Mikhalchishin - Stetsko - Fighting Chess with Magnus Carlsen, 2012.pdf

Mikhalchishin/Stetsko

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Fighting Chess with Magnus Carlsen

ProgressinCiiess

Volume 31 of the ongoing series

Editorial board GM Victor Korchnoi GM Helmut Pfleger GM Nigel Short GM Rudolf Teschner

2012 EDITION OLMS

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Adrian Mikhalchishin

Oleg Stetsko

FIGHTING CHESS WITH MAGNUS CARLSEN

Translated and edited by Ken Neat

2012 EDITION OLMS

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The Authors Adrian Mikhalchishin (born 1954) has an excel lent i nternational reputation, above all as a fine chess trainer. T h e Ukrainian-born grandmaster worked from 1980 to 1986 with the 12th world champion Anatoly Karpov, and he has also assisted Zsuzsa Polgar, M aya Ch iburdanidze, Vassily l vanchuk and Arkady Naid itsch. As chairman of the FIDE Trainers' C o m m ission, M i khalch ishin can also call on on h i s wealth of experience as an active player. He participated in several USSR national championships, 4th place in 1984 in the 51st championship in his home city of Lvov bei ng his greatest competitive success. He has also taken part i n four Chess Olympiads, three t i m es f o r his new homeland o f Slovenia (2000, 2002 a n d 2004).

Oleg Stetsko (born 1936) was a professional ai rforce pilot and a chess player of Soviet master standard, who played several times i n the strong USSR Armed Forces championships. After h i s ret i rement i n 1984 he was appointed to the trai n i n g staff of the USSR national team, which in 1989 he helped to win the second World Team Championship i n Lucerne. Stetsko then worked as a journalist for the prestigious 64 magazine, of which Anato ly Karpov was the editor-in-chief. In the 1990s together with the well-known grandmaster Eduard Gufeld he wrote several books, includ i n g

The Complete Dragon and Winning with the Torre Attack.

Bibliograph ical Information published by T h e Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek l i sts this publ ication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data i s available on the Internet at http://d nb.d-nb.de.

Copyright © 2012 Edition Olms AG W i l l i konerstr. 10a

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E-mail: info@ed ition-olms.com Internet: www.ed ition-o l m s.com All rig hts reserved. T h i s work is protected by copyright. No part of this publ ication may be reproduced, stored i n a retrieval system or transm itted i n any form or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, photocopying, record ing or otherwise, without prior perm ission of the publ isher. Printed in Germany Printed on acid-free and ageing-resistant paper Editor: Ken Neat Photog raph: © Ray M o rris-Hi l l Photog raphy Translator: Ken Neat Typesetti n g by: Art & Satz

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Printed by: Druckerei Friedr. Sch mucker GmbH, D-49624 Lon i ngen Cover: Ni klas WeiB, D-79104 Freiburg ISBN13: 978-3-283-01020-1

Contents

Preface

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Mag nus Carlsen - Hero of the Computer Era G. Kacheishvili-M. Carlsen 14

D. Pavasovic- M. Carlsen 16

M. Carlsen- L. Aronian 17

A. Onischuk- M. Carlsen 17

M. Carlsen-G. Kamsky 18

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M. Maki Uuro- M. Carlsen 14

F. Bindrich- M. Carlsen 15

M. Carlsen-A. Adly 19

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M. Carlsen-D. Kedik 15

E. Rozentalis-M. Carlsen 16 C. Pedersen- M. Carlsen 18

M. Carlsen-A. Naiditsch 19

L. Aronian-M. Carlsen 20

1

From Master to Grandmaster

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Game 1 M. Carlsen- H. Harestad 23

Game 2 M. Carlsen-S. Zhigalko 26

Game 3 M. Carlsen-S. Ernst 31

Game 4 M. Carlsen-S. Dolmatov 34

Game 5 M. Carlsen- E. Shaposhnikov 35

M. Carlsen- G. Kasparov 39

Game 6 M. Carlsen- E. V ladimirov 41

Game 7 D. Palo- M. Carlsen 43

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Game 8 M. Carlsen- N. Short 46

2 The Way to the Top

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P. H. Nielsen- M. Carlsen 50

Game 9 M. Carlsen-A. Shirov 51

Game 10 I. Cheparinov- M. Carlsen 55

Game 11 M. Carlsen- P. Nikolic 57

Game 12 M. Carlsen-K. Lie 62

Game 13 B. Jobava- M. Carlsen 66

Game 14 M. Carlsen- F. Amonatov 71

Game 15 M. Carlsen- G. Kamsky 73

Game 16 M. Carlsen-A. Beliavsky 77

M. Carlsen -A. Beliavsky 80

Game 17 M. Carlsen-J. Nunn 81

Game 18 M. Carlsen- M. Adams 84

Game 19 M. Carlsen-A. Morozevich 90

Game 20 A. Morozevich- M. Carlsen 95

M. Carlsen-A. Shirov 99

Game 21 M. Carlsen- A. Morozevich 101

M. Carlsen-V. Topalov 107

Game 22 M. Carlsen-V. lvanchuk 107

Game 23 M. Carlsen- L. Aronian 112

Game 24 M. Carlsen- L. Aronian 115

Game 25 L. Aronian-M. Carlsen 118

M. Carlsen- L. Aronian 123

M. Carlsen-Y. Pelletier 125

Game 26 M. Carlsen-A. Onischuk 125

Game 27 M. Carlsen- T. Radjabov 129

Game 28 V. Kramnik- M. Carlsen 133

Game 29 D. Jakovenko-M. Carlsen 135

Game 30 M. Carlsen- L. Dominguez 140

Game 31 M. Carlsen- M. Adams 143

Game 32 M. Carlsen -I. Cheparinov 149

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3

Life at the Top

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Game 33 M. Carlsen- P. Eljanov 155

Game 34 V. Kramnik- M. Carlsen 158

Game 35 V. Topalov- M. Carlsen 163

Game 36 M. Carlsen-L. Aronian 166

Game 37 M. Carlsen-V. Topalov 169

Game 38 T. Radjabov- M. Carlsen 174

Game 39 M. Carlsen- V. lvanchuk 178

Game 40 Y. Pelletier- M. Carlsen 184

Game 41 L. Dominguez- M. Carlsen 187

Game 42 M. Carlsen- T. Radjabov 191

Game 43 L. Aronian- M. Carlsen 195

Game 44 M. Carlsen- L. Aronian 198

Game 45 M. Carlsen -A. Beliavsky 201

Game 46 M. Carlsen- L. Dominguez 205

Game 47 M. Carlsen- V. Anand 208

Game 48 L. Dominguez- M. Carlsen 212

Game 49 M. Carlsen-A. Grischuk 215

Game 50 M. Carlsen-V. Topalov 218

Game 51 M. Carlsen-Wang Yue 221

Game 52 M. Carlsen-D. Jakovenko 226

Game 53 M. Carlsen- P. Leko 230

Game 54 M. Carlsen-V. Topalov 233

Game 55 M. Carlsen-T. Radjabov 237

Game 56 M. Carlsen- V. Anand 240

Game 57 M. Carlsen -R. Ponomariov 244

Game 58 M. Carlsen- V. Kramnik 247

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Game 59 S. Karjakin- M. Carlsen 252

L. Aronian -M. Carlsen 256

Game 60 L.-D. Nisipeanu- M. Carlsen 258

Game 61 R. Ponomariov- M. Carlsen 261

Game 62 M. Carlsen- E. Bacrot 265

Game 63 M. Carlsen-H. Nakamura 269

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Game 64 M. Carlsen- L.-D. Nisipeanu 271

4

Index

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Tournament and Match Record 274 Index of Carlsen's Opponents 279 Index of Openings 280

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7

Preface The swift rise of the young Norwegian Mag­

for great achievements. Another impor­

nus Carlsen to the top levels of chess has

tant factor was the boy's home situation.

literally overturned impressions about the

Magnus has a secure basis-a wholesome

possibilities of teaching talented children.

family, in which his sisters virtually idolise

Indeed, to progress at a young age from a

him, and the attention and support of rela­

run-of-the-mill master to a real contender

tives and of society. Already at the age of

for the chess crown in just five years is

ten he had the help of a trainer, and as his

something that only an outstanding tal­

prowess developed he also acquired the

ent is capable of doing. In the history of

support of financial bodies, including the

chess only Garry Kasparov has achieved

Microsoft company.

any similar. In this occurrence there is

By present-day junior standards, Mag­

much that is surprising: both the fact that

nus began a serious study of chess rather

such an extraordinary talent appeared in

late-at the age of eight. The initial motiva­

'non-chess' Norway, and the way itself in

tion was a promise by his father to include

which this chess mastery was acquired.

him, if he played well, in the Norwegian

For graduates and successors of the So­

under-11 championship. This stimulated

viet Chess School, nurtured in a 'chess'

the boy to study chess for 2-3 hours a

foundation established over decades, and

day over a period of six months. The rest

fostered from childhood in clubs at Pio­

was accomplished by his all-consuming

neers Palaces and then in chess schools

interest in the game. Many point to the

run by famous mentors, it is hard to imagine

prevalence of computer preparation, even

a boy grasping the wisdom of chess virtu­

calling Magnus a computer boy. He does

ally on his own.

not deny his enthusiasm for the computer;

This is correct only in the sense that

indeed it would be strange not to make

Magnus likes to study chess on his own.

use of it in the age of universal comput­

But there were also attendant circumstanc­

erisation. For modern children, using a

es: Magnus's father, Henrik Carlsen, was

computer does not present any particular

well known in Norway as a chess organiser,

problems, and a grasp of the accompa­

and it was he who noticed his son's talent,

nying programs comes quite naturally to

observing that already at the age of five

them. As for purely chess preparation,

he had good analytical ability. And, not

Carlsen uses the computer as an instru­

surprisingly, knowing the precedent of the

ment, and he relates sceptically to con­

famous Hungarian Judit Polgar, from an

tentions that it is emasculating live chess.

early age the father began assisting his son

The main thing for Magnus is improving

to become a chess professional, hoping

his mastery and achieving results. Here

8

Preface

it is appropriate to recall the pithy saying

have been countless examples of success­

of Mikhail Botvinnik: 'Chess cannot be

ful self-realisation. His way is familiar to

taught, one can only learn it!' It is unlikely

me not just by hearsay, since at a mature

that Magnus is familiar with the Patriarch's

age I managed to achieve chess master

claim, but he has patiently learned, pro­

standard and complete a correspondence

ceeding with the help of the computer,

course at the Aviation Institute.

picturesquely speaking, in seven-league

By his 19th year Carlsen had completed his chess Academy, he had received high

steps. Another very important factor in his im­

marks from his examiners by victories in

provement has been the reading of chess

very strong tournaments, and he was con­

literature. In the words of his father, he

tinuing to improve. This is indicated by his

literally swallowed all Kasparov's series

attainment of the high point 2800 in the

My Great Predecessors and from them he

world rating list, which allows him to be

remembers practically everything. These

regarded as the strongest player in the

books are a kind of academic course on

West. Carlsen has made his 'way to the

the classical heritage of chess. And the

top' in chess high society. One of the many

fact that he prefers to work on chess on

ways available to a talented young person.

his own ('Magnus is very independent

We would like to wish that his 'life at the

as regards preparation, I only help him',

top' does not collapse, as in the novel of

testifies his trainer Simen Agdestein), is

the same name by the well-known English

merely an indication of his character. In

writer John Braine.

short, we see an example of the effective

In conclusion, we would like to thank

study of chess by correspondence, based

grandmaster Andrey Devyatkin for help in

on fertile ground. In the opinion of one

describing the childhood stage of Magnus

of the best trainers of the present time,

Carlsen's chess career.

grandmaster Yuri Razuaev, the boy pos­

Oleg Stetsko

sessed the gift of self-instruction. It would be incorrect to talk about the

USSR Master of Sport

ineffectivness of this type of study, with

Senior Trainer of the USSR

references to a lack of 'schooling'. There

national team 1985-89

9

Magnus Carlsen - Hero of the Computer Era

When we beg i n examining the chess phe­ nomenon Magnus Carlsen and his way to the top, the fi rst th i ng that comes to m i n d is whether we can compare the tal­ ented Norweg ian with the bri l l iant chess gen iuses of the second half of the 20th centu ry, Robert Fischer and Garry Kasp­ arov. What is it that unites him with these great champions? Above all - a bri l l i ant m e m o ry. H i s fi rst tra i ner, g ran d m aster Si men Agdestei n , to ld me that he gave the you n g Magnus an open i n g book to read , and the next day, as if noth ing had happened , he performed the new open­ ing to a h i g h standard . True, a striving for sharp positions i m med iately on emerg ing from the open i n g , as possessed by the young Fischer and Kasparov, was not very apparent, but already at the age of fifteen he was confidently playi ng complicated open ings such as the Sveshnikov Variation and the Botvi n n i k Variation. The greatest influence on the develop­ ment of the you n g talent was u ndoubt­ ed ly made by the Norweg ian grandmaster Si men Agdestein . Th is showed itself not only in chess, but also in the fact that Mag­ nus is a good footbal ler. After al l , his trainer played for his cou ntry at both chess and football , and he even scored a goal against Italy! They met when Magnus was 1 0 years old. Initially the boy studied with the Norwe­ g ian master Torbj0rn Ringdal Hansen , who

was doing his m i l itary service at a Col lege for Top Athletes, where Agdestein ran the chess section. And with in a year he made i ncred i ble progress. This is not surprisi ng: M ag n u s was l iterally gripped by c hess, playing i n all possible tournaments and read ing nu merous chess books in English. His fi rst book was Find the Plan by Bent Larsen. At that time Agdestein correctly thought that, for lessons with a boy who was at the stage of masteri ng the basics of chess, a computer was not needed . And only later, when the open ing became an i mportant element of the play in tour­ naments, M ag n u s began work i n g with the analytical modu les Fritz and Rybka. Agdestein worked with Magnus several times a month, spending two or three hours on the analysis of a game. I n Agdestein's opinion, children cannot be forced to study chess. Of cou rse, it is not easy to teach a youngster to play, but if you can arouse his ind ividual interest, miracles occur. Th is is how it was with Magnus - motivation was the main key to success! M ag n u s t h o u g ht that on the way to hig her achievements he should become N o rweg ian cham p i o n , but in 2004 and 2005 the road was blocked by his expe­ rienced teacher, and it was only in 2006 that he managed to su rpass h i m . Surpris­ ing ly, Magnus was also unable to win i n t h e young age categories o f t h e European

10

M ag nus Carlsen - Hero of the Computer Era

Cham pionsh i ps. But where now are those by move', so to speak. Although he was who fin ished ahead of him? In the history sti l l a long way from the best players of this of chess this has also occurred with other type, such as Fischer and Kasparov, he players. For example, up to the age of 1 6 was nevertheless notable for his sensible the great Garry Kasparov was twice unable and logical play. True, at ti mes his play to demonstrate his superiority in class. I n looked somewhat simplified , sometimes the fi rst stage o f h i s work with M agnus, automated , which was a consequence of Agdestein set the objective of reach i n g fascination with computer preparation. Not master level o f play a n d he regarded indi­ without reason , Garry Kasparov warned vidual tournaments only as stages towards about the poi ntlessness of such play. Th is the ach ievement of this aim. But al ready is how he descri bes the essence of the in 2004 he realised that he was u nable to play in so-cal led post-modern ism chess: raise the youngster to a higher level , and ' Nowadays most you n g p l ayers s i m ply the search for a new trai ner began. move the pieces i n antici pation of a mis­ Contact with Garry Kasparov early in take, l i ke an ice-hockey team knocking 2005 was not developed any further. But the puck into the opponent's zone, hoping a mentor was found on Scandi navian soi l . that someth ing will come of this. The pure After contacts at a number of joint tourna­ prag matism of the young shows itself in ments in Scandinavia, the strong Danish many games. Carlsen sti l l needs to raise grandmaster Peter Heine N ielsen began his u nderstand i n g to m atch u p with h i s working with the you n gster. For a long energy a n d optimism'. But even so, Magnus did not develop time he had been keeping an eye on the young Norweg ian and a year earlier he had l i ke a computer player, although the work com mented in the press: the West had with N ielsen , who made active use of the not known such a great talent si nce the computer, seriously developed the ana­ time of Fischer, and at such a young age lytical aspect of his talent, which is often Carlsen was not inferior to either Karpov or called playing computer chess. Is this good Kasparov. At that time N ielsen was actively or bad? N owadays chess has changed , col laborating with Vishwanathan Anand, and the top players are not inclined to phi­ and later, when he was having to work with losophise about the position; they need both of them , he wou ld sometimes enlist quickly and efficiently to find not so much Mag n u s to p repare Vishy for i m portant the best move, as the optimal decision. events, such as, for example, the match This enables them for a lengthy time to for the world championship with Kram nik maintain the tension on the board and to set the opponent the maximum discomfort in 2008. Working with N ielsen , Carlsen substan­ in the solving of constant problems. The tially expanded h i s o pen i n g repertoi re, plans for conducting the game in this type which had to be greatly modern ised . For of chess are far less concrete than during example, with Black he stopped playing the the ti mes of the g reat world champions, King's I ndian Defence, which did not suit who ad hered to the classical style of play, his style. At that time Magnus was most with the possible exception of M i khail Tal . successful in tense positions, in play 'move But these plans are based on the i nten-

11

M ag nus Carlsen - Hero of the Computer Era

..;;;..

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sity level of the position and are solved

very fruitful. Magnus possesses a natural

exclusively by concrete measures, not by

gift for correctly evaluating a position, a

general reasoning.

very rare quality, one which at a young

The well-known trainer Arshak Petro­

age has been possessed by many world

sian, observing Carlsen's play at the C

champions. In Kasparov's opinion, in style

Tournament in Wijk aan Zee in 2004, was

of play the Norwegian youngster is close

surprised at how confidently the 13-year­

to Karpov, Smyslov and Capablanca. But

old boy could 'serve with either hand', i.e.

since Magnus's style of play is markedly

play both 1. e4 and 1. d4 with equal suc­

different from that of Kasparov, his contact

cess. At so young an age, such a thing was

with the famous champion will undoubt­

typical only of Boris Spassky, the most uni­

edly expand his chess views. Usually a

versal player of the Soviet Chess School,

trainer works with his pupil, but it is unlikely

who (stretching the point somewhat) can

that this is what Kasparov does. His role

be regarded as the forerunner of the mod­

is rather that of a mentor; there are things

ern computer generation. Assessing Mag­

he can pass on to his protege. There is no

nus's play, Arshak Petrosian quite seriously

doubt that Carlsen's opening repertoire will

warned his pupil, Peter Leko: ' Here is your

be strengthened -this is a strong compo­

future rival, you should observe his play

nent of Garry. Especially since as yet the

very carefully. He is already quite a strong

level of the youngster's opening repertoire

positional player, and he places his pieces

does not correspond to his strength of play.

correctly - a rare quality for such an age'.

At the same time it is important to learn a

A new stage in Carlsen's chess biogra­

more productive organisation of the work­

phy began quite recently - in the summer

ing process, in order to make maximum

of 2009, when he began working with Garry

use of his natural talent.

Kasparov. Their first meeting occurred in

I n the opinion o f Arshak Petrosian,

2004 at the festival in Reykjavik, when the

working with Kasparov should not so much

prodigy's play impressed Kasparov in their

change the young Norwegian's opening

rapid game, which the maestro saved only

repertoire, so much as shift his motiva­

with great difficulty. A year later Magnus

tion to the maximum level. This is the ap­

was invited by Kasparov to Moscow for

proach of real champions to the play in

lessons with the famous trainers Yuri Ra­

every game, and the accompanying feeling

zuvaev and Alexander Nikitin. But this work

of one's own superiority can be instilled

was not continued. Carlsen declined to

only by a great champion. This approach

follow the program developed by the Rus­

to the fight was displayed in October 2009

sian trainers, and decided to improve his

at the super-tournament in Nanjing. It was

chess independently.

there that it became apparent what Mag­ nus has in common with the champions

However, without highly-qualified help it proved beyond Carlsen's powers to im­

- he began to be feared!

prove on the 'star' level achieved in 2008

I saw Magnus at many Olympiads and

(his official rating reached 2776), and the

European Championships during his de­

assistance of Kasparov proved most op­

velopment period. And the first thing that

portune. For Garry the field of activity was

strikes you (incidentally, this is also the

12

Magnus Carlsen - Hero of the Computer Era ----------------

�

opinion of the well-known manager Silvio Danailov) is the feigned lack of energy, both in external appearance, and in play. Al l the champions, apart from Karpov and Pet­ rosian , looked very energetic, sometimes even frightening. As for Karpov, he had enormous i nternal energy, which he was able to transfer to the chess board . The drive of Kasparov and Fischer was felt as soon as their opponent arrived at the chess board . Carlsen conducts certai n parts of a g ame as though i m percepti bly, i n the style of Karpov or Adams, but, in contrast to them , he not only does not avoid sharp variations, but happily goes in for them. An indication of the youngster's thorough self-confidence is that he ventures to play very sharp variations, without working out all thei r details, which Kasparov always aimed to do. Yes, there are instances when he plays superficially, but this is typical of young players, who do not always u nder­ stand and sense the dangers associated with the opponent's counterplay. As for Carlsen, he possesses such a feel ing, and this is very i m portant i n high-level play. It is another m atter that his power begins to display itself only from a certain point in the game, but here he can already be irresistible. Agai n , this is a vivid charac­ teristic, typical of Karpov and to a certai n extent of Fischer. I n recent t i m es M ag n u s h as g reatly added to his depth of understanding of chess, he has beg u n to display an abil­ ity to find min imal and latent chances i n the position and he has clearly become more forcefu l i n his play. That is, he has mastered the transition to total chess, the readiness to fight to the end. We are seeing the development of a fig hter. It should be said that, i n their youth, neither Fischer nor

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Kasparov was an uncompromising fighter. They became this with the g rowth i n the confidence and power of their play and, let's make no secret of the fact, an aware­ ness of their mission in the chess world. We are also observi ng this phenomenon with the increase i n the mastery of the young Norwegian, which is reflected i n an abil ity to find the best decisions in any position. But Carlsen is insepara b l e from h i s era. He is sim u ltaneously also a computer player - it is all the same to h i m what he plays, as he looks for the best or optimal solution on the basis of his own i n d ividual algorith m . Carlsen is not a strateg ist and not a thin ker - he is a performer, l i ke an eng i neer finding the sol utions to specific problems . And his play rese m bles the output g raph of an atomic power station - constant and h i g h . Although h i s play lacks fantastic moves and d iscoveries, it is staggering in its logic and composure. It is as though he has no nerves - the typical character of a northerner. But perhaps it is not just a question of this? N ot without reason , at the conclusion of the Nanjing tou rnament of 2009, the 2nd-placed To­ palov declared : 'I was the win ner among people, but Carlsen is simply from another planet ! ' There you have an explanation, which does not make the Carlsen enig m a a n y more understandable. All these best q ualities of the you n g Norweg ian are what w e have tried to pre­ sent in his games. Through the chronol­ ogy of the games we wanted to show the development of the most talented player from the West, and to compare Magnus at the formation stage with the modern M agnus. Of cou rse, there are many as­ pects to his play and in the framework of one book it is i m possible to encom pass

13

M agnus Carlsen - Hero of the Computer Era

G. Kacheishvi li - M. Carlsen

the unbounded . Therefore we will restrict o urselves to just one com ponent of h i s play, a very i mportant ind icator o f play­ ing strength - the abil ity to play the end­ game, which has i nvariably d isti nguished the great champions of the past. It is wel l known that, espec ially with the modern strict time control, the end­ game can be d ifficult for you n g players, and here they com m it far more mistakes than in the midd legame. There are vari­ ous reasons for this: a lack of knowledge of standard positions, a poor mastery of typical manoeuvres and, it goes without saying, i g n o rance of classic exam ples. These gaps are not easy to el i m i n ate, and here the serious assistance of a trai ner is needed . Therefore it w i l l be interest­ i n g for students of chess to see not only Magnus's mistakes when he was a young­ ster, but also how he was able to correct them, and on what he is sti l l conti n u i n g to work. At the present time his technique of converting an advantage in the endgame resembles that of Fischer, and it rarely misfi res - an indication of the serious work he has done. The defence of i nferior posi­ tions is another matter - accord ing to the defi nition of Botvi n n i k, it is this q ual ity of a player that i n d icates his strength of play i n the endgame. And here, as was once the case with Fischer, M ag n u s has had many problems. But, as the examples will show, he is wel l aware of this deficiency and is working actively to elimi nate it. It can now be said that, whereas i n the initial stage of Carlsen's career the endgame was the weak aspect of his play, now we can talk about h i s su periority over other grandmasters who have crossed the 2700 rating mark. H is l atest tournaments have demonstrated this.

Bad Wiessee 2001 a

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1 J. a

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57. .. §a5+?

If possible, one should normally beg i n by advancing a passed pawn - 57. . .f2!, and only then decide what to do next. 58. l:!g8+ h5 59. l:!f8 l:!a5+ 60. d4 l:!xa6 61 . b7 l:!b6 would have led to a d raw. 58. �d4 §xa6?

It was not yet too late for 58 . . . f2 . 59. b7 §b6 60. b8'W §xb8 61 . §xb8 �f4 62 . §f8+ �g3 63. �e3

Black resigned . M. Maki Uuro - M. Carlsen

Helsinki 2002 a

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t

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8

8

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7

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Mag nus Carlsen - Hero of the Computer Era

56. �f4 Ja a1 57. Ja b4 Jaf1 + 58. �g4 Ja e1 59. e4 �f6 60. Ja b6+ �g7 61 . �f4 §f1 +?

Anything, except release the attack on the passed pawn! 61 . . . � h6 or 61 . . . � f7 would have enabled Black to fight for a draw. 62. �g5 §f3 63. g4 §e3 64. §xg6+ �f7 65. §f6+ �e7 66. §f4 �e6 67. �g6 � e5 68. §f8 §a3 69. g5 �xe4 70. �g7 � e5 71 . g6 Jag3 72. �h7 Ja h3+ 73. �g8

It is usefu l to make use of the 'desperado' rook to drive the king away from the pawns. With the king cut off, it is easier to blockade the pawns. 56. �e8 Ja f4! 57. g5+ �h5 58. Ja h7+ �g6 59. Ja h 6+ �g7 60. h5 Ja e4+ 61 . �d7 Ja e5 62 . Jag6+ �h7 63. �d 6 Ja a5 64. �c7 Ja e5 65. �d7 Ja a5 66. �e6 Ja a 6+ 67. �f5 Ja xg6

Draw.

� e 6 74. g7 Jag3 75. Jaf1 �e7 76. Ja e1 + �d7 77. Ja e4

And by constructing a ' bridge', Wh ite won . M . Carlsen - D . Kedik

After the lesson in this game, all Magnus could do was to remember for ever the method of ' h itching' the rook to the king and the passed pawns. A year l ater he hi mself saved a similar end ing.

Norwegian U nder-1 8 Championship 2002 a

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F. Bindrich - M. Carlsen

7

European U nder-1 4 Championship Budva 2003

6

[j,

5 4 3 2

2

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48. g4?

First the way for the king should have been secured - 48. fla4.

a

48 ... Ja b3+ 49. �f4 Ja b4+ 50. �f5 Ja bS+

b

c

d

e

f

9

h

76. Ja f3 Ja h1 77. �g4 Jag1 + 78. Jag3 Ja a1 79. Ja c3 Jag1 + 80. Jag3 Ja a1 81 . §d3

51 . �e6 Ja b4!

Jag1 + 82. �f4 §f1 + 83. �g4 §g1 +

It is important not to allow the pawns to ad­ vance! Subsequently Black demonstrates the same mechan ism.

84. �f3 Ja f1 + 85. �g2 Ja f5 86. Jag3 §a5 87. �h3 Ja a1 88. §b3 Ja h1 + 89. �g4

52. Ja a7+ � h 6 53. �f5 labS+ 54. �f6

§xh5 93. §a3 §h1 94. §a7+ �f8

l'l b6+ 55. �f7 §f6+!

95. �g6 Jag1 96. §a8+ �e7 97. �h6?!

§g1 + 90. �f4 §f1 + 91 . §f3 §h1 92. �f5

15

M agnus Carlsen - Hero of the Computer Era ------

There was a win by 97. �g8!, intending � h7 and g5-g6, a manoeuvre which is useful to remember. Bindrich d i d not in fact find this m a­ noeuvre (although the possibility presented itself several times), and the game ended in a draw on the 1 1 5th move.

58. �d 6 �b6 59. §f5

Black resigned . E. Rozenta lis

-

M. Carlsen

Malmo/Copenhagen 2004 a

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8

D. Pavasovic

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7

M. Carlsen

6

Wijk aan Zee C 2004 a

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6

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2

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29

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•••

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8

The offer to exchange rooks - 29 . . . �f7 ! 3 0 . �xf7+ � xf7 3 1 . fxg4 - wou l d h ave enabled Black to hold the position. M ag­ nus did not work out the elementary pawn end ing : 31 . . . � e6!? 32. � g3 fS 33. hS fxg4 34. hxg6 � f6, since in the event of 34. h6? � f7 35. � xg4 � g8 it is Black who wins.

h

44 ...§g2?

Surely it was obvious that Black should aim for the exchange of the kingside pawns. The simple 44 . . . � c6! 45. � b4 g5 would have enabled him to draw.

30. fxg4 c4 31 . �f3 cxd3 32. cxd3 §c8 33. �f4 g5+ 34. hxg5+ fxg5+ 35. �e4 §c1 36. �xd4 §g1 37. §e4 §a1 38. �c5 §xa3 39. d4 �g6

The exchange of rooks leads to a lost pawn end ing .

Th ings would not have been changed by 39 . . . as 40. dS �c3+ 41 . � b6 �d3 42. � c6 �C3+ 43. � d7.

46...§h2 47. § xg6+ �b5 48. §g5+ �b6 49. § h 5 §g2 50. �a4 §f2 51 . § h 6+

40. d 5 §c3+ 41 . �b5 �f6 42. d 6 §d3

�b7 52 . b4

43. �c6 aS 44. d7 §c3+ 45. �b7 §b3+

The winning technique is sim ple and in­ structive.

46. �c7 §c3+ 47. �d8 �f7 48. §e7+ �f8 49. §e5

52

Black resigned . He has no defence against the check on f5 and then � e7.

.••

§f5 53. h5 §e5 54. b5 §e1 55. §f6

§a1 + 56. �b4 §b1 + 57. �c5 §c1 +

16

M ag nus Carlsen - Hero of the Computer Era

M. Carlsen

-

gb3+ 71 . � h2 or immediately 69. � g3 gh8 70. � h2.

L. Aronian

FIDE World Cham pionship Tripoli 2004 a

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8

67. . . mf7 68. �h5 me6 69. �h8 �c3 10. mt4 mt7 (70 . . J�c2!) 11 . m94 mg6 72. mf4 �c2!

The conversion technique is i n structive. Since 73. gxh3 gf4+ leads to the exchange of rooks, the pawn contin ues its advance, and the king makes an outflanking m a­ noeuvre. 1a. mga h2 74 . mta mt5 75. � h 5 + a

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Th is position occurred in the first game of the tie-break. It is well known that rook end­ ings with f- and h-pawns offer the weaker side real saving chances. And the fact that this was a rapid-play game is no excuse for Carlsen bei ng u nable to save the game. A top-class g randmaster is obliged to know key endgame positions. In end ings of this type the best squares for the king are considered to be f2 and g2. Here 66. � g2 suggests itself, aiming to block the h-pawn , and leaving the rook the option of checking along the ran k and along the file (the best square for it is a8). But there fol lowed : 66. mg4?! h a

a n d it tran s p i red that, s i n ce t h e w i n of the h3- pawn leads to a l ost pawn end­ ing, it has become more d ifficult to hold the position. 67. �g5+?

Th is trick, based on stalemate - 67. . . f xgS ?. - leads to defeat. 67. ga2 fS+ 68. �f4 would have held the posit i o n , i nten d i n g after 68 . . ,gb8 to play 69. ga6+ � hS 70. � g3

m e 6 7 6. � h 8 m e 5 7 7. �e8 + m d 4 7 8 . �d 8 + m c 3 7 9 . � h 8 �d 2 8 0 . mg3 m d 3 8 1 . mf3 m c 2 82 . mg3 md1

White resigned .

A. Onisch uk

-

M. Carlsen

Olympiad , Calvia 2004 a

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Black should be able to hold such an end­ ing a pawn down , but Magnus has no clear impression of how to defend. 44 ...mt8 45. h4 g6 46. mt4 t6?

Such a move is sim ply inconceivable for a grandmaster. An obvious gap in Magnus's 'schooling'. 46 . . . �e7 47. gS hxg5+ 48. hxgS

Magnus Carlsen - Hero of the Computer Era

M. Carls en

f6! , reducing the nu mber of pawns, was correct.

-

G. Kamsky

World Cup, Khanty-Mansiysk 2005 a

47. h 5!

b

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8

N ow holes appear in Black's position.

8

7

mf7 48.E[b7+ mg8 49. me4 gxh 5 50. gxh 5 mf8 51 .E[h7 E[e1 + 52. mf5 m9a 53.E[d7 E[f1 54. t4 mta 55. d 6

47

6

5 � 4 B .\ 3 B

•••

mea 56.E[h7 E[d1 57. mea

Black resig ned.

2

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C. Ped ersen

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41 .E[a6+ me5 42 .E[h 6E[d4 43.1tlc4+ mt5 44. h4 ltlt7 45.E[b6?!

5

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d

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3

White is a pawn up with a winning position. All that is requ i red is a certain accuracy.

8

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.!. �· �

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5 4

M. Carls en

Gausdal 2005 a

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45. �xh7? was not possible because of the loss of the rook after 45 . . . � g 6 ! , but by playing 45. �e3+ � e4 (45 . . . � e5 46. �xh7) 46. �e6+ �e5 47. �c4 White would have won easily. 45...E[xh4 46.E[xb4

h

And here 46. � g3! �h1 47. � xf3 would have led to the win of the f3-pawn.

This is a theoretically drawn endgame, but you have to know the defensive proced ure.

4 6...E[h3 47. a 5/tlg5 48. a 6??

91 . Irc2 J.b4 92.E[c4 J. e7 93. mf4 mh 5

This elementary oversight changes the picture. N ow W h ite i s losi n g , altho u g h a simple knight manoeuvre - 48. � e3+ and 49. � g4 - would have enabled h i m t o q ueen his a-pawn i n comfort.

I t is correct t o head for t h e corner o f the opposite colour to the bishop - 93 . . . � h3. 94. �f5 AdS??

If c h ess n otation a l l owed it, this m ove would deserve a g reater n umber of ques­ tion m arks. The simple 94 . . . � h6 would have enabled Black to draw.

48

••.

ltle4+ 49. me3 f2+ 50. me2 E[c3?

50 . . . �f3! would have won i mmediately. 51 . �d2?

95.E[c8

The comedy of e rrors conti n u es . After 51 . � f1 ! Wh ite wou l d agai n have won :

Black resigned.

18

Mag nus Carlsen - Hero of the Computer Era

51 . . JU3 52. �d6+ � xd6 53. a?. 51 . . .J;lxc2 52. J;ld4 �xd2 53. J;ld5+ �e6

White resigned .

By attacking the pawn, Black releases his rook. White is short of one move, which could have been provided by the far-sight­ ed 55. � d3. 58. J;la6?

M. Carlsen - A. Adly

Reykjavik 2006 a

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Wh ite should have exchanged rooks, after which his knight blockades the pawn pair, guaranteeing a draw. Now the black pawns become dangerous . 58

. .•

J;if8 59. �d2 e4+! 60. �xe4 J;lf3+

61 . �c2 �xe4 62. J;la8 J;lc3+ 63. �d1 J;lb3 64. �c2

After 64. f!c8 Black casts a m ati n g net around the enemy king: 64 . . . Af4 65. c7 f!xb7 66. f!e8+ � d3. 64 . . . J;lb6 65. lieS d3+ 66. �d1 J.f4

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Wh ite's pair of passed pawns i s obv i ­ ously more promising than Black's. But with which pawn should he beg i n? It is not hard to calculate that in the event of 55. c7 A xe? 56. bxc7+ � d7 57. f!a7 � c6 58. � d3 cJ? b6 White loses his pawns, and it will be

67. J;le8+ �f3 68. b8W J;lxb8

White resigned .

M. Carlsen - A. Naiditsch

Sarajevo 2006 a

a draw. Therefore M ag nus begins with the other pawn, but he reaches an i mpasse. The truth is revealed within three moves.

b

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55. b7?!

This advance should have been prepared by bringing up the king - 55. � d3! . Now, however, Black succeeds i n neutralising the pawn pair.

5

�3 � ��� 2

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55 . . . .tc7 56. J;la8 J;lb8 57. �d3

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After 57. �c5+ � d5 58. � a6 Wh ite loses his passed pawns: 58 . . . � xc6! 59. � xb8+ cJ? xb7 and the result is a draw.

W h ite's p o s i t i o n is c l ose to w i n n i n g , but he sti l l has to make a few accu rate m oves .

57. . . �d5

29. J;Icc7?!

19

Magnus Carlsen - Hero of the Computer Era

Material would have been won by 29. gxa6 � g5 30. A c4 �e4+ 31 . � f3 � d2+ 32. �e2 gb2 (after the exchange of the minor pieces Wh ite has a won rook end ing) 33. A xe6+ � h8 34. gb6.

37. . .�xg2+ 38. �xg2 �xb7 39. �a2

39. h6 ga7 40. gg7 gxa5 41 . gxh7 � h5 also leads to a draw. 39 . . . �xh5 40. a6 �a7 41 . �f2 �g4

29 . . . �b2 30. h4?!

