Magnus Carlsen wins his fifth title of the year at Lindores Abbey

by Sagar Shah
5/27/2019 – Magnus Carlsen won the fifth tournament of the year 2019. But things were not so simple for the World Champion. He struggled quite a bit in this tournament and was losing against Karjakin as well as Ding Liren in rounds 5 and 6. Through sheer fighting spirit and hanging in there, he was able to win the first place with 3½/6. IM Sagar Shah who was present at the venue, brings you all the action.

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Magnus Carlsen and Ding Liren took their seats opposite each other. Their handshake didn't have any warmth or conviction. The entire tournament had boiled down to this final game. The Lindores Abbey Chess Stars tournament in Scotland was supposed to be relaxed, right? So why was the commentary section in the distillery bustling with hundreds of people? Why was Magnus Carlsen trying to get into the zone before the game. Why did Ding Liren have this stoic expression, wielding his silent willpower that has taken him to the top of world chess?

The more you think about it, the more you realize that this is all happening because of Magnus Carlsen. Carlsen winning the tournament these days taken for granted. But when he doesn't win it, no matter which event it is, it becomes big news! That's why things are always exciting when the world champion is in action.

Ding Liren had the unenviable task of beating Magnus to take the first place at the Lindores Abbey Chess Stars 2019

On would assume that Ding was not in the best possible frame of mind for this finale. He was decidedly better against Vishy Anand but things had gone completely downhill after he made one mistake after another.

 
Ding Liren vs Vishy Anand, round 5
White is surely better in this position

The point to debate here is whether White can win this position or not. There are absolutely no chances for Anand in this position. But for Ding to win this is not easy because he has to create a weakness in the position. The Chinese GM thought that he could do this by pushing his h-pawn down the board. This he did and after a few moves we reach the following position:

 
White's last move was g4 in this position

The move g4 was already a critical mistake by Ding, because it allowed Anand to play this rook to a4 attack the pawn and then pin the knight with ♜b4. Ding had to make sure that he pressed the emergency brakes here. However, making the switch did not come easily. One mistake led to another and the final cookie crumbled here:

 
White to play

Here Ding had to play ♖d6 and after ♜xe3 and ♜xb5 the position would be drawn. Ding went for ♖b8 instead and after Anand's simple ♜db3, the game was over. Quite a disappointing loss for Ding, who could have gone into the lead with 3½/5 had he won this position. Instead, he was left on 2½/5.

 
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1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 c6 4.Nf3 e4 5.Nd4 d5 6.d3 Bc5 7.Nb3 Bb6 8.cxd5 Qxd5 9.0-0 Qf5 10.Nc3 exd3 11.e4 Qh5 12.Qxh5 Nxh5 13.Rd1 Nf6 14.Na4 Na6 15.Rxd3 Be6 16.Nxb6 axb6 17.a3 c5 18.Nd2 Nb4 19.Rc3 Na2 20.Rxa2 Bxa2 21.b3 0-0-0 22.e5 Ne8 23.Bh3+ Kc7 24.Bf1 f6 25.e6 Nd6 26.Rc2 Bxb3 27.Nxb3 Rhe8 28.a4 Rxe6 29.a5 c4 30.Bxc4 Nxc4 31.Rxc4+ Rc6 32.Bf4+ Kd7 33.Rb4 bxa5 34.Nxa5 Ra6 35.Rxb7+ Ke8 36.Nb3 What is the objective assessment of the position? Difficult to say, whether White will be able to win this or not, but he is definitely under a lot of pressure and Black has to be very careful. Kf8 37.h4 Re8 38.Nd4 Re7 39.Rb8+ Kf7 40.Nf5 Rd7 41.h5 Ding Liren has slowly improved his position, but it is not so easy to find a weakness where he can latch onto. At the same time White can endlessly keep manoeuvring hoping for Anand to commit a tactical blunder. The chances of this happening are not naught, but I think Ding Liren believed that he could do something constructive and overpressed. Ra5 42.Nd6+ Ke6 43.Nb5 Kf5 44.Kg2 Kg4 45.h6 g5 46.Be3 Kh5 47.Rb6 Kg6 48.g4?! What could be more natural to fix the square on f5 and get ready for Nd6-f5! Well the problem is that for this one move the g4 pawn is undefended and Anand manages to get his rook in a very aggressive and active position. 48.Kf3 Rd3 49.Nd6+- 48...Ra4! 49.Kg3 Rb4! Suddenly Ding has to start playing carefully. He wants to remove his knight from b5, but it would mean that he has to allow the exchange of rooks and he loses the h6 pawn. This was the right thing to do but the Chinese player wanted to win! 50.Kf3 Rd3! Once Anand gets counterplay, he is in his element. 51.Rb8 Kxh6 52.Rb6 Kg6 53.Rb8? 53.Rd6 was the last chance. Rxe3+ 54.Kxe3 Rxb5 55.f3= And this will be a draw. 53...Rdb3! 54.Rg8+ Kf7 55.Rh8 Kg7 And just like that from a very promising position, Ding Liren lost the game. Anand fought hard and stayed in the game, but one has to feel for Ding who might have won the tournament had he won this game! 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Ding,L2805Anand,V27740–12019A20Lindores Abbey Stars5.1

