18-year-old Becomes 5th Chess Player Over 2800 Rating

Teen chess sensation Magnus Carlsen of Norway blew away the field in Nanjing, China by winning 6 games and drawing the rest for an amazing 8 points out of 10, a full 2 1/2 points ahead of the top-ranked player in the world, Veselin Topalov. Most tournaments at this level are won by a 1/2 point or 1 point.

Carlsen's victory gives him an insane performance rating of 3002 and an actual rating of 2801, which is only the fifth time in history anyone will have had a published rating above 2800. At 18, Carlsen is far younger than Garry Kasparov, Viswanathan Anand, Topalov and Vladimir Kramnik who have achieved this feat (and all of these players have been World Champion, with Anand currently scheduled to defend his title against Topalov in a match scheduled for next year).

Already most chess columnists are speculating on when, not if, Carlsen will become the first Western chess champion since Bobby Fischer. Interestingly, Kasparov, who retired in March 2005 from chess to focus on politics in Russia has recently been coaching Carlsen and the Norwegian's results have been spectacular ever since.