Carlsen wins 72nd Corus Chess Tournament
31 January 2010, 13.19 CET | Last modified: 1:04 | By Arne Moll | Filed under: Reports | Tags:
Magnus Carlsen has won Corus 2010. In the last round he drew Fabiano Caruana and both Kramnik and Shirov also drew their games, the latter after accepting Dominguez’ offer in a winning position. Anish Giri won the B group and Li Chao took C.
The Corus Chess Tournament takes place January 16-31 in Wijk aan Zee, The Netherlands. Next to hundreds of amateurs, three Grandmaster Groups (A, B and C) with 14 players each play a closed round-robin. The rate of play is 100 minutes for 40 moves, then 50 minutes for 20 moves and then 15 minutes for the rest of the game, and 30 seconds increment starting from move 1.
Corus Chess Daily News
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Games round 13
Game viewer by ChessTempo
Round 13
13:20 CET
The board is on fire in Short-Smeets, despite the fact that it started as a Petroff. (This tournament once more confirmed that it’s not just the opening that’s boring, but more what the players are doing with it!) It’s easy enough to follow the start: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3. d4 Nxe4 4.dxe5 Bc5 5.Bc4 Nxf2 6.Bxf7+ (wow!) which was in fact mentioned in one of the our ChessVibes Openings issues. Our main line was 6…Kf8; in the game 6…Kxf7 7.Qd5+ Kg6 8.Bg5 got Smeets thinking.
Carlsen takes up Caruana’s Ruy Lopez carefully, in Steinitz style while Kramnik and Karjakin are in a theoretical Queen’s Indian. Negi can still spoil Giri’s tournament, but in another Petroff the 15-year-old tournament leader looks OK after the opening.
13:44 CET
Smeets has only just made a move after 8.Bg5! Meanwhile, Shirov must be happy with the Najdorf hybrid (mixing a Bg5 and Bc4 setup) that he has on the board: it looks perfect for playing for a win today. Nakamura will be pressing Tiviakov a bit with the pair of bishops, but Black’s position looks quite solid.
15:10 CET
Things are heating up in the A group! Kramnik decided to make a draw against Karjakin, securing a good tournament, and Ivanchuk and Leko have called it a day already as well. But what about the other games? Of course all attention in the press room is focused on Short-Smeets, a true Romantic classic! After 10.Nd2, the computer supposedly prefers 10…d6 11.Ndf3+ Kg4! 12.h3+ Kg3! with completely unclear consequences. Several prominent players have already said they’re rooting for Short, not so much because they like the Englishman personally but because they like the way he’s playing the game, reminding them of Morphy and Anderssen and taking us all back to the 19th century. Time trouble will probably decide the game, however.
Shirov and Carlsen, both playing White, are still trying to win, although objectively, Dominguez doesn’t seem to have much to complain about. Carlsen-Caruana is a mess, only time will tell who’s better here. In the meantime, Anish Giri has made a draw to make sure he’s promoting to the A Group next year: a formidable achievement from the young Dutchman!
16:05 CET
With the time control coming up, the tournament can be decided any minute now. Carlsen seems to have an inferior position against Caruana, and Shirov’s attacking chances seem very realistic all of a sudden, so who knows what kind of upsets we’ll see this afternoon.
Meanwhile, Loek van Wely drew his game with Anand even though the experts claimed he was lost at some point, so this is definitely a small Dutch success. The same can be said for Jan Smeets, who managed a draw as well. His opponent Short apparently couldn’t find the win (and neither could the computer) so he decided to repeat moves with his clock ticking away. A disappointing end of a very promising game but perhaps this round will go down in history anyway if Shirov would miraculously manage to win the tournament after all! We’re sure many chess fans are rooting for him very hard right now…
16:45 CET
Well, the tournament will definitely end in dramatic fashion after Shirov accepted a draw in a completely winning position! We have exclusive video footage of the last minutes of the game and we’ll bring it to you as soon as possible, but for now we should mention Shirov’s last seconds were ticking when he accepted the draw, obviously not having seen the move 31.b4!!
Immediately after the game, Karjakin came up to him to tell him about it, but Shirov still couldn’t believe it. However, it may just be his lucky day after all, since Carlsen’s position against Caruana looks very, very bad, probably losing. This would mean Kramnik, Shirov and Carlsen will share first prize. Who would have thought?
On a more quiet note, Chao added another win to his successful tournament; the Chinese beat Peng. Robin van Kampen is best Dutchman in this group. In B, Erwin L’Ami lost his first game of the tournament against Naiditsch.
17:26 CET
It’s official: Magnus Carlsen drew his game with Caruana and has won the 72nd Corus Chess Tournament with 8,5/13. Alexei Shirov and Vladimir Kramnik share 2nd place with 8 points. In a tight knight ending, Carlsen defended successfully and now has added the most prestigious chess tournament to his victory list. Carlsen and Giri will be doing the press conference and we’ll have coverage of that later on, of course.
17:55 CET
Carlsen says the knight ending against Caruana should be a draw, although both players thought that Black had great winning chances during the game. According to Carsen, his best game of the tournament was against Karjakin. He also said Shirov reacted ‘remarkably calm’ to the fact he failed to grab 1st place by playing 31.b4, and that Anish Giri played ‘great chess’ in this tournament, especially in his game against Nisipeanu.
Corus 2010 | Schedule & results Grandmaster Group A
Corus 2010 | Schedule & results Grandmaster Group B
Corus 2010 | Schedule & results Grandmaster Group C
Corus 2010 | Round 13 Standings Grandmaster Group A
Corus 2010 | Round 13 Standings Grandmaster Group B
Corus 2010 | Round 13 Standings Grandmaster Group C
Magnus with the trophy and cheque
Anish Giri, what will he do next year in group A?
Li Chao, convincing winner of the C group
A surprising guest at the traditional closing party in Hotel Zeeduin was top soccer player Edgar Davids who came by because he likes chess and wanted to meet Magnus in person
Links
- Official website
- Games in PGN via TWIC: Group A | Group B | Group C
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“Shirov must be happy with the Najdorf hybrid …”
GM Rogers in the Cours live commentary disagrees and seems to favor black. Fact is that Shirov is already far behind on the clock … .
Carlsen is doing all he can to give away the tournament victory. Kasparovs idea?
40…Kf6 Yes, look at Caruana’s h-pawn….is he winning, with the white king so far away?
Does anyone knows how much time did Dominguez and Shirov have when they drew?
