[Event "FIDE World Championship"] [Site "https://lichess.org/study/1NIB7sSp/hs17TtW4"] [Date "2021.12.08"] [Round "10"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Annotator "Yu,Jennifer"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "C42"] [Opening "Petrov's Defense: Karklins-Martinovsky Variation"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/1NIB7sSp/hs17TtW4"] [Orientation "white"] { After three devastating losses, Nepo seemed to face an impossible task to comeback. With Carlsen only needing 1.5/5 to defend his title, many expected Nepo to come out swinging this game. Instead, we saw a calm and solid draw. The thought is that Nepo's plan was to hold this game and push once he has White during the next game. Whether this was or was not the right decision is entirely debatable! } 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 { Already here it seems that Nepo is fine with a draw. Against an opponent like Carlsen who is happy with the draw, the Petroff is not an ambitious choice. } 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nd3 { Carlsen may have chose this move over the more popular 4.Nf3 in anticipation of playing Qd1-e2 after ...Nf6xe4 and then trading queens after Black responds with ...Qd8-e7. Every half point benefits Carlsen at this point, so going into this endgame is a solid decision. } 4... Nxe4 5. Qe2 Qe7 6. Nf4 Nf6 (6... Nc6 7. Nd5 Nd4 8. Nxe7 Nxe2 9. Nd5 Nd4 10. Na3 Ne6 11. f3 N4c5 12. d4 Nd7 13. c3 c6 14. Nf4 Nb6 15. Bd3 d5 16. Nc2 Bd6 17. Nxe6 Bxe6 18. Kf2 { 1/2-1/2 (80) Carlsen,M (2835)-Caruana,F (2832) London 2018 CBM 187 [Grivas,E] }) 7. d4 Nc6!? { An interesting decision by Nepo that gives Carlsen the chance of playing Be3 -- complicating the game by preventing the queen trade. } 8. c3 { Carlsen keeps it simple to play a straightforward endgame } (8. Be3 Bf5 9. Nc3 O-O-O { with a playable game with chances for both sides }) 8... d5 9. Nd2 Nd8 { Planning to manouver the knight to e6 at some point, while also vacating the c6-square, allowing ...c7-c6 to solidify the d-pawn. } 10. Nf3 Qxe2+ 11. Bxe2 Bd6 12. O-O O-O 13. Bd3 Re8 14. Re1 Rxe1+ 15. Nxe1 Ne6 16. Nxe6 Bxe6 { Up to this point we have mainly seen a series standard exchanges. Now Carlsen finds a way to improving and developing his pieces. This demonstrates a key idea: it's important to not develop pieces immediately to whatever squares are available, but instead, to take time to find or create good squares. } 17. g3 g6 18. Ng2 Re8 19. f3 Nh5 20. Kf2 c6 21. g4 Ng7 22. Bf4 Bxf4 23. Nxf4 g5 { This is an important move to prevent h2-h4. Although h2-h4 doesn't seem like a significant move, it grabs space and secures the f4-square, creating the ability to push in the position. This is especially dangerous in the hands of an opponent like Carlsen who can create an advantage out of almost nothing. } 24. Ne2 f5 25. h3 Kf7 26. Rh1 { Anticipating the opening of the h-file with possible pawn pushes f3-f4 or h3-h4. } 26... h6 27. f4 fxg4 28. hxg4 Bxg4 29. Rxh6 { There is nothing here } 29... Bf5 (29... Bxe2?? 30. Bg6+ $18) 30. Bxf5 Nxf5 31. Rh7+ Ng7 32. fxg5 Kg6 33. Rh3 Kxg5 34. Rg3+ Kf6 35. Rf3+ Ke7 36. Nf4 Kd6 37. Ng6 Re6 38. Ne5 Ne8 39. Rf7 Rf6+ 40. Rxf6+ Nxf6 41. Ke3 { After several decisive games, we saw... well, it wasn't the most exciting draw. However the future is promising: with White in the next game, Nepo will throw everything and the kitchen sink at Carlsen to bring home the win and lessen Carlsen's lead. } 1/2-1/2