[Event "World Blitz 2022"] [Site "Almaty KAZ"] [Date "2022.12.29"] [Round "1.1"] [White "Kovalev, Vladislav"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C01"] [WhiteElo "2623"] [BlackElo "2859"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "118"] [EventDate "2022.12.29"] [EventType "blitz"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 $6 {Not a choice I like. If you're playing a better player, bring out your "A" material.} exd5 4. Nf3 Bd6 5. c4 Nf6 6. Nc3 O-O 7. cxd5 Re8+ 8. Be2 Nbd7 9. O-O h6 (9... Nb6 $142) 10. Re1 $2 (10. Bc4 Nb6 11. Bb3 $14 {/?}) 10... Nb6 11. Ne5 Nbxd5 12. Bf3 c6 13. Qb3 (13. Nxd5 $142 Nxd5 14. Bxd5 cxd5 $11) 13... Qb6 $15 14. Nxd5 Nxd5 15. Bxd5 cxd5 16. Qxb6 axb6 17. Bd2 f6 18. Nd3 Rxe1+ 19. Bxe1 Ra4 20. Bc3 Bf5 21. Ne1 $2 Kf7 $2 22. a3 b5 23. Rc1 Rc4 {Neither player has offered their best chess - understandably. It's round 1 and they're both getting warmed up, and there's also the fact that Carlsen only got to the board with 30 seconds left on his clock. (There's a two-second increment after every move, so it wasn't a bullet game, but still.) Kovalev was undoubtedly taken aback and went through the gamut of emotions: irritation, possibly hope, then annoyance. He played very slowly in the opening as well, and neither player had much time left by this point. Anyway, they exchange blunders here - or in a sense shared one - White blundered a pawn and Black didn't see it.} 24. Rd1 $4 (24. f3 $142) 24... b4 $4 (24... Bxa3 $19) 25. axb4 Bxb4 26. Bxb4 Rxb4 27. Rd2 $15 g5 28. f3 h5 29. Kf2 h4 (29... Rb3 $1 30. g3 $1 g4 $1 $15) 30. g3 $1 $11 hxg3+ 31. hxg3 Ke6 32. Ng2 Kd6 33. Ne3 Be6 {The position is equal according to the computer, but that's misleading. Black's rook attacks two pawns, White's is stuck defending them. Black's king is more active than its counterpart, and while White's knight is very well-placed it's not particularly mobile, so Black's bishop could end up better as well. White must defend here, and although he should make a draw with best play it's a game between humans, not engines, and with very little time on the clock. Carlsen has no direct way forward, so he tacks around, improves his position (often by gaining space), and White eventually panics and loses.} 34. Ke2 Rb3 35. Kf2 Rb4 36. Ke2 Ra4 37. Kf2 Bd7 38. g4 Ra1 39. Rd1 Ra2 40. Rd2 b5 41. Ke2 b4 {It's not clear that this does anything, but White brings his king to the queenside just in case.} 42. Kd3 Bb5+ 43. Kc2 Bc4 44. Kb1 $6 ({Going active with} 44. Rh2 $1 Ra1 45. Rh6 {would have been a good idea. It's a common fate with Carlsen's opponents: both out of excessive respect and because of Carlsen's ability to create micro-threats and ghost threats his opponents often find themselves overreacting and staying passive. Whenever possible, active defense is to be preferred!}) 44... Ra8 {With the king on the queenside, Carlsen switches his rook to the other side of the board.} 45. Kc2 Re8 46. Nxc4+ $2 {And here Kovalev panics and makes the "official" losing move. But it's not a one-move error that did him in, but Carlsen's continual pressure that got him to snap.} (46. Nf5+ $8 Kc6 47. Rf2 $11) 46... dxc4 $19 47. d5 Re3 48. Rd4 b3+ 49. Kd2 Rxf3 50. Rxc4 Kxd5 51. Rb4 Kc5 $1 52. Ra4 Rf4 $1 53. Ra6 Kd4 $1 54. Rd6+ Ke5 55. Rb6 Rxg4 $1 {Simplest. Black will win the race easily.} 56. Rxb3 Rg2+ $1 57. Ke1 g4 58. Rb8 f5 59. b4 Rb2 (59... Rb2 60. b5 g3 61. Kf1 Kf4 62. b6 Kf3 $19) 0-1 [Event "World Blitz 2022"] [Site "Almaty KAZ"] [Date "2022.12.29"] [Round "2.1"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Tsydypov, Zhamsaran"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B20"] [WhiteElo "2859"] [BlackElo "2534"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "77"] [EventDate "2022.12.29"] [EventType "blitz"] {[%evp 0,77,39,-19,36,6,27,26,36,26,32,15,25,12,35,39,23,15,29,43,45,3,4,5,-3,-3,-4,5,1,-3,33,26,22,59,70,70,68,29,79,83,98,86,91,82,95,64,121,69,113,38,51,48,49,61,90,77,65,66,158,156,160,150,175,195,175,163,216,216,216,214,288,288,329,350,356,356,387,396,465,487]} 1. b3 c5 2. Bb2 Nc6 3. e4 d6 4. Bb5 Bd7 5. Nc3 e5 {Not a terrible option, hoping to kill the Bb2 in return for the hole on d5.} 6. Nge2 (6. f4 $5) 6... g6 7. O-O Bg7 8. f4 exf4 9. Nxf4 Nge7 10. d3 O-O 11. Qd2 a6 12. Bxc6 Bxc6 13. Rae1 Qd7 (13... Qa5 $142 $11) 14. Nd1 $14 Bxb2 15. Nxb2 d5 {Natural, aiming to eliminate the possible hole on d5. Alas, it's another inaccuracy.} 16. Qf2 $1 $16 dxe4 17. dxe4 Qd4 18. Nfd3 $2 (18. Nbd3 $16) 18... Qxf2+ $2 (18... f5 $11) 19. Rxf2 $16 b6 20. Nc4 Rab8 21. Rf6 $1 $18 {Black missed his opportunity for ...f5, and will now be squeezed.} Kg7 22. e5 b5 23. Na5 $2 (23. Nd6) 23... c4 $2 (23... Rfc8 $142 $14) 24. Nb4 $2 $14 (24. Nxc6 Nxc6 25. Rxc6 cxd3 26. cxd3 $18) 24... Ba8 25. Nxa6 Rbd8 26. Nc7 Rd2 $2 (26... Nd5 27. Nxd5 Rxd5 $11) 27. Rf2 $16 Rxf2 28. Kxf2 Nf5 $2 (28... cxb3 29. axb3 (29. cxb3 Rb8 $16) 29... Nc6 $16) 29. Nxb5 $18 {White is winning again, and Tsydypov gets no further chances.} cxb3 30. axb3 Rd8 31. Nc4 Bc6 32. Nbd6 Nd4 33. Rd1 $1 Ne6 (33... Nxc2 $4 34. Nf5+) 34. b4 Rb8 35. b5 $1 Ba8 (35... Bxb5 36. Rb1 Nc7 37. Na3 $18) 36. Ra1 Bd5 37. Ne3 Ba8 38. Ra7 Nd8 39. c4 1-0 [Event "World Blitz 2022"] [Site "Almaty KAZ"] [Date "2022.12.29"] [Round "3.1"] [White "Cheparinov, Ivan"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A14"] [WhiteElo "2688"] [BlackElo "2859"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "106"] [EventDate "2022.12.29"] [EventType "blitz"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O a5 $5 7. Nc3 $14 c6 8. b3 b6 9. Bb2 Ba6 10. Qd3 $6 (10. Nd2 {[%CAl Be2e4]}) 10... b5 $1 $11 11. cxb5 cxb5 12. Nxb5 Nc6 13. a4 Qb6 14. Ne5 Na7 15. Bc3 Nxb5 16. axb5 Bxb5 17. Qd2 a4 18. bxa4 Rxa4 19. Rxa4 Bxa4 {How could an elite, sometimes-2700 GM like Cheparinov lose this game? It seems incredible, but as just about every top grandmaster, even those who are or have been rated over 2800, has lost such games to Carlsen, it's a reality that we should seek to understand.} 20. Ra1 Qb3 21. Qb2 Rc8 22. Qxb3 Bxb3 23. Be1 Bd6 24. Rb1 Bc2 25. Rb7 Bxe5 26. dxe5 Ng4 27. f4 (27. Bc3 $1 {was more circumspect, not weakening the e3 and e4 squares. The bishop cannot be taken as 28.Rb8+ would lead to mate on the next move.