Superbet Classic: Missed chances by Caruana and So

Caruana leads with two round to go

For a third time in the event, all games ended drawn at the Superbet Chess Classic in Bucharest. This means Fabiano Caruana continues to top the standings with a half-point lead over a chasing trio consisting of Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa and Alireza Firouzja. In the final two rounds, set to take place on Thursday and Friday, Caruana will face Pragg (with white) and Anish Giri (with black).

The fact that all games ended drawn does not mean there was a lack of fighting spirit in the tournament’s seventh round. Most notably, Giri and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave entered a complicated middlegame out of an English Opening before suddenly agreeing to a draw by threefold repetition, while Caruana and Wesley So failed to make the most of clear winning chances against Gukesh and Nodirbek Abdusattorov, respectively.

Caruana gobbled up a pawn in a major-piece endgame that was evaluated as drawn by the engines. A mistake by Gukesh, however, gave Caruana a tactical chance which he failed to find with a bit over 2 minutes on his clock (Gukesh had less than a minute at that point).

So, on his part, ably consolidated the position of an advanced central passer before letting his large advantage slip amid a tactical struggle with both kings vulnerable to attacks. Abdusattorov defended resourcefully and was rewarded with an 86-move draw.

Results - Round 7

A Supergrandmaster's Guide to Openings Vol.1 & 2

This video course includes GM Anish Giri's deep insights and IM Sagar Shah's pertinent questions to the super GM. In Vol.1 all the openings after 1.e4 are covered.

Praggnanandhaa, Anish Giri and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave on the stage of the Grand Hotel Bucharest during round 7 | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Gukesh ½ - ½ Caruana

Gukesh D2763

½–½

Caruana, Fabiano2805

GCT Superbet Romania 2024 Bucharest03.07.2024[CC]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d3 d6 5.a4 a5 6.Nc3 h6 7.Be3 Bb4 8.0-0 Bxc3 9.bxc3 Nf6 10.Nd2 0-0 11.f4 Be6 12.Bb5 Ng4 13.Qe1 Nxe3 14.Qxe3 exf4 15.Rxf4 Ne5 16.d4 Ng6 17.Rf2 Qg5

A rich, strategic opening battle out of a Giuoco Piano has left Black with a better structure, as it is White who needs to prove that his strong centre and the possibility of controlling the semi-open f-file gives him enough compensation for the structural damage. 18.Nf1 18.Qxg5 hxg5 19.Nf1 was also playable, but Gukesh correctly chose to keep the queens on the board - instead of dealing with a position in which Black might try to slowly increase. 18...Rad8 19.Rb1 b6 20.g3 Ne7 21.Qe2 Bg4 22.Qd3 Kh8 23.Ne3 Bh3 24.Qd2 d5 A well-timed pawn break. 25.exd5 Nxd5 26.Re1 c5 27.Nxd5 Qxd5 28.Rf4 A manoeuvring battle begins at this point, when Gukesh had 19 minutes to Caruana's 16. Black still has the better pawn structure, but it is difficult to find a way to make progress. Qd6 29.Qf2 Be6 30.Bd3 Rfe8 31.Rfe4 Rf8 32.Rf4 Rde8 33.Rb1 Rc8 34.Rf1 cxd4 35.cxd4 Bc4

Black has finally released the tension in the centre. Engines consider that he has a slightly bigger advantage than what he had in the early middlegame. From a human point of view, though, it is still all to play for in a tense - yet quite balanced - position. 36.Qe3 Gukesh correctly decided not to enter the line with 36.Bxc4 Rxc4 37.Rxf7 Rxf7 38.Qxf7 Qxd4+ which only helps Black. 36...f6 37.Rb1 Bxd3 38.Qxd3 Caruana simplifies into a major-piece endgame - a volatile setup in which a single mistake can have major consequences. Clock situation: Caruana had about 4 minutes, Gukesh a bit less than 3 minutes. Qc6 39.d5 Qc5+ 40.Rf2 Rfe8 41.Rb5 Qd6 42.Qd4 Rc5 43.Rxc5 bxc5 44.Qd3 Qd7 45.Rf4 Re5 46.c4 White cements his passed pawn at the cost of losing the pawn on a4. Engines approve of this decision, as they continue to show zeros in their evaluations. Qxa4 47.Rf1 Qd7 48.Rb1 Re8 49.Qa3 Qe7 50.Rf1 Ra8 51.Qa4

