World Championship Game 8: Nepomniachtchi self-destructs

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
12/5/2021 – Magnus Carlsen now has a two-point lead at the World Championship match in Dubai, after beating Ian Nepomniachtchi’s Petroff Defence in Sunday’s game 8. Nepo made a couple of inexplicable moves in positions that seemed to be all but forcefully heading to an inevitable draw. Find here the crucial encounter analysed by elite grandmaster and theoretical expert Anish Giri. | Photo: Eric Rosen

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A new match begins

Replay full analysis of the game by world number six Anish Giri at the end of the article!

Magnus CarlsenAfter not winning a single classical game in a World Championship match since 2016, Magnus Carlsen has won twice in three days at the battle for the crown in Dubai. With six games to go, it would be truly surprising if Ian Nepomniachtchi manages to bounce back, especially after having suffered such painful defeats.

While Friday’s game will go down in World Championship history as a memorable struggle, Carlsen’s latest win had more to do with what appear to be psychological difficulties suffered by his opponent. In the end, it was a dream three-day series for the defending champion, who not only won both his games with white but also got a clean, quick draw in his one game with the black pieces.

After such an optimal result in the games following the second rest day, one would think Carlsen would be ecstatic in the post-game press conference. However, he looked markedly tired, a perception which was confirmed by the Norwegian himself while answering to journalists’ questions. This was not the kind of win a player of Carlsen’s calibre celebrates excessively.

Anish Giri — whose annotations you can find at the end of the article — noted that for him and his colleagues it seldom feels good to beat Nepomniachtchi. Much like in Saturday’s encounter, the Russian tends to lose games after overestimating his chances and losing control of the position. Giri described the phenomenon concisely:

Nobody ever beats him.

It is certainly difficult to imagine Nepo managing to recover from a two-point deficit given how strongly Carlsen has been playing in Dubai — and how well-prepared he looks in his fifth outing at a World Championship match. Nonetheless, the fighting Russian is likely to revert back to the kinds of sharp openings and defences that gave him so many victories during his career — i.e. the Grünfeld.

The fact that the challenger is all but forced to employ a new, aggressive approach might end up being just what he needed to put up more of a fight. Or maybe this weekend will simply decide the whole match in Carlsen’s favour...

Out of a Petroff Defence, Carlsen played an innocent-looking system with 7.Nd2. As Nepo himself noted later on, though, White can create some trouble in this setup. The first critical position was reached as early as on move 10.

 
Carlsen vs. Nepomniachtchi

Breaking the perfect symmetry of the game, Nepo had played 9...h5 after thinking for over 16 minutes. Surprisingly, Carlsen was out of book here — and what was even more unexpected was to see him spend 40 minutes before going for 10.Qe1.

The most logical alternative was 10.c4, which might end up working for White, albeit not without complications. As mentioned above, the defending champion was tired after Friday’s marathon, which turned out to be the crucial factor in him going for what might be considered as an implicit draw offer.

And, indeed, a draw would have most likely followed Black responding with 10...Qe7. However, Nepo opted for 10...Kf8, which is by no means a mistake. After the game, a disheartened — yet serene — Nepo mentioned:

In other iteration, it would be a draw in like fifteen moves, after 10...Qe7

Ian Nepomniachtchi

The stare — Ian Nepomniachtchi | Photo: Niki Riga

Following Nepo’s tenth move, the fight continued with a symmetrical pawn structure but with Black unable to castle. A critical psychological moment was seen on move 14.

 

Giri described Nepo’s 14...Rh6 as ‘questionable’, but more importantly he refers to the fact that the Russian played this move way too quickly:

This questionable move was played too fast, and I started to get worried for Black here. It started to become clear that Ian was out of balance on this day.

The weight of the situation seemed to be getting into Nepo’s head, who at times makes impulsive decisions even in very important games. And Giri’s instinct was right, as the Russian made the first big blunder of the match seven moves later.

 

21...b5 is not the kind of mistake you see in a World Championship match. The pawn push allows 22.Qa3+ Kg8 23.Qxa7, when White grabs a pawn and attacks the bishop on d7 at the same time.

Carlsen had a clear advantage, and Nepo needed to deal with the fact that he had just made an awful mistake. The Russian could have put up more of a fight, but as Giri reflected right out of the opening, the challenger was simply out of balance. The game continued until move 46, but there was little doubt that the defending champion would manage to score his second win of the match.

It is time to regroup for Nepo and his team, who will get a chance to create a whole new plan going forward during Monday’s rest day. Time for a King’s Gambit?

