Game 10 of the World Chess Championship, saw Magnus Carlsen level the scores, by finally winning a game. The defending Champion really had to do something in this game, he trailed his challenger, Sergey Karjakin, by a point and with only two games after this one, was running out of time.
Carlsen had the White pieces in game 10, and made the most of them as had been expected. The players took a rare line in the Berlin Defence, and this resulted in a good advantage for the Champion. This is no strange thing in the Berlin, an opening in which White often obtains the best of things, without them producing a decisive result.
Sergey Karjakin had frustrated his opponent in a couple of previous games, by having the worse stance but constructing a fortress to prevent Carlsen from making progress. In those instances, however, pressure tended to be concentrated and much of the board resolved, but in this game, Carlsen had threats coming from right, left and centre. Once again, Karjakin went to work, his King travelled from Kingside to Queenside, and his rooks and knight held White at bay on the Kingside. The players shuffled about, with Black having nothing to do but wait for White to try something and White hoping for a mistake.
This came with Karjakin’s 56…Rhh7? (…Nh6 seems ok) Which allowed Carlsen’s 57.b5! and from here White was sitting pretty. Magnus Carlsen proceeded to show the justification in his reputation, and hardly put a foot wrong from this point. It was a near textbook display, against which Karjakin found himself with no resistance to offer. He was resigning the game soon after, and his lead in the match was gone.
With the scores at 5-5, there are two games remaining in the match before tiebreak games come into play. Sergey Karjakin has the White pieces in game 11, and my feeling is that if he wants to be World Champion, he should come out and try to do something with them. His tactic of resistance and containment has been effective in the match, and obviously frustrated his opponent somewhat. The momentum was definitely with him at times, especially after game 8 of course. However, the momentum has shifted, and Magnus Carlsen has regained his bite and seems to have some of his mojo back. I don’t think quietness is the way to go anymore, Karjakin has to take a risk and seek sharp play or he could end up having a very bad end to the match.
The players have a rest day before the match continues, and this should be plenty of time to recharge the batteries and do some final preparation. When they come out on Saturday 26th November, for the penultimate classical game in this match, let’s hope they are fresh, ambitious, and with their eyes set on the World Chess crown.
[Site “New York City”]
[Date “2016.11.23”]
[Round “10”]
[White “Carlsen, Magnus”]
[Black “Karjakin, Sergey”]
[Result “*”]
[ECO “A00”]
[Annotator “Shaw,John Lee”]
[PlyCount “149”]
[EventDate “2016.11.23”]
[EventCountry “USA”]{Annotations by John Lee Shaw for www.hotoffthechess.com.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bb5 {Another Ruy Lopez, then. I had suspected the Carlsen could try the
Scotch in this game, but no. He needs to do something in this game to try and
level the match, so what does he have up his sleeve?} Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 {So, the
players take a bit of an unusual line in the Berlin Defence.} 5. c3 O-O 6. Bg5
h6 7. Bh4 Be7 8. O-O d6 9. Nbd2 Nh5 10. Bxe7 {Carlsen
goes his own way, here, Bg3 had been played previously.} Qxe7 11. Nc4 {Seems a
strange move, this, but the knight is going to e3.} Nf4 12. Ne3 Qf6 13. g3 Nh3+
14. Kh1 Ne7 15. Bc4 c6 {adequate, but …b5 may have been worth a try.} (15…
b5 16. Bb3 (16. Bxb5 Rb8 17. Bc4 Rxb2 18. Kg2 Rb6 {due to the threat of Bb3,
trapping the rook. =}) 16… Rb8 17. Qe2 a5 {and Black can be quite content,
here. =}) 16. Bb3 Ng6 17. Qe2 a5 18. a4 Be6 19. Bxe6 {Perhaps a bit of a
strange choice to make this exchange and give Black what he wants, which is to
open the f-file. However, the capture was going to be made sooner or later,
the Bb3 had very little future.} fxe6 20. Nd2 d5 {Sergey Karjakin may regret
this move very much, especially after what happens in the game. Nxf2+ here
would have led to a draw and could not have been a pleasing occurrence for
Magnus Carlsen.} (20… Nxf2+ {leads to a very quick draw} 21. Kg2 (21. Kg1
Nh3+ 22. Kh1 Qg5 {and Black is actually doing rather well.}) 21… Nh4+ 22. Kg1
({blunder city is} 22. gxh4 Qg6+ {and Black is winning.}) 22… Nh3+ 23. Kh1
Nf2+ 24. Kg1 Nh3+) 21. Qh5 Ng5 {Again refusing the draw via …Nxf2+ — quite
inexplicable all things considered. Did Karjakin want to win?} (21… Nxf2+ 22.
