Game 1

Carlsen,Magnus (2863) - Grischuk,Alexander (2777) [C48]
Lindores Abbey Prelim chess24.com INT (1), 19.05.2020
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.Nc3 0-0
7.Be3 Bd6 8.Bg5 Qe7 9.h3 Re8 10.g4 Qe6 11.Nh4 Nd7 12.Nf5
Nc5 13.h4 Bf8 14.h5 f6 15.Be3 Qf7 16.f4 exf4 17.Bxf4 b5 18.
Qf3 Ne6 19.Be3 Bb7 20.0-0-0 b4 21.Na4 c5 22.h6 g6 23.Ng7
Bxg7 24.hxg7 c4 25.Nc5 Nxc5 26.Bxc5 cxd3 27.cxd3 a5 28.Bf8
Rxf8 29.gxf8Q+ Rxf8 30.Kb1 Qd7 31.Rc1 a4 32.Qe3 Rf7 33.Rc4
b3 34.a3 Qxg4 35.Rxa4 f5 36.Rd4 fxe4 37.Rd8+ Rf8 38.Rxf8+
Kxf8 39.Qc5+ Ke8 40.Qxc7 Bc8 41.Qe5+ Kd8 42.Qh8+ Kc7 43.
Rxh7+ Kc6 44.Qc3+ Kd6 45.Qd4+ Ke6 46.dxe4 1-0
Carlsen,Magnus (2863) - Giri,Anish (2764) [C48]

Chessable Masters Final chess24.com INT (3.12), 03.07.2020
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6

3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.Nc3 Qe7 7.h3 b6 8.a3 h6 9.
Qe2 Bd7 10.Be3 Bxe3 11.fxe3 0-0-0 12.Qf2 Ne8 13.Qg3 f6 14.
Nh4 Rg8 15.Nf5 Bxf5 16.exf5 Nd6 17.e4 Qf7 18.Qf2 g6 19.fxg6
Qxg6 20.g4 h5 21.0-0-0 hxg4 22.hxg4 Qxg4 23.Qxf6 Qg5+ 24.
Qxg5 Rxg5 25.a4 a5 26.Rdg1 Rdg8 27.Rxg5 Rxg5 28.Nb1 b5 29.
Nd2 Rg3 30.b3 bxa4 31.bxa4 c5 32.Nf1 Rf3 33.Kd1 c4 34.Ke2
Rf7 35.Nd2 Rg7 36.Kf3 Kd7 37.Rh5 Rg1 38.Rxe5 Rc1 39.Nxc4
Nxc4 40.dxc4 Rxc2 41.Rxa5 Rxc4 42.Rd5+ Ke6 43.a5 Rc1 44.Rd8
Rf1+ 45.Ke2 Ra1 46.Ra8 Kd6 47.a6 Kc6 48.Ke3 Re1+ 49.Kf4 Kb6
50.e5 c5 51.Rc8 Rf1+ 52.Kg5 Rg1+ 53.Kf6 Rf1+ 54.Ke7 Rc1 55.
e6 c4 56.Kd7 Rd1+ 57.Ke8 Rc1 58.e7 c3 59.Kf7 Rf1+ 60.Kg6
Rg1+ 61.Kf5 Rf1+ 62.Kg4 1-0
Carlsen,Magnus (2837) - Karjakin,Sergey (2760) [C48]

Wch Blitz Riadh (15), 30.12.2017
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5

5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.Nc3 0-0 7.Be3 Bd6 8.Bg5 Re8 9.h3 c5 10.Nd5
Be7 11.Nxe7+ Qxe7 12.0-0 h6 13.Be3 Nd7 14.Nd2 Nb8 15.f4
exf4 16.Rxf4 Nc6 17.Qh5 b6 18.Raf1 Rf8 19.Nf3 Be6 20.Rh4 f6
21.Qg6 Qf7 22.Qg3 Nb4 23.Bxh6 Nxc2 24.Ne5 fxe5 25.Rxf7 Rxf7
26.Qg6 Bxa2 27.Bg5 Rff8 28.Rh7 Rf7 29.Bf6 1-0
Carlsen,Magnus (2834) - Sharafiev,Azat (2432) [C48]

PRO League Stage Chess.com INT (1), 18.01.2018
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6

3.Bb5 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bd6 5.d3 a6 6.Ba4 0-0 7.g4 Nxg4 8.Rg1 Nf6 9.
Bg5 Be7 10.Bxc6 dxc6 11.Nxe5 Qd4 12.Nf3 Qb4 13.Qc1 Re8 14.
a3 Qb6 15.Qf4 Kh8 16.0-0-0 Be6 17.Qh4 c5 18.Rg3 Ng8 19.Bxe7
Rxe7 20.Ng5 h6 21.f4 f6 22.Nf3 Qa5 23.f5 Bd7 24.Nd5 Rf7 25.
Rdg1 b5 26.Nxf6 gxf6 27.Rxg8+ Rxg8 28.Qxh6+ Rh7 29.Qxf6+
Rhg7 30.Rg6 1-0
Nakamura,Hikaru (2736) - Carlsen,Magnus (2847) [C48]

FTX Crypto Cup KO chess24.com INT (1.13), 26.05.2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.0-0 d6 6.

Nc3 Bd7 7.Na4 Bb6 8.Nxb6 axb6 9.Re1 h6 10.c3 Ne7 11.Bc4 b5
12.Bb3 Ng6 13.d4 0-0 14.h3 Re8 15.Bc2 Bc6 16.Nd2 d5 17.dxe5
Nxe4 18.f4 Nh4 19.Nxe4 dxe4 20.Qxd8 Raxd8 21.Be3 Nf5 22.Kf2
g5 23.Rad1 Nxe3 24.Kxe3 gxf4+ 25.Kxf4 e3 26.Rd4 b4 27.g4
bxc3 28.bxc3 Rxd4+ 29.cxd4 Bd5 30.Bb3 Rd8 31.Kxe3 Bxb3 32.
axb3 c6 33.h4 Rd5 34.b4 Rb5 35.Rb1 Kg7 36.Ke4 Kg6 37.h5+
Kg7 38.Kf5 Rd5 39.Ke4 Rb5 40.Rb2 Kf8 41.Kd3 Ke7 42.Kc4 f6
43.Re2 Rd5 44.exf6+ Kxf6 45.Re5 b5+ 46.Kd3 Rd8 47.Rc5 Rd6
48.Ke4 Re6+ 49.Re5 Rd6 50.d5 cxd5+ 51.Rxd5 Rb6 52.Kd4 Rb8
53.Rd6+ Kg5 54.Rg6+ Kh4 55.Kc5 Kg3 56.Rxh6 Kxg4 57.Rb6 Rc8+
58.Kxb5 1-0
Naiditsch,Arkadij (2706) - Carlsen,Magnus (2865) [C49]

Grenke Chess Classic playoff1 3rd Baden-Baden (2), 09.02.2015
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.0-0 0-0 6.d3
d6 7.Bg5 Ne7 8.Re1 c6 9.Ba4 Ng6 10.Bb3 h6 11.Bd2 Bg4 12.h3
Bh5 13.g3 d5 14.Kg2 d4 15.Ne2 Bxf3+ 16.Kxf3 Bxd2 17.Qxd2
Nd7 18.a3 Kh8 19.Kg2 Nc5 20.Ba2 f5 21.exf5 Rxf5 22.Rf1 Qf6
23.f4 Rf8 24.Rae1 h5 25.Rf3 h4 26.g4 Nxf4+ 27.Kh2 Rg5 28.
Nxf4 exf4 29.b4 Nd7 30.Re6 Qd8 31.Qe1 Rb5 32.a4 Rb6 33.Re7
Nf6 34.Qxh4+ Nh7 35.Be6 Rf6 36.Bf5 Rh6 37.Qe1 Qd6 38.Re8+
Nf8 39.Qe7 Qxe7 40.Rxe7 Rxb4 41.Re8 Rf6 42.Rxf4 g6 43.g5
Rf7 44.Rh4+ Kg7 45.Be4 Rb2 46.Kg3 Rxc2 47.Rf4 Rc5 48.h4 Ra5
49.Rxf7+ Kxf7 50.Rb8 b5 51.Rb7+ Ke6 52.axb5 cxb5 53.Kf4 Ra2
54.Rxb5 Rf2+ 55.Kg3 Re2 56.Ra5 Nd7 57.Ra6+ Ke7 58.Bxg6 Ne5
59.Be4 Nxd3 60.Bxd3 Re3+ 61.Kf4 Rxd3 62.h5 Rh3 63.h6 d3 64.
Rxa7+ Ke6 65.Ra6+ Kf7 66.g6+ Ke7 67.g7 d2 68.g8Q 1-0
Carlsen,Magnus (2835) - Andreikin,Dmitry (2719) [C54]

Wch Rapid St Petersburg (14), 28.12.2018
1.e4 e5 2.
Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Ba4 0-0 6.0-0 d6 7.c3 Bb6 8.
Nbd2 Ne7 9.Nc4 Ng6 10.h3 h6 11.Bc2 Be6 12.Nxb6 axb6 13.d4
b5 14.Be3 c6 15.Re1 Qc7 16.a3 Rad8 17.Qd2 Rfe8 18.Rad1 Qe7
19.Qc1 Nh5 20.dxe5 dxe5 21.Rxd8 Rxd8 22.Rd1 Nhf4 23.Kh2 f6
24.Rxd8+ Qxd8 25.Qd2 Qc8 26.Ng1 Bf7 27.g3 Ne6 28.h4 Qd8 29.
Qxd8+ Nxd8 30.Nf3 Nf8 31.Nd2 g5 32.f4 gxf4 33.gxf4 exf4 34.
Bxf4 Ng6 35.Kg3 Nxf4 36.Kxf4 Kf8 37.e5 Ke7 38.exf6+ Kxf6 39.
Ne4+ Ke7 40.Nf2 Be6 41.Bf5 Nf7 42.Ng4 h5 43.Ne3 Kf6 44.Bxe6
Kxe6 45.Nf5 Kf6 46.Ng3 Kg6 47.b3 Nh6 48.Ke5 Ng4+ 49.Kd6 Ne3
50.Kc7 c5 51.Kxb7 c4 52.b4 Nd1 53.Ne2 Kf5 54.Kc6 Kg4 55.
Kxb5 Kxh4 56.a4 Kg4 57.a5 Ne3 58.a6 Nd5 59.a7 h4 60.Kc6 h3
61.a8Q 1-0
Nepomniachtchi,Ian (2784) - Carlsen,Magnus (2862) [C60]

Skilling op Prelim chess24.com INT (1), 22.11.2020
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nge7 4.Nc3 Ng6 5.d4 exd4 6.

Nxd4 Bc5 7.Be3 Bxd4 8.Bxd4 Qg5 9.g3 Nxd4 10.Qxd4 Ne5 11.Be2
Nc6 12.Qc4 d6 13.Nd5 Qd8 14.Qc3 0-0 15.0-0-0 Re8 16.f3 Be6
17.Bb5 Bd7 18.h4 a6 19.Ba4 b5 20.Bb3 a5 21.a3 b4 22.axb4
axb4 23.Nxb4 Nxb4 24.Qxb4 Be6 25.Bxe6 Rxe6 26.Qc3 h5 27.b3
Rg6 28.f4 Ra6 29.Kb2 Re6 30.Qc4 Qf6+ 31.c3 Ra8 32.Rhe1 Qe7
33.Rd5 c6 34.Rd4 d5 35.Qe2 Qa3+ 36.Kc2 Qa2+ 37.Kd3 Qxb3 38.
Qc2 Qb4 1-0
Caruana,Fabiano (2818) - Carlsen,Magnus (2882) [C63]

Saint Louis Blitz Saint Louis (14), 14.08.2019
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 f5 4.d3 fxe4 5.dxe4 Nf6 6.

0-0 d6 7.Bc4 Bg4 8.h3 Bh5 9.Nc3 Qd7 10.Be3 Be7 11.a4 Rf8 12.
Be2 Bxf3 13.Bxf3 Kf7 14.Nd5 Kg8 15.a5 a6 16.c3 Kh8 17.Qb3
Nd8 18.Rad1 Nxd5 19.Bg4 Qb5 20.Qxd5 Qxb2 21.Qc4 c6 22.Rb1
Qa3 23.Bb6 Nf7 24.Ra1 Qb2 25.Rfb1 d5 26.Qd3 dxe4 27.Qd7
Qxc3 28.Qxe7 Nh6 29.Be3 Rf7 30.Qe6 Raf8 31.Ra2 Nxg4 32.hxg4
Qd3 33.Qb3 Qd7 34.Qd1 Qe6 35.Rd2 h6 36.Rbb2 Kh7 37.Rd6 Qe7
38.g5 hxg5 39.Rbd2 Kg8 40.Qg4 Qc7 41.Bb6 Qe7 42.Be3 Qc7 43.
Rd7 Qc8 44.Qe6 c5 45.Qc4 Qe8 46.Rxb7 Kh7 47.Rxf7 Rxf7 48.
Qxa6 Qa4 49.Qe6 Qa1+ 50.Kh2 Rf6 51.Qg4 Qxa5 52.Qxe4+ Kh6 53.
Qh4+ Kg6 54.Qxg5+ Kh7 55.Qh5+ Kg8 56.Qe8+ Kh7 57.Rd8 Rf5 58.
Qg8+ Kg6 59.Rd6+ Rf6 60.Qe8+ Kf5 61.Qh5+ Ke4 62.Qg4+ 1-0
Carlsen,Magnus (2864) - Van Foreest,Jorden (2678) [C65]

Zagreb SuperUnited Blitz Zagreb (1), 23.07.2022
1.e4 e5
2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.Qe2 Qe7 7.h3 h6
8.Nbd2 Bd6 9.Nc4 Nd7 10.Bd2 b6 11.0-0-0 Ba6 12.Ne3 g6 13.
Kb1 0-0-0 14.Bc3 h5 15.Nd2 Nc5 16.Ndc4 f6 17.h4 Kb8 18.g3
Na4 19.Bd2 Qe6 20.Rhe1 Rhe8 21.Qf1 Bf8 22.f4 exf4 23.gxf4
f5 24.exf5 gxf5 25.b3 Nc5 26.Ng4 hxg4 27.Rxe6 Nxe6 28.Ne5
Bb7 29.h5 c5 30.Re1 Nd4 31.Bc3 Nf3 32.Nd7+ Kc8 33.Rxe8 Rxe8
34.Nxf8 Rxf8 35.h6 Rf7 36.Qe2 Bd5 37.Bg7 Kb7 38.h7 Rxg7 39.
h8Q Rg8 40.Qh7 g3 41.Qxg8 1-0
Carlsen,Magnus (2863) - Kramnik,Vladimir (2783) [C65]

Gashimov Memorial 2nd Shamkir (7), 24.04.2015
[Pavlovic,Milos]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 Yet

another big clash in the Berlin.
4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 0-0 6.0-0 d6 7.h3 Ne7 8.d4 Bb6 9.Bd3 d5
Trying to use the momentum to free the game by further
exchanges is logical, and we all know this trademark of
Kramnik.
[Usual is also 9...Ng6 with a normal type of game.]
10.Nbd2 dxe4
[A bit of computer type of chess might be 10...exd4 11.e5
Nh5!? 12.Ng5 g6 13.cxd4 Ng7 14.Nb3 f6 15.Nf3 with
interesting play for both sides.]
11.Nxe4 Nxe4 12.Bxe4 exd4 13.Qc2!? An interesting new
attempt, the point is that it is not one move but a whole
concept that Carlsen found. 13...h6
[13...f5 14.Bd3 Nc6 15.Re1 Kh8 16.Bf4 dxc3 17.bxc3 Qf6 18.
Bc4 Bd7 19.Rad1 with major compensation, Black is facing
difficulties in developing his pieces.]
14.a4! Unusual and very deep as we will see. Carlsen came
fully prepared for this game. 14...c6 A solid approach,
Black could have tried to defend the pawn or simply take
another one.
[14...dxc3 15.Rd1 Qe8 16.Qxc3 a5 17.b3 f6 18.Ba3 Qf7 19.
Nh4 with the initiative, an unpleasant one I may add.;
14...c5 15.Rd1 a5 16.Bf4!? (16.cxd4 cxd4 17.Nxd4 Bxd4 18.

Be3 Nf5 19.Bxf5 Bxf5 20.Qxf5 Qf6 21.Qxf6 Bxf6 22.Rd7
Bxb2 23.Rb1 Bc3 24.Rbxb7 looks defendable for Black)
16...Re8 17.cxd4 cxd4 18.Be5 Nd5 19.Bxd4 Nb4 20.Qe2 Bxd4
21.Rxd4 Qb6 22.Bh7+ Kf8 23.Qd2 with initiative.]
15.Rd1 Nd5 16.Nxd4 Re8 17.a5!! Probably this had been
worked out by Carlsen, it is really a nice play. 17...Bxa5
Kramnik decides to take the pawn, going back to c7 is also
possible.
[17...Bc7 18.Nf3 (The direct 18.a6 Qd6 19.Nf3 bxa6 20.c4
Nb4 21.Qa4 Qe7 is ok for Black) 18...Qf6 19.Bd2 Nf4 20.
a6 bxa6 21.Bxf4 Bxf4 22.Qa4 again Black is confronted
with slight but lasting pressure.]
18.Nf3 b5 19.Nd4 Bc7
[19...Bb7 20.Bxd5 cxd5 21.Nxb5 Bb6 22.Bf4 Re6 23.Nd4 Re4
24.Be3 Qf6 25.Qd3 Rae8 26.Nc2! I guess something like
this must have been the idea, if Black can't play ...d4
to open lines for the bishop then he is facing problems.
;
19...Bd7 20.Nxb5 is simply better for White.]

20.Nxc6 Qd6 21.g3 Bb7 22.Bf4! White is better. 22...Qxc6
[The alternative was better: 22...Qd7 23.c4! (23.Nb4 Bxf4
24.Nxd5 Bd6 25.Nf6+ gxf6 26.Bxb7 Qxb7 27.Rxd6 Qf3 28.
Qd1 Qxd1+ 29.Raxd1 White is slightly better) 23...Bxf4
24.cxb5 Qxh3 25.Bxd5 Bg5 26.Qc4 Rf8 27.Ra3]
23.Bxd5 By giving the queen it is just winning now for
White. 23...Re1+ 24.Kh2 Qxd5 25.Rxd5 Rxa1 26.Rd1 Rxd1 27.
Qxd1 Rd8 28.Qe2 Bb6 29.Be3 Bxe3 30.Qxe3 Rd1 31.g4 Bc6 32.
Qc5 Bd7 33.Qxa7 This is simply technical now. 33...Rd2 34.
Kg3 Rd3+ 35.Kf4 Kh7 36.Qb7 Rd2 37.Ke3 Rd6 38.f4 g6 39.Qb8
Rd5 40.Ke4 Be6 41.Qb7 Rc5 42.Kd4 Rc4+ 43.Ke5 b4 44.cxb4 Rc2
45.Kf6 Rxb2 46.Qb8 Rf2 47.f5 gxf5 48.Qg3 Rf1 49.g5 1-0
Carlsen,Magnus (2862) - Radjabov,Teimour (2734) [C65]

Tata Steel-A 77th Wijk aan Zee (9), 20.01.2015
[ChessBase]
1.e4 e5 2.
Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 An Anti-Berlin that has done well
this tournament. MVL beat Giri with it. 4...Bc5 5.0-0 d6 6.
Nbd2 0-0 7.Bxc6 bxc6 8.h3 h6 The game will be quite
strategical. White has the structural advantage but Black
can remain solid and in the long run he has the pair of
bishops. 9.Re1 Re8 10.Nf1 a5 11.Ng3 Rb8 12.b3 Bb4 13.Bd2
Ra8?! Black's last few moves are difficult to understand.
Now White gets a slight edge by building up his center. 14.
c3 Bc5 15.d4 Bb6
[15...exd4 16.cxd4 Bb6 changes the character of the
position to something more agreeable with the pair of
bishops, but it still looks more pleasant to be White.]
16.dxe5 dxe5 17.c4 Nh7 18.Qe2 Nf8 19.Be3 c5 Even though
this is (some) engines recommendation and the move that
Radjabov chose... it is so painful to see this bishop on b6
trapped as it is.
[19...Bxe3 20.Qxe3 Qe7 at least there is no entombed
bishop on b6 here.]
20.Rad1 Qf6 21.Nh5 Qe7 22.Nh2 White starts a slow but
standard attack on the kingside. And why not? It's not like
Radjabov's pieces on the queenside are doing much at the
moment. 22...Kh7 23.Qf3 f6
[23...a4 24.Ng4 Ng6 was a better choice, probably.]
24.Ng4 Already White threatens nasty sacrifices 24...Bxg4
[24...a4 25.Ngxf6+ gxf6 26.Nxf6+ Kg6 27.Nxe8 Qxe8 28.Rd5
with a strong attack.]
25.Qxg4 Red8?
[25...g6! Black absolutely needed to take control over
some lightsquares!]
26.Qf5+ Kh8 27.f4 Rxd1 28.Rxd1 exf4 29.Bxf4 Qe6 30.Rd3 Re8
Missing White's blow, but Radjabov's position was already
delicate. 31.Nxg7! Kxg7 32.Qh5 Black cannot hope to hold his
kingside together, much less with that bishop stuck on b6.
32...Nh7 33.Bxh6+ Kh8 34.Qg6 Qg8 35.Bg7+ Qxg7 36.Qxe8+ The
rest is easy. For all practical purposes White is up the
echange. 36...Qf8 37.Qe6 Qh6 38.e5 Qc1+ 39.Kh2 Qf4+ 40.Rg3 1-0
Carlsen,Magnus (2856) - Sjugirov,Sanan (2680) [C65]

Wch Blitz Warsaw (2), 29.12.2021
1.
e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.0-0 Nd7 7.
c3 0-0 8.d4 Bd6 9.Bg5 Qe8 10.Re1 h6 11.Bh4 c5 12.Bg3 Qe7 13.
d5 Re8 14.a4 a5 15.Na3 Nf8 16.Nd2 Ng6 17.Ndc4 b6 18.Nb5 Rb8
19.b4 cxb4 20.Ncxd6 cxd6 21.cxb4 axb4 22.Qb3 Bd7 23.Qxb4
Bxb5 24.Qxb5 Rec8 25.Rec1 Qd8 26.Rab1 Ne7 27.Rxc8 Rxc8 28.
h3 Ra8 29.f3 Nc8 30.Bf2 Qc7 31.Bxb6 Nxb6 32.Qxb6 Qc2 33.Ra1
Qc3 34.Ra2 Qc4 35.Qb2 Kh7 36.Kh2 Rxa4 37.Rxa4 Qxa4 38.Qb7
f6 39.Qe7 Qa3 40.h4 h5 41.Qe8 Kh6 42.Qh8+ Kg6 43.Qf8 Qb4 44.
Qe8+ Kh6 45.Qc8 Qd2 46.Qf5 Qe3 47.Kh3 Qc1 48.Kh2 Qd2 49.Qc8
Qf4+ 50.Kh3 Qd2 51.Qd8 Qb4 52.g4 hxg4+ 53.Kxg4 Kh7 54.Qe8
Qd2 55.Qh5+ Kg8 56.Kf5 Qc3 57.Ke6 Qc8+ 58.Kxd6 Qd8+ 59.Kc6
Qc8+ 60.Kb5 Qb7+ 61.Kc4 Qa6+ 62.Kc3 Qa3+ 63.Kd2 Qb4+ 64.Ke2
Qb2+ 65.Kf1 Qc1+ 66.Kg2 Qd2+ 67.Kh3 Qd1 68.Qf5 Kf7 69.Qe6+
Kg6 70.Qg4+ Kf7 71.Qg2 f5 72.h5 Kf8 73.Kh4 Qd2 74.Qxd2 1-0
Carlsen,Magnus (2855) - Aronian,Levon (2792) [C65]

Paris GCT blitz Paris (4), 11.06.2016
[Besenthal,Klaus Guenter]
1.e4
e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.h3 Be6 7.Nc3
Qd6 8.Na4 Bb6 9.0-0 0-0 10.b3 h6 11.Bb2 Nd7 12.Nxb6 axb6 13.
d4 exd4 14.Nxd4 c5 15.Nb5 Qc6 16.c4 f6 17.f4 Rfe8 18.Qf3
Re7 19.a4 Nf8 20.Nc3 Qe8 21.Rae1 Diagramm
r3qnk1/1pp1r1p1/1p2bp1p/2p5/P1P1PP2/1PN2Q1P/1B4P1/4RRK1 b - - 0 1
Carlsen hat seine gesamte Streitmacht zum sofortigen
Losschlagen aufgebaut. Der weiße Vorteil ist
offensichtlich. 21...c6 22.f5 Bf7 23.e5! Diagramm
r3qnk1/1p2rbp1/1pp2p1p/2p1PP2/P1P5/1PN2Q1P/1B4P1/4RRK1 b - - 0 1
23...fxe5?
[23...Rxe5 24.Ne4 Nd7 25.Bxe5 Nxe5 26.Qg3 war nötig.
Schwarz hätte zwar die Qualität eingebüßt, dafür
aber den Durchbruch am Königsflügel verhindert.]
24.Ne4 Weiß hat einen Bauern weniger, aber spätestens
jetzt stehen alle seine Figuren perfekt für den
Schlussangriff. 24...Nh7 25.Qg3 Rd7
[25...Kh8 hätte nichts genützt: 26.f6 gxf6 27.Rxf6! Nxf6
28.Nxf6+-]
26.Bxe5 Qf8 27.Kh2 b5 28.Nxc5 Rd2 29.Ne6 1-0
Carlsen,Magnus (2855) - Nakamura,Hikaru (2736) [C65]

Meltwater Tour Final chess24.com INT (5.3), 29.09.2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.

Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.0-0 Bd6 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bh4 Qe7 9.
Nbd2 Bg4 10.h3 Bh5 11.d4 0-0-0 12.Re1 Qe6 13.c4 Bxf3 14.
Nxf3 Qxc4 15.dxe5 Bxe5 16.Nxe5 Qb5 17.Nxc6 Qxc6 18.Qb3 Rd7
19.Rac1 Qe6 20.Qxe6 fxe6 21.Bg3 b6 22.Rc6 Re8 23.Be5 Kb7 24.
Rec1 Ree7 25.f3 Ne8 26.h4 h5 27.Kh2 g6 28.Kg3 Rd2 29.R6c2
Rxc2 30.Rxc2 Rf7 31.b4 a6 32.a4 Rf8 33.b5 axb5 34.axb5 Kc8
35.Ra2 Kd7 36.Ra8 Rf7 37.Ra1 Rf8 38.Kf2 Nd6 39.Bxd6 Kxd6 40.
Rd1+ Ke7 41.Ke3 Ra8 42.Rc1 Kd7 43.Kf4 Ra2 44.g4 Ra3 45.Rf1
Ke7 46.Kg5 Kf7 47.Kh6 Rc3 48.g5 Rd3 49.Rc1 Rd7 50.Rc6 Re7
51.f4 Rd7 52.f5 gxf5 53.exf5 exf5 54.Rf6+ Kg8 55.Rxf5 Rd6+
56.Kxh5 c6 57.bxc6 Rxc6 58.g6 Rc8 59.Kg5 Rb8 60.h5 b5 1-0

Norway Chess 9th Stavanger (9), 16.09.2021
[Nielsen,Peter Heine]
1.e4
e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.0-0 Nd7 7.c3
h6 8.Nbd2 0-0 9.Nc4 Re8 10.b4 Bd6 11.Be3 Nf8 12.Nfd2 Ng6 13.
Nxd6 cxd6 14.a4 d5 15.Nb3 b6 16.a5 Rb8 17.Qc2 Be6 18.Rfb1
Re7 19.c4 d4 20.Bd2 f5 21.axb6 axb6 22.f3 Rf7 23.Rf1 Kh7 24.
exf5 Bxf5 25.Be1 Qg5 26.Rd1 h5 27.Bd2 Qh4 28.Rde1 Ra8 29.
Ra1 Raf8 30.Ra6 It is a commonly used trick by seconds for
upcoming World Championship matches to refuse to say
anything about the opening moves claiming the need for
secrecy and not revealing any secrets. Using that privilege
to skip the first 30 moves is indeed taking it too far, but
the only thing to report til now is that Karjakin has a
strategically winning position and that after e.g the
retreat 30...Qd8!? the Norwegian computer "Sesse" always
following Magnus games, gave as much as +3(!) for Black.
But simply ...h4-h3 next would undermine White's defences
and win trivially. But having already beaten Magnus once
during this event, Karjakin thought why not make it 2-0 and
in style? 30...e4?! Magnus won 4 games in a row at Stavanger,
and while in other sports or even in earlier stages of
chess history that would not be seen as something special,
in modern top-level tournaments it certainly is. Streaks
requires a mixture of luck and skill, and as Larsen once
pointed out, it is easier to win a bad position than a
completely equal one.
[30...Qd8!?]
31.Nxd4! Taking his chance ( and a pawn!) immediately, but
Karjakin obviously was expecting that and has a cunning
plan up his sleeve: 31...exf3 32.Nxf3 Bh3!? One can
understand Karjakins attraction to this move. Not only is
it beautiful, but also logical. White has a stranded rook
on the queenside, while all black pieces join the attack on
the white king. It would not be unreasonable if Black was
just winning, but Magnus has a resource: 33.Rf2! Absolutely
neccesary amd modest-looking, but excactly enough fence off
the black attack! 33...Bxg2 perhaps was what Karjakin
intended, hoping for 34 Nxh4 Rxf2 but 35 Ng5+! turns the
tables, as in this version of Black sacrificing his queen,
after 35...Qxg5 36 Bxg5 Rxf2 suddenly 37 Qxf2 has become
available. The computer suggests the calm 33...Kg8!? with
an ultimately balanced position, but Karjakins ove also is
not bad: 33...Rxf3
[33...Bxg2 34.Ng5+! (34.Nxh4 Rxf2) 34...Qxg5 35.Bxg5 Rxf2 36.
Qxf2!;
33...Kg8!?]
34.gxf3 Rf5? But here however he falters.
[34...Bg4!? was the logical way continuing to attack with
maximum energy, when after 35.f4 Ne5! Black once again
exploits that White can not take the offered piece.
Surprisingly White would still be able to defend, as both
36.Bc3 and 36.Be3 keeps him in the game most likely to
end in a draw by perpetual check]
35.d4! Materially White is ahead plenty, so more
importantly this opens the diagonal of the white queen
towards the king on h7, as well as the 3-rank where the
rook via a3 can join the defence. 35...Qxd4 36.Ra3 36.f4!
would have been more precise, as now 36...Re5!? becomes an
extra option.
[36.f4!]
36...Rf7
[36...Re5!?]
37.Re3 Bf5 38.Qc3 Qd8 39.Re1?! "Sesse" gave 39 f4! as the
winning move, but from a human perspective once can
understand the logic behind leaving the the pawn on f3
giving the king somewhat more protection, as well as
preparing the following manouver. And wile tactically
flawed, it does win the game!
[39.f4!]
39...Rd7 40.Qe3 Rd4? When Karjakin played his 30th move, he
had considerably more time left on is clock than Magnus,
but in the ensuing complications he caught up and being
short on time blunders the game with his last move before
the time-control. 40...Re7! was possible as 41 Qg5?? then
loses to 41... Rxe1+ as 42 Bxe1 leaves the queen
unprotected on g5. Thus 41 Qc3 would be neccesary but after
41...Rd7 white would according to the computers not have
better than a repetition draw after 42 Qe3.
[40...Re7 41.Qc3 (41.Qg5?? Rxe1+ 42.Bxe1 Qxg5+) 41...Rd7 42.
Qe3]
41.Qg5 Now, however, White just wins trivially. There
thraet of exchanging queens as well as h5 and f5 hanging,
is more than the black position can handle. 41...Qxg5+ 42.
Bxg5 Rxc4 43.Rb2! Perhaps looking passive, but defending
the b-pawn was neccesary. And as Larsen said: while
opposite colored bishop endings often are drawn, when they
are winning, the often win easily! And this is the case
here indeed: White will rearrange to attack g7, and Black's
bishop being of the opposite colour, means there just is no
way to defend. 43...b5 44.Kf2 c5 45.bxc5 Rxc5 46.Rc1 Rd5 47.
Rd2 Rxd2+ 48.Bxd2 Ne5 49.Rc7 b4!? Trying to confuse the
issue as else Bc3 next wins trivially. 50.Rb7 Be6 51.Re7!
Nd3+ 52.Ke3 Bc4 53.Kd4 But as 53... Bb5 54 Rb7 Ba6 55 Rb6
wins a piece and 53....Nb2 54 Bxb4 is hopeless, Karjakin
resigned.
[53.Kd4 Bb5 (53...Nb2 54.Bxb4) 54.Rb7 Ba6 55.Rb6]
1-0
Carlsen,Magnus (2855) - Rapport,Richard (2760) [C65]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Ne7 5.0-0 c6 6.Ba4 Ng6 7.
Re1 Be7 8.d4 d6 9.c3 0-0 10.Nbd2 h6 11.Nf1 Re8 12.Ng3 a5 13.
Bc2 Qc7 14.a4 Bd7 15.h3 b5 16.Be3 Rab8 17.Qd2 b4 18.Bd3
bxc3 19.bxc3 Be6 20.Qc2 Rb7 21.Nf1 Nh5 22.N1d2 Nhf4 23.Ba6
Rbb8 24.dxe5 dxe5 25.Rab1 Bd7 26.Bc4 Ne6 27.Qa2 Nh4 28.Nxh4
Bxh4 29.Nf3 Be7 30.Rbd1 Bc8 31.Qc2 Nf8 32.Rd2 Be6 33.Qa2
Red8 34.Rxd8 Bxd8 35.Rd1 Be7 36.h4 Rd8 37.Rb1 Rb8 38.Rxb8
Qxb8 39.g3 Bd8 40.Kg2 Bc7 41.Bxe6 Nxe6 42.Qc4 Qe8 43.h5 Kh7
44.Qd3 Qe7 45.Nd2 Bd6 46.Nc4 Bc7 47.Qd1 Nf8 48.Qg4 Nd7 49.
Kf1 Qe8 50.Kg2 Qe7 51.Qf5+ Kg8 52.g4 Nf8 53.g5 hxg5 54.Bxg5
Qc5 55.Ne3 Qd6 56.Qg4 g6 57.Bh6 Nd7 58.Nc4 Nf6 59.Qc8+ Qd8
60.Qxd8+ Bxd8 61.Bg5 gxh5 62.Bxf6 Bxf6 63.Nxa5 Kf8 64.Nxc6
Ke8 65.Nb4 Bd8 66.Nd3 f6 67.Kg3 Kd7 68.f3 Ba5 69.c4 Ke6 70.
Kh4 f5 71.Kxh5 fxe4 72.fxe4 Kd6 73.Kg6 Bc7 74.Kf5 Kc6 75.
Ke6 Kb6 76.Kd7 Bb8 77.c5+ 1-0

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3

Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.0-0 Bd6 7.Nbd2 Be6 8.b3 0-0 9.Bb2 Nd7 10.
d4 f6 11.dxe5 fxe5 12.Qe2 Qe7 13.a4 Rf7 14.h3 Raf8 15.Rad1
h6 16.Nh2 c5 17.Nc4 Rf6 18.Qd3 Qf7 19.f3 h5 20.Nxd6 cxd6 21.
Qe3 Qe7 22.Qg5 Re8 23.Rf2 Bf7 24.Nf1 Nf8 25.Qd2 Ng6 26.Ne3
Nh4 27.Kh2 Kh7 28.Rdf1 Ng6 29.Nf5 Qf8 30.f4 Nxf4 31.Rxf4
exf4 32.Bxf6 gxf6 33.Qxd6 Qxd6 34.Nxd6 Re7 35.Rxf4 Kg6 36.
Kg3 Be6 37.Rf3 b6 38.Kf4 h4 39.g4 hxg3 40.Rxg3+ Kh7 41.h4
Rd7 42.e5 fxe5+ 43.Kxe5 Bg8 44.Nf5 Kh8 45.c4 Rd1 46.Ne7 Bh7
47.Nd5 Rh1 48.Nf6 Rxh4 49.Nxh7 Kxh7 50.Kd6 Rh6+ 51.Kc7 Rf6
52.Kb7 Rf7+ 53.Ka6 Rc7 54.Rd3 Kg6 55.Rd8 Re7 56.Rb8 Kf5 57.
Rb7 Re3 58.Kxa7 Rxb3 59.a5 Rb4 60.a6 Ke5 61.Rxb6 Rxc4 62.
Kb7 Ra4 63.a7 Rxa7+ 64.Kxa7 c4 65.Rc6 1-0

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.

Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.h3 0-0 7.Nc3 Re8 8.Be3 Bxe3
9.fxe3 Nd7 10.0-0 Nf8 11.Qe1 f6 12.g4 Ng6 13.Qg3 h6 14.Rf2
Qe7 15.Raf1 Be6 16.h4 Qd7 17.Rg2 Rf8 18.d4 exd4 19.exd4
Rae8 20.h5 Nh8 21.Rd1 Qd6 22.Qxd6 cxd6 23.Nh4 d5 24.exd5
Bxd5 25.Nxd5 cxd5 26.Kf1 Re4 27.Nf5 Nf7 28.Re1 Rf4+ 29.Kg1
Ng5 30.Re7 Rf7 31.Re8+ Kh7 32.Kh2 Ne4 33.Nh4 Nd6 34.Rd8 Rc7
35.Rxd6 1-0
Carlsen,Magnus (2855) - So,Wesley (2770) [C65]

Bilbao Masters 9th Bilbao (4), 16.07.2016
[Carlsen,Magnus]
1.e4 e5 In round 4 this was already my third white

game. In the first two games against predominantly 1...e5
players I was suprised by 1...c5 and wheeled out a couple
of obscure Anti-Sicilians. I got an excellent position
against Nakamura and then nothing against Karjakin and won,
so naturally I was expecting to be surprised again. 2.Nf3
Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 Wesley also plays other systems, but an
invitation to the Berlin is never a surprise from a top
player. 4.d3 In my early years as an ambitious player the
Berlin was not considered a particulary good opening, and I
used to grab the invitation with both hands, with excellent
results. More recently however, more solid systems for
Black have been found, and I'm finding myself rejecting the
invitation on a regular basis. 4...Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.Qe2
[Back in 2012 I started playing 6.Nbd2 here, and to my
surprise it became very popular. The text has similar
ideas, but is much less well-known.]
6...Qe7 7.Nbd2 Bg4 Naturally, there are plenty of other
options on this and the previous move, but this plan is
always decent. The bishop will temporarily be misplaced on
h5/g6, but it will usually come in to play via f7 after ...
d7 and ...f6. 8.h3 Bh5 9.a3 This move took me more than 20
minutes, but I felt that it was already time to delve more
deeply into the position. In the 2013 world championship
Vishy chose the plan with f1-g3 without g4, but that was
without e2 and ...e7 included. Now I would just be a
tempo down compared that game. Other ways to play were c4
or g4 followed by f1-g3, but neither of them seemed to
give too much of a basis for an interesting battle.
Bothering his bishop immediately though, seemed much more
interesting. Besides, I won't hide the fact that playing h3
and a3 on consecutive moves in the opening gave me pleasure.
[9.Nf1 Nd7 10.Ng3 Bxf3 11.Qxf3 g6 and White has wasted a

tempo.]
9...Nd7
[9...a5 Generally this move is desirable strategically,
gaining space while preventing b4. However, with the
bishop on h5 kingside castling is not attractive with g4
coming and a knight landing on f5, while with the pawn
on a5 queenside castling will not be on the cards.
Having said that, it was certainly a playable, and
probably the most challenging option]
10.b4 Bd6 Wesley spent almost 20 minutes on this move,
which is very much understandable as all three bishop moves
were serious options.
[10...Bd4 A very solid option, getting rid the dark
squared bishop, which otherwise either risks being
harassed on b6, or passive on d6 11.Rb1 Bc3 12.0-0 Bxd2
Otherwise the knight escapes 13.Bxd2 But I was not too
unhappy about this, as the extra space on the queenside
feels useful.;
10...Bb6 The engines like this move, and I don't have

any convincing arguments against it. The worry for Black
is that the bishop is likely to be caged in on b6 after
a subsequent c4 c5, which an engine probably won't mind.
Recent examples from a couple of blitz and rapid games
by Nakamura (against MVL and Caruana respectively) in
another line of the Berlin, suggest that even top level
practice the computer's opinion may prevail.]
11.Nc4 f6
[11...Nf8 was possible, but I suspect he was worried about
12.Na5 and there is no convenient way to protect b7.]
12.Ne3 A key point of the a3-b4 operation is that the e3-
square is freed up for the knight (otherwise the bishop
would happily have chopped it off). The knight can later
jump to f5 without having to play g4 first. 12...a5? As on
move 9, this is the most challenging, but ceraintly not the
most practical option. That's why I'm assigning it a
question mark, rather than it's objective value.
[12...Nf8 13.Nf5 Qd7 was very solid; with the knight
coming to e6, Black is alright.]
13.Nf5 Qf8 The consistent follow-up, as he forces me to
make a consession on the queenside. However, now his king
will be stuck in the center for a while, which is
especially unpleasant considering the shorter time-control
that was used in Bilbao
[13...Qf7 14.Rb1 Now I don't have to take 14...axb4 15.
axb4 0-0 16.0-0 and while he has been able to seize the
a-file for the moment, the rest of his pieces are rather
more clumsily placed than in the note to 12...f8(16.Bh6
Qa2!) ]
14.bxa5 Rxa5 15.0-0 Qf7 This loss of tempo certainly
doesn't look impressive, but at least he frees up the f8-
square for the knight or even bishop. Castling however,
won't be possible for a long time because of the little
trick h6, which really is the key to the position.
[15...Kd8 Perhaps he should have tried to evacuate the
king to the queenside: 16.a4 (16.Bd2 Ra4) 16...Bb4 And in
both cases it's not so easy to generate a serious
initative on the queenside]
16.a4 Nc5 17.Qe1
[17.Bd2 was also good, but this move, freeing up the
knight and attacking the rook, just felt too natural not
to be played.]
17...b6 It's becoming harder and harder to defend.
[17...Ra8 18.N3h4 Since the rook will not be attacked
after c4, the knight goes in the other direction 18...
Ne6 (18...Bf8 19.a5 fixing b7 as a target 19...g5 20.Nf3
Bxf3 21.gxf3 and White is firmly in the driver's seat)
19.Rb1 and it's hard for Black to avoid losing a pawn,
as xd6 followed by f5 is looming as well.]
18.Nd2 Rxa4 19.Nc4 The idea. Every move comes with a threat.
19...Bf8?!
[19...Be7 I suspected that this might better than the
text, as it does not block the h8-rook. I was not too
worried though, as I saw that I had at least a forced
draw 20.Be3 Kd7 The only move, as (20...0-0 21.Nxe7+ Qxe7
22.Bxc5 loses a piece) 21.Nxb6+ (21.Rxa4 Nxa4 22.f4 This
is probably what I would have done. White has a nice
initative and is not risking anything, but Black is
hanging on for the moment) 21...cxb6 22.Bxc5 Rxa1 23.
Qxa1 Bxc5 24.Qa7+ Ke6 25.Nxg7+ Kd6 26.Nf5+ Ke6=]
20.Be3 Kd7
[20...Rg8 This was the only move, which I had seen. 21.f4
But still it's impossible to defend, at least in
practical play.]
21.Qc3 All natural moves, and by now I felt that I was
winning. There is very little to be done about the threat
of xb6 followed by xc5, when a white rook will land on a7,
winning the queen and the game. 21...Nxe4
[21...Rxc4 I thought this was the last chance, but after
22.dxc4 Nxe4 23.Qd3+ Nd6 24.g4 Bg6 25.Rfd1 Black is tied
up, while xb6 and a7 is threatened.]
22.Nxb6+ Again opening up the seventh rank and leaving the
black king completely naked. 22...cxb6 23.dxe4 Qc4 24.Qd2+
Kc7 25.g4 Finally g4! Much later than expected, but much
more powerful. 25...Bg6 26.Rfd1 I had no wish to calculate
xb6 here or on the previous move, as this forces immediate
resignation. A fun game, which put me in a great mood
(which was immediately ruined by failing to win the next
game against Anish, but that's another story). 1-0
Carlsen,Magnus (2855) - Kramnik,Vladimir (2812) [C65]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3
Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.h3 Nd7 7.Be3 0-0 8.Qd2
Re8 9.Nc3 a5 10.Bxc5 Nxc5 11.0-0-0 f6 12.Qe3 Qe7 13.d4 exd4
14.Nxd4 Bd7 15.Rhe1 b5 16.f3 b4 17.Nb1 Kh8 18.Nd2 Na4 19.
Nc4 c5 20.Nf5 Qe6 21.b3 Bb5 22.bxa4 Bxc4 23.Qxc5 Qf7 24.Qc6
Be6 25.Kb2 h6 26.g4 Rad8 27.Rxd8 Rxd8 28.Qc5 Qd7 29.Qe7
Qxe7 30.Nxe7 c5 31.Nc6 c4 32.Nxd8 1-0

Paris GCT rapid Paris (3), 09.06.2016
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5

Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 0-0 6.0-0 d5!? Recently at the top level
especially 6...d6 (as well as 6...e8) has been the
preferred move, but Levon had prepared a surprise.
7.exd5 Qxd5 8.Bc4 Qd6
[8...Qd7!? is what he played later in the rapids against
MVL, also getting a decent position.]
9.b4 Bb6 10.Nbd2 The computer indicates 10.a3!? as a
critical reply, but it's not an easy move to play against a
prepared opponent, and Magnus sticks to commom sense chess:
10...Bf5 11.Qc2 Rad8 12.Ne4 Nxe4 13.dxe4 Bg4 14.Be2 a5 15.
a3 I guess the opening has to be described as an success
for Aronian. It's an equal symmetrical position, where its
hard to see why White should have any objective edge. Even
so, Magnus makes it looks like it! 15...Kh8 16.Bg5 f6 17.
Rad1 Qe7 18.Bc1 Rxd1 19.Rxd1 Rd8 20.h3 Be6 21.Rxd8+ Qxd8 22.
Nd2 Still very minimal, but c4 or even c4, starts to
bother moderately. The bishop on b6 looks nice and better
than its counterpart on c1, but it's a target for White to
attack, so Aronian decided to cover the c4-square. 22...Qg8
23.Qd3 axb4 24.axb4 Qa8!? The point is that now 25.c4
xc4!? 26.xc4 a1 generates strong counterplay.
25.Nf1 Qa1?! Aronian later regeretted this, saying he got
too optimistic. And its true, that while it looks active,
soon the queen will be forced back to defend, making ...a1
an empty shot.
26.Be3 Bxe3 27.Qxe3 Bg8?!
[27...Qe1!? would have been an interesting way of trying
to force a queen exchange, as the queen is forced to
keep the bishop on e2 defended. White could play the
endings after e.g. g4!? or b5, but Black should hold.]
28.Qc5! Qa7 29.Qb5! Qa8 30.Kh2 Qb8 31.Ne3? Magnus has been
playing true to his style - by very small means making
chess look simple and creating a serious advantage out what
to most others looks like thin air. Here however he makes
an inaccuracy which Levon could have punished: 31...Be6?
[31...Nd4!! which is a beautiful tactic, forcing the
exchange of knight for bishop, as after 32.cxd4 exd4
Black has the unusual threat of ...c6 with a discovered
check, attacking the white queen!]
32.Bc4 Now order is restored. White has an considerable
edge due to the greater activity of his pieces and the
weakness of c7. 32...Bd7 33.Qd5 Qc8 34.Be2 Ne7 35.Qf7 Qe8 36.
Qc4 Qd8 37.Qd3 Qe8 38.Bg4 Bxg4 39.hxg4 h6 40.Qc4 c6 41.Qe6
Qf8 42.Qd7 b5 43.Qe6 Kh7 44.g3 g6? 45.c4! It's a rapid game,
and thus some ups and downs are to be expected. Magnus let
some of his edge slip, but Levon's last move is a mistake,
weakening his kingside, and now Magnus opens a route for
his knight to join the attack. 45...bxc4 Sad, but neccesary,
or else just cxb5 cxb5 d7 winning the pawn on b5.
46.Nxc4 Kg7 47.Nd6 Kh7 48.Kg2! With Black being completely
tied down, the white king can safely walk to the queenside
breaking Black's resistance. 48...Kg7 49.Kf1 Kh7 50.Ke2 Kg7
51.Kd3 Ng8 52.Ne8+ Kh8 53.Kc4 h5 54.gxh5 Qh6!? A desperate
attempt to fight for a perpetual, but White hides his king
easily.
55.Qxc6 Qd2 56.hxg6 Qe2+ 57.Kc5 Qxf2+ 58.Kb5 Qxg3 59.Qd7
Qxg6 60.Ka5 Even with the material being equal, it's
completely winning for White. The b-pawn queens, and Black
has no counterplay whatsoever. 60...Qg3 61.b5 Qc3+ 62.Ka6
Qa3+ 63.Kb7 Qg3 64.b6 Qg6 65.Ka7 f5 66.exf5 Qg3 67.f6 Qa3+
68.Kb8 1-0

World-ch Carlsen-Karjakin +1-1=10 New York (10), 24.11.2016
[So,Wesley]
Going into the World Championship matches, many

people logically considered Magnus to be the clear favorite
against Sergey Karjakin. First of all the difference in
their rating was a bit wide, as was their most recent
overall performance.This year alone Magnus had won four big
tournaments (Tata Steel, Norway, Leuven and Bilbao), while
Sergey had only won the (admittedly long and tough)
Candidates tournament which qualified him as the Challenger.
Those things carry weight in people's minds but rounds 1-9
showed a different and very surprising story. The
challenger's strong balanced attack, his ability to find
good moves and make plans, his outstanding defense, and
resistance to cracking under pressure, proved him to be an
impregnable fortress. Magnus could not find a way to break
Sergey down until eventually, overextending himself in
Round 8, the Champion even had to accept defeat. At this
point in Game 10 with only 3 games to the finish he
absolutely has to find a way to even the score. He HAS to
do it today.
1.e4 In Rounds 1 and 8 Magnus got nowhere with 1.d4, after
giving the Trompovsky and the Colle system a try. Sergey
Karjakin knew his stuff there. In fact he got nothing but
trouble in game 8. So today Magnus decides to go back to
the "best by test move" recommended by Fischer and Caruana.
To be honest I'm kind of surprised that Magnus does not
try 1.c4 or 1.f3/1.g3 but maybe we will see that in Round
12. 1...e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5
[3.Bc4 Bc5 Carlsen-Karjakin Round 5, but Magnus got
nothing there either and in the end he must have been
happy to save that game.]
3...Nf6 Sergey sticks to his guns and goes for the Berlin
Opening. I noticed that during the entire match so far, one
of Sergey's strategies has been simply to go for the main
lines in the opening and play a normal game. He does not
overpush but maintains composure by playing objective,
strong moves.
4.d3 Magnus' strategy seemed mostly aimed at surprises in
the opening and later on, hopes to exploit his opponent's
mistakes over the board. It reminded me of a quote by a
famous chess player: "I will play 40 good moves. If my
opponent plays 40 good moves too, we will draw." The
problem in this match is Sergey is the opponent who finds
all the good moves too.
[4.0-0 Nxe4 5.Re1 Carlsen-Karjakin Round 3, where White
got very close to first blood, but later on couldn't
convert.]
4...Bc5 Putting the bishop on an active post while also
preparing to exchange the knights with ...d4.
5.c3
[Magnus has won many games in the past with 5.Bxc6 dxc6
And here White has many moves, but the latest innovation
is 6.Qe2 threatening to take xe5. 6...Qe7 (6...Bg4 7.h3
Bxf3 8.Qxf3) 7.Nbd2 Bg4 8.h3 Bh5 9.a3 Nd7 10.b4 Bd6
11.Nc4 f6 12.Ne3 a5 13.Nf5 The knight on f5 is very
powerful and not easy to dislodge. 13...Qf8 14.bxa5 Rxa5
15.0-0 Qf7 16.a4 Nc5 (16...0-0? 17.Bh6! is a really nice
combination.) 17.Qe1 b6 18.Nd2 Rxa4 19.Nc4 Bf8? 20.Be3
and White won easily - Carlsen against a strong GM.]
5...0-0 6.Bg5 This is unexpected, both for the spectators
and I assume for Sergey too. Usually White castles his king
first with 6.O-O and then after 6...d6 7.g5, when Black no
longer has the option of ...e7.
[6.Bxc6 does not win a clean pawn, since after 6...bxc6 7.
Nxe5 d5 Black will get fast development in return.]
6...h6 7.Bh4 Be7 This is the safe and natural approach. I
like this move.
[7...g5 8.Bg3 d6 9.Nbd2 is not desirable for Black as
with the rook still on h1, White gets extra attacking
options.]
8.0-0
[8.Bxc6 bxc6 9.Nxe5 You think White has won a pawn?
Well... 9...Nxe4! No. Black is better.]
8...d6 9.Nbd2 It's a little perplexing in general is
Magnus' opening approach, as it's not very clear here where
White's advantage is.
[Perhaps 9.Bg3 with a complex position for example, 9...Nh5 (
If 9...Bd7 then 10.h3 which is a typical Ruy Lopez
subtlety, vacating the h2-square for the bishop to
retreat into! 10...Nh5 11.Bh2 f5) 10.Bxc6 bxc6 (10...
Nxg3 11.Bxb7! Aha! The suicidal bishop gives up its
life so White wins a pawn. 11...Bxb7 12.hxg3) 11.Nxe5
dxe5 12.Qxh5 Qxd3 13.Qxe5 Re8 and Black has the bishop
pair and some compensation for the pawn.;
9.Re1 Nh5 10.Bxe7 Qxe7 11.d4 Nf4=]

