Game 4 of the World Chess Championship, was played on Tuesday 15th November, in New York City, United States. The chess world waited with great anticipation after the fight of game 3, which saw Sergey Karjakin making an error and having to defend his heart out against pressure from Magnus Carlsen. What would game 4 bring?
Well, more of the same, with bells on.
It was another Ruy Lopez, with Karjakin this time having the White pieces, and play went along the lines of an Anti-Marshall. Things were going as expected, until Sergey Karjakin’s 18.Bxh6. Karjakin had thought that this was a great move, but as it turns out, had missed Carlsen’s strong reply of 18…Qc6! This did everything it needed to, guarding Black’s knight on f6, while also adding to great pressure towards e4.
From here, Karjakin had two threats to answer, his bishop being en prise, and his e4-pawn being there for the taking. Karjakin admitted in the press conference afterwards that he was “already upset” having missed …Qc6 and this is probably an explanation for his continuation, 19.Bxc4?! which compounded his problems. Peter Svidler, commentating for Chess24, said of the move, “this goes against everything I know about playing the Spanish as White”. The main problem with the move is that the b-file opens, and White has a permanently vulnerable Queenside, with the b-pawn an easy target. To say Karjakin was in trouble would be an understatement.
Never needing to be overly invited to be aggressive, Carlsen went on the attack. He had been handed a super position, and this steadily improved until it surely must have been winning. All expectation was that the World Champion would notch up a point, and with the Black pieces. Unfortunately, chess, being the fascinating game it is, is never so straight-forward — especially with the addition of a very resourceful defender. Sergey Karjakin set about battening down the hatches and constructing a fortress. And, as the game progressed deep into the endgame, it became apparent that he had succeeded. No mater how better Carlsen’s position was, no matter how ‘winning’ it was, it was also unwinnable. Karjakin had constructed an impenetrable fortress and the World Champion was unable to make progress.
The game was drawn in 94-moves.
So, then, this is the second game on the spin in which Sergey Karjakin has erred and presented Magnus Carlsen with chances that have not come to fruition. In the press conference after the game, the World Champion played down any frustration, saying that he would, “try again next time”. Of that I have no doubt, but I do not accept his nonchalance — he is not accustomed to missing these chances and in his own words, it is just, “not good enough”. Sergey Karjakin was visibly upset with his blunders in this game, and obviously these have to stop if he is to contest this match.
In this game, I think that the players both showed vulnerability, Karjakin’s being delusion of grandeur — wishful thinking. This landed him in problems in game 3 also, when making an out-of-context aggressive move. In this game he had thought that his 18.Bxh6 was “fantastic” and had not crossed his t’s and dotted his i’s. That is uncharacteristically amateuristic.
In Carlsen’s case, I think that we have to cite a certain level of arrogance being his undoing, in this game especially. He said in the press conference that he did not accept the concept of the fortress — “I just usually break through”. There is no doubt that Magnus is a genius when it comes to chess, Garry Kasparov described him as “exceptional” on his Twitter and this goes without saying. However, no one has yet solved the game of chess and this includes Magnus no matter how big his talent is. The fortress is an established part of the game, not one to be accepted or denied — Nimsowitch wrote a book on it, called ‘The Blockade’ and Sergey Karjakin has just completely validated it.
It just shows that no matter how great we are, at whatever, we are never so great that we have nothing to learn.
I think it’s important, at this second rest day, to take a look at how things are going right now. Simply put, I don’t think that either player can be happy with his campaign so far. It is true that the scores are level at 2-points each, but that should not be the case, should it? Sergey Karjakin has made serious errors in games 3 and 4, and should be at least 1 point behind right now. Magnus Carlsen has done nothing spectacular in the first 4 games, yet has been presented with two nice opportunities, as he put it “on a plate”. These opportunities, ultimately, have boiled into nothing.
I feel that it is very easy for the players to be upbeat about the story so far, but privately they can not be so blase about it. One thing is for certain, and that is that Sergey Karjakin can not keep giving his opponent these chances, his play has to be better and as near flawless as he can produce. He has to play the best chess of his life to be a threat in this match, there are no half measures. And Magnus Carlsen is the defending champion, world number 1, and his play so far has been that of a gentle simmer and not the sharp, ruthless, pristine chess that we have come to expect of him. As he also said about this, “it is not good enough” when it comes to the standard he holds himself to. If he doesn’t pull his socks up, a shock in this match is not beyond the realms of possibility.
