[Event "Julius Baer GenCup KO"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.09.24"] [Round "3.11"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Erigaisi, Arjun"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A07"] [WhiteElo "2861"] [BlackElo "2725"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "79"] [EventDate "2022.09.22"] [EventType "k.o."] {[%evp 0,79,27,24,24,-8,25,21,17,-20,17,17,3,3,7,14,34,11,27,17,0,21,15,-4,8, 20,24,20,30,-1,21,4,59,72,46,57,80,50,54,39,59,47,52,43,53,39,74,29,75,67,93, 88,96,99,108,108,110,100,107,91,97,97,97,82,101,96,99,102,149,124,175,174,174, 228,228,168,201,216,240,240,368,374]} 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. O-O Nf6 5. d4 O-O 6. c3 {Think of this move a little like d3 in the Ruy and Italian. The pawn will get to c4 (or d4, in those openings), but playing it immediately oftens leads to forcing lines where good prep by Black can often kill the game. So White waits, making a useful "half-move" with the pawn, intending to push that pawn again a bit later. The next question is, how is this useful? My best answer is that it's aimed against Black's playing ...c5.} a5 (6... c5 7. dxc5 $1 a5 {Aimed against b2-b4 possibilities (which are made possible by c2-c3), but this weakens the b5 square. White now switches gears with} 8. c4 ({Other moves are possible, including} 8. Be3 $14 {, played by Carlsen himself against Caruana:} Nc6 9. Na3 a4 10. Qc1 e5 11. Rd1 Qe7 12. Nb5 Be6 13. Ng5 Bg4 14. Nd6 h6 15. Nf3 Kh7 16. h3 Be6 17. b4 axb3 18. axb3 Rxa1 19. Qxa1 Ne4 20. Nd2 f5 21. N2xe4 dxe4 22. Qb1 f4 23. Bd2 e3 24. Be1 Bf5 25. Qc1 h5 26. fxe3 fxg3 27. Bxg3 Qg5 28. e4 Qxg3 29. Rd3 Qh4 30. exf5 gxf5 31. e4 fxe4 32. Bxe4+ Kh8 33. Qe3 Rf4 34. Bg2 Qe7 35. Qe2 Qh4 36. b4 e4 37. Nxe4 Ne5 38. Rd5 Kg8 39. b5 Rf5 40. c6 bxc6 41. bxc6 Qe7 42. Nd6 Rg5 43. Nb5 Qe6 44. Rd8+ Kh7 45. Qe4+ Rg6 46. c7 Qa6 47. c8=Q Qa1+ 48. Kf2 Qb2+ 49. Ke1 {1-0 (49) Carlsen,M (2881)-Caruana,F (2783) Shamkir 2014}) 8... dxc4 9. Nc3 $1 $14) 7. Bf4 (7. a4) 7... c6 (7... a4) 8. Qc1 $146 {What is this one about? I'm less confident about my explanation here. First, it's *not* about playing Bh6, though there might be situations where it's reasonable. It's most likely about clearing d1 for the rook, which keeps Black from doing anything active in the center.} Bg4 9. Nbd2 {The best recapture is with the knight, so Rd1 ideas go on hold.} Nbd7 10. h3 Bxf3 11. Nxf3 Re8 {To play ...Nh5 and, if possible, ...e5. White wants to prevent this liberating move.} 12. c4 $14 Qb6 13. Rd1 Ne4 {Still looking for central activity with ...c5 or ...e5. White again puts the kibosh on the plan.} 14. Be3 Qa6 15. Ne5 Ndf6 $6 (15... Red8 $142) (15... Rad8 $142) 16. Qc2 $16 Nd6 17. c5 $1 {It might seem as if this move gives Black a break. What, for instance, is White's bishop going to do now? Fear not, Carlsen fans; your man knows what he's doing. Black's pieces are restricted, and White has the pleasant option of building on the kingside (especially with Black's queen in exile, a continent away) or going for queenside play with a4 and b4.} Nb5 $2 18. f4 $2 { Nothing's wrong with f4 or his kingside plan, but queenside play was even better (in part because kingside play gives Black a little queenside play of his own).} (18. a4 Nc7 19. Rab1 $18 {followed by b4, with a winning advantage.} ) 18... a4 $14 19. g4 a3 (19... b6 $5) ({or} 19... Rec8 {followed by ...b6 makes sense, aiming to open lines on the queenside.