🍒Chess2018: Nachtrag WM2018

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Move	N	Result	Elo	Players

Replay and check the LiveBook here

The last game, where so much is at stake. If Fabiano wins he'll become the 17th world champion. All his tournaments, all the work of his life has been aimed at reaching this point. After accomplishing everything necessary to reach the goal of playing for the World Championship, Fabiano has survived eleven tough rounds to get to this last game. I cannot think of any game where there's so much to play for. Will we see Fabiano win the biggest game of his life? Or will we see Carlsen defend his title once again? 1.e4! In the last few months and in tournaments before this one, Fabiano had been experimenting with 1.d4 or 1.c4. Although he had great results with White in some games in the Catalan or the Nimzo, that was just a distraction for Magnus to ponder. In this match of all matches, Fabiano will stick to his main opening 1.e4! c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 Shelving 3.Bb5, which has been played three times in this tournament. cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 As predicted by many people including myself, we see the Sveshnikov Sicilian for the last game. I'm sure many people were pleased to see such a sharp opening for the final game of the match. Magnus has strongh nerves. In order to be able to play such a sharp opening you have to come very well prepared; there are many pitfalls and traps that Black can easily fall into in the Sveshnikov. You have to have complete trust in your ability to calculate and assess the arising positions. Part of me wonders what would happen if Magnus employed 1...e5 in a game in this match. 7.Nd5 7.Bg5 is the main move here by far. Fabiano has played this many times before, his most recent being a big win against Gata Kamsky in the 2017 US Championships. a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Bxf6 gxf6 10.Nd5 Now Black can play both 10...f5 or 10...Bg7. This complex variation used to be very popular. Just a few years ago Boris Gelfand and Teimour Radjabov were staunch defenders of this line. These days we'll probably see 7.Nd5 grow into popularity since everyone copies the top player's games. 7...Nxd5 8.exd5 Ne7 While annotating game 8 for ChessBase, I wondered what would happen if Magnus chose 8...Ne7. Today we'll see exactly that. The usual move 8...Nb8 was played in games 8 and 10. 9.c4 Many years ago while reading Rogozenco's The Sveshnikov Reloaded book, I remember that 9.c3 was considered White's best. It gives White some extra options on the queenside. 9.c3 Now Black should probably play 9...Nf5 to keep d6 defended. If he tries Ng6? it's a mistake since 9...f5!? 10.Qa4 Kf7 is playable too, though White might be a bit better after 11.Qb4 10.Qa4 Bd7 11.Qc4 is unpleasant. Especially after Rc8 12.Qb4 hitting the d6 and a7 pawns. 9...Ng6 10.Qa4 Bd7 is a quick way to decide the last round game and head for the rapid playoffs. But if this happens we might see protesters and rioters in London, and the fans who paid tickets would definitely want a full refund. Playing top level chess is not easy, but fortunately Fabiano comes well prepared and ready to fight for an advantage. 11.Qb4 Bf5 The best move, I'm sure Magnus is still following his prep. The most natural move is 11...Qb8 It has been played 13 times in the past according to the ChessBase Live Book. Still it doesn't seem to equalize. White just has too much space. 12.h4 h5 13.Be2 a6 14.Nc3 Be7 15.g3 for example here. I still like White, after making natural moves for both sides. It seems to me that White has an easier game and the knight on g6 is misplaced. Needless to say 11...Bxb5 12.Qxb5+ Qd7 has to be avoided. No one should give up the bishop pair without getting someting concrete in return. 12.h4 h5N Black pushes back and does not give White any more space to work with. Fabiano likes playing with a lot of space and it's dangerous to give him too much ground to work with. Coincidentally this is also a novelty according to my database. 