Anand won't quit after 'bad gamble' hands title to Carlsen

Chess world champion Magnus Carlsen successfully completed the defence of his title on Sunday, beating challenger Vishy Anand in the 11th game of their 12-match series to take an unassailable two point lead with only one game remaining.

The 23-year-old Norwegian made it three wins to Anand's one as he snuffed out his rival's last-ditch efforts to get back into the rubber. Carlsen had assumed Anand, playing with black pieces, would try and hold out for a draw and then go all out for victory in the final match, but it was he that went on the attack in game 11.

Anand's bid for glory saw him sacrificing a rook in an effort to advance his pawns down the board, but his manourvre backfired and Carlsen moved in for the kill.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The Indian Grandmaster later described the move as a "bad gamble" and "a nervous decision", adding: "I wasn't thinking very clearly at this point."

It was a fine win for Carlsen. "Over the course of several weeks, Carlsen proved himself to be a tenacious, precise, and at times ferocious competitor, while Anand drew upon all his reserves in an effort to prove that at 44, he could recover the title he lost to the 23-year-old in 2013." says Matthew Debord of Business Insider.

"The bottom is that Magnus Carlsen has passed his second big test as the greatest chess player in the world."

But Anand deserves credit too. When Carlsen beat Anand to claim the title last year the Indian's "shaky play was uncharacteristic of the four-time defending champion", notes the Wall Street Journal. "But Anand played better in this year's match."

After the match Anand dismissed talk of retirement and the news was greeted with "a huge round of applause" from the assembled journalists, reports the Hindustan Times. "Whether he will play again in the candidates tournament to come back as a challenger next year, only time will tell. But he is not finished yet."