Hans Niemann Tested Magnus Carlsen’s Defense to the LIMIT

Does dirty work there, and Magnus found the dirty queen to d8. Yeah, that's such a nice move. It's a retreating move, but it also helps save the black king, which was looking like it was finally going to come under attack. And in this game, we see that Magnus strikes early in the English. We've had this fianchettoed structure a number of times. The bishop on g2, it wants a longer scope on the diagonal. Oh, I think this is really smart chess from Magnus Carlsen. I'm not saying that this is some huge advantage for the white side, but this is Magnus' bread and butter. Please trade queens with me, he says. I am the endgame maestro. And Hans says, not so fast. I'm keeping the queen on the board, but the queen is offside. That's an awkward square for it. And for white, you can castle kingside, bring this knight up to c3 at the right moment, try to connect your rooks and play from there. But with the position so closed, it's acceptable for black to move that queen two times in the opening. It's not going to hurt him too much. So Hans right now has finished his minor piece development on the queenside, but now he has to get his king out of the middle. That's the key. Because if you give white a couple turns here, you could strike in the center, open things up, and go after the black king. So far it looks like everything under control, but white's pieces look very healthy and coordinated. They do look healthy and coordinated. The structure, what is with the reverse Sicilians that they've been getting today, right? We've had a lot of them, and with both colors actually, we've had structures that look Sicilian-esque, though not from the traditional opening. And here, Magnus going for the traditional Sicilian plan to try to start playing on the queenside. Although, yep. We see a knight come to h4. Did he just blunder a fork in the center? No, he was attacking a piece first. And this move, d4, it could saddle black with an isolated pawn. The queen on c2 is also perfectly placed for a knight f5 jump. He would like to get the bishop pair in an open board. So this looks very promising for white strategically and maybe dynamically as well. Yeah, it's not quite an iqp yet, but that d and c tension, if we highlight that, means that that d5 pawn at some point might become an iqp, a positional weakness that Magnus can write home about. So knight f5 is scary. Hans doesn't really want to take on d4. If it invites either bishop or knight to d4, that's not what you're doing. So white kind of owns the tension there, which means Hans has to build up on that or find some other threat to make. And rook fd1, apparently that was not a correct decision. Looks like an extremely natural move. So I'm wondering how black can take advantage of it. Hans did not find the correct way. c4 is one of these moves that may be good at one moment, but strategically you're taught not to make that move because you release tension in the center, and we should cut the board in half. Black has four pawns on the queen side, so I'm going to cut the board along the d file to white's three. So that sounds like where black wants to play. But if there's no pawn tension, then white has a freer hand to play on the king side and make moves like knight f5 or try to move this bishop out the way and play e4. So these are really challenging decisions for both players. At the same time, if we're splitting the board in half and doing a positional lesson, you know I love my pawn structures, let's play c4 again or at least highlight it. The advantage Hans would have at the end is you have a 3-on-2. Now you can just highlight c, b, and a, and if white doesn't get anything on the king side, Hans would have a positionally winning endgame. He also has a positional advantage on the clock, if we can call it that. So c4 has to be considered. I agree with you, it's not good, but you have to keep an eye on that pan-off structure there. If black can get a majority, Hans will have a long-term advantage. Just so difficult to make these moves. Releasing the tension is what all chess coaches teach their students not to do too early. But if there is a good follow-up, say rushing your b-pawn and your a-pawn and getting all those pawns forward, then it's worth it. But instead, Hans takes on d4, the evaluation creeping slightly in white's favor, and how could you not appreciate this position from the white side? Black is saddled with an isolated queen pawn at iqp. It's not the end of the world, but just looks more pleasant for white to play because you look at where the weaknesses are, and that's really the only one that I see at the moment. Yeah, we talked about not wanting to play this, I didn't like it, and after Hans played it, it didn't kind of look like he liked his own move, but he did play knight e4 quickly, and he's got activity, right? That's what you need when you have an isolated queen pawn, active pieces. And now after queen d3, the computer says he's got an advantage if he finds the right move. And he just trades off the queens, black should be now perfectly fine. If you take with the pawn, you have an isolated pawn of your own. If you take with the rook, well then you're inviting another knight into the action, hitting that rook on d3. So we take to the pawn to force some of these trades, and Danny, as we look at this position, clearly black is not worse, and in fact, black may be for choice. Knight on a4 if you push this pawn to d4, instead the knight just hops right into b3. You're restricting the access for white's pieces. No c1, no a1, no d2, no d4 very easily. Black's clearly better. Hans has played incredibly well in that transition. The queens come off the board, and black has an advantage. Normally to take advantage of an isolated pawn, you've got to attack it. White has no attacking chances. Hans Niemann is in Hans Niemann form, I think, when he's playing chess like this. He found an