ON CHESS
Young champion unafraid of battle
Saturday, August 7, 2010 02:51 AM
By Shelby Lyman

Magnus Carlsen is the chess prodigy of our time.

After a recent string of spectacular successes, there is little doubt that, at 19, he is the top player in the world.

Few question whether his World Chess Federation international rating, which ranks him a clear No.1, accurately reflects his actual playing strength.

During the past year, Garry Kasparov – who dominated chess for two decades – assumed the role of trainer and mentor for the Norwegian wunderkind – a wonderful bit of luck for Carlsen, who hardly needed it.

Despite his age, Carlsen is a seasoned and unyielding fighter. Possessing an intuitive ability to thread through perplexing and threatening complications, he exhausts and outplays his opponents.

His boyish physical appearance and genial demeanor notwithstanding, Carlsen is tougher than nails. Below the poster-boy surface is an adversary who is spoiling for a fight and prepared, if necessary, for a prolonged one.

A recent issue of the Dutch chess magazine New in Chess reprints a couple of fashion ads featuring Carlsen. Usually cleanshaven, the champion glowers behind a swarthy five o’clock shadow.

The image seems an angry one – part punk and part Kasparov, who once described chess as a form of ritual murder.

Source: Columbus Dispatch

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