}) 20. b3 Rad8 $2 (20... b6) (20... Qa5) 21. Rac1 Nd7 22. Bf2 $2 (22. Nf3) 22... e6 $2 (22... Nxe5) 23. Bh4 $4 {Positionally well-motivated, but a tactical oversight.} f6 $4 (23... g5 $1 24. Bxg5 (24. Bg3 gxf4 25. Bxf4 Nxd4 $1 26. Rxd4 Bxe5 $17) 24... f6 25. Bh4 fxe5 26. dxe5 (26. Bxd8 $2 exf4 $1 27. Bg5 Nxd4 $19) 26... Rc8 $17) 24. Nf3 $16 {/+-} Nf8 25. e3 Qa5 26. Bf1 $1 $18 Nc7 27. g5 {This prevents ...e5 forever, which in turn leaves Black's minor pieces gasping for air.} Nd7 {Fighting for open lines, but White will gain more of them.} 28. gxf6 (28. b4 $1 {followed by Rb1 is a nice option, whether or not Black takes the pawn.}) 28... Bxf6 29. Bxf6 Nxf6 30. Bd3 Re7 31. Kh2 $1 {A new problem for Black is coming up. Once the rook gets to g1, Bxg6 sacs are in the air.} Rf8 32. Rg1 Nce8 33. Rg2 Ng7 34. Rcg1 Qc7 $2 35. Bxg6 $1 {Of course.} hxg6 36. Qxg6 Ne4 37. Ng5 {Many moves win, and this is among the clearest.} Nxg5 38. Rxg5 Rf5 {Remarkably, only one move wins. In fact, only one move prevents Black from having at least equality! } 39. R5g4 $1 Ref7 (39... Kf8 40. Rh4 $1 $18 {shows why the rook had to retreat to g4 rather than, say, g3.}) 40. Qxe6 {Black's position collapses, and the threats keep on coming.} (40. Qxe6 Kf8 41. Rxg7 $1 $18) 1-0 [Event "Julius Baer GenCup KO"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.09.24"] [Round "3.12"] [White "Erigaisi, Arjun"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "2725"] [BlackElo "2861"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "58"] [EventDate "2022.09.22"] [EventType "k.o."] {[%evp 0,58,24,11,11,19,19,11,11,14,14,-1,6,26,62,4,4,4,28,-14,3,10,-5,-5,149, 164,175,124,75,16,40,4,39,-6,29,-24,35,5,5,2,55,23,125,81,94,94,74,94,99,97,32, 26,91,0,188,85,0,0,-33,-753,-814]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 d6 6. O-O a5 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bh4 Bd7 $5 {As in game 1, Carlsen makes a very unusual, even opaque decision early in the opening. What is this about? I'm even less sure about how to understand this move, except that it's at least somewhat useful (e.g. it develops, if unpretentiously; it may be useful to control the b5 square someday - maybe Black will push his b-pawn to expand on that flank, for example) and it's a waiting move. Those are generalities; working out all the specific details will take time.} ({The most familiar moves include} 8... g5) (8... O-O) ({and} 8... Ba7 {.}) 9. Re1 $146 ({ Carlsen's 8...Bd7 had only been played once before. His long-time second Peter Heine Nielsen sent out a jokey tweet scolding Erigaisi for being unfamiliar with the 2018 Brazilian Girls' U14 Championship, and when asked about this after the game Carlsen said it was an allusion to a relatively famous line from Mikhail Botvinnik. Botvinnik, according to the story, once scolded Dutch talent Jeroen Piket (later an elite GM) for not knowing some random game played in an old Soviet Metal Workers tournament. It may be that Nielsen's tweet alluded to the Botvinnik story, but he really was referring to a 2018 Brazilian Girls' game! Here it is:} 9. d4 Bb6 10. Re1 Bg4 11. Bb5 O-O 12. Bxc6 bxc6 13. dxe5 Bxf3 14. Qxf3 dxe5 15. Bxf6 Qxf6 16. Qxf6 gxf6 17. Nd2 Rad8 18. Rad1 Kg7 19. Nc4 Kg6 20. Kf1 Kg5 21. Ke2 Rg8 22. Kf3 h5 23. Ne3 Bxe3 24. Kxe3 f5 25. exf5 Kxf5 26. g3 f6 27. h3 e4 28. Rd4 Rge8 29. Red1 Rb8 30. b3 Re7 31. Ra4 Rb5 32. Rc4 c5 33. Rd5+ Re5 34. Rxe5+ Kxe5 35. Rxe4+ Kf5 36. Re7 Rb7 37. Rd7 Ke6 38. Rh7 Kd6 39. Rxh5 Rb8 40. Rh4 Re8+ 41. Re4 