}) 27... h5 28. Bf3 Bf5 $11 29. Bxg4 $6 hxg4 $5 {There are opposite-colored bishops, material is equal, and all the pawns are (more or less) on the same side of the board. All of these factors tend to produce drawish positions, and objectively this must be drawn as well. But it's not quite so simple. White's light squares are porous, the e2-pawn is a target, and Black has pawn breaks while White doesn't. That's not enough to win - not yet - but it's enough to keep playing and creating problems for an opponent, and when time runs short anything is possible.} 30. Rb2 Rc1 31. Kf2 Kh7 32. Rd2 Rb1 33. Rd4 Kg6 34. Bd2 Be4 {Now ...Rh1 is a threat.} (34... Rh1 35. Kg2 Be4+ $4 36. Rxe4 $18) 35. Be1 Kf5 36. Rd2 $6 (36. Rb4) 36... f6 $15 {Black has improved his pieces are much as possible, and to make further progress he needs to push his pawns. Swapping two pairs of pawns helps White, but the pawns' advance helps Black.} 37. exf6 gxf6 38. Rd4 $1 e5 39. fxe5 fxe5 40. Rb4 Ra1 41. Rb8 $1 Ra2 (41... d4 $142) 42. Rf8+ Ke6 43. Re8+ $8 Kf6 44. Kf1 $2 ({Here White missed a tactical possibility, but this is blitz.} 44. Bc3 $1 d4 45. Bxd4 exd4 46. Rxe4 d3 47. Re3 dxe2 48. Rxe2 $11) 44... d4 $17 45. Rf8+ $8 Ke7 46. Bb4+ $8 Ke6 $6 (46... Kd7 $1 $17) 47. Re8+ $1 Kd5 48. Be1 $2 (48. Rd8+ $1) 48... Bf5 $1 $19 {Just like that, the game is essentially over. The bishop will find its way to the a6-f1 diagonal sooner or later, and once the e-pawn drops Black's central passers will finish things off.} 49. Rd8+ Ke4 50. Re8 Bd7 {[%CAl Bd7b5,Bb5e2,Ba2e2]} 51. Rb8 Be6 52. Rb4 Rc2 {[%CAl Be6c4]} 53. Ra4 Bc4 0-1 [Event "World Blitz 2022"] [Site "Almaty KAZ"] [Date "2022.12.29"] [Round "4.1"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Tomashevsky, Evgeny"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2859"] [BlackElo "2694"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "53"] [EventDate "2022.12.29"] [EventType "blitz"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. O-O Nd7 7. c3 {As advertised.} O-O 8. d4 Bd6 9. Bg5 f6 10. Bh4 c5 (10... Qe8 {is usual here.}) 11. Bg3 Qe7 12. Re1 Kh8 $146 (12... cxd4 13. cxd4 exd4 14. Qb3+ Kh8 15. Nxd4 Bxg3 16. Qxg3 Qe5 $11) 13. Na3 (13. dxe5 $14) 13... cxd4 14. cxd4 Bxa3 $6 (14... Bb4 $1) 15. bxa3 $14 exd4 (15... Qxa3 $2 16. dxe5 Nxe5 17. Nxe5 fxe5 18. Qd5 $16 {/+- White's soon-to-be passed e-pawn will be a huge asset, and the opposite-colored bishops are in White's favor as well.}) 16. Qxd4 Nc5 (16... c5 $142 17. Qc3 b6 $14) 17. e5 $1 Ne6 $2 (17... b6 $1 18. Bh4 Qf7 19. exf6 gxf6 20. Re3 Bb7 21. Rae1 $14 {/? is certainly better for White, but it's not quite as bad as it looks.}) 18. exf6 $1 Qxf6 19. Qc4 $16 {/+-} c6 $2 {Black is trying to patiently handle small problems, aiming to tidy things up as he untangles. What he isn't appreciating is that big things are about to happen - there's no time for small finesses and nuances.} (19... a5) (19... c5) 20. Rad1 $18 Ng5 21. Nxg5 Qxg5 {Give Black a move to develop the bishop, and things aren't *that* bad. But he's not going to get it!} 22. h4 $1 Qf6 (22... Qg4 23. Rd4 $1 Qg6 24. Rd6 $18) (22... Qf5 23. Rd6 $1 $18 {Even better than the immediate Re7.}) (22... Qh5 23. Rd6 Bf5 24. Re7 Rae8 25. Rxb7 $18 {White is ready to start piling up on the a1-h8 diagonal.}) 23. Rd6 Qf5 24. Re7 b5 (24... Rg8 25. Be5 Qf8 26. Rf7 Qe8 27. Rc7 $1 Bf5 (27... Qxe5 28. Qxg8+ $1 Kxg8 29. Rd8+ Qe8 30. Rxe8#) 28. Qc3 Qf8 29. h5 $18 (29. Rf6 $18)) 25. Qd4 Qg4 26. Be5 $1 Qxd4 27. Bxd4 (27. Bxd4 Rg8 28. Rxg7 Rxg7 29. Rd8#) 1-0 [Event "World Blitz 2022"] [Site "Almaty KAZ"] [Date "2022.12.29"] [Round "5.1"] [White "Duda, Jan-Krzysztof"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B07"] [WhiteElo "2729"] [BlackElo "2859"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "108"] [EventDate "2022.12.29"] [EventType "blitz"] 1. d4 g6 2. e4 Bg7 3. Nf3 d6 4. Bd3 {Not the most dangerous setup, but it's solid.} Nc6 5. c3 Nf6 6. O-O O-O 7. h3 e5 8. dxe5 $6 (8. Re1) 8... Nxe5 9. Nxe5 dxe5 $11 {As we'll see throughout the event, a (near-) symmetrical pawn structure with a common open file in the center doesn't guarantee a draw against Carlsen.} 10. Be3 b6 11. Qc2 Qe7 12. Nd2 Rd8 13. Rfd1 a5 14. Bg5 h6 15. Bh4 Be6 16. a4 Qc5 17. Nb3 Qc6 18. f3 Bc4 {Useful for the sake of his queen's safety and mobility.} 19. Bxc4 Qxc4 20. Rd2 Rxd2 21. Nxd2 Qc6 22. Nf1 {Heading for d5.} Rd8 (22... Bf8 $1 23. Ne3 Bc5) 23. Ne3 Bf8 24. Nd5 (24. b4 $1 $14) 24... Bc5+ 25. Kh1 g5 26. Nxf6+ Qxf6 27. Be1 Qd6 28. b4 Be3 29. Qe2 Qd3 30. Qxd3 Rxd3 {The computer gives 0.00, but the activity of Black's pieces makes the position trickier for White in a practical game.} 31. bxa5 bxa5 32. h4 c5 33. c4 {This weakens the pawn somewhat, but White couldn't afford to allow ...c4.} Bd4 34. Rc1 (34. Rb1 {was a good alternative, looking to activate the rook in search of counterplay.}) 34... Ra3 35. Bxa5 Rxa4 36. Bd8 Be3 $1 {Posing a dilemma to White: surrender the c-pawn or the back rank.} 37. Rc3 Bf4 {Threatening mate.} 38. Kg1 $2 {This fails for tactical reasons. White should have pushed the g-pawn instead.} Bg3 $6 {Desirable, but there was better.} (38... gxh4 $1 39. Kf1 $8 (39. Bxh4 Ra1+ 40. Kf2 Bd2 $1 $19 {[%CAl Bd2e1] wins the rook or the bishop (with ...Be1+). Short of time, the players probably both missed this tactic.}) 39... Ra1+ 40. Ke2 Ra2+ 41. Kf1 Bg3 42. Rc1 $8 Kf8 $17 {/-+}) 39. Rc1 $8 gxh4 40. Bb6 $2 (40. Kf1 $1) 40... Bf4 $1 $19 41. Rc2 Be3+ 42. Kh2 Ra1 43. Bd8 Bf4+ $1 44. Kh3 h5 45. g3 $8 {Forced to stop the mate, but now Black's connected passers decide the game.} hxg3 46. Kg2 Kg7 47. Be7 Kg6 48. Rb2 Rc1 49. Bxc5 h4 50. Kh3 Rh1+ 51. Kg4 h3 52. Rb6+ f6 53. Be7 g2 54. Rxf6+ Kg7 0-1 [Event "World Blitz 2022"] [Site "Almaty KAZ"] [Date "2022.12.29"] [Round "6.1"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Yu, Yangyi"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E10"] [WhiteElo "2859"] [BlackElo "2728"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "92"] [EventDate "2022.12.29"] [EventType "blitz"] {[%evp 0,92,25,-25,-16,-11,6,8,24,33,47,29,23,22,9,6,28,35,41,28,52,54,66,52,37,25,20,6,23,1,-7,-19,14,0,9,5,18,9,8,0,-8,0,0,0,0,-1,0,5,6,0,3,-7,16,-80,-85,-107,-111,-110,-75,-108,-82,-63,-40,-41,74,72,72,68,64,3,73,42,68,70,71,-30,-29,-28,-47,-42,-56,-42,-27,-25,-35,-19,-13,-12,0,-12,0,0,0,0,17]} 1. c4 Nf6 2. d4 e6 3. Nf3 h6 {We're more used to seeing Carlsen play the funny opening moves. Turnabout is fair play.} 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Qc2 c5 6. dxc5 Na6 7. g3 Nxc5 8. Bg2 Nce4 9. O-O Bxc3 10. bxc3 O-O 11. Ba3 Re8 12. Nd4 d5 13. Rad1 Qc7 (13... Qa5 14. Bb4 Qc7 $15 {Black will go from a tempo down to a tempo up after an eventual ...a5.