2021 World Championship Match, Game 11

 And then it was all over. Nepomniachtchi, needing to score 3½/4 to take the match to tie-breaks, made an opening change, switching to the Giuoco Piano instead of the Ruy Lopez he had previously essayed. This led to a rather level position after 20 moves or so, after which a mistaken attempt to unbalance it walked into a fierce attack. The best he could do was bail out into a pawn-down rook ending, which Carlsen made no mistake in converting.

And so Carlsen remains world champion, winning the match by a hefty 7½-3½ margin, which had looked rather unlikely after game 5. This is the highest winning margin in a World Championship match since Kasparov's 12½-7½ win against Short in 1993; it is the highest percentage score in a match since Lasker's 9½-1½ against Janowski in 1910.


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