Magnus Carlsen brings sex appeal to the staid world of chess.
THE defending world champion is a 25-year-old Norwegian who’s been named one of the world’s sexiest men.
Magnus Carlsen is tops in an endurance sport that does not require him to move from his chair.
It’s called chess.
Carlsen, the highest rated player in chess history, again aims to win the World Chess Championship — the most eagerly awaited match in a generation, starting Friday in New York.
Trying to wrest the champion title from Carlsen is the Ukrainian-born Russian grandmaster Sergey Karjakin, who is 26.
The prize purse of $1.1 million will be divided 60-40 between the two men, who are treated like rock stars in their countries.
Carlsen and Karjakin will play in a renovated Manhattan building on the city’s historic waterfront, near Wall Street and the Brooklyn Bridge.
Chess world champion Magnus Carlsen, of Norway, left, looks through a virtual reality viewer while his challenger, Sergey Karjakin, of Russia, looks on.Source:AP
The championship has returned to the United States for the first time in 21 years; the last one was in the Russian city of Sochi in 2014. In the United States, organisers face a challenge: How to popularise a sedentary sport with little visible action in a society where most fans favour super- dynamic sports like football, boxing, basketball and baseball. Still, chess has its fervent American fans, including Jay Z, Jude Law, Arnold Schwarzenegger and President Barack Obama.
The International Olympic Committee classifies it as a sport, as do more than 100 countries. It requires not only brain acrobatics but also the physical stamina to sit as long as six hours at a time for three weeks. The board battle pits figures of medieval warriors, kings, queens, bishops and knights against each other in ever-changing plots as dramatic as the “Game of Thrones.” Electronic versions of the game register about 1 billion downloads a year of hundreds of apps, says Ilya Merenzon, the Moscow-based chief executive officer of Agony Limited, which owns the marketing rights to the World Chess brand that controls tournaments leading to the championship.
Magnus Carlsen, current world #1 ranked chess player.Source:News Limited
There are an estimated 600 million players worldwide, Merenzon says. By contrast with the glitzy, hi-tech championship, chess enthusiasts can be found playing in hundreds of New York outdoor public spaces, such as Central Park. Some of these urban street players are homeless.
Karjakin was 12 when he became the youngest grandmaster ever, and Carlsen was a grandmaster at 13.
“When I was young, I was used to winning games in a very aggressive style, and I would attack all the time and I was used to my opponents cracking,” says Carlsen. “But when I got to the highest level, then people defended better, so now I’m more pragmatic; whatever risks I take, I try to control the game.” Carlsen has cashed in through sponsorships, his own chess app and modelling for ads. He appeared in G-Star Raw’s Spring/Summer fashion ad campaign along with actress and model Lily Cole.
He also was selected by Cosmopolitan magazine as one of the “sexiest men of 2013.” Since then, he’s also been the world’s No. 1 player.
Chess world champion Magnus Carlsen, of Norway, left, and his challenger, Sergey Karjakin, of Russia.Source:AP
All 600 seats for Friday’s inaugural game were sold out, starting at $75 apiece. Two games are played on consecutive days, followed by a one-day break, for a total of 12 games.
Tens of millions of fans are expected to follow live online, free of charge through the worldchess.com website and affiliate partners. In addition, $15 via Pay-Per-View buys the game in virtual reality, allowing fans to experience the game as if they were there by wearing special goggles.
For years, chess seemed to be played in a bubble, far from mainstream media. But it never grew out of style in Carlsen’s Norway, where TV programs are pre- empted for important games.
This week, New York City will host the first championship with two grandmasters of the smartphone generation — “a battle of two of the finest minds on the planet,” says Merenzon. “Our goal is to make chess a pop culture event.”
AP
Originally published as The world champion bringing sexy back