}) 14. cxd5 exd5 15. c4 Bd7 16. cxd5 (16. f3) 16... Qxc2 17. Nxc2 Nc3 18. Rd2 Rxe2 19. Rxe2 Nxe2+ 20. Kh1 Nc3 21. Ne3 Nxa2 22. d6 Rb8 23. Ra1 Nc3 24. Bb2 Nb5 25. Be5 a6 26. Nc4 Ng4 27. Bf4 $2 (27. f4) 27... Nxf2+ $19 28. Kg1 Nd3 $2 (28... Nh3+) 29. Be3 $15 Be6 30. Bb6 $1 Bxc4 31. d7 Ne5 (31... Nd4 $1 32. d8=Q+ Rxd8 33. Bxd8 b5) 32. d8=Q+ Rxd8 33. Bxd8 Nc6 $11 34. Bb6 Be6 35. h4 h5 36. Bf3 Bg4 37. Bxg4 hxg4 38. Rd1 Ne5 39. Rd8+ Kh7 40. Rb8 Nd6 41. Bc7 Nec4 42. Bxd6 Nxd6 43. Rd8 Ne4 44. Rd7 b5 45. Rxf7 Nxg3 46. Ra7 Nf5 {A good game for Yu, who was never worse, was often better, and - very briefly - was even winning.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "World Blitz 2022"] [Site "Almaty KAZ"] [Date "2022.12.29"] [Round "7.1"] [White "Giri, Anish"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C18"] [WhiteElo "2764"] [BlackElo "2859"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "2022.12.29"] [EventType "blitz"] {[%evp 0,81,25,31,47,51,29,33,26,23,16,13,25,18,29,17,66,-4,45,-14,6,6,12,6,26,34,30,10,37,16,38,45,56,-1,1,33,25,39,38,46,106,101,101,116,110,115,120,151,183,96,94,94,92,89,89,89,100,85,90,93,93,104,132,106,120,118,118,105,93,91,80,0,47,0,66,-21,-22,-36,-21,-101,-54,-103,0,-71]} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Nc6 {Carlsen chose this dangerous line, popularized to some extent by Duda, in the first round of the Rapid three days prior. Giri was of course extremely well-prepared.} 7. Qg4 g6 8. h4 h6 9. h5 g5 10. f4 f5 11. Qg3 g4 12. dxc5 {All blasted out immediately by Giri.} Qa5 13. Ne2 $146 (13. a4 {is a good alternative.} Qxc5 14. Ba3 Qa5 15. Bb5 Bd7 16. Ne2 Rc8 17. O-O a6 18. Bxc6 Rxc6 19. Rfb1 Bc8 20. Bb4 Qd8 21. Nd4 Rc4 22. Bd6 Nf6 23. exf6 Qxd6 24. Rb4 Rxb4 25. cxb4 Qxb4 26. Qe3 Kf7 27. Ra3 Qd6 28. Rb3 Re8 29. Qe5 Qc5 30. Kh2 Qa5 31. Ne2 Qd8 32. Rc3 Kg8 33. Rc7 Rf8 34. Rg7+ Kh8 35. Re7 Kg8 36. Nd4 Rf7 37. Nxf5 {1-0 Anagnostopoulos,K (2326)-Kanakaris,G (2389) GRE-chT 49th Thessaloniki 2022 (6.2)}) 13... Nge7 14. a4 b6 15. cxb6 axb6 16. Kf2 (16. Bd2 $14) 16... Ba6 $11 {Giri prepped to the hilt, while Carlsen had to figure things out on his own before his opponent did. And yet, the position is equal. Some lessons: (1) Preparation isn't everything. Unless the prep supplies a huge advantage, sooner or later one has to play chess, and skill will matter most. (2) Experience goes a long way in compensating for perfect understanding of computer-supplied details. (3) One should be careful about playing lines that look good in prep but that one hasn't had time to feel "in one's bones". (This is the flip side of point (2).)} 17. Qe3 Kf7 18. Bd2 Bc4 (18... Rhc8 $11) 19. Nd4 Qc5 $2 (19... Nxd4 20. cxd4 Qa7 $11) 20. Nb5 $1 {Suddenly, Black is in trouble.} Bxb5 21. Qxc5 bxc5 22. Bxb5 $18 {Having ceded both bishops and traded queens, Black is left with a terrible pawn-down ending. Normally Giri would win such a position.} Na7 23. Rhb1 Rhb8 24. Be2 $4 ({After} 24. c4 {I think it's overwhelmingly likely that Giri would win. Unfortunately for him, he decided to first save the bishop. Unfortunately, it's "saved" to lifetime imprisonment.}) 24... Rxb1 25. Rxb1 c4 {Whoops. Where is White's light-squared bishop going...ever? At best Giri will be able to sac it for two pawns on g4. The engine claims this position is equal, and maybe for an engine it is equal. But it may just be lost, at least practically speaking.} 26. Be3 Nac6 27. Ra1 Ke8 28. Ke1 Kd7 29. Bf2 Nc8 30. Bc5 Kc7 31. a5 $2 Rxa5 32. Rxa5 Nxa5 33. Bf8 {The point of Giri's 31.a5, but Black can handle this. Meanwhile, getting rid of the a-pawn and the rooks was helpful to Black's cause.} Kd7 $1 34. Bxh6 Ke8 35. Kd2 Kf7 $19 36. Bg5 Nc6 37. Kc1 Nb6 38. Kd2 Na4 39. Bh6 Na7 40. Bg5 Kg7 41. Bf1 {White either flagged or gave up, with ...Nb5 or ...Nc5-e4+ coming next.} 0-1 [Event "World Blitz 2022"] [Site "Almaty KAZ"] [Date "2022.12.29"] [Round "8.1"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D41"] [WhiteElo "2768"] [BlackElo "2859"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "41"] [EventDate "2022.12.29"] [EventType "blitz"] {[%evp 0,41,23,32,28,6,6,6,6,6,44,46,22,58,58,54,105,103,87,75,68,61,44,46,47,-2,-12,-12,-13,-24,-27,-23,-21,-34,-41,-36,-5,0,0,-18,-23,-18,-19,-19]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c5 5. cxd5 cxd4 6. Qxd4 exd5 7. e4 dxe4 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. Ng5 Be6 10. Nxe6+ fxe6 11. Bg5 Nc6 12. Nxe4 $146 (12. O-O-O+) ({and} 12. Bc4 {are normal. Even before this point the commentators hypothesized that Nakamura wasn't really such an expert on this line, and Nakamura's 12th move seemed to confirm their guess.}) 12... Bb4+ $1 {This is the problem. Black has full equality now, and the game is quickly drawn: By Nakamura to stay out of trouble, and for Carlsen to get his most dangerous rival out of the way with the black pieces.} 13. Nd2 h6 14. Bxf6+ gxf6 15. O-O-O Ke7 16. Nb3 Rhd8 17. Be2 Na5 18. Nxa5 Bxa5 19. Rxd8 Rxd8 20. Rd1 Rxd1+ 21. Kxd1 1/2-1/2 [Event "World Blitz 2022"] [Site "Almaty KAZ"] [Date "2022.12.29"] [Round "9.1"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Fedoseev, Vladimir3"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E06"] [WhiteElo "2859"] [BlackElo "2688"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "84"] [EventDate "2022.12.29"] [EventType "blitz"] {[%evp 0,84,19,34,32,-12,4,7,1,-20,-5,-5,9,9,-2,-10,-15,0,0,1,-9,-4,5,0,0,5,2,5,22,23,18,15,15,11,9,10,0,4,14,2,7,2,12,4,18,20,29,21,21,19,13,14,16,0,13,0,0,0,0,0,25,0,11,3,0,11,12,23,37,47,46,34,5,3,11,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,24,24,30]} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. a4 {This is a topical line in general, and one Carlsen tested against Nakamura several times in their match from the recent Speed Chess Championship.} Bd7 9. Qxc4 Bc6 10. Bg5 Nbd7 11. Nc3 a5 12. e3 (12. Rfd1 {is far more common (and was played in two of the Carlsen-Nakamura games alluded to above).} h6 13. Bxf6 Nxf6 14. Ne5 Bxg2 15. Kxg2 c6 {Now 16.e3 (played twice by Dubov, and by others) would transpose to the game (see below), but in the earlier games Carlsen (and a plurality of others) chose} 16. e4 {.}) 12... h6 13. Bxf6 Nxf6 14. Ne5 Bxg2 15. Kxg2 c6 16. Rfd1 {Transposing to a couple of Dubov games, as noted above.} Qb6 $11 17. Rac1 $146 Rfd8 18. Nf3 $146 Rd7 19. Ne5 Rdd8 20. Qe2 Bb4 $146 (20... Rac8) 21. Qf3 Qc7 22. h4 {A typical idea in this family of Catalan lines, hoping to start kingside play with g4-g5.