The world champion attacks critics: How much genius of chess is still at Carlsen?

athletic

Thursday, November 29, 2018

The heartbreaking air and discouraged performance criticism at the World Championship in chess pitted Magnus Carlsen against his genius in lightning chess and title defense. Despite the verbal regulation of the Norwegian, but can not dispel all doubts about his strength.

Magnus Carlsen took a very deep sip from the water bottle, stuffed his shirt into his pants and put on his naughty smile. Then the old and the new world champion of chess have joined his critics. "Everyone has the right to have his opinion stupid," said the Norwegian enthusiast, before declaring, "I had a good day at work today." What the champion after the decisive win in London in this epic duel and bitter duel for three weeks with the American Fabiano Caruana, but could not really smile: the inviolable Carlsen's nimbus lost.

The relief instead of exuberant joy determined the emotional world of Tönslage's master, after he had won the title in the Kings game two days before his 28th birthday. "Fabiano has been the toughest rival I've ever had in a world title fight and I'm happy to have managed to meet that challenge," Carlsen said shortly before it was over. a volley of confetti falls on his head. The last act of the World Cup duel at the College lasted 3:21 in front of a crowd of journalists and photographers. 3:21 am, during which Carlsen plays his undisputed blitz chess clbad after the painful 12-part draw. The newspaper "Verdens Gang" written in the country of "destructive superiority" of Carlsen, the "Dagbladet", comes from a "demonstration of power".

"His level in lightning chess is phenomenal"

03:00 – as clear as the result of the tie-break was also the argument of the 13th and last day of the tournament. Caruana, one year younger than the defending champion, was defenseless under pressure from the tempo variant. "I had a bad day, I could not start a fight," said the challenger. But also because Carlsen did not allow him to play tricks with his unique intuition, to perfection, a human chess computer. "His level in lightning chess is phenomenal," said Garry Kasparov, Russia's icon after the decision in London: "We're all getting worse and worse when we play faster and faster, but its loss of quality is the smallest of them all. "

Kasparow, world champion from 1985 to 2000, was one of Carlsen's main detractors, whose skepticism towards the industry leader was quite understandable: Carlsen remained for a long time the shadow of his own mentality . He became world champion again without winning a regular match. Carlsen, the first winner of the decisive game against Russian Sergei Karjakin in 2016, has won only one of his last 24 World Cup matches over the entire distance.

Only the draw offer of Game 12, in which the typical Carlsen would have won coldly, cast doubt on his strength. And the Scandinavian, become thin and irritable during the games, questioned himself, saying that he was "mentally deformed". The impression of an overthrown boxer became stronger, the Carlsen after a football misadventure sometimes with violets on the seated board. It is quite possible that these 3h21 Wednesday night in London were vital to Carlsen and his self-image. "Being a world champion has become a part of my identity," said Carlsen, "In fact, it 's not that important, but I do not want it to be a d & # 39; other."

Source: n-tv.de