This is Sam Shankland, and I'll be annotating most of the games of the World Championship match here for chess.com. I was on Magnus Carlsen's team for his previous matches, but this one I have no role in whatsoever, so I can speak much more freely as a full spectator without any inside information. I was pleased to see that the first game featured some real fighting chess, and hope this trend continues in the upcoming games.} 1. e4 c5 {The first surprise. Caruana is mostly a 1.e4 player, but the Sicilian is a rare guest in Carlsen's repertoire.} 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 {White avoids the mainlines of the Open Sicilian that might arise after 3.d4. Nowadays at the top level, the Rossolimo is as good a chance to fight for an edge as any of White's other tries.} g6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. d3 Bg7 6. h3 Nf6 7. Nc3 Nd7 { Presumably an improvement over their previous encounter from some years ago.} ( 7... b6 {Magnus chose this move in a game against Caruana back in 2015. He won very nicely, but the opening could have gone a lot worse.} 8. Be3 e5 {And now instead of castling, Caruana could have more less won the game with} 9. Nxe5 $1 Nxe4 {When the silenr respite} 10. Qf3 $1 {Is a serious problem for Black to deal with}) 8. Be3 e5 9. O-O (9. Qd2 {White can also consider remaining flexible with the king. Sometimes it might want to go to the queenside.}) 9... b6 $1 {I like this idea. Black prepares for Nf8-e6 before castling.} 10. Nh2 Nf8 {White more or less has to play f4 now- otherwise he will never manage once Black has played Ne6.} 11. f4 exf4 12. Rxf4 Be6 $5 {This was the first seriously notable moment of the game. I was very surprised Black would not want to put the knight on e6, but Carlsen had other ideas. His plan will be to play h6, g5, and Ng6. Then, depending on how White plays, he will castle on which side he feels is best. Around here I joined the live broadcast and said I already would prefer the black side of the position, though White is objectively not worse yet.} 13. Rf2 h6 $1 14. Qd2 {White develops another pieces and pressures the h6 pawn, discouraging black from castling kingside.} ( 14. Nf3 {The machine's proposal doesn't make any sense to me. What does the knight do here? Caruana's choice is much more human and was the move I expected during the game.}) 14... g5 $1 {Another strong move. Black simply prepares to improve his pieces further, gaining space on the kingside and preparing for Ng6.} 15. Raf1 $6 {This was the first moment I really did not like Caruana's choice. While he is certainly not worse yet, it feels wrong to me to keep this square from the knight. It must be said that my computer disagrees with me.} (15. Nf1 {My idea during the broadcast was to try to bring the knight to g3 and f5. This is not a bad idea, but the wrong execution.}) ( 15. Ne2 $5 {Probably this enterprising pawn sacrifice is worth attention. White is ready for c3, Ng3, and Nf5.}) 15... Qd6 16. Ng4 {The computer hates Caruana's move here, but it's very consistent with his previous play. White eyes the squares on the weakened f-file.} O-O-O 17. Nf6 {The knight is well placed, but soon removed.} Nd7 $1 18. Nh5 Be5 $1 {Around here I really thought Magnus would win the first game. White is horribly passive and will face serious issues on the kingside, which should soon open. The position became objectively lost at some point, but Caruana still must be praised for defending this position.} 19. g4 $1 {The first good decision. White stops g5-g4 from Black, and it will not be easy for him to get h6-h5 through.} f6 20. b3 Bf7 21. Nd1 Nf8 $2 {Magnus got a little too creative for his own good. Even without the f6 pawn, his position remains strong, but there was no reason to give White anything for his suffering.} (21... Rhg8 {Looks simplest to me. Black prepares for Bxh5 followed by g5-g4. White faces a long and difficult defense.}) 22. Nxf6 {Now White at least has a pawn for his suffering, though his position soon deteriorated further.} Ne6 23. Nh5 Bxh5 24. gxh5 Nf4 25. Bxf4 gxf4 26. Rg2 $2 {Caruana had made some inaccuracies before to get into a mess, but this was the only decision I really did not understand. Even very strong players make mistakes and this is totally normal, but this particular one is hard to understand. White needed to give the exchange, at which point I might even prefer his position.} (26. Rxf4 $1 Bxf4 27. Qxf4 $44 {White has exchanged off the annoying dark squared bishop, has 2 very solid pawns for the exchange, and most importantly, his miserable knight that ewas dominated by the f4 pawn can come to e3 and then f5. The computer screams equal but I think any human would prefer the white side.}) 26... Rhg8 27. Qe2 Rxg2+ 28. Qxg2 Qe6 $1 { A high class move. Black will soon seize the g-file with Rg8.} 29. Nf2 Rg8 30. Ng4 Qe8 $1 {Now White is in really bad shape. If he could save the h5-pawn he would probably be better, but once it is captured, h6-h5 will boot yhe g4-knight off its post and the g-file will open. In addition to the position to being objectively bad, it is much harder for White to play than for Black.} 31. Qf3 Qxh5 32. Kf2 Bc7 33. Ke2 $2 {It's hard to criticize Caruana since his position was just difficult, but this was not best.} (33. e5 Kb7 34. Nf6 { Offered more saving chances, but it is very hard to play like a machine all the time.} Qh4+ 35. Ke2 Rg3 36. Qxf4 Qxf4 37. Rxf4 Bxe5 38. Rf5 Bxf6 39. Rxf6 Rxh3 40. Rf7+ {White should probably hold.}) 33... Qg5 $1 {Simple and strong. h5 is coming, the g-file will open.} 34. Nh2 h5 35. Rf2 {Up to this point Magnus had played quite a good game, though I imagine he will be mad at himself for Nf8. But around here, he started to drift. The move he played is good enough to win, but he missed the most incisive continuation.} Qg1 $2 { The first mistake is the one that makes the win more difficult, not the one that makes it no longer winning.} (35... Qg7 $1 {Black was best advised to invade with his queen on the dark squares. White's position looks beyond saving to me.}) 36. Nf1 {The next few moves were marred by time pressure, but I think Magnus will not see this is a valid excuse for letting White off the hook.} h4 $2 (36... Qg7 $1 {Was again strong}) 37. Kd2 (37. e5 $1 {Would have opened White's queen. It's very hard to do this since it allows Black to make good use of the open e-file, but it was indeed best.} Rg5 38. Nd2 $1 Rxe5+ 39. Ne4 $1 {Blocking the rook again, like it did from g4, but this time there is no pawn thrust to boot the knight away.} Qc1 40. Qxf4 Qxc2+ 41. Qd2 {White is suffering, but has very good defensive chances.}) 37... Kb7 38. c3 Be5 39. Kc2 Qg7 $2 {Paradoxically, the move Magnus needed to play previously now lets White off the hook. The position has changed and now it will not be the queen, but the bishop, that invades the queenside- a much less scary prospect for the first player.} (39... a5 {The best move was b5, but this looked the most human to me. Just make a move, keep the king safe, and wait for time control to find the winning way.} 40. a4 Rg6 {Something like this would allow Black more time to find a breakthrough, and White has no counterplay to worry about.}) (39... b5 {According to the machine, this move wins convicningly. And I don't really understand why. It's a hard move to grasp and almost impossible to find in time pressure.}) 40. Nh2 $1 {Caruana has survived the worst of it and now has more time. The position remains unpleasant, but very defensible.} Bxc3 (40... Qg3 {This might have been a better try, but it's a tough move to play. After} 41. Ng4 {Black must give an exchange with} (41. Qe2 $1 Qxh3 42. Nf3 $1 { Should be preferred. White is worse but hanging in there.}) 41... Rxg4 $1 42. hxg4 h3 43. Qe2 {And apparently this position is good for him, but this is hard for a human to do.}) 41. Qxf4 Bd4 42. Qf7+ $1 Ka6 43. Qxg7 Rxg7 44. Re2 $1 {The e-pawn secures enough counterplay to make a draw.} Rg3 45. Ng4 $1 (45. e5 $2 Bxe5) 45... Rxh3 46. e5 Rf3 47. e6 Rf8 48. e7 Re8 49. Nh6 h3 50. Nf5 Bf6 { The last several moves have been absolutely forced. Now the best Black will ever get is a pawn up rook ending with h3 and e7 trading, which definitely should be a draw.} 51. a3 b5 52. b4 cxb4 53. axb4 Bxe7 54. Nxe7 h2 55. Rxh2 Rxe7 {I think one of Magnus' biggest mistakes of the game was not offering a draw on the spot here. He definitely is not going to win the game, he will be furious with himself for letting the full point slip, and giving him more time to emotionally recover before playing tomorrow probably would have been a better choice than playing on for 50 more moves, hoping for the 0.1% chance of winning to come into fruition.} 56. Rh6 Kb6 57. Kc3 Rd7 58. Rg6 Kc7 59. Rh6 Rd6 60. Rh8 Rg6 61. Ra8 Kb7 62. Rh8 Rg5 63. Rh7+ Kb6 64. Rh6 Rg1 65. Kc2 Rf1 66. Rg6 Rh1 67. Rf6 Rh8 68. Kc3 Ra8 69. d4 Rd8 70. Rh6 Rd7 71. Rg6 Kc7 72. Rg5 Rd6 73. Rg8 Rh6 74. Ra8 Rh3+ 75. Kc2 Ra3 76. Kb2 Ra4 77. Kc3 a6 78. Rh8 Ra3+ 79. Kb2 Rg3 80. Kc2 Rg5 81. Rh6 Rd5 82. Kc3 Rd6 83. Rh8 Rg6 84. Kc2 Kb7 85. Kc3 Rg3+ 86. Kc2 Rg1 87. Rh5 Rg2+ 88. Kc3 Rg3+ 89. Kc2 Rg4 90. Kc3 Kb6 91. Rh6 Rg5 92. Rf6 Rh5 93. Rg6 Rh3+ 94. Kc2 Rh5 95. Kc3 Rd5 96. Rh6 Kc7 97. Rh7+ Rd7 98. Rh5 Rd6 99. Rh8 Rg6 100. Rf8 Rg3+ 101. Kc2 Ra3 102. Rf7+ Kd6 103. Ra7 Kd5 104. Kb2 Rd3 105. Rxa6 Rxd4 106. Kb3 Re4 107. Kc3 Rc4+ 108. Kb3 Kd4 109. Rb6 Kd3 110. Ra6 Rc2 111. Rb6 Rc3+ 112. Kb2 Rc4 113. Kb3 Kd4 114. Ra6 Kd5 115. Ra8 { Both sides are probably unhappy with this game. Caruana for getting pushed around and barely surviving with White in the first game, and Carlsen for letting a full point slip. In general Magnus is the one I might worry about tilting a little more, but I think at least for now, both players will come tomorrow ready to play and having put this first game behind them. I look forward to seeing what may come!} 1/2-1/2 [Event "London ENG"] [Site "London ENG"] [Date "2018.11.09"] [Round "1"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B31"] [WhiteElo "2832"] [BlackElo "2835"] [Annotator "Crowther,Mark"] [PlyCount "229"] [EventDate "2018.11.09"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. d3 Bg7 6. h3 Nf6 7. Nc3 Nd7 (7... O-O) (7... b6) 8. Be3 e5 9. O-O (9. Qd2 {is the more common continuation although both score fairly highly for white.}) 9... b6 10. Nh2 Nf8 11. f4 $146 ({Predecessor:} 11. Qd2 Ne6 12. Bh6 O-O 13. Bxg7 Kxg7 14. Ne2 Qg5 15. f4 exf4 16. Nxf4 Kg8 17. Kh1 Nxf4 18. Rxf4 Be6 19. Raf1 Qh6 20. Qc3 Rad8 21. Rf6 Qh4 22. Qe5 Rde8 23. Qc7 Bf5 24. Rxc6 Rc8 25. Qd6 Rxc6 26. Qxc6 Be6 27. Qb7 Rd8 28. b3 Rd7 29. Qb8+ Qd8 30. Qf4 Qc7 31. Qh6 Qe5 32. Nf3 Qg7 33. Qf4 h6 34. Ne5 Rd8 35. Nc6 Rd7 36. Nxa7 Qc3 37. Nc6 Qxc2 38. Ne5 Ra7 39. Qxh6 Rxa2 40. Qg5 Qe2 { Manik,M (2440)-Nayhebaver,M (2005) Kosice 2010 1-0}) 11... exf4 12. Rxf4 Be6 13. Rf2 h6 14. Qd2 g5 15. Raf1 Qd6 16. Ng4 O-O-O 17. Nf6 $6 (17. a4) 17... Nd7 {After the following sequence of moves it's clear black is well on top.} 18. Nh5 Be5 19. g4 f6 20. b3 Bf7 21. Nd1 Nf8 {an aggressive pawn sacrifice. It isn't certain this is the best in the position but it's certainly a statement of intent.} (21... Qe6 22. Qe2 Bxh5 23. gxh5 Qxh3) 22. Nxf6 Ne6 23. Nh5 (23. Nd7 {computers like this weird idea.} Bf4 24. Nf6) 23... Bxh5 24. gxh5 Nf4 25. Bxf4 gxf4 {Here Caruana had 5minutes 46 seconds and Carlsen about 25 minutes. Both with a 30 second increment. Caruana only just made time control by a few seconds a few times from now on.} 26. Rg2 (26. Rxf4 {is equal according to the computers.} Bxf4 27. Qxf4 Qxf4 28. Rxf4 $11) 26... Rhg8 27. Qe2 $6 (27. Rf3 { Keeping the position closed.} Rxg2+ 28. Kxg2 Rg8+ 29. Kf1 $11) 27... Rxg2+ 28. Qxg2 Qe6 29. Nf2 Rg8 30. Ng4 Qe8 31. Qf3 Qxh5 32. Kf2 Bc7 33. Ke2 $2 {Caruana has done remarkably well so far to keep in the game but now he makes what should be a losing blunder.} (33. e5 $1 {is the move that needed to be found.}) 33... Qg5 $1 {h5 is coming.} 34. Nh2 h5 $6 {But here black doesn't need the h5 move as the knight has already moved. Carlsen had the opportunity to switch wings which is now the key to an easy win. Still nothing absoutely spoiled yet, black is still winning.} (34... Qe5 $1 {and quite quickly this will be over.} 35. Qf2 Qb2 36. Kd1 Rg3 37. Nf3 Qb1+ 38. Kd2 Qxa2 39. Kd1 Qb1+) 35. Rf2 Qg1 ( 35... Qg7 {with the same Queenside transfer idea still is great but if Carlsen didn't see it last move...}) 36. Nf1 h4 $6 {Not only isn't this very good but it also cost Carlsen about 7-8 minutes of his time and this became a factor later. He looked very unhappy.} 37. Kd2 $2 {White is still lost.} (37. e5 { and white is back in the game.}) 37... Kb7 38. c3 Be5 (38... Rg3 {is the key here but Carlsen was getting short of time himself.} 39. Nxg3 hxg3 40. Re2 Qa1 41. d4 Qxa2+ {black is just winning.}) 39. Kc2 Qg7 {finally playing this when it isn't that good.} 40. Nh2 Bxc3 $6 {Now with correct play the game should end in a draw.} (40... Qg1 {going back for another go after first time control was best but Carlsen was only seconds from losing and had to play something!}) 41. Qxf4 Bd4 42. Qf7+ Ka6 43. Qxg7 Rxg7 {Having forced Queens off Caruana should save this position.} 44. Re2 Rg3 45. Ng4 $1 {A well calculated simplification.} Rxh3 46. e5 Rf3 47. e6 Rf8 48. e7 Re8 49. Nh6 h3 50. Nf5 Bf6 51. a3 b5 52. b4 cxb4 53. axb4 Bxe7 54. Nxe7 h2 55. Rxh2 Rxe7 {This endgame is a bit of a pain to defend as black can try for a very, very long time. But Carlsen never got even a sniff of a chance from now to the end of the game.} 56. Rh6 Kb6 57. Kc3 Rd7 58. Rg6 Kc7 59. Rh6 Rd6 60. Rh8 Rg6 61. Ra8 Kb7 62. Rh8 Rg5 63. Rh7+ Kb6 64. Rh6 Rg1 65. Kc2 Rf1 66. Rg6 Rh1 67. Rf6 Rh8 68. Kc3 Ra8 69. d4 Rd8 70. Rh6 Rd7 71. Rg6 Kc7 72. Rg5 Rd6 73. Rg8 Rh6 74. Ra8 Rh3+ 75. Kc2 Ra3 76. Kb2 Ra4 77. Kc3 a6 78. Rh8 Ra3+ 79. Kb2 Rg3 80. Kc2 Rg5 81. Rh6 Rd5 82. Kc3 Rd6 83. Rh8 Rg6 84. Kc2 Kb7 85. Kc3 Rg3+ 86. Kc2 Rg1 87. Rh5 Rg2+ 88. Kc3 Rg3+ 89. Kc2 Rg4 90. Kc3 Kb6 91. Rh6 Rg5 92. Rf6 Rh5 93. Rg6 Rh3+ 94. Kc2 Rh5 95. Kc3 Rd5 96. Rh6 Kc7 97. Rh7+ Rd7 98. Rh5 Rd6 99. Rh8 Rg6 100. Rf8 Rg3+ 101. Kc2 Ra3 102. Rf7+ Kd6 103. Ra7 Kd5 104. Kb2 Rd3 105. Rxa6 Rxd4 106. Kb3 Re4 107. Kc3 Rc4+ 108. Kb3 Kd4 109. Rb6 Kd3 110. Ra6 Rc2 111. Rb6 Rc3+ 112. Kb2 Rc4 113. Kb3 Kd4 114. Ra6 Kd5 115. Ra8 1/2-1/2 [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2018.11.09"] [Round "1"] [White "Caruana, F.."] [Black "Carlsen, M.."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [PlyCount "229"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 $5 {A minor surprise, as early as on move 1. Normally people tend to play relatively solid openings at the beginning of the WCC matches. Magnus decided however to play in a principled way, instead of choosing a Ruy Lopez / Italian torture.} 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 {The Rossolimo Variation, a favourite of the Challenger. Even though he lost beautiful game in the Wijk Ann Zee to Carlsen some years ago, everyone keeps in mind many of his masterpieces against strong opposition. And probably all kibitzers were happy - there is no easy draw in sight} g6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 {Lately the favourite of Magnus} 5. d3 Bg7 6. h3 {not allowing Bg4, which would ease Black's play} Nf6 7. Nc3 Nd7 (7... b6 {was played between the same opponents 3 years ago. White was probably better after the opening, but the game beame very tense, and eventually the Black player won} 8. Be3 e5 9. O-O O-O 10. a3 Qe7 11. Qb1 Nh5 12. b4 f5 13. bxc5 f4 14. Bd2 bxc5 15. Qb3+ Be6 16. Qa4 $36 {0-1 (39) Caruana,F (2820)-Carlsen,M (2862) Wijk aan Zee NED 2015}) (7... O-O {is the most popular move}) 8. Be3 e5 ({in a similar way played Nakamura against Caruana some years ago:} 8... b6 9. Qd2 h6 10. O-O e5 11. Nh2 g5 $13 {Here Hikaru didn't allow White to go for f4. The position becomes a pretty manoeuvre one, where a stronger player is likely to win. Computers give modest edge for White, but Black has also an easy play on his own: to re-route the knight and then start the pawn offensive on the kingside: 1/2 (44) Caruana,F (2787)-Nakamura,H (2793) Saint Louis USA 2015}) 9. O-O ({Usually White starts with} 9. Qd2 h6 {not allowing Bh6. After a sample line:} 10. O-O b6 11. Nh2 Nf8 12. f4 exf4 13. Rxf4 Be6 14. Rf2 {there is the same position as in the game, but obviously both sides are flexible and can change something basically on every move}) 9... b6 (9... Qe7 {It's a much more common way to free the d7-knight. I am not an expert in this kind of positions, and can hardly say which way to over-protect the c5 pawn is better.} 10. Qd2 Nf8) 10. Nh2 Nf8 {A typical maneouvre started with Nd7} 11. f4 exf4 12. Rxf4 Be6 $5 {Interesting set-up. I thought he was going to play Ne6-Nd4 asap, but this is even nicer, as it controls all important squares} 13. Rf2 h6 14. Qd2 g5 $5 {Restraining White pieces. Honestly, I don't know what is White's best bet here, as he lacks visible improvements. It would be lovely to get the h2-knight to f5, but how? Also loosening Black's queenside is not at all that easy. a4 can always be parried by a5, while it's not easy to achieve b4 in a comfortable way. Therefore I think Magnus won the oppening duel, and now the Challenger move by move was using a large ammount of time} 15. Raf1 (15. Nf1 Qd6 16. Rf3 $2 Ng6 {and White is not on time with Ng3-Nf5}) (15. a4 a5 $5 ( 15... Ng6 16. a5 O-O)) (15. a3 Qd6 16. Rb1 Ng6 17. b4 cxb4 18. axb4 O-O $11) 15... Qd6 16. Ng4 {The American decides to improve his worst piece, the h2-knight. Even though computer doesn't like it, it's still better to have a faulty plan than any} O-O-O {The king is safe on the queenside for the time being, and now Black is having all the fun on the kingside.} 17. Nf6 {Other plans are:} (17. a4 Nd7 (17... a5 $5) 18. a5 Qc7 {even here profits are not visible. Black intends b5, and if White opens the a-file, Black is always on time with Kb7-Ra8}) (17. e5 {is an easy-to-play sacriface for everyone but White player. White gets some minute activity, but it may evaporate easily, and pawn down is pawn down.} Bxe5 (17... Qc7 18. Ne4 {and White is likely to take on e5 anyway}) 18. b4 $5 (18. Ne4 Qc7 19. Nxe5 Qxe5) 18... c4 {locking down the quuenside} (18... cxb4 19. Ne4 Qc7 20. Nxe5 Qxe5 21. Qxb4 Qc7 22. a4 $44) 19. Nxe5 Qxe5 20. d4 Qc7 $15 {and I don't see any advantages for White for the missing pawn}) 17... Nd7 18. Nh5 {Not exchanging knight, which made so many moves} Be5 19. g4 {Such moves were unthinkable some 60 years ago, but now are standard. The kingside is so far locked, and White gains space.} f6 20. b3 Bf7 21. Nd1 ({I would prefer} 21. Ne2 {defending some vital squares, but it's true that Black is in the driving seat, while White is solid but very passive at the same time} Bxh5 22. gxh5 Kb7 23. Kg2 Nf8 $17 {and Black may go for the h5 pawn}) 21... Nf8 {Imaginative, but not neccesary. Black could part with his light-square bishop, and try to gain the h5-pawn or break with g4. Important note is in that case White would remain even more passive than in the game} ( 21... Kb7 22. c3 Bxh5 23. gxh5 Qe7 24. Qe2 Rhg8 $17 {and Black has many ideas like Nf8-Ne6}) 22. Nxf6 Ne6 23. Nh5 (23. Nd7 Rxd7 {was probably the idea} ( 23... Bf4 24. Nf6 Bg3 {comps think that Black is slightly better here, but White might try to complicate the position with some timely exchange sacriface} ) 24. Rxf7 h5 25. Qg2 {and engine show its usual 0.00 but over the board Black for sure is having fun and White is being under considerable pressure}) 23... Bxh5 24. gxh5 Nf4 25. Bxf4 gxf4 26. Rg2 (26. Rxf4 $1 {was a good way to cut the gordian knot. Suprisingly it seems that Black can't stop White's d1-knight in reaching f5-square , from where it has a dominant position} Bxf4 27. Qxf4 Qd4+ 28. Ne3 Kb7 (28... Rdf8 29. Qxf8+ Rxf8 30. Rxf8+ Kb7 31. Rf7+ Ka6 32. Rf3 $11) 29. Kh1 Rdf8 30. Nf5 Qc3 31. Qc1 $5 $13) 26... Rhg8 $36 {White's king is open, and Black is enjoying a long-lasting initiative} 27. Qe2 {The position is not easy to analyse, and even harder to play. Both sides have many ideas, which sometimes are similar to each other. From now on I will focus on the most critical positions.} Rxg2+ 28. Qxg2 Qe6 29. Nf2 Rg8 30. Ng4 Qe8 $1 { Going after h5-pawn, and then kicking White's knight with h5} 31. Qf3 Qxh5 32. Kf2 {The least place where White's king is safe is kingside, so logically Fabiano removes it to the center} Bc7 33. Ke2 (33. e5 Kb7 34. Nf6 Qh4+ 35. Ke2 Rg3 36. Qxf4 Qxh3 37. Rf2 {doesn't look any good, but in the game after a couple of moves the a1-h8 diagonal was wide open for Black pieces}) 33... Qg5 34. Nh2 $6 {Looks strange, because White gives away the control of the big diagonal without even gaining a tempo, Black has to spend on h5. Still there is no good enough prepatory move, and I think Black is winning already} (34. Kd2 h5 35. Nh2 Qe5 36. Qf2 Qb2 37. Rg1 Rg3 {it would be very odd that White can defend here}) 34... h5 $2 ({Why not} 34... Qf6 {with Qb2 coming, penetrating the queenside? White would be lost in that case}) 35. Rf2 Qg1 { The wrong direction!} 36. Nf1 h4 $2 (36... Qg7 $1 $19) 37. Kd2 $2 (37. e5 $1 Rg5 (37... Bxe5 38. Qxc6+ Kb8 39. a4 {Paradoxically White can allow himself luxury of playing such a slow move. But there is nothing really threating Black can do}) 38. Kd2 Kb7 39. e6 Re5 40. Re2 Qg6 41. Qg4 {and White got his own play}) 37... Kb7 {The position is still dead lost for White, because of the threat Qg7-Qa1, there is one more, namely Rg3! It's really amazing that Caruana survived this storm!} 38. c3 Be5 (38... Rg3 $1 39. Nxg3 hxg3 40. Rg2 Qa1 $19 {is game over. It transpires than in zeinot, even the World Champion plays far below his normal strengh!}) 39. Kc2 Qg7 $6 {This would be a serious blunder, if not the fact that Black can repeat his position.} (39... b5 $1 { with b4 next would create too many holes in White's position}) 40. Nh2 (40. Qh5 Ka6 $1 {it's very important to avoid eventual checks on f7} 41. Qe2 b5 42. a4) 40... Bxc3 $4 {Actually this move let all the advantage go. Black still could win by means of} (40... Qg1 $1 41. Nf1 b5 $1 $19 {with transposition to the position, which is mentioned in the earlier comment}) 41. Qxf4 Bd4 {Now by force White can save himself in an rook endgame with pawn down. Other alternatives also failed to win:} (41... Ka6 42. Nf3 Ba1 43. e5 $11) 42. Qf7+ Ka6 43. Qxg7 Rxg7 44. Re2 Rg3 45. Ng4 Rxh3 46. e5 Rf3 47. e6 Rf8 48. e7 Re8 49. Nh6 h3 50. Nf5 Bf6 {Initially when I first saw this position, I thought Black has nearly 50/50 chances, but on the closer inspection I understood that White is going to play either d4 or b4, and 2 vs 3 pawn on the queenside is draw} 51. a3 b5 ({Being on Magnus' place I would have tried to play with the pawn on b6, but still this should be an easy draw} 51... Bxe7 52. Nxe7 h2 53. Rxh2 Rxe7 54. Rh5) 52. b4 cxb4 53. axb4 Bxe7 {Otherwise Black runs out of moves} 54. Nxe7 h2 55. Rxh2 Rxe7 56. Rh6 Kb6 57. Kc3 Rd7 58. Rg6 $11 {The endgame is a draw, although White needs to be a bit careful not to allow Black to get two rolling pawns. Magnus tries to win for another 60 moves, but the draw is trivial} Kc7 59. Rh6 Rd6 60. Rh8 Rg6 61. Ra8 Kb7 62. Rh8 Rg5 63. Rh7+ Kb6 64. Rh6 Rg1 65. Kc2 Rf1 66. Rg6 Rh1 67. Rf6 Rh8 68. Kc3 Ra8 69. d4 Rd8 70. Rh6 Rd7 71. Rg6 Kc7 72. Rg5 Rd6 73. Rg8 Rh6 74. Ra8 Rh3+ 75. Kc2 Ra3 (75... Kd6 76. Rxa7 Kd5 77. Rc7 $11) 76. Kb2 Ra4 77. Kc3 a6 78. Rh8 Ra3+ 79. Kb2 Rg3 80. Kc2 Rg5 81. Rh6 Rd5 82. Kc3 Rd6 83. Rh8 Rg6 84. Kc2 Kb7 85. Kc3 Rg3+ 86. Kc2 Rg1 87. Rh5 Rg2+ 88. Kc3 Rg3+ 89. Kc2 Rg4 90. Kc3 Kb6 91. Rh6 Rg5 92. Rf6 Rh5 93. Rg6 Rh3+ 94. Kc2 Rh5 95. Kc3 Rd5 96. Rh6 Kc7 97. Rh7+ Rd7 98. Rh5 Rd6 99. Rh8 Rg6 100. Rf8 Rg3+ 101. Kc2 Ra3 102. Rf7+ Kd6 103. Ra7 {One of possible defensive set-ups for White} Kd5 104. Kb2 Rd3 (104... Ra4 105. Kc3 Ra1 106. Rd7+ Ke6 107. Ra7 $11 ) 105. Rxa6 Rxd4 106. Kb3 Re4 107. Kc3 Rc4+ 108. Kb3 Kd4 109. Rb6 Kd3 110. Ra6 Rc2 111. Rb6 Rc3+ 112. Kb2 Rc4 113. Kb3 Kd4 114. Ra6 Kd5 115. Ra8 {A fighting, nerve-racking, and unpleasant game for both players. Fabiano Caruana didn't manage to get even the slightest of an opening initiative, and quickly had to defend himself. Magnus Carlsen on the other hand was winning several times before the 40th move, but in time trouble he spoiled, what looked like an easy win, and had to settle for the endgame which was drawn. Still 11 games to come, and it seems it will be entertaining match!} 1/2-1/2 [Event "World Chess Championship 2018"] [Site "London"] [Date "2018.11.09"] [Round "1"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "*"] [WhiteElo "2832"] [BlackElo "2835"] [Annotator "ChessBase"] [PlyCount "229"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. d3 Bg7 6. h3 Nf6 7. Nc3 Nd7 8. Be3 e5 9. O-O b6 10. Nh2 Nf8 11. f4 $146 exf4 12. Rxf4 Be6 13. Rf2 h6 14. Qd2 ( 14. Nf3 Qc7 (14... g5 15. d4 $36) 15. Qf1) 14... g5 15. Raf1 Qd6 16. Ng4 (16. Nf3 O-O-O) 16... O-O-O 17. Nf6 Nd7 18. Nh5 (18. Nxd7 Rxd7 $15) 18... Be5 19. g4 f6 20. b3 Bf7 21. Nd1 Nf8 $5 (21... Rhg8 22. Qe2 Qe6 23. Kg2 Bxh5 24. gxh5 g4 25. h4 Qe7) (21... Qe6 22. Ng7 Qe7 23. Nf5 Qe8) 22. Nxf6 Ne6 23. Nh5 (23. Nd7 Bf4 (23... Bg3 24. Rf3 Bf4 25. Nf6 Be5) 24. Nf6 h5 25. Bxf4 Nxf4 26. Rxf4 gxf4 27. Qxf4 hxg4 28. Qxd6 Rxd6 29. hxg4) 23... Bxh5 24. gxh5 Nf4 25. Bxf4 gxf4 26. Rg2 $2 (26. Rxf4 $1 Bxf4 27. Qxf4 Rhg8+ 28. Kh2 Qxf4+ 29. Rxf4 Rgf8 (29... Rdf8 30. Rg4) 30. Rxf8 Rxf8 31. Kg3 $11 (31. Ne3 Rf2+ 32. Kg3)) 26... Rhg8 27. Qe2 Rxg2+ 28. Qxg2 Qe6 29. Nf2 Rg8 30. Ng4 Qe8 31. Qf3 Qxh5 32. Kf2 Bc7 33. Ke2 $2 (33. e5 Kb7 34. Nf6 Qh4+ 35. Ke2) 33... Qg5 34. Nh2 h5 $6 (34... Qe5 $1 $19) 35. Rf2 Qg1 36. Nf1 h4 $2 (36... Qg7 $1) 37. Kd2 $6 (37. e5 $1 Re8 38. Kd2 $1 Kb7 39. Qxf4 Bxe5 40. Qxh4 Qg7 41. Kd1 $13 Bg3 $140 $2 42. Qf6 $1 (42. Nxg3 Qa1+ 43. Kd2 Qe1#)) 37... Kb7 38. c3 Be5 (38... Rg3 $1 39. Nxg3 hxg3 40. Rg2 ( 40. Rf1 Qh2+) 40... Qa1 41. d4 Qxa2+ 42. Kc1 Qxb3 $19) 39. Kc2 Qg7 $6 40. Nh2 $1 Bxc3 41. Qxf4 Bd4 (41... Ka6 $5 42. Nf3 Ba1 43. e5 Rf8 44. Qxh4 $13) 42. Qf7+ Ka6 43. Qxg7 Rxg7 44. Re2 Rg3 45. Ng4 Rxh3 46. e5 Rf3 47. e6 Rf8 48. e7 Re8 49. Nh6 h3 50. Nf5 Bf6 51. a3 b5 (51... Bxe7 52. Nxe7 h2 53. Rxh2 Rxe7) 52. b4 cxb4 53. axb4 Bxe7 54. Nxe7 h2 55. Rxh2 Rxe7 56. Rh6 Kb6 57. Kc3 Rd7 58. Rg6 Kc7 59. Rh6 Rd6 60. Rh8 Rg6 61. Ra8 Kb7 62. Rh8 Rg5 63. Rh7+ Kb6 64. Rh6 Rg1 65. Kc2 Rf1 66. Rg6 Rh1 67. Rf6 Rh8 68. Kc3 Ra8 69. d4 Rd8 70. Rh6 Rd7 71. Rg6 Kc7 72. Rg5 Rd6 73. Rg8 Rh6 74. Ra8 Rh3+ 75. Kc2 Ra3 76. Kb2 Ra4 77. Kc3 a6 ( 77... Kb7 78. Rd8 a5 79. bxa5 Rxa5 80. d5 c5) 78. Rh8 Ra3+ 79. Kb2 Rg3 80. Kc2 Rg5 81. Rh6 Rd5 82. Kc3 Rd6 83. Rh8 Rg6 84. Kc2 Kb7 85. Kc3 Rg3+ 86. Kc2 Rg1 87. Rh5 Rg2+ 88. Kc3 Rg3+ 89. Kc2 Rg4 90. Kc3 Kb6 91. Rh6 Rg5 92. Rf6 Rh5 93. Rg6 Rh3+ 94. Kc2 Rh5 95. Kc3 Rd5 96. Rh6 Kc7 97. Rh7+ Rd7 98. Rh5 Rd6 99. Rh8 Rg6 100. Rf8 Rg3+ 101. Kc2 Ra3 102. Rf7+ Kd6 103. Ra7 Kd5 104. Kb2 Rd3 105. Rxa6 Rxd4 106. Kb3 Re4 107. Kc3 Rc4+ 108. Kb3 Kd4 109. Rb6 Kd3 110. Ra6 Rc2 111. Rb6 Rc3+ 112. Kb2 Rc4 113. Kb3 Kd4 114. Ra6 Kd5 115. Ra8 * [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2018.11.09"] [Round "1"] [White "Caruana, F..."] [Black "Carlsen, M..."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B31"] [PlyCount "229"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 $5 {A minor surprise, as early as on move 1. Normally people tend to play relatively solid openings at the beginning of the WCC matches. Magnus decided however to play in a principled way, instead of choosing a Ruy Lopez / Italian torture.} 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 {The Rossolimo Variation, a favourite of the Challenger. Even though he lost beautiful game in the Wijk Ann Zee to Carlsen some years ago, everyone keeps in mind many of his masterpieces against strong opposition. And probably all kibitzers were happy - there is no easy draw in sight} g6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 {Lately the favourite of Magnus} 5. d3 Bg7 6. h3 {not allowing Bg4, which would ease Black's play} Nf6 7. Nc3 Nd7 (7... b6 {was played between the same opponents 3 years ago. White was probably better after the opening, but the game beame very tense, and eventually the Black player won} 8. Be3 e5 9. O-O O-O 10. a3 Qe7 11. Qb1 Nh5 12. b4 f5 13. bxc5 f4 14. Bd2 bxc5 15. Qb3+ Be6 16. Qa4 $36 {0-1 (39) Caruana,F (2820)-Carlsen,M (2862) Wijk aan Zee NED 2015}) (7... O-O {is the most popular move}) 8. Be3 e5 ({in a similar way played Nakamura against Caruana some years ago:} 8... b6 9. Qd2 h6 10. O-O e5 11. Nh2 g5 $13 {Here Hikaru didn't allow White to go for f4. The position becomes a pretty manoeuvre one, where a stronger player is likely to win. Computers give modest edge for White, but Black has also an easy play on his own: to re-route the knight and then start the pawn offensive on the kingside: 1/2 (44) Caruana,F (2787)-Nakamura,H (2793) Saint Louis USA 2015}) 9. O-O ({Usually White starts with} 9. Qd2 h6 {not allowing Bh6. After a sample line:} 10. O-O b6 11. Nh2 Nf8 12. f4 exf4 13. Rxf4 Be6 14. Rf2 {there is the same position as in the game, but obviously both sides are flexible and can change something basically on every move}) 9... b6 (9... Qe7 {It's a much more common way to free the d7-knight. I am not an expert in this kind of positions, and can hardly say which way to over-protect the c5 pawn is better.} 10. Qd2 Nf8) 10. Nh2 Nf8 {A typical maneouvre started with Nd7} 11. f4 exf4 12. Rxf4 Be6 $5 {Interesting set-up. I thought he was going to play Ne6-Nd4 asap, but this is even nicer, as it controls all important squares} 13. Rf2 h6 14. Qd2 g5 $5 {Restraining White pieces. Honestly, I don't know what is White's best bet here, as he lacks visible improvements. It would be lovely to get the h2-knight to f5, but how? Also loosening Black's queenside is not at all that easy. a4 can always be parried by a5, while it's not easy to achieve b4 in a comfortable way. Therefore I think Magnus won the oppening duel, and now the Challenger move by move was using a large ammount of time} 15. Raf1 (15. Nf1 Qd6 16. Rf3 $2 Ng6 {and White is not on time with Ng3-Nf5}) (15. a4 a5 $5 ( 15... Ng6 16. a5 O-O)) (15. a3 Qd6 16. Rb1 Ng6 17. b4 cxb4 18. axb4 O-O $11) 15... Qd6 16. Ng4 {The American decides to improve his worst piece, the h2-knight. Even though computer doesn't like it, it's still better to have a faulty plan than any} O-O-O {The king is safe on the queenside for the time being, and now Black is having all the fun on the kingside.} 17. Nf6 {Other plans are:} (17. a4 Nd7 (17... a5 $5) 18. a5 Qc7 {even here profits are not visible. Black intends b5, and if White opens the a-file, Black is always on time with Kb7-Ra8}) (17. e5 {is an easy-to-play sacriface for everyone but White player. White gets some minute activity, but it may evaporate easily, and pawn down is pawn down.} Bxe5 (17... Qc7 18. Ne4 {and White is likely to take on e5 anyway}) 18. b4 $5 (18. Ne4 Qc7 19. Nxe5 Qxe5) 18... c4 {locking down the quuenside} (18... cxb4 19. Ne4 Qc7 20. Nxe5 Qxe5 21. Qxb4 Qc7 22. a4 $44) 19. Nxe5 Qxe5 20. d4 Qc7 $15 {and I don't see any advantages for White for the missing pawn}) 17... Nd7 18. Nh5 {Not exchanging knight, which made so many moves} Be5 19. g4 {Such moves were unthinkable some 60 years ago, but now are standard. The kingside is so far locked, and White gains space.} f6 20. b3 Bf7 21. Nd1 ({I would prefer} 21. Ne2 {defending some vital squares, but it's true that Black is in the driving seat, while White is solid but very passive at the same time} Bxh5 22. gxh5 Kb7 23. Kg2 Nf8 $17 {and Black may go for the h5 pawn}) 21... Nf8 {Imaginative, but not neccesary. Black could part with his light-square bishop, and try to gain the h5-pawn or break with g4. Important note is in that case White would remain even more passive than in the game} ( 21... Kb7 22. c3 Bxh5 23. gxh5 Qe7 24. Qe2 Rhg8 $17 {and Black has many ideas like Nf8-Ne6}) 22. Nxf6 Ne6 23. Nh5 (23. Nd7 Rxd7 {was probably the idea} ( 23... Bf4 24. Nf6 Bg3 {comps think that Black is slightly better here, but White might try to complicate the position with some timely exchange sacriface} ) 24. Rxf7 h5 25. Qg2 {and engine show its usual 0.00 but over the board Black for sure is having fun and White is being under considerable pressure}) 23... Bxh5 24. gxh5 Nf4 25. Bxf4 gxf4 26. Rg2 (26. Rxf4 $1 {was a good way to cut the gordian knot. Suprisingly it seems that Black can't stop White's d1-knight in reaching f5-square , from where it has a dominant position} Bxf4 27. Qxf4 Qd4+ 28. Ne3 Kb7 (28... Rdf8 29. Qxf8+ Rxf8 30. Rxf8+ Kb7 31. Rf7+ Ka6 32. Rf3 $11) 29. Kh1 Rdf8 30. Nf5 Qc3 31. Qc1 $5 $13) 26... Rhg8 $36 {White's king is open, and Black is enjoying a long-lasting initiative} 27. Qe2 {The position is not easy to analyse, and even harder to play. Both sides have many ideas, which sometimes are similar to each other. From now on I will focus on the most critical positions.} Rxg2+ 28. Qxg2 Qe6 29. Nf2 Rg8 30. Ng4 Qe8 $1 { Going after h5-pawn, and then kicking White's knight with h5} 31. Qf3 Qxh5 32. Kf2 {The least place where White's king is safe is kingside, so logically Fabiano removes it to the center} Bc7 33. Ke2 (33. e5 Kb7 34. Nf6 Qh4+ 35. Ke2 Rg3 36. Qxf4 Qxh3 37. Rf2 {doesn't look any good, but in the game after a couple of moves the a1-h8 diagonal was wide open for Black pieces}) 33... Qg5 34. Nh2 $6 {Looks strange, because White gives away the control of the big diagonal without even gaining a tempo, Black has to spend on h5. Still there is no good enough prepatory move, and I think Black is winning already} (34. Kd2 h5 35. Nh2 Qe5 36. Qf2 Qb2 37. Rg1 Rg3 {it would be very odd that White can defend here}) 34... h5 $2 ({Why not} 34... Qf6 {with Qb2 coming, penetrating the queenside? White would be lost in that case}) 35. Rf2 Qg1 { The wrong direction!} 36. Nf1 h4 $2 (36... Qg7 $1 $19) 37. Kd2 $2 (37. e5 $1 Rg5 (37... Bxe5 38. Qxc6+ Kb8 39. a4 {Paradoxically White can allow himself luxury of playing such a slow move. But there is nothing really threating Black can do}) 38. Kd2 Kb7 39. e6 Re5 40. Re2 Qg6 41. Qg4 {and White got his own play}) 37... Kb7 {The position is still dead lost for White, because of the threat Qg7-Qa1, there is one more, namely Rg3! It's really amazing that Caruana survived this storm!} 38. c3 Be5 (38... Rg3 $1 39. Nxg3 hxg3 40. Rg2 Qa1 $19 {is game over. It transpires than in zeinot, even the World Champion plays far below his normal strengh!}) 39. Kc2 Qg7 $6 {This would be a serious blunder, if not the fact that Black can repeat his position.} (39... b5 $1 { with b4 next would create too many holes in White's position}) 40. Nh2 (40. Qh5 Ka6 $1 {it's very important to avoid eventual checks on f7} 41. Qe2 b5 42. a4) 40... Bxc3 $4 {Actually this move let all the advantage go. Black still could win by means of} (40... Qg1 $1 41. Nf1 b5 $1 $19 {with transposition to the position, which is mentioned in the earlier comment}) 41. Qxf4 Bd4 {Now by force White can save himself in an rook endgame with pawn down. Other alternatives also failed to win:} (41... Ka6 42. Nf3 Ba1 43. e5 $11) 42. Qf7+ Ka6 43. Qxg7 Rxg7 44. Re2 Rg3 45. Ng4 Rxh3 46. e5 Rf3 47. e6 Rf8 48. e7 Re8 49. Nh6 h3 50. Nf5 Bf6 {Initially when I first saw this position, I thought Black has nearly 50/50 chances, but on the closer inspection I understood that White is going to play either d4 or b4, and 2 vs 3 pawn on the queenside is draw} 51. a3 b5 ({Being on Magnus' place I would have tried to play with the pawn on b6, but still this should be an easy draw} 51... Bxe7 52. Nxe7 h2 53. Rxh2 Rxe7 54. Rh5) 52. b4 cxb4 53. axb4 Bxe7 {Otherwise Black runs out of moves} 54. Nxe7 h2 55. Rxh2 Rxe7 56. Rh6 Kb6 57. Kc3 Rd7 58. Rg6 $11 {The endgame is a draw, although White needs to be a bit careful not to allow Black to get two rolling pawns. Magnus tries to win for another 60 moves, but the draw is trivial} Kc7 59. Rh6 Rd6 60. Rh8 Rg6 61. Ra8 Kb7 62. Rh8 Rg5 63. Rh7+ Kb6 64. Rh6 Rg1 65. Kc2 Rf1 66. Rg6 Rh1 67. Rf6 Rh8 68. Kc3 Ra8 69. d4 Rd8 70. Rh6 Rd7 71. Rg6 Kc7 72. Rg5 Rd6 73. Rg8 Rh6 74. Ra8 Rh3+ 75. Kc2 Ra3 (75... Kd6 76. Rxa7 Kd5 77. Rc7 $11) 76. Kb2 Ra4 77. Kc3 a6 78. Rh8 Ra3+ 79. Kb2 Rg3 80. Kc2 Rg5 81. Rh6 Rd5 82. Kc3 Rd6 83. Rh8 Rg6 84. Kc2 Kb7 85. Kc3 Rg3+ 86. Kc2 Rg1 87. Rh5 Rg2+ 88. Kc3 Rg3+ 89. Kc2 Rg4 90. Kc3 Kb6 91. Rh6 Rg5 92. Rf6 Rh5 93. Rg6 Rh3+ 94. Kc2 Rh5 95. Kc3 Rd5 96. Rh6 Kc7 97. Rh7+ Rd7 98. Rh5 Rd6 99. Rh8 Rg6 100. Rf8 Rg3+ 101. Kc2 Ra3 102. Rf7+ Kd6 103. Ra7 {One of possible defensive set-ups for White} Kd5 104. Kb2 Rd3 (104... Ra4 105. Kc3 Ra1 106. Rd7+ Ke6 107. Ra7 $11 ) 105. Rxa6 Rxd4 106. Kb3 Re4 107. Kc3 Rc4+ 108. Kb3 Kd4 109. Rb6 Kd3 110. Ra6 Rc2 111. Rb6 Rc3+ 112. Kb2 Rc4 113. Kb3 Kd4 114. Ra6 Kd5 115. Ra8 {A fighting, nerve-racking, and unpleasant game for both players. Fabiano Caruana didn't manage to get even the slightest of an opening initiative, and quickly had to defend himself. Magnus Carlsen on the other hand was winning several times before the 40th move, but in time trouble he spoiled, what looked like an easy win, and had to settle for the endgame which was drawn. Still 11 games to come, and it seems it will be entertaining match!} 1/2-1/2 [Event "London ENG"] [Site "London ENG"] [Date "2018.11.10"] [Round "2"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D37"] [WhiteElo "2835"] [BlackElo "2832"] [Annotator "Crowther,Mark"] [PlyCount "97"] [EventDate "2018.11.09"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. Qc2 (8. a3) (8. cxd5) (8. Be2) 8... Nc6 9. a3 Qa5 10. Rd1 Rd8 {A rare idea.} (10... Be7 {This is the standard response.}) 11. Be2 (11. Nd2 {Looks like the critical response.}) (11. cxd5 Nxd5) 11... Ne4 12. O-O Nxc3 13. bxc3 h6 14. a4 (14. Nd4) 14... Ne7 15. Ne5 Bd6 16. cxd5 Nxd5 17. Bf3 {After this only black can be better.} (17. Nxf7 Kxf7 18. Bh5+ Kg8 19. Bxd6 Rxd6 20. e4) (17. Bg3) 17... Nxf4 18. exf4 Bxe5 19. Rxd8+ Qxd8 20. fxe5 Qc7 21. Rb1 Rb8 22. Qd3 Bd7 23. a5 Bc6 24. Qd6 Qxd6 25. exd6 Bxf3 26. gxf3 {This pawn structure is in many ways easier to defend with than an unbroken one.} Kf8 27. c4 Ke8 28. a6 b6 29. c5 Kd7 30. cxb6 axb6 31. a7 Ra8 32. Rxb6 Rxa7 {White won't be able to save the d-pawn but so long as he is careful black has no winning chances whatsoever. The players certainly didn't look particularly interested at this point.