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Round 3
Report
by John Saunders |
After Magnus Carlsen’s two wins in the first rounds, it was
only a matter of time before the pundits in the press room
started speculating on him scoring 7/7 (which sounds even
more impressive with the ‘football score’ equivalent,
21/21). But that is not going to happen, thanks to a
resolute refusal to be ‘magnified’ by England’s David Howell
and (it has to be admitted) one golden opportunity missed by
Carlsen. The only three-point scorer was Vladimir Kramnik
who thus moves up to within one point of the young
Norwegian.
This round had two extra dimensions which made it
particularly intriguing. One was that it was an ‘England
versus the Rest of the World’ match, with four Englishmen
paired against a formidable overseas quartet. The second was
a sub-division of the first: a clash between the strongest
teenage players in the World and England. Could English
chess rise to this challenge?
The best hope of a full point for the unofficial ‘England
team’ at start of play was probably Michael Adams, playing
Black against Ni Hua. The Cornishman went in for his
favourite Marshall Counter-Attack against the Ruy Lopez.
This variation has retained its popularity for more than 90
years. Consequently, a huge body of theory has built up
round it and needs to be studied closely before risked in
practical play. I’d be inclined to stick a big sign on it
reading “experts only”. At first sight play looks quite
sharp but the super-GMs tend to know it so well that they
can keep things under reasonable control. Around move 16,
Michael Adams played a subtle innovation and later offered a
second pawn sacrifice which Ni Hua spurned – probably
rightly. Adams’ compensation for the pawn was his powerful
control of the dangerous long h1-a8 diagonal but Ni Hua was
able to exchange most of the pieces on the board and then
stop the black rook from penetrating his position. Result:
draw.
The tiredness that Luke McShane must have felt after his
seven hours 36 minutes’ marathon win against Nigel Short
seemed to tell on him in round three when he lost rather a
poor game to Vladimir Kramnik. Luke opened with the Bishop’s
Opening (1 e4 e5 2 Bc4), which may have been a deliberate
attempt to dodge Vladimir Kramnik’s possible Petroff’s
Defence had he played 2 Nf3. At least, that was Vladimir
Kramnik’s opinion when he talked us through the game in the
commentary room. As soon as he said it, Vlad realised that
he might have given a big clue to his future opponents as
regards his future intentions. He quickly added: “Of course,
I’m not saying that I am going to play the Petroff’s
Defence!” (with a big smile).
Luke McShane - Vladimir Kramnik
Bishop’s Opening C24
1 e4 e5 2 Bc4
The Bishop's Opening was known to the 16th pioneers of chess
(as we know it). It is not fashionable at the higher levels
of the game. Though there is nothing specifically wrong with
it (and it often transposes into better-known openings), it
lacks the sort of bite that the super-GMs look for when
playing White.
2...Nf6 3 d3 Bc5
3...c6 is another move often seen here, planning to drive
back the c4 bishop with d7-d5. One snag with the Bishop's
Opening is that it doesn't oblige Black to play Nc6 to
defend his e-pawn; consequently, Black has a little extra
flexibility of choice.
4 Nf3 0–0 5 Nc3
Snatching a pawn with 5 Nxe5? is unthinkable at this level.
The game might proceed 5...d5 6 exd5 Re8 7 d4 Bxd4! (looks
clever but most experienced players at club level would know
this trick) 8 Qxd4 Nc6 and White is struggling. Elite
players would dismiss such a continuation within
nanoseconds, but Vlad Kramnik was kind enough to take the
trouble to show us this variation in the commentary room. He
is a relaxed and entertaining commentator, striking exactly
the right note with his audience.
5...d6 6 Na4
If you've got one of those old Fred Reinfeld chess books for
near-beginners, he would probably tell you that all White's
problems stem from this - making two moves with the same
piece in the opening. Well... on this occasion, I would be
inclined to agree. This looks insipid to me.
6...Bb6 7 c3 Be6 8 Bb3
If 8 Bxe6 fxe6, the doubled pawns aren't much of a problem
for Black. He can usually even them out later on by playing
d7-d6 and he gets an open file for his f8 rook into the
bargain.
