WC 2017: Art of Magnus play!


"You see, one thing is, I can live with doubt and uncertainty and not knowing. I think it's much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers which might be wrong."
- Richard Feynman



The fine art of Chess lies in transformations......which necessarily means, pawn moves.....and exchanges - in short those changes that happen in a position which are irreversible!  And every time a pawn is moved and every exchange that happens are critical moments! A player's mastery of the game is revealed in how he perceives and responds in these critical moments.

Magnus Carlsen differentiates himself in this art....from others.....supported by his undiminishing tenacity and great love for the game ......by just playing for little things!

Little things is what Chess offers....it is a highly resilient game; and it is the mind of the opponent, with its allied apprehensions, that makes it big!  As in life, in Chess too, we are offered choices.... every moment we take decisions.....and for every decision that we take, we disregard many other choices!  And, it is futile to evaluate the choices that we take and the choices that we discard in dual terms.....whatever we do carries with it our personality! Therefore, instead of meddling with the choices ......dissecting them and trying to work them out .....which will lead us nowhere; we need to hone our personality by going within and seeking who makes those choices and what were the preconditions!


Let us observe this through a couple of games in this WC 2017


Game - 1

Dreev - Carlsen, WC 2017 Rd 2 Game-1


12.Ne5

Well, Dreev is not that type of a player who would want to play the position after......say 12.bc4 dc4 13.e4 where the position is totally opened up and turns ultra sharp.

12......OO 13.e3 Nc6!

Again, White has a choice! 14.Nc6 bc6 15.bc4 Qg6 is not a palatable one. The alternative 14.bc4 Ne5! 15.de5 Qg5 is somewhat similar to what happened in the game.

14.Be2 Ne5 15.de5 Qg6 16.OO d4!!




Truly a significant moment!

It is in such moments, we see the art of a great master!  Carlsen has to be comfortable, if not absolutely certain in evaluating the relative value of pawns that are freely allowed to advance: the central one's of White and the flank one of Black!

Reminds me of the great game between Botvinnik - Smyslov....


14.Bf3 Ng4 15.Bc6!!

 A fabulous move and conception......the point of which lies in transformation that is to happen!

 15.....Bc6 16.f3!!

 Botvinnik not only threatens the Knight on g5.....but the move intends to build an imposing pawn avalanche on the central files. And do not forget the pressure on the a3-f8 diagonal!
16.......a6 17.Nc3 f5?!

 Grandmaster Sandeepan Chanda found a fine response 16.....Qf6!! not only forestalling h4 but also aiming to counter White on the Kingside and in centre.  

 18.OO Qf6 19.Qd3 Rfd8 20.d5! Nf7 21.e4 ed5 22.cd5 Bd7 23.Bb2! Ne5 24.Qe2 ....

 ....and Black could not contain the White's central pawns while his flank passers were halted on dark squares on which he had no control.


Coming back to the Carlsen game...after 16......d4!!


17.ed4 cb3 18.Bf3 Rac8 19.Qe3 Qg5! 20.Rab1

It doesn't help White to exchange the Queen on g5, as he cannot play d5 due to .....Bf5 and any other move, Black will put his Rook on c3 and double the Rooks and nurse the b-pawn.

20.....Qe3 21.fe3 Rfd8! 22.Bb7 Rc3 23.d5 Bd7 24.Rf4 a5! 


A very pleasant position for Black!  White pawns, despite their imposing look, are impotent; whilst Black's pawn on b3 is lethal and most importantly White pieces are scattered and lack coordination.

25.Kf2 Rb8 26.Bc6 Bc6 27.dc6 Rc6 28.Rd4 Rc2 29.Kf3 b2 30.Rdd1 Rb5 31.a4 Re5 32.Rd8 Kh7 White resigned



Game - 2

Carlsen - Dreev, WC 2017 Rd 2 Game-2


12.Ba4!

Well, it helps to not keep that Bishop loose on b5 and the move played frees the Knight on c3.

12.....h6 13.h3 d5?!

After waiting for a move, Black could not find any other useful waiting move.....and had to decide between two active continuations: 13.....d5 or 13.....c4.....I do not find any other moves....putting the a Rook on c8 makes no sense with an isolated a-pawn....but most importantly, what will Black do with that Knight on d7!?

14.e5! 

With this, the structure gets a character of a French defence where Black has fianchettoed his Bishop on the Kingside!

14.....Nh7 15.Bd7! 

A master stroke!  Carlsen lessens the pressure on e5 and wanted to fix Black's d-pawn on d5 so that the b7-Bishop remains inactive!

15.....Rd7 16.d4 cd4 17.Ne2 d3 18.Qd3 d4


A desperate pawn sacrifice to liberate his Bishop on b7

19.Ned4 g5 20.c3 Nf8 21.Nh2 Ng6 22.Qg3 Nh4

White was intending to play Ng4-f6. But after the text move and the subsequent Knight exchange, Black's Kingside gets ripped open by h4....

23.Nhf3 Nf3 24.Nf3 Rd3 25.h4 gh4 26.Qh4 Bf3 27.gf3 Rf3 28.Bh6!


Another great characteristic of Carlsen is the economy of moves! In Steinitzian style, he leaves the already 'developed' c1 Bishop and a1 Rook untouched on their original squares till the need arises! And when they move, on most occasions, the game gets decided.....as happens in this game too!

28.....f5 29.Bg7 Kg7 30.Kh1 Black Resigned 


The art is considered great....in Chess.....when your opponent doesn't know what struck him and why....! Carlsen's opponents feel this on most occasions when they lose.....


END


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