Replay: Caruana – Carlsen game 1 / Carlsen – Caruana game 2 / Caruana – Carlsen game 3 / Carlsen – Caruana game 4 / Caruana – Carlsen game 5 / Carlsen – Caruana game 6 / Carlsen – Caruana game 7
Hello everyone and welcome to the live coverage of the 2018 World Chess Championship match between the reigning champion Magnus Carlsen (Norway) and the challenger Fabiano Caruana (USA). In this live blog + live games from WCC 2018 we will be covering the event Carlsen – Caruana with the latest news, developments, interviews, and in-game details.
The most important feature here will be the lines of analysis by Lc0 – the open Neural Network, and the TCEC champion Stockfish running on a Super Computer of 128 cores.
Refresh the page to get the latest updates
Current move eval: Move 33: Lc0 +0.9 , SF[128] +0.41
Update 19:35 CET
We come to the 8th draw of the match. Carlsen dodged a bullet, after Caruana missed 23. Rae1 and later blundered with 24. h3
Update 18:27 CET
And Caruana misses it! Total drama for the American player, goes 24. h3? and blunders
Lc0: 25. Nc4 Qg6 26. Nxd6 Qxd6 27. h4 gxh4 28. Qxf4 Qxf4 29. Rxf4 h5 30. Re1 Bg4 31. Rf6 Rxf6 32. Bxf6 b5 33. Re7 Rf8 34. Bxh4 Rf7 35. Re5 Rf5 36. Re8+ Rf8 37. Re7 Rf7 38. Re5 Rf5 39. Re8+ Rf8 40. Re4 Rf5 41. Re6 Rxd5 42. Rxa6 Rd1+ 43. Kh2 Rd2 44. Rg6+ Kf7 45. Rf6+ Ke8
SF128: 25. Nc4 Rd8 26. Rfe1 Qg6 27. Nxd6
Update 18:15 CET
23. Rad1 ?! for Caruana is ok, but much better was 23. Rae1. In the current position Qh5 is critical:
Lc0: 24. Qh5 Bg6 25. Qh3 Rf7 26. Rfe1 Bf5 27. Qh6 Bc2 28. Rd2 Bf8 29. Qh3 Bf5 30. Qh5 Bg6 31. Qd1 Bg7 32. d6 Qf8 33. Bxg7 Kxg7 34. Na4 Rf5 35. Re7+ Kh6 36. Nb6 Rd8 37. Nd7 Rxd7 38. Rxd7 f3 39. gxf3 Rxf3 40. Re7 c4 41. d7 Rd3 42. Re3 Qc5 43. Rxd3 cxd3
SF128: 24. Qh5 Bd3 25. h4 Be2 26. Kf2
The second possibility is Nc4 with 24. Nc4 g4 25. Qf2 f3 26. Rfe1 Rc8 27. gxf3 gxf3 28. Kh1 Bg6 29. Re6 Bf4 30. d6 Qg5 31. Ne5 Qg2+ 32. Qxg2 , but besides those Caruana has no other option on the plate.
Update 17:45 CET
20… Bf5 is acknowledgement for Carlsen that he has a bad position and needs active play, however, it is also a blunder increasing ever further Caruana’s advantage.
A critical line now 21. c5 Bf6 22. c6 Qc7 23. Rc1 Nxf3+ 24. Qxf3 Bxc3 25. Qxc3 Rf7 26. h3 Rbf8 27. Rce1 h5 28. Re2 Rg7 29. b4 Qd8 30. Kh1 Rc7 31. Kh2 Rg7 32. Qf3 Rh7 33. Ree1 Rff7 34. Qc3 Rhg7 35. Qd4 Rf8 36. Kg1 Rgf7 37. Re6 Rh7 38. Re2 Rg7 39. Rff2 Qc7
Update 17:38 CET
Close to 1 hour advantage on the clock for Caruana suggests that Carlsen is well aware of the difficult position he got himself in. Lc0 pointed the difficulty after move 18 to have a good move. Carlsen tried to be active with …g5 and the immediate reply of Caruana showed that the Norwegian has gone right into Caruana’s home preparation.
Update 17:30 CET
Stockfish running on 128 cores, the highest analysis ever made available for online games, suggests the following line with +1.4 eval
Update 17:18 CET
And Fabiano Caruana is spot on! With little hesitation he plays the critical line.
Update 17:15 CET
SF128: 20. Bc3 Qc7 21. b4 Bf6 22. Rc1 Bf5 23. Bxe5 Bxe5 24. Bg4 Bb2 25. Bxf5 Rxf5 26. Rc2 Bg7 27. Qd3 Rbf8 28. c5 dxc5 29. d6 Qc6 30. d7 Bd4+ 31. Kh1 R5f7 32. bxc5 Bf6 33. Qc4 Bd8 34. Rd2 Kg7 35. Rd6 Qb5 36. Qxb5 axb5 37. a6 bxa6 38. Nd5
Update 16:56 CET
And we have the first !boom of the game, Carlsen goes …g5 and engines do not like it at all. Lc0 is at +1,4 and SF 128 is at +0.52. Of course, Caruana has to find 19.c4 now, although g3 or Kh1 are also perfectly fine for keeping the advantage.