} 33. Kg2 e5 34. Rb4 f5 35. Rb6 Ke6 36. d7+ Kxd7 37. Rb5 Ke6 38. Rb6+ Kf7 39. Rb5 Kf6 40. Rb6+ Kg5 41. Rb5 Kf4 42. Rb4+ e4 43. fxe4 fxe4 44. h3 Ra5 45. Rb7 Rg5+ 46. Kf1 Rg6 47. Rb4 Rg5 48. Rb7 Rg6 49. Rb4 1/2-1/2 [Event "2018 World Chess Championship"] [Site "London"] [Date "2018.11.09"] [Round "2"] [White "Magnus Carlsen"] [Black "Fabiano Caruana"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D37"] [Annotator "samsh"] [PlyCount "97"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2018.11.10"] {The second game of the match was much more in line with the kind of thing I expect in early rounds than the first one was. Unsurprisingly Black equalized without much trouble- this tends to be pretty easy to do with months of preparation time and your opponent not knowing what was coming. But unlike the first game, it never really strayed far from equality. Rounds 3 and 4 when each player plays their second game with White, knowing what may be coming, tend to be the time people seriously start fighting for advantages early on.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 e6 (3... dxc4 {Caruana does not go into the QGA, which he has relied on heavily for the last couple years.}) 4. Nc3 Be7 { The classical QGD is not Caruana's main choice as of late, but he certainly has played it off and on in the past, so it can't be considered a huge surprise.} 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 c5 $5 {The first interesting moment. Caruana chooses a less common move than the typical Nbd7, which he has played a lot in the past with reasonable success.} (6... Nbd7 {Is much more common.}) 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. Qc2 Nc6 9. a3 Qa5 10. Rd1 {Thus far, there have been some minor surprises, but this position is still well known and Black is supposed to be doing all right. Nakamura and Anand have played the Black side a fair amount, and with perfectly reasonable results. But nearly every recent game has continued with Re8, and Caruana chose something else.} Rd8 $5 {Not a novelty, but definitely not a common move, and I can't find any games played by anyone over 2600.} (10... Re8 {Is a much more normal move. The main line continues with} 11. Nd2 e5 $1 12. Bg5 Nd4 $1 13. Qb1 (13. exd4 $2 exd4+ 14. Ne2 Ng4 { And Black wins}) (13. Qc1 Bf5 14. Bxf6 Nc2+ 15. Ke2 Nd4+ {Is a well known draw, which was featured in several games, including a Carlsen-Nakamura encounter from 2017.}) 13... Bf5 14. Bd3 Bxd3 15. Qxd3 Ne4 $1 {And White has not been able to show an advantage as of yet.}) 11. Be2 {Undoubtedly caught by surprise, Carlsen chooses a safe option. We will see in future games if this line is repeated and e goes for the more principled move.} (11. Nd2 {Is of course the critical try. This is the main move against Re8, and makes just as much sense now because the e6-e5 thrust loses power. White threatens Nb3 and can quickly get a good position if Black is not careful. It would be interesting to know what Caruana had in mind here, and we may well find out in subsequent games. My best guess would be he thought simplifying with} dxc4 12. Nxc4 Rxd1+ 13. Qxd1 Qd8 14. Qxd8+ Nxd8 {Leads to a drawn ending. The machines give white a slight plus but the symmetry and Black's lack of weaknesses likely mean he should hold. Only future games will be able to tell if this is truly the case.} ) 11... Ne4 $1 {Black takes his chance to compromise White's queenside structure.} 12. O-O Nxc3 13. bxc3 h6 {Caruana was still playing instantly here, suggesting he was still in preparation. Black's position is pretty safe.} 14. a4 Ne7 $1 {Another good move, and undoubtedly still prep.} 15. Ne5 $6 {Magnus is asking for trouble with this move, but if he plays accurately he is not going to be in any real danger.} (15. Rb1 {The computer initially claimed White is better here, but it's just wrong. Following} Bd7 16. Ne5 Qxa4 17. Qxa4 Bxa4 18. Rxb7 dxc4 {The position is obviously drawn.}) 15... Bd6 {The most principled move, and a very forcing one. White has to be accurate not to be worse, but his moves are not too hard to find and I doubt Magnus was particularly worried.} (15... f6 16. Ng6 e5 {Was also possible, trying to maroon the bishop on g3. This probably would have been my choice, when White's moves seem harder to find than they were in the game. Still, after} 17. Bg3 Be6 18. cxd5 $1 (18. Nxe7+ $2 Bxe7 19. cxd5 Bxd5 $1 {And Black is pleasantly better, since Rxd5 no longer takes control of the a2-g8 diagonal}) 18... Nxd5 ( 18... Bxd5 $2 19. Rxd5 $1 Nxd5 20. Bc4 $1 {Black somehow just loses as he cannot escape the pin. Kh7 would walk into several deadly discoveries.}) 19. Bc4 $1 {Simple and strong, but also not too difficult. White should have enough counterplay to maintain the balance, though I still would take Black in a practical game, and I think this may have been a more promising option than Caruana's choice.} Qb6 {Qc6 will follow and Black can play for an advantage, hoping to make good use of his better structure on the long term.}) 16. cxd5 Nxd5 17. Bf3 (17. Nxf7 {White could have played this kooky move. Flashy as it may be, it certainly would not have changed the result. Still, it would have looked nicer for Magnus than what he got in the game.} Kxf7 18. Bxd6 Rxd6 19. Bh5+ Kg8 20. e4 Nf4 21. Rxd6 Qxh5 22. Rd8+ Kf7 23. Rfd1 b6 {The position is dynamically balanced and neither side can do much.}) 17... Nxf4 18. exf4 Bxe5 { White has to be a little precise here, but should hold easily.} 19. Rxd8+ $1 ( 19. fxe5 $2 {Is less accurate and Black can claim an edge with} Bd7 $1 20. Bxb7 Rab8 $1) 19... Qxd8 20. fxe5 {Black is not well developed enough to make good use of White's weakened queenside.} Qc7 (20... Bd7 21. Rb1 {Should also be a draw promptly}) 21. Rb1 Rb8 22. Qd3 Bd7 23. a5 {The machines hate this move, but they are wrong. It just forces a draw.} Bc6 24. Qd6 Qxd6 25. exd6 Bxf3 26. gxf3 Kf8 27. c4 Ke8 {The ending is a little dangerous for White if Black can get the king to c6, though even then it's very likely still a draw. Magnus forced matters right away.} 28. a6 $1 b6 29. c5 $1 Kd7 (29... b5 $2 {Not to be recommended! If Black could get the king to c6 he would just win with the b-pawn shoving. But he is a tempo too slow and loses after the simple} 30. c6) 30. cxb6 axb6 31. a7 Ra8 32. Rxb6 Rxa7 {Black will win the d6-pawn, but the position is a dead draw. In fact, White's doubled f-pawns make the defense even easier than it would be with a "healthier" structure of f2-g3-h4 because the king has a permanent happy home on g2, and Black can never get his pawns going past the fourth rank without massive trades.} 33. Kg2 e5 34. Rb4 f5 35. Rb6 Ke6 36. d7+ Kxd7 37. Rb5 Ke6 38. Rb6+ Kf7 39. Rb5 Kf6 40. Rb6+ Kg5 41. Rb5 Kf4 42. Rb4+ e4 43. fxe4 fxe4 44. h3 Ra5 45. Rb7 Rg5+ 46. Kf1 Rg6 47. Rb4 Rg5 48. Rb7 Rg6 49. Rb4 {Caruana understandably did not feel like trying further- he would never win. The match is of course wide open after the first two games. Still, I'd say the chessplaying trend is favoring Magnus, since he is the only one who has had any chances to strike yet, but the psychological advantage has to be on Caruana's side after today as he easily equalized with Black just like Magnus did, but unlike Magnus, he did not blow half a point. It will be interesting to see what happens on Monday, and if the Sicilian will be repeated. It certainly could, but I would not be surprised at all to see either side deviate.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "London"] [Site "London"] [Date "2018.11.10"] [Round "2"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D37"] [WhiteElo "2835"] [BlackElo "2832"] [Annotator "Prithu Gupta"] [PlyCount "97"] [EventDate "2018.10.20"] [EventType "match"] [EventCountry "ENG"] [SourceTitle "playchess.com"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceQuality "1"] [TimeControl "40/6000+30:20/3000+30:900+30"] {After a fairly unbalanced and topsy-turvy 6 hour long session(which can be rightfully referred to as one of it's kind owing to the other clean draws in the 1st matches of the World Championships of this decade)it was particularly interesting to see what Carlsen's approach to this game would be.Carlsen's fans would be having reason enough to believe that he would go for 1.e4 for a simple reason that he did so 15 out of the 29 times he played Fabi with white including 3 of the 4 recentmost encounters.} 1. d4 {So d4 it is.While e4 would have definetely been a much more highly anticipated option, d4 was hardly a surprise.} Nf6 2. Nf3 (2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 {Avoiding The Nimzo-Indian might have been the reason why Carlsen preferred the 2.Nf3 move order.}) 2... d5 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 c5 (6... Nbd7 {was what was chosen by Fabiano in all his previous matches.But his results weren't impressive which might have made him deviate but there wasn't anything particularly wrong with his previous games .Some of his games went as follows.} 7. c5 Ne4 8. a3 (8. Rc1 Nxc3 9. Rxc3 b6 10. c6 Nf6 11. a3 a5 12. Bd3 Ne4 13. Rc2 f6 14. Qe2 Bd6 15. O-O g5 16. Bxd6 Nxd6 17. Re1 a4 (17... g4 $5 18. Nd2 e5 19. e4 f5 $13 {could have been an interesting alternative as well beacuse in contrast to the game white doesn't have the option of playing f3.}) 18. Nd2 e5 19. e4 f5 20. f3 dxe4 21. fxe4 $14 {1-0 (39) Aronian,L (2765)-Caruana,F (2808) Saint Louis 2015 CBM 168 [Stohl,I]}) 8... Nxc3 9. bxc3 c6 10. Qa4 g5 11. Bg3 f5 12. h3 f4 13. Bh2 e5 $40 {1-0 (40) Grischuk,A (2771)-Caruana,F (2808) Saint Louis 2015 CBM 168 [Krasenkow,M]}) 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. Qc2 Nc6 9. a3 Qa5 10. Rd1 {is one of the most popular line these days.Other alternatives are} (10. O-O-O) (10. Nd2) 10... Rd8 $5 {is an interesting deviation which has only been tested by one 2500+player till date!} (10... Re8 {is what was being extensively preferred} 11. Nd2 e5 12. Bg5 Nd4 13. Qb1 {is probably the only way to avoid an immediate draw.} (13. Qc1 Bf5 14. Bxf6 Nc2+ 15. Ke2 Nd4+ $11 {is how innumerable games were ending in a draw recently.}) (13. Qa4 Qxa4 14. Nxa4 Nc2+ 15. Ke2 Nd4+ $11) 13... Bf5 14. Bd3 Bxd3 15. Qxd3 Ne4 16. cxd5 (16. Nxd5 Nxg5 17. exd4 (17. b4 Qd8 18. bxc5 Nde6 19. O-O Nxc5 $11) 17... Bxd4 18. b4 Qd8 19. Qb3 Rc8 20. O-O Kh8 21. Kh1 Qd6 $11) (16. Ncxe4 dxe4 17. Qxe4 Qb6 18. b4 (18. Rb1 h6 19. Bh4 g5 20. b4 Bf8 21. Bg3 Rad8 22. exd4 exd4 23. Be5 Bg7 24. O-O Rxe5 $11) 18... Bf8 19. Qd3 Ne6 20. Bh4 a5 21. c5 Qc6 22. O-O axb4 23. axb4 Ra4 24. Nc4 Rxb4 25. Nxe5 Qe4 $11) (16. Ndxe4 dxe4 17. Qd2 Ne6 18. Bh4 Qa6 19. Qe2 Rac8 $11) 16... Nxc3 17. bxc3 Nb5 18. Ne4 Nd6 19. Nxd6 Bxd6 20. e4 Rec8 21. Bd2 Qxa3 $11) 11. Be2 (11. Nd2 $5 {was definetely worth trying.} dxc4 (11... d4 12. Nb3 Qb6 13. Na4 Bb4+ 14. axb4 Qxb4+ 15. Nd2 Qa5 16. Qb3 e5 17. Bg5 Nb4 18. Bxf6 gxf6 19. Be2 Bd7 20. Ra1 (20. Nc3 dxc3 21. bxc3 Na6 22. Ne4 Kg7 23. O-O Nc5 $11) 20... dxe3 21. fxe3 b5 22. O-O bxa4 23. Qc3 f5 24. Nf3 f6 25. Nh4 Nc6 26. Qa3 $16) 12. Nxc4 Rxd1+ 13. Qxd1 Qd8 14. Qxd8+ Nxd8 15. Be2 Nd5 16. Nxd5 exd5 17. Nd6 Ne6 18. Bg3 $14) 11... Ne4 (11... d4 12. exd4 Bxd4 13. Bd2 {is very unpleasant to face with black.}) 12. O-O Nxc3 13. bxc3 h6 $1 {a cool headed move aimed at preventing Ng5.} (13... Qxa3 $4 14. Ra1 $18 {and the Q is trapped.}) (13... Bxa3 14. Ra1 $18) (13... Be7 14. a4 dxc4 15. Bxc4 Bf6 16. Bb5 Rxd1 17. Rxd1 e5 18. Bg5 $36 {white can torture black in this position for a long time.}) 14. a4 Ne7 15. Ne5 $6 (15. cxd5 {looks normal but has a surprise element hidden in it.} Nxd5 {is the critical option.} (15... exd5 16. Nd4 $36 {leads to a position which is very easy for white to play.}) 16. Be5 Bd7 $1 {and black is fine.} 17. c4 $1 { is the engine's suggestion.Objectively black will be fine but wuld have to find some precise moves.} Bxa4 18. Qa2 Nb4 19. Qa1 f6 20. Rxd8+ Rxd8 21. Bc3 Qa6 22. Bxf6 gxf6 23. Qxf6 Rd7 24. Ne5 Rg7 25. Ra1 $1 (25. Bg4 Bc2 26. Qxh6 Bf5 $11) 25... Be7 $8 26. Qxh6 Qd6 $8 (26... Bg5 $2 {loses to} 27. Qh5 Bf6 28. c5 $1 Qa5 29. Bc4 $18) 27. Ng4 Rh7 28. Qg6+ Rg7 29. Qh5 Qc6 $11) (15. Nd2 Bd7 16. Ra1 Rac8 $11) 15... Bd6 {now black has solved all his problems.} 16. cxd5 Nxd5 17. Bf3 (17. Nxf7 $5 {was the topic of discussion amongst almost every commentator on each website.} Kxf7 18. Bxd6 Rxd6 19. Bh5+ Kg8 20. e4 Bd7 21. exd5 Rxd5 22. Bg4 Rxd1 23. Rxd1 Bxa4 $11 {is just equal.}) 17... Nxf4 18. exf4 Bxe5 19. Rxd8+ (19. fxe5 Bd7 {with a better position for black.}) 19... Qxd8 20. fxe5 Qc7 21. Rb1 (21. Qd2 {was another option but after Bd7-Rb1 would be more or less the same.}) 21... Rb8 {the e5 P isn't hindering black's developement in any way and after Bd7 on the next move would be a liability along with the P on a4.} 22. Qd3 (22. Qe4 b6 23. Qc6 Qxc6 24. Bxc6 Bb7 25. Bxb7 Rxb7 26. a5 {leads to a dead darwn rook-endgame.}) 22... Bd7 23. a5 (23. Qd4 b6 24. a5 Bc6 $11 {is another dull equal position.}) 23... Bc6 24. Qd6 Qxd6 25. exd6 Bxf3 26. gxf3 Kf8 27. c4 Ke8 28. a6 (28. c5 {could have been an interesting attempt} Kd7 29. a6 Kc6 (29... b6 {transposes to the game.}) 30. axb7 Rxb7 31. Rxb7 Kxb7 {an extremely complicated K-P endgame where one mistake by either siide could be fatal.} 32. Kf1 Kc6 33. Ke2 e5 34. Kd3 a5 ( 34... f5 $2 35. f4 $18) 35. Kc3 (35. Ke4 a4 36. Kd3 g5 37. Kc4 f5 38. Kb4 g4 39. fxg4 f4 $19) 35... g5 36. Kb3 f5 37. Ka4 g4 38. Kxa5 (38. fxg4 $4 f4 $1 $19 ) 38... gxf3 39. Ka6 $3 (39. Ka4 {is too slow.} e4 $19) 39... e4 40. d7 Kxd7 41. Kb7 e3 42. c6+ Kd6 43. fxe3 f2 44. c7 f1=Q 45. c8=Q $11) 28... b6 29. c5 Kd7 30. cxb6 axb6 31. a7 Ra8 32. Rxb6 Rxa7 33. Kg2 e5 34. Rb4 f5 35. Rb6 Ke6 36. d7+ Kxd7 37. Rb5 Ke6 38. Rb6+ {is a position that will arise sooner or later.} Kf7 39. Rb5 Kf6 40. Rb6+ Kg5 41. Rb5 Kf4 (41... Re7 42. Rb6 h5 { was maybe the only way to prolong the game for a while but black has no realistic way to proceed}) 42. Rb4+ e4 43. fxe4 fxe4 44. h3 $11 {now its' simply drawn.} Ra5 45. Rb7 Rg5+ 46. Kf1 Rg6 (46... e3 47. Rf7+ $11) 47. Rb4 Rg5 48. Rb7 Rg6 49. Rb4 1/2-1/2 [Event "London"] [Site "London"] [Date "2018.11.10"] [Round "2"] [White "Carlsen, M..."] [Black "Caruana, F..."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Annotator "Duda"] [PlyCount "97"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Be7 {The ever solid Queen's Gambit Declined. Even though the Challenger recently played a lot of games in the Vienna Game, the QGD must have been one of top piorities of Magnus' team.} 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 c5 {This is a small surprise. It's the first time, when Fabiano chooses this line in his life. In that way Nakamura drew quite recently 2 games against Carlsen, so it was kind of expected though. The real surprise will come later} (6... Nbd7 {is the most common move, and the way Caruana played before this game. Perhaps he wasn't keen facing} 7. c5 {where White is enjoying some space advantage, and it might be kind of Carlsen-type position. Of course it's just a beginning of far-advanced theory.}) 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. Qc2 { This is the main move, but White also may wish to play against Isolani with:} ( 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Nxd5 exd5 10. Bd3 Bb4+ 11. Nd2 Nc6 {This is one of tabiyas in QGD with 6...c5. Usually Black gets enough counterplay for his Isolani, for example Vishy Anand drew all three of his games with Black in this position in the Sinquefield Cup this year. In 2017, Carlsen was about outplaying Nakamura in this line, but the American managed to save himself. Now it's obvious to everyone that Caruana had some improvements, awaiting their hour}) 8... Nc6 9. a3 Qa5 10. Rd1 {Again, one of the tabiyas, known since infamous '78 Karpov-Korchnoi match. In contrast to} (10. O-O-O {line which is slightly more popular, but can lead to an amazing mess, where either side can collapse easily, White is playing purely positionally. He just wants to develop with Be2 and 0-0, and is asking Black what he is going to do with his poor c8-bishop. Now Black has many choices, but what Caruana played was hardly predictible}) 10... Rd8 $5 {Some time ago, this was considered dubious, because it isn't in any way preparing the freeing move e5. But of course computers change modern opening theory, also the effect of surprise these days is something everyone is trying for. The other lines are:} (10... Re8 $5 { is having a boost of popularity, the position can quickly become quite complicated:} 11. Nd2 e5 12. Bg5 Nd4 13. Qb1 (13. Qc1 {was basically a draw offer:} Bf5 14. Bxf6 Nc2+ 15. Ke2 Nd4+ 16. Ke1 Nc2+ 17. Ke2 Nd4+ 18. Ke1 Nc2+ { 1/2 (18) Carlsen,M (2827)-Nakamura,H (2781) Douglas ENG 2017}) 13... Bf5 14. Bd3 Bxd3 (14... e4 $2 {was played in the famous 21st game in aforementioned K-K match. White is better after both} 15. Bc2 {(the game continuation. Even stronger is} (15. Bf1 $1 {where objectively Black is lost}) 15... Nxc2+ 16. Qxc2 Qa6 17. Bxf6 Qxf6 18. Nb3 Bd6 19. Rxd5 $1 $16 {1-0 (60) Kortschnoj,V (2665)-Karpov,A (2725) Baguio City 1978}) 15. Qxd3 Ne4 {where as far as I am concerned Black is doing fine after both} 16. Nxd5 ({and} 16. Ncxe4)) (10... Ne4 $6 {is probably wrong. After} 11. cxd5 Nxc3 12. bxc3 exd5 13. Ng5 $1 g6 14. Rxd5 Qxa3 15. Bc4 $36 {White develops dangerous initiative}) (10... Be7 { is the classical main line. After} 11. Be2 Ne4 (11... dxc4) 12. cxd5 Nxc3 13. Qxc3 Qxc3+ 14. bxc3 exd5 15. Rxd5 Bxa3 16. Nd4 $36 {White has initiative 1/2 (95) Carlsen,M (2853)-Nakamura,H (2814) Saint Louis USA 2015}) 11. Be2 (11. Nd2 {is the most popular, with the idea to harass Black's queen. But this is the first thing Fabiano's team had a look at, so the Norwegian decides to deviate} d4 {might be something like what the American prepared. The position is a mess after} (11... dxc4 12. Nxc4 Rxd1+ 13. Qxd1 Qd8 14. Qxd8+ Nxd8 15. Be2 $14) 12. Nb3 Qb6 13. Na4 Bb4+ 14. axb4 Qxb4+ 15. Nd2 $13 {but the computer not surprisingly is keen on White}) 11... Ne4 {Now, where the d5-pawn is not hanging, this exchange maneouvre should gradually equalise the position} 12. O-O (12. Nd2 $5 Nxc3 13. Nb3 Qa4 14. Qxc3 Be7 15. cxd5 exd5 16. Nc5 Bxc5 17. Qxc5 Be6 18. O-O Rac8) 12... Nxc3 13. bxc3 h6 {Defending against any Ng5} 14. a4 Ne7 $11 {I think Black equalised. Now not to become worse with his shaky queenside, the World Champion has to play actively} 15. Ne5 Bd6 (15... f6 16. Ng6 e5 17. Bg3 Be6 {is one of the favourite's of the engine, but in such cases, when the game is at stake, players tend to avoid such commital decisions. The move Caruana played is fine.}) 16. cxd5 {from now on, there will be many exchanges, when Black gets developed finally, but White is too active to have any real issues} Nxd5 17. Bf3 {White goes the route of interesting possibility, which looks risky but gets my approval.} (17. Nxf7 $5 Kxf7 18. Bxd6 (18. Bh5+ Kg8 19. Bxd6 Rxd6 {is the same thing}) 18... Rxd6 19. Bh5+ Kg8 20. e4 (20. c4 { It seems that White has to play precisely to hold the position} Bd7 (20... Rc6) (20... Nb4) (20... Qc7) 21. cxd5 Bxa4 22. Qa2 $8 Rxd5 23. Bg4 Rxd1 24. Rxd1 Qb4 25. Bxe6+ Kh8 26. Rb1 Rd8 $13) 20... Bd7 (20... Nf4 $5 {is a winning try} 21. Rxd6 Qxh5 22. Rd8+ Kf7 23. Rfd1 e5 $13 {with unclear, but roughly equal position}) 21. exd5 Qxa4 {one of many possibilities} 22. Qb1 Rxd5 23. Qxb7 Qc6 $11) 17... Nxf4 {the simplest} (17... Qc7 18. c4 Nxf4 19. exf4 {can only create difficulties for Black}) 18. exf4 Bxe5 19. Rxd8+ Qxd8 20. fxe5 Qc7 ( 20... Bd7 $5 {Black has the luxury of not being afraid of losing b7-pawn} 21. Bxb7 Rb8 22. Bf3 Qa5 {and Black recaptures the missing pawn with equality}) 21. Rb1 Rb8 22. Qd3 Bd7 (22... b6 $5 {was a nice try for Black, I think} 23. a5 $1 {otherwise White may be worse with his bad pawn structure} Bb7 (23... Qxe5 24. a6 $1 $44 {is a key, White must have foreseen beforehand}) 24. axb6 axb6 25. Bxb7 Rxb7 26. Qd4 $11 {with a drawn position}) 23. a5 Bc6 24. Qd6 {White knows that the best he can do is exchange everything and make a draw -- not very pleasing when the onus is on White to score, but that's life} Qxd6 25. exd6 Bxf3 26. gxf3 Kf8 27. c4 Ke8 28. a6 $1 {From the human viewpoint the simplest. White exchanges all pawns on the queenside, and defends in a 3 vs 4 on the same wing rook endgame} b6 29. c5 Kd7 30. cxb6 axb6 31. a7 Ra8 32. Rxb6 Rxa7 33. Kg2 e5 34. Rb4 f5 35. Rb6 Ke6 36. d7+ Kxd7 37. Rb5 $11 {The endgame is dead drawn. The doubled pawns are actually a strengh here, because Black is unable to create a passed pawn. Now White can just do nothing and marks time. Black has no meaningful plan available} Ke6 38. Rb6+ Kf7 39. Rb5 Kf6 40. Rb6+ Kg5 41. Rb5 Kf4 42. Rb4+ e4 43. fxe4 fxe4 44. h3 {Funny, another 3 vs 2 rook endgame, but now Fabiano is a one with the pawn up. This means the game will last 60 moves shorter :)} Ra5 45. Rb7 Rg5+ 46. Kf1 Rg6 47. Rb4 Rg5 48. Rb7 Rg6 49. Rb4 {So, a relatively easy draw today by Fabiano Caruana. Perhaps the World Champion was frustrated a bit with yesterday's game, and decided to play a simple game today. My guess is that day after tomorrow we will have quite a tense game in the 'Spanish torture', unless the challenger changes his first move. Of course, it's just a shot in dark, but sometimes you are happy when you guess the right opening.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "WCh 2018"] [Site "London ENG"] [Date "2018.11.12"] [Round "3"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B31"] [WhiteElo "2832"] [BlackElo "2835"] [Annotator "Crowther,Mark"] [PlyCount "97"] [EventDate "2018.11.09"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. d3 Bg7 6. O-O Qc7 {An unusual waiting move.} 7. Re1 e5 8. a3 Nf6 {Carlsen was already starting to think. A slightly unsual result of his opening as this was a fairly natural position to reach.} 9. b4 O-O 10. Nbd2 Bg4 $6 {Carlsen said he miscalculated something thinking at first he'd equalised but later realising he was clearly worse. It is probably here that this happened. Some alteratives:} (10... cxb4 11. axb4 Nh5) (10... Be6 11. bxc5 Nd7 12. a4 Rfe8 13. Ba3 Bf8) 11. h3 $1 Bxf3 12. Nxf3 $1 {This may well have been what Carlsen overlooked.} (12. Qxf3 cxb4 13. axb4) 12... cxb4 13. axb4 a5 14. bxa5 (14. Rxa5 Rxa5 15. bxa5 Qxa5 16. Bd2) 14... Rxa5 15. Bd2 {This doesn't seem as good as taking off the rooks and pressurising the queenside. It isn't much but it's more than the game.} (15. Rxa5 Qxa5 16. Bd2) 15... Raa8 16. Qb1 Nd7 17. Qb4 (17. Qb2 b5) 17... Rfe8 18. Bc3 {After this white definitely doesn't have anything at all.} (18. Reb1) (18. Qc3) 18... b5 (18... Bf8) 19. Rxa8 (19. Qb2) 19... Rxa8 20. Ra1 Rxa1+ 21. Bxa1 Qa7 22. Bc3 $11 Qa2 23. Qb2 {After a long thought Caruana realises he has to take Queen's off in order not to be worse.} Qxb2 24. Bxb2 f6 25. Kf1 Kf7 26. Ke2 Nc5 27. Bc3 Ne6 28. g3 Bf8 29. Nd2 Ng5 30. h4 Ne6 31. Nb3 h5 32. Bd2 Bd6 33. c3 {Carlsen said he wasn't really playing for a win but became slightly more interested here.} c5 34. Be3 Ke7 35. Kd1 Kd7 36. Kc2 f5 37. Kd1 fxe4 $6 { If black was going to get anywhere he needed to avoid this exchange. After this the game heads to a draw. But whatever there isn't much.} (37... f4) ( 37... Kc6) 38. dxe4 c4 39. Nd2 Nc5 40. Bxc5 Bxc5 41. Ke2 Kc6 42. Nf1 {Now the draw is inevitable.} b4 43. cxb4 Bxb4 44. Ne3 Kc5 45. f4 exf4 46. gxf4 Ba5 47. f5 gxf5 48. Nxc4 {Ending the game.} Kxc4 49. exf5 {and with the wrong coloured Rook's pawn white draws trivially by going to h1.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2018.11.12"] [Round "3"] [White "Caruana, F.."] [Black "Carlsen, M.."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Annotator "Duda"] [PlyCount "97"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 {So it turned out that my guess was wrong, and Magnus repeats the Rossolimo Sicilian once more. After a little reflection, I realised that it's a perfect opening for Magnus - no theory, no repetitions, no super-sharp positions and a complex strategic game ahead - everything he needs.} 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. d3 Bg7 6. O-O {This time Caruana allows Black to play Bg4. Magnus instead chooses a sideline, in order to get a non-theoritical position as quickly as possible} Qc7 $5 (6... Nf6 {is of course main move}) 7. Re1 {A useful move, with the intention to see what Black is going to do.} e5 { An interesting move, played when the White rook is on e1, from where it can't help achiving f4. On the other hand, this move is strategically risky, because now a break with b4 is on the agenda.} 8. a3 {A logical push once Black played e5. The preference of the engine is} (8. Be3 {forcing Black to play b6, and only then start the minority attack} b6 9. a3 Nf6 (9... a5 $5 10. Nbd2 Nf6 11. b4 Ng4 12. Bg5 (12. bxc5 Nxe3 13. Rxe3 b5 $5 {with decent chances}) 12... axb4 (12... cxb4 13. axb4 a4 14. c4 b5 {looks risky for Black, but the comp holds on } 15. h3 f6 16. Bh4 Nh6 17. Nb3 $5) 13. axb4 Rxa1 14. Qxa1 cxb4 15. Qa4 O-O 16. Qxb4 c5 17. Qb2 f6 18. Bh4 Be6 $13 {and Black can regroup his forces easily, while White's pieces on the kingside are stuck}) 10. b4 (10. Nbd2 $5 O-O (10... Ng4 11. Bg5 f6 12. Bh4) 11. b4 cxb4 (11... Ng4 12. Bg5) 12. axb4 Ng4 13. Bg5 h6 14. Bh4 Nf6 $13) 10... c4 11. Nbd2 cxd3 12. cxd3 O-O 13. Rc1 $36 {with easier play for White}) (8. b4 $2 {is not working:} cxb4 9. a3 bxa3 10. Bxa3 Ne7 11. Nbd2 O-O 12. Nc4 c5 $17 {with clear pawn up for Black}) 8... Nf6 9. b4 O-O 10. Nbd2 (10. bxc5 $5 {I think this deserves attention. Black can postpone recapturing the pawn, but then White has chances to expose the d6-square with one of his knights. Black can also take the pawn by means of:} Nd7 11. Be3 f5 12. a4 f4 13. Bc1 Nxc5 {but White gets the upper hands after} 14. Ba3 b6 15. Nbd2 {with some initiative}) (10. Be3 c4 {is completely toothless for White}) 10... Bg4 {Only now does Magnus decide to part with his light-squared bishop. A smart decision, because this piece has a very high potential to become a bad piece in the future.} 11. h3 Bxf3 12. Nxf3 cxb4 (12... Nd7 13. Be3 cxb4 14. axb4 a5 {was another way to play}) 13. axb4 a5 14. bxa5 Rxa5 15. Bd2 (15. Rxa5 $1 {I think this is stronger, because White gets control of the open a-line} Qxa5 16. Bd2 Qc7 17. Qa1 Nd7 18. Qa7 Rc8 {with the idea to play b5, e.g.:} 19. Ra1 Bf8 20. Be3 b5 21. g4 $36 {and White has pressure}) 15... Raa8 {Of course Black doesn't allow White to get the a-file for free.} 16. Qb1 Nd7 {At first sight this position looks nice for White, but there is no obvious way to pose even slightest challenge for Black. He is going to play b5 and exchange everything down the a-line.} 17. Qb4 (17. Qb2 b5 18. Rxa8 Rxa8 19. Ra1 Qb7 { looks drawish}) (17. Qb3 Nc5 18. Qc4 Ne6 {only improves Black's position}) (17. Be3 $1 b5 18. Qb3 Rfb8 19. Ra2 Rxa2 20. Qxa2 {was probably the only way to play for 'something'}) 17... Rfe8 18. Bc3 b5 19. Rxa8 Rxa8 20. Ra1 Rxa1+ 21. Bxa1 Qa7 22. Bc3 Qa2 23. Qb2 Qxb2 24. Bxb2 f6 $11 {Now Black has easy equality, and Magnus as usual tries to squeeze his opponent in the endgame. This time the Challenger was very alert though.} 25. Kf1 Kf7 26. Ke2 Nc5 27. Bc3 Ne6 28. g3 Bf8 29. Nd2 {It looks sensible to bring the knight to b3.} (29. d4 {was also possible, exchanging knights, but on the other hand Black may get 'the passer' on the queenside, which is always threating.} exd4 30. Nxd4 Nxd4+ 31. Bxd4 c5 32. Bb2 c4 33. f4 b4 34. g4 Bd6 35. f5 $11) 29... Ng5 $1 {Forcing White to play h4, which later might be used as a 'hook'} 30. h4 Ne6 31. Nb3 h5 {Fixing the pawns on the wrong color.} 32. Bd2 Bd6 33. c3 c5 34. Be3 Ke7 35. Kd1 Kd7 36. Kc2 f5 {The top preference of the engine. I also thought about} ( 36... g5 {but after} 37. f3 gxh4 38. gxh4 {is harmless for White, because Black can never get to the h4-pawn}) 37. Kd1 fxe4 {Objectively it was better to keep the tension with} (37... Kc6 38. Na5+ Kb6 39. Nb3 Be7 {and now Black has a choice between f4 and fxe4, depending on circumstances. But of course the position is still close to equal.}) 38. dxe4 c4 39. Nd2 Nc5 40. Bxc5 $1 { At first to me it felt counter-intuitive, but in fact it is a good move. White eliminates Black's strong knight, and all his weakness can be protected by his king.} Bxc5 41. Ke2 Kc6 42. Nf1 b4 {Otherwise White plays Ne3, where the pawn endgame is dead drawn.} 43. cxb4 Bxb4 44. Ne3 Kc5 45. f4 {exchanging as many pawns as possible} exf4 46. gxf4 Ba5 47. f5 gxf5 48. Nxc4 $1 {a nice interlude move, using the classical theme of a wrong corner} Kxc4 49. exf5 {and White moves his king to h1, from where it can't be chased. Today we have seen yet another Rossolimo Sicilian, where Magnus gradually equalised, and even tried to take over in the endgame. Caruana managed to draw with ease though. I am interested if in case of another 2...Nc6 Sicilian, Caruana will play 3.d4!? Or perhaps he will switch to another opening? The future will tell, but before reaching it, tomorrow he has to defend with Black first.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "2018 World Chess Championship"] [Site "London"] [Date "2018.11.09"] [Round "3"] [White "Fabiano Caruana"] [Black "Magnus Carlsen"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B31"] [Annotator "samsh"] [PlyCount "97"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2018.11.12"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. d3 Bg7 {Unsurprisingly, Caruana was the first to deviate from game 1, where everything went wrong for him.} 6. O-O (6. h3 {In the first game, White chose h3, serving as prophylaxis against Bg4 and remaining flexible with the rest of his pieces. This time, he declared his intentions earlier and castled right away.}) 6... Qc7 $5 {Magnus chose a very rare move. I am not at all convinced that it is superior to Nf6, which is far and away the most common choice, but it keeps in line with his willingness to mix things up a bit early on to try to get Caruana out of his book and comfort zone.} (6... Nf6 {Has been the main move for a long time. Black plans Nd7 and e5, much like he played in game 1, and challenges White to find a reason it doesn't work as well without h3 included.}) 7. Re1 {I never really understood such positions, but Caruana's plan makes a lot of sense. He wants to provoke Black into advancing e7-e5 so that he can then hope to play on the queenside with a2-a3 followed by b2-b4 without any problems on the long diagonal.} (7. h3 {The machine prefers this move, transposing to a similar kind of position to game one. Perhaps this is a better version since Black has prematurely played Qc7 (In that game the queen turned out to be better placed on d6), but I still can't imagine Black having any major problems.}) 7... e5 8. a3 {White's play is not particularly subtle, but very sensible. b4 is coming, and if Black has to take on b4, he is usually left with an unpleasant position. The rook on a1 will open up, and a lot of Black's cerntal control will disappear. Magnus spent some time here and may have been out of his concrete preparation, but his subsequent play suggested that he was very comfortable with the main ideas of the position.} Nf6 9. b4 O-O {Not fearing bxc5.} (9... cxb4 $2 10. axb4 {This would give White exactly what he wants, and he looks pleasantly better.}) 10. Nbd2 (10. bxc5 {Grabbing the pawn was obviously a critical move, but Black is not without counterplay.} Nd7 $1 {The only way for White to hang onto the pawn now is fo go for} 11. Be3 {But after} f5 $1 { Black is getting King's Indian style counterplay. For example, the computer claims White is better after} 12. Ng5 Nf6 13. Bd2 {But I absolutely do not buy it. Following} f4 $1 {The position is closed, the extra c5-pawn hardly matters, and h6+g5 is on the way. Magnus won a game in similar style against Caruana in Tata Steel 2015.}) 10... Bg4 $5 {This is a very direct move. It's probably not best in a higher chess sense, but it simplifies the position a lot, to one that Magnus was probably quite sure he would not lose.} (10... cxb4 {According to the machine, this was the way to go. But I really do not mind Magnus' choice. Humans are predisposed not to take on b4, as every bit of chess wisdom known about the Rossolimo suggest that Black should leave his pawn on c5 if at all possible.}) 11. h3 (11. bxc5 {Was again possible, but now after} Nd7 { Black wins the pawn back on the spot.}) 11... Bxf3 12. Nxf3 cxb4 $1 {Normally this move is wrong, but the position is different because Black can immediately get the a7-a5 advance in. This trades off some pawns and neutralizes the potentially problematic open a-file.} 13. axb4 a5 $1 14. bxa5 Rxa5 {The computer claims White is slightly better here, but I really don't buy it. Black is very solid, has no weaknesses, and a clear plan for all of his pieces.} 15. Bd2 (15. Rxa5 {This may have been a better try. Still, after} Qxa5 16. Bd2 Qc7 17. Qa1 Nd7 18. Qa7 Rb8 $1 {Black overprotects b7, and he is ready to play Bf8-d6 (or c5 if allowed). Once the bishop is on d6, b5 will come, expelling the queen. Of course White is on the more pleasant side of equality but I really struggle to imagine Magnus having much trouble hanging on.}) 15... Raa8 16. Qb1 Nd7 17. Qb4 Rfe8 $1 {Black stops any Qe7 ideas and clears the f8 square for his bishop} 18. Bc3 b5 {Around here Caruana took a lot of time before swapping all the rooks. I don't love his decision but as I said in the beginning, I don't think anyone ever had a chance.} 19. Rxa8 (19. Qb2 {According to the machine, this was a superior choice, with White holding a massive 0.09 advantage. It would almost certainly not have changed the final result.}) 19... Rxa8 20. Ra1 Rxa1+ 21. Bxa1 Qa7 22. Bc3 Qa2 23. Qb2 Qxb2 24. Bxb2 {This endgame is a little more pleasant for Black due to his extra space and potential to possibly make an outside passed pawn. Still, I'd say the odds of beating a 2800 are close to zero.} f6 25. Kf1 Kf7 26. Ke2 Nc5 27. Bc3 Ne6 28. g3 Bf8 29. Nd2 Ng5 $1 {I like this move. If for no other reason, it gives me a chance to shamelessly plug my book! In "Small Steps to Giant Improvement" (which you can buy a signed copy of from my website...), I spent a lot of time talking about how pawns do not move backward, and that there can be very good reason to provoke an opponent's pawn forward. Here, Magnus has played Ne6-g5, forcing the pawn to h4, where it will be worse placed.} 30. h4 Ne6 {Black's 2 "lost" tempi do not matter at all, but now the pawn on h4 will be fixed on a dark square. In the event of some pawn trades, this pawn could become a weakness.} 31. Nb3 h5 32. Bd2 Bd6 33. c3 c5 {Magnus came up with the plan of transferring the king to the queenside. It's not a bad idea, but I had another one.} (33... g5 $5 {With this move, Black poses the question to white of what he wants to do about the pawn tension. The pawn on h4 is indeed misplaced on the dark square, and he has to either allow gxh4, which will leave him with a long-term targetable weakness (Nf8-g6, Ke6, f6-f5, Be7 is a good way for Black to attack it), or he has to take on g5 to allow Black an outside passed pawn. Neither option is particularly appetizing, but the position is so simplified that I think in either case, Black will not have nearly enough to win.} 34. Be3 {Probably allowing gxh4 is the lesser evil.} (34. hxg5 fxg5 35. Kf1 c5 { White should probably hold just by sitting, but Black has a real plan to play both h4 and b4, making passed pawns on opposite sides of the board.}) 34... gxh4 35. gxh4 Nf8 36. Na5 {White has enough counterplay to hang on}) 34. Be3 Ke7 35. Kd1 Kd7 36. Kc2 f5 37. Kd1 fxe4 $6 {After this it's absolutely drawn.} (37... f4 {Was a better try, though again I really doubt it would have changed the result.} 38. Bd2 (38. gxf4 $2 exf4 39. Bc1 Be7 {Black wins, and we see a point of Magnus' previous play to provoke the pawn to h4.}) 38... g5 $1 { White now cannot allow hxg4 followed by Be7.} 39. hxg5 Nxg5 {The pawn tension between g3 and f4 is in Black's favor since White never wants to take f4- it would leave Black with a deadly passed h-pawn. In addition, c5-c4 is a threat, undermining the e4 pawn, which cannot be defended by f2-f3, thanks to the previously mentioned pawn tension. Still, if White hangs tight, I don't see a great plan for Black, and the defense is pretty straightforward.} 40. Ke2 c4 41. Na1 Kc6 42. Nc2 {It's hard to imagine White losing.}) 38. dxe4 c4 39. Nd2 Nc5 40. Bxc5 Bxc5 41. Ke2 $1 {The last important move, but also a very easy one. I could imagine Caruana blundering with f3 if he had almost no time on his clock (though I still think it would be extremely unlikely), but on move 41, this would never happen.} (41. f3 $2 {Would weaken White's position too much, and indeed he loses after} Bb6 $1 {Since he is in zugwang.} 42. Ke2 (42. Kc2 Bf2 $1 43. Nf1 Be1 $1 {And white is permanently paralyzed as both his knight and king are stuck defending pawns. Black will break through with King to c5, and then b4.}) (42. Nf1 Kc6 43. Ke2 b4 $1 {Setting the pawns in motion.} 44. cxb4 Kb5) 42... Ba5 43. Nb1 Kc6 44. Kd2 Kc5 45. Kc2 b4 46. cxb4+ Bxb4 47. Nd2 Kd4 {Black wins.}) 41... Kc6 42. Nf1 b4 43. cxb4 Bxb4 44. Ne3 Kc5 45. f4 exf4 46. gxf4 Ba5 47. f5 gxf5 48. Nxc4 Kxc4 49. exf5 {I think Magnus played quite a bit better than Caruana today, but the position was so dry (and initially a little unpleasant for Black, albeit very defensible) that he never had any serious chances. Still, since he did not fully equalize, I am curious to see if he will repeat the Sicilian again in game 5.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "London"] [Site "London"] [Date "2018.11.09"] [Round "4"] [White "Magnus Carlsen"] [Black "Fabiano Caruana"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A29"] [Annotator "samsh"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2018.11.13"] 1. c4 {Magnus decided not to repeat d4 from the first game. This might imply that his team was unable to find anything satisfactory against Caruana's Rd8 in the QGD. I think more likely is that Magnus wants to play different first moves with White to get a rough sense of what Caruana has prepared, and once he knows what he will face if he opens with d4, c4, e4, etc, he will know which area he feels most confident targeting.