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Magnus Carlsen – “I am chaotic and lazy” (2010)

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Re: Magnus Carlsen – “I am chaotic and lazy” (2010)

#51

Post by lgieron »

Igglyboo wrote: post #20
adamnemecek wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would guess that he'd feel like there is too much chance. The issue with a game like Magic is that you can play perfectly and still lose. And I say this as someone who loves the game. EDIT: I read further and it seems like he enjoys poker. So I guess it's possible that he'd enjoy MTG.

I'd have to agree. Great magic players (kibler, finkel, lsv, anyone in the hall of fame) will often have lifetime win rates that are slightly higher than 50% with 60% in a single season being an extreme outlier.

Wow, really? Do you have a source for that?

Re: Magnus Carlsen – “I am chaotic and lazy” (2010)

#52

Post by boomlinde »

amelius wrote: post #49
adamnemecek wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would guess that he'd feel like there is too much chance. The issue with a game like Magic is that you can play perfectly and still lose. And I say this as someone who loves the game. EDIT: I read further and it seems like he enjoys poker. So I guess it's possible that he'd enjoy MTG.

> The issue with a game like Magic is that you can play perfectly and still lose. This may also hold for chess.

If by "playing perfectly" you mean making the right moves, not really. If the goal of chess is to win, the perfect player can't lose. If a person plays perfectly and loses, what does that make the winning player?

The point here is obviously that Magic has an element of chance that chess lacks.

Re: Magnus Carlsen – “I am chaotic and lazy” (2010)

#53

Post by nemo1618 »

lukeholder wrote: post #21

My favourite quote: "I listen to music on the Internet, but don't download any songs. It's all totally legal. Many people may find that boring, but I think it is important."

I like how he cited "a silly rap song" by Lil Jon as an example of "gloomy music."

Re: Magnus Carlsen – “I am chaotic and lazy” (2010)

#54

Post by simplegeek »

tbrake wrote: post #15

He briefly talks about Kasparov here as they were training together at the time. They later broke up. I wonder if some of the conflict they felt was was really Magnus's more organic, natural approach clashing with Kasparov's more like systematic and rigid type of training, which he no doubt inherited from Botvinnik. This isn't to say Magnus doesn't work hard at his game but on a chess approach scale of, say, Capablan…

I get the impression that they didn't break up. They still train together from what I understand after reading the interview.

Re: Magnus Carlsen – “I am chaotic and lazy” (2010)

#55

Post by philh »

mcv wrote: post #48
sayemm wrote: post #5

Interesting how he says that extremely high IQ may even be a disadvantage: And that’s precisely what would be terrible. Of course it is important for a chess player to be able to concentrate well, but being too intelligent can also be a burden. It can get in your way. I am convinced that the reason the Englishman John Nunn never became world champion is that he is too clever for that. At the age of 15, Nunn started s…

I find it odd and funny that he considers a career in mathematics a distraction. He later says there's more in life than chess, but in this quote he doesn't seem to realize that. I doubt I'd want to be world champion if it required giving up all those "distractions".

Sounds to me like he's speaking descriptively, not normatively. He doesn't say that Nunn shouldn't have gone down the path that he did; just that Nunn could have been world champion, if that had been all he'd focused on.

Re: Magnus Carlsen – “I am chaotic and lazy” (2010)

#57

Post by phaus »

kizer wrote: post #2

I think there's a great analogy for why he cares so little about his intelligence: do you think Michael Jordan sat around admiring his build, his height, etc? In a competitive environment, it's best to accept that some of your abilities are fixed, so you can focus on training what can be bettered.

>I think there's a great analogy for why he cares so little about his intelligence: do you think Michael Jordan sat around admiring his build, his height, etc?

Well, when you consider that Michael Jordan obsessed about his height before he was tall, there's a good chance that he felt that it was at least partly responsible for his skill.

In actuality, it did play a significant role. If Michael Jordan had the same level of skill, and was 5'9", he would have been above average(for an NBA player) at best.

Re: Magnus Carlsen – “I am chaotic and lazy” (2010)

#58

Post by jrs99 »

gargantian wrote: post #4
kizer wrote: post #2

I think there's a great analogy for why he cares so little about his intelligence: do you think Michael Jordan sat around admiring his build, his height, etc? In a competitive environment, it's best to accept that some of your abilities are fixed, so you can focus on training what can be bettered.

That's not a good analogy. For all I know after a day's training Jordan sat around admiring his build and height. I think reverse Dunning-Kruger is much more likely in Magnus's case.

usually, as a shooting guard, jordan would be playing with 3 people taller than him on his own team, and only 1 person shorter than him.

just like basketball is not purely about body size and athleticism, chess is not purely about iq. And it is kind of idiotic that iq is the thing that people think must be the one thing that makes good chess players good.

after a certain point, iq probably doesn't matter. motivation, concentration, competitiveness, determination, experience, preparation, risk-taking, creativity, pleasure when thinking about chess... i really don't understand why iq is the thing that's talked about so much.

magnus clearly understands that some people will neglect chess for something else. The implication is that there are geniuses out there today doing other things instead of moving figurines over a grid... that's a very humble and wise world view.

Re: Magnus Carlsen – “I am chaotic and lazy” (2010)

#59

Post by Traubert »

boomlinde wrote: post #52
amelius wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The issue with a game like Magic is that you can play perfectly and still lose. This may also hold for chess.

If by "playing perfectly" you mean making the right moves, not really. If the goal of chess is to win, the perfect player can't lose. If a person plays perfectly and loses, what does that make the winning player? The point here is obviously that Magic has an element of chance that chess lacks.

Maybe the winning player is white and chess is a win by force for white. Or the same could even be true about black! (Probably not.)

Re: Magnus Carlsen – “I am chaotic and lazy” (2010)

#60

Post by V-2 »

eddotman wrote: post #7

The brevity and bluntness in his responses is pretty amusing. I'm surprised he so candidly rates his own abilities and the abilities of his peers - I feel like many people would dodge those questions in public interviews.

"With people of limited ability modesty is merely honesty. But with those who possess great talent it is hypocrisy." (Arthur Schopenhauer)
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