11/25/2018 – And then there was one! The World Championship match is headed to a dramatic conclusion after Magnus Carlsen could not score a goal in his last White game. Game 11 ended up as one of the shorter and least interesting draws of the match although it started promisingly enough. The previous Challenger Sergey Karjakin was the surprise guest making the ceremonial first move and he got a smile out of both players by starting with 1.b4 for Magnus. Carlsen opted not to take Karjakin's suggestion to heart and played into a critical line from the Petroff preparation of Caruana — a line shown in the training video accidentally leaked before Game 4. Guest analysis by GM BORIS GELFAND and IM LAWRENCE TRENT. | Photos: World Chess
The Petroff (or Russian) Defence which is characterised by the moves 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 has been popular at the highest levels for many years and enjoys the reputation of being an extremely solid defence.
The Modern Steinitz (1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 d6!?) is an uncompromising weapon that lets Black put White under pressure from the very start.
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Will we see a Drawxit?
Today in Brussels, EU and UK leaders are meeting to finalise a Brexit deal, which has been the talk of the town this past week. You can scarcely go into a restaurant in central London without hearing someone discussing the political wrangling surrounding this controversial topic.
In the chess world, the question is when will we see a decisive game in this Championship? Fans were looking to Magnus Carlsen to press with his last White game on Saturday, and the opening phase initially sparked interest when it mirrored the ChessBase analysis file inadvertently leaked prior to Game 4.
I think the biggest opening reveal from the Caruana video mishap is entry 21: "Petroff w.Nd7-f6 idea." (Screenshot from @hartmannchess) pic.twitter.com/EaOoJ54WSo
The great popularity of the Petroff Defence at the highest level has attracted general attention as strong players employ this opening with great success and with both colours. Unfortunately, the opinion of the Petroff as a sterile drawish opening seems to be firmly implanted in many minds. The author tries to dispel these myths and examines the most popular lines and provides a large number of ideas that will enable you to play Petroff successfully, with either colour.
Carlsen vs Caruana, Game 11
Position after 9...Nf6
Despite this bit of advance intelligence, Carlsen was not able to get much of any edge out of the opening. The players followed a recent game— Krishnan Sasikiran ½-½ Evgenij Miroshnichenko from the St Louis Winter Classic A group — all the way to a queen trade on move 14.
Position after 14.Bxd2
Here Miroshnichenko preferred 14…Rfe8. "My conclusion was that Re8 is actually safer", he told me via Skype. "I was still in my book". He noted that Magnus' pawn push 13.c4, offering the queen trade, is suggested by chess engines as the best move, and it even promises some advantage for White at first but, he added, there are "not that many ideas against the Petroff, to be honest".
Caruana opted for 14...h6 keeping the knight out of g5 and after 15.Nh4 Rfe8 16.Ng6 Ng4 17.Nxe7 Rxe7 18.Re2 Ne5 19.Bf4 Nxd3 the players reached an equal position with opposite-coloured bishops.
In his round-up show, IM Lawrence Trent, who used to manage Caruana and was instrumental in bringing Rustam Kasimdzhanov on board as Fabi's chief trainer and second, had this to say about Carlsen's opening choices:
"Once this match is over, there are some big questions that are going to have to be asked about Magnus' opening preparation, and even though he said he's happy with his team, I'm not sure I'd be happy — that if I knew I were starting with this position [after 9...Nf6] that I couldn't try and even fight for a realistic practical edge."
Carlsen struggling in the opening | Photo: World Chess
Sergey Karjakin was the early guest on the official webcast after making the ceremonial first move. The players were both unaware that Karjakin would be there until minutes before the start of the game, but they couldn't help cracking a smile when he put 1.b4 on the board for Magnus. Afterwards, the former Challenger spoke about this and the match in general. One point he made, in particular, pertains to Carlsen's opening prep and its relationship to the match format:
“The problem of these matches is that the players are afraid to lose and they don’t want to [take] any risk. I feel like Magnus was trying to play super solid chess at some point and in a tournament he would not play like that.”