@Alexander: As Peter Doggers mentioned (in the meantime), Shirov had 2 seconds left. GM Ian Rogers (live commentary on the tournament homepage) mentioned that Dominguez also had two seconds remaining after his 29th move. With increments, there was just enough time to propose a draw and shake hands …. but clearly not enough to find 31.b4!! winning for white unless Shirov saw it beforehand.
And the new era has begun….
Congrats Carlsen!!
Alexei Shirov,
Thank you for your play in Wijk aan Zee 2010, and also for signing my books.
Hope you will be back next year.
Magnificent (”MAGNUS…”!) Congratulations to GM Magnus Carlsen for (t)his last game in (t)his tournament and for his victory in CORUS 2010! A DRAW without a boring aspect! CHESS of the 21st century! And very much respect to F. Caruana! See you next year in HOLLAND! W.J.BGH
way to go Carlsen!
… the raise of Giri
Congrats to all the winners, was a great tournament! It’s interesting to see that Anand is the only player in all 3 groups without a single loss, nevertheless coming in shared 4th only. Is Topalov going to play somewhere before the match?
Congrats to the wonderful boy, the prince of chess Magnus. Magnanimous.
A well deserved win.
7th place to Nakamura was formidable. The more farther he could go. He has no good play to survive at top ten, but he did his best.
And… my great idol, Kramnik, unfortunately lost the tournament.
I believe he’ll back with improvements…
and so, finally, we’ll watch him as number one again.
To/For LEANDRO and any other commentators: GM/Ex-WC Vladimir Kramnik has shown incredible chess in the last 15 months – since he lost his title to V. Anand! That means: He has not LOST the tournament CORUS 2010 – he enriched it with spectacular engagement! THANKS A LOT TO HIM! Even if he lost against ANAND, who will surprise all of us – the whole chess world – in April 2010 in Sofia against TOPALOV! Congrats to CHESSVIBES for everything! W.J.B.
Carlsen is amazing, but seems to have a fair bit of luck. Yet. winners force their luck as they say…Cant wait for next year with Giri in group A.
@Leandro. I don’t understand with what you want to say with your remark
“The more farther he could go”. Is it a compliment or a stitch towards Nakamura?
Anyway, you probably did not notice that the Cross-table is not complete when writing this: Naka-Tivi is filled in as “?” but it turned out a victory for white. So Naka is shared 4th together with Anand. Not bad at all and worth a top 10 if he continues
making these results
Carlsen! (clap) (clap)
@ Titus
I know this may sound ridiculous to Naka fans…
But I believe Naka’s level is too low to be at top ten.
To me Naka is overrated…. so, the farther he could achieve in this tournament would be the 10th place.
He achieved the 7th… so this is a great deal.
@leandro Are you dyslectic? Read once more my comment: Naka ended shared 4th!
I have question: 10000euro for first prize group A{????} is this a joke???
and 3000euro group B {???} for two weeks hard work and expenses {hotel,food ,travelling etc} and what is getting the poor GM in group C ???
is this mistake or reality????
@Thomas: Tnx.
@Johnny: I think that most of the players get considerable amount of money just for playing. Furthermore, I doubt that the A- or even B- group contestants have to pay for their accommodation.
Titus,
Not sure why leandro cannot understand your comment. Nakamura scored 7.5/13. Just another attempt to belittle Nakamura’s accomplishments. Eventually people will realize that he is firmly in the elite class. What are leandro’s reasons for saying his level is too low? It could not be his actual level of play.
This was a good tournament. I like Li Chao’s performance. Asia made a good showing this tournament. I’m not sure what will happen to the three Dutch invitees. They finish at the bottom each year, but are clearly much better than this. I doubt if van Wely will get an invite next year. Giri will replace him and will be at least 2670 at this time next year.
most of the money they get as starting money
@Adam: Topalov will play in Linares.
@leandro: I am also a bit deceived that Kramnik ran out of steam a bit – IMHO, he or Shirov would have deserved to win (no offense to Carlsen). Yet it is excessive “winner takes it all” to call him a loser: he finished shared second, actually gained some ELO and, for what it’s worth, overtook Anand on the live rating list.
@Daaim Shabazz: “They [the Dutchies] finish at the bottom each year” – that’s where they belong ELO-wise, Van Wely didn’t even lose any ELO. Personally I would rather drop Tiviakov, but Loek himself announced that he will take a chess sabbatical next year so he won’t play his 20th consecutive Corus – he wants to do some other things, e.g. hoping to qualify for the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon.
Well, this was for sure a great tournament, as usual in Corus. I hope some other organisers will do this: Round Robin with a LOT of participants, like in the good ol days. Thats the way to play. Why not 16 world class players gathered?
And Naka did well in his first time participation in such a field. He for sure has the potential.
And…for some reasons Kramnik was hyped up along on the way. I believe he plays more liberated after he lost to Anand in 2008, and its nice to watch. But he is not THAT good after all.
And I am wondering what is happening to Leko…
Daaim Shabazz,
“Eventually people will realize that he is firmly in the elite class”
Maybe we will, but so far his level of arrogance isn’t in par with his results.
It is very likely Carlsen will gain fame and lots of money in the next 5 to 10 years as the new chess king. This is going to be a huge boost to chess popularity all over the world, a new golden age for all involved with chess either as fans or chess professionals as chess is likely to become somewhat mainstream again as a result of the Magnus phenomenon, which will atract new sponsors and a new generation of chess amateurs. I would however speculate that Carlsen having achieved all he could hope for as a chess professional is likely to retire from chess before he turns 30. Let’s enjoy the ride while it lasts!
@Thomas: I am not fully agree.Shirov well but not Kramnik because Shirov played exiting chess and he should have won today(31b4.Qc7 32Qa8+ Bf8 33Rf1)black can,t defend anymore and Kramnik played one good game.against Naka.he was lucky 3time today didn,t go for it like MC and Shirov did.he is a solid player but solid performence this time.oscar goes to MC.sorry Kramnik
Carlsen is just the best, face it and accept it. Kramnik and Shirov played well but Kramnik if he had any balls would have put them to the wall to win in the last round, Shirov choked plain and simple from 5/5 to missing a move I saw in 10 seconds, thats why he was never more than an exciting also ran, bad nerves. Naka can go up or down, it will depend on his work, we will see….
Congratulations to Magnus! Nice catch up after losing to Kramnik.
I believe that having Kasparov behind him gives him a great advantage in terms of openings (= he is ready to play the French, Spanish, Dragon, Najdorf or whatever the situation demands) + psychology (Kasparov has played and demolished most of the players Magnus is facing and knows every weakness they have). Without Kasparov Magnus was already top but now he seems to be unstoppable!
