Every once in a while, there comes along a child who is a natural prodigy at chess. They learn the rules of the game, and in little time they are stomping on players who have devoted years of their life to the game. Magnus Carlsen from Oslo, Norway is one such prodigy.
Here he is at the age of 13, drawing a game against Garry Kasparov. For those who don't know who Garry Kasparov is, he is widely considered to be the greatest chess player who has ever lived. Watch how this kid casually makes his moves and watch as Kasparov squirms. In the same year, he achieved the rank of Grandmaster, the highest possible in chess, and was the third youngest person in history to do so.
Eventually, Kasparov himself, the former and long-running world champion, decided to take this prodigy under his wing and began coaching him as a personal trainer. As the years passed, Carlsen's rating skyrocketed, eventually placing him at #1 in the world, and only 25 points behind Kasparov's own record for the highest rating of all time. He now holds the record for the youngest player to ever reach the #1 ranking in the world.
In 2010, he won the right the face Viswanathan Anand as a challenger for the official World Champion title. Unfortunately, he turned it down, citing an unfair and complicated Candidates process. It's likely only a matter of time before he claims the throne.
"The World Championship cycle will last for almost five years, and with constant rule changes. It takes too much effort to deal with the political part of the process. I would therefore like to focus my energy on developing my skills as a chess player, and to defend my position as number one in the world rankings."
These type of prodigies have always amazed me. How is it that someone is simply born with such incredible natural talent? And how discouraging it must be for people who have devoted years of their life to mastering the game, only to get trounced by an adolescent with innate ability. Sometimes, however, the talent comes at a severe cost. Robert Fischer was one such prodigy, but he devoted his life to chess. He didn't have relationships, he didn't experience life; he spent his time hunched over a board and studying the game. Eventually, Fischer reached a point of insanity and paranoia, living in complete reclusiveness, only surfacing to rail against Jewish conspiracies and perceived enemies.
I have a lot of awe and admiration for Magnus Carlsen, but at the same time, I fear for the sacrifices he will have to make to reach the greatest heights in this art called chess.
Pretty decent write-up. That video of Carlsen vs Kasparov is awesome.
But it is not a sacrifice if that's what he wants to do, and it is not a prerequisite for championship that you go completely out of your mind. Look at Kasparov, he's sharp all over, not an idiot savante like Fischer.
Thanks for the info. Web is so much faster than the official chess magazine edit: Note that he is now about to turn 21. He is 20 now, not 13 like your blog implies.
On September 06 2011 12:01 Saturnize wrote: Why are you assuming his life is going to be shit?
I never assumed his life is going to be shit. I merely explained that in the past, reaching such heights in so little time often came at a huge cost of personal development. I fear he will go down the same path, since reaching these ranks takes essentially an obsession with the game, at the expense of real-life experiences.
Whoa crazy. The last time i followed high ranked GM's was maybe 2 years ago? And he was only top ~10-20 or so. Didn't know Kasparov coached him. Pretty insane that he is now competing for the #1 title.
I don't think there's any risk of Carlsen ending up as Fischer. He comes from a caring family with friends and intrests outside chess. When he got his GM title Kasparov offered to coach him but he first refused, reportedly because Kasparov demanded that he work too hard.
They eventually started working together when Carlsen became one of the top players in the world.
On September 06 2011 12:39 Hidden_MotiveS wrote: On youtube when he plays against other teens, and children, he always looks at other people's boards. Is he a cocky bastard or is it to be more fair?
A very common exhibition for high level chess players is to play many games at once vs average guys, where the high level player takes only a few seconds to make his move and then goes to the next board. I think this is what you are talking about, and no it's not cocky, it's to be a little bit more fair... he's probably a favorite to go 30/30 all at the same time ;d
He set out to raise his daughters as genius chess players. His methods were fairly simple, he would set different boards up and just play through games from printed chess books. Over time his daughters managed to "see" how games would progress based on visualising series of boards they had seen. This allowed them to know the best next move without knowing explicitly why. I wonder whether this guy has a similar ability.
People can play by feel, but in reality there is always a best move given how your opponent plays. Recognising their style based on which board patterns they reflect would certainly allow a player to know the next move very quickly, without having to think through how that affects the later stages of the game.
As for prodigies turning crazy, I'd like to know what it's about! Some amazing pianists and writers go bonkers around their 20's. It's really odd to think that some amazing minds are"manufactured" with defects, so to speak. The French poets Nelligan, Rimbaud and Verlaine (maybe?) for instance. (I assume most of you guys don't know about them)
Chess is very interesting and the personalities involved even more interesting. It's not something I ever really followed that much or played but I can make parallels between piano players/music and chess.
Best be careful though, pretty much the majority of TL doesn't believe in ' talent '. They believe all humans can reach similar heights based off hard work and determination.
Pretty good writeup; I have been following this kid's career since a few years ago and check out his Wikipedia page once in a while to see what he's achieving. Reading this article might be a good way to get some TL'ers interested about chess.
On September 06 2011 12:04 Darkness2k11 wrote: Real life is overrated ;;
Pretty much this. I have no idea if devoting the vast majority of his time to chess is a good idea, I am not educated enough on the game, dunno if he can make a career out of it, etc. However, life is short, and for the time being he enjoys the game, so thats really all that matters I think.
On September 06 2011 13:25 Ack1027 wrote: Chess is very interesting and the personalities involved even more interesting. It's not something I ever really followed that much or played but I can make parallels between piano players/music and chess.
Best be careful though, pretty much the majority of TL doesn't believe in ' talent '. They believe all humans can reach similar heights based off hard work and determination.
That simply isn't true. Do any among us really believe that with a lifetime of training, we could match FlaSh?
Your view of these protege's reminds me of Good Will Hunting where Will just doesn't seem to care about the Math and has other professors walk away unhappy with how great he is and how little they've achieved in the grand scheme of things.
On September 06 2011 12:57 Geovu wrote: Does he have Aspergers/Autism/other mental disabilities?
Just wondering, because most people with 'natural talent' tend to be coupled with a disability somewhere else.
WTF, I don't know any current chess players with mental disabilities. And as far as I know, Carlsen is one of the most ordinary players because yes there are some people with personality quirks.
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