Chess: Carlsen and Caruana set for $430,000 Isle of Man showdown | Magnus Carlsen | The Guardian
“After Friday’s eighth round Carlsen’s unbeaten streak reached 98 games, surpassing Mikhail Tal’s 95 in 1973-74 and closing in on Ding Liren’s record of 100 against high-level opponents. The record could fall in the 11th and final Isle of Man round on Monday if he continues to avoid defeat.”
The simplest way to silence your critics is to do what they claim you can’t do. They may mock your process loudly but never allow their words to cause you to take unnecessary risks.
[Event “Carlsen – Caruana World Championship Match”]
[Site “London ENG”]
[Date “2018.11.28”]
[Round “Tiebreaker 1“]
[White “Magnus Carlsen”]
[WhiteElo “?”]
[Black “Fabiano Caruana”]
[BlackElo “?”]
[Result “1-0”]
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3 Bb4 4.e4 O-O 5.Nge2 c6 6.Bg2 a6 7.O-O b5 8.d4 d6 9.a3
Bxc3 10.Nxc3 bxc4 11.dxe5 dxe5 12.Na4 Be6 13.Qxd8 Rxd8 14.Be3 Nbd7 15.f3 Rab8
16.Rac1 Rb3 17.Rfe1 Ne8 18.Bf1 Nd6 19.Rcd1 Nb5 20.Nc5 Rxb2 21.Nxe6 fxe6 22.Bxc4
Nd4 23.Bxd4 exd4 24.Bxe6+ Kf8 25.Rxd4 Ke7 26.Rxd7+ Rxd7 27.Bxd7 Kxd7 28.Rd1+
Ke6 29.f4 c5 30.Rd5 Rc2 31.h4 c4 32.f5+ Kf6 33.Rc5 h5 34.Kf1 Rc3 35.Kg2 Rxa3
36.Rxc4 Ke5 37.Rc7 Kxe4 38.Re7+ Kxf5 39.Rxg7 Kf6 40.Rg5 a5 41.Rxh5 a4 42.Ra5
Ra1 43.Kf3 a3 44.Ra6+ Kg7 45.Kg2 Ra2+ 46.Kh3 Ra1 47.h5 Kh7 48.g4 Kg7 49.Kh4 a2
50.Kg5 Kf7 51.h6 Rb1 52.Ra7+ Kg8 53.Rxa2 Rb5+ 54.Kg6 Rb6+ 55.Kh5
1-0
[Event “Carlsen – Caruana World Championship Match”]
[Site “London ENG”]
[Date “2018.11.28”]
[Round “Tiebreaker 2“]
[White “Fabiano Caruana”]
[WhiteElo “?”]
[Black “Magnus Carlsen”]
[BlackElo “?”]
[Result “0-1”]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Nd5 Nxd5 8.exd5 Ne7
9.c4 Ng6 10.Qa4 Bd7 11.Qb4 Qb8 12.h4 h5 13.Be3 a6 14.Nc3 a5 15.Qb3 a4 16.Qd1
Be7 17.g3 Qc8 18.Be2 Bg4 19.Rc1 Bxe2 20.Qxe2 Qf5 21.c5 O-O 22.c6 bxc6 23.dxc6
Rfc8 24.Qc4 Bd8 25.Nd5 e4 26.c7 Bxc7 27.Nxc7 Ne5 28.Nd5 Kh7
0-1
There’s more to being the world champion in chess than playing great moves and controlling your nerves. After eleven successful draws against Fabiano Caruana, Magnus Carlsen chose to abandon his advantageous position in game 12 in favor of a draw offer. Why would the World Champion do so such a thing? Perhaps as Kasparov put it, “he seems to be losing his (nerves.)” Or perhaps Magnus Carlsen knows that the least dangerous path to remaining the World Chess Champion is exploiting the loopholes in FIDE’s tiebreak system.
Experience in this format has taught Magnus Carlsen to favor a cautious approach. And why wouldn’t he? If the classical portion of the match remains even after 12 games the combatants break the tie by battling in rapid play and then blitz if necessary. Magnus Carlsen classical rating (2835) is just three points better than Fabiano Caruana’s (2832.) Where as, Carlsen’s rapid rating is 2880, and his blitz rating is 2939; vs. Caruana’s rapid rating of 2789, and his blitz rating of 2767. In short, by being overly cautious in classical time controls, Magnus has a much better probability of remaining champion. One could argue that rapid and blitz games shouldn’t determine the classical chess world champion, but as long as they do, The Magnus Carlsen Doctrine of winning by not losing makes sense.
Big Thanks to Robert Hess for allowing me to share his Facebook post on this blog!
After seeing Robert Hess II’s post on Facebook, I became curious about his chess adventures with Fabiano Caruana in Argentina. After a quick search of my database, I found this superb chess game played by the two young chess prodigies. Below is the lesson from the game that I have prepared for my students this week.
