CARUANA vs CARLSEN – GAME 1 WORLD CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP 2018

This is game 1 of the World Chess Championship Match 2018. It is between Fabiano Caruana with White against Magnus Carlsen with Black.

This game features a Sicilian Rossolimo. To learn more about the Sicilian Rossolimo, here is the best instruction book I could find on Amazon.

Caruana,Fabiano (2832) - Carlsen,Magnus (2835)

World Chess Championship 2018 London (1), 09.11.2018

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.d3 Bg7 6.h3 Nf6 7.Nc3 Nd7 8.Be3 e5 9.0–0 B31: Sicilian: 2...Nc6 3 Bb5 g6

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9...b6N [9...Qe7 10.Qd2 (10.Nd2 0–0 11.a4 a5 12.Nc4 b6 13.f4 Ba6 14.f5 Bxc4 15.dxc4 Rfd8 16.Qg4 Nf8 17.Rf2 Rd6 18.Raf1 Nd7 19.Ne2 Rf8 20.g3 Re8 21.Rg2 Nf6 22.Qf3 h6 23.g4 Nh7 24.Rgf2 Red8 Mchedlishvili,M (2583)-Nigalidze,G (2224)/Tbilisi 2007/CBM 117 ext/½–½ (72)) 10...h6 11.a3 (11.Nh2 Nf8 12.Ne2 Ne6 13.a3 Nd4 14.b4 Be6 15.bxc5 Qxc5 16.Bxd4 exd4 17.Qb4 b6 18.Nf3 0–0–0 19.Qxc5 bxc5 20.Nf4 Bd7 21.e5 Rhe8 22.Rfe1 g5 23.e6 fxe6 24.Nh5 Bh8 25.Ne5 Kc7 Svidler,P (2733)-Kasparov,G (2817)/Moscow 2004/CBM 102/½–½ (58)) 11...Nf8 12.b4 Ne6 13.Na4 b6 14.bxc5 (14.Rfb1 f5 15.Qd1 0–0 16.bxc5 b5 17.Nc3 Nd4 18.exf5 Bxf5 19.Nd2 Qxc5 20.Nde4 Qe7 21.Kh2 Rf7 22.Ng3 Be6 23.Nce4 Bd5 24.c3 Ne6 25.a4 a6 26.Qc2 Nf4 27.c4 bxc4 28.dxc4 Be6 Kraemer,M (2362)-Becker,N (2096)/Willingen 2005/CBM 106 ext/1–0 (37)) 14...b5 15.Nb2 f5 16.Qa5 f4 17.Bd2 h5 18.d4 exd4 19.Nd3 g5 20.Nfe5 Bxe5 21.Nxe5 Qxc5 22.Nd3 Qxc2 23.Nb4 Qxd2 24.Rac1 Mason,D (2265)-Sowray,P (2364)/Douglas 2005/CBM 107 ext/0–1 (43)] 

10.Nh2 Nf8 11.f4 exf4 12.Rxf4 Be6 13.Rf2 

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13...h6 Controls g5 

14.Qd2 g5 Black has a new backward pawn: f7 

15.Raf1 Qd6 16.Ng4 0–0–0 

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17.Nf6 [Instead of 17.Rxf7 Bxf7 18.Rxf7 Rd7µ] 

17...Nd7 Black threatens to win material: Nd7xf6 

18.Nh5 White threatens to win material: Nh5xg7 

18...Be5 19.g4 f6 

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20.b3 Prevents intrusion on c4 

20...Bf7 21.Nd1 Nf8 22.Nxf6 Ne6 

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23.Nh5 [23.a4 Bg6³] 

23...Bxh5 24.gxh5 Nf4 25.Bxf4 gxf4 26.Rg2 Rhg8 27.Qe2 Rxg2+ 28.Qxg2 Qe6 29.Nf2 Rg8 30.Ng4 Qe8 Black threatens to win material: Qe8xh5 

