ChessBase 16 Printout, Facundo , 13/12/2021
A90 5...d5 The Stonewall leads to a
Caruana,Fabiano 2802
Carlsen,Magnus 2863
Gashimov Memorial 2nd (3) 19.04.2015
[Stohl,I]
Caruana had reasonable results
against the World Champion in the last
2 years, but in 2015 the tide started to
change. Despite having Black, Carlsen
won a nice attacking game in Wijk (see
CBM 165) and easily drew in Baden.
1.d4 Fabiano avoids the Sicilian, or
Berlin... 1...f5!? Magnus is in a fighting
mood! However, this could have hardly
surprised Caruana, as his opponent
has already played the Dutch more
than once this year.
2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 e6 4.c4 c6
Still following his win against Anand in
Baden. The flexible text move waits for
White to declare his intentions with the
g1 before committing the d7.
[ After the immediate 4...d5
White scored well with the 5.Nh3!?
system, an impressive example was
c6 6.0-0 Bd6 7.Qc2 0-0 8.Nd2
Bd7 9.Nf3 Be8 10.Bf4 h6 11.Qb3
b6 12.Rfc1 Be7 13.cxd5 Nxd5
14.Bd2 g5 15.Ne5 a5 16.e4 fxe4
17.Bxe4 Ra7 18.f4 gxf4 19.Kh1
Bf6 20.Nxf4 Anand,V (2769)-
Nikolic,P (2659) Wijk aan Zee 2000
See the notes to this game by
Tyomkin in CBM 75. ]
5.Nf3
[ Now 5.Nh3 allows d6!? 6.Nc3 e5
( 6...Be7 7.e4 e5 ) 7.dxe5 dxe5
8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.Ng5 Ke8 10.e4
Bd6 11.exf5 Bxf5 12.0-0 h6
13.Rd1 Bc5 14.Nge4 Bxe4
15.Bxe4 Kf7 16.Bf5 Na6 17.Re1
g6 18.Bh3 Nb4 19.Re2 Rad8
20.Rb1 Bd4 21.Kg2 Nd3 22.Be3
b6= Wojtaszek,R (2721)-Vaisser,A
(2533) FRA-chT Mulhouse 2011]
1
complex strategic fight with almost no
long forcing lines - all in all an opening
suiting Carlsen's style. Moreover it
belonged to the repertoire of his trainer
Agdestein.
6.0-0 Bd6 7.b3 Qe7 8.Bb2
Allows Black to fianchetto his c8.
[ He was fine also after 8.Ne5 0-0
( 8...b6 now runs into 9.cxd5 cxd5
10.Nc4! Nc6 11.Nxd6+ Qxd6
12.Ba3 Nb4 13.Nd2 ) 9.Nd2 a5
10.Bb2 Nbd7 11.Qc2 a4 ( 11...Ne4
12.Ndf3 a4 )
A) Possibly critical is the greedy
12.bxa4
A1) 12...Bxe5 13.dxe5 Ng4
14.Nf3 Nb6 15.cxd5 exd5
16.h3 Nh6 17.Nd4 Nc4
( 17...f4!? ) 18.f4 Ne3 19.Qb3
Nxf1 20.Ba3 Qd8 21.Bxf8
Nxg3 22.Bxg7 Nxe2+ 23.Nxe2
Kxg7 24.Nd4 Ng8 25.Re1
Visloguzov,V (2036)-Jardi
Talarn,J (2054) email 2011;
A2) 12...Ne4
A2a) 13.Ndf3 Bxe5
( 13...Qd8 14.Nd3 Qa5
15.Nf4 Bxf4 16.gxf4 Qxa4
17.Qxa4 Rxa4 18.cxd5
