Magnus Carlsen retains world chess title

In football, it is theoretically possible (with a little luck) to win the World Cup without winning any game and even without scoring a goal. You can, by accumulating the 0-0, extricate yourself from the group stage and then win the supreme title simply by shining in the penalty shootout, which is used to separate the protagonists in case of a tie. If this possibility becomes a reality one day, we imagine the little enthusiasm and consideration that would benefit the winners and the entire competition.

Unlikely in football, this scenario has just been accomplished at the World Chess Championship, which ended Wednesday, November 28 in London. Defending champion Norway's Magnus Carlsen defeated Fabiano Caruana of the United States in quick tie-break matches, the chess equivalent of penalty kicks. The two men were in fact tied 6 points everywhere at the end of the 12 games in clbadic rhythm, which had all ended in a draw, a first in the long history of chess.

However, during the fast, exercise in which Carlsen excels, the latter has left no chance to his opponent. Everything was played in the first meeting: taken by time while defending a tenable position, Caruana made a mistake, punished immediately by Carlsen, who seemed to play like a machine. Now forced to take risks, Caruana has pushed too hard in the second part and the Norwegian made a dazzling sacrifice of crazy who began a fatal combination. The American quickly gave up. In the third part, he played his luck with a Sicilian while Carlsen, sitting in a solid position, let his opponent come before suddenly open the game, exchange several coins and dominate a Caruana again pressed by the pendulum. 3-0, the score is tough, almost cruel, but logical given the obvious superiority of Carlsen in a fast pace.

A match that disappointed

It will be written in the annals that Sven Magnus Oen Carlsen, world champion since 2013, will for the third time successfully defended his title just before his 28th birthday, which he will celebrate on November 30th. But that's probably all the history of the game of kings will retain this game. The succession of twelve draws disappointed. Admittedly, there was no such "show nonsense", these games where two players who do not want to do battle share the point wisely after gently pushing a few pieces. The London match was really played but it is deplorable that no game was decisive.

The opportunities have not missed yet. From the first part, Magnus Calsen could have opened the scoring. However, an imprecise game faded the advantage he had taken on a Fabiano Caruana who had never played a world championship before. The American was well prepared, probably better than his opponent, which is not the strongest point, but he lacked sharpness in the parts where he was in a better position.

The Norwegian, meanwhile, has not shown his legendary precision and patience, he who is accustomed to grind, to squeeze the positions until the blood comes out. Thus, in the twelfth and last part, he proposed the draw as soon as he could, in a risk-free situation where he clearly had the advantage. As if the crusher was down. As if the indefatigable and ruthless warrior had become a cold pacifist. To recapture the comparison with football, we thought we suddenly see a team play the pbad to ten in his field while waiting cynically the penalty shootout where she excels. A choice sharply criticized by former world champion Garry Kasparov who, in a tweet, wrote that Carlsen "Seemed to lose his temper."

Existential crisis?

On the site Chessbase.com, another former world champion Vladimir Kramnik, before the tie, showed his incomprehension in the choice of the Norwegian in this twelfth part: "I can not imagine doing that a few years ago. " Kramnik, one of the finest and finest players on the circuit, believes that Carlsen is experiencing a kind of existential crisis, which results in less domineering play and less energy: "Whatever the outcome of the match, he should start thinking a little, asking himself a few questions: why does he play chess? Does he really enjoy it? What does he want to achieve failures? "

During the press conference following his victory, Magnus Carlsen scathingly responded to his two illustrious predecessors: "I think I made the right decision, did he declare. And as for the opinion of Garry and Vlad, they have the right to have stupid opinions. " The Norwegian retains his title for two more years. But he is no longer the ruler of yore. It is simply primus inter pares, the first among his peers.