[Event "U.S. Championship"] [Site "Saint Louis, United States"] [Date "2021.10.18"] [Round "11.2"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Shankland, Sam"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2800"] [BlackElo "2714"] [Annotator "King,Alex"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "E05"] [Opening "Catalan Opening: Open Defense, Classical Line"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/iLDop9iy/EW0b2iGT"] [Orientation "white"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 e6 4. g3 { The Catalan is one of the most popular openings in modern chess. There is a wide array of possibilities for both White and Black, making it well-suited for both experimentation and preparation. } 4... Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. a4 Bd7 9. Qxc4 { The standard Slav pawn structure has arisen; White's central pawn majority offers him more space and therefore a slightly more comfortable position, but Black remains solid with no major weaknesses. } 9... Bc6 10. Bg5 (10. Nc3 { is natural but runs into } 10... b5! { seizing the initiative. }) 10... Nbd7 11. Rd1 h6 12. Bxf6 Nxf6 13. Nbd2 (13. Nc3 { is the main line, when ...b5?? would now hang the c6-bishop. }) 13... a5 14. Qd3 Bb4 (14... Bxf3 { was Caruana's suggested improvement after the game, but } 15. Bxf3 Nd5 $14 { was still a pleasant edge for White in Kunte - Padmini, Ahmedabad 2017. }) 15. e4 { Caruana felt that allowing White to play this move was a sign that something had gone wrong for Black, but the engine is not too concerned. } 15... Qe7 16. Ne5 Bd7 17. Ndc4 Rfd8 18. Qe3 Be8 19. h4 { An aggressive-looking move that is actually quite positional, simply increasing White's space advantage. } 19... Nd7 20. Nxd7 (20. Nd3!? { was another possibility, e.g. } 20... Nb6 21. Nxb6 cxb6 $14 { when Black's doubled pawns are not a serious weakness, but White still retains a comfortable space advantage. }) 20... Bxd7 21. e5 { Caruana said he thought he had a "large advantage" here, but again the engine thinks this is an overestimation. } 21... Rab8 22. Be4 Be8 23. Qf3 f5!? { Instead of sitting around while White improves his position, Shankland opens things up in order to trade light-squared bishops. } 24. exf6 Qxf6 25. Qe3 Bg6 26. Rd3 Bf5 27. Rc1 c6 28. Rc2 Rd7 29. Ne5 Rd6 30. Nc4 Rd7 31. Ne5 Rd6 32. Kg2 (32. h5!? Rbd8 33. g4!? $14 { was an ambitious way for White to further increase his space advantage. }) 32... Rbd8 33. f3 { Caruana later explained that with this move he was inviting (and expecting) Shankland to go for the combination in the game. } 33... Bxe4 34. fxe4 Qxe5? $18 { Shaking up the position, but in White's favor. } (34... c5! { was correct, temporarily sacrificing a pawn to simplify into an endgame where Black will eventually equalize: } 35. dxc5 Rxd3 36. Nxd3 Qd4! 37. Qxd4 Rxd4 38. Nf4 Kf7 39. Kf3 Bd2! { and White cannot keep his extra pawn. Shankland said that he saw this possibility and correctly evaluated it, but mistakenly thought that the game move was more promising. }) 35. dxe5 Rxd3 36. Qa7! { Trying to pick off as many pawns as possible before Black's kingside attack gains momentum. } 36... Be1 37. Qxb7 Rxg3+! { Shankland correctly switches gears from his original intention. } (37... Rf8? { was what he thought would "keep [White's] king in the kill zone" (referencing a concept from his trainer Jacob Aagaard's 2013 book Grandmaster Preparation: Attack and Defence), but this was based on a miscalculation: } 38. Qxc6 Rxg3+ 39. Kh2 Rf4 40. Qxe6+ Kh7 { When playing 34... Qxe5?, Shankland had calculated this far and concluded that White was losing, but when double-checking his calculations a few moves later, he realized that } 41. Rg2! $18 { avoids mate and escapes with a winning position. }) 38. Kh2 Rdd3 39. Qc8+?! { Making things unnecessarily difficult. } (39. Qxc6! $18 { would collect an important additional pawn. }) 39... Kh7 40. Qxe6 Rg6 { The time control is reached, and both players get an additional 30 minutes, but as Caruana pointed out, this was not really enough to navigate all the possibilities in this complex position. } 41. Qf5 Bg3+ 42. Kg2 Bxh4+ 43. Kf1 Re3 44. Rc1! c5 45. Rd1? $13 { Caruana knew this was a critical moment, and spent over half of his remaining time, but still decided against the right move. } (45. e6! { was correct, which both players misevaluated. } 45... Rg3 46. Rxc5 Rg5 47. Qf8! Rg1+ 48. Ke2 R1g2+ 49. Kd3 Rxe6 $18 { Shankland said he had felt that this was "totally unclear", and Caruana seemed to evaluate it similarly, but to the engine it is clear that White has a winning advantage - the a5-pawn will likely fall, and Black's king will be at least as weak as White's. }) 45... c4! { Now it will not be so easy to collect this pawn. } 46. e6 Rg3 47. Rd7 Rg1+ 48. Ke2 Rg5 49. e7! { Accepting that White can no longer realistically play for a win. } (49. Qf7? { avoiding simplification would backfire badly for White: } 49... Rg2+ 50. Ke3 Rf6! 51. Qe8? Bf2+! 52. Kd2 Bd4+! 53. Ke1 Rg1+ 54. Ke2 Rf2#) 49... Rxf5 50. exf5 Rg1 (50... Rg2+ { amounts to the same thing after } 51. Kf3 Rf2+ 52. Ke3 Rf1 53. f6! $13) 51. f6! { A cute decoy that Black cannot accept. } 51... Re1+ 52. Kd2 Re6 53. f7?! { Caruana admitted that he had no idea why he went for this less practical option, where it is White who must defend to a draw. } (53. Rd8!? { was a better try: } 53... Bxf6 54. e8=Q Rxe8 55. Rxe8 Bxb2 { and in fact White is still the one pressing, although Black can hold without too much trouble, e.g. } 56. Ra8 Ba3 57. Kc2 Bb4 58. Rb8 Be1 59. Kd1 Bc3 60. Rc8 g5 61. Rxc4 Bb4 62. Rc6 h5 63. Ke2 Kg7 64. Kf3 g4+ 65. Kf2 h4 66. Rc4 g3+ 67. Kg2 Be7 68. Rd4 Kg6 69. Rd5 Bb4 70. Kh3 Kf7 71. Rh5 Ke6 72. Rxh4 Kd5 73. Rg4 Be1) 53... Bxe7 54. Rxe7 Rf6 55. Kc3 Kg6 56. Kxc4 Rxf7 { The resulting pawn ending is drawn, but Black has nothing better, since White is ready to create counterplay with b2-b4 in any case. } 57. Rxf7 Kxf7 58. b4! { Black cannot capture this pawn, or White's a-pawn will queen, but once White's b-pawn reaches b5 then it becomes untouchable, leaving White's king free to hold back Black's kingside pawns. } 58... Ke6 59. b5 Kd6 60. Kd4 h5 61. Ke4 g5 62. Kf5 h4 63. Kg4 Kc5 64. Kh3 Kd6 65. Kg4 Kc5 66. Kh3 Kd6 { Neither side can make progress, and a draw was agreed. A complicated fight, and a missed chance for Caruana to win clear first in the tournament! } 1/2-1/2