World Chess Championship Match 2016

The rules of the match were established by FIDE . Until the 30th move, black players are forbidden to agree to a draw, but they have the right to demand a draw based on three repetitions of the position ^[5] .

The match of 12 games was held from November 11 to 30 ^[6] in New York, the prize pool is one million euros ^[7] , of which the winner receives 60% if he wins the main part of the match or 55% if he wins in tai break ^[8] .

The participants had to play 12 games with the classic time control: each player was given 100 minutes with the addition of 50 minutes after 40 moves, 15 minutes after 60 moves and 30 seconds after each move, starting from the first. After the sixth game, a color change occurs (the participant who had white in the first game plays the seventh in black). In the case of scoring 6½ points by one of the players until the end of 12 games, he is declared the winner, and the match ends ahead of schedule. In the event of a tie, a tie-break is held: four games with time control - 25 minutes for each opponent + 10 seconds per move ( quick chess match). If the score remains the same, then two games are played with a time control of 5 minutes for each player + 3 seconds per move, and then with a tie score, up to 4 more blitz matches from two games are played. In the event that the winner remains undetected during these ten games, a decisive game is played, in which white is given 5 minutes, black - 4 minutes, with the addition of 3 seconds per move, starting from move 61, a tie is equal to black's victory ^{[9 ]} .

The arbiter was Takis Nikolopoulos of Greece ^[10] .

Clause 6.5 of the regulation indicates that “players must wear suits during the game session” ^[5] . Unlike the rules of candidates (3.12.4), the rules of the match do not specifically require costumes, it only says: “The players were asked to take into account the requirements of the FIDE Rules C. 01 (Article 8.1) with respect to their worthy appearance throughout the event.” Players were also forbidden to wear advertising clothing and jeans during the match ^[11] .

•  

  View of South Street Airport (southern Manhattan ^[12] ), match venue ^[13]

•  

  , the building in which the match was held ^[13]

In accordance with clause 3.1a of the contract between FIDE and ^14] companies and section 15 of the match rules, Agon was the sole organizer ^{[5] of the} championship match. The monetary obligations of the parties were specified in clauses 11, 13 and 14 of the FIDE-Agon contract. The total prize fund prescribed in the document was at least 2 million euros ^[14] .

For the first time in the history of championship matches, when organizing video broadcasts, the organizers used the pay-per-view format, which means paid access to the broadcasts of match games. The cost of the package, which includes for the first time in history the ability to view broadcasts in virtual reality with a 360-degree view, amounted to $ 15. The match could be watched through the application in the format of 360 degrees or using the live broadcast on the official website of the tournament in the format of the live broadcast ^{[15] [16]} .

The pre-match press conference was held on November 10th. FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was unable to attend due to sanctions by the U.S. government over his ties to the Syrian regime , but talked via skype with Vice President Israel Gelfer, FIDE official representative (and not Vice President Georgios Makropoulos ). Agon CEO Ilya Merenzon was present, and the two main sponsors (EG Capital Advisors and Fosagro ) had representatives, with both players and the main referee surrounded by participants ^[17] .

The organizers limited the sale of tickets to 300-400 pieces per lot ^[18] .

According to clause 12.2 of the rules, the sponsor cannot conflict with the rules of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). This may prevent alcohol and tobacco companies from sponsoring ^[19] .

The championship was sponsored by the Russian fertilizer producer Fosagro ^[20] , the Moscow -based asset management company EG Capital Advisors, supporting Magnus Carlsen, the Norwegian producer of drinking water and which provided pens ^[21] .

According to FIDE rules, the reigning world champion must defend his title in a match with the winner of the Candidates Tournament . Magnus Carlsen first became the world chess champion in 2013, having won in a similar mast against Viswanathan Anand . After that, already in 2014 as a world champion , he again played with Anand , in which he again defeated the Indian.

Sergey Karjakin became a contender for the title of World Chess Champion, winning the Challengers tournament held from March 10 to March 28, 2016 in Moscow, where the eight best players played in two rounds. Karjakin won the tournament with 8½ points in 14 games, ahead of Fabiano Caruana and former world champion Viswanathan Anand, each of which scored 7½ points.

