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Magnus Carlsen
A teenage Carlsen beats Anand in a 2006 blitz game, from a loose knight to a queen mate.
The idea
A teenage Carlsen brings the queen near the king and wins a knight.
- Black’s knight on c4 attacks the queen on d2 and the rook on b2.
- The queen goes to h6. If Black takes the rook, Ng5 forces mate.
- Anand guarded his king instead, and the rook took the loose knight on b4.
In a game: When your queen is attacked, look for a square where it threatens the enemy king.
How the lesson begins
Magnus Carlsen was born in Tønsberg, Norway, on 30 November 1990 and became a grandmaster in 2004, at 13. In 2013 he beat Viswanathan Anand in Chennai, 6½ to 3½, and took the world title. He defended it in 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2021, and in 2023 he chose not to defend it.
This game is from his teens, long before he was champion. It is a blitz game, played fast with only a few minutes on each clock, at the Glitnir blitz tournament in Reykjavik in March 2006, when Carlsen was 15. He beat Anand 2 to 0 in their semi-final and went on to win the tournament. Seven years later he took Anand’s title.
Carlsen has White. Anand, with Black, plays a Benko Gambit and gives a pawn on the queenside. Carlsen keeps his bishop on g2 and plays e4, and Black’s knights come to b4 and c4.
- 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 Black offers a pawn.
- 4. cxb5 a6 5. bxa6 g6 6. Nc3 Bxa6 7. Nf3 Bg7 8. g3 d6 9. Bg2 O-O 10. O-O Nbd7 11. Rb1 Ne8 12. Qc2 Nc7 13. Rd1 Nb6 14. e4 Bc8 15. h3 Bd7 16. b3 Qc8 17. a4 Bxh3 18. Bb2 Bg4 19. Re1 Na6 20. Nb5 Bxb2 21. Rxb2 Bd7 22. Nc3 Nb4 23. Qd2 c4 24. bxc4 The knight takes the pawn on c4.
- 24... Nxc4
Find the move
Black’s knight on c4 attacks your queen on d2 and your rook on b2. Black’s knight on b4 is loose. Find the queen move that keeps your rook safe.
A hint
Black’s dark-squared bishop has gone, and the squares near Black’s king are weak.
Show the answer
25. Qh6 f6 26. Rxb4
25.Qh6 The queen leaves the knight’s attack and comes close to Black’s king. Anand guarded his king with 25...f6, and 26.Rxb4 won the knight.
In numbers
In the puzzle bank
1,185 puzzles in GreyChess’s bank practise it. Half of them are rated between 648 and 2,006.
The piece that makes the first move of the answer: queen 41%, rook 24%, king 11%, knight 10%, bishop 9%, pawn 5%, in puzzles from the Lichess puzzle database.