Reigning world chess champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway and Russian grand master Sergei Karyakin on Friday went head to head in the first game of a battle to determine the world’s top player.
Carlsen — who has held the title since 2014 — made the opening move as the first of 12 games got under way in New York.
After 42 moves, the game ended in a draw, and the opponents were scheduled to meet again yesterday.
Photo: AP
The world championship battle is billed as the youngest ever in terms of the players’ cumulative ages: Carlsen is 25 and Karyakin is 26.
It is also the first between players who came of age in the computer era, representing a generational shift in the game.
In another first, the world championship will be broadcast from its trendy Manhattan venue using virtual reality, organizers said.
The two players will split the US$1.1 million prize, with the winner getting three-fifths of the purse and the loser taking home the rest.
Carlsen is the bookmakers’ favorite, but Karyakin — who practices at least six hours a day — is seen as having every chance of causing an upset.
The tournament has prompted comparisons with the iconic 1972 showdown between the US’ Bobby Fischer and the Soviet Union’s Boris Spassky, two rivals in the Cold War-era whose showdown was dubbed the “Match of the Century.”
Carlsen has been called the “Mozart of Chess,” and has inspired wide interest in the game in Norway since first winning the world title in 2013. He has picked up endorsements and deals that earn him about US$2 million a year.
He has a huge fan following, has done modelling and launched his own app called Play Magnus.
Karyakin, currently ranked ninth in the world, was born on Ukraine’s Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, annexed by Moscow in 2014. He struggled with finding sponsors before moving to Russia in 2009 and becoming a citizen.
While he became the youngest grand master in history at just 12 years old, Karyakin admitted it would be hard to beat Carlsen, who is known for his relentless attacks and staying confident under pressure.
At a news conference in New York on Thursday, Karyakin said he had come to bring the crown back to Russia, calling this “the dream of my life,” Russian news agencies reported.
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