Superbet Classic: Caruana bamboozles Vachier-Lagrave

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
5/8/2023 – Four players are sharing the lead on 2/3 points at the Superbet Chess Classic in Bucharest. The latest addition to the leading pack is Fabiano Caruana, who defeated Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the only decisive game of round 3. In the marquee encounter of the round, Ian Nepomniachtchi could not make the most of his advantage in his game with white against Ding Liren. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

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Four co-leaders


Find expert commentary - video and game annotations - by well-known coach and author IM Robert Ris at the end of the article.


As often happens in tournaments with all-elite lineups, a very close race for the top has emerged after a few rounds at the Superbet Chess Classic in Bucharest. Four players are sharing the lead with +1 scores, while no player has lost more than once in the first three rounds of the competition. On Monday, Fabiano Caruana joined the leading pack by beating Maxime Vachie-Lagrave with the white pieces.

Only Ding Liren and Anish Giri have drawn all their games so far. After getting two whites in the first rounds, Ding faced Ian Nepomniachtchi eight days after beating him in the World Championship match. Nepo got the upper hand with white but, following a trend from the match in Astana, he failed to convert his advantage into a win.

A draw was signed after 54 moves in what was their fifteenth confrontation in classical chess in a bit over four weeks.

Ian Nepomniachtchi

Ian Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren meet again | Photo: Lennart Ootes

In the one decisive game of the day, Caruana and MVL played an entertaining 23-move game. Caruana pushed his h-pawn early on with 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.h4 *, to which Vachier-Lagrave replied by setting up a Benko structure. Plenty of calculation was required in the highly imbalanced resulting position, when Caruana did not have much trouble getting the upper hand and scoring a quick win. The US grandmaster later explained:

He was playing far from his best today. [...] I did what I had to do, so overall it’s good.

Caruana will face co-leader Nepomniachtchi in Tuesday’s fourth round, while MVL, who is the defending champion in Romania, will try to bounce right back in his game against Giri.


* Check out Spike Ernst’s FritzTrainer 3.h4 against the King's Indian and Grünfeld - now available with a 25% discount!


Alireza Firouzja

Alireza Firouzja drew with Richard Rapport in round 3, and then told Cristian Chirila: “I just take more risks, and that’s why I lose more points” | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Caruana 1 - 0 Vachier-Lagrave

An ambidextrous player, Caruana went for 1.d4, surely prepared to face MVL’s pet defence, the Grünfeld. His early 3.h4, however, prompted the Frenchman to enter the Benko, giving up a pawn to get play on the queenside. Theory was followed until move 12, when MVL was the first to deviate from explored territories.

Caruana vs. Vachier-Lagrave

12...Qd7 was followed by 13.0-0 Qg4, as Black showed his intentions to use the weakness created by h2-h4 on White’s camp.

Boldly, Black gave up two central pawns in order to infiltrate his opponent’s position with his knight (the one that started its journey from g8). Once the ‘horse’ had reached the d3-square, White’s position already looked more than promising, though.

After 18...Nfd3 19.Re3 Nxb2 Caruana found the precise 20.Qb3. Curiously, following Black’s knight journeys, it was two knight moves by White which provoked MVL’s resignation.

There followed 20...N2d3 21.e5 f5 (Black’s best practical chance) 22.Nh2 Qh3 23.Ne2

White is two pawns up and has a more compact, coordinated army. Moreover, Black will need to find tactical recourses to survive in the short term — only to later find himself dealing with two strong central passers on the d and e-files. 1-0

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | Photo: Lennart Ootes


Expert analysis by IM Robert Ris - Video

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1.d4 1.e4 1...Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 c6 6.e3 Bf5 6...h6 Game 3 7.Qf3 Bg6 8.Bxf6 Qxf6 9.Qxf6 gxf6 10.Nf3 a5 10...Nd7 11.Nh4 Be7 11.Nh4 a4 11...Bb4 12.a3 Bxc3+ 13.bxc3 b5 12.a3 Nd7 12...Be7 13.f4 f5 14.Nf3 Nd7 15.Bd3 h5= 13.f4 Bc2? 13...Be7?? 14.f5 Bh5 15.h3 13...f5 14.Bd3± 13...Be4 14.Nxe4 dxe4 14.Rc1 Bb3 15.Nb1‼ 15.Bd3 Nb6 15...Ra5 15...Nb6 16.Nd2 Ba2 17.Bd3 16.Be2 16.Nd2 Ba2 16...c5 17.Nf5 17.dxc5 Rxc5 17...Bxc5 18.Nd2 Bxe3 19.Rc8+ 18.Kf2 17...Nb6 17...cxd4 18.Rc8# 18.Nd2 18.Kf2 c4 18...cxd4 19.Nxd4 Bc4 20.Nc3+- 19.Nc3± 18...c4 19.Nb1 Na8‼ 20.Nc3 Nc7 21.Kf2 b5 22.e4 22.Bf3? b4 23.axb4 Bxb4 22...b4 23.axb4 Bxb4 24.Nxd5 Nxd5 25.exd5 Rxd5? 25...Bd2? 26.Rxc4! Bxc4 26...Kd7 27.Rc5 Rxc5 28.dxc5+- 27.Nd6+ Kd7 28.Nxc4+- 25...Kd7! 26.Bxc4 26.Ne3 Rb8! 27.Bxc4? 27.Nxc4 Rxd5 27...Bd2-+ 26...Bd2 27.Bxb3 Bxc1 28.Bxa4+ Rxa4 29.Rxc1 26.Bxc4 26.g4! Bd2 27.Bxc4 Bxc1 28.Bxd5 Bxf4? 28...Bxd5 29.Rxc1 Kd7 30.Rc5± 29.Bxb3 axb3 30.Kf3+- 26...Rxf5 26...Bxc4? 27.Rxc4 Rxf5 28.Rc8++- 27.Bxb3 0-0 27...axb3? 28.Rc8++- 28.Rc4 28.Bxa4 Rxf4+ 29.Ke3 Bd2+ 30.Kxd2 Rxd4+ 31.Kc3 Rxa4= 28...Rxf4+ 28...axb3 29.Rxb4 Rxf4+ 30.Ke3 Rg4 31.g3 Re8+ 32.Kd3 Rge4 29.Ke3 Bd2+ 30.Kxd2 axb3 31.Re1 Rd8 32.Kd3 f5 33.Rb4 33.Rd1!? 33.Kc3 Rf2 33...h5 34.Re2 34.Rxb3 Rfxd4+ 34...h4 35.h3 35.Kc3 h3 36.gxh3 Rf3+ 35...Kg7 36.Kc3 Re4 37.Kd3 37.Rxe4 fxe4 38.Kxb3 38.Rxb3 f5 38...Kf6 38...f5 37...Rxe2 38.Kxe2 Kf6 39.Kf3 39.Kd3 Rg8 39...Rg8 40.Rb6+ 40.Rxb3 Rg3+ 40...Ke7 41.Kf4 Rxg2 42.Rxb3 42.Kxf5?? Rxb2-+ 42...Ke6 43.Re3+ Kd5 44.Rf3 Rxb2 45.Kxf5 Kxd4 46.Rf4+ Ke3 47.Re4+ Kf3 48.Rxh4 Kg3 49.Rg4+ Kxh3 50.Rf4 Kg3 51.Rf1 Rf2+ 52.Rxf2 Kxf2 53.Kf6 Kf3 54.Kxf7 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Nepomniachtchi,I2795Ding,L2788½–½2023D35Superbet Classic 20233.3

Results - Round 3

Standings - Round 3

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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.

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