London Chess Classic: Howell - Carlsen Chessmaster Analysis

8/9/2019 London Chess Classic: Howell - Carlsen Chessmaster Analysis

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◦ Howell, David W L

• Carlsen, Magnus

Chess Classic (3)

London ENG

2009.12.10 1/2-1/2

Annotations by Chessmaster: Grandmaster Edition

Auto-Annotator. 10 seconds per move. White

Black Book Move 5 5 Leave Book 1 0 CMX

Agrees 68 68 CMX Disagrees 6 5 Agreement Pct.

92% 93% Total Error 6.89 6.04 Relevant Error 6.89

6.04 Missed Mate 0 0 Moved Into Mate 0 0

1.e4 B00 King’s Pawn Opening. The King’s Pawn

opening move is both popular and logical. It con-

trols the center, opens lines for both the Queen and

the Bishop, and usually leads to an open game in

which tactics, rather than slow maneuvering, pre-

dominates. 1...c5 B20 Sicilian Defense. The Sicil-

ian Defense has an ancient lineage. It creates an

unbalanced position in which both sides have full

rein for play, and allows Black to call the shots at

least to some extent. 2.c3 B20 Sicilian Defense /

Alapin Variation. The Alapin Variation, sometimes

called the c3-Sicilian. Unlike Open Sicilian posi-

tions, White wants to maintain two center pawns,

playing d2-d4 and recapturing with the c-pawn af-

ter c5xd4. 2...d5 B20 Sicilian Defense / Alapin

Variation. 3.exd5 B20 Sicilian Defense / AlapinVariation. 3...

xd5 B20 Sicilian Defense / Alapin

Variation. 4.d4 B20 Sicilian Defense / Alapin Vari-

ation. 4... f6 B20 Sicilian Defense / Alapin Vari-

ation. 5. f3 B20 Sicilian Defense / Alapin Varia-

tion. 5...e6 B20 Sicilian Defense / Alapin Variation

(transposed). 6. e3 Out of Opening Book. Na3

would have been in the Sicilian Defense / Alapin

Variation opening line. 6... e7 Clears the way for

a kingside castle. Last book move 7.dxc5 xd1+

Pins White’s knight at b1 and checks White’s king.

8. xd1 Forced. Frees the pin on White’s knight

at b1. White wins a queen and a pawn for a

queen. White is up a pawn. 8...O–O 9.

bd2

g4

10. b3 = Toga II 1.2.1: Analysis reports blunder,

with score change from/to: +0.43 / +0.04

10. e4 xe3+ 11.fxe3 a5 12. b5

a6 13. xa6 xa6 14. c2 f5

15. d6 xd6 16.cxd6 xd6

17. ad1 fd8 18.c4 b6 =

10... xe3+ Checks White’s king. 11.fxe3 Re-

moves the threat on White’s king. White wins

a knight for a bishop. 11... d7 12.c6 Threat-

ens Black’s knight. 12...bxc6 Removes the threaton Black’s knight. Black wins a pawn. Ma-

terial is even. 13. a5 Threatens Black’s pawn

at c6. 13... c5 Attacks White’s pawn at e3.

14. d4 Protects White’s pawn at e3. 14... f6

15. c4 g4 Attacks White’s pawn at e3. 16. e2

Removes the threat on White’s pawn at e3.

16...e5

Attacks White’s knight at d4. 17. c2 = Moves it

to safety. Toga II 1.2.1: Analysis reports blunder,

with score change from/to: -0.16 / -0.40

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17. dxc6 xe3 18.b4 xc4 19. xc4

a6 20.bxc5 xc4+ 21. e3 fe8

22. hd1 ac8 23. d6 b5 24. xa7

xc5 25.

xb5

xb5 =

17... f5 Threatens White’s knight at c2. 18.h3

Threatens Black’s knight. 18... f6 Moves it to

safety and frees Black’s pawn at f7 from the pin.

19. b4

Moves it out of immediate danger. 19... e4 =

Pins White’s pawn at g2, protects Black’s pawn at

c6, attacks White’s pawn at g2, and blocks White’s

pawn at e3. Toga II 1.2.1: Analysis reports blunder,

with score change from/to: -0.60 / -0.30

19... xb4 20.cxb4 e4 21. f2 fb8

22.a3 c5 23.b5 a6 24.a4 axb5 25.axb5

d8 26. c6 d2+ 27. e2 =+

20. bxc6 Attacks Black’s pawn at e5 and cre-

ates a passed pawn on c3. White wins a

pawn. 20... fe8 Protects Black’s pawn at e5.

