TePe Sigeman van Foreest-Carlsen

[Event "TePe Sigeman"] [Site "lichess.org"] [Date "2026.05.03"] [Round "4.3"] [White "Van Foreest, Jorden"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "carlc-ENG"] [ECO "B93"] [WhiteElo "2735"] [BlackElo "2840"] [WhiteFideId "-1"] [BlackFideId "-1"] [PlyCount "175"] [GameId "2305750000168960"] [EventDate "2026.??.??"] {[%evp 0,175,20,22,15,24,17,24,6,27,21,17,20,-2,3,6,30,19,21,22,26,23,59,51,30,27,40,24,23,30,54,65,54,54,47,32767,32767,32767,19,57,20,90,76,-17,82,65,67,84,63,72,76,76,62,50,32767,32767,161,143,142,167,156,154,144,156,161,192,127,171,205,145,133,127,126,32767,201,191,173,111,134,105,87,63,96,177,124,101,108,142,141,101,111,32767,110,143,110,104,109,105,108,98,101,142,121,123,129,149,128,66,32767,32767,64,103,80,63,69,56,54,59,60,62,96,82,80,76,91,69,95,83,90,89,87,86,89,97,112,78,85,77,94,82,102,88,97,88,104,104,86,54,100,8,64,0,14,18,7,18,9,13,8,7,45,12,19,14,24,44,28,11,4,20,6,18,19,0,12,11,507,14] Van Foreest is one of the most inventive theoreticians of our time, with one of the best rating periods of the year recently behind him. He is no easy opponent even for someone of Magnus Carlsen’s caliber, as today’s game clearly demonstrated.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 {The Najdorf Variation in the Sicilian Defense is one of the main contenders for being “the main line of chess.” Virtually every possible sixth move that doesn’t blunder is playable—and has been played.} 6. f4 ({As if to illustrate the Najdorf's popularity,} 6. Bd3 $5 {occurred in another of this round's games, namely the one between Zhu Jiner and Andy Woodward.}) 6... e5 7. Nb3 $5 (7. Nf3 {is the classical move, but 7.Nb3 is the current main line. Jorden himself has never played the move in a game before; his younger sister Machteld van Foreest, however, has. When it comes to chess-playing siblings, a reasonable preparation strategy might therefore be to observe the family’s opening choices from a more holistic perspective :).}) 7... Be7 {is the most played move, though the main line is} (7... Nc6 $5 {, keeping the option of taking back on e5 with the knight.}) (7... Nbd7 $5 {, with the same idea is also playable.}) 8. fxe5 dxe5 9. Qxd8+ Bxd8 10. Be3 {White stands somewhat more comfortably in the queenless middlegame; his pieces have access to many strong squares (c5, d5), in addition to a slight lead in development. In return, he has three pawn islands against Black’s two—a battle of trumps.} Be6 11. Nc5 Ba5 ({Backing with} 11... Bc8 $5 {, intending ...b6 and ...Be6 back (now safe from ...Nc5) was a reasonable alternative.}) 12. Bd3 $14 {White overprotects the e4 pawn; his pieces are more active, and he is ready to complete his development by castling. He stands somewhat, and noticeably, better. Unlike on the previous move, the threat against the b7 pawn is now real.} Bc8 13. Nb3 Bxc3+ 14. bxc3 {An instructive position. The pawn structures have become more clearly defined; White’s 'inferior' structure is compensated by his bishop pair and slight initiative. At the same time, he must keep up the pressure. If Black is given time to consolidate, White may end up in a positional bind with his shattered structure.} Bd7 15. Na5 Bc6 16. Rb1 {Keeping up the pressure.} Bxe4 17. Bxe4 Nxe4 18. Rxb7 {White's bishop pair has disappeared, but he has traded it for improved piece activity. Since the bishop was tied to the defense of e4 anyway, it may not have been much of a loss for White. Black’s problem is that he is struggling to complete his development and getting castled.