A CLASH OF GENIUSES: MAGNUS VS NEPO – PART 2

Greetings Chess Players. My name is Chris Torres, and this is my Daily Chess Musing for Wednesday, November 24th, 2021.

It’s common knowledge that childhood memories influence us as grownups and every chess player I know has experienced a loss that haunts them. Put the two together and it’s easy to imagine how these early painful losses can create an emotional Achilles heel that may leave a chess player vulnerable to their childhood nemesis as an adult. This is why the 2021 FIDE World Championship Match between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi is such an intriguing matchup.

Early in his career, a young Magnus Carlsen who had grown accustomed to the belief that he was the best player his age in the world was soundly outplayed by Ian Nepomniachtchi. Now 19 years later, the world champion must face his childhood nemesis in on chess’ biggest stage thereby continuing the tradition these two generational phenoms began decades in the past when Ian prevailed.

So, for today’s video, on the eve of the 2021 FIDE World Championship Match, I thought it fitting to show the game that started the remarkable rivalry between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi.

And with that, I bid you adieu. My name is Chris Torres, and this has been my Daily Chess Musing. Before you go, please remember to hit the like and subscribe buttons.

Metadata » Click to open.

Date: 2002
Location: Peniscola (Spain)
Tournament: Ch Europe
Round: 5
Opening:
Submitted by:
Published on: November 25, 2021
Tags: GAME2-EricRosen-7084, Magnus Carlsen, Daily Chess Musings’ Special Coverage of the 2021 FIDE World Championship Match, FIDE, Ian Nepomniachtchi, 2021 FIDE World Championship Match between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi, Ruy Lopez, Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi, Match between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi, Chess World Championship Match, Game 2 of the Carlsen-Nepomniachtchi match, World Champion Magnus Carlsen, Game 2, Magnus and Nepo rivalry, Carlsen-Nepomniachtchi match, Legends of Chess, Catalan, Chris Torres, hess24.co, second game of the FIDE World Championship had plenty of drama and surprises, Daily Chess Musings, Eco "B04", https://fideworldchampionship.com, DailyChessMusings.com, Daily Chess Musings’ Special Coverage of the 2021 FIDE World Championship Match between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi, Daily Chess Musings YouTube channel, Magnus Carlsen versus Ian Nepomniachtchi, Daily Chess Musings’ Special Coverage
Categories: Daily Chess Musings, Magnus Carlsen, Ian Nepomniachtchi

