Carlsen Retains World Title in New York City

The World Chess Championship match between defending Champion, Magnus Carlsen of Norway and his challenger, Russia’s Sergey Karjakin, concluded in New York City on November 30^th. It saw Carlsen retain his title, on what was also his 26^th birthday.

It was by no means a convincing performance, however, one would have to say — after 7 draws, (a couple of which saw the Champion fail to take chances, though the same can also be said for his opponent), he lost game 8 and seemed extremely out of sorts and frustrated. The challenger was not without chances in game 9, either and Carlsen was beginning to look rather vulnerable. As with all great champions, however, the stops were pulled out in game 10, which saw Magnus win in order to level the match. This, after Karjakin had twice refused (or missed) drawing chances.

With only two games left, the question on everyone’s lips was whether the players would take risks and try to win the match or play safe and go for tie-breaks. The fans and followers knew what they wanted, a bare knuckles fight for the title, but did the players agree? With no margin for error anymore, trying to win could mean losing. It seemed that neither Carlsen nor Karjakin wanted to go down this route, with two rather eventless games ending the standard games.

6-6 the score, the match would go, rather unsurprisingly, to tiebreaks.

Tie-breaks for the match consisted of 4 rapid games and, if needed, 5 sets of 2 blitz games. If the scores were still level, there would be an armageddon game, (White having 6 minutes to Black’s 5, but having to win), but there was a lot of chess to play before this was needed.

The first two rapid games saw draws as the players settled down. Sergey Karjakin stuck with his match tactic of not really trying anything, content to hold things together and obligate Magnus Carlsen to push if he wanted to decide the match before the blitz games arrived. However, in game 3, he was punished for this as Carlsen was in no mood to keep the draws going. The World Champion was allowed to penetrate to the challenger’s second rank and he scored the full point with the Black pieces.

This was optimum timing and meant that Carlsen was a point ahead, with one rapid game left. Karjakin was in a must win situation with the Black pieces. Game 4 saw the first Sicilian of the match and Carlsen in full control throughout. Karjakin was forced to push and this saw his position worsen gradually. In the end, White had an overwhelming advantage and finished the game nicely, with Black on his way to being mated.

This made the rapid score 3-1 and Magnus Carlsen retained his title — congratulations to him!

So, the status quo is restored and the chess world carries on as normal. I think it’s fair to say, however, that opinions are very split when it comes to the quality (or lack thereof) of this World Chess Championship. We saw hardly any ‘fighting’ chess in this match, Karjakin brought very little to the table, despite it being rumoured that he was coming armed with lots of preparation. I have no idea where these rumours originated, we certainly didn’t see much of it, if any. When it comes to Magnus Carlsen, it has to be said that he did not have a very convincing defence of his title, the first half of the match was certainly not his best or sharpest chess. Whether this was to do with nerves or complacency, or that he was struggling to cope with Karjakin’s passive approach, we can never know; but like all greats, he seems to be his worst enemy at times and is by no means without kinks in his armour.

The amount of draws in the match has led to many discussions on social media as to how this sort of thing can be avoided in the future. To be honest, I think this is unlikely to be sorted out very easily. On the one hand, fans and spectators want to see exciting fights and such ‘non-combative’ play treads on the toes of that. This has potentially serious consequences, namely when it comes to event sponsorship. This match was certainly not the best advertisement for chess as being an exciting marketting forum, capable of attracting wide attention and giving a good return on investment. However, it must also be remembered that the players are not there to entertain the masses, but to not lose games and ultimately win the event by hook or by crook. Undertaking measures to combat the dullness that this can result in, risks treading on the toes of individual match tactics.

For what it’s worth, my thoughts on the match, is that it was a very dull affair, but I don’t agree that it was boring. Karjakin’s chess, while unadventurous, did unsettle Carlsen and he was most certainly rattled after his loss in game 8. To observe this and see whether he could respond, (and how), was very intriguing. Karjakin himself, I personally found a disappointment — I expected more bite from him. I think the right player won in the end.

As to what can be done in order to combat dull play and draws, answers on a postcard to that one. I am not exactly sure that anything needs doing, draws are part of the game and in themselves not necessarily without tension and intrigue. They did get rather too much in this match, though and some were very feeble affairs. This can not really become the norm for World Chess Championship matches, that is for sure.

Perhaps the organisers for events such as this could consider either implementing a penalty for ‘non-combatance’ such as in Judo or some kind of game restart, such as in Snooker? Grandmaster Robert Ris also had an interesting suggestion on Twitter, namely to play the tiebreak before the match, which I find very intriguing; but, would one player knowing that he is safe with a 6-6 score and one knowing that he isn’t, necessarily increase the likelihood of excitement? Perhaps, but there is no guarantee. At the end of the day, incentive is probably a better way to go than punishment, with cash bonuses being offered for wins and brilliancy prizes. However, the cash is already quite high for World Championship matches, (well, I would not complain at it!) so could this be a big enough incentive?

