Fabiano Caruana vs Vladimir Kramnik, D31, Queen’s Gambit Declined, Semi-Slav Defense, Marshall Gambit (by transposition)
2018 Chess Candidates Tournament, Round 11
Caruana is still in the lead after round 11. He drew Kramnik with the white pieces, but since Mamedyarov, who was right behind him with half a point less also drew his game, the situation at the top of the scoreboard didn’t change. What’s even more exciting is the fact that Caruana went for the aggressive Marshall Gambit (not the one in Ruy Lopez) with an early e4 in the semi-slav, which often produces double edged and interesting games. This came as a much awaited change after we’ve seen countless drawing Catalans in the first 10 rounds.
Unfortunately for Fabiano, his attacking play didn’t convert into a full point because the queens got exchanged early and the pawn structure didn’t allow either player to create a strong enough attack after that.
There are still three rounds to go, so nothing is nearly over yet, but Fabiano has definitely already deserved to challenge Magnus for the title the way he’s been playing. I hope he can keep up this level of play and not allow Mamedyarov and Grischuk to overthrow him from the top of the leaderboard. And I can’t wait for his tomorrow’s game!
Standings after round 11:
Fabiano Caruana 7/11
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 6.5/11
Alexander Grischuk 6/11
Sergey Karjakin 6/11
Ding Liren 5.5/11
Vladimir Kramnik 5/11
Wesley So 4.5/11
Levon Aronian 3.5/11