“I could have played much more ambitiously,” Carlsen laments. The champion sounds a bit downtrodden and rueful after failing to capitalize on playing with the white pieces in back-to-back games. Instead, it’s been seven straight draws and a 3½-all deadlock just like in his world championship match with Sergey Karjakin two years ago in New York. Of course, Karjakin was able to break through and draw first blood in that eighth game before Carlsen forced a tie-breaker a few days later. Could a similar turn await on Monday?
We’ll soon find out. Be sure to join us then for more minute-by-minute coverage.
Carlsen: 'What I did was way too soft'
“I knew that the move existed, I just didn’t expect it,” Carlsen says of Caruana’s early surprise (10. ... Qd8!?). “It wasn’t too much of an unpleasant surprise since I felt like there should be many safe options for white. There must have been chances to play for something. But what I did was just way too soft. Then I had one chance to play actively but I didn’t entirely believe in it. ... (15. Nce4) instead of (15. O-O). Castling is essentially just an admission that the position is equal.”
He adds: “I was also looking at (15. f4) which is interesting but probably nonsensical.”
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Carlsen: 'I'm not at all thrilled about my play today'
“After the last game it kind of felt like I got away with murder,” Carlsen says at the post-game press conference. “In that sense it’s easier to be calm about a draw today. I’m not loving it, but I’m not in any sort of panic mode either. Could have been worse. The match is still equal and with black, it’s been going OK. I’m not at all thrilled about my play today.”
Game 7 is a draw after 40 moves!
And we’ve ended with a repetition: 37. Ke3 Bf1 38. Kf2 Ba6 39. Ke3 Bf1 40. Kf2. Carlsen tried, but it’s ultimately a peaceful result. “It was always a draw,” Caruana says. “And overall a solid draw without too many problems is always a good result.”
Says Carlsen, who sounds a bit downtrodden immediately after exiting the playing hall: “There were many, many options for white, it was not easy to choose. I think what I played was a little too slow and I ended up getting nothing. I was hoping to kind of outplay him in the ending with knight against bishop but I think there was nothing there.”
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Not a lot of progress after 32. Nd6 Qxc3 33. bxc3 f6 34. f4 Kf8 35. Kg1 Ke7 36. Kf2 Kd7. Caruana should make it to time control from here. Winning chances for either player difficult to see.
Game 7 is looking no less drawish after the last few moves: 29. ... Qc7 30. e5 Qc5+ 31. Kh2 f6. But as Caruana ponders his response, he’s just gone under eight minutes on the clock. He’ll need to make his next nine moves within that span in order to reach the time control.
31...Ba6 32. Nd6 Qxc3 33. bxc3 f6 Still equal. The difference now is both sides need to be careful as both have pawn weaknesses. pic.twitter.com/uhXKuuzqpk
— Susan Polgar (@SusanPolgar) November 18, 2018
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Another flurry of moves: 26. Bd3 b6 27. f3 Bb7 28. Bxg6 hxg6 29. e4. White takes black’s knight in exchange for a bishop, symmetrical pawn structure intact. This endgame is looking more and more like a draw.
Chances of a draw in game seven of #CarlsenCaruana2018 are now very high. This contest feels increasingly like the early Karpov-Kasparov matches. The players are closely matched and they rarely deviate from equality. What we're missing is the undercurrent of political excitement.
— Jonathan Rowson (@Jonathan_Rowson) November 18, 2018
More simplifications follow: 23. Qd4 Nxc3 24. Qxc3 Bxg3 25. hxg3 Qd7. We appear bound for another peaceful result, but Caruana still must tread carefully.
Svidler: "The only danger here is if Caruana thinks the game is over and they just need to make 5 more moves, and Carlsen thinks it's only just starting - you could lose concentration"https://t.co/VXVuJFJoJe #c24live #CarlsenCaruana pic.twitter.com/yB0qpHOzEH
— chess24.com (@chess24com) November 18, 2018
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Now it’s another rook exchange (21. ... Rxd1+ 22. Qxd1 Nd5). Caruana clearly trying to simplify further over the last few moves.
Caruana replies with 14. ... Ne5. Carlsen then uses his bishop to chase away black’s knight to capture black’s c-pawn without an exchange (14. ... Ne5 15. O-O Bd7 16. Bf4 Ng6 17. Bg3 Bc6 18. Nxc4 Bc7). Now they bring their rooks into the mix with 19. Rfd1 Rfd8 ... and they’re quickly exchanged with 20. Rxd8+ Rxd8. Pieces coming off the board quickly now and the simplification points us toward a draw, but we’ve got a ways to go. Carlsen moves his other rook from the corner (21. Rd1) and steps away from the board for a rest.
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Carlsen decides on the crowd-pleasing 14. Nd2 instead of the risk-eschewing, drawish Bxc4. The champion has spent nearly 50 minutes combined weighing his last four moves, yet Hungarian-born grandmaster Dénes Boros believes he’s still in his prep.
I will say something surprising, I believe Carlsen is still in preparation! Caruana is under some pressure. #CarlsenCaruana,#CarlsenCaruana2018
— Denes Boros (@Gmasterg4) November 18, 2018
No, we haven’t fallen over asleep over here. It’s just been a lot of waiting as Caruana, pondering a potentially critical response to Carlsen’s 13. Bg5, spends nearly a half hour before deciding to take white’s c-pawn with 13. ... dxc4. He’s under an hour on the clock now (57min 27sec), about 10 minutes behind Carlsen.