[Event "Ch Europe"] [Site "Peniscola (Spain)"] [Date "2002.??.??"] [Round "5"] [White "Nepomniachtchi Ian (RUS)"] [Black "Carlsen Magnus (NOR)"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B04"] [Eco "B04"] { [ ALEKHINE'S def.,B04] Nepomniachtchi Ian (RUS) +5 =2 -2 Carlsen Magnus (NOR) +6 =5 -9 Nepomniachtchi Ian (RUS)-Carlsen Magnus (NOR) +1 =0 -0 } 1.e4 Nf6 { Alekhine's Defense. I don't think there's an opening that Carlsen has tried. } 2.e5 Nd5 3.Nf3 d6 4.d4 { -The Modern Variation. What has several other fourth move options including c4, Bc4, and exd6. But rather than turn this into an opening lesson on the Alekhine's Defense, I think we'll stick to the game at this juncture. } 4...dxe5 5.Nxe5 g6 6.Bc4 ( 6.Qf3 Be6 7.Bc4 Bg7 8.Qb3 Bxe5 9.dxe5 Nc6 10.Qxb7 Ndb4 11.Bb5 Nxc2+ 12.Ke2 O-O 13.Bxc6 Rb8 14.Qxa7 Nd4+ 15.Ke1 Nc2+ 16.Ke2 Rb6 17.Na3 Nd4+ 18.Ke1 Nxc6 19.Qa4 Nxe5 20.Bh6 Qd5 21.f3 Rxb2 { 0-1, Nepomniachtchi Ian (RUS) 2784 - Xiong Jeffrey (USA) 2709 , Internet 9/16/2020 It \"Saint Louis Rapid\" } ) 6...c6 { More recently, Magnus prefers 6... Be6. } ( 6...Be6 7.O-O Nd7 8.Re1 Nxe5 9.Rxe5 Bg7 10.Re1 O-O 11.Bb3 a5 12.a4 c5 13.dxc5 Nb4 14.Bxe6 Qxd1 15.Rxd1 Nxc2 16.Ra2 fxe6 17.b3 Rfd8 18.Rf1 Nd4 19.Nd2 Rac8 20.Ba3 Bh6 21.Nc4 Nxb3 22.g3 Rd4 23.Rc2 Nd2 24.Nxd2 Bxd2 25.Rb1 Rc7 26.Rb3 Kf7 27.Rcb2 Bc1 28.Rb1 Bxa3 29.Rxa3 e5 30.Rb5 Rc4 31.Rxa5 R7xc5 32.Rxc5 Rxc5 33.a5 h5 34.h4 Kf6 35.a6 bxa6 36.Rxa6+ e6 37.Ra4 Kf5 38.Ra2 e4 39.Kg2 e5 40.Ra3 Rc2 41.Rb3 Rd2 42.Kf1 Rd3 43.Rb1 e3 44.Ke2 Ra3 45.f3 Ra2+ 46.Kxe3 { ...0-1, So Wesley (USA) 2770 - Carlsen Magnus (NOR) 2863 , Internet 9/29/2020 It \"Banter\" (Final) } ) 7.Nc3 { Oftentimes white will not place their knight on c3 so that they can later support d4 with pawn to c3. } ( 7.O-O Bg7 8.Re1 O-O 9.c3 { Is a simpler approach that leaves white with an advantage in space. However, Nepomniachtchi's style leans toward complex postions so he played 7. Nc3. } ) 7...Be6 8.O-O Nd7 { And here Carlsen could have played Bg7 creating a path to castle but instead opts for the more complicated Nd7. } ( 8...Bg7 9.Ne4 O-O ) 9.Qf3 { In this position, other strong players have prefered Bxd5 or Nxd5 but Ian is content developing at the speed of Morphy. } 9...Bg7 10.Re1 { Ian has a pawn in the center, is castled, and has developed 5 pieces. Magnus... not so much. } 10...O-O { So Carlsen gets castled. } 11.Qg3 { and Ian immediately starts targeting the new location of black's king. } ( 11.Bb3 Nc7 12.Bg5 Bxb3 13.axb3 Ne6 14.Nxd7 Qxd7 15.Be3 Nxd4 16.Bxd4 Bxd4 17.Rad1 c5 18.Nd5 Rad8 19.Nxe7+ Kg7 20.c3 Rfe8 21.cxd4 Rxe7 22.dxc5 Qd2 23.Rf1 Qa5 24.b4 Qc7 25.Rxd8 Qxd8 26.Rd1 Qd2 27.Qc3+ Qxc3 28.bxc3 Re4 29.f3 Rc4 30.Rd7 Rxc3 31.Rxb7 a5 32.bxa5 Rxc5 33.a6 Ra5 34.a7 Ra2 35.Kf1 h5 36.h4 Kf6 37.Ke1 Ke6 38.Kd1 Kf6 39.Kc1 Ke6 40.Kb1 Ra5 41.Kb2 f6 42.Kb3 g5 43.Kb4 Ra1 44.hxg5 fxg5 45.Kc5 h4 46.Kb6 Kd6 47.Rb8 Rb1+ 48.Ka6 Ra1+ 49.Kb7 Rb1+ 50.Kc8 { 1-0, Martin Gonzalez Angel (ESP) 2420 - Abreu Suarez Isauro (ESP) 1946 , Spain 1994 Ch Spain (team) } ) 11...Nxe5 { Being cramped and seeing his opponent with superior piece placement, Magnus wisely decides to start trading pieces. } 12.dxe5 Nxc3 { With each trade of pieces, white's attacking chances evaporates more. } 13.Qxc3 Bxc4 14.Qxc4 Qd5 { Carlsen would be happy to trade queens as well. } 15.Qe2 { Nepomniachtchi not so much. } 15...Rad8 { 15 moves in and white has no advantage to speak of. } 16.Bg5 { Unifies his rooks and threatening the pawn on e7. } 16...Qe6 { Generally its not so great to use your queen to defend a pawn however, here Magnus is also preparing to stack his rooks in the d-file so this makes good sense. } 17.Qe3 { Very nice move which creates the queen and bishop battery that is oftentimes useful against a fiachetto as well as, of course, threatening the a7 pawn. Finally, Ian's queen now is also now on an open rank which gives it excellent scope. } 17...b6 { playing a6 is also important to consider. } ( 17...a6 18.Qb3 Qxb3 19.axb3 Rfe8 20.Bf4 Rd5 21.g3 Red8 22.Ra4 e6 23.Rae4 { Probably would lead to a draw but black appears to be better as his rooks control the