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Home » Chess News » Events » 2nd Norway Chess 2014 » Caruana leads and has Carlsen scrambling for a draw in Norway Chess Round 3

Magnus Carlsen swore to stop Fabiano Caruana and he did, in that he did not lose, but he was obviously disappointed with his play today. However as Carlsen admitted "I cannot be too unhappy I was a piece down."

Caruana's Gruenfeld didn't go too well and he immediately put his finger on the move 18...e5 as the mistake rather than the more natural 18...exd5. Caruana was worried by dangerous attacking ideas for Carlsen but they only seem to lead to a draw. Carlsen in turn started to drift later on. 26.Qe3 looks like a good idea but he was looking for more dynamic solutions but missed that 29.Qa3 a5! is excellent for black. After that Carlsen soon gave up a piece for two pawns, at first he thought he had enough with dangerous attacking ideas with Ng4 but after the excellent 33...Nd7 Carlsen was in trouble although Caruana still thought a draw was the most likely result, even after 39.Rd7?! which was based on a miscalculation. Carlsen eventually liquidated to a draw on move 67.

Carlsen,Magnus (2881) - Caruana,Fabiano (2791) [D70]
2nd Norway Chess 2014 Stavanger NOR (3.4), 05.06.2014
[Crowther,Mark]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nb6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.Be3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.0-0-0 Qd6 10.Nb5 Qd7 11.Kb1 Rd8 12.d5 a6 13.Nc3 Qe8 14.Qc1 Na5 15.Bh6 Bxh6 16.Qxh6 e6 17.Nh3 Qe7 18.Bd3

18...e5

Caruana wasn't too happy with this decision after the game.

[18...exd5 19.Nf4 This was the move that put Caruana off but it isn't too simple. 19...Be6 20.Nh5 f6 21.exd5 Nxd5 22.Nxd5 Rxd5 23.Bxg6 Rxd1+ 24.Rxd1 hxg6 25.Qxg6+ Kh8 26.Nxf6 Bg8 was a variation given by the players after the game and that should be a draw.]

19.Nf2 Nbc4 20.h4 Rd6 21.Bxc4 Nxc4 22.Qc1 b5 23.Nd3 Bd7 24.b3 Nb6 25.h5 g5

26.g3?!

[26.Qe3 Which was Nigel Short's suggestion would have kept Carlsen's advantage.]

26...c6! 27.f4 cxd5 28.Nxe5 d4 29.Qa3

[29.Qa3 a5! only move was the idea Carlsen missed.]

29...a5 30.Nxb5 Bxb5 31.Rxd4 Re6 32.Qxe7 Rxe7 33.Rc1 Nd7!

Carlsen missed the strength of this idea.

34.Rc7 Nxe5 35.Rxe7 Nc6 36.Rd5 Bd3+ 37.Rxd3 Nxe7 38.fxg5

Caruana didn't entertain too many hopes of winning here.

38...Rb8 39.Rd7?!

According to Carlsen not accurate.

39...Kf8 40.Ra7 Rb5 41.Ra8+ Kg7 42.Re8

[42.Ra6]

42...Re5 43.g4 Rxe4 44.Kc2 Re5 45.Kd3 f6

[45...h6 Probably doesn't get it done either.]

46.gxf6+ Kxf6 47.Rh8 Kg7 48.Re8 Kh6 49.a3 Kg5 50.Rh8 h6 51.Rh7 Re6 52.Rg7+ Kf6 53.Rh7 Ke5 54.Rg7 Kf4 55.b4 axb4 56.axb4 Nc6 57.b5 Ne5+ 58.Kd4 Nxg4 59.Kc5 Re5+ 60.Kc6 Rxh5 61.b6 Ne5+ 62.Kc7 Nc4 63.b7 Rc5+ 64.Kd8 Rb5 65.Kc7 Rc5+ 66.Kd8 Rb5 67.Kc7 Ke5 1/2-1/2

The most thrilling game of the day came between Sergey Karjakin and Simen Agdestein. Karjakin was obviously looking for a win after the loss of the day before and the game became a tactical brawl after Karjakin gave up the exchange and then another piece. Agdestein was good enough to see his way through all of this and Karjkin was the one to go wrong eventually allowing Agdestein a winning position. Agdestein saw 48.Kf7 but saw some dangers of an open king that weren't real and after a further mistake the game was drawn.

