Magnus Carlsen: 'My B-level performance is enough to win the Grand Chess Tour'

Carlsen - Ảnh 1. — Despite not being in top form, Carlsen still had enough points to win the Grand Chess Tour championship - Photo: chess.com

This is the lowest score in a Grand Chess Tour blitz tournament since 2023, when Fabiano Caruana won with 21 points in Saint Louis (USA). Carlsen also frankly admitted that he did not perform at his best in Zagreb.

"When no one else is playing really well, my 'B' performance is often enough to win the championship. But I always strive to achieve more," the Norwegian player humorously wrote on social network X.

On the final day, Carlsen earned 5 more points with 2 wins, 6 draws and only 1 loss. Meanwhile, the two players behind him before the final day, Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Gukesh Dommaraju, only gained 3 and 4 points respectively, completely unable to compete with the 34-year-old.

With an outstanding 5.5 points on the 6-7 competition day, Filipino-American Wesley So moved up to second place with 20 points overall and received a prize of 30,000 USD. The most impressive player of the day was Nodirbek Abdusattorov with 7 points, including a win over Carlsen himself. However, the representative of Uzbekistan only finished 6th overall with 18 points.

World champion Gukesh Dommaraju played better than his disastrous 5-7, but still finished the tournament in 3rd place with 19.5 points. Yesterday's game between Gukesh and Carlsen was disappointing as the two players quickly drew. However, the result on the final day helped the Indian representative return to the Top 100 of the world blitz chess.

Carlsen shared that during the 5 days of competition (from July 2 to July 6), he was only truly satisfied with himself on July 5. "The level of the players in this tournament was quite balanced, and no one was too outstanding. I really didn't feel like I had won. I just felt like I came to Zagreb, played okay, and no one did anything special," Carlsen shared.

Carlsen received $40,000 for the championship. Home player Ivan Saric finished last with 13 points, receiving $7,500.

TUAN LONG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/magnus-carlsen-man-trinh-dien-hang-b-cua-toi-cung-du-de-vo-dich-grand-chess-tour-20250707092421416.htm