“I can speak for myself, and I am not part of the computer generation. I grew up with a chess board and books,” said Magnus Carlsen when asked if younger players such as Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Luigi Caruana, Sergey Karjakin and he are more computer-centric, as regards preparation and the way they approach the game, when compared to World champion Viswanathan Anand, Vladimir Kramnik, Boris Gelfand and others.
When queried about working with Anand in a previous World championship match, Carlsen said, “it was a great learning experience for me. For the 2010 match against Topalov, I offered a little advice but Anand did not follow it!”
The Norwegian thinks that though the game has moved nicely to other nations, the Russians are not a spent force. “The Russians are still a force in chess,” said the world’s top-ranked chess player.
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The last time two non-Russian-speaking players played for the World title was way back in 1921 when Jose Raul Capablanca and Emmanuel Lasker squared off at Havana (Cuba).
“More people in Norway are following my play and Norwegian chess players are following more keenly,” said the 22-year-old about the popularity of chess since he arrived on the world scene. “On its part, the Norwegian Government is supporting the Chess Olympiad 2014 in Norway.”
About the ongoing FIDE World Cup in Tromso in his native country, Carlsen said, “I am following it as a chess player and I don’t have any favourites.”
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