: Eight days before his 23rd birthday, Magnus Carlsen on Friday gave himself the biggest present of his stunningly successful career.
The Norwegian prodigy dethroned home favourite and defending champion Viswanathan Anand 6.5-3.5 to win their best-of-12 world chess title clash.
In the 10th game, Carlsen, playing white, drew with Anand after 65 moves. Much against
expectations, the game was a hard-fought contest with both players looking for winning possibilities. Neither player appeared in a hurry to sign the peace-treaty.
With Carlsen reaching the finish-line with two games to spare, it was also the end of Anand’s six-year reign as the World champion. It was Anand’s first loss in a world title match since 2007. The triumph was worth Rs. 8.4 crore for Carlsen.