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World Championship 2013: Magnus Carlsen Undisputed Master
of Chess
-DR. ABDUL
RUFF COLACHAL
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As several right thinking people had expected when he won the
challenger tournament early this year, finally defeating Kramchuk of
Russia, Magnus Carlsen of Norway became the new World Chess Champion after
defeating the previous champion Viswanathau Anand in the match that
was held from 7th November 2013 in Chennai, India. Magnus Carlsen won the
2013 World Chess Championship just moments ago in Chennai, India to become the
16th Undisputed World Champion of Chess.
The games ended two days ahead
of the schedule. The last 10th game (out of 12 possible) finished in a draw,
with which Carlsen accumulated the necessary 6,5 points to claim the title,
and so the final score is 6.5-3.5 in favor of the Norwegian, who will
celebrate his 23rd birthday in eight days from now. Carlsen got the
needed half point to become World Chess Championship 2013.
Norwegian sensation Magnus
Carlsen scored in the 12-game title duel on 21st November his
third win over Viswanathano Anando reigning champion. who did not win
even one game to justify his repeated title wins for years till now. He
was just a draw away from becoming the new world chess champion. Having
also won the fifth and sixth games and drawn the other six, the Norwegian
needed only a draw in Friday’s 10th game to take his tally to an unbeatable 6.5
points. And the 10th match ended in a draw after tough
fight.
The 22-year-old Carlsen, the
current world number one, won the crucial ninth game after the Indian resigned
following an engrossing 56-move match that lasted three hours and 21
minutes. “This was a very difficult game,” Carlsen said. “The positions
were complicated. I had to find the right moves to regain balance
Unlike
cricket where everything is fixed with no new improvements, the
possibilities in chess are almost infinite,
Magnus
Carlsen, the new world chess champion, apparently plays so
effortlessly and he clearly identifies the best moves, and now finally fills
the chess world with awe.
In the
just concluded world chess championship in Chennai, the world number one
Carlsen did not lose any single game: he won three and went for 7 draws with
his opponent. Anand had come to the tournament, as before
5 times , with excessive ideas about draw to stay as the champion
for the sixth consecutive time but Carlsen clearly read his mindset
and played havoc with Anand’s apple cart by playing only
win.
Carlsen
is down-to-earth, unassuming. Carlsen is the complete chess player. He
is brilliant at strategy as well as tactics: he has mastery of the opening, the
middle game, the endgame. He has a system.
Carlsen's
victory against Anand has garnered more coverage than any title match since the
end of the Cold War.
Chess
genius of Carlsen has been recognised virtually globally from the
moment he first played international chess. He became a grandmaster,
the top title in chess, aged 13 - at the time the second youngest to achieve
this. That same year he drew with Gary Kasparov, who many regard as the
greatest player ever. Since then he never looked back.
Chess has a numerical rating system.
The Norwegian now has the highest rating in history, and he's only
22: it is probable that over the next few years he'll get even better. There is
talk of him storming through the 2900 ELO rating barrier: in chess that would
be a psychological breakthrough roughly equivalent to when Roger Bannister
broke the 4-minute mile.
Carlsen himself, already a millionaire, can expect to cash in. He
has already done a fair amount of modelling - some for a Dutch clothing
company, whose brand manager Cherbanker Ray described Carlsen as looking like a
"cross between a boxer and a '50s gangster".
The new
king of chess could occupy the throne for years to come. In the
world of chess, Carlsen's victory marks the arrival of a new generation. The
chess world hopes that he will inspire youngsters to take up the game.
The total prize fund for the
title clash is about $2.24 million with the winner getting 60 percent and the
loser taking home the rest. Difference is not that big.
Enough money for both for years
to enjoy life!
India born but settled in and a
citizen of Spain, Anand, who at 43 is 21 years older than his rival and is in
danger of losing the title he has held since 2007, conceded it would need a
miraculous turnaround to keep his chances alive. And he lost to the right
and best player of the world- Carlsen.
Last
year Israeli player played only draws which led to Anand staying as world
champion.
Generally the world
championship c tournament takes place in Moscow. This year, India hosted the
championship games in Chennai and Tamil Nadu state government spent huge
resources for this. When many people have nothing to eat and live in there is
wide feeling that Tamil State wasted their money for fun instead of letting
Moscow to host it as usual.
More and more Tamils, deprived
of work and state concern, seek work and wages in other states.
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