The next two games will be very telling. At the next rest day we will be at the halfway stage in the match, how are the players going to treat this after the previous two games? Will they play safe and tight, and in effect look to make it a 6-game match after the next rest day, or will they get thier acts together and try to take hold of the situation and use the momentum that they think they have? I know which one I think is the way to go, this is the World Chess Championship and demands only the best from those competing for it; but in the end, we will just have to wait and see once more. Roll on Thursday!
[Site “New York City”]
[Date “2016.11.15”]
[Round “4”]
[White “Karjakin, Sergey”]
[Black “Carlsen, Magnus”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[ECO “C88”]
[Annotator “Shaw,John Lee”]
[PlyCount “187”]
[EventDate “2016.11.15”]
[EventCountry “USA”]{ 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. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. h3
Bb7 9. d3 d6 10. a3 Qd7 11. Nbd2 Rfe8 12. c3 Bf8 {Played by David Navara
against Viswanathan Anand, Corus Wijk aan Zee 2007. The game was drawn.} 13.
Nf1 {As far as I can tell, this is a new move. Anand had continued Ba2 in the
above game.} h6 {A prudent move, Nf1 had opened up the c1-h6 diagonal, so
Black wisely covers the g5-square.} 14. N3h2 {This is not really the most
active of moves, and engines hated it, not that that means anything. However,
I do think that it is not the most direct of moves. Perhaps Karjakin found the
alternative of Ne3 too ‘normal’ and felt that Carlsen would be less at ease
with this route.} (14. Ne3 {here, Black has two main options, to play …Na5
and hit the Bb3, also opening up the diagonal for the Bb7 towards e4 —
therefore a hinderance to any d3-d4 plans of White. However, it is very risky
to place the knight on a5, it can get stuck there if one is not careful. The
other option is to play …Nd8, still opening the long diagonal for the bishop,
but also releasing the c-pawn. The knight could also be headed for the
e6-square, depening on how play goes.}) 14… d5 {This is the problem with
White’s move, while he focusses on the Kingside, it allows Black an easy,
textbook counter-strike in the centre. One would have to say that Black is
equal at worst here.} 15. Qf3 {Giving Black’s Kingside a tickle. The threat is
Bxh6, when in the case of …gxh6, Black’s Nf6 would be en prise. However,
this is not something that Magnus Carlsen would be expected to allow or fall
for, meanwhile, White has his Queen blocking the f-pawn’s advance and two
knights that really need improving. He is not yet in a situation to be
thinking of attack and I find this rather surprising of a Grandmaster of
Karjakin’s level.} Na5 16. Ba2 dxe4 17. dxe4 {Karjakin, moving quickly, had
only used 11 minutes compared to Carlsen’s 25. This led me to believe that
this was a position that he knew, and despite the appearance, had seen
something in.} Nc4 18. Bxh6 {Karjakin said in the press conference that he
thought this move was fantastic for him. Obviously, that is the case when it
comes to …gxh6. He had also looked at …Nxe4 and felt very good about it —
which I am not quite sure is quite justified. However, he confessed to having
completely missed Black’s reply.} Qc6 {This is a great answer from Magnus
Carlsen, who has his peices set up quite wonderfully now. …Qc6 does
everything it has to do and more. As well as defending f6, Black now has
completely turned the tables on White and has amazing pressure on e4.} 19. Bxc4
{There are worse things that Karjakin could have done here, but they are all
quite ludicrous moves. Peter Svidler, commentating for Chess24 was astounded,
“this goes against everything I know about how to play the Spanish as White”.
