But if he stays focused, he could pose a formidable challenge. Nepo is considered a super-talented but inconsistent player, one who does not bounce back well from adversity. Those events arguably have attracted more attention than any of the mainstream tournaments.Ĭarlsen is probably at the point where even a loss in the match would barely affect his income stream, and that is a dangerous motivational place to be.
GARRY KASPAROV CHESS BOOKS SERIES
He sponsors a leading chess app and has organised his own series of online chess tournaments, played with more rapid time controls, during the pandemic. Carlsen has worked as a fashion model, endorsed an online sports betting site, and worked with a Norwegian water company. His parents set up a company in his name when he was 16, and the commercial empire since has expanded. Will the fast-thinking of bullet chess help Carlsen see more moves during the much slower time controls of the match with Nepo? (A championship game can easily last four hours or more.) Or maybe the bullet success will intimidate Nepo?Ĭarlsen also is making it clear that for him, chess is a business proposition.
![garry kasparov chess books garry kasparov chess books](https://www.kasparov.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/deep-thinking-facebook-header-kirkus-nature-reviews-900x342-860x310.png)
Nepo, in contrast, claims to have done an “insane amount of work” for the event. Carlsen also made a recent appearance in Dortmund, Germany, in part to pose for a photo with a Norwegian soccer player. The pace is so rapid the games are hard to watch, much less play. In a bullet game, each player has only one minute for all the moves. That’s the kind of trash talk most sports competitors frown upon for fear of motivating opponents.Ĭarlsen also has been engaging in online marathons of “bullet chess,” exactly the kind of attention-disrupting, energy-draining stunt contenders are supposed to avoid. He recently opined that he is lucky to be facing Nepo rather than two other potential challengers, Fabio Caruana or Ding Liren. Typically, a world chess champion would go into seclusion for months, studying his opponent’s games while working closely with secretive “seconds.” But Carlsen seems more inclined to taunt, and to remain in the public eye. Now, Carlsen’s behaviour is turning his match against Nepo into a referendum on heady flamboyance. In 2013, Carlsen beat Viswanathan Anand to capture the title when he was just 22 years old, a triumph of youth over experience. More recently, the contests have been less political.
![garry kasparov chess books garry kasparov chess books](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/veXwOs_tE_M/hqdefault.jpg)
The Garry Kasparov vs Anatoly Karpov matches of the 1980s and 1990 showed a heady young dissident overthrowing a loyal communist. Bobby Fischer vs Boris Spassky in 1972 was the brash, arrogant solo American beating back the Soviet chess empire and heralding Cold War victory.
![garry kasparov chess books garry kasparov chess books](https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/article/24364.c1656340.668x375o.af56013e623b@2x.jpeg)
The future of chess may be at stake.Ĭhess championship matches have often represented clashes of styles and cultures. That has put a twist on a world chess championship match that starts Friday, pitting incumbent Magnus Carlsen against a Russian challenger, Ian Nepomniachtchi (Nepo, for short). The hit Netflix show The Queen’s Gambit, combined with pandemic lockdowns and online play, has brought chess new popularity.