Sinquefield Cup 2017 Round 4: A knight fork spells Carlsen's doom against MVL
After gaining from the humble tactic of the knight fork in the 3rd round, it was the turn of Mighty Magnus himself to fall to the ruse, when he overlooked a simple detail and lost to Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the 4th round, allowing the Frenchman to gain the sole lead with 3 points. The game also reinforced for the umpteenth time the all too often repeated and glorified cliche Chess is 99% tactics. Magnus' defeat and Nakamura falling to Nepo were the only decisive games of the round. The other three ended in draws. We have a comprehensive round four report from Saint Louis.
When Tony Miles passed away prematurely in 2001, Mathew Sadler, his teammate from the Elista Olympiad recollected how the legendary grafter unexpectedly played 6.dxc3 (instead of the established 6.bxc3) in an English Opening game and then went on to slowly outplay a Lithuanian International Master in a queenless grind of a game, much to the amusement of his colleagues. Carlsen chose exactly the same path in the same position on Saturday, but only, he chose one of the top 5 in the world for the treatment, and MVL may soon be reaching 2800 thanks to this victory and form in the tournament.
By move 17, with black’s pieces looking more harmoniously placed towards the centre against his own uncoordinated army, it didn’t look like Carlsen was really the grafter of the day.
Carlsen - Vachier-Lagrave, position after 17...Ne5
Except for the bind on the queenside, there seemed almost nothing for white to be happy in this position. But mercifully for Carlsen, in the words of Anatoly Karpov, it seemed to be one of those typical minus positions where white could improve his pieces whereas it was difficult for black to chalk out a path of play, when you are not sitting with an engine next to you.
And Carlsen continued nonchalantly, concentrating on improving his pieces purposedly, stopping black from achieving anything meaningful.
Carlsen - Vachier-Lagrave, position after 33...Rg8
Now, it is dynamic parity, but this is where Carlsen starts with his ‘little’ games. 34.Ka4 (Just checking!) Rgd8 35.Kb3 (Fine thank you!) …
It is in such probing and rearranging that the World Champion excels, constantly unsettling his opponents, not allowing them to let their guard down even for a moment. Ultimately, after the time control was reached, he managed to extract an edge and once again looked to be taking over the initiative. Getting desperate, Vachier-Lagrave went for his chances:
Carlsen - Vachier-Lagrave, position after 45.Bg5
Understanding that he was not doing well tactically, MVL went for 45...Bxg3?! (The forced 45...Bf6 will run into 46.Bc6 when Black will have scrap for compensation for the exchange). And now, disaster struck: 46. Rg2?? A rare tactical blunder by Carlsen. Later, MVL would explain the fundamentals of the flaw which happened in Carlsen's calculation. (Forced was 46. Rd2 Rb8 (46... Rg8 47. Nxb6 !! axb6 48.Bc4) 47. Ka3! and Nd3 is in trouble)
46... Bh3 47. Rxg3 Bxf1 48. Rf3?? Blunder number 2! But this was follow-up of the flawed calculation which started off with Rg2 earlier (48. Bxd8 Rxd8 49. Rf3 Be2 50. Rxf5+ would have
still led to equality)
48... Be2 and only now did Carlsen realised that he missed a simple tactic here, the reason for his misery: 49. Re3 f4 50. Rxe2 Nc1+ and this knight fork nets the rook, which Carlsen overlooked. The position was beyond repair and the Frenchman triumphed.
