Scacchi, Caruana defeated: Carlsen retains champion title

LONDON – An Italian does not print in the world. But we miss very little. Fabiano Caruana, parents from Piedmont, born in America and raised in Europe, dual nationality, lost the world championship of chess. Beat with a dry score, 3-0 in the best of four games, by Norwegian title champion Magnus Carlsen.

The result of the epilogue however hides the balance of the tournament: in which a game with no time limit, that is to say in the "clbadic" failures as they are defined, the two opponents fired 12 races out of 12, unprecedented result for a final (in 132 years of history). Reflection on the merit of a challenger who scared the title holder: even in the deciding match, when he had the opportunity to win match after match, the Norwegian preferred not to risk and play with caution, being content with parity. A tactic for which he was criticized by former champion Gary Kasparov: "Caruana is scared Carlsen, in the decisive game, the psychological advantage has it now," commented the Russian at the eve of the last duel.

But in the decisive game, where you have to think fast, because the players have 100 minutes for the first 40 moves, 50 minutes for the next 20 and 15 minutes until the end of each race, with a bonus of 30 seconds for each movement, the champion's greatest experience for this type of challenge has been demonstrated. Carlsen is actually the world number 1 in this type of chess, while Caruana is only the number 10 in the international ranking: the difference has been noted. The Italian-American seemed uncomfortable. At one point, he took a good six minutes for a single gesture and was stuck in a corner three times in a row against the Norwegian attacks.

"Fabiano has the same right to consider himself the best in the world, because in the normal phase of the match, we equalized," commented Magnus at the end. "It's the most powerful opponent I've ever met." Since he is 27 years old and Caruana 26, these two will have the opportunity to meet again for a moment to determine who is the strongest. Finally, out of the soundproof glbad cage where the world championship took place, where in absolute silence, they face each other in the realm of the chessboard, the two fall into the real world, as Alice leaving the Wonderland: A lot of spectators The College, the former residence of the St Martins University of Arts, a Victorian tower located in the heart of London.

The final was followed live on the sites of each country: it is not for nothing 600 million people playing chess around the world. But even though the game was created in India, England, it was born again in the nineteenth century and became so popular that restaurants and pubs challenged themselves. The two finalists also share the prize pool of 1 million euros: 550,000 to the winner, 450,000 to the defeat.

Many Russians followed the match live: in chess, they had great champions. And many Americans: it was at the time of Bobby Fischer who was waiting for the victory of one of them. But even in your second country, Italy, we applauded, said the reporter from "Repubblica" to Fabiano: "I hope not to have disappointed the relatives, friends and fans that I have. on the peninsula, "he answers from behind the nerd glbades. "It's good to represent so many cultures". An American colleague asks him if he would go to the White House if Trump invited him: "I prefer not to answer," he says. That's already an answer. Maybe an invitation to Quirinale would not say no? President Mattarella, it's up to you.