One cannot help but feel sorry for Ding, especially after you see his reaction after he lost the game

Magnus the kibitzer cannot help but try to find how Ding lost that game!

Magnus Carlsen, on the other hand, in round five had reached an equal middlegame position against Sergey Karjakin. The players could have agreed to a draw by making some banal moves. But Carlsen, as he said in the post-game interview, was in "Kramnik mode". He was ambitious and perhaps it wasn't the most objective, but boy did the spectators have fun!

 
Carlsen vs Karjakin
With the rook on c5, Carlsen went for e4.

Now it was Sergey's turn for creative play, and he went for ...a4. Things would have ended quite peacefully had Magnus picked up the a4 pawn. However, when you have the will to fight hard, then you often find moves which are not the most obvious. Carlsen took on d5 and let Black push his pawn to a3, then a2 and even a1=♛!

 
How do assess this position?

It's true that White has only two minor pieces for the queen. However, Black has to be very accurate in case he wants to play for the win. While I was kibitzing the game live at the venue, I didn't even feel that Karjakin had the advantage. At least, Magnus' body language was extremely confident. As you can see from the analysis given below, Karjakin had to find the very accurate manoeuvre with ...♛a5 followed by ...♛b4 and he would have excellent chances to win. But once Magnus was able to get his pawn to c6 and b7, I think it's a fortress.

 
This is a fortress!

Although engines feel that this is better for Black, I think it is drawn and the further course of the game shows that. It was a great game of fighting chess by Magnus and Sergey.

The final four minutes of this crazy game captured on camera

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.0-0 0-0 6.c3 Nbd7 7.Bf4 c5 8.Ne5 Qb6 9.Qb3 cxd4 10.Qxb6 Nxb6 11.cxd4 Ne4 12.Rc1 Nd6 13.Nc3 Be6 14.a4 a5 15.h4 Rfc8 16.b3 Rc7 17.Nb5 Rxc1+ 18.Rxc1 Nxb5 19.axb5 Rc8 We join the game from this point onwards. It seems like the game would end in a draw. 20.Rc5!? Magnus would like to keep the play in the position. Kf8 21.e4 a4 21...dxe4 22.Bxe4 Rd8 gives Black a safe and stable position, but Karjakin tries for something more dynamic. 22.exd5?! From the spectator point of view, this was a great move. However, objectively this looks bad. 22.bxa4 22...Rxc5?! 22...a3! could have been more precise as after 23.dxe6 a2 24.Nd7+ Ke8 25.Nxb6 a1Q+ 26.Kh2 Rd8 Black has excellent winning chances. 23.dxc5 a3 23...Nxd5? 24.bxa4+- 24.dxe6 a2 25.Nd7+ Ke8 25...Nxd7 26.exd7 a1Q+ 27.Kh2 This is already winning for White. Qd1 27...Qa8 28.Bc7+- 28.Bd6!+- 26.Nxb6 a1Q+ 27.Kh2 How to assess such a position? White has just two minor pieces for the queen. But what he has is this clump of pawns on the queenside. Be5 27...fxe6 28.Bxb7 Bd4 29.Nc4 Bxc5 30.Bc6+ Kf7 31.b6 Bxf2 32.b7 Bg1+ 33.Kh3 Ba7 34.Ne5+ Kg7 35.Be3 Bb8 36.Nd7 Bc7 37.Bb6 Bd6 38.Bc5 Bc7 39.Bb6 What a crazy computer generated line! 28.Be3 fxe6 29.Bxb7 Bd4 30.Nc4?! 30.c6 Bxe3 31.c7 Bxf2 32.c8Q+ Kf7 This would have given White some practical chances, although truth be told this is also a drawn position. 30...Bxe3 31.Nxe3 Qb2 31...Qa5!? was a powerful move because it attacks the queenside pawns. And this c5 pawn is much more critical than the b3 pawn that Karjakin won in the game. 32.Bc6+ 32.Ba6 Qa2 33.Kg2 Qxb3 34.c6 Kd8 White has managed to keep his pawn duo but the bishop is out of play on a6. 32...Kd8! 33.Nc4 Qb4-+ White is unable to hold on to his c5 pawn. 32.Kg2 Qxb3 33.b6 Qb5 34.Bf3 Kd8! Karjakin plays carefully. 34...Qxc5 35.b7 Qb5 36.Nc2 Qb6 37.Nd4 Qa7 This knight and bishop duo can be quite potent here. White can even win this and Black has to be careful. 35.b7 Kc7 36.c6 Although engines feel that this is better for Black, during the game being inside the tournament hall, I felt like it was Magnus who was playing for a win. Objectively this should be drawn because I don't think Black has anyway to just make progress with his queen. Qb4 37.g4 Qd4 38.Nf1 h5 39.gxh5 gxh5 40.Ng3 e5 41.Ne4 Qc4 42.Ng5 Kb8 43.Be4 Qe2 44.Bf5 e4 45.Nxe4 Qc4 46.Ng3 Qxc6+ 47.Be4 Qf6 48.Nxh5 Qxh4 49.Ng3 It was a thrilling game with both players showing skills at a very high level. Of course mistakes did happen, but when you have around 10-20 seconds on the clock, the quality of play that was shown by Magnus and Sergey was not at all bad. ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Carlsen,M2861Karjakin,S2752½–½2019D02Lindores Abbey Stars5.2