Needless to say, the victory has been noted by all and sundry:
Big win for MVL! Hardly a perfect game, but you must not judge great fighting chess too harshly. https://t.co/ebMFOxHpjM
— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) August 6, 2017
[Site "Saint Louis"]
[Date "2017.08.05"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A34"]
[WhiteElo "2822"]
[BlackElo "2789"]
[Annotator "Saravanan,V"]
[PlyCount "142"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceTitle "playchess.com"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 {Sometimes
typical of Carlsen, he aims for a relatively unexplored position, not
bothering about 'fundamental correctness'} Qxd1+ 7. Kxd1 Bf5 8. Nd2 Nc6 9. e4
Bg6 10. Bb5 Rc8 11. h4 h5 12. Re1 e6 13. a4 Be7 14. g3 O-O 15. a5 Rfd8 16. a6
b6 17. Kc2 Ne5 {Black’s pieces look more harmoniously placed towards the
centre while white looks to have an uncoordinated army. But as described by
Anatoly Karpov, it seems to be one of those typical minus positions where
white could improve his pieces whereas it is difficult for black to chalk out
a path of play, when you are not sitting with an engine next to you} 18. f4 Ng4
19. Kb3 f6 20. Nc4 Nf2 21. e5 Ne4 22. Be3 Bf5 23. Rg1 Rd5 24. Rae1 Kf7 25. Bc1
Bh7 26. Re3 Rcd8 27. Bc6 Nf2 28. Re2 Nd3 29. exf6 gxf6 30. Bb5 Rg8 {As the
dust settles, it is clear that the position has achieved dynamic equality,
ready for Carlsen to start pressurising the opponent with 'little schemes'} 31.
Bd2 Rgd8 32. Be3 Be4 33. Rd2 Rg8 34. Ka4 Rgd8 35. Kb3 Rg8 36. Ka2 f5 37. Rh2
Rc8 38. Rd2 Rg8 39. Re2 Bf3 40. Rh2 Bf6 41. Nd2 Bg4 42. Rf1 Rgd8 43. Nc4 e5 44.
fxe5 Bxe5 45. Bg5 Bxg3 $6 ({After the forced} 45... Bf6 46. Bc6 {and black
loses exchange}) 46. Rg2 $4 {A rare tactical blunder by Carlsen. Later, MVL
would explain the fundamentals of the flaw which happened in Carlsen's
calculation} (46. Rd2 Rb8 (46... Rg8 47. Nxb6 $3 axb6 48. Bc4 {wins for white})
47. Ka3 $1 {and Nd3 is in trouble}) 46... Bh3 47. Rxg3 Bxf1 48. Rf3 $4 {
Blunder number 2! But this was follow-up of the flawed calculation which
started off with 46.Rg2} (48. Bxd8 Rxd8 49. Rf3 Be2 50. Rxf5+ {would have
still led to equality}) 48... Be2 49. Bxd8 ({As Vachier-Lagrave explained
after the game, Carlsen missed a simple tactic here, the reason for his misery:
} 49. Re3 f4 50. Rxe2 Nc1+ {and this knight fork nets the rook, which Carlsen
seems to have overlooked initially}) 49... Bxf3 50. Bxb6 axb6 51. Bc6 Be4 {
MVL handled the technical conversion of the endgame without letups} 52. a7 Rd8
53. Nd6+ Rxd6 54. Bxe4 Rd8 55. a8=Q Rxa8+ 56. Bxa8 Ne5 57. Kb3 f4 58. Kc2 Kg7
59. Kd2 Ng6 60. Kd3 Nxh4 61. Ke4 f3 62. Ke3 Kf6 63. b4 c4 64. Bd5 Kf5 65. Bxc4
Kg4 66. Kf2 Ng6 67. Be6+ Kf4 68. Bf7 Ne5 69. Bxh5 Nd3+ 70. Kf1 Kg3 71. Bf7 Nf2
0-1
But the day’s drama had already begun elsewhere and the perpetrator was Nepomniachtchi, who showed no signs of the impulsiveness which made him lose the first two games. Pursuing a slight advantage from an Orthodox Queens Gambit Declined, Nepo exploited Nakamura’s inconsistent play very energetically and playing fast, taking just 33 minutes for the whole game.
Nepomniachtchi - Nakamura, position after 20.axb4
Naka made life difficult for himself with 20...b6? (20...h6 or 20...g6 would have maintained parity)
21.Rcc1 g6 22.Ba6! And black is in trouble. The variation which Nakamura could NOT go in was quite pretty: 22...Ra8 23.Rxc6 Rxa6 24.Bd6 Qb7 25.Bf8 Qc6 and now the pretty fork 26.b5 wins the game for white!
To his credit, Nepomniachtchi played flawless and fast to win the game in just over two hours of play.