8...Bxb3 9 axb3
Again, the argument in favour of doubling the pawns is to
give the rook some scope.
9...Nbd7 10 b4
White's opening has not been a success but now Black plays
rather a surprising move.
10...Bxf2+!?
This looks like a tactical blow but in fact Black was
probably thinking more of its positional consequences.
11 Kxf2 b5
That is the tactical point: the white knight cannot escape
the pawn attack, so material equilibrium will be restored
immediately.
12 Bd2 bxa4 13 Qxa4
The previous sequence may look a little unsophisticated at
first sight but I'm quite sure both players would have been
already focusing on this position (and perhaps beyond) for a
number of moves previously. McShane must have considered it
reasonably defensible, but Kramnik now begins to exert his
authority on the position.
13...c5! 14 b5
Although it would offer him the chance to undouble his
pawns, White cannot contemplate 14 bxc5? Nxc5 15 Qc2 Qb6
when Black has several nasty threats.
14...d5!
Black has one eye on White's exposed king on f2 and he is
trying to open up a central file in order to menace it.
15 exd5
With hindsight, 15 Rhe1 seems better. At least it doesn't
leave the h1 rook out of play as in the game. Black has
several ways to proceed, e.g. 15...c4!? 16 exd5 Nb6 17 Qc2
Re8 though I'm not entirely convinced.
15...Nb6 16 Qc2 c4 17 Nxe5?
After this, White is history: 17 Rhe1 Re8 would transpose to
the line given above and at least leave White with his full
complement of pieces to play with.
17...Qxd5 18 d4 Ne4+ 19 Kg1
White has to go backwards and incarcerate his own h1 rook.
If 19 Ke3? Nxd2 20 Qxd2 Rae8 he will lose material.
19...Rfe8 20 Nf3
There is no time for 20 Re1 because of 20...Rxe5! 21 dxe5
Nxd2 with a substantial material and positional advantage.
20...Qxb5 21 h4
White has few useful moves and he plays this in a desperate
attempt to get his h1 rook into play. Spectating grandmaster
were no longer bothering to follow this game, dismissing it
as a routine win for Black.
21...Qb3! 22 Qb1
22 Qxb3 cxb3 and Black will play Nc4, tightening the grip on
White's position.; 22 Qc1 is even worse: 22...Ng3 would
threaten the h1 rook and a king/queen fork with Ne2+.
22...Nd5 23 Rh3 h6
Removing another square from the scope of White's already
desperately restricted bishop.
24 Qc1 Qb6 25 Ra4 Rab8 26 Ra2
After 26 Rxc4 Qxb2 27 Qxb2 Rxb2 28 Be1 Rb1 it is becoming
clear that the bishop is doomed. Consequently, White is tied
to the defence of the b2 pawn.
26...Qb3 27 Qa1 Rb6 28 Kh2
The knot is getting tighter. White is running out of moves
to play.
28...Ndf6 29 Be1
White was now very short of time. If 29 Kg1 Ng4 30 Bf4 Ngf2
31 Rh2 Nd3 it is close to the end.
29...Ng4+ 30 Kg1 Nef6 31 d5 Nxd5 32 Rg3 Ndf6 33 Bd2 Rd6 34
Ra3 Qb6+ 35 Kh1 Nf2+ 36 Kh2 N6g4+ 0–1
Let's look at one finish: 37 Rxg4 Nxg4+ 38 Kg3 Qf2+ 39 Kxg4
Qxg2+ 40 Kf4 Rf6 mate. Vladimir Kramnik won the vote for the
best game of the day with that win.
Nakamura-Short started with a slightly offbeat variation of
the Nimzo-Indian Defence, with Nigel Short’s 7...Nc6 not
appearing in the books. Black played in accordance with
‘hypermodern’ principles for much of the game, i.e. allowing
White to occupy the centre and targeting it from afar.
Eventually there was a large number of pieces exchanged,
reaching a clearly level rook and pawn endgame which the
arbiter permitted the players to agree drawn.
