Hi all.  I have another absolutely
fascinating magnus carlsen game show you
this is in the Gashimov Memorial round 8
so Sergei Karjakin was playing white
against Magnus Carlsen 1.e4 Magnus
plays the Sicilian defense Knight f3
knight c6 we go into the Sicilian Sveshnikov variation so Knight f6
encourages Knight c3 and now black plays
e5 this is one of my favorite openings I
was much younger I used to love this
opening I had printouts all over my
walls on this opening I just thought it
sounded really cool Sveshnikov -
anyway so here Knight d5 this isn't
historically the main move the main move
historically is Bishop g5 and there's a
huge junction point here either Knight
d5 or Bishop takes f6 so for example you
know White's
getting a small edge here but black has
the bishop pair here and that G file - I've
had a lot of fun myself in these
positions with this variation Nd5 not
going for the double pawns is also kind
of annoying for black sometimes White
reroutes the knight into e3 later with c3
and plays things like a4
A different plan there but this is now in
vogue because of the World Chess
Championship Nd5 so those games against
Fabiano Caruana -  Knight takes d5 exd5 Ne7
c4 and this sets a trap a well-known
trap that Queen a4 is actually a very
big threat in this position black cannot
fall for example g6 because queen a4 is
too quick here for black to handle if
Bishop d7 then Nxd6
checkmate so black has to be very
careful the way this King side is
organized in light of Queen a4 - the
knight gets out of the way protecting d6
here with Bishop so 
there are more options now on Queen a
forum there's Bishop d7 is now possible
without dropping d6 on Queen d7 by the
way then the pin can be exploited Knight
c7 check and then taking here and
winning the rook. So Bishop d7 Queen b4
hitting d6. Bf5 The
Queen goes back ... Bishop d7 again as though
Magnus doesn't really mind a draw here
but White varies now with h4 so it's
interesting
h4 to try and maybe some time to kick
the knight so this is actually stops h5. And
you could argue at some cost isn't this
pawn a fixed target on h5 we see Bishop
g5 Queen b8 Bishop e2 a6 the knight goes
back Queen c7 g3 this does weaken these
light squares there's the light square
bishop here the guardian of these light
squares interestingly if white castles
Bishop e7 the H pawn is kind of a target
here as well though and if white has to
play something like g3 here - tactically
there's something like Knight f4 this is
really quite interesting for the
variations of this opening G takes rook
h6 and blacks whipping up quite a
dangerous position here quite dangerous
attack indeed could be very very good
for black as the example yeah it's it's
pretty dangerous actually yes if white
castles are too quickly in this scenario
so Bishop e7 yeah g3 is running into
Knight f4 here if Nd1 instead Nxh4 so
it's White's pawn that can be a target
as well so White kind of protects with g3
now Bishop e7 and the bishop actually
drops back taking on e7 here Knight
takes rook c1 this position should be
about even there are some interesting
there's an interesting tactical idea
while the rooks are not connected here
Knight takes d5 exploiting the pinned
knight and it should be about even in
that position so anyway in the game
Bishop e3 e4 this kind of prepares
potentially a pulled sac to get the
knight into the center and you can also
see that the light squares in general
over here as well as d3 they're all
pretty interesting to this Knight
actually white castles. Na4 
immediately you might think is
interesting to consider with that b6.
