Magnus Carlsen Eyeing the World Chess Title
By GM Lubomir Kavalek
Let's have a look at his recent victory at the 75th Tata Steel Chess tournament
in the Dutch coastal town of Wijk aan Zee.
After seven rounds Carlsen was neck and neck with the world Champion Vishy
Anand, both at 5/7. But in the last six rounds with a magnificent burst of energy
the Norwegian grandmaster scored five points and pulled away from the field.
He broke two records: moving his rating still higher to 2872 on the February
2013 FIDE list, 62 points ahead his nearest rival Vladimir Kramnik. The other
was personal: he was undefeated and won seven games, matching Garry Kasparov's
Wijk aan Zee record from 1999. Carlsen has never finished with plus seven in
a major tournament before.
Acquiring the Danish grandmaster Pieter Heine Nielsen as a coach will certainly
help Carlsen to impove his opening play, perhaps the weakest stage of his game.
This is important because many of Carlsen's opponents are known for their thorough
opening preparation. Nielsen, who helped Vishy Anand to win four world titles,
brings in a lot of experience.
However, Carlsen shines in the middlegame and endgame. That's where the fun
begins for him and sets him apart from the rest. He plays with great determination,
exploiting every possible chance to win. "I was happy I got the maximum
out of every game," he said in Wijk aan Zee. Not everybody is capable of
playing like this every single game. He is cool under pressure and very patient.
He gave the impression in Wijk aan Zee that he was bored to play the same openings
over and over. But Carlsen was clearly capable to punish unsound opening play.
The U.S. champion Hikaru Nakamura not only ignored Dr. Tarrasch dictum about
bad prospects of a knight on the rim, he put both horses at the edge of the
board, allowing Carlsen to build a decisive space advantage.
"It was one of my better games," said Carlsen. "I faced some
fresh problems on the board , but I dealt with them pretty confidently. It wasn't
Nakamura's best day."
[Event "Wijk aan Zee"] [Site "?"] [Date "2013.01.26"] [Round "12"] [White "Carlsen,
Magnus"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B32"] [Annotator "GM
Lubomir Kavalek/ The Huffington Post"] [PlyCount "61"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3.
d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e5 5. Nb5 d6 {You can expect almost anything from Nakamura in
the opening. This line is called the Kalashnikov Sicilian and the joker who
came up with that name obviously wanted to please the National Rifle Association.
It is the only machine gun included in chess openings. But it is not the essence
of this line. Black wants to contest white on the square d5 with Ng8-e7. It
also leaves his f-pawn free to strike in the center with f7-f5.} 6. g3 ({White
usually contains black in the center with} 6. c4 {White usually contains black
in the center with 6.c4 but Carlsen wants to do the same from the diagonal h1-a8.
The innocently looking fianchetto move was mastered by the English GM John Nunn
more then two decades ago when he was in his prime and without grey hair, and
Carlsen knew of it.}) 6... h5 {Carlsen suspected that Nakamura could play this
move: "It's reasonable," Magnus said. "I would take it from there."} ({But black
could have switched gears and play} 6... Nf6 7. Bg2 Be7 {quickly developing
the kingside.}) 7. N1c3 a6 8. Na3 b5 ( 8... h4 9. Bg2 h3 10. Bf1 b5 11. Nd5
Nce7 12. Bg5 f6 13. Be3 Nxd5 14. Qxd5 Rb8 15. O-O-O Ne7 16. Qxd6 Qxd6 17. Rxd6
Nf5 18. Rb6 Rxb6 19. Bxb6 Nd6 20. f3 Be6 21. Bc5 Be7 22. Be2 Nb7 23. Bxe7 Kxe7
24. b3 Nd6 25. c3 g6 26. Nc2 a5 27. Rd1 f5 28. exf5 gxf5 29. Bf1 f4 30. gxf4
exf4 31. Nd4 Bd7 32. Ne2 Bc6 33. Nxf4 Bxf3 {1-0 (33) Nunn,J (2600)-Short,N (2635)
Wijk aan Zee 1990}) 9. Nd5 Nge7 10. Bg2 ({Carlsen thought that he had too many
weaknesses on the kingside to play} 10. c4) 10... Bg4 ({Exchanging in the center}
10... Nxd5 11. exd5 Ne7 {was better according to Carlsen , but after} 12. c3
{followed by 13.Nc2 and break with a2-a4 or f2-f4 white clearly dictates the
play.}) 11. f3 Be6 ({Carlsen expected } 11... Bd7 {and after} 12. c3 {he can
take on d5 with the knight} ({The Norwegian grandmaster considered} 12. c4 Nxd5
13. cxd5 Nd4 14. Be3 h4 15. O-O) 12... Nxd5 13. exd5 Ne7 {although white still
has the edge after} 14. Nc2 h4 15. f4) 12. c3 h4 13. Nc2 Bxd5 ({Surrendering
a bishop pair and the control of the light squares. After} 13... h3 14. Bf1
{black is done on the kingside and white has a space advantage and can attack
the vulnerable pawn on b5 with a2-a4.}) ({After} 13... Na5 {comes} 14. Nce3)
14. exd5 Na5 15. f4 Nf5 $6 ({A bit provocative. Carlsen thought that} 15...