} e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 { The 4 knights English has been very topical as of late.} d5 (4... Bb4 {Has been a hot trend, with Caruana taking both sides of this position at the recently concluded Olympiad. Undoubtedly Magnus was ready for it.}) 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 Bc5 $5 {This funky move definitely is not the mainline, but it's reasonably common and has been played by some strong players in the past couple years.} (6... Nb6 7. O-O Be7 8. a3 {Has been considered the mainline forever. The position is strategically very rich and there is a lot to discover still. Both sides have fair chances to outplay their opponent.}) 7. O-O O-O 8. d3 Re8 {Again, Caruana chooses a less common move.} (8... Bb6 { Is the mainline, though it has to be said there are not too many games played. The position after} 9. Nxd5 Qxd5 10. b4 e4 {Is complex, though Black seems to be holding his own.}) 9. Bd2 Nxc3 10. Bxc3 Nd4 11. b4 Bd6 12. Rb1 $1 {I like this move- it seems very human. Caruana started thinking here, though he may have still been in preparation and just trying to remember. It's hard to imagine Black not realizing Rb1 is a serious try.} (12. Nxd4 {Obviously this was an option, but Magnus eschewed it, probably thinking it would fizzle out to a draw right away. Caruana was still playing instantly so he had to know that it would be prepared.} exd4 13. Bxd4 Bxg3 14. hxg3 Qxd4 15. Qd2 { Optically the position looks nice for White as he can play e3 and d4, putting his pawns on dark squares to complement the light squares bishop, but the lightly weakened kingside does matter. After something like} c6 16. e3 Qf6 17. d4 h5 $1 {Black will get counterplay against White's king. It's very understandable that Magnus was not keen to enter such a position against an obviously prepared opponent.}) 12... Nxf3+ 13. Bxf3 a6 14. a4 c6 15. Re1 { I have very little to say about the game after this move. Magnus' only chance to imbalance the position was to go for b5.} (15. b5 cxb5 {I'm sure this is the move that Magnus was concerned about.} (15... axb5 {It may have been Caruana's plan to play a position like this one. He already showed in game 2 that he was happy to play a slightly uncomfortable endgame straight out of the opening if he is confident that he can hold it and knows how to put his pieces and how to neutralize the edge.} 16. axb5 Bd7 17. bxc6 Bxc6 18. Bxc6 bxc6 19. Qc2 Bf8 {Undeniably, White is slightly better due to the weak pawn on c6. But how realistic are his winning chances? Black will plant his queen on d5, where she will be the boss of the board, and the e2-e4 advance will make d3 a long term target. The open files on the queenside means Black's rooks will become active if White is unwilling to make some trades, and White has no obvious way to make a second weakness in Black's position. Of course White has the moral advantage, but I really think this should be a draw.}) 16. axb5 a5 {The passed pawn is a long term trump, but I think White is still slightly more comfortable. Following} 17. Qa4 $1 {It's very hard to permanently secure the a5 pawn, and if the b7-b6 advance doesn't drop a rook at some moment, it will always weaken the c6 square. White has some pleasant pressure. Still, after something like} Qe7 18. Rfc1 Bf5 $1 {With e4 on the way, the position will rapidly simplify and I think a draw is still by far the most likely result.}) 15... Bd7 {Now the b4-b5 plan is prevented, and it is very hard to come up with a credible idea for either side to play for. Soon enough, the pieces were swapped.} 16. e3 Qf6 17. Be4 (17. Bg2 {Magnus could have kept more tension by not allowing Bf5, but he definitely is not better and still doesn't have a great plan.}) 17... Bf5 18. Qf3 Bxe4 19. Qxf6 gxf6 20. dxe4 b5 $1 {The last important move of the game. Black does not allow White to play b4-b5, and he fixes the b4-pawn on a dark square. His fractured kingside hardly matters without queens, and once the Black king advances to g6 to prevent any Kf5 plans, nobody has anything left to play for.} 21. Red1 Bf8 22. axb5 axb5 23. Kg2 Red8 24. Rdc1 Kg7 25. Be1 Rdc8 26. Rc2 Ra4 27. Kf3 h5 28. Ke2 Kg6 29. h3 f5 30. exf5+ Kxf5 31. f3 Be7 32. e4+ Ke6 33. Bd2 Bd6 34. Rbc1 {It was hard to expect anything else after 20...b5. Caruana clearly solved his opening problems with Black today, but maybe Magnus could have put more pressure by playing b5. I'll be interested to see the next couple games after tomorrow's rest day. I have a funny feeling they will be more tense than the last few have been.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2018.11.13"] [Round "4"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2835"] [BlackElo "2832"] [Annotator "Adams"] [PlyCount "69"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] {After the second game Carlsen would have been very keen to avoid Caruana demonstrating how good his preparation is again, but despite a slightly unexpected first move, he had another frustrating day with the White pieces.} 1. c4 e5 (1... e6 {would be an option to try to steer the game back towards the QGD of game 2.}) 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 d5 {Although we haven't seen an Open Sicilian when Caruana is White (yet), here we get one with reversed colours.} 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 Bc5 7. O-O O-O 8. d3 Re8 (8... Bb6 $5 {was played by Alexander Grischuk against Pavel Eljanov in the Geneva Grand Prix last year which brought this line to prominence. Since then many players have picked up the idea, including myself.}) 9. Bd2 ({Fabiano played the White side of this position against me!} 9. Ng5 $5 Nf6 10. Qb3 Qe7 11. Nd5 Nxd5 12. Bxd5 Nd8 {Now it's hard to intensify the pressure and Black is not doing badly.} 13. Qc4 Bd4 $1 {preventing the queen transferring to e4.} (13... Bb6 14. Qe4) 14. Bg2 h6 15. Nf3 Nc6 16. Be3 Bxe3 17. fxe3 e4 18. dxe4 {The Irish pawn centre as Tony Miles dubbed tripled pawns is often not as bad as it looks - here the position is roughly balanced.} a5 19. a3 Ra6 20. Rac1 Rb6 21. Rc2 Be6 22. Qc3 Rb3 23. Qd2 Rd8 24. Qc1 a4 25. Rc5 Rd7 26. h3 Qd8 27. g4 g6 28. Kh1 Kg7 29. e5 Bd5 30. Kg1 Be6 31. Kf2 Qe7 32. Kg1 Rd5 $6 ({After} 32... Qd8 {it's hard for either side to do anything, now things went wrong for me.}) 33. Rc4 Ra5 34. Rc2 Bd5 35. Nd4 Nxd4 36. exd4 Rg3 37. Rf3 Bxf3 38. exf3 c6 39. Kh2 Rxg2+ 40. Kxg2 Rd5 41. Rc4 c5 42. Rxc5 Rxd4 43. Qc3 Qd8 44. Rc8 Qb6 45. Re8 g5 46. Re7 Kg8 47. e6 fxe6 48. Qc2 Kf8 49. Rh7 Qc6 50. Qxc6 bxc6 51. Rxh6 Kf7 52. Kg3 Rd2 53. Rh7+ Kf6 54. Rb7 Ke5 55. h4 gxh4+ 56. Kxh4 Kf4 57. Rf7+ Ke3 58. Kg3 Rd1 59. g5 Rg1+ 60. Kh4 Rg2 61. Rf6 e5 62. g6 Rxb2 63. Kg5 Rg2+ 64. Kh6 Rh2+ 65. Kg7 c5 66. Kf7 c4 67. g7 Rh7 68. Ra6 {1-0 (68) Caruana,F (2799)-Adams,M (2715) London 2017}) 9... Nxc3 10. Bxc3 ({It looks more natural to capture towards the centre} 10. bxc3 {but then White's minor pieces are in each other's way after} h6 $5 (10... e4 $5 11. dxe4 Qe7 {could also be interesting.})) 10... Nd4 ({Not the only move, but it counters White's threat:} 10... a5 11. Nxe5 Nxe5 12. d4 $14) 11. b4 ({Magnus was already thinking a bit here, somewhat surprisingly given Caruana played this only 5 months ago, in almost his last game against the English!} 11. Rc1 Bb6 12. Re1 Bg4 13. Bxd4 exd4 14. a3 c6 15. Nd2 a5 {Black was comfortable here in the blitz game So - Caruana. Magnus chooses a more critical move, gaining some queenside space.}) 11... Bd6 ({This unnatural move was played quickly} 11... Bf8 {allows White the option of} 12. Nxe5 Rxe5 13. e3 ) (11... Bb6 12. a4 {is also not straightforward.}) 12. Rb1 (12. Nxd4 $5 exd4 13. Bxd4 Bxg3 (13... Bxb4) 14. hxg3 Qxd4 {looks like it could be interesting, but with home analysis no doubt Black survives.}) (12. e3 $5) 12... Nxf3+ 13. Bxf3 a6 14. a4 c6 15. Re1 $5 (15. Qc2 $5) ({The critical move must be} 15. b5 $1 {Could} cxb5 $5 (15... axb5 16. axb5 Bd7 (16... Bh3 $2 17. bxc6 bxc6 18. Bxc6 $16) 17. bxc6 Bxc6 18. Bxc6 bxc6 19. Qc2 $14 {looks no fun at all for Black. Perhaps Magnus was concerned 15.b5 would still be within his opponent's homework.}) 16. axb5 a5 {be Black's idea?}) 15... Bd7 {Preventing the b5 break for now.} 16. e3 Qf6 (16... Qe7 $5 {was also possible.}) 17. Be4 Bf5 ({A forcing option} 17... Rad8 $5 {still looks sensible to me.}) 18. Qf3 {Magnus is also happy to swap material.} Bxe4 19. Qxf6 gxf6 20. dxe4 {Black's kingside structure is ugly but it won't be easy to get at it.} b5 {fixing the pawn on b4 as a target for the Black bishop.} 21. Red1 ({Another fast move} 21. Rb2 $5 {was another option.}) 21... Bf8 22. axb5 axb5 (22... cxb5 {is met by} 23. Be1 Rec8 24. Rdc1 {preventing the Black rook getting to c4.}) 23. Kg2 {White's king would like to get to f5 but that's not going to happen.} Red8 24. Rdc1 Kg7 25. Be1 Rdc8 26. Rc2 Ra4 {It's hard for White to improve as he is tied to the b4 pawn.} 27. Kf3 (27. g4 $5) 27... h5 {A good move taking some space on the kingside.} 28. Ke2 Kg6 29. h3 f5 {Getting rid of the doubled pawns and improving the Black king position} 30. exf5+ Kxf5 31. f3 Be7 {The position is fairly dead and the players bring proceedings to a swift conclusion.} 32. e4+ Ke6 33. Bd2 (33. Rbc1 {can be met by} Kd7 {or} (33... Bxb4 {as in the next note.})) 33... Bd6 34. Rbc1 {Draw agreed as} Kd7 ({Even} 34... Bxb4 35. Bxb4 Rxb4 36. Rxc6+ Rxc6 37. Rxc6+ Ke7 38. Rh6 Rb2+ {is fine as there is no way to hide from the checks.}) 35. Rb1 {repeats} 1/2-1/2 [Event "WCh 2018"] [Site "London ENG"] [Date "2018.11.15"] [Round "5"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B31"] [WhiteElo "2832"] [BlackElo "2835"] [Annotator "Crowther,Mark"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2018.11.09"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. O-O Bg7 5. Re1 e5 6. b4 Nxb4 7. Bb2 a6 { Carlsen played his moves steadily with some thought. It soon became clear he knew the theory, he was perhaps making choices and checking his memory was correct.} ({Relevant:} 7... Qc7 8. c3 Nc6 9. d4 d6 10. d5 a6 11. Na3 Ke7 12. Bf1 Nd8 13. Nc4 b5 14. Ne3 Nf6 15. c4 b4 16. Nd2 Kf8 17. g3 h5 18. f4 Nb7 19. Bg2 Bd7 20. Rf1 Re8 21. Qf3 Re7 22. Rae1 a5 23. Nb3 a4 24. Nc1 a3 25. Ba1 Kg8 26. h3 Bc8 27. fxe5 dxe5 28. Nd3 Qd6 29. Rf2 Nd7 30. g4 hxg4 31. Nxg4 Na5 32. Ne3 Ba6 33. Rc2 Bh6 34. Ng4 Bxc4 35. Bf1 Bg7 36. Qg3 Ba6 37. Ne3 {Rapport,R (2676)-Granda Zuniga,J (2665) Camarinas 2013 0-1}) 8. a3 axb5 9. axb4 Rxa1 10. Bxa1 d6 11. bxc5 Ne7 12. Qe2 $146 ({Predecessor:} 12. cxd6 Qxd6 13. d4 exd4 14. Bxd4 O-O 15. Nc3 Bxd4 16. Nxd4 b4 17. e5 Qc5 18. Ncb5 Nf5 19. Qa1 Nxd4 20. Nxd4 Re8 21. Re3 Rd8 22. Re4 b5 23. e6 Bxe6 24. Nxe6 fxe6 25. Rxe6 Qxc2 26. Re1 Qd3 27. Qb1 b3 28. h4 Qc2 29. Rc1 Qxb1 30. Rxb1 Rd3 31. Kf1 Kf7 32. Rb2 Kf6 33. Ke2 Rc3 34. Kd2 b4 35. Kd1 Ke5 36. Rd2 Ke4 37. f3+ Ke3 38. Re2+ Kd3 39. Rd2+ Kc4 40. f4 Rd3 41. Ke2 Rxd2+ {Polschikov,A (2270)-Anoshkin,A (2386) Pardubice 2007 0-1}) 12... b4 {Forced but Carlsen didn't take very long to play it.} 13. Qc4 ( 13. Qb5+ Nc6 14. cxd6 Qxd6 $11) 13... Qa5 (13... Qc7 14. Qxb4 dxc5 15. Qa4+ Bd7 16. Qa8+ Nc8) 14. cxd6 Be6 15. Qc7 Qxc7 16. dxc7 Nc6 17. c3 (17. Rd1) 17... Kd7 18. cxb4 Ra8 {Here Caruana thought for about half an hour.} 19. Bc3 Kxc7 20. d3 Kb6 {It was Magnus' turn to think for a long time. The computers weren't that impressed but the situation remains tense.} (20... b5 {was the favoured idea of computers.} 21. Kf1 Ra4 22. Bd2) 21. Bd2 (21. Ng5 Ba2 22. Bd2 f6 23. Nf3) 21... Rd8 22. Be3+ Kb5 23. Nc3+ Kxb4 24. Nd5+ Bxd5 25. exd5 Rxd5 {White has gone from being a pawn up to a pawn down but now he's having more fun.} 26. Rb1+ Kc3 27. Rxb7 Nd8 28. Rc7+ Kxd3 29. Kf1 h5 30. h3 Ke4 31. Ng5+ Kf5 32. Nxf7 Nxf7 33. Rxf7+ Bf6 34. g4+ {With equality.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "2018 World Chess Championship"] [Site "London"] [Date "2018.11.09"] [Round "5"] [White "Fabiano Caruana"] [Black "Magnus Carlsen"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B31"] [Annotator "samsh"] [PlyCount "66"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2018.11.15"] {The fifth game produced the fifth draw, but unlike the last few encounters, this one was much more notable and interesting. It was the first time Magnus at least seemed to get caught in the opening to some extent, and the first time I wondered if he might actually get himself into trouble. Still, when pressured to find some difficult moves, he managed to keep his head above water without much trouble.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 {Magnus clearly is sticking with the Sicilian, but each game is getting tougher for him. I will be interested to see if he pivots in game 8 or if he sticks with it all the way through, because the trend is not going his direction.} 3. Bb5 g6 4. O-O { A new move for the match.} (4. Bxc6 {Carana chose to take on c6 in the previous two encounters.}) 4... Bg7 5. Re1 e5 (5... Nf6 {I would be interested to know what Caruana had in mind here. I would not be surprised if he was hoping to transpose back to the Bxc6 lines now that Black has committed to Nf6, and can't play the Qc7 stuff he tried previously.} 6. Bxc6 $5 dxc6 7. d3) 6. b4 $5 {An enterprising, aggressive, and very principled move. Black does not need to do much to equalize, and the c5 pawn promises him strong central control. If he could play Nge7 and get castled, he might even have the more comfortable game. But for the moment, he is behind on development, and White tries to break down the center and open the position before that happens.} (6. c3 $2 { Continuing quietly with a normal developing move will not do.} Nge7 7. d3 O-O { I already prefer Black. He has an easy plan to play d6, h6, and eventually f5, launching a kingside attack, and I can't think of much for White to do.}) 6... Nxb4 $1 (6... cxb4 {Is also possible, but after} 7. a3 $1 {White has excellent compensation in a weird Sicilian-Benko hybrid. If Black is too insistent about keeping his extra pawn, he can get into massive trouble:} bxa3 $2 (7... b3 $1 { Is to be preferred, leading to rough symmetry and good chances to equalize, although it still looks unpleasant to me.}) 8. Bxa3 Nge7 9. Bd6 $1 {Black is already more or less lost. His pieces have no good route to get into the game and Nc3-d5 is coming.}) 7. Bb2 {White is down a pawn but his lead in development is very dangerous, as the game shows.} a6 (7... Qb6 {This was also possible, but after} 8. Na3 $1 a6 9. Bf1 Nc6 10. Nc4 Qc7 11. c3 $1 {Black cannot prevent d2-d4, when the position opens up faster than he will enjoy. The machine thinks he is okay, but it looks terrifying for a human.}) (7... Qc7 {Is also too materialistic. After} 8. c3 $1 Nc6 9. d4 $1 {White's lead in development should soon become a big problem for Black when the center opens.}) 8. a3 $1 axb5 9. axb4 Rxa1 10. Bxa1 {Caruana was still blitzing his moves and clearly in preparation. This was the first moment in the match where I thought he might have chances to score a full point. Black's center is coming under serious fire and he is not too close to castling yet.} d6 (10... Ne7 11. bxc5 O-O {Getting castled as soon as possible comes at a heavy price. White wins a central pawn, and the game.} (11... d6 $1 {Transposes to the game}) 12. Bxe5) 11. bxc5 Ne7 $1 (11... dxc5 $2 {Of course it is senseless to lose the e5 pawn and fall further behind on development.} 12. Bxe5 {Black is in big trouble}) 12. Qe2 $5 {I'm not sure what this move was about.} (12. cxd6 {The computer is pretty insistent that this is the best try. after} Qxd6 13. d4 $1 exd4 14. Bxd4 O-O 15. Bxg7 Qxd1 16. Rxd1 Kxg7 {White has a slightly better endgame due to his better structure, but I think it should be holdable. Perhaps Caruana reached the same conclusion and chose to play the "objectively inferior" Qe2 (according to the machine) hoping to make use of the practical chance that Black was in a position where a mistake would be more costly.}) 12... b4 $1 { Material is equal, and Black cannot afford to lose a pawn. This must have been an unsettling moment for Magnus, but he found the best move.} 13. Qc4 {Caruana was still blitzing, but I think he must have confused his preparation or forgotten something. He started thinking quite a bit after Black's next move, which is the first choice of the machine! I can gaurantee that while preparing this line, if one reaches this position, they would certainly check Qa5 as it's the computer's recommendation and the most obvious move. So it is very surprising to me that Caruana would blitz up to here, and only then start thinking. I have a feeling he got confused or misremembered something, but one can never truly know what went on.} (13. Qb5+ Nc6 {Leads nowhere for White}) 13... Qa5 $1 {Simple and strong, but has to be well calculated. Black hits the a1 bishop, defends the b4 pawn to prepare for Bc8-e6, and pressures the c5-pawn. Play now takes on a very forced nature.} 14. cxd6 {Entirely forced.} ( 14. Bb2 $2 Be6 {White loses the c-pawn, and probably the game.} 15. Qe2 Qxc5) ( {Ed note: At press conference, Caruana mentioned that} 14. d4 {"Is ridiculous and probably losing for White" -- Caruana.} Qxa1 15. cxd6 Nc6 16. d5 {and it doesn't look like it should work, perhaps after} Na7 {but the computer actually likes White after} 17. Qxb4) 14... Be6 $1 {An important resource.} 15. Qc7 Qxc7 16. dxc7 Nc6 $1 {Black has a very healthy position in the longrun. He can play Kd7, take the c-pawn, bring a rook to the a-file, and enjoy the bishop pair. White's only chance is to try to make something of his lead in development before Black consolidates- the typical story of any Sicilian.} 17. c3 {This doesn't do much and Magnus is absolutely fine now.} (17. d4 $5 { Blasting open the center at all costs was worth a shot, but Black should equalize with precise play. The moves are very forcing and not that difficult.} exd4 18. Rd1 d3 $1 {Now things get messy, albeit briefly.} (18... Kd7 { Probably holds, but won't be fun.} 19. Nxd4 Nxd4 20. Bxd4 Bxd4 21. Rxd4+ Kxc7 22. Rxb4 Ra8 {With no weaknesses, active pices, and chances to play for a 4 vs 3 rook ending in the worse case scenario, I suspect Black would eventually hold this. But he will suffer a lot first.}) 19. Bxg7 dxc2 20. Rc1 Rg8 $5 { The machine gives a slightly psychotic line, which is fun, but also unnecessary.} (20... cxb1=Q {The human move equalizes easily.} 21. Rxb1 Rg8 $11 ) 21. Bd4 Nxd4 22. Nxd4 cxb1=Q 23. c8=Q+ $1 {This does not change the result, but a double queening is amusing.} (23. Rxb1 Kd7 {Is also a draw}) 23... Bxc8 24. Rxb1 Kd7 25. Rxb4 $11) (17. Rd1 $1 {This was probably the best chance to make trouble. Still, I think Black should hold.} Kd7 18. d4 Bg4 $6 (18... exd4 19. Nxd4 {Black is forced into the 18...Kd7 line of the 17. d4 variation, with an unpleasant but probably holdable position.}) 19. d5 (19. dxe5+ Kxc7 { Is better for Black, as he will regain the e-pawn with a lot of activity}) 19... Nd4 20. Nbd2 $1 Rc8 {The machine calls this equal but it looks a little unpleasant for Black to me. I'd worry about the protected passer on d5.} 21. Nc4 $1) 17... Kd7 18. cxb4 Ra8 19. Bc3 Kxc7 {White won the b4-pawn, but it will be a hard pawn to maintain. He certainly is not better as the short and long term weakness of the b4-pawn and the horrible knight on a1 provide Black with excellent compensation.} 20. d3 Kb6 (20... b5 $5 {Magnus could have tried fixing the pawn on b4 as a long term weakness, and eventually try to pick it off with some combination of Ra4 and/or f6 followed by Bf8. This would have given him some vague chances to play for an edge, but I don't think it would be enough to win.}) 21. Bd2 {From here on out, the game follows a very forced line that chops all the pieces off.} Rd8 22. Be3+ Kb5 23. Nc3+ Kxb4 24. Nd5+ Bxd5 25. exd5 Rxd5 26. Rb1+ Kc3 (26... Ka4 27. Rxb7 Rb5 {Is also a draw}) 27. Rxb7 Nd8 $1 28. Rc7+ Kxd3 {Black has won a pawn, but his minor pieces are stuck and passive, plus his king is a little vulnerable, so he has no serious winning chances.} 29. Kf1 h5 (29... e4 $2 {Setting the pawn majority in motion is not to be recommended!} 30. Ne1#) 30. h3 Ke4 {The simplest route to a draw. White should take the f7 pawn before Black gets the king far enough back to consolidate and hoping to push with 4 vs 3.} 31. Ng5+ Kf5 32. Nxf7 Nxf7 33. Rxf7+ Bf6 {An interesting game, and probably the first seriously unsettling one for Carlsen. I'll be interested to see if he repeats the Sicilian again in game 8, or if he pivots to something else, as he has thus far done in his two white games.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2018.11.15"] [Round "5"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2832"] [BlackElo "2835"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] 1. e4 {Not surprisingly, Caruana sticks to his usual first move.} c5 {Again a Sicilian by Carlsen, which is logical considering the fact that Black was doing quite OK in the previous games.} 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 (3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 { I would be very interested in which variation Carlsen would chose here, and I hope we will see this in one of the upcoming games.}) 3... g6 4. O-O $5 { White diviates from games 1 and 3, where he played Bxc6. This logical move is also very popular, and played many times on the top level.} Bg7 5. Re1 e5 { As in the earlier games, Magnus likes to put his pawn on e5 as early as possible, not allowing e4-e5.} 6. b4 $5 {Played instantly by Caruana and clearly his preperation. This move made me happy to watch, as it looks sharp and interesting. The most dangrous scenario for Carlsen would now to be unprepared for this move. But actually he had faced it before!} (6. c3 { is how White usually continues when they don't take on c6.}) 6... Nxb4 { Played after only a few minutes thought, which means that Carlsen was probably ready for this line.} (6... cxb4 {is what Carlsen answered as a young kid many years ago, and the move which seems most logical. The game followed:} 7. a3 Nge7 (7... b3 {Played recently by Grischuk with success against Bacrot in rapid. The point is just to sacrifice the pawn back and keep the a-file closed, and then to just develop.} 8. cxb3 Nge7 9. Bb2 O-O 10. d4 (10. b4 {0-1 (48) Bacrot,E (2708)-Grischuk,A (2761) Paris 2017} d5 $1 $146 {And Black is first to strike in the center with a good game.}) 10... d5 {with a complicated battle }) 8. axb4 O-O 9. Bxc6 bxc6 10. Bb2 d6 11. d4 f6 12. Nbd2 $14 {Where Black was quite passive and the White posistion looks very nice. ½-½ (52) Stellwagen,D (2524)-Carlsen,M (2553) Wijk aan Zee 2005 CBM 105 [Finkel,A]}) 7. Bb2 {Simply developing the bishop to a good square and threatening a pawn. Other moves do not make much sense.} (7. c3 Nc6 8. d4 exd4 9. cxd4 Nxd4 $1 $17) 7... a6 { Again played quite fast, probably meaning that Carlsen was just spending some time remembering his analyses.} (7... Qc7 {is also a move to consider, just protecting the pawn.} 8. c3 Nc6 9. d4 d6 {I would be curious to see what Caruana had planned here, but it looks easier to play White as he has the attacking chances.} (9... Nf6 10. dxc5 $14 {looks nice for White}) 10. d5 a6 11. Na3 Ke7 $13 {With an unclear and very sharp game. I believe that White has compensation for a pawn at least, but if he is better or not remains a question. Black went on to win a fighting game in 0-1 (44) Rapport,R (2676) -Granda Zuniga,J (2665) Camarinas 2013}) 8. a3 {The only challenging move, still in Caruana's preperation.} (8. Bf1 $2 {Just does not make sense, and after} Nc6 {White cannot play Bxc6 and Black remains a pawn up.}) 8... axb5 { Played after 5 minutes of thought, and I believe it was still in his preperation. This leads to some simplifications, which is usually beneficial for the defending side:} (8... Nc6 9. Bxc6 dxc6 10. Nxe5 Nf6 11. Nf3 {Was also a possibility, but I would chose White as he has the better structure here.}) 9. axb4 Rxa1 10. Bxa1 d6 {Defending the important e5 pawn.} (10... cxb4 11. Bxe5 $1 {Does not look so healthy for Black} Bxe5 12. Nxe5 Ne7 13. Qe2 $14) 11. bxc5 Ne7 {Finally Black gets time to develop his knight and is preparing to get the king to safety. White must try to create something fast, as if Black gets one more developing move he has a perfectly fine posistion with the bishop pair.} 12. Qe2 {Forcing the play. Still blitzed out by Caruana and his prep, although it does not lead to much:} (12. cxd6 Qxd6 13. d4 {Looked very logical to me, opening up the game before Black has castled.} exd4 14. Bxd4 ( 14. e5 Qb4 15. Nxd4 (15. Qxd4 Qxd4 16. Nxd4 b4 {Black will castle next and have nothing to worry about.}) 15... O-O {Black has activity and a nice posistion}) 14... O-O 15. Bxg7 Qxd1 16. Rxd1 Kxg7 {A critical posistion. The question remains if White can create something against Black's doubled pawns in this ending, but probably Black is too active.} 17. Na3 (17. Nd4 b4 18. Nd2 Rd8 $132) 17... b4 18. Nc4 Nc6 $11) 12... b4 {The only move which saves the pawn.} (12... O-O $2 13. Qxb5 $16 {Would just lose a pawn.}) 13. Qc4 {Renewing the threat and stopping Black from castling.} (13. c3 Nc6 14. cxb4 dxc5 15. bxc5 Qa5 16. Nc3 Qxc5) (13. Qb5+ Nc6 {and Black should be OK as he gets to castle next!}) 13... Qa5 $1 {Forcing the queens off:} (13... Nc6 14. d4 $1 { Seems dangrous for Black:} exd4 15. Nxd4 Bxd4 (15... Nxd4 16. Bxd4 {would lead to collapse of the Black posistion} O-O 17. Bxg7 Kxg7 18. Rd1 $16 {and White wins a pawn.}) 16. Bxd4 Be6 (16... O-O $2 17. cxd6 Qxd6 18. Bc5 $18 {loses the exchange.}) 17. Qb5 O-O 18. Be3 {White has a risk-free advantage.}) 14. cxd6 ( 14. Bb2 $2 Be6 $17) 14... Be6 (14... Nc6 15. d4 $1 $36 Qxa1 16. d5 {Looks only fun for White}) 15. Qc7 (15. Qe2 Qxa1 16. dxe7 Qa6 $1 {Black is doing great}) 15... Qxc7 16. dxc7 Nc6 $11 {Protecting the important e5-pawn before planning to eat the pawn on c7 with Kd7. I guess that probably around here the notes of the players ended, and they are on their own. We have reached a position where White has a healthier structure, but at the same time Black has the bishop pair and some activity - I would say enough counterplay for being OK. Still White needs to spend some tempi to bring the b1-knight to life. Black should be happy about the outcome of the opening!} 17. c3 {Prepares to bring the b1-knight into the game.} (17. Rd1 {What I was expecting. Simply preparing to open up with d2-d4.} Kd7 18. d4 b3 $1 {A surprising move, but it solves the problems mainly because of the activity:} (18... exd4 19. Nxd4 Nxd4 20. Bxd4 Bxd4 21. Rxd4+ Kxc7 22. Rxb4 Kc6 {and the question is if Black has enough compensation for the pawn, but it is clear that White is in the driver's seat at least:} 23. Nc3 Ra8 24. Kf1 $14 {And Black is the one who has to play precisely in order to make a draw.}) 19. Nxe5+ (19. dxe5+ Kxc7 20. cxb3 Bxb3 $44 {Black is too active and has a nice b-pawn. I would definetly take Black in this posistion.}) (19. cxb3 Bxb3 $15) 19... Kxc7 $1 (19... Nxe5 20. dxe5+ Kxc7 21. cxb3 Bxb3 22. Rc1+ $14) 20. cxb3 Ra8 21. Nd2 (21. Nc3 Bxb3 $1) 21... Bxe5 22. dxe5 Ra2 {Although Black is two pawns down, he has enough compensation: Extremely active and good king, and the b3 pawn should fall at some point. The White pieces are rather stuck.}) 17... Kd7 (17... b3 $2 18. d4 $18 {is a killer!}) 18. cxb4 Ra8 {Annoying move. Although he could take on c7, it makes more sense to get the rook to a better square first.} 19. Bc3 (19. Nc3 $2 Nxb4 $1) (19. Bb2 Ra2 $1) 19... Kxc7 {Black remains a pawn down, but still White did not solve the b1-knight problem, and Black has a much better king + bishop pair. Carlsen definetly has an easier posisiton here} 20. d3 {Gets a new square for the b1-knight.} (20. Ng5 {Actually the only move that reaches equality. But quite desperate and not so logical..} Bc4 21. Nxh7 {Obviously an ice-cold way for a human to play...}) (20. Rc1 Kd7 $15) 20... Kb6 $6 (20... b5 $1 $15 {The only chance Carlsen had in the game to be better. The b4-pawn is weak, and this just seems as a more comfortable posistion to play for Black. At least Caruana would have to be precise here. Usually Carlsen is always taking these small chances when he gets them, so I'm a bit curious what he missed. As the game continued, there was not much happening.} 21. Kf1 (21. Bd2 Rd8 $1 22. Nc3 Rxd3 23. Nxb5+ Kb6 24. Nc3 Nd4 $17 {maybe the line Carlsen missed?}) 21... Ra4 22. Bd2 Nxb4) 21. Bd2 $1 {Preparing Nc3, and kind of profylactic against Kb5.} (21. Ng5 Kb5 22. Nxe6 fxe6 23. Kf1 Bf8 $1) 21... Rd8 (21... Kb5 $6 22. Nc3+ Kxb4 23. Rc1 (23. Na4+ $1)) 22. Be3+ Kb5 (22... Kc7 23. b5 $1) 23. Nc3+ {White finally gets to develop his knight and the posistion gets simplified:} Kxb4 24. Nd5+ $1 {Basically a draw is forced.} Bxd5 (24... Kb3 25. Rb1+) 25. exd5 Rxd5 26. Rb1+ Kc3 27. Rxb7 Nd8 $1 28. Rc7+ Kxd3 { Black is a pawn up, but White is too active and the d8 knight is stuck to protect f7. One of the pawns will be lost.} 29. Kf1 h5 (29... e4 $4 30. Ne1# { Would be a funny mate!}) 30. h3 Ke4 31. Ng5+ Kf5 32. Nxf7 $11 Nxf7 33. Rxf7+ Bf6 34. g4+ {White offered a draw which was accepted as there is nothing to play for with 3 against 3 pawns on same side.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "WCh 2018"] [Site "London ENG"] [Date "2018.11.16"] [Round "6"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C42"] [WhiteElo "2835"] [BlackElo "2832"] [Annotator "Crowther,Mark"] [PlyCount "160"] [EventDate "2018.11.09"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nd3 Nxe4 5. Qe2 Qe7 6. Nf4 Nc6 $146 {This is a novelty - no-one in the database has reached this position before. They do transpose shortly to some games by very weak players but this is effectively all new. Both players seemed to know what they were doing.} (6... Nf6 7. d4 Qxe2+ 8. Bxe2 Nc6 9. c3 g6 10. f3 Bg7 11. h4 h5 12. Na3 Ne7 13. Nb5 Kd8 14. Kf2 a6 15. Na3 b6 16. Bc4 Rf8 17. Nc2 Bb7 18. Ne3 Kd7 19. a4 Bc6 20. Rd1 Bh6 21. Nd3 Bxe3+ 22. Bxe3 Bd5 23. b3 Bxc4 24. bxc4 Nf5 25. Bf4 Ng8 26. c5 Nxh4 27. cxd6 cxd6 28. c4 Nf5 29. c5 h4 30. cxb6 Nge7 31. Rab1 Nd5 32. Bd2 Rab8 33. b7 Nfe7 34. Rdc1 Nc6 35. Nf4 Nce7 36. Rh1 Nxf4 37. Bxf4 Nd5 38. Rxh4 Kc6 39. Rc1+ Kd7 40. Rb1 Kc6 41. Bg3 Rfe8 42. Rhh1 f5 43. Rbc1+ {1/2-1/2 (43) Motylev,A (2659)-Rakhmanov,A (2627) Yaroslavl 2018}) 7. Nd5 Nd4 8. Nxe7 Nxe2 9. Nd5 Nd4 10. Na3 $146 ({Predecessor:} 10. Bd3 Nxf2 11. Kxf2 Kd8 12. b3 (12. Re1 { 0-1 (47) Baudifier,Y (1600)-Sochacki,C (1009) France 2002}) 12... Be6 {1-0 (58) Seyb,A (1349)-Gaier,R (1196) Willingen 2001}) 10... Ne6 11. f3 N4c5 12. d4 Nd7 13. c3 c6 14. Nf4 Nb6 15. Bd3 d5 {This structure is seen in the French Exchange Variation. It has very drawish tendencies.} 16. Nc2 Bd6 17. Nxe6 Bxe6 18. Kf2 h5 $1 19. h4 Nc8 20. Ne3 Ne7 21. g3 c5 $1 {After this black has complete equality. He very soon takes over the intiative.} 22. Bc2 O-O 23. Rd1 Rfd8 24. Ng2 cxd4 25. cxd4 Rac8 26. Bb3 Nc6 27. Bf4 Na5 28. Rdc1 Bb4 {White is already having to demonstrate some accuracy here.} 29. Bd1 Nc4 30. b3 Na3 31. Rxc8 Rxc8 32. Rc1 Nb5 33. Rxc8+ Bxc8 34. Ne3 $6 {This plan looks active but is the real start of the trouble for Carlsen.} (34. Be3 Nc3 35. Bc2 Nxa2 36. Nf4 Be6 37. Nxh5) 34... Nc3 35. Bc2 (35. Be2) 35... Ba3 36. Bb8 (36. Bd3) 36... a6 37. f4 Bd7 38. f5 $6 {and this is turns out is a more serious inaccuracy.} Bc6 (38... Nb5 39. Nxd5 Nxd4 40. Bd1 Bc6) 39. Bd1 Bb2 40. Bxh5 Ne4+ {Time control has been reached and Carlsen didn't spend long on his next.} 41. Kg2 (41. Ke2 { is a different defensive plan.} Bxd4 42. a4) 41... Bxd4 42. Bf4 Bc5 43. Bf3 { Carlsen had a very long think here and probably decided here that he'd had enough of being pushed around and was going to sacrifice a piece.} (43. Bg4 { was preferred by computers.}) 43... Nd2 44. Bxd5 Bxe3 45. Bxc6 Bxf4 46. Bxb7 Bd6 47. Bxa6 Ne4 48. g4 (48. Bd3 Nxg3 49. Kf3 Nh5 50. a4 Bb4 {also needs assessing.}) 48... Ba3 {Black reduces the compensation to two pawns for a piece and will be seriously pushing for a win from now on.} 49. Bc4 Kf8 50. g5 Nc3 51. b4 {The a-pawn seems the right one to hold on to.} Bxb4 52. Kf3 Na4 53. Bb5 Nc5 54. a4 f6 {A commital decision. There are other moves.} (54... Be1 55. Kg4) 55. Kg4 Ne4 56. Kh5 Be1 57. Bd3 (57. Bc4) 57... Nd6 58. a5 $5 {This is in fact drawing.} Bxa5 59. gxf6 gxf6 60. Kg6 Bd8 61. Kh7 $1 {According to computers this is a draw but the position remains very dangerous for white.} Nf7 62. Bc4 Ne5 63. Bd5 Ba5 64. h5 Bd2 65. Ba2 Nf3 66. Bd5 Nd4 67. Kg6 $2 { The computers jump to life and point out this is losing.} (67. Bc4 {is still drawing.}) (67. Be4 {also works.}) 67... Bg5 68. Bc4 Nf3 $2 $11 (68... Bh4 69. Bd5 Ne2 {the point of why white is losing.}) 69. Kh7 Ne5 70. Bb3 Ng4 71. Bc4 Ne3 72. Bd3 Ng4 73. Bc4 Nh6 74. Kg6 {and now suddenly Caruana is in danger of a three fold repetition. The King march is forced for that reason but most of the winning tries are now gone.} Ke7 75. Bb3 Kd6 76. Bc2 Ke5 77. Bd3 Kf4 78. Bc2 Ng4 79. Bb3 Ne3 $11 {Ending the game.} 80. h6 Bxh6 1/2-1/2 [Event "2018 WCC game 6 analysis"] [Site "http://www.chessbomb.com"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "6"] [White "Analysis -- Carlsen"] [Black "Analysis -- Caruana"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C42"] [PlyCount "218"] [WhiteClock "0:15:18"] [BlackClock "0:15:11"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nd3 Nxe4 5. Qe2 Qe7 6. Nf4 Nc6 7. Nd5 Nd4 8. Nxe7 Nxe2 9. Nd5 Nd4 10. Na3 Ne6 11. f3 N4c5 12. d4 Nd7 13. c3 c6 14. Nf4 Nb6 15. Bd3 d5 16. Nc2 Bd6 17. Nxe6 Bxe6 18. Kf2 h5 19. h4 Nc8 20. Ne3 Ne7 21. g3 c5 22. Bc2 O-O 23. Rd1 Rfd8 24. Ng2 cxd4 25. cxd4 Rac8 26. Bb3 Nc6 27. Bf4 Na5 28. Rdc1 Bb4 29. Bd1 Nc4 30. b3 Na3 31. Rxc8 Rxc8 32. Rc1 Nb5 33. Rxc8+ Bxc8 34. Ne3 Nc3 35. Bc2 Ba3 36. Bb8 a6 37. f4 Bd7 38. f5 Bc6 39. Bd1 Bb2 40. Bxh5 Ne4+ 41. Kg2 Bxd4 42. Bf4 Bc5 43. Bf3 Nd2 44. Bxd5 Bxe3 45. Bxc6 Bxf4 46. Bxb7 Bd6 47. Bxa6 Ne4 48. g4 Ba3 49. Bc4 Kf8 50. g5 Nc3 51. b4 Bxb4 52. Kf3 Na4 53. Bb5 Nc5 54. a4 f6 55. Kg4 Ne4 56. Kh5 Be1 57. Bd3 Nd6 58. a5 Bxa5 59. gxf6 gxf6 60. Kg6 Bd8 61. Kh7 Nf7 62. Bc4 Ne5 63. Bd5 Ba5 64. h5 Bd2 65. Ba2 Nf3 66. Bd5 Nd4 67. Kg6 $2 Bg5 68. Bc4 Bh4 $3 (68... Nf3 $2) 69. Bd5 Ne2 70. Bf3 Ng1 71. Bg4 Kg8 $3 72. Kh6 Bg3 73. Kg6 Be5 74. Kh6 Bf4+ 75. Kg6 Bg5 76. h6 Kh8 $3 77. h7 Bh4 78. Kh6 Be1 79. Kg6 Bc3 80. Kh6 Bd2+ 81. Kg6 Bg5 82. Bh5 Nh3 83. Bg4 Nf4+ 84. Kf7 Kxh7 85. Bd1 Kh6 86. Kf8 Nd5 87. Kg8 Ne7+ 88. Kh8 Nxf5 89. Kg8 Nd6 90. Bc2 f5 91. Bd1 f4 92. Bf3 Kg6 93. Bd5 Bh6 94. Bf7+ Kf6 95. Bd5 Nb5 96. Bc4 Na3 97. Bb3 Nb1 98. Bc2 Nd2 99. Bd1 f3 100. Kh7 f2 101. Be2 Bg7 102. Bd3 f1=Q 103. Bxf1 Nxf1 104. Kg8 Ne3 105. Kh7 Ng4 106. Kg8 Bh6 107. Kh8 Kg6 108. Kg8 Nf6+ 109. Kh8 Bg7# 0-1 [Event "London"] [Site "London"] [Date "2018.11.09"] [Round "6"] [White "Magnus Carlsen"] [Black "Fabiano Caruana"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C42"] [Annotator "samsh"] [PlyCount "160"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2018.11.16"] {Yesterday was the first game where I thought Carlsen was under any real pressure, and today was the first day where he was in serious danger of losing. I don't know who will be less happy with today's turn of events. Much like game one, one player should not be encouraged to be lucky to survive with white, and the other player can't be happy about not taking one of what will probably be very few chances to score a full point. Beating 2800+ guys is tough!} 1. e4 {Magnus opts for 1.e4 for the first time. I wondered if Caruana would want to play the Petroff, sticking with his main and best opening but eschewing any surprise value. I mostly expected something else since he has at least so far ditched the QGA, but it looks like at least for now, he is happy to stick with his guns.} e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nd3 {This is a trendy new move as of 2018, but I can't imagine its the most testing try.} (4. Nf3 { Is the main move. There follows} Nxe4 {And now both d4 and Nc3 are serious tries to fight for an advantage. Caruana has faced both these moves many times in the past couple years.}) 4... Nxe4 5. Qe2 Qe7 6. Nf4 Nc6 $5 {Initiative a funny forced sequence, but both players were undoubtedly ready for it.} (6... Nf6 {Also looks fine. I have a hard time imagining White getting anywhere in these symmetrical endings. Still, boring as they appear, they can liven up. Caruana's game with Kramnik in the Candidates saw a quick queen trade as well, and a full point was passed back and forth more than once as the position got complicated and the players got low on time.}) 7. Nd5 Nd4 $1 8. Nxe7 Nxe2 { The position is really weird, but funnily enough, it seems balanced. White cannot make use of the extra tempo with both knight ransacking the other side's back rank.} 9. Nd5 (9. Bxe2 Bxe7 {Is obviously equal}) (9. Nxc8 Nxc1 { Leads nowhere for White either}) 9... Nd4 10. Na3 (10. Nxc7+ $6 {Grabbing the rook leads to trouble} Kd8 11. Nxa8 $2 (11. Bd3 $1 Nxf2 12. Kxf2 Kxc7 {Should be equal}) 11... Nxc2+ 12. Kd1 Nxa1 {The loose f2 pawn will be White's undoing. }) 10... Ne6 11. f3 N4c5 12. d4 Nd7 13. c3 {Both players were still playing fast. Black's knights have been booted all the way backwards from their prevously impressive posts on e2 and e4, but he retains a very solid position and doesn't have any weaknesses.} c6 14. Nf4 Nb6 15. Bd3 d5 16. Nc2 {White's moral advantage of slightly better coordination is more or less meaningless. When I woke up and this position was on the board, I expected another fast draw, not to have to wait 5 hours until after lunch to write about the game!} Bd6 17. Nxe6 Bxe6 18. Kf2 h5 19. h4 Nc8 20. Ne3 Ne7 21. g3 c5 22. Bc2 $6 { This move was the start of Carlsen's troubles. Bringing the bishop to b3 to pressure the d5 pawn might seem natural, but it was a decision he later likely regretted as the bishop became a target and didn't accomplish very much.} (22. Ng2 {Magnus foung this maneuvre later, and he should have done it here as well. White still retains a moral advantage that is very, very unlikely to yield a full point.