Magnus Carlsen seals 5th Chess world champion title early

[Skybird]

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/live/2021/dec/10/magnus-carlsen-v-ian-nepomniachtchi-world-chess-championship-game-11-live

His oppponent's biggest enemy was not the Norwegian champion, but himself. He made several terrible, amateurish mistakes in several games that costed him the match.

"Defeated by his own nerves."

[Skybird]

Carlsen just dropped a bomb, saying that he is not motivated as much as earlier in his career anymore and indicated that most likely he will not defend his title a sixth time in 2023, but give it back. Winning does not feel like he expected it would, he said. He said he wants to withdraw when he still is at his best and that only the qualification of the current Nr.2 in the world, a very talented player of very fast rise, would win the qualification in 2022, and challenge him.



Do we have here a man who knows the best timing when to step back? Anyway, he is an exceptional player who must not prove anything anymore. Most likely the best player ever in chess so far.



Just finished world championship saw the longest match ever in the history of the world championship: 138 moves, 8+ hours.


https://www.chess.com/news/view/magnus-carlsen-defend-world-chess-title-alireza-firouzja

[Aktungbby]

I've played out the games move-for-move, as I did with the Fischer/Spassky games; and can only conclude Carlsen's opponent 'blinked' first (jeeze he even cut off his samurai hairbob!! So much for chess-bushido!:x)and was perhaps a little uncertain of his abilities to begin with in the face of the Awesome Norwegian...who is perhaps played out with nuthin' left to prove. :hmmm: My 20-20 hindsight of monitoring the games on a per move basis is: they all make ungrandmasterly mistakes in the arena's psychological pressure...as Carlsen put it "I made fewer mistakes" ...:o

[Skybird]

Yes, I too think Carlsens opponent collapsed due to his nerves.