Magnus Carlsen vs Veselin Aleksandrov Topalov, English Opening, Four Knights Variation A28
2018 Shamkir Chess (Gashimov Memorial), Round 7, Shamkir, Azerbaijan, 04/26/18
Magnus Carlsen is in clear first at the Gashimov Memorial! After 7 rounds he is at 4.5 points. This is very significant because of his pre-match “distant relation” fight against Fabiano Caruana who is currently leading the US Championship. I have a feeling that they are trying to outperform one another despite not playing the same event! Magnus faced Veselin Topalov with the white pieces in this game. He opened with the English Opening and they entered the Four Knights Variation.
After a typical queen maneuver to c2 (preparing to recapture on c3 if black gives up the bishop) Magnus deviated from opening theory by still recapturing with the b pawn. This was a very double-edged move, but perhaps he was trying to get Veselin out of his opening preparation. This weakened white’s queenside pawn structure, but it reinforced the d4 push (now defended by the c3 pawn).
They entered a seemingly equal position, perhaps even slightly better for Topalov, but Magnus managed to create a complex tactical variation which forced Topalov into making a mistake. He could have still survived, but the two moves which kept relative equality were extremely hard to find. He didn’t manage, and he entered a losing queen vs rook & bishop endgame which Magnus had no trouble converting. What’s astonishing is that Carlsen did calculate all the lines correctly, otherwise he wouldn’t have gone for that variation. A remarkable display of swift and precise calculation by the world champion!
Standings after round 7:
Magnus Carlsen 4.5/7
Anish Giri 4/7
Veselin Aleksandrov Topalov 4/7
Ding Liren 4/7
Teimour Radjabov 3.5/7
Rauf Mamedov 3.5/7
Sergey Karjakin 3.5/7
Radoslaw Wojtaszek 3/7
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 3/7
David Navara 2/7
Game moves:
1.c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. e3 Bb4 5. Qc2 Bxc3 6. bxc3 d6 7. e4 O-O 8. g3 Ne8 9. Nh4 Ne7 10. d3 f5 11. exf5 Nxf5 12. Nxf5 Bxf5 13. Bg2 c6 14. h3 Nc7 15. O-O Ne6 16. Be3 Nc5 17. Rad1 Qd7 18. Kh2 Bg6 19. Rd2 Rae8 20. Qd1 b6 21. Re1 h6 22. Bxc5 dxc5 23. Re3 Re6 24. Kg1 Rd6 25. h4 Rd8 26. Rxe5 Bxd3 27. Be4 Bxc4 28. Rxd6 Qxd6 29. Re8+ Rxe8 30. Qxd6 Rxe4 31. Qxc6 Re1+ 32. Kh2 Bxa2 33. g4 Kh7 34. f4 h5 35. f5 hxg4 36. h5 Bf7 37. Qb7 Kg8 38. Qxa7 Bxh5 39. Qxb6 c4 40. Qd8+ Be8 41. Kg3 Kh7 42. Qc7 Kg8 43. Qxc4+ Bf7 44. Qd4 Re8 45. c4 Rf8 46. c5 Be8 47. Qd5+ Kh7 48. Qe6 Bb5 49. c6 Bxc6 50. Qg6+ Kg8 51. Qxc6 Rf6 52. Qe8+ Kh7 53. Kxg4 Rh6 54. Kf4 Rf6 55. Ke5 Rh6 56. Qe6 1-0