Kg2 (22. Kg1 Qg5 23. Qxg5 Nh3+ 24. Kg2 Nxg5 {and Black will be the happier of
the two here.}) 22… Qf7 {Leaves White with nothing better than Qe2 after
which Black has …Nh4+, or Kg1 Qf6, etc. =} 23. Qe2) 22. h4 {Taking the
initiative.} Nf3 23. Nxf3 Qxf3+ 24. Qxf3 Rxf3 25. Kg2 Rf7 {Not a nice
withdrawal to play really, Black would normally like to play …Rad8, here.
The problem, however, is that White can turn his attention to the Queenside
and centre with Ra3, c4, and has way more time than Black for this.
Furthermore, the rook is a little vulnerable on f3, and in some lines the
interesting tactic of Nf5 comes into play, resulting in White picking up the
rook for a piece.} 26. Rfe1 h5 {A strange choice. …Rad8 was possible, here,
due to the rook leaving the f2 pawn undefended.} 27. Nf1 Kf8 {Karjakin knows
that he is weak in the centre and wants to activate his King to help in the
defence. And that is all that he is interested in, here, all that is possible
— which makes two failures/refusals at a forced draw, earlier, all the more
baffling.} 28. Nd2 Ke7 29. Re2 Kd6 {One already has the feeling that Black is
working on a fortress, here.} 30. Nf3 Raf8 31. Ng5 Re7 32. Rae1 Rfe8 {At this
moment in time, even though White is better, it is very hard to see what he
can do. However, sometime chess is a waiting game and with White able to play
on and press at will, that is all that Black can do.} 33. Nf3 Nh8 {I am not
sure that Black should be moving pieces in this way, he was able to play more
constructive waiting moves, such as …Kc7 and …b6, leaving it to White to
try to force an opening in the position, which can easily backfire if one is
not careful. As it is, the opportunity presents somewhat more easily.} 34. d4
exd4 35. Nxd4 g6 36. Re3 Nf7 37. e5+ Kd7 38. Rf3 Nh6 {It might have been
better to forget the fortress and be a little more positive, here. striking
out with …c5.} (38… c5 39. Nb3 b6 40. Rf6 Rg8 {and I am not sure what
White has, here.}) 39. Rf6 Rg7 40. b4 {The World Champion goes to work, giving
his opponent two areas of the board to worry about.} axb4 41. cxb4 Ng8 42. Rf3
Nh6 43. a5 {Things are beginning to mount now for Black, and this will really
be a test of Karjakin’s defensive skills. Accuracy is a must.} Nf5 44. Nb3 Kc7
{The King is on his way to a7, helping to cover White’s pawns on the Queenside.
} 45. Nc5 Kb8 46. Rb1 Ka7 47. Rd3 Rc7 48. Ra3 Nd4 49. Rd1 Nf5 {…Nb5 would
have been inaccurate, due to Rf3 and White will be able to obtain good play
along the f-file. So far so good for Karjakin, who is coping very well and
finding the right moves to hold Carlsen off. The question is if he can keep
this up.} 50. Kh3 Nh6 51. f3 Rf7 52. Rd4 Nf5 53. Rd2 Rh7 54. Rb3 Ree7 55. Rdd3
Rh8 56. Rb1 Rhh7 {? Here it is, the error that Carlsen has been waiting for (..
.Nh6 was more in context — actually, where possible Black should have been
trying to shuffle his knight around rather than his rooks). Now he has to take
his chance.} 57. b5 {! the optimum punishment.} cxb5 58. Rxb5 d4 {Sitting and
waiting is no longer an option, Black has to try and create some counter-play
and distractions or he is a sitting duck.} 59. Rb6 Rc7 60. Nxe6 {This must be
seen as the beginning of the end, Karjakin’s point advantage in the match
begins to fade.} Rc3 61. Nf4 {Spot on by Carlsen, Rxc3 would have been
embarrassing and given Black drawing chances.} Rhc7 62. Nd5 Rxd3 63. Nxc7 Kb8
64. Nb5 Kc8 65. Rxg6 Rxf3 66. Kg2 Rb3 67. Nd6+ Nxd6 68. Rxd6 {Black’s last
hope is his d-pawn, but White now renders the situation nigh impossible, while
threatening to advance his own passer.} Re3 69. e6 Kc7 70. Rxd4 Rxe6 71. Rd5
Rh6 72. Kf3 Kb8 73. Kf4 Ka7 74. Kg5 Rh8 75. Kf6 {And here, Sergey Karjakin
resigned the game and relinquished his point advantage in the match. Scores
level 5-5.} *[/pgn]
