Magnus Carlsen decided to take the second day of his World Cup final match against R Praggnanandhaa as a rest day. And he also played like that. A quiet draw in 30 moves from the white side of Four Knights Spanish game by Carlsen has taken the title clash to tie-breaks now.
The Norwegian world No. 1 had said after the first game was drawn on Monday that he was suffering from food poisoning. He said after the second game that his condition has improved. "Still, I didn't have the energy for a full fight," said Carlsen. "I thought let us get one more day of rest and hopefully, I have more strength for tomorrow (Thursday)."
Prag said Carlsen's fifth move (knight into knight) was a clear indicator that his opponent was going for a draw. "I realised that he is not well after he said that in a post-game interview yesterday," said the Indian prodigy. "I thought he was short of energy when we played the first game. Still, I didn't think he would go for a quick draw in the second game."
And then, like a true sportsman, Prag said, "I hope he recovers for tomorrow. I have to be ready for everything. My plan is to just give everything tomorrow and then relax." On the tie-breaks, Carlsen said, "I know he (Prag) is very strong. If I have energy, I will have a good day and good chances."
Carlsen gave one moment of subtle joy in the second classical game where he played a rook move (Rhd1), thereby denying Prag a long castle and with that stopped a tiny window to create pressure. When the draw was agreed, they had six pawns and dark-coloured bishop each.
In a match for the third place, world No. 2 Fabiano Caruana won on demand to level his match against home boy and world No. 97 Nijat Abasov. He won in 59 moves of Four Knights Sicilian. Till the 13th move, they were following one game played in 1902. By that time, Abasov had already started to flirt with danger and Caruana was more than ready.
