WC Match 2016 - New York 10-30 November

[MartinCarpenter]

Magnus really has to win now, after coming so close in the previous games. (Karjakin may have some fortresses in some lines.)

I dunno, I know Karjakin seems to have super human levels of mental strength just now but surely even he'll get broken down eventually?

[Roger de Coverly]

Some surprise that Carlsen didn't go for the lines where he was winning a clear pawn (on h4), but instead exchanged his d6 pawn for the h4 pawn.

A traditional pre computer analysis would score the position heavily for Black on account of the pawn majority on the king side and the Bishop pair.

[Matt Mackenzie]

Karjakin hangs on again.

[Joshua Gibbs]

This might be another draw. If White just sits there, Black may not be able to break through, even though he has by far the better position.

If he cant break through surely his position isn't better?

[Richard Bates]

Apologies for resorting to the tired old overused clichés, it appears to be a bit of a game of football out there. Karjakin has very early decided to park the bus with 11 men behind the ball and is playing purely for goals through set pieces and possibly goals on the breakaway. A set piece being Carlsen walking into a devastating bit of opening preparation, and a breakaway goal being Carlsen overpressing to the point of defeat (maybe something like the double blunder game in the last match versus Anand).

Will Carlsen be made to pay for not taking his chances? Or will he eventually break through and pull away?

Might Karjakin be holding something back on the opening prep front in line with the theory that the best time to score a goal is when it is too late for the opponent to respond?

[Chris Rice]

Chess24 report on game 4 https://chess24.com/en/read/news/carlse ... of-defence

Karjakin explained that he thought his 18 Bxh6!? was a brilliancy and only after 18...Qc6 he thought "what have I done?" which then spooked him into the error 19 Bxc4? which prompted Eric Hansen's shocked reaction. However, a truly remarkable defensive effort created a fortress which led to the draw but it was Carlsen who allowed the fortress to be created and was asked why:

"In general I’m not a very big believer in fortresses in chess. There are people like Anand, who tries to build a fortress every time he’s worse, but I have experience in breaking these fortresses down. I just thought I was easily winning with 45…f4. As long as I have a path on the queenside it has to be winning – I didn’t even think about whether it’s still a fortress if I get the king to b3. That was very, very sloppy. Kudos to him for finding this, but I think that was just a very weak moment."

[Mick Norris]

chess.com report

TWIC

[Matthew Turner]

Game 4 wasn't a great game and it seems to me that f4 was a pretty poor mistake - In principle why have a passed f-pawn when you can have a passed g-pawn? I think Karjakin can rightly conclude that Carlsen isn't playing his best and that changes things. I still think Carlsen is favourite but maybe he has gone from 1-4 favourite to 1-2. We still haven't seen any significant opening preparation yet and I wonder if we'll ever see any?
I am enjoying the contest, but it probably needs a spark to really take off; A Karjakin victory in game 6 would certainly make life interesting.

[Matt Mackenzie]

Carlsen is playing well enough to force his opponent into worse positions - if that carries on he surely has to profit eventually?

Though the longer it goes on like this, the more nervous he will be......

[Brian Towers]

Carlsen is playing well enough to force his opponent into worse positions - if that carries on he surely has to profit eventually?

Perhaps, but Carlsen didn't force an error last night. It was just a blunder from his opponent who thought Bxh6 was a brilliant novelty and then changed his mind one move later.

[Matt Mackenzie]

Though he reciprocated with his hasty f4? later on. That is rather unlike MC, I agree.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Instead of 45...f4, what is the winning plan after 45...Be6 which is being given as the right move in that position? Is the idea that the passed g-pawn is a better decoy at the right moment, allowing a decisive breakthrough on the queenside?

[MartinCarpenter]

Something like that. iirc Svidler thought much the same on Chess24 as Matthew does above - that it just seemed a slightly odd sort of thing to do.

Think if Karjakin does somehow save 8 more of these types of games both players might quit chess after the match

[Christopher Kreuzer]

The first two games wouldn't have really put any strain on Karjakin. I don't think we will see 8 more games like this. There will probably be a few more less exciting draws. I suppose it depends what opening surprises there are. The tension will rise the closer we are to the end of the match, of course. I think Magnus would like to be ahead by halfway, so would want to win in one of the next two games if he can play well enough to do that, and Karjakin doesn't manage to defend like that again. I think Richard is right. Karjakin will have a surprise to spring around games 8-9.

[Jonathan Bryant]

Apologies for resorting to the tired old overused clichés, it appears to be a bit of a game of football out there. Karjakin has very early decided to park the bus with 11 men behind the ball and is playing purely for goals through set pieces and possibly goals on the breakaway.

Wasn’t there a team years ago - Steau Bucharest, maybe - that won the European Cup (as was) after playing for penalties from the first minute of the final? Perhaps Karjakin feels that halving out and winning the play off is his best chance of winning the match? It wouldn’t be that unreasonable a strategy if so. It’s not as if Carlsen is a pushover, after all.