Magnus Carlsen has triumphed once again in London. The World Championship is his for the fourth time and it is his to keep for the next two years.
After 12 classic games were drawn, Carlsen triumphed 3-0 in the rapid format and was decisive on a day when his opponent Fabiano Caruana wasn’t. For a while, it seemed that the Norwegian wouldn’t get his way as his American Italian opponent aimed to become the first United States citizen to win the title since Bobby Fischer in 1972.
Carlsen, brash, individualistic and outspoken, is in many ways reminiscent of the prodigious American who never defended his title and laid into his critics after getting the better of Caruana. “As for the opinions of Garry [Kasparov] and Vlad [Kramnik], I mean, they are entitled to their stupid opinions. That’s all I have to say.”
Much of the talk was also centred around the format in which the chess championship was decided and the fact that the two players were locked level in the classic section of the final.
Kasparov also highly praised the Norwegian maestro’s rapid play as did others in attendance, including a member of the Appeals committee, British Grandmaster Nigel Short.
The 27-year-old Carlsen joins Alexander Alekhine and Wilhelm Steinitz on four world titles and only has five men ahead of him, Viswanathan Anand being one of them.
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