Photograph by Frans Peeters
Magnus Carlsen of Norway has won the world chess championship, becoming the first Western winner since Bobby Fischer in 1975.
Carlsen, 22, a former model and child prodigy, triumphed over defending champion Viswanathan Anand of India in one of the most highly anticipated games in recent history after a draw in Game 10 gave him the necessary 6.5 points for victory. The match was broadcast on live television in both Norway and India, with Norwegian Prime Minster Erna Solberg calling Carlsen after the game to congratulate him on his victory.
Chess offered another battle ground between the US and USSR during the cold war with Bobby Fischer vs Boris Spassky, and also competition between man and machine as Kasparov took on IBM’s Deep Blue, but it has lost much of its audience in recent years. Fans of the game hope that Carlsen, recently voted one of the sexiest men in Britain by Cosmopolitan magazine, will inject a little glamour to the game once again and get people playing.
Along with the title, Carlsen will receive $.153 million (£943 million)