Seven young stars against Carlsen and six other stars

Magnus Carlsen knows that getting from his current 2,859 points to 2,900 on the world list (comparable to jumping more than ten meters in length) borders on the impossible because it forces him not to fail during several consecutive tournaments.

The 85th edition of the Tata Festival in Wijk aan Zee (Netherlands) is from this Saturday a magnificent opportunity in mathematical theory, because the very high level of your rivals can help you rise.

But also a major challenge because the seven worst valued (in a league of fourteen) are young stars hungry for glory.

“I know my goal is extremely difficult.

But I need big challenges to motivate myself, and this one is huge", Carlsen explained in various interviews.

And it should be added that now he needs that goal more than ever because he has given up defending his title in classical chess (he has just become world champion in rapid and blitz games) for fear of losing to rivals that he considers clearly inferior. as the main cause.

Being the undisputed

with the greatest possible difference over the others is, therefore, a professional and psychological need, and an additional motivation to overcome the barrier of 2,900 Elo points.

To maintain his current Elo against opponents whose Elo average is 2.732, Carlsen needs 9 points in 13 games;

for example, five wins and eight draws.

For every more half point he makes thereafter, he'll gain a 5th on the world list.

In line with his very ambitious objective, the multi-champion will be satisfied if he achieves ten or more points, which implies, for example, seven wins and six draws, if he manages to remain undefeated in thirteen rounds against posh rivals. .

they all are.

Especially the six already established: Liren Ding (China, 2nd in the world, 30 years old);

Fabiano Caruana (USA, 6th, 30);

Anish Giri (Netherlands, 7th, 28);

Wesley So (USA, 8th, 29);

Richard Rapport (Romania, 15th, 26);

and Levón Aronián (USA, 17th, 40).

Of the eight best in the world are missing: the Russian Ian Niepómniashi (32 years old), who prefers to concentrate on preparing for the duel for the title with Ding scheduled for April;

the French of Iranian origin Alireza Firouzja (19), angry with the organizers for an incident that occurred in 2021;

and the American Hikaru Nakamura, who since the pandemic has devoted more time and energy to his role as his

than to that of an elite player.

Maghsoodloo and Niemann during their game of the World Rapid Championship in Almaty, at the end of 2022David Llada

But it is likely that the most aggressive rivals against the Scandinavian are the seven youngest, because of their ambition and because they have much less to lose.

And they are all worth taking: the Indians Dommaraju Gukesh (24th, 16), Arjun Erigaisi (26th, 19) and Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa (52nd, 17) have amaze since they were children and are the brightest lights of the chess boom in the hot subcontinent of Viswanathan Anand's hits;

the Iranian Parham Maghsoodloo (29th, 22) is not as great as Firouzja but he is very fearsome;

the Uzbek Nodirbek Abdusattórov (30th, 18), rapid world champion in 2021 and gold medalist with his country in the 2022 Chess Olympiad;

the German Vincent Keymer (43rd, 18), who just two weeks ago was one of the great sensations in the World Rapids (runner-up) and Lightning (13th of 176);

and the Dutch Jorden Van Foreest,

The games start every day at 2:00 p.m. in Wijk aan Zee (10:00 a.m. in Buenos Aires; 08:00 a.m. in Bogotá; 07:00 a.m. in Mexico City), except for the last round (day 29), two hours before, with three rest days (days 18 , 23 and 26).

And they can be followed live, with commentators, on various platforms.

The Tata Festival, sponsored by a multinational steel company that thus compensates the inhabitants of Wijk aan Zee for the pollution it produces, usually brings together more than a thousand chess players of very different categories and ages over two weeks in this town by the sea. from North.

In tournament B (Challengers), there are three particularly attractive players due to their youth and great talent: the Iranian Amin Tabatabaei (21 years old), a recent winner at the Llobregat Open;

the Uzbek Javojir Sindárov (17), participant of the Olympic gold;

and the American Abhimanyu Mishra (13), brand new holder of the new mark of precociousness in the title of grandmaster (12 years, 4 months, 25 days).

In the main tournament, the absence of the controversial American Hans Niemann, 19, who has sued Carlsen for hundreds of millions of dollars after the Norwegian accused him without evidence of cheating in the game between the two, can also be considered important. on September 4 in San Luis (USA), which Carlsen lost.

The numbers would justify an invitation to Niemann because his 2,706 points (35th in the world) place him ahead of Keymer, Praggnanandhaa and Van Forest, in addition to guaranteeing greater media attention.

But it is very likely that Carlsen would refuse to play if Niemann were there.

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