The president of the International Chess Federation, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, before the tournament suggested that in the upcoming match, Russian grandmaster Sergei Karjakin would be able to compete on equal terms with his opponent Norwegian Magnus Carlsen ^[23] .

After Sergey Karjakin won the 2016 Candidates Tournament, the President of the Russian Chess Federation Andrei Filatov expressed the opinion that the Russian is able to prevail in the confrontation with Magnus Carlsen for the world chess crown ^[24] .

The 12th World Chess Champion Anatoly Karpov expressed the opinion that Karjakin had the “Garry Kasparov complex” and the possible negative influence of the latter on the Russian game at a crucial moment ^[25] .

European Chess Champion Jan Nepomniachtchi played the favorite champion of the current world champion, while noting that Karjakin had his own trump cards ^[25] .

Chess commentator Sergey Shipov in a pre-match interview with Sergey Karjakin also assigned the role of the unconditional favorite to Magnus Carlsen ^{[26] [27]} .

On October 31, 2016, bookmakers bet on Carlsen's victory - the coefficient of such an outcome was at 1.20. This is an unprecedentedly low ratio for matches at this level. Bets on the victory of Karjakin were accepted with a quote of 4.50. The odds ratio was estimated at 79% versus 21% in favor of Carlsen, who was expected to confidently win a match consisting of 12 games ^[28] .

Carlsen Team

Providing Analytical Support

• second coach Peter Heine Nielsen ( Denmark ), was second with Viswanathan Anand ;
• coach Simen Agdestein ( Norway );
• sparring partner Jon Ludwig Hammer ( Norway );
• several strong grandmasters whose names were kept secret (they turned out to be: Laurent Fressinet ( France ), Niels Grandelius ( Sweden ), Samuel Shankland ( USA ), Maxim Vachier-Lagrave ( France )) ^[29] .

Solving Non-Chess Issues

The father of the Norwegian Henrik Carlsen was involved in financial matters; manager Espen Agdestein, older brother of Simen Agdestein, dealt with organizational issues; Arne Horvei ( Norwegian Arne Horvei ) served as public relations manager ^[30] ; also included a doctor, as well as a massage therapist and fitness trainer Brede Kvisvik ( Norwegian Brede Kvisvik ); cook Magnus Forssell ( Norwegian Magnus Forssell ) ^[31] .

Karjakin Team

Providing Analytical Support

• second coach Vladimir Potkin ( Russia );
• trainer Alexander Motylev ( Russia );
• trainer Yuri Dokhoyan ( Russia );
• sparring partner Shahriyar Mamedyarov ( Azerbaijan ) ^[32] ;
• several strong grandmasters whose names were kept secret (according to Karjakin, his secret assistants were the entire Russian Olympic chess team : Vladimir Kramnik , Alexander Grischuk , Evgeny Tomashevsky , Yan Nepomnyashchy ) ^[33] .

Solving Non-Chess Issues

Greek manager Cyrilos Zangalis dealt with financial issues and PR. Wife with a child - for moral support. The others included a doctor, as well as a massage therapist and a permanent head coach for physical training Vitaliy Kozhanov ^[34] ; additional trainer for physical training Anna Chakvetadze ; psychologist; the cook ^[35] .

As of July 2016, 21 games with classic time control took place between Carlsen and Karjakin. Carlsen had four victories, while Karjakin achieved the defeat of the enemy in one game. 16 games ended in a draw ^[36] .

Before the match, the Carlsen team bought the domain sergeykaryakin.com and redirected to magnuscarlsen.com ^{[37] [38]} .

The official commentators of the World Chess Championship match were Grandmaster Judit Polgar ( Hungary ) - in English - and Grandmaster Sergey Shipov (Russia) - in Russian ^[39] .

•   Match Carlsen - Karjakin. Sergey Shipov at Match TV
• Match Carlsen - Karjakin. Pre-launch review of Sergey Shipov

First batch

Carlsen - Karjakin

11th of November
Trompovsky Attack (A45) ^[40]

The first move in the game was made by actor Woody Harrelson ^[41] , who played a draw with Garry Kasparov in 1999 ( Yasser Seiravan suggested to the American actor in that game) ^[42] . The party was monitored by Bill Gates , Mark Zuckerberg and Donald Trump ^[43] .

