NEW DELHI — Chess has a new king, and it’s a 22-year-old who is as much at home posing for fashion shoots as he is pushing pawns.
Magnus Carlsen of Norway won the chess world championship Friday, becoming the first Westerner since Bobby Fischer to hold the title.
Carlsen, a former child prodigy who has been on a list of the world’s sexiest men and has moonlighted as a model, defeated defending champion Viswanathan Anand of India in a title match that was the game’s most highly anticipated in decades.
What remains to be seen is whether the Norwegian can fulfill an even bigger hope among fans: to bring the cerebral game back into the mainstream.
“I really hope that this can have some positive effect for chess, both in Norway and worldwide,” Carlsen said after clinching the title. “The match was shown on television, and I know a lot of people who don’t play chess found it very interesting to follow. And that’s absolutely wonderful.”
