Winning starts with what you know
The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.
10.15 Mumbai/ 5.45 Hamburg/ 23.45 New York: Sagar Shah analyzes the reason why Magnus Carlsen lost game eight. His conclusion was a clear lack of objectivity on the part of the World Champion. Full analysis and key positions explained on the ChessBase India newspage.
1:34 / 7:34 pm: The World Champion leaves TV presenter Kaja Snare without replying, ... truly upset after this katastrophe, not being able to attend the press conference after this shock.
1:09 / 7:09 pm: Carlsen resigns, Karjakin takes the lead 4.5-3.5. Tomorrow he will have the white pieces.
1:02 / 7:02 pm: After 51...h5 Judit Polgar makes a prediction: Sergey Karjakin will win the game!
0:49 / 6.49 pm:
Carlsen is making a very unhappy impression now - he has to defend an unpleasant ending
0:45 / 6.45 pm: Karjakin is now a pawn down, but his strong knight and the passer on a3 give him more than enough compensation.
0:19 / 6.19 pm:
NOW: Double Mistake in urgency: - On the border of hazardous
0:09 / 6.09 pm: Stefan Löffler already thinks about the impact of this time trouble blunders on the upcoming games.
0:05 / 6.05 pm:
00.02 / 6.02 pm: To catch up: Carlsen took plenty of risk (35.c5) and seemingly blundered in time trouble - however Karjakin did not find the best defence, still emerges with a pawn up but has a very weak king. What a game we are having?!
23.56 / 5.56 pm:
Carlsen realizes that he has misplayed it
23.48 / 5.48 pm: Ian Nepomniachtchi already advices Carlsen to seek for some perpetual - has the world champion overpushed his luck?
23.40 / 5.40 pm:
Both players are down six minutes, the tension increases as Carlsen takes further risks.
23.18 / 5.18 pm: However, his colleague Daniel King sees it optimistically.
23.04 / 5.04 pm: British Grandmaster Conquest makes a reference to Magnus' opening choice in this game:
Johannes Hermann Zukertort was a 19th century chess player who competed in the 1st official World Championship Match in 1886. He lost it to Wilhelm Steinitz.
23.04 / 5.04 pm: According to world class player Ian Nepomniachtchi the position became very drawish.
22.55 / 4.55 pm: As Polgar and Caruana, Radjabov is not impressed with Karjakin's play in this middlegame.
22.42 / 4.42 pm: Caruana on Sergeys 21...Bxc4: "once you give up the bishop, there is no attack" - Magnus' king is out of danger now and white has a slight advantage.
22.33 / 4.33 pm: Both players only have a bit over 30 minutes for the next 20 moves - time trouble could become an issue.
22.32 / 4.32 pm:
Current World Nr. 2 Fabiano Caruana joins the commentary team. He is not very impressed by Karjakin's maneuver Bc6 and Bd5.
22.14 / 4.14 pm:
Sergey is probably trying to get through the variation jungle starting with 20...Qg5
21.55 / 3.55 pm: Magnus does not look very happy. Sergey has more time on the clock and quite promising attacking chances on the kingside.
21.51 / 3.51 pm: Jonathan Rowson is less impressed by Carlsen's maneuvers:
21.28 / 3.28 pm: Judit's sister Susan ist also puzzled:
21.28 / 3.28 pm: Polgar is surprised by Magnus' choice of putting the Queen to e1: "...but it can be a genius move, it's like Magnus played it"
Carlsen playing 17.Qe1!?
21.02 / 3.02 pm:
20.42 / 2.42 pm: Btw, today's 1st move was carried out by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson.
"Sergey, is d4 ok for you as well?" (Foto: Max Avdeev)
20.30 / 2.30 pm: Dutch Grandmaster Erwin l'Ami believes Sergey considers to exchange the strong bishop on d3.
20.21 / 2.21 pm: Team Carlsen continues to try sidelines - this time Zukertort!
20.21 / 2.21 pm:
Both players seem to be highly concentrated from the beginning.
20.20 / 2.20 pm: As the opening is less forcing than the Spanish mainlines we had so far, both players take their time to figure out the best move orders. Only seven moves played so far.
20.03 / 2.03 pm: Carlsen chooses 1.d4 today, but does not opt for the Trompovsky again, instead he continues rather slow with 2.Nf3 and 3.e3 - a clear sign that he will try to avoid theory and "play a long game" (Polgar).
19.57 Hamburg / 1.57 pm New York:
Magnus Carlsen arrives early at the board
19.53 Hamburg / 1.53 pm New York: Some minutes to go! Magnus Carlsen with the white pieces will try to put as much pressure as possible on his opponent, Judit Polgar expects a long battle.
16.34 Hamburg/ 10.34 New York: If you can't wait until game 8, you can watch the highlights of game 7 presented by Daniel King here.
