Magnus Carlsen embraces chaos in gripping draw with Ian Nepomniachtchi
Carlsen admits that a blunder almost cost him the game
Draw leaves the 14-game match between the pair level at 1-1
Magnus Carlsen (left) had one particularly dicey moment against Ian Nepomniachtchi, but rode it out. Photograph: Giuseppe Cacace/AFP/Getty Images
Sean Ingle at the Dubai Exhibition Centre
@seaningle
Sat 27 Nov 2021
Magnus Carlsen diced with danger in an entertaining second game of the world chess championships in Dubai before recovering to secure a 58-move draw. It leaves his 14-game match with Ian Nepomniachtchi level at 1-1 going into Sunday’s third encounter.
It was a seesawing struggle, with Carlsen surprising his opponent early before missing a move that left him considerably worse off. However, his Russian opponent failed to find his wave through the thicket of variations and the game ended with a handshake, and a long post-mortem, as the players tried to fathom what happened. “The game was crazy, I had no idea what was going on,” said Nepomniachtchi. “During the game I thought: ‘We both are playing not so well’. But now I start thinking it was just very interesting and very chaotic.”
Carlsen and Nepomniachtchi draw in Game 2 of World Chess Championship – as it happened
Carlsen, who has held the world title since 2013, signalled his fighting intentions by playing the rare move, Ne5, on move eight. It sacrificed a pawn but also meant his opponent was on new ground in a tricky position. Understandably, he was soon behind on the clock. Not only was he playing the Norwegian but also his computer preparation.
“It was a really nice idea, not the most popular, and I had a lot of trouble,” admitted Nepomniachtchi. However, he was able to weave his way through the complications without too much damage and, when Carlsen made a mistake with 20. Rb1, he was left staring at a worse position where he was rook for bishop down.
“At some point I blundered because I didn’t intend to sacrifice quite as much material as I actually did,” admitted Carlsen, who looked visibly the more tired. “After that, I was trying to hang in there, not to lose. The position was very, very interesting.”
But with Carlsen on the ropes, Nepo then gave up a pawn for little compensation and the position became a theoretical draw. “The games have been a bit atypical for both of us,” added the Norwegian. “They are not following any specific pattern. It’s just a fight.”
Carlsen admits that a blunder almost cost him the game
Draw leaves the 14-game match between the pair level at 1-1
Magnus Carlsen (left) had one particularly dicey moment against Ian Nepomniachtchi, but rode it out. Photograph: Giuseppe Cacace/AFP/Getty Images
Sean Ingle at the Dubai Exhibition Centre
@seaningle
Sat 27 Nov 2021
Magnus Carlsen diced with danger in an entertaining second game of the world chess championships in Dubai before recovering to secure a 58-move draw. It leaves his 14-game match with Ian Nepomniachtchi level at 1-1 going into Sunday’s third encounter.
It was a seesawing struggle, with Carlsen surprising his opponent early before missing a move that left him considerably worse off. However, his Russian opponent failed to find his wave through the thicket of variations and the game ended with a handshake, and a long post-mortem, as the players tried to fathom what happened. “The game was crazy, I had no idea what was going on,” said Nepomniachtchi. “During the game I thought: ‘We both are playing not so well’. But now I start thinking it was just very interesting and very chaotic.”
Carlsen and Nepomniachtchi draw in Game 2 of World Chess Championship – as it happened
Carlsen, who has held the world title since 2013, signalled his fighting intentions by playing the rare move, Ne5, on move eight. It sacrificed a pawn but also meant his opponent was on new ground in a tricky position. Understandably, he was soon behind on the clock. Not only was he playing the Norwegian but also his computer preparation.
“It was a really nice idea, not the most popular, and I had a lot of trouble,” admitted Nepomniachtchi. However, he was able to weave his way through the complications without too much damage and, when Carlsen made a mistake with 20. Rb1, he was left staring at a worse position where he was rook for bishop down.
“At some point I blundered because I didn’t intend to sacrifice quite as much material as I actually did,” admitted Carlsen, who looked visibly the more tired. “After that, I was trying to hang in there, not to lose. The position was very, very interesting.”
But with Carlsen on the ropes, Nepo then gave up a pawn for little compensation and the position became a theoretical draw. “The games have been a bit atypical for both of us,” added the Norwegian. “They are not following any specific pattern. It’s just a fight.”
Nepomniachtchi carefully considers a move.
Photograph: Giuseppe Cacace/AFP/Getty Images
The result means there have now been 16 draws in a row in world championship games played at classical time controls, dating back five years to game 11 of Carlsen’s match against Sergey Karjakin in November 2016.