Alexei Shirov continues the successful and highly praised series of his best games. Since many players look on the Russian Defence with the suspicion that it is a drawish opening, and one which at the same time is both dry and boring, Shirov has in this DVD set himself the specific task of countering this view of matters.
GM Sergey Karjakin joins Judit Polgar and IM Anna Rudolf
Commenting on the Saint Louis Chess Club's "Today in Chess" live show, Garry Kasparov was also playing amateur psychologist, diagnosing the World Champion's problem as the "gravity of past success":
Garry Kasparov's rise to the top was meteoric and at his very first attempt he managed to become World Champion, the youngest of all time. In over six hours of video, he gives a first hand account of crucial events from recent chess history, you can improve your chess understanding and enjoy explanations and comments from a unique and outstanding personality on and off the chess board.
“It seems to me that Magnus had no big ideas for the match and he decided, wisely, not to take too much risk and to stick with his real strength which is to play for a small edge and just to keep playing, trying to use his minimal advantages...Minimising risk, that’s the style, and it’s very hard to change...it has been working for so long, trying to change it and going back to a more aggressive approach makes him very uncomfortable.”
He sees the present moment in Carlsen's career as the culmination of a trend away from an aggressive approach in the opening towards a more technical style that began in 2010 when he became the world's highest rated player.
“Fabiano is extremely stable, you can feel it", says Kasparov. "Even if something changes, even if something is happening in the game, he’s not panicking.”
This characteristic of the Challenger, Kasparov thinks, is depressing for Carlsen, and makes him vulnerable. Even so, he expects both players will do what they think is best to win the match. “At the end of the day if it’s 6-6 [Carlsen] believes that he would be the favourite in rapid…He would be happy to collect it even if it would be decided in blitz.”
Kasparov also expects the public's dismay over the drawing streak will be short-lived. “At the end of the day people will forget what was the score; they will remember who won the match...The public doesn’t care if you played great chess and lost.”
At the press conference, Caruana said that the final game and any possible tiebreak will be decided by nerves. When asked if he would have "fighting spirit" in Monday's Game 12, when he will have the white pieces, he calmly replied, “I always have fighting spirit, and of course there’s a lot riding on the last game. It will be very tense for both of us. I’m not going to go crazy or anything but I’ll definitely try to put pressure on him.”
Alexei Shirov continues the successful and highly praised series of his best games. Since many players look on the Russian Defence with the suspicion that it is a drawish opening, and one which at the same time is both dry and boring, Shirov has in this DVD set himself the specific task of countering this view of matters.
Caruana: "At this point the tension is at its peak"
Game 11 analysed by Boris Gelfand
Former World Championship challenger Boris Gelfand played a tiebreak himself against Viswanathan Anand to decide their 2012 match in Moscow:
"I am happy to see that Fabiano sticks to a Petroff, which served him well this year...before my World Championship match vs Vishy Anand in 2012, I switched to the Sveshnikov (Magnus' choice in this match!) in order to surprise my opponent. It seems that Fabiano has even more trust in Petroff than I had!"
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1.e4It is noteworthy that Magnus shuffles beetween 1.d4, 1.c4 and 1.e4,
while Fabiano had always started his games with 1.e4.The reason is a totally
different attitude to an opening preparation by World Champion and the
Challengere52.Nf3Nf6I am happy to see that Fabiano sticks to a Petroff,
which served him well this year (especially in the Candidates,where he didn't
face any problems in this opening) I had successfully used this opening for
many years and during World Cup 2009 which I won it was my only weapon.
