Chess: Magnus Carlsen is praised after yet another tournament victory: – Absolutely incredible

The last in the series is the Grenke Chess Open, where he beat Hungarian Richard Rapport in the final. It is Carlsen’s sixth straight tournament victory.

– He is the best time after time. The chess itself is one thing, but the stability he shows is absolutely incredible. He never puts in a bad effort. He is the best again and again, even after so many years at the top, says NRK expert Torstein Bae to VG.

– He shows a fantastically high level. It is quite incredible considering how little time he spends on chess. He himself has said that he spends almost no time on chess. Nevertheless, he stands up again and wins quite easily, says Tarjei Svensen, who works as a journalist for Chess.com, to VG.

The victory is the Norwegian’s third in the tournament. He also won in 2019 when it was last held. After that, the pandemic came and put a temporary pause until this year.

Both Bae and Svensen allow themselves to be impressed by Carlsen’s winning streak. The Norwegian plays fewer tournaments in long chess these days. Svensen believes this is one of the reasons for Carlsen’s great play.

– After all, we are talking about tournaments with a shorter reflection period. He has largely dominated them in the past as well. But now he doesn’t have to think about the long jacket, which requires more preparation, it makes it a little easier for him, says Svensen.

– Has Carlsen ever been better?

– I would say that if we look at the ranking. He has been very superior in the past, close the magical borderThe magic limit is to get 2900 points on the rating, which no player has managed before. Carlsen has the record of 2882. For comparison, his rating is 2830 on 1 April 2024.. He is far from it now, but the victories show that he is still the clear one. Maybe he is on his way up to old heights, says Bae.

– Whether he is at one hundred percent or 95 percent of his best, it is still good enough. This is new proof of how superior he is in the world, continues NRK’s ​​expert.

Svensen is more uncertain when VG asks if Carlsen has ever been better when it comes to chess with a shorter thinking time.

– It is hard to say. He has won every single tournament and dominated so much since 2022. One can suspect that he is at the top, at least when it comes to a short reflection time, Svensen replies.

Also read: Ten-year-old Magnus Carlsen beat: – He is extreme

The Grenke Chess Open is a tournament played in the “fast classic” format, which means that the players have 45 minutes on the clock and get ten seconds extra for each move.

Carlsen has recently preferred that type of format, as well as fischer chess. In May, however, the long chess tournament Norway Chess awaits. Both Svensen and Bae are excited about what the Norwegian can accomplish there.

– He is lower in the long chess ranking than in a very long time. He doesn’t have a huge margin further down to the next ones. It will be exciting to see if he can once again show that he is the best. I want it to be more uncertain than in Grenke and other settings, says Bae.

The NRK expert is very uncertain about how many times we will see Carlsen play long chess in the coming years.

– Every time he sits down to play classical chess, I feel that it could be the last nail in the coffin if things go badly, says Bae.

Svensen believes that Carlsen’s major motivation is to ensure that the competitors do not approach him in the ranking. At the time of writing, he tops it with 2,830 points. American Fabiano Caruana is closest (2803), while compatriot Hikaru Nakamura is number three (2789).