If black ignores it White might
actually be okay this is a plausible
continuation to play Na4
and at least poke into the dark squares
of black sometimes as a general rule of
thumb if if you feel you're weak on on a
certain color you should maybe you could
have opportunities on the other color
it's logical here with the bishop on
that diagonal so anyway white just
castled and Magnus Carlsen just castled
offering the h5 pawn and it's actually
taken here and some people have been
saying as though Magnus has been
influenced by Alpha |ero or maybe the
Leela Neural network project - we've seen hundreds of
examples recently of Leela favoring
control versus material the notion of
materialism is also to me a form of
occupation when you win material you're
also occupying with the extra material
so this pawn sacrifice is really it is
it is pretty deep there are two things
going for it in this position as I say
that the light
squares are all pretty weak here -  this
knight bouncing to e5 if if black could
then exchange off the light square
bishops-- this could be really
dangerous for you know things like
Qc8 going into h3 later
after the bishops come off also a knight
on d3 is like not the famous "octopus
Knight" one of my favorites Karpov
Kasparov games where Garry Kasparov got
this central knight and it kind of
dislocated Karpov's position so anyway
there are some light square consequences
to be aware of in taking this pawn this
this notion of materialism versus
controlling the position is is really
interesting to consider perhaps with
with our previous generations of
chess engines maybe we have been a bit too
interested in materialism and you could
say it's a kind of new hypermodern era
because the hypermoderns were more
concerned with controlling the center
for example rather than occupying it
literally this so this form of
materialism does it actually lose white
a lot of control ? An alternative here
well actually okay so Bishop takes
h5.  If rook fd1 just leaving the
pawn Knight e5 Bishop d4 trying to fight
on the dark squares which seems a
logical thing to do if if you're weak on
the light squares say black did get this
thorn pawn here - it might actually be okay
this this position - at least White's
got the e file and a certain amount of
control in this position it's not too
dangerous it seems so that's another way
of playing it so Bishop takes h5
accepting this challenge you know what
what is the dynamic compensation Knight
e5 so it looks as though c4 is
immediately a concern for white and the
bishop drops back if Rfd1 knight
d3 is actually it is a very nice central
Knight and c4 can be hit
here and this kind of position looks
as though it should be about equal yeah
no one's really doing that well here are
some casualties on both sides so okay
Bishop e2 we have Queen d7 so the queen
is aligning itself to the light square
issues that potentially exist in
position Queen a4 offering an
exchange of Queens the Queen drops back
still aligning to White's light squares
and if Bg4 -
there's no point yeah the Queen's come
off Nxe4 is a big
advantage - there is no point - the Queen's have got to stay on ... Queen c4 .. e4 is weak here as
well and it's actually targeted with
this move c5 unveiling it seems in some
sense logical to take out a center pawn
for a kind of more flank pawn in
principle that seems if you said it
abstractly it seemed like a reasonable
thing to do it does increase the scope
of the Bishop a bit this pawn exchange
this virtual pawn exchange though and
also it gives black a pawn majority on
the Queen side a 3-2 pawn
majority gives White potential you know
Center pawn but is that strong or is it
weak so this big structural change
occurs with c5 if instead Queen d1 then
Knight takes e4 this position is also
it's it's a really kind of interesting
counter pawn sack to consider trying to
get control back of the position and it
looks as though it should offer white
equal chances so yeah Queen d1 is an
interesting counter pawn sacrifice indeed so
c5 Nxe4 c4 -
this creates an interruption here tactic
against that knight so threatening Bishop
takes e4 interrupting that protection of
the night the knight drops back and now
we get b5 and it seems when you have a
pawn majority and get a tempo gain
move as well that does seem like a great
thing the other thing though about this
White's center porn doesn't seem to be
that handy if there's a big blockade on
D3 here but even before that happens
there's now b4 which is reminiscent of
this famous Karpov vs Kasparov game now
where Karpov had stumbling knights
against a central knight the threat
immediately which might you know
tactically and in some way justify is
Knight b6 forking queen and rook but
this is bypassed by providing an even
bigger threat for white to handle which
is Bishop e4 with the threat of Queen
H3 so what was the alternative just
for a moment tonight to Na4 ? Nb1
stumbling around rook d8 this doesn't
look too great for White that pawn is
vulnerable for example this position
with the knight going into d3 it seems as
though there's no big issue for black
and blacks getting that nice center
pawn so that's just horrible it seems
for white. So blacks getting a big
advantage there
so Knight a4 stumbling knight - this
doesn't bode very well Bishop e4
especially after Be4 now threatening Qh3
here Queen d4
was played - on Nb6 just to put
that on the board Queen H3 and here
this is just crushing Knight g4 threatening
checkmate - it will be absolutely crushing
and let's put a checkmate on the board as an
example. But were there any
options here after Bishop b4 if we're
going to be forensic about this game
okay so Nb6 clearly it wasn't played
Queen d4 was played there's an
interesting move to consider which is f3
trying to create some tactical
liabilities for black
but queen H3 here just ignoring that
and this position e3 is loose here
that's crushing absolutely crushing
that's actually unplayable here so I'm
thinking of that slightly
later actually so Queen d4 is a sensible
move considering the options Queen f5
it's here now that f3 is
interesting to consider f4 was played
but we have this kind of alignment rook
and queen f3 is really quite
interesting and maybe a missed
opportunity for white to try and
complicate things so the self pin in
general is a liability you don't really
want. Let us imagine Bishop takes
f3 for a moment this position it's
it's kind of tricky tactically and after
Queen f4 this might actually be
roughly even chances perhaps this was
the way that white should have played
and a knight might bounce back in the
game with a vengeance hitting c4 later.