Lc0: 19. c4 Bf6 20. Bb4 f4 21. Be4 Ng4 22. Nxc8 Rxc8 23. Qxg4 Rxc4 24. Bxd6 Qxd6 25. Rae1 Kh8 26. Bf3 Qc5+ 27. Kh1 Qxa5 28. h3 Qc5 29. Kh2 Rb4 30. Rc1 Rc4 31. Rcd1 Qc8 32. Qh5 Qd7 33. Rfe1 Rd4 34. Rxd4 Bxd4 35. Qxg5 Qg7 36. Qe7 Bxb2 37. d6 Ba3 38. Bxb7 Bb4 39. Re6 Qg3+
SF 128: 19. c4 Bf6 20. Bc3 Qc7 21. Qc2 f4 22. Be2 Ng6 23. Bxf6 Rxf6 24. b4 Bf5 25. Qc3 Qg7 26. Rae1
Update 16:47 CET
Lc0 continues to the excited
Lc0 line 1 +0,5: 17. .. exf3 18. Bxf3 Bf6 19. c3 Bd7 20. Be2 Qe7 21. Qc2 Bg5 22. c4 f4 23. Nxd7 Qxd7 24. Kh1 Rbe8 25. Rf2 f3 26. Bxg5 Qg4 27. gxf3 Qxg5 28. Raf1 Qe3 29. f4 Rf6 30. f5 Ref8 31. b4 g6 32. Rg2 Qd4 33. Rgf2 Qe3 34. c5 Qd4 35. cxd6 Qxd5+ 36. Kg1 Qxd6 37. Qe4 gxf5 38. Qxb7
Lc0 line 2 +1.01 17. .. Nd7 18. Be3 Bf6 19. Nc4 b5 20. axb6 Nxb6 21. Na5 Qc7 22. Nc6 Ra8 23. c4 Nd7 24. Ra2 Bb7 25. Na5 Rab8
SF 128 keeps calm, but also grows to +0.41 with 17. .. exf3 18. Bxf3 f4 19. Be2 Bg5 20. Nxc8 Qxc8 21. Bc3 Qc5+ 22. Qd4 Qc7 23. Qb4 Rbe8 24. Rae1 g6 25. Bd1 f3 26. gxf3 Rf4 27. Qb3 Qd7 28. Kh1 Rh4 29. Bxe5 dxe5 30. Rg1 Bf4 31. Rg2 Rf8 32. c3 Qh3 33. Re4 Rh5 34. Qb6 Bxh2 35. Qe6+ Qxe6 36. dxe6 Bf4+ 37. Kg1 Re8 38. Rb4 Rh4 39. Rxb7 Rxe6
Update 16:25 CET
Lc0 starts to get impressed by the position of white, with the eval climbing to +0.52
Lc0: 14. .. e4 15. Nc4 Ne5 16. Nb6 Rb8 17. f4 exf3 18. Bxf3 Bf6 19. c3 Bd7 20. Be2 Qe7 21. Qc2 Bg5 22. Rf2 f4 23. Nxd7 Nxd7 24. Bg4 Ne5 25. Be6+ Kh8 26. Raf1 f3 27. gxf3 Bh4 28. Rg2 Nxf3+ 29. Kh1 Nxd2 30. Rxf8+ Rxf8 31. Qxd2 Rf1+ 32. Rg1 Qf6 33. Qe2
SF 128 is still at +0.21 and has different approach
SF 128 10. .. O-O 11. O-O Nd7 12. Bd2 a6 13. Na3 a5 14. f4 f5 15. c3 Bf6 16. fxe5 Nxe5 17. Kh1 g5 18. Nb5 f4 19. c4 b6 20. Bc3 Qe7 21. b4 axb4 22. Bxb4 Rd8 23. a5 Bg7 24. Bc3 bxa5 25. Rxa5 Ra6 26. Qc2 Rxa5 27. Bxa5 Re8 28. Bb4
Update 16:10 CET
SF 128 +0.22: 10. .. O-O 11. O-O Nd7 12. Bd2 a6 13. Na3 a5 14. f4 f5 15. c3 Bf6 16. fxe5 Nxe5 17. Kh1 g5 18. Nb5 f4 19. c4 b6 20. Bc3 Qe7 21. b4 axb4 22. Bxb4 Rd8 23. a5 Bg7 24. Bc3 bxa5 25. Rxa5 Ra6 26. Qc2 Rxa5 27. Bxa5 Re8 28. Bb4
Lc0 +0.31: 10. .. O-O 11. O-O Nd7 12. Bd2 a6 13. Na3 a5 14. Nb5 f5 15. f4 Bf6 16. Be3 exf4 17. Bxf4 Ne5 18. Kh1 g5 19. Bd2 Qe7 20. Qe1 Bd7 21. Bxa5 Ng6 22. Bb4 Be5 23. Nc7 Rac8 24. Ne6 Bxe6 25. dxe6 Qxe6 26. Qd2 g4 27. Rad1 Rf6 28. b3 Kg7 29. Bc4 Rxc4 30. bxc4 Qxc4 31. Rb1 f4 32. Qd3 Qc6 33. Bd2 Nh4 34. Rf2 g3 35. hxg3 fxg3 36. Re2
Update 16:03 CET
Now we are in the Sveshnikov variation 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 , they continue in the main line
Update 16:00 CET
The first move is 1.e4 by the guest of honor Demis Hassabis from Google Deep Mind’s Alpha Zero.
For everyone’s surprise it is Sicialian, but not Rossolimo, but the Open Sicilian 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4
Update 15:35 CET
Fabiano Caruana has the white pieces today. Will we see another theoretical battle in the Rossolimo variation? Or will Caruana try 1.d4 or 1.c4 to mix things up?
Update 15:30 CET
It is time for game 7 of the World Chess Championship 2018. After seven consecutive draws the audience is hungry for a win by any of the players. However, the stakes are high and it is less likely that players will take risks. A decisive result at any point from now on might very well mean the match is over.
Watch live video from TCEC_Chess_TV on www.twitch.tv