Thanks Shirov for your unbelievable and exciting games!
great comments from everybody.
about GM Kramnik, i think that if there weren’t a dominant player as Magnus or a so strong player like Anand, Kramnik would be without doubt number one, he wd probably still be world champion.
the inclusion of Kramnik in any top tournament makes the competition more interesting for spectators and hard for players.
What is the rating of Edgar Davids ?
Kramnik deserved to win the tournament, not Carlsen?!
LOL, Vlad was lost in lots of games and could have finished on a minus score if he hadn’t been lucky.
Does Edgar Davids play chess likes he plays soccer ? This would mean
1. e4
2 Qh5
3 a4
4 Ra3
5 Rf3
6 .Rxf7
without looking what the opponent is doing
For me, successfully defending worse or objectively lost positions also characterizes a strong player – at the very least, Kramnik “made his luck” in some games. Inferring a minus score for him would mean losing four games, or losing against Carlsen and two more (the latter would have happened if his opponent was Rybka rather than someone of flesh and blood, mistakes and nerves).
Anyway, I don’t get why many people just talk about Kramnik’s luck, Carlsen was also lucky in several ways:
- Ivanchuk played his worst game of the entire tournament against Magnus
- Anand played his best game against Carlsen’s rival Kramnik
- Anand (and indirectly Carlsen) were incredibly lucky in the game Anand-Shirov
[Anand played without much ambition against Carlsen, just to make the triangle complete]
As for Shirov, it would have been a bit “funny” to win the tournament while scoring -2 against the upper half of the field, has something like that ever happened before?
@Jens Kristiansen: Wasn’t it logical (”for a reason”) to “hype” Kramnik a little bit when he seemed on his way to win Corus and maybe cross ELO 2800 again? And what do you mean with Kramnik not being “THAT good”? He is a top5 player and confirmed his status – at least with the result.
Final point about (live) ELO: Before their game, Kramnik was 10 points ahead of Anand on the live rating list. It took one game to (nearly) close the gap – nicely demonstrating how ephemeral small differences in rating are.
Great tournament and great reports on Chessvibes!
Shirov in the role of the hero in a Greek tragedy: the hero becomes immortal, but in the end is never allowed to win, that’s what Greek tragedy is about…
(viz. his games against Anand and Dominguez, for example).
I wish MC was born in Russia same 25 years ago and bynow he would chessgod of all gods.he is natural and from chessmaking machine .perhapes Russia has ass much IM,s and GM,s ass entire Norway,s papulation
@Thomas.
Do not forget:
- Kramnik played the game of his life against Carlsen
not from chessmaking machine
Edgar Davids ! Chess must be officially cool now.
@buri If you say so. Nothing will satisfy those who believe this. If you are 2730, then you have gotten results. It’s good to have different personalities in chess. Not all chess players are robots with impeccable manners. Get the stereotype of chess players out of your head. Nakamura is indeed confident and has the killer-instinct that you cannot readily teach. Once he stabilizes in his play, he’ll certainly be ready to compete in the WC cycle. He is already a feared opponent.
This was a good tournament for many reasons. The level of play, the exciting games and the diversity of the field. You have so many different styles and many different countries are represented. We have seen new stars develop although we already knew Giri, So, Li, Gupta and Robson were talented, they were able to show more. Carlsen deserved to win although he escaped a few times… even in the last round. This tournament has so many different side stories.
Nice to read Edgar Davids likes chess.. A pleasant surprise!
Im proud Giri represents Holland as a chessplayer. Not only cause of his good play but most cause of his good presentation and proper english!
He seems pretty confident about himself.
Respect
@kfan
So why would this be the ‘new golden age’ of chess? Whereas I wouldnt say I necessarily disagree with that phenomenon, I totally disagree with your reasoning. Whilst Magnus Carlsen is a good player, I find him no advertisement for chess AT ALL. He has been hyped for quite a while now, but has no charisma at all. To be honest he looks like a nerdy boy who sacrificed everything for chess. Also, if you look through this hype of a few years back, his playing style isnt all that spectacular (anymore?).
I guess it could be worse, but this is a big difference with Gary Kasparov.
By the way, I didn’t foresee Anish Giri to score this good in a field he didn’t really meet before, so we’ll have to see him develop the next few years, but at least he seems to have some sort of charisma, so he would be a better example.
where is their mutual press-conference, btw?
It was a great corus tournament again. Thank you chessvibes for the covarage. Is there a video about the closing ceramony?
Interesting discussions.
Clearly Kasparov is helping Magnus especially with the psychology of a tournament. This is the one area where Anand and Kramnik are still stronger than Magnus and I still doubt MC would win a match against either of them yet. Clearly when the next cycle comes around this situation will change.
Kramnik is one of the most talented players ever and his motivation and his approach to games has improved recently making things more exciting.
Anand has achieved the top levels and has little to prove.
Shirov is always exciting but I dont think its nerves. Not seeing a winning move with 3 seconds on your clock is not suprising. A nice bit of psychological gamesmanship by his opponent.
As far as not understanding why MC and his play well welcome to the world. His play is not like Kasparov. As Big K said, he is more like Karpov or Capablanca. As a result his wins seems more casual and I think for the rest of us more ‘lucky” than Kasparov or Shirov where the moves made are overt in their aggression.
It is also interesting to see some small and less chess focused countries coming out with talented players. The hedgemony of Russia and chess seems at an end ….
Great job by Carlsen and Kasparov. What when Shirov would win last round? then Carlsen would still be at first place? right?
@Martin. You are being obnoxious and rude. Save your personal and hateful remarks.
I am a big Kramnik fan, probably the best player ever from the point of view of chess ‘understanding’ in a human way. Watch him explain his games, read his articles, very deep but still lucid and clear. Not the variation mania of a Kasparov. However he has his weaknesses in practical play… in particular choosing the Petroff! as his main opening! This defense doesn’t really suit his style. I know it sounds weird, but look – against Short, Shirov, Anand he played this and was lost at some point in all these games.
Daaim Shabazz,
Nakamura does not have the results. If he did, he’d be part of the elite class already. I’m not talking about results for being a 2730 player because he obviously has the results for that, but I’m talking about the “real” elite players. What stereotype? You don’t seem to get it. It’s not a matter of us wanting him to change his personality and make the chess world robotic (personality wise), its a matter of not living up to what you say. If he actually did play like ‘The Best’ then I’d at least see a reason for his arrogance (though I’d still hate his guts), but he doesn’t. And by the way, he’s more than just confident. He’s arrogant. You should probably grab a dictionary because you don’t seem to know the difference between the two.
