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Vincent Keymer only needed a draw to knock Magnus Carlsen out of the FIDE World Cup. It is often noted that playing for a draw is a bad idea in these situations, especially against tough opponents. In Thursday’s rematch, Carlsen managed to get a fighting position on the board, with kings castled on opposite sides and chances for both sides.
In the early middlegame, however, Carlsen played a natural-looking move that gave Keymer a tactical opportunity described by Peter Leko as “a very strange motif”.
16.a3 allowed 16...Bxc3 17.Qxc3 and 17...Nxe4, a temporary knight sacrifice which was not played by the German prodigy. Instead of spending more time analysing the position after 17.Qxc3, Keymer quickly swapped queens with 17...Qxc3 — he only needed a draw, and was probably very focused on not falling behind on the clock.
The idea behind 17...Nxe4 is that grabbing the knight, either after exchanging queens or immediately, gives way to an indefensible fork of the e2-knight and the h4-bishop — e.g. 18.Qxe5 Rxe5 19.fxe4 Rxe4
Strange, indeed. Carlsen noticed that he had just dodged a bullet when Keymer grabbed the queen on c3 instead of the pawn on e4, as he told press officer Michael Rahal after the game. Olimpiu di Luppi clipped the Norwegian’s reaction:
Understanding Middlegame Strategies Vol.1-6
In this Videocourse we deal with different aspects of the middlegame which are important to study and improve your general understanding of chess structures.
Magnus Carlsen's reaction to escaping 17...Nxe4!! pic.twitter.com/oMEifGqvoR
— Olimpiu Di Luppi (@olimpiuurcan) August 10, 2023
Carlsen also mentioned that he felt his opponent was playing hesitantly throughout. Once the game shifted to an endgame with rooks and bishops of opposite colours, Keymer found himself needing to defend a difficult position against the toughest of opponents. Under these circumstances, it is not very surprising that the 17-year-old faltered eventually.
52...Be2, looking at the c4-pawn, was the best defensive try here. Black’s 52...Bg2, on the other hand, failed to 53.Rf5. Placing the rook on the f-file was the only winning move, and Carlsen was not going to let the chance slip away this time around, as he played the move after thinking for over five minutes.
Nine moves later, Keymer resigned.
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These video courses feature a black repertoire against 1.d4, 1.Nf3 and 1.c4. The recommended variations are easy to learn and not difficult to remember, but also pose White serious challenges.
Keymer was the only player who won on Wednesday and failed to advance after the second classical game of the round, as the remaining four winners of game 1 drew the rematch and secured a spot in the round-of-16. In addition, two players won game 2 to make it through to the next stage of the event:
Nils Grandelius | Photo: chess.com / Maria Emelianova
Caruana had 27 minutes to Robson’s 3 — with 21 moves left to be played before the time control — when he confidently opted for 20.Bxh6 in the following position.
After 20...gxh6, White should not play the hasty 21.Nxh6 but the precise 21.Qd2 Nf4 22.g3, with a winning position. Seven moves later, time-trouble addict Robson threw in the towel.
Navigating the Ruy Lopez Vol.1-3
The Ruy Lopez is one of the oldest openings which continues to enjoy high popularity from club level to the absolute world top. In this video series, American super GM Fabiano Caruana, talking to IM Oliver Reeh, presents a complete repertoire for White.
Fabiano Caruana defeated Ray Robson | Photo: chess.com / Maria Emelianova
Similarly to Robson, Vidit had less than 10 minutes (8 to be precise) 21 moves before reaching the time control in his rematch game against Bacrot. Moreover, the Frenchman, in a must-win situation, had managed to provoke his opponent to enter a completely wild position.
Engines do not approve of Vidit’s 20...Qxe1 here, but the Indian star nevertheless managed to escape with a draw in the end — overcoming his huge disadvantage on the clock to win a match without needing tiebreaks for the first time in the event.
Vidit Gujrathi | Photo: chess.com / Maria Emelianova
Replay games from all round at Live.ChessBase.com
In the women’s tournament, only one player had managed to gain a 1-point lead in the first game of the round-of-16 — and she was not one of the three players who secured a spot in the quarterfinals after Thursday’s rematches.
Bella Khotenashvili failed to get at least a draw against Humpy Koneru to make it through without needing tiebreaks. In a tension-filled game, Humpy prevailed despite erring at a few critical junctures of the struggle.
Placing either rook on the c-file is best here, while Humpy’s 25...Nxd5 loses Black’s advantage according to the engines. However, Khotenashvili had only 2 minutes on the clock at this point, and failed to find one of the two refutations in this complex position: 26.Rhe1 or 26.Nh5. Of course, noticing why these moves are the best alternatives amid the chaos is all but impossible with so little time on the clock!
There followed 26.Rhd1 Nf4+ 27.Kf1 Qf3 28.Be4 Qxb3
Grabbing the exchange with 29.Bxa8 instead of keeping her attacking chances alive via 29.Nf5 was another mistake by Khotenashvili, who could not recover and ended up getting mated on move 42.
Attacking with the Jobava London System
The Jobava London System is a minor form of the London System. White tries to play Lf4 quickly followed by Nc3.
On to rapid and blitz tiebreaks — Bella Khotenashvili and Humpy Koneru | Photo: FIDE / Stev Bonhage
The three remaining players who won on Thursday — and, unlike Humpy, already gained spots in the quarterfinals — were also rating favourites in their matches:
Tan Zhongyi | Photo: Anna Shtourman
Replay games from all round at Live.ChessBase.com
Full schedule | Pairings and results
All games with computer analysis: Open | Women’s
