A day after a cracker of a contest, challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi and champion Magnus Carlsen settled for a rather quick 41-move draw, in under three hours, in the third round of their World chess championship clash in Dubai on Sunday.
Going into Monday’s rest day, the players are locked 1.5-1.5 after three rounds. The first player to reach 7.5 points in this 14-game match.
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The game, that followed the opening lines of Ruy Lopes seen in the first game on Friday, was evenly fought. A series of exchanges followed and eventually, the battle reached an endgame where the players had a bishop and five pawns each. The equal game was drawn after a three-fold repetition of moves.
Interestingly, soon after the game, Carlsen chose to describe his 10th move from the black side as a “really dumb move, but it turns out even here he (Nepo) was well-prepared and he didn't give me even any slight chances to play.”
Nepo, on his part, described Sunday’s clash as a “clean and logical game.” After three draws the action resumes on Tuesday, on Carlsen’s birthday, with the champion playing with white pieces in the fourth game.
- The moves -
White: Nepomniachtchi Black: Carlsen
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. a4 Bb7 9. d3 d6 10. Nbd2 Re8
11. Nf1 h6 12. Bd2 Bf8 13. Ne3 Ne7 14. c4 bxc4 15. Nxc4 Nc6 16. Rc1 a5 17. Bc3 Bc8 18. d4 exd4 19. Nxd4 Nxd4 20. Qxd4 Be6 21. h3 c6 22. Bc2 d5 23. e5 dxc4 24. Qxd8 Rexd8 25. exf6 Bb4 26. fxg7 Bxc3 27. bxc3 Kxg7 28. Kf1 Rab8 29. Rb1 Kf6 30. Rxb8 Rxb8 31. Rb1 Rxb1+ 32. Bxb1 Ke5 33. Ke2 f5 34. Bc2 f4 35. Bb1 c5 36. Bc2 Bd7 37. f3 Kf6 38. h4 Ke5 39. Kf2 Kf6 40. Ke2 Ke5 41. Kf2 Game Drawn
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