What sort of person would want to ruin Valentine’s Day? Surely nobody at Chessable; we positively embraced the occasion with a full series of sales and posts. However, the finger of suspicion regarding the Valentine’s Day Massacre does point to one of our authors…
It is back to the Opera Euro Rapid Tournament in Malcolm Pein’s Daily Telegraph chess column to discover the truth of the matter.
Malcolm Pein on…The Valentine’s Day Massacre
Wesley So apologised to Magnus Carlsen, tongue in cheek for “ruining Valentine’s Day,” as he defeated the world champion in the final of the Opera Euro Rapid on Chess 24. So also defeated Carlsen in the Skilling Open final on the World Champion’s 30th birthday.
The first set, which I will cover tomorrow, was drawn 2-2 after So hit back to win game four and reverse a defeat in the first game. Amusingly, So employed some analysis he had used in a Chessable course he prepared for Carlsen’s company Play Magnus. Carlsen did not seem totally familiar with it.
Carlsen had blundered in all his matches in the knockout phase and the pattern continued in game one of the second set as he played a bad opening before making an unsound piece sacrifice. There followed some very strange passages of play as Carlsen twice missed chances, overlooking or miscalculating in games three and four, when he had the chance to launch winning sacrificial attacks.
W. So – M. Carlsen
Opera Euro Rapid KO, Chess24
Sicilian Rossolimo 15+10
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 4.0–0 Nge7 5.c3 a6 6.Ba4 b5 7.Bc2 Bb7 8.Re1 Rc8 9.a4 b4 10.d4 cxd4?! (Ceding the centre, 10…bxc3 11.d5! cxb2 12.Bxb2 Nb4 13.Bc3 Ng6 14. Nbd2 Be7!? 15.Bxg7 Rg8 may be playable but is very risky; 10…bxc3 11.d5! Nb4 12.bxc3 Nxc2 13.Qxc2 Ng6 14.c4 Be7 15.Nc3 gives White a clear edge but not 10…bxc3 11.bxc3 cxd4 12.cxd4 Nb4 13.Bb3 d5!) 11.cxd4 Ng6 12.Nbd2 Na5 13.g3! Be7 14.h4
14…Bxh4? (A miscalculation. Black can try and recycle his knight after 14…0–0 15.h5 Nh8 16.Bd3 f6, although White is better) 15.gxh4 Nxh4 16.Nxh4 Qxh4 17.Re3! (The only way, but an outright refutation) 17…f5 18.Rg3 0–0 (Carlsen may have intended 18…fxe4 lining up e4–e3 and Qh4–h1#. However, 19.Rg4 wins) 19.Nf3 Qh5 20.Ne5 (Forcing a queen exchange as if 20…Qe8 21.Bh6 or 20…Qh4 21.Bg5) 20…Qxd1+ 21.Bxd1 d6 22.Nd3 fxe4 23.Nxb4 Nc4 24.a5 d5 25.Bg4 Rf6 26.Bg5 Rg6 27.Bh5 Rxg5 28.Rxg5 1-0
Test Your Strength
So-Radjabov from the semifinal, which continued 46.Qh7 1-0 What did So intend after 46…Qxc4?
Highlight the space below this line to reveal the answer to today’s puzzle.
46.Qh7 Qxc4 47.Nd5! wins.
