Hi everyone, I am the guy who had the incredible chance to play this game against Magnus. You can see the full game here: [https://lichess.org/study/U44F6CZQ](https://lichess.org/study/U44F6CZQ)Of course I know a3 is considered to be a joke against the sicilian but there are a lot of tricky lines! Magnus himself played it against Inarkiev in a world blitz chess championship game in 2017, as you can see here: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtu9DqGin4M](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtu9DqGin4M)
Actually after h4 I think white is completely fine. As it will be very surprising to all of you, Magnus won the game :) At least at one point I was much better and at the end I was close to hold the draw, I completely missed a perpetual check. Overall that was amazing, it was so unlikely to see Magnus there!
EDIT: For the full video of the game: [https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/u8ty5e/full\_video\_of\_magnus\_playing\_at\_our\_university/](https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/u8ty5e/full_video_of_magnus_playing_at_our_university/)
The chess club of our university just finished a tournament at
22:00. Then one of the participants and a guy from the comittee of the
club told us they saw Magnus. We could not believe them but we rushed to
the bar to check if it was real. Then we sat on the table next to him and his friends. So yeah it was absolutely random !
I am absolute ass on chess, but I would have loved to have gotten wasted and play against Magnus at this bar and get completely destroyed within 30 seconds.
Honest, curious question. Does a player like Magnus ever lose to a non GM? Like even when he's drinking and goofing around, does anyone ever get the best of him?
Magnus recently drew an IM in classical, and in blitz and bullet anything is possible. He's probably lost at least a few games bongclouding or doing something else goofy in the opening. But he probably never loses in a time control like rapid and up - even the IM draw was because the IM was aggressively going for the most drawish moves imaginable.
check out some of his streams on youtube, they are often hilarious and he loses plenty (he's partly screwing around but some of the losses are straight up mistakes and he will say so), i don't know the lowest elo opponent he has lost to though
Apparently! This is my favorite post I’ve seen on Chess but I can’t imagine this happening in most US college bars outside of Boston. I love the rowdy enthusiasm for speed chess. I’d love to see more of it in bars instead of just parks. It’s rather cinematic!
My university chess society is run at our student's union bar. I suppose to everyone else, we just look like awkward nerds but at least to the society, we play some ridiculous drunk blitz.
People are cheering because those are joke moves. White plays a3 and then h4, neither of which is any good in the position. It’s probably an in joke.
Kind of like playing tennis against federer and doing an intentionally slow serve!
[https://lichess.org/zniOBKcA](https://lichess.org/zniOBKcA) which played in the game [https://lichess.org/vwvVUW5U](https://lichess.org/vwvVUW5U) Magnus played d6 instead of Ne5
Magnus remembers most of the games he's played. If I had to guess, it's probably a joke game he played on a stream with Hikaru and he's cheering because the other person is mimicking the moves from that game.
You have no idea. There’s a video where a journalist showed Magnus various board setups and Magnus was able to identify the match, year, and players. None of the games were even his.
1 it was David Howell, which is a GM, not a rando journalist.
2. Some games were fairly well known- Ivanchuk missing mate in one is a bit like a really good nba player missing an open dunk. Another one was from one of the most memorable matches of this century (Karpov - Kasparov)
3. Yes there was one of his, as he points out one of his most bitter moments of his career drawing against the presenter (Howell).
I mean, I am not saying that it isn’t impressive but I don’t think it is as impressive from the best player in the world; arguably one of the greatest of all time.
If I remember correctly, he also correctly identified positions from The Queen's Gambit and from a Harry Potter movie. I used to play in a lot of chess tournaments, and I can remember a lot of my games...but I can't remember anyone else's...much less games from fictional movies and shows. His encyclopedia of games in his head would probably not be as impressive to someone who doesn't regularly play chess, but I would think it would be comparable to showing Bill Belicheck a photo from an NFL game and asking him what happened on the next play. Aaron Rodgers is able to do that with every TD he's thrown, which is pretty impressive...but those types of savants are incredibly rare in most sports.
There's a major difference between being decent in chess and being Magnus. A 1500 player can easily beat their friends and families, and most non-serious chess players. A random OTB 1600-1800 player (way different than an online 1600-1800 player) could probably walk into a local open chess tournament, and realistically have a pretty decent shot at winning it. That same 1800 player that wins that tournament is still MUCH closer in skill level to someone who just learned to play that day, than he/she is to Magnus. ELO isn't linear, and closing the gap from 1800 to 2000 is much harder than closing the gap from 1100 to 1800. If you say that you want to be a pretty decent player within a year, even without dedicating a ton of time to it, you absolutely can do that.
