[Event "Chessable Masters Final 8"] [Site "chess24.com INT"] [Date "2020.07.03"] [Round "3.14"] [White "Carlsen, M."] [Black "Giri, A."] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2863"] [BlackElo "2764"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "B51"] [Opening "Sicilian Defense: Moscow Variation"] [StudyName "alexcolovic's Study"] [ChapterName "Carlsen, M. - Giri, A."] [ChapterURL "https://lichess.org/study/ickLRGgh/74sYMePY"] [Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/alexcolovic"] [Orientation "white"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ { A long-time Carlsen favourite. } (3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. f3 { as played in the 4th tie-break game against Karjakin. }) 3... Nd7 4. a4 { Carlsen has played this before. } (4. d4 { is the main move here. }) 4... Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. a5 Bg7 7. O-O a6 8. Be2 { The first characteristic move. } (8. Bc4 O-O 9. d3 { was played in Carlsen,M (2855)-Topalov,V (2761) Paris 2016, a game Carlsen lost, but it does look more natural than the move played in the game. }) 8... O-O 9. Re1 b5 10. axb6 Bb7 11. d3 Nxb6 { It's curious that the engine gives White a slight edge here, but from a human perspective this is definitely not the way to play when needing draw. Even a player like Carlsen shouldn't this easily give up the playing initiative White has at the start of the game. Yes, White is solid and nothing can happen to him, but Giri must have felt very confident to have this position on the board, with all the pieces comfortably developed. The trend is definitely moving in Black's favour with this development of events, and perhaps feeling this Carlsen abruptly changes the character by switching to concrete play. } 12. e5 { Forcing some exchanges, but Black is more than comfortable. } (12. Bf4 { with ideas like Qd2 and e5 is preferred by the engine and it would have been more in line with White's previous play. }) 12... Nfd5 13. Nxd5 Nxd5 14. exd6 exd6 15. c3 Re8 16. Bd2 { White is very passive, though without weaknesses he should be fine. } 16... Qb6 17. Qc2 a5 18. h3 Bc6 19. d4 { These changes from solid and no-contact (up to move 12 and then from moves 15 to 19) to direct and concrete indicate to some sort of discomfort in spite of objectively being quite fine. } 19... cxd4 20. Nxd4 Nb4 21. cxb4? { But here comes the miscalculation. The decisive mistake comes later, but it's here that Carlsen set his mind on it. It's very characteristic how Carlsen fell apart this quickly when he decided to calculate his way out of the pressure, a common occurrence when feeling psychological discomfort. } (21. Qc1 { was still fine for White. }) 21... Bxd4 22. bxa5 Bxf2+ 23. Kf1 Qd4 24. Qxc6?? { Played instantly. } (24. Qc3 { was better, but Black is definitely playing for a win here after } 24... Qh4 25. Qxc6 Bc5 26. g3 Qd4 27. Qg2 Qxd2) 24... Bxe1 25. Bxe1 Qxb2 { This was missed by Carlsen. } 26. Bf3 { And he resigned, not waiting for 26...Qa1. } 0-1