just seven points behind world champ Vishy Anand’s 2798 ELO. The new number three should be Ukraine’s Vassily Ivanchuk who was on a roll before he was scalped by Carlson in Foros where the veteran GM finished second, a point behind the wunderkind.
According to American IM Jack Peters, Carlsen “does not play in the style of former champions Bobby Fischer, Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov. He takes occasional short draws but seems fearless, rarely misses hidden tactical opportunities, frequently cedes material to avoid passivity, and regularly wins from slightly inferior positions. Those qualities describe Veselin Topalov, but Carlsen seems sounder and less fanatical. And he’s improving rapidly.”
Carlsen’s victory in Foros, according to our annotator GM Lubosh Kavalek, was foreshadowed in the first round when the teen defeated Ivanchuk in the Bayonet Attack of the King’s Indian with a subtle tactical play.
Game of the week.
White: M. Carlsen (2765)
Black: V. Ivanchuk (2740)
King’s Indian DefenseForos 2008
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.b4 Nh5 10.Re1 f5 11.Ng5 Nf6 12.f3 Kh8 13.b5 (A relatively new attempt in the Bayonet Attack. 13.Be3 and 13.c5 are the two main moves.) 13…Ne8 (In the game Ricardi-Lemos, San Luis 2007, black forced the white knight where it would like to go anyway with 13…h6 14.Ne6 Bxe6 15.dxe6 Ne8. But now instead of 16.Be3, white has the more forceful 16.Ba3, for example 16…Qc8 17.Nd5 Qxe6 18. Nxc7! Nxc7 19.Qxd6, securing the advantage.) 14.Be3 Bf6 (Threatening 15…Nxd5.) 15.Ne6 Bxe6 16.dxe6 Ng7 17.Bh6! (After 17.c5?! Nxe6 18.cxd6 Qxd6, black is fine.) 17…Nxe6! (A sound exchange sacrifice. Ivanchuk will have a pawn and play on the dark squares.) 18.Bxf8 Qxf8 (Carlsen now invokes Mikhail Tal’s spirit with the next sacrifice.) 19.c5! (A masterstroke! Carlsen prefers an active bishop on the diagonal a2-g8 over a lousy pawn, at the same time diverting the black knight from the square d4.) 19…Nxc5 (Ivanchuk would not consider 19…dxc5, wrecking his pawn structure to get the knight to d4. White could play 20.Qd7, for example 20…Nd4 21.Qxc7! Nc2 22.Qxb7 with some pressure.) 20.Bc4 Bg5 21.Qe2 Qh6 22.Rad1 (Limiting the black dark bishop.) 22…Rf8 23.a4 (With the intention to undermine the pawn on d6 by playing a4-a5 and b5-b6.) 23…b6 24.g3 Qh3 25.Qg2 Qh6 26.Qe2 Qh3 27.Kh1 (Carlsen is in fighting mood, avoiding repetition with 27.Qg2 Qh6.) 27…Nd7?! 28.Ra1 Qh6 29.Ra2! (Limiting black’s action on the diagonal c1-h8 before opening the game on the queenside.) 29…Nf6 30.Kg2 Nh5 31.Nd5! Nxd5 32.Bxd5 Bf4 33.Qf2 fxe4 34.Bxe4 Qg5 35.Rc2 d5? (Ivanchuk’s little combination backfires, but a passive defense allows Carlsen to open the a-file for his heavy pieces. Black should have played 35…Rd8!? with the idea 36.Rxc7? d5 37.Bb1 e4 and white may have a hard time equalizing. White can prevent the central pawn advance with 36.Bb7! because after 36…d5 37.Rxc7 e4 38.Rc8! wins; and after 36…Rd7 37.Bc8 Rg7 38.Bg4 white still has the advantage.) 36.Bxd5 Bxg3 37.hxg3 Nf4+ 38.Kf1 Nxd5 39.Rce2! (White now wins the pawn on e5 and the game is over.) 39…Qf6 (After 39…Rf5 40.g4! wins; and after 39…Re8 40.f4 is hopeless for black.) 40.Rxe5 Qxf3 41.Qxf3 Rxf3+ 42.Ke2! Rf5 43.Rxf5 gxf5 44.Kd3 c5 45.Re5 (45.Kc4 Nb4 46.Re7 is stronger.) 45…Nb4+ 46.Kd2 (The rook will soon collect black’s important pawns.) Black resigned.
Puzzler.
White — pawns on b3, b4, h2; Qa8, Ke1, Be4, Ne7
Black — pawns on a5, b5, e5, g5; Na7, Bb6, Ke3White to play and mate in three moves.
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