All posts tagged: carlsen

How Jorden van Foreest took down Magnus Carlsen in classical chess overcoming a false fire alarm and with just 45 of minutes of sleep | Chess News

How Jorden van Foreest took down Magnus Carlsen in classical chess overcoming a false fire alarm and with just 45 of minutes of sleep | Chess News

Published by Webster

4 min readNew DelhiMay 5, 2026 09:27 PM IST It was pitch black. Jorden van Foreest woke up in total panic, unaware of his whereabouts. The alarm was deafening and he had no idea what was going on. A fire alarm and just 45 minutes of sleep. That was the chaotic beginning to the Dutch Grandmaster’s day at the Elite Plaza Hotel in the Swedish town of Malmö, the venue of the TePe Sigeman Chess tournament. van Foreest, along with the rest of the players and guests, was evacuated from the hotel, only to learn later that it was a false alarm. He later told Chess.com, “I had no idea where the hell I am and it was completely pitch black in my room and the sound was so incredibly loud.” The man who woke up in complete “panic and disorientiation” wasn’t aware then, but the day was about to deliver the biggest win of his chess career as he took down Norwegian maestro and World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen just a few hours later. …

Vishy Anand talks about Magnus Carlsen walking away from World Championship: ‘Even I was getting bored after a few titles’ | Chess News

Vishy Anand talks about Magnus Carlsen walking away from World Championship: ‘Even I was getting bored after a few titles’ | Chess News

Published by Webster

2 min readUpdated: Apr 23, 2026 05:02 PM IST Legendary Indian chess player Viswanathan Anand said he understands World no.1 Magnus Carlsen‘s decision to not take part in the championship cycle after stepping down as world champion in 2022. Anand said that he completely understood why Carlsen would take that decision due to the intense nature of preparation that went into the championship matches. “I knew that after five titles, I mean after my fifth against Gelfund that even that Gelfund match, I kind of dragged myself into it. I had the feeling that FIDE was giving me a world championship match like almost every year and was getting tedious. I’d been struggling in my chess for a while and I thought this one I scraped through. I think even in the end when I lost I accepted I came to terms with the fact that look I deserve to lose at a sporting level I deserve to lose,” Anand said in an interview with Lichess. “As for Magnus himself, I can see his point …

Carlsen says Gukesh’s ‘obvious weaknesses’ will cost him World Championship | Chess News

Carlsen says Gukesh’s ‘obvious weaknesses’ will cost him World Championship | Chess News

Published by Webster

3 min readApr 19, 2026 08:41 PM IST Magnus Carlsen has weighed in on who he thinks will prevail between Uzbekistan’s Javokhir Sindarov, who recently won the Candidates, and D Gukesh ahead of their World Chess Championship match at the end of the year. Sindarov was dominant at the Candidates, taking a healthy lead halfway through the tournament and winning it without losing a single game. Carlsen has, rather famously, never rated Gukesh too high even though the Norwegian five-time world champion has lost to the Indian a few famous times in the past year or so. The 35-year-old said at the Chess Party in Stockholm, Sweden that while he knows anything can happen in a World Championship match, he backs Sindarov to prevail. “At the moment its impossible not to say Sindarov but we know anything can happen in a World Championship match,” said Carlsen. “I am first of all really curious as to what Sindarov in the next few months because he is very different from Gukesh. In the sense that Gukesh has …

Garry Kasparov: If Javokhir Sindarov beats Gukesh, there’s a chance Magnus Carlsen might come back to World Championship cycle | Chess News

Garry Kasparov: If Javokhir Sindarov beats Gukesh, there’s a chance Magnus Carlsen might come back to World Championship cycle | Chess News

Published by Webster

3 min readApr 17, 2026 12:48 AM IST Former world champion Garry Kasparov has said that on current form Javokhir Sindarov looks “more impressive” than India’s D Gukesh ahead of their upcoming World Chess Championship match at the end of the year. Kasparov also said that should Sindarov manage to defeat Gukesh at the world championship, Magnus Carlsen might be tempted to make a return. Sindarov won the Candidates tournament in Cyprus without losing a single game and had taken a healthy lead by the time half the tournament had ended. “The way he won the Candidates, it was very impressive. I must say, it’s hard to impress me. But the way Sindarov played — his timing, the quality of his moves, his ability to withstand pressure and increase the pressure on his opponents — was exceptional,” Kasparov said in an interview with St Louis Chess Club’s YouTube handle. “Compared to Gukesh, if you look at the games, Sindarov looks like the clear favorite. But this match is a special format. Gukesh is very mentally …

Garry Kasparov: Pragg looks like bleak shadow of himself; Would love to see Sindarov vs Magnus Carlsen World Championship match | Chess News

Garry Kasparov: Pragg looks like bleak shadow of himself; Would love to see Sindarov vs Magnus Carlsen World Championship match | Chess News

Published by Webster

3 min readApr 11, 2026 09:00 AM IST Chess legend Garry Kasparov has said that Indian prodigy R Praggnanandhaa has of late looked like a “bleak shadow” of the Pragg we have seen over the last few years. After 10 rounds of the Candidates tournament in Cyprus, Praggnanandhaa finds himself in seventh spot, with exactly half the number of points than tournament leader Javokhir Sindarov, who is a peer of the Indian youngster. “Pragg was on the rise and just now it’s like he’s a bleak shadow of what we saw a couple of years ago,” Kasparov said with a hint of surprise in his voice in a conversation with the St Louis Chess Club during the 10th round when Praggnanandhaa was facing off against Sindarov. Pragg went on to lose that game, which was his second defeat to the Uzbek prodigy in the tournament in two games, in a result that effectively ended his chances of winning the tournament. When grandmaster Yasser Seirawan mentioned that Pragg’s play at the Candidates had looked “stale” and …