42. �a4+ �g5 43. �f3 e5 44. �a5 �f6 45. �g3 �e6 46. �h4 �f6

A poi ntless move. The king should have been b ro u g ht i nto p l ay : 3 0 . � e1 g b1 + 31 . � d2 gb2+ 32. gc2, retaining winning chances. Now Black succeeds in begin­ ning cou nterplay.

Draw.

L. Aronian

30 ...�g7!

-

M. Carlsen

Tal Memorial Tou rnament Moscow 2006

Before the second rook is activated , the king m u st be m oved out of the danger zone. In the event of 30 . . . gda 31 . gxf7 gdd2 32. gfd7 a l i near mate is threatened , and Black can not play 32 . . . gxe2+ 33. � f1 gf2+ 34. �e1 gfe2+ 35. � d1 .

a

31 . �xa 6 �d8 32 .�aa7 �dd2 33. �xf7+ �g 6 34. h5+

The c o n seq uences of 34. � f3 g xe2 35. � f4 g b4+ 36. � e5 g xe3+ 37. � d 6 gd4+ 3 8 . �e7 gxh4 are unclear.

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34 . . . �g5 35. �g7+ �h4! 36. �g1?!

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A theoretically d rawn position. Magnus knew - and had em ployed earlier i n simi­ lar positions - the method of keeping the pawn under fire: 69 . . . ge2 ! . Instead of this he prefers another plan of defence: attack­ ing with the rook from the long side, which proves to be more complicated .

I n rook endings, king activity is of g reat i m portance, but it wou ld appear that the black rooks are al ready fu lly operational . If 36. � f3 there can follow 36 . . . gxe2 (not 36 . . . e5? 37. g4! with advantage to White) 37. � f4 gb5! and Black holds the position. The exchange of rooks 37. . ,gxg2 38. gxg2 gxg2 39. �e5 would merely com plicate his defence.

69 ...�a1 70. �e7 �a5 71 . e6 �a7+ 12 . �d7 �as 73. �d 6 �a7+?

In the flank attack one must not give u p the 8th ran k. 73 . . . � g6 was the only defence.

36. .. �xe2 37.�ab7?

As a result, after bei ng a pawn up, Wh ite loses two. But also after 37J!ad7 ga2! he can not hope for anyth ing.

74• �eS

Black resigned .

20

Magnus Carlsen- Hero of the Computer Era

It has to be said that Carlsen drew the con­ clusions from the deficiencies of his play in endings, and the consequences of the work he put it soon became apparent. Already at the Olympiad in Turin (2006) he dem­ onstrated endgame play on a grand scale against Adams (No. 1 8), where he converted the advantage of the two bishops. The year 2007 proved exceptionally pro­ ductive. There was the impressive conver­ sion of an extra pawn in an endgame with rooks and opposite-colour bishops i n a game with Morozevich (No. 2 1 ) . There was an ad mirable depth of ideas in the endings from the 3rd and 5th games of his Candi­ dates match with Aronian (Nos. 23 and 24), in which with subtle manoeuvres Magnus was able to confine the enemy king in a 'box'. The finish to his game with Onisch uk (No. 26), where his knights restricted the mobi lity of a rook, also i nvites inclusion i n the books. At t h e World Cup i n Khanty­ Mansiysk, in his game with Adams (No. 31) Magnus again showed brill iant technique in

converting the advantage of the two bish­ ops in a complicated multi-piece endgame. Also instructive is the fi nish to the game with Chepari nov (No. 32), where l iterally by nuances Carlsen was able to outplay an active rook with his bishop and knight. Also impressive were some masterpiec­ es by Carlsen early in 2008. In Wijk aan Zee there was a nice fi nish to his game with El­ janov (No. 33), where he subtly coordinated his rooks and knight. A special place goes to his win over the world champion Kramnik (No. 34) - Magnus was able to construct another ' box' for the king. At the end of the year in Bilbao he added to the textbook col lection of heavy- piece endings: he was able to convert an outside passed pawn in a heavy piece endgame with Aronian (No. 43). Of the games from 2009 mention should be made of his subtle hand ling of the endgame against Jakovenko (No. 52), in which Magnus was able to exploit some im perceptible errors by the opponent in an eq ual position.

21

Chapter 1

From Master to Grandmaster G ifted young players have always drawn the attention of both ad mirers of the ancient game and of recog nised experts. During the active development of chess over the last century and a half, young talents who have gone on to achieve an outstanding level of play can be counted l iterally in single figures. As for recent ti mes, the record belongs to the U krai ne-born Sergey Karjaki n , who became a grandmaster at the age of 1 2 . Such is the trend of the times, the age of techn ical progress. Universal computerisation has become a kind of accelerator in the development of the new chess generation. Chess databases and modern analytical modu les enable young talents to acq u i re the necessary knowledge far more quickly, and lack of experience i n the development of tactical and strateg ic understanding is com pensated by a computer- l i ke calculation of variations. Whereas 30 years ago, accord ing to the picturesque expression of Ti­ gran Petrosian , young players emerg ing into the chess arena were cal led 'children of l nformator', now they are cal led 'ch ildren of the computer'. Therefore rumours about the young Norweg ian boy Magnus Carlsen , who displayed outstanding chess talent at an eq ually early age as Sergey Karjaki n , quickly spread around the chess world . But in 2002 i t was t h e U krai nian youngster w h o reigned supreme. The height of his fame came at a tournament of the Grand Prix series, held in Moscow, where one of the authors of this book partici pated in the capacity of arbiter. The spectators who arrived at the Mezhdu narodnaya Hotel were able to observe a curious picture. On an em pty stage the last pair were continuing to battle: l iterally impending over a frail lad with his touching l ittle q uiff was a bearded hunk of a man . The experienced l lya Smirin needed 1 40 (!) moves to overcome the resistance of the 1 2-year-old Seryozha Karjaki n . Th is was their second game with t h e classical time control; in t h e first t h e grand master had managed to save a hopeless position a rook down by means of perpetual check. At that time Seryozha's contem porary - Magnus - was sti l l at the start of his career, although at the age of eleven he was able to share 1 st-2nd places in the N orweg ian U nder-1 8 Championship. H owever, he did not d isti nguish h i mself at the European Under-1 2 Championsh ip in Spai n , where he finished only sixth. But in the world cham­ pionship among his contemporaries in Greece, Carlsen displayed his character and shared 1 st-2nd places with lan Nepom niachtchi, who on the tie-break was proclai med world champion. Junior events at such a tender age do not usually cause much of a stir. This makes the almost i m probable episode with Nepomn iachtchi all the more curious. The emergence of the 1 2-year-old world champion made such an impres­ sion on one of the major Russian Newspapers lzvestiya, that it decided to sponsor h i m , overlooking that he was merely the best player among his contem poraries. True,

22

M . Carlsen - H. Harestad ------

soon the sponsorship came to nothing, since lan Nepomn iachtchi d isappeared i nto the general mass of Russian players. It is possible, therefore, that i n post-Soviet chess they learned about the Norwegian prodigy only i n 2003, when the magazine 64 - Shakhmatnoe obozrenie reported that in Scandinavia there was a shining new 1 2-year-old master by the name of Carlsen. First he shared 3rd-7th places in the N orweg ian Championship, and then he distinguished hi mself in the Politiken Cup tournament in Copen hagen . This was the first prestigious tournament i n the world chess calendar i n which Carlsen took part. The i nfluential Dan ish Politiken newspaper has al ready staged it 25 times, trad itionally providing a sol id prize fund. Th is attracts strong players, and it is sufficient to recall that among the winners have been such famous names as Smyslov, Korchnoi and Vaganian. The young Norwegian also distingu ished h imself i n Copen hagen , scori ng 8 poi nts out of 1 1 games and fi nishing only a point behind the win ner Krishnan Sasikiran. Starting with a rating of 2385, Carlsen demonstrated a strength of play corresponding to a perfor­ mance of 2500 (it should be mentioned that Karjakin already had this official rati ng). In that period the fou ndation was laid of the mastery that Magnus demonstrated both in attack on the king, and i n positional play. Carlsen's 'visiting card ' in Copenhagen was a spectacular m ating attack in his game with Harestad .

b2-b4 is possi ble.

Game 1 M. Carlsen - H. Harestad

a

c

d

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f

9

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1 . e4 e5 2. �f3 �c6 3 .tb5 a6 4 .ta4 •

b

..t� K. 7 K 'if ..t• • 6 . • �· 5 ·· � · 4 � � 3 � ttJ � 2 �� �� 1 .:1. ��.:l.tt:J�

Copenhagen 2003 Ruy Lopez [ C98] •

�f6 5. 0-0 b5 6 .tb3 .te7 7. Ete1 d 6 •

_,-

8 . c 3 0-0 9. h3 �a5 1 0 .tc2 c5 1 1 . d 4 •

Y!/c7

The classical Chigorin Variation of the Ruy Lopez. 12. �bd2 �c 6 1 3 . d5 �d8 14. a4 Ela7

a

Black does not want to concede the a-fi le. However, the presence of the rook on a7 allows White to play b2-b4 in a more fa­ vourable situation. The main continuation here is 1 4 . . . f!b8.

b

c

d

e

f

9

8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

h

1 6 .th 6 •

15. �f1 g6

1 6. b4!? cxb4 1 7. cxb4 Ad7 1 8. Ae3 .§b7 1 9. axb5 A xb5 20. Y!/d2 is more in the spirit of the position, with the better game for White.

If 1 5 . . . h6, then 1 6. Ae3 with the idea of

1 6...Ete8 1 7. �g3

23

Chapter 1

From M aster to G randmaster

·

The preparatory 1 7. g4 should have been incl uded.

hopes i nvolving tD h6 and transferri ng his own knight to c5.

17 . ..thd7 1 8. thh2

29. §f1 thc5

And here 1 8 . b4 Af8 1 9. A e3 was more logical, mai ntain i ng the pawn tension.

a

8 7

1 8 ...f6 1 9. Ae3 thb6 20. axb5 axb5 21 . Ad3 Ad7 22. Yi'd2 a

8 7

b

c

d

.I

6 5

e

4

8

3

6

6

5

5

4

4

2 1

c

d

e

f

9

d

e

f

9

h

b

c

d

e

f

9

8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

h

Somehow i m percept i b l y Carlsen has aimed his pieces at the kingside, but Black does not sense the danger. He continues to ignore the move 29 . . . h5, although after it the black king wou l d have been more safely placed than in the game. In the event of 30. tD h6 tD g5 31 . f4 exf4 32. � xf4 � xh6 (not 32 . . . A xh3? because of 33. tD xh5+! gxh5 34. e5! �f8 35. tDf5+ A xf5 36. � xf5 and Wh ite wins) 33. h4 �f8 Black safely withdraws his king.

2

b

c

-*--*-�*" 'iif .l .l.l .l� � .l .l � ttJ � iV tt.J � � jl �� g� jl a

3

a

.1

b

h

At the young age of 1 2 it is not easy to stay patient and engage in strateg ic manoeu­ vring, trying to find a vul nerable point in Black's solid defensive l i nes. But Magnus patiently bides his time. 22 . .. thf7 23. §xa7 Wxa7 24. We2 Wa 6 25. thg4 c!>g7

30. thh 6! thg5

Black i s n ot tem pted by the p rovoca­ t i ve 2 5 . . . h 5? ! , after w h i c h there can fol l ow 26. tD x h 5 ! gxh5 27. tD h6+ tD x h 6 28. A xh6 Af8 29. � xh5 A xh6 30. � xh6 �e7 31 . �e3 �g7 32. � xf6, when Wh ite has three pawns for the piece and a con­ tinuing attack.

Black should have restricted h i m self to the cool- headed exc hange 30 . . . tD x h 6 3 1 . � x h 6+ � g 8 , w i t h the i ntent i o n of switching his bishop to g7. 31 . 141 exf4 32. Wxf4 Axh3?

Black is tem pted by the w i n of a paw n , underestimating White's latent attacking resources . It was better to s i m p l ify the position: 32 . . . � xh6 33. h4 �f8 34. hxg5+ f x g 5 35. � h4+ � g7 36. A x g 5 � x f 1 + 37. tD xf1 A xg5 38. � xg5, although here too Wh ite's chances are preferable. N ow,

26. Ac1 tha4 27. Ac2 §a8 28. We3 c4

Black could have contin ued his waiting strategy - 2 8 . . . tD b6 2 9 . A d 3 � a4, but 28 . . . A xg4!? 29. hxg4 c4 also came into consideration, nipping in the bud Wh ite's

24

M. Carlsen - H. Harestad

however, Magnus succeeds i n demon­ strating the l atent energy of h i s pieces in all its g l o ry.

a

a J.

tt:J

��

----------

b

c

d

e

f

9

h 8

33. �h4 Ad7 (see next

diagram)

34. e5! dxe5 35. t'Llh5+! gxh5

Now Wh ite announces mate in 3 moves. But B l ac k wo u l d also h ave lost after 35 . . r;!l h8 36. A xg5 fxg5 37. 'Mig3!. .

a

b

c

d

e

f

9

h

36. �xg5+! fxg5 37. l3f7+ � x h 6 38. l3xh7 mate

Carlsen's successful performance in the Politiken Cup tournament greatly raised his self-esteem , and he was also noticed by the organ isers of other tournaments. True, his performances in the 'compulsary program' among his contem poraries were not so successfu l . Competitive fatigue made itself felt. Especially vexing was the set-back at the European Under-1 4 Championsh i p in Budva (Monteneg ro). When Magnus won again st his main rival Sergey Zhigalko and took the lead with 6Y2 poi nts after the 7th rou n d , it appeared that the question of the champion was decided . But he contrived to lose both his last two games, in which he was winning, and fi n ished only third . Magnus also started confidently at the world championsh i p i n Halkidiki (Greece), scorin g 3% points in the fi rst 4 rounds. But u nforeseen circumstances prevented him from becoming champion. As Agdestein , who was accompanying him, described it, the air was l iterally buzzing with bacteria and Magnus became i l l (h is tem peratu re reached 40 deg rees). He nevertheless kept in the lead ing group until the 9th round, but on this occasion he lost to Zhigalko and had to be satisfied with a share of 9th-1 3th places (?Y2 out of 1 1 ). These set- backs were not accidental : a child's organ ism is sti l l delicate, and since the 'compulsary prog ram ' for the year was over-generously combined with the 'free' o ne, by the end of the twelve months Magnus was very tired . This is not surprising - he had played about 1 50 games! It is wel l known that i n Norway since long ago they have long shown a great respect for their heroes, and they try to create the best conditions for the d isclosure of thei r tal­ ent. Carlsen was no exception. At the age of ten he drew the attention of the Norweg ian grandmaster Si men Agdestein, who i n 2002 began working with the prodigy. Despite the comparative shortness of thei r lessons - twice a month spending 2-3 hours on the analysis of games played - their collaboration produced resu lts. I n 2003 Carlsen three times achieved the i nternational master norm (the last time at the Pol itiken Cup tournament) and by the end of the year he had raised h i s rating to 2450.

25

Chapter 1 ----------------------

·

From Master to G randmaster

Game 2

I. a

M. Carlsen - S. Zhiga lko

8

Eu ropean Under-1 4 Championship Budva 2003 Sicilian Defence [ 833]

7 6

5

1 . e4 c5 2. �f3 �c6 3. d4 cxd4

b

c

d

e

f

'ii' .

g

I. h

1.1\ • ..t. .

£

• �. .

8 7 6

5

4. �xd4 �f6 5. �c3 e5

Despite its apparently anti-positional na­ ture, the Chelyabinsk Variation is sti l l alive and has not been refuted . Among the el ite players it is constantly employed , for ex­ ample, by Radjabov and Shirov.

a

d

e

f

g

h

18. Ab3

9. Axf6

I. a

8

At the present time Wh ite more often turns to the q u ieter l i ne 9. tb d 5 A e7 1 0. A xf6 A xf6, and here 1 1 . c3 or 1 1 . c4.

b

'iV c

d

7

9 . . .gxf6 1 0. �d5 f5 1 1 . Ad3

The alternative is 1 1 . c3, to which Black should reply 11 . . . A g7, si nce the capture on e4 is bad i n view of 1 1 . . .fxe4 1 2 . A xb5! axb5 13. tb xb5, and against the th reat of 1 4 . tb bc7+ 'i!? d7 1 5. �g4+ there is no sat­ isfactory defence, while 1 1 . . . Ae6? is poi nt­ less i n view of 1 2. exf5 A xf5 1 3 . �f3 .

6

5

VJ!/ 5

4

4 3

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

I n his com mentary for ChessBase, Do­ rian Rogozen ko rightly remarked that it is hard to think of a more natural move - the d5- pawn is defended and the manoeu­ vre tb a3-c2 prepared . The d i rect 1 8 . f3 gives Black the opportu nity for rather easy equal ity: 1 8 . . . b4 1 9. tD b1 bxc3 20. tb xc3 A x c 3 2 1 . b x c 3 � x c 3 2 2 . A b1 tb g 6 2 3 . � xf5 exf3 24 . � xf3 � xf3 2 5 . .§xf3 f!ae8 with a d rawn endgame, as i n Karen Asrian's game with Wan g Yue (Khanty­ Mansiysk 2005). However, for q u ite a long time the main conti n u ation was consid­ ered to be 1 8 . c.!i h 1 - u nt i l at the tou r­ nament i n Dortm und (2002), i n h i s game with Topalov, Leko employed the strong

1 1 . . . Ae6 1 2. 0-0 Axd5 1 3 . exd5 �e7 1 4. c3

The capture 14. tb xb5 Ag7 1 5. tbc3 e4 gives Black good compensation for the pawn. • . .

c

1 5 . . . e4 1 6. Ac2 'Wc8 1 7. :§ae1 0-0

6. �db5 d6 7. Ag5 a6 8. �a3 b5

14

b

Ag7 (see next diagram)

1 5. 'Wh5

Theory has grad ually come to the conclu­ sion that from the standpoint of fighting for an advantage 1 5. f!e1 0-0 1 6. � h5 e4 1 7. Af1 is more promising.

26

M . Carlsen

novelty 1 8 . . . .§b8! , ai med at creating q u ick cou nterplay on the q ueenside. It remains to add that after the i m med iate 1 8 . . . b4 White has the u n pleasant reply 1 9 . cxb4 A xb2 20 . .§e3 ! . In general, the character of the position is such that if both sides make the critical moves (which normally can be achieved only with the hel p of deep home prepa­ ration), the game m ost often concludes with the mutual el i m i nation of the forces and a draw.

-

S. Zhigalko

20. f4 (plan n i ng � e3 and g2-g4) or even 1 9. f3!? was more logical. 1 9 ...1ti g 6 20. ltic2 ltif4 21 . Y«h4 a

b

c

d

e

a

b

c

d

e

1 8 ..�h8?! .

Black has confused something - here this move is poi ntless. Let us briefly exam ­ ine t h e other poss i b i l ities. Tou rnament practi ce has shown that after the q u iet 18 . . . � g 6 1 9 . � c2 W h ite's chances are preferable (if 1 9 . . . � f4 there is a danger­ ous exchange sacrifice: 2 0 . 'W g 5 � d 3 21 . � e3 !). After 1 8 . . . .§ b 8 Wh ite has time to consolidate his q ueenside - 1 9. � c2 a5 20. a3 ! after which he can cal mly mount an offensive on the opposite side of the board . The only way to equalise is by the ener­ getic 1 8 . . . a5! , which occurred a few days later in the game Carlsen - McShane, which continued 1 9. � xb5 a4 20. Ad1 'll!/c5 21 . �d4 W xd5 22 . .§e3 'We5 23 . .§h3 h6 24. f4 'Wf6 with dynamic equilibrium. If 1 9. 'll!/g 5 the best is apparently 1 9 . . . 'Wd7! 20. f3 � g6! 21 . fxe4 f4 with excellent play for Black (Fernandez Romero - Eijanov, Andorra 2003).

f

g

h

21 ...Ae5?!

It is strange that Black did not in fact carry out that for which he was obviously aiming: 21 . . .� d3, after which White wou ld prob­ ably have had to give up a rook for the pow­ erfu l knight. H owever, his compensation would have been sufficient: 22 . .§e3 'Wd8! 23. 'W h3 Wg5 24 . .§xd3 exd3 25. 'll!/ x d3 f4! , and the position is unclear. 22. 1tie3

N ow, as if by sched u le, the wh ite pieces arrive at the necessary posts. 22 ...9:g8 23. Ac2! b4 24. g3 1tid3

The opponent's in itiative after 24 . . .� g6!? 25. 'll!/ h 5 bxc3 26. bxc3 (or 2 6 . b3!? f4 27. � f5) 26 . . . A xc3 27. .§d1 seemed too dangerous to Zhigalko, and so he decided to g ive up a pawn.

1 9. �h1?!

On the emergence from the open ing, both players have made decisions that are hard to understand , which, however, is easily explai ned i n view of their youth and the complexity of the position. 1 9. � c2 � g6

2 5 . A x d 3 e x d 3 26. Wxb4 (see next diagram)

27

Chapter 1

a

5

b

'f!i

4 3

2 88 a

b

c

d

retained the advantage. N ow, however, Carlsen retains the d5-pawn with the help of a ' l ittle combi nation'.

8 .: .:

d

From M aster to G ran d m aster

e

8 .t ttJ c

·

e

f

8 9

6

34. c4! �g7

5

If 34 . . . A xb2 there follows 35. !!e8+.

4

35. b3

3

8 2 �1

a

8

h

7 6

White is sti l l a long way from a trouble­ free conversion of his advantage - it is n o easy m atter to suppress the typical 'Chelyabinsk' activity of the enemy pieces. However, from this moment Magnus begins demonstrating mature technique beyond his years. 26

• . .

.!

.t_[

5 4 3

2 8 1 a

13:b8 27. Wc4!

b

c

d

e

f

9

h

J .J .t • .t .t .i. -

l

.1 8 8 1:, 8 8 .t b

c

8 7 6 5 4 3

8 2 J, � 1 ttJ .: d

e

f

9

h

27. Wa3? would have lost to 27. . .f4 28. ti:J g2 fxg3 2 9 . fxg3 A xg3 ! .

White has set up a seemingly indestructible monolith, but, strangely enough, Black stil l has some drawing chances.

27

35

• • •

f4!

• • .

13:a5

It is not possible to regain the material: 27. . . !!xb2 28. W xd3, or 27. . . d2 28. !!b1 .

35 . . . a5 36. !!4e3 d2 37. !!1 e2 was hopeless for Black.

28. Wxc8 J3:gxc8 29. /l)d1 ! J3:c5 30. gxf4

36. J3:g1 + �f8 37. J3:g2 f!:a3!

30. !!e4! was more accurate: 30 . . . !!xd5 (or 30 . . .fxg3 31 . fxg3 with the same idea of soon surrounding the d3-pawn) 31 . gxf4.

The two players are as though competing in inventiveness. Zhigalko persistently tries to break through the obstructive barriers, skilfully erected by Carlsen in the path of the black pieces.

30

• • •

J.xf4 31 . J3:e4 J.e5 32 . f4 J.g7!

Better than 32 . . . Af6.

38. J3:e3 J3:e8

33. J3:fe1

If 38 . . . aS, then 39. !!xd3 a4 40. !!dg3 cl1 e7 41 . bxa4 !!xa4 42. !!b3 ! , and Wh ite should grad ually convert his two extra pawns.

Or 33. !!f3 !!xd5 34. !!ee3 A h6!. 33

. • •

At6

39. J3:d2!

3 3 . . . h 5 was poss i b l e , altho u g h after 34. cl1 g2 !!xd5 35. cl1 f3 White would have

An accurate move, enabling the knight to be

28

M . Carlsen - S. Zhigalko

activated with gain of tempo. 39. !lxe8+?! � xe8 40. !ld2 aS 41 . lilf2 a4 was weaker.

Ji x h 6 50. �xh 6+ mta 51 . �f5 aS a

39 . ..Ji xe3 40. �xe3 .id4 41 . �f5

6

41 . ..Ac5 42 . Jixd3

4

5

d

f

g

8 7 6

.

5 4 3 2

.I a

B

.i. B B

8 7 6 5

M

B

4 3 2

�1 b

c

d

e

f

g

g

h

6 5 4

B

2

b

c

d

e

f

g

3 2

h

52. d 6!

h

•

f

.i. B tD B �B

.

a

e

e

8

3

42 . . .Ji xa2 43. Jih3 c

d

7

42. �g2! A b4 43. !lxd3 !lxa2+ 44. � g3 was more method ical , bringing the king into play.

b

c

8

After 41 . !lxd3 A xe3 42. !lxe3 !lxa2 the win for White is i n question, since his king is badly placed .

a

b

The timid 52 . � d3? a4 53. � c3 � e8 would have delayed the win, although probably would not have thrown it away. 52 ...a4 53. mds Ab4

If 53 . . . a3 , then 54. � xeS � e8 (54 . . . a2 55. d7) 55. til d4 a2 56. tilb3. 54. c5 mea 55. c6 Aas 56. mc4

h

Of course, there was no point in playing 56. c7? A xe? 57. dxc7 � d7, since a knight is bad at combatting a passed rook's pawn. N ow Black is i n zugzwang.

43 . . . mga?

Blac k s h o u l d h ave p l ayed 4 3 . . . !lf2 ! 44. !lxh7 (44. !lh6? !lxf4 45. til xd6? � g7) 44 . . . � g8 4 5 . !l h 3 !lxf4 4 6 . til e?+ � g7 (46 . . . � f8 47. Cil c6) 47. � g2 (or 47. Cil c6), and although with best play White should win, he would have to overcome techn ical difficulties.

s s ...mda 57. �e7 hs sa. ts h4 5 9 . h3 ts 60. �d5 a3 61 . mb3

Black resigned.

44. Ji h 6!

This far from faultless but e ntertai n i n g game is a good i l l u stration o f Magnus's abil ity from his youngest years to create positions in which m i stakes are practi­ cally inevitable. In so d o i n g , he normally makes fewer m i stakes i n them than his opponents.

With the fall of the d6-pawn , Black's entire position collapses. However, accurate cal­ culation is still requ i red of Wh ite. 44 . ..Jia1 + 45. mg2 Jia2+ 46. mf3 Jia3 47. �xd 6 Jixb3+ 48. me4 Jib6 49. �f5

29

Ch apter 1

·

From M aster to G ra n d m aster_________ ________._

The lessons of 2003 were not wasted . During this time Carlsen changed l ittle in the way he worked to improve his standard of play. He sti l l preferred to do this indepen­ dently, devoting to it five hours a day. Apart from working at the board , he also read chess books with great pleasure. True, the range of them was very specific, but here it is better to hand over to his father, Henri k Carlsen. ' Mag nus has looked at many games comprising the classical heritage of chess, including all the games from Kasparov's books My Great Predecessors, which he l iter­ ally devoured and of which he remem bers practically everything. He reads a lot: Fire on Board by Shirov, Kram n i k's best games, fundamental works on the endgame and, of course, many books on the open ings. I should also add the New in Chess magazines and Yearbooks and other i nteresting chess magazines. Without any d ifficu lty Magnus combines read ing of chess material and its simu ltaneous analysis. I n the fi rst years of his chess career he spent a lot of time moving the pieces on the board , repeating games and remem beri ng ideas he had seen . But in the last two years he has mainly been analysing i n his head .' There are those who l i ke to tal k about Carlsen's lack of 'schooling', but I should l i ke to rem ind them of the possibility of studying by correspondence. As regards its effec­ tiveness, everything is decided by motivation. There are n u merous examples of this. Besides, can one talk about a lack of 'schooling', when you have such a prestigious trai ner as Simen Agdestein? Graduates of the Soviet chess school and thei r fol lowers improve their mastery by studying the classical heritage of the great world champions - Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine and Botvinnik, and researchers such as Tarrasch, N i mzowitsch and Reti. To them it may seem amazing how, without read ing a single book by these classics, Carlsen independently achieved such a high level of chess u nderstanding. At the time such a thing seemed i mpossi ble. For example, Tigran Petrosian l i ked to remem ber his youth, when he kept a copy of N imzowitsch's book My System under his pillow. But, as we learned earlier, Magnus absorbed the best of the classical heritage from Kasp­ arov's five-volume My Great Predecessors. As for the speed of assi m i lating material , present-day geniuses have their resources. I n the computer age it is hard to i mag ine a 1 3-year-old boy who does not spend hours on a computer. Carlsen was no different, using the computer as his main hel per in preparing for tournaments. As he matu red the efficiency increased , his open ing repertoire expanded , and he perfected his abil ity to make a deep study of his opponents' play and find their weak poi nts. Magnus began the year 2004 wel l prepared . One of the pillars of the world chess calendar is the trad itional festival in the small Dutch town of Wij k aan Zee. It is famous not only for its main A Tou rnament, which year after year assem bles almost the entire chess elite, but also its less prestigious B and C all-play-all tournaments, enabl ing young talents stage by stage to make thei r way into chess high society. And to beg i n with the C tournament, even a FIDE category 9 - modest by today's standards - is q u ite natural for a young matador. Carlsen's debut created a genuine fu rore! He not only won with a score of 1 01/2 from 13 games, but also exceeded the i nternational grandmaster norm

30

M . Carlsen - S. Ernst

by 1% points. The sharp and energetic attacking style of the 1 3-year-old Norweg ian testified to the appearance of a new star on the chess horizon. Professionals began talking about h i m . The highly experienced grandmaster Lj ubomir Kavalek, who in his time had seen many talents, saw Carlsen as a 'Chess Mozart'. He was echoed by Evgeny Bebchuk, who in the 1 990s was head of the Russian Chess Federation: 'As a person closely acq uainted with the play of all the great grandmasters, I can confidently say that in the history of chess no one has played l i ke this at the age of 1 3 .' The game with i nternational master Sipke Ernst, played at a key moment of the fight for the first prize, not only captivated those who value bri l l iancy, but gave a slight insight into the secrets of Magnus's home laboratory in work with a computer. To a q uestion, whether the attack on the king was the result of preparation or the fru it of inspiration, he replied: 'I knew that 1 7. 'We2 was the theoretical move, but I didn't remem ber the variations, so I thought about it for some 25 minutes, trying to understand the position . I saw the kn ight move 1 8 . t:D g6 in the game Bologan -Anand (Dortmund 2003). You can decide for yourself whether it was i mag ination or home preparation ! '. It wou ld not be out of place to mention: ideas in themselves do not hover i n the air. The patent on the knight move to g6 in this variation belongs to Alexander Beliavsky, who twice used it to defeat the famous ' Danish prince' Bent Larsen in 1 981 and 1 984, at the tournament i n Ti lburg and i n the USSR v. Rest of the World match. (The inqu isi­ tive reader is referred to Bel iavsky's book Uncompromising Chess). 1 1 . Af4

Game 3 M. Carlsen - S. Ernst

At one time 1 1 . A d2 was also played , since Black's main reaction was considered to be the set-u p with q ueenside castl ing. But in recent years he has often preferred king­ side castling, and in this case the bishop is more actively placed at f4.

Wij k aan Zee C 2004 Caro-Kann Defence [ 8 19] 1. e4 c6 2 . d4 d5 3. h1 Wf3+ 26. 'it>g1 Ae2! and Black has set up a mating construction. If 21 . �fd1 White has to reckon with the advance of the f-pawn - 21 . . . �e8 22. d6 f4. He is also u nable to set u p a blockade by 21 . f4 on account of 21 . . . exf3 22. Wxf3 Ae5 23. h3 �g3 24. We2 Wxh3 etc. 21 . . . �h8!?

By including his second rook in the attack along the g-file, Magnus demonstrates that he is not thi nking about a draw, which he could have forced by 21 . . . Ad4 22. Wxd4 �xg2+ 23. 'it>xg2 Wg4+. 22. �c4 JagS

The murderous . . . Ad4 is th reatened . 23. g3 'Wh3 24. Jafd1

A usefu l move, at the same time vacating a square for the king. If 24. Wd2 there fol ­ lows 24 . . . f4! with the threat of 2 5 . . . �h6 (the im mediate 24 . . . �h6 is parried by 25. f4) . 24. f4?! im med iately is not good because of 24 . . . Af8! with the th reats of . . . Ac5 and . . . �xg3. 24

•••

Jah6 25. 'Wf4 a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

.i.

.�. 7 �.i.� 6 �8 .! 5 � 8 4 LD �'@' 3 8 1V 2 8 8 iL 8 8 1:1 1:1 �

8

h

21 . b6

This lone pawn hard ly has any future, but it is not easy for Wh ite to choose a sound plan, whereas Black is ready to add fuel to his attack. For example, the latent activity

a

56

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

8

7

6

5 4 3 2

M . Carlsen

25

•. .

At6?

A careless move, which could have cost Black the fruits of his efforts. He should have incl uded the other bishop in the attack by playing 25 . . . aS! , when it is doubtfu l whether White can prevent the development of the bishop at a6. For example: 26. b4 Ac3 27. bxaS (27. bS? �h4) 27. . . Aa6 28. Ab3 �h4 (in the event of 28 . . . 'Wxh2+ 29. �f1 �c8 30. �e2 �xc4 31 . Axc4 Axc4+ 32. �e3 'WhS 33. �e1 �d6 34. �bc1 ! Black's attack comes to a stand sti l l) 29. 'Wxh4 (29. �e3? �xh2+ leads to mate) 29 . . . �xh4, winning the queen. Wh ite is o b l i g ed to th row caution to the winds: 26. d6 Aa6 27. b3 e3! 28. �d3 (evidently the only move, since 28. Ad3? is bad: 28 . . . e2 29. d7 'Wxh2+ 30. �f1 e2+! 31. �xe2 �e6+ 32. d3 'Wg2 33. 'WxfS flf6, and Black wins the queen) 28 . . . 'Wxh2+ 29. �f1 with sharp play, where Wh ite is apparently able to defend . Here are some sam ple variations: a) 29 . . . �e8 30. �xe3 'Wh1 + 31 . �e2 'Wc6 32. �d2 Axd3 33. Axd3 �xd6 34. 'WxfS �g8 3S. �e2, and the wh ite pieces are excel lently coordinated ; b) 29 . . . exf2 3 0 . 'W x f2 (30 . d 7 ? ! 'Wg 1 + 31 . �e2 �e6+ i s dangerous for Wh ite, while if 32. �e3 or 32. �e3 there follows 32 . . . Ah6) 30 . . . 'Wxf2+ 31 . � xf2 � h2+ 32. �g1 �xc2 33. d7 Af6 34. �e1 , and White's passed pawns com pensate for the lost piece.

P. N i kolic

-

33. �g1 . Now, however, Wh ite is doomed . 26

••.

Axe5 27. 'Wxe5+ f6 28. 'Wf4 Elg4

There was a quicker win by 28 . . . aS! 29. b4 axb4 30. �xb4 Aa6 with the threat of play­ ing the bishop to f3 . 29• Wc7 ElgS 30• Ele1

There is no way of saving the game. 30. b7 d oes n ot work because of 3 0 . . . A x b7 31 . 'Wxb7 e3! with u n avoidable m ate. If 30. 'Wf4, then 30 . . . aS! is decisive. 30 . . . 'Wxh2+ 31 . t1 'Wh1 + 32 . e2 'Wf3+ 33. d2 'Wxf2+ 34. d1 f4 35. 'Wc3 fxg3 36. Axe4 Ag4+ 37. c1 lieS

Wh ite resigned .

Game 1 1 M. Carlsen

-

P. Nikolic

Wijk aan Zee B 2005 French Defence [COB] 1 . e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. �d2 c5 4. exd5 exd5 5. �gf3 a

8

b

c

d

e

1 It

After 26. b7! Axb7 27. �d6 'Wxh2+ 28. �f1 Black's attack would have come to a stand­ sti l l , for example: 28 . . . �g7 29. �xf5 (or 29. �xfS Ae7! 30. �xb7?! �f6) 29 . . . 'Wh1 + 30. �e2 'Wh5+ 31 . g4 �xg4 32. 'Wxh6 WxfS

a

5

•••

9

h

.I �.S..'ii'tfi.S.. � .I

•

7 .. 6 5 4 3 2 /j, /j, [j, tt:J

26. �e5?

t

7 6 5 4 3 tt:J fj, /j, /j, 2

�� �� b

c

d

•

8

e

f

9

It 1 h

c4!?

