owing to his candid words we can learn Draw? Or Draw! from his mistakes. The second Piatigorsky Cup was played in 1966 in Santa Monica. The tournament Article 5.2.c of the FIDE Laws of Chess was won by Boris Spassky (who in the states that a chess game can end in a draw same year challenged Petrosian for the in the following manner: World title but lost) half a point ahead of The game is drawn upon agreement Bobby Fischer. Among the participants between the two players during the game. was Borislav Ivkov, a strong Yugoslav This immediately ends the game. grandmaster (according to the chessmetrics These days specific competitions often website he was number 17 in the world at involve certain restrictions upon article the time of this tournament game). Lets 5.2.c. Thus the rules for the 2016 Baku see what happened. Olympiad had a specific chapter called Draw restrictions which stated that: Ivkov : Spassky The players are not allowed to offer a draw Santa Monica 1966 to their opponent before thirty (30) moves have been completed by both players. Both players annotate the game in the It certainly makes sense to add such an tournament book. Spassky starts out by article for specific competitions where stating that all previous 4 games between spectators and chess lovers all around the them had ended in a draw. world are looking forward to a fight, a 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 sports spectacle, and not to some dreary Be7 6.00 00 7.Nc3 Ne4 8.Ne4 rehearsal of well-trodden paths with the The start of a solid line in this classical players happy to exit the arena as soon as Queen's Indian. White trades to pairs of possible. Not that the sentence Houston minor pieces. Ivkov quite frankly states we have a problem applies to modern day why he chose this quiet line: I wanted to chess. We are actually quite far from the draw this game. We should commend him draw death of chess that some top for being so honest. players feared well over a century ago. 8...Be4 9.Ne1 Bg2 10.Ng2 Modern top chess players are accustomed to fight and do so at almost every XIIIIIIIIY opportunity. Yet, it is good to recognize 9rsn-wq-trk+0 that the initial position looks quite even. 9zp-zppvlpzpp0 A draw is a legitimate result in chess as it is in some other (team)sports. So, it is also 9-zp-+p+-+0 good to realize that players may have 9+-+-+-+-0 sporting reasons to strive for a draw. A draw may win them a championship, 9-+PzP-+-+0 tournament victory, qualification to the 9+-+-+-zP-0 next stage, or a title result. When this is the 9PzP-+PzPNzP0 case, the (opening) strategy for the game, and your mental attitude is of vital 9tR-vLQ+RmK-0 importance. We will examine a few case xiiiiiiiiy histories to illustrate the main points. 