The world’s second richest man faced the world’s best chess player in a game of, you guessed it, chess. Who do you think won? The answer is rather obvious, but what came as a surprise was the ease with which the chess champion won.
The newly-crowned Norwegian world chess champion Magnus Carlsen needed a grand total of nine moves to checkmate Bill Gates in a speed game recorded for Scandinavian TV.
The game was held in response to Norwegian television presenter Fredrik Skavlan challenging Gates to play against Carlsen. The Microsoft founder later said that the game, which was shown in Norway, Denmark and Sweden, had “a predetermined outcome”.
Gates was given two minutes to make each of his moves, while Carlsen was given just 30 seconds. The game ended in favour of the 23-year-old in just 1 minute, 20 seconds.
“Wow, that was fast,” Gates said to Carlsen after his crushing defeat.
When asked by Skavlan under what circumstances he felt intellectually inadequate, Gates answered: “When I play chess with him [Carlsen]“.
