“I think that’s the way it is,” says Carlsen when asked about the phsyical and mental toll of today’s grueling marathon. “As I said, it shouldn’t be easy in a world championship match. You have to try for every chance, no matter how small it is. And part of it was by design at some point, I thought I should make the game as long as possible so that we would both be as tired as possible when the critical moment came. That turned out to be a good strategy.”
Adds Nepomniachtchi: “Obviously it wasn’t the most pleasant game but, anyway, life goes on. It’s not a big deal.”
“Somebody told me after the game,” Carlsen says of the record. “Obviously I’m elated to get this result. It was never easy. Frankly it shouldn’t be. There was a lot of the same emotions as the game that I won against Karjakin (in Game 10 of the 2016 world championship), which was a marathon there as well. Obviously this is huge.”
Says Nepomniachtchi: “Basically I felt like I should play for more than a draw after the opening. ... In general it was a pretty equal game but during the first time trouble, it started to go a little bit wrong for me. Then of course this Qe4 was unnecessary.”
He adds: “Anyway I would say that Magnus managed to capitalize on the very few chances he got. He got this game so that’s very nice for him.”
“Obviously I’m exhausted,” Carlsen says after leaving the playing studio. “But after a win – those are not easy to come by – then I’m obviously elated.”
Asked what the difference was, the champion says: “I think I was maybe a little more patient towards the end. I did feel at some point he was losing his patience a little bit, defending that ending. He was not being quite as vigilant as he was at the start and that sort of gave me some hope. And eventually it gave me the chance to break through.”
What was the decisive moment?
“I don’t know,” he says. “But it felt like at the end when I got [133. e6] and maybe there was still some miracle defense there, but it didn’t really feel that way. At that point I felt very, very good about my chances.”
Bryan Armen Graham (@BryanAGraham)Magnus Carlsen is all smiles after winning the longest game ever played in a world championship: 136 moves over 7hr 45min. pic.twitter.com/i6l8hQPJjQ
December 3, 2021
Carlsen is winning decisively after 134. Rf7 Kd8 135. f5 Qg1 136. Ng7. Nepomniachtchi is running low on time. Under 50 seconds ... 40 seconds ... 30 seconds ... and the players shake hands! Nepomniachtchi has resigned! Unbelievable scenes in Dubai as the playing hall erupts in applause. Carlsen has drawn first blood in this best-of-14 world championship match after nearly eight gruelling hours under the most dramatic of circumstances.
The engines have suddently flared up announcing Carlsen has mate in his sights! Carlsen plays 130. Kh3 and Nepomniachtchi puts his queen on the wrong square (130. ... Qe6). Unbelievable! It’s a clear win for Carlsen if he can find the right moves. On they go and the engines say Carlsen has mate in 19 after 131. Kh4 Qh6+ 132. Nh5 Qh7 133. e6 Qg6!
Onward we go as Friday night turns to Saturday morning in Dubai: 125. ... Qb3 126. Rd5 Ke7 127. Re5+ Kf7 128. Rf5+ Ke8 129. e5 Qa2+. And Carlsen’s pawn move resets the 50-move counter after which a draw is automatically triggered to move 179.
The players trade moves under steady time pressure: 116. ... Rd3 Kf8 117. Rf3 Qd8+ 118. Ke3 Qa5 119. Kf2 Qa7+ 120. Re3 Qd7 121. Ng3 Qd2+ 122. Kf3 Qd1+ 123. Re2 Qb3+ 124. Kg2 Qb7. And with the Norwegian’s 125. Rd2, played right at the seven-and-a-half-hour mark, Carlsen and Nepomniachtchi have broken the record for most moves ever played in a world championship match.
The fight continues: 110. ... Qh1 111. Rd7+ Kg8 112. Rd4 Qh2+ 113. Ke3 h4 114. gxh4 Qh3+ 115. Kd2 Qxh4 116. Rd3. Only a few pieces left on the board: can white’s rook, knight and two pawns overpower black’s lone queen?
And after 108. ... Qb2+ 109. Ne2 Qb1, Carlsen finally pushes a pawn with 110. e4. That obliterates the 50-move counter after which a draw would have kicked in. The new target for automatic draw, if no piece is captured and no pawn is moved, is move 160!
Carlsen plays 105. Ng1 and Nepomniachtchi answers with 105. ... Qb4, which the engines aren’t thrilled with. On they go with 106. Rd1 Qb3 107. Rd6+ Kg7 108. Rd4. Carlsen below 90 seconds, Nepomniachtchi just under four minutes.
We’re in rare air after 100. Nd4 Qh1 101. Rc7+ Kf6 102. Nf3 Qb1 103. Rd7 Qb2+ 104. Rd2 Qb1. What a game! Still 27 moves until Carlsen needs to move a pawn and avoid a draw under the 50-move rule.