[Event “Ch Pan-American”]
[Site “Guaymallen (Argentina)”]
[Date “2001”]
[Round “8”]
[White “Caruana, Fabiano (USA)”]
[Black “Hess, Robert L (USA)”]
[Result “1-0”]
[Eco “C57”]
[Annotator “Chris Torres”]
[Source “”]
{[ TWO KNIGHTS’ def.,C57] Caruana Fabiano +1 =0 -0 Hess Robert L (USA) +0 =0 -1 Caruana Fabiano-Hess Robert L (USA) +1 =0 -0}
1.e4 e5
2.Nf3 Nc6
3.Bc4 Nf6
4.Ng5 d5
5.exd5 Nd4 {Robert Hess chooses the double-edged Fritz Variation.}
( 5…Nxd5 6.Nxf7 {The original Fried Liver Attack.} Kxf7 7.Qf3+
Ke6 8.Nc3 Nce7 9.d4 c6 10.Bg5 h6 11.Bxe7 Bxe7 12.O-O-O Rf8 13.Qe4
Rxf2 14.dxe5 Bg5+ 15.Kb1 Rd2 16.h4 Rxd1+ 17.Rxd1 Bxh4 18.Nxd5
cxd5 19.Rxd5 Qg5 20.Rd6+ Ke7 21.Rg6 {1-0, Polerio G – Dominiko V, Rome 1602})
Position after 5… Nd4
6.c3 b5
7.cxd4 {Another American chess prodigy preferred 7. Bf1 which is the main line.}
( 7.Bf1 Nxd5 8.cxd4 Qxg5 9.Bxb5+ Kd8 10.Qf3 e4 11.Qxe4 Bd6 12.O-O
Bb7 13.d3 Nf4 14.Bxf4 Qxb5 15.d5 Qxb2 16.Bxd6 cxd6 17.Re1 Qf6
18.Nc3 Rc8 19.Qb4 Re8 20.Qa5+ Kd7 21.Qa4+ {1-0, Fischer Robert J (USA) 2780 – NN (ITA), Montreal 1964 Simultan})
Position after 7. cxd4
7… bxc4
8.dxe5 Qxd5
9.exf6
( 9.O-O Bb7 10.Nf3 Nd7 11.Re1 O-O-O 12.Nc3 Qd3 13.Re3 Qg6 14.d4 cxd3 15.Rxd3 Bc5
16.Nd5 Qe4 17.Bg5 f6 18.exf6 gxf6 19.Be3 Rhg8 20.Ne1 Ne5 21.Bxc5
Bxd5 22.Rg3 Rxg3 23.hxg3 Bb7 24.Qb3 Nd3 25.Qc2 Nxc5 26.Qxc5 Re8
27.Nf3 Qc6 28.Qxa7 Qc2 {…1-0, Bollek Jan – Godena Michele (ITA) 2527 , Caorle 1982 It (open)})
( 9.Nf3 {?!} {Seems to favor black.} Qe4+ 10.Qe2
( 10.Kf1 Qd3+ 11.Kg1 Nd7 ) Qxe2+ 11.Kxe2 Nd5 )
Position after 9. exf6
9… Qxg5
10.Qe2+
( 10.Qf3 Rb8 11.O-O Qxf6 12.Re1+ Be7 13.Qxf6 gxf6 14.b3
cxb3 15.axb3 Rxb3 16.Ba3 Be6 17.Bxe7 Kxe7 18.f4 Kd7 19.Rxa7 Rb2
20.Rc1 Kd6 21.Nc3 f5 22.d4 c6 23.Ra6 Rc8 24.Ra5 Rd2 25.Ra6 Ke7
26.Ra4 Rd8 27.Ra7+ Kf6 28.Ra6 R8xd4 29.g3 Rc4 30.Ra3 Kg6 31.Raa1
Rb4 32.Rd1 Rc2 33.Rac1 Rbb2 34.Rxc2 Rxc2 35.Rd3 Kf6 36.h3 Ke7
37.Nd1 c5 38.Rc3 Rxc3 39.Nxc3 c4 40.Kf2 Kd6 41.Ke3 Kc5 42.Ne2
h5 43.Nc3 Kb4 44.Kd2 Kc5 45.Ke3 Bd5 46.Ne2 Bg2 47.h4 Kb4 48.Kd2
Bf1 49.Nc3 Bd3 50.Nd1 Kc5 51.Ke3 Bc2 52.Nc3 Bd3 53.Nd1 Kb4 54.Kd2
Kb3 55.Nc3 Be4 56.Ne2 Kb4 57.Nc3 Kc5 58.Ke3 Bc2 59.Ne2 Bd3 60.Nc3
Kb4 61.Kd2 Kb3 62.Nd1 Be4 63.Nc3 Bf3 64.Nb1 Kb2 65.Nc3 Kb3 66.Nb1
Kb4 67.Nc3 Bg4 68.Nb1 Kc5 69.Ke3 {1/2-1/2, Paramzina Anastasya (RUS) 1830 – Sunyasakta Satpathy (IND) 1899, Porto Carras (Greece) 2010.10.24})
10… Be6
11.Qe4 Rb8
12.O-O Qxf6 {Fabiano Caruana and Robert Hess are dead even in a position with some serious imbalances.}
Position after 12… Qxf6
13.Qc6+ {Fabiano takes away black’s ability to castle.}
13… Kd8 {Robert Hess has an exposed king but much better development.}
14.Nc3 Bd6
15.g3 {?!} {Fearing black’s tactics on h2, Caruana plays g3 which is dangerously slow in such a sharp position. Better was:}
( 15.Ne4 Qd4 16.Nxd6 Qxd6 17.Qe4 {Which forces black to exchange his dangerous dark bishop.})
15… h5 {!} {Robert Hess launches his h-pawn toward the newly created weakness and in doing so activates his final piece.}
Position after 15… h5
16.h4 {Fabiano’s best defense creates even more weak squares around his king.}
( 16.Ne4 {??} {No longer works.} Qf3 {!} 17.h4 Bh3 )
16… Qd4 {Threatening Bxg3.}
17.Qe4 {Fabiano’s strongest move which leaves Robert Hess with a complicated choice as to how to continue his attack.}
17… Qf6 {?!} {Placing the queen on the same diagonal as his king was not the best choice. Better was:} ( 17…Bc5 18.d3 {I’m sure Fabiano would’ve been willing to temporarily lose some material to obtain must needed development.}
cxd3 19.Bf4 Rxb2 20.Be5 Qxe4 21.Nxe4 Rc2 22.Bxg7 Rg8 23.Nxc5
Rxc5 24.Bh6 Bg4 {and it’s black who is playing for a win.} )
Position after 17… Qf6
18.d3 {!} {Fabiano takes the initiative by threatening to play Bg5!}
18… Qe5
19.dxc4 Qxe4
20.Nxe4 Bxc4 {?}
{Hess wins a pawn and attacks Caruana’s rook. However, Caruana can respond by