Shirov played really really wel this tournament… Too bad he didn’t won the tournament. Everyone loves his play, I think! It is so entertaining, difficult, and risky..
The guy really must have so much traffic in his head to go through all the variations with his style of play… Crazy that he can find all those tactics in his games!
I didn’t use to be a fan of Kramnik until recently when I switched to 1.d4 and played more positionally. Indeed, he really does play chess at a greater understanding then most of his peers. Many of his moves are really sublime with a touch of class, especially his understanding of the endgame. I really enjoyed his win over Carlsen. =)
?Rothschild, pretty classy comment! Yes, sarcasm intended.
Maybe you didnt like my opinion, but at least I managed to provide reasoning.
You’re just blindly throwing mud, so come again.
Your reasoning was that he, to you, seems like a “nerd” who has sacrificed everything for chess and has no charisma.
First: He has sacrificed a lot less than most players on this level. He got in to chess pretty late, and has finished school as a descent soccer player and skier and has often been blamed for not taking home prep seriously enough. The point is that you are not arguing, you are biringing juvenile “nerd-bashing” to the discussion.
Second: Lacking charisma and being “nerdy” are two things you apparently loathe. MC is varies very much in how he appears on TV because he isn’t very comfortable with attention. He’s 19 and always said he’s not after becoming a pop star. I can respect that he isn’t another attention seeking narcissistic chess player without blaming him for being a nerd.
The fact is that he IS enjoyed by the majority of people in chess, his games are not impressive to you because you are such a great genius (nothing to do about that, I guess
), but the fact that Edgar Davids came to meet him and that you whine about him not being great for chess makes me like Davids even more. GO JUVENTUS!
Again you havent understood me abit.
First off I said I dont like his playing style, I havent said it isnt good. It’s just regularly boring, that’s all.
But most important is the point he lacks charisma. You can call that ‘juvenile nerd bashing’, but it’s in fact a mere observation. Of course speaking for big audiences is hard, but he didnt show up good during the post-mortem press conferences that I saw. Therefor, I am just saying he isnt a player that will spur a boost in chess popularity, as ‘kfan’ claimed – and it seems exactly this point that you totally missed through your pink glasses.
I really fail to see what your qualification of him not being ‘another attention seeking narcissistic chess player’ has to do with this. Where does that silly remark come from anyway?
You think he is a boring nerd with no charisma. That is what you wrote. His playing style was added in a short sentence starting with: “Also”…and ending with: “not spectacular”.
Well, now you state that his playing style IS boring. The fact is that this is your opinion even though you try to make it sound like it’s some sort of valid criticism. The big attention he is getting surely isn’t bc the rest of us like “boring chess”, but because we have seen him play some immemorable and spectacular games. The fact that he is one of the players pressing for wins in most of his games, regardless of opposition, makes him probably one of THE most interesting players around. He even won Corus playing a tournament that was below par for him lately. He plays a great variation of openings and has given us some spectacular wins: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1482706
I guess you could give an expample of a current top chess player you find “Spectacular”?
Seems to me you are spewing out bad feelings towards Carlsen based on one press conferance he himself said he was to tired to do, and right after a win in a tournament in which he wasn’t alltogether very pleased with his own performance.
Martin,
With all due respect, I don’t get your point and what you mean by charisma either. Should he whistle conspiracy theories (jews, toilets, mind-readers, Russians, whatever you wish)? Go to matches as if they were wars? Whine over lost duels for years? Be bitter sarcastic no matter whether he won, drew or lost? Trashmouth everyone and everything for no apparent reason? Dress terribly? Have tics? Or simply found some new organization whenever he has problems getting along with the official one?
I mean, hey, excuse him he’s no #1 for 20 years (only for a few months, at the age of 19…), came in Time magazine only twice the last half year or so, won or came 2nd in all the important tournaments for about a year now and so forth.
Imho, he is a likeable young chap getting more and more used to being in the focus of attention. Have you been on TV at the age of, say, 18? I have, but if you happened not to, just imagine yourself reciting a poem in front of hundreds of people. To make it even easier, in your mother tongue. I’m sure you would be damn cool. He’s still a child, nevertheless gaining more and more confidency speaking English and starting to form own opinion (see his dissatisfaction with the WC cycle and his withdrawal – a respectful open letter). Has a supportive father trying to correct his minor lapses. Finished school, decent sportsman. And started to wash pretty much everyone off the board (and not behind).
All in all, you don’t like his style, fine. But hey, if you really find his games boring, then this community and you are not talking about the same thing in the first place.
Damn right yo! Now where that darn press conference?
” Rothshild, you pretty much keep missing my point. First off, lets put my opinion on his playing style aside, since its a minor one. (To answer your question though: shouldnt be too hard: Morozevich, Shirov, Topalov, but there are others of course. Also pressing for wins? I’d mention Nakamura, Giri, Shirov etc on that one as well)
Anyway, back to the main point, which I’ll state again: Carlsen doesnt seem to be good press for chess. It’s not really fair to say that I’m saying this after one press conference when he was tired. First off, I’ve been having this kind of idea earlier, when his excuse of being really young held a lot more. Actually, he seemed more fresh a few years back. Being tired also doesnt really make sense. Obviously Ive seen a lot of interviews with (young!) professional players in different disciplines, just after they finished their match and won. Surely they were more tired then Carlsen, but winning gives you energy! By the way the football players who seem to get a lot of media training, they often give bs interviews. But what about ice skaters (yeah, I’m dutch, so we’re used to seeing winning iceskaters being interviewed on tv
@adam, Please bear with me, I’m not a native english speaker, so I could very well be mistaken.. But I thought ‘charisma’ is a normal english word, isn’t it? It’s hard to explain what I mean by it I guess though. Maybe I could say he isnt spontaneous or media-genious. This is what you need to attract interest to our beloved chess. This attention is important because it usually means extra sponsors and extra players.
To me it seems pretty much obvious that I dont mean any of the retarded things that happened in the past and you just summed up. I have to admit that people use to say that any press is better then no press, so in that light he’s doing pretty well. Because we have a fresh, young leading player already attracted attention from a magazine like Time, indeed. But somehow I believe we need better press. We can’t deny that chess seems to have a nerdy, anti-social image.
