Magnus and his sisters who came to support him for the second half of Bilbao
Chess: Magnus Carlsen ranked number one
The Norway Post
For the first time in history, a 17 year old is ranked as number one in chess. Magnus Carlsen, from Lommedalen in Bærum, Norway has now achieved this rating, though the ranking is still “unofficial”.
Whereas the official FIDE rating is updated 4 times a year, the “Live Top List” (http://chess.liverating.org/) is updated daily and now gives Magnus the number one ranking in the world chess rankings, one point ahead of V. Anand from India.
The tournament they are currently participating in, the Chess Grand Slam Final, is not yet finished and there are only five ranking points that are now differentiating the top four best chess players in the world.
The Chess Grand Slam Final is being staged in Bilbao, Spain, from September 1st to 13th 2008. The six participants, ranked according to the live ratings are Magnus Carlsen 2791.6, Viswanathan Anand 2790.6, Veselin Topalov 2786.3, Vassily Ivanchuk 2781.7, Levon Aronian 2754.2 and Teimour Radjabov 2749.2.
The Grand Slam Final is a six-player double round robin event, one of the strongest in the history of the game. Topalov leads the tournament with Carlsen trailing with one point behind. The scoring system in this tournament is different and experimental. Players get three points for a win, one point for a draw and zero points for losing a game.
The prize fund for the event is 400,000 Euros, with the winner receiving €150,000, the second place €70,000, etc. with the 6th player getting €30,000. The sums are unprecedented for an event like this. Only World Championships have exceeded the amount.
If Magnus wins this tournament, it is expected that he will occupy the top spot at the official list that will be published by International Chess Federation (FIDE) at the October 1st.
For The Norway Post
J. Paul Schmidt
Magnus should increase his advantage over Anand by winning last game. He’s got better position and better time control.
The total chess strength of that room because of its occupants during that picture must have broken at least a few world records. 🙂
A beautiful family photo. But I didn’t know Magnus had 4 sisters. Do they all play chess?
Is Susan MCs sister? Is it something in the familytrees we dont know about?
Would explain a lot….
Surely, Susan is Magnus sister.
The story began way back years ago, when Henrik have meet Laszlo in Helsinki (not in Oslo, neither Budapest) for re-union of the big family of Mikhail Chigorin.
Believe It or Not!
You’d better believe it, before ask Ripley either ask Segey Brin (googling)
What about the other Polgar-sisters? Are they related to Magnus too?
I anticipate a comment from Henrik to clarify this.
He-he.
“What about the other Polgar-sisters? Are they related to Magnus too?”
Who knows? 🙂