The experienced N i kolic aims to neutralise the fruits of his young opponent's home

57

Chapter 2

·

The Way to the Top

preparation and he avoids positions with an isolated d5-pawn . Another version of this idea - 5 . . .tt:lc6 6. Ab5 c4 - has its special features, since Wh ite has determ ined the position of his light-square bishop.

a

c

d

e

f

9

h

8 I. 1.11 ..t 'Vi • ..t 1.11 I. 8 7 .t.t .t .l ?

6. b3 cxb3 7. axb3

A prag matic approach to the choice of m ove, t y p i c a l of p l ayers of the c o m ­ p u t e r g e n e rat i o n . M a g n u s p refe rs a s o u n d m ove, a n d d e c l i n e s to enter a d i s c u s s i o n i nvo l v i n g t h e i nterm e d i ate exc h a n g e of the l i g h t- s q u a re b i s h o ps after 7. Ab5+ Ad7 8. We2+ We7 9. Axd7+ ti:lxd7 1 0 . a x b 3 , w h i c h had occu rred i n seve ral o f N i ko l ic's g a m e s . For exa m ­ p l e , t h e g a m e Ad a m s - N i ko l i c ( N e u m 20 02) conti n u ed 1 0 . . . f 6 1 1 . tLlf1 Wxe2+ 1 2 . � xe2 A d 6 1 3 . Cb e 3 Cb e7 1 4 . Aa3 Axa3 1 5 . Z!xa3 �f7 1 6 . tt:le1 tLlf8 1 7. tLld3 tt:le6 1 8 . c3 Z!hd8 1 9 . �d2 tt:lc6 2 0 . Z!d 1 Z!ac8 %-%. Apart fro m t h e exc h a n g e of t h e l i g ht­ square bishops, also of i nterest i s the p ract i c a l l y u n ex p l o re d 7 . . . tt:l c 6 ! ? , not fearing the swift attack suggested half a c e n t u ry a g o by I g o r B o n d arev s k y : 8 . We2+ Ae7 9 . tt:le5 ! (not h i n g is g iven by 9 . a x b3 tt:lf6 1 0 . Aa3 0-0 1 1 . Axc6 A x a3 1 2 . Z! x a3 Wd6 1 3 . Z!a5 Wxc6=) . The best h e re i s 9 . . . We? ! ( i t i s i m p o r­ tant to d efend the knight, not forgetti n g about the defence o f the bishop on e7) 1 0 . axb3 (th i s is stronger than 1 0 . c4 tLlf6 1 1 . Axc6+ bxc6 1 2 . axb3 0-0 1 3 . 0-0 c 5 = o r 1 0 . ti:ldf3 f6 ! ? 1 1 . Axc6+ bxc6 12. Cbd3 bxc2=) 10 . . . ti:lf6 1 1 . Axc6+!? (or 1 1 . Aa3 0-0 1 2 . Axc6 A x a3 1 3 . Z!xa3 bxc6 1 4 . 0-0 c5=) 1 1 . . . bxc6 1 2 . 0-0 0-0 1 3 . Z!e1 Z!e8 , and B l ack, alternating the i deas . . . Ae7-b4 and . . . c6-c5, o bta i n s g o o d play.

b

6

6

5

5

4

4

[j,

3

1

1:, a

tb [j, [j, [j,

[j, tiJ

2

���� b

c

d

e

f

9

.:

3 2 1

h

7. . . .tb4

This bishop manoeuvre was actively em­ ployed by David Bronstein. 7. . . Ad6 8 . Ad3 tt:le7 9. 0-0 0-0 1 0. Z!e1 tt:lbc6 1ooks more natural . For exam ple, the game Lebedev ­ Bronstein (Moscow Championship 1 953) contin ued 1 1 . c4 Ab4! (here this bishop manoeuvre effectively cou nters the rook move to e1 ) 1 2 . \Wc2 ti:lg6 1 3 . Ab2 Ae6 1 4 . Z!ad1 Wf6 1 5 . Z!e3 Ad6! 1 6. Wc3 ti:lf4 with the initiative for Black. After the modest move 1 1 . c3 B l ac k c o m p l etes h i s d eve l o p m ent: 1 1 . . . Af5 1 2 . tLlf1 Z!e8, retaining a sound position, for example: 13. Aa3 Axa3 14. Z!xa3 Wd6 1 5. Z!a1 Wf6 1 6 . tt:le3 Axd3 1 7. Wxd3 a6 1 8 . b4 eLla? 1 9. tt:le5 tLlb5 with the idea of . . . Z!ac8 . 8. �e5

It is hard to catch Carlsen unawares, even in such a rare variation. He is fol lowing the game Svidler- Korchnoi (G roningen 1 996). Black is not caused any particular prob­ lems by 8. Ad3 tt:le7 9. 0-0 ti:lbc6 1 0. Aa3 0-0 or 8. Ab5+ Ad7 9. We2+ tt:le7 1 0. 0-0 0-0 1 1 . Aa3 Axa3 1 2 . Z!xa3 ti:lbc6. 8 . . . �e7

58

M. Carlsen - P. N i kolic

Korchnoi played 8 . . . ttlf6 and after 9. Ad3

0-0 1 0. 0-0 Ac3 1 1 . f!a4 Ad? 1 2. ttlxd7 tDbxd7 1 3 . ttlb1 Aa5 he maintained the bal­ ance. But 1 0. Ab2!? was possibly stronger. 9. Ad3 �bc6 1 0. 0-0

One gains the impression that Magnus had analysed this position at home, since he ignores the th reat of . . . Ab4-c3 with the win of a pawn (otherwise he would have played 1 0. Ab2). 1 0 . . . Ac3

Black accepts the challenge, although his retarded development undoubted ly puts his king in a dangerous position . It was not yet too late to castle - 1 0 . . . 0-0 1 1 . Ab2 with somewhat the better game for Wh ite. 11. !::[ a 4! a

a J.

b

c

d

e

f

.t.'ii'• 7 .f..f. �· 6 6 � 5 5 .l tD 4 4 2:, 8 3 3 8-*.iL 2 8tD 888 2 iLvtli 2:. � a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

a) 1 3 . . . ttlg6 1 4 . f! h 5 0-0 1 5 . ttlb1 Ab4 1 6 . c3 Ae7 1 7. f4 Wc8 1 8. f5! with an irresistible attack in view of 1 8 . . .CL!xe5 1 9. f6 . The trick 1 8 . . . Wc6, with the idea after 1 9 . fxg6 fxg6 of trapping the rook, also does not save Black in view of the simple 1 9. e6; b) 13 . . .ttlc6 14. ttlf3 h6 1 5 . Ad2 Axd2 (weak­ er is 1 5 . . . Axe5 1 6 . l:!h5 Af6 1 7. f!xd5 Wc8 1 8 . We2+ Ae6 1 9. We4 g6 20. Ac4 with advantage to Wh ite) 1 6. Wxd2 0-0 1 7. f!e1 f!e8 1 8 . Wf4 (1 8 . f!xh6 tbxe5) 1 8 . . . Wa5 1 9. b4 Wb6 20. f! x h 6 ! gxh6 21 . Wxh6 ttld8 22. Wh7+ (it was not for the sake of perpetual check - 22. Ah7+ �h8 23. Ag6+ - that Wh ite sacrificed a rook) 22 . . . �f8 23. Wh8+ �e7 24. Wh4+ �f8 25. ttlg5 with a strong attack for Wh ite. 1 2 . �xc6 �xc6 1 3. Aa3 Ae6 14. �f3 Ab6?!

It was essential to neutralise the th reats on the a3-f8 diagonal , which would have been achieved by 1 4 . . . Af6 1 5. l:!e1 Ae7. 1 5. 'Wa1 !

A subtle manoeuvre, dispelling Black's illu­ sions of hiding his king on its own wing: if 1 5 . . .f6 there can fol low 1 6 . f!e1 �f7 1 7. l:!f4 with the threat of ttlf3-g5+. 15 . . . Wc7 16. b4!

11 . . . Axd4

The attack on the king was the 1 4-year-old Carlsen's natural element. He did not play 1 5. Wa1 in order to limit himself to 1 6. Wxg7, although this also g i ves a considerable advantage. With the pawn th rust Magnus warns his opponent about the danger of castling queenside .

It looks p rovocative to play 1 1 . . .CL!xe5 12. dxe5 Ad? (or 12 . . . Axe5 1 3 . f!e1 Af6 14. Wh5 �f8 1 5. ttlf3 g6 1 6. Wh6+ �g8 17. Wf4 with the better chances for White) 13. l:!h4 (after the passive 13. f!a2 ttlc6 Black has an easy game in view of the threat of . . .tDc6-b4), since the black king has not yet castled. Here are a few variations:

(see next diagram)

59

C apter 2 �-------------------h• - _

·

W y to t he To p _The� �a� � � � � �-

__

a

b

c

d

e

f

9

h

6

6

5

5

4 M8

4

3�

1 � a

�

8

2

b

c

d

e

f

9

this natural move. Black's position is so comprom ised that it is already hard to offer any good advice. Lev Psakh is considers it best to return the pawn - 1 7. . .l!iJe5, but even here White's attack is very strong: 1 8. l!iJxe5 fxe5 1 9. b5! . An im portant i nterposition, preventing castling, which is possible, for exam ple, in the event of 1 9. f!xe5? 0-0 ! , and i f 20. l:!xe6 there is 20 . . . Axf2+ 21 . �h1 'Wd7, forking the rooks.

h

I I • AA'Y!¥ AA j_ j_ 8 AA J:r Jt Jt 8 8 88 J:r � �

1 6 . . . f6

Black opts for artificial castl ing, realising that after 16 . . . 0-0 1 7. b5 l!iJe7 1 8. f!e1 ! he will be unable to withstand Wh ite's dan­ gerous i n itiative. For example, 1 8 . . . Ac5 1 9 . Ab2 'Wb6 20. f!e2 f6 2 1 . Ad4 or 18 . . . f!fe8 1 9. Ab2 l!iJf5 20. g4 'Wc5 21 . f!e2 l!iJh6 22. Axg7 l!iJxg4 23. Ad4 'Wd6 24. l:!xe6 with an obvious advantage to Wh ite in both variations. Let us exam ine the dangers awaiting Black after 16 . . . 0-0-0 1 7. b5: a) 17 . . . l!iJa5 1 8 . A b2 f6 1 9 . Ac3 l!iJc4 20. Ad4 �b8 (if 20 . . . 1!iJa5 there follows 21 . 'Wa2 and then 22. f!a1 ) 21 . f!e1 l:!he8 22. f!xa7! with a strong attack; b) 17 . . .1!iJe7 1 8 . Ac1 (or 1 8 . f!c1 �b8 1 9. c4 d xc4 2 0 . A xc4 'Wd7 2 1 . l!iJe5 'WeB 22. Axe6 fxe6 23. l!iJc4 Ad4 24. Ad6+ and Wh ite wins the exchange) 18 . . .l!iJf5 (1 8 . . . 1!iJ g 6 1 9 . Ae3 A x e 3 2 0 . fxe3 'Wc5 2 1 . f! x a7 'Wxe3+ 2 2 . � h 1 'Wb6 23. l!iJg5 with the th reats of 24. l!iJxe6 and 24. l!iJxf7) 1 9. Axf5 A xf5 20. Af4 Wc5 21 . Ae3 with an obvious advantage to Wh ite. 1 7. §e1 'i!lf7

It would be wrong to criticise N i kolic for

__________________ __

Analysis diagram

1 9 . . . Wf7 20. l:!xe5 (if 20. f!e2 there can fol low 20 . . . e4!? 21 . Axe4 dxe4 22. f!axe4 0-0-0 23. f!xe6 Axf2+ 24. �h1 Ad4, and B l ack somehow h o l d s o n) 20 . . . A x f2+ 21 . �h1 0-0-0 22. Ab2 with a dangerous initiative for Wh ite. We wi l l trust the two­ times USSR champion Lev Psakh is, an expert on this opening, but also enquire what Rybka thinks about it. Its verd ict is pessi m istic: 20 . . . Axf2+ 2 1 . �h1 0-0-0 22. Ac1 ! l:!hf8 23. f!f4 'Wd7 24. Wc3+ �b8 25. Wb4! f!f7 26. f!xf7 Wxf7 27. Wf4!? (27. l:!xe6 Wxe6 28. Wf4+ �a8 29. Wxf2 is also good) 27. . . Wxf4 28. Axf4 and Black cannot avoid loss of material. 19 . . . 0-0-0 20. l:!xe5 'Wf7 21 . We1 f!he8 22. Ac1 ! is also dangerous for Black - on the q ueenside too his king cannot fi nd peace: 22 . . .�b8 23. Af4 �a8 24. 'Wa1 with the threat of 25. l:!xa7+. Fleeing with the king to the queenside

60

ltJ

M . Carlsen - P. Nikolic

-------

---------------------------

is realistic after the s i m p l ification rec­ ommended by And rey Devyat k i n : 1 9 . . . e4!? 2 0 . A xe4 d xe4 2 1 . !!axe4 0-0-0 22. �xe6 !!d2 23. !!e8+ !!xe8 24. !!xe8+ �d8 25. !!xd8+ 'Wxd8, but after 26. 'Wc3+ �b8 27. 'Wf3 he has to play a difficult end­ game a pawn down.

19

..•

!3:ae8

There is no way of saving the game: 19 . . . g 6 (1 9 . . . ttlc4 2 0 . Af5 !) 2 0 . ttlg5+! fxg5 21 . 'Wf3+ �g7 22. Ab2+ d4 23. !!xd4 Axd4 24. Axd4+ �h6 25. h4 and Wh ite wins.

18. b5 �as

Putting the knight out of play leads to a rapid defeat . But also after the logical 18 . . .ttld8!? Wh ite retains a dangerous at­ tack. Here is a sample variation: 1 9. 'Wd1 �d7 20. !!h4 �g8 21 . ttld4 Axd4 22. !!xd4. 19. 'Wd1 ! a

The queen has done excellent work on the a1 -h8 diag onal and it returns home in order to attack the king on the light squares. I n the fi rst instance ttlg5+ i s threatened .

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

20. �g5+! fxg5 21 . Wf3+ �g8 22. l3:xe6

Black resigned .

The modest performance i n Wij k aan Zee showed that the youngster needed time to improve his play. Carlsen took a time-out, probably the fi rst in his career. However, the more than two months rest from tournaments was a wearisome period for Magnus. Strangely enough, the break did not benefit him, and a warm-up, planned on home territory at the Gausdal Classic Tou rnament (FI D E category 1 0), was frankly a fai lure. Mag nus started extremely bad ly - half a point i n the fi rst fou r rounds, and he fi nished in a share of 6th-8th places. In a class of his own was Sergey Tiviakov, who scored 8% poi nts out of 9. Mag nus's mood was improved by h i s partici pation in a series of rapid­ play tournaments with a 25-minute time control. The most prestigious of these was the four-player Cuidad de Leon tournament in Spain with the partici pation of Anand, Kasimdzhanov and Shirov. True, he did not play the latter two, s ince i n the sem i-final Carlsen lost 1 -3 to Anand, but the fi rst meeting with one of the strongest players in the world was undoubted ly beneficial. At the European Championshi p i n Warsaw, Mag n u s justified the expectations of his supporters, scori ng 8 poi nts from 1 3 games (+5 -2 =6). In such a un iformly strong 'Swiss', this cou ld be considered a successfu l result for a 1 4-year-old grandmaster. His performance in the double-round tournament in Biel with six g randmasters (FI DE category 1 6) was more modest. Magnus propped u p the tournament table with 4 poi nts from 10 games, in which he did not score a single win and suffered two defeats. Before the next category 1 6 tournament, the Samba Cup in Denmark, Carlsen warmed up at

61

Chapter 2

·

The Way to the Top

home in the Gausdal Bygger'n M asters (1 st place - 8 poi nts out of 9) - and 'burned h i mself out'. There was no time to regain his strength, since the Samba Cup started the very next day. The tournament in Skanderborg followed the same pattern as i n Drammen: 8th place o u t o f 1 0 contestants was undoubted ly a fai lure for Carlsen . The only fai nt consolation was a win over the fi rst prize-winner, Baad u r Jobava. These set-backs can hardly have been conducive to a good mood before the main tournament of the year - the World Cup i n Khanty- Mansiysk. If one sums u p the series of fai l u res, beg i n n i ng with the Spanish team championship on the eve of 2005, where Magnus suffered fou r defeats, the picture was depressing, and the fai lures in his native Scandi navia were especially unpleasant: the Drammen, Gausdal Classic and Samba Cup tournaments. Less than a month remained to prepare for the World Cup. I n youth , which is typified by optimism, it is easier to heal one's wounds.

Game 1 2

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

8 .i 1.1\.i. .�. 8 7 £ � ££-*.£ 7 6 6 'if JA,I£

M. Carlsen - K. Lie

Gausdal 2005 King's Indian Defence [E62]

£

5

This game is i nteresting for Carlsen's ap­ proach to the solving of open ing problems i n a non -standard situation, and also the conversion of a m i n i mal advantage i n an endgame with opposite-colour bishops with rooks.

4 3

2 B 1

-: a

1 . d4 �f6 2. �f3 g6 3. g3 .tg7 4 . .tg2 0-0 5. 0-0 d6 6. c4 c6

BB B [jj

�.&£I

c

d

4

[jjB B BB�

:�

�� b

5

e

f

g

3 2 1

h

a routine manner ind icates that Black has q u ite good cou nterplay. For exam ple, the attempt to attack the b5-pawn - 1 0. cxb5 cxb5 1 1 . Wd3 - achieves its aim only after the awkward 1 1 . . . Ad7 1 2. Ag5 ! , when the bishop on d7 merely hinders Black in com­ pleting the development of his q ueenside, while at the same time the exchange on f6 followed by tDd5 is th reatened. But 1 1 . . . b4 is far stronger, and the attem pt to get at the rook on a8 - 1 2. tDe1 - is parried by 1 2 . . . Axh3! 1 3 . Axh3 (the mass e l i m i na­ tion 1 3 . Axa8 Axf1 leads to the loss of a pawn) 13 . . . bxc3 14. Ag2 d5 with good play for Black.

A rare branch of the King's Indian Defence, where Black attacks not the d4-pawn , but the c4-pawn. 7. �c3 'Wb6 8. h3 Wa6 9. b3 b5 (see next diagram)

1 0 . .tg5!?

On encountering a comparatively rare vari­ ation, Carlsen decides to fight for the initia­ tive from the very first moves. He sacrifices a pawn, hoping to exploit the retarded de­ velopment of the black pieces. Especially since experience of playing this position i n

62

M . Carlsen - K. Lie

The main conti nuation is considered to be 1 0. ttld2 bxc4 1 1 . ttlxc4 Ae6, where Black has q uite good cou nterplay. I n his time Magnus's trainer Agdestein became aware of this in a game with Klaus Bischoff (Dortmund 1 987), which continued 1 2 . ttle3 tDbd7 1 3 . Ab2 .§fc8 1 4 . .§c1 .§ab8 1 5. �d2 CL!b6 1 6. f4 c5 1 7. d5 Ad7 1 8 . .§a1 �as with active play for Black. 10 . bxc4 1 1 . bxc4 Wxc4 1 2 . !ac1 .ta6 .

.

a

White's plans include e2-e4 followed by tDc3-d5. Therefore it is useful to clarify the intentions of the active bishop on g5 - 1 2 . . . h6!?, which is usually practised i n King's Ind ian set-u ps. Now it is i l logical to play 1 3 . Axf6 Axf6 1 4 . ttle4 �xa2 1 5. ttlxf6+ exf6, since the position is simplified , and it is not easy for White to breach the black pawn barricade. Igor Sto h l considers 1 3 . Ad2 'We6 1 4 . .§e1 ttlbd7 (1 4 . . . Aa6 1 5. e4 .§c8 is also possible, but not 15 . . . Ac4?! because of 1 6. e5! ttlh7 1 7. exd6 �xd6 1 8. tbe4 �d5 1 9. tbe5) 1 5 . e4 ttlb6 1 6 . e5 tbfd5 1 7. ttlxd5 cxd5, and here 18 . .§c7 retai ns the i n itia­ tive for Wh ite. 13. !ae1

The o n l y known g a m e at t h at t i m e , Berkes - Stokke (Stockholm 2003), con­ tinued 13. e4 h6 1 4 . Ad2 e5 1 5 . d xe5 d xe5 16. tbd5 cxd5?! (an i nsufficiently justified queen sacrifice; Black should have decided on 1 6 . . . �xa2, when all Wh ite can do is force a d raw - 1 7. .§a1 �b2 1 8 . .§b1 �a2) 17. .§xc4 Axc4 1 8 . ttlxe5! Axf1 1 9. �xf1 CL!xe4? (1 9 . . . d xe4) 20. Ab4 .§d8 2 1 . ttlxf7! CL!c6 22. ttlxd8 .§xd8 23. Aa5 1 -0.

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

1 4 . . . e5?

Understandably, Black is tired of being un­ der pressure, but if he did not l i ke 14 . . . .!::! d 8 1 5. �d2 with the threat of 1 6. ttld5, then 14 . . . h 6 1 5. Ad2 �b6 would have enabled him to defend. I n returning his extra pawn, Black ends u p i n a strategically i nferior position i n view of his weak pawn on c6. 15. dxe5 dxe5 1 6. �xe5 Wa5

If 16 . . . .§e8? White has the decisive 1 7. tbxf7! �xf7 1 8. e5 tbh5 1 9. ttld5! �b2 20. ttlc7. 1 7. �xf7

Here this sacrifice is not so effective. Play­ ing for bri l liancy might merely have brought Carlsen unnecessary problems. The simple 1 7. Axf6 Axf6 1 8. tbxc6 tbxc6 1 9. tbd5 Ae5 20 . .§xc6 would have enabled White to win a pawn without any brilliancy. 17 . . . !a xf7 1 8 . e5 (see next diagram)

18

�bd7?

•••

Black is rattled, and he does not even make an attem pt to play on with an extra knight. Apparently, after 18 . . .ttle8 he was afraid of the attack 1 9. ttle4! (1 9. AdS �b4 20. e6

13. . .Wb4 1 4. e4 (see next diagram)

63

Chapter 2

a

b

c

d

.1. J!&\ 7. 6 j_ • s'if

e

f

9

·

The Way to the Top

h

• 8 ... .�.. 7 6 J!&\. 8 ii 5

8

4

4

a

b

c

d

e

f

9

h

i s parried by 2 0 . . . .!::! f S 2 1 . tD e 4 Ac4 22. a3 '!Wb3) 19 . . . h6 (the pawn is taboo: 19 . . . AxeS? 20. tDcS .§fS 2 1 . '!Wb3+) 20. e6! .§fS 2 1 . tDd6 hxgS 22. e7! and Black has no defence. However, the threat of the e­ pawn's advance could have been averted by the bishop retreat 1 9 . . . Ac8, although here too Wh ite's initiative is very danger­ ous: 20. tDcS .!::!fS 2 1 . '!Wb3+ ® h8 22. g4! .§xgS 23. '!Wf7 /!i)c7 24 . .§ed1 /!i)d7 2S. /!i)xd7 Axd7 26 . .§xd7 '!WxeS 27. .§xc7. 1 9. exf6

2S . .§e6 ! . If 2 1 . . . '!W x a 2 ? t h e re also fo l ­ lows 2 2 . /!i)xf6+ .§xf6 2 3 . '!Wd4! and B l ack has no defence: 23 . . . .!::! f 7 24 . .§xc6 '!WaS 2S . .§ce6. 22. :§xc6 Ab7

The black pieces coordinate more harmo­ niously after 22 . . . l:!d8 23. '!Wa1 AbS 24. l:!e6 Ac4 2S . .§eS '!Wb6. 23. :§e6 :§d8

If 23 . . .Wxa2? White wins by 24 . .§xe7! .§xe7 2S. /!i)f6+ ®f7 26 . .§xe7+ ® xe7 27. /!i)dS+! ®f8 28. '!Wf3+ . 24. 1l\'e2 Axe4

B l ac k stra i g htfo rw a rd l y (24 . . . WfS ? ! 2 S . .§xe7! .§xe7 26. /!i)f6+) goes in for oppo­ site-colour bishops. But in the presence of other pieces, especially the queens, hopes based on this factor are illusory: a bishop which has no opponent is dangerous in an attack on the king.

But here playing for bri l l iancy by 1 9. Axc6! l:!c8 20. /!i)dS /!i)xdS 2 1 . e6 was q u ite appropriate. However, the move i n the game also ensures Wh ite an advantage.

A dangerous pin with an X-ray along the a2-g8 diagonal .

1 9 . • • �xf6 20. Axf6 Axf6

27• . . 1l\'b4

25. 'Wxe4 Ac5 26. :§e2 :§df8 27. Wd5!

If 20 . . . l:! x f6 there wou l d h ave fol l owed 21 . /!i)dS! .§f7 22. /!i)e7+ ® h8 23. tDxc6.

Black does not sense the danger. It was essential to 'unpin' the king - 27. . . ®g7 and if 28. ® h2 to offer the exchange of queens by 28 . . . Ab6. It should be mentioned that 28 . . . l:! xf2 ? is not poss i b l e because of 29 . .§xf2 .§xf2 30. l:!e7+! , when the mating attack costs Black h i s q ueen: 30 . . . ® h 6 31 . g4 Wd2 3 2 . g S + ! '!W x g S 33 . .§xh7+.

21 . �e4 Ae7

It is i m portant to retai n this bishop - oth ­ erwise th ere i s not h i n g w i t h w h i c h t o d e ­ fend t h e dark squ ares. If 2 1 . . . AbS, then 22. /!i)xf6+ .§xf6 23. l:!eS! with the th reats Axc6 and Wb3+ is good e n o u g h to w i n , but there is also a spectac u l a r com puter so l ution: 23. AdS+!? ® f8 24. Wd4! Wd 8

28• �h2 �g7

Not 28 . . . Axf2? 29 . .§xf2 .§xf2 30 . .§ xg6+.

64

M. Carlsen

a

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c

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8 7

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4

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9

.

This move allows B lack to exchange the queens, which eases the problem of de­ fending his king. The th reat of 30 . . . �d4 could have been parried by 30. f4! , having in mind the variation 30 . . . �d4? 31 . �xd4 Axd4 32. AdS! �g7 33. f!.6e4, but by play­ ing 30 . . . f!.fS Black would have forced the queen to retreat to a less i m posing pos i ­ tion: 31 . �a1 A d 4 3 2 . �d1 f!. d 8 etc. Also possible is 30. f!.e4 f!.fS 31 . f!.xg6+ hxg6 32. 'We6+, winning the q ueen , but how to convert the advantage i s not clear. Playing to s u rrou n d the b i s h o p also does not ach i eve its a i m : 30. f!.c6 Ad4 31. 'WdS Ab2! (from the long diagonal the bishop g uarantees its king a shelter at g7) 32. f!.cS Af6 33. f!.c7 �g7.

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29. . �g8 30. a3

9

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There was a quick win by 29. f!.2e4! �a3 30. �eS+ �g8 31 . f!.h4 �d3 (if 31 . . . f!.g7 there is 32. f!.xg6! hxg6 33. AdS+ with a mating attack) 32. �xeS, with an extra bishop for Wh ite.

f

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2

29. Y!Ve5+?!

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33. Ads Af6 34. h4 E:d7 35. Ae4 E:fd8 36. q;,h3 E:d6 37. E:xd6 E:xd6 38. E:c2

4

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f

K. Lie

a

b

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2

d

e

f

9

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Endings with opposite-colour bishops are Carlsen's forte. On many subseq uent oc­ casions he was able to demonstrate the su­ periority of his bishop. In the g iven specific position it is worth noth ing that White's ex­ tra pawn is on the kingside, where Black's res o u rces are concentrated . Therefore Carlsen keeps both wings in view. 38 . . . E:d7?!

Pas s i ve d efence m a ke s t h i n g s eas i e r for Wh ite. 38 . . . f!.a6!? was more critical: 39. f!.c7+ (after 39. f!.a2 f!.e6! 40. AdS f!.e3 B l ac k attacks the g 3 - paw n , p ractically forcing the exchange of rooks: 41 . a4 Ac3 42. f!.a3 Ad4) 39 . . . �h6 40. h5 f!.xa3 41 . f!.c6 f!.e3 , pursuing the bishop. After the transi­ tion into a rook ending by 42. Axg6 hxg6 43. f!.xf6 �xhS 44. f!.f7 �h6 4S. f!.xa7 Black has real chances of a d raw. 39. q;,g4 Ae7 40. a4 E:d4 41 . Ac6 h5+?!

T h i s i m pu l s ive m ove m e rely c reates a weakness on g6. 41 . . . �f6 was more logi­ cal .

Y!Vd4! 31 . 'Wxd4 Axd4 32. f4 �g7

...

The game has gone into an ending which is not easy to win.

42. q;,h3 Ad6 43. q;,g2 Ab4 44. q;,h3

65

Chapter 2

The Way to the Top

�-------------------

Ad6 45. Aea l:id3 46. q;,g2 l:ie3 47. l:ic6!

Game 1 3 B. Jobava

-

M. Carlsen

Skanderborg 2005 a

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47. . . l:ie6?

The rook ending after 47. . J!xe8 48. gxd6 ge7 49. c!>f3 or 47. . . Axf4 48. gxg6+ c!>f8 49. gxf4 gxe8 50. ga6 is clearly better for Wh ite, who has an active rook. But moving into a pin leads to the loss of the a7-pawn. More was prom i sed by a symmetric at­ tack on the g3-pawn - 47. . . Ab4! 48. Axg6 Ae1 49. Axh5 g xg3+ 50. c!>f1 (weaker is 50. c!> h2?! ga3 51 . ga6 A x h 4) 50 . . . ge3 51 . gg6+ c!>f8 52. gg4 Ad2 53. c!>f2 ge4 54. f5 gxg4 55. Axg4 with real d rawing chances. 48. !:ia6 q;,f8 49. Ab5 iif6 50. Ad3!

It i s usefu l to gain a tempo. The rest does not req u i re any commentary. 50 . . . q;,g7 51 . l:ixa7+ q;,f8 52. a5 Ab4 53. a6 l:id6 54. l:ic7 l:ixd3 55. l:ic8+ q;,g7 56. a7 l:id2+ 57. q;,f3 l:id3+ 58. q;,e4 l:ia3 59. a8'W

Black resigned.

Queen's Indian Defence [E12]

8

::t .i.

6

a

h

1 . c4 �f6 2. d4 e6 3. �f3 b6 4. Ag5

It was not hard for Mag n u s to prepare for this game - at that time this variation was Jobava's main weapon against the Queen's I ndian Defence. 4 . . . h6 5. Ah4 Ae7 6. �c3 c5

Carlsen follows the path of lvanchuk in his recent game with Jobava at the Capablan­ ca Memorial (Havana 2005), in which Wh ite suffered a crushing defeat. The classical 6 . . . Ab7 7. e3 tDe4 seemed rather ted ious to h i m . 7. e4

The following contin uation is practically unexplored: 7. d5 tDxd5 8 . tDxd5 (the ex­ changing operation 8. cxd5 Axh4 9. d xe6 fxe6 1 0. Vt/c2 with the th reat of Vt/e4+ is parried by the simple 10 . . . Af6 1 1 . Vt/g6+ c!>f8 with an acceptable game for Black, who i s able to stabi l ise the position of his king thanks to the threat of the exchange 1 2 . . . A x c 3 + 1 3 . bxc3 Vt/f6) 8 . . . A x h 4 9. tDxh4 Ab7 (weaker is 9 . . . exd5 1 0. Vt/xd5 tDc6 1 1 . tDf5) 1 0. g3 (after 1 0 . tDf3 exd5 1 1 . cxd5 0-0 12. e3 'Wf6 1 3. 'Wb3 tDa6 Black successfu lly com pletes h i s development, retaining some initiative) 10 . . . exd5 1 1 . Ag2 0-0 1 2. 0-0 'Wf6 1 3 . Axd5 (or 1 3 . b3 gea 1 4 . e3 Vt/e5 with the idea of 1 5. cxd5 g5!) 1 3 . . . A x d 5 1 4 . Vt/xd5 tDc6 1 5 . b3 gad8 1 6 . gad 1 gfe8 1 7. e3 ge5 1 8 . 'Wd6 ge6, and Black maintai ns the balance. 7. . . cxd4 8. �xd4 d6

B. Jobava - M . Carlsen

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

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I �.i.'ii'fl I 7� .i. �� 7 6 �! � r �� � 6 5 5 [fj � � 4 4 8

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f

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to go i nto an endgame: 1 8 . ygxc5+ bxc5 1 9. �b1 �ab8 20. b3 Ac3+ 21 . �f1 �d2, which, despite the pawn deficit, i s advan­ tageous to B l ack. The game conti n ued 1 8 . b4 yggs 19. �d1 ygxg2 20. b5+ �e8 2 1 . �xd8+ �xd8 22. Af3 ygg5 23. bxa6 ygd2+ 24. �f1 Ad4! 25. Ae2 Ac5 26. ygg3 ygxa2 27. ygxg7? �d1 +, and Black soon won . 1 0 . . . dxe5

h

Real i s i n g that 1 0 . . . a x b 5 1 1 . exf6 g x f6 (1 1 . . . A x f6 ? ! 1 2 . A x f6 yg x f6 1 3 . ygxd6 i s dangero u s for B l ack) 1 2 . ttJxb5 Cbc6 1 3 . Ag3 leaves Wh ite with an enduri n g i n itiative without a n y r i s k , Carlsen goes i n for an exchange sacrifice. His central pawn mass prom i ses him sufficient com­ pensation.

9. lDdb5!

With the idea of breaking up Black's king­ side pawns by exchanging on f6. However, as was shown by the Jobava - lvanchuk game, it proves to be i l l u sory. 9.. . a6 1 0. e5!?

1 1 . Axf6

This move, giving the play an almost forc­ ing character, was undoubted ly prepared at home. Thereby Jobava i n d i rectly ad­ mits the effectiveness of the pawn sac­ rifice made by lvanchuk: 1 0 . Axf6 Axf6 1 1 . ttJxd6+ �e7 1 2. ttJxc8+ ygxc8.

!.�'if

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Weaker is 1 1 . ygf3? e4! 1 2 . Cb xe4 a x b5 1 3 . tDxf6+ gxf6 1 4 . Wxa8 Ab4+ 1 5 . �e2 ygd2+ 1 6 . �f3 e5 with a very dangerous attack for B lack. For example: 1 7. ygds (Wh ite loses q u ickly after 1 7. ygxb8 ygf4+ 1 8. �e2 0-0) 1 7. . . ygf4+ (as a reserve vari­ ation there is a draw: 1 7. . . Ab7 1 8 . ygxb7 ygf4+) 1 8 . �e2 0-0! 1 9. Ag3 ygf5 20. ygd3 (if 20. �d1 there i s the decisive 20 . . . Ab7! 21 . ygxb7 �d8+) 20 . . . ygg5 (with the threat of . . . ttJc6 and . . . �d8) 2 1 . yge3 ygg6 22. �c1 bxc4 etc.

!.

.££ £.i. £ !:!:,

.-

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1 1 ... Axf6

Analysis diagram

13. ttJa4?! (1 3. ygf3 followed by Ae2 and

If B l ac k i nt e r p o s e s t h e exc h a n g e 1 1 . . . ygxd1 + 1 2. �xd1 axb5 1 3 . Axg7 (af­ ter 1 3 . AxeS lDd7! 1 4 . A.xg7 �g8 1 5 . lbxb5 �xa2 1 6. Axh6 �xb2 Black has quite good cou nterplay) 13 . . . �g8 1 4 . Axh6 Wh ite wins a pawn without sufficient compensation for the opponent.

0-0 was stronger) 13 . . . �d8 14. ygb3 ttJd7 15. yga3+, and after 1 5 . . . ttJc5 1 6 . Ae2

(not 1 6. ttJxb6? ygc6 1 7. ttJxa8 because of 17. . . Axb2! 1 8. 'Wxb2 ygxe4+ 1 9. yge2 ttJd3+

20. �d2 ttJf4+ and Black wins the queen) 16 . . _ygc6 1 7. ttJxc5 ygxc5 ! . lvanchuk offers

67

Chapter 2

·

The Way to the Top

1 2 . Wf3!

Wh ite w i n s the exchange, but M ag n u s manages t o find defensive resources. 12

••.

axb5 1 3. Wxa8 b4! a

b

c

d

e

8 � � .i. 'IV. 6 5

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3

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B B B 2 � � l:, 1

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The moment of truth for the assessment of the open ing idea devised by Jobava, who apparently underestimated this possibil ity, expecting only 1 3 . .. tLld7 1 4. tLlxb5 0-0 1 5 . 0-0-0 with advantage to Wh ite. H owever, Carlsen has planned a m o re active role for the knight, by prepari ng a route for it to d4, from where it controls both wings. 14. �e4

strong initiative; 1 6. tLlxb4 Y#d4! 1 7. tLlxc6 Y#e4+ 1 8. 'i!?d1 Axc6 is also advantageous to Black) 15 . . .Ad7 1 6. 'Wd6 bxc3 1 7. bxc3 e4 1 8. 0-0-0 Ae7 (1 8 . . . Axc3 1 9. Ae2 Y#c8 with the idea of .. . Aa4 is also possible) 1 9. Wd4 Aa4 (1 9 . . . Af6 2 0 . Wxe4 We? 2 1 . Y#a8+ Ac8 is also good) 20. Wxd8+ Axd8 21 . gd4 Ac6 22. Ae2 Ac7 followed by . . .'i!?e7. Carlsen assesses this position as favou rable for Black. 14

•..

J.d7 1 5. �xf6+

Wh ite hurries to deform Black's kingside pawns, whereas he also had other pos­ s i b i l ities. True, 1 5 . tLld6+ is u n convinc­ i n g : 1 5 ...'i!?e7 1 6 . tLlb5 (or 1 6 . gd1 tLlc6 1 7. 'Wxd8+ gxd8 1 8 . tLle4 tLld4) 16 .. .tLlc6 1 7. Wxd8+ gxd8 1 8. 0-0-0 tLld4 with sufficient com pensation for the exchange. But 1 5. gd1 , keeping the exchange on f6 in reserve, deserved serious consideration: 1 5 . .. tLlc6 (1 5 . . . Ae7 1 6. c5 0-0 1 7. Wa7 favou rs White) 1 6. Y#xd8+ 'i!?xd8 1 7. c5 bxc5 1 8 . tLlxc5 tLld4 1 9. tLlxd7 'i!?xd7 20. Ad3 , and Wh ite's position is preferable (Carlsen). 1 7. tLlxf6 gxf6 1 8 . g3 'i!?c7 1 9. Ag2 tLld4 20. f4 Ac6 21 . 0-0 also looks q u ite good, diverting the knight to f5 for the defence of the f-pawns.

