[Event "FIDE World Championship 2021"] [Site "Dubai, United Arab Emirates"] [Date "2021.12.05"] [Round "6"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D02"] [WhiteElo "2855"] [BlackElo "2782"] [Annotator "GM Andrey Gutov"] [PlyCount "271"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] {[%evp 0,271,19,9,42,20,25,-21,6,6,11,13,25,-5,-16,-27,-2,-17,-42,-28,4,-15, -22,0,-4,-12,-26,-26,-10,-14,-14,-9,-22,-34,-20,-64,-42,-37,-33,-20,-16,-31, -25,-25,-17,-9,-24,4,4,8,8,-17,33,52,39,51,-2,38,16,40,35,11,39,0,26,28,28,-46, -72,-72,-51,-75,-91,-105,55,55,26,56,95,13,-17,-11,-7,0,3,50,30,42,31,74,53,56, 34,38,50,2,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,48,54,22,87,91,88,84,95,94,96,95,111,110,95,100, 91,97,102,64,49,46,66,31,40,105,66,105,105,158,97,105,82,84,84,84,0,0,22,84,73, 108,116,114,121,115,71,108,84,104,85,84,64,104,112,113,105,107,106,111,115,110, 110,113,111,113,117,113,87,106,106,106,82,106,82,106,82,108,107,104,90,114,110, 114,114,106,101,106,106,100,101,106,4,106,106,106,106,104,104,100,104,106,82, 82,82,82,82,132,97,108,104,108,103,113,106,115,84,126,90,98,85,105,110,110,110, 104,98,108,89,89,74,89,79,88,79,75,89,100,79,109,79,79,94,92,94,94,87,122,76, 108,75,86,90,98,108,99,78,78,82,121,130,116,137,407,534,540,1000,1231,1229]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. g3 {Carlsen repeats his Catalan from Game 2 ... sort of. He intentionally delays playing c4, the main line Catalan, leaving more options and a fresh position. He also offers Nepo to play 3...g6 entering his symmetrical Grunfeld, something he has played his entire life. However, Nepo sticks to his preparation.} e6 4. Bg2 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. b3 {Carlsen's new move. He doesn't play c4 and plays b3; Nepo surprisingly didn't mind and continued playing relatively quickly under the circumstances.} c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. c4 dxc4 9. Qc2 {The point. Carlsen opts out of the queen trade and damaged structure and in exchange receives rapid development.} Qe7 10. Nbd2 Nc6 11. Nxc4 b5 { Nepo has navigated through the opening well and has equalized.} 12. Nce5 Nb4 13. Qb2 Bb7 14. a3 Nc6 15. Nd3 Bb6 {While the evaluation gives triple zeroes, Carlsen's knight on d3 and his queen on b2 seem awkwardly placed.} 16. Bg5 Rfd8 17. Bxf6 gxf6 $5 {Nepo correctly evaluates that doubling the pawns doesn't matter as much as he has the bishop pair and rooks on the open files.} 18. Rac1 Nd4 19. Nxd4 Bxd4 20. Qa2 Bxg2 21. Kxg2 Qb7+ 22. Kg1 Qe4 23. Qc2 a5 24. Rfd1 { Carlsen, to his credit, keeps the game going and makes Nepo come a decision where to take the game.} Kg7 25. Rd2 Rac8 {The decision has been made. This move while seemingly counterintuitive gives Black dynamic equality.} 26. Qxc8 Rxc8 27. Rxc8 Qd5 28. b4 a4 {Nepo fixes White's queenside pawns on the same color as Carlsen's bishop.} 29. e3 Be5 30. h4 h5 (30... Bb2 31. Rc5 Qd6 32. Rxb2 Qxd3 33. Rbc2 Qxa3 34. Rxb5 Qa1+ 35. Kg2 Qb1 36. Rc7 Qe4+ 37. Kh2) 31. Kh2 Bb2 (31... Qb3) 32. Rc5 Qd6 $2 33. Rd1 {With three minutes on his clock and the pressure of the World Championship, Carlsen misses his opportunity. Rcc2 would have capitalized on black's awkward bishop and weak kingside, with White's knight hopping to f4 and the rooks finding a home on the seventh rank.} (33. Rcc2 Bxa3 34. Nf4 Qf8 35. Rd7 Kg8 36. Rdc7 Qxb4 37. Rc8+ Kg7 38. Nxh5+ Kh7 39. R2c7 Kg6) 33... Bxa3 34. Rxb5 Qd7 35. Rc5 e5 (35... Bxb4 36. Rcc1 Be7 37. Nf4 Qb7 38. Rb1 Qc6 39. Rbc1 Qf3 40. Rd2 Bb4 41. Ra2 a3 42. Rc4) 36. Rc2 (36. e4 Qd4 37. Ra5 Qc4 38. Rxa4 Qb3 39. Rxa3 Qxa3 40. b5 Qb3 41. Rd2 Qxb5 42. f3 f5 ) 36... Qd5 {Mysteriously, Nepo doesn't capture the pawn on b4 but probably did not want to complicate matters with 4 moves needed to be made to make the time control. This game was essentially a blitz game up until move 40.} (36... Bxb4 37. Rcc1 Ba3 38. Ra1 Qg4 39. Rd2 Be7 40. Ne1 Bf8 41. Rda2 a3 42. Nc2 f5 43. Nxa3) 37. Rdd2 Qb3 38. Ra2 e4 (38... f5 39. Nc5) 39. Nc5 Qxb4 40. Nxe4 { Again Carlsen falters. Rdc2 would have glued his pieces and threatened a devastating Nxa4. Understandably, he had only seconds to make the time control. } (40. Rdc2 f5) 40... Qb3 {Both players made the time control and added an hour to their clocks.