After 12 straight draws, someone finally won the world chess championship
After 12 brain-shattering draws, the title contenders were inseparable. But after a quickfire round of tie breakers, we finally have a winner in the world chess championships.
Key points:
- Carlsen and Caruana battled through November, drawing 12 times
- Carlsen copped stick from grandmasters for opting to draw 12th match when he had advantage
- Norweigian staked title on ability to outplay Caruana at speed chess
Norway's Magnus Carlsen won the world chess title for a fourth time after beating US rival Fabiano Caruana in three tie-breakers, after the pair had drawn 12 out of 12 classical games through the month.
That tactical impasse forced the duellists into the faster-paced, best-of-four tie-breakers, which saw the Norwegian triumph and pick up a cheque for 550,000 euros ($855,601).
The tie breakers were played with 25 minutes for each player per game, while the 12 previous classical-style games lasted up to seven hours each.
External Link: FiveThirtyEight tweets Magnus Carlsen wins the 2018 World Chess Championship
It is the third time Carlsen has successfully defended his title after winning it from Viswanathan Anand of India in 2013. By dominating the tiebreakers, the Norwegian justified his decision to offer a draw in the 12th classical game on Monday despite having a superior position — refusing to take the risk of going for a win and staking his title on his ability to outplay Caruana in speed chess.
That draw offer had been harshly criticised by other top grandmasters, including chess legend Garry Kasparov, who called it "shocking". Another former world champion, Vladimir Kramnik, said it was "absurd".
But Carlsen said he had no regrets.
"Based on my chances today, it was correct. As for the opinions of Garry and Vlad, they're entitled to their stupid opinions, that's all I can say," Carlsen said.
"I understand that that's not the mindset that everybody wants, but that's what I felt gave me the best chance of winning the match.
"I think I played relatively well and Fabiano is just a very strong player … I feel like I have things to work on, clearly."
The failure of Caruana, 26, to defeat Carlsen means the United States has not won the chess title since the enigmatic and volatile Bobby Fischer beat Russia's Boris Spassky at the height of the Cold War in 1972.
"I have some regrets about the classical portion but I don't think I can really be upset about it," said the American. "I was hoping to play my best chess today but I didn't even come close to that.
"I felt a lot of pressure but I don't think I had added pressure because I was the first American challenger in a long time.
"Right now, I'm mainly disappointed, but I hope that I can look back at the match and learn a lot from it because it is also a great privilege to play Magnus and a great learning experience."
External Link: Carlsen vs Caruana, Tiebreak Game 2 Analysis
Caruana will still collect 450,000 euros for his efforts at The College, a Victorian-era building in London's Holborn.
Carlsen has been the world's top-ranked player for the past eight years.
This year was the first time the Norwegian had won the championship without losing a single game.
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