Q & A
Magnus Carlsen: The 19-Year-Old King of Chess
By Eben Harrell Friday, Dec. 25, 2009
At age 13, he was the third youngest grandmaster in history. A few years later, he was already beating the world’s top players. And on Jan. 1, 19-year-old Magnus Carlsen of Norway will officially become the youngest person in history to earn chess’s No. 1 ranking. TIME caught up with the grandmaster at a tournament in London to probe the mind of a chess genius.
When people find out that you are the top-ranked chess player in the world, do you have to deal with them assuming you are 40,000 times more intelligent than them?
Yeah, that can be a little annoying. I try to tell people that I am like them. I am not some sort of freak. I might be very good at chess but I’m just a normal person.
Well, you’re clearly not a normal intellect. How many moves ahead can you calculate on the chess board?
Sometimes 15 to 20 moves ahead. But the trick is evaluating the position at the end of those calculations.
Here is the full interview.
When people find out that you are the top-ranked chess player in the world, do you have to deal with them assuming you are 40,000 times more intelligent than them?
How did the person who asked this question came up with the 40,000 number?
Nice interview.
However, Martin Luther King Jr. said once “the ultimate tragedy of Birmingham was not the brutality of the bad people, but the silence of the good people”
People like Magnus Carlsen have a voice. If they lend a hand against oppression, that would be a good thing.
Does Kasparov talk to you about his life outside of chess, and his dissident political movement in Russia?
He’s my chess coach. When it comes to his struggle with Putin, I don’t want to get involved with that.
well, If I was 19 and #1 in the world…I’d take a few years off date some girls and get a degree….then if..and only if I REALLY wanted to play again..then I would..this is an important time for magnus…if I was him..(and I’m not) I’d retire and have some fun for a few years.
He did the impossible…he can quit if he wants to with great honour.
“well, If I was 19 and #1 in the world…I’d take a few years off date some girls and get a degree”
That’s (in part) why you’re not the world #1. Great success in anything requires sacrifices that most people are not willing to make.
Why can’t you do both?