It seemed like black equalized rather easily in both games so far. I think this is normal, as both players are getting their bearings and feeling out the opponent a little bit. I think game 3 will have some action. I’d personally like to see Carlsen test Karjakin’s QID a little bit. He held draws in the Candidates, but some of those games were pretty shaky.
Game 3 was an open Berlin Defense that led to Carlsen trying to convert an extra pawn in a rook and minor piece endgame. No luck on that front and drawn after 78 moves. 1.5-1.5 after three games.
Karjakin definitely had several slips today, but defended hard for many moves following each time. It seems like Carlsen missed 2 big opportunities with either 42. Rb8+ and then much later he could have played 71. Re1 (or e2 or e8) instead of 71. Na5 with good chances to convert. This was definitely an exciting game to me as I enjoy these rook + minor endgames.
This was a very interesting struggle. Carlsen shows why he is so tough with any type of small weakness to play against. Black’s …g5 looks aggressive, and black seems to be ok after the follow-up …f5, but Carlsen shows the resulting weaknesses. When Carlson played Bg2, I was sure he was going to play Bh3, which creates at least some momentary discomfort, but my guess is Carlsen saw more and was worried about that bishop’s long-term possible activity.
Still, it seemed to me that instead of retreating his bishop to f8, black should have played his rook to e8 and allowed the doubled d-pawns - his rook activity seems to be clear compensation for the bad pawns, and I didn’t see a clear way for white to then make the type of progress (play against the f5 pawn) that he did in the game.
Match regulation 3.5.1: “The time control for each game shall be: 100 minutes for the first 40 moves, 50 minutes for the next 20 moves and then 15 minutes for the rest of the game plus an additional 30 seconds per move starting from move 1.”
Game 4 was an Anti-Marshall. Fireworks began at move 18, but petered out to another long minor piece endgame with Carlsen having what few chances there were. Drawn after White’s 94th move. Match tied 2-2.
Carlsen was winning again, and again let it slip away. According to analysis by GM Dorian Rogozenco 45…f4? was a decisive error. Carlsen gets a passed pawn, but closes the kingside, and Karjakin was able to defend his Queenside weaknesses. 45…Be6 will force a pawn trade and now Carlsen will not only have a passed Kingside pawn, but room to maneuver there as well. Rogozenco evaluates the position after 45…Be6 as -+. This seems like a strange error for Carlsen to make only five moves after the beginning of the second time control.
Carlsen should be +2 in the match, and instead it’s all even. In a short match like this one blunder can decide it. He may live to regret not cashing in on at least one of these opportunities Karjakin has presented him.
No doubt, but he is getting all the play, and that is encouraging for him. It takes a lot of energy/effort to defend these kinds of positions with only two possible results.
Since they are of similar age, it is hard to tell who will be worn out first by these long games. It may be hard to defend these positions, but it is just as hard on the attacker when his work is frustrated. Kariakin has proven to be a bitter and successful defender in the last several years. He needs just one win, no matter how it comes about. Carlsen has usually scored early and put the pressure on his other match opponents to catch up. Hasn’t happened this time.
Would you rather be the hunted or the hunter? I’ve defended these positions - which are not all that double-edged so usually only mean you draw as a best result - and they wear you down. That ‘wear you down’ isn’t just physical either - it is also psychological. I guess it takes a toll on the guy pushing the envelope and not scoring as well, but I’d still rather be on his side of the board.
I doubt that fatigue, mental or physical, is going to be much of a factor in such a short match with so many rest days. Psychologically, Carlsen is likely under more stress having not won in positions where he might have been expected to. Karjakin on the other hand has been visibly and verbally pleased with his match thus far as well he should be given how well he has defended.
Still, twelve games is not long enough, a view expressed by various commentators on chess24 and elsewhere. I’d vote for a match with the winner being the first player to reach six wins with draws not counting. Maybe FIDE, with all the titles it creates, should have a Classic Classic World Champion using an older match format with more games.
True as to a potentially very long match. “A match of 24 games would be much more appropriate for Carlsen and Karyakin. Eventually ,the dogfights would open out.”–Andrew Martin on Twitter.
The first Karpov-Kasparov match (1984) went a marathon 48 games. Karpov won games 3,6,7,9 and 27. Kasparov won games 32,47, and 48. With Karpov clearly collapsing from exhaustion FIDE President Florencio Campomanes stepped in and stopped the match. Never again is right!