opportunity, and he also went for it quickly, which shows you that despite the disadvantage in the score, Robert, he's still playing confidently. He's not getting himself down on the clock, and I like his chances here. I'm going to do a quick instant replay, because that happened in a flurry, where now those dark-scored bishops are up, but they didn't quite trade for one another. After rook a to b1, the move from black was bishop takes a3, just taking advantage of this overloaded pawn on b2. You take on a3 right away, you lose your bishop. So knowing that, we saw Magnus give up his bishop for the pawn on g7. The king took that bishop. Now we see the black rook slide in, and if we're being honest, Danny, if Magnus had the black side, we'd be saying, Magnus is going for the win here. He's so much better. Ignore the evaluation bar. I'm going to say the same thing for Hans Niemann. He's on the prowl. He's going after this d3 pawn. He's going after this a3 pawn. That rook is protecting the knight. If the knight moves back to hit a5 or c5, the a3 pawn is under attack. This looks extremely good for black. I'll go back to what you're saying. Kind of what you're saying, if we're being honest, we would just expect Magnus to win this game as black, right? Because Magnus is Magnus, Hans definitely has technique to show, but we love black's position here. The 2 on 1 is there, the b and a versus the a pawn majority. Note that Magnus' 3 on 2 on the king's side is really just not relevant yet. And as you pointed out, black's pieces are super active. That king has a chance to dart into the center. This could be a huge win for Hans here. He did just lose that game after the minor, whatever happened with clarifying clocks and stuff. We're all good now. But Hans needs to strike back, and this might be his opportunity. I have to say, I like this weird knight h4. I didn't understand it at first. The f5 score is covered. He wants to push his pawns. He has that king's side majority. You just talked about it. He wants to get these pawns forward and go after the black king. I think this is the only way, because if white does nothing, the status quo favors black. Hans is in the driver's seat. He's also leading by over a minute on the clock. This is Hans' game right now. He's playing super well, but it's not winning objectively, so he has a lot left to prove. d4. Is that objectively losing the g3 pawn, or are you just happy to make a highlight? I love when you do that. G3 is weak. I don't know what's going on here. Magnus played it, so there must be some trick. And Hans, maybe he smells a rat, and he doesn't go for that pawn. But I don't really know what's going on here, man. Yeah, that was a really weird moment there. I think the rook might have been caught offside, and then this knight on b3 is on the other side of the board. So things were looking dicey, but still, not taking on g3 is a sign of maturity for Hans, because you look at the evaluation bar off to the side here on the left-hand side of your screen, still in black's favor. I love that you used the word maturity. Also, he's up on the clock, right? He's keeping the bind. Sometimes just keeping your opponent in their currently bad position is the best thing to do, because they haven't solved all the problems yet. Although, against Magnus, you don't want to miss your opportunities either. And if he is weaseling and wiggling his way out of this, suddenly white has a majority. You called it. He was using it. He advanced the pawns. Is he going to play for h4 next, or even put the knight on e5? h4, g5, something you'd want to have happen, but Cedric brings king into f2. The engine saying black is getting better here, but you're a little bit stuck. This knight on b3 would love to move, but b5 drops. This bishop now can come back to f1 to target that b5 pawn, and bishop d7 is always met by knight e5. You hop forward, you take that leap, because the bishop on d7 is weak. And bishop a6 is the best move. What a difficult move to find. Great move by Hans, and again, a great move to find while maintaining your time advantage. Hans Niemann, his only victory in the match so far has come with the black pieces, everyone. Will he get his second victory with the black pieces? He's playing incredibly well here. I gave him an exclamation point. That was my doing. I thought that was such a nice decision, but then he follows up with a mistake, and knight takes d4. He's trying to win this knight on e5. The pawn was his defender, but apparently this was a huge mistake. I don't know if it's knight takes f7 or rook takes d4. We're going to transition, and that d5 pawn is weak at the end of the line. Wow, f6 check is the point. If you take on f6, there's all sorts of knight d7 check ideas, and the black king has to enter the e file. It's not where it wants to be. And Magnus found f6 check? He did. I thought you were highlighting it. Magnus Carlsen finds the best move, the only move that actually made it equal. That was a very deceptive and evil eval bar there. Magnus, though, shows why he is who he is. He finds that move as tricky as it was. And are we smelling a position that could turn around if Hans isn't careful? Well, Hans grabs a pawn, so he is up 1. a3 is also loose. But the black king, it's actually quite in the line of sight for some of white's pieces. The bishop on d5 is a great piece. Rook h2 check, you want to try to trade off some rooks. I think black would like less pieces on the board, and here come the rooks off the board. But Danny, now that bishop on a6, it was a great move before, but now it's a bad piece. That's why I said what I said. I tried to go full Robert Hess and give you that awkward look. Will Magnus do the thing he does and turn it around? That was a moment that is scary, despite the pawn advantages for black. It's Hans Niemann who's defending, and that bishop can't find a safe home, Robert. Here comes rook to d8 check. Uh-oh, that is going to turn this game