Carlsen's Queen Sacrifice

I practice tactics with the computer and so on, in order to keep learning.
Magnus Carlsen*

A few weeks ago, the director of Inland Chess Academy inquired whether the classes for this year's Holiday Chess Camp could be based upon the recent World Championship Match won by Magnus Carlsen over Sergey Karjakin. I embraced the idea, offering two classes on imbalances from games of the championship, a class on the Berlin variation of the Spanish, and one called "Carlsen's Queen Sacrifice."

A Chess.com video inspired me. Sam Copeland's "Magnus Carlsen's World Championship Winning Move" speculated where Carlsen might have seen a sacrifice similar to the one that he played in the final tie-break game to end the match. Copeland identified and walked his viewers through several similar combinations, and then offered the challenge to find more examples. They are easy to find, but Copeland's examples have more elements in common with Carlsen's winning combination than those that I selected for my class.

For my students, I created a worksheet with six positions. My instructions on the worksheet read:

Each of the positions below might appear in a set of chess problems on a computer, in a book, or as part of a worksheet. Train with these to play like Magnus. White to move in 1-4; Black to move in 5-6.

1. White to move

From Fischer -- Kelley, Houston 1964.

2. White to move

From Spassky -- Ciric, Amsterdam 1970

3. White to move

From Hesse -- N.N., Bethlehem 1803

4. White to move

From Fairhurst -- Menchik, Margate 1935

5. Black to move

From Neumann -- Anderssen, Breslau 1864

6. Black to move

From Schulten -- Kieseritzky, Paris 1844

At the start of the class, I had the position below on the demo board. The students tried to find the best moves for both sides, and we ended up following the moves actually played in the game. In this case, the thematic sacrifice did not work and White had a better move.

White to move

The game is Arnous de Riviere -- Morphy, Paris 1858.

The purpose of the class was to suggest in agreement with Sam Copeland that Carlsen was able to play his sacrifice quickly due, in part, to pattern recognition. Seeing the pattern is one thing. Calculation is necessary as well, which was the point of the Morphy game. Practicing calculation skills was a primary focus through this class.

In my concluding remarks, I mentioned several resources for practicing tactics, including Laszlo Polgar, Chess Training in 5334 Positions (1994). This book contains a selection of 600 miniatures in the back of the book organized by sacrifices on six pair of squares, f2/f7, g2/g7, etc. Sacrifices on h3/h6 are one of the six.


*Colin McGourty, "Carlsen and Aronian: A Tandem Interview" Chess24 (27 June 2014), https://chess24.com/en/read/news/carlsen-and-aronian-a-tandem-interview.

Lessons from the Championship

My advanced students this week saw several positions from the tie-break games of the World Chess Championship.

White to move

The first position is from the final game. I wanted my students to first understand Black's checkmate threats.

The game concluded 48.Rc8+ Kh7 49.Qh6+ 1-0.

We also looked at 48.Qg3, which wins more slowly and the checkmate sequence that follows had Black played 48...Bf8.

If your opponent threatens checkmate in one move, making certain that all of your moves are check is the only way to conduct a counterattack.

The second position also concerns understanding threats. It is from the third tie-break game.

White to move

The game finished 38.Rxc7 Ra1 0-1.

We looked at Black's several checkmate threats in the final position and also how White could have kept the game alive by playing 38.Rb1. Failure to find this move was a rare defensive oversight by Sergey Karjakin.

Most complex was a series of positions from the second game.

Black to move

The key ideas here require understanding the checkmate patterns that White needs to win and Black's drawing resources. For example, if Black can get rid of White's g-pawn and the dark-squared bishop, he would happily trade everything.

The game continued 61...Re2 62.Bg4

White had better chances to win after 62.Kf7. I mentioned this to the students, but we did not explore it in detail as it is quite complex. It's no surprise that World Champion Magnus Carlsen missed it in a rapid game.

62...Re8 63.Bf5 Kg8 64.Bc2 Re3 65.Bb1 Kh8 66.Kf7 Rb3 67.Be4 Re3 68.Bf5 Rc3 69.g4

An important move shielding the king from harassment from the rear.

