[Event "World-ch Carlsen-Caruana"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2018.11.09"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B31"]
[WhiteElo "2832"]
[BlackElo "2835"]
[Annotator "Duda,Jan Krzysztof"]
[PlyCount "229"]
[EventDate "2018.11.09"]
[EventType "match"]
[EventRounds "12"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 187"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2018.12.11"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2018.12.11"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c5 $5 {A minor surprise, as early as on move 1. Normally people tend to
play relatively solid openings at the beginning of the WCC matches. Magnus
decided however to play in a principled way, instead of choosing a Ruy Lopez /
Italian torture.} 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 {The Rossolimo Variation, a favourite of
the Challenger. Even though he lost beautiful game in the Wijk Ann Zee to
Carlsen some years ago, everyone keeps in mind many of his masterpieces
against strong opposition. And probably all kibitzers were happy - there is no
easy draw in sight.} g6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 {Lately the favourite of Magnus.} 5. d3
Bg7 6. h3 {Not allowing ...Bg4, which would ease Black's play.} Nf6 7. Nc3 Nd7
(7... b6 {was played between the same opponents 3 years ago. White was
probably better after the opening, but the game became very tense, and
eventually the Black player won} 8. Be3 e5 9. O-O O-O 10. a3 Qe7 11. Qb1 Nh5
12. b4 f5 13. bxc5 f4 14. Bd2 bxc5 15. Qb3+ Be6 16. Qa4 $36 {0-1 (39) Caruana,
F (2820)-Carlsen,M (2862) Wijk aan Zee NED 2015}) (7... O-O {is the most
popular move.}) 8. Be3 e5 ({In a similar way played Nakamura against Caruana
some years ago:} 8... b6 9. Qd2 h6 10. O-O e5 11. Nh2 g5 $13 {Here Hikaru
didn't allow White to go for f4. The position becomes a pretty manoeuvre one,
where a stronger player is likely to win. Computers give modest edge for White,
but Black has also an easy play on his own: to re-route the knight and then
start the pawn offensive on the kingside: 1/2 (44) Caruana,F (2787)-Nakamura,H
(2793) Saint Louis USA 2015}) 9. O-O ({Usually White starts with} 9. Qd2 h6 {
not allowing Bh6. After a sample line:} 10. O-O b6 11. Nh2 Nf8 12. f4 exf4 13.
Rxf4 Be6 14. Rf2 {there is the same position as in the game, but obviously
both sides are flexible and can change something basically on every move}) 9...
b6 (9... Qe7 {It's a much more common way to free the d7-knight. I am not an
expert in this kind of positions, and can hardly say which way to over-protect
the c5 pawn is better.} 10. Qd2 Nf8) 10. Nh2 Nf8 {A typical maneouvre started
with Nd7} 11. f4 exf4 12. Rxf4 Be6 $5 {Interesting set-up. I thought he was
going to play Ne6-Nd4 asap, but this is even nicer, as it controls all
important squares.} 13. Rf2 h6 14. Qd2 g5 $5 {Restraining white pieces.
Honestly, I don't know what is White's best bet here, as he lacks visible
improvements. It would be lovely to get the h2-knight to f5, but how? Also
loosening Black's queenside is not at all that easy. a4 can always be parried
by a5, while it's not easy to achieve b4 in a comfortable way. Therefore I
think Magnus won the opening duel, and now the challenger move by move was
using a large amount of time.} 15. Raf1 (15. Nf1 Qd6 16. Rf3 $2 Ng6 {and White
is not in time with Ng3-Nf5.}) (15. a4 a5 $5 (15... Ng6 16. a5 O-O)) (15. a3
Qd6 16. Rb1 Ng6 17. b4 cxb4 18. axb4 O-O $11) 15... Qd6 16. Ng4 {The American
decides to improve his worst piece, the h2-knight. Even though the computer
doesn't like it, it's still better to have a faulty plan than any.} O-O-O {
The king is safe on the queenside for the time being, and now Black is having
all the fun on the kingside.} 17. Nf6 {Other plans are:} (17. a4 Nd7 (17... a5
$5) 18. a5 Qc7 {even here profits are not visible. Black intends b5, and if
White opens the a-file, Black is always on time with Kb7-Ra8.}) (17. e5 {
is an easy-to-play sacrifice for everyone but White player. White gets some
minute activity, but it may evaporate easily, and pawn down is pawn down.} Bxe5
(17... Qc7 18. Ne4 {and White is likely to take on e5 anyway.}) 18. b4 $5 (18.
Ne4 Qc7 19. Nxe5 Qxe5) 18... c4 {Locking down the queenside.} (18... cxb4 19.
Ne4 Qc7 20. Nxe5 Qxe5 21. Qxb4 Qc7 22. a4 $44) 19. Nxe5 Qxe5 20. d4 Qc7 $15 {
and I don't see any advantages for White for the missing pawn.}) 17... Nd7 18.
Nh5 {Not exchanging the knight which made so many moves.} Be5 19. g4 {Such
moves were unthinkable some 60 years ago, but now are standard. The kingside
is so far locked, and White gains space.} f6 20. b3 Bf7 21. Nd1 ({I would
prefer} 21. Ne2 {defending some vital squares, but it's true that Black is in
the driving seat, while White is solid but very passive at the same time.} Bxh5
22. gxh5 Kb7 23. Kg2 Nf8 $17 {and Black may go for the h5 pawn}) 21... Nf8 {
Imaginative, but not neccesary. Black could part with his light-square bishop,
and try to gain the h5-pawn or break with g4. An important note is that in
that case White would remain even more passive than in the game.} (21... Kb7
22. c3 Bxh5 23. gxh5 Qe7 24. Qe2 Rhg8 $17 {and Black has many ideas like
Nf8-Ne6.}) 22. Nxf6 Ne6 23. Nh5 (23. Nd7 Rxd7 {was probably the idea.} (23...
Bf4 24. Nf6 Bg3 {Comps think that Black is slightly better here, but White
might try to complicate the position with some timely exchange sacrifice.}) 24.
Rxf7 h5 25. Qg2 {and engine show its usual 0.00, but over the board Black for
sure is having fun and White is being under considerable pressure.}) 23... Bxh5
24. gxh5 Nf4 25. Bxf4 gxf4 26. Rg2 (26. Rxf4 $1 {was a good way to cut the
Gordian knot. Suprisingly it seems that Black can't stop White's d1-knight
from reaching f5-square, from where it has a dominant position.} Bxf4 27. Qxf4
Qd4+ 28. Ne3 Kb7 (28... Rdf8 29. Qxf8+ Rxf8 30. Rxf8+ Kb7 31. Rf7+ Ka6 32. Rf3
$11) 29. Kh1 Rdf8 30. Nf5 Qc3 31. Qc1 $5 $13) 26... Rhg8 $36 {White's king is
open, and Black is enjoying a long-lasting initiative.} 27. Qe2 {The position
is not easy to analyse, and even harder to play. Both sides have many ideas,
which sometimes are similar to each other. From now on I will focus on the
most critical positions.} Rxg2+ 28. Qxg2 Qe6 29. Nf2 Rg8 30. Ng4 Qe8 $1 {
Going after h5-pawn, and then kicking White's knight with h5.} 31. Qf3 Qxh5 32.
Kf2 {The least place where White's king is safe is the kingside, so logically
Fabiano removes it to the center.} Bc7 33. Ke2 (33. e5 Kb7 34. Nf6 Qh4+ 35. Ke2
Rg3 36. Qxf4 Qxh3 37. Rf2 {doesn't look any good, but in the game after a
couple of moves the a1-h8 diagonal was wide open for Black's pieces.}) 33...
Qg5 34. Nh2 $6 {Looks strange, because White gives away the control of the big
diagonal without even gaining a tempo which Black has to spend on h5. Still
there is no good enough preparatory move, and I think Black is winning already.
} (34. Kd2 h5 35. Nh2 Qe5 36. Qf2 Qb2 37. Rg1 Rg3 {It would be very odd that
White can defend here.}) 34... h5 $2 ({Why not} 34... Qf6 {with ...Qb2 coming,
penetrating the queenside? White would be lost in that case.}) 35. Rf2 Qg1 {
The wrong direction!} 36. Nf1 h4 $2 (36... Qg7 $1 $19) 37. Kd2 $2 (37. e5 $1
Rg5 (37... Bxe5 38. Qxc6+ Kb8 39. a4 {Paradoxically White can allow himself
luxury of playing such a slow move. But there is nothing really threatening
Black can do.}) 38. Kd2 Kb7 39. e6 Re5 40. Re2 Qg6 41. Qg4 {and White got his
own play.}) 37... Kb7 {The position is still dead lost for White, because of
the threat Qg7-Qa1, there is one more, namely Rg3! It's really amazing that
Caruana survived this storm!} 38. c3 Be5 (38... Rg3 $1 39. Nxg3 hxg3 40. Rg2
Qa1 $19 {is game over. It transpires than in zeitnot, even the World Champion
plays far below his normal strength!}) 39. Kc2 Qg7 $6 {This would be a serious
blunder, if not the fact that Black can repeat his position.} (39... b5 $1 {
with b4 next would create too many holes in White's position.}) 40. Nh2 (40.
Qh5 Ka6 $1 {It's very important to avoid eventual checks on f7.} 41. Qe2 b5 42.
a4) 40... Bxc3 $4 {Actually this move lets all the advantage go. Black still
could win by means of} (40... Qg1 $1 41. Nf1 b5 $1 $19 {with transposition to
the position, which is mentioned in the earlier comment.}) 41. Qxf4 Bd4 {
Now by force White can save himself in an rook endgame with pawn down. Other
alternatives also failed to win:} (41... Ka6 42. Nf3 Ba1 43. e5 $11) 42. Qf7+
Ka6 43. Qxg7 Rxg7 44. Re2 Rg3 45. Ng4 Rxh3 46. e5 Rf3 47. e6 Rf8 48. e7 Re8 49.
Nh6 h3 50. Nf5 Bf6 {Initially when I first saw this position, I thought Black
has nearly 50/50 chances, but on the closer inspection I understood that White
is going to play either d4 or b4, and 2 vs 3 pawns on the queenside is a draw.}
51. a3 b5 ({Being in Magnus' place I would have tried to play with the pawn on
b6, but still this should be an easy draw.} 51... Bxe7 52. Nxe7 h2 53. Rxh2
Rxe7 54. Rh5) 52. b4 cxb4 53. axb4 Bxe7 {Otherwise Black runs out of moves} 54.
Nxe7 h2 55. Rxh2 Rxe7 56. Rh6 Kb6 57. Kc3 Rd7 58. Rg6 $11 {The endgame is a
draw, although White needs to be a bit careful not to allow Black to get two
rolling pawns. Magnus tries to win for another 60 moves, but the draw is
trivial.} Kc7 59. Rh6 Rd6 60. Rh8 Rg6 61. Ra8 Kb7 62. Rh8 Rg5 63. Rh7+ Kb6 64.
Rh6 Rg1 65. Kc2 Rf1 66. Rg6 Rh1 67. Rf6 Rh8 68. Kc3 Ra8 69. d4 Rd8 70. Rh6 Rd7
71. Rg6 Kc7 72. Rg5 Rd6 73. Rg8 Rh6 74. Ra8 Rh3+ 75. Kc2 Ra3 (75... Kd6 76.
Rxa7 Kd5 77. Rc7 $11) 76. Kb2 Ra4 77. Kc3 a6 78. Rh8 Ra3+ 79. Kb2 Rg3 80. Kc2
Rg5 81. Rh6 Rd5 82. Kc3 Rd6 83. Rh8 Rg6 84. Kc2 Kb7 85. Kc3 Rg3+ 86. Kc2 Rg1
87. Rh5 Rg2+ 88. Kc3 Rg3+ 89. Kc2 Rg4 90. Kc3 Kb6 91. Rh6 Rg5 92. Rf6 Rh5 93.
Rg6 Rh3+ 94. Kc2 Rh5 95. Kc3 Rd5 96. Rh6 Kc7 97. Rh7+ Rd7 98. Rh5 Rd6 99. Rh8
Rg6 100. Rf8 Rg3+ 101. Kc2 Ra3 102. Rf7+ Kd6 103. Ra7 {One of possible
defensive set-ups for White} Kd5 104. Kb2 Rd3 (104... Ra4 105. Kc3 Ra1 106.
Rd7+ Ke6 107. Ra7 $11) 105. Rxa6 Rxd4 106. Kb3 Re4 107. Kc3 Rc4+ 108. Kb3 Kd4
109. Rb6 Kd3 110. Ra6 Rc2 111. Rb6 Rc3+ 112. Kb2 Rc4 113. Kb3 Kd4 114. Ra6 Kd5
115. Ra8 {A fighting, nerve-racking, and unpleasant game for both players.
Fabiano Caruana didn't manage to get even the slightest of an opening
initiative, and quickly had to defend himself. Magnus Carlsen on the other
hand was winning several times before the 40th move, but in time trouble he
spoiled, what looked like an easy win, and had to settle for the endgame which
was drawn. Still 11 games to come, and it seems it will be entertaining match!}
1/2-1/2

[Event "World-ch Carlsen-Caruana"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2018.11.10"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D37"]
[WhiteElo "2835"]
[BlackElo "2832"]
[Annotator "Duda,Jan Krzysztof"]
[PlyCount "97"]
[EventDate "2018.11.09"]
[EventType "match"]
[EventRounds "12"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 187"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2018.12.11"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2018.12.11"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Be7 {The ever solid Queen's Gambit
Declined. Even though the challenger recently played a lot of games in the
Vienna Game, the QGD must have been one of the top piorities of Magnus' team.}
5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 c5 {This is a small surprise. It's the first time, when
Fabiano chooses this line in his life. In that way Nakamura drew quite
recently 2 games against Carlsen, so it was kind of expected though. The real
surprise will come later.} (6... Nbd7 {is the most common move, and the way
Caruana played before this game. Perhaps he wasn't keen facing} 7. c5 {where
White is enjoying some space advantage, and it might be kind of Carlsen-type
position. Of course it's just a beginning of far-advanced theory.}) 7. dxc5
Bxc5 8. Qc2 {This is the main move, but White also may wish to play against
the isolani with} (8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Nxd5 exd5 10. Bd3 Bb4+ 11. Nd2 Nc6 {This is
one of the tabiyas in the QGD with 6...c5. Usually Black gets enough
counterplay for his isolani, for example Vishy Anand drew all three of his
games with Black in this position in the Sinquefield Cup this year. In 2017,
Carlsen was about outplaying Nakamura in this line, but the American managed
to save himself. Now it's obvious to everyone that Caruana had some
improvements, awaiting their hour.}) 8... Nc6 9. a3 Qa5 10. Rd1 {Again, one of
the tabiyas, known since the infamous '78 Karpov-Korchnoi match. In contrast
to the} (10. O-O-O {line which is slightly more popular, but can lead to an
amazing mess, where either side can collapse easily, White is playing purely
positionally. He just wants to develop with Be2 and 0-0, and is asking Black
what he is going to do with his poor c8-bishop. Now Black has many choices,
but what Caruana played was hardly predictible.}) 10... Rd8 $5 {Some time ago,
this was considered dubious, because it isn't in any way preparing the freeing
move e5. But of course computers change modern opening theory, also the effect
of surprise these days is something everyone is trying for. The other lines
are:} (10... Re8 $5 {is having a boost of popularity, the position can quickly
become quite complicated:} 11. Nd2 e5 12. Bg5 Nd4 13. Qb1 (13. Qc1 {was
basically a draw offer:} Bf5 14. Bxf6 Nc2+ 15. Ke2 Nd4+ 16. Ke1 Nc2+ 17. Ke2
Nd4+ 18. Ke1 Nc2+ {1/2 (18) Carlsen,M (2827)-Nakamura,H (2781) Douglas ENG 2017
}) 13... Bf5 14. Bd3 Bxd3 (14... e4 $2 {was played in the famous 21st game in
aforementioned K-K match. White is better after both} 15. Bc2 {(the game
continuation. Even stronger is} (15. Bf1 $1 {where objectively Black is lost.})
15... Nxc2+ 16. Qxc2 Qa6 17. Bxf6 Qxf6 18. Nb3 Bd6 19. Rxd5 $1 $16 {1-0 (60)
Kortschnoj,V (2665)-Karpov,A (2725) Baguio City 1978}) 15. Qxd3 Ne4 {where as
far as I am concerned Black is doing fine after both} 16. Nxd5 ({and} 16. Ncxe4
)) (10... Ne4 $6 {is probably wrong. After} 11. cxd5 Nxc3 12. bxc3 exd5 13. Ng5
$1 g6 14. Rxd5 Qxa3 15. Bc4 $36 {White develops dangerous initiative}) (10...
Be7 {is the classical main line. After} 11. Be2 Ne4 (11... dxc4) 12. cxd5 Nxc3
13. Qxc3 Qxc3+ 14. bxc3 exd5 15. Rxd5 Bxa3 16. Nd4 $36 {White has initiative 1/
2 (95) Carlsen,M (2853)-Nakamura,H (2814) Saint Louis USA 2015}) 11. Be2 (11.