10d6 Chess has one of the greatest literatures The main line is 10...d5 11.Qa4 Qd7 (perhaps the greatest) of all sports, and we 12.Qd7 Nd7 13.cd5 ed5 and with the can greatly profit from the well-recorded queens off as well White would be well on knowledge of our game. In our first FIDE Surveys Jeroen Bosch 1 his way to his goal (a draw). The drawing Bf6 16.Bb2 Bd4 17.Qd2 Bxb2 18.Qxb2 percentage in this line is exceptionally Rae8 19.Rad1 e5 20.f4 Qb8 21.f5 Qd8 high. 22.Rd2 Nf6 23.Qc2 g5!? Spassky's choice of 10...d6 (not to strive XIIIIIIIIY for immediate equality, but to keep things flexible) must have been unpleasant for 9-+-wqrtrk+0 Ivkov who offered a draw on the next 9zp-+-+p+p0 move! Spassky states that he sensed the 9-zp-zp-sn-+0 peaceful mood of his opponent and therefore did not want to define the pawn 9+-zpPzpPzp-0 structure. 9-+P+P+-+0 11.e4 Nd7 12.Be3 Ivkov harshly condemns this move stating 9+P+-sN-zP-0 that the knight belongs on this square (and 9P+QtR-+-zP0 the bishop on the long diagonal). Indeed he later played 12.Ne3 when he 9+-+-+RmK-0 was probably once more in a peaceful xiiiiiiiiy mood. An interesting move in a position that is XIIIIIIIIY slightly better for White. Smejkal now lunges forward but he should have 9r+-wq-trk+0 prepared his attack. 9zp-zpnvlpzpp0 24.h4? gh4 25.g4 (One problem is 25.gh4 9-zp-zpp+-+0 Kh8 and Black has the attack. His knight is better placed and pawn h4 vulnerable. For 9+-+-+-+-0 example 26.Rg2 Rg8 27.Rff2? Nh5! and 9-+PzPP+-+0 Black has a winning attack.) 25...Kh8 26.Rf3 Rg8 27.Rg2 h5! (An excellent 9+-+-sN-zP-0 move by Larsen.) 28.g5 (White is a pawn 9PzP-+-zP-zP0 up after 28.gh5 Rg2 29.Ng2 Rg8 30.Rh3 9tR-vLQ+RmK-0 Rg4 31.Rh4 but after 31...Qg8 he is in dire straits. Pawns h4 and e4 (and then f5) are xiiiiiiiiy all weak as is White's king.) 12...c6 13.Bd2 Bf6 14.Bc3 c5 15.Qd2 Qc7 28...Ng4 29.f6 Rg5 30.Qd2 Reg8? 16.Rad1 cd4 17.Bd4 Rfd8 18.f3 Bd4 XIIIIIIIIY 19.Qd4 Qc5 20.Qc5 dc5 and here a draw was agreed in Ivkov : Matanovic, Wijk aan 9-+-wq-+rmk0 Zee 1968. 9zp-+-+p+-0 Another fairly meaningless game was 9-zp-zp-zP-+0 12...Re8 13.Bd2 Bf6 14.Bc3 c5 15.Rc1 cd4 16.Bd4 Qc7 17.Bf6 Nf6 18.Qd4 which 9+-zpPzp-trp0 soon ended in a draw in Rashkovsky : 9-+P+P+nzp0 Karpov, Moscow 1976. This is probably a good example of a player aiming to draw 9+P+-sNR+-0 the World Champion by using the white 9P+-wQ-+R+0 colour. The position in the diagram can end in a 9+-+-+-mK-0 fight though, when both players are xiiiiiiiiy willing. Indeed, of great interest is the Tragic! Larsen overlooks a pin. Black is game Smejkal : Larsen, Milan 1975, which much better after 30...Rg6!. went 12...Qc8 13.b3 Qb7 14.Qc2 c5 15.d5 31.Ng4 R8g6 (White wins after 31...hg4
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32.Rf5!+) 32.Ne3 Rg2 33.Ng2 and White 23.Rf1. I dont think that Ivkov was in the won. mood for such a line. Moreover, also not 12...Qc8 13.Nf4 c6! bad is 19...Nc5!? 20.Nc5 bc5 21.Bc5 Bg5 Spassky wants to keep things flexible. and Black is slightly better. 14.Rc1 b) 18.d5 ed5 19.cd5 b5 is another line by 14.d5 ed5 15.cd5 (15.ed5) 15...c5 is Spassky, it's a big fight and somewhat probably about even, but Spassky likes favourable for the second player. Black. c) The best choice was probably 18.dc5 14...Re8 bc5 (18...dc5 is comfortable for Black.) Now White could make a few 19.b4! (Ivkov) 19...cb4 20.Nb4 and now consolidating moves like b3 and f3. Instead 20...Qb7! would keep it going. he moves the knight to a lesser square. 