Karjakin lost to Polish GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda in the finals to finish second. Karjakin criticised Daniil Dubov for serving as a second for Magnus Carlsen in the World Chess Championship 2021 against Ian Nepomniachtchi. This was also criticised by Sergei 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. 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. 2022 From 13 to 19 January 2022, Karjakin competed in the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2022. He finished with a score of 7/13, leaving him tied for fifth place. Controversy arose among spectators after the tenth round when Karjakin and Carlsen drew by three-fold repetition after 16 moves in 18 minutes. Some spectators derided Karjakin's decision to enter a drawn line of the Berlin Defence, driven by a movement within the chess community to avoid hasty draws. However, Carlsen was the initiator of the opening, and in order for Karjakin to avoid drawish lines, he would have to play riskily against the World Champion. After the game, Karjakin tweeted "#drawmagnus #saynoto2900" and, in another tweet, posted pictures of identical games that Carlsen played with the caption "Learned some tricks from the World Champion..." Playing style Karjakin is known for his defensive skills, which has earned him an informal nickname as Russia's "Minister of Defense". He successfully defended inferior positions against World Champion Magnus Carlsen – himself known for grinding out wins from slightly superior positions – in the World 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 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 over Veselin Topalov at the Gashimov Memorial 2017. Personal life He is an Eastern Orthodox Christian. Karjakin married Galiya Kamalova, secretary of the Moscow chess federation, in May 2014. They have two sons, one born in 2015 and the other born in 2017. He was previously married since 2009 to Ukrainian chess player Kateryna Dolzhykova.