}) 22... O-O 23. Rd1 Rfd8 24. Ng2 {White makes the positional threat of dxc5 followed by Be3 to make an isolated d5-pawn. I was not at all surprised to see Caruana play cxd4 in response, but I found it a little strange he did not make the move immediately.} cxd4 $1 25. cxd4 Rac8 26. Bb3 Nc6 $1 {The knight is coming to a5, when is becomes clear the bishop on b3 is doing more harm than good for White's position.} 27. Bf4 Na5 {Now White has some problems to solve.} 28. Rdc1 {Very necessary.} (28. Bxd6 $2 Nxb3 $1 29. axb3 Rc2+ $1 {An important in-between move. Black takes the second rank and White is in trouble.}) 28... Bb4 29. Bd1 Nc4 30. b3 Na3 $1 {This was Black's only serious try. The knight will be good on b5, and he is hoping to use the a2-pawn as a long term weakness.} (30... Nd6 {I guess this could transpose, but it does allow Bxd6.} 31. Rxc8 (31. Bxd6 $5 {I am not convinced that the bishop pair matters here since White has no bad pieces. If his bishop was on e3 he would be much worse, but as is, it is on the right color complex and will not magically move to a dark square. With moves like Bf3 and Ne3 coming I can't imagine White having any serious issues.}) 31... Rxc8 32. Rc1) 31. Rxc8 Rxc8 32. Rc1 Nb5 33. Rxc8+ Bxc8 34. Ne3 Nc3 35. Bc2 (35. a4 {In light of the problems White faced in the game, it may have been worth considering to play a4 to avoid the weakness on a2. He voluntarily gave up the light squared bishop later anyway.} Nxd1+ 36. Nxd1 f6 {Black is slightly better and will press, but I have a hard time seeing him win. Ne3, Bf4, Kd3 looks very hard to break down.}) 35... Ba3 $1 {Preventing a2-a4. It will be very hard to hold onto this pawn.} 36. Bb8 a6 37. f4 Bd7 38. f5 Bc6 {Now Nxa2 is an honest to goodness threat.} 39. Bd1 {A sad necessity, also highlighting why I think a4 earlier on may have been worth considering.} Bb2 (39... Nxd1+ $5 40. Nxd1 { Leads to a similar ending to the one after 35.a4, but here the pawn is fixed on a2, and f5 is vulnerable too. I still think it should be a draw but White's defense will be tougher.}) 40. Bxh5 Ne4+ (40... Nxa2 $5 {I would have certainly gone for this one, hoping to use the potential for an outside passed pawn. Caruana's choice is not bad of course.}) 41. Kg2 Bxd4 42. Bf4 Bc5 { White's position should be defensible. What Magnus chose to do next made his life tougher, which is the first step towards losing the game.} 43. Bf3 Nd2 44. Bxd5 $5 (44. Nd1 {In hindsight, this may have been a better choice. I do think the game move should hold, but White's margin for error was very slim.} Nxf3 45. Kxf3 d4+ 46. Ke2 Be4 47. g4 {White is worse but hanging in there. Nf2-d3 is a real plan.} Bb1 48. Kd2 $1 {The pawn is taboo.} Bb4+ (48... Bxa2 $2 49. Kc2) 49. Kc1 Bd3 50. Nf2 Be2 51. g5 Be1 52. Ne4 Bxh4 53. Bg3 {This computer line shows White holding, but I can understand why Magnus would not be keen to enter it. If he was confident the piece down position was a draw, one cannot berate him for making that choice.}) 44... Bxe3 45. Bxc6 Bxf4 46. Bxb7 Bd6 47. Bxa6 Ne4 48. g4 Ba3 $1 {An important move, without which White would hold easily by playing a2-a4 and keeping the bishop defending b3. Now White must lose one of his queenside pawns.} 49. Bc4 Kf8 50. g5 Nc3 51. b4 $1 {Magnus correctly chooses to leave himself with the pawn the furthest away from the kingside.} Bxb4 52. Kf3 {This is a very difficult endgame to play, judge and assess, but I'll share my general impressions. The bishop on c4 lasering down on the f7-pawn means that sooner or later, Black will be forced to play f7-f6. Then, White probably will not want to take the pawn unless forced to- he still has a plan to bring the king to g6 to attack the base of the pawn chain, since he can play gxf6 anytime. If White takes on f6 and Black can recapture with the pawn, he will never be able to take Black's last one.} Na4 53. Bb5 Nc5 54. a4 f6 {As previously mentioned, Black was forced to play f6. Now, I think his best winning plan is to try to force the g5/f6 pawn tension to resolve. If white ever plays g6, Black can blockade the a-pawn with his knight, bring the bishop to the c1-h6 diagonal to let the king join the fight, and he will probably win. White should never let this happen and if forced to resolve the tension he must take on f6, though this is also not ideal.} 55. Kg4 (55. g6 $2 {A move like this illustrates my point nicely.} Bd2 56. h5 Ke7 57. a5 Kd6 { Black will win the a5-pawn and the game. White needs to leave the kingside pawns as they were to keep some annoying counterplay with a potential passer that Black will need to pay attention to.}) 55... Ne4 $1 {Black ups the pressure on the g5-pawn. He really wants it to move.} 56. Kh5 {Now Kg6 is on the agenda. Black's king is clearly needed to defend the kingside, and if Kg6 comes next, it will be an easy draw.} Be1 $1 {Black freezes White's king by attacking the h4-pawn, preventing it from going to its desired destination.} ( 56... Bd2 $2 {It would be foolish to only think about Black's plan. White gets the king to g6 and draws easily since g5 cannot be taken.} 57. Kg6 $1 fxg5 58. hxg5 {And now Bxg5 would allow Bd3, while Nxg5 would allow f6. The game is drawn.}) 57. Bd3 Nd6 58. a5 $1 {I like Magnus' decision. The a-pawn was never a threat to queen and could only serve as a distraction for Black's pieces, so he takes his one and only chance to force Kg6 through, even at the cost of a pawn.} (58. Kg4 {The machine prefers to wait. I don't know if Black can win, but he has serious attempts. For instance,} Nf7 {Is a good start. Black wants Bd2 and to force a resolution of the pawn tension, giving him one fewer weakness to worry about, the security that the f6-pawn will never be captured, and the g7-square for his king.} 59. Bc2 (59. Bc4 $2 Ne5+) 59... Bd2 $1 60. gxf6 gxf6 61. Kf3 {This position might be a draw, but I am not as confident in this as I am about the one with the king on g6.}) 58... Bxa5 59. gxf6 $1 (59. Kg6 $2 Bd8 $1 {And White will not be left with a passer. After} 60. gxf6 Bxf6 $1 61. h5 Nf7 $1 {Black prevents further trades, and with no passed pawn, there is no counterplay. Black will eventually win.}) 59... gxf6 60. Kg6 Bd8 { At this point, I think Black will win if he can get his king to h8. Then Ne5+ would be a valid plan to kick out the White king.} 61. Kh7 $1 (61. Bc2 $2 Kg8 62. Bb1 {The knight will take its time to get to e5, but it does get there.} Nf7 $2 {Too hasty.} (62... Nb5 63. Bd3 Nd4 64. Bc4+ Kh8 65. Bd5 Ne2 66. Bc4 Nf4+ {f4 might be a fine square too. As long as Black can bring his king up to stop and ultimately capture the h-pawn, he should win. In order to stop this, White absolutely must keep the black king off of the g-file.} 67. Kf7 Kh7) 63. Ba2) 61... Nf7 62. Bc4 Ne5 63. Bd5 Ba5 64. h5 {White is not happy about his pawn being forced onto a light square, but there was nothing he could do about it anyway since Black could always play Be1 if he so desired. Still, I think this position is just a draw. White leaves his king on h7 until the end of time. If the Black king ever leaves, Kg7 followed by h5-h6 becomes a serious idea. And the only way to dislodge the king is to try to bring the knight to g5. As long as White's bishop is on the a2-g8 diagonal at that time to avoid the coming Kg8, I cannot see a plan for Black.} Bd2 65. Ba2 Nf3 66. Bd5 Nd4 ( 66... Ng5+ 67. Kg6 Bc3 {As I mentioned, this gets Black nowhere since the king cannot come to g8. h6 draws on the spot, but even if White sits with Ba2, there isn't much for Black to do. As soon as the knight moves, Kh7 comes again. }) 67. Kg6 $2 {Technically this move does lose in a higher sense, and the monster machines point out mate in 64 or something like this. It is well outside of human capability for Black to prove it, even for a 2800+ player. Still, I think it was the wrong idea to leave h7 on simple grounds. IT was the best square for White's king and should not leave unless forced to.} Bg5 68. Bc4 Nf3 {I would not feel right awarding this move a question mark since the win was some computer nonsense that was clearly impossible for a being with flesh and bones.} (68... Bh4 $1 {According to the monster, this was the only winning move. The point is that White is in a deadly zugzwang. If he ever advances h6, the pawn eventually gets captured. If the bishop leaves the a2-a8 diagonal, Kg8 comes. And if the bishop leaves the a6-f1 diagonal, Ne2-f4 is winning.} 69. Bd5 $1 {The most resilient try.} (69. h6 Nf3 $1 {White loses after Ne5+} 70. Ba2 (70. h7 Ne5+ 71. Kh5 Kg7 72. Ba2 Bg5) 70... Ne5+ 71. Kh5 Bg5 72. Bb3 Nd3 {Nf4 comes next. The pawn will be lost.}) 69... Ne2 70. Bf3 ( 70. Kh7 Bg5 $1 {Somehow White cannot hold the pawns.}) 70... Ng1 $1 {Another impossible only move. If Caruana could make it here by some miracle I'd give him good chances to find the rest of his way, but Bh4 and Ne2-g1 both feel completely outside of human capability.} 71. Bd5 (71. Bg4 Kg8 $1 {Black got his king to g8, and will be able to put White in zugzwang to get the knight out.} 72. Kh6 Bf2 73. Kg6 Bd4 74. Kh6 Be3+ 75. Kg6 Bg5 $1 {White must either play h6 or let the knight escape.} 76. h6 Kh8 77. h7 Bh4 78. Kh5 Be1 79. Kg6 Bc3 80. Kh6 Bd2+ $1 81. Kg6 Bg5 $1 {The same Bg5 makes a second zugzwang. The knight gets out.}) 71... Bg5 $1 {And White is un zugzwang again. h6 will always lose, but he also cannot allow the bishop to leave d5.} 72. Kh7 (72. h6 Nh3) (72. Ba2 Nh3 {Nf4 will win the pawn}) 72... Ne2 $1 {And White's bishop runs out of squares.} 73. Ba2 (73. Bb3 Nd4 $1 {Wins the f5-pawn}) (73. Be6 Nf4) (73. Bc4 Nf4 $1) 73... Nf4 $1 {Forces h5-h6.}) 69. Kh7 {It's a technical draw again.} Ne5 70. Bb3 Ng4 71. Bc4 Ne3 72. Bd3 Ng4 73. Bc4 Nh6 74. Kg6 Ke7 { Black can bring the king, but f5 is impossible to capture without letting the h-pawn run.} 75. Bb3 Kd6 76. Bc2 Ke5 77. Bd3 Kf4 78. Bc2 Ng4 79. Bb3 Ne3 80. h6 Bxh6 {The ending was fascinating to study, though Magnus's only serious danger came from an impossible computer line. Still, he did come much closer to losing today than he had in any other game yet. Now he has tried 3 different first moves in his first 3 white games. He will play white again in game 7, and my guess is we will see him repeat a previous choice for the first time, hoping to come with better analysis now that he has more of an idea what to prepare for. The second half of the match should produce some more interesting games as the pressure increases and there is more to play for in every game.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "London"] [Site "London"] [Date "2018.11.16"] [Round "6"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2835"] [BlackElo "2832"] [Annotator "Efstratios Grivas"] [PlyCount "160"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] 1. e4 {So, the WC seems quite unpredictable! In game 2 he chose 1.d4, in game 3 1.c4 and now 1.e4!} e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 {Nothing less to be expected by the Challenger - he has made his living by the 'Petroff Defence'!} 3. Nxe5 d6 { (D) [#]} 4. Nd3 ({A quite unusual line. Their most recent game went} 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Be3 Nc6 8. Bc4 O-O 9. Qd2 Bf5 10. O-O-O Qd7 11. Kb1 Rfe8 12. h4 Bf8 13. h5 h6 14. Be2 Bg4 15. Nh2 Bxe2 16. Qxe2 Ne5 17. Bc1 Qc6 18. f4 Nc4 19. Qd3 Qe4 20. g4 Ne3 21. Rde1 Qxd3 22. cxd3 Nd5 23. Reg1 Re6 24. g5 Ne7 25. gxh6 Rxh6 26. f5 Rh7 27. Ng4 Kh8 28. f6 Ng8 29. fxg7+ Rxg7 30. Be3 c5 31. Bf4 Re8 32. Ne3 Rxg1+ 33. Rxg1 Re6 {½-½ Carlsen,M-Caruana,F Saint Louis 2018. But it was expected that M.Carlsen will come with something new, but not that early... I would say that M.Carlsen is more interesting to his physical strength and stamina than to try to get something in the opening from his very well-prepared opponent…}) 4... Nxe4 5. Qe2 Qe7 {(D) [#]} 6. Nf4 ({ Another rare line chosen by the WC. There are quite a few games with} 6. Nc3 Nf6 7. Nf4 (7. b3 Nc6 8. Bb2 Bf5 9. Nf4 O-O-O 10. Qxe7 Nxe7 11. O-O-O Ng6 $11 { So, W-Caruana,F Saint Louis 2018}) 7... c6 8. f3 g5 9. Nd3 $11 {Ganguly, S-Abasov,N Ulaanbaatar 2018.}) 6... Nc6 (6... Nf6 {, seems also safe:} 7. d4 Qxe2+ 8. Bxe2 Nc6 9. c3 g6 10. f3 Bg7 11. h4 h5 12. Na3 Ne7 13. Nb5 Kd8 14. Kf2 a6 $11 {Motylev,A-Rakhmanov,A Yaroslavl 2018.}) 7. Nd5 Nd4 $1 8. Nxe7 Nxe2 9. Nd5 (9. Bxe2 Bxe7 {, promises nothing to both sides!}) 9... Nd4 {(D) [#]} 10. Na3 ({A novelty to} 10. Bd3 Nc5 $1 (10... Nxf2 $2 11. Kxf2 Kd8 12. b3 $18 { Seyb, A-Gaier,R Willingen 2001}) 11. Nxc7+ Kd7 12. Nxa8 Nxd3+ 13. cxd3 Nc2+ 14. Kd1 Nxa1 $13 {.}) 10... Ne6 11. f3 N4c5 12. d4 Nd7 13. c3 c6 14. Nf4 Nb6 { (D) [#] Black seems to have solved with success all his opening 'problems', for the sixth time in 6 games in this match! Probably all seconds of both players should be sent on vacation, as they do not really seem to be needed! It is the first WC that I am following, without any strong 'feelings' in the opening phase! Well, this is a well-known pawn structure, mainly coming from the ‘Exchange Variation’ of the ‘French Defence’ (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3. exd5 exd5). There is a clear drawn tendency, mainly because there are not many good pawn breaks and as some pieces can rapidly be exchanged, there is not much play left. But of course we must keep I mind that an equal position is not necessary a drawn one; mistakes need to be made and explored in order to have a decisive result. And this can happen in any position…} 15. Bd3 d5 16. Nc2 Bd6 17. Nxe6 Bxe6 18. Kf2 {(D) [#]} h5 ({A good reaction. White could be slightly better after} 18... f5 $6 19. Re1 Kf7 20. g3 Rhe8 21. b3 g6 22. Ne3 $14 {.}) 19. h4 Nc8 {Planning the simple ...Ne7 and ...Bf5, with full equality. } 20. Ne3 Ne7 21. g3 {(D) [#]} c5 $1 {Active and good play by Black.} 22. Bc2 ( 22. dxc5 Bxc5 23. Kg2 d4 24. cxd4 Bxd4 {, is fine for Black.}) 22... O-O 23. Rd1 Rfd8 24. Ng2 cxd4 25. cxd4 Rac8 26. Bb3 Nc6 {Again a fine idea, trying to harass the b3-bishop.} 27. Bf4 Na5 28. Rdc1 {White is dreaming of getting a better ending with the knight vs the e6-bishop, but Black of course is not interested to!} Bb4 $1 {Preserving the darksquared bishops is essential.} 29. Bd1 ({White cannot go for} 29. Bc7 Nxb3 30. axb3 Re8 31. Rxa7 Bd6 32. Rxb7 Re7 33. Bxd6 Rxb7 34. Rxc8+ Bxc8 35. b4 Rd7 36. Bc5 Ba6 {, as only Black can have winning chances here.}) 29... Nc4 30. b3 Na3 31. Rxc8 Rxc8 32. Rc1 Nb5 33. Rxc8+ Bxc8 {(D) [#] The position seems to be dead equal, but from now on M. Carlsen is not on his best...} 34. Ne3 $6 ({Troubles start! Good is} 34. Bb8 a6 35. Nf4 $11 {.}) 34... Nc3 35. Bc2 {(D) [#]} Ba3 $1 {White's queenside pawn structure seems to be in trouble...} 36. Bb8 $6 ({Black seems to be doing good after} 36. Bd3 Be6 (36... Nxa2 $6 37. Nxd5 Nb4 38. Nxb4 Bxb4 39. Ke2 $11) 37. Nc2 Bb2 38. a4 Na2 $15 {.}) 36... a6 37. f4 {(D) [#]} Bd7 $1 38. f5 Bc6 ({ Obviously better than} 38... Nb5 $6 39. Nxd5 Nxd4 40. Bd1 $11 {.}) 39. Bd1 Bb2 ({With hindsight I would have gone for an ending with the bishop pair after} 39... Nxd1+ 40. Nxd1 f6 $15 {. Well, the presence of the central pawns is not helping Black, but White will have to defend accurately. But Black's move is stronger.}) 40. Bxh5 {(D) [#]} Ne4+ $2 ({The notorious 40th move!} 40... Nxa2 $1 {, can be dangerous:} 41. Ba7 Nc3 42. Bb6 Nb5 43. Nc2 Nd6 $1 (43... Bd7 $2 44. Bg4 Nd6 45. Ne3 Nc8 46. Bc7 Bxd4 47. Bf3 Bxf5 48. Bxd5 b5 49. Bb7 Bg4 50. Bxa6 Ne7 51. Be5 Ba7 52. Bb7 Nf5 53. Bf4 $11) 44. Bf3 (44. g4 Ne4+ 45. Ke2 Nf6 $17) 44... Nxf5 45. Bg4 Nd6 46. Nb4 Ne4+ $17 {.}) 41. Kg2 Bxd4 42. Bf4 Bc5 { (D) [#] Black still seems to be doing better, but White finds a radical, and quite far from obvious, solution.} 43. Bf3 $1 Nd2 {(D) [#]} 44. Bxd5 $1 ({ An incredible solution to White's problems. Endless suffering is the passive} 44. Nf1 Nxf3 45. Kxf3 d4+ 46. Ke2 Bb5+ 47. Ke1 Bd3 $15 {. For me it is more than obvious that M.Carlsen's extreme and deep knowledge on various endings is the key point here - how else can you make such a radical decision?}) 44... Bxe3 45. Bxc6 Bxf4 46. Bxb7 Bd6 47. Bxa6 Ne4 {(D) [#] A consequence of forced moves after White's 44th.} 48. g4 {(D) [#]} (48. Kf3 Nxg3 49. Bd3 Nh5 50. a4 Bb4 51. Ke4 {, is another great story! The analysis is extremely difficult and in general I would say that White should hold here, but I can be proven wrong by some powerful engine!}) 48... Ba3 $1 {The only move - Black's wins the one of the two connected white queenside pawns.} 49. Bc4 Kf8 50. g5 Nc3 51. b4 $1 { It is important to retain an as far as it is possible outside pawn.} Bxb4 52. Kf3 Na4 53. Bb5 Nc5 54. a4 {(D) [#] So, White has just two pawns for the piece and he doesn't seem able to make any progress. But can Black win? And if yes, how? He will obviously need his king to capture the white a-pawn, but at the meantime Black will exchange the kingside pawns. I think that White can hold.} f6 55. Kg4 $1 {The white king has to stay on the kingside, protecting his pawns.} Ne4 56. Kh5 Be1 57. Bd3 Nd6 {White can also wait here - I cannot see how Black will radically improve, but M.Carlsen creates with his next a marvelous position - the straightest way to gain a fortress! This kind of thinking is of a legend player!} 58. a5 $1 Bxa5 59. gxf6 gxf6 60. Kg6 Bd8 61. Kh7 $1 {(D) [#] A very nice position for White! Some facts to understand it: 1. The white h-pawn shouldn’t move to h6.2. The white king should be able to be retained to g6- and h7-squares. 3. The white bishop should be able to check the black king if he goes to f7.4. Black can win if his king enters the h8- or f7-squares.} Nf7 62. Bc4 Ne5 63. Bd5 Ba5 64. h5 Bd2 65. Ba2 Nf3 66. Bd5 Nd4 { (D) [#]} 67. Kg6 $2 ({White blunders! Correct is} 67. Bc4 Bc3 68. Bd3 $11 {.}) 67... Bg5 68. Bc4 {(D) [#]} ({What else? If} 68. h6 Ne2 69. Kh7 Nf4 70. Be4 Nh3 71. Bh1 (71. Kg6 Kg8 $19) 71... Nf2 72. Bf3 Nd3 73. Be2 Ne5 74. Bh5 Nf7 $19 { , or}) (68. Be4 Kg8 $19 {.}) 68... Nf3 $2 ({And the favour is returned! Black could cash the point with some delicate manoeuvres:} 68... Bh4 $1 69. Bd5 Ne2 70. Bf3 Ng1 $1 71. Bd5 Bg5 72. Kh7 Ne2 73. Bf3 Ng3 74. Bg4 {(the bishop 'lost' the important a2-g8 diagonal)} Kf7 75. Kh8 Be3 76. Kh7 Bc5 77. Kh8 (77. Bd1 Nxf5 78. Bb3+ Ke7 79. Kg6 Nh4+ 80. Kg7 Bd4 $19) 77... Bf8 78. Kh7 Ne4 $19 {.}) 69. Kh7 {Back to business!} Ne5 70. Bb3 Ng4 71. Bc4 Ne3 72. Bd3 $1 ({But not} 72. Be6 $2 Bh4 73. Bd7 Nf1 74. Ba4 Ng3 75. Kg6 Kg8 $19 {. White must always keep in mind the notes after the 61st move and never fall into a zugzwang! Easier said than done!}) 72... Ng4 73. Bc4 Nh6 74. Kg6 {(D) [#] Black cannot make progress, so he decides to move with the king.} Ke7 75. Bb3 Kd6 76. Bc2 Ke5 77. Bd3 Kf4 78. Bc2 Ng4 79. Bb3 Ne3 80. h6 Bxh6 (80... Bxh6 {Draw agreed. White can draw with either} 81. Kxf6 {, or} (81. Kxh6 Nxf5+ 82. Kg6 Ke5 83. Bc2 {[%emt 3:12:44] . The game looked as another dull case in the start, but quickly moved to a classic one! And what an endgame surprise by the great Magnus! Clocks: W: 3:13:43 - B:})) 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE-Wch M"] [Site "London"] [Date "2018.11.09"] [Round "1"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2832"] [BlackElo "2835"] [Annotator "Efstratios Grivas"] [PlyCount "229"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 {(D) [#] A 'Sicilian Defence'; not a common visitor in top-chess nowadays, especially for M.Carlsen. The reality is that Magnus has adopted it from time to time (mainly in the years 2003-2004), but still it was not ‘entirely' expected...} 2. Nf3 Nc6 {(D) [#]} 3. Bb5 ({The 'Rossolimo Variation', which is quite common in today’s chess opening preferences - F. Caruana simply wishes to avoid many complicated lines and a potential 'special preparation' from his opponent. Maybe he wanted to avoid the 'Grivas Sicilian' after} 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Qb6 {!}) 3... g6 {(D) [#]} 4. Bxc6 ({White gives the bishop pair to Black but in return he gets a somewhat healthier pawn structure. According to Black replies, he can usually go for b4, f4 or even d4 pawn advances.} 4. O-O {, is the other common choice here:} Bg7 5. Re1 e5 (5... Nf6 6. e5 (6. Nc3 O-O 7. e5 Ng4 8. Bxc6 dxc6 9. h3 Nh6 10. Ne4 b6 11. d3 $11 { Pavlovic,M-Carlsen,M Wijk aan Zee 2004}) (6. c3 O-O 7. d4 d5 8. exd5 Qxd5 $11 { Al Hadarani,H-Carlsen,M Dubai 2004}) 6... Nd5 7. Nc3 Nc7 8. Bxc6 dxc6 9. Ne4 Ne6 10. d3 O-O 11. Be3 b6 12. Qd2 f5 13. exf6 exf6 14. Bh6 Qd7 (14... a5 15. Bxg7 Kxg7 16. Ng3 Ra7 17. h4 h5 $11 {Stellwagen,D-Carlsen,M Hoogeveen 2004}) 15. Bxg7 Kxg7 $11 {Rozentalis,E-Carlsen,M Malmo/Copenhagen 2004}) 6. Bxc6 (6. b4 cxb4 7. a3 Nge7 8. axb4 O-O 9. Bxc6 bxc6 10. Bb2 d6 $11 {Stellwagen, D-Carlsen,M Wijk aan Zee 2005}) 6... dxc6 7. d3 Qe7 8. Be3 Nf6 9. Nc3 O-O 10. a3 Bg4 11. h3 Bxf3 12. Qxf3 b6 $11 {Caruana,F-Muir,A Budapest 2006.}) 4... dxc6 (4... bxc6 {, is possible as well:} 5. O-O (5. d4 Bg7 6. O-O cxd4 7. Nxd4 e5 8. Nf3 d6 $11 {Caruana,F-Radjabov,T Moscow 2010}) 5... Bg7 6. Re1 Nh6 (6... e5 7. c3 Ne7 8. d4 cxd4 9. cxd4 exd4 10. Nxd4 O-O 11. Nc3 $14 {Caruana,F-Iturrizaga Bonelli,E Internet 2018}) (6... Nf6 7. e5 Nd5 8. c4 Nc7 9. d4 cxd4 10. Qxd4 Ne6 11. Qh4 d6 12. Nc3 $13 {Caruana,F-Kasparov,G Saint Louis 2016}) (6... d6 7. e5 dxe5 8. Nxe5 Qc7 9. d4 cxd4 10. Qxd4 Nf6 11. Nc3 Be6 $13 {Caruana,F-Kamsky,G Saint Louis 2016}) (6... Rb8 7. c3 Nf6 8. d4 cxd4 9. cxd4 O-O 10. Nc3 d6 11. h3 Nd7 $11 {Caruana,F-Grischuk,A Stavanger 2015}) 7. c3 O-O 8. h3 f5 9. e5 Nf7 10. d3 Ba6 (10... Rb8 11. Na3 Ba6 12. Nc4 Bxc4 13. dxc4 d6 $11 {Caruana,F-Eljanov, P Baku 2016}) 11. c4 d6 12. e6 Ne5 13. Nc3 Nxf3+ 14. Qxf3 $11 {Caruana, F-Nakamura,H Saint Louis 2017.}) 5. d3 (5. O-O {, is mainly transposing to the game:} Bg7 6. d3 e5 7. Be3 Qe7 8. h3 Nf6 9. Nc3 O-O $11 {Caruana,F-Martini,B Budapest 2004.}) 5... Bg7 {(D) [#]} 6. h3 ({An alternative is} 6. Nc3 Nf6 7. O-O O-O 8. Be3 b6 9. h3 Nd7 10. Qd2 e5 11. Nh2 Qe7 12. f4 exf4 13. Bxf4 Ne5 14. Nf3 Nxf3+ 15. Rxf3 Be6 $11 {Pedersen,K-Carlsen,M Copenhagen 2003.}) 6... Nf6 ({ Accurate. It seems that White should be happy after} 6... b6 7. O-O (7. a3 a5 8. O-O e5 9. Nbd2 (9. Be3 Ne7 10. Nbd2 a4 11. Nc4 Qc7 $13 {Caruana,F-Safarli,E Moscow 2008}) 9... Be6 10. b3 f6 11. Nc4 Ne7 12. Be3 O-O $11 {Caruana, F-Mamedov,R Moscow 2010}) 7... e5 8. Be3 Ne7 9. Nbd2 O-O 10. Nc4 $14 {Caruana, F-Kuznetsov,V Olginka 2011}) ({, or} 6... Nh6 7. Nc3 f6 8. Be3 b6 9. a4 Nf7 10. a5 Rb8 11. O-O O-O 12. Nd2 $14 {Caruana,F-Berczes,D Budapest 2007.}) 7. Nc3 { (D) [#]} Nd7 ({A common manoeuvre in this set-up - Black wants to transfer his knight on e6 (after playing ...e5), controlling the central squares.} 7... O-O 8. O-O (8. Bf4 b6 9. Qd2 Re8 10. O-O-O $13 {Caruana,F-Radjabov,T Shamkir 2016}) 8... Ne8 9. Be3 b6 10. e5 $13 {Caruana,F-Gelfand,B Batumi 2018}) ({, or} 7... b6 8. Be3 O-O (8... e5 9. O-O O-O 10. a3 Qe7 $13 {Caruana,F-Carlsen,M Wijk aan Zee 2015}) 9. Qd2 e5 10. a3 (10. Bh6 Qd6 11. Bxg7 Kxg7 12. a4 Ne8 13. Nh2 Nc7 14. Ng4 f6 $13 {Anand,V-Carlsen,M Saint Louis 2018}) 10... Qe7 11. O-O $13 { Caruana,F-Cornette,M Internet 2018.}) 8. Be3 e5 {(D) [#]} 9. O-O (9. Qd2 { , is quite common:} Qe7 10. O-O Nf8 (10... h6 11. Ne2 (11. a3 Nf8 12. b4 Ne6 13. bxc5 f5 14. exf5 gxf5 $13 {Wang,H-Carlsen,M Chalkidiki 2003}) 11... Nf8 12. Nh2 Ne6 13. Rab1 b6 $11 {Caruana,F-Valet,R Budapest 2005}) 11. Bh6 Ne6 12. Bxg7 Nxg7 13. Ne2 O-O 14. a3 f6 15. b4 Ne6 $11 {Caruana,F-Bonafede,A Martina Franca 2007.}) 9... b6 10. Nh2 Nf8 {(D) [#]} 11. f4 ({A 'common' and logical novelty. } 11. Qd2 Ne6 12. Bh6 O-O 13. Bxg7 Kxg7 {Manik,M-Nayhebaver,M Kosice 2010, looks OK for Black.}) 11... exf4 12. Rxf4 Be6 $1 {(D) [#] Now there is no point to place the knight on e6 anymore - e5 (...Nd7-e5 or ...h6, ...g5 and ... Ng6-e5) is a much better one.} 13. Rf2 h6 $1 (13... Nd7 14. Qd2 O-O 15. Bh6 { , should be slightly better for White - the bishop pair is 'exchanged'.}) 14. Qd2 {Here F.Caruana had thought approximately 30 minutes more than his opponent. Black's bishops are more active, but he is back in development and White can put-up some pressure on the semi-open f-file; all in all a fairly balanced but complicated position.} g5 $1 15. Raf1 {(D) [#]} Qd6 $1 (15... Ng6 $6 16. Ng4 $1 Bxg4 17. Rxf7 $1 (17. hxg4 $6 O-O $15) 17... Bd4 18. hxg4 Ne5 19. R7f5 Nxg4 20. Nd1 $1 {, should be considered unclear, but on the other hand why shouldn't make White happy? The open f-file and the centralised black king are fine targets for the initiative.}) 16. Ng4 $6 ({The alternative is} 16. Nf3 O-O-O 17. a4 Nd7 18. a5 Rhe8 $11 {, but somehow there is feeling that Black is a bit on the driver's seat. White's problem is he has mainly completed all his useful moves without getting a clear target...}) 16... O-O-O {(D) [#]} ({ Natural; as White's pieces have been gathered on the kingside, the black king is fairly safe on the opposite side! Not of course} 16... Bxg4 $2 17. Rxf7 $1 $16 {. As noted beforehand, the position is more comfortable to be played by Black and in this it should be added White’s time shortage…}) 17. Nf6 ({ The active sacrifice} 17. e5 {, is not doing much:} Qc7 $1 (17... Bxe5 18. b4 $1 (18. Ne4 Qc7 19. Nxe5 Qxe5 $15 {transposes}) 18... cxb4 19. Ne4 Qc7 20. Nxe5 Qxe5 21. Qxb4 $44) 18. Ne4 Bxe5 19. Nxe5 Qxe5 $15 {.}) 17... Nd7 $1 {(D) [#]} 18. Nh5 $6 ({Doesn't look healthy, but neither do the alternative} 18. Nxd7 Rxd7 19. b3 Be5 $15 {, when the black bishop pair is dominating.}) 18... Be5 19. g4 {(D) [#] Forced, otherwise ...g4 might come. But of course the text is weakening the white king as well... So M.Carlsen starts think of a potential attack, in conjunction with his bishop pair and White’s time trouble - a quite pleasant mixture of positivity! And for sure not an ideal start for F. Caruana!} f6 $1 {Securing the position, while a potential ...Bf7xh5 can be on the cards. Black is already on the top...} 20. b3 Bf7 21. Nd1 {(D) [#]} (21. Ng7 $2 {, loses on the spot by} Bxc3 22. Qxc3 Qg3+ $19 {.}) 21... Nf8 $6 ({ A strange pawn sacrifice, which is mainly based on F.Caruana's time shortage (what else?).} 21... Qe6 22. Ng7 Qe7 23. Nf5 Qf8 24. h4 $1 h5 $1 25. hxg5 hxg4 26. Bf4 {, is not that clear. But Black should go for}) (21... Rhg8 $1 22. Qe2 Qe6 {, preparing ...Bxh5 and ...g4, when he should be on the top.}) 22. Nxf6 $1 {Offers must be taken!} Ne6 $6 {(D) [#]} ({An inaccuracy. Forced is} 22... Bg6 23. Qe2 Ne6 $44 {.}) 23. Nh5 $6 (23. Nd7 $1 Bf4 24. Nf6 {, is worth considered. Maybe Black has nothing better than to repeat with} Be5 {.}) 23... Bxh5 24. gxh5 Nf4 25. Bxf4 $1 gxf4 {(D) [#]} 26. Rg2 $6 ({It is understandable that F. Caruana is looking for a fight and a good defence, but his weak king is not helping in the long run. Maybe} 26. Rxf4 $5 Bxf4 27. Qxf4 {, should be considered, when it seems that White has enough compensation for the exchange:} Qxf4 28. Rxf4 Rdf8 29. Rxf8+ Rxf8 30. Kg2 Rg8+ 31. Kf3 Rg5 32. h4 Rxh5 33. Kg3 Re5 34. Ne3 h5 35. Kf4 Re8 36. Nf5 $44 {.}) 26... Rhg8 $1 {Black’s attack on the king can be strong! (D) [#]} 27. Qe2 $6 (27. Rg4 $1 {, is the logical and best defence:} Rxg4+ 28. hxg4 Rg8 29. Qg2 Qd4+ $1 (29... Qe6 30. Nf2 Bd4 31. Qh3 Qxg4+ 32. Qxg4+ Rxg4+ 33. Kh2 $11) 30. Kh1 (30. Nf2 $6 Qe3 $1 31. Kh1 f3 32. Qh3 Kb7 $17) 30... Kb7 {, when Black's position is preferable and easy to play, but White can fight on.}) 27... Rxg2+ 28. Qxg2 (28. Kxg2 $6 Rg8+ 29. Kh1 Qf6 $1 {and Black' attack will soon tell.}) 28... Qe6 $1 29. Nf2 Rg8 30. Ng4 Qe8 $1 {Regaining the pawn and next creating the possibility of ...h5, kicking the knight away.} 31. Qf3 Qxh5 32. Kf2 Bc7 $1 {(D) [#] Now Black has just to move his queen and go for the ...h5 thrust, so White must 'hurry'!} 33. Ke2 $6 (33. e5 $1 {, is a must:} Kb7 (33... Bxe5 $2 34. Qxc6+) 34. Nf6 Qh4+ 35. Ke2 Rg3 36. Qxf4 Qxf4 37. Rxf4 Bxe5 38. Rf5 Bxf6 39. Rxf6 Rxh3 40. Rf7+ {, when although Black is a pawn up, the active white rook should compensate this.}) 33... Qg5 $1 34. Nh2 {(D) [#]} h5 $6 (34... Qe5 $1 {, should end the game:} 35. Qf2 Qb2 36. Kd1 b5 $1 37. Qd2 Ba5 $1 $19 {. Note also that}) (34... Qg2+ 35. Rf2 (35. Qxg2 $2 Rxg2+ 36. Rf2 Rxh2 $1 37. Rxh2 f3+ $19) 35... Qg1 $17 { , is not that bad, either!}) 35. Rf2 Qg1 (35... Qg7 $1 {, again, is great:} 36. Kd2 Qb2 {, with the idea ...b5 and ...Ba5.}) 36. Nf1 $1 {(D) [#]} h4 $2 ({ M.Carlsen is simply forgetting the value of the long diagonal, otherwise he should go (again) for} 36... Qg7 $1 37. e5 Qxe5+ 38. Qe4 Qf6 $19 {.}) 37. Kd2 $2 {(D) [#]} ({F.Caruana, in heavy time trouble, misses again the best defence by} 37. e5 $1 Rg5 38. Nd2 Rxe5+ 39. Ne4 Qc1 40. Qxf4 Qxc2+ 41. Qd2 {, where he should be able to hold - his knight on e4 is rather strong!}) 37... Kb7 $6 ({ Not missing the win, but} 37... Be5 $1 {, looks like killing!}) 38. c3 {(D) [#] } Be5 $6 ({It is time for the spectacular exchange sacrifice by} 38... Rg3 $1 39. Nxg3 (39. Qe2 f3 $19) 39... hxg3 40. Rg2 Qa1 41. d4 Qxa2+ 42. Kc1 Qxb3 43. d5 b5 $19 {.}) 39. Kc2 Qg7 $2 (39... b5 $1 40. Rd2 b4 {, is a positional win - M.Calsen has clearly missed his points too many times already...}) 40. Nh2 Bxc3 41. Qxf4 Bd4 {(D) [#] Now the game is on again...} 42. Qf7+ {The exchange of the queens is a must for White; then he could get concrete counterplay by his passed e-pawn.} Ka6 43. Qxg7 Rxg7 44. Re2 $1 {Preparing the advance of the e-pawn - the h3-pawn is not that important.} Rg3 45. Ng4 Rxh3 46. e5 Rf3 47. e6 Rf8 {(D) [#]} 48. e7 $6 ({Asking for troubles. Accurate is} 48. Nh6 $1 Re8 49. Nf7 h3 50. Ng5 Kb7 $11 {.}) 48... Re8 49. Nh6 h3 50. Nf5 Bf6 51. a3 $1 { Probably best, trying to exchange pawns - White has a long defence in front of him...} b5 ({The alternative is} 51... Bg5 52. b4 cxb4 53. axb4 Bxe7 54. Nxe7 h2 55. Rxh2 Rxe7 56. Rh5 {, when White should hold.}) 52. b4 cxb4 53. axb4 Bxe7 ({There is nothing better:} 53... Kb6 $2 54. Nd6 Rxe7 55. Nc8+ Kc7 56. Nxe7 h2 57. Rxh2 Bxe7 58. Rh7 $16 {.}) 54. Nxe7 h2 55. Rxh2 Rxe7 {(D) [#] The rook ending is drawn, despite Black's extra pawn. But White will suffer...} 56. Rh6 Kb6 57. Kc3 Rd7 58. Rg6 Kc7 59. Rh6 Rd6 60. Rh8 ({Accurate!} 60. Rh7+ Kb6 61. d4 a5 {, is still drawn, but more pleasant for Black!}) 60... Rg6 61. Ra8 Kb7 62. Rh8 Rg5 63. Rh7+ Kb6 64. Rh6 Rg1 65. Kc2 Rf1 66. Rg6 {(D) [#] The ending is drawn of course, but M.Carlsen always tries till the very end...} Rh1 67. Rf6 Rh8 68. Kc3 Ra8 69. d4 Rd8 70. Rh6 Rd7 71. Rg6 Kc7 72. Rg5 Rd6 73. Rg8 Rh6 74. Ra8 Rh3+ 75. Kc2 Ra3 76. Kb2 Ra4 77. Kc3 a6 78. Rh8 Ra3+ 79. Kb2 Rg3 80. Kc2 Rg5 81. Rh6 Rd5 82. Kc3 Rd6 83. Rh8 Rg6 84. Kc2 Kb7 85. Kc3 Rg3+ 86. Kc2 Rg1 87. Rh5 Rg2+ 88. Kc3 Rg3+ 89. Kc2 Rg4 90. Kc3 Kb6 91. Rh6 Rg5 92. Rf6 Rh5 93. Rg6 Rh3+ 94. Kc2 Rh5 95. Kc3 Rd5 96. Rh6 Kc7 97. Rh7+ Rd7 98. Rh5 Rd6 99. Rh8 Rg6 100. Rf8 Rg3+ 101. Kc2 Ra3 102. Rf7+ Kd6 103. Ra7 Kd5 104. Kb2 Rd3 { (D) [#] Finally a pair of pawns will be exchanged!} 105. Rxa6 Rxd4 106. Kb3 Re4 107. Kc3 Rc4+ 108. Kb3 Kd4 109. Rb6 Kd3 110. Ra6 Rc2 111. Rb6 Rc3+ 112. Kb2 Rc4 113. Kb3 Kd4 114. Ra6 Kd5 115. Ra8 {[%emt 3:27:06] Draw agreed! A quite remarkable miss for M. Carlsen and a present from heaven for F.Caruana! Some people also joked that M. Carlsen didn’t really tried to win the ending, but rather he was trying to make F.Caruana tired and give him not enough time for preparation as well, for the next game! Some others joked that this is ‘London Rules’ - no draw offers before move 100… But in the end of the day, everybody ‘understood’ that the last 50 or so moves weren’t really ‘necessary’ - it is quite difficult for a player of this status to blunder in such an easy case, but of course you never know… Clocks: W: 3:30:41 - B:} 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE-Wch M"] [Site "London"] [Date "2018.11.10"] [Round "2"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2835"] [BlackElo "2832"] [Annotator "Efstratios Grivas"] [PlyCount "97"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] 1. d4 {The psychological war in a World Championship is something that you have to wait for! M.Carlsen do not wish to face F.Caruana’s beloved ‘Petroff Defence’ (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6) and he opts for something else. Well, nothing can be decided in such an early face, but obviously both opponents want to get positions were they feel comfortable.} Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Be7 {(D) [#]} 5. Bf4 ({A matter of taste. The other popular move here is} 5. Bg5 {.}) 5... O-O 6. e3 c5 ({But this is new for F.Caruana, who usually goes for} 6... Nbd7 {, for example:} 7. c5 Ne4 8. Rc1 Nxc3 9. Rxc3 b6 10. c6 Nf6 11. a3 a5 12. Rc2 Ne4 13. Bd3 Ba6 14. Bxa6 Rxa6 15. Ne5 Bd6 $13 {Giri, A-Caruana,F Wijk aan Zee 2015.}) 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. Qc2 ({Here again White has a choice, mainly by} 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Nxd5 exd5 10. Bd3 Bb4+ 11. Nd2 Nc6 (11... d4 12. e4 Na6 13. O-O Nc5 14. Nb3 Be6 15. Nxc5 Bxc5 16. Qe2 Rc8 $11 {Caruana, F-Nakamura,H Saint Louis 2018}) 12. O-O Be7 13. a3 (13. Rc1 Bf6 14. Nf3 Qe7 15. h3 $14 {Carlsen,M-Nakamura,H Saint Louis 2017}) 13... g6 14. Rc1 Bf6 15. b4 Qe7 16. Nf3 $14 {Caruana,F-Anand,V Saint Louis 2018. Obviously M.Carlsen prefers to get a more ‘flexible’ position and not show his cards too early…}) 8... Nc6 9. a3 {(D) [#]} Qa5 {A principal move and best by test.} 10. Rd1 ({ M.Carlsen tried to be rather active by} 10. O-O-O {, but he didn't got too happy:} Be7 11. h4 Rd8 12. Nd2 a6 13. Be2 b5 14. cxd5 exd5 15. g4 Be6 16. Nb3 Qb6 17. g5 Ne4 18. Nxe4 dxe4 19. Rxd8+ Nxd8 20. Kb1 Rc8 21. Qd1 Nc6 22. h5 a5 23. g6 a4 24. Nd2 b4 25. gxf7+ Bxf7 26. Nc4 Qb7 27. Qxa4 bxa3 28. Nxa3 Bxa3 29. Qxa3 Nb4 30. b3 Nd3 31. Bxd3 exd3 32. Rc1 d2 {0-1 Carlsen,M-Ivanchuk,V Bilbao 2008.}) 10... Rd8 ({Lately Black tries} 10... Re8 {, for example:} 11. Nd2 e5 12. Bg5 Nd4 13. Qc1 Bf5 14. Bxf6 Nc2+ 15. Ke2 Nd4+ 16. Ke1 Nc2+ 17. Ke2 Nd4+ 18. Ke1 {½-½ So,W-Nakamura,H Paris 2018.}) ({The main line is supposed to be (at least for a long time)} 10... Be7 11. Nd2 {, as in the classical game Karpov,A-Spassky,B Montreal 1979. But of course, this is another big chapter, which F.Caruana decided to skip for the moment and try some other, obviously well prepared set-up.}) 11. Be2 {(D) [#]} ({I would consider the text harmless, preferring the ‘known’} 11. Nd2 dxc4 12. Bxc4 Be7 13. O-O $14 {Roiz, M-Khamrakulov,D Tashkent 2011.}) 11... Ne4 $1 ({A logical and good novelty to} 11... a6 $6 12. O-O dxc4 13. Bxc4 Rxd1 14. Rxd1 b5 15. Bd3 Be7 16. Ne4 Bb7 17. Nxf6+ Bxf6 18. Bxh7+ Kh8 19. Rd7 Nd8 20. Bc7 Qa4 $16 {½-½ Mason,D-Tambini,J Aberystwyth 2014.}) 12. O-O Nxc3 13. bxc3 {White got a wrecked queenside pawn structure, but he is a bit better developed and he can put-up up some central pressure. But he might get the danger to remain with the weaknesses… The opening cannot be considered a success for the World Champion.} h6 $1 ({ Grabbing the pawn by} 13... Qxa3 $2 14. Ra1) ({or} 13... Bxa3 $2 14. Ra1 { , is obviously bad. With the text, Black keeps an eye on a potential Ng5.}) 14. a4 ({Maybe White should think of} 14. cxd5 exd5 15. a4 Bd6 16. Bxd6 Rxd6 17. c4 Be6 18. c5 Rd7 19. Nd4 {, but Black has no problems here as well.}) 14... Ne7 $1 {(D) [#] Consolidating the position, protecting the d5-pawn and preparing some further exchanges - Black passed the opening test with great success! Maybe the winner of the match would be the one who gets more black? Well, by today this looks like a good bet!} 15. Ne5 ({More exchanges cannot help White, for this he might have opted for} 15. Rb1 Bd6 16. Bxd6 Rxd6 17. cxd5 Nxd5 18. Rfc1 {.}) 15... Bd6 $1 16. cxd5 Nxd5 17. Bf3 (17. Nxf7 {, looks good at first sight, but Black retains the equilibrium with} Kxf7 18. Bxd6 Rxd6 19. Bh5+ Kg8 20. e4 Bd7 (20... Nf4 $2 21. Rxd6 Qxh5 22. Rd8+ Kh7 23. e5+ Qg6 24. Qxg6+ Nxg6 25. f4 $14) 21. exd5 Qxa4 $11 {.}) 17... Nxf4 18. exf4 Bxe5 19. Rxd8+ Qxd8 20. fxe5 Qc7 {(D) [#] The position is equal, but White has to be more careful, due to his weak pawn structure.} 21. Rb1 (21. Qe4 Bd7 (21... Rb8 22. Rb1 Bd7 23. Qd4 $11) 22. Qxb7 Qxb7 23. Bxb7 Rb8 24. Be4 Rc8 $11 {, is probably more accurate.}) 21... Rb8 ({Black is stepping carefully, as a bit risky is} 21... Qxe5 $6 22. Qd3 $1 Qc7 23. Rd1 $44 {.}) 22. Qd3 Bd7 23. a5 Bc6 {(D) [#] White' position seems critical but M.Carlsen decides that he can be safe in a rook ending.} 24. Qd6 $1 Qxd6 25. exd6 Bxf3 26. gxf3 Kf8 27. c4 $1 {White has just to exchange the queenside pawns. Then he will lose a pawn (d6) but the ending is a theoretical draw.} Ke8 28. a6 b6 29. c5 Kd7 (29... b5 $2 30. c6 $18 { , is too naive for such players!}) 30. cxb6 axb6 31. a7 Ra8 32. Rxb6 Rxa7 33. Kg2 e5 34. Rb4 f5 (34... Kxd6 35. f4 $11 {.}) 35. Rb6 Ke6 36. d7+ ({The pawn is lost anyway:} 36. Kg3 Rd7 {.}) 36... Kxd7 37. Rb5 {(D) [#] 'Mission' completed. The ending can be found in every decent endgame book and it is a theoretical draw.} Ke6 38. Rb6+ Kf7 39. Rb5 Kf6 40. Rb6+ Kg5 41. Rb5 Kf4 42. Rb4+ e4 43. fxe4 fxe4 44. h3 Ra5 45. Rb7 Rg5+ 46. Kf1 Rg6 47. Rb4 Rg5 48. Rb7 Rg6 49. Rb4 {[%emt 1:15:20] Draw agreed. F.Caruana decided not to torture the World Champion, as the later did in the 1st game… An easy test for the Challenger, who played quick and faced no problems, having the World Champion under defending duties. Clocks: W: 1:53:24 - B:} 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE-Wch M"] [Site "London"] [Date "2018.11.12"] [Round "3"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2832"] [BlackElo "2835"] [Annotator "Efstratios Grivas"] [PlyCount "97"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 {(D) [#]} 3. Bb5 ({White opts again to not open the position with the natural and good} 3. d4 {. Well, although the open 'Sicilian Defence' variations have been analysed in depth, I still believe that this is the right way for a fight. But nowadays with the computer assistance, there is always a good chance to fall in a lethal net...}) 3... g6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. d3 Bg7 {(D) [#]} 6. O-O ({F.Caruana is the first to deviate from the 1st game, where he went for} 6. h3 {.}) 6... Qc7 ({Not the most usual move; here Black mostly goes for} 6... Nf6 7. h3 Nd7 8. Nc3 O-O 9. Be3 e5 10. a3 a5 $11 { Anand,V-Kramnik,V Villarrobledo 1998}) ({, or} 6... e5 7. Be3 Qe7 8. a4 Nf6 9. Na3 O-O $11 {Yudasin,L-Vyzmanavin,A Leon 1993.