exd5 19.e3 Nb6 20.Ne5
Kiriakov,P (2555)-
Moskalenko,V (2540)
playchess.com blitz 2006
Nc4 ) 14.dxe5
( 14.Nxe5!? ) 14...Nb6
15.cxd5 exd5 16.Rab1 Nc4
17.Rfd1 Qb4 18.Nd4 Qxa4
Goganov,A (2550)-Sandipan,
C (2590) Moscow 2013;
A2b) 13.Nxe4! fxe4 14.f4
exf3 15.Nxf3 Roiz;
B) 12.Ndf3 Ne4 13.e3 a3
14.Bc3 Nxe5 15.Nxe5 Bd7
16.Nxd7 ( 16.Be1! ) 16...Qxd7
17.c5 Bc7 18.b4 h5 19.Be1 e5
ChessBase 16 Printout, Facundo , 13/12/2021
20.dxe5 Bxe5 21.Rd1 Qe6=
Anand,V (2797)-Carlsen,M (2865)
Baden-Baden 2015 For more
details see the notes to this game
by Roiz in CBM 165. ]
8...b6 9.Ne5 Bb7 10.Nd2
[ White will later redirect his  to c3,
but here the immediate 10.Nc3
is not too effective due to Nbd7=
forcing White to make a decision
about his e5. ]
10...0-0 11.Rc1
[ My own experience with this line
was rather bleak, after 11.e3 a5
12.Nd3 Na6 13.a3 Rac8 14.Qe2
Ne4 15.Rfc1 c5 16.dxc5 Naxc5
17.Nxc5 bxc5 18.Rd1 a4 19.bxa4
Ra8 20.f3 Nxd2 21.Qxd2 Rxa4
22.cxd5 exd5 23.f4= Stohl,I (2465)-
Glek,I (2430) Tallinn 1986
White just barely managed to hold
the balance (and lost due to a
miscalculation later on). ]
11...a5 12.e3 The most usual move,
but it's not easy for White to get
anything tangible from the opening.
[ 12.Nd3 Na6 13.Nf3 avoids ideas
with xe5; White intends to put the
other  on e5, but this manoeuvring
costs time and Black gets
counterplay after Ne4 14.Nfe5
Rac8 ( 14...c5 15.f3 Nf6 16.cxd5
exd5 17.Re1 Nb4 18.a3 Nc6
19.e3 Nd8 20.Bh3 g6 21.Nf4 Qe8
22.Ned3 Rc8 23.dxc5 bxc5 24.Qd2
a4 25.e4!? dxe4 26.fxe4 Bxe4
27.b4 Martin Clemente,J (2638)-
Timmerman,G (2694) email 2009)
15.e3 c5 16.dxc5 bxc5 17.Nf4 Nb4
18.a3 Bxe5 19.Bxe5 Nc6
½ Avrukh,B (2425)-Gleizerov,E
(2535) St Petersburg 1994 20.Bb2
d4! ]
[ 12.Nb1 Nbd7 ( 12...Ne4 13.f3 Nf6
14.Nc3 Nbd7 15.Nxd7 Nxd7 16.e4
dxc4 17.bxc4 e5 18.exf5 exd4
2
19.Re1 Ne5 20.Ne4 Ba3 21.Bxa3
Qxa3 22.Qxd4 Nxf3+ 23.Bxf3 Qxf3
24.c5 Gordon,S (2556)-Djurhuus,R
(2436) Oslo 2012) 13.cxd5 cxd5
14.Nc4 b5 15.Nxd6 Qxd6 16.Nc3
Ba6 Black's bad a6 is more
effective, than the "good"one on g2.
17.Qd2 Rfc8 18.f3 b4 19.Nd1 a4
20.Ne3 a3 21.Rxc8+ Rxc8 22.Bc1
f4 23.gxf4 Qxf4= , Tukmakov,V
(2575)-Agdestein,S (2560) Dortmund
1987 ]
12...Na6 13.Nb1N A novelty, but
judging by the time-consumption an
over the board idea. The  heads for
c3 and possibly for a4 (or e2-f4).
