On Top of the World

So recently, I placed sixth in the chess.com holiday puzzler, which is why I now am a diamond member again. Go me!

Anyway, I noticed recently that Magnus Carlsen was profiled in TIME magazine for becoming the youngest player ever to reach world #1. It's very interesting. Here are a few excerpts:

"He hails from Norway — a "small, poxy chess nation with almost no history of success," as the English grand master Nigel Short sniffily describes it — and unlike many chess prodigies who are full-time players by age 12, Carlsen stayed in school until last year."

"He is one of a generation of players who learned the game from computers. To this day, he's not certain if he has an actual board at home. "I might have one somewhere. I'm not sure," he says."

"He often calculates 20 moves ahead and can comfortably play several games simultaneously while blindfolded simply by hearing each move in notation."

You can read the whole article here. Meanwhile, here is a game in which Carlsen shows off his calculating ability. You can see why Kasparov says Carlsen's mastery is rooted in a "deep intuitive sense no computer can teach" and that his pupil "has a natural feel for where to place the pieces."