5 ms·

Interview with Magnus Carlsen, the current #1 chess player

59 points by trafficlight 17y ago

mburney 17y ago
"When I am feeling good, I train a lot. When I feel bad, I don’t bother. I don’t enjoy working to a timetable. Systematic learning would kill me." I really like this approach. I find learning how to write software works the same way for me. I tried learning using a schedule, but it never worked for me. It is nice to know there is a chess grandmaster that has the same approach.
- kunqiana 17y ago
  "feeling good" seems a bit generic here. I doubt he means the same thing as inspiration. The competitive nature of chess and the fact that it is a "game", is usually enough to motivate someone to work harder after winning a few games (ie warcraft). Where as in writing and writing software there are more mental blocks and success and gratifications are generally slower, and also harder to get back on track if you start "feeling bad". So I think discipline is more important in activities that takes longer to feel gratified.
- lanstein 17y ago
  That's what's great about having your own projects. You can either be manic about it or do nothing for weeks at a time.
- vdoma 17y ago
  I'd think what Magnus says he does is more of the exception rather than the norm. Most chess grandmasters, like successful writers, are extremely disciplined, so I believe following a schedule definitely helps. I wouldn't be surprised if in a few years, Magnus wouldn't rather prefer a timetable. Just my two cents.
andrewljohnson 17y ago
He sounds pretty crazy... par for the course for chess champions of course. There's a lot to read between the lines with what he says about Kasparov... and he already thinks he's better.
- wakeupthedawn 17y ago
  Well he is better than Kasparov now. If they played a match, he'd definitely win.
  - sev 17y ago
    I wouldn't automatically come to that conclusion. Based on the article, he admits that Kasparov is better at opening and better at calculating alternatives. Two very important aspects of the game.
  - noarchy 17y ago
    Kasparov isn't all that far removed, time-wise, from when he was playing 2800+ chess. If he got back into training himself for competitive chess again, I am quite sure that he'd be a formidable player...but for how long, I am not sure.
  - greyman 17y ago
    You are right that Carlsen would probably win, but not because he is "better". I remember Kasparov himself commented on this issue recently, saying something like since he doesn't already plays competitive chess, his intuition is not that sharp, while Carlsen is more in shape. Overall, I consider Kasparov to be the best chess player ever, while Carlsen has a potential to be at least as good as Kasparov was in his best years. Overall, I am happy that those two came together.
- sonnym 17y ago
  There are a few misconceptions about Carlsen in your comment. The most obvious is that he is not the World Chess Champion, but world #1 - the difference being that you have to defeat the previous champion in an extended match in order to claim the title. Second, both Carlsen and Kasparov think that Carlsen is stronger and weaker than Kasparov in certain areas. What they have mentioned to the public before is that Carlsen has a better intuitive sense of a position, while Kasparov has greater facilities of calculation. What they both agree on, it seems, is that Carlsen, in large part due to the aid of computers, has reached such a high level of ascendancy in chess at a significantly younger age than Kasparov was able. Finally, as he plainly states in the article, Carlsen is trying not to be crazy, by living as normal a life as he can and not becoming obsessed with the game to an unhealthy degree. Aside in relation to a response to your post, since I don't feel like posting twice: It is insanely difficult, if not impossible, to say that Carlsen would beat Kasparov - especially now that Carlsen has been using Kasparov's advise on openings against other opponents, we observers cannot tell what recent innovations have, in fact, been his original work and not that of Kasparov. Another point to consider is that, even with the amount of rating inflation there has been over the past several years, Carlsen's 2813 rating does not come close to Kasparov's maximum of 2851. Finally, Kasparov was uncontested at the top for nearly two decades, whereas Carlsen is still having troubles overcoming some other top grandmasters (specifically Kramnik of late). Unilaterally saying that Carlsen would be Kasparov in a match is, realistically, a rather uninformed opinion.
mark_l_watson 17y ago
I would guess that his "secret" is that he loves the game of chess. I like both chess and Go but realized my limitations (I did poorly in the US Chess Open in 1976, and I never broke the Shodan level in Go) a long time ago; I still play both games, but I prefer to study "famous" games since I am just good enough to appreciate other people's great games.

