[Event "The Caro Kann Defence: Complete Repertoire: Instructive Game #7 Magnus Carlsen -  - Alireza Firouzja"]
[Site "https://lichess.org/study/MBQ3N0F8/IquCsMEF"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Instructive Game #7 Magnus Carlsen - "]
[Black "Alireza Firouzja "]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/Shreksify"]
[ECO "B11"]
[Opening "Caro-Kann Defense: Two Knights Attack, Mindeno Variation, Exchange Line"]
[UTCDate "2022.11.09"]
[UTCTime "07:18:10"]
[Variant "Standard"]

1. e4 { [%csl Ge4][%cal Ge2e4] } 1... c6 { [%csl Gc6][%cal Gc7c6] } 2. Nc3 d5 { [%csl Gd5][%cal Gd7d5] } 3. Nf3 { [%csl Gf3][%cal Gg1f3] } 3... Bg4 { To me, that's a very robust response. I've got the knight cornered. Since the bishop has nowhere else to go, I anticipate Be2. To advance the bishop, move to move to d4. [%csl Gg4][%cal Gg4d1,Gc8g4] } 4. h3 { [%csl Gh3][%cal Gh2h3] } 4... Bxf3 { What a fascinating option! And it does wreak havoc on the pawns. On the other hand, it allows the rook to harass the king from the open g file, since the king most likely castles on the king's side. Moreover, it gives the dish a substantial core. I would have gone with Bh5, hoping to lure them into playing g5 and Bg6. White still has the option to castle on the queenside, and his pawns are in a strong position to attack on the kingside. [%csl Gf3][%cal Gg4f3] } ( 4... Bh5 $5 { Problem in retreating the bishop is that this would effectively fuel white's wrath on attacking black's kingside. [%csl Gg4,Gh5][%cal Gg2g4,Gg4h5] } 5. g4 ( 5. exd5 { [%csl Gd5][%cal Ge4d5] } 5... cxd5 { [%csl Gd5][%cal Gc6d5] } 6. Bb5+ { [%csl Gb5][%cal Gf1b5] } 6... Nc6 { [%csl Gc6][%cal Gb8c6] } 7. g4 { [%csl Gg4][%cal Gg2g4] } 7... Bg6 { [%csl Gg6][%cal Gh5g6] } 8. Ne5 { [%csl Ge5][%cal Gf3e5] } 8... Rc8 { [%csl Gc8][%cal Ga8c8] } 9. d4 { [%csl Gd4][%cal Gd2d4] } 9... e6 { [%csl Ge6][%cal Ge7e6] } 10. Qe2 { [%csl Ge2][%cal Gd1e2] } 10... Bb4 { [%csl Gb4][%cal Gf8b4] } 11. h4 { [%csl Gh4][%cal Gh3h4] } 11... Qb6 { [%csl Gb6][%cal Gd8b6] } 12. O-O { [%csl Gg1][%cal Ge1g1,Gf1g1] } ) 5... Bg6 6. exd5 cxd5 7. Bb5+ Nc6 8. Ne5 Rc8 9. d4 e6 10. h4 f6 11. Nxg6 hxg6 12. Qd3 Kf7 { White has the initiative in here. White has a good attacking prospect on the kingside and therefore I would prefer to be white in here. } ) 5. gxf3 { It's hard to ignore the b file's allure.
A number of commentators, according to Tal's account, voiced their disapproval of this action at the time. This is definitely worse for white since white weakens his kingside and black pretty much gets a flexible and easy development.
Even though it is legal, the engine dislikes it, and the master games on lichess rate it as much worse for white than taking with the queen.
D5 appears to be doing a good job of holding the knight back.
Since e6 is up next, it can't focus on c5. [%csl Gf3][%cal Gd5d4,Gc3a4,Gc3b1,Gd1f3] } ( 5. Qxf3 { The queen seems out of place.