[Site "Saint Louis"]
[Date "2017.08.05"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D37"]
[WhiteElo "2751"]
[BlackElo "2792"]
[Annotator "Saravanan,V"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceTitle "playchess.com"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8.
cxd5 Nxd5 9. Nxd5 exd5 10. Bd3 Bb4+ 11. Nd2 Nc6 12. O-O Be6 13. Nf3 {Nepo goes
differently from an earlier Nakamura game} (13. Nb3 Qf6 14. a3 Be7 15. Qd2 Rfd8
16. Nd4 Nxd4 17. exd4 Bf5 {and black achieved equality in Yu Yangyi - Nakamura,
Gibraltar 2017}) 13... Be7 14. Rc1 Bf6 15. a3 Qe7 16. b4 a6 17. h3 Rac8 18. Rc5
a5 19. Qb1 axb4 20. axb4 b6 $2 {The start of Nakamura's problems. Now,
Nepomniachtchi conducts the game accurately to come up ahead in tactics} (20...
h6 {and black should be able to defend the position}) 21. Rcc1 g6 22. Ba6 Nxb4
({The most logical move wasn't working due to a nasty tactical detail:} 22...
Ra8 23. Rxc6 Rxa6 24. Bd6 Qb7 25. Bxf8 Qxc6 26. b5 $1 {The point!}) 23. Bxc8
Rxc8 24. Rxc8+ Bxc8 $18 {Nepo wraps the game flawlessly now} 25. Rc1 Bf5 26.
Qb3 Nd3 27. Rc7 Qd8 28. Bg3 h5 29. Qxb6 h4 30. Bd6 Be4 31. Qc6 Kg7 32. Rc8 d4
33. Qxe4 1-0
Elsewhere, Levon Aronian overcame his sluggishness of the last two days to once again start playing his favourite piece of wood on the board: the h-pawn!
Aronian - Anand, position after 6...g6
Aronian remained consistent with the first round, and played 7.h4!? Bg7 8.h5 Bf5 9.Ng5 e6 10.h6!? and seemed to be working for a creative concept once again.
But to his credit, the former world champion remained calm and went back to his trusted ways and means...giving up the bishop for the knight.
But this was a game in which Anand probably didn’t exploit his chances, which might have been created by his opponent’s reckless push of the h-pawn in the opening:
Aronian - Anand, position after 22.a3
Here, Anand could have pursued a push with 22...Nb3 23.axb4 (23.Rcd1 Nc2 24. Rf1 c4 is good for black) 23... Nxd2 24. bxc5 Bxc5 25. Rc2 Nb3 26. Ne4 Be7 27. Rc3 Nc5 28. Nxc5 Bxc5 and black still keeps an edge - remember the pawn on h6?! But the game ended after five more moves after a three-fold repetition
[Site "Saint Louis"]
[Date "2017.08.05"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Aronian, Levon"]
[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A35"]
[WhiteElo "2799"]
[BlackElo "2783"]
[Annotator "Saravanan,V"]
[PlyCount "54"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceTitle "playchess.com"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
the past! Aronian once again goes back to his ally from the first round, the
h-pawn]} Bg7 8. h5 Bf5 9. Ng5 e6 10. h6 Bf6 11. Nge4 Be7 12. d3 Bxe4 {
Favourite operation for Anand - giving up the bishop for the knight} 13. Bxe4
O-O 14. Bd2 Qd7 15. Rc1 Rfd8 16. Bg2 b6 17. Qa4 Rab8 18. O-O Nd4 19. Qxd7 Rxd7
20. Rfe1 Rbd8 {Black is more than fine here} 21. g4 Nb4 22. a3 (22. e3 $2 Ndc2
23. Re2 Rxd3 24. Nb1 Na1 $1 {showed by Anand - a cute little move which
guarantees him a clear advantage}) 22... Nd5 ({It was probably worth trying}
22... Nb3 23. axb4 (23. Rcd1 Nc2 24. Rf1 c4) 23... Nxd2 24. bxc5 Bxc5 25. Rc2
Nb3 26. Ne4 Be7 27. Rc3 Nc5 28. Nxc5 Bxc5 {and black still keeps an edge -
remember the pawn on h6?!}) 23. Nxd5 exd5 24. Rc3 Nb5 25. Rc2 Nd4 26. Rc3 Nb5
27. Rc2 Nd4 1/2-1/2
Peter Svidler - Wesley So was the bane of the spectator’s curse, the chaotic looking attacking game petering out to a simple draw due to the professionals’ deep opening preparation.
