Magnus Carlsen of Norway continued his unrelenting march toward the world chess title on Wednesday, holding his challenger, Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia, to a quiet draw over 41 moves in just over two hours. With a 6.5-3.5 score in the race to 7.5, Carlsen is all but guaranteed to extend an unbroken reign atop the […]
Your diligent chess correspondent spent the morning watching some chess. Magnus Carlsen of Norway and Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia (not pictured) are in fact in Dubai battling for the 2021 World Chess Championship. The grandmasters — the world Nos. 1 and 5, respectively — had both stepped away from the board and into their private […]
A game, the philosopher Bernard Suits wrote, is “the voluntary attempt to overcome unnecessary obstacles.” It’s one thing to shove a fistful of chess pieces across the board to surround the enemy king. It’s quite another to get them there in accordance with the ancient game’s intricate rules, and while your grandmaster opponent tries to […]
The auditorium in Dubai hosting the 2021 World Chess Championship is reminiscent of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Each features a grand, darkened room with a glowing diorama, filled with motionless drama. And in both, a squid and a whale remain deadlocked in their boxes, caught in the middle of […]
With a tense draw lasting four hours and 45 moves, Magnus Carlsen on Friday began the latest defense of his World Chess Championship title. The Norwegian grandmaster has been No. 1 in the world for a decade and has held the sport’s top title since 2013. His challenger, Russian grandmaster and world No. 5 Ian […]