London Chess Classic: Magnus on tilt

by Macauley Peterson
12/11/2017 – Round 8 saw a startling blunder from the World Champion whose frustration following the game was palpable. We have analysis of that critical game by GM Tiger Hillarp-Persson. Ian Nepomniachtchi now leads the tournament alone, half a point ahead of Fabiano Caruana, who drew his game. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave is in third. | Photo: Pascal Simon
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Round 8

For the first few hours of Sunday's games, it looked like we could be heading for another day of peaceful results. Adams vs Aronian and Vachier-Lagrave vs Anand both ended in early draws, and the remaining games were level. Suddenly, a shock blunder from World Champion Magnus Carlsen flashed up on the screens, a variation which lead to Ian Nepomniachtchi being up a piece, and easily winning. Carlsen resigned just four moves later.

After the game, a visibly frustrated World Champion stepped into the live webcast interview zone for a contractually obligated webcast standup with Grand Chess Tour commentator GM Maurice Ashley. These occur in the same conference room in which a live audience enjoys commentary during the round, and around 150 people were crowded into the room to hear from Carlsen.

A few moments before they were to go on air, Ashley casually reached over to adjust the collar on Carlsen's sport coat, which had become turned outward awkwardly. Magnus reacted by violently throwing his arms up in the air, silently but forcefully saying "don't touch me", and striking Ashley in the process. Maurice was, naturally, taken aback but just seconds later he received the queue that he was live.

Magnus was clearly in no mood to chat:

"I missed everything. There's not much else to say. I think I failed to predict a single of his moves, and then, well, you saw what happened."

Carlsen's brief explanation of his game | Source: Saint Louis Chess Club on YouTube

It will be interesting to see if Magnus will recover tomorrow. When asked for his thoughts on the last round pairing he replied, "I don't care at all." Black against Levon Aronian will be no easy task, with that attitude.

Magnus Carlsen 0-1 Ian Nepomniachtchi (annotated by Tiger Hillarp-Persson)
 
