World chess champion Magnus Carlsen has arrived in New York city that’s supposed to bolster the 25-year-old Norwegian and chess. Carlsen will begin a 12-game World Championship Match against this year’s challenger, 26-year-old Sergey Karjakin of Russia. Set in the completely refurbished Fulton Fish Market which has been established in South Street Seaport in 1821, the players were sealed off for 12 games on a soundproof ‘aquarium’. The match had a prize fund of about $1.1 million.
Espen Agdestein: For Magnus, the match is a great chance to make the game better known around the world.
Carlsen: Sergey is very well-prepared. He has studied the game very well, is very knowledgeable and, most of all, he’s extremely resilient in defence. He’s very, very good in finding resources even in difficult positions – finding positions he can defend. For me, it’s a matter of when I get the chance I’ll try to punch him until he finally knocks over!.
Karjakin: I think I have seen chess in my dreams quite often – maybe one time from 20 I have some chess. Of course it’s very important to guess the first move, but we’re all professionals and we have to be prepared against everything.
Organized by Agon and its CEO Ilya Merenzon, PhosAgro and EG Capital Advisors were the chief sponsors for the World Championship Match.
Since the United States sanctioned FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov in 2015 for allegedly doing business deals to aid the Assad regime in Syria, he was not able to visit the U.S. during the tournament and was replaced by FIDE Deputy President Georgios Makropoulos.
Game 1
Carlsen played quickly during the opening, indicating that he had prepared the Trompowsky for the match, while Karjakin took more time, clearly proceeding cautiously in his first World Championship game. With a couple of precise maneuvers, Karjakin avoided any problems and, after only 19 moves, most of the major pieces for both sides had already been exchanged.
Carlsen, who had a slightly better pawn structure, continued to press on – something that he is noted for and that has brought him success in the past. He may have also continued to play because he wanted to test Karjakin and try to put some psychological pressure on him. But Karjakin is noted for his defensive ability and he had no trouble.
The game lasted four hours and was drawn after 42 moves.
Ponomariov for Chessbase: So, to be honest, the first game of the match was not particularly exciting. I don’t think we will see this variation again. Even for Magnus, it is difficult to squeeze water from a stone. I expect that the Queen’s Indian will be tested in the next games unless Karjakin has prepared something else. But before that, we will see what Sergey will play with White.
Game 2
Karjakin opened with 1.e4, which he had played in 9 of 12 prior encounters with Carlsen. Carlsen responded with a Ruy Lopez setup, though choosing a classical line rather than the Berlin Defense. Karjakin then avoided the principal variation with 6.d3. Karjakin exchanged central pawns on move 18 (see diagram), and Carlsen said afterward that Black was too solid in the center for White to regroup his Nc3 to g3.
After the game, Carlsen said that in a long match, not every game is going to involve fireworks.
Judith Polgar was not satisfied with Karjakin’s last moves (18-22), starting with 18de5. I think Karjakin has completely misplayed this game. Black is going to be very active… Magnus is considering to take over the game. No problems for Black whatsoever. No chance that the game is going back to develop to Karjakin’s favor.
Game 3
This game saw the Berlin Defense, which is quite often seen in the World Championship (4 times each in 2013 and 2014). Carlsen avoided the ‘Berlin Endgame’ by playing 5.Re1. A mainline was followed until Carlsen retreated his rook only to e2 on move 10, upon which Karjakin thought for nearly half an hour. Carlsen followed it up with 11.Re1, apparently losing a tempo but having provoked the move 10…b6. move. Karjakin accepted slightly weakened pawns, and in contrast to the previous games decided to aim for counterplay with 29…Ra8 then 30…Ra2 rather than sit passively. Carlsen soon won a pawn to emerge with the first real winning chances of the match. After many vicissitudes along the way, Carlsen missed the winning 70.Re8. After 70.Nc6, Black could reach a theoretical draw by 70…Rc3 (attacking the knight, which guards White’s roo, though some difficult follow-up lines might be needed before a drawn pawnless endgame would definitively be reached. Karjakin instead immediately grabbed White’s f-pawn (70…Kxf5), which would lose against perfect play, but Carlsen granted him another drawing chance two moves later with 72.Rb7. This time Karjakin found the necessary defense 72…Ra1. An ensuing liquidation saw Karjakin’s passed h-pawn strong enough to compel Carlsen to acquiesce to a draw after almost seven hours of play.
