It ain't over 'til it's over, but it's over. The score is now +3-0=6 with five games to be played. [...] If one of the top American chess journalists [the New York Times' former chess columnist Dylan Loeb McClain] thought the match 'may have been decided already' after two wins for Carlsen, what can we say after three wins? It's over...
*It*, being the 2021 Carlsen - Nepomniachtchi match in Dubai (m-w.com), continued for another two games : a draw and a win for Carlsen with the Black pieces. A score of +4-0=7 with three games left to be played was the most convincing, crushing victory in World Champion Carlsen's five title matches. Continuing with the 'Second Week' post, let's reference the last official reports titled 'FIDE World Championship 2021' from Fide.com:-
- 2021-12-08: A change in mindset? [fide.com; g.10; 'Jonathan Tisdall, Press Officer']
- 2021-12-10: Magnus Carlsen wins his fifth consecutive world title match [ditto; g.11]
- 2021-12-12: Crowned again [ditto; closing ceremony]
Let's also not overlook the last Youtube videos in the series 'FIDE World Championship Match - NBC Recap Game':-
- 2021-12-10: NBC Recap Game 9
- 2021-12-10: NBC Recap Game 10
- 2021-12-12: NBC Recap Game 11
Post-match, Carlsen dropped a bombshell piece of news. In an earlier post in this series, The First Week (December 2021), I referenced a couple of stories from Sean Ingle of The Guardian. His take on the latest news was Magnus Carlsen may opt against world chess defence due to lack of motivation (theguardian.com; December 2021), subtitled:-
Carlsen retained world championship title in Dubai • "It doesn’t mean as much any more as it once did" • Magnus Carlsen insists he has other priorities outside of the world championship.
What happens if Carlsen declines to play? The rules for the Dubai match, 'Regulations for the FIDE World Championship Match 2021', said,
2. Participation [...] 2.2. If the World Champion or the Challenger withdraws for any reason, he is replaced by the runner-up of the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2020.
Assuming that rule remains in effect, the participants in the next Candidates Tournament might be playing for *both* places in the subsequent World Championship match. The Guardian story mentioned,
The 31-year-old [Carlsen] said the only thing likely to persuade him to keep defending his title would be if his next opponent was the brilliant 18-year-old Alireza Firouzja, who recently broke Carlsen’s record as the youngest 2800-rated player and is now ranked world No 2.
Firouzja qualified for the Candidates event in last month's 2021 Grand Swiss (m-w.com) held in Riga. No one can accuse Carlsen of avoiding a tough challenge. Maybe he's just setting the stage for a nail-biting Candidates Tournament.
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