Magnus Carlsen is and remains the measure of all things in the chess world! Two days after winning the World Rapid Chess Championship, the Norwegian also secured the blitz chess title in Doha. It is already the 20th world title of his career.
Magnus Carlsen didn’t make it without any slip-ups at the World Blitz Chess Championship in Doha this year, but when it mattered most, the superstar was there and won the decisive games.
In the final on Tuesday, the outstanding Norwegian prevailed 2.5:1.5 against the 21-year-old Uzbek Nodirbek Abdusattorov and thus won his second world title within 48 hours. It was only on Sunday that Carlsen was crowned rapid chess world champion again.
For the superstar, the blitz title was synonymous with the 20th world title of his career, nine of which he won in blitz chess alone. For the fifth time in his career, he holds the blitz and rapid chess titles simultaneously.
Carlsen shows unusual weaknesses – and then turns up the heat
On the first day of the Blitz World Cup, the 35-year-old showed unusual weaknesses. In the game against Fabiano Caruana, for example, he made a mistake that was hardly thought possible and gave away his rook. Immediately afterwards he shook hands with the American.
However, Tuesday went exactly to Carlsen’s liking, who scored a lot of points and qualified for the knockout round in third place in the table. There he first eliminated Caruana 3-1 before also bringing Abdusattorov to his knees and, in addition to the title, secured prize money of 70,000 euros.
In the final against Abdusattorov, Carlsen lost the first game with white, but immediately hit back with black and equalized. After a draw in game number three, he forced a decision in the last game of the day.
“I’m happy that I made it, because a lot went wrong in the first 14 laps. But as long as I’m not mathematically eliminated, I’m dangerous,” said Carlsen at the “NRK” microphone after his victory. “Some titles,” the Norwegian continued, “are such a little bonus. And that was definitely one of them.”