Caruana Remains Solid with Black in 7th Draw vs. Carlsen

The most anticipated World Championship match in recent memory has just crossed the halfway point, with Magnus Carlsen employing his second straight White in Game 7 after an epic draw in Game 6. Today’s 40-move draw followed the recurring narrative of the match—Magnus got surprised as White in the opening, avoided the critical continuations in favor of something safe, but failed to get any real pressure and Caruana held comfortably as Black. The match now stands tied at 3.5 – 3.5, with five games to play before an impending rapid tiebreak. After starting with 1.d4, 1.c4, and 1.e4 in his first three White games, today Carlsen returned to his first choice of 1.d4. This indicates that his team feels out of the Petroff, Queen’s Gambit Declined, and English Opening with 1...e5 that Caruana has employed so far, the QGD is the best area to seek fresh battleground, with chances to sidestep away from Caruana’s deep preparation. But despite having a better idea of what was coming today, Magnus’s attempts to stir up play in Game 7 were neutralized with a simple plan of exchanging pieces in a symmetrical structure. The players followed the same line as played in Game 2, reaching the same position after nine moves: This is where Carlsen deviated from their previous game with 10.Nd2 instead of the main line 10.Rd1. This somewhat rare move likely did not surprise Fabiano, who then delivered the first ‘real surprise’ of the game with 10...Qd8. Now Carlsen started thinking, confirming later in the press conference that while he knew 10...Qd8 was a move, he just didn’t expect it today. Magnus had a few chances to head for a sharp position with White, but opted to play it safe, presumably again wary about the depth of Fabiano’s preparation. What followed was a middlegame where the computer evaluation remained almost dead equal for the entire time, but both players felt that White had a little pressure once he landed the favorable combination of queen and knight vs. queen and bishop late in the middlegame. Despite that, accurate play by Caruana again nullified White’s advantage and the players found a natural three-time repetition in an equal bishop vs. knight endgame towards the end of the first time control.

[pgn][Event "Carlsen-Caruana World Championship"]
[Date "2018.11.18"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D37"]
[WhiteElo "2835"]
[BlackElo "2832"]
[Annotator "IM Kostya Kavutskiy"]
[PlyCount "79"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Norway"]
[BlackTeam "United States"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "NOR"]
[BlackTeamCountry "USA"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. Qc2
Nc6 9. a3 Qa5 10. Nd2 {The first deviation from Game 2, where Carlsen chose
the more popular 10.Rd1 and immediately got hit with a surprise in 10...Rd8.
White's move threatens Nb3, which Black has to react to.} (10. Rd1 Rd8 $5 {
was Fabiano's surprise in Game 2.} 11. Be2 (11. Nd2 {was the critical test,
but Carlsen decided not to play into his opponent's preparation.}) 11... Ne4
12. O-O Nxc3 13. bxc3 h6 14. a4 Ne7 15. Ne5 Bd6 16. cxd5 Nxd5 17. Bf3 Nxf4 18.
exf4 Bxe5 19. Rxd8+ Qxd8 20. fxe5 Qc7 21. Rb1 Rb8 22. Qd3 Bd7 23. a5 Bc6 24.