However, before my World Championship match vs Vishy Anand in 2012, I switched
to the Sveshnikov (Magnus' choice in this match!) in order to surprise my
opponent. It seems that Fabiano has even more trust in Petroff than I had!3.Nxe5d64.Nf3Nxe45.Nc3One of the most popular systems nowadaysNxc36.dxc3Be77.Be30-0Here, two schools of thoughts exist. Vladimir Kramnik and
myself had always castled short, which is a more ambitious try. More popular
is 7...Nc6, followed by Be6, Qd7 and long castle with a solid, but passive
position. Fabiano tried it both, but had chosen a more principaled approach in
this important game.8.Qd2Nd79.0-0-0Nf69...Ne5was a system I
advocated with quite a success, but since then some new, interesting ideas
have been found.9...c6was Fabiano's choice earlier this year. He
equalized convincingly against Levon Aronian.10.h410.Kb1d511.c4Nb612.cxd5Nxd513.Bc4Bf514.Bxd5cxd515.Qxd5Qc816.Nd4Bg617.Ka1Re818.Rhe1Bf619.c3Re520.Qb3a621.Bf4Rxe122.Rxe1Qd723.Be5Re824.f4Bd825.a4h626.Rd1Qg427.Rd2b528.axb5axb529.Qd1Qd730.f5Bg531.Rd3Bxf532.Nxf5Qxf533.Bg3Ra8+34.Kb1Rd835.Kc2b436.cxb4Rc8+37.Kb3Qe6+38.Rd5Rd839.Kc4Qc6+0-1 (39) Robson,R (2660)-Caruana,F (2804)
Saint Louis 201810...d511.Kb1Re812.Bd3Bc513.Rde1Bxe314.Rxe3Rxe315.Qxe3Nf616.Re1Qd617.Qe8+Qf818.Qxf8+Kxf819.Kc1Bd720.c4dxc421.Bxc4Re822.Rxe8+Bxe823.Kd2Ke724.Ne5Nd725.Nf3Nf626.Ne5Nd727.Nf3Nf628.Ne51/2-1/2 (28) Aronian,L (2780)-Caruana,F (2827) Batumi 201810.Bd3Fabiano failed to equalize with White in the following game10.h3c511.Bf4Be612.a3d513.Ng5Bd714.g4Bc615.Bg2Re816.Qd3Bd6
1/2-1/2 (98) Caruana,F (2784)-Hou,Y (2654) Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden 201810...c511.Rhe1Be6ex-Women's World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk is the main
advocate of this setup.12.Kb112.Bg5White won a beautiful game afterh6?13.Bxh6c414.Bxg7!cxd315.Qg5Ne416.Qh6Bg5+17.Nxg5Qxg5+18.Qxg5Nxg519.Bxf8dxc220.Rxd6Kxf821.h4Nh722.Kxc21-0 (62) Karjakin,S
(2779)-Harikrishna,P (2763) Shamkir 2016 CBM 173 [Mekhitarian,K]12...Qa513.c4Qxd214.Bxd2Black's position is extremely solid and I believe he has
solved all the opening problems. Either Magnus trusted in his ability to
exploit minimal advantages or he was not well prepared for this game. I would
tend to believe the first option.h6A small deviation from an earlier game14...Rfe815.Ng5Bd716.f3Bc617.a3h618.Ne4Nxe419.Bxe4Bxe420.Rxe4Bf821.Bf4g522.Bg3f523.Ree1Kf724.Kc1Rxe125.Rxe1Re826.Rxe8Kxe81/2-1/2 (48) Sasikiran,K (2671)-Miroshnichenko,E (2606) Saint Louis USA