18...cd4! 19.Bd4 Bd4 20.Qd4 Nc5 15.Nd3?! c5 Or 20...Qa4 21.Qd6 Nc5. Black is comfortable, but chances are still 21.Qd6 Qa4 even. XIIIIIIIIY 16.f3 Ivkov rightly disliked the alternatives 9r+-+r+k+0 16.dc5 bc5 and 16.d5 ed5 17.cd5 Bf6. 9zp-+-+pzpp0 16...Qa6!? 9-zp-wQp+-+0 Spassky realized that 16...cd4 was objectively fully equal, but also very likely 9+-sn-+-+-0 to end in a draw, and he therefore 9q+P+P+-+0 preserves the tension. 17.a4 Bf6 9+-+-+PzP-0 Spassky has cleverly kept the tension, and 9-zP-+-sN-zP0 White now faces a difficult choice. Ivkov goes wrong. 9+-tR-+RmK-0 XIIIIIIIIY xiiiiiiiiy Things have gone wrong for White. Black 9r+-+r+k+0 has a superior knight, he will soon gain the 9zp-+n+pzpp0 d-file for his rooks, and White's pawns (b2, 9qzp-zppvl-+0 c4 and f3) are weak. 22.Qd1 9+-zp-+-+-0 22.Rfd1 Qb3 is a double attack. 9P+PzPP+-+0 22...Qb4! 23.Qc2 Red8 24.Rfd1 h6! A luftloch before taking action with moves 9+-+NvLPzP-0 like Nb3 and a5a4. On top of his chess 9-zP-+-+-zP0 technical problems Ivkov was in 9+-tRQ+RmK-0 timetrouble. 25.Rd8?! xiiiiiiiiy 25.Kg2! 18.Nf2? 25...Rd8 26.Rd1 This move leads to more exchanges, but Ivkov also didn't like 26.Qc3 Qc3 27.Rc3 not to a draw! The alternatives are more a5 28.Rc2 Nb3. complicated: 26...Rd1 27.Nd1 Qe1 28.Kg2 a5 29.h4?! a) 18.e5 de5 19.dc5 e4 unclear was 29.Nf2 Qe3 30.Qd1 was more persistent indicated by Spassky. After 20.fe4 bc5 according to Ivkov. 29.Nc3 Kf8 30.Qd1 21.Nc5 Nc5 White has to find 22.Rf6! (as Qd1 31.Nd1 Nd3 32.Kf1 a4 33.Ke2 Nb2 22.Bc5 Bb2 favours Black.) 22...Ne4! 34.Nb2 a3 and wins is a nice line by (22...gf6 23.Bc5 can only favour White.) Spassky.
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29...Kf8 30.h5 Ke7 the game (in itself an understandable wish Black has improved his king, while White against the challenger for the World can hardly move. Championship), but he appeared unable to 31.Nf2 fight, and was unwilling to enter 31.Nc3 Qe3 32.Nd1 loses to 32...Qd3! complications. As a result he handed 33.Qd3 Nd3 34.Kf1 (34.b3 Nc1) 34...a4 Spassky (who cleverly kept the tension and 35.Ke2 sensed the mood of his opponent) a XIIIIIIIIY number of strategical plusses, and after twenty moves the game was essentially 9-+-+-+-+0 over. 9+-+-mkpzp-0 9-zp-+p+-zp0 It was at the 1990 Manila interzonal that qualifying places for the Candidates' 9+-+-+-+P0 matches had to be earned. Two rounds 9p+P+P+-+0 before the end Gurevich was sharing first place. As the number 9 in the world he was 9+-+n+PzP-0 clearly one of the favourites to go through 9-zP-+K+-+0 to the Candidates. In the penultimate round Gurevich lost to Anand (who used only 35 9+-+N+-+-0 minutes on his clock) and suddenly he still xiiiiiiiiy had to make a draw with white in the final and now once again 35...Nb2! 36.Nb2 a3 a round to qualify. In his report for New In useful endgame tactic to know! Chess Magazine Evgeny Vladimirov 31...Qe3! 32.Qd1 f6! 