- Defending champion leads 5-3 in best-of-14 match
- Nepomniachtchi: ‘It’s hard to defend after such a blunder’
Norway’s Magnus Carlsen is on the verge of retaining his world championship after defeating Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi for the second time in three days on Sunday in the eighth game of their €2m (£1.71m) showdown in Dubai, opening a practically insurmountable 5-3 advantage in the best-of-14 match with six contests remaining.
A fatal blunder by Nepomniachtchi donated a pawn to Carlsen in the middlegame, gifting the 31-year-old world champion an advantage he leveraged until the Russian challenger resigned after 4hr 6min.
