REMEMBER, REMEMBER THE 28TH OF NOVEMBER…
The above title was prepared specifically for the aftermath of the Carlsen – Karjakin game twelve.
Because Guy Fawkes references seemed appropriate to praise the champion after grandiose final struggle which was expected.
Alas, no one really counted on Magnus playing like Mourinho teams in his last White game of the match. Because playing a harmless opening variation and forcing a quick draw isn’t something that is expected from a fighting champion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRNMBcQePv0
Hopefully for us the Magnus fans, his play on tiebreak will be more succesful than the play of the current Jose Mourinho team (sorry Manchester United fans).
GAME COURSE
As you probably noticed, I am slightly revolted with the way the last game of the match developed. And apparently I am not the only one.
Because judging by the comments on the chessbomb, chess community was not very fond of the way the game was conducted.
Actually, the comments to the game proved to be more entertaining than the game itself. Check some of them:
Weegee2: “Omg this is terrible”
Sisis: ” They could suceed in playing the most boring game of the World Championship match.”
And my absolute favourite:
Dejan: “Fide should ban the Ruy Lopez from the World Championship matches.”
Therefore, probably the only person who was happy about how the final game developed, was Dr. Ivo Karlovic. A.K.A. The tiebreak god.
So, what actually happened in game twelve? Well, to be honest, if this was an open tournament it would surely be regarded as a predetermined draw. Carlsen chose the inoffensive variation of the Berlin defence that led to a symmetrical pawn structure and open e-file. Very soon exchanges took place and a bishop endgame was reached, where neither side had chances of winning.
Therefore, the players gained additional rest day before the tiebreaks. The best indication that Carlsen didn’t even try to play normally is his time. At the end of the game, he had 1 hour and 44 minutes remaining, which meant that he blitzed the majority of his moves.
It is clear that in such a match only the result counts. And Carlsen probably judged that he is risking less by entering a four game Rapid Format, instead of trying to win with risk as White. It is worth remembering that he lost the game with the White pieces, and that he is also the world number one by rating in rapid.
As for Karjakin, he can probably have some regrets since three games ago his situation looked much more comfortable. Even so, before the match he would probably sign entering the tiebreaks immediately, since with shorter time control anything can happen. And there was no way for him to do anything with the Black pieces in the last game, unless he was willing to take colossal and unnecessary risk.
Therefore, only the tiebreaks remain.
P.s. I will post only the game without analysis, since there is really not much to analyze here. And furthermore, my motivation for analysis is non-existent. My state while watching the game can be best described by the following picture.
GAME ANALYSIS