After all, if the prospect of being World Champion is not enough to get a player to roll up their sleeves and go for it with gusto, then what is … ?

I’d like to end on a personal note, firstly apologising for the lateness of this report. Unfortunately, my day job is not always cooperative when it comes to my first-love of chess. I hope better late than never. I would also like to thank you for your interest and support, HOTCH visitors have risen dramatically during the World Championship and that is very humbling and rewarding. It’s been really great to have you following along and I hope you continue to enjoy your visits here. There is the London Chess Classic still to come this year and Wijk aan Zee in January, just to name a couple of the events I hope to cover in the near future. Thanks again!

{Annotations by John Lee Shaw for www.hotoffthechess.com.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bc4 Bc5 {Something different from Magnus Carlsen, switching from the Ruy
Lopez to the Giuoco Piano.} 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 O-O 6. a4 a6 7. c3 d6 8. Re1 Ba7
9. h3 Ne7 10. d4 Ng6 11. Nbd2 c6 12. Bf1 {Carlsen, again, is the first to step
away from known theory. dxe5 and Bd3 had been played previously, with a win
for White and a draw respectively.} a5 13. dxe5 (13. Nc4 d5 (13… exd4 14.
cxd4 d5 15. exd5 cxd5 16. Nce5 Ne4 17. Be3 Ne7 {=}) 14. Ncxe5 Nxe5 (14… Nxe4
15. Nxg6 fxg6 16. Bd3 Bf5 {with White having the slightly more active stance
and natural development of Qc2, Bf5, etc.}) 15. Nxe5 Nxe4 16. Bd3 f6 17. Nf3
Re8 18. Qc2 Bf5 19. Bf4 {with a very slight initiative to White.}) 13… dxe5
14. Qc2 Be6 15. Nc4 Qc7 {This is much better than exchanging on c4, which
gives the bishop pair to White and the a2-g8 diagonal could be significant
later on, especially coupled with Ng5 possibilities.} 16. b4 axb4 17. cxb4 b5 {
Black’s play seems rather complicit towards White making progress on the
Queenside.} 18. Ne3 bxa4 {beginning liquidation.} 19. Rxa4 Bxe3 20. Bxe3 Rxa4
21. Qxa4 Nxe4 22. Rc1 Bd5 23. b5 cxb5 {…c5 is no better, but this move is
again a bit too complicit.} (23… c5 24. Bc4 {Black’s main choices here are ..
.Qb7 or …Ra8.} Qb7 (24… Ra8 25. Qc2 Qb7 26. Bxd5 Qxd5 27. Rd1 Qb7 28. b6
Rb8 29. Qc4 Qc6 30. Rd5 Nd6 {and Black is holding rather well here.}) 25. Qa6 {
the only way to play for an advantage.} Rb8 26. Qxb7 Bxb7 27. Ng5 Nxg5 28. Bxg5
{and White’s bishops start to come into their own.} Kf8 29. Be3 {with an
undoubtable edge to White.}) 24. Qxe4 {This is the only way for White to
continue positively, Black does rather well out of the alternatives. This line
will result in a material imbalance, with White giving his rook for this
knight and Black’s bishop.} Qxc1 25. Qxd5 {and now White gains the b5-pawn due
to Black having to re-locate his Queen.} Qc7 26. Qxb5 {with the best of things,
the extra pieces can be a lot more potent than the rook in this position,
especially with White’s King being rather safe.} Rb8 27. Qd5 Rd8 28. Qb3 Rb8
29. Qa2 h6 30. Qd5 Qe7 31. Qe4 {Very nicely keeping the pressure on Black’s
e5-pawn.} Qf6 {…Qb7 may have been more effective, here.} 32. g3 {(h4!)} Rc8
33. Bd3 Qc6 34. Qf5 Re8 35. Be4 Qe6 36. Qh5 Ne7 37. Qxe5 Qxe5 38. Nxe5 Ng6 39.
Bxg6 Rxe5 40. Bd3 f6 {White is definitely better materially, here, but the
question remains as to whether Carlsen can make it pay, given the time
situation and the technicalities required to convert.} 41. Kg2 Kh8 42. Kf3 Rd5
43. Bg6 Ra5 44. Ke4 Rb5 45. h4 Re5+ 46. Kd4 Ra5 47. Kc4 Re5 48. Bd4 Ra5 49. Bc5
Kg8 50. Kd5 Rb5 51. Kd6 Ra5 52. Be3 Re5 53. Bf4 Ra5 54. Bd3 Ra7 55. Ke6 Rb7 56.
Kf5 Rd7 57. Bc2 Rb7 58. Kg6 Rb2 59. Bf5 Rxf2 60. Be6+ Kh8 61. Bd6 Re2 62. Bg4
Re8 {Bf8 had been the threat of course, Black can’t lose the g7 pawn.} 63. Bf5
Kg8 64. Bc2 Re3 65. Bb1 Kh8 66. Kf7 Rb3 67. Be4 Re3 68. Bf5 Rc3 69. g4 Rc6 70.
Bf8 Rc7+ 71. Kg6 Kg8 {and here it becomes apparant that Black seems able to
throw enough spanners in the works.} 72. Bb4 Rb7 73. Bd6 Kh8 74. Bf8 Kg8 75.
Ba3 Kh8 76. Be6 Rb6 77. Kf7 Rb7+ 78. Be7 h5 79. gxh5 f5 80. Bxf5 Rxe7+ 81. Kxe7
{Chess is a funny game, sometimes. It looks like White should just win here,
but this is a draw. It is not possible for White to force the issue.} Kg8 82.
Bd3 Kh8 83. Kf8 {White offers the draw by allowing Black to set up Stalemate.}
g5 84. hxg6 {Draw by Stalemate.} 1/2-1/2

