Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin[a] (born 12 January 1990) is a Russian chessgrandmaster and politician. Achess prodigy, he previously held the record for the world's youngest ever grandmaster, having qualified for the title at the age of 12 years and 7 months.[1][2] On 12 September 2024, he became a senator forCrimea in theFederation Council of Russia.[3]
Karjakin's public approval of theRussian invasion of Ukraine prompted theGrand Chess Tour to ban him for future events. He was also banned from playing FIDE-rated events for six months, including theCandidates Tournament 2022.[6] Following the expiration of his ban, Karjakin has refused to participate in events where he is barred from playing under the Russian flag;[7][8] this, in conjunction with FIDE's ban on Belarusian and Russian flags, meant that Karjakin has been inactive, dropping out of FIDE's rating lists in June 2024.
By scoring grandmaster norms at theAeroflot Open in Moscow,Alushta tournament in May 2002 andSudak in August 2002, he surpassedBu Xiangzhi to become the world's youngest grandmaster at the age of 12years 7months―a record that lasted for 19years until 2021, when American playerAbhimanyu Mishra achieved the qualifications for the title at the age of 12years, 4months, and 25days. Both Karjakin and Mishra have faced scrutiny for the methods with which they won their qualification, however; Karjakin's father has been accused of using methods skirting the norms of chess in enabling such an early attainment of the title.[13]
Karjakin entered the world's top 100 in the April 2005FIDE list, at 64th with anElo rating of 2635. He scored 8½/11 points (+7=3–1) to win the Young Stars of the World tournament held inKirishi, Russia in May.[18] In July, he tied for third place in theEuropean Individual Championship.[19]
Karjakin played again in the NH Chess Tournament for team "Rising Stars", which beat "Experience" by 26½–23½. He was the best player, having scored 7/10, and this earned him an invitation for the 2008Amber chess tournament.[22]In October 2007, Karjakin finished second behind Bu Xiangzhi in theblindfold chess World Cup inBilbao, scoring 17 points after five wins, two draws and three losses (the scoring system was 3 points for a win, 1 for a draw and 0 for a loss).[23]
During theChess World Cup 2007, which served as a qualification tournament for theWorld Chess Championship 2010, Karjakin reached the semi-finals, in which he lost toAlexei Shirov. On the January 2008 FIDE rating list, published just before Karjakin's 18th birthday, he passed the 2700 mark for the first time, often seen as the line that separates "elite" players from other grandmasters, with a new rating of 2732 and a world rank of 13.[citation needed]
In June 2011, Karjakin took second place in theBaznaKings Tournament inMediaș,Romania, after sharing the lead with Magnus Carlsen in the final round, and after ranking was then determined by the tournament's official tie-break regulations. The final standings listed Carlsen followed by Karjakin, thenHikaru Nakamura,Teimour Radjabov,Vassily Ivanchuk, andLiviu-Dieter Nisipeanu. The results affected the world rankings, as Carlsen reclaimed first place, and Karjakin passed Kramnik for fourth place.[26][27]
In June 2014, Karjakin won theNorway Chess tournament for the second year running. In this tournament, he competed against nine other players, six of which were rated in the FIDE top10.[citation needed]
Karjakin won theChess World Cup 2015 after going down 0–2 to former World Cup ChampionPeter Svidler, eventually winning 6–4 in blitz tiebreaks. By finishing in the top two, Karjakin qualified, along with Svidler, for the 2016 Candidates Tournament.[citation needed]
In the same year, he took part in the Russia–China Challenge Match. The first part of the event took place from 29July to 1August in theHeixiazi Island, where Karjakin sequentially knocked out four of the five members in the Chinese team:Wei Yi,Ding Liren,Ni Hua andYu Yangyi.[32][33] In the second half of the event, which was held inHarbin in December, he also defeatedWang Yue, leading team Russia to victory.[34]
In March 2016, Karjakin won the2016 Candidates Tournament in Moscow and qualified to play a match against Magnus Carlsen for the title of World Chess Champion. He defeated Fabiano Caruana in the last round of the tournament to finish with 8½ out of 14, one point ahead of Caruana and Anand.[citation needed]
TheWorld Chess Championship 2016 took place 11–30November 2016 inNew York City. The format consisted of a maximum of 12 games played under a long classical time control, ending with possible speed chess tiebreak games and anArmageddon game to ensure a winner. Karjakin's record against Carlsen in classical games before the World Championship was: 1win, 4losses, and 16draws.[35] Karjakin won the eighth game,[36][37][38] but lost the tenth, leaving the match tied 6–6. Carlsen defeated Karjakin 3–1 in the rapid tiebreaks and won the match.[39][40] This remains the last time Carlsen was defeated in a classical or rapid game in the finals of a World Chess Championship having gone unbeaten in the rapid tiebreaks with Karjakin and in his subsequent matches with Caruana in 2018 (both in the classical portion and in the rapid tiebreaks) and Nepomniachtchi in 2021.[citation needed]