Magnus Carlsen in the opening match chose a rather rare debut of Trompovsky (1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5). However, he has already met more than once in the practice of a world champion, and not only in games with a shorter time control, so for Sergey Karjakin the debut choice of an opponent was hardly a surprise. At first, the rivals followed the famous game of M. Carlsen - V. Kramnik (Moscow 2013), in which the 16th world champion beat the 14th in the deep endgame , but already on the 5th move Karjakin turned to the side. Enough exchanges quickly took place, and on the board there was an ending with a rook and a knight in white versus a rook and an elephant in black. Thanks to the slightly better pawn structure, White had a slight advantage, but it was hardly possible to turn it into something real. However, Carlsen loves and knows how to “squeeze water out of stone”, so the game continued ^[44] .

Black built an impregnable wall on the kingside: their bishop controlled black squares and white pawns. Carlsen tried to undermine the opponent’s defense on the opposite side of the board, but Karjakin successfully regrouped his forces, brought the rook and bishop to the center and covered all the vulnerable points. The world champion exchanged rooks, but even in the end of the “horse against the bishop” White did not have a real chance of an advantage. Having exhausted all resources to continue the struggle, the rivals agreed to a draw on move 42 ^[44] .

The fact that Carlsen chose Trompovsky's attack as his debut was mentioned several times in an interview and at a press conference after the game, because his name is consonant with the name of Trump, who won the presidential election in the United States three days before, and also because before that, Carlsen called himself a supporter of Donald Trump. Carlsen on this occasion said that if he knew how many questions would arise to him about this, then he would play something else ^[45] . Karjakin, for his part, noted that the media seemed to be more surprised by Carlsen’s choice than he himself ^[46] .

•   Interview with Sergey Shipov on Match TV about the first installment
•   Review of Sergey Shipov of the first batch

•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  

  Sergey Shipov comments on the first game of the Carlsen - Karjakin match

Second Party

Karjakin - Carlsen
November 12th
Spanish Party (C78) ^[47]

Opponents played the Spanish party, where Karjakin opted for one of the varieties of the anti-Marshall system with early promotion d2-d3. White managed to keep the opening initiative, and the world champion had to find several accurate moves to neutralize the opponent’s pressure. Obviously, the transfer of the knight through c4 to b6 turned out to be successful, in combination with the rook going to c8, after which Black could not be afraid of any transformations of the pawn structure in the center ^[48] .

Sergey Karjakin decided to relieve tension in the center and transfer the game to the endgame, where White had a symbolic advantage. However, the attempt to pinch Black on the queenside was unsuccessful: Magnus Carlsen promptly carried out a releasing c6-c5 demolition, causing further exchanges. Soon, the rivals agreed to a draw by repeating the moves ^[48] .

The game had a higher attendance than the first game, because many schools used their free tickets for the weekend ^[18] .

•   Interview with Sergey Shipov on Match TV about the second installment
•   Review of Sergey Shipov second installment

Third Party

Carlsen - Karjakin
November 14th
Spanish Party (Berlin Defense; C67 ) ^[49]

Opponents played the so-called anti-Berlin variant of the Spanish party, where on the 10th move White used a rare continuation, almost never seen in practice - 10.Re2 instead of 10.Re1. Sergey pondered for a long time and found an interesting objection, obviously also “knocking down” the world champion from home training. Soon, an ending appeared on the board with exactly the same material ratio as in the first game: Carlsen’s rook and horse against Karjakin’s rook and bishop. White retained a small initiative, since their knight was very active, while the black bishop had to move to the edge of the board, where he performed purely defensive functions. At the same time, Black's position remained very strong ^[50] .

