Fabiano Caruana, the US challenger, escaped from the verge of defeat against world champion Magnus Carlsen on Friday evening as their error-strewn seven-hour marathon in game one (of 12) in their world title series at Holborn, London ended in a 115-move draw.
Caruana played too passively early on against Carlsen’s surprise Sicilian Defence, and the Norwegian gained a clear edge which should have been decisive when the American became acutely short of time. But on move 40, with a full point beckoning, Carlsen made an impatient pawn swap which gave away almost all his advantage and the game then drifted into a drawn rook endgame.
Caruana appeared nervous and was clearly more affected by the occasion. Computer assessments gave Carlsen a clear edge around move 20, and although Caruana recovered somewhat, he then blundered badly at move 33 when acutely short of time, allowing the champion’s queen and rook to penetrate his defences.
Game one of a world title match can be difficult for a challenger. The most famous example was at Reykjavik 1972, when Bobby Fischer, in a level endgame, captured Boris Spassky’s poisoned pawn and was defeated. (...)
At the end, coping with defeat will be hard for whoever loses. Caruana has already suffered at the end of the 2016 candidates when Sergey Karjakin beat him in the decisive game to become the challenger, so this would be his second failure, raising the spectre of becoming an eternal deuxième like Paul Keres or Viktor Korchnoi.
Asked the loser question in a recent interview, Carlsen replied: “I will be very sad. I can’t think too much about it.” His sister Ellen went further, suggesting that he might simply retire. Years ago Carlsen already said that he planned to give up before his 40s, and he could easily afford to do so. So far Bobby Fischer is the only one of the 16 world champions to have retired in youth while still at the top.
Caruana is the first US challenger since Fischer famously took the crown from Boris Spassky at Reykjavik 1972, so who would win if the Caruana of 2018 played the Fischer of 1972?
Caruana’s current rating of 2832 beats Fischer’s highest live rating of 2790, which reflects major advances in opening theory and all-round strength, stimulated by easily available 3400 strength computer programs. If Fischer had a year or two to get up to date, it could be a different story.
When Caruana was very young, his parents sought advice from Garry Kasparov, who warned that devoting a life to chess was too risky. They were determined, and still went ahead. His father gave up his work in data processing and used property income to manage his son and finance a move to Europe in search of high-class coaching and for travel to tournaments.
Both Fischer and Caruana were raised in Brooklyn so had easy access to New York’s active chess life. Bobby lived with his single mother and his sister, and had no top-class coach. He was an avid reader, and was one of the first in the US to acquire Schachmatny Bulletin, which published high-class material including secret training games by the top Soviet GMs. He absorbed, analysed and retained everything, and became a human database in his favoured systems like the Najdorf and Bc4 Sicilians or the King’s Indian.
So who would win between Caruana and an updated Fischer? It would be close, for sure.
by Leonard Barden, The Guardian | Read more:
Image:Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty
Caruana played too passively early on against Carlsen’s surprise Sicilian Defence, and the Norwegian gained a clear edge which should have been decisive when the American became acutely short of time. But on move 40, with a full point beckoning, Carlsen made an impatient pawn swap which gave away almost all his advantage and the game then drifted into a drawn rook endgame.
Caruana appeared nervous and was clearly more affected by the occasion. Computer assessments gave Carlsen a clear edge around move 20, and although Caruana recovered somewhat, he then blundered badly at move 33 when acutely short of time, allowing the champion’s queen and rook to penetrate his defences.Game one of a world title match can be difficult for a challenger. The most famous example was at Reykjavik 1972, when Bobby Fischer, in a level endgame, captured Boris Spassky’s poisoned pawn and was defeated. (...)
At the end, coping with defeat will be hard for whoever loses. Caruana has already suffered at the end of the 2016 candidates when Sergey Karjakin beat him in the decisive game to become the challenger, so this would be his second failure, raising the spectre of becoming an eternal deuxième like Paul Keres or Viktor Korchnoi.
Asked the loser question in a recent interview, Carlsen replied: “I will be very sad. I can’t think too much about it.” His sister Ellen went further, suggesting that he might simply retire. Years ago Carlsen already said that he planned to give up before his 40s, and he could easily afford to do so. So far Bobby Fischer is the only one of the 16 world champions to have retired in youth while still at the top.
Caruana is the first US challenger since Fischer famously took the crown from Boris Spassky at Reykjavik 1972, so who would win if the Caruana of 2018 played the Fischer of 1972?
Caruana’s current rating of 2832 beats Fischer’s highest live rating of 2790, which reflects major advances in opening theory and all-round strength, stimulated by easily available 3400 strength computer programs. If Fischer had a year or two to get up to date, it could be a different story.
When Caruana was very young, his parents sought advice from Garry Kasparov, who warned that devoting a life to chess was too risky. They were determined, and still went ahead. His father gave up his work in data processing and used property income to manage his son and finance a move to Europe in search of high-class coaching and for travel to tournaments.
Both Fischer and Caruana were raised in Brooklyn so had easy access to New York’s active chess life. Bobby lived with his single mother and his sister, and had no top-class coach. He was an avid reader, and was one of the first in the US to acquire Schachmatny Bulletin, which published high-class material including secret training games by the top Soviet GMs. He absorbed, analysed and retained everything, and became a human database in his favoured systems like the Najdorf and Bc4 Sicilians or the King’s Indian.
So who would win between Caruana and an updated Fischer? It would be close, for sure.
by Leonard Barden, The Guardian | Read more:
Image:Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty
[ed. See also: The Queen's Gambit]
