[Event "8th Norway Chess 2020"] [Site "Stavanger NOR"] [Date "2020.10.10"] [Round "5.1"] [White "Duda, Jan-Krzysztof"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B15"] [WhiteElo "2757"] [BlackElo "2863"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "125"] [EventDate "2020.10.05"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Nxf6+ exf6 {This line wasn't exactly popular amongst top players until recently, but this year it has been tried by players like Kramnik, MVL, and Artemiev. Carlsen himself faced this against Svane a couple of months ago, and now he's joining the party. It makes sense for him to try a slightly risky but imbalanced line against a player against whom he's a reasonably significant favorite (by rating, yes, but especially in the tournament, as Duda's score in classical games up to now was just half a point out of four). On the other hand, Duda had been on the white side of this line twice this year, against Artemiev, and so might be thought to have done some extra work on the line.} 6. c3 Bd6 7. Bd3 O-O (7... Be6 { was the move chosen in the Duda-Artemiev games.}) 8. Qc2 (8. Ne2 {followed by castling kingside was Carlsen's choice against Svane. It's not as popular as the text, but it's a major option as well.}) 8... Re8+ 9. Ne2 h5 {A weird-looking move, if you've never seen it before, but it's perfectly standard.} 10. Be3 Nd7 11. O-O-O b5 {Not quite a novelty, as it appeared in four earlier games (only two of which involved titled players), but} (11... Nf8 {was played in 149 earlier games. So it's pretty likely that Carlsen's move came as a surprise.}) 12. d5 $1 (12. Kb1 $2 {was played in the highest-rated predecessor to this game, three months ago, but it's definitely inferior to 12. d5.}) 12... c5 13. Bxb5 Rb8 14. c4 a6 15. Ba4 Re7 $146 {My engine isn't all that excited by Black's idea, but at least three things can be said in reply. First, Carlsen has access to much better computing power than I do. Second, it might be that Black's long- or at least medium-term attacking chances are underestimated by the engines. Third, Carlsen recognizes that the resources the engine finds on White's behalf won't necessarily be found by Duda, particularly if they involve non-standard ideas. All the same, I doubt we'll see 11...b5 from Carlsen again.} (15... Re5 16. Nc3 Nb6 17. Bb3 Bf5 18. Qd2 a5 19. a3 Nxd5 20. Nxd5 Rxb3 21. Nc3 Rb6 22. Nb5 Re6 23. Qxa5 Qb8 24. Rxd6 Rbxd6 25. Nxd6 Qxd6 26. Qa8+ Kh7 27. Qd5 Qxd5 28. cxd5 Rd6 29. Rd1 c4 30. Bc5 Rd7 31. d6 Kg6 32. Rd4 Bd3 33. a4 Bf1 34. g3 Kf5 35. a5 Ke6 36. a6 c3 37. a7 cxb2+ 38. Kxb2 Bg2 39. Rb4 Rb7 40. Kc3 Rxb4 41. Bxb4 Bf3 42. Kd4 Kd7 43. Ke3 Bb7 44. Kf4 Ke6 45. f3 g5+ 46. Ke3 f5 47. h3 Ba8 48. f4 f6 49. Kd4 Bf3 50. Kc5 Bg2 51. Bc3 gxf4 52. gxf4 Be4 53. Bxf6 Ba8 54. Bc3 Bg2 55. Bb4 Ba8 56. Kd4 Bb7 57. Ke3 Ba8 58. Kf2 Bb7 59. Kg3 Ba8 60. Kh4 Bf3 61. Kg5 {1-0 (61) Ivic,V (2487)-Hansen,T (2423) Porto Carras 2018}) 16. Ng3 $6 ({The computer prefers the preliminary} 16. Rhe1 $16 {, waiting for the moment to commit the knight to g3. (It might go to c3 or even f4 instead.)