69...Rc6 70.Bf8 Rc7+ 71.Kg6 Kg8 72.Bb4 Rb7 73.Bd6 Kh8 74.Bf8 Kg8 75.Ba3 Kh8 76.Be6 Rb6 77.Kf7 Rb7+ 78.Be7

We went through these moves quickly, observing Black's plan of constant harrassment and White's efforts to create checkmate threats.

Black to move

Finally, from this position, Karjakin seized his chance to exchange into an ending where White's bishop operates on the wrong color squares.

78...h5! 79.gxh5 f5 80.Bxf5 Rxe7 81.Kxe7 Kg8 82.Bd3 Kh8 83.Kf8 g5

White to move

White has two ways to capture Black's pawn, both of which lead to stalemate. Leaving the pawn on the board also draws.

Carlsen captured en passant.

84.hxg6 1/2-1/2.

Karjakin -- Carlsen 2016: Critical Positions

The World Chess Championship is tied 5-5 after ten games. Today is a rest day. Before the match, many were predicting a victory for the reigning champion, Magnus Carlsen. Some even thought that Carlsen would retain his title in fewer than twelve games, regarding Sergey Karjakin as clearly the inferior player. Karjakin had not been a favorite to win the Candidates tournament either. Nonetheless, Karjakin defended well in difficult positions early in the match. Perhaps Carlsen had a stronger move in a few cases. Karjakin also missed a few better moves. Some of those positions are presented below.

The first game was not particularly eventful. Although Carlsen managed to create weaknesses in Karjakin's pawn structure, the challenger managed to hold the position without too much pain. Looking at the final moves from my position as a class player, however, I did not know at a glance whether swapping the last pair of minor pieces could give either player an advantage in the pawn ending.

Black to move

After 40.Nd4+

The game concluded 40...Kd6 41.Nb5+ Kd7 42.Nd4 Kd6 and a draw was agreed due to repetition assured.

Had Karjakin played 40...Bxd4, would the game be drawn as well? Grandmasters probably understand the resulting pawn position at a glance, but many other chess players could do well to play it out against a friend or computer.

Carlsen's play with Black in game two deprived Karjakin of any real chance for an advantage.

Ruslan Ponomariov, who wrote the annotations to the first two games for ChessBase, thought that Carlsen could have presented Karjakin with a tactical problem to solve with a different move 26, but Karjakin probably would have seen the trick clearly.

Black to move

After 26.b4

Carlsen played 26...Re6 and the game was drawn on move 33. Ponomariov thought that 26...c5 27.Nxb5 cxb4 28.Nd6 Re6 29.Nxc8 Rxa6 might lead to complexities.

In the third game, Carlsen secured an advantage and then pressed hard for a win. The ending generated a lot of interest around the world. Yasser Seirawan was at a dinner in Saint Louis, where he joined Viswanathan Anand, Hikaru Nakamura, Veselin Topalov, and Fabiano Caruana following the game on Caruana's smartphone. Seirawan's annotations for ChessBase presented a drawing opportunity missed by Karjakin from this position.

Black to move

After 70.Nc6

The game was drawn after 70...Kxf5 71.Na5 Rh1 72.Rb7? (72.Rf7+ seems to be winning) 72...Ra1! 73.Rb5+ Kf4! 74.Rxb4+ Kg3 75.Rg4+ Kf2 76.Nc4 h3 77.Rh4 Kg3 78.Rg4+ Kf2.

Seirawan's analysis, presenting the ideas of four other Grandmasters who "out-rated" him, after 70...Rc3!! is worth checking out at the link. Credit Anand for convincing the others that Karjakin could hold.

Chess fans following the game with the aid of engine analysis quickly spotted Carlsen's decisive error as he was pressing for a win in game four. However, Carlsen thought the line he played was winning. It took many more moves before Carlsen's winning ideas had been proven illusions.

