We saw a repeat of the Ruy Lopez “Anti-Marshall” played in Game 4 for the first nine moves, until Carlsen went for a pawn sacrifice line with 9…d5 rather than 9…d6. That was no surprise to Sergey, of course, but Magnus’ 14…c5 was a new move that finally got him thinking.

“I felt that today was not the day that I should be looking to do big things”, said Magnus Carlsen afterwards, so he settled instead for proving he can draw at will with the black pieces, in a game that lasted 2 hours, 32 moves, and never really left his preparation.

Sergey Karjakin can take comfort from having reached the halfway mark of his first World Championship match on a level footing with the champion. There will be more exciting days ahead!

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