&w=3840&q=100)
'Complete collapse of my nervous system': Magnus Carlsen opens up on tough Las Vegas stint of Freestyle Chess Tour
After finishing fifth in Group White and being eliminated from contention for winning the Las Vegas event of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour, Magnus Carlsen bounced back with two dominating wins against India's Vidit Gujrathi on Friday. In the follow-up, Carlsen revealed that he had suffered a 'complete collapse of his nervous system' on the first day of the event and was not happy about not being able to communicate with his wife, Ella or longtime coach Peter Heine Nielsen during the rounds.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
The tournament format had the top four players from Group White and Group Black advancing to the Upper Bracket quarterfinals. The remaining eight players competed in the Lower Bracket. India's Arjun Erigaisi and Praggnanandhaa made it to the Upper Bracket, while Magnus Carlsen and Vidit Gujrathi were left in the Lower Bracket. Carlsen bounced back strongly in the Lower Bracket, beating Vidit 2-0 to advance. This win eliminated Vidit from the event, he finished joint 13th with four others.
Magnus Carlsen suffers nervous system collapse
Speaking after the match, Carlsen explained what transpired on Thursday that led to the collapse of his nervous system.
'I think it started well yesterday. I felt all right, relatively rested at least compared to other days. And then I don't know, I didn't enjoy the whole process of just being pretty isolated there for many, many hours and not being able to talk to Peter or Ella in between rounds and not being able to to use my devices and so on. What happened then was just kind of a complete collapse of my nervous system,' Carlsen told the YouTube handle of Freestyle Chess after his win over Vidit.
'I could have scraped through of course with some help but it would have been completely underserved. So, it was a complete collapse and yeah, sometimes you have one bad day and I've had that in Freestyle before in the preliminaries, but then there's been a bit of a wider margin to get through. This time it wasn't. It's not an excuse. I should make it regardless.'
He said he wanted to talk to his wife Ella and his longtime coach Heine Nielsen, to get out of the shackles.
'I just wanted to get out of the bubble, especially when things start going south a little bit. I feel like I'm just kind of left in my own head a little bit and it would have been probably a little bit easier to shake off if I could talk to somebody very familiar,' Carlsen explained.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
Also Read | Hans Niemann posts powerful message after reaching Freestyle Chess Las Vegas final: 'Don't need an apology...'
Carlsen's Shift After Elimination
The pressure was off his shoulders after getting eliminated from title contention, and then he resorted to playing it for the love of the sport.
'It's been a thing recently that when things are going well, I play really well and then I'm not really able to sort of change bad trends. And when sort of my nervous system starts collapsing, then it's all quite bad. I have bad days in pretty much every tournament. It's just, you know, sometimes they happen at inopportune moments,' Carlsen said.
'I haven't felt — in Zagreb (at SuperUnited Rapid and Blitz Croatia tournament) or here — at the top of at the top of my game, but at least, now that there's zero pressure that I don't have anything to play for, at least I can maybe enjoy the games a little bit more. Today more than anything else, I was just trying to play fun chess and play dynamically from the start and that worked out well. So that's the advantage of playing Freestyle Chess that even if you don't have anything to play for, it's kind of a little bit easier to play kind of for the love of the game than in some other forms of chess,' Carlsen concluded.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
4 hours ago
- Indian Express
Praggnanandhaa vs Magnus Carlsen: How India's rising chess star eclipsed World No.1 twice in a week at Las Vegas Freestyle event
