Bill Gates has lost to Magnus Carlsen in a chess match that lasted less than 80 seconds.
(Photo : Frans Peeters)

Norwegian chess player Magnus Carlsen has beaten Indian player Viswanathan Anand (Vishy) in the World Chess Championship 2013 and became the sixteenth world chess champion.

In 2004, Carlsen became a grandmaster at the age of 13 years and 148 days, making him the second youngest grandmaster in history at that time. On January 1, 2010, at the age of 19 years and 32 days, Carlsen became the youngest chess player in history to be ranked world No. 1.

The World Chess Championship 2013 took place from November 9 through to November 22 in Chennai, the home country of Anand. Vishy has been the undisputed world chess champion from 2007 to 2012 but this time round, Anand was unable to retain the title and lost to Carlsen.

Carlsen and Anand played 10 games at the World Chess Championship 2013 and the first four games of the match between the two chess players were drawn. Carlsen then won the next two games but the seventh and eighth games were drawn again. Carlsen won the ninth game and the tenth game was drawn. Carlsen won the championship without letting Anand win even a single game.

Born on November 30, 1990, Carlsen has already received a number of awards in the professional arena. Carlsen has won the Chess Oscars for 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. The Chess Oscar, which is conducted by the Russian chess magazine 64, is awarded to the best player of the year. The honor of the Chess Oscar is awarded based on a worldwide poll of leading chess critics, writers and journalists.

The Norwegian tabloid Verdens Gang awarded Carlsen with the “Name of the Year” (Arets navn) and “Sportsman of the year” in 2009. The same year the chess player also won the Folkets Idrettspris, a people’s choice award from the newspaper Dagbladet. In 2011, Carlsen also received the Peer Gynt Prize, a Norwegian honor prize, which is awarded annually to an individual or institution that has achieved distinction in society.

In 2013, the Time magazine also named Carlsen one of the 100 top most influential people in the world.

However, all is not over for Anand. He has one full year to practice hard and try to regain the title once again in 2014.