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Magnus Carlsen became only the second chess player, and the first in nearly two years, to score a perfect 11/11 in Titled Tuesday
Link information
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- Title
- Carlsen's Perfect 11/11 Tournament Matches Historic Record
- Authors
- Nathaniel Green (NathanielGreen)
- Published
- Jul 6 2023
- Word count
- 590 words
For those of you who enjoy a little Levy Rozman, the GothamChess analysis of all eleven games can be found here.
Love me some Levy, he and Hikaru rep the digital chess world well. Even if you're not well-versed in chess, their highlights and reactions are worthy of any major Twitch streamer. "I'm mad trash brah~" Cracks me up every time.
Magnus is actually insane though. I know that he's expressed that his interest in chess sagged a bit in recent times but if he keeps it up he has the potential to surpass Garry Kasparov as the greatest of all time, as opposed to the undisputed number one of our current time.
If you've never watched any major chess because you find it a bit dry, watch the reactions of these commentators to Magnus's "bongcloud" opening in a high-stakes tournament. It is both hilarious and adorable listening to Anna Rudolf freak out about one of the objectively worst openings in all chess. First 45 seconds.
Surely it's widely accepted that chess players now are the best there's ever been? With the amount of information and engine analysis available I can't imagine previous greats getting the better of the current top players.
Yes, if Magnus Carlsen faced off against Garry Kasparov at his prime, Carlsen would likely win. Like you said, current generations will always be better due to both computer engine analysis as well as being able to study previous games. Carlsen has studied many of Kasparov's games himself and there are videos of him instantly identifying key positions in Kasparov's title games.
You could make a convincing argument that Carlsen has already succeeded Kasparov as the greatest of all time. After all, he is the only player to be the world champion in standard, rapid, and blitz. But within historical context, Kasparov's influence is legendary (not to say Carlsen's won't be). In 2020, Carlsen himself said in an interview that he doesn't consider himself the number one (yet):
Greatness is always a subjective argument. As the years tick on the gap of perceived preeminence has become incredibly small and one's answer is mostly based on if you have a bias for the past or a bias for the present.
When the title of "greatest of all time" is brought up in chess, it's meant relatively to the competition at that moment in time. How dominant they were and for how long.
Chess is a growing sport that learns from its past, so you're correct that the current greats surpass the previous.
That's kind of the issue with saying someone's the "greatest" chess player of all time. Magnus is undoubtedly the strongest of all time because of modern analysis and the benefit of being able to study everything that has come before. "Greatest" is relative and the fact that chess theory is constantly building on what came before means that comparison across different eras is incredibly difficult. I don't think Kasparov is less "great" because engines didn't exist in his prime. All that being said, I still see the argument for Magnus being the GOAT based off just how dominant he is over the rest of the competition.