hxg3 16. hxg3 Rxh1+ 17. Bxh1 Qd7 18. Bg2 exf4 19. Bxf4 Ng6 20. Be3 Be7 {was
better. At least, black can develop the king side.}) 16. g4 $1 {Forcing the
black knight to the edge.} h3 17. Be4 Nh4 ({The queen check is not dangerous:}
17... Qh4+ 18. Kf1 Ne7 (18... Nh6 19. Rg1) 19. Qe2 {with white's advantage.})
18. O-O {Carlsen thought that he was much better. All his pieces are in the
play.} g6 19. Kh1 Bg7 $16 ({There was no reason to prevent} 19... f5 20. Bd3
e4 21. Be2 {followed by a2-a4, white is clearly better.}) 20. f5 $1 (20. fxe5
Bxe5 21. Nd4) 20... gxf5 21. gxf5 $5 ({ Limiting the knight on h4, although
some computer programs prefer} 21. Bxf5 { Both black knights are on the rim
and out of play.}) 21... Ng2 ({Allowing further stifling of black pieces, but}
21... Bf6 22. Nb4 Qb6 23. a4 {is in white's favor.}) 22. f6 $1 {Carlsen thought
that Nakamura might have overlooked this resource.} Bf8 ({Giving up the exchange}
22... Bxf6 23. Qf3 Rh4 (23... Nf4 24. Bxf4 exf4 25. Qxf4 Qe7 26. Qxf6 Qxe4+
27. Rf3 Kd7 28. Qxf7+ Qe7 29. Re1 $18) 24. Bg5 Rf4 25. Bxf4 Nxf4 {does not help.
After} 26. b3 {white eliminates the knight on a5. Although he has one nice piece,
the knight on f4, he hasn't much else going for him. - Carlsen}) 23. Qf3 $18
{White is dominates. It's not much fun for black.} Qc7 24. Nb4 Nb7 25. Nc6 Nc5
26. Bf5 Nd7 (26... Nh4 27. Qxh3 Ng6 28. Qg3 Nh4 29. Bc2 $18) 27. Bg5 Rg8 (27...
Nb8 28. Nxe5 dxe5 29. d6 Qa7 30. Be4 $18) 28. Qh5 Nb6 29. Be6 $1 {Threatening
30 Ne7 with a decisive attack of the pawn on f7. The black king is encircled.}
Rxg5 {There is no hope.} (29... Qb7 30. Ne7 $18) (29... Nf4 30. Rxf4 exf4 31.
Bxf7+ Qxf7 32. Re1+ $18) 30. Qxg5 fxe6 (30... Nf4 31. Rxf4 exf4 32. Qh5 Nc4
33. Rg1 Ne5 34. Nxe5 dxe5 35. Rg8 {threatening 36.Rxf8+, white wins.}) 31. dxe6
(31. dxe6 Qxc6 32. f7#) 1-0
Original
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