Magnus Carlsen forced into a draw by more than 143000 people playing against him

BERLIN (AP) — Norwegian chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen was forced into a draw Monday by more than 143,000 people worldwide playing against him in a single, record-setting game. Billed as “Magnus Carlsen vs. The World,” the online match began April 4 on Chess.com, the world’s largest chess website, and was the first-ever online freestyle game to feature a world champion. The mega-match ended after Team World checked Carlsen’s king a third time, a stunning outcome after Chess.com had predicted Carlsen would win by a wide margin. Members of Team World — anyone around the globe could sign up — voted on each move and each side had 24 hours to make their play. Carlsen played the white pieces. The world forced the draw on move 32 after checking Carlsen’s king three times in the corner of the board where it could not escape. The rule is called “threefold repetition,” meaning all of the pieces on the board are in the exact same position three times to prompt a draw. ‘Very, very sound che ... Read full article.