Carlsen Breaks Anand to Win Chess World Title

Magnus Carlsen beats India's Viswanathan Anand to become the world chess champion after the 10th game ends in a draw.

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4 months ago

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EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS MATERIAL WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3 SHOWS: CHENNAI, TAMIL NADU, INDIA (NOVEMBER 22, 2013) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (ANI - NO ACCESS BBC) 1. (SOUNDBITE) (English) WORLD CHESS CHAMPION, MAGNUS CARLSEN, SAYING: "Ya (yes), it feels good. It's been tough both here and London but I have been treated very well here in India." 2. CARLSEN SITTING 3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) WORLD CHESS CHAMPION, MAGNUS CARLSEN, SAYING: "(In) the first couple of games, the second one was more or less normal draw. Ya (yes), I was just a little bit nervous and perhaps not quite ready for such a big occasion but after game three and four, as I said, I managed to settle in and realised that I don't have to do things very differently from what I usually do and that was the turning point." 4. ANAND SITTING 5. (SOUNDBITE) (English) INDIAN GRANDMASTER, VISWANATHAN ANAND, SAYING: "Well it's clear that he dominated. At the start of the match, I thought that my chance depended on my ability to last long games without making a lot of mistakes, this year I have had lot of problems creeping into my play and I kind of try to pay some attention to that. But in the end it was in vain." STORY: Norway's Magnus Carlsen, dubbed the "Justin Bieber of chess", won the Chess World Championship on Friday (November 22), playing a patient game and driving defending champion Viswanathan Anand of India to make self-destructive mistakes. Carlsen, 22, whose boyish good looks have earned him lucrative sponsorships, a modelling contract and coverage on tabloid front pages showing him poolside, defeated Anand in ten games in Chennai, India, scoring three victories and seven draws. "Yeah, it feels good. It's been tough both here and in London. I've been treated very well here in India," said Carlsen "The first couple of games, I mean, the second one was more or less normal draw, both the first and third games. Yeah, I was just a little bit nervous and perhaps not quite ready for this big occasion. But after games three and four, as I said, I managed to settle in, I realised that I don't have to do things very differently from what I usually do and that was the turning point," he added. A grandmaster since he was 13, Carlsen has drawn unusually big crowds and non-stop television coverage in his native Norway. He played four draws early in the tournament, wearing down Anand who never recovered from blunders in the fifth game. "Well it's clear that he dominated. At the start of the match, I thought my chances depended on my ability to last long games without making a lot of mistakes, This year I have had lot of problems with mistakes creeping into my play and I kind of try to pay some attention to that. But in the end it was in vain," he said. Anand has won the title five times in 2000, 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2012. Carlsen, described by chess great Garry Kasparov as a once-in-a-generation talent, earlier achieved the highest rating in the history of the game, beating Kasparov's 1999 record.