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Caruana responds with 12. ... Qe7 after 12 minutes. He appears to be out of book, which plays to the champion’s favor. Carlsen takes roughly the same time to counter with 13. Bg5. The computer doesn’t like that move, tipping the advantage to black (albeit marginally) for the first time today. Russian chess grandmaster Alexander Grischuk doesn’t spare the rod: “So, we have another childish preparation by Magnus.”
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Carlsen goes for simple development with 12. Be2 after weighing his options for nearly 14 minutes. Grandmaster Susan Polgar calls the opening a big improvement for Carlsen compared to Game 6.
12 Be2 Another logical development to prepare 0-0. This opening choice is much more suitable for Carlsen, a big improvement over game 6. White is slightly better because of the backward Bishop on c8. Now let's see how he can take advantage of this. pic.twitter.com/k7AfxBuZpQ
— Susan Polgar (@SusanPolgar) November 18, 2018
Carlsen opts for 11. Nb3 after nearly 10 minutes. Caruana takes nearly six minutes to answer with 11. ... Bb6, another novelty, and the Norwegian is back in the tank. He’s been on the clock for more than 10 minutes, but the position is pleasant with no shortage of positive options.
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Caruana (10. ... Qd8!?) offers first surprise!
Carlsen is first to deviate from the Game 2 line with 10. Nd2. Caruana answers by moving his queen into retreat (10. ... Qd8!?), a rare and curious choice. Now Carlsen has the first long think of the day. He’s been examining the position for five minutes (and counting).
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Carlsen opens with 1. d4 and Game 7 is under way!
Carlsen opens with 1. d4. Caruana answers with 1. ... Nf6, same as Game 2. In fact, the first nine moves are the exact same as the second game: 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. Qc2 Nc6 9. a3 Qa5.
The handshake before the 7th game.
— American Chess Mag (@ACMChess) November 18, 2018
Photo: @davidllada pic.twitter.com/lA2tfHJBE8
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Preamble
Hello and welcome to London for today’s Game 7 of the world chess championship between Norway’s Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana of the United States. We’re back in action after Friday’s sixth draw in six games left the best-of-12-games match deadlocked at 3-all.
The players
Norway's Magnus Carlsen is defending the world chess championship against Fabiano Caruana of the United States. The best-of-12-games match is taking place at the College in Holborn between 9 and 28 November, with the winner earning a 60% share of the €1m ($1.14m) prize fund if the match ends in regulation (or 55% if it's decided by tie-break games).
Carlsen, 27, has been ranked No 1 for eight straight years and was considered the world’s best player even before he defeated Viswanathan Anand for the title in 2013. Caruana, 26, is ranked No 2, having earned his place at the table by winning the candidates tournament in March. No American-born player has won or even competed for the world title since Bobby Fischer in 1972.
It marks the first title match between the world's top two players since 1990, when Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov faced off for a fifth and final time.
The format
The match will consist of 12 classical games with each player awarded one point for a win and a half-point for a draw. Whoever reaches six and a half points first will be declared the champion.
The time control for each game is 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. Players cannot agree to a draw before Black's 30th move.
If the match is tied after 12 games, tie-breaks will be played on the final day in the following order:
• Best of four rapid games with 25 minutes for each player with an increment of 10 seconds after each move.
• If still tied, they will play up to five mini-matches of two blitz games (five minutes for each player with a three-second increment).
• If all five mini-matches are drawn, one sudden-death 'Armegeddon' match will be played where White receives five minutes and Black receives four minutes. Both players will receive a three-second increment after the 60th move. In the case of a draw, Black will be declared the winner.
The schedule
Thu 8 Nov – Opening ceremony
Fri 9 Nov – Game 1
Sat 10 Nov – Game 2
Sun 11 Nov – Rest day
Mon 12 Nov – Game 3
Tue 13 Nov – Game 4
Wed 14 Nov – Rest day
Thu 15 Nov – Game 5
Fri 16 Nov – Game 6
Sat 17 Nov – Rest day
Sun 18 Nov – Game 7
Mon 19 Nov – Game 8
Tue 20 Nov – Rest day
Wed 21 Nov – Game 9
Thu 22 Nov – Game 10
Fri 23 Nov – Rest day
Sat 24 Nov – Game 11
Sun 25 Nov – Rest day
Mon 26 Nov – Game 12
Tue 27 Nov – Rest day
Wed 28 Nov – Tie-break games/Awards and closing
The games commence each day at 3pm in London.
Game 1 was a grueling seven-hour, 115-move draw, where Carlsen nearly become the first defending champion to win the opening game of a world title match with the black pieces in 37 years. The next four – Saturday’s Game 2, Monday’s Game 3 and Tuesday’s Game 4 and yesterday’s Game 5 – were mostly safer, conservative affairs. Then came Friday’s Game 6, where Carlsen was outplayed by Caruana in the middlegame and pushed to the limit before saving a draw with incredibly precise defending under pressure. “I was way too casual,” he said afterward. It sure didn’t look that way.
Magnus doesn't like what he sees after 60. ... Bd8. pic.twitter.com/mHaSPMVTOx
— Bryan Armen Graham (@BryanAGraham) November 16, 2018
That sets the table for today’s Game 7, Carlsen’s second straight as white, where the threat of first blood continues to hang over the proceedings. Will today be the day we finally get a decisive result? The first move awaits at the top of the hour.
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Bryan will be here shortly. In the meantime here’s his report from Friday’s thrilling Game 6.
