Final Thoughts On Carlsen vs Caruana From Robert And Me
And then life went back to normal...
When the smoke cleared after November, despite all the action (and 12 rounds of no satisfaction 
), nothing had really changed: Magnus Carlsen was still world champion, Fabiano Caruana, while still being America's number-one, was relegated to "just another candidate," and all of us (fans and commentators alike) were looking ourselves in the mirror, and wondering "how do I feel about that match?"
Well, hopefully enough time has passed for you, as it has for Robert and me, to finally let your hair down and take a more unbiased look back at what we witnessed from London. Like us, maybe you can express your appreciation for what these two great chess players gave us, and take solace in the fact that, in all likelihood, the better player won.
So here it is: Recorded just before I released Robert back to his family in New York 
, I asked him to join me one last time, as a special guest for my regular, weekly podcast "Coffeehouse Blunders" to give his (and put up with my) final thoughts on all that was the 2018 world chess championship.
Click play below to get our on/off-the-record-decompressing-therapeutic-closure-providing breakdown of Carlsen vs Caruana:
You can check out the episode page for the "Chess Grandmaster Robert Hess Takeover" here:
And consider subscribing to my podcast, with Diamond Member @jamesmontemagno here:
Danny Rensch is an international master and Chief Chess Officer at Chess.com. After a successful scholastic chess career, Danny joined Chess.com as a co-founder in 2009. He directs the company's content, media partnerships, and professional chess events. Danny is an accomplished commentator and broadcaster, which he used to establish Chess.com's streaming and creator programs. He has channeled his lifelong passion for playing and teaching chess to advance Chess.com's mission of growing the game and helping people enjoy their lives through chess. With over 200 million registered users, Chess.com is the leading platform for playing and learning chess.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/danielrensch
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dannyrensch/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/danielrensch
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/danielrensch
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Rensch
Company Address: P.O. Box 60400 Palo Alto, CA 94306
Company Phone: 1 (800) 318-2827
Read “Dark Squares,” Danny’s Highly Anticipated Memoir
Danny Rensch has released his highly anticipated memoir on September 16, 2025. Described as Educated meets The Queen’s Gambit, this powerful and deeply personal book dives into his upbringing in an abusive cult and how chess ended up saving his life.
