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Date 14.04.2016

World chess champion Magnus Carlsen: 'The

computer never has been an opponent'
World chess champion Magnus Carlsen will be defending his title this fall against his
Russian challenger, Sergey Karjakin. The 25-year-old Norwegian tells DW how he wants to
make chess more accessible to everyone.

Author Interview: Klaudia

Prevezanos
Keywords Magnus Carlsen, Chess,
FIDE, Sergey Karjakin, Digital Culture
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Permalink http://dw.com/p/1IVAY

Pop hits that conquered the

globe
This analysis of the German pop
scene's success abroad is
unprecedented in scope.

DW: Since the end of March, you've known that you will be competing against the Russian Sergey
Karjakin at the World Chess Championship in November. Have you already started preparing?
Magnus Carlsen: I cannot say that I've already started my preparation. I've started thinking about it.
But my main focus now is on the next tournaments that I have.
When do you plan to begin?

RADAR

Probably some concrete preparations will begin in May. A lot of the preparation will be in Norway,
maybe some other places as well. But the base will be in Norway.
How important are computer programs for your preparation?
Computers are very important for sure. All the analysis I've done has been with the help of the
computers. You constantly need them.

Each week our Arts.21 reporters

scour Germany's cultural scene and
present you with a selection of their
best finds.

When you practice chess, do you sit in front of the computer most of the time or do you play on a
traditional chess board?
My practice at home is with the computer. When I study chess with other people, we always have a
chess board. But on my own, it's always at the computer.
Were you surprised that Sergey Karjakin won the Candidates Tournament in March in Moscow?
I was not very surprised that Karjakin won.
While he had the most tournament wins, I

Charlie Chaplin museum

opens in Switzerland
He shook up the silent film world

always considered him one of the favorites in

this tournament. He has very strong, very good
nerves and he defended extremely well. So I
thought he would be perfect for this kind of
tournament, and also at home in Russia he had

by playing the tramp and was

banned from the US for two
decades. Now a museum is opening
at Charlie Chaplin's former villa in
rural Switzerland - complete with a
cinema.

an extra advantage.
Sergey Karjakin just pulled out of the Norway

chess super tournament - at very short notice.

Sergey Karjakin won the Candidates Tournament for the
upcoming World Chess Championship in November in
New York

The tournament begins on April 18. Were you

surprised or do you understand why he decided
to do this?

I can understand that he didn't want to play the tournament after all. But I think contracts should be
honored. From my own experience, I know that I don't want to agree to tournaments very shortly after

That Shakespeare Rhythm

such a tournament. Sometimes after such a trial you will have some positive feelings from having done

Is it possible to translate
Shakespeares incomparable
English into incomparable
German? Frank Gnther manages
it better than any other. He gets it
all right: the feel, rhythm and
sound of the Bard's powerful
words.

well and might still have some energy left. But most of the time you will be just drained - mentally and
physically - and so it's not a good idea to sign up for tournaments so quickly after such an event.
Or do you think maybe he is a bit afraid to play against you before the World Championship?
No, I mean I have played against Sergey in tournaments since we were both 13 years old. So we know
each other well, and I don't think anything would happen in our games. If we played one game now, I
don't think that would heavily influence how we evaluate each other as chess players.
For the Candidates Tournament, the commercial partner of the World Chess Federation (FIDE),

Agon, decided for the first time to allow the online live transmission of the games from the Agon
platform only. It didn't work well and of course excluded other platforms. Do you think it was the
right decision?
I think in principle it's a good idea that the organizers have rights that they can sell. But yes,
unfortunately this time it didn't work very well. And then it obviously doesn't look very good.
Do you expect the same exclusive online live transmission for the World Chess Championship in New
York City as well?
I don't really know, but I expect them to evaluate what was happening now in Moscow and to do a
much better job next time.
Both chess - and more recently the Asian game of Go - are now played better by computers than by
humans, even by the very best like you. Does that take away the magic of brain games like chess?
Yes, to some extent it takes a bit of the mysticism away. But as for chess, we've known for a long time

Aerodrums Drumming
without drums
First came the air-guitar, now there
are Aerodrums. A British start-up
has mated a high-speed camera
with a computer program to turn
out licks without ever even
touching a drum.

that computers are better, so the computer never has been an opponent. It's a tool to help me analyze
and to help me improve at chess.
Would you participate in a public game against a computer in the near future - or is that not an
option for you? The last one I remember was Vladimir Kramnik against Deep Fritz in 2006.
I personally never wanted that. I find it much more interesting to play humans. And also, of course,
now that they have become so strong in a game like that, I wouldn't stand a chance.

