Chess, has a rather undeserved reputation as being dull and boring among those who are not involved in it — and after watching the 11th and penultimate game of the World Chess Championship, even I almost believed it, my dear reader.
Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin spent a few hours making moves at the board, without any real intention.
It was Karjakin’s final game as White in the match (barring tiebreaks, which have begun to look very possible) and rather disappointing as he didn’t really look to do anything with it. I am beginning to wonder (perhaps a bit later than others) if Karjakin’s tactic all long may have been to play for tiebreaks; but this would be far from sensible in my opinion. His opponent is not exactly bad at rapid chess.
Does he fancy his chances so much in a rapid situation, that he favours this over going for it with some serious prep in a classical situation? Surely not.
The game itself was a Ruy Lopez, (surprise surprise), and in all honesty, it probably lasted 13 moves or so, technically. Minor pieces left the board rapidly and from here things were very simplified and there was not much chance of tension. White certainly did not have anything to go at and this was indicated by Carlsen’s 19…d5, with absolute equal standing. Infact, White had to be careful at this point as mistakes were possible to give Black the advantage. Karjakin, however, did not err and more exchanges followed, simplifying the position even more and leaving the game dead.
The draw was evident way before the players actually shook hands and split the point, which was after the 30-move minimum stipulation in place for the match.
This leaves the match tied going into the final game, for Which Magnus Carlsen will have the White pieces. Sunday will be a rest day, an unfathomable decision by the organisers, with less people able to enjoy the event during week days than at the weekend. After the events so far in this match, I am rather reluctant to even try to imagine what could happen in the final game on Monday — but, surely the World Champion will want to assert himself and win the match without needing tiebreaks. He seems a little more like himself towards the end of the match and looks like he has regrouped himself very effectively since the early stages and the events around game eight.
I am hoping for a good game, not only for we chess fans but for the game itself!
[Site “New York City”]
[Date “2016.11.26”]
[Round “11”]
[White “Karjakin, Sergey”]
[Black “Carlsen, Magnus”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[ECO “C77”]
[Annotator “Shaw,John Lee”]
[PlyCount “67”]
[EventDate “2016.11.26”]
[EventCountry “USA”]{ Annotations by John Lee Shaw for www.hotoffthechess.com. }
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 {Once again, the Ruy Lopez, which has been the
recurring theme of this World Championship — not very excitingly.} a6 4. Ba4
Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a3 O-O {Very standard stuff.} 9. Nc3 Be6
10. Nd5 Nd4 11. Nxd4 exd4 12. Nxf6+ Bxf6 13. Bxe6 fxe6 {So, three pieces have
left the board extremely quickly and this doesn’t bode well for this being a
very enthralling game.} 14. f4 {Following the 31-move draw of Gopal-Milliet,
Jakarta 2015.} c5 {Carlsen deviates from history — the above game had
continued 14…e5.} 15. Qg4 Qd7 16. f5 {Schroeder-Schoppen, Hoogeveen 2015,
had continued 16.Bd2 (½-½).} Rae8 17. Bd2 c4 18. h3 {a4 would have been a
little more positive, here. The problem with moves such as h3, is that it can
give the opponent a chance to seize the initiative. This can sometimes be used
in a positive way, ‘giving the opponent the move’, but here this is not the
case.} (18. a4 c3 19. bxc3 dxc3 20. Be3 {and Black can choose between …b4
and …axb4 here, with approximate equality.}) 18… c3 19. bxc3 d5 {This is a
very positive and confident move from Magnus Carlsen, indicating that he has
not quite accepted that the game is resolved. It gives Sergey Karjakin
opportunity to go wrong.} 20. Bg5 {One of the acceptable moves, c4 being
another. After fxe6 or a quiet move such as Rae1, Black would be slightly
better.} (20. c4 dxe4 (20… dxc4 21. Bb4 Rf7 22. fxe6 Qxe6 23. Rf5 Be5 {
is about equal.}) 21. cxb5 e3 22. Bb4 {and Black can choose between …Rf7 or .
..exf5, with approximate equality.}) 20… Bxg5 21. Qxg5 {The game is not
really going anywhere from here, the position does not hold a lot of potential
unless someone makes a serious mistake and that is very unlikely here.} dxe4
22. fxe6 Rxf1+ 23. Rxf1 Qxe6 {The position is largely resolved at this point,
and had it not been for the match regulation that draws can not be agreed
before move 30, the players may have called it a day at this point.} 24. cxd4
e3 {So Black obtains a passed pawn, but this is a pretender and nothing to get
excited about.} 25. Re1 h6 26. Qh5 e2 {This move was necessary, stopping White
from playing Re2.} 27. Qf3 a5 28. c3 Qa2 {Not with any aggressive intention,
the Queen is going to d2 and there will be an exchange of rooks for a draw.}
29. Qc6 Re6 30. Qc8+ Kh7 31. c4 Qd2 {The only move, others would mean that
White was a bit better.} 32. Qxe6 Qxe1+ 33. Kh2 Qf2 34. Qe4+ {And the players
did indeed agree a draw, here, not a very eventful game at all and a rather
disappointing effort from Sergey Karjakin for his final White game of the
match.} 1/2-1/2
[/pgn]