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1.e41,180,95054%2421---
1.d4956,91055%2434---
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1.Nf3 After 4...Nc6 in today's game, we get a position that is similar to 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.cxd5 cxd5 4.Nc3 Nf6 but there is actually a big difference here, as the knight is more aggressively positioned on c3, than one would be on f3. One reason is that 5.Bf4 Nc6 6.e3 a6 can be met with 7.Be2!? rather than 7.Nf3 when Bg4 is comfortable for Black. 1...c5 2.c3 At such a high level, this move has mostly been played in blitz games. It is a I'm-inviting-you-to-a-Slav-with-opposite-colours-move that is a tricky move against those who don't have the Slav on their repertoire with either White or Black. Nepomniachtchi hasn't played the Slav for almost a decade, so it makes a lot of sense for Carlsen to play like this. d5 This move is the equivalent of "calling" in poker. Saying: -So, you want to play the Slav a tempo up? Go ahead, please. The other respectable continuation is 2...Nf6 3.d4 e6 a set-up that Carlsen had a close encounter with only a short time ago: 4.Bg5 d5 5.e3 h6 6.Bh4 Nc6 7.Nbd2 a6 8.Bd3 Be7 9.0-0 Nd7 10.Bxe7 Nxe7 11.Ne5 cxd4 12.exd4 Nxe5 13.dxe5 Bd7 14.Re1 Rc8 15.Nf3 with a promising position for White, in Carlsen,M (2825)-Xiong,J (2630) chess.com IoM Masters 2017. 3.d4 cxd4 And Black calls again, forcing White to enter an exchange Slav, where he is unable to play the most critical lines (due to the early development of the knight to f3). 4.cxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.Bf4 Nh5!? Black chooses a rather rare line, probably wanting to avoid a theoretical battle after 6...Bf5 or 6...a6 7.Bd2 Nf6 8.e3 I often complain that Bc1-d2 and Bc8-d7 are sad excuses for moves, but here White got it for free and it does free the c1-square for the rook. e6 Ideally, Black would like to play 8...Bf5 but after 9.Ne5! Black has to deal with a number of annoying ideas, of which g2-g4 is only one. 9.Bd3! If White is to gain a promising game, then there is no way around playing e3-e4. 9.Bb5 Bd7 10.0-0 Bd6 and there is no way to make headway on the queenside. 9...Bd6 10.e4 dxe4 11.Nxe4 Be7 Although this leads to a standard set-up for Black, it was somewhat surprising to me, as it seems that White has gained a tempo in the process (Bd2). Karpov was one of the greatest handlers of this structure and I believe that he might have chosen 11...Nxe4 12.Bxe4 Ne7!? 13.0-0 0-0 After 14.Qc2 14.Bxh7+? Kxh7 15.Ng5+ Kg6 16.Qg4 f5 14.Ne5 h6 15.Re1 might be a better set-up aiming to lift the rook to the third rank. 14...h6 15.Ne5 Rb8 , followed by b5 and Bb7, or just Bd7, Black is doing fine. 12.0-0 0-0 13.Qc2 I would not place my queen here, but Magnus has a 300 ELO-point margin to me, so I guess it is good. Possibly he wanted to force Black to some kind of concession on the kingside. 13.Qe2 is the natural place for the queen in this structure (as I see it). 13...h6 With the bishop on e7 Black ususally plays 13...g6 If White continues like in the game with 14.Rad1 Bd7 15.a3 Rc8 16.Nc3 a6 then it seems to me that it is harder for White to create threats against Black's king. 16...Nd5 13...Nxe4 14.Bxe4 f5? 14...g6 15.Bh6 Re8 16.Rad1 15.Bxc6 bxc6 16.Rfe1± 14.Rad1 Bd7 14...Nxd4 15.Nxd4 Qxd4 16.Bc3 Qb6 17.Nxf6+ Bxf6 18.Bxf6 gxf6 19.Qd2 Kg7 20.Bb1 leaves White with a nasty initiative on the diagonal. 15.a3 Rc8 Black has no complaints after the opening. The queen seems to be misplaced on c2. 16.Nc3! a6 Black is obviously happy with his position and chooses to play an ambitious plan, involving b7-b5-b4. Other possibilities were 16...Nd5 16...Na5 and my favourite (Karpov-inspired) plan: 16...Bd6 , intending Ne7 and Bc6. 17.Qc1!? Magnus finds a way to make the queens position count for something. Perhaps he had the whole set-up planned and this is indeed the most challenging idea against h7-h6!?? It seems far fetched. Re8 18.Rfe1 Bf8 19.Bf4 White has managed to get coordinated and it is time for Black to act before White starts attacking. b5! 20.Qd2 b4 21.axb4 Nxb4 22.Ne5! Most mortals would hang on to the bishop with 22.Bb1 but Carlsen correctly assesses that it is the dark squares that matter most in the attack. Nbd5 23.Ne5 Bb5 and Black is more than comfortable. 22...Nxd3 23.Qxd3 a5 This is either a very confident move or a wish to play with fire. White can continue to build up on the kingside as long as he hasn't lost all control of d5, so Black's simplest defence is to challenge that: 23...Bb5!? 24.Nxb5 24.Qf3 Bc4! 24...axb5 25.Qxb5 Nd5 holds no danger for Black. The knight on d5 is wonderful, while White's extra pawn on b2, is a target. 