Magnus Carlsen Draws First Blood Against Ian Nepomniachtchi by Winning Longest Game in World Chess Championship History

Norwegian Chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen on Friday fought back from the brink of disaster to win the longest game in the history of the World Chess Championship. Carlsen recorded the win during the sixth game of the WCC showdown in Dubai against Russian grandmaster Ian Nepomniachtchi. The heart-stopping clash between the two modern-day chess geniuses lasted for nearly eight hours and was played in two days.

The back and forth gruelling match involved 136 moves and it ended on Friday just before midnight. It was also the longest game in the history of 135-years of World Championship. The previous record was held by Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi. The two recorded the feat during the 1978 World Title games by playing out a 124 set moves match, which ended in a stalemate.

Carlsen, playing with the white pieces, started his game in the same manner as his previous two as he opted for 10 Nbd2, sacrificing his pawn for a longer strategy. Carlsen’s Russian challenger matched his every move with blow after blow until he ran out of options and was forced to make errors, which he did. However, in the end, Carlsen outsmarted his opponent by trading his queen for a pair of rooks. After that, he did not give any chance to Nepomniachtchi to make a comeback in the game by outplaying and outlasting his opponent.