Magnus Carlsen is considered by many to be the greatest-ever chess player in history, and it is well-deserved. The Norwegian has dominated world chess for years and has held the No. 1 position in the FIDE rankings since July 1, 2011, a streak that is also the longest consecutive one. He trails only Garry Kasparov in the time spent as the highest-rated player in the world.
Carlsen has a peak rating of 2882, the highest in history. Recently, R Praggnanandhaa gave some insight into what makes Carlsen great. The Indian GM also made comparisons between him and Carlsen.
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R Praggnanandhaa on Magnus Carlsen's greatness
Speaking on a YouTube podcast show, he said, “He has this intuition in every position which is just amazing. Like when you actually see his game — even in shorter formats — he usually plays the top three choices of the computer every single time. That intuition is something that he developed over a period of time. He’s one of the players who knows a lot of classics from the past. He has read a lot and I think that’s one thing he has that helps him. Also mentally he’s really strong. You can never see him collapse in a tournament completely. Even when you actually make a mistake when he’s lost he’s there fighting every chance he’s getting and he pushes till the end like he tries every resource that’s possible.”
“He exhausts them and I think that’s one of the reasons he’s he’s at the top and when he was coming up. He was playing these end games which people in earlier days thought it was completely fine. They will just make draws because of mutual respect for the players. They’ll think it’s okay no one is going to win this. Let’s make an early draw. But Magnus started playing all those positions. He started grinding and then started winning also. So he’s just universally strong and he’s mentally also strong which is really…”
{{/usCountry}}“He exhausts them and I think that’s one of the reasons he’s he’s at the top and when he was coming up. He was playing these end games which people in earlier days thought it was completely fine. They will just make draws because of mutual respect for the players. They’ll think it’s okay no one is going to win this. Let’s make an early draw. But Magnus started playing all those positions. He started grinding and then started winning also. So he’s just universally strong and he’s mentally also strong which is really…”
{{/usCountry}}On what makes him and Carlsen different, he said, “I have never thought about this actually. If I have to speak about the style, he’s more of an intuitive player. His intuition is so good. Even though my intuition suggests a move, I usually try to go in details. It’s possible that I can catch him there because he hasn’t gone into the details. Sometimes intuition can also be wrong and I can catch him. Our games are always exciting.”
Carlsen is also a five-time World Chess Champion and five-time Rapid World Chess Champion. He didn’t defend his world title in 2023, citing a lack of motivation and is not expected in the upcoming Candidates either.