Airthings Masters, Carlsen vs Dubov: A close look at a difficult endgame

by Karsten Müller
12/28/2020 – In the first eight rounds of the Airthings Masters Preliminary Tournament Magnus Carlsen (pictured) drew seven of his games and won only one. He defeated Daniil Dubov in a difficult technical endgame. The Airthings Masters is a rapid tournament, and the players often have only seconds to make their moves - not enough to think too much about endgame subtleties. However, analysts like to search for the truth, and Zoran Petronijevic and Karsten Müller decided to take a close look at the endgame in Carlsen vs Dubov and found an amazing ressource. | Photo: Lennart Ootes (Archive)
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An amazing defensive ressource

 
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MoveNResultEloPlayers
1.e41,172,27354%2421---
1.d4951,24355%2434---
1.Nf3283,16356%2440---
1.c4182,99656%2442---
1.g319,77556%2427---
1.b314,39754%2427---
1.f45,92048%2377---
1.Nc33,83450%2384---
1.b41,76548%2379---
1.a31,22854%2405---
1.e31,07449%2409---
1.d395850%2378---
1.g466746%2361---
1.h445753%2378---
1.c343651%2426---
1.h328356%2419---
1.a411560%2464---
1.f39646%2431---
1.Nh39166%2508---
1.Na34262%2482---
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.0-0 Bg7 5.Bxc6 bxc6 6.Re1 Nh6 7.c3 0-0 8.d4 cxd4 9.cxd4 d5 10.e5 f6 11.h3 fxe5 12.dxe5 c5 13.b4 cxb4 14.a3 d4 15.axb4 Bb7 16.Nbd2 a5 17.Rxa5 Rxa5 18.bxa5 Qxa5 19.Nxd4 Nf5 20.N4f3 Qd5 21.Bb2 Bh6 22.e6 Rd8 23.Qe2 Qd3 24.Qxd3 Rxd3 25.Ne4 Bxe4 26.Rxe4 Bg7 27.Be5 Bxe5 28.Nxe5 Rd1+ 29.Kh2 Kg7 30.g4 Nd6 31.Re3 g5 32.Kg2 h6 33.Nc6 Kf6 34.Rf3+ Kxe6
The position is even. 35.Re3+ Kf6 36.Nxe7 Nc4 37.Re4 Nd6 A good alternative is 37...Nb2 with the idea to bring the knight to f4: 38.Nf5 Nd3 39.Ra4 Nf4+ 40.Kf3 Nxh3 41.Ra6+ Ke5 42.Rxh6 Rd3+ 43.Ne3 Ng1+ 44.Kg2 Ne2 45.Rc6 Rd4= 38.Re2 Rd3 39.Nc6 Nf7 40.Re3 Rd7 40...Rxe3 41.fxe3 Nd6 leads to a relatively easy draw: 42.Kf3 Ke6 43.Nd4+ Ke5 44.Ne2 Nc4 45.Ng3 Nd2+ 46.Ke2 Nc4 47.Kf2 Nb2= 41.Ra3 Nh8! The knight has two good squares: f4 and h4. 42.Nb8 Rb7 42...Rd1!?= 43.Ra6+ Kg7 44.Nc6 Ng6 45.Nd4 Nh4+ 46.Kg3 Rb1? This is a mistake. Black draws after 46...Rb4 47.Ne6+ Kf7 48.Nd8+ Kg7 49.Ra2 Rb1 50.Ne6+ Kg8 51.Nd4 Rd1 52.Ne2 Rd3+ 53.Kh2 Nf3+ 54.Kg2 Nh4+ 55.Kg1 Nf3+= 47.f4 Rg1+ 48.Kf2 Rg2+ 49.Kf1 Rd2 50.Ne6+ Kf7? This is the decisive mistake. With 50...Kh8‼ Black can still draw. 51.f5 Karsten Müller: An amazing defensive ressource! Further sample lines are 51.fxg5 Nf3 52.gxh6 Nh2+ 53.Kg1 Nf3+ 54.Kf1= 54.Kh1?? Rh2# 51.Ra3 gxf4 52.Nxf4 Kh7= 51...Kg8 52.Ra3 Karsten Müller: 52.Ra8+ Kf7 52...Kh7? 53.Ra7+ Kh8 54.f6 Nf3 55.Ra3+- 53.Ra7+ Kf6 54.Nc5 Rc2 55.Nd7+ Ke7= 52...Rh2 53.Nc5 Rh1+ 54.Kf2 Rh2+ 55.Kg1 Rc2 56.Ne4 Rc4 57.Ng3 Rf4 58.Nh5 Rf3 59.Rxf3 Nxf3+ 60.Kf2 Ne5 61.Ke3 Kf7 62.Ng3 Ke7 63.Ne4 Nc6 64.Nc3 h5 65.Kf3 Kf6 66.Ne4+ Ke5 67.Nxg5 Nd4+ 68.Kg3 hxg4 69.hxg4 Nxf5+= 51.fxg5 Nf3 51...hxg5 does not help: 52.Nxg5+ Kg7 53.Ne6+ Kg6 54.Nf4+ Kg5 55.Ne2 Ng6 56.Ra5+ Kh6 57.Ng1 Rb2 58.Rf5 Kg7 59.Nf3 Ra2 60.Nd4 Rh2 61.Ne6+ Kg8 62.Rf3 Nh4 63.Ra3 Ng6 64.Ra7 Nh4 65.Nf4 Rb2 66.Ra3 Kh7 67.Ra5 Nf3 68.Ne2 Kg6 69.Rf5 Nd2+ 70.Kg1 Kh6 71.Nd4 Ne4 72.Ne6 Kg6 73.Nf4+ Kg7 74.Re5 Nf2 75.g5+- 52.g6+ Ke7 53.Ra3 Nh2+ 54.Ke1 Rd6 55.Nf4 Kf6 56.Ke2 Rd7 57.Ra6+ Ke5 58.Nh5 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Carlsen,M2862Dubov,D26991–02020B31Airthings Masters Preliminary5.2

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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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