Rh8 42. h4 f5 43. Ra4 Ra8 44. Kf4 Ke6 45. Rc4 Rg8 46. f3 Kd5 47. Kxf5 Rf8+ 48. Kg4 Rg8+ 49. Kh3 Rf8 50. f4 c6 51. h5 Ke6 52. Re4+ Kf5 53. Re5+ Kf6 54. Rxc5 Rc8 55. g4 Rd8 56. Rxc6+ Kg7 57. g5 Kh7 58. Kg4 Rd1 59. Rc7+ Kg8 60. h6 Rg1+ 61. Kh5 a4 62. Kg6 Kf8 63. h7 Rh1 64. h8=Q+ Rxh8 65. Rc8+ Ke7 66. Rxh8 axb3 67. axb3 {1-0 (67) Frattini,B (1363)-Bassi,L (1607) Florianopolis 2018}) 9... Ba7 10. Nbd2 g5 11. Bg3 Ne7 ( 11... h5 $1 {is desirable, and as the Nxg5 tactics don't work for White he's forced to play 12.h4, with a complicated position that may be in Black's favor. } 12. h4 (12. Nxg5 $2 h4 $1 13. Nxf7 hxg3 $1 (13... Qe7 $17 {is better for Black, but not by as much - and it's far less flashy.}) 14. Nxd8 gxf2+ 15. Kh1 (15. Kf1 Rxh2 $1 $19) 15... fxe1=Q+ 16. Qxe1 Ng4 17. h3 Nxd8 $19 {The nominal material count is even, but Black's pieces have too many comfortable and convenient squares on the kingside for White to survive.}) 12... Nh7 $1 $15 { Black will play ...g4 next unless White captures on g5 - and he shouldn't.} ( 12... g4 $6 13. Ng5 O-O 14. Nf1 $14 {/+/-})) 12. d4 Ng6 $1 {Yes, Carlsen knows that three is greater than two. The saving grace is that f2 can be captured at the end, with a ...Ng4+ fork regaining the material. On a different matter, note that Black is also ready to play ...b5 if White does nothing special in the meantime.} (12... exd4 $2 {would result in Black's getting butchered after} 13. e5 $1 $18) 13. dxe5 (13. a4 $14 {may be best, declining the bait and preventing ...b5.}) 13... dxe5 14. Nf1 $2 (14. Nxe5 {is worth playing, despite Black's tactical trick.} Nxe5 15. Bxe5 Bxf2+ 16. Kxf2 Ng4+ 17. Kg1 Nxe5 18. Nf3 $1 Nxc4 19. Qd4 O-O 20. Qxc4 Be6 $11 {/+/=}) 14... Qe7 $17 {/-+ Here we see another virtue of ...Bd7: it not only clears the way for Black's king to castle long, but it also shields the d-file so that castling will be legal. As for White's king, it is not feeling safe, with all four of Black's minor pieces plus the h- and g-pawns ready to do damage.} 15. Ne3 O-O-O 16. Qc1 Rhe8 $2 $17 {This seemed odd (why is Black switching to central play?), and the engine doesn't like it either. Why not go for the attack?} (16... Nh5 $1 $19 { looks quite good, intending ...g4, for starters.}) 17. b4 $2 {There's nothing wrong with aiming to open lines against Black's king; the problem is that Black can now take White's valuable e-pawn.} (17. Nf5 $142) 17... a4 $2 (17... Nxe4 $1 18. Nd5 {This obvious move, attacking both the queen and the knight on e4, may have led the players to disregard 17...Nxe4 without a second thought. If so, it's understandable but a mistake.} Qd6 19. Rxe4 Bc6 $1 $19 {Black regains the piece and enjoys a clearly winning position.}) (17... axb4 18. cxb4 Qxb4 $4 {is nuts even aside from the one-move tactic} 19. Bxf7 $18 {, as Black does not want to open queenside files for White's attack.}) 18. Nf5 $11 { White has come back from the dead: the position is equal and very messy.} Qf8 $8 (18... Bxf5 $4 19. exf5 Nf4 20. Nxe5 $18) 19. Qc2 $1 Nf4 20. Rad1 Bxf5 $6 ( 20... Kb8 $142 $11) 21. Qxa4 $5 $11 (21. exf5 Rxd1 22. Qxd1 e4 23. Nd4 $14) 21... Rxd1 22. Rxd1 Kb8 23. exf5 e4 24. Nd4 e3 $5 {Tempting and tricky, if inaccurate. Given the time control, however, it's not a bad decision.} (24... Qe7 $11) 25. fxe3 Rxe3 26. Bf2 Qe7 $1 {Forced.} (26... Ng4 $2 27. Bxe3 Nxe3 28. Re1 $1 $18 {is the problem. Black can't take the knight because of mate in two with either piece checking on e8.