The two tournament favorites already faced each other in the first round. Ivanchuk had chosen the King's Indian and came with an early exchange sacrifice. Black got reasonable compensation but still White was always slightly better. Here follows a desperate attempt.

35... d5!? Black could have prepared this with 35... Rd8 but then White plays 36. Bb7! (36. Rxc7 d5 37. Bb1 e4 is too dangerous) 36... Rd7 37. Bc8 Re7 38. Bg4 Nf6 39. Kh1 with a big advantage. 36. Bxd5 Bxg3 37. hxg3 Nf4+ 38. Kf1 Nxd5 The idea was nice but with 39. Rce2! White makes clear that he's the one who made progress. 39... Qf6 40. Rxe5 Qxf3 41. Qxf3 Rxf3+ 42. Ke2 Rf5 43. Rxf5 gxf5 44. Kd3 c5 45. Re5 Nb4+ 46. Kd2 1-0

From a Gruenfeld, Van Wely got into a worse ending, and that's no fun against an endgame virtuoso like Shirov.

27. f4?! This fails tactically. It seems 27. f3! gives more chances for survival: 27... Bxa2 (27... Ra3 28. Nc1 and White can set his hopes on the expression that 'all rook endings are drawn'.) 28. Rc5 Rd2 29. Kf2 Rb2 30. Ke3 f6 31. f4 with counterplay. 27... Bg4 28. Nc3 exf4 29. Nd5 Probably Van Wely thought he'd win the pawn back like this, but with some accurate moves Shirov takes away this illusion. 29... Rd1+ 30. Kf2 Rd2+! 31. Kf1 31. Ke1 Rxg2 31... Be2+! Black removes the bishop away from the fork with tempo - something that's easy to miss. 32. Ke1 Rxa2 33. Nxf4 Bb5 34. Rc8+ Kg7 35. Rc7 Ra4 36. Ne6+ Kf6 37. Nc5 Ra2 38. g4 Re2+ 39. Kd1 Rxh2 40. g5+ Ke5 41. Rxf7 a5 0-1

20. a3! This looks highly dangerous but Karjakin has calculated deeply. 20... Bxa3 21. bxa3 Be6 22. Na2! Qa5 22... Qb6 23. Nb4 a5 is answered by 24. Be3! Qd8 25. Na6! 23. Bc1 Qa4 24. Nb4 O-O?! Two alternatives look better: 24... Rc8 25. Qb2 (25. Rc3 Rxc3 26. Qxc3 Bxb3) 25... a5 26. Nxa5 Qxa5 27. Rxd6 Qc5 with compensation 24... a5!? 25. Qc7 O-O 26. Qxa5 Bxb3 27. Qxa4 Bxa4 28. Rxd6 and Black takes over the initiative with 28... Nc6 29. Bd2 Rfd8! 25. Nd4! Qxc2+ 26. Ndxc2 a5 27. Rxd6 axb4 28. Nxb4 This is simply a healthy pawn, and the rest is good-old (ahem, young) Ukrainian technique. 28... Nd7 29. Bb2 Ng6 30. g3 Nc5 31. Be2 Na4 32. Rc1 Nxb2 33. Kxb2 Kh7 34. Rc5 h4 35. Bb5 Bh3 36. a4 Bg2 37. Rc3 f5 38. Na6 Rb7 39. Nc5 Ra7 40. Nd7 1-0

It's surprising how quickly Shirov manages to lose this equal position. Perhaps he tried too hard to win it?

