After a very gruelling 11 rounds of classical chess which produced nine draws and one win for either side, Magnus Carlsen surprised most people by not trying very hard for a win in his final ‘classical’ game with challenger Sergey Karjakin. He was biding his time for the playoff with four games of ‘rapid’ where players get 25 minutes plus several seconds per move. It was his 26th birthday! The first game was a draw. Carsen secured a won game in the second game but couldn’t pull it off. He won the third and then had to draw or win the fourth. The final position was this which as you can see looks rather hazardous. If white doesn’t mate his opponent he’s about to get mated himself. What should Carlsen play?
You can play this and other games here.
Meanwhile other countries take it all rather more seriously!
isn’t it simply Q-h6ch, g7xQ, Rf5xf7 mate?
Yes but the other way of taking the queen also leads to mate rather more cleverly. Anyway, if you look at the broadcast with Svidler commenting – a super Grandmaster, he describes it as surely the best last move in any world championship – so easily seen by us looking, not so easy over the board I guess.
Quite: it’s a lot easier if you have minutes rather than mere seconds to think about it!
Queen H6.
That is beautiful – so elegant, and clearly played for some way ahead despite being rapid play. The black king and white queen in a death pact.