Norway Chess R4: Sergey's sneaky stalemate
Round four of Altibox Norway Chess 2017 is said to be the most exciting round of chess seen in a very long time. It had everything: Chaos on all boards, a world champion veritably outplayed, a Levon Aronian on fire, Anish Giri taking a victory home, and incredible saves from Vladimir Kramnik and Sergey Karjakin. For a long time the latter's position against Wesley So seemed completely lost, but the minister of defense (unsurprisingly and once again) found a tricky way to avoid defeat.
Karjakin about to play Tg1+, knowing he has turned yet another tough position into a draw. Photo: Maria Emelianova
This save serves as an exquisite example to why one should never stop looking for creative ways out of a tough position, and how one should be especially out in front when identifying that our king - or the opponent's - is in a position to be stalemated.
To see all of the craziness from round 4, see Peter Doggers' thorough piece.
