11/21/2024 – Magnus Carlsen emerged victorious in the opening game of the Freestyle Chess Summit, defeating Fabiano Caruana aboard the luxurious SilentWorld yacht. Carlsen's dynamic play with the white pieces outshone Caruana's strategies in a double-edged, entertaining encounters. The two rivals are rekindling their fierce competition from the 2018 World Championship, a few days before the start of the match for the world crown in Singapore. | Photo: Abhyudaya Ram / ChessBase India
Chess Festival Prague 2025 with analyses by Aravindh, Giri, Gurel, Navara and others. ‘Special’: 27 highly entertaining miniatures. Opening videos by Werle, King and Ris. 10 opening articles with new repertoire ideas and much more. ChessBase Magazine offers first-class training material for club players and professionals! World-class players analyse their brilliant games and explain the ideas behind the moves. Opening specialists present the latest trends in opening theory and exciting ideas for your repertoire. Master trainers in tactics, strategy and endgames show you the tricks and techniques you need to be a successful tournament player! Available as a direct download (incl. booklet as pdf file) or booklet with download key by post. Included in delivery: ChessBase Magazine #225 as “ChessBase Book” for iPad, tablet, Mac etc.!
Winning starts with what you know The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.
If you're looking to revamp your opening repertoire and surprise your opponents with powerful, modern ideas, The Ultimate Scotch Gambit is the perfect choice.
€39.90
Carlsen scores with white
The first game of the Freestyle Chess Summit was won by Magnus Carlsen, who played with the white pieces against long-time rival Fabiano Caruana. The highly anticipated two-game match is being held aboard the SilentWorld yacht, a luxurious venue for this elite encounter. The event rekindles the rivalry between the two contenders of the 2018 World Championship and serves as a promotion for the upcoming 2025 Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour, sponsored by entrepreneur Jan-Henric Buettner.
In this novel format, each of the two slow games features a time control of 60 minutes for the entire game with 30-second increments per move. A unique element of Freestyle Chess is the introduction of randomly selected positions, which are revealed to the players just 10 minutes before the start of each game.
Carlsen began the game by playing faster than Caruana, quickly positioning his bishop and queen along the g1–a7 diagonal. This setup allowed White to grab a pawn on the queenside at the cost of one on the kingside.
Carlsen v. Caruana
After 8.Bxb6 axb6 9.Qxb6 Qxg5, Black seemed compelled to castle short, while White opted to safeguard his king on d2, securely shielded by central pawns.
The engines favoured White in the ensuing position...
...but Carlsen made the daring decision to capture a pawn on b7 with 16.Nxb7 Bxb7 17.Qxb7 Rb8. With his king exposed on d2, White risked giving Black activity along the b-file. Reflecting on the move, Carlsen labelled it "sheer stupidity," though chess engines were less critical. Strategically, a safer alternative, such as 16.Kc1, seemed more natural from a human perspective.
Caruana missed his chance to maintain balance with his 18...Rxb2. Stronger continuations included 18...Bf6, which would activate the bishop without concern over an exchange, or 18...d5, creating counterplay in the centre.
The sequence that followed, 19.Rb1 Qxa2 20.Rxb2 Qxb2 21.Qxd7 Qb4+, favoured White.
Despite the king's central position, Carlsen had the more active minor piecee, leaving Caruana on the back foot.
By move 31, Black had brought his rook into play, but his bishop on g7 remained frustratingly passive, blocked by the pawns on e5 and g5. Meanwhile, Carlsen manoeuvred his king to an unusual but secure square on h4.
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.
With a knight that outperformed the bishop and a solid pawn structure, White maintained a decisive edge. The game concluded with Caruana's resignation after Carlsen's deciding 32.Nd6. The white knight, stationed on a strong outpost at e4 since move 14, delivered the final blow with a single leap to d6.
Carlos Alberto ColodroCarlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.
2nd Move Anti-Sicilian Powerbase 2025 is a database and contains a total of 12090 games from Mega 2025 or the Correspondence Database 2024, of which 874 are annotated.
Ruy Lopez Powerbase 2025 is a database and contains a total of 12092 games from Mega 2025 and the Correspondence Database 2024, of which 1276 are annotated.
In this 60 Minutes, Andrew Martin guides you through all the key ideas you need to know to play with confidence. Whether you’re looking to surprise your opponents, or simply want a straightforward weapon against e5, the Centre Attack has you covered.
€9.90
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.
Pop-up for detailed settings
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies, analysis cookies and marketing cookies. You can decide which cookies to use by selecting the appropriate options below. Please note that your selection may affect the functionality of the service. Further information can be found in our privacy policy.
Technically required cookies
Technically required cookies: so that you can navigate and use the basic functions and store preferences.
Analysis Cookies
To help us determine how visitors interact with our website to improve the user experience.
Marketing-Cookies
To help us offer and evaluate relevant content and interesting and appropriate advertisement.