There were seven draws in Round 2 of the Tata Steel Chess Masters, but the clash between Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana was a blockbuster. Magnus opened 1.g3 in a classical game for the first time in his career, neither player castled and we got a razor-sharp struggle where the position and clock situation looked ominous for Black. Instead Caruana survived to remain in joint first with Ding Liren and Wesley So. Wei Yi-Carlsen on Monday is the one we’ve all been waiting for!

Carlsen-Caruana was another episode in the great rivalry that Jan Gustafsson and Lawrence Trent examined in a chess24 video series | photo: Alina l'Ami, Tata Steel Chess Facebook

There’s no getting away from it – any round of a tournament in which seven games end in draws in 32, 33, 31, 33, 54, 20 and 36 moves respectively probably isn’t going to live long in the memory.

Tata Steel Masters 2016, Round 2 (use the selector to see past and future rounds)

On the other hand, even the 20-move Sicilian Dragon between Sergey Karjakin and Loek van Wely cost the players three hours of thought before it ended abruptly. Jan Gustafsson, providing live commentary for chess24 alongside Fiona Steil-Antoni, explained that he didn’t consider draws a disappointment – and also noted “the goofiest opening of the tournament so far” in Tomashevsky-Mamedyarov (check out the full commentary here):

The one game unfinished at the moment Jan was commentating was Hou Yifan – Wesley So, where the women’s no. 1 once again had a star player on the rack. Wesley was perhaps punished for breaking the unspoken pact in Wijk aan Zee and playing the Berlin... 

If Hou Yifan is hiding openings for her World Championship match she certainly isn't hiding her sheer chess class! | photo: Tata Steel Chess Facebook

Hou Yifan dodged the ending with 4.d3, though, and after some shaky middlegame moments was rewarded by a chance to methodically pick up a pawn. Could she do what she failed to do against Karjakin the day before and pick up a major scalp? No, it turned out, since although the game dragged on for nearly six hours it was simply too drawish. Jan and Fiona were the last live broadcast duo standing (sitting), but the game didn’t require too much comment. Jan instead got to try out his expertise as a marketing manager...

The end became inevitable on move 48:

Here 48…Bxa4 was the spectacular approach, since after 49.Qxa4 Qb6! Black’s threats – notably mate-in-1 – should be enough to hold a draw. Instead So correctly evaluated that the immediate 48…Qb6!, forcing an exchange of queens, also did the job. The computer still liked White – a pawn is a pawn - but it only required a handful more moves for Hou Yifan to accept Black had an impenetrable fortress.

Caruana and his second Kasimdzhanov brave a sunny day in Wijk aan Zee | photo: Alina l'Ami, Tata Steel Chess Facebook

That brings us to the game of the day, Carlsen-Caruana. The title of this article was stolen from a Facebook comment by Andrea Filippone, who compared Caruana to the lead character fighting for survival in The Revenant, the new film that looks set to win Leonardo DiCaprio an Oscar. 

IM David Martinez has annotated the game for us:

1. g3 Magnus decides to avoid a theoretical duel and looks for a slow battle with plenty of pieces on the board.

1... g6 2. ♗g2 ♗g7 3. e4 e5 After the game Caruana criticised his choice, suggesting it would have been smarter to go for c5 and Nc6, keeping the option of e5 in reserve. 

The way he plays in the game gives White extra options.

4. ♘e2 c5 5. d3 Magnus took 21 minutes to make this move, no doubt choosing which system he preferred. He may have been contemplating something like

5. b4 cxb4 6. a3 , fighting for the initiative from the start. It's clear that Black can reject the gift with 6... b3 , preventing the c1-bishop from becoming a monster.

5... ♘c6 6. ♗e3 d6 7. ♕d2 Eyeing up Bh6 in case the g8-knight decides to develop.

7... ♘d4 I don't like this move if it's not accompanied with the idea of Bh3, looking to exchange bishops.

8. c3 Forcing Black to take decisions.

8... ♘xe2

8... ♗h3⁉ 9. O-O An only move. 9... ♗xg2 10. ♔xg2 ♘xe2 11. ♕xe2 somewhat aleviates the pressure on Black, although the plan with h4-h5 remains possible. It's important to have forced White to castle.

9. ♕xe2 ♘e7 10. h4 Once more forcing Caruana to make a choice.

10... h6 A thematic idea to avoid the opening of the h-file. The other option was

10... h5 , which is the recommendation of the machines - perhaps they're right!

11. h5 g5 12. f4 Of course this break is also the normal reaction of White.

