Since abdicating his world crown last year, Norway’s world champion, Magnus Carlsen, has appeared at a variety of over-the-board events, and also competes frequently online.
Carlsen’s often crowded schedule caught up with him last week when he flew across several time zones to the World Team Rapid and Blitz in Astana, Kazakhstan, missed the early rounds, and was then beaten in 23 moves by Hungary’s Richard Rapport. The No 1’s king was caught uncastled and, down to two minutes on his clock, he resigned in the face of a forced mate.
