"They are entitled to their stupid opinions" - Magnus Carlsen


....no he is definitely not haughty ....he literally meant what he said!




If you take cognisance of what others say.....then you will never become what you can become. After all, that is the definition of being at the top....staying at the top - no place for the other and others viewpoints!

It is said that Groucho Marx will say boldly and quickly, what the rest of us might think but are too timid to say!  He once wrote to the President of a Hollywood club....."Please accept my resignation. I don't care to belong to any club that will have me as a member".

What Carlsen said quickly and boldly is what everybody....even a ELO 2000.... would "like to say" when someone says something contrary to what they think!

American writer Simone Elkeles wrote...."Opinions are like assholes (no it is not a bad word), everybody has one...."
......so has Kasparov and Kramnik and million others who voiced in private.....all of us have one.

Meanwhile, the "Old Champion" retained his "World Championship" title yet again.....for the third time!

But.......

......the match itself was quite boring....barring a few flashes here and there.  Perhaps, Kramnik might write comments as he did for that book on Carlsen vs Karjakin and try to salvage some viewpoints and extract some juice.....yet, that will not make the games any livelier .....or redeem our wasted time and lost sleep in the past few weeks.....in the vain hope of......!

.....and ...

Carlsen was not haughty either....when he said...."my favourite player from the past is probably myself three years ago"

......shall we examine why he said so....!?


I have given below a selection of positions which he played three years back...

2015
Carlsen - MVL, London Classic 2015






Shakhriyar - Carlsen, Qatar Masters, 2015






Carlsen - Nakamura, London Classic, 2015






Carlsen - So, Sinquefield Cup, 2015






Carlsen - MVL, Sinquefield cup, 2015






Caruana - Carlsen, Sinquefield Cup, 2015






Carlsen - Aronian, Norway Chess, 2015






Caruana - Carlsen, Tata Steel, 2015




......he won all the above positions.......


London 2018




and......can we say.....that he failed to win these positions.....
......the first one looks close to winning and the second one is the type which he normally won!



I am not interested in the moves.....in the above positions.....
.......neither moves in a Chess game, nor words in literature....carry any meaning!

You may watch the following brilliant interview of Vishy, conducted by Sagar, where the legend throws light on what transpired in the match....in his own inimitable way!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFayPiRppkM


The point I am trying to make is that, Carlsen was able to keep playing and get the type of positions.....shown above..... which were absolutely normal and continue playing .....moving pieces here and there.... and ....eventually.....Win.....

....but most importantly......he was prepared to lose some of those positions.....!


Yes! If one has to win, they should also be prepared to lose.....you give something and take something....and just that you take a little bit more than what you give!


Alex Honnold - the great free soloist - is prepared to give his life - every time - for his passion......

The huge rocks which stand thousands of meters high.....are inviting him....always.... to conquer them and carry on his shoulder the shadow of imminent death.....as he conquers them!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRGF77fBAeM


"Anybody could conceivably die on any given day and we're all gonna die eventually. So it makes it far more immediate (the pursuit of the rock), you accept the fact that if anything goes wrong.... you're going to die.....and that's that"

If you wanna win the World title.....why even a solitary Chess game.....you should be prepared to lose!

.....after all losing a game of Chess is not the same as dying......!


This, possibly, is the reason why neither managed to win the World Championship match ......in London 2018 .......and in the end.....Carlsen retain his title......or.....shall we say became a World Rapid Champion!?


The curtain raiser I wrote was all about Fabi...the Challenger.....but....he probably just proved equal and not better....

......well the Video leak mystery will remain unresolved.....and it even failed to evoke the unintentional humour.....


I Remain




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