Carlsen's Triple Crown

While there were some still willing to bet against him there was a sense of inevitability when Magnus Carlsen added both the Rapid Chess and Blitz Chess World Champion titles to his current collection. He finished a full point ahead of Ian Nepomniachtchi and Hikaru Nakamura, in the just finished event in Dubai. His result drew the expected praise from his contemporaries and prompted GM Ian Rogers to ask him if he was going to go after the Bullet Chess and Correspondence World Championship titles (the answer was no to both).
Carlsen's holding of all three titles is in a sense a first, although it had been far more difficult in previous years as the Blitz and Rapid Championships weren't always held. Some people have also pointed out that Susan Polgar held all 3 Women's titles in 1996, having won the Rapid and Blitz in 1992, and the Women's World Championship in 1996.
One effect of this victory is that both the Blitz and Rapid World Championship titles will become more significant, at least over the next few years. Hopefully the very strong field that took part this year will be repeated for future editions, with players either trying to repeat Carlsen's effort, or simply trying to stop him from doing it again!