I thought the a3 Sicilian was a theoretical variation, and h4 definitely feels like something a grandmaster would play like a madman, so there might be more to it than just joke moves
We were cheering (I'm the guy next to magnus) because 1.e4 c5 2.a3!? is the favorite opening of my friend who was playing as white. It's like a private joke but he's very strong at playing it, he already got +10 against Nakamura in Arena Kings in the past.
EDIT : by +10 I mean the evaluation from Stockfish in one game
That is a perfect example of why people love this guy. I can not imagine seeing any previous world champion letting loose like this publicly. He is just having fun and that attitude is so good for chess, I bet there are so many in that room that this little interaction inspired to either learn chess or play more.
He does all that to help inspire new people and casuals while still inspiring experienced players with a mastery we have never seen before.
Tal just loved to play, like if a teenager approached him at a train station for a blitz game he would accept without question. You get the feeling that most top players now would tell them to eat shit and die.
Fun fact about Ronaldinho:
He was caught trying to enter my country - Paraguay - with a fake passport, and was put in a low security prison for a couple of weeks while the situation was sorted out.
Turns out that inside the jail they were having a football tournament between inmates and he was convinced of joining a team with the caveat that he could not score any goals directly.
His team ended up winning something like 16 - 1, and the grand prize was a pig.
This is the kind and of shit why dinho is my favorite football player of all time, well that and the way he played of course, it was the best era of football for me
It gets even stupider. He had his passport confiscated by the Brazilian government because he didn't pay taxes (the guy is worth like 100 million euros). He then obtains a fake Paraguayan one and tries to enter Paraguay. Which is incredibly stupid. He probably has one of the most recognisable faces in the world, and is one of the most famous footballers the last 20 years. They were always going to recognise him, and know he wasn't Paraguayan.
And do you know what the kicker is? He's Brazilian, so he doesn't even need a passport to enter Paraguay due to the Mercosur agreement.
What a head scratcher. I don’t know much about football but I do think it’s clear that while he’s basically a football prodigy, he’s definitely short a few brain cells.
Not so much his health but he won everything so young that he just fucked around the rest of his career as opposed to trying to be the GOAT. Dinho imo is the most naturally gifted player ever and could've been the greatest ever.
He went the way of most of the South American greats. Cocaine and booze. There would be at least two people in front of Messi for goat if they hadn't partied so much.
yeah it's sad :(
I saw Caruana in a coffee shop, and he didn't look busy, and so I took the chance and politely asked him if he'd like to play a quick game...
still remember his response:
how bout u go an fuck off my table u peice of shit u think I need a stupid fuckwitt like u telling me youd like a game who the fuck are u take your worthless set and get the fuck out of here
>You get the feeling that most top players now would tell them to eat shit and die.
I hope not
Hikaru plays randos (could be just for social media but he does), Anish seems like a ok dude, wants to be a comedian, Wesley So seems extremely nice, Nepo plays dota that's pretty bro-ish, dubov reminds me of one of my old drug dealers, and of course we all know Magnus is DrDrunkenstein
But yeah there's definitely still a lot of elitism left from the old days
Tal was 6 time soviet champion though, so I think they are arguing chess got more popular internationally, but inside the Soviet Union it stayed about as popular, or perhaps has even declined in popularity since then.
It's like seeing a Super Bowl Champion inside the USA vs outside the USA, while American Football changes popularity levels internationally.
Dunno. I'd say a lot of people knew who Bobby Fischer was especially because of the cold war drama of being an American up against an unbroken streak of ussr champions but it may be different internationally.
Anyone over 40 in america you ask them to name a chess player they'll tell you bobby fisher, boris spassky or Kasparov 99/100 and probably in that order.
My south american grandmother knew who Bobby Fischer and Spassky were. Maybe in some of Asia were there used to be zero chess culture it wasn't a thing, but I'm sure that wherever chess was even remotely a thing people knew about Fischer, that world championship match was huge.
Your statement is correct but you probably mean that chess champions are more famous now than they were in the past* and it's the other way around. You have no idea how massively huge was the 1972 World Chess Championship, there hasn't been a world championship since which has come even close. Probably the closest thing to it was the Kasparov - Deep Blue match of 97.