After 1 4. Y# x b 8 b x c 3 1 5. g d 1 A d ? 1 6. Y#xd8+ 'i!?xd8 1 7. bxc3 e 4 t h e pair of strong bishops fu lly com pensates for the sacrificed exchange. 1 4 . \Wa4+ looks stro n g er: 1 4 ... tLlc6 (i n the event of 1 4 . . . Ad? 1 5 . Y#xb4 tLlc6 1 6 . Y#d6 Ae7 1 7. Wd 1 tLld4 B l ac k h as some com pensation for the exchange, but Wh ite's chances are nevertheless prefer­ able) 1 5. Y#xc6+ (activity with 1 5 . tLld5 is du bious: 1 5 . . . Ab7 1 6. Wb5 0-0 1 7. Y#xb6 exd5 1 8 . Wxb7 tLld4, and the powerfu l knight on d4 enables Black to develop a

15

•. .

gxf6 1 6. c5

Wh ite is aiming for a clear pawn structure on the queenside, but 1 6. 0-0-0 was more logical , after which Carlsen was i ntending to play 16 . ..tLlc6 1 7. Y#a4 (of cou rse, the queen exchange 1 7. \Wxd8+ 'i!?xd8 followed by . . . tLld4 would satisfy Black) 1 7. . . 'i!?e7, and with a su bsequent . . . Wa8 Black acti­ vates his forces. 16

.•.

bxc5 1 7. Wa7 �c6 1 8. Wxc5 �d4!

After carrying out this key defensive ma-

68

B. Jobava - M . Carlsen

noeuvre, Black can consider that he has solved his opening problems. a

b

c

d

e

f

9

h

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8 7

•

6

8 7

5

4

4

3

b

c

d

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f

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1 9 . . .'We7!

Magnus demonstrates a deep understand­ ing of the position. The endgame with the powerfu l k n i g ht on d4 is advantageous to Black .

6

5

a

------

h

20. 'Wxe7+

After 20. 'Wb6 0-0 21 . Ad3 Ac6 the situ­ ation favou rs Black, since he can develop an attack on the white king by playing his rook to a8 and his q ueen to d5. 20 . . mxe7 21 . mb1 J.c6 22. f3 .

19. 0-0-0?

Jobava chooses a bad post for his king, where it m ay came under attack by the active black pieces. But it was not an easy choice. For exam ple, if 1 9. Ad3 Black can fight for the i n itiative: 19 . . . 'Wa8! (after 19 . . .'We? 20. 'Wb6 0-0 21 . 0-0 Ac6 22. l:!fc1 Black would have problems with the de­ fence of his b4-pawn) 20. 'Wxb4 l:!g8! 21 . a3 (if 21 . 0-0-0, then 21 . . . 'Wxa2 is possible, not fearing 22. 'Wb8+ --I.

7

5

4

4

3

3

£::, £::,

2

b

c

d

e

f

28. b4

Here this move is now too late. 28 . . . Ae3! 29. h3 �d1 30. �xd1 �xd1 + 31 . �h2 Af4+ 32 . g3 �d2+ 33. Wxd2 J.xd2 34. hxg4

2

� 1

a a

N ow W h ite cannot h o l d h i s back ran k, which gives Black a serious attack.

8

5

g

Ag4!

h

(see next diagram)

97

Chapter 2

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

6

8

... ...

7 6

5

5

£::, £::,

£::, £::,

4 3

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2

a

34

•••

The Way to the Top

h

8 7

·

b

c

d

e

f

g

4 3

�

2

h

Axb4?!

For the moment Carlsen's endgame tech­ nique is still shaky. The exchange of pawns allows Wh ite to p rolong the resistance.

There was a q uicker win by the thematic diverti ng-cum-i nterference move 34 . . . c5! 35. bxc5 Ag5 36. Af8 aS 37. c6 Ac1 , when the a-pawn cannot be stopped . 35. Axf6 aS 36. �g2 �d7 37. �f3 Ad6

These tricks are unnecessary. There was an elementary w i n by 37 . . . a4 3 8 . �e2 a3 39. �d3 �e6 40. Aa1 Ae7 41 . �c2 Af6. 38. �e4 Axg3 39. �d3 �e6 40. Ad4 a6 41 . �c2 a4 42. �b1 Ae5 43. Af2 �d6 44. �a2 Ac3 45. �a3 �e5 46. �xa4 �f4 47. Ab6 �xg4 48. Aa5 Axa5 49. �xa5 �f4 50. �b6 aS

Wh ite resig ned .

The sternest test of Carlsen's potential came at the M i khail Tal Memorial Tou rna­ ment, which took place i n N ovem ber 2006 i n Moscow. This was the fi rst time he had played i n a F I D E category 20 tournament with such a un iformly strong field . I ndeed , half of them were in the top ten in the world rating l ist , and although Carlsen h i mself was just 2 poi nts short of the 2700 mark, already i n the 1 st round the difference was felt. M agnus was g iven a gen u i ne strategy lesson by Gelfand : 'J ust l i ke Chigorin', Yu ry Razuvaev commented on the manoeuvres of his knig hts, which outplayed the opponent's bishops. After being g iven a master class by one of the pupils of the Soviet Chess Schoo l , su bseq uently the youngster held on l i ke a seasoned com peti­ tor. For the moment it was hard to hope for anyth ing more, and had it not been for an em barrassment in h i s game with Aronian (on this occasion he lost a dead -d rawn rook endgame), M agnus wou l d have saved face right to the end of the tou rnament. But as it was - a share of 8th-9th places with 3% poi nts out of 9. A serious lesson on the eve of his 1 6th birthday. Contrary to expectations, Carlsen made a poor start to the year 2007. In his fi rst A Tou rnament i n Wij k aan Zee (FI D E category 1 9) he suffered a complete fai l u re. Magnus lost fou r games, without a single win, and shared last place with S h i rov. The game between them from the last round was the only one where Carlsen was gen u i nely close to a w i n . It was something else that was i m portant. M agnus man­ aged to sum mon u p his courage and demonstrate the potential of a fig hter, ready for forthcoming battles.

98

M. Carlsen - A. S h i rov

M. Carlsen - A. Shi rov

lead to the goal. H ere too 29. f!.gf3 was more logical.

Wij k aan Zee 2007 a

b

c

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8 7 6 5

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d

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f

e

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9

29 . . . �xe5 30 . .tb2 � bc4 31 . �xg6+

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4

a

b

c

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Wh ite has no other way of conti n u i ng the attack. 31 . Ad4 allows Black a respite to bring up his reserves and parry the attack: 31 . . . f!.f6 32. �d5 .§.xf1 + 33. Wxf1 .§.f8, re­ tai ning the extra pawn. 31

•. .

hxg6 32 . laxf8+ la xf8 33. Axg6

After 33 . .§. x g 6 � x b2 34. Wh5+ �g8 35. f!. xg7+ � xg7 B lack's m aterial com­ pensation for the q ueen is too great.

26. �f5!

a

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Carlsen apparently thought that winning the q ueen by 26. �fe6 .§.xe6 27. .§.xf6 .§.xf6 was an insufficient reward for the parryi ng of the attack.

It is dangerous to take the knight - 26 . . . gxf5 27. .§.g3! �h8 28. �h5 '1Wd4 29. �xg7! (this is more effective than the capt u re with the rook) 29 . . . Wxd1 30 . .§.xd1 .§.xe4 (30. . . f!.g8 31 . �xf5) 31 . Axe4 fxe4 32. �h5, winning the exchange with a conti nuing attack: 33 . .§.xd6 is th reatened (variation by Carlsen).

33 . . . .tg4?

Carlsen comments that both he and Shi­ rov considered t h i s to be the o n ly pos­ sible defence, si nce a conti nuation of the forcing play by 33 . . . f!.f1 + 34. Wxf1 �xb2 35. Ae4! Wh6 36. AdS would have led to a loss for B l ack, in view of the th reat of f!.g8. But this proved to be delusion. After 33 . . . Ae8! Wh ite would have had nothing better than to force a d raw by perpetu­ al check: 34. Wh5+ �g8 35. Ah7+ �h8 36. Ag6+.

27. �xg7 Wxg7 28. lag3 28. f!.bf3!? was stronger. 28 . . . laf8 29. e5!? A pawn sacrifice on the altar of the at­

tack! B ri l liancy lovers will undoubtedly give Carlsen's enterprise its due. And yet, ob­ jectively speaking, this is not the most justi­ fied sol ution to the position, since against accu rate defence Wh ite's plan does not

34. laxg4 Wt6 35. Ad4 Wf1 + 36. Wxf1 laxf1 + 37. �h2 �xa3 38. £d3 lad1 39. lag3 �ac4 40. h4

I 99

Chapter 2

·

The Way to the Top

There is no point i n com menti ng on the practically forced play i n the time scram­ ble, except to suggest moving one of the bishops out of the pin - 40. Ac3!?. 40

�d2

...

Only a computer would be capable of find­ ing a defence such as 40 . . .&Db6!.

The smoke of battle has cleared . With material eq ual, Wh ite has the two bishops, an i m portant factor, given the open char­ acter of the position. But subseq uently he missed chances to convert his advantage, and the game ended in a d raw 20 moves later.

It is unl ikely that anyone was expecting Carlsen to succeed i n the most prestigious tournament - Morelia/Linares (FI DE category 20), so poor had been his fi rst contacts with the el ite g randmasters i n M oscow and Wijk aan Zee. It was all the more surprising to see him lead ing together with Anand after the Mexican half of the tournament. This did not su rprise Magnus himself, as he was the most 'motivated ' fighter in the i nitial part of the tournament. 3% points in the fi rst five games - perhaps only Kasparov had managed this! After an exchange of blows with Morozevich and Anand (Carlsen's 'evil gen i us'), he gai ned successive wins over lvanchuk and Topalov, who clearly underes­ timated the youngster. In the Span ish half of the tournament they played against him with more respect, and only i n the last round was he unable to anything to counter the solid strategy of Leko, who was eager to win at least one game. Carlsen was caught by Morozevich, who played bri l l iantly in the second half of the event. Nevertheless, by scoring 'plus one', he clung on to 2nd place, a point beh ind the win ner, Anand . The main outcome of the tournament was that Magnus had learned how to win against el ite g randmasters! He confi rmed this at the ' Melody Am ber' Tournament, staged by Joop van Oosterom in Monte Carlo. This was a unique contest with twelve of the strongest players in the world , personally selected by the patron, who played two games a day - one bli ndfold and one rapid. Carlsen performed worth ily in the rapid event, and with a score of 6% poi nts he shared 2nd-5th places, beh ind only the world champion Vlad i m i r Kram nik. He was less successfu l at bli ndfold play, where he scored 4 points. One would have thought t h at , having passed thro u g h the cru cible of several p rest i g i o u s to u rn aments , Carlsen had earned h i m self a rest . B u t ahead l ay the Can d i d ates tournament, crown i n g his fi rst cycle i n the battle fo r the world cham­ pionsh i p . Befo re trave l l i n g to E l i sta it was i m portant to raise h i s fig hting spi rit in h i s homelan d , and M ag n u s deci ded to play i n Gausd a l , w h i c h was c l ose to his heart. In o rder to ensure the m otivation of thei r i d o l , the o rganisers of the ' G ausdal C l assic' g randmaster tournament did everyt h i n g possible to raise its level to F I DE categ ory 1 2. T he tourn ament was i n the nature of a warm - u p : Magnus easily took the fi rst prize. Over the short d i stance of 9 rou n d s he scored 7 points, fi n i s hing 1 % ahead of h i s nearest rival.

100

M. Carlsen - A. Morozevich

Game 2..... 1 _� M. Carlsen -A. Morozevich Morelia/Li nares 2007 King's Indian Defence [ E66}

thf3-e5) there can fol low 9 . . .thh5 1 0 . Ae3 thd4!. 8 . . . tba5 9. tbd2 e5

1. d4 tDf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 .tg7 4 . .tg2 0-0 5. tbc3 d6 6. tDf3 c5

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This m ove characterises the Yugosl av Variation, which was so named thanks to the analyses of Yugoslav players i n the 1 950s. By attacking the centre from the wing, Black tries to expand the range of his bishop on g7, not feari ng the exchange 7. dxc5 d xc5, si nce in the absence of any weaknesses Wh ite can hardly hope for an advantage in this sym metric position. I n the event of 7. d 5 with 7. . . b5!? Black can switch to a sharp variation of the Benko Gam bit. Therefore after 6 . . . c5 Wh ite usu­ ally does not hu rry to close the centre, but waits for Black to bring out his kn ight with 7. . .thc6, after which he plays 8. d5. In mod­ ern tou rnaments the development 6 . . . thc6 7. 0-0 a6 is preferred , when after 8. d 5 tDa5 9 . thd2 c 5 a similar pawn structure arises. The attack on the wh ite centre with the central pawn 6 . . .thbd7 7. 0-0 e5 takes us back to the outstand i ng 'fathers' of the King's Ind ian Defence, David Bronstein and Isaak Boleslavsky. 7. 0-0 tbc6 8. d5

Wh ite's m a i n conti n u ation, lead i n g to a closed position. B ut in the Yugoslav Vari­ ation B lack also has to reckon with the transition into the symmetric variation after the exchange 8. d xc5 d xc5, where Wh ite can try to exploit the advantage of the fi rst move. But here too B l ack h as cou nter­ arguments. For exa m ple, after 9 . Ae3 Ae6 10. �a4 he can avoid the symmetry -1 0 . . .thd4!, while if 9. Af4 (with the idea of

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By closing the centre, Black sign ifies that his priorities lie in the centre and on the ki ngside. The d rawback to his position is the knight on a5, which is not easy to bring i nto play. The other plan with a counterattack i n t h e centre a n d on t h e q ueenside is asso­ ciated with the underm i n i ng of the pawn chain by . . . e7-e6 and . . . b7-b5 and play on the b-file. It is usually carried out via this move order: 9 . . . a6 1 0 . �c2 �b8 1 1 . b3 b5. 1 0. b3

More usual is 1 0 . a3 b6 (1 0 . . . �c7? fails to 1 1 . b4! cxb4 1 2. axb4 thxc4 1 3 . thb5 �b6 14. thxc4 �xb5 1 5. thxd6 �xb4 1 6. Aa3 with an obvious advantage for White) 1 1 . b4 thb7 1 2. Ab2 thg4 (if 1 2 . . .thea Wh ite erects the same barricade) 1 3 . h3 thh6 1 4. e3! f5 1 5. f4 with complicated play. As for the obvious move 1 0. e4, it has contrad ictory assessments. T h e out­ stand i ng King's Ind ian expert Yefim Gel­ ler regu larly employed it, hoping to exploit the undermi n i ng move . . .f7-f5 to White's advantage, si nce on the decisive part of

101

Chapter 2

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The Way to the Top

the battlefield he has one piece more. For example, after 1 0 . . .CL!g4 i n his game with Vel i m i rovic (Havana 1 97 1 ) he responded 1 1 . b3 f5 1 2. exf5 and after 12 . . . e4? 1 3. f6! CL!xf6 1 4.CL!d xe4! CL! xe4 1 5 . CL! xe4 Axa1 1 6. Ag5 Af6 1 7. CL!xf6+ �xf6 1 8. 'Wa1 Black was unable to escape from the vice. But also after 1 2 . . . gxf5 1 3. h3 CL!h6 1 4 . Ab2 with the preparation of f2-f4 it is not easy for Black to create counterplay on the king­ side. Nevertheless, the modern view on the problems of this variation recommends that Wh ite should avoid al lowing Black his main counterplay resource. With 1 0 . b3 Wh ite fol lows a d ifferent conception: he pays no attention to the out-of-play kn ight at a5 and tries to exploit its absence for the creation of a numerical superiority on other parts of the board , avoid i ng giving Black something to latch onto for the creation of counterplay. 1 0 . tbg4 .

.

The retreat 1 0 . . . CL!e8, preparing . . .f7-f5 , does not satisfy the non-routi nely thinking Morozevich . However, now Black has to reckon with h i s second kn ight also be­ ing d riven to the edge of the board . T h is creates the constant p roblem of fi n d ­ ing a suitable refuge a t t h e rear for the kn ights, whose paths i ntersect at d8. In this respect it i s useful to see how this position was handled by Kasparov, who in his game with Beliavsky (Linares 1 994) preceded the kn ight move with 1 0 . . . Ad7. There fol lowed 1 1 . Ab2 CL!g4 1 2. h3 CL!h6 1 3. e3 (Beliavsky chooses the plan with the blockade of the e5/f5 pawn pai r; 1 3. e4 f5 1 4. exf5 gxf5 1 5 . 'Wc2 fol lowed by f2-f4 is more often played) 13 . . .f5 14. f4 a6 1 5. 'Wc2 b5 1 6. CL!d1 (Wh ite takes his kn ight via f2 to d3, aiming to provoke a crisis at e5; i n

the event of 1 6. �ae1 Black advances his queenside pawns with gain of tempo: 1 6 . . . b 4 1 7. CL!d1 CL! b7 and then . . . a6-a5-a4) 1 6 . . . �b8 1 7. Ac3! (it is im portant to remove the bishop from the 'X-ray' of the rook) 17 . . . �e8 1 8. �b1 CL!f7 1 9. CL!f2 exf4 (Black has to keep the knight at a5 in view; for ex­ ample, after the inclusion of the exchange on c4, 1 9 . . . bxc4 20. bxc4 �xb1 21 . �xb1 exf4 22. exf4, he cannot play 22 . . . �e3 be­ cause of 23. Axg7 r:!l xg7 24. tLlf1 followed by Wc3+) 20. exf4 �e3 21 . Axg7 r:!l xg7 22. �fe1 ! �xe1 + (if 22 . . . We7 there fol lows 23. CL!f3 with the th reat of 24. �xe3 Wxe3 25 . �e1 ) 23. �xe1 Wf6! (it is i m portant to occupy the long diagonal) 24. cxb5 axb5 25 . b4 cxb4 26. 'We? 'Wd8 27. 'Wxd8 �xd8 28. CL!d3 �c8 with an equal game. 1 1 . h3 tbh6 1 2 . tbde4!?

A com pletely new idea in this position. It is obvious that if 12 . . .f5 there follows 1 3. CL!g5 with the th reat of an i nvasion at e6. I ncidentally, about the effect of a nov­ elty. It often operates l i ke a psychological bom b, and the reaction to it is burdened by this psychological factor: the opponent knows something that I don't know. And to go along with the opponent involves a risk: at the board will it be possible to find everyth i ng which he prepared at home? Morozevich d i d not take the risk, but he went, as they say, from the frying pan into the fire. 12

f6?!

...

Black refrains from active measures, pre­ paring the knight retreat to f7 and reserving the move . . . f7-f5 for better ti mes. Even so, there were no grounds for rejecting the main l i ne of play.

102

\

M. Carlsen - A. Morozevich ------

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But a con u n d rum was posed by 1 5 . . . tbf5!?, which would have set W h ite d ifficult problems. For example: 1 6 . Aa3 !;!e8!? (after 1 6 . ..Wc7 1 7. tbe4 b6 1 8. d6 Wf7 1 9. tbxf6+ Wxf6 20 . Axa8 Black achieves less) 1 7. tbe4!? (1 7. g4 tbh4 1 8. d6 tbxg2 1 9. �xg2 Af8 with the th reat of . . . Wxd6 and . . .b7-b6) 17 . . . b6 1 8. g4 tbh4 1 9. tbd6 tbxg2 20 . tbxe8 tbf4 21 . tbxg7 �xg7 with unclear play.

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After t h e i nclusion of t h e exc h ange 1 7. Axh6 Axh6 the advance 1 8. d7 !;!f7 1 9. dxc8W Wxc8 would have allowed Black counterplay, based on the advantageous opposite-colour bishops.

13. �xd6!?

This positional sacrifice of a piece for two pawns (the one on c5 cannot be held) sharply changes the character of the play. And although it is to a certain extent i ntui­ tive, with his poorly coord inated pieces it is not easy for Black to restrain the d5-pawn . Taking account of t h e surprise effect, he is forced to solve com pletely new problems.

17 . . .�f7 18. �b1 We7 1 9. dxc8W �axeS 20. �a4 �fd8 21 . We1 �c6

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The psychological effect of the piece sac­ rifice has worked . It is not in Morozevich's style to try and 'dig in'. By return ing the ma­ terial, he coord inates his pieces. However, with his extra pawn Magnus also feels com­ fortable. But did Black have anything bet­ ter? He would have been unable to solve his problems after 1 5 . . . Wc7 1 6 . Aa3 !;!d8 1 7. tbd3 f5 1 8. Wc2. For example, it is risky to play 18 . . . e4 1 9. tbf4 Axa1 ?! 20. l;!xa1 , when he m ay be unable to survive the 'draught' along the long diagonal. He would have lost material after 1 5 . . . tbf7? 1 6. tbe6 Axe6 1 7. dxe6 tbd6 1 8. e7 Wxe7 1 9. Wd5+.

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This was the position for which Morozevich was aiming, when he went in for the forcing play begi n n i ng with 1 5 . . . f5. For the sacri ­ ficed pawn Black has compensation , in the form of his more active pieces. 22. �c3 �d4 23. Ab2

If 23. tbd5 Black could have sacrificed the exchange: 23 . . . l;!xd5!? 24. cxd5 !;!c2, ob­ tai n i ng defi n ite com pensation . But after

103

Chapter 2

·

The Way to the Top

25 . �h1 tbxe2 26. Ad2 tild4 27. �c1 �xa2 28. �c8+ Af8 29. Ab4 tild6 30. 'Mr'd1 tD4d5 31 . �c2 �xc2 32. 'Mfxc2 White's chances are sti l l better. 23 . . . bS 24. tildS

24. e3 suggests itself, after wh ich the rnanoeuvre 24 . . .tbc2 25. 'Mfe2 Axc3 26. Axc3 tDa3 27. �bd1 looks dubious i n view of the weakness of the long d ark-square d i agonal, while 24 . . . tilf3+ 25 . Axf3 exf3 26. tilxb5 would have led to the win of a second pawn , although also with an element of risk - the wh ite ki ng's defences are weakened . 24 . . .'Wd6

24 . . . 'Mr'c5!? was more vigorous, when i n the event of 25. tDf4 'Mr' d 6 26. cxb5 �c2 27. Axd4 Axd4 28. �d1 e3 29. fxe3 Axe3+ 30 . �h2 'Mr'e5 Black's active pieces would have given him defi n ite compensation for the sacrificed material. 2S. Axd4 Axd4 26. !ad1 AeS?

27. WaS

It should not be forgotten that this game was played in the fi rst round of the most prestigious tournament of the year, and after his fai lure in Wijk aan Zee Carlsen was sub-consciousl y a i m i n g for clarity. Possibly, therefore, he prefers to transpose into a technical endgame, rather than play a midd legame with a couple of extra pawns: 27. cxb5 'Mr'c5 28. b4 'Mr'd6 29. a4, wh ich involves some risk. 27. . . bxc4 28. tile3! Wc7 29. Wxc7 Axc7 30. tilxc4 tileS

As a result of the exchanging operation Wh ite has obtai ned an endgame with an extra pawn and a stable pawn structure, where Black's practical saving chances are associated with the opposite-colour bish­ ops. With every exchange these chances are improved . 31 . E:i:xd8+ !axd8 a

Black m isses a chance opportunity to exchange a pai r of pawns: 26 . . . bxc4!? 27. �xd4 cxb3 28. axb3 �c5 29. f3 �xd5 30 . �xd5 'Mr'xd5 31 . fxe4 fxe4 32. 'Wc3, when Wh ite's achievements are less than in the game. a

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The active kn ight has to be exchanged , after which Wh ite wi l l 'revive' his bishop, regroup his forces, and at a conven ient moment underm i ne Black's pawn chain with g3-g4.

1 04

M. Carlsen - A. Morozevich

43

32 !Llxc4 33. § xc4 §d1 + 34. Af1 Ad6 35. e3 a5!

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43 . . . f!xd3? fails to 44. f!xe4+ and 45. f!xf4. 44. Axe4 §d2! 45. §xd2 Axd2 46. mg3

It is useful to halt the pawns at the distant approaches to the queening squares.

If White were able to advance f2-f4 with his pawn on h3, the position would be won for h i m . But he is not able to do this.

36. mg2

The prophylactic 36. f!c2 was more ac­ curate, preventing the possible 36 . . . f!d2.

46 . . . Ae1 47. mt3 Ab4 48. h4 h6 49. me2 Ad6

36 mf7 37. §c2 me7 38. Ae2 §d5

The ki ngside should have been blocked 49 . . . g5 50. h5, when it would not be easy for Wh ite to fi nd a winning plan.

.•.

After 38 . . . f!a1 White would probably have carried out the same plan as in the game.

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A com m itting decision . Any neutral move, such as 40 . . . �f6, would h ave retai ned practical d rawing chances. Now, however, White wins the e4-pawn . True, it is with the help of a tactical trick, which was easy to overlook when making the last move before the time control.

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Black m isses the last opportunity to play 50 . . . g5, when after 51 . h5 �e5 52. f3 Ab4 it would not be easy for Wh ite to convert his material advantage. H i s chances are associated with the creation of an outside passed pawn: 53. �c4 Aa3 54. �b5 Ab4 55. �a4 Ad2 56. a3 �d6 57. �b5 Ae1 58. b4 axb4 59. axb4 Ad2 60. �c4.

41. exf4 Axf4 42. §e2 §d4 43. Ad3!

Now Black has to play on two pawns down. The only consolation is the possi bil ity of exchanging rooks, transposing into a pure ending with opposite-colour bishops. Re­ taining the rooks - 43 . . . f!xd3 44. f!xe4+ leads to a hopeless rook end i ng.

1 05

Analysis diagram

Chapter 2

·

The Way to the Top �---------------------

The critical position . White would l i ke to d i vert the black pieces by the advance of the b-pawn and then create a second passed pawn on the h -file with the help of the f2-f4 breakth rough , which works, for example, after 60 . . . Ae1 ? - 61 . f4! gxf4 62. g5 . I n the event of 60 . . . Ac1 Wh ite wins using the typical idea of restricting the op­ ponent's ki ng- 61 . AdS! , enabl i ng his own king to go to e4 and then on to the h6-pawn - 61 . . . Af4 (if 61 . . . Ab2 the pawn advances - 62. b5, wh ile if 61 . . . Ae3 62. �d3 the king breaks th rough to e4) 62. �d4 Ad2 63. b5 Aa5 64. �e4 Ab6 65. Ac4 and �e4-f5 (M. Marin). The o n l y move lead i n g to a d raw i s 60 . . . Ae3! . I t i s i m portant to keep t h e b6-square u n d e r contro l , without l ifti n g t h e control o f f4 , a n d t h e ' k n ight o p ­ position' o f the k i ngs with the sup port of the b i s h o p e n a b l e s the position to be hel d . If 6 1 . AdS or 6 1 . Aa8 there fol ­ lows 6 1 . . .�e5 , a n d not h i ng i s given by 6 1 . b5 or 6 1 . �d3 because of 6 1 . . . Ab 6 . The march o f the k i n g t o a 6 - 6 1 . � b 5 i s restrained by 6 1 . . . A d 2 . I ncidentally, here too the opposition can be m a i n ­ tai ned - 6 1 . . . �c7 6 2 . � a 6 �b8, s i nce after the advance of the pawn to b6 the f3-f4 b reakth rough does not ach i eve its aim: the passed h - pawn i s held by the bishop, and if the wh ite k i ng goes to its aid , Black wins the b6-pawn , by d iverting the wh ite bishop with his passed pawns . 51 . f4 h 5 5 2 . g5+ 'it>g7 5 3 . 'it>c4

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58. f5 gxf5 59. Axh5 �e7 was stronger, retai n i ng chances of saving the game. 54. 'it>b5 Axf4 55. 'it>xa5 Ag3 56. 'it>bS Axh4 57. a4 Axg5

Black has restored material equal ity, but the pawn race is obviously won for Wh ite. a

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Black resigned .

(see next diagram)

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M. Carlsen - V. Topalov

.'Da5 . Nowadays plans are also practised where Black does not hurry to relieve the pawn tension. lvanchuk follows the tradi ­ tional path, retai ning t h e option after the bishop retreat of reverting to fam i liar l i nes by exchanging pawns, but the course of events in the game, where the kn ight at a5 played the role of a spectator, may subse­ quently have led h i m to another, possibly more p rom i s i ng conti nuation: 10 . . . Vf!c7 1 1 . l::! c1 l::! d 8. The game Chepari nov - lv­ anchuk (Cap d'Agde rapid 2008), continued 1 2. Af4 Ae5!? 1 3. Axe5 .'Dxe5 1 4 . Ab3 .'Dg4 1 5 . .'Dg3 Vf!f4 1 6. Vf!f3 Vf!xf3 1 7. gxf3 LDf6 1 8. l::!fd1 �f8 1 9 . .'De2 b6 20 . e5 .'Dh5 21 . d xc5 Aa6 22 . .'Dg3 "Df4 23. cxb6 axb6 with excel lent compensation for the pawn , typical of G ri.infeld-type positions. 1 1 . !J.d3

Morelia/Linares 2007

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Game 22 M. Carlsen - V. lvanchuk Morelia/Li nares 2007 GrOnfeld Defence [ 087]

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2

a b c d e f 9 h

1. d4 CLlf6 2. c4 g6 3. CL!c3 d5 4. cxd5 tDxd5 5. e4 CL!xc3 6. bxc3 IJ.g7 7. /J.c4 c5 8. CL!e2 CL!c6 9. !J.e3 0-0 1 0. 0-0

11 b6 This variation has become popular in recent years. Of course, Black could also have re­ turned to the main line by playing 1 1 . . . cxd4. 1 2 . lac1 If White captures the pawn - 1 2. d xc5?! bxc5 1 3. Axc5, then after 1 3 . . . Vf!c7 1 4. Ad4 e5 1 5 . Ae3 Ae6 1 6 . Vf!c2 .'Dc4 Black has ful l com pensation . 12 cxd4 With the rook on c1 , Carlsen considers .•.

This is the so-cal led main variation of the Gri.infeld Defence. It was here that the first attem pts were made to refute what has turned out to be the 'evergreen' idea of the Austrian grandmaster Ernst G ri.infeld (3 . . . d5!), fi rst carried out in 1 922. 10 CL!a5 Over previous decades Black's main continuation was 10 . . . cxd4 1 1 . cxd4 Ag4 1 2. f3 • .•

a b c d e f 9 h .!. .i. �

1 07

•.•

Chapter 2

·

The Way to the Top

the open ing of the c-fi le to favour Wh ite. I ndeed , to neutralise the control of the c­ fi le Black has to go in for the exchange of rooks, which reduces the possibility of creating piece play typical of the G ri.in ­ feld Defence. 1 2 . . .'\Wc? looks to be i n the spi rit of the position, although it is not easy to shake the pawn centre. Black's problems are i l lustrated by the game Ja­ kovenko-Areshchenko (World Cup, Khan­ ty-Mansiysk 2009): 1 3. 'Wd2 Ab7 1 4 . Ah6 fiad8 1 S . Axg7 �xg7 1 6. f4 fS?! 1 7. exfS gxfS 1 8. 'We3 'Wd6 1 9. ficd 1 c4 20. Ac2 AdS 21 . 'WeS+ WxeS 22. fxeS e6 23. �f4 �f7 24. fide1 �e7 2S. fie3 bS 26. fib1 a6 27. fih3 fit? 28. fih6 �c6 29. Ad 1 ! 1 -0. After 1 3. 'Wd2 Black can consider 1 3 . . . eS, when i n the event of 1 4 . d xeS AxeS 1 S . f4 Ag7 1 6 . eS fid8 or the i m med iate 1 4 .. . fid8 (i ntending 1 S . AgS Aa6!) he ob­ tai ns excellent play. However, 1 4. f4!? is more critical . 1 3. cxd4 e6

If 1 3 . . . A b7 there would h ave fol l owed 1 4. dS! , restricting the bishop, and Black is obliged to prevent this move. However, this leads to a weakening of the dark squares on the kingside, which creates the grounds for an attack. 14. 'Wd2 .tb7

a b c d e 8 .!. 'if 7 .l .i. 6 .l

8

6

5�

5

4

4

3

3

A strong move, introduced by the German grandmaster Rainer Knaak i n a game with Malich (Halle 1 976). Wh ite begi ns a flank attack without risking the loss of a pawn, si nce in the event of 1 S . . . Wxh4? 1 6. Ag5 'WhS (th i ngs are not changed by 1 6 . . .'\Wg4 1 7. f3 'WhS 1 8. �g3 Axd4+ 1 9. fif2) 1 7. �g 3 'Wg4 1 8. Ae2 the queen is lost. 1 5 . 'We7?! .

.

Surprisingly, lvanchuk fol lows Mal ich, who already then had become convi nced about the d rawbacks to this move and had rec­ ommended 1S . . .'Wd7, which Black adopted in later games with his variation . True, with­ out particular success. For example, the game Knaak- Kir. Georgiev (East Germany 1 987) continued 1 6. Ah6 fiac8 1 7. hS! fixc1 1 8 . .§xc1 fic8 1 9. Axg7 .§xc1 + 20. Wxc1 �xg7 21 . h6+! with advantage to White. The move in the game is obviously not in the spi rit of the position, si nce it assists White's plan of exploiting the weakness of the dark squares. Carlsen considers the best defence to be 1S . . .�c6, after which he was i ntending to play 1 6. eS. But a rad ical solution in the spi rit of the Sici l ian Dragon also comes into consideration: 1 S . . . hS!?, nipping in the bud the threat of the h-pawn's advance. For example, the game Tim man­ Baramidze (Bundesl iga 2007) continued 1 6. AgS 'Wd7 1 7. Ah6 fifc8 1 8. Axg7 �xg7 1 9. WgS 'Wd8 20. 'Wg3 fixc1 21 . fixc1 fic8 22. fie1 �c6 23. dS �b4 24. Ab1 exd5 2S. a3 �c2 26. fid 1 , and here 26 . . . We8! would have led to equal play. 16. h5!

2 12

a b c d e f

1 5. h4

g

h

This is stronger than 1 6 . AgS f6 1 7. Af4, as played in the Knaak- Mal ich game, where

1 08

M. Carlsen - V. lvanchuk

Wh ite did not achieve anything significant.

tDe2-f4. For exa m pl e: 22 . . .�f8 (22 . . . �e8 23. h xg6 h xg6 24. tDf4 tDxd4 25. tDh5! or 22 . . . Aa6 23. Axa6 �xa6 24. tDf4) 23. hxg6 h xg6 (23 . . . fxg6 24 . tDf4) 24. tDf4 A h 6 2 5 . � h 4 tDxd4 2 6 . tDxg6 fxg6 27. �xd4 etc.

16 . . . l:UcS 1 7. e5!

a b c d e f 9 h .I .I • 8 7 .t j_ 'W.t .i. .t 7 6 .t .t .t 6 5 1.1\ � 5 � 4 4 � 1----_..___

a

��

3

2 1

�

.:

1 9. !axeS+ AxeS 20. Ag5 Y!/c7

3

Wl tiJ � �

.:�

a b c d e f 9 h

2 1

The concrete solving of problems by earls­ en , who i m mediately 'takes the bul l by the horns', is impressive. Wh ite prepares the ground for the exchange of the bishop on g7, regard less of the weakening of the long light-square diagonal, which Black is not able to exploit . Previously 1 7. Ag5 �a3 18. e5 was preferred, and, to judge by sto­ ries about Magnus's outstand ing memory, this idea was wel l known to h i m . 1 7. . . 1a xc1 ?

This was clearly not lvanchuk's day. The exchange of all the rooks deprives Black of his last hopes of creating counterplay. As Carlsen comments, first and foremost the kn ight should have been brought back into play - 1 7. . . tDc6. The p rophylactic 17 . . . �d7, p reparing to besiege the d4-pawn after 18 . . . tDc6, was also in the spi rit of the position. 1S. laxc1 lacS

If 18 . . . �d7 Wh ite attacks: 1 9 . Ag5 l:::!.c 8 20. l:::!. x c8+ �xc8 2 1 . Af6 tDc6 22. �g5! (22. Axg7 xg7 23. Ae4 tDe7 al lows Black to h o l d the position) with t h e t h reat of

Black misses the last chance for a suc­ cessful defence: 20 . . .�d7, as suggested by lvanchuk in his commentary on the game. 'This is more resil ient', agrees Carlsen, ' But even so after 2 1 . Af6 in any case it is very hard to believe that Black is able to sur­ vive.' After the best reply 21 . . . tDc6 Black's position is sti l l dangerous.

Analysis diagram

Wh ite can conti nue the attack as i n the game: 2 2 . �g5 tDxd4 2 3 . Axg7 xg7! (weaker is 23 . . . tD x e2+ 24. Axe2 xg7 2 5 . h 6+! fa 2 6 . �f6 with the t h reat af­ ter Ae2-d 3xg6 of quee n i ng the h - pawn , wh i l e i n t h e eve nt of 2 6 . . . �d2 2 7. Af1 Ab7 28. �h8+ e7 29. �xh7 Wh ite picks up an i m portant pawn and succeeds in retu r n i n g w i t h h i s queen - 29 . . . A xg2 30. �g7 �d 1 31 . �f6+ fa 32. xg2 with an extra piece) 24. �f6+ f8 25. tDf4! (2 5 . h 6 is just i f i e d o n l y i n t h e event of 2 5 . . . tD x e2+ 26. A x e 2 , but by p l aying 25 . . . tDf5! B l ack h o l d s the position: 2 6 . �h8+ e7 27. tDf4 tDxh6 28. �xh7 g5) 25 . . . g x h 5 2 6 . A x h7 �c7 27. tD x h 5 , and the attack conti nues .

�09

Chapter 2

·

The Way to the Top

Another way of attacki n g is 22. 'Wf4 with the idea of 23. Axg7 �xg7 24. 'Wf6+ �f8 25. Axg6! hxg6 26. h6 and the pawn is i rresistible. Black loses after 22 . . . Axf6 23. gxf6 'Wd8 (23 . . . We8 24. Ab5 Ad7 25. Axc6 Axc6 26. We? leads to the loss of a pawn) 24. hxg6 fxg6 (24 . . . h xg6 25. Wg5 �f8 26. Axg6) 25. f7+! �g7 26. Ab5 Ad7 27. Axc6 Axc6 28. f8W+, winning the bish­ op. After the bishop retreat 22 . . . Af8 again 23. Wg5 is possible. Let us consider the main variations:

White has carried out his plan, and now it only remains to get to the king.

a) 23. .tDxd4? 24. tDxd4 Wxd4 25. hxg6 fxg6 26. Axg6 and Wh ite wins;

Wh ite is inexorable in the conduct of his plan. He is th reaten i ng to capture on g7 followed by h6+ and Wf6 , and if 22 . . . Af8 the bishop sacrifice is decisive.