Sergey Karjakin finished third with 3.0/6 | Photo: Jeroen van den Belt

The big final clash: Ding vs Carlsen

There was just 20 minutes break between the two rounds.

While Ding was recovering from his loss to Anand, Magnus went for a nice little walk with his father

Ding Liren seemed to be in a completely different frame of mind. He was out for the kill. His opening play looked uninspired at first, but very quickly you could understand that looks can be deceiving. 

 
Ding Liren vs Carlsen
Ding Liren's last move was e4

This move e4 came as a surprise to Magnus. He took with ...♞xe4 but Liren had the next surprise prepared ♘h4! Suddenly it was clear that Carlsen had been outplayed.

 

Let's take stock of what we have here. White is a pawn up and logically this should be winning, right? I mean if you see such a game given in any book, then the player with the white pieces has most often won showing good technique. The problem here is that you have Magnus Carlsen, one of the finest endgame players of our time, sitting with the black pieces. Hence, Ding has to be careful, but at the same time he shouldn't be so overcautious that he is not able to take some calculated risks. Add to this the pressure of winning the tournament and I think it became a bit too much for the world no.3 to handle.

 

I would call this the critical position of the game. Here Ding spent nearly six minutes of his time to figure out a way to win. If you look at it, White has some important decisions to make. He cannot win by keeping the status quo. That's because the king would like to enter the kingside, but the rook on e2 guards it firmly. If you want the king to enter, then you need your rook to take an active part, but that would mean the sacrifice of the f2 pawn. Also, the b4 pawn isn't going to queen anytime soon. Its main purpose would be to distract Black so that White can enter the kingside. You can check the analysis given below. I have not been able to find a win, nor were the players able to in post-game conference. But I wouldn't be surprised if a win does exist.