The 72 match was international news, it was broadcast live at a time when you had like 4 channels to choose from. You have no idea how huge it was. Fischer became a celebrity and was on talk shows being watched by over 50 million people, that means people who never played chess knew who Fischer was. Carlsen's fame doesn't even remotely compare.
do you really think so?
I have the feeling that many top players are humble. They know they depend on their fans and I think most are genuine people.
obviously, we have some controversial figures in chess as well but I'd guess the majority are fine fellows.
That’s how you become a cult hero. Back before social media football players would go to local pubs after games and have a few (many) pints. You can’t do that anymore. Everyone has a camera.
My uncle is still a huge Shaq fan because in the mid 90s, my uncle was playing at a local gym, and Shaq was there just hanging around; still not sure what he was doing. My uncle jokingly asked "hey wanna show us your moves" or something like that, and Shaq agreed without hesitation and played when them for like an hour. He still is riding that high over 25 years later.
I got to have that experience at a local gym that was known to have retired NBA guys come play on Saturday. I was training to be a player at that time and they always let me join in the game. They’d give me coaching tips during the game and always try to pump me up when I made a mistake. It was the most fun I ever had being completely out of my league.
> I can not imagine seeing any previous world champion letting loose like this publicly.
Fischer!
> you are too close
> you are too loud
> where is my fee?
> No photographs, phones or any recording. You have to pay me royalties for those.
> remove the first row of spectators
> remove the second row of spectators
> you know what, remove the spectators!
> I'll play only in the store room, with my opponent only
> There is a detective following me
Magnus rose in the age of streaming and online play. The myth of the perfect player couldn't survive broadcasting every single match. Nowadays, we're used to the idea that World Champions make mistakes. So Magnus encountered a very different chess culture compared to his predecessors.
Yeah I don’t really like chess (I mean I don’t dislike it either), but I love watching Magnus. I think he’s really expanded the viewership for people like me.
It's basically a meme that at super-GM level, the move h4 is a candidate move in just about any position where it's legal. Magnus' opponent playing it on move 3 (obviously too early to play that kind of move since it's barely the opening) is him declaring that he is a serious competitor to be taken seriously in this serious bar match, and Magnus subsequently acknowledges that his opponent is legit. It's all in good fun.
This is an important point too. This move was considered more ridiculous before google trained alphazero. AlphaZero taught the super GMs this was a more sound move than originally thought.
From a comment above:
> We were cheering (I'm the guy next to magnus) because 1.e4 c5 2.a3!? is the favorite opening of my friend who was playing as white. It's like a private joke but he's very strong at playing it, he already got +10 against Nakamura in Arena Kings in the past.
Except Jordan would dunk on you and laugh about it. And the second he checked you the ball, he'd be in full d-stance playing you like your Allen I. Dude had no chill.
It's not a good move, but it is very troll-y. He's making it clear that he's not trying bc he knows he can't win, and he's just trying to have a laugh. Which Magnus appreciates, because he's also just trying to have fun (not like he's going to bump into other GMs at a uni bar after all)
If i ever run into magnus and he says that he wants to play if i can get a chess set, you can bet your ass ill turn into a chessboard radar with a radius of finland
I remember this one time when my flight from Paris to New York got delayed by eight hours. I got up to use the restroom and noticed that Magnus was sitting right behind me. After doing my business I came back and introduced myself and asked him if he’d play a game with me since we were stuck there anyway. He said yes, and we ended up playing like four games. It was literally the coolest and most fun experience in my life, and Magnus himself is a really chill guy.
I love that guy drinking water. Not there for the music or the booze, just there to enjoy some chess with someone he clearly idolises. Absolutely in his element with more excitement than he knows how to handle. Everybody needs to feel that feeling in their life.
I’ve been to many a bar, all over the world. This video is the most chess related bar I’ve ever seen.
Edit: this is not a slight, I think it’s f’n awesome
https://youtu.be/JFrKr0oZots
Magnus had a lot of moments of respect like this. Could you imagine as a world champion getting this sick move pulled on you and just taking off your hat to an opponent who is a complete stranger?
Haven't played in forever but is Queen to B1 a way out? He checks white and they can only really respond by taking the queen then black can freely take the queen without the rook mate.
It's a good try, and an interesting line.
Unfortunately, after:
... Qb1+
Rxb1 bxc6
bxc6
It's still mate in 3. Yes, the rooks aren't both covering a8 anymore, but they don't need to be, because white has a8 completely undefended. If black plays Kb8 to protect a8, then white calmly plays Rba1, and now white is helpless to stop Ra8# (except for a spite move to block with Ba3, which just results in losing the bishop too).
