12.26pm GMT12:26 Both players addressed the elephant in the room after Tuesday’s contest. Specifically, the active streak of 16 consecutive draws in classical world championship games. Carlsen drew the final two games with Sergey Karjakin in 2016, all 12 against Fabiano Caruana in 2018, then four straight to open this year’s tie with Nepomniachtchi. Carlsen, … Read more
1.10pm GMT13:10 Carlsen chooses 15. … Nc6 and Nepomniachtchi settles in for his longest think of the game so far. After more than five minutes, he goes with 16. Rc1. The engines say a5 is the best response for the champion, who’s been inspecting the position for the last six minutes (and counting). Updated at … Read more
Carlsen will push for an early lead. “As a reigning champion you have a good chance to strike at the start,” he said. “That’s definitely something I am going to try.” Previous cases of first-time challengers who froze include Tigran Petrosian’s disastrous game one in 1963 against Mikhail Botvinnik and Bobby Fischer’s poisoned pawn capture … Read more