By Donald Duff in New York
The third game of the World Chess Championship match between defending champion Magnus Carlsen and challenger Serjey Karjakin ended in an exciting draw at the Fulton Market Building here yesterday, after over six hours of play in a game which lasted 78 moves.
The game, which had several twists and turns, and chances for both players, saw Carlsen grabbing a pawn but he was unable to convert this minor material advantage into a win despite having the upper hand for most of the endgame.
The Berlin Defence of the Ruy Lopez was the chosen variation, and though black captured the e4 pawn early on, white was able to equalise by simply placing his king rook on the e1 square.
By move 13, both Queens had been exchanged, and the game quickly progressed to a rook and knight for Carlsen, against Karjakin’s rook and bishop in the endgame.
Carlsen seems to prefer knights to bishops, but in this particular game the black bishop (bishop on the black diagonal) proved essential to black’s defence, especially after the white fianchettoed bishops were traded.
Throughout the three matches played so far, Carlsen has been the sharper player, and when black played Ra2 seeking counterplay, the move turned out to be costly, as Karjakin lost a pawn shortly after playing d3. It was from here that Karjakin showed his fighting abilities and his resourcefulness, as he began to play aggressively with the aim of re-capturing the pawn.
This proved to be the best part of the game, as the two players battled fiercely, pulling spectacular moves out of their hats like magicians. The game swung back and forth, and each time it seemed as though Karjakin would even up the position, Carlsen showed why he is the defending champion by finding the right answers.
Karjakin also found himself in trouble on a number of occasions, but found the right moves to force Carlsen to think long and hard about moves which often took more than 15 minutes.
Carlsen managed to go one piece up when he captured the black bishop on move 69, but Karjakin showed why he is presently considered the best defensive player, by almost queening the h file pawn.
The players agreed to a draw after 78 spellbinding moves.
Game four takes place today at the same venue.