Freestyle Summit: Carlsen wins wild first game

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
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
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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.

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.

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.

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Topics: Freestyle Chess, Magnus Carlsen
Carlos 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.