Moby Dick

Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin – Magnus Carlsen
World Chess Championship match game 7; New York, November 20, 2016
Queen’s Gambit Accepted D27

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 a6 5. Bd3 dxc4 6. Bxc4 e6 7. Nf3 c5 8. 0-0 b5 9. Be2 Bb7 10. dxc5 Nc6!? The first surprise, at least to me. Carlsen prefers Tartakower’s subjective aphorisms rather than Rubinstein’s true crystal reality: 10. ... Bxc5 11. Qxd8+ Kxd8 12. a3 Ke7 13. b4 Bd6 14. Bb2 Nbd7 15. Rac1 Rac8 16. Nb1 Rxc1 17. Rxc1 Rc8 18. Rxc8 Bxc8 19. Nbd2 Bb7 20. Bd3 g6 21. Kf1 Ng4 22. Be4 Bxe4 ½ : ½ Capablanca – A. K. Rubinstein, Moscow 1925. 11. Nd2. “11. Nd2 is a bit abstract, but Fressinet beat Karjakin (!!) with a similar idea 4 years ago”, Grandmaster Nigel David Short said. Indeed, it is a very questionable (new) idea. For 11. a3 Bxc5 12. b4 Bd6 13. Bb2 0-0 14. Rc1 Rc8 see Colle – Tartakower, Paris 1925. 11. ... Bxc5 12. Nde4 Nxe4 13. Nxe4 Be7 14. b3 Nb4. Black stands already very well – as he was White – but probably nothing more than this. 15. Bf3 0-0 16. Ba3

13. ... Rc8!? “Magnus is dropping a Pawn, perhaps, but still looks within the bounds of a draw”, Short said. If nothing else, Carlsen’s very provocative move – in Lasker’s style – put his opponent in a crucial dilemma: will be Karjakin able to play for a win? 17. Nf6+ Bxf6 18. Bxb7 Bxa1 19. Bxb4 Bf6! “I just knew Magnus was going to play 19. ... Bf6!. He is heading for a crappy but (probably) drawn ending a Pawn down”, Short said. 20. Bxf8 Qxd1 21. Rxd1 Rxf8 22. Bxa6 b4! 23. Rc1 g6! 24. Rc2 Ra8. Quod erat demonstrandum, Carlsen did not need to work too hard for drawing the game. 25. Bd3 Rd8 26. Be2 Kf8 27. Kf1 Ra8 28. Bc4 Rc8 29. Ke2 Ke7 30. f4 h6 31. Kf3 Rc7 32. g4 g5 33. Ke4 Rc8 ½ : ½.

Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin vs. Magnus Carlsen
Photo: Carlos A. Ilardo (‏@ajedrezCAIchess)