playing Nxd6! which threatens Nxf7+ forking Hess’ king and rook. An improvement
for black would have been playing 20… Be5 which creates a threat and preserves the bishop pair for the ensuing endgame.}
( 20…Be5 21.Rb1 ( 21.Re1 Re8 22.Rb1 Bxc4 ) Bxc4 )
Position after 20… Bxc4
21.Nxd6 {!} {Removing the bishop pair and threatening Nxf7+.}
21… cxd6
22.Rd1 {Fabiano develops his rook with a threat.}
22… Kc7 {?}
{Chess can be so brutal. Had Hess played his king to the adjacent square the result of the game would have been much different.}
( 22…Kd7 23.Bf4 Rb6 24.Rd2 Be6 25.Rc1 Ra8 {and black is fine.} )
Position after 22… Kc7
23.Bf4 {!}
{Developing the bishop to a diagonal that threatens a pawn with a pin to the king and the king with a skewer to the rook.}
23… Rhd8 {?} {Robert Hess tries in vain to hold onto the pawn. Better was abandoning it.}
( 23…Kb7 24.Bxd6 Rbc8 {and black still has trouble, though not nearly as severe.})
24.Rac1 {!} {All of Fabiano’s remaining pieces entered the game in the most brutal fashion.}
Position after 24. Rac1
24… Rxb2 {Hess might as well take a pawn as there is no way to defend his pinned bishop.}
( 24…Rb4 25.b3 Kb7 26.Rd4 {!} Rd7 27.Bd2 {!} Rb6 28.Rcxc4 )
25.Rxc4+ Kb7
26.Rxd6 Re8
27.Rd7+ Ka6
28.Rcc7 Ree2 {Even with a 99.9% chance of defeat, Robert Hess still manages to create one more threat.}
29.Rxa7+ Kb6
30.Rdb7+ Kc6
31.Rxb2 Rxb2
Final Position
{Black resigns. Truly a superb chess game played by two incredible young prodigies!}
1-0
What is white’s best move?
What is white’s best move? (Fabiano Caruana – David Navara, Blitz, St Louis 8/18/2017)
Fabiano Caruana’s dominating performance in the 2014 Sinquefield Cup is made possible by a combination of his rare talent, passion for the game, hard work and experience.
Yesterday in chess class, one of my students asked me, “How is it possible for Fabiano Caruana to play chess so well?” I answered her by saying that it is a,”Combination of talent, passion for chess, hard work and experience.” When another child asked me about his experience, I explained that, “It takes learning from thousands of losses to become any good at chess.” I then set up the position below in which Torres Chess and Music Academy coach Emory Tate provides a valuable learning moment to the young Fabiano Caruana.
Position from Fabiano Caruana vs Emory Tate. Black to move and win!
Here is the game in its entirety:
[Event “Tournament ‘New York Masters'”]
[Site “New York (USA)”]
[Date “2003”]
[Round “1”]
[White “Caruana Fabiano (ITA)”]
[Black “Tate Emory (USA)”]
[Result “0-1”]
[Eco “B22”]
[Annotator “Chris Torres”]
[Source “Chris’ Portable Treasury of Chess Games”]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.c3 d5 4.exd5 exd5 5.d4 c4 {Emory Tate chose a different path in his fine victory over Mechem.}
( 5…Nc6 6.Nbd2 Be6 7.Bd3 c4 8.Bc2 b5 9.Nf1 Bd6 10.Ng3 Nf6 11.Nf5
Bxf5 12.Bxf5 Qe7+ 13.Qe2 Ne4 14.Ng5 Nxg5 15.Bxg5 f6 16.Be3 g6
17.Bc2 O-O 18.Qf3 Qf7 19.O-O b4 20.Bf4 Bxf4 21.Qxf4 bxc3 22.bxc3
Rab8 23.Rab1 Rxb1 24.Rxb1 Qe6 25.Kf1 {…0-1, Mechem P – Tate Emory (USA) 2370 , Illinois 1996 It (open)}
) 6.Be2 ( 6.b3 cxb3 7.axb3 Bd6 8.Bd3 Ne7 9.Nbd2 Bf5 10.Nf1 O-O
11.Ne3 Bxd3 12.Qxd3 Qd7 13.O-O Nbc6 14.Ba3 f5 15.Bxd6 Qxd6 16.c4
f4 17.Ng4 Ng6 18.Rfe1 Rae8 19.h4 Qd7 20.Rxe8 Rxe8 21.h5 Nge7
22.Nge5 dxc4 23.bxc4 Nxe5 24.Nxe5 Qf5 25.Rxa7 Qxh5 {…1-0, Rublevsky Sergei (RUS) 2683 – Simonian Hrair (ARM) 2473 , Warsaw 12/18/2010 Ch Europe (active)}
) Bd6 7.O-O a6 ( 7…Ne7 8.b3 cxb3 9.axb3 Nbc6 10.c4 O-O 11.Nc3
Be6 12.Bg5 Qd7 13.Bh4 Rfe8 14.c5 Bc7 15.Nb5 Bg4 16.Nxc7 Qxc7
17.Bg3 Qd7 18.Ne5 Bxe2 19.Qxe2 Nxe5 20.dxe5 Nc6 21.f4 d4 22.Qc4
Qe6 23.Qxe6 fxe6 24.Rfd1 Red8 25.Ra4 a6 26.Rd3 Rd5 27.b4 {…0-1, Chakurira S (ZIM) 2171 – Lautier Joel (FRA) 2365 , Adelaide 1988 Ch World (juniors) (under 20)}
) 8.Ne5 {+0.07 CAP} ( 8.b3 cxb3 9.axb3 Ne7 ( 9…Nf6 10.Bb5+
{+0.48 CAP} ) 10.Re1 O-O 11.Ba3 Nbc6 12.Bd3 Ng6 13.Bxd6 Qxd6
14.Bxg6 hxg6 15.Ra2 Bf5 16.Rae2 Rac8 17.Re3 a5 18.Nbd2 b5 19.Ne5
b4 20.Nxc6 Rxc6 21.c4 a4 22.c5 Qf6 23.bxa4 Qxd4 24.Nb3 Qxd1 25.Rxd1
Ra8 26.a5 Bc2 27.Rxd5 Re6 {…1/2-1/2, Timmermans Ivo (NED) 2247 – Pavlovic Milos (SRB) 2531 , Vlissingen 8/ 6/2011 It (open)}
) ( 8.Re1 Ne7 9.b3 cxb3 10.axb3 Nbc6 11.Bd3 O-O 12.Ng5 g6 13.h4
h5 14.Nd2 Bg4 15.Qc2 Rc8 16.Qb2 Qd7 17.Ngf3 Nf5 18.c4 Rfe8 19.Ne5
Bxe5 20.dxe5 Nxh4 21.cxd5 Qxd5 22.Ne4 Qxd3 23.Nf6+ Kh8 24.Nxe8
Be6 25.Nd6 Nd4 26.Be3 Ndf3+ 27.Kh1 Nxe1 {…0-1, Flaquer Luis (DOM) 2274 – Stanojoski Zvonko (MKD) 2485 , Khanty Mansyisk 9/23/2010 Olympiad}
) Ne7 {This move deserves more attention and is yet another invention by Emory Tate.}
9.Bf3 Nbc6 10.Re1 O-O 11.b3 cxb3 12.axb3 Be6 13.Bg5 Qc7 14.Bxe7
Nxe7 15.Qd2 Rac8 16.h3 {This move unnecessarily creates weakness around white’s king.}
Ng6 {The only thing Emopry doesn’t like about his position is Fabiano’s knight on e5, so he is fixing that.}
17.Nxg6 hxg6 {Black’s position is now better.} 18.Qg5 {?} {
Fabiano makes a strategic and tactical error. The strategic mistake is
attacking when he is not in a superior position. Emory will show us how to
punish the tactical mistake of placing the queen on g5.} Bf4
{!} {The queen is a dead woman walking.} 19.Qh4 g5 {!} 20.Qh5
g6 21.Qh6 g4 {!} {And that my friends is how it’s done! Once again, Emory Tate uses creativity and precise tactics to bust his opponent.}
0-1
Solution: After Emory plays 18…Bf4, Fabiano’s queen is a, “Dead Woman Walking!”
Fabiano Caruana and Magnus Carlsen at the 2014 Sinquefield Cup.
For months, the tournament organizers have been promoting the 2014 edition of the Sinquefield Cup as the strongest chess tournament ever assembled. To Fabiano Caruana, however, the 2014 Sinquefield Cup is just a walk in the park! To be fair, the pleasantly modest Fabiano never described it quite in that way but his actions do speak louder than Magnus Carlsen’s words. Fabiano Caruana has swept half of the world’s top ten chess players during the first five games of this double round robin event. Not since the time of Bobby Fischer has the chess world been treated to such a dominating performance on such a high stage and not since the time of Gioachino Greco has Italy been home to such a awe-inspiring chess talent.
Below I have assembled Fabiano Caruana’s chess games from the 2014 Sinquefield Cup and comments on his performance from chess celebrities on Twitter:
It seems this is Fabiano’s first rated tournament in U.S. since Oct 23, 2004, ‘NY October Action’. He was 2319 #SinquefieldCup14 #SinqCup
— Claudia Munoz (@chesscampeona) August 27, 2014
[Event "Sinquefield Cup"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2014.08.27"] [EventDate "2014.08.27"] [Round "1"] [Result "0-1"] [White "Veselin Topalov"] [Black "Fabiano Caruana"] [ECO "A35"] [WhiteElo "2772"] [BlackElo "2801"] [PlyCount "68"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. g3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 Nc7 7. O-O e5 8. a3 Rb8 9. d3 Be7 10. Be3 O-O 11. Rc1 Bd7 12. Nd2 Nd4 13. Nc4 f6 14. f4 exf4 15. Bxf4 Nde6 16. Bd2 b6 17. g4 Be8 18. Be1 b5 19. Ne3 Bd6 20. Ncd5 Nxd5 21. Bxd5 Bf7 22. Nf5 Be5 23. Qd2 Nd4 24. Bxf7+ Rxf7 25. Rd1 Nxf5 26. gxf5 Qd4+ 27. Bf2 Qg4+ 28. Kh1 c4 29. Qc2 Re8 30. dxc4 Qh5 31. h4 Qg4 32. Qd3 bxc4 33. Qe3 Rfe7 34. b3 Bb2 0-1
I am simply amazed by Fabiano’s play. I am impressed. #SinquefieldCup14#sinqcup — Claudia Munoz (@chesscampeona) August 28, 2014
[Event "Sinquefield Cup"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2014.08.28"] [EventDate "2014.08.27"] [Round "2"] [Result "1-0"] [White "Fabiano Caruana"] [Black "Maxime Vachier-Lagrave"] [ECO "B12"] [WhiteElo "2801"] [BlackElo "2768"] [PlyCount "59"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 c5 6. Be3 Qb6 7. Nc3 Nc6 8. O-O Qxb2 9. Qe1 cxd4 10. Bxd4 Nxd4 11. Nxd4 Bb4 12. Ndb5 Ba5 13. Rb1 Qxc2 14. Rc1 Qb2 15. g4 Bg6 16. f4 Be4 17. Rf2 Nh6 18. Bd3 Qb4 19. Rb1 Qc5 20. Nxe4 dxe4 21. Qxa5 O-O 22. Be2 e3 23. Rff1 Rfc8 24. Qe1 Qd5 25. Rb2 f6 26. Qg3 fxe5 27. fxe5 Rf8 28. Rxf8+ Rxf8 29. Qxe3 Nf7 30. Nc3 1-0