9...Nh5 10.Bxe7
[If 10.Bg3 Black just grabs the bishop pair: 10...Nxg3 11.
hxg3 Bf6 with a happy position.(11...Nb8 12.d4 c6 13.Bd3
Nd7 14.Nc4 Qc7 should also bring a smile to Sergey's
face.) ]
10...Qxe7 11.Nc4
[11.Bxc6 to give Black doubled pawns looks like a good
option. 11...bxc6 12.d4 (12.g3 f5) 12...Nf4 But in fact
White cannot really exploit it. In fact if anything, the
strong knight on f4 gives Black good chances. For example
13.Qa4 Rb8 14.b3 Rb6 when Black seizes a strong
initiative. I can already foresee a rook swing (b6-g6)
to the kingside later on.]
11...Nf4 Simple and strong.
[11...f5 is a more complicated way to equality. 12.Ne3
fxe4 13.dxe4 Kh7=]
12.Ne3 Qf6
[12...f5 is always an option here, though after 13.g3 fxe4
14.dxe4 Nh3+ 15.Kg2 the knight on h3 still has to find a
way to escape.]
13.g3 Nh3+ 14.Kh1 A little too passive.
[The king would be better placed on g2. 14.Kg2 Ne7 15.d4
gives White a small advantage as he has more space and
seizes control over the center. 15...Ng6 16.Bd3 the
knight on h3 can be kicked away later with g1.]
14...Ne7 Now comes the manoeuvring phase. Both sides will
now try to improve their position. The knight on h3 is very
active, and Black can always exchange it with ...g5. I
think Black has no problems here.
15.Bc4 Putting the bishop on the right diagonal.
[15.d4 seems natural but leads nowhere. 15...exd4 16.cxd4
c5=]
15...c6
[15...b5 was being cried out by the spectators online: 16.
Bb3 But I am not sure where it leads. Advancing pawns
too far can lead to unnecessary weaknesses and as
everyone knows pawns cannot move backwards. In fact
White is threatening a2-a4 so perhaps (16.Bxb5 Rb8) 16...Rb8
with an around equal position.]
16.Bb3 Ng6 Perhaps a small inaccuracy.
[The knight was just fine on e7, to guard the d5 and f5-
squares. In fact Black has on his agenda an active
option here to try to seize the initiative: 16...d5!? 17.
exd5 cxd5 18.Nxd5 Nxd5 19.Bxd5 Rd8 20.Be4 and now comes
The Pin: 20...Bg4! and White has to sacrifice material to
get rid of this dangerous pin.]
17.Qe2 I always think Magnus excels in this kind of close
to equal positions. So in fact his opening choice has been
quite successful despite its modest appearance. Now even if
the advantage is not much, White has chances to outplay his
opponent. 17...a5 18.a4 Fighting for space on the queenside
and fixing the pawn on a5. With the black knights so far
away on the kingside, later this a5 pawn will lack
protection.
[Watching the game live, I thought a stronger move was 18.
d4 based on the chess principle 'Attack on the flank is
best met by a counter-attack in the center'. 18...a4 19.
Bc2 Ng5 20.Nxg5 hxg5 21.Rad1 and White is a little
better. But now I like Magnus' choice too, as he wants
to dominate the whole board, and not just the center.]
18...Be6 19.Bxe6!? When I first saw this move I thought
Magnus had just made a small blunder. I thought that's it,
he just wasted one of his last White games, congrats to
Sergey for making an easy draw and getting one step closer
to being a World Champion. However deeper inspection shows
that he is setting a trap!
[19.Nd2! is definitely the best move. Black's knights on
g6 and h3 look nice, but in fact they're stepping on
each other's toes as neither of them can really put a
foot on f4, while White is ready to consolidate his
center with f3. 19...Bxb3 20.Nxb3 and in fact White is
already threatening to win a pawn with c4, amongst
other threats. 20...Ng5 21.f3 White has a much better
coordination of pieces than his opponent's.;
19.Bc2 Ng5 20.Nxg5 hxg5 21.Rad1 is possible too, though

not as forceful as 19.d2.]
19...fxe6 20.Nd2 Now White is threatening to block the
kingside with f3. 20...d5
[I thought 19.xe6 was a blunder because at first sight
20...Nxf2+ seems to finish the game with a clean draw.
But Magnus still has a final trick up his sleeve which I
am sure he will go for.
A) 21.Kg2? Nh4+ 22.Kg1 (22.gxh4? Qg6+ would end the match
right here and right now.) 22...Nh3+ 23.Kh1 Nf2+ and
a perpetual check is undesirable for White, as he is
trailing in the match.;
B) 21.Kg1! is the prepared trick. Now White gets two
knights for a rook and a couple of pawns. 21...Nh3+ 22.
Kg2 Nhf4+ 23.gxf4 Nxf4+ 24.Rxf4 exf4 (24...Qxf4 25.
Qf3! gives Black an unpleasant choice. To trade
queens or not to trade? Either way White will be
happy. 25...Qh4 26.Qg3) 25.Nc2 In terms of material
Black is fine, but with the position being closed,
the White knights get a lot of jumping potential.
Leading the match by one game, Sergey decides to
avoid unbalanced positions like this. 25...e5 (Perhaps
25...b5 to open some files but then 26.e5! dxe5 27.
Ne1!? with the idea to blockade with the knights
on e4 and f3. The position is totally chaotic.) 26.
Qg4 and White is preparing to improve his kingside
with h4 or e1-f3. At the very least he is not worse
and could even be better.]
21.Qh5!? Again a very daring try by Magnus. He goes for the
most risky but most rewarding continuation.
[21.f3! would be my preference. White is well on his way
to consolidation. Knight sacrifices on f4 do not work,
while the doubled e-pawns give Black eternal problems.
21...Rad8 22.Rae1 I like White.]
21...Ng5 Sergey misses the draw! Just when he is close to
it, he chooses another way.
[21...Nxf2+ 22.Kg2 (22.Kg1 Qg5 wins a pawn with an easy
tactic. 23.Qxg5 Nh3+ Check! 24.Kg2 Nxg5) 22...Qf7!
Threatening ...f4 check.
A) If White retreats with 23.Qe2 then 23...Nh4+ and it's
clear to see that it leads to a perpetual. 24.Kg1 (24.
gxh4? Qg6+) 24...Nh3+ 25.Kh1 Nf2+;
B) 23.Kg1 White prevents the check, and now Black has to
find: 23...Qf6! It's easy to miss this move. Black
prepares ...g5 followed by ...h3 check, so White
has nothing better than 24.Kg2 (24.Ng4 Qg5) 24...Qf7=]
22.h4 Magnus is so happy to be able to torture his opponent
in a long endgame that he just went for it. According to
online sources he spent less than half a minute on this
move.
[I don't blame him at all for wanting to squeeze the life
out of Sergey in the endgame but 22.Rae1! preparing g4,
is even stronger. For example 22...Nf3 23.Ng4 Qg5 24.Qxg5
hxg5 25.Nxf3 Rxf3 26.Rd1 You may ask, what is worse
than doubled pawns? Well... two sets of doubled pawns.]
22...Nf3 23.Nxf3 Qxf3+ 24.Qxf3 Rxf3 25.Kg2 Magnus' daring
play starting from 19.xe6 has paid off. White has a very
pleasant endgame advantage. The doubled e-pawns are a
constant source of problems. I don't like Black's position.
25...Rf7 26.Rfe1 This leaves the f2-pawn slightly
vulnerable. Not that it matters though. White has an
abundance of plans here.
[I like 26.Ng4 forcing h5. 26...h5 27.Nh2 Nf8 28.Nf3 Now
White seizes the g5-square too. 28...Nd7 29.Rae1 White is
well on the way to converting his advantage.]
26...h5
[26...Raf8 can be simply met by 27.Nd1 (27.Re2 gives birth
to 27...Nf4+ ideas. 28.gxf4 exf4) 27...h5 28.Re2]
27.Nf1 Finding ideal squares for his pieces is a piece of
cake for Magnus. 27...Kf8
[27...Raf8 28.Re2 Rf3 29.Rd1 with the queens off the
board any tries by Black to attack will not be
successful. So instead he tries to improve his king.]
28.Nd2 Ke7 29.Re2 Protecting f2. This is a very happy
position. I had no doubt that White would be able to
convert this position barring big blunders. It's got
nothing to do with Sergey, Black's structure is simply bad.
29...Kd6 30.Nf3 Raf8 31.Ng5 Re7 32.Rae1 Rfe8 33.Nf3 Besides
all Black's problems, his knight is also a little misplaced
on g6. 33...Nh8! Improving the position of the knight.
Despite being at a disadvantage, Sergey hangs tough. The
question for White now, is how to convert his advantage?
34.d4 A conversion of advantages. Magnus decides the time
is ripe to blast open the center and endanger the position
of the black king.
[Personally I would prefer to leave Black with his
doubled pawns and choose 34.b4 axb4 35.cxb4 Nf7 36.a5
with a clear advantage too, but sooner or later White
has to find a way to break through.]
34...exd4 35.Nxd4 g6 Protecting the f5-square.
[A lesser wood pusher might go 35...Nf7 but then 36.exd5
cxd5 37.c4 dxc4 and the black king is caught in the
middle of the crossfire.]
36.Re3 Threatening f3. Again White has an abundance of
plans here. b2-b4 ideas are always in the air.
[I like the subtle 36.Nb3!? b6 37.Nd4 with the idea of
weakening c6 but perhaps it is too subtle for the most
part.]
36...Nf7 37.e5+
[37.Rf3 Ne5 38.Rf6 Rf7 allows Black to defend, no
problemo. After the exchange of his most active rook,
White's chances to convert become much harder. 39.Rxf7
Nxf7]
37...Kd7 38.Rf3 Perhaps not the best but it is a normal
move, especially when both players are relatively low in
time.
[38.b4 is more accurate, to prevent ...c5 ideas.]
38...Nh6?! Sergey also makes a natural consolidating move.
If he can block the f-file with ...f5, then all well and
good. However Black has better options here on move 38
though.
[38...c5 looks good, to set the queenside pawns into
motion. After 39.Nb3 b6 40.Nd2 Black still does not fully
solve his problems however. 40...Nh8! (40...Rg8 41.Rf6 and
the g6-h5 pawn chain will be quite vulnerable.) 41.c4 (
41.Rf6 Rf7! eliminates White's most active piece!) 41...
Rf7 the programs show that Black is fine but it's hard
for me to believe with the knight on h8. Also, it's
almost impossible for a human to play ...h8 over the
board.;
38...g5 39.hxg5 Nxg5 40.Rf6;
Or 38...Rg8 39.Rf6 but White still looks better here.]

39.Rf6 Rg7 40.b4 Now White is back on track.
[40.c4!? is the complicated way to try to knock out Black.
His king will be vulnerable in the center even in the
endgame.]
40...axb4 41.cxb4 Both players have finished the time
trouble stage and now have an extra hour of thinking time.
Compared to a few moves back, White has now managed to
increase his advantage and gain firm control over the
position. Black's dark-squares are very vulnerable and at
the same time he has to think of ways to regain control
over the f-file. 41...Ng8
[If 41...Nf5 White simply retreats his knight to b3 or f3,
and the pressure becomes untenable in conjunction with
a power rook on f6.]
42.Rf3 Nh6 43.a5 Improving his position slowly but surely.
Of course White avoids the repetition of moves! 43...Nf5 .
44.Nb3 Kc7 45.Nc5?! Magnus starts to drift, probably

because he has such a nice position.
[White could have sealed the win with 45.Rc1 threatening
b5. And if 45...Kb8 46.a6 if the b7-c6 pawn chain falls
then the last of Black's bastions are fallen. 46...Rc7 47.
Rfc3 A sample line of how the game can end: 47...bxa6 48.
Rxc6 Rxc6 49.Rxc6 Kb7 50.Na5+ Ka7 51.Rc7+ Kb8 52.Rf7+-
Seventh rank, active pieces, later on active king, White
has all the trumps that he needs. Black's position is
crumbling.]
45...Kb8 46.Rb1 Ka7 Now there is no clean finish. However
White is still clearly ahead.
47.Rd3 Rc7
[Trying to counter with a punch is too slow 47...g5 48.
hxg5 Rxg5 After 49.b5+- Black cannot defend all his
weaknesses (b7 and e6).;
47...b6 can be met simply by 48.Na4 (Or even better: 48.

axb6+ Kxb6 49.Ra3 Ra7 50.Rxa7 Kxa7 51.Kf3 when the
White king is really fast.) ]
48.Ra3 Nd4 49.Rd1 Nf5 50.Kh3 Nh6 51.f3 White has improved
the position of his king in the past few moves and is now
introducing the possibility of opening up the kingside with
g4. Black can do nothing but sit and wait. 51...Rf7 52.Rd4
Nf5 53.Rd2
[I like 53.Rf4 but then 53...Rh7! preventing g4, leaves the
White rook immobile on f4.]
53...Rh7 54.Rb3 Ree7 55.Rdd3 This is one of Magnus'
favorite strategies. He likes to wait patiently for his
opponent to crack while slowly improving his own position.
This worked well for him today.
[But objectively now is the time to strike. 55.b5! cxb5 56.
Rxb5 Black cannot hold on to his b7 and e6-pawn for long.
Perhaps Black can try 56...Ne3 but then 57.Rd3 Nc4 58.f4
gives White all the time he needs to improve his
position. Black's rooks are stuck defending pawns, which
is never a good sign. Rooks are made for offense, not
defense!]
55...Rh8 56.Rb1 Again waiting for the right moment. Just
wait, just wait... Patience is a virtue. 56...Rhh7 57.b5!
NOW! 57...cxb5 .
58.Rxb5 Compared to move 55, the only
change is that White's rook is on d3. Notice the
difference? Black does not have e3-c4 now and his position
crumbles quickly. 58...d4 59.Rb6 Rc7 60.Nxe6 Rc3 61.Nf4 Rhc7
62.Nd5! Simplification makes White's job easier. The rule
of thumb is that when you are ahead in material you aim for
trades and exchanges. Like in soccer, 11 players vs 10
players is harder than 5 players vs 4 players, and a 3 vs 2
game is a piece of cake. Chess is no different. When you
are ahead in material, exchanges usually mean less
complications = cleaner win.
[62.Rxg6 Rxd3 (62...Rc1 gives White a choice between five
different moves that win.) 63.Nxd3 Rc3 64.Rf6 Ne3 65.
Nf4 and White's win should be easy. Contrary to
appearances there is never any mate on h1, as White can
always free his king with g3-g4. Meanwhile White is two
pawns up.]
62...Rxd3 63.Nxc7 Some people didn't understand it at first,
however if you put this position in a super computer it
just gives +- 5.36, meaning White is more than five pawns
up in a mathematical scale. 63...Kb8 64.Nb5 Kc8
[64...Rxf3 65.a6 promotes the passed a-pawn.]
65.Rxg6 Rxf3 66.Kg2! Activating the king. From here Magnus
does not give Sergey any chance to escape. 66...Rb3 67.Nd6+
Another exchange. Now it is 6 vs 5. 67...Nxd6 68.Rxd6 Re3 69.
e6
[Not 69.Rxd4? Rxe5 70.Ra4 Kd7 when the Black king goes
over to the kingside and secures the draw. The rook on
a4 has become a mere spectator protecting the a-pawn.]
69...Kc7
[69...d3 70.Kf2+-]
70.Rxd4 Rxe6
[70...Re5!? 71.e7!? Rxe7 72.Rd5 does not change anything.]
71.Rd5! The White rook attacks h5 while at the same time
protecting his a-pawn. 71...Rh6 72.Kf3 Sergey could safely
have resigned here, but it does not hurt to make a few more
moves. After all its not over until the king is mated. 72...
Kb8
[72...b6 73.axb6+ Kxb6 74.Kf4 Kc6 75.Rd8 White need not
even calculate rook and single pawn endings because he
can win the enemy pawn by force. 75...Kc7 76.Rg8 Kd6 77.
Kg5 Rh7 78.Kg6+-;
72...Kc6 73.Rf5 Kd6 74.g4 hxg4+ 75.Kxg4+- also wins
easily.]
73.Kf4
[73.g4 hxg4+ 74.Kxg4+- easy win.]
73...Ka7 74.Kg5 Rh8 75.Kf6 Magnus finally levels the match!
This has been a great game and a great fight by both
players. After choosing a modest line against the Berlin
Opening, Magnus slowly improved his position and kept the
game going. Black's knight looked a little shaky on h3
(perhaps 11...f5!?) and White managed to take advantage of
this. The sequence from move 19-21 seems to me a little
strange as Black allowed doubled-pawns and White gladly
went for it and both sides developed interesting options.
Perhaps 21...g5 was a crucial mistake as Sergey could
maybe have made a draw with 21...xf2. But of course
sitting at home, it is much easier to calculate than it was
for the two fighters in New York. Having played nine long
games in two weeks with all the attendant pressure, tension
and drama, most certainly took a toll on both players. A
World Championship match definitely requires levels of
extraordinary endurance for anyone. Looking ahead with the
score 5-5 I feel Magnus has good chances now in the match.
He absolutely had to win today and he did. Tomorrow is a
rest day, so both players can relax and prepare new ideas.
I'm sure Sergey will try to put on the pressure in Round 11
and fight for a win with the white pieces (in Round 9 he
got close!) If the match ends with two draws and a tie of 6-
6 ensues, both players go to the tiebreaks with a shorter
time control. Magnus may have the edge there although
Sergey never fails to impress and surprise his fans. 1-0
Carlsen,Magnus (2851) - Eljanov,Pavel (2765) [C65]

Norway Masters blitz 4th Stavanger (2), 18.04.2016
1.e4 e5
2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 0-0 6.0-0 d6 7.h3 a6 8.
Bxc6 bxc6 9.Re1 Bb6 10.Nbd2 a5 11.Nc4 h6 12.d4 exd4 13.cxd4
Re8 14.Qc2 c5 15.d5 a4 16.Bd2 Bd7 17.Bc3 Bb5 18.b3 Nd7 19.
Nfd2 Qe7 20.Re3 c6 21.Rg3 f6 22.Ne3 Qf8 23.Nf5 g5 24.dxc6
Bxc6 25.Rd1 Ne5 26.Bxe5 Rxe5 27.Re3 Bc7 28.Nc4 Re6 29.Qe2
axb3 30.axb3 Kh7 31.Qh5 Be8 32.Qg4 Qf7 33.Nfxd6 Bxd6 34.
Nxd6 Qe7 35.e5 fxe5 36.Qe4+ 1-0
Carlsen,Magnus (2847) - Dubov,Daniil (2714) [C65]

Goldmoney Asian Prelim chess24.com INT (9.7), 27.06.2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3

Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.Qe2 Qd6 7.a3 a5 8.Be3 Bxe3 9.Qxe3 0-0 10.
Nbd2 Be6 11.Ng5 Bd7 12.Nc4 Qe7 13.Nf3 Ng4 14.Qd2 a4 15.h3
b5 16.hxg4 bxc4 17.Qc3 Rfe8 18.Qxc4 Bxg4 19.Qxc6 Rab8 20.
Rb1 Bd7 21.Qxc7 Rbc8 22.Qa7 Rxc2 23.0-0 Rec8 24.Nxe5 R2c7
25.Qd4 Bb5 26.Rfd1 Rd8 27.Qb6 Qxe5 28.d4 Qe7 29.Qxb5 Qxe4
30.Qxa4 h5 31.Re1 Qf5 32.Rbc1 Rcd7 33.Rc5 Qg4 34.Qd1 Rxd4
35.Qxg4 hxg4 36.Rec1 Kh7 37.b4 Ra8 38.R5c3 Rd2 39.Rb3 Ra2
40.b5 Re8 41.b6 g3 42.Rxg3 Rb2 43.Rc7 Rxb6 44.Rxf7 Re1+ 45.
Kh2 Rh6+ 46.Rh3 Ra1 47.Ra7 Ra2 48.f3 Rxh3+ 49.Kxh3 Kh6 50.
g3 g6 51.Kg4 Rc2 52.a4 Rc4+ 53.f4 Rc3 54.a5 Rc5 55.a6 g5 56.
Ra8 1-0
Carlsen,Magnus (2845) - Grischuk,Alexander (2771) [C65]
Gashimov Memorial 6th Shamkir (9), 09.04.2019
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 Trailing Magnus by 1½ point

meant Grischuk had instead to care about the fight for 2nd
place which he before the round was sharing with Ding and
Karjakin. And thus he chooses the Berlin's solidity over
the Najdorf's aggressiveness. 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 0-0 Earlier in
the tournament Grischuk had played the popular 5...d5 vs.
Vishy, but now reverts to the main line. 6.0-0 d6 7.Ba4!? A
move that by itself should explain the popularity of the
Berlin. If White anyway voluntarily will play Ba4, then 3...
a6 must be really a bad move! More seriously this is the
kind of position where White anyway would make "half-moves"
like 7.h3 or 7.Re1 meaning Ba4 can't be that much more
worse as a waiting move. Still, it does look odd indeed! 7...
Ne7 8.Bc2 Ng6 9.d4 Bb6 10.a4!? Apart from the obvous threat
of 11.a5 winning a piece, White's general concept is that
he will push his pawn as forward as possible, then create
confusion on the other side of the board, and use that to
then queen his a-pawn. If that sounds like a fairytale,
have a look at the remainder of the game! 10...c6 11.dxe5!?
Very simplistic. White has just gotten the advantage in the
centre, but now immediately creates a symmetrical structure
only for the sake of being able to push the a-pawn. 11...
Nxe5 Going by logic, Black does very little wrong in this
game, but should something be mentioned, it's this. Black
now exchanges a knight he has spent several tempi
relocating to g6, against its white counterpart that only
had moved once so far. 12.Nxe5 dxe5 13.Qxd8 Rxd8 14.a5 For
what it's worth, Magnus achieved his aim. 14...Bc5 The
active choice. 14...Bc7 is obviously more passive, but does
have an important idea in mind: After 15 Be3 Be6 16 f3 b6!?
Black forces White into a decision on the queenside. 17
a6!? obviously being the critical move, but as Black has
not played ...b5 it means that a7 is now not a target and
that its very unclear if White's pawn on a6 is a weakness
or an asset. Of course 17 axb6 is possible, but then
Black's operation has been a sucess in the sense that
White's queenside pressure has evaporised.
[14...Bc7 15.Be3 Be6 16.f3 b6!? 17.a6!?]
15.Nd2 Be6 16.Re1 As 16.Nb3 Nxe4! is possible, White first
has to consolidate before continuing with his plan. Now
16...Nd7 17.Nb3 Be7 is possible, but after 18.Be3, at least
by sight, White does have a small edge due to the
vulnerability of Black's queenside structure. And with
Black obviously having playing solidly and logically till
now, why should Grischuk start making concession? 16...b5!?
Grabbing space and potentially threatening ...a6, when
Black might even start claiming that White's pawn is a
weakness. White on the other hand is not that thrilled
about pushing a6 himself too early, as it would give Black
access to the b6 square for his bishop. 17.Nb3 Bxb3
Obviously a debatable move, but also typical of Grischuks
"high-level" style. Not limiting himself to just general
considerations like " White now has the pair of bishops",
Grischuk goes beyond that and claims that yes, White of
course gets the pair of bishops, but in return I get
control of the d-line and avoid the else moderately akward
pressure against my queenside. As well my minor piece are
immediately active, while White's pair of bishops indeed
struggle to find squares to develop to naturally.
17...Nd7!? however might have been the better way. 18.Nxc5
Nxc5 19.Be3 Bb3! forces an interesting opposite colored
bishop postion after 20.Bxc5 Bxc2 21.a6. The human
perspective is that Black's pawn on a7 will be an eternal
weakness, and rook exchanges will not magnify that
problematic. However, Black can argue that as he controls
the d-file White has no way to make progress, while Black
will just double his rooks on d7 and d8, solidly covering
the a7-pawn, basically with an impregnable fortress, at
least if the engines are to be believed.
[17...Nd7!? 18.Nxc5 Nxc5 19.Be3 Bb3! 20.Bxc5 Bxc2 21.a6]
18.Bxb3 Ng4 Active, but not really creating more than an
easily parried threat. 18...Rab8!? 19..Kf1 b4 means both
black rooks will be in control of the open files, but after
20.Ba4!? White does limit Black's immediate actitivy and at
the same time starts attacking Black's weaknesses.
[18...Rab8!? 19.Kf1 b4 20.Ba4!?]
19.Re2 Rd6 Creating the threat of 20...Nxf2 21.Rxf2 Rf6! 20.
Bg5 Kf8 21.Rf1! Putting pressure on f2, Grischuk might have
forced this "passive" move, but actually only the first
part of the sentence is true. White indeed had no choice,
but to put his rook on f1, but happily does so, as it fits
very well with the next part of his expansion plans: 21...
Nf6 22.g3! Another beautiful move combining the neccesary
with the useful. With f4 potentially being White's way to
progress, removing his king from the pin in the g1-a7
diagonal is mandatory and this also adds the option of
recapturing with the g-pawn on f4, as well as opening a
route towards the centre for White's king via g2 and later
f3. 22...a6 23.Kg2 Nd7 24.Bc1! Answering the question to
which square White should develop his bishop. The key part
was getting his a1 rook into play, and with that
accomplished White's dark-squared bishop happily returns to
its original square where its safely "out of the way",
while still being ready to join the battle immediately at
any given opportunity. 24...Ba7 25.f4 f6 26.h4! My first
acquaintance with Magnus was a guest lecture at a youth
camp for the youngest group of Norwegian talents. I spoke
of Larsen, and obviously had a set of exercices where the
correct answer always was to push the h-pawn! Natasha Regan
and Matthew Sadler's fascinating "Gamechanger" devotes a
full chapter to Alphazero's preference compared to normal
engines in pushing its flank pawns much more agressively.
It would have warmed the Danish giant's heart to know that
a theme he consistently wrote of being underestimated in
chess, now is being uphold and refined by the cutting-edge
technology. If a5 and h5 looks odd to you in this game,
just think of the importance of having the black weak pawn
at a6, and the access to g6 for White's bishop. It's those
details that make Black's position collapse, and they are
created exactly by advancing White's flank pawns. 26...Re8
27.h5 h6 28.Ba2 c5 With hindsight a very easy move to
criticise, but as Grischuk pointed out at the press
conference, this exactly should be the one. To him it
looked like now was the perfect timing, as White due to the
weakness of the e4-pawn still seemingly needs a move to
consolidate before taking agressive measures. That premise
being wrong, Black's best would have been to seek
counterplay with 28...exf4 29.gxf4 Nc5, the idea being 30.
e5 Nd3! with Black still being in the game.
[28...exf4 29.gxf4 Nc5 30.e5 Nd3!]
29.Be3! An easy move to miss, as it indeed sacrifices a
full central pawn. 29.c4 is the alternative given by the
computers which funnily at the same time blocks both
Black's bishop on a7, but also White's at a2! White is
better, but in a much less spectacular way than in the game.
29...exf4 30.gxf4 Rxe4 31.Bb1 Re7 32.Rfe1 White has given
away a full pawn, but has the killing threat of 33.Bg6 when
34.Bxc5 becomes deadly due to mating motifs on the e8
square. 32...f5? The surprising 32...Nb8! was the way to
fight on, with the hope of ...Nc6, Rdd7 and c4. Obviously
white will prevent this liberation attempt, most forcefully
with 33 Kf3 Nc6 34 Bf5!? stopping the rook entering d7, and
replying to 34...c4? with 35.Bxa7 Rxe2 36.Rxe2 Nxa7 37.Bg6!
Rd8 38. Re6! picking up the pawn on a6 and winning easily.
[32...Nb8!? 33.Kf3 Nc6 34.Bf5!? c4? 35.Bxa7 Rxe2 36.Rxe2
Nxa7 37.Bg6 Rd8 38.Re6!+-]
33.Bxf5 Nf6 34.Kf3 Nd5 Grischuk said that at sight this
move looked like counterplay to him, but Magnus' next move
was a cold shower: 35.Rd2! White was better anyway, but as
often in favourable positions the tactics also works in
your favour. 35...Nxe3 36 Rxd6 Nxf5 37.Rxe7 is just winning
for White, as the rook and passed pawn easily outmanoeuvre
Black's 2 minor pieces, 37...Nxe7 38 Rxa6 Bb8 39 Ra8! Nc6
40.a6 followed by 41.Rxb8 Nxb8 42.a7 being a sample line.
35...Bb8 was a line the players both looked at, but
discareded due to 36.Bxc5! Rxe1 37.Rxd5 when 37...Ke7 is
met with the pretty 38.Re5+! as after 38...Rxe5 39.fxe5
White ends up with an extra piece. 35...Rd8
[35...Nxe3 36.Rxd6 Nxf5 37.Rxe7 Nxe7 38.Rxa6 Bb8 39.Ra8!
Nc6 40.a6 -- 41.Rxb8+ Nxb8 42.a7;
35...Bb8 36.Bxc5! Rxe1 37.Rxd5 Ke7 38.Re5+! Rxe5 39.

