Defending champion Magnus Carlsen gave away a victory at the World Chess Championship despite his positional advantages. In the meantime he brought his opponent into great distress.

The 27-year-old Norwegian Magnus Carlsen and his challenger Fabiano Caruana (USA), who played with the white pieces, agreed on a draw on Friday evening after about seven hours at the start of the World Chess Championship in London. Game two will take place on Saturday, where Carlsen has the advantage of white.

The 26-year-old Caruana opened the encounter in the classic manner with a double step of the e-pawn, Carlsen chose the sharp Sicilian defence. The Norwegian was also aggressive in his game afterwards, putting his opponent under increasing pressure. In the meantime, Caruana was pressed for time, but finally saved himself for a draw in a lengthy rook end game.

One million euros at stake

Carlsen crowned himself the second youngest world champion in history in 2013 at the age of 22 and has since defended his title twice successfully. He has been leading the world rankings since 2011, with Caruana in second place behind him and beating seven opponents at the candidates’ tournament in Berlin in March.

The prize money at the event, which is scheduled to run until 28 November, is one million euros. A maximum of twelve games will be played with a regular time for consideration, with the opening right changing each time.

A win is worth one point, a draw is worth half a point for each opponent. If a player reaches 6.5 points prematurely, the duel ends. In the event of a tie after the twelfth game, a tie-break with reduced playing time will be played, as in the 2016 World Cup between Carlsen and the Russian Sergei Karjakin.