Karjakin won the 2016World Blitz Chess Championship, which took place on 29 and 30December 2016. Before the last round, Carlsen was leading with 16.0/20, while Karjakin was half a point behind. In the last round, Carlsen drew withPeter Leko, while Karjakin won againstBaadur Jobava. Thus, they both finished the tournament with 16½/21. The tie-break (theElo average of the opponents) was used to decide the winner, and as Karjakin's opponents had the better average, Karjakin was crowned 2016 World Blitz Champion.[41][42] The extent of Karjakin's and Carlsen's domination in the event was shown by the fact that their closest rivals,Daniil Dubov,Hikaru Nakamura andAlexander Grischuk (three-time world blitz champion), were a full two points behind.[43]
In March 2019, Karjakin competed as part of the Russian team at the World Team Championship inAstana,Kazakhstan. He was defeated by the Kazakh grandmaster Rinat Dzhumabaev.[46] Despite this, the Russian team took first place in the tournament.[47]
From 5 to 16 December 2020, Karjakin competed in the 73rdRussian Chess Championship. He finished with a score of 7/11, which earned him second place behind winner Ian Nepomniachtchi.[citation needed]
Karjakin criticisedDaniil Dubov for serving as a second for Magnus Carlsen in theWorld Chess Championship 2021 againstIan Nepomniachtchi.[49] This was also criticised bySergei Shipov, who along with Karjakin said that Dubov should not have helped a non-Russian in a match against a fellow Russian. Dubov responded that he considered it to be a match between two individuals and counter-argued that working with Carlsen would improve his chess and hence help the Russian team.[50]
From 26–28 December 2021, Karjakin participated in the 2021 FIDE World Rapid Championship, where he ended up in 11th place with 9/13 points after tiebreaks.[51]
In January 2022, he competed in theTata Steel Chess Tournament 2022, where he finished tied for fifth with a score of 7/13.[52] Controversy arose among spectators after the tenth round when Karjakin and Carlsen drew by three-fold repetition after 16moves in 20minutes, with Karjakin's deciding to enter a drawn line of theBerlin Defence.[53] After the game, Karjakin tweeted "#drawmagnus #saynoto2900".[54]
In February 2022, the Crimea-born Karjakin, who had transferred from the Ukrainian Chess Federation to the Russian Chess Federation in 2009, came out in vocal support of theRussian invasion of Ukraine. This led FIDE to refer him (as well as fellow GrandmasterSergei Shipov) to the Ethics and Disciplinary Commission.[55][56] While the investigation was ongoing, several chess tournaments and platforms banned Karjakin: theGrand Chess Tour did so in early March, saying "the GCT Board has determined that Grandmaster Sergey Karjakin is banned from all upcoming and future GCT events due to his recent hostile comments on social media supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian invasion of Ukraine",[57] whileChess.com banned him from participating in all prize tournaments that same month.[58]
In March 2022, the FIDE Ethics and Disciplinary Commission banned him from playing any FIDE-rated events for six months. TheRussian Chess Federation filed an appeal, which was denied.[59][60] The decision meant that Karjakin was not able to participate in theCandidates Tournament 2022.[61] In a post to hisTelegram channel, Karjakin denounced FIDE for conflating sports with politics. He further declared that he considers himself a patriot first and a chess player second, and that he did not regret anything.[6][62] His public approval of the invasion led to Russian President Vladimir Putin awarding him aMedal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" in June 2022.[63][64]
After the suspension ended in September 2022, Karjakin continued a self-imposed "ban" by refusing to participate in any tournament where he could not play under the Russian flag.[b][66] Notably, Karjakin opted out of playing at the2023 Chess World Cup despite his eligibility to play at the event due to rating, reiterating his disapproval for "the upcoming tournament [where] I can't represent my country, play under my (country's) flag, and if I successfully perform, I will not hear my country's national anthem."[7]
Since January 2022, Karjakin has (as of November 2024[update]) only played two classical FIDE-rated games, at the Russian Team Championship in May 2023.[67][68]
Karjakin is known for his defensive skills, which has earned him an informal nickname as Russia's "Minister of Defense".[69] He successfully defended inferior positions against World Champion Magnus Carlsen – himself known for grinding out wins from slightly superior positions – in theWorld Chess Championship 2016, especially games 3 and 4. Karjakin has no qualms about entering an endgame with a small disadvantage if he deems it his best option[70] as opposed to playing for complications. He is, however, also capable of aggressive play if the position demands it, such as in a 30-move victory overVeselin Topalov at the Gashimov Memorial 2017.[71]
Karjakin, anEastern Orthodox Christian,[81] married Galiya Kamalova, secretary of the Moscow chess federation, in May 2014.[82] They have two sons, one born in 2015 and the other born in 2017.[83] He was previously married since 2009 to Ukrainian chess playerKateryna Dolzhykova.[84]
Karjakin (right) with Vladimir Putin in 2017
In January 2024, Karjakin was involved in a very serious motor vehicle accident, being the passenger of the car that flipped multiple times. He suffered rib fractures. However, his injuries were not life-threatening.[85] Later that year, in February 2024, Karjakin visited the ruins of the Ukrainian townAvdiivka, which hadrecently been occupied by Russian forces.[74] He took selfies there in military gear.[86]
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