(9) Carlsen,Magnus (2835) - Caruana,Fabiano (2832) [A29]
2018 World Chess Championship London (9), 21.11.2018
[Sam Shankland]

Game nine was likely a very frustrating one for Magnus. He came up completely dry out of the opening in all four of his first four white games, and then when he finally got a really nice position from what looked like a throwaway practical try, one careless moment immediately squandered all of his winning chances. 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Bg2 Bc5 7.0-0 0-0 8.d3 Re8 Thus far, the game has followed the path of game 4. 9.Bg5!? A new idea. As far as I can see in my database, it has only been essayed once before, and by two low-rated players. [9.Bd2 Was Magnus' choice in the aformentioned game. He might have had a little chance to get b5 in, but in the game, Caruana held very easily. Clearly he was dissatisfied with his choice then and wanted something fresher.] 9...Nxc3 10.bxc3 f6 Caruana was still playing quickly here, implying he was in preparation. But soon enough, Magnus' idea was revealed. 11.Bc1! Absolutely the most challenging move. White has a very simple plan of playing Bb2 followed by d4 to take a large share of the center. Black is definitely fine but will have to make hard strategic decisions over the board -- exactly the kind of thing Magnus must have been hoping for. Soon enough, Caruana faltered. 11...Be6 12.Bb2 Bb6 I feel wrong criticizing this move as it is approved by the machine, but on a human level, I dislike it. d4 is clearly coming and cannot be prevented, and the bishop will be passive on b6. [12...Bf8 My instinct would be to tuck the bishop back on f8, a typical maneuver once 0-0 and Re8 has been played. I certainly don't think Black is worse.] 13.d4 Bd5 [13...Na5 Might be worth considering. Any Grunfeld player knows to abuse the c4 square in these structures. Still, it's of course easy to sacrifice other people's pawns and one cannot really fault Caruana for not wanting to allow dxe5 against a clearly prepared opponent.] 14.Qc2 White is not so subtly advertising that he wants to take the whole center with e2-e4. Black is definitely in some strategic danger as if White can achieve this goal, he should have a huge position. 14...exd4!? True to his style, Caruana goes with the most forcing continuation. But Carlsen was ready. [14...e4 Was also possible. The position is very unclear after 15.Nh4 Na5 16.Nf5 ] 15.cxd4 Be4?! Again, I feel a little odd criticizing a move the computer takes no issue with. But practically, it does put Black in a tough spot in short order. [15...Qd6 A quiet move like this one would not be too great. After 16.e3! It's hard to imagine how Black will get his b6-bishop back into the game. White can plan Rfc1, Ne1-d3, and he looks pleasantly better to me.; 15...Nb4! I think Black's best option was to try to force through c7-c5 at all costs. I really dislike passive pieces and buried bishops. 16.Qa4 c5! 17.dxc5 Bxc5 18.a3 (18.Rad1 Bc6!= Should equalize easily) 18...Bc6! An important move. 19.Qb3+ Qd5! 20.Qxd5+ Nxd5 21.e3 White has the somewhat more pleasant position, and this variation would be hard for a human to find. But Black has no bad pieces, which I think he should have placed a higher priority on.] 16.Qb3+! Before coming back to d1, Magnus provokes the bishop to d5 to deprive the queen of this square. [16.Qd1 Qd5! Gives Black a lot of counterplay with good pressure on the light squares] 16...Bd5 [16...Qd5 Trading queens would also fail to reach the desired goal 17.Qxd5+ Bxd5 18.e3 Black has no good way to solve the problem of the b6 bishop. He looks quite a bit worse to me. Rfc1 and Ne1 or Nd2 should leave White with a great position.] 17.Qd1! No early repetitions today. Black's position is far from critical, but one can see why Caruana felt the need to lash out immediately. If White is given the time to play e3 and bolster the d4 pawn, his play flows very naturally and Black doesn't have much counterplay. 