Analyzing Magnus Carlsen's Most Insane Game of Chess
Sometimes parents ask if I want to play a game of chess with their kid. Sure, no problem. And often they open up with moving their rook pawns up and moving their rooks out.
This is a classic strategic mistake (for many reasons) that kids often make.
At least I thought that way until I saw Magnus Carlsen play that exact same strategy against one of the best players in the world.
It helps me to understand chess more to analyze that game and actually see that there was purpose behind each move.
This idea list is just for me and might not be interesting to non-chessplayers (heck, it might not be interesting to chess players). Plus, I might write a book, "Magnus Carlsen's Most INSANE Games".
this is the entire game:
1. a4 g6 2. Ra3 Nf6 3. Rf3 Bg7 4. Nc3 O-O 5. h4 d5 6. h5 d4 7. hxg6 hxg6 8. Nb1 Bg4 9. Rg3 Nc6 10. d3 Qd6 11. Nf3 Bxf3 12. gxf3 e5 13. Nd2 Rae8 14. Ne4 Nxe4 15. fxe4 Ne7 16. Rgh3 f6 17. c3 dxc3 18. Qb3+ Rf7 19. bxc3 Qb6 20. Qa2 Qc5 21. Bd2 a5 22. Rh7 Kf8 23. Bh3 Ng8 24. Be6 Ree7 25. Bxf7 Rxf7 26. R7h3 Qd6 27. O-O f5 28. Qd5 Qf6 29. Rg3 f4 30. Rg2 c6 31. Qxa5 Ne7 32. Qd8# 1-0
And you can link to it here: https://lichess.org/DGdAzqSE#3
This is a classic strategic mistake (for many reasons) that kids often make.
At least I thought that way until I saw Magnus Carlsen play that exact same strategy against one of the best players in the world.
It helps me to understand chess more to analyze that game and actually see that there was purpose behind each move.
This idea list is just for me and might not be interesting to non-chessplayers (heck, it might not be interesting to chess players). Plus, I might write a book, "Magnus Carlsen's Most INSANE Games".
this is the entire game:
1. a4 g6 2. Ra3 Nf6 3. Rf3 Bg7 4. Nc3 O-O 5. h4 d5 6. h5 d4 7. hxg6 hxg6 8. Nb1 Bg4 9. Rg3 Nc6 10. d3 Qd6 11. Nf3 Bxf3 12. gxf3 e5 13. Nd2 Rae8 14. Ne4 Nxe4 15. fxe4 Ne7 16. Rgh3 f6 17. c3 dxc3 18. Qb3+ Rf7 19. bxc3 Qb6 20. Qa2 Qc5 21. Bd2 a5 22. Rh7 Kf8 23. Bh3 Ng8 24. Be6 Ree7 25. Bxf7 Rxf7 26. R7h3 Qd6 27. O-O f5 28. Qd5 Qf6 29. Rg3 f4 30. Rg2 c6 31. Qxa5 Ne7 32. Qd8# 1-0
And you can link to it here: https://lichess.org/DGdAzqSE#3
1. 1. a4!
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It's actually called Ware's Opening. Apparently Preston Ware came in 16th out of a field of 18 in the 1882 "Second International Vienna Tournament." Not so bad.
His namesake move seems a bit eccentric but who am I to judge. Stockfish gives an evaluation of -0.3 after the move. Carlsen's opponent in this game, IM Lawrence Trent, played ..g6 in response and suddenly Stockfish said the position with 1.a4 g6 is +0.3.
Did Magnus know what he was doing? And if he did, what can I learn from that.
First, I wondered what the basic ideas were.
1.a4 could be useful if the opening transposes into some kind of opening where black plays ...a6 and now a4 is a genius move that anticipated preventing ...b5. But I'm sure his opponent must realize that and will avoid any such transposition.
But, thinking from the point of view of a five year old, the move 1.a4 gets the rook ready to develop with Ra3!
The game continued:
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2. 1.a4 g6?? 2. Ra3! Nf6?
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Moves are just the soldiers of your ideas. Whoever has the better ideas wins the game.
Magnus sticks to his plan: Rf3!
Genius! All the time I find myself playing a game and thinking, "Why is every piece in the attack EXCEPT FOR my queenside rook?" Is the queenside rook getting drunk while all his co-workers are pulling an all-nighter?
Kasparov says, "don't even start attacking until your weakest piece is in the game." (Or, someone says that. Maybe Kasparov).
Well, Magnus just solved the problem I have in the Sicilian Grand Prix, the French, the Caro-Kann. In two moves, he has the piece voted "least likely to attack" staring straight at the kingside.
Every basic book on chess says, "Knights before BIshops". And "Develop your pieces towards the center."
That's fine on those boring e4 and d4 openings. But if you're getting your Queen's rook out this early, don't block it with a move like Nc3. "Nc3??"
Well, why Rf3? It's almost like he picked that spot at random.
Of course he didn't.
What's the point of putting it on b3? He doesn't put it on c3 d3 or e3 because maybe he wants his N on c3 and his pawns on e4 and d4. Don't put it on h3 because how are we going to do h4-h5 to get the other rook out.
