Magnus Carlsen retains World Chess Championship title

Magnus Carlsen retains World Chess Championship title

Magnus Carlsen takes on Ian Nepomniachtchi

Grand Master Magnus Carlsen captured his fifth World Chess Championship title as he defeated Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi with the black pieces. This is the second time Carlsen defended his title having done so in 2014 against Indian Grand Master Viswanathan Anand.

The World Chess Championship final couldn’t live up to its expectations this time around as Ian made mistake after mistake to hand Magnus Carlsen the title. The final score read 7.5-3.5 in favour of Carlsen as the Russian’s disappointing run in the best of 14 showdown came to an end in Dubai.

“I’m happy with a very good performance overall,” Magnus Carlsen

Magnus Carlsen
Magnus Carlsen

Magnus Carlsen has been the World Chess Federation’s top-ranked player since 2010 and the final saw him prove why he has been able to hold the pole position for over a decade. Carlsen is delighted over his performance and fifth title. “I’m relieved of course,” Carlsen was quoted by the Guardian. “It’s hard to feel that great joy when the situation was so comfortable to begin with, but I’m happy with a very good performance overall.”

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“You can point that things you could have done different in every game of course, but overall I’m happy with my play, very proud of my effort in the sixth game, and that sort of laid the foundation for everything. The final score is probably a bit more lopsided than it could have been, but that’s the way I think some of the other matches also could have gone if I had gotten a lead.”

The 31-year-old didn’t expect such an easy win in the final. Carlsen shares that everything fell in place after the fifth game as Ian Nepomniachtchi committed blunders that saw him concede a three-point lead. “I didn’t expect it go quite like this,” Carlsen said. “I think it was just a very good professional performance overall. No regrets at all, just very satisfied.”

He adds: “After five games there were five draws and I’d had very, very few chances to play for anything more. Then everything kind of clicked and after that it all went my way. You don’t expect to necessarily run away with it in a world championship.”

Also Read | 12-year-old Abhimanyu Mishra becomes the youngest-ever chess Grandmaster

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