Carlsen vs. Nepomniachtchi: World Championship – Game 7

Greetings chess players. My name is Chris Torres, and this is Daily Chess Musings’ Special Coverage of the 2021 FIDE World Championship Match between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi.

After their historic Game 6, Ian Nepomniachtchi and Magnus Carlsen played a much quieter and shorter Game 7. Nepo returned to playing the white side of the Ruy Lopez and Magnus Carlsen used the same approach in the opening that he employed in Game 5. Of particularly educational value is Magnus’ 8… Rb8 and early piece maneuvers which really seem to have taken the sting out of the 8. a4 Anti-Marshall. In fact, by move 28 it was clear that a draw was the best result Ian could achieve and thus he would not be able to even the match score up during Game 7.
Now, without further ado, let’s take a close look at game 7 of the Carlsen-Nepomniachtchi Match!

I hope you enjoyed today’s special presentation of round 7 from the 2021 FIDE World Championship Match between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi. For more on the match please visit the official website at https://fideworldchampionship.com. Additionally, please take a moment to like this video and subscribe to my Daily Chess Musings YouTube channel. Finally, be sure to check out DailyChessMusings.com to find my notes to this video as well as thousands of other free learning resources. My name is Chris Torres, and I will see you tomorrow with a special presentation of round 8 from the Carlsen-Nepomniachtchi Match.

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Date: December 4, 2021
Location: Dubai UAE
Tournament: FIDE World Championship Match 2021
Round: 7
Opening:
Submitted by:
Published on: December 6, 2021
Tags: https://fideworldchampionship.com, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Daily Chess Musings YouTube channel, World Champion Magnus Carlsen, FIDE, Daily Chess Musings’ Special Coverage of the 2021 FIDE World Championship Match between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi, Ruy Lopez, Daily Chess Musings’ Special Coverage, Petroff variation, Daily Chess Musings’ Special Coverage of the 2021 FIDE World Championship Match, Petroff defense, 2021 FIDE World Championship Match between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi, GAME5-EricRosen, Match between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi, Game 7 of the Carlsen-Nepomniachtchi match, Carlsen-Nepomniachtchi match, Game 7, Chris Torres, Catalan, Daily Chess Musings, second game of the FIDE World Championship had plenty of drama and surprises, DailyChessMusings.com
Categories: Daily Chess Musings, Magnus Carlsen, Ian Nepomniachtchi, FIDE Chess World Championship 2021