Nd2 {is the most popular, with the idea to harass Black's queen. But this is
the first thing Fabiano's team had a look at, so the Norwegian decides to
deviate.} d4 {might be something like what the American prepared. The position
is a mess after} (11... dxc4 12. Nxc4 Rxd1+ 13. Qxd1 Qd8 14. Qxd8+ Nxd8 15. Be2
$14) 12. Nb3 Qb6 13. Na4 Bb4+ 14. axb4 Qxb4+ 15. Nd2 $13 {but the computer not
surprisingly is keen on White.}) 11... Ne4 {Now, where the d5-pawn is not
hanging, this exchange maneouvre should gradually equalise the position} 12.
O-O (12. Nd2 $5 Nxc3 13. Nb3 Qa4 14. Qxc3 Be7 15. cxd5 exd5 16. Nc5 Bxc5 17.
Qxc5 Be6 18. O-O Rac8) 12... Nxc3 13. bxc3 h6 {Defending against any Ng5.} 14.
a4 Ne7 $11 {I think Black equalised. Now not to become worse with his shaky
queenside, the World Champion has to play actively.} 15. Ne5 Bd6 (15... f6 16.
Ng6 e5 17. Bg3 Be6 {is one of the favourites of the engine, but in such cases,
when the game is at stake, players tend to avoid such committal decisions. The
move Caruana played is fine.}) 16. cxd5 {From now on, there will be many
exchanges, when Black gets developed finally, but White is too active to have
any real issues} Nxd5 17. Bf3 {White goes the route of an interesting
possibility, which looks risky but gets my approval.} (17. Nxf7 $5 Kxf7 18.
Bxd6 (18. Bh5+ Kg8 19. Bxd6 Rxd6 {is the same thing}) 18... Rxd6 19. Bh5+ Kg8
20. e4 (20. c4 {It seems that White has to play precisely to hold the position.
} Bd7 (20... Rc6) (20... Nb4) (20... Qc7) 21. cxd5 Bxa4 22. Qa2 $8 Rxd5 23. Bg4
Rxd1 24. Rxd1 Qb4 25. Bxe6+ Kh8 26. Rb1 Rd8 $13) 20... Bd7 (20... Nf4 $5 {
is a winning try.} 21. Rxd6 Qxh5 22. Rd8+ Kf7 23. Rfd1 e5 $13 {with an unclear,
but roughly equal position.}) 21. exd5 Qxa4 {One of many possibilities.} 22.
Qb1 Rxd5 23. Qxb7 Qc6 $11) 17... Nxf4 {The simplest.} (17... Qc7 18. c4 Nxf4
19. exf4 {can only create difficulties for Black.}) 18. exf4 Bxe5 19. Rxd8+
Qxd8 20. fxe5 Qc7 (20... Bd7 $5 {Black has the luxury of not being afraid of
losing the b7-pawn.} 21. Bxb7 Rb8 22. Bf3 Qa5 {and Black recaptures the
missing pawn with equality.}) 21. Rb1 Rb8 22. Qd3 Bd7 (22... b6 $5 {was a nice
try for Black, I think.} 23. a5 $1 {otherwise White may be worse with his bad
pawn structure.} Bb7 (23... Qxe5 24. a6 $1 $44 {is a key White must have
foreseen beforehand.}) 24. axb6 axb6 25. Bxb7 Rxb7 26. Qd4 $11 {with a drawn
position.}) 23. a5 Bc6 24. Qd6 {White knows that the best he can do is
exchange everything and make a draw - not very pleasing when the onus is on
White to score, but that's life.} Qxd6 25. exd6 Bxf3 26. gxf3 Kf8 27. c4 Ke8
28. a6 $1 {From the human viewpoint the simplest. White exchanges all pawns on
the queenside, and defends in a 3 vs 4 on the same wing rook endgame.} b6 29.
c5 Kd7 30. cxb6 axb6 31. a7 Ra8 32. Rxb6 Rxa7 33. Kg2 e5 34. Rb4 f5 35. Rb6 Ke6
36. d7+ Kxd7 37. Rb5 $11 {The endgame is dead drawn. The doubled pawns are
actually a strengh here, because Black is unable to create a passed pawn. Now
White can just do nothing and marks time. Black has no meaningful plan
available.} Ke6 38. Rb6+ Kf7 39. Rb5 Kf6 40. Rb6+ Kg5 41. Rb5 Kf4 42. Rb4+ e4
43. fxe4 fxe4 44. h3 {Funny, another 3 vs 2 rook endgame, but now Fabiano is
the one with the pawn up. This means the game will last 60 moves shorter :)}
Ra5 45. Rb7 Rg5+ 46. Kf1 Rg6 47. Rb4 Rg5 48. Rb7 Rg6 49. Rb4 {So, a relatively
easy draw today by Fabiano Caruana. Perhaps the World Champion was frustrated
a bit with yesterday's game, and decided to play a simple game today. My guess
is that the day after tomorrow we will have quite a tense game in the 'Spanish
torture', unless the challenger changes his first move. Of course, it's just a
shot in the dark, but sometimes you are happy when you guess the right opening.
} 1/2-1/2

[Event "World-ch Carlsen-Caruana"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2018.11.12"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B31"]
[WhiteElo "2832"]
[BlackElo "2835"]
[Annotator "Duda,Jan Krzysztof"]
[PlyCount "97"]
[EventDate "2018.11.09"]
[EventType "match"]
[EventRounds "12"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 187"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2018.12.11"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2018.12.11"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c5 {So it turned out that my guess was wrong, and Magnus repeats the
Rossolimo Sicilian once more. After a little reflection, I realised that it's
a perfect opening for Magnus - no theory, no repetitions, no super-sharp
positions and a complex strategic game ahead - everything he needs.} 2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bb5 g6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. d3 Bg7 6. O-O {This time Caruana allows Black to
play Bg4. Magnus instead chooses a sideline, in order to get a non-theoritical
position as quickly as possible.} Qc7 $5 (6... Nf6 {is of course the main move.
}) 7. Re1 {A useful move, with the intention to see what Black is going to do.}
e5 {An interesting move, played when the White rook is on e1, from where it
can't help to achieve f4. On the other hand, this move is strategically risky
because now a break with b4 is on the agenda.} 8. a3 {A logical push once
Black played e5. The preference of the engine is} (8. Be3 {forcing Black to
play b6, and only then start the minority attack.} b6 9. a3 Nf6 (9... a5 $5 10.
Nbd2 Nf6 11. b4 Ng4 12. Bg5 (12. bxc5 Nxe3 13. Rxe3 b5 $5 {with decent chances.
}) 12... axb4 (12... cxb4 13. axb4 a4 14. c4 b5 {looks risky for Black, but
the comp holds on.} 15. h3 f6 16. Bh4 Nh6 17. Nb3 $5) 13. axb4 Rxa1 14. Qxa1
cxb4 15. Qa4 O-O 16. Qxb4 c5 17. Qb2 f6 18. Bh4 Be6 $13 {and Black can regroup
his forces easily, while White's pieces on the kingside are stuck.}) 10. b4 (
10. Nbd2 $5 O-O (10... Ng4 11. Bg5 f6 12. Bh4) 11. b4 cxb4 (11... Ng4 12. Bg5)
12. axb4 Ng4 13. Bg5 h6 14. Bh4 Nf6 $13) 10... c4 11. Nbd2 cxd3 12. cxd3 O-O
13. Rc1 $36 {with easier play for White.}) (8. b4 $2 {is not working:} cxb4 9.
a3 bxa3 10. Bxa3 Ne7 11. Nbd2 O-O 12. Nc4 c5 $17 {with a clear plus pawn for
Black.}) 8... Nf6 9. b4 O-O 10. Nbd2 (10. bxc5 $5 {I think this deserves
attention. Black can postpone recapturing the pawn, but then White has chances
to exploit the d6-square with one of his knights. Black can also take the pawn
by means of} Nd7 11. Be3 f5 12. a4 f4 13. Bc1 Nxc5 {but White gets the upper
hands after} 14. Ba3 b6 15. Nbd2 {with some initiative.}) (10. Be3 c4 {is
completely toothless for White.}) 10... Bg4 {Only now does Magnus decide to
part with his light-squared bishop. A smart decision, because this piece has a
very high potential to become a bad piece in the future.} 11. h3 Bxf3 12. Nxf3
cxb4 (12... Nd7 13. Be3 cxb4 14. axb4 a5 {was another way to play.}) 13. axb4
a5 14. bxa5 Rxa5 15. Bd2 (15. Rxa5 $1 {I think this is stronger, because White
gets control of the open a-line.} Qxa5 16. Bd2 Qc7 17. Qa1 Nd7 18. Qa7 Rc8 {
with the idea to play b5, e.g.} 19. Ra1 Bf8 20. Be3 b5 21. g4 $36 {and White
has pressure.}) 15... Raa8 {Of course Black doesn't allow White to get the
a-file for free.} 16. Qb1 Nd7 {At first sight this position looks nice for
White, but there is no obvious way to pose even slightest challenge for Black.
He is going to play b5 and exchange everything down the a-file.} 17. Qb4 (17.
Qb2 b5 18. Rxa8 Rxa8 19. Ra1 Qb7 {looks drawish.}) (17. Qb3 Nc5 18. Qc4 Ne6 {
only improves Black's position}) (17. Be3 $1 b5 18. Qb3 Rfb8 19. Ra2 Rxa2 20.
Qxa2 {was probably the only way to play for 'something'.}) 17... Rfe8 18. Bc3
b5 19. Rxa8 Rxa8 20. Ra1 Rxa1+ 21. Bxa1 Qa7 22. Bc3 Qa2 23. Qb2 Qxb2 24. Bxb2
f6 $11 {Now Black has easy equality, and Magnus as usual tries to squeeze his
opponent in the endgame. This time the challenger was very alert though.} 25.
Kf1 Kf7 26. Ke2 Nc5 27. Bc3 Ne6 28. g3 Bf8 29. Nd2 {It looks sensible to bring
the knight to b3.} (29. d4 {was also possible, exchanging knights, but on the
other hand Black may get 'the passer' on the queenside, which is always
threating.} exd4 30. Nxd4 Nxd4+ 31. Bxd4 c5 32. Bb2 c4 33. f4 b4 34. g4 Bd6 35.
f5 $11) 29... Ng5 $1 {Forcing White to play h4, which later might be used as a
'hook'.} 30. h4 Ne6 31. Nb3 h5 {Fixing the pawns on the wrong color.} 32. Bd2
Bd6 33. c3 c5 34. Be3 Ke7 35. Kd1 Kd7 36. Kc2 f5 {The top preference of the
engine. I also thought about} (36... g5 {but after} 37. f3 gxh4 38. gxh4 {
is harmless for White, because Black can never get to the h4-pawn.}) 37. Kd1
fxe4 {Objectively it was better to keep the tension with} (37... Kc6 38. Na5+
Kb6 39. Nb3 Be7 {and now Black has a choice between f4 and fxe4, depending on
circumstances. But of course the position is still close to equal.}) 38. dxe4
c4 39. Nd2 Nc5 40. Bxc5 $1 {At first to me this felt counter-intuitive, but in
fact it is a good move. White eliminates Black's strong knight, and all his
weakness can be protected by his king.} Bxc5 41. Ke2 Kc6 42. Nf1 b4 {Otherwise
White plays Ne3, where the pawn endgame is dead drawn.} 43. cxb4 Bxb4 44. Ne3
Kc5 45. f4 {Exchanging as many pawns as possible.} exf4 46. gxf4 Ba5 47. f5
gxf5 48. Nxc4 $1 {A nice interlude move, using the classical theme of the
wrong corner.} Kxc4 49. exf5 {and White moves his king to h1, from where it
can't be chased. Today we have seen yet another Rossolimo Sicilian, where
Magnus gradually equalised, and even tried to take over in the endgame.
Caruana managed to draw with ease though. I am interested if in case of
another 2...Nc6 Sicilian, Caruana will play 3.d4!? Or perhaps he will switch
to another opening? The future will tell, but before reaching it, tomorrow he
has to defend with Black first.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "World-ch Carlsen-Caruana"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2018.11.13"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A29"]
[WhiteElo "2835"]
[BlackElo "2832"]
[Annotator "Adams,M"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "2018.11.09"]
[EventType "match"]
[EventRounds "12"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 187"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2018.12.11"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2018.12.11"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{After the second game, Carlsen would have been very keen to avoid Caruana
demonstrating how good his preparation is again, but despite a slightly
unexpected first move, he had another frustrating day with the White pieces.} 
1. c4 e5 (1... e6 {would be an option to try to steer the game back towards
the QGD of game 2.}) 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 d5 {Although we haven't seen
an Open Sicilian when Caruana is White (yet), here we get one with reversed
colours.} 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 Bc5 7. O-O O-O 8. d3 Re8 (8... Bb6 $5 {was
played by Alexander Grischuk against Pavel Eljanov in the Geneva Grand Prix
last year which brought this line to prominence. Since then many players have
picked up the idea, including myself.}) 9. Bd2 ({Fabiano played the White side
of this position against me!} 9. Ng5 $5 Nf6 10. Qb3 Qe7 11. Nd5 Nxd5 12. Bxd5
Nd8 {Now it's hard to intensify the pressure and Black is not doing badly.} 13.
Qc4 Bd4 $1 {preventing the queen transferring to e4.} (13... Bb6 14. Qe4) 14.
Bg2 h6 15. Nf3 Nc6 16. Be3 Bxe3 17. fxe3 e4 18. dxe4 {The Irish pawn centre as
Tony Miles dubbed tripled pawns is often not as bad as it looks - here the
position is roughly balanced.} a5 19. a3 Ra6 20. Rac1 Rb6 21. Rc2 Be6 22. Qc3
Rb3 23. Qd2 Rd8 24. Qc1 a4 25. Rc5 Rd7 26. h3 Qd8 27. g4 g6 28. Kh1 Kg7 29. e5
Bd5 30. Kg1 Be6 31. Kf2 Qe7 32. Kg1 Rd5 $6 ({After} 32... Qd8 {it's hard for
either side to do anything, now things went wrong for me.}) 33. Rc4 Ra5 34. Rc2
Bd5 35. Nd4 Nxd4 36. exd4 Rg3 37. Rf3 Bxf3 38. exf3 c6 39. Kh2 Rxg2+ 40. Kxg2
Rd5 41. Rc4 c5 42. Rxc5 Rxd4 43. Qc3 Qd8 44. Rc8 Qb6 45. Re8 g5 46. Re7 Kg8 47.
e6 fxe6 48. Qc2 Kf8 49. Rh7 Qc6 50. Qxc6 bxc6 51. Rxh6 Kf7 52. Kg3 Rd2 53. Rh7+
Kf6 54. Rb7 Ke5 55. h4 gxh4+ 56. Kxh4 Kf4 57. Rf7+ Ke3 58. Kg3 Rd1 59. g5 Rg1+
60. Kh4 Rg2 61. Rf6 e5 62. g6 Rxb2 63. Kg5 Rg2+ 64. Kh6 Rh2+ 65. Kg7 c5 66. Kf7
c4 67. g7 Rh7 68. Ra6 {1-0 (68) Caruana,F (2799)-Adams,M (2715) London 2017})
9... Nxc3 10. Bxc3 ({It looks more natural to capture towards the centre} 10.
bxc3 {but then White's minor pieces are in each other's way after} h6 $5 (10...
e4 $5 11. dxe4 Qe7 {could also be interesting.})) 10... Nd4 ({Not the only
move, but it counters White's threat:} 10... a5 11. Nxe5 Nxe5 12. d4 $14) 11.
b4 ({Magnus was already thinking a bit here, somewhat surprisingly given
Caruana played this only five months ago, in almost his last game against the
English!} 11. Rc1 Bb6 12. Re1 Bg4 13. Bxd4 exd4 14. a3 c6 15. Nd2 a5 {Black
was comfortable here in the blitz game So - Caruana. Magnus chooses a more
critical move, gaining some queenside space.}) 11... Bd6 ({This unnatural move
was played quickly} 11... Bf8 {allows White the option of} 12. Nxe5 Rxe5 13. e3
) (11... Bb6 12. a4 {is also not straightforward.}) 12. Rb1 (12. Nxd4 $5 exd4
13. Bxd4 Bxg3 (13... Bxb4) 14. hxg3 Qxd4 {looks like it could be interesting,
but with home analysis no doubt Black survives.}) (12. e3 $5) 12... Nxf3+ 13.
Bxf3 a6 14. a4 c6 15. Re1 $5 (15. Qc2 $5) ({The critical move must be} 15. b5
$1 {Could} cxb5 $5 (15... axb5 16. axb5 Bd7 (16... Bh3 $2 17. bxc6 bxc6 18.