Expert analysis by GM Anish Giri

 
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 Ian stays loyal to the Petroff. A draw in this game means he gets a rest day and an opportunity to go for it in the next game with the White pieces. 3.d4 Nxe4 4.Bd3 d5 5.Nxe5 Nd7 6.Nxd7 Bxd7 7.Nd2!? A very innocent looking try, but Carlsen evidently felt it was good enough for this particular game and it worked out indeed. Nxd2 Not the only move, with 7. ..f5 and 7...Nf6 looking like interesting alternatives. 8.Bxd2 Bd6 Objectively this natural move may be quite inaccurate. The computer's first suggestion is 8...Qe7+. 9.0-0 h5!? This can be seen as a sign of aggression, but in fact it is more than that, a very clever idea. The simple castle at this point, maintaining symmetry will not maintain it for too long, as after 9...0-0 10.Qh5! Black is forced to weaken his position somewhat with 10...f5. With the move in the game, Ian guards h5 square, accepts the fact that the king will no longer castle and think about activating the h8 rook already. 10.Qe1+ After a surprise, followed a long thought and this move, essentially offering simplifications and basically a draw. After the game Magnus mentioned that he was also not 100% sure whether Ian was not out of book at this point. 10.c4 was the most tempting move, but the lines could get very complicated here. dxc4 11.Re1+ Kf8 12.Bxc4 here it's tempting to go for the double attack with Qh4, but actually Black should be very alert here. Qf6! The strongest reply, preventing Qf3 first and foremost. 12...Qh4 This would be good if not for a very powerful reply. 13.Qf3‼ Suddenly it transpires that White's threat of Qxf7 is far too serious, while Black's check on h2, even though it captures a pawn, is only a check. 13.Qb3 h4! Black can meet 14.Qxb7 with 14... Bc6! gaining a lot of time to generate kingside play. The position is actually quite unclear, as the h8 rook is ready to get into the game via h5. 10...Kf8?! An inexplicable error, even though the arising position is still pretty solid and very drawish. It is just not clear why not to play 10...Qe7 instead, which would equalize on the spot, while the move in the game isn't a winning attempt at all. 10...Qe7 there isn't much to show here, as the queens come off, the position is totally dry. 11.Bb4 White obviously elimates the d6 bishop (else why did he go Qe1+) and gets a very slightly better position, thanks to a very very slightly better bishop and better coordination of rooks, as the rook on h8, though it can join the game via h6, is still somewhat oddly placed, with h5 pawn being weak if it ever leaves the h-file. Qe7 12.Bxd6 Qxd6 13.Qd2 Re8 14.Rae1 Rh6 This questionable move was played too fast and I started to get worried for Black here. It started to become clear that Ian was out of balance on this day. 15.Qg5 An annoying move, pointing out that f6 now reduces the range of the h6 rook. c6 16.Rxe8+ Bxe8 17.Re1 Qf6 18.Qe3 Magnus plays it simple. Also possible was to go for another route. 18.Qg3 Qd6 19.Qh4 Qf6 20.Qh3!? This is another attempt at transforming the position and making use of White's better coordinated pieces. Qxd4 21.Qc8 Re6 22.Rxe6 fxe6 23.g3! Threatening Bg6 and keeping Qxb7 in the pocket as well. Black can likely hold, but only with very precise play. 18...Bd7 19.h3 h4 A decent move, even though Ian felt this was not accurate, unhappy that he allowed c4 in this version. 20.c4 Transforming the position somewhat, opening it a little bit, trying to use Black's weird piece coordination. dxc4 21.Bxc4 b5?? A blunder that is hard to explain. I'd go with the cliches: the nerves, tiredness, pressure and all of that. 21...Kg8! Would equalize, as 22.Qe7 can be met with 22...Be6! when things work out just fine for Black. 22.Qa3+ Now Magnus picks up the a7 pawn for free, thanks to some back rank tricks. Besides that now Black's position is pretty much lost, not able to cope with all the setbacks, he doesn't manage to put up any resistance. Kg8 The alternative was still better-22...Qd6 23.Qxa7 g5 and somehow fight on, though White is up a pawn and has all the compensation for it as well, as they say in such cases. 22...Qd6 23.Qxa7 is the trick, as 23...bxc4 loses to 24.Qa8+. 23.Qxa7 Qd8 This and the next move, puts Black's pieces to a total freeze, though I have to say it's not that there was a great alternative. 23...Bxh3 Would have been the best shot. The endgame is more lost than it seems, but there was a trap, though Magnus at the press conference pointed out that he had seen it. 24.Qxf7+ 24.Re8+ Kh7 25.Bxf7? White threatens the spectacular Rh8+ followed by Qa8-g8 mate, but here comes the shocker. Rg6‼ and things suddenly turn around for Black. 24...Qxf7 25.Re8+ Kh7 26.Bxf7 Bf5 27.Bg8+ Kg6 28.Bb3 The endgame is significantly worse than it may seem at first, as Black is still poorly coordinated and is struggling with a weak c6 pawn. 24.Bb3 Rd6 Black is already dead lost, but Rh5-Rg5 was a better try to somehow fish for some miracle. 25.Re4 Black is now paralyzed and White can come up with threats at will, for example Rf4 is coming. Be6 Entering a dead lost queen endgame, but there was no salvation at this point. 26.Bxe6 Rxe6 27.Rxe6 fxe6 28.Qc5 The queen endgame is just too winning for Magnus to really need his famous endgame skills, though he still shows them in this game, winning this endgame with the biggest of margins. Qa5 29.Qxc6 Qe1+ 30.Kh2 Qxf2 31.Qxe6+ Kh7 32.Qe4+ Kg8 33.b3 The queen on e4 ensures that there is never any perpetual check, as after Qg3+ Kh1, the e1 square is always under control. Qxa2 34.Qe8+ Kh7 35.Qxb5 Qf2 36.Qe5 Qb2 37.Qe4+ Kg8 Now Magnus could capture the h4 pawn, but he chooses a more clinical finish, keeping all of his pawns alive. 38.Qd3 Qf2 39.Qc3 The queen controls all the vital squares. Black has no perpetual here ever. Qf4+ 40.Kg1 Kh7 41.Qd3+ Too accurate, as on d1 the queen controls everything even better. g6 42.Qd1 Qe3+ 43.Kh1 g5 44.d5 g4 45.hxg4 Prettier was 45.d6! gxh3 46.Qh5+ and the idea is that Black is going to have to allow the queens to come off- 46...Kg7 47.Qg4+ Kf8 48.Qf3+. h3 46.Qf3 Three pawns is more than enough as well and so Nepo resigns. 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Carlsen,M2856Nepomniachtchi,I27821–0 C432021 FIDE World Championship8

Ian Nepomniachtchi

It’s time to examine new ideas | Photo: Eric Rosen

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Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.

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