You should have to fight for every half-point

On Chess: Carlsen is cool but not complacent
Saturday February 4, 2012 9:00 AM

Top chess players certainly aren’t clones.

Magnus Carlsen, the world’s highest-rated grandmaster, is intense at the chessboard but seems to instinctively sidestep the storm and stress that buffeted champions such as Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov.

When asked whether he or Levon Aronian, the world’s second-ranked grandmaster, was the better player, Carlsen said he didn’t know but pointed out — for what it was worth — that his rating was a few points better than Aronian’s.

Carlsen doesn’t obsess about such things; he simply goes about playing chess.

With strong support from a family that often accompanies him when he plays, an income of more than

$1 million a year, and a father who is a businessman and helps in practical matters, the 21-year-old wunderkind leads a relatively worry-free existence.

At the board, it’s another matter.

Carlsen is as determined as anyone to win.

“Not winning a tournament is not an option for me,” he said.

He rarely gives anything away during a chess game. He is flexible and readily adapts to the vicissitudes of the struggle.

Carlsen’s credo was aptly expressed during a recent tournament: “I think your opponents become really afraid because you play on to the end. So they know they have to fight to the end.

“I think that’s correct in a way. You should have to fight for every half-point.”

Source: http://www.dispatch.com