11.21.18 Game 9 at the World Chess Championship Match ended in a draw which set the record for the most draws to begin a World Championship Match in history. The game began as an English Opening in which Carlsen had a decent position with some chances but the Challenger held steady and the game evaluation dropped to triple zeros just before the first time control when the queens came off.

Game 9 began as an English Opening and relatively quickly--on move11--Bc1 put the game in new theory.

Surprise is an important weapon in chess. Carlsen had a comfortable position that he was familiar and had clearly analyzed going into the middlegame.

After 17.Qd1, Caruana was nearly an hour behind on the clock, taking twenty-one minutes on move 13 and eight minutes on move 14, with Carlsen still in his preparation. Black was singularly playing to maintain the blockade while white had a clear plan for central expansion with Qc2, Nd2, rooks to the center and playing for e4.

After 22...Rad8 Fabi fans were a bit uncomfortable as commentators felt that white had a comfortable position with a strong pull.

Magnus's longest think of the game came on his 28th Rxd8, by then his previous advantage had evaporated. The culprit seemed to be the World Champion's plan of 24.h4 25.h5. In the post-game press conference Carlsen call 25.h5 "just a mistake."

The queens were exchanged on move 39 and only two pawns and two opposite colored bishops remained.

The Match is tied at 4.5 points apiece with three games of classical chess remaining before the tiebreak games if necessary.

A draw was agreed to on move 56.

Game 10 will begin at 10:00 a.m. eastern U.S. on Thursday, November 22nd.

Caruana has been cool, calm, and collected throughout the Match.

The clock did play an important role in Game 9. Notice Caruana's 6:49 to Carlsen's 51:02.

This is not a statistic that Fabi fans want to see.

Nor this one!

A closer look at the World Champion's eye injury. Asked how he felt about Carlsen's injury, Caruana said, "I knew about the injury." and "During the game I don't look at Magnus much."

Official Site of the FIDE World Chess Championship Match 2018

Official site of the venue for the Match: The College

Match Schedule
All games will be played at 10:00 a.m. eastern U.S. time (3:00 p.m. GMT.)

Game 1 Friday, November 9

Game 2 Saturday, November 10

Rest Day Sunday, November 11

Game 3 Monday, November 12

Game 4 Tuesday, November 13

Rest Day Wednesday, November 14

Game 5 Thursday, November 15

Game 6 Friday, November 16

Rest Day Saturday, November 17

Game 7 Sunday, November 18

Game 8 Monday, November 19

Rest Day Tuesday, November 20

Game 9 Wednesday, November 21

Game 10 Thursday, November 22

Rest Day Friday, November 23

Game 11 Saturday, November 24

Rest Day Sunday, November 25

Game 12 Monday, November 26

Tie Break/Awards Ceremony Tuesday, November 27

Tie Break/Awards Ceremony Wednesday, November 28