It's not often that World No.1 and former five-time World Champion Magnus Carlsen is beaten by the same opponent twice in four days. India's R Praggnanandhaa, the soft-spoken, bespectacled rising star, did just that in Las Vegas. On Thursday, Praggnanandhaa stunned Carlsen in the classification game for a quarterfinal spot in the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour's upper bracket in Los Angeles, denying him a direct entry into the top eight for the first time in the tour. On Saturday, Praggnanandhaa found Carlsen standing in his way again, this time in the lower bracket of the LA leg. The Chennai lad was one notch above the Norwegian maestro in the 43-move game, forcing Carlsen to resign for his second win over the World No. 1. What made this victory special was that Praggnanandhaa was coming off a gruelling 10-hour loss, stretching over seven straight games against American Fabiano Caruana in the upper bracket quarterfinals. The Indian prodigy described it as one of the 'craziest matches' he had ever played. He had regained ground after beating Germany's Vincent Keymer, but playing Carlsen is a herculean challenge even for one of the best next-generation stars. The earlier loss on Thursday meant that Carlsen could no longer fight for the title, with his best possible finish now being third place in the overall standings. The rematch, for Carlsen, was a matter of pride after his title hopes had been dashed in Freestyle chess, his favourite variant. Praggnanandhaa's best possible finish is seventh place. In this format, each game begins with randomly shuffled back-rank pieces, creating 960 possible starting positions. Designed to nullify established chess theory, it forces players into uncharted territory from the very first move. Praggnanandhaa's second consecutive victory against the normally invincible Carlsen was no small feat. However, coming after Carlsen's twin losses to World Champion D Gukesh in the classical format at Norway Chess and in the rapid format at Croatia's SuperUnited tournament, defeat against Arjun Erigaisi at Paris leg of Freestyle event and a surprising draw against nine-year-old Indian Aarit Kapil in an online Blitz game, the Norwegian's aura of invincibility appears to be showing cracks. But Carlsen, being the genius he is, fought back to beat Praggnanandhaa in the next three games to stay in the hunt for a podium finish on Saturday. Yet, Praggnanandhaa has emerged, by far, as the most competent Indian to take Carlsen head-on. Whether it's Mikhail Tal's famous advice to Alexander Beliavsky to hone his intuition, or Garry Kasparov's enduring belief that it's 'intuition first, then calculation', the chess world's elite have consistently agreed on one principle: intuition trumps calculation. And, Carlsen has been vocal and direct in his assessment of the Indian prodigies, praising them as some of the best calculators in the game, though he believes their lack of intuitive play leaves them vulnerable. 'What most of them (Indian players from this generation) have in common is that their calculation is extremely good. Even those players who have zero understanding of the game, they calculate so well that, with longer time controls, they can still get by and give even people like me a really, really hard time,' Carlsen had remarked earlier. Carlsen once compared Indian players to their Chinese counterparts, noting greater stylistic diversity among the latter. 'There's a bigger variety within Chinese players. You have the World Champion Ding (Liren)… who's not doing great at the moment, but at his peak, he was an incredible, intuitive, dynamic player. So, very different styles there,' Carlsen had observed last year. Praggnanandhaa, however, has managed to quash this perception of Carlsen. Learning from Kasparov's 'trusting your guts' advice, the young Indian's game has the required element that has bothered even the best of talents. Carlsen famously applauded Praggnanandhaa after the Indian put up a tremendous fight at the Julius Baer Generation Cup in September 2022, where the Norwegian barely escaped with a draw against the then 16-year-old. By then, Praggnanandhaa had already beaten Carlsen multiple times to gain his respect. Magnus Carlsen gives 17-year-old Praggnanandhaa a quick round of applause and thumbs up after a fantastic fight ends in a draw! #ChessChamps #JuliusBaerGenerationCup — chess24 (@chess24com) September 19, 2022 The year 2023 was a breakout one for Praggnanandhaa. He stormed into the FIDE World Cup final, defeating some of the biggest names in the circuit, including Carlsen's long-time arch-rival, Hikaru Nakamura. His victory over Nakamura was so impressive that it drew Carlsen away from his own match to congratulate the teenager with a pat on the back and heartfelt praise: 'We all want to be like you today.' Incidentally, Praggnanandhaa faced Carlsen in that World Cup final. At one stage, he nearly denied the Norwegian his last major title, playing two sublime games in the Classical format and forcing the final into tiebreaks. However, Carlsen — clearly superior to Praggnanandhaa in shorter time controls — prevailed over the Indian, ending his long wait for a coveted World Cup gold. Though a heartbroken Praggnanandhaa lost to Carlsen on what was perhaps the biggest stage after the latter relinquished his World Championship title, the Indian's composure and playing style made one thing clear: Praggnanandhaa was destined to trouble Carlsen in the months and weeks to come.
