Caruana – Wang, 7th Kings Tournament R9: Chessagora Game Album

[Event "7th Kings Tournament"]
[Site "Bucharest"]
[Date "2013.10.15"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Wang, Hao"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C42"]
[WhiteElo "2779"]
[BlackElo "2733"]
[Annotator "Rogozenco,Dorian"]
[PlyCount "96"]
[EventDate "2013.??.??"]
[EventCountry "ROU"]
[TimeControl "40/7200:20/3600:900+30"]

{In the 9th round of Kings Tournament the leader Fabiano Caruana unexpectedly
lost with the white pieces to Wang Hao. Caruana achieved a large advantage
against the Petrov’s Defense, but then the things went completely out of
hand for the Italian and first he let the advantage slip away and in time
trouble White missed even the forced draw. Nisipeanu-Radjabov is best
explained by Nisipeanu’s own words after the game: “If you want to become
a 2700-player, you don’t have to beat them, it’s enough to make a draw
with them”. The Romanian chose a safe strategy and only the tournament rules
didn’t allow the players to shake hands before move 30. Thus before the last
round Caruana is leading with plus two score, Nisipeanu and Wang Hao are on 50
per cent and Ponomariov with Radjabov share places 4-5 with minus one. The
last round starts at 13:30 local time.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3
Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Be3 (7. Bf4 O-O 8. Qd2 Nd7 9. O-O-O Nc5 10. Be3
c6 11. c4 Ne4 12. Qe1 Re8 $11 {Ponomariov,R (2751)-Nisipeanu,L (2674)
Bucharest 2013}) 7... O-O (7... Nc6 {was played by Wang Hao in the fifth round:
} 8. Qd2 Be6 9. O-O-O Qd7 10. h4 h6 11. Kb1 Bf6 {Ponomariov,R (2751)-Wang,H 
(2733) Bucharest 2013}) 8. Qd2 {In this popular position Black usually chooses
between 8...Nc6 and 8...Nd7. It is also common to develop the bishop to e6, f5
of g4.} b6 $5 {The patent of Wang Hao, who played this move earlier this year.
In no other games did Black try 8...b6. At this point Caruana started to think
longer.} 9. O-O-O Bb7 10. Nd4 Nc6 11. Nf5 Bf6 12. Ng3 {An improvement over
Wang Hao's previous game, which forced the Chinese GM to start thinking over
the board as well. Until this moment Caruana spent about half an hour, while
Wang Hao was replying instantly.} (12. h4 Re8 13. Bg5 Ne5 14. f4 Ng4 15. Bb5
Re4 16. Ng3 Re6 17. Rde1 Rxe1+ 18. Rxe1 {was good for White in Nakamura,H 
(2775)-Wang Hao (2743) Sandnes 2013, but Black's play can certainly be
improved at several points.}) 12... Ne7 {Played after more than 20 minutes of
thinking. Most likely Wang Hao was trying to recall his home preparation.} 13.
Nh5 Nf5 14. Bf4 Be5 15. h4 g6 $6 {A committing, rather dubious move.} 16. Bd3
$1 gxh5 (16... Ng7 $5) 17. Bxf5 Qf6 18. Bxe5 dxe5 (18... Qxf5 19. Bd4 {leads
to an unpleasant position for Black due to the more vulnerable position of his
king. For instance} c5 20. Be3 d5 21. Rh3 $16) 19. Bd3 {Black's pawn structure
is broken and his position is becoming dangerous.} Kg7 $6 {This move is hard
to understand. Even Wang Hao couldn't explain its purpose after the game...} ({
More logical looks} 19... Rad8) ({or even} 19... Kh8) 20. Qe2 ({An attractive
alternative was} 20. Rh3 Rg8 21. Rg3+ Kh8 22. Rg5) ({Also} 20. f3 {is a good
option.}) 20... e4 21. Bc4 Qh6+ 22. Kb1 Rad8 23. a3 {Defending such a position
with Black is highly unpleasant.} f5 {[#]} 24. Bb3 {Now Qc4 becomes an
additional option for White. Strong was} (24. Rxd8 Rxd8 25. Rd1 Rd6 26. g3 {
and White keeps a clear strategic advantage.}) 24... Kg6 {Another daring move
with the king.} ({Preferable is} 24... c5 {and if} 25. Qc4 Qf6 26. Qa4 {Black
has} Qc6 $1) 25. Rh3 ({Again} 25. Rxd8 Rxd8 26. Rd1 {was a simple and good
solution.}) 25... f4 26. Rxd8 Rxd8 27. g4 ({Even here White could transfer the
rook to the d-file with the help of unexpected tactics -} 27. Rd3 $1 {and
Black is in troubles:} Rxd3 (27... Qf8 28. Bf7+ $3 Kxf7 29. Qxh5+) (27... exd3
28. Qe6+ Kg7 29. Qe7+ {with a soon mate}) 28. cxd3 e3 29. Qe1 $1 {followed by
fxe3 and Qg3, keeping the attack.}) 27... c5 28. Rh1 (28. gxh5+ Kf6 (28... Kg7
29. Rd3 $1) (28... Qxh5 $2 29. Bf7+) 29. Rh1) 28... f3 29. Qc4 ({Stronger is} 
29. gxh5+) 29... Bd5 30. Qa4 Bxb3 {Here both players had about 10 minutes left
on the clock - very little for such a sharp position, with a lot of variations
to calculate. White is still better, but things are getting more and more
complicated and under pressure Caruana collapses - a rare case for the young
Italian GM. In the next part White's lay is obviously influenced by the
time-trouble.} 31. cxb3 (31. Qc6+ $142 Kg7 32. Qc7+ Bf7 33. Qxd8 hxg4 34. Qc7)
31... Qf4 32. Re1 $6 hxg4 33. Rxe4 Qf5 34. Ka2 Kh5 {Black is not worse any
longer.} 35. Re1 (35. Rf4 Qg6 {is bad for White.}) 35... h6 36. Qxa7 g3 37.
fxg3 $2 ({White could still make a draw:} 37. Qe7 gxf2 38. Re5 Qxe5 39. Qxe5+
Kg4 40. Qe4+ Kg3 41. Qg6+ Kh2 42. Qc2 Kg1 43. Qg6+ $11) 37... f2 38. Rf1 Kg4
39. Qg7+ Kf3 40. g4 Qf4 {The time trouble is over and Black is winning now!}
41. Qb7+ Ke2 42. Rb1 Rd3 ({Instead Wang Hao had a nice forced win:} 42... f1=Q
43. Qe7+ Kd2 44. Qxd8+ Kc2 45. Rxf1 Qxf1 {with inevitable mate}) 43. Qg2 ({
More stubborn was} 43. Qxb6 f1=Q 44. Rxf1 {and Wang Hao had to find} Qxf1 $1 (
44... Kxf1 $2 {is a mistake due to} 45. Qxc5 Qxg4 46. Qf8+ Ke2 47. Qxh6 {and
it is still a question if Black can win this.}) 45. Qxc5 Kd2 $1 46. a4 Kc2 {
Black is very active and should win}) 43... Rd1 {Now is easy for Black} 44.
Rxd1 Kxd1 45. Qf1+ Kd2 46. g5 hxg5 47. hxg5 Qg3 48. Qb5 Qd3 0-1

Caruana – Wang, 7th Kings Tournament R9

Chessagora Bot

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