World Chess Championship 2016

The World Chess Championship 2016 was a chess match between the reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen and the challenger Sergey Karjakin to determine the World Chess Champion. Carlsen had been world champion since 2013, while Karjakin qualified as challenger by winning the 2016 Candidates Tournament. The best-of-12 match, organized by FIDE and its commercial partner World Chess (former Agon), was played in New York City between 10 and 30 November 2016.

The match opened with seven consecutive draws before Karjakin won the eighth game. Carlsen evened the score by winning the tenth game. All other games were drawn, leaving the match at a 6–6 tie, so tie breaks decided the match. After two draws to begin the rapid chess tie break, Carlsen won the remaining two games to win the match and retain his title.

Planning timeline

• 27 November, 2014: At the closing ceremony for the 2014 championship, FIDE president Ilyumzhinov announces the 2016 match will take place in the United States.
• 4 October, 2015: At the 2015 Chess World Cup, Ilyumzhinov reiterates the location as the United States, saying that the date and place were already final.
• 15 December, 2015: FIDE and Agon sign media rights deal with Norwegian broadcaster NRK, listing 7-figures (in unknown currency) until 2020.
• 8 January, 2016: FIDE announces that Agon has made operational an official broadcasting platform (worldchess.com) for the World Chess Championship cycle events (already present in October 2015).
• 1 March, 2016: Agon announce that the city will be New York City, with approval from its mayor.
• 4 March, 2016: Agon announce that only approved broadcasters will be allowed to retransmit moves from the Candidates and ensuing World Championship.
• 28 March, 2016: Sergey Karjakin wins the Candidates Tournament 2016 to qualify to play Magnus Carlsen.
• 26 May, 2016: Agon head Ilya Merenzon says that "The contract between FIDE and Agon is finalized and is being signed. The contract between the players and FIDE will be finalized in the next 2–3 weeks."
• 7 June, 2016: Agon announces that a venue has been found in New York City, with only sponsor details and paperwork left to be finalized in the next 2 weeks.
• 8 August, 2016: Agon announce the venue as the Fulton Market building in the South Street Seaport in lower Manhattan.
• 30 August, 2016: Agon publish on their website that PhosAgro has signed a strategic partnership contract as a sponsor of the 2016 FIDE World Chess Championship.
• 12 September, 2016: Agon announce EG Capital Advisors as a sponsor, and give pricing packages for virtual reality viewing options.
• 30 September, 2016: Tickets go on sale. The lowest price listed is $75 per game.
• 17 October, 2016: Agon announce their new broadcast model for the World Championship.

Candidates Tournament

The Candidates Tournament to determine the challenger was held on 11–30 March 2016 in Moscow, Russia, with FIDE's commercial partner Agon as the official organizer, with support from the Russian Chess Federation. The tournament was an 8-player double round-robin, with five different qualification paths possible: the loser of the World Chess Championship 2014 match, the top two finishers in the Chess World Cup 2015, the top two finishers in the FIDE Grand Prix 2014–15, next two highest rated players (average FIDE rating on the 12 monthly lists from January to December 2015, with at least 30 games played) who played in Chess World Cup 2015 or FIDE Grand Prix 2014–15, and one player nominated by Agon (the organizers).

Qualified players

Standings

Results by round

Pairings and results

Numbers in parentheses indicate players' scores prior to the round.

Summary

Going into the final round, Caruana and Karjakin were tied for the lead, half a point ahead of Anand, and played each other in the final round. Due to the tie breaks situation, the only possible tournament winners were Caruana and Karjakin, with the winner of their final game also the winner of the tournament. A draw would cause the tournament result to depend on Anand's game against Svidler; if Anand won then Caruana would win, but otherwise Karjakin would win. Karjakin had the further advantage of white in the final game. Caruana played for a win in the final round, but overpressed, and at the critical moment, Karjakin calculated correctly and won the game and tournament. In retrospect, Karjakin's draw with black in his other game against Caruana, which Chessbase called a "brilliant defensive effort", was critical. Karjakin's victory qualified him as the official challenger.

Championship match

The Championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin was held from 10 to 30 November 2016 in New York City, United States, under the auspices of FIDE.

Previous head-to-head record

Prior to the match, as of 10 November 2016, Carlsen and Karjakin had played each other 21 times (at long time controls) with Carlsen leading 4 wins to 1 with 16 draws. Their most recent encounter was at the July 2016 Bilbao Chess Masters double round-robin tournament, where Carlsen won one game while the other was drawn.