12...Be7 13.h5 Nf4 14.Be3 a6 15.Nc3 Nd3+ 16.Bxd3 Bxd3 17.Rd1 12...a6 13.h5 13.Qa4 A provocative move and a typical strategy. By repeating the position twice a player can move the game closer to the time control on move 40. This allows him or her to have more time to think on critical positions. This makes more sense in complicated or unfamiliar openings like the Sveshnikov. In a Berlin 5.Re1 or a symmetrical Petroff it is perhaps unnecessary. But in this game it could be beneficial as we are in foreign territory at such an early stage of the game. Bd7 14.Qb4 Bf5 15.Be3 White gains time from creating threats on the queenside. I suppose he has to act quickly or else Black comfortably finishes his development. Then the construction of Black active pieces on the kingside guarantees counterplay. In that regard 15.Bg5 looks interesting too. A slow move like 15.Be2 will not cut it, if White is looking for an advantage. After Be7 16.g3 a6 17.Nc3 e4 Black creates strong counterplay with Bf6 and Ne5 coming next. It is tempting to disrupt Black's development with 15.Bg5 and with hindsight I would recommend this move. Black does not really want to play f6, and Be7 loses so Qb8 has to be played. 15...Be7? 16.Bxe7 Kxe7 17.c5 is bad for Black. Now his king is forced unto f6 dxc5 18.Qxc5+ Kf6 And now 19.Nd6 leaves Black's king in a tough spot. 19.Nd6± 16.g3 16.Qa5!? is a deep computer move. The fun idea is that b6 17.Qa4 Bd7 18.Bd3 White wants to win quickly with Bf5 but Be7! equalizes and takes out the fun. 18...a6 19.Bf5! is tough to meet for Black. 19.Bxg6 fxg6 20.Bxe7 Kxe7 21.Qc2 Kf7= 16...a6 17.Nc3 Be7 18.Be2 Qc7 now we get a line very similar to the game, but Black has to spend two tempi moving his queen from b8 to c7. Also Fabiano avoids the possibility of 15...Be7 as could happen in his game. It does not look like there is much difference to the untrained eye, but in top level chess little things like this matter. 15...a6 I wonder where both players preparation ended. I suspect it was a move ago. Here Black has another seemingly better (albeit more risky) option. I like here 15...Be7 Black is going to get fast development and piece play for his pawn. 16.Nxa7 16.Bxa7 0-0 17.g3 b6 the bishop on a7 is in a tricky spot. 16.g3 Black can finish his development by castling or go 16...Be4 and 17...Bf3. 16...0-0 White has many possibilities now. It is not simple to defend over the board against Black's initiative. Perhaps 17.Bb6 17.g3 Be4 18.Rh2 Bf3 19.Nb5 f5! with attack. 17.Qxb7? Qa5+ 18.b4 Qa3-+ 17.Nb5 Nxh4 17.Be2 Nf4 17.a4 Nxh4∞ 17...Qd7 18.Qb5 is the safest in order to trade queens. The position is very complex. Bd8 19.Qxd7 Bxd7 20.Bxd8 Rfxd8 21.Nb5 Bxb5 22.cxb5 Ra4 23.g3 Rc8∞ 16.Nc3 Qc7 Solid and simple. There is no need to go for assymetrical positions 16...Be7 17.Qxb7 0-0 18.0-0-0 Nxh4 19.Qb6 it feels that the h4 pawn is not as important as Black's b7 pawn. 17.g3 17.Qa4+ Bd7 18.Qd1 Ne7 17...Be7 18.f3 18.Qa4+ Bd7 19.Qd1 Bg4 20.Be2 Bxe2 21.Qxe2 18.Be2 Nf8 18...Nf8! Optimal rearrangement of the pieces. In these kinds of positions you want to delay castling until White shows his hand. Castling short now will only tempt White to go for a full frontal kingside attack with Be2, and g4/f4 etc. 18...0-0 19.Be2 Bd7 20.a4! With the queenside closed, White can focus on planning his kingside attack. f5 21.f4 exf4 22.gxf4 the position is complex, but it should be in White's favour. 19.Ne4 Nd7 19...Bxe4 20.fxe4 Nd7 21.Bh3 20.Bd3 0-0 Watching this game live I expected 20...Bg6 although perhaps it does not make much difference since Black has to castle sooner or later. 21.Rh2? No doubt the enormous tension of the last round of the World Championship match takes its toll on everyone. Both players start making mistakes. This has a nice idea to it, but it's too ambitious and simply does not work. White wants to play Rc2 and castle long, but this gives Magnus more than enough time and options to meet this plan. Fabiano gives the impression that he likes positions of opposite castled kings. Therefore this move does not come as a big surprise from him. It's just too ambitious. White has to acquiesce and play the calmer 21.0-0 Bg6 22.Qd2 when f5 is always met by Ng5. White can still try to fight for an advantage if Magnus is not careful. 21.0-0-0 b5 castling queenside is unrealistic at this point. 21...Rac8 Or 21...Bg6 22.0-0-0 Bg6 Now f5 is coming and its unpleasant to meet it as White has no good way to prevent it. His best option now is to play calmly and brace for the coming storm. 23.Rc2 I thought at first 23.Kb1 was better to keep the rook on the h-file for now. f5 24.Ng5 Bxg5 25.hxg5 e4 26.fxe4 Ne5 27.Be2 but still both Ng4 or fxe4 now is in Black's favour. 