Magnus Carlsen vs Judit Polgár - 2014 World Blitz Chess Championship

Featured is the last official game between Magnus Carlsen and Judit Polgár from the 2014 World Blitz Chess Championship. Carlsen was on fire throughout 2014, winning the blitz, rapid, and classical world titles in addition to reaching the highest ever classical rating of 2882. Their game is a King's Indian Defense with Carlsen opting for the Sämisch variation (5. f3). Throughout this 39-move encounter, the center remained mostly closed. Polgár induced queenside weaknesses in Carlsen's camp and also dropped a knight deep into Carlsen's kingside. The queenside structure was such that Polgár was the only one who held the key to locking that sector. Once Polgár decided to lock it, the position became critical for Carlsen. He had to find the best continuation, or he would risk long-term suffering with the ensuing play invariably drifting towards the kingside, the sector where Polgár had a significant space advantage. A timely and precise extraction of any black figure on g3 became a priority for Carlsen.

Image of Magnus Carlsen in thumbnail courtesy of Lennart Ootes
lennartootes.com

PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Be3 a6
7. Nge2 c6 8. a4 a5 9. Ng3 Na6 10. Be2 Qc7 11. O-O e5 12. d5
h5 13. Qd2 h4 14. Nh1 Nh5 15. Nf2 f5 16. Nd3 f4 17. Bf2 Ng3
18. Rfd1 c5 19. hxg3 hxg3 20. Bxg3 fxg3 21. Qg5 Qf7 22. Nb5
Qf6 23. Qxg3 Bh6 24. Kf2 Nb4 25. Rh1 Kg7 26. Qh4 Qxh4+
27. Rxh4 Bg5 28. Rh2 Be3+ 29. Kxe3 Nc2+ 30. Kd2 Nxa1 31. Kc3
Ra6 32. Rh1 Bd7 33. Rxa1 Bxb5 34. cxb5 Raa8 35. b3 Rh8 36. b6
Rh2 37. Rg1 Ra6 38. Nb2 Rxb6 39. Bb5

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