Sunday 30 January 2022

Not quite the finish intended

 As I type this, Magnus Carlsen is enjoying another victory at the Tata Steel tournament, aided in part by a last round walkover win against Daniil Dubov. This was due to fact that Dubov had to leave the tournament early, having tested positive to Covid 3 rounds before the end. While this could be considered a bit of bad luck for Dubov, it should be noted that he also defaulted his game against Giri after being required to wear a mask due to a positive test of a close contact.

In the end Carlsen finished on 9.5/13 (+6=7-0) including wins against players who finished just behind him in the standings. There had been talk of Carlsen breaking the 2900 rating mark before the event began, and if he continues to play like this, he may well do so before the end of this year.

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