} Qe7 23. Ne4 (23. g4 Bxc3 24. bxc3 Nd7 $11) 23... Nxe4 24. Qxe4 Rd5 25. Nc4 Rad8 26. Qf3 Qc7 27. Ne5 c5 28. Nd3 Qd7 29. b3 cxd4 (29... Ba3 30. Ra1 Bb4 $11) 30. Nxb4 axb4 31. Rxd4 Rxd4 32. exd4 $14 b5 33. a5 $1 Qa7 $1 {It may seem hard to believe, but this is the only move that doesn't lose.} 34. Ra1 Qxd4 35. Ra2 Rd7 (35... e5 $142 $14) 36. a6 $16 Ra7 37. Rc2 $2 {Based on a miscalculation.} (37. Qc6 $16) 37... Rxa6 $1 38. Rc8+ Kh7 39. Qxf7 Qd5+ 40. f3 (40. Kh2 Ra1 $11 {forces White to give perpetual or to allow one (the alternative is to get mated).}) 40... Ra2+ 41. Kh3 Qf5+ 42. Qxf5+ exf5 $11 {A (mostly) very well played game by both sides - remember, this is blitz!} 1/2-1/2 [Event "World Blitz 2022"] [Site "Almaty KAZ"] [Date "2022.12.29"] [Round "10.1"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C80"] [WhiteElo "2859"] [BlackElo "2740"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2022.12.29"] [EventType "blitz"] {[%evp 0,75,34,9,8,28,5,2,25,0,3,4,24,17,15,19,19,19,15,39,41,39,37,11,41,1,1,11,32,15,15,18,21,12,18,-3,-15,-7,-7,-9,-10,-16,-16,-19,0,-5,0,-9,7,-86,-97,-99,-117,-120,-126,-126,-104,-105,-100,-84,-87,-87,-66,-66,-57,-57,-66,-57,-57,-57,-57,-57,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. Re1 (6. d4 {leads to the main line, but 6.Re1 - reminiscent of the scintillating 5.Re1 lines against the Berlin - is a well-known second option.}) 6... Nc5 7. Bxc6 dxc6 8. Nxe5 Be7 9. d4 Ne6 10. Be3 O-O 11. c4 {Now it's time for an exchange of inaccuracies.} Bf6 $6 (11... f6 {is standard and best.}) 12. Nc3 $6 (12. f4 $14 {/? is correct, defanging ...c5.}) 12... c5 $11 {Now Black has no problems, and indeed Carlsen needs to make sure he keeps out of trouble.} 13. Nd5 $1 cxd4 14. Bxd4 Nxd4 15. Qxd4 Be6 16. Nxf6+ Qxf6 17. Rad1 (17. Qc5) 17... Rad8 18. Qc5 Rxd1 19. Rxd1 Rd8 20. Rf1 $1 {The only move to avoid serious problems.} c6 21. b3 h6 22. Qe3 Qf5 23. h3 Qc2 24. Qb6 $2 (24. Nf3 Qxa2 25. Qb6 $44) 24... Rd1 $17 25. Rxd1 $6 (25. g4 $142) 25... Qxd1+ 26. Kh2 Qd6 $19 27. f4 f6 28. Nf3 Qxf4+ 29. Kh1 {White is in real trouble here, but Mamedyarov spoils his advantage in his haste.} Bxh3 $2 (29... Qb8 $19 {was correct, covering the pawn. Black can slowly make progress, e.g with ...Qc8-d7.}) 30. Qxb7 $1 $11 Qg3 31. gxh3 Qxf3+ 32. Kh2 Qf2+ 33. Kh1 Qf1+ 34. Kh2 Qe2+ 35. Kg3 Qxa2 {If there were no perpetual, Black would still enjoy a significant edge. Unfortunately for him, there is one:} 36. Qc8+ Kf7 37. Qd7+ Kg6 38. Qg4+ 1/2-1/2 [Event "World Blitz 2022"] [Site "Almaty KAZ"] [Date "2022.12.29"] [Round "11.1"] [White "Dubov, Daniil"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A46"] [WhiteElo "2708"] [BlackElo "2859"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate "2022.12.29"] [EventType "blitz"] {[%evp 0,59,36,32,22,27,21,8,30,39,46,36,51,22,52,43,44,20,16,0,40,10,37,14,17,15,24,10,15,21,39,36,34,34,33,27,26,7,2,6,4,4,12,-7,-5,-7,-7,-3,34,40,53,4,19,20,26,24,27,22,28,12,16,0]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. g3 b5 4. Bg2 Bb7 5. O-O c5 6. c3 Be7 7. Bg5 Na6 8. Nbd2 O-O 9. a3 cxd4 10. cxd4 h6 11. Bxf6 Bxf6 12. e3 Qb6 13. Qe2 Rac8 14. Rfc1 Nc7 15. Ne1 Bxg2 16. Kxg2 Nd5 17. Nd3 Be7 18. Ne4 d6 19. Qf3 a5 20. h4 Qb8 21. Kg1 Rxc1+ 22. Rxc1 Rc8 23. Qd1 Nb6 24. Nc3 Nc4 25. a4 bxa4 26. Nxa4 d5 27. b3 Nd6 28. Nac5 Qb5 29. Rc2 Nb7 30. Nxb7 {A pretty correct and comfortable game for both players, both of whom were probably reasonably happy with a draw, especially given their long-time working relationship.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "World Blitz 2022"] [Site "Almaty KAZ"] [Date "2022.12.29"] [Round "12.1"] [White "Artemiev, Vladislav"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E37"] [WhiteElo "2701"] [BlackElo "2859"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "39"] [EventDate "2022.12.29"] [EventType "blitz"] {[%evp 0,39,32,21,27,14,15,15,28,-7,-7,-7,3,-2,1,0,19,4,27,26,28,28,28,28,28,16,20,12,38,14,77,72,61,61,53,61,60,60,74,49,63,55]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 Ne4 7. Qc2 c5 8. dxc5 Nc6 9. Nf3 Qa5+ 10. Bd2 Qxc5 11. e3 Nxd2 12. Nxd2 O-O (12... dxc4 {is more common.}) 13. Bd3 h6 14. cxd5 Qxd5 15. Bh7+ $146 (15. Be4 {had been played in prior games, e.g.} Qb5 16. Nc4 Rd8 17. O-O e5 18. Rfd1 Be6 19. Nd6 Qb6 20. Qc3 Nd4 21. exd4 Qxd6 22. d5 Bg4 23. Rdc1 f5 24. h3 fxe4 25. hxg4 Qxd5 26. Qe3 Qd3 27. Rc7 Qxe3 28. fxe3 Rac8 29. Rac1 Rd1+ 30. Rxd1 Rxc7 31. Rd5 Rc1+ 32. Kh2 Re1 33. Rd7 b5 34. Rxa7 Rxe3 35. Re7 Rb3 36. Rxe5 e3 37. Kg3 Rxb2 {½-½ Akobian,V (2635)-Laznicka,V (2676) FIDE World Cup Baku 2015 (1.1)}) 15... Kh8 16. Be4 Qb5 17. Bd3 Qd5 {Offering a repetition. This wasn't necessary, so it's not that Artemiev "tricked" Carlsen into a drawing line.} (17... Qb6) (17... Qe5) ({and} 17... Qg5 {are all fine, for example.}) 18. Be4 Qb5 19. Bd3 ({Nor does White need to repeat.} 19. Nc4 {is a fine way to continue.}) 19... Qd5 20. Be4 1/2-1/2 [Event "World Blitz 2022"] [Site "Almaty KAZ"] [Date "2022.12.30"] [Round "13.1"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Martirosyan, Haik M."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A01"] [WhiteElo "2859"] [BlackElo "2682"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "63"] [EventDate "2022.12.29"] [EventType "blitz"] 1. b3 e5 2. Bb2 Nc6 3. e3 Nf6 4. Nf3 (4. Bb5) 4... e4 5. Nd4 Bc5 6. d3 {Rarer than} (6. Nxc6) ({and} 6. Nf5 {.}) 6... Nxd4 7. exd4 Bb6 8. dxe4 (8. Nd2 {is usual.}) 8... Nxe4 {Most of us associate this sort of Petroff-type pawn structure with drawishness, but as we have and will continue to see in this event, it doesn't deter Carlsen at all.} 9. Bd3 d5 10. O-O O-O 11. Nd2 Nxd2 $146 12. Qxd2 Qf6 {To prevent Qf4.} 13. Rae1 Bd7 14. a4 $1 c6 15. Qb4 $1 {With the annoying threat of a4-a5. How should Black deal with it?} Qd8 $6 {This stops a5, but this inaccuracy gives Carlsen the advantage.} (15... Bc7 $1 $11 16. Qxb7 $4 (16. Qe7 Qxe7 17. Rxe7 Rfd8 {followed by ...Bd6 is completely equal.}) 16... Qd6 17. f4 Rfb8 18. Qa6 Rb6 19. Qa5 Rxb3 $19) 16. Ba3 $1 Re8 (16... Ba5 $2 17. Qxb7 $1 Bxe1 18. Bxf8 Bxf2+ 19. Rxf2 Kxf8 20. Bxh7 $18 g6 $4 21. Bxg6 $18) 17. Rxe8+ Qxe8 (17... Bxe8 $4 18. Qf8#) 18. a5 $14 {/?} Bc7 19. Qxb7 (19. Re1 $142) 19... Bxa5 20. Bc5 Rb8 21. Qa6 Bb6 22. Qa1 $1 {To play Re1.} Be6 23. Re1 Qd7 24. Qc1 Bxc5 $6 25. dxc5 $16 d4 $2 26. Qf4 $18 Rd8 27. h4 $1 Qd5 28. Re5 Qd7 29. h5 {White's pieces are ready to start the attack, and Black's pieces aren't where they need to be to stop it.} Qe7 (29... f6 30. Re1 (30. Rxe6 {also wins.}) 30... Re8 31. Qe4 f5 32. Qf4 $18 {Black has all sorts of problems, as White has ideas like h6, Rxe6, and Bxf5 to choose from.