Deadlocked

Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin – Magnus Carlsen
World Chess Championship match game 6; New York, November 18, 2016
Spanish Game C88

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 0-0 8. h3 Bb7 9. d3 d5!? In the fourth game Carlsen played 9. ... d6. Now he decides to show up with this kind of Marshall Counter-Gambit. 10. exd5 Nxd5 11. Nxe5 Nd4 12. Nc3. Karjakin varies from his previous treatments of this line, probably for fear of surprises from his opponent: I) 12. Nd2 c5 13. a4 Nf4 14. Nef3 Bxf3 15. Nxf3 Nxb3 16. cxb3 Ne6 17. Be3 Bf6 18. Qc2 Qd5 19. Rec1 h6 20. Nd2 Be7 21. axb5 axb5 22. Rxa8 Rxa8 23. Nf3 Ra2 24. b4 cxb4 25. d4 Bf6 26. Rd1 Ra8 ½ : ½ Karjakin – Bacrot, 2nd Chess World Cup, Khanty-Mansiysk 2007; II) 12. Bd2 c5 13. Nc3 Nxb3 14. axb3 Nb4 15. Ne4 f5 16. Ng3 Qd5 17. Nf3 Qd7 18. Ne5 Qd5 19. Nf3 Qd7 20. Bxb4 cxb4 21. d4 Rac8 22. Qd3 Bd6 23. Ne5 Qc7 24. Nxf5 Bxe5 25. Rxe5 Qxc2 26. Ne7+ Kh8 27. Qg3 Rcd8 28. Rae1 Qd2 29. R1e3 Qxb2 30. Qh4 Rd6 31. Rf5 Ra8 32. Qf4 Rdd8 33. Rf7 1 : 0 Karjakin – Onischuk, 39th Chess Olympiad, Khanty-Mansiysk 2010. 12. ... Nb4 13. Bf4 Nxb3 14. axb3 c5!? Carlsen’s novelty. In Zaksaite – Kachiani-Gersinska, 10th European Women’s Team Chess Championship, Warsaw 2013 was seen 14. ... f6 soonly followed by ... c7-c5 anyway. 15. Ne4 f6. “Magnus has perfectly adequate compensation, but not more, for his modest investment”, Grandmaster Nigel David Short said. 16. Nf3 f5. The sequence that follows is virtually forced. 17. Neg5 Bxg5 18. Nxg5 h6 19. Ne6 Qd5 20. f3 Rfe8 21. Re5 Qd6. “Sergey’s great strength – a narrow but very well-analysed repertoire – is a liability when his opponent has months to prepare for it”, Short said.

22. c3 Rxe6 23. Rxe6 Qxe6 24. cxb4 cxb4 25. Rc1 Rc8 26. Rxc8+ Qxc8 27. Qe1 Qd7. It is hard to suggest something to do when there’s nothing to do. A draw is coming soon. 28. Kh2 a5 29. Qe3 Bd5 30. Qb6 Bxb3 31. Qxa5 Qxd3 32. Qxb4 Be6 ½ : ½. “For the first time in the match, the players didn’t exchange any words or possible variations right after the game”, Grandmaster Jon Ludvig Nilssen Hammer noted.

Professor of Economics and Public Policy at Harvard University and chess Grandmaster Kenneth Saul "Ken" Rogoff making Karjakin’s first move in the 6th game of the World Chess Championship match. Photo: Russian Chess Federation (@ruchess_ru).