Magnus Carlsen is an undisputed titan in the world of chess. In 2011 at the age of 19, the Swedish grandmaster became the youngest person to ever top the International Chess Federation (FIDE) world rankings—a position he’s occupied ever since. Carlsen holds the record for the highest official rating level in history, and currently trails only Gary Kasparov for the longest time spent as the sport’s highest ranking player. So what would it take for the everyday chess enthusiast to give him a run for his money? Coordinating with more than 143,000 other players from around the world, apparently.
On May 20, Chess.com’s “Magnus vs. The World” event finally ended in a draw between Carlsen and his competitors. Beginning on April 4, the online match enabled the public to discuss, debate, and ultimately vote on each subsequent move against the international grandmaster. It took 32 moves, but over 143,000 participants ultimately forced an end to the match on Day 46, after selecting a threefold repetition of pieces during a queen endgame. Carlsen played as white with the world representing the black side of the board, each earning a half-point as per official match rules.
“Overall, the world has played very, very sound chess,” Carlsen said near the game’s conclusion. “Kind of from the start, maybe not going for the most enterprising options, but keeping it in the vein of normal chess. It’s not always the best strategy, but it seemed like it worked fine this time.”
As CNN notes, “very, very sound chess” required over 508,000 votes cast and 30,000 forum posts throughout the six-week-long game. Over the course of the match, the public also received advice from a panel of five of the sport’s top players including World Grandmaster Dina Belenkaya.
Even beyond the competitors, “Magnus vs. The World” wasn’t a standard game of chess. Instead, both sides played by the rules of Chess960. Developed by Bobby Fischer, Chess960 is intended as a way to introduce more variety and complexity to the ancient game. The starting positions for back row pieces are randomized while the pawns remain the same, allowing for a spontaneity that chess veterans sometimes find lacking in the classic variation.
The number of participants more than doubled from last year’s similar event, “Vishy vs. The World,” which saw five-time World Chess Champion Viswanathan “Vishy” Anand battle around 70,000 players. In that case, however, Anand managed to secure a checkmate after 29 days of play.
To the credit of his 143,000 opponents, this wasn’t the first time Carlsen played against so many people. Chess.com cites a 2002 crowdsourced online game hosted by the Norwegian website Nettavisen that also ended in a draw when Carlsen was 11 years old. In 2014, however, he managed a checkmate against his home country during a similar match.
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