[Event "Carlsen-Caruana FIDE World Chess Champi"] [Site "chess24.com"] [Date "2018.11.22"] [Round "10"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2832"] [BlackElo "2835"] [Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/broadcaster"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "B33"] [Opening "Sicilian Defense: Lasker-Pelikan Variation"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/8Hnpk28i/lOeKTW1t"] [Orientation "white"] { [%evp 0,107,16,28,97,43,66,24,24,24,24,50,20,42,51,63,63,39,63,44,33,54,7,-9, 37,10,10,7,16,16,40,21,21,19,-4,5,14,-6,3,-15,-19,-27,5,-45,11,-45,-22,1,54, -55,14,-57,-46,-38,16,-6,-11,-75,-75,-75,-68,-73,-35,-50,61,50,19,-9,17,-8,-14, -5,119,-8,-8,-15,-24,-48,-13,-13,-30,-60,-53,-60,-29,-78,-46,-36,-4,-96,-6,-17, -4,0,84,94,97,95,95,95,101,101,106,106,104,109,106,67,116,109] } 1. e4 c5 { Carlsen sticks to the Sicilian Defence. This shows a great deal of intent. Even after the last game he had with black Carlsen is still willing to take the risk. } 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Nd5 { [#] I certainly did not expect Caruana to play the same opening again. By now surely Carlsen's team would have analysed it to improve on play. } 7... Nxd5 8. exd5 Nb8 { [#] Carlsen sticks with the approach that has worked for him in this line. } 9. a4 Be7 10. Be2 O-O 11. O-O Nd7 12. b4 { This is a big change from Game 8 where Caruana had a bishop on d2. } 12... a6 13. Na3 a5 14. bxa5 Rxa5 15. Nc4 Ra8 16. Be3 { As was the case in Game 8, Caruana will carry out operations on the Queen side while Carlsen goes for a counterattack on the Kingside. Who will get to the opposing king first. } 16... f5 17. a5 f4 18. Bb6 { Caruana, who had been moving quite fast spent a bit of time here. I thought if he retreated to d2 then the move to e3 would have been loss of tempo. } 18... Qe8 19. Ra3 { The computer does not seem to like this move much. } (19. Bh5 g6 { This move will prevent the Queen from getting to g6 which is good for White. } 20. Bf3 Qf7 21. Re1 { This seems to slow down Black's counterattack on the Kingside }) (19. Re1 Qg6 20. Bc7) 19... Qg6 20. Bc7 e4 21. Kh1 { The position is so tightly poised. None of the players can afford to put a foot wrong. At this stage of the game, many fans and spectators were convinced that it was going to be a decisive result. } 21... b5 22. Nb6 Nxb6 23. Bxb6 { [#] This was a very critical point in the game. There was a good deal of chatting online whether Caruana would take the b5 pawn or not. } 23... Qg5?! { Inaccuracy. Best move was b4. } (23... b4) 24. g3? { Caruana misses a chance. Instead of increasing his advantage, he players a move that creates weakeanesses around his King. } (24. Bxb5) 24... b4 25. Rb3 (25. gxf4 Qxf4 26. Ra4 Bf6 27. Be3 Qh4 28. Rg1 Bd7) 25... Bh3 26. Rg1 f3 27. Bf1 Bxf1 28. Qxf1 Qxd5 29. Rxb4 Qe6 30. Rb5 { The position is greatly simplified but there is still much to play for } 30... Bd8 31. Qe1 Bxb6 32. axb6 Rab8 33. Qe3 Qc4 34. Rb2 Rb7 35. Rd1 Qe2 36. Re1 Qxe3 37. Rxe3 d5 38. h4 Rc8 39. Ra3 Kf7 40. Kh2 Ke6 41. g4 Rc6 42. Ra6 Ke5 { Black's position seems more preferable. He has the more active king which is right where the main action is. } 43. Kg3 h6 44. h5 Kd4?! { Inaccuracy. Best move was g6. } (44... g6 45. Rb5 g5 46. Raa5 Rd6 47. c4 Rbxb6 48. Rxb6 Rxb6 49. Rxd5+ Ke6 50. Rd4 Ke5) 45. Rb5 Rd6 46. Ra4+ Ke5 47. Rab4 Ke6 48. c4 dxc4 49. Rxc4 Rdxb6 50. Rxe4+ Kf7 51. Rf5+ Rf6 52. Rxf6+ Kxf6 53. Kxf3 { How things have changed. Carlsen is now a pawn. However with correct play from both sides this should be a draw. Caruana did not bother trying to test Magnus Carlsen. I am almost certain that if Carlsen had the white pieces he might have continued playing for another hour. } 53... Kf7 54. Kg3 { 1/2-1/2 The game is a draw. } 1/2-1/2