That is partly down to the time controls, which currently give players two hours for their first 40 moves and another hour for their next 20. Carlsen has long lobbied for shorter games in his world title matches, arguing that with less time to think there will be even more drama. But for now, at least, the Fide president, Arkady Dvorkovich, is sitting on the fence.
“It’s an interesting dilemma,” he told the Observer. “We started experimenting with shorter controls of 45 minutes at the women’s world team championship and it was very dynamic and exciting. But when it comes to controls for classical chess, we will see.
“On the one hand, it’s exciting to watch shorter games,” he added. “On the other hand when talking about the best players, I would prefer just a few mistakes – while in shorter games you have many.”
The result means there have now been 16 draws in a row in world championship games played at classical time controls, dating back five years to game 11 of Carlsen’s match against Sergey Karjakin in November 2016.
That is partly down to the time controls, which currently give players two hours for their first 40 moves and another hour for their next 20. Carlsen has long lobbied for shorter games in his world title matches, arguing that with less time to think there will be even more drama. But for now, at least, the Fide president, Arkady Dvorkovich, is sitting on the fence.
“It’s an interesting dilemma,” he told the Observer. “We started experimenting with shorter controls of 45 minutes at the women’s world team championship and it was very dynamic and exciting. But when it comes to controls for classical chess, we will see.
“On the one hand, it’s exciting to watch shorter games,” he added. “On the other hand when talking about the best players, I would prefer just a few mistakes – while in shorter games you have many.”
By Oliver Roeder
Filed under Chess
NOV. 27, 2021
On the eighth move, Magnus Carlsen ventures a rare play: knight to e5.
ILLUSTRATION BY FIVETHIRTYEIGHT
This article is part of our 2021 World Chess Championship series.
The auditorium in Dubai hosting the 2021 World Chess Championship is reminiscent of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Each features a grand, darkened room with a glowing diorama, filled with motionless drama. And in both, a squid and a whale remain deadlocked in their boxes, caught in the middle of a grueling battle.
Magnus Carlsen of Norway, the longtime world No. 1, is defending his title against challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia, the world No. 5. On Saturday, the two played a roller coaster of a draw in 58 moves over 4.5 hours. They split the point, and the best-of-14 match sits level, 1-1. It has been more than five years since anyone won a regulation game in the World Chess Championship.
Here’s how the computer has seen the ebbs and flows of the games thus far this year:
Carlsen commanded the white pieces in the glass box on Saturday, moving first, with a cream-colored blazer to match. Before the game, the chesserati buzzed, wondering just how he would begin. In the 2018 world championship, Carlsen displayed a fun little pattern across his white games, opening with pawns to d4, c4, e4, d4, c4 and e4, which I assume sounds cool if you play it on a piano.
As it happened, Carlsen played d4 and for the second game in a row sacrificed a pawn to gain an early attacking initiative — perhaps counter to expectations against his famously aggressive Russian opponent. The players entered the Catalan opening. The Catalan is a “clash of concepts,” as explained by former world champion Viswanathan Anand on the official match broadcast: Which is more valuable, black’s extra pawn or white’s budding attack and bishop controlling the board’s longest diagonal?
Two moves later, Carlsen rode his knight into enemy territory, onto the e5 square — a rare, sharp move. When Nepomniachtchi responded, the position they had created had never before appeared on the tournament boards of top-level grandmasters. Shortly thereafter, Carlsen and Nepomniachtchi both walked away to take a brief rest, leaving the novel chess position sitting alone on a table in the box, like a still life in a museum display.
Expert observers admired Carlsen’s attacking chances but knew they wouldn’t come easy. “The position is dangerous and complicated, but it’s not one where white can immediately attack,” said Fabiano Caruana, the American No. 1, on Chess.com’s livestream. “It’s more long-term pressure.”
Despite the complexity, Carlsen appeared comfortable, likely well within his pregame preparation. He played quickly and opened a large time advantage — perhaps counter to expectations against the famously fast Nepomniachtchi.
But the clash of concepts eventually favored the pawn rather than the position, and the long-term investment never paid off. Nepomniachtchi defended and counterattacked with great precision. Around the 20th move, Carlsen sacrificed even more material, trading his rook for Nepomniachtchi’s knight to forestall a Russian equine invasion. On his 24th move, by this point heavily favored by the computer, Nepomniachtchi faced the position below:
The computer suggested the moves pawn-to-g6 or queen-to-e7, or taking the pawn on a4. Instead, Nepomniachtchi moved his pawn to c3, evidently a mistake, allowing Carlsen to reclaim some of his material deficit in the moves that followed. The game simplified (relatively!) after that — the position was roughly level for some 30 moves as pieces quickly left the board. The squid and the whale — I remain agnostic as to who is which — agreed to a draw with a rook and two pawns each.