This innocent-looking move is a mistake. White needed to keep an eye on possible infiltrations with: 51.Qd3 Or 51.Rf2 51...Qe3+ 52.Kg2 Rb8 53.Rf2 Qe4+ 54.Kh3 Rb4 A tempting move that loses the advantage. Better was to keep the rook on a square from which it could both defend the back rank and potentially infiltrate the opposite camp (via e8-e5, for example). A strong alternative to up the pressure is 54...Qe1 and e.g.: 55.Rf4 Or 55.Qc2 a4 making progress. 55...Rb2 White is in trouble. 55.Rf4 Qe2 56.Qd7 Rb2 57.Qc8+ Kh7 58.Qf5+ Kg8 59.Qc8+ Gukesh escapes with a draw by repetition. It must be noted that both contenders were "playing on increments" from around move 40. Kh7 60.Qf5+

60...Kg8 61.Qc8+ Kh7 62.Qf5+ Kg8 ½–½

Attack like a Super Grandmaster

In this Fritztrainer: “Attack like a Super GM” with Gukesh we touch upon all aspects of his play, with special emphasis on how you can become a better attacking player.

Draw agreed | Photo: Lennart Ootes

So ½ - ½ Abdusattorov

So, Wesley2757

½–½

Abdusattorov, Nodirbek2766

GCT Superbet Romania 2024 Bucharest03.07.2024[CC]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e3 Nf6 4.Bxc4 e6 5.Nf3 a6 6.0-0 c5 7.Be2 Nbd7 8.Nc3 b5 9.d5 exd5 10.Nxd5 Bb7 11.Nxf6+ Qxf6 12.a4 b4 13.e4 h6 14.Qc2 Bd6 15.Be3 0-0 16.Rad1 Rad8 17.Nd2 Bf4 This bishop manoeuvre is a novelty in this imbalanced position arising from a Queen's Gambit Declined. 17...Be5 18.Nc4 Bd4 19.Na5 Ba8 20.Bxd4 cxd4 21.Nb3 Nb6 22.a5 Na4 23.Bd3 had been played in the 2024 Prague Open. 18.Bxf4 Qxf4 19.g3 Qf6 20.a5 Qe7 21.Rc1 f5

The position becomes even more sharp after this pawn break. Black weakens his king, but he intends to eventually create threats against the white king along the light squares - note that only the light-squared bishops remain on the board. 22.Bc4+ Kh8 23.Bd5 Bc8 Abdusattorov spent 11 minutes before deciding to keep the bishops on the board. Apparently, he considered he had good chances in a tactical battle! 23...Bxd5 24.exd5 f4 25.Nc4 is also quite sharp, though. 24.exf5 Ne5 25.Be4 Bxf5 Black had surely foreseen this line when he placed his bishop on c8. 26.Qxc5 Not 26.Bxf5 Rxd2 as 27.Qxd2 fails to Nf3+ 26...Qe8 27.f4 Bxe4 28.fxe5 Rxf1+ 29.Rxf1 White emerges a pawn up, though Black should have enough counterplay to keep the balance, especially due to White's weakness on the light squares around his king. Bd3 An imprecise move. Better is 29...Bd5 30.Re1 b3 Or 29...Rc8 30.Qxb4 Ba8 31.Qd6 30.Re1 Qe6 31.Qb6 Qd5 32.e6 Bb5 33.e7 Re8 34.Qf2 Bc6 White's passed pawn has reached the seventh rank, but Black has created the strong light-squared battery on the long diagonal, getting enough compensation. 35.Ne4

