Carlsen-Karjakin, Game 7: New move, same result

A dramatic moment in the match! After getting nowhere with 1.e4 in three games with White Sergey Karjakin switched to 1.d4. Were we about to witness a turning point? Not exactly… Once again World Champion Magnus Carlsen proved to be better prepared, though what followed was something of a comedy of errors that saw the players stumble to a 7th draw in a row. Only five games now remain before potential tiebreaks on Magnus Carlsen’s 26th birthday.

What happened in the intervening few moves? Well, first Magnus rushed 15…0-0 without seriously considering what appeared to be the very serious option of 15…f5, later shrugging that move off with an irritated “dunno” in the press conference…

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