 
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1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 a6!? This move has started becoming quite popular recently. 4.Bg5 Ding Liren goes for a fresh position that is not deeply analyzed. Be7 5.Bxe7 Qxe7 Exchanging pieces might not be the right strategy when you are playing in a must-win situation but here Ding feels that his bishop on f1 will have more scope as compared to the bishop on c8. 6.Nbd2 Nf6 7.g3 0-0 8.Bg2 b6 9.cxd5 Just when the bishop is about to be developed on b7 and Black is ready to take dxc4, White takes on d5 and fixes the structure. exd5 10.0-0 Bb7 11.Rc1 a5 12.Re1 c5 At this point it seemed as if Black has very comfortable play. His knight will go to d7 and his rooks will come to central files. White doesn't seem to have any edge. But Ding Liren found a fine idea. 13.dxc5 bxc5 14.e4! This powerful move must have been underestimated by Magnus. Nxe4 Here the commentators were only considering taking on e4 as an option, but Ding comes up with some very surprising. 14...dxe4 15.Ng5 already seems quite better for White. 15.Nh4! You need to make moves like these if you want to beat Magnus. f3 is a big threat now. Qf6 16.Nxe4 dxe4 17.Rxc5 White has recovered the pawn and now both e4 and a5 are weak. Na6 17...Qxb2 18.a4 with the threat of Rb5. Qf6 19.Bxe4± Even though the material is even, White is just better. 18.Rxa5 Qxb2 19.Bxe4 Bxe4 20.Rxe4 Rad8 20...Nb4 21.Rxa8 Rxa8 22.Qe1! With b4 hanging and a mate on e8. 21.Rd5 Rxd5 22.Qxd5 White is now a clean pawn up, but Black gets his knight back in the game. Nb4 23.Qb3 Qxb3 24.axb3 Let's take stock of what we have here. White is a pawn up and logically this should be winning, right? I mean if you see such a game given in any book, then the player with the white pieces has most often won showing good technique. The problem here is that you have Magnus Carlsen, one of the finest endgame players of our time, sitting with the black pieces. Hence, Ding has to be careful, but at the same time he shouldn't be overcautious that he is not able to take some calculated risks. Add to this the pressure of winning the tournament and I think it became a bit too much for the world no.3 to handle. Rb8 25.Nf3 Kf8 26.Kf1 Nd5 27.Nd2 g6 28.Rd4 Nb4 29.Ke2 So far so good. White has brought his king in. Ke7 30.Re4+ Kd7 31.Ke3 Rb5 32.Kd4?! Ding Liren is not averse about going into a rook endgame. Is this a smart decision? According to Magnus it would have been better to keep the knights on the board because in rook endgames the drawing chances increase hugely. But Ding had his reasons to be positive. He has an active rook, an active king, a healthy extra pawn and nearly 10 more minutes on the clock. Rd5+ 33.Kc3 Rd3+ 34.Kxb4 Rxd2 35.Rf4 f5 36.Kc5 Kc7 37.b4 Kb7 38.h4 h5 39.Rf3 Rc2+ 40.Kd5 Re2 I would call this the critical position of the game. Here Ding spent nearly 5-6 minutes of his time to figure out a way to win. If you look at it, White has some important decisions to make. He cannot win by keeping the status quo. That's because the king would like to enter the kingside, but the rook on e2 guards it firmly. If you want the king to enter, then you need your rook to take an active part, but that would mean the sacrifice of the f2 pawn. Also the b4 pawn isn't going to queen anytime soon. It's main purpose would be to distract Black so that White can enter the kingside. 41.Kc5 41.Rd3 is the critical line. Rxf2 42.Ke5 The king can now come to f6 and take the pawn on g6 or he can come to g5 via f6. Either way, this is quite dangerous for Black. Kc7! 42...Kb6? This doesn't work because of 43.Rd6+ Kb5 44.Rxg6 And Black is just lost because both his pawns on f5 and h5 will fall. Kxb4 45.Rg5 Rf3 46.Rxh5 Rxg3 47.Rg5 Rh3 47...Rg4 48.Rxg4+ fxg4 49.Kf4+- 48.h5 This is just winning because after Kc5 49.Kxf5 Kd6 50.Kg6+- The White rook is in perfect position to shelter the king. 43.Kf6 43.b5 Kb6 44.Rd6+ Kxb5 45.Rxg6 Rf3 46.Rg5 Kc6 47.Rxh5 Rxg3 48.Rg5 Rg4! 48...Rh3 49.h5 Kd7 50.Kxf5 Ke7= Black king is too quick. 43...f4 44.Kxg6 Rg2! 45.Kxh5 Rxg3 46.Rd4 f3 47.Rf4 Kd6 This will end in a draw as Black pieces are much better coordinated. 41.Re3 Rxf2 42.Ke5 Kb6 43.Kf6 f4! This is what Vishy was mentioning. He doesn't want to keep the rook on e3 because f5-f4 comes with a tempo. 44.gxf4 44.Re6+ Kb5 45.Re5+ Kc6 46.Kxg6 fxg3= 44...Rxf4+ 45.Kxg6 Rxh4= 41...Rc2+ 42.Kd4 Re2 43.Kd5 Ding Liren is trying for some kind of triangulation. He has brought same position with white to move. He sees the the rook cannot move from e2 and the king may have to compromise his position from b7. Either move to b6 and allow some check down the 6th rank or go to the last rank. Either way, this is an interesting try, but Magnus continues as if nothing has happened! Kb6 44.Rf4 44.Re3 Rxf2 45.Re6+ Kb5 46.Ke5!? 46.Rxg6 f4 The fact that the king is on d5 and not e5 allows Black to liquidate. 46...Re2+ 47.Kd6 Rc2 48.Ke7 Rc7+ 49.Kf8 49.Kf6 Rc3! 49...Rc4! It's true that in all of these lines Black is holding on by the skin of his teeth, but it is also true that a win doesn't exist for White in these lines. A deeper inspection has to be made to come to clear conclusion. 44...Kb5 45.Kd6 Kb6 46.f3 Kb5 47.Kd5 47.g4?! hxg4 48.fxg4 Re4!= This was Magnus' evil plan 47...Rg2 48.Ke5 Rxg3 49.Kf6 Ka4 50.Kg7 Kb5 51.Kh6 Ka4 52.Rd4 Kb5 53.Rd6 Kxb4 54.Rxg6 Rxf3 Black is now out of danger. 55.Kxh5 Kc5 56.Rf6 Kd5 57.Kg6 Ke5 58.h5 Rg3+ 59.Kf7 f4 60.h6 Rh3 61.Kg7 f3 62.Rf8 Rg3+ 63.Kh8 Ke4 64.h7 Ke3 65.Rxf3+ Kxf3 An excellent defensive effort by the World Champion who won the 1st edition of the Lindores Abbey Chess Stars by his sheer fighting spirit. ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Ding,L2805Carlsen,M2861½–½2019D30Lindores Abbey Stars6.2

