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Meanwhile, 1.b3 has also found its way into the practice of today's world elite, and now finally a modern top ten player has taken on the subject for ChessBase: none other than Grandmaster Wesley So!
How to beat a player as solid as Wesley So? Magnus Carlsen, the best chess player of this era, revealed the formula after winning the first set of the Champions Chess Tour Finals’ match for the title:
I just, you know — I hustle him. I use his sort of lack of aggression against him.
Saturday’s 4-game set was a tense, technical battle. So, who has been very active on X lately, asked Fabiano Caruana for last-minute tips for the match. Caruana jokingly replied:
Just be yourself! And prepare for 1.b3
After sharing that he hopes that Carlsen does not get to read that post, he indeed played 1.b3 in the first game of the match. The game was balanced throughout and ended in a draw after 44 moves. The second encounter was also drawn, after 41 moves.
Carlsen again got the black pieces in game 3, and he attempted to get imbalances from the get go out of a Sicilian Defence. True to his style, So tried to keep things under control — but he could not prevent Carlsen from getting a slight edge in the pure rook endgame that appeared on the board.
Black is a pawn up, but he also has four pawn islands to White’s two, and his king is not as active as its white counterpart.
So began to find the most precise defensive ideas in the position, regaining the balance with active play. However, on move 53, with around 10 seconds on his clock, the Filipino-born GM misjudged where he needed to place his king.
Despite being two pawns down, White needs not to hurry with 53.Kxh5 (as played in the game) and instead continue to activate his king via 53.Kf6 — there would follow 53...b4 54.Rb8+ Kd7 55.Kxf7 Kc7 56.Rb5, and the white king will return to g6 to capture the h-pawn (diagram).
Note that the black king cannot be easily activated due to the pawn on d5.
In the game, on the other hand, Black got to push his f-pawn, getting two distant passers. As it turns out, White’s h-pawn did not provide enough compensation. Resignation came in the following position.
It was a remarkable showing by the former world champion, who converted such small advantages into wins on his way to the very top of the rankings — and during his long, ongoing stay at the pinnacle of the sport.
A draw in the next game granted Carlsen overall victory in the first set of the match.
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Navigating the Ruy Lopez Vol.1-3
The Ruy Lopez is one of the oldest openings which continues to enjoy high popularity from club level to the absolute world top. In this video series, American super GM Fabiano Caruana, talking to IM Oliver Reeh, presents a complete repertoire for White.
Fabiano Caruana and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave showed up at the Fan Zone set up in Toronto | Photo: chess.com / Thomas Tischio