31.Qf3 Qxh5 32.Kf2 Bc7 33.Ke2 Qg5 34.Nh2 h5 35.Rf2 Qg1 36.Nf1 

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36...h4 [36...Qg7 37.Nd2µ] 

37.Kd2 Kb7 

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38.c3? [38.a3 Rg3 39.Nxg3 hxg3–+] 

38...Be5 [¹38...Rg3!? 39.Nxg3 hxg3–+ (39...fxg3?! 40.Re2µ) ] 

39.Kc2 Qg7 40.Nh2 Bxc3 

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41.Qxf4 Black king safety dropped 

41...Bd4 The black bishop is well posted. 

42.Qf7+ Ka6 43.Qxg7 

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43...Rxg7 [Inferior is 43...Bxg7 44.Rf7²] 

44.Re2 Rg3 Black threatens to win material: Rg3xh3 

45.Ng4 White plans e5 

45...Rxh3 46.e5 Rf3 

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47.e6 He broke from his leash 

47...Rf8 48.e7 White threatens to win material: e7xf8Q 

48...Re8 49.Nh6 

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49...h3 White has to watch this pawn 

50.Nf5 Bf6 51.a3 b5 52.b4 cxb4 53.axb4 

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53...Bxe7 54.Nxe7 [54.Rxe7 Rxe7 Combination; 54.Nxe7 h2 Passed pawn] 

54...h2 Deflection: h2 

55.Rxh2 Rxe7 A rook endgame occured 

56.Rh6 White threatens to win material: Rh6xc6 

56...Kb6 57.Kc3 Rd7 58.Rg6 Kc7 59.Rh6 Rd6 Black threatens to win material: Rd6xh6 

60.Rh8 Rg6 61.Ra8 Kb7 62.Rh8 Rg5 63.Rh7+ Kb6 64.Rh6 Rg1 65.Kc2 [65.Kb3!?= should be examined more closely] 

65...Rf1 66.Rg6 Rh1 67.Rf6 Rh8 68.Kc3 Ra8 69.d4 Rd8 70.Rh6 Rd7 71.Rg6 Kc7 [71...a6 72.Kd3µ] 

72.Rg5 [72.Rg8!?= is an interesting idea] 

72...Rd6 73.Rg8 Rh6 74.Ra8 White threatens to win material: Ra8xa7 

74...Rh3+ 75.Kc2 Ra3 76.Kb2 Ra4 77.Kc3 a6 78.Rh8 Ra3+ 79.Kb2 Rg3 80.Kc2 Rg5 81.Rh6 Rd5 82.Kc3 Rd6 83.Rh8 Rg6 84.Kc2 Kb7 85.Kc3 Rg3+ 86.Kc2 Rg1 87.Rh5 Rg2+ 88.Kc3 Rg3+ 89.Kc2 Rg4 Black threatens to win material: Rg4xd4 

90.Kc3 Kb6 91.Rh6 Rg5 92.Rf6 Rh5 93.Rg6 Rh3+ 94.Kc2 Rh5 95.Kc3 Twofold repetition 

95...Rd5 96.Rh6 Kc7 97.Rh7+ Rd7 Black threatens to win material: Rd7xh7 

98.Rh5 Rd6 99.Rh8 Rg6 Twofold repetition 

100.Rf8 [¹100.Kc2!?= is interesting] 

100...Rg3+µ 101.Kc2 Ra3 102.Rf7+ Kd6 103.Ra7 Kd5 104.Kb2 Rd3 105.Rxa6 Rxd4 106.Kb3 Re4 107.Kc3 Rc4+ 108.Kb3 Kd4 109.Rb6 Kd3 110.Ra6 Rc2 111.Rb6 Rc3+ 112.Kb2 Rc4 Black threatens to win material: Rc4xb4 

113.Kb3 Kd4 114.Ra6 Kd5 115.Ra8 ½–½