Magnus strikes again: Part 2

In my previous post on Magnus Carlsen's tournament victory in the Gashimov Memorial we had a look at his first round win versus Shakhriyar Mamedyarov.

This blog will be about Carlsen's loss in round 4 against Fabiano Caruana. The start of what were a few very shaky rounds for the reigning World Champion. The Italian supergrandmaster Caruana is among the few players in the world that beat Carlsen on a regular basis. What makes this particular game so interesting is the fact that Caruana manages to strike against the super-solid Berlin Wall. Improving upon an earlier game against Ponomariov, white got a nice advantage and confidently exploited it. Something that might cause Berlin aficionados to have some sleepless night over!

You can play through the game using the Game Viewer (up, blue button) or simply by watching the video below.

Caruana, F. - Carlsen, M.

Vugar Gashimov Mem 2014 2014.04.23

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.h3 h6 10.Rd1+ Ke8 11.Nc3 Bd7 12.Bf4 Rd8 13.Ne4 

13.e6 (13.Ne2 (13.Rd2 Be6 14.Rad1 Rxd2 15.Rxd2?!

Diagram #1

15... Bb4 =/+) 13...g5 14.Bh2 c5 =/+) 13... Bxe6 14.Bxc7 Rxd1+ 15.Rxd1 Be7 16.g4 Nh4 17.Nd4 Bd7 18.Re1 Kf8 = Caruana-Ponomariov, Elancourt 2013

13... Be7 14.g4 Nh4 15.Nxh4 Bxh4 16.Kg2 Be6 17.f3 b6 18.b3 

18.a3?!

Diagram #2

18... a5 =/+

18... c5 19.c4 Rd7 20.Bg3 Be7 21.Rxd7

21.Nc3!? a5 22.a4 +/=

21... Bxd7

21... Kxd7 22.f4 g6 23.Rf1

22.Nc3 Kd8

22...h5 23.Nd5 hxg4 24.hxg4 Bd8 25.Rd1

23.Nd5 Re8 24.Rd1 Kc8?

Diagram #3

24...c6 25.Nxe7 Rxe7 26.f4 Ke8 27.Bh4 g5 28.fxg5 hxg5 29.Bxg5 Rxe5 30.Bf6 Re6 31.g5 Re2+ 32.Kg3 Re3+ 33.Kf4 Rxh3 34.Ke5 +/-

25.Nxc7 Rd8

25...Kxc7 26.e6+ +-

26.Nd5 Re8 27.Be1 Bd8 28.Bc3 g6 29.Kg3 b5 30.cxb5 Bxb5 31.Ne3 Re6 32.f4 Ra6 33.Rd2 h5 34.gxh5 gxh5 35.Nf5 Rg6+ 36.Kh2 Bc6 37.Nd6+ Kb8 38.f5 

38.Nxf7?!

Diagram #4

38... Bh4 39.f5 Rg7 40.Nd8 Bg3+ 41.Kg1 Bh4+ 42.Kh2 = ( 42.Kf1??

Diagram #5

42... Bb5+ -+ )

38... Rg8 39.f6 Bb6 40.Nc4 Re8 41.Nd6 Rg8 42.Nxf7 c4 43.h4!

Diagram #6

43.e6??

Diagram #7

43... Bg1#

43... Rg4 44.e6 Be3 45.Be5+ Ka8 46.Rd8+ Kb7 47.Bg3 c3 48.Rb8+ Ka6 49.Rc8 Bd5 50.Rxc3 Bd4 51.Rd3 Re4 52.Rd2 Rxe6 53.Ng5

1-0

Stay tuned for part 3 in which we will be looking at the ever-dramatic game Nakamura-Carlsen!

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