} Nd7 19. O-O Rc8 20. c4 Ndf6 $6 ({A good, though difficult-to-find, option here was} 20... Rf8 $1 {with the idea of moving the d7-knight and going ...f6 and ...Rf7.} 21. Rd1 Ndc5 22. Ra7 f6 23. Rxg7 Rf7 $44 {And even though White has won a pawn, Black has improved his pieces. White’s extra pawn is, after all, an isolated doubled pawn, and the knight on a5 is not ideally placed. The problem with the move played is that Black must now sacrifice the exchange to break free.}) 21. Nc6 $1 $16 Rxc6 22. Rb8+ Ke7 23. Rxh8 Rxc4 24. Ra8 $14 (24. Bc1 $1 {…was the most precise here, with the deep double idea of playing Ba3+ to allow White’s rook to go to f8, while also being able to meet Ra4 with a3.}) 24... Ra4 25. c4 Rxa2 {A surprisingly complex position: it’s not at all clear what White’s plan is. Black’s knight(s) sits securely in the center, controlling many important squares.} 26. Bb6 $5 Ke6 27. c5 Rc2 $132 {Homing in on White's weak spot: the c5-pawn. If it falls Black will have a much easier defensive task, with all play taking place on the well-covered kingside.} 28. Rxa6 Ke7 $4 {Logically moving out of the discovered check; surprisingly a losing mistake.} (28... Nd5 $1 {was the only move, continuing to target the c5 pawn by challenging its main defender, the bishop.} 29. Bd8+ Kd7 $1 30. Rxf7+ Ke8 $1 ({Not} 30... Kxd8 $4 31. Ra8#) 31. Raa7 $1 Ne3 $11 {and White has nothing better than perpetual checks on the seventh rank.}) 29. Ra7+ $4 (29. Re1 $1 $18 {establishes a surprisingly potent positional bind. Black is completely tied up, allowing White to slowly improve his position with e.g. ...h3 to create 'luft' for the king.}) 29... Ke6 30. Ra6 Ke7 $4 (30... Nd5 $1 {was once again the only move.}) 31. Rd1 $16 {is a worse version of Re1.} Nd5 32. Bd8+ $1 Ke8 33. Ra8 $1 {Threatening mate. Black's reply is forced.} f6 $1 34. Bxf6+ Kf7 35. Bg5 Rxc5 36. Bc1 $16 {White has made some progress: Black is left with a weak e5-pawn. Still, it is not entirely clear how White best coordinates his pieces in order to make further headway. The position has taken on an abstract character in which it is almost impossible to assess the long-term consequences of individual small moves.} h6 37. Ra7+ Kg8 38. h3 Rb5 39. Kh2 Nef6 40. Rd3 Rc5 41. Bb2 {The time control has been reached, and White is winning; if nothing else, Jorden can press forever. Black’s primary aim is to preserve the current material balance, secondarily to reach an ending with rook and knight against two rooks; rook-versus-knight endings are often trivially lost. At the same time, the position is abstract enough that it is no surprise both players soon return to what is now “permanent” time trouble, with the accompanying drop in quality. In what follows, the evaluation will swing back and forth between a win for White and a draw: to examine every position and motif in depth would almost require a book chapter.} Nf4 42. Rg3 (42. Rc3 $1 {would have forced a winning rook trade.} Rxc3 43. Bxc3 Ng6 44. Ra5 Kf7 45. Bxe5 Nxe5 46. Rxe5 $18 {and White will eventually infiltrate with his king and place Black in zugzwang.