(The level clothing and personal care etc. I see when I look around at a chess tournament is quite sad, so I guess that might be irrepairable)
@ Jarvis, see http://www.coruschess.com
I think it was something like round 9 when he beat Lenier Dominguez.
Excuse me, Martin, but I’m not sure which planet you’re living on. No good press? Not good for the game’s popularity? Huh? Carlsen appears in all sorts of non-chess media all the time, they just love his story, he is interviewed by TV, takes part in talkshows etc. In Germany I don’t know any important newspaper or magazine that has NOT reported on him. In Norway he has become a national hero, he won the sportsman of the year award, the media are raving, he was invited by several ministers and the government is going to spend many million Euros for the olympiad. Not so bad for a 19-year-old chess player, eh? So what’s your problem???
Norway is indeed the whole world….
And I dont know about Germany, but it’s all not so great in Holland, though there was a big item in the major 8 o’clock news last sunday. That was mainly caused by Giri’s success though. (Which seems pretty much in line with my point)
Well, Martin, you should perhaps get used to the fact that chess isn’t the most popular sport in the world. And I don’t see what Magnus Carlsen has got to do with this. Before his rise to the top chess got even less attention and now we finally have the kind of exciting young star that we need. Do you expect a teenager to change the world from one day to another? Give him a rest and be happy with what you’ve got, for heaven’s sake. Jesus Christ, some people are never satisfied.
Michael, don’t you get it? MC is simply no good for chess popularity AT ALL until he will at the very least have smoked a bong with Balkenende on the Dutch national TV.
Martin. The day Giri has two pieces on him in Time magazine, and magnus is neglected by the press, I guess we can start speaking about you having some sort of point. Wtf happens in Holland in the 8 o’clock news is what you cling to. Well, how about the LA times, Time magazine, pretty much every german newsoutlet of importance etc. Is your point still proved as for chess and worldwide attention? Seems to me you are cherry picking to prove a point. Everything just shouts at you that your argument and “point” is without merit and is based on your longing for a chess genius who has a press conferance with sunglasses, smokes a bong before playing or is “cool” in some other way. Lol@Adam btw.
Let’s hope Giri can make chess “cool”…. lol. You need to stop, man.
Of course there’s a difference between being ‘in the media’ and making a good appearance in the media. The first is definitely true for Carlsen, but as for the second, it’s not entirely clear if he’s very comfortable with it.
Martin does have a valid point here IMO.
Giri, for instance, seems much more outspoken and eager to talk and answer questions, bearing in mind he, too, is still very young. Carlsen mainly seems interested in playing good chess, not in making a good impression in the media. On the one hand, I find this a pleasant attitude, but it’s also a bit ‘boring’ after having such characters as Kasparov, Topalov, Short and Korchnoi on the scene.
@Moll. The claim was that MC is no good advertisement for chess AT ALL. Well, Martin even goes so far as to point out how the media apparently favors Giri over Carlsen based on the Dutch 8 o’clock news. Giri, making a strong showing, deservedly gets attention from the media after a strong performance, but the point is of course not valid at all, as 1. Giri plays for Holland and gets attention in his own country after winning (wasn’t Martin saying something about Norway not being the whole world? I guess Holland is, then…) and 2. it neglects the great amount of attention Magnus has drawn from media world wide. He is trying to convince us that chess would be better off having another, more spectacular player representing it, while neglecting the fact that this seems at odds with all available evidence. He mentions Topalov as such a player. Well, he’s been in the business for a long time, has been world number 1 and has played a very famous WC match. A simple google search gives MC about 220 000 hits vs Topalovs 78 000. If we are talking about chess creating an image as “cool”, after his standards, then he should plainly say so. If he is talking about who actually brings chess attention and interest, then it seems MC is already bringing home the bacon, but of course someone will always have personal dissatisfaction with this and say things like: “he seems like a nerd who has sacrifices everything for chess”.
I think Zidane was great advertisement for football. The same goes for Beckham, even though I don’t find him a good player. They truly sucked giving televised interviews, though. I’m still not going to call them names bc of this, and I’m not going to deny the plain fact that they were actually great for footbal as advertisement.
Well, I wouldn’t go as far as to say Carlsen isn’t good advertisement for chess AT ALL, but he could definitely improve his act by some simple means. It’s simply true he looks tired or bored in most interviews – not very good advertisement, I’d say – and what he says is often evasive and unelaborate.
Don’t get me wrong, he’s a fantastic player who generates lots of publicity, but – and this is the point – this publicy is because of who is is (a chess genius), not how he presents himself. Same goes for Beckham (though not for Zidane, who I recall did a lot for charity and had many interesting things to say about it.) This is a crucial distinction and in this respect I must agree (to a certain degree) with Martin.
That said, I do think it’s charming he doesn’t play the same media role Kasparov or others play. It’s just that there isn’t much interest in what he says (yet?) – I say let him play great moves, that’s what he’s best at!
I think everyone, including Martin, agrees that Magnus, with his unprecedented success, has personally managed to get mainstream media interested in chess again – or at least interested in his story. And yes, he’s often looked tired or not very motivated to talk during interviews, but in my opinion that’s changing – I found Magnus’ “media skills” had improved during Corus (as could definitely be said for Hikaru’s as well – he was extremely professional and cooperative). So let’s give him a few more years and he’ll be an even better ambassador for our sports than he already is.
Maybe I’m one of the few people on this site who on some kind of regular basis meets with nonchessplaying peepz. (I’m sorry, plz dont tell) Then you see what kind of magnificent ‘advertisment’ Carlsen is for the game of chess.
From a ‘marketing’ point of view I would say that even Topalov, Kramnik or Anand are not close to the PR value of Magnus. Let alone guys like Morozovich or Shirov.
And offcourse his playing style has completly no influence on his advertisment value for the chessworld. Most patzers dont understand that, let alone outsiders.
Offcourse I too can get melancholic about freaky geniusses like Fischer, but a relaxed, football and tennis playing kid like him does more for the future of our game, then looking for bearded hatemongoring paranoid looneys who made up the chessworld in the old days. The moment Carlsen asks to check the playing hall for bugs, magnetism, hidden toilets, hypnotic drawings etc, then he’ll lose his external value, and wil he enter the muppetshow chess history is.