21 . . . �c6

A belated return of the kn ight. But Black has no defence against the th reat of Wd2g5 with a ' b reak-in' at g6. For exam ple: 2 1 . . . Af8 2 2 . Wg5 tDc6 23. h xg6 h xg6 24. Axg6 fxg6 25. Wxg6+ Ag7 26. Axg7 Wxg7 27. We8+, or 21 . . . Axf6 22. exf6 Wd8 23. Wg5 tDc6 24. hxg6 fxg6 25. Axg6! . 22. Wg5

·

b) 23 . . . Ab7?! 24. hxg6 fxg6 25. d5! exd5 (oth erwise 2 6 . d 6) 2 6 . A xg6 h xg6 27. Wxg6+ Ag7 28. e6 and wins;

22 . . . h6

c) 23 . . . tDe7 24. h xg6 fxg6 25. tDf4 A b7 26. Wg4 AdS 27. Axe? 'Wxe7 (27. . . Axe? 28. tDxg6!) 28. tDxd5 exd5 29. Wc8 with advantage to Wh ite - he is th reatening 30. Wc6;

A forced weake n i ng, s i n c e W h ite was threatening 23. Axg7 �xg7 24. Wf6+ �f8 25. h6 when the pawn cannot be stopped .

d) 23 . . . tDb4 (the most resi lient) 24. hxg6 fxg6 25. Axg6! hxg6 26. Wxg6+ Ag7 27. tDf4 Wf7 28. Wg5 �h7 29. Wh4+ �g8 30. Axg7, and by coordinating his queen and kn ight (as Rybka ind icates), Wh ite combi nes an attack on the king with the th reat of winning one of the pieces:

The p i n o n the kn ight e m p h asi ses the hopelessness of Black's position.

23. Wc1 !

a b c d e f g h • .t 7 .l 'iV .t .t 6 · � .l j, .l .l 8

5

d 1 ) 30 . . . �xg7 31 . tDh5+ �f8 32. Wd8+ We8 33 . Wf6+ Wf7 34. Wh8+ �e7 35. tDf6 Wf8 36. Wh4; d2) 30 . . . Wxg7 31 . tDh5 Wh6 32. tDf6+ �g7 3 3 . Wg4+ Wg6 3 4 . tD e8+ � h7 3 5 . W h 3 + W h 6 3 6 . tDf6+ �g6 37. Wg4+! Wg5 38. We4+ Wf5 39. Wh4 �g7 40. tDe8+ �g6 41 . Wh8. 21 . Af6!

•

4 3

2 B

B

B

j, VJg

•..

7 6 5 4 3

CiJ BB �

a b c d e f 23

B

8

g

2

h

g5

If 23 . . . Wd7 Wh ite wins by 24. hxg6 fxg6 25. tDf4 tDxd4 26. tDxg6 . But now to the

110

tD

M. Carlsen - V. lvanchuk

a b c d e f 9 h

vertical pin is added a diagonal one, which leads to the loss of a piece.

8

24. Ab5 Ad7 25. d5! exd5 26. �d4 Axf6 27. exf6 'Wd6 28. A xc6 'Wxf6 29. Axd7 'Wxd4 30. g3 'Wc5 31 . 'Wxc5 bxc5 32. Ac6 d4 33. Ab5 �f8 34. f4 gxf4 35. gxf4

8 7

6 5 4

4

3

3

2

Black resigned .

a b c d e f 9 h

The Candidates tournament in the new cycle of the individual world cham pionship was a notable event in Carlsen's chess career. The very appearance of a 1 6 -year-old candidate for the world c rown was an extraord i n ary phenomen o n . The only player to have p revi ously achieved this was Bobby Fischer, among whose opponents were the stars of the post-war wave of Soviet gran dmasters. Playing in the Candidates Tou rnament in 1 959 were such titans of the Soviet Chess School as Paul Keres, Vasily Smysl ov, Mikhail Tal and Tigran Petrosian , who are now l egends of world chess. The present-day Candidates have their stars , and although the list of real contenders for the chess crown is shorter, this does not reduce the i ntensity of the fight at the top l evel . At t h e Candidates Tournament i n Elista, h e l d on t h e knock-out system , Carlsen was pai red with Levon Aronian , the brightest young representative in the chess el ite. Forecasts regard ing the outcome of the match were one-sided. The clear favourite was the Armenian gran d m aster, with whose strength and experience o n e could hard ly com pare the potential of the uncommonly talented but not yet battle-hardened you ngster. Here it was forgotten that, with prod igies, time moves on a different scale, and that which takes others years, they resolve within months. And the Carlsen who went into battle in Elista was a ' renovated' version, one who had m arked ly gained in strength during his contact with the elite. True, in his opening preparation there were still gaps , and the first game of the match appeared to confirm the unfavour­ able forecasts. Carlse n , who was not yet ready for o pening disputes, went in for an un pretentious anti - M arshall variation i n the Ruy Lopez and contrived to lose an absolutely equal position . In the 2nd game the self-confid ent Aronian was not eager to build on his success, and in the t h i rd game, like a sphinx, M agnus rose from the ashes and level led the scores.

1 11

Chapter 2

·

The Way to the Top

�c6 1 3 . Ab2 gives preference t o Wh ite, Black's defensive resources should also n ot be underest i m ated . The attem pt to prevent the creation of the pawn centre fai ls in this objective.

Game 23 M. Carlsen - L. Aronian Candidates Match, 3rd Game Elista 2007 English Opening [A30]

1 1 . �e5! .axg2 12. mxg2 0-0 13. e4

1 . �f3 �f6 2. c4 b6 3. g3 c5 4 .ag2 .ab7 5. 0-0 e6 6. �c3 .ae1 7. lae1 d5 •

a b c d e f 9 h 8 !.'.& 'if .�. . 7 .l .S. .l .l 6 .l .l 5 .l ttJ 4 88 3 8 8

The m ost popular m ove, lead i ng to the creation of a mobile pawn centre for Wh ite. Lovers of the 'hedgehog' structure prefer 7. . . d6 8. e4 a6 9. d4 cxd4 1 0 . �xd4 V!fc7. 8. cxd5 �xd5 9. d4

This move is usually made after the pre­ parato ry exchange 9 . �xd5 V!! x d5. The following also occurs: 9. e4 �b4 (9 . . .�xc3 1 0 . bxc3 0-0 1 1 . d4 transposes) 1 0 . d4 cxd4 1 1 . �xd4 �8c6 1 2 . �xc6 V!! x d 1 1 3 . l::! x d1 Axc6. I n both cases this leads to an early exchange of queens.

28 1 l,!

8 7 6 5 4 3

8r!? 8 2 � �:!

a b c d e f 9 h

1 3 . . . 'Wc8

A n ew idea for solving B l ack's opening problems, compared with 1 3 . . . Af6 14. �g4 cxd4, as was played in the game Yermolin­ sky -Atalik (Berkeley 2005). There fol lowed 1 5. Aa3 Ae7 1 6. Axe? V!! xe7 1 7. cxd4 l::! d8! 1 8. d5 exd5 1 9. exd5 V!!d 6, and here White could have retained the better chances by 20. l::! c 1 ! �a6 2 1 . V!!f3 �c5 22. l::! c d1 . Black can also consider 14 . . .�c6!? 1 5. Ae3 cxd4 1 6 . cxd4 V!fd7 with an equal game.

a b c d e f 9 h

J. 8 8 J. I,& 'if. 7 .l .a .a .l .l .l 7 6 6 .l .l 5 5 .l '.& 4 4 8 3 3 ttJ tt:J8 2 /j,/j, 8 8 �8 2 1 :! � � :! rJ;;

1 4. 'Wg4

a b c d e f 9 h

The alternative is 1 4. d5!? Af6 1 5. Af4 with the better chances for Wh ite.

9 . . . �xc3

T h e p re p a ratory exc h a nge 9 . . . c x d 4 1 0. V!! x d4 0-0 comes i nto consideration, while if 10. �xd5 there is the good reply 10 . . . V!! x d5. 1 0. bxc3 .Q.e4

Although the experience of the main con­ tinuation 10 . . . 0-0 1 1 . e4 cxd4 12. cxd4

14 . . . .at6 15. �f3

With the th reat of e4-e5 and Ah6. 1 5 . . . mha 16. h4!

M agnus always h as suc h an attacking m ove i n mind, especially since 16 . . . h6 does noth ing to prevent 1 7. Ag5! . 1 6 . . . �c6 1 7. .ag5!

112

ctJ

M. Carlsen - L. Aronian

a b c d e f 9 h ,E a .. • 8 'iV 7 .l .l.l.l 7 6 6 · � .l.i. 5 .l !k, 5 4 8 8 V/!i 8 4 3 3 l::iJ 8 8 2 8 1 1:,

8 41

�

-----------------

-------

of the simple 22. l:Xed1 fol lowed by an at­ tack on the queenside by a2-a4 .

6

6 5 8 .l 4 8 8 3 l::iJ 8

4 3

2

:

a b c d e f 9 h

2 8 1 1:,

8�

2

:

a b c d e f 9 h

1 7. . . cxd4

For Black, who is under fire, it is not easy to hold the position. 1 7. . . Axg5 1 8. hxg5 will not do, since it allows the rook to be included in the attack along the h-fi le. His difficulties are only aggravated by 1 7. . . �d8 18. l:Xad1 cxd4 1 9. cxd4, when he has to reckon with t h e d4-d5 b reakth roug h . Therefore Black agrees t o t h e deforma­ tion of his ki ngside pawn structure, which may tel l not only i n the middlegame, but also in the endgame.

22. h5!

Not only clearing the knight's path to the key f5-point, but also with the aim of 'seal­ ing i n ' the king, which will be unable to render any assistance to its forces. 22 . . . �c4 23. �h4 �d6 24. h6 Jac3?!

24 . . _gc4 suggested itself. 25. l3:ac1 ! l3:fc8

For a rook, an open file is a gul p of fresh air. Aron ian makes use of the last practi­ cal chance. I n rejecting the capture of the pawn - 25 . . . tll x e4, he appreciated Wh ite's i ntention of attaching 'epaulettes' to the king at h 6 and d 6 - 26. �f5! gd8 (after 26 . . . l:Xfc8? 27. l:Xxc3 �xc3 the pin 28. l:Xc1 is decisive) 27. gxc3 �xc3 28. d6.

18. Axf6 gxf6 1 9. cxd4

The queen exchange could have been avoided - 1 9. �f4 �d8 20. cxd4 with the better game, but Carlsen has perceived cer­ tain advantages for White in the endgame and he provokes the opponent's reply. 19...e5

There a ppears to be n oth i n g better. If 19 . . . �d8 there is the good reply 20. �f4, when 20 . . .tbxd4? fai l s to 2 1 . ged 1 e5 22. �xeS. 20. Wxc8l3:axc8 21 . d5 �a5

Black transfers his kn ight to the d6 block­ ading point. 21 . . .�b4 is illogical on account

113

·.�.

1--

.t.

.t. [j .t. .t.tt:J

�

1----,

I�

[j

1.1\ :S:

£::., t::,cJ;;

Analysis diagram

• .t. [j

Chapter 2

·

The Way to the Top

Tableau! - this was how the French would have assessed the resulting position. The i nvasion of the rook o n the c-fi le is threatened, but supporting the kn ight leads to the loss of a pawn, without essentially changing the position: 28 . . . b 5 29. gc1 b4 30. a3 a5 3 1 . axb4 axb4 32. gc2. Wh ite i ntends to play gb2, for example, 32 . . . gd7 33. gb2 gb7 33. gxb4! , since after 33 . . _gxb4 34. d7 gba 35. tDd6! Black has no defence against the threats of 36. tDxf7+ and 36. tDc8.

29. §e4! �f8 30. §g4 lic7

26. § xc3 §xc3

34. d6

8

31 . §g7 b5 32. §xh7 �g8 33. §g7+ �h8

Wh ite is as though playing with an 'extra' ki ng. If 33 . . . c2ff8 there fol l ows a b reak­ t h rough by the h - pawn - 34. d 6! gd7 35. gg4 and 36. h7.

a b c d e f g h 8 .8 7 ... .I 7 ... � 6 6 � ... � 5 5 ... � 4 4 3 3 � 2 � �� 2

e f g h .8 ... ... 7 � ... � 6 5 � ... � ttJ 4 .I � 3 �� 2

a b c

6 5 4 3 2 �

I n the event of 30 . . _gd3 31 . gg7 gxd5 32. g x h7 c2fg8 33. gg7+ c2fh8 34. gxf7 gas 35. gxf6 Black cannot cope with the armada of white pawns.

d

�

a b c d e f g h

a b c d e f g h

34 . . . §d7

27. h8 2 1 . �g5 g6 22. 'Wf3! 'i!>g? 23. 'Wf4 with the th reats of �xe6+ and 'Wh4) 2 1 . �g5+ 'i!>g8 (2 1 . . . 'i!>g6 l eads to mate after 22. 'We4+ f5 2 3 . exf6+ 'i!>h5 24. 'W h7+ 'i!>g4 25. h3#) 22. 'W h 5 �tea 23. 'Wxf?+ 'i!>h8 24. �e1 ! , and B l ack has n o defence against the switc h i ng of the rook to h3.

h

Of course, the extra pawn after 22. Axe? Wxe7 23. 'Wxe7 �xe7 24. � x b4 �d 5 is too small a gai n i n such a powerful po­ siti o n . Carlsen was a i m i n g o n l y for an attack, but, h av i n g c o o l e d down after the battle, h i s p ragm at i c v i ew i n c l i ned i n favour of 22. �xb4, since here too the win of the exchange - 22 . . . A x b4 23. Af6 �b8 24. cxb4 - l eads to a very strong at­ tack on the king (25 . �g5 is th reatened). After 2 2 . . . �d5 23. �a4 W h ite rem a i n s a pawn up (23 . . . �xc3? 2 4 . Axe? 'Wxe7 25. 'Wxe7 �xe7 26. �xa6 leads to the l oss

116

M. Carlsen - L. Aronian

a b c d e f g h 8 I. • 8 r 7 .t. .t. 7 6 � ...� ... 6 5 5 .t. 4 4 ·� 3 I. � 3 ttJ 2 ��� 2

of a piece), retaining th reats to the king. For exam p le, in the event of 23 . .. .Ab5 24 . .§xa7 'Wxa7 25 . .Ae4 Black's position is unenviable. 22 . . . Axf6 23. exf6 �d5

a b c d e f g h 8 .�. . 7 I. 'iV .t. .t. 6 .*_ ·�· 5 '.& 4 ... ... � VJJJ 3 ttJ � 2 ��� ii, �

8 7 6 5 4 3 2

�

Signal ling the start of an attack on the kingside. Although Black's defences ap­ pear solid , Magnus sees a way to launch a decisive storm .

h

31 . . . h6 32. �e5 �a1 33. �xa1!

24. Ae4

Amazing pragmatism ! By th reatening the exchange on d5 Carlsen provokes the ex­ change of q ueens, preferring to go into an endgame with an extra pawn, rather than an attack with 24. tt::le 5, which looks very at­ tractive. For example: 24 . . . b3 25. Ae4 'Wd6 26. f4 .§e8 27. .Axd5 exd5 28. f5, building up the threats. This is correct, but what can be suggested after 24 . . . bxc3 25. Ae4 'Wd6? 24 . . .'fif4 25. Axd5 Wxh4 26. �xh4 exd5 27. � x b4

White's main tru m p in this ending is the 'nail' on f6. By sealing the kingside, it ef­ fectively guarantees White an extra piece - his king, the role of which in the endgame is hard to overestimate. 27. . . Ac8 28. � b6

Prophylaxis against the th reat of . . . .!:!a6. 28 . . . �a3 29. �c1 Ae6 30. �f3 �fa8

h

31 . h4!

��

a b c d e f g

�

a b c d e f g

The only way of fighting for a win . If 33. .§bb1 Black can reply 33 ....§1 a3!, re­ stricting White's offensive actions. 33 . . . �xa1 + 34. �h2 �a3 35. � b8+ �h7 36. f4!

An essential link in White's plan is the diver­ sion of the bishop ( f4-f5 is th reatened). To convert his advantage it is important for him to win the f7- pawn without exchang­ ing the minor pieces, since in the event of 36. .§f8 .§xc3 37. ti:lxf7 Axf7 38. .§xf7+ h8 there could h ave fol lowed 2 1 . gxf6 (2 1 . d xe5 fxe5 22. tbg4 is also good) 21 . . . Axf6 22. tbg4 Ag? 23. tbxe5 tbxe5 24. d xe5 with an extra pawn.

The decisive breakth rough . White clears the approaches to the black king. 22 . . . �xh6

21 . dxe5 fxg5

If 2 2 . . .tD7f6 t here a l so fol lows 23. e7! Axe? 24. l::! xe7+ tbxe7 25. l::! xe7+ VJ/xe7 26. tbhf5+.

a b c d e f g h 8 a .I ..t .1. 7 • .t 7 'iV,.. .t � 6 .t ,.. � .t 5 4 4 l:r 3 �� 3 2 �� 2 �� � � l:r

23. e7! 'Wb6

The capture of the pawn leads to a mating attack: 23 . . .tbxe7 24. l::! xe7 Axe? 25. l::! xe7 !!adS 26. 'Wd4 l::!f 6 27. 'Wh4#. 24. exf8'W+ tilxf8 25. c4 tilf4 26. 'Wd6 �g7 27. �xf4 gxf4 28. S:e7+

�

a b c d e f g

h

Black resigned .

An im portant l a n d m ark in Carlsen's self-assertion was his participation in the second M ikhail Tal Memorial Tou rnament (FI D E category 20) . On this occasion Carlsen arrived in M oscow not as a timid p u pi l , like a year earlier, but as a fighter, tested in battle with elite gran d m asters. However, he did not manage to take part in the battle for the first p rize. Kram nik was untouc hable. After the 1 4th world cham pion had passed on his ' ruling aut horit y ' to Anan d , h e p l ayed freel y and over the short distance of 9 rounds he scored +4, finishing 1% points ahead of the seco n d - p l aced Shirov. But Carlsen's sh are of 3rd-5th p l aces with Peter Leko and D mitry J akovenko also showed that he had effectivel y established himself in the upper echelo n . Playing in Moscow against a farge group o f successors o f t h e famous Soviet Chess Schoof is always a serious test . Especially when you begin the tournament with a game against Kram nik, and the fact that in Moscow the 1 4th world cham pion always pl ays with particular com mitment and is always aiming to win . The intrigue was increased by the fact that, in their previous meeting in the sum mer of that year in Dortmun d , Carlsen had suffered a disaster in the Catalan Opening. The opening was predictable.

13

V. Kramnik

-

M. Carlsen

-------

Game 28 V. Kramnik - M . Carlsen Moscow 2007 Catalan Opening [ EOS}

ready in a positional trap: 17. . . c6 1 8. tDd3 or 17 . . . axb4 1 8. tDc6 V!/d7 1 9. axb4 is equally unpleasant) 1 7. tDb3! . The culmination of White's strategy - he achieves a complete blockade of the queenside. After 17 . . . axb4 1 8. tDa5 Aa8 1 9. tDac6 Axc6 20. tbxc6 V!/d7 2 1 . Axd5! exd5 22. axb4 Black was com pletely paralysed and the b5- pawn was doomed .

1. �f3 �f6 2. c4

Kramnik's favourite way of reaching the Catalan . 2. . . e6 3. g3 d5 4. d4 £e7 5. £g2 0-0 6. 0-0 d xc4 7. 'Wc2 a6 8. 'Wxc4 b5 9. 'Wc2 J.b7 1 0. £d2

1 1 . £g5 �bd7 1 2 . � bd2 Jac8 1 3. � b3 c5

Thus Black has carried out his plan, but has associated it with a new idea.

White is intending to place his bishop on a5, to prevent the freeing advance . . . c7-c5.

a b c d e f g h s ,i � 'iV .i fl a 7 .i. £ .i. £ £ £ 7 6 s £ £� 5 5 £ 4

14. J.xf6 �xf6!?

This is Carlsen's genuine novelty. He sacri­ fices a pawn. In the only previous game on this theme, Hofman - Browne (Bad Wies­ see 1 998), Black played 14 . . . V!/xf6 1 5. tDe5 cxd4 1 6. tDxd7, after which White did not tempt fate and he offered a d raw.

4

[jj � 3 2 � � V/H� � � � � 2

3

1 l: £D

a b c

10

•.•

l: �

d

e f g

h

Ad6

Carlsen's home p reparatio n . Black va­ cates the e7-square for his queen , when the Aa5 thrust becomes irrelevant. Up til l here t h e two players h a d move for move repeated their game in Dortmund, which continued 1 0 . . .tDc6 1 1 . e3 tDb4 1 2. Axb4 Axb4 1 3. a3 Ae7 14. tDbd2 lk8 1 5. b4 a5 1 6. tDe5! (apparently this move came as a surprise to Carlsen, who was being guided by the game Bruzon - Capo Vidal, Morelia 2007, which went 1 6. V!/b2 axb4 1 7. axb4 'Wd6 1 8. flfb1 flaB with good play for Black) 1 6 . . .tDd5? (Black should have exchanged bishops - 1 6 . . . Axg2 1 7. �xg2, but he is al-

Analysis diagram

What was it that Carlsen did not like here? Sergey Shipov suggests the fol lowing vari­ ation: 1 6 . . . V!/d8 1 7. tDbc5 Axg2 1 8. tDxf8 Axf1 1 9 . 'Wx h7+ � x f8 20. tD b7 V!/d7 2 1 . tDxd6 flc6 22. tbxf7 �xf7 23. flxf1 , and White win s a pawn. But 2 1 . . . V!/xd6 22. 'Wh8+ �e7 23. 'Wxc8 Axe2 must also be considered. White is the exchange up, but the d4-pawn, supported by the bishop, is a real force. In addition the white king is a concern . Let us consider a possible

1 33

Chapter 2

·

The Way to the Top

As Pushkin said: 'One dawn to replace an­ other hastens'. Now White has to watch out for the possible manoeuvre . ..�e4- g5-f3.

continuation: 24. l:;!c1 �f6! (out of harm's way!) 25. l:;!c7 (25 . Wfc7 Wle5!?) 25 . . . Wib4 26. �g2 Wle1 27. l:;!c1 Wid2 28. l:;!c5 Ad3 29. Wlb7 �g6 and Black is alright. But these and other variations remained off-screen , since the two players continued playing at high speed , demonstrating confidence in their home preparation.

22. Wxe5 laxc5 23. 'Wd4

If 23. Wif4 possible is 23 . . . �g5 24. �h1 h6 fol lowed by the invasion of the rook on the 2nd rank.

a b c d e

1 5. � xc5

If 1 5 . dxc5, then 1 5 . ..�e4! is good . 15

•. .

J.e4 1 6. Wc3 e5!

For the sacrificed pawn Black has developed great activity. For example, bad for White is 1 7. �xeS Axg2 18. �xg2 Axe5 1 9. dxe5 �e4 when he has to give up his queen. 1 7. e3 J.xc5 1 8. dxc5 Wd5

It was only now that Kram nik stopped to think. And he had plenty to ponder. Black has successfully solved his opening prob­ lems. 8

a b c d e f g I ••

7

6 .\

5 4 3

I

h 8

.\ .\ .\

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.\ 8 'if .\ -.t � 8 CiJ 8 2 88 8�8 1 1:, .: w

a b c d e f g

7

6

5 4 3 2 1

h

1 9. laad1 WaS

1 9 . . . '1Wb7 was more active, but Carlsen only took into account the nuances known to him with the defence of the back rank. 20. �h4 J.xg2 21 . �xg2 �e4

a b c d e f g 23

..•

h

1ac4!

A multi-purpose move. The rook d rives the queen off its central position and frees the knight for the manoeuvre to f3. I n the event of 23...l:;!c2 24. �f4 (after 24. �e1 f!e2 2 5 . �f3 h 6 2 6 . a3 f!c8 the b l ack pieces occupy their optimally active po­ sitions) 24 . . .�g5 25. 'l!l'ld5 �f3+ (weaker is 25 ...Wixd5 26. f!xd5 �f3+ 27. �g2 �d2 28. l:;!e1 with the threat of the f!e2 pin , while after 28 . . . f! x b2 29. �d3! f! b1 30 . f!xb1 �xb1 31 . �b4 White again obtains an extra pawn) 26. �g2 Black has either to withdraw his knight or work out the consequences of the mutual pin after 26 . . . �d2 27. Wxa8 f!xa8 28. f!fe1 l:;!d8. 24. 'Wd3

After 24. Wle5 , apart from the t rivial 24 . . . f!c5, there are also other possibilities. Black undoubted ly has full compensation

1 34

D. Jakovenko - M. Carlsen

for the pawn, although it is sufficient only to maintain the balance, not more.

way to save the game is by a cou nter­ sacrifice of a rook.

a b c d e

24 .. .ti�g5 25. b3 �c5 26. h4 8

To avoid standing for ever u nder the threat of the check on f3.

5 4 3 fj, 2 fj,

a b c d e

'ii'

8

7

6 5

6 .l 5 .l l. 4 3 fj, 2 fj, a b c d e f g

'iV

7

26 . . . �f3+ 27. �h1

8

8

:t:

6 5 .l fj, 'iJJ fj, 4 1.1\ B 3 2 fj, :t:

a b c d e f g

W 1 h

32. 'We6+ �h8 33. 'Wxf5!

Exploiting the absence of an escape square for the king, White exchanges the q ueens. 33 . . .'Wxf5 34. � xf5 �xf5 35. �d1 g5

h

27. . .'Wc8

How can one refrain from threatening mate on h3? But Black's position is so good , that he does not need to h u rry. For example, he cou ld first have developed his rook 27. . . gea , opened an escape sq uare for his king with . . . h7-h6, and then taken a decision. 28. �f4 'Wg4!

Otherwise with g2 White will d rive away the knight.

Black cannot get away with half-measu res - 35 . . . g6 36. g2 . 36. hxg5 �xg5 37. fxg5 �xf2 38. a4 bxa4 39. bxa4 �a2 40. �d4

Draw. The tem po play in the final stage of the game is i m p ressive. The two p l ayers proved worthy of each other. Even so, there was a small 'pl us' for Carlsen, even if only a moral one - in his opening preparation he su rpassed none other than Kram nik.

29. 'Wd7 �f5!

Magnus's m otto is 'only forward ' ! The exchange sacrifice on f4 is now on the agenda. Kram nik has to find a way to save himself. 30. �d5 � xf4 31 . exf4 f5

Again mate on h3 is th reatened . The only

Game 29 - M. Carlsen Moscow 2007 Nimzo-lndian Defence [ E20] D. Jakovenko

1 . d4 �f6 2. c4 e6 3. �c3 Ab4 4. �f3

White goes in for the Romanishin Variation with the fianchetto of the bishop. The main

1 35

Chapter 2

The Way to the Top

18. Af4

continuations are 4. e3 and 4. 'Wc2.

a

4 c5 5. g3 cxd4 6. �xd4 0-0 7. J.g2 d5 8. cxd5 �xd5 9. 'Wb3 .••

a

b

c

d

e f g

8

7 .l

h

6

5

8 �. . .l .l .l ?

.l

6

5

.i.. tiJ 3 � ti} 2 �� 1 � i, b

c

d

3 2 � 1 �

5

4

4

a

4

6

1.&

3

e f g

a

h

A universal move in this type of position. White cou nters the pin on the knight and attacks the d5-point. 9 . . . Wa5

9 . . .'Wb6 is weaker in view of 1 0 . Axd5 exd5 1 1 . Ae3. 9 . . . tDc6 1 0. tDxc6 bxc6 1 1 . 0-0 Was 1 2. Ad2 leads to a transposition of moves. 1 0. Ad2 �c6 1 1 . �xc6 bxc6 1 2 . 0-0 Axc3 1 3. bxc3

After the exchange of the bishop 1 3. Axc3 tDxc3 1 4. bxc3 Aa6 Black easily equalises. For example, the game Moiseenko - Zugic (Toronto 2003) continued 1 5. 'Wb4 Wxb4 1 6. cxb4 §ab8 1 7. a3 Axe2 1 8. §fc1 §fc8 1 9. Axc6 �f8 20. f4 �e7 21 . �f2 Aa6 %-%. 13

•••

.1

Aa6 14. Elfd1 'Wc5

Preventing c3-c4, which is possible after � 1 4 . . . Axe2. 15. e4 Ac4 1 6. 'Wa4 �b6 1 7. Wb4 Wh5

Nothing is given by 17 . . . 'Wxb4 1 8 . c x b4 §fd8.

b

c

d

e 8

l.& .l

6

'if 5

� .i.. � b

c

� d

e f g

h

This battle took place at the peak of the variation's development, where much was decided by nuances, since this position was studied at the highest level. And although it is considered favourable for White, who has the two bishops, Black's resources are also quite considerable: his light-square bishop can be included in the fight for the d-file and in the play on the kingside. True, there are also drawbacks: Black's queenside pawns are in need of defence. White began developing his bishop at f4 after a detailed investigation had been made of 1 8 . Ae3, putting the queenside under attack. After Black carried out his main idea of exploiting the weakness of the light sq uares: 1 8 . . . Ae2 1 9 . §e1 (1 9. §d2 §ab8, Kasparov - Anand, Wij k aan Zee 2000) 1 9 . . . tDc4 20. Wc5 §fd8 2 1 . e5?! (21 . h3!?) 21 . . .tDb2! 22. Wxc6 tDd3, where he achieved the better game (Bacrot ­ G rischuk, Cap d 'Agde 2003), interest in the move 1 8. Ae3 fel l away. 18

•••

c5

Black is at the parting of the ways: should he d rive back the queen or the bishop? Carlsen begins by driving back the queen, but in so doing he takes into account the

1 36

D. Jakovenko - M. Carlsen

experience of the game G rischuk - Gel­ fand (World Championsh ip, Mexico 2007), where B l ack included 1 8 . . . Ae2 1 9 . l::! e 1 and wanted both the one and the other - 1 9 . . . cS 20. Wb3 eS, expecting 2 1 . Ae3 tDc4. But there fol l owed 2 1 . Ac1 ! , when Black faced an unpleasant white initiative on the q ueenside: 21 . . . l::! a c8 22. a4 Ac4 23. Wb2 Wg6 24. aS tDd7 2S. l::! d 1 Wc6 26. Ah3 Ae6 27. Axe6 Wxe6 28. Ae3 §c7 29. Wa2 ! (the exchange of queens guar­ antees W h ite control of both the open fi les, d and b) 29 . . . Wxa2 30. §xa2 tDf6 31 . f3 , and Wh ite obtained clearly the bet­ ter endgame. The alternative 1 8 . . . eS a l l ows W h ite to attack the c6- pawn. For example, the game Najer- J akovenko (Moscow 2006) conti n u ed 1 9 . Ae3 Ae2 20. l::! e 1 tDc4 21 . Wcs l::! fd8 22. l::! a b1 h6 23. h3! tDxe3 24 . Wxe3 Ac4 2S. a4 aS 26. WcS Ae6 27. h4 l::! d 2 ! , where for the pawn B l ack gained good counterplay. But it is q u ite poss i b l e t h at White's p l ay can be i m ­ proved .

tinued 20. Ae3 l::!fc8 2 1 . f3 Wg6 22. a4 aS 23. Ah3 Ae6? (after 23 . . . !:!cbS 24. Wa3 Ae2! Black wou l d have had counterplay) 24. Wxb6 Axh3 2S. Wxg6 fxg6 (after 2S . . . hxg6 26. g4 fS 27. §dS fxg4 28. fxg4 Axg4 29. AxeS all the black pawns are weak) 26. �f2 , and White achieved clearly the better endgame.

1 9. Wb2

21 . h3

20. �e1

A d ubious decision to concede the d -fi le, not supported subseq uently by any idea. 20. f3 came into consideration , but block­ ing the diagonal of his bishop apparently did not come into White's plans. 20 . . . �d7

Carlsen's ability to place his pieces o n their best squares characterises h i m as an ad herent of the classical style of play. Black prepares the doubling of his rooks, at the same time defending the a7-pawn, and leaves open the possibility of includ­ ing the second rook in the defence of the cS-pawn in the event of Wa3 .

A month l ater at the 2007 World Cup i n Khanty- Mansiysk, Cheparinov in his game with Carlsen made an attem pt to improve White's play with 1 9. Was. The game con­ tinued 19 . . . eS 20. Ae3 Ae2 21 . l::! e1 tDc4 22. Wa6 tDxe3 23. §xe2 tDxg2 24. � xg2 and, despite the sym metry of the pawn weaknesses on the queenside, the black pawns proved more vulnerable.

White has t o reckon with t h e threat o f a rook invasion of the second rank, and in the event of this he prepares g3-g4. 21 . . . h6

Carlsen also makes a useful waiting move, leaving open the possibility of . . . l::! c 8 in the event of Wa3. 22. a4

19 . . . �ad8

A more natural continuation than 19 . . . eS?!, which makes the defence of the cS-pawn more d iffi c u lt . For exa m p l e , the g a m e Bacrot - G rischuk (Poikovsky 200S) con-

(see next diagram)

A pointless advance in the given situation , since an attack on t h e queenside i s not a reality.

1 37

Chapter 2

a

b

c

d

...

7

�

5

3 2 1

was intending to answer with 25 . . . g5! . Now if 26. Ac1 ? there follows a rook invasion - 26 . . J !d 1 27. Aa3 �xe1 + 28. �xe1 �d1 29. �xd1 'Wxd 1 + 30. � h 2 'Wa4 and the queenside comes u nder attack by Black, and after 31 . Af1 Ab7! 32. Axc4 'Wd 1 the kingside also collapses. White has to throw caution to the winds: 26. g4 'Wg6 27. Ae4 'Wg7 28. Ag3 tbd2, but the initiative remains with Black.

8

6

4

The Way to the Top

e

8 7

·

...

.i.

�

�

: a

Wi b

c

d

e

f

g

h

25 . . . e5 26. g4

22 . . . .ta6!

A s u btle move. The bishop vacates an i mportant square for the knight, without blocking the d -file, which cou ld have oc­ cu rred after 22 . . . Ad3. 23. Wa2

This prophylactic queen move in the event of . . .tbc4 i n d icates that J akovenko has reconciled himself to waiting tactics. It was more logical to return the rook to the d -file by playing 23. g4 'Wh4 24. �ed 1 .

W h ite loses after 26. Ac1 ? �d1 27. g4 � xe1 ! 28. gx h 5 � d d 1 , also pick i n g u p the bishop. 26 . . . Wg6 27. Axc4 exf4!

Transposing into a heavy piece ending by 27. . . Axc4 28. Wxc4 exf4 29. Wxc5 �d3 would have left White with cou nterplay 30· 'Wf5 'Wd6 31 · e5 'Wd5 32. e6. 28. AdS f3!

Fixing the kingside in antici pation of . . . h6-h5.

23 . . . §fd8 24. a5 �c4 a

b

c

d

a

e

8 7 6 5

... .i_ �

8

7

7

6 5

d

... .i_ �

1

:

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

f

g

h

• ... ... � �.

.l i, � c

� ... �

.=. b

d

8 7 6 5

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: a

e

K K

3 2 'iY

3 2 Wff a

c

4

4

1

b

8

4

� 3

2

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e f g

h

29. c4?

25. At1

White could have parried the threat of 25. . . e5 with the rad ical 25. e5 , which Carlsen

It is na"lve to hope to shelter behind the bishop, since Carlsen has already found the key to the enemy king. Wh ite should

138

D. Jakovenko - M. Carlsen

have given up the exchange: 29. l::!. e3 Ae2! (29 . . . Wf6 30. c4 h5 31 . e5 Wh4 32. l::!. x f3 leaves White with some hopes) 30. l::!. x e2 fxe2 31 . Wxe2 , when his active bishop gives compensation. 29

h5 30. �h2 Wf6!

.••

Black moves his q ueen closer to the king, keeping 'up his sleeve' a delayed-action mine. The g4-pawn wil l not run away, es­ pecially as after 30 . . . hxg4 White wou l d have defended with 31 . l::!.g 1 Wf6 32 . l::!. ad 1 ! gxh3 33. Wb3.

The rook on a1 should have been moved out of range of the queen - 31 . l::!. a d1 , and after 31 . . . \Wf4+ 32. �h1 hxg4 White can defend by 33. l::!.g 1 Wh6 34. l::!.g3 (variation by Shipov). . •.

hxg4 a

b

c

d

e

.i .i

B

.l 6 .i_ s f::, 7

.t i.. £::,

4

f

£::,

.t

£::, d

B 7 6 5

'{i 1 .: c

h

.t .t 'iV

2

b

g •

3

a

32. Iiab1?

Jakovenko sensed the danger and moved his rook away, but to the wrong square. 32. �ad1 , defending the bishop, was essential. 32 . . . Axc4!

That's it! The fortress on d5 col lapses, and the exposed king cannot withstand the attack by the heavy pieces. 33. Wxc4

31 . Iig1?!

31

h2, White has to accept the loss of the exchange - 33. Wxc4 Wxa1 .

e

f

.t .:

g

33 . . .Wf4+ 34. Iig3 Iixd5!

The e4-pawn is pinned , and all that remains for White is to sacrifice his queen for two rooks, since after 35. hxg4 l::!. d 1 there is no defence against . . . Wh6+ with a deci­ sive invasion of the queen . White does not have sufficient compensation - this is not one of those cases where the rooks have operational scope . 35. Wxd5 Iixd5 36. exd5 c4

4

£::, �

If 33. Axc4 Black decides m atters with 33 . . . l::!. d 2, when 34. Axf7+ fails to 34 . . . �f8.