}) 7. Re1 ({White can also go for the usual} 7. h3 {, for example:} e5 8. Be3 b6 9. Qd2 Nf6 10. Qc3 Nd7 11. Nbd2 O-O $11 {Mohr,G-Nurkic,S Neum 2000. But the move 7.h3 is not really in need, as White is hardly afraid of any ...Bg4 line, as he can continue with Nbd2 and h3, when Black will have to ‘return’ the bishop pair or withdrawn, losing a tempo.}) 7... e5 {(D) [#]} 8. a3 ({White forgets about any f4 break (at least for the time being) and concentrates on the other basic break mentioned in the analysis of the 1st game; the b4 one. This can also be done via} 8. Be3 b6 9. a3 Nf6 10. h3 O-O 11. Nbd2 a5 12. b4 $11 {, as in Balogh, C-Azarov,S Czech Republic 2017. But of course all these details are a matter of taste - the truth is that Black doesn’t really facing problems in the opening and what is expected are long and sophisticated manoeuvres - this is what we call the World Championship Match!}) ({Relevant:} 8. Be3 b6 9. a3 Nf6 10. h3 O-O 11. Nbd2 a5 12. b4 cxb4 13. axb4 a4 14. Nc4 Nd7 15. Qd2 Ba6 16. Na3 Rfe8 17. c4 b5 18. Rac1 Qb7 19. c5 Rad8 20. Bh6 Bh8 21. Bg5 {1/2-1/2 (21) Balogh,C (2632)-Azarov,S (2552) Czech Republic 2017}) 8... Nf6 9. b4 {(D) [#]} O-O ({This looks like a novelty to} 9... cxb4 10. axb4 O-O 11. Bb2 Re8 12. Nbd2 Nd7 13. Bc3 $11 {Bazant,P-Mudrak,J Czech Republic 2007.}) 10. Nbd2 {(D) [#]} ({ Continuing the development -} 10. bxc5 {:} Nd7 11. Be3 (11. a4 Nxc5 12. Ba3 b6 $13) 11... f5 12. a4 f4 13. Bd2 a5 14. Bc1 Nxc5 (14... Re8 15. Ba3 Bf8 16. d4 $1 $14) 15. Ba3 b6 $13 {.}) 10... Bg4 $6 ({But this is the actual novelty (by transposition) and it is giving White easy play (see the note above). I feel that preferable is} 10... cxb4 11. axb4 (11. Bb2 Nh5 12. axb4 Nf4 13. Ra3 Re8 14. Qa1 a6 15. d4 exd4 16. Bxd4 Bxd4 17. Nxd4 Qe7 18. Rf3 Nxg2 $1 19. e5 Nxe1 { 0-1 Kaiszauri,K-Cramling,D Boras 1979}) 11... Nh5 (11... Be6 $5 12. Bb2 Nd7 13. Ng5 Rfe8) 12. Nb3 b6 13. c3 Rd8 {, with chances for both sides.}) 11. h3 $1 Bxf3 12. Nxf3 cxb4 13. axb4 {(D) [#] Now White can play for two results (win & draw), while Black for one (draw). He is left with the better placed bishop and more freedom for long manoeuvres.} a5 $2 ({A logical idea in principal, but fails to equalise; Black has to prepare it with} 13... Nd7 14. Be3 (14. Qd2 $5) 14... a5 {.}) 14. bxa5 Rxa5 {(D) [#]} 15. Bd2 $2 ({Returning (partly) the favour!} 15. Rxa5 Qxa5 16. Bd2 Qc7 17. Qa1 $1 Nd7 18. Be3 Rb8 19. Qa2 {, gives White the advantage, mainly due to the possession of the open a-file.}) 15... Raa8 $1 {That's the difference; White now doesn't get the a-file!} 16. Qb1 $1 { Natural - the play is on the queenside.} Nd7 17. Qb4 ({Although White looks like slightly better after} 17. Qb2 b5 18. Rxa8 Rxa8 19. Ra1 Rxa1+ 20. Qxa1 Qc8 {, Black should be able to hold. Still, it is something that White should have tried…}) 17... Rfe8 18. Bc3 {(D) [#]} b5 $1 {Black has almost fully equalised here.} 19. Rxa8 {F.Caruana cannot see any way for an advantage, so he decides to play it safe and opt for a draw...} Rxa8 20. Ra1 Rxa1+ 21. Bxa1 { (D) [#] The opponents could call it a draw here, but the 30-moves rule doesn't allow them...} Qa7 $1 22. Bc3 ({Equal as well is} 22. Bb2 Qa2 23. g3 f6 {.}) 22... Qa2 23. Qb2 Qxb2 24. Bxb2 f6 {(D) [#] The position is fairy drawish, but the opponents are forced to continue! Soon it becomes clear that M.Carlsen is not considering a quick draw but rather trying to squeeze water from the stone; a typical attitude of the World Champion!} 25. Kf1 Kf7 26. Ke2 Nc5 27. Bc3 Ne6 {Finally Black's knight is placed to its ideal square in this variation, but without any assisting pieces... As somebody mentioned: ‘When playing the Rossolimo against Carlsen, beware of hidden strengths on his 9th rank’.} 28. g3 Bf8 29. Nd2 ({White believes that it is a plain draw, whatever he plays - Black seems to be optimistic...} 29. d4 exd4 30. Nxd4 Nxd4+ 31. Bxd4 c5 32. Bb2 {, is equal as well, but the challenger do not wish to give his opponent a pawn majority in the queenside.}) 29... Ng5 $1 {Forcing the white pawn to a dark square - keep in mind that we have dark squared bishops, so the pawns should perfeclty placed on light squares, as by the old rule of Capablanca.} 30. h4 Ne6 31. Nb3 h5 32. Bd2 {(D) [#] It is obvious that White is under some pressure, which shouldn’t be enough for Black to cash the point, but you can never be sure when facing the endgame magician from Norway…} Bd6 (32... Nd4+ {, might be worth trying:} 33. Kd1 (33. Nxd4 exd4 $15 {, as the black queenside pawn majority can be more dangerous}) 33... Nxb3 34. cxb3 Ke6 35. Be3 $15 {.}) 33. c3 c5 34. Be3 Ke7 ({The direct} 34... f5 {, could pose some problems to White:} 35. exf5 (35. f3 $6 f4 36. gxf4 Nxf4+ 37. Bxf4 exf4 38. d4 cxd4 39. Nxd4 Be7 40. Nxb5 Bxh4 $17) (35. Bd2 Ke7 $15) 35... gxf5 36. Bc1 Kf6 $15 {.}) 35. Kd1 Kd7 36. Kc2 f5 $1 37. Kd1 {(D) [#]} fxe4 $6 ({This makes White's life easier.} 37... b4) ({, or} 37... f4 {, can pose problems, at least many more than the text. Probably the result will not change, but only if White is accurate.}) 38. dxe4 c4 39. Nd2 Nc5 40. Bxc5 $1 {Not been afraid of ghosts - the knight has to be eliminated!} Bxc5 41. Ke2 Kc6 {(D) [#]} 42. Nf1 $1 {After the text White is out of danger. The knight will land on e3 and a coming f4 will exchange enough pawns to launch the draw.} b4 43. cxb4 Bxb4 44. Ne3 Kc5 45. f4 $1 exf4 46. gxf4 Ba5 47. f5 gxf5 48. Nxc4 $1 (48. Nxf5 { , is a draw as well, but the text is 'clearer'.}) 48... Kxc4 49. exf5 {[%emt 2: 00:57] Draw agreed, as the h1-square is of opposite colour than the black bishop, so this is a theoretical draw. Another ‘dull game’, where chances were lost for a certain moment of course, but in general nothing impressive was on the cards. I have the feeling that the challenger will not go far with the ‘Rossolimo Variation’ in the ‘Sicilian Defence’. Clocks: W: 2:08: 54 - B:} 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE-Wch M"] [Site "London"] [Date "2018.11.13"] [Round "4"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2835"] [BlackElo "2832"] [Annotator "Efstratios Grivas"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] 1. c4 {(D) [#] The WC opts for more 'flexible' positions, without endless opening theory, but this today is simply an illusion; everything has been analysed in depth...} e5 {A classical approach, which is better suited the challenger's style.} 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 {(D) [#]} d5 ({Quite recently F.Caruana chose} 4... Bb4 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O e4 7. Ng5 Bxc3 8. bxc3 Re8 9. Qc2 d5 10. cxd5 Qxd5 $13 {Vachier Lagrave,M-Caruana,F Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden 2018.}) 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 {(D) [#]} Bc5 ({A F.Caruana speciality!} 6... Nb6 {, as in Carlsen,M-Aronian,L Zuerich 2014 and thousand of other games, is the most common move here.}) 7. O-O O-O 8. d3 ({The main alternative} 8. Nxd5 Qxd5 9. Ng5 Qd8 10. Nxh7 Re8 11. Ng5 Qxg5 12. Bxc6 bxc6 13. d4 Qh5 14. dxc5 {, where Black has compensation for the pawn deficit, as in Aronian,L-Caruana,F Saint Louis 2017. Obviously this line can be quite sharp and include good home preparation, so White avoids it...}) 8... Re8 {(D) [#]} ({Another line is} 8... Bb6 9. Nxd5 (9. Bd2 Bg4 10. Rc1 Nxc3 11. Bxc3 Re8 12. b4 Qd6 13. Nd2 Qh6 14. Nc4 Qh5 15. Rc2 Rad8 16. Nxb6 cxb6 17. f3 Be6 18. Qd2 b5 19. f4 Bg4 20. Bxc6 bxc6 21. fxe5 f6 $2 22. exf6 Rxe2 23. f7+ Kf8 24. Bxg7+ Kxg7 25. Qc3+ Re5 26. Qd4 Qg5 27. Rc5 Rxd4 28. f8=Q+ Kg6 29. Qf7+ {1-0 Anand,V-Caruana,F Saint Louis 2017}) 9... Qxd5 10. Bd2 Qd6 11. Bc3 Re8 12. Nd2 Qh6 13. b4 Bh3 14. b5 Bxg2 15. Kxg2 Bd4 16. Rc1 Bxc3 17. Rxc3 Nd4 18. a4 $13 {Ding,L-Navara,D Batumi 2018. Well, both players have a vast knowledge here with both white and black colours!}) 9. Bd2 (9. Ng5 {, has been tried by F.Caruana himself:} Nf6 10. Qb3 Qe7 11. Nd5 Nxd5 12. Bxd5 Nd8 $13 {Caruana,F-Adams,M London 2017.}) 9... Nxc3 10. Bxc3 (10. bxc3 {, is 'improving' the pawn structure for White, giving richer play and I would like to see it played (} Bg4 11. Re1 h6 12. Qc2 Qd7 $13 {Galic,I-Majeric,Z Bizovac 2005).}) 10... Nd4 {(D) [#]} (10... e4 $2 {, was good for White:} 11. dxe4 Qxd1 12. Rfxd1 Rxe4 13. Ne5 $18 ({(} 13. e3 $2 Re8 14. Rac1 $14 {Kupfner,F-Vasic,D Wattens 1997).})) 11. b4 ({A kind of a logical novelty (as in similar positions) to} 11. Rc1 Bb6 12. Re1 Bg4 $13 {So, W-Caruana,F Paris 2018.}) 11... Bd6 ({Playable, but it was mostly expected} 11... Bb6 12. e3 Nxf3+ 13. Bxf3 c6 14. a4 $11 {.}) 12. Rb1 (12. Nxd4 exd4 13. Bxd4 Bxg3 14. hxg3 Qxd4 15. Qd2 c6 {, is possible. Central pawns are always more tasty! The text is not really offering much...}) 12... Nxf3+ 13. Bxf3 a6 { (D) [#] Black has more or less solved his opening problems (if any nowadays!).} 14. a4 c6 15. Re1 ({Critical here is} 15. b5 axb5 (15... cxb5 $6 16. axb5 a5 17. Qa4 Qe7 18. Rfc1 $14) 16. axb5 Bd7 17. bxc6 Bxc6 18. Bxc6 bxc6 {. One weakness (c6), doesn't look enough for anything, as most of the pieces has been exchanged - actually Black can push this pawn to c5, but it looks better than nothing.}) 15... Bd7 16. e3 Qf6 17. Be4 {(D) [#]} Bf5 (17... Rad8 18. Qf3 Qxf3 19. Bxf3 {, cannot pose any problem to Black, as well.}) 18. Qf3 $1 Bxe4 19. Qxf6 gxf6 20. dxe4 {(D) [#] White got the slightly better pawn structure, but it will be difficult to prove a real advantage.} b5 $1 {Fixing the b4-pawn as a target for the d6-bishop and also avoiding a potential b5 by White.} 21. Red1 Bf8 22. axb5 axb5 23. Kg2 Red8 24. Rdc1 Kg7 25. Be1 Rdc8 26. Rc2 Ra4 $1 { So Black will always put pressure on b4, anticipating White's pressure on c6.} 27. Kf3 h5 28. Ke2 Kg6 29. h3 {(D) [#]} f5 $1 {Un-doubling the weak kingside f-pawns - nearly always a welcomed decision!} 30. exf5+ Kxf5 31. f3 Be7 32. e4+ Ke6 33. Bd2 Bd6 34. Rbc1 (34. Rbc1 {After} Kd7 35. Rb1 Ke6 {[%emt 1:17:47] , it looks like there is nothing than a repetition, so draw agreed for the fourth time in a row! Not a ‘real fight’ and the shortest game of the match by now… Clocks: W: 1:16:56 - B:}) 1/2-1/2 [Event "FIDE-Wch M"] [Site "London"] [Date "2018.11.15"] [Round "5"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2832"] [BlackElo "2835"] [Annotator "Efstratios Grivas"] [PlyCount "66"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 {(D) [#] It seems that both players are ready to repeat positions from games 1 & 3.} 4. O-O ({Well, it took F.Caruana 'some' games already to decide that} 4. Bxc6 {, is not much for White, so now he opts for a more 'regular' continuation.}) 4... Bg7 5. Re1 e5 {(D) [#] As according to his 'principals, where now 6.Bxc6 dxc6, will move back to positions from games 1& 3.} 6. b4 $5 ({Fire on the board, already on the 6th move! Well, this is the 3rd most played move (after 6.Bcx6 and 6.c3) and a 'principal' one to get activity in the investment of a pawn. Other continuations are} 6. Nc3 Nge7 7. a3 O-O 8. b4 d6 9. Rb1 Nd4 10. bxc5 dxc5 $13 {Najer,E-Dubov,D Moscow 2018 and}) (6. c3 Nge7 7. a3 a6 8. Bf1 O-O 9. b4 d6 10. Bb2 f5 11. d3 h6 12. Nbd2 $13 {Vavulin,M-Tabatabaei,M Manavgat 2018.}) 6... Nxb4 ({Possible is the other capture with} 6... cxb4 {, for example:} 7. a3 b3 8. cxb3 Nge7 9. Bb2 O-O 10. b4 a6 11. Ba4 d5 12. exd5 Qxd5 13. Nc3 Qd3 14. Ne4 $13 {Bacrot,E-Grischuk,A Paris 2017.}) 7. Bb2 a6 {(D) [#]} ({Looks like a good way, although interesting as well is} 7... Qc7 8. c3 Nc6 9. d4 d6 10. d5 a6 11. Na3 Ke7 12. Bf1 Nd8 13. Nc4 b5 14. Ne3 $44 {Rapport,R-Granda Zuniga,J Camarinas 2013.}) 8. a3 $1 ({Better than} 8. Bf1 Nc6 9. c3 $44 {Bondarev,I-Sokolova,V St Petersburg 2011 or}) (8. Bc4 b5 9. c3 bxc4 10. cxb4 cxb4 11. a3 d6 12. axb4 Bb7 $13 { Klundt,K-Roeder,F Germany 1980.}) 8... axb5 ({Saying A, must say B; there is no point in} 8... Nc6 $6 9. Bxc6 dxc6 10. Nxe5 Qc7 11. Nc4 Bxb2 12. Nxb2 $14 { Bromann,T-Damm,K Aalborg 2007.}) 9. axb4 Rxa1 10. Bxa1 {(D) [#]} d6 ({Again a principal move. White would be happy after} 10... cxb4 11. Bxe5 Bxe5 12. Nxe5 $14 {Okkes,M-Van Wely,L Enschede 2003 or}) (10... c4 11. Na3 d6 12. d4 f6 13. dxe5 dxe5 14. Nxb5 Qxd1 15. Rxd1 Bf8 16. Nxe5 Be6 17. Nc7+ Ke7 18. Nxe6 Kxe6 19. Nxc4 Nh6 20. Rd8 Nf7 21. Re8+ Kd7 22. Ra8 Bxb4 23. Rxh8 Nxh8 24. Bxf6 Nf7 25. Kf1 Ke6 26. Bd4 Nd8 27. Ke2 Nc6 28. Be3 {1-0 Benjamin,J-Dolgitser,K Kerhonkson 2002.}) 11. bxc5 Ne7 {(D) [#]} 12. Qe2 ({An interesting novelty to} 12. cxd6 Qxd6 13. d4 exd4 14. Bxd4 O-O 15. Nc3 Bxd4 16. Nxd4 b4 17. e5 Qc5 $13 {Polschikov,A-Anoshkin,A Pardubice 2007.}) 12... b4 13. Qc4 Qa5 $5 ({White could have achieve a nice position after} 13... Qc7 14. Qxb4 dxc5 15. Qa4+ Bd7 16. Qa8+ Nc8 17. c4 O-O 18. Nc3 {. Although he might not stand better after} Nb6 19. Qa2 Ra8 20. Qb3 f6 21. h3 {, he could have the pressure, as the full control of the d5-square is always quite pleasant!}) 14. cxd6 Be6 {(D) [#]} 15. Qc7 $1 ({The only move, as} 15. Qe2 $2 Nc6 16. d4 $1 (16. Bb2 Qa2 $1) 16... Qxa1 17. d5 Bd7 18. dxc6 Bxc6 {, can only favour Black.}) 15... Qxc7 16. dxc7 Nc6 17. c3 {(D) [#]} (17. d4 {, looks dangerous, but it is not achieving much after} exd4 18. Rd1 d3 19. Bxg7 dxc2 20. Rc1 cxb1=Q 21. Rxb1 Rg8 22. Bd4 Nxd4 23. Nxd4 Kd7 $11 {.}) 17... Kd7 $1 (17... bxc3 $6 18. Nxc3 Kd7 19. Nd5 Kd6 20. Rb1 Bxd5 21. exd5 Kxd5 22. Rxb7 f6 23. d4 $1 Rc8 (23... e4 $2 24. Nd2 $16) 24. dxe5 fxe5 25. Kf1 {, looks good for White, although far from winning, as Black's central pieces form good compensation for the pawn.}) 18. cxb4 Ra8 { (D) [#] It seems that White should be happy, as he has won a pawn. But M. Carlsen has correctly assessed that his compensation is high, based on the possession of the a-file, the bishop pair, the most active king and the better development.} 19. Bc3 ({Black would be on the driver's seat after} 19. Nc3 Nxb4 20. Rb1 Bc4 $1 {.}) 19... Kxc7 20. d3 $6 {(D) [#]} ({Although logical, might not be the best... It looks like White should 'forget' on any advantage and play to get an equal position, as after} 20. Ng5 Kd7 21. f4 f6 22. Nxe6 Kxe6 $13 {.}) 20... Kb6 $6 ({Brave, but not in need. Black should stand fine after the logical} 20... b5 $1 $15 {. White still cannot complete his development and Black stands preferable.}) 21. Bd2 $1 ({A good idea to complete the development.} 21. Nbd2 Ra3 22. Nb1 Ra4 $15 {.}) 21... Rd8 22. Be3+ (22. b5 Kxb5 23. Nc3+ Kc5 24. Be3+ Kb4 {, is not a big difference, as it transposes to the game.}) 22... Kb5 23. Nc3+ Kxb4 {(D) [#]} 24. Nd5+ {White doesn't have anything better...} Bxd5 25. exd5 Rxd5 {(D) [#]} 26. Rb1+ Kc3 27. Rxb7 Nd8 $1 ( {An accurate try for a win, compared to} 27... Rxd3 $6 28. Kf1 $1 (28. Bd2+ Kc4 29. Rxf7 e4 30. Ne1 Rxd2 31. Rxg7 Ne5 32. Rc7+ Kd5 33. Kf1 $11) 28... Nd8 29. Rc7+ Kb3 30. Ke2 Rd5 31. Bg5 $1 $14 {.}) 28. Rc7+ Kxd3 29. Kf1 {(D) [#] Now it is Black who is a pawn-up, but on the contrary, the active white pieces and the little bit awkward position of the black king, should keep the equilibrium for White.} h5 30. h3 Ke4 ({M.Carlsen decides to go for the draw, as he cannot see how to improve his position and of course he avoids the lethal} 30... e4 $2 31. Ne1# {.}) 31. Ng5+ Kf5 32. Nxf7 Nxf7 33. Rxf7+ Bf6 {[%emt 1:30:05] (D) [#] Draw agreed. Neither side can hope for more than a draw in this fairy simplified position. An interesting and more lively game than the previous white one of F.Caruana, bur still no decisive result… Clocks: W: 1:38:13 - B: } 1/2-1/2 [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2018.11.09"] [Round "?"] [White "Carlsen"] [Black "Caruana"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D37"] [Annotator "samsh"] [PlyCount "79"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2018.11.18"] 1. d4 {As I predicted, Carlsen goes back into a line that he had seen previously, and came with a hopeful improvement in mind. Eventually one runs out of good first moves to try!} Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. Qc2 Nc6 9. a3 Qa5 10. Nd2 (10. Rd1 {Carlsen chose this in game 2. Caruana countered with the very unusual} Rd8 {Which Magnus presumably did not find anything good against in the days between games 2 and 7. Otherwise he likely would have tried this again.}) 10... Qd8 $5 {Another extremely rare move. Caruana definitely was well prepared with this c5 line.} ( 10... Be7 {and}) (10... Bb4 {Are the mainlines. I had marked the latter as the best move in my own analysis, though it was old work and could definitely be wrong.}) 11. Nb3 Bb6 12. Be2 (12. Rd1 {I thought White might want to make a useful developing move and hope to recapture on c4 in one move- this is hardly an uncommon occurrence in Queen's Gambit positions. But Black does seem fine after the accurate} Qe7 $1 {Pointing out that White cannot comfortably take on d5.} 13. cxd5 $2 (13. Be2 dxc4 14. Bxc4 Rd8 {Would be prudent, but I think Black is easily equalizing.}) 13... Nxd5 $1 14. Nxd5 exd5 {The pawn is taboo as White is too far behind on development (in fact he is already worse.)} 15. Rxd5 $2 Be6 16. Rd3 Rac8 {The goons are coming and White will be crushed long before he can get castled.}) 12... Qe7 13. Bg5 $1 {The most challenging move. Black now has to be pretty accurate to maintain a tenable position, but it's not such a difficult task and Caruana had no problem managing.} (13. cxd5 Nxd5 14. Nxd5 exd5 15. O-O d4 {Would promptly lead to a draw. Magnus' choice is more ambitious.}) 13... dxc4 $1 {This will allow Black's kingside pawns to be compromised, but it turns out not to be an issue as he will get a lot of counterplay.} (13... h6 $2 14. cxd5 $1 {Favors White.}) 14. Nd2 (14. Bxc4 Bd7 { Is nothing for White. His pieces don't coordinate very well.}) 14... Ne5 $1 { Basically the last important move of the game. Black protects the c4 pawn so that White will have to make some concessions to get it back if he wishes to compromise the black kingside.} (14... Bd7 $2 {An innocent move like this one could lead to some trouble after} 15. Nxc4 Bc7 16. Ne4 {When Black cannot prevent his kingside pawn cover from being disturbed.}) 15. O-O (15. Nce4 { A move like this would definitely mess up the Black kingside, but it comes at a heavy price as c4 will be hard to recapture. Following} Bd7 16. Nxc4 { White has taken the c4 pawn back and if he could consolidate and chop on f6, he'd have some chances. But after} (16. Nxf6+ $2 gxf6 17. Bh6 Rfc8 {Favors Black, as White will not be able to take back on c4 and I don't think his attacking chances are so great.}) 16... Nxc4 17. Bxc4 Rfc8 $1 {Black has enough activity to hold the balance.} 18. O-O Bc6 $1 19. Nxf6+ gxf6 20. Bh4 { If White had one move to consolidate he would be somewhat more comfortable, but after} Bd5 $1 21. b3 Bxc4 22. bxc4 {White is left with pawn weaknesses of his own, and the position is balanced.}) 15... Bd7 16. Bf4 Ng6 17. Bg3 Bc6 18. Nxc4 Bc7 {Someone more imaginative than me might find something interesting to say about the rest of this game, but I certainly can't. It's a tribute to the 30-move rule that the players did not shake hands right here.} 19. Rfd1 Rfd8 20. Rxd8+ Rxd8 21. Rd1 Rxd1+ 22. Qxd1 Nd5 23. Qd4 Nxc3 24. Qxc3 Bxg3 25. hxg3 Qd7 26. Bd3 b6 27. f3 Bb7 28. Bxg6 hxg6 29. e4 Qc7 30. e5 Qc5+ 31. Kh2 Ba6 32. Nd6 Qxc3 33. bxc3 f6 34. f4 Kf8 35. Kg1 Ke7 36. Kf2 Kd7 37. Ke3 Bf1 38. Kf2 Ba6 39. Ke3 Bf1 40. Kf2 {I'll be interested to see what happens tomorrow, and if we get a fourth Rossolimo or not.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "World Championships "] [Site "?"] [Date "2018.11.18"] [Round "7"] [White "Carlsen, M..."] [Black "Caruana, F..."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Annotator "DF"] [PlyCount "79"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 c5 {Straight into one of the thematic battlegrounds of the world champions! This is an opening that seems to be very much beloved by Nakamura, Anand, and more recently Caruana himself.} 7. dxc5 (7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. Nxd5 Qxd5 {holds less venom and was the battleground for an encounter between a Topalov second and the a Carlsen second... Edouard,R -Hammer,J Drancy 2016}) 7... Bxc5 8. Qc2 (8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Nxd5 exd5 10. a3 Nc6 11. Bd3 {To be honest, I am a little surprised Carlsen didn't choose this. He tends to like playing against the IQP, and while it might appear that Black can play ...d4, this is a mirage: either there will be some trick yielding an edge (like exd4 followed by Be3) or else White will simply push past with e4. The textbook encounter features a commentator from this match:} Bb6 12. O-O Bg4 13. h3 Bh5 14. b4 a6 15. Rc1 d4 16. g4 Bg6 17. e4 Re8 18. Re1 Rc8 19. Bc4 $1 $14 {Svidler,P-Harikrishna,P Shenzhen 2017}) 8... Nc6 9. a3 {During Norway Chess 2018, when I last looked at this variation, I commented that I did not believe the present move to be White's most critical, but I am now revising this assessment.} Qa5 10. Nd2 {On this move, my only earlier comment was that it "might be an interesting try for an advantage, but that it ultimately fails"- giving 10...Bb4. The challenger, however, did not play that move, indicating that neither player reads the details on chessbase. com!} (10. O-O-O $5 {See my detailed notes on this in Karjakin-Anand, Norway Chess 2018.} Ne4 $1 11. Nxe4 (11. Nb5 a6 12. Nc7 e5 $1 $40 {Originally played by Karjakin, but ultimately used against him by Anand in the above-mentioned encounter.}) 11... dxe4 12. Qxe4 Bxa3 $1 {There follows a forced line.} 13. bxa3 Qxa3+ 14. Kd2 Rd8+ 15. Ke2 Qb2+ 16. Rd2 Rxd2+ 17. Nxd2 e5 18. Bg3 Bg4+ $3 {New and detailed analysis now reveals that White needs to accept first the bishop and then the perpetual check which results after best play.}) ({Of course,} 10. Rd1 {is also possible. It is impossible to annotate the present game without paying attention to what occurred in the 2nd match game, and also more generally one of the defining decisions White faces in such games is the choice between long-castling and playing Rd1.} Re8 $1 (10... Be7 {is more common, but mistaken. In January 2018 I wrote that White has an edge after} 11. Be2 Ne4 12. cxd5 Nxc3 13. bxc3 exd5 14. O-O $14 {and I see no reason to change this verdict.}) (10... Rd8 {was what happened in the 2nd game. I wonder what Fabi has in mind following 11.Nd2 here?} 11. Nd2 $5 (11. Be2 Ne4 12. O-O Nxc3 13. bxc3 h6 14. a4 Ne7 15. Ne5 Bd6 $1 $11 {Carlsen, M-Caruana,F London WC (2) 2018}) 11... dxc4 12. Bxc4 (12. Nxc4 $5 Rxd1+ 13. Qxd1 Qd8 14. Qxd8+ Nxd8 $14 { Caruana might have intended to defend this position, or a similar one, and make the structure into 'his Berlin'. Certainly, with the centre nearly bereft of pawns, it is difficult to turn the engine's '0.4' into something a human would recognise as a clear and lasting plus.}) 12... Be7 13. O-O Qh5 14. Nde4 Rxd1 15. Qxd1 Qxd1 16. Rxd1 Nxe4 17. Nxe4 e5 $1 $11 {Roiz,M-Khamrakulov,D Tashkent 2011}) 11. Nd2 (11. Be2 e5 $15 {is the point}) 11... e5 12. Bg5 Nd4 13. Qb1 $1 (13. Qc1 Bf5 {is liable to lead to a forced draw.} 14. Bxf6 Nc2+ 15. Ke2 Nd4+ $11 {Carlsen, M-Nakamura,H Douglas 2017}) 13... Bf5 14. Bd3 {White might have had a tiny something in Mamedyarov-Anand, Tata Steel 2018, but this was ultimately neutralised.}) (10. Ra2 $5 {This move is nice and experimental, but after the accurate retreats} Be7 11. b4 Qd8 12. h3 {Black should deviate from a Topalov game and play} d4 $1 $11) 10... Qd8 {Perhaps Caruana is getting some kind of thrill out of playing this kind of thing: personally I don't consider Nd2 anywhere near the size of concession Black needs to extract to merit the 2 tempi. 10.Ra2, on the other hand, would do. The question was asked by a perplexed Anna Rudolf of exactly what Black has gained by these perambulations, as White always seems to win at least one tempo during them.} ( 10... Bb4 $5 11. cxd5 exd5 12. Nb3 Bxc3+ 13. bxc3 Qd8 $132 {This continuation was seen in Topalov,V-Nakamura,H Paris 2017, and perhaps slightly biased by the fact that Black won the game, I concluded it was unlikely anyone would play 10.Nd2 for an advantage. To be honest, I still don't know what White would do here.}) (10... Be7 {This move was the majority choice in the 'live commentary' room helmed by GM Judit Polgar, as well as among grandmasters who have reached this position.} 11. Rd1 {is main and now England's fast-rising talent Shreyas Royal opined, completely correctly, that Black has to go ...e5! and let the pawns take care of themselves!} (11. Bg3 $5 {is an interesting idea that may give chances}) 11... e5 12. Bg5 (12. Nb3 Qb6 {gives White an extra tempo, but there is still nothing after} 13. Bg5 d4 14. Bxf6 Bxf6 15. Nd5 Qd8 $11) 12... d4 $8 13. Nb3 Qd8 14. exd4 Nxd4 15. Nxd4 exd4 16. Nb5 {Now, in my considered opinion, Black has to know about, and play, the ultra-precise} Bd7 $1 {and only then does he stand equal.}) 11. Nb3 Bb6 (11... Be7 {is maybe just a little bit too easy for White to play, as there isn't any idea of ...d4 left.} 12. cxd5 (12. Rd1 e5 {should again be fine}) 12... Nxd5 13. Rd1 $14) 12. Be2 {Giving up on an opening advantage.} (12. Rd1 {This move springs to mind immediately for anyone with even a passing knowledge of the structure, and doesn't run the risks of castling. A process of logical elimination tells us that Carlsen must have seen, and disliked, the Black idea of} a5 $5 13. Bg5 a4 14. Nd2 d4 $5 $14 {when the battle for loss of frivolous tempi might actually be won by White. Certainly, over the board this could be difficult to assess.}) ({In this position, after} 12. O-O-O Bd7 $1 13. g4 $1 {the incredibly messy complications can be analysed almost to a forced draw.}) 12... Qe7 $11 { One last time: are you SURE you don't want me to have an IQP?} 13. Bg5 (13. cxd5 Nxd5 14. Nxd5 exd5 $11 {is nothing though; White's pieces are poorly placed to cope with Black's forthcoming ideas like ...Be6, ...Rac8, ...Rfd8.}) 13... dxc4 {This exchange made sense on the previous turn too, but here it is close to being forced.} 14. Nd2 ({Carlsen thought for some time about} 14. Bxc4 {,clearly wondering whether it was actually such an amazing idea to move the knight another 2 times. A bit of analysis, though, indicates that it is with the direct recapture that White risks becoming worse.} Bd7 15. O-O Ne5 16. Be2 Rfc8 $5 {Here, in a bizarre echo of the 6.Be3 Najdorf, Black is intending to put his opponent in a highly annoying double-pin with ...Ba4.} 17. Nd4 h6 $1 18. Bxf6 gxf6 $5 {and play is for 3 results.}) 14... Ne5 15. O-O (15. Nxc4 $2 Nxc4 16. Bxc4 Qc5 $1 $17 {simply gains the bishop pair for nothing.}) (15. Nce4 $5 {is a meaningful alternative, and Magnus said it was his 'main chance to play dynamically' but, as above, Black doesn't need to tremble in fear at the prospect of being left with doubled f-pawns. Indeed, neither player particularly believed it.} Bd7 16. Nxc4 (16. Qc3 $5 {was the move both players suggested in the press conference.} Nxe4 $1 17. Nxe4 f6 18. Qxe5 fxg5 19. Bxc4 Rac8 20. Bb3 h6 $132 {with a dynamically balanced game.}) 16... Nxc4 17. Bxc4 Rac8 18. O-O Bc6 $11 {The tactical issues faced by each side more or less balance each other out, and the most likely scenario is that all the pieces, save either 1 or 2 pairs of rooks, will be vacuumed off the board quite soon, leaving a draw.}) 15... Bd7 $1 16. Bf4 $1 {White should hurry to take back the pawn, in whichever way he chooses to do that.} (16. Rfd1 Rac8 17. Nde4 { is plausible, but without the engine around we don't actually know whether White will regain the pawn or not.} Bc6 (17... Bc7 $5 18. Bxc4 $1 Bc6 19. Bb5 Bxe4 20. Qxe4 a6 21. Be2 Nxe4 22. Bxe7 Nxc3 23. bxc3 Rfe8 $11 {and both sides play for a win. The position is reminiscent of my game against Gawain Jones in the British Championships 2018.}) 18. Nd6 Rcd8 19. Nce4 (19. Nxc4 Nxc4 20. Bxc4 Qc5 21. Bxf6 gxf6 22. Bd3 f5 $11 {Now White has to trade off light-squared bishops with some urgency, or else simply stand worse.}) 19... h6 $1 20. Bh4 g5 21. Nxf6+ Qxf6 22. Bg3 Bc7 23. Nxc4 Nxc4 $1 24. Bxc7 Rc8 25. Bxc4 Rxc7 $11 { The position is ever so slightly more comfortable for Black, but is still well within the 'equal' band in objective terms.}) (16. Nxc4 Nxc4 17. Bxc4 Qc5 18. Bxf6 Qxc4 19. Rfd1 Bc6 20. Bd4 $1 $11) 16... Ng6 $1 (16... Qc5 {is a hard move to make, because of all White's Ne4/b4 tactical ideas. Nevertheless, the computer sees it as best, and then obliges White to take the pawn back immediately:} 17. Bxe5 Qxe5 18. Nxc4 Qc7 19. b4 $5 (19. Rac1 Bc5 20. b4 Be7 $11 {is an equal position where Black might stand better after a few moves}) 19... Rac8 20. Rac1 Rfd8 21. Nxb6 Qxb6 22. Rfd1 $11) 17. Bg3 $1 {With their last moves, both players have shown that they appreciate the full value of the bishop pair in this position- even where the two flanks are largely distinct from each other and the engine doesn't mind White giving it up.} Bc6 {A correct response from Caruana, who understands that White's dark-squared bishop is better than his own, and takes steps to trade them off.} 18. Nxc4 Bc7 19. Rfd1 Rfd8 20. Rxd8+ {This move smacks of boredom; surely normally Magnus would ask himself whether it's impossible to gain some other minor edge while Black is troubling himself with the exact mechanics of the double-rook trade?} Rxd8 21. Rd1 {Possibly, somewhere at the back of Magnus' mind, there might have been an idea of eventually making an edge like 'slightly better light-squared bishop' or 'slightly better knight' count; however, as it turned out there wasn't a concrete opportunity to play for a win. From this point onwards, the objective evaluation never veered from complete equality, but I have tried to point out marginally more ambitious ideas for each side.} Rxd1+ 22. Qxd1 Nd5 23. Qd4 Nxc3 24. Qxc3 Bxg3 {My own personal feeling about this move was that it gives White unnecessary chances. After all, White's pawn structure is improved and furthermore there's a possibility that Black's kingside could become very cramped indeed. The engine, of course, doesn't think this is a problem.} (24... Bb5 {seemed a lot more normal to me.}) 25. hxg3 Qd7 26. Bd3 {At this point, White decided his plan, which was to make it inconvenient for Black to play ...f6/...e5, and to go for Bxg6, f3, e4 himself. } ({Otherwise there is a chance he might have seen the idea of} 26. f4 { followed by g4-g5 (if allowed) as being more auspicious.}) 26... b6 ({This was Black's chance to play} 26... f6 {but possibly he just found ideas like} 27. Qc2 Kf7 28. Na5 {to be a little annoying.}) 27. f3 Bb7 (27... f6 $5 28. g4 Kf7 29. g5 Bd5 $11 {Black's construction looks a little loose, but there is nothing objectively wrong with it. I would personally think of it as a reasonable choice if Black wanted to retain the possibility of perhaps one day winning the game.}) 28. Bxg6 $5 {This had been coming for a while- White was hardly going to play e4 without it- but I do wonder if maybe it could have been delayed a further move.} (28. g4 Qc7 29. f4 $11 {is quite ambitious.}) 28... hxg6 29. e4 Qc7 $1 {From a human perspective, this looks clearly correct. Black needs to make the queen trade White seeks as inefficient as possible.} ( 29... f6 30. e5 $1 {has become, practically speaking, a little difficult.}) 30. e5 Qc5+ 31. Kh2 (31. Ne3 Qxc3 32. bxc3 Ba6 $11 {One of the hardest things for a human player to realise in this position (and related ones which we shall come to) is that if Black can come with his king to c6, then in spite of his awful bishop, which possesses a grand total of no targets to aim at, he is the one playing for a win!}) 31... Ba6 (31... f6 $5 {leads to the same thing:} 32. Nd6 Qxc3 33. bxc3 Ba6) 32. Nd6 Qxc3 33. bxc3 f6 34. f4 ({The next note is the move suggested by a friend with whom I was watching the games, live and in person. Around this time, we made a bet (which I won) about the sequence of moves that would finish the game...} 34. Kh3 $6 fxe5 35. Kg4 Kf8 36. Kg5 Bd3 { It is White treading on thin ice here (though the position is still a draw.) It is not clear to me how White regains a pawn without suffocating his own knight, and g2 is also weak.}) 34... Kf8 35. Kg1 Ke7 36. Kf2 Kd7 {With Black's king active, it is difficult to be ambitious.} 37. Ke3 Bf1 ({I did wonder whether Black could play for a win:} 37... fxe5 $5 38. fxe5 Kc6 39. c4 Kc5 40. Kd3 b5 41. Ne4+ Kc6 {Now White has a choice of ways to draw, which differ only in the multiplicity of the choice that he has thereafter.} 42. Kd4 $1 (42. cxb5+ Bxb5+ 43. Kd4 Be2 (43... Bf1) 44. Nc5 Bg4 $11 {Both sides have fortresses, despite the World Champion's skepticism about the concept, but it is still easier for White to go wrong.}) 42... bxc4 43. g4 c3 44. Nxc3 g5 45. g3 Bf1 46. Ne4 Be2 47. Nxg5 Bxg4 48. a4 $11) 38. Kf2 Ba6 39. Ke3 Bf1 40. Kf2 { Here Caruana claimed a draw, by the approved method.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "WCh 2018"] [Site "London ENG"] [Date "2018.11.18"] [Round "7"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D37"] [WhiteElo "2835"] [BlackElo "2832"] [Annotator "Crowther,Mark"] [PlyCount "79"] [EventDate "2018.11.09"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. Qc2 Nc6 9. a3 Qa5 10. Nd2 ({Relevant:} 10. O-O-O Be7 11. Kb1 a6 12. g4 dxc4 13. Bxc4 b5 14. g5 bxc4 15. gxf6 Bxf6 16. Ne4 Be7 17. Rhg1 Rd8 18. Rxd8+ Nxd8 19. Qxc4 Qd5 20. Qxd5 exd5 21. Nc3 Bb7 22. Nd4 Ne6 23. Be5 g6 24. Nxe6 fxe6 25. Ne2 Bh4 26. f4 Bf2 27. Rc1 Rc8 {1/2-1/2 (27) Karjakin,S (2773)-Nakamura,H (2777) Saint Louis 2018}) 10... Qd8 {Not a new move but a rare one.} 11. Nb3 Bb6 $146 ({Predecessor:} 11... Be7 12. Rd1 a5 13. cxd5 exd5 14. Be2 a4 15. Nd4 Qa5 16. O-O Bd7 17. Ndb5 Rfc8 18. Qb1 Be6 19. Rc1 g6 20. Rfd1 Bf5 21. Qa1 Be6 22. h3 Bf8 23. Nd4 Bd7 24. Nxc6 Bxc6 25. Be5 Ne4 26. Bd4 Re8 27. Qa2 Qd8 28. Nxe4 dxe4 29. Bc4 Qe7 30. Bd5 Ra5 31. Bxc6 bxc6 32. Rxc6 Qh4 33. Bf6 Qh5 34. Rd7 g5 35. g4 Qg6 36. Bc3 {1-0 (36) Golod,V (2584)-Gershkowich,D (2341) Haifa 2008}) 12. Be2 {There really isn't much in this position for white already.} Qe7 13. Bg5 dxc4 14. Nd2 (14. Bxc4 {is more straightforwardly equal.}) 14... Ne5 15. O-O ( 15. f4 {Carlsen spoke about f4 being his first idea after the game in one positoin. It might have been here.} Nd3+ 16. Bxd3 cxd3 {and only black can be better but it's probably still about equal.} 17. Qxd3 Rd8 18. Qe2 e5 19. Nc4) 15... Bd7 16. Bf4 Ng6 17. Bg3 Bc6 18. Nxc4 Bc7 19. Rfd1 Rfd8 {Here both players started to relax and it was expect the game would be agreed drawn as soon as it was allowed.} 20. Rxd8+ Rxd8 21. Rd1 Rxd1+ 22. Qxd1 Nd5 23. Qd4 Nxc3 24. Qxc3 Bxg3 25. hxg3 Qd7 {Having reached total equality Caruana admitted he switched off for a few moves and while he didn't lose equality he started to become under slight pressure again.} (25... Qd8) 26. Bd3 b6 27. f3 Bb7 28. Bxg6 hxg6 29. e4 Qc7 30. e5 Qc5+ $1 {after a few slack moves Caruana starts playing precisely again and a draw follows quickly.} 31. Kh2 Ba6 32. Nd6 Qxc3 33. bxc3 f6 34. f4 Kf8 35. Kg1 Ke7 36. Kf2 Kd7 37. Ke3 Bf1 38. Kf2 Ba6 39. Ke3 Bf1 40. Kf2 {and a draw by repetition.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "World Championship"] [Site "London"] [Date "2018.11.09"] [Round "?"] [White "Fabiano Caruana"] [Black "Magnus Carlsen"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B33"] [Annotator "samsh"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 {Magnus once again sticks with his Sveshnikov/Rossolimo repertoire, though he really got away with one today. It will be interesting to see if he decides to keep going with it even though his positions out of the opening are getting more and more dangerous.} 3. d4 {Caruana enters the mainline. With the Sveshnikov being implied very heavily in game 1, his team has had a lot of time to come up with ideas.} (3. Bb5 {Was Caruana's choice in his first 3 white games. I think he took the right choice to go into the riskier open Sicilian mainlines, as his best chance to win the match is in regulation. I also think the positions suit his style better than Magnus's style.}) 3... cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Nd5 $5 {This is a very forcing move that leads to a defined and unbalanced pawn structure right away.} (7. Bg5 {Would lead to the Sveshnikov mainlines.}) 7... Nxd5 8. exd5 Nb8 9. a4 $1 {I always felt running the a-pawn the most critical try in pawn structures like this one. More often than not it comes from a Najdorf with Be3 and an early Nd5, but White will definitely appreciate leaving the c-pawn at home in certain positions.} Be7 10. Be2 O-O 11. O-O Nd7 {This position is not nearly as common as the Sveshnikov mainlines, but it's still reasonably well known and there have been plenty of games played. Caruana's next move was the one that got Magnus thinking.} 12. Bd2 $5 {A rare choice, but a very logical move. White prioritizes developing his pieces- what could be more natural. In a lot of cases, White will play f4, and the bishop will stand well on c3 to pressure Black's center. This certainly turned out to be the case during the game.} (12. Kh1 {For better or for worse, this has been the most common move in the past. It doesn't make much sense to me. I can't imagine avoiding Qb6 coming with check is worth a tempo. Caruana's move looks much stronger.}) 12... f5 (12... a6 {In light of how the game proceeded, Magnus could have considered stopping White from playing a5. First he can push the knight back, and then after} 13. Na3 a5 $5 {The position doesn't seem so bad to me. The machines like White but I don't see a great plan and Black's pieces have good squares to go to. It has to be said that this is one of the positions where it is very clear that remaining flexible with the c-pawn was in White's favor, as if the pawn were on c4, he would have no good way to open the queenside or deal with a knight sitting on c5 for the rest of the game. A sample line could go} 14. f4 f5 ( 14... exf4 $5 15. Bxf4 Bf6 16. c3 Be5 {Also looks fine for Black to my unrefined and unintelligent human eye, but the machine disagrees.}) 15. Nc4 ( 15. c3 Bf6) 15... Bf6 {Black has decent counterplay and I do not mind his position at all. It would be interesting to know what Caruana had in mind had Magnus tried a6-a5.