23...f5 24.Nf2 24.Ng5 Bxg5 25.hxg5 e4 24...Nc5 Black has seized a powerful initiative and is slowly taking over. 25.f4 Desperation, but what else? White hopes to at least keep the g6-bishop away from action. 25.Bxc5 dxc5 26.Qe1 Rfe8 as I said earlier no one really wants to give up the bishop pair unless necessary. 25...a5 An automatic move in conjuction with a piece outpost on c5. I wonder if Magnus thought of or even considered b5 ideas here. 25...exf4 26.Bxf4 b5 looks powerful, and might be just close to winning. 27.Qd2 is the sternest defence, when Black can go 27...Bf6, or 27.. .Qb6. White's position is tough to defend and his consolation (asleep bishop on g6) is not enough to save him objectively. His pieces are just badly placed especially the knight on f2. Not to mention shaky king safety. 27.Kb1 a5 when taking on b5 will lead to a queen trap after Be8. 28.Qxb5? Be8 27...Bf6 25...b5 is perfectly good too with the same ideas. 26.Qd2 I expected Bf6 now to keep the tension on the kingside open for a while, but Magnus has no qualms about closing it right away. e4 26...Bf6 27.Be2 is possible, and now Black can think whether to take on f4 or play like Magnus with e4. The computer gives a large advantage for Black after taking on f4, but it is definitely far from clear over the board. exf4 28.gxf4 Rfe8 29.Rg1 29.Bd4 Qe7 29...Bf7 30.Kb1 a4 Black has Nb3 ideas and even positional exchange sacrifices on e3. 31.Bf3 Rxe3 32.Qxe3 Re8 33.Qa3 Bd4 these are computer lines of course. I cannot imagine anyone finding any of these in a tournament game. 27.Be2 Be8 Still even after not playing the best way on move 25 Magnus keeps hopes alive by maintaining a stable advantage. White has to solve the small issue of his vulnerable king. 28.Kb1 Bf6 28...Ba4 is possible, White can sac the exchange with 29.Bxh5 now b5 is an out of this world move. Black is clearly better here by the way. 29.Re1 White's best defense is 29.Nh3! posting the knight on g5. From there it always has the option to jump on e6 and create distraction. Ba4!? 30.b3 looks scary for White, though he probably just survives the onslaught. Bxb3 31.axb3 Nxb3 32.Qe1 b5 33.c5 29...a4 Magnus misses a great opportunity to try to seal the deal. 29...Ba4! is incredibly powerful. Black's attack is simply much faster in all lines. Here are some ChessBase engine analysis: 30.Rcc1 30.b3 Bxb3 31.axb3 Nxb3 32.Qd1 a4! Is a steady but sure way to win as White cannot defend against all the threats. Qa5 is Black's main idea. 33.Bxh5 33.Ka2 Qa5 34.Qb1 b5 33...Qa5 34.Bg6 Qb4 Now a possible line is 35.Qh5 35.Ka2 Nc1+ 35...Rfd8 36.Bxf5 Nd4+ 37.Rb2 Qxe1+ 38.Ka2 Nxf5 39.Qxf5 Bxb2 when White loses all his pieces. 30.Bxh5 Bxc2+ 31.Qxc2 b5 32.cxb5 Qd7 33.Qe2 Na4-+ 30...b5! An important follow up. 31.cxb5 31.Bxh5 Qb7 31.Bd4 Bxd4 32.Qxd4 bxc4 33.Rxc4 Rb8 31...Qb6 32.Bd4 Bxd4 33.Qxd4 Bxb5 34.Bxh5 a4 basically Black is almost winning after 29...Ba4. I think though it is unrealistic to expect a person to find it over the board. Just reading the reports on ChessBase I can only imagine how much tension the players are going through to perform well. Pressure, pressure pressure from every side. 30.Qb4 g6 31.Rd1 When I first saw this move I thought it was an internet glitch. I expected Fabiano to improve the position of his knight with 31.Nd1. 31.Nd1 White will hopefully unravel and take a solid stance with Qd2 and Nc3. 31...Ra8 Draw agreed. A big surprise, considering that Black still had a stable advantage in the position and on the clock. (If I remember correctly Magnus had 50 minutes left here compared to Fabiano's 20 minutes.) I guess Nh3 followed by Ng5 gives White a solid position, so Magnus decided to call it a day. Magnus must be really looking forward to the rapid tiebreaks, as he did two years ago against Sergey Karjakin. He missed great winning opportunities on move 25 and move 29 and I sort of suspect he came into the game with an eye on the tiebreaks. It's also posisble that he just wnated to make a lot of people happy (including myself). As two years ago we again get to see a four game rapid playoff! I am very excited to watch this match live. My prediction is that Fabiano will give Magnus a run for his money. That said, rapid games are a totally different kind of chess. Usually the player with the better nerves wins. Let's see what happens. ½–½

White	EloW	Black	EloB	Res

Caruana,F

2832

Carlsen,M

2835

½–½

und

🍒Chess2018

ICCF - Correspondence Chess

Donnerstag, 6. Dezember 2018

Nachtrag WM2018 - 12.Partie

Sachlich, analytisch, hochbegabt