Carlsen shaky in game 5 draw

Viswanathan Anand and Garry Kasparov had started their New York PCA World championship with eight consecutive draws; Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi started with seven draws in their world title match in 1978; Viswanathan Anand and Boris Gelfand drew their first six in 2012. The fifth draw between Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin is not a world championship record yet, but two games away.

"Yeah, sure, I was lucky," said Carlsen at the start of the post-match press conference. "I screwed up and I was lucky not to lose." How exactly he had "screwed up" would only be revealed much later.

Even in the body language, Carlsen was different. H had been cheerful and energetic after each of the first four games, but after the fifth the world champion seemed like a different person. He was annoyed, evasive and, despite the rest day, looked tired.

Karjakin was as cheerful as always. "At least I'm happy that today I finally got a good position," he said.

For the record, Carlsen chose a third opening in as many games with white, the Italian this time. The players shook hands after 51 moves in a rook and opposite-coloured bishop ending.

About his play so far, Karjakin said: "I make mistakes almost in every game, but it's because the games are interesting and the pressure is high. I wouldn't say it's normal but it happens."

Carlsen: "I am also not happy about the mistakes I am making," said Carlsen. "But I agree that the games have serious content, so that at least I am happy about."