Carlsen retained the world chess title after the first championship match in history where all 12 classical games ended in draws, decided by rapid tiebreakers.
Key Facts
- Classical games played
- 12
- Classical game draws
- 12 (all drawn)
- Rapid tiebreak games won by Carlsen
- 3 consecutive
- Match dates
- 9–28 November 2018
- Carlsen's world title count
- 4 (four-time champion)
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Magnus Carlsen, reigning world chess champion since 2013, faced challenger Fabiano Caruana in a 12-game classical match organised by FIDE and Agon at The College in Holborn, London. Both players were among the world's highest-rated, making an intensely competitive and cautious contest expected.
The classical portion of the 2018 World Chess Championship concluded with 12 consecutive draws, an unprecedented outcome in world championship history. A rapid chess tiebreak was held on 28 November 2018, in which Magnus Carlsen won three consecutive games against Caruana to settle the match decisively.
Carlsen retained his world chess championship title, becoming a four-time world champion. The match became historically notable as the only world championship in which every classical game was drawn, prompting broader discussion within the chess community about classical time controls and drawing tendencies at the elite level.
Result
at The College, Holborn, London