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NEW YORK -- 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 classifies it as a sport, as do more than 100 countries. 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.Electronic versions of the game register about 1 billion downloads a year of hundreds of apps, says Ilya Merenzon, the Moscow-based chief executive officer of Agon Ltd., which owns the marketing 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. Yoenis Cespedes Jersey . 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SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Simone Biles wouldnt let herself believe it. Not until she heard from national team coordinator Martha Karolyi, even if the Olympic dream she had been chasing for most of her life was locked down long ago.So the three-time world champion waited for Karolyi to call her name late Sunday night at the end of an emotionally draining Olympic Gymnastics Trials.It didnt matter that Biles spot was already secure after capturing the all-around, extending a long streak that shows no signs of abating. Biles needed to hear Karolyi say the words.Its very unreal, Biles said. Im sure it will hit me.The 19-year-old pegged as the next It Girl when the Rio Games begin next month has about three weeks to deal. It shouldnt be a problem. Modesty aside, she has been preparing for this moment since she turned her first back handspring.Besides, after what she and the rest of the five-woman team endured over the weekend, what awaits in Rio doesnt seem so tough.A lot of athletes say the Olympic trials is the hardest part and once you get to the Olympics its autopilot, Biles said. You turn on a switch and you go.Thats something Karolyi is counting on. She relied on equal parts experience and potential while putting together a squad expected to come home with copious amounts of hardware.Biles will be joined by defending Olympic champion Gabby Douglas, three-time Olympic medalist Aly Raisman and newcomers Madison Kocian and Laurie Hernandez to form a team that will arrive in Brazil as the gymnastics equivalent of the Dream Team that Michael Jordan led to basketball gold 24 years ago, long before any members of this Team USA were born.Ashton Locklear, Ragan Smith and MyKayla Skinner will be the alternates after getting through what Karolyi called one of the most difficult selection processes of her remarkable career.Karolyi jotted down a list when the process began months ago, the same one she presented Sunday night. While there was temptation to change it -- particularly as Douglas struggled to regain the form that made her a champion in London -- she never did.When you really put everything, you put down what lineup you have for the team and what will be [in the finals], we still felt, all of us on the selection committee, that this is the best combination, Karolyi said.A combination that includes Douglas, who hopped off the beam during both rounds at trials and has openly talked about her sagging confidence. The 20-year-old adjusted her coaching staff between last months national championships and the trials, a move Karolyi said caused confusion in Douglas training.There will be no confusion when Douglas arrives to work out with the national team in Texas later this week. Karolyi will be in charge, and she will expect Douglas to respond as she did last fall, when she shook off sluggish preparations to ccapture silver at the 2015 world championships behind Biles.ddddddddddddIf we put Gabby in regimented training with daily planning and daily assignments and training plans, shell see improvement just like we did last year, Karolyi said. Thats why she made the team even with the mistakes she had in the competition.Ultimately it was the event that helped Douglas first catch Karolyis eye years ago -- the uneven bars -- that made her the first Olympic champion to return for the next Games since Romanias Nadia Comaneci in 1980. Douglas was seventh in the all-around, but her two-day total of 30.350 on bars was third-best at the trials behind Kocian and Locklear and her ability on other events gives Karolyi flexibility.Its heady territory to be sure, though it didnt always feel like it for Douglas. She took a moment to compose herself at the end of a nomadic quadrennium that saw her become a star and bounce across the country from Iowa to Los Angeles, back to Iowa and then Ohio in search of a gym.It was close, definitely, and thats always going to be in the back of my mind, Douglas said. I feel like thats really going to motivate me to push in the gym and really work hard, and no matter what Im not giving up.The Americans havent lost a major international competition in six years, the gap between themselves and the rest of the world hardening along the way. Anything less than sending Karolyi into retirement with gold would be a Miracle On Ice-level upset.The only real drama heading into the final night of trials centered on who would join Biles. The precocious 16-year-old Hernandez, who admits shes too naive to know any better, continued her rapid ascension to perhaps the best threat to Biles long run at the top. Her best event is the balance beam, a 45-second test of nerves that she treats like a workout on the beach. Her score of 15.7 is gold-medal worthy if she can repeat it in Rio.Raismans spot ended a remarkable resurgence in recent months. She had a forgettable performance at the world championships last fall -- failing to make an individual event final -- and seemed to be in the middle of the pack as recently as March.Not anymore. The 22-year-old -- nicknamed Grandma as the oldest member of the team -- stormed her way through two run-up events to trials and kept it going Sunday night.Kocian, a world champion on uneven bars, rode the strength of a 15.9 on Sunday night to give herself just enough breathing room over Locklear.There were tears in the aftermath as the team celebrated in a sea of confetti. They did their best to enjoy the moment, but they are aware the real test awaits.I think we can all get better, Biles said. I know I can get better. Im saving it for Rio. ' ' '