}) 30. Qe4 g6 31. Qxc6 Rc8 $4 {The position was lost in any case.} 32. Qxc8+ {Carlsen made Black look very ordinary, but Martirosyan is a near-elite player who had a great tournament, tying for second and coming in third on tiebreaks.} 1-0 [Event "World Blitz 2022"] [Site "Almaty KAZ"] [Date "2022.12.30"] [Round "14.1"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Rapport, Richard"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C19"] [WhiteElo "2830"] [BlackElo "2654"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "141"] [EventDate "2022.12.30"] {[%evp 0,141,17,15,29,30,34,32,31,24,19,22,25,18,40,10,6,-15,7,9,-6,-5,-9,0,9,14,19,8,14,6,15,0,1,-2,0,-2,-10,-42,-33,-15,0,0,15,0,0,0,7,0,0,-12,-4,-80,-140,-165,-156,-164,-159,-347,-314,-397,-156,-232,-251,-256,-118,-122,-83,-133,-133,-133,-133,-133,0,0,0,0,0,73,335,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,-549,-622,-474,-632,-662,-662,-720,-834,-841,-883,-1110,-1091,-1091,-1091,-1091,-1091,-1091,-1091,-1091,-1091,-791,-1126,-1091,-1091,-1091,-1099,-1257,-1378,-1099,-1686,-1612,-29985,-29986,-29987,0,-711,0,0,29977,29978,29979,783,924,982,29985,1216,29985,688,29995,29996]} 1. d4 e6 2. e4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Qc7 ({Rapport often plays} 6... Nc6 {, a line which Carlsen has adopted (at least in this event), so he probably thought better of trotting it out for this game.}) 7. h4 Ne7 8. h5 h6 9. Nf3 b6 10. Bb5+ Bd7 11. Bd3 c4 ({Black more commonly plays the immediate} 11... Ba4 {, but the text is also well-known, both here and in similar positions.}) 12. Be2 Ba4 13. Bf4 (13. Rh4) (13. Nh4) 13... Na6 14. Qd2 O-O-O 15. Nh2 $146 Kb7 16. Nf1 Qd7 17. Ne3 Nc7 18. Kf1 ({It may have been better to scoot the king in the opposite direction.} 18. Kd1) 18... Nc6 (18... g5 $1 19. Bh2 (19. hxg6 $143 $6 fxg6 $17 {[%CAl Bg6g5]}) 19... Nf5) 19. g3 Qe8 20. Kg2 Qg8 21. Rab1 Qh7 {An old idea attributed to Yusupov. (Not in this exact position, but in Winawers with the pawn on c4 and the bishop on a4.)} 22. Bf3 Kb8 {To move the Nc6 without getting hit by Nxc4; still, it's not clear that this is a safer diagonal for the Black king.} 23. Qe2 Rc8 (23... Nb5 $142) 24. Rb2 (24. g4 $142) 24... Nb5 25. Nxd5 $5 {The fun begins, and doesn't let up until the end of the game.} ({Or} 25. Rxb5 $5 Bxb5 26. Nxd5 $1 exd5 27. Bxd5 $44 {, which could have been a transposition.}) 25... exd5 26. e6+ $2 (26. Rxb5 $1 Bxb5 27. Bxd5 $44) 26... Kb7 $19 27. exf7 Qf5 $1 28. Rb4 $5 Nxb4 (28... Nxc3 $19) 29. Qe7+ Ka6 $2 (29... Nc7 30. axb4 Rhf8 $19) 30. Qxb4 $2 (30. axb4 $17 {[%CAl Bh1a1]}) 30... Bxc2 31. a4 Nc7 $2 (31... Nxc3 32. Qxc3 Be4 $19) 32. Bxc7 Be4 33. Bf4 $17 Bxf3+ 34. Kxf3 Qe4+ 35. Kg4 Qxh1 $2 (35... Qe6+ $1 36. Kf3 Kb7 37. a5 g5 $1 38. hxg6 Qe4+ 39. Kg4 Qxg6+ $1 40. Kh3 Qxf7 $17) 36. Qb5+ $11 Kb7 37. a5 $1 Rhd8 $2 (37... g6 $8 38. hxg6 Qe4 $8 39. Qd7+ $8 Ka6 $8 40. Qf5 h5+ 41. Kg5 Qe7+ 42. Qf6 Qe2 {[%CAl Be2g4]} 43. Qf5 Qe7+ $11) 38. a6+ $18 Ka8 39. f8=Q $2 $19 (39. f3 $3 {The only winning - or for that matter, non-losing - move. Now White threatens 40.f8Q, overloading the rook on d8.} g6 40. hxg6 h5+ 41. Kf5 Qa1 42. g7 Qa5 43. Qxa5 bxa5 44. Bd6 $1 $18) 39... Rxf8 40. Qd7 Rxf4+ $1 {The only move.} 41. gxf4 (41. Kxf4 $2 Qe4#) 41... Qg2+ 42. Kh4 Qxf2+ 43. Kg4 Qg2+ 44. Kh4 g5+ $1 45. hxg6 (45. fxg5 $2 hxg5#) 45... Qh2+ 46. Kg4 h5+ $1 47. Kf3 (47. Kf5 $4 Qh3+ $19) (47. Kg5 $2 Qg3+) 47... Qh1+ $8 48. Kf2 Qh4+ 49. Kf3 Qg4+ $1 50. Qxg4 hxg4+ 51. Kxg4 b5 52. f5 b4 53. f6 bxc3 54. f7 c2 55. g7 c1=Q 56. f8=Q Qg1+ 57. Kh5 (57. Kf5 $2 Qf2+ 58. Ke6 Rxf8 $19) 57... Qh2+ 58. Kg6 Qg3+ 59. Kh6 Qh4+ 60. Kg6 Qg4+ 61. Kh6 c3 $1 62. Qf7 $1 (62. g8=Q $2 Qxg8 $19) 62... Qh4+ 63. Kg6 Qe4+ $6 (63... Rc6+ $1 64. Kf5 Qf2+ $19 {would have been the end.}) 64. Kg5 Qe3+ $2 (64... Rb8 {is still winning.} 65. Qc7 (65. g8=Q Qg2+ 66. Kf4 Qxg8 $19) 65... Qe6 66. Qxc3 Rb6 $19) 65. Kh5 $1 $11 Qe8 $2 {It looks like a winner at first glance, and I think at the moment it was played both players shared that opinion. Alas for Rapport, this move decided the game, but not the way he intended.} (65... Qh3+ 66. Kg5 $8 Qg3+ 67. Kh5 $8 $11) 66. g8=Q $1 $18 Qe2+ (66... Qxg8 67. Qb7#) 67. Qg4 $1 Rh8+ 68. Kg5 Qe3+ (68... Qxa6 {avoids an immediate mate, but Black is still dead lost after} 69. Qxd5+ Qb7 70. Qxb7+ Kxb7 71. Qf3+ Kb8 72. Qxc3 $18) 69. Kf6 (69. Qgf4) 69... Qh6+ 70. Ke7 Qc6 71. Qgg8+ (71. Qgg8+ Qc8 72. Qxd5+ Kb8 73. Qb7#) 1-0 [Event "World Blitz 2022"] [Site "Almaty KAZ"] [Date "2022.12.30"] [Round "15.1"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2793"] [BlackElo "2859"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2022.12.29"] [EventType "blitz"] {[%evp 0,80,41,22,23,22,22,25,14,13,13,20,20,4,7,-7,-15,-5,38,33,42,41,60,35,33,31,32,30,13,14,46,55,52,60,65,69,66,60,62,68,89,87,85,81,64,58,80,54,62,47,63,65,64,65,75,65,56,65,62,65,59,57,59,27,30,28,37,10,19,14,31,32,25,25,31,18,31,25,25,35,46,36,34] Carlsen had gone undefeated in the Blitz Championship up to this point, but Nepo shows his teeth. Pity there won't be a rematch, even if Carlsen would still be a significant favorite to repeat.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Bxc6 {The same line Carlsen chose with White against Tomashevsky back in round 4.} dxc6 6. Nbd2 {But here Nepo varies.} ({Carlsen went for the alternative main line, castling.} 6. O-O Nd7 7. c3 {etc. Carlsen has played this way at least half a dozen times over the last year and change.}) 6... Be6 7. Nb3 Bd6 (7... Bb6) 8. O-O (8. Na5) 8... c5 (8... a5) 9. Na5 $14 Qc8 10. b3 O-O 11. Nc4 $146 (11. Bb2 Bg4 12. Nc4 Re8 13. a4 Bh5 14. Qe2 Nd7 15. Qe3 Qd8 16. Kh1 f6 17. Rg1 Bf7 18. g4 h6 19. g5 fxg5 20. Nxg5 hxg5 21. Rxg5 Qf6 22. Rag1 Bf8 23. Rf5 Qh4 24. Nd2 Re6 25. f4 Rg6 26. Nf3 Qh3 27. fxe5 Rxg1+ 28. Qxg1 Bh5 29. Ng5 Qg4 30. Qe3 Be7 31. e6 Rf8 32. Nf7 Bxf7 33. exd7 Be6 {0-1 Rapport,R (2764)-Radjabov,T (2753) Candidates Tournament Madrid 2022 (14)}) 11... Nd7 12. Ng5 (12. Nh4 $14) 12... Bxc4 13. bxc4 f6 14. Nf3 f5 $2 {Positionally suspect, to say the least - a judgment that would not shock Carlsen. (But did shock the commentators, who were horrified by it.) He must have believed that his kingside play would suffice, and having gone undefeated in the event and having lost only one game in the past 27 may have given him a little more self-confidence than this move warrants.} (14... Nb8 $11 {, with the typical plan of ...Nc6-d4, was one way to maintain equal chances.