17...Bxf3!? The machines hate this move, but from a human point of view, I think I might actually be a decent decision. The alternatives look quite unpleasant and this leads to position I do believe to be defensible. [17...Qd6 Trusty Stockfish suggests this is a decent try, among other do-nothing moves like Qe7 or Qd7 [Caruana mentioned 17...Qe7 and also the more active 17...Na5 as alternatives]. But simple development may not solve all of Black's problems. For instance, after 18.e3 Rad8 19.Bc3 Black has a very difficult position. His rooks on the open central files look nice, but lack targets. White can easily develop with Qc2, Rfc1, Nd2, etc and he can play against the b6 bishop and the potentially weak queenside pawns. The machine says that White's edge is much smaller than the opposite colored bishops position Caruana chose instead, but I am not at all sure that I agree.] 18.Qb3+ Kh8 19.Bxf3 Nxd4 [19...Bxd4? 20.Rad1 White wins immediately] 20.Bxd4 Qxd4 [20...Bxd4 21.Rad1 Again, the pin is decisive- Black cannot stop e2-e3.] 21.e3 Qe5 22.Bxb7 Rad8 White has a very pleasant position. His four-versus-three pawn majority on the kingside means his king will be much safer. This is very important in opposite colored bishop positions, and Magnus correctly assessed that his plan should be to open the black king. Conversely, Black's extra c-pawn on the queenside is of no consequence, also due to the opposite colored bishops. Coupled with the b6-bishop biting on granite and White's bishop having excellent light squares to work with, it seems like White would have good chances to play a long, grinding game and try to apply pressure for long enough for Black to crack. This is exactly the kind of chess Magnus excels at, and Caruana had a lot less time. I'm sure Magnus will not be pleased with himself for letting an opportunity like this slip, though it has to be said that the position is not technically won or anything like that. 23.Rad1 Qe7 24.h4 Of course. White plans to set his kingside majority in motion and try to open up the black monarch, relying on opposite colored bishops to increase his attacking chances. [Note that Carlsen criticized this move, instead preferring Bf3 and maybe Kg2.] 24...g6 25.h5? A bad move, probably based on a miscalculation. [Carlsen said if he didn't play h5 himself, he thought that Black's ...h5 and ...f5 and then "I don't really see how to make progress. It's just too solid.") White surely wanted to get h5 in, but he could not rush as now when Black takes, he is ready for h5-h4 very fast, opening up White's king as well. I think Magnus probably played h5 right away without bothering to prepare it because he was worried that Black would beat him to the punch and play h7-h5 himself, but in this case, the cure was worse than the disease. [25.Kg2 A slow buildup move like this one would ensure Black would be suffering for a long time. My guess is Magnus disliked that after 25...h5! He no longer has an easy plan to open the kingside, and Black can play f6-f5, then sit with Qf6 and Kg7. The position looks remarkably solid. 26.Bc6 Rf8 27.Qc2 f5 28.Bf3 Qf6 29.a4 Kg7 I think something like this was the best either side could hope for. Black's position is surely unpleasant and it's right up Magnus's alley to grind out edges like this, but at the same time he is extremely solid and it's hard to see a great plan for White. Note that the presence of the pawns on h4 and h5 (as opposed to if they were absent via an early h4-h5-hxg6, as Magnus cleary desired) means that White does not have the g3-g4 break at his disposal to open the up the black king. Still, I could see White eventually preparing f2-f4 and then e3-e4. It surely would take a long time to pull off, but Black is just sitting and waiting. Maybe it could be done? We will never know.] 25...gxh5! A very important resource. Caruana would have really struggled without this move. [Caruana called it a easy choice: "It wasn't such a difficult decision because/ \White's king becomes vulnerable as well."]