Battle on in youngest ever world chess championship

New York : Reigning world chess champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway and Russian grandmaster Sergei Karyakin went head to head on Friday in the first game of a battle to determine the world's top player.

Carlsen -- who has held the title since 2014 -- made the opening move as the first of 12 games got under way in New York.

After 42 moves, the game ended in a draw, with the opponents to meet again on Saturday.

The world championship battle is billed as the youngest ever in terms of the players' cumulative ages: Carlsen is 25 and Karyakin is 26.  

It is also the first between players who came of age in the computer era, representing a generational shift in the game.

In another first, the world championship will be broadcast from its trendy Manhattan venue using virtual reality, organizers said.

The two players will split the $1.1-million (one million euros) prize, with the winner getting three-fifths of the purse and the loser taking home the rest.

The two players know each other well: They occasionally chat on Skype, although they kept contact to a minimum in the run-up to the game.

Carlsen is the bookmakers' favorite but Karyakin -- who practices at least six hours a day -- is seen as having every chance of causing an upset.