Prodigy Makes Ascent to Chess’s Most Rarefied Air
Nov. 8, 2013 5:44 p.m. ET
The matches of the 2013 FIDE World Chess Championship start Saturday in Chennai, India, where national icon Viswanathan Anand, known as the Tiger from Madras, will defend his title against Norwegian Magnus Carlsen, the world’s top-ranked chess player since July 2011. The contest is perhaps the most anticipated chess event since American Bobby Fischer outdueled Boris Spassky during a Cold War détente in 1972.
India’s first grandmaster, Anand, 43, has been the undisputed champion since 2007. The 22-year-old wunderkind Carlsen, however, is the odds-on favorite. A victory would make Carlsen, already the international face of chess, the second youngest champion in history, behind only Garry Kasparov, considered one of the greatest of all time.
Carlsen’s creative, prodigious play has earned him the right to challenge not only for the world title, but to cement a place in history alongside two of the games greatest champions.
—Jonathan Zalman
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Nakamura is the top.