[Event "AGON FWCM 2016"]
[Site "New York"]
[Date "2016.11.15"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Black "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2769"]
[BlackElo "2857"]
[PlyCount "187"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]

{Notes by Dorian Rogozenco - Another marathon game in the match, another
triumph of defence and another draw... At the beginning of game four it seemed
as if Karjakin had not yet recovered from the previous tiring encounter, as
some of his decisions right after the opening were doubtful, to say the least.
But then, in a very critical situation, where most of the specialists
predicted a sure win for Carlsen, the Russian Grandmaster again displayed his
fantastic skills in defending inferior positions and succeeded in getting the
desired draw after almost 7 hours of play.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4.
Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 {In the second game of the match Karjakin went for 6.d3.} 6.
Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. h3 {A popular Anti-Marshall system, which tends to lead
to a complicated strategical battle, with many theoretical subleties.} Bb7 9.
d3 d6 ({Here Black can still play in Marshall- style with} 9... d5 {but
Karjakin has a lot of experience with such positions which he plays with both
colors. So Carlsen decides to go for a positional game.} 10. exd5 Nxd5 11. Nxe5
(11. Nbd2 f6 12. a3 Kh8 13. Ba2 Nf4 14. Ne4 Ng6 15. Be3 Nd4 16. Bxd4 exd4 17.
h4 f5 18. Neg5 Nxh4 19. Ne6 Nxf3+ 20. gxf3 Qd6 21. Nxf8 Rxf8 22. Kf1 Bg5 23.
Re6 Qf4 24. Qe2 Bxf3 25. Qe5 Qh4 26. Qg3 Qh1+ 27. Qg1 Qh5 {0-1 (27) Topalov,V
(2752)-Karjakin,S (2779) Astana 2012}) 11... Nd4 12. Bd2 c5 13. Nc3 Nxb3 14.
axb3 Nb4 15. Ne4 f5 16. Ng3 Qd5 17. Nf3 Qd7 18. Ne5 Qd5 19. Nf3 Qd7 20. Bxb4
cxb4 21. d4 Rac8 22. Qd3 Bd6 23. Ne5 Qc7 24. Nxf5 Bxe5 25. Rxe5 {and White
went on to win in Karjakin,S (2747)-Onischuk,A (2688) Khanty-Mansiysk 2010.})
10. a3 Qd7 ({Both} 10... Na5 11. Ba2 c5) ({and} 10... Nb8 11. Nbd2 Nbd7 {
were played by Carlsen before. However, Karjakin's answer came instantly.}) 11.
Nbd2 Rfe8 {[#] This move might have been a surprise for the contender. He
thought for 12 minutes before coming up with a reply and also spent a lot of
time on his next moves. In previous games Karjakin had faced 11...Rae8 and 11..
.Nd8.} 12. c3 {Why did it take Karjakin so long to play this natural move?
First of all, despite his huge experience in these type of positions, Karjakin
never had this particular one in his practice before. Secondly, the position
is quite complicated strategically and it is not easy to figure out whether
White needs to play c2-c3 at all. For instance it looks logical to postpone it
and start with 12.Nf1. Generally speaking, modern theory considers this type
of position as slightly better for White. But again, with a lot of strategic
subleties. As Grandmaster Nigel Short put it: "In such positions, with White I
always feel I have no advantage, but with Black that I can't equalize".} Bf8
13. Nf1 h6 14. N3h2 {Preparing the typical action on the kingside, which is
met by the standard counterplay in the center.} d5 15. Qf3 {White now
threatens to take on h6 and actually has a simple plan: he wants to play Ng3,
Ng4 and so on. Black must react very precisely and Carlsen is up to this task.}
Na5 16. Ba2 dxe4 {Played after ten minutes.} ({Possibly the World Champion
wondered whether he had compensation in variations like} 16... c5 17. Bxh6 c4
18. Rad1 (18. Bg5 {allows} dxe4 19. dxe4 Nxe4 20. Rxe4 f5 {which is very unlear
}) 18... dxe4 19. dxe4 Qc6 {but then decided to go for the more solid game
continuation.}) 17. dxe4 Nc4 {[#]} 18. Bxh6 {A curious moment. After a long
think Karjakin makes the most principled move, but soon ends up in a very
unpleasant position. Taking on h6 is not a mistake yet, but White must have
missed something, as his next move is clearly not the best way to continue.} (
18. Ng4 {maintains equality.}) 18... Qc6 $1 {Very precise play by Carlsen.
Black had several sharp alternatives, but the World Champion rightly rejected
them.} (18... Nxb2 19. Bg5 Nh7 20. Bh4 c5 21. Re2 Nc4 22. Bxc4 bxc4 23. Rd2 {
and White has an advantage.}) (18... Nxe4 19. Rxe4 Bxe4 ({loses due to} 19...
f5 $2 20. Rxc4 Bxf3 21. Rxc7+) 20. Qxe4 gxh6 21. Ng4 Bg7 22. Nfe3 {with good
positional compensation for White.}) 19. Bxc4 $6 {This doubtful move was
played after 16 minutes of thinking! Maybe Karjakin already disliked his
position so much, that he decided to go for a clearly worse endgame, hoping to
hold it. Amazingly, this worked out in the end...} ({There was still nothing
wrong with White's position after} 19. Bc1 {For example:} Nxe4 20. Ne3 Ned6 21.