fxe5+-]
36.Be4 Red7 37.Red1 No tactical magic is needed anymore.
Despite being nominally a pawn down, White aims for general
exchanges! 37...Nf6 38.Rxd7 Nxd7 38...Rxd7 maybe was more
illustrative as after 39.Rxd7 Nxd7 40.Bb7 Nb8 41.Ke4 black
is completely tied up with the bishop unable as the knight
needs to block its only aviable square in order to defend
the pawn at a6.
[38...Rxd7 39.Rxd7 Nxd7 40.Bb7 Nb8 41.Ke4]
39.Rd6! And here Grischuk resigned. White will win the a-
pawn and then basically mechanically queen it after Rxa6
Bb8 Ra8 followed by a6+a7.
In many ways an amazing game. White got nothing out of the
opening, and Black's moves from there all looked healthy
and with logic. To use the words of Grischuk himself:
"Magnus played incredibly well."
[39.Rd6! -- 40.Rxa6 Bb8 41.Ra8]
1-0
Giri,Anish (2790) - Carlsen,Magnus (2851) [C65]

Norway Masters blitz 4th Stavanger (9), 18.04.2016
[ChessBase]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.Nbd2 Be6
7.0-0 Nd7 8.Nb3 Bb6 9.Ng5 Bxb3 10.axb3 Qe7
[10...f6 11.Nf3 Nc5 12.Nd2 0-0 13.Nc4 Ne6 14.Kh1 Qd7 15.
Qg4 Rad8= 1/2-1/2 (72) Nakamura,H (2787)-Kramnik,V
(2801) Zuerich 2016]
11.Bd2
[11.Kh1 f6 12.Nf3 Nc5 13.Nh4 Ne6 14.Qg4 0-0-0 15.f4 exf4
16.Bxf4 Qd7= 1/2-1/2 (54) Sethuraman,S (2622)-
Karthikeyan,P (2400) Kottayam 2014]
11...0-0-0 Castling queenside is a bit careless - White can
quickly drum up an attack. 12.b4 Kb8 13.c4 Bd4 14.Nf3 Nf8
[14...Bxb2 15.Ra2 Bd4 16.Qa4 a6 17.Nxd4 exd4 18.b5→]
15.Qa4
[15.Nxd4 Rxd4 (15...exd4 16.b5 cxb5 17.cxb5 followed by
17...-- 18.Qa4+-) 16.Be3+-]
15...a6 A move Black would prefer not to make but how else
to defend a7?
1k1r1n1r/1pp1qppp/p1p5/4p3/QPPbP3/3P1N2/1P1B1PPP/R4RK1 w - - 0 1
16.b5 cxb5 17.cxb5 Qd7 18.bxa6 Qxa4 19.Rxa4 Ne6 20.axb7 Nc5
21.Ra3 Bxb2 22.Ra2 Nxd3
[22...Bd4 23.Nxd4 exd4 24.Rb1+- is not much fun for Black.
24...Nxb7 25.Rab2+-]
23.Rb1 c5
[23...c5 24.Ne1+-]
1-0
Grischuk,Alexander (2747) - Carlsen,Magnus (2855) [C65]

ICC op final ICC INT (2), 05.06.2016
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.Nbd2 Bg4
7.h3 Bh5 8.g4 Bg6 9.Qe2 Nd7 10.Nc4 Qe7 11.Be3 0-0-0 12.
0-0-0 f6 13.Nfd2 Bf7 14.Kb1 Kb8 15.f4 Bxe3 16.Qxe3 exf4 17.
Qxf4 Nc5 18.Ne3 Ne6 19.Qf2 c5 20.Nf5 Qd7 21.Nf3 h5 22.Rhg1
hxg4 23.hxg4 c4 24.d4 Nc5 25.Qe1 Na4 26.Qb4 c5 27.Qa3 b5 28.
Qe3 b4 29.d5 Qb5 30.g5 Nc3+ 31.Ka1 Nxd1 32.Rxd1 Ka8 33.Nxg7
fxg5 34.Nxg5 Bh5 35.Nxh5 Rxh5 36.Ne6 Rd7 37.Nxc5 Rdh7 38.
Ne6 Rh1 39.Qc1 Rxd1 40.Qxd1 Qb6 41.b3 c3 42.a3 Qf2 43.axb4
Rh2 44.d6 Qd2 45.Qf1 Qxd6 46.Nc5 Rxc2 47.e5 Rf2 48.Qh1+ 1-0

Carlsen Tour Final chess24.com INT (2.73), 20.08.2020
[Edouard,Romain]
1.e4
e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.Nbd2 0-0 7.h3
Nd7 8.Nc4 a5 9.g4!?N
[More aggressive than 9.Be3 which had been played earlier
(on the same day!) between the same two players: 9...f6
10.0-0 b5 11.Ncd2 Bxe3 12.fxe3 a4 13.Nh4 c5 14.Nf5 Nb6=
0-1 (43) Nakamura,H (2736)-Carlsen,M (2863) chess24.com
2020;
Of course 9.Ncxe5? is bad due to 9...Nxe5 10.Nxe5 Qd4]

9...Re8 10.Rg1 a4 11.Ne3 Bxe3
[11...Nf8 12.Nf5 Ne6 was the alternative - but apparently
Magnus considered it better to avoid a white knight on
f5.]
12.Bxe3 Nf8 13.h4 Qd6 14.Qd2 c5 15.h5 b5 16.Nh4 Qc6 17.Nf5
c4?! Weakening the dark squares too much.
[17...Ne6 was the normal move.]
18.Qb4! Threatening e7+. 18...a3 19.b3! cxd3 20.cxd3 Qc2
[20...Qd7 21.0-0-0]
21.h6! g6 22.Rc1! Qxd3 23.Rd1?!
[23.Ne7+! Kh8 24.Bg5 Ra6 25.Rg3 Qd4 26.Qxd4 exd4 27.Rxc7+-]
23...Qc2 24.Ng7 Bb7
[24...Bd7! 25.Nxe8 Bxe8 wouldn't be so clear.]
25.Nxe8 Rxe8 26.f3 Qxa2 27.Rd2?! Not the most precise move.
[27.Qxb5+-]
27...Qb1+ 28.Kf2 a2 29.Qc3 Ra8
[29...f6 30.Rxb1 axb1Q 31.Qxc7+-]
30.Rxb1!
[Of course not 30.Qxe5?? Qxg1+ 31.Kxg1 a1Q+-+]
30...axb1Q 31.Qxe5
[31.Qxe5 Ne6 32.Bd4 Kf8 33.Qh8+ Ke7 34.Bf6#]
1-0

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.Nbd2 0-0
7.Qe2 Re8 8.Nc4 Nd7 9.h4 a5 10.h5 b5 11.Ne3 Nf8 12.Bd2 Ne6
13.a4 b4 14.b3 Ba6 15.g3 Bxe3 16.Bxe3 f5 17.Rh4 f4 18.Bd2
Nd4 19.Nxd4 Qxd4 20.Rc1 fxg3 21.fxg3 Qg1+ 22.Qf1 Qxg3+ 23.
Qf2 Qxf2+ 24.Kxf2 Re6 25.Rg1 Rf8+ 26.Ke1 Bc8 27.h6 g6 28.
Bg5 Ree8 29.Rh2 Rf3 30.Rf2 Rxf2 31.Kxf2 Rf8+ 32.Ke3 Kf7 33.
Rf1+ Ke8 34.Rxf8+ Kxf8 35.Bd8 c5 36.Bxc7 Ke7 37.Bxe5 Kd7 38.
Bf6 Bb7 39.Kf4 Bc6 1-0

Lindores Abbey Final 8 chess24.com INT (2.21), 29.05.2020
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.

Bxc6 dxc6 6.0-0 Bg4 7.h3 Bh5 8.g4 Nxg4 9.hxg4 Bxg4 10.Be3
Be7 11.Kh1 f5 12.Rg1 h5 13.Nc3 f4 14.Bd2 g5 15.Nb1 Bc5 16.
Bc3 Bxf2 17.Nbd2 Qe7 18.Qf1 Bxg1 19.Qxg1 Bxf3+ 20.Nxf3 g4
21.Nxe5 Rg8 22.Rf1 Qg5 23.Qd4 Qh4+ 24.Kg1 Qg3+ 25.Kh1 Qh3+
26.Kg1 g3 27.Nf3 g2 28.Re1 Qxf3 29.Qe5+ Kd8 30.Qf6+ Ke8 31.
Bb4 c5 32.Bxc5 Kd7 33.Qf7+ 1-0

[Edouard,Romain]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3

Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.Nbd2 0-0 7.Qe2 Re8 8.Nc4 Nd7 9.Bd2 b5 10.
Ne3 Nf8!? One of the many possible moves, together with
10...Nb6, 10...a5, 10...Bd6. 11.h4!?
[11.Nf5?! When White plays this move he should be able to
take back with his g-pawn. 11...Bxf5 12.exf5 Qd7 13.Qe4
h6 14.f6? Nh7! 15.fxg7 f5 16.Qe2 e4-+ 0-1 (34) Oparin,G
(2626)-Jakovenko,D (2714) Russia 2016]
11...Ne6?!N
[11...a5 12.h5 h6 13.g4! (13.Nf5?! Bxf5 14.exf5 Nd7 15.g4
e4-+) 13...Bxe3 14.Qxe3 f6 (14...Bxg4 15.Rg1) 15.Nh4
Ne6]
12.Nxe5! Just a blunder by the World Champion. 12...a5
[12...Nd4?! 13.Nxf7! is surely what Black missed.;
12...Nf4 13.Qf3]
13.Qh5 g6
[13...Qf6 14.N3g4]
14.Qf3 f6 15.Nxc6 Qd7 16.Qxf6
[The most precise move order would have been 16.Ng4 Qxc6
17.Qxf6!+-]
16...Qxc6 17.Bc3 Not the most precise move.
[17.Ng4! Bf8 18.Ne5 was simple and strong.]
17...Rf8 18.Qh8+ Kf7 19.Qxh7+ Ke8 20.Qxg6+ Kd7 21.d4 b4 22.
dxc5 Carlsen's blunder on move 11 was just unrecoverable.
[22.dxc5 bxc3 23.0-0-0+ Ke7 24.Nd5++-]
1-0

Airthings Masters Prelim chess24.com INT (10), 28.12.2020
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.Re1 Nd6 6.Nxe5 Be7
7.Bf1 Nxe5 8.Rxe5 0-0 9.d4 Ne8 10.Re1 d5 11.Bf4 Bd6 12.Qf3
Bxf4 13.Qxf4 Qd6 14.Qf3 Nf6 15.Nd2 Bg4 16.Qg3 Qxg3 17.hxg3
Rfe8 18.f3 Bd7 19.g4 h6 20.Kf2 Rxe1 21.Rxe1 Re8 22.Rc1 c6
23.a4 Re7 24.a5 Ne8 25.Nb3 Nd6 26.Nc5 Bc8 27.b3 g6 28.c4
dxc4 29.bxc4 Kg7 30.Bd3 f5 31.gxf5 Bxf5 32.Be2 h5 33.Nd3
Bc8 34.Nb4 Nf5 35.d5 c5 36.Nd3 Rc7 37.Nf4 h4 38.Bd3 g5 39.
Ne2 Nd6 40.Nc3 Kf6 41.Re1 Bd7 42.Ne4+ Nxe4+ 43.Bxe4 b5 44.
d6 Rc8 45.cxb5 Bxb5 46.Rb1 Bc4 47.Rb7 Rd8 48.Rxa7 Rxd6 49.
Rc7 Rd2+ 50.Kg1 Bd5 51.Rd7 Ke6 52.Rd8 c4 53.a6 c3 54.Rxd5 1-0

1.
e4 e5 2.Nf3 In round one Magnus won a good game against
Fabiano Caruana with 2.c4, but that move at top level is
almost exclusively seen as an anti-Petroff move order. 2...
Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6!? 4.0-0
[In round one Anand continued 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 d5 6.Bd2 0-0 7.
0-0 Re8 8.exd5 a6! when while not only springing an
excellent novelty, Aronian also managed to amuse in the
confession booth saying he forgot to play it at move 3,
and now seemed at good moment to correct the mistake!
Even so, his switch from Marshall to Berlin seemed more
than just a fling.]
4...Nxe4 5.Re1 The most solid of lines, suiting well that
Magnus actually was the sole leader at this point. 5...Nd6 6.
Nxe5 Be7 7.Bf1 Nxe5 8.Rxe5 0-0 9.d4 Bf6 10.Re1 By far the
main move, but in the New York match vs. Karjakin, Magnus
did put the rook on e2, an idea of Caruana's second
Kasimdzhanov, and had some pressure before the game was
eventually drawn. 10...Nf5!? Also the latest trend.
[People used to go 10...Re8 and while that still makes a
solid apperance, the preference by the experts has been
for this slightly more aggressive move.]
11.d5 Grabbing space, or from Black's perspective, slightly
weakening White's pawn chain. Less ambitious but more solid
is 11.c3 d5, with numerous games being drawn shortly
thereafter. 11...Re8 Here everybody routinely played the
standard move, till Caruana in Baden tried 12.d3 against
Aronian. Magnus' next move was intended to be a novelty:
12.Rxe8+!? But to my surprise this had already been played
by Palac in 2005, against me! The unimpressive continuation
being 12...xe8 13.d2 d6 draw agreed. 12...Qxe8 13.
Qd3!? Putting the bishop on d3 similar to Caruana looks
like a normal move, while this somewhat goes against chess
principles. First developing your queen, and only then
figuring out how to proceed next is not excactly what is
recommended in the beginners' books. But apart from the
primitive threats of taking the knight on f5, more
relevantly it supports the e4-square planning to transfer
the knight there eventually as well and in general having
much more scope. Aronian seemed surprised but after some
thought played the obvious reply. 13...d6
14.Nd2 Intending
e4, followed by c3 d2 e1. The good thing about
White's position is that it has a lot of room for
improvement! For Black it's more difficult, and probably,
especially in light of White not being fully developed,
14...c6!? switching the position to an isolani-style type
after a white dxc6 or a black ...cxd5 would assure
counterplay. But Black has an almost perfect pawn structure
so voluntarily ruining it is not an easy over the board
decision. 14...Bg5?! A very logical move, assuring the
exchange of the dark-squared bishops and at the same time
eliminating the e4 threat.
15.Nf3 A case (the engines!) could be made for including
g3+h4 to gain a bit of time, but Magnus Magnus either
wanted to assure himself of the following favourable
exchanges, or perhaps as the games later shows the
relevance of, rather would not lose the flexibilty on how
to put his pawns on the kingside. 15...Bxc1 16.Rxc1 Bd7 17.
Re1 At first sight it looks like a typical quick e1
Berlin draw is in progress. Rooks will be exchanged in the
e-line and White has absolutely nothing constructive to do
with his moderate space advantage. But details do matter!
After 17...f8 White will immediately attack Black's
queenside with moves like 18.b3 or 18.c4, when Black
face a passive defence using his rook to defend the
weakness on especially c7. Perhaps a small difference, but
with a huge effect. Black has no way of getting the
neccesary echanges and is doomed to passive defence. His
position is so solid that the chances of sucess obviously
is there, but White's edge, as indicated by the engines, is
certainly larger than it looks at first sight. 17...Qd8 18.
Qc4 g6 19.h3 Ng7 20.Re3 A nice setup, the rook might be
used to attack the vulnerable spots on the queenside, or
more directely, the black kingside as in the game. It does
however give Aronian a chance to change the structure play
with an isolani. 20...a5
[After 20...c5! 21.dxc6 Bxc6 Black obviously is slightly
worse, but in a less suffocating way than the game.]
21.a4 Now ...c5 would leave the b5-square weak, thus 21...
c6! 21...Ne8 22.Qd4 An ideal square for White's queen.
Normally ...f6 would chase it away, but with the pawn
already on g6, White always has the small tactic xe8+!
meaning Black will never achieve a f6+g7 setup. 22...
Ng7 23.g4!? Logical and strong. Magnus cntrols the f5-
square, not allowing ...f5 attacking his queen.
Weakening his own king is not a concern due to Black's
passivity, but even so the engine does seem to think White
would optimize his edge with the less compromising 23.d3.
23...c6 At last, and with the logical justification that
White's last move has changed the battle from a positional
one to a tactical, Aronian stops caring about his pawn
structure but tries creating counterplay.
[23...Qf8 intending 24...e8 looks solid and logical,
but 24.Ng5! becomes alarming as if 24...Re8 (Suffice it to
say that the engines suggests 24...Qd8!) then 25.Ne4!
gets access to the f6-square with immediate disaster for
Black.]
24.c4 Ne8 With all this suffering , why not at least have a
pawn for it?
[24...c5 25.Qf4 Bxa4 is possible, when White has
excellent compensation in numerous ways, the engines
preferring 26.Ra3!? Bd7 27.Rb3 eyeing the b6-square!]
25.Qf4 Kg7 Adding to his misery, Levon was also now
desperately short of time, and Magnus now pulls off an
almost basketball like trick, first looking to one side,
but the attacking fiercly on the other: 26.Rb3 Just a decoy.
26...Rb8 27.Ng5! Nf6?
[27...Qf6 still defends, as while 28.Qd2 does attack the
a5-pawn Black can defend with 28...h6 29.Ne4 Qd8 without
facing disaster. Now however swift tactics decide.]
28.Rf3! h6 Not even a blunder, as Black has no meaningful
defence anyway.
[The d6-pawn is attacked, and 28...Qe7 29.Re3 Qf8 leaves
White so many options that the engine does not even
mention that 30.xf6+?! followed by xh7+ wins a
pawn. Easiest is 30.Qd4! with a crushing pin.]
29.Ne4! Nxe4 30.Qxf7+ Kh8 31.Qxg6 And with the combined
threats to the knight in e4 and the h6-pawn as well as
f7 mating, Aronian resigned. 1-0
Caruana,Fabiano (2805) - Carlsen,Magnus (2876) [C67]

Norway Chess 3rd Stavanger (2), 17.06.2015
[Wagner,Dennis]
This game was played in the

2nd round of the Norway Chess tournament in Stavanger. It
has to be mentioned that Carlsen entered this game with a
certain psychological handicap, as he had lost his game in
round one against Veselin Topalov on time in a winning
position, because he didn't know the time control.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 Definitely not for the first
time the two experts have chosen the Berlin as their
battleground.
4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Caruana is principled enough to enter the
ending. 5...Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.h3
h6!? That's the third time Carlsen has chosen this setup
against Caruana. The move h6 controls the important g5-
square, but has the drawback that White can seize space
with g4 at the appropriate moment.
[9...Ke8 10.Nc3 h5 is the mainline.]
10.Rd1+ Ke8 11.Nc3 Ne7
[11...Bd7 led to another disaster for Carlsen against the
same opponent. 12.Bf4 Rd8 13.Ne4 Be7 14.g4 Nh4 15.Nxh4
Bxh4 16.Kg2 Be6 17.f3 b6 18.b3 c5 19.c4 Rd7 20.Bg3 Be7
21.Rxd7 Bxd7 22.Nc3 Kd8 23.Nd5 Re8 24.Rd1 Kc8 25.Nxc7
1-0 (53) Caruana,F (2783)-Carlsen,M (2881) Shamkir 2014]
12.b3! I think that the b3-setup is the most promising
against the line with h6 and e7.
[12.Bf4 Apparently Caruana wasn't content with the result
of their last game in this line. 12...Ng6 13.Bh2 Bb4 14.
Ne2 Be7 15.Nfd4 Nf8 16.g4 h5 17.Nf5 Ne6 18.Kg2 b6 19.f3
c5 20.Bg3 Bg5 21.h4 hxg4 22.hxg5 gxf3+ 23.Kxf3 Nxg5+ 24.
Kf4 Nh3+ 25.Ke4 Ng5+ 26.Kf4 Nh3+ 1/2-1/2 (26) Caruana,F
(2811) -Carlsen,M (2865) Baden-Baden 2015]
12...Bf5 Carlsen immediately activates his light-squared
bishop.
[12...Ng6!? is an alternative. 13.Bb2 Be7 14.Ne2 (14.Ne4
Nf4 15.Nd4 Bd7 16.Ng3 c5 17.Nde2 Nxe2+ 18.Nxe2 Rd8= 1/
2-1/2 (37) Svetushkin,D (2597)-Kryvoruchko,Y (2676)
Achaea 2012) 14...h5 15.a4 a5 16.c4 1-0 (83) Kamsky,
G (2705)-Bruzon Batista,L (2679) Khanty-Mansiysk 2010]
13.Nd4 Bh7 14.Bb2 Rd8 15.Nce2!
[15.e6 is rather harmless, if Black reacts precisely.
A) 15...Nc8 16.Nce2 Bd6 17.c4 Ne7 (17...f6 18.g4 h5=) 18.
Rac1 b6 19.g4 f6 20.f4 1/2 (65)-1/2 (65) Polgar, J
(2689)-Howell,D (2644) Warsaw 2013; with a complicated
position, where White has the initiative.;
B) 15...Nd5!= 16.Nxd5 (16.Nce2 Bd6 17.c4 Nb4 18.Bc3 Rg8⇆)
16...cxd5 17.exf7+ Kxf7 18.Nf3 Bd6 19.Ne5+ Bxe5 20.
Bxe5 c6=]
15...Nd5
[15...g5 is another idea, but creates some further
weaknesses. 16.c4 (16.e6 Rg8!=) 16...Bg7 17.Ng3 Bg6 18.Re1
a6 (18...Kd7 19.e6+ fxe6 20.Rad1 Kc8 21.Nxc6 Nxc6 22.
Rxd8+ Kxd8 23.Bxg7 Rh7 24.Bc3) 19.Nf3 Rg8 20.Ne4
Bxe4 21.Rxe4 c5 22.h4! gxh4 23.Rxh4 Ng6 24.Re4 White
is slightly better, because of his mobile kingside
majority, but Black can hope to compensate for this with
his control of the d-file.]
16.c4 Nb4 17.Nf4 Rg8 18.g4 I already like White's position.
The knight on b4 is out of the game, while Black is still
far away from active counterplay. Anyway, Black should
still be ok here. 18...Na6? But that�s the start of major
problems.
[18...g5?! 19.Nh5 Be7 20.Nf5;
18...Nc2! Black can hope to survive by exchanging his

bad knight. 19.Nxc2 Rxd1+ 20.Rxd1 Bxc2 21.Rd2 Bb1 22.Bc3
Be7 23.Ne2 might be the best try, since Black can't
attack ths knight on this square. (23.Kg2 Bg5! with a good
exchange for Black 24.Kg3 Bxf4+ 25.Kxf4 Ke7=;
23.Nh5 Bg6 24.Kg2 Bxh5 25.gxh5 Bg5 26.Rd4 c5 27.Rd5
g6 28.Rxc5 gxh5 29.Kf3 c6=) 23...Ba3 24.Kg2 Ke7 25.Nd4
Rd8 26.Nf5+ Bxf5 27.gxf5 Rxd2 28.Bxd2;
18...Be7!? is also possible. 19.Nf5 (19.Bc3 Nc2 20.Nxc2

Rxd1+ 21.Rxd1 Bxc2 22.Rd2 Bg5=) 19...Bg5 20.Ne2 c5 21.
Rxd8+ (21.f4 Bxf5 22.gxf5 Bh4 23.Rxd8+ Kxd8 24.Rd1+ Kc8=)
21...Kxd8 22.Rd1+ Kc8 23.a3 Nc6 24.Kg2 with a double-
edged position where Black should be able to defend
successfully.]
19.Nf5 Nc5 20.Rxd8+
[20.Kg2!? is also good, e.g. 20...Ne6 21.Nxe6 fxe6 22.
Rxd8+ Kxd8 23.Rd1+ Kc8 24.Nd4 Kd7 25.Ne2+ Ke7 26.Kf3]
20...Kxd8 21.Rd1+ Kc8 22.Ba3!? Setting a cunning trap...
22...Ne6? ...which Carlsen runs into!
[22...Bxf5?! 23.gxf5 g6
A) 24.f6 g5 (24...Ne6 25.Nxe6 Bxa3 26.Ng7 Bb2 27.f4 g5) 25.
Nh5 Ne6 26.Bxf8 Rxf8 27.Kg2 Re8 28.Kg3;
B) 24.fxg6 Ne6 25.Bxf8 Nxf4 (25...Nxf8 26.Kg2 Nxg6 27.
Nxg6 Rxg6+ 28.Kf3) 26.g7 Ne6 27.Kh2 Nxf8 28.
gxf8Q+ Rxf8 29.Kg3 with a dangerous edge in the
rook ending.;
22...b6!? is more pleasant for White, but nothing
decisive of course.]
23.Nxe6 Bxa3 A sad necessity.
[Probably Carlsen had planned 23...fxe6 but overlooked the
strong reply 24.Be7!!+-]
24.Nexg7 Bf8 25.e6! Bxf5 26.Nxf5 fxe6 27.Ng3 This is a
nightmare for every Berlin-player. The black structure has
even worsened and White can exploit the kingside majority
without the slightest risk. 27...Be7
28.Kg2 Rf8 29.Rd3! A
great square for the rook. 29...Rf7 30.Nh5 Bd6 31.Rf3 Rh7
[31...Rxf3 32.Kxf3 Kd7 33.Ke4 is also just bad.]
32.Re3 Re7 33.f4 The rest is a matter of technique. 33...Ba3
34.Kf3 Bb2 35.Re2 Bc3 36.g5 Kd7 37.Kg4 Re8 38.Ng3 Rh8 39.h4
b6 40.h5 c5 41.g6 Re8 42.f5 exf5+ 43.Kf4 Rh8 44.Nxf5 Bf6 45.
Rg2 A convincing technical game by Caruana and a tough
start for the World Champion. 1-0

chess.com fin blitz 3m+2spm 2016 Chess.com INT (15), 27.10.2016
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.

0-0 Nxe4 5.Re1 Nd6 6.Nxe5 Be7 7.Bf1 0-0 8.Nc3 Nxe5 9.Rxe5
Ne8 10.Nd5 Bd6 11.Re1 c6 12.Ne3 Bc7 13.Nf5 d5 14.Ne7+ Kh8
15.Nxc8 Rxc8 16.g3 Nd6 17.Bh3 f5 18.d3 Qd7 19.Qh5 Rce8 20.
Bf4 g6 21.Qf3 Nf7 22.Bd2 Rxe1+ 23.Rxe1 Re8 24.Qd1 Kg8 25.a4
a6 26.a5 Qd8 27.b4 Rxe1+ 28.Qxe1 Ne5 29.Qe2 d4 30.Bg2 Qd7
31.Bf4 Nf7 32.Bd2 Nd8 33.c4 dxc3 34.Bxc3 Ne6 35.d4 Bd8 36.
d5 cxd5 37.Qe5 d4 38.Bd5 Kf7 39.Bxd4 Be7 40.Qg7+ Ke8 41.
Qg8+ Nf8 42.Qf7+ Kd8 43.Bb6+ Kc8 44.Bb3 Bd6 45.Qc4+ Qc6 46.
Qd4 Bc7 47.Qg7 Bxb6 48.axb6 Qc1+ 49.Kg2 Qc6+ 50.Kh3 Qd6 51.
Bd5 Nd7 52.Qg8+ Nf8 53.Qf7 Nd7 54.Qe8# 1-0
Vachier Lagrave,Maxime (2784) - Carlsen,Magnus (2862) [C67]

Chess.com Speed Chess.com INT (3.128), 12.12.2020
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.

Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+
Kxd8 9.h3 h6 10.Nc3 Bd7 11.b3 Kc8 12.Bb2 c5 13.Nd5 a5 14.a4
Ne7 15.Nf4 Ra6 16.Rfe1 Rg8 17.Nd2 Ng6 18.Nd3 Bf5 19.Ne4 c4
20.bxc4 Rc6 21.c5 Bxe4 22.Rxe4 Bxc5 23.e6 fxe6 24.Rg4 Ne7
25.Nxc5 Rxc5 26.Ba3 Rxc2 27.Bxe7 b6 28.Bf6 g5 29.Bd4 Rd8 30.
Be3 Rd5 31.h4 gxh4 32.Rxh4 h5 33.g3 Rb2 34.Kg2 Rb4 35.Rah1
Rxh4 36.Rxh4 Kb7 37.Kf3 c6 38.Re4 Rf5+ 39.Ke2 e5 40.Rh4 b5
41.Kd3 Ka6 42.Ke4 Rf7 43.Rxh5 bxa4 44.Rxe5 a3 1-0
Aronian,Levon (2782) - Carlsen,Magnus (2847) [C67]

San Fermin Masters Final chess24.com INT (3.6), 11.07.2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3
Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.
Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.Rd1+ Ke8 10.Nc3 h5 11.Bg5 Be6 12.Ne2 Bd5 13.
Nfd4 Nxd4 14.Rxd4 Bc5 15.Rd2 Be7 16.Bxe7 Kxe7 17.Nf4 Rad8
18.h4 Be4 19.Rad1 Rxd2 20.Rxd2 g6 21.f3 Bf5 22.Kf2 a5 23.
Ke3 f6 24.exf6+ Kxf6 25.Ne2 g5 26.hxg5+ Kxg5 27.Ng3 Re8+ 28.
Kf2 Bg6 29.c3 h4 30.Nf1 Bf5 31.a3 a4 32.Ne3 Be6 33.Rd4 b5
34.Re4 Bf7 35.f4+ Kf6 36.Rxe8 Bxe8 37.Kf3 Bh5+ 38.Ke4 Bf7
39.f5 Kg5 40.Ke5 c5 41.f6 c6 42.Nf5 Bd5 43.Ne7 Bc4 44.Nxc6
Kg4 45.Kd6 Kg3 46.Ne5 Bg8 47.Ng6 Bf7 48.Ne5 Bg8 49.Ng6 Bf7
50.Nxh4 Kxh4 51.Ke7 Bc4 52.f7 1-0
Carlsen,Magnus (2876) - Cheparinov,Ivan (2670) [C70]

Chess24 Banter Blitz Cup chess24.com INT (4.8), 11.03.2020
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.

Ba4 g6 5.c3 Bg7 6.d4 exd4 7.cxd4 b5 8.Bc2 d5 9.exd5 Nce7 10.
0-0 Nf6 11.Re1 0-0 12.Bg5 Nexd5 13.Nc3 h6 14.Nxd5 hxg5 15.
Ne7+ Kh8 16.Nxg5 Bg4 17.Qd3 Bh6 18.h4 Qd6 19.Nxg6+ fxg6 20.
Qxg6 Bg7 21.Re5 Qxd4 22.Re7 Rg8 23.Nf7# 1-0

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.

Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 d6 5.0-0 a6 6.Bxc6+ bxc6 7.d4 exd4 8.Qxd4 Be7
9.e5 c5 10.Qf4 dxe5 11.Nxe5 0-0 12.Nc6 Qd6 13.Nxe7+ Qxe7 14.
Nc3 Bb7 15.Be3 Rfe8 16.Qg5 Qe6 17.h3 Qc6 18.f3 h6 19.Qxc5
Nd5 20.Nxd5 Qxd5 21.Qxd5 Bxd5 22.Kf2 Be6 23.Bf4 c5 24.Rfd1
a5 25.Rd2 a4 26.a3 Ra6 27.Re1 Rb6 28.Be5 Bf5 29.Bc3 Rxe1 30.
Kxe1 f6 31.g4 Bg6 32.Rd8+ Kh7 33.Kd2 Rb7 34.Rc8 Rd7+ 35.Kc1
Re7 36.Rxc5 Re3 37.b4 axb3 38.cxb3 Rxf3 39.a4 Rxh3 40.a5
Rh2 41.a6 Ra2 42.Ba5 Be4 43.a7 g5 44.b4 Kg6 45.Rc8 f5 46.
Re8 Bf3 47.gxf5+ Kf7 48.a8Q Bxa8 49.Rxa8 g4 50.Ra7+ Kf8 51.
Bb6 1-0
Carlsen,Magnus (2876) - Firouzja,Alireza (2702) [C77]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.d3 b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 7.

c3 d6 8.Bg5 h6 9.Bh4 Bb6 10.Nbd2 Rb8 11.Nf1 Ne7 12.Bxf6
gxf6 13.Nh4 Be6 14.Qh5 Kd7 15.Ne3 Qg8 16.g3 Qg5 17.Qe2 a5
18.Nf3 Qg6 19.Nh4 Qg5 20.d4 exd4 21.cxd4 Bxd4 22.Nf3 Qc5 23.
0-0 Bxe3 24.fxe3 a4 25.Rac1 Qb4 26.Bxe6+ fxe6 27.Nd4 c5 28.
a3 Qa5 29.Rxf6 cxd4 30.Qg4 Qd2 31.Qxe6+ Ke8 32.Rc7 Qxe3+ 33.
Kg2 Rh7 34.Qd7# 1-0

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.d3 d6

6.c3 g6 7.0-0 Bg7 8.Re1 0-0 9.Nbd2 Bd7 10.Nf1 Qe8 11.Ng3
Nd4 12.cxd4 Bxa4 13.b3 Bb5 14.a4 Bd7 15.dxe5 Ng4 16.d4 dxe5
17.h3 Nh6 18.dxe5 Rd8 19.Bg5 f6 20.exf6 Bxf6 21.Bxh6 Bxa1
22.Qxa1 Rf7 23.Ng5 Re7 24.e5 Bc6 25.N3e4 Bxe4 26.Nxe4 Qc6
27.e6 1-0
Carlsen,Magnus (2875) - Ding,Liren (2805) [C77]

Norway Chess Armageddon 7th Stavanger (6), 10.06.2019
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.d3 b5 6.Bb3 Bc5

7.c3 d6 8.Bg5 h6 9.Bh4 g5 10.Bg3 Bb6 11.Nbd2 Na5 12.Bc2 Nh5
13.a4 Rb8 14.b4 Nxg3 15.hxg3 Nc6 16.Nf1 Qf6 17.Qe2 Ne7 18.
Ne3 h5 19.Bb3 c6 20.axb5 axb5 21.d4 g4 22.dxe5 dxe5 23.Nh4
Qg5 24.0-0 0-0 25.Rad1 Ra8 26.Kh2 Ra3 27.Qb2 Ra7 28.Rd6 Kg7
29.c4 Bc7 30.f4 gxf3 31.Rd3 fxg2 32.Kxg2 f6 33.c5 Rd8 34.
Rxd8 Bxd8 35.Qe2 Ra3 36.Qd3 Bc7 37.Nef5+ Nxf5 38.Nxf5+ Kf8
39.Qc2 Qg4 40.Rf3 Bxf5 41.Rxf5 h4 42.Rxf6+ Kg7 43.Rf7+ Kg6
44.Qf2 Qxg3+ 45.Qxg3+ hxg3 46.Be6 Bd8 47.Kh3 Bg5 48.Rc7 Bf4
49.Rxc6 Kg5 50.Bf7 Bd2 51.Rg6+ Kf4 52.Rg4+ 1-0
Carlsen,Magnus (2863) - Naroditsky,Daniel (2621) [C77]

Katara Bullet Final Lichess.org INT (4.4), 26.08.2020
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6

3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.c3 g6 7.Nbd2 Bg7 8.Nf1 0-0 9.
Bg5 Bd7 10.Ne3 Ne7 11.Bxd7 Nxd7 12.h4 h6 13.Bxe7 Qxe7 14.h5
c6 15.Qe2 Nc5 16.0-0-0 Qe6 17.Kb1 d5 18.exd5 cxd5 19.d4
exd4 20.Nxd4 Bxd4 21.Rxd4 g5 22.Rxd5 Ne4 23.Rhd1 Rae8 24.
R5d3 f5 25.Qc2 f4 26.Nd5 Nf6 27.Nc7 Qf7 28.Nxe8 Rxe8 29.Rd8
Qxh5 30.Qb3+ Kf8 31.Rxe8+ Qxe8 32.Qxb7 Qe2 33.Rd8+ Ne8 34.
Qf3 Qe6 35.Qd5 Qe1+ 36.Qd1 Qe4+ 37.Ka1 Qe6 38.a3 a5 39.Qd5
Qe1+ 40.Ka2 Qe7 41.Rd7 Qf6 42.Qc5+ Kg8 43.Qd5+ Kf8 44.c4 h5
45.c5 g4 46.c6 a4 47.c7 Nxc7 48.Rxc7 1-0
Carlsen,Magnus (2863) - Anton Guijarro,David (2703) [C77]

FIDE Steinitz Memorial chess24.com INT (5), 15.05.2020
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5

a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.d3 Bc5 6.c3 d6 7.Nbd2 0-0 8.Nf1 d5 9.Qe2 b5
10.Bb3 d4 11.Ng3 a5 12.a3 Rb8 13.0-0 dxc3 14.bxc3 b4 15.Ba4
Rb6 16.Bxc6 Rxc6 17.cxb4 axb4 18.axb4 Bxb4 19.Nxe5 Re6 20.
Bb2 c5 21.Nf5 Rfe8 22.f4 Rb6 23.Ne3 Ba6 24.N3c4 Bxc4 25.
Nxc4 Rb8 26.Ra7 Nd7 27.Bxg7 Kxg7 28.Qg4+ Kf8 29.Rxd7 Qf6 30.
e5 Qg6 31.Qf3 Rbd8 32.f5 Qg5 33.Rxd8 Rxd8 34.e6 Bc3 35.Kh1
Qf6 36.exf7 Qxf7 37.h3 Bd4 38.Qe4 Qe7 39.Qg4 Qf7 40.f6 Bxf6
41.Ne5 Qg7 42.Qe6 1-0
Carlsen,Magnus (2862) - Dubov,Daniil (2702) [C77]

Airthings Masters KO chess24.com INT (1.11), 29.12.2020
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.d3

b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 7.c3 d5 8.exd5 Nxd5 9.0-0 0-0 10.Re1 Be6 11.
Nbd2 Nf4 12.d4 exd4 13.Ne4 Bd6 14.cxd4 Bxb3 15.Qxb3 Re8 16.
Bxf4 Bxf4 17.Rad1 Qd7 18.Nc5 Qf5 19.Nxa6 Bd6 20.Nc5 Rxe1+
21.Rxe1 Nxd4 22.Nxd4 Qxc5 23.Nxb5 Be5 24.Nc3 Bxc3 25.bxc3
g6 26.a4 Rd8 27.Qc2 Kg7 28.g3 Rd6 29.Re3 Qd5 30.Qe4 Qxe4 31.
Rxe4 Rc6 32.a5 Rxc3 33.Ra4 Rb3 34.a6 Rb8 35.Kf1 Kf6 36.Ke2
Ke6 37.Kd3 Kd5 38.Rd4+ Kc6 39.Rc4+ Kd6 40.Rf4 f5 41.Rd4+
Kc6 42.Rc4+ Kd6 43.Kd4 Ra8 44.Ra4 Kc6 45.Ra2 Kb6 46.Kd5
Rd8+ 47.Ke6 Ra8 48.Rb2+ Kxa6 49.Kd5 Re8 50.Kc6 Re6+ 51.Kxc7
f4 52.Kd7 Re1 53.g4 Rh1 54.Kc6 Ka5 55.Kc5 Ka4 56.Rb4+ Ka3
57.Rxf4 Rxh2 58.Rf7 Kb3 59.f4 Kc3 60.f5 gxf5 61.gxf5 Ra2 62.
Kd5 Ra5+ 63.Ke4 Ra4+ 64.Ke5 h5 65.Rh7 h4 66.f6 Ra5+ 67.Ke6
Ra6+ 68.Kf5 Ra5+ 69.Kg6 Ra4 70.f7 Rg4+ 71.Kf5 Rg1 72.Rxh4 1-0
Carlsen,Magnus (2847) - Anton Guijarro,David (2673) [C77]

Carlsen Inv Prelim chess24.com INT (5), 13.03.2021
1.
e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.d3 Bc5 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.
Nc3 Qe7 8.h3 Nd7 9.Be3 Bxe3 10.fxe3 Nb6 11.a4 a5 12.Qd2 Bd7
13.b3 Nc8 14.g4 h5 15.0-0-0 Nd6 16.Ne2 b6 17.Qc3 f6 18.Ng3
hxg4 19.hxg4 0-0-0 20.Nf5 Bxf5 21.gxf5 Kb7 22.Kb2 Qf7 23.
Nd2 g6 24.fxg6 Qxg6 25.Nc4 Nxc4+ 26.Qxc4 Qg5 27.Rhf1 Rd6 28.
Rf3 Qg7 29.Rdf1 Rh2 30.Qc3 Re2 31.R1f2 Rxf2 32.Rxf2 Qg3 33.
Qd2 Qg5 34.Rg2 Qh6 35.Rh2 Qg5 36.Qf2 Qg6 37.Rh8 Qg5 38.Qf3
Qg7 39.Qh3 Rd7 40.Re8 Qh7 41.Qf5 Qxf5 42.exf5 b5 43.Kc3 Kb6
44.Rf8 Rd6 45.Rf7 Kb7 46.Kb2 Kb6 47.Ka3 Kb7 48.b4 axb4+ 49.
Kxb4 bxa4 50.Kxa4 Kb6 51.Kb4 Kb7 52.Kc4 Kb6 53.c3 c5 54.e4
Kc6 55.Rf8 Kb6 56.Ra8 Rd7 57.Re8 Rd6 58.Re7 Kc6 59.Rf7 Kb6
60.Kb3 Kc6 61.Kc2 Kb6 62.c4 Kb7 63.Kd2 Kc8 64.Ke2 Kd8 65.
Ke3 Kc8 66.Rf8+ Kd7 67.Rh8 Ke7 68.Ra8 Kd7 69.Ra5 Kc6 70.Ra3
Kd7 71.Kf3 Ke7 72.Kg4 Kf7 73.Kh5 Rd8 74.Ra7 Rh8+ 75.Kg4 Rc8
76.Ra5 Ke7 77.Rxc5 c6 78.Kf3 Kd6 79.Ra5 Rh8 80.c5+ Kc7 81.
Ra7+ Kb8 82.Rf7 Rh6 83.Ke3 Kc8 84.Kd2 Kd8 85.Kc3 1-0
Carlsen,Magnus (2847) - Yip,Carissa (2430) [C77]

Carlsen-Challengers sim chess24.com INT (1.16), 19.04.2021
1.e4 e5 2.
Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.c3 Be7 7.0-0 b5 8.Bc2
0-0 9.Nbd2 Re8 10.Re1 Bf8 11.Nf1 g6 12.a4 Bb7 13.Bg5 h6 14.
Bh4 Bg7 15.Ne3 Qd7 16.b4 Ne7 17.Bb3 Nh5 18.Qc2 Nf4 19.Bg3
d5 20.h3 Rad8 21.Ng4 Qd6 22.d4 dxe4 23.Nfxe5 Nfd5 24.Nxf7
Qd7 25.Nxd8 Rxd8 26.axb5 1-0
Carlsen,Magnus (2847) - Muzychuk,Anna (2535) [C77]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4

Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.c3 g6 7.0-0 Bg7 8.Re1 0-0 9.Nbd2 Re8 10.h3 h6
11.Nf1 b5 12.Bc2 d5 13.a4 Be6 14.Ng3 b4 15.a5 dxe4 16.Nxe4
Nxe4 17.dxe4 Qxd1 18.Bxd1 bxc3 19.bxc3 Red8 20.Be2 Ne7 21.
Be3 Nc8 22.Nd2 Nd6 23.f3 Nb5 24.Rec1 Bf8 25.Kf2 f5 26.Ke1
f4 27.Bf2 c6 28.Nc4 Bxc4 29.Bxc4+ Kg7 30.Bb6 Rd7 31.Rd1
Rxd1+ 32.Rxd1 Nxc3 33.Rd7+ Kh8 34.Bc7 Bg7 35.Rxg7 Kxg7 36.
Bxe5+ Kf8 37.Bxc3 Ke7 38.e5 1-0

Saint Louis Carlsen-Ding Showdown G20 Saint Louis (5), 12.11.2017
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4

Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.d3 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.a3 0-0 9.Nc3 Na5 10.Ba2
Be6 11.b4 Bxa2 12.Rxa2 Nc6 13.Bg5 Qd7 14.Bxf6 Bxf6 15.Nd5
a5 16.c4 Ne7 17.Rc2 Nxd5 18.cxd5 axb4 19.axb4 Ra4 20.Qd2
Rfa8 21.Rfc1 Bd8 22.h3 Ra1 23.Rxa1 Rxa1+ 24.Rc1 Ra4 25.d4
exd4 26.Nxd4 Bf6 27.Nc6 Qc8 28.e5 dxe5 29.d6 Ra8 30.Ne7+
Bxe7 31.dxe7 1-0
Carlsen,Magnus (2835) - Anand,Viswanathan (2773) [C77]

Tata Steel-A 81st Wijk aan Zee (10), 23.01.2019
[Hillarp Persson,Tiger]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.Nc3!?

This move takes an immediate step off the Ruy Lopez main
road. The conventional wisdom is that the knight should go
to d2, and then after 0-0, Re1 and Nd2-f1, it is within
reach of the kingside meadows. If such a move was played by
a beginner in the 90s, a stronger opponent would probably
have pointed out that it is a mistake (although it clearly
is not). Still, Spassky used to play this way and in the
last decade, Dominguez Perez has kept it among his big guns.
5...Bc5 Black faces an important choice already here.
Should b5 be played or not? Should the bishop go to c5 or
not? 5.Nc3 is obviously not a slower move than the usual 5.
0-0, so Black doesn't have time for extravagant
alternatives. When you start playing chess you clearly
prefer c5 to e7, if you are to plonk down the bishop
somewhere, but then later you become aware that the bishop
could be vulnerable to c3/d4 and Nxe5/d4-tricks, so you
turn a bit more philosophical about which "the right
square" is for the bishop, and might even swing over to the
e7-side. I sometimes get the feeling that really strong GMs
have had the pendulum swing back to where c5 is the "right
square".
[The other main line goes 5...b5 6.Bb3
A) 6...Bc5 Ah, anyway! Clearly the better move order if
you prefer to avoid the exchange on c6. 7.d3 h6 8.Nd5
Rb8 (8...0-0) 9.c3 d6 10.0-0 0-0 and we come to a
position where White has a wide choice. When Carlsen
and Anand played each other in Sinquefield Cup 2017,
with opposite colours, their game reached this
position and continued: 11.Re1 Ba7 12.Be3 Bxe3 13.Nxe3
Re8 14.a4 b4 15.a5 bxc3 16.bxc3 Be6 17.Bxe6 Rxe6 18.
Nd5 Ne7 19.Nxf6+ Rxf6 20.d4 Ng6 21.g3 Qc8 22.Re3 Rb5
23.Nd2 h5! 24.h4 Qh3 25.Qf1 Qg4 26.Qe2 Qxe2 27.Rxe2
Re6 with a balanced game.;
B) 6...Be7 7.d3 d6 Black is threatening to pick up the
bishop pair with Na5 next, so White must do something
about it. The usual way is... 8.a3 0-0 (8...Na5 9.Ba2
c5 10.b4 Nc6 11.Nd5 0-0 12.Be3 cxb4 13.axb4 Bb7 14.
0-0 Nxd5 15.Bxd5 Qd7 16.Qb1 and although White is
not significantly better, this seems like the kind
of position White is striving for, Rapport,R
(2715)-Kollars,D (2530) GRENKE Chess Open 2018.) 9.
Nd5 Na5 10.Ba2 Nxd5 11.Bxd5 c6 12.Ba2 This position
is hard to avoid for White in the 5.Nc3-line, so if
you intend to play it you should have a look at it.
I'm not entirely clear about what went on in the
following game: 12...Bf6 13.0-0 Re8 14.b4 Nb7 15.c4
Be6 16.Bb2 c5 17.Bc3 Qd7 18.cxb5 axb5 19.Bxe6 Qxe6 20.
a4 Qd7 21.axb5 Rxa1 22.Qxa1 Qxb5 23.Qb1 Rb8 1/2-1/2
(23) Rapport,R (2690)-Aronian,L (2785) Sharjah Grand
Prix 2017;
A third option is to play 5...Bb4 , in analogy to the
four knights opening. 6.0-0 (6.Nd5!?) 6...0-0 7.d3 ...a6 is
not, generally speaking, a move that Black would play in
the four knights, since White would take on c6, but it
is not clear to me that Black has anything to be unhappy
about here. 7...Bxc3 8.bxc3 d6
A) 9.Bg5 is standard in this position, but then it is
usual for Black to play Bd7 in order to prepare for
a6, so one might argue that a6 actually is a slight
gain for Black here. 9...Qe7 10.Re1 (10.Nd2!?) 10...Nd8
and suddenly we are in two-knights-land, by a long
detour: 11.Bb3 Ne6 12.Bh4 Nf4 13.Nd2 b5 14.Nf1 Ng6 15.
Bg3 c5 16.Ne3 Qc7 17.h4 Be6 18.h5 Nf4 19.Bxf4 exf4 20.
Nd5 Bxd5 21.Bxd5 Rae8 22.h6 Re5!? 23.hxg7 Kxg7 24.Qd2
Rfe8 and Black eventually won this rather unclear
position, in Artemiev,V (2705)-Andreikin,D (2715)
World Rapid 2018.;
B) 9.Nd2 Re8 10.c4 Bd7 11.f4 Nd4 12.Bxd7 Qxd7 13.c3 Ne6
14.f5 Nc5 15.Nb3 b5 and Black had managed to land
himself in a situation where a6 actually makes sense,
in Adhiban,B (2680) -Stevic,H (2585) Tournament of
Peace 2018.]
6.Bxc6 How very Magnus.
[After 6.0-0 b5 (6...0-0 7.Nxe5 Nxe5 8.d4 Bd6 9.f4 Neg4 10.
h3 Bb4 11.e5 d6 12.exf6 Nxf6 13.Qf3 Bxc3 14.Qxc3 b5
15.Bb3 Bb7 16.f5 Re8 17.Bg5 Re2 18.d5 and instead of
taking the pawn, as in Vishnu,P (2535)-Grandelius,N
(2640) CellaVision Cup 2017, Black could have played
18...c5! 19.Qd3 Qe7 20.Bxf6 gxf6 21.Rae1 Re5 with a
balanced game. I'm prone to put some thought into
this move order as (my compatriot) Nils usually knows
what he is doing.) 7.Bb3 0-0 8.Nd5!? is a spectacular
way to try to make more sense of the 0-0 move order... (
After 8.d3 we soon end up in a position that we looked
at after 5...b5 6.Bb3 Bc5.) 8...Nxe4 (8...h6 9.c3! and
White's d-pawn doesn't have to 'refuel' on d3.) 9.d3
Nf6 10.Bg5 Be7 11.Nxe7+ Qxe7 12.Re1 Anand,V (2785)-
Kramnik,V (2805) Norway 2017]
6...dxc6 7.d3 This position is very similar to one of the
main lines of the Berlin Defence (of the Ruy Lopez); the
only difference is that the pawn is on a6. Usually strong
GMs have prefered to play h3, Qe2, or Nbd2, rather than Nc3,
in this position, but Magnus has played a blitz game
earlier where he had exactly the same position (minus a6):
7...Qd6 I presume Vishy was aiming to apply a similar set-
up to the one Jakovenko used to win against Motylev (see
comment after 9.0-0).
[7...0-0 8.Be3 (8.Qe2 Re8 9.h3 Nd7 10.Nd1 can hardly be
the hidden meaning behind Nc3... 10...Nf8 11.Ne3
Rapport,R (2675)-Ding Liren (2770) FIDE World Cup 2017
) 8...Bd6 9.Bg5 Re8 (9...h6 10.Bd2) 10.h3 c5 11.Nd5 Be7 12.
Nxe7+ Qxe7 13.0-0 h6 14.Be3 Nd7 15.Nd2 Nb8 16.f4 exf4 17.
Rxf4 Nc6 18.Qh5 b6 19.Raf1 Rf8 20.Nf3 Be6 21.Rh4 f6 22.
Qg6 Qf7 23.Qg3 Nb4 24.Bxh6 Nxc2 25.Ne5 fxe5 26.Rxf7 Rxf7
27.Qg6 Bxa2 28.Bg5 Rff8 29.Rh7 Rf7 30.Bf6 1-0 Carlsen,M
(2835)-Karjakin,S (2760) World Blitz 2017 (with pawn on
a7 instead of a6).]
8.h3 Be6 9.Be3! Like I mentioned before; Black's bishop is
on the "best square" and White's bishop has nowhere to go.
It's simple maths that White wants them exchanged. (Magnus
thought about the move for more than 10 minutes, so I guess
my logic is somewhat over simplified...)
[9.0-0 0-0-0 10.Ng5 Nd7 11.Kh1 f6 12.Nxe6 Qxe6 13.Ne2
Rhf8 (13...g6!?) 14.Qe1 g6 15.b4 Bd6 16.Be3 f5 17.f3 f4 18.
Bg1 g5 19.Qf2 b6 20.Rfb1 h5 21.a4 g4 and Black went on
to win, in Motylev,A (2686)-Jakovenko,D (2747) Yaroslavl
2014 (again with a pawn on a7, rather than on a6).]
9...Nd7 10.Bxc5 Nxc5 11.Qd2 This position seems like
nothing special for White and if Black gets to play Nd7 and
c5, then White has nothing. So the next two moves seem like
the only ambitious alternative.
[After 11.0-0 0-0-0 White regrets having played h3 when
Black launches the g-pawn.]
11...Nd7 12.d4!?
[I don't see a good way for White to change the pawn
structure after 12.0-0-0 c5 One can try a plan with Nf3-
somewhere, followed by f4, but it will only give Black a
good square for the knight on e5.]
12...exd4 13.Nxd4 c5 Slightly surprising and the kind of
move one regrets after losing. It could be taken as a
statement, that: "I will take the d5-square from your
knight and then you have nothing." (Although Anand most
certainly would not put it like that.) 14.Nxe6 fxe6 Ergo, no
d5-square for White's knight. 15.0-0-0 Qxd2+ 16.Kxd2! The
king belongs on e3 where it is centrally placed and can
support White's extra kingside pawn.
[16.Rxd2 is not completely bonkers either, since 16...Ke7 (
16...0-0-0! looks sensible, intending 17.Rhd1 g5 18.b3
Rhg8 19.Ne2 Rg7 , followed by Rd8-f8. With both pairs
of rooks still on the board, White's extra kingside
pawn doesn't mean as much.) 17.Rhd1 Rhd8 18.f4 , forces
Black to play a less than comfortable endgame.]
16...Ne5 17.f4! Only by unsettling this knight, before it
becomes a permanent feature on e5, can Black be challenged.
[17.b3 g5! 18.f3 Ke7 19.h4 h6 is comfortable for Black.