}) 15. exf5 Rxf5 16. Qe2 $16 b6 (16... Rb8) 17. Bb2 Qf8 18. Rae1 Re8 19. Nd2 Re7 20. Ne4 Qf7 21. Bc1 Qg6 22. Qd1 Nf8 23. Ng3 Rff7 24. Re4 Ne6 {Carlsen was already down to 10 seconds after this move. Now Nepo spends both clock time and tempi trying to trap Black's queen, but it's a will-o'-the-wisp.} 25. Rg4 Qf6 26. Ne4 Qf5 27. Bg5 Re8 28. Ng3 Qg6 29. Ne4 Qf5 30. Ng3 Qg6 31. h4 Nxg5 (31... Nd4 $14) 32. Rxg5 Qe6 33. Ne4 Be7 34. Rg4 Rf4 35. Rxf4 exf4 36. h5 (36. Re1 $142 $14) 36... h6 $11 37. Qf3 Qe5 (37... Rf8 $142 $11) 38. Qg4 Rf8 39. Re1 Rf5 $2 40. Kf1 $16 {Now Carlsen realized that his last move wasn't very good; unfortunately for him, he took the rest of his time deciding to retreat, and lost on time before he could complete the rook's retreat to f8.} Rf8 1-0 [Event "World Blitz 2022"] [Site "Almaty KAZ"] [Date "2022.12.30"] [Round "16.1"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Keymer, Vincent"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A06"] [WhiteElo "2859"] [BlackElo "2696"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "55"] [EventDate "2022.12.29"] [EventType "blitz"] {[%evp 0,55,29,34,32,-14,5,2,-4,-8,-8,0,11,1,6,11,13,13,23,0,0,-5,9,16,23,16,18,-2,-2,-26,4,0,19,0,-2,-11,-39,-3,0,-40,-10,-24,3,14,16,24,98,148,148,24,93,122,109,117,772,771,779,798]} 1. Nf3 d5 2. b3 {Starting with 1.Nf3 allows b3 players to avoid the 1...e5 lines. It's also flexible: depending on what Black does you might go for a non-b3 system.} Bg4 3. Bb2 Nd7 4. g3 e6 (4... e5 $5 5. Nxe5 $2 Nxe5 6. Bxe5 d4 $1) 5. Bg2 Ngf6 6. d3 Bd6 7. Nbd2 O-O 8. h3 Bh5 9. g4 $146 (9. e4 $11) 9... Bg6 10. Nh4 Be5 (10... c6 $142 $15) 11. d4 Bd6 12. Nxg6 hxg6 13. e3 c5 14. g5 Nh5 15. Nf3 cxd4 16. Qxd4 Rc8 $15 17. O-O-O Qc7 18. Rd2 Nc5 19. Ne1 Rfd8 (19... Qa5 $142 $1 20. b4 Qxa2 21. bxc5 Rxc5 {and ...Rhc8 gives Black more than enough for the sacrificed material.}) 20. Kb1 e5 (20... Be7 $142 $15) 21. Qg4 $11 d4 22. Nf3 d3 $2 {Too ambitious, but it's not yet the losing move.} 23. Rc1 $1 e4 24. Ne1 $2 (24. Nd4 $16 {/+-}) 24... Be5 $2 (24... Nf4 $1 $11) 25. Bxe5 Qxe5 26. cxd3 Nxd3 $4 {An honest-to-goodness blunder. It happens.} (26... Nxb3 $1 {won't rescue Black, but it will force White to find quite a few good moves to keep the advantage.} 27. Rxc8 $8 (27. axb3 $2 Rxc1+ 28. Kxc1 {From here to the end of the line, it's all about Black getting his rook to c8. Once that is done, White is done.} f5 $1 29. gxf6 Qa1+ $1 (29... Nxf6 $4 30. d4 $18) 30. Kc2 Nxf6 31. Qe6+ Kh8 32. Rd1 Qa2+ 33. Kc1 Nd7 $1 34. Qc4 Nb6 35. Qc2 Rc8 $19) 27... Qa1+ 28. Kc2 Qc1+ 29. Kxb3 Rxc8 30. Rc2 $8 Qb1+ 31. Rb2 Qc1 32. a3 $1 Rc5 33. Ka2 Qxe1 34. Bxe4 $16 {/+-}) 27. Rxc8 Rxc8 28. Qxc8+ 1-0 [Event "World Blitz 2022"] [Site "Almaty KAZ"] [Date "2022.12.30"] [Round "17.1"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C88"] [WhiteElo "2766"] [BlackElo "2859"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "102"] [EventDate "2022.12.29"] [EventType "blitz"] {[%evp 0,100,30,13,21,14,21,12,14,-6,10,10,15,2,8,10,2,14,19,-13,25,14,23,-2,43,37,39,34,32,23,31,25,38,32,47,60,57,60,51,42,42,40,40,21,21,-3,4,0,-8,-1,-15,-21,-22,-34,-1,-20,-18,-40,-47,-34,-40,-54,-26,-29,-29,-53,-56,-85,-78,-78,-81,-80,-85,-87,-60,-60,-68,-76,-75,-76,-52,-71,-74,-64,-55,-39,-56,-56,-29,-82,-76,-89,-25,0,0,-49,-52,-66,-89,-99,-89,-91,-227]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. d3 d6 9. Bd2 h6 10. h3 Re8 11. a3 Bf8 12. Nc3 Rb8 13. Nd5 (13. Ba2 Ne7 14. Nh4 g5 15. Nf3 Ng6 16. Nh2 c6 17. Ne2 d5 18. Ng3 dxe4 19. dxe4 Rb7 20. Qf3 Nf4 21. Rad1 Rd7 22. Be3 Rxd1 23. Rxd1 Qe7 24. Ng4 Nxg4 25. hxg4 Rd8 26. Re1 c5 27. Nf5 Qc7 28. g3 Ne6 29. Qh1 f6 30. Bd5 {1-0 Carlsen,M (2872)-Vitiugov,N (2747) Tata Steel-A 82nd Wijk aan Zee 2020 (8)}) 13... Nxd5 14. Bxd5 Ne7 15. Bb3 $146 (15. Ba2 {was played in prior games.}) 15... Ng6 16. a4 Be6 17. Bxe6 Rxe6 18. axb5 axb5 19. Qe2 d5 $11 20. exd5 Qxd5 21. Qe4 Qxe4 22. dxe4 Rc6 $1 23. c3 f6 24. g3 b4 {The first small indications of pressure.} 25. Kg2 (25. Ra4) (25. Rec1) 25... bxc3 26. Bxc3 Bd6 27. Nd2 Nf8 28. Nf1 Bb4 29. Rec1 $1 Bxc3 30. Rxc3 Rxc3 31. bxc3 $11 {It's hard to believe that White could lose this - especially a player of Caruana's caliber. But Carlsen keeps finding ways to create pressure, and even Caruana - who entered the tournament with a higher blitz rating than Carlsen's - ultimately failed to keep the balance in time trouble.} Rb3 32. Rc1 $6 {Unnecessarily passive.} (32. c4 $142 {followed by Ne3 was better, freeing the rook for active responsibilities.}) 32... Ne6 33. Nd2 $6 (33. Ne3 $142 {was still better.}) 33... Rb2 34. Nc4 Ra2 $15 {White's knight is useless on c4, and his c3-, e4-, and f2-pawns are all somewhat vulnerable.} 35. Rd1 Nc5 $5 {This does a lot: it hits e4, it threatens ...Rc2 (there will be no Rd3 in reply), may threaten ...Ra4, and covers the 7th rank. Caruana found a good reply, but it took a significant chunk of his remaining time.} (35... Rc2 $142 {was objectively better, though perhaps easier to handle.}) 36. Rd2 $1 Ra4 37. Ne3 $1 Nxe4 38. Rd7 $1 {Counterplay! Active defense is almost always best, when possible.} Ra2 $1 39. Kf3 $1 (39. Nf5 $4 Rxf2+ $19) 39... Nxf2 40. Nf5 Nxh3 41. Rxg7+ Kf8 42. Rxc7 $11 h5 $1 {Saving the pawn and preventing White's king from penetrating. (If the king managed to reach g6 Black's king would be in danger of getting mated.)} 43. Ke3 Ng5 44. Nd6 Rc2 45. Nf5 Ne6 46. Rc6 Kf7 {At first this seems to allow an immediate draw, but there's one trick left.} 47. Nh6+ Kg6 48. Rxe6 (48. Ng8 $11) 48... Rxc3+ $1 49. Kd2 Rc8 $1 (49... Rxg3 50. Ng8 Rf3 51. Ke2 Rf4 52. Nxf6 Rxf6 53. Rxe5 $11) 50. Ke3 $4 (50. g4 $1 {saves the game. It won't save the knight, but Black will have to give up too many pawns to retain any winning chances. Tragically, Caruana's hand was hovering over the g-pawn, but with almost no time on the clock he talked himself out of it and made the losing move.} hxg4 (50... Rh8 51. gxh5+ $11 (51. g5 $6 Kxg5 52. Nf7+ Kf5 53. Ra6 (53. Rxf6+ $4 Kxf6 54. Nxh8 Kg7 $19) (53. Rxe5+ $4 fxe5 54. Nxh8 Kf6 $19) 53... Rb8 {White should draw, but all the winning chances are Black's.}) 51... Kxh6 (51... Kxh5 52. Rxf6 Rxh6 53. Rf5+ $11) 52. Rxf6+ Kg5 53. Rf7 Rxh5 54. Ke3 $11) 51. Nxg4 Kf5 52. Rxf6+ Kxg4 53. Ke3 $11) 50... Rh8 $19 51. g4 {Too late.