Interview with Henrik Carlsen

Picture courtesy of Henrik Carlsen

I was on ICC Chess.FM to do the commentary for today’s games with Mig Greengard of ChessNinja. We had a chance to speak a little bit to Henrik, Magnus’ father. This is actually the second time I spoke to him. The first time was last year when he visited New York.

I asked Henrik a few questions:

– How does he deal with Magnus’ results, both winning and losing?

He said that he is not focused on the results. He wants Magnus to enjoy playing and have no pressure.

– When Magnus travels to tournaments, who travels with him?

He said that he travels with Magnus 50% of the time and his trainer Peter Heine Nielsen travels with him the other 50% of the time.

– How does Magnus combine school and chess? Is he homeschooled?

He said that Magnus attends normal school, one of the top schools that Norwegian athletes attend.

Here is the the blog of Magnus.

Here are the results of round 6:

Magnus Carlsen ½-½ Peter Leko
Alexander Morozevich ½-½ Peter Svidler
Levon Aronian ½-½ Veselin Topalov
Vishy Anand ½-½ Vassily Ivanchuk

Here are the current standings:

1. Carlsen 4 out of 6
2-3. Aronian, Anand 3.5
4-6. Leko, Svidler, Ivanchuk 3.0
7-8. Topalov, Morozevich 2.0