This is what the kids had to ask the players:
12.49 / 6.49 am: The youngsters know it better. Attending the press conference, some schoolboys asked the right questions. "After 17Nf6+, were you like … oh oh, I wanna draw now... Or did you wanna still win?" Agon’s press officer seemed surprised, so were Sergey Karjakin and Magnus Carlsen, but both grandmasters proved to be real professionals and indeed they took their time and gave an honest and proper answer.
Isn’t it weird to have so many draws? That was another question - adults don't ask that kind of things. And again, both star players were honest and polite with their replies (see video links below). This is the way of showing some style.
Yesterday’s performance was a great show to watch. Actor Gbenga Akinnagbe (‘The Wire’)and TV journalist Neil deGrasse Tyson as star guests obviously enjoyed to participate. Our man in the scene: Max Dlugy. The VIP was melting into the crowd, had a chat with other VIPs and teamed up with Fabio Caruana for an spontaneous Blitz battle. See his report he wrote for us. Even Judit Polgar said she felt like joining the party in the VIP lounge. But please, dear organizers: Keep in mind that the former Fide World Champion Alex Khalifman, the combined U.S.S.R. and US-Champion Boris Gulko and the former Correspondence Chess World Champion Gennady Nesis should be welcomed in the VIP lounge if it deserves the name.
The mood is relaxed, both Sergey Karjakin and Magnus Carlsen are in good spirits, they don’t show aggression towards each other (maybe some old school pros would like them to) but show a super professional attitude towards the event. The climax of the battle is yet to come, we’ll be there.
11.28 Hamburg/ 5.28 New York: Yannick Pelletier did a round up of game 7 on playchess.com. See here what he has to say.
11.23 Hamburg/ 5.23 New York: Our conference snippets from game 7.
8.00 Mumbai time/ 3.30 Hamburg/ 21.30 New York: Game seven analysis and key positions explained by Sagar Shah on ChessBase India newspage.
22.17 / 5.17 pm: Draw. Carlsen admitted in the press-conference that 18...Rc8 was a blunder. Karjakin: 'Not a long game, but quite interesting, I didn't know the theory too well... At the end I could not improve my position.' A bit later the challenger said: 'You have to grab the chances when you get them. My only chance was in game five.' Magnus Carlsen: 'The results of the last games were decent for me.'... 'The last two games were not that interesting, but in most of the games something was happening.'
Cliffhanger with a question asked by a boy: When Sergey played 17.Nf6+, was it like 'Uh oh, ooh, I've got to get the draw?' for you? (Update with the press conference will follow)
Breaking news: Karjakin cancelled the helicopter flight - because of the good weather. But he will go up in the air, probably after the next game.
22.14 / 5.14 pm: Judit Polgar after 33...Rc8 - "Magnus is saying: 'my pieces are placed perfectly.'"
22.09 / 5.09 pm:
22.04 / 4.04 pm:
21.53 / 3.53 pm: Judit Polgar showed remarkable prediction skills by proposing somewhere around 19...Bf6 that the game might result in a R+B vs. R+B endgame.
21.37 / 3.37 pm: Radjabov is obviously in good spirits today.
Ahhhhh! I have got the point! Now Carlsen takes Karjakin's strategy! He will upset Karjakin,by drawing this game!Great work!#carlsenkarjakin
— Teymur Rajabov (@rajachess) November 20, 2016
21.32 / 3.32 pm: According to Judit Polgar, after 18...Rc8 ('obviously a miscalculation'), Black can only play for two results. White, however, can play for a win for 80 or more moves, she says.
21.25 / 3.25 pm: Radjabov made a remarkable point before 18...Rc8?!?!?!:
Karjakin will defend 3rd worse endgame in 4 games. If this is a strategy it's risky and will be amazing if it works. #carlsenkarjakin
— Teymur Rajabov (@rajachess) November 20, 2016
21.18 / 3.18 pm: Is Carlsen too eager to get a draw? His 18...Rc8 is criticized by Polgar and Radjabov and both claim that Carlsen is going for a draw. A draw might indeed be the most likely result. Polgar predicts a R+B vs R+B or a rook endgame. Carlsen looks a little nervous, but this might be misleading.
@rajachess weird move. Why Carlsen went for that ?
— Önder (@Chess_Trainer_) November 20, 2016
21.10 / 3.10 pm: Fabiano Caruana is among the spectators and plays some blitz.
21.00 / 3.00 pm: Tejmur Radjabov is giving insightful comments. Predicted ...Nb4 by Magnus Carlsen. He is joking and suggests the arbiters should reduce the time control. "They do the bad moves fast anyway."
f5 would be certainly a better try. Still long game awaits. #carlsenkarjakin
— Teymur Rajabov (@rajachess) November 20, 2016
f5 would be certainly a better try. Still long game awaits. #carlsenkarjakin
— Teymur Rajabov (@rajachess) November 20, 2016
Game 7 starts, actor and chess aficionado Gbenga Akinnagbe is making the first move. Photo by Max Avdeev
World Chess Championship 2016 Newsblogs:
21.28 / 3.28 pm:
