Quick thinking: Caruana aces rapid playoff to capture Superbet Romania chess title

​If he could have played this well this fast before, he might well have won it all.

At 31, GM Fabiano Caruana is in danger of going down as this generation’s greatest chessplayer never to have captured the world title, a title many think he richly deserves.

Most famously, the Brooklyn-reared Italian-American grandmaster went toe to toe with longtime Norwegian world champ Magnus Carlsen in their epic 2018 title match. In a record few would like to see repeated, the two drew all 12 of their games at classical time controls, as Caruana missed several chances to break through and score a win.

It was a different story in the rapid playoff to determine the winner, with Carlsen showing his clear superiority at the faster time control by winning three straight games and the match. Caruana has come frustratingly close to qualifying for another shot at the title, even as he remains the planet’s third-highest-rated player (behind Carlsen and great American rival GM Hikaru Nakamura) and even as he racks up some of the biggest tournament wins of any player on the elite circuit in recent years.

He was at it again, taking first on tiebreaks at the Superbet Romania Chess Classic in Bucharest last week over a world-class field. Even more impressive is how he did it: After a painful last-round loss to Dutch GM Anish Giri, Caruana blitzed — literally and figuratively — through the four-GM rapid (Game 10/5) playoff, going a perfect 3-0 against three up-and-coming rivals to claim the trophy. Reports that the American star falters at the faster time controls may have to be re-evaluated.

Most impressive was his playoff win over Iranian-born French star GM Alireza Firouzja, an English Opening in which Caruana as White builds up a winning position with some stellar tactics, nearly loses the point as Firouzja digs in the ending, and finds the winning move just at the last moment for victory.

White finds a nice tactical one-two combination just as the center opens up: 16. Ne4 Nc6? (not suspecting what’s coming; Black is still fine after 16…f5 17. Nc5 Bxg2 18. Kxg2 Qd5+ 19. Kg1 Rad8) 17. Bf6! gxf6 (White just wins a pawn on 17…Qd7 18. Nc5 Qf5 19. Qxd5 Qxd5 20. Bxd5 gxf6 21. Nxb7) 18. Qxd5! (cleverly exploiting the knight fork on f6) Qe7 19. Rac1 Rad8 20. Qf5 Kg7 21. Rxc6! 21. bxa6 22. Qxa5, and White’s two minor pieces will prove clearly superior to Black’s rook.

Black continues to fight and Caruana makes it harder on himself after 40. g5! Kd7 (hxg5 41. h6 Kd7 42. h7 Rb8 34. Nh6 Ke6 44. Ng8 and wins) 41. Nxh6 Ke6 42. Bf5+ Ke7 43. Ng4 a5 44.h6 a4 45. h7 Rb8, when now simply 46. Nxe5 (instead of the game’s 46. Nf6?!) Ra8 (a3 47. Nc6+) 47. Bb1 Ke6 48. Kf4 a3 49. Ba2+ is a straightforward win.

It comes down to White’s knight and three pawns against Black’s lone rook, but the engines say Black may hold with perfect play. One last mistake seals Black’s fate, as Caruana spots just the pawn sacrifice that leads to victory: 72. Kh5 Ra6? (looks logical, but Black’s saving resource was 72…Rc5 72. Ne8+ Kxh7 74. g6+ Kg8, and the Black fortress can’t be breached) 73. Nd7! Kxh7 74. f6 Ra5 75. f7 Rf5 76. f8=Q Rxg5+ 77. Kh4! (not falling for 77. Kxg5 stalemate) Rh5+ 78. Kg4! — Black’s bag of tricks is empty and Firouzja resigned.

—-

The just-concluded 52nd World Open, Philadelphia’s traditional Fourth of July week chess jamboree, produced something familiar — dramatic last-round battles for the top prize — and something relatively rare — a clear winner in GM Awonder Liang, who finished alone in first with an impressive 8-1 score.

After an upset loss to Illinois IM Sam Schmakel in Round 3, the 21-year-old Wisconsin GM ran off six straight wins to claim the $20,500 top prize, capped by a fine win over British veteran GM Luke McShane in Sunday’s ninth and final round.

In a Ruy Lopez Steinitz Deferred (4…d6), Black’s 10. Bc2 Nh5?! is an early attempt to get the kingside play rolling, and McShane is willing to shed a pawn or two along the way to keep his initiative alive.

But Liang plays strongly on both sides of the board in this classic Ruy battle, with 17. a4! Rd8!? (leaving the b-pawn hung out to dry, but White also gets good pressure on 17…Rb8 18. axb5 axb5 19. Nxe5 dxe5 20. Bc5 Rg8 21. bb3 Be6 22. Ra6) 18. axb5 axb5 19. Bd3 g5?! (fixated on his plan, but tougher was 19…Rb8 20. Bxe5+ Nxe5 21. Nxe5 dxe5 22. Ra7 Qe7, indirectly holding the c-pawn as 23. Rxc7?! Qd6! is a nice double attack) 20. Bxb5 Nxd4 21. cxd4 Bxb5 22. dxe5 dxe5 23. Qc2, and Black’s burden trying to defend his weak points has only grown.

