Very difficult to opinonize about it... Everything is relative...

The Elo Scores depends totally of the global effort of GrandMaster's and opponents job.

Not only a man can raise the Elo by himself... It must do the entire group...

this proves of his TALENT..

I believe the Tal memorial will be an even tougher test for Carlsen than China was. I think it was very wise of him ( and Kasparov ) to skip the Euro team event in order to get some rest and prepare seriously for the Moscow event. Given Carlsen's awful score against Anand I will be especially interested to see what he and Kasparov cook up for their meeting ! 

Not until Kasparov did it did anyone believe a rating over 2800 could be maintained.

What Kasparov brings to Carlsen is exactly what Carlsen needs.  Magnus always had a killer instinct; Kasparov brings a ruthlessness to it.  Carlsen has seen himself several times in the last year or so get an early lead in an event and ease into a draw-making machine, allowing others to catch up.   In those situations, Kasparov redoubled his efforts and played for a win in almost every game to crush the spirits of the field.

Most importantly, Kasparov brings his legendary work ethic and preparation regime to Carlsen.  No player in history approaches Kasparov as the master of preparation for particular opponents, and no player remotely rivals his opening novelties sprung OTB.  Give the brilliant young player the benefit of years of experience at working between events, and look out!

There is also a psychological aspect to Carlsen bowing out of the Euro-Team event - the contenders in the Tal Memorial have to wonder what Garry and Magnus are cooking up for them (except of course Ivanchuk, who is almost impossible to prepare for).

it is a tough job, but NOT  IMPOSSIBLE..

Nice article, nice comments. Why does Carlsen always look so pissed? Not sure I have ever seen the guy smile. 

I think that Carsen can achieve 2900 thanks to his talent and his coaching expertise.

We expect a lot from Carlsen, world chess community needed this new hero

Carlsen is a robot ... :P

That may be true, but a 2900 on chess.com usually is equate with foul play will a 2900 FIDE is equated with the greatest chess player in all of history. Which one do you think Carlsen would prefer? I know which one I would pick

chess.com a good place to reach 2900!

Carlsen can get to 2900 if he comes to chess.com

I think the relevant quote from Magnus is: “At 3,000, I don’t think that I can perform consistently at that level. And 2,900 is going to be very difficult, but I don’t think that is impossible.”

I read this as clearly indicating having a rating of about 2900. As to whether or not it's possible, here's a quote from statistician Jeff Sonas writing for chessbase:

"hopefully it is sufficient to say that all Chessmetrics ratings and performance ratings are expressed in 2005 terms, and so if you want to compare performances from 2009 against what are currently shown on my website, and you want to use 2009 FIDE ratings, then you need to first subtract 29 points from everyone's FIDE ratings."

If I'm reading him correctly, he's saying that rating inflation has occured at a rate of 29 points in the last 5 years. Now, personally, I've never felt that ratings inflate all that fast; for one thing, I tend to believe that players get better and better over time, as the entire chess community learns more. But, if he's right that there is a significant rate of rating inflation, then a 2900 rating would be achievable in about 15 years, even if Magnus were "merely" as good at 33 as he is now at 18.

Personally, I think Magnus has *at least* 50 points of improvement left ahead of him. And from the perspective of "what is good for chess" -- wow! I can't remember any buzz like the buzz around Carlsen. He's definitely tremendous for the game.

fide ratings have been going up over the years.In the late 80's you did'nt see all these 2700+ guys

CarlsE n - he's Norwegian, not some Minnesota farm-boy!

No way. Kasparov has too high of a rating  to be overtaken this soon.

The world doesn't need a new alltimehigh ELO but a great personality. There are fantastic players out there right now, but none of my friends has ever heard of Topalov. Anand is a hero in India and Kasparov still is very popular all over the world, but Fischer changed the complete view of the (western) world towards chess. This is what we need again.

When I was at the Olympiad in Dresden last year I saw a cool teenager who was playing for the Norwegian board #1. He was wearing a hoody a playing with the captured pieces like a poker player while his table was crowded with spectators.

If such a young guy, friendly, modest, strong, aggressive and trained buy the greatest champ so far would become the youngest (classic) world champion, it would really give a push to our game.

By the way, Magnus will not play the European Championship but the Tal Memorial. The decision was made after consulting his coach. So there is a chance that he will be number one by the end of the year.

Go gogogogogo Carlsen!

Magnus wil soon realise a bitter truth that "who uses other's brain can never touch the sky". 2900 is not Impossible--for Magnus it is!

You stand on someone's shoulders (Kasparov, Einstein,etc.) so you can see farther that's how it has always been. Then you'll hear he's the greatest, really he's just the latest. Does that make him the best? How many people get to use Kasparov's laptop oh! let me see just one! Magnus how quickly they forget.

@bondiggity -

I don't necessarily agree with the implication.  I think when he is saying 2900 is possible, he is saying that this would be more likely more often than 3000+, but I think you have to sort of read into it in order to infer that he is actually saying he will be 2900 rating.