Norway’s Magnus Carlsen smiles as he answers a question during a news conference after winning the match against India’s Viswanathan Anand during the Chess World Championship match in Chennai, India, on Friday. Anand’s reign as the world champion came to an end Friday after Carlsen took the crown in the 10th game of the the World Chess championship.NEW DELHI – The world of chess has a new king, and it’s a 22-year-old who is as much at home posing for fashion shoots as he is pushing pawns.
Magnus Carlsen of Norway won the chess world championship Friday, becoming the first Western player since Bobby Fischer to hold the title.
Carlsen, a former child prodigy who has already been on a list of the world’s sexiest men and has moonlighted as a model, defeated defending champion Viswanathan Anand of India in a title match that was the game’s most highly anticipated in decades.
A draw in Game 10 gave Carlsen the necessary 6½ points to clinch the win, having won three of the previous games with no losses.
The victory fulfilled the lofty expectations that have been placed on Carlsen since he became a grandmaster at 13 — the second youngest in history at the time.