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 […]
It has been 1,090 days since the last World Chess Championship. In the meantime, the ancient game has seen a modern resurgence, a swell in popularity driven by technology and a global pandemic, a dramatic prologue to the game’s marquee event. Beginning this week, at long last, Magnus Carlsen of Norway will once again defend […]
Over his last 24 regulation games at a world championship, Magnus Carlsen has won only one of them. But no matter: his ability to stay afloat during regulation and pounce in fast tie-breaking games that follow have been good enough to win the last two world titles. Yes, you read that right. It’s over. And […]