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Magnus Carlsen demolished Fabiano Caruana 3-0 quickly
The tie-break Wednesday will retain its title of world champion for two more
years. He then challenged his decision not to play in Game 12,
saying that Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik had "right to their stupid
opinions, "he explained," one of the things I have never done very well is
listen to the advice of others. I've always followed my own path … and this has brought
me this trophy today! "
Relive the last day of the 2018 World Chess Championship
with our animation team consisting of Anish Giri, Peter Svidler and Alexander Grischuk,
with the added bonus that in the hour before the action started in London they
played blitz against each other:
And you can replay all games using the selector below:
Bad start for Fabiano
Dealing with Magnus in any type of fast format is disheartening, and
to do it on a world championship stage with so much on the line is maybe the
most difficult challenge to chess:
There are bound to be nerves at first, and when your
The opponent plays an extremely rare 4th move, as Magnus did with 4.e4, it can be
hard to force yourself to stop and think:
Anish Giri felt that Fabiano was already in blitz mode and
so quickly played 4 … 0-0 without taking a break to seriously consider 4 … Bxc3. Then after 5.Nge2
he slowed down considerably but the position after 5 … c6 6.Bg2 a6 was already extremely
unpleasant for Black.
Fabi is soon found with a crippled pawn structure, before
the first moment of truth came after 19.Rcd1!
The pin in file D threatens to be deadly, and
Caruana took more than 5 minutes to choose the wrong option. He needed to go get
the naughty 19 … Nb7, the stop at any price of a piece landing on c5, because after 19 … Nb5?
20.Nc5! Rxb2 21.Nxe6 Black's position was in ruins. It seemed that Magnus
was about to achieve a smooth victory.
As in the first match of the match, things
did not work so simply. Another big bifurcation on the road came after 23 … exd4:
It was clear that Magnus felt the importance of this moment,
for more than 9 minutes, giving up his lead to the clock. This
gave computers and grandmasters time to spot a subtle option for White.
24.Rxd4! Kf7 25.Kh1 !! was surprisingly overwhelming. The fact is that the king
comes out of Black's only idea: 25.Red1? comes up against 25 … Ne5! 26.Rxd8 Nxf3 +!
and Black saves the day with perpetual control. Grischuk noted that if Magnus
found such an idea, it would be proof that he was in good shape and thinking
clearly.
Norwegian hopes, however, were hit hard as Magnus was gone
the tower ending after 24.Bxe6 +, where he could torture Fabiano but the chances of
a draw was high. The World Champion needed help, and he had it at shot 37, while Fabiano should have given a check to clear his king's box f3. Instead of
he caught the e4 pawn:
Magnus responded with the brilliant 38.Re7 +!, what forces
White to take a juicy pawn, but with the point that after 38 … Kxf5 the black king
is misplaced. Movements like this come naturally to some people …
From there, Magnus calmly continued to prove that White was
winner, and finally the dam had burst!
Magnus would later comment on the tie-break:
I think that match 1 was crucial for the match. He was very
it was a breakthrough for me, and then in the second game I was not
so sure of my position, but after winning first, I felt very calm.
Magnus does it again
Our team of commentators was already worried about Fabiano before
Game 2 started:
Although Magnus only needs raffles, he stuck to his weapons
and played the Sicilian Sveshnikov, showing a new idea on the move 11. Fabiano did not
blinked, though, and it looked like the kind of post he needed, at least
until he pushed 21.c5!?
It was a bold decision based on the small tactics 21 … dxc5
22.Bxc5 Bxc5 23.Qb5 +, but after the coolness 21 … 0-0 from Magnus it's likely
Fabi regretted not having thrown himself. He supported with
22.c6but the next pawn push 26.c7? was a losing mistake:
After 26 … Bxc7 27.Nxc7 Ne5! White was in trouble, and
28.Nd5? was born of despair. 28 … Kh7! resignation caused:
Fabiano would summarize later:
I unfortunately had a very bad start, especially in the
second game but I was not playing at the best of my failures today and Magnus played
very well.
The last chapter
If it had already been difficult, Fabiano Caruana
facing a cliff – he needed to win the next two games, the first with
the black pieces, to extend the match. If there had been a confessional, Magnus could have been tempted to make a visit …
As Alexander Grischuk said:
If Fabiano returns, it will probably be the best
back in the history of chess and at the Liverpool return level against
Milan in the final of the Champions League.
He did what he could to avoid simplifications.
against Carlsen's ultra solid structure and play fast – although bitter
the experience was expressed by Grischuk:
Black was maybe even better under the microscope at one point,
but Magnus knew what he was doing and all that was offered to Fabiano was a
draw. Then, at one point, even that was removed from the table. Grischuk again:
He wants 3: 0. That will be an excuse for the 12th match – a
excuse that he does not really have to.
Indeed, the Queen's white checkers started to walk and by
the end of the game White had an extra queen:
So Magnus had won the tie-break even more convincingly than
in New York and will have now stretched his reign at age 7 by the time he
then defends its title in 2020. The party could begin, and the congratulations kept
to roll in (including from a guy we almost forgot …):
Garry Kasparov's comments on Carlsen's quick skills match those of Alexander Grischuk, who had wondered about our lives.
show if Magnus actually has a "negative gap" in quality between his fast and
classic skills – that is, he plays better in quick chess! However,
Garry led the critics on the draw that Magnus had made in match 12 and asked aloud if Magnus would be the favorite because his nerves seemed to be lacking.
The world champion had the chance to come back to a press conference!
Look at this in full:
Magnus then commented:
The match took the distance because of a very difficult defense of
both players in difficult positions, and this shows how difficult it is to
win games at this level. It was not for lack of trying – except the 12
game, whereas it was precisely for lack of trying! – but at that moment I did a
kind of decision that I felt very comfortable with at the time and I would have
considered good, regardless of the outcome of the last match.
Magnus was full of praise for his opponent:
It's very special for me to win this time. I feel that
Fabiano was the most powerful opponent I have played so far in a world championship.
meet. In classical chess, he is just as right as me to call
himself the best in the world. I am very happy to have overcome this great
challenge and I will continue to work to get better in two years.
Fabiano returned the compliment saying to vg.no:
He deserves to be world champion and he deserved to win this victory.
meet. We both had weak moments, but on the last day, the most tense day, he
showed good failures and I did not do it. So of course, he deserved to win.
Fabiano had also prepared a statement:
After receiving his trophy, Magnus had predicted that Fabiano would be back:
obviously
I'm very happy with the way the match ended, but I do not think we've seen the
last of Fabiano in this particular context.
But we will remember especially his speech for the quadruple world champion and no world. 1 to classic chess, fast and blitz by reflecting on what had led him to where he stood:
So, after three intense weeks, the match is over:
We hope you enjoyed the ride!
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