Magnus Carlsen is a big favourite to retain the World Chess Champion title. CNBC and Yahoo Sports quoted New York chess master Mig Greengard as saying that the only way Sergey Karjakin—his challenger—has a chance is if he can take Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Fact: Carlsen, 25, the Norwegian grandmaster, unwrapped the little-played Trompowsky Attack during the first game of his title match against his Russian challenger Karjakin, 26, perhaps in an apparent salute to president-elect Donald Trump.
Fact: Carlsen attacked his opponent’s knight with his bishop on the second move of the game thereby initiating the rare Trompowsky Attack (1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5).
Fact: The Trompowsky Attack was never before seen in a Game 1 of a World Championship title match, but the world champion is familiar with its use.
Viewers of the first game of the match on the internet were surprised at Carlsen’s choice of opening and commented liberally on its uncommon nature. But according to Wikipedia, it was more so because the name “Trompowsky resonated with Donald Trump and the recent United States presidential election three days prior.” Carlsen has been quoted as saying if he had known how many questions he would face over his opening choice, he would have played something else.
The World Chess Championship (WCC) match has attracted an impressive following, numbering in the millions of chess enthusiasts. The start of the match was preceded by a legal challenge mounted to prevent websites from showing moves of the games almost as they occur at the WCC.
The Associated Press reported that websites would be allowed to show the moves of the games as they are being played. A US federal district judge ruled he was not persuaded that organizers of the Championship had a legal right to block the websites from disclosing the moves. Daniel Freeman, owner of Chess Games Services LLC, one of the websites which was being sued, disclosed he was doing nothing wrong as he relays moves he learns through others on social media or elsewhere. Freeman has been quoted as saying “every move will become public information seconds after it’s played.”
Five games had been contested and drawn at the time of writing, as the match nears the crucial halfway mark. They were all sophisticated draws befuddling even the most intelligent minds. Simply put, I did not yawn once as I followed the action online. With only a few exceptions, the computer engines matched the moves of both players fairly regularly. Their preparation was intensive. Game 3 proved to be a chess thriller although a draw was reached after 78 moves. In the column’s view, the game can be compared favourably with some of the most precise that were played in previous world championship matches. Playing the disadvantaged black pieces, Karjakin employed the solid Ruy Lopez (named for a Spanish priest), and meticulously crafted a ‘great escape’ plan to prevent the world champion from taking the game’s full point. Carlsen slipped in the enigmatic endgame, according to Stockfish, one of the planet’s most reliable chess computers. It was only a slight error barely noticeable to a renowned intelligent mind, but it was enough to provide a saving grace to the Russian grandmaster. Karjakin sacrificed a bishop to take a threatening passed pawn and held the position against a most creative and knowledgeable world champion.
Chess game
Here are the first three games of the World Chess Championship between World Champion Magnus Carlsen and his challenger Sergey Karjakin which is ongoing in New York.
Game 1. Trompowsky Attack
Queen’s Pawn Game
White: Magnus Carlsen
Black: Sergey Karjakin
1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 d5 3.e3 c5 4.Bxf6 gxf6 5.dxc5 Nc6 6.Bb5 e6 7.c4 dxc4 8.Nd2 Bxc5 9.Ngf3 O-O 10.O-O Na5 11.Rc1 Be7 12.Qc2 Bd7 13.Bxd7 Qxd7 14.Qc3 Qd5 15.Nxc4 Nxc4 16.Qxc4 Qxc4 17.Rxc4 Rfc8 18.Rfc1 Rxc4 19.Rxc4 Rd8 20.g3 Rd7 21.Kf1 f5 22.Ke2 Bf6 23.b3 Kf8 24.h3 h6 25.Ne1 Ke7 26.Nd3 Kd8 27.f4 h5 28.a4 Rd5 29.Nc5 b6 30.Na6 Be7 31.Nb8 a5 32.Nc6+ Ke8 33.Ne5 Bc5 34.Rc3 Ke7 35.Rd3 Rxd3 36.Kxd3 f6 37.Nc6+ Kd6 38.Nd4 Kd5 39.Nb5 Kc6 40.Nd4+ Kd6 41.Nb5+ Kd7 42.Nd4 Kd6 1/2-1/2.
Game 2 Ruy Lopez
White: Sergey Karjakin
Black: Magnus Carlsen
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.d3 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.a3 O-O 9.Nc3 Na5 10.Ba2 Be6 11.d4 Bxa2 12.Rxa2 Re8 13.Ra1 Nc4 14.Re1 Rc8 15.h3 h6 16.b3 Nb6 17.Bb2 Bf8 18.dxe5 dxe5 19.a4 c6 20.Qxd8 Rcxd8 21.axb5 axb5 22.Ne2 Bb4 23.Bc3 Bxc3 24.Nxc3 Nbd7 25.Ra6 Rc8 26.b4 Re6 27.Rb1 c5 28.Rxe6 fxe6 29.Nxb5 cxb4 30.Rxb4 Rxc2 31.Nd6 Rc1+ 32.Kh2 Rc2 33.Kg1 1/2-1/2.
Game 3 Ruy Lopez
White: Magnus Carlsen
Black: Sergey Karjakin
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.Re1 Nd6 6.Nxe5 Be7 7.Bf1 Nxe5 8.Rxe5 O-O 9.d4 Bf6 10.Re2 b6 11.Re1 Re8 12.Bf4 Rxe1 13.Qxe1 Qe7 14.Nc3 Bb7 15.Qxe7 Bxe7 16.a4 a6 17.g3 g5 18.Bxd6 Bxd6 19.Bg2 Bxg2 20.Kxg2 f5 21.Nd5 Kf7 22.Ne3 Kf6 23.Nc4 Bf8 24.Re1 Rd8 25.f4 gxf4 26.gxf4 b5 27.axb5 axb5 28.Ne3 c6 29.Kf3 Ra8 30.Rg1 Ra2 31.b3 c5 32.Rg8 Kf7 33.Rg2 cxd4 34.Nxf5 d3 35.cxd3 Ra1 36.Nd4 b4 37.Rg5 Rb1 38.Rf5+ Ke8 39.Rb5 Rf1+ 40.Ke4 Re1+ 41.Kf5 Rd1 42.Re5+ Kf7 43.Rd5 Rxd3 44.Rxd7+ Ke8 45.Rd5 Rh3 46.Re5+ Kf7 47.Re2 Bg7 48.Nc6 Rh5+ 49.Kg4 Rc5 50.Nd8+ Kg6 51.Ne6 h5+ 52.Kf3 Rc3+ 53.Ke4 Bf6 54.Re3 h4 55.h3 Rc1 56.Nf8+ Kf7 57.Nd7 Ke6 58.Nb6 Rd1 59.f5+ Kf7 60.Nc4 Rd4+ 61.Kf3 Bg5 62.Re4 Rd3+ 63.Kg4 Rg3+ 64.Kh5 Be7 65.Ne5+ Kf6 66.Ng4+ Kf7 67.Re6 Rxh3 68.Ne5+ Kg7 69.Rxe7+ Kf6 70.Nc6 Kxf5 71.Na5 Rh1 72.Rb7 Ra1 73.Rb5+ Kf4 74.Rxb4+ Kg3 75.Rg4+ Kf2 76.Nc4 h3 77.Rh4 Kg3 78.Rg4+ Kf2 1/2-1/2.
