★★★ INTRO ★★★

The 2014 World Chess Championship was a match between defending champion 23 year old Magnus Carlsen of Norway and 44 year old challenger Viswanathan Anand of India.

★★★ QUALIFICATION ★★★

The Candidates tournament consisted of eight players. Levon Aronian earned his qualification via. rating and playing in the 2013 World Cup (see World Cup (2013)/Levon Aronian for his games and World Cup (2013) for all games). Vladimir Kramnik earned his qualification by being one of the finalists in the 2013 World Cup (see World Cup (2013)/Vladimir Kramnik for his games). Viswanathan Anand earned his qualification via. losing the 2013 WCC (see Game Collection: 2013 World Chess Championship for games and more info). Veselin Topalov and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov both earned their qualification by earning the most "series points" in the 2012-13 FIDE Grand Prix cycle. Sergey Karjakin earned his qualification by rating and playing in the 2013 World Cup (see World Cup (2013)/Sergey Karjakin for his games). Peter Svidler earned his qualification via. the wild card and lastly Dmitry Andreikin earned his qualification for being the other finalist in the 2013 World Cup (see World Cup (2013)/Dmitry Andreikin for his games).

In the Candidates Match (see World Championship Candidates (2014) for games) held in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, Anand won with a round to spare, finishing with a score of 8.5/14 to earn a re-match with Carlsen. He was also the only undefeated player.

★★★ CONDITIONS ★★★

The match was played in Sochi, Russia. It was a best of 12, meaning the first to 6 1/2 points would be declared world champion. If it's tied after 12 games, there will be tiebreaker games. Game 1 was played on November 5th, 2014.

★★★ NOTABLE GAMES ★★★

Game 2: Carlsen vs Anand, 2014

Game 3: Anand vs Carlsen, 2014

Game 6: Carlsen vs Anand, 2014

★★★ FINAL ★★★

The last game was played on November 23rd, 2014. Entering game 11, Carlsen lead 5 1/2-4 1/2, and could clinch the match if he beat Anand with white.

Game 11: Carlsen vs Anand, 2014

With the win, Carlsen clinched the match 6 1/2-4 1/2. He also became the 1st player to defeat a reigining champion in a match, and defend it the next year by the same player, also in a match since Kasparov in 1985-86.

★★★ MINI TABLE ★★★

Carlsen 1/2 1 0 1/2 1/2 1 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1 (3 wins, 6 draws, 1 loss) <59.1% score>

Anand 1/2 0 1 1/2 1/2 0 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 0 (1 win, 6 draws and 3 losses) <40.9% score>

★★★ OTHER LINKS ★★★

See also: Carlsen - Anand World Championship Match (2014)

Head to Head Record Prior to 2014: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches... (6 wins, 28 draws and 6 losses for both players)

Previous World Championship: Game Collection: 2013 World Chess Championship

Next World Championship: Game Collection: 2016 World Chess Championship