Firouzja Alireja becomes the youngest chess player to cross 2800
The European Team Championship has finished with Ukraine getting their first gold medals. The above the fold story of the event though is Alireza Firouzja, who secured France the second place at the event and while doing it became the youngest ever player to cross the 2800-rating barrier. He is now number 2 in world’s live rankings.
The Iranian-born French GM’s performance is still baffling after his triumph at the Grand Swiss in Riga, which secured him a place at the 2022 Candidates Tournament. At the ETC, Firouzja didn’t only secure the French team the match victory against Azerbaijan and the second place at the tournament, but with a dazzling 3015 tournament rating performance, he managed to cross the 2800 rating barrier and become the one to break Carlsen’s record by 5 months. Carlsen’s record is no more. Firouzja beat him.
The 33.8 rating points Firouzja gained at his last two tournaments allows him to enter the Candidates as the rating favourite and increases his chances to become the next challenger against Magnus Carlsen or Ian Nepomniachtchi.
Chess fans are following Firouzja’s success with huge interest and some look forward to him becoming the next World Champion. So far, Firouzja’s performance has by far exceeded expectations, and it seems like he is just getting started.
