Loek van Wely v Magnus Carlsen

by John Lee Shaw

The 4 game match between Dutch GM Loek van Wely, and GM Magnus Carlsen of Norway proved to be as exciting and as interesting as was expected. It began on April 28th, with classical time control of 40 moves in 2 Hours, then 20 moves in 1 Hour. Thereafter, 15 minutes added to the clocks, with 30 second increment per move for the rest of the game.


Game 1: GM Loek Van Wely - GM Magnus Carlsen

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. b3 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Be7 7. Nc3 O-O 8. Rc1 c6 9. e4 d5 10. e5 Ne4 11. Bd3 Nxd2 "a new move, the game had been following Topalov-Ponomariov, Sofia 2005, which had continued 11...Bxc3 and been won by White." 12. Qxd2 Nd7 13. O-O Bb4 14. cxd5 "Probably White's most aggressive try, other moves not offering much of a plus." Bxc3 "This seems to lead to advantage for white, 14...Bxd3 15.Qxd3 cxd5 might have been slightly more equal." 15. Rxc3 Bxd3 16. Qxd3 cxd5 17. Rfc1 f6 18. Qe2 fxe5 19. dxe5 "Chess engines will go crazy at this move, dropping White's advantage considerably. However, whether van Wely chose wrongly here is a matter of argument, and I believe no. My reasoning for this, is down to principles: Firstly, it is said not to trade down when you are attacking or have a space advantage. Second, Black has the weak e6-pawn, so by means of dxe5 White keeps everything tidy for himself, while opening the d4-square for his knight. Compare this to 19.Nxe5 Nxe5 and now, re-capturing with the pawn is just positionally bad, and with the Queen, leaves White probably better, but whether this is anything telling is unclear at least to me. For this reason I believe van Wely chose the better option in maintaining pieces and flexibility."  Nc5 20. Nd4 Qe8
21. f3 a5 22. a3 "Qb5 was a good alternative, when if ...Qxb5, Nxb5 and the d6-square beckons. As in my comment to White's 19th, though, van Wely probably judged that maintaining pieces did more harm to Black than exchanging. It sure seems that from here Carlsen had few or no good options." Qg6 "One can not really call this bad, because there are not very many good options here, Black's position is very problematic. The biggest is activity, he is just not doing anything, no counterplay." 23. b4 "The beginning of a sequence over which White's decision at move 19 is demonstrated." axb4 24. axb4 Nd7 "Good knight vs bad knight." 25. Rc6 "and now penetration of the c-file attacking that weak e6-pawn." Rae8 26. Rd6 Rf7 27. Kg2 "Freeing the c1-rook for action, by removing check threats." h5 28. h4 Nf8 29. Rxb6 "with an undeniable winning advantage" Ra8 30. Qd2 Ra3 31. Rb8 Rd3 32. Qf2 Qh6 33. f4 Qg6 34. f5 Qh6 35. Rc2 Kh7 36. Re8 Rxd4 37. Qxd4 Rxf5 38. Rf2 Ng6 39. Rxf5 exf5 40. Rc8 f4 41. Qd3 "and Carlsen resigned, a nice start by van Wely!" 1-0


Game 2: GM Magnus Carlsen - GM Loek van Wely

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Bd3 Nf6 7.0-0 Bc5 8.Nb3 Be7 9.f4 d6 10.a4 Nc6 11.a5 b5 12.axb6 Qxb6+ 13.Kh1 0-0 14.Qe2 a5 "This appears to be a novelty. The game had been following Gross-Hellsten, Bundesliga 2000/1, which went 14...Nb4 instead and was won by White. I am not so certain about van Wely's alternative, because of the simple fact that it weakens the b5-square. Thus, after the inevitable Be3, should the Queen go to her natural c7, then what does black do upon Nb5? It seems that Carlsen wanted to know the answer to this question also." 15.Be3 Qc7 16.Nb5 Qb8 17.c3 "not the most adventurous, though it reinforces d4 and stops ...Nb4. N5d4 possibly kept up the initiative better." d5?! "If White's 17th move was an inaccuracy, this was certainly not the way to punish it. It is a poor move, and from here White does not look back. 17...a4 appears to be much better, liquidating after N3d4 Nxd4, with pretty much equality. Instead, van Wely found himself under pressure. A costly mis-calculation."  18.e5 Ne4 19.Bxe4 dxe4 20.Nc5 Bxc5 21.Bxc5 Ba6 22.c4 "played with more or less a winning advantage, and the b5-knight is to become a prized piece." Rd8 23.Nd6 f5 24.exf6 Rxd6 25.Qxe4! "Precision. To have snatched up the rook offering was good for a substantial edge, but Carlsen plays the best continuation, getting a pawn in the bargain." Bb7 26.Bxd6 Qxd6 27.Rad1 Nd8 28.f7+! "And again, precision. White refuses the temptation of Qxh7+ in order to keep the queens on and maintain maximum pressure. Carlsen's finish to the game is clinical." Kxf7 29.Qxh7 Qc6 30.Rf2 Qe4 31.f5 e5 32.Rfd2 Bc6 33.Qg6+ Ke7 34.Rd7+! "and here van Wely resigned. You will notice that upon Bxd7, f6+ wins the black queen. Beautiful play by Carlsen to level the match!" 1-0


