Magnus Carlsen's Dark Side: World Champion or Crybaby? First Sports With Rupha Ramani
Magnus Carlsen is undoubtedly one of the greatest chess players ever, dominating classical, rapid, blitz, and esports formats for over a decade. But his recent behaviour at the inaugural Esports Chess World Cup has sparked debate: does he carry himself like a true champion? When the crowd sided with his opponent, Hikaru Nakamura, in the high-stakes semifinal, Carlsen's frustration boiled over, leading to a rare public display of petulance. This wasn't an isolated incident. Carlsen's dismissive remarks about India's rising chess stars reveal a worrying arrogance. Meanwhile, young talents like Divya Deshmukh respond with grace and maturity, signalling a new era. Rupha Ramani breaks down Carlsen's controversial actions, the fiery reactions that followed, and what it means for the legacy of the self-proclaimed King of Chess. Is it time for Carlsen to drop the whiny act?
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Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Hindustan Times
Listicle: 10 of the most fiery sports rivalries to watch out for
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At the Norway Chess Tournament in June, Gukesh won, and Carlsen, who made a mistake, slammed the table in frustration. It spawned a universe of memes and reaction videos. Carlsen made a comeback at the Superunited Rapid and Blitz Tournament in Croatia a month later. They'll play each other soon. We're watching. Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema are rivals on the field, partners off it — pure fanfiction material. (INSTAGRAM/@VIVIANNEMIEDEMA) Beth Mead vs Vivianne Miedema. They're partners and sports rivals. The two met when playing for Arsenal, three years ago, and then joined different clubs. In the Euro 2025, they had their first international showdown — Mead as a forward for the England National Team, the Lionesses; Miedema as a striker for the Netherlands team. The Lionesses trashed the Dutch team. Both have talked about not going easy on the other, even if they don't speak for a while after a match. Romance girlies, where's the fanfiction at? 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So, when Chopra came in second at the 2024 Paris Olympics, and Nadeem won gold, it was a shocker. The Indian player's personal best throw is 90.23 m; Nadeem's, 92.97 m. They haven't faced each other since then in over a year. May the best South Asian win! Katie Ledecky and Summer McIntosh are not only trying to best each other, but also Michael Phelps. Katie Ledecky vs Summer McIntosh. American athlete Ledecky, 28, is the most decorated female swimmer in history, with 14 Olympic medals. She has a worthy opponent in Canadian swimmer Summer McIntosh, who ended Ledecky's 13-year streak in the 800m freestyle last year. At the Singapore World Aquatic Championships this month, the tension was palpable. McIntosh was just 0.34 seconds ahead of Ledecky in the last lap, before her rival out-swam her to win. Both are aiming to overtake records set by Michael Phelps. Shi Yuqi and Kunlavut Vitidsarn pace around the badminton court like predators stalking prey. Shi Yuqi vs Kunlavut Vitidsarn. 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Shericka Jackson vs Elaine Thompson-Herah vs Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce. The Big Three of Jamaican track-and-field have been trying to out-run each other since the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Their personal bests in the 200m sprint are within microseconds of each other's. Jackson and Fraser Pryce are competing at the World Athletics Championships in September. But Thompson-Herah, who spent much of last year out of commission due to an injury, skipped the Jamaican National Trials in June. Pray that this holy trinity is reunited. From HT Brunch, Aug 16, 2025 Follow us on
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First Post
2 days ago
- First Post
What is the 'Idiot Test' that helped Carlsen prepare for World Championship battles? Russian GM Dubov explains
