Carlsen, Karjakin play to disappointing draw in Masters final

ChessLogo The final game between world chess champion Magnus Carlsen and his world championship challenger Sergey Karjakin ended disappointingly in a draw after 19 moves at the 2016 Bilbao Masters Final in Spain on Thursday. It was the last game for the two before their world championship match in November.

What promised to be an exciting dress rehearsal for the world championship contest, played to an effortless draw with neither side wishing to go the extra mile. In the third round of the Masters competition, at their first encounter, and playing the white pieces, Carlsen out-manoeuvred his opponent and won the game. When it was Karjakin’s turn to play the white pieces, he opted for a tame draw preferring to wait agonizingly for another day.

Sheriffa Ali, St Joseph High student and dedicated chess player, will be representing Guyana at the 2016 Chess Olympiad in Azerbaijan. Sheriffa, 17, has been playing competitive chess ever since the Guyana Chess Federation was resuscitated in 2007. Based on her local performances, she is sufficiently qualified to play Board Two for the Guyana Olympiad chess team.
Sheriffa Ali, St Joseph High student and dedicated chess player, will be representing Guyana at the 2016 Chess Olympiad in Azerbaijan. Sheriffa, 17, has been playing competitive chess ever since the Guyana Chess Federation was resuscitated in 2007. Based on her local performances, she is sufficiently qualified to play Board Two for the Guyana Olympiad chess team.
Representing Guyana at the 2016 Chess Olympiad in Baku, Azerbaijan, is Jessica Clementson, 20, founder of the Georgetown-based U-Knighted Chess Club. The U-Knighted Chess Club has its origins in the School of the Nations where she was a student. Clementson learnt to play the game in 2009, and has experience teaching chess to underprivileged kids in the Albouystown area. She represented Guyana at the Inter-Guiana Games and the School of the Nations in the National Inter-Schools Championships.
Representing Guyana at the 2016 Chess Olympiad in Baku, Azerbaijan, is Jessica Clementson, 20, founder of the Georgetown-based U-Knighted Chess Club. The U-Knighted Chess Club has its origins in the School of the Nations where she was a student. Clementson learnt to play the game in 2009, and has experience teaching chess to underprivileged kids in the Albouystown area. She represented Guyana at the Inter-Guiana Games and the School of the Nations in the National Inter-Schools Championships.

 

 

The just-concluded game represents the 21st encounter between Carlsen and Karjakin with classical time controls. The overall score favours Carlsen, who has four wins against one loss, with sixteen draws. For the impending world championship, the scale seems to be tipped in favour of Carlsen. Both players were child chess prodigies. Karjakin be-came a grandmaster at the age of 12 years and seven months, still the record for the youngest grandmaster of all time. Carlsen was a bit slower to gain the title. He secured it at 13 years, four months and 27 days making him the third youngest grandmaster of all time. Parimarjan Negi of India was five days younger than Carlsen when he achieved the title.

 

 

 

 

 

Chess games

The following games were played at the Bilbao Masters Tournament in Spain. The tournament ended yesterday.

White: Magnus Carlsen

Black: Hikaru Nakamura

  1. e4 c5 2. Ne2 d6 3. Nbc3 a6 4. g3 g6 5. Bg2 Bg7 6. d4 cxd4 7. Nxd4 Nf6 8. O-O O-O 9. b3 Nc6 10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. Bb2 Qa5 12. Na4 Bg4 13. Qe1 Qh5 14. f3 Bh3 15. g4 Qh6 16. Rd1 g5 17. Bc1 Bxg2 18. Kxg2 Qg6 19. h4 gxh4 20. Qxh4 d5 21. g5 dxe4 22. f4 e6 23. c4 Rfd8 24. Rde1 Ne8 25. Nc5 Nd6 26. Qf2 f5 27. Bb2 Nf7 28. Bxg7 Kxg7 29. Qg3 Rd6 30. Rd1 Rad8 31. xd6 Rxd6 32. Qc3+ Kg8 33. Rf2 Qh5 34. Qh3 Qd1 35. Qe3 e5 36. Qg3 Rg6 37. Kh2 exf4 38. Qxf4 Qh5+ 39. Kg1 Qd1+ 40. Kh2 Qh5+41. Kg1 Nxg5 42. Qb8+ Kg7 43. Qe5+ Kh6 44. Qf4 Qd1+ 45. Kh2 Qd4 46. b4 Kg7 47. Qc7+ Kh8 48. Qc8+ Rg8 49. Qxf5 Nf3+ 50. Kh3 Qd6 0-1.