3

While the rook is pinned , the pawn swiftly advances towards the queening square .

2

37. Iid1 c3 38. d6 c2 39. Iid3 Wc4!

h

The axe is raised ! If 32 . �xg4 Carlsen had prepared 32 . . . Axc4! , and since 33. Axc4 i s not possible on account o f 3 3 . . . �d2 34. Wa4 l::!. x f2+ 35. �g1 �fd2! with the irresistible threats of . . . Wd4+ and . . . We5-

One senses that Carlsen is savouring the position . 40. gr93 Wc6 41 . Iid3 Wc5!

White resigned .

139

c_ hapter 2

..;;;.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _

·

The Way to the To p ,_

---------

---

After the Tal Memorial, how cou ld he not play in the world blitz championship with the participation of the world cham pion Anand , which was held two days later there in Moscow, in the prestigious G U M building on Red Sq uare? Carlsen battled selflessly in the double-round tournament with 20 participants, and finished in an honourable 9th place, with a score of 20% points. Of course, 38 games with the strongest blitz players in the world was a severe strain , especially as two days later the World Cup was starting in Khanty- Mansiysk. Carlsen cou ld rightly consider himself a veteran of the knock-out system, he liked the fierce struggle in mini- m atches, and he was improving tou rnament by tourna­ ment. We should remind you : in Tripoli 2004 Magnus went out in the first round, in Khanty- Mansiysk 2005 he reached the fourth , but in Khanty- Mansiysk 2007 he played six stages. 'The knock-out suits the young more than experienced players,' Carlsen was to say after the end of the tou rnament. ' I n particular because it is easier for us to recover, and because nothing special is expected of us. Before the World Cup I didn't have many expectations. I wasn't afraid of anyone, but also I did not consider myself the favourite. I simply came along and played . It turned out wel l . I hope this wil l also continue in the future.' The start was difficult, as fatigue told after the continuous marathon. The respite in the 'entry' match with the Australian Zhao Zong Yuan (2-0) was purely sym bolic for Magnus, since his subsequent opponents did not al low him to relax. Much strength was used on a protracted endgame in the first game with Naiditsch , whom he managed to overcome only in the tie-break (3-1 ). Things took a difficult cou rse in the match with Dominguez, who in the first game so zealously tried to spoil M ag nus's birthday, that on this occasion too he was thinking about the tie-break. But the second game went wel l (1 %-%), and subsequently his play improved . By the same score 1 %-% he won his mini-matches against Adams and Cheparinov.

Game 30 M. Carlsen

-

L. Dominguez

World Cup, Khanty- Mansiysk 2007 Sicilian Defence [ 892] 1 . e4 c5 2. �f3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. �xd4 �f6 5. �c3 a6 6. J.e2 e5 7. �b3 J.e7 8 . .tgs

The pin on the knight is a natural reaction to 6 . . . e5. By the threat of the exchange on f6 White discloses the weakness of the d5-point and the d6-pawn .

The modern experience of the Sicilian De­ fence (and earlier - of the King's Indian De­ fence in the variation with . . . tDb8-d7 and . . . e5xd4) has shown that the weakness of the backward d6-pawn is fu lly compensated by Black's active piece play in the centre. Black is not concerned about his d6pawn being inadeq uately defended - he can support it by retreating his bishop to e7 or cover it with his knight from d4 after the exchange of the knight on b3. 1 0. 'Wd3

8 . . J.e6 9 . .lxf6 .lxf6

(see next diagram)

.

140

M. Carlsen - L. Dominguez

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

.!. a

'if

7

Black makes a seemi ngly useful waiting move; after 1 4 . . .0-0 he was wrongly afraid of 1 S . h4, for the reason that Wh ite has insufficient resources to conduct an attack on the kingside. The variation 1 S. 0-0 g6 1 6. Ag4 looks more real , with the idea of advancing the pawn to fS, since the 1 6 . . . fS counter has its d rawbacks: 1 7. exfS gxfS 1 8. Ah3!? (1 8. Af3 'Wd7 1 9. AdS+ �h8 20. CL!e2 is also good) 18 . . . 'Wd7 1 9. f4, and Black may have problems with the defence of his fS-pawn.

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1 0 . . . Ag5

An original idea - Black prevents Wh ite's queenside castling. The classical continua­ tion is considered to be 10 . . .�c6 1 1 . 0-0-0 Ae7 1 2 . �b1 0-0 1 3. �dS AgS. A char­ acteristic game, for example, is Kramnik ­ Anand (Wijk aan Zee 2004), which contin­ ued 1 4 . h4 Axh4 1 S. g3 Af6 1 6. 'Wf3 AgS 17. 'WhS h6 1 8. f4 Af6 1 9. �d2 �d4 20. Ac4 §c8! 2 1 . c3 �bS 22. fS AxdS 23. AxdS §xc3! 24. 'Wg6! (or 24. bxc3 �xc3+ 2S. �c2 CL!xdS! 26. exdS 'WaS 27. 'Wf3 §c8+ 28. �b1 §c3 with equal play) 24 . . . 'Wb6 2S. §xh6! and the players agreed a d raw in view of perpetual check - 2S . . .�a3+ 26. �a1 �c2+ 27. �b1 �a3+. The plan with control of the dS-point is also possible - 1 0 . . . 0-0 1 1 . 0-0-0 Ae7 1 2 . �dS AxdS 1 3. 'WxdS 'Wb6 1 4 . §hf1 �d7 1 S. �b1 �f6 . 1 1 . El d 1 �c6 1 2 . a 3

T h e variation w i t h the w i n o f a pawn 1 2 . 'Wxd6 'Wxd6 1 3 . f! x d 6 �e7 1 4 . f!d1 �b4 1 S . Ad3 §ac8 1 6 . 0-0 f!hd8, where the activity of the black pieces guarantees full com pensation - would undoubted ly be a bonus for the opponent. 12 . . . Axb3 13. cxb3 �d4 14. b4 §c8

1 5. o-o o-o 1 6. Ag4!

It is useful to retain this bishop, 'urgi ng' the rook to go to c6 where, strangely enough , it proves to be out of play. 1 6 . . . Eic6 1 7. g3 g6 1 8. f4 Ah6 1 9. Elf2 Ag7

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Somehow imperceptibly it has transpired that in this unpretentious manner Carlsen has outplayed his opponent. Despite the apparently active placing of the knight on d4 and the rook on the c-fi le, they are ef­ fectively out of play. At the same time the wh ite pieces are ready for an offensive on the ki ngside, and it is not easy for Black to create counterplay.

141

------

Chapter 2

·

The Way to the Top

20. f5! 'Wg5 21 . Ah3 Ah6

It would appear that it is already hard to offer him any good advice.

I ntending to exploit the weakening of the dark squares by 22 . . . 'We3.

24. fxg6 hxg6

I n the event of 24 . . .fxg6 the unfortunate position of the rook at a8 is d isclosed 25. Ae6+! tDxe6 26. 'Wd5 !!ac8 27. Wxe6+ c;!>h8 28. tDd5 and the concerted actions of the q ueen and kn ight shou l d bring a win (variation by Carlsen). For example, if 28 . . . !!f8, then 29. tDf6 is strong, with the threat of winning the queen by h2-h4.

22. §e1 b5 23. mg2

25. Ad7!

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The poor rook! Black has reason to regret his superficial move 1 4 . . . !!c8. Incidentally, the proud knight at d4 is also sti l l playing the role of observer.

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The temptation to d rive in the pawn wedge 23. f6, constructing a kind of trap arou nd the enemy queen , was very great. But then the position becomes closed and there is a protracted battle in prospect. At the same time, as Carlsen comments, he sensed that the opponent was experiencing some dis­ comfort and that it was possible to await a more favourable outcome. Taking account of this, a usefu l waiting move was made.

25 . . . §c4 26. b3 §c7 27. �d5!

Coord i n ating the actions of kn ight and bishop. Black can not avoid loss of ma­ terial: u n der th reat is not only his rook, but also his queen in view of the threat of tDd5-f6+ and h2-h4. a a

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Magnus's intu ition did not let him down. Black is unable to find a sensible plan of defence, and he commits a mistake, lead ­ ing to disaster. The idea of switching the rook via a8-a7-c7, in order to double rooks, looks rather abstract, since it requires too much time. In anticipation of tDd5 he should have considered prophylaxis - 23 . . . c;!>h8, but after 24. tDd5 Wd8 again loom ing up is the idea of the wedge f6 followed by the advance of the h-pawn . 23 . . . lk7 24. tDd5 !!a? 25. !!ef1 is also too passive for Black.

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N ow Black loses his q ueen . H e should have accepted the loss of the exchange by retreating 27. . . 'Wd8, although it is clear

142

M. Carlsen - M. Adams

Cup, Mikhail G u revich played 8. tilf3 0-0 9. Af4 against Adams, and after 9 . . . Aa6 he retreated 1 0. 'Wc2 (1 0. '1Wxc7 Wxc7 1 1 . Axe? Z!c8 1 2 . Af4 tilbd7 wou ld have transposed into the present game) 1 0 . . .til bd7 1 1 . Z!d1 WeB 1 2 . g3 c5 1 3. Ag2 Ab7 1 4. dxc5 and offered a d raw, which, natu ral ly, was ac­ cepted . How can one reject u p holding the black pieces without a fight in a mini-match of two games? In the second game Adams made successfu l use of the white pieces.

that the win for White wou ld be merely a question of time. 28. h4! §xe1

If 28 . . . \Wd8, then 29. Z!xc1 Axc1 30. '1Wf1 is decisive. 29. hxg5 .txg5 30 .tg4 §a1 31 . a4 •

Rook for queen is clearly insufficient com­ pensation. Dominguez decided to play on to the time control.

8

31 . . .g;,g7 32. �c3 §a3 33. axb5 axb5 34. �xb5 �xb5 35. 'Wxb5 .te3 36. §f1 §a2+ 37. .te2

.•.

Aa6

The same idea can be carried out, without sacrificing a pawn - 8 . . . tild5 9. Ag3 Aa6, as Onischuk played against Carlsen in a blitz match for the first prize at the tou rna­ ment in Biel. There followed 10. Wa4+ \Wd? 1 1 . Wc2 '1Wb5 12. tilf3 tilc6? and here 1 3. b4! with the threat of 1 4 . e4 wou ld have won . Therefore 9 . . . 0-0 1 0 . tilf3 Aa6 is more accu rate, as in the game Beliavsky- Rozen­ talis (Baden 2007). There fol lowed 1 1 . \Wa4 Wd7 1 2 . 'Wc2 c5 1 3. tilg5 tilf6 1 4. Ae5 cxd4 1 5 . Axf6 d3 1 6 . exd3 gxf6 1 7. tile4 Wd4 1 8. Wc3 %-%.

Not only a retreat, but also the start of an attack on the f7-pawn . 37. . . §a7 38. g;,h3 §a8 39 .tc4 §h8+ 40. g;,g4 §h5 41 . §xf7+ g;,h6 42. 'Wd7 •

Black resigned .

Game 31 M. Carlsen - M. Adams World Cup, Khanty- Mansiysk 2007 Nimzo-/ndian Defence [ E36]

a b

1 . d4 �f6 2. c4 e6 3. �c3 .tb4 4. Wc2 d5 5. a3 .txc3+ 6. 'Wxc3 dxc4

English solidarity. Fol lowing the prescrip­ tion of Nigel Short, Michael Adams con ­ cedes the centre, in order to develop his light-square bishop with gain of tem po. The main contin uations are considered to be 6 . . . c5 and 6 . . . tile4.

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Carlsen is ready to engage in a theoretical discussion, by choosing the most critical variation with the acceptance of the pawn sacrifice. I n the 2nd rou n d of the World

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9. 'Wxc7 Wxc7 1 0. Axc7 0-0

Strangely enough, this natural move proved to be a novelty. Black does not hu rry to

143

Chapter 2

·

The Way to the Top �------

1 5. e2 tL!aS 1 7. );tfd1 CL!b3 1 8. CL!e1 g5 1 9. Ag3, and here after 1 9 . . . hS 20. f3 CL!xg3+ 2 1 . hxg3 aS Black could have held the position. The game went 19 . . . f5 20. Ae5 c;t>f7 2 1 . f3 and White retained an advantage.

Now the depth of Carlsen's idea becomes apparent. He takes his knight to a1 , from where it d rives away the rook. 15

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Wh ite is forced to retreat. When he made his queen sortie on the 28th move Kram­ nik overlooked that after 30. Wxb6? geb7 31 . Wd4 Af6! his queen would be trapped (32 . . .Ctif3+ is threatened). Now, however, Black transposes into a clearly better end­ game.

1

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28. Wa4?!

This attem pt to d ivert the q ueen to the defence of the q u eenside weaknesses does not achieve its aim. Kramn i k must have taken the reply into account, but un­ derestimated the dynamic potential of the centralised knights. At a press conference after the game Carlsen adm itted that he judged the position to be equal or slightly better for White. His i ntuition did not let him down. As N igel Short pointed out, the best solution for White was 28. h4! , and since 28 . . . gxh3 29. Ctixh3 is unfavourable for Black, it has to be ad mitted that the knights on e4 and f4 are of equal value. 28 ... �e5 29. Wxa6?

The strength of inertia is staggeri ng. White should h ave stopped in good time and returned his queen to b3. Other moves are unsou nd. If 29. c5?! Black has 29 . . .Ctic4! , while after the exchange 29. Axe5? dxe5 White loses a piece (30. gxd7 exf4 31 . gcd1 et:lc3!). 29. . . !1a7

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30 . . .Wxb5 31 . cxb5 §xa2 32. §c8+ �f7 33. �fd3 J.f6

Black also has a big advantage after 33 . . .Ctixd3 34. Ctixd3 Af6, but Carlsen was absorbed in constructing a ' box' for the wh ite king. 34. �xe5+

I n the event of 34. Axe5 dxe5 35. gc6 ttig5 White has no defence against the threat of . . .Ctih3+ and . . . e5-e4. 34 . . . dxe5

' 3 4 . . . A x e 5 was p ro b a b l y bette r, but i n t i me-trouble I was rel u ctant to allow 35. Axe5 dxe5 36. Ctid3 , which however is wel l met by 36 . . . �f6 37. gfB+ �g7 38. gda (38. gb8 gd7) 38 . . .Ctic3 39. gf1 gd2! and wins.' (Carlsen) 35. !lc2 !lea7 36. �g2

36. �f1 is stronger, since White cannot get by without this move. 36. . . �g5 37. §d6?

161

Chapter 3

Life at the Top

·

Belated activity. W h ite should have restricted himself to 37. �dd2, but all the same the ' box' is slamming shut and the game cannot be saved. 37

..•

e4! 38. Axf6 Wxf6 39. Wf1

If 39. �xb6, then 39 . . . �a1 40. �e2 �f3 is decisive. 39

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If 40. �cd2 Black wins by 40 . . . �b1 41 . �d1 �xb4, when 42. �xb6 is not possible on account of 42 . . . �b2 with the irresistible th reat of . . . �h3. 40 J:ib1 41 . :i:id1 :i:ixb4 42. �g2 :§xb5 43. �f4 :i:ic5 44. :i:ib2 b5 45. Wf1 :i:ic7 46. :§bb1 .•

If 46. �g2 Black exchanges a pair of rooks by 46 . . . �c1 47. �xc1 �xc1 48. �xb5 �f3 49. �e2 �e1 50. �b2 �g5 and puts White in zugzwang , after which he wins with the pawn offensive . . . e6-e5 and . . . h7-h5-h4.

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46 :i:ib7 47. :i:ib4 :l:ic4 48. :i:ib2 b4 49. :i:idb1 �t3 50. c.t?g2 :i:id 7 ! •••

2

Now White can not avoid t h e exchange of rooks followed by zugzwang.

1

Now all the wh ite pieces are tied by the threat of doubling rooks on the 1 st ran k. On the other hand , . . . �f3 is th reatened .

51 . h3 e5 52. �e2 :§d2 53. hxg4 fxg4 54. :§xd2 �xd2 55. :§b2 �f3 56. Wf1 b3 57. �g2 :i:ic2

Wh ite resigned .

Carlsen arrived at the main super-tournament of the year, Morel ia/Linares (FI DE cat­ egory 2 1 ) as the victor from Wij k aan Zee. But he realised that to achieve such a suc­ cess here would be more d ifficult: the evenly strong field did not permit any relaxation - there were no outsiders. In Wij k aan Zee there were, after all, a few players against whom you could hope to win or at least have a respite. But here Magnus did not relax and throughout the tournament he sat on the 'wheel ' of the leader Anand. Curious in this respect is the pen-portrait of one of the grandees of Russian chess journalism, Yuri Vasil iev: ' Mag nus, this l ittle mongoose, rising sharply and swiftly over the board , when he needs to grasp the nape of another cobra, is a new su per-hero! To win alone, without a trainer, the tournament in Wijk aan Zee, and then to take second place in "double-headed" Linares?! And all this at the boyish age of 1 7! ' In Linares Carlsen's play was dynamic and uncompromising, and, as in Wij k aan Zee, he scored five wins. Moreover, his contri bution to the eight decisive games considerably influenced the statistics of the tournament, in which the proportion of draws slightly exceeded 50%. The one to suffer most at the hands of the 'mongoose' was Topalov, who lost both games to him.

162

V. Topalov - M. Carlsen

Game35 M. Carlsen Morelia/Li nares 2008 Alekhine Defence [ 804]

V. Topalov

-

6. Ac4 c6 7. tbc3 Ae6 8. 0-0 tbd7 9. Wf3 Ag7 1 0. l:!e1 0-0 1 1 . Wg3 tbxe5 1 2. dxe5 tbxc3 1 3. Wxc3 Axc4 1 4 . Wxc4 Wd5 1 5. We2 !!adS, and Black maintained the balance.

1. e4 �f6

6. .ld3

Carlsen was so confident in his powers, that he decided to surprise his opponent with the Alekhine Defence, an opening from his child hood. N owadays he employs it only in bl itz games, and he was success­ ful with it at the 2007 World Champion­ ship in Moscow. Nevertheless, in su per­ tournaments it is not customary to play such open ings. How great is the degree of risk? I remember a conversation with Lev Polugayevsky, one of the strongest Soviet grandmasters. Commenting on the fascination for this opening of Vladimir Ba­ girov, who wrote a book about it, he was categorical : 'An incorrect opening! I don't have the time, otherwise I would refute it'. Knowing Polugayevsky's character and his analytical powers, one can have no dou bts about this.

At the World Bl itz Championsh i p (Mos­ cow 2007) other continuations were tried against Carlsen: S h i rov - Carlsen: 6. Ac4 tbd7 7. tbf3 tb7f6 8. h3 Af5 9. 0-0 e6 1 0. Ag5 Ae7 1 1 . tbbd2 h6 1 2 . Axf6 tbxf6 1 3 . c3 0-0 14. Ab3 c5 1 5. Ac2 Axc2 1 6. Wxc2 l:!c8 1 7. Wb3 We? with an equal game; Grischuk- Carlsen: 6. Ae2 Af5 7. 0-0 tbd7 8. tbg4 e6 9 . c4 tb5f6 1 0. tbe3 Ag6 1 1 . tbc3 Ad6 12. b3 Wc7 13. h3 0-0 14. Ab2 !!adS with complicated play. 6 . . . �d7 a

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2. e5 �d5 3. d4 d6 4. �f3

4

For a long time Wh ite tried to refute the Alekhine Defence with 4. c4, but nowadays he does not hurry with this move, preferring to complete his development.

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4 ... dxe5 5. �xeS c6

7. �xd7

Preparing the exchange of the active knight, since if 5 . . . tbd7 Black has to reckon with 6. tbxf7 c;!;>xf7 7. Wh5+ c;!;>e6, when White can choose between 8. c4 and 8. g3 with an attack on the king. At a tender age Magnus preferred 5 . . . g6, as, for example, against lan Nepom­ niachtchi in the World Youth Champion­ ship (Heraklion 2002). The game continued

Five years earl ier, p l ay i n g against the 1 2-year-old Carlsen (Rethymnon 2003), Emil Sutovsky did not bother to argue and he agreed to an endgame with 7. 0-0 tbxe5 8. dxe5 tbb4 9. Ae4 Wxd1 1 0. l:!xd1 f5 1 1 . a3 tba6 1 2 . Af3 g6 1 3 . tbd2 Ae6 14. Ae2 tbc7 1 5. tbf3 Ad5 1 6. tbd4 Ag7 1 7. c4 Af7 1 8 . f4, in which White had the better chances.

C hapter 3

---------------------

Life at the Top

·

---

��------------------

I n contrast to Topalov, Carlsen's play is specific and pu rposefu l . With this blow at the centre he casts doubts on the op­ ponent 's opening conception.

At the M oscow B l itz tournament M i ­ chael Adams retreated h i s knight - 7. !Df3, but also without success: 7. . .!D7f6 8. h3 !Db4! 9. Ac4 AfS 1 0. !Da3 (1 0 . Ab3 aS!=) 1 0 . . . e6 1 1 . c3 !DbdS 1 2. !Dc2 Ae7 1 3 . !De3 Ag6 1 4 . !DeS 0-0 1 S. 0-0 !Dxe3 1 6. Axe3 !DdS 1 7. Ad2 cS. The g a m e is equal.

1 3 . .le4?!

A sound move, made on general grounds, but for g ai n i n g an advantage gen eral grounds alone are insufficient, as Carlsen e m p h asises with h i s s u bseq uent p l ay. M eanwhile, the presence of the bishop on g7 demands that attention be paid to the d4- pawn, which could have been rei nforced by 1 1 . c3 or at least the pin on the knight prevented - 1 1 . h3. I n the game Kulaots -Heim (Gausdal 2003) White solved his development problems in origi­ nal fashion: 1 1 . Wd2!? aS 1 2. a3 a4 1 3 . WgS lac8 1 4. lad1 bS 1 S. Wh4 e6 1 6. AgS. It is probable that Black's play here can be improved , but the main thing is the innova­ tive thinking.

After the capture of the pawn 1 3. dxcS there is the unpleasant 1 3 . . .!Dxc3! 14. bxc3 Axc3 1 S . Ah6 Axe1 1 6. Wxe1 Wxd3 1 7. !DeS Wd4!? 1 8. c6 (the primitive 1 8. Axf8 �xf8 1 9. !Dxg4 Wxg4 1eaves White a pawn down) 1 8 . . . bxc6 1 9. !Dxc6, and here there is a choice: 1 9 . . . Wd6 20. !Dxe7+ �h8 21 . Axf8 laxf8 22. Wc3+ f6 23. lae1 Ae6 24. We3 Af7 when the pawn capture 2S. Wxa7 is risky because of the p i n 2S . . . lae8, or 1 9 . . . Wf6 20. !D x e7+ � h 8 2 1 . !DdS Wd4 22. Axf8 laxf8. In both cases Black has a good game. But the decision to go in for a position with an isolated d4-pawn is also il logical: with the black pieces being very active, this pawn comes under attack. 1 3 . Ae2 came into consideration, pro­ voking 13 . . . Axf3 (1 3 . . . cxd4 14. !Dxd4 Axe2 1 S. !Dxe2 1eads to simpl ification favourable to White) 1 4 . Axf3 cxd4 and at the least Wh ite can try to ' m uddy the water' - 1 S. c4 !Db6 1 6. Axb7 lab8 1 7. Aa6 Wc7 (1 7. . . e5 1 8. b4) 1 8. AgS eS 1 9. lac1 .

11 . . . .lg4 1 2 . c3 c5!

1 3 . . . cxd4 14. cxd4

7

•••

.lxd7 8. 0-0 g6 9. �d2

9. lae1 Ag7 1 0. c3 0-0 1 1 . AgSiooks pref­ erable. 9 . . .tg7 1 0. �f3 0-0 1 1 . Iie1 .

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More cunning was 14. h3 Axf3 1 S. Wxf3 e6 (Black is better after 1 6. c4?! WaS 1 7. Ag5 !De3 or 1 7. 1ad1 fS) 1 6. cxd4 Axd4 1 7. Axd5 WxdS 1 8. WxdS exdS when, compared with the position in the game, White has opened an escape square for his king. 14 . . . e6 1 5. Wb3?!

1 S. h3 Axf3 1 6. Wxf3 was better, transpos­ ing i nto the variation considered earlier. But it was also possible to play 1 6. Axf3

164

V. Topalov

-

M. Carlsen

20 .. J�fd8

'i'b6 (1 6 . . . Wd6!?) 1 7. Axd5 exd5 1 8. Ae3!? 'i'xb2 19. Wd3 Wb6 20. gab1 Was 21 . Wb5 'i'xb5 22. gxb5, regaining the pawn.

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15 ... Axf3! 1 6. �xf3 �xd4 1 7. �xd5

White takes play into an endgame, since if he keeps the queens on with 1 7. Wxb7 the game clearly goes i n Black's favour: 1 7. . . Wa5 1 8 . gd1 gabS 1 9 . Wc6 gfc8 20. Wd6 gda 2 1. Wg3 A x b2 . 17. . . gba 18. Wa6 Wf6 1 9. gb1 gfc8 is also good .

f

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Wh ite is a pawn dow n , and he must re­ gret that h e did not g o in for the varia­ tion g iven i n the note to his 9th move . His d ark- s q u are b i s h o p i s n ot d evel ­ oped, a n d i n v i ew o f t h e weakness of his bac k ran k h e is u nable to reg a i n the pawn: 2 0 . g x d 5 gfd 8 2 1 . gxd8+ g x d 8 2 2 . Ae3 (22 . f 1 gd 1 + 23. e2 gh1 ) 22 . . . b6 23. gb1 Ax b 2 . 20. f1

20. Af4 gfd8 2 1. gac1 gd7 2 2 . b3 d4 23. gd3 gea 24. *f1 h 6 25. ge1 gxe1+ 26. xe1 f5 27. f3 f7 28. h4 e6 29. e2 �d5 30. gd1 , blocking the pawn, was more resilient, although it is hard to believe that this position can be saved .

Since Black's plans include the . . . d5-d4 advance, Wh ite must base his play on the blockade of the d-pawn . The move i n the game not only does not solve this problem, but also allows Black to carry out the ad­ vance with gain of tempo. I n this respect straightforward development is insufficient: 21 . Af4 gd7 22. gd2 gca 23. gad1 d4, and Black advances his d-pawn : 24. e2 Af6 25. d3 g5! 26. Ag3 gc3+! 27. e2 (in the event of 27. bxc3 d xc3+ 28. c2 gxd2+ 29. gxd2 cxd2 30. xd2 f8 31 . d3 e7 32. e4 e6 Black has winning chances in the bishop endi ng) 27. . ,ge7+ 28. f1 gc6, switching the rook to the queenside (variations by Shi pov). By all the rules of endgame play, it is useful to centralise the king - 21 . e2, aim­ ing not only for the blockade of the pawn, but also the exchange of bishops, si nce in a rook endgame White's chances of a draw are improved. For example: 21 . . ,gac8 22. d3 gd6 23. Ae3 Axb2 24. gab1 d4 25. Ad2 gb6 26. Aa5 gbs 27. gd2 gxa5 28.gbxb2, transposing i nto a rook ending. Stronger is 21 . . ,gd7!? 22. d3 gea 23. gb1 gde7 24. Ae3 b6 25. gd2 ge4 26. gc1 d4!

165

C hapter 3

Life at the Top

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The black pieces occupy ideal positions, controlling all the most im portant l ines on the battlefield. The technique for convert­ ing the advantage is highly instructive.

27. Ag5 h6 2S. f3 �4e6 29. Af4 g5 30. Ac7 �e3+, when Black should win. 21 ... l::ld 7 22. §d2 h6 23. J.e3 d4 24. §d3

The attem pt to exploit the c-file by 24. �c1 proves ineffective: 24 . . . �adS 25. Af4 g5 26. Ag3 f5 27. f3 d3!. The subseq uent win­ ning plan i s as fol l ows: . . .f5-f4, . . . Ae5, . . . �c7, and after the exchange of a pair of rooks the king comes i nto play. 24 ... §c8 25. Ad2?!

25. �c1 was m o re res i l ient: 25 . . . �ddS! (in the event of 25 . . . � xc1 + 26. A xc1 f5 27. *e2 the king blockades the pawn on the d3-square) 26. �cd1 �c2 27. �3d2 �deS! (the exchange of rooks 27. . . �xd2 is justi­ fied after 2S. �xd2 f5 29. f3 *f7 30. Af2 d3! 31 . *e1 b6, when after . . . �d5 Black transfers his king to the q ueenside, but 2S. Axd2! with the idea of �c1 is stronger, and it is not apparent how to breach White's defences) 2S. Axd4 Axd4 29. �xd4 �xb2 30. �4d2 �xd2 31 . �xd2 b5 32. *e2 �c3 33. �d3 �c2+ 34. �d2 �c4! , after which Black takes his king to the centre with real winning chances.

27. a4 f5 28. b3 §ec7 29. J.e1 �f7 30. §d2 §c1 31 . §xc1 §xc1 32. �e2 l::lb 1 33. l::ld 3 �e6 34. h4 �d5 35. Ad2 �e4 36. l::lg3 f4! 37. l::ld 3

37. �xg6 d3 mate would have been a pretty fi nish! 37...J.e5 38. f3+ �d5 39. Ae1 .ld6 40. Ad2 g5 41 . hxg5 hxg5 42. Ae1 g4 43. fxg4 �e4 44. g5?

And Wh ite resigned, without waiting for 44 . . . �xe1 +.

Game36 M. Carlsen - L. Aronian

Morelia/Li nares 200S Ruy Lopez [ CSB] 1 . e4 e5 2. �f3 �c6 3. Ab5 a6 4. Aa4 �f6 5. 0-0 Ae7 6. l::le1 b5 7. Ab3 0-0 8. a3

25... l::lc2 26. l::lb 1 l::le7 ! a

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Carslen's favou rite way of avo i d i n g the Marshall Attack. 8...Ac5 166

M. Carlsen - L. Aronian

15 . .tg3

For a long t i m e the m a i n conti n u ation was the classical 8 . . . d6 (as Shirov played agai nst Carlsen in Wij k aan Zee 2007). But the move in the game is also logical: Black first brings out his bishop to an ac­ tive position.

Now in the event of 1 5. Axg5 hxg5 1 6. tbxg5 the move 1 6 . . . d5! gains in strength . 1 5. . . g4

In the event of 9 . . . d5?! 1 0. exd5 tbxd5 1 1 . d4 exd4 1 2. cxd4 Ab6 13. tbc3 Black has a poor pawn structure on the queen­ side.

The e4-pawn is taboo: 1 5 . . . l::! xe4? 1 6 . l::! xe4 tbxe4 1 7. AdS Y!/e8 1 8. Y!/c2 tbxg3 1 9. Y!/g6+ (1 9. Axc6? Af5) 1 9 . . . C�f8 20. Y!/xh6+ �g8 (20 . . .'i!>e7 21 . tbc3) 21. Y!/xg5+ �f8 22. Y!/xg3 tbxd4 23. tbc3 ! and, despite the material equality, Black's position looks broken.

10. d4 .tb6 1 1 . h3

1 6. hxg4 £.xg4

9. c3 d6

To mai ntain the pawn tension in the centre it is important to prevent the pin on the knight at f3 .

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'if .!

7 � � 6 �.t�� � � 5 � 4 � � j_ 3 �� tb � 2 � ��

11 . . . lire8!?

Aronian's refi nement compared with the game Carlsen - Svidler (Wijk aan Zee 2007). Black does not consider it necessary to spend time on . . . h7-h6. That game de­ veloped as follows: 1 1 . Ae3 h6 1 2. h3 l::!e 8 1 3 . tbbd2 Ab7 1 4 . d xe5 d xe5 1 5. Axb6 cxb6 1 6 . tbh2 Y!/e7 1 7. tbg4 l::! a d8 with roughly equal chances.

1 .: tLJ a

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8 7 6 5 4 3 2

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1 7. .th4!

12 . .tg5

With the bishop cut off from its wing by the d6-pawn , this pin may cause Black prob­ lems. He is forced to concede the centre. 12 . . . h6 13 . .th4 exd4

13 . . . g5 is risky in view of 1 4. Axg5 hxg5 1 5 . tbxg5 l::!f 8 (1 5 . . . d5?! 1 6 . Y!/f3 exd4 1 7. Axd5 tbe5 1 8 . Y!/g 3) 1 6 . l::! e 3 Y!/e7 1 7. l::!g 3. 14. cxd4 g5

After q u iet d evelopment with 1 4 . . . Ab7 1 5 . tbc3 Wh ite has a small but enduring spatial advantage.

White has lost the opening battle, and with his knight undeveloped he is unable to hold the d4-pawn. Therefore Carlsen renews the pin, not hesitating to sacrifice the pawn. 1 7. . . t£�xd4 1 8. �c3 Axf3

It is hard to condemn this move, made after a long think. Aronian opens the g-fi le for an attack on the king, but carries out the idea incorrectly. He should have taken control of the d5-sq uare - 1 8 . . . c6! , and if Wh ite nevertheless insists on pinning the knight - 1 9. e5?! dxe5 20. tbe4, then his king is as­ sailed by the powerfu l group of black piec-

167:

C hapter 3

Life at the Top

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--------�

20. �d5 §g8+ 21 . �f1

es concentrated i n the centre: 20 ...�xe4! 21 . Axd8 l;!axd8 22. l;!xe4 (the queen has to be retu rned , si nce neither 22. A xf7+ �xf7 23. �g5+ �xg5 24. Wxg4 �gf3+! nor 22. Vi'b1 Axf3 will do) 22 . . .�xf3+ 23. gxf3 l;!xd1+ 24. Axd1 Af5 25. J;!e2 Ad4, reach­ ing an endgame with real winning chances for Black. However, White is not obliged to throw caution to the winds and he can switch to defence - 19. Aa2 �g7 20. Vi'd3.

Of course, 2 1. �h1? wou l d h ave been crazy - the lone king simply cannot hold out agai n st the black army: 21 . . . �g4! 22. Vi'xd4+ Axd4 23. Axd8 �xf2+ 24. �h2 l;!axd8 with the terri ble threat of . . . l;!g5. 21 . . . �g4 22. Wxd4+!

Here is the d ifference compared with 19 . . . �h7!? - the exchange of queens takes place with check, and the assessment of the position changes rad ically.

1 9. gxf3 a

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8 7 6 I. 5 it 4 3 2

22 . . . .lxd4 23. Axd8 �h2+ 24. �e2 §axd8 a

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8 7

7 6 I. 5 4 3 �2

5 4

h

1 9 . . . �h8?

Here the variation 19 . . . c6 20. e5 d xe5 21 . �e4 can no longer satisfy Black, while the attempt to i nvade with the q ueen by 20 . . . Yi'c8 21. A x f6 Vi' h 3 22. J;!e3 � x b 3 23. J;!e4 does not promise anything real , apart from perpetual check after 23. . Vi'g3+ 24. �h1 Yi'h3+. However, the idea carried out i n the game would also have been practicable, but with appropriate refinement: 19 . . . �h7!? 20. �d5 l;!g8+ 21. �f1 �g4! 22. Vi'xd4 (2 2 . A x d 8 ? ? �h2 mate) 2 2 . . . Vi' x h 4 2 3 . �xb6 cxb6 24. fxg4 (or 24. �e2 �e5 25. J;!h1 Vi'f6 26. J;!h3) 24 . . . Vi'h3+ 25. �e2 Vi'xb3 26. f3 J;!ac8 27. J;!ac1 J;!c2+ 28. l;!xc2 Wxc2+ 29. �e3 and the storm d ies down. ·

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25. J;!ad1 !

The knight on h2 is doomed , but the bish­ op's position must be clarified , since if 25. J;!h1 there follows 25 . . . l;!g2. 25 . . . Axb2

Now Wh ite wins a piece, practically with­ out compensation, but also after 25 . . . c5 26. l;!h1 l;!g2 27. l;!xd4! cxd4 28. �f4 J;!g7 29. l;!xh2 Black is doomed . 26. §h1 c6

168

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M. Carlsen - V. Topalov �-----

------

26 . . . Ae5 27. f4 or 26 . . . f!g2 27. !De3 was no better. 27. �f4 Ae5 28. �d3 �xf3 29. �xf3 Ag7 30. !ah5!

Playing to restrict the opponent's mobility. Black has three pawns for a knight, but the white pieces are so active that he has no hopes of saving the game. 30 . . . d5

Game37 M. Carlsen V. Topalov Morelia/Linares 2008 English Opening [A28] -

1 . c4

A rare move for Carlsen, with the psycho­ logical idea of forcing the opponent to play without home preparation. But Topalov is a tough customer! 1 . . . e5 2. �c3 �f6 3. �f3 �c6 4. d3!?

If 30 . . . f!d7 there follows 31. !DeS, while after 30 . . . c5 White captures the pawn 31. Axf7 f!gf8 32. f!f5 f!d7 33. Ae6. 31 . exd5 Jad6 32. Jaf5 cxd5 a

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9

Provoking the opponent i nto a Sicil ian De­ fence with colours reversed. More usually White fianchettoes his bishop - 4. g3, keep­ ing the advance of the d-pawn in reserve.

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33. Jac1 !

d5

Topalov accepts the challenge. 5. cxd5 �xd5 6. e4 �b6

The alternative is 6 . . .!Df6 7. Ae2. The game Morozevich - G rischuk (World Champion­ s h i p , M exico 2007) conti n u ed 7 . . . Ag4 8. 0-0 A x f3 9 . A x f3 !Dd4 10 . g 3 Ac5 1 1 . Ag2 0-0 12. !Da4 Ab6 1 3 . Ae3 Wd6 14. f4 !Dd7 1 5. c;t.h1 f!ad8 16. f!c1 with com­ plicated play. 7. Ae2 Ae7

Excellent technique for converting the ad­ vantage - the pawns will not run away, but it is always useful to activate a piece.