This possibly was a very important move
to consider. On Knight takes F3 then
Bishop takes Bishop takes d6 here Queen
takes c4 Bishop b6 here Qh5 d7 it looks as
though actually
it's complicated this is a complicated
scenario but black might have a small
edge here but at least you know white is
in the game here with with some
interesting possibilities okay so this
this move that was played f4 is very
committal these pawns on the dark
squares the corresponding light squares
are vulnerable and in fact the threat to
the knight is totally ignored with queen
g6 just threatening Queen takes g3 so
Bishop f2 just to put that on the board
f takes there's Queen takes g3 is
checkmate
so Bishop f2 defending g3
now Nd3 so what is
going on here on also by the way
possible Nf3 check this
position is pretty dangerous for White.
this would have been pretty dangerous as
well this is really plausible this kind
of attack scheme is a big advantage to
black as an example
so anyway Nd3 though is also
very good
we have h5 if bishop takes d3 cxd3
this position is pretty solid for
black especially things like bishop
takes f4 - if taking queen g2 to mate
blacks getting a big advantage there as
well so h5 is an interesting trying to
try and take away the Queen from protecting
the bishop the Queen sticks around to
protect the Bishop .. Bishop g4 now
trying to forcibly take the Queen away
from the the bishop again here as an
alternative Rad1 this position is
very nice for black and on move 33 King h2
this position is also very nice for
black you can see this pin bishop in
this variation is pretty nasty Black is
getting a big advantage there so there's
not too much for white to consider here
so yeah Bishop g4 a sharp move Queen
takes g4 Queen takes e4 so black
strategically has met the dream
outcome of taking off the light square
bishops with these light square
weaknesses the bishop moves out of the
attack and there's things like Knight
takes f4 with that pinned g3 pawn
on the cards so what does white want to
do? white unpins g3 with Queen g2
so terrible is absolutely terrible is
Queen takes e4 Knight takes f4 where the
Queen's also a liability to Nh3+ 
picking up the Queen so
for example King h2 that just gets mated
or Rac1 there's actually Rac8
here because the Queen's also
protecting c8 so this position is
diabolical
for Ne2+ check winning the rook on c1
Bishop e3  at move 36 ... Queen
takes Queen g2 so yeah there's not too
many good moves.  Queen g2 seems sensible
in the circumstance but here after Rae8
it is kind of reminiscent of Kasparov
paralysis game against Anatoly Karpov
this domination of the e file with the kind
of octopus night hitting in all
directions
it was absolutely one of my favorite
games the octopus knight game and check
it out on Channel
so this octopus knight here which was
coined by the way by Raymond Keene in the
preface of Batsford chess openings I
think the game got a lot more interest
because it was mentioned in the in the
preface of that classic
openings book where you know Kasparov
gambit because it was said that Grand
masters pounded the table in outrage that
Kasparov repeated his so-called gambit
but it got this huge knight on d3. Anyway
here this is reminiscent of that and the
thing is black can conveniently double
on the e-file and basically take on f2
and play rook e1 it will be devastating
this Bishop is also going to be
dangerous on this diagonal potentially
we see Bishop d4 so let's let's say a3
is an alternative just to see some
something concrete with what was just
said. Here black can get ready to use
this diagonal prepare the grounds for
this bishop to use this diagonal so here
bang then Bishop c5 it's just it could
be absolutely
crushing like this and even an
attraction tactic that's when the Queen
and then mating. Okay so that's that
sort of thing is on the cards on Knight
b6 as alternative Knight takes Bishop c5
is very nice after deflecting the Queen
away from g3 then Re2 is is mating
or winning the Queen so very unpleasant
stuff Bishop d4 we have Queen takes h5
Re2 to was also plausible at this
point just to show the strength of
black's position. Blacks really dominating
the position but Queen takes h5
and I think I've overrun the game haven't I?
