The prizes for each place were as follows:[6] In the event of a tie, the following tie-break methods were used, in order of precedence:[9] Numbers in parentheses indicate players' scores prior to the round.

The Championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Viswanathan Anand was held from 7 to 28 November 2014 in Sochi, Russia, under the auspices of FIDE.

FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov announced in June that the match would be held in Sochi, Russia, in November 2014, disclosing an agreement to host the match signed with the regional governor of Russia's Krasnodar Region, Aleksandr Tkachyov.

According to the world championship's website, the 2014 title match broke global audience records, drawing more than one million viewers every day.

[18] The FIDE press officer and photographer was Ukrainian Woman Grand Master Anastasiya Karlovich,[19] who previously officiated at the World Chess Championships in 2012 and 2013.

During the opening press conference, Anand revealed his seconds to be Krishnan Sasikiran, Radosław Wojtaszek and Grzegorz Gajewski.

[20] Although after the closing ceremony, in an interview with chief FIDE press officer Anastasiya Karlovich Carlsen revealed that also Laurent Fressinet and Michael Adams were helping him from home.

During the match Garry Kasparov was regularly in contact with Peter Heine Nielsen to give advice.

If the score was still equal, up to five 2-game blitz matches (5 minutes + 3 seconds) would have been played, before a final "Armageddon" game.

[24] The games were played according to the FIDE Laws of Chess prior to 1 July 2014, in order to keep uniformity throughout the entire championship cycle.

The opening was the solid Berlin variation of the Ruy Lopez where Carlsen played 4.d3 instead of the main line 4.0-0 Nxe4.

Carlsen gave up the bishop pair to double Anand's c-pawns and the result of the opening was roughly equal.

In a sharp, topical variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined involving an early queenside attack by White, he improved on an earlier game between Levon Aronian and Michael Adams.

Carlsen eventually gained a small advantage due to Black's isolated d-pawn, but Anand defended robustly.

Carlsen played a rare line in the Queen's Indian Defense, but Anand was well prepared and soon gained the advantage.

On move 22, Carlsen made a risky decision to capture a pawn on b2 rather than enter an inferior endgame.

Carlsen adopted the space-gaining Maróczy Bind setup against the Kan Variation of the Sicilian Defence, and accepted a set of isolated doubled pawns in return for active play.

After an early queen exchange he soon developed a commanding position and appeared to have excellent winning chances.

(with a discovered attack on the g4-rook) 27.Rxg8 Nxc4+ (zwischenzug) 28.Kd3 Nb2+ 29.Ke2 Rxg8, and Black will wind up with 2 extra pawns (on e5 and c4) and excellent winning chances.

Carlsen later set the record in Game 6 of the 2021 World Championship, in which he defeated Ian Nepomniachtchi in 136 moves.

As in the first game, Carlsen played the Grünfeld Defence but Anand met it with the Russian System instead of the Exchange variation.

Anand's temporary bishop sacrifice 28.Bxb7 allowed the d-pawn through to its queening square and so winning the piece back, but the resulting double rook endgame was equal and soon agreed drawn.

As in the seventh and ninth games, the opening resulted in the well-analyzed queenless middlegame of the Berlin Defence.

Carlsen declined the sacrifice, but Anand still had a somewhat easier position until he sacrificed an exchange by 27...Rb4 in return for a protected passed pawn and free play for the bishops.

Anand resigned on move 45, thus conceding the match and Carlsen retained the title of World Chess Champion.

[56][57] Overall, few doubted Carlsen's chances of winning, and Sergey Karjakin remarked that Anand was not in top form.

Anand himself admitted that his key sacrifice in the final game was an unjustified risk, and that Carlsen had played better throughout the match.