[Event "FIDE World Championship Match 2021"] [Site "Dubai UAE"] [Date "2021.12.4"] [Round "7"] [White "Nepomniachtchi Ian (RUS)"] [Black "Carlsen Magnus (NOR)"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [Eco "C88"] [Annotator "Chris Torres"] [Source ""] {[ RUY LOPEZ,C88] Nepomniachtchi Ian (RUS) +4 =1 -0 Carlsen Magnus (NOR) +3 =9 -1} 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 {Ian goes back to the Ruy Lopez.} a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 O-O 8.a4 {and we see the a4 anti-marshall again.} Rb8 {And Magnus uses the same nontraditional approach seen in game 5. Basicall allowing white to control the a-file.} 9.axb5 axb5 10.h3 d6 11.d3 {And here, Nepo chooses a different path than in game 5 where he played c3.} ( 11.Nc3 Be6 12.Nd5 Bxd5 13.exd5 Nb4 14.d4 e4 15.Ng5 Nbxd5 16.Nxh7 Ra8 17.Rxa8 Qxa8 18.Nxf8 Bxf8 19.f3 exf3 20.Qxf3 Nb6 21.Qxa8 Nxa8 22.Bg5 Nb6 23.Bxf6 gxf6 24.Re8 Kg7 25.d5 f5 26.Kf2 f6 27.Kg3 Kf7 28.Rb8 Ke7 29.Kf4 Bh6+ 30.Kxf5 Bc1 31.Rb7 Kd7 32.Kxf6 {1-0, Munoz Francisco (COL) 2215 - Beroiz Julian (ARG) 2135 , Santa Fe 12/28/2017 It (cat.2)} ) h6 {This pawn move can be of great use if black is planning on playing Re8 in the near future as the pawn on h6 stops white's knight from jumping to g5 and ganging up on the f7 pawn with the bishop on b3.} 12.Nc3 {Nepo places a knight on c3 instead of a pawn as he did in game 5. This means there will no early d4 pawn break for white but instead the knight on c3 may look to advance to the d5 outpost.} Re8 {So Carlsen does indeed play Re8.} 13.Nd5 {and Ian's knight advances to d5 as expected.} Bf8 {Carlsen used this Re8 and then Bf8 maneuver in game 5 to goosd effect. It's a nice little move that increases black's king safety while giving the rook on e8 more authority in the e-file.} 14.Nxf6+ Qxf6 15.c3 {Nepomniachtchi is preparing to play the d4 pawn break after all.} Ne7 {Magnus moves his knight to the kingside while making way for a possible c7-c5 pawn push.} 16.Be3 {Ian hesitates on the pawn break for a moment and instead develops his dark bishop to its most influential square possible.} Be6 {Carlsen develops his light bishop and suggests a trade.} 17.d4 {With one extra piece developed, Ian now pushes his d-pawn to d4.} exd4 {Magnus is ok with giving up his pawn center as long as he gets to capture white's key b3 bishop .} 18.cxd4 Bxb3 19.Qxb3 {Nepo gets two center pawns but is missing the light squared bishop, a key piece in the Ruy Lopez.} Ng6 {Magnus finishes placing his knight on the kingside which allows his bishop to help in supporting a c5 push. Additionally, now the rook on e8 is threatening white's e4 pawn.} 20.Rec1 {Nepo places his rook into the soon to be open c-file.} c5 {As expected, Carslen strikes at white's pawn center with c5.} ( 20...Rxe4 {Taking on e4 allows white to get a rook to the seventh rank.} 21.Rxc7 Re7 22.Rxe7 Nxe7 23.Ra6 { and I am sure Ian would have been happy to have traded a center pawn for such an improvement in force which, of course, is why Magnus did not play 20. Rxe4.} ) 21.e5 {Ian momentarily gains space by adding extra complications.} ( 21.dxc5 dxc5 22.Bxc5 Nf4 {Threatenning the Ne2 check and fork.} 23.Kh2 Qg6 {and now mate on g2.} 24.Nh4 Qxe4 25.Bxf8 Rxf8 26.Re1 Qd4 ) Qf5 {Magnus moves his queen to its best safe square.} ( 21...dxe5 22.dxc5 e4 23.Nd2 Qc6 24.Ra7 { Is roughly equal but white has a passed pawn on c5 and a rook in the seventh rank. These are things that black should avoid allowing white to have if he can.} ) 22.dxc5 {The correct pawn capture.} ( 22.exd6 {is a mistake because of...} c4 23.Qc2 Qd5 24.d7 Qxd7 25.Ne5 Nxe5 26.dxe5 Qe6 27.f4 Qc6 {With a 2-on-1 queenside pawn advantage, black would be playing to win.} ) dxc5 23.Bxc5 Bxc5 {Magnus, ahead in the match, finds the easiest way to simplify the position with the black pieces.} ( 23...Nxe5 {Is not a mistake but it would allow Ian the opportunity to be tricky with Nd4.} 24.Nd4 Qf4 25.Ba7 {and white could complicate things more by threatening the rook.} Rb7 26.Ne2 { and the Queen. So Carlsen did good by playing 23... Bxc5 as it simplifies things without allowing white as many tricky opportunities.} ) 24.Rxc5 Nxe5 {First the bishops, now the knights and then the rooks will be exchanged.} 25.Nxe5 ( 25.Nd4 {doesn't work here because of...} Nf3+ 26.Qxf3 Qxc5 {drops the exchange. So, Ian is forced to trade away the pieces and thus his chances to win this game and even up the match.} ) ( 25.Rxb5 {is even worse.} Nxf3+ 26.Qxf3 Qxb5 {Because now white is down an entire rook.} ) Rxe5 26.Rxe5 Qxe5 27.Qc3 {Baiscally offering Magnus a draw. Probably, after the tough game 6 loss, a draw feels like a win to Ian.} Qxc3 {Magnus, up a game in the match, of course agrees to the trade of queens.} 28.bxc3 Rc8 29.Ra5 Rxc3 30.Rxb5 { And just like that we have a 3-on-3 same side pawns with a rook ending. a textbook draw is there ever was one. But the players, per the terms of the match, must play to move 40 before offering a draw so...} Rc1+ 31.Kh2 Rc3 32.h4 g6 33.g3 h5 34.Kg2 Kg7 35.Ra5 Kf6 36.Rb5 Kg7 37.Ra5 Kf6 38.Rb5 Kg7 39.Ra5 Kf6 40.Ra6+ Kg7 41.Ra7 {+0.00 CAP} $10 1/2-1/2