This showdown followed a record-breaking streak of 12 drawn games of regular chess.
ADVERTISEMENTAmerican Fabiano Caruana proved no match for Magnus Carlsen, who defeated him at the Chess World Championship in London on Wednesday.
With Carlsen's win, the Norwegian chess king retained the title he first claimed in 2013.
Carlsen, who has won the championship three times, beat Caruana in three time-limited games, ending his hopes of becoming the first U.S. champion since Bobby Fischer in 1972.
"I felt like I had a really good day at work today," Carlsen said. "Everything kind of went perfectly."
The win was decided by a series of speedier tiebreaker games. Players needed to win the best of four of these shortened games to take the title. Carlsen took a two-match lead and needed only a draw in the third tie-breaker to earn the top distinction. Caruana resigned in the third as it became clearer Carlsen would win.
The tiebreakers came after the match went three weeks with 12 straight draws.
Caruana, who was born in Miami, raised in Brooklyn and lives in St. Louis, said he did not come close to playing his best on Wednesday.
"I felt a lot of pressure but I don't think I had added pressure because I was the first American challenger in a long time," he said. "I think the match naturally comes with a lot of pressure."
Caruana had the chance to become the second American-born World Champion had he won.