Qd6 Qxd6 25. exd6 Bxf3 26. gxf3 Kf8 27. c4 Ke8 28. a6 b6 29. c5 Kd7 30. cxb6
axb6 31. a7 Ra8 32. Rxb6 Rxa7 33. Kg2 e5 34. Rb4 f5 35. Rb6 Ke6 36. d7+ Kxd7
37. Rb5 Ke6 38. Rb6+ Kf7 39. Rb5 Kf6 40. Rb6+ Kg5 41. Rb5 Kf4 42. Rb4+ e4 43.
fxe4 fxe4 44. h3 Ra5 45. Rb7 Rg5+ 46. Kf1 Rg6 47. Rb4 Rg5 48. Rb7 Rg6 49. Rb4 {
1/2-1/2 Carlsen-Caruana World Championship Game 2 London 2018}) 10... Qd8 $5 {
Another surprise, as this counter intuitive retreat is quite rare in theory,
with 10...Be7 and 10...Bb4!? being a lot more common.} ({After} 10... Be7 {
Black's main idea is to meet} 11. Nb3 ({But White can also choose from the
solid} 11. Bg3 Bd7 12. Be2) ({Or the extremely sharp} 11. O-O-O $5 {with idea
of playing g4.}) {with} 11... Qb6) (10... Bb4 $5 {was seen in the Grand Chess
Tour last year:} 11. cxd5 exd5 12. Nb3 Bxc3+ 13. bxc3 Qd8 {and Black was more
or less fine in 0-1 (43) Topalov-Nakamura, Paris GCT Rapid 2017}) 11. Nb3 {
Although Magnus started spending time at this point, a full eight minutes, he
could have easily still been in his preparation, as Black's 10th move has been
played before. Either way, Nb3 is a logical continuation of White's previous
move.} Bb6 12. Be2 (12. Rd1 Qe7 13. Be2 {seems like the critical test of this
line, at least according to Stockfish! The players could have also reached
this position by transposition in the main game.}) 12... Qe7 13. Bg5 {Here
Caruana went into the tank, thinking for almost 30 minutes on his next move.
Again, that might indicate that he was out of his preparation here, or (given
that Fabiano played with great accuracy) it could have been time spent
remembering his preparation.} ({Once again} 13. Rd1 $5 {seems like the
critical test of this line, though it's likely that Caruana was prepared for
this one. My guess is that Black would play} Rd8 14. O-O dxc4 15. Nd2 {and now
Black could choose from} Na5 ({or} 15... Nd5 16. Nxc4 Nxf4 17. exf4 {where
White has a little incoming pressure with Bf3.}) 16. Nxc4 Nxc4 17. Bxc4 Rxd1
18. Rxd1 Bd7 19. Bd6 Qe8 {where White optically looks better but Black is
solid enough to hold here.}) 13... dxc4 {With cxd5 being threatened by White's
last move, Black is forced to go for this trade or the move Rd8.} (13... Rd8
14. O-O h6 15. Bh4 dxc4 16. Nd2 Ne5 17. Rad1 Bd7 18. Nce4 Ng6 19. Bxf6 gxf6 20.
Qc3 $14) 14. Nd2 ({After} 14. Bxc4 Ne5 15. Be2 Bd7 $11 {Black completes his
development comfortably. Next is Rfd8 and Bc6.}) 14... Ne5 $1 {An accurate
move, forcing a trade of pieces in case White picks up the c4-pawn.} 15. O-O {
"An admission that the position is equal." - Carlsen.} (15. Nxc4 Nxc4 16. Bxc4
{runs into} Qc5 $1 17. Bxf6 Qxc4 18. Be5 f6 $17 {followed by e6-e5 with a
fantastic position for Black.}) (15. Nce4 $5 {was pinpointed by Carlsen as
being his best chance for a sharper game, but he ultimately couldn't make it
work. The players discussed the position after} Bd7 16. Qc3 (16. Nxf6+ gxf6 17.
Bh6 Rfd8 18. Nxc4 Rac8 $132 {and Black's kingside weakness is impossible to
exploit.}) 16... Nxe4 17. Nxe4 f6 18. Qxe5 fxg5 19. Bxc4 Rac8 20. Bb3 h6 21.
O-O $13 {and both felt something like this would be quite unclear.}) ({Magnus
also mentioned considering} 15. f4 Nd3+ 16. Kf1 {which looks interesting but
is probably better for Black if he can find the moves} Qc5 17. Bxf6 gxf6 18.
Nxc4 Qxc4 19. Bxd3 Qc5 20. Re1 f5 $1 $15) 15... Bd7 16. Bf4 Ng6 17. Bg3 ({
A second option was to offer the bishop with} 17. Nxc4 Nxf4 18. exf4 Bc7 19.