Karjakin confessed to being disspirited at this point, “I was already upset
after …Qc6”. Of the alternative, Bc1, he hadn’t liked the position, however,
it would have been better than he achieved here.} (19. Bc1 Nxe4 {With a cool
and clear head White should not be out of it here.} 20. Ne3 Rad8 21. Nhg4 Qg6 {
Other moves are more popular than this with the engines, but I feel that it is
more correct for Black to try to use the Bishop’s eyeing of the Queen along
the long diagonal in some way.} 22. Nxc4 bxc4 23. Qe2 {= Bxc4 may also be
playable, I haven’t had a lot of time to look at it.}) 19… bxc4 {played with
a huge positional plus. On top of his horrid knights on the kingside, which
need to be improved and will cost time, the bishop on h6, which needs dealing
with and will cost time, White now has a truly dispicable Queenside. In
particular, his b-pawn is backward and has the potential to be attacked along
the semi-open b-file. This is a permanent situation for White, and Karjakin is
in big trouble.} 20. Be3 Nxe4 21. Ng3 Nd6 (21… Nxg3 22. Qxc6 (22. Qxg3 Rad8
23. Nf3 f5 {and White is rather under the kosh.}) 22… Bxc6 23. fxg3 Rab8 {
And we already begin to see White’s endgame woes here.}) ({another option is}
21… Qg6 {which of course sees the Bb7 tickling the White Queen. White is
best seeking to resolve that as soon as possible.} 22. Qf5 Qxf5 23. Nxf5 Rad8 {
clearly better. Another option is to play …Bc6. The bishop is on its way to
d7, and then …Rab8 gives White some things to answer on the Queenside.}) 22.
Rad1 {White is trying to get active, but this is extremely difficult because
of his problems. Simplifying with Qxc6 was also an option, here, but not
really pleasant either.} (22. Qxc6 Bxc6 23. Nf3 Rab8 24. Re2 {is a very
passive and defensive stance for White.}) 22… Rab8 {Carlsen eyes the b-pawn
straight away.} 23. Bc1 {Not a nice move, this, the bishop is in a way
condemned to be a defender of the b-pawn. In hindsight, Karjakin may as well
have played this after his Bxh6 — although he has managed to centralise his
queen’s rook first, the point is that his position is much worse with this
move order.} f6 24. Qxc6 Bxc6 25. Ng4 Rb5 {Not only with the possibility of
doubling up along the b-file, but Carlsen guards the e-pawn in order to play
f6-f5. Black is very much in command, here.} 26. f3 {White decides not to try
to resist Black’s intended f6-f5 (with Ne3 for example) and to go with it
instead and try to re-organise his pieces.} f5 27. Nf2 Be7 {With the bit
between his teeth, Carlsen targets the unprotected Ng3.} 28. f4 Bh4 (28… e4
29. Nf1 Kf7 {This is a very flexible move, the King may well head to g6 in
order to help on the Kingside, but while White’s King is so hemmed in by his
own pieces, it makes sense for Black to bring his into the game. Also, the
black rook now has the full use of the back rank and can switch theatres of
campaign at will.} 30. Re2 Reb8 {keeping the pressure on the b2-pawn, which
keeps the Bc1 and Re2 tasked.} 31. Ne3 g6 {keeping things tidy and maintaining
his advantage. Though a clear plan as to how to convert it is not hugely
apparant.}) 29. fxe5 Bxg3 {Magnus really had to play this if he had serious
ambitions in this game. Re-capturing on e5 sees Black better but not better
enough.} 30. exd6 Rxe1+ 31. Rxe1 cxd6 {And to top everything off, Black now
un-doubles his pawns. This is a horrible situation for Sergey Karjakin.} 32.
Rd1 (32. Re7 Kf8 33. Rc7 Re5 34. Kf1 Be8 {Keeping things flexible with the
bishop, White does not look good here, with his rook so unconnected.}) 32…
Kf7 33. Rd4 Re5 34. Kf1 Rd5 35. Rxd5 Bxd5 {Black understandably thought that
this position was just winning, especially with such a nice bishop pair and
White having obvious flaws in his position. And it is probably correct that
Black has a winning advantage, but the point is whether progress can be made
or not and White sets about throwing spanners in the works on that as much as
he can.} 36. Bg5 Kg6 37. h4 Kh5 38. Nh3 Bf7 39. Be7 Bxh4 40. Bxd6 {White has
actually improved things slightly. Exchanges of pawns help his cause by
removing players later on and enabling him to concentrate on the main issue at
hand, which is to lock up the position and stop Black making progress.} Bd8 {
Black wants to play …g5, but doesn’t want this to shut out his bishop} 41.