Game 3: GM Loek Van Wely - GM Magnus Carlsen

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7 7.Nc3 c6 "Carlsen varies from game 1, in which he castled" 8.e4 d5 9.Qc2 dxe4 10.Nxe4 c5 11.Bc3 "this appears to be a new invention." Bb7 12.Bd3 cxd4 13.Nxd4 Na6 "in most cases it is unwise to develop knights to the edge of the board; however, in this case breaking the rule is acceptable due to the knight's targeting of the c5-square. Black, here, has done very well out of the opening, with very few problems and equality." 14.Nxf6+ Bxf6 15.Be4 "the b7-bishop is extremely potent along the long diagonal, especially due to White's earlier g3. It makes sense for van Wely to wish an exchange of these pieces." Bxe4 16.Qxe4 0-0 "...Nc5, appearing to gain time on the White Queen, is nicely met by Qc6+, with an actual gain of time for White. Thus, with the position opening up, Carlsen gets his king to safety." 17.Rd1 Nc5 18.Qf3 Qc7 19.0-0 Qb7 "...a6 was an option, also, maintaining queens." 20.Qxb7 Nxb7 21.Bb4 Rfc8 "This move perhaps looks a bit strange, but is more neutralising than ...Rfd8 for example, when White would have Nc6." 22.Rd2 a5 23.Ba3 a4 24.Nb5 axb3 25.axb3 Nc5 26.Rb1 Ne4 27.Rd7 h5 28.Bc1 "f3 was a worthwhile consideration as an alternative." Rd8 29.Rxd8+ Rxd8 30.Be3 Nd2 31.Bxd2 "by far the best choice" Rxd2 32.h4 Kh7 33.Kf1 Kg6 34.Kg2 Be7 35.Nc3 Kf5 36.Na4 Bf6 "or ...Bb4 was good also. Something appears to have gone a bit wrong for White, here, as Black seems to have become very active. From here things get extremely tense, with the greatest precision required by both players." 37.Nxb6 Bd4 38.Nc8 Kg4 39.Rf1 Bc5 40.b4 Bxb4 41.Nb6 Bc5 42.Na4 Bd4 43.c5 Rc2 44.c6 e5 45.c7 e4 46.Rd1 Rxf2+ 47.Kh1 Kh3 48.c8Q+ "chess is an amazing game -- White promotes, but Black has an apparent winning advantage!" f5 49.Kg1 Rc2+ 50.Rxd4 Rxc8 51.Rd7 Kxg3 52.Rxg7+ Kf3 "Here, Carlsen could probably have sealed the game with ...Kxh4. Why he refused the pawn I have no idea, but possibly the clock played its part. To me it looks a safe capture." 53.Nb6 Rc1+ 54.Kh2 e3 55.Nd5 f4 56.Rf7 Rc2+ 57.Kh3 Rc4 58.Nxe3 Kxe3 59.Ra7 Rc3 60.Ra2 Ke4+ "possibly Rc1 was more to the point." 61.Kh2 Kf3 62.Kh3 Re3 63.Rb2 Re1 64.Rb3+ Kf2 65.Rb2+ Kf1 66.Rb5 Re3+ 67.Kh2 Re2+ 68.Kh3 Re3+ 69.Kh2 f3 70.Rxh5 f2 71.Rf5 Ke1 72.Kg2 Re2 73.Kg3 f1Q "amazingly, this leads to a forced draw, as you will see." 74.Rxf1+ Kxf1 75.Kg4 Kf2 76.h5 Ke3 77.Kf5 Rf2+ 78.Kg6 Rg2+ 79.Kf6 Rh2 80.Kg6 Ke4 81.h6 Ke5 82.h7 Ke6 83.Kg7 Ke7 84.h8Q Rg2+ 85.Kh6 Rh2+ 86.Kg7 Rxh8 87.Kxh8 "and obviously, here the point was shared. A really exciting game in my opinion, played by two of the top players in the world and absolutely on the edge." ½-½