The longest game in world championship history was the 124-move stalemate in Game 5 of the 1978 title match between Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi in Baguio, Philippines. Not so far off from that here.
On we go with 95. ... Kf6 96. Rc6+ Kf7 97. Nf3 Qb1 98. Ng5+ Kg7 99. Ne6+ Kf7. This will be only the ninth game in the 135-year history of world championship matchplay to exceed 100 moves. Six of those ended in draws.
The game moves into its eighth hour! Worth mentioning: the last capture occurred on the 82nd move. That means if no more pieces are captured and no pawn moved by the 132nd move, it’s an automatic draw under the 50-move rule. The dance continues: 89. Rd6 Kg7 90. Rd5 Qa2+ 91. Rd2 Qb1 92. Re2 Qb6 93. Rc2 Qb1 94. Nd4 Qh1 95. Rc7+.
More activity, both players moving with remarkable pace and accuracy: 84. ... Kg6 85. Nd4 Qb7 86. Ra2 Qh1 87. Ra6+ Kf7 88. Nf3. The next series cuts off the checking lines (88. ... Qb1 89. Rd6). Carlsen has the winning chances!
The moves are flying on the board: 81. Rb7+ Kg6 82. Rxa7 Qd5 83. Ra6+ Kh7 84. Ra1. That leaves Carlsen with just under three minutes and Nepo with just over four. The engines continue to favor white, just. But under this sort of time pressure, it’s all dependent on the players finding the moves over the board. Easier said than done, to put it mildly.
The rooks are off the board after 78. Rab5 Ba7 79. Rxf5 Qd3 80. Rxf7+ Kxf7. Still many complications and we could be here for a bit thanks to the 30 added seconds after each move.
Nepomniachtchi plays 75. ... Qc2 and Carlsen quickly answers with 76. Rb5, attacking the bishop. It’s a skewer and white will pick up a pawn. And Carlsen declines the pawn capture in an effort to gain time on the increments. The moves coming fast over the board now: 75. ... Qc2 76. Rb5 Ba7 77. Ra5 Bb6. Absolutely gripping finish!
The action is heating up! We’re looking at another time scramble with no more added time in sight and all three results in play! A burst of activity (73. ... Bc5 74. Re5 Qd3) and now Carlsen exhausts more than three minutes before playing 75. Rb7. That leaves the world champion with only 53 seconds of time after the increment.
Nepomniachtchi plays 72. ... Ba7. Both are under four minutes. Carlsen plays 73. Re7 and black’s position is hanging by a thread. Nepomniachtchi suffering in what amounts to a blitz game.
Carlsen re-connects the rooks with 70. Rcc8. Nepomniachtchi’s queen flails itself into the position with the predicted 70. ... Qh1. The Norwegian then attacks the queen (71. Rc1) and Nepo moves it back with 71. ... Qd5. From there Carlsen attacks black’s bishop (72. Rb1) and Nepomniachtchi has a think, going under five minutes.
Carlsen plays 69. Re8 and Nepomniachtchi quickly responds with 69. ... Qd5. Time situation getting hairy for both: five and a half minutes for the challenger and six and a half for the champion.
Nepomniachtchi plays 66. ... Bb5, backing up the queen for a potential attack. Carlsen solidifies the position with 67. Rc1 and the challenger moves the bishop back (67. ... Bb6). Carlsen then attacks the isolated pawn with 68. Re5 and Nepo counters with 68. ... Qb3.
Nepomniachtchi settles on 65. ... Qb4. He’s left with 8min 6sec. Carlsen’s clock has just ticked under 10 minutes as he ponders his response. And he’s gone with 66. Rac8, leaving him with 9min 10sec after the increment.
Carlsen moves a rook up to the eighth file (64. Re8), presumably to soon be joined by its partner. Nepomniachtchi follows with the committal 64. ... f5. And indeed Carlsen re-connects the rooks with 65. Raa8.
Time is becoming a factor once again. Nepomniachtchi just spent eight minutes deciding on 63. ... Kg7, leaving him with 15 minutes. Carlsen is down to 13min 15sec. Aside from the 30-second increment for each move, that’s all the time they will get.
The game has entered its seventh hour. The players continue with 61. Kf2 Bb6 62. Ra1 Qb3 63. Re4.
... and Carlsen goes with 60. f4 with 31 seconds to go. He now gains an additional 15 minutes plus an additional 30 seconds per move under the format. Nepomniachtchi responds with 60. ... Bc7.
Carlsen is below three minutes to make his 60th move. But it’s a key move. Under two minutes. One and a half minutes. And he’s under 60 seconds ...