}) 13. a5 a6 {Not a bad move I guess, but it looks wrong to me. The knight is not particularly good on b5 and likely would want to reroute to a3 and c4 anyway, and Magnus now forces this to happen with a loss of tempo and weakens the b6-square at the same time. Magnus's idea was to play e4 without allowing Nd4, but still, I dislike the move.} (13... f4 $5 {It makes a lot of sense to prevent White from playing f2-f4 to contest the center and the kingside. The position is locked and Black looks like he should have decent attacking chances, for instance after} 14. Bb4 Nf6 15. c4 a6 16. Nc3 Bf5 { The machines like White but g5-g4 is a real plan. Black is not without counterplay}) 14. Na3 e4 15. Nc4 Ne5 {Magnus was clearly aiming for this position when he played a6. But it seems unpleasant for Black.} 16. Nb6 $1 { Caruana was still in preparation and playing very quickly.} (16. Nxe5 $2 dxe5 { Would give Black a lot of counterplay. I actually prefer his position.}) 16... Rb8 17. f4 $1 {Black must not be allowed to play f4 himself} exf3 18. Bxf3 g5 $2 {This was asking too much. White is breaking through on the queenside too fast to expect the kingside attack to work.} (18... Bf6 {A solid move like this one looks fine to me.} 19. c3 Nd7 $1 20. Be3 Be5 $1 {Black's pieces have found good squares. The machine slightly prefers White but I don't think Black has much to worry about.}) 19. c4 $1 {Bc3 followed by c5 is a very easy plan to execute. The loose position of the e5 knight means White will not even need to defend the c5 pawn to get the advance through, and if Nxf3 ever comes, Black may well regret advancing g7-g5 with the open long diagonal. Black is in big trouble.} f4 20. Bc3 $1 {Another strong move. Apparently Sesse was claiming that White is absolutely winning here- this is far too optimistic an assessment in human play, there is a lot of potential counterplay to contain, much like one sees in a mainline King's Indian. But his position is definitely very promising.} Bf5 $1 {Magnus chooses the combattive move. He understood his position was "dangerous" though I would go a step further and just call it "bad". But he handled it absolutely the way he needed to- in a combattive manner looking for counterplay, as is the general plan in the Sveshnikov.} ( 20... Qc7 $2 {Trying to prevent c5 is only a temporary fix. Black has a lost position on the queenside as c5 will eventually win the game. He needs to look for kingside counterplay.} 21. b4 Bf6 22. Rc1 {White should be winning. Even a simple plan like Bxe5 followed by Nxc8 leaves Black unable to get g5-g4 through or make any kind of counterplay while c5-c6 comes very fast.}) 21. c5 { Caruana found the best move. His position is close to winning technically, it's more his kind of game, and he had a huge time advantage. This was his first real chance to score a full point after only missing a completely impossible line in game 6, and he did not manage to come through. If he loses the match, he will likely look at this game as the turning point.} Nxf3+ 22. Qxf3 dxc5 23. Rad1 Bd6 24. h3 $4 {I wavered between offering this move one question mark and two, eventually settling on the harsher evaluation, even though I normally only offer it for a move that squanders a full point rather than a half point. Time is absolutely of the essence. White is a pawn down and facing the bishop pair with an imbalanced structure. His position is strong, but he absolutely needed to look for the most direct moves. Magnus is now instantly fine after one slow move that was not at all in the spirit of the position, and he even said so himself after the game.} (24. Nc4 $1 {Of course this move needed to be played. The idea is totally obvious and White did play it on the next move, only he needed to do so faster. Black cannot allow d5-d6 to come through so eventually his dark squared bishop will be exchanged, and then the attack is decisive.} g4 {Undoubtedly Caruana was worried about this move, otherwise h3 would really be inexplicable. But White is faster.} (24... Qd7 {Black cannot simply move the queen to bring the sleeping b8-rook into the game on e8 the way he did after White played h3, because the queen lacks access to the g6 square- the only way to hold both h5 and d6. After} 25. Qh5 { Black can resign.}) 25. Qf2 f3 (25... g3 26. Qd2 $1 gxh2+ 27. Kh1 {Is hopeless for Black. Rxf4 is a big threat, and} Bg6 28. Rde1 $1 {Offers no salvation as Re6 will come next.}) 26. Rfe1 $1 {Black is hard pressed to deal with Nxd6 followed by Be5. He should lose.}) ({Also possible was} 24. Qh5 Bg6 25. Qh6 Rf7 26. Nc4 Bf8 27. Qh3 {as was given by Carlsen at the press conference. "It was very hard for me to evaluate but it felt like White is having all the fun… This felt like a dangerous moment to me."}) 24... Qe8 $1 {The move came instantly. The queen will be perfect on g6, preventing Qh5, defending the d6 bishop, and preparing for Rbe8 to context the open e-file. Black is not absolutely fine and can even take over the game if White is not careful- he is a pawn up with the bishop pair after all.} 25. Nc4 Qg6 26. Nxd6 {Caruana messed up in a big way to let Black hold, but he was also professional and objective enough to make a draw when it was time.} (26. Rfe1 {Trying for a win at all costs was possible, but after} Rbe8 (26... g4 $5 {Looks decent too. h3 did not stop anything and now even serves as a hook}) 27. Be5 Bxe5 28. Nxe5 Qg7 29. Qc3 g4 $1 {Lots of counterplay}) 26... Qxd6 27. h4 gxh4 $1 {The simplest. White must trade queens and then Black doesn't have a care in the world.} 28. Qxf4 Qxf4 29. Rxf4 h5 30. Re1 Bg4 31. Rf6 Rxf6 32. Bxf6 Kf7 33. Bxh4 Re8 34. Rf1+ Kg8 35. Rf6 Re2 36. Rg6+ Kf8 37. d6 Rd2 38. Rg5 {Caruana has had some good moments and been able to apply pressure here and there, and had that one impossible engine win in the piece up ending. But today was the only game thus far where he absolutely had it within his power to come home with a full point. Magnus does not give many people chances like this, and he might not give another one. Still, while Caruana can't be feeling too happy (or confident) that he missed his opportunity today, he is clearly outpreparing Magnus every game with both colors for several games in a row. If Magnus loses the match, I suspect it will be due to another opening mishap. I'm sure he notices this trend himself and I expect him to switch things up a bit in the final four games.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "London ENG"] [Site "London ENG"] [Date "2018.11.19"] [Round "8"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B33"] [WhiteElo "2832"] [BlackElo "2835"] [Annotator "Crowther,Mark"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2018.11.09"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Nd5 Nxd5 8. exd5 Nb8 9. a4 Be7 10. Be2 O-O 11. O-O Nd7 12. Bd2 ({Relevant:} 12. a5 a6 13. Nc3 Bg5 14. Ne4 Bxc1 15. Qxc1 Nc5 16. Nxc5 dxc5 17. Rd1 Qd6 18. Ra3 Rb8 19. Qe3 Bf5 20. c4 b6 21. Rd2 b5 22. h4 b4 23. Ra1 Rbd8 24. Re1 Bd7 25. Bd3 Rde8 26. Qg3 Re7 27. Rde2 Rfe8 28. Qg5 f6 29. Qg3 f5 30. f3 Qf6 31. Qg5 h6 32. Qxf6 gxf6 33. Kf2 Rg7 34. f4 e4 35. Re3 Kf7 36. Be2 Reg8 37. g3 Ke7 {1/2-1/2 (37) Jobava, B (2687)-Salgado Lopez,I (2627) Tbilisi 2017}) 12... f5 13. a5 a6 14. Na3 e4 $146 ({Predecessor:} 14... Nf6 15. Bb4 Bd7 16. Nc4 Bb5 17. Nb6 Bxe2 18. Qxe2 Rb8 19. f3 Qe8 20. Rad1 Qg6 21. Nc4 Nd7 22. b3 Rbd8 23. Kh1 Rf6 24. f4 e4 25. Ne3 h5 26. g3 Rf7 27. Rg1 Qh7 28. Qc4 Nf6 29. h3 g6 30. Rg2 Qh8 31. Bc3 Bf8 32. Qb4 Bg7 33. Bd4 Ne8 34. Bxg7 Qxg7 35. c4 Qf8 36. Nc2 Rc7 37. Nd4 Ng7 38. Rc2 Qe7 39. Qe1 Qe8 40. Kg1 Qf8 41. Kg2 Kh7 42. Kf1 Rdc8 43. Rdc1 Qe8 44. Qe3 { Voll,A (2572)-Saidashev,A (2401) ICCF email 2015 1-0 (71)}) 15. Nc4 Ne5 16. Nb6 Rb8 17. f4 exf3 18. Bxf3 g5 $6 {The deep computers don't like this active move. } 19. c4 f4 20. Bc3 {It's unclear where Caruana's preparation ended but he was still playing quite quickly here.} Bf5 21. c5 {Played after 35 minutes thought. Caruana described this as very "concrete" and thought it important to see all the details. The computer Sesse assessed this at over +2 and winning. For humans it was all a lot less clear.} Nxf3+ {Carlsen played this quite quickly. He was already a long way behind on the clock and had to be quite pragmantic.} 22. Qxf3 dxc5 23. Rad1 {Maybe not the most accurate.} (23. Rae1) 23... Bd6 24. h3 $2 {Already the computer evaluations had dropped a lot. Some to practical equality. It feels like white should still be better but it doesn't prove to be much.} (24. Nc4) (24. Qh5) 24... Qe8 25. Nc4 Qg6 26. Nxd6 Qxd6 27. h4 gxh4 $1 {After this accurate move Carlsen reaches safety.} 28. Qxf4 Qxf4 29. Rxf4 h5 30. Re1 Bg4 31. Rf6 Rxf6 32. Bxf6 Kf7 {Carlsen thought for about 10 minutes here.} 33. Bxh4 Re8 34. Rf1+ Kg8 35. Rf6 Re2 36. Rg6+ Kf8 37. d6 Rd2 38. Rg5 { Draw agreed in an equal position.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "World Championship 2018, Game 7"] [Site "?"] [Date "2018.11.18"] [Round "7"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D37"] [WhiteElo "2835"] [BlackElo "2832"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "79"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2018.11.18"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 e6 {Queen's Gambit Declined! The opening for World Championships!} 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 {This was the same opening that was played in game 2 of the match.} O-O 6. e3 c5 {Caruana sticks to what he played in game two. The most classical way to combat the 5.Bf4 line.} 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. Qc2 {Why should White be any better in such a position? The reason is simple. White is playing against the bishop on c8. At the same time he doesn't want to develop bishop on f1 very soon because after dxc4 it would mean that he has to lose a tempo in recapturing the c4 pawn. Hence White makes moves like Qc2, sometimes Rd1, Nd2, before developing his light squared bishop.} Nc6 9. a3 { A useful move that covers the b4 square not only for a knight jump but also a bishop coming to b4.} Qa5 {The idea of this move is to move the queen away from the d-file and seriously threaten d5-d4. Earlier it was not possible because the rook would come to d1.} (9... d4 10. O-O-O $1 $16) 10. Nd2 $5 { The plan is now to shift the knight to b3 in order to attack the bishop and the queen.} (10. Rd1 {was Magnus' choice in game two.} Rd8 11. Be2 Ne4 12. O-O Nxc3 13. bxc3 h6 14. a4 Ne7 15. Ne5 Bd6 $1 $11 {1/2-1/2 (49) Carlsen,M (2835) -Caruana,F (2832) London ENG 2018}) 10... Qd8 $5 {Fabiano goes for a move that has only been played six times before this. The idea is that after Nb3, Black does not want to place the bishop on e7 but instead wants to go to b6.} (10... Be7 {has been known as the main line and the game usually continues with} 11. Bg3 Bd7 12. Be2 Rfc8 13. O-O Qd8 14. b4 $14 {1-0 (79) Radjabov,T (2717) -Zvjaginsev,V (2670) Sochi 2006}) (10... Bb4 {is also possible.} 11. cxd5 exd5 12. Bd3 $14) 11. Nb3 (11. cxd5 exd5 (11... Nxd5 $2 12. Nxd5 Qxd5 13. Bd3 $16) 12. Bd3 (12. Bg5 d4 $17) (12. Nb3 Bb6 13. Rd1 d4 $1 $11) 12... d4 $1 13. Nce4 Nxe4 14. Bxe4 (14. Nxe4 Be7 $11) 14... dxe3 15. fxe3 Qh4+ 16. g3 Qh5 $11) (11. b4 Be7 12. Nf3 Bd7 $13) 11... Bb6 {The bishop is more active on this square than on e7, but it also means that White can setup some nasty pins in the position with a move like Bg5 and it is not easy to wriggle out.} 12. Be2 (12. Rd1 {Why not this natural move putting pressure on d5?} Qe7 $1 {And now winning the pawn on d5 is not possible.} (12... Ne7 13. Bg5 $14) 13. Be2 (13. cxd5 Nxd5 14. Nxd5 exd5 {I would now like to play Be2 and 0-0. But Black gets in active play.} 15. Bd3 (15. Rxd5 Be6 $17) (15. Be2 Be6 16. O-O g5 17. Bg3 f5 $36) 15... h6 16. O-O Bg4 $11 {Black is very active.}) 13... dxc4 14. Bxc4 Bc7 15. Bg5 h6 16. Bh4 (16. h4 $5 {Can makes things interesting but Black is never going to take on g5 soon.}) 16... Bd7 $11) 12... Qe7 (12... e5 13. Bg5 d4 14. Nd5 $36) 13. Bg5 $5 {Magnus begins to put pressure on the d5 pawn, underlining the fact that the bishop is missing from e7. Although it doesn't seem theoretically the most challenging, Black surely has some issues to solve.} dxc4 {Caruana goes for the most natural move in the position. Taking on c4 makes sure that there are no issues related to pressure on d5 and Black can continue and complete his development with ...Bd7.} 14. Nd2 {This seems much more ambitious than taking on c4 with the bishop.} (14. Bxc4 {seemed the most natural but after say something like} h6 15. Bh4 Ne5 16. Be2 Ng6 {The pin is broken and Black is doing really fine.}) 14... Ne5 $5 {Caruana clings on to the pawn.} (14... Bd7 15. Nxc4 Bc7 16. Ne4 {This already seems dangerous for Black.}) 15. O-O {Carlsen will pick up the c4 pawn later at an appropriate moment. But I get a sense that Black has no real problems out of the opening. He will just play Bd6-Ng6 and then break the pin with h6.} (15. Nxc4 $6 Nxc4 16. Bxc4 {would be a bad move because of} Qc5 $1 {Suddenly there is a double attack.}) (15. Nce4 $5 {This is what Magnus wanted to do in the game and it seems a logical move for sure.} Bd7 {Black is planning Bc6 so White has to act quickly.} 16. Qc3 Nxe4 $1 17. Nxe4 f6 18. Qxe5 fxg5 19. Bxc4 (19. Nxg5 Rf5 $19) 19... Rac8 20. Bb3 h6 $11 {Black has no real problems here.} 21. O-O Bc7 $1 22. Qd4 a5 $11) (15. f4 Nd3+ 16. Bxd3 cxd3 17. Qxd3 Rd8 18. Qe2 e5 $11) 15... Bd7 { Caruana solves the problem of his bishop.} 16. Bf4 (16. Nxc4 Nxc4 17. Bxc4 h6 ( 17... Qc5 {is no longer so great as after} 18. Bxf6 Qxc4 19. Qd1 Bc6 20. b3 Qc5 21. Qg4 {White begins to get some initiative on the kingside.}) 18. Bh4 Bc6 $11 {Yes, the pin is irritating, but apart from it everyting is going Black's way.} ) 16... Ng6 17. Bg3 {Next White will win the c4 pawn but Black will just put his bishop on c6 followed by bishop on c7. It just doesn't seem that White is getting anything out of this.} Bc6 {The bishop sits well on c6. Black has solved all his opening problems.} 18. Nxc4 Bc7 19. Rfd1 Rfd8 $11 20. Rxd8+ Rxd8 21. Rd1 Rxd1+ 22. Qxd1 {The position looks dead equal now. But the funny thing in the match is that once the position is equal, both players start playing ambitiously and fight until the very end! A very refreshing sight.} Nd5 23. Qd4 Nxc3 24. Qxc3 Bxg3 25. hxg3 {Two pair of minor pieces are off the board, nothing much has change.} Qd7 26. Bd3 b6 (26... Be4 {was an interesting move.} 27. Ne5 (27. Bxe4 Qd1+ 28. Kh2 Qh5+ 29. Kg1 Qd1+ $11 {is an instant draw.}) 27... Nxe5 28. Qxe5 f5 $1 {should also end in equality.}) 27. f3 (27. Bxg6 hxg6 28. Ne5 $2 Qd1+ 29. Kh2 Qh5+ $11) 27... Bb7 28. Bxg6 hxg6 29. e4 Qc7 30. e5 { It seems as if White has made some progress, but Fabiano had it all under control.} Qc5+ 31. Kh2 Ba6 (31... Bd5 32. Nd6 Qxc3 33. bxc3 {is also possible, but the bishop on a6 stops Nc8, and Fabi decided that that was a better idea.}) 32. Nd6 Qxc3 33. bxc3 f6 34. f4 Kf8 35. Kg1 Ke7 36. Kf2 Kd7 37. Ke3 (37. c4 { This is one idea which is very interesting because you are boxing in the bishop on a6. It has absolutely no moves. But Black holds here as well without any real issues.} Kc6 38. Ke3 Kc5 39. Kd3 f5 40. Kc3 b5 $11 41. cxb5 Bxb5) 37... Bf1 38. Kf2 Ba6 39. Ke3 Bf1 40. Kf2 {Carlsen realized that there is no point in playing for a win here. The position looks pretty dry and he called it a day. A great game by Fabiano who had no real problems with black and faced Magnus' two back to back whites (in games six and seven) with great confidence.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2018.11.19"] [Round "8"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B33"] [WhiteElo "2832"] [BlackElo "2835"] [Annotator "Sagar"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2018.11.20"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 $1 {Finally we get to witness the Open Sicilian. Even Caruana realized that the Rossolimo was not getting him anywhere.} cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 {The Sveshnikov has worked well for Black in the World Championships. The match between Anand vs Gelfand comes to mind. But here Fabiano has an interesting idea up his sleeve.} 7. Nd5 $5 {Not the most common move. The main idea of course is to play Bg5. But this leads to positions which are less explored and one which Caruana has studied in depth.} (7. Bg5) 7... Nxd5 8. exd5 Nb8 (8... Ne7 {is possible but after} 9. c4 { it is important to not fall in the most well-known trap in this position.} a6 $2 10. Qa4 $1 Bd7 11. Nxd6# {Now that would have hurt!}) 9. a4 $5 {White would like to play his knight to a3 and use the c4 square not for his pawn, but his knight.} (9. c4 a6 10. Nc3 {is the most common way to play.}) 9... Be7 10. Be2 O-O 11. O-O Nd7 12. Bd2 $5 {At first this move doesn't seem to have a point. But the idea once again is quite basic. You want to push the pawn to a5 and when Black plays a6 the knight can go to a3 without fearing the pawn on a5 falling.} ({The most well-known way to play is} 12. Kh1 a6 13. Na3 f5 14. f4) 12... f5 (12... a6 13. Na3 b6 {This is what I tried in order to stop a5 by White, but it seems to help White after} 14. a5 $1 b5 15. c4 $16 {White is able to break open the queenside which is always his plan.}) 13. a5 a6 14. Na3 e4 15. Nc4 Ne5 16. Nb6 (16. Nxe5 {is also a possibility, but not that great.} dxe5 17. c4 (17. Ra4 $5 {stopping f4 and Qd5 looks good, but after Bd7, the rook surely looks misplaced on a4.}) 17... f4 18. f3 e3 19. Bc3 $13) 16... Rb8 17. f4 exf3 18. Bxf3 g5 $5 {Carlsen goes for it. The engine doesn't like this move, but it is quite natural for a human.} (18... Nxf3+ 19. Qxf3 $18 {Black is strategically lost, because his knight on e5 was much superior to the bishop on f3.}) (18... Bg5 {is another move to consider in this position.} 19. c4 $14) 19. c4 {Caruana was still blitzing his moves, which means he was clearly in his preparation.} (19. g3 $5 h5 (19... Nxf3+ 20. Qxf3 $16) 20. Bxh5 g4 21. b4 Nf3+ 22. Rxf3 gxf3 23. Qxf3 $18 {is just an instructive line of what Black must avoid.}) 19... f4 20. Bc3 (20. Be4 {seemed like quite a natural move.} Bf5 21. Qc2 Bxe4 22. Qxe4 Bf6 {The position seems pleasant for White, but Black has chances in the game. It's still a game.}) 20... Bf5 (20... g4 { Doesn't really work because of} 21. Bxe5 dxe5 (21... gxf3 22. Bc3 fxg2 23. Rf2 $16) 22. Bxg4 Bc5+ 23. Kh1 $16) 21. c5 $1 {The most critical position of the game and Caruana finds the best move. He thought for a long time here. Over 30 mins. Basically he was just trying to make the follow up work.} (21. Bxe5 dxe5 $15) (21. b4 Bf6 $14) (21. Re1 $5 g4 (21... Nd3 22. Re6 Bxe6 (22... Nc5 23. Qd4 Nxe6 24. Qh8+ Kf7 25. Bh5+ $18) 23. dxe6 $18) 22. Be4 $14 (22. Bxe5 gxf3 23. Bxf4 f2+ 24. Kxf2 $13)) 21... Nxf3+ 22. Qxf3 dxc5 23. Rad1 $1 (23. d6 {This is what Caruana spent a lot of time to make it work, unsuccessfully.} Qxd6 24. Rad1 Qc6 $15 {Black seems to be holding on.}) 23... Bd6 {Until now Caruana has played a perfect game of chess. It was now time to find the best continuation and put Carlsen under pressure which would most certainly end in a victory for American. But this is exactly where he faltered.} 24. h3 $2 (24. Nc4 $5 { This move is also a good one, because it doesn't let the queen move from d8.} g4 {This is what Caruana had not liked during the game, but White seems to be doing very well after} (24... Bg6 25. Rfe1) 25. Qf2 {The idea is to play Qd2, later get a rook to e1 and overall just pick up the weak black pawns.}) (24. Qh5 $1 Bg6 25. Qh6 Rf7 {This is what both players calculated and the line went further.} 26. Nc4 Bf8 27. Qh3 Qc8 {Here both players agreed that Black might be doing fine, but White has a clear advantage after} 28. Qf3 $1 g4 29. Qf2 $16 {The pawn coming to d6 is Black's biggest problem and in general his position looks overextended.}) 24... Qe8 $1 {When you give Magnus the chance, he is bound to take it. The main idea should have been for White to keep Black's queen tethered to d8. Once the queen moves from e8 to g6, it seems Black is doing great.} 25. Nc4 Qg6 26. Nxd6 Qxd6 27. h4 {Caruana's try for a small edge, but it is not enough for anything more than a draw.} gxh4 28. Qxf4 Qxf4 29. Rxf4 h5 30. Re1 Bg4 31. Rf6 Rxf6 32. Bxf6 Kf7 33. Bxh4 Re8 34. Rf1+ Kg8 35. Rf6 Re2 36. Rg6+ Kf8 37. d6 Rd2 38. Rg5 1/2-1/2 [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2018.07.30"] [Round "8"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2832"] [BlackElo "2835"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] {Game 8 of the Carlsen-Caruana match. Many questions are in the air. Are we going to see the same Sicilian Rossolimo or will we finally see 1.e4 e5? Will they break the drawing streak and someone draw first blood?} 1. e4 {Fabiano sticks to his openings as you can see from his games so far. With White he plays 1.e4 and with Black he does not change his lines. This is not really surprising as this flow is recommended in many top matches. Plus, Leinier Dominguez being one of his assistants and a fan of this same system himself, I think it's safe to assume we will see 1.e4 whenever Fabiano is White here in London.} c5 {I can't help wondering though why Magnus sticks to the Sicilian in these games. Against Sergey Karjakin two years ago he only played 1...e5 and had absolutely no problems. I suppose it's a matter of fashion and personal preference. Before this Championship match the Sicilian was never really the main opening of Magnus even less so the Sveshnikov.} 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 {Checking what Magnus had prepared against the Open Sicilian, I must say I am surprised that Fabiano avoided going for 3.Bb5. He must have run out of good ideas there.} cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 {Now we see the long-awaited Sicilian Sveshnikov! This opening became very popular during the late 90s and early 2000s thanks to the effort of Kasparov, Kramnik and Leko. These days it has a rock solid reputation and is often employed as a barricade to any White attempts at an advantage. It is obvious Fabiano expected this and accordingly prepared a special idea. The Sveshnikov holds good memories for me as back in the days of my youth it was my one and only opening against 1.e4. One of my first ever chess books was by Mikhail Krasenkow published in 1996! I also had books by Yuri Yakovich and Dorian Rogozenco on this specific opening. It is always a pleasure for me to annotate a game on an opening that has good vibes for me.} 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Nd5 Nxd5 8. exd5 Nb8 {This is the main retreat, the knight will be transferred to the kingside via d7 later on. Even though I have not checked the most updated theory here recently, it is known that this is the most solid option for Black.} ({Retreating to e7 is possible} 8... Ne7 { where Black's plan next consists of Nf5 followed by ...g6-Bg7.}) 9. a4 { This is the first surprise. 9.c4 is the main move here. I wonder if Magnus' team preparation anticipated this. It is not clear yet if this idea poses any serious threat to the Sveshnikov. I am sure over the board it can be difficult to face.} ({The normal continuation for most games here is} 9. c4 Be7 10. Be2 O-O 11. O-O a6 12. Nc3 f5 {where we have a typical position. White has a grip on the queenside while Black has more space on the other flank. The position should be close to equal. I had this position in some of my games many years ago. One of them went} 13. f3 Nd7 14. Rb1 Bg5 15. b4 b6 16. a3 $14 {when White seems slightly better but the game ended in a draw later on. ½-½ (58) Wan,Y (2471)-So,W (2577) Manila 2008}) 9... Be7 10. Be2 O-O 11. O-O Nd7 (11... f5 12. Bd2 f4) 12. Bd2 {Quiet, refined and dangerous moves like this one are very much Caruana! Remember 9.Bd2 in the Ruy Lopez against Aronian in the Candidates? (Though to be fair Grischuk played it first.) Anyway my point is, there is more to this move than meets the eye.} f5 {This looks like a most natural response.} (12... Nf6 {Seems like a good move that requires further research. After} 13. Be3 a6 14. Na3 Qa5 $5 {A funny instance that could work.} 15. c4 Qd8 $5 {The idea is to blockade the queenside dark-squares with a5 and b6.} 16. Nc2 (16. b4 a5) 16... a5 17. Na3 b6 {Black has accomplished his strategy and the position now looks very interesting to me.}) 13. a5 a6 (13... f4 $5 14. Bb4 Nf6 15. c4 a6 16. Nc3 Bf5 17. f3) 14. Na3 e4 {I think Magnus is playing all the most logical moves here. He fixes the problem of needing more space for his pieces by securing the e5 post for his knight.} (14... f4 { is one of the suggestions I saw on the live book.} 15. Nc4 Rf6 {The idea is to attack on the kingside with Rh6 while keeping the b6 square protected for the moment.}) (14... Nf6 15. Bb4 Bd7 16. Nc4 Bb5 17. Nb6 Bxe2 18. Qxe2 Rb8 19. f4 $14) 15. Nc4 Ne5 16. Nb6 {Keeping the queenside in check. This protected knight is very annoying on b6 and it controls many squares. Now White can always grab the bishop pair if need be.} (16. Nxe5 dxe5 17. Bc4 Bd6 18. Re1 Bd7 19. Bf1) 16... Rb8 17. f4 exf3 18. Bxf3 g5 $6 {The best word to describe my thoughts when I first saw this move is "shocking"! This looks at first sight like utter desperation. With a powerful knight on b6 tying down Black's queenside and significantly more space, it looks like White's opportunities have a substantially higher chance to succeed.} ({It seems to me that much stronger is} 18... Bf6 19. c3 Nd7 {to get rid of the annoying White knight. The f6 bishop can then be posted on e5.} 20. Be3 Be5) ({Or Black can also start with} 18... Nd7) 19. c4 {While watching this game live I thought Magnus was in deep danger here. His attack does not seem to be going anywhere. At the same time Black has to be careful not to weaken his king's position. And White's play on the queenside is definitely faster. We might finally see a decisive result today!} f4 20. Bc3 ({Trading the light-squared bishops with} 20. Be4 {is a serious option too.} Bf5 21. Bxf5 Rxf5 22. Bc3 {White has a stable advantage.}) 20... Bf5 (20... Bf6 {is met by the same c5} 21. c5 $1 { it is incredible how powerful this pawn sacrifice can be.} dxc5 22. d6 Nxf3+ 23. gxf3 Bxc3 24. bxc3 Be6 25. Re1 $18 {when White is just totally winning. The knight on b6 and the pawn on d6 totally bind up Black's forces.}) 21. c5 $1 {Fabiano is playing accurately and powerfully. White wastes no time in mobilizing his forces at the cost of a pawn.} Nxf3+ (21... Bf6 22. c6 $16) 22. Qxf3 dxc5 23. Rad1 {This seems like a most natual move. What can be more instinctive than putting a rook behind a passed pawn? But here White had two great opportunities that would almost certainly lead to a win.} (23. g4 $1 { is an enormously powerful move. It kicks away Black's bishop from its ideal square on f5. After} Bg6 (23... fxg3 24. Qxg3 {leads to a winning attack. After } Bd6 {White has Be5, with irresistible threats.}) 24. Rad1 Bd6 (24... Bf6 25. d6 $18 {Once the d-pawn reaches d6, it is over.}) 25. Rfe1 {White is cruising to the win. Black cannot defend against the rook infiltration on e6. Nc4 is another huge threat.} c4 26. Re6 Qc7 27. Qh3 $18) (23. Rae1 Bf6 (23... Bd6 24. Nc4) 24. h4 {also looks absolutely dominating. After} h6 25. hxg5 hxg5 { We have the now familiar motif} 26. g4 {which just crushes Black's defences. Of course although in both cases the lines are totally winning for White, lets be fair. It's easy to see it with a coffee in one hand, a sandwich in the other, and an incredibly powerful computer analyzing lines right in front of you. Poor Carlsen and Caruana have to do all the calculating in their heads over a board.}) 23... Bd6 24. h3 $2 {I suppose Fabiano panicked a little in the face of the threat of g4. White can opt for more active possibilities at his disposal.} (24. Qh5 {looks like a natural move to me. If White is afraid of the g4 push then he can play this.} Qe8 (24... Bg6 {is met by} 25. Qh3 {Now} Bf5 {can be replied to by the typical} 26. g4 $1 {gaining time and dislodging the Black bishop.} Bg6 27. Rfe1 f3 28. Re6 {and now Rxg6 is a threat. It seems that once a White rook gets to e6 Black's defences fall apart.}) 25. Qxg5+ Qg6 26. Qxg6+ hxg6 27. Nc4 {White still maintains a clear advantage in the ending.} ) (24. Nc4 {could be stronger still. Albeit the lines look a bit more like computer variations. It is probably too hard for a human to find them over the board.} g4 25. Qf2 f3 (25... g3 26. Qd2 Qh4 27. h3 $18) 26. Rfe1 fxg2 27. Qxg2 {Black's king turns out to be much more vulnerable than White's.}) 24... Qe8 $1 {Black more or less equalizes now and does not give White any second chance after his mistake.} 25. Nc4 Qg6 {Black manages to mobilize his forces very comfortably. Now he is ready to fight for control in the center and he is a pawn up. So Fabiano decides its time to trade pieces.} 26. Nxd6 (26. Rfe1 Rbe8) 26... Qxd6 27. h4 (27. Qh5 Qg6 28. Qxg6+ hxg6 {does not lead anywhere for White.} 29. d6 {could just be met by} Rbd8) 27... gxh4 28. Qxf4 Qxf4 29. Rxf4 h5 {The last accurate move. It secures the g4 square.} 30. Re1 (30. d6 Bg4 31. Rxf8+ Rxf8 32. Rd5 Rf5 $11) 30... Bg4 31. Rf6 Rxf6 32. Bxf6 Kf7 33. Bxh4 Re8 34. Rf1+ Kg8 35. Rf6 (35. d6 Re2 $11) 35... Re2 36. Rg6+ Kf8 37. d6 Rd2 38. Rg5 1/2-1/2 [Event "2018 World Chess Championship"] [Site "London"] [Date "2018.11.09"] [Round "9"] [White "Magnus Carlsen"] [Black "Fabiano Caruana"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A29"] [Annotator "samsh"] [PlyCount "112"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2018.11.21"] {Game nine was likely a very frustrating one for Magnus. He came up completely dry out of the opening in all four of his first four white games, and then when he finally got a really nice position from what looked like a throwaway practical try, one careless moment immediately squandered all of his winning chances.} 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 Bc5 7. O-O O-O 8. d3 Re8 {Thus far, the game has followed the path of game 4.} 9. Bg5 $5 {A new idea. As far as I can see in my database, it has only been essayed once before, and by two low-rated players.} (9. Bd2 {Was Magnus' choice in the aformentioned game. He might have had a little chance to get b5 in, but in the game, Caruana held very easily. Clearly he was dissatisfied with his choice then and wanted something fresher.}) 9... Nxc3 10. bxc3 f6 {Caruana was still playing quickly here, implying he was in preparation. But soon enough, Magnus' idea was revealed.} 11. Bc1 $1 {Absolutely the most challenging move. White has a very simple plan of playing Bb2 followed by d4 to take a large share of the center. Black is definitely fine but will have to make hard strategic decisions over the board -- exactly the kind of thing Magnus must have been hoping for. Soon enough, Caruana faltered.} Be6 12. Bb2 Bb6 {I feel wrong criticizing this move as it is approved by the machine, but on a human level, I dislike it. d4 is clearly coming and cannot be prevented, and the bishop will be passive on b6.} (12... Bf8 {My instinct would be to tuck the bishop back on f8, a typical maneuver once 0-0 and Re8 has been played. I certainly don't think Black is worse.}) 13. d4 Bd5 (13... Na5 {Might be worth considering. Any Grunfeld player knows to abuse the c4 square in these structures. Still, it's of course easy to sacrifice other people's pawns and one cannot really fault Caruana for not wanting to allow dxe5 against a clearly prepared opponent.}) 14. Qc2 {White is not so subtly advertising that he wants to take the whole center with e2-e4. Black is definitely in some strategic danger as if White can achieve this goal, he should have a huge position.} exd4 $5 {True to his style, Caruana goes with the most forcing continuation. But Carlsen was ready.} (14... e4 {Was also possible. The position is very unclear after} 15. Nh4 Na5 16. Nf5) 15. cxd4 Be4 $6 {Again, I feel a little odd criticizing a move the computer takes no issue with. But practically, it does put Black in a tough spot in short order.} (15... Qd6 { A quiet move like this one would not be too great. After} 16. e3 $1 {It's hard to imagine how Black will get his b6-bishop back into the game. White can plan Rfc1, Ne1-d3, and he looks pleasantly better to me.}) (15... Nb4 $1 {I think Black's best option was to try to force through c7-c5 at all costs. I really dislike passive pieces and buried bishops.} 16. Qa4 c5 $1 17. dxc5 Bxc5 18. a3 (18. Rad1 Bc6 $1 $11 {Should equalize easily}) 18... Bc6 $1 {An important move. } 19. Qb3+ Qd5 $1 20. Qxd5+ Nxd5 21. e3 {White has the somewhat more pleasant position, and this variation would be hard for a human to find. But Black has no bad pieces, which I think he should have placed a higher priority on.}) 16. Qb3+ $1 {Before coming back to d1, Magnus provokes the bishop to d5 to deprive the queen of this square.} (16. Qd1 Qd5 $1 {Gives Black a lot of counterplay with good pressure on the light squares}) 16... Bd5 (16... Qd5 {Trading queens would also fail to reach the desired goal} 17. Qxd5+ Bxd5 18. e3 {Black has no good way to solve the problem of the b6 bishop. He looks quite a bit worse to me. Rfc1 and Ne1 or Nd2 should leave White with a great position.}) 17. Qd1 $1 {No early repetitions today. Black's position is far from critical, but one can see why Caruana felt the need to lash out immediately. If White is given the time to play e3 and bolster the d4 pawn, his play flows very naturally and Black doesn't have much counterplay.} Bxf3 $5 {The machines hate this move, but from a human point of view, I think I might actually be a decent decision. The alternatives look quite unpleasant and this leads to position I do believe to be defensible.} (17... Qd6 {Trusty Stockfish suggests this is a decent try, among other do-nothing moves like Qe7 or Qd7 [Caruana mentioned 17...Qe7 and also the more active 17...Na5 as alternatives]. But simple development may not solve all of Black's problems. For instance, after} 18. e3 Rad8 19. Bc3 { Black has a very difficult position. His rooks on the open central files look nice, but lack targets. White can easily develop with Qc2, Rfc1, Nd2, etc and he can play against the b6 bishop and the potentially weak queenside pawns. The machine says that White's edge is much smaller than the opposite colored bishops position Caruana chose instead, but I am not at all sure that I agree.} ) 18. Qb3+ Kh8 19. Bxf3 Nxd4 (19... Bxd4 $2 20. Rad1 {White wins immediately}) 20. Bxd4 Qxd4 (20... Bxd4 21. Rad1 {Again, the pin is decisive- Black cannot stop e2-e3.}) 21. e3 Qe5 22. Bxb7 Rad8 {White has a very pleasant position. His four-versus-three pawn majority on the kingside means his king will be much safer. This is very important in opposite colored bishop positions, and Magnus correctly assessed that his plan should be to open the black king. Conversely, Black's extra c-pawn on the queenside is of no consequence, also due to the opposite colored bishops. Coupled with the b6-bishop biting on granite and White's bishop having excellent light squares to work with, it seems like White would have good chances to play a long, grinding game and try to apply pressure for long enough for Black to crack. This is exactly the kind of chess Magnus excels at, and Caruana had a lot less time. I'm sure Magnus will not be pleased with himself for letting an opportunity like this slip, though it has to be said that the position is not technically won or anything like that.} 23. Rad1 Qe7 24. h4 {Of course. White plans to set his kingside majority in motion and try to open up the black monarch, relying on opposite colored bishops to increase his attacking chances. [Note that Carlsen criticized this move, instead preferring Bf3 and maybe Kg2.]} g6 25. h5 $2 { A bad move, probably based on a miscalculation. [Carlsen said if he didn't play h5 himself, he thought that Black's ...h5 and ...f5 and then "I don't really see how to make progress. It's just too solid.") White surely wanted to get h5 in, but he could not rush as now when Black takes, he is ready for h5-h4 very fast, opening up White's king as well. I think Magnus probably played h5 right away without bothering to prepare it because he was worried that Black would beat him to the punch and play h7-h5 himself, but in this case, the cure was worse than the disease.} (25. Kg2 {A slow buildup move like this one would ensure Black would be suffering for a long time. My guess is Magnus disliked that after} h5 $1 {He no longer has an easy plan to open the kingside, and Black can play f6-f5, then sit with Qf6 and Kg7. The position looks remarkably solid.} 26. Bc6 Rf8 27. Qc2 f5 28. Bf3 Qf6 29. a4 Kg7 { I think something like this was the best either side could hope for. Black's position is surely unpleasant and it's right up Magnus's alley to grind out edges like this, but at the same time he is extremely solid and it's hard to see a great plan for White. Note that the presence of the pawns on h4 and h5 (as opposed to if they were absent via an early h4-h5-hxg6, as Magnus cleary desired) means that White does not have the g3-g4 break at his disposal to open the up the black king. Still, I could see White eventually preparing f2-f4 and then e3-e4. It surely would take a long time to pull off, but Black is just sitting and waiting. Maybe it could be done? We will never know.}) 25... gxh5 $1 {A very important resource. Caruana would have really struggled without this move.[Caruana called it a easy choice: "It wasn't such a difficult decision because…White's king becomes vulnerable as well."]   Black butchers his own structure and will likely lose if the h5 pawn were to fall. But concrete calculation shows that h5-h4 will happen, helped in large part by the f6-f5 advance,} (25... Kg7 {If Black were to sit and hang tight, he would face a lot of issues. Following} 26. Bf3 $1 {Black has lost his chance to play gxh5, and he can't even get f5 in due to the presence of h5-h6 at some inopportune moment. In addition, even if he eventually gets f5 in, White can play g3-g4 at the right time to open the king further. Black faces a long and very possibly unsuccessful defense, and is really regretting not being able to play h7-h5. A line like this illustrates why Magnus played h4-h5 himself so quickly so as to avoid h7-h5 by Black, unfortunately, he was one tempo too slow to make it work.