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. 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.