They say, "Don't move a piece twice in the opening."
But he had to move the piece right this moment. Because otherwise how will he develop the rest of his pieces without blocking the rook from the kingside?
Maybe Rg3? I don't know. Maybe the little pawn triangle on f7-g6-h7 would give the R on g3 nothing to do. "Biting at granite" as they say. And with Rf6, you never know when that R might be needed to sacrifice for the N on f6.
So Rf3 suddenly makes sense.
Often, when confronted with something unusual and possibly not good, just play normal moves and develop. But maybe that "rule" only works some of the time. Black just continues development. Like anyone would.
3. 3. Rf3 Bg7 4. Nc3 O-O
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Meanwhile, now that the rook is out of the way, the N can develop to c3.
What's happened here so far.
Black is playing a king's indian style open except WHITE HAS AN ENTIRE EXTRA ROOK ON THE KINGSIDE. Where's Black's extra rook? Nowhere to be seen.
White's next move
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4. 5. h4! Of course!
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[attached image] (caption: after Magnus's 5th move).
It seems like I'm making fun but I'm not. Magnus is playing the perfect plan for 1.a4. Sometimes I play opening moves because I know, "That's the move. It just is!" but a game like this shows me I have to really make sure I understand the meaning behind each move.
Black does 5...d5, following the immortal chess maxim, "when your opponent attacks on the flank, counterattack in the center!"
Magnus continues with his plan.
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5. 6. h5 d4 7. hxg6!
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Magnus: 7. h x g6!
Of course sacrifice a piece. We're up an ENTIRE ROOK on the kingside. Attack! Open the h file. And the computer agrees. Although it thinks dxc3 is still winning, much the favored move is hxg6, which is what IM Trent did.
And now, mission accomplished, the h file is open for both rooks. Only now does Magnus retreat his knight to B1. The computer has gone from a game winning evaluation of -3.6 for black two moves ago to -1.5.
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6. 7...hg 8. Nb1 Bg4 (attacking the rook) 9. Rg3
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Black has three pieces developed and White has two (the rook on H1 is arguably developed now).
Seems good for Black, right? But those three pieces are "worth" nine points vs white's ten.
So, I don't know. Which king is likely to get attacked first? Plus, the Rook which originally had no purpose on g3, has suddenly found a reason to live. It's taking a hard look at the bishop, which is now staring at nothing.
There's also a reasonable threat now. Rh4, attacking the Bishop and making way to do some doubling on the rook file depending on how Black reacts.
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7. 9...Nc6 10. d3 Qd7 11. Nf3 (now that the rook is no longer blocking it). 12....BxF3?? 13. gf e5
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- Black gets rid of a defender of the king
- semi-opens white's g file
- opens a diagonal for the white bishop to develop.
The computer evaluation: dead even. And all of Black's moves have been totally normal.
You have to really wonder here.
- Black's king is castled.
- All minor pieces developed
- Queen out on a good square.
And white just has his two rooks out.
Well, the white rooks are perfectly positioned for an attack down the open h file, Both bishops are ready to develop.
And, most importantly, if you stare at this position, what plan can Black have? He's not going to attack on the Kingside. The pawn on e5 is clamped down by the pincers of d3 and f3. He's not going to get f5 in, weakening his king further. And what should he attack on the Queenside?
You don't want to aim for winning a pawn on the queenside while your King is getting mated with that extra rook.
White has a simple mini-plan, which he does: Nd2-e4.
I guess the idea (and there's always an idea) is that if Black ever tries to kick the knight with an eventual f5, it will weaken his king more. And if he takes this Knight it removes one of the last defenders of the king in exchange for a tourist from the queenside.
But c'mon, shouldn't black have something? I guess so. But I don't know. I'm being dazzled by how consistent White's moves are.
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8. 13. Nd2 Rae8 14. Ne4 Nxe4 15. fxe4 Ne7 16. Rgh3 f6
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9. 17. c3! (Queen: get out of my way, you filthy pawn!) dc 18. Qb3+
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10. 18. Qb3+ Rf7 19. bxc3 Qb6
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11. 20. Qa2 Qc5 21. Bd2 a5 22. Rh7 Kf8 23. Bh3 Ng8
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Right now, the white pieces are looking at 26 empty squares and the Black pieces are looking at 17. White is dominating.
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12. 24. Be6 Ree7 25. Bxf7 Rxf7
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So is this game really worth studying? I have no clue what a grandmaster would say.
But for me, this is more valuable than looking at move 26 of a poisoned pawn variation in the Najdorf.
Each move by White was consistent with a plan.
- Get the A-rook to the kingside so in every version of an attack it will be an entire extra piece.
- Once the A-rook is out of the way, start developing the other pieces in the center.
- open the h-file so the rooks can form a battery.
- Then develop and attack
He used that plan to beat a 2500+ player.
Black made all normal, good moves. Develop, castle, push the white rooks around if you can. Trade off some attacking pieces (although he had to trade even better defenders to do so), try to trade queens, etc.
But each piece by White was on a mission,. It was a motivated team effort.
At first I thought Magnus was just making random moves. How could he justify a4? Why Rf3? But each move was consistent with the ones before it. And then he won.
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