Carlsen adds a new title: Chess960 champion

by Macauley Peterson
2/14/2018 – Magnus Carlsen made up for the minor setback on day four in the eight game blitz portion on Tuesday, winning the match with three games to spare. Nakamura is known as a blitz specialist but he has lost several blitz matches against Carlsen in recent years, and the "weirdness" introduced by Chess960 was not enough to tip the balance in the American's favour.

Chess News

Scarcely any world champion has managed to captivate chess lovers to the extent Carlsen has. The enormously talented Norwegian hasn't been systematically trained within the structures of a major chess-playing nation such as Russia, the Ukraine or China.

Magnus wins 14 : 10

Hikaru Nakamura needed to dominate the blitz games in order to have any hope of recovering from the one game (two points) deficit in the rapid portion of the match. The scoring system reverted to normal, with wins counting for one point, so it was possible, but Nakamura never really got it going, winning only a token game late in the day after the overall match had been decided. The players played all eight scheduled games to ensure that Norwegian TV viewers (not to mention the international online audience) got to see a full show.

Blitz results

G9: Carlsen-Nakamura 1-0
G10: Nakamura-Carlsen ½-½
G11: Nakamura-Carlsen ½-½
G12: Carlsen-Nakamura ½-½
G13: Carlsen-Nakamura 1-0
G14: Nakamura-Carlsen 0-1
G15: Nakamura-Carlsen 1-0
G16: Carlsen-Nakamura ½-½

Carlsne and Nakamura at blitz

Carlsen and Nakamura get set for the blitz | Photo: Lennart Ootes / frchess.com

After Monday's game eight debacle Carlsen made a strong statement in the first blitz game, pouncing on a major tactical oversight by Nakamura.

 
Carlsen vs Nakamura
Starting position for games 9 and 10

Play through the moves on the live diagram!

1.a4 e6 2.a5 a6 3.e4 Nf6 4.e5 Nd5 5.Nf3 f6 The position is equal. 6.exf6 gxf6 7.Ne3 Nxe3 8.fxe3 Bg6 9.b4 Be7 10.Bh4 Rf8 11.Be2 Nc6 12.Qc3 b5 13.O-O O-O-O

 
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14.d4 Bh5 15.Qd2 d5 16.c3 Bxf3 17.Rxf3 f5 18.Rh3 Rd7 19.Bg3 Bg5 20.Bf4 h6 21.Bxg5 hxg5 22.Rh6 Re7 23.e4 dxe4 24.Qxg5 White is better but the next move gave Carlsen a winning tactic. Kb7?
24...Rd8 was necessary, but it's still very tough to defend. 25.Rd1 Qa7 26.Kh1 Rdd7 27.g4+- 25.d5!       exd5
26.Rxc6!       Ref7 26...Kxc6 27.Qxe7 27.Rc5 Rd7 28.Qg6 Qd8 29.Qc6+ Ka7
30.Bxb5! axb5 31.Rxb5 Qc8 32.a6 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Carlsen,M-Nakamura,H-1–02018Fischer Random Blitz 20181

The critical game of the blitz match was game three, which was both the longest (at 138 moves!) and the most tense of the match. Being three points down at this point (7½ : 10½), Nakamura really needed to win, and he had a great chance. But ultimately, the queen versus rook and pawn ending the players reached was too difficult to convert in a blitz game. Despite Nakamura's best efforts, Carlsen found a theoretically drawn fortress configuration, and eventually claimed a three-fold repetition.

The game will also go down in chess history for its first move, which typifies the sometimes strange character of Chess960.

 
Nakamura vs. Carlsen, blitz game 3
"1.O-O looks like an interesting move"

And indeed, both sides castled on move one, seizing the almost-obligatory historic chance!

Starting from move two:

