The Behind the Curtain

Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin – 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén)
Candidates Tournament; Berlin, March 27, 2018
Spanish Game C78

Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin and 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) also deserve praise for their performance. Chinese Grandmaster ended unbeaten, while the former Russian challenger was almost to repeat himself thanks to an imperious comeback. In today’s game, which both needed to win if they wanted to keep alive their challenging hopes, they’ve had to content themselves with a draw, which, however, can be regarded as very honourable for them both. 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 Bg4 10. Be3 Nd4 11. Bxd4 exd4 12. Nd5 c5 13. a4 Be6 14. Nxf6+ Bxf6 15. Bxe6 fxe6 16. Qe2 Qd7 17. b3 e5!? 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) aims to improve on 17. ... Qc7 18. Rfe1 Be5 (18. ... e5 should have been considered) 19. g3 h6 20. Nh4 Qf7 21. Ng2 Bf6 22. Ra2 e5 23. Rea1 Rac8 (23. ... b4, however unpleasant, was quite called for) 24. axb5 axb5 25. Ra7 Rc7 26. Rxc7 Qxc7 27. Ne1 Qc6 28. Qg4 d5 29. exd5 Qxd5 30. Nf3 c4 31. bxc4 bxc4 32. Nd2 c3 33. Ne4 Qb7 34. Kg2 Kh8 35. h4 Ra8 36. Rxa8+ Qxa8 37. Qf5 Qd5 38. Qg6 Bd8 39. Qe8+ Kh7 40. h5 Bg5 41. Kh3 Qa2 42. Nd6 1 : 0 Motylev – Eljanov, 15th Karpov Poikovsky Chess Tournament, Poikovsky 2014. 18. Ra2 b4 19. Nd2 Rae8 20. Raa1 Bd8 21. g3 g5! 22. Nc4 Re6 23. a5 Ref6 24. f3 h5! 25. Nb6 Qf7 26. Kg2 h4 27. Nd5! Maybe the exclamation mark sounds a bit excessive, but it is meant to reward Karjakin’s extraordinary defensive skills. Here White found himself in quite a difficult situation, but he succeeds in getting out of it through an idea which is really far from obvious. 27. ... h3+! 28. Kg1 (28. Kxh3?? g4+!−+) 28. ... Rxf3 29. g4! Kg7 30. Rxf3 Qxf3 31. Qxf3 Rxf3

32. Rf1! Karjakin has well evaluated that White’s fortress will be impenetrable in spite of the two pawns minus. 32. ... Rxf1+ 33. Kxf1 Bxa5 34. Ne7 Kf6 35. Nf5. Intending both Nf5-g3-e2-g1 and Nf5-g3-h1-f2. 35. ... Ke6 36. Ng3 Ke6 36. Ng3 Bd8 37. Nh1 a5 38. Ke2 d5 39. Nf2 Kd6 40. exd5 Kxd5 41. Ne4 Kc6 42. Kd2 Be7 43. Kc1 Kb5 44. Kb2 a4 45. Ka2! a3 ½ : ½.