27 November 2021

Ian Nepomniachtchi and Magnus Carlsen start off World Championship Match with Draw

FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich made the first move.

 

Friday, November 26, Game one of the FIDE World Championship Match between Magnus Carlsen of Norway and Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia kicked off at the Expo 2020 Dubai. FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich made the first move. Among the invited were also the following guests of honour: Sheikh Sultan Bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, President of the Asian Chess Federation, and Sheikh Saud Bin Abdulaziz Al Mualla, President of the Arab Chess Federation. 

The white pieces were with the Russian GM. The opponents opened the game with the Ruy Lopez, in which Ian forestalled the Marshall Attack with the modest but poisonous 8.h3. The champion came back with the pawn sacrifice, considered one of the most principled rejoinders. There soon arose a complex endgame with Black’s bishop pair as compensation for his short material deficit. The subsequent game saw the initiative change hands more than once, but never did the position evaluation deviate much from equality. A draw was agreed on move 45. 

Official website 

Photo credit: Eric Rosen and Niki Riga, FIDE