Magnus Carlsen is the reigning world champion in chess, and symbolic of the resurgence in interest in the game. He is one of the top celebrities in his home country of Norway, where his televised matches often attracted larger audiences than other television shows.
Carlsen is also the leader in standing against cheating in chess, and thereby protecting the integrity of the game. Carlsen's statement on September 26, 2022, against the cheating he suspected of Hans Niemann in the chess cheating scandal is a strongly courageous, conservative stance by Carlsen.[1] Carlsen was ridiculed by liberal internet trolls for defaulting after his first move in a widely viewed game in September 2022, which Carlsen apparently did in protest of prior cheating suspected of his opponent.
| “ | On a general basis, cheaters in the future, it should not be taken lightly neither online nor over the board.[2] | ” |
Carlsen is the highest-ranked player of all time, and is as good at blitz chess as the classical format. As of September 24, 2022, “Magnus Carlsen is on the brink of becoming the first player to hit the historic 2900 Tour Rating mark after crushing 'The Iceman' Arjun Erigaisi on day one of the Julius Baer Generation Cup final.”[3] Carlsen then won that tournament on September 25, 2022, with one of the dominating performances ever.[4]
Carlsen's brilliance at speed chess was illustrated when he was late to a match because he went skiing in the morning and got stuck in a traffic jam. Here is what followed:
| “ | [W]hen Carlsen finally appeared and sprinted across the hall to his board there were only 30 seconds remaining of his three minutes. It was effectively hyperbullet for the Norwegian, but, playing most of his 59 moves instantly, he still managed to win with nine seconds to spare.[5] | ” |
In November and December 2021, Carlsen successfully defended his title when he crushed Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia by a wide margin, in Dubai, not even needing the full number of games in the match in order to prevail.
Carlsen was victimized by an alleged chess cheating scandal, in which a relatively low-ranked player (Hans Niemann) defeated Magnus twice with the weaker black pieces, in the span of merely a few months in 2022. The likelihood of that having been legitimate is estimated to be less than 1 in a 1,000. Once a 15-minute broadcast delay was instituted at the second tournament, the quality of the play by Niemann sharply declined.
Standing up courageously for integrity in chess, on September 19, 2022, Carlsen abruptly resigned after only one move in a new tournament match against Hans Niemann.[6]
Also in September 2022, Chess.com banned Hans Niemann from its platform and provided its explanation for why.[7]
Anti-Magnus trolls have similarities to Trump-haters in their style, juvenile putdowns, and underachievement. Magnus, like Trump, as accomplished a a tremendous amount for the benefit of many. As Magnus defends the integrity of chess, liberal underachieving trolls dislike that.
Carlsen's favorite opening with the white pieces is the Ruy Lopez: 1. e4.
Carlsen said in February 2022 that his contracting Covid-19 affected the level of his play at that time, when a 16-year-old player from India surprisingly defeated him.[8]
| “ | You have to choose the move that feels right sometimes; that's what intuition is.[9] | ” |