GM Magnus Carlsen - GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda

SuperUnited Blitz, (2)


E04: Catalan Open

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 It has only been in the last few years that Magnus Carlsen has taken up the Catalan - and it has added a new dynamic to the world No.1's game with an opening jam-packed with tons of hidden ideas and permanent positional pressure to terrorise opponents. 4...dxc4 5.Bg2 a6 6.O-O Nc6 7.Be3 Bd7 8.Qc1 b5 9.b3! A common pawn-sacrifice motif in the Catalan, with White's compensation coming with lots of open lines for his active pieces to explore; and an added bonus being that it is not easy for Black to unravel without either returning the pawn or seeing White dominate the centre. 9...cxb3 10.axb3 Nd5 11.Bg5 Be7 12.Bxe7 Ncxe7 13.Nbd2 b4 14.Ne5 Bb5 15.Re1 O-O Not an easy position to asses with the vagaries of blitz, but one potential pitfall is the obvious 15...Nc3?! that soon backfires after 16.Bxa8 Qxa8 17.Qc2! Qd5 (Not recommended is 17...Nxe2+?! 18.Rxe2 Bxe2 19.Qxc7 Qc8 20.Qa7 Bb5 21.Ndc4 Qd8 22.Qc5! where, despite the engine declaring it digitally drawing with "0.00", the position is just all the more awkward for Black) 18.Ndf3 O-O 19.e4 Qd6 20.Nc4 and once again, just a little awkward for Black, especially with the impressive looking ...Nc3 all dressed up but nowhere to go, and likely to become a handicap in the long-term. 16.Ne4 Qb8 More solid looked 16...Ng6 17.Nc4 c6 but I can understand Duda's desire to try to move things along and not allow a knight to potentially swing into d6. 17.h4 Qb6 18.e3 a5 19.Nc4 It was about now, as Carlsen started to take more control, that we begin to see the difficulties of Duda's position - but at least he has hung on to his extra pawn. 19...Bxc4?! The positon is just "awkward" for Black, so Duda lashes out with a promising exchange sacrifice, putting his faith in his passed queenside pawns - but Carlsen easily contains the pawns. 20.bxc4 Nf6 21.Nxf6+ gxf6 22.Bxa8 Rxa8 23.Ra4 In the ensuing blitz mayhem, Carlsen misses the more accurate 23.Qd1! immediately with the major threat of Qf3, leaving Black to consider 23...Nc6 (If 23...Qb7 24.Qg4+ Kf8 25.Ra4! Nc6 26.Rea1 Rb8 27.Qf4 Kg7 28.Qg4+! Kf8 29.d5! exd5 30.cxd5 Ne5 31.Qe4 and the loose state of Black's king and pawns offers White good chances of winning;  and if 23...c5 as in the game, then 24.Qg4+ Kf8 25.Qf3 is close to killing) 24.Qg4+ Kf8 25.Ra4 Rb8 26.Rea1 Qa6 27.Rc1 Qb6 28.Qf3 Kg7 29.Qg4+ Kf8 30.Qd1! with the plan of Qb3 and Rca1 and the threat of d5 picking off the a5-pawn. 23...c5! This move should be enough to save Duda - but he has used up a lot of time on his clock just to get to this position, and it is not as easy to make the accurate follow-ups needed. 24.Qd1 f5?! Duda begins to panic about Qg4+ - with more time to properly asses the situation, he would have realised that 24...Nc6! 25.Qf3 Kg7 26.Qg4+ Kf8 27.dxc5 Qxc5 28.Qf4 Kg7 and with the queenside pawns posing a long-term danger, Black is easily holding for the draw. 25.h5 h6 Duda continues to worry about kingside threats - and this time, there's no chance to try 25...Nc6? as now comes 26.d5! exd5 27.Qxd5 Re8 28.Qxf5 h6 29.Rea1 Re5 30.Qg4+ Kf8 31.Rd1 and Black's king is in grave danger. 26.Qa1 cxd4 Once again there's no time for the consolidating 26...Nc6 as 27.d5! and Black is bust with the Qa1 covering e5, and now 27...exd5 28.cxd5 Nd8 29.e4! and Black's king in again in danger as the game bursts open. 27.exd4 f4! Duda is fighting hard to stay in the game - and he almost does. 28.g4 Nc6 29.Re4 b3 With the flag on his digital clock metaphorically hanging, Duda reaches for the obvious threat of pushing his b-pawn. Now admittedly, this position is difficult, and given its blitz even more so, but in chess one of the hardest moves to spot is a retreating queen move, and here 29...Qd8! saves the game with the queen coming to g5, as 30.Kg2 Qg5 31.f3 Rd8 and Black has more than enough resources here to hold for the draw. 30.Qb2 e5 31.dxe5 Rd8 32.e6 It's amazing how easily things begin to fall apart first for Duda, and then for Carlsen, due to their mutual clock predicament. 32...Rd1+ 33.Kg2 f3+ 34.Kxf3?

Mutual zeitnot - the accurate way to play was 34.Kg3! Qb8+ and only now 35.Kxf3! fxe6 36.Kg2 Qb7 37.f3 e5 and a mess of a position that, jokingly, the engine claims to be "0.00" - easier said than done with the vagaries of blitz, as either side is quite capable of losing this position within a few moves. 34...Nd4+ 35.Kg2 Nxe6 36.c5 (see diagram) A good a punt as any from Carlsen in the blitz time-scramble, but it's enough to confuse Duda, who somehow manages to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. 36...Qc6?? By this stage, with both players bashing out the moves, it just isn't easy to see the subtle winning moves as the engine does. And here, instead of dropping the all-important b-pawn, after 36...Qb5! due to the ...Qf1+ threat, White is simply lost. If 37.Rac4 (What else is there? If 37.Qe2 Nf4+! wins the queen) 37...a4! 38.c6 a3 39.Qf6 b2 40.Rxe6 Qd5+ 41.Rce4 fxe6 42.Qg6+ Kf8 43.Qf6+ Ke8 44.Qh8+ Ke7 45.Qg7+ Kd6 46.Qf8+ Kxc6 47.Qc8+ Kb6 48.Qb8+ Qb7 with no checks left and resignation next for White. So Carlsen's streak should have been over even before it started! 37.Qxb3 Rd5 In his haste not to lose on time, Duda probably intended 37...Ng5 only to realise at the last moment that 38.Qxd1 Nxe4 39.Qd8+ Kh7 40.Rd4! and the discovered check with 40...Nxc5+ is meaningless after 41.Qd5 - such is blitz life! 38.Rac4 Nxc5 39.Qb8+ Kg7 40.Kh2! A number of ways to win now, but cool as a cucumber, Carlsen just steps out of the pin down the long a8-h1 diagonal to leave Duda close to the point of resignation. 40...Rd2 41.Qe5+ Kh7 42.Qxc5 1-0 And with a heavy loss of material, Duda resigns.