Freestyle Summit: Carlsen holds draw with black, beats Caruana 1½-½

A tricky rook endgame  

Magnus Carlsen claimed victory in his two-game Freestyle Chess match against Fabiano Caruana, securing a win with white in the first game and holding a draw with black in the second. Carlsen triumphed in a chaotic opening game before defending a challenging position to seal the match. The exhibition comes just days before the classical chess World Championship match between Ding Liren and Dommaraju Gukesh.  

Game 1 was held aboard the opulent SilentWorld yacht, while the second encounter shifted to Le Freeport, a high-security underground vault and display space in Singapore. The event was made possible through sponsorship by Jan-Henric Buettner, whose contributions have brought glamour to the chess world. A standout feature of the venue was a chessboard with golden pieces valued at a staggering $44 million.  

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In the second game, the opening position was particularly tricky, with knights stationed on the a-file and queens on the h-file complicating development.

Caruana, playing with the white pieces, opted for a principled plan, castling queenside and maintaining a solid pawn structure. However, Carlsen's 13...b6 - while appearing natural -proved inaccurate, as it left him vulnerable with a clear weakness on c6, strengthening Caruana's prospects. 

Despite Caruana's advantage, defeating Carlsen proved elusive. The Norwegian maestro steered the game into a rook endgame where Caruana held a pawn advantage but lacked the resources for a decisive breakthrough. According to GM Karsten Müller, the complex endgame offered White some opportunities to press for more, but the position remained objectively drawn throughout the struggle.  

Caruana, Fabiano2805

½–½

Carlsen, Magnus2831

Game 2: Caruana, Fabiano - Carlsen, Magn lichess.org2024[Mueller,Karsten]

1.c4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.c5 h5 4.h4 Nf6 5.g3 g6 6.Nb3 Ng4 7.Nd3 Bf5 8.f3 Nh6 9.Bg5 Nc7 10.0-0-0 Ne6 11.Bd2 Bxd3 12.Bxd3 Nf5 13.e3 b6 14.f4 Nh6 15.Kb1 Ng4 16.Qf3 Qf6 17.Rc1 bxc5 18.Nxc5 Nxc5 19.Rxc5 e5 20.dxe5 Bxe5 21.Rgc1 Bxb2 22.Rxc6 Ne5 23.Rxf6 Nxf3 24.Kxb2 Nxd2 25.Rc7 0-0 26.f5 Ne4 27.Bxe4 dxe4 28.fxg6 Rd2+ 29.Kc1 Rd3 30.gxf7+ Kg7 31.Rf4 Rxe3 32.g4 hxg4 33.Rxg4+ Kf6 34.h5 Rf3 35.Rxe4 Rxf7 36.Rxf7+ Kxf7 37.Ra4 Rc3+ 38.Kd2 Rc7 39.Ra6 Kg7 40.Kd3 Kh7 41.a4 Rf7 42.Ke4 Rg7 43.Kd5 Rf7 44.Re6

Amazing depth. The Vancura position can be very deep: 44...Rf4? This active move backfires. Only after 44...a5! 45.Kc6 can Rf4 be played: 46.Kb5 Rf5+= 45.a5! Rf5+ 46.Re5 Rf6!? 47.Re7+?! 47.Rg5 was called for, e.g. Ra6 47...Kh6 48.Rg6++- 47...a6 48.Kc5 Rh6 49.Rd5 Kg7 50.Rd6+- 48.Kc4 Rh6 49.Kb4 Kh8 50.Rd5 Rf6 51.Rd8+ Kh7 52.Kc5 Kg7 53.Rd6 Rf5+ 53...Rf7 54.Kc6 Rf5 55.a6+- 54.Rd5 Rf6 55.Rd7+ Kg8 56.Kb5 Kh8

And surprisingly White can win here: After 56...Re6 57.Rxa7 the checking distance is too short: Re5+ 58.Kb4 Re4+ 59.Kc3 Re5 60.h6 Kh8 61.Ra8+ Kh7 62.Kb4 Re4+ 63.Kc5 Re5+ 64.Kb6 Re6+ 65.Kc7 Re5 66.a6 Re6 67.a7 Ra6 68.Kb7+- 57.h6 Black is in zugzwang. Kg8 57...Rxh6 58.Rxa7+- 57...Re6 58.Rxa7+- 58.Rxa7 And this is no Vancura draw due to Rf5+ 59.Kb4 Rf4+ 60.Kc3 Rf5 61.a6 Rf6 62.Rg7+ Kh8 63.a7 Rc6+ and White's king can escape the desperado rook checks: 64.Kd4 Rc4+ 65.Ke5 Re4+ 66.Kd6 Re6+ 67.Kc7 Rc6+ 68.Kb8 Rc8+ 69.Kb7+- 47...Kg8 48.Rxa7? 48.Re5 still wins. 48...Rf5+!

Black has reached a standard Vancura's draw and Magnus defends. 49.Kc4 Kh8 Of course not 49...Rxh5 50.Ra8+ Kf7 51.a6 Rh4+ 51...Ra5 52.Kb4 Ra1 53.Kb5 Rb1+ 54.Kc6 Rc1+ 55.Kb7 Rb1+ 56.Ka7 Ke7 57.Rb8 Ra1 58.Kb7 Rb1+ 59.Ka8 Ra1 60.a7 Kd6 61.Kb7 Rb1+ 62.Kc8 Rc1+ 63.Kd8 Rh1 64.Rb6+ Kc5 65.Rc6+ Kxc6 65...Kd5 66.Ra6+- 65...Kb5 66.Rc8 Rh8+ 67.Kc7 Rh7+ 68.Kb8 Kb6 69.a8Q+- 66.a8Q++- 52.Kb5 Rh5+ 53.Kb6 Rh6+ 54.Kb7 Rh1 55.Rb8+- 50.a6 50.h6 can now be met by Rf4+ 51.Kd3 Rf5 52.Ke4 Rg5= 50...Rf6 White's rook must stay on a7 and a8 and the king finds no shelter on the queenside. 51.Kd4 Rc6 52.Ke4 Rf6 53.Ke5 Rc6 54.Kf5 Rb6 55.Kg5 Rc6 56.Kf5 Rd6 57.Ke5 Rc6 58.Ra8+ Kh7 59.Kd5 Rf6 60.Kc5 Rf5+ 61.Kd6 Rf6+ 62.Ke7 Rc6 63.Ra7 Kh8 64.Kf7 Rb6 65.Ke8 Rd6 66.Ra8 Kh7 67.Ke7 Rc6 68.Ke8 Rd6 69.Ke7 Rc6 70.Kd7 Rf6 71.h6 Rxh6 Now Black can take. 72.Ra7 72.a7 Ra6 73.Kc7 Ra1= 72...Kg8 73.Kc7 Rf6 74.Ra8+ Kg7 75.Rf8 Rxf8 76.a7 Rf7+ 77.Kb6 Rxa7 78.Kxa7 ½–½

Understanding Middlegame Strategies Vol.1 - 9

In this Video-Course we deal with different dynamic decisions involving pawns. The aim of this Course is to arm club/tournament players with fresh ideas which they can use in their own practice.

Ultimately, Carlsen held firm in a tense 74-move battle to secure a draw and claim the overall match victory. Reflecting on his performance, he expressed his appreciation for the Freestyle Chess format, and added: "In these situations with little time we end up making some mistakes, but I felt overall I did a good job defending today".   

Games

Links

• Freestyle Chess Grand Slam: Three dates confirmed
• Jan Henric Buettner's plans for the future
• Google presents World Chess Championship 2024