[Peace]

Tactically, no (apart from pin of Nc6, which is not really that much of a threat). Positionally - yes. Notice how, for example, after move 13 White is already pressuring weak backwards d7 pawn. This pawn will be a parmenent weakness in Black's position - and the only way to get rid of is to play d5 (which is what Black did). But after d5 is played, Bg2 immediately start to shine - it has Pd5 on the line of fire and it could very easily target Nc6 or Ra8 is the pawn moves. Carlsen further isolates the pawn by playing 15.Bxc5, transforming poor Pd5 into an isolated pawn - an even easier target.

It do not work.

< agb2002: Can't believe Carlsen missed 38.Nd7+ Qxd7 39.Qc5+. >

Yes it may be true there were faster wins, BUT.. in all fairness to Magnus, when we are playing rapid or blitz games, or even classical with time running low, when we see a winning line, we play it! Even if it is not the fastest winning line, it is the one WE SEE, and probably see FIRST, and if it wins, we play it! But even if there is a faster win, the bottom line is, the one we see IS STILL WINNING!

9 dxc5 exchanges the central d pawn for the less valuable b6 pawn

On 10...Qb6 White will pin the c pawn by Be3 and then turn the c5 pawn into a target eg by b4. One alternative is 10...Bb7

Instead of 12...Rfc8, 12...Rac8 removes the rook from the long diagonal and prepares the move ..Nd4 obstructing White's QB

After 14...exd5 White's bishop pair makes the hanging pawns less of a weapon and more of a target

20 Qe3?! may give Black a chance to escape. Instead of 20....Qb7, 20...Qxe3 21 fxe3 Nd8! prepares to obstruct White's bishop on h3 by ...Ne6 and now the move 20 Qe3 begins to look like an error.

On the other hand if you are very short on time and winning as was the case here then checks are a good way to eat up the moves (you look at them first.) also a no harm done quick flick of the wrist trap.

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Like 38.Qc5 (and if you see that then you see 38.Nd7+)

Just surprised (though not flabbergasted) that Carlsen missed 38.Nd7+ it looks like that is what he was playing for with 37.Bh7+.

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Hi Ulhumbrus,

Notes and ideas are good but much better with an accompanying diagram. (the feature is here. click on b8 and copy the fen.)

This bit with a diagram added: (White has just played 20.Qe3)

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"20 Qe3?! may give Black a chance to escape. Instead of 20....Qb7, 20...Qxe3 21 fxe3 Nd8! prepares to obstruct White's bishop on h3 by ...Ne6 and now the move 20 Qe3 begins to look like an error."

Reads so much better and the note will get read. With no diagram you are expecting the reader to scroll up to the diagram, remember it, then scroll down to read your note.

Most of them here cannot even remember what thread they are on (guilty) so you can forget about them storing a position in their head.

I am beginning to suspect you are not at all familiar with Navy Tactics. (I rarely think about anything else.)

The WWII convoys crossing the Atlantic from America. The speed of the convoy was always the speed of the slowest ship.

You must always write with your weakest reader in mind.

Hmmm.......this bit.

"Carlsen plays the final attack in an unhurried way that brings Lasker to mind."

I cannot recall Lasker missing any shots like 38.Nd7+ though no doubt someone will find one.

'unhurried' Apparently Carlsen was in sever TT that is why 38.Nd7+ was missed.

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Hi Ohio,

"If you have to play a Knight into a corner, you might as well resign."

There is always an exception in chess.

V. Milfort vs. C.Vladimir, Czech Open 2008.

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There is always an exception in chess.>

If you have to play a Knight into a corner, you might as well resign.>

FWIW: A properly mixed martini, with top shelf liquor, is actually pleasing to the palate...as a starter, use Vodka, not gin

Your fulsome explanation is illuminating -- specifically with regard to Black's need to play . . . d5, and, more broadly, as an insightful and wholesome reminder of the abiding need to exploit backwards pawns if they be one's opponent's, and to mitigate their ill-effects if they be one's own. I had apprehended the value of controlling the a8-h1 diagonal, with . . . Nc6 or . . . Ra8 as potential targets, and I had anticipated 21. Bh3 as an exertion of direct pressure on . . . Rc8, backed by Rc1, but your thematic précis on the infiltrative susceptibility of c-file is fecund and lucid, and brings rigor and order to some amorphous and nebulous impressions that had begun to form for me during the Candidates Tournament. Viewing Bg2 through the lens of c-file infiltration-and-defense is a real eye-opener for me, and helps me to see much more clearly the implications of its placement and stationing in the salient long before its eventual and well-nigh inevitable deployment.

greetings!

< Just surprised ..Carlsen missed 38.Nd7+ it looks like that is what he was playing for with 37.Bh7+. >