Russian Grandmaster Daniil Dubov, who was part of Magnus Carlsen's team for his World Championship title defence against Fabiano Caruana (2018) and Ian Nepomniachtchi (2021), opened up on the Norwegian GM's 'Idiot Test' that he used to employ to test his openings at the prestigious event. Russian Grandmaster Daniil Dubov was part of Magnus Carlsen's team during the 2018 and 2021 FIDE World Championship matches against Fabiano Caruana and Ian Nepomniachtchi. Image credit: Norway Chess/Reuters Magnus Carlsen has been the most dominant player since he rose to the top of the FIDE ratings for the first time in 2010, having occupied the top spot continuously since July 2011. The Norwegian Grandmaster also happens to be a five-time world champion, winning the most prestigious game of chess for the first time in 2013 against Viswanathan Anand and successfully defending his title in the next four editions until he voluntarily opted out in 2022. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD How Carlsen tests his ideas against 'certified idiots' in his team It's not just sheer genius that Carlsen relies on to get the better of his opponents; the 34-year-old has a unique method of preparing for crucial showdowns. According to Russian Grandmaster Daniil Dubov, who was part of Team Carlsen for two of his five World Championship victories, Carlsen had something of an 'Idiot Test' which he would use to determine whether an opening was worth playing or not. 'Magnus always had that method to try out ideas which we called the 'Idiot Test'. The 'Idiot Test' is that if you have found an (opening) idea, you have to play it against an unprepared Laurent Fressinet (French Grandmaster) and beat him. If you don't win, the idea is refuted,' Dubov told Russian podcaster Ilya Levitov. '(If you don't win with that idea) The idea doesn't work! I can tell you that it's a 90 per cent-reliable piece of statistic! That's how it is,' he added. Dubov, who was part of Carlsen's team for his world championship battles against Fabiano Caruana and Ian Nepomniachtchi in 2018 and 2021 respectively, added that before Fressinet, it was Carlsen's compatriot Jon Ludvig Hammer who was the 'certified idiot' against whom he would test his ideas. 'Earlier, the certified idiot would be Jon Ludvig Hammer, but when I joined the team Hammer was no longer there, so this was Fress (Fressinet). But thank God I played much better than Fress, so the majority of the ideas passed the test, regardless of their quality,' Dubov added. Carlsen had opted against defending his World Championship title in 2022, allowing China's Ding Liren to take his place against Candidates champion Nepomniachtchi. Liren would go on to defeat the Russian GM, only to surrender his title to India's D Gukesh the following year. Besides his declining interest in the Classical format, which has also resulted in a series of hostile verbal exchanges with FIDE, Carlsen has been busy championing the Freestyle format, having co-founded the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour with German entrepreneur Jan Henric-Buettner. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Hindustan Times
‘Magnus Carlsen always took the idiot test before…': Russian GM reveals huge secret behind Norwegian's success
Considered by many to be the greatest chess player in history, Magnus Carlsen is a five-time World Champion, five-time World Rapid Champion and the reigning (shared with Ian Nepomniachtchi) eight-time World Blitz Champion. He got his first World Champion title in 2013, beating Viswanathan Anand. He retained his title in 2014, and also clinched both Rapid and Blitz titles, becoming the first player to hold all three titles simultaneously, which he also repeated in 2019 and 2022. He defended his world title in 2019, 2018 and in 2021. He didn't defend his title in 2023 due to a lack of motivation. Magnus Carlsen on way to beating world champion D Gukesh in the opening round of the Norway Chess on Monday. (Norway Chess)(HT_PRINT) Recently, Daniil Dubov, who worked with the Norwegian for two of his World C'ship titles, revealed that Carlsen used to take something called an 'idiot test'. It was taken to decide whether an idea in the opening should be played in a World C'ship match. Magnus Carlsen's 'idiot test' Speaking on a Russian podcast, he said, 'Magnus always had that method to try out ideas which we called the 'idiot test'. The 'Idiot Test' is that if you have found an (opening) idea, you have to play it against an unprepared Laurent Fressinet (French grandmaster) and beat him. If you don't win, the idea is refuted.' '(If you don't win with that idea against Laurent Fressinet) The idea doesn't work! I can tell you that it's a 90%-reliable piece of statistic! That's how it is.' He further revealed, 'Earlier, the certified idiot would be Hans-Ludvig Hammer, but when I joined the team Hammer was no longer there, so this was Fress (Fressinet). But thank God I played much better than Fress, so the majority of the ideas passed the test, regardless of their quality.' Commenting on a member of Carlsen's team, Dubov said, 'That was the problem with Jorden van Foreest's ideas later on, because as it turned out, Jorden is a desperate case in blitz, and strangely enough Fress was better than him in blitz. Jorden would tell me 'Come on, let me show you the idea, and you go ahead and play it yourself!'
