World champion Magnus Carlsen had to dig out a draw in the second game of the FIDE World Chess Championship against challenger Fabiano Caruana following an energy sapping first game to go into the first break with a point apiece.
If the defending champion had missed out on a chance to score a win in the 115-move marathon game on Friday, he would be probably happy that the US Grandmaster accepted his proposal to split points after 49 moves despite experts believing that the Norwegian was under pressure in the pawn-rook end game.
23...Bc6 This is a very dangerous moment for Carlsen. Even though it may look "drawish", he has to be so accurate to hold. Not so easy as he has much less time. But if he followed the line I suggested, he "should" be OK. pic.twitter.com/3CYydfRWDA
— Susan Polgar (@SusanPolgar) November 10, 2018
Playing white, Carlsen was surprised by Caruana’s opening and tried to avoid the Petroff’s defence and was under considerable time pressure during the middle game.
However, he did manage to find a way to improve his position and Caruana was quick to accept a draw when it was offered to him.