World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen hasn’t won a tournament since Altibox Norway Chess in mid-October, and even then a last-round loss to Levon Aronian took some of the gloss off the win. In the aftermath of losing the final of the Opera Euro Rapid to Wesley So, Magnus talked to Ilya Levitov about his motivation, how he feels the World Championship should be decided and much more. Magnus explained that when he was young he was “spooked” when he played Russians, since he thought they knew everything!
Magnus Carlsen will take on Wesley So in the Opera Euro Rapid final after the World Chess Champion was taken all the way to Armageddon by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Results-wise it was almost a carbon copy of the Daniil Dubov quarte...
Magnus Carlsen could afford to miss mate-in-2 and still beat Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in three games after what he called “a day of very good chess”. It was a big improvement for the World Champion, who felt he began the semi-final...
Traditionalists may pine for the old days, when romantic chess openings were still in vogue and heads were turned by the boldness of a chess player opening with 1.e4 e5 2.f4.
Magnus Carlsen is through to the Opera Euro Rapid semi-finals despite losing twice in a row in 25 moves to his nemesis Daniil Dubov. The World Champion called it “a thoroughly disgusting performance” but it was thrilling to watch...
Magnus Carlsen admitted it was “not an ideal pairing” for him to face Daniil Dubov, who dumped him out of the Airthings Masters, but so far the World Champion has avoided a repeat after winning Day 1 of their Opera Euro Rapid qua...
Two days ago we looked at the Sicilian Defense, which is one of the most popular openings at all levels of play. Today it is time to start loving the alien. We are moving away from the mainstream and we must prepare to turn t...
Hikaru Nakamura has failed to qualify for the knockout stages of the Opera Euro Rapid after losing a totally winning position against Sam Shankland in the final round. That allowed Daniil Dubov to sneak through in 8th place and s...
Mention ‘opera’ to chess players and the majority will become misty-eyed with thoughts of Paul Morphy beating the Duke and Count. Some will even be able to quote all of the moves to the famous game; others will suddenly remember how...
Magnus Carlsen called Hikaru Nakamura “a bit naïve” to fall for a knockout blow that left the World Chess Champion as the sole leader going into the final day of the Opera Euro Rapid preliminary stage. Hikaru is on 50% and in a f...
World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen began the Opera Euro Rapid with a loss to US Champion Wesley So, but he stormed back to win the next four games in a row and end the first day as the sole leader. Wesley and Ian Nepomniachtchi ...
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