@Moll. What you seem to get into, is the same as Martin. You are talking about your own opinion on how Magnus presents himself, and that you find this boring. This is very different from talking about what is good for chess as a whole. You seem to think that the larger public is waiting to be charmed, when, in fact, what is doing the trick advertisement wise, is the extreme performance of a young boy, who deserves every bit of understanding for being media shy at the age of 19. You are agreeing with Martin on his opinion of Magnus as a person, and this clearly differs from the general view. Some found Kasparov arrogant and neurotic, some found him likeable and eccentric. I think it’s important what Doggers said, too. Even though Giri seems more comfortable/interested in speaking to the press in the press conference room, it is important not to use this as evidence that Magnus will forever be uncomfortable with the media. That would be a great mistake. I think you, being a chess journalist yourself, should take this into consideration yourself, and at least not come on here and say that he is boring and can’t blame it on age. That should be beneath you. Of course age/experience could be a major reason. He’s 19. When I was 19 I would feel uncomfortable speaking in class. This has changed, and the idiosychracy of individual reactions to attention should not be neglected because Giri is 15 and seemed unbothered. I find that your point is very unproductive, and it is going after the person – not because something he said, but how he is as a person/presents himself. Engaging with your personal opinions on this as a chess journalist is uncomfortable territory, and I think you cut the guy very little slack.
Rothschild, what I should or should not do is up to me I hope.
As for the rest, I didn’t say anything about Magnus as a person, just how he comes across in interviews. If you prefer to call my observation that he often looks tired ‘my own opinion’ that’s fine, it’s just that most people I know and who have seen him happen to agree with me. Perhaps it’s not only ‘my own opinion’ then?
Anyway, yes, I understand why he is so popular in the media since I actually explained it myself in my previous post, so all I can really suggest is: take it easy, and actually read what people write before jumping to conclusions.
Peter, I thought I was blind and am the only one who sees this improvement you just mentioned. Thanks to the FSM, after all it seems not.
@Arne – your points are clear, but lemme add a couple of things:
Kasparov, again, had about 25 years to estabilish some media attention – the right or wrong way, everyone can decide for his/her own self (and now I just don’t wanna go into the situation in the chess world starting in 1993 or whether chess became like the most popular sport since the actions of “The Big Boss” and that you can’t switch on the telly without chess flowing into your face). Carlsen just stepped onto full-professional path. As no.1. He’s 19 and, IMHO again, not doing too badly.
Topalov is close to the very top since the early 90s. He didn’t get much coverage until his “World Class” measures taken in 2006, now did he? To the best of my knowledge, that thing led to a brief boom in the scandal-oriented media; however, it ended as fast as such stories usually do, furthermore, a large percentage of his fans simply turned away from him.
And I don’t want to speak for the majority, but I’m sure SOME people would say the 4 people quoted by you are probably the most arrogant and impolite dudes around. I prefer a shy, modest boy trashing everyone ON the board and not by oral skills, we’ll see how the media reacts. Just to back this up, you might add the name of Fischer who, they say, did so very much for this game. I, personally, would LOVE not to see Magnus going through a similar transformation from this
into you know what…
Indeed, adam, I totally agree. That’s why I wrote: “That said, I do think it’s charming he doesn’t play the same media role Kasparov or others play.” Still, it doesn’t all have to so black and white. A bit of controversy is also fun from time to time, wouldn’t you agree?
@arne. I read your every word, and it is perfectly up to you what you write. Now you seem to get into the uncomfortable position of “I’m not saying… I’m just saying”. And: “I’ve spoken to many people who agree with me”. Well, obviously this is not of interest here. The point is he is popular and many disagree with the point being made by Martin, so you can’t excuse yourself with reference to some sort of objectively observed behavior which we can all agree on. It most certainly reflects your personal opinion on Magnus, and again, I don’t think this is productive unless you want to make us all agree with your opinion on which guy to like in chess, or which self presentation style to like.
So let’s see, we have 1.the fact that Carlsen is popular and 2. the opinion by some about the impression he makes.
I don’t see what’s wrong with expressing 2? It obviously isn’t same thing as 1. Sorry but what was your point again?
@adam. Love the clip. He is a very good example of what we’re talking about. Great many opinions on Bobby, but it was his exceptional talent and the epic win over Russia, a proud moment in American history, which spurred interest in chess in the US. He has subsequently been blamed for the falling interest in chess in America due to him leaving the game. So the flamboyant personality obviously does not have to be “great for chess”. I’ve read countless discussions on HOW Fischer presented himself as a person under youtube.com clips, and I must say they are mostly full of a split hatred/idealizing – not good discussions at all. But I’m with you on hoping that Magnus stays stable and stays with chess, so that we can have him around to listen to him being “bored” (and not aggressively paranoid) in 50 years.
@arne. Now you just seem to be defensive and try not to understand the post. Or so it seems. You supported Martin who was saying that Magnus was not good for chess due to lacking charisma. You then went on to say that you (to some extent) agree with this, and then you named some people who you obviously find more exciting. Hence, if we follow your posts, it seems you’ve now taken a turn and that you are not saying anything at all, but: (something like) “I agree. I also find Magnus less exciting to watch than many other players in press conferences”. Then wtf were you agreeing with Martin on in the first place? He used it to say that Magnus was NOT good advertisement, but now you seem to disagree on that, or what? Then you mention other sportsmen who are being “listened to” as opposed to Magnus which didn’t have much to say. Well, I found his take on the WC interesting, and also his comments to the journalist in Time.
I said I agreed with Martin’s opinion about Carlsen’s appearances in the press, NOT with his statement he was bad publicity for chess. One can also agree only with SOME of the things people say, you know. Read again what I wrote:
“Of course there’s a difference between being ‘in the media’ and making a good appearance in the media. The first is definitely true for Carlsen, but as for the second, it’s not entirely clear if he’s very comfortable with it.
Martin does have a valid point here IMO.”
The key word is ‘here’ in the last sentence. It implies I only agree with Martin’s point insofar they were about Carlsen’s appearance in the press, not with his opinion that he was bad for chess publicity altogether. Note also how I actually DISAGREED with Martin on the first point right from the start, saying Carlsen is, in fact, all-present in the media. I really don’t see what’s unclear about it.
Anyway, it seems we agree after all, even despite the misunderstanding, so there’s really no point in dragging this argument any further, is there?
@Arne. Fine. This last post is clear. What I was referring to was additional points you made:
“Well, I wouldn’t go as far as to say Carlsen isn’t good advertisement for chess AT ALL, but he could definitely improve his act by some simple means. It’s simply true he looks tired or bored in most interviews – not very good advertisement, I’d say – and what he says is often evasive and unelaborate.”
It seems here that you are more in line with Martin. And you also said there is little interest in what he says, which I also think is unfair. Kasparov is a notable political character and has given opinions on matters way beyond chess over the years. Magnus is 19 and is still aiming to be WC.
