When Carlsen realized he had missed something || Croatia GCT 2019 - Round 9 The world champion won his eighth straight tournament and earned $90,000 as well as 20 GCT points. He scored a 2943 performance and returned to his highest rating of 2882.
The 28-year-old Norwegian GM himself was over the moon after scoring six draws and five wins in Zagreb—all the more significant to him because of the two extra rounds compared to Norway Chess, for example, and especially the sheer strength of the field.
Carlsen noted that he "had never scored anything like plus five against such a field before" and later added:
"For me it's huge. It's the first time basically that I've played an event like this—12 players, all absolute elite. I really didn't know what to expect, I've been playing a lot recently and I felt a bit spent towards the end of Norway Chess. But's been a dream, especially the second half has gone so well."
Comparing the winner to Fischer has a fine parallel—after receiving his trophy, Carlsen thanked the Croatian fans. "I always heard about the chess culture [in former Yugoslavia] and I have to say that it delivered in every way."
Almost half a century ago, in the same city, Yugoslav chess lovers saw another dominating player from the West. It was in Rovinj (first half) and then Zagreb (second half) where Fischer scored one of his great performances in 1970 as he won the Tournament of Peace, an 18-player(!) round robin, with 13/18, two points clear of the rest.
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