Tense World Championship game 2 ends in a draw
The most dramatic moment in Saturday’s game 2 came at move 10 when Fabiano Caruana played Rd8. Afterwards, World Champion Magnus Carlsen was noticeably uncomfortable at the board. This was not because his position was objectively in any trouble, but because he realized that this was the sort of move that Caruana would have meticulously prepared beforehand with the help of a team of strong computers and GMs. Meanwhile, Magnus had to find moves on his own with the clock ticking.
A NRK journalist asked Magnus Carlsen what was he thinking when he saw Fabiano Caruana's 10...Rd8. His answer: "Oh, shit, mainly." Then he dropped some knowledge about the Karpov v Korchnoi 1978 match. You've got to love this guy even if you're not a fan. pic.twitter.com/abjT3qjWh7
— Olimpiu G. Urcan (@olimpiuurcan) November 11, 2018
The moves that Magnus found were good enough it seems, because the game eventually found its way to a rook endgame that was slightly better for Caruana but probably still drawn. Caruana perhaps could have tortured his opponent for 115 moves like Magnus did in game 1, but instead the game was drawn on move 49.
https://lichess.org/study/fCum15PU/x1qOQ1iK
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