Magnus Carlsen vs Radoslaw Wojtaszek, Sicilian Defense, Closed, B23
2018 Shamkir Chess, Gashimov Memorial, Round 5, Shamkir, 04/23/18
After three less than exciting rounds and round four in which Topalov played the only decisive result, round 5 finally brought some real excitement at the Gashimov Memorial! Magnus Carlsen played one of his best games this year (in my opinion). He faced Wojtaszek with white and opened with the Closed Sicilian to 1…c5. What came afterwards was astonishing. He entered a new line in the closed Sicilian, an idea which has been played only a few times before and they exited theory on move 5!
Magnus castled long without starting a kingside attack, or even waiting for Wojtaszek to castle short. He pushed on with f4, g4 and provoked weaknesses which were too much for Wojtaszek to handle. On a few occasions Magnus chose unsound attacking moves instead of defending passively, and it paid out. He won a brilliant 31-move miniature against a very strong opponent.
He has now finally scored his first win at the 2018 Gashimov Memorial and this will probably give him the confidence to play such aggressive chess for the remainder of the tournament.