WORLD CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP: CARLSEN V CARUANA

The 2018 World Chess Champonship has kicked off in London but its likely to receive little coverage in the New Zealand media.

Chess with Che.

ALTHOUGH there's been no coverage in the local media, the World Chess Championship kicked off in London last week. Its an intriguing contest between the defending champion, Magnus Carlsen of Norway and Fabianao Caruana of the United States. Caruana is aiming to the first American world champion since Bobby Fischer's three year reign ended in 1975.

Carlsen, who has been champion since 2013, is the favourite. He missed several opportunities to win game one, played on Friday, and the game was eventually drawn. However in game two, played on Saturday, Carlsen had to fight a rearguard  battle to escape with a draw. 'The champion got nothing from the opening with white today as the American challenger played with speed and confidence throughout, denying Carlsen any winning chances." was the verdict of The Guardian.

"I'm not happy about this but it's better then losing.' Carlsen told the media.

The World Chess Championship is scheduled for twelve games over the next three weeks. This gives the local media a little bit of time to realise the tournament is on. The championship can be followed on YouTube. Unfortunately the World Chess Federation has declined to provide a free live stream of the games. You'll either have to pay for it or make do with delayed coverage of the games.