His childhood was harsh; his career difficult. But he spent almost half of his life in the West, able to taste liberty even before the Soviet Union fell. Viktor Korchnoi is one more reminder of the manifold injustices of totalitarian communism.

On Monday in Moscow, Sergey Karjakin, 26, was trying to explain to journalists how he won the Candidates chess tournament, an eight-player double-round robin event to determine the challenger for the world champion Magnus Carlsen in the title match in November.

What does Carlsen have in common with sport superstars Lionel Messi, Jaromir Jagr or Stephen Curry? They all seem unstoppable. Everybody knows they are going to score, but not many are able to prevent it.

The world chess champion Magnus Carlsen won the Chess Grand Tour, a three tournaments bonanza played in Norway, the USA and England, and involving the world's best players.

The match, a combination of classical, rapid and blitz games, delivered amazing moves and unexpected blunders. All 10 games were decisive, no draws. Svidler, 39, blamed it on exhaustion and the resulting mistakes.