} 41. Rac2 Bf8 42. Nc5 Qb5 43. Nd3 a3 44. Nf4 Qa5 45. Ra2 Bb4 46. Rd3 Kh6 47. Rd1 Qa4 48. Rda1 Bd6 49. Kg1 Qb3 50. Ne2 Qd3 51. Nd4 Kh7 52. Kh2 Qe4 53. Rxa3 {Carlsen maneuvered his pieces and took advantage of the geometry of the position to remove the dangerous (and annoying) a-pawn.} Qxh4+ {The queen cannot be taken due to the pin.} 54. Kg1 Qe4 55. Ra4 Be5 56. Ne2 Qc2 57. R1a2 Qb3 58. Kg2 Qd5+ 59. f3 {Severely weakens White's pawn structure but keeps the game going. Magnus really pushed for the win.} Qd1 60. f4 Bc7 61. Kf2 Bb6 62. Ra1 Qb3 63. Re4 Kg7 64. Re8 f5 65. Raa8 Qb4 {Just a bluff. There are no concrete threats on the last rank.} 66. Rac8 Ba5 67. Rc1 Bb6 68. Re5 Qb3 69. Re8 Qd5 70. Rcc8 Qh1 71. Rc1 Qd5 72. Rb1 Ba7 {Nepo's stubborn defense loosens up a little bit giving Carlsen an opportunity.} (72... Bc7 73. Rc8 Bd8 74. Rbb8 Bf6 75. Rh8 Kg6 76. Rbg8+ Bg7 77. Rxg7+ Kxg7 78. Rxh5 Qd3 79. Rg5+) 73. Re7 Bc5 74. Re5 Qd3 75. Rb7 Qc2 76. Rb5 Ba7 77. Ra5 Bb6 78. Rab5 Ba7 79. Rxf5 Qd3 80. Rxf7+ {The World Champion goes for it albeit without any real risk.} Kxf7 81. Rb7+ Kg6 82. Rxa7 Qd5 {The players were both under 5 minutes for the rest of the game with a 30-second increment. This endgame is drawn but practically speaking unpleasant, even for a World Championship Challenger.} 83. Ra6+ Kh7 84. Ra1 Kg6 85. Nd4 {Multipurpose move with the main function being to control the Black queen's threats by finding home on f3.} Qb7 86. Ra2 Qh1 87. Ra6+ Kf7 88. Nf3 Qb1 89. Rd6 Kg7 90. Rd5 {Black has to sit and wait.} Qa2+ 91. Rd2 Qb1 92. Re2 Qb6 93. Rc2 Qb1 94. Nd4 Qh1 95. Rc7+ Kf6 96. Rc6+ Kf7 97. Nf3 Qb1 98. Ng5+ (98. Nd4 Qh1) 98... Kg7 (98... Ke7 99. Re6+ Kd7 100. Kf3 Qh1+ 101. Ke2 Qg2+ 102. Kd3 Qd5+ 103. Kc2 Qc5+ 104. Kd1 Qb5 105. Ke1) 99. Ne6+ Kf7 100. Nd4 Qh1 101. Rc7+ Kf6 102. Nf3 Qb1 103. Rd7 Qb2+ 104. Rd2 Qb1 105. Ng1 $1 {Carlsen squeezes his opponent like a python. After a grueling seven hours, he shuffles his pieces around to confuse his opponent. Then just when it seems like a clear draw he changes the setup again. This is chess from a true champion.} Qb4 106. Rd1 Qb3 107. Rd6+ Kg7 108. Rd4 Qb2+ 109. Ne2 {With the knight on e2, it is the proper time to thrust forward with e4.} Qb1 110. e4 Qh1 111. Rd7+ Kg8 112. Rd4 Qh2+ 113. Ke3 h4 {Nepo wants to clarify matters and simplify the position.} 114. gxh4 Qh3+ 115. Kd2 Qxh4 {The beginning of the end. The seven-piece tablebase gives this position as a draw. Practically speaking, very few people in the world, if any at all, would be able to hold this position. It requires a technique that not even Carlsen or Nepo has rehearsed.} 116. Rd3 Kf8 117. Rf3 Qd8+ 118. Ke3 Qa5 119. Kf2 Qa7+ 120. Re3 Qd7 121. Ng3 Qd2+ 122. Kf3 Qd1+ 123. Re2 Qb3+ 124. Kg2 Qb7 125. Rd2 Qb3 126. Rd5 Ke7 127. Re5+ Kf7 128. Rf5+ Ke8 129. e5 {Carlsen slowly marches his army forward. Nepo's only chance is to defend actively with his queen behind white's pieces.} Qa2+ 130. Kh3 Qe6 $4 {The final mistake. Nepo, exhausted and deflated, abandons the active play and puts his queen in front of white's pieces. Carlsen demonstrates why this is incorrect.} (130... Qb1 131. Rf6 Qd1 132. Kh4 Qe1 133. Rg6 Qf2 134. Kg4 Qg2 135. Rd6 Ke7 136. Rh6 Qg1 137. Rh7+) 131. Kh4 Qh6+ 132. Nh5 Qh7 133. e6 Qg6 (133... Qe7+ 134. Kg4) 134. Rf7 Kd8 {As you can see, Black's queen has no mobility is swallowed up by White's construction.} 135. f5 Qg1 136. Ng7 {Nepo resigns as White's king can run from the checks to refuge on the g8 square. With this Carlsen broke the deadlock and took the lead in the match. In Game 7, Nepo took a quick draw as he needed to stop the bleeding. However, in Game 8, Nepo lashed out in an equal Petroff. Nepo's collapse led to Carlsen taking a commanding lead 5-3 after 8 games heading into the rest day. While there is some hope for Nepo to turn things around, it seems unlikely and we will likely see the Norweigian become a 5-time World Champion.} 1-0