Magnus Carlsen touches new high, breaks all-time rating record at Julius Baer Cup

World No. 1 chess player Magnus Carlsen brought his superior skills on the chess board to crush Indian teen Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi in the final of the Julius Baer Generation Cup online chess tournament. According to FIDE, the Julius Baer Cup was Carlsen's fourth tournament win of the Tour season and extends his advantage at the top of the overall leaderboard.

Despite the loss, Erigaisi has gained a spot in the finals of the Champions Chess Tour season which is set to take place in November in San Francisco. Apart from winning the tournament, Magnus Carlsen also went on to achieve a historic feat during the final. 

Julius Baer Cup: Magnus Carlsen registers insane rating record 

According to Chess24.com report, Carlsen became the first player to break the 2900 Tour Rating-mark, following his win in the final. Going into the final day of the tournament, Carlsen had one hand on the trophy after beating Erigaisi on Saturday. Having won the first match, which comprised of four games, 2.5-0.5, Carlsen needed to only draw the second to claim the top prize.

However, the Norwegian chess player won two games of the second match and shut out Erigaisi. During the entire duration of the tournament, Carlsen looked unstoppable losing just one game in the preliminary phase.

The Norwegian, however, created a stir after abruptly resigning against arch-rival Hans Niemann after an opening move and later dropped a game to Lev Aronian in the quarterfinals. 

Interestingly, Carlsen's quest for 2900 tour rating points started back in January this year during the 'chess Wimbledon' at Tata Steel Wijk aan Zee.

Previously, the Norwegian had missed the 2900 mark twice. The 31-year-old had achieved 2882 ratings back in 2014 and 2019 but was unable to cross the major mark (2900).

Following the Julius Baer Cup event, there are two more tournaments left in the 2022 Meltwater Tour radar. The first is a regular one in October followed by one Major in November, which will determime the winner.

Magnus Carlsen vs Arjun Erigaisi match highlights

The final was a two-match affair with each match consisting of four games. If the players had won a match each, a blitz tie-break would have been required to decide the winner. After losing to Carlsen on the first-day final, Erigaisi needed to win the second match to stand a chance of pushing the final to a tie-break. The 19-year-old Erigaisi resigned on move 48 and slipped into further trouble against world no 1. The second game was over in 52 moves as Carlsen dashed the Indian GM's hopes.