11/13/2016 – Game 2: Ruslan Ponomariov annotates the second game of the match Carlsen vs Karjakin: "18.de5 looks like a silent draw offer to me." - In his first game with White Karjakin opted for 1.e4 - a Ruy Lopez was on the board soon, and with 6.d3 Karjakin chose a quieter approach. Crowded house in New York. And among the commentating voices Garry Kimovich enters the scene. More...
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World Chess Championship News - 2016-11-13
Game 2 - Notes by Ruslan Ponomariov
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Comments by Ruslan Ponomariov -1.e40 The last time Sergey
played with White against Magnus was at the tournament in Bilbao this year. I
was in Bilbao and commented the game live. Sergey played 1.d4 and Magnus chose
a Ragozin, which led to a very short draw. I also expected 1.d4 by Sergey in
this game - after all, he has Shakriyar Mamedyarov and Vladimir Potkin as
seconds and both are 1.d4 players. So, I thought they might have found one or
two or even more improvements on the line Sergey and Magnus tried in Bilbao.
But no, Sergey decided to play 1.e4 - in his childhood this was his main
weapon. We might see Sergey switching to closed openings in the next games -
which would indicate how much they worked before the match to be ready for 1.
e4 and 1.d4.e562.Nf30Nc643.Bb50a6!?5 No Berlin this time. The mind
games started....4.Ba40Nf665.0-00Be776.d317 The main idea of
this line is to avoid lots of theory in the Classical Ruy Lopez. After 6.d3
you don't need to study the Marshall, the Breyer, Zaitzev, Chigorin etc.
However, most people thought that Carlsen and not Karjakin would try to avoid
the main lines.Normally Sergey plays6.Re1in this position. After e.g.b57.Bb30-08.h3Bb78...d69.c3Be610.d4Bxb311.Qxb3also leads to
an exchange of bishops but in contrast to the game White has a pawn and not a
knight on c3.9.d3d610.a3Na511.Ba2c512.Nbd2Bc8we reach a
position that is similar to the position we had in the game though there are
differences: if you compare this line with the game continuation you will see
that Black here spent more time to exchange the white-squared bishops.6...b5227.Bb34d66 Black has a
number of options. If you want to study this variation more deeply I would
recommend to use the Reference button of your ChessBase program to see how the
strongest players handled this position.8.a3190-009.Nc35Na55010.Ba29Be6911.d454Bxa21312.Rxa22Re810If one compares this position with the
lines I mentioned in the comment to the 6th move, Black here is several tempi
up and his position has no weaknesses. With pawns on d4 and e4 White has a
strong pawn-center which gives him some space advantage but with each piece
exchange this factor is less and less significant.Earlier this
year Magnus played12...Nc613.d5Nb8However, 12...Re8 is also the move
many engines want to play. So, I don't know whether Carlsen's small refinement
was really a surprise for Karjakin.13.Ra17:58Nc426:1614.Re111:34Rc84:41 The idea
behind this move which puts the rook behind the pawn on c7 remains a little
mystery to me. Probably Carlsen wanted to be ready meet d5 by White with ...c6.
Probably Black didn't want to play14...Bf8immediately, because after15.b3Nb6White can pin the knight on f6 with16.Bg5But there is
nothing wrong with playing14...h6first, e.g.15.b3Nb616.Bb2Bf817.d5Qc818.a4c619.dxc6Qxc6with counterplay.15.h311:57h62:0016.b35:11Nb6917.Bb20Bf84:1818.dxe516:20 To me, this looks like a
silent draw offer. Modern chess is becoming more and more pragmatic.
I think if White wanted to keep chances for a fight he had to keep the tension
in the center.18.Qd3c619.Rad1Qc720.Ne2d521.Ng3exd421...dxe422.Nxe4Nxe423.Qxe4exd424.Qxe8Rxe825.Rxe8∞22.e5Ne423.Nxe4dxe424.Qxe4c5I think this position is still equal but the pawn structure is
asymmetrical and both players have chances for active play - White on the
kingside, Black on the queenside.18...dxe5219.a46c66:5620.Qxd839Rcxd80 As in game one we do see an early exchange of queens.21.axb511axb51222.Ne26:52Bb4023.Bc34:29Bxc3224.Nxc36Nbd7825.Ra62:05Rc83226.b49:52Re612:18With26...c5Carlsen could have
posed more practical problems, e.g.27.Nxb5cxb428.Nd6and now the tactical trick28.Ra4Rxc229.Rxb4Rb828...Re629.Nxc8Rxa6gives White
something to think about. But after White's 18th move Carlsen was probably
also happy with a draw.27.Rb12:01c516:2328.Rxe615fxe6229.Nxb51:38cxb4030.Rxb448Rxc2931.Nd64:03Rc1+3432.Kh22Rc2833.Kg111
Well, as it turned out game two was even less exciting than
game one. But Carlsen's choice of opening was smart.½–½
13.31 / 7.31 am: By the way: the first official World Championship began in New York, 130 years ago. The match between Wilhelm Steinitz and Johannes Zukertort took place from 11th January to 29th March 1886, and the first five games were played in the Manhattan Chess Club. Zukertort did well in New York and went 4-1 ahead. But then the match moved to St. Louis and New Orleans, and Zukertort suffered a reversal of fortune. In the end Steinitz won 12.5-7.5 to become the first official World Chess Champion.
Wilhelm Steinitz
10.46 / 4.46 am: Daniel King just finished his game 2 summary on playchess. Watch it once again here.
10.43 / 4.43 am: We added impressions of game 2 to our youtube channel. Click here to watch.
8.39 / 2.39 am: In matches, you need experience and you will encounter situations that you don't expect to happen. So Garry Kimovich was told by Tal, Petrosian and Spassky in the early 80's before his match with Anatoli Karpow. The voice of the next generation:
Karjakin nervous, Carlsen nervous, what the hell? where are these steel nerves of Karpov and Kasparov? hmmmm
7.49 / 1.49 am: Crowded house in the market hall. The Star Tribune reporter is detecting trouble in Manhattan. "This is the worst-organized event I've been to in my life," said Carl Fisher of Brooklyn. "It's a terrible disgrace."
7.39 Hamburg time / 1.39 am New York time: Garry Kimovich joins the show:
Kasparov: "They belong to different categories. Karjakin is a fine player. Magnus is an exceptional player." | @CCSCSL, November 12, 2016 pic.twitter.com/RBmS2jlKa3
2016-11-139.00 Mumbai time / 4.30Hamburg time/22.30 New York time: Was it just a boring dull draw or were there deep points to learn from? ChessBase India offers in-depth analysis of game two. The title "Carlsen's Mysterious rook moves" indicates that there are plenty of things we can learn from the World Champion's play.
23.14 / 5.14 pm New York time: After the game, reporters urged Karjakin to reveal his preparation secrets. Karjakin insists not to talk about openings during the match. Carlsen is impressed and joins forces. A phalanx of two Kings against the international media. Updates within the next 12 twelve hours, including commentary. Game 3 on Monday.
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