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We can already talk of a perfect semester, but it remains to be seen how far Magnus Carlsen can go during the second half of a mind-boggling 2019. The Norwegian won his eighth tournament in a row in Zagreb, where his 8 out of 11 score left him a full point ahead of second-placed Wesley So. Not only did he score five wins with no losses (his undefeated streak has reached 79 games, in fact) but he also missed a couple of winning chances in the meantime.
In the post-tournament interview, Carlsen talked about how he had never had a chance to show his strength at a lengthy elite event, with most first-class competitions lasting nine rounds. His commanding performance added 9.7 points to his rating, which means he will reach the 2882 mark in the next official list, the highest-ever published rating in history (his own). The world champion also gained 20 GCT points and $90,000 in prize money.
Besides the Norwegian's victory, one more game finished decisively in round eleven — Anish Giri showed better preparation than Ian Nepomniachtchi to get a closing win in Zagreb with the black pieces.
Replay the games with engine comments and evaluations. Full report will follow shortly.
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Players have 130 minutes for the entire game, with a 30-second delay (not increment) from move one.
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Live commentary by GM Yasser Seirawan, IM Jovanka Houska and GM Alejandro Ramirez
Following the rapid and blitz tournament in Côte d'Ivoire, the Grand Chess Tour continues today with a classical round-robin. Twelve of the world's best chess players come together in Zagreb to play the second of a total of eight tournaments in this series, including the reigning World Champion Magnus Carlsen, his predecessor Viswanathan Anand and the last two challengers Sergey Karjakin and Fabiano Caruana. The other eight players are of course the crème de la crème of the chess world as well.
Games each day, June 26th to July 7th at 16:30 CEST (14:30 UT / 10:30 AM EDT).
Tuesday July 2nd is the lone rest day. In case of a tie for first place, a rapid and, if necessary, blitz playoff will be held on July 8th.
Preview via the Saint Louis Chess Club on YouTube
The goal of the tour is to collect the most GTC points and of course a lot of prize money along the way. In Zagreb the prize fund is USD $325,000.
The opening ceremony took place on Tuesday, June 25th, at the Mimara Museum. The tournament will be played in the historic Novinarski Dom building, the seat of the Croatian Journalists' Association.
Perkovčeva ul. 2, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia
Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković was in attendance, as was Garry Kasparov who, when the need arose to leave his native Russia as a result of his political activism against the government of Vladimir Putin, was granted Croatian citizenship in 2014, where he owns a house, although he primarily resides in New York.
Magnus Carlsen participated in a training session at Kasparov's Croatian home in 2009. Ten years later, he's back as World Champion currently in the best form of his life.
Carlsen currently leads the tour after one event with 13 points followed by Hikaru Nakamura and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in joint second with 9 points.
GCT standings following the first event
Group photo with the players (click or tap to enlarge)
Magnus Carlsen sits for a pre-tournament interview
