The curtains came down on the FIDE World Chess Championship (WCC) 2013, with Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, at whose initiative the tourney was held in the country for the first time, on Monday presenting the newly crowned monarch of the mind game, Magnus Carlsen, a cash award of Rs 9.9 crore.
At a brief but simple function, the CM honoured the Norwegian prodigy with a gold-plated trophy and a gold medal besides an olive garland, specially brought from the Nilgiris.
Being an avid chess lover, the CM herself chose the design of the gold-plated trophy. She came to the venue, which witnessed an intense tussle for the crown between reigning champion Viswanathan Anand and Carlsen. The contest lasted for 10 days.
So far, players who win the WCC have been presented with gold-plated silver medals.
However, on instructions from the Chief Minister, for the first time in the history of the WCC matches, the winner has been presented with a medal made of 22-carat gold weighing 103.600 grams.
Five-time champion and runner up in the just-concluded event, Anand, received a cheque for Rs 6.03 crore and a silver trophy from the CM. FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov presented gold and silver medals to Carlsen and Anand respectively.
On November 7, the Chief Minister had declared open the championship at a grand function held at the Nehru Indoor Stadium and the match began on November 9. Carlsen wrested the world championship from veteran Anand with a stupendous 6.5-3.5 score.
On April 8, Jayalalithaa had announced in the State Assembly that the WCC 2013 would be conducted in the city in November and granted Rs 29 crore towards this.
In 2011, Ilyumzhinov had requested the CM to host the WCC 2012 in the city and she had allocated Rs 20 crore for it. However, in the auction held for the event, Russia quoted the highest amount and snatched it. Given the interest shown by TN to host the WCC 2012, the FIDE had requested the State to host WCC 2013 in the city without bidding.
22-carat medal for first time
On instructions from Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, for the first time in WCC matches, the winner was presented with a medal made of 22-carat gold weighing 103.600 grams.