“Today could have gone either way” admitted World Champion Magnus Carlsen after he lost the first game of the day and only finally overcame 19-year-old Jeffery Xiong in the last clutch game. The final score was a flattering 11.5:6.5 to Magnus while Wesley So’s 13:5 score against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave looks overwhelming, but it was only the Frenchman’s collapse in a good position in the first clutch game that decided the match.
Magnus Carlsen 11.5:6.5 Jeffery Xiong
Jeffery Xiong went into the final day of his match against Magnus Carlsen trailing by a point, but within a single game he’d levelled the scores. It felt as though Magnus got burned by his own attempts to complicate matters against his young opponent, even if initially he was remaining within the bounds of acceptable risk:
