Magnus Carlsen
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Magnus the Great! My 2nd most favorite in the list. I will be very surprised if he does not win the next Candidates and become the next challenger to the world title. Hopefully, Boris Gelfand is the title holder by that time. I like Anand but I like to spread the wealth around. 
Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian chess Grandmaster and chess prodigy who is currently the number-one ranked player in the world. In January 2010 he became the seventh player ranked number one in the world on the official FIDE rating list. His peak rating is 2826, the second highest peak rating in history after Garry Kasparov.[1]
On 26 April 2004 Carlsen became a Grandmaster at the age of 13 years, 148 days, making him the third-youngest Grandmaster in history. On 1 January 2010 the new FIDE rating list was published, and at the age of 19 years, 32 days he became the youngest chess player in history to be ranked world number one, breaking the record previously held by Vladimir Kramnik.[2] Carlsen was also the 2009 World blitz chess champion.
His performance at the September–October 2009 Nanjing Pearl Spring tournament has been described as one of the greatest in history[3] and lifted him to an Elo rating of 2801, making him the fifth player to achieve a rating over 2800 – and aged 18 years 10 months at the time, by far the youngest to do so.
Based on his rating, Carlsen qualified for the Candidates Tournament which determined the challenger to World Champion Viswanathan Anand in the World Chess Championship 2012. However in November 2010 he announced he was withdrawing from the Candidates tournament; he was replaced by Alexander Grischuk.[4]
Also my favorite.
http://www.arcticsec.no/index.php?button=blog
Follow Magnus Carlsen on his blog.
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Magnus Carlsen`s Blog |
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Tal Memorial 2011 Penultimate Round |
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In the game as white against co-leader Ian Nepomniachtchi I went for 1.e4 and 3.Bb5 against the Sicilian. As planned I got a small but pleasant advantage out of the opening, and my opponent spent quite some time early on (at least compared to his normal rapid mode of play). He quickly managed to improve his position by playing d5, but it was still somewhat tricky for black. My problem was that I struggled finding a proper plan. He had two pawn weaknesses against my single weakness on the queenside. This left him tied up at the queen side, but my own king was far to vulnerable to facilitate an efficient kingside attack. He defended very well and when I finally could win a pawn he had sufficient counterplay. I had the choice between taking on a5 or c6. The latter would at best give me a rook ending a pawn up (that he most probably would be able to draw), and I went for Rxa5 instead having missed his immediate combinational counterplay yielding a perpetual check. Draw. Aronian played a fine game against Svidler to take the sole lead before the last round. I’m shared 2nd and has black against Nakamura tomorrow at 1pm local time. Magnus Carlsen, Moscow, November 24th, 2011 |
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2011-11-24 21:39:38 |
Magnus Carlsen Wins The Tal Memorial
Magnus Carlsen beat Hikaru Nakamura with the black pieces in the final round to claim first place at the Tal Memorial on superior tie-breaks from Lev Aronian, and consign the American to last place.
Lev Aronian had a tough game against Ian Nepomniachtchi, but just held on for a draw to earn second place. Had Nepomniachtchi won, he would have claimed a remarkable tournament victory against a very strong field.
Sergey Karjakin sacrificed a pawn against Vassily Ivanchuk, but after a lively fight a draw was the end result. Vishy Anand completed the tournament with his ninth draw from nine games, this time against his challenger for the world title next year, Boris Gelfand.
We were also treated to another decisive game, when Peter Svidler beat Vladimir Kramnik to jump above him in the standings.
The final standings:
| Carlsen, Magnus |
NOR | 2826 | 5½ |
| Levon Aronian |
ARM | 2802 | 5½ |
| Karjakin, Sergey | RUS | 2763 | 5 |
| Nepomniachtchi, Ian |
RUS | 2730 | 5 |
| Ivanchuk, Vassily |
UKR | 2775 | 5 |
| Svidler, Peter |
RUS | 2755 | 4½ |
| Anand, Viswanathan |
IND | 2811 | 4½ |
| Kramnik, Vladimir | RUS | 2800 | 3½ |
| Gelfand, Boris |
ISR | 2744 | 3½ |
| Nakamura, Hikaru |
USA |
2758 | 3 |
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Magnus Carlsen`s Blog |
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Tal Memorial Victory! London Chess Classics next. |
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I turned 21 yesterday, and any plans I might have had to do something special was not realistic considering the timing in between Tal Memorial and London Chess Classics. I spent the few days after Moscow at home; did some media interviews, sponsor activities, annotated a game and tried to rest as much as possible. The last round of Tal Memorial provided one of the best presents I could have had. I managed to win with black against Nakamura, and as Aronian drew with Nepomnichtchi I won the Tal Memorial 2011! Aronian and I both got 5,5/9 but I had the better tie-break due to an extra black. (Money prizes were shared this time.) Karjakin, Nepomnichtchi and Ivanchuk shared 3rd followed by Svidler, Anand, Gelfand, Kramnik and Nakamura. It was quite an exhausting tournament with lots of fighting chess. The relatively few decided games was in my opinion not caused by lack of trying but rather an amazingly stubborn defence put up by nearly all the players when faced with unpleasant and difficult positions. The 6th Tal Memorial was a success and I sincerely hope the able organisers continue this great tradition. Five of the players from Moscow (me, Anand, Aronian, Kramnik and Nakamura) had a short break only and are ready for London Chess Classics starting Saturday. We are joined by four strong English players (Adams, Short, McShane and Howell). With 9 players we are playing 9 rounds and each player has a walk-over and will on the individual free day comment on the other games live from the playing venue. Friday at 2 pm there is a press conference at the Olympia Conference centre after which a game against "the world" will be played via twitter. Join us! Magnus Carlsen, London, December 1, 2011 |
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2011-12-02 01:17:32 |
TY, Tolits.
Mcshane almost got him as like last year. But he escaped brilliantly with a draw.
Yeah, I watched the game. Magnus used an aggressive line of the Ruy but Luke was totally prepared for it, to say the least. It was obvious that he walked into a prepared line by McShane. MC showed defiance and continued with his aggressive tactics but had to step on the brakes and switch to survial mode when it was clear that his kingside shenanigans were going nowhere! 
Definitely one of my favorites! He's an incredible player.