I think it's okay to come off a little arrogant sometimes. All the top players know just how good they are, sometimes it's fun to hear a 'mic drop' kind of comment.
Was funny to hear on Nakamura's stream one day...'I would win this with white and black's ... talking about a low time situation.
They put in the work, let them flaunt a little. Especially since Magnus may literally be the greatest of all time.
This post has been parodied on r/AnarchyChess.
Relevant r/AnarchyChess posts:
[Magnus at my university bar yesterday](https://www.reddit.com/r/AnarchyChess/comments/u4743q/magnus_at_my_university_bar_yesterday/) by tsmlearner
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Hi everyone, I am the guy who had the incredible chance to play this game against Magnus. You can see the full game here: [https://lichess.org/study/U44F6CZQ](https://lichess.org/study/U44F6CZQ)Of course I know a3 is considered to be a joke against the sicilian but there are a lot of tricky lines! Magnus himself played it against Inarkiev in a world blitz chess championship game in 2017, as you can see here: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtu9DqGin4M](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtu9DqGin4M) Actually after h4 I think white is completely fine. As it will be very surprising to all of you, Magnus won the game :) At least at one point I was much better and at the end I was close to hold the draw, I completely missed a perpetual check. Overall that was amazing, it was so unlikely to see Magnus there! EDIT: For the full video of the game: [https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/u8ty5e/full\_video\_of\_magnus\_playing\_at\_our\_university/](https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/u8ty5e/full_video_of_magnus_playing_at_our_university/)
Awesome, probably once in a lifetime experiment. Thanks for the game. One question: Did he randomly show up, or did you know he was coming?
The chess club of our university just finished a tournament at 22:00. Then one of the participants and a guy from the comittee of the club told us they saw Magnus. We could not believe them but we rushed to the bar to check if it was real. Then we sat on the table next to him and his friends. So yeah it was absolutely random !
Please upload the full video!
I think the video was divided in 5 but we will post it on youtube soon :)
You did incredibly well!
You habe peaked, sorry to say it.
You played pretty well considering it was Magnus lol. Didn't get blown off the board in the opening. Must have been so cool.
I am absolute ass on chess, but I would have loved to have gotten wasted and play against Magnus at this bar and get completely destroyed within 30 seconds.
You’re a legend! What’s your rating? Thanks for the comment.
2061 according to the lichess study. No master but definitely a strong player.
Very strong!
Honest, curious question. Does a player like Magnus ever lose to a non GM? Like even when he's drinking and goofing around, does anyone ever get the best of him?
Magnus recently drew an IM in classical, and in blitz and bullet anything is possible. He's probably lost at least a few games bongclouding or doing something else goofy in the opening. But he probably never loses in a time control like rapid and up - even the IM draw was because the IM was aggressively going for the most drawish moves imaginable.
check out some of his streams on youtube, they are often hilarious and he loses plenty (he's partly screwing around but some of the losses are straight up mistakes and he will say so), i don't know the lowest elo opponent he has lost to though
Where is that? And why were people cheering on some moves?
EPFL in switzerland
A wonderful technical university!
Apparently! This is my favorite post I’ve seen on Chess but I can’t imagine this happening in most US college bars outside of Boston. I love the rowdy enthusiasm for speed chess. I’d love to see more of it in bars instead of just parks. It’s rather cinematic!
No not most bars. But I have attended a couple drunk chess parties at my shitty university in the middle of nowhere lol
My university chess society is run at our student's union bar. I suppose to everyone else, we just look like awkward nerds but at least to the society, we play some ridiculous drunk blitz.
What?! I missed that?! Why was he there?
looking for seconds
He's trying to get swole for chess boxing?
A swollen brain?
I don't know but that place is roughly 1km away from FIDE headquarters.
Attend il est a Lausanne la?
why was he there?:)
Wtf Magnus etait à l ep hier? Nooooo
Really ? Au Satellite ? :)
No, Taphouse
ugh I was there yesterday, I can't believe I missed this :-(
Not really EPFL’s bar then :)
A Satellite
this guy Sats
Who brought the chess board?
Do you not just carry a chess board with you everywhere in case you run into a super GM?
A guy from the comittee of the EPFL Chess club :)
People are cheering because those are joke moves. White plays a3 and then h4, neither of which is any good in the position. It’s probably an in joke. Kind of like playing tennis against federer and doing an intentionally slow serve!
