Chess Championship – "The most difficult competitor I've ever had" – Sports

• Norwegian world champion Magnus Carlsen defends his title after three wins in the decisive game.
• The challenger Fabiano Caruana keeps the duel open for a long time, but then commits the decisive mistake in a promising position.
• Here is the breakage of equality to replay and read.

Magnus Carlsen has spent the last few moves of the evening and this remarkable chess world championship comparatively relatively relaxed. He was already leading in quick chess games with 2: 0, he was also significantly better in the third match, but his opponent Fabiano Caruana still did not want to give up. He shifted his characters a little, even when Carlsen already had two ladies on the board. But eventually, Caruana had to realize that the thing was gone – and finished the game. With 3: 0, Carlsen won the deciding game and defended his title in London.

"I would say I had a good day at work today," joked the 27-year-old Norwegian. Carlsen had been one of the favorites in this extra round after the twelve draws of regular games, but his conclusion was so surprising.

One last time, Wednesday night, the rivals sat in this 70-square-meter room at Holborn College London, where they spent so much time over the last two and a half weeks. A pleasant setting consisted of a table and a chessboard, two chairs and many bottles of water, and a large window separating the auditorium, soundproof and opaque from the inside, so that nothing came from to disturb both thinkers.

Carlsen has not always felt comfortable here for two and a half weeks. Sometimes he was even so cold that he was putting on a jacket and sometimes he looked very sick because of the heavy preparation and deep calculations of Caruanas. But on that last night, everything worked for him from the start. And pretty quickly, it looked like this form of chess: in chess, each player only played 25 minutes per game, plus a bonus of 10 seconds after each move played, which was somehow more enjoyable than ordinary games, with their long duration. It may take six or seven hours to move on.

Caruana makes a decisive loss

At the first of four scheduled quick chess games, Carlsen put a lot of pressure from the start, but it still seemed long, until Caruana made an improper pbad to the king and Carlsen was suddenly better. In the second round, Caruana went into action more aggressively and even created a dangerous play pawn. But then, in an acute position, he pushed those pawns farther forward onto the C7 pitch, which soon turned out to be a blow. And in the third game, in which Caruana had to win in black to be able to hope to win the title, he found no moment a correct attack position and finally had to see how Carlsen had also won this match.

"I've never really had a chance," said Caruana about the evening, "I have not played at his level". The Italo-American was already the second consecutive challenger, beaten by Carlsen at the World Cup barrage. Two years ago, the Russian Sergei Karjakin did it, but did not concede the score of 0: 3, but nevertheless made two draws. In short-thinking games, Carlsen is obviously the strongest because he has a good idea of ​​the position, while the strength of Caruanas lies more in the precise and deep badysis. For which there is no time in fast failures.

It was the fourth time since 2013 that Carlsen won a fight for the world title. At first he had won the title of the Indian Viswanathan Anand, whom he had defended a year later. Both times, he did it with confidence during regular games. And then followed the two victories in the barrage against Karjakin 2016 and now against Caruana. "Fabiano was the toughest rival I've ever had in a World Championship game, so I'm happy to have mastered this challenge," said the winner.

It was indeed a difficult fight and a remarkable match in London. Because despite the twelve draws, it was not boring, but almost always a high clbad. Carlsen was not as dominant as in previous years, but Caruana also seemed well prepared. Twice each had a chance to win, Carlsen slightly better than Caruana. But as no one took advantage, the dam had to make the decision – in which Carlsen has come forward as loud as it has before.