Me to 8 y.o “What’d you think of Carlsen-Caruana?” He revealed Magnus as hero & started crying. #awww #sinqcup http://t.co/i8e86hROBn in 20
— Jennifer Shahade (@JenShahade) August 30, 2014
[Event "Sinquefield Cup"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2014.08.29"] [EventDate "2014.08.27"] [Round "3"] [Result "0-1"] [White "Magnus Carlsen"] [Black "Fabiano Caruana"] [ECO "C24"] [WhiteElo "?"] [BlackElo "?"] [PlyCount "68"] 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 c6 4.Nf3 d5 5.Bb3 Bb4+ 6.c3 Bd6 7.Bg5 dxe4 8.dxe4 h6 9.Bh4 Qe7 10.Nbd2 Nbd7 11.Bg3 Bc7 12.O-O Nh5 13.h3 Nxg3 14.fxg3 Nc5 15.Bxf7+ Kxf7 16.Nxe5+ Kg8 17.Ng6 Qg5 18.Rf8+ Kh7 19.Nxh8 Bg4 20.Qf1 Nd3 21.Qxd3 Rxf8 22.hxg4 Qxg4 23.Nf3 Qxg3 24.e5+ Kxh8 25.e6 Bb6+ 26.Kh1 Qg4 27.Qd6 Rd8 28.Qe5 Rd5 29.Qb8+ Kh7 30.e7 Qh5+ 31.Nh2 Rd1+ 32.Rxd1 Qxd1+ 33.Nf1 Qxf1+ 34.Kh2 Qg1+ 0-1
Impressed by the way Caruana outplayed Aronian at #SinqCup. Fabiano’s 4/4 score in such a strong tournament is beyond spectacular! — Natalia Pogonina (@Pogonina) August 31, 2014
[Event "Sinquefield Cup"] [Site "0:20:33-0:23:33"] [Date "2014.08.30"] [EventDate "2014.08.27"] [Round "4"] [Result "1-0"] [White "Fabiano Caruana"] [Black "Levon Aronian"] [ECO "C78"] [WhiteElo "?"] [BlackElo "?"] [PlyCount "99"] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.d3 b5 7.Bb3 O-O 8.Nc3 d6 9.a3 Na5 10.Ba2 Be6 11.Bxe6 fxe6 12.b4 Nc6 13.Bd2 d5 14.Re1 Qd6 15.Na2 Nd7 16.Qe2 d4 17.Reb1 Nb6 18.Nc1 Na4 19.Nb3 Rf7 20.Rc1 Rd8 21.Ng5 Rf6 22.Qh5 h6 23.Nf3 Rdf8 24.Rf1 R8f7 25.Rae1 Bf8 26.h3 g6 27.Qh4 Qe7 28.Qg3 Bg7 29.Na5 Nxa5 30.Nxe5 Nb7 31.Nxg6 Qd8 32.e5 Rf5 33.f4 c5 34.Nh4 Rh5 35.Nf3 Kh7 36.Qg4 Rhf5 37.Nh4 Kh8 38.Nxf5 Rxf5 39.Qg6 Qe7 40.g4 Rf8 41.f5 Qe8 42.Qxe8 Rxe8 43.f6 Bf8 44.f7 Re7 45.Rf6 Nb6 46.Bxh6 Nd7 47.Ref1 cxb4 48.axb4 Bxh6 49.Rxh6+ Kg7 50.Rh5 1-0
Would love 42…Qe4+ for Caruana, but anything wins. He needs a new nickname! Mr. Perfect, Fabulous, Fab Five, Clark Kent?#SinqCup — Jan Gustafsson (@GMJanGustafsson) August 31, 2014
[Event "Sinquefield Cup"] [Site "0:02:33-0:02:33"] [Date "2014.08.31"] [EventDate "2014.08.27"] [Round "5"] [Result "0-1"] [White "Hikaru Nakamura"] [Black "Fabiano Caruana"] [ECO "D11"] [WhiteElo "?"] [BlackElo "?"] [PlyCount "134"] 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nbd2 Bf5 5.Nh4 Be4 6.f3 Bg6 7.e3 e6 8.g3 Be7 9.a3 Nbd7 10.cxd5 cxd5 11.Nxg6 hxg6 12.Bd3 e5 13.O-O O-O 14.Qb3 Qc8 15.Nb1 exd4 16.exd4 Nb8 17.Nc3 Nc6 18.Be3 Qd7 19.Rad1 Rfd8 20.Rfe1 Ne8 21.Bf2 Nc7 22.Bf1 Bf6 23.Qa2 g5 24.b4 g6 25.Qd2 Kg7 26.b5 Ne7 27.Be3 Ne6 28.Bh3 Nf5 29.Bxf5 gxf5 30.f4 g4 31.Qd3 Rac8 32.Rc1 Rc4 33.Ne2 Nc7 34.Nc3 Rc8 35.h3 gxh3 36.Kh2 Nxb5 37.Nxb5 Qxb5 38.Kxh3 Qd7 39.Kg2 b5 40.Rb1 a6 41.Rbc1 Qe6 42.Bf2 Rxc1 43.Rxe6 fxe6 44.g4 fxg4 45.Qe2 Kf7 46.Qd3 R1c2 47.Qh7+ Ke8 48.f5 Bxd4 49.Qg6+ Kd8 50.Qxe6 Rxf2+ 51.Kg3 Rc3+ 52.Kxg4 Rg2+ 53.Kf4 Rf2+ 54.Kg4 Kc7 55.Qe7+ Kb6 56.Qd8+ Rc7 57.Qxd5 Bc5 58.Qd8 Kb7 59.f6 Bxa3 60.Qd5+ Kb6 61.Qd8 Bc5 62.Qb8+ Rb7 63.Qd8+ Ka7 64.Qd5 Bb6 65.Kg5 Rc7 66.Kg6 b4 67.Qe6 Bd4 0-1
Caruana defeated Carlsen, Aronian, Naka, MVL and Topalov – 5/5 at #SinqCup. Tournament of a lifetime or the rise of a new #chess king?
— Natalia Pogonina (@Pogonina) September 1, 2014
White had all the fun in round 1 of the 2012 Mikhail Tal Memorial chess tournament. Four games were won by players with the white pieces and black managed no better than a draw on the remaining board. This is a dramataic turn of events for the chess fans of Moscow. After being treated to a draw fest in the Anand-Gelfand match last month, Russians can celebrate the return of “real chess” to the Red Square.