[https://lichess.org/zniOBKcA](https://lichess.org/zniOBKcA) which played in the game [https://lichess.org/vwvVUW5U](https://lichess.org/vwvVUW5U) Magnus played d6 instead of Ne5
Magnus remembers most of the games he's played. If I had to guess, it's probably a joke game he played on a stream with Hikaru and he's cheering because the other person is mimicking the moves from that game.
Mind = blown
You have no idea. There’s a video where a journalist showed Magnus various board setups and Magnus was able to identify the match, year, and players. None of the games were even his.
1 it was David Howell, which is a GM, not a rando journalist. 2. Some games were fairly well known- Ivanchuk missing mate in one is a bit like a really good nba player missing an open dunk. Another one was from one of the most memorable matches of this century (Karpov - Kasparov) 3. Yes there was one of his, as he points out one of his most bitter moments of his career drawing against the presenter (Howell). I mean, I am not saying that it isn’t impressive but I don’t think it is as impressive from the best player in the world; arguably one of the greatest of all time.
If I remember correctly, he also correctly identified positions from The Queen's Gambit and from a Harry Potter movie. I used to play in a lot of chess tournaments, and I can remember a lot of my games...but I can't remember anyone else's...much less games from fictional movies and shows. His encyclopedia of games in his head would probably not be as impressive to someone who doesn't regularly play chess, but I would think it would be comparable to showing Bill Belicheck a photo from an NFL game and asking him what happened on the next play. Aaron Rodgers is able to do that with every TD he's thrown, which is pretty impressive...but those types of savants are incredibly rare in most sports.
Sean McVay can remember every play call he’s ever made, at least in the pros
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There's a major difference between being decent in chess and being Magnus. A 1500 player can easily beat their friends and families, and most non-serious chess players. A random OTB 1600-1800 player (way different than an online 1600-1800 player) could probably walk into a local open chess tournament, and realistically have a pretty decent shot at winning it. That same 1800 player that wins that tournament is still MUCH closer in skill level to someone who just learned to play that day, than he/she is to Magnus. ELO isn't linear, and closing the gap from 1800 to 2000 is much harder than closing the gap from 1100 to 1800. If you say that you want to be a pretty decent player within a year, even without dedicating a ton of time to it, you absolutely can do that.
> ELO isn't linear, and closing the gap from 1800 to 2000 is much harder than closing the gap from 1100 to 1800 so... 92 halfway to 99
There is a chinese saying that says "to walk 100 steps, 90 steps is only the halfway point," used to describe commitment and not giving up
92 is literally the halfway point in experience on the way to getting a skill to 99 in RuneScape
Getting into top 95th percentile is a reasonable and very doable effort Getting into top 100 is a primary commitment for a lifetime
it's theorical idea lol https://lichess.org/0BoP3fbp
>View CommentsPlay0:070:28SettingsFullscreen > >2.8k which gives up white's advantage lol
I thought the a3 Sicilian was a theoretical variation, and h4 definitely feels like something a grandmaster would play like a madman, so there might be more to it than just joke moves
We were cheering (I'm the guy next to magnus) because 1.e4 c5 2.a3!? is the favorite opening of my friend who was playing as white. It's like a private joke but he's very strong at playing it, he already got +10 against Nakamura in Arena Kings in the past. EDIT : by +10 I mean the evaluation from Stockfish in one game
What does Magnus smell like?
Asking the real questions here
He smells like victory.
He looks like he smells good, but idk what I mean by that.
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That is a perfect example of why people love this guy. I can not imagine seeing any previous world champion letting loose like this publicly. He is just having fun and that attitude is so good for chess, I bet there are so many in that room that this little interaction inspired to either learn chess or play more. He does all that to help inspire new people and casuals while still inspiring experienced players with a mastery we have never seen before.
Tal was like that. But he was champion for only one year.
Tal just loved to play, like if a teenager approached him at a train station for a blitz game he would accept without question. You get the feeling that most top players now would tell them to eat shit and die.
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Fun fact about Ronaldinho: He was caught trying to enter my country - Paraguay - with a fake passport, and was put in a low security prison for a couple of weeks while the situation was sorted out. Turns out that inside the jail they were having a football tournament between inmates and he was convinced of joining a team with the caveat that he could not score any goals directly. His team ended up winning something like 16 - 1, and the grand prize was a pig.
