Norway's Magnus Carlsen has successfully defended his title of chess world champion, defeating challenger Sergey Karjakin of Russia in an intense and gruelling match fought over more than two weeks in New York. 
The Norwegian retained his crown by overhauling his opponent in a tiebreak of rapid games Wednesday after the two players remained locked on equal points following 12 previous games played over long or "classical" time controls. 
Carlsen, whose second successful defence of the title coincided with his 26th birthday, described the match as "the most difficult" he had ever played. In a press conference, he said: "It was not easy at any point..I was in a dark place at some point in the match." His victory will doubtless cement his reputation as one of the greatest chess players in history. At 13, he won the title of grandmaster and rose to the top of the chess world rankings in 2010, having just turned 19.

Source: QNA