59 points by trafficlight 17y ago

"When I am feeling good, I train a lot. When I feel bad, I don’t bother. I don’t enjoy working to a timetable. Systematic learning would kill me." I really like this approach. I find learning how to write software works the same way for me. I tried learning using a schedule, but it never worked for me. It is nice to know there is a chess grandmaster that has the same approach.

kunqiana 17y ago
"feeling good" seems a bit generic here. I doubt he means the same thing as inspiration. The competitive nature of chess and the fact that it is a "game", is usually enough to motivate someone to work harder after winning a few games (ie warcraft). Where as in writing and writing software there are more mental blocks and success and gratifications are generally slower, and also harder to get back on track if you start "feeling bad". So I think discipline is more important in activities that takes longer to feel gratified.
lanstein 17y ago
That's what's great about having your own projects. You can either be manic about it or do nothing for weeks at a time.
vdoma 17y ago
I'd think what Magnus says he does is more of the exception rather than the norm. Most chess grandmasters, like successful writers, are extremely disciplined, so I believe following a schedule definitely helps. I wouldn't be surprised if in a few years, Magnus wouldn't rather prefer a timetable. Just my two cents.

andrewljohnson 17y ago

He sounds pretty crazy... par for the course for chess champions of course. There's a lot to read between the lines with what he says about Kasparov... and he already thinks he's better.

wakeupthedawn 17y ago
Well he is better than Kasparov now. If they played a match, he'd definitely win.
- sev 17y ago
  I wouldn't automatically come to that conclusion. Based on the article, he admits that Kasparov is better at opening and better at calculating alternatives. Two very important aspects of the game.
- noarchy 17y ago
  Kasparov isn't all that far removed, time-wise, from when he was playing 2800+ chess. If he got back into training himself for competitive chess again, I am quite sure that he'd be a formidable player...but for how long, I am not sure.
- greyman 17y ago
  You are right that Carlsen would probably win, but not because he is "better". I remember Kasparov himself commented on this issue recently, saying something like since he doesn't already plays competitive chess, his intuition is not that sharp, while Carlsen is more in shape. Overall, I consider Kasparov to be the best chess player ever, while Carlsen has a potential to be at least as good as Kasparov was in his best years. Overall, I am happy that those two came together.
sonnym 17y ago
There are a few misconceptions about Carlsen in your comment. The most obvious is that he is not the World Chess Champion, but world #1 - the difference being that you have to defeat the previous champion in an extended match in order to claim the title. Second, both Carlsen and Kasparov think that Carlsen is stronger and weaker than Kasparov in certain areas. What they have mentioned to the public before is that Carlsen has a better intuitive sense of a position, while Kasparov has greater facilities of calculation. What they both agree on, it seems, is that Carlsen, in large part due to the aid of computers, has reached such a high level of ascendancy in chess at a significantly younger age than Kasparov was able. Finally, as he plainly states in the article, Carlsen is trying not to be crazy, by living as normal a life as he can and not becoming obsessed with the game to an unhealthy degree. Aside in relation to a response to your post, since I don't feel like posting twice: It is insanely difficult, if not impossible, to say that Carlsen would beat Kasparov - especially now that Carlsen has been using Kasparov's advise on openings against other opponents, we observers cannot tell what recent innovations have, in fact, been his original work and not that of Kasparov. Another point to consider is that, even with the amount of rating inflation there has been over the past several years, Carlsen's 2813 rating does not come close to Kasparov's maximum of 2851. Finally, Kasparov was uncontested at the top for nearly two decades, whereas Carlsen is still having troubles overcoming some other top grandmasters (specifically Kramnik of late). Unilaterally saying that Carlsen would be Kasparov in a match is, realistically, a rather uninformed opinion.

mark_l_watson 17y ago

I would guess that his "secret" is that he loves the game of chess. I like both chess and Go but realized my limitations (I did poorly in the US Chess Open in 1976, and I never broke the Shodan level in Go) a long time ago; I still play both games, but I prefer to study "famous" games since I am just good enough to appreciate other people's great games.