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Fabiano Caruana vs Alireza Firouzja
World Championship Candidates (2022), Madrid ESP, rd 14, Jul-04
Spanish Game: Berlin Defense (C65)  ·  0-1

ANALYSIS [x]

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Kibitzer's Corner
Jul-04-22  ILikeKeres: What a mess. 37. f4 ?? runs into 37...Bxf4

Caruana may need to go back and practice endgames instead of openings. Firouzja is lucky to have won this one.

Exhaustion was definitely a factor here. I miss the unstoppable 2014-2018 Caruana.

Jul-05-22  ndg2: This game indeed speaks more against Caruana than for Firouzja. For example 19..f5 gives away black's already visible advantage which could have been cemented with 19..g5.
Jul-05-22  Ulhumbrus: 5 Bxc6 concedes the bishop pair after which White has to look for compensation for it. According to Euwe in one position the move c3 gains the advantage for White. Whereas White's c pawn is free to advance, Black's c pawn is obstructed by his queen's knight.

Instead of 18...a5, 18..Nb7 heads for d6 with perhaps ...c5 to follow, and at the right moment Black can start gaining ground by ...f5.

Having conceded the bishop pair White has to struggle to find compensation for it whereas Black needs to do nothng but defend against any threats before completing his development.

19...f5 returns the bishop pair and isolates the e pawn. Black does not need to make these concessions. Instead of this Black can complete his development and prepare ..f5 at his leisure, and leave it up to White to find compensation for thr bishop pair - if he can.

32 Qd3 is a concession which White does not want to have to make. The middle game with queens on favours his knight whereas in the ending Black's bishop will become the more powerful piece. This suggests that White is in some trouble already.

The endgame favours Black. The computer evaluations suggested that both players made mistakes but that Caruana made the last mistake. The commentators and the computer evaluations and analysis indicated that 60 Ne4? was the last mistake. It makes a target of the knight instead of a weapon after 60...Rh3+ 62 Kc3 Rh4.

Jul-06-22  fisayo123: Well, the field is a bit stronger now than in 2014-2018
Jul-06-22  Saniyat24: 60.Ne4...the final blow that costs Fabi the game...nice recap by agadmator... https://youtu.be/DPQWvuct2j4
Jul-07-22  cormier: -0.33 34. Kg2 Rxh4 35. Kg3 Rh5 36. Kg4 Rxh2 37. Kg3 Rh6 38. bxa4 Bd6+ 39. f4 Kg8 40. Rc3 c5 41. Rc4 g6 42. Kg4 Rh2 43. Kg3 Rh5 44. Kg4 Rf5 45. Nf3 Kg7 46. Re4 Rf8 47. c3 Rff5 48. Rfe1 Rh8 49. Rf1 Rb8 50. Nh4 Kf6 51. Rfe1

-0.69 34. f3 Rxh4 35. bxa4 Bd6 36. f4 Re8 37. Nf7+ Kg8 38. Ne5 c5 39. Re3 Rb8 40. Ng6 Rh5 41. Ne7+ Kh7 42. Nc6 Rb6 43. Nxa5 Rb4 44. Nc6 Rc4 45. Re2 Rxa4 46. f5 Rah4 47. Rff2 c4 48. Nd8 Rd4 49. Ne6 Rd5 50. Re4 Bxh2 51. Kg2 Bd6 52. f6 gxf6 53. Rxc4 Rd1 54. Nxc7 Kg6

-0.84 34. Nh3 Rxh4 35. bxa4 Rc4 36. Rd7 Bd6 37. f4 Rxc2 38. Rg1 Rg8 39. Rg4 Kh7 40. Ng5+ Kg6 41. Nf7+ Kf5 42. Nh6+ gxh6 43. Rxg8 c5 44. Rg2 Rc4 45. Re2 Rxa4 46. Kg2 Rxf4 47. Rd8 Rb4 48. Ra8 a4 49. Ra2 Ke4 50. Kf1 c4 51. Ke2 c3 52. R2xa4

-1.56 34. bxa4 Bd6

Stockfish 15, 30 sec, depth 32

Jul-08-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  al wazir: 64. Nd3 Rxd3+ 65. Kxd3 a3 66. Rxe5+ Kxe5 67. Kc2 a2 68. Kb2 Kd4 69. Kxa2 Kc3 70. Kb1 Kd2 71. Kb2 c4.

If 66. Rf2, then 66...c4+ 67. Ke3 (67. Kc2/Kd2/Ke2 a2) Bd4+.

Nov-12-22  tbontb: A difficult game to analyse. The position was dynamically equal for a long time until the unconventional b5 resolved into an ending where Black Firouzja always had the advantage with B against N. Caruana White defended doggedly but finally 60. Ne4 (better Nf3) was a definite error losing more material.

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