Round Three of the World Chess Championships 2016 proved to be longest and most exciting game thus far. The current World Champion, Magnus Carlsen, had the challenger, Sergey Karjakin on the ropes. Karjakin did bend and seemed nearly to the point of breaking but held on for a draw in 78 moves.

The opening seemed very pedestrian and no expected fireworks to come out of a relatively equal position. But, the World Champion pounced when Karjakin made a few inaccurate moves. Smelling blood, Carlsen won a pawn and proceeded to squeeze in his signature boa constrictor style. The position was very tense for nearly 40 moves with the entire world expecting a breakthrough. It never came. Karjakin tenaciously defended strike after strike until a fantastic endgame sacrifice left Carlsen with no means to win the game.

Going into game 4 the World Chess Championship is now tied at 1 ½ - 1 ½. Karjakin has the White pieces for Game 4 and we should expect the same maneuvering for advantage that we have had in the first three games. Carlsen will try to get Karjakin out of the computer cooked preparation and Karjakin will try to steer Carlsen into a deceptively advantageous position. Can Karjakin breakthrough? It does seem doubtful but defending such a position against the World Champion should give him some mental strength to fight for an advantage.

Game 3 Transcription:

 

Carlsen,Magnus (2853) - Karjakin,Sergey (2772)

Carlsen-Karjakin World Chess Championship

New York, New York. 14.11.2016

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0–0 Nxe4 5.Re1 Nd6 6.Nxe5 Be7 7.Bf1 Nxe5 8.Rxe5 0–0 9.d4 Bf6 10.Re2 b6 11.Re1 Re8 12.Bf4 Rxe1 13.Qxe1 Qe7 14.Nc3 Bb7 15.Qxe7 Bxe7 16.a4 a6 17.g3 g5 18.Bxd6 Bxd6 19.Bg2 Bxg2 20.Kxg2 f5 21.Nd5 Kf7 22.Ne3 Kf6 23.Nc4 Bf8 24.Re1 Rd8 25.f4 gxf4 26.gxf4 b5 27.axb5 axb5 28.Ne3 c6 29.Kf3 Ra8 30.Rg1 Ra2 31.b3 c5 32.Rg8 Kf7 33.Rg2 cxd4 34.Nxf5 d3 35.cxd3 Ra1 36.Nd4 b4 37.Rg5 Rb1 38.Rf5+ Ke8 39.Rb5 Rf1+ 40.Ke4 Re1+ 41.Kf5 Rd1 42.Re5+ Kf7 43.Rd5 Rxd3 44.Rxd7+ Ke8 45.Rd5 Rh3 46.Re5+ Kf7 47.Re2 Bg7 48.Nc6 Rh5+ 49.Kg4 Rc5 50.Nd8+ Kg6 51.Ne6 h5+ 52.Kf3 Rc3+ 53.Ke4 Bf6 54.Re3 h4 55.h3 Rc1 56.Nf8+ Kf7 57.Nd7 Ke6 58.Nb6 Rd1 59.f5+ Kf7 60.Nc4 Rd4+ 61.Kf3 Bg5 62.Re4 Rd3+ 63.Kg4 Rg3+ 64.Kh5 Be7 65.Ne5+ Kf6 66.Ng4+ Kf7 67.Re6 Rxh3 68.Ne5+ Kg7 69.Rxe7+ Kf6 70.Nc6 Kxf5 71.Na5 Rh1 72.Rb7 Ra1 73.Rb5+ Kf4 74.Rxb4+ Kg3 75.Rg4+ Kf2 76.Nc4 h3 77.Rh4 Kg3 78.Rg4+ Kf2

½–½