“It's so good I can almost change my description”

Magnus Carlsen proved at the end of this year that he is still the best chess player in the world, having dominated the “sport of the mind” for the past 15 years. The world number 1's road to his 20th world title was not easy.

Magnus Carlsen, victorious in the fast and blitz world championship

Carlsen struggled in both the rapid and blitz world championships. However, the 35-year-old chess player recovered in time each time and showed his supremacy.

In the finals of the world championship in blitz, Carlsen defeated the Uzbek Nodirbek Abdusattorov, after, in the semi-finals, he had passed the American Fabiano Caruana.

According to news.ro, Carlsen now has 9 titles awarded by the international federation (FIDE) in blitz, 6 in rapid and 5 in long cadence. So a total of 20 world titles for the Norwegian.

After the triumph in Doha, Carlsen was very active on social media, sending some messages in his characteristic style, considered by some as arrogant.

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results,” he wrote on X, posting 20 trophy emoticons.

“Being able to tell yourself you're a 20-time world champion is so good I can almost change my description,” added Carlsen on Instagram.

Magnus Carlsen has dominated chess for the past 15 years

Born in Tonsberg, Norway on November 30, 1990, Magnus Carlsen learned to play chess at the age of 5 by dueling with his sisters. In 2004, at the age of 14, he became a grandmaster and in January 2010, at the age of 20, he climbed to #1 in the FIDE ranking.

Between 2013 and 2023, he held the title of world champion in classical chess, but relinquished the title after a decade, and currently Gukesh Dommaraju is the long-term world champion.