} f5) 26. Qc4 {Carlsen played this quickly, suggesting it was his plan in case Black were to take on h5. White prevents h5-h4 and is ready to scoop the pawn up next, but one more accurate move leaves Black in fine shape.} (26. Kg2 $2 {Is a tempo too slow. If Black were to waste a move and allow Rf1-h1, he would be in awful shape. As is, he is immediately fine after} h4 $1 (26... Kg7 $2 27. Rh1 {Is an illustration of my point. White should win. But a tempo can mean a lot...})) 26... f5 $1 {This looks scary at first glance, but the black king is still totally safe. The queen can easily come to g7 or f6 as needed and there will be no way to harass him on h8, and in the meantime, h5-h4 now cannot be stopped. As soon as the g3 pawn comes to h4, White will no longer have any winning chances as his own king will be open, and Black will have the plan of ...f5-f4 to blast open the b6 bishop, who has been very passive throughout the entire game.} 27. Bf3 h4 $1 {A strong and important move, but also a very easy one. Black is fine.} (27... Kg7 $2 {Again, if Black were to fall asleep at the wheel for one move, he would be easily losing when White grabs the h5-pawn.} 28. Bxh5) 28. Rxd8 Rxd8 29. gxh4 Rg8+ 30. Kh1 Qf6 31. Qf4 Bc5 $1 {The dumb bishop will find a nicer square on d6.} 32. Rg1 Rxg1+ 33. Kxg1 Bd6 34. Qa4 f4 {Everything liquidates in short order.} 35. Qxa7 fxe3 36. Qxe3 Qxh4 37. a4 Qf6 38. Bd1 Qe5 39. Qxe5+ Bxe5 {White can claim the moral advantage due to his a-pawn, but with opposite bishops and even material, the position is still a very easy draw for Black.} 40. a5 Kg7 41. a6 Bd4 42. Kg2 Kf6 43. f4 Bb6 44. Kf3 h6 45. Ke4 Ba7 46. Bg4 Bg1 47. Kd5 Bb6 48. Kc6 {Black has to be somewhat careful here, but it's not particularly difficult. He just cannot let the c7 pawn fall, or for White to get Kb7 and a7 in with tempo lost. [Carlsen said he had been hoping to induce . ..h5 to at least have a target.]} Be3 {Simple enough. c7 cannot be taken.} ( 48... Bf2 $2 {For instance, this would lose. After} 49. Kxc7 {White will go Kb7 next, play a7, win the bishop, and bring the king back. Of course, Caruana would fall for something this basic sometime after hell freezes over.}) 49. Kb7 (49. Kxc7 Bxf4+ $1 {Check! No time for a7.}) 49... Bb6 50. Bh3 (50. a7 Bxa7 51. Kxa7 {Black only draws by one tempo here, but it is a very comfortable draw. White's problem is his bishop needs to perform three tasks: stop the h-pawn, stop the c-pawn, and control f5. It can pull off only two of these three, but not all. 3.} c5 $1 (51... Kg6 $2 {If Black were to waste a tempo he would lose, as now White's king can stop the c-pawn and the bishop takes care of the f and h-pawns.} 52. Ka6 c5 53. Kb5) 52. Kb6 c4 53. Kc5 c3 {Sooner or later the bishop had to leave.} 54. Bd1 Kf5) 50... Be3 51. Kc6 Bb6 52. Kd5 Ba7 53. Ke4 Bb6 54. Bf1 Ke6 55. Bc4+ Kf6 56. Bd3 Ke6 1/2-1/2 [Event "London"] [Site "London"] [Date "2018.11.21"] [Round "9"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2835"] [BlackElo "2832"] [Annotator "RC"] [PlyCount "112"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] {While the Women’s World Championship Cycle is going to imitate the overall World Championship, it might also hold the other way around. After eight rounds, there remained four games and an eventual tie-break to be played to determine the winner. The finale of the Women’s World Championship looks quite similar in this respect, doesn’t it? The match has been quite tense, both players have been fighting hard and it is therefore surprising that all the games finished in draws. This shows high class of both players as well as their superb defensive abilities. Moreover, the permanent progress of the opening theory makes it increasingly difficult to achieve an advantage with White against a well-prepared opponent. We all have probably hoped to see more decisive games, but it is really very hard to beat a 2800-rated player.} 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 Bc5 {This is currently the most fashionable continuation. It had been played by club players many times before GM Grischuk introduced it to a top level.} 7. O-O ({White could win a pawn by means of} 7. Nxe5 Nxc3 8. Bxc6+ (8. bxc3 Nxe5 9. d4 Bd6 $11) 8... bxc6 9. bxc3 {, but Black would get an ample compensation after} (9. dxc3 Qxd1+ 10. Kxd1 Bxf2 11. Rf1 Bc5 12. Rxf7 Bd6 13. Rf3 Bxe5 14. Re3 O-O $1 15. Rxe5 Rf1+ {should be fine for Black as well according to GM Marin and IM Stoica (NIC Yearbook 125).}) 9... Qd5 10. Nf3 Bh3 {owing to his better development.}) 7... O-O 8. d3 ({A funny-looking continuation} 8. Nxd5 Qxd5 9. Ng5 Qd8 10. Nxh7 Re8 11. Ng5 Qxg5 12. d4 Qh5 13. dxc5 Rd8 14. Bd2 Nd4 {gives Black a decent counterplay according to GM Marin and IM Stoica.}) (8. Nxe5 Nxc3 9. Nxc6 $2 { is not to be recommended in view of} Nxd1 10. Nxd8 Bxf2+ $1 11. Kh1 Bg4 $1 {.}) 8... Re8 {This variation has already been played in the 4th round.} ({A bishop retreat} 8... Bb6 {is equally playable, but it enables White to play b2-b4 in certain lines.}) 9. Bg5 $5 {This motif has been known from the Sicilian Dragon (with reversed colours).} Nxc3 ({It it also possible to play} 9... Nde7 { , but retreating the centralized knight contradicts the spirit of this variation (if there is any).}) ({Black would like to play} 9... f6 $6 {, but it allows} 10. Qb3 Be6 11. Qxb7 {, when White seems to be better, e.g.} Ndb4 $6 12. Qb5 $1 {and the queen escapes.}) 10. bxc3 f6 11. Bc1 {If any piece belongs to d2, it is the knight. Black players have been doing very well in this match. Magnus therefore sort of "switched colours" by losing time with his bishop. Well, he has slightly improved his pawn structure in return. Black can no longer claim the d4-square.} Be6 {Pushing e5-e4 with an undeveloped queenside would be clearly inferior to this healthy developing move.} 12. Bb2 Bb6 ({ Here my computer likes} 12... e4 $5 {for some reason.} 13. Nd4 (13. dxe4 Qxd1 14. Rfxd1 Bc4 15. e3 Rad8 {gives Black a good compensation owing to White's queenside weaknesses.}) 13... Nxd4 14. cxd4 Bxd4 15. Bxd4 Qxd4 16. Bxe4 c6 ({ or even} 16... Bd5 17. e3 Qe5 {should not be too dangerous for Black.})) ({ I expected} 12... Qe7 {, when} 13. d4 {allows Black to play} Rad8 {.}) 13. d4 Bd5 {Black neutralizes White's kingside bishop.} 14. Qc2 exd4 15. cxd4 Be4 16. Qb3+ Bd5 ({The endgame arising after} 16... Qd5 17. Qxd5+ Bxd5 18. e3 {is somewhat more pleasant for White. Not much, but it is hard to achieve more, nowadays.}) 17. Qd1 {Magnus played quickly up to this moment. I like his opening choice. This seemingly unambitious variation with few long forced lines gives him decent chances to outplay his opponent in the subsequent course of the game. The b6-bishop might remain out of play after e2-e3, Nf3-d2. True, Fabiano Caruana is quite hard to be outplayed.} (17. Qc2 Be4 {would not be very inspiring.}) 17... Bxf3 $6 {Watching the game, I also considered this move. It is a logical and straightforward one. While it is certainly not bad, it leads to a position where White can play for the win without any risk.} ({ I like} 17... Qd7 {. Black can complete his development and play Na5, c5 later on.}) (17... Na5 $5 {was another option.}) 18. Qb3+ {This limits Black's options.} (18. Bxf3 Nxd4 19. Bxd4 Qxd4 20. Qb3+ Kh8 {is a mere transposition} ( {, while} 20... Kf8 $5 {was not possible in the game.})) 18... Kh8 19. Bxf3 Nxd4 20. Bxd4 Qxd4 21. e3 $1 Qe5 {Black would like to exchange the queens, but it is not that simple.} (21... Qd6 22. Bxb7 Rab8 {is also slightly better for White after} 23. Rad1 Qf8 24. Bc6 {, as} Bxe3 $2 {loses an exchange after almost any queen retreat.}) 22. Bxb7 Rad8 23. Rad1 $14 {White has achieved a small but stable advantage. His king is safer and his bishop is more active than its counterpart. He should keep the queens on the board to maintain attacking chances. Magnus Carlsen has already won many equal-looking positions with rooks and opposite-coloured bishops on the board. On the other hand, Black's position is quite solid and the drawing margin is quite broad unless White launches a mating attack. Black can sometimes sacrifice a pawn to exchange the major pieces and achieve a drawish bishop endgame.} Qe7 24. h4 $1 {White needs to weaken his opponent's king.} g6 25. h5 $6 (25. Bc6 {looks better in hindsight, but Black's defensive resources should be sufficient anyway. Still, some accuracy is needed, as} Rxd1 $6 26. Rxd1 Rd8 27. Rxd8+ Qxd8 28. Qf7 {would be fairly unpleasant for Black.}) 25... gxh5 $1 {A brave decision. Instead of defending an inferior position after 25...Kg7, Black launches counterplay. GM Mihail Marin has recently written an article on such an unexpected recapture for a German magazine "Schach".} ({White would keep his trumps after} 25... Kg7 26. Bf3 $14 {.}) 26. Qc4 f5 $1 {Another good move. Black prepares h5-h4, after which both kings would be equally weak. Black has equalized, but the fight continues.} 27. Bf3 h4 28. Rxd8 Rxd8 29. gxh4 Rg8+ 30. Kh1 Qf6 31. Qf4 Bc5 $1 {The bishop joins the play.} 32. Rg1 Rxg1+ ({It was safer to play} 32... Bd6 33. Rxg8+ Kxg8 {, as the h4-pawn would then be hanging with check in many lines. Still, Black's continuation does not spoil anything.}) 33. Kxg1 Bd6 34. Qa4 {Fabiano Caruana was a bit short of time, but he kept everything under control.} f4 $1 35. Qxa7 fxe3 36. Qxe3 Qxh4 {All Black needs to do is to exchange the queens without losing the pawns.} 37. a4 Qf6 38. Bd1 Qe5 {The bishop endgame is drawn.} 39. Qxe5+ Bxe5 40. a5 Kg7 41. a6 Bd4 42. Kg2 Kf6 43. f4 Bb6 44. Kf3 h6 {Black does not advance his pawns to far to be able to protect them. Watching this endgame, I recalled an important game Aronian - Bacrot from the World Cup 2005 semifinal, where Black gave up in a similar position without his c-pawn and with White's bishop on h3 and pawn on f5. It looks like a dream scenario for White, but the final position of that game was still drawn! Needless to say, White cannot achieve it now.} 45. Ke4 Ba7 46. Bg4 {From here White's bishop blocks the h-pawn and protects the f4-pawn. White can win a bishop for the a-pawn, but then Black's c-pawn could run forward to save a draw (at least).} Bg1 47. Kd5 Bb6 48. Kc6 Be3 { The c7-pawn can also be protected indirectly. There is nothing to be done.} 49. Kb7 Bb6 50. Bh3 Be3 51. Kc6 Bb6 52. Kd5 Ba7 53. Ke4 Bb6 54. Bf1 Ke6 55. Bc4+ Kf6 56. Bd3 Ke6 1/2-1/2 [Event "World Championship 2018, Game 9"] [Site "?"] [Date "2018.11.21"] [Round "9"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A29"] [WhiteElo "2835"] [BlackElo "2832"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "112"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2018.11.22"] 1. c4 {Magnus sticks to the English.} e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 Bc5 $5 {There was absolutely nothing that Magnus had shown in the previous game with the white pieces and hence here it made no sense for Caruana to deviate.} 7. O-O (7. Nxe5 Nxc3 8. Bxc6+ (8. Nxc6 Qf6 $19) 8... bxc6 9. bxc3 (9. dxc3 Qxd1+ 10. Kxd1 Bxf2 $13) 9... Qd5 10. Nf3 Bh3 11. Qb3 Bg2 12. Qxd5 cxd5 13. Rg1 Bxf3 14. exf3 d4 {is a nice forcing line shown by Sethuraman, where according to him Black equalizes without any issues.}) 7... O-O 8. d3 Re8 9. Bg5 {Carlsen's innovation after he got nothing in game 4 of the match.} (9. Bd2 Nxc3 10. Bxc3 Nd4 11. b4 Bd6 12. Rb1 Nxf3+ 13. Bxf3 a6 14. a4 c6 15. Re1 Bd7 16. e3 Qf6 17. Be4 Bf5 18. Qf3 Bxe4 19. Qxf6 gxf6 20. dxe4 b5 21. Red1 Bf8 22. axb5 axb5 23. Kg2 Red8 24. Rdc1 Kg7 25. Be1 Rdc8 26. Rc2 Ra4 27. Kf3 h5 28. Ke2 Kg6 29. h3 f5 30. exf5+ Kxf5 31. f3 Be7 32. e4+ Ke6 33. Bd2 Bd6 34. Rbc1 { 1/2-1/2 (34) Carlsen,M (2835)-Caruana,F (2832) London ENG 2018}) 9... Nxc3 ( 9... f6 10. Qb3 Be6 11. Qxb7 $16) 10. bxc3 f6 11. Bc1 $5 {If you think about this Black has two extra tempi. He has placed his rook to e8 and also the pawn to f6. But Carlsen hopes that he can make use of his central pawns, pressure down the g2-a8 diagonal and also the rook coming down the open b-file.} Be6 12. Bb2 Bb6 13. d4 {Now comes the critical moment of the game. If White can get in e4, he should have some sort of an edge and hence, Fabi tries to stop it immediately.} Bd5 14. Qc2 exd4 15. cxd4 Be4 16. Qb3+ Bd5 17. Qd1 Bxf3 $2 { A bad move by Fabiano. He was just too keen to simplify things and somehow landed in a very bad position.} 18. Qb3+ Kh8 19. Bxf3 Nxd4 {This is all forced. Takin on d4 with the bishop would mean a fatal pin with Rook coming to d1.} 20. Bxd4 Qxd4 21. e3 $1 {This pawn is going to make the bishop on b6 impotent.} Qe5 22. Bxb7 Rad8 23. Rad1 {Now let's observe the position carefully. I was initially of the opinion that this is slightly better for White but should not be anything substantial. I was analyzing this game with GM Sethuraman and together when we began to analyze (I asking him questions, and he replying) I began to understand that White has really great chances. Now what made me change my opinion? Well, first of all the bishop on b6 is really bad. The pawn on e3 just kills the bishop on b6. On the other hand White's bishop on b7 is excellent. White has the opportunity to put pressure in the position with moves like h4 and a4. Black on the other hand has no real active plans. I think all of this put together feels like White has a great edge.} Qe7 24. h4 $1 {I like how Carlsen begins.} g6 $1 {A committal, but at the same time a good move by Fabi. What he is trying to do is get his king to g7.} 25. h5 $6 { A little too hurried in my opinion.} (25. Kg2 {This is what Magnus excels in - calm, patient play. And for example.} Kg7 26. h5 $1 Rxd1 (26... gxh5 27. Rh1 Rxd1 28. Qxd1 $18) 27. Rxd1 Rd8 28. Rxd8 (28. Rh1 $5 {can also be interesting.} ) 28... Qxd8 29. Qa4 {somehow the bishop and the queen and h-pawn can weave enough threats for Black to be under good amount of pressure.}) 25... gxh5 26. Qc4 {Trying to stop h4. But I think Magnus just missed that Fabi could play f5 and then there is no way to stop h4.} f5 $1 27. Bf3 h4 28. Rxd8 Rxd8 29. gxh4 Rg8+ {Once the structure is broken, the game is just even. And Fabiano managed to gain the half point easily.} 30. Kh1 Qf6 31. Qf4 Bc5 32. Rg1 Rxg1+ 33. Kxg1 Bd6 34. Qa4 f4 35. Qxa7 fxe3 36. Qxe3 Qxh4 37. a4 Qf6 38. Bd1 Qe5 39. Qxe5+ Bxe5 40. a5 Kg7 41. a6 Bd4 42. Kg2 Kf6 43. f4 Bb6 44. Kf3 h6 45. Ke4 Ba7 46. Bg4 Bg1 47. Kd5 Bb6 48. Kc6 Be3 49. Kb7 Bb6 50. Bh3 Be3 51. Kc6 Bb6 52. Kd5 Ba7 53. Ke4 Bb6 54. Bf1 Ke6 55. Bc4+ Kf6 56. Bd3 Ke6 {A big opportunity missed by Magnus. This was the first time that he had got something with the white pieces in the match and he failed to put pressure on Fabi.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "London ENG"] [Site "London ENG"] [Date "2018.11.22"] [Round "10"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B33"] [WhiteElo "2832"] [BlackElo "2835"] [Annotator "Crowther,Mark"] [PlyCount "107"] [EventDate "2018.11.09"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Nd5 Nxd5 8. exd5 Nb8 9. a4 Be7 10. Be2 O-O 11. O-O Nd7 12. b4 $146 {The first new move. The near perfect way Carlsen handled it leave open the possibility he also knew quite a bit about it in advance.} ({Relevant:} 12. a5 a6 13. Nc3 Bg5 14. Ne4 Bxc1 15. Qxc1 Nc5 16. Nxc5 dxc5 17. Rd1 Qd6 18. Ra3 Rb8 19. Qe3 Bf5 20. c4 b6 21. Rd2 b5 22. h4 b4 23. Ra1 Rbd8 24. Re1 Bd7 25. Bd3 Rde8 26. Qg3 Re7 27. Rde2 Rfe8 28. Qg5 f6 29. Qg3 f5 30. f3 Qf6 31. Qg5 h6 32. Qxf6 gxf6 33. Kf2 Rg7 34. f4 e4 35. Re3 Kf7 36. Be2 Reg8 37. g3 Ke7 {1/2-1/2 (37) Jobava,B (2687) -Salgado Lopez,I (2627) Tbilisi 2017}) 12... a6 13. Na3 a5 14. bxa5 Rxa5 15. Nc4 Ra8 16. Be3 f5 17. a5 f4 {Played quite fast and is commital but also the best move in the position.} 18. Bb6 Qe8 19. Ra3 Qg6 20. Bc7 {This may not be the right move but the position has become very sharp.} e4 (20... b5 $5) 21. Kh1 b5 22. Nb6 Nxb6 23. Bxb6 Qg5 $2 (23... b4) 24. g3 $6 (24. Bxb5 Rf6 25. Re1 Rg6 26. Bf1 {is the key defensive idea.}) 24... b4 25. Rb3 Bh3 (25... f3 { straight away is the alternative.} 26. Bb5 Qg4) 26. Rg1 f3 27. Bf1 Bxf1 28. Qxf1 Qxd5 29. Rxb4 Qe6 30. Rb5 Bd8 $6 {Carlsen was in a little time trouble here. This isn't a bad move but it's an indication of a mind set.} (30... Rfc8) 31. Qe1 {Preventing the potential e3 threat.} Bxb6 32. axb6 Rab8 33. Qe3 Qc4 34. Rb2 Rb7 35. Rd1 Qe2 36. Re1 Qxe3 37. Rxe3 d5 38. h4 Rc8 39. Ra3 Kf7 40. Kh2 (40. Ra7 Rcb8 41. c4 $11) 40... Ke6 41. g4 $1 $11 {Caruana could easily have got into trouble here but this single move solves everything.} Rc6 42. Ra6 $1 { The final precise move that guarantees Caruana's safety from defeat.} Ke5 43. Kg3 h6 44. h5 Kd4 $6 {A dubious idea that really can only get black into trouble. It was time to accept that the game is going to be drawn.} (44... g6 $11) (44... g5) 45. Rb5 $1 {Now black will lost a pawn. Carlsen pulls himself together and realises that this pawn down endgame can be a drawn one.} Rd6 46. Ra4+ Ke5 47. Rab4 Ke6 48. c4 dxc4 49. Rxc4 Rdxb6 50. Rxe4+ Kf7 51. Rf5+ $6 { a very odd choice that throws away the chance to torture Carlsen for a while and make him prove a draw.} (51. Rf4+ Ke6 {and both rooks are still on and the king has been separated from the pawns. This might not be all that much fun to defend.}) 51... Rf6 52. Rxf6+ Kxf6 53. Kxf3 Kf7 54. Kg3 {Caruana doesn't even try. This is an easy draw at this level.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "2018 World Championship"] [Site "London"] [Date "2018.11.22"] [Round "10"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B33"] [WhiteElo "2832"] [BlackElo "2835"] [PlyCount "107"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Nd5 { I didn't really expect a repeat of this line, even though Fabiano had achieved a great deal with it, simply because I thought it was mostly chosen because of the surprise value.} Nxd5 8. exd5 Nb8 9. a4 Be7 10. Be2 O-O 11. O-O Nd7 12. b4 {We have an early deviation from Fabiano. It is very direct but at the same time it seems a bit strange to me to allow so happily the direct counter with a5.} (12. Bd2 {was seen in game 8. But no doubt Magnus was this time not only prepared for that move but also remembered the nuances!}) 12... a6 (12... a5 { is also fairly natural because the Nb5 could end up being misplaced in the long run but I'm guessing Magnus didn't like too much the possible pressure on the d6 pawn after say} 13. bxa5 Rxa5 14. Ba3) 13. Na3 a5 14. bxa5 ({I had wrongly assumed that} 14. c3 {was White's idea but it does look a bit slow. Black can just answer with} f5 {as} 15. Nc4 b6 {and Black's queenside is very safe.}) 14... Rxa5 15. Nc4 Ra8 16. Be3 f5 17. a5 {Fabiano goes for the b6 square, and that idea was undoubtedly part of his preparation.} f4 18. Bb6 Qe8 {Magnus played the most natural moves and now surprisingly Fabiano thought for a while, although probably not because he was out of preparation but more likely to try and see the position with a fresh eye with so many options available to him. Although from my point of view, it seems like White can run into so much trouble with his king that entering this line without having a very clear idea of what happens next seems very dangerous.} 19. Ra3 {This relocating of the rook via the 3rd rank is extremely natural but at the same time I realized I didn't see the upside of going into this sort position as it seemed to be neither safe nor objectively better or easier to play.} (19. Bc7 { would have been the direct approach. But Black can answer with} Rf6 20. Re1 Rh6 ) (19. Re1 {was possibly a more subtle waiting move. If Black goes like in the game} Qg6 (19... Rf6 {would still be my preferred choice}) 20. Bc7 {he doesn't have the same resource as in the game! Still his position is reasonable after a move like} Nc5 21. Bh5 Qf6 22. Nb6 Ra6 23. Nxc8 Rxc8 24. Bb6 {but there at least White got rid of the light-squared bishop. I would even consider something like} Bd8 25. Be2 Bxb6 $5 26. Bxa6 Bxa5 27. Rxa5 bxa6 {with Black and hope to have enough compensation for the exchange thanks to the Nc5.}) 19... Qg6 20. Bc7 {White has to play this one day or another as he needs to restrain the Nd7. Now Nc5 would be answered by Nb6.} (20. Re1 Nf6 21. Bc7 e4 $1 22. Nb6 Ra7 {looks extremely dangerous for White.}) 20... e4 (20... b5 $1 { was possible immediately. I didn't initially see it while I was casually watching the game but once you realize the option exists there's basically no other move that you'll consider!}) 21. Kh1 b5 $1 {And Magnus goes for it. Not that there was anything wrong with any other attacking move on the kingside but this move seems the most challenging. Carlsen: "I thought for so long and I wasn't sure about it but I thought I just go for it and up the stakes even more. Either you win the game, or you get mated."} ({Caruana did consider this, but was expecting} 21... Kh8 {saying "I thought it actually asked White what the next move is. Many of my useful moves have problems."} 22. f3 (22. Re1 Nf6 {and then f2 hangs in some lines. (Caruana)}) 22... e3 23. g3) 22. Nb6 (22. axb6 {doesn't seem to work.} Rxa3 23. Nxa3 f3 $1 (23... Nc5 {was my first thought when looking at the position but playing slowly might be too much. White is definitely not resourceless after a move like.} 24. Nb5 $1) 24. gxf3 Ne5 $1 {and the computer seems really happy about this position, which might not come as a surprise. White's best defence is} 25. Rg1 Qh6 $1 26. Nc4 (26. Qc1 Qh4) 26... exf3 27. Nxe5 (27. Bf1 Nxc4 28. Bxc4 Rf4 29. Qc1 $2 (29. b7 $1 { only move but after} Bxb7 30. Qc1 Qf6 {Black is obviously much better.}) 29... Bg5 $1 {threatening both the trivial Rh4 and Qxh2+ after} 30. b7 Qxh2+ $3 31. Kxh2 Rh4+ 32. Kg3 Rh3#) 27... fxe2 28. Qxe2 dxe5 29. Bxe5 g6 $1 {And while White retains practical chances the pair of bishops manages to contain the passed pawns on the queenside.}) 22... Nxb6 23. Bxb6 Qg5 $5 {A very interesting practical decision by Magnus. Basically every sensible move was possible in this position so it doesn't make sense to try and analyse them in depth but this approach of going straight at White's king is not only the most direct but also the most frightening in practice.} 24. g3 {I have to admit this move didn't cross my mind at all. My guess on why Fabiano went for this is that the advantage of this approach is that now Black cannot really choose how to proceed on the kingside and has only one setup available. So if he decided he could hold everything together he decided to go for it.} (24. Bxb5 { Of course the computer would play that. I can only assume Magnus intended} Rf6 25. Re1 ({At the press conference Carlsen suggested} 25. f3 e3 26. g3 Rh6 27. g4 Bd8) 25... Rg6 26. Bf1 Bf5 {And while objectively this should be better for White it is also quite scary.}) (24. f3 {with an idea similar to the game, could have led to a very cute end} e3 25. g3 $1 Rf6 (25... fxg3 26. Rg1 { and there's no real attack anymore.}) 26. gxf4 Qh5 $1 27. Bxe3 Qxh2+ $3 28. Kxh2 Rh6+ 29. Kg1 Rg6+ {and White is better advised to agree to the perpetual as} 30. Kf2 $4 Bh4# {is an immediate mate.}) 24... b4 25. Rb3 (25. gxf4 Qxf4 26. Rg3 {was also an option but Black is certainly pressing after} Bh4) 25... Bh3 (25... f3 26. Bb5 Bh3 $2 (26... Rf6 27. Re1 Qg4 28. Bf1 {and among others White has the idea of Rxe4 followed by Re3 (which could have been available on this move), and also in some moment e3 is available for his bishop to defend the h file.} (28. Rxe4 {might be even more practical although it's hard to say what this is after} Qxe4 29. Re3 Qg4 30. Rxe7 Bf5)) 27. Re1 {is the reason why Magnus started with Bh3.}) 26. Rg1 (26. Re1 Bf6 $1 (26... e3 {looks scary enough and might be the main reason Fabiano rejected this move, but White has the cold-blooded} 27. Rg1 $1 {available.} f3 28. Bxf3 exf2 29. Bxf2 Rxa5 30. Be3 {would just be equal now.}) 27. Rxb4 Bc3 28. Rxe4 fxg3 $1 29. hxg3 Bxa5 $1 30. Bxa5 Rxf2 {and here White barely saves a raw after} 31. Bg4 Bxg4 32. Rxg4 Qh5+ 33. Rh4 Qxd1 34. Rxd1 Rxa5) 26... f3 27. Bf1 Bxf1 28. Qxf1 {Any direct approach with the rook would fail as White's bishop can get to e3 and cover the crucial h6 square.} Qxd5 (28... Rf6 29. Rxb4 Qh5 30. Be3 $1 {and Black's attempt at an attack is easily repelled.} (30. Rxe4 $4 Rh6 31. h4 Bxh4 32. Rxh4 Qxh4+ 33. gxh4 Rxh4+ {would mate})) 29. Rxb4 {The dust settled and while White's king is clearly no longer in danger -- there's an argument that he never was really in danger other than psychological, but even then it felt serious. Black has a beautiful pawn center and could be aiming at pushing his central pawns at the appropriate moment. Also even if the position is less complicated to navigate now both players were getting short on time around here.} Qe6 30. Rb5 $1 {An excellent move, even if rather obvious.} Bd8 (30... d5 {would be strongly met by} 31. Qd1 Rf5 32. g4 $1 Rg5 33. Be3 {and White is the side pressing.}) 31. Qe1 Bxb6 32. axb6 Rab8 {The position is around equal but there is still room for a big fight. White's obvious trump is his pawn on b6, while Black can count on his center and the weakened White king, which while not in immediate danger, can never easily join the center in case of an endgame.} 33. Qe3 Qc4 34. Rb2 Rb7 35. Rd1 {A bit of an inaccuracy due to Magnus' strong answer. But not even sure we can call it that as Fabiano kept things well under his control afterwards.} Qe2 $1 36. Re1 $1 (36. Qxe2 fxe2 37. Re1 Rxf2 38. Kg1 Rbf7 $1 {while still being within drawing margin, would be ostensibly unpleasant to fac as White has no easy way to regain the pawn.} 39. Rbb1 (39. b7 Rf1+ 40. Kg2 Rxb7 41. Rxe2 Rxb2 42. Kxf1 Kf7) 39... d5 $1 40. c3 h6 {and b7 is always met by Rf1+}) (36. Qb3+ $4 Kh8 37. c4 {would trap the queen if not for} Rxb6 $1 38. Rxe2 fxe2 {and Black wins}) (36. Qd4 $4 {would also be a serious attempt if not for the beautiful and winning} e3 $1 37. c4 exf2 $1 38. Rxe2 fxe2 {and as Magnus pointed it out afterwards, the pawn on c4 prevents White from capturing the pawn with the fork Qc4+}) 36... Qxe3 37. Rxe3 d5 38. h4 {This is the most practical approach to get White's king more active. He aims to reach g3 via g4.} Rc8 (38... Rf6 39. c4 $1 dxc4 40. Rxe4 Rbxb6 41. Rxb6 Rxb6 42. Rxc4 {would liquidate into a draw.}) 39. Ra3 $1 ({The attempt to liquidate everything fails:} 39. Rb5 $2 Rxc2 40. Rxd5 Rxb6 41. Rxe4 Rxf2 { would lose on the spot}) 39... Kf7 (39... Rc6 $4 {would be a huge blunder because of} 40. Ra8+ Kf7 41. Ra7 Rxa7 42. bxa7 Ra6 43. Rb7+ {and now the king has no good square} Kf6 (43... Kf8 44. Rb8+) 44. Rb6+ {wins}) 40. Kh2 (40. Ra7 Rcb8 41. c4 $1 dxc4 42. Rc2 {would have drawn immediately.}) 40... Ke6 41. g4 Rc6 42. Ra6 $1 {A very important decision and the correct one. Fabiano correctly judged that with both rooks on the b file he wouldn't be able to obtain the necessary counterplay with his rooks.} (42. Rab3 {would still objectively hold but White is reduced to passivity after say} h6 43. Kg3 (43. h5 Ke5 44. Rb5 g5 45. hxg6 Rxg6 46. c4 $1 Rxg4 47. Rxd5+ Kf4 48. Rh5 {also looks scary but is holding.}) 43... g5 44. hxg5 hxg5 45. Rb1 Kd6 46. Rb5 Rc5 47. R5b2 Kc6 {and even if the computer claims} 48. c3 $1 Rxc3 49. Rh1 {is a draw, you definitely don't want to get to that point if you can avoid it.}) 42... Ke5 43. Kg3 h6 44. h5 Kd4 {Maybe underestimating Fabiano's next move, Magnus gets into a bit of a scare.} ({Here I expected} 44... g5 {but both} 45. hxg6 ({or the immediate} 45. Rb5 Rxc2 46. Raa5 Rd2 47. Rb1 {and Black makes no progress.}) 45... Rxg6 46. Rb5 h5 47. Raa5 Rxg4+ 48. Kh3 {are easily holding as the rooks create more than enough counterplay.}) ({Carlsen mentioned} 44... Rb8 {when} 45. Rb5 {is interesting (Caurana).}) 45. Rb5 $1 {White is more than in time to create counterplay and the king is now misplaced. Hard to figure what Magnus missed on that one, but he took his time and found the arguably best practical decision.} Rd6 $1 (45... Kc4 {was the move recommended as best by the now famous Sesse although} 46. Raa5 d4 (46... Rbxb6 47. Rxd5 Rb1 48. Re5 Rg1+ 49. Kf4 {even if this is a draw it looks downright scary.} Rf6+ 50. Rf5 Rxf5+ 51. Rxf5 Rg2 52. Kxe4 Rxg4+ 53. Kxf3 Rg1 {and Black holds as the king will eventually manage to come back to the kingside.}) 47. Re5 {definitely looks scary as the king is so far away from the kingside. If Black loses his central pawns he might be lost in any rook endgame with his king cut. I also can't see an immediate way to draw even if I'm confident in the fact that it still exists.} Rcxb6 48. Rxe4 Rb2 49. Ra4+ R7b4 {is possibly still holding but looks far too scary.}) 46. Ra4+ Ke5 47. Rab4 Ke6 $1 {Here Fabiano saw no point to torture Magnus even though with colors reversed the game might still be going on at the time I'm typing those words.} 48. c4 {There is no real point in delaying that move as Black is aiming at Rc6 anyway.} dxc4 49. Rxc4 Rdxb6 50. Rxe4+ Kf7 51. Rf5+ (51. Rf4+ Kg8 52. Rc5 {was arguably a try at keeping both pairs of rooks on the board. But in general Black always manages to eventually exchange them either by harassing the rooks (with two rooks on the same file like here, just moving endlessly the rooks) or arguably by staying passive on the last two ranks as White will have a hard time making progress anyway. Let's note though that} Rf6 $6 53. Rxf6 gxf6 54. Kxf3 {would be a downright draw with the pawn on f7, but with the pawn on f6 the additional weakness on the seventh rank makes it a tad more difficult to defend in practice.}) 51... Rf6 52. Rxf6+ Kxf6 53. Kxf3 Kf7 54. Kg3 {Fabiano doesn't see the point in keeping on playing, and I can't argue with that decision as White can't make any progress without exchanging pawns on the kingside, but then there's really not enough pawns remaining as it is well known for a few centuries! In any case we got a very interesting game today in spite of a peaceful result once again, and I felt like both players took some risky or principled decisions on purpose, which means they're not waiting for what looks like a probable tiebreak. So I wouldn't dismiss the possibility of a decisive result kicking in in the last two games. Also, the quality of the games seems very high to me in general especially considering they've been at it for almost three weeks now.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2018.11.24"] [Round "11"] [White "Magnus Carlsen"] [Black "Fabiano Caruana"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B31"] [Annotator "samsh"] [PlyCount "110"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] 1. e4 {I was little surprised to see 1.e4 today, but then again, I have failed to predict basically any opening choice Magnus has made. Maybe that's why he is so hard to prepare for.} e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Be3 O-O (7... Nc6 {Was Caruana's choice in the infamous "shush" game in St. Louis in August, 2018.}) 8. Qd2 Nd7 9. O-O-O Nf6 {A somewhat unusual move, but not a bad one, and mentioned on one of Caruana's Chessbase files in the leaked video!} (9... c6 {Is definitely the main try. Caruana has played this move multiple times. I'm sure Magnus had some idea in mind.}) 10. Bd3 {Up until here Magnus was blitzing, but he started to think more after Black's next move. This I do not really understand...} c5 {This is Black's most common move by far, and the top choice of the machine. I don't see how Magnus could have been prepared up to Bd3 and surprised when Black plays the best move according to both human and silicon practice.} 11. Rhe1 Be6 12. Kb1 ( 12. Bg5 {Is a more critical try. The machines offer it as a clear improvement and in practice it has fared well, including a fine win by Karjakin over Harikrishna. It must be the most challenging move, though obviously one has to believe Caruana would have been prepared for it.}) 12... Qa5 $1 {This forces the queens off. Black has to be a little careful I guess.} 13. c4 Qxd2 14. Bxd2 h6 {This was the point where I joined the Chess.com live broadcast, and basically called the game perfectly up to the point where it was no longer interesting.} ({Caruana deviated from} 14... Rfe8 15. Ng5 Bd7 16. f3 Bc6 17. a3 h6 18. Ne4 Nxe4 19. Bxe4 Bxe4 20. Rxe4 Bf8 {as played very recently in Sasikiran,K (2671)-Miroshnichenko,E (2606) Saint Louis USA 2018}) 15. Nh4 $6 { This is very forcing, extremely direct, and basically just a draw. Black is in horrible shape if he doesn't play the most forcing moves at his disposal. Given this is Caruana's normal M.O. anyway, I can't imagine Magnus expected to get much.} (15. h3 {A patient move like this one was certainly a better try. White might go for Nh4 in the future now than Ng4 becomes less enticing, and g2-g4 is a plan as well. The computer even offers White a slight edge, but it's hard to imagine a 2800 losing with Black.}) 15... Rfe8 (15... Ng4 16. Nf5 (16. Ng6 fxg6 17. Rxe6 {Carlsen noted that he thought Black would be a bit worse here. We agreed during the live analysis. But it's hard to imagine Caruana subjecting himself to this when Rfe8 equalizes easily.} Nxf2 18. Rde1 Nxd3 19. cxd3 Bf6 20. Rxd6 Bd4 21. Rde6 {And White will play Kc2 and one of the rooks to e2 if needed [Carlsen].}) 16... Rfe8 {Would transpose to the game} (16... Bxf5 $2 17. Bxf5 Nxf2 18. Rc1 $1 {Nice and simple. I found this line with Robert and Danny during the live broadcast, and the knucklehead cliub figured out that White is pleasantly better. The knight is in serious danger of getting trapped.})) 16. Ng6 Ng4 $1 {Strong, but also very straightforward.} 17. Nxe7+ Rxe7 18. Re2 {If White had a move to consolidate, he would be much better. But he doesn't.} Ne5 $1 {The bishop pair is halved, and everything liquidates in short order.} 19. Bf4 (19. Bc3 f6 $1 (19... Nxd3 $6 20. Rxd3 Rd7 21. Rg3 $1 {Would be a little uncomfortable for Black, though I do think he should hold without a ton of trouble.}) 20. Bxe5 (20. b3 Nxd3 21. Rxd3 Rd8 { White cannot stop Kf7 followed by d5}) 20... dxe5 {I was not sure about this position at first, worrying about White being able to dominate the d-file. But Black is definitely fine, and if White plays Red2, f6-f5 followed by Kf7-f6 becomes an idea, when Black sets his healthy majority in motion.}) 19... Nxd3 20. Rxd3 Rd7 $1 {The last accurate move ends the game. The d6 pawn could have been a target, and now it will be exchanged.} 21. Rxd6 (21. b3 Rad8 {With d6-d5 to follow, and absolute equality.}) 21... Rxd6 22. Bxd6 Rd8 23. Rd2 Bxc4 24. Kc1 b6 25. Bf4 Rxd2 {This was unnecessary as Black will likely lose a pawn, but with opposite colored bishops, it is still a very straightforward draw.} ( 25... Re8 {Was a simpler route to full equality. The text is hardly a mistake though.}) 26. Kxd2 a6 27. a3 Kf8 {The simplest. Black does not try to save his pawns, will lose one button, and have an easy fortress.} 28. Bc7 b5 29. Bd6+ Ke8 30. Bxc5 h5 {Once g6 comes, the kingside is permanently secured. The black king can come to c6 and White's extra pawn is of no value.} 31. Ke3 Kd7 32. Kd4 g6 33. g3 Be2 34. Bf8 Kc6 35. b3 Bd1 36. Kd3 Bg4 37. c4 Be6 38. Kd4 bxc4 39. bxc4 Bg4 {The only plan other than the one Carlsen tried is to play h4 and then hope for f2-f3, g3-g4, and then Kg5 to create a passed h-pawn. Black would have to be extremely cooperative for this to work.} 40. c5 Be6 41. Bh6 ( 41. h4 Bf5 42. Ke3 Be6 43. Kf4 Bf5 44. f3 Be6 45. g4 {Is an illustration of my plan in action. Black probably did not have to allow even this. But still, it's just a draw if he stops the king from coming to g5.} Bd5 {With dead equality.} (45... Bc4 $2 46. Kg5 {And White wins with the h-pawn.})) 41... Bd5 42. Be3 Be6 43. Ke5 Bd5 44. Kf4 Be6 45. Kg5 Bd5 46. g4 hxg4 47. Kxg4 Ba2 48. Kg5 Bb3 49. Kf6 Ba2 50. h4 Bb3 51. f4 {Now f5 is coming. If Black takes it, the h-pawn goes. But it's not a problem.} Ba2 (51... Bc2 $2 {Too soon. Black needs to wait for f5 first.} 52. Kxf7) 52. Ke7 Bb3 53. Kf6 Ba2 54. f5 {If Black were to fall asleep at the wheel, fxg6 would win. But after} Bb1 $1 { Now Kxf7 is no longer an issue since it can be met with Bxf5.} 55. Bf2 { The last trick. White hopes Black will take on f5. But it's almost like hoping Santa Claus will bring you Christmas presents. Once you reach a certain level, you know it will never happen.} (55. fxg6 fxg6 {Is also a draw. Obviously Black should not take with the bishop to allow a second passed pawn.}) 55... Bc2 {Caruana finished the game with more time than he started with, and Carlsen with only three minutes less. There wasn't much to say, and if I thought Chess. com would pay me my standard ! million per game fee for leaving my annotations blank, maybe I would have done it! Game 12 should be interesting. The high pressure might induce more mistakes than normal and we could see more of a fight. One wonders if Carlsen will stick with the Sveshnikov for a sixth game in a row. Caruana is very likely to keep playing 1. e4.} (55... Bxf5 $2 {Lets the h-pawn through.} 56. h5) 1/2-1/2 [Event "London ENG"] [Site "London ENG"] [Date "2018.11.22"] [Round "10"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B33"] [WhiteElo "2832"] [BlackElo "2835"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "107"] [EventDate "2018.11.09"] {Today was the most complicated game of the match and hence to understand it I am going to try and tone down my commentary so that we can try to figure out what exactly is going on underneath the surface.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Nd5 {The move Bg5 has been more popular because White is actually fighting for the d5 weakness, while in this case what White is actually trying to do is forget about the d5 weakness, get a queenside majority and start playing on that wing!} Nxd5 8. exd5 Nb8 (8... Ne7 {is another move.} 9. c4 a6 {is a well known trap.} 10. Qa4 $1 $16) 9. a4 $5 {What is the point of this move? Instead of putting the pawn on c4 and retreating the knight to c3, Caruana decides to put his pawn on a4 and get his knight to a3.} Be7 10. Be2 O-O 11. O-O Nd7 12. b4 $5 {The first new move of the game and has never been played before even in Correspondence chess. Caruana played Bd2 in the previous white game. The idea was clear, he wanted to support the pawn to go to a5, and this is also the idea with b4. Of course, it is much more committal than Bd2 and Carlsen takes advantage of it.