White: Magnus Carlsen

Black: Sergey Karjakin

  1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. c3 Nf6 4. Be2 g6 5. O-O Bg7 6. Bb5+ Nc6 7. d4 Qb6 8. Ba4 cxd4 9. cxd4 O-O 10. d5 Nb8 11. Nc3 Bg4 12. h3 Bxf3 13. Qxf3 Nbd7 14. Rb1 Rfc8 15. Bc2 Ne5 16. Qe2 Nfd7 17. Bg5 h6 18. Bh4 g5 19. Bg3 Qa6 20. Qd1 Rc4 21. Kh1 Rac8 22. f4 gxf4 23. Bxf4 Qb6 24. Qh5 Nf6 25. Qf5 Qd8 26. Bb3 Rd4 27. Bxe5 dxe5 28. Rbd1 Qd7 29. Qf3 Rb4 30. Rd2 Rf8 31. g4 a5 32. Rg2 Nh7 33. h4 Rb6 34. g5 Kh8 35. Rfg1 f5 36. Qh3 Rb4 37. gxh6 Bxh6 38. Qg3 Nf6 39. Qg6 Ng4 40. Rxg4 1-0.

White: Magnus Carlsen

Black: Wesley So

  1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. Qe2 Qe7 7. Nbd2 Bg4 8. h3 Bh5 9. a3 Nd7 10. b4 Bd6 11. Nc4 f6 12. Ne3 a5 13. Nf5 Qf8 14. bxa5 Rxa5 15. O-O Qf7 16. a4 Nc5 17. Qe1 b6 18. Nd2 Rxa4 19. Nc4 Bf8 20. Be3 Kd7 21. Qc3 Nxe4 22. Nxb6+ cxb6 23. dxe4 Qc4 24. Qd2+ Kc7 25. g4 Bg6 26. Rfd1 1-0.

 White: Wei Yi

Black: Magnus Carlsen

  1. d4 g6 2. e4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d6 4. Be3 a6 5. f4 b5 6. Nf3 Nd7 7. e5 Bb7 8. Bd3 c5 9. Be4 Bxe4 10. Nxe4 Nh6 11. dxc5 dxe5 12. c6 Nf6 13. Qxd8+ Rxd8 14. Nxf6+ exf6 15. c7 Rc8 16. Bb6 Kd7 17. Ba5 Nf5 18. O-O-O+ Kc6 19. Rd8 Nd6 20. fxe5 fxe5 21. Rd1 Nc4 22. Bc3 Rxc7 23. b3 Ne3 24. Bxe5 Nxd1 25. Rd6+ Kb7 26. Bxg7 Rg8 27. Bd4 Nc3 28. Rb6+ Kc8 29. Be5 Rd8 30. Kb2 Nd5 Bxc7 Kxc7 32. Rxa6 Kb7 33. Ra3 Ne3 34. c4 bxc4 35. Ne5 Rd2+ 36. Kc3 Rc2+ 37. Kd4 Nf5+ 38. Kd5 c3 39. Kc5 Nd6 40. Nc6 Ne4+ 41. Kb5 Kc7 42. Ra7+ Kd6 43. Ra4 f5 44. Kb6 Rxg2 45. Rd4+ Ke6 46. a4 Ra2 47. a5 Rb2 48. Kc7 Nc5 49. Rc4 Na6+ 50. Kb6 Rxb3+ 51. Kxa6 Kd5 52. Rb4 c2 53. Ne7+ Kc5 54. Rxb3 c1=Q 55. Rb6 Qc4+ 56. Kb7 Qe4+ 57. Nc6 Qd5 58. Kc7 Qd6+ 59. Kb7 Qd7+ 60. Kb8 f4 0-1.

Chess puzzle

chess puzzle24Solution to last week’s puzzle

Hikaru Nakamura vs Mohamad El Mikati, Cannes, 1997

White to play and win

Black played: … Qc7 Qf4 e5.