Position after 32…Qb1
White had a completely winning position. This has to be a very painful loss.
GM Van Wely (2681) – GM Carlsen (2733) [A58]
23.01.2008
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6 g6 6.Nc3 Bxa6 7.Nf3 d6 8.g3 Bg7 9.Bg2 Nbd7 10.Rb1 Qa5 11.Bd2 Nb6 12.b3 Qa3 13.0–0 0–0 14.Ne1 Bb7 15.Nc2 Qa6 16.e4 Ne8 17.a4 Nc7 18.Re1 Rae8 19.b4 Nd7 20.Nb5 Rc8 21.Bh3 f5 22.Bg5 Ne5 23.bxc5 Qxa4 24.Nxc7 Rxc7 25.c6 Bc8 26.exf5 Rxf5 27.f4 Nc4 28.Rb4 Qa7+ 29.Kg2 Qc5 30.Rb8 Nb2 31.Qf3 Qxc2+ 32.Re2 Qb1 [33.Bxe7 is the most potent move here.] 33.Bxf5 Qxf5 34.g4 Qf7 35.Bxe7 h5 36.Bxd6 hxg4 37.Qe4 Kh7 [38.Rexb2 and White wins without any risk.] 38.Bxc7 Bf5 [39.Qe7 is best here.] 39.Qe3 Qxd5+ 40.Kg3 Nc4 [Perhaps 41.Qb3 can hold. But White already threw away the win.] 41.Qf2?? Qd3+ 42.Kg2 Be4+ 43.Rxe4 Qxe4+ 44.Kf1 Qd3+ 45.Qe2 Nd2+ 46.Ke1 Nf3+ 47.Kf1 Nxh2+ 48.Ke1 Bc3+ 49.Kf2 g3+ 0–1
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This game was painful to watch and must have been even worse for Van Wely. As usual at this level Black was being crushed for playing the Benko, and even those obvious blunders just before move 40 could not save him.
I just do not understand the 41st move, I kept staring at the position wondering why Black wasn’t just winning then…and it seems he was! Does anyone know if Van Wely was unsure about having made time control?
Carlsen pitched the lead away and Van Wely handed it right back!
It should be mentioned that both players had under 1 minute left (before time control) in this dynamic, tactical position. Loek drew the short straw this time. Yesterday it was Magnus (against Leko).
On a side note, remember when the top 3 players in the world all had last names starting with ‘K’? Now the top 4 players in the world all have first names starting with ‘V’.
41. Qe7
This game was the mock of chess. Shameful thing what Loek did. He had more than 20 minutes ’til the first time control, whilist Magnus had a minute or two. He could’ve been thinking over his next moves a plenty…
One of the worst chess game I’ve ever seen, played by a top GM.
But, what am I sayin’: Wely is not a top GM now, only a very nice chess player, but that much. He was invited, ‘cos he’s a local boy. Needs to play in group B next year, if needs…
Such a shame game that was!
“He had more than 20 minutes ’til the first time control, whilist Magnus had a minute or two. He could’ve been thinking over his next moves a plenty…”
This is factually incorrect: Loek had about 4 minutes left after move 30. Magnus had 2 minutes.
At move 33 Magnus had 0 minutes left. In other words, he had only seconds left to play the next 7 moves! At move 35, Loek had 2 minutes left.
But Magnus has shown before that he’s a stronger speed/blitz player than Loek, and this was clearly demonstrated in this game.
Magnus played the moves 33-40 like he would play a 1200 player with Queen odds, setting up as many traps as possible. And of course Van Wely was nice enough to step into them.
Ah, to have ‘the kid’ on the ropes in any game must give Loek some consolation, however.
Time Pressure is a terrible thing to be in, and there seems to be no lack of mouthpieces here to take advantage of kicking the man whilst he is down.
Bravo to all of you patzers. May you win your under-1600 section this coming weekend.
The one lesson for all of the average players from this game is to see how quickly Carlsen brewed up an attack once he had the opportunity. Once Loek had to guard his queen with his king, Carlsen through everything at him.
It’s strange to see such a mistake in the 41st move – when Van Wely was out of time trouble. Any explanation available?
Anyway, Magnus lost a game in a drawn position yesterday in time trouble – these things tend to even out over time. The amazing thing is that the 17 year old is still in the lead with only three games to go. (His goal when coming into this tournament was to end up with an equal score…)
Loek played his 41st move instantly. Or rather: it was relayed together with the previous 5-6 moves.
Thus it is reasonable to believe that he lost track of the move number (in addition to the fact that he lost track of the position on the board)