Armand Niculescu is a full-stack developer and creator of SparkChess. He has two BDs in engineering and marketing and a MSc in Management. He's been programming since the age of 12 and he also loves design, photography, and - obviously - chess.
The shortest round of this Championship ends with another draw. More 🡢
“There’s a lot riding on the last game. It will be tense for both of us.” – Fabiano Caruana. More 🡢
“I felt that it was very close tonight. The problem is if I don’t mate I’m losing. So I was trying to find some middle ground and my time was running out. I don’t know. I was just so nervous, I couldn’t make it happen. It ended up just being nothing.” – Magnus Carlsen More 🡢
After the game, Magnus Carlsen declared that “I was very happy with the opening, obviously. You cannot expect more than what I had for sure.” With few rounds remaining, a tie-break becomes a distinct possibility, where Carslen is considered the favorite. Despite the anticlimactic draw, a new record was set: the longest streak of games ending in draw in a chess championship match! More 🡢
“This was a tough game. He was the one who had all the chances. So I am happy to have survived it for sure.” – Magnus Carlsen. More 🡢
Magnus Carlsen: “After the last game it kind of felt like I got away with murder. In that sense it’s easier to be calm about a draw today. I’m not loving it, but I’m not in any sort of panic mode either. Could have been worse. The match is still equal and with black, it’s been going OK. I’m not at all thrilled about my play today.” More 🡢
Magnus Carlsen avoided defeat after a dramatic 6-hour game. More 🡢
This was a more interesting game, where both players pushed more aggressively. Both Carlsen and Caruana made a few small inaccuracies, but for the most part, the game was even, leading to an inevitable draw. More 🡢
Some controversy sparked just before the uneventful game, as a clip showing Fabiano’s daily activities was briefly uploaded to YouTube. The clip contained a few shots of a laptop screen showing openings research. The clip was taken down and it’s unclear if Carlsen’s team extracted any insight from it. More 🡢
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