} (12. a5 a6 13. Nc3 $13 (13. Na3 Qxa5 {is a free pawn.})) 12... a6 13. Na3 a5 $5 (13... f5 {seemed more consistent to play on the opposite flank.}) 14. bxa5 $1 { It makes sense not to close the position.} Rxa5 15. Nc4 Ra8 16. Be3 f5 17. a5 $1 f4 18. Bb6 {White has been able to get his bishop to b6 and it seems as if Black has overextended in the centre. But Carlsen continues as if nothing has happened.} Qe8 (18... Nxb6 19. Nxb6 Ra7 20. Bg4 Bxg4 21. Qxg4 $14 {White is better here with the black bishop on e7 being quite bad.}) 19. Ra3 $6 {This was the first move in the game where Fabiano went wrong.} (19. Re1 {was suggested by Sasikiran in live commentary. His idea is to put the bishop on f1 or d3 and control the central pawns.} e4 (19... Nf6 {is what Fabiano didn't like, but it seems as if White is doing well after} 20. Bc7 Qd7 21. Nb6 Qxc7 22. Nxa8 Qc5 23. Nb6 $14) 20. Bh5 g6 21. Rxe4 gxh5 22. Qe1 Ne5 23. Nxe5 dxe5 ( 23... Bf5 24. Re2 Bf6 25. Nf3 $16 {Black has the bishop pair, but White has a better structure and an extra pawn.}) 24. Rxe5 $18) 19... Qg6 20. Bc7 $5 { The bishop sits on c7 to keep an eye on d6 and at the same time the knight jumps to b6 in certain scenarios.} e4 $1 {Black pawns look menacing. Now there are threats like f3 or e3 in the air and Caruana has to be very careful.} 21. Kh1 {This is the natural move getting out of the g-file.} b5 $5 {A lot of commentators were in awe of this move. It is really a very interesting one by Carlsen. He said in the post game interview that he could have played on slowly here with ...Kh8 and then delayed the decision to the next move. But he decided to invest time and go all out because he wanted to raise the stakes. Every mistake can now lead to a lost position for both White and Black. And here is where Carlsen felt lay his best chance.} 22. Nb6 $5 (22. axb6 Rxa3 23. Nxa3 f3 24. gxf3 Ne5 $40 {Leads to an attacking position for Black with great chances.}) 22... Nxb6 23. Bxb6 Qg5 $5 {This is a move that not many people understood. The idea is pretty basic Magnus wants to get his rook to f6 to h6 and checkmate Fabiano's king. But getting the rook up and then to h6 takes some time and Fabi could take the pawn on b5 and keep his king safe.} 24. g3 $6 {Perhaps not the best move, but Fabiano was quite tensed about a kingside attack.} (24. Bxb5 Rf6 25. Re1 (25. f3 e3 26. Qe2 Rh6 27. g4 {is one way to play but Black seems to be doing fine here after something like} Rh3 $132) 25... Bf5 (25... Rh6 26. Rxe4 Qh4 27. h3 $18) 26. f3 e3 27. Bc6 Rh6 (27... Raf8 28. a6 Rh6 29. Re2 Qh4 30. Qg1 $18) 28. Rexe3 $1 $18 {This line shows that the attack can become dangerous but White can defend against it with resourceful play.}) 24... b4 25. Rb3 Bh3 26. Rg1 f3 27. Bf1 Bxf1 28. Qxf1 (28. Rxf1 Qg4 { is already winning for Black.} 29. Rg1 Rf6 30. Be3 g5 $1 $19) 28... Qxd5 29. Rxb4 Qe6 {The position has resulted into Black's attack slowing down, but at the same time he has this mass of central pawns in the position.} 30. Rb5 Bd8 ( 30... Rfc8 {And Magnus would have been able to grind this position. Although objectively it still should be around even with accurate play.}) 31. Qe1 Bxb6 32. axb6 Rab8 33. Qe3 Qc4 34. Rb2 Rb7 35. Rd1 Qe2 36. Re1 Qxe3 37. Rxe3 d5 38. h4 Rc8 39. Ra3 Kf7 40. Kh2 Ke6 41. g4 Rc6 42. Ra6 Ke5 43. Kg3 h6 44. h5 Kd4 $6 (44... g5 45. hxg6 Rxg6 $11) 45. Rb5 Rd6 46. Ra4+ Ke5 47. Rab4 Ke6 48. c4 $1 dxc4 49. Rxc4 Rdxb6 50. Rxe4+ Kf7 51. Rf5+ Rf6 52. Rxf6+ Kxf6 53. Kxf3 Kf7 54. Kg3 {White could have tried on, but the position is drawn and the players decided to call it a day.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "London ENG"] [Site "London ENG"] [Date "2018.11.24"] [Round "11"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2835"] [BlackElo "2832"] [Annotator "Boris Gelfand"] [PlyCount "110"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] 1. e4 {It is noteworthy that Magnus shuffles beetween 1.d4, 1.c4 and 1.e4, while Fabiano had always started his games with 1.e4.The reason is a totally different attitude to an opening preparation by World Champion and the Challenger} e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 {I am happy to see that Fabiano sticks to a Petroff, which served him well this year (especially in the Candidates,where he didn't face any problems in this opening) I had successfully used this opening for many years and during World Cup 2009 which I won it was my only weapon. However, before my World Championship match vs Vishy Anand in 2012, I switched to the Sveshnikov (Magnus' choice in this match!) in order to surprise my opponent. It seems that Fabiano has even more trust in Petroff than I had!} 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 {One of the most popular systems nowadays} Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Be3 O-O {Here, two schools of thoughts exist. Vladimir Kramnik and myself had always castled short, which is a more ambitious try. More popular is 7...Nc6, followed by Be6, Qd7 and long castle with a solid, but passive position. Fabiano tried it both, but had chosen a more principaled approach in this important game.} 8. Qd2 Nd7 9. O-O-O Nf6 (9... Ne5 {was a system I advocated with quite a success, but since then some new, interesting ideas have been found.}) (9... c6 {was Fabiano's choice earlier this year. He equalized convincingly against Levon Aronian.} 10. h4 (10. Kb1 d5 11. c4 Nb6 12. cxd5 Nxd5 13. Bc4 Bf5 14. Bxd5 cxd5 15. Qxd5 Qc8 16. Nd4 Bg6 17. Ka1 Re8 18. Rhe1 Bf6 19. c3 Re5 20. Qb3 a6 21. Bf4 Rxe1 22. Rxe1 Qd7 23. Be5 Re8 24. f4 Bd8 25. a4 h6 26. Rd1 Qg4 27. Rd2 b5 28. axb5 axb5 29. Qd1 Qd7 30. f5 Bg5 31. Rd3 Bxf5 32. Nxf5 Qxf5 33. Bg3 Ra8+ 34. Kb1 Rd8 35. Kc2 b4 36. cxb4 Rc8+ 37. Kb3 Qe6+ 38. Rd5 Rd8 39. Kc4 Qc6+ {0-1 (39) Robson,R (2660)-Caruana,F (2804) Saint Louis 2018}) 10... d5 11. Kb1 Re8 12. Bd3 Bc5 13. Rde1 Bxe3 14. Rxe3 Rxe3 15. Qxe3 Nf6 16. Re1 Qd6 17. Qe8+ Qf8 18. Qxf8+ Kxf8 19. Kc1 Bd7 20. c4 dxc4 21. Bxc4 Re8 22. Rxe8+ Bxe8 23. Kd2 Ke7 24. Ne5 Nd7 25. Nf3 Nf6 26. Ne5 Nd7 27. Nf3 Nf6 28. Ne5 {1/2-1/2 (28) Aronian,L (2780)-Caruana,F (2827) Batumi 2018}) 10. Bd3 ({Fabiano failed to equalize with White in the following game} 10. h3 c5 11. Bf4 Be6 12. a3 d5 13. Ng5 Bd7 14. g4 Bc6 15. Bg2 Re8 16. Qd3 Bd6 { 1/2-1/2 (98) Caruana,F (2784)-Hou,Y (2654) Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden 2018}) 10... c5 11. Rhe1 Be6 {ex-Women's World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk is the main advocate of this setup.} 12. Kb1 (12. Bg5 {White won a beautiful game after} h6 $2 13. Bxh6 c4 14. Bxg7 $1 cxd3 15. Qg5 Ne4 16. Qh6 Bg5+ 17. Nxg5 Qxg5+ 18. Qxg5 Nxg5 19. Bxf8 dxc2 20. Rxd6 Kxf8 21. h4 Nh7 22. Kxc2 {1-0 (62) Karjakin,S (2779)-Harikrishna,P (2763) Shamkir 2016 CBM 173 [Mekhitarian,K]}) 12... Qa5 13. c4 Qxd2 14. Bxd2 {Black's position is extremely solid and I believe he has solved all the opening problems. Either Magnus trusted in his ability to exploit minimal advantages or he was not well prepared for this game. I would tend to believe the first option.} h6 {A small deviation from an earlier game} (14... Rfe8 15. Ng5 Bd7 16. f3 Bc6 17. a3 h6 18. Ne4 Nxe4 19. Bxe4 Bxe4 20. Rxe4 Bf8 21. Bf4 g5 22. Bg3 f5 23. Ree1 Kf7 24. Kc1 Rxe1 25. Rxe1 Re8 26. Rxe8 Kxe8 {1/2-1/2 (48) Sasikiran,K (2671)-Miroshnichenko,E (2606) Saint Louis USA 2018}) 15. Nh4 (15. h3 $5 {would prevent Ng4-e5 ,but give Black time to prepare d6-d5}) 15... Rfe8 16. Ng6 Ng4 17. Nxe7+ Rxe7 18. Re2 Ne5 19. Bf4 (19. Bc3 {Was the last attempt to spice things up.} Nxd3 $140 ({Safer is} 19... f6 20. Bxe5 dxe5 21. Bg6 Rd7 $11) 20. Rxd3 Rd7 21. Rg3 g6 22. Rxe6 (22. Bf6 $5) 22... fxe6 23. Rxg6+ Kh7 24. Rxe6 {with a complicated endgame}) 19... Nxd3 20. Rxd3 Rd7 {The rest of the game is hardly interesting.} 21. Rxd6 Rxd6 22. Bxd6 Rd8 23. Rd2 Bxc4 24. Kc1 b6 25. Bf4 Rxd2 26. Kxd2 a6 ({Avoiding a cute trap:} 26... Bxa2 $2 27. b3 c4 28. Kc3 cxb3 29. Kb2) 27. a3 Kf8 28. Bc7 b5 29. Bd6+ Ke8 30. Bxc5 {Even though White is a full pawn up, this is a dead draw.} h5 31. Ke3 Kd7 32. Kd4 g6 33. g3 Be2 34. Bf8 Kc6 35. b3 Bd1 36. Kd3 Bg4 37. c4 Be6 38. Kd4 bxc4 39. bxc4 Bg4 40. c5 Be6 41. Bh6 Bd5 42. Be3 Be6 43. Ke5 Bd5 44. Kf4 Be6 45. Kg5 Bd5 46. g4 hxg4 47. Kxg4 Ba2 48. Kg5 Bb3 49. Kf6 Ba2 50. h4 Bb3 51. f4 Ba2 52. Ke7 Bb3 53. Kf6 Ba2 54. f5 Bb1 $1 {The only finesse Black should know.} 55. Bf2 Bc2 (55... Bxf5 $4 56. h5) 1/2-1/2 [Event "World Championship"] [Site "?"] [Date "2018.11.26"] [Round "12"] [White "Fabiano Caruana"] [Black "Magnus Carlsen"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B33"] [Annotator "samsh"] [PlyCount "62"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 {Magnus sticks to his same Sicilian repertoire in the all decisive final game. One can only admire his willingness to enter sharp positions with it all on the line.} 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Nd5 Nxd5 8. exd5 Ne7 $5 {The first surprise. Games 8 and 10 saw 8...Nb8} ( 8... Nb8 {And here Caruana was playing} 9. a4 {a very different plan from what we saw in the present game.}) 9. c4 Ng6 10. Qa4 Bd7 11. Qb4 Bf5 {Up to this point both sides were blitzing. Caruana now thought for a bit before ultimately going for the most testing move.} 12. h4 $5 {White aims to play against the g6 knight. The threat of h4-h5 is not particularly subtle, but a bit annoying for Black to meet since playing h7-h5 himself will leave him with a weak h5-pawn and potentially a problem on the g5 square.} h5 $146 {There had only been one human game up to this point, and h5 is formally a novelty. But, it was contested between top engines in the TCEC competition, so Magnus surely was familiar with the ideas. He was still blitzing out his prep at this point.} (12... a6 $2 {would be well met by} 13. h5 $1 {when White has an excellent position.}) ({[That was in fact played in the recent game Kramnik-Roganovic, Batumi Olympiad 2018 which continued} 12... a6 13. h5 Nf4 14. Nc3 Be7 15. Be3 Nd3+ 16. Bxd3 Bxd3 17. h6 {and White won in 42 moves. - ed.]}) 13. Qa4 Bd7 14. Qb4 Bf5 15. Be3 {No early draws this time!} (15. Bg5 $5 {may have been a more critical move. Still, I am sure Magnus would have been ready for it.} Qb8 16. Be2 a6 17. Nc3 Nf4 18. Bf1 Be7 19. Bxe7 Kxe7 20. g3 Ng6 {and a draw after 59 moves in Houdini 6.03-Stockfish earlier this year.}) 15... a6 {The first move Magnus thought about.} (15... Be7 $5 {The machine thinks giving the a7-pawn is interesting. It might be right but it looks risky to me.} 16. Bxa7 O-O 17. g3 Be4 {Otherwise White just goes Bg2 with an extra pawn} 18. Rg1 Bf3 {Black has obvious compensation, but I'm not fully convinced it is enough.}) 16. Nc3 Qc7 ( 16... Be7 {Again, Black could have pitched the pawn to speed up his development. But I don't really mind Magnus' choice. He clearly understood the resulting middlegame better than Caruana.}) 17. g3 Be7 18. f3 $6 {The first dubious move of the game. Perhaps White was worried about e5-e4 then Ng6-e5 can come to solve the problem of the poorly placed g6-knight, but this strikes me as too defensive and too slow.} (18. Be2 {The computer flirts with weird checks on a4. This move looks by far the most natural to me.} e4 19. Bb6 Qd7 20. Bd4 {White looks better to me, but of course it is still complicated.}) 18... Nf8 $1 {One bad piece makes a bad position, and White's play has been slow enough that Black has time for Nf8-d7 before castling.} 19. Ne4 Nd7 20. Bd3 O-O 21. Rh2 $6 {White's second dubious decision. It's not such a silly way to develop the rook as it clearly belongs on the c-file. but it appears to articifial to me.} (21. O-O {Sometimes boring is prudent. I don't think White is better, but he is definitely not worse and has a fair plan to expand with c4-c5 eventually.}) 21... Rac8 (21... Bg6 {Preparing f7-f5 immediately was fine as well. I suspect Carlsen did not want to allow White to respond with} 22. g4 {Though here Black is also better after the accurate response} Nf6 $1) 22. O-O-O Bg6 $1 {f7-f5 is coming. Black is setting his central pawn majority in motion while White's queenside is badly stalled- c4-c5 looks impossible to ever pull off. I think Black is already seriously better. Note that Carlsen chose this moment to go for Bf5-g6 since White cannot comfortably play g3-g4 in response due to the hanging c-pawn.} 23. Rc2 (23. g4 $2 hxg4 $1 24. fxg4 Bxe4 $1 {The point. White loses the c4-pawn, and the game.}) 23... f5 24. Nf2 ( 24. Ng5 {The computers prefer this move by a wide margin, but I still would not want to be White after something like} Bxg5 25. hxg5 e4 $1 26. Bf1 (26. fxe4 fxe4 27. Be2 Ne5 {Also looks awful}) 26... f4 $1 {When the bishop on g6 becomes a monster.} 27. Bxf4 Nc5 {Black's attack is extremely dangerous.}) 24... Nc5 {Around here, I thought Magnus would win the game, and in fine style to close out the match after eleven draws. White's position looks miserable.} 25. f4 a5 $5 {This move is not best. But it doesn't really bother me- I think Black should still win.} (25... exf4 {Sesse claims opening the position was the best way. White will either lose the h4-pawn after} 26. gxf4 (26. Bxf4 { Or this can be met with} b5 $1 {When the queenside is blasted open. Technically this may be best, but White suddenly has a solid looking position, a good bishop on f4, and the g6-bishop is not inspiring. Magnus's choice is no worse in my opinion.}) 26... Bxh4 {and White has no meaningful compensation}) ( 25... b5 {This also looks very strong, and may be the most human way to bring in the full point. Black forces open the queenside. The machine's recommendation of} 26. Bxc5 dxc5 27. Qd2 Bd6 {Looks rather hopeless for White to me. Eventually he will lose on the dark squares.}) 26. Qd2 e4 {White is completely stuck, has no counterplay, no plan. But the position is locked. All Black has to do is get the b7-b5 advance through. If he manages, he should win. And he should manage.} 27. Be2 Be8 28. Kb1 Bf6 29. Re1 a4 $4 {Much like I did to Caruana for playing h2-h3 in game 8, I am giving an exceptionally harsh evaluation to Magnus for this move, which is totally not in the spirit of the position. His only plan to win the game is b7-b5. It should be enough if he manages under decent circumstances. But now, he has cleared the b4-square for White's queen! This makes his task significantly harder, if not impossible. In addition, the pawn on a4 deprives Black's knight and bishop access to this square, which both pieces would want to use. Magnus said this was prophylaxis against Bd4 due to Nb3, but it still doesn't come close to justifying allowing the queen to b4.} (29... Ba4 $1 {This was the most convincing route to victory according to the machine, and Caruana mentioned it was what he was most concerned about. Black wins in all lines, for instance} 30. b3 (30. Bxh5 { This looks like a little bit of counterplay but Black wins the race after} Bxc2+ 31. Qxc2 b5 $1 32. Bg6 bxc4 33. Qe2 Rb8 {Black mates first.}) (30. Rcc1 b5 $1 31. cxb5 Qb6 {The b-file opens, and Black should win.}) 30... Bxb3 $1 31. axb3 Nxb3 32. Qd1 a4 $1 {And Black can just ignore White's extra piece, which is meaningless. b7-b5 comes next. Still, this is hard to do in an OTB game. I don't really mind Magnus not playing Ba4. Playing a4 was what I took issue with.}) (29... Rb8 $5 {A move like this one is what I would expect a human to do. b5 is coming and White can't do anything about it.} 30. Bd4 {A bad move, but what else? In addition to Nd3 winning material, this position is also just wretched after the simple} Bxd4 31. Qxd4 b5 {Black should win, easily.}) (29... g6 {Even a patient waiting move like this might be enough.}) 30. Qb4 $1 { Now how will b5 come? Black has no other way to open the position.} g6 31. Rd1 Ra8 {Magnus has gotten a lot of grief for offering a draw here, from both club level online kibitzers to past World Champions. I'll spare him my full thoughts on the matter, but I will say I don't really understand his decision. He faces absolutely no risk ever and still has some plans at his disposal to try to get b5 through, with as Bd7, Rrb8, etc. Maybe White is holding, maybe he isn't. I'd need to look a lot longer to draw any conclusions. But I really think Black should have played, at least until time control. All that said, I still think he is a favorite in the playoff. His rapid and blitz skills have long been atop the world, and I do think he played better overall chess in the classical portion (if this can ever be said for a 6-6 tie with no decisive games). Still, while he is a favorite in the playoff, his victory is by no means gauranteed. Upsets can happen, and Magnus would do well to try not to be tilted by both starting and ending the match by drawing a winning position with Black.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "London ENG"] [Site "London ENG"] [Date "2018.11.26"] [Round "12"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B33"] [WhiteElo "2832"] [BlackElo "2835"] [Annotator "Crowther,Mark"] [PlyCount "62"] [EventDate "2018.11.09"] 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 $146 {This has been played in high level computer chess as Grischuk explained during commentary.} ( {Relevant:} 12... a6 13. h5 Nf4 14. Nc3 Be7 15. Be3 Nd3+ 16. Bxd3 Bxd3 17. h6 O-O 18. Rd1 a5 19. Qb5 e4 20. hxg7 Re8 21. Rxd3 exd3 22. c5 Bg5 23. Qxd3 h6 24. Ne4 dxc5 25. Kf1 Rxe4 26. Qxe4 Bxe3 27. fxe3 Ra6 28. Rh5 Rg6 29. Kg1 Kxg7 30. Rf5 b5 31. Qe5+ Kg8 32. e4 c4 33. Qf4 Qd7 34. a3 Qa7+ 35. Kh2 b4 36. e5 Qd7 37. e6 fxe6 38. Rf8+ Kg7 39. Ra8 Kh7 40. Qd4 Qd6+ 41. Kh1 e5 42. Qxc4 {Kramnik,V (2779)-Roganovic,M (2527) Batumi 2018 1-0}) 13. Qa4 Bd7 14. Qb4 Bf5 15. Be3 { Caruana turns down the chance to draw by repetition but soon stands worse.} a6 16. Nc3 Qc7 17. g3 Be7 18. f3 Nf8 19. Ne4 Nd7 20. Bd3 O-O 21. Rh2 Rac8 (21... Bg6 {was the main alternative.}) 22. O-O-O Bg6 23. Rc2 f5 24. Nf2 Nc5 25. f4 a5 26. Qd2 e4 27. Be2 Be8 28. Kb1 Bf6 29. Re1 a4 (29... Ba4) 30. Qb4 g6 31. Rd1 Ra8 {Draw agreed on Carlsen's offer.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "2018 World Chess Championship"] [Site "London"] [Date "2018.11.28"] [Round "14"] [White "Fabiano Caruana"] [Black "Magnus Carlsen"] [Result "0-1"] [Annotator "samsh"] [PlyCount "56"] [EventDate "2006.06.28"] [SourceVersionDate "2018.11.28"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 {Another Sveshnikov. Magnus is clearly showing he is willing to fight with Black, even in a game where a draw suits him very well.} 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 Qb8 (11... Bf5 {Was Magnus' choice in game 12 of the classical phase. He outplayed Caruana very convincingly but also might have been worse in the early middlegame. It's not surprising he was the first one to pivot. Still, Caruana was clearly ready.}) 12. h4 h5 (12... a6 13. h5 $1 { Again, this seems strong.}) 13. Be3 a6 14. Nc3 {Now White would like to get Nc3-a4 in to abuse the weakened b6 square. This plan is much more effective now that Black's queen is on b8.} a5 {Black is very insistent that White not get Nc3-a4 in. But this loses some time and sends the queen back home, where she can harass the kingside. Magnus was still blitzing so was likely still in preparation, but I really don't like his position.} 15. Qb3 a4 16. Qd1 Be7 $2 { This move looks so innocent, but in fact its a serious error. The g6 knight now is really bad.} (16... Ne7 $1 {It was best to try to reroute the knight to f5 right away. I am not sure Black is equalizing, but he is not in such terrible shape after something like} 17. Bd3 Nf5 18. Bg5 Be7) 17. g3 {Black looks much worse to me.} Qc8 $1 {I like Magnus' move a lot. He really has to be credited for his resilience.} (17... Nf8 {My instinct would be to play in the same manner Magnus did in game 12, rerouting the g6-knight to f6. But it looks really bad. For instance after} 18. Bd3 g6 19. O-O Nh7 20. b3 $1 axb3 21. Qxb3 {White is breaking through on the queenside. Still, Black has some counterplay after} Nf6 22. Rab1 O-O 23. Qxb7 Qd8) 18. Rc1 (18. Be2 {The machine prefers this direct approach.} Bg4 $1 {Black provokes the f2-pawn forward, where it will loosen the white kingside and restrict the e2-bishop. Pawns don't move backwards after all. I think some moron wrote a book about that recently... A book well worth buying!} 19. f3 (19. Rc1 {Would transpose to the game}) 19... Bd7 {White is clearly better, but 0-0 followed by f5-f5 is clear counterplay. Especially given the quick time control, I prefer Carauana's choice for its simplicity.}) 18... Bg4 19. Be2 Bxe2 20. Qxe2 Qf5 $1 {Another good move} (20... f5 {I would be tempted to set the kingside mass in motion right away, but it's hard to find a great plan when White's pawn is still on f2 and Black just looks worse after} 21. Nb5 Qd7 22. Bg5) 21. c5 $2 { This is far too rushed, and Magnus is fine again.} (21. O-O O-O 22. Nb5 { Still looks very pleasant for White. The g6 knight is permanently bad, e4 never seems to work, and White can slowly expand on the queenside while keeping counterplay under control. It's possible Caruana was concerned about} e4 {Aiming to play Ne5 with a lot of counterplay, but White wins after} 23. Bd4 $1 Ne5 {Otherwise Rfe1 wins the pawn on the spot.} 24. Bxe5 $1 Qxe5 25. Rfe1 $1 {When Black will lose the e4-pawn, since f7-f5 allows the devastating Nc7-e6.}) 21... O-O 22. c6 {White needs a move like this one to justify the c4-c5 advance. If he can secure the pawn on c6 he should win easily, but he is a bit too slow.} (22. cxd6 {The machine prefers a much less principled move like this one. After} Bxd6 23. O-O {White is likely fine, but certainly is not better, and has no credible plan or short or long term assets to try to win with. Given the match situation, it's very understandable that Caruana went for the more ambitious and double edged option.}) 22... bxc6 $1 23. dxc6 Rfc8 $1 {It's not easy to defend the pawn. The natural} (23... e4 $5 {Black gets a lot of counterplay with this move, but the text is much more convincing.} 24. O-O Ne5 {White's king will face some problems, and Nf3 followed by d5-d4 looks good as well. Even c6 is hanging!}) 24. Qc4 (24. Nd5 {Is one tempo too slow after} Qe4 $1 {Had White already been castled here, he would basically win after Rfd1. Instead, he loses material on the spot. c4-c5 was just not quite fast enough to work, and White should have been more patient.}) 24... Bd8 $1 { Magnus is absurdly strong at rapid chess, he just finds good moves so easily. The c6-pawn is under control and Ne7 is coming.} (24... Qf3 25. Qd5 $1 { Is a nice resource Magnus surely noticed, and correctly avoided. Still, after} e4 26. Qxe4 Qxe4 27. Nxe4 Ne5 {He will win the c6-pawn and only be marginally worse. Black should not lose.}) 25. Nd5 (25. O-O Ne7 $1 {White loses the pawn, and probably the game}) 25... e4 $1 {Massive counterplay in the center is on the way, truly in the spirit of the Sveshnikov. White has a winning position in the longrun on the queenside, but he faces problems in the center along the way. The previously awful g6 knight is now about to enter the position with a bang.} 26. c7 $2 (26. O-O Ne5 {Is an illustration of the problems White will shortly face if he is not very careful.} 27. Qb5 Qh3 {checkmate incoming.}) ( 26. Bd4 {Was absolutely forced. Black has several appealing options. The simplest is} Ne5 (26... Ra5 $5 {A maximalist would notice a move like this one. } 27. Ne3 Qf3 $1 28. O-O Bxh4 $1 {I find it very unlikely White will survive in a rapid game, although the machine does think his position is defensible.}) 27. Bxe5 Qxe5 {When Ra5-c5 should be enough to contain the c6-pawn.}) 26... Bxc7 27. Nxc7 Ne5 {Despite an opening gone wrong, Magnus completely dominated the second game, much like he did the first. I thought he played somewhat better chess in the classical phase, but if 12 games still ended in 12 draws, you can't really claim he was the superior player. But the rapid has thus far been a totally different story, and the players are not on the same level.} 28. Nd5 (28. Qe2 Nd3+ 29. Kd2 Qa5+ {Is a rather simple finisher}) (28. Qd5 { This was the best try, though Black still wins after the accurate} Rab8 $1 { When Black's threats are easily decisive. The simplest one is Rxc7 followed by a check (this was not previously possible because of the hanging rook on a8).}) 28... Kh7 {White is done for. Magnus wins the second game in absolutely crushing fashion, and looks nearly certain to keep his title.} 0-1 [Event "London"] [Site "London"] [Date "2006.06.30"] [Round "15"] [White "Magnus Carlsen"] [Black "Fabiano Caruana"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B44"] [Annotator "samsh"] [PlyCount "91"] [EventDate "2006.06.28"] [SourceVersionDate "2018.11.28"] 1. e4 $1 {White can choose more or less any sensible first move (including 1. e4) in a normal game, or even a must-win game. e4, d4, Nf3, c4- all strike me as having similar chances of fighting for an edge. But if one specifically needs a draw with White, 1.e4 is absolutely the way to do it. Play the most forcing moves!} c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 {A bit of a weird move order. c4 only really works against the Kan, but not against the Taimanov} (3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 {Now c4 would make a lot more sense. Carlsen played this against Anand in their second match.}) 3... Nc6 4. d4 {Transposing back to the Taimanov} (4. Nc3 {This would have avoided the option Black chose in the game.}) 4... cxd4 5. Nxd4 Bc5 $1 {Definitely the best move under the circumstances} (5... Nf6 6. Nc3 {Has long been known to end in sterile equality very quickly. This is not normally a problem from Black's point of view, but this game is a bit different...} Bb4 7. Nxc6 bxc6 8. Bd3 {The position is very dry and very safe for White. Neither side has any good plans at their disposal to imbalance the game.}) 6. Nc2 (6. Nb3 {Is a better chance to fight for an edge, and White may well be better. But at least Black is keeping some tension in the game.}) 6... Nf6 7. Nc3 O-O (7... Qb6 {Black absolutely needed to disrupt White's coordination. after something like} 8. Qd2 Ng4 9. Nd1 O-O 10. h3 Nf6 11. Nc3 { Black is not better, and White can complete his development, but at least he doesn't have perfect coordination and a nice space advantage.}) 8. Be3 { Now White develops easily and even maintains a nice edge due to his extra space in the style of the Maroczy bind. My annotations won't be published until the game ends, but at this point, I find it very unlikely we will see a fourth game.} b6 9. Be2 Bb7 10. O-O Qe7 11. Qd2 Rfd8 12. Rfd1 {White is incredibly solid. In such structures the best plan for Black is generall to try to force d7-d5 through, but all that does is liquidate the position.} Ne5 13. Bxc5 bxc5 14. f4 $1 {White takes even more space.} Ng6 15. Qe3 d6 (15... d5 {"Objectively" this has to be the best move, and Black is almost equalizing. But it chops off all the pieces, and this is obviously unacceptable for Caruana.} 16. exd5 exd5 17. Qxe7 Nxe7 18. cxd5 Nfxd5 19. Nxd5 Nxd5 {I don't think Magnus will lose a position like this one very often...}) 16. Rd2 a6 17. Rad1 Qc7 18. b3 {White's play is simple and easy. Just keep everything protected and maintain the space advantage. Winning the game will not be easy, but his strong play in the first 2 rapid games earned him the right to sit tight here.} h6 19. g3 Rd7 20. Bf3 Re8 21. Qf2 Ne7 22. h3 Red8 {Not much is happening. Black is struggling to find any kind of active plan.} 23. Bg2 Nc6 24. g4 $1 {This is undoubtedly the best move, and Magnus must be given credit for being willing to somewhat open his king in a game where a draw clinches the World Championship. White expands his space advantage further.} Qa5 25. Na4 Qc7 26. e5 (26. g5 $5 {White could have gone directly for the king, but one can hardly blame Magnus for looking for simplification and instand gratification. Had this been game 1, I doubt he would hesitate to play g5. And he'd likely have won.}) 26... dxe5 27. Nxc5 Rxd2 28. Rxd2 Rxd2 29. Qxd2 Ba8 $1 (29... exf4 30. Nxb7 Qxb7 31. Qxf4 {Looks very safe for White.}) 30. fxe5 Qxe5 31. Nd7 {This looks like the easiest way to force a draw. All the pieces come off.} Qb2 (31... Nxd7 32. Qxd7 Qg3 {Almost keeps some fight, but the bishop on a8 is lost after} 33. Qc8+) 32. Qd6 Nxd7 33. Qxd7 Qxc2 {Caruana makes the right choice to keep different pieces on the board. White's c-pawn is pretty dangerous and the bishop is better then the knight in it's abolity to send the pawn through, but White's king is open and the knight and queen can be a dangerous attacking pair. White is certainly not worse but Caruana has to take any chance he can get to imbalance the position at all.} 34. Qe8+ Kh7 35. Qxa8 Qd1+ 36. Kh2 Qd6+ 37. Kh1 Nd4 38. Qe4+ f5 39. gxf5 exf5 40. Qe3 {The g2 bishop is too strong. Its really hard to imagine how White can get mated.} Ne6 41. b4 $1 {Passed pawns must be pushed!} Ng5 {Black clearly wants f4-f3- it's his only winning attempt. The move is objectively bad but in an absolute must-win scenario, you gotta do what you gotta do.} 42. c5 Qf6 43. c6 {White's c-pawn will decide the game long before any attack has a dream of coming through.} Ne6 44. a4 Nc7 45. Qf4 Ne6 46. Qd6 $1 {going for the 3-0 sweep. Magnus showed why he is one of the best players ever, making one of the best players in the world (who even fought him to a 6-6 tie in the classical portion) look completely uncompetitive in the rapid playoff. I was happy to see him look for complicated positions with the black pieces, and any future challengers would be best advised to try to beat him in regulation- his rapid play is absurdly powerful. I'd like to thank chess.com for inviting me to annotate the games, I did my best to bring the best and most objective analysis I could, and I hope I was able to shed some light on the games. Thanks to all for reading!} (46. Qe3 {One wonders if Caruana would have repeated moves here. We'll never know because Magnus wanted the whole cake.}) 1-0 [Event "London"] [Site "London"] [Date "2018.11.09"] [Round "13"] [White "Magnus Carlsen"] [Black "Fabiano Caruana"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A22"] [Annotator "samsh"] [PlyCount "109"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2018.11.28"] 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. g3 {Magnus tries a different move order, which makes quite a lot of sense when considering how Caruana was playing against the English previously.} Bb4 (3... d5 {In the classical games, Caruana went for the reverse sicilian. But here, due to White avoiding Ng1-f3, after} 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Bg2 {The knight on d5 is hanging- by contrast, the position with Nf3 and Nc6 included, the knight is safe. As a result, Black cannot play Bc5, as he did in the 2 classical games. He has other options to fight for equality and probably succeed if well prepared, but it clearly avoids Caruana's prepared line.} Bc5 $2 (5... Nb6 {Would be normal}) 6. Nxd5) 4. e4 $5 {Magnus plays an interesting move, aiming just to get his typical Rossolimo positions a tempo up. Considering how he outplayed Caruana in those games to some extent, it makes a lot of sense to aim for such a position where the extra tempo means White can never be worse. Objectively Black must be fine, but practically, this was excellent preparation.} O-O 5. Nge2 c6 (5... d6 {I might prefer something like this, aiming to play on the dark squares. Still, after something like} 6. Bg2 Nc6 7. O-O {The machine calls it equal, but White has the very straightforward plan of sending the King's Indian death star with h3, d3, f4-f4, etc. Black is under some pressure and will need to find the right plan. I think he should be okay after Bc5 followed by Nd4.} a5 8. d3 Bc5 9. h3 Nd4 $5 10. Kh2 c6 11. f4 exf4 {A position like this one is probably okay. I played a very similar plan in a game with Lu Shanglei several years back.}) 6. Bg2 a6 $6 {Too slow.} 7. O-O b5 8. d4 $1 {Energetic and strong. I don't know if this was preparation or not, but it certainly looks good. Magnus is playing with a lot of force.} d6 (8... exd4 9. Nxd4 bxc4 {Is a positional disaster after} 10. e5 $1 {When Black looks absolutely lost despite the pawn up}) 9. a3 $1 {Again, not fearing the loss of a pawn.} Bxc3 (9... Ba5 {In hindsight, this was likely a better try.} 10. b4 Bb6 11. dxe5 dxe5 12. Qc2 {I would take White, but the game goes on.}) 10. Nxc3 bxc4 11. dxe5 dxe5 {Black's position is more or less lost if he is unable to save the c4-pawn, so he has to cling to it for dear life.} 12. Na4 (12. Be3 {Looks more natural to me. The knight was quite fine on c3. Of course it's easier to criticize with an engine running.}) 12... Be6 13. Qxd8 Rxd8 14. Be3 Nbd7 15. f3 {Magnus' play has not been the most incisive in the past few moves, and Caruana now almost gets back into the game. } Rab8 $1 16. Rac1 Rb3 $1 {The c-pawn will eventually fall, but Black can compromise White's structure before it is captured.} 17. Rfe1 {Bf1 is coming, and it leaves Black in miserable shape. The move Caruana played is not terrible but I much prefer another option.} Ne8 (17... Rdb8 $1 18. Bf1 c3 $1 { Black pitches the c-pawn, but White will have to compromise his structure. Anything else would allow Bxc4 and likely an easy win for White.} 19. Rxc3 Rxc3 20. bxc3 {Black is a bit worse and will suffer, but I think it is probably holdable.}) 18. Bf1 Nd6 19. Rcd1 $1 {Now Black is in all sorts of tactical problems.} Nb5 $2 {Activity is always appealing and often correct, but now the position falls apart.} (19... Nb7 {Sad as it might be, a move like this may have been prudent. Black is under a lot of pressure but not falling apart just yet.}) 20. Nc5 Rxb2 21. Nxe6 fxe6 22. Bxc4 {Black will not hold onto his extra pawn, and his position remains a trainwreck.} Nd4 (22... Kf7 {Trying to defend e6 ignores the bigger and more subtle threat.} 23. Bxb5 $1 axb5 24. Bg5 $1 { White wins a piece, and the game.}) 23. Bxd4 exd4 24. Bxe6+ $2 {This is imprecise.} (24. Rxd4 $1 {The pin is lethal. White has to spot a very difficult move, but then he wins.} Kf7 {Black is hoping for Nd7-d5, when the rook on d8 cannot be comfortably taken due to Nxf3. But White wins with the astounding} 25. Kh1 $3 {Getting out of Ne5 just in time.} (25. Kf1 {Will not do because Black gets too much counterplay after} Ke7 26. Red1 {Otherwise the knight escapes} Rxh2 $1) 25... Ke7 (25... Ne5 26. Rxd8 Nxf3 27. Re2) 26. Red1 { The immortal pin on the knight should win the game in short order. Trying to get it out with} Rbb8 {Fails to} 27. Bxa6 $1 {when the passed a-pawn will decide the game when all the rooks trade.} Nc5 28. Rxd8 Rxd8 29. Rxd8 Kxd8 30. Bc4 {White should win.}) 24... Kf8 25. Rxd4 Ke7 26. Rxd7+ Rxd7 27. Bxd7 Kxd7 { White is a pawn up, and if he could just include his king, he would win easily. But the king is cut off on the first rank, which complicates his task considerably. I'm not sure if the position is winning or not.} 28. Rd1+ Ke6 29. f4 c5 {The c-pawn is coming, and hard to deal with.} 30. Rd5 Rc2 31. h4 c4 32. f5+ Kf6 33. Rc5 h5 {Magnus let the win slip away. He cannot include his king in the action and hie pawns are firmly blockaded. Still, he clearly was in control the entire game, and is looking like the much better rapid player so far.} 34. Kf1 Rc3 $2 {I've been told I have been too harsh with giving each player double question marks at some point in the match, so I will spare Caruana here. But this move is so completely wrong. Black absolutely cannot let the White king enter the game.} (34... c3 35. Ke1 Ra2 {Something like this draws easily. The king is simply too passive.} 36. Rxc3 Ke5) 35. Kg2 $1 { Freedom!} Rxa3 36. Rxc4 Ke5 37. Rc7 $1 Kxe4 $2 {The last mistake. Black still could have held with Ra2+, but this was a very hard move to find with no time on the clock and its unsurprising even a very strong player messed up in such a tough position. While this is technically the move that lost Black the game, I would be much more critical of Rc3, allowing the White king to escape. Often the bigger mistake is the one that makes your task difficult, not the one that ultimately tips the scale.} (37... Ra2+ $1 {Black once again needed to fight to keep White's king passive.} 38. Kh3 Kxe4 39. Rxg7 Ra1 $1 {Black is ready for Kf3 next to make counterplay.} 40. Rc7 Rf1 $1 {Another only move, and Black holds by the skin of his teeth. This seems nearly impossible for a human to find when so low on time.}) 38. Re7+ $1 {Sealing the deal. White does not allow Black's king into f3.} Kxf5 39. Rxg7 {Black cannot prevent the loss of the h5-pawn, and hie a-pawn offers no real hope of salvation. A back and forth game (it is rapid after all) but Magnus really seemed to be in the drivers seat the whole way. One game is obviously the smallest possible sample size, but if this is the kind of strength difference we can expect among them in rapid chess, his draw offer in round 12 becomes much more understandable.} Kf6 40. Rg5 a5 41. Rxh5 a4 42. Ra5 Ra1 43. Kf3 a3 44. Ra6+ Kg7 45. Kg2 Ra2+ 46. Kh3 Ra1 47. h5 Kh7 48. g4 Kg7 $2 {The position was beyond saying but this gives up the last practical chance.} (48... a2 {This is a decent try, but it does lose.} 49. Kh2 $1 {It is important to keep the g2-square clear.} (49. Kg2 Kg7 50. g5 $4 (50. Kh2 {Still wins})) 49... Kg7 50. g5 Kg8 (50... Rb1 51. Ra7+ Kg8 52. Rxa2 Rb5 53. Rg2 $1 {White needs this move to save his pawns.}) 51. Ra7 Kh8 52. h6 $1 {again, keeping the g-pawn as the safe one.} (52. g6 $2 {An innocent move like this one is not to be recommended...} Rb1 $1 53. Rxa2 Rb5 {And it's a technical draw. white needed the Rg2 resource to save his less advanced pawn. By playing g6 instead, he allows a draw.}) 52... Rb1 53. Rxa2 Rb5 54. Rg2 $1 $18 {I really doubt Magnus was unaware of this idea and probably knew the Ippolito-Ganguly game, but it was the only thing worth trying for Black.}) 49. Kh4 a2 50. Kg5 Kf7 51. h6 Rb1 52. Ra7+ Kg8 53. Rxa2 Rb5+ 54. Kg6 Rb6+ 55. Kh5 1-0