Just as in politics, the pundits can barely wait until the votes are counted in one election before they start speculating on who might be the front-runners for the next cycle.
Magnus Carlsen of Norway has barely had time to savor his unexpectedly tough but successful world championship title defense over Indian challenger Viswanathan Anand last month before the chatter started on who might next take a run at his crown.
Carlsen, in a tweet to fans after clinching the match with a Game 11 win, showed he already has his mind on future matches, thanking fans for their support and adding, “Two down, five to go!” — a reference to the record seven world title matches that Garry Kasparov (an informal Carlsen adviser and mentor) won before finally losing to fellow Russian Vladimir Kramnik.
Carlsen even established the early betting line for his next challenger, telling FIDE press officer Anastasiya Karlovich in an interview, “I think the most obvious candidates are Fabiano Caruana, Levon Aronian and Alexander Grischuk.”
The Italian Caruana has played some of the best chess in the world this year, and Aronian, an Armenian long considered a title contender, are not surprises, but Grischuk might be considered a bit of a dark horse.
The 2009 Russian national champion has quietly risen to No. 3 in the world, behind Carlsen and Caruana, boosting his rating with an undefeated 5½-1½ victory at the powerful Category 20 Petrosian Memorial in Moscow that wrapped up just as Carlsen-Anand was getting started.
An attractive example of the Russian’s style can be seen in his win over Caruana at the FIDE Grand Prix event in Baku in October. (Grischuk would finish in a tie for third in Baku, a half-point behind Caruana and Israel’s Boris Gelfand.)
Grischuk with Black wins the opening battle when Caruana went into a long think after the offbeat 3. f3 c5 4. dxc5?! e6 in this Benoni. White ends up a with a queenside two-to-one pawn majority, but Black gets excellent piece play in return. White’s king also never finds a safe harbor in the ensuing play.
Caruana eschews the draw with 26. Qd3 Qe6 27. exd5!? Nxd5 28. Kf2 Rd8, but it turns out Black’s direct attack is more dangerous than White’s passed pawns.
The pressure produces a defensive error from the Italian that decides the game: 31. Bc5 Nf4 32. Kg1? (the only move was 32. Kf1 Rd2 33. Ra2, as Black’s tactic in the game doesn’t work with the king on f1) Rd2 33. Ra2 Nxg2! 34. Rxd2 Nxe1, with the tempo-winning threat of 35Nxf3+.
Black relentlessly opens lines to the now exposed White king with 36. Kg2 e4! 37. Re2 (the threat was 37Qg4+ 38. Kf1 Qg1+ 39. Ke2 Qe1 mate) Re8 (good, but even stronger was 37Nh4+! 38. Kg1 Qg4+ 39. Kh1 Qf3+ 40. Kg1 Rd8 41. Qc2 Qh3 and White can resign) 38. a4 Qf4 39. Kh1 Rd8 40. Qc3+ f6 41. Qc2 Rd3 42. a5 Ne1! 43. Rxe1 Rd2, and Caruana must surrender his queen to stop mate.
Grischuk’s queen dominates the White rook and bishop in the ending; after 48. a6 (Rxe4 Qb1+) e3 49. Bd4+ (a7 Qf2+ 40. Kh1 Qxe1+ 51. Kg2 Qf2+ 52. Kh3 Qf3 mate) Kg6 50. Ra1 Qf2+ 51. Kh1 Qf3+ 52. Kg1 Qg4+, White resigned facing 53. Kh1 f3 54. Rg1 Qxd4, winning.
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Another dark-horse possibility for Carlsen’s list is the rising Dutch star Anish Giri, at 20 the youngest player in the world top ten rankings. Giri is likely to move up a few slots as he has been dominating what is being billed as the strongest open tournament of all time now wrapping up in Qatar. (Giri is one of 14 grandmasters rated 2700 or above in the field, which includes over 90 GMs in total.)
The young Dutch GM raced out to a 6-0 start at Qatar through Monday’s play, including a powerful demolition of Azeri superGM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in just 21 moves. In a Botvinnik English, Black gambits a pawn for more piece activity with 13. f3 Bf5!? 14. Rxb7 Nb6 15. f4 e4, with White facing a challenge in extricating his advanced rook.
