Too weak, too slow. Magnus Carlsen is talented, confident,
and -- arrogant. And he knows it. The thing is, I’m so arrogant that even
when he was mating me I didn’t realize it. When asked who his greatest rival in chess was. He said: No one. Writing on X: What am I
supposed to do? Make stuff up? Let’s connect on X, I’m
@Newsthink - link in description! He did list his second-greatest rival as
American chess grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura We’re simply better at chess than
the others and so we can make good moves more quickly, so they need to spend time. Carlsen is so confident in his abilities that, with time ticking away at a world championship
event, he literally took a sip of water! And then…he spent more time
adjusting his chess pieces! But beneath the bravado lies a child prodigy. By the age of two, he completed
a 50-piece jigsaw puzzle. When he was four, he had memorized the names of
most of his native Norway’s 356 municipalities. By eight, chess had become his life. Initially, he really just wanted
to beat his oldest sister. And then he was hooked, devouring chess
strategy books in his dad’s library. It took him only a year to beat
his dad Henrik for the first time. He credits skiing as his secret weapon
to winning, helping him mentally reset: You went in the morning for skiing. Frankly,
I don’t think I would have won today if I hadn’t done that because I was just sick
of the hotels and terrible air everywhere. Apart from skiing, soccer, and yoga help him keep in peak physical and mental shape to handle
the rigorous demands of chess tournaments. He says most chess games hinge on the final
hours, where mistakes are made due to fatigue. The number of possible moves
in chess is greater than the number of atoms in the universe! Most of the time I know what to
do. I don’t have to figure it out. He’s been called the Mozart of chess. Much like the composer’s inexplicable
genius, Carlsen’s skills seem otherworldly. In 2004, when Carlson was just 13, he
stunned the world by beating former champion Anatoly Karpov at
a tournament in Reykjavik. The following day, Carlsen came close to beating
the number one ranked player, Gary Kasparov. Kasparov barely managed to escape with a draw
in the first game and then won the second. The match had a profound effect on Carlsen
who, a month later, became a grandmaster - the highest title awarded to chess players
by the International Chess Federation. Kasparov briefly became his
coach a few years down the road. Paying hundreds of thousands of
dollars for training was a good investment because Carlsen reached
world No. 1 at the age of 19. He has been ranked number one non-stop since 2011. The International Chess Federation recognizes him as “arguably the best player
in the history of chess.” He has a peak Elo rating of 2882 – the
highest ever recorded in the system used in competitive chess to rate how good
you are based on tournament results. Chess.com lists him as the second
greatest player of all time, behind Gary Kasparov. Do you
agree? Let me know in the comments. Even those who aren’t avid followers of the
game recognize Carlsen’s name. He's achieved celebrity status. That was quick! One of Carlsen’s biggest assets
is his remarkable memory. 60 Minutes once produced a segment in
which he played ten opponents at the same time while not looking at the chess boards. He had to memorize the positions on all
the boards and keep track of them in his mind as they changed.
He won all ten games. A good memory is a tremendous
asset in chess as it lets you navigate the early game with confidence,
recalling countless opening strategies. It's like having a playbook in your mind,
ready to deploy any game plan on the spot. But perhaps his biggest
strength is his versatility. Grandmaster Vishy Anand said “He can be tactical.
He can be positional. He can be many things.” Kind of like a dancer who can gracefully glide from ballet and burst into the
spirited moves of salsa. He defeated Anand to become the World
Chess Champion for the first time in 2013. Unbelievable. Magnus Carlsen!
Champion of the world. This signaled the rise of a new era of players
who grew up in the age of online chess. Although Carlsen has benefitted from
competing against players online and getting access to instant game analysis
advantages legends like Bobby Fischer never had - he’s been pretty clear that computers
themselves are boring to play against. He refused to play the chess engine
Mittens, calling it "a soulless” computer. Yet the might of machines is undeniable. Kasparov famously lost against the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue in
a series of matches in 1997. In the final game, he was
crushed in just over an hour. So, while computers stand as formidable
opponents in the realm of chess, does any human stand a chance
against the might of Magnus Carlsen? Chess players are believed to
peak between 35 and 45 years old. Carlsen is 32 going on 33
at the time of this video. It’s hard to believe he may
not have reached his prime. Even harder to believe is that he
may be tired of playing the game. He decided not to defend his title at
the World Chess Championship in 2023, explaining in his podcast: I am not motivated to play another
match. I simply feel that I don’t have a lot to gain. I don’t particularly like it. For the five-time Champion, it
was akin to abdicating his crown. I don’t rule out a return in the future. But
I wouldn’t particularly count on it. He’s also taken a liking to poker though
he says he has no grand ambitions there. For someone who likes to win above everything,
don’t count him quite out of chess just yet. Trying to guess your opponent's next move while plotting your best move feels
like one giant logic puzzle. I've found that Brilliant's logic puzzles have
helped improve my analytical thinking skills. Just taking a few minutes out of my day has made
a HUGE difference for me. And it can for you, too. And it's FREE to try out. Brilliant is a website and app where
you can learn math, data science, and computer science interactively. Whether you'd like to brush
up on what you already know or dive into more advanced topics
- there's something for everyone. You can try out Brilliant for
FREE for 30 days using my link in the description: brilliant.org/newsthink. The first 200 who sign up via my link will
get 20% off their Premium subscription, unlocking all of Brilliant's courses. Thanks for watching.
For Newsthink, I'm Cindy Pom.
