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The defending world champion is a 25-year-old Norwegian whos been named one of the worlds sexiest men.Magnus Carlsen is tops in an endurance sport that doesnt require him to move from his chair.Its called chess.Carlsen, the highest-rated player in chess history, again aims to win the World Chess Championship, the most eagerly awaited match in a generation, starting Friday in New York.Trying to wrest the title from Carlsen is the 26-year-old Ukrainian-born Russian grandmaster Sergey Karjakin.The prize purse of $1.1 million will be divided 60-40 between the men, who are treated like rock stars in their countries.Carlsen and Karjakin will play in a renovated building on the historic Manhattan waterfront, near Wall Street and the Brooklyn Bridge.The championship has returned to the United States for the first time in 21 years; the last one was in Sochi, Russia, in 2014.In the U.S., organizers face a challenge: how to popularize a sedentary sport with little visible action in a society where most fans favor dynamic sports like football, boxing, basketball and baseball.Still, chess has its fervent American fans, including Jay Z, Jude Law, Arnold Schwarzenegger and President Barack Obama.The International Olympic Committee recognizes the World Chess Federation, which governs championship-linked matches, as a sports entity. It requires not only brain acrobatics but also the physical stamina to sit as long as six hours at a time for three weeks.The board battle pits figures of medieval warriors, kings, queens, bishops and knights against each other in ever-changing plots as dramatic as the Game of Thrones.About 1 billion downloads have been tracked to apps offering electronic versions of the game, says Ilya Merenzon, the Moscow-based chief executive officer of Agon Ltd., which owns the marketing and commercial rights to the World Chess brand for the championships and the qualifying games leading up to it.There are an estimated 600 million players worldwide, Merenzon says.By contrast with the glitzy, high-tech championship, chess enthusiasts can be found playing in hundreds of New York outdoor public spaces, such as Central Park. Some of these urban street players are homeless.Karjakin was 12 when he became the youngest grandmaster, and Carlsen was a grandmaster at 13.When I was young, I was used to winning games in a very aggressive style, and I would attack all the time and I was used to my opponents cracking, Carlsen said. But when I got to the highest level, then people defended better, so now Im more pragmatic. Whatever risks I take, I try to control the game.Carlsen has cashed in through sponsorships, his own chess app and modeling for ads. He appeared in G-Star Raws Spring/Summer fashion ad campaign along with actress and model Lily Cole.He also was selected by Cosmopolitan magazine as one of the sexiest men of 2013. Since then, hes also been the worlds No. 1 player.All 600 seats for Fridays inaugural game were sold out, starting at $75 apiece. Two games are played on consecutive days, followed by a one-day break, for a total of 12 games.Tens of millions of fans are expected to follow live online, free of charge through the worldchess.com website and affiliate partners. In addition, $15 via Pay-Per-View buys the game in virtual reality, allowing fans to experience the game as if they were there by wearing special goggles.For years, chess seemed to be played in a bubble, far from mainstream media.But it never grew out of style in Carlsens Norway, where TV programs are pre-empted for important games.This week, New York will host the first championship with two grandmasters of the smartphone generation -- a battle of two of the finest minds on the planet, Merenzon says. Our goal is to make chess a pop culture event.---This story has been corrected to show the companys name is Agon, not Agony, and the company does not control the games, just the commercial rights to the brand name. 