}) 16... Ne5 $2 (16... Nb6 $142 17. Bc6 Rxe3 $3 18. fxe3 h4 $44 {is a fascinating engine suggestion, which I point out not only because it's interesting but because it suggests that Carlsen's preparation had ended somewhere before this.}) 17. Ne4 $2 (17. Bd2 $1 Reb7 18. b3 $18 {and here, but not in the game, White is in time to stop ...Rb4xa4 (unless Black wants to sac *both* exchanges, which will not work).}) 17... Reb7 18. b3 Rb4 19. Bd2 Rxa4 20. bxa4 Bf5 $44 {Black has full compensation for the material.} 21. Rde1 h4 $2 {But this is far too slow.} (21... Ng4 $1 {had to be played, threatening ...Nxf2 while clearing e5 for the bishop. White has more than one way to maintain equality, but no path to an advantage. For example:} 22. Rhf1 (22. f3 Bxe4 23. Rxe4 Nf2 24. Rhe1 Nxe4 25. Qxe4 Qb6 26. Bc3 Bxh2 $11) 22... Be5 23. h3 Rb2 24. Qd3 Nh2 25. Rh1 Rxa2 26. Kd1 Qb8 27. Re2 Bd7 28. Nxc5 $8 Bf5 $1 29. Ne4 $8 (29. Qxf5 $4 Qb2 {and White gets mated.}) 29... Bd7 $8 30. Nc5 $8 Bf5 $8 $11) 22. h3 $16 (22. Re3 $18 {was even better, but the text is enough to maintain a serious advantage.}) 22... Ng6 23. Re3 Nf4 24. g4 Bg6 25. Kd1 f5 $2 {After this further error, Black is lost.} (25... Qd7 $142 26. f3 f5 27. Nxd6 fxg4 $1 28. Ne4 gxf3 29. Bc3 $1 f2 $1 30. Kc1 $1 Ng2 31. Qxf2 Nxe3 32. Qxe3 Qxa4 {and it's still murky. White is better after} 33. Qe2 Qa3+ 34. Bb2 Qxa2 35. Nc3 Qb3 36. d6 Bd3 $1 37. Qf2 Rd8 38. Rg1 Rxd6 39. Rxg7+ Kxg7 40. Ne4+ Kf8 41. Nxd6 Ke7 $1 42. Nf5+ Kd7 43. Ne3 Bxc4 44. Qf5+ Be6 45. Qxc5 {, but getting here is very difficult, obviously, and even here it's hard to accurately assess the position.}) 26. Nxd6 Qxd6 27. gxf5 Bh5+ 28. f3 Qf6 29. Bc3 (29. Qe4 $1) 29... Qg5 30. Qe4 $2 (30. Rhe1 $18) 30... Qg2 $2 (30... Kh7 $1 ) 31. Rhe1 Qxa2 $2 32. Qc2 Qxc4 33. Re8+ {Carlsen may well have seen this several moves back, but recognized only too late that he cannot take on e8 due to a tactical problem.} Kh7 {The only try. Black is down too much material, but as Duda was relatively short of time some practical chances remained.} ( 33... Rxe8 $2 34. Rxe8+ Kh7 {and here Black would enjoy equality, were it not for} 35. Rh8+ $1 Kxh8 36. Bxg7+ Kxg7 37. Qxc4 {, with a totally won game.