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33 Jaf6 34. Ja xf6 .txf6 35. Jac6 �g7 36. �f4 Ag5 37. �h5+ �h8 38. Jaxa6 d4 39. �e4 Jag6 40. Jaa7 ..•

5 4 3 2

Black resigned .

6 5 4 8 3 ti:J 8 ti:J �888 2 88 a

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C hapter 3

Life at the Top

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A position, typical of the Boleslavsky Vari­ ation with colours reversed , has arisen. It should be remembered that in Sicilian-type positions the value of a tempo is qu ite high.

For example, M i hail Marin considers the following variation: 12. b4!? et:lxb4 (1 2 . . .et:lb3 1 3 . �b1 ttlbd4 1 4 . bS tt:lxf3+ 1 S . Axf3 ttld4 1 6. Ag4 b6 1 7. Axe6 fxe6 is also possible) 1 3. et:lxeS f6 1 4 . �b1 fxeS 1 S. �xb4 b6, in both cases with a sound position for Black.

8. 0-0 0-0 9. a4

I n fu l l accordance with the i deas of the afore-mentioned variation - to d rive the knight from b6. 9

•••

11

•••

exd4 12. tlbxd4 tlbxd4 1 3. 'Wxd4 c6 a

a .!.

Ae6!?

9 . . . a5 suggests itself, but Topalov ap­ parently did not want to concede the bS­ point to the knight, which would assist the d3-d4 advance. For example, the game Agdestein - lvanchuk (Ti l burg 1 993) con­ tin ued 1 0. Ae3 fS 1 1 . �c1 f4 1 2 . Ad2 Ab4 1 3 . et:lbS Axd2 14. et:lxd2 h8 1S. h3 Ae6 1 6. tt:lf3 Ag8, and here 1 7. d4! is good . 1 0. Ae3

The threat is stronger than its execution! For the moment a4-aS is kept in reserve, espec ially since the d i rect 1 0 . aS et:ld7 1 1 . d4 exd4 1 2 . et:lxd4 et:lxd4 1 3 . Wxd4 et:lcS, em phasising the weakness of the b3-sq uare, leads to a position favourable for Black.

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6 5 4 £::.. fli £::.. 3 t2J � 2 £::.. � £::.. £::.. £::..

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Black has safely got through the open ing. Wh ite's slight su periority in the centre is of a temporary nature, whereas Black's pawn majority on the q ueenside is a real positional factor. If he should succeed in playi ng . . . Wa5 and . . . �d8, Black will be able to seize the initiative. 14. a5 tlbc5

The knight is withd rawn not only for the sake of pro p hylaxis against a4-aS, but also with the aim of transferring it to b3.

This offer to go into an endgame is based on positional factors: apart from his pawn majority on the queenside, Black can in­ vade at the weak b3-point.

1 1 . d4

1 5. 'We5

This is the sign ificance of an extra tem po in a Sicil ian structure. At one time, when the Sicil ian was just beginning to become established , the battle for equality was as­ sociated with the preparation of the freeing advance . . . d6-dS. There was no real point in insisting on 1 1 . aS in view of 1 1 . . . et:lcS.

Magnus is happy to play an endgame, but in the given specific situation he prefers to retain his q ueen for an attack on the king. 15

tlbb3 1 6. Jaa4

•••

A not altogether su itable post for the rook, but otherwise the aS-pawn cannot be de-

170

M. Carlsen - V. Topalov -------

fended . After the i nterposition 1 6 . gfd 1 Black forces the exchange of q ueens by 1 6 . . . 'llr b 8, transposing i nto a favou rable endgame.

Axf6 24. exf6 and mate next move, and Black also fails to save the game with 20 . . . f6 21 . exf6 Axf6 22. tDxf6+ gxf6 23. AgS.

16 . . . .ld6 1 7. YlrhS

This inconsistency is not typical of Carlsen. True, after 1 9. h4 Ag7 20. Wf4 the offensive would have come to a standstill, since he would have had to reconcile himself to the exchange of q ueens: 20 . . . 'llr b 8 21 . Yltxb8 gfx b8 22. gd1 gda with good play for Black. But, apparently, there was no longer anything better - the aS-pawn is too weak. For example, if 1 9. gd1 there can follow 1 9 . . . 'llrc7 20. f4 Ag7 21 . 'llrg S h6 22. 'lltg 3 tDxaS, wi nning the pawn.

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17 g6 . . .

A cool-headed defence. The threat of e4eS with the switching of the rook to h4 is in the air, but Black has time to transfer his bishop to g7, cementing together his cas­ tled position. The other way of defending involves 17 . . . 'llrc7. However, it is not easy to work out the consequences of the at­ tack after 1 8. eS!? AxeS 1 9. f4 (the frontal attack 1 9. gh4 h6 20. Axh6 gxh6 21 . 'llt x h6 is parried by 21 . . . gfe8 22. ghs Ag7 23. ggs WeS!). For example: 1 9 . . . Af6 20. tDe4 We? 21 . fS AdS 22. tDxf6+ 'llt x f6 23. gh4 h 6 24. gg4 etc. 1 9 . . . Axc3 20. bxc3 gfe8 21 . fS! WeS 22. fxe6 Yltxe3+ 23. �h1 fS 24. gh4 h6 2S. Ac4 is also unclear.

•

The abil ity to ad mit your m i stakes is an important qual ity for a professional. Carls­ en returns his bishop to the same sq uare and , although he loses a pawn, as if noth­ ing has happened he continues looking for chances on the kingside. M eanwhile, 20. Wh4!? tD x aS 2 1 . f4 Ag7 22. fS also came into consideration . 20

�xaS 21 . f4 .lg7 22. Wh4 .lb3

•••

22 . . . bS! was more vigorous, since now 23. gd4 would not have been such a pro­ d u ctive idea: 23 . . . ttJc4 24. Axc4 A xc4 2S. gfd1 Axd4 26. Axd4 fS. a

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18. 'llr h 6 .les

White's threats are vividly illustrated by the variation 18 . . .tDxaS? 1 9. eS! Ae7 20. ttJe4. Now 20 . . . tDb3 is m et by a combination on the theme of dive rting the q ueen 21 . Ab6! axb6 22. gxa8 Yltxa8 23. ttJf6+

171

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C hapter 3

Life at the Top

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23. Jad4!

h6 32. flg3 �h7 33. �hS with the threat of 34. Axh6 Axh6 3S. flg6), and now after 29. AxeS fS 30. �f2 flf7 31 . Axa7 White regains the pawn, since 31 . . . Axb2?! is dan­ gerous because of 32. Ab6 �d2 33. fld1 �b4 34. fld8+ �g7 3S. Acs �a4 36. flaB.

An excellent m ove in the psychological sense. One can understand Topalov's feel­ ings. It is not easy for an attack-mi nded player to decide on the win of the exchange by 23 . . . Axd4 24. Axd4, opening the flood­ gates in the d i rection of his king.

28 . . . fxe5

The capture 28 . . . gxfS 29. flxfS would sig­ nify a lack of ambition.

23 . . . Jaad8?!

A human is afraid of things that a com­ puter works through without hesitation: 23 . . . Axd4 24. A xd 4 fS 2 S . e x fS �d 8 ! 2 6 . Ylff2 flxfS 27. Ag4 flf7 a n d Rybka does not see any d i rect contin uation of the attack. It parries the obvious 28. tile4 with 28 . . . fl xf4! 29. ttlf6+ �xf6 ! .

29. AgS �b6 30. f6 C4+ 31 . �h1

An auto m at i c m ove i n t i m e -t ro u ble. 31 . J;if2!? Axf6 32. Axf6 'tlfxbS 33. AhS! was stronger, when the bishops gain scope: 33 . . .'tlfe8 34. Af3 'tlfe6 3S. Ae4. 31 . . .'Wxb5 32. fxg7 Jaxf1 + 33. J.xf1

24. e5!

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Here it is, the triumph of spirit over matter! Wh ite's attack acquires a fresh impetus. The way is opened for the knight to f6.

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24 . . . §xd4 25. Axd4 cS

4

There was also a strategic solution to the position: 2S . . . fld8 26. �f2 b6 27. tile4 cS with the switching of the knight to d4: 28. Ac3 tilc6.

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!:::. !:::.

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26. Ae3 f6

The desire to activate the g7-bishop is un­ derstandable, but 26 . . . b6!? 27. tile4 Ac4 28. Ylff2 fld8 was also not bad , with the idea of playing the knight to d4. 27. �bS 'Wd8 28. fS!?

The pawn makes a breakthrough, although no light is apparent at the end of the tunnel. Since if 28. AxeS Black had prepared 28 . . . fxeS ! , White could have prepared it by first playing 28. e6!? Axe6 (if 28 . . . �e7 White attacks by 29. fS gxfS 30. J;if3 Axe6 31 . flh3

5 �4

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xf3 e4+ 22. �xe4 A x a1 23. Ag5 tbe7+ 24. g2 Ae5 25. �f4 Axf4 , when after the fau lty 26. gxf4? with 26 . . . d5 B l ack seized the i n itiative and went on to win the game. M eanwhile, 26. Axf4! wou l d h ave g uar­ anteed a d raw: 2 6 . . . d 5 2 7. Wa1 + g 8 28. Ah6 Cbf5 29. e 7 Wxe7 30. Axd5+ �f7 31 . �f6+ h8 32. �h5+.

12 . . �h8 .

A u sefu l p rophylactic king m ove, i ntro­ duced into modern practice by Radjabov. Black prepares for the possible open ing of the a2-g8 diagonal in the event of 1 3 . �e6 Axe6 1 4 . dxe6, assuming that it is danger­ ous for his king to remain on it. 13. b5?!

'For some reason I decided against playing the main line - with 1 3 . �e6 - and came up with this move instead , which clamps down on the black queenside. It looked interesting to me during the game, but now I don't like it any more: it's probably just too slow' (Carlsen). A typical admission. Magnus is not inclined to think dogmati­ cally, although he undoubtedly knew the prospects for White in the event of 13. �e6 Axe6 1 4 . dxe6.

Analysis diagram

The dispute i n this position between van Wely and Radjabov began in 2005 at the World C u p in Khanty- M ansiysk, when Teimour tried to pick u p the pawn with his e7-knight , which is passively placed , by transferring it to c6 - 1 4 . . . fxe4 1 5. fxe4 �c6.

1 3 . . . � e8

With the same idea of attacking the e6pawn in the future from g7 (after . . . Af6). Of course, it is also possible to achieve the same aim after 1 3 . . .�h5.

179

C hapter 3

Life at the Top

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14. A.e3

I n the event of 1 4 . c5 dxc5 1 5. Ae3 Black is not obl iged to defend the pawn - 1 5 . . . b6, since here 1 6. tbe6 Axe6 1 7. d xe6 takes place in a situation favou rable for Wh ite. Stronger i s 1 5 . . . A h 6 ! 1 6 . tDf7+ �xf7 1 7. Axh6, exchanging the ' bad' dark­ square bishop (variations by Carlsen). 14 . . . .tf6 1 5. �e6 .txe6 1 6. dxe6 �g7 1 7. Ah 6

The possession of the two bishops in the closed type of position after 1 7. tDd5 tbxe6 1 8 . tbxf6 �xf6 is not an advantage. 1 7 . . . �xe6

Otherwise the knight manoeuvre to g7 does not make sense. In the event of 1 7. . . tbg8 1 8 . Axg7+ Axg7 1 9. c5! Wh ite succeeds in defending his e6-pawn . 1 8. Axf8 Wxf8 a 8 7

b

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with opposite-colour bishops is clearly to White's advantage. 1 9. . .1t�xc5 'After this the k n i g ht will be somewhat sidelined. 1 9 . . . dxc5 was p robably bet­ ter. I intended to conti nue 20. Wd7 Wc8 21 . Wxc8+ � xc8 22. Ac4 with an about equal ending' (Carlsen). A confirmation of the previous comment. M agnus is objec­ tive not only with respect to his pieces. Let us continue the variation with 22 . . .tbd4, in order to see the difference in the placing of the knight: at d4 it is 'eternal', whereas at c5 it is merely trad itional and has no future. But let us be honest regard ing the natural reaction to 1 9. c5 - to whom would it occur to voluntari ly spoil his pawn structure in a simi lar situation, if it did not even occur to the non-trivially thinking lvanchuk? 20 .tc4 .tg5 The only way of activating the ' bad ' bishop. 21 . We2 'Wh6 22. liad1 Wh ite has managed to restrain the dark­ square bishop, by not allowing it to go to e3 or d2. But otherwise White's achievements are slight: an attack on the queenside for h i m is j u st as u n real istic as one on the kingside for Black. The position is one of dynamic balance. 22 . . . 1if8

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' I think this is basically the only move, as the highest priority is to activate the bish­ op' (Carlsen). This com ment shows the essence of M ag nus's concrete thinking. The main thing for him is the ideal plac­ ing of his pieces, for the sake of which he does not begrudge giving u p a pawn. With the activation of the bishop, the situation

6

180

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M. Carlsen

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23. a4

V. l vanchuk

28. !l:a1 !

'I was not quite sure if including a4 and . . . b6 was a good idea, as the a4-pawn will require constant attention now, but it has to be said that . . . b6 is also qu ite a conces­ sion here, as it gives up any dream of ever advancing the pawn centre' (Carlsen). One cannot help agreeing with the evaluation of 23 . . . b6, but as regards 23. a4 Magus is understating someth ing, and he most probably played t h i s intuitively. This is something we will be able to ascertai n . 23 . . . b6?!

It was safer to stick to a waiting course, as in the game - 23 . . . Wh4 24. g3 'Wh3 etc. 24. g3 'Wh3

An unpleasant move, preventing the con­ solidating �g2. 25. Wg2 Wh6 26. We2 Wh3 27. �h1

The avoidance of the repetition has the aim of dulling the veteran's vigilance. How otherwise can his reply be explained? 27. . . �d7?!

Why not sound out the opponent's inten ­ tions with 27. . . Wh6 ?

' I believe that the rook is a little better off on a2 than on d1 , as it can now support a5, and also go to c2 in some lines' (Carlsen). Here it is, that amazing intuition! Magnus could not have known Eduard G ufeld, and had probably not read his book o n the King's I ndian publ ished i n 2002, but he exactly reproduced an idea of Tigran Pet­ rosian in a similar situation with a bishop on the h6-c1 diagonal, which he carried out in their game from the USSR Championship Final in 1 960. Here is the ad m i ring com­ mentary by the loser: 'While I was marking time, Petrosian gave me an object-lesson on the theme that time in chess, as in life, is irreversible. His gen ius was revealed in the fact that he avoided the ' m ined' square c1 ( a2-a4, b2-b3, ga1 -a2-c2, gf1 -b1 -b2) and succeeded in setting up a decisive bind on the queenside. Such a plan was hard to find and highly instructive. " I ron Tigran" sim ply reduced the board to seven ran ks, after which it transpired that my bishop was indeed firing into empty space.' Here you have the young Norwegian's lack of 'schooling ' ! N ot without reason do they say that he absorbs ideas like a sponge. 28 . . . Wh6 29. !l:a2 �f6?!

181

Chapter 3

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8 .I • 7 .t.l l.t. � ... 6 .t. 'i¥ ... ... 5 � .t..t. .i.. � 4 � � � 3 �� f£J 2 � � �� � a

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Life at the Top

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Was the knight's run worth such effort, if it can be parried in one move?

39. Jace2!

33 . . . fxe4 34 . .lxe4 Wg5 35. Jac2 d5?

S i m ple and busi ness- l i ke! The e5-pawn cannot be held: if 39 . . . �f5 there is 40. g4, while if 39 . . . �e8 there follows 40. f4.

Black's play has come to a standstill, but why voluntari ly give up material? 35 . . . �f7 was more resil ient, although after 36. Ab7! with the idea of Ac8-g4 Wh ite neverthe­ less will force him to declare his intentions.

39 . . .Wf6 40. Jaxe5 Wxf3 41 . Wxf3 Ja xf3+ 42. 'it?e2 Jaf5 43. Jaxf5 gxf5 44. 'it?d3 c5 45. Jae5 �b4+ 46. 'it?d2

36. �xd5 �xg3 37. hxg3 �f4+ 38. 'it?f1

Black resigned .

The uninterru pted series of successes created another wave of i nterest in the rapidly prog ressing 1 7-year-old N orwegian. Carlsen's name was regularly among the first prize-winners at such prestigious tournaments as Wijk aan Zee, Linares, Nice, Baku and Foros - only successes, not a single failure. It appeared that to conquer the sum­ mit - a rating of 2800 - only one last effort was needed . Magnus's confidence in his own potential was impressive: he believed that he was capable of anyth ing, and that the limit of his possibilities lay far ahead . However, among the chorus of eulog ies, doubts were also expressed about the qual ity of his play, and it was said that his talent was only of a calculating nature. Numerous cock-and-bull stories were whipped up, such as his lack of 'schooling' with a su bstitute knowledge of computer dogmatism, and the surprise at how Carlsen had contrived , without reading a single classical chess book, to learn everything. What can we say? One can merely feel sym pathy for the ill-wishers. As for his love of chess, this question is indeed one that appeals only to basic instincts. Questions about the qual ity of his play also sound rhetorical , since the appreciation of Magnus's masterpieces depends on your own level of chess, and stories about his lack of school-

182

M. Carlsen

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V. lvanchuk

ing had long ago been refuted by his father. His schooling was at the level of a high­ quality expert, and prizes at super-tournaments testify to the marks of the examiners. And besides, can one talk about a lack of school ing, when you have such a mentor as Simen Agdestein? The famous Russian trainer Yu ri Razuvaev liked to remember the introd uctory sentence by M i khail Botvinnik at a session of his school: 'I m ust i m med i ­ ately warn you that you cannot b e taught t o play chess, you c a n o n l y learn ! ' Magnus had learned . I ndependently. There were countless examples of this. It is clear that the times of the old chess stars are long si nce gone. Time has moved forward , and tech nical possibilities have also changed . And whereas i n the last century new ideas and conceptions were tracked down l iterally piecemeal in chess period icals, in the com puter age it would be silly not to use databases with m i l l ions of games, processed accord i ng to certain criteria. ' It is sufficient s i m ply to click on a few keys,' complains Alexander Khal ifman , whose main successes coincided with the start of mass com puter usage. ' Based on this, it is completely d ifferent q ual ities that are called for: calculation, memory and energy. Moreover, the key word here is memory! What becomes i m portant is not the abi l ity to look at many positions from various openings, but that all this should be i n your head .' One can argue with this. From the existing work with juniors it transpires that many talented players possess such qual ities as a good memory and excellent calculation, but only a few make it to the top. It is i m portant not only to be able to calculate, but also to know what to calculate. The main thing here is g rasping the depth of chess, understanding the essence of a position, enabl ing a n u m ber of variations to be i m mediately discarded and not considered . It is not possible to calculate everyth i n g . A player's class is determ ined by his abi l ity to chop off branches of the calculation ' tree' and find the correct continuation . This comes easily to only a few, among them Carlsen. 'I prob­ ably have qu ite a good understanding of chess,' he let slip i n one of his i nterviews . Th is the where the root of the q uestion l ies. As regards memory, it is worth dwelling on this factor i n more detai l . H ere Carlsen is undoubted ly superior to many of his contemporaries. During his apprenticesh ip, Agdestei n wrote an introductory letter to Garry Kasparov, extracts from which were published i n the magazi ne 64 Shakhmatnoe obozrenie. This was how he assessed the potential of his pupil: ' F i rst of all, M agnus has an incred ible, photographic type of memory, when a page is not read , but i m mediately i m pri nted on the brain and instantly assi milated . He remem bers not only the game itself, but also where, when and who played it. He is capable of read ing a book on a sharp open ing d u ring the cou rse of one evening (usually without using a board and pieces) and of playi ng it the following day even against a strong g randmaster. This explains why he has such a broad open ing repertoi re. It often seems to me that he can play everything and that i n the open ing he knows everything. It is wel l known that i n the Sicilian Defence there are several incred i bly sharp l i nes, where Wh ite unexpected ly sacrifices a cou­ ple of pieces, and it all ends with a better endgame - but suddenly Magnus tel ls me that all these compl ications are theory, and he knows about them! This is not

183

C hapter 3

Life at the Top

·

surprising - he l iterally swallows all chess material.' We should remind the reader that Alexander Alekhine and M i khail Tal also had such a memory. And if to Carlsen's phenomenal memory you add this staggering intuition, plus his absol ute lack of fear of the strongest in the world - two i m portant qual ities remarked on by the famous trainer Mark Dvoretsky - this says a great deal . M ag n us's potential allows him to hope for a worthy place at the chess summit. Carlsen was self-sufficient; he acknowledged the strength of the leaders of the chess world, but he realised that he could beat any of them . The only one that Magnus had not yet got his 'teeth' into was the world champion Anand - he was the only one whom he had not managed to beat (not counting blitz games). Therefore their clash in Mainz, even in a rapid event, was of particular interest. There was no real battle. After suffering a fiasco in his favourite 'Dragon' in the first game, Magnus also conducted the second game weakly. The 1 -3 defeat was undoubted ly a blow to his self-esteem. However, there was nothing surprising about this, as rapid-play comes naturally to the quick-acting Anand; here he is the acknowledged leader. As for Carlsen's fai lure, there is a limit to everything, and a player can only do so much. The continuous bat­ tles at the top level, and with the bar raised high, demanded far more expenditure of energy than earl ier. Magnus arrived in Germany from Switzerland, where he had just played an intense tournament, and he looked very tired . It appeared that the battle in Biel did not herald any sensation. What for Carlsen , a regular partici pant in super-tournaments, was a FIDE category 1 8 tournament with a far from stellar field of six grandmasters! He set the pace: he won the fi rst half, and consolidated his success by also winning his second game agai nst the undoubted outsider Pelletier. But when it appeared that the fate of the fi rst prize was decided, Magnus was let down by his maximalism: he decided to win with Wh ite against Alekseev. He failed to finish off a slightly better position, and the protracted battle ended with the blunder of a pawn on the 75th (!) move and a loss. This game was the deciding point of Carlsen's performance in Biel, since a desperate attem pt to halt the leader Dominguez with the help of the risky ' D ragon' almost led to a second defeat. The outcome was 3rd place with 6 points out of 9. For the time being the storm ing of the 2800 summit had to be deferred .

curs quite often. By turning onto a sideline, Carlsen was hoping to outplay the Swiss grandmaster, who was performing badly in the tournament.

Game40 V. Pelletier - M. Carlsen

Biel 2008 Queen's Indian Defence [E15] 1. d4 tbf6 2. tbf3 e6 3. c4 b6 4. g3 J.a6 5. b3 J.b4+ 6. J.d2 Ae7 7 .tg2 d5

8. cxd5 exd5 9. tbc3 0-0 1 0. 0-0 Ab7 1 1 . §c1

•

7. . . c6 is considered the main continuation, but the move of the central pawn also oc-

184

(see next diagram)

Y. Pelletier - M. Carlsen

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8 7 6 5 4 4 � 3 3 [jj � � [jj 2 � ib � � ib � 2 1 1 � 1;1 1;1 � b

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8 7 6 5 4 4 � ib 3 3 [jj � � [jj 2 � � � � ib, � 2 1;1 1;1 �

a K ,.. 'iV K tfr 7 .t .i. .l J[ .i. .t .t .t 6 .t ,.. 5 .t

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1 1 . . . �bd7

14. l3cd1?!

In this position the more trad itional way of developing is considered to be 1 1 . . . tba6 followed by playing the knight to c7 after the c-pawn has moved . Of course, Wh ite can counter this. Here the game Aronian - lvan­ chuk (Morelia/Linares 2006) is of interest: 1 1 . . .tDa6 1 2 . Af4 l::! e8 1 3 . &DeS h6 14. tDbS!? cS 1 S . tDc4 (1 S. dxcS bxcS 1 6. tDc4 Ac6 17. tDbd6 is possible) 1S . . . Ac6 1 6. tDcd6 l::!f8 1 7. dxcS bxcS, and after 1 8. �d2!? (the game went 1 8. tDd4 cxd4 1 9. l::! x c6 tDb4 20. tDb7 �e8 21 . l::! c7 tDa6=) the hanging pawns are in need of defence. But after the classical knight manoeu­ vre . . .tDb8-d7-f8-e6 (in the style of the Carlsbad Variation of the Queen's Gambit) the knight also assists the undermining of the centre.

Pelletier follows in the footsteps of Aronian, taki ng into account the experience of the game van Wely- Leko (Dortmund 2008), where the attem pt to stop the c- pawn did not work: 14. � b2 tDf8 1 S . b4 tDe6 1 6. Ae3 Ad6 1 7. a4 �e7 1 8. l::! b1 a6 1 9. Ad2 l::! a b8 20. e3 cS 21 . bxcS bxcS 22. �a2 g6 23. dxcS AxeS 24. tbe2 tbe4 2S. l::!fd1 Aa8 26. l::! x b8 l::! x b8 with equal play. However, what he was hoping for is not clear. After Black's reply it transpires that White has simply wasted a tempo - an obvious hole in his home preparations. Carlsen does not forg ive such things.

1 2 . J.f4 c6

After t h e development o f t h e knight at d 7 Black is forced to su pport his dS-pawn .

14 . . . Ab4!

With the u nequ ivocal threat of 1 S . . . Axc3 1 6 . �xc3 l::! x e2. The problems are not re­ lieved by 1 S. &DeS?! tDxeS 1 6. AxeS tDd7 ! . 1 5. J. d 2 §c8 1 6. 'W b 2 'We7 1 7. §fe1 'Wf8 (see next diagram)

1 3. 'Wc2 l3e8 (see next diagram)

The same position was reached by transposition in the game Aronian - H uzman (Warsaw 200S).

As Carlsen hi mself thinks, in principle this queen retreat is not essential, since the threat of e4 with the idea . . . Axc3 exdS is not real istic. But he sensed that the op­ ponent was agon ising over his choice of

185

Chapter 3

a b c d e f g h 8 I .l. 'ii' fr 7 .l j_ 1.1\ .l .l .l 6 .l .l 1.1\ 5 l r .l 4 .t � 3 � Ci:J Ci:J � 2 �� �� ��� a

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Life at the Top

8 7 6 5 4 3 2

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p I an , an d so for t h e moment he improves the placing of his pieces. 18 . .lh3 J:Icd8 1 9. 'Wc2 h6!?

Cont i n u i n g the same waiting tactics. Ac ­ tivity with 1 9 . . . 'De4 leads to m ass ex­ changes: 20. tDxe4 d xe4 2 1 . Axd7 �xd7 22. A x b4 'Wxb4 23. 'DeS �xd4 24 . tDxc6 Axc6 2S. Wxc6 �ed8 26. � xd4! with the simpl ification of the position and a prob­ able d raw, which did not suit Carlse n , who was a i m i n g for victory i n the tour­ nament.

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When pawn tension exists it is never easy to make a choice as regards the further transformation of the pawn structure. Should Black go in for an ' isolani ' - 22 . . . cxd4 23. tDxd4 'DeS, which stabilises the position with the prospect of protracted play, or decide on hanging pawns? Carlsen prefers to complicate matters. 23. J.xc3 �e4 24. dxc5 �xc3 25. 'Wxc3 bxc5 26. 'WaS �f6 a

a

20 . . . cs 21 . �f5 a6

The bS-square has to be covered against the possible invasion of the knight.

b

8 7 .t 6 .l 5� 4 3 � 2 �

Magnus's tactics have worked . How can White refuse the invitation to go to fS? But with this creeping out of the ' lair' the play becomes much more lively, which in view of the difference i n motivation is to Carlsen's advantage.

(see next diagram)

b

22 . . . £.xc3!?

20. �h4

22. 'Wb2

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8 7 .l .l 1.1\ .l 6 5 Ci:J 4

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A typical position with hang i n g pawns. Black's pieces are ready to support their activity with . . . dS-d4 and . . .'Df6-e4, which demands energetic cou nter-action from Wh ite such as 27. �c1 !? or 27. Ag2. 27. 'Wb6?

1 86

L. Dominguez

-

36

A strange move for a grandmaster. White provokes a pin, which is advantageous for his opponent.

.••

Sle3?!

There was a quick win by 36 . . . �c8! 37. Wa3 � xe2+! 3 8 . tD x e2 Wh3+ 39. �f2 Wf3+ 40. �g1 We3+ 41 . �g2 Ah3+ with mate in three moves (variation by Carlsen).

21. . . .tc8! 28. �g2

Only now did Pelletier see that the intended 28. tDxh6+ gxh6 29. AxeS does not work in view of the interposition 29 . . . �d6!, when White loses a piece. If 28. f3 there follows 28 . . . Ae6 with the threat of 29 . . . g6. 28

M. Carlsen

37. Wd4?

A time-trouble mistake, leading to a rapid d efeat. 37. �g1 was more resi lient, al­ though even here after 37. . . �c8 38. Wa3 �ce8 Wh ite would also have been u nable to resist the pressure.

�e4!

..•

With the th reat of . . . tD g 5 . N ow Wh ite's game goes downhill.

37 Wh3+ 38. �g1 Slxg3+ 39. hxg3 Wxg3+ 40. �h1 £f5

29. f3 �g5

•..

29 . . . tDc3 30. �d3 (no better is 30. �d2 d4 with the threat of . . .tDd5) 30 . . .tDxe2 31 . �e3 Axf5 32. �3xe2 �xe2+ 33. �xe2 Ad3 leads to the loss of a pawn.

Wh ite resigned .

30. g4 h5! 31 . Elc1 g6

Game41 L. Dominguez - M . Carlsen

31 . . . tDxh3 32. �xh3 hxg4+ 33. fxg4 g6 34. tDg3 Wh6+ 35. �g2 Axg4 was more accurate, in the end leading to a position which occu rred in the game.

Biel 2008 Sicilian Defence [ 878] 1. e4 c5 2. �f3 g6 3. d4 Ag7 4. �c3 cxd4 5. �xd4 �c6 6 . .te3 �f6 7. Ac4 0-0 8 . .tb3 d6 9. f3 Ad7 1 0. Vd2 Erc8 1 1 . 0-0-0 �e5 1 2 . �b1

32. �g3 �xh3 33. �xh3 hxg4+ 34. fxg4?!

34. �g2 was more resilient.

A useful prophylactic move, without which Wh ite cannot get by in most branches of the Dragon Variation. Wh ite takes his king i nto safety, inviting Black to declare his i ntentions. For example, i n the event of 1 2 . . . tDc4 1 3 . Axc4 �xc4 Wh ite can begin an attack with 1 4 . g4!?.

34. . .Wh6+ 35. �g2 £xg4 36. Vxc5? a

8 7 6 . 5 4

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8 7 5 ..t 4 ttJ 3 r:J;; !::, 2

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12

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a6

This m ove i n combination with 9 . . . Ad7 was Carlsen's main weapon in 2008, one which he employed in five games. If 1 3 . g4 Black can play 1 3 . . . b5.

h 18

C hapter 3

Life at the Top

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1 3. h4 h5 a

8 7 5 4 3 2

1 6. Ah6 b

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8 7 .i. .l .l .i. 6 .l 1.1\ .l 1.1\ £ 5 [jj � � 4 [jj 3 it � it 2 � � � � Wi

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1

14. g4

This flank pawn breakthrough is nowadays a standard plan of attack. Black's defence is eased by the early exchange of the dark­ square bishops: 1 4 . Ah6 tbc4 1 5 . Axc4 �xc4 1 6. Axg7 c!ixg7, and here 1 7. g4 is not so dangerous - 1 7. . . hxg4 1 8 . h5 �h8. I n the rapid game Anand - Carlsen (Mainz 2008) Wh ite preferred 1 7. �he1 , and after 1 7. . . �e8!? 1 8 . tbde2 (1 8. tbd5 e5! 1 9. tbb3 tDxd5 20. 'Wxd5 Ab5=) 1 8 . . .'WaS 1 9. tDf4 �ec8 2 0 . tbcd5 'Wxd2 2 1 . � xd2 tD x d 5 22. tbxd5 � e 8 he satisfied h i m self with an equal endgame. 14. Ag5 is examined in the game Radjabov - Carlsen (Baku 2008). 14 . . . hxg4 1 5. h5 t"Llxh5 a

8 7 5 4 3 2

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8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

In this variation Dom i n g uez was a pio­ neer, and it tu rned out that the exchange of the dark-squ are bishops was prema­ ture . S u bseq uently the more dangerous c o nt i n u at i o n 1 6 . � d g 1 was e m p l oyed against Carlsen , and his fi rst attem pt was a fai l u re. I n his rapid game against Anand (Mainz 2008) M ag n u s p l ayed 1 6 . . . 'Wa5 and after 1 7. Ah6 � xc3? 1 8 . Axg7 c!l xg7 1 9 . � x h 5 ! it was time for h i m to res i g n . Tru e , aft e r 1 9 . . . � x b 3 A n a n d s at i s ­ fied h i m self with t h e w i n o f t h e q u een - 2 0 . 'W x a 5 , but he c o u l d a l s o h ave played more forcefu lly: 20. 'Wh6+! c!if6 2 1 . 'Wg 5+ c!lg7 2 2 . tD x b3 'We? 23. 'Wh6+ c!if6 24. �xe5. The experi ment with 16 . . . �c5, as played ag ainst To palov in the G rand Slam tour­ nament (Bil bao 2008), also ended i n fai l ­ u re. T h e g a m e cont i n u ed 1 7. Ah6 c!ih7 1 8 . A x g7 c!i xg7 1 9 . f4 tb c 4 2 0 . A x c4 �xc4 21 . f5 e5 22. tbde2 �h8 23. b3 �c6? 24 . �xg4 tDf6 25. �gg1 � x h 1 26. �xh1 tbg4 27. tDg3 with an obvious advantage to Wh ite. And although an i m p rovement was found - 23 . . . �c8! 24. �xg4 (24. 'Wxd6 Axf5!) 24 . . . tbf6 25. �xh8 (25 . �gg1 'We?!) 25 . . . 'W x h 8 2 6 . � g 1 � c 6 , w h e n B l ack holds the position (A . Kuz m i n), Magnus d i d not tem pt fate any further. But the D ragon had once ag a i n demonstrated its viab i l ity! The main events occurred in the vari­ ation 1 6 . . . 'Wa5 1 7. A h 6 (where Carlsen suffered a disaster after 17 . . . � xc3?). At the Grand Prix tournament in Sochi 2008 Radjabov shocked Karjakin (and all con­ noisseurs of the Dragon) with a fantastic double exchange sacrifice. (see next analysis diagram)

188

L. Doming uez - M. Carlsen

impun ity, which would not be the case with his king on c1 on account of the exchange of queens after 1 8 . . . Axh6 1 9. 'Wxh6 �f4+. 1 8 . . . .lxh6

Not 18 . . .et:lc4?! 1 9. Axc4 �xd4 20. Ad3 Axh6 21 . �xh6 'Wg7 22. �e3 ttlf6 23. g5 etlh5 (after 23 . . .tileS 24. gg4 with the threat of ggh4 Black is forced to make a further weakening of his king's defences) 24. Ae2 followed by Axh5.

Analysis diagram

17 . . . Af6! ! 1 8. fxg4 Axg4 1 9. Axf8 �xf8 20. �e3 gxc3! 21 . 'Wxc3 �xc3 22. bxc3 e6 and Black gained excellent com pensa­ tion . Perhaps not sufficient for a win, but the psychological effect was so powerfu l that Karjakin was unable to save the game.

1 9. 'Wxh6 �g7 20. 'We3 �f6 21 . g5 �h5 22. �de2

8 7

16 . . . e6?!

5 4 3 2

This allows Wh ite to develop a dangerous initiative. Black should have clarified the sit­ uation by exchanging the dark-square bish­ ops: 1 6 . . . �h7! 1 7. Axg7 �xg7 1 8 . f4 et:lc4 19. Axc4 gxc4 20. f5 e5, when he would have achieved a good game (A. Kuzmin). 17. i:idg1 'Wf6

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White's plan of attack is 23. gxh5 g xh5 24. etlf4 with the th reat of etlf4xh5-f6+. Black's counterplay is associated with the advance of his queenside pawns and the exchange sacrifice on c3. 22 . . . a5

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18. fxg4!

This is where the val ue of 1 2. �b1 shows itself - Wh ite can capture the pawn with

T h i s m ove is m o re l o g i ca l in re p l y to 22. et:lce2 , whereas here 22 . . . b5 i s more appropriate. But i n that case too Wh ite carries out the same plan of attack as i n t h e g a m e : 2 3 . g x h 5 g x h 5 24. ttlf4 � h 8 2 5 . g h 1 w i t h t h e t h reat of ttlf4x h5-f6+, whereas B l ack's cou nterp lay is too late: 25 . . . h4 2 6 . 'Wf2 g xc3 27. bxc3 et:lc4 28. e5! , blocking the com m u n i ca-

189

C hapter 3

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tions to the k i n g . N ow a l l capt u res o n eS are bad : 28 . . . til xeS 2 9 . g x h 4 , 28 . . . dxeS 29. g x h4 , o r 28 . . .'�xeS 2 9 . 'Wxh4. H owever, there is sti l l the possi b i l ity of 28 . . . gca, attempting to evacuate the king to the queenside.

8 7 6 5 4 3 2

23. §xh5!? gxh5 24. �f4 �g4

The alternative 24 . . .'Wh8 2S. gh1 h4 26. 'Wf2 gfd8 27. gxh4 'Wg7 28. gh3 gcs (with the idea of 29. &DhS &Dg4 30. 'Wf4 'WxgS) looks more attractive. a

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Carlsen does not miss such opportunities. Now he is able to cover his king.

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31 . 'Wh4 .te4! 32. �c3

Of course, not 32. 'Wxg4?? Axc2+ 33. �c1 (33. �a1 gas mate) 33 . . . AfS+. 32 . . . .tf5 33. �h5 f6!

