DUBAI – Game 3 of a world championship chess match reveals a little bit more about the months of work done by the players and their teams. Will they return to the site of their first battle, or will one of them feint and run, expanding the number of possible opening variations needed to be scrutinized, and gathering more information about where they should make their stand?
Challenger Ian ‘Nepo’ Nepomniachtchi had the advantage and onus of the first move today. For game three FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich was joined onstage by Her Excellency Mrs. Hanan Al Aleeli, the UAE Ambassador to the Republic of Latvia, and Anastasia Myskina, the first Russian female tennis player to win a Grand Slam singles title, at the 2004 French Open. Myskina had the honour of starting the players off by making the ceremonial first move.
The World Championship, held at Dubai Exhibition Centre, Expo 2020 Dubai, will be played over 14 classical games for a EUR 2 million (USD 2.25 million) prize fund, with 60 per cent going to the winner and 40 per cent to the runner-up. It was originally scheduled to start on 20 December last year, but was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
FACT SHEET, Game 3:
White: Ian Nepomniachtchi, Russia
Black: Magnus Carlsen, Norway
Result: ½-½
Match score: 1½ – 1½
Game length: 41 moves
Opening: Ruy Lopez/Spanish
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