As the chess furore between Carlsen and Niemann rolls on, we take a look at some enduring disputes in sportNot since Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit enthralled 62 million viewers has chess captured mainstream attention to such an extent.Last month the Norwegian grandmaster Magnus Carlsen, world No 1 and already the “rock star” of chess – see GQ profiles and multimillion‑pound apparel collaborations – accused the American Hans Niemann of cheating after the 19-year-old ended Carlsen’s over-the-board 53-match winning sequence. Continue reading...
The game of chess itself was the ultimate winner as Carlsen and Nepomniachtchi provided a human drama in the age of supercomputersThe agate type will show that Magnus Carlsen retained the world championship he’s held for eight years by defeating Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi for a fourth time in six games on Friday, closing out their best-of-14 encounter by a score of 7½-3½ and bolstering his claim as the greatest player of this or any other era.But the Norwegian’s fifth world title match victory – one short of the suddenly imperilled all-time record of six – was freighted with additional meaning by striking a decisive win for a sport that has been dogged by existential questions over its own relevance in...
The online Magnus Carlsen Invitational produced a big-name final and a refreshing insight into the human side of chessStrange times these. In a parallel universe, middle-aged men with middle-aged bellies are still frothing over Arsenal’s controversial Premier League winner against Liverpool. Saracens have somehow snuck into another Champions Cup final. And Pinatubo, or “Pina-turbo” as the tabloids are calling him, has just been christened the greatest horse since Frankel after his 2,000 Guineas triumph.In the real world, meanwhile, the biggest and richest sporting event over the weekend – with all due respect to Belarus’s premier league – took place on the internet in a chess match dubbed el clásico. Related: Teenage chess prodigy Alireza Firouzja beaten by Magnus Carlsen and...
While the more deserving await the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year award verdict on Sunday night, here is our list of sporting anti-heroes from 2019The Military World Games may have received little publicity in Britain, which is not one of the 140 countries from Albania to Zimbabwe who participate but it was one of the year’s greatest festivals of sport, attracting nearly 10,000 participants to the Chinese city of Wuhan in October. Related: Ben Stokes on pole to take BBC sports personality of the year award Continue reading...
From Australia’s sandpaper storm to some impressive popularity contests, via José Mourinho and worm denial5 January: “We have money for sardines and I’m thinking lobster. I will do my best to try and bring in the best players. I will look to the lobsters and sea bass, but if not we must buy sardines. But sometimes the sardines can win games” – Perhaps, Carlos Carvalhal, but they couldn’t keep Swansea in the Premier League. Related: The alternative sport review of 2018, from Kanté’s curry to Salah’s statue Haters gonna say I didn’t mean it https://t.co/HjZg57U6Cx Continue reading...