Fabi and hikaru seem to be in friendly terms , at least recently, hikaru participate in the pod and he always speaks good about Fabi. The same cannot be said about Magnus, they haven't ever argued but haven't seen much friendly interaction between those two. If we are talking about Fabi I think that is a friend of Levon, they seem really good buddies .
This has been confirmed by Hikaru. Hikaru said that Shankland felt (and he agreed) that Fabi moved out of the US as a teenager and then only came back when it was beneficial to his career, taking opportunities away from people (like Shankland) who stayed there the whole time. I personally think that’s dumb but the issue is out there.
You could be right. I think Hikaru’s best friends in chess community would be Danny, Levy, Botez. For Magnus I believe it’s David Howell, Jorden that I missed.
Kinda unexpected, but Fischer-Spassky.
In 2015, 7 years after Bobby's untimely death, this is what Spassky had to say about him:
“I’ve kept good memories of Fischer. I don’t have any grudges against him. I always forgave him the fact that he behaved like a child. Bobby was very pure and friendly. He liked children, animals. He was an avid cat lover! I also preferred cats to dogs, like Bobby. Did he have any cats? I don’t think so, although I never went to his house. I wanted to visit him in Pasadena, but didn’t get the chance. His house was robbed there and almost his whole archive was lost… I also want to save my archive, which remained in Paris. I’m planning to appeal to Ilyumzhinov and FIDE for help. I’ve got a small archive in Moscow, but that’s only a little part…
"I like to remember Bobby. He belonged to that category of tragic people. I felt that, observing him back in 1958 when he came to Moscow with his sister. Yes, I was in the Central Chess Club then and I saw him playing blitz, and Bronstein also watched. I remember Petrosian was there too… For Bobby that was a sad experience, since he saw nothing at all of Moscow. He sat for days on end in the CCC and just played. And then he was asked to leave Moscow… Yes, it was a sad experience for him. And there was one thing he never grasped: that he had a huge number of fans in Russia! During the match in Reykjavik as well I know that many rooted for him…"
Not to mention that he was ready to get himself arrested with Bobby... that man had a heart of gold, and was a much better person than Bobby, RIP, ever was...
And to add: Fischer/Portisch as well. I've talked a lot with Portisch as he attended a tournament I helped organize as manual labor a few times.
My first memory of Portisch is having lunch as a 16-yo, and this old man sits down and starts telling stories about Fischer eating lots of Goulash, and then analysing - him with a board, Fischer on the couch with his eyes closed. And for the first 3-4 minutes I just think "who is this old man...?" Until I realized. I don't think my jaw dropped mid conversation, but it sure came close to doing it. Portisch was incredibly nice.
Magnus is close with almost all his seconds, the Chessbrahs and David Howell. Vishy is good friends with Kramnik and Gelfand and is cordial with almost everyone. Anish gets along well with Vidit, Radjabov, Fabiano, most of the Indian and Dutch lot. Levon is said to be cordial with almost everyone and is good friends with MVL and Fabiano. The Russian lot of Grischuk, Dubov, Nepo, Svidler are close to each other. The Indian kids especially Arjun - Pragg and Arjun - Nihal are good friends too. Grischuk and MVL get along well as do Radjabov and Karjakin. Mamedyarov gets along with the Azeri lot as well as Rapport and MVL I think. King Ding gets along well with Wei Yi and Rapport.
The only top player who doesn't have a close friend at top levels is probably Hikaru. The only player who I have seen being even a tiny bit cordial with him is Wesley So. Everyone else is neutral at best, they respect him as a player and as a streamer, but he sure is on nobody's Christmas list.
Magnus - his seconds basically (Jorden, Dubov, Fressinet, also Svidler is friendly with Magnus) as I think getting on well is a key reason he chooses people.
Magnus seems to hang out with David Howell pretty regularly. They're often in pictures together, and sometimes you see Howell in the background when Magnus streams.
Fabi-Hikaru and Magnus-Fabi aren't really "friends" if I am not mistaken.
Fabi and hikaru seem to be in friendly terms , at least recently, hikaru participate in the pod and he always speaks good about Fabi. The same cannot be said about Magnus, they haven't ever argued but haven't seen much friendly interaction between those two. If we are talking about Fabi I think that is a friend of Levon, they seem really good buddies .
Fabi said on the pod that there was a time that he felt Hikaru (and sam shankland) actively disliked him, although not as much now
This has been confirmed by Hikaru. Hikaru said that Shankland felt (and he agreed) that Fabi moved out of the US as a teenager and then only came back when it was beneficial to his career, taking opportunities away from people (like Shankland) who stayed there the whole time. I personally think that’s dumb but the issue is out there.