After the game, Karjakin criticized his move 24 ... Rd8, proposing instead 24 ... d5 with a normal game. In the party, after 25.f4! White achieved a comfortable advantage. The challenger regrouped his forces and built a strong defensive line on the queenside, but then he hurried up with active actions - instead of 30 ... Ra2, passive but reliable 30 ... Bh6 deserved attention, covering all the invasion fields. The world champion clearly took advantage of the opponent’s inaccuracy and won the pawn. However, the safety margin in the black position remained quite large, since all white pawns were disconnected and could easily become the object of attack by the enemy rook ^[50] .

The game lasted almost seven hours, the grandmasters made 78 moves. Magnus inventively increased tension, Sergey patiently defended himself. Of course, in such a bitter struggle, mistakes were inevitable. In the area of ​​the 65th move, Karjakin miscalculated and was on the verge of defeat. He had to give the bishop for two pawns, but White managed to save one pawn, and she could bring them victory. However, the last in this long-suffering game was the world champion, allowing Sergei Karjakin to save half a point ^[50] .

Peter Svidler called the defense of Karjakin in the endgame epic ^[51] .

•   Interview with Alexandra Kosteniuk on Match TV about the third installment
•   Review of Sergey Shipov of the third installment

Fourth Party

Karjakin - Carlsen
15th of November
Spanish Party (Anti-Marshall Version; C84) ^[52]

The Russian grandmaster again started the game with the royal pawn, and the world champion again elected the Spanish game with 3 ... a6. Karjakin was the first to shy away from the sequel that he met in the 2nd game, and soon another tab of the anti-Marshall system appeared on the board — however, it was also very popular. At the exit from the opening, White decided, without defining the pawn structure in the center, to organize a figured offensive on the kingside, for the sake of which they started a regrouping of horses and transferred the queen's boards to this section. However, the maneuvers were too slow - Carlsen responded with a blast in the center of d6-d5 and created pressure on the e4-pawn. The 17th and 18th moves of Black turned out to be very strong, thanks to which the world champion not only equalized his position, but also seized the initiative ^[53] .

According to many experts, on the 19th move Karjakin made a serious positional mistake by exchanging his white-field bishop for the opponent’s horse. After that, Black gained the advantage of two bishops, and the white b2-pawn turned into a weakness. Soon the game turned into a difficult ending; Carlsen set in motion his central pawns, and the position of Karjakin, as before, became critical ^[53] .

Finding himself on the verge of defeat, Sergey again demonstrated resourcefulness and perseverance, once again proving that he is one of the best defenders in modern chess. True, all his efforts would hardly have been successful if Magnus had not tolerated a number of inaccuracies. In particular, he should probably not have allowed his d6-pawn to be exchanged for the h4-pawn, since after that White activated his pieces and finally introduced a knight into the game that had been vegetating at the edge of the board for a long time. Movement 45 ... f4 also seems doubtful, since after that Karjakin deftly built a barrier of pawns and pieces in the center of the board, which was impossible to overcome ^[53] .

As usual, the world champion continued to fight until Black had at least minimal chances to win. Only on the 94th move, when all the resources were exhausted, the rivals agreed to a draw. The party lasted almost six and a half hours ^[53]

•   Interview with Sergey Shipov on Match TV on the fourth installment
•   Review of Sergey Shipov of the fourth installment

Fifth Party

Carlsen - Karjakin
November 17th
Italian Party (C50) ^[54]

This time, Magnus abandoned the Spanish party in favor of the Italian, which last met in matches for the world championship 35 years before in the Karpov-Korchnoi match (Merano 1981) . This old debut has recently enjoyed some popularity at the grandmaster level, especially in connection with the continuation of 6.a4, which was put into practice quite recently. Thus, White is trying to capture space on the queenside and limit the opponent's dark-squared bishop ^[55] .

Sergey quickly and confidently made his debut moves: apparently, the game plan chosen by his opponent did not take him by surprise. The first critical moment arose on the 12th move, when Carlsen did not take the bishop away from c4, allowing the unloading operation in the center. Karjakin reacted in the most fundamental way, and soon a complex middlegame appeared on the board, in which the two elephants of black were opposed by the elephant and the white knight, and the knight was very active and limited the a7 bishop. Soon, the applicant exchanged this horse; according to Sergey, he wanted to save both elephants, but did not see how this can be done ^[55] .