“I thought I was doing well,” Carlsen said after the game, before admitting that he had simply overlooked the knight invasion that gave him so much trouble.
Nepomniachtchi also recalled the moment: “I thought, ‘Wow, suddenly it’s getting very nice for black.’”
But in the end, another day, another draw, another deadlocked diorama. “In general it was a very puzzling game,” Nepomniachtchi added. “It was very interesting and very chaotic.”
Game 3 begins Sunday at 7:30 a.m. Eastern. We’ll be covering the entire match here and on Twitter, and we’re excited to be puzzled as we stare into the glass box.
For even more writing on chess and other games, check out Roeder’s new book, “Seven Games: A Human History,” available in January.
Oliver Roeder was a senior writer for FiveThirtyEight. @ollie
ILLUSTRATION BY FIVETHIRTYEIGHT
This article is part of our 2021 World Chess Championship series.
The auditorium in Dubai hosting the 2021 World Chess Championship is reminiscent of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Each features a grand, darkened room with a glowing diorama, filled with motionless drama. And in both, a squid and a whale remain deadlocked in their boxes, caught in the middle of a grueling battle.
Magnus Carlsen of Norway, the longtime world No. 1, is defending his title against challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia, the world No. 5. On Saturday, the two played a roller coaster of a draw in 58 moves over 4.5 hours. They split the point, and the best-of-14 match sits level, 1-1. It has been more than five years since anyone won a regulation game in the World Chess Championship.
Here’s how the computer has seen the ebbs and flows of the games thus far this year:
Carlsen commanded the white pieces in the glass box on Saturday, moving first, with a cream-colored blazer to match. Before the game, the chesserati buzzed, wondering just how he would begin. In the 2018 world championship, Carlsen displayed a fun little pattern across his white games, opening with pawns to d4, c4, e4, d4, c4 and e4, which I assume sounds cool if you play it on a piano.
As it happened, Carlsen played d4 and for the second game in a row sacrificed a pawn to gain an early attacking initiative — perhaps counter to expectations against his famously aggressive Russian opponent. The players entered the Catalan opening. The Catalan is a “clash of concepts,” as explained by former world champion Viswanathan Anand on the official match broadcast: Which is more valuable, black’s extra pawn or white’s budding attack and bishop controlling the board’s longest diagonal?
Two moves later, Carlsen rode his knight into enemy territory, onto the e5 square — a rare, sharp move. When Nepomniachtchi responded, the position they had created had never before appeared on the tournament boards of top-level grandmasters. Shortly thereafter, Carlsen and Nepomniachtchi both walked away to take a brief rest, leaving the novel chess position sitting alone on a table in the box, like a still life in a museum display.
Expert observers admired Carlsen’s attacking chances but knew they wouldn’t come easy. “The position is dangerous and complicated, but it’s not one where white can immediately attack,” said Fabiano Caruana, the American No. 1, on Chess.com’s livestream. “It’s more long-term pressure.”
Despite the complexity, Carlsen appeared comfortable, likely well within his pregame preparation. He played quickly and opened a large time advantage — perhaps counter to expectations against the famously fast Nepomniachtchi.
But the clash of concepts eventually favored the pawn rather than the position, and the long-term investment never paid off. Nepomniachtchi defended and counterattacked with great precision. Around the 20th move, Carlsen sacrificed even more material, trading his rook for Nepomniachtchi’s knight to forestall a Russian equine invasion. On his 24th move, by this point heavily favored by the computer, Nepomniachtchi faced the position below:
The computer suggested the moves pawn-to-g6 or queen-to-e7, or taking the pawn on a4. Instead, Nepomniachtchi moved his pawn to c3, evidently a mistake, allowing Carlsen to reclaim some of his material deficit in the moves that followed. The game simplified (relatively!) after that — the position was roughly level for some 30 moves as pieces quickly left the board. The squid and the whale — I remain agnostic as to who is which — agreed to a draw with a rook and two pawns each.
“I thought I was doing well,” Carlsen said after the game, before admitting that he had simply overlooked the knight invasion that gave him so much trouble.
Nepomniachtchi also recalled the moment: “I thought, ‘Wow, suddenly it’s getting very nice for black.’”
But in the end, another day, another draw, another deadlocked diorama. “In general it was a very puzzling game,” Nepomniachtchi added. “It was very interesting and very chaotic.”
Game 3 begins Sunday at 7:30 a.m. Eastern. We’ll be covering the entire match here and on Twitter, and we’re excited to be puzzled as we stare into the glass box.
For even more writing on chess and other games, check out Roeder’s new book, “Seven Games: A Human History,” available in January.
Oliver Roeder was a senior writer for FiveThirtyEight. @ollie
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