Cover Story / 2014 Sinquefield Cup Pandolfini on Caruana, Part I
Bruce Pandolfini was Caruana’s first chess teacher of note. In the boxes on these two pages, he tells Chess Life readers about his early impressions.
I realized he was very special right away, when I had a chance to see him playing at Garfield Temple in Park Slope Brooklyn. You only had to watch him for a moment at the board. He was so totally focused, so completely immersed in the pleasure of thinking and playing. I was always amazed how, after Fabiano’s talent became more widely known, not even flash bulbs could break his attention once he started to analyze. And there were lots of flash bulbs, to be sure. Such a kid has to succeed.
Continued from page 25
ROUND 3: “I WAS AFRAID THAT I HAD MISSED SOMETHING.” The two titans met on day three. There
would be no theoretical discussion as Carlsen trotted out the Bishop’s Opening as White. The announcers continued to assert
that the world champion did not prefer anything sharp. Like last year’s event, he may have been hamstrung by having to shield his intended framework for his upcoming title defense. Carlsen’s position quickly went sour,
Caruana. “I couldn't remember all the details but I had spent a [lot of time] on the position. And I was playing fast so that he would feel that I had everything pre - pared, to get him demor alized.”
15. ... Bg6 16. f4 The point behind Caruana’s unusual
plan. “Probably I can hold,” said Vachier- Lagrave, “but only by finding five or 10 very difficult or only moves in a row.”
16. ... Be4 17. Rf2! Nh6?! 18. Bd3!! Qb4 19. Rb1 Qc5 20. Nxe4 dxe4 21. Qxa5 0-0 22. Be2 e3 23. Rff1 Rfc8 24. Qe1 Qd5 25. Rb2 f6 26. Qg3 fxe5 27. fxe5 Rf8 28. Rxf8+ Rxf8 29. Qxe3 Nf7 30. Nc3, Black resigned.
The loss was only the third Vachier- Lagrave had suffered in all of 2014. It was also his first on U.S. soil; he went unde - feated in winning the 2012 Spice Cup. Vachier-Lagrave, the bottom seed, went on to lose twice more against only one win in the final eight rounds. Vachier-Lagrave said he learned “simply
never to have a weak moment. It gets punished immediately. I think I need to play in more tournaments of this caliber.” Meanwhile, a consistent pattern formed
that would continue all through the seven- game winning streak. While Caruana amassed his points, no player sitting in second place was ever able to win. The leader thus improved his gap to the peloton by exactly 1
⁄2 point every round. Like in
cycling, the other five players seemed to take turns leading the chase group, but the field kept losing ground.
28 November 2014 | Chess Life
and within the first dozen moves he was noticeably worse as White. The novelty 11. Bg3 (the very move Topalov tried to employ in round 1!) proved to be not much more than a target. “I thought I played pretty badly in the opening,” Caruana said. Several moves later, Carlsen lashed out
with the panicky 15. Bxf7+ (in a strange symbioses, Nakamura failed to play ... Bxf2+ in his game, a winning shot). “I thought I could make it interesting,” Carlsen ex plained. Caruana was initially skeptical of his
own analysis, then he determined that the offer was not fatal. “He's a great player, but I can also calculate some variations, so I wasn’t too worried.”
Bishop’s Opening (C24) GM Magnus Carlsen (FIDE 2877, NOR) GM Fabiano Caruana (FIDE 2801, ITA) 2014 Sinquefield Cup (3), St. Louis, Missouri, 08.29.2014
1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d3 The move 3. Nc3 is not a viable option
for White nowadays at the highest levels because 3. ... Nxe4 4. Qh5 Nd6 5. Bb3 Be7 is too close to dead equal.
3. ... c6 4. Nf3 d5 5. Bb3 Bb4+ This takes the c3-square away from the
white knight. The older main variation 5. ... Bd6 6. Nc3 dxe4 7. Ng5 0-0 is not bad for Black but offers few winning chances.
6. c3 Bd6 7. Bg5
17. ... Qg5! The alternative line 17. ... Qd6 18. Rf8+
Qxf8 19. Nxf8 Kxf8 gives Black plenty of material for the queen but after 20. Qh5 the black king remains in trouble.
18. Rf8+ Kh7 19. Nxh8
“This was a big shock for me—he abandons his king to take my rook,” explained Caruana. “I was sure some idea like ... Bg4 or ... Bxh3 would lead to mate, but it turns out it was the best move. I
“I thought this was too early,” said Caruana.
7. ... dxe4 8. dxe4 h6 9. Bh4 Qe7 10. Nbd2 Nbd7 11. Bg3
“This looks a little strange, but he didn’t
want me to play ... Nf8–g6,” explained Caruana.
11. ... Bc7 12. 0-0 Nh5! 13. h3!? “Magnus probably thought that he could
play 13. Nxe5? Nxe5 14. Qxh5 and missed 14. ... Bg4!,” said Caruana. “Now if he loses the g3-bishop it will just be a symmetrical structure with no prospects for White. So I expected something like 13. Nh4 Nxg3 14. fxg3!?, but not the idea he played.”
13. ... Nxg3 14. fxg3 Nc5
“14. ... Nf6 is much safer,” said Caruana.
15. Bxf7+! “I played 14. ... Nc5 very quickly, which
was a bit careless,” said Caruana, “because after this sacrifice I soon realized that things weren’t so simple.”
15. ... Kxf7! 16. Nxe5+ Kg8 17. Ng6
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