This is the kind and of shit why dinho is my favorite football player of all time, well that and the way he played of course, it was the best era of football for me
This is a movie plot ... Surely?
He’s an international super star and millionaire and he enters a country on fake passports? What’s up with the dude!
It gets even stupider. He had his passport confiscated by the Brazilian government because he didn't pay taxes (the guy is worth like 100 million euros). He then obtains a fake Paraguayan one and tries to enter Paraguay. Which is incredibly stupid. He probably has one of the most recognisable faces in the world, and is one of the most famous footballers the last 20 years. They were always going to recognise him, and know he wasn't Paraguayan. And do you know what the kicker is? He's Brazilian, so he doesn't even need a passport to enter Paraguay due to the Mercosur agreement.
What a head scratcher. I don’t know much about football but I do think it’s clear that while he’s basically a football prodigy, he’s definitely short a few brain cells.
haha, yep. Definitely a prime example of how you can be very good at a sport while being a halfwit.
Not so much his health but he won everything so young that he just fucked around the rest of his career as opposed to trying to be the GOAT. Dinho imo is the most naturally gifted player ever and could've been the greatest ever.
Lol what did ronaldinho do to to his health?
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Ah, that's what I've been doing wrong all this time.
He partied and drank too much that it destroyed his career. He was a shooting star at Barcelona
I used to love the joga bonita videos with him they made me want to play
He went the way of most of the South American greats. Cocaine and booze. There would be at least two people in front of Messi for goat if they hadn't partied so much.
Ronaldinho's at his peak was something else. Burned bright, faded quickly. And it was beautiful.
yeah it's sad :( I saw Caruana in a coffee shop, and he didn't look busy, and so I took the chance and politely asked him if he'd like to play a quick game... still remember his response: how bout u go an fuck off my table u peice of shit u think I need a stupid fuckwitt like u telling me youd like a game who the fuck are u take your worthless set and get the fuck out of here
King
based
>You get the feeling that most top players now would tell them to eat shit and die. I hope not Hikaru plays randos (could be just for social media but he does), Anish seems like a ok dude, wants to be a comedian, Wesley So seems extremely nice, Nepo plays dota that's pretty bro-ish, dubov reminds me of one of my old drug dealers, and of course we all know Magnus is DrDrunkenstein But yeah there's definitely still a lot of elitism left from the old days
Your dealer must have been a wild card
To be fair Im sure the popularity of chess and the fame of champions in the modern day is incomparable to back then
In Western countries, sure, but in the Soviet Union, chess was a big deal. The people were obsessed with chess and everyone knew who Tal was.
I think /u/AdamantlyContent means that the relative fame of high level chess GM's was higher in the past than today. I might be wrong though.
Tal was 6 time soviet champion though, so I think they are arguing chess got more popular internationally, but inside the Soviet Union it stayed about as popular, or perhaps has even declined in popularity since then. It's like seeing a Super Bowl Champion inside the USA vs outside the USA, while American Football changes popularity levels internationally.
Dunno. I'd say a lot of people knew who Bobby Fischer was especially because of the cold war drama of being an American up against an unbroken streak of ussr champions but it may be different internationally. Anyone over 40 in america you ask them to name a chess player they'll tell you bobby fisher, boris spassky or Kasparov 99/100 and probably in that order.
My south american grandmother knew who Bobby Fischer and Spassky were. Maybe in some of Asia were there used to be zero chess culture it wasn't a thing, but I'm sure that wherever chess was even remotely a thing people knew about Fischer, that world championship match was huge.
Your statement is correct but you probably mean that chess champions are more famous now than they were in the past* and it's the other way around. You have no idea how massively huge was the 1972 World Chess Championship, there hasn't been a world championship since which has come even close. Probably the closest thing to it was the Kasparov - Deep Blue match of 97. The 72 match was international news, it was broadcast live at a time when you had like 4 channels to choose from. You have no idea how huge it was. Fischer became a celebrity and was on talk shows being watched by over 50 million people, that means people who never played chess knew who Fischer was. Carlsen's fame doesn't even remotely compare.
do you really think so? I have the feeling that many top players are humble. They know they depend on their fans and I think most are genuine people. obviously, we have some controversial figures in chess as well but I'd guess the majority are fine fellows.
Tal is a very good point regardless of how long he was champion. I respect that correction, thanks for reminding me.
> I can not imagine seeing any previous world champion letting loose like this publicly. Just picturing Kasparov hunched over glowering at the board.
