Third Game of Carlsen - Caruana Match Drawn

The score is 1.5-1.5.

After commenting the game on the Chess24 website (in English) together with Alexander Grischuk and Sopiko Guramishvili, grandmaster Peter Svidler now shares his impressions with the Russian-speaking audience: 

– Today Caruana has demonstrated a much better preparation in the opening. A shift in the opening approach has allowed his keeping control of the situation and leaving Magnus with far fewer opportunities to initiate an anybody’s game struggle. However, his 15.Bd2? follow-up defies any explanation.  Once realizing it, Fabiano lost confidence. Instead, Fabiano's 15.Rxa5 Qxa5 16.Bd2 would have left Black with a rather grim-looking position. Following the queen's most likely retreat to c7, White follows up with 17.Qa1 and 18.Rb1 to grab the only open file. It’s a pleasure to have a position like this as White in terms of a free hand in queenside sorties. 

Experiencing some technical issues with broadcasting, we decided to launch the engine only to see +1 evaluation. I don’t know how sound this evaluation is – after all, Black doesn’t have any obvious weaknesses, and, material being equal, the “+1” evaluation is not something you see that often. Still, this engine's evaluation with equal material and healthy pawn structures is a showcase in itself. Plus one is quite a number coming from modern engines! 

However, Caruana's 15.Bd2, not preventing 15...Raa8, meant no more control of the a-file, at least for free, that’s for sure. It gives Black a lot more comfortable play. As Alexander Grischuk told in the stream, control of the open file is of a vital value when it is the only open file in the position. It meant all the difference between what Caruana got and what he might have got. Meanwhile, he ended up in a position that called for a certain amount of precision from him; however, pulling a victory out of thin air was not something that Carlsen managed this time around. 

– Did Fabiano's error result in his losing control over the situation to a certain degree? 

–. He went into a deep think after 15.Bd2 Raa8, and his upset was obvious for everyone to see. Being a human player, it is hard not to ask yourself why on earth did I not start with the trades on a5 first? This is a natural question to ask of yourself in a moment like this. 

– Can we say that the gaming initiative is with Magnus so far?

– In his games as Black – yes, although today he has not equalized out of the opening. Nevertheless, he kept being amnestied time and again so that starting with move 30 it was already Magnus playing for a win. This said, grinding a victory from a position so poor in recourses and so equal is an extremely hard nut to crack.  

– Has it been an interesting match so far?

– I wonder if Magnus is going to profit something from his white color games. I say that he looks more safe than not as a second player, and should as White his openings be something reminding of game two, it will be hard for him to “get through”. Fabiano and Co's excellent preparation is visible to a naked eye. 

Grandmaster Alexander Grischuk:

– Yet another noteworthy opportunity arose on move 10, when in lieu of 10.Nbd2 Caruana could have captured 10.bxc5. Black obviously intended to meet it with 10…Nd7 11.Be3 f5, and then 12.a4 – this is Mikhail Krasenkow’s recommendation on ChessPro. 12…f4 is met by the bishop retreating to с1 or d2, and 13…Nxc5 is answered with 14.Ba3 (or 14.Bb4), pinning the black knight.

– Would this position have been unpleasant for Black?

- Well, I would not be so categorical about that, but it was definitely an interesting opportunity for White.

– Is Black in good shape after 15.Bd2 Raa8 already?

– Indeed, this is when Magnus started outplaying his opponent. White could have run into problems in certain lines. Magnus is unrivaled when it comes to the end of openings and start of concrete type of play. He is a formidable opponent when a maneuvering and strategic struggle is underway. 

– Vladimir Potkin and Ian Nepomniachtchi predicted it to be a no-draw match. This is as many as three games ending in draws so far...

– Well, jumping at any serious conclusions just after three games seems ridiculous! All games ending in draws is more often than not at tournaments with many players, with about five games played each day. Therefore, three draws is no big deal.

– Still, are there that many other than draw games in store for us after all?

– Well, commenting game two on Chess24 I claimed that game three was bound to be exciting. This time, I guess, I better be more economical about forecasting.  

Questions by Vladimir Barsky