[Event "Carlsen Inv Prelim"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2020.04.22"] [Round "3.1"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B03"] [PlyCount "64"] [EventDate "2020.04.18"] {[%evp 0,64,19,38,89,89,79,48,44,33,26,0,48,68,70,73,72,48,55,45,90,49,6,-49, -53,-27,-46,-45,-48,-91,-99,-87,-85,-94,-93,-83,-89,-104,-76,-85,-79,-95,-83, -79,-61,-85,-71,-66,-4,-3,-14,0,9,0,25,-35,-44,-44,-46,-74,-46,-187,-198,-630, -750,-718,-652]} 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. c4 Nb6 5. f4 g6 6. Nc3 Bg7 7. Be3 Be6 {A provocative move, just as 1...Nf6, the defining move of the Alekhine Defense.} 8. Nf3 ({After} 8. d5 {best seems} Bc8) 8... O-O 9. b3 dxe5 10. dxe5 Nc6 11. Ne4 f6 12. Nc5 Qc8 13. exf6 Bxf6 14. Be2 {An exchange sacrifice that is not completely voluntary.} ({After} 14. Rc1 Bb2 15. Rc2 Ba3 { followed by Bf5 would be unpleasant for White.}) 14... Rd8 15. Qc1 Bf5 16. O-O Nd7 17. Nd3 Bxa1 18. Qxa1 Nf6 19. Nde5 Nxe5 20. Nxe5 Qe6 21. Bd4 Nd7 22. h3 Nxe5 23. Bxe5 c6 ({After the game Carlsen said that} 23... Rd7 {followed by doubling on the d-file might have given him some advantage.}) 24. Qc3 h5 25. Re1 ({Stronger would have been} 25. c5 {when Black would have to return the exchange with} Rd5 ({as after} 25... Be4 26. Bc4 Bd5 27. Bd3 {White's attack would be too strong.})) 25... Kf7 26. Qg3 Rd2 27. Bf3 Rd3 28. Qg5 Rad8 29. Kf2 {For the last few moves White has been drifting, misplacing his pieces.} Rd2+ 30. Kg3 ({White should have retracted his previous move playing} 30. Kg1 { , but anyway Black is already better.}) 30... R8d3 31. Qh6 Bxh3 32. Kh4 ({After } 32. gxh3 {Black would mate quickly by} Rxf3+ ({or even} 32... Qxh3+)) 32... Rxg2 {White resigned.} 0-1 [Event "Carlsen Inv Prelim"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2020.04.20"] [Round "2.2"] [White "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B30"] [WhiteElo "2728"] [BlackElo "2863"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2020.04.18"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 e6 4. Bxc6 bxc6 5. d3 Qc7 6. Qe2 e5 7. Nbd2 Ne7 8. Nc4 Ng6 9. h4 h5 10. g3 d6 11. Bd2 f6 12. Ne3 Be7 13. Ng1 Bd8 14. Qf3 Nf8 15. Ne2 Ne6 16. Qg2 a5 17. a4 Nd4 18. f4 Be6 19. b3 Qd7 20. f5 Bf7 21. Nc1 d5 22. O-O c4 23. bxc4 dxc4 24. dxc4 Bb6 25. Rb1 Qa7 26. Kh2 Rd8 27. Rb2 O-O 28. g4 Ne2 29. Qxe2 Rxd2 30. Qxd2 Bxe3 31. Qe2 Qd4 32. Nd3 Qxe4 33. Re1 Bf4+ 34. Kh3 Qxc4 35. gxh5 Bh6 36. Rb7 Qxa4 37. Rg1 Rd8 38. Rg3 Qa1 39. Nf2 Rd2 {Black had been winning for quite some time, but now he blunders.} 40. Rb8+ Kh7 41. Qg4 { Suddenly there is no defense against the threat of Qg6+ and mate.} Qf1+ { After the game Carlsen said that he thought that he was giving mate, which shows that even the greatest may overlook a backward move like White's next.} 42. Rg2 Qxg2+ 43. Kxg2 {Black resigned.} 1-0 [Event "Carlsen Inv Prelim"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2020.04.26"] [Round "5.2"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D38"] [WhiteElo "2863"] [BlackElo "2764"] [PlyCount "66"] [EventDate "2020.04.18"] {[%evp 0,66,35,28,30,4,7,7,10,17,40,8,9,-39,-3,-15,-2,-86,-46,-45,-33,-33,-10, 12,17,27,30,-45,-10,42,19,21,39,5,-33,0,52,42,65,38,40,41,79,70,53,39,40,41,32, -8,27,-418,-427,-392,-392,-395,-390,-440,-417,-493,-515,-602,-371,-516,-481, -561,-571,-779,-873]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bf4 Ne4 7. Rc1 Nc6 8. Nd2 g5 9. Be3 Nxc3 10. bxc3 Ba3 11. Rb1 f5 12. g3 Bd6 ({ In the previous round Carlsen had this position against Firouzja, who played} 12... O-O 13. Qb3 Be7 {Carlsen won that game.}) 13. Rg1 {Quickly played by Carlsen.} O-O ({The critical line is of course} 13... f4 14. gxf4 gxf4 15. Bxf4 Bxf4 16. e3 Qe7 17. Qh5+ Kd8 {which seems quite playable for Black, were it not that Carlsen had obviously prepared this piece sacrifice.}) 14. h4 f4 15. gxf4 g4 16. Rb5 {This move doesn't seem very useful.} Ne7 17. f5 h5 (17... g3 { seems a good move.}) 18. Bg5 c6 19. Rb2 Rxf5 20. e4 Rxg5 {The only move. Otherwise White's position would play itself.} 21. hxg5 Ng6 22. e5 Bf8 23. Bd3 Nf4 24. Nf1 Qxg5 25. f3 {A horrible blunder and it was clear from Carlsen's body language that he realized it immediately.} ({After} 25. Ne3) ({or} 25. Bb1 {Black would have a nice position, but life would go on.}) 25... Nxd3+ { Now Black wins a whole rook.} 26. Qxd3 Qc1+ 27. Kf2 Qxb2+ 28. Nd2 Bf5 29. Qxf5 Qxd2+ 30. Kg3 Qxc3 31. Kh4 Qxd4 32. Rg3 Bg7 33. f4 Rf8 {White resigned.} 0-1