In the position with multi-colored bishops with queens and rooks, White initially had a small initiative, but Carlsen hesitated a bit and, apparently, locked the queenside in vain with 32.a5. After that, Karjakin immediately threw his king's boards to this side and launched a pawn attack on the kingside. Сразу после прохождения контроля чемпион мира допустил серьёзную неточность, после чего российский гроссмейстер мог захватить открытую линию «h» и создать серьёзные угрозы белому королю. Правда, в этом случае позиция резко обострялась и с трудом поддавалась расчёту ^[55] .

Карякин сыграл более академично, после чего Карлсен с помощью ответной жертвы пешки нейтрализовал угрозы соперника. Вскоре позиция окончательно уравнялась, и гроссмейстеры согласились на ничью ^[55] . Игра длилась более пяти часов ^[56] .

После пяти подряд ничейных партий коэффициенты на победу россиянина в матче за шахматную крону поползли вниз: если до этого шансы на успех россиянина по прогнозам букмекеров составляли 1 к 6, то после пятой ничьи на победу Карякина в матче стало возможным поставить с коэффициентом 4,8. На выигрыш фаворита, Карлсена, можно было поставить деньги с коэффициентом 1,58 раза. Ничья в матче из 12 партий стала оцениваться коэффициентом 3,8 ^[57] .

•   Интервью с Сергеем Шиповым на Матч ТВ о пятой партии
•   Обзор Сергея Шипова пятой партии

Sixth Party

Karjakin - Carlsen
The first move was made by economist, professor at Harvard University , grandmaster Kenneth Rogoff ^[58] , who tied with Magnus Carlsen in 2012 (no one helped the professor in the demonstration game in blitz with tips) ^[59] .
November 18th
Spanish Party (C84) ^[60]

Like the previous four out of five games, the game began with the move e2-e4. Opponents played the Spanish party, the anti-Marshall system. The world champion chose the gambit sequel popular in the days of the match: Black carries out an important demolition of d7-d5 in one go, but at the same time sacrifices the e5 pawn, receiving in return free play and strong piece pressure on the center. The option was met more than once in fights of top grandmasters, including Karjakin and Carlsen, so the debut choice of the opponent was hardly a surprise for the Russian grandmaster ^[61] .

On the 14th move, the world champion applied the new c7-c5. Sergey reacted in the most natural way - he led his horse to the center, but it turned out that he was on the main line of the opponent’s home preparation. The forced game began: neither white nor black could deviate to the side so as not to get a worse position. Soon there were big complications, and only queens with multi-colored elephants remained on the board. According to the rules, the participants in the World Championship match cannot start a draw before the 30th move, so the game continued in a completely draw position. As soon as the required number of moves was made, the grandmasters agreed to a draw ^[61]

•   Interview with Sergey Shipov on Match TV about the sixth game
•   Review of Sergey Shipov of the sixth installment

Seventh Party

Karjakin - Carlsen
20 November
Slavic defense (D10) with the transition to the adopted queen's gambit (D27) ^[62]

On Sunday, all the tickets for the match were sold out, all the halls were full - and the cafe, and the conference room, and the press center, and the VIP zone. Famous grandmasters came to Fulton Market: Fabiano Caruana , Boris Gulko , Alexander Khalifman , Lev Alburt , Max Dlugi , Irina Krush and others ^[63] .

Prior to this, in New York, Sergey started the game three times with the royal pawn, and in the second half of the match he decided to “change the pitch”. Magnus in response chose the Chebanenko system of Slavic defense, which from time to time met in his parties, but still is not the main debut weapon of the world champion. Probably, the choice of the opponent turned out to be a definite surprise for the Russian grandmaster - he abandoned the most important lines and caused an unloading in the center, and at 11-12 moves he took a course towards simplifications. Moreover, apparently, made an inaccuracy due to which Carlsen could seize the initiative. However, the world champion, in turn, didn’t play in the best way (instead of 16 ... Rc8 ?! 16 ... Bd5 or 16 ... Rb8 deserved attention), after which the challenger won a pawn with a bargaining combination ^[63] .

