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The story behind the 2018 World Chess Championship: Why did all the games end in a draw?
The 2018 World Chess Championship is an exciting match between Magnus Carlsen, the defending chess champion since 2013, and challenger Fabiano Caruana, with the purpose of selecting a new world chess player. Chess king. The event, organized by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) and its business partner Agon, took place at the Holborn Academy in London from November 9 to 28, 2018, attracting a large number of chess fans and media attention.
Throughout the competition, the media provided extensive coverage through worldchess.com and NRK.
However, the record of this game is that every regular game ended in a draw. This is the first time in the history of the World Chess Championship.
The background of the Chess King Tournament and the qualifications of challengers
Fabiano Caruana's qualification as challenger comes from his performance in the 2018 Candidates Tournament, an eight-man double round-robin tournament held in Berlin. In the fierce competition, he successfully defeated other opponents and won himself the opportunity to challenge the chess king.
In the end, Caruana stood on the stage of the World Chess Championship with his excellent chess skills and preparation.
Competition organization and rules
This competition adopts the best 12-game format. The time control of each game is divided into several stages. The first 40 rounds are 100 minutes long. As the rounds progress, the time will gradually increase. In addition, the two sides cannot agree to a draw before Black's 30th turn, which adds tension and excitement to the game.
If the game reaches a draw, there will be an extra round of rapid chess. In the end, Carlsen won these rapid chess and successfully retained the championship title.
Reasons for consecutive draws
In the repeated draws, the conservative style of the chess game and the high degree of professionalism among the players undoubtedly increased mutual fear in all games. Both players adopted particularly cautious strategies in their opening choices, and both sought conservative results in their choices during the game. This situation became quite common during the match, resulting in all matches ending in draws.
Many chess fans and experts were shocked by this situation and began to question the offensive will and playing style of the two top players.
Reactions of chess players and onlookers
At the post-match press conference, both Carlsen and Caruana said that they felt helpless with the results of each game, but at the same time they understood that in such a high-intensity confrontation, chess players must be careful about every move. Keeps touch sensitive. Chess fans took to social media to express their disappointment, saying the result did not reflect the excitement of the game.
With all 12 games ended in a draw, many spectators still could not believe what they were seeing, not to mention that this was a record for the World Chess Championship.
Psychological warfare and preparation process
Behind the competition, the preparation and psychological strategies of the players are the focus worthy of careful discussion. Caruana's opening preparation has attracted widespread attention from the outside world, and even his opening preparation was accidentally leaked before the game, which will undoubtedly bring greater pressure. When faced with such deep and precise preparations, Carlson chose a more cautious style and strived to perform stably.
In the end, after each game ended in a draw, the event entered a rapid overtime stage. Carlsen successfully won three games and retained his championship status. This made up for the expectations and disappointments of all chess fans. In fact, this event also showed the true strength and sharpness of the psychological game between chess players.
Final Thoughts
This World Chess Championship is not only a test of chess players' skills, but also a comprehensive display of psychological quality, caution and change. For the two top competitors, this game may not be as ordinary as it seems. So what is the reason that makes a chess game so difficult and confrontational? Is it that under high-intensity pressure, chess players can’t compete with each other? Can Hand break through himself and bring a more exciting scene to the chess world?
