Ninth Draw Sets Record in Carlsen-Caruana

There was a ninth straight draw today in the match between World Champion Magnus Carlsen and American challenger Fabiano Caruana. This sets a record for the longest streak of split points to kick off a World Championship match, breaking the previous record set by Anand and Kasparov in 1995.

In this game, Caruana fans can be thankful for a couple reasons. He was in serious trouble in this game, causing many Grandmasters and commenters to give better chances for a white win than a draw.

Magnus's quick 25. h5 was pinpointed as the error, allowing Black to gain counterplay with the ideas of ...h4 and ...f4. As thematic in this match, you did not have to ask the defender twice to jump back in the game.

[pgn] [Event "Carlsen-Caruana FIDE World Chess Champs"] [Date "2018.11.21"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A29"] [WhiteElo "2835"] [BlackElo "2832"] [PlyCount "112"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Norway"] [BlackTeam "United States"] [WhiteTeamCountry "NOR"] [BlackTeamCountry "USA"] 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 Bc5 7. O-O O-O 8. d3 Re8 9. Bg5 Nxc3 10. bxc3 f6 11. Bc1 Be6 12. Bb2 Bb6 13. d4 Bd5 14. Qc2 exd4 15. cxd4 Be4 16. Qb3+ Bd5 17. Qd1 Bxf3 18. Qb3+ Kh8 19. Bxf3 Nxd4 20. Bxd4 Qxd4 21. e3 Qe5 22. Bxb7 Rad8 23. Rad1 Qe7 24. h4 g6 25. h5 gxh5 26. Qc4 f5 27. Bf3 h4 28. Rxd8 Rxd8 29. gxh4 Rg8+ 30. Kh1 Qf6 31. Qf4 Bc5 32. Rg1 Rxg1+ 33. Kxg1 Bd6 34. Qa4 f4 35. Qxa7 fxe3 36. Qxe3 Qxh4 37. a4 Qf6 38. Bd1 Qe5 39. Qxe5+ Bxe5 40. a5 Kg7 41. a6 Bd4 42. Kg2 Kf6 43. f4 Bb6 44. Kf3 h6 45. Ke4 Ba7 46. Bg4 Bg1 47. Kd5 Bb6 48. Kc6 Be3 49. Kb7 Bb6 50. Bh3 Be3 51. Kc6 Bb6 52. Kd5 Ba7 53. Ke4 Bb6 54. Bf1 Ke6 55. Bc4+ Kf6 56. Bd3 Ke6 1/2-1/2 [/pgn]

On Thanksgiving, Fabiano will take another crack at the World Champion with the White pieces. With just three classical games to go, the match may hinge on a single mistake.

As the tension rise, make sure to follow IM Eric Rosen's social media takeovers. Happy Thanksgiving! Interact with Eric Rosen, who is taking over our twitter@USChess using the hashtag #CarlsenCaruana.  Worldchess.com is the tournament website.   The Today in Chess broadcast daily with a new start time of 10 AM ET  will feature a star-studded schedule of interviews. Full list of viewing options in our Couch Potato guide. Find our media kit and mainstream media round-up here.