33.Kf1 Nb3 34.Kg2 writes that Gurevich did not feel too well Nd2 before the game, decided to play the XIIIIIIIIY Exchange Variation of the French - quite untypical for a great fighter like Gurevich - 9-+-+-+-+0 and that playing against himself caused his 9+-+-mk-zp-0 downfall. 9-zp-+pzp-zp0 M. Gurevich : Nigel Short 9zp-+-+-+P0 Manila 1990 9-+P+P+-+0 1.d4 e6 2.e4 9+-+-wqPzP-0 2.c4 or 2.Nf3 would be the normal choice 9-zP-sn-sNK+0 for Gurevich, who plays the French himself as Black. 9+-+Q+-+-0 2...d5 3.ed5 xiiiiiiiiy That's the idea, White does not fight for an White is in Zugzwang and must lose edge but wants to trade down to a draw in material. The remaining moves were a symmetrical position. 35.Nh3 Nc4 36.Nf4? Qf4! 3...ed5 4.Nf3 Bg4 5.h3 Bh5 6.Be2?! And White resigned because of 37.gf4 Ne3 I feel that things go down from here on. 0:1. Even a great fighter like Kasparov has opted for the Exchange Variation versus Technically there is a lot to learn from this the French, but with the intention to play. game, but I imagine that the psychological This is how he gained a slight edge against lessons are even more important. Ivkov, by Short: 6.Qe2 Qe7 7.Be3 Nc6 8.Nc3 000 his own admittance, started the game in the 9.g4 Bg6 10.000 f6 11.a3+=, Kasparov : wrong frame of mind. He wanted to draw Short, Tilburg 1991. Short held the draw,
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but it is always better to play from a 21.b3! and in case of 21...Rae8 White gets position of strength. counterplay with 22.Bc7. 6...Bd6 7.Ne5?! 18...Ne4 19.Ne4 Re4 20.Rfd1 b5! This clearly is inferior. Why play the same XIIIIIIIIY piece in the opening twice only to trade your good bishop? 9r+-+-+k+0 7...Be2 8.Qe2 Ne7 9.00 9+p+-+pzpp0 9.Qb5 Nbc6! 10.Nc6 (10.Qb7? Nd4+) 9-+p+-+n+0 10...bc6 11.Qd3 00 12.00 Ng6. Black's queenside structure may be fractured but 9+p+p+-+-0 his minor pieces are superior to white's and 9-+-zPr+-+0 he has an edge in development. 13.Nc3 f5! 14.Bd2 f4 15.f3 Nh4 16.Rfe1 Qg5 and 9zP-+-+-vLP0 with energetic play Black has obtained a 9-zPP+-zPP+0 nice attacking position, Reis : Matamoros Franco, Loures 1998. 9tR-+R+-mK-0 9...00 10.Bf4 Re8 xiiiiiiiiy The threat is 11...Ng6, which forces White Now pawns d4 and a3 are fixed and Black to move his queen now. can boast of his good knight versus white's 11.Qg4 Be5! bad bishop. It's still a draw though. Short plays for a position with a good 21.Kf1 f6 22.f3! Re6 23.Re1 Kf7 24.Re6 knight versus a bad bishop (the pawn on Ke6 25.Re1 d4 is on a black square). 25.Be1!? was rightly indicated by Short as 12.Be5 Ng6 a good move. The bishop can move to b4. XIIIIIIIIY 25...Kd7 26.Ke2 Here 26.Bh2! (Short) was stronger. The 9rsn-wqr+k+0 idea is not to have white's structure fixed. 9zppzp-+pzpp0 So 26...h5 27.g4 and if 27...Rh8 then 9-+-+-+n+0 simply 28.Bg3. 26...h5! 27.Kd3 h4 28.Bh2 Ne7 29.Bf4 9+-+pvL-+-0 Nf5 30.Bd2 b6 31.Re2 c5 32.Be3 b4 9-+-zP-+Q+0 Or 32...c4! 33.Kc3 Ra4 when 34.Bf4 g5 35.Bh2 b4 36.ab4 Ra1 is a clear edge. 9+-+-+-+P0 However, White has the more stubborn 9PzPP+-zPP+0 34.Bf2 when a sample line runs 34...g5 9tRN+-+RmK-0 35.Re1 Nd6 36.Rb1 b4 37.ab4 Nb5 38.Kd2 Rb4 39.c3! Ra4 40.g3! Ra2 41.Ke3 and xiiiiiiiiy now Black must play 41...Nd6! 