It’s only July yet but so far, it’s been a remarkable 2019 for Magnus Carlsen.
The Norwegian GM clinched his eighth tournament in a row at the second leg of the Zagreb Grand Chess Tour on Sunday after beating Maxime Vachier-Lagrave to finish clear ahead at the top.
Carlsen scored 8 out of 11 that left him a full point ahead of Wesley So, who finished second. The 28-year-old who went undefeated in Croatia with five wins also extended his unbeaten streak in classical games to 79.
In the last 190 days, Magnus Carlsen won 8 consecutive elite tournaments with the overall game record of + 54 = 55 - 3. A surreal year for the world champion and it's only early July. pic.twitter.com/GG5iavsMu4
— Olimpiu G. Urcan (@olimpiuurcan) July 7, 2019
His phenomenal display saw him add 9.7 points to his rating, that ensured he will reach the 2882 Elo mark in the next official list during August - the highest ever in history.
Carlsen wrapped up 2018 by winning the World Blitz Championship in Saint Petersburg. That was followed by consecutive first-place finishes at the Tata Steel Masters, Grenke Classic, Shamkir Chess, Abidjan GCT, Lindores Abbey, Altibox Norway Chess, and now the Zagreb Grand Chess Tour.
First time winning the world cup! @GrandChessTour Zagreb pic.twitter.com/3bDB6YTMj7
— Magnus Carlsen (@MagnusCarlsen) July 8, 2019
Carlsen (2881.7) wins #GrandChessTour in Zagreb with 8/11 and TPR of 2948. It was his the 8th tournament's win a row and the 79th classical game without a single loss https://t.co/LfPMwmXj6q Photo: Justin Kellar via @GrandChessTour pic.twitter.com/Pwy9rLu5jm
— 2700chess (@2700chess) July 7, 2019
That's Carlsen's 8th tournament win in a row:
— Tarjei J. Svensen (@TarjeiJS) July 7, 2019
🏆 Croatia GCT
🏆 Norway Chess
🏆 Lindores Abbey
🏆 Abidjan
🏆 Shamkir Chess
🏆 Grenke Chess
🏆 TATA Steel Chess
🏆 World Blitz Ch https://t.co/ofbASzjIBp
Wesley So's incredible admission: "It feels like second place is already a victory whenever he [Carlsen] is playing right now because he's like Bobby Fischer back in the 1970s or 1960s. Whenever he's playing in a championship, the others are just playing for the second place." pic.twitter.com/ShiiMGsOOI
— Olimpiu G. Urcan (@olimpiuurcan) July 8, 2019
I was wondering: if asked again who is his favorite player of all times, would @MagnusCarlsen stick to “the Carlsen of 3 or 4 years ago”, as he answered in London, or would he say “the 2019 version of Magnus”? pic.twitter.com/H7i16E7uU8
— David Llada ♞ (@davidllada) July 7, 2019