Lead up to match

After his victory in the Candidates Tournament 2016, Karjakin was scheduled to play in the Norway Chess event in April with a head-to-head game against Carlsen on tap, but cancelled his appearance, citing fatigue from the Candidates victory. He then surprised Carlsen by agreeing to play in the double round-robin Bilbao tournament in July. The games at the Bilbao tournament were played at a slightly faster initial rate (40 moves in 90 minutes) than that used in the World Chess Championship (40 moves in 100 minutes). Carlsen defeated Karjakin in their first game in the Bilbao tournament, while the second was drawn. He credited the faster time control in making it difficult for Karjakin to deal with pressure.

Organization and location

The match was held under the auspices of FIDE, the world chess federation, with the organisation rights belonging to Agon, its commercial partner. It took place between 11 and 30 November in the renovated Fulton Market Building (formerly Fulton Fish Market) in the South Street Seaport in New York City, with the two contestants competing for a prize fund of at least 1 million euros (US$1.1m). The chief arbiter was Takis Nikolopoulos from Greece.

Match regulations

According to the match regulations put forward by FIDE, the players could not draw a game by agreement before Black's 30th move, but they could claim a draw by threefold repetition. The time control was set at:

• for full-time control games, 100 minutes for the first 40 moves, 50 minutes for the next 20 moves and then 15 minutes for the rest of the game plus an additional 30 seconds per move starting from move 1.
• for rapid games, 25 minutes with 10 seconds increment per move (3.7.1a). The player with the best score after four games is world champion; if tied, players will play up to five two-game blitz matches.
• for blitz games (except the final sudden death game), 5 minutes with 3 seconds increment per move (3.7.2). The player with the best score after any two-game blitz match is world champion; if tied, players will play one sudden death game.
• for the final sudden death game, 5 minutes for white pieces, 4 minutes for black pieces, no increment for the first 60 moves, 3 seconds increment per move starting at the move 61 (3.7.3). The winner of this game is world champion; if drawn, black is the winner and world champion.

Seconds

Magnus Carlsen's team for the match consisted of Peter Heine Nielsen (main coach), Jon Ludvig Hammer (regular sparring-partner), Espen Agdestein (manager). Additional support was from the analytic team which included Laurent Fressinet, Nils Grandelius, Jan Gustafsson, and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Samuel Shankland took part in some training camps, and Magnus also played training games against Richárd Rapport.

Sergey Karjakin's team for the match included Vladimir Potkin, Alexander Motylev, Yury Dokhoian, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, and some undisclosed Russian grandmasters.

Opening press conference

The opening press conference was held on 10 November. FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was unable to attend following sanctions from the US Government over his ties with the Syrian regime, but communicated by Skype instead with vice president Gelfer the official FIDE representative (rather than deputy president Makropoulos). Agon's CEO Ilya Merenzon attended, and the two major sponsors (EG Capital Advisors and PhosAgro) had representatives, with both players and the chief arbiter rounding out the principals.

Broadcast

The video feed on the official website was only available after paying a fee. Live commentary was provided by Agon and Chess24. Prior to the match AGON tried to deny other websites to show moves of the match. AGON went to court over this but lost their case.

Schedule and results

The games commenced each day at 14:00 local time in New York City.

Classical games

Game 1: Carlsen–Karjakin, ½–½

Carlsen opened with 1.d4, and then chose to play the Trompowsky Attack (1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5), an uncommon opening at the elite level, though one which Carlsen has employed before. A temporary pawn sacrifice by White led to mass exchanges and an endgame in which White had the better pawn structure and so slightly better chances. However Black's position was solid and Karjakin defended robustly. After 42 moves the game was drawn.

Carlsen's opening choice was recalled multiple times in interviews and the post-game press conference, in part due to its uncommon reputation, but also because its name resonated with Donald Trump and the recent United States presidential election three days prior. Carlsen said that if he had known how many questions he would face over his opening choice, he would have played something else. Karjakin noted the media appeared more surprised about Carlsen's opening choice than he himself was, and indicated that perhaps move 27 was Carlsen's last chance to make something of the game.

Game 2: Karjakin–Carlsen, ½–½

In game 2, Karjakin opened with 1.e4, which he had played in 9 of 12 prior encounters with Carlsen. Carlsen responded to Karjakin's Ruy Lopez with a classical line rather than the Berlin Defense. Karjakin then avoided the principal variation with 6.d3. Karjakin exchanged central pawns on move 18 (see diagram), and Carlsen said afterwards that Black was too solid in the center for White to regroup his Nc3 to g3.

