Chess-Norway's Carlsen claims sixth world rapid chess title in Qatar

Dec 28 : ‌Magnus Carlsen won his sixth world rapid championship title at the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in Qatar on Sunday.

The Norwegian finished the tournament with 10.5 points out of ‌a possible 13, securing his 19th ‌world championship title overall, ahead of Russia’s Vladislav Artemiev, who ended one point behind.

"I am not here filled with emotion or relief. I see it more as a job ‍well done," Carlsen told Norwegian broadcaster NRK after the title was secured.

Carlsen, world champion between 2013 and 2023, had a frustrating second ​day in Doha ‌earlier on Saturday, drawing with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave before losing to Artemiev, after which ​he pushed away a camera while leaving the ⁠venue.

"When I look back ‌on it now, I am just ​glad that I managed to turn it around," Carlsen said.

"Those two games were ‍so different from everything else I did in ⁠the tournament. They were so disconnected from ​reality that it ‌was completely embarrassing."

(Tommy Lund in Gdansk, ‍Editing ​by William Maclean)