Carlsen,Magnus (2857) - Sadorra,Julio Catalino (2560) [C01]
Olympiad-42 Baku (6.1), 08.09.2016
[Sadorra,J]
This was both the most important and enjoyable game that I've ever played so far in my professional career since I became a grandmaster. Fortunately for me and my team, there was a rest day before this match so we had ample time to prepare and relax. Without further ado, let's see how my prep and the game played out.
1.e4 e6 2.Nf3 A surprise, taking me out of the prep work. 2...d5 3.exd5!? This next one is also unexpected but it didn't affect me that much. 3...exd5 4.d4 Bd6 5.c4 Nf6 6.c5!? Taking the game to non-standard paths. "You have to know theory to play no-theory." 6...Be7 7.Nc3 0-0 [Maybe a better try is 7...b6 right away 8.cxb6 (8.b4? a5) 8...axb6 9.Bd3 0-0 10.0-0 c5 leading to a complex middlegame where Black has good central control.] 8.Be3! Accurate, making b4 work. 8...b6 9.b4 a5 10.a3 Ng4!? Asking him questions before he gets to play natural moves & complete development.
11.Bf4 Re8! [My intial intention was 11...axb4 but after checking 12.axb4 Rxa1 13.Qxa1 Re8 I realised that this does not work due to 14.Bb5! c6 15.Be2±] 12.Be2 axb4 13.axb4 [I also had to check 13.Nb5 but I thought I was fine as soon as I saw the useful tactics 13...Ba6 14.Nxc7 (14.Bxc7 Qd7) 14...Bh4! 15.Nxe8 Nxf2 should at least give me good counterplay in this complex position.] 13...Rxa1 14.Qxa1 bxc5 [Otherwise, I will get squeezed on the queenside! e.g. 14...Nc6 15.Qa4!] 15.bxc5 Bxc5! 16.dxc5 d4 17.0-0 dxc3 18.Bc4! Played quickly, suggesting that he foresaw or expected all this. 18...c2! 19.Qa4 Bf5 Keeping my passed pawn will put him under pressure, so when I saw I could work it out concretely, I went for it!
20.Nd4 [Of course the premise on which my idea was based was 20.Bxc7 Qd7 21.Bb5 Qxc7 22.Bxe8 Qxc5 23.Qf4 (23.Qa1 Nxf2!-+) 23...Nxf2 24.Nd4 Nd3 and I thought I should be winning here.] 20...Bg6 21.Nxc2 Now that he's won back his pawn, I try to take away one of his trumps - the bishop pair. 21...Re4 22.Bg3 Ne5 23.Bxe5 Rxe5 24.Ne3!? [I thought another possible move was 24.Nd4!? but it's difficult to work out the significant difference otb.;
If he played 24.c6 I was preparing to hold the balance with either 24...Rc5 (or 24...Qe8!?) 25.Nd4 h6= and I felt that White is actually the one who had to be more careful as his c6-pawn will be weak till the endgame.] 24...Rxc5 25.f4 h6 26.Qb4 Nd7! "You can't bluff me!"
27.f5 [Players could be put off by the pin after 27.Rd1 but I foresaw a simple but important counter-attacking idea 27...Qe8!] 27...Bh5 28.Qd2 [The consequences of 28.g4 Qg5 are difficult to work out otb but I knew for sure that it's riskier for White as his king is more exposed, not to mention the fact that he's already a pawn down...] 28...Qg5 29.Qd4 Re5 30.Qxd7 Qxe3+ 31.Kh1 Qc5 [A better try was 31...Qc3 as Magnus correctly pointed out after the game 32.Qxc7 Kh7! and the pin is decisive.] 32.Qd3 Re3 33.Qc2 Qe5 [33...Qd4 34.Rc1] 34.Qd2! Kh7 35.h3 Around this time, I only had a few minutes left and it was annoying that I couldn't find a clear way to break through the defence and increase my advantage. In retrospect, I can now say from experience that World Champs indeed possess great defensive skills including the current one! 35...Qe4 36.Kg1 c6!? Preventing ¥d5 and an attempt to keep the position under control but Magnus keeps playing the best defensive moves. [¹36...f6! 37.Qd8 Be8 38.Qxc7 Bc6 39.Rf2 Qxc4-+] 37.Rc1! Qe5 38.Bf1 Rg3 39.Qf2 Qd6 [With only a minute on the clock, I was thinking about 39...Bf3 but realised it loses to 40.Re1! (40.Rc3 Qxc3 41.Qxg3 Qd4+-+) 40...Qd6 41.Re3+- and suddenly it's White that wins!] 40.Rc4 f6 41.Rxc6 With nothing to play for, Magnus offered a draw and I agreed. 41...Qxc6 Although I was disappointed in not converting my advantage, I had every reason to be happy to achieve a fighting draw against the World Champion and to help my team pull an upset 2-2 against the formidable Norwegian team!
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19 сен 2024