Bxc6 $16) 17. bxc6 Bxc6 18. Bxc6 bxc6 19. Qc2 $14 {looks no fun at all for
Black. Perhaps Magnus was concerned 15.b5 would still be within his opponent's
homework.}) 16. axb5 a5 {be Black's idea?}) 15... Bd7 {Preventing the b5 break
for now.} 16. e3 Qf6 (16... Qe7 $5 {was also possible.}) 17. Be4 Bf5 ({A
forcing option} 17... Rad8 $5 {still looks sensible to me.}) 18. Qf3 {Magnus
is also happy to swap material.} Bxe4 19. Qxf6 gxf6 20. dxe4 {Black's kingside
structure is ugly but it won't be easy to get at it.} b5 {Fixing the pawn on
b4 as a target for the black bishop.} 21. Red1 ({Another fast move.} 21. Rb2 $5
{was another option.}) 21... Bf8 22. axb5 axb5 (22... cxb5 {is met by} 23. Be1
Rec8 24. Rdc1 {preventing the black rook getting to c4.}) 23. Kg2 {White's
king would like to get to f5 but that's not going to happen.} Red8 24. Rdc1 Kg7
25. Be1 Rdc8 26. Rc2 Ra4 {It's hard for White to improve as he is tied to the
b4 pawn.} 27. Kf3 (27. g4 $5) 27... h5 {A good move taking some space on the
kingside.} 28. Ke2 Kg6 29. h3 f5 {Getting rid of the doubled pawns and
improving the Black king position.} 30. exf5+ Kxf5 31. f3 Be7 {The position is
fairly dead and the players bring proceedings to a swift conclusion.} 32. e4+
Ke6 33. Bd2 (33. Rbc1 {can be met by} Kd7 {or} (33... Bxb4 {as in the next
note.})) 33... Bd6 34. Rbc1 {Draw agreed as} Kd7 ({Even} 34... Bxb4 35. Bxb4
Rxb4 36. Rxc6+ Rxc6 37. Rxc6+ Ke7 38. Rh6 Rb2+ {is fine as there is no way to
hide from the checks.}) 35. Rb1 {repeats} 1/2-1/2

[Event "World-ch Carlsen-Caruana"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2018.11.15"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B31"]
[WhiteElo "2832"]
[BlackElo "2835"]
[Annotator "Anand,V"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2018.11.09"]
[EventType "match"]
[EventRounds "12"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 187"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2018.12.11"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2018.12.11"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,63,18,18,53,58,49,26,51,37,37,22,52,-11,22,3,24,24,2,6,62,37,80,83,86,
71,77,72,70,18,78,66,75,83,188,111,111,130,133,62,125,76,103,119,112,112,107,
150,171,197,184,198,178,185,176,167,190,172,200,205,276,227,241,232,291,300]} 
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 {The 3rd Rossolimo in a row. Both players seem
happy to continue the discussion. Magnus is looking for unbalanced positions
with Black and is comfortable assuming some risk, while Fabiano has a clear
target as well. Switching to a main line Sicilian is getting harder. Fabi may
end up wasting a White to gain some info on Magnus's choice of subvariation
though many people (myself included!) assume its the Sveshnikov.} g6 4. O-O {
Switching from 4.Bxc6.} Bg7 5. Re1 e5 (5... Nf6 6. e5 Nd5 7. Nc3 Nc7 8. Bxc6
dxc6 {is playable, but is simply not the kind of position Magnus is looking
for with Black.}) 6. b4 Nxb4 (6... cxb4 7. a3 b3 {was Grischuk's sensible
response when surprised by Bacrot in a rapid game. It would be amazing if
Carlsen was unprepared for 6.b4 (hardly a rare move) and he has a more
concrete response in mind.}) 7. Bb2 {Carlsen did spend some time on his
decisions, but I did this as well quite often just remember things with
clarity. After all they must have revised lots of different options in the
morning.} a6 (7... Qc7 8. d4 {is a surprising suggestion of the computer.} (8.
c3 Nc6 9. d4 d6 10. d5 a6 11. Na3 Ke7 {is the by now famous game
Rapport-Granda 2013.}) 8... a6 9. Bc4 (9. Bf1 exd4 10. Qd2 (10. c3 d3 11. Na3 {
also looks reasonable for a mere pawn})) 9... cxd4 10. Bb3 Nc6 11. c3 {The
position is very rich in possibilities, but I won't second-guess their
conclusions since Magnus certainly studied this line.}) 8. a3 axb5 (8... Nc6 9.
Bxc6 dxc6 10. Nxe5 Qc7 11. Nc4 Bxb2 12. Nxb2 Nf6 13. d4 {seems pleasant for
White.}) 9. axb4 Rxa1 10. Bxa1 d6 (10... cxb4 {is playable, but Magnus move
seems more natural to me.} 11. Bxe5 Bxe5 12. Nxe5 Ne7 13. Qe2 Qb6 14. c3 bxc3 (
14... Nc6 15. Ng4) 15. Nxc3 b4 $1 16. Nc4 (16. Nd5 Nxd5 17. exd5 O-O 18. Qe3
Qd6) 16... Qe6 {otherwise Nd5} 17. Nb5 O-O 18. Ncd6 b6) 11. bxc5 Ne7 12. Qe2 (
12. cxd6 Qxd6 13. d4 {doesnt give very much.}) 12... b4 {The only move. All
Black's hopes in this position are connected with this pawn, both restricting
the Nb1 as well as potentially becoming passed once c2 drops.} 13. Qc4 (13. c3
bxc3 14. Qb5+ Nc6 $11) (13. Qb5+ Nc6 14. cxd6 Qxd6 15. d3 O-O 16. Nbd2 Be6 $1 {
The pawn on b4 is more valuable than b7.} 17. Nc4 (17. Qxb7 Qc5 {is suddenly
better for Black.}) 17... Bxc4 18. Qxc4 Ra8 {looks fine to me.}) 13... Qa5 $1 {
Precise.} (13... Nc6 14. d4 exd4 15. Nxd4 Bxd4 16. Bxd4 Be6 17. Qb5 O-O 18. Be3
{Black is ok here, but White runs no risk anymore while in the game, Black
keeps chances.}) 14. cxd6 Be6 15. Qc7 (15. d7+ $2 Kd8 {loses the piece.}) 15...
Qxc7 16. dxc7 Nc6 17. c3 (17. Rd1 {is the critical try but here both king
moves work} Ke7 (17... Kd7 18. d4 Bg4 (18... b3 {equalises, but its possible
to miss this move....}) 19. d5 Nd4 20. Nbd2 Bxf3 21. gxf3 Rc8 22. Nb3 (22. Nc4
Rxc7 23. Nxe5+ Bxe5 24. Bxd4 Bf4 25. Rb1 Rc4 26. Be3 Bxe3 27. fxe3 Kd6 28. Kf1
f5 $11) 22... Nxc2 23. d6 b6 24. Rd5 f6 (24... Nxa1 25. Nxa1 Bh6 $1 (25... Bf8
26. f4 f6 27. fxe5 fxe5 28. f4 exf4 29. Nb3 Re8 30. Nd4 b3 $1 {just in time}
31. Nxb3 Bxd6 32. c8=Q+ Rxc8 33. e5 Ke6 34. Rxd6+ Kxe5 35. Rxb6 Rc2 {is drawn})
26. Nb3 f6 $1 27. Kf1 Bf8 28. Nd2 b5 $1 29. Rxb5 Bxd6 30. Nc4 $11) 25. Nd2 $3 {
is a very nice trick}) 18. d4 Ra8 19. d5 (19. Bb2 Nxd4 20. Nxd4 exd4 21. Bxd4
Bxd4 22. Rxd4 Ra2 23. Rxb4 Rxc2 {is a draw}) 19... Rxa1 20. dxe6 Ra8 21. exf7
Rc8 22. Nbd2 Rxc7 23. Rb1 Kxf7 24. Kf1 $11) 17... Kd7 18. cxb4 Ra8 19. Bc3 {
played after a long think. Clearly Fabi wanted to not only play Bc3 (which is
obvious) but also tried to evaluate the position exactly before continuing.}
Kxc7 {Black should win the b-pawn and in fact White should be precise here. I
think its easier to play Black over the board.} 20. d3 (20. Ng5 $1 {was
correct, but I would not have trusted my eyes if I had to figure this out over
the board.}) 20... Kb6 $6 {After Fabi's exact response, this fizzles out.} (
20... b5 {This is more precise, but one has to be phenomenally accurate for
many moves to extract anything. Without an engine, one could be forgiven for
missing it.} 21. Kf1 (21. Nbd2 Kb6 (21... Rd8 22. Rc1 $1 {An important trick.}
Kb6 23. Ne1 Bf8 24. Rb1) 22. Ra1 Rxa1+ 23. Bxa1 Nxb4 24. Nxe5 Nxd3 25. Nec4+
bxc4 26. Bxg7 Nc5 27. f3 (27. Kf1 Kb5 28. Ke2 Kb4) 27... Kb5 28. Nb1 Na4 29.
Nc3+ Nxc3 30. Bxc3 Ka4 31. Kf2 Kb3 32. Bf6 c3 33. Ke3 {this is as much as I
managed to get for Black and its not enough.}) 21... Kb7 $1 {I kept trying Kb6,
but the comp insists...Apparently a later Bxd4 with check...}) 21. Bd2 $1 {
Dealing with ...Kb5 by freeing the c3-square for the knight.} Rd8 22. Be3+ Kb5
23. Nc3+ Kxb4 24. Nd5+ Bxd5 25. exd5 Rxd5 26. Rb1+ Kc3 27. Rxb7 Nd8 28. Rc7+
Kxd3 29. Kf1 {No way Black can use his extra pawn.} h5 30. h3 Ke4 31. Ng5+ Kf5
32. Nxf7 Nxf7 33. Rxf7+ Bf6 34. g4+ {A fascinating game.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "World-ch Carlsen-Caruana"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2018.11.16"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C42"]
[WhiteElo "2835"]
[BlackElo "2832"]
[Annotator "Grivas,E"]
[PlyCount "160"]
[EventDate "2018.11.09"]
[EventType "match"]
[EventRounds "12"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 187"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2018.12.11"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2018.12.11"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 {So, the WC seems quite unpredictable! In game 2 he chose 1.d4, in game
3 1.c4 and now 1.e4!} e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 {Nothing less to be expected by the
Challenger - he has made his living by the 'Petroff Defence'!} 3. Nxe5 d6 {
(D) [#]} 4. Nd3 ({A quite unusual line. Their most recent game went} 4. Nf3
Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Be3 Nc6 8. Bc4 O-O 9. Qd2 Bf5 10. O-O-O Qd7 11.
Kb1 Rfe8 12. h4 Bf8 13. h5 h6 14. Be2 Bg4 15. Nh2 Bxe2 16. Qxe2 Ne5 17. Bc1 Qc6
18. f4 Nc4 19. Qd3 Qe4 20. g4 Ne3 21. Rde1 Qxd3 22. cxd3 Nd5 23. Reg1 Re6 24.
g5 Ne7 25. gxh6 Rxh6 26. f5 Rh7 27. Ng4 Kh8 28. f6 Ng8 29. fxg7+ Rxg7 30. Be3
c5 31. Bf4 Re8 32. Ne3 Rxg1+ 33. Rxg1 Re6 {½-½ Carlsen,M-Caruana,F Saint
Louis 2018. But it was expected that M.Carlsen will come with something new,
but not that early... I would say that M.Carlsen is more interesting to his
physical strength and stamina than to try to get something in the opening from
his very well-prepared opponent…}) 4... Nxe4 5. Qe2 Qe7 {(D) [#]} 6. Nf4 ({
Another rare line chosen by the WC. There are quite a few games with} 6. Nc3
Nf6 7. Nf4 (7. b3 Nc6 8. Bb2 Bf5 9. Nf4 O-O-O 10. Qxe7 Nxe7 11. O-O-O Ng6 $11 {
So, W-Caruana,F Saint Louis 2018}) 7... c6 8. f3 g5 9. Nd3 $11 {Ganguly,
S-Abasov,N Ulaanbaatar 2018.}) 6... Nc6 (6... Nf6 {seems also safe:} 7. d4
Qxe2+ 8. Bxe2 Nc6 9. c3 g6 10. f3 Bg7 11. h4 h5 12. Na3 Ne7 13. Nb5 Kd8 14. Kf2
a6 $11 {Motylev,A-Rakhmanov,A Yaroslavl 2018.}) 7. Nd5 Nd4 $1 8. Nxe7 Nxe2 9.
Nd5 (9. Bxe2 Bxe7 {promises nothing to both sides!}) 9... Nd4 {(D) [#]} 10. Na3
({A novelty upon} 10. Bd3 Nc5 $1 (10... Nxf2 $2 11. Kxf2 Kd8 12. b3 $18 {
Seyb, A-Gaier,R Willingen 2001}) 11. Nxc7+ Kd7 12. Nxa8 Nxd3+ 13. cxd3 Nc2+ 14.
Kd1 Nxa1 $13 {.}) 10... Ne6 11. f3 N4c5 12. d4 Nd7 13. c3 c6 14. Nf4 Nb6 {
(D) [#] Black seems to have solved with success all his opening 'problems',
for the sixth time in 6 games in this match! Probably all seconds of both
players should be sent on vacation, as they do not really seem to be needed!
It is the first WC that I am following, without any strong 'feelings' in the
opening phase! Well, this is a well-known pawn structure, mainly coming from
the ‘Exchange Variation’ of the ‘French Defence’ (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.
exd5 exd5). There is a clear drawn tendency, mainly because there are not many
good pawn breaks and as some pieces can rapidly be exchanged, there is not
much play left. But of course we must keep I mind that an equal position is
not necessary a drawn one; mistakes need to be made and explored in order to
have a decisive result. And this can happen in any position…} 15. Bd3 d5 16.
Nc2 Bd6 17. Nxe6 Bxe6 18. Kf2 {(D) [#]} h5 ({A good reaction. White could be
slightly better after} 18... f5 $6 19. Re1 Kf7 20. g3 Rhe8 21. b3 g6 22. Ne3
$14 {.}) 19. h4 Nc8 {Planning the simple ...Ne7 and ...Bf5, with full equality.
} 20. Ne3 Ne7 21. g3 {(D) [#]} c5 $1 {Active and good play by Black.} 22. Bc2 (
22. dxc5 Bxc5 23. Kg2 d4 24. cxd4 Bxd4 {, is fine for Black.}) 22... O-O 23.
Rd1 Rfd8 24. Ng2 cxd4 25. cxd4 Rac8 26. Bb3 Nc6 {Again a fine idea, trying to
harass the b3-bishop.} 27. Bf4 Na5 28. Rdc1 {White is dreaming of getting a
better ending with the knight vs the e6-bishop, but Black of course is not
interested!} Bb4 $1 {Preserving the dark-squared bishops is essential.} 29. Bd1
({White cannot go for} 29. Bc7 Nxb3 30. axb3 Re8 31. Rxa7 Bd6 32. Rxb7 Re7 33.
Bxd6 Rxb7 34. Rxc8+ Bxc8 35. b4 Rd7 36. Bc5 Ba6 {, as only Black can have
winning chances here.}) 29... Nc4 30. b3 Na3 31. Rxc8 Rxc8 32. Rc1 Nb5 33.
Rxc8+ Bxc8 {(D) [#] The position seems to be dead equal, but from now on M.
Carlsen is not at his best...} 34. Ne3 $6 ({Troubles start! Good is} 34. Bb8 a6
35. Nf4 $11 {.}) 34... Nc3 35. Bc2 {(D) [#]} Ba3 $1 {White's queenside pawn
structure seems to be in trouble...} 36. Bb8 $6 ({Black seems to be doing good
after} 36. Bd3 Be6 (36... Nxa2 $6 37. Nxd5 Nb4 38. Nxb4 Bxb4 39. Ke2 $11) 37.
Nc2 Bb2 38. a4 Na2 $15 {.}) 36... a6 37. f4 {(D) [#]} Bd7 $1 38. f5 Bc6 ({
Obviously better than} 38... Nb5 $6 39. Nxd5 Nxd4 40. Bd1 $11 {.}) 39. Bd1 Bb2
({With hindsight I would have gone for an ending with the bishop pair after} 
39... Nxd1+ 40. Nxd1 f6 $15 {. Well, the presence of the central pawns is not
helping Black, but White will have to defend accurately. But Black's move is
stronger.}) 40. Bxh5 {(D) [#]} Ne4+ $2 ({The notorious 40th move!} 40... Nxa2
$1 {can be dangerous:} 41. Ba7 Nc3 42. Bb6 Nb5 43. Nc2 Nd6 $1 (43... Bd7 $2 44.
Bg4 Nd6 45. Ne3 Nc8 46. Bc7 Bxd4 47. Bf3 Bxf5 48. Bxd5 b5 49. Bb7 Bg4 50. Bxa6
Ne7 51. Be5 Ba7 52. Bb7 Nf5 53. Bf4 $11) 44. Bf3 (44. g4 Ne4+ 45. Ke2 Nf6 $17)
44... Nxf5 45. Bg4 Nd6 46. Nb4 Ne4+ $17 {.}) 41. Kg2 Bxd4 42. Bf4 Bc5 {(D) [#]
Black still seems to be doing better, but White finds a radical, and quite far
from obvious, solution.} 43. Bf3 $1 Nd2 {(D) [#]} 44. Bxd5 $1 ({An incredible
solution to White's problems. Endless suffering is the passive} 44. Nf1 Nxf3
45. Kxf3 d4+ 46. Ke2 Bb5+ 47. Ke1 Bd3 $15 {. For me it is more than obvious
that M.Carlsen's extreme and deep knowledge on various endings is the key
point here - how else can you make such a radical decision?}) 44... Bxe3 45.
Bxc6 Bxf4 46. Bxb7 Bd6 47. Bxa6 Ne4 {(D) [#] A consequence of forced moves
after White's 44th.} 48. g4 {(D) [#]} (48. Kf3 Nxg3 49. Bd3 Nh5 50. a4 Bb4 51.