Ne5 {but Carlsen must have felt that White doesn't have enough here for an
advantage.}) 17... Bc6 18. Nxc4 Bc7 {After this move it feels like Black was
on the way to equality, as the rooks are connected and all of Black's pieces
have found stable squares.} 19. Rfd1 Rfd8 20. Rxd8+ Rxd8 21. Rd1 {Trading off
the rooks is not an indication that Magnus was looking to draw. Rather, it is
common to trade off heavy pieces when trying to exploit a micro-advantage such
as the active knight on c4.} Rxd1+ 22. Qxd1 Nd5 23. Qd4 Nxc3 24. Qxc3 Bxg3 25.
hxg3 Qd7 26. Bd3 {Intending to trade on g6 and leave himself with Queen +
Knight against Queen + Bishop.} ({Another option was to play} 26. f3 {followed
by Kf2, though Black's position is still ultra-solid.}) 26... b6 27. f3 Bb7 28.
Bxg6 hxg6 29. e4 {It's well known that a queen and knight usually coordinate
better than the queen and bishop, so it seems like Magnus was going for this
micro-pressure, which Fabiano admitted after the game caused him a bit of
grief.} Qc7 {An accurate move, preparing to trade queens with an intended Ba6.}
30. e5 {Securing the d6-square, though with such limited material this does
not guarantee much for White.} Qc5+ 31. Kh2 Ba6 32. Nd6 Qxc3 33. bxc3 {
Optically White looks to have the better endgame, as Black's bishop lacks
targets and the knight is secure, but Caruana is able to find a clear path to
equality.} f6 $1 {An important break, otherwise Black's king would be tied
down to the f7-pawn.} 34. f4 Kf8 35. Kg1 Ke7 36. Kf2 Kd7 ({Black could attempt
to sharpen things up with} 36... g5 {but it's unlikely that it would result in
anything other than a draw. Fabiano's plan of bringing the king to c6 is much
more straightforward.}) 37. Ke3 Bf1 38. Kf2 {This is forced, as White doesn't
have a good reason to give up the g2-pawn.} Ba6 39. Ke3 {A tacit draw offer.} (
{Now Magnus could have played on with} 39. c4 {but Black can play} Kc6 {
among other things, and plan to put the king on c5, pressuring the pawn on c4.
In any case the position remains equal, with neither side being able to make
real progress.}) 39... Bf1 40. Kf2 {Here Caruana correctly summoned the
arbiter and pointed at the a6-square, indicating that he was about to play Ba6
and claim a three-fold repetition. Magnus immediately confirmed the claim and
the players agreed to a draw.} 1/2-1/2[/pgn]

After the game, the players were seen discussing in the match room for a few minutes, comparing different lines they considered in the middlegame. In a post-game interview, Caruana remained objective and kept his cool, giving the following summary: “I played a bit carelessly near the end, and got [under] some slight pressure which I didn’t expect. I kind of underestimated the danger, but still it was very much a draw. Overall, a solid draw without too many problems is a good result.”  In his own interview Carlsen also downplayed whatever chances he may have had: “I think what I played was a little too slow, and I ended up getting nothing. I was hoping to kind of outplay him in the ending with knight against bishop but I don’t think there was anything there.” In the press conference, the players were again faced with the perennial question of why White’s theoretical advantage in the match has seemingly been neutralized day in and day out. Caruana was quick to point out that although he held somewhat comfortably today, he was never better at any point, and still had to play accurately in order not to fall worse. For this reporter, this was my first time visiting a World Championship match, and I was quite pleased with the spectator experience provided at the match venue in London. There was a few spots to watch the official commentary with GM Judit Polgar and IM Anna Rudolf, always with a decent view of the players and a solid cafe. There seemed to be enough room as long as people kept moving—from the game room, to the cafe, to the commentary room, to the shop, outside for a breath of air, and so on! I will be covering tomorrow’s Game 8 as well. Will Caruana retake the White pieces and continue trying to crack Magnus’s Sicilian, or will we see an earlier surprise? IM Kostya Kavutskiy is a professional chess player, coach, and writer, and can be found active on Twitter. Also make sure to check out his Patreon page for instructive chess analysis and advice for improvement. Interact with Eric Rosen, who is taking over our twitter@USChess using the hashtag #CarlsenCaruana.  Worldchess.com is the tournament website.