[Event "Candidates Tournament"]
[Site "Ekaterinburg"]
[Date "2020.03.19"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Ding, Liren"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D17"]
[WhiteElo "2805"]
[BlackElo "2842"]
[Annotator "Krasenkow,Michal"]
[PlyCount "117"]
[EventDate "2020.03.15"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "14"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[EventCategory "21"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 195"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2020.04.30"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2020.04.30"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
{[%evp 0,117,19,31,23,-10,18,24,24,19,16,-23,-1,-38,-38,16,13,-14,23,31,117,50,
73,72,64,50,93,113,150,114,216,110,196,184,191,107,166,151,172,172,136,129,109,
140,140,139,150,118,84,138,149,144,147,119,132,120,110,141,102,63,112,121,131,
110,109,117,156,142,248,261,205,198,221,240,209,245,250,265,296,297,251,245,
306,245,308,354,290,365,363,358,343,343,427,416,522,485,541,495,552,542,542,
538,538,538,538,538,536,536,536,568,566,615,869,1152,1267,490,790,820,835,596]
} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. Ne5 e6 7. f3 Bb4 8.
Nxc4 O-O 9. Kf2 {This "crazy" move (preparing e2-e4, of course) was introduced
by GM Laurent Fressinet back in 2009 and gained popularity in recent years.} ({
The immediate} 9. e4 {gives Black a strong attack after} Nxe4 10. fxe4 Qh4+ 11.
Kd2 Qxe4 {, which was seen in a number of games.}) (9. Bg5 {is the common main
move.}) 9... e5 $6 $146 {[%mdl 512] A curious pawn sacrifice, one of the
numerous surprises prepared by Fabiano Caruana for the Candidates Tournament.
Previous practice saw:} (9... b5 $6 10. axb5 cxb5 11. Nxb5 Nc6 12. e3 Qb8 13.
Nc3 e5 14. d5 Rd8 15. Qa4 Ne7 {1/2 (28) Fressinet,L (2658)-Solak,D (2583)
Eforie Nord 2009} 16. e4 $16) (9... Nd5 10. Na2 $1 b5 11. Nxb4 bxc4 12. Na2 c5
13. e4 cxd4 14. Bxc4 (14. exd5 d3 $44) 14... Nb6 15. Be2 Bg6 16. a5 Nc8 17. Nb4
$14 {1-0 (60) Anton Guijarro,D (2674)-Hovhannisyan,R (2639) Douglas 2019}) (
9... Nbd7 10. e4 Bg6 11. Be3 Qb8 12. g3 a5 13. Be2 Ne8 14. Rc1 $14 {1/2 (41)
Babula,V (2540)-Bartel,M (2646) Baku 2016}) (9... Bg6 $5 10. e4 Qc7 11. Qb3 c5
(11... a5 12. Na2 c5 13. Nxb4 axb4 14. dxc5 Na6 15. Be3 $16 {1-0 (24)
Cheparinov,I (2673)-Arngrimsson,D (2381) Albena 2012}) 12. Na2 Nc6 13. Nxb4
cxb4 14. Be3 Rfd8 15. Rd1 Rd7 16. Ne5 Nxe5 17. dxe5 Rxd1 18. Qxd1 Qxe5 19. Qd4
Qa5 20. Be2 Qxa4 21. Rc1 h6 $11 {1-0 (41) Ding,L (2679)-Paragua,M (2521) Ho
Chi Minh City 2012}) (9... c5 {(the main move, however, it is unclear whether
it is enough for equality)} 10. e4 Bg6 (10... Bxc3 11. bxc3 Bxe4 {is
insufficient:} 12. fxe4 Nxe4+ 13. Kg1 Nxc3 14. Qe1 $1 cxd4 15. Ba3 Nc6 $5 (
15... Re8 16. Nd6 Re7 17. Nb5 Rd7 18. Nxc3 dxc3 19. Qxc3 Nc6 20. Rc1 Qh4 21.
Bb2 e5 22. h3 $14 {1-0 (38) Smirnov,P (2595)-Tran,M (2280) Ho Chi Minh City
2016}) 16. Bxf8 (16. h4 Qd5 17. Bxf8 Rxf8 18. Rh3 $14 {1/2 (37) Xiu,D (2556)
-Shankland,S (2599) Ningbo 2013}) 16... Qxf8 17. h4 Qc5 18. Nd2 Nb4 (18... Ne5
19. Rh3 Ng4 20. Bd3 Ne3 21. Nf1 $16 {1-0 (43) Mchedlishvili,M (2625)-Bakre,T
(2454) Al Ain 2014}) 19. Qf2 Rd8 20. Rh3 Nbd5 21. Rd3 e5 22. Re1 Qc7 23. Ne4
$16 {1-0 (38) Ding,L (2547)-Zhou,J (2652) Danzhou 2010}) 11. Na2 (11. Be3 $6
cxd4 12. Qxd4 {0-1 (44) Georgiadis,N (2514)-Shankland,S (2713) Biel 2019} Qe7
$36) 11... Nc6 12. Nxb4 Nxb4 13. Qb3 $1 (13. Bd2 Qxd4+ 14. Be3 Qxd1 15. Rxd1 b6
16. a5 Rfb8 17. Bf4 Rb7 {1/2 (37) Kuljasevic,D (2534)-Vocaturo,D (2616) Le
Castella 2018} 18. g4 $44) 13... Nxe4+ (13... Bxe4 $6 14. fxe4 Qxd4+ (14...
