To discover whether the competition had overtaken Magnus Carlsen, the plan was to test the waters. But in a tournament that included some of the top players, nine Rapid Chess rounds clearly confirmed Carlsen's brilliance. Norbidek Abdusattarov nearly shaved in the final round after six victories in nine games.

Still, Carlsen easily forced a tie when the Uzbek general manager made a mistake, giving them a two-point advantage over runner-up R Praggnanandhaa. He received 7.5 of the potential nine points in the end.

After winning the Rapid division of the Tata Steel Chess India here on Friday, Carlsen remarked, "The first (against Praggnanandhaa) and the last games were the most difficult." "I believe I played extremely well yesterday, but today I kind of lost my edge. Norbidek is a player with initiative. He outperformed me, and I'm not happy about that. Prag performed admirably. I performed admirably over my six-game run overall.

Carlsen responded, "It's my favorite hobby in the world," when asked what motivates him to play chess even now. Being proficient at it is incredibly fulfilling, particularly when dealing with the younger generation.

Despite the clock being against him, Carlsen frequently left the board to watch other games during his encounter with 20-year-old Vincent Keymer, demonstrating his easygoing demeanor and the fact that he was far superior to the opposition. Carlsen won with one round remaining after Keymer and Daniil Dubov shook hands a short while after.