Norwegian chess king Magnus Carlsen claims World Blitz title in Moscow

30 Dec, 2019 17:03

Norwegian chess sensation Magnus Carlsen has added yet another title to his huge collection of awards, taking the 2019 World Blitz crown in the Russian capital of Moscow.

After 21 tours, the 29-year-old chess grand master scored 16.5 points together with American counterpart Hikaru Nakamura, with the winner being decided in a tie-break where the Norwegian talent took the upper hand.

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Russia’s Vladimir Kramnik finished third with one more representative of Russia, Alexander Grishuk, taking fourth place in the final standings.

With his victory, Carlsen becomes a five-time World Blitz champion, winning the title for the third straight year.

On Saturday, the unstoppable Norwegian also claimed the World Rapid chess crown.

In the women's field, Russia’s Kateryna Lagno won the World Blitz title, taking home the trophy for the third time in her career.

Ukrainian-born Lagno was a child chess prodigy, and earned the title of women’s grandmaster at the age of just 12.

She made the switch from the Ukrainian Chess Federation to the Russian Federation in 2014 in a move approved by chess authority FIDE.