Nxe4+ 15. Kg1 Qxd4+ 16. Be3 Qd5 17. Rd1 Qh5 18. Bf4 Rad8 19. Re1 $14) 15. Be3
Qxe4 16. Be2 $16 {1-0 (29) Sarkar,J (2437)-Gonzalez Acosta,B (2461) Cochabamba
2013}) 14. fxe4 Bxe4 (14... Qxd4+ 15. Be3 Qxe4 16. Kg1 Rfd8 17. h4 Nc2 18. Rc1
Nxe3 19. Nxe3 Qf4 20. Rh3 $14 {0-1 (38) Van de Peut,A (1315)-Willmann,B (2120)
Lechenicher SchachServer 2014}) 15. dxc5 (15. Bf4 Qf6 16. Qe3 Rad8 17. Kg1 Nc2
18. Qxe4 Nxa1 19. Be5 Qe7 20. Bd3 f5 21. Qf4 $14 {1-0 (51) Iturrizaga Bonelli,
E (2637)-Shankland,S (2725) chess.com INT 2019}) (15. Bd2 Nc2 16. Rc1 Nxd4 17.
Qe3 Bc6 (17... Qd5 {1-0 (51) Grandelius,N (2556)-Hector,J (2560) Malmo 2012
CBM 149 [Ftacnik,L]} 18. Bc3 $14) 18. a5 Qd5 19. Bc3 Qf5+ 20. Kg1 Rad8 21. h4
$14 {1-0 (62) Parligras,M (2645)-Miron,L (2465) Sovata 2018}) 15... Nc2 16. Ra3
(16. Ra2 Rc8 $17 {0-1 (21) Lashkin,J (2313)-Miron,L (2472) Kishinev 2019})
16... Qd1 17. Bf4 Rfd8 18. Nd6 Bd5 19. Qd3 Qe1+ 20. Kg1 Nxa3 21. Qxa3 b6 22. h4
bxc5 23. Rh3 $14 {0-1 (50) Gupta,A (2654)-Batchuluun,T (2489) Tashkent 2016}) {
At the moment, however, I must give Caruana's novelty a "?!" mark as I don't
see a sufficient compensation for the pawn.} 10. Nxe5 ({Further practice will
probably help us to evaluate the following lines more accurately:} 10. dxe5
Nfd7 11. e4 Be6 $13) ({and} 10. e4 exd4 11. Na2 Bc5 12. b4 (12. exf5 b5 13. Nd2
d3+ 14. Kg3 Nh5+ 15. Kg4 Bf2 $3 16. g3 Nf4 $3 17. Kxf4 h5 18. Ne4 g5+ $1 {
Chesspro.ru} 19. Nxg5 Qd6+ 20. Ke4 Qd4#) 12... b5 $1 13. bxc5 bxc4 14. Bxc4 Be6
$13) 10... Bc2 $1 11. Qd2 c5 12. d5 Bb3 13. e4 Re8 14. Qf4 $1 c4 $5 {Another
pawn sacrifice. White's pieces are placed awkwardly, which is Black's main
trump in this position.} 15. Nxc4 Nbd7 16. Be3 Nf8 17. Bd4 $1 Ng6 18. Qf5 $6 (
18. Qc1 {looks much better. If} Rc8 {then} 19. Nd2 {, consolidating the
position. It is unclear what Black intended to play in that case. E.g.} Nxe4+
20. fxe4 Bxd5 21. Qd1 Bc6 22. Be3 {, and White should parry Black's threats.})
18... Bxc4 19. Bxc4 Qc7 20. Be2 (20. Bb5 $5 Bc5 21. Bxc5 Qxc5+ 22. Kf1 Re5 23.
Qh3) 20... Bc5 21. Bxc5 Qxc5+ 22. Kf1 h6 $2 {[%mdl 16384] A strange move.
Black wastes a tempo to prevent Qf5-g5, which is not an adequate price for
that.} (22... Re5 $142 23. Qh3 Qb4 24. Rb1 Nf4 25. Qg3 N6h5 $44 {[%CAl Yf7f5]
Chesspro.ru}) 23. Rd1 (23. g3 $5 {, restricting Black's g6 knight, is another
good option.}) 23... Qb6 (23... Qb4 24. Rd2) (23... a6 $5 {[%CAl Yb7b5] was
probably a better chance to create counterplay.}) 24. Rd2 Qe3 25. Rc2 a6 26.
Qh3 b5 27. Qg3 b4 (27... Rec8 $5 28. axb5 axb5 29. Nd1 Qd4 30. Rxc8+ Rxc8 31.
Qf2 Qb4 32. Qe3 Rc2 33. g3 $16) 28. Nd1 Qb3 29. Rd2 Qxa4 {Black has regained
one of his sacrificed pawns but his initiative now peters out.} 30. Qf2 {
[%CAl Yg2g3]} Qd7 31. g3 Qh3+ 32. Kg1 a5 33. Qd4 Nh5 34. Nf2 Qd7 35. f4 $18
Nhxf4 {Desperation. Black gets nothing for the piece. The following
"resistance" was probably caused by frustration.} 36. gxf4 Nxf4 37. Kf1 Qd6 38.
Rg1 f6 39. Bb5 Re7 40. b3 Rf8 41. Rc2 Ne6 42. Qe3 Ng5 43. h4 Nf7 44. Rc6 Qb8
45. Qc5 Qd8 46. Rxf6 Kh8 47. Rf5 Rc7 48. Bc6 a4 49. bxa4 b3 50. Rg3 b2 51. Rb3
Nd6 52. Rxf8+ Qxf8 53. Rxb2 Qf4 54. Rb8+ Kh7 55. Qc2 Re7 56. e5+ Nf5 57. Qe4
Qc1+ 58. Kg2 g6 59. Rb3 1-0
