It's not the level, but the WCC format, which makes current players not want to take risks at all. Today's game is a great example of why they are conservative:

It's not the level, but the WCC format, which makes current players not want to take risks at all. Today's game is a great example of why they are conservative: Taking any risks with black, like Nepo did when he avoided an early queen trade, is just too dangerous. A single loss means your opponent can aim for a draw in every single further game. If a super GM wants a draw out of the game from the very opening, choosing the most boring variations they can think of, someone is going to have to take crazy risks to stop it. Remember Kramnik's approach with the Berlin, turning the Ruy Lopez opening, known for its sharpness for centuries, into a recipe for draws. Look instead at the next highest level tournament, the WCC candidates. There's money on the line, but really, the chance for the title is so much more important, winning the tournament is all that matters, and you aren't getting there with just draws, or even just a couple of wins. The very top players in the world, other than the current WCC are the only ones that participate, and yet the draw rate is lower than that average 75% too: In the last tournament, Nepo lost 1 and won 5 out of 14 games. Same with Caruana in the 2018 candidates. That said, we'd see fewer draws too with shorter time controls, but then the top players also change. In 2018, if the championship was an infinite classic series until someone has 3 wins, Caruana was probably the favorite, given how he had Carlsen against the ropes over and over again, just a bit shy of victory. But in Rapid or Blitz, He's nowhere near as good.