} Rxh6 0-1 [Event "World Blitz 2022"] [Site "Almaty KAZ"] [Date "2022.12.30"] [Round "18.1"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Madaminov, Mukhiddin"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D76"] [WhiteElo "2859"] [BlackElo "2438"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "133"] [EventDate "2022.12.29"] [EventType "blitz"] {[%evp 0,133,32,29,34,6,36,13,16,5,31,9,9,10,11,11,11,24,18,-15,-5,21,2,-15,1,-26,-5,-2,-12,-12,0,-32,-23,-20,-16,-33,-38,-40,-29,-59,-13,-8,18,4,9,0,19,16,33,16,38,46,62,9,17,-3,-4,-34,10,-10,0,0,0,-3,-26,-39,-42,-35,-43,-58,-27,-34,-36,-37,-39,-52,-1,3,2,0,0,7,6,9,13,9,7,13,13,12,7,6,7,6,8,8,4,8,8,6,22,18,26,26,30,25,26,26,26,26,26,26,26,19,215,254,288,299,295,292,314,335,311,436,472,287,283,323,867,604,604,604,744,922,1150,1180] Black is a 16-year-old IM who had an extraordinary run leading up to this game, to get into the top group.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Nf3 O-O 7. O-O Nb6 8. Nc3 Nc6 9. Bf4 (9. e3 {is the main move, which has been played thousands of times. You might remember that this was how the first Carlsen-Giri game went, and it didn't turn out well for Carlsen.} Re8 10. Re1 a5 11. Qd2 e5 12. d5 Nb4 13. e4 c6 14. a3 cxd5 15. axb4 axb4 16. Rxa8 bxc3 17. bxc3 Nxa8 18. exd5 Nb6 19. Rd1 e4 20. Ng5 e3 21. Qb2 Qxg5 22. Bxe3 Qg4 {0-1 Carlsen,M (2814)-Giri,A (2686) Tata Steel-A 73rd Wijk aan Zee 2011 (3)}) 9... Nxd4 10. Nxd4 e5 $11 {This simple trick is why 9.Bf4 isn't terribly popular. Still, as we know very well by now, getting an equal position against Carlsen isn't so remarkable. The trick is keeping equality.} 11. Bxe5 (11. Nc6 {is usual.} Qxd1 12. Ne7+ Kh8 13. Rfxd1 exf4 14. Nxc8 Raxc8 15. Bxb7 Rb8 16. Ba6 fxg3 17. hxg3 Bxc3 18. bxc3 $11 {and now either 18...Na4 or 18...Rfd8, when Black has drawn 19 games out of 20...and the other one was a win.}) 11... Bxe5 12. e3 c6 $146 13. Qc2 Qe7 14. Rad1 Bg4 15. Rd3 Rad8 16. h3 Bxd4 17. Rxd4 Rxd4 18. exd4 {If anyone's better here, it's Black.} Bf5 19. Qc1 Rd8 20. Rd1 Qb4 (20... h5 $142) 21. a3 Qb3 22. g4 Bc8 23. Ne4 Nd5 24. Re1 Qb6 25. Nc5 Qc7 $2 26. Qg5 $2 (26. Bxd5 $1 cxd5 {Positionally undesirable, but the natural alternative probably loses.} (26... Rxd5 $2 27. Qh6 $18 {is unexpectedly winning for White. The back rank threat is obvious, but there's also Ne4, looking to jump into f6 or g5. It's easy to see the players missing this in blitz, as it doesn't seem like a position where there should be any tactical problems.}) 27. Qg5 $16 {/+-}) 26... Kg7 27. Nd3 (27. Bxd5 $1 {forces Black to make several precise moves to maintain equality.} Rxd5 28. Re7 Qd8 29. Qe3 Kf8 $1 30. Re5 g5 $1 31. Qe4 f6 $11) 27... Be6 (27... h6 $142 $15) 28. Nc5 Bc8 29. Nd3 Be6 30. Qd2 b6 31. Rc1 Qd6 32. Ne5 Ne7 (32... c5 $11) 33. Nxc6 Nxc6 34. Rxc6 Qxd4 35. Qxd4+ Rxd4 36. Rc7 Rd1+ 37. Kh2 Rd7 (37... Rd2 38. b4 Rxf2 39. Kg1 {followed by Rxa7 is at least equal for Black, but I can see his not wanting to do this from fear that White's 2-1 queenside majority would give him some chances. It won't, but against Carlsen one is liable to see ghosts everywhere.}) 38. Rxd7 Bxd7 39. g5 $1 {It should be a draw whether or not White plays this, but it's still the right thing to do, trying to fix as many Black pawns as possible on light squares while making sure that his own pawns don't suffer the same fate.} h6 40. h4 hxg5 41. hxg5 Kf8 (41... f6 42. f4 fxg5 43. fxg5 {is possible for Black, but it leaves the g6 pawn rather exposed. As Black's king will need to prevent White's king from breaking in, keeping the g-pawn could prove a small headache for Black. (At least that's the concern.)}) 42. Kg3 Ke7 43. Kf4 Kd6 44. Ke3 Kc5 (44... Ke5 45. f4+ Kd6 46. Kd4 Be6 $11) 45. Kd3 a5 46. Kc3 a4 $6 {It's not fatal yet, but on general principles it's a strange move. Black wants to avoid b4+ (and after the pawns are swapped on b4) followed by Kd4. But that's as far as White's king will get, and Black can defend. Now Black is putting another pawn on a light square, which means he has more potential liabilities - White's bishop can attack both it and the f-pawn.} 47. Bf1 Be6 48. Be2 Bb3 {Guarding both of the targets mentioned in the last note. It would be better if he didn't have to do something like this, but he's still okay for now. The engine says 0.00, and it should be drawn, but the reality of the situation is that White still has the better practical chances. There's no plausible way for him to lose, but Black could still goof things up with almost all his pawns on light squares.} 49. Bg4 Bd5 50. Bd7 b5 {Black is still safe, but with all four of his pawns on light squares his margin for error is shrinking.} 51. Be8 Bb3 $6 (51... Bc4 $1) 52. Kd3 Bc4+ $2 (52... Bd5 $8 53. f4 Bc4+ $8 54. Ke4 Kd6 55. Kd4 Ke6 $1 {Because White's f-pawn is a target, Black should survive.}) 53. Ke4 $18 {See how easy that is?} Kd6 54. Kd4 $1 $18 Ke7 (54... Ke6 {With White's pawn sitting on f2, Black's kingside counterplay is far too slow:} 55. Kc5 Kf5 56. Bxb5 Bxb5 57. Kxb5 Kxg5 58. Kxa4 Kf4 59. b4 Kf3 60. b5 Kxf2 61. b6 $18 {White is winning with tempi to spare.}) 55. Bc6 Kd6 56. Be4 Ke6 {Giving ground in search of counterplay. Unfortunately for Black, White is too fast on the queenside.} (56... Be6 {isn't a bad try, but here too White can break through and win.} 57. Bd3 Kc6 58. f4 Bb3 59. f5 gxf5 60. Bxf5 Kd6 61. Bd3 Kc6 62. Ke5 Kc5 63. Be2 $1 Be6 64. Kf6 Bd5 65. Bh5 $18) 57. Kc5 Ke5 58. Bc6 Kf4 59. Bxb5 Bb3 60. Kb4 Kxg5 61. Bxa4 Bd5 62. Bb3 Bxb3 63. Kxb3 Kf4 64. a4 Ke5 65. a5 Kd6 66. Kc4 f5 67. f4 1-0 [Event "World Blitz 2022"] [Site "Almaty KAZ"] [Date "2022.12.30"] [Round "19.1"] [White "Sarana, Alexey"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D31"] [WhiteElo "2668"] [BlackElo "2859"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "47"] [EventDate "2022.12.29"] [EventType "blitz"] {[%evp 0,47,19,34,32,-12,4,6,3,5,2,-3,35,31,28,5,53,37,51,53,49,42,46,27,65,78,60,68,68,64,58,66,80,67,80,64,62,11,147,115,130,117,116,3,296,302,268,266,266,259] As hot as Carlsen was on the day, he had his stumbles. Here's a big one, just two rounds before the end of the tournament.} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bf4 c6 6. e3 Bf5 7. f3 h5 $6 $146 {Stopping the g2-g4 advance is common in some openings, and maybe it's played in some similar positions in the Exchange Variation of the Queen's Gambit with Bf4. It's a novelty here, though.} (7... Bd6 {is usual, while the engine's top choice is}) (7... Nh5 {, grabbing the bishop pair.}) 8. Bd3 $14 Bxd3 9. Qxd3 Na6 10. Nge2 Nc7 11. e4 dxe4 $2 (11... Ne6) 12. fxe4 Ne6 13. O-O $16 {/+- Black's position is terrible: less space, no development, and a real question about what he can do about his king.