Fearsome nonchalance

Gifted few display fearsome nonchalance
Saturday, October 2, 2010 02:55 AM
The Columbus Dispatch

The history of chess abounds in prodigies, each sharply different from those that preceded.

For chess buffs familiar with the intensity of Garry Kasparov or the obsessiveness of Bobby Fischer, the nonchalance of 19-year-old Magnus Carlsen – ranked No.1 in the world – offers an almost otherworldly contrast.

How can someone so apparently normal be so good at what he does? Isn’t Carlsen just that kidnext door, as he often seems?

We have learned that behind the amiable simplicity is a relentless fighter who knows how toapply pressure to his opponents while manifesting an external imperturbability.

During the past century, only a handful of grandmasters – players such as Jose Capablanca,Vasily Smyslov and Anatoly Karpov – have possessed such genius: Each had a gift for intuitively placing his pieces on squares where they had maximum effect. The best computer programs try to do this by analyzing moves; Carlsen and the others achieve it by some inexplicable, intuitive process.

A glance at the game position is often enough to make a move that other humans are hard-pressed to find after long analysis. This ability gives them an intimidating presence and a stoic self-confidence. They need not fear defeat, for they know they will rarely lose.

Source: http://www.dispatch.com