Black to move

After 45.Nd1

How many humans could have found 45...Be6 and then had the ability to convert against Karjakin's defensive efforts? Carlsen played 45...f4, gaining a secure passed pawn on the kingside that left him plenty of time to penetrate with his king on the queenside. Many times during the next fifty moves, Karjakin had only one piece that could move without his position collapsing. Sometimes his king had to move. Other times his knight could move, and often only the bishop could. He was very close to zugzwang, but not quite.

Karjakin was slightly better in game five and spent a lot of time in this position, which my advanced students were watching on the demo board at chess club while it was taking place.

Black to move

After 42.hxg4

Karjakin's pawn sacrifice, 42...d4!, brought pressure against the White king. Carlsen returned the sacrifice two moves later and managed a draw.

Gmae six was the least interesting game, except to those who seek to understand the Marshall Gambit and its variants when Black needs a draw against the Spanish. In the annotations for ChessBase, Tiger Hillarp Persson points out Karjakin's method and the computer's method of securing a clear draw from this position as White.

White to move

After 20...Rfe8

For game seven, Karjakin switched to 1.d4 but made no progress. Already at move 15, he needed to secure equality.

White to move

After 15...O-O

16.Ba3 forces material off the board. Karjakin ended up with an ending in which he was a pawn up, but had no chance to fight for a win.

After failing to get an advantage in the two shortest games of the match, and his two consecutive Whites, Karjakin explained, "it is better to play well than to play with White." In game eight, he broke the historic run of draws (the longest in a world championship match sine 1995), winning with the Black pieces.

Both players made errors in the time scramble just before move 40. Carlsen made a bad move in a bad position and then Karjakin missed the strongest continuation. Play went on into another hour.

White to move

After 48.Nd3

It is easy for a computer, and for a human looking at computer evaluations, to understand where White needs to place his queen in such a position. Perhaps the queen is where she belongs and something else should move. For human players, however, it is very difficult to find the right move. World Champion Magnus Carlsen played 49.Qa5? and Karjakin found a way to bring home the full point.

In the ninth game, Sergey Karjakin might have had a chance to put Carlsen away and gain the upper hand in the match.

White to move

After 38...Ne7

Karjakin thought for a long time, finally choosing 39.Bxf7+. Commentators favor 39.Qb3. Neither move has consequences that are clear to human players.

In the tenth game, Karjakin missed a forced draw early in the game and then suffered a long time.

Black to move

After 20.Nd2

How many players can find a draw here without engine assistance?

Karjakin finally cracked after defending a difficult endgame for many hours, allowing Carlsen to even the score.

Karjakin -- Carlsen Match

Judit Polgar's commentary during the World Chess Championship, currently taking place in New York City, has been terrific! During game three, she assured her viewers that the game was likely to end in a draw, then later was quite certain that Magnus Carlsen would win, and then again that Sergey Karjakin could hold the draw. She seemed a little skeptical of her own predictive skill during game four. Through it all, her commentary offers clear explanations of general principles and stellar concrete analysis of the position on the board. It is also entertaining.

All four games so far have been draws, but they have been hard fought. In game three, it seemed that Carlsen had a clear advantage, but Karjakin defended well.

White to move

Carlsen played 72.Rb7, which Yasser Seirawan asserts in his annotations for ChessBase was the blunder that let Karjakin save the game. Ironically, most beginners would play the correct move without thinking, but Carlsen's move looks very good to experienced players. When White's b-pawn starts rolling, Black has difficulties. However, Black's rook is able to threaten the knight and pawn on the queenside, while also threatening to assist the h-pawn's run to promotion. As Seirawan points out, there is also a checkmate threat if the White king becomes greedy.

The manner in which Carlsen let Karjakin off the hook in game four is even more instructive.

Black to move

Carlsen played 45...f4. Karjakin was quite clear in the post-game interview in the hallway after the game that this move produced the draw. However, a supported passed pawn on one side of the board and serious pawn weaknesses for the opponent on the other are two factors that are nearly always decisive. Carlsen thought they would be, but after the game described his thinking as "sloppy".

45...Be6 increases the pressure on White's position. The defender wants simplifications. When attacking, it is often best to present as many problems to your opponent as possible. Of course, most players would make Carlsen's move in a heartbeat. How many would be able to defend as accuirately as Karjakin from the White side?

