The 2021 World Chess Championship has finally drawn to a close after numerous intricate endgames, game-altering blunders, and the longest round in World Chess Championship history. With the defending champion, Grandmaster (GM) Magnus Carlsen, defeating the challenger, GM Ian Nepomniatchi, 7.5 - 4.5, Carlsen secured his fifth title since becoming the champion in 2013.

First administered in 1948 by the International Chess Federation (FIDE), the World Chess Championship is held once every two years to determine the chess champion of the world. The 2020-2021 Candidates Tournament, the longest over-the board tournament in chess history, spanning over 13 months due to being delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, was won by Russian GM Nepomniatchi in early 2021, earning him the right to challenge Norwegian GM Carlsen for the championship. The championship commenced on November 24, 2021, at the Dubai Exhibition Centre before drawing to a close on December 10, 2021.

Although the tournament began with five anticlimactic draws, in which both players played with near-perfect accuracy, the competition grew fierce during the sixth round. With Carlsen starting the game with the white pieces, the struggle lasted nearly eight hours, spanning past midnight in Dubai for a staggering 136 moves before Nepomniatchi resigned, the first game that ended in a decisive outcome. Not only was this the longest game in Chess Championship history, the game was also widely praised throughout the chess community for its vigourful, risky, and exciting progress right up until resignation in the endgame. With Nepomniatchi morally dejected and both players mentally drained, the seventh game concluded with a standard draw.

Chances looked slim for Nepomniatchi after games eight and nine, both of which were won by Carlsen following uncharacteristic blunders on Nepomniatchi’s part. Another draw in the tenth round preceded the final game, in which Carlsen secured the final win he needed to retain his title. Carlsen walked away from Dubai with 60% of the €2 million prize pool, or €1.2 million, while Nepomniatchi finished with the remaining €800,000.

Carlsen, a chess prodigy who became the second-youngest grandmaster when he obtained his title in Dubai in 2004, extends his time as the greatest chess player until 2023, when the next Chess Championship will be held. Nepomniatchi will return to the 2023 Candidates tournament, automatically holding a spot as a runner-up to the Chess Championship. This historic win for Carlsen only adds to his list of accomplishments: the highest rated chess player in history, the youngest #1 FIDE player, the first player to hold all major chess titles simultaneously. With the 2020 chess boom, sparked by the pandemic and the release of Netflix’s hit “The Queen’s Gambit”, continuing to this day, future Chess Championships promise to be even more exciting as the community around one of the oldest board games in the world grows even more enthusiastic.