Any thoughts anyone had of a mounting crisis in confidence in Magnus Carlsen’s game have been quickly dispelled with a superlative, back-to-form victory for the Norwegian teenager at the Pearl Spring Masters in Nanjing, China.

Carlsen took the tile and 80,000 Euros first prize with a powerful, +4 winning score of 7/10, a point ahead of his nearest rival, World Champion Vishy Anand.

But Nanjing will not be counted in the publication of the official Fide Rating list published early next week, so Carlsen - after his disaster at the Olympiad and poor start to the Bilbao Masters -  will have to cede (for now) his official world No 1 spot to Anand.  However his reign looks likely to last only until January 1 of next year, because Carlsen has now more than made up for his “lost October” by storming to the top of Hans Arild Runde’s unofficial live rating list by virtue of his remarkable performance in Nanjing. 

Carlsen, who in November will be 20, has now won four of his last five elite tournaments, and he could finish the year on a high with a further boost to his rating as he still has to defend his London Chess Classic title in December.

Game of the Day

Rd Date Commentator Game WATCH FREE 1 Wed, 20 Oct GM Alex Yermolinsky GM Magnus Carlsen vs. GM Etienne Bacrot 2 Thurs, 21 Oct GM Ronen Har-Zvi GM Wang Yue vs. GM Vugar Gashimov 3 Fri, 22 Oct GM Varuzhan Akobian GM Veselin Topalov vs. GM Vishy Anand 4 Sat, 23 Oct GM Joel Benjamin GM Etienne Bacrot vs. GM Vishy Anand 4 Sat, 23 Oct GM Yasser Seirawan FULL BROADCAST! Join ICC! 5 Sun, 24 Oct GM Varuzhan Akobian GM Magnus Carlsen vs. GM Veselin Topalov 6 Tue, 26 Oct GM Larry Christiansen GM Magnus Carlsen vs. GM Veselin Topalov 7 Wed, 27 Oct GM David Smerdon GM Veselin Topalov vs. GM Etienne Bacrot 8 Thurs, 28 Oct GM Jon Speelman GM Vishy Anand vs. GM Veselin Topalov 9 Fri, 29 Oct GM Yasser Seirawan GM Veselin Topalov vs. GM Magnus Carlsen 10 Fri, 29 Oct GM Alex Yermolinsky GM Wang Yue vs. GM Veselin Topalov

Final standings