The game was hailed as a miracle escape for Karjakin and a showcase of his defensive skills.
In the press conference afterward, Karjakin was noticeably relieved. While Carlsen cracked some jokes, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that he was disappointed and perhaps even angry with himself.
I was quite happy with what I got from the opening,” Carlsen said. “It’s not much but it’s safely better.
Game 4
Magnus Carlsen outplayed Sergey Karjakin with black and again achieved a winning position before failing to convert this advantage to a win the game. This followed Karjakin’s save in drawing the previous game.
It was a classical Ruy Lopez and Karjakin’s 14.Ng3 was a novelty. 19.Bxc4 was a serious error from Karjakin leaving him under pressure. Carlsen kept fine control until 45…f4?! which left him with a stable advantage but one not sufficient for a win. Carlsen’s first comment after the game was that he thought this won by force. 45…Be6 or 45…gxf4 should have led to a decisive advantage.
Carlsen tried for a long time after this but Karjakin held the fortress and the game was drawn in 94 moves.
Afterward, in the press conference, Carlsen was visibly annoyed with himself. He said that he had not carefully calculated the possibilities when he made his decision to create a protected passed pawn. On the other hand, Karjakin was clearly relieved and happy. When he was asked what he thought about the game, he replied, “Fantastic.”
Sergey Karyakin: In general I’m not a very big believer in fortresses in chess. There are people like Anand, who tries to build a fortress every time he’s worse, but I have experience in breaking these fortresses down. I just thought I was easily winning with 45…f4. As long as I have a path on the queenside it has to be winning – I didn’t even think about whether it’s still a fortress if I get the king to b3. That was very, very sloppy. Kudos to him for finding this, but I think that was just a very weak moment.
Fabiano Caruana: Honestly impressive defense. Not every day that Carlsen fails to win 2 clearly better positions in a row.
Game 5
After an Italian Opening, Carlsen expanded rapidly on the queenside and then in the center, but Karjakin was never in any real trouble. After Karjakin exchanged his dark-squared bishop for Carlsen’s knight, the players arrived in a position with opposite-colored bishops in which the likeliest result seemed to be a draw.
But then Carlsen became complacent. Just after the first time control, he erred by playing 41 Kg2, allowing Karjakin to sacrifice a pawn to gain enormous activity for his pieces. After 42 … d4, Carlsen was visibly worried, but Karjakin missed the best follow-up. Instead of 43 … Bd5, if he had played 43 … Rh8, Carlsen would have been in big trouble. Karjakin admitted afterward that he missed how potent that move was.
The players agreed to a draw after 51 moves and more than five hours of play.
Afterward, in the press conference, Carlsen was visibly angry, presumably with himself, as the match has not unfolded as he probably thought it would. He finds himself in a dogfight with Sergey Karjakin, the challenger from Russia.
Game 6
The players decided to go for a Spanish opening, after Carlsen castled on move 7, Karjakin played the 8 h3, which avoided the usual path to the Marshall Gambit, which can arise after 8 c3.
But Carlsen nevertheless chose to sacrifice a pawn with 9… d5. His compensation was that he was able to trade off Karjakin’s light-squared bishop and grab space on the queenside.
At this point, the game seemed to be heading in an exciting direction and the possibilities for a decisive result briefly seemed to rise after an aggressive sequence of moves starting on move 16.