21... Re4?! 21... Red8 must have led to a draw soon. 22. Rd7! Active play. 22... Rae8 22... Rxc4 23. Qe7 Rf8 24. Rxb7 is something to avoid. 23. c5! Qb5 24. Qxa7 Ra4?! After the "passive" 24... Rb4! it's hard for White to make progress, e.g. 25. a4!? Rxa4 26. Qxb7 Qxb7 27. Rxb7 Re5 28. Rc1 Ra5 29. Rc7 Rexc5 30. Rxc6 Rxc6 31. Rxc6 h5 and this should be a draw. 25. Qb6!? 25. Qxb7 Qxb7 26. Rxb7 Rxa2 27. Rc7 Rc2 28. Rxc6 Re5 leads to the same rook ending. 25... Qxb6 26. cxb6 Rb8 27. Rb1 Rxa2 28. Rb4 c5 Perhaps the very ugly 28... Ra6 was better... 29. Re4 Rb2 30. Ree7 Rb1+ 31. Kh2 Rxb6 32. Rxf7 Rc6?! 32... h5 33. g4! hxg4 34. Kg3 is no fun either, but tougher. 33. Rg7+ Kf8 34. Rxh7 Ke8 34... Kg8 35. Rxb7 Rxb7 36. Rxb7 c4 37. Kg1 35. Rd5! Rcc8 36. Re5+ Kf8 37. Rxc5 Rxc5 38. Rh8+ Ke7 39. Rxb8 1-0

Never take on b2, except...

16... Qxb2 ...when your name is Ivanchuk! Now the game gets very exciting. 17. c5 17. Nc6 Qb7 17... dxc5 18. Nc6 Re8 Perhaps Chuky didn't like 18... Qb7 19. Nxe7+ Qxe7 because of 20. e5 (because 20. Bxc5 can't be it; Black can answer that by 20... Qc7) 19. e5 Nd5 20. Nxe7+ Rxe7 21. Bxc5 Rc7 22. Bd6 Rc3 23. Ra4 A nice move. Suddenly White switches to an attack on the kingside. 23... h6 24. Rg4 Bd7! 25. Rg3 Bb5! And a nice, active defence. 26. Qg4 g5 Probably 26... g6 was also enough to draw: 27. Bxg6 Rxg3 28. fxg3! (28. hxg3 Qe2!) 28... Kh8 (or the impossible-to-find-computer-line 28... Bxf1 29. Bc2+ Kh8 30. Qe4 Bd3!! 31. Bxd3 Qc1+ 32. Kf2 Qd2+ 33. Kf3 Qd1+ 34. Kf2 Qd2+ and Black gives perpetual) 29. Rb1 Rc8! 30. h4 Rc1+ 31. Rxc1 Qxc1+ 32. Kh2 fxg6 33. Qxe6 Qc2 34. Qf7 Ne3 and now it's White who should give perpetual. 27. Qh5!? Bxd3 28. Qxh6 Bg6 29. Rxg5 Nf4 30. Rg4 Rc1 31. Qxf4 Rxf1+ 32. Kxf1 Qb1+ 33. Ke2 Qd3+ 34. Ke1 Rc8 35. Bb4 Qb1+ 36. Ke2 Qd3+ 37. Ke1 a5 38. Bd2 Rb8 39. Qc4 Rb1+ 40. Bc1 Qf5 41. f3 Qxe5+ 42. Kf2 Rb4 43. Qc8+ Kh7 44. h3 1/2-1/2

A difficult ending for Black, but it looks drawish anyway. A persistent Carlsen manages to win it.

33. Ke2 Ba6 34. Kd2 Kd7 35. Be4 g5 36. Kc3 Bc8 37. g3 Kc7 38. f4 g4?! This looks wrong. Why not 38... exf4 39. exf4 gxf4 40. gxf4 Bd7 41. f5 Kd8 42. f6 Ke8 43. Bg6+ Kf8 I wonder. 39. f5 Bd7 40. f6 Kd8 41. Kd3 a4 42. Bg6 Be6 43. Kc3 43. Ke4 seems fine as well. 43... Kd7 44. Be4 Bf7 45. Bf5+ Ke8 46. Bxg4 Bd5 47. Bh5+ Kd7 48. Bg6 e4 If Black waits. White will just start pushing his pawns on the kingside. 49. g4 Ke6 50. f7 Ke7 51. h4 Kf8 52. Kd4 Ke7 53. h5! Bxf7 54. Bxe4 Be8 55. Bf5 Kf6 56. e4 Kg5 57. Bc8 Kf4 58. e5 b4 59. axb4 a3 60. Kc3 Kxe5 61. Kb3 1-0