New York 2016 G5: The tables are turned

Report and photos by Albert Silver

(click on images for high-res version)

The day started quite normally as the players entered the glass playing room. Magnus was in good spirits, presumably content with his near wins, seeing them as an indication that it was merely a matter of time. Little did he know that Karjakin felt the same, except on the exact opposite side of the spectrum. He too felt it was just a matter of time, but to get a chance at the World Champion. One of them would be proven right this round.

Magnus gives Karjakin a big smile as they shake hands. One curiosity of the opening moves was that a warning was issued to the photographers allowed into the glss room where they could take photos for the first ten minutes: two had been caught the previous day actually taking selfies.

Bennett Miller, director of "Capote", makes the opening move. The film "Capote" gave the late Philip Seymour Hoffman the Oscar for Best Actor.

No Ruy Lopez! There were no doubt cheers in the spectator's area as played 3. Bc4

Sergey Karjakin was all business as the game started

Anastasia Karlovich, FIDE press officer and photographer

The main room is quite full today, with fans loving the complicated struggle going on. The organizers are also running a blitz tournament in view of the success of the one two days ago. One can hear the pairings being announced while others debate the game at hand.

Avid chess fun playing the blitz event

The famous Spanish journalist Leontxo Garcia stayed focused on the task at hand

It was with no small surprise that I discovered I was not the only Brazilian journalist at the venue covering the match. Meet Lincoln Lucena, a veteran chess journalist who has covered every World Championship since 1984. After discovering he had a colleague, he laughed quite hard. He explained that in his previous article for the "Correio Brasiliense" he had commented he was the only Brazilian here, and now he would have to correct this.

Carlsen - Karjakin (New York 2016, Game Five)

Magnus Carlsen gave the impression he felt he could do anything as he held the game's reins, but he was disabused of this as an oversight allowed Sergey Karjakin to create strong winning chances with the strike 42....d4!

As Sergey left to enjoy some quiet time in the player's hall where they can sit on a sofa, grab a snack, or sip some coffee, Magnus was seen shifting in his chair quite a lot looking anxious.

The fans followed the action with huge interest, milling around tables sitting on the floor near a display even

Tim Hanks (lef), from the US Chess Federation asked Hungarian GM Denes Boros to explain some of the finer points of the position. Denes is very generous with his time and happy to oblige.

IM Javier Ochoa could easily stay in the exclusive VIP area, but seems to prefer to join the main room when the action heats. He is then seen analyzing with others at a board in the Café.

NRK, the Norwegian TV network, also does the rounds asking for opinions by anyone in the Café area

Magnus Carlsen - Sergey Karjakin (New York 2016, Game five)

During the press conference, FIDE press officer WGM Anastasiya Karlovich conducted the interview as usual, when she was suddenly given a lashing by Magnus Carlsen, still very upset over the game.

Although he did fail to deliver the coup de grâce, Karjakin was in great spirits. Magnus needs no guessing.

The match is still drawn with five draws each, but it has been anything but dull as the games have led to thrilling bouts.

Current standings

Masterworks

A couple of hours before the start of the day's game, a book launch was held in the venue for "Masterworks", a new coffeetable book on wonderful chess sets.

Masterworks is a book by Dylan Loeb McClain who put together this fantastic volume on chess sets of all kinds

Dylan McClain, the editor and co-author of the book, was the chess columnist for the New York Times. He is now the content manager for the WorldChess site.

Among the many wondrous sets is this unique Japanese design. The cubes that represent the pieces only tell part of the story. These pieces are actualllly distinguished by perfume. Thus to know which piece is what, one need to smell the pieces.

The author explained that his absolute favorite set was the 'Holy Roman Emperor vs the Pope'. Each set comes with a tale to explain not only the bare physical attributes, such as material or dates, but the idea behind he board and its history.

Here is a small excerpt to illustrate the type of story found within:

"In the late 13th century and early 14th century, an Italian monk name Jacobus de Cessolis gave sermons on the subject of morals and ethics, using chess as a metaphor to explain social pluralism. (...)

Cessolis's idea influenced the design of chess set (and in some case, chess rules) and some sets were made in which each piece was given individual attention and aesthetic variation. Perhaps the most magnificent set ever made that reflects Cessolis's influence is the one shown here: Holy Roman Emperor versus the Pope."

In this case each of the pawns came in a unique design, but respecting a form (size) factor to identify them as pawns. Each pawn in this set represented a different craftsman.

It needs to be said that the book is both large and luxurious. It is a beautifully done work with hundreds upon hundreds of sets. The photos are all top notch with very high quality setups for the images. The paper itself is also very high quality and the general impression is of a highly desirable book for one's library or coffeetable. Any random perusing will yield a beautiful set with great photos and a story behind it. The price is a very low US$47.50, which seems extremely inexpensive in view of the sheer quality of the volume.

Links Official tournament site All games in PGN The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 13 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.