Although it is unlikely to be attacked right away, it is nonetheless susceptible in the long run and serves no useful purpose. } ) 5... e6 { [%csl Ge6][%cal Gd2d4,Ge7e6] } 6. d4 { We must now determine the optimal locations for our pieces. Pawn takes e pawn is not possible because it undoubles the pawns. It's going to be a bit tricky pushing c5 because they have exd5. Probably going to have to go Bb4 then Ne7, Nd7 then can push c5. [%csl Gd4][%cal Gf8b4,Gg8e7,Gb8d7,Ga8c8,Gc6c5,Gd2d4] } 6... Nd7 { [%csl Gd7][%cal Gb8d7] } 7. Bf4 { [%csl Gf4][%cal Gg8e7,Gc1f4] } 7... Bb4 { [%csl Gb4][%cal Gf8b4] } 8. h4 { I find this peculiar. Just a lot of unfinished business. Obviously, this is intended for some kind of Bh3 game. With this, exd4 becomes even more impressive. To put an end to it, play some Ne7. [%csl Gh4,Rf6,Re7][%cal Gh3h4,Rg8f6,Rg8e7] } 8... Ngf6 { Pawn to e7 is superior and therefore should be noted. This appears to tempt e5 with its rhythm. By blocking off the center with bishops facing the king, white seems to be in a strong position. In the event of Ne7, a powerful c5 response is made to the e5 push. [%csl Gf6][%cal Ge4e5,Gf6g8,Gg8e7,Gh1g1,Gf1d3] } ( 8... Ne7 { [%csl Ge7][%cal Gg8e7] } 9. e5 { [%csl Ge5][%cal Ge4e5] } 9... c5 { [%csl Gc5][%cal Gc6c5] } 10. dxc5 { [%csl Gc5][%cal Gd4c5] } 10... Nxc5 { [%csl Gc5][%cal Gd7c5] } ) 9. e5 { As I said before, this looks pleasant and natural.
White has too many flaws, hence the position is difficult to hold.
An aggressive kingside assault is black's major problem in here. if you will.
Do you think black can hold its fortress for a long time? [%csl Ge5][%cal Gf1d3,Gh1g1,Ge4e5] } 9... Nh5 { This must be better than my ultra slow plan off Ng8 - e7. But the knight feels misplaced and vulnerable. [%csl Gh5][%cal Gh5f4,Gf4e3,Gf6h5] } 10. Bg5 { I was thinking this wouldn't be a great spot for the bishop because of f6 then castle long. But I suppose just moving the queen and castling long keeps our solid structure. [%csl Gd4,Gg5][%cal Gd8b6,Gb6d4,Gf4g5] } 10... Qa5 { Threatening to win a pawn and destroy the queenside structure. Not great choices for black. Bring back the bishop or defend with queen. My plan would be defend with queen then a3 and perhaps b5. The bishop is preventing the long castle. [%csl Gd8,Ga5][%cal Gg5d8,Gd1d2,Ga2a3,Gb2b4,Gd8a5] } 11. Bd2 { This seems pretty weak. That's a lot of bishop moves. With a locked
center, white has no way to attack a long castled king. [%csl Gd2][%cal Gg5d2] } ( 11. Qd2 c5 12. dxc5 Nxc5 ) 11... Qb6 { Once again exposing the bishop moving back. [%csl Gd4,Gb6][%cal Gb6d4,Gc3e2,Ga5b6] } 12. a3 { [%csl Ge7,Ga3][%cal Gb4e7,Ga2a3] } 12... Be7 { [%csl Gb2,Ge7][%cal Gb6b2,Gc3a4,Gb4e7] } 13. Be3 { Oh my goodness, how many times can you move one bishop before developing your pieces! I guess the pawn needs to be defended, but this seems to be an indication of how bad 11. Bd2 was. [%csl Ge3][%cal Ga8c8,Gc6c5,Gd2e3] } 13... g6 { What?? This makes no sense to me. We are creating weaknesses on the king side black squares when they have the dark squared bishop. We could push c5 or prep it more with Rc8. I guess it does provide an escape square for the knight on g7 after f3. But we could always respond to f3 with g6. According to Tal, this is an exclam move. "fixes white's weaknesses" and creates an outpost for the knight on f5. I guess he means white can't push h5. I'm not sure that I agree with his analysis here. [%csl Gg6][%cal Gf3f4,Gd1h5,Gh5g7,Gg7f5,Gg7g6] } 14. Na4 { [%csl Ga4][%cal Gb6c7,Gc3a4] } 14... Qd8 { [%csl Gd8][%cal Gb6d8] } 15. Qd2 { [%csl Gd2][%cal Ga8c8,Gd1d2] } 15... Ng7 { Making its way to f5. [%csl Gg7,Rg5,Rd3][%cal Gd3f5,Gh5g7,Re3g5,Rf1d3] } 16. Bg5 { Really?!?! Again with this bishop? Why are we looking to trade dark square bishops here when the dark squares are black's weak point? [%csl Gg5][%cal Ga8c8,Ge3g5] } ( 16. Bd3 { [%csl Gd3][%cal Gf1d3] } 16... b5 { Interesting! [%csl Gb5][%cal Gb7b5] } ) 16... h6 { I like this move. Force the bishop to move yet again or make a favorable
trade for black. I wouldn't trade here with white. [%csl Gh6][%cal Gh7h6] } 17. Bxh6 { Hmm, how did I did miss that the pawn was hanging and also that Bg5 was defending the H4 pawn. What a mess this game has been for white. This looks quite complicated. The move seems to be Nf5, threatening to win the bishop. If bishop to g5 then take the bishop and the pawn can't take back due to the pin. [%csl Gh4,Gh6][%cal Gg7f5,Gh6g5,Ge7g5,Gh4g5,Gh8h1,Gg5h6] } 17... Nf5 { [%csl Gf5][%cal Gg7f5] } 18. Bf4 { Interesting choice here for black. He could Bxh4 threatening Bxf2 and winning the exchange on h1. But the bishop is pinned and white has a move to solve the problem. Perhaps simply castling long would be the answer. The safer move seems to be to take with the rook offering a trade. [%csl Gf4][%cal Gh8h4,Gh6f4] } 18... Rxh4 { [%csl Gh4][%cal Gh8h4] } 19. Rxh4 { I thought taking with the bishop was a given here. The bishop is now threatening f2. The bishop controlling a decent diagonal now especially preventing the queen from going to b4. The knight is in such a good spot, do we really want to move it. Though it would be threatening to take the f2 pawn with a fork, so that buys a tempo. But that tempo could be used to develop the bishop. [%csl Gb4,Gh4][%cal Ge7b4,Gd2b4,Gf5h4,Gh4f3,Gf1e2,Gh1h4] } 19... Nxh4 { [%csl Gh4][%cal Gf5h4] } ( 19... Bxh4 20. Qb4 Qc7 ) 20. O-O-O { It seems like the pawn is just hanging. Perhaps Be2 and then Rh1 is scary since black cant castle. (Wow, that would drop the queen. Clearly Qe3 would be the play.) Are we going to castle long here or should we just push c5, rook c8 and pressure the king a bit. I think c5 is the answer. [%csl Gf3,Gc1][%cal Gh4f3,Gf1e2,Gd1h1,Ge1c1] } 20... b5 { I guess this allows the knight to develop without freeing up the white bishop diagonal for checks. The bishop having nowhere to go is really inhibiting the rook on d1 from harrasing the king from the h file. Tal says that this frees up the Queen to attack on Qa5 if the knight makes the natural move back to c3. Then the pawn push b4 to rip things open. [%csl Gb5][%cal Gd7b6,Gb6c4,Ga4c3,Gb7b5] } ( 