To demand of a man to be listened to in the same way as Kasparov when he is 19 and is yet to become the WC is a bit unfair, don’t you think?
Isn’t MC just a typical Norwegian? Surly, closed, stubborn. (caused perhaps by generations of shortage of daylight and hence serotonine) And isn’t it nice that he is in his behaviour a normal product of his environment?
What has made him attractive for the media is his geniousness. Speaking a lot of languages, knowing trivial soccer data. Fischer, Kasparov had analogue qualities, positioning Chessplayers as a superior race, adding food to the mythic radiation. And people simply want to adore.
Anand was starting well as a wonderboy from India, but behaves too normally. Kramnik and Topalov don’t have special talents.
MC is OK for Chess. And with Giri, speaking fluently Dutch in two years, the chess future looks bright.
I forgot to say that I agree with you that we now agree after you left out the last part of your post and clarifying.
You emphasize the word here and omit the last part of the post. That makes it much better. But if you feel misunderstood, you should consider how that last part said: “a bit ‘boring’ after having such characters as Kasparov, Topalov, Short and Korchnoi on the scene.”
In this context you write about what is a “good media personality”, and then drop a few names. You and Martin both seem to make simple statements based on personal preference. Martin goes very far and claims his Idea of interesting is in line with the how things actually are, and that chess will somehow suffer due to lack of proper personal qualities, you seem to say that “Magnus is a great chess player, but I find him boring in press conferances and interviews (not listened to), and would prefer someone who could make a little controversy.” I mean, isn’t this right? If this is how you feel, then this is all nice’n'dandy.
By the way I embedded adam’s YouTube video; can’t see it enough times.
Hoi Peter,
a bit off the topic… would you mind to publish the video shot of mutual press conference of Anish and Magnus? I wonder why all chess-media ignored that (except for some excerpt of Magnus’ part). It would be appreciated if you can provide us with the full press conference…
Thx in adv…
Youre _still_ not understanding me (sigh) tbh.
Before anything though, I guess I should agree that I exagerated abit with the ‘at all’ in caps etc. (I guess this is cause I feel MC is oddly hyped. And I’m kinda annoyed by several grown-up people calling him ‘BamBam’, …, if you catch the idea this time.)
Next, please forget the discussion on playing style please. I dont like his style, but it has nothing at all to do with the other point. Simmillion is of course totally right if you say that outsiders have no idea about this.
Finally, you didnt understand my point on Magnus’ charisma. First off, I did not say that chess would suffer. Simply because there is not much to suffer, as chess isn’t in that good state atm. Of course chess wont become the most popular sport around the globe – as you insinuated – but of course we should aim to improve! And I think image plays a big role in this. Magnus’ image will not really improve chess image atm. Well he’s sort of young and fresh, so some media will like his story (e.g. Time), but his image is bored and tired. (Thanks Arne, it’s hard to find better words for that). If you look at my first post, I reacted on ‘kfan’, who basically said he will do wonder for chess popularity. I merely disagreed! However, with the seemingly constant process of younger players conquering the top-GM scene I have good hopes to find some good advertisers. I said Anish Giri, because I felt he’s making a fresh impression in the media. Maybe it indeed helps that he is dutch now, but my point wasnt exactly to look at one single country.
I also dont know why you keep thinking I want Kasparov’s controversy. While it surely may draw attention, Kasparov overdid his controversy by a lot. You cannot deny he had charisma though.
Finally I really don’t catch your point about age. If anything, a younger person should be fresh and unprejudiced on speaking publically. Of course he’ll be nervous the first few times, but that’s not the case anymore, even though he’s still quite young. Also I believe that a post-mortem press-conference should pretty much be a safe environment for him. It’s a pretty small audience, it’s the subject he knows most about. And if he enjoy’s playing chess he could also speak enthusiastically about it. But he doesn’t. This is pretty much different to the closing ceremony speech he had to do. I believe this is much harder! Actually I’d sort of die if I had to do that.
BTW Bert calls MC a typical norwegian, which is quite fitting indeed.
BTW2: as of a sidenote on my earlier 8 O’Clock news remark: you may not know, but I’m fairly sure that most non-chessplaying dutch people do not know much about chess. Surely, they got taught the rules by their father – I noticed a surprising amount of people know the rules and claim they’d like to play a game against me. But they usually have no idea who’s the World Champion, or are even close to it. More people know Garry Kasparov though, so I guess he did something good. It’s true that Viswanathan Anand – who I’ll most likely root for in the upcoming match – is behaving really normal and also abit too quiet I guess.
In this context, it means a lot that a few chess players (GM Magnus Carlsen, GM Anish Giri and national youth coach IM Thomas Willemze) were showed and interviewed in a really big item in the 8 o’clock news! On the other hand, if it’s a once-in-a-year achievement, then it’s not enough.
We’ll see what the future brings I guess. Go Giri!
Martin. You now pull the AT ALL remark. You earlier said that Carlsen was unappealing and said Giri getting more attention on Dutch TV (hes playing FOR Holland FFS) is proving your point; mark that you sarcastically also said “Noray is the whole world” – way to shoot yourself in the foot.
Now you make a point about how Kasparov got attention. WTF does this have to do with M Carlsen who is NOT WC and who has not reigned supreme for 20 years, and who has yet to speak on subjects outside chess?
You made silly post and now you feel misunderstood. Now it’s time to make your statement clearer, and you have. When you said he wouldn’t be good for chess AT ALL, you now mean that he can’t make chess suffer…. bc there isn’t much to make suffer? Then you talk about us (chess players) and them (who don’t understand style). Well, who are you, and why do you have this insane idea that chess needs to be big, mainstream and cool? It will NEVER be hyped like poker f.i., not because of Magnus Carlsen, but because it is not appealing to watch 5 hour games for people unless they understand a great deal. If you think chess is in a sad state nowdays, then WHAT are you referring to? Is there a drop in attendance? NO! Was it better in, say 1998? What is your point when you talk about chess being so low that it can’t suffer more than it already is? You seem to just throw out claims based on no knowledge at all.
Then you say this:
“Finally I really don’t catch your point about age. If anything, a younger person should be fresh and unprejudiced on speaking publically. Of course he’ll be nervous the first few times, but that’s not the case anymore, even though he’s still quite young. Also I believe that a post-mortem press-conference should pretty much be a safe environment for him. It’s a pretty small audience, it’s the subject he knows most about. And if he enjoy’s playing chess he could also speak enthusiastically about it. But he doesn’t. This is pretty much different to the closing ceremony speech he had to do. I believe this is much harder! Actually I’d sort of die if I had to do that.”