After the game, Carlsen said that in a long match not every game is going to involve fireworks. The game had higher attendance than the opener, with one reason being that many schools used their free tickets on the weekend.

Game 3: Carlsen–Karjakin, ½–½

This game saw the Berlin Defense, which is quite often seen in the World Championship (4 times each in 2013 and 2014). Carlsen avoided the 'Berlin Endgame' by playing 5.Re1. A mainline was followed until Carlsen retreated his rook only to e2 on move 10, upon which Karjakin thought for nearly half an hour. Carlsen followed it up with 11.Re1, apparently losing a tempo but having provoked the move 10...b6. At the press conference afterwards he joked that 10.Re2 was a fingerfehler which he corrected on the next move. (In fact the idea had been tried the previous year by grandmaster Rustam Kasimdzhanov.) Karjakin accepted slightly weakened pawns, and in contrast to the previous games decided to aim for counterplay with 29...Ra8 then 30...Ra2 rather than sit passively. Carlsen soon won a pawn to emerge with the first real winning chances of the match. After many vicissitudes along the way, Carlsen missed the winning 70.Re8 (see diagram). After 70.Nc6, Black could reach a theoretical draw by 70...Rc3 (attacking the knight, which guards White's rook), though some difficult follow-up lines might be needed before a drawn pawnless endgame would definitively be reached. Karjakin instead immediately grabbed White's f-pawn (70...Kxf5), which would lose against perfect play, but Carlsen granted him another drawing chance two moves later with 72.Rb7. This time Karjakin found the necessary defense 72...Ra1. An ensuing liquidation saw Karjakin's passed h-pawn strong enough to compel Carlsen to acquiesce to a draw after almost seven hours of play.

The game was hailed as a miracle escape for Karjakin and a showcase of his defensive skills. At the postgame conference, Carlsen said that he never saw a clear win, that it was "a little bit disappointing" not to have converted, and responded "absolutely" when asked if he was afraid to find out from the computer how much he had missed.

Game 4: Karjakin–Carlsen, ½–½

Both players repeated the classical Ruy Lopez opening from Game 2, but this time White went with the main line 6.Re1. After White avoided the Marshall Attack with 8.h3, the pace slowed at move 11, with Carlsen thinking for 4 minutes before Karjakin took 10 minutes on his 12th.

The game developed into a sharp middlegame when Karjakin played 18.Bxh6, but Carlsen navigated the complications better, gaining a small advantage. Karjakin eventually decided to trade queens and enter an inferior endgame. Carlsen was pressing along the way, but Karjakin defended stubbornly, and Carlsen's 45...f4? made the position easier to defend. The game was drawn after 94 moves.

Chessbase opined that, after four games, Karjakin still had to find a way to put Carlsen under pressure while Carlsen has to do the same to win his good positions.

Game 5: Carlsen–Karjakin, ½–½

In this topsy-turvy game, Karjakin equalized easily out of the opening (a Giuoco Piano) and seized the initiative in a complicated middlegame. Carlsen managed to neutralize Karjakin's initiative to enter a major piece endgame with opposite-colored bishops which he can try endlessly to win without risking a loss – the exact kind of game which he is renowned for winning. However, he played aimlessly before the first time control. After the careless king move 41.Kg2? (blocking his major pieces from the soon-to-be-opened h-file) he suddenly came under pressure. Like Carlsen in games 3 and 4, Karjakin failed to make the most of these chances, and the game ended in a draw, albeit the first in the match in which Karjakin had serious winning chances.

Game 6: Karjakin–Carlsen, ½–½

After three intense struggles, the sixth game was a quiet, relatively short draw. In a main line Ruy Lopez, Karjakin avoided the Marshall Attack (regarded as a drawish line at grandmaster level), playing instead 8.h3. Carlsen played the somewhat similar line 8...Bb7 9.d3 d5, sacrificing a pawn for positional compensation. Faced with Carlsen's opening preparation, Karjakin chose to return the pawn and after further simplifications the draw was agreed.

Game 7: Karjakin–Carlsen, ½–½

After three unsuccessful attempts at gaining an advantage with 1.e4, Karjakin played 1.d4 for the first time in the match. Carlsen responded with the Slav Defense, which transposed into a tame variation of the Queen's Gambit Accepted. Karjakin made a slight inaccuracy with 11.Nd2, but Carlsen seemingly underestimated his position with 16...Rc8 and failed to capitalize. Several forced exchanges later, the game entered an opposite-color bishop endgame where White was a pawn up, but could make no progress.

Game 8: Carlsen–Karjakin, 0–1

Carlsen played the Colle System, an innocuous opening rarely seen at grandmaster level. He then played recklessly for a win, openly inviting complications. Although analysis suggested that the complicated 19...Qg5 would have been good for Black, Karjakin refused to oblige, playing instead 19...Bc6. The position was equal, but Carlsen continued to play for a win. The move 24.bxc4 was criticized by commentators who said that if Carlsen wanted to make this recapture, it should have been done on move 22. Carlsen eventually overpressed with 35.c5?, going down two pawns for almost no compensation. In time trouble, Karjakin returned the blunder with 37...Qd3? (37...Qa4 was winning), allowing Carlsen to win back both pawns. The resulting position was objectively equal but double-edged in practice, with connected outside passed pawns but an exposed king for Karjakin. Once again Carlsen had forced drawing lines at his disposal, but chose to play for a win. Instead, he erred with 51.Qe6? and after 51...h5! 52.h4 a2! he resigned. (After 53.Qxa2 Ng4+ 54.Kh3 Qg1, White has to sacrifice the queen to avoid immediate mate.) International Master Sagar Shah attributed Carlsen's defeat to a loss of objectivity.

After the game Carlsen was visibly uncomfortable and left the press conference before it began, potentially incurring a fine of 5% of his prize money to the organizers Agon, and a further 5% to FIDE. FIDE released a statement the following day indicating that the penalty would be imposed. The fine was reduced on appeal to 5% of the prize money (2.5% to Agon and 2.5% to FIDE).

Game 9: Karjakin–Carlsen, ½–½

Carlsen opened with the Modern Archangelsk variation of the Spanish Game, a variation he had played only four times in his career. The game followed a line which Karjakin had used to beat Adams until move 18 at which point Carlsen deviated by playing 18...c5. Carlsen remained within his opening preparation until at least move 22, taking less than a minute to play the novelty 21...cxb3. The game developed into a pawn-up middlegame for White that offered White a long-term advantage, but Karjakin declined to sit on his 1-point lead and instead went for the win. The game became very tense with Carlsen consuming a lot of time. He played 38...Ne7 with less than two minutes on his clock, against Karjakin's 25 minutes. Karjakin invested most of the 25 minutes before making the bishop sacrifice 39.Bxf7+, when 39.Qb3 was also very strong and possibly even winning. In spite of his time situation, Carlsen defended accurately. In the resulting endgame White was still a pawn up, but the extra pawn was doubled. Karjakin kept playing, but could make no progress, and the game was drawn after 74 moves.

Game 10: Carlsen–Karjakin, 1–0

Game 10 was a Ruy Lopez anti-Berlin. In keeping with his game plan, Karjakin tried to remain as solid as possible. A critical moment arose after Carlsen's 20.Nd2, which allowed Black to force a draw or a favourable endgame (see diagram). Karjakin said in the press conference that he thought Carlsen could meet 20...Nxf2+ with 21.Kg1, and missed 21...Nh3+ 22.Kg2 Ngf4+ 23.gxf4 Nxf4+ 24.Rxf4 Qxf4 "and black can never lose" (Carlsen); however Wesley So thought White still had an edge after either 24...Qxf4 or 24...exf4.

Reminiscent of games 3 and 4, the game evolved into one in which Carlsen could constantly press, while Karjakin defended. Carlsen steadily improved the position of his pieces, but had no breakthrough until Karjakin played the inaccurate 56...Rhh7?, which allowed Carlsen to play the break 57.b5! at a favourable time. Karjakin tried to actively seek counterplay, but Carlsen fended him off and simplified into a winning endgame, earning Karjakin's resignation.

Game 11: Karjakin–Carlsen, ½–½

In his last game with the white pieces at standard time controls, Karjakin opened with 1.e4, and the game developed into the seventh Ruy Lopez of the match. Carlsen chose a variation which has given White "free pressure" (Svidler) in the past, but Karjakin failed to make the most of his theoretical edge. Instead it was Carlsen who was playing for the win, with the pawn sacrifice 18...c3 19.bxc3 d5!? This led to a passed pawn for Black that advanced all the way to the 2nd rank, but with his own king exposed, Black could not make progress and fend off a threatened perpetual check at the same time, resulting in a draw.