Carlsen plays the committal 59. f3!?, which the engines don’t love. It’s a move that potentially exposes white’s king, but one that forces Nepomniachtchi to re-think his defensive plan. After four minutes, he responds with 59. ... Qd1.
Carlsen continues to make the challenger suffer (57. ... Qb3 58. Kg2 Qd5+). Yet Nepomniachtchi should be able to hold this. The players are two moves from gaining another 15 minutes.
Play continues with 55. ... Be5 56. Ne2 Qc2 57. R1a2. “It’s crazy to defend this position with black,” says grandmaster Judit Polgar in the commentary booth. “It’s painful, every move! It’s so difficult to save for black, even if it’s possible. I don’t know if it’s possible though, objectively.”
Carlsen plays 55. Ra4, leaving him 12 minutes for his next five moves until the time control. Not nearly as sticky as situation as earlier today. Nepomniachtchi is just under 24 minutes as he contemplates the position.
Carlsen takes black’s a-pawn (53. Rxa3). Nepomniachtchi bypasses the rook capture (Bxa3) and instead captures a pawn with 53. ... Qxh4+ after less than two minutes. Carlsen moves out of danger with 54. Kg1 and Nepo slides his queen to safety with 54. ... Qe4. On we go.
The fighting continues with 49. ... Qb3 50. Ne2 Qd3 51. Nd4 Kh7 52. Kh2 Qe4. Nepomniachtchi has moved his king out of striking distance of white’s knight with the h-pawn no longer in danger.
Nepomniachtchi plays 46. ... Kh6 and Carlsen responds with 47. Rd1. The challenger moves his queen up one square (47. ... Qa4) and the players follows with 48. Rda1 Bd6 49. Kg1. A potential knight and rook v queen endgame looms as this tense encounter enters its sixth hour.
After 45. Ra2 Bb4, Carlsen is below 30 minutes to make 14 moves, nearly 20 minutes behind Nepomniachtchi. The Norwegian responds with 46. Rd3 after three and a half minutes. “The main thing that’s scary for Magnus now is the clock,” says American grandmaster Fabiano Caruana on the Chess.com broadcast. “It’s a complicated position. Things can still go out of control. Although, to me, it feels like white is the one pressing for an advantage here, you never know how things will turn out in time trouble. Just like we saw in the first time-trouble phase: Magnus lost control and suddenly he was on the brink of losing. That could potentially happen again. It’s not like this is a one-sided position.”
A relatively quick burst of moves (42. Nc5 Qb5 43. Nd3 a3 44. Nf4 Qa5). The next time control will come after the 60th move when both players are due an extra 15 minutes plus an additional 30 seconds per move.
Both players have caught their breath after that frenetic time scramble and are seated at the table, acclimating to the new state of play. Carlsen takes 16 minutes before activating his rook (41. Rac2). Nepomniachtchi takes only 98 seconds before responding with 41. ... Bf8. After dramatic swings in evaluation over the last hour which saw each player hold decisive advantages at one point, Sesse evaluates the position as dead even again.
“This is one of the crucial elements in the match,” Vishy Anand says on Fide’s official broadcast. “Both of the players probably went back, realized they missed things. It does not matter. The only thing that matters is the position in front of them now.”
The players have banged out their moves (38. ... e4 39. Nc5 Qxb4 40. Nxe4 Qb3) to reach the time control! Both came within seconds of defeat under extreme clock pressure. Nepomniachtchi made his 40th move with three seconds left. Unbelievably tense moments in this sixth game!
Nepomniachtchi plays the atypical 36. Qd5 to try and confuse Carlsen and keep him under time pressure. Carlsen quickly answers with 37. Rdd2. Nepo plays 37. ... Qb3 and Carlsen plays 38. Ra2.
And he hasn’t found it! Carlsen plays 36. Rc2, which the engines say is losing! He’s left with 70 seconds to make his next four moves. Nepomniachtchi is under three minutes himself.
A rattled Nepomniachtchi plays 32. ... Qd6 after more than four minutes. Carlsen spends three seconds on 33. Rd1 and the challenger responds with 33. ... Bxa3. Another quick move by Carlsen, who’s under extreme time pressure (34. ... Rxb5). After 35. Rc5 e5, Carlsen is down to 90 seconds and he only has one move to survive: e4.
International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess)On move 33, Magnus seems to have missed a chance with 33.Rcc2, a move that makes chess engines very happy. #CarlsenNepo pic.twitter.com/aBUO95X2iI
December 3, 2021
What drama! Nepomniachtchi has gone from possibly winning to potentially losing in the span of one missed chance. The Norwegian supercomputer Sesse says this is decisive for Carlsen.