But Karjakin’s 22nd move, c3, started a forced series of exchanges and after the last set of rooks were traded by move 26, the remaining pieces (queens, opposite-colored bishops, and weakened pawn structures) left both players with few options to create winning possibilities. Sure enough, after only 32 moves, and barely an hour-and-a-half into the game, the players agreed to a draw.
In the press conference afterward, both players were in a good mood, in marked contrast to the day before when Carlsen had been quite upset with himself. Interestingly, Carlsen, who on previous days had said that he preferred to continue playing without rest days, seemed to welcome a day off, which the players will have Saturday.
Game 7
Karjakin had White and opened with 1 d4 for the first time in the match Carlsen replied 1 d5 and then steered the game into the Slav Defense. Carlsen equalized without difficulty and, after Karjakin played 11 Nd2, Carlsen was even able to grab the initiative.
But he erred with 16… Rc8 (16… Rb8 was better), which seemed to be a simple miscalculation. It led to a forced sequence of moves in which Karjakin won a pawn. But at the end, the players had reached an endgame in which there were opposite-colored bishops in addition to rooks and pawns and Carlsen had a pawn on b4 that effectively blocked Karjakin’s pawn majority on the queenside. After a few perfunctory moves, the players agreed to a draw. All seven games in the match have now been drawn.
In the press conference afterward, Carlsen admitted, The last two games have not been so interesting. But he added, Anything can still happen.
Game 8
Magnus Carlsen pressed with white in an unbalanced position, had an edge, misjudged the position and later blundered. Karjakin got confident and also blundered. Carlsen had a draw, went for more and fell to a deflection and mating attack. It was a game of twists and turns.
Caruana: some moves reminds me of Magnus’ play in the fifth game of the match. The position is equal, but he refuses to accept the fact and starts playing risky, anti-positional moves to try to keep the game going. Why does he need to play this way? The match is equal and there’s no need to overpress for a win. In this game his stubborn refusal to accept a draw finally backfired.
Carlsen was clearly furious with himself afterward and bolted the building without attending the press conference, which is required of both players. Meanwhile, Karjakin was understandably happy.
Karjakin: I did not think that Carlsen played badly. He really tried and he sacrificed two pawns and he created a really interesting game but somehow he did not manage to make a draw. Thanks to Magnus, it was a really big day.
After the game Judit Polgar, official commentator for the match, offered an explanation why Carlsen risked so much in the game: Magnus was really determined to have a decisive game today. … He gave Sergey a lot of opportunities in this game. … Magnus was so determined to win the game, even when it was hard to understand why he went on. He wanted to have a decisive game. The tension was so high for both players. But Magnus can punch back. But it is going to be extremely difficult. For both players.
Game 9
Karjakin had White in Game 9. After playing 1 d4 for the first time in the match in Game 7, he switched back to 1 e4 for Game 9. As he had before, Carlsen replied with 1… e5 and again steered for the classical Ruy Lopez to maximize his chances to fight for a win with Black. Given that he was trailing by one point in the match, Carlsen chose one of the most aggressive continuations for Black: 6… Bc5. The players followed a known path for many moves and Carlsen eventually sacrificed a pawn in order to create an unbalanced position in which he could break up the pawn cover surrounding Karjakin’s king.
Chances seemed about equal, with Karjakin having a very slight advantage. But he managed to improve the placement of his pieces and gradually increased the pressure on Carlsen. As the position became more and more complicated, and as the amount of time on each player’s clock left to make the first time control at move 40 dwindled, both players made some small errors.
At move 39, Karjakin played the sharp 39 Bf7, which seemed to give him a big edge. But Carlsen was able to dodge the worst and survive to a pawn-down ending in which Karjakin had almost no advantage. Commentators and grandmaster spectators believed that if Karjakin had instead played 39 Qb3, Karjakin’s winning chances would have been significant.
The game continued for 74 moves and six hours before Karjakin offered a draw. In part, that seemed to be a psychological ploy by Karjakin – an attempt to make Carlsen “suffer” a bit before letting him off the hook.
