It’s the equivalent of the Grand Slam or Triple Crown of chess, and Magnus Carlsen has just done it for a hard-to-believe third time.
The Norwegian superstar, who is voluntarily ceding his classical world title this year, last week captured both the World Rapid and World Blitz championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan. China’s GM Tan Zhongyi won the women’s rapid title on tiebreaks over IM Dinara Saduakassova of Kazakhstan, and fellow Kazakh IM Bibisara Assaubayeva delighted the hometown crowd by winning the women’s blitz title for the second year in a row.
Even though playing chess at very different time controls requires very different skills, this is the third time in less than a decade that Carlsen has worn all three belts simultaneously.