The game of chess itself was the ultimate winner as Carlsen and Nepomniachtchi provided a human drama in the age of supercomputers
![Carlsen’s epochal world title triumph proves an antidote to perfection | Bryan Armen Graham](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/b925b1d642f8e9f90b2d694585e0b597fb2347b5/0_39_3293_1976/master/3293.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=7d6c62d8661460135986a40b9af29cea)
The agate type will show that Magnus Carlsen retained the world championship he’s held for eight years by defeating Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi for a fourth time in six games on Friday, closing out their best-of-14 encounter by a score of 7½-3½ and bolstering his claim as the greatest player of this or any other era.
But the Norwegian’s fifth world title match victory – one short of the suddenly imperilled all-time record of six – was freighted with additional meaning by striking a decisive win for a sport that has been dogged by existential questions over its own relevance in an age of supercomputers said to have made the world’s top grandmasters too good to fail.