In amazing fashion Black has activated his position. With the inclusion of the rooks in the defence after 34. &Dxf6+ &Dxf6 3S. gxf6 �f7 Wh ite's attack peters out.

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25. 'Wh3 'Wd4?

34. �g3 §c7 35. �xf5 exf5 36. gxf6 �xf6 37. 'Wg5+ c;t?t7!

A rare instance of Carlsen playing impulsively. 2S . . ,gxc3 26. bxc3 &DeS 27. &DxhS 'Wg6, intending . . . gda, was essential.

The following was a false trai l: 37. . . gg7?! 38. 'WxfS gg1 + 39. �a2 ga8+ 40. &Da4 �f7 41 . 'WbS. 38. 'Wxf5

26. �ce2! 'Wxe4 27. Wxh5?!

It is not clear why Dom inguez rejected the thematic 27. tL!xhS! . After all, even 'by eye' it is obvious that the variation 27. . . fS 28. gxf6 �f7 29. tL!hg3 'Wg6 30. tL!f4 is u nable to save Black. He preferred to win the queen, thinking that the king would not run away, but he underestimated Black's defensive resources. 27. . . a4 28. §h1 'Wxh1 + 29. Wxh1 axb3 30. axb3

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190

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8 7 6 5 4 3 2

M. Carlsen - T. Radjabov

38 . . . i:le7 39. b4

rtle7 45. Vd3 rtlt7 46. �b5 rtle7 47. �d4 rtlf7 48. 'Wf3 §h5 49. �f5 rtle6 50. �d4+

Not 39. �d5?? because of m ate in two moves.

Having fai led to find the key to the fortress, Dominguez forces a draw by repetition.

39 . . . i:le5 40. 'Wf2 i:ld8 41 . b3 i:ld7 42. rtlb2 i:lde7 43. 'Wb6 i:ld7 44. 'Wd4

50 . . .rtlf7 51 . �f5 rtle6 52. �d4+

Black begins erecting a 'fortress'.

Draw.

A new tournament - the Grand Slam in Bilbao (FI D E category 2 1 ) occupied a special place in the chess calendar. It was organ ised with a record prize fund for tournaments without the status of a world championsh ip - 400,000 Euros. The idea of the organis­ ers was that those playing in it should be the winners of the main super-tournaments of the year. Those taking part in the first tournament were the winners in Wijk aan Zee, Linares and Sofia - Aronian, Anand and lvanchuk, together with the personally invited Carlsen, Topalov and Radjabov. A special feature of the tournament was the 'football ' system of scoring (3 points for a w i n , 1 point for a draw). The battle of the ' big six' proved highly uncompromising. This was a benefit perfor­ mance by Topalov, who was striving to demonstrate the rig htfulness of his partici pation in the current world championsh ip cycle (he was facing a match with Kamsky). Veselin won four games, two of them against Carlsen , gaining revenge for the 'double' in Linares. The blow to Magnus's self-esteem was softened by second prize in the tournament: on the tie-break he finished ahead of Aronian. In last place, to general su rprise, was the world champion Anand.

a

Game42 M. Carlsen T. Radjabov Grand Slam, Bilbao 2008 Sicilian Defence [ 878]

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1. e4 c5 2. �f3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. �xd4 �f6 5. �c3 g6 6. J.e3 £g7 7. f3 0-0 8. 'Wd2 �c6 9 . .lc4 J.d7 1 0. 0-0-0 i:lb8

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(see next diagram)

This is the co-called ' C h i nese D ragon'. The author of this brand name is the Belgian master Luc Henris, who under this title published an analysis of 10 . . . .§b8 in 2002 in the New in Chess Yearbook. The

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point of this move is to exploit the b-file after the exchange of the knight on c4. At the same time, the main tru m p of the

191

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'Chi nese' is to i m mediately react to the wing attack 1 1 . h4 or 1 1 . g4 with the pawn sacrifice 1 1 . . . b5! . It is dangerous to accept it. For exam ple, the game Stanford -Anka (McMi nnville 2004) continued 1 1 . h4 b5! 1 2 .tDdxb5 tbe5 1 3 . Ae2 \Wa5 1 4 . tbd4 1:!fc8 1 5 . tbb3 1:!xb3! 1 6 . cxb3 (1 6 . axb3? loses to 1 6 . . . tbxe4 1 7. fxe4 \Wa1 + 1 8. tDb1 tbc4!) 1 6 . . . \Wxa2 1 7. \Wc2 \WaS with an attack for Black. However, 1 2.tbcxb5!? tba5 1 3 . tba3 is not so clear.

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The position reached is typi cal of the 'Chi nese Dragon' structure. The last two moves are necessary for the defence of the king. Despite the enti re power of Black's heavy artillery, its defences are not easily breached.

Th is prophylactic move is best made i m ­ mediately. After t h e d i rect attack 1 2 . h 4 b5 1 3 . h 5 ? ! (1 3 . � b 1 tbc4 1eads t o a posi­ tion from the game) 13 . . . tbc4 14. Axc4 bxc4 1 5 . Ah6 'lti!f b 6 W h ite i s forced to weaken his k i n g 's d efe n ce s . A g a m e Echevari a - d a Costa (correspondence 2003) cont i n u ed 1 6 . b3 Axh6! 1 7. \Wxh6 '!WaS 1 8 . �b2 1:!fc8 1 9 . tbde2 Ae6 with the i n itiative for Black.

1 6 . . .Wa5

12 . . . b5 1 3. h4

The effect of the move . . .tba5-c4 can be weakened by 1 3 . Ah6 A x h 6 1 4. \Wxh6, but, as often happens i n the Dragon, the early exchange of bishops does not give anything. For example, the game Berg - Ev­ domikov (Moscow 2007) contin ued 1 4 . . . e5!? 1 5 . tbde2 tbxb3 1 6. cxb3 b4 1 7. tba4 (or 1 7. tbd5 tbxd5 1 8 . 1:!xd5 Ae6 1 9. 1:!d2 1:!b6=) 17 . . .'!We7 1 8. tbg3 Ae6 1 9. h4 1:!fc8 20. hS 1:!c7 21 . '!Wg5 tbe8 22. '!Wd2 1:!c6 with equal play.

Black must act energetically to cou nterbal­ ance Wh ite's possible attack. Instructive, for exam ple, is the game Efi menko - Char­ bon neau (Montreal 200S), which contin­ ued 1 6 . . . !:!e8 1 7. Ah6 Ah8 1 8 . g4 hxg4 1 9 . h5 '!Wa5 20. hxg6 fxg6 21 . 1:!h4 gxf3 22. tbxf3 tbxe4? 23. tbxe4, and all Black's su bsequent efforts proved in vain: 23 . . . c3 24. tbxc3 !:!xb2 25. �xb2 Axc3+ 26. '!Wxc3 !:!b8+ 27. '!Wb3+ !:!xb3+ 28. axb3 e5 29. 1:!d1 Ac6 30. tbg5 d5 31 . !:!f1 1 -0.

Essential prophylaxis against the h4-h5 attack.

But there are q uestions. Apart from 1 9 . . . '!Wa5 , the captu re 1 9 . . . tbxh5 should also be exam ined . Now 20. !:!xh5 is parried by 20 . . . Axd4! (20 . . . gxh5? 21 . '!Wg5+ �h7 22. '!Wxh5 with a mating attack) 21 . Wxd4 e5. Also 20. fxg4 tDf6 21 . Ag5 tbxg4 22. tDd5 is unclear. And final ly, in the game White would hardly have felt so carefree if instead of 22 . . . tbxe4? Black had played 22 . . .tbg4! 23. tbd4 Af6.

1 6. !i b1

1 7. .th6

1 3 . . . tbc4 14 . .txc4 bxc4 1 5. ma1 h5!

192

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The specific natu re of the position is such that the typical pawn attack 1 7. g4 hxg4 1 8. h5 ti:)xh5 does not have the strength to break through, both after 1 9. fxg4 Axg4, and in the event of 1 9 . Ah6 gxf3 ! . I n the game Kulaots - Papp (H ungary 2008) White stuck to central strategy: 1 7. ti:)de2 l::!.fc8 1 8. l::!. h d1 l::!. b 4 1 9. a3 l::!. c bB 20. Ad4 1::1. 4 b7 and did not achieve anything sign ificant. We should add that also nothing is given by the typical tactic 1 7. ti:)d5 \Wxd2 1 8. ti:)xe7+ �h7 1 9. Axd2 ti:)xe4, when Black regains his pawn with the better position .

After the game Magnus ad m itted that he had forgotten about the typical idea 20. h5 g5!, cutting off the queen. Its release by 2 1 . ti:)f5 Axf5 22. \Wxg5+ h7 2 3 . fxg4 ti:)xe4! 24. \Wxf5+ (24 . ti:) xe4?? Wxa2+!) 24 . . . Wxf5 25. g xf5 ti:)g3 leads to an end­ game favourable for Black. 20 ... lafb8 21 . h5 g5

21 . . . ti:)xh5 22. fxg4 (22. ti:)f5 g xf5 23. laxh5 f4! is not good for White) 22 . . . Axg4 is stronger, when the knight on c3 stil l cannot move, since after 23. ti:)d5 l::!. a 6 24. a3 c3! 25. \Wxc3 (25. ti:)xc3? \Wxa3+!) 25 . . . Wxc3 26. ti:)xc3 White finds himself a pawn down.

17 . . . Axh6! 1 8. 'Wxh6 a

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22. fxg4 �xg4 23. Wd2 16 24. �f3 laa6

Note this manoeuvre. Black intends to dou­ ble rooks and at the same time he restricts the mobility of the knight on c3 - if Wh ite removes the defence from the a2-pawn he gets mated ( . . . \Wxa2+! and . . . l::!. a6).

Radjabov is looking for a way to approach the king, but he fails to find one. He should have centralised his q ueen - 24 . . . Wc5 ! , w h e n he is i n co ntrol o f the situati o n . For example, in t h e event o f 2 5 . ti:) d 5 c3 26. �xc3 \We3 B l ac k transposes i nto a favourable endgame (Notkin).

1 9. g4

Usually this thrust is followed up with h4h5, but with the queen on h6 this does not work. But what else can be suggested for White? After all, 1 9. Wg5 l::!. a6 is too passive. 19 . . . hxg4 20. We3

25. lahg1 la b4 26. a3

Parrying the th reatened double sacrifice on a2 . 26 . . . Ae6

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After the game Radjabov suggested the pro m i s i n g q u een sacrifice 2 6 . . . !!a4 ! ? 27. tbxa4 �xd2 2 8 . tbxd2 !!xa4. a

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The trappy 30 . . . !!ab6?! (with the idea of 31 . !!xg4? !! x b2!) is d u bious i n view of 31 . �f3 Ae6 (31 . . .tbh6 32. tLld5) 32. tbg5+! fxg5 33. tbe4, when Wh ite breaks through to t h e k i n g . T h e ex p i atory sacrifice 33 . . . !!b3 also does not help: 34. cxb3 !!xb3 35. tbxg5+ �h6 36. �f8+ �g5 37. �xe7+.

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fai ls to achieve his aim with 30. �e2 tLlh6 31 . �g2, after which, apart from 31 . . . Ag4 32. �d2 f5, Black has an interesting com­ b i n ation: 31 . . . Axe4! 32. �xe4 �xa3+! 33. bxa3 !!xa3+ 34. tba2 !!xa2+! 35. �xa2 !!a4+ 36. �b2 c3+ 37. � xc3 !!xe4, trans­ posing i nto an unclear endgame.

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27. e5!

Sensing the somewhat ponderous nature of Black's manoeuvres, Carlsen resolutely opens up the position, forcing the oppo­ nent to solve concrete problems.

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The c o m b i n ation 27 . . . �xa3+ 28. bxa3 !!xa3+ 29. tba2 c3 is refuted by 30. �xg5+! fxg5 31 . !!xb4. 28. �xg5! .tf5

29. �ge4 mh7

On general g rou nds it wou l d be usefu l to remove the king from the danger zone - 29 . . . �f7!?. The attem pt to d rive back the knight with 30. �g3 wou ld be refuted by su pporti ng it with the rook: 30 . . . !!b8! 31 . �e2 tbh6 32. �e3 tbg4 33. �g1 tbh6, and Wh ite has to curb his ambitions - since 34. �g6? Axe4 moves the 'pointer' towards his own king: 35. tbxe4 �xa3+. He also

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It was essential to help the king - 31 . . . �b8! 32. �g2 �h8 (33 . !!g1 �b6), since now after 32. �g2 tLlf5 33. �g7+! Black would have had no defence. But is there any need to comment on ti me-trouble play? Perhaps only for the sake of establishing the truth . 32· lagS? �fS?

At this speed of play it is no wonder that a combination exam ined i n the notes to

194

L. Aronian

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M. Carlsen

Black's 29th move was missed: 32 . . . Af5! 33. �g2 Axe4! 34. �xe4 �xa3+! etc. , al­ though here the d ifference i n the placing of the kings tips the evaluation in favou r of Wh ite.

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Black resigned .

Game43 L. Aronian - M . Carlsen

G rand Slam, Bilbao 2008 English Opening [A32] 1. c4 c5 2. �f3 �f6 3. d4 cxd4 4. �xd4 e6 5. g3 �b4+ 6. �d2

Before this Aro n ian had played 6 . Ad2 , including against Carlsen i n their famous 2007 Candidates match i n Elista. True, this occu rred in the 1 1 th , bl itz game: 6 . . . Ac5 7. tDb3 Ae7 8. Ag2 tDc6 9. tDc3 b6 1 0. Af4 Ab7 1 1 . 0-0 0-0 1 2 . Ad6, where Magnus played the superficial 1 2 . . . tDa5?! (1 2 . . .tDe8 is sounder) 1 3. tDxa5 Axg2 14. r;t>xg2 bxa5 1 5 . e4 l:!c8 1 6 . b3 and ended up in an i n ­ ferior position . But s i n c e that t i m e more than a year had passed - a gigantic d is­ tance for the swiftly- i m p roving Carlse n . B y defending against t h e check with h i s knight, Leven i nvites Magnus t o go i n for a ' hedgehog' structure.

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6. . . �c6 7. �c2 �e7 8. �g2 0-0 9. 0-0

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After complet i n g h i s kingside d evelop­ ment B l ack has to d e c i d e o n h i s s u b ­ s eq u e nt p l a n , taki n g i nto acc o u nt t h e features o f the positio n . It is clear that , w i t h his b i s h o p o n g2, Wh ite w i l l aim to coord i n ate it with his k n i g hts, for which the natural posts are c3 and d4, but for the transference of t h e k n i g ht from d2 time is req u i red. I n the spi rit of the posi­ tion is 9 . . . d5 1 0 . cxd5 exd5 1 1 . tDb3 Af5 1 2 . tDcd4 Ae4, when with his isolated d ­ pawn Black's pi eces are actively placed for the forthcom ing battle. Another plan i nvolves the setting u p of a ' hedgehog ' : 9 . . . b6 1 0 . b3 A b7 1 1 . A b 2 �c7 1 2 . e 4 d6 1 3 . tD e 3 , where Wh ite h a s a spatial advantage . 9 . . . §b8!?

A new idea. Black is intending to undermine the c4-pawn. 1 0. �e4

Wh ite is intending to seize control of the weak d6-point. Another route for the knight comes into consideration - 1 0. tDb3 with the idea of 1 0 . . . b5 1 1 . c5. It is true that this allows Black to develop pawn activity on the queenside, but, without the support of the pieces, this does not come to anyth ing:

195

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1 1 . . . a5 1 2. tDcd4 Yfic7 (1 2 . . .tDxd4 1 3 . Yfixd4) 1 3 . Ad2!? (1 3. a4 bxa4 expands the scope of the rook on b8) 13 . . . a4 1 4 . tDxc6 dxc6 1 5 . tDa5 (nothing is given by 1 5 . Aa5 Yfie5 1 6. Ac3 Yfic7) 15 . . . Ad? 1 6. Yfic2, and after 1 7. b4 White blocks the queenside, freeing his hands for play i n the centre. 10 . . . b5 1 1 . cxb5 §xb5 1 2 . ttld6 Axd6

After the roo k retreat 1 2 . . J � b 8 W h ite consolidates his hold on d6 - 1 3 . b3 Aa6 1 4. Aa3 Yfia5 1 5 . l:!e1 l:!fd8 1 6. e4 with the idea of 1 6 . . . tDe8 1 7. e5, and 17 . . . tDxe5? is not possible in view of 1 8 . tDc4! tDxc4 1 9. Axe?, winning the exchange.

n atural, with the prospect of converting the q ueenside pawn majority. 15 . . . §xb2 1 6. Ac5 §e8 1 7. §ab1

W h ite c o u l d h ave won the exc hange: 1 7. tDc4 l:!xe2 (not 17 . . . l:!b5?! 1 8 . a4 l:!b3 1 9. Yfid1 l:!c3 20. tDd6, winning material) 1 8 . Y!id3 Aa6 1 9. Yfixe2, but after 1 9 . . . d5 fol l owed by . . . Axc4 B l ac k wou l d have gained adeq uate material compensation. 1 7. . . §xb1 18. §xb1 Aa6

1 8 . . . Aa8 was weaker: 1 9 . tDb5 Y!ib8 20. l:! b 3 ! ? with the idea of 2 0 . . .tDa5 21 . Axa7, regai ning the pawn.

1 3. Wxd6 Ab7 14. ttla3

1 9. ttlb5 Axb5 20. §xb5 Wc8 21 . a4 h6

14. b3 tDe7 1 5. Axb7 l:!xb7 1 6. Ab2 came into consideration, retaining pressure on the dark squares.

It is useful to open an escape square for the king, prepari ng . . . Yfia6, which for the mo­ ment does not work because of 21 . . . Yfia6 22. Axc6 dxc6? 23. l:!b8.

14 . . . §b6 a 8 7 6

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'if .�. . I. ..t I. 1. 1. 1. .�. � � �. �

5

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'iV I.

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8

I. 1. 1. �iV I. � I. :t. iL

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7 6 5

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22. Aa3

1 5. Ae3?!

The ambitions of the two players have con­ verged on the d6-point. For the sake of this Aronian is ready to sacrifice a pawn, although fu ll compensation is not apparent. 1 5 . tDc4 l:!a6 1 6. Ad2 (preventing . . .tDa5) 1 6 . . . tDe7 1 7. Y!id3 Axg2 1 8 . c.!>xg2 is more

The logical com pletion of Wh ite's strategy was 22. e4!? Y!ia6 23. e5, when the advan­ tage of the two bishops is more apparent. Now the black q ueen comes out into the open. 22 . . .Wa6! 23. Ab2 Wxa4 24. Axc6

196

L. Aronian - M . Carlsen

dxc6 25. �b4

Chess history knows many examples of the conversion of an outside passed pawn with the same number of heavy pieces - re­ member the famous 34th game of the Ale­ kh ine- Capablanca match (Buenos Ai res 1 927). But there the king was covered by a continuous pawn chai n .

Si nce 25. 'Wxc6 a6 26. �c5 'Wxc6 27. �xc6 §a8 28. Axf6 gxf6 leads to a rook end­ game a pawn dow n , Aron ian prefers to keep the queens o n , with prospects of an attack agai nst the somewhat exposed black k i n g.

2 9 . . . f5 30. �a4?

25 . . . 'Wa5 2 6 . .1xf6 gxf6 27. �g4+ �h7 28. Wxc6

Too late, as now the i n itiative passes con­ cl usively to B l ac k . 30. �g2 was better, with the faint hope of 30 . . . We1 ?! 31 . 'We?, but Black plays 30 . . . �d2! 31 . �a4 'Wd5+ 32. e4 fxe4 33. 'Wxe4+ 'Wxe4+ 34. �xe4 �a2, transposing into a rook endgame with an outside passed pawn and real winning chances.

The suggestion of M i khail Golubev was more subtle: 28. 'Wd7 �f8 29. �f4!? and if 29 . . . h5 (cutting off the rook from g4), only now 30. 'Wxc6.

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8

30

.7 .l s �'-...!-'

32. � x a7? 'Wh1 + 33. � h 3 � g 1 leads to m ate .

5

32 . . . �g6!

4 M 3 8 88 8 2 a

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9

'We1 + 31 . �g2 �d1 32. Wc7

..•

8

Played i n the style of Steinitz - the king can defend itself. 33. �f3!

h

Aronian is n ot lacking in i n g e n u ity, and within a couple of moves Carlsen's ambi­ tions will be curbed som ewhat.

29. 'Wc2+?

A critical moment. Wh ite q u ite logically ai m s to provoke the weakening . . .f6-f5 , but he carries it out inaccu rately, allowi ng an i m portant transposition of m oves . It was correct to beg i n with 29. �a4!. Since 29 . . . 'We1 + 30. �g2 �d1 is i neffective on accou nt of 31 . We? ! , the queen wou l d have t o move off the im portant diagonal - 29 . . . 'Wb6, and now 30. 'Wc2+ f5 31 . e4! fxe4 32. � xe4 exposes the king, forcing Black to concern himself with its defence.

33

•. .

Wh1 + 34. �e3 �a1 !

The kings have succeeded i n defending themselves. M ag n u s offers to take play i nto a queen endgame. 35. Wc2

W h ite c a n n ot refu se: 3 5 . �c4? �a3+ 36. �d2 'Wd5+ 37. �e1 �a2. 35 . . . �xa4 36. Wxa4

197

Chapter 3

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Life at the Top

·

Game44 M . Carlsen - L. Aron ian Grand Slam, Bil bao 2008 Sem i-Slav Defence [ 04 7]

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3 � 8 88 8 2

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1 . d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. �f3 �f6 4. �c3 e6 5. e3 �bd7 6. J.d3 dxc4 7. J.xc4 b5 8. J.d3 J.b7 a

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6

36 . . . 'Wc1 +

39 . . . We5 40. gxf5+ �xf5 41 . We8 �g6 42 . 'Wf8 a4 43. e3 'We4+ 44. �g3 Wd3 45. h4

It is poi ntless to p l ay 4 5 . 'M'g8+ g3 �d2 58. fk2 !!xc2 59. !!xc2 �xe4+ leads to a reduction in the material) 57. . .�d2+ 58. c!>e2 !!b2 59. c!>d3 with dangerous threats. 54 . . . iia2+

54 . . . Af7 55. !!c3 !!a1 was stronger. 55. mg3

B lack's defence wou l d have been more d ifficult after 55. c!>f3!? �e6 56. �c3 !!h2 57. !!b8 (57. h5? �g5+) 57. . . !!h3+ 58. c!>e2 Ac5 59. �f5 . 55 . . . iid2 56. h5 .tf7 57. iic2 a

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8 7 6 5 4 3 2

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8 .i. 7 .t..t.• 6 [j_ 5 4 [j_ � 3 2 a

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57. . . iid4!

An accurately-calculated exchanging op­ eration with a red uction in the n u m ber of

Life at the Top

pawns, in which by some m i racle the d3pawn survives. 57. . . !!d3!? 58. !!e2 g61ooks more prosaic, but perfectly sound. 58. iixd4 exd4 59. �f5 d3 60. iib2 �xe4+ 61 . mt4 �c5 62. �f2 g6

The n u m ber of pawns is i n exorably re­ d uced . 63. hxg6+ mxg6 64. me3 J.e6 s5. �h4+ mg5 ss. �t3+ mgs s1. iibs mt7

After 67. . . Ah6+ 68. c!>d4 d2 the passed d - pawn conti n ues to s u rvive: 69. !!c6 (69 . f! b1 �d7 70. c!>d3 �C5+ 71 . c!>d4 �d7) 69 . . . �b3+ 70 . c!>c3 Ad5 71 . �h4+ c!>g5 72 . !!d6 Ab7! 73. �f5 (73 . !!b6 �c5) 73 . . . Af8 74. !!d7 �c5, and now 75. !!xd2 �e4+ 76. �xe4+ Axe4 leads to the loss of the last pawn. 68. iic6 .td7 69. iic7 mea 70. �d4 Ah6+ 71 . mt3 �e6 12. �xe6 Axe6 73. �xd3 f5 74. g xf5 Axf5

Al ready here peace cou ld have been con­ cluded. 75. �e5 Af8 76. iia7 Ad6 77. �c4 Ah2 78. �e3 .td7 79. me4 Ag1 so. iia8+ mt7 81 . iia7

Draw.

The year 2009 began i n an u n usual way for Carlsen . The N o rweg ian's ad m i rers were su rprised by h i s peaceab l e n ess at the su per-to u rnament i n W ij k aan Zee (FI D E category 1 9) . It seemed that t h i s was the very t i m e to b u i l d on the success of the previous year, since fo r vari ous reasons the main favou rites for the chess crown h ad decli ned to p l ay in the tournament: Anan d , Kram n i k and To palov. But alongside Carlsen's name in the tournament table a depress i n g series of ' half­ poi nts' appeared . H owever, it was clear to the experts that the reasons were of a perso nal nature . It is wel l known that Carlsen n ever plays d e l i berately for a d raw, as i n d i cated at the l east by the length of h i s games. One of the reasons for such

04

M. Carlsen - L. Dom i nguez

an occu rrence was h i s g reatly increased prestige: opponents began p l aying more cautiously ag ainst h i m . But there were also some notable set- bac ks. Playi ng ' by tec h n i q ue' i n the endgame d i d not always work, as, for exam ple, i n heavy piece end i n g s with Radj abov and Karjaki n , which by their protracted n atu re resem b l ed individual games. N evertheless, by w i n n i n g i n rou n d s 1 0 and 1 2 ag ainst Dom i n g uez and Smeets , Carlsen j o i ned the battle for the fi rst prize. But his strength was on the wane, and i n the l ast rou n d he was outplayed by Wang Yue. Com pared with the fai ry-tale previous year, h i s fi nal score of +1 with ten d raws and a share of 5th-6th places looked very modest i n d eed .

Wxd3 1 5 . l::! x d3 &Dc6 1 6 . 0-0 &DeS gives Black an easy game.

Game 46 M. Carlsen - L. Dominguez

Wij k aan Zee 2009 G runfeld Defence [ 081]

12 . . . c6 13. �f3

For the moment it is too early to separate the d-pawn from its base. I n the event of 1 3 . d6 Ae6 14. &Df3 Wf6 Black is threatening to su rround it: 1 5 . Wc2 l::! d 8 1 6. 0-0 &DeB.

1 . d4 �f6 2. c4 g6 3. �c3 d5 4. 'Wb3 dxc4 5. 'Wxc4 .tg7 6. e4 0-0 7. .te2 �fd7 8 . .te3 �b6 9. 'Wd3 a

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13 ... cxd5 1 4. �xd5 �xd5 1 5. 'Wb3

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... 8 ��..t�7 � 6 5 4 �� 3 ti:J � il, �� il, � � � 2 � tt:J � 1 b c d f g h

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8 --�..t'if 6 5 4 3 2 1

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8 6 5 4 3

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9 . . . f5

Dom inguez tries to carry out this idea more accu rately than i n his game with Kram n i k from t h e Olympiad in Dresden, where h e played 9 . . .&D c 6 1 0. l::! d 1 f5. 1 0. l::!d 1 f4 1 1 . .tc1 e5 1 2 . d5

The critical continuation. This pawn has the prospect of becoming passed. The feature­ less 1 2 . &Df3 exd4 1 3 . &Dxd4 c5 1 4 . &Ddb5

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This was undoubted ly prepared at home. The exchange of q ueens, carried out in the game Jakovenko - Mamedyarov (G rand Prix, Elista 2008), did not g ive Wh ite any­ t h i n g : 1 5 . Wxd5+ Wxd5 1 6 . e x d 5 Af5 1 7. 0-0 &Dd7. Carlsen is not against the queen exchange, but in a better version. For exam ple: 1 5 . . . W b 6 1 6 . Ac4 Wxb3 1 7. Axb3 &Dc6 1 8 . Axd5+ �h8 1 9. h3. 15 . . . �h8

2 05

Chapter 3

Life at the Top

·

The pawn sacrifice 1 5 . . . Ae6 1 6. exd5 Af7 1 7. 'l!flxb7 tDd7 looks promising, but after Carlsen's meteoric rise the psychological approach of his opponents was al ready d ifferent. For exam ple, after 1 8 . d6 Axa2 1 9. 0-0 Ae6 20. f!fe1 the wh ite pieces co­ ord i nate very harmoniously, and the d6pawn may cause Black certain problems. Doming uez sensibly prefers not to throw caution to the winds and to retain a stable position. 1 6. Ac4 �c6 1 7. Axd5 Y!le7 1 8 . h3 � b4 The alternative was 1 8 . . . tDd4 1 9. tDxd4 exd4 2 0 . f! d 3 (20 . 0 - 0 ? f3) 2 0 . . . Af5 21 . 'l!flxb7 'l!fte5! with good compensation for the pawn. For example: 22. 0-0 (22. f!f3 g5 looks u n natu ral) 22 . . . f!ab8 23. 'l!ff xa7 Axe4 24. Axe4 'l!flxe4 25. f!a3 f!a8 etc. 1 9. Ac4 Carlsen avoids the exchange of his ac­ tive bishop, overloo k i n g B l ack's rep ly. Meanwhile, after the simple 1 9. 0-0 tDxd5 20. exd5 'l!ff f 7 21 . f!fe1 (otherwise there fol­ lows the blockad ing tDf3-g5-e4) 2 1 . . . Wf5 22. d6 this pawn causes Blac k consid­ erable problems. For exam ple: 22 . . . f!b8 23. 'l!ftc3 (23 . Ad2 e4 24. Ac3 ! exf3 25. f!e7 is tempting, but Black can play 23 . . . Ae6) 23 . . . Ae6 24. f!xe5! Axe5 25. tDxe5 f8!! i n time-trouble is practically i m possible. But the move in the game i s also hard to explai n , s i n ce after the opponent's obvious reply Black's position is u ntenable. 33. e4 .tg4 34. �g3 V!Yf7 35 .tf1 ! •

V!Yh5?!

.•.

An i m p u lsive m ove, w h i c h s i g n ificant­ ly c o m p l i c ates t h e d efe n c e , w h e reas the bishop manoeuvre 31 ...Ab3 (wh i c h Black must undoubtedly have considered) 32. Ylffe 4 Ac4 would have enabled him to hold the position. For example, in the event of 33. �b6 Ylftf8 Black regains the c5-pawn , since 34. Ylfff5 �d3 35. Ab2 �xe3 is not good for Wh ite.

In fi nishing off the opponent, Mag us, as always, is accurate. First a technical proce­ dure, shutting the knight out of the game. 35

• • •

.te6 36. V!Yc3!

And now the rook is d riven i nto the corner. 36

. • •

1Ia8

Otherwise the knight cannot be saved . If 36...tDc4 (b7) there would have followed 37. f5.

251

Chapter 3

Life at the Top

·

a

37. �b4 'Wd7 38. t5 At7 39. At4 'Wd1 40. �f2

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Black resigned.

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41 . Ae2 'Wb1 42. Ac4 �xa3 43. ttle2

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4

Now Black loses his knight. He should have brought his queen back.

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6

40... ttlb3?

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(see next diagram)

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Carlsen began the year 2010 as the clear rating favourite, now establ ished at the 2810 mark, and after the positive end to the previous year, few doubted his ambitions at the super-tou rnament in Wijk aan Zee (FI DE category 19). And that is what happened. For the fi rst time Mag nus won the fi rst prize (if you don't count the share of 1st-2nd places in 2008, where on the tie-break the prize was awarded to Aronian). And the fact that he did this i n com petition with the strongest players i n the world, including the last two champions Kram n i k and Anand, consolidated his status as a real contender for the world championsh ip. But in qual ity of play it was as yet premature to talk about Carlsen's total superiority. Especially painful was his loss to Kram nik, the only player whom he had both beaten and lost to in 2009. However, his ability to play with full concentration was something that not all his famous opponents could withstand.

Game 59 S. Karjakin M. Carlsen Wijk aan Zee 2010 French Defence [C11} -

For Carlsen, games with Karjakin have a particular implication. Since their childhood years the chess paths of the two prodigies have taken the course of a secret rival ry, and they fi rst crossed here i n Wijk aan Zee, where Karjakin was the fi rst to break through to the A tournament and the fi rst to win the main prize. Th is had occurred in the p revious year in the p resence of Carlsen, who by that time had confidently overtaken Karjakin i n the rating list. How-

ever, in individual meetings in 'classical' chess, neither had won - five d raws. In the 1Oth round of the current 'Wijk' the two players arrived with the same n u mber of poi nts, but different moods: the previous day Carlsen had lost with Wh ite to Kram­ nik, whereas Karjaki n had won with Black against Nakam u ra. 1 . e4 e6 Undoubted ly a su rprise for Karjakin - ap­ parently for the fi rst time, Carlsen plays the French Defence. But here is his motivation: ' I n my younger years I used to consider it at best a second-rate openi ng. I believe that 1...c5 and 1...e5! are better choices, but since I desperately wanted to win this

252

S. Karjaki n - M. Carlsen

game (I was trai ling the leaders Kram n i k a n d Shirov b y a poi nt at t h i s stage) I de­ cided to try something new.' It can be as­ sumed that Carlsen was following the path of Rodriguez Vila, who at the 2009 World Cup i n Khanty- Mansiysk used the French Defence to try and save his m i n i -m atch against Karjaki n , and d rew appropriate conclusions from this experience.

sufficed only for a d raw, the com petitive objective of qualifying for the second round of the World Cup was fulfilled. The waiting move 1 1 . �h1 retains the op­ tion of tba4 if Black carries out the plan of ...b5-b4, ...a6-a5 and ...Ac8-a6, although moving the knight to the edge of the board has its drawbacks and demands additional justification compared with the retreat to d1.

2. d4 d5 3. CC!c3 CC!f6 4. e5 CClfd7 5. f4 c5 6. CClf3 CC!c6 7 .te3 .te7

1 1 . ..'Wc7

•

Carlsen also sticks to waiting tactics, to clarify Wh ite's plans, n ot considering it necessary to check 11 ...b4 1 2. tba4. Mean­ while, the game N ijboer- M. Gurevich (Am­ sterdam 2006) showed that Black has quite good prospects. There followed 1 2 ...cxd4 13 . tbxd4 tbxd4 1 4. Axd4 Ab7 1 5. f5 exf5 1 6. �xf5 Ac6 1 7. b3 Axa4 18. bxa4 tbc5 1 9. �af1 tbe6 20. Aa1 a5, and it was rather Wh ite who had problems.

I n recent times this move has often been employed by one of the last Mohicans of the French Defence, Mikhail Gurevich. The classical continuation is 7...cxd4 followed by ...�b6. 8. 'Wd2 0-0 9. .te2 a6 1 0. 0-0 b5 1 1 . �h1 a

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8 7 �.&.t.••• 7 6 6 . "' • 5 5 ...... 8 4 4 8 8 3 3 t2J ittb 2 8 8 8 Wiit 8 8 2 1: : a1

A prophylactic move, ai med against a pos­ sible knight check on a3 after the i m medi­ ate 1 8. tild4 tilbc4 1 9. �e1 �b6 20. Ac1 tila3+ 2 1 . �a1 �xd4 or 21 . ..tilc6. 18...�f8 1 9. tild4

h a

An u n usual twist, with the aim of catching the opponent off-balance. Normally Wh ite quietly castles kingside in this positio n , whereas i f he wants t o castle queenside he prepares it with f2-f3 (rather than Ae2).

11 ...tilb6 12. Wd2 til8d7 13. f4 exf4 14. �xf4 tile5 1 5. 0-0-0 lacS 16. t,!;>b1

The outcome is a fairly standard type of position from the English Attack, where Wh ite has advanced his pawn to f4 i n one go, but his bishop may not be best placed on e2.

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I. l..i.9> 8 7 .ii ••• 7 6 6 .I.&\ • .i. 5 1.&\ ��5 8

4 3 2 .a. 1

4 tiJ�Jt 3 tiJ 2���V/�Jt 1 � .a.

9...�e6 10. g5 tilfd7 11. h4

Th is position has occurred in very few top­ level games. An alternative for Black is to advance his a-pawn, with the aim of induc­ i n g the weakening a2-a4. For exam ple, the game Khal ifman - Gelfand (Las Vegas 1 999) went 1 1 . �d2 aS 1 2. a4 tilc6 1 3. f4 fS with double-edged play.

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19 ...Wc5?

Black is evidently aiming to bring his queen to an attacking position at b4 or aS , but this real ly is too slow. After the game Na­ kam u ra sugg ested 1 9 ...g 6 , the log ical consequence of his preced ing play, but then Wh ite can continue 20. hxg6 hxg6 2 1 . tilxe6 l;!.xe6 22. Ae3 , the point being that 2 2...tilbc4 23. Axc4 tilxc4 a l l ows

69

Chapter 3

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24. Ad4! (or 24. '1Wh2 Ag7 25. Ad4). How­ ever, the i m med iate 1 9 ...tbec4 1ooks quite adequate for Black.

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20. g6 �ec4 21. Axc4 �xc4 22. 'Wd3

Wh ite has to keep his knight on c3 pro­ tected in the event of ...tbxb2.

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22 ... fxg6 23. hxg6 h6 24. Wg3 Wb6 25. Ac1 Wa5

After this Wh ite has to counter the threat of Black capturing on b2 and then on c3, followed by mate on a2. After some twenty min utes' thought Carlsen fou n d a good reply.

29. Axh6! gxh6

If 29 . . . '1Wxd4 Wh ite gives mate with 30. Ae3 fol lowed by 31 . �h8+. 30. g7 Ae7

26. l::i d f1 �e5

If now 26 .. . tbxb2 , then White's rook on d1 is no longer attacked , and after 27. tbxe6 �xc3 28. Wf4 he is the one who forces mate.

30 ... Axg7 loses immediately to 31 . tbf5 �c? 32. tbxh6+ followed by 33. tbg4+ or r.... 33.