12... exf4 13. gxf4 gxf4 14. ♗xf4 ♘c6 15. ♘a3 Magnus' play is simple - knight to c4, castle long and look to break with d4. Fabiano has to try and prevent that.

15... ♗e5 The exchange of bishops frees the black pieces, but in order to contemplate it you have to calculate a precise variation.

16. ♗e3

16. ♗xe5 ♘xe5 17. d4 looks as though it creates problems for the black knight, but the zwischenzug 17... ♗g4 resolves all the issues.

16... ♗e6 17. ♘c4

17. O-O-O was an interesting idea, creating the immediate threat of d4-d5. Black should meet it with 17... ♗xa2 which not only picks up a pawn but prevents the white king from hiding, making d4 impossible. 18. ♗h3 This prevents the black rook coming to c8 and renews the threat of d4. The position is double-edged and it's understandable that Magnus decided to avoid it.

17... ♗g3+ A dangerous move that takes away the option of White castling but runs the risk of leaving the black pieces discoordinated.

17... b5 is once again the more direct option. After 18. ♘xe5 ♘xe5 19. d4 cxd4 20. cxd4 ♘c4 , with the idea of Qa5, seems to ensure Black good play for his pieces.

18. ♔d2 ♕d7 19. d4 Magnus waits no longer and breaks open the centre!

19... cxd4

19... b5 doesn't work due to 20. d5 bxc4 21. dxe6 ♕xe6 22. ♗h3 and the c4-pawn falls, since 22... ♕xe4 is impossible on account of 23. ♗g2 sowing chaos on the long diagonal.

20. cxd4 ♘e5! Caruana finds an ingenious resource!

21. ♘xe5 The piece can't be captured since the white king is very exposed.

21. dxe5 dxe5+ 22. ♕d3 (22. ♔c2 ♖c8 followed by b5.) 22... ♗xc4

21... dxe5 22. d5 Magnus still keeps the centre under control.

22... ♗g4 23. ♗f3 ♗xf3 24. ♕xf3 ♕b5! Once again Caruana plays actively, looking to unsettle the white king.

25. ♖ac1 An inaccuracy that allows Black a quick draw.

25. b3 would keep White's options open, since the king can hide behind the pawns.

a) 25... ♖c8 doesn't work after 26. ♕xg3 ♕b4+ 27. ♔e2 ♖c2+ and the white king has f3 available. (27... ♕xe4 28. ♖hc1 )

b) 25... ♕a5+ 26. ♔d3 ♕a6+ 27. ♔c2 ♖c8+ 28. ♔b2 and the checks come to an end.

25... ♕xb2+ 26. ♔d1 ♗f4 27. ♗xf4 exf4 28. ♕xf4 ♖g8 White is too uncoordinated to fight for a win.

29. ♖f1 ♕d4+ 30. ♔e1 ♕b4+ 31. ♔d1 ♕d4+ 32. ♔e1 ♕b4+ An original game with an intense struggle from the very first moves. It became very concrete and ended in a rapid draw after a single false step.

1/2-1/2

That meant nothing had changed in the Masters standings, where Caruana, So and Ding Liren still lead, now on 1.5/2. In the Challengers, meanwhile, five of the seven games in Round 2 were decisive:

Perhaps the move of the day came from World Junior Champion Mikhail Antipov, who bounced back from first-day defeat with a brilliant sacrifice against Anne Haast:

17…Nc3+!! 18.bxc3 d5!! opening the queen’s path to the white king. Anne did well to avoid almost immediate resignation, but although it took until move 49 the outcome was never really in doubt.

Anne Haast is more used to the Wijk aan Zee crowd, but Mikhail Antipov was in sparkling form when he got to attack | photo: Tata Steel Chess Facebook

India’s Baskaran Adhiban and Russia’s Aleksey Dreev, who won the main event in 1995 (!), are the only players on 2/2.

Wei Yi earned his second solid draw against Pavel Eljanov - now he has the chance to shake the chess world in Round 3 | photo: Tata Steel Chess Facebook

In Monday’s Round 3 we get the match-up everyone has been waiting for – 16-year-old Wei Yi has White against World Champion Magnus Carlsen. Our commentary team will be Fiona Steil-Antoni  and Lawrence Trent, with the legendary Artur Yusupov a potential guest, since he’s visiting chess24’s Hamburg office to film a video series. Don’t miss the live commentary from 13:30 CET! 

You can also watch the games in our free mobile apps:  

         

See also:

• Official website 
• All the games on chess24: Masters | Challengers
• Tata Steel 2016 Preview
• Tata Steel 2016, 1: So easy