ALTIBOX NORWAY CHESS 2018 ROUND 2

Round 2 was bad news for any fan that decided to tune in after the first three hours of play.

The last of the five draws barely made it to two hours and forty minutes. Carlsen chose the Moller Defense in the Ruy Lopez and took the dull draw as a sort of recovery day after his long win against Caruana in round one.

Caruana in turn made his second blunder in as many days. This time, however, he was lucky to have Mamedyarov as an opponent. During the press briefing Mamedyarov indicated that he believed that he was better: “But then I thought, I have to go to the dentist tomorrow, so a draw is good.” Wednesday will be Mamedyarov’s second dentist visit for a severe toothache. Each day he has needed to wait till after the round to have any pain killers – so it is understandable that he was not keen on trying to grind out his advantage for another six hours or more.

Not much can be said of Ding’s game, but for the fact that his streak of unbeaten games continues.

Caruana,Fabiano (2822) - Mamedyarov,Shakhriyar (2808)

6th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Stavanger (2.2), 29.05.2018

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Be7 7.Be3 0–0 8.Qd2 C42: Petroff Defence: 3 Nxe5 and unusual White 3rd moves 

8...b6 [8...Nd7 9.0–0–0 c6 10.Kb1 d5 11.c4 Nb6 12.cxd5 Nxd5 13.Bc4 Bf5 14.Bxd5 cxd5 15.Qxd5 Qc8 0–1 (39) Robson,R (2660)-Caruana,F (2804) Saint Louis 2018] 

9.0–0–0 Bb7 10.h4 Nd7 11.Bd3 Re8 

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12.Kb1N [12.h5 Bf6 13.Nd4 Ne5 14.Bb5 1–0 (14) Tiemann,H (2361)-Torres,C (2388) GER email 2016] 

12...Bf6 13.Rh3 Nc5 14.Bxc5 bxc5 15.g4 c4 16.Bxc4 Re4 17.Qd3 

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Black must now prevent g5. 

17...d5 [17...Rxg4 looks sharper. 18.Ng5 Bxg5 19.hxg5 Be4 20.Qe2 Bf5] 

18.Bxd5 Qxd5 19.Qxd5 Bxd5 20.Rxd5 Rxg4 

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21.Ra5 Rg2 22.a4 [22.a3 is more complex. 22...Rxf2 23.Rc5 Rc8 24.h5 Rf1+ 25.Ka2] 

22...Rxf2 The position is equal. 

23.h5 Rf1+ 24.Ka2 Rf2 25.Kb1 Rf1+ 26.Ka2 Rf2  ½–½