Mamedyarov appears to go badly wrong almost at once with 16. Qb3?! (dxe4!? Bxe4 17. Qb3 Qf6 18. Bxe4 Rxe4 19. Nd4 Na5 20. Qc2 Rxd4 21. Rxb6 axb6 22. cxd4 Qxe4+ 23. Qf2 is good for equality) Be6 17. Qb5? (tougher was 17. Qb2 Qc8 18. Rxb6 axb6 19. Bxe4, hoping to hang on) exd3 18. Rxb6 dxe2 19. Re1 (see diagram), and White’s disorganized pieces and the advanced Black pawn set the stage for the finale.
Thus: 19…Bc4! 20. Qxc6 (White’s insecure king comes into play on 20. Qxc4 Qxb6+ 21. Kh1 Qf2 22. Bd2 Re6! 23. Bxc6 Rd8 24. Bd5 Rh6 25. Bg2 Qxg3 26. Kg1 Qxh2+ 27. Kf2 Qh4+ 28. Kxe2 Re6+ 29. Be3 Rxe3+! 30. Kxe3 Qg3+ 31. Ke2 Qxg2+ 32. Ke3 Qg3+ 33. Ke2 Re8+ 34. Kd2 Qxe1+) Qd1! (crushing) 21. Kf2 (Rxd1 exd1=Q+ 22. Kf2 Qe1+ 23. Kf3 Be2 mate) Rad8!, and White already has to pack it in since 22. Qxe8+ (Rxd1 exd1=Q 23. Qxc4 Qxc1 24. Rb7 Qe3+ 25. Kf1 Qe1 mate) Rxe8 23. Rb4 Qd3 24. Bc6 Rd8 is hopeless.
Caruana-Grischuk, FIDE Grand Prix, Baku, Azerbaijan, October 2014
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. f3 c5 4. dxc5 e6 5. Be3 b6 6. Nc3 Ba6 7. cxb6 axb6 8. Bg5 h6 9. Bh4 g5 10. Bf2 Bxc4 11. e4 Bxf1 12. Kxf1 Nc6 13. Nge2 Bc5 14. Nd4 Qe7 15. Ncb5 Kf8 16. a3 Nxd4 17. Nxd4 Kg7 18. b4 Bxd4 19. Bxd4 e5 20. Bxb6 Qe6 21. Be3 d5 22. Qb3 Rhb8 23. Ke2 Qa6+ 24. Qd3 Qe6 25. Qb3 Qa6+ 26. Qd3 Qe6 27. exd5 Nxd5 28. Kf2 Rd8 29. Qc4 Qf5 30. Rhe1 Rac8 31. Bc5 Nf4 32. Kg1 Rd2 33. Ra2 Nxg2 34. Rxd2 Nxe1 35. Rf2 Nxf3+ 36. Kg2 e4 37. Re2 Re8 38. a4 Qf4 39. Kh1 Rd8 40. Qc3+ f6 41. Qc2 Rd3 42. a5 Ne1 43. Rxe1 Rd2 44. Qxd2 Qxd2 45. Re3 f5 46. Kg1 Qa2 47. Re1 f4 48. a6 e3 49. Bd4+ Kg6 50. Ra1 Qf2+ 51. Kh1 Qf3+ 52. Kg1 Qg4+ White resigns.
Mamedyrarov-Giri, Qatar Masters Open, Doha, Qatar, November 2014
1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. g3 Bb4 4. Bg2 O-O 5. e4 Bxc3 6. bxc3 Re8 7. d3 c6 8. Ne2 d5 9. cxd5 cxd5 10. exd5 Nxd5 11. Rb1 Nc6 12. O-O Bg4 13. f3 Bf5 14. Rxb7 Nb6 15. f4 e4 16. Qb3 Be6 17. Qb5 exd3 18. Rxb6 dxe2 19. Re1 Bc4 20. Qxc6 Qd1 21. Kf2 Rad8 White resigns.
• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
• David R. Sands can be reached at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
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