Magnus Carlsen v Fabiano Caruana: World Chess Championship, Game 1 – live! | Sport

Caruana takes his time and proceeds with 15. Raf1 and Carlsen responds with 15. … Qd6, opening the path for his king to hide on the queenside. The clock keeps ticking down on the American challenger, who has less than 32 minutes (and counting) to make 25 moves before the time control. He’s had his hands full with Carlsen’s aggression in this opening game (1. … c5 and 14. … g5, most notably).

The American then goes with 16. Ng4 and Carlsen castles (16. … O-O-O). Says Russian grandmaster Sasha Grischuk: “Sometimes Magnus can lose his sense of danger, but so far he’s playing this game brilliantly.”

Carlsen delivers something of a crowd-pleaser with 14. … g5. It’s an ambitious stroke that suggests he’s not simply content to get rid of a black game. Meanwhile, reports of frigid temperatures in the playing hall appear to be confirmed by Carlsen’s decision to put a coat on.

Caruana goes with 14. Qd2 and Carlsen has plenty of time to ponder his response. Here’s a look at the board as it stands. The American challenger has a little over 46 minutes to make 26 more moves before the next time control. (Remember: the time control for each game is 100 minutes for the first 40 moves, 50 minutes for the next 20 moves and then 15 minutes for the rest of the game plus an additional 30 seconds per move starting from move 1.)

After Carlsen responds with 13. … h6, it’s Caruana eating up clock again. The position on the board is even, but the American is heading toward 46min remaining, which is a half hour behind Carlsen (1hr 16min 32sec).

Carlsen goes with 12. … Be6 and Caruana responds with 13. Rf2. A fascinating psychological battle developing in the opener, certainly more engaging than Game 1 of the last world championship in New York, where Carlsen played the seldom-used Trompowsky Attack (which he’d later confess was at least partially inspired by the name of America’s newly minted president-elect) but Sergey Karjakin scratched back to force a mostly forgettable draw after 42 moves.

Caruana’s time management has been called into question, but it can’t be said that Black is better at this point.

Another lengthy wait for Caruana, who finally settles on 11. f4. Carlsen takes a pawn with 11. … exf4, and the American takes one back with 12. Rxf4.

Carlsen back on the clock (1hr 26min) with a more than 20-minute advantage over Caruana (1hr 5min 37sec).

Caruana finally settles on 10. Nh2 and Carlsen responds with 10. … Nf8. Here’s a look at the board after 10 moves. Carlsen has a 12-minute advantage on the clock with 30 moves left until the first time control.

The opening continues with 6. h3 Nf6 7. Nc3 Nd7 8. Be3 e5 9. O-O b6. But Caruana, who was already a few minutes behind on time, has been pondering his next move for more than 10 minutes now, perhaps taken aback by 9. … d6.

Carlsen (1hr 33min 7sec) is already 15 minutes ahead of Caruana (1hr 18min and counting). Not a critical development yet, but it does appear Magnus has surprised the American challenger with his opening choice.

Caruana playing with the white pieces opens with 1. e4 while Carlsen surprises with a Sicilian Defence response (1. … c5). The opening continues with 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. d3 Bg7.

As predicted Woody Harrelson made the ceremonial first move. But not without a bit of confusion.

Here’s a look at the format for the world championship match. It will consist of 12 classical games with each player awarded one point for a win and a half-point for a draw. Whoever reaches six and a half points first will be declared the champion.

The time control for each game is 100 minutes for the first 40 moves, 50 minutes for the next 20 moves and then 15 minutes for the rest of the game plus an additional 30 seconds per move starting from move 1. Players cannot agree to a draw before Black’s 30th move.

If the match is tied after 12 games, tie-breaks will be played on the final day in the following order:

• Best of four rapid games with 25 minutes for each player with an increment of 10 seconds after each move.

• If still tied, they will play up to five mini-matches of two blitz games (five minutes for each player with a three-second increment).

• If all five mini-matches are drawn, one sudden-death ‘Armageddon’ match will be played where White receives five minutes and Black receives four minutes. Both players will receive a three-second increment after the 60th move. In the case of a draw, Black will be declared the winner.

Our Sean Ingle was at yesterday’s press conference at the College in Holborn, which you can watch below. It was a mostly conciliatory affair, as these things tend to be, and there is a very real mutual respect between the contestants. Yet Carlsen, when asked if he saw himself as the underdog or the favorite, couldn’t help but reveal signs of the alpha dog within.

“It has been a while since I have considered myself an underdog, to be honest,” he said. “If you have been the No 1 ranked player in the world for seven years and have won three world titles in a row, then there is something seriously wrong with your psyche, I think.”

Hello and welcome to London for day one of the World Chess Championship. We’ve got a cracker of a tie ahead as Norway’s Magnus Carlsen defends the title he’s held for the past five years against Fabiano Caruana of the United States. The best-of-12-games match is taking place at the College in Holborn over the next 19 days, with the winner earning a 60% share of the €1m ($1.14m) prize fund if the match ends in regulation (or 55% if it’s decided by tie-break games).

Carlsen, 27, has been ranked No 1 for eight straight years and was considered the world’s best player even before he defeated Viswanathan Anand for the title in 2013. Caruana, 26, is ranked No 2, having earned his place the table by winning the candidates tournament in March. No American-born player has won or even competed for the world title since Bobby Fischer in 1972.

It marks the first title match between the world’s top two players since 1990, when Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov faced off for a fifth and final time.

We’re a little more than a half hour away from the ceremonial first move. Plenty more to come.