Ke4 {is another great story! The analysis is extremely difficult and in
general I would say that White should hold here, but I can be proven wrong by
some powerful engine!}) 48... Ba3 $1 {The only move - Black's wins one of the
two connected white queenside pawns.} 49. Bc4 Kf8 50. g5 Nc3 51. b4 $1 {
It is important to retain an as far as possible outside pawn.} Bxb4 52. Kf3 Na4
53. Bb5 Nc5 54. a4 {(D) [#] So, White has just two pawns for the piece and he
doesn't seem able to make any progress. But can Black win? And if yes, how? He
will obviously need his king to capture the white a-pawn, but in the meantime
White will exchange the kingside pawns. I think that White can hold.} f6 55.
Kg4 $1 {The white king has to stay on the kingside, protecting his pawns.} Ne4
56. Kh5 Be1 57. Bd3 Nd6 {White can also wait here - I cannot see how Black
will radically improve, but M.Carlsen creates with his next a marvelous
position - the straightest way to gain a fortress! This kind of thinking is of
a legend player!} 58. a5 $1 Bxa5 59. gxf6 gxf6 60. Kg6 Bd8 61. Kh7 $1 {(D) [#]
A very nice position for White! Some facts to understand it: 1) The white
h-pawn shouldn’t move to h6. 2) The white king should be able to be retained
to g6- and h7-squares. 3) The white bishop should be able to check the black
king if he goes to f7. 4) Black can win if his king enters the h8- or
f7-squares.} Nf7 62. Bc4 Ne5 63. Bd5 Ba5 64. h5 Bd2 65. Ba2 Nf3 66. Bd5 Nd4 {
(D) [#]} 67. Kg6 $2 ({White blunders! Correct is} 67. Bc4 Bc3 68. Bd3 $11 {.})
67... Bg5 68. Bc4 {(D) [#]} ({What else? If} 68. h6 Ne2 69. Kh7 Nf4 70. Be4 Nh3
71. Bh1 (71. Kg6 Kg8 $19) 71... Nf2 72. Bf3 Nd3 73. Be2 Ne5 74. Bh5 Nf7 $19 {
, or}) (68. Be4 Kg8 $19 {.}) 68... Nf3 $2 ({And the favour is returned! Black
could cash the point with some delicate manoeuvres:} 68... Bh4 $1 69. Bd5 Ne2
70. Bf3 Ng1 $1 71. Bd5 Bg5 72. Kh7 Ne2 73. Bf3 Ng3 74. Bg4 {(the bishop 'lost'
the important a2-g8 diagonal)} Kf7 75. Kh8 Be3 76. Kh7 Bc5 77. Kh8 (77. Bd1
Nxf5 78. Bb3+ Ke7 79. Kg6 Nh4+ 80. Kg7 Bd4 $19) 77... Bf8 78. Kh7 Ne4 $19 {.})
69. Kh7 {Back to business!} Ne5 70. Bb3 Ng4 71. Bc4 Ne3 72. Bd3 $1 ({But not} 
72. Be6 $2 Bh4 73. Bd7 Nf1 74. Ba4 Ng3 75. Kg6 Kg8 $19 {. White must always
keep in mind the notes after the 61st move and never fall into a zugzwang!
Easier said than done!}) 72... Ng4 73. Bc4 Nh6 74. Kg6 {(D) [#] Black cannot
make progress, so he decides to move with the king.} Ke7 75. Bb3 Kd6 76. Bc2
Ke5 77. Bd3 Kf4 78. Bc2 Ng4 79. Bb3 Ne3 80. h6 Bxh6 (80... Bxh6 {Draw agreed.
White can draw with either} 81. Kxf6 {, or} (81. Kxh6 Nxf5+ 82. Kg6 Ke5 83. Bc2
{[%emt 3:12:44] . The game looked as another dull case in the start, but
quickly moved to a classic one! And what an endgame surprise by the great
Magnus!})) 1/2-1/2

[Event "World-ch Carlsen-Caruana"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2018.11.18"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D37"]
[WhiteElo "2835"]
[BlackElo "2832"]
[Annotator "Fernandez,D"]
[PlyCount "79"]
[EventDate "2018.11.09"]
[EventType "match"]
[EventRounds "12"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 187"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2018.12.11"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2018.12.11"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 c5 {Straight into one
of the thematic battlegrounds of the world champions! This is an opening that
seems to be very much beloved by Nakamura, Anand, and more recently Caruana
himself.} 7. dxc5 (7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. Nxd5 Qxd5 {holds less venom and was the
battleground for an encounter between a Topalov second and a Carlsen second...
Edouard,R -Hammer,J Drancy 2016}) 7... Bxc5 8. Qc2 (8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Nxd5 exd5
10. a3 Nc6 11. Bd3 {To be honest, I am a little surprised Carlsen didn't
choose this. He tends to like playing against the IQP, and while it might
appear that Black can play ...d4, this is a mirage: either there will be some
trick yielding an edge (like exd4 followed by Be3) or else White will simply
push past with e4. The textbook encounter features a commentator from this
match:} Bb6 12. O-O Bg4 13. h3 Bh5 14. b4 a6 15. Rc1 d4 16. g4 Bg6 17. e4 Re8
18. Re1 Rc8 19. Bc4 $1 $14 {Svidler,P-Harikrishna,P Shenzhen 2017}) 8... Nc6 9.
a3 {During Norway Chess 2018, when I last looked at this variation, I
commented that I did not believe the present move to be White's most critical,
but I am now revising this assessment.} Qa5 10. Nd2 {On this move, my only
earlier comment was that it "might be an interesting try for an advantage, but
that it ultimately fails"- giving 10...Bb4. The challenger, however, did not
play that move, indicating that neither player reads the details on chessbase.
com!} (10. O-O-O $5 {See my detailed notes on this in Karjakin-Anand, Norway
Chess 2018.} Ne4 $1 11. Nxe4 (11. Nb5 a6 12. Nc7 e5 $1 $40 {Originally played
by Karjakin, but ultimately used against him by Anand in the above-mentioned
encounter.}) 11... dxe4 12. Qxe4 Bxa3 $1 {There follows a forced line.} 13.
bxa3 Qxa3+ 14. Kd2 Rd8+ 15. Ke2 Qb2+ 16. Rd2 Rxd2+ 17. Nxd2 e5 18. Bg3 Bg4+ $3
{New and detailed analysis now reveals that White needs to accept first the
bishop and then the perpetual check which results after best play.}) ({Of
course,} 10. Rd1 {is also possible. It is impossible to annotate the present
game without paying attention to what occurred in the 2nd match game, and also
more generally one of the defining decisions White faces in such games is the
choice between long-castling and playing Rd1.} Re8 $1 (10... Be7 {is more
common, but mistaken. In January 2018 I wrote that White has an edge after} 11.
Be2 Ne4 12. cxd5 Nxc3 13. bxc3 exd5 14. O-O $14 {and I see no reason to change
this verdict.}) (10... Rd8 {was what happened in the 2nd game. I wonder what
Fabi has in mind following 11.Nd2 here?} 11. Nd2 $5 (11. Be2 Ne4 12. O-O Nxc3
13. bxc3 h6 14. a4 Ne7 15. Ne5 Bd6 $1 $11 {Carlsen, M-Caruana,F London WC (2)
2018}) 11... dxc4 12. Bxc4 (12. Nxc4 $5 Rxd1+ 13. Qxd1 Qd8 14. Qxd8+ Nxd8 $14 {
Caruana might have intended to defend this position, or a similar one, and
make the structure into 'his Berlin'. Certainly, with the centre nearly bereft
of pawns, it is difficult to turn the engine's '0.4' into something a human
would recognise as a clear and lasting plus.}) 12... Be7 13. O-O Qh5 14. Nde4
Rxd1 15. Qxd1 Qxd1 16. Rxd1 Nxe4 17. Nxe4 e5 $1 $11 {Roiz,M-Khamrakulov,D
Tashkent 2011}) 11. Nd2 (11. Be2 e5 $15 {is the point}) 11... e5 12. Bg5 Nd4
13. Qb1 $1 (13. Qc1 Bf5 {is liable to lead to a forced draw.} 14. Bxf6 Nc2+ 15.
Ke2 Nd4+ $11 {Carlsen, M-Nakamura,H Douglas 2017}) 13... Bf5 14. Bd3 {White
might have had a tiny something in Mamedyarov-Anand, Tata Steel 2018, but this
was ultimately neutralised.}) (10. Ra2 $5 {This move is nice and experimental,
but after the accurate retreats} Be7 11. b4 Qd8 12. h3 {Black should deviate
from a Topalov game and play} d4 $1 $11) 10... Qd8 {Perhaps Caruana is getting
some kind of thrill out of playing this kind of thing: personally I don't
consider Nd2 anywhere near the size of concession Black needs to extract to
merit the 2 tempi. 10.Ra2, on the other hand, would do. The question was asked
by a perplexed Anna Rudolf of exactly what Black has gained by these
perambulations, as White always seems to win at least one tempo during them.} (
10... Bb4 $5 11. cxd5 exd5 12. Nb3 Bxc3+ 13. bxc3 Qd8 $132 {This continuation
was seen in Topalov,V-Nakamura,H Paris 2017, and perhaps slightly biased by
the fact that Black won the game, I concluded it was unlikely anyone would
play 10.Nd2 for an advantage. To be honest, I still don't know what White
would do here.}) (10... Be7 {This move was the majority choice in the 'live
commentary' room helmed by GM Judit Polgar, as well as among grandmasters who
have reached this position.} 11. Rd1 {is main and now England's fast-rising
talent Shreyas Royal opined, completely correctly, that Black has to go ...e5!
and let the pawns take care of themselves!} (11. Bg3 $5 {is an interesting
idea that may give chances}) 11... e5 12. Bg5 (12. Nb3 Qb6 {gives White an
extra tempo, but there is still nothing after} 13. Bg5 d4 14. Bxf6 Bxf6 15. Nd5
Qd8 $11) 12... d4 $8 13. Nb3 Qd8 14. exd4 Nxd4 15. Nxd4 exd4 16. Nb5 {Now, in
my considered opinion, Black has to know about, and play, the ultra-precise}
Bd7 $1 {and only then does he stand equal.}) 11. Nb3 Bb6 (11... Be7 {is maybe
just a little bit too easy for White to play, as there isn't any idea of ...d4
left.} 12. cxd5 (12. Rd1 e5 {should again be fine}) 12... Nxd5 13. Rd1 $14) 12.
Be2 {Giving up on an opening advantage.} (12. Rd1 {This move springs to mind
immediately for anyone with even a passing knowledge of the structure, and
doesn't run the risks of castling. A process of logical elimination tells us
that Carlsen must have seen, and disliked, the Black idea of} a5 $5 13. Bg5 a4
14. Nd2 d4 $5 $14 {when the battle for loss of frivolous tempi might actually
be won by White. Certainly, over the board this could be difficult to assess.})
({In this position, after} 12. O-O-O Bd7 $1 13. g4 $1 {the incredibly messy
complications can be analysed almost to a forced draw.}) 12... Qe7 $11 {
One last time: are you SURE you don't want me to have an IQP?} 13. Bg5 (13.
cxd5 Nxd5 14. Nxd5 exd5 $11 {is nothing though; White's pieces are poorly
placed to cope with Black's forthcoming ideas like ...Be6, ...Rac8, ...Rfd8.})
13... dxc4 {This exchange made sense on the previous turn too, but here it is
close to being forced.} 14. Nd2 ({Carlsen thought for some time about} 14. Bxc4
{,clearly wondering whether it was actually such an amazing idea to move the
knight another 2 times. A bit of analysis, though, indicates that it is with
the direct recapture that White risks becoming worse.} Bd7 15. O-O Ne5 16. Be2
Rfc8 $5 {Here, in a bizarre echo of the 6.Be3 Najdorf, Black is intending to
put his opponent in a highly annoying double-pin with ...Ba4.} 17. Nd4 h6 $1
18. Bxf6 gxf6 $5 {and play is for 3 results.}) 14... Ne5 15. O-O (15. Nxc4 $2
Nxc4 16. Bxc4 Qc5 $1 $17 {simply gains the bishop pair for nothing.}) (15. Nce4
$5 {is a meaningful alternative, and Magnus said it was his 'main chance to
play dynamically' but, as above, Black doesn't need to tremble in fear at the
prospect of being left with doubled f-pawns. Indeed, neither player
particularly believed it.} Bd7 16. Nxc4 (16. Qc3 $5 {was the move both players
suggested in the press conference.} Nxe4 $1 17. Nxe4 f6 18. Qxe5 fxg5 19. Bxc4
Rac8 20. Bb3 h6 $132 {with a dynamically balanced game.}) 16... Nxc4 17. Bxc4
Rac8 18. O-O Bc6 $11 {The tactical issues faced by each side more or less
balance each other out, and the most likely scenario is that all the pieces,
save either 1 or 2 pairs of rooks, will be vacuumed off the board quite soon,
leaving a draw.}) 15... Bd7 $1 16. Bf4 $1 {White should hurry to take back the
pawn, in whichever way he chooses to do that.} (16. Rfd1 Rac8 17. Nde4 {
is plausible, but without the engine around we don't actually know whether
White will regain the pawn or not.} Bc6 (17... Bc7 $5 18. Bxc4 $1 Bc6 19. Bb5
Bxe4 20. Qxe4 a6 21. Be2 Nxe4 22. Bxe7 Nxc3 23. bxc3 Rfe8 $11 {and both sides
play for a win. The position is reminiscent of my game against Gawain Jones in
the British Championships 2018.}) 18. Nd6 Rcd8 19. Nce4 (19. Nxc4 Nxc4 20. Bxc4
Qc5 21. Bxf6 gxf6 22. Bd3 f5 $11 {Now White has to trade off light-squared
bishops with some urgency, or else simply stand worse.}) 19... h6 $1 20. Bh4 g5
21. Nxf6+ Qxf6 22. Bg3 Bc7 23. Nxc4 Nxc4 $1 24. Bxc7 Rc8 25. Bxc4 Rxc7 $11 {
The position is ever so slightly more comfortable for Black, but is still well
within the 'equal' band in objective terms.}) (16. Nxc4 Nxc4 17. Bxc4 Qc5 18.
Bxf6 Qxc4 19. Rfd1 Bc6 20. Bd4 $1 $11) 16... Ng6 $1 (16... Qc5 {is a hard move
to make, because of all White's Ne4/b4 tactical ideas. Nevertheless, the
computer sees it as best, and then obliges White to take the pawn back
immediately:} 17. Bxe5 Qxe5 18. Nxc4 Qc7 19. b4 $5 (19. Rac1 Bc5 20. b4 Be7 $11
{is an equal position where Black might stand better after a few moves}) 19...
Rac8 20. Rac1 Rfd8 21. Nxb6 Qxb6 22. Rfd1 $11) 17. Bg3 $1 {With their last
moves, both players have shown that they appreciate the full value of the
bishop pair in this position- even where the two flanks are largely distinct
from each other and the engine doesn't mind White giving it up.} Bc6 {A
correct response from Caruana, who understands that White's dark-squared
bishop is better than his own, and takes steps to trade them off.} 18. Nxc4 Bc7
19. Rfd1 Rfd8 20. Rxd8+ {This move smacks of boredom; surely normally Magnus
would ask himself whether it's impossible to gain some other minor edge while
Black is troubling himself with the exact mechanics of the double-rook trade?}
Rxd8 21. Rd1 {Possibly, somewhere at the back of Magnus' mind, there might
have been an idea of eventually making an edge like 'slightly better
light-squared bishop' or 'slightly better knight' count; however, as it turned
out there wasn't a concrete opportunity to play for a win. From this point
onwards, the objective evaluation never veered from complete equality, but I
have tried to point out marginally more ambitious ideas for each side.} Rxd1+
22. Qxd1 Nd5 23. Qd4 Nxc3 24. Qxc3 Bxg3 {My own personal feeling about this
move was that it gives White unnecessary chances. After all, White's pawn
structure is improved and furthermore there's a possibility that Black's
kingside could become very cramped indeed. The engine, of course, doesn't
think this is a problem.} (24... Bb5 {seemed a lot more normal to me.}) 25.
hxg3 Qd7 26. Bd3 {At this point, White decided his plan, which was to make it
inconvenient for Black to play ...f6/...e5, and to go for Bxg6, f3, e4 himself.
} ({Otherwise there is a chance he might have seen the idea of} 26. f4 {
followed by g4-g5 (if allowed) as being more auspicious.}) 26... b6 ({This was
Black's chance to play} 26... f6 {but possibly he just found ideas like} 27.
Qc2 Kf7 28. Na5 {to be a little annoying.}) 27. f3 Bb7 (27... f6 $5 28. g4 Kf7
29. g5 Bd5 $11 {Black's construction looks a little loose, but there is
nothing objectively wrong with it. I would personally think of it as a
reasonable choice if Black wanted to retain the possibility of perhaps one day
winning the game.}) 28. Bxg6 $5 {This had been coming for a while- White was
hardly going to play e4 without it- but I do wonder if maybe it could have
been delayed a further move.} (28. g4 Qc7 29. f4 $11 {is quite ambitious.})
28... hxg6 29. e4 Qc7 $1 {From a human perspective, this looks clearly correct.
Black needs to make the queen trade White seeks as inefficient as possible.} (
29... f6 30. e5 $1 {has become, practically speaking, a little difficult.}) 30.
e5 Qc5+ 31. Kh2 (31. Ne3 Qxc3 32. bxc3 Ba6 $11 {One of the hardest things for
a human player to realise in this position (and related ones which we shall
come to) is that if Black can come with his king to c6, then in spite of his
awful bishop, which possesses a grand total of no targets to aim at, he is the
one playing for a win!}) 31... Ba6 (31... f6 $5 {leads to the same thing:} 32.