Finally I really don’t catch your point about age. If anything, a younger person should be fresh and unprejudiced on speaking publically??????????
Have you seen teenagers and how self conscious they can be? Shyness, anxiety in relation to public speaking is not something you can just simplify in this manner. You make a mockery of a fear many people have. Preparing a speech and then giving it could be much easier than explaining a game to an expert audience asking questions. WHY it is so important for you to remove any excuse people may have for fear of public speaking is strange. Put to claim that teenagers have no fear of public speaking is not just wrong, but against basic facts of self development. I am currently working on treating anxiety disorders with many different patients, and your shallow remarks here actually piss me off.
Martin, no offense, but do you know the joke about the logician? “-You have an aquarium? -Nope. – You faggot!” And this one? http://www.sciencecartoonsplus.com/gallery/math/index.php (Page 1, 3rd in the right column). Now you see, your argumentation goes sth like that. Perhaps this is the reason for you being so misunderstood?!
The whole discussion started off, as you said, you replying to kfan’s post which hypes M.C.’s effect on chess popularity. You said it’s bullshit and that other people do have/will have more to do with that. He seems to be a nerd and so on. Later on, just to back this up, you mentioned you saw Giri and Carlsen and someone, you may excuse me, I never heard of, on the tube (I know, Sunday 8 p.m.!) and Carlsen showed some behavior (boredom, lack of whatever you don’t find cool/advanced/cool/whatever enough), sooo, quote starts, “I find him no advertisement for chess AT ALL”, quote ends.
I know you just pulled on the caps lock thingy, but lemme go on. You obviously haven’t seen much more if any news pieces on him/read articles about him, you cleared that immaculate with your comments later on. But no matter what people served to you as achievements of this youngster (starting off with magazines known world-wide, talkshow appearances, sponsorship contracts with like, hmmm, Microsoft? – zero advertisement value according to you; ending with experimenting probably the hugest opening variety in the top 100 – boring playing style for again, you), you stubbornly stuck to what you said: Giri only, or okay, perhaps Kasparov, too.
The K issue was detailed – anyways, you still don’t even seem to start to get the difference between someone ruling the world for over two decades and a shy teenager just stepping onto a hopefully long and successful path. But your visions of Giri as an emperor, based upon a single media piece after winning the B edition of a tournament organized in his (and your) home country and just because you like him and not the other candidate on topic, now this is simply ridiculous. (May I remind you: Carlsen won C as well as B before scoring twice 1st place in the A – a slice of his important tournament victories.)
Don’t get me wrong, I too like Giri very much and wish him a great career! But for heaven’s sake, in my home country Leko goes on the news if he played some simultaneous exhibition in a town the majority of the world cannot even pronounce; the land I’m living in writes in the local newspaper about Pelletier (heard the name?) pulling a draw against Moro, so, are these people then the new ambassadors of Caissa?!?
Yesss, the guy could be more open. We see that and agreed on that. Actually, we all (?) hope he will be. Or e.g., he also could marry “The Chess Queen”, launch full length DVDs on blitz blunders (:D), go to some 3rd World country and do charity actions, adopt children and call them Maddox and Zahara and live happily ever after. But I must agree here with Rotschild (and thus, slightly disagree with kfan): it wouldn’t change much hell of a lot. Chess will simply NEVER EVER go mainstream, not even if they made it obligatory subject in elementary school. You should realize, chess (vs. tennis, poker, F1, et cetera) was never even close to being interesting to those friends of mine for instance who actually knew the rules (but played, say, at a 1200 level). Watch 2 freaks sitting face-to-face over a b/w board for 7 hours and make a move like every 15 minutes?! Pleeease. Some people keep trying (Olympic Games – ROFL, K.O. world champions – compare any of them with, say, Alekhine), but here is a fact: PlayChess registers peak accesses of about 9′000 (?) people on extremely good days versus there are a couple of 100 thousand plus soccer stadiums out there for example. Hey, not even blitz WCs go (seriously) on TV!
Chess should draw SOME attention from the public I agree (mainly for money reasons). IMHO, this very moment Carlsen is just the perfect guy to obtain that.
One more thing. It’s about being “a typical Norwegian” – I too saw Bert’s comment and he gave his reasons for saying so. However, be careful not to fall to stereotypes, they’re not far from prejudice and hatred…
I’ll just throw in a little quote from one of John Saunders’ London reports:
“Magnus has remarkable poise for a young man of tender years and he’s made a big hit with the London chess audience. You’ll remember that Big Vlad had some problems getting into the country; I’m rather hoping that Britain’s over-zealous passport authorities will take similar action when Magnus tries to get out of Britain after the tournament. We’d like to keep him.”
Just like elite artists like Mozart, Michael Jackson, Tyson etc….. they had physical charisma when in there terrain.
I really like Carlsen’s body language poise when he makes his moves and stares at his opponent….
the way his arm reaches for pieces and fingers gently clasping around them is a delightful sight…
he also moves these units almost like they were living creatures…
and finally the ultra power of some of his moves will make Michael Jackson go eeeeooowwww!
I feel his charisma in spades at this point, no press interviews required.
Come on guys, please learn to read… you keep bashing me with things I either havent said, or already admitted I meant it differently then written down.
This will be my last reply since I’l go on holidays…
Some rectifications:
- I havent said Chess should be a major sport, but that it should improve to not die off. In Holland the number of members of the federation and clubs has declined heavily the last century. I dont know figures of other country, but I suppose it won’t be all that different, except maybe for Norway.
- Charisma is not really something that you gain after being WC for 20 years.
Of course experience will help on other area’s, but still. BTW, I guess I wouldnt be a charismatic speaker either! So it’s not even that much of an offense/bash, but more like an observation that ppl have different talents.
- I used Giri as AN example, not the sole example. And FYI, I have met him when he arrived in Holland and started playing at my club. So I do have some direct experience. It’s not only based on one tourney as someone said.
- You claimed speeching – prepared – for an audience is easier then explaining your chess game in a relatively protected environment, whilst you just have thought 7 hours on that game so know most about it? Sorry, I dont buy that, but I guess we disagree then. But dont make the mistake of extracting my remarks to (apparently) your area of expertise. Disorders have nothing to do with this.
I guess there was more I could react on, but my time’s up.
/me signs off.
Where is the video of the last 2 minutes of the Shirov -Dominguez game ( I remember your promise:)