News18
4 hours ago
- News18
Sreesanth's Daughter Told Harbhajan Singh 'You Hit My Father', Refused To Talk
Harbhajan Singh has revealed that Sreesanth's daughter, Sreesanvika, refused to talk to him because of the slap-gate incident in 2008. Harbhajan Singh has expressed deep regret for slapping his once-teammate S Sreesanth during the first season of the Indian Premier League in 2008, revealing how his daughter, Sreesanvika, has refused to talk to him because of the incident. Harbhajan said it's the one thing he wishes he could erase from his life, for even 200 apologies to Sreesanth and more to his daughter can't amend it. Harbhajan slapped Sreesanth after a match between the Mumbai Indians and the Kings XI Punjab (now called the Punjab Kings) in Mohali. Reports at the time suggested that Sreesanth was teasing Harbhajan for losing the match, and the Punjabi lost his cool. Sreesanth was seen crying and being consoled by teammates afterwards. The two have moved on and seem to share a friendly relationship but it still haunts the spinner. 'One thing I'd want to change in my life is that incident with Sreesanth," Harbhajan recalled in an interview with Ravichandran Ashwin on the latter's YouTube show, Kutti Stories. ' I want to remove that incident from my career. What transpired was wrong and I shouldn't have done what I d id. I apologised 200 times… Yes, in that game we were opponents. But it shouldn't have gone to that level where we behave in such a manner… The only fault of his was that he provoked me, but that's okay actually. However, what I did was not okay. I said, 'Sorry'." Harbhajan also recalled being 'shattered' by learning what Sreesanvika thought of him. 'What hurt me even after many years was when I met his daughter and I was talking to her with a lot of love and she said, 'I don't want to talk to you. You hit my father.' My heart was shattered and I was on the verge of tears. I was asking myself what is the impression I've left on her? She must be thinking of me in a poor light, right? She sees me as the guy who hit her father. I felt so bad. I still apologise to his daughter that I can't do anything. I keep telling her, 'but if there's anything I can do to make you feel better and make you think I'm not that kind of person, please tell me'. I wish when she grows up, she doesn't see me in the same light. And think her uncle will always be with her and extend any kind of support he can. That's why I want to remove that chapter," Harbhajan added. view comments First Published: Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
India.com
4 hours ago
- India.com
Even If You Were Jealous At One Point In Time : R Ashwin Addresses Rivalry Rumours With Harbhajan Singh
Ravichandran Ashwin has responded to long-standing speculation about tension between him and fellow Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh. Addressing the rumours in a conversation on his YouTube channel, Ashwin emphasised that jealousy is often a reflection of individual perspective. Over the years, there has been frequent chatter, especially on social media, suggesting that Harbhajan may have felt envious of Ashwin's rise in Indian cricket. Though both spinners largely played in different eras, the narrative of rivalry has persisted. "This whole jealousy bit, before I allow you to answer that, let me clarify something. People look at everything from their perspective. For example, if they are passing a comment on me, they believe that others would see the world through their eyes," Ashwin said during a teaser of the latest episode of his YouTube show Kutti Stories. Referring to the comments made online, Ashwin asked Harbhajan, "Their comments that you (Harbhajan) are jealous of this person who is interviewing you today (Ashwin), what would that be about, Bhajji pa?" Ashwin explained that such judgments are shaped by the mindset of the individuals making them and not by the reality of their relationship. He also noted that even if jealousy had ever existed between them, it would be understandable given the competitive nature of professional sport. In the same conversation, Harbhajan addressed the rumours directly and posed the question to Ashwin, "Do you think I am jealous of you? You are sitting with me today, and we have spoken at length. Do you think I am that kind of person?" Ashwin replied, "Even if you were jealous at one point in time, I think it's justified. That is my point, and I will never take it wrong because we are all human. Naturally, it is bound to be like that. Some people believe I retired because Washington Sundar is in the thick of things. All of this is the perspective of others." Ashwin recently retired as India's second-highest wicket-taker in international cricket. The candid conversation between two of India's greatest off-spinners appears to put an end to lingering assumptions about their relationship. Harbhajan Singh is currently playing the World Championship of legends and is currently living life as a broadcaster. R Ashwin has a total of 765 international wickets across all formats (537 in Tests, 156 in ODIs, and 72 in T20Is). Harbhajan Singh has a total of 711 international wickets across all formats (417 in Tests, 269 in ODIs, and 25 in T20Is).