Ke2 g5 42. Nf2 Kg6 43. g4 Bb6 44. Be5 a5 45. Nd1 f4 {Carlsen considered that
he was simply winning after this move, and perhaps he is, he certainly should
be. But Karjakin still has resources at his disposal to gridlock the position.
These were severely underestimated, as the World Champion admitted later.} 46.
Bd4 Bc7 47. Nf2 Be6 48. Kf3 Bd5+ 49. Ke2 {Karjakin played this instantly, and
I had thought that he should have taken more time, because I thought Ne4 was
also an option. This got me a bit of stick on Twitter and rightly so — it
would likely have simplified things too much for Black and lost. The problem
with this move is that White’s King and knight are tied up and both pieces
need to be free in order to help in building White’s fortress. Sergey had his
i’s dotted and t’s crossed and is putting up a stonking defence.} Bg2 50. Kd2 {
One has to look at the situation, here. White is considerably worse, and it is
hard to imagine that this position is not losing for him. It probably is. But
losing in chess is not ‘lost’, the point is whether the opponent can make
progress and that is yet to be proven.} Kf7 {Carlsen begins the transfer to
the Queenside, and White’s horrid pawns.} 51. Kc2 Bd5 52. Kd2 Bd8 53. Kc2 Ke6
54. Kd2 Kd7 55. Kc2 {Meanwhile, Karjakin can shuffle his King in this manner
to his heart’s content.} Kc6 56. Kd2 Kb5 57. Kc1 Ka4 58. Kc2 Bf7 59. Kc1 Bg6 {
If …Kb3, White can use his dark-squared bishop in order to avoid zugzwang —
Bc5, Bd4, etc. and even possibly shuffle his knight from f2 to h3 or d1 and
back.} 60. Kd2 Kb3 61. Kc1 Bd3 62. Nh3 {here we see this movement of the
knight in practice and Magnus Carlsen is to discover that he can not win by
force here, Sergey Karjakin has all bases covered.} Ka2 63. Bc5 Be2 64. Nf2 Bf3
({if} 64… Kb3 {first, then} 65. Bd4 Bf3 66. Kb1 {gives the same situation})
65. Kc2 Bc6 66. Bd4 Bd7 67. Bc5 Bc7 68. Bd4 Be6 69. Bc5 f3 70. Be3 Bd7 71. Kc1
{White sticks to his task and is not distracted by the pawn on g5 — luckily,
as taking it would lose.} (71. Bxg5 Bb6 72. Bh4 Be3 {and the threat is now …
Ba4+ and White gets mated. This forces the King to leave the b2-pawn and from
here all roads lead to Rome for Black.}) 71… Bc8 72. Kc2 Bd7 73. Kc1 Bf4 {
Conceeding that he was going nowhere fast.} 74. Bxf4 gxf4 {Mission
accomplished, here for White. This simplification works in his favour and his
position is much improved. And to cap it all, he has the passed g-pawn to
potentially throw into the mix. This is unlikely to lead to anything
aggressive, but his opponent now has to bear this in mind.} 75. Kc2 Be6 76. Kc1
Bc8 77. Kc2 Be6 78. Kc1 Kb3 79. Kb1 Ka4 80. Kc2 Kb5 {With the Queenside
absolutely resolved, Black takes a trip to see if there is anything on the
Kingside. This must be incredibly frustrating for Magnus Carlsen.} 81. Kd2 Kc6
82. Ke1 {White can also begin to transfer his King.} Kd5 83. Kf1 Ke5 84. Kg1
Kf6 85. Ne4+ Kg6 86. Kf2 {The game was a draw long ago, but this situation is
the resolution. The Kingside is now under control and there is no more
potential for anything to go wrong. An amazing defence by Sergey Karjakin and
perhaps a wake-up-call to Magnus Carlsen.} Bxg4 87. Nd2 Be6 88. Kxf3 Kf5 89. a4
Bd5+ 90. Kf2 Kg4 91. Nf1 {and once again, there is no zugzwang.} Kg5 92. Nd2
Kf5 93. Ke2 Kg4 94. Kf2 {and Magnus Carlsen offered a draw here, and this was
agreed.} 1/2-1/2[/pgn]
