Speed Chess Championship: Carlsen wins against Artemiev

by André Schulz
12/4/2020 – Only a few days after his defeat against Wesley So in the Skilling Open on November 30, his 30th birthday, Magnus Carlsen was back to play in another online tournament, and he won his quarterfinal match of the Chess.com Speed Chess Championship against Vladislav Artemiev, though not without some problems. | Picture: Chess.com
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Magnus Carlsen vs Vladislav Artemiev, 13½-9½

If Vladislav Artemiev had hoped that Magnus Carlsen might still be a little tired after the demanding Skilling Open, he was mistaken.

Artemiev won the first game of the match, but Carlsen managed to equalize in game two. The World Champion had some problems to get going but he still won the 5+1 section of the match 5-3.

However, in some games Carlsen had a lot of trouble and in game four Artemiev demolished the World Champion in a drastic way. After 28 moves Carlsen was forced to resign.

 
V. Artemiev - M. Carlsen, Speed Chess Championship, Game 4

14.g4 Nc5 15.Bf2 h6 15...g6!? with the idea 16.g5 (16.Re3) 16...Nh5 might be an alternative.

16.b4 Ncd7 16...Ncxe4 17.Nxe4 Nxe4 18.Bxe4 Bxe4 19.Rxe4 d5 20.Re1 dxc4 and the two pawns Black has for the piece are probably not enough.

17.g5 hxg5 18.fxg5 Ne8 19.g6 Ne5 20.gxf7+ Rxf7 21.Bh3 White has a strong attack. 21.Nxe6? immediately fails to 21...Qxc4 with a double attack.

21...Rf6 22.Nxe6 Qxc4? More stubborn was 22...Nf3+ 23.Kh1 (23.Qxf3 Rxf3 24.Nxc7 Rxh3) 23...Qxc4 24.Nd5 Qxc1 25.Qxc1 Rxc1 26.Nxf6+ Bxf6 27.Rxc1.

23.Nd5 And that was that.

 

23...Rg6+ 24.Bg3 Qxc1 25.Nxe7+ Kf7 26.Nxg6 Qxd1 27.Nxe5+ dxe5 28.Rxd1 1–0

And in game seven Carlsen was under pressure but found a way to wriggle out of a dangerous position.

 
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1.e41,187,37854%2421---
1.d4960,97355%2434---
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1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 g6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be2 0-0 7.0-0 Bg4 8.cxd5 cxd5 9.Qb3 b6 10.Bd2 Ne4 11.Be1 11.Nxd5? Nxd2 11...Nc6 12.h3 12.Nxd5? Be6 12...Bf5 After 12...Bxf3 13.Bxf3 Nxc3 14.bxc3 Black cannot defend d5 because e6 fails to 15.c4 dxc4 16.Qa4 12...Be6= 13.Bb5 13.Nxd5 yields nothing: Be6 14.Bc4 Nd6 15.Nxe7+ Qxe7 16.d5 Nxc4 17.Qxc4 Bxb2 18.Rb1 Bf6 19.dxe6 Qxe6 20.Qxe6 fxe6 13...Rc8 13...Na5!? with the devilish idea 14.Qxd5 14.Qd1= 14...Nd6 15.Ba6 e6 14.Qxd5 Nd6 15.Be2 Na5 Threatening to win the queen. 16.Ne5? The right idea but the wrong square for the knight. 16.Nd2 16...Rxc3 17.Bxc3 Be4 This traps the queen, doesn't it? But Carlsen finds a way to continue the game. 18.Nxf7 Qc7? Correct was 18...Rxf7 19.Qg5 Bf6 20.Qg3 and White escaped with his queen and has two pawns for the exchange. 19.Nh6+ A devastating double-check. Kh8 20.Qg5 Now White is an exchange up - and two pawns. Qb7 21.f3 Bd5 22.e4 Bc4 23.Bxc4 Naxc4 24.d5 Bxc3 25.bxc3 Qc7 26.Rad1 Nb2 27.Qe5+ Rf6 28.Ng4 Qc5+ 29.Kh1 Nxd1 30.Rxd1 Nf7 31.Qb8+ 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Carlsen,M3155Artemiev,V30541–02020D94chess.com Speed 20201.7

Carlsen also won the 3+1 section of the match, scoring 5-2.

In game 5 of the 3+1 mini-match Artemiev suffered in the O'Kelly variation of the Sicilian.

 
M. Carlsen - V. Artemiev

18.f4 Undermining Black's center.

18...Bxd3 19.fxe5 Nf5 After 19...Qg5 20.Qxg5 hxg5 21.Rxh8 Rxh8 22.Rxd3 dxe5 White is better, but still has some work to do.

20.Qxd3 dxe5 21.Ne4 Rc8 22.Kb1 Nd4 23.Rhf1 23.Qc3!? with the idea 23...Rf8 24.Rxd4 exd4 25.Qxd4+ Kh7 26.c5 was an alternative.

23...b5 White can simply ignore this.

 

24.Qg3 Re8 25.Rf6 g5 26.Qh3 Rh8 27.Rdf1 Rc7 28.d6 Qa8 29.Qg4 Ra7 30.Nxg5 Black gets mated. 1–0

Though Artemiev won the bullet portion of the match with 4½-3½ this was not enough to turn the match around. In the end Carlsen won the match 13½-9½ and qualified for the semifinals of the Speed Chess Championship where he will play against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.

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Live commentary with Jan Gustafsson and Peter Svidler

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André Schulz started working for ChessBase in 1991 and is an editor of ChessBase News.

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