35...Qd7 A mistake, which allows White to make progress immediately. Correct is 35...Qe5 and e.g.: 36.Nc5 If 36.Qf8+ Kh7 Black keeps things under control - the knight is pinned, and the bishop on c6 both defends the rook on e8 and remains on the long diagonal. 36...Qd5 37.Ne4 36.Qf8+ Kh7 37.Qf7 Kh8 38.Qf8+ Kh7 39.Qf7 Kh8 40.Nf2 Bb7 41.h4 Since Black is rather stuck, White can patiently make progress while looking for winning chances. Bc6 Black cannot play 41...Qc6 42.Ne4 and returning to the same setup with the queen on d7 loses by force: Qd7 43.Qxe8+ Qxe8 44.Nd6 This line illustrates how paralysed Black actually is. 42.Qe6 Qc7 43.Kh2 Bb5 44.Qe5 Qc2 45.Kg1 Qb3 46.Re3 Qc4 White has fully consolidated his position with the strong central passer. Engines here give more than a 4-pawn advantage for So. 47.Kh2 So had a bit over 6 minutes on his clock here. This is one of the inaccuracies played by the Filipino-born star from this point on. Of course, calculating the winning lines with little time on the clock is very difficult. Winning is 47.Rf3 Qc8 48.Rf7 Rg8 with engines showing 49.Kh2 Qa8 50.g4 Qe8 51.Rf4 b3 52.Ne4 and the knight will decisively reach d6. 47...Qf7 48.Nh3 Qf1 49.Re1 Qd3 50.Nf4 Qd2+ 51.Kg1 Bc6 52.h5 b3 53.Re2 Qd1+ 54.Kf2 Qh1 55.Ng6+ Kh7 56.Nf8+ Kh8 57.Ng6+ Kh7 58.Qf5

A tempting move that turns out to be a major mistake. Necessary is 58.Nh4 and the knight remarkably defends the weakened light squares while still well-positioned to join the attack via g6 or f5. E.g. : Qh2+ 59.Ke3 Qg1+ 60.Kd2 and White's pieces are excellently coordinated. 58...Qh2+ 59.Ke3 Qxg3+ The white king will escape to c1. 60.Kd4 Qd6+ 61.Kc3 Qg3+ 62.Kb4 Qd6+ 63.Kc3 Qg3+ 64.Kd2 Qd6+ 65.Kc1 Bb5 Winning this might look trivial at first sight, but remarkably there is no way for White to break through without making major concessions. So correctly decides to look for a winning plan with the recourses he has at his disposal. 66.Nf8+ Kg8 67.Qh7+ Kf7 68.Qf5+ Kg8 69.Qh7+ Kf7 70.Rf2+ Kxe7 The pawn reached the seventh rank on move 33, and now has been captured by the king on move 70. 71.Qe4+ Kd8 72.Qa8+ Kc7 73.Rf7+ Re7 74.Qa7+ Kd8 75.Qa8+ Kc7 76.Qa7+ Kd8 77.Rxe7 Qc6+

White cannot prevent his opponent from giving perpetual check. Of course not 77...Qxe7 78.Qb8# 78.Kd2 Qc2+ 79.Ke3 Qe2+ 80.Kf4 Qh2+ 81.Ke3 Qg3+ 82.Kd2 Qd3+ 83.Ke1 Qf1+ 84.Kd2 Qd3+ 85.Ke1 Qf1+ 86.Kd2 Qd3+ What a great defensive effort by Abusattorov! ½–½

The handshake | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Opening package: 1.b3 and Black Secrets in the Modern Italian

Wesley So published two new opening DVDs: 1.b3, the so called Nimzo-Larsen-Attack, for White and his black secrets in the modern Italian. Get them in a package and save money!

A smiling Wesley So... | Photo: Lennart Ootes

...and a smiling Nodirbek Abdusattorov | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Standings after round 7

All games

Links

• Official site
• Fabiano Caruana outright winner at Superbet Chess Classic in Romania (2023)
• Vachier-Lagrave has a brilliant day, wins Superbet Chess Classic (2022)
• Shakhriyar Mamedyarov wins Superbet Chess Classic (2021)