After losing to Svidler at the famous Candidates Tournament in London in 2013, Magnus Carlsen had to wait for the result of the Ivanchuk - Kramnik game. Kramnik needed a draw to win the tournament.
What happened? A few meters away, at the other table, there was a lot of excitement. For the former world champion, Russian grandmaster Vladimir Kramnik, a draw (he led the black pieces) with Ukrainian grandmaster Vasily Ivanchuk was now enough to win first place, which secured the much-desired match for the world title with the current champion V. Anand.
In this crucial game, Kramnik, as Black, opted for the Pirc Defense, named after the Slovenian grandmaster Pirc. This defense is considered a solid opening that has the advantage that it does not require memorizing lengthy analyses in every branch, but rather the player can simply rely on understanding the position. Kramnik used the Pirc Defense several times whenever he sought to impose a strategic fight on his opponent from the very first move.
It should be noted that Kramnik had a furious finish (five points from six games!), but now he set his sights on a combative opponent, who had defeated Carlsen with black pieces just two days earlier! And he did not want to back down from another candidate for the chess throne. Grandmaster Sergey Shipov, after the 23rd move of black, hinted at another drama.
Until a certain point, Ivančuk avoided complications, even those that were visually advantageous. But at this point, he nevertheless entered into open battle.
24. g3! Nxh3 25. Kg2 Ng5 26. Th1.
Excellent pawn sacrifice. It's hard for Black to defend.
26…Kg8 Nxg5 Nxg5 28.f3 Bxd5! The knight was threatened to enter on e7.
29. Bxd5 c6. 30. Bc4. Here it became clear that White would capture the a6-pawn when he needed it. Further sharp actions by Black turned against him.
30…Qc8 (30….Ne6 was safer!); 31. Qb3 h5. Maybe it was necessary to immediately move the queen to f6 via 31…Qd8
32. Be3 Se6. 33. Tha1! h4 34. Gxg4! Qd8.
Now White should have returned the rook to h1, but Ivančuk, carried away by the hazard of the game, hurried.
Rxh6? A fateful moment in the game and the entire tournament.
35…Tc82??
A catastrophic mistake that cost Kramnik his participation in the new championship match. He was just a little short of success. The correct move was 35…Rxa6 36. Rxa6 Nf4+ and White must not be greedy if he wants to survive. For example: 37.Bxf4 (37Kg3 Qd1! 37…exf4. 38. Bxf7+ Kh8.) and here he loses 39. Bxe8 Qd2+ 40. Kh1 (40. Kh3 Qf2) 40…Qe1+ 41.Kg2 Bd4! with inevitable checkmate.
It would seem that White would have to play 39. Qd3 Qxh4! 40. Bxe8 Qg3+41.Kf1 Qh3+ 42. Ke2 Qg2+ 43. Kd1 Qg1+. 44. Kd2 Qf2+ and we arrive at eternal check. Considering the events in the Karlsen - Svidler game, such a finale would be victorious for Kramnik.
36. Th1 White is left with a pawn higher and a better position. 36….Rc7. 37. Bxe6 Rxe6 38. B5! Rb7 It is hopeless and 38… cxb5 39. Rxe6 fxe6. 40. Qxe6+ Rf7 41. Qxg6
39.h6! c5 40. Rb1 Bf8 41. Qd5! Qb8 42. Rba1! Rd6 43. Ta8 Txd5. 44. Txb8 45. exd5 Bd6. It's a surrender: 45…Txb6 46. Ta8 Kg7. 47.Txf8 Kxf8 Bxc5+ 46. Ta6 Tx7 47. Kf1.
Here too, Vladimir decided not to delay the capitulation. The king moves to c4, and if a black pawn stands in his way (c5-c4), he falls immediately after Ra4. Black surrenders.
In the end, Carlsen triumphed. The same number of points (8,5), the head-to-head score tied (1:1), but the Norwegian had more tournament wins (5) than the Russian champion (4). The third criterion - the Berger coefficient - would favor Kramnik.
How did the "interested parties" - tournament winner Carlsen and current champion Anand evaluate "London 2013"?
"The last three games were very difficult, I got tired, the situation got out of control and anything could have happened. But, up until then I had played very well, I made almost no mistakes, overall I think I deserved the victory," said Karlsen.
Praise for the tournament participants also came from the most authoritative place, from the current champion Anand:
"This was perhaps the best pretender tournament in the history of chess. The sheer number of twists and turns kept the spectators in suspense until the very end. I feel great sympathy for Kramnik: after 13 rounds I thought he deserved to win," said Anand, among other things.
Bonus video:
