The 2024 FIDE World Blitz Chess Championship, which started in the most unusual way possible when Magnus Carlsen almost withdrawed from the event because the International Chess Federation didn't initially allowed him to wear jeans, has ended with another surprising turn of events: the two grandmasters in the final, Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi, have agreed to share the title. There was no loser, only two winners.
This is therefore the eighth world title for the Norwegian in the Blitz category, and the first one for the Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi. It was Carlsen who suggested Nepomniachtchi to share the world title... because they were tired: they both ended in ties three times, during the New Year's eve, at 8 PM...
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"We reached a point where it had been a long day. We played many games, we had three draws and I felt that I could keep playing. But it was a nice solution to share the win, it was a good way to end it", said Carlsen, as reported by Chess.com.
Therefore, both grandmasters were able to finish 2024 in the best way possible. However, many people were dissatisfied, saying "chess world is a joke" and suggesting they had (with the referee's permission) broken FIDE's regulations: according to one article, the game "shall be repeated until the first game won by one of the players."
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While this isn't the first time two chess players agree to share a title (Carlsen had already proposed this earlier) this was the first time this happened in a World Championship. A nice gesture of sportmanship, or a mockery to the credibility of the sport?