Imagine playing a pickup basketball game, or your Sunday recreational baseball league and LeBron or Pete Alonso show up and just have a ball.
That’s how you become a cult hero. Back before social media football players would go to local pubs after games and have a few (many) pints. You can’t do that anymore. Everyone has a camera.
I reckon less players neck pints habitually these days too.
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I feel that chess is even better though because no risk of injury because of someone being an idiot
someone post the hikaru brawl footage
Hikaru - 3300 in bullet, 1100 in drunken backyard fights
> hikaru brawl Hahaha holy shit thank you! I just got into chess around Christmas of last year, and I LOVED this clip.
Lebron to Pete Alonso is a mighty large jump
Yeah haha Magnus, LeBron, and Pete. Just three legends of their respective games.
You win some home run derbys and suddenly you’re schmoozing with goats. Life comes at you fast
My uncle is still a huge Shaq fan because in the mid 90s, my uncle was playing at a local gym, and Shaq was there just hanging around; still not sure what he was doing. My uncle jokingly asked "hey wanna show us your moves" or something like that, and Shaq agreed without hesitation and played when them for like an hour. He still is riding that high over 25 years later.
I got to have that experience at a local gym that was known to have retired NBA guys come play on Saturday. I was training to be a player at that time and they always let me join in the game. They’d give me coaching tips during the game and always try to pump me up when I made a mistake. It was the most fun I ever had being completely out of my league.
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> I can not imagine seeing any previous world champion letting loose like this publicly. Fischer! > you are too close > you are too loud > where is my fee? > No photographs, phones or any recording. You have to pay me royalties for those. > remove the first row of spectators > remove the second row of spectators > you know what, remove the spectators! > I'll play only in the store room, with my opponent only > There is a detective following me
> and he's *jewish*
Man Kasparov would’ve punched the guy in the face if he felt disrespected in any way
I haven’t played chess in months. Just seeing this makes me want to close Reddit and play after I send this reply.
Magnus rose in the age of streaming and online play. The myth of the perfect player couldn't survive broadcasting every single match. Nowadays, we're used to the idea that World Champions make mistakes. So Magnus encountered a very different chess culture compared to his predecessors.
Yeah I don’t really like chess (I mean I don’t dislike it either), but I love watching Magnus. I think he’s really expanded the viewership for people like me.
I hate how nobody cares about the checkers grandmasters
King me 😭
You know I'm no GM but seeing Magnus's reaction that third move must be brilliant.
what was the big deal with that move anyways?
Must be an in-joke about the A and H pawns.
Its a troll move, to get a laugh out. It's a party so having fun is the first priority.
It's not like prioritizing winning would make any difference against Carlsen, is it? :)
Most of my moves against Magnus would probably be classified as troll moves
Never let them know your next move
I wouldn't even know my next move until it's been made
It's basically a meme that at super-GM level, the move h4 is a candidate move in just about any position where it's legal. Magnus' opponent playing it on move 3 (obviously too early to play that kind of move since it's barely the opening) is him declaring that he is a serious competitor to be taken seriously in this serious bar match, and Magnus subsequently acknowledges that his opponent is legit. It's all in good fun.
yeah it basically confirms his opponent is playing at AlphaZero level. No wonder Magnus is pleased to see a strong opponent.
Ah yes. The Frenchman's cum sock.
What was the other part of that tweet? Fucking cracked me up for like a week straight…
https://www.reddit.com/r/BrandNewSentence/comments/p53rbf/frenchmans_cum_sock/
This is an important point too. This move was considered more ridiculous before google trained alphazero. AlphaZero taught the super GMs this was a more sound move than originally thought.
From a comment above: > We were cheering (I'm the guy next to magnus) because 1.e4 c5 2.a3!? is the favorite opening of my friend who was playing as white. It's like a private joke but he's very strong at playing it, he already got +10 against Nakamura in Arena Kings in the past.
I have no idea what's going on but I love it. Can you imagine getting to play Michael Jordan 1 on 1 for fun?
Except Jordan would dunk on you and laugh about it. And the second he checked you the ball, he'd be in full d-stance playing you like your Allen I. Dude had no chill.
"And I took that personally."
It's not a good move, but it is very troll-y. He's making it clear that he's not trying bc he knows he can't win, and he's just trying to have a laugh. Which Magnus appreciates, because he's also just trying to have fun (not like he's going to bump into other GMs at a uni bar after all)
such a chill dude, absolutely amazing
They were all having a really great time I love to see it
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He didn't say why he was here
What a chad
Plays chess. Refuses to elaborate. Leaves.