20... Nxf3 21. Qe3 Nh4 22. Bh3 Qa5 23. Bg5 { This is the line Tal gives as not great for black. } ) 21. Nc5 { It seems clear that we take the knight and win a pawn. But which way? It's a nicely placed knight if we take with the bishop but easily pushed aside. If we end with the bishop on c5 it has lots of decent diagonal options. I say start with Nxc5. [%csl Gc5][%cal Gd7c5,Ge7c5,Ga4c5] } 21... Nxc5 { [%csl Gc5][%cal Gd7c5] } 22. dxc5 { [%csl Gc5][%cal Gd4c5] } 22... Bxc5 { [%csl Gc5][%cal Ge7c5] } 23. Be2 { [%csl Ge2][%cal Gh4f5,Gf1e2] } 23... Be7 { Seems like such a passive move. If black was worried about Be3, I think
bishop b6 would be a good choice. [%csl Ge7][%cal Gc5e7] } 24. Kb1 { [%csl Gb1][%cal Gh4f5,Gc1b1] } 24... Qc7 { Hmm, I don't get this move. Is this to allow long castle. That seems like
an odd move here. I guess if we just want to develop the queen, there are
not a lot of choices. Nf5 seems good. But I am struggling to figure out what the overall plan is here. [%csl Gc7][%cal Gd8c7] } 25. Rh1 { [%csl Gh4,Gh1][%cal Ge7h4,Ge8c8,Gd1h1] } 25... O-O-O { [%csl Gh7,Gc8][%cal Gh1h7,Gf4g3,Ge8c8] } 26. Bg3 { [%csl Gg3,Gh4][%cal Gh4f5,Gf4g3,Gg3h4,Gh1h4] } 26... Nf5 { [%csl Gf5][%cal Gh1h7,Gh4f5] } 27. Rh7 { White's plan seems easier to find than black's. However black's pieces are not active and have a hard time supporting the rook challenging the pawn. I don't want to play Rf8. Moving the bishop will allow the queen to cover it while pressure on diagonals. [%csl Gf7,Gh7][%cal Ge7c5,Gc7f7,Gh1h7] } 27... Rf8 { [%csl Gf8][%cal Gf8f7,Gd8f8] } 28. Bf4 { White wants to bring the bishop to h6 to challenge the rook. Perhaps Bd3 and trade for the knight have to come first? [%csl Gf4][%cal Gf4h6,Gf5h6,Ge7c5,Gg3f4] } 28... Qd8 { What is the point of this move? The bishop can't challenge on g5. Tal liked my move better of Bc5. [%csl Gd8][%cal Ge2d3,Gc7d8] } 29. Bd3 { This move threatens to remove the defender of h6, which would let the rook have his way. How can black defend this position now? The queen could go to e8, but that looks horrific. We could go to h8 and give up Rxf7 to check the king on h1, but that seems to bring nothing as there is no followup. Suddenly, this "rock solid" black position seems to be in shambles. [%csl Gd3][%cal Gd8e8,Ge2d3] } 29... Rh8 { I thought Rxf3 was obvious. However, I missed the basic tactic of Qe8 trapping the rook and making white lose the exchange. [%csl Gh8,Rf7][%cal Gf8h8,Rh7h8,Rh7f7] } 30. Rxh8 { [%csl Gh8][%cal Gh7h8] } ( 30. Rxf7 $6 { [%csl Gf7][%cal Gh7f7] } 30... Qe8 { [%csl Ge8][%cal Gd8e8] } 31. Rxe7 { [%csl Ge7][%cal Gf7e7] } 31... Qxe7 $15 { Black looks good again here. [%csl Ge7][%cal Ge8e7] } ) 30... Qxh8 { Once again I like black's position. Now I see the defensive prowess of
