The openings we love, hurt us the most

GM Gawain Jones is well regarded here in Canberra, having played in a few Doeberl Cups, where he proved a friendly and entertaining  competitor. Despite moving up the chess ladder since then, he has stuck with a lot of the openings that he played back then, which is why he is a popular player elsewhere as well.
In the current Tata Steel event he wheeled out the Sicilian Dragon against World Champion Magnus Carlsen, which apparently surprised Magnus, despite the fact that Jones has even written a book on the opening. Whether through over confidence or carelessness, Carlsen even managed to blunder a piece in the opening, and looked gone for all money. But he did have a little play for it, and he began to pose problems for Jones. The pressure that Carlsen did exert began to tell and after a couple of inaccurate moves from Jones, momentum swung Carlsen's way. A few moves later the position was even, and then in Carlsen's favour. And soon after the first time control Jones had to resign a game that earlier on was headed for a different outcome.


Carlsen,Magnus (2834) - Jones,Gawain C B (2640) [B76]
80th Tata Steel GpA Wijk aan Zee NED (8.1), 21.01.2018