21. hg1 Frees White’s pawn at g2 from the pin

and removes the threat on White’s pawn at g2.

21... b6

Slightly better is Rac8. 22.b4 = Toga II

1.2.1: Analysis reports blunder, with score change

from/to: +0.09 / -0.30

22.g4 ac8 23.g5 h5 24. b5 e6

25. ad1 a6 26. a4 f8 27. g4

xc6 28. xc6 cxc6 29. xc6 xc6

30. d7 =

22... ac8 23.b5 xa5 Partially pins White’s

knight at c6 and threatens White’s pawn at c3.

24. xa5 Protects White’s pawn at c3. White

wins a bishop for a knight. White is up a pawn.

24... c5 Pins White’s pawn at b5. 25.a4 ec8

26. d3 xd3+ Checks White’s king. 27. xd3

Protects White’s pawn at c3. 27... xc3+ Checks

White’s king. Black wins a bishop and a pawn

for a bishop. Material is even. 28. e2 Moves

it out of check. 28... c2+ Checks White’s king.

29. f3 Moves it out of check. 29...e4+ Checks

White’s king. 30. f4 Moves it out of check.

30... 8c5 Pins White’s pawn at b5. 31. c6

Frees the pin on White’s pawn at b5 and threat-

ens Black’s pawn at a7. 31...g5+ Removes the

threat on Black’s pawn at a7 and checks White’s

king. 32. g3 Forced. Moves it out of check and

threatens Black’s pawn at a7. 32... 5c3 Attacks

White’s pawn at e3. 33. e7+ Removes the threat

on White’s pawn at e3 and checks Black’s king.33...

f8 Moves it out of check and forks White’s

knight and White’s pawn at e3. 34. f5 Moves it

to safety and removes the threat on White’s pawn

at e3. 34... d5

35. ge1?! ∓ Leads to 35...Nf4 36.Kg4 Rxg2+

37.Ng3 Nd3 38.Rg1 Nf2+ 39.Kf5 Rxg1 40.Rxg1

Rxe3 41.Rg2 Rf3+ 42.Kxg5 Nxh3+ 43.Kh4 Nf4

44.Rd2, which wins a rook and a pawn for a

rook and three pawns. Better is a5, leading to

35...Nxe3 36.Nxe3 Rxe3+ 37.Kh2 Ree2 38.Rae1

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3/7

Rf2 39.Rxe4 Ra2 40.a6 f5 41.Re5 Rab2, which

wins a knight and a pawn for a knight and a pawn.

Toga II 1.2.1: Analysis reports blunder, with score

change from/to: -0.45 / -1.88

35. ad1 d3 36. g4 f6 37.h4 gxh4

38. c1 a2 39. c4 da3 40. xe4

xa4 41. d4 xd4+ 42.exd4 =

35... f4 Threatens mate (rook at c2 captures

pawn) and pins White’s pawn at e3. 36. g1

e2+ Forks White’s rook at g1 and White’s

king. 37. g4 Moves it out of check, attacks

Black’s pawn at g5, and blocks Black’s pawn at

g5. 37... xg1 Threatens White’s pawn at g2.

38. xg1 Removes the threat on White’s pawn at

g2. Black wins the exchange (Rook for Knight).38...f6 Protects Black’s pawn at g5. 39.h4 gxh4

Isolates White’s pawn at g2. 40. xh4 White

wins a pawn for a pawn. 40... a3 Threatens

White’s pawn at a4. 41.g4 xa4 Isolates White’s

pawn at b5. Black wins a pawn. 42. d1

Seizes the open file. 42... aa2 43. d7 Threatens

Black’s pawn at h7. 43... h2+ Protects Black’s

pawn at h7 and checks White’s king. 44. g3

Forced. Moves it out of check. 44... hg2+

Checks White’s king. 45. h3 Moves it out of

check and threatens Black’s pawn at h7. 45... gf2

46.

d4

46... g8 ∓ Slightly better is Ra3. Toga II


from/to: -1.96 / -1.66

46... f1 47. g3 a3 48. g2 fa1

49. f5 3a2+ 50. g3 g1+ 51. h3

h1+ 52. g3 h5 53.gxh5 xh5

54. d4 h1 55. c7 g1+ 56. f4 ∓

47. e7 Threatens Black’s pawn at e4. 47... f8

Hangs the pawn at h7. Leads to 48.Rd7, which

does not result in any captures. Better is Rf1, lead-

ing to 48.Rxe4 Kf7 49.Kg3 Rg1+ 50.Kf3 Rgg2

51.Kf4 Rgf2+ 52.Nf3 Ra5 53.Kg3, which loses a

pawn. 48.

c7

Leads to 48...Rh2+ 49.Kg3 h5 50.Ne6+ Kg8 51.g5

fxg5 52.Rc8+ Kf7 53.Nxg5+ Kg6 54.Nxe4 Kf5

55.Kf3 h4, which wins two pawns for a pawn. Bet-

ter is Rd7. This was white’s most significant mis-

take, but white was still able to manage a draw.

