Magnus Carlsen loses first match as World champ

Norwegian Magnus Carlsen lost his first match as World Champion yesterday against Italian Fabiano Caruana in Shamkir Chess 2014 commemorating Azerbaijani grandmaster Vugar Gashimov

Shamkir (Azerbaijan): Norwegian Magnus Carlsen lost his first match as World Champion yesterday against Italian Fabiano Caruana in Shamkir Chess 2014 commemorating Azerbaijani grandmaster Vugar Gashimov.


Magnus Carlsen. Pic/Getty Images 

Caruana, playing with white, now shares the lead with Carlsen at 2.5 points after four rounds.

Caruana's coach Vladimir Chuchelov commented: "It wasn't hard to guess the opening, but strangely enough we also guess the line Carlsen would choose.

We analysed it and Fabiano had a clear idea of what to do. We even checked the line once again before the game. "So, unlike in the encounter against Karjakin, Fabiano was more confident today.

Black was experiencing some pressure and Magnus unexpectedly blundered a pawn on c7. Nonetheless, he was worse already before the blunder — just worse according to all standards of Berlin."

Carlsen is all set for a rematch with India's Viswanathan Anand in the World Championship later this year.

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Magnus Carlsen's losses in 31 games

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