Nd6 Qxc3 33. bxc3 Ba6) 32. Nd6 Qxc3 33. bxc3 f6 34. f4 ({The next note is the
move suggested by a friend with whom I was watching the games, live and in
person. Around this time, we made a bet (which I won) about the sequence of
moves that would finish the game...} 34. Kh3 $6 fxe5 35. Kg4 Kf8 36. Kg5 Bd3 {
It is White treading on thin ice here (though the position is still a draw.)
It is not clear to me how White regains a pawn without suffocating his own
knight, and g2 is also weak.}) 34... Kf8 35. Kg1 Ke7 36. Kf2 Kd7 {With Black's
king active, it is difficult to be ambitious.} 37. Ke3 Bf1 ({I did wonder
whether Black could play for a win:} 37... fxe5 $5 38. fxe5 Kc6 39. c4 Kc5 40.
Kd3 b5 41. Ne4+ Kc6 {Now White has a choice of ways to draw, which differ only
in the multiplicity of the choice that he has thereafter.} 42. Kd4 $1 (42.
cxb5+ Bxb5+ 43. Kd4 Be2 (43... Bf1) 44. Nc5 Bg4 $11 {Both sides have
fortresses, despite the World Champion's skepticism about the concept, but it
is still easier for White to go wrong.}) 42... bxc4 43. g4 c3 44. Nxc3 g5 45.
g3 Bf1 46. Ne4 Be2 47. Nxg5 Bxg4 48. a4 $11) 38. Kf2 Ba6 39. Ke3 Bf1 40. Kf2 {
Here Caruana claimed a draw, by the approved method.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "World-ch Carlsen-Caruana"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2018.11.19"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B33"]
[WhiteElo "2832"]
[BlackElo "2835"]
[Annotator "So,Wesley"]
[PlyCount "75"]
[EventDate "2018.11.09"]
[EventType "match"]
[EventRounds "12"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 187"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2018.12.11"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2018.12.11"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{Game 8 of the Carlsen-Caruana match. Many questions are in the air. Are we
going to see the same Sicilian Rossolimo or will we finally see 1.e4 e5? Will
they break the drawing streak and someone draw first blood?} 1. e4 {Fabiano
sticks to his openings as you can see from his games so far. With White he
plays 1.e4 and with Black he does not change his lines. This is not really
surprising as this flow is recommended in many top matches. Plus, Leinier
Dominguez being one of his assistants and a fan of this same system himself, I
think it's safe to assume we will see 1.e4 whenever Fabiano is White here in
London.} c5 {I can't help wondering though why Magnus sticks to the Sicilian
in these games. Against Sergey Karjakin two years ago he only played 1...e5
and had absolutely no problems. I suppose it's a matter of fashion and
personal preference. Before this Championship match the Sicilian was never
really the main opening of Magnus even less so the Sveshnikov.} 2. Nf3 Nc6 3.
d4 {Checking what Magnus had prepared against the Open Sicilian, I must say I
am surprised that Fabiano avoided going for 3.Bb5. He must have run out of
good ideas there.} cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 {Now we see the long-awaited
Sicilian Sveshnikov! This opening became very popular during the late 90s and
early 2000s thanks to the effort of Kasparov, Kramnik and Leko. These days it
has a rock solid reputation and is often employed as a barricade to any White
attempts at an advantage. It is obvious Fabiano expected this and accordingly
prepared a special idea. The Sveshnikov holds good memories for me as back in
the days of my youth it was my one and only opening against 1.e4. One of my
first ever chess books was by Mikhail Krasenkow published in 1996! I also had
books by Yuri Yakovich and Dorian Rogozenco on this specific opening. It is
always a pleasure for me to annotate a game on an opening that has good vibes
for me.} 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Nd5 Nxd5 8. exd5 Nb8 {This is the main retreat, the
knight will be transferred to the kingside via d7 later on. Even though I have
not checked the most updated theory here recently, it is known that this is
the most solid option for Black.} ({Retreating to e7 is possible} 8... Ne7 {
where Black's plan next consists of Nf5 followed by ...g6-Bg7.}) 9. a4 {
This is the first surprise. 9.c4 is the main move here. I wonder if Magnus'
team preparation anticipated this. It is not clear yet if this idea poses any
serious threat to the Sveshnikov. I am sure over the board it can be difficult
to face.} ({The normal continuation for most games here is} 9. c4 Be7 10. Be2
O-O 11. O-O a6 12. Nc3 f5 {where we have a typical position. White has a grip
on the queenside while Black has more space on the other flank. The position
should be close to equal. I had this position in some of my games many years
ago. One of them went} 13. f3 Nd7 14. Rb1 Bg5 15. b4 b6 16. a3 $14 {when White
seems slightly better but the game ended in a draw later on. ½-½ (58) Wan,Y 
(2471)-So,W (2577) Manila 2008}) 9... Be7 10. Be2 O-O 11. O-O Nd7 (11... f5 12.
Bd2 f4) 12. Bd2 {Quiet, refined and dangerous moves like this one are very
much Caruana! Remember 9.Bd2 in the Ruy Lopez against Aronian in the
Candidates? (Though to be fair Grischuk played it first.) Anyway my point is,
there is more to this move than meets the eye.} f5 {This looks like a most
natural response.} (12... Nf6 {Seems like a good move that requires further
research. After} 13. Be3 a6 14. Na3 Qa5 $5 {A funny instance that could work.}
15. c4 Qd8 $5 {The idea is to blockade the queenside dark-squares with a5 and
b6.} 16. Nc2 (16. b4 a5) 16... a5 17. Na3 b6 {Black has accomplished his
strategy and the position now looks very interesting to me.}) 13. a5 a6 (13...
f4 $5 14. Bb4 Nf6 15. c4 a6 16. Nc3 Bf5 17. f3) 14. Na3 e4 {I think Magnus is
playing all the most logical moves here. He fixes the problem of needing more
space for his pieces by securing the e5 post for his knight.} (14... f4 {
is one of the suggestions I saw on the live book.} 15. Nc4 Rf6 {The idea is to
attack on the kingside with Rh6 while keeping the b6 square protected for the
moment.}) (14... Nf6 15. Bb4 Bd7 16. Nc4 Bb5 17. Nb6 Bxe2 18. Qxe2 Rb8 19. f4
$14) 15. Nc4 Ne5 16. Nb6 {Keeping the queenside in check. This protected
knight is very annoying on b6 and it controls many squares. Now White can
always grab the bishop pair if need be.} (16. Nxe5 dxe5 17. Bc4 Bd6 18. Re1 Bd7
19. Bf1) 16... Rb8 17. f4 exf3 18. Bxf3 g5 $6 {The best word to describe my
thoughts when I first saw this move is "shocking"! This looks at first sight
like utter desperation. With a powerful knight on b6 tying down Black's
queenside and significantly more space, it looks like White's opportunities
have a substantially higher chance to succeed.} ({It seems to me that much
stronger is} 18... Bf6 19. c3 Nd7 {to get rid of the annoying White knight.
The f6 bishop can then be posted on e5.} 20. Be3 Be5) ({Or Black can also
start with} 18... Nd7) 19. c4 {While watching this game live I thought Magnus
was in deep danger here. His attack does not seem to be going anywhere. At the
same time Black has to be careful not to weaken his king's position. And
White's play on the queenside is definitely faster. We might finally see a
decisive result today!} f4 20. Bc3 ({Trading the light-squared bishops with} 
20. Be4 {is a serious option too.} Bf5 21. Bxf5 Rxf5 22. Bc3 {White has a
stable advantage.}) 20... Bf5 (20... Bf6 {is met by the same c5} 21. c5 $1 {
it is incredible how powerful this pawn sacrifice can be.} dxc5 22. d6 Nxf3+
23. gxf3 Bxc3 24. bxc3 Be6 25. Re1 $18 {when White is just totally winning.
The knight on b6 and the pawn on d6 totally bind up Black's forces.}) 21. c5 $1
{Fabiano is playing accurately and powerfully. White wastes no time in
mobilizing his forces at the cost of a pawn.} Nxf3+ (21... Bf6 22. c6 $16) 22.
Qxf3 dxc5 23. Rad1 {This seems like a most natual move. What can be more
instinctive than putting a rook behind a passed pawn? But here White had two
great opportunities that would almost certainly lead to a win.} (23. g4 $1 {
is an enormously powerful move. It kicks away Black's bishop from its ideal
square on f5. After} Bg6 (23... fxg3 24. Qxg3 {leads to a winning attack. After
} Bd6 {White has Be5, with irresistible threats.}) 24. Rad1 Bd6 (24... Bf6 25.
d6 $18 {Once the d-pawn reaches d6, it is over.}) 25. Rfe1 {White is cruising
to the win. Black cannot defend against the rook infiltration on e6. Nc4 is
another huge threat.} c4 26. Re6 Qc7 27. Qh3 $18) (23. Rae1 Bf6 (23... Bd6 24.
Nc4) 24. h4 {also looks absolutely dominating. After} h6 25. hxg5 hxg5 {
We have the now familiar motif} 26. g4 {which just crushes Black's defences.
Of course although in both cases the lines are totally winning for White, lets
be fair. It's easy to see it with a coffee in one hand, a sandwich in the
other, and an incredibly powerful computer analyzing lines right in front of
you. Poor Carlsen and Caruana have to do all the calculating in their heads
over a board.}) 23... Bd6 24. h3 $2 {I suppose Fabiano panicked a little in
the face of the threat of g4. White can opt for more active possibilities at
his disposal.} (24. Qh5 {looks like a natural move to me. If White is afraid
of the g4 push then he can play this.} Qe8 (24... Bg6 {is met by} 25. Qh3 {Now}
Bf5 {can be replied to by the typical} 26. g4 $1 {gaining time and dislodging
the Black bishop.} Bg6 27. Rfe1 f3 28. Re6 {and now Rxg6 is a threat. It seems
that once a White rook gets to e6 Black's defences fall apart.}) 25. Qxg5+ Qg6
26. Qxg6+ hxg6 27. Nc4 {White still maintains a clear advantage in the ending.}
) (24. Nc4 {could be stronger still. Albeit the lines look a bit more like
computer variations. It is probably too hard for a human to find them over the
board.} g4 25. Qf2 f3 (25... g3 26. Qd2 Qh4 27. h3 $18) 26. Rfe1 fxg2 27. Qxg2
{Black's king turns out to be much more vulnerable than White's.}) 24... Qe8 $1
{Black more or less equalizes now and does not give White any second chance
after his mistake.} 25. Nc4 Qg6 {Black manages to mobilize his forces very
comfortably. Now he is ready to fight for control in the center and he is a
pawn up. So Fabiano decides its time to trade pieces.} 26. Nxd6 (26. Rfe1 Rbe8)
26... Qxd6 27. h4 (27. Qh5 Qg6 28. Qxg6+ hxg6 {does not lead anywhere for
White.} 29. d6 {could just be met by} Rbd8) 27... gxh4 28. Qxf4 Qxf4 29. Rxf4
h5 {The last accurate move. It secures the g4 square.} 30. Re1 (30. d6 Bg4 31.
Rxf8+ Rxf8 32. Rd5 Rf5 $11) 30... Bg4 31. Rf6 Rxf6 32. Bxf6 Kf7 33. Bxh4 Re8
34. Rf1+ Kg8 35. Rf6 (35. d6 Re2 $11) 35... Re2 36. Rg6+ Kf8 37. d6 Rd2 38. Rg5
1/2-1/2

[Event "World-ch Carlsen-Caruana"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2018.11.21"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A29"]
[WhiteElo "2835"]
[BlackElo "2832"]
[Annotator "Navara,D"]
[PlyCount "112"]
[EventDate "2018.11.09"]
[EventType "match"]
[EventRounds "12"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 187"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2018.12.11"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2018.12.11"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{While the Women’s World Championship Cycle is going to imitate the overall
World Championship, it might also hold the other way around. After eight
rounds, there remained four games and an eventual tie-break to be played to
determine the winner. The finale of the Women’s World Championship looks
quite similar in this respect, doesn’t it? The match has been quite tense,
both players have been fighting hard and it is therefore surprising that all
the games finished in draws. This shows high class of both players as well as
their superb defensive abilities. Moreover, the permanent progress of the
opening theory makes it increasingly difficult to achieve an advantage with
White against a well-prepared opponent. We all have probably hoped to see more
decisive games, but it is really very hard to beat a 2800-rated player.} 1. c4
e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 Bc5 {This is currently
the most fashionable continuation. It had been played by club players many
times before GM Grischuk introduced it to a top level.} 7. O-O ({White could
win a pawn by means of} 7. Nxe5 Nxc3 8. Bxc6+ (8. bxc3 Nxe5 9. d4 Bd6 $11) 8...
bxc6 9. bxc3 {, but Black would get an ample compensation after} (9. dxc3 Qxd1+
10. Kxd1 Bxf2 11. Rf1 Bc5 12. Rxf7 Bd6 13. Rf3 Bxe5 14. Re3 O-O $1 15. Rxe5
Rf1+ {should be fine for Black as well according to GM Marin and IM Stoica 
(NIC Yearbook 125).}) 9... Qd5 10. Nf3 Bh3 {owing to his better development.})
7... O-O 8. d3 ({A funny-looking continuation} 8. Nxd5 Qxd5 9. Ng5 Qd8 10. Nxh7
Re8 11. Ng5 Qxg5 12. d4 Qh5 13. dxc5 Rd8 14. Bd2 Nd4 {gives Black a decent
counterplay according to GM Marin and IM Stoica.}) (8. Nxe5 Nxc3 9. Nxc6 $2 {
is not to be recommended in view of} Nxd1 10. Nxd8 Bxf2+ $1 11. Kh1 Bg4 $1 {.})
8... Re8 {This variation has already been played in the 4th round.} ({A bishop
retreat} 8... Bb6 {is equally playable, but it enables White to play b2-b4 in
certain lines.}) 9. Bg5 $5 {This motif has been known from the Sicilian Dragon
(with reversed colours).} Nxc3 ({It it also possible to play} 9... Nde7 {
, but retreating the centralized knight contradicts the spirit of this
variation (if there is any).}) ({Black would like to play} 9... f6 $6 {, but
it allows} 10. Qb3 Be6 11. Qxb7 {, when White seems to be better, e.g.} Ndb4 $6
12. Qb5 $1 {and the queen escapes.}) 10. bxc3 f6 11. Bc1 {If any piece belongs
to d2, it is the knight. Black players have been doing very well in this match.
Magnus therefore sort of "switched colours" by losing time with his bishop.
Well, he has slightly improved his pawn structure in return. Black can no
longer claim the d4-square.} Be6 {Pushing e5-e4 with an undeveloped queenside
would be clearly inferior to this healthy developing move.} 12. Bb2 Bb6 ({
Here my computer likes} 12... e4 $5 {for some reason.} 13. Nd4 (13. dxe4 Qxd1
14. Rfxd1 Bc4 15. e3 Rad8 {gives Black a good compensation owing to White's
queenside weaknesses.}) 13... Nxd4 14. cxd4 Bxd4 15. Bxd4 Qxd4 16. Bxe4 c6 ({
or even} 16... Bd5 17. e3 Qe5 {should not be too dangerous for Black.})) ({
I expected} 12... Qe7 {, when} 13. d4 {allows Black to play} Rad8 {.}) 13. d4
Bd5 {Black neutralizes White's kingside bishop.} 14. Qc2 exd4 15. cxd4 Be4 16.
Qb3+ Bd5 ({The endgame arising after} 16... Qd5 17. Qxd5+ Bxd5 18. e3 {is
somewhat more pleasant for White. Not much, but it is hard to achieve more,
nowadays.}) 17. Qd1 {Magnus played quickly up to this moment. I like his
opening choice. This seemingly unambitious variation with few long forced
lines gives him decent chances to outplay his opponent in the subsequent
course of the game. The b6-bishop might remain out of play after e2-e3, Nf3-d2.
True, Fabiano Caruana is quite hard to be outplayed.} (17. Qc2 Be4 {would not
be very inspiring.}) 17... Bxf3 $6 {Watching the game, I also considered this
move. It is a logical and straightforward one. While it is certainly not bad,
it leads to a position where White can play for the win without any risk.} ({
I like} 17... Qd7 {. Black can complete his development and play Na5, c5 later
on.}) (17... Na5 $5 {was another option.}) 18. Qb3+ {This limits Black's
options.} (18. Bxf3 Nxd4 19. Bxd4 Qxd4 20. Qb3+ Kh8 {is a mere transposition} (
{, while} 20... Kf8 $5 {was not possible in the game.})) 18... Kh8 19. Bxf3
Nxd4 20. Bxd4 Qxd4 21. e3 $1 Qe5 {Black would like to exchange the queens, but
it is not that simple.} (21... Qd6 22. Bxb7 Rab8 {is also slightly better for
White after} 23. Rad1 Qf8 24. Bc6 {, as} Bxe3 $2 {loses an exchange after
almost any queen retreat.}) 22. Bxb7 Rad8 23. Rad1 $14 {White has achieved a
small but stable advantage. His king is safer and his bishop is more active
than its counterpart. He should keep the queens on the board to maintain
attacking chances. Magnus Carlsen has already won many equal-looking positions
with rooks and opposite-coloured bishops on the board. On the other hand,
Black's position is quite solid and the drawing margin is quite broad unless
White launches a mating attack. Black can sometimes sacrifice a pawn to
exchange the major pieces and achieve a drawish bishop endgame.} Qe7 24. h4 $1
{White needs to weaken his opponent's king.} g6 25. h5 $6 (25. Bc6 {looks
better in hindsight, but Black's defensive resources should be sufficient
anyway. Still, some accuracy is needed, as} Rxd1 $6 26. Rxd1 Rd8 27. Rxd8+ Qxd8
28. Qf7 {would be fairly unpleasant for Black.}) 25... gxh5 $1 {A brave
decision. Instead of defending an inferior position after 25...Kg7, Black
launches counterplay. GM Mihail Marin has recently written an article on such
an unexpected recapture for a German magazine "Schach".} ({White would keep
his trumps after} 25... Kg7 26. Bf3 $14 {.}) 26. Qc4 f5 $1 {Another good move.