Below is my favorite game from round one with analysis:
[Event “Tal Memorial”]
[Site “Moscow”]
[Date “2012.06.08”]
[Round “1”]
[White “Alexander Morozevich”]
[Black “Fabiano Caruana”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “C81”]
[Opening “Spanish”]
[Variation “Open, Keres, 10.Rd1 O-O 11.c3”]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 {Morozevich chooses the Ruy Lopez.} a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 {Now its the Open Variation of the Ruy Lopez. Every Russian school boy knows this line and apparently some Italian ones as well.} 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. Qe2 {This is not a common move for this line. Morozevich is notorious for straying from main lines early and setting up messy complications.} Be7 10. Rd1 {This is why Morozevich played Qe2. Now he can add more pressure to the weak pawn on d5.} Na5 11. c3 {This is a real surprise. Caruana and I were expecting to see Nbd2.} Nxb3 {Morozevich looses a bishop pair…} 12. axb3 {But develops a rook by moving a pawn out of the way.} O-O 13. Nd4 Qe8 14. f3 Nc5 15. b4 Nb7 16. Be3 {Morozevich is collecting small advantages in time, space, force, and pawn structure.} Bd7 17. Na3 c6 {Caruana has played accurately but white is still noticeably better.} 18. Nac2 a5 {Caruana wants to free himself from his cramped status by exchanging material.} 19. f4 Qc8 (19. .. axb4 20. cxb4 Rxa1 21. Rxa1 {Gives white the a-file. Caruana was wise to avoid this.}) 20. h3 Re8 21. Bf2 Bf8 {Caruana still is apprehensive about trading pawns on b4 because his rooks are not yet unified.} 22. Qf3 Ra6 23. Ne3 Qa8 {Caruana can not seem to untangle himself.} 24. Ndc2 Qd8 (24. .. axb4 25. Rxa6 Qxa6 26. Ra1 Qb6 27. Nxd5 Qd8 28. Bb6 Qh4 29. Ndxb4 {Is terrible for black.}) 25. bxa5 Nc5 {Caruana attempts to complicate matters rather than just allow recapturing with his rook and giving Morozevich the file.} 26. b4 Ne4 27. Rd3 {c3 must be defended. The other logical choice was Nf1.} f6 {27 moves into the game and Caruana’s pieces are still sleeping. At least if white captures on f6 black can awaken his queen.} 28. Bh4 {This is slightly inaccurate. If exf6 Qxf6 then Ng4.} g5 {This position is ridiculously complicated. Its a pleasure to see the messes on the chess board that Morozevich can instigate.} 29. fxg5 (29. Rad1 gxh4 30. Nxd5 cxd5 31. Rxd5 Re7 32. Qxe4 {This is an interesting alternative to the move that was played}) 29. .. fxg5 30. Bg3 Bg7 31. Bh2 (31. Ng4 Qe7 32. Re3 Rf8 33. Qe2 {Is an improvement for white.}) 31. .. Rf8 {Caruana gains the initiative.} 32. Qe2 Rf2 33. Qe1 g4 {Too soon. It would have been better to play Qc8 first. Perhaps Caruana did not feel he had time to prepare g4.} 34. Rd4 {My computer disagrees with this move but I love it. The threat is simply Rxe4. Now Caruana will have to retreat his rook.} Rf8 35. Rad1 Qe8 {Caruana moves his queen out of the d-file to avoid tactics involving white’s rooks and for possible deployment on h5.} 36. Nxg4 Bf5 37. Nce3 {Morozevich came out of the complications ahead in material and with a passed pawn.} Bg6 38. Nf1 {Morozevich misses the game winner.} (38. c4 bxc4 39. b5 c5 40. Rxe4 Bxe4 41. bxa6 d4 42. Nxc4 {and Caruana could resign.}) 38. .. h5 39. Nge3 Ra7 {Caruana is right back in the game.} 40. Ng3 Bxe5 41. Nxe4 Bxd4 42. cxd4 Qxe4 {Caruana makes a small error.} (42. .. Bxe4 43. Bd6 Rf6 44. Be5 Rg6 {Makes a lot more sense.}) 43. Be5 Kh7 44. Rc1 Raf7 {Another error.} (44. .. Be8 45. Nf1 Qxe1 46. Rxe1 Rg8 {and I think black can draw.}) 45. Kh2 {Morozevich punishes Caruana for his mistakes.} Rf2 46. Rxc6 (46. a6 Qf3 47. Rxc6 Be4 48. Rc7+ Rf7 49. Rxf7+ Qxf7 50. Qc3 Ra2 51. Qc8 {Also works well.}) 46. .. R8f3 47. Rc7+ Bf7 {Caruana must play Kh6 to maintain hope.} 48. Kh1 (48. a6 Ra2 49. a7 {Looks like an easier way to win.}) 48. .. Rf1+ 49. Qxf1 Rxf1+ 50. Nxf1 Kg6 51. Rc6+ Kh7 52. Ng3 {I wonder what Morozevich has against pushing a passed pawn. No matter… He has this game wrapped up like a ravioli.} Qb1+ 53. Kh2 h4 54. Ne2 Qxb4 55. Rc7 Kg8 56. a6 1-0
