Another Rui Lopez opening, another equality and three uneventful rounds in the dispute for the world chess crown between Norway's Magnus Carlsen and Russia's Ian Nepomniachtchi, in Dubai, capital of the United Arab Emirates.
Havana, November 28 (RHC)-- Another Rui Lopez opening, another equality and three uneventful rounds in the dispute for the world chess crown between Norway's Magnus Carlsen and Russia's Ian Nepomniachtchi, in Dubai, capital of the United Arab Emirates.
The peace was signed now in 41 moves, with the Russian challenger carrying white pieces and "stripped" again of the initiative in the middle game, although this was not enough for his rival to come close to a victory.
Some experts say it was a psychological victory for the reigning champion. Carlsen felt at ease with the tactical approach, achieved good moves, although the most important thing is that he prevented his opponent from taking advantage with the first move.
The Hungarian Judit Polgar, the only woman who has managed to be in the top ten of the ranking among men, is one of the official commentators of the match and assures that she was not surprised by the result of this Sunday's match.
After an intense second game, played yesterday, Saturday, with Carlsen taking the initiative in a Catalan opening that had no winner, Polgar is focused on what is to come. "Even with draws the tension grows with every game," he said.
The truth is that the first success is still awaited. None of the contenders has "gone all out", perhaps they are in a study phase, or maybe the imbalance in one of the 14 classical games will never come and everything will be decided in the rapid playoffs.
For Carlsen, world champion since 2013, this is the fourth defense of his throne. He won the crown from India's Viswanathan Anand in November 2013, a few days before his 23rd birthday.
After his coronation he successfully defended his reign against Anand himself in 2014, against Russian Sergey Karjakin in 2016 and against American Fabiano Caruana two years later.
