Magnus Carlsen came dangerously close to landing a decisive blow in Wednesday’s ninth game of his tightly wound defense of the world chess championship against Fabiano Caruana in London, until a moment of impatience allowed his opponent off the hook and left the best-of-12-games match no closer to resolution in a 4½-all deadlock.
The 27-year-old champion harried the American challenger out of his preparation early and pushed him to the brink of disaster in the middlegame, but one rushed misstep gifted Caruana the slack he required to hold for a 58-move draw with three classical games remaining and the gnawing spectre of a tie-breaker looming ever larger.
The 9 straight draws is the longest streak of games to open a match without a decisive result in the recognized 132-year history of the world chess championship.