Ding's father watched the entire final encounter patiently while Henrik tried to distract himself from the stress and tension by talking to Jonathon Grant | Photo: Kallia Kleisarchaki

By surviving difficult moments in both rounds five and six, Magnus won the tournament. Ding Liren was so close to victory, but it was not to be!

The participants along with the two men who made this event possible. Anton Buslov (left) and Drew Mckenzie Smith (right) 

Magnus was given a full barrel of whisky as the winner. The whisky has not yet matured at the distillery as it has recently begun. Hence, Lindores Abbey Distillery will preserve Magnus' barrel, which contains approximately 150 litres of whiskey. Once it is matured, the distillery owners will contact Magnus as to what he would like to do with it. Usually whisky takes around three years to mature. The remaining three players receive a quarter barrel as a prize.

An exclusive ChessBase interview with Magnus Carlsen after he won the event


Final standings

Rk.NameRtg.Nt.Pts.n
1
2
3
4
TBPerf.
1
GM
GM
2869

1
GM
2805
½

2
GM
2752
½

3
GM
2733
1

4
GM
2733
½

5
GM
2752
½

6
GM
2805
½

Ø 2763
3.5/6
2869
3.5
6
9.75
2820
2
GM
GM
2805

1
GM
2869
½

2
GM
2733
½

3
GM
2752
1

4
GM
2752
½

5
GM
2733
0

6
GM
2869
½

Ø 2785
3/6
2805
3.0
6
9.25
2785
3
GM

1
GM
2733
1

2
GM
2869
½

3
GM
2805
0

4
GM
2805
½

5
GM
2869
½

6
GM
2733
½

Ø 2802
3/6
2752
3.0
6
8.75
2802
4
GM
GM
2733

1
GM
2752
0

2
GM
2805
½

3
GM
2869
0

4
GM
2869
½

5
GM
2805
1

6
GM
2752
½

Ø 2809
2.5/6
2733
2.5
6
7.75
2752
TBs: Sonneborn-Berger

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The chess world looks forward to Lindores Abbey Chess Stars becoming a regular super tournament in the calendar from 2020 onwards!


Sagar is an International Master from India with two GM norms. He loves to cover chess tournaments, as that helps him understand and improve at the game he loves so much. He is the co-founder and CEO of ChessBase India, the biggest chess news portal in the country. His YouTube channel has over a million subscribers, and to date close to a billion views. ChessBase India is the sole distributor of ChessBase products in India and seven adjoining countries, where the software is available at a 60% discount. compared to International prices.

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