}) 42... N6h5 43. Rc3 Rd5 44. Rc2 Kh7 45. Ba1 Ng6 46. Rca2 Rd1 47. Re2 Rd5 48. Bc3 Nhf4 49. Re3 Rb5 50. Ra5 Rb3 51. Bd4 $1 {Forcing Black to either exchange rooks or give up the e5 pawn. Carlsen chose the former option, which, as the game continuation showed, was likely the most practical option. Even if Carlsen himself has jokingly said he “doesn’t believe in fortresses”, they remain at least theoretically achievable if White blunders. The mutual time trouble is an additional factor in his favor, as the course of the game repeatedly showed.} Rxe3 52. Bxe3 Nh4 53. Bd2 $4 (53. g4 $1 {was here the only winning move, though non-trivial. The game goes on.}) 53... Nfxg2 54. Kg3 e4 55. Ra7 Kg8 {Black has weathered the storm, he should now hold with best play.} 56. Ra4 e3 57. Bxe3 Nxe3 58. Kxh4 $11 {Unlike the endgame with two pawns each, this is a draw; White has no concrete way to break into Black’s position. He can, however, keep pressing indefinitely.} Kh7 59. Ra5 Kg6 {This move is alright on its own, though unpractical due to what transpired in the game.} 60. Re5 Nf5+ 61. Kg4 Nd4 $4 (61... h5+ $1 {, opening up the h6-square for the knight, was the only move.}) 62. Re4 $1 $18 {Actualizing an important motif in this type of endgame: if the knight gets cut off and dominated by the rook, things can quickly go downhill. Here, the natural retreat squares on the sixth rank are taboo due to Re6+, winning material. Suddenly, the knight must set off on a pilgrimage to the queenside.} Nb5 63. Rc4 $1 {The sixth rank remains off-limits due to the pin with Rc6.} Kh7 64. Rc6 $1 Nd4 65. Rd6 $1 {Driving the knight back to the queenside.} Nb5 66. Rd7 $2 $16 {The position has now taken on a 'binary' character: the moves are either outright winning or drawing. It is, however, almost impossible to play this position perfectly, even for the world’s top players, and especially in time trouble. The only remaining questions are whether Black will be able to reactivate the knight and/or exchange off White’s remaining pawn to reach a clearly drawn endgame.} Nc3 67. Kf5 Ne2 68. Re7 Nd4+ 69. Kf4 Kg6 70. Re4 Nb5 71. Rc4 Kh5 72. Ke5 g5 73. Ke6 $4 Na3 $1 $11 {Now the knight has three possible escape routes to juggle: a3–b1, a3–c2, or a3–b5, depending on where White places the rook. Black can switch between these options and “threaten” to slip through White’s shifting fence. White cannot make any progress.} 74. Rd4 Nb5 75. Rd3 Kh4 76. Ke5 h5 77. Rb3 Na7 78. Rc3 Nb5 $6 {Alright but impractical.} (78... g4 79. hxg4 Kxg4 $1 $11 {was much simpler.} ({Not} 79... hxg4 $4 80. Kf4 $1 Nb5 81. Rc1 $18 {and White both wins the pawn and keeps the knight isolated from the Black king.})) 79. Rc5 Na3 $4 (79... Na7 $1 {, accepting that the knight is trapped, but counting on the strong pawns was the only (and deep) move.}) 80. Kf5 $1 Nb1 81. Rc2 Na3 82. Rb2 g4 83. hxg4 hxg4 84. Kf4 Kh5 85. Ra2 Nc4 86. Rc2 Na3 $4 {The final mistake.} (86... Nb6 $1 $11 {The knight finally escapes the enclosure. The endgame with king and rook versus king and knight is a trivial draw.}) 87. Rc3 $5 {The b5-square is taboo due to Rc5+, though the alternative is no better.} Nb1 88. Rd3 {The knight is completely dominated, and Black will moreover have to give up the g4 pawn within a few moves, after which White can simply march over with the king and pick up the knight on b1. Carlsen quite understandably resigned immediately. A surprise result and a hard-fought win for the Dutchman! Spectators who followed the entire endgame from start to finish have certainly earned themselves a few headache tablets, given all the geometry to keep track of.} 1-0