Carlsen’s special brew

Magnus Carlsen has added another trophy to his cabinet by taking the honours at the Grenke tournament in Baden Baden, Germany. As at Wijk aan Zee, the world champion had to surmount an early loss with Black, on this occasion against his chief rival for glory, the German grandmaster Arkadij Naiditsch. But Carlsen clawed his way back to a share of the lead and finally emerged triumphant after a closely fought tie-break playoff.
 
A key moment of Carlsen’s fightback came in this tense position against former champion Anand. Here Anand appears to have a powerful attack, but Carlsen broke the back of his offensive with a stunning counter-coup.
 
Anand-Carlsen: Grenke Chess Classic, Baden Baden 2015 (see diagram 1)
 
33 … Qd1+ 34 Qxd1 Kxg6 Black’s king is now completely safe and White has no answer to the advance of the black a-pawn. 35 Qd3+ Kh6 36 h4 gxh3 White resigns
 
Carlsen concluded matters in his favour by narrowly defeating Naiditsch in the final five game shootout, conducted under rapid play conditions.
 
Carlsen-Naiditsch: Grenke Chess Classic Play-off, Baden Baden 2015 (see diagram 2)
 
White is a pawn ahead and there isn’t much wrong with 16 Nd5. Carlsen instead opts for an exchange sacrifice in order to dominate the light squares. 16 Qe2 Bc4 17 Qf3 Bxf1 18 Bxf1 d5 Concerned that he may soon be suffocated if White acquires total control of d5, Black makes a desperate break for freedom. However, this jettisons far too much material. 18 … Rbc8 or 18 … Qc5 were better. 19 exd5 e4 This is also wrong as it allows the white bishop into the game. A more effective follow-up is 19 … Bb4 but after 20 Bd2 Rbd8 21 Rd1 White has an excellent position. 20 Qf5 Rbd8 21 Bf4 Qc5 22 Rd1 Qb4 23 Be5 Bc5 Clearly this is rather desperate but Black no longer has any good moves. 24 Bxf6 gxf6 25 Nxe4 Qxb2 26 Bd3 This wins but it is a little surprising Carlsen didn’t play 26 Nxf6+ when 26 … Kg7 27 Qxh7+ Kxf6 28 Qh6+ leads to a quick mate. 26 … Rfe8 27 Nxf6+ Kf8 28 Nxh7+ Ke7 29 Re1+ Kd6 30 Qf4+ Kxd5 31 Nf6+ Kc6 32 Nxe8 Black resigns
 
Meanwhile, the elite circuit continued with a powerful tournament at Zurich, this time preceded by a fast chess event. Carlsen was absent from Zurich but with a field which further included Aronian, Nakamura, Kramnik, Caruana and Karjakin, this will certainly emerge as one of the highlights of the year. The puzzle this week sees a dramatic conclusion to a clash between two former world champions.