(2) Carlsen,Magnus (2835) - Caruana,Fabiano (2832) [D37]
2018 World Chess Championship London (2), 10.11.2018
[Sam Shankland]

The second game of the match was much more in line with the kind of thing I expect in early rounds than the first one was. Unsurprisingly Black equalized without much trouble- this tends to be pretty easy to do with months of preparation time and your opponent not knowing what was coming. But unlike the first game, it never really strayed far from equality. Rounds 3 and 4 when each player plays their second game with White, knowing what may be coming, tend to be the time people seriously start fighting for advantages early on. 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 e6 [3...dxc4 Caruana does not go into the QGA, which he has relied on heavily for the last couple years.] 4.Nc3 Be7 The classical QGD is not Caruana's main choice as of late, but he certainly has played it off and on in the past, so it can't be considered a huge surprise. 5.Bf4 0-0 6.e3 c5!? The first interesting moment. Caruana chooses a less common move than the typical Nbd7, which he has played a lot in the past with reasonable success. [6...Nbd7 Is much more common.] 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.Qc2 Nc6 9.a3 Qa5 10.Rd1 Thus far, there have been some minor surprises, but this position is still well known and Black is supposed to be doing all right. Nakamura and Anand have played the Black side a fair amount, and with perfectly reasonable results. But nearly every recent game has continued with Re8, and Caruana chose something else. 10...Rd8!? Not a novelty, but definitely not a common move, and I can't find any games played by anyone over 2600. [10...Re8 Is a much more normal move. The main line continues with 11.Nd2 e5! 12.Bg5 Nd4! 13.Qb1 (13.exd4? exd4+ 14.Ne2 Ng4 And Black wins; 13.Qc1 Bf5 14.Bxf6 Nc2+ 15.Ke2 Nd4+ Is a well known draw, which was featured in several games, including a Carlsen-Nakamura encounter from 2017.) 13...Bf5 14.Bd3 Bxd3 15.Qxd3 Ne4! And White has not been able to show an advantage as of yet.] 11.Be2 Undoubtedly caught by surprise, Carlsen chooses a safe option. We will see in future games if this line is repeated and e goes for the more principled move. [11.Nd2 Is of course the critical try. This is the main move against Re8, and makes just as much sense now because the e6-e5 thrust loses power. White threatens Nb3 and can quickly get a good position if Black is not careful. It would be interesting to know what Caruana had in mind here, and we may well find out in subsequent games. My best guess would be he thought simplifying with 11...dxc4 12.Nxc4 Rxd1+ 13.Qxd1 Qd8 14.Qxd8+ Nxd8 Leads to a drawn ending. The machines give white a slight plus but the symmetry and Black's lack of weaknesses likely mean he should hold. Only future games will be able to tell if this is truly the case.] 11...Ne4! Black takes his chance to compromise White's queenside structure. 12.0-0 Nxc3 13.bxc3 h6 Caruana was still playing instantly here, suggesting he was still in preparation. Black's position is pretty safe. 14.a4 Ne7! Another good move, and undoubtedly still prep. 15.Ne5?! Magnus is asking for trouble with this move, but if he plays accurately he is not going to be in any real danger. [15.Rb1 The computer initially claimed White is better here, but it's just wrong. Following 15...Bd7 16.Ne5 Qxa4 17.Qxa4 Bxa4 18.Rxb7 dxc4 The position is obviously drawn.] 15...Bd6 The most principled move, and a very forcing one. White has to be accurate not to be worse, but his moves are not too hard to find and I doubt Magnus was particularly worried. [15...f6 16.Ng6 e5 Was also possible, trying to maroon the bishop on g3. This probably would have been my choice, when White's moves seem harder to find than they were in the game. Still, after 17.Bg3 Be6 18.cxd5! (18.Nxe7+? Bxe7 19.cxd5 Bxd5! And Black is pleasantly better, since Rxd5 no longer takes control of the a2-g8 diagonal) 18...Nxd5 (18...Bxd5? 19.Rxd5! Nxd5 20.Bc4! Black somehow just loses as he cannot escape the pin. Kh7 would walk into several deadly discoveries.) 19.Bc4! Simple and strong, but also not too difficult. White should have enough counterplay to maintain the balance, though I still would take Black in a practical game, and I think this may have been a more promising option than Caruana's choice. 19...Qb6 Qc6 will follow and Black can play for an advantage, hoping to make good use of his better structure on the long term.] 16.cxd5 Nxd5 17.Bf3 [17.Nxf7 White could have played this kooky move. Flashy as it may be, it certainly would not have changed the result. Still, it would have looked nicer for Magnus than what he got in the game. 17...Kxf7 18.Bxd6 Rxd6 19.Bh5+ Kg8 20.e4 Nf4 21.Rxd6 Qxh5 22.Rd8+ Kf7 23.Rfd1 b6 The position is dynamically balanced and neither side can do much.] 17...Nxf4 18.exf4 Bxe5 White has to be a little precise here, but should hold easily. 19.Rxd8+! [19.fxe5? Is less accurate and Black can claim an edge with 19...Bd7! 20.Bxb7 Rab8! ] 19...Qxd8 20.fxe5 Black is not well developed enough to make good use of White's weakened queenside. 20...Qc7 [20...Bd7 21.Rb1 Should also be a draw promptly] 21.Rb1 Rb8 22.Qd3 Bd7 23.a5 The machines hate this move, but they are wrong. It just forces a draw. 23...Bc6 24.Qd6 Qxd6 25.exd6 Bxf3 26.gxf3 Kf8 27.c4 Ke8 The ending is a little dangerous for White if Black can get the king to c6, though even then it's very likely still a draw. Magnus forced matters right away. 28.a6! b6 29.c5! Kd7 [29...b5? Not to be recommended! If Black could get the king to c6 he would just win with the b-pawn shoving. But he is a tempo too slow and loses after the simple 30.c6 ] 30.cxb6 axb6 31.a7 Ra8 32.Rxb6 Rxa7 Black will win the d6-pawn, but the position is a dead draw. In fact, White's doubled f-pawns make the defense even easier than it would be with a "healthier" structure of f2-g3-h4 because the king has a permanent happy home on g2, and Black can never get his pawns going past the fourth rank without massive trades. 33.Kg2 e5 34.Rb4 f5 35.Rb6 Ke6 36.d7+ Kxd7 37.Rb5 Ke6 38.Rb6+ Kf7 39.Rb5 Kf6 40.Rb6+ Kg5 41.Rb5 Kf4 42.Rb4+ e4 43.fxe4 fxe4 44.h3 Ra5 45.Rb7 Rg5+ 46.Kf1 Rg6 47.Rb4 Rg5 48.Rb7 Rg6 49.Rb4 Caruana understandably did not feel like trying further- he would never win. The match is of course wide open after the first two games. Still, I'd say the chessplaying trend is favoring Magnus, since he is the only one who has had any chances to strike yet, but the psychological advantage has to be on Caruana's side after today as he easily equalized with Black just like Magnus did, but unlike Magnus, he did not blow half a point. It will be interesting to see what happens on Monday, and if the Sicilian will be repeated. It certainly could, but I would not be surprised at all to see either side deviate. 1/2-1/2