Game 4: GM Magnus Carlsen - GM Loek van Wely

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 "So, van Wely employs the Sveshnikov instead of the Paulsen he used in game 2 -- a psychological point for Carlsen...?" 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Nd5 Be7 10.Bxf6 Bxf6 11.c3 Bg5 12.Nc2 0-0 13.a4 bxa4 14.Rxa4 a5 15.Bc4 Rb8 16.Ra2 Kh8 17.Nce3 Bxe3 "and it seems that it is here that we leave theory (yes, it goes a long way in chess these days!) as this move appears new." 18.Nxe3 Ne7 "with apparent equality" 19.b3 f5 20.exf5 Nxf5 "black is doing fine here" 21.Nxf5 "possibly Nd5 was slightly better" Bxf5 22.0-0 Be4 "threatening both ...d5 and ...Qg5, so practically forcing White's next." 23.Bd5 "very little option -- a move such as Rd2?! for example is no deterrent to ...Qg5. g3 allows ...Bf3 and f3 gives ...Rxf3!" Bxd5 24.Qxd5 Qc7 "Things already look quite drawish here, neither side has anything. To give credit to the players, they do play on here, but it is pretty much going through the motions." 25.Rxa5 Rxb3 26.c4 h6 27.Ra6 Rb6 28.Rfa1 Qb8 29.h3 Rxa6 30.Rxa6 Qb2 31.f3 Qc1+ 32.Kf2 Rb8 33.Ra8 Qc2+ 34.Kg3 Qg6+ 35.Kh2 Rxa8 36.Qxa8+ Kh7 37.Qd5 Qf6 38.Kg3 Qg6+ 39.Kf2 Qc2+ 40.Kg3 "and here they agreed a draw. A very quiet game in contrast to the first 3." ½-½

Score after 4 Classical games, van Wely 2:2 Carlsen


Possibly the players wanted to give the spectators some value for money, as it then came down to tie-break games. These took the form of 5 minute games with 2 seconds per move increment. I suppose factors balance themselves out in respect to the different ages. The younger player will arguably have better concentration, faster calculation speed, and stamina, while the older player would have the better experience. The change in format gave a very interesting change in fortunes, as van Wely scored only half a point in the 4 games. van Wely played two English openings with White, losing the first and drawing the second. Carlsen opened his first White game 1.b3, and won it. His second white game was a Sicilian Paulsen, which he also won.

Apparently it was not just the change in time control that upset van Wely -- Dutch newspaper 'Algemeen Dagblad' has him quoted as saying that he finds Carlsen "irritating" in some of his mannerisms during play. "Magnus has the right qualities to get very far, he is irritating without embarrassment, and not nervous. [translated from Dutch]" Said van Wely, who objected even to how Carlsen was seated on his chair. Certainly the young Norwegian rarely keeps still at the board, I had the opportunity to witness this first-hand at this year's Wijk aan Zee. He goes through a variety of postures and expressions, one minute bobbing up and down in his seat like he has ants in his pants, and the next like he's asleep. I must say, however, that I do not think Carlsen does this out of unsportsmanlike conduct, or to psych out his opponent, I think he genuinely has alot of energy, and is extremely motivated and pumped up in his game. Frankly, I find a few of van Wely's comments a little bit disappointing, personally. Mind you, I guess that you could say that drawing a testing 4 game match, then bombing the tie-break, is a bad day, so perhaps Loek was not at his best when he made his comments.

As for Magnus Carlsen, one must admire what he can produce on an 8x8 board. Garry Kasparov, upon retiring named him among his possible successors in the dominance of chess. Certainly, as a fifteen year old, possibly not yet in his chess maturity, he is very capable of being very special indeed.