Game 10, Getting ready to play
Game 10 of the FIDE World Chess Championships London 2018 match was a hard fought battle between Magnus Carlsen of Norway and challenger Fabiano Caruana of the US but it was yet another draw. This continued the record-breaking drawing streak which has now seen the 2 super grandmasters draw 10 consecutive games. This has never happened before in the history of chess and that is at least 130 years of history. I am certain that none of these players want to reach game 12 without a decisive game. No matter how good the games may be, fans and spectators are getting a little impatient for a decisive game. With just 2 game to go in the classical section of the match who is going for broke first.
Magnus Carlsen was the first to arrive at the board
If ever there was a game in this World Chess Championship up to this point which looked like it would have a winner, then it was definitely Game 10. At some stage a draw seemed to be a least likely outcome. But so evenly matched have Caruana and Carlsen been that perhaps a draw was a fair result at the end of the year. Caruana, playing with the white pieces, had his chances in this game, having started confidently and moving quite fast.
1.e4 is the first move of Game 10 as correctly predicted by one of the main commentators, Judit Polgar. She predicted that Caruana would open with 1. e4 and that Carlsen would respond with the Sicilian Defence
Caruana had once again opened with 1. e4 and gone straight for the variation that he had used in his last game as white. The game was an open Sicilian which veered into the Sveshnikov variation. Caruana had prepared some improvements or changes from their last game with the same opening. There were chances for both players in this game and the game could have gone either way. The game was that sharp.
When you watch the press conference, you can see the players talking about the risks in the position. Caruana even talks about the chances of getting mated. Carlsen’s mood at the press conference was much improved from the previous day. He smiled a bit and even showed his humor unlike the previous day where there were no smiles or jokes after a very tense game.
½-½ in 54 moves!@MagnusCarlsen and @FabianoCaruana pushed each other to the limit, but no one could bring home the full point.
Replay the game ➡ https://t.co/sq6MP884Ex pic.twitter.com/RSJp4sKNaH
— Chess.com (@chesscom) November 22, 2018
Here is the game to replay with the author’s comments:
Given all the draws that we have had so far, with just 2 games to go, it seems very unlikely that any of the players will want to take big risks. There will simply be not enough time to recover. However, should the match go into a tie-break Magnus Carlsen will be a heavy favourite.
Here is an analysis of the game by Daniel King.