Standings after round 1 of the 2012 Mikhail Tal Memorial
Tal Memorial Tournament
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The other games from round 1 of the 2012 Tal Memorial:
[Event “Tal Memorial”] [Site “Moscow”] [Date “2012.06.08”] [EventDate “2012.06.07”] [Round “1”] [Result “1-0”] [White “Levon Aronian”] [Black “Hikaru Nakamura”] [ECO “A29”]
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Bg2 Nb6 7.O-O Be7 8.d3 O-O 9.Be3 f5 10.Rc1 Kh8 11.a3 Bf6 12.Bc5 Re8 13.b4 Be6 14.Re1 Qd7 15.e4 a6 16.Bh3 g6 17.Be3 Qg7 18.Ng5 Bg8 19.Nf3 f4 20.Bxb6 cxb6 21.Nd5 g5 22.Bd7 Re6 23.Bxe6 Bxe6 24.Nxf6 Qxf6 25.Rxc6 bxc6 26.Qa1 a5 27.Qxe5 Qxe5 28.Nxe5 axb4 29.axb4 c5 30.bxc5 bxc5 31.gxf4 gxf4 32.Kg2 Ra3 33.Kf3 c4 34.Kxf4 cxd3 35.Rd1 Ra2 36.Nxd3 Bc4 37.f3 Rxh2 38.Ne5 Ba2 39.Rd7 Rh6 40.Nf7+ Bxf7 41.Rxf7 Kg8 42.Rf5 Rh1 43.e5 h5 44.Rg5+ Kf8 45.Kf5 h4 46.Rh5 Kg7 47.f4 h3 48.Ke6 Kg6 49.Rg5+ Kh6 50.Kf5 Rh2 51.Rg8 Rh1 52.e6 h2 53.Rg2 1-0
[Event “Tal Memorial”] [Site “Moscow”] [Date “2012.06.08”] [EventDate “2012.06.07”] [Round “1”] [Result “1-0”] [White “Teimor Radjabov”] [Black “Evgeny Tomashevsky”] [ECO “C45”]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Nb3 Bb6 6. Nc3 d6 7. Qe2 Nge7 8. Be3 O-O 9. O-O-O f5 10. exf5 Bxf5 11. h3 Bd7 12. Qd2 Bxe3 13. Qxe3 Kh8 14. Bd3 Qe8 15. f4 Qf7 16. Rhf1 Rae8 17. Qd2 Nb4 18. Be4 Bc6 19. Rde1 Bxe4 20. Nxe4 Qc4 21. a3 Nbc6 22. Qc3 Qd5 23. Nbd2 Nf5 24. g4 Nfd4 25. Qd3 b5 26. Kb1 b4 27. a4 h6 28. Nb3 Re7 29. Ned2 Rxe1+ 30. Rxe1 g5 31. f5 1-0
[Event “Tal Memorial”] [Site “Moscow “] [Date “2012.06.08”] [EventDate “2012.06.07”] [Round “1”] [Result “1/2-1/2”] [White “Magnus Carlsen”] [Black “Vladimir Kramnik”] [ECO “E32”]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 O-O 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 d5 7. e3 b6 8. cxd5 exd5 9. Bd3 Ba6 10. Bxa6 Nxa6 11. Qd3 Qc8 12. Ne2 c5 13. b3 cxd4 14. Qxd4 Nc5 15. Qd1 Qa6 16. Nf4 d4 17. b4 dxe3 18. bxc5 Qa5+ 19. Kf1 Rad8 20. Qc2 Qb5+ 21. Ke1 Qa5+ 22. Kf1 Qb5+ 23. Ke1 Qa5+ 1/2-1/2
[Event “Tal Memorial”] [Site “Moscow”] [Date “2012.06.08”] [EventDate “2012.06.07”] [Round “1”] [Result “1-0”] [White “Alexander Grischuk”] [Black “Luke McShane”] [ECO “A29”]
1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 Bc5 5. Bg2 d6 6. O-O O-O 7. e3 a6 8. d4 Ba7 9. h3 Rb8 10. dxe5 Nxe5 11. b3 Nxf3+ 12. Qxf3 b5 13. Qe2 bxc4 14. Qxc4 a5 15. Bb2 Bd7 16. Rac1 Bc5 17. Rfd1 Re8 18. Na4 Bxa4 19. Qxa4 Bb6 20. Bc6 Re7 21. Bxf6 gxf6 22. Qg4+ Kh8 23. Rc4 Re5 24. Rd5 Qe7 25. Qf3 Rg8 26. Kg2 Rg6 27. b4 axb4 28. Rxb4 Kg7 29. a4 Qe6 30. h4 f5 31. Rf4 Rf6 32. Kh2 h6 33. h5 Kf8 34. Kg2 Kg7 35. Kh2 Kf8 36. Kg2 Kg7 37. Qd1 Kf8 38. Kf1 Qc8 39. Qd3 Kg7 40. Kg2 Rxd5 41. Bxd5 Qe8 42. Rxf5 Rxf5 43. Qxf5 Qe7 44. Bb3 Qf6 45. Qd5 c5 46. Bc4 Ba5 47. f4 Qe7 48. Kf2 Bc3 49. Ke2 Bb4 50. g4 Qd7 51. Kd3 Qe7 52. g5 hxg5 53. fxg5 Be1 54. g6 fxg6 55. Qg8+ Kf6 56. Qxg6+ Ke5 57. h6 d5 58. Qg7+ Qf6 59. Bxd5 Bh4 60. Kc4 Kd6 61. Qxf6+ Bxf6 62. a5 Kc7 63. h7 1-0
Round 1 of the 2012 Mikhail Tal Memorial Chess Tournament is about to begin. After a hard fought 9 round blitz tournament, we now have a clearer picture of what to expect in the main event. First off, Alexander Morozevich surprised his Russian fans by winning the blitz tournament on his home turf in Moscow. Alexander’s victory should put him in a good mood for tomorrow’s round 1. Hikaru Nakamura’s confidence might be raddled after failing to finish in the top half of the final standings. However, Nakamura still performed remarkably well especially when compared to Vladimir Kramnik. Kramnik, a former chess world champion, finished second to last with only 2.5 points out of 9 rounds. Either Vladimir really didn’t care or he is a good actor at portraying a lousy blitz player. All and all, the 2012 Mikhail Tal Memorial Blitz Tournament offered spectacular action and should have wet the appetitites of chess fans for the main event.