Black prepares h5-h4, after which both kings would be equally weak. Black has
equalized, but the fight continues.} 27. Bf3 h4 28. Rxd8 Rxd8 29. gxh4 Rg8+ 30.
Kh1 Qf6 31. Qf4 Bc5 $1 {The bishop joins the play.} 32. Rg1 Rxg1+ ({It was
safer to play} 32... Bd6 33. Rxg8+ Kxg8 {, as the h4-pawn would then be
hanging with check in many lines. Still, Black's continuation does not spoil
anything.}) 33. Kxg1 Bd6 34. Qa4 {Fabiano Caruana was a bit short of time, but
he kept everything under control.} f4 $1 35. Qxa7 fxe3 36. Qxe3 Qxh4 {All
Black needs to do is to exchange the queens without losing the pawns.} 37. a4
Qf6 38. Bd1 Qe5 {The bishop endgame is drawn.} 39. Qxe5+ Bxe5 40. a5 Kg7 41. a6
Bd4 42. Kg2 Kf6 43. f4 Bb6 44. Kf3 h6 {Black does not advance his pawns to far
to be able to protect them. Watching this endgame, I recalled an important
game Aronian - Bacrot from the World Cup 2005 semifinal, where Black gave up
in a similar position without his c-pawn and with White's bishop on h3 and
pawn on f5. It looks like a dream scenario for White, but the final position
of that game was still drawn! Needless to say, White cannot achieve it now.}
45. Ke4 Ba7 46. Bg4 {From here White's bishop blocks the h-pawn and protects
the f4-pawn. White can win a bishop for the a-pawn, but then Black's c-pawn
could run forward to save a draw (at least).} Bg1 47. Kd5 Bb6 48. Kc6 Be3 {
The c7-pawn can also be protected indirectly. There is nothing to be done.} 49.
Kb7 Bb6 50. Bh3 Be3 51. Kc6 Bb6 52. Kd5 Ba7 53. Ke4 Bb6 54. Bf1 Ke6 55. Bc4+
Kf6 56. Bd3 Ke6 1/2-1/2

[Event "World-ch Carlsen-Caruana"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2018.11.22"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B33"]
[WhiteElo "2832"]
[BlackElo "2835"]
[Annotator "Shankland,S"]
[PlyCount "107"]
[EventDate "2018.11.09"]
[EventType "match"]
[EventRounds "12"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 187"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2018.12.11"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2018.12.11"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{The 10th game of the World Championship match was the most back and forth
affair of any game thus far. There were plenty of games where one side did not
make the most of their chances, but this has been the only one where I thought
both players at some point had very real winning chances.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6
{Magnus stays true to his Rossolimo/Sveshnikov repertoire for the 5th time in
a row. Starting from game 5, I have expected him to pivot every single game,
and been wrong every single time. Perhaps he will just play this the whole way
through?} 3. d4 {Caruana eschews Bb5, which he chose in his first 3 White
games.} cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Nd5 {I was a bit surprised to
see Caruana enter the same line as game 8. Even though he got an excellent
position in that game, he had to figure Magnus would have come with
improvements, and the line is supposed to be okay for Black.} (7. Bg5 {Leads
to the mainline Sveshnikov.}) 7... Nxd5 8. exd5 Nb8 9. a4 Be7 10. Be2 O-O 11.
O-O Nd7 12. b4 $5 {The first major deviation. Caruana chose Bd2 in the
previous game. Still, the move does not look too impressive to me.} (12. Bd2 {
Carlsen misplayed the position and quickly ended up worse.}) 12... a6 13. Na3
a5 $5 {A very commital decision, but not a bad one. Magnus forces the
queenside open right away, a fearless decision against a prepared opponent,
but he had other options.} (13... b6 {Appeals the most to me. Black tries to
keep the queenside closed and will look for his own counterplay with f7-f5. In
fact, I actually prefer Black in a practical game here.}) 14. bxa5 Rxa5 15. Nc4
Ra8 16. Be3 {Caruana was still playing very fast. He probably was in his
preparation.} f5 $1 {Black absolutely needs counterplay, and f5-f4 is coming.
However, unlike game 8, here White cannot comfortabll play f2-f4 himself to
keep his kingside secure.} 17. a5 (17. f4 {Black is absolutely fine after} exf4
18. Bxf4 Nb6 (18... g5 $5 {If Black is in a feisty mood})) 17... f4 $1 18. Bb6
Qe8 {The battle lines are drawn. White clearly has an edge on the queenside,
Black's pieces (particularly the c8-bishop and d7-knight) look a little clumsy,
and the b6 square could prove to be a problem. But Black's kingside pawn mass
promises him decent counterplay.} 19. Ra3 {A not so mysterious rook move. It
looks pointless now but Black's plan is clearly to launch a kingside attack,
and the rook will be a good defender laterally along the third rank.} (19. Re1
{This is the computer's recommendation by a wide margin, but I don't really
understand the move? I guess it just serves as some vague prophylaxis against
e5-e4. It claims white is better but I am unconvinced because after} Rf6 $1 {
Black is ready to challenge the b6-bishop via Be7-d8.}) 19... Qg6 20. Bc7 e4 $1
{Carlsen is in burn the bridges mode. His pawns are vulnerable and could
quickly fall if the center were to open at an inopportune moment, but he is
looking for direct counterplay against White's king, truly in the style of the
Sveshnikov.} (20... Ra6 {A quiet defensive move like this one was surely fine,
but I think the World Champion was right to go for it.}) (20... b5 $5 {It was
also possible to play in the same manner as the game, only without committing
to e5-e4. This could make some sense as the central pawns proved weak.} 21. Nb6
(21. axb6 $2 {It's possible this move annoyed Magnus since e5-e4 no longer
works, but it is also insufficient.} Rxa3 22. Nxa3 {The problem is here Black
needs a new attacking plan since e5-e4 fails to bring its desired returns.} Nc5
$1 {The b-pawn is well under control, and most importantly, White's pieces are
totally unprepared to defend his king. How will the c7-bishop ever contribute
to a proper defense? Rf6-h6 is coming and Black should win.} (22... e4 23. Bh5
$1 Qg5 24. Qg4 $1 {White is doing well. Getting his queen to g4 will really
lesse any attacking chances Black can hope for})) 21... Nxb6 22. Bxb6 {This
leads to a similar position to the game, but Black does not need to play e5-e4
if he so desires. For instance, he seems to have a good position after} b4 23.
Rb3 Bf5 $1 {When it is clear there are reasons the pawn is good on e5 as well.}
) 21. Kh1 b5 $5 {A very commital move, but not a bad one.} (21... Qh6 {The
machines prefer a slower buildup with something like this. Black certainly
will have attacking chances by lifting the f8-rook, but I don't mind Magnus's
decision either.}) 22. Nb6 $1 (22. axb6 $2 {This would be asking for trouble.
I find it unlikely White will survive after the energetic} Rxa3 23. Nxa3 f3 $1
24. gxf3 Ne5 $1 {Black's attack looks devastating.}) 22... Nxb6 23. Bxb6 Qg5 $6
{Technically, this move loses the game against best play, but it comes with a
very nasty idea of playing Rf6-h6 and delivering mate on the h-file. A machine
with its nerves of steel would have no trouble grabbing h5, but for a human,
it looks absurdly dangerous.} 24. g3 {Caruana's move makes a lot of sense.
Taking on f4 and bringing the rook to g3 should dispel any mating dreams.} (24.
Bxb5 $1 {White could have gotten away with this.} Rf6 {Extreme precision is
needed to beat back the attack, but it is possible.} 25. Re1 $1 {An important
move. White hits the e4-pawn while simultaneously clearing f1 for the bishop.}
Bf5 (25... Rh6 26. Rxe4) (25... Rg6 26. Bf1 Bf5 (26... Ba6 27. Rxe4 $1 $18) 27.
a6 Rh6 28. a7 Qh4 29. h3 f3 {This loks absolutely terrifying for a human, but
apparently White wins with another only move:} 30. Qd4 $1 $18 {The point is to
defend against the threat of Bxh3 followed by Qg4.} Bxh3 31. gxh3 Qg4 32. Rxf3
$1 {No more exf3 thanks to the pin exerted by the queen being on d4. After}
Qxf3+ 33. Bg2 {The a-pawn will carry the day. One certainly cannot fault
Caruana for not seeing all of this.}) 26. f3 $1 e3 27. a6 Rh6 28. Re2 $3 {
An incredibly difficult only move that would have to have been prepared in
advance. White is ready to play Qg1 and hold the position together. Even then,
the variation continues.} Qh5 29. Qg1 Bh4 30. g4 $1 fxg3 31. Raxe3 $1 {White
wins. But this is really just a machine line, and outside of human capability.}
) 24... b4 25. Rb3 (25. gxf4 {I would have been tempted to clear the 3rd rank
for defensive purposes, and this probably is an easier route to equality.
Still, while Caruana's choice gives him some only moves to find, he did find
the moves and he objectively was not worse.}) 25... Bh3 26. Rg1 $1 {The rook
is needed for defensive purposes.} (26. Re1 Bf6 $1 {Moves like Bc3 or Be5
could come next. White is in trouble.}) 26... f3 {White is under a lot of
pressure. Around here I thought Caruana might crack and give Magnus the first
decisive result, but he defended very well.} 27. Bf1 $1 {This is a tough move.
I would have been tempted to just let the bishop stay on h3, since White can
always sacrifice an exchange on g2 very happily and otherwise it's not clear
what active role the bishop plays. But it was absolutely critical to play Bf1.}
(27. Bb5 $2 {A move like this looks sensible...} Rf6 $1 {Until you realize
White will simply be mated on the h-file! Rh6 and Qh5 is coming, and there is
nothing to be done.}) 27... Bxf1 $1 (27... Qh5 {Caveman play does not work
here since White is in better shape to keep the h-file under control. The
queen coming to f1 is very important, for instance after} 28. Rxb4 Rf6 29. Bxh3
Qxh3 30. Be3 $1 {Black will not get Rh6 very easily, and e4 is hanging to boot.
White should win.}) 28. Qxf1 $1 {Another important decision. White cannot
allow a disaster on the h-file. His position looks awful with the queen and
the rook so passively placed and the d5-pawn falling, but he remains solid and
can rely on the a5-pawn for counterplay.} (28. Rxf1 $2 {Keeping active pieces
comes at a heavy price. After} Qg4 $1 29. Rxb4 Rf5 $1 {White will promptly be
mated by Rh5 and Qh3.}) 28... Qxd5 29. Rxb4 Qe6 30. Rb5 $11 {The position is
dynamically balanced, but White has to be more careful than Black. He managed
without a ton of trouble.} Bd8 31. Qe1 $1 {The queen returns to life.} Bxb6 32.
axb6 Rab8 33. Qe3 Qc4 34. Rb2 Rb7 35. Rd1 Qe2 $1 {Setting a devilish trap,
though it is not enough to claim an advantage.} 36. Re1 $1 {Far from the only
holding move, but I am awarding an exclamation point for not falling for
Black's idea.} (36. Qb3+ $2 Kh8 37. c4 {Looks like it traps Black's queen. But
the nasty response} Rxb6 $1 $19 {Would promptly turn the tables!}) 36... Qxe3
37. Rxe3 d5 {The position is balanced as neither side can easily mobilize
their pawn majority. Black's center looks impressive, but he can't do anything
with it so long as he is left with a passive rook on b7.} 38. h4 Rc8 39. Ra3
Kf7 40. Kh2 Ke6 41. g4 Rc6 42. Ra6 Ke5 43. Kg3 h6 44. h5 {The position is some
kind of mutual stalemate where neither side can do anything. Magnus tried to
make something happen with} Kd4 $2 {But only made trouble for himself after
the strong response} 45. Rb5 $1 {When Black has to be somewhat accurate to not
get into trouble. Still, he has more than one route to a draw, and Magnus
found a very easy one.} Rd6 $1 {Overprotecting the d5-pawn White was planning
to harass with Raa5.} 46. Ra4+ Ke5 47. Rab4 Ke6 {Nice and easy. White has no
good way to challenge Black's central pawn mass without allowing liquidation.}
48. c4 dxc4 49. Rxc4 Rdxb6 50. Rxe4+ Kf7 51. Rf5+ Rf6 {Black loses a pawn but
simplifies into an easily drawn 3 vs 2 on the kingside. Caruana did not even
bother trying. His winning chances are approximately zero.} 52. Rxf6+ Kxf6 53.
Kxf3 Kf7 54. Kg3 {With only 2 games to go, each player has only one game to
try with White. Carlsen gets to go first, and I'll be interested to see what
first move he chooses, as well as if we will see a 6th 2.Nf3 Nc6 Sicilian in
the final game.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "World-ch Carlsen-Caruana"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2018.11.24"]
[Round "11"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C42"]
[WhiteElo "2835"]
[BlackElo "2832"]
[Annotator "Gelfand,B"]
[PlyCount "110"]
[EventDate "2018.11.09"]
[EventType "match"]
[EventRounds "12"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 187"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2018.12.11"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2018.12.11"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 {It is noteworthy that Magnus shuffles beetween 1.d4, 1.c4 and 1.e4,
while Fabiano had always started his games with 1.e4.The reason is a totally
different attitude to opening preparation by world champion and the challenger.
} e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 {I am happy to see that Fabiano sticks to a Petroff, which
served him well this year (especially in the Candidates,where he didn't face
any problems in this opening) I had successfully used this opening for many
years and during World Cup 2009 which I won it was my only weapon. However,
before my World Championship match vs Vishy Anand in 2012, I switched to the
Sveshnikov (Magnus' choice in this match!) in order to surprise my opponent.
It seems that Fabiano has even more trust in Petroff than I had!} 3. Nxe5 d6 4.
Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 {One of the most popular systems nowadays.} Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7.
Be3 O-O {Here, two schools of thoughts exist. Vladimir Kramnik and myself had
always castled short, which is a more ambitious try. More popular is 7...Nc6,
followed by Be6, Qd7 and long castle with a solid, but passive position.
Fabiano tried it both, but had chosen a more principled approach in this
important game.} 8. Qd2 Nd7 9. O-O-O Nf6 (9... Ne5 {was a system I advocated
with quite a success, but since then some new, interesting ideas have been
found.}) (9... c6 {was Fabiano's choice earlier this year. He equalized
convincingly against Levon Aronian.} 10. h4 (10. Kb1 d5 11. c4 Nb6 12. cxd5
Nxd5 13. Bc4 Bf5 14. Bxd5 cxd5 15. Qxd5 Qc8 16. Nd4 Bg6 17. Ka1 Re8 18. Rhe1
Bf6 19. c3 Re5 20. Qb3 a6 21. Bf4 Rxe1 22. Rxe1 Qd7 23. Be5 Re8 24. f4 Bd8 25.
a4 h6 26. Rd1 Qg4 27. Rd2 b5 28. axb5 axb5 29. Qd1 Qd7 30. f5 Bg5 31. Rd3 Bxf5
32. Nxf5 Qxf5 33. Bg3 Ra8+ 34. Kb1 Rd8 35. Kc2 b4 36. cxb4 Rc8+ 37. Kb3 Qe6+
38. Rd5 Rd8 39. Kc4 Qc6+ {0-1 (39) Robson,R (2660)-Caruana,F (2804) Saint
Louis 2018}) 10... d5 11. Kb1 Re8 12. Bd3 Bc5 13. Rde1 Bxe3 14. Rxe3 Rxe3 15.
Qxe3 Nf6 16. Re1 Qd6 17. Qe8+ Qf8 18. Qxf8+ Kxf8 19. Kc1 Bd7 20. c4 dxc4 21.
Bxc4 Re8 22. Rxe8+ Bxe8 23. Kd2 Ke7 24. Ne5 Nd7 25. Nf3 Nf6 26. Ne5 Nd7 27. Nf3
Nf6 28. Ne5 {1/2-1/2 (28) Aronian,L (2780)-Caruana,F (2827) Batumi 2018}) 10.
Bd3 ({Fabiano failed to equalize with White in the following game} 10. h3 c5
11. Bf4 Be6 12. a3 d5 13. Ng5 Bd7 14. g4 Bc6 15. Bg2 Re8 16. Qd3 Bd6 {1/2-1/2 
(98) Caruana,F (2784)-Hou,Y (2654) Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden 2018}) 10... c5 11.
Rhe1 Be6 {Ex-women's world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk is the main advocate
of this setup.} 12. Kb1 (12. Bg5 {White won a beautiful game after} h6 $2 13.