24.Qf3! Suddenly Black is faced with a series of more serious threats. Both Bf4-g3-h4 and h4 followed by Bg5 can become annoying. The biggest tactical weakness in Black's position is the pawn on f7, so the best defence probably involves protecting that pawn once more... Bb4? This leaves the king far too naked. 24...Qe7! , is the right move, in order to be able to move the knigt from f6 without inviting a catastrophe on f7: 25.Nxd7 Nxd7 25...Qxd7!? 26.Bxh6 a4 , followed by Nd5, leads to a position that is very hard for White to win (since all the pawns are on the "wrong colour"). 26.d5 Nc5 is balanced. 25.Re3 Carlsen's move is not bad at all, but possibly stronger was 25.Bxh6! It is quite untypical for such a strong player to miss such a shot (so perhaps he didn't). The point is that after Bxc3 26.bxc3 gxh6 27.Qg3+ Black cannot go to f8: Kh7 27...Kf8? 28.Rd3! Bc6 28...Ke7 29.Qg7 Rf8 30.d5! 29.Qf4 Ke7 30.c4 and Black has no defence against d4-d5. 28.Nxf7 Qe7 29.Qd3+ Kg7 29...Kg8 30.Qg6+ 30.Ne5 and Black has no way to avoid giving back material. For instance Rf8 31.Qg6+ Kh8 32.Qxh6+ Qh7 and the best way to take the exchange is 33.Ng6+ Kg8 34.Qg5 Qh5 35.Qxh5 Nxh5 36.Nxf8 Kxf8 , followed by 37.d5! when Black will not be able to create enough counterplay with the a-pawn. Perhaps Carlsen saw some of this and decided that he didin't like the look of that a-pawn and that it was just as good to just build. 25...Bxc3 26.bxc3 This positional transformation favours White. Now, not only are the threats on the kingside, but also c4/d5 becomes a factor. Ba4! Usually I don't watch the comments or the inteviews with the players, but this time I was sent a short piece where Carlsen talked about the game. He searching to explaing his feeling about the game he said: "I failed to predict a single of his moves", which is a strong indication that he was not his normal self today. Especially the next few moves are puzzling. 27.Ra1?! This allows Black to get the bishop back in the defence. Much stronger was 27.Rc1! ,when the bishop is rather weird on a4, whereas Qxd4 , doesn't work due to 27...Rf8! 28.Rd3 Nd5 29.c4! 29.Bd2 f6 30.Ng6 Re8 is not so clear. 29...f6 30.Ng4 Nxf4 31.Qxf4 and the central pawns, combined with Black's awkward pawn structure, leaves White with an advantage. 28.Ra1! Qb6 29.Bxh6! with disastrous concequences for Black. 27...Bc2! 28.h3!? Many are reluctant to play such a move since the rook might go there later. However, giving the king some air, means that White is more free to use the rook on a1, as there are no more back rank mates. Bf5? The most tenacious defence could have led to serious complications: 28...Nd5!? 29.Bxh6 Qe7! 29...Bg6 30.c4 Nxe3 31.Bxe3 Bf5 32.c5 Qd5 33.Qh5 Re7 34.Rxa5 f6 35.Ng6 Bxg6 36.Qxg6 Ra8 is the kind of line that the engines give as "=", but where it is far easier to play the white side. 29...f6 30.Bxg7 fxe5 31.Bxe5 30.Bxg7 30.Qg3 f6 31.Re2 Rxc3 32.Nf3 Qc7 33.Bd2 Qxg3 34.fxg3 Rc6 35.Rxa5 is a position where White's extra pawn doesn't count for much. 30...Kxg7 31.Qg4+ Bg6 31...Kh6 32.Rf3 Bg6! 33.c4 Bh5 34.Nxf7+ Qxf7 35.Rxf7 Bxg4 36.cxd5 Bh5 37.Ra7 exd5 38.R1xa5= 32.Rf3 Nf6 33.Qg3 and White has dangerous compensation for the piece. Still, it is not clear that White has a way forward. 28...Rf8 29.Rc1 29.g4! There were probably a few who thought that Magnus would win at this stage and would have thought so too. Bh7 30.c4?! It is truly strange that Carlsen didn't play 30.g5 Nd5 31.Nxf7! Suffice to say, that White gets a huge attack. After Qb6 32.Nd6 Nxe3! 32...Rf8 33.Nxc8 33.Qxe3 h5 34.c4 White is dominating. It is quite out of character for Carlsen to miss something like this. It seems like he wasn't able to think clearly today. 30...Nd7 Although this doesn't solve all of Black's problems, it is clearly an improvement to be able to exhange the menace on e5. 31.Nc6? 31.c5! Nxe5 32.Bxe5 f6 33.Bd6 Ra8 34.Qc6 would have kept a rather large advantage for White. 31...Qf6 32.Nxa5 Nb6 Now White's pieces are all in the wrong places. If only one could play c5 and Na5-c4-d6... 33.c5? Rxc5! Missing such a move is truly demoralizing. 34.dxc5? Here Carlsen seems to lose his will to fight. Now one mistake follows another. 34.Be5 Qxf3 35.Rxf3 Rc2 is very unpleasant for White, but was nethertheless necessary. 34...Qxa1+ 35.Kh2 Qxa5 36.Qc6? 36.cxb6 Qxb6 is no fun for White, but not quite lost yet. 36...Qa4 Forking the queen and the bishop and the game is over. 37.Qxa4 Nxa4 38.c6 Nb6 39.c7 f6 40.Rb3 Nc8 A good day for Nepomniachtchi. He was lucky to escape and win, but luck usually comes to those who deserve it. 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Carlsen,M2837Nepomniachtchi,I27290–12017D139th London Chess Classic 20178