Qd8. It was based on a basic tactic that I overlooked. [%csl Gh8][%cal Gd8h8] } 31. Qa5 { This feels like a hollow attack with so few pieces. Be5 looks to hold it all together. If Be3 black can take the bishop and then bring the queen back to defend. Tal doesn't talk about Bc5, so I am guessing there is an issue. [%csl Ga5,Rc5,Rh1][%cal Gf4e3,Gc5e3,Ga5a7,Gh8d8,Gd2a5,Re7c5,Rh8h1] } 31... Qh1+ { This seems like a weird move to me. I don't think white has a successful mating attack here. But if he is to have one then this move allows it to happen. This check does nothing but misplace the queen. [%csl Gh1][%cal Gb1a2,Ge7c5,Gh8h1] } ( 31... Bc5 { [%csl Gc5,Ga7][%cal Ge7c5,Gc5a7] } 32. Bxb5 { [%csl Gb5][%cal Gd3b5] } 32... cxb5 { [%csl Gb5][%cal Gc6b5] } 33. Qxb5 { [%csl Gb5][%cal Ga5b5] } 33... Bb6 { [%csl Gb6][%cal Gc5b6] } 34. Be3 { [%csl Ge3][%cal Gf4e3] } 34... Qd8 { [%csl Gd8][%cal Gh8d8] } 35. Bxb6 { [%csl Gb6][%cal Ge3b6] } 35... Qxb6 $18 { [%csl Gb6][%cal Gd8b6] } 36. Qe8+ { [%csl Ge8][%cal Gb5e8] } 36... Kb7 { [%csl Gb7][%cal Gc8b7] } 37. Qd7+ { [%csl Gd7][%cal Ge8d7] } 37... Qc7 { Either ways, still losing! [%csl Gc7][%cal Gb6c7] } ) 32. Ka2 { [%csl Ga2][%cal Gb1a2] } 32... Qxf3 { The bishop is attacked so just taking the pawn certainly won't lead to
mate. But at this point perpetual check should be great for white. The
problem is taking on a7 doesn't seem to lead to a perpetual due to the bishop blocking the checks. [%csl Gf3,Ra6,Ra7][%cal Gh1f3,Ra5a6,Ra5a7] } 33. Qa6+ { [%csl Ga6][%cal Gc8b8,Ga5a6] } ( 33. Qxa7 { [%csl Ga7][%cal Ga5a7] } 33... Qxf4 { [%csl Gf4][%cal Gf3f4] } 34. Qa8+ { [%csl Ga8][%cal Ga7a8] } 34... Kd7 { [%csl Gd7][%cal Gc8d7] } 35. Qa7+ { [%csl Ga7][%cal Ga8a7] } 35... Ke8 { [%csl Ge8][%cal Gd7e8] } 36. Qb8+ { [%csl Gb8][%cal Ga7b8] } 36... Bd8 { [%csl Gd8][%cal Ge7d8] } ) 33... Kb8 { Keeps the pressure on the bishop if white takes c6. [%csl Gb8][%cal Gf4d2,Gd2a5,Gc8b8] } 34. Qxc6 { This is either suicide or genius. It looks like after the queen takes f4 mate is coming via Qxb5 check. Then the bishop can deliver checks from b5 and/or a6. It looks like the queen can't take on f4. If he can't then perhaps Nd4 is a helpful defensive move. Looking more it looks hard to deal with Nd4. Perhaps, just queen e7 and then pickup up the bishop though is too strong to move the knight. Black just looks done here. [%csl Gc6][%cal Gf5d4,Gc6e8,Gb8b7,Gf4e3,Ge8e7,Ga6c6] } 34... Qxf4 { My calculation says this leads to mate, but it is hard to believe that Botvinnik makes a mistake that I see. [%csl Gf4][%cal Gc6b5,Gf3f4] } 35. Bxb5 { This path seems more difficult than taking with the queen. Tal says both
are correct. [%csl Gb5][%cal Gd3b5] } 35... Qxe5 { [%csl Ge5][%cal Ge5c7,Gc6e8,Gf4e5] } 36. Qe8+ { [%csl Ge8][%cal Gb8b7,Gc6e8] } 36... Kb7 { [%csl Gb7][%cal Ge8d7,Gb8b7] } 37. Qc6+ { [%csl Gc6][%cal Ge8c6] } 37... Kb8 { I really thought white had this one. It's hard to believe that black's
queen came back just in the nick of time to help out. It was so out of
place. [%csl Gb8][%cal Gb7b8] } 38. Ba6 { [%csl Ga6][%cal Gb5a6] } 38... Qc7 { [%csl Gc7][%cal Ge5c7] } 39. Qe8+ { [%csl Ge8][%cal Gc6e8] } 39... Bd8 { [%csl Gd8][%cal Ge7d8] } ( 39... Qd8 { [%csl Gd8][%cal Gc7d8] } 40. Qb5+ { [%csl Gb5][%cal Ge8b5] } 40... Qb6 { [%csl Gb6][%cal Gd8b6] } ) 40. Qb5+ { [%csl Gb5][%cal Ge8b5] } 40... Ka8 { [%csl Ga8][%cal Gb8a8] } 0-1