Champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway and Russian challenger Sergey Karjakin of Russia agreed to a draw after 42 moves in the first game of their 12-game world chess championship match that started Friday in New York City.
Playing White, the heavily favored Carlsen played the relatively rare Troumpowsky Opening (2. Bg5), but the Russian grandmaster was able to neutralize any White opening advantage and held the draw relatively comfortably. In the end, White had a knight and four pawns to Black’s bishop and four pawns. White may have enjoyed a slight advantage with the better pawn structure, but there was virtually no chance for either player to make a breakthrough in the endgame.
Karjakin will have the White pieces, and the advantage of the first move, in Saturday’s second game.
The match is being held at the renovated Fulton Market Building in Manhattan’s South Street Seaport, with a total prize fund of at least $1.1 million. The first game was preceded by an intense legal fight in which organizer World Chess U.S. Inc. tried to prevent rival chess websites from broadcasting the moves of the game in real time. A U.S. district judge struck down their efforts.
The moves of the first game were:
Carlsen-Karjakin, World Championship Match, Game 1, New York City, November 2016
1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 d5 3. e3 c5 4. Bxf6 gxf6 5. dxc5 Nc6 6. Bb5 e6 7. c4 dxc4 8. Nd2 Bxc5 9. Ngf3 O-O 10. O-O Na5 11. Rc1 Be7 12. Qc2 Bd7 13. Bxd7 Qxd7 14. Qc3 Qd5 15. Nxc4 Nxc4 16. Qxc4 Qxc4 17. Rxc4 Rfc8 18. Rfc1 Rxc4 19. Rxc4 Rd8 20. g3 Rd7 21. Kf1 f5 22. Ke2 Bf6 23. b3 Kf8 24. h3 h6 25. Ne1 Ke7 26. Nd3 Kd8 27. f4 h5 28. a4 Rd5 29. Nc5 b6 30. Na6 Be7 31. Nb8 a5 32. Nc6+ Ke8 33. Ne5 Bc5 34. Rc3 Ke7 35. Rd3 Rxd3 36. Kxd3 f6 37. Nc6+ Kd6 38. Nd4 Kd5 39. Nb5 Kc6 40. Nd4+ Kd6 41. Nb5+ Kd7 42. Nd4 Bd6 Draw agreed
• David R. Sands can be reached at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
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