[ Until now White mostly connected
his rooks with 13.Qe2
A) 13...Nc7 14.Ndf3 Ne4
15.Rfd1 a4 16.Nd3 a3 17.Ba1
Na6 18.Nfe5 c5 19.f3 Nf6
20.Bh3 g6 21.Rd2 Rac8
22.Rdc2 Rc7 23.Rd1 Rfc8
24.Rcd2 cxd4 25.Bxd4 Nc5
26.Nxc5 Bxc5 27.Bg2 Ba6
28.Bf1 Nd7 29.Nxd7 Rxd7
30.Bxc5 Qxc5 31.Qf2 Rcd8
32.e4 d4 Hansen,O (2499)-
Timmerman,G (2694) email 2009;
B) 13...a4 14.bxa4 Bxe5
15.dxe5 Nd7 16.a5 Nac5 17.Bc3
bxa5 18.Nb3 Nxb3 19.axb3 Nc5
20.Qc2 Ne4 21.Bb2 a4 22.bxa4
Ba6 23.f3 Ng5 24.cxd5 Bxf1
25.d6 So,W (2656)-Reinderman,
D (2573) Wijk aan Zee 2010;
C) 13...Bxe5 14.dxe5 Ne4
15.Rfd1 a4!? 16.Nb1 Nb4
( 16...axb3 17.axb3 Nac5 18.Qc2
Ra2  19.f3?! Qg5! 20.fxe4
fxe4 ) 17.Ba3 axb3 18.axb3 c5
19.f3 Ng5 20.h4 Nf7 21.Bxb4
cxb4 22.f4 dxc4 23.Bxb7 Qxb7
24.Rxc4 Rfd8 25.Rxd8+ Nxd8
Alekseev,E (2640)-Moiseenko,A
(2662) Sochi 2006 26.Rxb4 ;
ChessBase 16 Printout, Facundo , 13/12/2021
D) 13...Ne4 14.Rfd1 c5 15.Nb1
Nb4 16.f3 Nxa2 17.fxe4 Nxc1
18.Bxc1 fxe4 19.Nc3 Rad8
20.Nb5 cxd4 21.exd4 Bxe5
22.dxe5 dxc4 Van Wely,L (2668)-
Ulibin,M (2581) Moscow 2003
23.Rxd8 Rxd8 24.bxc4 Qc5+
25.Be3 Qxe5 26.Bxb6 ]
13...Bxe5!? A very straightforward
solution.
[ Black can also redirect his  with
13...Nb8 14.Nc3 Nbd7
Carlsen maybe didn't relish the
possibility 15.f4!? ( 15.Na4 b5=
is harmless ) 15...Rac8
with a complex double Stonewall. ]
14.dxe5 Ne4 15.Qe2
[ 15.cxd5 exd5!? 16.Nc3 Nac5 ]
[ It was worth considering 15.Nc3!? 
Nac5 ( 15...Rac8!? ) 16.Ba3 ]
15...a4!? 16.Nc3?! A mediocre
reaction, after which already White will
have to tread with care.
[ The principled continuation was
16.Ba3 c5 17.f3 Ng5 18.cxd5
Bxd5 ( 18...exd5!? 19.bxa4 )
19.bxa4 ( 19.Nc3 Nc7
can transpose ) 19...Nc7 20.e4 fxe4
21.fxe4 Rxf1+ 22.Rxf1 Bc6 23.h4
Nf7 24.Qb2 ]
[ 16.Rfd1 transposes to Alekseev-
Moiseenko above. ]
16...axb3
[ 16...a3!? 17.Ba1 Nb4 /
also deserves attention, but true to
himself, Carlsen chooses a simple
technical solution. ]
17.axb3 Qb4 18.Nxe4
[ 18.cxd5 exd5 is also pleasant for
Black. ]
18...dxe4 Black continues in the spirit
of his 16th move and chooses the
simpler symmetrical recapture.
[ More complex is 18...fxe4 19.Bh3
( 19.Bc3!? Qxb3 20.cxd5 exd5
21.Bh3 ) 19...Rfe8 20.f4! ]
3
19.Qc2 Nc5 20.Bc3 Qxb3 21.Qxb3
Nxb3 22.Rb1 Nc5 23.Rxb6 Na4
24.Rxb7 Nxc3 A series of natural
moves has led to an endgame in which
White must still solve the problem of
his passive g2. It would seem that this
is simple enough, but in such technical
positions Carlsen is incomparable.
25.Re7 Voluntarily exchanges the  on
the 7th rank.
[ A more active way is 25.f3!?
White intends to reanimate his
bishop either on the long diagonal, or
by hitting e6 from h3 after a pawn
swap on e4. All this should be
sufficient to hold the balance. ]
25...Rfe8 26.Rxe8+ Rxe8 27.Ra1?!
[ 27.f3! still seems preferable. ]
27...Rd8 28.Bf1 White must already
change plans and start calculating.
