Carlsen at Thirteen

The game, move by move

A Classical Caro-Kann

1. 1. e4 King’s pawn
2. 1… c6 The Caro-Kann
3. 2. d4 The centre
4. 2… d5 d5, the point of c6
5. 3. Nc3 Developing
6. 3… dxe4 Taken
7. 4. Nxe4 Recaptured
8. 4… Bf5 The bishop out first The whole point of the Caro-Kann: the light-squared bishop gets out before the pawn chain shuts it in.
9. 5. Ng3 The knight to g3
10. 5… Bg6 The bishop to g6
11. 6. h4 h4 — the standard poke
12. 6… h6 h6, the standard answer
13. 7. Nf3 Developing
14. 7… Nd7 The knight to d7
15. 8. h5 h5, fixing the bishop It takes h7 as the bishop’s only square, and it leaves a white pawn on h5 that at the end walks to g6 and then to f7.
16. 8… Bh7 The bishop to h7
17. 9. Bd3 The bishop to d3, offering the trade
18. 9… Bxd3 Taken
19. 10. Qxd3 Recaptured with the queen
20. 10… e6 e6, solid
21. 11. Bf4 The bishop to f4
22. 11… Ngf6 The second knight out

Castling on opposite wings

1. 12. O-O-O White castles long
2. 12… Be7 The bishop to e7
3. 13. Ne4 The knight to e4
4. 13… Qa5 The queen to a5
5. 14. Kb1 Kb1, tucked away
6. 14… O-O Black castles — into it It is the natural move and it is the losing one: from here the king cannot leave the corner and none of his pieces can get to it.
7. 15. Nxf6+ The knights come off, with check
8. 15… Nxf6 Recaptured
9. 16. Ne5 The knight to e5 Aimed at g6 and f7. Six half-moves later it goes to g6 and is taken.
10. 16… Rad8 The rook to d8
11. 17. Qe2 The queen to e2
12. 17… c5 c5, on the other wing Black starts his own play. He gets three more moves.

Three pieces in five moves

1. 18. Ng6 The knight, on g6 The first of the three. Taking it is forced — everything else drops the queen or the house — and taking it opens the e-file onto the king.
2. 18… fxg6 Taken
3. 19. Qxe6+ The queen takes e6, with check
4. 19… Kh8 Kh8 — the only square
5. 20. hxg6 The pawn recaptures on g6 And a white pawn is now on g6, one square from f7 and one from promoting after that. It gets to f7.
6. 20… Ng8 The knight goes back to g8
7. 21. Bxh6 The bishop, on h6 The second piece. It cannot be declined: the threat is mate on h6 next move.
8. 21… gxh6 Taken
9. 22. Rxh6+ And the rook, on the same square The third. Also forced, also taken, and the knight that takes it is dragged to h6 where it does nothing at all.
10. 22… Nxh6 Taken
11. 23. Qxe7 The queen collects the bishop And now every black piece except a knight on h6 is on the queenside, and the king has nothing.
12. 23… Nf7 The knight comes back to f7

The king pushed to f7

1. 24. gxf7 The pawn takes it — on f7 The pawn that was on h5 twenty half-moves ago is now on f7, beside the king, defended by nothing and impossible to take.
2. 24… Kg7 Kg7
3. 25. Rd3 The rook lifts to d3
4. 25… Rd6 The rook to d6
5. 26. Rg3+ Check, from g3
6. 26… Rg6 The rook blocks on g6
7. 27. Qe5+ Check, from e5
8. 27… Kxf7 The king takes the pawn at last
9. 28. Qf5+ Check, from f5
10. 28… Rf6 The rook blocks again, on f6
11. 29. Qd7# Checkmate, on d7 The queen steps quietly to d7. She covers g7, e7, e6 and e8; the rook on g3 covers g7, g8 and g6; and f8 and f6 are Black’s own rooks, both of them dragged there one move at a time.