http://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic.php ... 2&start=18
Noticed this again when reading the Chessbase report on the Biel tournament (which interestingly has adopted the 3 points for a win format):Michael Jones wrote:Although I don't possess an archive of 1970s/80s chess-related press cuttings, I very much doubt anyone received the same level of attention then that Carlsen does now. CB does have a habit of jumping in with lengthy adulatory reports any time a particularly young player achieves a notable result; some of them disappear off the radar immediately, and of those who continue playing and continue to improve, some attention is given to their subsequent progress, but later reports are never quite as glowing as when they first appear on the scene - Carlsen is the exception in that they've kept up the same tone ever since they first heard of him.
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=7391
"After four rounds of the International Chess Festival in Biel, the only question is who will be second. With 3.5/4 and a 3000+ performance, the first place is all but wrapped up. In a way, much like Kasparov in his heyday, Carlsen’s biggest challenge is himself, and one imagines that his next self-challenging goal would be Kasparov’s record 2851 Elo."
Of course, Carlsen then went and lost in the very next round (I can't imagine the news reports from Norway would have been ideal preparation) and is now only one point ahead of Morezevich on the scoring system in use (and actually second if the normal system had been used):
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=7396
Rather than threatening Kasparov's "record 2851 Elo", he is now 'only' performing to his current level. Though there is the second half of the tournament still to go, and to be fair, Kasparov's heyday was a bit later than Carlsen's age now.