open file, his pieces are offensively placed and black's pawn structure is slightly healthier. } ) 18.a4 { and Ian immediately launches a pawn to undermine b6. } 18...Rd5 { Magnus moves his rook to join in the attack on the e5 pawn. } 19.Bf4 { Nepo adds another defender. } 19...Qf5 { Adding another attacker makes sense but also does playing Rfd8 to form a battery. } ( 19...Rfd8 20.h4 h6 21.a5 bxa5 22.Qc3 R8d7 23.Rxa5 Rxa5 24.Qxa5 Qc4 25.g3 Qxc2 { Looks good for black. } ) 20.Qe4 Qd7 { This time Magnus choses to avoid the trade of queens. Obviously trading queens raises the probability of the game ending in a draw but isn't a bad move per say. } ( 20...Qxe4 21.Rxe4 Rfd8 ) 21.c3 { guards against Rd4. } 21...Rd8 { So Magnus forms a super battery. } 22.h3 { Always wise to make an escape hatch when your opponent has rooks and a queen stacked in an open file. } 22...Qe6 { Magnus stops any dream of Ian's for playing e6. } 23.Qe2 { Ian eyes the a6 square with his queen. } 23...Rd3 { And Magnus immediately stops that idea as well. These kids are brilliant! } 24.a5 { With everything else stopped, Ian returns to his a5 idea. } 24...b5 $14 { This certainly relieves the pressure. Black could have also allowed white to activate their rook and still been ok. } ( 24...h5 { !? } 25.axb6 axb6 26.Ra7 b5 27.Bc1 R8d7 28.f4 Rxa7 29.Qxd3 Ra1 { is dead even. } ) 25.a6 { Ian makes Magnus' a7 pawn a permanent weakness. } 25...c5 { Magnus realizes that white's a6 pawn is also a target so he gives his queen access to it. } 26.Qe4 { This advance gives white's queen access to b7. } 26...Qd5 $14 { Magnus blocks white's queen path to b7 but there was a better way to do this. On d5 or if traded, black's queen is no longer a threat to white's weak pawn on a6 so Rd8-d5 is an improvement over what Magnus chose in the game. } ( 26...R8d5 { !? Is the improvement and play may have continued with something like... } 27.Ra5 Qb6 28.Rea1 e6 { where black's position is preferable. } ) 27.Qxd5 { So the queens trade off. } 27...R3xd5 28.Ra5 { Nepo immediately targets the weak pawn on b5. } 28...c4 29.Kf1 { Superb technique by the young Nepomniachtchi. Kf1 sets up Be3 because now the rook on e1 is defended. } 29...e6 30.Be3 R8d7 { Magnus wisely decides to guard the a7 pawn rather than take on e5 for if black loses a7, white's a6 pawn is a deep and dangerous passed pawn. } 31.Bd4 { Ian's technique contiues to amaze me especially givene his young age during this game.Now on d4, his bishop clogs Magnus' d-file, still threatens the weak a7 pawn and is a second defender to the e5 pawn. } 31...Bf8 { Magnus moves his own bishop to where it sees more squares but must be in shock that he is being outplayed by someone his age after the trade of queens. } 32.Rb1 { Ian signals his intention to play b3 and then use both his rooks to threaten b5. Magnus will have to play precisely. } 32...Be7 33.b3 Bd8 $16 { This is innacurate. Magnus wants to chase white's rook away from a5 but as we will see, white's rook can relocate to a2 and still cause black problems. The key improvemnt for Magnus was spotting the Bb4 tactic. } ( { 'better is' } 33...Bb4 { 'better is' This would have been brilliant. } 34.cxb4 Rxd4 35.Rxb5 c3 36.Rc5 Rxb4 37.Rxc3 Kg7 38.Kg1 h5 39.Ra1 Rb5 40.Re3 Rb4 41.Kh2 h4 42.Rc1 Rb6 43.Rc4 $10 { and the game would have concluded in a draw. } ) 34.Ra2 Rxd4 { Magnus realizes that white is threatening bxc4 and then Rb7 and thus he has been outplayed. As such, he is willing to lose the exchange in desperation. } 35.cxd4 c3 { Magnus advances his newly minted passed pawn. } 36.b4 { But Ian technique is perfect. By playing b4 here white takes away black ability to do the same and thus leaves black's c3 pawn vulnerable. } 36...Bg5 { On g5, black's bishop controls the c1 queening square and has access to d2. } 37.Rd1 Rc7 { And now Magnus places a rook behind his passed pawn. } 38.Rc2 { But Ian calmly blockades it. } 38...Be7 39.d5 { With c3 stopped, Ian can now return to playing offensively. } 39...Bxb4 40.d6 Rc8 41.Rb1 { and Magnus resigns after being outplayed in his first game against Nepo. } 1-0