Newsletter

Chess World Cup: a draw on Carlsen’s birthday – sport

Successful title defense becomes a tough affair for world chess champion Magnus Carlsen. On his 31st birthday, the Norwegian had to be content with a draw against his Russian challenger Jan Nepomnjaschtschi in his fourth duel in Dubai. Before the fifth game on Wednesday it is 2.0: 2.0.

Carlsen, who played with White, initially shied away from the risk. In the meantime, however, he managed to penetrate Nepomnyashchi’s position dangerously. The Russian defended himself skilfully, Carlsen saw no more chance of victory even after a long period of thought and caused the fourth draw with a triple repetition of positions.

A maximum of 14 games are played, the starting right changes after each match. One point is awarded for a win and half a point for a draw. Whoever reaches 7.5 points first is world champion. Carlsen, who successfully defended his title in 2014, 2016 and 2018, has known his one year older opponent since childhood.

Nepomnyashchi had prevailed against seven other top players in the candidates’ tournament. Although the Russian is only fifth in the world rankings, before the start of the World Cup he led in a direct comparison with industry leader Carlsen with 4: 1 wins in six draws.

.

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Trending