Magnus Carlsen becomes first man to hold the Chess Triple Crown; but he is not the first player

World Champion Magnus Carlsen has become the first man in the history of Chess to hold the Chess Triple Crown by holding the World Blitz, Rapid, and Classic titles consecutively. 
However, he is not the first player to have achieved this feat. Before him, Ms. Susan Polgar did it back in 1996.  Polgar was the first chess player in the world to hold all three world titles in a row, reasonably making her the first player to hold a chess Triple Crown.
Ms Susan Polgar was the first chess player in the world to hold all three world titles successively, fairly making her the first player to hold a chess Triple Crown.
However, there are some dissimilarities between Carlsen’s newly achieved Triple Crown and Polgar’s. First, Polgar won FIDE’s Women’s World Blitz, Rapid, and Classic titles while Carlsen won the Men’s. While, Carlsen won all three titles in one 12-month period, Polgar held her titles contemporaneously, but won them in different years.

Pen Pinter prize to novelist Salman Rushdie

Eminent novelist Salman Rushdie (67), author of Midnight’s Children and The Satanic Verses, has been named the winner of Pen Pinter prize for 2014. The award was instituted in 2009 by writers’ charity English Pen in memory of British writer Harold Pinter.The prize will be presented on October 9, 2014 at an event at the British Library in London.
Rushdie went into hiding in 1989 after The Satanic Verses triggered extensive protests by Muslims and a fatwa was released from Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini.
He was conferred Knighthood in 2007 contributions to literature. His other noted books include Haroun and the Sea of Stories and The Moor’s Last Sigh.