From Winter to Spring

Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin – Magnus Carlsen
World Chess Championship tie-break game 3; New York, November 30, 2016
Spanish Game C78

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a3 0-0 9. Nc3 Na5 10. Ba2 Be6 11. b4 Nc6. For 11. ... Bxa2 12. Rxa2 Nc6 see Caruana – Aronian, Moscow 2016. 12. Nd5 Nd4. Another try is 12. ... a5 13. c4 bxc4 14. b5 Bxd5 15. exd5 Nb8 16. Bxc4 Nbd7 17. a4 Nb6 18. Qb3 Qc8 19. Bg5 Qb7 20. Bxf6 Bxf6 21. Rac1 Rfe8 22. Rfe1 Nd7 23. Qd1 Nc5 24. Ba2 Qa7 25. Qc2 g6 26. Re2 Bg7 27. Rce1 Nd7 28. Qb3 Re7 29. Rc2 Rae8 30. Qc4 Nb6 31. Qb3 Nd7 32. Qc4 Nb6 33. Qb3 ½ : ½ Sadzikowski – Gledura, 4th Match Poland–Hungary, Katowice 2016. 13. Ng5 Bxd5 14. exd5 Nd7. 14. ... Nxd5? 15. Nxf7! would be catastrophic. 15. Ne4 f5 16. Nd2 f4 17. c3 Nf5 18. Ne4. “White can consider Nd2-b3-a5-c6 here, away from the Kingside, but keeps control long term, I think”, Grandmaster Jonathan Rowson said. 18. ... Qe8 19. Bb3 Qg6 20. f3. As usual Sergey Alexandrovich plays a bit too passively, and Carlsen finally can carry out a King’s Indian like set-up – although without a fianchetto. 20. ... Bh4! 21. a4 Nf6 22. Qe2

22. ... a5! I’d call it the (hidden) hand of a King’s Indian specialist! 23. axb5 axb4 24. Bd2 bxc3 25. Bxc3 Ne3 26. Rfc1. Karjakin’s position is still tenable, but his serious shortage of time makes defence extremely unpleasant. 26. ... Rxa1 27. Rxa1 Qe8 28. Bc4 Kh8 29. Nxf6 Bxf6! Stockfish’s first line was 29. ... gxf6 in order to open the g-file, but Carlsen prefers to bet on a dynamic Pawn sacrifice, even if within a “positional” approach. 30. Ra3 e4 31. dxe4 Bxc3 32. Rxc3 Qe5 33. Rc1 Ra8. Black has excellent compensation: his Knight is far stronger than White’s Bishop, and his position appears to be much more dynamical. Obviously, Karjakin could defend it under ordinary circumstances – in the actual situation, however he is too short of time. 34. h3 h6 35. Kh2 Qd4 36. Qe1? White should have returned the Pawn with 36. e5! Qxe5 37. Bd3 in order to enlighten his Bishop and yet with some chance of survival. 36. ... Qb2! Of course not 36. ... Nxc4?? 37. Qb4 and White regains the piece with interest. 37. Bf1 Ra2. “I think Magnus will win. Enduring pressure on White’s position that cannot be relieved, and time advantage”, Rowson said. 38. Rxc7?? Suffering with no prospect of recovery, Karjakin commits harakiri. 38. ... Ra1 0 : 1. And so “Happy Birthday to you” and congratulations on retaining your World Chess title! And congratulations to Karjakin, too, on being a Challenger worth the Champion.

Magnus Carlsen
Photo: World Chess by Agon Limited

Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin
Photo: Jonathan Zalman (‏@ZalmanJ)