Enthusiasts laud Carslen’s title-retention

Cebuano chess players believe Norway’s Magnus Carlsen has cemented his status as this era’s greatest chess player after a victory over Fabiano Caruana in the World Chess Championship in London last Nov. 28. Carlsen secured his fourth world title after beating Caruana in a tie-breaker. The two had 12 straight draws for the past three weeks of play.

Cebu Executives and Professionals Chess Association (Cepca) president Jerry Maratas said the 27-year-old Carlsen is simply phenomenal.

“He just cemented his status as the game’s greatest player at this era where computers play a crucial role. No doubt, with all his achievements, he could go down in history as one of the best players to ever play chess,” Maratas said of Carlsen.

The world championship was decided by a series of quickfire tie-breakers for the first time in the competition’s official 132-year history.

National master Rogelio Enriquez Jr. said the world championship now is not the same as the era of Russian Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov.

“The world championship went down to rapid, so medyo nabati ang classic na duwa kay puros man sila draw,” said Enriquez. “Sa rapid lupigon gyud si Caruana kay iyang duwa is more on classic.”

When asked whether Filipino grandmaster Wesley So will get a crack at the World Chess Championships, both Cebuanos believe that it can happen.

“I’m hoping that one day, our very own Wesley So can challenge him for the world championship. But at this time, Carlsen is still the man to beat. I just can’t see somebody who can give him a very serious challenge in the next five years. He currently holds the world’s no. 1 title (highest rating) from blitz to rapid to standard chess. So he deserves to be the world champion again,” said Maratas. /