SANDS: Caruana’s Sinquefield chess win ranks as one for the ages

It ranked a tournament performance for the ages, and that was with three rounds still to go.

Italian-American GM Fabiano Caruana opened with seven straight wins to blow away the field at the Sinquefield Cup tournament that wrapped up last week in St. Louis. In a six-player, Category 23 field that included Norwegian world champion Magnus Carlsen and American No. 1 Hikaru Nakamura, Caruana coasted home with three draws to finish at a stunning 8½-1½ — a full three points ahead of Carlsen.

Caruana’s amazing run against a world-class field, which earned him 35 rating points and leaves him trailing Carlsen by just 27 points for the top rating slot, sparked comparisons to storied tournament performances of the past, including Bobby Fischer’s 11-0 whitewash in the 1963-1964 U.S. championship and Russian star Anatoly Karpov’s brilliant 11-2 run at the fabled 1994 Linares tournament in Spain, considered by some the greatest tournament result in history before the Sinquefield.

The Miami-born Caruana, at 22 a year younger than Carlsen, has long been considered one of the world’s top players, but the Sinquefield result makes him an undeniable contender for the Norwegian’s crown in the coming years. Even his fellow competitors were in awe of his play in St. Louis, a combination of strong preparation, accurate calculation and iron nerves that produced one brilliant win after another. (The winner could even have padded his score, missing a Round 9 win against Nakamura.) Joked veteran Bulgarian GM Veselin Topalov, a surprise third-place finisher with a 5-5 score: “I was plus-two against regular guys, but I lost two to Fabiano. That shouldn’t count really.”

Caruana narrowed his career deficit against Carlsen in classical chess to 5-4 with an amazing Round 3 win against the champ. Carlsen can be deadly in quiet positional squeezes but is nowhere near as dominant in the kind of open, crazily tactical battle that develops here. The Italian reacts well as Black to White’s unusual Bishop’s Opening, and it is Carlsen forced to take the early gamble after 12. 0-0 Nh5! (Caruana thought White may have underestimated this idea, which proves awkward to meet) 13. h3 Nxg3 14. fxg3 Nc5 15. Bxf7+!? Kxf7! (Qxf7? 16. Nxe5 Qe6 17. Qh5+ Ke7 18. Ng6+ and wins) 16. Nxe5+, setting off some crazy complications.

Both sides walk a tactical tightrope before White missteps: 24. e5+?! (GM Varuzhan Akobian, writing on Chessbase.com, recommends 24. Nf7!? Rxf7 25. e5+ g6 26. Rf1, with just a slight edge for Black) Kxh8 25. e6 Bb6+ 26. Kh1 Qg4 27. Qd6 (Re1 Rxf3! 28. Qxf3 [gxf3 Qh3 mate] Qh4+ 29. Qh3 Qxe1 and wins) Rd8 28. Qe5 (e7 Rxd6 29. e8=Q+ Kh7 is better for Black) Rd5!, and suddenly the Black mating attack has grown quite menacing.

A last White slip ends the game — 30. e7 Qh5+ 31. Nh2? (losing, but Black was also for choice after 31. Qh2 Qe8 32. g4 [Black threatened 32…Rh5] Rd7 33. Re1 Rxe7 34. Rxe7 Qxe7) Rd1+! 32. Rxd1 Qxd1+ 33. Nf1 Qxf1+ 34. Kh2 Qg1+, and Carlsen resigns as the dangerous e-pawn is pocketed after 35. Kh3 Qe3+ 36. Kh2 Qxe7.

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Caruana opened the tournament with a win over Topalov and opened the second half of the double round-robin event with a second win over the same opponent. The Bulgarian walks into some nasty opening preparation from his opponent in a sharp Najdorf line after 12. Na4 Qa5 13. Re2! (a move Caruana found for a game earlier this year) h5?! 14. Qf4 g5 15. Bd2! Qc7 (given how White was playing, safer would have been a queen trade here) 16. Qg3 h4 17. Qg4 Rg8? (more logical and active was 17…h3, trying to open more lines) 18. Rae1, and White has all the play while Black’s pawn moves have left his king position severely compromised.

White breaks through powerfully with a fine piece sacrifice: 22. Bc3 Nb8 23. Re3! (a grandmasterly idea — the rook will find attacking lines along the third rank) Nc6? (see diagram; Black fails to spot White’s idea) 24. Bxe6! fxe6 25. Rf3+ Ke8 (Kg7 26. Qh5 Rdf8 27. Rf6! blows up Black’s defenses) 26. Qxe6 Rg7 27. Qh6 Nd4 28. e6!, and the Black king is caught in a mating box.

It’s over on 28…Nxf3+ 29. gxf3 Bf8 30. Qh5+ Ke7 31. Bxg7, when 31…Bxg7 32. Qf7+ Kd6 33. e7 is crushing; Topalov resigned.

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The chess world avoided a potentially nasty fight when Carlsen announced shortly after the end of the tournament that he had formally signed the contract to play his world title rematch against former champion Viswanathan Anand of India. The Carlsen camp had made noises about seeking a postponement or cancellation of the match, citing unhappiness with the preparations, but apparently has come to terms with FIDE officials.

Carlsen-Anand II will take place in Sochi, Russia from Nov. 7 to Nov. 28. Carlsen handily defeated Anand last November to win the crown, and should be a strong favorite in the rematch.

Carlsen-Caruana, Sinquefield Cup, St. Louis, August 2014

1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d3 c6 4. Nf3 d5 5. Bb3 Bb4+ 6. c3 Bd6 7. Bg5 dxe4 8. dxe4 h6 9. Bh4 Qe7 10. Nbd2 Nbd7 11. Bg3 Bc7 12. O-O Nh5 13. h3 Nxg3 14. fxg3 Nc5 15. Bxf7+ Kxf7 16. Nxe5+ Kg8 17. Ng6 Qg5 18. Rf8+ Kh7 19. Nxh8 Bg4 20. Qf1 Nd3 21. Qxd3 Rxf8 22. hxg4 Qxg4 23. Nf3 Qxg3 24. e5+ Kxh8 25. e6 Bb6+ 26. Kh1 Qg4 27. Qd6 Rd8 28. Qe5 Rd5 29. Qb8+ Kh7 30. e7 Qh5+ 31. Nh2 Rd1+ 32. Rxd1 Qxd1+ 33. Nf1 Qxf1+ 34. Kh2 Qg1+ White resigns.

Caruana-Topalov, Sinquefield Cup, St. Louis, August 2014

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bd3 d5 8. O-O Nf6 9. Re1 Be7 10. e5 Nd7 11. Qg4 Kf8 12. Na4 Qa5 13. Re2 h5 14. Qf4 g5 15. Bd2 Qc7 16. Qg3 h4 17. Qg4 Rg8 18. Rae1 c5 19. c4 dxc4 20. Bxc4 Bb7 21. h3 Rd8 22. Bc3 Nb8 23. Re3 Nc6 24. Bxe6 fxe6 25. Rf3+ Ke8 26. Qxe6 Rg7 27. Qh6 Nd4 28. e6 Nxf3+ 29. gxf3 Bf8 30. Qh5+ Ke7 31. Bxg7 Black resigns.

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