World Champion Magnus Carlsen and challenger Fabiano Caruana have also lost in the eighth game with a draw. At the Chess World Championships in London, therefore, no favorite is still emerging. After eight games both opponents have four points each.
At the previous World Cup, the first seven games were also ended with a division of points, before in the eighth comparison, the Russian challenger Sergei Karjakin could prevail for the first time.
And Caruana also wanted to score after seven draws with an attacking style of play: The challenger chose the main variant with 3.d4 against the Sicilian defense. This marked the open exchange of blows. He was very well prepared in a side play of the Sveshnikov variety and spent almost no time until the 20th move.
Weak pawn train instead of attack
Carlsen had already allowed a weakening of the kingside at this time and had to watch as Caruana broke through in the center with 21.c5 classic. In the 24th move Caruana missed it, however, to seek the attack on the kingside with 24.Nh5. Instead followed 24.h3 and Carlsen was back in the game.
The World Champion then routinely fended off all threats. The result was an endgame with unevenly colored runners and one tower, after which the draw was unavoidable - once again.
The ninth game in London will take place on Wednesday (16 clock, live ticker SPIEGEL ONLINE). Carlsen will open again with white. The match in London is scheduled for twelve games. Who reaches 6.5 points first, crowns the world champion. If there is a tie, a tiebreak occurs with a reduced playing time. The winner of an encounter receives one point, in a draw both players receive 0.5 points each.