SuperUnited Croatia: Carlsen scores 9 out of 9!

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
7/9/2023 – Magnus Carlsen obtained a 3-point lead going into the final day of action at the SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz tournament after scoring a magnificent 9 out of 9 in the first half of the blitz section. After beating all of his opponents, an elated Carlsen told Anastasiya Karlovich: “I’ve had good days, but of course, this is something special”. Former co-leaders Ian Nepomniachtchi and Fabiano Caruana are now sharing second place with 17 points each. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

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“It feels really special”

There are very few things Magnus Carlsen has not achieved as a chess professional, and for fans all over the world it was nice to see the former world champion getting visibly ecstatic after having a particularly good day at the office in the SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz tournament. Carlsen scored 9 wins in as many games to take a 3-point lead in the standings.

Talking to Cristian Chirila after his perfect run, Carlsen said:

I’ve had stretches in Poland, where I had like 10½ out of 11 or something, but to win every single game on one day, I don’t think I’ve ever done that before — and probably I won’t do it again.

Carlsen confessed that he began dreaming about the perfect run after round 6. His next rival was Alireza Firouzja, and he had the black pieces, but given the youngster’s fighting spirit, he felt that he would get an imbalanced encounter and thought to himself:

If I win that game, I have a very good chance.

Of course, he won that game, and he went on to beat the Romanian duo of Richard Rapport and Constantin Lupulescu to put a bow on his superlative streak. The moment Lupulescu resigned was recorded by the organizers. Applause followed, of course!

Magnus Carlsen, Cristian Chirila

Blissful | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Magnus Carlsen

Smiling fans getting autographs | Photo: Lennart Ootes

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Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.