Mikhail Tal Memorial Blitz Tournament Final Standings
1) Alexander Morozevich 6.5/9
2) Magnus Carlsen 6.5/9
3) Teimor Radjabov 5.5/9
4) Alexander Grischuk 5.5/9
5) Levon Aronian 5/9
6) Hikaru Nakamura 5/9
7) Evgeny Tomashevsky 3.5/9
8) Luke McShane 3/9
9) Vladimir Kramnik 2.5/9
10) Fabiano Caruana 2/9
2012 Mikhail Tal Memorial Round 1 Pairings
1) Alexander Morozevich
Fabiano Caruana
2) Magnus Carlsen
Vladimir Kramnik
3) Alexander Grischuk
Luke McShane
4) Teimor Radjabov
Evgeny Tomashevsky
5) Levon Aronian
Hikaru Nakamura
2012 Mikhail Tal Memorial Blitz Miniatures
[Event "Tal Memorial (Blitz)"] [Site "Moscow RUS"] [Date "2012.06.07"] [Round "9"] [Result "1-0"] [White "A Morozevich"] [Black "V Kramnik"] [ECO "A05"] [PlyCount "18"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 b6 3. Bg2 Bb7 4. O-O c5 5. d3 g6 6. e4 Bg7 7. Nh4 Qc8 8. f4 O-O 9. Nc3 Nc6 1-0 [Event "Tal Memorial (Blitz)"] [Site "Moscow RUS"] [Date "2012.06.07"] [Round "7"] [Result "1-0"] [White "F Caruana"] [Black "L Aronian"] [ECO "C67"] [PlyCount "26"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bg5 Be7 7. Bxe7 Qxe7 8. Bxc6 dxc6 9. dxe5 Nf5 10. Nc3 Bd7 11. Qe2 O-O-O 12. Rad1 Kb8 13. b4 1-0 [Event "Tal Memorial (Blitz)"] [Site "Moscow RUS"] [Date "2012.06.07"] [Round "5"] [Result "1-0"] [White "T Radjabov"] [Black "L Aronian"] [ECO "D11"] [PlyCount "34"] 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 c6 3. c4 Nf6 4. e3 Bg4 5. Nbd2 e6 6. Bd3 Nbd7 7. b3 Bd6 8. Bb2 Qb8 9. Qc2 a5 10. a3 Bh5 11. h3 Bg6 12. Bxg6 hxg6 13. O-O Rh5 14. e4 dxe4 15. Nxe4 Nxe4 16. Qxe4 Kf8 17. Rfe1 Kg8 1-0 [Event "Tal Memorial (Blitz)"] [Site "Moscow RUS"] [Date "2012.06.07"] [Round "2"] [Result "1-0"] [White "E Tomashevsky"] [Black "V Kramnik"] [ECO "A29"] [PlyCount "10"] 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 1-0 [Event "Tal Memorial (Blitz)"] [Site "Moscow RUS"] [Date "2012.06.07"] [Round "4"] [Result "1-0"] [White "L Aronian"] [Black "V Kramnik"] [ECO "C53"] [PlyCount "24"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. b4 Bb6 6. d3 d6 7. a4 a5 8. b5 Ne7 9. Nbd2 O-O 10. O-O Ng6 11. Ba2 h6 12. Nc4 Ba7 1-0
It’s almost time for the most exciting chess tournament of the year to begin. The seventh annual Tal Memorial Chess Tournament in Moscow will have its opening ceremonies on June 7. It is important to clarify the distinction between the main tournament and the blitz tournament do to the fact that the same 10 players will battle in the blitz event to decide the order of their opponents. The Blitz event also has a separate prize fun of 15,000 euros and the top five will receive one more game with the white pieces during the main event.
The 2012 Mikhail Tal Memorial main event should be an incredibly exciting chess spectacular. The ten combatants are made up largely of the best and brightest stars of chess. A controversial rule for the tournament states that the players are not allowed to offer a draw before 40 moves have been played. Mixing the most exciting chess players with a rule that forbids early draws and then adding a 100,000 euro prize fund should be a recipe for an exciting chess tournament.
Tournament details for the 2012 Mikhail Tal Memorial are as follows:
Location: Moscow, Russia
Format: 10 player round-robin(nine rounds.)
Time Control: 1 hour 40 minutes for 40 moves plus 50 minutes for 20 moves plus 15 minutes for the rest of the game with a 30 second increment per move, starting from the first move.
Contestants:
Magnus is known as the “Mozart of chess” and is the world’s number one rated chess player. This young gun took the first place prize at the 2011 Mikhail Tal Memorial.
Levon is the world’s second highest rated chess player with an incredible rating of 2823. At last years Mikhail Tal memorial he finished the main event tied for first with Magnus.
Kramnik is the third and final member of the current 2800 rating club. Vladimir Kramnik is also a former World Chess Champion and recently won the London Chess Classic ahead of both Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian.
Teimor Radjabov is ranked number four in the world with a current FIDE rating of 2784. Teimor became a a chess grand master at the young age of 14 which makes him the second youngest ever to achieve the grand master title.
Hikaru is the fifth highest rated chess player on earth. Hikaru just finished winning the United States Chess Championship and is in excellent form.
At age 19 Fabiano is the youngest chess player in the field. Don’t think for a second that his age is a handicap. The young Italian is currently rated at 2769 which is only 11 points behind Viswanthan Anand.
Morozevich shares the same rating of 2769 with Caruana. Alexander is my favorite chess player in the field do to his risky style which produces few draws. Unfortunately for Alexander, his style is perfectly suited for a World Championship match but not ideal for this tournaments format.
Grishchuk won both the Russian Championship and the Linares Chess Tournament in 2009. Alexander seems ready for a big performance to rejoin the top 10 in the world.
Tomashevsky is known as the “professor” do to the fact that he plays positional chess like an old man despite his young age.
10. Luke McShane
McShane should never be underestimated. Of all his notable results, my favorite is the fact that he won the World Chess Championship for players under the age of ten at the age of eight. McShane is very popular with chess enthusiasts and was voted into the Tal Memorial by his many fans.
Please return to this chess blog for updates and analysis on the 2012 Mikhail Tal Memorial chess tournament from Moscow, Russia.
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