In a tough position, one inaccuracy can prove fatal, and that’s what happens here: 26. Ra7 Bd7? (Rd7 27. Qa5 Qd8 was the last realistic hope of holding the position; Liang closes out the game with a real tactical flair) 27. Rd1 Rf7 28. Nc4 Rc8 (see diagram) 29. Nd6! (the triple fork is obvious, but White’s next move is the real killer) Rxc7 30. Rxc7!! (and obviously not 30. Nxe8 Rxa7 and Black wins), leaving the Black queen on the board to build up a killer array of attackers.

It’s over on 30…Qa8 (Ba4 31. Nxf7+ Qxf7 32. Rxf7 Bxd1 33. Re7, winning) 31. Nxf7+ Kg8 32. Rcxd7! (and, again, not 32. Rdxd7?? Qa1+ and Black mates in a few) Qxe4 (no better was 32…Qc6 33. N7g5 h6 34. Rd8+ Kg7 35. R1d7+ Kf6 36. Nh7+ Ke6 37. Nf8+ Kf6 38. Rd6+ and wins) Rc7. The rampaging rooks will not be denied, but McShane sportingly plays it out to the end with 33…Qe2 34. Nh6+ Nxh6 35. Rd8 mate.

(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)

Caruana-Firouzja, Rapid Playoff, Superbet Romania Chess Classic, Bucharest, July 2024

1. c4 e5 2. d3 Bb4+ 3. Nd2 c5 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. g3 d6 6. Bg2 Nge7 7. O-O Ba5 8. b3 O-O 9. Bb2 h6 10. e3 Be6 11. d4 exd4 12. exd4 cxd4 13. Nxd4 Nxd4 14. Bxd4 d5 15. cxd5 Bxd5 16. Ne4 Nc6 17. Bf6 gxf6 18. Qxd5 Qe7 19. Rac1 Rad8 20. Qf5 Kg7 21. Rxc6 bxc6 22. Qxa5 Rd5 23. Qc3 Rfd8 24. g4 Qe5 25. Qxe5 fxe5 26. Bf3 Ra5 27. Rc1 Rxa2 28. Rxc6 Rb2 29. Kg2 Rxb3 30. Ng3 Rb6 31. Rc7 a6 32. Nf5+ Kf8 33. Ra7 Rf6 34. Be4 Rg6 35. Kf3 Rb6 36. h4 Ke8 37. h5 Rd7 38. Ra8+ Rd8 39. Rxd8+ Kxd8 40. g5 Kd7 41. Nxh6 Ke6 42. Bf5+ Ke7 43. Ng4 a5 44. h6 a4 45. h7 Rb8 46. Nf6 Rh8 47. Bb1 a3 48. Ke4 Kf8 49. Kxe5 Kg7 50. Nh5+ Kf8 51. Nf6 Kg7 52. Ba2 Rb8 53. f4 Rc8 54. Kd4 Rc2 55. Bxf7 a2 56. Bxa2 Rxa2 57. Ke4 Ra4+ 58. Kf5 Ra5+ 59. Kg4 Ra6 60. Kh5 Rc6 61. f5 Ra6 62. Kg4 Rc6 63. Kf4 Ra6 64. Ke5 Ra5+ 65. Ke6 Ra6+ 66. Ke7 Ra7+ 67. Ke6 Ra6+ 68. Ke5 Ra5+ 69. Kf4 Ra4+ 70. Kg3 Ra6 71. Kg4 Rc6 72. Kh5 Ra6 73. Nd7 Kxh7 74. f6 Ra5 75. f7 Rf5 76. f8=Q Rxg5+ 77. Kh4 Rh5+ 78. Kg4 1-0.

Liang-McShane, 52nd World Open, Philadelphia, July 2024

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. O-O Bd7 6. c3 g6 7. d4 Bg7 8. h3 Nf6 9. Re1 O-O 10. Bc2 Nh5 11. Be3 Kh8 12. Nbd2 Qe8 13. Nc4 b5 14. Ncd2 f5 15. dxe5 f4 16. Bd4 Bxe5 17. a4 Rd8 18. axb5 axb5 19. Bd3 g5 20. Bxb5 Nxd4 21. cxd4 Bxb5 22. dxe5 dxe5 23. Qc2 Nf6 24. Qxc7 g4 25. hxg4 Nxg4 26. Ra7 Bd7 27. Rd1 Rf7 28. Nc4 Rc8 29. Nd6 Rxc7 30. Rxc7 Qa8 31. Nxf7+ Kg8 32. Rcxd7 Qxe4 33. Rc7 Qe2 34. Nh6+ Nxh6 35. Rd8 mate.

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