}) 27. Bxe3 $2 {Losing, but it sets a nasty trap.} (27. Nc2 $1 Ng4 $8 28. Qd7 $1 {Otherwise Black is better.} Re1+ $1 { Forced again.} 29. Nxe1 $8 Bxf2+ $8 30. Kh1 $8 (30. Kf1 $2 Bb6 $3 {and Black gives mate, most obviously and expeditiously after} 31. Qxe7 $6 Nxh2#) 30... Qxd7 31. Rxd7 Bxe1 32. Rxf7 Bxc3 33. g3 Nh5 34. Be2 Nhf6 35. Bxg4 Nxg4 36. b5 $11 {This line could happen in a classical game, but not near the end of a G/ 15'.}) 27... Qxe3+ 28. Kf1 {Now 28...Ne4 would be great except for 29.Qe8#, but what about 28...Ng4? That fails too, but then what is Black supposed to play? Maybe 28...Bxd4? Or...something else?} N4d5 $3 {Carlsen admitted that he hadn't seen this in advance, but was fortunate to have the time to eliminate all the other reasonable-looking tries on his way to finding this great resource.} (28... Ne4 $4 29. Qe8#) (28... Ng4 $4 29. Nc6+ $1 bxc6 30. Rd8+ Kb7 31. Qa6#) (28... Bxd4 $2 29. Rxd4 c6 30. Qd1 $18 {leaves Black down material and without an attack.}) 29. Bxd5 $2 {Now White's trick no longer exists.} (29. Be2 $1 {was the best try, but if Black plays} g4 {, stopping White from putting a piece on f3 and planning ...g3 (hxg3 Ne4), he will win anyway.}) 29... Ng4 $1 {Mating, unless White inanely plays 30.Qe8+ followed by 31.B/Ne6. His big problem is that with the bishop on d5, the 30.Nc6+ trick doesn't work, as the rook on d1 can't leap the bishop on the way to d8, as in the 28...Ng4 line above. Carlsen's attack came first, and with the win he took a 2-0 lead in the match.} 0-1 [Event "Julius Baer GenCup KO"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2022.09.24"] [Round "3.13"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Erigaisi, Arjun"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B22"] [WhiteElo "2861"] [BlackElo "2725"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "113"] [EventDate "2022.09.22"] [EventType "k.o."] {[%evp 0,113,24,19,69,-5,15,-19,-4,-23,-4,-4,27,42,56,56,66,7,30,0,-5,25,24,-8, -9,-54,-54,-47,-47,-47,8,-52,-57,-46,-32,-35,-37,-15,-7,-23,-34,-26,-10,-10,22, 25,20,-18,7,23,35,13,8,7,10,-5,3,1,0,0,15,-5,36,-12,24,6,0,0,0,1,0,-7,30,-11,0, 12,58,53,60,56,56,73,77,90,75,78,109,33,32,25,27,19,37,45,39,45,14,13,30,0,0,0, 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0] Carlsen played it safe this game, as a draw sufficed to win the day's match. Nevertheless, he was objectively winning near the end until his 43.Kf2 let Erigaisi escape. (43.h5 Kxa6 44.Ng6 wins the c-pawn sooner or later, and therefore maintains a winning advantage.) The mistake was disappointing to Carlsen, and it also prevented his tour rating from hitting 2900. Nevertheless, it was enough to end today's match, and he'll have the opportunity to break 2900 tomorrow.} 1. e4 c5 2. c3 d5 3. exd5 Qxd5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 e6 6. Na3 Qd8 7. Nc4 Nc6 8. Nce5 cxd4 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. Qxd4 Qb6 11. Qxb6 axb6 12. Ne5 Bb7 13. Be2 Bd6 14. Bf4 Ra5 15. Nd3 Bxf4 16. Nxf4 c5 17. O-O Ke7 18. Rfd1 Ra4 19. Nd3 Rd8 20. a3 Ba6 21. Bf1 Bb7 22. Ne5 Rd5 23. Nc4 Nd7 24. b3 Ra7 25. a4 Rxd1 26. Rxd1 Bd5 27. h4 h6 28. f3 Rb7 29. Ra1 Nb8 30. Rb1 Kd8 31. b4 Kc7 32. bxc5 bxc5 33. Rxb7+ Bxb7 34. Ne5 f6 35. Ng6 Bc6 36. a5 Be8 37. Nf4 Bd7 38. Nh5 Nc6 39. a6 Kb6 40. Nxg7 Ne5 41. Nh5 f5 42. Nf4 c4 43. Kf2 Kxa6 44. Be2 Kb5 45. g4 fxg4 46. fxg4 Ka4 47. g5 hxg5 48. hxg5 Kb3 49. g6 Nxg6 50. Nxg6 Kxc3 51. Ne5 Bb5 52. Ke3 Kb4 53. Bxc4 Bxc4 54. Nxc4 Kxc4 55. Ke4 Kc5 56. Ke5 Kc4 57. Kxe6 1/2-1/2