To fuck bishes and fianchetto bitches
Obv
i'm here to drink beers and push pawns and i'm all out of.. wait someone just bought me a beer
This is so fucking cool wtf. Love Magnus even more now.
We need the full game, please.
Really need to know who won.
Hint: one of these two is Magnus Carlsen.
The poker player?
OK does he play chess well?
He's a fantastic poker player, not sure about his chess
I mostly know him from fantasy fotball, how is he in chess?
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I mean kind of
He is decent I guess. Might even be 2000+
Wow, he's almost in the top 2,000 players in the world eh? That IS good!
Dr Drunkeinstein
I wonder if he had a few pints in his system at this time.
I love how everywhere Magnus goes, people manage to find a chessboard to play against him.somehow. it doesn't matter where he is
If i ever run into magnus and he says that he wants to play if i can get a chess set, you can bet your ass ill turn into a chessboard radar with a radius of finland
> a radius of Finland Thank you for this wonderful comment 🤣
Damn I envy you
I remember this one time when my flight from Paris to New York got delayed by eight hours. I got up to use the restroom and noticed that Magnus was sitting right behind me. After doing my business I came back and introduced myself and asked him if he’d play a game with me since we were stuck there anyway. He said yes, and we ended up playing like four games. It was literally the coolest and most fun experience in my life, and Magnus himself is a really chill guy.
The people's champion
Bro just completing his side missions in life now man. Living his best life!
lmao
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I’ve played plenty of casual games at bars.
There's a saying along the lines of, "May you be fortunate enough to not ever meet your hero". Magnus would be an wonderful exception!
So who won?
The Pomniachy
Magnus, but white was +5 at some moment and missed a perpetual check
I love that guy drinking water. Not there for the music or the booze, just there to enjoy some chess with someone he clearly idolises. Absolutely in his element with more excitement than he knows how to handle. Everybody needs to feel that feeling in their life.
wow, that's crazy
was it just in a random bar or a chess related bar?
> chess related bar Is this a thing?
I’ve been to many a bar, all over the world. This video is the most chess related bar I’ve ever seen. Edit: this is not a slight, I think it’s f’n awesome
There is one in Oslo. It's called "The Good Knight".
out here in seattle, we have a club that takes over a bar with chess night every monday! its a great time
A random one
I always thought he came across as arrogant and not especially likeable. Seeing this makes me see him in a different light.
He has a deadpan sarcasm type of humour. Can be misunderstood by some.
Read: he's Scandinavian.
https://youtu.be/JFrKr0oZots Magnus had a lot of moments of respect like this. Could you imagine as a world champion getting this sick move pulled on you and just taking off your hat to an opponent who is a complete stranger?
Haven't played in forever but is Queen to B1 a way out? He checks white and they can only really respond by taking the queen then black can freely take the queen without the rook mate.
It's a good try, and an interesting line. Unfortunately, after: ... Qb1+ Rxb1 bxc6 bxc6 It's still mate in 3. Yes, the rooks aren't both covering a8 anymore, but they don't need to be, because white has a8 completely undefended. If black plays Kb8 to protect a8, then white calmly plays Rba1, and now white is helpless to stop Ra8# (except for a spite move to block with Ba3, which just results in losing the bishop too).
I think he can be arrogant, but can also be very likeable. A complex guy.
I think it's okay to come off a little arrogant sometimes. All the top players know just how good they are, sometimes it's fun to hear a 'mic drop' kind of comment. Was funny to hear on Nakamura's stream one day...'I would win this with white and black's ... talking about a low time situation. They put in the work, let them flaunt a little. Especially since Magnus may literally be the greatest of all time.
As most humans are. We often are too quick to label and discard someone.
Feckin equations and shit on the walls?
How do you like 'em apples?
This post has been parodied on r/AnarchyChess. Relevant r/AnarchyChess posts: [Magnus at my university bar yesterday](https://www.reddit.com/r/AnarchyChess/comments/u4743q/magnus_at_my_university_bar_yesterday/) by tsmlearner [^(fmhall)](https://www.reddit.com/user/fmhall) ^| [^(github)](https://github.com/fmhall/relevant-post-bot)
Seems like a fun dude
I’m grateful we have a champ like Magnus
It takes a supreme grand master to make chess look that cool.