CARLSEN vs KARJAKIN – SINQUEFIELD CUP 2018 ROUND 2

I must admit that at 6.5 hours this game lasted longer than I did last night. Central European Time is 6 hours ahead of Saint Lewis. So when I went to bed at 1:30am the position was still dead equal and Karjakin’s defense was holding well.

However when the position opens up during the final seconds at the end of the game it vastly increases the number of variations that the defender needs to consider. As Carlsen stated, as soon as he got Karjakin down to the final seconds it would be very, very hard not to blunder. The strategy worked.

Today’s game features an English Opening that includes some Q&A style annotations.

While playing through the game, scroll slowly so that when you get to the questions you can put some time on the clock (ten to fifteen minutes) and try and find the solution.

Carlsen,Magnus (2842) - Karjakin,Sergey (2773)

6th Sinquefield Cup GCT 2018 Saint Louis (2), 19.08.2018

1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 Bb4 3.g3 Nf6 4.Bg2 0–0 5.Nf3 d5 6.a3 Be7 7.d4 dxc4 8.Ne5 Nc6 A17: English Opening: 1...Nf6 with ...Bb4 
9.Bxc6 bxc6 10.Nxc6 Qe8 11.Nxe7+ Qxe7 12.Qa4 c5 

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13.dxc5N [13.Qxc4 cxd4 14.Qxd4 e5 15.Qh4 Qe6 16.0–0 1/2–1/2 (51) Moiseenko,A (2648)-Karjakin,S (2774) Almaty 2016] 
13...Qxc5 14.Be3 Qc7 15.Rd1 Nd5 16.Bd4 Rd8 17.Nxd5 exd5 18.Qc2 Qe7 19.0–0 Bh3 20.Rfe1 Rd7 21.Bc3 Re8 22.Rd4 

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22...Qg5 [22...h6 with more complications. 23.e4 Qd8 24.f3 dxe4 25.Rexe4 Rxd4 26.Bxd4 Re6] 
23.Qd2 

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23...Qxd2 [23...Qd8 seems wilder. 24.Qf4 Be6 25.e4 dxe4 26.Rdxe4 Rd1] 
24.Rxd2 Be6 25.Red1 Rde7 26.f3 h5 27.Kf2 f6 28.Rd4 Kh7 29.R1d2 Bf7 30.h3 a6 31.Rf4 Kg8 32.Bd4 Kh7 33.Bc3 Kg8 34.g4 hxg4 35.hxg4 Kh7 36.Rf5 Rb7 37.Rfxd5 Bxd5 38.Rxd5² Endgame KRR-KRB 
38...Kg6 39.Rc5 Rh8 40.Kg3 Rb6 41.Rxc4 Rh1 42.Rc7 Rc1 With the idea ...Rxb2! 
43.Rd7 Rc6 44.a4 Rg1+ 45.Kf2 

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45...Ra1 [45...Rh1= remains equal.] 
46.a5!± Ra4 47.Kg3 Rac4 48.Ra7 Re6 49.e4 Rc8 50.Rd7 Rec6 51.f4 R8c7 52.f5+ Kh7 53.Rd8 Rc8 54.Rd3 Re8 55.Rd4 Rc7 56.Kf4 Rce7 [Black should play 56...Rec8!² ] 
57.Rc4 Kh6 

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58.Kf3
What is the threat with this move?

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Strongly threatening e5! 
58...Rd7 [58...Rd8²] 
59.Bd4 [59.e5!±] 
59...Kh7² 60.b4 Rd6 61.Ke3 Kh6 

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62.Rc1 
Another massive threat. What is it?

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Threatening mate with Rh1+. 
62...Kh7! 63.Bb6 Rd7 64.Bc5 [64.Rc6±] 
64...Red8 [64...Kg8=] 
65.Rh1+ [Better is 65.g5!± ] 
65...Kg8= 66.Kf4 Re8 67.Re1 g5+ 68.fxg6 Kg7 69.g5 Threatens to win with Rh1. 
69...Kxg6 70.gxf6 Kxf6 71.Rh1 Rf7 72.Ke3 Rh6+ is the strong threat. 
72...Ke6 73.Rh4 Rf6 74.Rh7 aiming for Ra7. 
74...Rf7 75.Rh5 Kd7 76.e5 Rf1 77.Ke4 

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And now Rh7+ would win. 
77...Kc6? 
Can you find the correct defense in place of Black's move?

00000

[77...Re1+= and Black is okay. 78.Kd5 Rd1+ 79.Kc4 Rc1+ 80.Kd4 Rd1+ 81.Kc3 Re6] 
78.Rh6++- White is clearly winning. 
78...Kb5 

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[¹78...Kc7 79.Rxa6 Re1+ 80.Kf3 Kd7] 
Find the super strong reply for White.

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79.Rb6+! Kc4 80.e6 Re1+ 81.Kf5 Rf1+ 

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White's next move sets up the sequence that ended with Black resigning in 6 moves. What is it?

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82.Ke5! Re1+ 83.Kf6 Rf1+ 84.Kg7 Ra8 85.e7 Re1 86.Kf7 Re4 87.Rd6 Rh8 88.Rxa6  1–0