BREAKING: Carlsen Signs World Championship Contract
World Champion GM Magnus Carlsen has signed the contract to defend his title according to his manager, Espen Agdestein.
The match will take place as scheduled in Sochi, Russia from November 7-28, 2014.
Both Carlsen and Agdestein are in St. Louis following the 2014 Sinquefield Cup. Agdestein made the announcement to Kaja Snare of TV2 in Norway.
You can read the full transcript on TV2's web site here.
It has been a pleasure signing autographs for the fans in St. Louis. After the tournament I found the time for 1 more pic.twitter.com/wRELuTPko1
— Magnus Carlsen (@MagnusCarlsen) September 7, 2014
Snare translated some of the interview with Agdestein for Chess.com.
"We have sent in the contract today. Magnus is playing in the world championship. He wants to play. His experience from last year is very was good. He is the world champion and he is a chess player and he wants to defend his title."
The contract was faxed to the FIDE office in Athens, and FIDE has confirmed that it received the contract. Here's their official statement:
“FIDE is happy to announce that both the World Champion Magnus Carlsen and the Challenger Vishy Anand have signed the World Championship Match contract and preparations are proceeding as planned.
The World Championship Match will take place in Sochi, Russia between the 6th and the 27th of November. The FIDE President is planning to invite both Prime Ministers of Norway and India to the opening ceremony and to the "first move". The FIDE President has also decided to invite all World Champions to the ceremony, which will take place on November 7th.
FIDE wishes both players and all the chess world a great match.
Gens Una Sumus”
In the third week of August, news came out that FIDE had denied a request from Carlsen to postpone his world championship match with Anand. Carlsen was not happy with the match taking place in November in Sochi due to “much uncertainty about it”, as stated by his manager.
However, FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov made clear at a press conference that the deadline would be upheld. Meanwhile, Anand had already signed, and was ready to play in Sochi.
Then, the Carlsen team wanted to postpone the decision whether to sign the match contract or not until after the Sinquefield Cup. FIDE's initial reaction, by Vice President Isreal Gelfer, was negative but later Ilyumzhinov agreed to postpone the deadline to September 7th (today).
Now that both contracts have been signed, Anand-Carlsen Part II is on. The match is scheduled to take place November 7-28, 2014 in Sochi, Russia.
Looks like Carlsen will play in Sochi in November after all. Chess world breathes sigh of relief (for the moment).
— Stephen Moss (@StephenMossGdn) September 7, 2014
Norwegian newspapers all over the breaking news: "Carlsen set for WC match in Russia" #CarlsenAnand @NRKno pic.twitter.com/bAk2QAUbEb
— Tarjei J. Svensen (@TarjeiJS) September 7, 2014
@MarkTWIC @TarjeiJS Russia does not deserve to organise any top world sport events, and this match is no exception.
— Mikhail Golubev (@mikhail_golubev) September 7, 2014
So happy! If @FabianoCaruana can keep this level, and Anand plays a few more years, think of all the great chess we could have.
— Martin Bennedik (@bennedik) September 7, 2014
Kudos to @MagnusCarlsen and @Vishy64theKing for agreeing to play the World #Chess Championship match in #Sochi! Have a great match!
— Natalia Pogonina (@Pogonina) September 7, 2014
Very glad that Carlsen accepted to play the WC-final vs Anand. I fully understand his hesitation. Sochi...?! come on, FIDE, be serious...
— Pelletier Yannick (@PelletierChess) September 9, 2014
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Mike Klein began playing chess at the age of four in Charlotte, NC. In 1986, he lost to Josh Waitzkin at the National Championship featured in the movie "Searching for Bobby Fischer." A year later, Mike became the youngest member of the very first All-America Chess Team, and was on the team a total of eight times. In 1988, he won the K-3 National Championship, and eventually became North Carolina's youngest-ever master. In 1996, he won clear first for under-2250 players in the top section of the World Open. Mike has taught chess full-time for a dozen years in New York City and Charlotte, with his students and teams winning many national championships. He now works at Chess.com as a Senior Journalist and at ChessKid.com as the Chief Chess Officer. In 2012, 2015, and 2018, he was awarded Chess Journalist of the Year by the Chess Journalists of America. He has also previously won other awards from the CJA such as Best Tournament Report, and also several writing awards for mainstream newspapers. His chess writing and personal travels have now brought him to more than 85 countries.