Why Magnus Carlsen cannot promote his own app Take Take Take as it enters ‘play and learn’ sectors | Chess News

Why Magnus Carlsen cannot promote his own app Take Take Take as it enters ‘play and learn’ sectors | Chess News

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3 min readApr 8, 2026 08:10 AM IST Magnus Carlsen’s Take Take Take app has joined forces with Lichess (a free, open-source platform run by volunteers) to expand its chess offerings to give app users “play and learn” functionality besides the previous option to follow games live. However, on the day that Take Take Take announced its expansion, the one person who was conspicuous by his absence was the world no 1 from Norway, who is the face of the app besides being the co-founder. Why? Because—as Take Take Take CEO Mats Andre Kristiansen explained in a video on the platform’s YouTube channel—Carlsen is an ambassador for Chess.com, which is now a direct rival to Take Take Take, thanks to their entry into the play and learn sectors of chess. “Magnus cannot be here. And there’s a very good reason for that. We are now stepping into the play zone area. We are launching a full chess platform with a play zone and the full learning experience. And if I go back a little bit …

Magnus Carlsen explains why Javokhir Sindarov’s Candidates performance leaves Uzbek GM in ‘hard position to be in’ | Chess News

Magnus Carlsen explains why Javokhir Sindarov’s Candidates performance leaves Uzbek GM in ‘hard position to be in’ | Chess News

Published by Webster

3 min readUpdated: Apr 7, 2026 10:51 AM IST At the halfway stage of the Candidates tournament in Cyprus, Uzbek phenom Javokhir Sindarov has coursed into the lead in the open section with a score of 6/7, holding a clear 1 and a ½ point advantage over Fabiano Caruana. His dominance at the event has impressed even former world champion Magnus Carlsen. And while the world no 1 has pointed out that it is “more than likely that Sindarov will win” the Candidates, it is also “hard to be in the position in which he is.” When Carlsen was asked on the sidelines of the Grenke Chess Festival if he thought Sindarov will win the Candidates, he replied: “I think it’s more than likely that he will win, but it is hard to be in the position in which he is, especially if you are in it for the first time. Because when you get to this point, thoughts start creeping into your head and anything but first place is probably going to be a …

When a fan asked Hans Niemann for an autograph on the first page of a Magnus Carlsen book | Chess News

When a fan asked Hans Niemann for an autograph on the first page of a Magnus Carlsen book | Chess News

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3 min readUpdated: Apr 6, 2026 03:49 PM IST Hans Niemann is busy signing autograph standing behind a long table, when the bevy of fans around him all break into clipped smiles and side-eyes. The venue is the playing hall of the Grenke Chess Festival where both Niemann and Magnus Carlsen, have been camped for the 5-day Freestyle event, alongside other big names Levon Aronian and Vincent Keymer, Nodirbek Abdusattarov and Dronavalli Harika. The left-hander Niemann who has been embroiled in a beef with Carlsen, is surrounded on all sides, when a young fan hands over a thick book for him to sign. On a signing spree, Niemann scribbles his signature on the book,as per a reel posted by chesscomindia – chess24india footage. The edit pauses, zooming in on Niemann showing his tight jaw as he returns the book. Those around him can’t help breaking into grins, as chess’ modern day beefs get related instantly. The book is a Carlsen book, with his face on the cover and the cheeky fan, saunters back blending into …

‘Will be curious to go home and check the games now’: Magnus Carlsen on Javokhir Sindarov | Chess News

‘Will be curious to go home and check the games now’: Magnus Carlsen on Javokhir Sindarov | Chess News

Published by Webster

3 min readApr 5, 2026 05:09 PM IST With Uzbek Grandmaster Javokhir Sindarov in hot form in the Candidates, 5-time world champion Magnus Carlsen has reacted to his performance. “I think it was possible to guess that he was one of the main dark horses there. Nobody expects you to go 4.5 out of 5. I will be curious to go home and check the games now,” Carlsen said on the sidelines of the Grenke Freestyle Open in a clip shared by the tournament organisers on their social media accounts. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW VIDEO Nodirbek Abdusattorov, another grandmaster from Uzbekistan, also praised his country-mate for his dominance at the Candidates. “I’m very happy for Javokhir as he is truly showing his strengths because he’s capable of winning Candidates. He’s now 5.5/6 which is a phenomenal performance, incredible quality of games. I hope he wins this tournament because he fully deserves it. We of course discussed some things before he went to Candidates. And he’s done a great job. He has done a lot of work …

Why Magnus Carlsen agreed to a selfie with opponent, then immediately got arbiter to take away her phone | Chess News

Why Magnus Carlsen agreed to a selfie with opponent, then immediately got arbiter to take away her phone | Chess News

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Kazakh women’s No 2 Alua Nurman was up against Magnus Carlsen at the Grenke Chess Festival, a FIDE event at Karlsruhe, where the likes of Ian Nepomniachtchi, Levon Aronian, Vincent Keymer, Artur Yusupov, and Hans Nieman also participated. It was a Swiss format with freestyle time control. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW VIDEO The chess festival sees more than 3,500 participants across all sections, and is the largest chess tournament in the world. In the Freestyle Open A, a prize fund of €205,250 is at stake, including €60,000 for first place. Nurman, second only behind Bibisara Assaubayeva in Kazakhstan, was already seated when Carlsen turned up to play against her and the duo shook hands. Nurman then asked for a selfie. According to a video posted by ChessBase’s Abhudaya Ram, Nurman then proceeds to request for a selfie, which Carlsen obliges with a big broad smile. He returns the phone which Nurman returns to her handbag. //www.instagram.com/embed.js Carlsen then walks up to the arbiter who comes over, and requests Nurman to submit the phone. She hands it …