My game with Magnus Carlsen
January 23, 2014 1:12 PM Subscribe
My game with Magnus Carlson: On January 16, 2014, Magnus Carlsen, the newly crowned world chess champion and the highest rated player in history, paid a visit to Google headquarters in Mountain View, CA, to give a talk and play a ten board simultaneous exhibition.
Includes the annotated game. (via)
Includes the annotated game. (via)
I can't hear the name Magnus without thinking about this champion. Now if we could somehow combine the two competitions.
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 1:53 PM on January 23, 2014
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 1:53 PM on January 23, 2014
Well there's Chess Boxing. It's not strongman but I'd give the advantage to Magnus Ver Magnussen over Magnus Carlson in the ring.
posted by cmfletcher at 1:59 PM on January 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by cmfletcher at 1:59 PM on January 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
Yeah, a few choice blows to the head and I'm pretty sure Mr. Carlson would either forget how the rook is supposed to move or just decide he's not enjoying himself any more.
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 2:53 PM on January 23, 2014
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 2:53 PM on January 23, 2014
Please clear the stage for Magnus Carlson, the singer of swedish band Weeping Willows.
posted by Free word order! at 2:57 PM on January 23, 2014
posted by Free word order! at 2:57 PM on January 23, 2014
Why is nobody ever named Magnus Opus?
posted by Colonel Panic at 3:00 PM on January 23, 2014
posted by Colonel Panic at 3:00 PM on January 23, 2014
Because there aren't any World's Strongest Penguin contests.
posted by Etrigan at 3:05 PM on January 23, 2014 [5 favorites]
posted by Etrigan at 3:05 PM on January 23, 2014 [5 favorites]
So i didn't really understand the last move by Black. I know he says he was in a panic / caught off guard, but why not move the bishop to attack the rook instead of trying a pawn attack...? It seems like a terrible move.
Ok, so he's obviously way down well before that, but still. I don't get it.
Then again, I don't get high level chess anyway.
posted by RedOrGreen at 3:44 PM on January 23, 2014
Ok, so he's obviously way down well before that, but still. I don't get it.
Then again, I don't get high level chess anyway.
posted by RedOrGreen at 3:44 PM on January 23, 2014
There's nothing to get -- it's an absurd move that doesn't make sense.
To be honest, I'm surprised the commentary's not more interesting given that he's 1799. I'm sure it meant a lot to him to have played against Magnus Carlsen--I'd certainly be thrilled too--but it's not a particularly interesting game, or at least what interest it has is gotten just by looking and not reading his notes. He's not really going beyond giving computer evals and the occasional computer-generated variations.
posted by pdq at 3:53 PM on January 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
To be honest, I'm surprised the commentary's not more interesting given that he's 1799. I'm sure it meant a lot to him to have played against Magnus Carlsen--I'd certainly be thrilled too--but it's not a particularly interesting game, or at least what interest it has is gotten just by looking and not reading his notes. He's not really going beyond giving computer evals and the occasional computer-generated variations.
posted by pdq at 3:53 PM on January 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
Did a View Source. pgn4web seems to be the JavaScript library he used for the board. I was looking for one of those.
posted by saber_taylor at 4:48 PM on January 23, 2014
posted by saber_taylor at 4:48 PM on January 23, 2014
So i didn't really understand the last move by Black. I know he says he was in a panic / caught off guard, but why not move the bishop to attack the rook instead of trying a pawn attack...? It seems like a terrible move.
Yeah... I guess don't underestimate the psychological component. I think if I were playing the reigning champion I would immediately resign.
Also, if you read the description of the setup, it was essentially bullet chess, which makes things worse.
posted by starman at 5:08 PM on January 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
Yeah... I guess don't underestimate the psychological component. I think if I were playing the reigning champion I would immediately resign.
Also, if you read the description of the setup, it was essentially bullet chess, which makes things worse.
posted by starman at 5:08 PM on January 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
I took this photo of Magnus Carlson after he easily beat six of my friends (some ranked around 2000). Since I CC licensed it when posting it to wikipedia, the photo shows up for many of the news stories about him. Frequently with really bad photoshopping.
posted by autopilot at 6:37 PM on January 23, 2014 [3 favorites]
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posted by autopilot at 6:37 PM on January 23, 2014 [3 favorites]
Yeah, 33... h5 is just a flat-out blunder that hangs the bishop. It should be notated as 33... h5?? Even before that it looks pretty grim with Carlsen being up two pawns, including two passed pawns. I think the only reason to even play up to that point is that if Ng can trade off the rooks, he gets a bishops of opposite color endgame, which are notoriously drawish, even with a two-pawn advantage for one side. But even at the end there Black's rook is badly placed and I don't see any way he'd be able to force a trade. (And of course, Carlsen is well aware of the drawish tendencies of BOOC endgames and would try to keep the rooks on the board.)
Just a few days ago I was playing a game against Shredder on my phone (it has a nice feature which adjusts its strength to your own, based on your results). I had gained a two-pawn advantage, so I figure I'll trade off pieces and go for the endgame...and I realized just a second too late after I traded the last pair of rooks that it left me with a BOOC endgame. Draw.
It would be more interesting to see the game against the 2168 player, which Ng describes as the only close game.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 6:39 PM on January 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
Just a few days ago I was playing a game against Shredder on my phone (it has a nice feature which adjusts its strength to your own, based on your results). I had gained a two-pawn advantage, so I figure I'll trade off pieces and go for the endgame...and I realized just a second too late after I traded the last pair of rooks that it left me with a BOOC endgame. Draw.
It would be more interesting to see the game against the 2168 player, which Ng describes as the only close game.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 6:39 PM on January 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
I'm not really a chess player but these are some incredible demonstrations. Reminds me of when I read about a 33-board blindfolded simultaneous exhibition by Timur Gareev.
posted by mikepaco at 9:03 PM on January 23, 2014
posted by mikepaco at 9:03 PM on January 23, 2014
Magnus Carlsen vs Bill Gates
It took the world's best chess player one minute and 19 seconds to beat the richest man in the world.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 5:31 PM on January 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
It took the world's best chess player one minute and 19 seconds to beat the richest man in the world.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 5:31 PM on January 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
I took this photo of Magnus Carlson after he easily beat six of my friends (some ranked around 2000). Since I CC licensed it when posting it to wikipedia, the photo shows up for many of the news stories about him. Frequently with really bad photoshopping.
Well, he may be young, simultaneously so handsome he's a fashion model and so smart he's one of the greatest chess players ever to live, but it makes me feel a little better that he doesn't know not to close the bottom button of a sport coat.
posted by strangely stunted trees at 5:48 PM on January 24, 2014
Well, he may be young, simultaneously so handsome he's a fashion model and so smart he's one of the greatest chess players ever to live, but it makes me feel a little better that he doesn't know not to close the bottom button of a sport coat.
posted by strangely stunted trees at 5:48 PM on January 24, 2014
The strongest chess player I ever played was about 2400. I didn't get anything against him, to put it charitably...it's a trip that, to GMs like Carlsen, that guy is a weak player.
posted by thelonius at 4:19 PM on January 25, 2014
posted by thelonius at 4:19 PM on January 25, 2014
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posted by lumosh at 1:32 PM on January 23, 2014