Huffington: Carlsen dominated Bilbao Chess Masters

by ChessBase
7/30/2016 – Magnus Carlsen has won the event twice before. This year the Norwegian World Champion, playing in a six-player double round robin, started slowly, losing for the first time to Hikaru Nakamura in the classical time limit. He went on to win four games, one more than all his opponents combined. Huffington Post columnist GM Lubomir Kavalek analyses two games of the winner who turned the other world-class players into spectators.
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Carlsen Wins Bilbao Chess Masters

By GM Lubomir Kavalek

Txapeldun, a traditional Basque beret honoring brave champions, was bestowed on Magnus Carlsen on Saturday. The world chess champion won the 2016 Bilbao Masters with a dominant performance. He clinched the event twice before after sharing first place and triumphing in the playoff – in 2011 against Vasyl Ivanchuk and in 2012 against Fabiano Caruana. This year was different. Carlsen turned the other world-class players into spectators.

Sergey Karjakin, Wei Yi, Hikaru Nakamura, Carlsen, Wesley So, Anish Giri

Carlsen won four games, one more than all his opponents combined. He started slowly. For the first time he lost to Hikaru Nakamura in a tournament with the classical time limit. He wowed to play sharper and with a string of three victories catapulted himself into the lead and never relinquished it. His last victory came against Anish Giri, whom he has never beaten in the classical tournaments before.

Bilbao has been encouraging players to fight and to win games for years by using the soccer point system, with three points for a win and one point for a draw. It didn’t quite work this year, with only 23 percent of decisive games. Carlsen was the major benefactor, securing the tournament victory with one round to go.

The Bilbao Masters offered a two-game preview of the world championship match between Carlsen and Karjakin, scheduled for November. It didn’t look good for the Russian challenger. Carlsen took care of the first game. He was increasing his advantage slowly and meticulously, turning it eventually into an unstoppable mating attack.

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The protection of the black king is weakened by the missing g-pawn and Carlsen launches a kingside attack. 31.g4!? a5 32.Rg2 Nh7 The strength of White's attack is demonstrated by this variation: 32...a4 33.g5! hxg5 34.Rxg5‼ Ne8 35.Rfg1! f6 35...axb3 36.Qg3+- 36.Rg6! axb3 37.Qh5 e6 38.Rh6 and White mates. 33.h4 Rb6 Karjakin rushes his rook back to help the king. 33...a4 34.Bd1± 34.g5! The offensive begins and Karjakin has to decide how to set-up his defense. Kh8 After 34...Rg6 35.Rfg1 the pressure is mounting, but it was the best choice. Exchanging the g-pawns gives White the h-file for the onslaught. One possible line is 34...hxg5 35.hxg5 Rg6 36.Qh5 Qd6 37.Rfg1 Rd8 38.Rh2 Nf8 39.Rf1 threatening 40. Qf3. 35.Rfg1 f5? Karjakin was probably fed up with a passive defense, but his last move makes Carlsen's task easier. 35...Rg6 36.Ba4 36.gxh6 Bxh6= 36...Qc8 37.Rh2 36.Qh3!+- An unpleasant pin that allows White the final attack along the g-file. Rb4? Nothing helps, for example: 36...Rd6 37.gxh6 Bxh6 38.Qg3 Nf6 39.Qxe5+- 36...hxg5 37.hxg5 Rg6 38.Rh2+- 37.gxh6! Bxh6 38.Qg3! A nasty double-attack, threatening 39. Qg8+! and 39.Qxe5. White also wins after 38.Rg6 Bf4 39.Qg2 Nf6 40.d6 Ng4 40...Rxb3 41.axb3 Qxd6 42.Nd5+- 41.exf5+- 38...Nf6 39.Qg6! Ng4 40.Rxg4 40.Rxg4 fxg4 41.Qxh6+ Kg8 42.Qg6+ Kh8 43.Qh5+ Kg7 44.Rxg4++- 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Carlsen,M2855Karjakin,S27731–02016Bilbao Masters

Carlsen’s victory against the last year winner Wesley So was impressive. The Norwegian grandmaster reached for an opening idea used two centuries ago. He created an elusive target and when Wesley took aim, the white knights began to leap all over the board. A timely pawn sacrifice left the black king vulnerable to a final storm.

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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 Adolf Anderssen, the attacking master and one of the world's best players of the 19th century, was experimenting with this unprovoked exchange in the Spanish. Black will most likely lose a tempo since the bishop on c5 is not ideally placed. White bets on his better pawn structure. 5.Be3 is an idea from Giocco Piano, preferred by the Viennese master dr. Arthur Kaufmann around 1890s. 5...dxc6 6.Qe2 Threatening 7.Nxe5. Against Kramnik, last month in Paris, Magnus prevented the Bc8-g4 pin with 6.h3. Anderssen and later the Czech leading player Oldrich Duras used the move h2-h3 to launch a kingside attack with g2-g4. Qe7 6...Bg4 can be met by 7.Nbd2 as in the game. 7.Nbd2 7.h3 was played already in the game Walbrodt-Metger, Berlin 1897. 7...Bg4
Can you guess the next two moves that Carlsen made?
Show Solution
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Carlsen,M2855So,W27701–02016C65Bilbao Masters

Images by Bilbao Chess and Manu de Alba

Original column here – Copyright Huffington Post

The Huffington Post is an American news website and aggregated blog founded by Arianna Huffington and others, featuring various news sources and columnists. The site was launched on May 9, 2005, as a commentary outlet and liberal/progressive alternative to conservative news websites. It offers coverage of politics, media, business, entertainment, living, style, the green movement, world news, and comedy. It is a top destination for news, blogs, and original content. The Huffington Post has an active community, with over over a quarter of a billion visits per month (according to Quantcast), making it the number 73 ranked web site in the world (Alexa, January 2014).

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