In the press conference afterward, Carlsen said, “There were many difficult moments, but I was happy to survive.”
Game 10
After losing Game 8 with White, in which he opened 1 d4, Carlsen switched back to 1 e4. Karjakin, who only needed to draw each of the remaining games to win the title, replied 1… e5 and then headed for the Berlin System, which is known to be somewhat drawish. Not surprisingly, Carlsen sidestepped the main lines of that system with 4 d3.
Carlsen did not gain any advantage out of the opening, but he achieved the kind of position in which he is comfortable as it allowed him to maneuver endlessly to try to create inroads in Black’s position.
Nevertheless, Karjakin missed a simple combination that would have forced a draw. After 20 Nd2, Karjakin could have played 20… Nf2, and then after 21 Kg2 Nh4! would have led to a perpetual check as Carlsen could not play 22 gh4 because of 22… Qg6, when White would be checkmated. Carlsen admitted later in the press conference that he saw this possibility and was relieved when Karjakin overlooked it.
Even after 21 Qh5, Karjakin could still have forced a draw by 21… Nf2 22 Kg2 Qf7 23 Kg1 Qf6 24 Kg2 Qf7, etc.
After Karjakin missed those two chances, the players headed for an endgame in which Carlsen had a small but nagging edge. Karjakin defended well until move 56, when instead of playing 56… Rg8, he misplaced his rook with 56… Rhh7. That was all Carlsen needed as he finally broke through Karjakin’s defenses. Though there were still some small errors on both sides in the rest of the game, Carlsen converted his advantage.
Afterward the relief on Carlsen’s face was palpable as he broke into a big smile.
In the press conference, Carlsen said of the victory, “It is a huge relief. I hadn’t won in 10 games and that hadn’t happened to me before.” He also said that he was feeling the pressure in the match. “Several games have been five, six, seven hours and it is taking its toll,” he said.
Now that the match is tied, there is a greater possibility that the match may go beyond the regulation 12 games and into tie-breakers of rapid and even blitz games. Asked how likely that scenario was, Carlsen replied, “It is more likely than it was before today.”
Game 11
Karjakin had White in Game 11 and, as he had for all but one game in the match, he opened with 1 e4. Carlsen, as he had done throughout the match, avoided the drawish lines of the Berlin Defense (which he used in his 2013 and 2014 title matches with Anand) and chose the classical Ruy Lopez, or Spanish, Defense. Carlsen chose a quiet but solid continuation this time and after 13 moves, the players had exchanged both knights and a pair of bishops.
Carlsen tried to mix things up with 18… c3 and 19… d5, and even seemed to have generated some genuine threats with his passed e-pawn after 24… e3, but with some precise defensive moves, Karjakin was able to force a draw by perpetual check after 34 moves and three-and-a-half hours of play.
Game 12
The game was over after only 30 moves and 35 minutes as the players blitzed out their moves, evidently content to decide the match in overtime. They had to play 30 moves to satisfy the Sofia Rules, which are in force for the match and that prohibit a draw before move 30.
Carlsen had White and opened with 1 e4 and after Karjakin replied 1… e5, Carlsen steered for the same line of the Berlin Defense that had brought him so close to success in Game 3. But this time, Karjakin played more cautiously and easily neutralized Carlsen’s minute advantage as most of the pieces were rapidly traded off.
Some spectators, who thought that Carlsen might try to be a bit more ambitious in his final regulation game with White, were disappointed by the somewhat insipid play.
In the press conference afterward, Carlsen apologized to fans and said that he felt no need to risk being too aggressive. For his part, Karjakin said that he was of course satisfied to draw so easily with Black. He also said that there was some potential venom in the line that Carlsen had played, but that he had prepared for it.
Game 13 Tie-break 1
In the first game, Karjakin had White but was unable to gain an edge and the game ended in a draw.
