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Magnus Carlsen dethrones Vishy Anand to win maiden World Chess Championship title

Defending champion Viswanathan Anand lost his World Championship title to world No.1 Magnus Carlsen after the game 10 of the World Chess Championship ended in a draw after 65 moves.

Zee Media Bureau/Manushree Chaumal
Chennai: Defending champion Viswanathan Anand lost his World Championship title to world No.1 Magnus Carlsen after the game 10 of the World Chess Championship ended in a draw after 65 moves. Prior to game 10, Carlsen was leading the championship 6-4 and needed just 0.5 points to take away the title. It is Carlsen’s maiden World Chess Champion title in his first attempt itself. “It feels good. I have been treated very well in India. I felt very comfortable playing here,” he said at the post match conference. On playing alongside Anand, he said, “I was honoured to play with him. He is amongst the legends of the game.” Meanwhile, Anand couldn’t hide his disappointment after the loss. “At some point, I started making mistakes after which I could not come back. It was clear, he dominated today’s game. At the start of the match, I thought my chances depended on my ability to make the games last long. Mistakes have been peeping into my play this year. In this championship, Game 5 came as a heavy blow to me. It was there and then it started going wrong for me. But now I feel, it is fair enough to congratulate him. Full credit goes to him.” When a question was raised about how worthy was Carlsen as his successor, he quipped, “I did not choose him.”