201815.Nh415.h3!?would prevent Ng4-e5 ,but give Black time to
prepare d6-d515...Rfe816.Ng6Ng417.Nxe7+Rxe718.Re2Ne519.Bf419.Bc3Was the last attempt to spice things up.∆Nxd3Safer is19...f620.Bxe5dxe521.Bg6Rd7=20.Rxd3Rd721.Rg3g622.Rxe622.Bf6!?22...fxe623.Rxg6+Kh724.Rxe6with a complicated endgame19...Nxd320.Rxd3Rd7The rest of the game is hardly interesting.21.Rxd6Rxd622.Bxd6Rd823.Rd2Bxc424.Kc1b625.Bf4Rxd226.Kxd2a6Avoiding a cute trap:26...Bxa2?27.b3c428.Kc3cxb329.Kb227.a3Kf828.Bc7b529.Bd6+Ke830.Bxc5Even though White is a full pawn up, this is a dead draw.h531.Ke3Kd732.Kd4g633.g3Be234.Bf8Kc635.b3Bd136.Kd3Bg437.c4Be638.Kd4bxc439.bxc4Bg440.c5Be641.Bh6Bd542.Be3Be643.Ke5Bd544.Kf4Be645.Kg5Bd546.g4hxg447.Kxg4Ba248.Kg5Bb349.Kf6Ba250.h4Bb351.f4Ba252.Ke7Bb353.Kf6Ba254.f5Bb1!The only finesse Black should
know.55.Bf2Bc255...Bxf5??56.h5½–½
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33.e5!Kb734.Nf6Qh4+35.Ke233...Qg5!-+34.Nh234.Qf2war nötig.34...h535.Rf2Qg136.Nf1h436...Qg7-+37.Nd2Kb737.Kd2?37.e5!37...Kb738.c3Be5Droht ...Tg3! und aus.39.Kc2Qg739...b5-+zielt auf ...Tg3! ab.40.Qe2b441.cxb4Bd440.Nh2!Bxc341.Qxf4Bd442.Qf7+Ka6!43.Qxg7Rxg7 Endspiel KTL-KTSDoch nicht43...Bxg7?!44.Rf5=44.Re2Rg345.Ng4e5 ist eine echte Drohung.Rxh3Weiss muss nun ...Tg3 beachten.46.e5Rf347.e6Rf848.e7Re849.Nh6!h350.Nf5
Und weiter mit Th2 wäre nett.50...Bf6!51.a3b5Günstiger ist51...Ka552.b4=cxb453.axb4
53...Bxe7!54.Nxe754.Rxe7Rxe754...h255.Rxh2Und Th7 würde nun gewinnen.Rxe7KT-KT56.Rh6Kb657.Kc3Rd758.Rg6Kc759.Rh6Rd660.Rh8!Rg661.Ra8!Kb762.Rh8Rg563.Rh7+Kb664.Rh6Rg1Weiss sollte ...a5 verhindern.65.Kc2Rf166.Rg6Rh167.Rf6Rh868.Kc3Ra8Mit der Idee ...a5.69.d4Rd870.Rh6Rd771.Rg6Kc772.Rg5Rd673.Rg8Rh674.Ra8Rh3+75.Kc2Ra376.Kb2Ra477.Kc3!a678.Rh8Ra3+79.Kb2Rg379...Rd3feels hotter.80.Rh7+Kd681.Ra7Rxd482.Ka3Rd3+80.Kc2Rg581.Rh6Rd582.Kc3Rd683.Rh8!Rg684.Kc2Kb785.Kc3Rg3+86.Kc2Rg187.Rh5Rg2+88.Kc3!Rg3+89.Kc2Rg490.Kc3Kb691.Rh6Rg592.Rf6Rh593.Rg6Rh3+94.Kc2Rh595.Kc3!Rd596.Rh6Kc797.Rh7+Rd798.Rh5Rd699.Rh8!Rg6100.Rf8Rg3+101.Kc2Ra3102.Rf7+Kd6103.Ra7!Kd5Droht stark ...Kc4.104.Kb2Rd3105.Rxa6Rxd4106.Kb3Re4107.Kc3Rc4+108.Kb3Kd4109.Rb6!Die Stellung ist ausgeglichen.Kd3110.Ra6Rc2111.Rb6!Rc3+112.Kb2Rc4113.Kb3Kd4114.Ra6Kd5115.Ra8Precision: Weiß = 71%, Schwarz = 67%.½–½
Macauley PetersonMacauley served as the Editor in Chief of ChessBase News from July 2017 to March 2020. He is the producer of The Full English Breakfast chess podcast, and was an Associate Producer of the 2016 feature documentary, Magnus.
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