New York: Norwegian Magnus Carlsen became the first player in the world to break the 2900 Tour Rating barrier following a crushing win over Indian teenager Arjun Erigaisi, and clinched the Julius Baer Generation Cup — the seventh leg of the USD1.6 million Meltwater Champions Chess Tour.
The world No. 1 needed just two games to take the seventh leg of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, ending Erigaisi’s challenge 2-0.
It is Carlsen’s fourth tournament win of the Tour season and extends his advantage at the top of the overall leaderboard. For 19-year-old Erigaisi, he can take huge credit for a stunning run to the final.
International Master Jovanka Houska said, “Magnus in killer mode. He’s just relentless. He really is not stopping here. If we had any doubt Magnus would slip up, he has come in here today in absolute fighting mode. He is the beast.”
Carlsen said afterward that, “I’m very happy. I played very much throughout this match anti-young player chess, in sense I tried to play older, less theoretical lines that have some serious strategic complexity and it worked out very well.”
Carlsen’s performance makes him the first player to hit the historic 2900 Tour Rating mark and he has also reached USD180,000 in earnings on the Tour.
Going into the last match on Sunday evening, Carlsen already had one hand on the trophy having beaten Erigaisi, one of India’s brightest talents, 2.5-0.5 on Saturday.
Erigaisi, who has been so impressive throughout the event, simply folded again as Carlsen didn’t give him a chance.
There are two more tournament left in the 2022 Meltwater Tour, one ‘Regular’ in October and one ‘Major’ in November, to decide the winner. Carlsen and Erigaisi are already qualified for the eight-player ‘Major’ in San Francisco.
–IANS