Dorian Rogozenco's annotations for ChessBase are worth a look.

This game was drawn on move 94, well short of the record for longest WCC game, Korchnoi -- Karpov 1978, game 5 (124 moves).

During the game three commentary, Polgar informed viewers that Cartlsen explained his match strategy to her: he will punch Karjakin until he finds the blow that knocks him down. If Karjakin keeps making the errors that give Carlsen a clear advantage, this decisive punch will come soon.

The Drawn Game

Chess games do not always end with a winner. In fact, as players become stronger, draws become more likely. In the World Championship match that is taking place right now in New York City, the first three games ended in a draw. Game four began about the time that this post was published.* Game three was a hard-fought battle with small mistakes by both players. The World Champion had good chances to win, but these were not easy to find and his opponent, the challenger, proved resilient in defense.

The most common ways that a chess game might be drawn is the lesson of the week for my beginning students. Examples from practical play are provided as well.

In a chess tournament, players get one point for a win and zero for a loss. When the game ends in a draw, the players split the point for the game: each gets ½ point.

How do games end in a draw?

There are several ways that a game can end in a draw. These are the most common.

1. Agreement

Players may agree to a draw, usually because they realize that neither has a reasonable chance of winning. Draw by agreement is rare among scholastic players, as it should be.

2. Stalemate

When the player on move is not in check and has no legal move, the game ends in stalemate.

Black is in stalemate in this position from a scholastic tournament.

Black to move

Note that if it were White's move, Qg6# is checkmate. This sort of stalemate is far too common in youth events when children do not know possess elementary checkmate skills (see "Cutting Off" for one important aspect of these skills that contains links to other useful posts).

A game that I played this morning had the possibility of ending in stalemate, but ended drawn by agreement instead.

White to move

Black has just promoted a pawn to a new queen, but White gets rids of the queen quickly.

58.Nc3+ Kb2 59.Nxb1 Kxb1 60.Kc3 Ka2

Had Black played 60...a4, I would have played 61.Kb4 and taken the pawn on the next move. That would result in a draw by insufficient material (see below).

61.Kc2 a4 62.Kc1 Ka1 63.Kc2 a3 64.Kc1 Ka2 65.Kc2

I offered a draw here, which my opponent accepted. Had Black played 65...a2, Kc2 would leave Black with no legal moves.

A common error that beginners make is thinking it is stalemate because a king cannot move without considering the other pieces on the board. For stalemate to occur, a player must have no legal moves. Sometimes the only way to win a position is to deprive the enemy king of movement in order to force another piece to move.

In the next position from Barcza – Rethy, 1953, it is not stalemate. The Black king has no legal moves, but the Black pawn does.

Black to move

Black must play 1...c2. White then responds 2.Nc6. Then Black must play 2...c1 and promote the pawn. Because White's last move shield the king from check should Black choose a queen or rook, 3.Nb6# is possible.

3. Repetition

When the same position (all the pieces on the board) has occurred three times with the same player to move each time, a draw may be claimed.

In the example from my game this morning above, my opponent and I could have shuffled our kings back and forth until we had reached the same position three times, then either would have been able to claim a draw.

4. 50-move Rule

When 50 moves have passed with neither a capture nor a pawn move, the player on move may claim a draw. White and Black move = one move.

"Max Judd's Draw Claim" describes an entertaining game where a draw was claimed by this rule, but was ultimately rejected. The rule has changed a little bit over the years, and it was somewhat confusing at the time this game was played.

5. Insufficient Material

If neither player possesses enough material to deliver checkmate, the game is drawn. Two lone kings, or a lone king against a king and minor piece (bishop or knight) are insufficient material.


Learning from the Championship Match

The advanced students played chess while also watching game 5 of the World Chess Championship on the demo board. As the game concluded while we had still ten minutes remaining, we quickly examined why the final position forces a draw.

White to move

An opposite colored bishop endgame results from the forced trade of rooks. As Black's bishop guards the promotion square for White's passed pawn, neither side has any reasonable hopes of progress.

*Game four also was drawn after 94 moves.