In the recent Titled Tuesday Grand Prix online blitz event, Magnus Carlsen was held to a draw by Kazakh Candidate Master Aldiyar Zharas. It was a tight game that went down to the wire and lasted 66 moves. It was a rook endgame, and both players had less than 40 seconds on the clock. The game ended with both players shaking hands virtually after a rook and some pawns were lost.
The tense game saw Carlsen make a pawn blunder in the 23rd move, allowing his opponent to get the advantage. But Carlsen fought back, and soon Zharas began to make errors. Carlsen failed to capitalise, and the game ended as a draw by repetition.
Carlsen was recently in action at the 2026 FIDE Freestyle Chess World C’ships, where he defeated Fabiano Caruana in the final. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to come here and participate in a world championship. But you know, there’s a time to prepare for the games, and we’re sitting here and wasting our time when we could be preparing. So I think that is not something you should do in an official world championship. But that’s just my two cents,” he said.
Commenting on the format, he said, “I like the fact that it’s cut-throat and it’s not going to be easy to come through for anybody, further strengthening the point that we should not be sitting right here.”
Carlsen is a five-time World Chess Champion, reigning six-time World Rapid Chess Champion, reigning nine-time World Blitz Champion and is now also the reigning FIDE Freestyle Chess World Champion. He also holds the No. 1 position in the FIDE rankings since July 1, 2011, the longest consecutive period, and is only behind Garry Kasparov in total time spent as the highest-rated player in the world.