around. If rook d8 doesn't start to win a piece, you really want to get the rook. Oh my gosh, I thought he blundered, but he goes rook g8 as a response. That's really clever stuff. Very clever defensive resource from Hans Niemann. And by the way, he is maintaining his edge on the clock and maintaining a subtle head bob. Maybe the music switch has helped Mr. Niemann. Or has it? As this game continues, that black king is caught in the net. King h7, by bishop e4. Whoa, g5, and you couldn't take with the rook. That was a sick move from Magnus, but look how quickly Hans responds to king h8. He saw it. It's actually going to force a rook. No, Magnus playing for more. He points out that if you take with the pawn, that rook on g6 is trapped, and you can't defend rook d8 check coming. Oh, and rook d8, then bishop e4, because the king has to go to h7. White's trying to win an exchange here, and suddenly Magnus Carlsen turned a position that he was just trying to hold into one where he could play for a win because black's king is in danger. That is a crazy find by Magnus, and the kind of move that just gives people nightmares and frustrations. Hans Niemann, I mean, we have the eval bar, so we know there's probably a move that kind of holds, but I think from a human being perspective, he just feels like, oh, and he finds it. King to h8 was the only move there. If rook d8, rook g8 still defends everything. Wow. The second time he's found this resource. Brilliant defense from Hans Niemann. The rook comes back to h2. The king should probably slide back to g8, but what does Magnus want? It's bishop e4. He's going for the win. Magnus doesn't want to draw. Not going to repeat moves. Going for more, especially because of time. It makes sense, but Hans continues to defend with the best move here. And, I mean, for Magnus Carlsen, he's playing this on. Does he want to bring that king all the way in, use the king as a weapon, and try to check with the black king? No, he goes back. Hans is barely getting his moves off. 0.8 seconds Hans played it. You've got to be kidding me. OK. Let's see. Different here, because we had a, what was it? Was it a pierce there from Magnus? Yeah. You know me and my childhood openings, a pierce player, so I'm happy to see this from, you know, memories of my childhood, but I think that it's a bit of a struggle to gain space, and you see these little cheeky pawn moves just trying to go b5 later, but it's also hard to crack, and that's what's frustrating for players from the white side. Yeah. Magnus plays e5, and this is one of those positions we talked about in one of the matches earlier in the event, that feels like white just has an advantage the whole time, but as you said, where are the weaknesses? Where's the fun? How do you crack something in the shield here? We'll see if Hans Niemann can do it. And this b5 move, just trying to gain space. You take on b5, the c-pawn can take back opening up the bishop here. b4 is tempting to go after this e4 pawn, but don't forget about your knight on d7. It's the queen and rook here, both of those pieces staring down, so you have to be really careful before you try to grab in the center. Don't forget about the pawn on f7 either, right? White has the bishop on b3, there are knight to g5 tactics. Okay, b4 played, which is a direct threat because of the e4 pawn, but there are tactics over there. I'm too lazy to calculate right now and a little too tired, but it does look a little dangerous for Magnus if Hans goes for it. Yeah, that could be dangerous for the Black King. You're just seeing all these pieces encroach upon its territory. Knight g5 is tempting, and he goes for it. Let's go. Hans calculated, thankfully, because I was too lazy to do it. And we see that the material is three pawns captured for a minor piece, so that's by point value equal, but by the position, it's really tricky to know who's better. The king on h8 doesn't look very safe, but if you don't actually land an attack, then the extra minor piece could come in handy. Magnus doesn't really believe it. We can tell from the grimace. He's like, I don't think so, but here goes some material regained, and actually, here goes Hans Nieman right now bringing the pressure with a big advantage, and it's what? One pawn and a rook for two minor pieces, and now suddenly the advantage shifts, and we see that the knight comes to d5. That clogs the center lane, tries to trade more pieces, and Danny, this has to be good news for Magnus as he leads on the clock as well. You're totally right, and these imbalanced material positions when you have a rook and a pawn for a couple of minors are some of the most eval swinging positions you can look at because both sides are playing for very different things, so a single mistake and the other side gets an advantage, and if Magnus gets a queen on that diagonal or a knight on d4, that would be a big mistake for Hans. Well, look at this. He just tries to open up his bishops. Both of them have some breathing room. Bishop d4 at some moment can be played. I think that white will sacrifice a rook for that really nasty bishop there, so the queen drops back. I think everything under control right now for Magnus, including on the clock. And you called it. The bishop does come to d4, which forces Hans to part ways with some of the material, and right now, he's under five seconds or about to be with the next move by Magnus. Wow, what a move. That is a very risky move. The bishop runs into his open. You could take on e3, but that liquidation with the passed pawn going forward wouldn't help. I mean, what a play by both of these two as the black king looks like it's in danger. Both sides look a little nervous right now. The first bullet game, the time scramble is very real. What is going on? Now black shows up a piece? Yes, rook takes e6, and that's important. The bishop is in front of the pawn. The rook takes e7 next, and black wins by resignation. It's another win.