By dominating lan Nepomniachtchi in the World Chess Championship 2021, Norway’s Magnus Carlsen became a five-time World Chess Champion
Magnus Carlsen was at his dominant best in the latest instalment of the World Chess Championship that was held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates in November-December 2021. After the first five contests against Russia’s lan Nepomniachtchi in the best-of-14 event ended in draws, Carlsen won the sixth, eighth, ninth and 11th games to take an unassailable 7.5-3.5 lead. This meant that the remaining three contests were deemed redundant and the title was awarded to Carlsen after the 11th game.
The only occasion when Carlsen appeared as the challenger in a World Chess Championship was in 2013 when he took on reigning champion Viswanathan Anand at his home-ground in Chennai in November 2013. Even though Carlsen was less experienced, he handled the pressure well. After the first four games of the best-of-12 contest ended in draws, Carlsen won the fifth, sixth and ninth games. When the 10th game ended as a draw, Carlsen became the World Chess Champion for the first time with a 6.5-3.5 victory. Anand came through as the challenger for the World Chess Championship 2014 held in Sochi, Russia in November 2014. Even though Anand managed a win this time around, Carlsen had three victories to defend his title 6.5-4.5 after 11 games in the best-of-12 contest.
Carlsen trailed for the first time in a World Chess Championship when he lost the eighth game of the 2016 event held in New York City to Russia’s Sergey Karjakin. He bounced back with victory in the 10th game and the best-of-12 contest finished 6-6 at the end of the 12 classical games. This necessitated rapid games, which were played on Carlsen’s birthday. While the first two of the four scheduled rapid games ended as draws, Carlsen won the next two games to clinch the title with a 3-1 win in the tiebreaker.
The World Chess Championship 2018 was played between Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana of the U.S. in London in November 2018. After all 12 of the classical games in the best-of-12 contest ended as draws, it went to tie-breakers once again. Carlsen won the first three games in the best-of-four rapid games contest to retain the title (6-6, 3-0).
Picture Credit : Google