[ 28.Ra6!? Ne2+ 29.Kf1 Nc1
30.Kg1 Rd1+ ( 30...Rc8 31.Bf1
and Black's  is too passive ) 31.Bf1
Nb3 32.Kg2 Nd2 33.Ra8+ Kf7
34.Ra7+  Kg6 35.Rd7 Rxf1
36.Rxd2 Rc1 37.Rd6= ]
[ 28.f3 Rd1+! 29.Rxd1 Nxd1
30.fxe4 Nxe3 31.exf5? Nxg2
32.Kxg2 exf5 33.Kf3 Kf7 34.Ke3
c5! 35.Kf3 Ke6 36.Kf4 h6-+ ]
28...c5 29.Ra3
[ 29.Ra5!? ]
29...Nb1!? 30.Ra1
[ 30.Ra5 or ]
[ 30.Ra6 seems preferable: Rd1
31.Ra8+ Kf7 32.Ra7+ Kg6
A) 33.Kg2 Rd2 ( 33...Nd2
34.Rd7 Rxf1 35.Rxd2 Rc1
36.Rd7 Rxc4 37.Re7= ) 34.Re7
Nc3 35.Kg1 Nd1 36.Rxe6+ Kf7
37.Rd6 Rxd6 38.exd6 g6= /;
B) 33.Ra1 and it's still not clear,
how Black should make
progress. ]
30...Nd2! 31.Be2?
[ This is already a serious error, more
ChessBase 16 Printout, Facundo , 13/12/2021 4

or less necessary was 31.Kg2 Nf3 positional superiority with 2 strong

32.Ra6 Kf7 33.Ra7+ Kf8 34.Rc7 passed pawns is decisive.
Rd1 35.Rc8+ ( 35.Rxc5 Nd2 44.Ra3
36.Be2 Re1 ) 35...Kf7 36.Rc7+ Kg6 [ After 44.Rc3 Black already has a
37.Rc6! ] choice: Kd7-+ ( 44...Rd3!? 45.Rxc4
31...Nf3+ 32.Bxf3 Rxf3+-+ )]
[ 32.Kg2 Nxe5 gives Black a 44...Rd3 45.Ra7+ Kd8 46.Kg2 c3
healthy extra pawn. ] 47.Ra4 c2 48.Rc4 Rd2+ 49.Kh3
32...exf3 33.h3 h5 White had a Kd7 50.Rc5
slightly unpleasant position, some nine [ 50.Rc3 Rf2-+ ]
moves later he is on the verge of 50...Rf2 51.f4 Rf3+
losing. [ 51...gxf4 52.g5 f3 53.g6 Rd2
34.g4 54.g7 f2-+ is more forcing, but Black
[ 34.Ra6 Rd1+ 35.Kh2 Rf1 can already win without any
36.Rxe6 Rxf2+ 37.Kg1 ( 37.Kh1? calculation. ]
Rf1+ 38.Kh2 Rc1 ) 37...Rg2+ 52.Kh2 Rxf4
38.Kf1 Kf7 ] [ White has had enough, the
[ With the passive 34.Ra5 Rd1+ endgame after 52...Rxf4 53.Rxc2
35.Kh2 Rf1 36.Ra2 ( 36.Rxc5 Rxe4-+ ( or 53...Rxg4!?-+
Rxf2+ 37.Kg1 Rg2+ 38.Kf1 is completely hopeless. )]
Rxg3 ) , White pins his hopes to 0-1
stalemate tricks after 36...g5
( 36...Rc1!? ) 37.h4 g4 38.e4
However, it's difficult to believe this
would save the game, moreover in
time trouble one naturally strives
for activity. ]
34...fxg4 35.hxg4 h4! 36.Kh2
[ 36.g5 Kh7 37.Ra6 Rd1+ 38.Kh2
Rf1 39.Rxe6 Rxf2+ 40.Kh3 Rc2-+ ]
36...Rd2 37.Kh3?!
[ 37.g5! Rxf2+ 38.Kh3 Kh7
39.Kxh4 Rg2 40.Rf1 was the last
chance to fight on. Black will have
an extra pawn, but converting it still
presents technical problems. ]
37...g5 Keeps the king boxed in.
38.e4 Rd4!
[ 38...Rxf2? 39.Ra8+ Kf7 40.Ra7+
Ke8 41.Ra8+ Kd7 42.Ra7+ Kc6
43.Ra6+ Kb7 44.Ra7+=
is too obvious, Carlsen easily avoids
the stalemate trap. ]
39.Ra8+ Kf7 40.Ra3 Rxc4 41.Rxf3+
Ke7 42.Re3 Rd4 43.f3 c4-+
Material is still equal, but Black's