В В Black butchers his own structure and will likely lose if the h5 pawn were to fall. But concrete calculation shows that h5-h4 will happen, helped in large part by the f6-f5 advance, [25...Kg7 If Black were to sit and hang tight, he would face a lot of issues. Following 26.Bf3! Black has lost his chance to play gxh5, and he can't even get f5 in due to the presence of h5-h6 at some inopportune moment. In addition, even if he eventually gets f5 in, White can play g3-g4 at the right time to open the king further. Black faces a long and very possibly unsuccessful defense, and is really regretting not being able to play h7-h5. A line like this illustrates why Magnus played h4-h5 himself so quickly so as to avoid h7-h5 by Black, unfortunately, he was one tempo too slow to make it work. 26...f5 ] 26.Qc4 Carlsen played this quickly, suggesting it was his plan in case Black were to take on h5. White prevents h5-h4 and is ready to scoop the pawn up next, but one more accurate move leaves Black in fine shape. [26.Kg2? Is a tempo too slow. If Black were to waste a move and allow Rf1-h1, he would be in awful shape. As is, he is immediately fine after 26...h4! (26...Kg7? 27.Rh1 Is an illustration of my point. White should win. But a tempo can mean a lot...) ] 26...f5! This looks scary at first glance, but the black king is still totally safe. The queen can easily come to g7 or f6 as needed and there will be no way to harass him on h8, and in the meantime, h5-h4 now cannot be stopped. As soon as the g3 pawn comes to h4, White will no longer have any winning chances as his own king will be open, and Black will have the plan of . ..f5-f4 to blast open the b6 bishop, who has been very passive throughout the entire game. 27.Bf3 h4! A strong and important move, but also a very easy one. Black is fine. [27...Kg7? Again, if Black were to fall asleep at the wheel for one move, he would be easily losing when White grabs the h5-pawn. 28.Bxh5 ] 28.Rxd8 Rxd8 29.gxh4 Rg8+ 30.Kh1 Qf6 31.Qf4 Bc5! The dumb bishop will find a nicer square on d6. 32.Rg1 Rxg1+ 33.Kxg1 Bd6 34.Qa4 f4 Everything liquidates in short order. 35.Qxa7 fxe3 36.Qxe3 Qxh4 37.a4 Qf6 38.Bd1 Qe5 39.Qxe5+ Bxe5 White can claim the moral advantage due to his a-pawn, but with opposite bishops and even material, the position is still a very easy draw for Black. 40.a5 Kg7 41.a6 Bd4 42.Kg2 Kf6 43.f4 Bb6 44.Kf3 h6 45.Ke4 Ba7 46.Bg4 Bg1 47.Kd5 Bb6 48.Kc6 Black has to be somewhat careful here, but it's not particularly difficult. He just cannot let the c7 pawn fall, or for White to get Kb7 and a7 in with tempo lost. [Carlsen said he had been hoping to induce ...h5 to at least have a target.] 48...Be3 Simple enough. c7 cannot be taken. [48...Bf2? For instance, this would lose. After 49.Kxc7 White will go Kb7 next, play a7, win the bishop, and bring the king back. Of course, Caruana would fall for something this basic sometime after hell freezes over.] 49.Kb7 [49.Kxc7 Bxf4+! Check! No time for a7.] 49...Bb6 50.Bh3 [50.a7 Bxa7 51.Kxa7 Black only draws by one tempo here, but it is a very comfortable draw. White's problem is his bishop needs to perform three tasks: stop the h-pawn, stop the c-pawn, and control f5. It can pull off only two of these three, but not all. 3. 51...c5! (51...Kg6? If Black were to waste a tempo he would lose, as now White's king can stop the c-pawn and the bishop takes care of the f and h-pawns. 52.Ka6 c5 53.Kb5 ) 52.Kb6 c4 53.Kc5 c3 Sooner or later the bishop had to leave. 54.Bd1 Kf5 ] 50...Be3 51.Kc6 Bb6 52.Kd5 Ba7 53.Ke4 Bb6 54.Bf1 Ke6 55.Bc4+ Kf6 56.Bd3 Ke6 1/2-1/2