Game 14 Tie-break 2
Carlsen built up a large advantage, but missed a win in the endgame.
Game 15 Tie-break 3
Karjakin’s luck finally ran out as he blundered in a difficult position, allowing Carlsen to immediately win a piece and seal the victory.
Game 16 Tie-break 4
In the last game, needing a win, Karjakin played the Sicilian Defense as Black. But the opening is not consistent with Karjakin’s style and Carlsen had no trouble seizing control of the game. In the end, he finished up with a stylish queen sacrifice to checkmate Karjakin and retain the title.
Question to Karjakin just after the 12th game ended:
Q: This was an extremely quick draw. Are you happy with that?
A: I played with Black, so maybe this is a question more to Magnus than to me.
Question to Carlsen a minute later:
Q: Why did you decide to go into this quick draw?
A: I wanted to play a tiebreak. That’s all I can say.
Q: Can you try to tell us why you want to do that?
A: We’ll see [smiles].
Karjakin commented more:
I spent a lot of time to prepare to Magnus but it didn’t really work and he was jumping to different openings and I didn’t really use my preparation. I can admit a few times I completely forgot my preparation and I mixed up my preparation – in the classical games, but also in the rapid. There were so many things to prepare that I didn’t manage to remember everything. Maybe it was better to have a fresh head and not to repeat so much.
And Carlsen concluded:
I felt that it was an advantage for me that I didn’t really have to think so much about Game 12 and he did. Also I felt my head was working better than it was a few days ago and also he was perhaps playing a bit worse, so in that sense I thought playing four games instead of one seemed like a very good idea. Besides, it was very refreshing to play a bit faster after all these weeks!
Mark Crowther commented in TWIC:
Magnus Carlsen retained his World Chess Championship title winning the rapid tie-break 3-1. Carlsen admitted that he was aiming for this since the start of game 11.
Carlsen had endured frustration throughout the match and this continued for a while today in the rapids. Carlsen drew the first rapid game with few scares before obtaining a huge and at times winning advantage in game two. The finish was not so easy to find and eventually Karjakin escaped with a draw.
The third game was Carlsen’s breakthrough. He employed a radical piece of preparation in the Ruy Lopez where he went for a kingside attack with black. A spectacular pawn sacrifice left him with a dominant position, it may have been that Karjakin could have made life much harder for the champion but after a few moves his risk paid off and with the clock counting down Karjakin allowed a simple finish.
Carlsen allowed Karjakin to play a quite sharp Sicilian in game four where he only needed a draw and employed a slightly unusual sideline that soon left him with a solid advantage. Carlsen looked a little nervous and allowed a bit of counter play. When Karjakin was desperately short of time Carlsen let him attack but he had everything worked out. The finish will go down in history. I suspect Karjakin saw it as he at first retracted the move 48…Qf2 but seeing nothing better he played it anyway and Carlsen finished with 49 Rc8+ Kh7 50 Qh6+ sacrificing his queen for forced mate and the retention of his title.
This is Carlsen’s third World Championship victory and the closest call he has had. Karjakin admitted to some mistakes, he had trouble remembering what was probably an immense amount of opening preparation throughout the match. Carlsen’s previous World Championship experience allowed his preparation to be more effective than Karjakin’s who will no doubt have learned a lot if he gets another shot.
“In rapid chess it’s better to be in a good shape and I wasn’t” Karjakin and he thought that his opening preparation for that was too much.
“It was an advantage not to think so much about game 12 and he did.” said Carlsen who took that game to a quick draw. “Playing four games instead of one seemed a very good idea.”
Carlsen was very worried after his game 8 loss. “I had all sorts of negative thoughts in my head.”
Final score Carlsen 6 Karjakin 6 in classical time control games. Carlsen 3 Karjakin 1 in rapid games.
Carlsen retained his title on his 26th birthday. A truly memorable day for him.
| Carlsen 2853 : ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 µ 9 |
| Karjakin 2772: ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 0 7 |