[Event “World Chess Championship 2016, Rapid Tie-break”]
[Site “New York City”]
[Date “2016.11.30”]
[Round “3”]
[White “Karjakin, Sergey”]
[Black “Carlsen, Magnus”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “C84”]
[WhiteElo “2772”]
[BlackElo “2853”]
[PlyCount “76”]
[EventDate “2016.11.30”]
[EventType “rapid”]

{Annotations by John Lee Shaw for www.hotoffthechess.com.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a3 O-O 9. Nc3 Na5 10. Ba2
Be6 11. b4 Nc6 12. Nd5 Nd4 13. Ng5 (13. Nxd4 exd4 14. Bb2 c5 {is about equal,
with White having Qf3 or Re1 as continuations.}) 13… Bxd5 14. exd5 Nd7 15.
Ne4 f5 16. Nd2 (16. c3 fxe4 17. cxd4 exd3 18. dxe5 Nxe5 19. f4 Bf6 20. Rb1 {
and the position is about equal, here.} (20. fxe5 {sees Black get the best of
things very quickly} Bxe5 21. Rxf8+ {if Rb1, Black has the strong …Qh4
either immediately or after …Rxf1+} Qxf8 {with a very commanding position.}))
16… f4 17. c3 Nf5 18. Ne4 {Of the two, Black is the one making the progress,
here, especially on the Kingside. White has a very passive structure and his
pieces are not playing an active part in the game.} Qe8 19. Bb3 {Qg4 was
perhaps more in context in light of Black’s intentions.} Qg6 20. f3 {Yet
another pawn move — if White is not careful he will soon be suffocated by his
own bits.} Bh4 {Black now seizes the initiative, putting pressure on the
g3-square. …Nf6 will follow quickly, challenging White’s Nd5, an important
piece when it comes to the defense of g3.} 21. a4 {While Black is busy on the
Kingside, White counters on the other flank. It is now a race, in effect, as
to which side makes the other defend first.} Nf6 22. Qe2 a5 {Carlsen, showing
that he is not at all impressed by Karjakin’s Queenside action.} 23. axb5 axb4
24. Bd2 {There is nothing wrong with this move, but Bb2 may have been better,
setting the piece along the long diagonal and towards d4 — but this happens
anyway, thanks to Black.} bxc3 (24… Rfb8 {this was a good alternative to
Black’s choice of continuation.} 25. Bc4 {possibly forced, the pawn must be
defended and c3-c4 would give the d4 square.} bxc3 26. Bxc3 Ne3 {and Black
will be rather pleased with this situation.}) 25. Bxc3 Ne3 {It was a matter of
time before this move showed up.} 26. Rfc1 Rxa1 27. Rxa1 Qe8 28. Bc4 Kh8 29.
Nxf6 Bxf6 30. Ra3 {Ra7 or Ra6 were more positive, here. It seems that White is
not really playing for anything.} e4 {A very bold move from Magnus Carlsen,
who is not intending to sit idly by and allow the game to draw.} 31. dxe4 Bxc3
32. Rxc3 Qe5 33. Rc1 (33. Qd2 Ra8 34. Ba2 {Using the bishop to cut the Black
rook off along the a-file. The position is about equal, here.}) 33… Ra8 34.
h3 {A rather quiet move. Qd2 would have been slightly better, covering the
d4-square.} h6 35. Kh2 Qd4 36. Qe1 {?? This is a serious mistake, allowing
Black to penetrate along the 2nd rank. Just as in the above variation, Ba2
would have held things better.} Qb2 {With a very serious initiative and a huge
threat towards g2 which can not go unanswered.} 37. Bf1 Ra2 38. Rxc7 {This was
White’s last chance to make a fight of it, but this move was not the way to go.
However, Karjakin was in a difficult situation and there were no ‘good’ moves.}
(38. Rb1 Qd4 39. Kh1 Qf6 {intending to approach g2 from a different route.} 40.
Rb3 Qg5 41. h4 Qg6 {and White may be forced into Rxe3 in order to survive,
here. However, longterm survival chances are not great.}) 38… Ra1 {! A
decisive move from Magnus Carlsen. And here, Sergey Karjakin resigned on
account of the impending fall of the f1-bishop. Following this result, Magnus
Carlsen would have a 1-point lead in the rapid tie-break, with one game left
to play.} 0-1

