The long series of draws in New York has finally come to an end. Ever since making a blunder in the fifth game Magnus Carlsen has not been so sharp in the game and now has paid the price as Sergey Karjakin, the Russian Underdog takes a one point lead in the eighth game of the championship. The score as it now stands Karjakin 4.5 to Carlsen’s 3.5 after eight rounds of long-drawn classic Grandmasters chess.

The eighth game proved to be the first decisive game of the Carlsen-Karjakin World Chess Championship 2016 in New York. The challenger came prepared for Carlsen’s tactics and it appeared that after seven rounds of draws the Champion was a little anxious to score a decisive result. But, ended up paying the price for taking the risk to win it.

Magnus Carlsen lacked sharpness

The World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen continued to make minor calculation errors in the games. Karjakin began with white after the rest day, and he appeared sharp as ever using a d4 opening for the first time in the match. The Norwegian steered the game into the Slav defense. However, he got it wrong with Rc8 that led to a series of exchanges and the Russian won a pawn.

With two opposite coloured Bishops still in play the game was probably headed towards another draw. Carlsen had a pawn effectively placed in a dark square against Karjakin’s light coloured Bishop to handle the Russian’s Queen-side pawns. After a few moves, the two agreed to call it a draw after 33 moves to make it seven draws in a row.

Sergey Karjakin scores the first knockdown

Magnus Carlsen used the d4 opening for the second time in the match. The two played conscientiously by the book leading to a series of exchanges till the 24th move and then Carlsen opted to take a risk to try to win the game. The risk forced Carlsen to play a structurally weak position on the board leading to the sacrifice of his pawn to keep his plan in play.

Both players fell in time trouble approaching the first time control and in the rush the Norwegian was able to win back a pawn and break Karjakin’s King protecting pawns. However, the Russian’s a-pawn advanced to a dangerous position and Carlsen needed to keep uninterrupted check on it to draw the game. But, the on-song Karjakin kept finding the best moves adding pressure on the champion.

The champ kept pursuing Karjakin’s a-pawn instead of giving some space to freely move his Bishop. Carlsen’s e-pawn was then blocked and he faltered in the next move to give Karjakin a boost. White, in that situation almost faced move compulsion and Carlsen resigned, leaving the World Cup 2015 winner in a happy mood.

Carlsen was clearly furious with himself afterward and bolted the building without attending the press conference, which is required of both players. Meanwhile, Karjakin was understandably happy.

Magnus Carlsen now finds himself at a disadvantage for the first time in a World Championship match. With four games still to play, the match is far from over. Mathematically, he has the time make a comeback but his back is against the wall and the leisure of time is no longer on his side. The one question everyone has is how will the reigning World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen respond to the loss in the next round?

Image Courtesy: World Chess