Game 12: Carlsen–Karjakin, ½–½

Game 12 ended in a very short draw, the shortest of the match under standard time controls. Carlsen signaled his willingness to accept a quick draw by playing one of the most solid variations against the Berlin Defense. Karjakin did not disagree, and after mass exchanges the game was drawn in 30 moves, the earliest allowed by the rules of the match, and after only 35 minutes of play (for comparison several of the earlier games in the match took over 6 hours to conclude). In the post-game interview, Carlsen seemed keen on enjoying Wednesday's challenge of quicker tie-breaking games.

Agon Director Ilya Merenzon said during the press conference that fans holding tickets for round 12 would get into the tiebreak for free.

This game holds the dubious distinction of being the fastest game to finish in World Championship history, quicker even than various forfeits that have occurred as they require 1 hour to elapse before the player forfeits.

Tie-break games

Game 13: Karjakin–Carlsen, ½–½

The first tie-break game was level throughout, with neither player gaining a significant advantage.

Game 14: Carlsen–Karjakin, ½–½

This game started with the Italian Opening instead of the more common Ruy Lopez. After a series of exchanges at moves 35–37 Karjakin found himself with a rook and pawn against Carlsen's two bishops. While materially equal in value, the open nature of the position gave the bishops great scope, and Carlsen had all the winning chances. By move 40, Karjakin had just 59 seconds remaining, whereas Carlsen still had 4 minutes. Carlsen failed to find the winning approach to the end game, and in spite of his time situation, Karjakin managed to set up a wrong rook pawn position where his king could not be dislodged from h8/h7/g8. He then exchanged his rook for one of the bishops, ensuring the draw. Judit Polgár called Karjakin's defensive skills, finding the required moves with only seconds on the clock, "unbelievable".

Game 15: Karjakin–Carlsen, 0–1

Carlsen (Black) followed the same strategy he had used in the previous game: get ahead on the clock, then sacrifice a pawn (30...e4!) for active play. His pressure on Karjakin's position eventually bore fruit. On move 38, with less than 20 seconds left and in a slightly worse position, Karjakin blundered with 38.Rxc7?, allowing the winning 38...Ra1, which skewered the white queen and bishop.

This gave Carlsen a 2–1 lead with one rapid game to play.

Game 16: Carlsen–Karjakin 1–0

Karjakin, as Black, was forced to take risks, because he needed to win the game to avoid losing the match. He played the Sicilian Defence, the only appearance of that opening in the match. Carlsen played calmly with a weakness-free position while Karjakin desperately attempted to create chances. This did not work, and Carlsen soon gained an advantage. Karjakin might still have managed to hold a draw, but since he had to win he left himself open to a winning attack. Carlsen finished the game with the queen sacrifice 50.Qh6+!!, which leads to mate on the following move. Grandmaster Lubomir Kavalek described the move as "the most brilliant final move of any world chess championship in history."

Aftermath

Annotating for Chessbase, David Navara wrote that Carlsen deserved the title, as he has been the number 1 player in the world for many years, but also that Karjakin deserved credit for successfully showing that it was possible to compete on even terms with Carlsen. Karjakin said in the postmatch conference that he had played well below his capabilities in the tiebreaks and was unable to make use of his preparation. Nonetheless, he indicated that he would accept his invitation to the next Candidates Tournament to fight for another match for the title. In the immediate future, however, he will concentrate on his personal life (his son having taken his first steps during the match), which he had neglected for the duration of the match.

The manner in which the match ended – the World Classical Chess Champion title being decided in a rapid playoff – earned some criticism from Yasser Seirawan and former world champion Anatoly Karpov as inappropriate, considering that there is also a World Rapid Chess Champion title. Speaking on the format during the postmatch conference, Carlsen reiterated his preference for a different format for the title (probably a knockout format he had proposed in 2015), while Karjakin indicated he was happy with the match format.

Because of the even score in the classical portion of the match, Carlsen lost 13 rating points in the December 2016 FIDE ratings list, while Karjakin gained 13 points. Carlsen remained the top player in the world, 17 points ahead of Fabiano Caruana, while Karjakin rose to sixth.

Carlsen and Karjakin played their next classical game at the 2017 Tata Steel tournament, and the game was drawn. The next decisive classical game was at Norway Chess 2017, with Carlsen winning.

External links

• 2016-12-04 at the Wayback Machine