The one-hour game kicked off at 11 a.m. Moscow time (8 a.m. GMT) as Anatoly Karpov, the 12th world chess champion, and his three teammates, including gymnastics star Alina Kabayeva, author Viktor Yerofeyev, and primary school student Konstantin Savenkov, made their first move on a 64-square-meter ice board in a central Moscow square.
The Russians followed their London-based opponents' moves via a video link. They agreed to a draw 58 minutes into the match, despite an apparent advantage that could have led them to a victory if not for the time limit.
Speaking in the run-up to the event, Deputy Moscow Mayor Iosif Ordzhonikidze said: "An ice chess tournament is being held today for the first time ever. It is part of an effort to promote Moscow's image internationally."
The head of the tourism committee in Moscow's city government, Grigory Antyufeyev, said that next year the tournament's lineup would be expanded to include French and German teams.