Bxh6 c4 14. Bxg7 $1 cxd3 15. Qg5 Ne4 16. Qh6 Bg5+ 17. Nxg5 Qxg5+ 18. Qxg5 Nxg5
19. Bxf8 dxc2 20. Rxd6 Kxf8 21. h4 Nh7 22. Kxc2 {1-0 (62) Karjakin,S (2779)
-Harikrishna,P (2763) Shamkir 2016 CBM 173 [Mekhitarian,K]}) 12... Qa5 13. c4
Qxd2 14. Bxd2 {Black's position is extremely solid and I believe he has solved
all the opening problems. Either Magnus trusted in his ability to exploit
minimal advantages or he was not well prepared for this game. I would tend to
believe the first option.} h6 {A small deviation from an earlier game.} (14...
Rfe8 15. Ng5 Bd7 16. f3 Bc6 17. a3 h6 18. Ne4 Nxe4 19. Bxe4 Bxe4 20. Rxe4 Bf8
21. Bf4 g5 22. Bg3 f5 23. Ree1 Kf7 24. Kc1 Rxe1 25. Rxe1 Re8 26. Rxe8 Kxe8 {
1/2-1/2 (48) Sasikiran,K (2671)-Miroshnichenko,E (2606) Saint Louis USA 2018})
15. Nh4 (15. h3 $5 {would prevent Ng4-e5 ,but give Black time to prepare d6-d5}
) 15... Rfe8 16. Ng6 Ng4 17. Nxe7+ Rxe7 18. Re2 Ne5 19. Bf4 (19. Bc3 {was the
last attempt to spice things up:} Nxd3 $140 ({Safer is} 19... f6 20. Bxe5 dxe5
21. Bg6 Rd7 $11) 20. Rxd3 Rd7 21. Rg3 g6 22. Rxe6 (22. Bf6 $5) 22... fxe6 23.
Rxg6+ Kh7 24. Rxe6 {with a complicated endgame.}) 19... Nxd3 20. Rxd3 Rd7 {
The rest of the game is hardly interesting.} 21. Rxd6 Rxd6 22. Bxd6 Rd8 23. Rd2
Bxc4 24. Kc1 b6 25. Bf4 Rxd2 26. Kxd2 a6 ({Avoiding a cute trap:} 26... Bxa2 $2
27. b3 c4 28. Kc3 cxb3 29. Kb2) 27. a3 Kf8 28. Bc7 b5 29. Bd6+ Ke8 30. Bxc5 {
Even though White is a full pawn up, this is a dead draw.} h5 31. Ke3 Kd7 32.
Kd4 g6 33. g3 Be2 34. Bf8 Kc6 35. b3 Bd1 36. Kd3 Bg4 37. c4 Be6 38. Kd4 bxc4
39. bxc4 Bg4 40. c5 Be6 41. Bh6 Bd5 42. Be3 Be6 43. Ke5 Bd5 44. Kf4 Be6 45. Kg5
Bd5 46. g4 hxg4 47. Kxg4 Ba2 48. Kg5 Bb3 49. Kf6 Ba2 50. h4 Bb3 51. f4 Ba2 52.
Ke7 Bb3 53. Kf6 Ba2 54. f5 Bb1 $1 {The only finesse Black should know.} 55. Bf2
Bc2 (55... Bxf5 $4 56. h5) 1/2-1/2

[Event "World-ch Carlsen-Caruana"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2018.11.26"]
[Round "12"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B33"]
[WhiteElo "2832"]
[BlackElo "2835"]
[Annotator "So,Wesley"]
[PlyCount "62"]
[EventDate "2018.11.09"]
[EventType "match"]
[EventRounds "12"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 187"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2018.12.11"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2018.12.11"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{The last game, where so much is at stake. If Fabiano wins he'll become the
17th world champion. All his tournaments, all the work of his life has been
aimed at reaching this point. After accomplishing everything necessary to
reach the goal of playing for the World Championship, Fabiano has survived
eleven tough rounds to get to this last game. I cannot think of any game where
there's so much to play for. Will we see Fabiano win the biggest game of his
life? Or will we see Carlsen defend his title once again?} 1. e4 $1 {In the
last few months and in tournaments before this one, Fabiano had been
experimenting with 1.d4 or 1.c4. Although he had great results with White in
some games in the Catalan or the Nimzo, that was just a distraction for Magnus
to ponder. In this match of all matches, Fabiano will stick to his main
opening 1.e4!} c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 {Shelving 3.Bb5, which has been played
three times in this tournament.} cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 {
As predicted by many people including myself, we see the Sveshnikov Sicilian
for the last game. I'm sure many people were pleased to see such a sharp
opening for the final game of the match. Magnus has strongh nerves. In order
to be able to play such a sharp opening you have to come very well prepared;
there are many pitfalls and traps that Black can easily fall into in the
Sveshnikov. You have to have complete trust in your ability to calculate and
assess the arising positions. Part of me wonders what would happen if Magnus
employed 1...e5 in a game in this match.} 7. Nd5 (7. Bg5 {is the main move
here by far. Fabiano has played this many times before, his most recent being
a big win against Gata Kamsky in the 2017 US Championships.} a6 8. Na3 b5 9.
Bxf6 gxf6 10. Nd5 {Now Black can play both 10...f5 or 10...Bg7. This complex
variation used to be very popular. Just a few years ago Boris Gelfand and
Teimour Radjabov were staunch defenders of this line. These days we'll
probably see 7.Nd5 grow into popularity since everyone copies the top player's
games.}) 7... Nxd5 8. exd5 Ne7 {While annotating game 8 for ChessBase, I
wondered what would happen if Magnus chose 8...Ne7. Today we'll see exactly
that.} ({The usual move} 8... Nb8 {was played in games 8 and 10.}) 9. c4 ({
Many years ago while reading Rogozenco's The Sveshnikov Reloaded book, I
remember that 9.c3 was considered White's best. It gives White some extra
options on the queenside.} 9. c3 {Now Black should probably play 9...Nf5 to
keep d6 defended. If he tries} Ng6 $2 {it's a mistake since} (9... f5 $5 10.
Qa4 Kf7 {is playable too, though White might be a bit better after} 11. Qb4)
10. Qa4 Bd7 11. Qc4 {is unpleasant. Especially after} Rc8 12. Qb4 {hitting the
d6 and a7 pawns.}) 9... Ng6 10. Qa4 Bd7 {is a quick way to decide the last
round game and head for the rapid playoffs. But if this happens we might see
protesters and rioters in London, and the fans who paid tickets would
definitely want a full refund. Playing top level chess is not easy, but
fortunately Fabiano comes well prepared and ready to fight for an advantage.}
11. Qb4 Bf5 {The best move, I'm sure Magnus is still following his prep.} ({
The most natural move is} 11... Qb8 {It has been played 13 times in the past
according to the ChessBase Live Book. Still it doesn't seem to equalize. White
just has too much space.} 12. h4 h5 13. Be2 a6 14. Nc3 Be7 15. g3 $14 {for
example here. I still like White, after making natural moves for both sides.
It seems to me that White has an easier game and the knight on g6 is misplaced.
}) ({Needless to say} 11... Bxb5 12. Qxb5+ Qd7 {has to be avoided. No one
should give up the bishop pair without getting someting concrete in return.})
12. h4 h5 $146 {Black pushes back and does not give White any more space to
work with. Fabiano likes playing with a lot of space and it's dangerous to
give him too much ground to work with. Coincidentally this is also a novelty
according to my database.} (12... Be7 13. h5 Nf4 14. Be3 a6 15. Nc3 Nd3+ 16.
Bxd3 Bxd3 17. Rd1) (12... a6 13. h5) 13. Qa4 {A provocative move and a typical
strategy. By repeating the position twice a player can move the game closer to
the time control on move 40. This allows him or her to have more time to think
on critical positions. This makes more sense in complicated or unfamiliar
openings like the Sveshnikov. In a Berlin 5.Re1 or a symmetrical Petroff it is
perhaps unnecessary. But in this game it could be beneficial as we are in
foreign territory at such an early stage of the game.} Bd7 14. Qb4 Bf5 15. Be3
{White gains time from creating threats on the queenside. I suppose he has to
act quickly or else Black comfortably finishes his development. Then the
construction of Black active pieces on the kingside guarantees counterplay. In
that regard 15.Bg5 looks interesting too.} ({A slow move like} 15. Be2 {
will not cut it, if White is looking for an advantage. After} Be7 16. g3 a6 17.
Nc3 e4 {Black creates strong counterplay with Bf6 and Ne5 coming next.}) ({
It is tempting to disrupt Black's development with} 15. Bg5 {and with
hindsight I would recommend this move. Black does not really want to play f6,
and Be7 loses so} Qb8 {has to be played.} (15... Be7 $2 16. Bxe7 Kxe7 17. c5 {
is bad for Black. Now his king is forced unto f6} dxc5 18. Qxc5+ Kf6 {And now
19.Nd6 leaves Black's king in a tough spot.} 19. Nd6 $16) 16. g3 (16. Qa5 $5 {
is a deep computer move. The fun idea is that} b6 17. Qa4 Bd7 18. Bd3 {White
wants to win quickly with Bf5 but} Be7 $1 {equalizes and takes out the fun.} (
18... a6 19. Bf5 $1 {is tough to meet for Black.}) 19. Bxg6 fxg6 20. Bxe7 Kxe7
21. Qc2 Kf7 $11) 16... a6 17. Nc3 Be7 18. Be2 Qc7 {now we get a line very
similar to the game, but Black has to spend two tempi moving his queen from b8
to c7. Also Fabiano avoids the possibility of 15...Be7 as could happen in his
game. It does not look like there is much difference to the untrained eye, but
in top level chess little things like this matter.}) 15... a6 {I wonder where
both players preparation ended. I suspect it was a move ago. Here Black has
another seemingly better (albeit more risky) option.} ({I like here} 15... Be7
{Black is going to get fast development and piece play for his pawn.} 16. Nxa7
(16. Bxa7 O-O 17. g3 b6 {the bishop on a7 is in a tricky spot.}) (16. g3 {
Black can finish his development by castling or go 16...Be4 and 17...Bf3.})
16... O-O {White has many possibilities now. It is not simple to defend over
the board against Black's initiative. Perhaps} 17. Bb6 (17. g3 Be4 18. Rh2 Bf3
19. Nb5 f5 $1 {with attack.}) (17. Qxb7 $2 Qa5+ 18. b4 Qa3 $19) (17. Nb5 Nxh4)
(17. Be2 Nf4) (17. a4 Nxh4 $13) 17... Qd7 18. Qb5 {is the safest in order to
trade queens. The position is very complex.} Bd8 19. Qxd7 Bxd7 20. Bxd8 Rfxd8
21. Nb5 Bxb5 22. cxb5 Ra4 23. g3 Rc8 $13) 16. Nc3 Qc7 {Solid and simple.} ({
There is no need to go for assymetrical positions} 16... Be7 17. Qxb7 O-O 18.
O-O-O Nxh4 19. Qb6 $14 {it feels that the h4 pawn is not as important as
Black's b7 pawn.}) 17. g3 (17. Qa4+ Bd7 18. Qd1 Ne7) 17... Be7 18. f3 (18. Qa4+
Bd7 19. Qd1 Bg4 20. Be2 Bxe2 21. Qxe2) (18. Be2 Nf8) 18... Nf8 $1 {Optimal
rearrangement of the pieces. In these kinds of positions you want to delay
castling until White shows his hand. Castling short now will only tempt White
to go for a full frontal kingside attack with Be2, and g4/f4 etc.} (18... O-O
19. Be2 Bd7 20. a4 $1 {With the queenside closed, White can focus on planning
his kingside attack.} f5 21. f4 exf4 22. gxf4 {the position is complex, but it
should be in White's favour.}) 19. Ne4 Nd7 (19... Bxe4 20. fxe4 Nd7 21. Bh3 $14
) 20. Bd3 O-O ({Watching this game live I expected} 20... Bg6 {although
perhaps it does not make much difference since Black has to castle sooner or
later.}) 21. Rh2 $2 {No doubt the enormous tension of the last round of the
World Championship match takes its toll on everyone. Both players start making
mistakes. This has a nice idea to it, but it's too ambitious and simply does
not work. White wants to play Rc2 and castle long, but this gives Magnus more
than enough time and options to meet this plan. Fabiano gives the impression
that he likes positions of opposite castled kings. Therefore this move does
not come as a big surprise from him. It's just too ambitious.} ({White has to
acquiesce and play the calmer} 21. O-O Bg6 22. Qd2 {when f5 is always met by
Ng5. White can still try to fight for an advantage if Magnus is not careful.})
(21. O-O-O b5 $15 {castling queenside is unrealistic at this point.}) 21...
Rac8 ({Or} 21... Bg6) 22. O-O-O Bg6 {Now f5 is coming and its unpleasant to
meet it as White has no good way to prevent it. His best option now is to play
calmly and brace for the coming storm.} 23. Rc2 ({I thought at first} 23. Kb1 {
was better to keep the rook on the h-file for now.} f5 24. Ng5 Bxg5 25. hxg5 e4
26. fxe4 Ne5 27. Be2 {but still both Ng4 or fxe4 now is in Black's favour.})
23... f5 24. Nf2 (24. Ng5 Bxg5 25. hxg5 e4) 24... Nc5 $17 {Black has seized a
powerful initiative and is slowly taking over.} 25. f4 {Desperation, but what
else? White hopes to at least keep the g6-bishop away from action.} (25. Bxc5
dxc5 26. Qe1 Rfe8 {as I said earlier no one really wants to give up the bishop
pair unless necessary.}) 25... a5 {An automatic move in conjuction with a
piece outpost on c5. I wonder if Magnus thought of or even considered b5 ideas
here.} (25... exf4 26. Bxf4 b5 {looks powerful, and might be just close to
winning.} 27. Qd2 {is the sternest defence, when Black can go 27...Bf6, or 27..
.Qb6. White's position is tough to defend and his consolation (asleep bishop
on g6) is not enough to save him objectively. His pieces are just badly placed
especially the knight on f2. Not to mention shaky king safety.} (27. Kb1 a5 {
when taking on b5 will lead to a queen trap after Be8.} 28. Qxb5 $2 Be8) 27...
Bf6) (25... b5 {is perfectly good too with the same ideas.}) 26. Qd2 {I
expected Bf6 now to keep the tension on the kingside open for a while, but
Magnus has no qualms about closing it right away.} e4 (26... Bf6 27. Be2 {
is possible, and now Black can think whether to take on f4 or play like Magnus
with e4. The computer gives a large advantage for Black after taking on f4,
but it is definitely far from clear over the board.} exf4 28. gxf4 Rfe8 29. Rg1
(29. Bd4 Qe7) 29... Bf7 30. Kb1 a4 {Black has Nb3 ideas and even positional
exchange sacrifices on e3.} 31. Bf3 Rxe3 32. Qxe3 Re8 33. Qa3 Bd4 {these are
computer lines of course. I cannot imagine anyone finding any of these in a
tournament game.}) 27. Be2 Be8 {Still even after not playing the best way on
move 25 Magnus keeps hopes alive by maintaining a stable advantage. White has
to solve the small issue of his vulnerable king.} 28. Kb1 Bf6 (28... Ba4 {
is possible, White can sac the exchange with} 29. Bxh5 {now} b5 {is an out of
this world move. Black is clearly better here by the way.}) 29. Re1 ({White's
best defense is} 29. Nh3 $1 {posting the knight on g5. From there it always
has the option to jump on e6 and create distraction.} Ba4 $5 30. b3 {looks
scary for White, though he probably just survives the onslaught.} Bxb3 31. axb3
Nxb3 32. Qe1 b5 33. c5) 29... a4 {Magnus misses a great opportunity to try to
seal the deal.} (29... Ba4 $1 {is incredibly powerful. Black's attack is
simply much faster in all lines. Here are some ChessBase engine analysis:} 30.
Rcc1 (30. b3 Bxb3 31. axb3 Nxb3 32. Qd1 a4 $1 {Is a steady but sure way to win
as White cannot defend against all the threats. Qa5 is Black's main idea.} 33.
Bxh5 (33. Ka2 Qa5 34. Qb1 b5) 33... Qa5 34. Bg6 Qb4 {Now a possible line is}
35. Qh5 (35. Ka2 Nc1+) 35... Rfd8 36. Bxf5 Nd4+ 37. Rb2 Qxe1+ 38. Ka2 Nxf5 39.
Qxf5 Bxb2 {when White loses all his pieces.}) (30. Bxh5 Bxc2+ 31. Qxc2 b5 32.
cxb5 Qd7 33. Qe2 Na4 $19) 30... b5 $1 {An important follow up.} 31. cxb5 (31.
Bxh5 Qb7) (31. Bd4 Bxd4 32. Qxd4 bxc4 33. Rxc4 Rb8) 31... Qb6 32. Bd4 Bxd4 33.
Qxd4 Bxb5 34. Bxh5 a4 {basically Black is almost winning after 29...Ba4. I
think though it is unrealistic to expect a person to find it over the board.