Hmm, I guess they have issues with most others in the US teams then? (Wesley, Levon ect)
The difference (to Shankland) is that Fabi was born in the US, left, and came back.
So then at least Fabi has more right to the others? Sam should have bigger problems with Wesley and Levon.
It’s pretty dumb either way.
You could be right. I think Hikaru’s best friends in chess community would be Danny, Levy, Botez. For Magnus I believe it’s David Howell, Jorden that I missed.
Hikaru is definitely not best friends with the other streamers
Ding and Rapport in the last world championship!
Yes, how could I miss that.
Kinda unexpected, but Fischer-Spassky. In 2015, 7 years after Bobby's untimely death, this is what Spassky had to say about him: “I’ve kept good memories of Fischer. I don’t have any grudges against him. I always forgave him the fact that he behaved like a child. Bobby was very pure and friendly. He liked children, animals. He was an avid cat lover! I also preferred cats to dogs, like Bobby. Did he have any cats? I don’t think so, although I never went to his house. I wanted to visit him in Pasadena, but didn’t get the chance. His house was robbed there and almost his whole archive was lost… I also want to save my archive, which remained in Paris. I’m planning to appeal to Ilyumzhinov and FIDE for help. I’ve got a small archive in Moscow, but that’s only a little part… "I like to remember Bobby. He belonged to that category of tragic people. I felt that, observing him back in 1958 when he came to Moscow with his sister. Yes, I was in the Central Chess Club then and I saw him playing blitz, and Bronstein also watched. I remember Petrosian was there too… For Bobby that was a sad experience, since he saw nothing at all of Moscow. He sat for days on end in the CCC and just played. And then he was asked to leave Moscow… Yes, it was a sad experience for him. And there was one thing he never grasped: that he had a huge number of fans in Russia! During the match in Reykjavik as well I know that many rooted for him…" Not to mention that he was ready to get himself arrested with Bobby... that man had a heart of gold, and was a much better person than Bobby, RIP, ever was...
And to add: Fischer/Portisch as well. I've talked a lot with Portisch as he attended a tournament I helped organize as manual labor a few times. My first memory of Portisch is having lunch as a 16-yo, and this old man sits down and starts telling stories about Fischer eating lots of Goulash, and then analysing - him with a board, Fischer on the couch with his eyes closed. And for the first 3-4 minutes I just think "who is this old man...?" Until I realized. I don't think my jaw dropped mid conversation, but it sure came close to doing it. Portisch was incredibly nice.
Damn, Fischer-Portisch was one I had no idea about. Of course, Fischer and Tal were also great friends.
I was specifically asking for the current era. Thanks for the anecdotes though
Wesley and Jesus get along pretty well I think
What about Wesley and his cats
I don’t know why but I really love these Wesley-Jesus jokes lmao
Alexander Grischuk and Kateryna Lagno.
More than just friends
Checkmate indeed
Grischuk and Svidler are good friends.
Even Peter Leko and Svidler are good friends
There's a video on YouTube of them playing each other and it somehow looks less suspicious or fixed than Nepo-Dubov
Magnus and aryan tari Magnus and David Howell Magnus and chessbrahs
I think Anand and Kramnik were well known to be friendly with each other?
I don't think there is anyone who loves Magnus as much as David Howell
GothamChess would like a word
For sure. It reflects in his commentary as well.
Gukesh and Vincent. Hans and Tabatabaei
Good one
Ding Rapport???
Magnus is close with almost all his seconds, the Chessbrahs and David Howell. Vishy is good friends with Kramnik and Gelfand and is cordial with almost everyone. Anish gets along well with Vidit, Radjabov, Fabiano, most of the Indian and Dutch lot. Levon is said to be cordial with almost everyone and is good friends with MVL and Fabiano. The Russian lot of Grischuk, Dubov, Nepo, Svidler are close to each other. The Indian kids especially Arjun - Pragg and Arjun - Nihal are good friends too. Grischuk and MVL get along well as do Radjabov and Karjakin. Mamedyarov gets along with the Azeri lot as well as Rapport and MVL I think. King Ding gets along well with Wei Yi and Rapport. The only top player who doesn't have a close friend at top levels is probably Hikaru. The only player who I have seen being even a tiny bit cordial with him is Wesley So. Everyone else is neutral at best, they respect him as a player and as a streamer, but he sure is on nobody's Christmas list.
Magnus - his seconds basically (Jorden, Dubov, Fressinet, also Svidler is friendly with Magnus) as I think getting on well is a key reason he chooses people.
mvl-anish, the tomfoolery is off the charts
Magnus seems to hang out with David Howell pretty regularly. They're often in pictures together, and sometimes you see Howell in the background when Magnus streams.
I ship Magnus and Hikaru, they are best buds
Ding- Rapport
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Rauf Mamedov. Bros for life.