CHENNAI: Magnus Carlsen last lost in Classical chess in two years ago (against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in July). Since then, he has set a world record by going unbeaten in more than 115 games in the format. But coach Peter Heine Nielsen — who has observed Carlsen for more than a decade — reckons that his ward has still not peaked.
Nielsen has also trained Viswanathan Anand. After the 2013 Worlds in Chennai, the 46-year-old took Carlsen under his wings. In the concluding part of his interview, he speaks about his mentee, why he left Anand’s camp, and the similarities between the two.
Excerpts...
* How do you handle Carlsen’s supposed eccentricity and genius?
I don’t think he’s eccentric. He is a chess genius, and has changed his life to fit that. That might appear eccentric. But he’s a normal person who happens to be extremely skilled. My job is to help optimise that. Whatever it takes to do that feels normal and relevant to me.
* Do you believe Carlsen is still a few years away from his best?
He played even better in 2013-14. Not losing is nice. But if he wins three and Caruana seven, like in Wijk aan Jee (Fabiano Caruana won the meet this year)... we want to do better than that. But yes. Magnus can be even better. The aim is to prove that.
* Carlsen and you share love for Fantasy Premier League...
Magnus (for a brief while, Carlsen was the world leader) has been a fan for several years. It is a great hobby. During tournaments, it acts as a distraction. FPL is exciting and disengages the mind from chess. I liked it instantly, partly as I love sport statistics and football. I even thought I had the edge over Magnus. But I was very wrong.
* What was it like to coach Anand to those world titles?
An amazing adventure. It came out of nowhere. He chose me as coach even though I had no experience. I learned a lot while working with him. At times, we poured all our energies into fulfilling our goals. From a political perspective of the game, Vishy was treated badly. I felt it was important to make him succeed despite that. It was at a time when technology wasn’t as advanced, and we did a great job of using it to our advantage. For the three matches (World title clashes), our team felt like family.
* Why did you switch camps to coach Carlsen?
I’ve been friendly with Magnus since his teenage years. He used to visit me in Denmark and stay over, discussing chess and playing all kinds of sport. After the 2012 Worlds win with Vishy, everybody needed a break. We had a three-month camp before that title match. It was exhausting. The work also seemed to stagnate. Vishy wrote about it in his book (Mindmaster). On a personal level, everybody was close. But on a sporting level, things needed to change. So, when I was contacted by Carlsen, I accepted.
* How do Anand’s and Carlsen’s styles of play differ?
They are very similar, but a big difference is age. I worked with Vishy when he was already very experienced. He was at a stage where immaculate, deep preparation was the need. With Carlsen, experience was the need. We (Anand and him) had fun training camps together, especially before the Championships in Bonn (2008), Sofia (2010) and Moscow (2012). Magnus and I used to play a lot of computer games at night. To be honest, I see a bigger difference in Soviet traditionalists like (Garry) Kasparov or (Vladimir) Kramnik than in these two.
* There is a theory that chess is a young man’s game. Do you agree?
It’s hard to say. Maybe experience matters less these days. Information is very accessible because of internet. You can also play online. Most players these days start that way and get endless amounts of practice. That was much harder to do earlier. I think it depends. Vishy did pretty well late in his career. Magnus will too, if he stays motivated.