Magnus Carlsen v Ian Nepomniachtchi: World Chess Championship Game 4

Another tight draw as Carlsen and Nepo vie for title
As it happened: Game 3 move-by-move report
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The queens are off the board after the next series of moves (13. … b6 14. cxd5 cxd5 15. Qb5 Qd7 16. a4 Qxb5 17. axb5). Nepomniachtchi, who’s spent five more minutes of clock in the early stages, plays 17. … a5. The many early exchanges suggest this encounter will fizzle out to a draw, though Carlsen answers immediately with the unusual 18. Nh4!?. Says grandmaster Judit Polgar in the commentary booth following 18. … g6 19. g4: “It’s quite amazing how concrete it’s going to become so fast.”

Nepomniachtchi takes more than two minutes before playing 8. … c6. Carlsen quickly answers with 9. Re1 and the challenger answers with 9. … Bf5. Carlsen then bypasses the more popular Qc2 for 10. Qb3. More quick moves follow: 10. … Qd7 11. Nc3 Nxc3 12. Bxf5 Qxf5 13. bxc3. Still no major surprises, though Dutch grandmaster Anish Giri notes on the Chess24 broadcast that Carlsen’s last move has historically led to many draws.

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