White cannot get a passed pawn without giving Black a
ton of activity.]
17...Nc4+ 18.Kc1 King is back where it came from, but the
knight is floating without a strong point. 18...Ke7 19.b3
Nd6! 20.e5 Nf5 21.Ne4
[There is something to be said for 21.g4! , since it
forces Black's hand: 21...Nd4 (21...Nh4? fails to tactics:
22.f5! exf5 23.Nd5+ Kf7 24.e6+!+- Kg6 25.Nxc7) 22.Rhf1 (
22.Ne4 Ne2+ 23.Kb2 Nxf4 24.Nxc5 b6 25.Rd7+ Ke8 26.Rd4
Rf8 27.Nd7 Rf7 28.Nf6+ gxf6 29.Rxf4 Ke7 is a position
that Black can hold, if I haven't missed something.)
22...Rhf8 23.Rf2 b6 24.Rdf1↑ This looks promising for
White, but I feel that it could be one of those
positions that habitual Berlin-defenders could have all
figured out (no, no, that's the position when the knight
is on h4!). Still, Anand avoided something very similar
on the second next move...]
21...b6 22.g4 Nh4! The advantage of hanging out on h4, is
that there are no pieces that can push it away. The
downside is, you know, knight on the rim...
[22...Nd4 23.Rhf1 is similar to the line above, which
means that 21.g4 probably was stronger than 21.Ne4, at
least from Anand's point of view. Perhaps Magnus didn't
bother to stop the knight from going to h4.]
23.Rhf1 From now on, life will be hard for Black. 23...
Rad8?!
[Instead, 23...Rhf8 holds the balance without too much
difficulty: 24.Rf2 (24.Rd2 h6 25.Kd1 Rad8) 24...h6 and I
wonder how White will continue? 25.Rfd2 (25.Ng3 Rad8 26.
Nh5 Rxd1+ 27.Kxd1 g5) 25...Rad8! 26.Rxd8 Rxd8 27.Rxd8
Kxd8 28.Kd2 Ng2 29.f5 exf5 30.gxf5 Nh4 31.Ng3 Nf3+ 32.
Ke3 Nxe5 33.Kf4 Nc6 34.Nh5 Ke7 35.Nxg7 Nb4 and White
should force a draw before things get out of hand.]
24.Rxd8 Rxd8 25.f5! It seems that White got to play e5, f4,
g4 and f5 a bit too easily. Considering what happens later,
I wonder if Black felt the same thing here? 25...exf5 26.
gxf5 Rf8
[26...Rd5!? 27.Rf4 Ng2 28.f6+ gxf6 29.exf6+ Kf8! (29...Kf7
30.Rg4 Re5 31.Rg7+ Ke8 32.Ng5+-) 30.Rg4 Rd4 31.Rxg2
Rxe4 32.Rg7 c4 33.Rxc7 cxb3 34.axb3 Rh4 35.Rc6 b5 36.
Rxa6 Rxh3 and although Black is struggling, it seems
that he has good chances to hold.]
27.f6+ gxf6 28.exf6+ Kf7?! This looks natural and Ng5+ can
be met with Kg6. There is only one (well, actually two)
problem(s) .
[28...Kd7 29.Rg1 h6 30.Rg7+ Kc6 31.Rh7 Kd5 32.Nc3+ Kd4 33.
Na4 Rxf6 34.Rxc7]
29.Rf4!? Forcing Black to block the king's road to the
kingside.
[29.Rg1!? looks even better. The point is that 29...Rg8 (
29...Nf5 30.Ng5+ Ke8 31.Re1+ Kd7 32.Nxh7 Rf7 33.Rf1
Ng3 34.Rf2 Ne4 35.Rf4 Ng3 36.Kd1 Nh5 37.Rf5 Ng3 38.
Rg5+-;
29...Ng6 30.Ng5+ Ke8 31.Nxh7 Rf7 32.Rxg6 Rxh7 33.Rg8+
Kf7 34.Rg7+ Rxg7 35.fxg7 Kxg7 36.Kd2+-) 30.Ng5+ Kxf6 31.
Nxh7+ Kf7 32.Rxg8 Kxg8 33.Nf6+ Kf7 34.Nd5 should win for
White.]
29...Ng6 30.Ng5+ Ke8 31.Rf1 h6 32.Ne6 Rf7 33.Rd1! Rxf6 34.
Nxc7+ Kf8 35.Nxa6 Nf4 36.h4 Ng6 37.Rh1 Rf7 38.h5? I cannot
see how this helps White. The knight becomes more active on
f4, so why force it to go there?
[38.a4! One way to make sense of h5 is that Magnus was
worried about 38...Ra7 (38...h5 39.Kb2 Kg7 40.Rd1 Nxh4 41.
Rh1 Nf5 42.Rxh5 and White has a hard defence ahead.) 39.
Nb8 Rb7 40.Nc6 Rc7 , but after 41.Rf1+ Rf7 42.Re1 Nxh4 43.
Rh1 there is no good way to hold on to the pawn: 43...Nf5 (
43...Rf4 44.Ne5 Kg7 45.Nc4+-) 44.Ne5 Rg7 45.Nc4! Rg6?
46.Rf1+-]
38...Nf4 39.a4 Ke7 40.Nc7 Kf6 41.Nb5 Kg5 Black has almost
managed to equalize, or, wait, is it only a mirage? Has the
king been deviously lured away from the queenside, so that
White can continue with his insidious ways? No, not really,
but it is still more difficult to play Black. White's
knight is a bit more jumpy for the time being. 42.Nd6 Re7 43.
Kb2 Re6
[43...Nxh5! 44.Rg1+ Kf6 45.Rh1 Kg6 46.Rg1+ Kf6 is very
equal indeed.]
44.Nf7+ Kf5 45.Rd1! To help the knights return to the
queenside. 45...Kg4 46.Kc3 Kxh5 47.Rh1+ Kg6 48.Nxh6 So,
White is a pawn up again, but the knight is misplaced.
Black needs to find a way to make a net that will keep it
from getting out. 48...Re4! This stops the king from
advancing further and keeps an eye on g4, from where Nh6
will try to stage its reentry into the game. 49.Kb2
[49.Rh2 Nd5+ 50.Kb2 c4=]
49...Re2! 50.Ng4 Nd3+?! Another slight mistake puts Black
under pressure again.
[50...Kf5! was the way to keep the knight in the cage: 51.
Nh6+ Kg6 52.Kb1 Nd5 53.Ng4 Kg5 54.Rg1 Kf4 and there is
not way for White to gain coordination.]
51.Kc3 Nb4?! And with this the pressure becomes quite hard
to bear, again.
[51...Ne1! 52.Rh2 Re4 53.Nf2 Re2 54.Kc4 Rxc2+ 55.Kb5 c4
56.bxc4 Rb2+ 57.Kc6 Nf3 58.Rg2+ Kf7 59.Kb7 Ne5=]
52.Rh2! Rxh2 53.Nxh2 Kf5 54.Nf3 Ke4 55.Ne1 Kd5 56.Nd3 Nc6
[56...Na2+ 57.Kb2 Nb4 58.c4+! (58.Nxb4+? cxb4 59.c3 bxc3+
60.Kxc3 Kc5=) 58...Ke4 59.Nxb4 cxb4 60.Kc2 Kd4 61.Kd2
Ke4 62.Ke2 Kd4 63.Kf3 Kc3 64.a5! bxa5 65.c5 Kxb3 66.c6
and White wins.]
57.Nf4+! Kd6
[57...Ke5? loses to 58.Kc4! Kxf4 (58...Na7 59.Nd5) 59.Kb5 Nb4
60.Kxb6 Nxc2 61.a5 Nb4 62.Kxc5 and the knight is unable
to stop both pawns.]
58.Kc4 Na7 59.Nd5 Kc6 60.Ne7+ Kd6 61.Nf5+ Kc6 62.Kd3 Kc7
[62...b5! is a good start, exchanging one of the pawns.]
63.Ke4 Nc6 64.Ne3 Kd6 65.Nc4+ Kc7 66.c3 Ne7 67.Ke5 Ng6+ 68.
Kf5 Ne7+ 69.Ke6 Ng6 On one hand, Black's position is awful,
but on the other; there is no way for White to go forward.
70.a5 b5?? A terrible blunder in a drawn position.
[70...bxa5! 71.Kd5 (71.Nxa5 Nf4+ 72.Ke5 Ne2 73.c4 Kb6= 74.
b4) 71...Nf4+ 72.Kxc5 Ne2 73.Na3 Nc1 74.Kc4 Kb6 75.Nc2
Ne2 76.Nd4 (76.Ne3 Nc1) 76...Nf4 77.Nf5 Ne6 and there is no
way for White to make progress.]
71.Ne3 Nf4+ 72.Ke5 Ne2 73.Nd5+ Kc6 74.b4 Nxc3 75.Nxc3 cxb4
76.Ne2 a rather tragic end to an exciting game. 1-0

Chess.com Speed Chess.com INT (3.24), 12.12.2020
1.e4 e5 2.
Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.d3 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.a3
0-0 9.Nc3 Nb8 10.Bd2 Nbd7 11.a4 Rb8 12.axb5 axb5 13.Ne2 Nc5
14.Ba2 Be6 15.Ng3 Re8 16.Be3 Bxa2 17.Rxa2 Ne6 18.h3 Qd7 19.
Qd2 Ra8 20.Rfa1 Rxa2 21.Rxa2 Qc6 22.b3 Ra8 23.c4 bxc4 24.
bxc4 Nd7 25.Ne2 Rxa2 26.Qxa2 Ndc5 27.Ne1 Qb7 28.Nc3 c6 29.
g3 Bg5 30.Bxc5 Nxc5 31.h4 Bd8 32.Qc2 Ba5 33.Nf3 Bxc3 34.
Qxc3 Qb1+ 35.Kg2 Qxd3 36.Qa5 h6 37.Qa8+ Kh7 38.Qxc6 Nxe4 39.
Qc8 Nf6 40.c5 dxc5 41.Qxc5 Ng4 42.Nxe5 Qf5 43.f4 Qe4+ 44.
Kh3 Ne3 45.Qc6 Qb1 46.Qf3 Qg6 47.Nxg6 1-0
Praggnanandhaa,Rameshbabu (2642) - Carlsen,Magnus (2864) [C77]

Chessable Masters Prelim chess24.com INT (5), 20.05.2022
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.

Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.d3 Bc5 6.c3 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.Bg5 h6 9.Bh4
Bb6 10.a4 Rb8 11.axb5 axb5 12.Na3 g5 13.Bg3 Na5 14.Bc2 b4
15.cxb4 Nc6 16.Ba4 Bd7 17.Nc4 Nxb4 18.Bxd7+ Nxd7 19.0-0 0-0
20.Nxb6 Rxb6 21.d4 Nc6 22.Rc1 Nxd4 23.Nxd4 exd4 24.Qxd4 Nc5
25.Rcd1 Ne6 26.Qc3 f6 27.f4 Qe7 28.b4 Rbb8 29.f5 Nd8 30.Rd4
Nf7 31.Rc4 Rb7 32.Rc1 Rfb8 33.h4 gxh4 34.Bxh4 Ne5 35.Rxc7
Rxc7 36.Qxc7 Qxc7 37.Rxc7 Rxb4 38.Re7 d5 39.Kf1 dxe4 40.
Bxf6 Ng4 41.Rg7+ 1-0
Carlsen,Magnus (2864) - Ju,Wenjun (2560) [C78]

Charity Cup Prelim chess24.com INT (14), 22.03.2022
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0

Bc5 6.c3 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.a4 Bb7 9.d3 0-0 10.Bg5 h6 11.Bh4 Rb8
12.axb5 axb5 13.Nbd2 Bc8 14.h3 Be6 15.Bd5 Bd7 16.b4 Bb6 17.
Bb3 g5 18.Bg3 Nh5 19.Nxe5 Nxg3 20.Nxd7 Qxd7 21.Re1 d5 22.
exd5 Ne7 23.Qg4 Ngf5 24.Rxe7 Qxe7 25.Qxf5 Kg7 26.Ne4 Rbe8
27.d6 Qe5 28.g4 cxd6 29.Ra6 Bc7 30.Ra7 d5 31.Bxd5 Qxf5 32.
gxf5 Bf4 33.Nc5 Re1+ 34.Kg2 Kg8 35.Nd7 Re7 36.Nf6+ Kg7 37.
Nh5+ 1-0

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 b5 6.Bb3 Bc5

7.a4 Rb8 8.c3 d6 9.d4 Bb6 10.a5 Ba7 11.h3 Bb7 12.Be3 Nxe4
13.Nbd2 Nxd2 14.Qxd2 0-0 15.dxe5 dxe5 16.Qxd8 Rbxd8 17.Bxa7
Nxa7 18.Nxe5 Bd5 19.Bc2 Nc6 20.Nxc6 Bxc6 21.Rad1 Rfe8 22.
Rxd8 Rxd8 23.Rd1 Rxd1+ 24.Bxd1 Kf8 25.f4 Ke7 26.Kf2 Kd6 27.
b4 Bd5 28.g4 h6 29.g5 hxg5 30.fxg5 c5 31.Ke3 cxb4 32.cxb4
Ke5 33.h4 g6 34.Bg4 Be6 35.h5 gxh5 36.Bxh5 Kf5 37.Bf3 Bc8
38.Kd4 Kxg5 39.Ke5 f5 40.Kd6 f4 41.Ke5 Kg6 42.Kxf4 Kf6 43.
Bd5 Bd7 44.Bb7 Ke6 45.Ke4 Kd6 46.Bxa6 Bc6+ 47.Kd4 Be8 48.
Bb7 Bd7 49.Bf3 Bc8 50.Be2 Bd7 51.Bd3 Bc6 52.Be4 1-0

Carlsen Inv Prelim chess24.com INT (1.2), 18.04.2020
[Edouard,Romain]
1.e4 e5 2.
Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 7.a4 Rb8 8.
Nxe5 Nxe5 9.d4 Bxd4 10.Qxd4 d6 11.f4 Nc6 12.Qc3 Ne7
[12...Bb7 has been played in a couple of games, but after
13.axb5 axb5 14.e5 Ne4 15.Qe3 Ne7 16.Nd2 Nxd2 17.Bxd2
0-0 18.e6 Black is in trouble.]
13.axb5 axb5 14.e5 Ne4 15.Qf3!?
[15.Qe1 had been play a little more often.]
15...Nc5
[15...d5? 16.Nc3 Nxc3 17.Qxc3 0-0 18.Be3 ½-½ (40)
Lobanov,S (2372)-Grigorjev,I (2203) St Petersburg 2014]
16.Ba2 0-0 17.Be3 Bb7N A good novelty by the World Champion
- but Hikaru Nakamura knew how to react to it!
[17...Nf5 18.Bf2 Be6 19.Rd1 Qe7 20.Nc3 ½-½ (47)
Milman,L (2462)-Mulyar,M (2410) New York 2011]
18.Qh3 Ne4 19.Nc3 Nxc3 20.bxc3 Bd5
[20...Nd5!? was also playable - but it's so much more
logical to exchange the light-squared bishops.]
21.f5! Bxa2 22.Rxa2 dxe5 23.f6 A very tricky position. 23...
gxf6
[23...Ng6 24.fxg7 (24.Bh6 Qd5 25.Raa1 Rfd8 can't be an
improvement for White) 24...Re8 25.Qf5 Nf4! should be
close to a draw.]
24.Bh6 Re8
[After 24...Qd6!? 25.Qg4+ Ng6 26.h4 Black has a choice
between two unbalanced slightly worse endgames: 26...Rfe8 (
26...Qe6 27.Qxe6 fxe6 28.Bxf8 Rxf8 29.Ra7 Rf7⇆) 27.h5
Qe6 28.Qxe6 Rxe6 29.hxg6 hxg6⇆]
25.Ra6!? Rb6
[25...c6!? may have been better: 26.Rxc6! Rb6 (26...Nxc6??
27.Qg4+) 27.Qg4+ Ng6 28.Rfxf6 Rxc6 29.Rxc6]
26.Rxb6 cxb6 27.Qg3+ Ng6 28.h4 f5 29.h5 f4
[29...Qh4 30.Qxh4 Nxh4 31.Bg5 and the knight is trapped.]
30.hxg6! hxg6
[30...fxg3? 31.gxf7+ Kh8 32.fxe8Q+ Qxe8 33.Rf8++-]
31.Qg4 Qc8?
[31...Qe7 was necessary, keeping good control of the
dark squares.]
32.Qh4! Now Black is lost as Bg5/f6 or Rf3/h3 is coming.
32...Qc5+
[32...Qd8 33.Bg5+-;
32...Qe6 33.Bg5 Kg7 34.Qh6+ Kg8 35.Rf3+-]

33.Kh2 Qd6 34.Bg5! f5 35.Rf3! e4 36.Rh3 f3+ 37.Bf4 Qd7 38.
Qh8+ Kf7 39.Rh7+ Ke6 40.Qe5# And mate! 1-0
Carlsen,Magnus (2847) - Esipenko,Andrey (2716) [C79]

FIDE World Cup Krasnaya Polyana (5.7), 27.07.2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.

Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 d6 5.0-0 a6 6.Bxc6+ bxc6 7.d4 exd4 8.Nxd4 c5 9.
Nc6 Qd7 10.Na5 Qa4 11.Bd2 Bg4 12.f3 Be6 13.Bc3 Be7 14.b3
Qd7 15.Nd2 d5 16.Qe1 0-0 17.Rd1 Rad8 18.Ndc4 Qe8 19.exd5
Nxd5 20.Bb2 Kh8 21.Qg3 f6 22.Rfe1 Qf7 23.Nc6 Rde8 24.Nxe7
Rxe7 25.Qf2 Rfe8 26.Qxc5 h5 27.Ba3 Rd7 28.Re4 Bf5 29.Rxe8+
Qxe8 30.Qf2 Nc3 31.Re1 Qg6 32.Ne3 Be6 33.Bb2 Nd5 34.Nxd5
Bxd5 35.Qe2 Kh7 36.Bc1 Bc6 37.Bf4 h4 38.h3 Qf5 39.Be3 Re7
40.Qd2 Qg6 41.Qf2 Kg8 42.Bd2 Rxe1+ 43.Bxe1 Bd7 44.Kh2 Bf5
45.c4 Bb1 46.Qa7 Bd3 47.Qxc7 Bf1 48.Qd8+ Kh7 49.Qd2 Qh5 50.
Qc2+ Kg8 51.Qe4 Qg5 52.Qd5+ Qxd5 53.cxd5 g5 54.a4 Kf7 55.
Bc3 Bd3 56.b4 Bc2 57.b5 axb5 58.axb5 Bb3 59.d6 Ke6 60.b6
Bd5 61.d7 Kxd7 62.Bxf6 1-0

Goldmoney Asian Rapid KO chess24.com INT (2.31), 02.07.2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6

5.0-0 d6 6.c3 Nxe4 7.d4 Bd7 8.Re1 Nf6 9.dxe5 Nxe5 10.Nxe5
dxe5 11.Rxe5+ Be7 12.Bg5 Bxa4 13.Qxa4+ Qd7 14.Qxd7+ Kxd7 15.
Nd2 h6 16.Bh4 Rae8 17.Nf3 Ng4 18.Rd1+ Bd6 19.Rf5 g6 20.
Rxf7+ Ke6 21.Rg7 g5 22.Bg3 Kf6 23.Rd7 Ke6 24.Bxd6 Kxd7 25.
Be5+ Ke6 26.Bxh8 Rxh8 27.Re1+ Kf7 28.h3 Nf6 29.Ne5+ Kg7 30.
Nd7 Kf7 31.Nxf6 Kxf6 32.Rd1 Re8 33.Kf1 Re5 34.Rd4 a5 35.f3
b6 36.Kf2 Rb5 37.b3 Re5 38.h4 Re6 39.h5 Re5 40.g4 b5 41.c4
Rc5 42.Ke3 c6 43.Re4 bxc4 44.Rxc4 Re5+ 45.Kd3 Rd5+ 46.Rd4
Rc5 47.Rd6+ Kg7 48.Kd2 a4 49.Rd7+ Kg8 50.bxa4 Rc4 51.a5 Ra4
52.Ra7 c5 53.Kd3 Kf8 54.a6 Kg8 55.a3 Kh8 56.Kc3 c4 57.Kd4
Kg8 58.Kc3 Kh8 59.Kb2 Kg8 60.Rc7 Rxa6 61.Rxc4 Rf6 62.Rc3
Rf4 63.Kb3 1-0

Lindores Abbey Final 8 chess24.com INT (2.32), 30.05.2020
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.

d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.Qe2 Be7 10.Rd1 0-0 11.c4 bxc4
12.Bxc4 Bc5 13.Be3 Bxe3 14.Qxe3 Qb8 15.Bb3 Na5 16.Nd4 c5 17.
Nxe6 fxe6 18.f3 c4 19.fxe4 cxb3 20.exd5 bxa2 21.Rxa2 Nc4 22.
Qd4 Qb3 23.Nc3 Nxb2 24.Rb1 Qc4 25.Qxc4 Nxc4 26.dxe6 Rf5 27.
Nd5 Rxe5 28.Rxa6 Re8 29.Nc7 Rd8 30.Rc6 Ne3 31.Rd6 Rc8 32.
Rd7 h6 33.e7 Kh7 34.Re1 1-0
Carlsen,Magnus (2864) - Niemann,Hans Moke (2642) [C82]

Charity Cup Prelim chess24.com INT (5), 20.03.2022
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6

5.0-0 Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.c3 Bc5 10.Nbd2 0-0
11.Bc2 Nxf2 12.Rxf2 Bxf2+ 13.Kxf2 f6 14.Kg1 fxe5 15.Nf1 Qd6
16.Bg5 e4 17.Nd4 Ne5 18.Ne3 Bd7 19.Bh4 Qh6 20.Ndf5 Bxf5 21.
Nxf5 Nf3+ 22.Qxf3 Qb6+ 23.Qe3 Rxf5 24.Qxb6 cxb6 25.Bf2 Rb8
26.Rd1 Kf7 27.Bb3 Ke6 28.Rd4 Ke7 29.Rxd5 Rxd5 30.Bxd5 b4 31.
cxb4 Rc8 32.Bxb6 Rc1+ 33.Kf2 Rc2+ 34.Kg3 Rxb2 35.Bxe4 Ke6
36.Ba5 1-0
Carlsen,Magnus (2855) - Mamedyarov,Shakhriyar (2762) [C82]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.d4

b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.c3 Bc5 10.Nbd2 0-0 11.Bc2 Nxf2 12.
Rxf2 f6 13.Nf1 Bxf2+ 14.Kxf2 fxe5 15.Kg1 Bg4 16.Ne3 Be6 17.
b3 Kh8 18.Ba3 Rf4 19.Bc5 d4 20.cxd4 exd4 21.Qd3 Bg8 22.Nf5
Qd5 23.Ba3 Re8 24.Rd1 Rfe4 25.Ng3 Re3 26.Qd2 R3e6 27.Bb2
Rd8 28.Nxd4 Qc5 29.Ne4 Qe7 30.Qe3 Nxd4 31.Rxd4 Rxd4 32.Qxd4
c5 33.Qc3 c4 34.bxc4 bxc4 35.h3 h6 36.Qxc4 Rb6 37.Qc3 Bxa2
38.Ng3 Bg8 39.Nf5 Qf6 40.Qxf6 gxf6 41.Bd4 Rc6 42.Be4 Re6 43.
Bd5 Re8 44.Bc6 Re6 45.Bd7 Re1+ 46.Kf2 Rd1 47.Ke2 Bb3 48.
Bxf6+ Kh7 49.Nd4 Kg6 50.Be5 Kf7 51.Be6+ 1-0

FTX Crypto Cup KO chess24.com INT (1.11), 26.05.2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.

Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.
Nbd2 Nc5 10.c3 Be7 11.Bc2 d4 12.Nb3 dxc3 13.Nxc5 Bxc5 14.
Be4 Qd7 15.bxc3 Rd8 16.Qc2 Ne7 17.Bg5 h6 18.Rfd1 Qc8 19.
Bxe7 Rxd1+ 20.Rxd1 Kxe7 21.Nd4 Re8 22.Bf3 g6 23.Qd2 Bxd4 24.
cxd4 Bg4 25.d5 Bxf3 26.d6+ Kd7 27.gxf3 Re6 28.Rc1 c5 29.Qe3
c4 30.Qa7+ Ke8 31.Rd1 Qd7 32.Qa8+ Qd8 33.Qxa6 Kf8 34.Qxb5
Qg5+ 35.Kf1 Rxe5 36.Qxe5 1-0
Carlsen,Magnus (2872) - Vitiugov,Nikita (2747) [C84]

Tata Steel-A 82nd Wijk aan Zee (8), 19.01.2020
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4

Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.d3 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.Bd2 0-0 9.h3 h6 10.Re1 Re8
11.a3 Bf8 12.Nc3 Rb8 13.Ba2 Ne7 14.Nh4 g5 15.Nf3 Ng6 16.Nh2
c6 17.Ne2 d5 18.Ng3 dxe4 19.dxe4 Rb7 20.Qf3 Nf4 21.Rad1 Rd7
22.Be3 Rxd1 23.Rxd1 Qe7 24.Ng4 Nxg4 25.hxg4 Rd8 26.Re1 c5
27.Nf5 Qc7 28.g3 Ne6 29.Qh1 f6 30.Bd5 1-0
Carlsen,Magnus (2863) - Tari,Aryan (2633) [C84]

Winning this game was

essential. Not only due to having the white pieces vs. the
tournaments lowest rated player, but also in order to
regain the lead in the tournament. Kasparov in his day
would crush the lower-rated with his opening knowledge, not
even allowing them to get a game, but these days the
situation has reversed, and from the strongest player's
perspective it is more a matter of actualy getting out of
the opening with a position full of play that becomes the
target. Many would try along the lines of 1.f3/2.g3,
keeping as many pieces on the board as possible, but the
World Champion, as always, goes his own way:
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 In the previous round
Tari tried 4...f5?! against Duda, but as expected such a
move is based on its surprise value, and not to be repeated.
5.0-0 Be7 6.d3!? Aronian played 6.e1 against Tari

earlier in the tournament, but Magnus stays loyal to the
line that even in some books carries his name, as he
popularised it by succesfully employing it in his early
youth. 6...b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.a4 Bd7! In the 2007 Elista
Candidates, Aronian went for 8...b8 against Magnus, and
later 8...b4 would become the preferred move, until Black
finally settling for the game move being the solution to
his problems.
9.c3 Na5 10.Ba2 c5
[A much more radical solution is 10...bxa4!? Temporarily
it wins a pawn, and after 11.Nbd2 0-0 12.Bb1 Bb5!? Ding
had a reasonable position vs Magnus in the 2017 St.
Louis showdown. The ideas is that to get the pawn on a4
back, White has to play c4, but that means that he no
longer has the c3+d4 option, and Black's position
therefore stablises.]
11.Bg5 0-0 12.Nbd2 Caruana played 12 axb5 axb5 13 a3
aiming for the e3-square via c2, but Magnus will not yet
release the tension in the a-line. 12...Rb8 13.axb5 Logical
timing, as Black has just removed his rook form the a-file.
13...axb5 14.Re1 b4 15.Nc4 Nxc4 16.Bxc4 bxc3 17.bxc3 Qc7 18.
Qc2 Bb5 19.Bxb5 Rxb5 20.Bxf6! Bxf6 21.Nd2 A very
interesting position, at least from a technical point oi
view. Black has managed to clear off 3 sets of minor pieces,
as well as the a- and b-pawns. All this speaks in favour
of a draw, but White does have a very visible plus in the
sense that his knight wil settle on c4 or d5. That in
itself is not enought to make Black's position collapse, so
a lot is going to depend on how White can improve his
position, intensifying the pressure. This position perhaps
is not Black's last chance, but still a very crucial one.
21...Qc6?!
[Had Tari played 21...h5! , he would have seriously
improved his chances of making a draw. Getting the pawn
to h4 holds a lot of benefits. His bishop will have a
safe haven on g5, and White's king will feel some
discomfort should he allow a black rook access to the
first rank.]
22.Qa4 Rfb8 23.Nc4 Another instructive moment. 23...Be7
[23...Bg5 suggests itself, stopping the knight from going
on to e3 heading for d5, but 24.Na3 R5b6 25.Qxc6 Rxc6 26.
Nc4 the computers indicate as basicaly winning for
White! Despite the symmetry Black has been rendered
completely passive. White's rook will enter a7, then
perhaps d7 and a1-a7 coming next, Black is in a
hopeless situation.;
23...h5 was a more active way of defending but apart

from 24.a3, White also has 24.g3 h4 25.Rab1!? as after
25...Rxb1 26.Qxc6 Rxe1+ 27.Kg2 despite nominally being
behind in material, White's queen and knight coordinate
much better than the black pieces and should win easily.
]
24.g3! 24.a3 certainly also was good, but with e7
protected, Black will be in time for ...c7 defending the
7th rank, and thus Magnus decides to reinforce his position
even further. 24...Qc8 25.Qd1 g6 26.Kg2 Bf8 27.Qf3 Rb3 28.
Rec1 Qe6 29.Ra7 Black's problem is not so much that his
position in any way is collapsing, but that he has
absolutly no way of trying to equalise. Often slightly
worse positions have a tendency to turn into equality with
exact moves, as the initiative evaporates, but here Magnus'
advantage is purely static, and in a way that Black cannot
repair. He'll just have so sit and wait, and try to parry
White's attempts at breaking through. 29...R8b7 30.Rxb7!? A
remarkable decision. In general one would think keeping
material on the board favours the attacker, but as with the
potential queen swap earlier, it is not neccessarily so.
White also has to break through, and eliminating a defender
thus has definite plusses. 30...Rxb7 31.Ra1 h5 32.Ra8 Kg7 33.
Ne3 Rc7? An innocent looking move, but the decisive mistake.
[The computer indicates that 33...Qd7! is the only way to
defend, answering 34.Nd5 with 34...Be7 defending the f6
square, when Black stays in the game, with 35...a7
coming next. Objectively perhaps the position is drawn,
but from a practical point of view, Tari would still
have to suffer for many moves as White would play for h3-
g3, d4 or even taking his king to the queenside.;
33...Be7 looks similar, but then 34.Nf5+! wins,

illustrating the pressure Black is under.]
34.Nd5 Rc8 If 34...Rd7 White wins exactly like in the game,
preparing g4-g5.
35.Ra7 Rb8 36.h3 Rd8 37.g4 hxg4 38.hxg4 Rd7 39.Ra8 f6 40.
g5! The final finesse, as Black can not take on g5, due to
f8 hanging. 40...f5 41.Qh3 Rf7 42.Re8!? Nice, and winning,
yet the computers suggestion of 42 c4!? being even better
is noteworthy! It illustrates the story of the game, the
inability of the black position to improve itself, even
given time for free. 42...Qxe8 43.Qh6+ Kg8 44.Qxg6+ Kh8 45.
Nf6 And having to choose between mate or substantial
material losses, Tari resigned. 1-0
Carlsen,Magnus (2856) - Gagunashvili,Merab (2573) [C84]

Wch Rapid Warsaw (1), 26.12.2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.

Ba4 Nf6 5.d3 b5 6.Bb3 Be7 7.a4 Rb8 8.axb5 axb5 9.0-0 0-0 10.
h3 h6 11.Nc3 d6 12.Bd2 Re8 13.Nd5 Bf8 14.Qb1 Be6 15.Nxf6+
Qxf6 16.Ra6 Nd8 17.Bxe6 Nxe6 18.Qa2 Qe7 19.Ra1 Rec8 20.Ra7
Qe8 21.Qd5 c6 22.Qa2 Rc7 23.Qa5 Rxa7 24.Qxa7 Qc8 25.Qa6 Be7
26.Qxc8+ Rxc8 27.g3 Kf8 28.Kg2 Ke8 29.Be3 Bg5 30.Nxg5 hxg5
31.Kf3 f6 32.Kg4 g6 33.h4 gxh4 34.Kxh4 Rc7 35.Kg4 Kf7 36.
Ra8 d5 37.f4 dxe4 38.dxe4 exf4 39.gxf4 Ng7 40.Kf3 f5 41.Bd4
fxe4+ 42.Kxe4 Nf5 43.Bc5 Rd7 44.b4 Rd2 45.Ra7+ Ke8 46.Ke5
Rxc2 47.Rc7 Re2+ 48.Kf6 Re4 49.Kxg6 Rxf4 50.Kg5 Rf1 51.Rxc6
Kd7 52.Rb6 Ng3 53.Rd6+ Kc7 54.Re6 Kd7 55.Re5 Rf3 56.Kg4 Rb3
57.Kf4 Kc6 58.Re6+ Kd7 59.Re5 Kc6 60.Bf2 Nf1 61.Be1 Nh2 62.
Rc5+ Kb6 63.Bc3 Nf1 64.Be1 Ne3 65.Ke4 Nc4 66.Kd4 Rb1 67.Bc3
Rd1+ 68.Ke4 Nd6+ 69.Kf4 Rd3 70.Be1 Nc4 71.Bf2 Kb7 72.Rxb5+
Ka6 73.Rc5 Nd6 74.Ke5 Nf7+ 75.Ke6 Nd8+ 76.Ke7 Kb7 77.b5 Rd2
78.Be3 Rd3 79.Re5 Kc7 80.Re4 Rd5 81.Rc4+ Kb7 82.Rc3 Kb8 83.
Bb6 Rxb5 84.Bxd8 Kb7 85.Kd6 Rb1 86.Be7 Rd1+ 87.Ke6 Kb6 88.
Bd6 Kb5 89.Rc5+ Kb6 90.Kd7 Rh1 91.Rc2 Rh7+ 92.Ke6 Rh5 93.
Be5 Rh1 94.Bd4+ Kb5 95.Kd5 Rh5+ 96.Be5 Kb6 97.Rb2+ Ka6 98.
Kd6 Rh6+ 99.Kc7 Ka5 100.Bd6 Rh1 101.Kc6 Rc1+ 102.Bc5 Ka4
103.Rb4+ Ka3 104.Rb1+ 1-0
Carlsen,Magnus (2847) - Abdumalik,Zhansaya (2472) [C84]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.

d3 b5 6.Bb3 Be7 7.a4 Bb7 8.0-0 d6 9.Bd2 0-0 10.Nc3 Na5 11.
Ba2 b4 12.Ne2 c5 13.Ng3 Bc8 14.c3 Nc6 15.cxb4 Nxb4 16.Bxb4
cxb4 17.Rc1 Be6 18.Bxe6 fxe6 19.Qb3 Qd7 20.d4 exd4 21.Nxd4
d5 22.Nc6 a5 23.e5 Ng4 24.h3 Nh6 25.Ne2 Nf5 26.Nxe7+ Qxe7
27.Rc6 Nh4 28.Nd4 Qg5 29.Qg3 Qxg3 30.fxg3 Rxf1+ 31.Kxf1 Nf5
32.Nxf5 exf5 33.Ke2 Re8 34.e6 g6 35.Kd3 Kg7 36.Kd4 Kf6 37.
Kxd5 Rd8+ 38.Rd6 Rc8 39.Rd7 Rc1 40.Rf7+ Kg5 41.e7 Re1 42.
Kd6 Rd1+ 43.Kc7 Rc1+ 44.Kd7 Rd1+ 45.Ke8 h5 46.Kf8 1-0
Carlsen,Magnus (2840) - Hansen,Eric (2603) [C84]

PRO League Stage Chess.com INT (5), 11.02.2017
1.e4 e5 2.
Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.d3 d6 7.c3 0-0 8.Re1
b5 9.Bc2 Re8 10.Nbd2 Bf8 11.Nf1 Nb8 12.d4 Nbd7 13.Ng3 Bb7
14.b3 g6 15.a4 Bg7 16.Bd3 d5 17.Bg5 dxe4 18.Bxe4 Bxe4 19.
Nxe4 exd4 20.Nxd4 c5 21.Nc6 Qc7 22.Qd6 Qxd6 23.Nxd6 Rxe1+
24.Rxe1 bxa4 25.bxa4 Bf8 26.Ne7+ Kg7 27.a5 Rb8 28.h3 Rb3 29.
c4 Rd3 30.Bf4 Rd4 31.Bg3 h5 32.Kf1 Rd3 33.Bf4 Rd4 34.g3 Rd3
35.Ndc8 Bxe7 36.Rxe7 Kf8 37.Bh6+ Kg8 38.Be3 Ra3 39.Nd6 Rxa5
40.Kg2 Ra2 41.Rxf7 g5 42.Re7 g4 43.h4 a5 44.Bh6 1-0
Carlsen,Magnus (2838) - Ghosh,Diptayan (2581) [C84]

PRO League KO Stage Chess.com INT (1), 01.03.2017
1.e4 e5 2.
Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.c3 Be7 7.0-0 0-0 8.Re1
b5 9.Bc2 d5 10.Nbd2 d4 11.Nb3 a5 12.a4 bxa4 13.Rxa4 dxc3 14.
bxc3 Nd7 15.Be3 Nb6 16.Ra1 Bd6 17.Nbd2 f5 18.Bxb6 cxb6 19.
Bb3+ Kh8 20.Bd5 Qc7 21.Nc4 fxe4 22.Ng5 exd3 23.Nxh7 Rf5 24.
Be4 Be7 25.Qxd3 g6 26.Ne3 Qd7 27.Qc4 Bc5 28.Nxf5 gxf5 29.Nf6 1-0

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.d3 b5 7.

Bb3 d6 8.a3 0-0 9.Nbd2 Na5 10.Ba2 c5 11.Re1 Nc6 12.c3 Re8
13.Nf1 h6 14.Ne3 Bf8 15.b4 Be6 16.Nd5 Rc8 17.Bd2 Bxd5 18.
exd5 Ne7 19.c4 Nf5 20.a4 bxa4 21.bxc5 Rxc5 22.Qxa4 e4 23.
dxe4 Nxe4 24.Bb4 Rc8 25.Qc2 Qf6 26.h3 Nd4 27.Nxd4 Qxd4 28.
Rad1 Qb6 29.Rb1 Qd4 30.Rbd1 Qb6 31.Ba3 Qa5 32.Re3 Nf6 33.
Rdd3 Rxe3 34.Rxe3 Re8 35.Bc1 Rxe3 36.Bxe3 Qe1+ 37.Kh2 Qa1
38.g3 a5 39.Kg2 Qe5 40.Bb1 g6 41.Bb6 Qe1 42.Bd4 Nd7 43.Bc3
Qe7 44.Bxa5 Bg7 45.Bd2 h5 46.Be3 Be5 47.Qd2 Nc5 48.Bc2 Kg7
49.Qe2 Qf6 50.Qf3 Qxf3+ 51.Kxf3 f5 52.Ke2 Kf6 53.Kd2 g5 54.
f4 gxf4 55.gxf4 Bb2 56.Bf2 Kg6 57.Kd1 Bc3 58.Bh4 Bf6 59.Be1
Bd4 60.Ke2 Bb2 61.Ba5 Bc1 62.Kf3 Ba3 63.Bc7 Nd7 64.Ke2 Nf6
65.Bd3 Bc5 66.Kd1 Ne4 67.Kc2 Nf2 68.Bf1 Ne4 69.Bg2 Ng3 70.
Bf3 Ne4 71.Bg2 Ng3 72.Kd3 h4 73.Bd8 Nh5 74.Bg5 Bf2 75.Bf3
Nf6 76.Ke2 Bg3 77.Ke3 Kf7 78.Kd3 Nh7 79.Bh5+ Kg7 80.Be7 Nf6
81.c5 dxc5 82.Bf3 Bxf4 83.Bxc5 Ne8 84.Be7 Nd6 85.Bxh4 Kg6 1-0
Saric,Ivan (2680) - Carlsen,Magnus (2864) [C87]

1.
e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 d6 7.c3
0-0 8.h3 Nd7 9.d4 Bf6 10.Be3 b5 11.Bc2 exd4 12.cxd4 Nb4 13.
Bb3 c5 14.a3 Nc6 15.Nc3 c4 16.Bc2 g6 17.Nd5 Bg7 18.Bg5 f6
19.Bf4 Ndb8 20.b3 cxb3 21.Bxb3 Kh8 22.Rc1 Ra7 23.Qd2 Be6 24.
Ba2 Bg8 25.Rc2 Ne7 26.Qb4 Rd7 27.Nxe7 Qxe7 28.Bxg8 Rxg8 29.
d5 Re8 30.Nd4 f5 31.Ne6 fxe4 32.Rxe4 Qf6 33.Bxd6 Qf5 34.
Nxg7 Qxe4 35.Nxe8 Qxe8 36.Qd4+ Kg8 37.Bb4 h5 38.Bc3 Kh7 39.
Re2 Qg8 40.Qf6 Rf7 41.Re7 Rxe7 42.Qxe7+ Kh6 43.Bd2+ g5 44.
h4 Qxd5 45.Bxg5+ Kg6 46.Qe8+ 1-0
Carlsen,Magnus (2847) - So,Wesley (2772) [C88]

San Fermin Masters Final chess24.com INT (2.3), 11.07.2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.

Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.a4 b4 9.d3 d6 10.
Nbd2 Be6 11.Nc4 Rb8 12.a5 Na7 13.d4 Nxe4 14.Rxe4 d5 15.Rxe5
dxc4 16.Rxe6 cxb3 17.Rxa6 Nb5 18.cxb3 Qd5 19.Qc2 c5 20.dxc5
Bxc5 21.Be3 Bxe3 22.fxe3 Rfc8 23.Rb6 Ra8 24.Rd1 Rxc2 25.
Rxd5 Nc7 26.Rd7 h6 27.Nd4 Rc1+ 28.Kf2 Rxa5 29.Rc6 1-0

Sinquefield Cup 5th Saint Louis (9), 11.08.2017
[Szabo,Krisztian]
1.e4 e5 2.
Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.
a4 b4 9.a5 d6 10.d3 Be6 11.Bxe6 A relatively new idea.
White exchanges the bishops, opens the f-file for Black,
but he hopes that the double-pawns on the e-file will be a
weakness for Black.
[11.Nbd2 is the another main move.]
11...fxe6 12.Nbd2 Rb8 13.c3
[In the first round Carlsen had this line with Black too,
13.Nb3 Qc8 14.Qe2 Nd8 15.d4 exd4 16.Nbxd4 c5 17.Nb3 e5
18.Nbd2 Ne6 19.Nc4 Nd4 20.Nxd4 cxd4 21.Nb6 Qc6 22.Bg5
Bd8 23.Bxf6 Bxb6 24.axb6 Rxf6 25.Rxa6 h6 26.Qd3 Rxb6=
Caruana-Carlsen, Saint Louis 2017, with an equal position.]
13...Qe8 14.Nc4N A novelty by Carlsen.
[Recently 14.d4 was played by Topalov, 14...bxc3 15.bxc3
exd4 16.cxd4 Rb5 17.Nc4 Qg6 18.Qe2 Nd7 Topalov-Adams,
Shamkir 2017, with an unclear middlegame.]
14...Qg6 15.h3 Nd7 A typical continuation, Black prepares
for ...d5.
[Nevertheless I prefer 15...Nh5!? like an active move to
play for ...f4.]
16.Be3 d5 17.Ncd2 Of course White doesn't exchange. The e5-
and e6-pawns became weaker. 17...bxc3 18.bxc3 Nc5 19.Bxc5!
At first this seems a strange move. Why does White give up
his nice bishop? The knight was exerting pressure on d3;
moreover after removing the knight White has an extra
possibility on the next move. 19...Bxc5 20.Qa4! This was the
point of White's previous move. 20...Rb2!? Ambitious reply!
21.Rf1! Very deep move! Carlsen protects his f2-pawn in
advance, now the c6-knight is hanging already.
[The careless 21.Qxc6? loses immediately, because of 21...
Bxf2+! 22.Kxf2 Rxd2+-+ and Black is winning.]
21...Na7?! Too passive a move!
[21...Qe8 should have been played, however 22.Rab1 Rxb1 23.
Rxb1 and White is more comfortable.]
22.Nxe5 Qh6 23.Ndf3 Nb5 24.Rae1! White doesn't protect the
c3-pawn and he solves the problem with a nice idea.
[Moreover 24.Rac1? could have been met by 24...Rxf2! 25.
Rxf2 Qxc1+-+ and Black wins.]
24...Nxc3
[In the event of 24...Bd6 25.exd5 exd5 (25...Nxc3 26.
Qa1! important tempo!) 26.Qa1! Rc2 27.c4! White
is better too.]
25.Qc6! Suddenly Black has a lot of weaknesses on the
queenside. White is safe, his pieces are active, the white
queen is threatening to take the pawns. 25...Bb4 26.Kh1
Probably this is not the strongest move, but a good
practical prophylactic reply. The king moves away from a
possible ...e2+. 26...dxe4
[26...Ne2 27.Rb1 is similar to the text move.]
27.dxe4 Ne2 28.Rb1 White simplifies the position, so
Black's pressure is decreasing. 28...Rxb1 29.Rxb1 Bd6 30.
Qxa6 Carlsen starts to eat the pawns. 30...Nf4 31.Qb5 c5 32.
a6 It's time to advance the passed pawn. 32...Bxe5 33.Nxe5
Qg5 34.Ng4 h5 35.Ne3 White is safe. 35...Nxg2 Still the best
practical chance, otherwise White promotes his a-pawn
without any counterplay. 36.Nxg2 Rxf2 37.Rg1 Kh7 38.Qd3 It
is important to come back with the queen especially in time
pressure. 38...Qe5 39.Qe3 Ra2 40.Qf4 The best practical move.
White doesn't protect his a-pawn, he wants to exchange the
queens and then he can win without any difficulties. 40...
Qc3 41.Ne3 Qf6
[Or 41...Rxa6 42.Qg5+- and Black has no hope.]
42.Qxf6 gxf6 43.Rc1 Rxa6 44.Kg2! Correct reply!
[The greedy 44.Rxc5 could have been met by 44...Ra3 and
Black wins the h3-pawn and he survives.]
44...Ra2+ 45.Rc2 Ra5 46.Kf3 Kg6 47.h4 Rb5 48.Ra2 Rb1 49.Rc2
Rb5 50.Rc3 f5
[50...Ra5 51.Ng2+- is also hopeless for Black.]
51.exf5+ exf5 52.Rd3 A very nice victory by Carlsen! 1-0

Wch Blitz Warsaw (21), 30.12.2021
1.e4 e5
2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.
a4 Bb7 9.d3 d6 10.Nbd2 Re8 11.Nf1 h6 12.c3 Bf8 13.Ne3 Ne7
14.h3 Ng6 15.Nh2 d5 16.exd5 Nxd5 17.Qf3 Nh4 18.Qe4 Nxe3 19.
Qxb7 Nexg2 20.Re4 Qxd3 21.Rg4 Qxh3 22.Rg3 Qf5 23.Rxg2 Nxg2
24.Qxg2 Rad8 25.Ng4 Kh8 26.axb5 axb5 27.Ne3 Qh5 28.Nf1 e4
29.Ng3 Qg6 30.Be3 Bd6 31.Ne2 Qh5 32.Ng3 Bxg3 33.fxg3 Rd3 34.
Qf2 f5 35.Bc2 Rd6 36.Kg2 Red8 37.Rh1 Qg6 38.Bf4 Rd5 39.Qe2
c5 40.b3 c4 41.bxc4 bxc4 42.Rf1 Qf6 43.Qxc4 Qb6 44.Bb3 Rc5
45.Qf7 Rxc3 46.Be5 Rd2+ 47.Kh1 1-0
Dominguez Perez,Leinier (2754) - Carlsen,Magnus (2864) [C88]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.

Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.a4 Bb7 9.d3 d6 10.
Nbd2 Na5 11.Ba2 c5 12.Nf1 b4 13.Ne3 b3 14.cxb3 Nc6 15.b4
Nxb4 16.Bc4 Bc8 17.Bd2 Nc6 18.a5 Be6 19.Nd5 Rb8 20.Nxf6+
Bxf6 21.Bxa6 Qc7 22.Bc3 Bb3 23.Qd2 Nb4 24.Bxb4 Rxb4 25.Qc3
Ra8 26.Nd2 Rxa6 27.Nxb3 Bd8 28.Ra3 Qb7 29.g3 h5 30.h4 Qd7
31.Qc2 Qg4 32.Qe2 Qe6 33.Qc2 g5 34.hxg5 h4 35.Kg2 Bxg5 36.
Nd2 Qg4 37.Nc4 d5 38.Nxe5 Qe6 39.Nf3 Bf6 40.Qxc5 Rxb2 41.
Qxd5 h3+ 42.Kg1 Qg4 43.e5 Be7 44.Rc3 Rxa5 45.Rc4 Qf5 46.Qe4
Qxe4 47.Rcxe4 Raa2 48.Rf1 Ra3 49.Re3 Bc5 50.d4 Rxe3 51.fxe3
Rg2+ 52.Kh1 Be7 53.Ng1 Bg5 54.Nxh3 Rxg3 55.Nxg5 1-0

Tata Steel India rapid Kolkata (9), 24.11.2019
1.e4 e5 2.
Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.
c3 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 12.d3 Bd6 13.Re1
Bf5 14.Qf3 Qh4 15.g3 Qh3 16.Be3 Bxd3 17.Bxd5 cxd5 18.Qxd5
Rad8 19.Qg2 Qc8 20.Nd2 Bf5 21.Bd4 Rfe8 22.f3 Bf8 23.a3 Re6
24.Rxe6 Qxe6 25.Qf2 Re8 26.Nf1 h5 27.Ne3 Bh3 28.Re1 Qc6 29.
Ng2 Rxe1+ 30.Nxe1 Qg6 31.Qc2 Bf5 32.Qd2 Be6 33.Qd3 Bf5 34.
Qe3 Be6 35.Bc5 Bxc5 36.Qxc5 Qb1 37.Qf2 Bd5 38.Kg2 a5 39.Qe2
Qf5 40.Kf2 Be6 41.Nc2 Qh3 42.Kg1 Bc4 43.Qe8+ Kh7 44.Ne3 Qe6
45.Qxe6 Bxe6 46.b4 axb4 47.axb4 g5 48.h4 gxh4 49.gxh4 Kg6
50.Kf2 Kf6 51.Nf1 Ke5 52.Ng3 f5 53.Nxh5 f4 54.Ng7 Bf7 55.h5
Kf6 56.h6 Kg6 57.Nh5 Kxh6 58.Nxf4 Kg5 59.Ne2 Kf5 1-0

[Szabo,Krisztian]
1.e4 e5 2.
Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.d3 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3
[8.a4;
and 8.a3 are the other main variations.]

8...0-0 9.Re1 Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.Nbd2 Nc6
[11...Re8 is also common.]
12.Nf1 h6 13.Ne3 A logical plan by Carlsen. He would like
to control the important d5-square.
[13.Ng3 is the other setup.]
13...Re8 14.a4 Be6 15.d4
[Last year Adams played 15.h3 Bf8 16.Nh2 b4 17.Bb3 Rb8 18.
Bc4 bxc3 19.bxc3 d5 20.Bxa6 Qa5 21.Bb5 (21.c4?! A very
smart move, but it is too much. 21...Qxa6 22.exd5 Bxd5
23.cxd5 Nb4 24.Ra3 Nfxd5 Adams-Caruana, London
2014, and Black has a wonderful middlegame.) 21...Rxb5
22.exd5 Nxd5 23.Nc4 Qa8 24.axb5 Qxa1 25.bxc6 f6 and
Black looks nicely placed too.]
15...exd4 16.cxd4 Nb4N Aronian improves on the game which
he played 12 years ago.
[16...Nxd4 17.Nxd4 cxd4 18.Qxd4 Nd7 19.axb5 axb5 20.Bd2
Bf6 (20...Qb6!?) 21.Qxd6 Rxa1 22.Rxa1 Bxb2 23.Rb1 Be5 24.
Qd3 Qc7 25.Nd5 Bxd5 26.exd5 Nf6 27.g3 J.Polgar-
Aronian, Hoogeveen 2003, with a comfortable position for
White.]
17.Bb1 bxa4 18.Rxa4 Bf8 19.Ra1 d5! A typical break-through
in this type of position.
20.e5 Ne4 21.h3 Qb6?! This is a slight inaccuracy, after
which White can win a . Nevertheless Black will have some
compensation for it, but he will be fighting for equaliity.
[After the natural 21...Rc8 Black looks completely fine.]

22.Nxd5! Bxd5 23.Bxe4 Rad8 24.Bxd5 Rxd5 25.Be3 Red8 26.dxc5
Bxc5 27.Qb3 Bxe3 28.Rxe3 a5 The previous moves were forced;
Carlsen is a  up, but Black's pieces are powerful.
29.e6!? Carlsen gives back the , and in doing so he
creates a weakness in Black's position. 29...fxe6 30.Rae1
R8d6 31.Rc1 Nd3? A mistake, which allows a strong attack
for White!
[31...Rd3!= was the easiest reply to simplify the
position and Black doesn't have any problem.]
32.Rc8+ Kh7 33.Qa4! A nice repositioning of the . From
here the  can threaten the  with e8 and it also has
access to e4 with lethal checks. 33...Qxb2? This was an
attractive move, because of the  attack on f2, and
moreover he takes a . Nevertheless this is a decisive
mistake.
[33...Nb4 was correct to avoid the e4, 34.Qe8 Rd1+ 35.
Kh2 Rd8 36.Rxd8 Rxd8 37.Qh5 Qc7+ and still Black can
hold his position.]
34.Qe4+ Rf5 35.Kh2!! What an excellent cool-headed move!
White avoids ...xf2+ and is threatening h4.
[The immediate 35.Nh4?? was bad, as 35...Qxf2+ 36.Kh2
Qf4+-+ and suddenly Black wins.]
35...Nf4 The best practical chance.
[35...Qxf2? did not work because of 36.Rxd3+-;
and 35...Nxf2 is also losing, after 36.Qa8!+- with a

decisive attack.]
36.Rc2?? A big mistake probably in time trouble.
[He should simply continue the original threat with 36.Nh4
Qxf2 37.Rg3! (37.Nxf5 exf5 38.Qxf5+? Rg6! and suddenly
Black has an attack on the g-file.) 37...Rdd5 38.Nxf5
Rxf5 39.Rc7+- and White is winning.]
36...Qa1?? A huge error in reply! This move is completely
based on an oversight.
[36...Qb4 37.Rc4 Qb8 is very similar to 36...b8!;
36...Qb8! was the strongest continuation,

A) 37.g4? Ng6! 38.gxf5 exf5!-+ and there isn't a safe
square for the white , because the  will win it
with a discovered check.;
B) 37.Nh4 Rd4! A very strong intermediate move! 38.Rc8! (
38.Qxd4? Ne2+-+ and Black wins.) 38...Qxc8 39.Qxd4
Rf6;
C) 37.g3 Nd5 38.Ree2 Nf6 and Black is a clear  up.]
37.g4+- Now White is clearly winning. 37...Qf1 38.Ne1
Perhaps this move was what Aronian missed when he played
36...a1. Now everything is defended and Black is helpless
against gxf5.
[The careless 38.Nh4?? loses, because of 38...Rd1-+ and
suddenly it is White who gets mated!]
38...Nh5 39.gxf5 exf5 40.Qc4 and Black can't avoid the
exchange of s, so he resigned. 1-0
Carlsen,Magnus (2847) - Le,Quang Liem (2709) [C90]
Aimchess US Rapid Prelim Chess24.com INT (3), 28.08.2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.

Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.a3 h6 10.d4
Re8 11.Nbd2 Bf8 12.Bc2 Bg4 13.h3 Bh5 14.d5 Nb8 15.a4 Nbd7
16.Qe2 Rb8 17.Nb3 c6 18.dxc6 Nc5 19.axb5 axb5 20.Nxc5 dxc5
21.g4 Bg6 22.c4 bxc4 23.Bd2 Qc8 24.Bc3 Bd6 25.Nh4 Kh7 26.
Qxc4 Re7 27.Red1 Qxc6 28.Nxg6 fxg6 29.Ra6 Rb6 30.Ba4 Rxa6
31.Bxc6 Rxc6 32.b4 Rb7 33.b5 Rcb6 34.Kg2 Bb8 35.Rb1 Ne8 36.
Qxc5 Nd6 37.Qxe5 Nxb5 38.Qc5 Bd6 39.Qe3 g5 40.e5 Nxc3 41.
Rxb6 Rxb6 42.Qd3+ Kh8 43.exd6 1-0

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.

Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.d3 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.a4 Bd7 10.Bc2
Re8 11.Re1 h6 12.Nbd2 Bf8 13.h3 Rb8 14.b4 Ne7 15.axb5 axb5
16.d4 Ng6 17.Nb3 Ra8 18.Bd2 Rxa1 19.Qxa1 Qc8 20.Kh2 Nh5 21.
Bd3 Nhf4 22.Bf1 c6 23.dxe5 dxe5 24.Be3 Be6 25.Nc5 Bxc5 26.
bxc5 f6 27.Rd1 Kh7 28.Rd6 f5 29.Bxf4 exf4 30.Nd4 Ne5 31.Qb1
g6 32.Qc1 Bd7 33.exf5 g5 34.Qc2 Rg8 35.Qe4 Qe8 36.Ne6 Nf7
37.f6+ Kh8 38.Bd3 1-0

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0

Be7 6.d3 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.Re1 Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.Nbd2
Re8 12.Nf1 Nc6 13.Ne3 Bf8 14.a4 b4 15.Nd5 h6 16.a5 Nxd5 17.
exd5 Nxa5 18.Ba4 Re7 19.Nd2 Rb8 20.c4 Nb7 21.Ne4 f5 22.Ng3
f4 23.Ne4 Rf7 24.Bd2 Qb6 25.Be8 Re7 26.Qh5 Bf5 27.Qxf5
Rbxe8 28.Qg6 Kh8 29.g3 Na5 30.Nxd6 Kg8 31.Rxa5 Rd8 32.Rea1
Rxd6 33.Qe4 Qb7 34.Rxc5 Rf7 35.Rc6 Rxc6 36.dxc6 Qb6 37.gxf4
Bc5 38.Kh1 Bd4 39.fxe5 Rxf2 40.Bf4 Bxb2 41.Be3 Qb8 42.Rg1
Rf8 43.d4 1-0
Nepomniachtchi,Ian (2784) - Carlsen,Magnus (2862) [C91]

Skilling op KO chess24.com INT (2.21), 28.11.2020
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.

d3 d6 7.c3 0-0 8.Nbd2 Re8 9.Re1 Bf8 10.d4 b5 11.Bc2 exd4 12.
cxd4 Bg4 13.Nf1 g6 14.Ng3 Bg7 15.Be3 Nd7 16.Rc1 Bxf3 17.
gxf3 Qf6 18.Bb3 Nxd4 19.Bxd4 Qxd4 20.Rxc7 Ra7 21.Rxa7 Qxa7
22.Qxd6 Bxb2 23.f4 Nc5 24.Bd5 Bd4 25.Re2 Nd3 26.Kg2 Kg7 27.
Rd2 Bc5 28.Qc6 Nxf4+ 29.Kf3 Rd8 30.Kxf4 Rd6 31.Qe8 Bxf2 32.
Kg4 Rf6 33.e5 h5+ 34.Kh3 Rf4 35.e6 fxe6 36.Bxe6 Bd4 37.
Nxh5+ gxh5 38.Rg2+ Kf6 39.Rg6+ Ke5 40.Bb3+ 1-0

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6

3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.d4 d6 9.
c3 Bg4 10.Be3 exd4 11.cxd4 Na5 12.h3 Nxb3 13.axb3 Bd7 14.
Bd2 Qc8 15.Ba5 Qb7 16.Nbd2 c5 17.d5 Bd8 18.b4 Bxa5 19.Rxa5
Qb6 20.Qb3 Rfe8 21.Qa3 h6 22.bxc5 dxc5 23.b4 cxb4 24.Qxb4
Rac8 25.Ra2 Rc7 26.Raa1 Bc8 27.Qd4 Qxd4 28.Nxd4 Bd7 29.f3
a5 30.Reb1 a4 31.Nxb5 Rc2 32.Nf1 Ra8 33.Na3 Rc3 34.Rc1 Rac8
35.Rxc3 Rxc3 36.Ng3 Ne8 37.Ne2 Rd3 38.Nc4 Bb5 39.Ne5 Rd2 40.
Nc3 Nd6 41.Nxb5 Nxb5 42.Rxa4 f5 43.h4 fxe4 44.fxe4 Kf8 45.
Nf3 Rd3 46.Kf2 Ke7 47.Kg3 Nc3 48.Rc4 1-0
Svidler,Peter (2723) - Carlsen,Magnus (2863) [C91]

FIDE Steinitz Memorial chess24.com INT (10), 16.05.2020
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5

Nf6 4.d3 d6 5.0-0 Be7 6.c3 0-0 7.Re1 a6 8.Ba4 Re8 9.Nbd2 b5
10.Bc2 Bf8 11.d4 Bb7 12.a4 Nb8 13.Bd3 c6 14.b3 Nbd7 15.Qc2
Qc7 16.Bb2 Nh5 17.Bf1 Nf4 18.g3 Ne6 19.b4 Nb6 20.axb5 cxb5
21.d5 Nd4 22.Nxd4 exd4 23.c4 Rac8 24.Bxd4 Nxc4 25.Nxc4 bxc4
26.Rac1 f5 27.Bh3 fxe4 28.Bxc8 Rxc8 29.Qxe4 Qf7 30.Qg4 Qxd5
31.Qe6+ Qxe6 32.Rxe6 Kf7 33.Re3 Bd5 34.Bc3 Bc6 35.Ra1 Ra8
36.Rae1 d5 37.Rf3+ Kg8 38.Re6 Rc8 39.Rf4 Bb5 40.h4 Rd8 41.
Rb6 Bd6 42.Rg4 Rd7 43.h5 h6 44.Rg6 Bf8 45.Bd4 Bxb4 46.Rb8+
Kh7 47.f4 c3 48.Rxh6+ 1-0
Carlsen,Magnus (2865) - Baramidze,David (2594) [C95]

Grenke Chess Classic 3rd Baden-Baden (5), 07.02.2015
[Szabo,Krisztian]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.

0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 Nb8 10.d4 Nbd7 11.
Nbd2 Bb7 12.Bc2 Re8 13.Nf1 Bf8 14.Ng3 g6 15.a4 Bg7
[The 15...c5 16.d5 c4 line is more popular.]
16.Bd3 c6 17.Bg5
[On the next day Anand played 17.Be3 against Baramidze 17...
Qc7 18.Qd2 exd4 19.cxd4 c5 20.d5 c4 21.Bc2 Rec8 22.axb5
c3 23.bxc3 Nxd5 24.exd5 Bxc3 25.Qd1 Bxa1 26.Qxa1 axb5 27.
Qd4! with a promising position for White, later he
managed to win, Anand-Baramidze, Baden Baden 2015.]
17...Nf8 18.Qd2 Ne6 19.Bh6 Nd7 20.Bc2 Bxh6 21.Qxh6 Qf6 22.
Rad1 Rad8 23.d5N The first new move in the game.
[23.Rd2 exd4 24.Nxd4 Qf4 25.Qxf4 Nxf4 26.Nde2 Nxe2+ 27.
Rdxe2 Nb6 28.a5 Nc8 29.Rd1 with a nearly equal endgame,
but White is more comfortable, N.Djukic-Nikcevic, Tivat
2011.]
23...cxd5 24.exd5 Qf4 A logical decision, Black exchanges
the s and he tries to level the endgame.
25.Qxf4 Nxf4 26.Ne4 Bxd5 27.axb5 axb5 28.Nxd6 So far
Baramidze has done a nice job defending and creating
counterplay. His pieces are active and give counterplay
even if he loses the b5  too. 28...Re6? This looks logical
move is a mistake. The  will be attackable on e6.
[28...Bxf3 29.gxf3 Re7 30.Nxb5 Rb8 31.c4 Nxh3+ 32.Kh2
Nf4;
or 28...Rf8! 29.Ne4 (29.Nxb5 Rb8= and the  is regained on

b2.) 29...f5 30.Neg5 Rfe8⇆ and Black looks nicely
placed.]
29.Ne4! The right reply!
[29.Nxb5 could have been met by 29...Rb6= and the b2  is
lost.]
29...f5
[In the event of 29...Nb6 30.Nfg5 Re7 31.g3 Nh5 32.Bd3
and White is slightly better.]
30.Nfg5! A very strong intermediate move. He attacks the e6
, moreover he protects the h3 , so he prepares for g3 too.
30...Re7
[30...fxe4?! is dubious, because of 31.Rxd5! Nxd5 32.
Nxe6 and White is better.]
31.g3! Another great answer! The  on f4 cannot move,
because the  on d5 is hanging, and in the awkward
positions of Black's s and the pinned  on d7 his
structure will be compromised. 31...Bxe4 32.Bxe4 fxe4
[In the event of 32...Nxh3+ 33.Nxh3 fxe4 34.Ng5 and
White has a wonderful position.]
33.gxf4 Rf8
[33...exf4 34.Rxe4 Rde8 (34...Rxe4 35.Nxe4 the pin is
very unpleasant for Black.) 35.Rxf4 and White is a
healthy  up.]
34.Nxe4 Rxf4 35.b4! A good move. White fixes the b5 .
Material is still even, but White's  on e4 is monstrous
and he will win the b5  soon. 35...Nf6
[35...Nb6 36.Nd6 Rf3 37.Nxb5 Rxh3 38.Rd6 Nc4 39.Rd8+ Kf7
40.Re4 and White's two s on the queenside are really
strong.]
36.Nd6 Rf3 37.Nxb5 Rxh3 38.c4 White's s are very fast, the
position is very unpleasant for Black. 38...Rh4
[38...Rb3 could have been met by the tricky 39.Nd4! and in
the event of the  being captured with 39...Rxb4 40.Nc6
and White should win the endgame.]
39.Nd6 Nh5 40.b5 Nf4 Black tries to create some counterplay
against White's , but it is not dangerous.
41.b6 Rg4+ 42.Kf1 Rh4 43.f3 This is the point! White simply
avoids the mate, Black has no hope. 43...Rh1+ 44.Kf2 Rh2+ 45.
Kg1 Rc2
[45...Rb2 46.Rb1+-]
46.Kh1
[The careless 46.b7? is bad, because of 46...Nh3+ 47.Kh1
Nf2+ 48.Kg1 Nh3+= and Black survives with perpetual
checks.]
46...Nh3 47.Ne4 The  comes back to defend against f2+.
There were other winning moves too, but this is the easiest
practical reply. 47...Rxc4 48.Rd8+! Kg7 49.Rb1 and Black
resigned, because he can't defend against b7. Very nice
technique by Carlsen! 1-0
Carlsen,Magnus (2861) - Amin,Bassem (2704) [C95]

Abidjan GCT blitz Abidjan (10), 12.05.2019
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.

0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 Nb8 10.d4 Nbd7 11.
Nbd2 Bb7 12.Bc2 Re8 13.Nf1 Bf8 14.Ng3 g6 15.Bg5 h6 16.Bd2
exd4 17.cxd4 c5 18.d5 Bg7 19.Bf4 Qe7 20.a4 Nb6 21.b3 bxa4
22.bxa4 a5 23.Rb1 Nfd7 24.Qc1 Kh7 25.h4 Ba6 26.h5 Nc4 27.
Nf1 Rab8 28.Rxb8 Rxb8 29.Bd3 Rb4 30.N1h2 Rxa4 31.hxg6+ fxg6
32.e5 Ndxe5 33.Bxg6+ Nxg6 34.Rxe7 Nxe7 35.Qc2+ Ng6 36.Qxa4
Nxf4 37.Qc6 Ne2+ 38.Kh1 1-0
Anand,Viswanathan (2804) - Carlsen,Magnus (2876) [C95]

[Roiz,Michael]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6

5.0-0 Be7 6.d3 Both players have a huge experience of
playing the Ruy Lopez with both colours. This time Vishy
goes for a quiet, but very fashionable line. 6...d6
[6...b5 7.Bb3 d6 is the most common choice here.]
7.c3 0-0 8.Nbd2 Re8 9.Re1 b5 10.Bc2
[10.Bb3 Na5 11.Bc2 c5 leads to another well-known
theoretical line.]
10...Bf8 11.Nf1
[11.d4!? deserves some attention in order to meet 11...Bg4
with 12.h3 Bh5 13.d5]
11...g6 12.h3
[Sometimes White prefers to start with 12.Ng3 , but most
probably White shouldn't do without h2-h3 anyway.]
12...Bb7 13.Ng3
[It was also possible to keep the knight on f1 for a
while, like in the following example: 13.Be3 Bg7 14.Qc1
Qd7 (14...d5!?) 15.Bh6 Nd8 16.Ng3 c5 17.Bxg7 Kxg7 18.d4
�-� (82) Rozentalis,E (2607)-Jovanic,O (2519)/Trieste
ITA 2013]
13...Nb8 14.d4 Nbd7 The players have entered into the main
line of Breyer system. 15.a4
[15.b3 is another major line here.]
15...c5 16.d5 c4 17.Bg5 Bg7
[Recently White has managed to put Black under positional
pressure after 17...h6 18.Be3 Nc5 19.Qd2 Kh7 20.Bxc5 dxc5;
In the following recent game Black was able to solve the

problems after 17...Rb8!? 18.Qd2 Nc5 19.axb5 axb5 20.Nh2
Bc8 21.Rf1 Bg7 22.f4 h6 23.fxe5 Nfxe4 24.Bxe4 Qxg5 25.
Qxg5 hxg5 26.e6 fxe6 27.Bxg6 Re7= 1/2-1/2 Vachier
Lagrave,M (2775)-Dominguez Perez,L (2726)/Tbilisi FIDE
GP 2015]
18.Qd2 Rb8 Magnus deviates from the known paths at this
early stage. This move is aimed at making the c8-spot
vacant for the bishop.
[In the following classical game between two former World
Champions White couldn't pose Black any special problems:
18...Nc5 19.Ra3 (19.Nh4 Qd7 20.axb5 axb5 21.Rxa8 Rxa8 22.
Qe3 Ne8⇆ 1-0 (68) Zherebukh,Y (2473)-Kovalev,V
(2318)/Kirishi 2008/CBM 127 Extra) 19...Qc7 20.Rea1
Rab8 21.Qe3 Nfd7 22.Bh6 Bh8 23.Nh2 Bc8 24.axb5 axb5 25.
Ng4 Nf6 �-� Tal,M (2645)-Petrosian,T (2645)/Milan 1975/
MCL]
19.Nh2N This logical innovation is a standard preparation
of White's k-side activity, which is based on the f2-f4
advance.
[Taking control over the a-file doesn't offer much: 19.Ra3
Nc5 20.axb5 axb5= �-� (21) Dueball,J (2450)-Matanovic,A
(2490)/Bath 1973/EU-chT]
19...Bc8?! The World Champion is playing with fire! Leaving
the pin yields White too many attacking possibilities.
[A much safer move was 19...Qc7
A) 20.Ng4 Nxg4 21.hxg4 Bc8 22.Be3 (22.f3 Nc5 23.Be3 Bd7
24.axb5 Rxb5 25.Ra2 Reb8 26.Rb1 a5⇆) 22...Nc5 23.
g5 Bd7⇆;
B) 20.f4 exf4 21.Qxf4 b4 22.Rf1 Qa5⇆ with a complex
battle.]
20.Ng4 Nc5?! One more inaccuracy.
[After 20...Qe7 21.Nh6+ Kh8 22.Rf1 Qf8 23.axb5 axb5 24.Ra5 (
24.h4!?) 24...Nc5 25.Rfa1 Black's position would be
worse, but playable.]
21.Nh6+! Bxh6 Exchanging the main defender of king is
definitely a bad sign for Black!
[21...Kf8 22.axb5 axb5 23.f4]
22.Bxh6 bxa4 Breaking the q-side pawn chain is necessary,
since Black desperately needs any counterplay.
23.Ra2 Definitely not the best, since Black is getting some
play along the b-file, while the a2 is passive now.
[A stronger move was 23.Reb1! Bd7 24.Bg5 Kg7 25.Qe3 Qe7 26.
Ra2]
23...a3! 24.bxa3?! Recapturing the pawn definitely suits
Black here.
[There was a nice way to extend the initiative at the
cost of pawn: 24.Rxa3! Rxb2 25.Bg5 Kg7 26.Qc1 Qb6 (26...
Rb7 27.Rf1↑) 27.Be3 Nfd7 28.Ba4↑]
24...Nfd7! 25.f4
[Possibly, 25.Qe3!? was more promising here: 25...Kh8 (25...
a5 26.Nf5 Nf6 27.Ng7 Rf8 28.f4↑) 26.Raa1 Rb2 27.Qc1]
25...a5! Magnus finds the best way to connect the rooks -
the bishop is heading to a6.
[25...Qh4? doesn't work in view of 26.Bg5 Qxg3 27.Re3 Nb3
28.Bxb3 Qxe3+ 29.Qxe3 cxb3 30.Rb2+-]
26.Rf1
[26.f5 Qh4! 27.Nf1 f6 28.Be3 gxf5 29.Bf2 Qg5 looks good
for Black.]
26...f6? This passive continuation leads to a very
difficult position from the strategic point of view.
[It was necessary to release the pressure in the centre:
26...Qb6! 27.Kh1 Nb3 28.Qe2 exf4! 29.Bxf4 Ne5 30.Be3
Qd8⇆ leads to a complex position, where the strong
centralised knight compensates for the vulnerablity of
Black's monarch.]
27.f5! Now Black's position desperately lacks space. 27...
Nd3 Black is trying to complicate matters, since White's
potential k-side attack is unstoppable.
[After 27...Qe7 28.h4 Qf7 29.Be3 White may develop a
crushing attack step by step.]
28.Bxd3 cxd3 29.Qd1! White has reached a harmonious setup,
so all the pieces may take part in attacking the opponent's
king.
[Vishy correctly rejects 29.Qxd3?! Qb6+ 30.Be3 (30.Kh2 Ba6
31.c4 Qb3=) 30...Ba6 31.Qd2 Qb3]
29...Re7
[29...Kh8 30.Be3 Rg8 31.Qxd3 Qc7 32.fxg6 hxg6 33.Qe2]
30.Raf2 Rf7 31.Qxd3 Now there is nothing wrong with taking
a pawn.
[31.h4!? was another promising option here: 31...Kh8 32.
fxg6 hxg6 33.h5 Qg8 34.Bg5→]
31...Nc5 32.Qf3 Ba6 A natural move, but the bishop was
quite useful on c8.
[32...g5 was bad: 33.h4 gxh4 34.Nh5 Kh8 35.Qg4 Qe7 36.Rf3
Ba6 37.Re1 Nd3 38.Ree3 Rb1+ 39.Kh2+-;
The most tenacious continuation seems to be 32...Kh8 33.

fxg6 hxg6 34.Bg5 Nd7 35.h4 Ba6 36.c4 Qg8 and Black
manages to parry the immediate threats, though White is
still almost winning here.]
33.Qg4
[It looks like the direct attack would decide the game
here: 33.fxg6 hxg6 34.Qg4 Kh7 35.Qh4 Bxf1 36.Bg5+ Kg8 (
36...Kg7 37.Qh6+ Kg8 38.Bxf6! Rxf6 39.Nh5 gxh5 40.
Rxf6+-) 37.Bxf6 Rh7 38.Qg5 Qe8 39.Rxf1 Rbb7 40.h4+-]
33...g5
[Black's position is hopeless after 33...Bc8 34.Qh4 g5 35.
Qg4 Kh8 36.h4 Ba6 37.hxg5 Bxf1 38.g6+-]
34.h4! There is no need to spend a tempo on removing the
rook. 34...Bxf1 35.Rxf1 Qd7
[After 35...Kh8 36.hxg5 fxg5 the most convincing is 37.f6
Rxf6 38.Bg7+ Kxg7 39.Nh5+ Kh8 40.Rxf6 Qe7 41.Qf5+- with
full domination.]
36.hxg5 fxg5 37.Qh5 This unexpected move doesn't spoil
anything - the king is too weak.
[There was nothing wrong with the most natural 37.Bxg5 Kh8
38.Qh4 Rg8 39.Rb1!+- (39.Bf6+?! is less clear: 39...Rxf6
40.Qxf6+ Qg7 41.Qxg7+ Kxg7) ]
37...Kh8 38.f6 Rg8 39.Bg7+ Rfxg7 40.fxg7+ Qxg7 It looks
like Black has consolidated, but Anand's calculations were
deep!
41.Nf5 Qg6 42.Qxg6 Rxg6 43.Ne7!+- Kg7
[The poor coordination of Black's pieces enables White to
liquadate into a winning rook ending: 43...Rh6 44.Rf8+
Kg7 45.Rc8 Kf7 46.Nf5 Rg6 47.Nxd6+ Rxd6 48.Rxc5+-]
44.Nxg6 Kxg6 45.Rf8 a4
[Or 45...Nxe4 46.c4 a4 47.Ra8 Nc5 48.Kf2 h5 49.Ke3 Kf5 50.
Rf8+ Kg4 51.Rd8+-]
46.c4 h5 47.Kf2 Quite a disappointing loss for Magnus, but
Anand's achievement shouldn't be underestimated.
[Black resigns in view of 47.Kf2 Nxe4+ 48.Ke3 Nc5 49.Rd8+-]
1-0

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Carlsen,Magnus (2863) - Grischuk,Alexander (2777) [C48]

Lindores Abbey Prelim chess24.com INT (1), 19.05.2020

Carlsen,Magnus (2863) - Giri,Anish (2764) [C48]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6

Carlsen,Magnus (2837) - Karjakin,Sergey (2760) [C48]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5

Carlsen,Magnus (2834) - Sharafiev,Azat (2432) [C48]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6

Nakamura,Hikaru (2736) - Carlsen,Magnus (2847) [C48]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.0-0 d6 6.

Naiditsch,Arkadij (2706) - Carlsen,Magnus (2865) [C49]

Carlsen,Magnus (2835) - Andreikin,Dmitry (2719) [C54]

Nepomniachtchi,Ian (2784) - Carlsen,Magnus (2862) [C60]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nge7 4.Nc3 Ng6 5.d4 exd4 6.

Caruana,Fabiano (2818) - Carlsen,Magnus (2882) [C63]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 f5 4.d3 fxe4 5.dxe4 Nf6 6.

Carlsen,Magnus (2864) - Van Foreest,Jorden (2678) [C65]

Carlsen,Magnus (2863) - Kramnik,Vladimir (2783) [C65]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 Yet

14...c5 15.Rd1 a5 16.Bf4!? (16.cxd4 cxd4 17.Nxd4 Bxd4 18.

19...Bd7 20.Nxb5 is simply better for White.]

Carlsen,Magnus (2862) - Radjabov,Teimour (2734) [C65]

Carlsen,Magnus (2856) - Sjugirov,Sanan (2680) [C65]

Carlsen,Magnus (2855) - Aronian,Levon (2792) [C65]

Carlsen,Magnus (2855) - Nakamura,Hikaru (2736) [C65]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.

Carlsen,Magnus (2855) - Karjakin,Sergey (2758) [C65]

Carlsen,Magnus (2855) - Rapport,Richard (2760) [C65]

Carlsen,Magnus (2855) - Nakamura,Hikaru (2736) [C65]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3

Carlsen,Magnus (2855) - Nakamura,Hikaru (2787) [C65]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.

Carlsen,Magnus (2855) - So,Wesley (2770) [C65]

1.e4 e5 In round 4 this was already my third white

[9.Nf1 Nd7 10.Ng3 Bxf3 11.Qxf3 g6 and White has wasted a

10...Bb6 The engines like this move, and I don't have

Carlsen,Magnus (2855) - Kramnik,Vladimir (2812) [C65]

Carlsen,Magnus (2855) - Aronian,Levon (2792) [C65]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5

Carlsen,Magnus (2853) - Karjakin,Sergey (2769) [C65]

Going into the World Championship matches, many

9.Re1 Nh5 10.Bxe7 Qxe7 11.d4 Nf4=]

19.Bc2 Ng5 20.Nxg5 hxg5 21.Rad1 is possible too, though

38...g5 39.hxg5 Nxg5 40.Rf6;

Or 38...Rg8 39.Rf6 but White still looks better here.]

44.Nb3 Kc7 45.Nc5?! Magnus starts to drift, probably

47...b6 can be met simply by 48.Na4 (Or even better: 48.

Carlsen,Magnus (2851) - Eljanov,Pavel (2765) [C65]

Carlsen,Magnus (2847) - Dubov,Daniil (2714) [C65]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 Trailing Magnus by 1½ point

35...Bb8 36.Bxc5! Rxe1 37.Rxd5 Ke7 38.Re5+! Rxe5 39.

Giri,Anish (2790) - Carlsen,Magnus (2851) [C65]

Grischuk,Alexander (2747) - Carlsen,Magnus (2855) [C65]

Nakamura,Hikaru (2736) - Carlsen,Magnus (2863) [C65]

Of course 9.Ncxe5? is bad due to 9...Nxe5 10.Nxe5 Qd4]

Nakamura,Hikaru (2736) - Carlsen,Magnus (2863) [C65]

Nakamura,Hikaru (2736) - Carlsen,Magnus (2863) [C65]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.

Nakamura,Hikaru (2736) - Carlsen,Magnus (2863) [C65]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3

Carlsen,Magnus (2862) - Nakamura,Hikaru (2736) [C67]

Carlsen,Magnus (2843) - Aronian,Levon (2764) [C67]