Svidler - So, position after 25.Kh1
Even though the position looks threatening for Black, So came up with the coldblooded 25...Qg8 to maintain simple equality
[Site "Saint Louis"]
[Date "2017.08.05"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Svidler, Peter"]
[Black "So, Wesley"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C54"]
[WhiteElo "2751"]
[BlackElo "2810"]
[Annotator "Saravanan,V"]
[PlyCount "58"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceTitle "playchess.com"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. e5 d5 7. Bb5 Ne4 8. cxd4
Bb6 9. Nc3 O-O 10. Be3 Bg4 11. h3 Bh5 12. Qc2 Bg6 13. Qb3 Ne7 14. O-O c6 15.
Bd3 Nf5 16. Rae1 Nxd4 17. Bxd4 Bxd4 18. Nxe4 dxe4 19. Bxe4 Bxe4 20. Rxe4 Bb6
21. e6 {Tension seemed to be building up} Qe7 22. exf7+ Qxf7 23. Re6 Kh8 24.
Ne5 Bxf2+ 25. Kh1 {White's position looks quite impressive here, but So
diffuses the danger with a calm retreat} Qg8 {White has nothing here} ({
Attractive variations include} 25... Qc7 26. Qb4 a5 27. Qe4 Bc5 28. Nf7+ $1 Kg8
(28... Rxf7 29. Re8+ Bf8 30. Rxf7 Qxf7 31. Rxa8) 29. Rh6 $1 {Beautiful!} Rxf7 (
29... gxh6 30. Qg4#) 30. Qxh7+ Kf8 31. Qh8+ Ke7 32. Re1+ Kd7 33. Qxa8 Rf8 {
and the queen is trapped at a8, forcing white to pursue the perpetual check}
34. Rd1+ Ke7 35. Re1+ Kd7 $11) 26. Nd7 Rf7 27. Ne5 Rff8 28. Nd7 Rf7 29. Ne5
Rff8 1/2-1/2
Caruana - Karjakin was another of those perfect games where even though black sacficed a pawn, the game never got out of control, ending in a draw in 31 moves.
[Site "Saint Louis"]
[Date "2017.08.05"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C65"]
[WhiteElo "2807"]
[BlackElo "2773"]
[PlyCount "62"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceTitle "playchess.com"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
Nbd2 O-O 9. b4 Bb6 10. a4 e4 11. dxe4 Ne5 12. Qe2 a5 13. O-O Bg4 14. bxa5 Rxa5
15. Ba3 Bc5 16. Bb4 Bxb4 17. cxb4 Qxb4 18. Rfb1 Qd6 19. h3 Bxf3 20. Nxf3 b6 21.
Bb5 Raa8 22. Re1 Rad8 23. Rac1 c5 24. Rc3 g6 25. Rb3 Nxf3+ 26. Qxf3 Qe5 27. Bc4
Rd6 28. Rb5 Rd4 29. Rxb6 Rxc4 30. Qxf6 Qxf6 31. Rxf6 Rxa4 1/2-1/2
Crosstable after round four:
About the Author:
Saravanan Venkatachalam is an International Master and has been an active chess player in the Indian circuit, and has been consistently writing on chess since late 1980s. He turned complete chess professional in 2012, actively playing and being a second and a trainer to a handful of Indian players. He reports on chess tournaments, occasionally being a correspondent to national newspapers and news channels. Apart from chess, he is also interested in Tamil and English literature, music and photography.
Coverage on Firstpost
Firstpost and ChessBase India have collaborated to bring you extensive and detailed coverage of the chess scene in India and internationally.
The Sinquefield Cup and Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz is being extensively by Venkatachalam Saravanan.
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Viswanathan Anand earns tough draw against World Champion Magnus Carlsen
Viswanathan Anand draws against Levon Aronian; Magnus Carlsen suffers shock loss