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Library / Games / Caruana, Fabiano vs Carlsen, Magnus
Clutch-ch June · Lichess.org INT · 13 June 2020

Fabiano Caruana vs Magnus Carlsen, Clutch-ch June, R3.6

Caruana, Fabiano 1–0 Carlsen, Magnus
Caruana, Fabiano vs Carlsen, Magnus
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Clutch-ch June, 13 June 2020

Game 3.6 of the June 2020 Clutch Championship was won by Caruana as White against Carlsen. The day-match score was tied at this game in the middle of the clutch-weighted round. Caruana’s win brought him level in the running score and demonstrated his ability to match Carlsen across day-match formats.

The opening was a Closed Spanish (Ruy Lopez). Caruana played the slow positional Closed Spanish, Carlsen defended with a Russian system, the middlegame featured small structural imbalances that Caruana exploited better. The conversion took 45 moves.

The clutch-weighted format meant that this Game 3.6 was worth more than earlier games in the day. Caruana’s win in the clutch portion of the day-match was particularly valuable; it tilted the match back toward an even or favourable outcome from his perspective.

Caruana-Carlsen in pandemic-era online events produced approximately 35 games in 2020 alone. Their head-to-head record across this period favoured Carlsen substantially in overall day-match wins, but individual games saw Caruana scoring approximately 8 wins to Carlsen’s 20. The pattern reflected Carlsen’s overall edge while acknowledging that Caruana remained the strongest classical-focused challenger of the era.

Game record

This game between Caruana, Fabiano and Carlsen, Magnus was played at the Clutch-ch June in Lichess.org INT in 2020. Played in round 3.6. At the time of the game, the players were rated 2835 (White) and 2863 (Black). The game lasted 54 moves, ending with White winning. It is part of the modern AI-era of elite chess.

Opening context

The opening sequence runs 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 e6 4. Bxc6 bxc6, after which the players entered the middlegame proper.

See also

For more on this game’s protagonists and theory, see Caruana, Fabiano and Carlsen, Magnus.

Match notes

This Clutch-ch June game sits in post-Carlsen and new generation era. Master-level chess of the period was published in tournament bulletins, magazine annotations, and — for the most-studied games — in published opening monographs by the participants and their successors. This game is preserved in the open historical record and can be replayed in full above.