Qxc6 Bxc6 22. Nhg4 {which is about equal.}) 19... bxc4 (19... Qxc4 20. Nd2 $1 {
and White keeps his extra pawn}) 20. Be3 Nxe4 21. Ng3 Nd6 ({Both} 21... Nxg3) (
{and} 21... Qg6 {were good alternatives as well. In all cases Black has the
advantage.}) 22. Rad1 Rab8 23. Bc1 f6 24. Qxc6 Bxc6 25. Ng4 Rb5 26. f3 {
[#] Thanks to his bishop's pair and the pressure on b2 Black has a clear
advantage. Basically there are two ways to treat the position: to slowplay it
with a move like 26...Kf7, improving the pieces step by step, or take
immediate action - which is what Carlsen did in the game.} f5 {Black uses the
fact that the knight cannot go to e3, but slowplay might have been more
unpleasant for Karjakin, who was already feeling some time pressure.} 27. Nf2 (
27. Ne3 $2 f4) 27... Be7 ({Perhaps} 27... Kf7 {was more accurate, as now} 28.
f4 {would be a mistake due to} exf4 29. Ne2 Rbe5) 28. f4 $1 {As usual, in a
difficult situation Karjakin starts to defend extremely well. White needs to
simplify the position, as otherwise he will soon run out of air.} Bh4 ({
Another attractive option was} 28... exf4 29. Ne2 Ne4 (29... g5 30. Nd4 Rb6 31.
Nxc6 Rxc6 32. Rd5 {followed by h4 gives White sufficient counterplay.}) 30.
Nxe4 Bxe4 31. Nxf4 Rbb8 {In both cases Black is better and it is not easy to
decide which position leaves Black with more winning chances.}) 29. fxe5 Bxg3 (
29... Rbxe5 {is not convincing:} 30. Rxe5 Rxe5 31. Bf4 Rb5 32. Rd2 {and White
has good chances to escape.}) 30. exd6 Rxe1+ 31. Rxe1 cxd6 32. Rd1 Kf7 ({
After the principled} 32... Re5 33. Nh1 $1 (33. Kf1 Re6 {with ideas like Rg6})
33... f4 (33... Bh4 {leads nowhere:} 34. Rxd6 Re1+ 35. Kh2) ({but maybe} 33...
Ba4 34. Rf1 Bh4 35. Bf4 Rd5 {is the best}) 34. Nxg3 fxg3 35. Kf1 Be4 {Black
has a clear advantage. However, the question remains the same: is it enough
for a win?}) 33. Rd4 Re5 34. Kf1 Rd5 35. Rxd5 Bxd5 36. Bg5 Kg6 37. h4 {A very
committal decision in time trouble, as the pawn on h4 will fall soon. In
return White gets the possibility to activate the knight via h3.} Kh5 38. Nh3
Bf7 39. Be7 Bxh4 40. Bxd6 Bd8 {[#] The time-trouble is over and we can reach
some conclusions: White succeeded to avoid the worst and simplified the
position. However, even if Black failed to increase his advantage, he still
has reasonable winning chances, as the bishop pair together with the chance to
create a passed pawn on the kingside are strong arguments in Black's favour.}
41. Ke2 g5 42. Nf2 Kg6 43. g4 {Another committal decision by Karjakin, which
again worked out well.} Bb6 44. Be5 a5 45. Nd1 f4 $2 {The decisive mistake, as
it considerably limits Black's winning ideas. Carlsen gets a nice passed pawn,
but closes the kingside and it will turn out that White can defend his
queenside weakness successfully.} ({After} 45... Be6 {Black must be winning.
The World Champion tries hard to win for another 50 moves, but his efforts are
in vain and Karjakin again achieves a very important draw.}) 46. Bd4 Bc7 47.
Nf2 Be6 48. Kf3 Bd5+ 49. Ke2 Bg2 50. Kd2 Kf7 51. Kc2 Bd5 52. Kd2 Bd8 53. Kc2
Ke6 54. Kd2 Kd7 55. Kc2 Kc6 56. Kd2 Kb5 57. Kc1 Ka4 58. Kc2 Bf7 59. Kc1 Bg6 60.
Kd2 Kb3 61. Kc1 Bd3 62. Nh3 Ka2 63. Bc5 Be2 64. Nf2 Bf3 65. Kc2 Bc6 66. Bd4 Bd7
67. Bc5 Bc7 68. Bd4 Be6 69. Bc5 f3 70. Be3 Bd7 71. Kc1 Bc8 72. Kc2 Bd7 73. Kc1
Bf4 74. Bxf4 gxf4 75. Kc2 Be6 76. Kc1 Bc8 77. Kc2 Be6 78. Kc1 Kb3 79. Kb1 Ka4
80. Kc2 Kb5 81. Kd2 Kc6 82. Ke1 Kd5 83. Kf1 Ke5 84. Kg1 Kf6 85. Ne4+ Kg6 86.
Kf2 Bxg4 87. Nd2 Be6 88. Kxf3 Kf5 89. a4 Bd5+ 90. Kf2 Kg4 91. Nf1 Kg5 92. Nd2
Kf5 93. Ke2 Kg4 94. Kf2 1/2-1/2