Norwegian superstar Carlsen has been at the top of the sport for over a decade now but this was the first-ever World Cup<\/a> title for the five-time World Championship winner. In fact he was playing a final at the World Cup for the first time.
The two classical games ended in a stalemate on Tuesday and Wednesday and the final required a tie-breaker to identify the winner.
Displaying his superior end-game skills, Carlsen won the first game in the Rapid format.
This gave Carlsen the one title he was desperate to win.
Carlsen winning the final via a tie-break over two rounds: ( <\/span>Watch Video<\/a> )<\/span>
How Carlsen won the first game of the tie-break:<\/span><\/p>\n
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- Praggnanandhaa tried to snatch the initiative in the first rapid game with white pieces.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
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- Carlsen showed his peerless command in the endgame to win in 47 moves of the Modern Bishop’s opening.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
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- Praggnanandhaa was better out of the opening and was pressing hard on the kingside.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
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- With his queen manoeuvred to g-file and attack on the ‘f7’ pawn, Praggnanandhaa was in a position where he could have called the shots.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
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- But Carlsen first found the king move (16…Kg7), eased the pressure and followed that with an exchange of his queen and rook.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
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- What followed (two knights, rook and four pawns vs knight, bishop, rook and four pawns) was a supremely coordinated attack of two knights dancing to strangle the king<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
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- Carlsen’s rook almost circulated on the board, landing on ‘a3’ square from ‘a8’ via the h8-h3 route. The final act involved a mating threat too. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
First game: <\/span>Watch video<\/a>(From 12:25 till 1:15:<\/span>54<\/span>)
What Carlsen did right and where Prag faltered:<\/span>
The game started with an Italian Opening, and Carlsen’s 11th move, Pawn to d5, cost him more than four minutes. He then pushed his pawn to g5. Praggnanandhaa made a big mistake in putting his knight to f5, which was taken by Carlsen with his light-squared bishop. Praggnanandhaa traded it with pawn-takes-bishop, but this gave Carlsen a slight advantage.
Praggnanandhaa’s king-to-h1 move further weakened his position, and Carlsen was most likely planning to put his queen to f6 in order to exchange queens. Magnus exchanged his queen and after knight-takes-queen, pawn exchange at g6, Praggnanandhaa was left with 6 pawns, two rooks and a bishop, knight each while Magnus had the knight pair instead of bishop.
Praggnanandhaa pushed his pawn to g4, but Carlsen’s pawn-to-f6 move was a positional mistake. Praggnanandhaa responded by putting his other rook to g2 and pushing his pawn further to g5.Magnus put his rook to f6, possibly asking for a rook exchange, and Praggnanandhaa accepted it. He then pushed his b-file pawn, but he was under severe time pressure, with just 15 seconds on the clock.
With only 6 seconds left on the clock, Praggnanandhaa made a huge blunder by pushing his pawn to a6. This put Carlsen in a completely commanding position, and Praggnanandhaa resigned.
The 18-year-old Prag needed to win the second game, but could only salvage a draw.
Carlsen’s interview after winning the final: ( <\/span>Watch Video<\/a> )<\/span>
How the second game of the tie-break ended in a draw:<\/span><\/p>\n\n- \n
- Carlsen opted for Sicilian Alapin in the second game, also regarded as Anti-Sicilian against Black.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
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- Praggnanandhaa was facing a must-win game with Black.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
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- The second game started with Carlsen playing e4, and the first exchange on the board happened when Praggnanandhaa played cxd4.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
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- White won the pawn back on the eighth move, and Carlsen quickly castled after Praggnanandhaa took the second pawn with queen.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
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- Praggnanandhaa was a pawn down, and the most he could salvage in the position was a draw unless Magnus made some obvious and unlikely mistake.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
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- Praggnanandhaa was a pawn down, and the most he could salvage in the position was a draw unless Magnus made some obvious and unlikely mistake.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
- White won the pawn back on the eighth move, and Carlsen quickly castled after Praggnanandhaa took the second pawn with queen.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
- The second game started with Carlsen playing e4, and the first exchange on the board happened when Praggnanandhaa played cxd4.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
- Praggnanandhaa was facing a must-win game with Black.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
- Carlsen opted for Sicilian Alapin in the second game, also regarded as Anti-Sicilian against Black.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
- Carlsen’s rook almost circulated on the board, landing on ‘a3’ square from ‘a8’ via the h8-h3 route. The final act involved a mating threat too. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
- What followed (two knights, rook and four pawns vs knight, bishop, rook and four pawns) was a supremely coordinated attack of two knights dancing to strangle the king<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
- But Carlsen first found the king move (16…Kg7), eased the pressure and followed that with an exchange of his queen and rook.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
- With his queen manoeuvred to g-file and attack on the ‘f7’ pawn, Praggnanandhaa was in a position where he could have called the shots.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
- Praggnanandhaa was better out of the opening and was pressing hard on the kingside.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
- Carlsen showed his peerless command in the endgame to win in 47 moves of the Modern Bishop’s opening.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
![\"8\"](\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/imgsize-23456,msid-103059945,width-600,resizemode-4\/103059945.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"Prag\u2019s](\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/imgsize-23456,msid-103059924,width-600,resizemode-4\/103059924.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"CHESS\"](\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/imgsize-23456,msid-103059958,width-600,resizemode-4\/103059958.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
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