However, multi-colored bishops remained on the board, and it was not possible to bring the extra pawn into motion. Convinced of the strength of Black's defenses, the opponents on move 33 agreed to a draw ^[63]

•   Interview with Sergey Shipov on Match TV about the seventh game
•   Review of Sergey Shipov seventh party

Eighth Party

Carlsen - Karjakin
November 21
Queen's Pawn Debut , Zuckertort System (D05) ^[64]

As in the very first game, the world champion began the game with the queen pawn, but this time he refused to attack Trompovsky in favor of another rather rare scheme - the so-called Zuckertort system . White does not pretend to a special opening advantage, but they are trying to harmoniously develop their pieces and enter a long game. This game also developed at first: in the region of the 15th move, the position of dynamic equilibrium arose: all the pieces remained on the board, only the central pawns were exchanged ^[65] .

In the future, Carlsen voluntarily went to the deterioration of his pawn structure, tried to develop pressure in the center and on the queenside; Karjakin, on the contrary, tried to simplify the situation by exchanges. In anticipation of time pressure, the world champion gave his opponent the queen's flank to tear to pieces and began to invade the black camp, hoping to get to the king. Gambling to win at any cost led to the fact that the Norwegian grandmaster incorrectly donated a second pawn. However, Karjakin, experiencing a lack of time for reflection, chose not a strong continuation; Carlsen destroyed the pawn fortifications around the black king and received strong counterplay ^[65] .

When the first control was passed, the world champion could force a draw with an accurate game, but instead he decided to win a pawn and look for chances to win. At the same time, apparently, he underestimated the power of the black passed pawn on line “a”; in addition, the white bishop on g2 turned out to be very passive. Karjakin successfully rebuilt his forces, securing his king, Carlsen made several more inaccuracies, and at the very end of the game he allowed Black to weave a matte net around his king. On the 53rd move, the world champion conceded defeat ^[65] . The game lasted more than five hours ^[66] .

Carlsen was fined for not attending a press conference after the game he lost: his prize should have been reduced by 10% ^[67] . Later, the Norwegian complained about this decision, and the appeals committee decided to satisfy the complaint and reduce the fine by 5% , which will be paid to FIDE and Agon ( 2.5% for each organization) ^[68] .

•   Interview with Sergey Shipov on Match TV about the eighth game
•   Review of Sergey Shipov of the eighth party

Ninth Party

Karjakin - Carlsen
The first move in the game was made by Sergey Karjakin.
November 23rd
Spanish Party (C78) ^[69]

In the ninth game, the challenger played with white pieces, and he returned to his favorite move 1.e2-e4. The champion remained loyal to the Spanish party, but still the first to turn aside, choosing this time the Arkhangelsk version. This debut system, once considered double-edged, is now very deeply studied; it is not surprising, therefore, that the rivals played at first quite quickly ^[70] .

Soon, a typical position for this variation appeared on the board: White had an extra pawn and the advantage of two bishops, but with a destroyed pawn structure, thanks to which Black's chances for a draw were rated very highly. A subtle maneuvering struggle began, during which the grandmasters sought to maximize the position of their figures and upset the harmony in the arrangement of the enemy forces. Carlsen fell into time trouble and on the 38th move recklessly took his horse from the center, giving Karjakin a choice of several attacking opportunities. After serious deliberation, Sergei chose the most solid path in which White was excluded from the risk of defeat. Perhaps the other way was more promising, where White won the second pawn, but allowed the opponent to develop dangerous counterplay ^[70] .

Soon after passing the control, a queens-bishop ending appeared on the board with an extra white pawn. After some time, it turned out that it was unprofitable for White to change the queens - in this case, Black could not be broken, and the bishops could not be exchanged. Almost three dozen moves Sergey Karjakin tried to make progress, but Magnus Carlsen was careful in defense - a draw ^[70]

•   Interview with Sergey Shipov on Match TV on the ninth game
•   Review of Sergey Shipov ninth installment

Tenth Party

Carlsen - Karjakin
November 24th
Spanish Party (Berlin Defense; C65) ^[71]

Few doubted that Carlsen would not want to test the opponent’s knowledge in the current theoretical versions, but would try to impose a long maneuvering struggle, even if White did not claim a special opening advantage. It was in this scenario that the duel developed. The world champion started the game with the royal pawn move, and after the standard Spanish moves he chose a rather rare pattern in the anti-Berlin version with the queen's bishop coming to g5 early (usually he stands on c1 for a long time, while White “arranges” other pieces) ^[72] .

