The Norway Post: Carlsen proved that he belongs

Chess: Magnus Carlsen 2nd in Linares

Norwegian Grand Master (GM) Magnus Carlsen (16) shared second place in the annual Linares chess tournament held in the Andulsian province of Spain.

Linares, culminating Sunday March 11th, is one of the major annual tournaments held on the chess tour.

Eight of the world finest chess players were invited to the tournament. They played against each other twice. Once with black, and once with white, making a total of 14 rounds.

Carlsen is one of the biggest young chess talents in world. He is ranked as number 24 in the world, and as such was the lowest seeded in the tournament. But with a rating performance of sterling 2778 in Linares tournament, Carlsen proved that he belongs with the very top players.

By beating top seeded Bulgarian GM Topalov once, and by beating number five in the world, Ukranian GM Ivanchuk twice, this tournament has become the big breakthrough for Magnus. It is expected that Carlsen now will get an invitation to all the major tournaments on the chess tour.

Only the world’s second top seeded chess player, GM Viswanathan Anand from India, managed to beat Carlsen twice.

Magnus Carlsen, only 16, was the youngest player in this tournament, while Anand with his 38 years was the oldest. By winning this tournament, Anand will be ranked as the number 1 world chess player on the April list made by World Chess Federation.

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