42.gh4 Nf5 Black has a pleasant game, but of course to keep an edge. nothing more. 33.ab4 c4 34.Kc3 Nd6 35.Re1 Ra4 13.Bg3 Nd7 14.Nd2 Nf6 15.Qf3 c6 36.Kd2?! 16.Qb3 Qb6! White immediately loses after 36.b3? Ra2!. This trades queens, but it is nevertheless It was possible though to prepare b3 with the best move. Black gets the open a-file 36.Bf2 g5 and now 37.b3 might still keep and a compact structure after the exchange. the draw. For example 37...Ra2! 38.bc4 17.Qb6 ab6 18.a3?! Nc4 39.Kd3 Ra3 40.c3 Ra2 41.Re2 Nb2 18.a4 looks better as it fixes the b6pawn 42.Kc2 Na4 43.Kd3 Re2 (43...Nc3 44.Ra2 on a dark square. If Black plays as in the Na2 45.b5 Nc1 46.Kd2 Nb3 47.Kd3 Ke6 game with 18...Ne4 then (18...Re2 19.Rfd1 48.g3) 44.Ke2 Nc3 45.Kd3 Nd1 46.Be1 is also equal.) 19.Ne4 Re4 20.c3 Re2 Nb2 47.Ke2 Nc4 48.f4!
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36...Rb4 37.Ra1? Anand : Kramnik 37.Kc1. Bonn (11), 2008 37...Rb2 Only now White is truly lost. 1.e4! c5! 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.Nd4 Nf6 38.Ra7 Ke6 39.Rg7 b5! 40.Bf2? b4 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qc7!? 41.Kc1 c3 42.Bh4 Nf5 0:1. This looks like one of the best variations Here a fighter lost because he played for available to Kramnik in this situation. The only one result (a draw). Please note that Poisoned Pawn Variation (7...Qb6) may be despite Whites poor opening he was only strong but White can pick a number of lost after several mistakes. lines that lead to a draw by force. The same holds for 7....Nbd7. Too risky is In a recently published interview on Polugaevsky's 7....b5, and 7...Be7 is Chessbase with Sagar Shah the Indian solid. grandmaster Baskaran Adhiban, who had a 8.Bf6 fantastic tournament result in the Tata The most popular move is 8.Qf3. Steel Masters 2017, commented on his loss 8...gf6 against his countryman Pentalya XIIIIIIIIY Harakrishina: Round two was a blow, but I lost because I ruthlessly played for a 9rsnl+kvl-tr0 draw in a position where I was superior. I 9+pwq-+p+p0 realized that with such an attitude, I 9p+-zppzp-+0 deserved to lose the game and mentally changed myself after the fourth round. 9+-+-+-+-0 [my italics]. 9-+-sNPzP-+0 After a poor 1 out of 4 start, and his own mental kick-start, Adhiban (the lowest- 9+-sN-+-+-0 rated player in the round-robin) scored 6,5 9PzPP+-+PzP0 out of 9 to become third behind Wesley So and Magnus Carlsen in Wijk aan Zee. 9tR-+QmKL+R0 Adhiban after a rest day had the time to xiiiiiiiiy reflect and adjust. His change of mental 9.f5 attitude brought him success. This is also Very sharp and therefore perhaps a an indication of how you can fight to surprise for Kramnik. It is interesting that obtain a draw from a superior position. Anand avoided the solid 9.Qd2 Nc6 10.0 In Bonn 2008 the World Championships 00 Bd7 11.Kb1 as in Topalov : Anand, match Anand : Kramnik was 6:4 after 10 Dortmund 1997. White is a little better. games. With only two more games to play 9...Qc5 Anand needed a draw in game 11 for the 9...Nc6. title. In his previous 5 white games the 10.Qd3 Indian grandmaster had played 1.d4. In No good is 10.fe6?! fe6 11.Be2 Nc6! game 11 he went for 1.e4 and a sharp (11...h5 12.Qd3 Bh6? 