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World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen Is Now World Fantasy Premier League #1

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Re: World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen Is Now World Fantasy Premier League #1

#111
post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Regardless, the parent comment was useful to me and I assume others. Perhaps I should have assumed association football was meant, since Magnus is European, but for whatever reason I didn't. Fantasy American football is extremely popular in the US, so I think a lot of people would automatically assume that's what was meant. And yes, we're aware that people in different countries use different words for things. (And n…

Fantastic, if you're aware that people in different countries use different words for things, then you can also recognize that GP condescendingly correcting to "fantasy soccer" is unnecessary.

It didn't read to me like a correction; rather, pointing out what the article was about to people who might not have immediately realized.

I have absolutely no problem with people calling it football, soccer, calcio, or anything else.

Re: World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen Is Now World Fantasy Premier League #1

#112
He must watch a lot of games to really know who to pick. As someone that dabbled in DFS for the NFL, the #1 team each week always seem like either pure luck or just someone that submits tons of optimal entries.

Now, EPL is definitely different than the NFL but still amazing regardless.

Re: World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen Is Now World Fantasy Premier League #1

#113
post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought they actively study and memorise their own games, games of players they currently play against, and games of past notable players. Part of that study and memorising is practising playing the game through from start to finish. It's not like they accidentally memorised them after they see the game once.

Indeed. I'm willing to believe Magnus is one of the best at this (posted this link because I'm a huge fan!), but it's his job and has been since he was a boy, it's not really magic. And it's just demonstrably not the case that he goes into every game knowing every topical line, not does he really need to.

I'm a big Carlsen fan, he's currently the best chess player in the world, but not all grandmasters think Carlsen or the other top 10 are the best in history.

I can't make an informed opinion myself, but I can retell the arguments I've heard used.

In the past, players like Bobby Fischer dominated their peers, winning tournaments by 5 games or more. Today, super grandmasters play 20 moves of prep from memory and agree to a draw. When they get out of prep they don't play as skillfully as players of the past, pre chess engine era. Today super grandmasters put all their attention into opening theory. (I'm retelling the arguments I've heard, these aren't my own opinions)

I will say I much prefer to watch a super grandmaster blitz or rapid game over a classical game. Not that I watch them live, but I see the occasional video of a grandmaster analysing them in a 10-30 minute video.

Re: World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen Is Now World Fantasy Premier League #1

#114
In Argentina, where I come from, a couple of GMs, unable to make ends meet with their chess earnings, switched to poker, backgammon and/or bridge, games in which there is a lot of gambling going on, and they made quite a lot of money.

I understand that these games are much more similar to chess than a fantasy football game, but it seems that some chess calculation skills are indeed transferable.

Re: World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen Is Now World Fantasy Premier League #1

#115
post #112

He must watch a lot of games to really know who to pick. As someone that dabbled in DFS for the NFL, the #1 team each week always seem like either pure luck or just someone that submits tons of optimal entries. Now, EPL is definitely different than the NFL but still amazing regardless.

He's not #1 this week (not even close), he's currently #1 over a 16+ weeks period[0]. Each week's #1 is usually one of many random teams, picked for that purpose.

I have no idea how many games he watches, but watching the games isn't correlated to fantasy football success.

Looking at his team, all the players are in a very hot run of form, or likely to be picked just by studying e.g. Understat.com, or both.[1] Most of them are also likeable, and could be suggested by a football fan unaware of fantasy football specifics.

[0] 17th "gameweek" isn't over yet.

[1] Except for goalkeepers. His goalkeeping choices have been awful.

Re: World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen Is Now World Fantasy Premier League #1

#116
post #34
post #13

People may not understand how big an achievement this is. Yes you need a lot of good fortune, but there are 7m players of FPL. For most, getting into the top 100k is seen as a good result for the end of the season. Magus is clearly a massive football fan though - he talks about it a lot on his livestreams etc.

It's mind-boggling to me. I've been a huge/obsessed fan all my life and never got in the top 200k

Someone has always been number 1 though :-). This is only news because he is also world class at another game.

Re: World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen Is Now World Fantasy Premier League #1

#117
post #91
post #83

Wow, that really obliterates two major assumptions I had about chess (1) that you can't win without 100% dedication to chess (2) that the skills are highly domain specific and not transferable.

It's impressive. I suppose you could say there are some skills from chess that are very transferable to something like managing a fantasy sports team; the ability to predict or prepare for certain outcomes and the ability to manage and minimize risk being two that come to mind. It also helps that Carlsen is a football fan and has domain knowledge there that assist him in employing these skills.

A previous article on this mentioned his superb memory, which is probably also an asset to both games.

Re: World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen Is Now World Fantasy Premier League #1

#118
post #112

He must watch a lot of games to really know who to pick. As someone that dabbled in DFS for the NFL, the #1 team each week always seem like either pure luck or just someone that submits tons of optimal entries. Now, EPL is definitely different than the NFL but still amazing regardless.

He's not #1 this week (not even close), he's currently #1 over a 16+ weeks period[0]. Each week's #1 is usually one of many random teams, picked for that purpose. I have no idea how many games he watches, but watching the games isn't correlated to fantasy football success. Looking at his team, all the players are in a very hot run of form, or likely to be picked just by studying e.g. Understat.com, or both.[1] Most o…

A previous article on this said he watches a huge amount of football.

Re: World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen Is Now World Fantasy Premier League #1

#119
post #7
post #4

Interesting that he mentions a stats-based approach, calling out provider Opta by name: https://twitter.com/MagnusCarlsen/status/1204105872668016642

Sounds like a clever marketing scheme from Opta.

You have fee access to it through numerous websites, not complete but very throughout numbers. He is calling out opta directly, not sure what kind of interface they offer unless he is reading their xml feeds directly.

Re: World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen Is Now World Fantasy Premier League #1

#120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Salah in midfield? Say what?

Although he plays in a wide forward/winger like position for Liverpool they classify wingers generally as midfielders. Think of this in terms of the classic 4-2-3-1 position(not something LIV uses a lot). Firmino generally becomes the No 9 and he would be classified as forward. Even Son is classified as Mid. Though in the 4-2-3-1 Liverpool played today Salah was the most forward player.

It's a ridiculous decision, even the stats disagree.[0]

"Salah was the furthest forward in 8 of Liverpool’s last 10 Premier League games from last season."

I imagine it's done for marketing reasons so more people can fit him into their team; same with Son.

[0] https://www.fantasyfootballpundit.com/mohamed-salah-forward-...

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