} Be7 14. h3 (14. Rad1 $142 O-O (14... h4 15. h3) 15. Qf3) 14... O-O 15. Rad1 (15. Be3 $142) 15... Qb6 16. e5 Nd5 17. Nxd5 cxd5 18. Ng3 (18. Qf3) 18... g6 $2 (18... f5 $1) 19. Bh6 $18 Qxb2 20. Bxf8 Rxf8 21. Rb1 $4 {It has been smooth sailing for Sarana so far, but this is a huge error.} Qxa2 $4 {Fortunately for Sarana, the error not only went unpunished, but Carlsen's mistake made his situation worse than it was before.} (21... Qxd4+ 22. Qxd4 Nxd4 23. Rxb7 Bc5 $11) 22. Rxb7 $18 Qa3 23. Qxa3 Bxa3 24. Ra1 {White is winning and it's not exactly wrong for Black to resign here, but he isn't losing the bishop.} (24. Ra1 Nd8 $1 {saves the bishop (assuming of course that White doesn't want to throw away the b7-rook), but as d5 and a7 are sure to drop it would take a "miracle" - even by Carlsen's standards - to save the game.}) 1-0 [Event "World Blitz 2022"] [Site "Almaty KAZ"] [Date "2022.12.30"] [Round "20.1"] [White "Shimanov, Aleksandr"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C12"] [WhiteElo "2581"] [BlackElo "2859"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "84"] [EventDate "2022.12.29"] [EventType "blitz"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 h6 $5 5. Bxf6 Qxf6 6. a3 Qd8 7. Nf3 c6 8. Bd3 Nd7 9. O-O Be7 10. exd5 $146 {Wrongly going for a stale equality rather than trying to make something of his space advantage. (Or at least we say "wrongly" with the benefit of hindsight, though in light of all the wins we've seen so far, it's not just hindsight.)} (10. Qd2 $142 {½-½ Praggnanandhaa,R (2678)-Carlsen,M (2859) Meltwater Tour Final chess24.com INT rapid 2022 (6.3)}) 10... exd5 $11 11. Ne2 {Here's the idea: White's knight is headed for the tasty f5 square.} O-O 12. Ng3 Nf6 13. Nf5 Bxf5 14. Bxf5 {The position looks dull and drawish, but wait - it will get even worse.} Bd6 15. c3 g6 16. Bd3 Qc7 17. Re1 Rfe8 18. Qc2 Kg7 19. g3 h5 20. Kg2 Qd7 21. h3 Rxe1 22. Rxe1 Re8 {I would be embarrassed to lose this position with White, but once again we see that when Carlsen is on the other side of the board it's not the draw that's dead, but the opponent.} 23. Re2 (23. Ne5 Qc7 24. Bxg6 {is a nice tactic, but Black has resources to maintain equality:} Bxe5 (24... fxg6 $4 25. Qxg6+ Kf8 26. Qxf6+ $18) 25. dxe5 Rxe5 (25... fxg6 $4 26. exf6+ Kf7 27. Rxe8 Kxe8 28. Qxg6+ $18) 26. Rxe5 Qxe5 27. Bd3 d4 $11) 23... c5 $5 {Creating an imbalance.} 24. dxc5 Bxc5 25. Ne5 Qc7 26. Nf3 (26. f4 Bd6 $11) 26... Rxe2 27. Qxe2 Qb6 28. Ng5 (28. b4 Bd6 29. c4 $11) 28... a5 {Looking to fix White's queenside with ...a5-a4. These innocuous-looking space grabs are a common theme in Carlsen's endgame play.} 29. a4 (29. b4 {was still possible, when I suspect that Carlsen would have avoided the exchange, leaving White's queenside vulnerable to ...d4 ideas.}) 29... Qc6 {Hitting the a-pawn and "threatening" ...d4+. Shimanov stops that, but the bishop is slightly less well-placed on b5.} 30. Bb5 Qc7 31. Bd3 h4 $1 {This is unpleasant. Allowing Black to take will lengthen the a7-g1 diagonal for Black's pieces and weaken the g3 square, but pushing the g-pawn weakens f4. In the meantime, White's well-centralized pieces do nothing to both Black.} 32. g4 Qf4 33. Nf3 Qxa4 (33... Ne4 $5) 34. Nxh4 (34. Qe5 $1 {Activity! As we've seen, however, Carlsen's opponents have been "trained" to play passively.} Qe8 {is forced due to the threatened g4-g5, and now} 35. Qxe8 Nxe8 36. Nxh4 {is quite drawish.}) 34... Qf4 $15 35. Nf3 Ne4 36. Bxe4 Qxe4 {No fear of trades!} 37. Qxe4 dxe4 38. Ng5 e3 $1 39. fxe3 $2 {And "just like that" - but as we now know, it's not really "just like that" - the game is over.} (39. Kf1 $3 exf2 40. Ne4 $1 {had to be played.} Be3 41. Nxf2 a4 42. Nd3 $1 $11 {Just in time to stop the tactic that we'll see in the game.}) 39... Bxe3 40. Nf3 a4 41. Ne1 Bc1 42. Nd3 {And now a standard trick that should be in every player's "book":} Bxb2 $1 (42... Bxb2 $1 43. Nxb2 a3 {and the knight can't stop the a-pawn.}) 0-1 [Event "World Blitz 2022"] [Site "Almaty KAZ"] [Date "2022.12.30"] [Round "21.1"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Abdusattorov, Nodirbek"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C88"] [WhiteElo "2859"] [BlackElo "2713"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2022.12.29"] [EventType "blitz"] {[%evp 0,75,25,25,25,25,25,8,8,3,-10,-10,4,17,35,3,-1,-1,9,6,6,-14,-15,-20,-3,-44,-21,-50,11,-1,8,6,18,-2,-11,-25,21,16,15,4,30,18,-5,8,34,-58,51,32,48,48,48,35,35,46,160,120,158,159,187,188,190,193,300,329,328,345,306,332,355,356,381,375,452,453,536,566,519,519]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d3 b5 6. Bb3 Be7 7. a4 b4 8. O-O O-O 9. Nbd2 d6 10. c3 Rb8 11. Re1 Na5 12. Ba2 c5 13. d4 {Still well within theory.} bxc3 ({Carlsen has also faced} 13... cxd4) ({and} 13... Qc7 {.}) 14. bxc3 cxd4 15. cxd4 Nc6 16. d5 $146 Nb4 17. Bc4 Nh5 $6 {Aiming for King's Indian style play is natural, but apparently mistaken here.} (17... a5 $11 {followed by ...Bd7 and ...Qe8 is apparently best.}) 18. a5 $1 $16 Nf4 {Carlsen enjoyed a significant time advantage up to this point, but now started thinking.} 19. Nf1 $6 (19. Re3 $1 $16 {was the best way to handle the threat of a knight coming into d3.}) 19... Bg4 $6 (19... Qc7 $1 20. Ne3 f5 $1 21. exf5 e4 $1 22. Nd2 Nfd3 $44 {would have been very dangerous for White.}) 20. Ne3 $16 Bh5 21. Ra3 $1 {Safeguarding d3 and potentially f3, with an eye to possibly swinging the rook across to g3 someday, a la the Zaitsev Ruy that hit the big time in the Kasparov-Karpov World Championship matches.} Qc7 22. Bd2 $6 (22. Bf1 $142 $16) 22... Bxf3 $2 (22... f5 $1 {takes advantage of the overloaded knight on e3.} 23. exf5 e4 24. g4 $8 Bxg4 $1 25. Nxg4 Qxc4 26. Bxf4 exf3 {is a complete mess - not what Carlsen wants given the tournament situation.}) 23. Qxf3 Nc2 24. Nxc2 Qxc4 25. Ne3 $6 (25. Rc3 $142 Qa2 26. g3 Nh3+ 27. Kg2 Ng5 28. Bxg5 Bxg5 29. Rc6 $16) 25... Qd4 26. Rd1 (26. Bc3 Qc5 {buys Black the tempo he needs to play ...g6.}) 26... Qc5 $2 {But here this doesn't buy Black that tempo, because after} (26... g6 $8 $14) 27. Nf5 $18 {the queen is also covering the rook. Now Black is lost.} Bg5 28. h4 Bf6 29. Rc3 Qxa5 30. g3 $1 Nxd5 $5 {Trying to mix things up in a strategically lost position, but Carlsen is ready for the challenge.} (30... Ng6 31. Nxd6 $18) 31. Ra3 $1 (31. exd5 e4 {was the idea, but even this fails:} 32. Qg4 Bxc3 33. Rc1 $3 $18) 31... Qc5 32. Rc1 $1 {Not strictly necessary, but a nice and precise move. The rest is simple.} Qb6 33. exd5 Qb2 34. Rd3 Rfd8 35. Kg2 Qb5 36. Rc6 Re8 $5 37. Nxd6 e4 38. Nxe4 1-0