After thorough thinking, Karjakin clearly decided his opening problems: first he forced the exchange of one pair of elephants, then the second and created pressure along the “f” line. On move 20, with the help of a small tactical operation, Black could force a draw with an eternal check , but the Russian grandmaster passed this opportunity ^{[73] [72]} . With the continuation chosen by Black, Magnus Carlsen managed to seize the initiative, and soon a favorable ending for White appeared on the board. Black's double pawns needed constant protection, thanks to which the world champion could slowly build up pressure. Black’s position remained strong, but extremely passive ^[72] .

Carlsen began to systematically shatter the opponent’s defense across the board. Initially, he made a sortie on the kingside, and Karjakin had to spend several paces to eliminate the danger. During this time, White pushed his pawns on the opposite section of the board and created a strong strong point c5 for the knight. Blacks did not have any constructive ideas, they only had to repel threats - either imaginary or real ^[72] .

The seemingly endless and unsystematic movements of the white rooks lulled the applicant’s vigilance, and on the 56th move he made a serious mistake ^{[74] [72] [75]} . Carlsen immediately made a breakthrough on the “b” line, to which Black was not ready for this arrangement of rooks. White soon won the pawn. True, at the implementation stage, the world champion made a mistake and allowed the opponent to complicate the fight, but still Sergey Karjakin was the last to make a mistake on that day and after the 75th move White recognized his defeat ^[72] .

•   Interview with Sergey Shipov on Match TV about the tenth game
•   Review of Sergey Shipov of the tenth party

Eleventh Party

Karjakin - Carlsen
November 26th
Spanish Party (C78) ^[76]

Opponents continued the discussion in the Spanish party, only this time the champion opted for the kind of anti-Marshall system that had not yet been encountered in the match. This system is often tested in the games of the grandmasters of the highest level, and it has earned a reputation as somewhat risky for blacks (although the risk there is within reason). However, in this game, Sergey Karjakin was not able to reveal the shortcomings of building blacks. At a press conference, he himself expressed the opinion that his 17th and especially 18th moves were unsuccessful ^[77] .

Having sacrificed a pawn, Magnus Carlsen organized a breakthrough in the center and got a dangerous pass on e2. However, White found enough resources to maintain balance, and on the 34th move a draw was fixed by the eternal check ^[77] .

•   Interview with Sergey Shipov on Match TV on the eleventh game
•   Review of Sergey Shipov of the eleventh party

Twelfth Party

Carlsen - Karjakin
The first move in the game was made by Pamela Wasserstein .
November 28
Spanish Party (C67) ^[78]

The Spanish party was again played. The Norwegian grandmaster tested the opponent’s home training in one relatively rare branch of the anti-Berlin system. Karjakin demonstrated a clear path to equality, which went through total exchanges of heavy figures along a single open line “e”. On move 30, the rivals agreed to a draw; the game turned out to be the shortest in the match, it lasted about half an hour ^[79] .

Agon director Ilya Merenzon during a press conference said that fans who have tickets for the 12th game will get a tie-break for free ^[80] .

•   Interview with Sergey Shipov on Match TV about the twelfth game
•   Review of Sergey Shipov of the twelfth party

Tie-breaks

After the twelfth game ended in a draw, on November 30, 2016, on the birthday of Magnus Carlsen, a tie-break took place ^[81] .

  Review of Sergey Shipov of four tie-break games

1st Party

Spanish Party ( C78 ) ^[82]

In the first additional game, Sergey Karjakin played with white pieces. Opponents continued the discussion in the Spanish party, which had been leading for almost three weeks. Black confidently solved opening problems, and the match ended in a draw ^[83] .

2nd party

Italian Party ( C50 ) ^[84] . This game ended in a draw - Sergey Karjakin found a stalemate ^[85] .

