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Sergey Karjakin (born January 12, 1990) is a Russian chess grandmaster. A child prodigy, he became the youngest grandmaster in history, achieving the title at the age of 12 years and 7 months. However, he later lost this record to Abhimanyu Mishra, an American of Indian descent, who broke it at the age of 12 years, 4 months, and 25 days.
Karjakin learned to play chess at the age of five. In 1999, he became the European Champion in the under-10 category, and in 2001, he won the under-12 title. He achieved his third grandmaster norm in 2002 at a tournament in Sudak, officially becoming the youngest grandmaster in history. That same year, he served as a second to Ruslan Ponomariov during his successful campaign for the FIDE World Championship.
A series of strong performances followed. For example, he represented Ukraine in two Chess Olympiads. In 2004, he helped the team secure first place, while in 2006, Ukraine finished in eighth place.
Perhaps the greatest success of Karjakin’s career came in March 2016, when he won the Candidates Tournament in Moscow. This victory earned him the right to challenge reigning World Champion Magnus Carlsen for the title. Their championship match took place in New York in November 2016. After seven consecutive draws, Karjakin unexpectedly won the eighth game in a match scheduled for 12 games. Carlsen, however, struck back in the 10th game, equalizing the score. With the match tied at 6–6 after 12 games, the title was decided in a four-game rapid tiebreak, with each player given 25 minutes per game. The first two tiebreak games ended in draws, but Carlsen then won the last two games convincingly, sealing the match victory with a stunning queen sacrifice in the final game.
After Karjakin controversially switched federations to represent Russia, he achieved further success with his new national team. Notably, in 2019, he helped Russia win the World Team Chess Championship. However, his public statements became increasingly controversial. From a Western perspective, the situation reached a breaking point in 2022, when, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Karjakin openly expressed support for Vladimir Putin’s military actions. His remarks provoked widespread condemnation from the chess world. In response, FIDE's Ethics and Disciplinary Committee sanctioned Karjakin with a six-month suspension in March 2022. Notably, Karjakin did not contest the ruling.
In the diagrammed position, it is clear that both players are executing their own plans. Black appears to be breaking through on the queenside, meaning White cannot afford to remain passive and must take action on the other side of the board. Can you find the powerful move that allows White to seize the initiative? Try to calculate some key variations!
Key Concepts of Chess - Pawn Structures Vol.1 and 2
In this two-part course the emphasis will be on typical pawn-structures.
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