Dirk Jan Ten Geuzendam asked Agdestein about his good start in interview after the game: "You must have had some fears that it would be suffering this tournament, are you enjoying it more day by day?"

Agdestein: "It's always a fear that is there but I was aware of this fear and I was mentally fighting it right from the beginning. A month ago when I knew I was going to play. My idea was to play interesting chess and I think I achieved that."

Karjakin,Sergey (2771) - Agdestein,Simen (2628) [C11]
2nd Norway Chess 2014 Stavanger NOR (3.1), 05.06.2014
[Crowther,Mark]

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Qb6 9.Qd2 Qxb2 10.Rb1 Qa3 11.Bb5 Nxd4 12.Bxd4 a6 13.Bxd7+ Bxd7 14.Rb3 Qe7 15.Rxb7 Qh4+

[Relevant: 15...Qd8 16.f5 Qc8 17.Rb3 Qc4 18.fxe6 fxe6 19.Rf1 Be7 20.Qd3 Rc8 21.Kd2 Rf8 22.Qxc4 Rxc4 23.Rb8+ Bc8 24.Rxf8+ Bxf8 25.Ne2 Kd7 26.c3 Ra4 27.Nc1 Kc7 28.Rb1 Bd7 29.Ra1 Bb5 30.Nb3 Kc6 31.Kc2 Bc4 32.Kb2 Bd3 33.a3 Be7 34.Nd2 Kb5 35.g3 h5 36.Kb3 g5 37.Kb2 g4 38.Be3 Bf8 39.Bd4 Bf5 40.Kb3 Bh6 41.Rd1 Bd3 42.Kb2 Bf8 43.Ra1 Be7 44.Be3 h4 45.Bd4 Karjakin,S (2786)-Nakamura,H (2767) Zug 2013 ½-½ (107)]

16.Qf2 Be7 17.g3N

17.Qxh4 Bxh4+ 18.Kd2 Bd8 19.Rhb1 Bc6 20.Rb8 Rxb8 21.Rxb8 0-0 22.Rc8 Bb7 23.Rb8 Bc6 24.Rc8 Bb7 25.Rb8 ½-½ Dominguez Perez,L (2730)-Nepomniachtchi,I (2718) Sochi 2012]

17...Qh3 18.Kd2 Bd8 19.Rhb1 Bc6

20.Bc5!?

[20.Rb8 was a good deal more sensible but instead Karjakin got creative.]

20...Bxb7 21.Rxb7 Rc8 22.Kc1 f6! 23.Nxd5!?

More highly enterprising play from Karjakin. Now he's a rook down.

23...exd5 24.Qe2 Rc7 25.Rxc7 Bxc7 26.e6!

Agdestein said afterwards he wasn't doing a very good job of predicting Karjakin's moves around here but it's not really surprising.

[26.exf6+]

26...Bb6

Absolutely forced.

27.Bxb6 0-0 28.e7 Re8 29.Bd8 Qc8 30.Kb2 g6 31.Qd3 Qc6 32.Qc3 Qb5+ 33.Qb3

Black is maybe a bit better here but it's unbalanced.

33...Qc5 34.a3 Kf7 35.Qd3 Qc6 36.Kb3 h5

37.Kb4?

Karjakin said this was an incredibly stupid mistake. He should stop black's kingside play here.

[37.h4 needed to be played.]

37...h4! 38.g4 h3 39.Ka5 Rh8 40.a4 Rh4 41.Qg3 g5!? 42.Qd3?

A bad move, Karjakin admitted he was still angry with himself about not playing 37.h4.

42...gxf4 43.Qf5 f3!

44.Qxf3 Qe6! 45.g5 Qc6 46.g6+?

White is now losing.

[46.c4 and play is still difficult for both sides. 46...Qc5+ 47.Kxa6 Qxc4+ 48.Kb7 Qb4+ 49.Kc8 Qc5+]

46...Ke8 47.Qb3 Rg4 48.g7

48...f5?

[48...Kf7! Which Agdestein saw and indeed was his first thought but feared his king might become open but it's just not the case. 49.g8Q+ Kxg8 50.e8Q+ Qxe8 51.Qxd5+]

49.g8Q+ Rxg8 50.Qxh3 Qe6 51.Bb6 Kxe7 52.Qh7+ Qf7 53.Qxf7+ Kxf7 54.Kxa6 f4 55.a5 f3

[55...Ke6 was the last chance when it might still be winning. 56.Kb5 Rg2 57.a6 Rxc2 58.a7 Rc8 59.h4 f3 60.Bf2 Ke5 61.Bg3+ Kf5 62.Kb6]

56.Kb7 Rg2 57.a6 Rxc2 58.a7 Ra2 59.h4 Kf6 60.h5 Kg5 61.a8Q Rxa8 62.Kxa8 Kxh5 63.Kb7 1/2-1/2

Levon Aronian went down to an embarrassing loss against Alexander Grischuk when forgetting his opening preparation in a sharp English variation he has experience of. With 12...e4 Aronian started sharp play but after 13.h5 Qf5? (something like 13...Qa6 needs to be played and he no doubt studied) 14.Rh4! the queen is lost. Aronian struggled on for a bit but Grischuk made no mistake.

Aronian (After seeing 14.Rh4) "No, I didn't consider resigning. But I considered hitting myself."

Gawain Jones @GMGawain on twitter Grischuk-Aronian very odd. Lev blitzes out a line he plays with both colours and promptly gets his queen trapped #NorwayChess

13...Qf5?? 14. Rh4! exd3 15. Rf4 Nc5 16. Rxf5 Bxf5 17. Nd4 Bd7 18. Kf1 Bd6 19. Nb3 f6 20. Be3 b6 21. Nxc5 bxc5 22. Qxd3 O-O 23. Qd2 Be8 24. h6 g5 25. Qb2 Bd7 26. Qa3 Rfe8 27. Bxc5 Bh2 28. Re1 Bf5 29. Rxe8+ Rxe8 30. Be3 Kf7 31. Ke2 Be5 32. Kd2 Bg4 33. Qxa7 Kg6 34. a4 Kxh6 35. a5 c6 36. dxc6 Rc8 37. f3 Bf5 38. g4 Be6 39. Qe7 Bxc4 40. Bd4 1-0

Vladimir Kramnik said that recently he had experienced trouble on the white side of the Catalan so he needed to start winning against it. Kramnik got a very active position which he thought was completely winning just out of the opening but at that stage the computers actually thought things about equal. In the end Kramnik's judgement proved correct and Giri couldn't hold such a passive position forever and eventually lost.

Giri,Anish (2752) - Kramnik,Vladimir (2783) [E06]
2nd Norway Chess 2014 Stavanger NOR (3.3), 05.06.2014
[Crowther,Mark]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 0-0 6.0-0 dxc4 7.Qc2 a6 8.a4 Bd7 9.Qxc4 Bc6 10.Bf4 Bd6 11.Qc1

[Relevant: 11.Bg5 Nbd7 12.Nc3 h6 13.Bxf6 Nxf6 14.a5 Qe7 15.Nd2 Bd5 16.Bxd5 exd5 17.Nxd5 Nxd5 18.Qxd5 Qxe2 19.Ne4 Rab8 20.Rfe1 Qxb2 21.Rab1 Qc2 22.Rec1 Qe2 23.Re1 Qc2 24.Nxd6 cxd6 25.Rb6 Rbe8 26.Rf1 Qe4 27.Qxb7 Qxb7 28.Rxb7 Re4 29.Rd1 Rc8 30.Rb6 Rc2 31.Rd3 g5 32.h3 h5 33.Rf3 g4 34.hxg4 hxg4 35.Rf4 Rxf4 36.gxf4 Ra2 37.Rxa6 Kg7 38.Kg2 Kg6 39.Rxd6+ Kf5 40.a6 Kxf4 Giri,A (2734)-Aronian,L (2812) Wijk aan Zee 2014 ½-½]