In the second installment, the world champion elected the Italian party and, confusing the opponent in a difficult middlegame, won two pieces by the rook. Carlsen also had almost 10 times more time to think (about ten minutes against one), but Karjakin once again showed fantastic perseverance in defense and escaped. In the end, when Sergey had a few seconds left, he found an elegant combination: he sacrificed three pawns and a rook and patented his king ^[83] .

3rd party

Spanish Party ( C78 ) ^[86]

The third game was decisive in the duel, in which Karjakin played white. At the exit from the debut (it was again the Spanish party), the Russian grandmaster lost the thread of the game and transferred the initiative to the opponent. Carlsen sacrificed a pawn and received a “good” horse against a “bad” bishop; in addition, his horse roamed the white camp. In acute time trouble, Sergey made a gross mistake, was left without a figure and admitted defeat ^[83] .

4th Party

Sicilian Defense ( B54 ) ^[87]

In the fourth installment, the applicant needed only victory, and he chose the Sicilian defense. Magnus did not “dry” the game, but went to a big fight with all the pieces. Maintaining tension on the board, Sergey refused to exchange pieces, decided on a dubious sacrifice of quality, and then refused to repeat moves. The ending of the game took place in a bitter struggle on a collision course: Black managed to create threats to the enemy king, but White’s attack turned out to be “older” - they put a beautiful checkmate ^[83] .

  Interview with Karjakin RT after a duel with Carlsen

In addition to the high draw ratio (10 draws in 12 main games), the choice of debuts was unusual: 10 of the 16 games played (including tie-break) began with one of the options for the Spanish party .

A series of seven draws was not the longest that the World Cup opened. At the 1995 World Chess Championship in New York, the competition began with a series of eight draws.

The World Cup Final was accompanied by great interest. More than 10 million people viewed the official site, 90% from mobile phones. The number of viewers on the site exceeded 10,000, which is a record. The match was reported by more than 400 accredited journalists ^[88] .

David Navara wrote that Carlsen earned the title because he was the number 1 player in the world for many years, but Karjakin also deserves praise for the successful demonstration that you can play on an equal footing with Carlsen ^[89] .

Garry Kasparov commented on Carlsen’s victory, saying that “world champion Karjakin would be a misunderstanding.” He also noted the low level of organization of the match ^[90] .

At the post-match conference, Karjakin said that in the tie-break he played far below his capabilities and could not use his training. Nevertheless, he indicated that he would accept an invitation to the next applicants' tournament to fight for another match for the title, but in the near future he would focus on his personal life (his son took the first steps during the match), which he neglected throughout match ^[91] .

How the match ended - the world chess champion title was decided in a series of rapid chess games, caused some criticism from Yasser Seiravan and former world champion Anatoly Karpov , given that there is also a world chess champion title ^{[92] [ 93]} . Speaking about the format of the match during the post-match conference, Carlsen confirmed his preference for a different format (probably the knockout format that he proposed in 2015), while Karjakin said that he was pleased with the format of the match ^[91] .

Due to an equal score in the classic part of the match, Carlsen lost 13 points in the FIDE rating in December 2016, and Karjakin scored 13 points, reaching a rating of 2785 points. At the same time, Carlsen remained the best player in the world, ahead of Fabiano Caruano by 17 points, and Karjakin rose from ninth to sixth place. Winning a tie-break added Carlsen 12 points, as a result of which he achieved the highest fast-chess rating in his history - 2906 points ^[94] , while Karjakin lost the same 12 points due to losing in a tie-break, and his rating in fast chess fell to 2806 ^[95] .

After the match, fans and chess experts gave Sergey Karjakin the nickname “Minister of Defense” ^{[96] [97]} , which Karjakin himself took as a compliment ^[98] .

In 2019, the book of American authors Lev Alburt and John Crumiller, Carlsen - Karjakin. Match for the title of world chess champion. New York 2016 ”, in which all the games of the match are analyzed in detail. The authors were assisted by Vladimir Kramnik , who explained the key points of each game. The Russian edition of the book is provided with a preface by Sergey Karjakin ^{[99] [100]} .