Just reading the reports on ChessBase I can only imagine how much tension the
players are going through to perform well. Pressure, pressure pressure from
every side.}) 30. Qb4 g6 31. Rd1 {When I first saw this move I thought it was
an internet glitch. I expected Fabiano to improve the position of his knight
with 31.Nd1.} (31. Nd1 {White will hopefully unravel and take a solid stance
with Qd2 and Nc3.}) 31... Ra8 {Draw agreed. A big surprise, considering that
Black still had a stable advantage in the position and on the clock. (If I
remember correctly Magnus had 50 minutes left here compared to Fabiano's 20
minutes.) I guess Nh3 followed by Ng5 gives White a solid position, so Magnus
decided to call it a day.  Magnus must be really looking forward to the rapid
tiebreaks, as he did two years ago against Sergey Karjakin. He missed great
winning opportunities on move 25 and move 29 and I sort of suspect he came
into the game with an eye on the tiebreaks. It's also posisble that he just
wnated to make a lot of people happy (including myself). As two years ago we
again get to see a four game rapid playoff! I am very excited to watch this
match live. My prediction is that Fabiano will give Magnus a run for his money.
That said, rapid games are a totally different kind of chess. Usually the
player with the better nerves wins. Let's see what happens.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "World-ch Carlsen-Caruana Tiebreak"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2018.11.28"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A22"]
[WhiteElo "2835"]
[BlackElo "2832"]
[Annotator "Fernandez,D"]
[PlyCount "109"]
[EventDate "2018.11.28"]
[EventType "match (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "3"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 187"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2018.12.11"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2018.12.11"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. g3 Bb4 4. e4 $5 {This move is extremely rare, and
judging by the time situations that followed, it seems this came as a surprise
to the Challenger.} O-O (4... Bxc3 {is possible, but super-GM opinion
coalesced against White's position in the line} 5. dxc3 Nxe4 6. Qd5 Ng5 7.
Qxe5+ Ne6 $14 {Black's position is slightly worse, even if from my modest
perspective I consider it to be relatively easy to play!}) 5. Nge2 c6 {This
move makes sense in conjunction with ...Ba5-c7, or alternatively...} 6. Bg2 a6
$5 {At this point, if not on the move before, Black commits to a plan which
might be practically interesting, but doesn't particularly inspire confidence
on an objective level.} (6... d6 7. O-O a5 8. d3 Nbd7 {is a more 'traditional'
English follow-up.}) 7. O-O b5 8. d4 $1 {This has to be critical. White is a
little better, but with the murky strategic situation and the rapid time
control anything could happen.} d6 9. a3 (9. f4 $6 exd4 10. Nxd4 bxc4 $15) 9...
Bxc3 (9... Ba5 10. b4 Bc7 11. cxb5 axb5 12. d5 {may simply be a strategic
disadvantage, so it's wise to try and avoid this.}) 10. Nxc3 bxc4 11. dxe5 ({
It is not yet time for} 11. f4 {:} Bg4 $1 12. Qd2 Qb6) 11... dxe5 12. Na4 (12.
Qe2 {was the engine suggestion, and it seems to me that Black has to play
another unusual move in order to avoid being clearly worse.} a5 (12... Qd3 $2
13. Qxd3 cxd3 14. Rd1 $16) (12... Be6 13. f4 $16) 13. Na4 $1 Ba6 14. Nc5 Qb6
15. Nxa6 Qxa6 $14 {White should be a little better, but nothing is too clear
yet.}) 12... Be6 $1 {Black has to play this cold-blooded move in my opinion-
recognising that Nc5 isn't quite the dramatic positional masterstroke that it
seems.} (12... Nbd7 13. Qc2 Nb6 14. Nxb6 Qxb6 15. Qxc4 $14 {is miserable.}) 13.
Qxd8 (13. Nc5 Qe7 14. Nxe6 Qxe6 15. Be3 Rc8 $1 {With ...c5 and ...Nc6-d4 to
come; Black seems to be emerging from his difficulties now.}) 13... Rxd8 14.
Be3 Nbd7 15. f3 {White opts for a steady approach, seemingly convinced of
having some kind of edge. Indeed, in practical games between ordinary mortals
this would be the case.} Rab8 16. Rac1 Rb3 17. Rfe1 Ne8 $6 {This move is
strategically desirable, but only if Black can also get ...f6, ...Nd6 and ...
Kf7 without being interrupted. Now, he probably risks being somewhat worse
again.} (17... Rdb8 $1 {is better, intending to give back the pawn in a way
that makes White's structure a little weaker.} 18. Bf1 c3 19. Rxc3 Rxc3 20.
bxc3 Rb3 21. Ra1 a5 $11) 18. Bf1 Nd6 19. Rcd1 Nb5 $2 (19... Nb7 $1 {was
required, followed by the cold-blooded sequence} 20. f4 g6 21. f5 gxf5 22. exf5
Bd5 23. Nc3 Nf6 {when despite the strange location of some of Black's pieces,
there is no objective problem. I suspect that Fabiano saw this, didn't notice
that the Nb7 defended the Rd8 and opted for a move that stopped Nc3.}) 20. Nc5
$1 {This is a key move for White to see, after which he is clearly better.}
Rxb2 21. Nxe6 fxe6 22. Bxc4 Nd4 23. Bxd4 exd4 24. Bxe6+ ({The engine suggests
the brutal and unfindable} 24. Rxd4 Kf7 25. Kh1 $3 $18 {when Black has no
defence against Red1 and Rd6; White will probably come out 2 pawns ahead.})
24... Kf8 25. Rxd4 Ke7 26. Rxd7+ Rxd7 27. Bxd7 Kxd7 28. Rd1+ Ke6 29. f4 c5 {
Watching this position live in the 'kibitzing' area, I was shocked to discover
that barely anyone else thought the position was closer to a draw than a win.}
30. Rd5 $6 (30. Rc1 Kd6 31. a4 $5 {is the engine opinion. Almost all these
positions will come down to some version of 3v2 on the kingside with an extra
a-pawn each to confuse the players; the point is to identify which versions
entail Black having a worse rook! For instance, see the line} Rd2 $6 32. e5+
Kd5 33. e6 Kxe6 34. Rxc5 g6 35. Re5+ Kf6 36. Ra5 Ke6 37. h3 Rd6 38. Kf2 $18 {
when White is close to winning.}) 30... Rc2 31. h4 c4 32. f5+ Kf6 33. Rc5 h5
34. Kf1 Rc3 $6 {Not losing, but a bad idea.} ({Following} 34... c3 35. Ke1 Rg2
36. Rxc3 Ke5 $11 {Black would have very comfortably held this ending even two
pawns down.}) 35. Kg2 Rxa3 36. Rxc4 Ke5 37. Rc7 Kxe4 $2 {Based on a flawed
trick. This is probably the decisive error.} (37... Ra2+ $1 {could have been
played first, and then the trick works as in the next note:} 38. Kh3 Kxe4 39.
Rxg7 Ra1 {and since White has to think about getting mated, he is not able to
stay in position to deliver Rg5+.}) 38. Re7+ (38. Rxg7 Ra2+ 39. Kh3 Ra1 $1 $11
{is the tricky point.}) 38... Kxf5 39. Rxg7 Kf6 40. Rg5 a5 41. Rxh5 $18 {
Now the position is winning for Carlsen. Sometimes, a flank pawn can hold off
two central pawns in such cases, but definitely not when the opponent's two
pawns are both on the opposite side of the board.} a4 42. Ra5 Ra1 43. Kf3 a3
44. Ra6+ Kg7 45. Kg2 Ra2+ 46. Kh3 Ra1 47. h5 Kh7 48. g4 Kg7 49. Kh4 a2 50. Kg5
Kf7 51. h6 Rb1 52. Ra7+ Kg8 53. Rxa2 Rb5+ 54. Kg6 Rb6+ 55. Kh5 1-0

[Event "World-ch Carlsen-Caruana Tiebreak"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2018.11.28"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B33"]
[WhiteElo "2832"]
[BlackElo "2835"]
[Annotator "Fernandez,D"]
[PlyCount "56"]
[EventDate "2018.11.28"]
[EventType "match (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "3"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 187"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2018.12.11"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2018.12.11"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Nd5 $5 {
I didn't completely understand Fabiano's insistence on trying this move again
in game 12, and I certainly don't understand it now, given his apparent lack
of comfort with the resulting positions.} Nxd5 8. exd5 Ne7 ({In the 10th game,
} 8... Nb8 {was chosen, and while Black developed thematic play on the
kingside, it never looked like he was going to give mate.} 9. a4 Be7 10. Be2
O-O 11. O-O Nd7 12. b4 a6 13. Na3 a5 14. bxa5 Rxa5 15. Nc4 Ra8 16. Be3 f5 17.
a5 f4 $13 {Caruana,F-Carlsen,M WC(10) London 2018}) 9. c4 Ng6 10. Qa4 Bd7 11.
Qb4 Qb8 (11... Bf5 {was played in the 12th standard game, and after some
messing around play took an independent trajectory:} 12. h4 h5 13. Qa4 Bd7 14.
Qb4 Bf5 15. Be3 a6 16. Nc3 Qc7 17. g3 Be7 18. f3 Nf8 $1 $132 {Caruana,
F-Carlsen,M WC(12) London 2018}) 12. h4 h5 13. Be3 a6 14. Nc3 a5 {With the
text move, Magnus makes it clear that he doesn't want a White knight to appear
on b6, which is understandable, but may leave him worse.} (14... f5 {would
nevertheless be playable, since a line like} 15. Na4 (15. g3 Be7 16. Be2 Kf7
17. Na4 f4 $40) 15... f4 16. Bd3 Nxh4 17. Rxh4 fxe3 18. Nb6 $13 {is simply a
mess rather than necessarily favouring one side or another.}) 15. Qb3 (15. Qa3
f5 16. g3 Be7 17. Be2 Kf7 18. Na4 $14 {would be logical, when it seems that
Black's ...a5 has left the b6-square more rather than less weak.}) 15... a4 16.
Qd1 Be7 (16... Ne7 $5 {is one way to get an approximately equal position.}) 17.
g3 Qc8 18. Be2 Bg4 19. Rc1 Bxe2 20. Qxe2 Qf5 $5 {This move is interesting in
that it commits in some sense to a long-term regrouping. Black delays ...f5,
preferring to think about that push only after establishing his knight on d7
and queen on g6.} ({The engine suggests} 20... O-O {and only after} 21. b3 {
then} (21. O-O Qh3 22. Qxh5 Nxh4 23. gxh4 Bxh4 $11) 21... axb3 22. axb3 Qf5 $11
) 21. c5 $6 {This move is based on the flawed idea that White's advantage is
large enough to justify big-picture, light-square based play.} (21. O-O O-O 22.
Kg2 {was perfectly possible and was indeed suggested by Malcolm Pein in the
press room. Black needs to do quite a bit more thematic re-arrangement before
he is ready with ...f5, for instance} Rfc8 23. f3 Nf8 $5 24. f4 $3 $14) 21...
O-O {Now Black is at least equal and White goes on to provide a perfect
example of why we usually castle in chess.} 22. c6 bxc6 23. dxc6 Rfc8 24. Qc4
Bd8 25. Nd5 {Automatic, but there was better.} (25. Ne4 Bc7 26. O-O $11) 25...
e4 {Now Black has probably gained somewhat the upper hand. White took some
minutes to think about the question of whether allowing Black's knight to
assume its 'favourite Sveshnikov post' on e5 was worth a piece, eventually
coming up with the wrong answer.} 26. c7 $2 {The losing mistake.} (26. Bd4 {
was probably correct, notwithstanding that after} Ba5+ 27. Bc3 Bxc3+ 28. Rxc3
Ra5 $40 {Black will get the thrust ...d5 through.}) 26... Bxc7 27. Nxc7 Ne5 28.
Nd5 {Finishing the game.} ({Concretely, I couldn't see anything after} 28. Qd5
{and would have said Black simply has to play} Rab8 {with good compensation.
Just how good was only revealed by subsequent engine checks: -2.7! White is
unable to castle due to the trick} 29. O-O Rxc7 $1 $19) 28... Kh7 $1 (28...
Nxc4 $4 29. Ne7+ Kh7 30. Nxf5 Nxe3 31. Rxc8 $1 Rxc8 32. Nxe3 Rc1+ 33. Nd1 $1 {
would be embarrassing.}) (28... Kh7 29. Ne7 Qf3 $1 {was the point, and White
can only solve 2 out of the 4 problems faced by his major pieces.}) 0-1

[Event "World-ch Carlsen-Caruana Tiebreak"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2018.11.28"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B44"]
[WhiteElo "2835"]
[BlackElo "2832"]
[Annotator "Fernandez,D"]
[PlyCount "101"]
[EventDate "2018.11.28"]
[EventType "match (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "3"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 187"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2018.12.11"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2018.12.11"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 Nc6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Bc5 {Enough with the Berlin
and the Petroff, now that Caruana needs to win, it's an Open Sicilian!
Interestingly, Magnus opts for as similar a formation as possible to the one
he used to clinch the 2016 tiebreak...} 6. Nc2 Nf6 (6... Qb6 $5 {is probably
the most obvious test of White's slow setup. Notwithstanding which, it was
only played in one game, between 1900-level players, so we may as well just
analyse without reference to praxis.} 7. Qd2 $5 (7. Qe2 d6 8. Nc3 Bd7 9. Rb1
Nf6 10. Be3 Bxe3 11. Nxe3 {seems easy enough, but it's also possible to
imagine White getting outplayed on the dark squares.}) 7... Nf6 8. Nc3 Ng4 9.
f3 Nf2 10. Na4 Qc7 11. Nxc5 Nxh1 12. f4 $13 {With a horrifically messy
position where the prepared player wins: White intends Be2, Kf1-g1, but Black
can play ...d5 and open the centre.}) 7. Nc3 O-O 8. Be3 b6 9. Be2 Bb7 10. O-O
Qe7 11. Qd2 Rfd8 12. Rfd1 $6 {This may be a little inaccurate and Black seems
to have ways to make his equality clearer.} (12. a3 a5 13. Rad1 {seems
preferable, securing the right to transfer a knight via b5 at will.}) 12... Ne5
{In this way Black is forcing through ...d5, though for some reason he
ultimately decided not to play it.} 13. Bxc5 (13. Bd4 d6 {and the tension
doesn't help White, as (e.g.) ...Rac8 and ...h6 can be played before Black
needs to do any further thinking, while White's pushes b4 and f4 require some
serious thought.}) 13... bxc5 14. f4 Ng6 15. Qe3 d6 (15... d5 {seemed clever
to me, but it's worth pointing out that the simplifications would not have
been useful in the match situation.} 16. exd5 exd5 17. Qxe7 Nxe7 18. cxd5 Nexd5
19. Nxd5 Rxd5 20. Ne3 $11 {It is hard to imagine Magnus losing this as White,
but maybe...?}) 16. Rd2 a6 17. Rad1 Qc7 18. b3 h6 19. g3 Rd7 20. Bf3 Re8 {
White has a small something around here, even if engines disagree, because
Black simply has no way to execute either ...e5 or ...d5.} 21. Qf2 {The first
of a few moves that tempted Black to play ...d5 and accept drawishness; while
these weren't the most exact for White they may have been the least risky.} Ne7
22. h3 Red8 23. Bg2 Nc6 (23... d5 {again seems to give safe equality, but
that's not good enough.} 24. cxd5 exd5 25. e5 Ne4 26. Nxe4 dxe4 27. Ne3 $11)
24. g4 Qa5 25. Na4 Qc7 {An ill omen: Black doesn't know what to do.} 26. e5 $6
{Seeking simplification and possibly a bishop-vs-knight situation, but maybe
this is too quick.} (26. Nc3 $14 {was perfectly possible, challenging Black to
do better!}) 26... dxe5 27. Nxc5 Rxd2 28. Rxd2 Rxd2 29. Qxd2 Ba8 {This is not
a bad move, but White is able to pretty much kill the game now, whereas after
the alternative Black could have played for 3 results.} ({I'm not sure if
Black thought he was worse after} 29... exf4 30. Nxb7 Qxb7 31. Qxf4 $13 {
but I don't think he is, and neither does the engine; the practical chances
look quite alright.}) 30. fxe5 Qxe5 31. Nd7 Qb2 32. Qd6 Nxd7 33. Qxd7 Qxc2 {
Around here, there are of course tons of ways for Black to deliver perpetual
check, but it is extremely difficult to think of how he could do more.} 34.
Qe8+ Kh7 35. Qxa8 Qd1+ 36. Kh2 Qd6+ 37. Kh1 Nd4 38. Qe4+ f5 39. gxf5 exf5 40.
Qe3 Ne6 41. b4 Ng5 $6 {Now Black is more likely to lose, but of course he may
not have minded this.} (41... g5 {tries to keep something in the position, but
after} 42. c5 Qd1+ 43. Kh2 {it transpires that Black can't generate anything
without allowing White to deliver perpetual:} Nf4 44. Qe7+ Kg6 $11) 42. c5 Qf6
43. c6 $16 Ne6 $2 {This is where the 3rd game, and hence the match, were lost.}
(43... Qd6 44. Qc1 Ne6 45. Qc4 {is passive for Black, but there are a few more
tricks than in the game.}) 44. a4 Nc7 45. Qf4 Ne6 46. Qd6 {You could see
Magnus wondering whether to give one last tease and play Qe3, either for the
draw or for the trolling effect. In the end he chose this way, which is very
simply winning.} Qa1+ 47. Kh2 Nd4 48. c7 Qc3 49. Qc5 Qe3 50. c8=Q f4 51. Qg4 {
And it was all over.} 1-0

