Chess News

Malcolm Pein on…A Fortunate Carlsen

Malcolm Pein

February 25, 2021

It is a return to the Opera Euro Rapid Tournament in today’s Daily Telegraph chess column, as Malcolm Pein shows how a fortunate Carlsen managed to squeeze through to the the semi-finals.

Malcolm Pein on…A Fortunate Carlsen

Magnus Carlsen was fortunate to get through to the semi-finals of the Opera Europe Rapid on Chess24, as he was pushed to the brink of defeat by Daniil Dubov. The 24-year-old Muscovite took the second set of the match 2.5-0.5 to force a Blitz tie-break in which the players exchanged wins before Carlsen won the Armageddon. Carlsen was in huge trouble in the first Blitz game and even the Armageddon should have been drawn, which would have meant a win for Dubov, who was playing Black. Carlsen commented: “It’s a relief, the final result, but a thoroughly disgusting performance on my part and I’ve got to be a lot better.” The world champion lost two games in just 25 moves:

D. Dubov – M. Carlsen
Giuoco Pianissimo 15+10

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 h6 5.Nc3 Bb4 6.0–0 Bxc3 7.bxc3 0–0 8.Bb3 d6 9.Nd2 d5 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.Ne4 Na5 12.Bxd5 Qxd5 13.Bxh6 f5! (13…gxh6 14.Nf6+) 14.c4 Qc6 (14…Nxc4 15.Nc3 Qa5 16.dxc4 Qxc3 17.Qd5+ Rf7 18.Bd2 is unclear) 15.Bd2 fxe4 16.Bxa5 Qg6 17.Qe2 (17.f3 was better) 17…Rf4 18.Bd2? (18.f3!) 18…Bg4! 19.f3 (After 19.Qe3 Bf3 20.g3 Qg4 White will be mated on g2) 19…Bxf3 20.Qf2 Rg4 21.g3 Rf8 22.Rae1 Rf6 23.dxe4 Qh5 24.Re3 Bxe4 25.Qe2?

Test Your Strength

Black to play and win

D. Dubov – M. Carlsen
Bogo Indian 15+10

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 c5 7.Bxb4 cxb4 8.0–0 0–0 9.Nbd2 a5 10.Re1 d6 11.e4 Nfd7 12.Qe2 e5 13.Rad1 Nc6 (Black usually plays 13…Na6 in this structure) 14.Nf1 Qf6? 15.Ne3 (15.dxe5 Ndxe5 16.Nh4! with f4 and Nf5 to follow was also very strong and if 16…g6 17.f4 Nd7 18.e5) 15…Nxd4 16.Nxd4 exd4 17.e5 (17.Nf5 Nc5 18.Rxd4 Rad8 19.Red1 was positionally crushing) 17…Qxe5 18.Bxb7 Ra7 19.Qg4 Nf6! 20.Qxd4 Rxb7 21.Qxd6 Qxb2 22.Rd2 Qc3? (22…Qa3) 23.Nd1!! Re8 (23…Qa3 is today’s second puzzle) 24.Rxe8+ Nxe8 25.Nxc3 1-0 In view of 25…Nxd6 26.Rxd6 bxc3 27.Rd8#.

The point Carlsen had overlooked.

White to play and win

Highlight the space below this line to reveal the answers.

Answer One: 25…Rxg3+ 0-1 If 26.hxg3 Qh1# or 26.Rxg3 Qxe2.

Answer Two: 24.Qxf8+ Kxf8 25.Rd8+ Ne8 26.Rxe8#.

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Malcolm Pein

Malcolm Pein is a British International Master, chess organizer, author and journalist. He was a child prodigy and a former British Junior Champion. He qualified for the International Master title in 1985. Malcolm is a distinguished writer, journalist and editor. He has been a chess correspondent of the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph for over 30 years, has written numerous chess books and is the Executive Editor of CHESS Magazine. In 1992, he founded the London Chess Centre, a games store in central London and the UK's only chess shop. He is also the founder and CEO of Chess in Schools and Communities, a UK charity whose aim is to introduce chess to state schools and has taught the game to over 250,000 children since its inception in 2009. Malcolm is also well-known for his chess event management. He was responsible for the pre-planning of the World Chess Championship match between Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik in London 2000. In 2002 he was appointed as Technical Director of the 'Brains in Bahrain' match between Vladimir Kramnik and the computer program Fritz. In 2009, Malcolm devised and organized the 1st London Chess Classic - the UK's first world-class elite all-play-all tournament since the 1980s which ran annually until 2019. Malcolm is also very active with the English Chess Federation. In 2016, he was appointed as the Manager and Captain of the England national team. He was also appointed as English Chess Federation delegate to the European Chess Union and FIDE and is the Director of International Chess. In 2018, he also stood for the post of Deputy President of FIDE. In 2021, Malcolm joined the ranks of Chessable authors by bringing the highlights of his column in the Daily Telegraph in the form of an interactive Chessable course, titled Telegraph Tuesday. Profile photograph © Lennart Ootes