c/o Collin Holson

This week, we will be looking at a very classical position taken from the 2016 World Chess Championship Match between Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin. After drawing the classical segment of the match 6–6, with one win each, the two super-grandmasters entered a tiebreak of four additional 25-minute rapid games. In this game, effectively deciding the entire series, the Minister of Defense, Karjakin, fell into a game-losing position that Carlsen swiftly took advantage of. Can you also defeat Sergey Karjakin? (White to move)

Last Week’s Solution:

1… Qxh3+!! 2. Kxh3

Everyone loves a queen sacrifice. Even better if it actually works! If the white king retreats, black simply brings the rook to h6 and has a deadly attack, and if the white king takes on h3, black can keep attacking the king and draw him further and further out into the open, until the king is effectively defenseless.

Collin Holson can be reached at cholson@wesleyan.edu.