13.Rd1 Hetenyi : game. On the one hand this suited Kiss, Budapest 1995) when 12.Nc6 bc6 Kramnik, on the other hand it clearly 13.Bh5 is an empty check - after 13...Ke7 suited Anand: the Berlin is no option to White's king won't find a safe place either play for a win, and in the Sicilian that 14...Bh6 is coming, and Black has two Kramnik went for Anand had much more bishops, useful b- and g-files for his rooks, experience and Black has to avoid all sorts and he controls lots of central squares. of forcing lines that may lead to a draw. Or 12.Nb3 Qe3 and such a dominating
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queen has to be exchanged, viz. 13.Qd3 14...Qe7 15.Qg3 Rg8 but then Black can play with his pair of 15...00 16.ef5. bishops. 16.Qf4! 10...Nc6 11.Nb3! Qe5 12.000 Black could only dream of 16.Qd6? fe4 White can also play against pawn e6 with 17.Qe7 Ne7 followed by ...f5. 12.fe6 fe6 13.000 b5 14.Kb1 Bb7 16...fe4 15.Qe3 (15.Qh3!) 15...Be7 16.Be2 +=, Black could obtain decent fighting chances Kavalek : Chandler, Germany 1982. with 16...Be6 17.Rd1 (and not 17.Bd3 fe4 XIIIIIIIIY 18.Be4 f5!) 17...fe4 18.Ne4 Kf8!. 17.Ne4 f5?! 9r+l+kvl-tr0 Again Black had to play 17...Be6! to 9+p+-+p+p0 transpose to the line given in the previous 9p+nzppzp-+0 note. 18.Nd6 Kf8 19.Nc8! 9+-+-wqP+-0 That's the difference. Now the bishop 9-+-+P+-+0 disappears from the board and with it Kramnik's counterplay. 9+NsNQ+-+-0 19...Rc8 20.Kb1! Qe1 9PzPP+-+PzP0 It may look tempting to play 20...Nb4? but it's an empty shot after 21.Rf5 Qe1 9+-mKR+L+R0 (21...Nc2 22.Bc4+) 22.Nc1+. xiiiiiiiiy 21.Nc1 Ne7 22.Qd2 12...ef5 Because of the mate on d8 this forces the Very suspicious to open the position like trade of queens. this, but Kramnik probably felt he had to 22...Qd2 23.Rd2 Bh6 24.Rf2 Be3 take risks. It may well be objectively best XIIIIIIIIY too. More solid was 12...Bd7 13.Kb1 Be7 9-+r+-mkr+0 (13...b5!? 14.g3! Rc8 15.Bh3 h5 16.Qf3 9+p+-snp+p0 favours White.) when 14.Na4 Nb4 15.Qd2 9p+-+-+-+0 Ba4 16.Qb4 Bc6 17.fe6 (17.Nd4 d5) 17...fe6 18.Nd4 was Zelinsky : Kopylov, 9+-+-+p+-0 corr 1993. Stronger is 14.Qf3 and when 9-+-+-+-+0 Black innocently plays 14...Rc8? there is 15.Nd5! ed5? 16.Rd5, trapping the queen. 9+-+-vl-+-0 13.Qe3! 9PzPP+-tRPzP0 Vacating the d-file for the rook and eyeing 9+KsN-+L+R0 the b6square. 13...Bg7 xiiiiiiiiy White is better after 13...h5 14.Kb1 Bh6 Kramnik offered a draw. He has no 15.Qf2 fe4 16.Ne4. winning chances after 25.Rf3 f4 26.g3 +=. 13...fe4!? 14.Rd5 Qe6 is met by 15.Nd4! . Nd4 16.Qd4 when Black is maybe not much worse after 16...Bg7! but he can A good fighting game by both players and hardly win: 17.Rd6 Qe7 18.Qe4. if Kramnik had played differently on move 13...Be6 14.Qb6! Bh6 (14...fe4 15.Qb7 16 or 17 he could have continued the fight, Rc8 16.Ba6) 15.Kb1 00 16.ef5 Bf5 as it went Anand had 19.Nc8 and 20.Kb1 17.Bd3 favours White. to obtain a slightly better game, but more 14.Rd5 importantly, considering the match 14.Nd2!?
