Chess: How does White win?

WE couldn't have scripted it any better at the Kings Tournament had we tried, as Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin are both (yet again) tied at the top unbeaten on 6/9, and now have a showdown to decide who wins the title.

In round nine – after Carlsen was held to a draw by local hero Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu – Karjakin joined his Norwegian rival at the top after his fellow former countryman, Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine, suffered a second meltdown at his hands by falling victim to another bishop sacrifice – only this time, he was routed in a one-way miniature in today's game.

Carlsen and Karjakin were both born in 1990 and became the strongest teenage players of all time. The two look set to be rivals for years to come. But Carlsen's phenomenal rise to superstar status and the media attention he received almost overshadowed Karjakin, who was the youngest player of all time to become a grandmaster (at 12 years and 7 months) a record he still holds today, and one many believe might never be beaten.

Karjakin has had less success than Carlsen. Things really only started to change in the last year or so when – owing to a lack of funding and government support – Karjakin switched federations from Ukraine to Russia. He now lives at the heart of the chess world, in Moscow, and is coached by Yuri Dokhoyan, the former trainer to Garry Kasparov.

Karjakin's play is improving in leaps and bounds, and his performance at the Kings tournament has seen his unofficial live rating jump a seismic 12 points or so, leapfrogging Vladimir Kramnik to become not only world No4 but also the new Russian No 1 on the list.

S Karjakin - V Ivanchuk

5th Kings Tournament, (9)

Pirc Defence, Austrian Attack

1 e4 d6 2 d4 Nf6 3 Nc3 g6 4 f4 Bg7 5 Nf3 0–0 6 Bd3 Na6 7 0–0 c5 8 d5 Nc7 9 a4 b6 10 Qe1 e6 11 dxe6 fxe6 12 e5 Nfd5 13 Ne4 dxe5 14 fxe5 Bb7 15 Bg5 Qd7 16 Qh4 Nb4 17 Rad1 Qc6 18 Nf6+ Bxf6 19 Bxg6!! hxg6 20 Bxf6 Rxf6 21 exf6 Rf8 22 Qg5 1–0