Howell-Carlsen was perhaps the most eagerly-awaited clash of
the day. These two young men were both born in 1990, David
Howell on 14 November and Magnus Carlsen on 30 November, so
David is just 16 days older than Magnus. Incidentally, 1990
was a vintage year for chessplayers. As well as these two,
there were Sergey Karjakin, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Dmirti
Andreikin, Yuri Kuzubov and Ian Nepomnichtchi. David and
Magnus have met twice before, once as 11-year-olds in the
World Under-12 Championship of 2002 and once at a Budapest
‘First Saturday’ tournament the following year. On both
occasions Magnus was White and both games were drawn. This
time David went in for a rather unambitious line of the c3
Sicilian. In fact, it looked for a while as though he might
go the same way as Luke McShane. It is a long game and we’ll
just look at the turning points.
David Howell - Magnus Carlsen
Sicilian c3 B22
1 e4 c5 2 c3 d5 3 exd5 Qxd5 4 d4 Nf6 5 Nf3 e6 6 Be3 Be7 7
dxc5
Inviting a queen exchange. The pawn cannot be retained for
any length of time so this line doesn't offer much hope of
an opening advantage for White.
7...Qxd1+ 8 Kxd1 0–0 9 Nbd2 Ng4 10 Nb3 Nxe3+ 11 fxe3 Nd7 12
c6
White has to give the pawn back so decides the best he can
do is to leave Black with an isolated c-pawn.
12...bxc6 13 Na5 Black ignores this threat to the pawn so it
is probably a waste of time.
13...Bc5! 14 Nd4
If White takes the pawn with 14 Nxc6 Black will respond with
something like 14...Bb7 15 Ncd4 Nf6, lining up e5 and a rook
on the d-file. Even though there are no queens on the board,
the white king will be in danger.
14...Nf6 15 Bc4 Ng4 16 Ke2 e5 17 Nc2 Bf5 18 h3 Nf6 19 Nb4
Be4 20 Nbxc6 Rfe8 21 Rhg1 Bb6
Notice how awkwardly placed the white knights are. If one
moves, the other is lost. So White has to bring up
reinforcements to support them.
22 b4 Rac8 23 b5 Bxa5
That move surprised me. I expected Magnus to play something
like 23...Rc7 followed by Rfc8, to increase the pressure on
David's position. Magnus must have thought some tangible
advantage would accrue from capturing on a5.
24 Nxa5 Rc5 25 a4 Rec8 26 Bd3 Bxd3+ 27 Kxd3 Rxc3+ 28 Ke2
Rc2+ 29 Kf3 e4+ 30 Kf4 R8c5
Magnus will have seen this position quite some time before
and must have judged it much better for Black, with the
white king stranded in no man's land. However, White has
some counterplay on the queenside.
31 Nc6!
White's plan is to take on a7, then push his queenside
pawns, in the hope or expectation that Carlsen won't snare
his king in a mating net in the meantime. David Howell was
way behind on the clock, with only a few minutes to reach
the 40th move, while Black had plenty of time in hand.
31...g5+ 32 Kg3 R5c3 33 Ne7+
White can perhaps play 33 Nxa7 Rxe3+ 34 Kh2 g4 35 Kh1 gxh3
36 gxh3+ and answer 36...Rxh3 "mate" by indicating that
Black's king is already in check. But, with so little time,
he wouldn't have wanted to risk this just in case he had
missed something.
33...Kf8 34 Nf5 Nd5
35 Rge1?
A time trouble blunder.
35...Nf4! 36 Rg1
White has to cede rook for knight. Black threatens mate in
one. If 36 Kh2? Nxg2! will win material with a devastating
discovered check.
