A difficult endgame: Fabiano Caruana vs Maxime Vachier-Lagrave

by Karsten Müller
4/20/2021 – Fabiano Caruana had a lot of time to prepare for his game against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in round 8 of the Candidates, and he used it to find a new and dangerous idea in the Poisoned Pawn variation of the Najdorf, a favourite of the French player. "MVL" survived the opening and escaped into an endgame that objectively was a draw but difficult to defend. Karsten Müller took a closer look.
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qb6 8.Qd2 Qxb2 9.Rb1 Qa3 10.e5 h6 11.Bh4 dxe5 12.fxe5 Nfd7 13.Ne4 Qxa2 14.Rd1 Qd5 15.Qe3 Qxe5 16.c3 Bc5 17.Bg3 Qd5 18.Bc4 Qxc4 19.Bd6 Nf6 20.Nxc5 Nd5 21.Qe5 Rg8 22.Ndxe6 fxe6 23.Nxe6 Qxc3+ 24.Qxc3 Nxc3 25.Nc7+ Kf7 26.Rd3 Ne4 27.0-0+ Kg6 28.Nxa8 Nc6 29.Nb6 Rd8 30.Nxc8 Rxc8 31.Ba3 Rc7 32.Rf4 Nf6 33.Bb2 Ne7 34.Bxf6 gxf6 35.h4 h5 36.Rg3+ Kf7 37.Rg5 Rc1+ 38.Kh2 Ng6 39.Rf2 Nxh4 40.Rxh5 Ng6 41.Rh7+ Ke6 42.Rxb7 Ne5 43.Rb6+ Rc6 44.Rxc6+ Nxc6 45.Kg3 In these positions the knight can often erect a fortress against the rook. But it isn't easy for the knight to keep the fortress safe. Kf7! Building a fortress is the right concept for Black, but later MVL does not implement it in the right way. 45...a5? 46.Kg4 Ne5+ 47.Kh5+- 46.Rc2 Nb4 47.Rd2 Nc6 48.Kf4 Kg6! Again the only move - Black brings the king in a better position. 48...a5? loses due to 49.Rd6 Ne7 50.Rd7 Ke6 51.Ra7 Ng6+ 52.Kg4! Ne5+ 53.Kh5 Nc6 54.Ra6 Kd6 55.Kg6 Kc5 56.Kxf6 Kb5 57.Ra8 a4 58.g4 Na5 59.g5 a3 60.Rh8 a2 61.Rh1+- 49.Rd6 Ne5 50.Rxa6 Nf7 51.Ke4 Nh6 52.Ra5 Nf7 53.Ra3 Nd6+ 54.Kf4 Nf5 55.Rd3 Nh6? The wrong square.. 55...Ng7 keeps the fortress safe. White's king can only invade via f8 and then it is too far away, e.g. 56.Rg3+ Kf7 57.Ra3 Kg6 58.Ke4 Kf7 59.Ra7+ Kg6 60.Kd5 Nf5 61.Ke6 Ng7+ 62.Ke7 Nf5+ 63.Kf8 Ne3 64.Ra3 and now even Nxg2 is playable due to 65.Rg3+ Kh5 66.Rxg2 f5 67.Kf7 f4 68.Kf6 Kh4 69.Kf5 f3 70.Ra2 Kg3 71.Ke4 f2= 56.Rg3+! This intermediate check destroys Black's defensive coordination. However not 56.Ra3? Nf5= 56...Kf7 57.Ke4 Ng8 58.Kf5 Ne7+ 59.Kf4 Nd5+ 60.Kg4? This allows Black to get back on track and to bring the knight to f7. For the only winning move 60.Kf5! see the game after 64.Kf5. 60...Kg6 61.Kf3+ Kf7! 61...Kh6? 62.Rg4! Ne7 63.Kf4 Kh7 64.Rg3 Kh6 65.Ke4 Kh7 66.Rb3 Kg6 67.Rb5 Ng8 68.Kd5 Nh6 69.Ke6 Nf7 70.Rb6 Ng5+ 71.Ke7 Nh7 72.Rb8 Ng5 73.Rg8+ Kf5 74.g4+ Ke5 75.Ra8 Kf4 76.Ra4+ Ke5 77.Kf8 Ne4 78.Kf7 Ng5+ 79.Kg6+- 62.Ke4 Ne7? Now Black can not regroup the knight to g7 anymore. After 62...Nc7! 63.Ra3 Ne8 64.Ra7+ Kg6 65.Kd5 Ng7 Black's fortress holds. 63.Kf4 Nd5+ 63...Nc6 is met by 64.Rd3 Kg6 65.Rd7 Ne5 66.Rd6 Nf7 67.Rd3! Nh6 68.Rg3++- 64.Kf5! Now Caruana plays the only winning move. Ne7+ 65.Ke4 Ng8 66.Rh3 Kg6 67.Ra3 Kf7 68.Kf4 The start of the winning plan to invade with the king on the h-file. Nh6 69.Rg3 Ng8 70.Kg4 Ne7 70...Kg6 does not stop the invasion plan due to 71.Kh4+ Kh7 72.Kh5 Ne7 73.Rf3! The only winning move. 73.Rb3? allows the regroupiung into the fortress with Nf5 74.Rb7+ Ng7+= 73...Kg7 74.Rb3 and White's king can make further progress sooner or later: Kf7 75.g4 Kg7 76.Rb7 Kf7 77.Kh6+- 71.Kh5 Nd5 72.Rf3 Ke6 72...Ne7 73.g4 Kg7 74.Rb3 Kf7 75.Kh6 Nc6 76.Rb7+ Ne7 77.Kh7 Kf8 78.Rb1 Kf7 79.Rf1 Ng6 80.g5 Nf8+ 81.Kh6 Nd7 82.g6++- 73.g4 Ke5 74.Kg6 74.Kg6 Nf4+ 74...Ke6 75.Rf1 Ne7+ 76.Kg7 f5 76...Nd5 77.Re1++- 77.Re1+ Kd6 78.Rxe7 Kxe7 79.gxf5+- 75.Kf7 f5 76.g5! Ke4 77.Rxf4+ Kxf4 78.g6+- 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Caruana,F2820Vachier-Lagrave,M27581–02021B97FIDE Candidates 20208.1

What is the best way to use your pieces to their full potential in the endgame? GM Karsten Mueller demonstrates "knight geometry", and teaches you how to employ the "knight check shadow" in your own games!

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Karsten Müller is considered to be one of the greatest endgame experts in the world. His books on the endgame - among them "Fundamentals of Chess Endings", co-authored with Frank Lamprecht, that helped to improve Magnus Carlsen's endgame knowledge - and his endgame columns for the ChessCafe website and the ChessBase Magazine helped to establish and to confirm this reputation. Karsten's Fritztrainer DVDs on the endgame are bestsellers. The mathematician with a PhD lives in Hamburg, and for more than 25 years he has been scoring points for the Hamburger Schachklub (HSK) in the Bundesliga.

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