Chess: Magnus Carlsen targets all-time rating record of 2900 at Wijk aan Zee

Magnus Carlsen will launch his new campaign to achieve a 2900 Fide rating, the Everest of overall tournament performance, when the world champion makes his first move on Saturday (1pm start) in the opening round of the “chess Wimbledon” at Tata Steel Wijk aan Zee. Reaching the round number after being previously twice stalled at 2882 is the 31-year-old’s major target for 2022.

After four successful defences of his global crown, Carlsen says he will only do so again in 2023 if his opponent is the current No 2, Alireza Firouzja, 18, or another grandmaster from the new generation.

Calling the 2900 target an Everest is an apt metaphor. Add on another zero for what used to be calculated as the exact height of the mountain, although it was publicly stated as 29,002 feet in order to avoid the impression that 29,000 was a rounded estimate. There was an Everest expedition a century ago in 1922, two years before the tragedy of the famous 1924 attempt.

Carlsen’s chances of reaching his personal summit are a good deal better than those of George Mallory and Andrew Irvine. His current rating after his world title match in Dubai is 2865, and he will need to score 9/13 at Wijk to gain just a single rating point. A 10/13 total would take him to 2876, within range of his personal bests. He achieved 2882 in Fide’s monthly lists in the years 2014 and 2019, while his unofficial daily peak on the live ratings is 2889.

Having got so close, why has the No 1 not already surpassed his target? His all-time peak tournament performance rating of 3002 was achieved as long ago as 2009 at Pearl Spring, China, which among TPRs of nine rounds minimum ranks second behind Fabiano Caruana’s 3103 at St Louis in 2014. Carlsen’s performance in the first half