48... e8 =+ Toga II 1.2.1: Analysis reports blun-

der, with score change from/to: -1.77 / -1.44

48...

f1 49.

g3 h6 50.

e6+

g851.

d4

g1+ 52.

h3

h1+ 53.

g3

f1 54. h3 e1 55. f5 f8

56. c8+ f7 57. c7+ e6 58. c6+

d5 59. xf6 ∓

49. g3 f1 50. xh7 White wins a pawn.

50... a3

Attacks White’s pawn at e3. 51. g2?! ∓ Slightly

better is Nf5. Toga II 1.2.1: Analysis reports blun-


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51. f5 f3+ 52. g2 a2+ 53. g1

d8 54. f7 a5 55. f8+ d7

56. xf6 xb5 57. f7+ e6

58.

xa7

b1+ 59.

g2

b2+60. g1 =+

51... d1

Moves it to safety. 52. f5?

−+

Leads to 52...Ra2+ 53.Kg3 Rg1+ 54.Kf4 Rf2+

55.Kxe4 Rxg4+ 56.Kd5 Rxf5+ 57.Ke6 Re5+

58.Kxf6 Rxe3 59.Rxa7 Rb4 60.Rb7 Reb3 61.Ke6

Rxb5 62.Rc7, which wins three pawns for a

knight and three pawns. Better is Nc6, leading

to 52...Rxe3 53.Kf2 Rc3 54.Re7+ Kf8 55.Rxe4

Rd2+ 56.Ke1 Rb2 57.Rd4 Rc1+ 58.Rd1 Rxd1+

59.Kxd1 Rxb5 60.Nxa7 Rc5, which wins a rook

and two pawns for a rook and two pawns. Toga II


from/to: -2.66 / -4.47

52. c6 xe3 53. f2 f3+ 54. e2

d7 55. h4 f8 56.g5 fxg5 57. xe4

f6 58.

d4

f7 59.

c6 ∓

52... d7?? =+ Leads to 53.Ng7+ Kf7 54.Nh5+

Ke6 55.Rxd7 Kxd7 56.Nxf6+ Ke6 57.Nxe4 Rxe3

58.Nc5+ Kd6 59.Nb7+ Kd5 60.Na5 Re2+ 61.Kf3

Re7, which wins a rook and a pawn for a rook and two pawns. Better is Ra2+, leading to 53.Kg3

Rg1+ 54.Kf4 Rf2+ 55.Kxe4 Rxg4+ 56.Kd5 Rxf5+

57.Ke6 Re5+ 58.Kxf6 Rxe3 59.Rxa7 Rb4 60.Rb7

Reb3 61.Ke6 Rxb5 62.Rc7, which wins a knight

and three pawns for three pawns. Black could not

hold on to a won game. This blunder let white

back into the game and eventually draw. Toga II


from/to: -4.47 / -0.90

52... a2+ 53. g3 g1+ 54. f4

f2+ 55.

xe4

xg4+ 56.

d5 xf5+ 57. e6 e5+ 58. xf6 xb5

59. xa7 e4 60. a3 c4 61. a6

d7 62. a7+ d6 63. a6+ d5

−+

53. h8+ Slightly better is Ng7+. 53... f7

Forced. Moves it out of check. 54. g3 b3 At-

tacks White’s pawn at b5. 55. f4 Attacks Black’s

pawn at e4. 55... b1 56. xe4

Isolates Black’s pawn at f6. White wins a pawn.

56... f1?! = Slightly better is Kg6. Toga II


from/to: -0.71 / -0.09

56... g6 57. g8+ h7 58. f8

b4+ 59. f3 g6 60. g8+ f7

61. h8 c4 62. h1 c3 63. f4

e6 64. d4+ d5 65. h5+ d6 =+

57.

h7+ Skewers Black’s king and checks

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Black’s king. 57... e6

Moves it out of check and attacks White’s rook.