No I haven't overrun the game ... a bit 
cautious about overrunning the game
Bishop d4 Queen takes h5 Queen f3
on Queen h2 Queen g6 and and here Re4
Re4. This buildup is possible and
then getting that nasty pin again Black is
getting a huge advantage there so Queen f3
Queen g6 King h1 there's no point in
nudging the Queen with f5 the Queen just
goes to the dark square g5 and this is
just .. there are ways of attacking the King
here for example like this it's all
getting pretty nasty.
So King h1 Re4 for Bf2 Rfe8
and the game ended here actually yes with
the doubling of the rooks - yeah quite
amazing so Sergei Karjakin doesn't
usually get clobbered like this with the
white pieces. White is in the kind of
state of paralysis and you might think
well okay prove it let's prove it again
I think you know the basic idea in
this position Queen g2 it's basically to
knock out
f2 and then use the bishop to exploit
those dark squares so this is just a
fictional variation now ..
Qg2 Re2 then queen g4
that pawn is also dangerous just imagine
this happens knocking out that dark
square bishop there's things like this
in fact g3 is very weak here and could
be winning the Queen another scenario
instead of Queen g2 let's say be b3
then Knight takes f2 Re3
Rook takes and that the rooks doubling like
this on the 6th rank for Re3
this fails  to Qe4 check and Rh3
.. with the rook on g2 pinned there's
nothing for White to do. White is just
losing the Queen there. Rad1 is
another example then Knight takes f2
Re2 check here and then mating
there.  So yeah it is pretty hopeless
here after rook fe8 so a pretty classic
game it was mentioned that I should check
this out. Thanks whoever mentioned that
that was great game choice. Magnus Carlsen has
been winning lots of games recently the
Vugar Gashimov memorial really has shown his
amazing dominance and kind of stylistic
change. It's sometimes felt as though
Magnus was playing very long-winded
games before and there have been some
really sparkling games he's been playing
in this Vugar Gashimov memorial as I though its
like a more tactical kind of dynamic style
has emerged so maybe there has been some
influence of all the neural networks in
games of Super Grandmasters but this entire philosophy .. I
think the one that's really important to
me which Demis Hassabis (CEO of Google Deepmind)  I saw this
video recently he was saying that the
the conventional engines favored
materialism over control and if you
think about it because the engines have
been the professionals first
choice of analytical assistant maybe that has
pervaded into human thinking we kind of
evolve with the technology may be
ourselves a little bit in our thinking
and maybe the neural network approaches
have kind of proven
with a huge amount of evidence that
there is a lot of dynamic potential in
the game and materialism is a form of
occupation and so in a way to me this is
a kind of new hyper modernistic era
where it's sort of trying to occupy with
extra material, you just try and dominate the
position and here that there was an
extreme domination of the position so
really this is a perhaps the sign that
there's a dynamic change of climate
which could be occurring soon this new
influence of dynamic control versus
materialism or occupation a new human
hyper modernistic era perhaps okay if
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