New World Champion

The new World Chess Champion is Magnus Carlsen from Norway. A draw in the tenth game against the reigning champion Anand was all that the Norwegian needed. Carlsen who will celebrate his 23rd birthday in a few days time is the 16th World Chess Champion.

I found it sad to watch Anand struggling against his much younger opponent. In his two other previous defences against Topalov and Gelfand, Anand looked very vulnerable. He was saved because these two started getting nerves late in the matches and made more mistakes. Anand is way past his best and against a Carlsen who is just getting into his prime, he simply had no chance. The score of three wins , seven draws and no losses for Carlsen attests to this fact.

The next big question is whether Anand will continue to compete or will he just decide that there is nothing more for him in chess and retire. In the post-game press conference, Anand was asked if he will play in the next Candidates. He did not give a definitive answer.