 
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2.e4 c5 3.d4 cxd4 4.Rxd4 a6 5.Ng3 Ba7 6.Rd3 d6 7.b3 Nc7 8.Bb2 f6 9.c4 Ng6 10.Nc2 Nf4 11.Rd2 e5 12.Ne3 g6 13.Ne2 Nce6 14.Nxf4 Nxf4 15.g3 Ne6 16.f4 Nd4 17.Kg2 b5 18.Nd5 Qd7 Better is 18...bxc4= 19.bxc4 Qd7 19.f5 19.Bd3! 19...bxc4= 20.bxc4 g5 20...Kh8= 21.h4 g4 22.Bxd4 Bxd4 23.Qd1 Qg7 24.h5 Bb7 25.h6 Qxh6 26.Rh1 Qg5 27.Rh4 h5 28.Rxd4 exd4 29.Nf4! Qxf5! 30.Rxh5 Bxe4+ 31.Kf2! Bxb1 Don't blunder 31...Bf3? 32.Qe1+- 32.Rxf5 Bxf5 33.Qxd4 Bc8 34.Qd5+       White has compensation. Kg7 35.Qe4 Rf7! 36.Qg6+ Kf8 37.Qd3 37.Ke1 37...Ke8 37...Rdd7= keeps the balance. 38.Qd5± f5 Black should play 38...Bb7 39.Qe6+ Kf8 39.Qd4 39.Qc6+ Kf8 40.Qb6 39...Re7 40.Nd5 Re5 41.Qa7! Rxd5? 41...Bd7± 42.cxd5       Endgame KQ-KRB Rd7 43.Qb8 Kd8 44.Ke3 Rc7
45.Kf4! Rc4+ 46.Kg5 Kd7 47.Qa7+ Rc7 48.Qe3 Rc5 49.Kf6 Kc7 50.Qd3 Bb7 51.Qxf5+- Bxd5 52.Qxg4 Bxa2 53.Qa4 Bc4 54.g4       a5 55.g5 Bd3 56.g6 Rf5+ 57.Ke7 Re5+ 58.Kf7 Bxg6+ 59.Kxg6 KQ-KR Rc5 60.Kf6 Re5 61.Qc4+ Kd7 62.Qg8 Kc7 63.Qa8 Kb6? 64.Qc8 Kb5 65.Qc7 Rc5 66.Qb7+ Kc4 67.Ke6 a4 68.Kxd6 Rb5 69.Qe4+ Kb3 70.Qd3+ Kb4 71.Qd4+ Ka3 72.Kc6 Rb3 73.Kc5 Rb2 74.Qe4 Rb3 75.Qd4 Rb2 76.Qe4 Rb3 77.Qc4 Rb2 78.Qd4 Rb1 79.Qc3+ Ka2 80.Qc2+ Ka3 81.Qd2 Rb2 82.Qf4 Rb1 83.Qf6 Ka2± 84.Qe6+ Rb3 85.Kc4 Ka3       86.Qe1 Ka2
87.Qd2+ Rb2 88.Qd5 a3 89.Qd3 Rb1 90.Qd5 Rb2 91.Kc3+ Ka1 92.Qh1+ Ka2 93.Qd1 Rb1 94.Qd4 Rb3+ 95.Kc4 Rb1 96.Qe4 Rb3 97.Qf5 Rb2 98.Kc3 Rb3+ 99.Kc2 Rb2+ 100.Kc1 Ka1 101.Qe5 Ka2 102.Qe4 Ka1 103.Qd3 Ka2 104.Qc4+ Ka1 105.Qc3 Ka2= The position is equal. 106.Qd3 Rb8 107.Qf5 Rb2 108.Qg6 Ka1 109.Qe6 Rb1+ 110.Kc2 Rb2+ 111.Kc3 Kb1 112.Qf7 Ka1! 113.Qa7 Ka2! 114.Qa4 Rb1 115.Qe4 Rb2 116.Qe1 Rb3+ 117.Kc4 Rb2 118.Qh1 Rb3 119.Qh8 Rb2 120.Qc3 Rb1 121.Qd3 Rb2 122.Qg6 Rb3 123.Qh7 Rb2 124.Kc3 Rb3+ 125.Kc2 Rb2+ 126.Kc1 Ka1 127.Qd3 Ka2 128.Qd5+ Ka1 129.Qe4 Ka2 130.Qd3 Rb8 131.Qd5+ Ka1 132.Qe5+ Rb2 133.Qc3 Ka2 134.Qc4+ Ka1 135.Qe4 Ka2 136.Qh7 Ka1 137.Qe4 Ka2 138.Qd3 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Nakamura,H-Carlsen,M-½–½2018Fischer Random Blitz 20183

Watch the epic 18 minute finale unfold in real-time: 

Carlsen during the tense game 11

Carlsen during the tense game 11 | Photo: Lennart Ootes / frchess.com

You can download all blitz games and replay them in the free ChessBase Reader!

CB readerThe new ChessBase Reader conveniently displays all installed databases and training titles — with a modern menu ribbon look. With the free ChessBase reader, you can open all standard file formats (.cbh, .cbf, .pgn), play through games on a stunningly rendered board, watch ChessBase training videos and much more.

Full blitz commentary

Live commentary by GM Yasser Seirawan and IM Anna Rudolf

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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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