great game, a touch of class!

Fischer like play victory for Magnus!

wooot passed pawn bringing it in...  

 (he must have been wearing his recommended daily dose of paints)

chrisjuddisgreat, RE: Can Carlsen intimidate the big boys the same way.

1) In the past year Topalov has resigned in a drawn position and gotten mated in a position he was dominating against Carlsen.

2) Carlsen has one of the few wins as black against Kramnik in recent history.

Carlsen hasn't fared well against Anand. But his prospects against the top dogs are already looking good. 

mighty magnus strikes again!!   he will have a few bad times along the way but i cant help feeling the boys potential is limitless. lets hope he doesnt overcook his brain while he's still young. to think he was born in 1990. im not sure if he can legally drink a beer yet. methinks the big three of kramnik,anand and topalov now have a fourth member. one handicap to that is that his amazing ability to terrorize opponents simply wont scare the big boys

cheers to the kid

it is very interesting to see a young guy, doing so well... it gives newbies like me encouragement. see you at the top Magnus!

Superb. I wonder what chess can be if Kasparov stilll active??

Part of the problem is the way these players play against him. It seems like they 're playing not to lose. You think they're afraid of him? He reminds me of Fischer the way he intimidates people over the board, and the way he's able to sqeeze out a win in drawn positions.

I would very much like to see him play a match against Anand. Chess definately needs these exciting young players to popularize the sports.

cheers for wonder kid!

Carlsen seems to agree with Fischer--chess is about winning, not drawing. Bobby played every game to win, and only took draws--most of the time at least--when they were unavoidable. He occasionally lost games pressing for a win in a drawn position, as in the first game of his WC match with Spassky. Yes, short draws can be taken to "rest," but at Carlsen's age, who needs rest? I admire his determination to win, and yes, I believe he is very likely a future world champ.

Some calculations:

He has four games remaining and currently Carlsen is virtually on 2795.3 (2795). If he scores 2.0/4 in those last games, he'll be at 2791.5 (2792) virtually. For every extra half point, you can add 5 points to his new virtual rating. So if he scores 3.0/4, he'd be at 2801.5 (2802), and with 1.0/4 he'd drop to 2781.5 (2782).

 

It's amazing that he just keeps going. Because what is he doing it for really? He was already 1.5 point ahead of the number two, so why not draw the rest and take first prize? Or is he giving a sign to Anand and Kramnik that he's ready to take them on in a match? :) 

Magnus- its your time.

Any one who can't watch this kid play and appreciate the here and now needs to stop and smell the roses. If he never becomes world champ this doesn't in any way lessen what he's been able to do up to this point.

 if anyone doesn't think we are seeing the new world champ grow before our

very eyes, the I say they are just following checkers.... wow has he grown into

one of the greats wow,  where will he be in 7 years?

Incredible player. This is from the ChessBase report after game 5: 

Magnus Carlsen beat Alexei Shirov (who blundered in a drawn position on move 61). His score is now 4.5/5, with a performance just a point shy of 3100. If the world rankings were published today he would be number two behind Vishy Anand. Three other games were decided in a day of exciting chess.

There's an interesting story about Magnus from the Calvia Olympiad. When he tried to enter the playing hall he was told by an official that he wasn't permitted to go in yet but could come back later and watch the games. It speaks volumes for his humility that he accepted her decision until a team-mate explained to the woman that Magnus was playing Board 1 for Norway!

And he's come an awfully long way since then. 

Yeah beutiful Game ,

Great play by Magnus!