Carlsen, described by chess great Garry Kasparov as a once-in-a-generation talent, earlier achieved the highest rating in the history of the game, beating Kasparov’s 1999 record.
Carlsen missed by a few weeks becoming the youngest world champion, a record set by his one-time coach Kasparov in 1985.
The last Westerner to hold the world champion title was American legend Bobby Fischer who relinquished it in 1975.
A grandmaster since he was 13 and a fashion model in his spare time, Carlsen has drawn unusually big crowds and non-stop television coverage in his native Norway.
Norwegian broadcaster NRK said that more than 600,000 people or more than 1 out of 10 tuned in to its daytime broadcasts of the games, while tabloid VG said its online coverage generated 600,000 page views per game.
Carlsen made it to the Time magazine list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2013.
He also won the Chess Oscars, awarded by Russian chess magazine ’64’ to the world’s best player, for four consecutive years from 2009 to 2012.
It seems strange that the oft made claim of our education lagging behind most OECD countries that the sport of chess doesn’t feature more in Australia. Anyone having visited Indonesia would now that chess is very popular in that country. Some months ago, while visiting an retinal clinic in Liverpool, I noticed a few playing chess in a lovely plaza in a busy street closed to traffic. They appeared of foreign background, dark beards and white robed.
I believe chess is a compulsory subject in Russia. We have compulsory school uniforms and lots of sport but little chess. However, I think there is a revival of sorts. I noticed, with great pleasure and pride in my adopted country Australia, that the primary school in Bowral had part of the landscape of the school yard made into a giant chess board including large chess pieces made of some light weight material. The young kids regularly play that game.
Now, here is an interesting question. Why do men play chess but not often women?
Window Dresser's Arms, Pig & Whistle 
HELVITYNI + GERARD: Thank you kindly. Deep bow and kisses.
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Judit Polgár comes from Hungary. Look what she has achieved in life! Beats Black Caviar.
She is the only woman to have won a game from a current world number one player, and has defeated nine current or former world champions in either rapid or classical chess: Anatoli Karpov, Garry Kasparov, Boris Spassky, Vasily Smyslov, Veselin Topalov, Viswanathan Anand, Ruslan Ponomariov, Alexander Khalifman, and Rustam Kasimdzhanov.[3]
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Perhaps women are too worn out looking after men to be able to concentrate sufficiently? Just a suggestion.
BTW, I have a late entry for the competition-or has the winner already been named?
It’s another Haiku. CANBERRA MEETS TONY ABBOTT…
Mists of winter part.
Enter a pale Jesuit;
The birds are silent
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ERRATUM:=
Mists of winter part.
Enter a pale Jesuit;
The birds are silent
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Sorry again, I thought I’d added the word ‘The’ at beginning of first line.
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Brilliant. I vote Venise the winner. Enter a pale Jesuit; the imagine of it all.
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No erratum, Venise, beautiful.
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Men are show-offs or they like public war games. It can also be a very long game to play. I played chess with my daughters during the school holidays, usually when it was cold and miserable. Has there been an extensive survey on how many men and women play chess?
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Yes, they did a large study in Germany and found out that women and men are equal in chess playing skills. The reason why there are no women in the top chess masters is simply because they don’t take to chess the same as men. There has never been a female world champion for the same reason. If the same number of women played chess as in men, you would find no difference.
Boys in countries that take chess seriously are given all the help and finance because if they take it seriously it can be a career. Girls are not given that same incentive. Who would allow 10 or 11 year old girls to travel to chess tournaments together with boys? A famous family keen on chess decided to prove the point and brought up their daughters with same financial and emotional support as is generally given to boys.
They became world famous and one of them, J Polgar won against the world champion Garry Kasparov.
For keen chess players. These were the moves that won her world acclaim.
Polgar J – Kasparov G,
Russia vs. The Rest of the World match, Moscow 2002
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.Nc3 h6 10.Rd1+ Ke8 11.h3 Be7 12.Ne2 Nh4 13.Nxh4 Bxh4 14.Be3 Bf5 15.Nd4 Bh7 16.g4 Be7 17.Kg2 h5 18.Nf5 Bf8 19.Kf3 Bg6 20.Rd2 hxg4+ 21.hxg4 Rh3+ 22.Kg2 Rh7 23.Kg3 f6 24.Bf4 Bxf5 25.gxf5 fxe5 26.Re1 Bd6 27.Bxe5 Kd7 28. c4 c5 29.Bxd6 cxd6 30.Re6 Rah8 31.Rexd6+ Kc8 32.R2d5 Rh3+ 33.Kg2 Rh2+ 34.Kf3 R2h3+ 35.Ke4 b6 36.Rc6+ Kb8 37.Rd7 Rh2 38.Ke3 Rf8 39.Rcc7 Rxf5 40.Rb7+ Kc8 41.Rdc7+ Kd8 42.Rxg7 Kc8 1-0.
Apart from becoming world famous Chess master they were also taught 6 languages.
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Amazing. I, of course, have not a clue how that played out – too much to keep in the mind. But not many moves so it must have been a good game.
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Neither do I, I just thought it might dazzle a bit.
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