The fine line between respect and fear at the chessboard

There’s a fine line in chess between healthy respect and crippling fear — even when you’re the best player in the world.

Norwegian world champ Magnus Carlsen is usually the intimidator at the chessboard, but it was U.S. GM Wesley So who claimed the just-concluded Opera Euro Rapid knockout tourney featuring 16 of the world’s best players. 

So, who also defeated Carlsen in the Airthings Masters rapid event in December, won the psychological battle to best the champ 2½-1½ in the final match that wrapped up Valentine’s Day.

After splitting four games on Saturday, So broke out to an early lead with a win in Sunday’s Game 1 from the White side of a Rossolimo Sicilian. Black’s piece coordination after 13. g3 Be7 14. h4 looks a little ragged, and lines like 14…0-0 15. h5 (or 15. Bd3 Qb6 16. Qe2) Nh8 16. Bd3 don’t look like much fun to play.

But Carlsen’s radical solution to his discomfort only makes things worse: 14…Bxh4? 15. gxh4 Nxh4 16. Nxh4 Qxh4 17. Re3! (the best defense; messier was 17. Kg2!? f5 18. Rh1 Qf6 19. f3 fxe4 20. Bxe4 Bxe4 21. Nxe4 Qg6+ 22. Kf2 0-0, and Black has counterchances) f5 18. Rg3!, when 18…fxe4 19. Rg4 Qh3 20. Bxe4 Bxe4 21. Nxe4 0-0 22. Rg3 Qf5 23. Qe1 Rc2 24. Bh6 is close to winning for White.

With a piece for two pawns and pair of powerful bishops, So is clearly on top. After 25. Bg4 Rf6 (on 25…Kf7, 26. Rc3 is strong) 26. Bg5 Rg6 27. Bh5 Rxg5 28. Rxg5, White has added an exchange to the material imbalance. Carlsen resigned.

Far more intriguing is what happened in Game 3. In his postmortem, Carlsen freely acknowledged he felt a kingside sacrifice would be winning but said he couldn’t pull the trigger in part because So had been playing so well. The result: Black missed a golden opportunity to tie the match.

In a Giuoco Piano, So’s 13. h3!? may not be wrong, but it’s always a bit iffy moving pawns in front of your king unnecessarily. After 13…Nh5 14. Be3 Nhf4 15. Bc2?! (Ng3 is more prudent) Qc8 16. Bb3? (see diagram), Black’s forces are all in position for a devastating kingside strike.

But as Carlsen (current rating: 2862, mind you) later conceded: “I did not trust my intuition, and I sort of trusted [So] more there because he was playing so quickly and confidently that I couldn’t really get myself to believe that he was missing a lot of things.”

The result: 16…exd4? (Bxh3! not only looks right but also seizes control of the game after 17. gxh3 a4! 18. Bxa4 Qxh3 19. Bxf4 Nxf4 20. Ne3 Rae8 21. Ng5 [Bb3 d5 22. exd5 exd4 23. cxd4 Rxe3!] Qh6 22. Qg4 Qxg5! — missed by the champ — 23. Qxg5 Nh3+) 17. Nxd4 Bxd4 18. Qxd4 Bxb3? (backing off again, when the bold 18…Nxg2! 19. Kxg2 Bxh3+ 20. Kh2 [Kg1 Qg4+ 21. Ng3 Qf3] Nh4 21. Qd1 Bg2! 22. Ng3 Qh3+ 23. Kg1 Bf3 wins again) 19. axb3 d5 20. Qd2 Nxh3+ 21. gxh3 Qxh3 22. f4! and White just has time to organize a saving defense.

Black gets three pawns for the piece, but White’s active forces prove enough to save a vital half point.

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That was one long intermission, but the FIDE candidates tournament will resume April 19 after being shut down more than a year ago in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Organizers announced this week that the tournament to pick the next challenger for world champ Carlsen will start up again on that date in the city of Yekaterinburg, Russia.

When the clocks were stopped last March, U.S. hopeful GM Fabiano Caruana was in third place at the tournament’s midpoint, a point behind co-leaders GMs Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France. The eight-player, double round-robin event will — let’s hope — conclude by April 28.

The 14-game title match with Carlsen is set to be played starting Nov. 24 as part of the (also delayed) Expo 2020 Dubai world’s fair. It will be Carlsen’s fourth title defense match, including a hard-fought overtime victory over Caruana in 2018.

So-Carlsen, Game 1, Opera Euro Rapid Online Final, February 2021

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 e6 4. O-O Nge7 5. c3 a6 6. Ba4 b5 7. Bc2 Bb7 8. Re1 Rc8 9. a4 b4 10. d4 cxd4 11. cxd4 Ng6 12. Nbd2 Na5 13. g3 Be7 14. h4 Bxh4 15. gxh4 Nxh4 16. Nxh4 Qxh4 17. Re3 f5 18. Rg3 O-O 19. Nf3 Qh5 20. Ne5 Qxd1+ 21. Bxd1 d6 22. Nd3 fxe4 23. Nxb4 Nc4 24. a5 d5 25. Bg4 Rf6 26. Bg5 Rg6 27. Bh5 Rxg5 28. Rxg5 Black resigns.

So-Carlsen, Game 3, Opera Euro Rapid Online Final, February 2021

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3 a5 7. Re1 O-O 8. Nbd2 Ba7 9. Nf1 Be6 10. Bb5 Ne7 11. d4 c6 12. Bd3 Ng6 13. h3 Nh5 14. Be3 Nhf4 15. Bc2 Qc8 16. Bb3 exd4 17. Nxd4 Bxd4 18. Qxd4 Bxb3 19. axb3 d5 20. Qd2 Nxh3+ 21. gxh3 Qxh3 22. f4 Nh4 23. Nh2 dxe4 24. Qf2 Rfe8 25. Qf1 Qg3+ 26. Kh1 Nf5 27. Qg2 Qxg2+ 28. Kxg2 Nxe3+ 29. Rxe3 f5 30. Nf1 Red8 31. Ree1 Kf7 32. Red1 Kf6 33. Rxd8 Rxd8 34. Rxa5 g5 35. fxg5+ Kxg5 36. Kf2 h5 37. Ne3 b5 38. Nf1 h4 39. Ra7 Rh8 40. Rf7 h3 41. Ng3 h2 42. Rxf5+ Kg4 43. Rf6 h1=N+ 44. Nxh1 Rxh1 45. Rxc6 Kf4 46. Rf6+ Ke5 47. Rf8 Rh2+ 48. Ke3 Rxb2 49. b4 Rh2 50. Re8+ Kd5 51. Rd8+ Ke5 52. Re8+ Kd5 53. Rd8+ Ke5 54. Re8+ Draw agreed.

• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email at dsands@washingtontimes.com.