Magnus Carlsen of Norway sent a tweet in cyberspace saying: “Completed It” right after beating Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa of India, 2.5-1.5, and finally winning the World Cup Thursday in Baku, Azerbaijan.
He was referring to the final missing title to his illustrious career.
“I didn’t want to jinx it but I told my media guy to send it at once, should I beat Praggnanandhaa,” said Carlsen, the five-time classical chess world champion.
More than the $110,000 top purse that went with the title, it was the satisfaction of nailing the tournament that slipped away from his grasp twice.
The 32-year-old Carlsen treasured the newest trophy in his collection after fighting tooth and nail for a whole month.
Carlsen, who has broken the all-time record for the highest rating ever and has been No. 1 for the last 12 years, is the current four-time World Rapid and six-time World Blitz champion. He has since elected not to defend the classical chess title for personal reasons.
The 18-year-old Praggnanandhaa won the $80,000, probably the biggest paycheck he has won so far as a teenager. For winning second place, he became the second player from India who will ever play in the Candidates.
Praggnanandhaa will surely get elite sponsorship and invitations in the major tournaments after he has risen to No. 20 in the world with an Elo of 2727 in the next FIDE monthly ratings list. Prior to the World Cup, he was formerly 48th with Elo rating at 2690.
Playing the black side of the Four Knights Game, Carlsen won the first game of the two-game tiebreaker using 25 minutes plus 10 seconds increment. He plugged all holes and drew the second game with white to seal.
