- Another tight draw as Carlsen and Nepo vie for title
- As it happened: Game 3 move-by-move report
- Tweet Bryan at @BryanAGraham or email him
Hello and welcome back for the fourth game of the World Chess Championship. We’re back following Monday’s rest day after draws in Game 1, Game 2 and Game 3 that were notable for longtime champion Magnus Carlsen making early pawn sacrifices in exchange for long-term initiative. In each of those contests, Ian Nepomniachtchi’s opening material advantages ultimately didn’t hold up and he was forced to rely on accurate endgame play to emerge with a result.
For those of you just coming aboard, Carlsen, who celebrates his 31st birthday today, has been at No 1 in the Fide rankings for 10 straight years and was considered the world’s best player even before he dethroned Viswanathan Anand for the title in 2013. Nepomniachtchi, 31, is ranked No 5, having earned his place at the table by winning the eight-man candidates tournament in April with a round to spare. It’s the culmination of a rivalry that started nearly two decades ago when they first met across the board as boys at the 2002 European Under-12 Championship in Peniscola, Spain. Notably, Nepomniachtchi enters the title tilt with a winning lifetime record against Carlsen in classical matches (four won, one lost and eight drawn). That makes him unique among today’s top players, even if two of those victories came in youth championships.