[Event “World Chess Championship 2016, Rapid Tie-break”]
[Site “New York City”]
[Date “2016.11.30”]
[Round “4”]
[White “Carlsen, Magnus”]
[Black “Karjakin, Sergey”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “B54”]
[WhiteElo “2853”]
[BlackElo “2772”]
[PlyCount “99”]
[EventDate “2016.11.30”]
[EventType “rapid”]

{Annotations by John Lee Shaw for www.hotoffthechess.com.} 1. e4 c5 {A must
win situation for Sergey Karjakin if he wants to keep his World Championship
hopes alive. And a change of approach, with the first Sicilian of the match.
Unfortunately, this is coming somewhat late.} 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6
5. f3 e5 6. Nb3 Be7 7. c4 a5 8. Be3 a4 9. Nc1 O-O 10. Nc3 Qa5 11. Qd2 Na6 12.
Be2 Nc5 13. O-O Bd7 14. Rb1 Rfc8 15. b4 axb3 16. axb3 {Magnus keeps things
tight. He doesn’t need heroics in this game, only needing to draw in order to
retain his World title.} Qd8 17. Nd3 Ne6 18. Nb4 Bc6 19. Rfd1 {Carlsen keeps
his options open, strengthening his presence along the d-file rather than
immediately claiming the d5-square with a knight.} (19. Nbd5 Bxd5 20. cxd5 Nd4
21. Bxd4 exd4 22. Qxd4 {is perfectly commanding for White.}) 19… h5 20. Bf1
h4 21. Qf2 Nd7 22. g3 Ra3 23. Bh3 Rca8 24. Nc2 R3a6 25. Nb4 {This may actually
have been an invitation to repeat with …Ra3, Nc2 etc. And in other
circumstances this may have been Black’s best option — but in this instance,
a draw for Karjakin equals a loss.} Ra5 26. Nc2 b6 {Considering the unguarded
Bc6, Nb4 and then Nbd5 was an interesting option, but White is refusing to
make things too concrete, knowing that Black has to find a way to push.} 27.
Rd2 Qc7 28. Rbd1 Bf8 29. gxh4 Nf4 30. Bxf4 exf4 31. Bxd7 Qxd7 32. Nb4 {Carlsen
refuses the free bit on b6. This was a safe capture, but the World Champion
doesn’t want to be opening files for his challenger.} Ra3 33. Nxc6 Qxc6 34. Nb5
Rxb3 35. Nd4 Qxc4 36. Nxb3 Qxb3 {Not the situation one wants to be in when
having to win — it’s going to be nigh inpossible from here.} 37. Qe2 Be7 38.
Kg2 Qe6 39. h5 Ra3 40. Rd3 Ra2 41. R3d2 Ra3 42. Rd3 Ra7 43. Rd5 Rc7 44. Qd2 {
Strategically winning.} Qf6 45. Rf5 Qh4 46. Rc1 Ra7 47. Qxf4 {picking up the
pawn, but even more serious is that White’s position is completely dominating.}
Ra2+ 48. Kh1 Qf2 {a mistake, allowing mate in 8.} 49. Rc8+ Kh7 {Hard to
believe that Karjakin missed what is to follow here.} ({if} 49… Bf8 {then
Black’s King gets driven to the other side of the board, where it will be
mated.} 50. Rxf8+ Kxf8 (50… Kh7 51. Qh6+ Kxh6 {…gxh6, R5xf7#} 52. Rh8#) 51.
Rxf7+ Ke8 52. Rf8+ Kd7 53. Qf5+ Kc6 54. Rc8+ Kb7 55. Qd7+ Ka6 56. Ra8#) 50.
Qh6+ {A super move from Magnus Carlsen, leaving Black with a choice of how to
get mated — …Kxh6, Rh8# or …gxh6, Rxf7#. Here, Sergey Karjakin resigned,
ending his challenge for the World Chess Championship, Magnus Carlsen
retaining his title.} 1-0

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