2018 Cup Chronicle Issue 2

At the end of a marathon 88-move game, Magnus Carlsen emerged as the only victor of the round, joining Mamedyarov and Aronian in a tie for first place. Four out of the five games ended in draws within the first three hours of the day, but the World Champion was determined to put his white pieces to good use. After 6.5 hours, Sergey Karjakin finally admitted defeat—his second in a row. Carlsen was quite satisfied with his victory, specifically because he felt as though he hadn’t had a chance to win such a game in a long time, especially during his last World Championship match. Although exhausted, he was gracious enough to sign autographs and pose with fans for photos after the game. Tomorrow’s round is crucial for the standing as Carlsen will be facing one of his closest rivals, Levon Aronian with the black pieces, while the other co-leader, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov will have the white pieces against Fabiano Caruana.