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situation, a position that held no winning More common is 12.Kb1 when 12...b4 chances whatsoever for Kramnik. 12...Qb6 13.fe6 According to Karjakin more accurate was When Kasparov had to win the final game 13.Nc6 Qc6 14.Bd3. of his Sevilla match against Karpov to 13...fe6 14.Nc6 Qc6! keep his World Championship title, he Keeping e6 covered. A much older game opted not for 1.e4 or 1.d4 but for 1.c4 e6 saw 14...Bc6 15.Bd3 h5 16.Kb1 000 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.g3 d5 4.b3. The idea was to 17.Rhf1 Be7 18.Ne2! and pawn e6 is play a long closed game and to avoid weak: 18...Rde8 19.Nf4 Bd8 20.Be2! Be4 simplification. Exactly the opposite of that 21.Bh5 Re7 22.Bf3!, Ivanchuk : Piket, which Anand was hoping to achieve by Monte Carlo 1996. playing 1.e4. 15.Bd3 h5 16.Kb1 b4 17.Ne2 Qc5 18.Rhf1 In the 2016 Candidates Sergey Karjakin The normal (human) move. The engines could in all probability draw the final game like 18.e5! followed by long variations that against Fabiano Caruana to become the are hard to calculate for humans. It does challenger of Magnus Carlsen. His choice: not seem to sensible when a loss is what 1.e4!, and after Caruana's 1...c5 we got a you need to avoid at all cost. fight in which the Russian seemed always 18...Bh6 19.Qe1 a5 20.b3! in control. XIIIIIIIIY Karjakin : Caruana 9r+-+k+-tr0 Moscow 2016 9+-+l+-+-0 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cd4 4.Nd4 Nf6 9-+-zppzp-vl0 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 a6 8.000 Bd7 9zp-wq-+-+p0 9.f4 h6 9-zp-+P+-+0 A complicated Rauzer has arisen. 10.Bh4 b5 9+P+L+-+-0 It looks attractive to play 10...Ne4 but it 9P+P+N+PzP0 isn't as White has 11.Qe1! Nf6 12.Nf5! which has been played in well over 200 9+K+RwQR+-0 games. xiiiiiiiiy 11.Bf6 gf6 A nice positional move. The bishop can go XIIIIIIIIY to c4 now eyeing pawn e6. Karjakin has made the astute assessment that 20.b3 does 9r+-wqkvl-tr0 not weaken his king. 9+-+l+p+-0 20...Rg8 9p+nzppzp-zp0 20...a4 21.Bc4 ab3 22.Bb3! is the point. 21.g3 Ke7 22.Bc4 9+p+-+-+-0 Black has two bishop and is controlling 9-+-sNPzP-+0 lots of central squares, and yet White is better. The Black king is stuck in the 9+-sN-+-+-0 middle, White's own king is safe, and the 9PzPPwQ-+PzP0 bishop (c4) and the knight (f4) have nice 9+-mKR+L+R0 strongholds. 22...Be3?! xiiiiiiiiy 22...Rg4. 12.f5 23.Rf3 A sharp move to weaken the light squares. Objectively stronger was 23.Nf4 when the
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bishop on e3 is hanging - the immediate choice with 30.e5!. threat is Nh5 - while 23...a4 can be met by 35.Rd4! d5 36.Qd2 Re4? 24.Nd3 (24.e5!? fxe5 25.Nd3) A tactical mistake in a tense situation. 23...Rg4 Black keeps an even game with 36...Be4 23...a4. 37.Rb4 Qc6. 24.Qf1 Rf8 25.Nf4 Bf4 XIIIIIIIIY White can actually take the pawn after 25...Bd4 26.Rfd3 Be5 27.Nh5 and Black 9-+-+-tr-+0 has no real attack on the dark squares. 9+-+-mk-+-0 26.Rf4 9-wq-+pzp-+0 26.gf4. 26...a4 9+-+p+-+p0 Chances are about even after 26...Bc6 9-zp-tRr+-+0 (Caruana). 27.ba4! Ba4 28.Qd3 9+L+-+-zP-0 Worse is 28.Bb3 because of 28...Bb3 9P+PwQ-+lzP0 29.ab3 Rgg8! and a black rook comes to the a-file. 9+K+R+-+-0 28...Bc6 29.Bb3 Rg5 30.e5! xiiiiiiiiy XIIIIIIIIY 37.Rd5! Good intuition and excellent calculation by 9-+-+-tr-+0 Karjakin. At the same time it proves that 9+-+-mk-+-0 he has very strong nerves. After the rook 9-+lzppzp-+0 sacrifice White has a winning attack. 37...ed5 38.Qd5 9+-wq-zP-trp0 The threat is mate! 9-zp-+-tR-+0 38...Qc7 The engines indicate 38...Rd4 as best, 9+L+Q+-zP-0 which says it all. After 39.Qd4 Qd4 9P+P+-+-zP0 40.Rd4 White should win the ending. 9+K+R+-+-0 39.Qf5! Rf7 This was accompanied by a draw offer, xiiiiiiiiy which Karjakin turned down with An impressive decision by Karjakin. He 40.Bf7 Qe5 sacrifices a pawn for long-term 40...Kf7 41.Qh7+. compensation. He saw that for the 41.Rd7 Kf8 42.Rd8 remainder of the game Black's king will and Caruana was the first to congratulate hardly ever find a safe haven. Karjakin on becoming the challenger. 1:0. 30...Re5 31.Rc4!? Possible was 31.Qh7 Rf7 32.Qh8 and I think the lessons learned by the above objectively Black should probably repeat games are quite obvious. Playing as if your moves with 32...Rf8 33.Qh7 Rf7. life depends upon it (but keeping in mind 31...Rd5 32.Qe2 Qb6 33.Rh4 Re5 that you only need a draw) is a much more Stronger was probably 33...Rd1 34.Qd1 successful strategy than simply trying to Qe3 35.Rb4 Be4 36.a3 (Nepomniachtchi), trade down to two bare kings. In that case with unclear play. you may run the danger of slowly handing 34.Qd3 Bg2 your opponent positional plusses or the The engine indicates 34...d5 35.Qh7 Rf7 initiative. Above all your frame of mind is but after 36.Qh8 Black's weak king what counts. Chess is a battle. remains a problem. Karjakin made a clever
FIDE Surveys Jeroen Bosch 9
That is not to say, that the opposite strategy may now work in certain cases. Lets cast our mind back to the Carlsen : Karjakin match in New York. With the score at 5,5 : 5,5 everybody expected Carlsen to fight with White for his title. Karjakin prepared frantically and had undoubtedly prepared himself psychologically for a long and hard fight. And Carlsen? Carlsen produced this game:
chess, but with hindsight it was a very clever match strategy. In the rapid games, for which Carlsen had already adjusted himself two days earlier than Karjakin, the World Champion was superior and confidently kept his title. Chess is a sport, and in the end the winner is always right.