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Can you think like Magnus Carlsen? Guess the move that made his opponent Karjakin resign in 2 seconds in 2016 world championship

When Carlsen made the move, GM Peter Svidler remarked: “Woah! This is fantastic. I’m so unbelievably impressed by this.” GM Jan Gustaffson added: “Wow! That is a cute finish!” Could you find out the ‘cute finish’ that left Svidler ‘unbelievably impressed’?

At this juncture, Magnus Carlsen played a move so good that it made Sergey Karjakin resign in two seconds. It was the final move of the 2016 World Chess Championship. (Photos: Partha Paul/Express Photo, Lichess)

Over the course of his illustrious career, Magnus Carlsen fought in the world chess championship five times and won each time. In a battle that is considered the pinnacle of chess, Carlsen has defeated the likes of Viswanathan Anand (twice), Russia’s Sergey Karjakin, American Fabiano Caruana and Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi before deciding that he did not fancy playing in another exhausting world championship battle.

Over the course of those five wars that he fought, Carlsen came closest to being dethroned in 2016, when he took on Karjakin in New York and the 12-game battle ended with both players having six points each. This meant tiebreaks in the rapid format. There, after the first two games ended in draws, Carlsen won the third tiebreak game. But victory still wasn’t secured. Karjakin and the reigning world champion still had a final tiebreak game to play. It was there that Magnus played one of his most famous moves to secure the game, the match and the championship! This is the precise move that we want you to guess.

First, let us set the scene. Carlsen is playing with white pieces. We’re looking for the Norwegian’s game-winning 50th move.

Here’s what the board looked like:

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At this juncture, Magnus Carlsen played a move so good that it made Sergey Karjakin resign in two seconds. It was the final move of the 2016 World Chess Championship. (Photo courtesy Lichess)

A hint that might help you. The Norwegian world no 1 sacrificed a piece on move 50. But that sac led to a forced mate. When Carlsen made the move, it took Karjakin precisely two seconds to offer his resignation.

In the commentary for the game, when Magnus made the move, GM Peter Svidler remarked: “Woah! This is fantastic. I am so impressed by that! I’m so unbelievably impressed by this.”

Accompanying him was GM Jan Gustaffson, who remarked: “Wow! That is a cute finish!”

Could you find out the ‘cute finish’ that left Svidler ‘unbelievably impressed’?

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The right answer was 50.Qh6+, which meant that the world no 1 threw his queen into the path of Karjakin’s king. Karjakin was left with no option but to capture.

Magnus Carlsen’s queen sacrifice led to a forced mate.

WATCH: Carlsen’s stunning world championship-winning move vs Karjakin

So why was this such a great move?

Because irrespective of whether Karjakin captured Carlsen’s queen with his king or his pawn on g7, checkmate was inevitable. If Karjakin took with his king, Carlsen’s rook would move in on h8 (Rh8) to deliver a checkmate. If Karjakin took the queen with his pawn on g7, Carlsen’s second rook on f5 would pick up the pawn on f7 (Rxf7) to ambush Karjakin’s king and deliver a checkmate.

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INTERACTIVE: How Carlsen beat Karjakin with stunning sacrifice

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Here are all the moves from the insane Carlsen vs Karjakin final game:

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.f3 e5 6.Nb3 Be7 7.c4 a5 8.Be3 a4 9.Nc1 O-O 10.Nc3 Qa5 11.Qd2 Na6 12.Be2 Nc5 13.O-O Bd7 14.Rb1 Rfc8 15.b4 axb3 16.axb3 Qd8 17.Nd3 Ne6 18.Nb4 Bc6 19.Rfd1 h5 20.Bf1 h4 21.Qf2 Nd7 22.g3 Ra3 23.Bh3 Rca8 24.Nc2 R3a6 25.Nb4 Ra5 26.Nc2 b6 27.Rd2 Qc7 28.Rbd1 Bf8 29.gxh4 Nf4 30.Bxf4 exf4 31.Bxd7 Qxd7 32.Nb4 Ra3 33.Nxc6 Qxc6 34.Nb5 Rxb3 35.Nd4 Qxc4 36.Nxb3 Qxb3 37.Qe2 Be7 38.Kg2 Qe6 39.h5 Ra3 40.Rd3 Ra2 41.R3d2 Ra3 42.Rd3 Ra7 43.Rd5 Rc7 44.Qd2 Qf6 45.Rf5 Qh4 46.Rc1 Ra7 47.Qxf4 Ra2+ 48.Kh1 Qf2 49.Rc8+ Kh7 50.Qh6+