Login

FIDE WC Match 2016 - Game 9

What a thrill! As expected, after Karjakin's win in game 8, today's game was a very tense and interesting feat, but the only player who pushed for a win was again Karjakin. the Russian, in another Ruy Lopez, this time the so-called Arcangel variation, was able to put the Champion under pressure and, in more than an occasion, he seemed on the verge of winning his second game in this match. Post-mortem analysis shows that actually Karajan didn't have any easy way to win this game, but for sure Carlsen had to defend very precisely to bring home the draw. Karjakin is probably very satisfied with his play and now he leads by a point with three games to go. Carlsen will have two games with white, which is an advantage, but Karjakin has shown that he can hold the Norwegian even when he has to play back and defend. Nothing is irremediably lost for the Champion but of course, his talk now become more and more difficult, and he will have to push in order to destabilize the challenger and equalize the match. Karjakin could take advantage of such a scenario, and give the final blow to the reigning champion.
Tomorrow Game 10 starts at 2pm EST.

Here is a 5-minute preview of IM Voja Milanovic's analysis of the game.