36...Ne2+ 37 Kg4 Nxg1 38 Rxg1 f6 39 h4 gxh4 40 Kxh4 Ra3
The time control was reached with Black having a material
advantage of rook for knight. To be honest, you would expect
the world number one to put this one away fairly easily, but
Magnus Carlsen's play from this point on looks tentative and
unconvincing. Don't just take my word for it – here's what
Magnus himself has to say on his blog: "The rest of the
game [after move 40] I would like to forget as soon as
possible. Despite an extra pawn and the exchange, I
struggled to make any progress due to his well coordinated
pieces and good defence. I missed a fairly easy winning
combination at move 52. In the end I gave up two pawns to
try to activate my king but did not make progress. In the
end a draw was agreed after 6½ hours play. A disappointing
result after the promising position I had around the first
time control, but two wins and a draw still constitute an
excellent start of the tournament when going into the free
day." The URL is http://arcticsec.no/index.php?button=blog&main_image=35
if you would like to read it for yourself. Nice to see
Magnus give David some credit for excellent defence. It is
not easy to steel yourself to defend such a difficult
position but the young Englishman did very well.
41 g4 Rxa4 42 Rd1
Black now has rook and pawn for the knight - a very
substantial material advantage - but that is not to say that
it should be an easy win. If the world number one cannot win
from here, it is, by definition, hard to win! One snag is
that his king is slightly at the mercy of the white pieces,
and another is that the knight on f5 is well placed. A third
problem is that none of the pawns are passed or poised to
advance.
42...Raa2 43 Rd7 Rh2+ 44 Kg3 Rhg2+ 45 Kh3 Rgf2 46 Nd4 Kg8?
This raised eyebrows in the press room. What is he doing?
46...Ra3 looks more to the point.
47 Re7 Kf8 48 Rc7
We expected simply 48 Rxe4 but White too is finding it hard
to figure out what to do.
48...Ke8 49 Kg3 Rf1 50 Rxh7 Ra3 51 Kg2 Rd1 52 Nf5?
White goes wrong. 52 Nc6 would probably have been better
though Black may be able to win eventually.
52...Rd7?
As David played 52 Nf5?, the move 52...Ra2+! flashed up on
all the 'watching computers' of the world, winning material
for Black: after 53 Kg3 (53 Kh3 Rh1+ loses the rook on h7)
53...Rg1+ 54 Kf4 Rf2+ 55 Kxe4 Rxg4+ Black will be able to
capture the knight next move. As well as missing the forced
win, the text move spoils most of Magnus's remaining hopes
of winning by more attritional methods.
53 Rh8+ Kf7 54 Kg3 Rb3 55 Kf4 Rb1
If 55...Rb4 56 Nd4 and White can win the e-pawn.
56 Kxe4 Rf1 57 Rh7+ Ke6 58 Rh8
58 Ng7+ looks like a perpetual check, but White is
reasonably comfortable anyway. The rest of the game can be
skipped over quickly as Black has no realistic chance of
winning any more.
58...Rc7 59 Nd4+ Kd6 60 Rd8+ Rd7 61 Rc8 Rg7 62 Rd8+ Rd7 63
Rc8 Re7+ 64 Kd3 Rc7 65 Rd8+ Rd7 66 Rg8 Rg1 67 Ke2 Kc5 68 Kf2
Rb1 69 Rf8 Rd6 70 Rf7 Rb2+ 71 Kf3 Ra2 72 Ke4 Kb6 73 Rf8 Rg2
74 Kf3 Rh2 75 Rb8+ Kc7 76 Ra8 Kb7 77 Rf8 Rh7 78 Kf4 Rh1 79
Kf3 ½–½
As the players signed their scoresheets, Malcolm Pein took
upon himself the lugubrious duty of informing the world
number one what he had missed at move 52. Magnus took it
pretty well, on the whole – a pained expression briefly
crossed his face, and sotto voce he uttered the
comment “that’s a bit embarrassing”. It broke his streak but
he will come back refreshed after the rest day (Friday
11th). The last word must be for David Howell – he showed
true grit to defend a horrendous position through two time
scrambles. OK, ‘England’ lost the four-game ‘match’ by the
odd point to the ‘Rest of the World’ but I think David’s
performance on its own deserves the singing of a few
choruses of the country’s favourite footie chant. Altogether
now, everyone, there’s only word to learn: “Eng-er-land!,
Eng-er-land!, Eng-er-land!...”
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