}) 34. Rxb8 Qxd5+ 35. Qd2 Bxf3+ 36. Kc1 Qxf5 37. Re3 Ne2+ 38. Kb2 (38. Rxe2 {was even better, provided White met} Bxe2 {not with 39.Qxd2, blundering the rook to 39.. .Qf4+ and 40...Qxb8, but with} 39. Qd8 {, with a crushing attack (and an extra rook).}) 38... Nxc3 39. Qxc3 Qf4 40. Qd3+ f5 41. Rf8 Qb4+ 42. Kc1 Be4 43. Qb3 Qd4 44. Qc3 Qd6 45. Rf7 Qg6 46. Rd7 Qg1+ 47. Kb2 c4 48. Rxe4 {A good practical decision. Black has no real chance of obtaining a perpetual, so while Carlsen puts up more resistance than a normal human would manage against a 2757-rated opponent, the rest is still a walk in the park for Duda.} fxe4 49. Rd4 Qf2+ 50. Qd2 c3+ 51. Kxc3 Qg3+ 52. Kb2 Qxh3 53. Rxe4 Qg3 54. Qd4 Qg2+ 55. Kc3 Qf3+ 56. Kb4 Qf8+ 57. Ka5 Qf5+ 58. Kxa6 g5 59. a5 h3 60. Re7+ Kg6 61. Qg7+ Kh5 62. Qh7+ Kg4 63. Re4+ {Winning Black's queen (for the rook), after which there isn't even make-believe resistance. And with that, Carlsen falls out of first place and his monster streak of 125 classical games without a defeat finally came to an end.} 1-0 [Event "8th Norway Chess 2020"] [Site "Stavanger NOR"] [Date "2020.10.10"] [Round "5.2"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E20"] [WhiteElo "2828"] [BlackElo "2767"] [PlyCount "104"] [EventDate "2020.10.05"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 c5 5. d5 b5 6. e4 d6 7. Bd2 Bxc3 8. Bxc3 b4 9. Bd2 O-O 10. Ne2 Nh5 11. Be3 f5 12. dxe6 Bxe6 13. exf5 Rxf5 14. Qd2 Nd7 15. O-O-O Qa5 16. Kb1 Bxc4 17. Nc1 Bf7 18. Qxd6 Nhf6 19. Qc6 Re8 20. Bf2 Nb8 21. Qb5 c4 22. Qxa5 Rxa5 23. Rd4 Rc8 24. b3 Nc6 25. Rxc4 Bxc4 26. Bxc4+ Kh8 27. Rd1 Re5 28. Rd6 Ne8 29. Rd2 Nc7 30. Ne2 Nb5 31. Kb2 Na3 32. Ba6 Rd8 33. Rxd8+ Nxd8 34. Kc1 Ne6 35. Bd3 Nc5 36. Kd2 Nxd3 37. Kxd3 Rd5+ 38. Nd4 Rd7 39. g4 a5 40. Bg3 Kg8 41. Be5 g5 42. Ke4 Nb1 43. Kf5 Nc3 44. Nc6 Rd3 45. Ke6 Nxa2 46. Nxa5 Rxf3 47. Bd6 Rd3 48. Nc6 Re3+ 49. Kf6 Rxb3 50. Nd4 Rh3 51. Nf5 b3 52. Ba3 Rxh2 0-1 [Event "8th Norway Chess 2020"] [Site "Stavanger NOR"] [Date "2020.10.10"] [Round "5.3"] [White "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Black "Tari, Aryan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C53"] [WhiteElo "2728"] [BlackElo "2633"] [PlyCount "99"] [EventDate "2020.10.05"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. O-O h6 7. Re1 O-O 8. h3 a6 9. a4 Re8 10. Nbd2 Be6 11. Bxe6 Rxe6 12. b4 Ba7 13. Qc2 Qd7 14. Rb1 Ne7 15. d4 Ng6 16. b5 Nh5 17. Nf1 Rae8 18. bxa6 bxa6 19. a5 Qc8 20. Be3 exd4 21. cxd4 Rxe4 22. Qc6 d5 23. N1d2 R4e6 24. Qxd5 Nf6 25. Qb7 Bb8 26. Qxc8 Rxc8 27. Rb7 Ree8 28. Nb3 Ne4 29. Nc5 Nxc5 30. dxc5 c6 31. Rb6 Ne5 32. Nxe5 Bxe5 33. Rxa6 Bd4 34. Kf1 Re4 35. Bxd4 Rxd4 36. Ra1 Rc4 37. Rb6 Rxc5 38. a6 Rb5 39. Rxb5 cxb5 40. a7 Ra8 41. Ke2 Kf8 42. Kd3 Ke7 43. Kc3 Kd6 44. Kb4 Kc6 45. Ra6+ Kb7 46. Kxb5 h5 47. Rb6+ Kxa7 48. Ra6+ Kb7 49. Rxa8 Kxa8 50. Kc6 1-0