58. h8?! =+

Slightly better is Ng7+. Toga II 1.2.1: Analysis

reports blunder, with score change from/to: -0.09 /

-0.69

58. g7+ e7 59. f5+ d8 60. h8+

c7 61. f8 g1 62. f4 b6

63.

xf6+

xb5 64.g5 a5 65.

d4+

b4 66. c6+ c3 67. xa5 d5

68. c6 dxg5 69. e5 =

58... c7?! = Seizes the open file. Toga II


from/to: -0.69 / -0.09

58... g1 59. f4 d5 60. f8 f1+

61. g3 e6 62. d4+ e7 63. h8

d6 64. h6 c5 6 5. g2 e1

66. xf6 xe3 =+

59.

d4+ Checks Black’s king.

59... d6

Moves it out of check. 60. d8+?!=+

Checks Black’s king. Toga II 1.2.1: Analysis re-

ports blunder, with score change from/to: -0.06 /

-0.66

60.b6 e7+ 61. d3 c5 62.bxa7

xa7 63. c8+ b6 64. f8 g7

65. e2 g1 66. xf6+ b7 67. d3

1xg4 68.

f8

c7 =

5


6/7

60... d7?! =

Removes the threat on Black’s king and attacks

White’s rook. Toga II 1.2.1: Analysis reports blun-


60... e7 61. a8 b1 62. c6+ d6

63. f8 e6 64. a8 c1 65. d4+

f7 66. c6 c4+ 67. f3 a4

68. h8 =+

61. c8 =+

Moves it to safety. Toga II 1.2.1: Analysis reports

blunder, with score change from/to: -0.12 / -0.61

61. f5+ c7 62. f8 g1 63. f4

b6 64. xf6+ xb5 65. d4+ b4

66.g5 a5 67. c6+ b5 68. d4+ c4

69. c6 d5 70. e5+ xe5 71. xe5

xg5+ 72. f4 g7 73. c6+ d5 =

61... g7 = Threatens White’s pawn at g4. Toga II


from/to: -0.61 / -0.33

61... c7 62. e8 f7 63. e6+ c5

64.

c6+

b4 65.

d3

d1+ 66.

e2

g1 67. d3 b7 68. c4+ a5

69. c6 f1 70. d2 =+

62.

d8+ Removes the threat on White’spawn at g4 and checks Black’s king.

62... d7

Removes the threat on Black’s king and attacks

White’s rook. 63. c8 =+ Moves it to safety. Toga II


from/to: -0.08 / -0.58

63. f5+ c7 64. f8 g1 65. f4

b6 66.

xf6+

xb5 67.

d4+

b468.g5 a5 69.

c6+

c3 70.

xa5

d5

71. c6+ b4 72. c4 dxg5 73. e5

g7 =

63... e7+ Checks White’s king. 64. d3 Moves

it out of check. 64... c7

Attacks White’s rook. 65. d8+ =+ Moves it

to safety and checks Black’s king. Toga II


from/to: -0.38 / -0.63

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7/7

65. e8 d7 66. h8 d1+ 67. e4

g1 68. f5 f1+ 69. e4 f2

70. d5 d2 71.e4 e7 72. h7+

d8 =

65... d7 Protects Black’s king and threatens

White’s rook. 66. g8 Moves it to safety.

66... g1 67. e2 c5 68. f2 Threatens Black’s

rook at g1. 68... b1 Moves it to safety. 69. f8

Attacks Black’s pawn at f6. 69... d6 Protects

Black’s pawn at f6. 70. f7 Threatens Black’s

pawn at a7. 70... b2+ Removes the threat on

Black’s pawn at a7 and checks White’s king.

71. f3 Moves it out of check and threatens

Black’s pawn at a7. 71... a2

Protects Black’s pawn at a7. 72. e4 =+ Toga II


from/to: -0.32 / -0.58

72. f5 b6 73. d4 d5 74. d7+

e5 75. c6+ e6 76. e7+ d6

77. f7 xb5 78. xf6+ c5 79.g5

b7 80. e4 d2 =

72... b6 Blocks White’s pawn at b5. 73. f8

g2 Threatens White’s pawn at g4. 74. f3 Re-

moves the threat on White’s pawn at g4 and threat-

ens Black’s rook at g2. 74... h2

Moves it tosafety. 75.

b8+ Checks Black’s king. 75...

c7

Moves it out of check and threatens White’s rook.

76. a8 Moves it to safety and attacks Black’s

pawn at a7. 76... b7 Protects Black’s pawn at

a7 and attacks White’s rook. 77. f8 Moves it to

safety. 77... h7 78. f4 h1 79. f3 The game

ends in a draw.

79. f3 13:-0.66 79... c1 80. f4 c7

81. f5 c4+ 82. d4 c1 83. e4

b6 84. f5 c5+ 85. f4 c4

86. h8 d7

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London Chess Classic: Howell - Carlsen Chessmaster Analysis