Avantgarde Shakespeare

You're quite popular among young people in Germany and elsewhere. You already do some activities

Two very exciting Germanlanguage Shakespeare productions

can currently be seen at Berlins
Schaubhne theatre. We interview
the man behind them, director
Thomas Ostermeier.

to make chess more popular among children, like visiting chess classes in schools, and releasing your
Play Magnus app. You also have marketing experience. Wouldn't you like to be the one who makes
chess a really cool sport with a proper marketing campaign?
Yes, I try to bring chess to more people around the world, and I have very good people working with
me. I guess also the most important thing for me is to continue to play well. If I cannot be the best
chess player that I can be, I cannot make chess more accessible.
You do advertisements for clothes, cars and other things. You also registered your name as a
trademark. When will the first products with your name and label enter the market?
We already have the Play Magnus app, and there will be more of Play Magnus coming. But if you are

T A

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thinking of clothes or something - I don't think that is going to happen very soon.
Emanuel Lasker was the first and only German world chess champion so far - from 1894 to 1921.
That is more than 100 years ago. Is there anything the German chess scene can learn from Norway
and your career?
I think there are definitely enough chess players in

World chess champion

Magnus Carlsen: 'The
computer never has been
an opponent'

Germany. There is a lot of interest. It seems to me

that there is decent interest among young people.
In Norway, we have a policy of letting the kids do
what they want. And it's always supposed to be fun.
I don't know how it is in Germany, but I think that
is very important.
Germany has a long tradition of taking chess
seriously as a sport. Why do you think countries
like Russia, and now China and India, seem to be

The first and only German World Chess Champion

Emanuel Lasker

World chess champion Magnus

Carlsen will be defending his title
this fall against his Russian
challenger, Sergey Karjakin. The
25-year-old Norwegian tells DW
how he wants to make chess more
accessible to everyone.

doing a lot better than Germany?

I don't really know. Russia always had great chess traditions. And in China there are millions of kids

playing chess. In Germany, it seems to me that there are a lot of chess players, but the emphasis has
always been on chess as an amateur sort of activity.
Your opponent in November, Sergey Karjakin, was born in Ukraine and moved to Russia. Do you
think that the World Championship match will be seen a little bit like a Cold War match between the
West vs. Russia - like Bobby Fischer against Boris Spassky in 1972?
There are certainly some political differences, but personally I've always had a good relationship with
Karjakin. We have always been rivals, but we've never had any problems with each other. So for me,
the political part is not really part of it.
You're a great football fan. The European Championships are coming up and Norway has not
qualified. Will you be supporting Germany, the other World Champion?

Your favorite subjects on

Euromaxx!
This week you revealed to us what
you like to watch most on
Euromaxx. To find out which lucky
participants will receive a small
"thank you", click here:

Germany has a good team, but they haven't been very good recently. We'll see what happens, but I like
the German team a lot. They play wonderful football.
The Norwegian chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen, born in 1990, became world chess champion in

Film

2013 at the age of 22 and has managed to defend his title since. The next Chess World Championship
takes place from November 11-30, 2016, in New York City. Carlsen will be competing against 26-

Books

year-old Russian Sergey Karjakin, who won the opportunity to challenge the world champion in

Music

March 2016. Carlsen was considered a child prodigy. In 2010 at age 19, he became the youngest
player to reach number one on the FIDE world chess ranking, which he maintained since July 2011.

Arts
Digital Culture

Humans vs. computers: The ancient pastime of strategy games

A computer called AlphaGo is competing against human South Korean Go champion Lee Sedol this week. Here's
how strategy games came about thousands of years ago - and where humans are weakest. (09.03.2016)

Game Over! AlphaGo defeats S. Korean grandmaster at Go

A computer program has claimed victory over another pre-eminent Go champion after winning its third
consecutive game. DeepMind's executive hailed Lee Sedol's "incredible genius" despite the Go champion's loss.
(12.03.2016)

Garry Kasparov: "Putin runs Russia like the mafia"

Since retiring from professional chess in 2005, Garry Kasparov has become one of the most prominent voices in
Russias pro-democracy movement. On DW's "Interview", the youngest chess world champion in history speaks
out. (23.10.2015)

Date 14.04.2016
Author Interview: Klaudia Prevezanos

Lifestyle

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Keywords Magnus Carlsen, Chess, FIDE, Sergey Karjakin, Digital Culture

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The success of streaming

services 12.04.2016

Social robots become part

of the family 12.04.2016

Face-swapping app
MSQRD 12.04.2016

10 years after the founding of music

streaming service Spotify,
streaming has gone mainstream.
The video and music platforms try
to set themselves apart from their
competitors by offering the best
playlists.

Social robots are being marketed as

cute household helpers or
playmates for children. Several
models are coming onto the market
in 2016 and demand is high. But
these social robots have some
downsides, too.

With the MSQRD app, users can

project a funny mask onto a face by
placing a live filter over videos or
photos. The app lets you transform
yourself into a monkey, a zombie, a
superhero or even your best friend!

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