They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?

Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin – Peter Veniaminovich Svidler
6th Chess World Cup; tie-break game 5 (Blitz 5+3); Baku, October 5, 2015
Spanish C89

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 0-0 8. c3 d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Nxe5 Nxe5 11. Rxe5 c6 12. d3 Bd6 13. Re1 Bf5 14. Qf3 Re8 15. Rxe8+ Qxe8 16. Nd2 Qe1+ 17. Nf1 Bg6 18. Bc2?? An awful... novelty!

18. ... b4? Svidler misses his (first) chance: after 18. ... Nxc3! 19. bxc3 Qxc3 Black must win. 19. c4 b3 20. Bd1 Nb4 21. Bd2 Qe5 22. Bc3 Qc5 23. Bxb4 Qxb4 24. Bxb3 Qb6 25. Re1 Bc5 26. Ba4 Rd8 27. Rd1 Qxb2 28. Bxc6 Bh5? Too many mistakes by Svidler! After 28. ... Rxd3 29. Rxd3 Bxd3 30. Bd5 Bg6 31. a4 Qc2 the game seems to be roughly balanced. 29. Rb1? Karjakin also makes mistakes. After 29. g4! Black is in trouble, e.g. 29. ... Bxg4 30. Qxg4 Qxf2+ 31. Kh1 Rxd3 32. Rb1 g6 33. Qg2 with a huge advantage. 29. ... Qxb1. 29. ... Bxf3 30. Rxb2 Bxc6 makes it even easier for Black. 30. Qxh5 Bxf2+ 31. Kxf2 Qb6+ 32. Ne3 Qxc6 33. Nd5 Qd6 34. g3 h6 35. Qe2 Rb8 36. Kg2 Kh8 37. h4 Qa3 38. Kh3 Qc1 39. Nf4 Qb2 40. Qe7 Qb7 41. Qe5 Qd7+ 42. Kh2 Kg8??? An atrocious blunder! Svidler moves his own King in Karjakin’s time trouble, completely forgetting that his Rook is en prise. 43. Qxb8+ 1 : 0.

Svidler overwhelmed with desperation
Photo: ChessVibes (@ChessVibes)

Ian Aleksandrovitch Nepomniachtchi (@lachesisq)