The Slav is a magnificent opening, but for many players there is one little blot on its escutcheon - that is the Exchange Variation. Not only does Black apparently have no prospects of obtaining the full point, but since he has an extra tempo White may well make attempts to win the game. But if you know what you are doing, you can easily do two things as Black: equalise and break the symmetry.

Standings after Round 8

Round 8 crosstable

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As you can see, Ian Nepomniachtchi is the new clear leader of the tournament. He downplayed Magnus' blunder, chalking it up to his health.

"Clearly Magnus is a little bit sick and surely this disrupts his play. It's hard when you have a sore throat and so on — I know from my experience that you cannot show your best level when you are also fighting some illness instead of fighting your opponent."

Ian Nepomniachtchi and Magnus Carlsen

Nepomniachtchi and Carlsen, who's now back to an even score | Photo: Pascal Simon

Nepomniachtchi had not beaten Carlsen in a classical game since the 2011 Tata Steel Tournament. Both of their previous encounters this year were drawn.

While the game was still in progress, Fabiano Caruana made an insightful comment on Nepomniachtchi's style:

"Ian plays very quickly and sometimes it doesn't work out for him, but especially sometimes when he's in form it just works out amazingly well and when they get into the time trouble phase his opponent is the only one in time trouble and it seemed to also work in this game."

Caruana slips to second place after a draw with fellow American Hikaru Nakamura, who turned 30 years old on Saturday. The pair followed a well-trodden path in the Queen's Indian Defence, including the game Navara vs. Caruana, Tata Steel Chess 2016, which Fabiano lost. He deviated with 21...Ba6:

 
Hikaru Nakamura vs. Fabiano Caruana
White to move

Previously 21...f6 was played. Nakamura sunk into a nearly 25 minute think before pushing 22.c6. Caruana immediately responded with 22...Rbc8 23.Rd7 Rfd8, fully equalising.

Hikaru Nakamura

Nakamura looks to end his 2017 on a high note on Monday, if he can | Photo: Pascal Simon

After the game Nakamura said, "I didn't have any major chances, but sometimes that's how it goes." He's drawn all eight of his games here in London.

Nakamura talks with Ashley after Round 8 | Source: Saint Louis Chess Club on YouTube

The Queen's Indian Defense is one of the most solid and rich openings against 1.d4. Together with the Nimzo-Indian and the Catalan it forms the so called "Classical Setup", which any player should know. Victor Bologan calls the b7 bishop “the soul of the opening, the most important piece...keep it active”. Every chess enthusiast, from beginner to high level player, can profit from this DVD. Enrich your chess vocabulary, be open to new ideas: play the Queen’s Indian!

Caruana said he was ready for a sharp game, "but he played a line in which I basically have to go for a very dull ending where I'm slightly worse."

Wesley So followed the lead of Anish Giri in a line Giri played against Sergey Karjakin in Bilbao, 2016, through move 21...Bc6:

 
Wesley So vs. Sergey Karjakin
White to move

You can play through the moves on the live diagram!

In that game, Giri played 22.Ba6 and black was at least equal after 22...bxa5 23.Qc2 Bb7 24.Rxa5 Bxa6 25.Rxa6. Instead So, who had played very quickly up until this point, opted for 22.axb6, prompting Karjakin to exchange 22...Nxc3 after 8 minutes of thought. This surprised So, who pondered his move for 15 minutes before recapturing with the queen. After a queen exchange five moves later, White has some minimal pressure in the endgame, but Karjakin defended smoothly. I expect an early draw from Wesley with black against Anand in the final round, but Karjakin vs. Nakamura could be interesting.

Wesley So

So remains with Nakamura on 50% | Photo: Pascal Simon

The Queen's Indian Defense is one of the most solid and rich openings against 1.d4. Together with the Nimzo-Indian and the Catalan it forms the so called "Classical Setup", which any player should know. Victor Bologan calls the b7 bishop “the soul of the opening, the most important piece...keep it active”. Every chess enthusiast, from beginner to high level player, can profit from this DVD. Enrich your chess vocabulary, be open to new ideas: play the Queen’s Indian!

One final bit of news came in the middle of today's round, as the organisers of the Grand Chess Tour announced in a press conference that all four venues would return in 2018, but London's contribution to the tour will be a four-player knockout semi-final and final to be held over six days in mid-December, roughly two weeks after the conclusion of the 2018 World Championship, which is also set for London.

Games of Round 8

 
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Full commentary webcast

Commentary by GM Yasser Seirawan, WGM Jennifer Shahade and GM Cristian Chirila, with GM Maurice Ashley reporting from London | Source: Saint Louis Chess Club on YouTube

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Macauley served as the Editor in Chief of ChessBase News from July 2017 to March 2020. He is the producer of The Full English Breakfast chess podcast, and was an Associate Producer of the 2016 feature documentary, Magnus.

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