Carlsen levels score in game 10

Karjakin cracks after prolonged pressure 

The drama is rising at the World Championship in New York as Carlsen ties the score in game 10. It took 75 moves, 6 and a half hours , every ounce of will-power that the Norwegian could muster[pullquote]“It is a huge relief. I hadn’t won in 10 games and that hadn’t happened to me before.” -Carlsen[/pullquote] (and even then a bit of luck) to down the Russian for the first time in 10 games. Both players were visibly worn at the post-game press conference. Tomorrow is a much needed rest day.

Karjakin misses a force draw at move 20!

Carlsen clearly needed to win today and arrived at the game meaning to do business, but he missed an amazing drawing tactic at move 20, and again at move 21, that could have inched Karjakin even closer to the world title. Even more amazing, Karjakin did not see it also!

Photo by Anastacia Karlovitj

Instead, Karjakin played to increase his presence in the center and soon exchanged Queens. This surprised a number of experts, as Karjakin’s pawn structure was weaker than that of his opponent. In a classic example of perfect technique, Carlsen slowly and patiently built up his game and forced Karjakin on to the defensive.  At move 56 the Russian made a subtle error, and this gave the Norwegian the opportunity to break in for the decisive finish. Karjakin resigned at move 75.

(The game is analyzed below with comments. The RPB-plugin is used, so click on any move and a pop-up will appear)

Carlsen,M–Karjakin,S

Game–10