Carlsen shares the Chess World Cup with Nepomniachtchi

The Norwegian offered a tie to his rival in the final in New York and both he and the Federation accepted

“If we had continued, anyone would have won by exhaustion and it would have been cruel”

The Norwegian Magnus Carlsen and the Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi were both proclaimed world chess champions in the tournament held in New York, after an agonizing final in which the International Federation accepted the shared gold .

Carlsen, genius and figure in the world of chess, was on the verge of winning after taking a 2-0 lead in a four-game match. However, Nepomniachtchi made a spectacular comeback and won the next two games. The subsequent tiebreakers included three very close and grueling battles, in which neither player was able to gain a decisive advantage (3.5-3.5).

At that moment, Carlsen stood up and publicly suggested to his opponent to split the crown. After some thought, Nepomniachtchi agreed and the two approached the head referee and explained their point of view, arguing that they were both tired and had proven that they were on equal terms. FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich accepted.

“If we had continued, either of us would have won due to exhaustion, and that would have been cruel for both of us,” Carlsen later explained, after starring alongside the Russian player in a historic outcome for the World Blitz Games with his sixth title and first since 2021.

The world number one had had a high-profile controversy with the Federation over the dress code, which FIDE relaxed after initially prohibiting and fining the Norwegian from wearing jeans during last Friday’s match.