11...a5 12.Bd2N

[Predecessor: 12.Nc3 Na6 13.Bg5 h6 14.Bh4 Bxf3 15.Bxf6 Qxf6 16.Bxf3 c6 17.Rd1 Rad8 18.Kg2 Bc7 19.e3 Qe7 20.Qc2 Nb4 21.Qb3 Rd7 22.Rac1 Rfd8 23.Ne4 Bb6 24.Nd2 Bc7 25.Ne4 Bb6 26.Nc3 Kh8 27.h4 f5 28.h5 Bc7 29.Na2 e5 30.Nxb4 Qxb4 31.Qxb4 axb4 32.dxe5 Bxe5 33.Rxd7 Rxd7 34.Rc4 Bxb2 35.Rxb4 Be5 36.Be2 Kh7 37.Bc4 g6 38.Be6 Rc7 39.Rc4 Kg7 40.hxg6 Kxg6 41.g4 fxg4 Fridman,D (2600)-Boruchovsky,A (2472) Warsaw 2013 ½-½]

12...Nbd7 13.Rd1 Qe8 14.Bc3 Ne4 15.Nfd2 f5 16.Nxe4 fxe4 17.Be1 Qh5 18.Nc3 Nf6 19.h3 Rf7

20.e3

Kramnik and indeed Short in commentary thought black was quite close to winning here. It seems that there is no real counter-play or indeed plan for white. That doesn't mean the point will collect itself.

20...Raf8 21.Qc2 Qf5 22.Nb5 h5 23.Bxa5 Nh7 24.Nxd6 cxd6 25.Bb4 Qd5 26.Rf1 Ng5 27.b3 Rd8 28.Rac1 Nf3+ 29.Kh1 Qf5 30.Qe2 Kh7 31.Rc2 Bd5 32.Rc3 Kg6 33.Qc2 Kh7 34.Ba3 e5! 35.dxe5 dxe5 36.b4 Be6 37.Bc1 Qg6 38.Rd1 Rxd1+ 39.Qxd1 Rd7 40.Qf1 Bf5 41.Rc2 Qe6

After some time trying to hit upon the right setup Kramnik finds it.

42.Qe2 g6?!

Allowing Giri a final chance to fight.

[42...Bxh3]

43.Rc4

[43.Bxf3 exf3 44.Qc4 and black has work to do but Giri admitted he'd pretty much given up fighting.]

43...Bxh3

Now Kramnik plays it and it's over.

0-1

Peter Svidler again had opening preparation problems in his game against Veselin Topalov in that he hadn't looked at 6...e6 before the game although he had prepared it for the Candidates. Svidler had looked at 10.Qg4 in one position but he wasn't sure it was this. After 10...g6 black seemed fine in a sort of French Defence structure and whilst Svidler had slightly the better of it a draw was the normal result.

2nd Norway Chess 2014 Stavanger NOR (NOR), 3-14 vi 2014															cat. XXI (2774)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
1.	Caruana, Fabiano	g	ITA	2791	*	1	.	½	.	.	1	.	.	.	2½	3081
2.	Grischuk, Alexander	g	RUS	2792	0	*	.	.	1	.	.	.	.	1	2	2917
3.	Kramnik, Vladimir	g	RUS	2783	.	.	*	½	.	.	½	1	.	.	2	2920
4.	Carlsen, Magnus	g	NOR	2881	½	.	½	*	.	.	.	½	.	.	1½	2775
5.	Aronian, Levon	g	ARM	2815	.	0	.	.	*	½	.	.	1	.	1½	2730
6.	Agdestein, Simen	g	NOR	2628	.	.	.	.	½	*	.	½	½	.	1½	2779
7.	Svidler, Peter	g	RUS	2753	0	.	½	.	.	.	*	.	.	½	1	2657
8.	Giri, Anish	g	NED	2752	.	.	0	½	.	½	.	*	.	.	1	2639
9.	Karjakin, Sergey	g	RUS	2771	.	.	.	.	0	½	.	.	*	½	1	2613
10.	Topalov, Veselin	g	BUL	2772	.	0	.	.	.	.	½	.	½	*	1	2647

Round 3 (June 5, 2014)
Grischuk, Alexander	- Aronian, Levon	1-0	40	A18	English Opening
Carlsen, Magnus	- Caruana, Fabiano	½-½	67	D70	Gruenfeld Defence
Svidler, Peter	- Topalov, Veselin	½-½	42	B90	Sicilian Najdorf Variation
Giri, Anish	- Kramnik, Vladimir	0-1	43	E06	Catalan
Karjakin, Sergey	- Agdestein, Simen	½-½	63	C11	French Defence

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