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Wragge hit 9-of-14 from behind the arc, matching Kyle Korvers school record for 3-pointers in a game set in 2003, as Creighton (16-3, 6-1 Big East broke a conference record with 21 treys in the rout. RIO DE JANEIRO -- Usain Bolt kneeled down and gave the track one final kiss, then flattened his hand, reached to the ground and slapped the white number 3 painted at the finish line.Three Olympics, three races at each, three gold medals every time.He could have just as easily slapped the number 1. That would need no explanation.The man who transcended track and became a world-class celebrity bid a blazing-fast farewell to the Rio de Janeiro Games -- and, he insists, the Olympics altogether -- Friday night with yet another anchor leg for the ages. He turned a close 4x100 relay race against Japan and the United States into a typical, Bolt-like runaway, helping Jamaica cross the line in 37.27 seconds.There you go, he said. I am the greatest.Japan won the silver medal, finishing .33 seconds behind.The U.S. finished the race third but endured yet another relay debacle -- disqualified because leadoff runner Mike Rodgers was ruled to have passed the baton to Justin Gatlin before the start of the first exchange zone. That promoted Canada to the bronze medal. The Americans were protesting the ruling, and as 3 a.m. Saturday approached in Brazil, there was no word on the outcome.It was the twilight zone. It was a nightmare, said Gatlin, who, along with his teammates, found out about the DQ while parading the U.S. flag around the track. You work so hard with your teammates, guys you compete against almost all year long. All that hard work just crumbles.If the ruling stands, it will mark the ninth time since 1995 the U.S. men have been disqualified or failed to get the baton around at the Olympics or world championships. (They blew a 10th medal, the silver at the London Games, after Tyson Gays doping positive.)The disqualification will cause more hand-wringing in the States.In Jamaica, theyll party.Less pressure when you know youre the fastest man out there.As soon as I got the baton, I knew I was going to win this one, Bolt said.His record in Olympic finals improved to nine victories over nine events.Nobodys done that before, and nobodys on the horizon to do it again soon.Along for Bolts final trip down the track were Nickel Ashmeade, training partner Yohan Blake and the Jamaican elder statesman, former world-record holder Asafa Powell.When Bolt received the yellow baton from Ashmeade for his final run down the straightaway, he was even, or maybe a step behind Aska Cambridge of Japan and Trayvon Bromell of the United States.That lasted about four steps.With 70 meters to go, it was over. Bolt looked at the clock -- same as he did when he won the 200 the night before. No world record, bbut he still has a piece of that one, too -- its 36.dddddddddddd84 seconds, set four years ago at the London Games. He also owns the records in the 100 (9.58) and 200 (19.19).I am just relieved. Its happened. I am just happy, proud of myself. Its come true, said Bolt, who overcame a hamstring injury earlier in the summer, then shined throughout a seven-day, seven-race stint in Rio, counting all the heats. The pressure is real. I look at it as an accomplishment.Musical selection for Bolts final parade around the track: Bob Marleys Jammin.With most of the other debates over about greatest this, greatest that, a new one might be whether Bolt has surpassed Marley as the most famous person from the country known for sea, sun and sprints.Usain has done so much, Powell said. Its hard to explain. Hes just a great athlete. Hes a legend.Counting all the preliminaries, finals and his approximately nine-second blast down the stretch in Fridays final race, Bolt has spent 325 seconds -- a tad less than 5 1/2 minutes -- sprinting on the track at the Olympics since he made his debut in Beijing eight years ago.Every tick of the clock has been a treasure. And while he may not close things out with 23 golds, the number Michael Phelps left Rio with earlier this week, its hard to argue there is anybody more successful or electric -- or important to his sport, and the Olympics themselves.The anchor sport of the Olympics has been mired for decades, but especially over the past year, in a cesspool of doping, cheating and bad characters.When Bolts on the track, everyone forgets.A great sprinter, said Gay who, once upon a time, was Bolts biggest challenger. Nine gold medals, words cant even describe what hes done for the sport.So much of that is because the show isnt over when hes through running.After crossing the line for the last time, Bolt pumped his fist in the air, slowed down and took off those famous gold spikes. He huddled with his teammates and they prayed. Then, a final, luxurious lap around the track.Ill stay up late tonight, Bolt said when asked how hed celebrate.All week, when asked a hundred different ways if this really is his last Olympics, he kept saying yes. He said it once more as Friday night turned into Saturday morning.Yeah, this is the last one, guys, said the champion, who turns 30 on Sunday, the same day the Olympic cauldron is extinguished.Going so soon? It leaves the world to ponder: Without Bolt on the track, how will things ever be the same? ' ' '